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《英语语法》课程教案
课程编号：23220925
课程名称：英语语法
课程基本情况：
1．学
分：2
学
时：34
2．课程性质：学科基础课
3．适用专业： 英语专业
适用对象：本科
4．先修课程：综合英语，英语阅读
5．首选教材：《新编英语语法教程》(学生用书)，章振邦主编，2003 年 12 月第 4 版，上
海外语教育出版社出版
备选教材：《高级英语语法》（上下册），薄冰主编，高等教育出版社出版。
6．考核形式：闭卷考试
7．教学环境：多媒体教室及普通教室
Lecture 1 Sentence Structure
教学重点及难点：
1.The classification of bound morpheme and the frequently applied bound
morphemes;
2. The basic clause types and their transformation and expansion
教学基本内容
1. Basic Concepts of morphemes, words, phrases, clauses, and sentences;
2. Ways of word-formation: affixation, derivation and composition;
3. Ways of sentence analysis: one ways is to divide the predicate into predicate verb,
object, complement and adverbial. The other way is to divide the predicate into two
parts: the operator and the predication.
4. Basic clause types include SVC, SV, SVA, SVO, SVOA, SVOC, and SvoO. An
affirmative clause can be transformed into a negative; a statement into a question, and
a active clause into a passive. All these add varieties to the basic clause types.
Lecture 1
Sentence structure
Owing to the fact that sentences in authentic language differ structurally in thousands
of ways, what is described here as sentence structure, sentence elements, or sentence
patterns is only concerned with the simple sentence, or rather with the clause.
1.1 clause elements
As has been pointed out before, the clause or the simple sentence is structurally a
sequence of phrases and logically a construction of “subject+ predicate”. That is to
say, the clause or the simple sentence is not just an agglomeration of phrases; it is a
group of phrases organized into a construction of “subject+ predicate”.
1) Subject and predicate
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A full-fledged clause can generally be divided into two parts: the subject and the
predicate. The subject is the topic or theme of the sentence, which tell of what the
sentence is about. The predicate says something about the subject and bear the new
information which the speaker or writer wants to transmit to the listener or reader. The
subject is generally realized by a noun phrase or an equivalent of noun phrase, while
the construction of the predicate, which is more complicated, generally consists of a
verb phrase with or without complementation.
2) Two ways of sentence analysis
To facilitate description of how English language works, sentences can be analyzed in
two ways. One way is to divide the predicate into predicate verb, object, complement
and adverbial. These elements together with the subject make the five clause elements.
The other ways of sentence analysis is to divide the predicate into two parts: the
operator and the predication. The operator is usually the auxiliary or the first auxiliary
in a complex verb phrase, while the predication comprises the main verb with its
complementation (object, complement or adverbial).
1.2 basic clause types and their transformation and expansion
In terms of the different combinations of clause elements, English clauses can be
classified into seven basic types. Innumerable authentic sentences are structured on
the basis of these clause types.
1) Basic clause types
The seven basic clause types are SVC, SV, SVA, SVO, SVOA, SVOC, and SVoO.
These seven combinations of clause elements are wholly or largely determined by the
main verb in the clause. The main verb in an SVC pattern is a linking or copula verb
which must be followed by a subject complement. The main verb in an SV pattern is
an intransitive verb which is not to be followed by any obligatory element except for a
limited number of intransitive verbs which require an obligatory adverbial, thus
constituting the pattern SVA. The main verb in an SVO pattern us a monotranstitive
which must be followed by an object, and with some monotransitives the object must
again be followed by an obligatory adverbial, thus constituting the pattern SVOA. The
main verb in an SVOC pattern is a complex transitive verb which must be followed
by an object+ object complement. The main verb in an SVoO pattern is a ditransitive
verb which is to e followed by two objects: indirect and direct object.
2) Transformation and expansion of basic clause types
The basic clause types are all affirmative statements with verbs in the active voice. An
affirmative clause can be transformed into a negative; s statement into a question; and
an active clause into a passive. All these add varieties to the basic clause types.
The basic clause types and their variants can also be expanded into larger grammatical
units through adding modifiers at various levels, and these larger units can again be
expanded through coordination and subordination into compound, complex and
compound-complex sentences.
Lectures 2&3 Subject-verb Concord
教学重点及难点：
1. The appliance of grammatical, notional and proximity concords in some special
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conditions;
2. Problems of subject-verb concord.
教学基本内容
1. The concepts of three principles guiding subject-verb concord: grammatical
concord, notional concord and proximity concord.
2. Problems of concord with a coordinate subject: concord with “and” or “both…and”,
concord with “or”/ “either…or”, “nor”/ “neither…nor”, “not only…but also”;
3. Problems of concord with expressions of quality as subject: concord with
expression of definite quality as subject, concord with expression of indefinite quality
as subject;
4. Other problems of subject-verb concord: problems of concord with a nominal
clause as subject, subject-verb concord with a non-finite clause or subject,
subject-verb concord in relative clauses, cleft-sentences, and existential sentences.
Lecture 2
Subject-verb Concord (I)
2.1 Guiding principles
1) Grammatical concord
2) Notional concord
3) Proximity
2.2 Problems of concord with nouns ending in -s
Disease and game names ending in –s
They are mostly treated as singulars.
A few such names can be used either as singular or as plural.
Subject names ending in –ics
Such names are generally singular nouns, but some such nouns are
treated as plural when used in other senses than subject names.
Geographical names ending in –s
Plural except for a few treated as singular when used as country names.
4) Other nouns ending in –s
Disease and game names ending in –s
They are mostly treated as singulars.
A few such names can be used either as singular or as plural.
Measles, mumps, rickets, shingles, diabetes, arthritis, phlebitis, AIDS, etc.
Subject names ending in –ics
Such names are generally singular nouns, but some such nouns are
treated as plural when used in other senses than subject names.
Acoustics, classics, electronics, informatics, linguistics, mechanics, optics,
plastics, thermodynamics, etc.
Geographical names ending in –s
Plural except for a few treated as singular when used as country names.
Other nouns ending in –s
Calipers, compasses, flares, forceps, glasses, jeans, pants, pincers, pliers, scales,
scissors, shades, shorts, suspenders, spectacles, etc.
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2.3 problems of concord with collective nouns as subject
1) Collective nouns usually used as plural
People, police, cattle, militia, poultry, vermin, etc.
2) Collective nouns usually used as singular
Foliage, cutlery, poetry, machinery, equipment, furniture, merchandise, etc.
3) Collective nouns used either as plural or as singular
Couple, crew, government, majority, opposition ,etc
4) A committee, etc + plural noun
A committee / board / panel of
Lecture 3
Subject-verb Concord (II)
Teaching Contents
3.1 Problems of concord with a coordinate subject
3.2 Problems of concord with expressions of quantity as subject
3.3 Other problems of subject-verb concord
3.1 Problems of concord with a coordinate subject
1）Coordination by "and" or "both …and"
It is usually treated as plural when it refers to two or more than two persons/things,
but it is singular when referring to one person or thing.
e.g. Baseball and swimming are usually summer sports.
Your friend and adviser has agreed to lend me his money.
After "each… and each…" or "every… and every…", the verb is also in the singular
form:
e.g. Each man and each woman is asked to help.
Every flower and every bush is to be cut down.
The indefinite pronouns anybody/anyone, everybody/everyone, nobody/no one, and
somebody/someone combine with singular verb forms, even though co-referent
pronouns and determiners may be plural forms.
e.g. [Everybody]’s doing what they think they’re supposed to do.
Nobody has their fridges repaired any more, they can’t afford it.
each/every… he/she/they
e.g. At the moment each of the girls was too busy thinking about her own personal
safety to care much about the luggage.
But “each/every+ singular n. … they/their” is right as well.
e.g. Each of the students should have his/their own books.
Every member brings their own lunch.
In such exams as TOEFL, the pronoun referring to
“nobody/everybody/everyone/someone/somebody/anybody/anyone/no one” can only
be he/his instead of they/their. However, as English learners it must be known that
“everyone…they” is used more often than “everyone…he”.
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e.g. Everyone warned you, didn’t they?
Has anybody brought their camera?
No one could have blamed themselves for that.
Every one / each / each one /*every one of the students should have their/his own
books.
2) Coordination by "or" / "either…or", "neither…nor", "not only...but also"
Here the problem is dealt with according to the principle of proximity.
e.g. My sisters or my brother is likely to be at home.
Either my father or my brothers are coming.
Informally we can have the following use:
e.g. Neither he nor his wife have arrived.
In formal cases, especially in exams, “neither” is used with singular verb.
e.g. Neither of them is bright.
When used with plural nouns in informal cases, “neither” can also be used with plural
verb.
e.g. Neither of the books are/is very interesting.
---I can’t swim.
----Neither can I.
--- He didn’t like the play. ---Nor did we.
Neither is usually in formal cases, but nor is often used in spoken English.
3) Subject + as well as, as much as, rather than, more than, no less than; with, along
with, together with, in addition to, except + Verb (determined by the form of the
subject
e.g. Some of the workers, as well as the manager, were working during the holidays.
No one except two students was late for the dinner.
3.2 Problems of concord with expressions of quantity as subject
1) Concord with expression of definite quantity as subject
a) When regarded as a single unit, the verb is singular; when regarded as the
individuals that constitute the quantity, the verb takes plural form.
e.g. Twenty years in prison was the penalty he had to pay.
b) a fraction/percentage + of-phrase+ (<--)verb
e.g. Thirty-five percent of the doctors were women.
c) "A + B /A×B" + Verb (singular/plural); "A－B/A÷B"+ Verb (singular) e.g. Forty
minus fifteen leaves twenty-five. 40-15=25
d) one in/out of + Plural noun + Verb (fml. Singular; infml. plural)
e.g. One in ten students has/have failed the exam.
2) Concord with expression of indefinite quantity as subject.
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a) all of/some of/ none of /half of/most of + noun phrase of indefinite quantity +
(<--)verb
e.g. Most of the money was recovered by Deputy Player.
Usage is fairly evenly divided between singular and plural concord with none of:
e.g. None of us has been aboard except Vinck.
None of us really believe it’s ever going to happen not to us, she said at last. [Fiction]
However, none alone shows a distinct preference for singular concord:
e.g. [None] describes him/herself as such in the party’s official literature. (NEWS)
Plural concord is the norm in conversation, while in the written registers there is an
overall preference for singular concord.
None of + N. + V
1) 当none与不可数名词连用或指代不可数名词时，其谓语动词总是用单数。
e.g. I wanted some more coffee, but there was none left.
2) 当none与复数名词连用或指代复数名词时，传统语法规定其谓语动词必须用
单数。此用法得到英语教材和各类英语实体的肯定和强调。但是，实际应用中人
们往往使用“概念一致”原则，用动词的复数形式。所以，Quirk说：“用复数动词
较为常见，并且，在正式用法中也为人们普遍接受。”
e.g. None of the books has/have been placed on the shelves.
None but the brave deserves the fair.
唯有勇者才配得上美女。
None are so deaf as those who will not hear.
不愿听从的人是最聋的人。
no one 单独使用时只用于指人。
e.g. No one should pride themselves on this result.
但是，no one之后接-of短语时，既可指人也可指物。
e.g. No one of you could lift it.
I reach three books on this subject, no one of which was helpful.
None 既可指人也可指物。
e.g. How many elephants did you see? None.
No one of them really understands the problems.
No one 与no-one在英语里是并存的，
目前尚未统一形式。No-one 为英国英语，
而no one是美国英语
b) lots of/heaps of/loads of/scads of/plenty of + noun phrase + (<--) verb
e.g. Lots of stuff is going to waste.
c) a portion of/a series of/a pile of/a panel of + noun phrase + verb (singular)
e.g. A substantial portion of reports is missing
a collection of + pl. n. + singular verb
There is a collection of pictures at the Town Hall.
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a great deal / a great many
a great (good) deal之后要加介词of才能与名词连用，而a great (good) many可以直
接与名词连用。另外，a great deal of跟不可数名词连用，而a great many则与可数
名词连用。
e.g. The chest contained a great/good deal of money.
A great deal还可作形容词或副词比较级的修饰语
e.g. That job was a great deal easier.
a lot of 既可跟不可数名词也可跟可数名词，谓语动词决定于名词的单复数。
e.g. There is a lot of beer in those bottles there.
lots of 与amounts of , quantities of 不同，
后两者是中心词而非修饰语。
e.g. Large amounts of money were spent on the bridge.
Quantities of food were on the table.
a variety of + n. 做主语时，其谓语动词决定于名词的数，也就是说，此处起作用
的是概念一致原则。
e.g. A great variety of books were recently published.
a wide range of + pl. n. 充当主语时，其谓语动词应用单数；a bouquet of flowers
也是用单数。
e.g. A wide range of washing-machines and refrigerators is displayed in our
showroom.
A bouquet of flowers was presented to the vicar’s wife.
a set of + pl. n. 做主语时，人们使用谓语动词的形式并不是很一致。
e.g. There is a set of rules that you must follow if you are going mountain-climbing.
There are set of unscrupulous scoundrels.
d) determiner + species nouns (kind/type/sort) of + noun phrase (singular countable
noun/uncountable noun) +verb (singular)
e.g. This kind of apples is highly priced.
With countable nouns there tends to be agreement in number between the species
noun and the following noun (e.g. that kind of thing v. all kinds of things). But we
also find:
Singular species noun + pl. noun
e.g. I don’t know what kind of dinosaurs they all are.
I mean, do we want these kind of people in our team?
Pl. species noun + singular noun
e.g. Thieves tended to target certain types of
car he said.
e) many a + noun phrase + verb (singular)
more than one + singular noun + singular verb
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more pl. noun + than one + pl. verb
e.g. Many a man has sacrificed his life.
More than one member has protested against the proposal.
More persons than one have been involved.
f) In "an average of/a majority of + noun phrase (pl.) + verb", when noun is regarded
as the individuals that constitute the quantity, the verb takes plural form; otherwise, it
is singular.
e.g. A majority of the town's younger men are moving to the city.
A majority of three votes to one was recorded.
3.3 Other problems of subject-verb concord
1) Problems of concord with a nominal clause as subject
When the subject is a nominal clause introduced
by what, which, how, why, whether, the
verb usually takes the singular form.
But when two or more such clauses are coordinated by and or both…and, a plural
verb is used.
e.g. What I saw was a car.
What I saw and think are no business of yours.
In SVC construction with a what-clause as subject,
when the subject complement is plural, or when the
what-clause is plural in meaning, the verb of the
main clause can be plural.
e.g. What they want are promises.
2) Subject-verb concord with a non-finite clause as subject
Generally speaking, the verb is singular. But when two or more such clauses are
coordinated by and, the verb of the main clause is singular when the subject refers to
one thing, and is plural when the
subject refers to separate things.
e.g. To eat well is all he asks.
3) Subject-verb concord in relative clauses
one of + plural noun + relative clause (verb)
the (only) one of + plural noun + relative clause (singular verb)
4) Subject-verb concord in cleft-sentences
Here the verb is determined by the number of the focal element functioning as subject
in the clause. I----am; me---third person singular number
e.g. It is I who am to blame.
It is me that is to blame.
5) Subject-verb concord in existential sentences
Generally the verb is determined by the notional subject. When the notional subject is
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a coordinate construction, the verb form goes with the first coordinate element of the
notional subject. But in informal style, esp. in spoken language, the verb is often
singular.
e.g. There is a book on the desk.
There is many people in the street.
There is more grace and less carelessness.
American and Dutch beer are much lighter than British.
The short term and the long term loan are handled differently.
按英语惯用法，一个单数名词受前置限定时，如果此名词表示两个或两个以上的
事物，根据概念一致的原则，其谓语动词用复数；但是当此类名词受后置限制时，
其谓语动词用单数。
e.g. Beer from America and Holland is much lighter than British beer.
majority
许多英美出版的语法书和惯用法都指出，majority和minority不能与不可数名词连
用。T. Wood 的“Current English Usage”(p161)说： “Majority may be used only for
number with countable nouns, not for amount or quantity with mass nouns: The
majority of the eggs were bad is correct; The majority of the butter was bad is not.
Similarly, we cannot speak of the majority of the land/time/one’s wealth. We must
use most, or the greater part”.
但是，Practical English Usage (1980)有一例：
e.g. The majority of the damage is easy to repair.
建议按照T. Wood的观点来使用the majority of。
Majority虽然在语法上是个单数名词，
但在概念上却具有复数的意义：most, almost all, many。因此一般与复数动词连用。
e.g. The majority of children like sweets.
The majority of doctors believe smoking is harmful to health.
若后面没有-of短语时，the majority 作主语时。如果泛指多数（与少数相对），
谓语单复数均可。Eg， The majority is /are doing its/their best。//in favor of the plan。
//against him。
1．如果指整体、统一体， majority 常被看作单数。
The majority is always able to impose its will on the minority。// is for him。
2. 如果指多数中的各个成员, majority 被看成复数。
The majority are of different minds on the matter 3．如果指多出的数目， majority
看成单数。
Her Majority was 5 vote //His majority was a big (small )one.
.the rest (+of noun) +verb
遵循概念一致原则，而非语法一致原则。
e.g. The rest are to wait for us.
The rest needs no telling.
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the + adjective 做主语：
1）当表示一类人的整体时，e.g. the young, the old, the poor, the rich, the blind, the
dead, 谓语动词用复数。
e.g. The wise look to the wiser for advice.
2）当表示具体的人，而不是某一类人的整体，谓语动词用单数形式。
e.g. The deceased is my uncle.
3）表示抽象的概念或某种笼统的东西时，谓语动词用单数形式。
e.g. The best is yet to come.
The unknown is always something to be feared.
Worth + of + pl. noun , 其谓语动词形式
取决于上下文和所表达的真正意思。当充当of宾语
的名词具有重要意义时，谓语动词用复数形式，当
所表达的价值具有重要意义时，则谓语动词用单数
形式。
e.g. Nearly a thousand pounds’ worth of cigarettes were stolen. （此处重要的是香烟
被盗）大约价值1000英镑的香烟被盗。
There is nearly a thousand pounds’ worth of cigarettes on that shelf. （此处重要
的是香烟的价值）在那个架子上的香烟价值大约为1000英镑
Lesson 4 Noun and noun phrase
教学重点及难点：
Number forms of the collective, material, abstract and proper noun.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Classification of nouns: simple, compound and derivative nouns, proper and
common nouns, count and noncount nouns.
2. Number forms of nouns: regular and irregular plural forms of nouns;
3. Number forms of the collective, material, abstract and proper noun: number forms
of the collective noun, number forms of the material nouns, number forms of the
abstract noun, number forms of the proper noun;
4. Partitives: the definition of partitives, general partitives, partitives related to the
shape of things, partitives related to volume, partitives related to the state of action,
Partitives denoting pairs, groups, flocks.
Lecture 4
Noun and Noun Phrase
Teaching Contents
4.1 Classification of nouns and function of noun phrases
4.2 Number forms of nouns
4.3 Partitives
4.1 Classification of nouns and function of noun phrases
1) Classification of nouns
a) Simple, compound and derivative nouns: by word-formation
b) Common and proper nouns: by lexical meaning
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C) Countable noun and uncountable noun
This classification is based on the grammatical features of nouns instead of whether
they are countable. Regarding grammatical features, uncountable nouns cannot have
numeral before them (*two information), have no plural forms (*informations) and
cannot be modified by “how many” but by “how much”
2) Functions of noun phrases
Nouns can function as all the elements in a sentence except the predicative verb.
e.g. They elected him chairman of the board.
He returned last night.
A photo is taken each time this button is pushed
The general pattern of noun phrase is
(Determiner)+ (premodifier)+noun+(postmodifier)
The premodifier of noun phrase can be noun as well as adj. or participle.
e.g. a table leg, water supply, the life sciences
When noun is used as premodifier, it can be either singular, plural, or both.
(1) Singular noun as premodifier
e.g. table legs = legs of a table / tables
a shoe store = a store that sells shoes
a car race = a race between cars
a kitchen sink = a sink in a kitchen
When the plural noun in the postmodifier is changed into premodifier, it usually
becomes singular.
e.g. a cloth for dishes = a dish cloth
decay of teeth = tooth decay
a station for buses = a bus station
a pocket for trousers = a trouser pocket
a tray for ashes = an ash tray
(2)Singular or plural noun as premodifier
a. There is ambiguity here.
foreign language(s) department= department of foreign languages
(foreign language department = department of a foreign language)
soft drinks manufacturer = manufacturer that produces several kinds of soft drink
soft drink manufacturer = manufacturer that produces one kind of soft drink
b. different meanings
e.g. an art degree = a degree in fine art
an Arts degree = a degree in the humanities
(3) Only plural noun as premodifier
e.g. a customs officer, a goods train, clothes hanger, sales technique, contents bill,
savings bank
It is more popular to use plural nouns as premodifiers in British English than in
American English. Now it tends to increase.
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(4) When the head of the noun phrase is collective noun or name of an organization,
the plural noun as the premodifier can have two forms, but the same meaning.
e.g. Scientists(’) Institute for Public Information
But the singular noun is seldom used.
e.g. Yibin Teachers/ Teachers’/ *Teacher’s College
4.2 Number forms of nouns
Number is a grammatical distinction which determines whether a noun or determiner
is singular or plural.
1) Regular and irregular plural
The regular is formed by adding –s or –es to the base, while the irregular is formed by
changing the internal vowel or by changing the ending of the noun.
Irregular plurals also include some words of foreign origin, borrowed from Greek,
Latin or French. Their plural forms are known as “foreign plurals”, e.g. basis—bases,
criterion—criteria.
Some borrowed words have two plural forms: a foreign plural and an English one.
e.g. medium—media – mediums
For some, their singular and plural number share the same form,
A) Animal names
Singular form and regular plural coexist: Antelope, elk, fish, flounder, herring,
reindeer, shrimp, woodcock
（羚羊，麋，鱼，比目鱼，鲱鱼，驯鹿，虾，丘鹬（别名山鹬）
e.g. He caught several fish/three little fishes.
They went catching shrimp/shrimps.
I shot two elk/elks.
b) Singular form is usually used: bison, grouse, quail, salmon, swine
（野牛 , 松鸡，鹌鹑，鲑（大麻哈鱼），猪）
e.g. The farmer raises many quail/quails and chickens.
c) Singular form is always used: cod, deer, mackerel, trout, sheep.（鳕，鹿，鲐鱼，
真鳟）e.g. This is a deer.
Those are deer.
B). Nationality nouns
Some words ending in sound /z/ or /s/ use singular form: Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese,
Portuguese, Sinhalese, Vietnamese, Swiss
e.g. I am a Chinese.
There are four Chinese in the training class.
C) Quantitative nouns (hundred/thousand/million/billion)
a) Cardinal numeral + hundred/thousand/million/billion +n.
e.g. two hundred / *two hundred of years ago
That’s going to take hundreds of/*hundreds years.
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Cardinal numeral + million + n.
Cardinal numeral + millions of + n.
e.g. three millions of dollars
three million dollars
When the noun is omitted, if it is not monetary unit, the singular form is more often
used than the plural form; if it is, the regular plural form is used.
e.g. The population rose to four million / millions.
The firm had to pay three millions.
b) several/many/a few + singular / plural (of)+ n.
e.g. He has played the part several hundred times / several hundreds of times.
some + regular plural + n.
e.g. He has played the piano some hundreds of times / many, many times.
(some hundred times = about a hundred times)
c) dozen, score
e.g. She bought three score (of) eggs.
I have been there dozens of times.
He has already asked me several dozens of/ many scores of times.
2) Number forms of the collective, material, abstract and proper nouns
a) Number forms of the collective noun
Some are countable, while some are not. Countable nouns behave like individual
nouns. An uncountable one has no plural form; if we want to count the number, we
will use a kind of individual noun related semantically to the collective, e.g.
poetry—poem.
Some collective nouns can be used in either singular or plural sense. The following
verb is determined by the singular or plural sense.
b) Number forms of the material noun
Generally they are [U] and have no plural form. However, some items can be used
either uncountably or countably.
Some material nouns can take plural endings to convey the large quantity or scope ,
e.g. sand/sands, snow/snows
Sometimes material nouns are [C] to express “one type of” or “various types of” this
material.
e.g. I n Britain tea is usually drunk with sugar in it.
I’d like to have a famous tea.
We hardly bought wine at lunch time.
We like wines and liquors.
Some material nouns become [C] to express “packet of ”, “cups of”.
e.g. How many beers were you wanting?
How many tins of beer were you wanting?
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When referring to the material itself, they are [U]; otherwise, they are [C], e.g. stone,
rubber
c) Number forms of the abstract noun
Mostly they are [U] and cannot take such determiners as a/one or plural forms. A few
are [C], e.g. victory—victories.
Some are not [C], although they have plural endings, e.g. *several difficulties.
The addition of a plural ending to some can change the meaning of the base, e.g.
experience—experiences.
Some can only use singular form with “a”, some only plural form, some both.
e.g. He has a dislike/dread/hatred/horror/love of cats.
He had a good knowledge of mathematics.
Give my best regards to your parents.
He refused with much regret / many regrets.
I have a suspicion / suspicions that he’s right.
Some abstract nouns can have indefinite article to express “a type of” or “an example
of”.
a) Some can have an indefinite article only if modifier exists.
e.g. They are doing *a business / a brisk business.
I attach an exaggerated importance/importance to regular exercise.
b) If modifier is implied, “a/an” can appear.
e.g. She has had an education (= a good education).
c) Some can have “a/an” regardless of modifier.
e.g. A knowledge/ A good knowledge of English is essential.
d) Number forms of the proper noun
They have no plural forms, except for such proper name as the United States, the
Philippines, the Netherlands. When one takes a plural ending, it takes on some
characteristics of a common noun, e.g. the Browns
4.3 Partitives
They are also called unit nouns and used to denote a part of a whole or the quantity of
an undifferentiated mass.
1) general partitives: piece, bit, item, article
2) partitives related to the shape of things: cake, bar, drop, ear, flight, grain, head, loaf,
lump
3) partitives related to volume: bottle, bowl, pail, bucket, handful, spoonful.
4) partitives related to the state of action: a fit of anger/coughing/laughter/fever
5) partitives denoting pairs, groups, flocks: pair, herd, litter, swarm, bench, troupe,
shoal.
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Lesson 5 Genitive noun
教学重点及难点：
1. The differences between ‘s genitive and of genitive;
2. The use of independent genitive and double genitive
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Formation of genitive nouns, meanings of genitive nouns as possessive genitive,
subjective genitive, objective genitive, genitive of origin, time, distance, etc,
descriptive genitive;
2. Use of genitive nouns: genitive nouns are mostly used as central determiners and
therefore perform the same function as “possessive determiners”;
3. Independent genitive and double genitive: independent genitive is used when the
missing noun ahs occurred somewhere in the context, when the missing noun refers to
somebody’s house or residence, church, school, or other public buildings. The
formation of double genitive and the difference between double genitive and of
genitive.
Lecture 5
Genitive Noun
Teaching Contents
5.1 Formation, meanings and uses of genitive nouns
5.2 Independent genitive and double genitive
Case is a grammatical category and denotes the changes in the form of a noun or a
pronoun showing its relationship with other words in a sentence. As modern English
is basically an analytic language, English nouns have not a complicated case system
like that of Latin, German, or modern Russian. The different grammatical functions of
English nouns in a sentence are mostly determined by the word order, not by case
form. It is in this sense that the genitive case may be viewed as a relic of the old case
system. The genitive was traditionally labelled as the possessive case.
Two Case systems: the unmarked common case and the marked genitive case: boy,
boy’s
The genitive case: the inflected genitive (the –s genitive)(屈折所属格） and the
periphrastic genitive (the of-genitive)（迂回所属格）
e.g. the children’s toys,
the toys of children
5.1 Formation, meanings and uses of genitive nouns
1) Rules of formation of the –s genitive
a) adding ’s to singular nouns and to those plural nouns that don’t end in –s , e.g. my
mother’s arrival, women’s clothes
b) adding an apostrophe to plural nouns ending in –s, e.g. the teachers’ college, the
workers’ achievements
c) adding ’s to the compound nouns or to the end of a postmodified noun phrase, e.g.
my brother-in-law’s friend, a cat and dog’s life, [the teacher of music]’s room
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d) In coordinate nouns, the genitive ending is added to each of the coordinate
elements when denoting respective possession, and only to the last coordinate element
when denoting common possession, e.g. America’s and England’s problems
(respective);
America and England’s problems (in common)
Coordinated genitive
1. The head of the noun phrase is singular:
Charles and Louise’s / Charles’s and Louise’s child is really lovely.
(The child is a joint offspring of Charles and Louise.)
2. The head of the noun phrase is plural:
Charles and Louise’s / Charles’s and Louise’s children are really lovely.
(The children are joint offspring of Charles and Louise.)
3. John’s and Mary’s children:
A. the children who are offspring of John and Mary
B. John’s child and Mary’s child
C. John’s children and Mary’s child
D. John’s child and Mary’s children
E. John’s children and Mary’s children
Coordinated genitives are formal.
Tom and his brother’s children
4. How to avoid ambiguity?
a. I’m interested in Henry and Herbert’s book(s) / the book(s) of Henry and Herbert.
b. Henry’s house and Mr. Jones’s are not far from here.
5. “Or” only connects coordinated genitive
Is that a lady’s or gentleman’s wrist-watch?
Is that a wrist-watch of a lady or gentleman?
I wonder whether it is Tom’s or Peter’s house / the house of Tom or Peter.
e) In the construction of “noun phrase + appositive”, the genitive ending is added to
the end of the appositive, or both to the end of the noun phrase and to the appositive,
e.g. Where is my classmate Nancy’s car? Tom has gone to Basel’s, the blacksmith’s
shop
f) In personal names ending in sibilant /z/, the genitive ending can either be ’s or an
apostrophe only, but it can only be ’s when personal names end in other sibilant
sounds,
e.g. Burns’ / Burns’s poem (sibilant /z/);
Ross’s poem
2) Meanings of genitive nouns
The genitive is chiefly used to denote possession, and therefore, is traditionally called
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“possessive case”. But genitive meanings are by no means restricted to possession, as
shown in the following:
a) Possessive genitive,
e.g. my son’s wife, Mrs. Johnson’s passport
b) Subjective genitive,
e.g. the student’s application
c) Objective genitive
e.g. the family’s support
d) Genitive of origin
e.g. the girl’s story
e) Descriptive (Classifying) genitive (not of-genitive)
e.g. a women’s college
(=college for women/*of women)
f) Genitive of measure
e.g. a four days’ journey, two dollars’ worth of apples
3) Uses of genitive nouns
Genitive nouns are mostly used as central determiners and therefore perform the same
function as “possessive determiners”, (traditionally called possessive pronouns), e.g.
the boy’s father= his father
Mary’s letter = her letter
a) As central determiners, genitive nouns can’t collocate with other central determiner,
nor can they be preceded by a premodifier.
e.g. Mary’s letter, * a Mary’s letter;
Mary’s interesting letter, * interesting Mary’s letter
This, however, does not apply to some other genitive nouns such as the descriptive
genitive and the genitive that denotes time, distance, value or measure. These genitive
nouns are not used as determiners but as premodifiers in the noun phrases,
e.g. a/the children’s book, a pleasant three day’s journey
Classifying genitive differ in a number of respects from specifying constructions.
1) They respond to the question “What kind of …?” rather than “whose …?”, which
displays their similarity to adjectives and other such noun premodifiers, rather than to
determiners. In fact, they cannot be replaced by possessive determiners.
2) They can be preceded by determiners and modifiers of the whole noun phrase,
rather than of the genitive noun alone: a new children’s book. This again is true also
for adjective and noun premodifiers of nouns.
3) They form an inseparable combination with the following noun and do not usually
allow an intervening adjective: *children’s new book.
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4) They are frequently paraphrased by a for-phrase rather than an of construction, as
in books for children. Compare again constructions with noun premodifier like baby
clothes.
These characteristics reflect the close bond between a classifying genitive and the
following head noun.
b) The choice of genitive
The –s genitive is favoured by the animate nouns in particular persons and animals
with personal gender characteristics. The of- genitive is chiefly used with nouns
denoting lower animals and with inanimate nouns.
The main factor governing the choice of the one or the other genitive form is the
animate or rather the personal quality of the noun. But there is considerable overlap in
the use of the two forms. The animate nouns normally take the –s genitive, but the ofgenitive is also possible in most cases. Inanimate nouns regularly take the of-genitive,
but a great many occur with the –s genitive.
The four classes of animate nouns normally take the –s genitive, but the of- genitive is
also possible
a) Personal names
--- George Washington’s statue, Susan’s pupils
b) Personal nouns
--- the boy’s new shirt, my sister-in-law’s hat
c) Collective nouns
--- the government’s conviction, the majority’s choice
d) Higher animals
--- the horse’s neck, the tiger’s strips
The –s genitive is also used with certain kinds of inanimate nouns
a) Geographical names
--- continents: Europe’s future
--- countries: China’s development
--- states: Minnesota’s immigrants
--- cities/towns: Hollywood’s studios, London’s water supply
--- universities: Harvard’s Linguistics Department b) Locative nouns denoting regions,
heavenly bodies, institutions:
---the world’s economic organization, the moon’s interior, the school’s history
c) Temporal nouns
--- a week’s holiday
d) Nouns of special interest to human activity
--- my life’s aim, love’s spirit, the novel’s structure, the wine’s character, television’s
future
The use of the –s genitive and of- genitive
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(1) We must use the –s genitive when…
a) the noun modified is followed by a post-modifier or an appositive.
--- The monitor’s brother, an actor was here then.
b) it is a classifying genitive.
--- Have you a copy of the teacher’s book?
c) the –s genitive is used in some set expressions:
--- a wolf in sheep’s clothing
People don’t get their money’s worth.
*People don’t get the worth of their money.
We must use the of- genitive when…
a) the noun in the of- phrase is followed by some modifiers or appositives
--- Some sentences have been changed at the suggestion of the teachers present in the
meeting.
b) the definite article + -ed participle or adjective denoting a class of people in the ofphrase structure
--- the life of the poor
c) the prepositional complementation in the of- phrase expresses the origin of the
headword modified
--- the joy of his return (The joy derives from his return)
d) the genitive is used to express the possessive relationship between part and whole
--- the middle of the night
--- the back of the classroom
--- the top of the page
--- the bottom of the ladder
e) there are determiners before the two nouns
--- their knowledge of her feeling
--- this dog of the country
The difference between the –s genitive and the of- genitive
(a) The –s genitive : regularity and continuity
the of- genitive : contingency of things
--- my last week’s article (每周一次的连载文章）
--- my article of last week(偶尔刊登的文章）
(b) The –s genitive: informal
the of- genitive: formal
--- the woman next door’s husband
--- the foreign policy of China
(c) The –s genitive: literal sense (字面意义）
the of- genitive: extended meaning (引申意义）and symbolic meaning (象征意
义）
--- the tree’s top （树梢）
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--- the top of the tree (出类拔萃）
--- the table’s top (桌面）
--- the top of the table （上座，首席）
5.2 Independent genitive and double genitive
1) Independent genitive
When the genitive occurs without a following head, i.e. with the head of the noun
phrase omitted, and functions independently as an element, it is called independent
genitive.
a) The noun occurring in the context can be retrieved
--- My car is faster than John’s (car).
b) Names and nouns referring to persons which denote residence:
See you at Harry’s tomorrow.
--- Shall we meet at his brother’s (house).
c) Proper nouns for certain well-known buildings:
St. Paul’s (Cathedral), Queen’s (College) St. James’s (Palace)
The noun: church, school, public buildings
--- He lives near St. Paul’s (Cathedral) in London.
d) Words for shops denoted by the type of shopkeeper:
the baker’s/butcher’s/grocer’s/greengrocer’s
commercial firms
--- I buy my meat at Johnson’s (shop).
2) Double genitive
An independent genitive when functioning as prepositional complementation is called
post-genitive. The prepositional phrase with a post-genitive as complementation is
called double genitive. --- a friend of my father’s
1) The use of the double genitive
a) Partitive meaning denoting “one of…”
--- This is a book of my mother’s. (one of …)
b. indefinite, definite, personal
--- a friend of the doctor’s( *the cover of a book’s)
Attention to some points
a) Noun head with “this, these, that, those”: it has emotional colouring : praise,
disapproval, pleasure, displeasure
--- That child of his sister’s is very clever.
--- That son of Henry’s is a rascal.
a boy of a girl
一般的of短语用来修饰或限制前面的名词的，但是，在此处：限定词+名词1+of +
a/an + 名词2，of短语与前面的名词构成同位关系，而且名词2是概念的中心，of
短语是对名词2进行修饰的，就像一个形容词：
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an angel of a wife = an angelic wife; the fool of a policeman = the foolish
policeman
a boy of a girl 一个男孩气的女孩子 *一个女孩气的男孩
a palace of a house 宫殿般的房子
a great elephant of a woman 一个庞大如象的女人
此结构的特点是：名词2前必须使用不定冠词，而名词1前可用任何限定词(a, this,
that, her, your)
e.g. that dog of a landlord 狗地主
that great pig of a Louis XVIII 大肥猪路易十八
this / a / their palace of a house
*these palaces of a house
b) Difference between double genitive and of phrase
--- He is a friend of my father’s. (many, one of them)
--- He is a friend of my father. ( in good terms)
A: Who told you that?
B: A friend of your father’s.
A: If he says such things, he is not a friend of my father.
c) The noun head: picture, portrait, printing, photograph, bust, statue
The double genitive--- the picture that one keeps
The of phrase--- the picture of one’s own
--- This is a portrait of Mr. Black’s
--- This is a portrait of Mr. Black
d) The noun head: criticism, opinion, judgment,
--- a criticism of William’s = a criticism offered by William
--- a criticism of William = a criticism about William
Correct the errors of the genitives
if any:
1. Where’s the dictionary of Cathy’s?
2. I don’t know whether this is a lady or a gentleman’s wrist-watch.
3.Her love of a child took the fancy of all of us.
4. The poem of Shelly’s he recited a hundred times was Ode to the West Wind.
5. Andrew and Horatia’s eyes met.
1. that dictionary of Cathy’s
2. a lady’s or (a) gentleman’s wristwatch
3. T
4. T
5. T
Lesson 6 Determiners (I)
教学重点及难点：
21
1. collocations between determiners: predeterminers, central determiners and
postdeterminers.
2. A Comparative study of some determiner usage: some, any, every ,much, etc.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Collocations between determiners and nouns: determiners with all three classes of
nouns, with singular count nouns, plural count nouns, noncount nouns, etc;
2.Collocations between three kind of determiners: the category of
predeterminer ,central determiner and postdeterminer, word order of three subclasses
of determiners: predeterminer + central determiner + postdeterminer;
3. A Comparative study of some determiner usage: many, much, a lot of, lots of,
plenty of, a few, a little, some, any, all, both, every, each, either, neither.
Determiners, as a class of words, include: article (definite article, indefinite article, and zero
article), possessive determiners, genitive nouns, demonstrative determiners, relative determiners,
interrogative determiners, indefinite determiners, cardinal and ordinal numerals, fractional and
multiplicative numerals, and other quantifiers
6.1. Collocations between determiners and nouns
The choice of determiners is closely related to what might be called the three
classes of nouns: singular count nouns, plural cont nouns and noucount nouns.
These tree classes of nouns demand appropriate determiners to collocate with.
Determiners with all three classes of nouns
Determiners such as possessive determiners, genitive nouns and the definite article as
well as some any, no, the other, and whom can go with all the three classes of nouns,
eg:
The car the cars the money
His car his cars his money
Some book some books some money
No book no books no money
Whose book whose books whose money
Determiners with singular count nouns only
Determiners such as a(n), one, another, each, every, either, neither, many
a ,such a can only collocate with singular count nouns, eg:
Each worker every student
Either book neither book
Another book such a book
Determiners with plural count nouns only
Determiners such as, two, three, etc, another, two/ three, many, (a) few, several, these,
those, a (great) number of can only collocate with plural count nouns, eg:
Both workers
(a) few words
Several girls
these / those tourists
A number of men
many students
Determiners with noncount nouns only
Determiners such as a (little) bit of ,a great amount of ,a great deal of ,(a) little, much,
less ,least can only collocate with noncount nouns, eg:
Much noise (a) little courage
22
A bit of fun a large amount of money
Less oil (the) least oil
Determiners with singular and plural count nouns only
Determiners such as the first, the second, the last, the next can go with wither singular
or plurals count nouns, eg”
The first rose/ roses
The last man/ men
The next meeting/ meetings
Determiners with singular and noncount nouns only
Determiners such as this that can collocate with either singular or noncount nouns, eg:
This/ that job this / that work
determiners with plural and noncount nouns only
Determiners such as a lot of , lots of , plenty of, enough, most, such, other can go with
plural and noncount nouns, but not with singular nouns,eg:
Enough copies
enough bread
More essays
more time
Most people
most work
This class of determiners may also include less and least, which, as has been
mentioned above, normally occur with noncount nouns, but in present day English,
especially in formal style, may occasionally occur with plural nouns,eg:
Less and less people can afford to go abroad for their holidays.
Political programs on TV attract the least viewers.
This use of less and least is regarded by some as non-standard.
6.2) Collocations between determiners
As has been mentioned before, besides the collocations between determiners
and nouns, there is the problem of word order between determiners if a noun 0phrase
contains more than one determiner.
Central determiners, predeterminers and postdeterminers
According to their potential, determiners fall into three subclasses: central
determiners, predeterminers and postdeterminers.
Central determiners included: the article; demonstrative determiner; possessive
determiners; genitive nouns; some, any, no, every, each, either, neither, enough;
what(ever),which(ever),whose, etc. Note that central determiners are mutually
exclusive and that no two members of the above-cited items ever occur together in a
noun phrase.
Predeterminers are those hat precede central determiners. Predeterminers are
also mutually exclusive. They include: all, both, half, double, twice, three times, etc.
one-third, two-fifths, etc; what, such (a/an).
Postdeterminers refer to those that follow central or predeterminers.
Postdeterminers are not mutually exclusive, that is to say, two or more such
items can co=occur in a noun phrase. This subclass includes: cardinal
numerals; ordinal numerals; next, another ,etc; many much, (a_ few, (a) little,
fewer, (the) fewest, less (the) least, more, most; several, plenty of , a lot of lots
of , a great/large/good number of, a great/good deal of , a large/ small amount
23
of ,such.
Word order of three subclasses of determiners
When a noun phrase contains all three subclasses of determiners, their normal
order is “predetermine + central determiner + post determiner(s)”:
All the four students
All these last few days
Both his two sisters
If the noun phrase contains only two of the subclassed, they follow the same
order, ie “predeterminer + central determiner”:
Half his income
Both his parents
All the tourists
“central determiner+postdeterminer”:
the author’s last books
some such alloy
his last few words
“predeterminer+postdeterminer”:
all three books
all other students
half such people
“postdeterminer+postdeterminer”
several hundred tourists
three other girls
many more copies
6.3) A comparative study of some determiner usage
many, much, a lot of ,lots of, plenty of
Lesson 7 Determiners (II)--Articles
教学重点及难点：
1. Articles in use with different classes of nouns;
2. Some phrases applied with definite, indefinite and zero articles
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Generic and specific reference: generic reference, specific reference, anaphoric,
cataphoric and situational reference.
2. Articles in use with different classes of noun: articles in use with the proper noun,
articles in use with the common noun and other use of articles;
3. Some phrases applied with definite, indefinite and zero articles: phrases with zero
articles as at anchor, in force, out of hand etc, phrases with definite articles as for the
time being, on the spot, in the long run, etc, and examples with indefinite articles as
before person’s names, or before the non-finite element, etc.
Lecture 7
Determiners (ii) --- articles
In the previous lecture we touched upon the fact that articles are the most typical
24
of determiners. Now we will concentrate on this topic.
English has two articles: the definite and the indefinite article. As we know, all
English common nouns have article contrast, so with plural count nouns and
noncount nouns, the absence of an article signals the presence of another kind of
article--- the zero article. It is in this sense that we may also say that English has
three articles --- the definite, the indefinite, and the zero articles.
7.1 generic and specific references
In discussing the use of article, we must distinguish between generic and specific
reference.
generic reference
When we say the reference is generic, we are talking about any membe4r
representative of a class of people of things. All the three forms of article can
be used generically to refer to members of a class as a whole.
In certain contexts, the definite article followed by a singular count noun often
performs a generic function. The same function can also be performed by the
definite article combining with certain adjectives or adjectival participles.
Generic reference can also be denoted by the indefinite article followed by a
singular count noun. This is especially common in giving definitions. In so
doing, we can also use plural and noncount nouns without the presence of any
determiner. This may be referred to as the generic use of the zero article.
specific reference
Specific reference is different from generic reference in that it does not refer to
a class of people or things in general but to a particular specimen of the class.
Specific reference falls into two kinds: definite specific reference and
indefinite specific reference.
Definite specific reference implies that a person or an object can be identified
uniquely in the context or according to the common knowledge shared by speaker
and hearer. The definite article is most frequently used in this sense.
In the case of indefinite specific reference the person or thing referred to is also
a specific object, but is not definitely identified. This kind of referential
meaning is most commonly expressed by the indefinite article. In certain
contexts and situations the zero article can perform the same function.
anaphoric, anaphoric and situational reference
Definite specific reference can be anaphoric, anaphoric, or situational. The
word anaphoric means “pointing backward”. When what is referred to occurs
in a previous context and the definite article has to point backward for its
meaning, this is known as “anaphoric reference”. The anaphoric use of the
definite article is called “anaphoric THE”.
Anaphoric reference is also a kind of definite specific reference. The word
means “pointing forward”. When the referential meaning of the definite
article is determined by what follows the articles and the head, and the article
has to point forward for its own interpretation, that is anaphoric reference.
Situational reference is a kind of definite specific reference that depends not on
any referent that has occurred in the context but solely on the common
25
knowledge shred by speaker and hearer on a specific situation in which the
reference is made clear. Situational reference is most commonly denoted by the
definite article, but in certain situations the same function can also be
performed by zero.
Lesson 8 & 9 Pronouns (I, II)
教学重点及难点：
1. Pronouns concord in number, gender and case;
2. The usage of personal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Pronouns concord in number, gender and case. In number: pronoun concord with
every-,some-, any- compounds as antecedent, with coordinate construction as
antecedent, with collective nouns antecedent, and with “plural noun/ pronoun +each”
as antecedent. In gender, Pronoun concord with male/female noun as antecedent, with
common gender noun as antecedent, and with neutral gender noun as antecedent, etc;
2. Choice of pronoun forms: choice between subjective and objective case, choice
between adjective and genitive case;
3. Possessive pronoun, reflexive pronoun, and generic use of personal pronouns;
4. Pronoun reference: anaphoric, cataphoric, situational reference, personal reference,
and demonstrative reference.
Teaching Contents
8.1 Pronoun concord in number
8.2 Pronoun concord in gender
8.3 Pronoun concord in person
Pronouns are a varied closed-class words with nominal function.
English has a developed pronoun system, comprising:
1.personal pronouns 2.possessive pronouns 3.reflexive pronouns 4.reciprocal
pronouns 5.demonstrative pronouns 6.interrogative pronouns 7.relative pronouns
8.indefinite pronouns
8.1 Pronoun concord in number
Personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, and corresponding
determiners have their singular and plural forms.
The number contrast of pronouns differs from that of nouns in that pronoun number
contrast is morphologically unrelated, as in I/we, he/they, as opposed to the typical
regular formation of noun plurals: boy/boys.
The choice of pronoun number forms is generally determined by the number of its
antecedent, that is, a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number.---They
haven’t yet made up their own mind.
1) Pronoun concord with every-, some-, any-compounds as antecedent:
everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody,
take the singular form (grammatical)
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---Everybody looked after himself.
---Nobody wants to go there, does he?
In informal style, the plural form, esp. everyone or everybody:
---Everybody knows what they have to do.
everything, something, anything, nothing: singular
---Everything is ready, isn’t?
2) Pronoun concord with coordinate construction as antecedent (notional concord)
---I bought bread and butter at the shop, and they cost 50c.
---She likes bread and butter, but this is too thick.
3) Pronoun concord with collective noun as antecedent (notional concord)
---The government is doing its best to boost production.
---The government have discussed the matter for a long time but they have shown no
sign of reaching an agreement.
4) Pronoun concord with “plural noun / pronoun + each” as antecedent
The choice of the number forms of the pronoun and corresponding determiner
depends on the position of the appositive “each”: before the verb---plural form;
after the verb--- singular form
---We each are accountable for our own families.
---We are each responsible for his own family.
8.2 Pronoun concord in gender
Gender is a grammatical category. It is a set of grammatical forms of nouns,
determiners and adjectives that tell of the distinctions of sex.
English nouns have four genders: masculine (man), feminine (woman), neutral (book)
and common (student).
But we do not mean any overt grammatical forms that show the distinctions of sex,
but the differences of natural sex denoted by the lexical meaning of nouns.
1) Pronoun concord with male / female noun as antecedent
---When Paul met Mary, he asked her to go to town.
2) Pronoun concord with common gender noun as antecedent
Some common gender nouns, such as doctor, teacher, engineer, lawyer, parent,
student…… they can either be male or female.
When they are used in the singular for generic
reference, these nouns are generally referred to as HE, a kind of practice that is
opposed by feminists.
---If a person breaks the law, he will be punished.
---The parent of a teenage child often wonders where he went wrong.
---Parents of teenage children often wonder where they went wrong. (plural form)
--- When a customer calls, ask him to leave his phone number.
--- When a customer calls, be sure to ask for a phone number. (No pronoun or
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determiner is used.)
In formal writing as in legal documents, “he or she”, “his or her” can also be used.
--- The parent of a teenage child often wonders where he or she went wrong.
(2) Some common gender nouns such as baby, infant, and child are intermediate
between personal and non-personal.
When the speaker does not know , or is not interested in the sex of the baby or infant,
he may use the neutral IT:
--- The baby was sleeping in its cot.
But if the speaker is the baby’s mother, she is unlikely to refer to her baby as IT:
---Watch out! The baby is trying to put the toy watch into his mouth.
3) Pronoun concord with neutral gender noun as antecedent
When the antecedent is a singular noun of neutral gender, a noun denoting an
inanimate or non-personal object, the neutral pronoun or the corresponding
determiner is generally used.(it / itself / its)
---That book has lost its cover. I will put a new one on it.
(2) Just as a baby may be designated it, so a number of nonhuman species may be
designated he or she.( car, ship)
---The car needs some petrol. Let’s fill her / him up at the next garage.
(3) When the antecedent is an animal noun, it is generally referred to as it in
nonexpert contexts. If the anima is spoken of with emotion or is personified, it may be
referred to as he or she.
--- The cat is a useful animal because it eats rats.
--- The cat leaped onto my bed and coiled herself there.
This is also true of the names of celestial bodies or abstract ideas: sun, moon, earth,
nature, history, war, death
---The sun is shining in all his splendid beauty.
--- Nature, the greatest artist, makes her common flowers in the common view.
(4) Names of countries may be treated either as feminine or neutral.
When used as geographical units, they are treated as inanimate and therefore neutral:
---China is in East Asia. It is one of the largest countries in the world.
If used as political or economic units, the names of countries are often feminine, she
or her is generally used:
---China has a history of over 5000 years. She is proud of her culture.
8.3 Pronoun concord in person
By pronoun concord in person, we mean two things:
Pronoun concord in person on sentential level
In a sentence, the person of a pronoun is determined by the person of its antecedent.
---My brother has sold his car.
If the antecedent is a coordinate construction containing a first or second person
pronoun, the referring pronoun should be first and second person in plural number.
---My friend and I are reading the manuscript. We’ll be through in half an hour.
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---You and the accountant are familiar with him. You can both see him.
2) Pronoun concord in person on textual level
In a text pronouns should be consistent in person from beginning to end. This is a
matter of speaking or writing from what point of view, from the speaker’s or writer’s
point of view or from that of a third party. A consistent point of view is a guarantee of
clarity in writing.
Teaching Contents
9.1 Choice of pronoun case forms
9.2 Reflexive pronouns
9.3 Pronoun reference
9.1 Choice of pronoun case forms
9.2 Reflexive pronouns
9.3 Pronoun reference
Pronoun reference is a kind of reference realized through the use of pronouns. When a
pronoun is used it must refer to somebody or something. What is referred to is called
antecedent. It is the antecedent that indicates the referential meaning of the pronoun.
anaphoric, cataphoric and situational reference
According to the relative position of the antecedent, pronoun reference can be
anaphoric or cataphoric.
When the antecedent occurs before the pronoun, which has to point backward for its
own interpretation, that is anaphoric reference.
---John has moved to a new house. He had it built last year.
If the antecedent appears after the pronoun, and the pronoun has to point forward for
its meaning, that is cataphoric reference.
---When she has finished her work, Mary left the office.
If the antecedent does not occur anywhere in a linguistic context, and the pronoun
only refers to somebody or something indicated by an extra linguistic situation in
which the utterance is given, that is situational reference.
--- How hard he studies English.
When a pronoun is used, it can only refer to one antecedent. If a pronoun has two or
more possible antecedents, that will lead to ambiguity.
---He introduced me to the pilot who had looked after him when he was in hospital.
--- He introduced me to the pilot whom he had looked after in the hospital…
2) Personal reference
Personal reference is established by personal pronouns, possessive pronouns,
reflexive pronouns, and corresponding determiners.
Personal reference is generally anaphoric. It may occur within the sentence boundary
or across sentences.
--- When Mary has finished her work, she left the office.
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--- John has moved to a new house. He had it built last year.
Personal reference can also be cataphoric, but under limited conditions. Generally
speaking, cataphoric personal pronouns usually occur in subordinate constructions,
and where cataphoric reference occurs, anaphoric reference canbe used instead, but
not conversely.
---When she had finished her work, Mary left the office.(cataphoric)
---When Mary had finished her work, she left the office. (anaphoric)
---Mary bought a new dress, but she didn’t like it.
---She bought a new dress, but Mary didn’t like it.
3) Demonstrative reference
Demonstrative reference is established by demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative
determiners.
All the demonstratives can be freely used in anaphoric reference.
---The man gad been drinking too much; this explain his unsteady walk.
A: I like the polar bears. These are my favorites.
B: Those are my favorites too.
--- Our daughter got a bad sun-burn yesterday. That’s why we couldn’t come.
As for cataphoric demonstratives, they are restricted to this and these, which are
commonly used to refer to a following clause or sentence or a group of sentences.
--- “The great difficulty is this,” said the psychologist, “you can move about in all
directions of space, but you can’t move about in time.”
“That” and “these” are rarely used cataphorically. When occasionally so used, they
often take on sarcastic meanings.
---How do you like that? He stabs you in the back and then professes to be your
friend.
Lesson 10 Verb and verb phrase
教学重点及难点：
1. The difference between finite and non-finite verb;
2. The classifications and usage of some phrasal verbs
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Classification of verbs. According to different standards, verbs and verb phrases
may falls into six types grammatically, semantically: Main verbs and auxiliaries,
transitive verbs, intransitive verbs and linking verbs, dynamic verbs and stative verbs,
single-word verbs and phrasal verbs, finite and non-finite verbs, regular and irregular
verbs;
2. A survey of tense, aspect, voice and mood: tense and aspect, active and passive
voice, finite and non-finite phrases.
3. The classifications and usage of some phrasal verbs: V. + Prep, V. + adverb particle,
V. + adverb particle + prep. The usage of phrasal verbs as pride oneself on, take pride
in and be proud of, etc.
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Lecture 10
Verb and Verb Phrase
Teaching Contents
10.1 Classification of verbs (I)
10.2 Classification of verbs (II)
10.3 A survey of tense, aspect, voice and mood
10.1 Classification of verbs (I)
1) Main verbs and auxiliaries
According to different roles played in the formation of verb phrases verbs are divided
into two classes: main verbs and auxiliaries. As we know, a verb phrase may consist
of a main verb only; this is called a simple verb phrase.
A verb phrase may also take the form of a verb preceded by one or more auxiliaries;
this is called a complex verb phrase.
Main verbs are also called notional verbs functioning as the head and indicating the
basic meaning of a verb phrase.
Auxiliaries fall into three categories: primary auxiliaries, modal auxiliaries and
semi-auxiliaries.
a) Primary auxiliaries: be, do, have. Without lexical meanings of their own, these
auxiliaries have only grammatical functions or grammatical meanings.
Be is usually used to help the main verb to form the progressive aspect or the
expressive voice.
Auxiliary do is used to help the main verb to express negative meanings or to form
question, and sometimes to help express the emphatic affirmative. The function of
auxiliary have is to help the main verb to form the perfective or the perfective
progressive aspect.
b) Modal auxiliaries: can/could, may/might, will/would, shall/should, must, ought to,
dare, need, used to.
They express modal meanings. In a finite verb phrase, we can use only one modal
auxiliary which is invariably followed by the bare infinitive or the base form.
c) Semi-auxiliaries: have to, seem to. They can help the main verb to form the
complex verb phrase and express the modal meaning on the one hand, and can, when
preceded by other auxiliaries, function as main verbs on the other.
2) Transitive verbs, intransitive verbs and linking verbs
Verbs are divided in accordance with whether or not they must be followed by
obligatory elements functioning as complementation and what kind of elements that
must follow.
a) Transitive verbs must be followed by an object. Some are followed by two objects,
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i.e. indirect object and direct object;.
some by an object and an object complement; some by an object and an obligatory
adverbial
b) Intransitive verbs do not require an object.
c) Linking verbs are followed by a subject complement.
3) Dynamic and stative verbs
a) Dynamic verbs refer to actions. They can be subclassified into three categories:
durative verbs, transitional verbs and momentary verbs.
b) Stative verbs refer to present or past states, i.e. to a relatively stable state of affairs.
They are normally incompatible with the progressive except in certain cases where
there is a transfer of meaning. They can be classified into four categories.
The first includes main verbs “be” and “have”.
The second includes verbs that include, as part of their meaning, the notion of being
and having, such as apply to, belong to, differ from, cost, weigh, measure.
The third includes verbs that refer to a sense perception, such as hear, see, feel, taste,
smell.
The fourth subclass includes verbs that refer to a feeling, a state of mind or an opinion,
such as assume, believe, consider, detest, wish.
Stative verbs are not used in progressive aspect, otherwise, they will be changed into
dynamic verbs, such as be, have.
e.g. He is being foolish (=is acting foolishly).
We’re having a wonderful time (= are enjoying ourselves).
The verbs resemble and cost are stative verbs when they are used to mean respectively
“be like” and “be worth”, but when used in other meanings, these two verbs just like
dynamic verbs can occur in the progressive.
e.g. He resembles his father.
He is resembling his father (= is becoming more and more like his father) as the years
go by.
Perception verbs when used in a non-volitional sense are stative verb, but when used
in a volitional sense are dynamic verbs.
e.g. I can taste pepper in it.
I’m tasting this soup.
Attitudinal verbs such as think, imagine, understand are stative verbs, but they can
occasionally be used dynamically to express different meanings, e.g.
Be quiet. I’m thinking (= giving thought to a problem).
There are also cases of a special polite use of the progressive with verbs like want,
hope, wonder.
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e.g. Were you wanting to see me?
10.2 Classification of verbs (II)
According to word formation and grammatical form, English verb may be divided
into single-verbs and phrasal verbs, finite verbs and non-finite verb, regular verbs and
irregular verbs.
4) Single-word verbs and phrasal verbs
A phrasal verb is a verb that is composed of two or more words. They can be
classified into three categories:
a) Verb + preposition e.g. The police are looking into the case.
b) Verb + adverb particle e.g. The meeting has been called off.
c) Verb + adverb particle + preposition e.g. I don’t want to come down with the flu
again.
Phrasal verbs are verbal idioms which are equivalent to single-word verbs, transitive
or intransitive, and which are different from simple verbal combination where the
meanings are easily guessed from the parts. Some constructions such as verb + noun +
preposition and verb + noun are also grouped under the category of phrasal verbs
e.g. She soon realized that she was being made fun of .
5) Finite and non-finite verbs
Finite main verbs have tow finite forms and three non-finite forms. The two are the
present tense and the past tense; the three are the infinitive, the –ing participle and the
–ed participle. Finite verbs are marked for tense, and non-finite verbs have no tense
distinctions.
Most auxiliaries have the present and past tense forms but not all the three non-finite
forms except for the primary auxiliary be. The modals do not have the non-finite
forms or the base.
6) Regular and irregular verbs
Verbs whose past tense and –ed participle forms are derived by adding –ed are regular
verbs, and otherwise they are irregular verbs.
10.3 A survey of tense, aspect, voice and mood
1) Tense and aspect
Tense is a grammatical form associated with verbs that tells of the distinctions of time;
that is, tense and time are related and different. Time is a universal concept with three
divisions: past, present and future times.
The notion of time is common to all mankind, when expressed linguistically, it is
tense. Chinese is not an inflectional language and has its own ways to express tense.
Aspect is also a kind of verb form which represents the action or the process
expressed by the verb as something going on or completed at a given time. English
has two aspects: the progressive and the perfective aspects.
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The uses of tense and aspect
Tense: present
past
Aspect: progressive
perfective
1.A tense can be used independently:
1) simple present, 2) simple past
2.A tense can be combined with an aspect:
3) present progressive, 4) past progressive
5) present perfective, 6) past perfective
3. A tense can be combined with two aspects:
7) Present perfective progressive
8) Past perfective progressive
2) Active voice and passive voice
Voice is a grammatical category, showing whether the subject of a sentence acts or is
acted on. English has two voices: the active and passive voices. When the subject is
the agent or doer of an action, the verb takes the active voice; if the subject is the
recipient of the action, the verb takes the passive voice and the sentence is called
passive sentence.
The passive voice is formed by the auxiliary be + -ed participle of the transitive verb.
Since be can take different forms of tense and aspect, we have six passive forms: the
simple present, the simple past, the present progressive, the past progressive, the
present perfective and the past perfective. Of the three non-finite form, the infinitive
and the –ing participle can occur in the passive, simple and perfective.
“Modal auxiliary / semi-auxiliary + infinitive” are made passive by using a passive
infinitive, which may occur in the simple or in the perfective form. When the passive
is formed by get + -ed participle, it is called get-passive, distinguished from
be-passive. But get isn’t an auxiliary and cannot be used as operator in a negative
statement or in a question.
Get-passive usually used to denote sudden and unexpected happenings in contexts
initiated by such expressions as “in the end, eventually, at last”.
3) Indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood
Mood, as a grammatical category, is a finite verb form that indicates whether an
utterance expresses a fact (indicative mood), a command or request (imperative
mood), or a non-fact and hypothesis (subjunctive mood)
4) Finite and non-finite verb phrases
Depending on whether the first element in a verb phrase is finite or non-finite, a
distinction is made between finite verb phrases and non-finite verb phrases.
Lesson 11 Tense and aspect (I)
教学重点及难点：
1. The difference between the present perfect and the present perfect progressive;
34
2. The use of simple present, the present progressive, and present perfect
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Use of simple present. The simple present can be used to denote: timeless present,
habitual present, momentary and instantaneous present, simple present referring to the
future, simple present referring to the past;
2. Use of present Progressive. The present progressive has the following uses: to
denote an action in progress at the moment of speaking, an action in progress at a
period of time including the present, a future happening according to a definite plan or
arrangement and other meanings;
3. The two chief uses of the present perfective/progressive and how the present
perfective/progressive distinguished in meaning from the simple past.
Lecture 11
Tense and Aspect (I)
In this and the next five lectures we are going to deal with features of tense,
aspect, voice and mood expressed by the verb phrase. We will start with uses of
the simple present, the simple past, the present progressive and the past
progressive.
11.1 Uses of simple present
The simple present is the present tense form which is not accompanied by the
category of aspect, that is , which is not marked for the progressive or the
perfective aspect. The simple present can be used to denote the following
meanings with greater restrictions on verbs:
Timeless present
The most common use of the simple present is found in the expression of eternal
truths and proverbs, as well as in scientific, mathematical, geographical and other
statements made for all time.
This use of the simple present mostly applies to stative verbs, eg:
Honesty is the best policy.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
London stands on the River Thames.
Habitual present
A second use of the simple present, that of habitual or recurrent use, is typically
associated with dynamic verbs, eg:
Percy often goes to his office by underground.
Father doesn’t smoke.
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Momentary and instantaneous present
The simple present can also be used to denote a momentary phenomenon that
exists at the time of speaking. This phenomenon usually has some duration and
therefore is mostly associated with stative verbs, eg:
What’s the matter with you?
What do you think, Jane?
A less common use. The simple present can be used to imply that the event
takes place singly and once-for-all within the moment of speaking. Unlike
momentary present, this kind of happening has little or no duration and therefore
is confined to dynamic verbs denoting short actions. The use of the instantaneous
present is rather restricted, occurring normally in certain speech situations such as
radio and television commentaries of fast-moving sports, the running
commentary of conjurors and demonstrators, and some formal declarations, eg:
(page184)
Simple present referring to the future
The simple present can also be used to denote future time.
This use is limited to future events conceived of as “certain”, either because they
are determined in advance by calendar of timetable, or because they are part of a
plan or an arrangement thought of as unalterable.
This kind of future expression will be elaborated on in lecture 13.
In the present lecture, we will just mention some subclauses in which the simple
present is commonly used in the future sense.
These subclauses include the that-clause following “I hope”, “I bet”, etc; the
that-clause following such constructions as “see to it”, “make sure”, “make
certain”; and the conditional / temporal clauses introduced by if /when, eg:
I hope you have a good time.
I bet it rains tomorrow.
I’ll see (to it)/ make sure/ make certain (that) you don’t get lost.
Simple present referring to the past
In addition to the meanings discussed above, the simple present can occasionally
be used to denote past time.
This use of the simple present is usually found with “communication verbs” such
as tell, say, hear, learn, and write to express the present effect of information
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received in the past, eg:
Alice tells me you’re entering college next year.
I hear poor old Mrs. Smith has lost her son.
Simple present is also used as a device of story-telling and news reporting to add
vividness to the description.
This use of the simple present to refer to the past is what we call “historic
present”, eg:
…I was just dozing off in front of the television when my wife rushes in shouting
that the kitchen is on fire.
11.2 Uses of simple past
The simple past is the past tense form which is not marked for the progressive or
the perfective aspect.
This tense form can be used to denote the following meanings:
Past event and past habit
The basic use of the simple past is to denote a simple event or state that happened
or existed at a definite point or period of time in the past.
This is what we call the event/state past, eg:
He left ten minutes ago.
This town was once a beauty spot.
The simple past can also be used to denote a habitual or recurrent action in the
past, known as the habitual past, eg:
In those days they sowed wheat by hand.
He worked in a bank all his life.
Neither the event/state pas nor the habitual past has any connection with the
present moment, so what is denoted by the simple past must be something no
longer existent at the moment of speaking.
Compare:
His father was an English teacher all his life.(“He is now dead.”)
His father has been an English teacher all his life.(“He is still alive.”)
Attitudinal and hypothetical past
In specific contexts, the simple past can also denote the present or the future time.
There are two uses. One is known as the attitudinal past, that is , the past tense
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is associated with the present time in independent clauses expressing a question,
request or suggestion. Its effect is to make the question / request/suggestion less
direct, implying a polite, somewhat tentative attitude on the part of the speaker,
eg:
A: Did you want me?
B: Yes, I wondered if you could give me some help.
The other is what we call the hypothetical past. In this use, the simple past
refers not to a fact but to a non-fact, and is typically found in that-clause
following such constructions as “It’s time…”, “I wish…”, “ I’d rather…”, etc.,
and in adverbial clauses of rejected condition, i.e. a condition which is not likely
to be fulfilled, eg:
It’s time you had a holiday.
I wish you lived closer to us.
I’d rather you went now.
If I had the money now, I’d buy a car.
11.3 Uses of present progressive
The present progressive (am/is/are+-ing participle) has the following uses:
To denote an action in progress at the moment of speaking
To denote what is going on at the present moment, we commonly use the present
progressive, generally associated with durative dynamic verbs, eg:
A: What are you doing?
B: I’m writing a letter.
The difference between the simple present and the present progressive referring
to present time is that the former carries a permanent meaning and the latter a
temporary meaning.
Compare:
He lives in shanghai (permanent residence)
He is now living in Shanghai.(temporary residence)
To denote an action in progress at a period of time including the present
The present progressive can also express an action that is gong on over a period
of time including the present but not necessarily at the moment of speaking, that
is, a temporary habit as distinguished from the permanent habit denoted by the
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simple present.
Compare:
He works in a chemical factory.
He is working in a chemical factory these days.
Note that the present progressive when accompanied by an adverbial of frequency
such as always, continually, constantly, or forever often imparts an emotional
coloring, often of annoyance or disapproval.
By contrast, the simple present lacks the subjective, emotional tone of the present
progressive and states a fact objectively.
Compare:
She complains about the house.
She is constantly complaining about the house
.
To denote a future happening according to a definite plan or arrangement
The present progressive used to refer to the future, more often than not the near
rather than distant future, in connection with a definite plan, arrangement of
program, usually occurs in situations with obvious future reference, eg:
Mr. Cameron is leaving China in a few weeks.
I’m going to Qingdao for the summer holiday.
The present progressive denoting futurity also occurs in temporal and conditional
clauses, on condition that there is future reference in the main clause, eg.:
I’ll think about it while you’re writing the report.
If you are standing at the corner, I’ll give you a lift.
To denote other meanings
Apart from the above-mentioned meanings, the present progressive may also be
used to denote an action in the immediate past which is generally expressed by
communication verbs such as tell, talk, say, exaggerate, etc, eg:
You don’t believe it? You know I’m telling the truth.
I don’t know what you are talking about.
The present progressive may also be used to make even politer requests than does
the attitudinal past with such few verbs as hope, wonder dealt with in 11,2.2, eg:
I’m hoping you’ll give us some advice.
I’m wondering if I may have a word with you.
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As mentioned before, the present progressive is commonly associated with
durative dynamic verbs.
With momentary verbs, i.e. verbs denoting actions of very short duration, the use
of the present progressive will be understood to express repetition or a series of
momentary actions, rather than just a single action.
11.4 Uses of past progressive
The use of the past progressive (was/were+ -ing participle)has much in common
with that of the present progressive, only the time reference being pushed back to
the past, often overtly expressed by a time-when adverbial.
The following are the uses of the past progressive.
To denote an action in progress at a definite point or period of past time
This is the most common use of the past progressive.
In this use, the past time reference is usually indicated by a temporal adverbial or
implied by the context.
In the past progressive, the notion of incompleteness is more clearly indicated
than in the present progressive, eg:
What were you doing yesterday at seven p.m.?
They were building a dam last winter.
It is based on this use that the past progressive may have the effect of surrounding
a particular event by a temporal frame, or serve, at the beginning of a text, as the
background in past time narrative, eg:
The students were still laughing when the teacher stepped in.
To denote a past habitual action
The habitual action denoted by the past progressive is most clearly characterized
by its temporariness, in contrast with the past habit denoted by the simple past,
eg:
George was getting up at five every day that week.
As in the case of the present progressive, the past progressive can also collocate
with such adverbials of frequency as always, constantly, continually, forever, to
express emotional feelings, especially feelings of annoyance or disapproval on
the part of the speaker, eg:
My brother was always losing his keys.
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To denote futurity in the past
In specific contexts, the past progressive can be used to denote a future action in
the past according to a definite plan or arrangement.
This use is also found in some adverbial clauses of time or condition, eg:
They were leaving a few days later.
He told me to wake him up if he was sleeping.
To make polite requests and express hypothetical meanings
The past progressive has a similar function to that of the simple past and of the
present progressive as described in 11.2.2 and 11.3.4.
Of the three forms, the past progressive is the most tentative in making polite
requests.
Compare:
I hope you can send me some books.
I hoped that you could send me some books.
I am hoping you can send me some books.
I was hoping you could send me some books.
To express hypothetical meanings, the past progressive only occurs in certain
conditional clauses and in subclauses after “I wish”, “I’d rather”, “it’s time”, etc:
I wish they were not talking so loudly.
I’d rather you were going at once.
Would you stay a little longer, if you were enjoying yourself?
If they were leaving tonight, I’d like to go with them.
It is time we were leaving.
Contrast between past progressive and simple past
In the previous sections we have touched upon notional differences between the
simple past and the past progressive.
There are a few more points to note.
To denote an action in completion, we use the simple past; to denote an action in
progress, we use the past progressive.
To state a mere past fact, we use the simple past; to lay emphasis on the duration
of the action, we use the past progressive.
When two actions co-occur in a sentence, the action of shorter duration is to be
denoted by the simple past, while that of longer duration by the past progressive.
In colloquial speech, the past progressive is sometimes used to show what one
says is casual, unimportant and aimless, whereas the use of the simple past means
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differently. Compare:
I was talking to Margaret the other day.
I talked to Margaret the other day.
Compare the time sequence of the two actions in the following sentences:
When we arrived, she was making some fresh coffee.
When we arrived, she made some fresh coffee.
In the first sentence, the action of making coffee was already in progress
when we arrived, whereas in the second sentence, the action of making
coffee followed our arrival in time sequence.
Lesson 12 Tense and aspect (II)
教学重点及难点：
1. Differences between present/past perfective and present/past perfective progressive.
2. Perfective aspect and since-clause, perfective aspect vs. have got/have got to.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Present perfective has two chief uses: “finished” use and “unfinished” use. The
former refers to the present result of a past event still operative at the present moment,
while the latter one denotes that an action or state extends over a period lasting up to
the present moment.
2. Past perfective progressive also has “finished” and “unfinished” use, only with time
reference back-shifted to a specified past moment.
3. There are a few more points that merit our attention concerning the use of the
perfective aspect: perfective aspect and since-clause, perfective aspect vs. have
got/have got to and perfective aspect in “It is/will be the first time + that-clause”.
Lecture 12
Tense and Aspect (II)
The perfective aspect can combine with the two tenses, forming present
perfective and past perfective, which can again combine with the progressive
aspect, resulting in present perfective progressive and past perfective progressive.
12.1 uses of present perfective (progressive)
This section deals with the two chief uses of the present perfective (progressive)
and how the present perfective (progressive) is distinguished in meaning from the
simple past.
Present perfective
Present perfective, a combination of the perfective aspect with the present tense
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(have / has+-ed participle), has two chief uses: “finished” use and “unfinished”
use.
This “finished” use refers to the present result of a past event still operative at the
present moment.
The “unfinished” use of the present perfective denotes that an action or state
extends over a period lasting up to the present moment, possibly extending into
the future as well.
The difference between these two uses manifests itself in the fact that in the
“unfinished” use, the present perfective is commonly accompanied by an
adverbial expressing duration, but no such accompanying adverbial is present in
the “finished” use.
Compare:
He’s turned off the light. (“The light is still off now.”)
He’s lived here since 1960. (“The period of residence extends either to the
present—the usual interpretation—or to some specified date in the past.”)
Present perfective progressive
The use of the present perfective progressive (have/has been + -ing participle) has
much in common with the “unfinished” use of the present perfective.
Compare:
I’ve been writing letters for an hour (and I’ve still got some more to do).
I’ve been sitting in the garden (and have just come indoors).
There are cases, however, where these two forms are not interchangeable in that
the present perfective progressive has also the meanings of continuousness,
temporariness and incompleteness.
Compare:
Who’s been eating my dinner?(“Some of it is left.”)
Who’s eaten my dinner? (“It’s all gone.”)
Contrast between present perfective (progressive) and simple past
As has been pointed out, the action or state denoted by the present perfective
(progressive), though referring to some indefinite happening in the past, has some
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connection with the present.
Hence, if an action or state happened in the past and has no connection with the
present, it will have to be expressed by the simple past or the past progressive.
Compare:
His sister has been an invalid all her life .(“she is still alive.”)
His sister was an invalid all her life.(she is now dead.)
12.2. Uses of past perfective (progressive)
Let us now turn to the uses of the past perfective (progressive).
Past perfective
The past perfective also has two chief uses: “finished” use and “unfinished” use,
only with time reference back –shifted to a specified past moment.
In the “finished” use, the past perfective denotes an action or state already in
completion before a specified past,
and in its “unfinished” use, an action or state extending over a period up to a past
moment and possibly into the future in the past, e.g.:
I had written the article when he came.
By six o’clock they had worked twelve hours.
Past perfective progressive
The past perfective progressive is basically similar in use to the present perfective
progressive, only with time reference back-shifted to a specified past.
The chief use of the past perfective progressive has also something in common
with the “unfinished” use of the past perfective, and, therefore, in many cases,
these two forms can be used interchangeably, though in colloquial speech, the
past perfective progressive is more frequently used than the past perfective.
Compare:
I’d been working for three hours when he called.
I’d worked for three hour when he called
Past perfective in sentences with when-/ before- /after-/ until- clauses
44
Subordinators such as when, before, after, until can sometimes be used
interchangeably when they connect clauses where two actions happen one after
another.
The general rule is that the earlier happenings are expressed by the past perfective
and the later happening by the simple past.
Compare:
When I reached the station, the train had already left.
I reached the station after the train had left.
I didn’t reach the station until after the train had left.
The train had left before I reached the station.
Since before and after can indicate time sequence by their own lexical meanings,
the two actions happening one after another can both be expressed by the simple
past in sentences comprising a before/after-clause.
Compare:
The train (had) left before I reached the station.
After the teacher (had) left the room, the children started talking.
Sometimes the past perfective is used in a before-clause to lay emphasis on the
incompletion of the action:
He offered me a drink before I had taken off my coat.
Rarely can two past perfective forms co-occur in a sentence to show time
sequence of two actions except for the kind of sentence comprising a clause
introduced by the subordinator by the time.
Even in this kind of clause, the simple past is more frequently used than the past
perfective:
By the time I (had) recovered from the shock, he had disappeared.
We had got everything ready by the time they arrived.
Imaginary use of past perfective
The past perfective when used to express hypothetical meanings in called the
imaginary use of the past perfective.
This use is found:
in clauses introduced by if, if only, as if to denote a hypothetical condition, a wish
45
not likely to be fulfilled or a state contrary to the past fact:
If Bernard had walked faster, everything would have been all right.
I felt as if I had known her all my life.
If only you had told me before.
In that-clauses following “I wish”, “I’d rather”, etc:
I wish I had said that I couldn’t come
I would rather you had told her the truth.
In superordinate clause where the past perfective is associated with such verbs as
expect, think, intend, mean (= intend), want, suppose to denote a past wish or
intention which was not realized:
I had intended to make a cake, but I ran out of time.
12.3 More on the use of perfective aspect
There are a few more points that merit our attention concerning the use of the
perfective aspect.
Perfective aspect and since-clause
Perfective aspect is often accompanied by a since-phrase or a since-clause to
denote a continuous state or activity from a point in past time until now.
The verb in the since-clause is commonly the simple past of a dynamic verb
denoting non-continuous activity.
If the main or superordiante clause is in the form of “It be +complement
(denoting a time span) + since-clause”, the verb be in the main clause may
occur in the simple present in place of the present perfective, e.g.:
I haven’t seen him since his wedding day/ since I met you.
It’s three months since he wrote to me.
Sometimes, however, the verb in the since-clause may be the simple past of a
dynamic verb of continuous activity of that of a stative verb, in which case
the time span denoted by the since-clause is different from the ordinary cases,
generally referring to the end or completion of that continuous activity or
state.
If we use this kind of verb in the since-clause and mean to say that the
46
continuous activity or state extends up to the present moment, we will have
to use the present perfective instead of the simple past.
Compare:
He has written to me frequently since I was ill. (“I’m not ill now.”)
He has written to me frequently since I have been ill. (“I’m still ill now.”)
Perfective aspect vs. have got/have got to
The perfective aspect of get is have / has / had got, but in colloquial speech
(esp. in BrE), have got can also be used in the sense of “possession” just like
the main verb have.
This should not be confused with the perfective aspect of the verb get.
The construction have got to has nothing to do with the perfective aspect of
the verb get. This construction, the negative form of which is haven’t got to,
is commonly used in the sense of have to.
But unlike the semi-auxiliary have to, have got to cannot collocate with
auxiliaries.
For instance, we cannot say, “do not have got to”, nor can we say “will have
got to” or “won’t have got to”.
Perfective aspect in “It is the first time + that-clause”
In the that-clause following “It is /will be the first time”, the verb usually
occurs in the present perfective.
If the verb of the main clause is the past tense of the verb be (was), the verb
in the following that-clause should be the past perfective, or occasionally the
simple past.
It may also occur in the present perfective in case the main clause contains a
temporal adverbial inclusive of the time of speaking.
Compare:
It’s the first time I’ve been here.
Don’t forget, it’ll be the first time I’ve spoken in public.
It was the first time she’d been at a summer school and she thoroughly
enjoyed it.
It was the first time this year he hadn’t worked/hasn’t worked on a Saturday.
Lesson 13 Means of Expressing Future Time
47
教学重点及难点：
1. The divergences between be going to and will;
2. The use of be to and be about to.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Future time is expressed by means of modal auxiliaries, by semi-auxiliaries, or by
the simple present and present progressive forms, and the past future is expressed by
would + infinitive, was/were going to +infinitive, past progressive and simple past,
and was/were about to + infinitive.
2. “will+ infinitive” and “be going to +infinitive” can sometimes be used
interchangeably except for a few cases. The chief difference is that the be going to
form always implies a premeditated intention, while the will form implies intention
alone.
3. “be to +infinitive” and “be about to” can denote a future happening based on a
present plan or arrangement, but the future time adverbial(s) can’t be used in the latter
one.
Lecture 13
Means of Expressing Future Time
In its long history, English has not developed a special verb form that might be
tightly labeled FUTURE TENSE corresponding to the time/ tense parallel of
present and past.
When we say that English has no future tense, we certainly do not mean that
English has not the means of expressing future time.
Instead there are a number of constructions that can be used to denote futurity in
English.
The present lecture will deal with these future expressions.
12.1 Constructions denoting future time
In English, future time is expressed by means of modal auxiliaries, by
semi-auxiliaries, or by the simple present and present progressive forms.
Will / shall + infinitive
The modal auxiliary will with subjects of all three persons and the infrequent
modal auxiliary shall with a first person subject are commonly used to indicate
futurity, but the future meanings expressed by these auxiliaries are very often
colored by modal meanings from prediction to intention and volition, e.g.:
You will feel better after taking this medicine.
I’m sure I shan’t lose my way in the woods.
I promise to pay his back in time, but he won’t lend it to me.
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Will / shall + progressive / perfective infinitive
If we want to express a colorless, pure future, we can use “will / shall +
progressive infinitive”.
This construction usually implies an action that will occur in the normal course of
events without any human involvement, i.e. without being colored by volition or
intention:
The train will be arriving at two o’clock.
I shall be writing to you soon.
Will you be gong home next weekend?
This construction can also be used to denote an action that is still going on at a
given future time:
I’ll be working in Geneva during May.
If we want to express an action that has just finished before a given future time,
we can use the construction of “will / shall + perfective infinitive”:
I’ll have finished my work by five this afternoon.
If an action has extended for a specified length of time before a given future
moment and possibly continues at that moment, we can use the construction of
“will / shall + perfective progressive infinitive”:
By the end of next month I shall have been working here for 20 years exactly.
In the above-mentioned constructions, will / shall are still modal auxiliaries
instead of the so-called “future tense auxiliaries”, because even in these
constructions will / shall may express meanings that have nothing to do with
future time at all.
They may express the speaker’s assumptions about a present happening or even a
past event, e.g.:
It’s already six o’clock. He won’t be working now.
He will have received my letter by now.
You’ll have been wondering all this time how my invention works.
Be going to + infinitive
This construction is usually used to express two meanings: intention and
prediction. In its first use, the be going to form implies an intention of doing
49
something in the near future. The doer of the intended action is generally the
subject of the sentence, but in some contexts may also be implied or realized by a
different element in the sentence.
Compare:
He’s going to be a doctor when he grows up.
He’s not going to cheat me again (= I won’t let his cheat me again).
Since both will and be going to can denote intention, these two
constructions—“will + infinitive “ and “be going to + infinitive” –can some times
be used interchangeably except for a few cases where only one them is possible.
The chief difference is that the be going to form always implies a premeditated
intention, while the will form implies intention alone, and this intention is usually,
though not necessarily, unpremeditated.
Compare:
A: Why are you taking down all the pictures?
B: I’m going to repair the room
A: What a terribly heavy box!
B: I’ll help you to carry it.
In its second use, be going to can express the speaker’s feeling of certainty. The
time is usually not mentioned, but the action is expected to happen in the near or
immediate future:
Good heavens! I must hurry. I’m going to be late.
Look at these black clouds—there’s going to be a storm.
The difference between “will + infinitive “and “be going to + infinitive “ in
expressing prediction lies in the fact that the be going to form implies that there
are signs that something will happen, while the will form implies what the
speaker thinks or believes will happen.
Present progressive
As has been mentioned, the present progressive can refer to a future happening
anticipated at the present.
Its basic meaning is an action that will happen in the near future according to a
present arrangement, plan, or programme.
As a future form, the present progressive is widely used with verbs of movement
from one place to another such as go, come, leave, start, arrive, etc, though also
applicable to other dynamic verbs, e.g.:
50
We’re leaving on Friday.
We’re moving to a different hotel the day after tomorrow.
I’m spending my holidays in Switzerland this year.
Since both the be going to form and the present progressive can be used to refer
to a future happening arising from the present decision, these two forms are
sometimes interchangeable for future reference, e.g.:
She is getting / is going to get married this spring.
We are having / are going to have fish for dinner.
When it comes to the verbs go and come, we generally use the present progressive
instead of the be going to form, e.g.:
We are going to a concert tonight.
Be to + infinitive
As a form expressing futurity, the construction “be to + infinitive” can denote a
future happening based on a present plan or arrangement, e.g.:
I am to have tea with Betty this afternoon.
There’s to be an investigation.
This construction is very much used in newspapers, and in headlines with the
verb be often omitted to save space, e.g.:
The Queen is to visit Japan next year.
Another use of this construction is to convey orders, instructions, or prohibitions;
it can also connote possibility or destiny, e.g.:
You are to stand here, do you understand?
Tell her she’s not to be back late.
The dictionary is not to be had here.
Simple present
The future use of the simple present is more frequent in dependent, especially
conditional and temporal, clauses than in main clauses, e.g.:
If she comes, I’ll tell her all about it.
It won’t be long before the rain stops.
51
In main clauses, the simple present refers to an immutable future event
predetermined by a timetable or a schedule that is very definite and unalterable,
e.g.:
She retires next month.
Tomorrow is Saturday.
Next Christmas falls on a Thursday.
For future reference, the simple present, just like the present progressive, usually
goes with transitional verbs with the implication of a “plan” or “programme”
already made, but the plan implied by the simple present is more impersonal than
that by the present progressive, and therefore, more fixed and unalterable.
13.2 Means of expressing past future
The future time discussed in the preceding section is viewed from the present. If
the speaker refers to a future event from a viewpoint in the past, that is past future.
Most of the future constructions just discussed can be used in the past tense to
refer to past future events.
Would + infinitive
For past future reference, the modal auxiliary construction with would is usually
accompanied by an adverbial denoting future time in the past. This construction
is commonly used in dependent clauses, e.g.:
He said he could come back the next day.
If an action still continues at a given future time in the past, we can use “would +
progressive infinitive”:
He never imagined that some day he would be living away from his motherland.
If an action has finished before a given future time in the past, we can use “would
+ perfective infinitive”:
He said he would have finished his thesis by the end of next month.
If an action has extended for a specified length of time up to a given future time
in the past and possibly continues at that time we can use “would + perfective
progressive infinitive”:
She said that by the end of May she would have been studying medicine for three
years.
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Was / were going to + infinitive
This construction is commonly used with past future reference clearly indicated
in the context, e.g.:
He said that he was going to live in the country when he retired.
It usually occurs in dependent clauses, and in main clauses often denotes an
unfulfilled intention, e.g.:
Last Sunday we were going to go for a picnic but it rained.
Was / were to +infinitive
This construction is commonly used in formal style to denote a future action
based on a past plan or arrangement.
If the plan or arrangement is cancelled or unfulfilled, we will have to use “was
/were to + perfective infinitive”.
Compare:
He said that we were to leave at six.
We were to have left at six but it rained.
This construction can also be used in the sense of “was destined to”, i.e. denoting
a past destiny:
They said goodbye, little knowing they were never to meet again.
Past progressive and simple past
The past progressive can express an arrangement predetermined in the past, e.g.:
He said they were going on Tuesday.
For past future reference, the simple past is commonly found in adverbial clauses
of condition and in those of time, e.g.:
He said he would tell her all about it if he met her.
She told me that she would come to see me when she visited China again.
Was / were about to + infinitive
This semi-auxiliary construction expresses the immediate future in the past.
some contexts, it is often used in the sense of an unfulfilled intention.
Compare:
53
In
I felt that something terrible was about to happen.
We were about to start when it began to rain.
The prisoner was about to escape, but the policemen appeared before him.
Lesson 14 Passive Voice (I)
教学重点及难点：
1. Passive voice of non-finite verbs;
2. Passive voice of phrasal voice.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Most of the SVO / SvoO /SVOC patterns can be made passive: the active object
becomes the passive subject, the active verb phrase becomes the passive verb phrase,
the active subject becomes the passive agent.
2. Phrasal verbs in forms as “verb +preposition”, “verb +adverb particle” and “verb+
adverb particle+ preposition” are mostly treated as single=word verbs, and both the
adverb particle and the preposition should remain immediately after verbs. Phrasal
verbs of “verb +noun. +preposition” should be changed in two ways.
3. English verbs have three non-finite forms: the infinitive, the –ing participle, and the
–ed participle, of which the first two may occur in the passive.
Lecture 14
Passive Voice (I)
This lecture deals with the uses if the passive voice.
14.1 Active sentence and passive sentence
As has been pointed out, a sentence/clause whose predicator (predicate verb) is
active is called an “active sentence”, and sentence/clause whose predicator
(predicate verb) is passive is called a “passive sentence”. The subject of the active
sentence is the agent or doer of an action, and in the passive the recipient of the
action.
Rules of change into the passive
Most the SVO/SVoO/SVOC pattern can be made passive. Rules of transformation
are as follows:
In the first pattern (SVO), the active object becomes the passive subject, the
active verb phrase becomes the passive verb phrase, the active subject becomes
the passive agent and a preposition by is int5oduced before the agent. The
by-phrase is not necessary unless the speaker/writer wants to stress the agent or
doer of the action:
54
They punished the criminal.
The criminal was punished.
All the six senators signed the bill.
The bill was signed by all the six senators.
If there is a modal or semi-auxiliary in the active verb phrase, it is the infinitive
that follows that is made passive:
They should do the work at once.
The work should be done at once.
He is likely to let you down.
You are likely to be let down.
In the SvoO pattern, there are two possible passive forms: either the indirect
object or the direct object becomes the subject of the passive sentence:
They offered him some assistance.
He was offered some assistance.
Some assistance was offered to him.
The first form is much more common than the second.
In the SVOC pattern, the object complement becomes the subject complement of
the passive sentence apart from the other changes:
We have painted the windows white.
The windows have been painted white.
Whether or not a by-phrase is used in a passive sentence is determined by a
number of factors.
Generally speaking, a by-phrase is not necessary when the agent or doer of
an action is unknown or unimportant.
But it is necessary to have a by-phrase in cases where we want, for example,
to stress the agent or doer:
“Hamlet” was written by Shakespeare
Or to avoid changing the subject midway:
He arrived at London where he was met by his friend.
Or to avoid the subject being top-heavy:
The picture was painted by a very good friend of mine whom I’d like you to met
sometime.
Voice constrains
55
Not all the active sentences can be made passive.
Some transitive or stative verbs, for example, do not occur in the passive:
This plane holds about 150 people.
These students lacked experience.
Transitive verbs with reflexive or reciprocal objects do not passivize:
He hurt himself when he fell from the ladder.
We should help each other.
Some “verb + noun” combinations, which have the force of an intransitive verb,
can never take the passive:
The medicine soon took effect.
The plant will soon take root.
There is no active transformation for the following seemingly passive sentences:
He is gone. = He has gone.
The moon is risen now.= The moon has risen now.
They are finished. =They have finished.
Conversely, with some verbs only the passive is possible:
She was born in Shanghai.
She is reputed to be the best singer in Europe.
14.2 Passive voice of phrasal verbs
When used transitively, phrasal verbs can be made passive.
Passive voice of basic phrasal verbs
As has been mentioned in 10.1.5, phrasal verbs have three basic forms: “verb +
preposition”, “verb +adverb particle” and “verb +adverb particle + preposition”.
In the transformation from the active into the passive, these forms are mostly
treated as single word verbs, and both the adverb particle and the preposition
should remain immediately after the verb.
verb + preposition, e.g.: look after, look into , talk about:
The children are well looked after.
This matter is being looked into.
Other possibilities were talked about at the meeting
56
Verb + adverb particle, e.g.: set up , put off, bring about:
when was the hospital set up?
The sports meet is to be put off.
Verb + adverb particle + preposition, e.g.: do away with, face up to , put up with:
That sort of thing should be done away with.
There’s no running away from the facts: they just have to be faced up to.
Passive voice of “verb + noun + preposition”
The “verb + noun + preposition” combination may have two passive possibilities.
The first of these is to treat the combination as a single transitive verb; the second
is to treat the combination as “verb + object + preposition”, and put the whole
prepositional phrase after the passive verb.
Compare:
He took great care of his books.
His books were taken great care of.
He took great care of his books.
Great care was taken of his books.
14.3 Passive voice of non-finite verbs
English verbs have three non-finite forms: the infinitive, the –ing participle, and
the –ed participle, of which the first two may occur in the passive.
Passive infinitive
When the logical subject of the infinitive is the recipient of an action, the
infinitive should take the passive form.
The logical subject of the passive infinitive need not be expressed if the infinitive
shares the subject with the main clause, e.g.:
I am proud to be thus chosen.
I hope to be nominated.
If the infinitive does not share the subject with the main clause, the logical subject
of the passive infinitive must be expressed, e.g.:
It is impossible for lost tie time to be made up.
To fetch water before breakfast seemed to them a rule never to be broken.
In some contexts, the infinitive can occur either in the active or in the passive
without any difference in meaning, e.g.:
57
There is so such work to do /to be done.
But in some other cases, for instance, in the construction of “there was nothing to
see/ to be seen”, the active infinitive and the passive mean differently,
Compare:
There was nothing to see. (= There was nothing for one to see.)
There was nothing to bee seen. (=The thing being looked for was not there)
Sometimes, usage requires the active infinitive rather than the passive, even
though the logical subject of the infinitive is the recipient of the action, e.g.:
This house is to let.
You are not to blame for what happened.
A lot remains to do.
Passive –ing participle
When the logical subject of the –ing participle is the recipient of an action, the
–ing participle should occur in the passive, e.g.:
The problem being discussed is of vital importance.
I object to being kept waiting.
The logical subject of the passive –ing participle need not be expressed if it is the
subject of the main clause as shown in the above example, and must be expressed
if the passive –ing participle dies not share the subject with the main clause, e.g.:
The workers were proud of their products being praised highly by the buying
public.
When a passive –ing participle with a personal pronoun as its own subject
functions as the object or prepositional complementation, the personal pronoun
can occur either in the objective or in the genitive case, ice in the form of a
possessive determiner, e.g.:
I insisted on him / his being invited.
Contrast between passive infinitive and passive –ing participle
Both the passive infinitive and the passive –ing participle can function as the
object of transitive verbs.
It must be noted that some verbs can only collocate with the infinitive, some only
with the –ing participle, and some either with the infinitive or with the –ing
58
participle without change of meaning except for a few cases where there is
difference semantically.
Compare:
He wants to be invited.
He enjoys being flattered.
He likes to be consulted/being consulted.
He forgot to be photographed. (=He forgot that he had to be photographed.)
He forgot being photographed. (=He forgot that he had been photographed.)
If a passive non-finite verb functions as prepositional complementation or as
object of a phrasal verb, it can only be an –ing form.
Lesson 15 Passive Voice (II)
教学重点及难点：
1. Two related types of passive construction;
2. The differences between passive construction and “linking verb + complement”
constructions.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. There is a kind of active sentence which may be transformed into two possible
passive forms: type I and type II. When type I is turned into type II, the form of the
infinitive in type II is determined by the verb form in the that –clause of type I.
2. Other ways of expressing the passive meaning including the genitive case of noun,
some adjectives ending with –ible, -ble,-able,-worthy and some phrasal verbs as on
sale, come out, fall for, etc.
3. –ed participle can be used either as part of a passive construction or as adjectives
functioning as complement of a linking verb. –ed participles used as adjectives may
be followed by prepositions other than by.
Lecture 15
Passive voice (II)
This lecture is concerned with the uses of passive sentences and the expression of
passive meanings.
15.1.
2）
when the predicator of the that-clause is a will-form or the present progressive
denoting futurity, the infinitive in type II generally takes the progressive form, eg:
In case the main verb in type I is EXPECT, the infinitive in type II usually takes the
simple form instead of the progressive, eg
When the predictor of the that-clause is the simple present denoting a present habitual
action, the infinitive in type II takes the simple form, eg:
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If the predicator of the that clause is the present progressive denoting a present
happening, the infinitive in type II takes the progressive form, eg:
When the predicator is the simple past or the present perfective denoting past time,
the infinitive in type II takes the perfective form. If the predicator of the that –clause
is the past progressive, the infinitive in type II takes the perfective progressive form,
eg:
The above mentioned rules also apply to that –clauses whose predicator is a passive
form, in which case the infinitive in type II should take either the simple passive or
the perfective passive form, eg:
the above transformational rules only apply to sentences whose first clause contains
such verbs as acknowledge, assume, believe ,claim, consider, etc. also included in this
category is the verb suppose, but “be supposed to “as a semi-auxiliary usually
conveys an idea of duty and is therefore equivalent to “should” in some cases.
15.2. Passive constructions and passive meaning
This section is concerned with passive constructions and passive meanings.
Contrast between English and Chinese passive
The two types of passive sentences discussed I the preceding section have their
counterparts in the Chinese language.
In Chinese there is a kind of subjectless sentence, which, in English, is most probably
expressed by a passive sentence, eg:
Another university has been founded in this city.
In Chinese there are sentences in which passive meanings are expressed by active
constructions. This phenomenon is also found in English, eg:
This kind of material sells well.
Sometimes, however, where passive meanings are expressed by active constructions
in Chinese, they must be expressed by passive sentences in English, eg:
Your letter has been received.
Active constructions expressing passive meanings
There are verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive and which can be active in
form but passive in meaning. The following two points may be noted. The first of
these, which occurs chiefly in the present progressive, is found in some of the daily
expressions and professional jargons known as remnants of old English, eg:
The house is building.
The booking is printing.
The dinner is cooking.
Verbs used in this way can also be made passive. Compare:
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The house is being built.
The second type occurring frequently in the simple present is only found when the
subject is represented as having certain inherent qualities which promote, hamper, or
prevent the realization of the idea expressed by the predicate verb, eg:
Tomatoes bruises easily.
My voice doesn’t carry well.
Nylon dries quickly.
The door won’t lock.
By the side of the active constructions under discussion there exist corresponding
passives, but they have a demonstrably different meaning.
Compare:
His novels don’t sell.
His novels are not sold.
When we say that “his novels don’t sell”, we suggest that they have certain inherent
qualities which prevent or adversely affect their sale, that whey definitely do not
belong to the category of bestsellers; when we say that “his novels are not sold”, we
make a mere statement of fact about them.
Passive constructions or “linking verb+complement” constructions
-Ed participles can be used either as part of a passive construction of as adjectives
(and their comparatives) functioning as complement of a linking verb,
Note that VERY cannot modify the –ed participle in the second sentence of each
group.
The commonest linking verbs used are BE and GET, and the complement that follows
can also take the form of a seemingly phrasal verb, eg:
He is easily excited.
China’s agriculture is getting more and more mechanized.
The doctor told him that he was run down.
He is bound up in his work.
Other linking verbs are become, feel, seem, look, remain, etc .eg:
-ed particles used as adjectives may be followed by prepositions other than by, eg:
He is bending on mastering English.
His shoes were caked with mud.
He is engaged in letter writing.
You will soon get accustomed to the changed of climate.
Lesson 16 Subjunctive Mood
教学重点及难点：
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1. The use of be-subjunctive and were-subjunctive;
2. Some few notes on ways to expressing hypothetical meanings
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. The be-subjunctive, like the imperative, is realized by the base form of the verb.
Whatever the person of the subject, the predicator invariably takes the base form. The
were-subjunctive has only one form were, which applies to subjects of all persons, but
which formally contrasts with the indicative form was only when it is used with first
and third person singular subjects.
2. The be-subjunctive is used in certain that-clause, certain adverbial clause and
certain formulaic expressions. The were-subjunctive is used in certain nominal
clauses and certain adverbial clauses.
3. Some few notes on ways to expressing hypothetical meanings: use of past tense
forms of verbs and use of past tense modals.
Lecture 16
Subjunctive mood
There are two forms of the subjunctive: be-subjunctive and were-subjunctive. The
present lecture will dwell on the uses of these two subjunctive forms –remnants of
Old English—expressing hypothetical and non-factual meanings.
16.1. be-subjunctive
The be-subjunctive, like the imperative, is realized by the base form of the verb.
Whatever the person of the subject, the predicator invariably takes the base form.
Consequently, where the clause has a plural subject, there is normally no distinction
between indicative and subjunctive forms, except for the verb be. The subjunctive
form of be is be for all persons. The be-subjunctive is used:
in certain that-clauses
The be-subjunctive is commonly used in that-clauses to express a command, decision,
suggestion, etc. These that-clauses usually occur:
after such verbs as decide, decree, demand, insist, move, order, propose,
recommend, request, require, suggest, vote,etc,eg:
He ordered that all the books be sent at once.
We propose that somebody neutral take the chair.
after such adjectives as advisable, appropriate, desirable, essential, fitting,
imperative, important, impossible, necessary, obligatory, proper, etc, eg:
It is essential that all the facts be examined first.
It is necessary that he come back without delay.
After such nouns as decision, decree, demand, instruction, order, requirement,
resolution, etc, eg:
The board has given instruction that the agent fly to Boston.
We were faced with the demand that this tax be abolished.
This use of the be-subjunctive is quite common in formal style, especially in
American English. This subjunctive form can sometimes be replaced by “should+
infinitive” or to-infinitive, eg:
He ordered that the books be sent at once.
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= He ordered that the books should be sent at once.
= He ordered the books to be sent at once.
in certain adverbial clauses
The be-subjunctive is also used in adverbial clauses introduced by if, thought,
whatever, so long as, whether, lest, etc, eg:
If the rumor be true, everything is possible.
Quietly we sat on the river bank lest the fish swim away.
Whatever be his defense, we cannot tolerate hi disloyalty.
This use of the be-subjunctive is limited to formal style, while in informal style the
indicative mood or “should/may + infinitive” are used instead.
Compare:
If the rumor is true, everything is possible.’ He hid himself in the bush lest he should
be seen.
Whatever his defense may be, we can’t tolerate his disloyalty.
in certain formulaic expressions
The be-subjunctive is also used in some formulaic expressions to express a wish,
prayer, curse, etc. The formulaic use of the be-subjunctive tends to be formal and
old-fashioned in style, eg:
Long live the people’s republic of china!
God bless you!
So be it.
Far be it from me to spoil the fun.
16.2 were – subjunctive
The were-subjunctive has only one form were, which applies to subjects of all
persons, but which formally contrasts with the indicative form was only when it is
used with first and third person singular subjects.
The were-subjunctive is hypothetical or unreal in meaning and is used:
In certain adverbial clauses
The were-subjunctive is commonly used in adverbial clauses introduced by if, if only,
as if, as though, though, etc, to denote an unreal condition or concession, eg:
If I were you, I should wait till next week.
If only I were not so nervous.
He behaves as though he were better than us.
Though the whole world were against me, I would do what I consider as right.
in certain nominal clauses
the were –subjunctive is also used in nominal clauses after verbs like wish, would
rather, suppose, imagine, etc to denote a hypothetical situation, eg:
I wish it were spring all the year round.
I’d rather I were not at the side of the accident.
Suppose the earth were flat.
It must be noted that in present day English, the were –subjunctive with first and third
person subjects is often replaced by the indicative was in less formal style.
Compare:
I wish it was spring all the year round.
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I’d rather I wasn’t at the site of the accident.
The were-subjunctive is obligatory, however, in the set expressions” as it were” (=so
to speak) and “if I were you”, as well as in non-introduced conditional clauses with
inverted word order, eg:
He is my best fried, my second self, as it were.
Were I to do it, I should rely on you.
Lesson 17-18 Auxiliary Verbs (I&II)
教学重点及难点：
1. The epistemic and non-epistemic use of modals;
2. The construction of semi-auxiliaries and contracted forms of auxiliaries.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. English modals incorporating some related semi-auxiliaries in terms of ability and
possibility, permission and prohibition, obligation and necessity, prediction and
predictability, willingness, intention and determination, etc.
2. Semi-auxiliaries constitute a category of verbs between auxiliaries’ proper and
main verbs. They can be divided into different types according to different standards.
3. The function of epistemic modals is to make some judgments about the possibility
or necessity that something is or is not the case. There are two points of epistemic
modals need to be noted: syntactic features and time reference.
Lecture 17 & 18
Modals
1.will：
A. 表习惯：表示规律性、习惯性或典型性的动作。
e.g. He’ll talk for hours, if you let him.
B. 表倾向、趋势或规律：表示某些根据自然规律必定会发生的事情时，常用此
结构，当然也可以用一般现在时来代替它。
e.g. Oil will float on water.
Oil and water will not mix.
Stainless steel will not rust.
C. 表示推测：与must, car, should, ought to一样will也能表示“推测、推论、猜测、
估计”，通常翻译为“想必、也许、大概、可能”。
e.g. Let’s not go shopping today. The shops will be crowded.
He’ll be in New York now.
D. 表命令，翻译为“一定要、必须”
E.g. You will wait here till I come back. = You’re required to wait
E. 在时间、条件从句中用will表示意愿，有时表示礼貌的要求。
E.g. If you’ll help me, we can finish early. 若你愿意帮忙，我们就能早点结束。
F. will表示执意、坚持
Jack will do these things! 总爱干这种事！
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2. Will vs. be going to
A. will用于口语、书面语，be going to只用于口语，所以很少用于科技英语中。
B. 表将来时间时，be going to表示经过考虑或事先做好安排，而will表示未经事
先考虑只是在说话时做出的决定。
E.g. I’ll meet you at 5 o’clock.
C. will可表示事物的倾向性和规律性，而be going to不可以。
E.g. Oil will float on water.
D.表将来意义的will不可用在条件从句中，但是却可用在带条件从句的主句中(但
是表意愿的will可以用在条件从句中)。
E.g. If you’re going to /*you’ll join us, we’ll wait for you.
3.will have done 有两种完全不同的语法功能：
A. will用作助动词，与have done连用，构成将来完成时。
e.g. By next week, they will have completed their contract.
B. will做情态助动词，表示对（动作已完成地）现在情况的“预测、推测”，相当
于must或It’s likely that…。
e.g. That’ll be the postman. 可能时邮差来了。
You’ll have heard of him? 你可能听说过他了？
4. would
1)和will一样，都可以用来表示“现在推测”，可以译为“可能、也许、想必”。
e.g. That will/would be his mother.
He would have reached New York.
2)would/will 执意、坚持
e.g. He wouldn’t take the money. 他怎么说也不收下这钱。
He would keep interrupting me.
充当主语的动词不定式有时表示假设的或可能发生的情况，充当主语的名词或名
词短语表达非现实事物之时，其谓语动词在正式语体里就用虚拟语气。
e.g. It would be a shame to stay indoors on such a nice day.
5.would like to do 只此用法，不能接动名词：would like doing
e.g. Would you like to eat out?
Would like to have done / would have liked to do
都表“希望做某事但并未做成”。
e.g. I would like to have seen it/that film.
I would have liked to see it.
我当时真希望去看那部电影。
6. We ought to go now, shouldn’t we (American English) / oughtn’t we?
7. should have done 1)最常见的用法是“本应该做而实际上未做某事”。
e.g. You should have thought about that before you invited her.
2)但是should还表示“推测、估计”。
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If something should have happened by now, you mean “it has probably happened by
now”。
e.g. Our visitors should have arrived at the airport by now. 我们的家人此刻应该到
达机场了。
7.if + 动词现在时，是规范的英语真实条件从句；同样，if+shoud+do也是规范的
真实条件从句。两者的区别仅仅在于后者增加了条件的不确定性，表示“无把握
性”，表示与事实有很大的距离或偶然的可能性。
e.g. If you leave him, he will kill himself. 如果你离开她，他会自杀的。
If you leave him / should leave him, he will kill himself. 要是你离开他的话，他会自
杀的。
If she should be interested, I’ll phone her.
Should I be free tomorrow, I’ll come. 要是我明天有空就来。 If it should rain, he
will not come. 要是下雨的话，他就不来了。
如果在if + should + v.句中，主句是一个祈使句，常用于表达礼貌的请求或建议。
e.g. If he should call, tell him I’ll ring back.
8.在why、who、how之后的should主要用来表达说话人感到惊奇的口气，有时不
必翻译出来，绝不译为“应当”。
e.g. Why should you talk to her like that?
How should I understand what he has said?
9.ought to have done 可以表达两种不同的含义：A.表示“本应该做某时，而实际
没有做某事”，相当于should have done，有时含有“责备、批评”等含义。
e.g. I ought to have left London before 9 o’clock
They ought to have met her at the station.
B. 表示推论或推测某事已经发生，含有说话人不能肯定其说法是否正确的含义。
e.g. If he had started at 9 o’clock, he ought to have been in London by 11 o’clock.
Ought to没有单独的过去时形式，其否定形式为：ought not to/oughtn’t to，没有
didn’t ought to和had not ought to这些形式。如果之过去的义务，则它后面应当跟
完成时动词不定式。
e.g. I ought to have helped her, but I never could.
You oughtn’t to have spoken to her in that way.
10.一般说来，在主动句中can既可以理解为“能力”(ability)，也可以理解为“可能
性”(possibility)或“被允许”(permission)。
e.g. Henry can drive my car now.
A.亨利现在能开我的车了。(Henry is able to drive my car.)
B.现在亨利可以开我的车了。(Henry has permission to drive my car.)
但是，在被动句中，情态助动词意义发生变化，can常被理解为表示“可能性”。
e.g. The teacher can’t teach Bill. 教师教不了他。（没有能力教他。）
Bill can’t be taught by the teacher.他不可教也。教师没有可能教他。
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He cannot do it. 他不能（没有能力）做这件事。
It cannot be done by him.这不可能是他干的。
Can与may都可以表“请求”或“允许”，may属于正式语体，而can则多用于日常会
话。
Can not / can’t / cannot：
R. Quirk认为拼作can not两个单词是很少见的，只是在希望否定主要动词或特别
强调否定词或希望把否定词分开时，才拼作can not。e.g. Can you not interrupt,
please?
Can I not help you?
11.was able to / could
was/were able to只能表示一次性事件，而不表经常性事件。
e.g. I could run after a bus and catch it twenty years ago, but I can’t do it now.
be able to通常翻译为“能够、有能力”。但是，在一般过去时中，并不单纯表过去
的“能力、潜力或可能性”，而是把“能力”和“成功”结合起来，而且强调的往往是
后者。Could表潜能。
e.g. I could pass the exam. 我曾有能力通过考试。
I was able to pass the exam. (=I succeeded in passing the exam.)
以上的区别，在否定句中就不存在了。两者都可以表示“动作的未完成”。
e.g. I ran after the bus, but wasn’t able to / couldn’t catch it.
12. I can but do my duty.
我只能尽我的职责。
Can but中的but是副词，用法类似于“alone, just, merely, only, solely, simply”，含有
“仅仅而排他”的意思。
e.g. I can but wait.我只能等待。
I cannot but go.
我必须走。(又可写作cannot help but)
Cannot but = must, be forced to do
(只好、必须、一定、不得不、不能不)
e.g. We could not but weep at the sad news.
我们不禁流出了眼泪。
When a close fried dies, you cannot but feel sad.
你不禁会感到悲哀。
13. can possibly
Can you possibly come? Possibly用在疑问句中与can, could, may, might连用并不
起强调作用，而是把疑问或请求变的缓和、委婉，因而显得更有礼貌。
在肯定句里，possibly是“可能地、也许”的意思，但是在否定句里(往往与cannot,
could not连用)则变成了“无论如何”的意思。
e.g. He cannot possibly forget it. 他无论如何也不会忘记。
I can’t possibly eat any more. 我无论如何也不能再吃了。
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但是，possibly的意思还要看与否定词的“相对位置”。
e.g. They can’t possibly leave now. 他们现在绝不可能动身。 They possibly can’t
leave now. (= It’s possible that …) 也许他们现在不可能动身
14. can/could do with
I could do with a cup of tea.  want
The car could do with a good polish.  need
Some children can do with very little spending money. 有…就行了，有…就可以了
15. cannot … too：并不表示“不可能太…”，而是“怎样…也不过分”、“应尽量”“越…
越好”。
= it is impossible to over+v.
e.g. We cannot estimate the value of modern science too much. (= It is impossible to
overestimate the …)
现代科学的价值，无论如何重视也不算过分。
And a woman can’t have too many hats. 女人买多么多的帽子也不能算多。
A man can never have too many ties. (can never … too = cannot ..too)男人买多么多
的领带也不能算多。
16.cannot / could not have done
二者都可以表示以现在的眼光看来“过去不可能发生的事”。但是，cannot比could
not语气要强一些。
e.g. They cannot have gone out because the light’s on.
但是，could not have done还可以表示从过去的某个时间点看来“以前不可能发生
的事”。
e.g. The girl asked to see a timetable, feeling sure that her father could not have made
such a mistake.
could not have done有其相对应的肯定式could have done，而cannot have done却没
有对应的肯定式，也就是说，can have done只能用在否定句和疑问句中。
e.g. He can’t have taken it upstairs this morning. 他今早是不可能把它带到楼上的。
Where can he have gone? 他能去哪了呢？
I do not see how I could have done otherwise. 我看不出当时我还能用其他方式来
做那件事。
They couldn’t have left so soon. 他们不可能那么早就走了。
17. May / may well / may as well
may可以表示可能性；may well中的well起强调作用，表示有更大的可能性或更
充分的理由。might well中的well也有相同的作用；
e.g. He may not be there.
You may well say so.
May (might) possibly中的possibly用于减弱may的可能性，类似may well中的well
用于加强可能性。
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e.g. He may possibly be there. 他可能在那里。
may (might) as well则时表示非强烈意愿的一种形式，其含义相当于had better，但
是比后者弱得多，常表示“勉强、迁就、无奈”的意思，一般翻译为“最好，还是…
的好，不防”等。
e.g. You may as well repeat the experiment.
Since we have got nothing better to do, we might as well go for a walk. 我们不防去
散散步。
18. may not vs. might not
I may not go是个歧义句。A) I am not allowed to go. 允许；not否定may(might)
B) I probably will not go.可能；not否定其后的成分。
e.g.
Dogs may not be taken into these carriages. = Dogs are not allowed to be
taken into these carriages.
但是，may not在任何情况下都不能理解为“不可能”，cannot/can’t中的否定词not
是否定助动词can的，理解为“不可能”。
e.g. He may not be serious. = It is possible that he is not serious. 他可能不是认真
的。
He can’t be serious. (It is not possible that he is serious.) 他不可能是认真的。
He can’t be there. = It is not possible that he is there.
He cannot be awake.
19. may…but 此处的may常常具有让步的含义，失去了“可能”的意思，也就是说
句中的陈述被认为是真实的。
e.g. I may be only a servant, but I have my pride. 虽然我是个仆人，但是我是有自
尊心的。
He may be clever, but he doesn’t know everything.
尽管他很聪明，但是他绝不会什么都懂。
May…yet结构与may…but相似。
e.g. He may be poor, yet he’s at least honest. 虽然他很穷，但是他至少是诚实的。
20. maybe, perhaps都是表示某种怀疑的副词，理解为“也许，可能”。但是，maybe
是用于非正式语体，而且主要用于美国英语中，在英国英语中用的不普遍。
e.g. Maybe we’ll see you tomorrow.
21. be to + do 表将来计划安排，还表示“指示、命令或要求、必须、应当“和“可
能”。
e.g. Their daughter is to be married soon. 将来的安排
You are to be back by 10 o’clock. = You are required to…; you must be… 你必
须／应当在十点以前回来。
Such books are to be found in the library. 表可能性
She was nowhere to be found.哪儿也找不到他。（可能性）
This room is to let.
此处的is不是系动词，而是be to结构。
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但是，The problem is to find a solution.此处的is是系动词，to do是主语补语，因为
后者能与主语划上等号。The problem = to find a solution。
Was/were to do something有时表示过去曾经计划要做的事或者过去应当做的事，
而从现在角度来看已经实现了：
e.g. I felt nervous because I was soon to leave home for the first time.我感到紧张，因
为我很快就要初次离家了。
Was/were to have done表示：“本打算、本计划或本应当”做的事而没有做成或没
有发生：
e.g. We were to have been married last year. 我们本应当去年就结婚的。
We were to have met at six o’clock.我们原定6点见面的。
Lesson 19 Infinitive (Ⅰ)
教学重点及难点：
1. The use of infinitives, esp. the use of to-infinitives and bare infinitives;
2. Ellipsis of the infinitive sign and infinitive to vs. preposition to.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. There are two types of infinitives: to- infinitive and bare infinitive. The bare
infinitive is just the infinitive without to, which is identical in form with the base of
the verb; there are 12 situations in which the bare infinitive is used;
2. Ellipsis of the infinitive sign: when to-infinitive are coordinated by and or or; but it
cannot be omitted when there is a contrastive meaning, or there is no coordinator
between the coordinate infinitives, or a sequence of infinitives occur in a parallel
construction.
3. The collocation in which the item to is a preposition in the following circumstances:
verb +preposition to, verb+ noun/pronoun + preposition to, verb+-ed participle
+preposition to, etc.
Lecture 19
Infinitive ( I )
As has been pointed out before, English verbs have three non-finite forms:
infinitive, -ing participle and –ed participle. In this and the next three lectures we
are going to talk about the uses of the non-finites. As for non-finite clauses, they
will be treated in lecture 32. in the present lecture we will start off with the
infinitive.
19.1. form of the infinitive
there are two types of infinitive: to-infinitive and bare infinitive.
The bare infinitive is just the infinitive without to, which is identical in form with
the base of the verb.
grammatical forms
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the infinitive has no tense distinctions, nor person or number contrasts. But they
can be passive and take the simple, progressive, perfective and perfective
progressive forms, eg:
I have a lot of work to do.
She had no need to be worrying.
He is said to have left shanghai.
The president was reported to have been flying across the Atlantic.
A negative infinitive is formed by adding not or never immediately before the
infinitive sign to, eg:
We decided not to buy the house.
She wished never to see him again.
to-infinitive and bare infinitive
infinitives commonly occur with to, but in some contexts it is necessary to use the
bare infinitive, and in some other cases the infinitive sigh is optional. Following is
a summing up of the situations in which the bare infinitive is used.
the bare infinitive is generally used to follow the modal including need and dare,
eg:
you must do as you are told.
Who should come in but the mayor himself!
In the case of need, it should be followed by a bare infinitive when it acts as a
modal, but by a to-infinitive when it is used as a main verb, eg:
We needn’t stay here this evening.
Do we need to stay here?
In the case of dare, it is followed by a bare infinitive when it is used as a modal,
but the infinitive sigh is optional when dare functions as a main verb, eg:
She daren’t go there alone.
Does she dare ( to ) go there alone?
the bare infinitive is used to following semi-auxiliaries, eg:
you’d better have that bad tooth pulled out.
I happened to be out when he called.
the bare infinitive is used to combine with such modal idioms as would rather,
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would sooner, woud (just) as soon, may/might (just)as well, cannot but , cannot
help but, etc, eg:
I would rather stay at home.
Since it’s a fine day, we might as well walk.
Likewise, the bare infinitive is also used to follow “would rather … than” and
“would as soon…as”, eg:
He would rather listen to others than talk himself.
I’d just as soon go by train as drive.
I really don’t want to go there.. I’d just soon turn round and go back.
the bare infinitive is commonly used to follow rather than and sooner than ,
especially when rather / sooner than takes the initial position, eg:
rather than cause trouble, he left.
Sooner than marry that man, she would earn her living as a waitress.
But when rather than takes other positions in the sentence, the following infinitive
may be with or without to, eg:
He decided to go fishing rather than stay in the dormitory.
The manager believes it is important to invest in new machinery rather than to
increase wages.
the bare infinitive is often combined with a main verb to form some fixed
combinations such as:
make believe
let slip
make do
let go
let drop
for example:
he did all that just to make believe.
We hadn’t time for luncheon, but we made do with sandwiches.
He let fall a hint of his intentions.
the bare infinitive usually appears after “causative verb+object”, eg:
we can’t let this go on.
Abbey made him stay to tea.
He won’t have us criticize his work.
But when the causative verb occurs in the passive, the bare infinitive should be
turned into a to-infinitive, eg:
Jim made her tell him everything.
She was made to tell him everything.
The bare infinitive usually occurs after “sense verb+object”. The sense verbs
include see, hear, observe, notice, etc, eg:
I didn’t hear you say that.
We felt the house shake.
He doesn’t like listening to other people talk.
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But when the sense verb occurs in the passive, it should be followed by a
to-infinitive, eg:
They saw him enter the building,
He was seen to enter the building.
the bare infinitive is used after “have known + object”, eg:
Have you ever known him tell a lie:
I have never known that man smile.
The bare infinitive often appears after help or “help + object_, but to-infinitive is
also possible, eg
Can I help (to) lift that box?
j)The bare infinitive usually appears after the preposition except/but when there
is a form of the main verb do before the preposition, which is otherwise followed
by a to –infinitive, eg:
They did nothing but wait.
There’s no choice but to wait .
Likewise, in some SVC constructions, if the subject contains a form of the main
verb do, the infinitive in the complement may be with or without to, eg:
The only thing I can do now is (to) go on by myself.
The bare infinitive also appears after “why/why not?”, eg:
Why argue with him?
The bare infinitive can also be used in the following expressions:
Go post a letter for me.
Come have a chat with me
Try eat a little
I’ll try help him.
This use of the bare infinitive is restricted to combination with these few verbs.
19.2 Some few note on the use of the infinitive sign
This section is concerned with the uses of the infinitive sign and with other
questions involved.
Infinitive sign used alone
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To avoid repetition, the infinitive sigh can sometimes be used alone, that is to say,
the base in the to-infinitive can be omitted, sometimes together with its
complementation, this kind of omission is quite common in informal style, eg:
You may go if you wish to.
If the base of the infinitive is the verb be or have, it should be retained, even
though its complementation is omitted, eg:
A: Aren’t you the manager?
B: No, I don’t want to be.
A: He hasn’t finished yet.
B: Well, he ought to have.
In some contexts, both the to-infinitive and its complementation can be omitted
so tha6 no trace remains of the infinitive, eg:
You will make it ff you try (to).
I’d like to do it now, but I haven’t got the time (to).
Ellipsis of the infinitive sign
When two to-infinitives are coordinated by and or or, the second to is usually
omitted unless there is a cont5rastive meaning, eg:
I intend to call on him and discuss this question again.
When there is a contrastive meaning, the second to must be retained, eg:
To be or not to be, that is the question.
The infinitive sign can not be omitted if there is no coordinator between the
coordinate infinitives, eg:
Please go the seaside to swim, to get suntanned.
Nor can any infinitive sign be omitted if a sequence of infinitives occur in a
parallel construction, eg:
The student must learn to read extensive, to analyze what he reads and to
summarize the main points presented.
Infinitive to or preposition to
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The word to often present a problem for Chinese students. For instance, in “object
to” and “be used to”, is the word to a preposition or an infinitive sigh? To solve
this problem, we may try to put a noun after it. If a noun or a noun equivalent is
possible, it proves to be a preposition; otherwise, it is an infinitive sigh, following
is a summary of the collocations in which the item to is a preposition, not an
infinitive sign:
Lesson 20 Infinitive (II)
教学重点及难点：
1. The functions of infinitives;
2. The combination of infinitives with adjectives, nouns, verbs.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. As a non-finite form, infinitive can act as many functions in a sentence. We
classified it into eight types: as subject, attributive, object, post-object, object
complement, n. / adj. + infinitive, As adverbial element, As independent element.
2. Combinations of infinitives with adjectives, nouns, and verbs: Semantically, these
combinations fall into three types, each of which contains several sub-types; there are
three points worth mentioning about the infinitives used as postmodification in noun
phrases; the infinitive functions as the objects of the verb also fall into three types,
that is verb+ infinitive, verb+ object+ infinitive and verb+ (object) +infinitive.
Lecture 20
Infinitive (II)
This lecture is concerned with combinations of infinitives with adjective, nouns, and
verbs.
20.1 Adjective + infinitive
Here “adjective +infinitive” refers to the combination that acts as complement in SVC
patterns. These combinations are superficially similar but semantically different
constructions, varying in meaning, that is in “deep structure”, with the different
categories of adjectives. Semantically, these combinations fall into three types, each
of which contains several sub-types.
Type I
this type of SVC pattern is characterized by the fact that the subject of the main clause
is also the logical subject of the infinitive. The adjectives occurring in this pattern are
all dynamic adjectives, which can be subdivided into the following categories.
Adjectives showing emotional feelings, eg:
He is glad to help others
He was very pleased to be given the job.
I’m sorry to be late.
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Adjectives showing good or bad luck, eg:
He was lucky to be able to find a job.
He was fortunate to escape being injured in the accident.
Adjectives showing mental state or personal attitude, eg
He is anxious to see her.
We are ready to make the attempt.
If the subject of the main clause is not the logical subject of the infinitive, the
logical subject should be expressed with an introductory for:
I’m quite willing for you brother to come with me I’m afraid for her to go
swimming alone.
Adjective showing character or behavioral trait, eg:
He is foolish to meet her again.
You are kind to say so.
These sentences can be transformed into a corresponding IT pattern, eg:
It is foolish of him to meet her again.
It was thoughtful of them to come home early.
Type II
In the type of SVC pattern, the subject of the main clause is the logical object of the
infinitive, here, the adjectives are generally stat6ive adjectives, eg:
The question is difficult to answer.
This car is expensive to overhaul
She is pleasant to talk to.
These sentences can be transformed into a anticipatory IT-patter construction:
It is difficult answer that question.
But there are constructions of the same type that cannot be so transformed:
The coffee is bitter to taste.
They are attractive to look at.
The box is heavy to move.
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The river is narrow to sail up.
Type III
In this type, the subject of the main clause may be the logical subject logical object of
the infinitive, eg:
these books are easy to sell.
=it is easy to sell these books.
=these books sell easily.
But in most cases, the adjective can be turned into a corresponding adverb in deep
structure, eg:
He is quick to take offence.
He takes offence quickly.
He was hesitant to take action,
He took action hesitantly.
20.2 noun (phrase) +infinitive
Here, the infinitive is used as postmodification in noun phrases. About “noun +
infinitive”, there are three points worth mentioning.
Semantic relations
Semantically, the noun and infinitive that follows may form different relations, for
instance, a subject-verb relation, that is, the noun is the logical subject of the infinitive,
eg:
Jim was the last guest to arrive (=who arrived).
Have you got a key to unlock the door (=that can unlock the door).
Sometimes, the noun is the logical object of the infinitive, that is, a verb-object
relation, eg:
He has a large family to support.
This is the best book to read.
In the case of an intransitive infinitive, an appropriate preposition should be added ,
eg:
The boy needs a friend to play with.
There is nothing to talk about.
Sometimes the noun is in apposition to the infinitive that follows, eg:
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The boy had an impulse to jump over the fence.
I have no wish to quarrel with you.
Infinitive ---active or passive
As postmodification, the infinitive may appear in active or passive voice. In some
contexts, both active and passive forms are possible, eg:
Give me a list of people to invite /to be invited.
The man to consult /to be consulted is Mr. Johnson.
But in other cases, an active form seems more natural than the passive, eg:
I have got a lot of letters to write.
There is a lot of work to do.
In still other cases, a passive form sound more appropriate, eg
The case to be investigated must not be made public in press.
The question to be discussed at the next meeting will be a hard nut to crack.
“Noun + infinitive” vs. “noun +preposition+-ing”
With some nouns such as attempt, chance, effort, freedom, intention, necessity,
opportunity, reason, time, way, etc, the postmodifiter may be an infinitive or a
“preposition + -ing” with no difference in meaning, eg:
There is no necessity to buy /of buying a new car.
The doctor made a hold attempt to save / of saving the child’s life.
With some other nouns, it is appropriate to use an infinitive rather than a “preposition
+ -ing” as postmodifier, eg:
They have the ability to produce nuclear weapons.
He is under no obligation to do that.
These nouns include ability, agreement, ambition, anxiety, curiosity, disposition, etc
There are still other nouns which do not admit of an infinitive as postmodifier; a
“preposition +ping” is normally used, eg:
There is no hope of winning the game.
We must improve the method of teaching foreign languages.
Other nouns in the same sue include aptitude, delay, difficulty, excuse, experience,
interest, genius, habit, idea, motive, objective, passion, plan, possibility, skill, success,
etc.
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20.3. Verb +infinitive
Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive to form a verb-object relation, that is, the
infinitive functions as the object of the verb, these collocations fall into three groups:
Verb +infinitive
There are verbs that can be directly followed by an infinitive rather than an –ing form
as object, eg:
We must agree to differ.
I aim to finish it tomorrow.
These verbs include agree, apply, arrange choose, claim, decide demand, desire, vow,
swear, etc.
Some of these such as claim, demand, determine, etc can also be followed by a
corresponding that-clause, eg:
We agreed to start early.
We agreed that we would start early.
I hope to be able to come
I hope that I’ll be able to come.
Verb+object +infinitive
There are verbs that cannot be directly followed by an infinitive unless the verb and
infinitive are intervened by a noun or pronoun, these verbs include five groups:
Verbs of perception or sense verbs such as see, hear, etc,
Causative verbs such as have, let, make, etc
Some phrasal verbs such as arrange for, ask for, rely on, etc
Verbs showing mental state such consider, declare, find, prove,
Verbs having the force of “advice”, “permission”, forbiddance”, etc such as
advise, allow, forbid, permit, recommend, require, urge
There are a few points to note about the use of these verbs:
First, the infinitive after verbs under “group d” is invariably “to be”, eg:
We know him to be reliable.
He declared himself to be innocent.
Secondly, after such verbs as consider, declare, find, prove, think the infinitive “to
be” can be omitted, eg”
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He proved himself (to be) innocent.
If the infinitive “to be” is in the perfective form, then it cannot be omitted,
we considered him to have been foolish.
Thirdly, in view of the fact that the noun or pronoun in this context may be
viewed as the object of the finite verb that goes before or as the logical subject of
the infinitive that follows, an alternative construction with a that-clause is
available for interpretation, eg:
They believed him to be insane,
They believed that he was insane,
Some of the verbs of “group e” such as advise, allow, forbid, permit, recommend
can also be followed directly by an –ing form as object.
Compare:
She advised us to give up smoking.
She advised giving up smoking.
And some may also be followed by a that-clause:
They required us to get there before nine.
They required that we (should) get there before nine.
Verb+ (object) +infinitive
with some verbs such as ask, can’t bear, hate, intend, prefer, etc, the object is optional,
that is , these verbs can occur either in the “verb + infinitive” construction or in the
“verb + object + infinitive” pattern, et:
Do you intend to make a long stay there?
We didn’t intend them to act like that.
Most of these verbs can also be followed by a that-clause, eg:
She asked to do more work.
She sassed them to give her ore work to do
She asked that she be given more work to do.
Some may also be directly followed by an –ing form, eg:
I hate troubling you about trifles.
She preferred dressing formally to wearing sport clothes.
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Lesson 21&22 –ing participle and –ed participle
教学重点及难点：
1. The use of present participle and past participle / -ed participle;
2. the use and functions of participles either the present or past.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Differentiate the present participle and gerund: Gerund is the combination of noun
and verb; Present participle is the combination of verb and adjective or adverb.
2. The functions of gerund: As subject, object some fixed sentence patterns, verbs as
allow, advise, forbid, permit, recommend can be followed by gerund as object,
however if the object is person, it must be followed by compound infinitive, etc.
3. Some fixed patterns: adv. +speaking (generally /strictly / broadly speaking),
participle + prep. ( judging from, talking of, allowing for (考虑到), considering,
assuming, supposing, etc.) participle + (that) – clause (seeing that = since,
considering that = since, supposing that = if, granting that = though, allowing
that),etc.
Lecture 21
-ing participle
in this book, the term “-ing participle” is used to include both the traditional “present
participle” and the “gerund”. The present lecture is devoted to the collocation of the
–ing participle with verbs. If need be, mention will also be made of the contrast
between –ing participle and corresponding use of the infinitive.
21.1. Collcation of –ing participle with verbs.
This section is concerned with two collocations: “verb+-ing form” and “verb + object
+ preposition +-ing form”.
Verb+-ing form
There are verb that can only be followed by an –ing form rather than an infinitive as
object. These verbs include admit, acknowledge, etc.
About the logical subject of the ing participle, it need not be expressed if it is the
subject of the main clause, eg:
She always detested seeing a bullfight.
If the –ing form has a logical subject of its own, it must be expressed one way or
another, eg:
Please pardon my disturbing you.
The logical subject of the ing participle may be a noun or a genitive noun; it may also
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be realized by a pronoun in objective case or by a possessive determiner. But in
colloquial speech, a common case noun or an objective pronoun is frequently favored,
eg:
I don’t mind John moving to another house.
Some of the verbs listed above such as acknowledge, anticipate, etc. can also taa
corresponding that –clause as object, eg:
The watchman reported finding the door open.
=the watchman reported that he had found the door open.
Verb+object +preposition+-ing form
There are verbs that cannot be directly followed by an –ing form unless it is
interrupted by an object and a preposition. These verbs include trick, mislead, shame,
surprise, trap, etc. and the prepositions commonly used in this collocation are into and
from, eg:
He tricked her into marrying him by pretending that he was rich.
In some of these collocations such as “prevent/stop somebody from doing something”,
the preposition from can sometimes be omitted, except that the finite verb occurs in
the passive, eg:
We must prevent the trouble (from) spreading.
But the preposition from cannot be left out if it is a passive sentence:
It can’t be stopped from happening here.
Similar collocations such as “thank somebody for ding something”, “congratulate
somebody on doing something”, and “accuse somebody of doing something” can also
be included in these patterns.
21.2 verbs followed either by infinitive or by –ing participle
There are verbs that can be followed either by an-ing form or by an infinitive, with
some of these verbs; the choice between the two makes no difference in meaning;
with others, however, different choices result in different interpretations.
Either infinitive or –ing participle without change of meaning
attempt, begin, can’t bear, continue, deserve dread, etc.
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There are cases, however, where the transforms are not in free variation.
After process verbs such begin, cease, and emotive verbs such as like , loathe, live
neglect, , the infinitive is commonly used to refer to a specific act while the ing
participle is used to refer to a general act.
After need, want, require, deserve, an active –ing form can be used to denote a
passive meaning which can also be expressed by a passive infinitive
After begin and start, either infinitive or-ing form is possible, but when the infinitive
is a stative verb, it normally goes with began.
The verbs that admit of either an infinitive or an –ing form with different meanings
fall into five sub-classes
After remember and forget, the infinitive refers to a second act that follows the first,
and the –ing participle to a previous event.
After stop, leave off, go on, the –ing participle functions as object, and while the
infinitive as adverbial of purpose.
After try, mean, can’t help, the choice between an infinitive and an –ing form depends
on the meaning of the preceding verb itself.
After Agree, decide, there is a choice between the infinitive and “preposition +-ing”,
eg:
They agreed to share the remuneration.
They agreed on sharing the remuneration.
Encourage, permit, allow, recommend, advise, authorize, either the –ing participle or
the infinitive with an expressed logical subject can be used, eg:
She doesn’t allow smoking here.
She doesn’t allow us to smoke here.
Lecture 22
-ed participle
22.1 –ed participle as premodifier
1) As premodifier, transitive –ed participles usually denote a passive meaning or a
sense of completion. This is distinguished from –ing participles which may come
from transitive and intransitive verbs and which usually express an active meaning or
a sense of incompletion.
Compare:
As premodifier, some –ed participles cannot be used alone unless they are combined
with a negative prefix “un-“ or when they are combined with an adverb to form a
compound. eg:
2) –ed participle derived from intransitive verbs
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The use of intransitive –ed participles as premodifiers tends to be limited only to a
few verbs: retired, escaped, faded, withered, fallen, expired, risen, returned, vanished,
grown. These –ed participles have the sense of completion but imply no passive
meaning, eg:
a retired teacher
a n expired lease
an escaped prisoner the risen sun
A few such –ed participles cannot be used as premodifiers unless they are combined
with an adverb to form a compound. For instance, instead of “a behaved boy” or “a
travelled businessman”, we say “a well-behaved boy” or “a widely-travelled
businessman”.
22.2 –ed participle as complement
-Ed participles that can be used as complement mostly come from intransitive verbs.
Adjectival –ed participle can generally function either as complements or as
premodifiers, except for some relics of Old English.
1) Old English –ed participles
In Modern English, there are a few relics of Old English –ed participles that survive
only as adjectives and which are mostly different in form from their Modern -ed
participles. Some of these takes one form when used as premodifier and another
form when used as complement, eg:
A bounden duty is a duty one is bound to do.
A drunken man is one who has got drunk.
2) Verbs admitting of –ed participle as object complement
Verbs that can take an –ed participle as object complement fall into three groups.
The first group includes verbs of perception and verbs denoting mental state such as
see, hear, feel, find, think, etc, eg:
I saw the students assembled in the hall.
Everybody thought the battle lost.
The second group includes causative verbs such make, get, have , keep,
I have my hair cut every two weeks.
etc, eg:
Note that the verb have has three different meanings in the following contexts:
We had the problem solved.
She had her arm broken in an accident.
I have not any money left.
The third group includes verbs denoting hope, expectation, order, such as like, want,
wish, order, etc, eg:
I don’t want any of you (to be) involved in the scandal.
The viewers wish the serial film (to be) continued.
22.3 Some few notes on “dangling participles”
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Let us first of all take a look at the “attachment rule” for identifying the subject.
“Attachment rule” and “dangling participles”
When an –ing or –ed participle construction is used as a relative or adverbial clause,
its logical subject is usually identifiable with the subject or other element of the main
clause. It is through this relationship that the participle construction is “attached” to
the main clause. This is known as the “attachment rule”, eg:
Sitting at the back as we were, we couldn’t hear a word.
Violation of the “attachment rule” will result in a “dangling participle”:
Opening the cupboard, a skeleton fell out.
Problems about the acceptability of “dangling participle”
Linguists are divided in opinion about the acceptability of “dangling participles”.
Prescriptive grammarians condemn all “dangling” constructions, while descriptive
linguists take a more liberal point of view.
“Dangling” constructions should not be regarded as objectionable indiscriminately.
These constructions are frequently found in formal scientific writing, in which it is
general practice to avoid using personal subjects, in informal style, so long as they
do not cause ambiguity of confusion in meaning, “dangling participles” should also be
view as normal and acceptable.
Only those “dangling” constructions are
objectionable or unacceptable that cause ambiguity of suggest absurd interpretations.
From pedagogical point of view, however, beginners in English should not be
encouraged to use such constructions unless in scientific writing.
Lesson 23&24 Adjective, Adverb and adjective, adverb phrase
教学重点及难点：
1. Classification of the adjective and adjective phrase;
2. The use of adjective and adjective phrase, and the use of adverb and adverb phrase.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Adjectives may be divided into one-word and compound adjectives, central and
peripheral adjectives, dynamic and stative adjectives, gradable and non-gradable
adjectives;
2. Adverbs and adverb phrases are chiefly used as modifiers in phrases and as
adverbials in clauses or sentences. There are adverbs that have two forms : one is
identical with a corresponding adjective, the other is with , –ly.
Lecture 23
Adjective and adjective phrase
Adjectives are open-class words. They are chiefly used as modifying elements in a
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sentence. In this lecture we shall talk about classification and morphology of
adjectives as well as formation and uses of adjective phrases.
23.1. Classification of adjectives
Adjectives may be divided into one-word and compound adjectives, central and
peripheral adjectives, dynamic and stative adjective, gradable and non-gradable ones
One word and compound adjectives
In terms of word formation, adjectives may be classified into one-word adjectives and
compound adj. A one-word adjective may consist of only one free morpheme, such as
big, small, bad; it may also consist of a free morpheme as root plus a prefix or a suffix
or both, such as unkind, impossible, lovely, etc.
Compound adjectives are formed in different ways. They may be “adj+adj”, such as
bitter-sweet, deaf-mute; or “adj/adv+-ing participle”, such as good-looking,
hard-working, or “adj/adv+-ed participle”, such as new-fangled, well-meant, or
central and peripheral adjectives
In terms of syntactic function, adjectives can be divided into two groups, central
adjectives and peripheral adj. Most adjectives can be used both as modifier in a noun
phrase and as subject/object complement. These adjectives are labeled “central” as
distinguished from “peripheral adjectives” that refer to the few which cannot satisfy
both these requirements. For example, the adjective utter can only function as
premodifier, while asleep can only be used as complement.
dynamic and stative adjectives
Semantically, adjectives can be dynamic or stative. Stative adjectives, such tall, short,
describe the static characteristics of animate or inanimate objects, and most adjectives
are stative adjectives. Dynamic adjectives, such ambitious, careful, generous, patient,
describe the dynamic properties of people or things, and they are different use from
stative adjectives, for instance, dynamic adjectives can go with the progressive aspect
of the verb be, while stative adjectives cannot. Dynamic adjectives can co-occur with
imperative be, while stative adjectives cannot. Lastly, dynamic adjectives can occur in
causative constructions in which it is impossible to use stative adjectives.
Gradable and nongradable adjectives
Morphologically, adjectives can be gradable and nongradable. Most adjectives are
gradable adjectives, whose gradability is manifested through the forms of comparison
and through modification by intensifiers. All dynamic and lost stative adjectives are
gradable adjectives. The few nongradable ones include some adnominal adjectives
that denote classification or provenance. Some other adjectives, such as perfect
extreme, are also nongradable because their lexical meanings have already denoted a
high or extreme degree.
23.2. Adjectives and participles
As has been mentioned before, participle can sometimes be used as modifiers in the
noun phrase. Some participles have all the features characteristic of the adjective.
They admit of modification by very. They have forms of comparative and superlative
degrees; and they may be used as complement in the sentence.
adjectives from -ing participles
Adjectives like alarming, boring, etc. are derived from ing participles. These forms
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can be made negative by adding the prefix un, such unchanging, unencouraging, etc.
adjectives derived from ed participles
Adjectives like alarmed bored, etc are derived from ed participles. Some ed participles
like behaved, built etc cannot themselves be used as adjectives, but they reach full
adjective status when they are compounded with an adverb, such as bad-behaved,
well-defined, etc.
active vs. passive meanings
The meanings of participial adjectives may be active or passive. Ing participial
adjectives usually have active meanings, and ed forms passive meanings, eg:
The contrast between active and passive interpretation also applies to adjectives
ending in ful, ous, some, able, ible, eg
23.3. Adjectives as modifier in noun phrases
As has been mentioned before, most adjectives can function both as modifier and as
complement. In many cases, these two functions are interchangeable. For example,
“
Premodifying and postmodifying adjectives
As modifiers in the noun phrase, adjectives usually appear after the determiner and
before the headword, but sometimes they may also take a post-head position. When
two or more premodifying adjectives appear on different levels, their normal order
is like this: (determiner)-adj denoting the speaker the evaluation—adj denoting size,
shape, age--- adj denoting color—adjectives denoting nationality, origin, material—
adjective denoting use or purpose(classifier)—noun head,
When there is more than one determiner before thepremodifiers, the determiners
usually appear in the order of predeterminer-central –post
Adjectives can also be used as postmodifiers. This normally occurs when the
headword is a some/any/no compound,
Adjectives with a prepostional phrase or an infinitive as complementation also occur
after the headword they modify,eg:
It was a conference fruitful of results.
It is not uncommon, however, that an adjective is separated from its complementation
by the noun it modifies, that is, the adjective precedes the headword, while the
complementation follows it, eg:
It is a different book from that one.
With some adjectives, a pre-head or post-head position does not make any difference
in meaning. For example, “it is the only possible solution” is semantically equivalent
to “it is the only solution possible”. But with some other adjectives, different positions
give different meanings.
Predicative adjectives
There are two groups of predicative adjectives:
Adjectives denoting health conditions
and adjectives with a-prefix
Adjective phrase vs. relative clause
a postmodifying adjective phrase can usually be treated as a reduced relative clause.
This is also true of predicative adjectives, eg:
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the members present=the members who were present
23.4 adj phrase as complement
adj+prepositional phrase
adj+ to-infinitive
Lecture 24
Adverb and Adverb Phrase
Teaching Contents
24.1 Chief uses of adverbs and adverb phrases
24.2 Adverbs with or without –ly
Like adjectives, adverbs are a class of words that chiefly function as modifying
elements, and modify verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions or other adverbs.
In terms of word formation, adverbs fall into two groups: simple and derivative
adverbs. Simple ones consist of only one free morpheme; derivatives are derived from
adjectives by adding a suffix –ly and most adverbs are derivatives.
Semantically, adverbs can be subdivided into adverbs of manner, adverbs of degree,
adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of place, as well as conjunctive and
explanatory adverbs.
派生副词：大多数派生副词有-ly后缀：oddly。
其它一些派生后缀：
-wise: clockwise; -ways: sideways; -ward(s): northward(s); -style: cowboy-style;
-fashion: schoolboy-fashion
与介词短语towards the south/east/north/west相对应的副词有south, southward(s)。
不带-s的形式较为普遍，在美国的书刊英语中尤其如此。
e.g. The window faces south (最常见) / southwards / southward.
形容词所以能加-ly变成副词，是与形容词的动态性质有关，如cheerful – cheerfully,
suspiciously, jealously.
但是，典型的各类静态形容词，如大小、颜色、年龄，不能加-ly，如*bigly, *tally,
*redly, *blondly, *oldly, *youngly.
24.1 Chief uses of adverbs and adverb phrases
1) Adverbs as modifier in phrases
As a phrase element, adverbs are chiefly used
a) as modifier of verbs.
e.g. They completely ignored my views.
b) as modifier of adjectives,
e.g. I’m feeling kind of tired.
c) as modifier of adverbs,
e.g. Do it right now.
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d) as modifier of prepositions or conjunctions, e.g. His parents are dead against the
trip.
e) as modifier of determiners, e.g. They recovered roughly half their equipment.
f) as modifier of nouns or whole noun phrases, e.g. She’s rather a fool.
g) Only few adverbs can be used as postmodifiers of nouns, e.g. your friend here, his
trip ahead.
Some can be premodifiers, e.g. his home journey.
副词作修饰语
1)作形容词修饰语：增强语义的强化语，可以与可分等级形容词连用。两组强化
语：增强语和减弱语。
A.增强语(amplifier)是从假定标准出发，在程度上逐步增强。
e.g. a funny film  a very funny film;
awfully sorry; amazingly calm.
B.减弱语(downtoner)一般起减弱语义的作用；从假定标准出发，在程度上逐步减
弱。
e.g. It was dark.  almost dark; fairly small; rather late; relatively small; somewhat
uneasy.
C.强调语(emphasizer) 增强形容词的语势，而不是提高形容词的程度。
e.g. The play is very good indeed.
She has a really beautiful face.
强调语和强化语不同，和不可分等级的形容词连
用，但是他们产生的效果与强化语的效果类似。
e.g. You’re certainly welcome.
The play was indeed excellent /
excellent indeed.
2)作副词修饰语：副词的后置修饰语只有enough和indeed。
e.g. He spoke clearly enough. (sufficiently clearly)
indeed常和very连用：
e.g. She spoke very clearly indeed.
?She spoke clearly indeed.
2) Adverb phrases as adverbial in clauses or sentences
As a clause element, adverb phrases are chiefly used a adjunct, disjuncts, and
conjuncts.
When used as an adjunct, the adverb phrase describes the time, place or manner
concerned with the action, process or state denoted by the verb. In this use, the adverb
phrase is relatively mobile, being able to take the initial, medial or end position.
Generally speaking, time adjuncts may occur at all the three positions.
e.g. Recently they had an accident.
They recently had an accident.
They had an accident recently.
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By contrast, manner adjuncts appear more often at the end position.
e.g. They live frugally.
Sometimes for rhetorical reasons, a manner adjunct may occur at the head of
the sentence.
e.g. Quietly she walked on and on.
Place adjuncts normally appear at the end of the sentence.
e.g. I couldn’t find it through I had looked everywhere.
24.2 Adverbs with or without –ly
1) Two forms with no difference in basic meaning
There are adverbs with two forms which are identical in meaning but are used in
different contexts.
e.g. Drive slowly onto the ferry.
The workers decided to go slow.
He guessed right.
It serves you right.
Don’t talk so loud/loudly.
2) Two forms different or slightly different in meaning
These adverbs also include some of the items cited in the preceding sections.
e.g. He walked slowly but surely.
He stopped dead.
He was dead tired.
3) Two forms entirely different in meaning
The following pairs are entirely different in meaning:
e.g. He is working hard.
He could hardly see anything.
He was justly punished.
I wonder just how good he is at spoken English.
still / yet / already都是时间副词，yet和still表示“仍旧、还”，但是位置不同。Yet
位于句末，谈“预计要发生的事情”，常常用于否定句和疑问句。
Still一般放在行为动词前，be动词后，用来说明过去开始的情况或动作仍在继续，
特别是用来说明我们希望它早些停止，可用于肯定句、疑问句或否定句。
Already表示某事发生的时间比预计的或应该发生的时间要早，用于肯定句和疑
问句(用于疑问句时表示惊奇)，但不能用于否定句，否定句要用not yet。
Lesson 25 Comparison and Comparative Constructions
教学重点及难点：
1. Comparative constructions of adjectives and adverbs;
2. A contrast among different pairs of related patterns of comparative constructions
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教 学 基 本 内 容
1. With gradable adjectives and adverbs, there are three degrees of comparison:
positive/absolute degree, comparative degree and superlative degree. Most adjectives
and adverbs are regular; only a few of them are irregular;
2. Comparative constructions: “As…as” construction, “More …than” construction,
“(The)+superlative adj./adv.+ scope of comparison”, Patterns signify comparison of
multiples, (Just) as…, so…”, . “A is to B what/as C is to D”＝＞ “What/as C is to D,
so A is to B /that A is to B”, “No more…than…”, “not A so much as B/ not so much A
as B”, She is as kind as her brother is honest. 可表示两个人或物不同性质的比较，
表示程度相等或相当， “……而……”..
Lecture 25
Comparison and Comparative Constructions
When appearing in comparative constructions, adjectives and adverb take special
grammatical forms which are called “forms of comparison”.
25.1 Comparison of adjectives and adverbs
There are three degrees of comparison: positive/absolute degree, comparative degree
and superlative degree. The first is just the base form of an adjective or adverb. The
second and third may be regular or irregular.
1) Regular comparison of adjectives
Comparison in relation to a higher or the highest
degree is expressed by the inflected forms in –er or est, or by their equivalents with
more or most, the former is known as the synthetic form and the latter the analytic
form.
Disyllabic adjectives may have either –er/est forms or more/most forms except for
those ending in –y and –ow which more often than not take the synthetic forms.
e.g. ---clever cleverer/more clever, cleverest/most clever
---happy, happier, happiest
---narrow, narrower, narrowest.
2) Regular comparison of adverbs
Comparison of adverbs is similar to that of adjectives. Adverbs of one syllable form
their comparative degree in –er and their superlative in –est. Adverbs of more than
one syllable usu. take more and most forms.
3) Irregular comparison of adjectives and adverbs
There are only a small number of adjectives and adverbs whose comparative and
superlative degrees take irregular forms. These include bad, good/well, old, far, much,
badly.
1. 在以-er结尾的形容词中，eager和proper只能用more + 形容词；此外，下列双
音节形容词可以用-er形式，(也可以用more形式，而此种形式看来正在广泛地使
用)：quiet, common, solid, cruel, wicked, polite, pleasant, handsome。
要求用-er形式的大多数形容词，也可以有more/most形式，这些形容词在作表语
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并在后面跟一个than引导的分句时，用more形式较为常见。
e.g. John is more mad than Bob is.
He is more wealthy than I thought.
当对一个人或物地两种性质对比时，只用more形式，而不用-er形式。
e.g. She is more proud than vain.
然而，对许多单音节形容词来说，使用more形式比较罕见：bad, big, black, clean,
fair, far, fast, good, great, hard, high, low, old, quick, small, thick, thin, tight, wide。
2. old规则-er形式older—oldest，在句中处于定语位置时，特别是在指家庭成员的
出生先后时，通常用不规则形式(尤其在英国英语中)来代替：My elder/eldest
(older/oldest) sister is an artist.
然而，elder不是真正的比较形式，因为它后面不能跟than：
My brother is three years older/*elder than me.
Elder/eldest必须指人：This viola is the older/*elder.
3. 有 些 副 词 的 变 化 形 式 与 形 容 词 相 同 ， 如 good, bad, far, much, little ；
badly—worse—worst;
well—better—best; little—less/lesser—least; much—more—most
far—farther—farthest 表示有形的距离；
--further—furthest 任何意义上，比较常见。
Worse作为badly的比较级用在：He behaves even worse than his brother.
但是，badly的比较级与need, want连用时，在英国英语中必须用more形式：
e.g. I really need that job more badly than you (美国英语也可用worse)
4.well/ill +分词构成的复合词既可以用er形式，也可以用 more形式。
Well-behaved --more/most well-behaved
--better/best-behaved 更为正式，更为人们喜欢。
5.有些和形容词形式相同的副词采用-er形式，如fast, hard, late, long, quick。拼写
和语音规则也相同：early—earlier—earliest。
以-ly结尾的开放类副词不用 -er形式：quickly--*quicklier/quickliest; more/most
quickly
6.often的比较形式有oftener, oftenest，不过不及more often, most often常用。
7.有时候，形容词的-er形式可以起到-ly副词的比较级作用。
e.g. That’s easier said than done. = … more easily…
Speak clearer! = …more clearly.
人们不反对用形容词的比较形式，却反对不用原级副词，而用原级形容词。
？Speak clear! [= speak clearly]
8. as … as
John behaves as politely as Bob (does).
如果重复从句中的助动词，就能使从句的意义得到强调；如果省略从句中的助动
词，主句意义被强调。
e.g. He is as strong as a horse. 是强调他的力气，不是马的力气。
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She is as hard as rails. 她身体很结实/冷酷无情。
9. more: determiner, pron. (comparative of many/much) [of, than]:
e.g. As he grows weaker, he spends more of his time in bed.
Less: determiner, pron. (comparative of little) [of, than]: a smaller amount; not so
much.
e.g. Why have I got less than you?
Can we have a bit less noise/less of that noise?
She’s less of a fool than (not so foolish as) I thought.
10. more than
1)+数词，表示“…以上”、“…有余”
e.g. More than 100chemical elements are know to man; of these, about 80 are meatals.
反义词是Less than，“少于…”、“不到…”“在…以下”
2)+名词/名词性从句/起名词作用的动词不定式，翻译为“不只、不仅仅、超过、
远不止、不同于”。
e.g. Peace is much more than the absence of war. 不仅仅意味着没有战争。
3)+动词，译成“十分、大大地、远远地、深为、极大地、岂止是、不仅仅”。
e.g. He more than smiled, he laughed outright. 他岂止是微笑，简直是大笑。
More than … can/could译为“不能”。More than=not。
e.g. That’s more than I can tell you, sir. 这一点我是不能告诉您的。
4)+形容词/副词，语义上表示很高的程度，常常可以译作“非常、十分、更加、
深胃、岂止、不仅仅”。
e.g. He is more than selfish. = very selfish
She is more than old-fashioned, she was antediluvian. 不单是守旧，她简直是个
老古董。
I am more than happy to hear that.
11. no more than
1)+数词，并不表示不确定的数目，而是表示准确的数目，其功用在于表达说话
人言其少的口气，相当于only, mere，一般可以翻译为“仅仅、才、只不过、跟…
一样少/小”。
e.g. No more than 3 people came to my class, unfortunately.
2)之所以误用，是因为它在形式上完全对应于汉语的“不多于”。同时，混淆了与
not more than的区别。后者没有特殊的口气，只是客观地表达“不多于、不超过”，
从此结构看不出说话人言其多或言其少的口气来。
e.g. The water is not more than five feet deep at any point.
Poison enables the snake to get its food with little effort, no more effort than one bite.
(强调用力之小)
毒液能使毒蛇毫不费力的获取食物，只要咬一口就行了。
He was so poor that he had no more than $100.
只有100美元了。
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3)nothing more than具有与no more than相同的语气，也可以翻译为“仅仅、只不
过”。
e.g. The thermostat is nothing more than an electric switch that opens and closes itself
at the proper temperature.
恒温器只不过是一种到达适当温度就自动开关的电闸。
12. no +形容词/副词的比较级+than结构里，其意
义和口气在于强调形容词或副词的反面性质。
No less than是no more than的反义词，其作用仅在于表达说话人“言其多”的口气，
可以翻译为“多达、高达”=as much/many /high as。
e.g. No less than 3 people offered to buy it.有三人之多购买它。
He paid no less than $10,000 for it.
Not less than客观的表达“不少于”，当然有可能多于。
e.g. There were not less than 10,000 visitors at the exhibition that day. 不少于10000
人。
13. A is n times larger than B = A is n times as large as B
Your house is three times the size of mine.
=Your house is three times as large as mine.
=Your house is three times larger than mine.
Five times as many people came to the demonstration as (did) last time.
Five times more people came …
参加示威游行的人是上次的五倍。
14. more … than
1)最常出现在有比较状语从句的句子里：
Most of them are at home than (are) abroad.他们之中留在国内的比出国的多。
The time passed more quickly than (it passed) last year.
2)比较两种说法的正确程度，前一种说法(more A)比后一种说法(than B)更正确一
些，翻译为“与其说B不如说/毋宁说A”“不大象B倒象A”
e.g. He is more good than bad. = It is more accurate to say that he is good than that he
is bad.
在这种句型里，more+adj./adv.并不构成形容词/副词的比较级。一大特点是，不
能以形容词/副词的比较级的后缀形式出现。
e.g. I was more angry than frightened. 与其说害怕，不如说生气。
不等于I was angrier than frightened.
More…than还可以与名词、代词、动词或介词短语连用。
e.g. It’s more a poem than a picture.
not more … than
Rachel is not more courageous than Saul.
雷切尔不如索尔勇敢即索尔比雷切尔勇敢。
雷切尔比索尔更勇敢即两个人都勇敢。此意是Rachel is more courageous than Saul.
的否定句。
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15. no more … than
1)此类句型的特点是：than后面的从句在形式上是肯定的，从意义上则是否定的；
表面上表示不同等的比较，实质上表示等同关系。
e.g. A fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears. 蠢人不能自知其
蠢，就像不能自见其耳一样。
You’re no more the queen than I am Julius Caesar. 你不是女王，就像我不是凯撒一
样。
2)no more … than常常用来表类比，即用人们熟悉或已知的事物去比喻不熟悉或
未知的事物。
He is no more a god than we are. 他不是傻瓜，就如同你不是傻瓜一样。
He is no more a fool than you are. 他和我们一样，也不是神。
They are no more scholars than my baby (is). 他们不是学者，就像我的婴儿不是学
者一样。
3)但是，当more作限定词（如more books）或名词短语的中心语时(e.g. more of the
books)，no more…than含义为：和…一样少、仅仅跟…一样多
Paul has no more friends than I have.(only as few as) 一样少
Tom got no more (of the votes) than he needed. (=only as many as) 仅仅得到所需选
票。
16. less … than
如同more … than并不是总作“比…多”一样，less…than也并不总作“比…少”解。
More A than B与其说B，不如说A。 less A than B具有相反的意义，即more B
than A，“与其说A，不如说是B”。
e.g. He was less hurt than frightened. 与其说受伤，不如说受惊。
It was a curious exchange, less a debate than a quarrel between two aggressive men.
这是一次奇特的交谈，与其说是两个好斗的人之间的一场辩论，不如说是一次争
吵。
17. no less…than与no more … than相反，是用来进行肯定的，既肯定前项，也肯
定后项。
e.g. He is no less guilty than you. 他和你同样有罪。
A whale is no less a mammal than a horse is.
In war no less than peace, food was an important influence.在战争期间，如同在和平
时期一样，粮食具有重要的影响。
18. more often than not：经常、往往、大半
not起着代分句的作用，它引导的从句是一个否定的比较从句。
e.g. He was found out more often than not. 他经常被发现有错误。
=More often than he was not found out.
More often than not we lay awake all night. 经常通宵不眠。
19. not so much … as
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用法和意义上相当于less … than，此短语并不是表示肯定一项而否定另一项，而
是表示两项兼而有之。换言之，常常用来比较两种说法的正确程度，(as)后项更
正确些。
e.g. His success is no so much by talents as by energy. 他的成功与其说是由于才
能，不如说是由于精力。
The great use of a school education is not so much to teach you things as to teach you
the art of learning.
学校教育的最大效用，与其说在于教你知识，不如说在于教你学习方法。
Not so much as “连…都没”
e.g. He didn’t so much as thank me for returning his money that I found. 我把我拾到
的钱还给了他，他连声谢谢都没有说。
He hadn’t so much as his fare home. 他甚至连回家的路费都没有。
I don’t know him, indeed I have not so much as heard his name. 实际上，连他的名
字我都没有听说过。
20. the … the
The higher the standard of living and the greater the national wealth, the ____
A. the greater is the amount of paper is used
B. greater amount of paper is used
C. amount of paper is used is greater
D. greater the amount of paper used
在the…the结构中，如果谓语动词是联系动词be，可以省略。
The younger is the child, the more is the child’s need of sleep.
The stronger ___ magnet, the greater the number of lines of magnetic force.
A. of B. the C. is the D. is of the
FALSE
B
从句(第一个the…)中的谓语动词，不管是be，还是其它动词，都不用倒装(连系
动词be经常省略)。因此，上面例句is位置是不正确的。
而在主句(第二个the…)中，主语和谓语既可以采用正装语序，也可以采用倒装语
序。作者可以根据结构特点和信息焦点的分布来安排语序：
e.g. The later you arrive, the better the food is.
The more socialism spreads, the stronger become the forces of peace.
The more I think about it, the less I like it.
The noisier they were, the better was their mother pleased.
The higher we go up a mountain, the smaller and lighter are the grains of dust around
us.
一般的比例句与汉语语序一致。但是，英语比例句有时是主句在前，从句在后，
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跟汉语语序相反。
e.g. I play the better, the more I practice. 越练习，弹得越好。
They liked the book better the more it made them cry. 这本书越使他们落泪，他
们就越喜欢它。
请注意，当主句在前时，形容词或副词比较级前的副词the常常省略。
e.g. Vibrations became weaker the farther they go.
They became the hungrier the harder they worked.
= The harder they worked the hungrier they became. 干得越起劲，就越饿。
Lesson 26 Preposition and prepositional phrase
教学重点及难点：
1. The different types of preposition and prepositional phrase;
2. Some useful phrases and patterns centered on preposition.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Collocation of prepositions with adjectives, verbs and nouns: Preposition after
adjectives, Preposition after verbs, Collocation of preposition with nouns. Complex
preposition, also known as “multi-word prepositions”, refer to combination of simple
preposition.
2. Useful phrases and sentences: The news of her father’s death came as bolt from the
blue., We are in his black books because we didn’t invite him to our party, He
committed the crime of crimes, The young people in pairs and couples rambled about
the park on holidays, She is between the devil and the deep sea in this matter, What
one loses on the swings one gets back on the round about, etc.
Lecture 26
Preposition and
Prepositional Phrase
Teaching Contents
26.1 Collocation of prepositions with adjectives, verbs and nouns
26.2 Complex prepositions
26.3 Transformational relations between prepositional phrase and subordinate clauses
Preposition is just a class of structural words that indicate various semantic relations
between words or expressions.
26.1 Collocation of prepositions with adjectives, verbs and nouns
1) Prepositions after adjectives
Adjectives can collocate with prepositions to form adjective phrases.
Some adjectives can only be followed by specific prepositions, e.g. rich in, intent on,
indifferent to.
But there are other adjectives that can collocate with different prepositions to express
different meanings, e.g. alive to vs. alive with.
There are also adjectives that can be followed by different prepositions without
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change in meaning, the choice of prepositions being determined by the noun or
pronoun that follows.
e.g. Joe was very disappointed at not finding her at home.
His parents will be disappeared with her if she fails the exam.
2) Preposition after verbs
a) verb + prep. e.g prevail on, appeal to
b) verb + object + prep. e.g. exclude…from
c) verb + adverb particle + prep. e.g. break in on, come up against
d) verb + object + adverb particle + prep. e.g. take one’s resentment out on, put
something over on
3) Collocation of prepositions with nouns
a) noun + prep. e.g. a solution to, faith in, a glance at
b) prep. + noun e.g. on one’s guard, at one’s request, in all probability
.Compare …to / with
Compare … to “把…比作”；compare … with “将…与…作比较”
e.g. Shakespeare compared the world to a stage.
将人世比作舞台
In the Bible, Christians are compared to sheep, evil persons to goats, and the use of
wine to serpents.
在《圣经》中，基督教被比作绵羊，坏人被比作山羊，饮酒被比作毒蛇。
The police compared the fingerprints on the gun with these on the door. 将枪上的指
纹与门上的相比较。
在较少的情况下，人们有时用compare…to来表达“将…同…作比较”的意思。
e.g. You’ll never really know what happiness is unless you have something to
compare it to.
如果你没有某种可比较的东西，你就永远也不会真正明白什么是幸福。
此外，在cannot compare这一结构中，compare to与with是无区别的。
e.g. Social life in a village cannot compare to/with that of a large city.
The south of England is certainly beautiful but it can’t compare with/to the south of
France for sunshine.
英格兰南部诚然是美丽的，但是，就充足的阳光而言，它与法国南部是无法相比
的。
26.2 Complex prepositions
Complex prepositions, also known as “multi-word prepositions”, refer to
combinations that consist of two or more than two words and which perform the
function of simple prepositions. They can be divided into:
1) Two-word prep. e.g. according to, except for, ahead of
2) Three-word prep. e.g. at variance with, in spite of, by way of, on/under pain of
3) Four-word prep. e.g. at the expense of, on the ground of, at the mercy of, on the
point of
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26.3 Transformational relations between prepositional phrase and subordinate clauses
Prepositional phrases, which are used as adverbial in clauses and as modifiers in noun
phrases, have transformational relations with some subordinate clauses that perform
the same syntactic functions.
1) Prep. phrase vs. that-clause
Are you sure of Simon’s disappearance?
= Are you sure that Simon has disappeared?
2) Prep. phrase vs. adverbial clause
e.g. Despite the city’s many attractions, Johnny still preferred his cottage in the
country.
= Although the city has many attractions, Johnny still preferred his cottage in the
country.
3) Prepositional phrase vs. relative clause
The man with a red bear is talking to Henry’s father.
= The man who has red beard is talking to Henry’s father.
besides / except
1)在否定句中，二者没有区别：除(外)。
I care for nothing besides this. 除了这个之外，我什么都不要。
Nobody besides Emily had skis.除了艾米利之外，谁也没有滑雪板。
2)besides表示“包括、相加”：e.g. What language do you know besides English?
except表示排除在外：He gets up early everyday except Sunday.
Except vs. except for
目前人们用法较灵活，没有大的区别；但是，句首一般使用except for，不用except。
当然，except for也用在句末，但 介词短语前只用except。
e.g. None of us had any money, except (for) James.
Except for Xiao Li, we all attended the meeting.
We go to bed before 10, except in summer.
despite / in spite of/ for all / with all / not withstanding都表示让步，其区别不在意义
上，而是在语域语体上。
最长使用的是in spite of，据说特别受到新闻工作者的偏爱。
Despite比较正式，TOEFL几乎总要求使用这个介词。
e.g. *Despite of heavy rain, the party set out in the morning.
For all / with all是较口语化的词。
e.g. For all/with all this noise, I managed to get some sleep.
Notwithstanding用于正式语体，尤其是法律文件中。
e.g. Notwithstanding any other agreements, we will make a new contract with the
firm.
Lesson 27 Statement, Question, Command, Exclamation
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教学重点及难点：
1. The four types of sentences :statement, question, command and exclamation;
2. A further understanding of some patterns related to statement and question.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Statement may be divided into positive and negative statement. Negative Statement
can be sub-divided into Absolute negation , Partial negation and Transferred negation.
Absolute negation: consists of absolute negative words + positive predicate, Partial
negation: can be divided into two kinds.
2. In terms of syntactic structure and communicative function, questions /interrogative
sentences fall into four major types: general question, alternative question, special
question, tag question.
3. Commands: also known as “ imperative sentences”, Exclamation: also known as
“exclamatory sentences”
Lecture 27
Statement, Question,
Command, Exclamation
Teaching Contents
27.1 Statements
27.2 Questions
27.3 Commands and exclamations
In terms of communicative functions, sentences may be divided into four types:
statement, question, command and exclamation.
27.1 Statements
Statements, also known as “declarative sentences”, are used to state a fact or non-fact,
that is, to affirm or negate something. They are divided into two types.
1) Positive statements
In a positive statement, there might be different degrees of certainty about the truth of
the information imparted.
It might be tinted by a tentative attitude which helps to soften the tone and make the
utterance and sound more polite. There are a number of expressions available for this
purpose, including such attitudinal disjuncts as I think, I suppose, I guess, I’m afraid.
e.g. We have met before, if I’m not mistaken.
To reinforce a statement, another set of devices are available for use. These include
emphasizers, reinforcement tags, double negatives as well as rhetorical questions.
A rhetorical question is essentially an emphatic construction, which is a question in
form but a statement in meaning. A negative rhetorical question is equivalent to a
reinforced positive statement, while a positive rhetorical question to a reinforced
negation.
e.g. Many people will certainly lose their jobs.
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That was a trap, that was.
Who doesn’t know that?
That was a lark, that was.
那是只百灵鸟，确实是百灵鸟。
此种类型附加句叫amplificatory tag或reinforcement tag。在此种尾句里指出现主语
和助动词。如果没有助动词，则必须添加do/does/did。通过重复主语和助动词，
就可以起到加强语气，确认事实的作用。
e.g. He likes his beer, he does. 确实喜欢。
2) Negative statements
A statement may be negated by not or other negative words. Not usu. appears
immediately after the operator. The combination of “operator + not” can be contracted
in two ways: a contracted form of operator enclitic to the subject, e.g. he’s not; or not
enclitic to the operator, e.g. he wouldn’t.
a) What is negated by not may be the operator or other elements of the sentence. The
former results in a negative sentence, while the latter does not necessarily make a
negative statement.
e.g. He wouldn’t do it.
He visited her not long ago.
b) Sometimes when partial negation occurs at the initial position, the whole sentence
is negated.
e.g. No honest man would lie.
c) Negative statements can be reinforced by shifting the negative word from its
normal position to the head of the sentence, in which case subject-oriented inversion
is often require.
e.g. He would never do such a thing.
d) Other devices for negative reinforcement include “not one/ a single + singular
noun”, “not a wink”, “not a finger”.
e.g. Not a single sound was heard.
e) Devices for negative reinforcement also include “never never”, “never + auxiliary
do” and some set expressions.
e.g. I shall never, never go there again.
not…any longer与not …any more都可以表示“不再”的意思。
e.g. I do not see him any more/longer.
He’s not at school any longer / more.
I can’t wait any longer.
I didn’t feel sick any more. The pain had gone.
含not…any的否定句与含no的否定句在基本意义上是相同的。但是，后者比较
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正式，并且表示更为强烈的否定。
e.g. I don’t see any clouds. 约等于I see no clouds.
应当注意，含no的否定句可以将no放在句首。
e.g. Dogs are not permitted here. 约等于No dogs are permitted here.
有时，no并不否定句子，而是否定名词本身(局部否定)，这样的句子不能用
not…any来代替的no的。
e.g. No news is good news. 没有消息便是好消息。
No food at all is better than unwholesome food.
no + noun 并不是否定某种职业或类属，而是否定从事某种职业的特征、技巧、
素养或天分。
I’m no teacher. 我不善于教书。教得不好/我不是教书的材料/没有教师的天分。
I’m not a teacher. 我(在职业上)不是教师。
有时候则表示主语具有主与所表达地人或事物的反面的属性。
e.g. no youngster = quite old; no fool = very intelligent; no genius = foolish;
He is no friend of mine. 他是我的敌人。
He is no chicken.
他已经成熟了。
He is no diplomat.
他没有外交手腕/不机智。
This idea is no good. Good是名词，no是形容词。这个想法没有用。
It’s no good arguing with you.
This idea is not good. Not是否定副词，good是形容词。 这个想法不好。
27.2 Questions
In terms of syntactic structure and communicative function, questions, also known
as “interrogative sentences”, fall into four types:
1) General questions
They are also know as “yes-no questions” are asked for affirmation or negation.
a) They may contain non-assertive words if there is no bias in expectation towards a
positive or negative answer. If the speaker is predisposed to a positive answer, he
should
use assertive, rather than non-assertive, forms. e.g. Is there anything wrong with the
machine?
Is there something wrong with the machine?
b) Negative yes-no questions may appear in two forms “operator + n’t + subject” and
“operator + subject + not”. The contracted form suggests a mixture of positive and
negative orientation, implying annoyance or disappointment at what ought to have
happened but did not happen. The non-contracted form is simply negative orientated,
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expecting a negative answer.
e.g. Haven’t you finished your work yet?
Have you not finished your work yet?
c) In negatively-orientated questions, there usu. occur non-assertive word. If a
negative question contains assertive forms, it is biased towards positive orientation.
e.g. Haven’t you heard from him already?
d) Contracted negative questions sometimes suggest an emotion of admiration.
e.g. Isn’t if a beautiful lake?
This is in essence not a question but a reinforced positive statement that is used to
express exclamation.
Won’t you come? No, I won’t.
英美人在答问时用Yes或No，完全决定于答话人本人言语行为的肯定：肯定性(肯
定句)或否定性(否定句)，而不管答话人是否赞同问话人的陈述。中国人在答问时
用“是/不是”，完全决定于答话人对问话的肯定(或赞同)或否定(不赞同)。
--- 他知道吗？ ---是，他知道。(赞同) / 不，他不知道。(不赞同)
--- 他不知道吧？---不，他知道。(不赞同)
Doesn’t he know Russian? 难道他不懂俄语吗？
Yes, he does. 不，他懂。
No, he doesn’t. 是的，他不懂。
陈述疑问句(declarative question/statement-question)：其语序跟陈述句的语序相同，
而它的语调则跟一般疑问句的语调(升调)相同，并在书写时加上问号。其语义特
点是，说话人对答案是有倾向性的，他倾向于他所需要的或所期望的回答。肯定
的疑问句具有肯定的倾向性，否定的疑问句具有否定的倾向性。
e.g. You realize the risks? 你认识到风险了吧？
He didn’t pass the exam? 没通过考试吧？
You aren’t hungry? 你不饿吧？
还有一个用法：对谈话对方的陈述句进行反问：
--- I forgot the milk. --- You forgot the milk?
此情况下，陈述疑问句常常表示惊讶、喜悦或者要求谈话对方对刚才所说的话进
行解释。
感叹疑问句：其实际含义与表面含义恰好相反，不表否定，而是表示强有力的肯
定。Wasn’t if a …有时候在意义上实际上等于what a …。
e.g. Aren’t they lovely! 他们多好看啊！
Isn’t that nice of them!
Wasn’t it a marvelous concert!
不规则疑问句：主要用于美国英语，尤其是非正式语体。此类句子虽是疑问句，
但是主谓句的语序却采用陈述句的语序。How come (how does it come that)引导句
子属不规则句子：
e.g. How come you are late?
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How come they left you in the dark?
How come he isn’t here?
2) Special question
They are also known as wh-questions and are generally introduced by wh-words such
as who, whose, which, where, what, when, how. The wh-word marks the focus of
information to be asked about.
They may be in normal order or in inverted order. When wh-word functions as subject
or part of the subject, the question is in normal order. If not, it is in inverted order.
e.g. Who phoned last night?
Who are you talking about?
They can be reinforced in two ways. One is to add ever to the wh-word. e.g. Who ever
broke the window?
The other way is to use some intensifying expressions such as on earth, the devil, the
hell, the goodness, in the world, in heaven’s name, to convey emotional feelings of
surprise, indignation.
e.g. What on earth could it mean?
3) Alternative questions
They suggest two or more possible answers for the listener to choose from. There are
two types: one is based on the structure of general question; the other is based on that
of special question.
e.g. Shall I give you a gin, a whisky, or a beer?
4) Tag questions
They are extensively used in spoken language. It generally consists of two parts:
statement + question tag. The subject and verb in the question tag generally
correspond with those in the statement. If the subject of the statement is a noun phrase,
the tag usu. takes a corresponding pronoun as subject.
A) There are 4 types: “positive statement + negative tag”, “negative statement +
positive tag”, “positive statement + positive tag” and “negative statement + negative
tag”. The first two are frequently used.
e.g. That clock is slow, isn’t it?
That clock isn’t slow, is it?
That clock is slow, is it?
That clock isn’t slow, isn’t it?
tag question
1)祈使句之后的附加疑问句：当主句为祈使句时，后面的will you / won’t you /
would you/ could you / can you / can’t you只是表示“请”的意思，并非真正的附加疑
问句，因此常常不遵守附加疑问句的使用规则。但是，记住一点：在祈使句为否
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定句时，后面一般使用will you / can you。
e.g. Post this letter for me, can you?
Don’t forget, will you?
2)肯定句+肯定附加疑问句
You’ve had an accident, have you?
陈述句是肯定的，附加疑问句也是肯定的例子，是比较罕见的，但它是英语中的
正确用法。其作用在于表达“说话人通过推断或回忆对已经说过的情况得出了结
论”。因此句首常用so、oh等。
e.g. So you call that hard work, do you? 这么说来，你把这叫做苦活？
You’ve found a job, have you? 你已经找到了工作，是吧？
So he likes his job, does he? 这么说，他喜欢他的工作，是这样吧？
有时候，这种形式的附加疑问句还可以用来表示惊奇或威胁等。
B) They also take the form of “imperative sentence + question tag”, which is
commonly used to soften the imperative tone.
e.g. Carry this parcel for me, will you?
C) The following are a few points to be noticed concerning the formation of question
tags.
a) With everyone, everyday, someone, somebody, no one, as subject in the statement,
the subject in the tag is usu. he in formal style or they in informal style. If the subject
in the statement is a non-personal compound such as everything, something, anything,
nothing, the corresponding pronoun in the tag can only be the singular neutral it.
b) With an existential sentence as the statement, the tag still keeps there as formal
subject.
c) When the statement contains such negative or semi-negative words as seldom,
hardly, never, rarely, little, few, nowhere, nothing, the tag is usu. in the positive. But
the tag is negative if the negative element in the statement is only a negative prefix.
e.g. He was unsuccessful, wasn’t he?
d) With “I am” in the statement, the tag is “aren’t I”?
e) With indefinite pronoun “one” as subject in the statement, the subject in the tag is
one or he in formal style or you in informal style.
f) When the statement is an SVO construction with a that-clause as object, the tag
normally mirrors the subject and operator of the main clause.
e.g. She says that you are to blame, doesn’t she?
However, when the main clause is I suppose, I think I believe, I suspect, I imagine,
the tag mirrors the subject and operator of the that-clause.
e.g. I suppose that he is serious, isn’t he?
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g) With the verb have (in the sense of possession) as operator in the statement, the tag
admits of either the have-form or the do-form.
e.g. You have a nice house, haven’t / don’t you?
But when the statement is in the negative, the choice of verb form in the tag is
determined by that in the statement.
e.g. He hasn’t a house of his own, has he?
He doesn’t have a house of his own, does he?
If the verb have in the statement is used in its dynamic sense, the tag invariably take
the do-form.
e.g. You often have headache, don’t you?
h) With ought to as operator in the statement, the tag includes ought in Br.E or should
in A.E.
e.g. The child ought to be punished, oughtn’t /shouldn’t he?
i) With used to as operator in the statement, the tag either takes the used-form or the
did-form.
e.g. He used to live in Beijing, usedn’t /didn’t he?
j) With needn’t as operator in the statement, the tag generally includes need.
e.g. You needn’t go yet, need you?
k) With must as operator in the statement expressing “obligation”, the tag usu.
includes must.
e.g. You must work hard next term, mustn’t you?
But when must means “to be necessary”, the tag includes mustn’t or needn’t.
e.g. You must go home right now, mustn’t / needn’t you?
When must means “probability, certainty”, the tag may include must or other
operators
e.g. He must be very tired, mustn’t he?
l) When the statement is an imperative sentence, the tag is generally will you / won’t
you /wouldn’t you? If the statement is a first person imperative sentence, the tag is
shall we?
混合疑问句或连锁疑问句
How much did you say this one cost?
之所以叫混合疑问句，是因为它由两种类型的疑问句混合而成的。一是特殊疑问
句：How much did this one cost?；二是一般疑问句：Did you say?。混合后，特殊
疑问句的语序要发生变化：How much did you say this one cost?能否将did you say
分析为插入语呢？
当Wh-疑问词充当主语时，分析为插入语还讲得通：
Who do you think murdered the lady?
但是，当wh-疑问词作句子其它成分时，分析为插入语就讲不通了。
How much did you say this one cost?
因为插入语的本质是：去掉它之后句子结构仍然完整，而在下面的句子里去掉did
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you say之后，句子结构就不完整了。因此，我们必须把上面的疑问句看作一种特
殊疑问句。
混合疑问句中的一般疑问句的动词数量是有限的：say, think, guess, suppose,
suggest等等。
e.g. What do you think she would feel?
27.3 Commands and exclamations
1) Commands
They are also known as imperative sentences and begin with a verb in the imperative
mood and express a command, an instruction, a request, a suggestion.
There are 3 types: the second person imperative, the first person imperative and the
third person imperative.
2) Exclamations
They are also known as “exclamatory sentences” and refer to a special type of
sentence that expresses strong feelings. Various ways are available to express strong
feelings. When we talk about the exclamation as a special type of sentence, we only
refer to the two kinds of sentence introduced by WHAT and HOW. What elements
may function as the subject, object, complement, prepositional complementation and
adverbial. How elements are used as adverbials or modifiers.
e.g. What an enormous crowd came!
What impertinence!
How quickly you eat!
Lesson 28&29 Existential sentences & It patterns
教学重点及难点：
1. The structural properties of existential sentences;
2.The use of anticipatory it and introductory it in cleft sentences.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. The existential sentence generally begins with an unstressed there as formal subject
followed by a form of the verb be or other verb that is related to the notion of
existence. A non-finite existential clauses is one whose predicate is a non-finite verb
phrase. There are two types of existential clauses.
2. There are sentences with it as formal subject denoting time, distance, and
atmospheric conditions, sentences with anticipatory it as subject, and cleft sentences
introduced by it. The word it in these patterns is called respectively “empty it”,
“anticipatory it”, and it as introductory word of cleft sentences.
Lecture 28
Existential Sentences
Teaching Contents
28.1 Structural properties of existential sentences
28.2 Non-finite existential clauses
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The existential sentence is a special type of sentence structure that denotes the
existence of something. The communicative function of an existential sentence is to
elicit a new topic, which as focus of information is generally expressed by the
“notional”, subject “coming after the verb phrase.
28.1 Structural properties of existential sentences
The general pattern of an existential sentence is: there + be + NP + locative /temporal
adverbial
1) Introductory there
There functions as formal subject not only in statements but also in questions, where
the formal subject and operator are inverted. In informal style, introductory there
often determines subject-verb concord in an existential sentence, that is, the form of
the verb is not determined by the number of the following noun phrase but by the
non-plural form of the introductory word.
Introductory there is different from a fronted adverb there in that it is unstressed and
meaningless, while the initial adverb there is stressed and acts as an adverbial of
place.
2) Notional subject
a) The notional subject, which is actually the focus of information, is usually a noun
phrase with indefinite specific reference.
The determiners commonly occurring in this kind of noun phrase include the
indefinite article, the zero article, and other indefinite determiners such assume, any,
no, several, many, much, more, (a) few, (a) little, less, another, a lot of, plenty of, a
number of, enough, as well as the cardinal numerals.
--There are many people still with too low a standard of living.
--There are roses in the flowerbeds.
b) The notional subject can also be realized by some-, any-, no- compounds, such as
something, nothing, anyone, etc.
c) Just as the notional subject of existential sentence is commonly an indefinite noun
phrase, so any statement with an indefinite noun phrase as subject and a verb phrase
containing the verb “be” can generally be transformed into an existential sentence.
--Plenty of people are getting promotion.
--There are plenty of people getting promotion.
3) Predicator in existential sentence
a) The predicator or predicate verb of an existential sentence is commonly a form of
the verb be, finite or non-finite, simple or perfective.
--There is a train due to arrive.
--There were very few people left when we got there.
--There have been many such incidents.
b) The predicator may also be realized by “modal + be/have been” or “semi-auxiliary
+ be”.
-There shall be no more wars.
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--There can be very little doubt about his guilt.
--There should have been someone on duty all the time.
--There’s going to be a storm.
--There is sure to be some rain tonight.
--There is likely to be a large audience.
c) Apart from the verb be, there are at least three classes of semantically-related verbs
that can act as predicator in a existential sentence.
First, verbs of existence and position, such as exist, live, stand, lie:
--In the valley there lies a river.
--In the cottage there lives a family of six.
Secondly, verbs of motion, such as come, go, walk.
--There came a time when the people felt the need to settle down and live in peace.
Thirdly, verbs of emergence or development, such as appear, rise, emerge, develop,
happen, occur, etc.
--There occurred at that moment a most remarkable incident.
1. There is some people.
现代英语的一种变化趋势：there is先已发展成为一个固定套话，既用于单数形式
的主语，也用于复数形式的主语。现代英语语法学家都认为这是正确的用法。有
的语法学家经调查发现，以英语为本族语的人，在讲话中，不管there be句型的
主语是单数还是复数，使用there is的人占绝大多数。
e.g. There’s some people I like you to meet.
There’s lots of cars on the road these days.
2. 1) Just ahead of us there was a huge fissure.
2) Just ahead of us was a huge fissure.
语法结构上，二者都正确，基本意义相同。但是，修辞上讲，1)句的there是绝对
不可去掉的，因为状语+there be+主语与状语+be+主语又一个很重要的区别：前
者常常具有“偶然性、突然性”(chanced to, happened to)的含义。1)的句意为：就在
我们的前面突然出现了一个巨大的地缝。
3.充当定语的存在句型与存在句型中的定语从句
1) There is a man lives in China.
按照语法规则，在定语从句中充当主语的关系代词是不能省略的。但是，存在句
型和强调句型中的定语从句却是个例外，尤其是在口语中。
e.g. There is a gentleman [ ] wants to see you.
It’s Simon [ ] did it.
当主语是Here is时，情况也是如此。
e.g. Here’s a little book [ ] will tell you how to raise roses.
2)充当定语的存在句型其本身可以省略主语
e.g. The number of mistakes [ ] there are in this homework is simply astounding.
This is the only article [ ] there is on the subject.
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4.there is no doing：粗略的说，这种句型表示“不可能…，无法…，没有办法”
e.g. There is no holding back the wheel of the history.
There is no telling what will happen.
像No smoking. No parking.这样一些表示禁令的固定格式，便是这种句型的缩略
形式。
但是，这种句型有时还作非情态解释。
There was no smoking in the corridors.
1) Smoking was not allowed in the corridors.
2) No one smoked in the corridors.
有时候，甚至有三种解释。
There is no writing on the blackboard today.
1) We can’t write on the blackboard today.
2) We’re not going to write on the blackboard.
3) There’s nothing written on the blackboard.
28.2 Non-finite existential clauses
A non-finite existential clause is one whose predicator is a non-finite verb phrase.
There are two types of non-finite existential clauses.
①There to be/have been + NP +locative/temporal adverbial.
②There being +NP +locative/temporal adverbial.
These forms can be used:
1) As prepositional complementation
Both forms can be used as prepositional complementation. If the preposition is for,
it usually takes the “there to be” form as complementation. With other prepositions,
the complementation usually takes the “there being” form.
--The secretary arranged for there to be another meeting.
--He asked about there being another meeting.
2) As object
This applies more often than not to the “there to be” form. There are only a limited
number of verbs that can take a “there to be” form as object. These verbs include
expect, mean, intend, want, like, prefer, hate, etc.
--I want there to be no mistake about this.
--I’d prefer there to be a little more co-operation.
3) As subject
As subject, the “there being” form is commonly used.
--There being a bus stop so near the house is a great advantage.
When the “there to be” form is used as subject, it is usually introduced by for.
--It was unusual for there to be so few people in the streets.(only used in formal style)
4) As adverbial
--There having been no rain for a long time, the ground was burnt black by the sun.
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Lesson 30 Coordination
教学重点及难点：
1. The types of coordinate construction;
2. Coordinators semantically considered
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. There are four points to be noted about types of coordinate constructions: formation
of coordinate construction, coordinating devices, insertion between coordinated items,
symmetrical organization of coordinate construction.
2. Modern English has three basic coordinators: and, or, but. Semantically considered,
English coordinators can be described under three headings: coordinators denoting
“addition”, represented by and; coordinators denoting “alternation”, represented by or;
and coordinators denoting “contrast”, represented by but.
Lecture 30
Coordination
A coordinate construction is a sequence of semantically-related grammatical units that
are similar in for, equal in tank of structure, identical in function and are connected by
coordinator.
Types of coordinate constructions
1) Formation of coordinate constructions
2) Coordinating devices
3) insertion between coordinated items
4) symmetrical organization of coordination constructions
2 Coordinators semantically considered
Modern English has three basic coordinators: and, or, but. Added to there are yet, so,
nor, items that can function both as conjunctions and as conjunctive adverbs.
In addition, there are some correlative pairs semantically related to the basic
coordinators, including both…and, not …but, not…nor, neither…nor, etc.
There are also some “quasi-coordinators”: as well as, as much as, rather than, more
than, etc.
Semantically considered, English coordinators can be described under three headings:
coordinators denoting “addition”, represented by and; denoting “alternation”,
represented by or; and denoting “contrast”, represented by but.
And –group coordinators
he is Jack of all trades and master of none.
He opened the door and went in.
he heard a cry or help, and he rushed out of the house.
Think it over and you’ll find a way out.
Mary likes music and Jim is fond of sports.
2) or-group coordinators
Not only did the garage overcharge me, but they hadn't done a very good repair job
either.
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Either the president will resign through ill-health, or he will die in office.
*Both Jane wanted to go to the south, and her husband wanted to go there too.
He neither likes fiction nor (likes) poetry.
He neither likes fiction, nor does he like poetry.
3) But-group coordinators
The coat is not mine but yours.
It never rains but it pours.
He very much wanted to buy the house, only he could not afford.
She is a funny girl, yet you can’t help liking her.
Lesson 31&32 Subordination (I & II)
教学重点及难点：1. Coordination and subordination, finite subordinate clauses, and
some few notes on adverbial clauses
2. Infinite clauses, -ing participle clauses and –ed participle clause, verbless clauses,
“absolute constructions”.
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Coordination and subordination are two devices for combining and relating ideas
structurally, subordinate clauses may be finite, non-finite, or verbless. Adverbial
clauses of time/cause, so that vs. so …that, unless and if …not, though and although
are all subordinate clauses, there are some few notes on the principle uses to be
memorized.
2. An infinite clause is a “subject + predicate” construction with an infinitive as
predicator, an –ing participle clause is a “subject + predicate” construction with an
–ing participle as predicator, an –ed participle clause is a “subject +predicate”
construction with an –ed participle as predicator, etc.
Lecture 31
subordination (I)
Subordination means putting a grammatical unit in a lower rank or position.
31.1 Coordination and subordination
They are two devices for combining and relating ideas.
Ways of subordination of minor ideas
It is general practice to put the main idea in the main clause and the minor idea in a
dependent clause.
As they were curious about their new neighbors, the Johnsons went and visited them
at the first opportunity.
Being curious about their new neighbors, the Johnsons…
Curious about their new neighbors, the Johnsons…
If the speaker wants to further minimize the importance of the minor idea, he can even
put it in a phrase, chiefly a prepositional one, e.g.:
With curiosity, the Johnson's went and visited their new neighbors…
2) Subordinators
a) Simple subordinators
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Also known as “one-word subordinators”
b) Complex subordinators
also known as “multi-word subordinators”
c) Correlative subordinators
d) Marginal subordinators
31.2 Subordinate clauses (finite)
1) Nominal clauses
It is also known as noun clauses, and it can perform most functions of a noun
phrase.
2) Relative clauses
A relative clause is normally introduced by a relative word, i.e. by a relative pronoun,
a relative determiner, or a relative adverb.
3) Adverbial clauses
Adverbial clauses are those that perform the function of adverbial in a complex senten
ce.
31.3 Some few notes on adverbial clauses
1) adverbial clauses of time
a) same time
When he goes to town, he visits his aunt.
She felt ill when she ate oyster.
The wind blew hard when the rain poured down.
The dog barded the instant it heard a noise.
When we arrived, she was cooking the dinner.
b) Earlier time and later time
She looked both ways before she crossed the road.
When he had painted the windows, he painted the doors.
When I reached the station, the train had left.
2) Adverbial clauses of cause
We hurried because / for it was getting dark.
When I saw her in the river, I was frightened. For at that point the currents were
dangerous.
What are you going to do seeing they won’t agree?
Now I’m here, I’d better stay for a few days.
Lecture 32 Subordination (II)
In this lecture we shall talk about non-finite clauses and verbless clauses. A non-finite
clause is a clause with a non-finite verb phrase as predicator. A verbless clause is one
without any form of verb element. Non-finite clauses include infinitive clause, -ing
participle clause, and –ed participle clause.
32.1 Infinitive clauses
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An infinitive clauses is a “subject + predicate” construction with an infinitive as
predicator
1) Types of infinitive clauses
2) a) Infinitive clause without expressed subject
This is the type of infinitive clause whose logical subject is only implied but can be
inferred from the context. Generally speaking, the logical subject of an infinitive
clause is just the subject of the main clause:
I hoped to be able to come.
To be frank, you need a great deal of courage.
b) Infinitive clause with expressed subject
The expressed subject of an infinitive clause is generally introduced by for, eg:
The best thing would be for you to tell everybody.
He knew that with him to help, she would and would succeed.
Rather than you do the job, I prefer to finish it myself.
We shall assemble at 9, the procession to start moving at precisely 9:15.
c) Infinitive clause introduced by wh-word or subordinator
Infinitive clauses can also be introduced by a wh-word, usually by what, how, where,
etc, eg:
I don’t know what to do / how to do it/ where to go.
He opened his lips as if to say something.
2) Syntactic functions of infinitive clauses
a) As an adverbial of purpose, the infinitive is usually with to.
The logical subject need not be expressed if it is identical with the subject of the main
clause; if not, the logical subject will have to be expressed and be introduced by for,
eg:
She stood up to be seen better.
He moved aside for her to be seen better.
b) To denote result, we normally use the simple form of to-infinitive
In 1935 he left home never to return.
His work was so good as to make him well-known in the city.
c) As an adverbial of cause, infinitive clauses generally collocate with adjectives or
verbs denoting emotion or fortune, eg:
I am delighted to know that you have got a job.
She wept to see him in such a terrible state.
32.2 –ing participle clauses
1) Types of –ing participle causes
a) –Ing participle clause without expressed subject or subordinator
He denied having been there.
I have friend living in London.
B) –Iing participle clause with subordinator
When sleeping, I never hear a thing.
c) –Ing participle clause with expressed subject
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Do you mind my / me making a suggestion?
My parents object to my / me going out alone.
2) Syntactic functions of –ing participle clauses
a) Both –ing participle and infinitive clauses can be used as subject, object, and
subject/object complement.
b) As adverbials , -ing participle clauses can be used in various senses.
Climbing to the top of the tower, we saw a magnificent view.
Being a hard-working young man, he was praised by his teachers.
Knowing all this, he still insisted on my paying for the damage.
It rained heavily, causing sever flooding in that area.
32.3 –ed participle clauses.
1) Types of -ed participle clauses
Covered with confusion, she hurriedly left the room.
Once published, the book caused a remarkable stir.
The job finished, we went home straight away.
2) Syntactic functions of –ed participle clauses
a) A postmodifying –ed participle clause corresponds to an elliptical relative clause.
b) As an adverbial, -ed participle clauses can denote time, cause, condition,
concession as well as accompanying circumstances.
32.4 Verbless clauses
It is a clause without any form of verb element as predicator.
Right or wrong, I have given him a piece of mind.
Whatever the reason, his cordiality has won him a friend.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
He spoke ungraciously, if not rudely.
There he stood, a tray in hand.
Lesson 33 Relative clause
教学重点及难点：
1. Clauses introduced by “preposition +relative pronoun”, double and embedded
relative clauses;
2. Rules for choice of relative words
教 学 基 本 内 容
1. Relative clauses may be restrictive or non-restrictive. A restrictive relative clause
gives essential information about the meaning of the antecedent; a non-restrictive
relative clause does not restrict the referential meaning of the antecedent.
2. There are three points worth noticing about the choice of the relative words. There
are two types of clauses introduced by “preposition +relative pronoun”, finite and
non-finite. A double relative clause refers to a post modifier composed of two relative
clauses that share one and the same antecedent, an embedded relative clause is a
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clause that function both as the postmodifier of a noun phrase in the main clause and
as the object of another inserted clause.
A relative clause is a clause that is introduced by a relative word---either by a relative
pronoun or by a relative determiner or by a relative adverb.
33.1 Restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses
Relative clauses may be restrictive or non-restrictive. A restrictive relative
clause gives essential information about the meaning of the antecedent. If forms an
integral part of the noun phrase, without which the head cannot be identified as the
specific object. A non-restrictive relative clause does not restrict the referential
meaning of the antecedent. If it is taken away, the antecedent still refers to the same
person or thing.
1) Restrictive relative clause
A restrictive clause is closely related to the head. It is not separated from the
head by a break in intonation, or by a comma in writing.
This kind of relative clause usually occurs in the following contexts: When the
noun head takes a generic indefinite article or a cataphoric definite article, the relative
clause that follows is generally a restrictive clause, eg:
She was a woman who must be treated decently.
This is the car I bought last year.
2) Non-restrictive relative clauses
It is not closely connected with the head. It is generally separated from the head by a
clear break in speech or by a comma in writing.
Non-restrictive clauses are usually introduced by wh-words.
It should be noticed that to introduce a non-restrictive clause, it is not absolutely
impermissible to use the relative that, but that in this context is not so common as a
wh-word, eg:
The chairman, who spoke first, sat on my right.
His speech, which bored everyone, went on and on.
33.2 Choice of relative words
1) Choice of relative pronouns in restrictive clauses
This section is primarily concerned with the choice of relative pronouns in restrictive
clauses functioning as subject, object and prepositional complementation.
Watch closely the following examples:
He is the man who lives next door to us.
Where is the man I saw this morning?
These are the boys I went to school with.
2) Some other problems of usage concerning choice of relative pronouns in restrictive
clauses
there are some other problems of usage worthy of note.
Watch closely the following examples:
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He still talks like the man (that ) he was ten years ago.
There were some students at the party whom I must shun.
He talked brilliantly about the man and the books that interested him.
All that live must die.
Any boy that wants to succeed must work hard.
Newton was one of the greatest men that ever lived.
3) Choice of relative pronouns in non-restrictive clauses
As has been pointed out, non-restrictive relative clauses are normally introduced by
wh-words. The antecedent of which may be a clause or part of a clause, eg:
He tried to stand on his hands or five minutes, which --- as you know --- is rather a
difficult thing to do.
Which can also be used to introduce a separate sentence. In that case, which is
interchangeable with demonstrative pronoun that, eg:
Every bottle of “BUZZ” has been tested in our laboratory. Which / That is why we’re
so sure of our guarantee.
3) Ellipsis of relative words
4) When a relative pronoun is used as object in the clause, it can be omitted,
especially in informal style.
When relative that is used as subject complement in an SVC construction, it is
normally ellipted.
Generally speaking, the subject of a relative clause cannot be omitted, but when the
relative clause appear as part of It is- / That is- / There is – construction, its subject
can be omitted, but this kind of ellipsis only applies to informal style, eg:
It isn’t everybody (who ) can learn a foreign language so easily.
There are also cases where the subject of the relative clause is generally omitted
irrespective of formal or informal style
He asks for the latest book there is on the subject.
I shall never forget the day we first met.
The reason he came so early is his own affair.
The factory he worked in has been reorganized.
That’s the place he stayed when he was in London.
The way you answered the questions was admirable.
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