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Lec An2 Sem1 Trantescu
Lec An2 Sem1 Trantescu
ANA-MARIA TRANTESCU
CLAUDIA PISOSCHI
ENGLISH SYNTAX
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Editura Universitaria
Craiova, 2011
IOANA MURAR
ANA-MARIA TRANTESCU
CLAUDIA PISOSCHI
ENGLISH SYNTAX
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Editura Universitaria
Craiova, 2011
CONTENTS
UNIT 1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................
UNIT 2. SENTENCE TYPES ...........................................................................
1. Functional Classification of Sentences .............................................................
1.1. Declarative Sentence .....................................................................
1.2. Interrogative Sentences ..............................................................
1.3. Imperative Sentences ..........................................
1.4. Exclamatory Sentences .......................................
UNIT 3. THE NOUN PHRASE
1. The Structure of The NP ..........................................
2. The Functions of The NP ..........................................
2.1. The Subject ...............................................................
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10
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20
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21
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24
31
32
33
34
34
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44
Adverbial
Adverbial
Adverbial
Adverbial
Adverbial
Adverbial
Adverbial
Adverbial
Modifiers
Modifiers
Modifiers
Modifiers
Modifiers
Modifiers
Modifiers
Modifiers
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
Place ........................................
Time .......................................
Manner ..................................
Concession .................................
Cause ......................................
Purpose ................................
Result ........................................
Condition .................................
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49
50
52
52
52
53
54
56
59
60
60
61
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64
70
75
S
NP
Det
Vt
NP
Det N
the
headlights
penetrated
The darkness
The present series of lectures is focused on the description of units and the relation
between them at the syntactic level of linguistic analysis. It is also focused on the correct
arrangement by which the strings of units are constructed. The place held by function is
central in this course of lectures, syntax consisting of the treatment of the main functions
of sentence constituents: subject, predicate, objects, adverbials.
We have based our course on structural grammar but we have systematically tried
to include as much of the traditional grammatical insight as possible. The terminology
and the concept are broadly in accordance with those of R. Quirk et al.., A Grammar of
Contemporary English (1972). The type of English we are mainly concerned to describe
is contemporary standard British English (BE). But discrepancies between American
English (AE) and BE, as well as variations of style are noted where they are important.
BIBLIOGRAFIE:
Bdescu, A.. 1963. Gramatica limbii engleze., Bucureti : Ed. Stiintifica.
Banta, A.1977. Elements of Descriptive English Syntax. Bucureti: TUB.
Budai, L.1997 Gramatica engleza, Teorie si exercitii, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
Biber,D., Conrad, S., Leech, G. 2005. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
London:Longman.
Gleanu, G., Comiel, E. 1982. Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucureti: Ed. Didactic i
pedagogic.
Murar I, Pisoschi C., Trantescu A.M. 2010 Essentials of English Syntax. The Simple
Sentence. Craiova: Editura Universitaria.
erban D. 1982. English Syntax, volume one, Bucureti.
tefnescu, I.. 1978.Lectures in English Morphology. Bucuret:, TUB..
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Swartvick J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman.
Thomson A., Martinet A.1969. A Practical English Grammar. London: Oxford
University Press.
AUTOEVALUARE:
1. Define the domain of Syntax.
2. Enlarge upon the major trends in the syntactic models of analysis of the 20 th
century.
Further subclasses obtain if we take into account the possibility that each type has
variations according to polarity, hence there are positive and negative variants for each
sentence type.
1.1 Declarative sentence (Statements) normally end in a period or full stop and are
uttered in a falling tone . A declarative sentence expresses some statement in the
affirmative or negative form.
Positive (Affirmative) sentences are sentences in which the subject is present and
generally precedes the verb; the predicate is in the positive (affirmative), form.
Negative sentences
The negation of a simple statement is accomplished in two ways:
- by negating the verb: verb negation is usually done by means of the negative
particle NOT which is attached to the operator, i.e. to the tense (modal)-bearing element
of the VP (be, have, modals).
e.g. John is not working these days. John has not been working for several days.
John could not have been working at the time.
I shant forget you, Jude. (T.H.) . You neednt be concerned about that (T.H.)
When the sentence contains no operator, i.e. when the verb is a simple present or
past tense form, the auxiliary DO is introduced2
e.g. They do not understand my problem.
Peter did not answer.
In colloquial English the particle not occurs in an enclitic contracted form nt.
In circumstances where it is possible to abbreviate the auxiliary by the use of a
contracted form enclitic to the subject, two colloquial forms of negation are possible.
e.g. Were not ready We arent ready (more frequent)
Hed not notice anything He wouldnt notice anything.
As we have already mentioned, the negation of a whole sentence is done by means
of the adverbs no and not. No is usually followed by the subject (expressed by a
pronoun), the operator and the contracted negative from nt.
e.g. Do you like him? - No. Have you seen Tom? No. I havent.
Not is used after some verbs: believe, expect, hope, suppose, think in the Simple
Present or Past Tense.
e.g. Do you think it will rain? / I hope not.
A feature of the syntax of subordination in colloquial English is the transfer of the
negative from a subordinate that- clause where, semantically it belongs, to the main
clause. Thus, I didnt think he was happy, can have two meanings, one in which the
negation applies to the main clause, and one in which it applies through transferred
negation to the subordinate clause, i.e. I thought he wasnt happy. Transferred negation is
limited to verbs of belief or assumption, such as believe, expect, fancy, imagine, reckon,
think.
e.g. I didnt think/believe/suppose (that) hes paid for it yet.
He doesnt imagine/reckon that we need worry. = He imagines we neednt worry.
The negative status of the that/clause is shown by the occurrence of the
non/assertive form yet or of the verb need (which could not occur in an affirmative
sentence).
- by negating another part of the sentence: to negate other parts of the sentence, the
following negative pronouns, adjectives, adverbs can be used: no one, none, neither,
nothing, nowhere, never followed by the verb in the affirmative form.
e.g. Nobody come here yesterday. He is nowhere to be found.
Polarity Items
The old negative form without the use of the auxiliary do is still preserved in the poetic style, e.g.
Those ills that we know not of (W.S.); I speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name. (G.G.
Byron)
10
Negative sentences
Non-assertive items
Negative items
any
no
anything, anybody
nothing, nobody
anywhere
nowhere
ever
never
anymore/longer
no more/longer
yet
much
either
e.g. Ive bought something for you I havent bought anything for you/Ive bought
nothing for you
Ive seen them somewhere I havent seen them anywhere/Ive seen them
nowhere.
He smokes a lot He doesnt smoke much.
Her mothers coming, too Her mothers not coming, either.
In most cases (except possibly that of never) the combination of not + a nonassertive item is more colloquial than the negative variant. Other grammatical NPI are
restrictive adverbs such as: barely, hardly, only, rarely, scarcely, seldom, little.
Sentences with this words behave like ordinary negative sentences. Thus:
- they are followed by non-assertive forms;
e.g. He seldom speaks to anyone.
Youll scarcely hear anything from here.
I know little about him.
- they correlate with positive tags.
11
12
In substandard English there is an entirely different kind of multiple negation, where more than
one negative form is used, but the meaning is that of a single negative, e.g. No one never said
nothing (no one ever said anything).
4
Yes/no questions may however be focused upon some part of the sentence and this may be
achived by grammatical focus or prosodically (by stress and intonation): Was it John that found
the book? Was it the book that John found? Did John find the book?
13
Not all subjects, objects can be elicited by whquestions, It rained steadily all day. *What
rained steadily all day?
6
In the poetic style we come across the old interrogative form without the auxiliary DO: e.g.
Madam, how like you this play?
14
- by means of the intensifying element ever placed after the wh form; who ever,
what ever etc.
e.g. I have to get up at 5 oclock. What ever for?
Why ever didnt he tell me?
- other phrases used for emphasizing the speakers surprise, consternation or
annoyance on earth, in heavens name, the hell are highly colloquial and sometimes
denote an impolite use of intensification.
e.g. Who on earth opened my letter?
What in heavens name do you think you are doing?
Alternative questions
They expect as an answer one or two alternatives mentioned in the question. They
are a type of General questions, but they differ from the latter in intonation: instead of the
final rising tone they contain a separate nucleus for each alternative: a rising intonation on
the first alternative and the falling intonation on the second alternative The intonation
difference between alternative and general questions is important: the same syntactic
form can be interpreted either as an alternative or as a general question, conveying
different meanings and expecting different answers.
e.g. Shall we go to the theatre or to the movie ? A: To the theatre.
Shall we go to the theatre or to the movie ? A: No, wed better stay at home.
Disjunctive (Tag) questions
A tag questions is a very short question attached to a statement. Tag questions are
very frequent in conversation. Their meaning differs from that of general or special
questions in that they are not requests for information but for confirmation that a
statement or supposition is really correct. Compare:
Did John leave? general question.
John left, didnt he? A sentence with a tag is the paraphrase of I suppose John
left.
The rules for forming tag questions are:
a)
the question consists of an operator (auxiliary) and a subject;
b) the operator is opposite in polarity to the verb of the statement: if the
statement is affirmative, the operator is negative and if the statement is negative, the
operator must be affirmative. The operator in the tag corresponds to the verb in the
statement, namely:
- if the verb in the statement contains an operator (be, have, do, can, must, will,
shall) the operator is repeated.
e.g. The Smiths are your friends, arent they?
You havent reed the book, have you?
I can depend on you, cant I? (G.B.S.)
You dont think we have lost our way, do you? (J.K.I)
- if the statement contains no operator, i.e. when the verb is in the simple present or
past tense, the auxiliary do/did is used as for questions formation in general.
e.g. He knows you, doesnt he?
c) the subject of the tag is always a pronoun which repeats or substitutes the subject
of the statement.
e.g. The girl/she is a beauty, isnt she?
Indefinite pronouns marked by [+animate] such as everyone, no one, everybody are
resumed in the tag either by he (as usually indicated in normative grammars) or by they
(often found in actual usage).
e.g. Everyone likes her, doesnt he/dont they?
Indefinite pronouns marked by [-animate] such as everything, anything, something
are resumed in the tag by it.
e.g. Something is missing, isnt it?
The intonation is either falling or rising:
- the tag with the falling intonation is used when the speaker is sure of the
correctness of his statement and awaits confirmation from the listener.
e.g. The vase is made of plastic, isnt it?
(= I know that for sure).
15
- the tag with the rising intonation is used when the speaker is no longer sure of the
correctness of his statement and is asking the listener to correct or confirm it.
e.g. The vase is made of plastic, isnt it?
(=Im not very sure so please correct me if it isnt so)
There is a further type of Tags in which the statement and the Tag have the same
polarity (very frequently positive). Such Tags sometimes called Reactive Tags, express a
whole gamut of feeling ranging from irony to incredulity, suspicion, sarcasm.
e.g. Thats your crooked notion of honour, is it? (G.E.)
Do as I say, Im giving orders here. Oh, you are, are you?
They have always falling intonation.
Echo questions
The echo question has no subject/auxilliary inversion. It is identical in form to a
statement, except for the final rising intonation. Such a question repeats part or the entire
message and expresses surprise, disbelief or more misunderstanding of the previous
statement.
e.g. I didnt like the book. You didnt like it?
The wh word can be left in its position (it is not fronted).
e.g. I saw Bill yesterday. You saw whom yesterday?
She dyed her hair green. She dyed it what color?
Some, any, no and their compounds in different types of sentences
Declarative sentence
Affirmative verb +
some/ compounds
They need some
information.
He has got
something.
Someone/somebody
is asking for you.
He must be
somewhere.
Negative sentence
Affirmative verb
+ no/ compounds
They need no
information.
He has nothing.
Nobody/no one is
asking for you.
He is nowhere to
be found.
Interrogative
sentence
Interrogative verb +
any/ compounds
Do you need any
information?
Has he got
anything?
Is anyone/anybody
asking for you?
Is he anywhere to
be found?
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Without subject
With
Without let
subject
With let
1st person
(IV) Let me
open the door!
2nd person
(I) Open the door!
(II) You open the
door!
3rd person
(III) Someone
open the door!
(IV) Let someone
open the door!
Negative commands. To negate the first three classes of command, one simply
adds an initial dont, replacing assertive by nonassertive forms where necessary:
I. Open the door! Dont open the door!
II. You open the door! - Dont you open the door!
III. Someone open the door! - Dont anyone open the door!
1st person imperatives (class IV), on the other hand, are generally negated by the
insertion of not after the pronoun following let,
e.g. Lets not open the door!
Informally however, the negation with dont is frequently heard:
e.g. Dont lets open the door!
The same construction is available for class V,
e.g. Dont let anyone fool himself that he can get away with it.
Persuasive commands. A persuasive or insistent (emphatic) imperative is
created by the addition of do (with a nuclear tone) before the main verb. This construction
only applies to classes I and IV e.g. Do come and stay the night with us! (J.G.)
Do lets go to the theatre!
3.6. Other constructions having the value of command.
In lively speech, an imperative sentence may contain no verb but only a noun,
an adverb, a prepositional phrase.
e.g. No parking! No entry! Wet paint! Out with it! The salt, please!
7
17
18
Biber,D., Conrad, S., Leech, G. 2005. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
London:Longman.
Gleanu, G., Comiel, E. 1982. Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucureti: Ed. Didactic i
pedagogic.
Murar I, Pisoschi C., Trantescu A.M. 2010 Essentials of English Syntax. The Simple
Sentence. Craiova: Editura Universitaria.
erban D. 1982. English Syntax, volume one, Bucureti.
tefnescu, I.. 1978.Lectures in English Morphology. Bucuret:, TUB..
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Swartvick J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman.
Thomson A., Martinet A.1969. A Practical English Grammar. London: Oxford
University Press.
AUTOEVALUARE:
1. Classify sentences in point of their purpose.
2. Enlarge upon the negative polarity items.
3. What are the types of interrogative sentences?
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The pattern of Det.+Adj.+N+Head is often ambiguous as the Adj. may modify either the noun
modifier or the noun head, e.g. a decent graduate college: the phrase may mean either graduate
of a decent college or a decent graduate of a college.
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2. The functions of the NP. The NP has the following functions in the sentence:
subject, object, predicative, apposition.
2.1.The Subject
1) Syntactic characteristics
The subject is expressed by means of noun phrase items:
- the noun (phrase), e.g. The library closes at 8 oclock.
- two or more coordinated nouns which make up:
i.
A compound subject representing only one element, e.g. A great poet
and revolutionist was lost when Shelley died;
ii.
Coordinated subjects, e.g. Tom and Maggie are the principal
characters in The Mill on the Floss.
- a noun substitute:
i.
a pronoun (personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative,
indefinite, negative)
e.g. Can you drive?
His is a large family.
Thats his bad luck. (J. Al)
Whos there?
Nothing was said for a long time.
ii.
a numeral,
e.g. Four were missing.
The first was a tall lady with dark hair. (C.B.)
iii.
a non finite form (infinitive or gerund),
e.g. To escape would be difficult.
Reading aloud will help you a lot;
iv.
a complex construction,
e.g. He happened to be in town at the moment.
Louise had been overheard to begin a conversation with her brother
(C.D.) (a Nominative with Infinitive construction)
He was noticed entering the house.
The children were seen running to the river (a Nominative with
Participle)
v.
a subject clause,
e.g. Whether he admits it or not is another matter.
Owing to the scantiness of inflections for person and number in the verb, the
subject is always expressed with the exception of imperative sentences having you as
implied subject9.
The place of the subject.
The subject takes the first place in the sentence, place normally held by the
element which forms the theme/topic of discussion. The subject is placed
- before the predicate in declarative (affirmative and negative) sentences,
e.g. Turner was a landscape painter.
My brother has come.
- after the operator (auxiliary, copulative and modal verbs) in interrogative
sentences,
e.g. Can it be true?
Do you want the book?
- after the predicate when it is anticipated by introductory it, there,
e.g. One night there flew over the city a little swallow. (O.W)
2) Classification of subjects in point of content.
9
The subject is also not expressed in a) elliptical sentences in colloquial English, e.g. [I] hope to
see you soon; b) in enumerations (when the subject of 2 or more coordinated clauses refers to the
same element) the subject need not to be repeated, e.g. they were exhausted and (they) fell asleep
at once.
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22
According to R. Quirk, op.cit., p. 961, there as an introductory element provides the necessary
condition for inversion to take place (i.e. for the subject to be placed after the verb); if an initial
adverbial is also present, of course, such a condition already obtains, and there may be omitted.
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and to postpone the item marked as new to a later, nonthematic position. Seen from a
functional perspective, there appears as a formal theme that secures the normal
progression of discourse, causing the items that are heavily loaded informationally to
occur in the sentence in the position commonly held by the comment.
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- transitive verbs followed by two Direct Object (the first DO denotes a person,
the second a thing): answer, ask, envy, forgive, save, spare, strike, teach.
e.g. We ask him several questions.
They envied us our success.
That will save us a lot of trouble.
He taught the children mathematics.
Passivization: Constructions with two Direct Objects have two transformations:
Mr. Bent taught us a new lesson.
We were taught a new lesson (1)or A new
lesson was taught to us (2). The most frequent is the first one (the personal Object
becomes the subject and the other Direct Object is retained).
- transitive verbs followed by a DO and an Indirect Object: bring, give, hand,
lend, offer, read, show, write etc. The usual order is IO + DO, e.g. I gave Mary a book. I
handed him a letter.
Passivization: Both Objects can become the subject for the passive sentence:
They showed me the picture.
I was shown the picture.
The picture was shown to me.
The first is the most common. The Indirect Object becomes the Subject and the Direct
Object is retained.
-transitive verbs followed by DO and a Prepositional Object: accuse (of),
charge (with), compare (with), congratulate (on), cure (of), deprive (of), prevent (from)
etc. The order of these objects is DO + PO:
e.g. They charged him with an important mission.
We congratulate him on his promotion.
I helped my friend with his project.
The Passive Transformation: the Direct Object becomes the Subject, and the
Prepositional Object is retained.
We congratulated him on his success.
He was congratulated on his success.
b) intransitive verbs
There are some intransitive verbs: die, laugh, live, sleep, smile etc. which can be
followed by DO. In such cases the verb behaves like a transitive verb. The object is a
lexical copy of the verb or a mere semantic one (cognate object). The peculiarity of the
Object NP lies in its consisting of a head N (the nominalization corresponding to the
verb) and a modifier expressed by an adjective which indicates the manner in which the
action/process takes place.
e.g. Last night I dreamt a strange dream.
He lived a long and happy life.
He died a terrible death.
A tendency is noticeable in contemporary English of replacing certain
intransitive verbs (cry, dance, walk etc.) by transitive constructions such as have a dance.
The construction contains a transitive verb of general meaning (do, give, have, take)
followed by a direct object a verbal noun which carries the actual semantic force or
value of the idiom. The transitive construction is more idiomatic than the equivalent
construction with an intransitive verb,
e.g. He did little work that day (=He worked little)
He made several attempts to contact them (He attempted several times)
3) Classification of DOs in point of semantic content
a) significant/meaningful objects
e.g. The members heard the minutes and approved them.
b) non-significant/meaningless objects are expressed by the pronoun it.
- it has an anticipatory function to introduce an object clause, an infinitive or
gerund after verbs such as believe, consider, find, leave, owe, think
e.g. I consider it my duty to warn you.
- it occurs after verbs such as catch, lord, overdo, rough e.g.
They find it easier to work in another town.
They had to rough it when the storm started.
He acted foolishly and he caught it.
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27
28
29
30
I am sending you a letter from the County Council together with a copy of my
reply.
d) The Prepositional Object of Relation is expressed by means of the
prepositions for, against, to, towards. It includes various kinds of relations as well as
attitudes, feelings etc.
e.g. Are his feelings towards us friendly?
They did not die; death being contrary to their principles they took precautions
against it (J.G.).
Summing up
An object is a noun phrase.
It only occurs with transitive verbs.
The object noun phrase of a transitive verb can be moved to become
subject of the corresponding passive clause. Compare: Everyone read
the book with The book was read by everyone.
Three valency patterns contain direct objects: the monotransitive,
ditransitive and complex transitive patterns.
The ditransitive pattern contains first an indirect object followed by a
direct object.
2.3. The Predicative (The Subject Complement)
The Predicative (Complement), occurs after link verbs forming with them
Nominal Predicates. The Predicative has the following syntactic characteristics:
a) It is expressed by means of
- a noun phrase, usually a [-definite] NP,
e.g. He is an engineer. She has remained a widow.
The undergraduates were boys in their teens.
He was a brilliant, original teacher.
There are very few cases in which [+definite] NPs function as predicatives, e.g.
White hats are the thing today.
- a prepositional noun phrase: (i) with deleteable preposition: a whole group
including of NP which indicates attributes connected with colour, size, age, quality, shape
may undergo preposition deletion,
e.g. These shoes are (of) the same size,
Her dress is (of) the same colour as mine.
(ii) with undeletable preposition,
e.g. They are of the same opinion.
His son is of a sound mind.(we notice that be of has a possessive meaning)
His behaviour is above reproach.
The car was beyond repair.
The screw was out of the plank.
She is in good health.
The phrase is often the same or almost the same as an adjective.
e.g. He was happy. At last he was at liberty, (at liberty=free). At last he was
free.
She is out of danger (out of danger=safe)
She is safe.
- a noun substitute:
(i) a numeral
e.g. Mike was the first.
She was seventeen then.
(ii) a pronoun (personal, possessive, interrogative, indefinite)
e.g. The house was no longer theirs. (CD) Who are you?, asked Tom; It is I
(In spoken English: It is me).The pronouns it, which, that and such are used to replace a
preceding subject complement:
She is very ill and looks it.
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32
combinations, when the apposition follows the head noun (William the Conqueror,
Richard the Lion Hearted): Lord Nelson, Queen Victoria, Doctor Pitt,
e.g. Im afraid Aunt Augusta wont approve of your being here.
In geographical names the apposition follows the head noun e.g. Mount
Snowdon is 3500 feet high.
Doctor Johnson was a prominent figure of English letters.
A special case is when the head noun a common noun such as city, town, isle,
lake, straits etc. is followed by an appositive noun, a geographical proper name
preceded by the preposition of:
e.g. the City of London, the Isle of Man, the Straits of Dover.
b) The loose apposition is considered parenthetical, less important than the close
apposition; it is separated by commas even if it does not include more than one word. The
loose apposition follows the head noun and has the force of a descriptive attribute.
e.g. Lizzy, a black-eyed child of seven, looked very shy (G.E.)
An airplane droned its way over to the north, a silvery small noisy shape (J.G.)
Mr Smith, a friend of hers, visited her last week.
Summing up
Clauses (in their simplest form) are composed of phrases that function
as clause elements such as subject and object.
The main elements of clauses are: subject, verb phrase, object (direct or
in direct object), predicative and adverbial.
BIBLIOGRAFIE:
Bdescu, A.. 1963. Gramatica limbii engleze., Bucureti : Ed. Stiintifica.
Banta, A.1977. Elements of Descriptive English Syntax. Bucureti: TUB.
Budai, L.1997 Gramatica engleza, Teorie si exercitii, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
Biber,D., Conrad, S., Leech, G. 2005. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
London:Longman.
Gleanu, G., Comiel, E. 1982. Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucureti: Ed. Didactic i
pedagogic.
Murar I, Pisoschi C., Trantescu A.M. 2010 Essentials of English Syntax. The Simple
Sentence. Craiova: Editura Universitaria.
erban D. 1982. English Syntax, volume one, Bucureti.
tefnescu, I.. 1978.Lectures in English Morphology. Bucuret:, TUB..
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Swartvick J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman.
Thomson A., Martinet A.1969. A Practical English Grammar. London: Oxford
University Press.
AUTOEVALUARE:
1. Define the Subject.
2. Enlarge upon the syntactic characteristics of the Subject.
3. Classify the Subject in point of content.
4. What classes of verbs are followed by a Direct Object?
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34
AUXILIARY
Tense
Tense
Perf
Tense
Progr
Tense
Perf
Progr
Tense Modal
Tense Modal Perf
Tense Modal Perf Progr
Verb
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
Verb form
asks
has asked
is asking
has been asking
will ask
will have asked
will have been asking
What is called the lexical meaning is contained in the last item which is the
main (lexical) verb; but only the first item is affected by person, number, tense and it is
the first item that makes the group finite. This first item in a VP is called the operator
since it is the key word in six important operations performed in the VP:
a) the negative of the VP;
b) the interrogative of the VP;
c) the negative-interrogative;
d) tag questions;
e) emphatic affirmative;
f) pro-forms of the whole VP.
The operators are a closed set, namely: be, have, do, the modals.
Syntactic aspects of predication
1) The place of the predicate in the sentence.
The predicate is usually placed after the subject, before the object(s) or
adverbial (s),
e.g. The sun was shining brightly.
This order is changed in a number of cases when the predicate or the operator is
placed before the subject:
- interrogative sentences:
e.g. Is your father at home?
- conditional clauses when the conjunction if is omitted and the predicate
contains an auxiliary or modal verb,
e.g. Had I time I should help him.
- sentences introduced by so, neither, nor (pro-forms)
e.g. I am very tired! So am I
I dont like the painting. Neither do I.
But there is no inversion when the statement is applied to the same subject,
e.g. I thought he was present at the meeting
So, he was.
- sentences expressing wish or concession (forms of Synthetic or Analytical
Subjunctive)
e.g. Long live peace.
May mercy be shown to me as I show it to others (C.D.).
- short sentences in the middle or at the end of direct speech. This type of
inversion is most found with the verbs say, ask, cry in the present or the past tense when
the subject is a noun.
e.g. What did I say to you? cried Mrs. Davidson (S.M.)
Was there anything found on him? said Dorian looking forward. (O.W.)
- thematic fronting of an item is usually associated with inversion (the reversal
of subject-verb or the reversal of subject-operator)
a) subject predicate inversion is virtually limited to simple present or past tense
verbs, usually dynamic verbs of motion (come, fall, go) and certain stative verbs of
position (be, lie, stand)
e.g. Away went the car like a whirlwind.
Subject-predicate inversion does not take place in a clause with a personal
pronoun as subject,
35
Type of verb
Intransitive
Transitive
Some verbs occur regularly in a given structure and can therefore be named
after the structure,
e.g. arrive intransitive, chase - transitive.
On the other hand, some verbs may occur normally in more than one structure,
e.g. They watched the show.
They watched from behind the bushes.
It is obvious from these examples that watch can be used transitively or
intransitively and therefore it cannot be classified solely as either transitive or intransitive.
(i) Transitive predication is performed by the following types of transitive
verbs:
a) Simple Transitives (Monotransitive verbs). They include monotransitives
which indicate activities associated with affected objects. Here are some of these English
verbs; accumulate (goods, wealth), decorate (a room), beat (a carpet), break (a window),
36
burn (paper), carry (a box), (catch a ball, a train), drop (a pot, a glass), eat (food), drink
(water), move (a chair), open (a door), take (a book) etc.
b) Relational Verbs express symmetric or asymmetric interrelations between
sets or members of sets:
- reciprocal verbs which express symmetric relations between humans (divorce,
embrace, kiss, fight, marry, meet, resemble) are characterized by reversibility of their
Subject and Object, which explains their resistance to passivization, e.g. x married y y
married x * (y was married by x);
- unidirectional verbs (fit, match, suit) tend to resist passivization (with some
contextual exceptions) because of the strongly marked directionality of the established
relation,
e.g. The coat fits him.
The suggestion suits me perfectly.
Her shoes matched the colour of her dress;
- Verbs of possession (acquire, appropriate, get, have, possess, receive, own)
resist passivization. Reversibility of the two terms the subject and the Object is
possible only by recourse to other verb lexemes, basically the intransitive belong to which
takes the possessed item (the Object) as Subject,
e.g. The Browns own/possess/have an elegant villa The elegant villa belongs
to the Browns.
Some constructions with have are replaceable by be
e.g. We had a party next door last night.
There was a party next door last night.
Her shoes had the same colour as mine Her shoes were of the same colour as
mine.
Possessive have is to be distinguished from: have with a particular activity
meaning as in have coffee (=drink), have a roast beef (eat); have as a quasi-verb, with a
rather vague, general activity meaning (=experience, suffer), e.g. have a walk, have a
bath; have as a causative verb, in constructions of the form have something done, have
somebody do something;
- verbs of inclusive relationship (comprise, contain, cover, hold, include) are
semantically related to verbs of possession,
e.g. The box has 25 matches There are 25 matches in the box. Some of the
verbs of inclusion resist passivization,
e.g. * 25 matches are contained in the box.
c) Causative Verbs show that the subject makes somebody fulfil the action of
the basic verb. Causative verbs express either mere causation of an event (cause,
determine, get, have, make) or an event in which causation is implied (kill= cause sb to
die, persuade = cause sb to do smt., redden= cause sb/smt to come to be red). All
causative constructions are transitive, owing to the fact that causation always implies two
participants: a causer and an affected or effected (resulting) entity. They are expressed by
two NPs of which one is selected as Subject and the other as Object. There are several
types of causatives in English:
- periphrastic causatives: cause, determine, get, have, make. Cause is the most
general causative, e.g. The war caused great human losses. Grammatically speaking, the
periphrastic causatives render the idea of causation quite neutrally with the exception of
have and get which may have an additional tinge of compulsion or order and can only
take an animate, ergative causer as subject NP,
e.g. I shall have the boy rewrite the exercise five times.
Ill get him to read the book.
Periphrastic causatives are very productive in present day English.
- lexical causatives: they form pairs with intransitive verbs denoting the
resultative aspect of the respective activity, process or state by means of a lexically
distinct item,
e.g. Brutus killed Caesar Caesar died.
37
The relation between the transitive and the intransitive verb construction is
lexicalized in that the possibility of using the same verb lexeme in these cases is ruled
out,
e.g. * Brutus died Caesar. Here are some members in this class:
convince/persuade (=cause sb to belive), teach (=cause sb to learn), remind (=cause sb to
remember), extinguish (=cause sth to cease burning),
e.g. We convinced him of his guilt (=caused him to believe).
The same type of semantic-syntactic relation between a vt and a vi characterizes
a number of pairs of verbs which are closely similar phonologically (they differ by one or
two sounds). The transitive verb in each case has developed historically out of the
intransitive one as a causative counterpart: fellvt-fallvi,layvt-lievi, setvt-sitvi, raisevt-risevi.
e.g. He felled some trees in the forest (=he caused them to fall).
- morphological causatives: a great number of causative transitives are
converted from adjectives which denote an attribute acquired as a result of a cause. The
word-formation processes may be:
- conversion (to bare, to clean, to cool, to dry),
e.g. She cooled the soup (=she caused the soup to come to be cool);
- affixation (be-, de-, dis-, en-, un-, -ate, -en, -ize, -ify) disable, enrich, amplify,
solidify etc.
e.g. That will simplify my task (=That will make my task simple(r))
Similar causative derivatives have nouns as sources. The means are similar to
those enlisted above: to age, to disarm, embalm, encourage, unbutton.
As Lyons points out, morphological causatives might be considered as
intermediate between lexical ones (the kill/die type) and ergatives like move, change,
grow etc. They are:
- attitudinal causatives verbs are also [+causative], as they express a
psychological reaction aroused in a human being by an exterior stimulus. The causer
occurs as Subject of Sentence, the Experiencer as direct Object.
The news pleased everybody.
[+cause] pleased [+affected Experiencer]
[+causative)
- dative causatives. This subcategory includes causatives that take two objects,
one of which is indirect.
Give = cause smb to have
Sell = cause smb to buy
Show = cause smb to see
- ergative verbs
Verbs which couple the basic regimes of transitives and intransitives form a
specialized system called ergative; the verb lexeme may predicate, without any difference
in its phonological form, a one term intransitive configuration or a two-term transitive
one.
John moved the branch.
vt
Direct Object
The branch
Subject
moved.
vi
38
(= The child caused the china to be broken The china came to be / became /
got broken.)
Intransitives Recategorized as Causatives.
Some subclasses of intransitive verbs come to be recategorized as transitives
when they contextually incorporate the [+causative] feature.
Such verbs are said to form illogical predicates, as their subject does not
express the performer of the action.
He walked the horse up and down!
He worked his men ruthlessly.
Although the verbs walk and work are inferently intransitive, they are used in
the contexts above as transitive verbs which may be paraphrased by cause smth/smb
to+Vi. Other verbs belonging to this category are: dance, float, fly, march, run, sit,
stand.
e.g. The teacher stood the pupils in the row.
The woman was dancing the baby in her arms.
He flew a kite.
He was running his horse down to hill.
They could sit eight people round the table.
He stood the case against the wall.
The Causative Inchoative Relationship
There is a close semantic relationship between the inchoative meaning (entrance
into a new state or acquisition of a new attribute), on the one hand, and the causation of
this process of becoming on the other hand. The mutual semantico-syntactic
interrelationship between inchoative and causative structures is ilustrated by related pairs
such as.
e.g. Ellen cooled the soup The soup cooled.
d) Complex Transitives (Transitives with Two Adjuncts)
Quite a few subcategories of Vt-s take a post-DO obligatory adjunct,
functioning as Predicative Adjunct/Indirect Object/ Prepositional Object/Adverbial
Modifier of Manner, Place, Quantity etc.
Emmon Bach called these verbs Complex Transitives (see Bach E., In Defence
of Passive, in Linguistic and Philosopy, vol.3, 1980).
The subcategory of ditransitive Vs can be included here. Ditransitive verbs are
those followed by a Direct Object and an Indirect Object (bring, give, hand, land, offer,
read, show, right, buy, choose, do, leave, make, order), or by two Direct Objects (ask,
envy, save, strike, teach).
Transitives with Prepositional Object.
Semantically most of these verbs denote an inter-human relationship.
Here are some: accuse smb of smth; acquaint smb with sth, blame smb for smth,
charge smb with smth, congratulate smb on/for smth, deprive smb of smth, cure smb of
smth, entrust smb with sth etc.
The Direct object is [+human] while the Prepositional Object is in general
[+abstract.]
They blamed Pete for their failure.
Transitives with Adverbial Modifiers
Some motion verbs (fasten, lay, place, put etc.) take an Adverbial of Place after
their Object.
e.g. You should fasten the rope to the hook.
He laid the volume on the shelf.
39
40
often contains a modifier expressed by an adjective which indicates the mode of the
action.
e.g. She cried quiet tears (cried quietly).
He wept hot tears upon his mothers grave.
The young mans eyes were flashing fire.
The verbs look, gaze, peer, peep, stare, glare as well as other verbs expressing
human gestures or attitudes: breathe, laugh, nod, smile, sob, all of which are basically
intransitive, appear as recategorized when they mean express by V-ing; the attitude
expressed appears as resultative Direct Object.
e.g. He nodded approval (=he expressed approval by nodding. He smiled
appreciation. She breathed relief. He was looking daggers. The girl beamed
satisfaction).
The stylistic advantage of this construction is great concision of the surface
structures, in which two underlying predicates are reduced to one.
The cognate object is a special type of resultative object expressed by a noun
from the same root as the intransitive verb. The noun is usually modified by an adjective,
e.g. to live a miserable life, to sleep a quiet sleep. The simpler synonymous construction
predicated by the respective intransitive verb is of the form vi + Adv of Manner, e.g. to
live miserably, to sleep quietly.
- intransitive verbs are recategorized as transitive when they are used as
causative or factitive ones, e.g. to fly (intrans.) to fly a kite (causative); to talk
(intrans.), with a person to talk a person out of it/ sth (factitive).
Phraseological predicates are often preferred to simple verbal predicates based
on intransitive verbs (this tendency is particularly manifest in colloquial English), e.g. to
have a smoke (to smoke), to have a drink (to drink), to have a walk (to walk), etc.
- preposition deletion: when a verb contains within its own meaning the
meaning of a following preposition, it is possible to omit the preposition; the verb then
become transitive and the Prepositional Object becomes a direct Object e.g. to climb (up)
a mountain, jump over a fence, flee (from) a country, pass (by) a building, pierce
(through) the defences, turn (round) the corner.
(ii) Intransitive predication is expressed by the following types of intransitive
verbs:
a) simple intransitives are what traditional grammars call verbs of complete
predication. Semantically, they express events of all types of activities processes or states
with reference to a wide range of possible subjects. Syntactically, these predicates are not
followed by Direct Objects, but they can take as optional adjuncts Prepositional Object as
well as Adverbial Modifiers of various kinds.
e.g. The lilacs have bloomed (in my garden).
The boy slept (two hours) (in the afternoon).
b) intransitives with particle: they are lexically complex items, made up of a
verb and an adverbial particle (traditionally labelled as Complex/Phrasal Verbs).
- a number of intransitives combine freely with particles having a locative and
directional meaning. These particles preserve a relatively high degree of independence
from the verb they combine with. This independent status is confirmed formally by their
possible preposing for emphatic purposes,
e.g. A gang of thieves broke in.
The boy went out in tearless grief.
The balloon went up Up went the balloon.
- some intransitives combine with aspectual particles which refer to the
temporal dimension of the event (ingressive/incipient, durative, egressive/terminative
aspect),
e.g. We set forth on our last stage of our climb.
The car get off in a cloud of dust. She was muttering away.
He worked on.
His interest has died out.
The lights have gone out.
41
- the contribution of the particle to the global meaning of the complex verb may
be null, which happens in a large number of verbs: come round (regain consciousness),
get along (manage), give in (yield), turn up (appear),
e.g. He promised to come but he has not turned up.
c) intransitives with Prepositional Objects: this class is not homogeneous in
point of semantic-syntactic peculiarities. This lack of homogeneity is due to factors such
as the meaning contribution of the preposition, the degree of idiomacity:
- intransitives, with no change in the meaning of the verb: abound in/with,
allude to, belong to, consist of/in, depend on, long for, rely upon,
e.g. The river abounds in fish.
The book belongs to him.
I rely upon his professionalism.
- intransitives with a change in the meaning of the verb: account for explain,
call on pay a short visit, come across meet by chance, look after take care of, look
into investigate etc.
e.g. How do you account for this change?
d) intransitives with particle and preposition: this class includes phrasal verbs
(V+Part) which take a fixed preposition followed by its Object,
e.g. They had done away with this piece of legislation.
The office staff are looking forward to his retirement.
I cannot put up with his interruptions.
e) intransitives with adverbial modifiers:
- intransitives with locative adverbials: verbs denoting existence in space such
as be, lie, remain, sit, stand commonly take a locative phrase. This place adverbial
undergoes deletion if the position in space is indefinite, unspecified or already known,
e.g. The house stands on the hill.
He could hardly stand.
He has gone to London.
He has gone.
- intransitives with time adverbials: eventive verbs (happen, occur, take place)
as well as existential verbs (be, live) commonly occur with place and/or time adverbials,
e.g. The debates take place between 9 and 11 oclock.
The party is at 5 oclock.
- intransitives with manner adverbials: the verbs act and behave cannot occur
unless accompanied by adverbials of manner,
e.g. I think he has acted quite foolishly.
He has behaved properly.
- intransitives with quantifying adverbials (the verbs cost, owe, weigh take
quantifying adverbials):
e.g. The smart dress cost 20.
These two boxes weight 40 kg.
f) Intransitivization. One can speak of a floating phenomenon which goes
both ways, from transitives to intransitives and vice versa. In order to recategorize
transitive verbs as intransitives, a verb which is basically transitive has to lose its direct
object. The verb may become objectless by two important transformation processes.
- the simpler of the two is deletion of the direct object: a number of transitives
allow this deletion if their object NP is more or less indefinite referentially,
e.g. I dont particularly like the way she sings (songs-). Whenever I see her she
is smoking (cigarettes- ).
- The reflexive Direct Object can also be deleted with some transitive words,
among which dress, shave, wash,
e.g. Have you finished dressing (yourself- )
- the second process occurs in active-pasive and in genuine passive
constructions,
e.g. This material washes well.
This material has been washed very well.
42
Summing up:
The basic clause patterns are: intransitive, transitive, and copular
(copulative) patterns.
Many verbs can occur with more than one valency pattern, and they
often have different meanings with each pattern. Further, each verb
occurs with very different frequencies for the different patterns.
B) The Nominal Predicate is made up of a Copula (Link Verb and a
Predicative.
(i)
The Copula. The role of the copula is to perform the normal (syntactic
and morphological) tasks of predication, verbalizing the meaning carried by the second
constituent of the Predicate (i.e. the Predicative). In other words the role of the Copula is:
to link or connect the subject NP to the Adj. P/NP functioning as predicative; to realize
agreement with the Subject NP (in person and number); to express the grammatical
categories of the finite verb, that is person, number, tense and aspect.
The class of copulative verbs is not homogeneous semantically; some verbs are
semantically empty (be), others are semantically poor, but having one or several specified
features, such as: - (+existential) (Verbs of state/Being): be, feel, lie, stand, stay.
e.g. Little Dorrit was a very timid girl (C.D.)
The room was long, low and gloomy (C.B.).
We all felt tired.
The book lay open on the table.
We will stand firm: you must stay quiet for a few days.
Will you stand grandmother to the child?
I stand corrected.
- (+aspectual) (Verbs of Remaining): continue, hold, keep, remain, rest.
e.g .The weather still continues fine (O.W.)
The rule still holds good.
He shouldnt hold aloof from company.
We kept silent.
The situations remained unchanged.
She remained a widow.
You must rest assured that there will be no danger.
- (+inchoative) (Verbs of Becoming): become, come, fall, grow, go, make, run,
turn
e.g. The heat became unbearable.
His elder son became a painter.
My dreams have come true.
He fell sick soon after.
We all get upset at times (C.D.).
You are going bald.
It s growing warm.
She will make an excellent wife.
This river runs dry in summer.
The milk has turned sour.
He turned traitor
- (+appearance) (Verbs of Seeming/Appearing): appear, look, loom, seem.
e.g. Why does she appear so sad?
You dont want to appear a fool.
The book looked dull.
The threats of the H-bomb looms large in their minds.
It seems quiet enough out there (J.G.)
Being completely devoid of lexical meaning, the verb be displays the largest
number of combinatory possibilities, with any part of speech that can have a nominal
function, i.e. with a noun, an adjective or a past participle, a pronoun, a numeral, an
infinitive, a gerund.
43
Summing up
Copular verbs are used to link two NP-s: the subject with the
predicative.
They usually takes an obligatory subject predicative.
Some copulative verbs can also occur with an obligatory adverbial.
The copular verbs differ in their meanings and in the complements that
they can take.
3. Subject Predicate Concord
Concord (agreement) can be broadly defined as the relationship between two
grammatical elements, such that if one of them contains a particular feature (e.g.
plurality), then the other also has to have that feature. In English the problem of concord
between the predicate and the subject refers to the concord in person and especially in
number.
Concord in Person. The person of the finite verb corresponds to that indicated
by the subject: when the subject of the sentence is a personal pronoun, the verb (auxiliary
agrees in pers with the personal pronoun),
e.g. I am Romanian.
He doesnt remember a word; if the subject is expressed by a noun the verb is
in the 3rd person sg. or pl.,
e.g. What is that?
These lessons are difficult.
Concord in Number is the most important type of concord between subject and
predicate.
44
1) Grammatical concord refers to the rule that the verb matches the subject in
number.
(i) Concord of variable nouns. The normally observed rule is very simple: a
singular subject requires a singular verb, a plural subject requires a plural verb. This rule
is applied to countable nouns which are variable in form, having both a sg. and pl.
number
e.g. The window (sg) is (sg) open.
The windows (pl) are (pl) open.
Coordinated subjects agree with the verb in the plural,
e.g. The book and the pen are on the table.
His attitude, his smile were Byronic.
(ii) Concord of invariable nouns. With invariable nouns the predicate is either
in the singular (after singular invariable nouns) or in the plural (after plural invariable
nouns).
a) singular invariable nouns that agree with the verb in the singular.
- uncountable concrete nouns:
Butter contains animal fat13
Fruit is good for health.
- uncountable abstract nouns:
His knowledge of English is good.
Here is the 11 oclock news.
- names of sciences:
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics14.
- names of games:
Billiards is a game for adults.
- names of diseases:
Measles is a contagious disease.
- some proper names:
Athens is the capital of Greece.
- substantivized abstract adjectives and participles:
In most fairy-tales the good fights against the evil.
b) plural invariable nouns agree with the predicate in the plural.
- summation plurals (nouns denoting objects made up of two equal parts):
Scissors are made of steel. Where are my glasses?
- some nouns ending in s annals, auspices, doings, earnings, proceeds,
valuables etc.(pluralia tantum):
The valuables have been locked in the safe.
The goings-on are not to my liking.
- unmarked plural nouns (nouns of multitude) cattle, folk, people, police,
poultry:
The cattle are grazing.
People walk in the park on Sundays.
When the police come, perhaps youll let me know (J.G.)
- substantivized adjectives and participles:
The handicapped attend special schools.
The wounded were taken to hospital.
- some proper nouns:
The Alps are the highest mountains in Europe.
2) Notional concord is the concord of predicate with subject according to the
idea of number rather than the actual presence of the grammatical marker for that idea.
This type of concord is used with the following nouns.
13
Some uncountable nouns agree with the verb in the plural when they denote varieties,
e.g. Romanian wines are famous.
14
Names of sciences may agree with the verb in the plural when they refer to certain properties
(they become concrete)
e.g. Her phonetics are bad.
The acoustics of the Palace Hall are very good
45
a) countable nouns that get zero ending in the plural (deer, sheep, works,
Chinese, Swiss) take a singular or plural predicate according to the meaning of the noun,
e.g. This sheep is very old.
These sheep give very good wool.
A Swiss was acting as our guide.
Among the passengers were several Swiss.
b) collective nouns (audience, committee, crew, family, government, team etc.).
The choice is based on whether the group is being considered as a single undivided body
(predicate: sg) or as a collective of individuals (predicate: pl).
e.g. The committee is made up of twenty people.
The committee have finally agreed on the agenda of the next meeting.
Supply the public with what the agenda of the public wants (O.W.).
The public are very reckless in that use of the word.(O.W.)
c) nouns denoting quantity or kind (kind, number, sort, variety).
e.g. The number of inhabitants has increased.
A number of interesting papers were read.
The variety of goods on display at the Exhibition is impressive.
A great variety of goods are on sale.
d) plural nouns denoting titles of books, newspapers magazines take either a
plural predicate (according to its formal aspect) or a singular predicate (according to
meaning = a book, a volume).
e.g. Sketches by Boz is/are known to be Ch. Dickens first book.
The Times has a literary supplement.
Your Lyrical Ballads was found on my table.
e) a singular noun preceded by two coordinated adjectives agrees with the verb
in the singular; when the two coordinated adjectives differentiate the noun, the verb is in
the plural:
e.g. A blue and white cloth was for sale.
Lyrical and epic poetry were both flourishing at the time.
Hot and cold water run at the tap.
f) some coordinated constructions looked upon as a whole agree with the verb
in the singular:
- two nouns coordinated by and, when are conceived as a single notion, as a
unit:
e.g. The poet and musician was invited to talk about his work.
Bread and butter is usually served for breakfast.
- two nouns coordinated by and when they are determined by each or every:
Each tree and every bush is in bud.
Each suggestion and each amendment has been carefully considered.
- two or more infinitives coordinated by and
e.g. To take care of the children, to do the shopping, and cook the meals is
exhausting.
- numeric expressions,
e.g. Two and three makes/make five.
Five kilometres is a long distance.
Two kilos of apples is what I need.
g) two subjects connected by with, together with as well as, no less than agree
with the predicate according to the number of the first subject (considered as the
headword).
e.g. The teacher, together with the pupils is expected today.
The pupils, together with the teacher are already here.
The ship, as well as the passengers, was lost.
No one except his own supporters agrees with him.
3) Concord by Attraction / Proximity. The principles of proximity denotes
agreement of the verb with whatever noun or pronoun precedes it sometimes in
preference to agreement with the headword of the subject.
This type of concord is used:
46
Summing up
In finite clauses, the subject and verb need to match in terms of
concord.
There are some special cases of concord, such as collective nouns,
quantifiers, and coordinated noun phrases as subject.
Notional concord and proximity are two factors that influence
grammatical concord.
There is sometimes a mismatch between subject-verb concord and
pronoun reference.
BIBLIOGRAFIE:
Bdescu, A.. 1963. Gramatica limbii engleze., Bucureti : Ed. Stiintifica.
Banta, A.1977. Elements of Descriptive English Syntax. Bucureti: TUB.
Budai, L.1997 Gramatica engleza, Teorie si exercitii, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
Biber,D., Conrad, S., Leech, G. 2005. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
London:Longman.
Gleanu, G., Comiel, E. 1982. Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucureti: Ed. Didactic i
pedagogic.
Murar I, Pisoschi C., Trantescu A.M. 2010 Essentials of English Syntax. The Simple
Sentence. Craiova: Editura Universitaria.
erban D. 1982. English Syntax, volume one, Bucureti.
tefnescu, I.. 1978.Lectures in English Morphology. Bucuret:, TUB..
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Swartvick J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman.
Thomson A., Martinet A.1969. A Practical English Grammar. London: Oxford
University Press.
AUTOEVALUARE:
1. What are transitive verbs? Classify them and give examples.
2. What is intransitive predication? Give examples.
3. What is nominal predicate?
4. Classify the copulative verbs.
5. Define the agreement.
6. Enlarge upon the grammatical concord.
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48
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We kept silent.
Most adjectives may occur as either noun modifiers (Attributes) or Predicatives,
i.e. they may occur in both frames: Det+Adj+N; NP+V+Adj (+Prep. P). The adjectives
that occur in both frames are either qualifying or verbal.
e.g. They look healthy a healthy man.
She is polite a polite woman.
I am very proud of your results a proud girl.
The tall man / The man is tall.
An astonishing discovery. The discovery is astonishing
Relative (denominal) adjectives cannot appear as Predicatives unless a
figurative meaning is intended:
e.g. She has a golden watch.
A wooden box.
*The box is wooden.
But: Her movements were wooden (=like wood).
These adjectives are:
- adjectives ending in en, derived from concrete nouns (see the examples
above)
- adjectives which indicate points of the compass:
Romania lies in Eastern Europe.
- other adjectives derived from nouns: medical advice; atomic structure
- some adjectives from which adverbs can be derived:
my former friend, her late husband.
Adjectives which can be used only predicatively:
- adjectives like: ill, well, drunk, worth, alert
She is ill.
I am well now.
- adjectives derived with the prefix a-: ablaze, afraid, alone, ashamed, alike,
asleep, awake, aware (Adverbial Adjectives)
She had risen before I was properly awake (G.G.)
I was still asleep then.
He appeared aghast.
Some of these predicative adjectives have a synonym with an attributive value:
afraid - frightened
alive living
alone - lonely
They can be used attributively when they are preceded by an adverb: the half
asleep baby, a completely aware person. Some of the predicative adjectives take
Prepositional Objects:
e.g. You should be ashamed of yourself.
The town was ablaze with lights.
The Predicative is occasionally placed in front position for stylistic reasons (for
purposes of emphasis or effectiveness).
e.g. Crimson was the girdle of petals and crimson as a rose was the heart
(O.W.).
So difficult was my position that I had no choice.
2.3. The predicative Adjunct (The Complement of the Object) determines both
the predicate expressed by a transitive verb and the noun having the function of a direct
object of the predicate. The adjective functioning as predicative adjunct often expresses
the results of the process denoted by the verb,
e.g. He pushed the door open (the result of the process can be stated: The door
is open).
The predicative Adjunct occurs after the following transitive verbs: bake (hard),
boil (hard), break (open), drive (crazy, mad),lick (clean), make (happy), open (wide),
paint (green, white), push (open, shut), set (free), slam (shut), wash (clean), wipe (clean).
e.g. She boiled the eggs hard.
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Summing up:
The Functions of the Adjective Phrase:
I. Attribute. The attribute determines or modifies any noun or noun
equivalent irrespective of the syntactic role it discharges (subject,
predicative, object, adverbial modifier).
The attribute may be expressed by :
a) qualifying adjectives
b) relative/denominal adjectives
c) verbal adjectives (adjectives derived from ing or-ed participles)
d) adverbial adjectives (afraid, agape, alike etc.)
e) attributive clauses,
II. Predicative
1) The Predicative (Complement) is placed after a copulative verb.
2) The predicative Adjunct (The Complement of the Object) determines both
the predicate expressed by a transitive verb and the noun having the
function of a direct object of the predicate. The adjective functioning as
predicative adjunct often expresses the results of the process denoted
by the verb,
BIBLIOGRAFIE:
Bdescu, A.. 1963. Gramatica limbii engleze., Bucureti : Ed. Stiintifica.
Banta, A.1977. Elements of Descriptive English Syntax. Bucureti: TUB.
Budai, L.1997 Gramatica engleza, Teorie si exercitii, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
Biber,D., Conrad, S., Leech, G. 2005. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
London:Longman.
Gleanu, G., Comiel, E. 1982. Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucureti: Ed. Didactic i
pedagogic.
Murar I, Pisoschi C., Trantescu A.M. 2010 Essentials of English Syntax. The Simple
Sentence. Craiova: Editura Universitaria.
erban D. 1982. English Syntax, volume one, Bucureti.
tefnescu, I.. 1978.Lectures in English Morphology. Bucuret:, TUB..
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Swartvick J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman.
Thomson A., Martinet A.1969. A Practical English Grammar. London: Oxford
University Press.
AUTOEVALUARE:
1. Define the Adjective Phrase (the structure of an Adjective Phrase).
2. Enumerate the functions of the Adjective Phrase and give examples in sentences
of your own.
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52
- at the end of the sentence (end position), i.e. after the object if there is one, or
after the predicate if there is no object.
e.g. He stated his opinion clearly/yesterday/there.
He spoke clearly/yesterday/there.
- in the middle of the sentence, within the verbal phrase
e.g. She quickly realized the difficulty.
He had never used this machine.
- at the beginning of the sentence (front position),i.e. before the subject,
e.g. All his life he had hungered for her love.
Slowly she began to move.
Optionality of Adverbial Modifiers
a) Most adverbials are optional, i.e. they may be added or removed from a
sentence without affecting its acceptability.
e.g. He did this all afternoon.
He did this.
b) Adverbials are obligatory only after
- a small set of verbs that require either a predicative or a adverbial: be, lie, live,
put, stand.
e.g. He is in the garden.
He seems in a dangerous mood.
He lived in Rome/happily.
- a small set of verbs that require both an object and an adverbial place, put, set,
e.g. He put the book on the table.
He placed his arms around her shoulders.
(iv) Adverbial modifiers may occur more than once in succession in a clause,
e.g. He ran quickly down the stairs.
Types of Adverbial Modifiers
According to their meaning, adverbial modifiers may be classified as follows:
2.1. Adverbial Modifiers of Place
I. Adverbials of place are expressed by means of:
- an adverb(ial phrase)
e.g. Lets stop here.
The noise was coming from upstairs.
Outside was getting dark (E.H.)
- a noun phrase: verbs such as come, fall, go, move, rise, run, travel, walk can
take an adverb which has the form of an NP
e.g. We have come a long way.
Have I travelled a hundred miles just to see this? (W.M.T.)
They ran the distance in record time.
Step this way, please.
- a prepositional phrase,
e.g. We buy bread at the bakers.
There stood her mother amid a group of children (T.H.)
- an adverbial clause of place
e.g. We do our shopping where every body else does.
2) Position of place adverbials
a) Adverbials of place usually appear in end position:
- after a predicate when it is expressed by an intransitive verb
e.g. When I came downstairs , he was dressed sitting by the fire. (E.G.)
I am going to the country.
- after the direct object when the predicate is expressed by a transitive verb
e.g. Hes been reading a book in the library.
And Sorrow has set her seal upon his brow (I.W.)
Ill meet you downstairs.
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The adverbial of place can occur between the verb and the direct object if the
direct object is too long or is expressed by a subordinate clause,
e.g. They took into the reading room all the dictionaries they needed.
- after the adverbial of manner,
e.g. Hes been working hard in the library.
The adverbial of place indicating direction sometimes occurs immediately after
the verb before the adverbial of manner.
e.g. She went to school in a hurry yesterday.
- the adverbial of place occurs before the adverbial of definite time,
e.g. Im going to the country the day after tomorrow,
Ive been here a long time (G.G.)
b) Adverbials of place (especially prepositional phrases) sometimes appear in
initial position (stylistic inversion):
- they may be put there for contrast or emphasis
e.g. From the window you had an excellent view of the harbour (S.M.)
High above the city in a tall column stood the statue of the Happy Prince
(O.W.)
- some adverbials of place denoting direction (away, in, off, out, up) may
occupy initial preposition: in that position they have a dramatic impact and normally cooccur with verbs in the simple present or past tense.
e.g. Away he hastened into the field (T.H.)
Up the staircase he went, falling down, picking himself up, feeling no hurt
(A.J.C.)
If the subject is not a pronoun but a noun and therefore has greater
informational value, subject-verb inversion is normal.
e.g. Out came the chaise, in went the horses, on sprang the boys, in got the
travellers. (C.D.)
Off goes your train.
c) Two adverbials of place can co-occour in hierarchical relationship: the more
specific adverbial precedes the less specific.
e.g. Many people eat in restaurants in London.
He put out a complete set of garments on the bed in his dressing room (J.G.)
Only the less specific adverbial can be transposed to initial position,
e.g. In London many people eat in restaurants.
*In restaurants many people eat in London.
The adverbial expressed by an adverb normally comes before a prepositional
phrase,
e.g. They drove downhill to the village.
A middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of
Marlot (T.H.)
3) The meaning of adverbials of place: Adverbials of place are used to indicate
position (here, there, somewhere) or direction (forward(s), backward(s), right, left). Most
adverbials of place denote both position and direction,
e.g. He lived a long way from here. (Position)
He has came a long way. (Direction)
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natural (Here there is an alternative construction, viz. Naturally, he had stated his
opinion); Sentence b) is paraphrased as He had stated his opinion in a natural way. In
sentences like a) the adverbial is a sentence adverbial i.e. it modifies the whole sentence,
whereas in sentences like b) the adverbial modifies a verb only (here plan, state). In a) the
adverbial implies a personal comment on the rest of the sentence; this is not so in b).
3) Adverbials of quantity, degree, approximation can be subdivided into the
following semantic classes:
a) emphasizers: actually, certainly, indeed, obviously, really, surely
b) amplifiers: absolutely, altogether, badly, completely, entirely, extremely,
fully, greatly, most, highly, perfectly, quite, so, very, a lot, a great deal, etc.
c) downtoners (adverbials having a lowering or restrictive effect on the force
of the verb): almost, barely, enough, hardly, nearly, scarcely, slightly, a
little, to a certain/some extent, etc.
Adverbials of quantity, degree, approximation occur in the following positions
in the sentence:
(i) they take the same position as the adverbials of indefinite time and
frequency, that is they are placed: a) in front of the predicate when it is expressed by a
simple verb; b) after the operator (the verb be, the modals, the first auxiliary of a
compound verb)
e.g. I actually sat next to her.
He really likes her.
They greatly admire his music.
He completely ignored my request.
I absolutely adore it.
I hardly understand what you mean.
He was certainly funny.
He is obviously a fool.
I was completely happy (J.G.)
Silas did not highly enjoy smoking (G.E.)
They will surely object to his intervention.
I can scarcely ignore his views.
She could hardly be described as beautiful.
The degree adverbials: fairly, most, much, quite, very are placed before the
adjective or the adverb which they determine.
e.g. It was getting dark and snowing pretty heavily.(C.D.)
The sky was very gloomy (C.D.)
She speaks quite rapidly.
His behaviour is most surprising.
He speaks English very beautifully15.
Enough follows its adjective or adverb:
e.g. The lesson is easy enough.
They didnt work quickly enough.
(ii)
Long adverbials take the last place in the sentence:
e.g. They annoy me a great deal.
We miss our friends a lot.
He likes her very much.
I admire his courage to some extent.
Adverbials of comparison can be subdivided into three classes:
(i) Adverbials of equality are expressed by means of:
- a noun phrase or an equivalent (pronoun, numeral, non-finite verb), an
adjective or an adverb preceded by the conjunction as:
e.g. She is as old as my sister.
Its as hot as in summer.
15
As can be seen, the role of some of these degree adverbials is mainly morphological, that is they
contribute to forming a relative or an absolute superlative for the respective adjective or adverb
which they accompany.
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(Purpose + Result)
So as is frequently used with a negative purpose.
e.g. We hurried so as not to be late.
He came in quietly so as not to wake the child.
So as is also used where there is a personal object of the main verb but the
purpose refers to the subject1,
e.g. Peter sent his son into the garden so as to have some peace.(i.e. Peter was
to have some peace). Compare with Peter sent his son into the garden to play (i.e. the son
was to play)
The construction for + NP + to infinitive is employed when the two actions
have different subjects/agents.
e.g. We stood aside for her to pass.
I bought a book for you to read.
b) A gerundial phrase preceded by the prepositions for, with a view to,
e.g. This tool is for tightening bolts.
Automation will be introduced with a view to increasing productivity.
c) A noun phrase preceded by the preposition for.
e.g. Everyone ran for safety (in order to reach safety.)
George is saving up for a camera.
The Romanians fought in the 1877 war for independence.
2.7 . The Adverbial Modifier of Result
It is expressed by means of an infinitival phrase in four patterns:
a) a to-infinitive,
e.g. He lived to be very old.
She went away never to come back.
b) an infinitive preceded by as to whose correlative can be:
so-Adj./Adv.
Such + NP
e.g. I hope he will not be so weak as to yield.
You are not so foolish as to believe that.
Would you be so kind as to give us a lift?
Im not such a fool as to believe everything he has told me.
Behave in such a way as to be admired.
c) a to-infinitive whose correlative is too + Adj/Adv.
e.g. Ben was too busy to hear him now (J.Al.)
The offer of shelter was too unexpected to be resisted (C.D.)
He was too excited to speak.
He is too young to understand.
I am too tired to go out.
The construction for+NP is employed when the two actions have different
subjects.
e.g. The suitcase is too heavy for her to carry.
He ran too quickly for me to catch him.
The coffee is too hot for me to drink.
e) a to-infinitive whose correlative is Adj/Adv+enough
e.g. He was not tall enough to reach the shelf.
We were fortunate enough to be in London for the festival.
He spoke slowly enough to be understood.
2.8. The Adverbial Modifier of Condition
It is expressed by:
a) a noun phrase introduced by the prepositions with, without, but for
e.g. But for Gordon we should have lost the match (i.e. if it hadnt been for
Gordon).
But for the storm we should have arrived earlier.
1
See A. Thomson and A. Martinet, A Practical English Grammar, 3rd ed., p. 194.
61
Without his help I could not have been able to find the place.
With diligence he will succeed.
b) an adjective or participle introduced by the conjunctions if, unless,
e.g. If interesting, we might publish it.
c) a non finite form:
- a participial construction,
e.g. Taken in small amounts it can do no harm.
The construction may be introduced by the conjunctions if, unless,
e.g. If distilled, water becomes quite tasteless.
Ill be back by 6.pm. unless detained by some urgent matter.
Nobody spoke unless spoken to (C.D.)
- an absolute construction,
e.g. Weather permitting, the expedition will set out at the beginning of May
2.9. The Adverbial Modifier of Exception
It is expressed by means of a noun phrase introduced by except (for), with the
exception of, but, bar(ring).
e.g. Everybody was present except Tom.
We had a very pleasant time except for the weather.
With the exception of John none of us had any money.
I could answer all the questions but one.
The play was very good bar(ring) one or two scenes.
2.10. The Adverbial Modifier of Relation
It is expressed by means of a noun phrase introduced by the prepositions about,
on, concerning, regarding, respecting, as for, as to, with regard to, with reference to,
with respect to.
e.g. He knows everything about computers.
Have you any idea on the subject
We still have no information concerning his whereabouts.
The school board discussed the problem regarding the new school building.
As for the meals, he had to cook them himself.
The museum has a collection of documents with reference to the First World
War.
As we have mentioned an adverb can also discharge the function of a
Predicative:
The film is over.
Time is up.
They are off.
An adverb used as a subject complement loses its adverbial meaning and begins
to indicate state.
Compare: He speaks French so-so (An adverbial Modifier of Manner) and
How are you today? Im so-so(a subject complement).
The adverb so is used to replace a preceding subject complement
She is very sad and looks so.
Summing up
There are seven major semantic categories of circumstance adverbials:
place, time, process, contingency, degree, addition/restriction, and
recipient.
Place, time, and process( especially manner) adverbials are most
common overall.
Circumstance adverbials can appear in initial, medial, and final
positions.
Final position is the most common position.
Initial position is commonly used to maintain given/new information
structure or when the adverbial has scope over a series of clauses.
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AUTOEVALUARE:
1. Define the Adverbial Phrase (the structure).
2. Types of Adverbial Modifiers.
3. Give examples of Adverbial Modifiers of Place, Time and Manner.
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the Infinitive,
the Present Participle
the Infinitive
the Present Participle
the Past Participle
Gerundial Constructions
The Characteristics of the Complex Constructions
Complex Constructions have a predicative character, because there is an
implicit predicative relation between the two members of the construction: the nominal
group (NP), i.e. an Accusative or a Nominative and the verbal group (VP), represented by
an Infinitive, an -ing form or a Past Participle. The non-finite form of the verb functions
as a predicate of the nominal element, but this function is considered to be implicit, not
explicit, because the non-finite forms of the verb dont have the grammatical category of
person. The predicative character of the report between the two elements is obvious
because the function of these constructions is to substitute or to reduce elements
containing a predicate:
People consider him to be a responsible man = People consider that he is a
responsible man.
The action is seen differently in these three kinds of constructions:
a) Infinitival Constructions. We are interested in the action itself and consider it
finished: They saw her come. (= that she came).
b) Present Participial Constructions. The action is seen in progress: They saw
her coming. (= that she was coming).
c) Past Participle Constructions. The action is seen as a result:
We found the room deserted.
These constructions discharge the following functions:
1) Complex Direct Object (Accusative Constructions)
e.g. I heard Mary coming. I want this finished.
2) Complex Subject (Nominative Constructions)
e.g. He is believed to be a very intelligent man.
Mary was heard coming.
3) Adverbial (The Absolute Nominative)
e.g. Everything being ready, they left the room.
The work finished, they called her.
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Accusative Constructions
Accusative Constructions are formed with a noun or pronoun in the Accusative
and a verb in the Infinitive or in the Participle (Present or Past).
3.1. The Accusative with the Infinitive
This construction is required by the following transitive verbs expressing:
a) inert perception: feel, hear, notice, observe, perceive, see, watch:
e.g. Did you hear Peter come?
b) cognition (mental activities): believe, consider, expect, fancy, imagine, know,
suppose, think, understand
e.g. I expected you to be a good woman.
I knew her to have been seriously ill.
c) intention or wish: desire, intend, mean, want, wish
e.g. I want you to write your homewok at once.
Did you mean me to leave earlier?
d) feelings: dislike, hate, like, love, prefer
e.g. I hate you to be interrupted.
e) an order or permission: allow, command, compel, force, order, request
e.g. He allowed me to leave earlier.
He ordered the soldiers to be ready in time.
f) causative verbs: cause, get, have, induce, let, make
e.g. Peter made me laugh.
g) declarative verbs: declare, pronounce, report, usually with [+ animate]
subject
e.g. They declared him to be the best player.
h) some prepositional verbs: count on, depend on, hope for, wait for, etc.
e.g. We cannot wait for him to agree with us.
The verbs of perception (except for perceive), the verbs let, make and have are
followed by the Short Infinitive: I saw her enter the house.
The verb help is usually followed by the Long Infinitive in British English and
the Short Infinitive in American English:
Can you help me (to) repair my car?
Some verbs (except for want) can be also followed by That clauses. But there
are some differences between the use of a subordinate clause and of an Infinitival
Construction:
e.g. a) He requested me to come immediately (me [+ animate]).
He requested that the project should be finished in due time. (project [animate]).
b) I wish you to be careful.
I wish you would be careful (but I don't think you will).
c) We think him to be very intelligent. (formal English)
We think that he is very intelligent. (spoken English)
The Accusative with the Infinitive is used after verbs expressing cognition
especially in formal English (the Infinitive of the verb to be).
e.g. We believe Jane to be a good doctor.
These verbs are usually followed by a Direct Object Clause in spoken English.
We believe (that) Jane is a good doctor.
Modern grammars explain the differences between two examples like:
[I told youi] [PROi to read the book] = I told you that you should read
the book.
and
I want [youi [trace to read the book]] = *I want you that you should read
the book.
case
role of subject
Apparently, there is no difference between the two sentences above; both seem
to be Accusative + Infinitive constructions functioning as Direct Objects. But actually
65
only the second contains an Accusative + Infinitive construction with you, subject of to
read, raised so as to depend on want which assigns it the Accusative case. The role of
subject is assigned to it by to read. This is en example of Subject to Object Raising.
The first example contains a false Acc. + Inf. construction because tell is a verb
with two Objects: Direct and Indirect. You depends on told for being assigned both the
case (Acc.) and the syntactic function (Indirect Object). To read is the Direct Object of
told.
The For - To Infinitive
An Accusative with the Infinitive can be also used after an adjective or noun,
being preceded by the preposition for:
e.g. It was important for him to be there.
It was madness for him to do such a thing.
There are some verbs followed by for which can be used with the For - To
Infinitive: arrange, ask, hope, long, plan, pray, provide, ring, send, telephone, wait, etc.
e.g. I arranged for them to bring the books.
They sent for the doctor to come.
The For - To Infinitive construction is formed with the preposition for followed
by a noun or a pronoun in the Accusative and by a Long Infinitive.
e.g. It was necessary for me to finish the work quickly.
This construction is used after:
a) adjectives: (it is/was) advisable, difficult, easy, imperative, impossible,
necessary;
b) nouns: idea, problem, subject, etc.;
c) some transitive and intransitive verbs.
The For - To Infinitive is used to reduce some subordinate clauses to parts of
sentence:
1 ) Real Subject introduced by anticipatory it:
e.g. It is advisable for you to pass the exam this term.
2) Predicative:
e.g. The best thing is for you to accept.
3) Direct Object:
e.g. He wished for the letter to be posted at once.
4) Prepositional Object:
e.g. I would be delighted for you to come to the party:
5) Adverbial Modifier of Purpose:
e.g.I went to the museum for my children to see the new exhibition.
6) Adverbial Modifier of Result:
e.g. This problem is too difficult for him to solve.
The Accusative with the Present Participle
The Infinitive considers the action to be completed, while the Present Participle
presents the action in progress:
e.g. I saw them come. (= That means they have arrived.)
I saw them coming. (= I saw them while they were coming.)
The Accusative with the Present Participle is used after:
a) verbs of inert perception: feel, hear, observe, notice, see, watch;
e.g. I heard you talking to her:
We watched them crossing the street.
b) find, leave, set, catch, send;
e.g. I caught her stealing.
The Accusative with the Past Participle
This construction is used after:
a) verbs of perception:
e.g. I heard my name called.
b) verbs which express an order:
e.g. I ordered it finished.
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67
Summing up
with the Accusative
Accusative + Infinitive
Complex Constructions
with the Nominative
Nominative + Infinitive
Absolute Nominative
Absolute Nominative
+Infinitive
I want you to start I was warned to start at He sent a post card first,
immediately.
once.
the letter to post later.
Accusative + Present
Nominative + Present
Absolute Nominative +
Participle
Participle
Present Participle
I could feel her
He was noticed
coming.
standing there.
Accusative + Past
Participle
I want this finished now.
-
BIBLIOGRAFIE:
Bdescu, A.. 1963. Gramatica limbii engleze., Bucureti : Ed. Stiintifica.
Banta, A.1977. Elements of Descriptive English Syntax. Bucureti: TUB.
Budai, L.1997 Gramatica engleza, Teorie si exercitii, Bucureti: Editura Teora.
Biber,D., Conrad, S., Leech, G. 2005. Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
London:Longman.
Gleanu, G., Comiel, E. 1982. Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucureti: Ed. Didactic i
pedagogic.
Murar I, Pisoschi C., Trantescu A.M. 2010 Essentials of English Syntax. The Simple
Sentence. Craiova: Editura Universitaria.
erban D. 1982. English Syntax, volume one, Bucureti.
tefnescu, I.. 1978.Lectures in English Morphology. Bucuret:, TUB..
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Swartvick J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary
English. London: Longman.
Thomson A., Martinet A.1969. A Practical English Grammar. London: Oxford
University Press.
AUTOEVALUARE:
1. Define the Complex Constructions.
2. What are the characteristics of the Complex Constructions?
3. What are the verbs which require the Accusative + Infinitive Construction?
4. Nominative Constructions. Give examples.
.
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REVISION TESTS:
Exercise 1. State whether the following sentences are true or false:
1. Every sentence is a declarative, an interrogative, an imperative or an
exclamation.
2. Each has a typical, recognizable form.
3. Declaratives usually start with a subject which is followed by a main
verb.
4. Interrogatives are recognizable from wh-words, inversion and typical
intonation patterns.
5. Imperatives are typically formed from a non-finite form of the verb.
6. Written exclamations start with how or what and end with an exclamation
mark.
7. Interrogatives always ask questions.
8. Declaratives can function as questions.
9. Imperatives always give commands.
10. Exclamations can be used for functions other than showing strong
emotion.
Exercise 2. State whether the following sentences are true or false:
1. We use not to form declarative, interrogative and imperative sentences.
2. When an affirmative sentence has no operator, we use do and not to
form the negative.
3. There is no difference in meaning between can't and cannot.
4. We add n't or not to the operator to form negative interrogatives.
5. Aren't I? is unacceptable grammatically.
6. Negative imperatives are formed by do + n't or not.
7. Only negative adverbs and semi-negatives can make a sentence
negative.
8. No is the only determiner which can make the sentence negative.
9. There are no pronouns which can make a sentence negative.
10. The position of a negative in a sentence can change the scope of
negation and therefore the meaning.
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
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versa.
6. Echo questions repeat some or all of an earlier statement.
7. Alternative questions are usually spoken with a final falling intonation.
8. Response questions do not call for a reply.
9. Declarative questions always have positive bias.
10. Rhetorical questions have the function of forceful statements.
Exercise 5. State whether the following sentences are true or false:
1.Imperatives are one of the four forms of simple sentences in English.
2. We form the imperative with the verb base usually without a subject.
3.The only function of the imperative is to give commands.
4. To avoid ambiguity or to give emphasis we can include the subject.
5. The subject is always the addressee in the singular.
6. The subject can be placed in front or end position.
7. We negate imperatives with dont or negative pronouns or adverbs.
8. To make the imperative emphatic, we can add do to the subject.
9. In Indirect Speech the imperative takes the to infinitive pattern.
10. We can also report imperatives using a that clause.
Exercise 6. State whether the following sentences are true or false:
1. Most transitive verbs have active and passive forms.
2. Linking verbs sometimes have passive forms.
3. A passive form may or may not repeat the active Subject.
4. The passive can be a device to disguise the agent.
5. Only finite verbs have passive forms.
6. The active Object is the passive Subject.
7. The passive is a device which effectively fronts the object of an active
verb.
8. Verbs like to have when in stative use do not have a passive form.
9. All prepositional verbs have passive forms.
10. To bear in one meaning is more commonly in passive use than
active.
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
T or F
Exercise 7. Specify the kind of Adverbial Modifier that the Infinitives express in the
following sentences:
1. To hear him, one would think he was as poor as a church mouse.
2. Jack moved a little, so as to be able to see beyond the group of men.
3. He rarely went out except to take part in the social life of the town.
4. He sneaked out of the house through the backdoor so as not to explain anything.
5. But I did not come here in order to gain anything.
6. He ran his hand through his hair as though to tidy it.
7. Take that novel to read on the train.
8. To hear him talk, you might think he was bossing it.
Exercise 8. Specify the kind of Adverbial Modifier that the ing forms express in the
following sentences:
1. I bumped into a man; without looking up I apologized and proceeded on my way.
2. The girl hesitated, as though not quite knowing what to say.
3. It must be swell to get anything you want just by wishing, I thought
4. The musicians had vanished without his having seen them go.
5. He had not, since leaving, written to her.
6. I took my temperature and, upon finding it was a hundred point four, went back
to bed again.
7. He hardly looked at her while talking.
8. She looked at him steadily before answering.
9. Though knowing what was there, he took the paper out and walked to the window
to read.
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10. The little boy was sick after eating the whole box of chocolates.
11. Students should always read examination questions very carefully before
answering them.
12. I entered the room without his seeing it.
13. We postponed our visit because of Eddys being ill.
14. His brother was fined for having driven too fast.
15. He ended his speech by thanking everybody for their attention.
Exercise 9. Point out the Adverbial Modifiers in the following sentences and state by
what they are expressed:
1. We shall try it tomorrow. 2. After looking at the copy-book again, there seemed to be
something wrong somewhere. 3. I heard him knocking, so I ran downstairs to let him in.
4. These preparations happily completed, we set out at once. 5. He spoke to them in a
friendly way. 6. But for you, a terrible thing might have happened. 7. We were angry with
her for being nervous. 8. She turned red with anger. 9. She was too weak to lift the heavy
box. 10. The work will be ready after two oclock. 11. He came half an hour later. I was
waiting for him in the garden. 12. The river is a mile wide. 13. This lesson is rather long.
He cant read it through today. 14. You are too clever to argue about such nonsense. 15.
They walked miles without finding any habitation. 16. The warm fine sand of the beach
spread up and over everything. 17. If necessary, she must see the head manager. 18.
When questioned, she explained everything very carefully. 19. He looked up without
speaking. 20. He was too fond of his work to leave it right now. 21. So, on the following
evening, we again assembled to discuss and arrange our plans. 22. In a room within the
house, Cowperwood, his coat and vest off, was listening to Aileens account of the
troubles. 23. They were returning to the cottage, their hands full of flowers. 24. The men
faced the difficulties on their expedition with courage and resolution. 25. He was
exhausted from want of sleep. 26. During the interval they talked in the hall. 27. Mr.
Weller left the room, and departed slowly on his errand, with his hands in his pockets,
and his eyes fixed on the ground. 28. It was so difficult a task as not to be finished in a
week. 29. He looked at Mr. Micawber attentively, with his whole face breathing short and
quick in every feature. (Ch. Dickens)
Exercise 10. Analyse the Adverbial Modifiers in the following text:
Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwanted
performance: but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a
wisdom that outstretched his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the
strangers hands, he growled menacingly. But to his suprise the rope tightened around his
neck, shutting off his breath. In quick rage he sprang at the man, who met him half-way,
grappled him close by the throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. The
rope tightened mercilessly, while Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his
mouth and his great chest panting futilely. Never in all his life had he been so angry. But
he is strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when the train was fragged
and the two men threw him into the baggage-car. (J. London)
Exercise 11. Insert the Adverbial Modifiers in the appropriate place:
1. I have a bath (generally, every other day, in the evening).
2. A taxi appeared (slowly, after half an hour, at the corner of the street).
3. Harry hasnt come back (yet, from school).
4. He plays his guitar (always, at night).
5. Ralph goes skiing (sometimes, in winter, to Poiana Braov).
6. It happened (at midnight, last summer, in a deserted house).
7. They go for a walk (often, in the park, with their children, on summer evenings).
8. John will come (surely, in time, for the meeting).
9. He goes to bed (early, usually).
10. I enjoyed seeing that film (last night, very much).
11. None of us had been here before and we shall want to come here again (ever,
never, certainly).
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12. My uncle has been fond of children, though he has not had any himself (always,
never).
13. He played at the Palace Hall (last night, beautifully).
14. I can understand what you say (now, hardly).
15. We saw her (yesterday, there, distinctly).
16. The boy came (into the room, unexpectedly, quite).
17. The clock ticked (on the table, steadily).
18. The steamer gave a long hoot and steered away (south, slowly).
19. He comes (sometimes, on Sundays, to my place).
20. John will come (surely, in time, for the meeting).
Exercise 12. Insert where necessary the required prepositions (making Prepositional
Adverbial Modifiers):
1. He took up his work ...... enthusiasm. 2. His house was ......... the head of the village. 3.
After working ....... about ten minutes, she rose ....... her feet, starting out ....... the garden.
4. After the arrival of Mr. Winkle ...... Birmingham, Mr. Pickwick remained at home ......
a whole week. (Ch. Dickens) 5. The train was going ....... full speed. 6. The printing house
insists ....... the immediate correction of the proofs. 7. The airplaine flew ...... a very great
height, glistening ....... beautiful steel birds ....... the afternoon sunshine. 8. There is not
much ...... me that could possibly interest you. 9. Im sorry, but I really cannot agree .....
you. 10. Her mother never complained ...... her behaviour. 11. She came to stay ........ our
house ....... two months. 12. The pyramids were built ....... the Egyptians ....... very
primitive tools. 13. The boy was taller than his father ..... five inches. 14. We stopped
running ........ sheer exhaustion. 15. We were wet ...... the rain. 16. The boxer delivered a
powerful blow ..... his left hand. 17. The workers went on strike ........ the reduction of
wages. 18. The train was delayed ....... the snow storm. 19. The delay was ....... to the bad
weather. 20. Because he had lost his key, he climbed ......... the house ........ an open
window. 21. Will you visit any museums ....... your stay in France? 22. He will see you
........ the station and then come back ..... a taxi. 23. John was born ....... the 3rd ......
February ..... a small village surrounded ...... vineyards. 24. ....... autumn people who live
...... the north watch robins gather ..... their backyard, or swallows settle ...... the hundreds
........ the telephone wires. 25. The boy knows many poems ....... Shelley ...... heart. 26.
....... your help I couldnt have solved the problem. 27. Whats the matter? Ive heard a
shout ....... help.
Exercise 13. Identify the type of Adverbial Modifiers:
1. Because of the lies she told, nobody wanted to have anything to do with her.
2. He is not able to explain what happened because of his state of confusion.
3. Johns coming back would remind Mary of the old times since she has always
loved him because of his qualities.
4. He was upset, though calm and on top of the situation.
5. If tired, please rest as much as you can.
6. They stopped to ask for indications for fear of having got lost.
7. We ran in order to catch the bus.
8. They were too far away to come back home.
9. He kept silent instead of answering the questions.
10. Apart from her luggage, she took nothing else.
11. Everybody was happy except for Mary.
12. Men are always careless as regards womens feelings.
13. In addition to painting, he could play the violin.
14. She took care of two old people besides her parents.
15. The more she tried, the better she felt.
Exercise 14. Rephrase the sentences so as to replace Adverbial Clauses by corresponding
Adverbial Modifiers:
1. He cannot be considered a winner because he has never managed to overcome his
fear.
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2. He asked her to stay not that he couldnt do without her, but because he was too
lazy.
3. As everybody wanted to see them, they had to change their programme.
4. It was because he speaks defiantly that all his friends have left him.
5. No matter how hard it rains, he still goes running.
6. Tired as he was, he still helped us.
7. Put on your coat in case you get cold.
8. So long as you dont trust me, we cant be friends.
9. We must hurry lest we should be late.
10. Insofar as his private life is concerned, the press doesnt know much.
11. For all I know, she may be guilty of negligence.
Evaluation Questions:
1. How can words be connected in an English sentence?
2. Which are the functions of the Noun Phrase?
3. The syntactic characteristics of the Subject.
4. The syntactic characteristics of the Direct Object.
5. The syntactic characteristics of the Indirect Object.
6. The syntactic characteristics of the Prepositional Object.
7. Enumerate the types of the Prepositional Object.
8. Explain the structure and functions of the Verb Phrase.
9. How many types of Subject- Predicate agreement are in English? Give examples.
10. The syntactic characteristics of the Adjective Phrase.
11. The syntactic characteristics of the Adverbial Phrase.
12. How many types of Adverbial modifiers are in English?
13. Enumerate the complex constructions and discuss them briefly.
14. Which are the characteristics of complex constructions?
15. Enlarge upon the Accusative + Infinitive.
16. Enlarge upon the Accusative + Present Participle.
17. Enlarge upon the Nominative + Infinitive.
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