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SEMINAR 2
The Phrase. Subordinate Verb-phrases. Predicative Phrases.

1. Theoretical Comment.
Grammatical organization of verb-phrases. Object-predicate relations; cognate object.
Grammatical organization of adjective-phrases. The use of nexus-phrases in Modern English.

2. Practice.
1. Analyse the verb phrases and the character of inner syntactic relations:
to stay in Helsinki (place), to stay awake (adverbial relations); to leave early, to leave after
it started to snow, to leave out of spite (reason), to leave to milk the cow (purpose); to walk a
great deal, to walk a mile; to wait a minute (ver rel of time), to wait a table (object relat –
обслуживать стол); to sound a trumpet, to sound a fool (, to sound as if in agony (comparison);
forgot to greet them (object), ran to wave goodbye (purpose), came in to find the room empty
(succession of action – came and found).
2. Give comments on the use of the verb-phrases with the cognate object(слова образ от одного корня):
1. He smiled his slow, pleasant smile (A. Christie). 2. Finally, when the dog felt that the
blind man had said his say, the dog wandered off into the corridors of the hospital…
(R. Bradbury). 3. George Willard was thinking thoughts of Kate Swift (S. Anderson). 4. David
Copperfield… slept his Sunday night’s sleep (Ch. Dickens). 5. All smiled their smiles
(J. Joyce). 6. Mr. Browdie grinned a grin of special width… (Ch. Dickens).
3. Give comments on the adverbial use of nouns in the following patterns (point out the adverbial relations of
comparison, time and different degree of quality):
bone thin - comparison, a tad dusty, a shade darker, a bit louder - degree, sky blue -
comparison, age long - time, snow white, ankle deep - comparison, stone deaf, lots better, heaps
better, a bit longer, iron hard - comp, ash blond - comp, paper white- comp
4. Give comments on the structure of adjectival phrases in the following sentences:
1. She was proud of her father having been a staff-officer (S. Maugham). 2. I’ll be happy
to wait (G. Elliot). 3. She was busy writing out sums upon the blackboard (A. Cronin).
4. Speech was always easy with her (J. London). 5. It begins with an incredibly beautiful line…
(K. Mansfield). 6. Mrs. Septimus was the tallest of the four sisters (J. Galsworthy). 7. Certain
nooks were curiously rich with wild flowers… (D. Aldington).
5. Pick out nexus phrases in the following sentences and define their types.
1. Kathleen drove, as she always did, Norah never having learnt how to (W. Trevor).
(participial nexus phrases)
2. It said earlier on the radio there’d be showers but there wasn’t a trace of one, the
October evening without a breeze, dusk beginning (W. Trevor).( gerundial nexus phrases)
3. It's you having to do it that I mind (A. Christie).
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4. She put down the empty glass and leaned back in her chair, her eyes half closed
(A. Christie). (Participial Predicative Phrase)
5. She sat in her bedroom watching the blazing sun set over theblue Aegean in an
explosion of color (S. Sheldon). (Participial Predicative Phrase)
6. About to crumple a typewritten page, the son froze, the paper shut in his fist
(R. Bradbury).
7. Solomon was staring at him, his gray eyes blazing now with hatred. (D. Brown).
8. For you to come here is impossible (J. Galsworthy). (infinitival nexus)
9. Small wonder that we all loved him so exceedingly (O. Jespersen).
10. But with him dead there was time and space in which to prepare to do other things
(J. London).
11. I hope I’m not the same now, with all the prettiness and youth removed (O. Jespersen).
12. I catch cold! No fear (O. Jespersen).
6. Identify the syntactic relations:
1. I hate you to go there.
2. I want you to go there.
3. He likes them to sing.
4. I saw him approaching the house.
5. He watched them play.
6. He ordered the boxes to be taken upstairs.
7. He did not wish his voice to be recognized.
7. Analyse the structures of predication in the sentences. Pick out homonymic patterns. Translate the sentences.
1. He had his eyes closed to prevent himself from catching even a fleeting glimpse of his
frightening predicament. (D. Brown).
2. And so you had Leonardo Vetra killed! (D. Brown).
3. He could not afford to have his wife run into her (S. Sheldon).
4. We shall soon have the mists rising (A. Hornby).
5. He soon had them all laughing (A. Hornby).
6. We shall have the house painted. (A. Hornby).
7. “It was major Dobbin who took back the captain’s body to Brussels,” the sergeant said
in a low voice, “and had him buried as your honour khows” (W. Thackeray).
8. “It’s quite true,” he said, “he’s gone to Buenos Aires, started this morning – we’d better
have him shadowed when he lands” (J. Galsworthy).
9. We have a number of witnesses here, and we are all anxious to have them heard
(Th. Dreiser).
10. I wouldn’t for the world have him think I had any feeling (D. Parker).
11. …we can’t have it all begin over again (J. Galsworthy).
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12. “I must see about his clothes,” she said to Imogen, “I can’t have him going up to
Oxford all anyhow!” (J. Galsworthy).
13. “Now, Mary June” said Aunt Kate, “don’t annoy Mr. D’Arcy. I won’t have him
annoyed” (J. Joyce).
14. All the guests stood up, glass in hand (J. Joyce).
15. I haven’t had the house watched (Th. Dreiser). 16. He looked defiantly around the
table, his eyes flat, his face pale (E. Hemingway).
17. “I have to be emphatic, Mr. Holmes, for the time is so limited. I would not have him
find me here for the world (C. Doyle).
18. The General had two horses shot under him (A. Hornby).
19. She had not minded Frederick risking his own life. (A. Bennett).

Literature:
1. Rayevska N.M. Modern English Grammar. – Kyiv: Vysca Skola Publishers, 1976. –
P. 190-194, 220-224, 228-232, 242-249.
2. Бархударов Л.С. Структура простого предложения современного английского
языка. – М., Высшая школа, 1966. – С. 77-113, 128-136.
3. Иванова И.П., Бурлакова В.В.. Почепцов Г.Г. Теоретическая грамматика
английского языка. – М.: Высш. шк., 1981. – С. 141-143, 192-193.
4. Грамматика английского языка: Морфология. Синтаксис: учебник /
Н.А. Кобрина, Е.А. Корнеева, М.И. Оссовская, К.А. Гузеева. – СПб.: Союз, 2009. –
С. 401-422.