Міністерство освіти і науки України

Східноєвропейський національний університет імені Лесі Українки

Інститут іноземної філології
Кафедра практики англійської мови

Є. І. Г'ороть,
О. В. Василенко,
Л. К. Малімон,
А. Б. ІІавлюк

{Практична граматика,
англійської мови
Навчальний посібник
для студентів вищих навчальних закладів

Рекомендовано вченою радою

Східноєвропейського національного університету
імені Лесі Українки

Луцьк
Вежа-Друк
2015
 УДК 811.111’36(075)
ББК 81.432.1-923.2
Г 70

Рекомендовано до друку вченою радою Східноєвропейського

національного університету імені Лесі Українки
(протокол № 11 від 28 травня 2015 року,
номер наказу ІЗІ-з від 10.06.2015р.)

Рецензенти:
Морозова І. Б. - доктор філологічних наук, професор кафедри граматики
англійської мови Одеського національного університету імені 1.1. Мечникова;
Сєрякова 1.1. - доктор філологічних наук, професор кафедри германської та
фіно-угорської філології Київського національного лінгвістичного універси­
тету.

Гороть Є. І.
Г-70 Практична граматика англійської мови [Текст] : навч. посіб. для студ. вищ.
навч. закл. / Євгенія Іванівна Гороть, Ольга Вікторівна Василенко,
Леся Костянтинівна Малімон, Алла Борисівна Павлюк. - Луцьк : Вежа-Друк,
2015.-400 с.

1БВЫ 978-617-7272-26-6

Навчальний посібник із практичної граматики сучасної англійської

мови призначено для студентів І—III курсів інституту іноземної філології
напряму підготовки 6.020303 «Філологія» (Мова та література (англійська))
для використання на практичних заняттях. Посібник складається з двох
частин: «Морфологія» і «Синтаксис». У першій частині описано морфо­
логічну будову англійської мови (подано дефініції частин мови, основні їх
категорії), у другій - синтаксичні особливості сучасної англійської мови.
Посібник розрахований на студентів факультетів й інститутів іноземних мов
вищих навчальних закладів.

УДК 811.111*36(075)
ББК 81.432.1-923.2

О Гороть Є. І., Василенко О. В.,

Малімон Л. К., Павлюк А. Б., 2015
ISBN 978-617-7272-26-6 © Маліневська І. П. (обкладинка), 2015
 CONTENTS
ПЕРЕДМОВА............................................. .................................................. П
PART I. MORPHOLOGY
CHAPTER I. THE VERB
§ 1. The classification of English verbs................................................. 12
§ 2. Grammatical categories of the English verbs................................. 17
§ 3. The verb to be.................................................... 19
§ 4. The verb to have (got)............................................ 20
§ 5. The verb to do................ 22
T enses in th e A ctive V o ice.......................................... 23
Present tenses...................................... — ....... v............ ......................... 23
§ 6. The Present Indefinite (Present Simple)........................................ 23
§ 7. The Present Continuous............................................ 25
§ 8. The Present Perfect............................. 27
§ 9. The Present Perfect Continuous..................................................... 30
§ 10. The Present Perfect Continuous Inclusive and the Present
Continuous................................................................................... 31
§11. The Present Perfect Continuous Inclusive and the Present Perfect... 31
Past tenses.............................................................. 31
§ 12. The Past Indefinite (Past Simple)................................................. 32
§13. The Past Indefinite and the Present Perfect (compared)................... 33
§ 14. The Past Continuous.................................................................. 35
§ 15. The Past Perfect............................................................................ 37
§ 16. The Past Indefinite (Past Simple) and the Past Perfect............... 38
§ 17. The Past Perfect Continuous........................................................ 38
§ 18. The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive and the Past Continuous..... 39
Future tenses................................................................. '.w.s,....... ........... 39
§ 19. The Future Indefinite ( Past Simple)................. 39
§ 20. The Future Indefinite ( Past Simple) in the Past......................... 41
§ 21. The Future Continuous................................................................. 41
§ 22. The Future Perfect........................................................................ 42
§ 23. The Future Perfect Continuous..................................................... 43
Tenses in the Passive Voice......................................................................... 43
§ 24. The Formation and Use of the Passive Voice............................. 43
The Sequence of Tenses............................................................................ 45
§ 25. The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses.......................................... 45
T h e O b liq u e M o o d .................................................................. '.'..'.a....... 47
§ 26. The Formation and Use of Subjunctive I...,............................... 47
§ 27. The Formation of Subjunctive II.................................................. 48
§ 28. The Use of Subjunctive II in Simple Sentences..................... 49
§ 29. The Use of Subjunctive II in Complex Sentences....................... 51
§ 30. The Formation of the Conditional Mood..................................... 54
§31. The Use of the Conditional Mood in Simple Sentences 55
 § 32. The Use of the Conditional Mood in Complex sentences 56
§ 33. Types of Conditional Sentences................................................... 56
§ 34. The Use of the Conditional Mood in Complex Sentences with
Subordinate Clause of Concession.............................................. 60
§ 35. The Suppositional Mood............................................................. 61
§ 36. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Object Clauses............... 61
§ 37. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Subject Clauses............... 63
§ 38. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Adverbial Clauses of
Purpose.......................................................................... 64
§ 39. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Adverbial Clauses of
Concession................................................................................... 65
§ 40. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Adverbial Clauses of
Problematic Condition................................................................ 66
Non-Finite Forms of the Verb ............................................................. 67
§ 41. Non-Finite Forms of the Verb: Introductory Remarks............... 67
The Infinitive.......................................... ............................ ........................ 69
§ 42. General Remarks............................................ ............................ 69
§ 43. The Verbal Characteristics of the Infinitive................................ 73
§ 44. The Nominal Characteristics of the Infinitive.............................. 72
§ 45. The Functions of the Infinitive..................................................... 73
§ 46. The Infinitive Constructions......................................................... 83
§ 47. The Objective Infinitive Construction.......................................... 83
§ 48. The Subjective with the Infinitive Construction......................... 85
§ 49. The for-to-Infmitive Construction................................................. 87
The G erund................................................................................................... 88
§ 50. General Remarks.......................................................................... 88
§51. The Verbal Characteristics of theGerund.................................... 88
§ 52. The Nominal Characteristics of the Gerund................................. 89
§ 53. The Functions of the Gerund...................................... ................. 89
§ 54. Predicative Constructions with the Gerund................................. 93
§ 55. Rendering of the Gerund into Ukrainian...................................... 94
§ 56. The Gerund and the Infinitive (compared)................................ 94
§ 57. The Gerund and the Verbal Noun (compared)............................ 95
The Participle............................................................................................... 96
§ 58. Introductory remarks.................................................................... 96
§ 59. Participle I..................................................... .............................. 97
§ 60. The Verbal Characteristics of Participle 1.................................... 97
§ 61. The Adjectival and Adverbial Features of Participle 1................ 99
§ 62. The Functions of Participle 1......................................................... 100
§ 63. Predicative Constructions with Participle 1.................................. 103
§ 64. The Objective ParticipialConstruction......................................... 103
§ 65. The Subjective Participial Construction....................................... 104
§ 66. The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction.................... 105
§ 67. The Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction................. 106
§ 68. Absolute Constructions without a Participle............................... 107
 § 69. Particuple I and the Gerund Compared....... .............................. 107
§ 70. Participle II General notion.......................................................... 108
§ 71. The Verbal Characteristics of Participle II................................. 108
§ 72. The Adjectival Characteristics of Participle II........................... Ill
§ 73. The Functions of Participle II...................................................... Ill
§ 74. Predicative Constructions with Participle II............................... 113
§ 75. The Objective Participial Construction with Participle II........... 113
§ 76. The Nominative Absolute Participal Construction with
Participle II................................................................................... 113
§ 77. The Prepositional Absolute Participal Construction with
Participle II................................................................................... 114
Modal Verbs..................................................................................... 115
§ 78. Introductory Remarks.................................................................. 115
§ 79. The Modal Verb CAN.................................................................. 116
§ 80. The Modal Verb MAY.................................................................. 121
§ 81. The Modal Verbs CAN and MA Y (Compared)............................ 124
§ 82. The Modal Verb MUST................................................................ 124
§ 83. The Modal Phrase TO HAVE TO................................................. 126
§ 84. The Modal Phrase TO BE TO...................................................... 128
§ 85. MUST, TO HA VE TO, TO BE TO (Compared).......................... 129
§ 86. The Modal Verb OUGHT TO...................................................... 129
§ 87. The Modal Verb SHOULD.......................................................... 130
§ 88. OUGHT TO and SHOULD (Compared)...................................... 131
§ 89. The Modal Verb SHALL............................................................. 132
§ 90. The Modal Verb N EED............................................................... 132
§ 91. The Modal Verbs WILL and WOULD.......................................... 133
§ 92. The Modal Verb DARE................................................................ 134
CHAPTER II. THE NOUN
§ 93. Morphological Composition of theNoun...................................... 135
§ 94. Classification of Nouns................................................................ 138
§ 95. Morphological Categories of Nouns............................................ 141
§ 96. The Category of Number............................................................. 141
§ 97. The Category of Case...................................................... 147
§ 98. The Category of Gender ............................................................... 150
§ 99. Syntactic Functions ofNouns...................................................... 151
§ 100. Combinability of Nouns............................................................. 152
CHAPTER III. THE ARTICLE
§ 101. General Remarks........................................................................ 154
§ 102. Functions of Articles with Common Nouns.............................. 155
§ 103. The Main Functions of the Definite Article................. 157
§ 104. The Functions of the Absence of the Article............................. 159
The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns.............................................. 160
§ 105. General Rules of the Use of Articles with Countable Nouns.... 160
§ 106. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Certain Adjectives and Pronouns................................................ 161
 § 107. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Numerals................................................................ ........ . ........... 162
§ 108. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Participles............................................. 163
§ 109. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by ing-forms... 163
§ 110. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Infinitives................................................................................... i 163
§111. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by Clauses... 163
§ 112. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Nouns in the Common Case..................................................... 164
§ 113. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Nouns in the Genitive Case...................................................... 165
§ 114. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified by
Prepositional Phrases....................................... 165
§ 115. Peculiarities in the Use of Definite Article with Countable Nouns 166
§ 116. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns in Some Syntactic
Patterns..................................................................................... 167
The Use of Articles with Uncountable Nouns....................... 170
§ 117. The Use of Articles with Uncountable Abstract Nouns............ 170
§ 118. The Use of Articles with Uncountable Concrete Nouns
(Names of Materials)................................................................ 175
The Use of Articles with Some Semantic Groups of Nouns................... 176
§ 119. The Use of Articles with the Names of Parts of the Day....... 176
§ 120. The Use of Articles with the Names of Seasons....................... 178
§ 121. The Use of Articles with the Names of Meals........................... 180
§ 122. The Use of Articles With the Names of Diseases..................... 180
§ 123. The Use of Articles with the Names of Languages................... 181
§ 124. Some Special Difficulties in the Use of Articles....................... 181
§ 125. The Use of Articles with Nouns Denoting Unique Objects or
Notions......................................................................................... 184
The Use of Articles with Proper Names........ ................... 185
§ 126. The Main Groups of Proper names............................................... 185
§ 127. The Use of Articles with Names of Persons.............................. 186
§ 128. The Use of Articles with Geographical Names......................... 187
§ 129. The Use of Articles with Proper Names Denoting Various
Places, Objects and Notions...................... 189
§ 130. The Place of Articles................. ............................................... 190
Review of the Use of Articles..................................................................... 191
§ 131. The Use of the Indefinite Article................................................ 191
§ 132. The Use of the Definite Article.................................................. 193
§ 133. The Omission of the Article........................................................ 194
CHAPTER IV. THE ADJECTIVE
§ 134. Morphological Ccomposition of the Adjective......................... 197
§ 135. Classification of Adjectives........................................................ 198
§ 136. Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives....................................... 201
 § 137. Syntactic Functions of Adjectives............................................. 204
§ 138. Combinability of Adjectives...................................................... 206
§ 139. Substantivized Adjectives.......................................................... 207
CHAPTER V. THE PRONOUN
§ 140. Classification of Pronouns........................................................... 209
§ 141. Personal Pronouns...................................................................... 210
§ 142. Possessive Pronouns.................................................................. 212
§ 143. Reflexive Pronouns.................................................................... 213
§ 144. Reciprocal Pronouns.................................................................. 214
§ 145. Demonstrative Pronouns............................................................. 214
§ 146. Indefinite Pronouns..................................................................... 216
§ 147. Defining Pronouns...................................................................... 221
§ 148. Negative Pronouns...................................................................... 225
§ 149. Interrogative Pronouns................................................................ 226
§ 150. Conjunctive Pronouns................................................................. 228
§ 151. Relative Pronouns....................................................................... 229
§ 152. Syntactic Functions of Pronouns................................................ 230
CHAPTER VI. THE ADVERB
§ 153. Morphological Composition of the Adverb............................... 230
§ 154. Classification of Adverbs............................................................ 233
Morphological Characteristics of the Adverb............................................ 235
§ 155. Degrees of Comparison.............................................................. 235
§ 156. Syntactic Functions of Adverbs................................................. 236
§ 157. Place of Adverbs in the Sentence............................................... 237
§ 158. Peculiarities in the Use of Some Adverbs.................................. 239
CHAPTER VII. THE NUMERAL
§ 159. Classification of Numerals......................................................... 241
§ 160. Cardinal Numerals...................................................................... 242
§ 161. Ordinal Numerals....................................................................... 242
§ 162. Fractions..................................................................................... 243
§ 163. Combinability of Numerals........................................................ 243
§ 164. Syntactic Functions ofNumerals................................................ 244
§ 165. Substantivized Numerals............. 244
CHAPTER VIII. THE PREPOSITION
§ 166. Morphological Composition of Prepositions.............................. 245
§ 167. Semantic Characteristics of Prepositions................................... 246
§ 168. The Use of Prepositions........................................................ 248
§ 169. Polysemy of Prepositions............................................... 253
§ 170. Prepositions Used with Adjectives and Participles................... 255
§ 171. Prepositions Used with Verbs.................................................... 256
§ 172. Positional Characteristics of Prepositions.................................. 256
CHAPTER IX. THE CONJUNCTION
§ 173. Morphological Characteristics of Conjunctions. .................. 257
CHAPTER X. THE STATIVE
§ 174. Morphological Composition and Semantic Characteristics of
 Statives............................. 260
§ 175. Combinability of Statives........................................................... 260
§ 176. Syntactic Functions of Statives........................................... ...... 261
CHAPTER XI. MODAL WORDS
§ 177. Classification and Use of Modal Words................................... 262
CHAPTER XII. THE INTERJECTION
§ 178. Classification and Use of Interjections....................................... 263
CHAPTER XIII. THE PARTICLE
179. Classification and Use of Particles............................................. 265
PART II. SYNTAX
CHAPTER I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
§ 1. Classification of Simple Sentences................................................. 267
Parts of the Simple Sentence................................................... ...............*... 267
§ 2. The Main Parts of the Simple Sentence............................................ 274
§ 3. The Subject.......................................................... 275
§ 4. Ways of expressing the subject................. 275
§ 5. It as a Subject of the Sentence........................................................ 276
§ 6. The Formal (Introductory) Subject there...................................... 277
§ 7. The Predicate.................................................................................. 278
§ 8. The Simple Verbal Predicate.......................................................... 279
§ 9. The Compound Verbal Predicate................................................... 279
§ 10. The Compound Nominal Predicate Proper................................... 282
§11. The Combination to be +Participle II.......................................... 283
§ 12. The Compound Nominal Double Predicate................................ 284
§ 13. Mixed Types of Predicate............................................................ 285
§ 14. Subject Predicate Concord (Agreement)...................................... 285
The Secondary Parts of the Sentence......................................................... 289
§ 15. The Object................................... ................................................ 289
§ 16. Kinds of Objects........................................................................... 290
§ 17. The Direct Object.............................................. ............ ....... . 291
§ 18. The Indirect Object....................................................................... 293
§ 19. The Complex Object.................................................................... 294
§ 20. The Cognate Object..................................................................... 295
§ 21 .The Attribute............................ .................................................... 296
§ 22. Ways of Expressing the Attribute................................................. 296
§ 23.The Apposition.............................................................................. 298
§ 24. The Close Apposition................................................................... 299
§ 25. The Loose or Detached Apposition.............................................. 299
§ 26. The Adverbial Modifier................................................................ 299
§ 27. The AdverbialModifier of Place and Direction............................ 300
§ 28. The AdverbialModifier of Time................................................... 300
§ 29. The AdverbialModifier of Manner............................................... 301'
§ 30. The AdverbialModifier of Degree and Measure......................... 302
§31. The Adverbial Modifier of Cause (Reason)................................ 302
§ 32. The Adverbial Modifier of Purpose............................................. 302
§ 33. The Adverbial Modifier of Result (Consequence)...................... 303
§ 34. The Adverbial Modifier of Condition.......................................... 303
§35. The Adverbial Modifier of Concession........................................ 303
§ 36. The Adverbial Modifier of Comparison....................................... 303
§ 37. The Adverbial Modifier of Attendant Circumstances................. 304
§ 38. The Adverbial Modifier of Exception.......................................... 304
§ 39. Ways of Expressing the Adverbial Modifiers.............................. 304
§ 40. The Detached (Loose) Secondary Parts of the Sentence............. 306
§ 41. The Detached Adverbial Modifier................................................ 307
§ 42. The Detached Attribute................................................................ 307
§ 43. The Detached Specifying Parts of the Sentence........................... 308
§ 44. The Detached Object.................................................................... 308
§ 45. Independent Elements.................................................................. 308
§ 46. Homogeneous Parts of the Sentence............................................ 310
§ 47. Word Order.................................................................................... 312
§ 48. Inversion........................................................................................ 313
CHAPTER II. THE COMPOSITE SENTENCE
§ 49. The Composite Sentence.............................................................. 316
§ 50. The Compound Sentence.............................................................. 317
§51. Types of Coordination.................................................................. 318
§ 52. The Complex Sentence................................................................. 322
§ 53. Formal Indicators of Subordination (Connectors)....................... 322
§ 54. Functional Classification of Subordinate Clauses....................... 326
§ 55. The Complex Sentence with a Subject Clause............................ 326
§ 56. The Complex Sentence with a Predicative Clause...................... 328
§ 57. The Complex Sentence with an Object Clause........................... 330
§ 58. Types of Object Clauses............................................................... 331
§ 59. The Complex Sentence with an Attributive Clause.................... 333
§ 60. Types of Attributive Clauses........................................................ 333
§ 61. The use of Relative Pronouns in Attributive Relative Clauses... 338
§ 62. The Complex Sentence with an Adverbial Clause....................... 340
§ 63. Types of Adverbial Clauses.......................................................... 340
§ 64. Pseudo-complex sentences.......................................................... 357
§ 65. Emphatic (or Cleft) Sentences...................................................... 357
§ 66. Appended Clauses........................................................................ 358
§ 67. Absolute (Independent) Subordinate Clauses.............................. 358
§ 68. The Compound-complex Sentence............................................... 358
§ 69. The Parenthetical Clauses............................................................ 359
CHAPTER III. DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
§ 70. Direct Speech VS Indirect Speech............................................... 360
§ 71. The Rules for Indirect Speech...................................................... 360
§ 72. The Rules of Punctuation for Direct Speech................................ 362
§ 73. The Rules of Punctuation for Indirect Speech.............................. 363
CHAPTER IV. PUNCTUATION
§ 74. The Rules of Punctuation............................................................. 365
 CHAPTER V. SOME SAMPLES OF SENTENCE ANALYSIS 374
IRREGULAR VERBS................................................................................ 381
SOME COMMON PHRASAL VERBS.................................................... 386
THE USE OF ARTICLES IN SOME SET EXPRESSIONS................ 389
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................ 392
 1,1

ПЕРЕДМОВА
Навчальний посібник «Практична граматика сучасної англійської мови»
укладений у відповідності з діючою програмою з практичної граматики
сучасної англійської мови для підготовки спеціалістів базового напряму
«Філологія».
Посібник складається з двох частин: «Морфологія» та «Синтаксис».
Перша частина посібника складається з 14 розділів, в яких описано
морфологічні категорії, класифікацію, синтаксичні функції в реченні усіх частин
мови та їх сполучуваність з іншими частинами мови. Особлива увага приділена
опису дієслова, іменника та артикля, оскільки саме ці частини мови є
проблемним для україномовних студентів і саме вони викликають великі
труднощі при вивченні англійської мови: дієслово в англійській мові має
розгалужену систему часових особових та неособових форм в активному й
пасивному станах, наявні значні розбіжності в категоріях іменника в англійській
та українській мовах, а феномен артикля відсутній в українській мові.
Друга частина посібника включає 5 розділів, які присвячені опису
синтаксичних особливостей сучасної англійської мови, зокрема класифікації
простих речень за структурою та метою висловлювання, аналізу головних і
другорядних членів речення та способів їх вираження, опису феномену
складного речення. Значна увага приділена проблемі порядку слів у реченні
та пунктуації.
Навчальний посібник містить п’ять додатків, в яких подано таблицю
неправильних дієслів, таблицю фразових дієслів, таблицю вживання артиклів
у певних усталених словосполученнях, зведену таблицю модальних дієслів та
таблиці неособових форм дієслова.
Ілюстративний матеріал навчального посібника грунтується в основному
на нормах британського варіанта англійської мови. Приклади відібрано з
англомовної літератури ХХ-ХХІ ст.
Навчальний посібник призначений передусім для студентів І-ІІІ курсів
факультетів іноземної філології спеціальності «мова і література
(англійська)», але може використовуватися також на тих спеціальностях, де
англійська мова є другою іноземною мовою.
 12

PART I. MORPHOLOGY
CHAPTER I. THE VERB
Introductory remarks
The verb is a part of speech which denotes an action, i.e. some activity (to
play, to speak, to walk), process (to live, to sleep, to wait), state (to be, to like) or
relation (to consist, to resemble).
The verb presents a system of finite and non-finite forms.
There are four basic forms of the verb in Modem English, they are: the
Infinitive, the Past Indefinite, Participle II and Parpiciple I:
to finish - finished - finished - finishing,
to write —wrote - written —writing,
to know - knew - known - knowing.
The verb in its finite forms possesses the morphological categories of
person, number, tense, aspect, correlation, voice and mood. Its syntactical
function is that of the predicate.
The non-finite forms (or verbals) are four in number, they are: the infinitive,
the gerund, participle I and participle II.
Verbs provide the focal point of the clause. The main verb in a clause
determines the other clause elements that can occur and it specifies a meaning
relation among those elements.
§ 1. Classification of English Verbs
The classification of English verbs may be undertaken from different
standpoints: according to their meaning, their relation to the Continuous form, the
type of object they take, their function in the sentence, the way in which the Past
Indefinite and Participle II are formed, their structure, their semantic categories.
I. According to their meaning verbs can be divided into two groups -
terminative and non-terminative, or durative verbs.
Terminative Verbs imply a limit beyond which the action cannot continue. It
means, they contain the idea that the action must come to an end, reaching some
point where it has logically to stop, e.g. to begin, to break, to bring, to close, to
come, to die, to fall, to find, to open, to recognize, to refuse, etc. With the verb to
open, for example, that means that after opening the door it is impossible to go on
with the action as the door is already open.
Durative verbs do not imply any such limit and the action can go on
indefinitely, without reaching any logically necessary final point, e.g. to carry, to
know, to live, to play, to run, to sit, to sleep, to speak, to stand, to talk, to walk.
The end, which is simply an interruption of these actions, may be shown only
by means of some adverbial modifier.
e.g. He played tennis till six in the evening.
But as most verbs in English are polysemantic they may be terminative in one
meaning and durative in another, the difference being made by the context. For
example, to see may have terminative meaning побачити and the durative'
meaning бачити. The meaning of the verb becomes clear from the context.
Compare: I saw him at once and I saw his face quite clearly.

і
 13

II. In accordance with their relation to the Continuous aspect, English

verbs fall into two groups: dynamic verbs, i.e. verbs which admit of the
Continuous form (a) and stative verbs, i.e. verbs which do not admit of the
Continuous form (b):
a) I was reading a book when he came in.
b) / hear you well but don't understand what you mean.
The following is the list of most commonly used stative verbs:
1. Verbs denoting sense perceptions: to feel, to hear, to notice, to observe, to
perceive, to see, to smell, to sound, to taste.
2. Verbs denoting emotional state: to admire, to adore, to appreciate, to care
for, to detest, to dislike, to enjoy, to envy, to fear, to hate, to hope, to like, to love,
to prefer, to regret, to respect, to trust.
3. Verbs denoting wish and preferences: to hope, to desire, to need, to prefer,
to want, to wish.
4. Verbs denoting mental processes: to admire (to be of high opinion), to
agree, to appreciate, to assume, to believe (to consider), to consider (to regard), to
disagree, to disbelieve, to doubt, to estimate, to expect (to suppose), to feel (to
consider, to believe), to find, to forget, to guess, to hesitate, to imagine, to know,
to mean, to mind (to object), to notice, to presume, to realize, to recall, to
recognize, to recollect, to regard, to remember, to see (to understand), to suppose,
to suspect, to think (to consider, to believe), to trust, to understand, to wonder.
5. Relational verbs: to apply to, to be, to belong to, to compare, to concern, to
consist, to contain, to cost, to depend on, to deserve, to differ from, to equal, to
exist, to fit, to have, to hold (to contain), to include, to interest, to involve, to lack,
to matter, to measure, to need, to owe, to own, to possess, to remain, to require, to
resemble, to result, to signify, to suffice, to weigh.
6. Verbs denoting appearance and: to appear (to seem), to be, to cost, to equal,
to look, to matter, to represent, to resemble, to seem, to signify, to value, to weight
7. Some other verbs: to agree, to allow, to astonish, to claim, to consent, to
displease, to do, to envy, to fail, to forbid, to forgive, to intend, to interest, to keep
doing, to manage, to mean, to object, to please, to prefer, to prevent, to puzzle, to
refuse, to remind, to satisfy, to succeed, to suit, to surprise, to tend.
III. According to the way in which the Past Indefinite and Participle II are
formed the English verbs are divided into three groups: regular verbs, irregular
verbs, mixed verbs.
The regular verbs go back to the Germanic weak verbs. They constitute the
largest group. They form the Past Indefinite and Participle II by adding -ed to the
stem of the verb, or only -d if the stem of the verb ends in -e\
to open - opened - opened,
to live - lived - lived.
The pronunciation of -ed (-d) depends on the sound preceding it. It is pronounced:
[id] after t, d: landed ['laendid], wanted ['wontidj;
[d] after voiced consonants except d and after vowels: played [’pleid],
opened ['oup(a)nd];
[t] after voiceless consonants except t: liked [laikt].
 14

The following spelling rules should be observed:

a) final “y” is changed into “i” before the addition of -ed if it is preceded by a
consonant:
to carry - carried, to study - studied.
The letter “y” remains unchanged if it is preceded by a vowel:
to stay - stayed, to enjoy - enjoyed.
b) if a verb ends in a consonant preceded by a short stressed vowel, the final
consonant is doubled:
to stop - stopped, to plan - planned.
Final “r ” is doubled if it is preceded by a stressed vowel:
to prefer - preferred, to refer - referred.
Final “r ” is not doubled when it is preceded by a diphthong:
to appear - appeared.
Final “I” is doubled if it is preceded by a short vowel, stressed or unstressed:
to quarrel - quarrelled.
The irregular verbs are more than 200 in number. They form their Past
Indefinite and Participle II according to some fixed traditional patterns going back
partly to the Germanic strong verbs, partly to the weak verbs, which underwent
some chages in the process of history (see the table below). In general these
changes can be grouped in the following way:
1) verbs which change their root vowel:
to meet - met - met, to win - won - won;
2) verbs which change their root vowel and add -d or -1:
to sell - sold —sold, to hear - heard —heard;
3) verbs which change their vowel and add -en for Participle II:
to speak - spoke - spoken, to lake - took - taken;
4) verbs which change their final “d” into “t” :
to build - built - built, to send - sent - sent;
5) verbs which have the same form for the Infinitive, the Past Indefinite and
Participle II:
to shut - shut - shut, to put - put - put;
6) verbs whose forms come from different stems:
to be - was/were - been, to go - went ■ gone;
7) special irregular verbs:
to have - had - had, to do - did - done,
to make - made - made;
8) defective (modal) verbs:
can - could, ought, must, may - might, will - would.
Mixed verbs. Verbs of mixed formation:
to show - showed - shown, to crow - crew - crowed.
IV. According to the type of object they take English verbs are classified
into transitive and intransitive.
Verbs that do not require any object for the completion of their meaning are
called intransitive.
e.g. We walked across the fields.
 15

The sun is rising.

Verbs that require some kind of object to complete their indirect meaning are
called transitive. The objects of the transitive verbs may be direct (a), indirect (b)
or prepositional (c).
e.g. a) Believe me, I'm telling the truth.
b) His mother never gave him advice.
c) Now le t’s talk o f something sensible.
There are many verbs in English that can function as both transitive and
intransitive.
e.g. They laughed at the boy.
They laughed loudly.
V. According to the role the verbs play in sentences they are classified into
main, or notional verbs and auxiliary verbs.
Main verbs play a central role in the sentence. They are the most important
element in the sentence because they determine the other elements of the sentence.
The pattern of these other sentence elements is called the valency pattern. For
example, a sentence with the main verb go/went cannot take a direct object,
however it can be followed by an adverbial
e.g. / went into the empty room.
In contrast, a sentence with the main verb give usually occurs with both a
direct object and an indirect object. In the following example, him is the indirect
object and a message is the direct object
e.g. I could give him a message.
Auxiliary verbs are those which have lost their meaning and are used only as
form words, thus having only a grammatical function. They occur before a main
verb and qualify the meaning of the main verb. Here belong such verbs as to do, to
have, to be, shall, will, should, would.
e.g. Does he live in Kyiv?
I have lost my pen.
He is staying in Kyiv now.
She will see me on Sunday.
In these sentences does, have, is, will are auxiliaries and live, lost, staying, see
are the main verbs.
VI. According to their structure lexical verbs may consist of one word or be
multi-word lexical units. Multi-word verbs fall into phrasal verbs (to carry out, to find
out), prepositional verbs (to look at) and prasal-prepositional verbs (to get away with).
VII. According to their semantic categories English verbs are classified into
seven groups: activity verbs, communication verbs, mental verbs, causative verbs,
verbs of occurrence, verbs os existence or relationship, verbs of aspect.
The following activity verbs are considered to be the most common: to bring,
to buy, to come, to follow, to get, to give, to go, to leave, to make, to meet, to move,
to pay, to play, to put, to run, to show, to take, to try, to use, to work.
Activity verbs usually refer to a volitional activity, i.e., an action performed
intentionally by an agent or doer.
e.g. He bought biscuits and condensed milk.
 16

Sometimes activity verbs are used to express events that occur without the
volition of an agent.
e.g. A few simple, rough calculations will give surprisingly good estimates.
Communication verbs are a special subcategory of activity verbs that involve
communication activities, particularly verbs describing speech and writing. They
can be divided into three groups:
1) those which are used in statements (here belong: to acknowledge, to add, to
admit, to announce, to answer, to argue, to assert, to believe, to claim, to complain,
to conclude, to confess, to declare, to deny, to describe, to exclaim, to explain, to
indicate, to maintain, to mean, to note, to observe, to promise, to remark, to repeat,
to reply, to report, to say, to state, to suggest, to tell, to warn, to write)-,
2) the verbs used in instructions, commands, requests and invitations {to
advise, to ask, to caution, to command, to demand, to instruct, to invite, to order,
to say, to tell, to urge, to warn)-,
3) the verbs used in questions {to ask, to inquire, to question, to wonder).
e.g. They announced their engagement in "The Times".
The police asked her to describe the two men.
Mental verbs refer to mental state and activities. They express a wide range of
meanings:
1) mental states and processes: e.g. to believe, to comprehend, to consider, to
decide, to discover, to doubt, to expect, to find, to guess, to know, to mean, to
remember, to sense, to suppose, to think, to understand;
2) desires: e.g. to need, to want, to wish, to wonder;
3) perceptions: e.g. to feel, to observe, to see, to smell, to taste;
4) receiving of information: e.g. to hear, to listen, to read;
5) emotions, attitudes: e.g. to enjoy, to fear, to hate, to like, to love, to prefer.
e.g. Somehow 1 doubt it. I preferred life as it was.
Causative verbs, such as to allow, to cause, to effect, to enable, to force, to
help, to inspire, to make, to prompt, to provoke, which indicate that some person
or thing helps to bring about a new state of affairs.
e.g. What caused you to be ill?
Verbs of occurrence report events that occur without an actor: to arise, to become,
to change, to develop, to die, tofollow, to grow, to happen, to occur, to result.
e.g. The explosion occurred at 5.30 a. m.
Verbs of existence or relationship report a state of existence or a logical
relationship that exists between entities. Here belong, first of all, copular verbs to
seem and to appear, and some other verbs: to comprise, to contain, to cover, to
embrace, to exist, to hold, to include, to indicate, to involve, to live, to look, to
remain, to represent, to stand, to stay, to survive.
e.g. I go and stay with them.
The museum contains a great number o f original art works.
Verbs of aspect characterize the stage of progress of an event or activity.
Some common aspect verbs are: to begin, to cease, to commence, to continue, to
establish, to found, to open, to organize, to quit, to start, to stop, to undertake
e.g. Tears started to trickle down his cheeks.
 17

§ 2. Grammatical Categories of the English Verbs

The verb has the following grammatical categories: person, number, tense,
aspect, voice and mood.
The Category of Person expresses the relation of the action cind its doer to the
speaker, showing whether the action is performed by the speaker (the first person),
someone addressed by the speaker (the second person) or someone/something other
Ilian the speaker or person addressed (the third person).
The Category of Number shows whether the action is performed by one Or
more than one person or non-person.
1. In Modem English there are two numbers in the verb: singular and plural,
mid three persons: first, second and third.
2. The only personal inflexion of the verb in Modem English is the inflexion -s,
-es [z, s, iz] of the third person singular in the present tense of the indicative mood;
|/.| after voiced consonants and vowels (he plays, he reads), [s] after voiceless
consonants (he speaks, he asks), [iz] after sibilants (he watches, he dresses).
3. The verb to be has three forms for person and number in the Present Indefinite:
/ am, he (she, it) is, we (you, they) are-, and two forms for the Past Indefinite:
singular - was (I, he, she, it), plural - were (we, you, they).
4. In the Future and Future in the Past tenses there are two opposing forms: the
first person singular and the other persons: (I, we) shall play, (he, you, they) will
play; (I, we) should speak, (he, you, they) would speak. There are no oppositions of
number among the Future and Future in the Past tense forms.
Tense is the form of the verb which indicates the time of the action. The
Category of Tense is clearly expressed in the forms of the English verb. There are
lour groups of tenses: Indefinite, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous. The
Indefinite form has no aspect. The Continuous, Perfect Continuous forms denote
both time and aspect relations. Each of these forms includes four tenses: Present,
Past, Future and Future in the Past. Thus there are 16 tenses in English:
Indefinite Tenses: Present Indefinite
Past Indefinite
Future Indefinite
Future Indefinite in the Past
Continuous Tenses: Present Continuous
Past Continuous
Future Continuous
Future Continuous in the Past
Perfect Tenses: Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
Future Perfect in the Past
Perfect Continuous Tenses: Present Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous in the Past.
 18

In English the verb has two aspect forms: the Continuous Aspect and the
Common Aspect.
The Continuous Aspect: lam speaking, I was speaking, I have been speaking, etc.
The Common Aspect: I speak, I spoke, I have spoken.
The Continuous Aspect in English considers the action in its progress, thus
corresponding to the Ukrainian imperfective aspect (недоконаний вид).
e.g. She was speaking with him when I entered the room. - Вона розмовляла
з ним, коли я увійиїла до кімнати.
Ann is writing a letter. - Ганна пише листа.
Voice is the category of the verb, which indicates the relation of the predicate
to the subject and the object. There are two voices in English: the Active Voice and
the Passive Voice.
The Active Voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject is the
doer of the action expressed by the predicate.
e.g. Ann speaks English very well.
My little brother Nick goes to school.
The Passive Voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject is
acted upon.
e.g. 1 was asked many difficult questions at the exam.
This film is much spoken about.
Mood is a grammatical category, which indicates the attitude of the speaker
towards the action expressed by the verb from the point of view of its reality. The
speaker or the writer may represent an action as a real fact or as a command (a
request) or as something unreal, something that does not exist in reality.
There are three moods in Modem English. They are: the Indicative Mood,
the Imperative Mood and the Oblique Mood.
Actions represented as real facts are expressed by the Indicative Mood, which
is characterized by a great number of tense-aspect forms which may be used in the
Active or the Passive Voice.
e.g. Ann lives in Kyiv. She has been living there for ten years.
Has Oleh come in time? - Yes, he has. He always comes in time, he is never late.
The Indicative Mood is also used to express a real condition, i.e. a condition,
the realization of which is considered possible.
e.g. I f l have money I shall buy this book.
I f it rains we shall stay at home.
The Imperative Mood expresses commands, orders, requests, etc. In Modem
English the Imperative Mood has only one form which coincides with the infinitive
without the particle to. It is used in the second person (singular and plural).
e.g. Read the text!
The negative form is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to do followed by
not (in spoken English - don’t) and the infinitive of the notional verb without to.
e.g. Don’t enter the room! The child is sleeping.
Don't play football in the yard.
 19

If we wish to make a command or request more expressive, we use the

emphatic form. In this case the auxiliary verb to do is placed before the notional
verb, including to be.
e.g. Do listen to me!
Do be quiet!
To make a request or an order more emphatic the subject expressed by the
pronoun you is sometimes used. It is characteristic of colloquial speech,
e.g. You don't worry.
I ’ll drive and you sleep a while.
A command addressed to the third person singular and plural is usually
expressed with the help of the analytical form: let... + infinitive. If the person
addressed is denoted by the personal pronoun, it is used in the objective case,
e.g. Let Peter do it himself, let Andrew not help him.
Let them go home at once.
With the first person plural the verb to let is used with the pronoun us (the
contracted form is let’s). This form is actually an invitation to a joint action,
e.g. Let’s have a cup o f coffee.
Let’s go home together.
Actions represented as unreal, problematic, imagibary, supposed, desirable,
advisable, hypothetical, contradicting reality, etc. are expressed by the Oblique
Mood. In Old English there was a special system of inflections to express the
above mentioned actions, different from those of the Indicative Mood. But in the
course of time most of these inflections were lost and the difference between the
fom of the Subjunctive and those of the Indicative has disaapeared in fact. In
Modem English there are four forms of the Oblique Mood: Subjunctive I,
Subjunctive 11, the Suppositional Mood and the Conditional Mood. Two of
them (Subjunctive 1 and Subjunctive II) are synthetic and the other two (the
Conditional Mood and the Suppositional Mood) are analytical. With the exception
of Subjunctive I, all of them have tense, voice and aspect distinctions,
e.g. Success attend you! (Subjunctive I)
I wish I were young again. (Subjunctive II)
But fo r the wind the weather would be nice. (Conditional Mood)
It is necessary that you should come in time. (Suppositional Mood)
§ 3. The Verb to be
The verb to be belongs to the suppletive system, that is it takes its fonns from
different roots:
Infinitive to be
Present Indefinite am, is, are
Past Indefinite was, were
Participle II Been
Participle I being
According to its meaning and syntactical functions the verb to be is used as: a)
notional, b) link, c) auxiliary, d) modal.
e.g. a) "Mary is in the kitchen. " I answered. (Bronte)
 20

b) The fields were golden with evening. (Lawrence)

c) The sun was full o f promise. (Du Maurier)
d) You are to go straight to your room. You are to say nothing o f this to
anyone. (De la Roche)
The verb to be used as a notional verb means to exist, to take place, to
happen, to go (to visit, to attend):
e.g. Where have you been? (Dickens)
There was no one in the sitting-room. (Galsworthy)
To be or not to be, that is the question. (Shakespeare)
Note: When the verb to be has the meaning of to go, to visit, it is used only in
the perfect tense:
e.g. I have been to see John. I have been to the theatre twice this month.
In other tenses to go or another verb of motion is used:
e.g. / went to see John last week.
Questions and negative sentences with the notional verb to be in the present
and past (common aspect) are formed without the auxiliary verb to do. In questions
the verb to be is placed before the subject. In negative sentences the particle not is
placed after the verb to be.
e.g. Are you at home?
I am not a student o f this faculty.
§ 4. The Verb to have (got)
According to its meaning and syntactical functions the verb to have is used as:
a) notional, b) auxiliary, c) modal.
e.g. a) “Have you manyfriends here? " Henry asked... (Gordon)
b) / have written nothingfo r seven days, not even a letter. (Gissing)
c) Steve had to leave that morning. (Gordon)
The verb to have used as a notional verb means to possess, to hold, to
experience:
e.g. “We have a vety good Little Theatre in Warley, “Mrs. Thompson said. (Braine)
Her hair had a white rose in it. (Galsworthy)
In Ukrainian in corresponding constructions we use the verb (in the present
there is usually no verb at all):
e.g. Ann had many books at home. - У Ганни було багато книжок удома.
You have some mistakes in your dictation. - У вас є декілька помилок у
диктанті.
Oleh has manyfriends. - В Олега багато друзів.
Sometimes the verb to have is translated as “мати”:
e.g. Have patience! - Май терпіння!
But: He had no patience. —У нього не було терпіння.
There are two ways of expressing negation with the ver to have:
a) by means of the particle not:
e.g. 1 haven’t any book. She hadn ’t any brother.
b) by means of the negative pronoun no:
e.g. 1 have no book. {No article is used after no.) She had no money.
 21

Note: If the noun-object to the verb to have is used with the possessive or
demonstrative pronoun, quantitative pronouns much, many or with the quantitative
numerals the negative form of the verb to have is formed only by means of the
particle not:
e.g. We have not (haven’t) this picture at home. ,
Helen has not (hasn’t) many English books.
I haven’t your pen.
Have and have got (compared):
a) We use have got / has got more often than have / has alone.
So you can say:
We ve got (We have got) a new car or We have a new car.
Tom's got (Tom has got) a headache or Tom has a headache.
In questions and negative sentences there are three possible forms:
Have you got any money? / haven't got any money.
Do you have any money? I don’t have any money.
Have you any money? (less usual) I haven’t any money.
Has she got a car? She hasn ’t got a car.
Does she have a car? She doesn’t have car.
Has she a car? (less usual) She hasn’t a car.
In the past we do not normally use got.
e.g. When she was a child, she had longfair hair, (but not she had got)
In past questions and negative sentences we normally use did / didn’t:
e.g. Did you have a car when you lived in London? (but not had you)
l wanted to phone you, but I didn’t have your number, (but not / hadn’t)
He didn’t have a watch, so he didn’t know what time it was.
b) We also use have to express some actions:
have breakfast / lunch / dinner /a meal/ a drink / a cup ofcoffee / a cigarette, etc.;
h ave a swim / a walk / a rest / a hoiiday / a party / a good time, etc.;
have a bath / a shower / a wash;
have a look (at something);
have a baby (give birth to a baby);
have a chat (with someone).
Have got is not possible in these expressions:
e.g. I usually have a big breakfast in the morning, (but not have got)
Cf.: I have a bath every morning. (I take a bath - this is an action.)
I ’ve got a bath. (There is a bath in my house.)
When you use have for actions, you can use continuous forms (is having / are
having / was having, etc.):
e.g. Where’s Tom? - He’s having a bath.
In questions and negative sentences you must use do / does / did:
e.g. I don’t usually have a big breakfast, (but not I usually haven 7) What time
does Ann have lunch? (but not has Ann lunch)
Did you have a swim this morning? (but not had you a swim)
 22 -

§ 5. The Verb to do
The verb to do when used as a notional verb (transitive) has a great variety of
meanings: to perform, to execute, to carry into effect, to bring about, to produce,
to finish, etc.
e.g. They did as they had often done in circumstances. (Locke)
I ’ll do my best to make you comfortable. (Gaskell)
“I 'm off to do some shopping, Joan, ” I said. (Braine)
"What does your brother do? ” he asked. (Dreiser)
Fleur does what she likes. (Galsworthy)
Mrs. Morel did her work. (Lawrence)
When used with intransitive meaning the verb to do means to suffice, to be
suitable, to dispense with...
e.g. Will this pencil do? (Will it suit you?) - Any pencil will do.
Will a glass of milk do? ( Will it be sufficient?)
We tried the new method, but it wouldn ’t do (it wouldn 't work).
Have you got a piece o f wire for me? I f you haven 7, a piece of string will
do (it will suffice).
You have left your work unfinished; that won’t do (that isn 7 proper).
1 ’m afraid what you say wouldn 7 do. (Chesterton)
Would halfpast five do? (Wilde)
Note: The idiomatic have done has the meaning of have finished, have no
more need (use) for..., have no more interest in...:
e.g. Have you done with this paper? (Have you finished reading it?)
You had better let me tell him, and have done with it. (Galsworthy)
The verb to do as an auxiliary is used:
a) to form the negative and the interrogative forms of the present and past
tenses (common aspect) and the negative of the imperative mood:
e.g. "Why don’t you play with us?" asked Anthony. (Gordon)
Don 7 trouble to ask me that now. (Dreiser)
You didn 7 tell us that before. (Gordon)
What time does she come here as a rule? (Dreiser)
b) to make the meaning of the verb in the present and past indicative (common
aspect) and the imperative more emphatic:
e.g. "But I do mean it!" retorted Kit. (Dickens)
Fleur, you do look splendid! (Galsworthy)
"Do come, ” Alice said. (Braine)
Mary did look up, and she did stare at me... (Bronte)
Life did change for Tom and Maggie... (Eliot)
c) when there is inversion of the usual order of subject and verb:
e.g. Not a hint, however, did she drop about sending me to school... (Bronte)
Nor do I recollect that Mr. Murdstone laughed at all that day... (Dickens)
Well did l remember that day! Not a single word did Feggotty say. (Dickens)
The verb to do is used as a verb-substitute to avoid the repetition of the main verb,
e.g. You know her as well as l do. (Bronte)
The verb to do is used in answer to a question:
 23

c.g. "Doyou like to come home? " - "I think I do. ” (Bronte)
“Didyou ever leave him alone? ” —“Perhaps, I did. ” (Gaskell)
“Didyou like this sunrise, Jane? " - “I did. very much. " (Bronte)
I he verb to do is used to form disjunctive questions (in the Present Indefinite tense):
e.g. You don't think we have lost our way, do you? (Jerome)
It doesn 7 matter, does it? (Lawrence)
Suggested points for discussion
1. Give the definition of the verb as a part of speech.
2. What are the four basic forms of the English verb?
3. What are the main standpoints according to which the English verbs may be
classified? Comment on these principles of classification of verbs.
4. What are the main categories of the English verb?

Tenses in the Active Voice

Present tenses
All the present tenses refer the actions they denote to the present that is to the
lime of speaking. The difference between them lies in the way they treat the
i .itcgories of aspect and correlation.
Due to their specific time reference all of them are widely used in
conversation, although of course, they are also used in written speech as well,
especially the present indefinite, which is a tense characteristic of scientific and
political writing.
§ 6. The Present Indefinite (Present Simple)
The Present Indefinite is formed from the infinitive without the particle to. In
the third person singular it has the suffix -s/-es which is pronounced [z] after
vowels and voiced consonants (plays, opens, reads, sees), [s] after voiceless
i onsonants (looks, asks, works) and [izj after sibilants [s], [z| (closes, places,
teaches, wishes, judges).
In writing the following spelling rules should be observed: a final “y” is
changed into “i” if is preceded by a consonant and then -es is added: to study - he
studies, to try - he tries', but after a vowel “y” is kept unchanged and the suffix -s is
added: to play - plays, to stay - stays.
The affirmative form of the Present Indefinite is a synthetic form (it is built
up with the help of the suffixes). But the interrogative and negative forms are built
up analytically, by means of the auxiliary verb to do in the Present Indefinite and
(lie infinitive of the notional verb without the particle to: Do you work? Does he
work? I don’t, work. He doesn't work.
The Use of the Present Indefinite.
The Present Indefinite is used:
1) To state simple facts in the present:
e.g. I live in Kyiv.
We study English.
 24

2) To denote customary, repeated actions in the present. This use of the

Present Indefinite is often associated with such adverbials as every day, always,
often, seldom, never, usually, once, occasionally, etc.
e.g. I get up at 7.
The Browns go to the seaside every summer.
1 usually go to the library after the lessons.
3) To state laws of nature, universal truths, something which is eternally true:
e.g. Snow melts at 0 °C.
It snows in winter.
Two plus two makes four.
The earth goes round the sun.
Magnet attracts iron.
4) To express a succession of actions taking place at the time of speaking. In
this meaning it is used in stage directions or by radio and TV commentators in
describing sports events, public functions, etc. That means that this use of the
Present Indefinite is stylistically restricted.
e.g. Now watch me closely: 1 take a match, light it, put it into the glass and...
oh, nothing happens.
Now I peel the apples, slice them and put into the dish.
5) To denote actions going on at the moment of speaking (with verbs not used in the
Continuous form such as to see, to hear, to understand, to want, to wish, to hate, etc.):
e.g. I think you are right. 1 see George in the street.
1 hear somebody knock. I quite understand what you mean.
He wants to see you for a minute.
6) To express declarations, announcements, etc. referring to the moment of
speaking, in exclamatory sentences:
e.g. I declare the meeting open.
I agree to your proposal.
I offer you my help.
How swiftly the years fly!
7) To denote future actions:
a) in adverbial clauses of time, condition and concession, when the action refers to
the future (in such cases we usually find the Future Indefinite or modal verbs, or the
Imperative Mood in the principal clauses). These clauses are usually introduced by the
conjunctions if, unless, on condition (that), while, when, in case, till, until, etc.:
e.g. When she comes, ring me up, please.
She won 7 go to bed, till you come.
I shall have a look at this paper when I get it.
We ’ll go to the forest if the weather is fine.
Note: In object clauses introduced by the conjunctions when and if the Future
Indefinite is used to denote future action:
e.g. / don 7 know when she will come, (object clause)
I m not sure if she will come at all. (object clause)
b) to indicate a future action which is certain to take place according to a time­
table, program, schedule, command or arrangement worked out for a person or
 25

i" i-.ons officially. In this case the sentence usually has an indication of time. (With
il>s of motion as to go, to come, to start, to leave, to return, to arrive):
c.g. I go to Kyiv next week.
They start on Sunday.
She leaves fo r England in two months.
Can you tell me what time the game starts today, please?
c) in some special questions with reference to the immediate future:
e.g. What do we do next?
Where do we go now?
What happens next?
8) To denote past actions:
a) in newspaper headlines, in the outlines of novels, plays, films, etc.:
e.g. Dog Saves its Master.
Then Fleur meets Little John. They fall in love with each other.
b) in narrative or stories to express past action more vividly (the so-called
historic present):
e.g. It was so unexpected. You see, I came home late last night, turned on the
light and - whom do you think I see? Jack, old Jack, sleeping in the chair.
I give a cry, rush to him and shake him by the shoulder.
9) To denote completed actions with the meaning of the Present Perfect (with
the verbs to forget, to hear, to be told):
e.g. I forget your telephone number.
I hear you are leavingfo r Kyiv.
I am told she returnedfrom England last week.
10) To denote a suggestion. We can say '"Why don’t you... "
e.g. I'm tired.- Why don’t you go to bed early?
§ 7. The Present Continuous
The Present Continuous is formed by means of the Present Indefinite of the
auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.
Note: Participle I is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem of the verb;
die following spelling rules should be observed:
a) if a verb ends in a mute -e, the mute -e is dropped before adding the suffix -ing:
to give - giving, to close - closing, to translate - translating;
b) if a verb ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel rendering a short stressed
sound, the final consonant is doubled before adding the suffix -ing:
to run - running, to forget - forgetting, to admit - admitting.
A final -l is doubled if it is preceded by a vowel letter rendering a short vowel
sound, stressed or unstressed:
to expel - expelling, to travel - travelling.
c) the verbs to die, to lie and to tie form Participle I in the following way:
«lying, lying, tying;
d) a final -y is not changed before adding the suffix -ing:
to comply - complying, to deny - denying.
In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.
 26

In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb.
Affirmative Interrogative Negative
I am reading. Am I reading? I am not reading.
He is reading Is he reading? He is not reading.
She is reading. Is she reading? She is not reading.
We are reading. Are we reading? We are not reading.
You are reading. Are you reading? You are not reading.
They are reading. Are they reading? They are not reading.
The contracted negative forms are: isn’t, aren V.
She isn’t reading. We aren’t reading.
The negative-interrogative forms are:
Am / not reading?
Is she not reading? Isn ’t she reading?
Are you not reading? A ren’t you reading?
The Use of the Present Continuous
The Present Continuous is used:
1) To denote an action going on at the time of speaking.
e.g. “Miss Dale is waiting in the hall, " said Vernon. (Meredith)
Julia! Julia! Where are you going? (Joyce)
Note: The Present Indefinite, not the Present Continuous, is used to denote
actions going on at the present moment when the fact is important and not process:
e.g. Why don’t you read your examples?
Why do you look at me as if you had never seen me?
Why don’t you answer? Good God John, what has happened? (Thackeray)
2) When we talk about something which is happening around the time of
speaking or about a period around the present. Sometimes such adverbs or
adverbial expressions as today, this season, etc. are used.
e.g. / m taking special courses in English. (London)
“And what are you doing in Geneva? ” - “I m writing a play, " said Ashenden.
“You are working hard today. " - "Yes, I have a lot to do. ”
Tom isn’t playingfootball this season. He wants to concentrate on his studies.
3) To express a continual process. In this case the adverbs always, constantly,
ever are used.
e.g. The sun is ever shining.
The earth is always moving.
Our solar system together with the Milky Way is constantly moving towards Vega.
4) To denote actions permanently characterizing the subject and provoking
certain emotions in the speaker (impatience, irritation, disapproval, praise, etc.).
Sentences with such forms are emotionally coloured.
e.g. You are always finding fault with me. (Jespersen)
He is always laughing at everything. (Jespersen)
“She is constantly thinking o f you, ” I said. (Wells)
 27

5) With the verbs of motion (to arrive, to come, to go, to leave, to return, to start,
to sail and some others) to denote an action which will take place in the near future
due to one’s previous decision. The future action is regarded as something fixed.
e.g. Edgar and Miriam are coming to tea tomorrow. (Lawrence)
"I’m going away to Glasgow, ” said she. (Coppard)
Note:
a) in Modem English any verb can be used in the Present Continuous Tense to
denote a future action:
e.g. Are we playing poker tomorrow? (William)
b) the expression to be going to + Infinitive also refers an action to the
immediate future:
e.g. I think it’s going to rain.
6) When there are two actions one of which is in progress and the other is a
habitual action, the first is expressed by the Present Continuous and the second by
(he Present Indefinite. In this case the Present Continuous is used for emotional
colouring.
e.g. I never talk while I am working. (Wilde)
When I see him he is always eating something.
7) When we talk about changing situations.
e.g. The population o f the world is rising veryfast.
Is your English getting better?
§ 8. The Present Perfect
The Present Perfect is an analytical form which is built up by means of the
auxiliary verb to have in the Present Indefinite and the Participle II of the notional
verb: I have worked. He has worked (on the formation of the participle see “The
Verb”). The same auxiliary is used to form the interrogative and the negative forms:
Have you worked? Has he worked? It has not worked They have not worked. In
spoken English the contracted forms I’ve, he’s, she’s, it’s, we’ve, you’ve and they’ve
are used in affirmative sentences, and haven’t and hasn’t in negative sentences.
The Present Perfect falls within the time sphere of the present and is not used
in narration where reference is made to past events. It follows from the fact that the
Present Perfect is used in present-time contexts, i.e. conversations, newspaper and
radio reports, lectures and letters.
The Use of the Present Perfect
The Present Perfect has three distinct uses. They will be further referred to as
Present Perfect I (or the Present Perfect Exclusive), Present Perfect II (or the
Present Perfect Inclusive) and Present Perfect III.
Present Perfect I is used:
1) to express a completed action before the present situation but connected with the
present situation in its consequences. The time of the action is either not indicated at all,
or only vaguely, by means of adverbials of indefinite time and frequency such as just,
not yet, already, before, seldom, always, ever, never, often, recently, lately, o f late.
e.g. “Have you arranged everything? ”she asked. (Voynich)
l have just brought you a massage from Zita Reni. (Voynich)
 28

He has done a great deal o f work o f late. (Locket)

"Have you been in England?" asked Martin. (Dickens)
"I've never seen the boy in my life", replied Soames with perfect truth.
(Galsworthy)
2) when there is an adverbial modifier of time in the sentence that denotes a
period of time which is not over yet (today, this morning, this week, this month, this
year, etc.), though the action is over:
e.g. I ’ve had a splitting headache this morning. (The morning is not over yet.)
This year we have taken only one assistant. (This year is not over yet.)
Your advice has helped me to-day. (Meredith)
Have you seen Mr. Woodcourt this morning, Guardian? (Dickens)
Note: If the period is over or the action refers to some particular moment of
time within that period, the Past Indefinite is used:
e.g. Did you see the letter in the “Times ” this morning? (It is not longer morning.)
/ wasn ’t very well this morning, but I'm perfectly all right now. (This morning
is over).
3) to open up conversations (newspaper and radio reports or letters), to
introduce a new topic in them. However, if the conversation (report or letter)
continues on the same subject, going into detail, the Present Perfect usually changes
to the Past Indefinite, as the letter is used to refer to actions or situations which are
definite in the mind of the speaker. Usually (but not necessarily) some concrete
circumstances of the action (time, place, cause, purpose, manner, etc.) are
mentioned in this case:
e.g. You are all right. Are you feeling better? - I'm quite all right. But what
has happened? Where am I?
4) to sum up a situation:
e.g. You and your wife have been very good to me. Thank you.
The Present Perfect Exclusive is translated into Ukrainian by the past
perfective or imperfective:
e.g. How many pages have you translated for today? Скільки сторінок ти
переклав на сьогодні?
Have you ever translated technical articles? Ти коли-небудь перекладала
технічні статті?
Present Perfect II (Inclusive) is used to denote an action which began in the
past, has been going on up to the present and is still going on. In this case either the
starting point of the action is indicated or the whole period of duration. The
preposition for is used to denote the whole period of duration (for an hour, for
many years, fo r the last few days, fo r a long time, fo r so long, fo r ages, in years,
in a long while, etc.). Other expressions have no prepositions (these three years,
all this week, all along, so long, all one’s life, etc.). The starting point of the action
is indicated by means of since, which may be an adverb, a preposition, or a
conjunction introducing a subordinate clause of time. The verb in this case is
usually in the past tense.
e.g. Where have you been since last Thursday? (Wilde)
We’ve known each other since we were children. (Brain)
 29

/ have heard this noise going on for half an hour. (Gissing)

However, we sometimes find in both parts of such complex sentences two
parallel actions which began at the same time in the past and continue into the
present. In this case the Present Perfect is used in both clauses,
e.g. / 've loved you since l ’ve known you
How stuffy it is here! Haven’t you had a window open since I’ve been here?
(Onions)
The Present Perfect Inclusive is used:
1) with verbs not admitting of the Continuous form:
e.g. I have known her for two years.
She has been with us for a fortnight. (Gissing)
2) in negative sentences:
e.g. “She hasn V written to me for a year ", said Roy.
Shall we sit down a little? We haven Vsat here for ages.
I haven’t slept since that night. (Bennett)
3) with non-terminative verbs such as to live, to work, to study, to teach, to
travel, etc. (in this case the Present Perfect Continuous is possible):
e.g. I have worked upon the problem for a long time without reaching any
conclusion. (Shaw)
I ’ve taught to do it for three years.
My mother has lived here half a century. (Dickens)
Note: Care should be taken to draw the line between the use of the Present
Perfect and the Past Indefinite when the period of duration is expressed by a
prepositional phrase with for. If the period of duration belongs to the past time
sphere, the Past Indefinite should be used. It is only if the period of duration comes
close to the moment of speaking or includes it than the Present Perfect is used:
Cfi: "/ have lived like this”, he said, "for two years, and I can’t stand it any
more. ”/ 1 teach History at a secondary school. I went to the University here for
four years and got a degree.
The same is true of questions beginning with how long:
Cfi: “Do you really think that?" - “I ’m sure." - “How long have you been
sure? ”/ “Hello, Guy. Haven 7 seen you about lately? " - “I only got back from
Paris this afternoon. ” - “How long did you stay there? ”
“Are you married? " - “Yes. ” - “How long have you been married?" / "Are you
married?" - “No, I'm divorced. ” - “How long were you married?"
Present Perfect II is translated into Ukrainian by the present or sometimes by
the past imperfective:
e.g. 1 have known him fo r many years. - Я знаю його багато років.
I have always been fond o f music. - Я завжди любив музику.
Present Perfect III is found in adverbial clauses of time introduced by the
conjunctions when, before, after, as soon as, till and until to express a future action. It
shows that the action of the subordinate clause will be accomplished before the action
of the principal clause (which is usually expressed by the Future Indefinite),
e.g. We 'll talk about that when we've had a cup o f tea. (Cusack)
 зо

I am not going till you have answered me. (Galsworthy)

Note: Verbs of sense perception and motion such as to hear, to see, to come,
to arrive, to return in adverbial clauses of time are generally used in the Present
Indefinite and not in the Present Perfect:
e.g. I am sure he will recognize the poem when he hears the first line.
We ’ll ask Mr. Franklin, my dear, i f you can wait till Mr. Franklin comes.
(Collins)
When the completion of the action is emphasized, the Present Perfect is used:
e.g. He will know the poem by the heart when he has heard it twice.
§ 9. The Present Perfect Continuous
The Present Perfect Continuous is an analytical form which is built up by
means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Present Perfect and Participle 1 of the
notional verb:
e.g. I have been working.
He has been working.
In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
e.g. Have you been working?
Has she been working?
In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary:
e.g. We have not been working.
They have not been working.
The Use of the Present Perfect Continuous.
The Present Perfect Continuous has two uses which will be further referred to as
Present Perfect Continuous I (Inclusive) and Present Perfect Continuous II (Exclusive).
Present Perfect Continuous I is used to denote an action which began in the
past, has been going on up to the present and is still going on. Present Perfect
Continuous I is generally used with since (denoting the starting point of the action),
fo r (denoting the whole period of duration), these two days, etc. (If the conjunction
since introduces a clause, the verb in this clause is in the Present Indefinite).
e.g I have been looking outfor your white dressfor the last ten minutes. (Bennett)
Ever since I saw her last 1 have been thinking, thinking. (Dreiser)
/ have been walking these seven days. (Dickens)
He s been travelling since six this morning. (Braine)
Present Perfect Continuous I is translated into Ukrainian by the present tense form:
e.g. / have been teaching at this school for 20 years.
Я викладаю в цій школі протягом 20 років.
Present Perfect Continuous II (Exclusive) denotes an action which was
recently in progress but is no longer going on at the present moment.
e.g. You are not well today. You look distressed. You have been weeping. (Dickens)
"Florence, dear”, she said, "I have been lookingfor you everywhere. ”(Dickens)
“You have come out at last”, he said, "Well, I have been waiting for you
long and listening... ” (Bronte)
Present Perfect Continuous II is translated into Ukrainian by the past imperfective:
e.g Your eyes are red Have you been crying? - У тебе червоні очі. Ти плакала?
 31

I'resent Perfect Continuous II is often used with an emotional colouring:

c.g I suppose you have been telling lies again. (Marryat)
My dear Tony! How long you ve been coming home. (Hardy)
The Present Perfect Continuous cannot be used to denote a succession of
.1. lions and therefore cannot be used to describe the development of events.
If two actions denoted by the Present Perfect Continuous happen to come
io(cther it only means that they are parallel:
c.g. He has been reading since he has been working in the library.
".Little woman”, said my guardian, "I was thinking - that is, I have been
thinking since I have been sitting here... ” (Dickens).
§ 10. The Present Perfect Continuous Inclusive and
the Present Continuous
Students should take care not to mix up the Present Perfect Continuous and the
г и sent Continuous: the Present Continuous is used to denote an action going on at
tin- present moment, no previous duration is expressed. The Present Perfect
і iintinuous Inclusive is used when the previous duration of the action is expressed,
e.g. I am reading “Dombey and Son ". - Я читаю “Домбі і син ".
I have been reading “Dombey and Son" fo r three days. - Я читаю
"Домбі і син ” три дні.
As we see, there is no difference in the translation.
§ 11. The Present Perfect Continuous Exclusive and
the Present Perfect
The Present Perfect denotes a completed action while with the Present Perfect
( ontinuous Exclusive there is an implication of incompleteness.
e.g. He has made some experiments. - Він зробив декілька досліджень.
Не has been making experiments. - Він робив досліди.
Why are your lips black? - I have been eating bilberries. I have eaten a whole
plateful. —Чому твої губи чорні? - Я їв чорниці. Я з'їв повну тарілку.
She is walking up and down the room thinking o f the letter she has been
writing and wondering how she shouldfinish it. - Вона ходила no кімнаті,
думаючи про лист, який писала, та розмірковуючи, як його закінчити.
She is going to post the letter she has just written. - Вона має намір
відіслати лист, який щойно написала.
Past tenses
All the past tenses refer the actions they denote to the past. The difference
between them lies in the way they represent the categories of aspect and correlation.
Owing to their past time reference all of them are used mainly in the written
language both in narrative and description, though they are also widely used in
conversation, especially the Past Indefinite.
Their respective frequency is as follows: the Past Indefinite, the Past Perfect,
Ihe Past Continuous (which is rather seldom used), the Past Perfect Continuous (an
exceptionally rare form).
 32

§ 12. The Past Indefinite (Past Simple)

The Past Indefinite is formed by adding -ed or -d to the stem (regular verbs)
or by changing the root vowel, or in some other ways (irregular verbs) (for detailed
treatment see “The Verb”).
The interrogative and negative forms are formed by means of the Past
Indefinite of the auxiliary verb to do (did) and the infinitive of the notional verb
without the particle to:
e.g. I worked (wrote).
Did 1 work (write)?
I didn't work (write).
Did you not work?
Didn't you work?
The Past Indefinite may have a special form which is used for emphasis. This
emphatic form is built up analytically, by means of the Past Indefinite of the
auxiliary verb to do followed by the infinitive of the notional verb without the
particle to. The auxiliary verb has strong stress in this case: / / He / We / They did
insist on it.
The Use of the Past Indefinite
The Past Indefinite is commonly used to express a past action. Therefore it is
primarily the tense of narration.
The Past Indefinite is often associated with the adverbs and adverbial
expressions of the past time: yesterday, a week ago, last night, last year, in 2010,
on Monday, on the 1st o f September, etc. Yet the Past Indefinite may also be found
with such adverbial modifiers of time as today, tonight, this evening, this morning
(when the morning or the evening is already past), etc.
e.g. 1 told you so much yesterday (Galsworthy)
This morning 1 awoke just before sunrise. (Gissing)
“I learnt many years ago on a farm", he said. (Gordon)
Miss Helstone stayed the whole evening. (Bronte)
The Past Indefinite can correspond to the Ukrainian past perfective and past
imperfective.
e.g He smoked a cigarette and left the room. (викурив)
He smoked in silence for a few minutes, (курив)
The translation depends on the context and the lexical character of the verb.
The Past Indefinite is used in the following cases:
1) To express a single action completed in the past. The time of the action is
often given.
e.g. I only met her six months ago.
I saw them last Monday.
2) To denote a succession of past actions.
e.g. He got up, put on his hat and left the house.
The car stopped, the door opened and a very pretty girl got out o f it.
3) To denote a habitual or recurrent action in the past,
e.g. All summer I got up at 7.
He usually took the first morning train.
 33

i hi Sunday evening he took her to the pictures.

Ur went down to the margin o f the ocean every day. (Dickens)
Niilc: A habitual or recurrent; action in the past is sometimes expressed by used to +
initiative and would + Infinitive. Used to is more colloquial and would is more literary:
• h When I was a child 1 used to play there. (Harraden)
The girls would gather wildflowers, andpress them afterwards. (Galsworthy)
Every afternoon, when the children came from the school, they used to go
and play in the Giant’s garden. (Wilde)
I) To express an action going on at a given past moment. Generally this
mu ailing is rendered by the Past Continuous,
liut:
a) the use of the Past Indefinite becomes obligatory with stative verbs:
c.g. She sipped her coffee and pulled a face. She thought it tasted horrible.
She was ill at ease, and he felt sorry for her. He wanted all her troubles
for himself at that moment.
b) the Past Indefinite may be used instead of the Past Continuous with certain
Imative verbs. They are to sit, to stand, to lie, to hang, to shine, to gleam, to talk, to
>peak, to wear, to carry, to walk and some others. In such cases the action as such is
"illy named and it is often the circumstances under which it takes place that are
milly important:
e.g. Her face was heavy: she spoke with deep emotion.
He walked between us, listening attentively to our conversation.
We went to the bus stop. The full moon shone down on the lightless blind­
faced street.
5) To denote future actions in subordinate adverbial clauses of time, condition
and concession. The Future-in-the-Past is usually used in the principal clause in this,
case. This case is found in reported speech.
e.g. She said she would come when the film was over.
She said she would do i f nothing unexpected happened.
§ 13. The Past Indefinite and the Present Perfect (compared)
1. The action expressed by the Past Indefinite belongs exclusively to the
sphere of the past, while the Present Perfect shows that a past occurrence is
connected with the present time.
e.g. She is not well and has changed very much o f late.
She changed very much a great many years ago. (Dickens)
2. The Present Perfect is never used with such adverbial modifiers of the past
time as yesterday, the other day, last week, on Monday, in 1995, etc. With such
adverbial modifiers as today, this week, this year, etc. both the Present Perfect and
the Past Indefinite are used.
e.g. I ve smoked 20 cigarettes today.
! smoked 20 cigarettes yesterday.
I have toldyou three times this week that she is coming homefor a year. (Dreiser)
/ want your sister, the woman who gave me money today. (Dickens)
 34

3. In special questions with when only the Past Indefinite is possible, though
the answer can be either in the Past Indefinite or the Present Perfect depending on
the actual state of affairs.
e.g. When did he come?
He came yesterday. / He has just come.
4. In special questions beginning with where and how the Past Indefinite is
also normally used. The Present Perfect is not common here because the attention
in such sentences is drawn to the circumstances of the actions rather than to the
occurrence itself, which means that the speaker has a definite action in mind.
e.g. “ Where did your uncle receive his guests? ” “Right here. "
“How did he get in? " I asked and Evans said, "Oh, he has a key. "
Where is my hat? Where did 1 leave my hat?
Note: The question “Where have you been?" can he asked as soon as the
person comes back or is located:
e.g. Hello, Mum. I'm sorry I'm late.
Where have you been?
In all other cases it should be “Where were you?”:
e.g. - Did the party go off nicely?
- 1 don’t know. I wasn ’t there.
—Where were you?
5. In special questions beginning with interrogative words other than those
mentioned above: who, what, why, what... fo r and others), both the Present Perfect
and the Past Indefinite are possible. The choice depends on the meaning to be
conveyed. If reference is made to an action which is past or definite in the minds of
the people speaking, or if there is a change of scene the Past Indefinite is used; if
reference is made to an action which is still valid as part of the present situation, the
Present Perfect should be used.
e.g. "What have I done against you?" she burst out defiantly. - “Nothing. ”
“Then why can't we get on? ”
“I know she gave him a good scolding. ” " What did he do? "
Looking at her she said: “Dorothy's gone to a garden party. ” “I know.
Why haven ’tyou gone too? ”
6. Questions beginning with how long may contain either the Past Indefinite or
the Present Perfect depending on whether the period of time implied is already over
or has not yet expired.
e.g. “We really had a wonde/ful time in Brighton. " “How long did ycru stay there? "
Mourice turned on the light and saw his brother sitting in the armchair.
“How long have you been here? ” he asked in surprise.
7. The Present Perfect, not the Past Indefinite is used with the verb to be in the
sense to go, to visit even though the adverbial of place are used. Mind the use of the
preposition to after it. To be is followed by the preposition to only in the Present
Perfect and the Past Indefinite only in the meaning to visit, to go.
e.g. Have you been to London?
She has been to Paris three times.
Renrty said: “He has been to Ireland too. ”
 35

К In the following cases the Present Perfect is not used:

II hat did you say? - Що ви сказали?
I did not hear your question. - Я не почув вашого запитання.
Now I understand. - Тепер я зрозумів.
і heard that Mary is in London. - Я чув, що Мері в Лондоні. (In this case to
hear is not a verb of sense perception. It means “the rumour reached me. ")
і am told that Mary is in London. —Мені сказали, що Мері в Лондоні,
і forget where he lives. - Я забув, де він живе.
Iforget a title o f the book, (a certain fact) - Я забув назву книги.
Compare: 1 have forgotten to ring her up. (a certain action)
9. With the adverb just the Present Perfect is used. With the expression just
now the Past Indefinite is used. Just now is less frequent than just.
e.g. 1 saw you come injust now. (Dreiser)
I have just hired a new pianist from St. Joe a negro. (Dreiser)
10. It should be noted that the use of the Present Perfect is by no means
obligatory with such adverbial as yet, already, before, always, ever, never, often,
seldom, recently, lately, etc. because any other tense-aspect form may be used with
these adverbs if it is required by the sense.
e.g. He was studying to be a pianist, but he never touches the piano now.
He noticed that the leaves o f the chestnut were already beginning to turn
yellow and brown.
His room was not yet furnished, and he felt that he would have liked it to
remain empty.
I havejust opened this window, to let in a little air and sunshine... (Bronte)
I've always admired your pluck. (Galsworthy)
11. Do not use the Present Perfect for happenings or actions which are not
connected with the present (e. g. historical events).
e.g. The Chinese invented printing.
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
§ 14. The Past Continuous
The Past Continuous is an analytical form which is built up by means of the
auxiliary verb to be in the Past Indefinite and Participle I of the notional verb:
e.g. / was reading.
We were reading.
In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
e.g. Was I reading?
Were we reading?
In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb:
e.g. I was not reading.
We were not reading.
 36

The Use of the Past Continuous

The Past Continuous is used:
1) To denote an action which was going on at a definite moment in the past.
The definite moment is indicated either by another past action expressed by a verb
in the Past Indefinite or by an adverbial phrase.
e.g When I returned she was sweeping the floor. (Bennet)
At 10 it was still raining.
The definite moment is often not expressed, but understood from the situation,
e.g. He did not notice what was going on around him - he was reading.
He did not answer. His lips were trembling.
2) To denote a continuous action in the past,
e.g. We were quarreling all day yesterday.
All the morning the gardeners were bringing flowers. (Maurier).
Note: the Past Indefinite is also often used after such phrases as the whole day,
all day long when we do not consider the action in progress, but merely state the
fact, that the action took place in the past:
e. g. They worked in the garden all day long.
I watched herfor nearly half an hour... (Bronte)
It rained all morning and turned the rain to slush. (Hemingway).
3) To express action generally characterizing the person. In this case the adverbs
always, ever, constantly are used. Sentences of such kind are emotionally colored.
e.g. She was constantly complaining o f being lonely. (Shaw).
She had rather poor health and was constantly complaining of headaches.
4) When two actions are parallel in both the principal and the subordinate
clause.
e.g. I was preparing dinner while she was tidying the room
Maggie was bending over her sewing while her mother was making the tea. (Eliot)
5) To denote future actions viewed from the past:
a) with the verbs to start, to go, to leave, to come, to stay to express an action
in the immediate future. When that future moment is viewed from the past (the
action is usually planned or expected):
e.g. You wrote that you were coming this evening. (Voynich).
She said she was leaving in a week.
The ship was sailing in a few hours.
At the end of the week she wired that she was returning.
b) in subordinate adverbial clauses of time after the conjunctions when, while,
as long as, etc.:
e.g. She said she would stay in the car while I was talking to the nurse.
The Past Continuous is rendered into Ukrainian by the past imperfective:
e.g. When 1 came home, she was reading a book.
Коли я прийшов додому, вона читала книжку.
 37

§ 15. The Past Perfect

Hie Past Perfect is an analytical form which is formed by means of the Past
in.li'linite of the auxiliary verb to have and Participle II of the notional verb.
In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
r.g. Had she worked?
Had he worked?
In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb:
e g. She had not worked. We had not worked.
The Past Perfect falls within the time sphere of the past and is mainly found in
munition. The Past Perfect has three distinct uses which will be further referred to
i I’ust Perfect I, Past Perfect II and Past Perfect III:
Past Perfect I denotes an action completed before a certain moment in the
l>iist. The moment may be indicated by another past action expressed by a verb in
ilie Past Indefinite or by an adverbial phrase or can be understood from the
•tuation. The Past Perfect is used with adverbs just, already, etc.
e.g. I woke, and looked at my watch; it was 5 o 'clock. I had been asleep four
hours. (Galsworthy)
Fortunately the rain had stopped before we started. (Bennet)
I opened the window. The rain had stopped, but the wind was still blowing.
It was long afterwards that I found out what had happened.
After everybody had left, she rushed to her room and began packing hurriedly.
As it is seen from the above examples, Past Perfect I is structurally independent
•ind may be used in simple sentences as well as in various kinds of clauses.
The Past Perfect is used with the conjunctions hardly... when, scarcely...
when, no sooner... than.
For the sake of emphasis the word order may be inverted.
e.g. They had hardly gone when Aunt Julia wandered slowly into the room... (Joyce)
Hardly had she sat down when a very stout gentleman flopped into the
chair opposite hers.
No sooner had she laid herself down than she heard the prolonged trill o f
the front-door bell. (Bennet)
Past Perfect II is used to denote an action which began before a definite
moment in the past, continued up to that moment and was still going on at that
moment. This use is called the Past Perfect Inclusive. The starting point or the
whole period of duration of the action is indicated. To indicate the starting point the
preposition since is used, to indicate the whole period of duration for is used.
The Past Perfect Inclusive is used:
1) with verbs not admitting of the Continuous form;
e.g. She told me she had been ill since she came backfrom the seaside.
He suddenly understood that he had loved her all his life.
I could not believe the rumour. I had known him since childhood.
She began to do all the things that she had wanted to do for years.
2) in negative sentences;
 38

e.g. Those two had not spoken to each other for three days and were in a state
o f rage. (Bennett)
Young Jolyon and Soames had not met since the day o f Bosinney’s death.
He mentioned that he had not played cards for three years.
3) with non-terminative verbs such as to work, to live, to study, to teach, to
travel, to last, etc. (in this case the Past Perfect Continuous is possible):
e.g. When we first met she had lived in the country for 2 years.
Past Prefect III is used in adverbial clauses of time introduced by
conjunctions when, before, after, as soon as and till/until to express a future action
viewed from the past. It shows that the action of the subordinate clause will be
completed before the action of the principal clause which is usually expressed by
the Future-in-the-Past. This use of the Past Perfect is structurally dependent as it is
restricted only to the above mentioned types of clauses. Besides, it is found only in
reported speech.
e.g. You would have to talk to him before he had made up his mind.
He promised to ring me up when he had got a definite answer.
In any case he should not answer this letter until he had seen Uncle
Jolyon. (Galsworthy)
§ 16. The Past Indefinite and the Past Perfect
1. The Past Perfect is not used to denote a succession of actions. In this case
the Past Indefinite is used.
The Past Indefinite is used with the conjunctions after, before, when if the
relation between the actions approaches succession, when the idea of completion is
of no importance.
e.g. He went on with his work after he had a short rest.
He had a short rest before he went on with his work.
2. Verbs of motion and sense perception such as to come, to arrive, to return,
to see, to hear in adverbial clauses of time are generally used in the Past Indefinite
when the action is practically simultaneous.
e.g. When he came down, ... he found his mother scrupulous in a low evening
dress... (Galsworthy)
When he heard the first line o f the poem, he recognized it at once.
When the completion of the action is emphasized the Past Perfect is used:
e.g. He knew the poem by heart when he had heard it several times.
§ 17. The Past Perfect Continuous
The Past Perfect Continuous is formed by means of the Past Perfect of the
auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.
In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.
In the fhegative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary verb.
Affirmative Interrogative Negative
I had been writing. Had 1 been writing? I had not been writing.
He had been writing. Had he been writing? He had not been writing.
She had been writing. Had she been writing? She had not been writing.
We had been writing. Had we been writing? We had not been writing.
 39

You had been writing. Had you been writing? You had not been writing.
They had been writing. Had they been writing? They had not been writing.
The Use of the Past Perfect Continuous
We distinguish two uses of the Past Perfect Continuous: Past Perfect
( ontinuous I (Inclusive) and Past Perfect Continuous П (Exclusive).
Past Perfect Continuous I (Inclusive) denotes an action which began before a
.I,-finite moment in the past, continued up to that moment. Either the starting point of the
mlion is indicated or the whole period of duration. The prepositionfor is used to denote
the whole period of duration. Since is used to indicate the starting point of the action.
e.g. We could not go out because it had been raining fo r two hours.
We could not go out because it had been raining since early morning.
As has been stated above, the Past Perfect Inclusive is used with verbs not
mlmitting of the Continuous form, in negative sentences and with certain non-
terminative verbs. With verbs not admitting of the Continuous form the Past Perfect
Inclusive is the only tense possible. In negative sentences the Past Perfect Continuous
Inclusive can be used, but it is far less common than the Past Perfect Inclusive.
With certain non-terminative verbs both the Past Perfect Inclusive and the Past
Perfect Continuous Inclusive are used:
e.g. He said he had workedfor twenty years, (the fact is emphasized)
He said he had been working for a long time without achieving final
results, (the process is emphasized)
The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive is rendered in Ukrainian by the past
imperfective:
e.g. I had been reading about an hour when he came.
Я читав уже близько години, коли він прийшов.
Past Perfect Continuous II (Exclusive) denotes an action which was no longer
going on at a definite moment in the past, but which had been in progress not long
before.
e.g. I sobbed a little still, but that because I had been crying, not because / was
crying then. (Dickens)
§ 18. The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive and
the Past Continuous
The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive should not be confused with the Past
Continuous. The Past Continuous is used to denote an action going on at a definite
moment in the past, no previous duration is expressed. The Past Perfect Continuous
Inclusive is used when the previous duration of the action is expressed:
e.g. The magnificent motor-car was waiting at the kerb. It had been waiting
for two hours. (Bennett)
Future tenses
§ 19. The Future Indefinite
The Future Indefinite is an analytical form which is built up by means of the
auxiliary verb shall (for the first person, singular and plural) and will (for the
second and the third persons, singular and plural) and the infinitive of the notional
 40

verb without the particle to:

e.g. 1 shall see him tomorrow.
He will see them tomorrow.
It should be mentioned that in present-day English there is a tendency to use
will for all the persons. Besides, the difference in the use of shall and will
disappears altogether in spoken English where the contracted form ‘11 is used with
all the persons: I ’ll see him tomorrow. She ’ll see him tomorrow.
In the interrogative form auxiliary verbs are placed before the subject:
e.g. Shall we see you tomorrow?
Will they see him tomorrow?.
In the fnegative form the negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary
verb. In spoken English the contracted forms shan’t and won’t are commonly used,
e.g. I shall not / shan’t go with you.
The Future Indefinite may be used to express:
1) a single point action that will be completed in the future:
e.g. It will ruin her.
I know I 'm right, and one o f these day’s you ’ll realize it.
2) an action occupying a whole period of time in the future:
e.g. I think 1 shall remain in love with you all my life.
I hope you ’ll live for many years.
3) a succession of action in the future:
e.g. / shall wait in the next room and come back when she’s gone.
4) recurrent or habitual action in the future:
e.g. I shall come along as often as possible.
I hope we shall see something of you while you are in London.
5) permanent future action generally characterizing the person denoted by the
subject of the sentence:
e.g. I'm afraid he ’ll be a bit lonely, poor darling.
The old age pension will keep me in bread, tea and onions, and what does
an old man want?
Note: To denote a future action the word combinations to be going + Infinitive,
to be about + Infinitive, and to be on the point o f + Gerund are often used.
To be going to, to be about to, to be on the point o f denote an action which is
expected to take place in the nearest future. To be going to is colloquial, to be on
the point o f is literary :
e.g. This is going to be a cheerful evening. (Shaw)
The runners are about to start
The Future Indefinite is rendered into Ukrainian by the future perfective and
imperfective:
e.g. / shall read ten chapters tomorrow. Я прочитаю десять розділів завтра.
I shall read the whole day tomorrow. Я буду читати завтра цілий день.
 41

§ 20. The Future Indefinite in the Past

The Future Indefinite in the Past is formed by means of the auxiliary verbs
should and would and the infinitive without to of the notional verb (should is used
for the first person singular and plura and would is used for the second and the
ihird person singular and plural).
In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
Should I work?
Would he work?
In the negative form particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb:
/ should not work.
He would not work.
The Future Indefinite in the Past denotes an action which was future from the
point of view of the past (for detailed treatment see “The Sequence of Tenses”):
e.g. I said I should be delighted to see her. (Dickens)
§ 21. The Future Continuous
The Future Continuous is formed by means of the Future Indefinite of the
auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.
In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
e.g. Shall 1 be reading?
Will he be reading?
In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary verb:
e.g. / shall not be reading.
He will not be reading.
The Use of the Future Continuous
1. The future tense of the continuous aspect denotes a concrete action going on
at a given future moment:
e.g. Don't disappoint me, I shall be expecting you.
I f I am late. Mother will be getting uneasy.
I don 7 want to disturb you, I ’m sure you will be having your dinner.
We shall be having breakfast in a minute (Eliot).
2. The future moment at which the action will be in its progress may be fixed:
a) by an adverb or an adverbial expression of definite time such as then, at 7
o 'clock, by this time, etc.:
e.g. By this time tomorrow we shall be nearing home.
What shall you be doing at 7 o ‘clock? - I ’ll be preparing my lessons.
b) by another action, which fixes the future moment is in the present tense of
the common aspect:
e.g. / shall be sleeping if you come so late.
He will be taking his lesson i f you come at seven.
Sometimes the continuous aspect is used in both the principal and the
subordinate clauses to represent actions going on at the same moment,
e.g. I shall be preparing my lessons while he is typing his report.
3. The future tense of the continuous aspect may, depending on the context,
express an action characteristics of the subject at the given period of time in the
 42

future (compare with a similar function of the present and past tense of the
continuous aspect).
e.g. / 'll be very busy at the end o f May. I ’ll be preparingfor my examination then.
Sometimes the future tense of the continuous aspect is used to express an action
filling up a whole period of time, but only when the action is considered in its progress:
e.g. I shall be packing all day tomorrow.
He will be working in his garden from 9 till 12, so it’s no use trying to get
him on the telephone. (Compare: He will work in his garden from 9 till 12
and then go fo r a walk.)
§ 22. The Future Perfect
The Future Perfect is an analytical form. It is built up by means of the auxiliary
verb to have in the Future Indefinite and the Participle II of the notional verb:
e.g. 1 shall have written the letter by that time.
He will have written the letter by that time.
In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
e.g. Willyou have written the letter by that time?
Shall 1 have written the letter by that time?
In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary verb:
e.g. I shall not / shan ’t have written the letter by that time.
He will n o t/w o n ’t have written the letter by that time.
The Use of the Future Perfect
1. The Future Perfect denotes an action completed before a definite moment in
the future.
e.g. By six o 'clock I shall have finished my translation.
I suppose before then we shall have made up our minds whom we are going
to elect. (Snow)
2. The future moment from which the completed action is viewed may be
indicated:
a) by means of such adverbial expression as: by that time, by the first o f June,
by seven o ’clock, soon, etc.:
e.g. By the end of the term we shall have learnt many new words and expressions.
I shall soon have finished with the books.
b) by means of another action:
e.g. I f you come at seven, I shall have done my work.
I f you ring me up after 7 o 'clock, 1 shall have spoken to the secretary.
3. The Future Perfect can denote an action which will begin before a definite
moment in the future, will continue up to that moment. It is used with verbs not
admitting of the Continuous form, in negative sentences, with non-terminative
verbs such as to work, to live, to study, to teach, etc.
e.g. / shall have worked as a teacher fo r 20 years by next May.
She will have been in your service 15 years next year.
He will have been here for two hours by the time you come back.
However this use of the Future Perfect is exceptionally rare nowadays.
 43

§ 23. The Future Perfect Continuous

l hr Future Perfect Continuous is formed by means of the Future Perfect of
•in minliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.
in ihe interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject:
r g Shall I have been working?
Will he have been working?
in the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary verb:
. g / shall not have been working.
He will not have been working.
t he Future Perfect Continuous denotes an action which will begin before a
i. limn- moment in the future, will continue up to that moment and will be going on
ii ilmi moment.
c.g. We shall have been working at this problem fo r a month when you visit us
a second time.
1shall have been writingfor two hours by the time you come back.
They will have been sleeping for two hours when we return home.
How long have you been staying there when I come to you?
Tenses in the the Passive Voice
§ 24. The Formation and Use of the Passive Voice
I he Passive Voice serves to show that the person or thing denoted by the
ul'lcct of the sentence is not the agent (the doer) of the action expressed by the
|iinlicate verb but is the object of this action. The subject of a passive verb does not
■ i but is acted upon, it undergoes the action.
I he Passive Voice is an analytical form which is built up by means of the
miiiliary verb to be in the required tense-aspect form and the past participle of the
imlionai verb. The interrogative form is built up by placing the (first) auxiliary verb
before the subject of the sentence:
c.g. When was it done?
The negative form is built up by placing the particle not after the (first) auxiliary verb:
e.g. The work was not done yesterday.
The use of tense-aspect forms in the Passive voice is not parallel to those of
ihe Active voice. This can be accounted for by two reasons: 1) the lack of certain
u iise-forms in the Passive and 2) the lexical character of the verb, namely the
ililfcrentiation between terminative and durative verbs.
The Passive Voice lacks the Future Continuous, the Future Continuous-in-
llie-Past and all the Perfect Continuous forms. The lexical character of the verb
ul lects the meaning of all the Indefinite Passive tenses.
The Indefinite Passive forms denote an action if there are special indications in
ilie sentence or in a wider context. These indications are as follows:
a) the action expressed by the Passive form is part of a succession of actions:
e.g. The door opened and the doctor was shown in.
b) the Passive form denotes a recurrent action. In this case there are indications
of frequency in the sentence. They may be expressed in various ways, mainly by
adverbs of frequency or by the use of nouns in the plural:
 44

e.g. She read Byron to him, and was often puzzled /by the strange interpretations
he gave to some passages.
He is invited to all the best dances.
c) the time of the action expressed by the Passive form is indicated in the
sentence by adverbial modifiers of time (including clauses):
e.g. The novel was written during the summer o f 1918.
The whole affair was soon forgotten.
d) the manner in which the action is performed (occasionally the purpose of
the action) is indicated by means of an adverbial modifier:
e.g. Tea was finished in silence.
The front door was slowly closed
I was sent into the hospital to be X-rayed.
e) if the doer of the action is indicated in the sentence, the passive verb, in
most cases, also serves to express an action. Thus in the following sentences the
Passive form would be understood as expressing a state if the doer of the action
were not mentioned:
e.g. He was disturbed by a series o f explosions.
“Look here, ” said Bosinney, and Soames was both annoyed and surprised
by the shrewdness o f his glance.
Note: Yet sometimes we find sentences in which the Passive form denotes a
state even when the doer is indicated:
e.g. She looked into the bed-room; the bed was made, as though by the hand of a man.
The two houses were connected by a gallery.
If none of the above mentioned indications are found in the sentence or in a
wider context, the Indefinite Passive forms generally express (with terminative
verbs) a state resulting from a previously accomplished action.
e.g. We 're defeated. Let’s go back to New York and start all over again.
The door was locked; there was nobody in sight.
The big bed was covered with a quilt.
Her car, a green Fiat, was parked outside.
Note: The Future Indefinite Passive tends, on the whole, to denote an action
(and not a state) even if there are no special indications such as those described above:
e.g. You needn't worry Every precaution will be taken.
- What do I need to take with me?
- Nothing. Everything you need will be provided for you.
The use of the Present and Past Continuous Passive is parallel to the use of
the corresponding Active forms.
e.g. What sort o f research is being done, and who is doing it?
She almost felt that she was being mocked.
He lost his temper and said he was always being made to do everything he
didn’t want to.
The use of the Perfect Passive forms is also parallel to the corresponding
Active forms.
e.g. She has taught at a school in the north o f England at two schools in
Germany, and has been given an excellent character.
 45

You can see that this glass has been used.

Ever since I came into this silly house I have been made to look like a fool.
They came to Europe where their mother had been educated and stayed
three years.
Nancy looked displeased and told me she had been sent tofetch the breakfast tray.
All o f a sudden he realized the full force o f what he had been told.
1suspected that l had been followed and watched since I arrived in London.
Note: As has been mentioned before, the Future Perfect is not of frequent
occurrence in the Active. In the Passive its use is quite uncommon.
The sentences The work is finished and The work has been finished are
somewhat similar in meaning. Yet there is a difference between them: the former
serves to express a state in the present which is the result of the previously
accomplished action; the latter denotes the action proper which took place before
the present moment.
The Sequence of Tenses
§ 25. The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses
The rules of the sequence of tenses are one of the peculiarities of English. In
English the tense of the verb in a subordinate clause (mainly object clause) depends
on that of the verb in the principle clause.
So, the Sequence of tenses is a dependence of the tense form of the
predicate of a subordinate clause on the tense form of its principal clause.
The rules of the sequence of tenses mainly concern object, subject, predicative
and appositive subordinate clauses.
The rules of the sequence of tenses are observed in the following cases:
I. If the predicate verb of the principal clause is in one of the present tenses,
any tense required by the sense can be used in the subordinate clause. In this case
their meanings are as follows:
1. The Present Indefinite or the Present Continuous in the subordinate clause
denotes an action simultaneous with that of the principal clause.
e.g. He is writing a letter while his sister is reading a book.
Maurice doesn 7 know what he is doing.
1 have been told that she is ill.
2. The Present Perfect, the Present Perfect Continuous, the Past Indefinite, the
Past Continuous or the Past Perfect in the subordinate clause denote an action prior
to that of the principal clause.
e.g. He reports he has just received that letter.
They say they were there yesterday.
I don 7 want her to see I 've been crying.
II. If the predicate verb of the principal clause is in one of the future
tenses, any tense required by the sense can be used in the subordinate clause:
1. The Present Indefinite or the Present Continuous in the subordinate clause
denotes an action simultaneous with that of the principal clause.
e.g. I ’ll explain to you how you are to behave.
Sir Walter will tell you that I ’m not exaggerating.
 46

2. The Present Perfect, the Present Perfect Continuous, the Past Indefinite or
the Past Perfect of the subordinate clause denote actions prior to that of the
principal one.
e.g. All London will know how you did it.
Miss Sophia will be glad you ve come.
3. The Future tenses denote actions that follow that of the principal clause.
e.g. / think you ’ll fin d he will have a great deal to tell you.
I ’ll tell you what I ’ll do.
We ’ll let you know what we are going to do about it.
III. If the predicate verb of the principal clause is in one of the past tenses,
the predicate verb of the subordinate clause may be only in one of the past
tenses. In such cases the past tense forms denote the time of the action of the
subordinate clause from the point of view of its simultaneousness, priority or
posteriority with regard to the action of the principal clause:
1. The Past Indefinite or the Past Continuous tense in the subordinate clause
denotes an action simultaneous with that of the principal clause.
e.g. John noticed suddenly that I was not reading.
/ asked him how he liked his profession. (Dickens)
I assured her we were alone. (Bronte)
2. The Past Perfect or the Past Perfect Continuous in the subordinate clause
denotes an action prior to that of the principal clause.
e.g. I wasn 7 sure that I had ever seen him before.
3. The Future-in-the-Past tense in the subordinate clause denotes an action
following that of the principal clause.
e.g. He promised they would tell everything in a day.
She said she would help if she had time.
She said that coffee would suit me perfectly. (Braine)
IV. In complex sentences containing more than two subordinate clauses
the choice of the tense form for each of them depends on the tense form of the
clause to which it is subordinated:
e.g. Asfar as I can see he did not understand that all had been finished already.
Besides the complex sentences described above the rules of the sequence of
tenses are also found in all types of clauses and simple sentences reproducing speech:
e.g. And through it all he was now a little afraid. Had he no courage at all?
V. The rules of the sequence of tenses may not be observed in the following cases:
1. Where the subordinate clause describes a so-called general truth or
something which the speaker thinks to be one.
e.g. The teacher told us that the earth moves round the sun.
2. Where the subordinate clause describes actions referring to the actual present, future
or past time, which usually occurs in dialogues or in newspaper, radio or TV reports.
e.g. "Before the fliers crashed," the operator said "he told that there are still
a few alive in these mountains. ’’
3. Where the predicate verb of the subordinate clause is one of the modal verbs
having no past tense form.
e.g. He couldn 7 understand why he should do it.
 47

In the attributive and adverbial clauses the use of tenses depends wholly on the
іииґ to be conveyed.
<■g. She only liked men who are good-looking.
In my youth life was not the same as it is now.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on the verbal category of tense in Modem English.
2. How many groups of tenses of the verb are there in Modem English?
Comment on the peculiarities of each group.
3. Comment on the rules of formation of tenses in each group of tenses.
4. What adverbial modifiers determine the use of each tense form?
5. What is the difference in the use of the Past Simple and the Present Perfect?
6. What types of questions do you know? Comment on the ways of their
formation.
7. Comment on the verbal category of voice. Compare the systems of tenses in
the Active Voice and the Passive Voice.
8. Comment on the phenomenon of the Sequence of Tenses. What are the main
rules of the Sequence of Tenses in Modem English?
9. In what case the sequence of tenses is not observed?

The Oblique Mood

§ 26. The Formation and Use of Subjunctive I
In form Subjunctive I coincides with the plain verb stem for all persons in
both the Singular and the Plural.
e.g. I be (have, know, be kept)
You be (have, know, be kept)
He be (have, know, be kept)
She be (have, know, be kept)
We be (have, know, be kept)
They be (have, know, be kept).
Subjunctive I represents an action as problematic, hypothetical, but not
contradicting reality. It’s used to express order, request, purpose, suggestion,
supposition, wish or hope. Of these surviving forms only be is distinct from the
indicative forms and is therefore rather current. Other verbs are rarely used because
there subjunctive forms coincide with the indicative except in the 3rd person singular.
I hey are confined mainly to formal style, elevated prose, poetry, the language of official
documents and formulaic expressions - prayers, wishes. Besides, it’s used also with
optative meaning in some set expressions, which should be memorized as wholes.
The main cases of the use of Subjunctive I are as follows:
a) in exclamations, very often involving supernatural powers (usually in prayers):
e.g. (God) bless you! - Боже мій! Батечки!
(God) save the king (queen)! - Боже, бережи короля!
God (Heaven) forbid! - He дай Боже!
(God) Heaven help us! - Нехай допоможе нам Бог!
b) in some set expressions:
 48

e.g, Be it so! So be it! - Нехай буде так!

Far be itfrom me (to do something) - У мене і в думках не було...
Suffice it to say that... - Досить сказати, що ...
c) in slogans:
e.g. Long live our freedom! - Нехай живе свобода!
Long live heroes! - Слава героям!
Long live Ukraine! —Слава Україні!
d) in oaths, imprecations, curses:
e.g. The devil take him! - Прокляття! Хай його чорт візьме!
Manners be hanged! - Д о біса манери!
Confound you! - До біса! Хай його чорт візьме!
Curse this fog! —Чорт би побрав цей туман!
Note 1: То express wish may + Infinitive is used:
e.g. May success attend you! - Нехай тобі щастить!
May yours be a happy marriage! - Нехай ваш иілюб буде щасливим!
May he win!-Х о ч би він переміг!
Note 2: То express concession parenthetical phrases with may and let can also
be used:
e.g. Happen what may. - Що буде, me й буде.
Be this (that) as it may. - За всяких обставин.
Let it be so. - Нехай буде так.
Note 3: Subjunctive I can also be used parallelly with the Suppositional
Mood (see the chapter dealing with the Suppositional Mood),
e.g. He required that all be kept secret.
§ 27. The Formation of Subjunctive II
Subjunctive II has two tense-forms: Present Subjunctive II and Past
Subjunctive II.
Present Subjunctive II coincides in form with the Past Indefinite
Indicative. The only exception is the verb to be, which has the form were for all
persons. These forms are used to denote an unreal or hypothetical action referring
to the present or future.
e.g. I f l knew his address! - Якби ж то я знав його адресу!
I f I had such a dictionary! - Якби у мене був такий словник!
I f l were there now! - Якби я був там зараз!
I f l were invited to that party! - Хоча б мене запросили на ту вечірку!
I f he were not sleeping now! - Якби ж то він не спав зараз!
I f it didn’t rain tomorrow! - Хоч би завтра не йшов дощ!
Past Subjunctive II coincides in form with the Past Perfect Indicative or
Past Perfect Continuous Indicative. These forms are used to denote unreal or
hypothetical actions referring to the past.
e.g. If I had known it before! - Якби я знав це раніше!
If I had been given this chance then! - Якби мені дали цей шанс тоді!
Subjunctive II is used both in simple and complex sentences.
 49

§ 28. The Use of Subjunctive II in Simple Sentences

Present Subjunctive II is used in exclamatory sentences to express an unreal
wish and Past Subjunctive II - to express the regret.
In English such sentences usually begin with “Oh, i f only... ”, “Oh, if... ”, “Oh,
that... ”. They are rendered into Ukrainian as “Ox, якби... ”, “Хоч би /хоча б... ” (see
pattern I).
Pattern I
were (were not)
did (didn’t do) smth
were (weren’t) doing smth
were (were not) done
(Oh), if only
smb could do
Oh, if
it could be done
Oh, that
had (hadn’t) done smth
had (hadn’t) been done
could have done
could have been done
e.g. I f only I were there now! - Якби ж я була там зараз! (I am sorry, I am
not there now.)
I f only it didn ’t rain. - Хоча б дощ не пішов.
If only it were not raining now! - Якби ж дощ не йшов зараз.
If only I could do something for you! - Якби ж я міг зробити що-небудь
для тебе.
I f only I were given this chance! - Хоч би мені дали цей шанс.
I f he hadn’t been late then. - Якби ж то він не запізнився тоді.
I f only I could have done something for you then! - Якби ж то я могла
зробити що-небудь для тебе (тоді).
I f only I had been given this chance last year! - Якби ж то мені дали
цей шанс торік.
Pattern II
Subjunctive II is used to express advice or admonition.
To express some advice or admonition forms with had better, had best are
used. Very often contracted forms (d ’better, d ’best) are used.
Here some advisability of the action is expressed. It’s implied that something
may happen if somebody doesn’t follow this advice. The action refers to the present
or future. The Infinitive is used without particle to (see pattern II).
___________________ Pattern I I ______________
„ , had better do smth
___™_____________ had best)______ not do smth_______
e.g. You d better go there immediately. - Ти б краще пішов туди негайно.
You d best not stay indoors but go fo r a walk. - Ти б краще не сидів
удома, а пішов погуляти.
 50
P al t r n i III
Subjunctive II is used to exprès pnl«i mi < ■ ■>•
To express somebody’s preference m winIi >i pi........ h.id intlier, would
rather, would sooner are used. They are tin '.iibpi... o . ' i....i •-niv by origin.
They do not express actions depending on so........... ml ...... I....... i In \ merely lend
the sentence a milder and more polite sh a d e m ............ ' dim contracted
forms (d’rather, d ’sooner) are used.
The Perfect Infinitive is used to denote an ........ ... ■d ............mo ali/cd wish.
In negative responses the Infinitive can be onilth d i ... p...........11 >
Pattern III
had rather do Mtiih (imi do kiutli)
Smb would rather have done «mill
would sooner not have done snub
e.g. I ’d sooner go nowhere but stay at home 4 <• .•>, ■чіш, т м .і» не ішиїа, а
залишилася б удома.
I'm sure she had rather have stayed at ft.»«, ih, » ііч.і di, didn't stay). -
Я впевнена, вона краще запиши чи м Л >. і.и<,і ш,> >/
"Are you going to stay here?" - "I'd ruthci п,ч it, н нраешся тут
залишатись? ” - "Я б не хотіла. "
Note 1: Preference in the past is expressed by the \ rib to prefer i the Gerund
e.g. / would rather read than watch TV. ( p i r l e m n e in ill. ри seal)
But: / preferred reading to watching TV (pn ................. In рані)
Note 2: Instead of the Infinitive the phrase nm In i.dion. d by an object
clause in which Present Subjunctive or Past Subjoin live II Is os. d (II depends upon
the time reference).
e.g. I’d rather you were present at this meeting 4 " ........ н/oti ти був
присутнім на цьому зібранні.
I’d rather you spent the week-end with ux >I <• \,чт ні іц<>(>ті провели
вихідні з нами.
I’d rather you didn’t ask so many questions Я n minimi, щоб ви не
ставили так багато запитань.
I ’d rather you had not invited him but nothing eon he don- now Я б не
хотіла, щоб ви запрошували його, але зараз у м е ніч, ■о не п<>/>обши.
I ’d rather she were not invited. - Я б не хотіла, що II Кіпр, чиуваїи.
Note 3: In formal English the pattern “Rather than і the Infinitive ... smb
would + the Infinitive" is possible:
e.g. Rather than go to prison I would pay the fine Я t> охочіше заплатив
штраф замість того, щоб попасти у в 'язницю
Pattern IV
Subjunctive II is used to expres possibility, advisability, desirability,
intention (with modal verbs). If the action refers to the present or Inline the modal
verb is followed by the Indefinite Infinitive, but if the action rcleis to the past the
Perfect Infinitive should be used (see pattern IV).
 51

Pattern IV
do smth
be done
Smb / smth could / might/ would
have done smth
have been done
e.g. Do you know him? Could you speak with him? - Ти знаєш його? Могла б
ти поговорити з ним?
Не could be invited too. - Його також можна було б запросити.
You should be more attentive. - Тобі слід бути уважнішим.
I would not answer such a question. - А я не відповідала б на таке запитання.
You could have done it before my returning. - Ти міг би зробити це до
мого повернення.
You might have broken the vase. - Ти міг би розбити вазу.
You should have warned everybody in time. - Тобі слід було попередити
всіх вчасно.
§ 29. The Use of Subjunctive II in Complex Sentences
In complex sentences Subjunctive II is used in the subordinate clause.
Present Subjunctive II is used in Subject clauses after the principal clause of
the type “I t’s (high) time...” - “Пора... (Давно пора...)”. In the principal clause the
structure may be affirmative, interrogative, negative or negative-interrogative (see
pattern V).
Pattern V
It’s (high) time
did smth
It’s not time smb
were doing smth
Is it time smth
were done
Isn’t it time
e.g. I t ’s time you knew such things. - Тобі пора знати такі речі.
It's high time you were operated on. - Тобі давно пора прооперуватися.
Is it time they returned? - Чи пора їм повернутися?
Isn 7 it time the children were in bed? - Чи не пора дітям бути в ліжку?
It's not time yet they returned. - їм ще не пора повернутися.
Note 1: The same idea can be rendered by the Infinitive construction:
e.g. It‘s high time you returned these books to the library. = It's high time for you
to return these books to the library. Тобі давно пора повернути ці книги в
бібліотеку.
However, there is a slight difference between these constructions: in the first case
we simply state that the time has come, while in the second case we criticize somebody
for not doing something, we imply that it is a little late to perform this action.
Note 2: Attention should be paid to the peculiar structure of the principal
clause which in fact has no subject, the subordinate clause serving as such.
Subjunctive II is used in Predicative clauses.
In this case the clause has a comparative meaning and is accordingly
introduced by the comparative conjunctions as i f as though (неначе).
 52

The peculiarity of complex sentences with a predicative clause is that in the

principa l clause we find only one part of the predicate, i. e. a link verb (to be, to look,
to seem, to feel, to taste, to smell, etc.), which together with the predicative clause
forms a compound nominal predicate.
If the action in the subordinate clause is simultaneous with the action in the
principal clause, in the subordinate clause Present Subjunctive II is used. If he
action is prior to that in the principal clause, Past Subjunctive II is used. Both,
common and continuous aspects are possible (see pattern VI).
Pattern VI
smb did smth
is/was/will be smb were doing smth
It looks/looked/will look smb had done smth
as if,
Smb seems/seemed/will seem smb had been doing smth
as though
feels/felt/will feel smb/smth were done
smb/smth had been done
smb/smth were being done
e.g. It is as if she knew something. - Скидається на me, що вона щось знає.
It was as if nothing had happened. - Було так, ніби нічого не трапилося.
It will be as if nothing had happened. - Буде так, нібито нічого не
трапилося.
It looks as if it were going to rain. - Скидається на me, що піде дощ.
It seemed as if the child had been crying. - Здавалося, що дитина плакала.
It looked as i f the house had been deserted for years. - Здавалося, що
будинок руйнували роками.
It was as if I were being attacked by an invisible enemy. - Видавалося,
ніби мене атакував якись невидимий ворог.
It tastes as if the dish had been dressed with lemon. - Страва смакує
так, ніби вона приправлена лимоном.
Note: То refer the action to the future the phrase to be going + the Infinitive is used,
e.g. It looks as if the winter were going to be snowy. - Скидається на me,
що зима буде сніжною.
It looks as if they were not going to stay to have dinner with us. -
Скидається на me, що вони не залишаться пообідати з нами.
Subjunctive II is used in Object clauses after the verb to wish. If the action
expressed in the object clause is simultaneous with that of the principal clause
Present Subjunctive II is used.
If the action expressed in the object clause is prior to that of the principal clause
Past Subjunctive II is used.
The verb to wish can be used in the affirmative, interrogative, negative,
negative-interrogative forms. As all these forms express an unrealizable wish, they
serve as expressions of regret rather than that of wish. That’s why they may be
rendered into Ukrainian in two ways:
a) Добре було б, якби...,
b) Шкода, що...
 53

If the actions in both clauses are simultaneous, these two ways of rendering are
possible, but if the action of the subordinate clause precedes that of the principal
clause, there is only one way of rendering, namely the second one., that is: Шкода,
що... In such such cases when the verb in the object clause is affirmative in
IEnglish, it should be negative in Ukrainian, and vice versa (see pattern VII).
Pattern VII
Smb wishes/wished/will wish smb did (didn’t do) smth
Does smb wish? smb were (were not) doing smth
Did smb wish? smb had (hadn’t) done smth
Doesn’t smb wish? smb had (hadn’t) been doing smth
Didn’t smb wish? smb could/might do smth
I don’t wish smb could/might have done smth
1 didn’t wish smth were (were not) done
I do/did wish smth had (hadn’t) been done
e.g. I wish 1 knew German. - а) Добре було б, якби я знав німецьку.
Ь) Шкода, що я не знаю німецьку мову.
You will wish you had gone with us. - Ти пошкодуаи, що не пішов із нами.
I don't wish 1 hadn’t come. - Я не шкодую, що прийшов.
Don ’tyou wish you hadn’t refused? - Ти не шкодуєш, що відмовився?
I do wish I had joined you. - Я так шкодую, що не приєднався до вас.
Note: If the desired action refers to the future and the subject of the
subordinate clause and that of the principal clause do not denote the same thing or
person one can use the form would + the Infinitive. In such cases the fulfilment of
the wish usually depends on the will of the person denoted by the subject of the
subordinate clause, so it denotes a kind of request.
e.g. I wish you wouldn ’t speak so loudly. - Добре було б, якби ви не говорили
так голосно.
I wish he would stay to dinner. - Добре було б, якби він залишився на обід.
If the fulfilment of the wish depends more on the circumstances the forms
might + the Infinitive, could + the Infinitive are used. In these cases the realization
of the action is very unlikely.
e.g. / wish he might be here. - Добре було б, якби він зміг бути тут.
I wish he could understand me. - Шкода, що він не може зрозуміти мене.
Subjunctive II is used in Adverbial clauses of Comparison and Manner to
express unreality, improbability or doubt. Such clauses are introduced by the
conjunctions as if, as though. In clauses of comparison several forms of the
Subjunctive Mood are used. Everything depends upon the time-reference. If the action
of the subordinate clause is simultaneous with that in the principal clause. Present
Subjunctive II is used.
e.g He behaves as if he knew someting. - Він веде себе так, нібито він щось знає.
If the action in the comparative clause is prior to that in the principal clause,
Past Subjunctive II is used.
e.g. He behaves as if nothing had happened. - Він веде себе так, нібито
нічого не трапилося.
 54

If the action of the subordinate clause follows the action of the principal clause,
would + the Infinitive is used,
e.g. He was singing gaily as i f his heart would just break for joy Він весело
наспівував, ніби його серце ось-ось розіраетм ч під радості. (See
pattern VIII).
Pattern VIII
smb did smth (didn’t do smtli)
smb were (were not) doing smth
smb had (hadn’t) done smth
does
smb had (hadn’t) been doing smth
did as if
smb/smth were (were not) done
Smb will do as
smb could (couldn't) do smth
is doing though
smb could (couldn’t) have done smth
was doing
smb/smth could (couldn’t) be done
smb/smth could (couldn't) have done
smb/smth could (couldn't) have been done
e.g. She loves the girl as i f she were her daughter Вона mar побить дівчинку,
нібито вона її дочка.
She behaved as if she didn’t understand the importance o f this question. -
Вона вела себе так, нібито не розумію значимості цо.’о питання.
I'll behave as if nothing had happened >І нестиму себе так, нібито
нічого не трапилося.
From time to times he looked at his watch as if he were hurrying somewhere. -
Час від часу вона поглядала на годинник, нібито нона т к пішас кудись.
They will reproach you as though anybody could have done more. - Вони
докорятимуть тобі, нібито хтось зміг би зробити біпьше
She began to weep as if her heart would break Вона почала ридати,
неначе її серіїе розірветься.
Не was breathless as though he had been running. Він був задиханий,
нібито він щойно біг.
§ ЗО. The Formation of the Conditional Mood
The Conditional Mood has two tenses: the Present ( oiiditional and the
Past Conditional.
In formation the Present Conditional coincides with (lit- Future Indefinite
in the Past of the Indicative Mood (common aspect) or the Future ( outinuous in
the Past of the Indicative Mood (continuous aspect) I he Past Conditional
coincides with the Future Perfect in the Past of the Indicative Mood (common
aspect) or the Future Perfect Continuous in the Past id the Indicative Mood
(continuos aspect).
The Present Conditional is used to express an action rein ring to the present
or future while the Past Conditional is used with reference to the p i t
e.g. I should know what to do. - Я знав би, що робити
Не would refuse, I'm sure. - Він відмовився б, я town ненин
 55

I didn t go to that concert because I should have been bored to death. Я

не ходила на цей концерт, бо я знудьгувалася б до смерті.
But for your brother we should have been sitting and waiting for a car. -
Ик()и не ваш брат, ми все ще сиділи б і чекали б на автомобіль.
§ 31. The Use of the Conditional Mood in Simple Sentences
The Conditional Mood is used in simple sentences with implied condition.
I he tense-form depends upon the time-reference: if the action refers to the present
or future, the Present Conditional is used, and if the action refers to the past
moment the Past Conditional is used (see pattern IX).
Pattern IX
should (shouldn’t) do smth
І, we would (wouldn’t) do smth
You, he, she, they should (shouldn’t) have done smth
would (wouldn’t) have done smth
e.g. I should like to speak to you. - Я хотіла б поговорити з тобою.
I shouldn 7 change anything. - Я нічого не міняв би.
I shouldn 7 have соте yesterday. - Я б не приходила вчора.
Не wouldn 7 answer such a question. - Він не відповів би на таке запитання.
They wouldn 7 have done anything either then. - Вони також нічого не
зробили б.
The Conditional Mood is used in simple sentences of implied condition
expressed by an adverbial modifier of condition introduced by butfor, exceptfor (якби
не, ямцо не зважати на). They imply unreal condition with an opposite meaning. In
this case both tenses can occur, everything depends on the time reference: if the action
refers to to the present or future moment the Present Conditional is used, but if the
action refers to the past moment the Past Conditional is used (see pattern X).
Pattern X
smb should/would do smth
smb shouldn’t/wouldn’t do smth
But for smb/smth smb should/would be doing smth
Except for smb/smth smb shouldn’t/wouldn’t be doing smth
smb should/would have done smth
smb shouldn’t/wouldn’t have done smth
____________________smb should/would have been doing smth
e.g. Butfor the rain we should go for a walk. - Якби не дощ, ми прогулялися б.
But for her illness she would have gone with you then. - Якби не її хвороба,
вона тоді пішла б із вами.
Butfor you 1should be sleeping now. - Якби не ти, я зараз спала б.
But for this accident we should have been enjoying the sea air yet. - Якби
не ця аварія, ми все ще насолоджувалися б морським повітрям.
Except for the weather the picnic would have been a success. - Якщо не
зважати на погоду, пікнік вдався б.
 56

§ 32. The Use of the Conditional Mood in Complex Sentences

The Conditional Mood is used in the principal clause of complex sentences
with the subordinate clause of condition and in the principal clause with the
subordinate clause of Concession (in the subordinate clause Subjunctive II is
used). The choice of the tense form of the Conditional Mood depends upon the
time-reference (see patterns XI and XII).
§ 33. Conditional Sentences. Types of Conditional Sentences
Complex sentences may include conditional clauses expressing real condition
and unreal condition. In the first case the Indicative Mood is used, in the second -
the Subjunctive Mood. Both conditions may refer to the past, present or future.
Since the majority of conditional clauses are introduced by the conjunction if,
they are often called if-clauses. Other conjunctions used to introduce conditional
clauses are: unless, in case, supposing (that), providing (that), on condition (that),
suppose (that), provided (that). I f has the most general meaning of all the
conjunctions. Its use is not restricted in any way, whereas all the other conjunctions
are limited in their application, each of them expressing a conditional relation with
a certain shade of meaning. Thus, unless has a negative meaning, although it’s not
identical with i f not. Clauses introduced by unless indicate the only condition
which may prevent the realization of the action in the principal clause. So its
meaning is that of exception, and because of this meaning unless is always
emphatic.
e.g. I short’t go there unless it's absolutely necessary Я не піду туди, якщо
це не є вкрай необхідно.
The Ukrainian conjunction with negation якщо не can’t be rendered into
English by unless if the negation refers only to the part of the compound predicate.
In this case i f not should be used.
e.g. Put on warm things, i f you don’t want to catch cold. Одягнися тепло,
якщо не хочеш застудитися.
The conjunction in case also has a specific shade of meaning combining
condition and purpose. It’s rendered into Ukrainian as у випадку, якщо.
e.g. I ’ll see a doctor only in case I feel worse. - У випадку, якщо я
почуватимуся гірше, я піду до лікаря.
Supposing (that) and suppose (that) preserve the meaning of supposition,
their origin from the verb to suppose is still felt. They are rendered into Ukrainian
by means of припустимо.
e.g. What shall we do, supposing it's true? —Припустимо, це правда, що нам
робити?
Providing (that) and provided (that) are rather narrow in meaning indicating a
favourable and desirable condition. These conjunctions are rather formal
stylistically, being more typical of official documents. Their Ukrainian equivalents
are за умови, якщо.
e.g. I ’ll do my best, provided it lies in my power. - Якщо це в моїх силах, я
зроблю усе можливе.
 57

On condition (that) is also connected with its original meaning. It’s more
і >imal than if. It’s rendered into Ukrainian as за умови, якщо.
e.g. I'll agree on condition that you give up smoking. - Я погоджуся за
умови, якщо ти кинеш палити.
Conditional sentences are usually divided into three types:
Type I Conditional sentences of real condition.
Type II Conditional sentences of unreal condition referring to the present or future.
Type III Conditional sentences of unreal condition referring to the past.
Each type has it’s own variants. Besides, there are also mixed tense sequences
In conditional sentences.
Thus, type I has the following variants:
Conditional Sentences of the First Type
1. Sentences which express general truth statements that are always true and
unchanging. These are absolute relations unbounded in time. As a rule, such
relations are based on physical laws or habits. The same tense (the Present
Indefinite) is usually used in both clauses.
e.g. I f oil is mixed with water it floats. - Якщо олію змішати з водою, то олія
спливає.
I f I wash the dishes ту younger sister dries them. - Якщо я мию посуд, то
моя молодша сестра витирає його.
I f children have fun, they are happy. - Якщо дітям весело, вони щасливі.
2. Sentences which express some inference about specific time bound
relationship. In such structures different tense forms are used, but usually the same
ones in both clauses. The main clause often contains modals must or should.
e.g. I f it's Sunday today, it's Mary's birthday. - Якщо сьогодні неділя, то це
день народження Мері.
I f you соте at seven, he should be at home. - Якщо ти прийдеш о сьомій,
він має бути вдома.
I f there was a happy day in my life, it was my wedding. —Якщо у моєму
житті був щасливий день, так це день мого весілля.
I f he was lying, he was a good actor. -Якщо він брехав, то він гарний актор
I f I have offended you, I am sorry. - Якщо я образив вас, вибачте.
Why did he come if he knew that I was out? - Навіщо він приходив, якщо
він знав, що мене немає вдома.
3. Sentences expressing future plans. The action of the if-clause is quite
probable and the future outcome expressed in the principal clause is quite certain.
In the if-clause the Present Indefinite and in the principal clause the Future
Indefinite Indicative is used.
e.g. I f you finish your dinner, I'U buy you ice-cream. - Якщо ти доїси обід, я
куплю тобі морозиво.
If you wife doesn’t like this purchase I ’ll be happy to exchange it. - Якщо
вашій дружині не сподобається покупка, я з охотою поміняю її на іншу.
If instructions depending on a certain condition are given the Imperative Mood
can be used.
 58

e.g. If you come across such a dictionary, buy one . ару іa, me /»/»•aw. Якщо
вам трапиться такий словник, купіть мені один примірник, будь ласка.
I f you find the book; bring it here at once Якщо ітііідеш книжку,
принеси Ті сюди відразу.
If the action is not sufficiently certain, modals nitty <>■ ,nn me used in the
principal clause to express possibility or permission
eg. If you finish your dinner I may buy you icc . re, an (possibility is expressed)
-Якщ о ти доїсиш, я, можливо, куплю тобі \н»/’•>«»//.. >
I f you finish your dinner you may leave the table (primlssloii is expressed)
-Я кщ о ти доїсиш, ти можеш встати і hi cm,c iv
To express requests for help and cooperation Future Indefinite is used in both
the principal and the subordinate clause.
e.g. I'll clean the flat if you'll go shopping Я припиратиму квартиру,
якщо ти підеш за покупками.
ГИ dust the furniture i f yo u ’ll wash dishes Ч митру меппі від пороху,
якщо ти помиєш посуд.
4. Sentences which express completeness or result ot the action in the if-
clause. In the subordinate clause the Present Perfect Indicative, and in the
principal clause the Future Indefinite Indicative arc used
e.g. I f you have finished your dinner ГІІ give you Ice cream Я дам тобі
морозиво, якщо ти доїсиш свій обід
I f I have finished ту work we ’ll go fo r a walk '/* що u іакінчу роботу,
то ми підемо на прогулянку.
Conditional Sentences of the Second Type
Conditional sentences of this type express unreal actions referring to the
present or future. The action expressed in the principal clause depends on the unreal
condition and can’t be realized either. Present Subjunctive II is used in the
subordinate clause and the Present Conditional in tlu- principal clause. These
forms of the Oblique Mood are used to indicate some imaginary situations in the if-
clause and to speculate about their imaginary consequences in the main clause.
They show that the actual situation is opposite to what somebody hoped for, and
the result refers to the present or the future (see pattern XI).
Pattern XI
If smb did (didn’t do) smth smb should/would do stub
If smb were (weren’t) doing smth smb shouldn’t/wouldn't do smth
If smb could/might do smth smb should/would be doing smth
If smb/smth were (weren’t) done smb shouldn’t/wouldn't be doing
If smb/smth could/might be done smth
e.g. If you thought ill of me I should be sorry. - Мені було б прикро, якби ти
погано подумав про мене.
If he were not working now we should take him with i i s Якби він не
працював зараз, ми взяли б його із собою.
I f I could help І should do it by all means. - Якби я міг допомогти, то
я обоє ’язково зробив би це.
 59

Would you go there i f you were invited? - Чи пішов би ти туди, якби

тебе запросили?
I f this work could be done in two days we should try to, but it's
impossible. - Якби цю роботу можна було виконати за два дні, ми
постаралися б, але це неможливо.
Very often such structures are used to describe what is totally impossible,
e.g. I f I were the queen, you would be the king. - Якби я була королевою, ти
був би королем.
Sometimes these sentences are used to express actions which will possibly happen,
e.g. I f I had time 1 should go with you. - Якби я мав час, я пішов би з тобою.
I f I were you I should behave in the same way. - Якби я був на твоєму
місці, я поводився б так само.
One can use this structure to express some advice.
e.g. I f I were you I should go there. (I advise you to go there.) - Якби я був на
твоєму місці, я пішов би туди.
Modal verbs express different shades of modality:
e.g. I f I knew French I could help you to translate this text, (ability) - Якби я
знав англійську, я допоміг би тобі.
If you came tomorrow we could discuss this question, (possibility) - Якби
ти прийшов завтра, ми могли б обговорити це питання.
If he were not sleeping now we might take him with us. (possibility) - Якби
він не спав зараз, ми могли б взяти його з собою.
The negative condition may be expressed by i f it were not for.
e.g. I f it were not fo r Nick, we should go home. - Якби не Микола, ми пішли
б додому.
I f it were not fo r nasty weather, we should go for a walk. - Якби не погана
погода, ми прогулялися б.
Conditional Sentences of the Third Type
The sentences of this type express unreal conditions and represent an event or
state of things as a mere conception of the mind, as a mere speculation of the past
of the speaker.
In the subordinate clause the Past Subjunctive II is used and in the principal
clause the Past Conditional is used (see pattern XII).
Modal verbs are often used to express different modal meanings: ability
possibility, permission.
The phrase to befor is often used to explain why something didn’t happen in the past,
e.g. I f you hadn’t been late you would have heard much interesting. - Якби
ти не запізнився, ти почув би багато цікавого.
I f it hadn’t been fo r the weather, the party would have been a great fun.
- Вечірка вдалася б, якби не погода.
 60

______________________ Pattern XH
If smb had (hadn’t) done smth
If smb had (hadn’t) been doing smth
smb should/would have done smth
If smb could/might have done smth
smb shouldn’t/wouldn’t have done si
If smb couldn’t/mightn’t have done smth
smb should/would have been doing s
If smb/smth had (hadn’t) been done
smth shouldn’t/wouldn’t have bi
If smb/smth could/might have been done
done
If smb/smth couldn’t/mightn’t have been
done_______________________________
e.g. I f I had had money then, I should have bought a car. - Якби у мене були
тоді гроші, я купив би машину.
I f I had been saving money, I could have bought a car. - Якби я економив
гроші, я міг би купити машину.
If I had seen him there yesterday I should have told him all the truth. - Якби
я побачив його там вчора, то я сказав би йому всю правду.
If they had been workingyet when we came we should have taken them with us. -
Якби вони все ще працювали, коли ми прийшли до них, ми взя'іи б їх із собою.
I f I had been warned earlier I should have come. - Якби мене попередили
зарані, я прийшов би.
If they couldn’t have warned us in time we should have been waitingfor them yet.
- Якби вони не зуміли попередити нас вчасно, ми все ще чекали б на них.
Sometimes the actions in the principal and subordinate clauses may have
different time-reference. Sentences of this kind are said to have split condition. The
unreal condition may refer to the past and the consequence - to the present or future,
e.g. I f you had taken this medicine yesterday you wouldn’t be coughing now.
- Якби ти прийняла ці ліки вчора, то не кашляла б зараз.
The condition may refer to the present and future or to no particular time, and
the consequence may refer to the past.
e.g. I f I knew French I should have spoken with a Frenchman yesterday. -
Якби я знала французьку, то поговорила б із французом учора.
I f you were not so indifferent to him you would have noticed that there
was something wrong with him. - Якби ви не були такі байдужі до
нього, то помітили б, що з ним щось негаразд.
§ 34. The Use of the Conditional Mood in Complex Sentences
with the Subordinate Clause of Concession
Subjunctive II is used in adverbial clauses of Concession introduced by
conjunctions even if, even though. In the Principal Clause the Conditional Mood is used.
Concessive clauses introduced by even if, even though are built up on the
same pattern as conditional clauses and the same forms of the Oblique Mood are
used (see pattern XIII).
________________________Pattern XIII
Even if smb did smth smb shouldn’t/wouldn’t do smth
Even if smb didn’t smth smb should/would do smth.
 .<>
61

liven if smb had done smth smb should/would have done smth
liven if smb hadn’t done smth smb should/would have done smth
c.g. Even if it were not cold I shouldn’t join you. - Навіть якби не було теж
холодно, я не приєднався б до вас.
Even if it hadn 7 been cold yesterday we shouldn’t have gone to the forest. -
Навіть якби вчора не було так холодно, ми не пішли б до лісу.
Even if 1 had taken this medicine yesterday I shouldn’t be better today. -
Навіть якби я прийняв ці ліки вчора, мені не було б краще сьогодні.
Even if I had taken this medicine yesterday I shouldn be coughing today. -
Навіть якби я прийняв ці ліки вчора, я кашляв би сьогодні.
Even if I knew English better I shouldn’t have spoken to that American
yesterday because I am shy. - Навіть якби я знав англійську краще, я не
поговорив би з тим американцем вчора, бо я сором 'язливий.
§ 35. The Suppositional Mood
The Suppositional Mood has two tense-forms: the Present Suppositional and
dir Past Suppositional.
I he Present Suppositional is formed with the help of the auxiliary verb
iiiiuld for all persons + the Indefinite Infinitive or the Continuous Infinitive. It
li fers the action to the present or future.
The Past Suppositional is formed by means of the auxiliary verb should for
nil persons + Perfect Infinitive or Perfect Continuous Infinitive. These forms are
used with reference to the past:
e.g. It's demanded that eveiybody should be present. - Вимагається, щоб усі
були присутні.
Ifear lest he should be sleeping now. - Боюся, хоча б він не спав зараз.
It s strange that Olga should have said this. - Дивно, що Ольга сказала таке.
The Suppositional Mood is not used in simple sentences. It’s used only in
complex sentences (in a subordinate clause). These are the main cases of its usage.
§ 36. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Object Clauses
The Suppositional Mood is used in Object clauses after the verbs and
expressions of order, suggestion, request and decision such as: to advise, to arrange, to
decide, to demand, to insist, to move, to order, to prefer, to recommend, to request, to
require, to suggest, to urge, to be anxious, to be determined, to give orders, to give
Instructions, to make up one’s mind, to take care.
The action of the subordinate clause follows the action of the principal clause,
therefore, only the Present Suppositional can occur in such cases. In other words,
should is never combined with the Perfect Infinitive.
Object clauses after expressions of order and suggestion are generally
introduced by the conjunction that; asyndetic connection is less frequent.
The rules of the sequence of tenses are not observed in object clauses of this
type (see pattern XIV).
 62

Pattern XIV
suggests/récommends

Smb rerequires/requests, etc. that smb should do smth

smth should be done
suggested/recommended/
arranged/required/requested, etc.
e.g. The doctor recommends/recommended that 1 should go to the south. -
Лікар рекомендує/рекомендував, щоб я поїхав на південь.
Не gave instructions that everything possible should be done. - Він дав
розпорядження, щоб усе можливе було зроблене
Note: Subjunctive I is also possible here:
e.g. They propose(d) that the issue be discussed immediately.
The Suppositional Mood is also used in Object clauses after expressions of
fear, apprehension, worry (to fear, to be afraid, to be terrified, to be fearful, to be
in terror, to he frightened, to be nervous, to be anxious, to worry, to be troubled,
to tremble, to dread, to have apprehension). After these verbs and expressions we
can find both the Indicative Mood and the Suppositional Mood.
In the Indicative Mood conjunction that is used after which the verb in the
Indicative Mood or a modal phrase may/might + the Infinitive or can/could + the
Infinitive occur. The rules of the sequence of tenses should l>c observed here (see
pattern XV).
Pattern XV
does smth
fears did smth
is afraid will do smth
is nervous have done smth
worries can/may do smth
Smb is troubled can/may be done
— smth
feared that smb had done smth
was afraid could do smth
worried might do smth
would do smth
could/might be done/
e.g. Iam afraid that nothing has been done yet. - Боюся, що ще нічого не зроблено.
I am afraid that I can be late. - Боюся, шо я можу запізнитися
He was afraid that he could be late. - Боюся, що може запізнитися.
Iam afraidyou may miss your chance. - Боюся, що ти просичиш свій шанс.
I fear that I shall miss the train. - Боюся, що я запізнюся на поїзд.
I fear that I may be late. - Боюся, що я можу запізнитися на поїзд.
I am afraid that you have misunderstood me. —Боюся, ти мене неправильно
зрозумів.
I feared that he wouldn’t come. - Я боявся, що він не прийде.
I feared that he might be late. - Я боялася, що він може запі шитися
 63

/ was afraid that I had been misunderstood. - Я бояпася, що мене неправильно

ірозуміли.
In the Suppositional Mood the subordinate clause is introduced by the
n|imction lest (щоб не, хоча б не). As the conjuction lest is negative in its
mi nning, the auxiliary verb should is used in the affirmative (see pattern XVI).
Pattern XVI
fears
is afraid
worries
Smb feared lest smb should do smth
was afraid smth should be done
dreaded
worried
eg. Ifeared lest I should be late. - Я боялася, хоча б не запізнитися.
/ am afraid lest some evil should befall him. - Боюся, хоча б ніяка біда
не звалилася на нього.
We worried lest they should lose the way in thefog. - Ми переживали, хоча б
вони не заблукали через туман.
Не was afraid lest it should rain. - Він боявся, щоб дощ не пішов.
Rarely Subjunctive I is possible, i.e. it’s possible to say:
e.g. / feared lest I be late.
He was afraid lest it rain.
Subordinate clauses introduced by the conjunction lest with the verb in the
Suppositional Mood are used in a literary style.
§ 37. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in Subject Clauses
The Suppositional Mood is used in Subject clauses introduced by the
anticipatory it. These are sentences of the type:
e.g It's necessary that you should come as well. - Необхідно, щоб ви також
прийшли.
Subject clauses follow the principal clause, which is impersonal. The predicate
of the principal clause expresses some kind of modality, estimate, or some motive
for performing the action denoted by the predicate in the subordinate clause.
If some modality is expressed (necessity or recommendation) the predicative in
the principal clause is expressed by adjectives necessary, important, vital, imperative,
essential, urgent, advisable, desirable or by past participles of the verbs expressing
suggestion, order, decision or request, such as suggested, required, demanded,
requested, recommended, decided, agreed, determined, arranged, etc. In all these
cases the action of the subordinate clause follows the action of the principal clause,
therefore should is never combined with the Perfect Infinitive.
If some estimate is expressed the predicative in the principal clause may be
expressed by adjectives absurd, cruel, doubtful, funny, monstrous, natural, odd, sad,
strange, terrible, wonderful, or by Present Participles surprising, disappointing,
 64

astonishing. In these cases both tense forms are possible (it depends upon the time-
reference) (see pattern XVII).
Pattern XVII
necessary/import ant/urgent/
essential/advisable/desirable/
is that smb should do smth
suggested/required/demanded/
It was that smth should be done
requested/recommended /agreed
will that smb should have done smth
surprising/disappointing/astonishing/
be that smth should have been done
puzzling/strange/surprising/
disappointing/ astonishing / puzzling
e.g. It is necessary that you should come to this meeting. Необхідно, щоб ви
прийшли на це зібрання.
I t ’s surprising that the news should have effected her so much. - Дивно,
що новина так вразила її.
Note 1: With the expressions it is possible, it is probable, it is likely the
Indicative Mood or a modal phrase is used after affirmative constructions, but after
negative or interrogative constructions the Suppositional Mood is used,
e.g. It is possible that he may come tomorrow (he will come).
It's hardly likely that anyone will bother you today.
But: I t ’s impossible that he should come.
I t ’s unlikely that he should know so much
Is it probable that it should rain today?
Is it possible that they should have behaved tike that?
Note 2: Parallelly with the Suppositional Mood, Subjunctive I may be used,
mostly in American English.
e.g. It's required that all be ready by 6.
§ 38. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in
Adverbial Clauses of Purpose
The Suppositional Mood is used in Adverbial clauses of Purpose
introduced by the conjunction lest.
In clauses of purpose the form of the verb depends on the conjunction
introducing the clause. After the conjunctions that, so that, in order that the
predicate is usually expressed by modal phrases may/can + the Infinitive and the
ru les of the sequence of tenses are to be observed. If the verb in the subordinate
clause is in the negative form should + the Infinitive is preferred. These structures
can also be followed by a present tense with a future meaning.
In past contexts, should or could are normally used. The Conditional (would)
is also possible, and might is occasionally used in a literary style, especially in
American English. The infinitive may be sometimes (though not often) preceded by
in order or so as (so as is more often used to introduce a negative infinitive) (see
pattern XVIII).
Pattern XVIII
does smb may/can do smth
Smb that
will smb does/doesn’t do smth
 65

do so that smb would do smth

did in order that smb might/could do smth
e.g. / tell you this so that you may understand the situation. - Я кажу вам це, щоб
ви могли зрозуміти ситуацію.
I ’ll leave her a message on the table in order that she can see it at once. —Я
запишу їй записку, щоб вона могла побачити її зразу.
We ought to write to him in order that he doesn 4feel we ’re hiding things from
him. - Нам слід натісати йому, щоб він не думав, що ми приховуємо щось
від нього.
I took ту golfclubs so that I couldplay at the weekend - Я взяв з собою бити,
щоб пограти в гольф у вихідні.
We called them in order that they would not worry. - Ми зателефонувапи їм,
щоб вони не хвилювалися.
The negative purpose is expressed by fo r fear that or by the conjunction lest
<nither archaic and very formal now). In this case the Suppositional Mood is used.
As the conjunction is negative in meaning, the verb is used in the affirmative form
(see pattern XIX).
Pattern XIX
does smth
lest
Smb did smth smb should do smth
for fear that
will do smth
e.g. She closed the window lest the children should catch cold. - Вона зачинила
вікно, щоб діти не застудилися.
I say all this lest there should be a misunderstanding. - Я кажу все це,
щоб не було ніяких непорозумінь.
She buried her face in her hands lest we should notice her tears. - Вона
закрила обличчя руками, щоб ніхто не помітив її сліз.
I shall remindyou lest you shouldforget. - Я нагадаю вам, щоб ви не забули.
§ 39. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in
Adverbial Clauses of Concession
The Suppositional Mood is used in Adverbial clauses of Concession
introduced by the conjunctions though, although, however, whatever, whenever,
whichever, wherever, no matter how, no matter when.
In concessive clauses introduced by these conjunctions the Suppositional Mood
is used with reference to the future. It represents the action as imaginary. The focus of
the concessive meaning usually falls on the nominal or adverbial part of the clause.
Instead of the Suppositional Mood, may/might + the Infinitive (a modal
phrase) is used when the concession is uncertain and refers to the present or future.
The Indicative Mood can also be used in subordinate clauses of concession
when the concession is not regarded to be problematic (see pattern XX).
Pattern XX
Though smb should do smb does/doesn’t do smth
Although smb did/didn’t do smth
 66

However smb may/ smb will/won’t do smth

Whatever might do smb can/can’t do smth
Whoever smb could/couldn’t do smth
Whichever smb must/mustn’t do smth
Whenever do smth!
Wherever don’t do smth!
No matter how/when
e.g. Though he should make every effort, he cannot succeed. - Хоч як би він не
старався, у нього нічого не вийде.
However hard it should rain, we shall have to go - Яким би сильним не був
douf, нам усе одно доведеться йти.
Whatever the reason should be, thefact remains. - Якою б не була причина,
факт залишається фактом.
Whatever he should say, don Vbelieve him. - Що б він не сказав, не вірте йому.
No matter how he might try, he couldn ’t do it. Як би він не намагався, він не
зумів би зробити це.
Whoever he should be, he has no right to behave like that. - Хто б він не був,
він немає права вести себе таким чином.
Whenever you should return call me. — Коли б ти не повернувся,
зателефонуй мені.
Wherever I should be, ТИ соте. - Де б я не був, я приїду.
No matter how difficult it should be, l shan’t cry. - Як би важко мені не було,
я не заплачу.
Note: Parallelly with the Suppositional Mood, Subjunctive I can also be used,
e.g. Though he make every effort, he cannot succeed.
However hard it rain, we shall have to go.
Whatever the reason be, the fact remains.
Whatever he say, don't believe him.
§ 40. The Use of the Suppositional Mood in
Conditional clauses of Problematic Condition
In these sentences the action of the conditional clause is presented as possible,
but very unlikely. The reference is made to the future. They may be rendered in
Ukrainian as "Якщо випадково...", "На випадок, якщо...". The Present
Suppositional is used in the subordinate clause and the Future Indefinite Indicative
or the Imperative Mood in the principal clause.
Conditional clauses of this type are sometimes joined to the principal clause
asyndetically, by means of inversion (see pattern XXI).
Pattern XXI
If smb should do smth smb shall/will do smth
Should smb do smth do/don’t do smth!
e.g. I f 1 should meet her tomorrow, I shall speak to her. Якщо я випадково
зустріну її завтра, я поговорю з нею.
Should you meet her tomorrow, speak to her, please. - Якщо ти випадково
зустрінеш її, поговори з нею, будь ласка.
 67

Should I be late, don’t wait for me. - Якщо трапиться так, що я

запізнюся, не чекайте на мене.
Should there be any difficulties, get in touch with me. - Якщо виникнуть
якісь труднощі, зв 'яжіться зі мною.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on the category of Mood in Modem English.
2. What are the main forms of the Oblique Mood? Comment on their
formation and use.
3. Comment on the types of Conditional Sentences.

Non-finite Forms of the Verb

§ 41. Non-finite Forms of the Verb: Introductory Remarks
All English grammars distinguish between finite and non-fmite forms of the
verb. The non-finite forms, which are also called the verbals or the non-predicative
forms of the verb, comprise, according to most grammars the infinitive, and the
participle (participle I and participle II). Some grammars however treat the
gerund and participle I as a single form and refer to it as the “ing- form”.
The verbals are regarded in most grammars as forms of the verb because they
have certain features in common with the finite forms. But at the same time they
have their own peculiarities which distinguish them from the finite forms.
The characteristic traits of the verbals are as folows:
1. The verbals combine the characteristics of a verb with those of some other part
of speech. Thus, the infinitive and the gerund have besides verbal characteristics also
traits in common with the noun. For instance, they can be used in the sentence as
subject or object, both syntactical functions being typical of the noun:
e.g. To plae chess is his greatest pleasure. (subject)
He likes to play chess (object)
The participle has the characteristics of both verb and adjective (compare with
Ukrainian дієприкметник) and in some of its functions it combines the
characteristics of a verb with those of an adverb (compare with Ukrainian
дієприслівник):
e.g. The woman standing at the window is my grandmother. (attribute)
He stood watching the children (adverbial modifier) playing in the yard.
(attribute)
2. The distinctions between the finite forms of the verb and the verbals are as
follows: the finite forms of the verb have always a subject with which they agree in
number and person: I am a student, he is a student; the verbals are not restricted in
number and person by any grammatical subject:
e.g. Coming near, I found the door slightly ajar. (Bronte)
She stopped to join him. (Dickens)
Neither have the verbals mood distinctions. Accordingly, the verbals cannot
express predication by themselves; they can be only part of the predicate and, as part of
the predicate, they must always be in connection with finite forms of the verb:
e.g. She suddenly began to speak. (London)
 68

He went on talking. (Maxwell)

I must ask you to excuse me. (Maugham)
3. In common with the finite forms of the verb all the three verbals have voice
distinctions: to write is the Active Voice of the Non-Perfect Infinitive, to be written
is the corresponding passive form; writing is the participle 1 in the Active Voice,
being written is the Passive Voice. The tense distinctions of the verbals are not
absolute (like those of the finite verbs), but relative. The tenses of the finite forms
indicate the time of the action. The forms that are called tenses in the verbals
comprise relative time indication; they usually indicate whether the action
expressed by the verbal:
1) coincides with the actions of the finite forms of the verb (in the present,
past or future):
e.g. I see him run. I saw him run. I shall see him run. (the Non-Perfect Infinitive)
We look at the rising sun. We looked at the rising sun. We shall look at
the rising sun. (the Non-Perfect Participle I)
He tells me of his taking English lessons. He told me of his taking English
lessons. He will tell me o f his taking English lessons, (the Non-Perfect Gerund)
2) is prior to the action of the finite forms of the verb (in the present, past or future):
e.g. / know him to have been one o f our students. I knew him to have been
one o f our students. I shall know him to have been one of our students.
(the Perfect Infinitive)
Havingfinished my lesson, I usually go home Havingfinished my lesson, 1 went
home. Havingfinished my lesson, 1shall go home, (the Perfect Participle I)
He tells me of his having taken English lessons. He told me o f his having
taken English lessons. He will tell me o f his having taken English lessons.
(the Perfect Gerund)
4. Besides distinctions of voice and tense, the three verbals retain also the
following characteristics of the finite forms of the verb from which they are formed:
a) If the verb is a transitive one they can take a direct object:
e.g. Ben was too busy to hear him now. (Cronin)
She began arranging flowers in a vase. (Voinich)
b) In common with the finite forms of the verb the infinitive, gerund and
participle are modified by adverbs:
e.g. I was tired o f sitting still in the library. (Bronte)
5. The verbals differ considerably from the finite forms in their functioning in the
sentence. From the syntactic point of view, verbs may play the role of different part of
the sentence. The finite forms always have the function of the predicate. But the verbals
which lack the categories of predication fulfil a great variety of other functions in the
sentence (the classification of these functions and their definition me still an unsettled
problem in English grammar; opinions on the subject differ and sometimes scholars
express diametrically opposed views with regard to this or that particular function. All
the functions of the three verbals will be dealt with below).
6. One more characteristic trait of the verbals is that all the verbals can form
predicative constructions, i.e. constructions consisting of two elements, a nominal
(noun or pronoun) and a verbal (infinitive, gerund or participle), (In* verbal element
 69

'»imids in predicate relation to the nominal element, in most cases forming syntactic
■Mills, serving as one part of the sentence:
e.g. They sat down to supper, Manson still talking cheerfully. (Hardy)
The Infinitive
§ 42. General Remarks
The Particle to before the Infinitive
In Modem English the infinitive is usually preceded by the particle to.
I onnerly this to was a preposition which was put before the infinitive (then a noun
hi ,i dative case) to indicate direction or purpose. In the course of time to has lost its
meaning of direction or purpose, and became merely the sign of the infinitive. But
In some cases it has still preserved its old meaning of purpose.
Cf.: / like to read. - 1 went to the library to read, (purpose).
I want to stop here. - Everything was done to stop the fire, (purpose).
The infinitive is used without to in the following cases:
a) after the auxiliary and modal (defective) verbs shall, will, do, may, can, must.
e.g. / must go and look at the flowers at Hampton Court. Will you come? (Aldington)
But after the modal (defective) verb ought the infinitive is always used with to:
e.g. 1 ought to have done it. (Locke)
You ought to see her. (Lawrence)
b) after some verbs expressing physical perception: to hear, to see, to feel, to
perceive, to watch, to notice, to observe:
e.g. Theyfelt the boat shudder... (Cusack)
Andrew observed her hurry off... (Cronin)
Note: if the verb tofeel expresses mental perceptions, to is used before the infinitive:
e.g. / felt this to be true... (Dickens).
c) after the verbs to let, to make (npiiMyuiyBam), to bid; also after the expression /
won t have:
e.g. He turned on Florence, ... and bade her leave the room. (Dickens)
A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. (Joyce)
Note: In the passive voice these verbs require an infinitive with to:
e.g. They were heard to be talking in the corridor.
He was made to come.
d) after the verb to know in the sense of to experience, to observe:
e.g. Have you ever known me tell a lie?
I had never known her pretend. (Snow)
e) after the verb to help the infinitive is often used without to:
e.g. I helped Mrs. Thompson take o ff her coat. (Braine)
But also: Fanny helped Miss Helsone to put away her work... (Bronte)
f) After the following expressions: had better, had best, would have, would
rather, would sooner, cannot but, does nothing but, need scarcely (only, hardly):
e.g. She does nothing but grumble.
You need only give me a few hints.
I cannot but agree with you upon that subject.
“We’d better take shelter, " said she. (Maugham)
 70

g) The particle to is dropped in special questions beginning with why when the
infinitive has the force of a predicate:
e.g. Why not go to the cinema?
Why not start earlier?
But why not tell them? (Galsworthy)
Repetition of the particle to before Several Infinitives
When there are several infinitives with the same or similar function to is put
only before the first infinitive. But if emphasis or contrast is intended, to is repeated
before each infinitive:
e.g. It was his delight to run into the garden after a shower o f rain and shake
the rose bush over him. (Mansfield)
To be or not to be - that is the question. (Shakespeare)
In colloquial speech the particle to is often used without the infinitive if the
latter is clearly understood from the preceding context. This construction is used
with the verbs expressing actions:
e.g. “You can laugh if you want to, ’’ she said. "I know it's comic. " (Snow)
“You must come and have dinner with me." - “Thank you, I should like to!"
(Galsworthy)
The Split Infinitive
The particle to is sometimes separated from the infinitive by an adverb or an
emphatic particle; the construction is called a “Split Infinitive”:
e.g. They were seen to just touch each other's hands. (Galsworthy)
He was unable, however, to long keep silence. (Galsworthy)
The Infinitive in Analytical Verb-Forms.
The infinitive is used to form:
a) The future and future-in-the-past:
e.g. I ’m afraid you will miss the last bus. (Aldington)
They told me Julia would return soon. (Sheridan)
b) The analytical forms of the oblique moods (the Conditional and the
Suppositional Moods):
e.g. If I had been in your place the I should have done the same. (Conditional mood)
She proposed that we should go upstairs and see my room. (Dickens)
(Suppositional mood)
c) Negative and interrogative forms of the present and past tenses (common
aspect) and the negative imperative:
e.g. / don’t care about it, mother...(Bronte)
How do you feel? (Bronte)
Don’t come near me! (Dickens)
The Subjective and the Objective Infinitive
The action expressed by the infinitive may refer either to the subject or to the
object of the sentence.
When the action expressed by the infinitive refers to the subject of the
sentence, the infinitive is a subjective infinitive:
e.g. I promised to obey, and went upstairs with my message. (Dickens)
 71

“We'd better take shelter, ” she said. (Maugham)

“ You must come and see his work. ” (Galsworthy)
When the action expressed by the infinitive refers to the object of the sentence,
Hu Infinitive is an objective infinitive:
e.g. “You will allow me to see you again...?" (Dickens)
"/ want you to give me some information. " (London)
He begged her not to go ... (Dickens)
§ 43. The Verbal Characteristics of the Infinitive
The infinitive has the following verb-characteristics:
1. It distinguishes aspect: common and continuous:
Common: to write, to have written, to be written, to have been written;
e.g. I want you to give me some information. (London)
She must have seen a change in my expression. (Snow)
Continuous: to be writing, to have been writing.
e.g. It was pleasant to be driving the car again. (Braine)
2. The infinitive has tense forms: non-perfect and perfect. The tenses of the
Infinitive comprise relative time indication.
Common aspect:
Non-perfect infinitive: to write, to be written;
Perfect infinitive: to have written, to have been written.
Continuous aspect:
Non-perfect continues infinitive: to be writing;
Perfect continues infinitive: to have been writing.
The non-perfect infinitive indicates that the action expressed by the infinitive
simultaneous with the action of the finite form of the verb in the sentence:
e.g . l a m glad to see you.
I often heard him tell the tale. (Jerome)
When associated with modal (defective) verbs and their equivalents {to have or to
be followed by an infinitive), the non-perfect infinitive may also refer to a future action:
e.g. / must go and see him in a day or two. (Conrad)
May I come again? (Eliot)
The non-perfect continuous form of the infinitive shows an action in its progress
ні the time when the action expressed by the finite form of the verb takes place:
e.g. She seemed to be listening. (Galsworthy)
The perfect infinitive shows that the action expressed by the infinitive
precedes the action indicated by the finite form of the verb:
e.g. I ’m sorry to have been o f so little assistance. (Shaw)
In Ukrainian this form of the infinitive is often rendered by a finite form of a verb:
Шкода, що я так мало вам допоміг.
When the perfect infinitive is associated with a modal (defective) verb the
infinitive indicates:
1. the action that took place in the past; then the infinitive is equivalent to a past:
e.g. You must have been very tired if you went to bed so early (probably you
were very tired).
 72

2. the action which is already accomplished at a given moment and is viewed

from that moment; then it has the meaning of perfect (present perfect or past perferct):
e.g. Why doesn’t she come? She may not have arrived yet (perhaps she has
not yet arrived).
Let us go, it must have stopped raining (probably it has stopped raining).
The perfect continuous form of the infinitive shows the anterior duration of an
action still continuing; it is equivalent to a present or past perfect continuous:
e.g. We must have been walking for tM’o hours, let us have a rest (probably we
have been walking for two hours).
After the modal (defective) verbs should, could, ought, might (Subjunctive II)
and the past indicative of the verb to be (when used as a modal equivalent) the
perfect infinitive is used to show that an action considered desirable or planned was
not carried out (a rejected action):
e.g. You should have phoned me at once... (Gordon)
/ ought to have done it. (Locke)
After the past tense of verbs expressing hope, expectation, intention, the
perfect infinitive is used to indicate that the action was not carried out:
e.g. / meant (thought or intended) to have written a line to you.
I quite expected you to have been here before 6 o 'clock.
I intended to come leaves the question open as to whether or not the intention
wasfulfilled
The infinitive of transitive verbs has voice distinctions:
Active: to write, to have written
e.g. I ’m glad to hear you say so. (Bronte)
Passive: to be written, to have been written
e.g. There is only one thing to be done. (Cronin)

Voice Active Passive

Tense
Non-perfect to write to be written
Continuous to be writing
Perfect to have written to have been written
Perfect Continuous to have been writing
3. In common with the finite verb, the infinitive may have an object; if the
verb is transitive, the infinitive has a direct object:
e.g. He saw Irene come in, pick up the telegram, and read [t (Galsworthy)
4. The infinitive can be modified by an adverb:
e.g. I like to walk quickly.
§ 44. The Nominal Characteristics of the Infinitive
The infinitive has the following syntactical characteristics of a noun:
1. It may be used as a subject of a sentence:
e.g. To talk of those merry school days makes one young again (Dickens)
2. The infinitive may be used as a predicative:
e.g. Her plan was now to drive to Bath during the night (Hardy)
 His duty then was to go to the red pillarboxes and empty them.
3. It may have the function of an object:
c.g. She promised to take me with her.
§ 45. Functions of the Infinitive
The Infinitive as a Subject.
The infinitive functioning as a subject may have different positions in the
• ntence. Sometimes it precedes the predicate, as in:
c.g. To improve your phonetics is the main task ofyousr at the moment.
When the subject of the sentence is an infinitive phrase, it is sometimes placed after
«In- predicate. Then the sentence begins with the pronoun it, an introductory word called
iiu- anticipatory it: it is necessary to..., it is important to..., it is good (better) to..., it is
l;lil (worse) to..., it is useless to..., it is (of) no use to..., it is not much use to..., it is
little use to..., it is impossible to..., it is quite possible to..., it is quite natural (useless,
\trange, annoying, difficult) to..., it was hard to..., it gives him pleasure to..., it’s
dangerous to..., it’s wise o f him to..., it does people a lot o f good to..., it won't do you
any harm to..., it has become his habit to..., it surprised me to..., it made me feel
awkward to..., it is difficult to..., it is hard to..., it is easy to..., etc.:
e.g. It was pleasant to observe the fresh flowers in the room. (Dickens)
The second of these structural patterns is more common than the first one.
The infinitive subject in both structural patterns is a /o-infinitive. If there are
two or more homogeneous subjects in a sentence, all of them keep the particle to:
e.g. It was awfully difficult to do or even to say nothing at all. (Wells)
The function of the subject can be performed by the infinitive of any voice,
i .peel and perfect form, although the common aspect non-perfect active forms are
imlurally far more frequent.
Note: The predicate of the subject expressed by an infinitive always takes the
11>1111 of the 3rd person singular. As to its type, it’s usually a compound nominal
picdicate with a link verb to be, although other link verbs may also occur, as well
ns n verbal predicate:
e.g. To understand is to forgive.
To talk to him bored me.
The Infinitive as a Simple Nominal Predicate
The infinitive as a simple nominal predicate may be used in exclamatory
sentences expressing the speaker’s rejection of the idea that the person to whom the
.iction of the infinitive is ascribed is likely to perform this action, or belong to such
sort of people.
e.g. You - o f all men - to say such a thing!
Me - t o be a lier!
As a rule the infinitive in exclamatory sentences is used with the particle to,
although it occasionally occurs without it.
e.g. Me - marry him! Never.
The infinitive may be also used as predicate in interrogative infinitive why-
sentences, both affirmative and negative, where it expresses a suggestion,
e.g. Why not go away?
 74

The Infinitive as a Predicative

The infinitive is used in predicates of several types, both nominal and verbal.
In this function the to-infinitive is used in compound nominal predicates
after the link verb to be\
e.g. Her greatest joy was to receive letters every week and to write long replies.
(Gordon)
All I had now to do was to obey him in silence... (Bronte)
With homogeneous predicatives the use of the particle to varies. If the infinitives
are not linked by conjunctions, the particle is generally used with all of them:
e.g. My intention was to see her as soon as possible, to talk to her, to calm
her. (Hardy)
If they are linked by the conjunctions and or or the particle to is generally
used with the first infinitive only:
e.g. Your duty will be to teach him French and play with him. (Wells)
The use of the infinitive as a predicative has some peculiarities:
1. In sentences with an infinitive subject the predicative infinitive denotes an
action that follows, or results from, the action of the subject infinitive (sentences in
which both the infinitives are used without any modifiers are usually of aphoristic
meaning):
e.g. To see her was to admire her.
To see is to believe.
The predicative function is generally performed by the common non-perfect
active forms of the infinitive. Still passive forms sometimes occur:
e.g. To be born in poverty was to be doomed to humiliation. (Dickens)
2. The set of nouns that can function as the subject of a compound nominal
predicate with an infinitive predicative is very limited. It includes about 50 nouns
describing situations: action, advice, aim, ambition, attempt, business, consequence,
custom, desire, difficulty, duty, experience, function, habit, happiness, hope, idea,
ideal, instruction, intention, job, method, need, object, order, plan, principle,
problem, purpose, reason, risk, role, rule, task, thing, wish, etc
A predicative infinitive phrase may be introduced by the conjunctive adverbs
and pronouns how, when, where, what, what, the choice depending on the lexical
meaning of the noun:
e.g. Now the question was what to tell him.
3. The function of the subject may be also performed by the pronoun all or the
substantivized superlatives the most and the least with the attributive clause
attached to them:
e.g. The least I can expect is to have this day all to myself
In such cases the predicative infinitive can lose its marker to:
e.g. All I can do is get you out o f here.
4. Occasionally the function of the subject of a compound nominal predicate
with an infinitive predicative can be performed by a gerund or by a what-clause:
e.g. "What we want to do, " said Brady, “is to fight a world " (I lardy)
 75

The Infinitive as Part of a Compound Verbal Predicate

['he infinitive is used in compound verbal predicates of two types: a) in a
. impound verbal modal predicate; b) in a compound verbal aspect predicate.
I'he subjective infinitive is used as a part of a compound modal predicate in
і ninbination with:
1) modal verbs: can, may, must, ought, shall, should, will, would, need, dare
п ін і modal phrases to have to, to be to:
c.g. She must speak now or not at all. (Cronin)
Perhaps he ought to have answered her like that. (Joyce)
"Is there a stream where we could bathe? ” (Galsworthy)
2) verbs which do not express actions (or state) but denote modality (intention,
ddermination, desire, etc.): to intend, to try, tofail, to hope, to expect, to wish, etc.:
e.g. The child wanted to slip down from its mother’s lap on to the floor o f the
car... (Bennett)
"I d like to have a look at that part o f the world. ” (Galsworthy)
He wanted to tell her o f the incident.
3) the combinations to be obliged, to be compelled, to be willing, to be ready,
to he eager, etc. which have modal meaning:
e.g. / am eager to hear your story.
She is ready to help us.
All this time, I was deeply anxious to know what she was going to do with
me... (Dickens)
4) the construction to be going to..., which has often modal force (збиратись
щось зробити):
e.g. What are you going to do with it? (Galsworthy)
5) the following phraseological combinations: had better (best), had rather,
would rather, would sooner, would have which impart modality to the action
expressed by the infinitive:
e.g. “You d better go to bed, Phil; it's been a long day. ” (Green)
“I would rather not go. " (Bronte)
6) verbs and expressions used in the predicate of sentences containing the
subjective infinitive construction:
a) verbs of saying (to announce, to declare, to report, to say, to state), mental
activity (to believe, to consider, to expect, to find, to know, to mean, to presume, to
regard, to suppose, to think, to understand), sense perception (to feel, to hear, to see,
to watch), the verb to make. These transitive verbs are used in the passive voice forms.
e.g. They were seen to just touch each other's hands. (Galsworthy)
b) intransitive verbs (to seem, to appear, to prove, to turn out, to happen, to chance).
e.g. He thinks she’s a stenographer but she turns out to be a writer. (Fitzgerald)
c) phrases to be likely, to be unlikely, to be sure, to be certain. In this case
only the non-perfect forms of the infinitive are used, with future reference.
e.g. The fire is certain to produce a panic in the morning. (Dreiser)
All these verbs and phrases show the attitude of the speaker towards the
person or thing expressed by the subject. Here the /о-infinitive is always used.
 76

The infinitive forms part of a compound verbal aspect predicate with verbs
denoting the beginning or the duration of an action: to begin, to continue, etc. The
construction used to + infinitive and would + infinitive which express repeated
actions in the past also belong here:
e.g. She suddenly began to speak. (London)
I used to see you looking at theflowers and trees, and those ducks. (Galsworthy)
Notice the combination of the verb to come with the infinitive in which the
verb to come imparts perfective meaning to the action expressed by the infintive:
e.g. Soon after my mother's death, I came to know you. (Gaskell) (came to
know = спізнала)
At last the kettle came to boil. ( Dickens) (came to boil = закипів)
In a number of cases it is difficult to draw a hard and fast line of demarcation
between the function of the infinitive as an object and that of a part of a compound
verbal predicate.
The Infinitive as an Object
The infinitive can have the function of an object after verbs, adjectives,
adjectivized participles and statives.
After verbs the infinitive may be either the only object of a verb or one of two objects.
1. Verbs that take only one object are: to agree, to arrange, to attempt, to care (to
like), to choose, to claim, to consent, to decide, to deserve, to determine, to expect, to
fail, tofear, toforget, to hesitate, to hope, to intend, to learn, to like, to long, to love, to
manage, to mean, to neglect, to pmit, to plan, to prefer, to pretend, to refuse, to regret,
to remember, to swear, to tend, etc.
e.g. He likes to imagine this. (Dickens)
I f he wouldn 7 mind, I should love to come. (Maxwell)
Among these verbs two groups can be distinguished:
a) the verbs to claim, to fail, to forget, to hate, to like, to omit, to regret, to
remember, to swear, with which the perfect infinitive denotes actions prior to those
of the finite verbs. It can be accounted by the fact that semantically these verbs
denote an action or state following or resulting from that of the infinitive: I regret
to have said it to her; She claims to have seen him before; I remembered to have
met him once.
b) the verbs to attempt, to expect, to hope, to intend, to mean, to plan, to try,
when followed by the perfect infinitive imply that the action of the infinitive was
not fulfilled. In this case the finite verb can be used only in the past tense: I hoped
to have found him at home; He intended to have reached the coast long before.
Note: As most of these verbs denote an attitude to the action expressed by the
infinitive, the verb + infinitive may be treated as 1) as a verb t its object, or 2)
compound verbal modal predicate.
Besides the above-mentioned verbs there are also some rather common
phrases used with the infinitive-object. They are the phrases can afford, can bear
in the negative or interrogative and such phrases as to make sure, to make up one’s
mind, to take care, to take the trouble
e.g. He could not bear to hurt a fly. (Maugham)
 77

At last he made up his mind to answer Sibyl's letter. (Wilde)

2. Verbs that take two objects, the first of which is a noun in the common case or
i pronoun in the objective case (denoting a person (or, very seldom, a non-person)
who is to perform the required action) and the second an infinitive. These are the verbs
ol inducement; they all have the general meaning “to persuade, to cause to do
•■ninething”: to advise, to allow, to ask, to beg, to cause, to command, to compel, to
direct, to encourage, to forbid, to force, to have, to impel, to implore, to induce, to
Instruct, to invite, to leave, to let, to make, to order, to permit, to persuade, to
recommend, to request, to require, to tell, to urge.
e.g. 1 begged ... my aunt ...to protect me fo r my father’s sake. (Dickens)
She taught him to sit up at table and not put his elbows on it. (Maugham)
She begged to be excusedfrom having any dinner. (Maxwell)
With all these verbs, except to have, to let, to make, a fo-infinitive is used.
AIter the verbs to have, to let, to make it loses the particle to:
e.g. Her smile was friendly and it made you feel, that she was really pleased to
see you. (Christie)
The verb to help can be used either with one or with two objects:
e.g. She helped (to) pack.
She helped me (to) make up my mind.
For the complex object with some of the above verbs see “The objective with
the infinitive construction”.
With some verbs the function of an object may be performed by a conjunctive
infinitive phrase. These verbs are few in number and fall into two groups:
a) verbs that can take either an infinitive or a conjunctive infinitive phrase as
(heir object. These are: to advise, to decide, to forget, to learn, to remember.
e.g. They advised me to go on. - He advised me at last how to settle the matter.
He decided to begin at once. - He could not decide whether to come at all.
I forgot to tell you about the last incident. - 1 forgot how to do it.
b) verbs that can take only a conjunctive infinitive phrase as their object: to
know, to show, to wonder.
e.g. She did not know what to say.
Will you show me how to do it?
The infinitive can have the function of an object after certain adjectives
(adjectivized participles), mostly used as predicatives. Semantically and
structurally they fall into two groups.
1. The most frequent adjectives of the first group are: anxious, apt, bound, careful,
curious, determined, difficult, eager, easy, entitled, fit, free, hard, impadent, inclined,
interested, keen, liable, powerless, prepared, quick, ready, reluctant, resolved, set,
slow, worthy:
e.g. She s determined to go on.
I am powerless to do anything.
He's fully prepared to meet them any time they choose.
1 was so impatient to start.
 78

When used with these adjectives, the infinitive denotes actions either
simultaneous with, or posterior to; the states expresses by the predicates, and
cannot therefore be used in perfect forms.
2. The most frequent adjectives (adjectivized participles), of the second group are:
amused, annoyed, astonished, delighted, distressed, frightened, furious, glad, grateful,
happy, horrified, pleased, proud, puzzled, relieved, scared, sorry, surprised, thankful,
touched:
e.g. / was amused to hear it.
I'm delighted to see you again.
She is proud to have grown such a son.
These adjectives and participles express certain psychological states which are
the result of the action expressed by the infinitive object, so the latter therefore
always denotes an action slightly preceding the state expressed by the predicate,
and can have both non-perfect and perfect forms. The non-perfect forms are used to
express immediate priority, that is, an action immediately preceding the state:
e.g. I ’m glad to see you (1 see you and that is why I am glad).
The perfect forms are used to show that there is a gap between the action and
the resulting state:
e.g.la m glad to have seen you. (I saw/have seen you and that is why I am glad)
The infinitive can function as an object after certain statives denoting
psychological states, such as afraid, agog, ashamed:
e.g. He was ashamed to tell us this.
I d he afraid to step inside a house that Rupert had designed all by himself.
In such cases the infinitive points out the source of the state expressed by the
stative.
The infinitive used as an object can be preceded by the introductory object it.
The introductory object is not translated into Ukrainian:
e.g. He found it utterly impossible to leave the spot. (Hardy)
The Infinitive as an Attribute
The use of the infinitive as an attribute is far more extensive in English than in
Ukrainian: in Ukrainian it modifies only abstract nouns, whereas in English it can
modify:
1) both abstract (time, hope, desire, love, hate, etc.) and class nouns (apatient,
a doctor, a sportsman, a footballer, etc.).
e.g. 1 have not had time to examine this room yet. (Doyle)
She is not a woman to suffer in silence.
2) substantivized quantitative adjectives (much, little, a good deal, plenty, no
more, no less, little more, enough, etc.):
e.g. I t’s too much to lose.
3) indefinite and negative pronouns in -body, -thing, -one (somebody,
something, anybody, anything, etc.).
e.g. I have nobody to say a kind word to me. (Troppole)
Occasionally the infinitive can have the function of an attribute to personal
negative and reflexive pronouns or pronominal adverbs.
 79

e.g. Oh, but you have only yourself to praise. (Christie)

4) substantivized ordinal numerals (the first, the second, etc).
e.g. He was always the first to enter the dining-room and the last to leave it...
(Mansfield)
The Vaughans were the first to arrive. (Mazo de la Roche)
5) substantivized adjectives next and last,
e.g. He was the last to come.
6) the noun-substitute one.
e.g. I'm not the one to run about and discuss my affairs with other people.
(Christie)
When the infinitive is used as an attribute it often has modal force:
e.g. It is the only thing to do (that can be done).
I ’ll buy you some magazines to read on the journey (which you may read).
I have no time to lose (that I can lose). (Bronte)
The Ukrainian equivalent for this construction is a whole attributive clause
with a modal compound verbal predicate:
e.g. It is the chance not to be missed. - Це шанс, який не слід втрачати.
It is an article to be typed at once. - Це стаття, яку треба негайно
надрукувати.
The most common form of the infinitive functioning as an attribute is the non­
perfect common aspect active voice form and non-perfect common aspect passive
voice form.
When performing the function of an attribute a /о-infinitive is always used. If
there are two or more homogeneous attributes the second (and the following)
retains to if joined asyndetically, but drop it if joined by conjunctions:
e.g. There was, however, my little Jean to look after, to take care of. (Hardy)
Did he give you any small parcel to bring back and deliver to anyone in
England? (Christie)
An attributive infinitive often retains the preposition which is used in a
construction where the same verb is followed by an object or adverbial modifier:
e.g. The boy had no friends to care for, or to carefo r him. (Dickens)
The same with phraseological units {to have a chat with, to take care of, etc.)’,
e.g. The stout old lock-keeper, or his cheerful-looking wife, or bright-eyed
daughter, are pleasant folk to have a passing chat with. (Jerome).
The infinitive as an attribute may be introduced by conjunctive pronouns or adverbs,
e.g. He had sought in vain for inspiration how to awaken love. (Maugham)
I had now an idea what to do. (Christie)
The conjunctive infinitive phrase may be preceded by a preposition,
e.g. They had no knowledge of how to live on. (Hardy)
He's got no information about when to start. (Christie)
The Infinitive as an Adverbial Modifier
The infinitive can be used as an adverbial modifier of: purpose, subsequent
events, consequence, attendant circumstances, comparison, condition, exception,
 80

time, cause. In all these functions but that of the adverbial modifier of exception, a to-
infinitive is used.
1. The adverbial modifier of purpose. In this function the action denoted by
the infinitive is always hypothetical one following the action denoted by the
predicate. As such it can be expressed only by non-perfect common aspect forms of
the infinitive (both active and passive):
e.g. Young Jolyon rose and held his hand to help his father up. (Galsworthy).
We stood in the rain and were taken out one at a time to be questioned
and shot. (Hardy)
In this function a to-infinitive is used, but if there are two or more
homogeneous adverbials of purpose joined by and, usually, though not necessarily,
only the first of them has the particle to:
e.g. Mary, looking pale and worried, left him to go down to the kitchen and
start breakfast. (Dickens)
The position of the infinitive used as an adverbial modifier of purpose varies.
It usually stands after the predicate, though the position at the beginning of the
sentence is also possible:
e.g. To occupy her mind, however, she took the job given her. (Wells)
In both positions the infinitive of purpose may be preceded by the conjunction
in order to, so as or by limiting participle (just, only):
e.g. One had to pass through the scullery in order to get from the kitchen into
the yard. (Bennett)
Mother had kept back the dinner so as to have it just nicely ready and hot
for us. (Leacock)
He came down only to say good-night to you. (Dickens)
2. The adverbial modifier of subsequent events. In this function the
infinitive denotes an action that follows the one denoted by the predicate. The
position of this adverbial in the sentence is fixed - it always follows the predicate.
The only forms of the infinitive occurring in this function are those of the non­
perfect common aspect, usually active:
e.g. He arrived at three o 'clock to hear that Fleur had gone with the car at ten.
(Hardy) (He arrived and heard...)
He hurried to the house only tofind it empty. (Christie) (He hurried and found...)
In this function the infinitive may be preceded by the particles only, merely,
simply, which change the meaning of the whole sentence: the action denoted by the
infinitive preceded by these particles makes the action denoted by the predicate
pointless or irrelevant:
e.g. She returned to London in a few days, only to learn that Bess had gone to
the continent. (Christie)
3. The adverbial modifier of consequence. In this function the infinitive
depends on a) adjectives and adverbs modified by too; b) adjectives, adverbs and nouns
modified by enough; c) adjectives modified by so, and nouns modified by such. In the
last two cases the infinitive is introduced by as:
e.g. He was too tired to argue. (= He was so tired, that is why he couldn’t argue.)
The story was too interesting to be passed over lightly.
 81

It was too dark to distinguish anything. (Lawrence)

H e’s old enough to learn this. (= He is old enough, so he can learn this.)
I thought I liked Letty well enough to marry her. (= I liked Letty, so I
wanted to marry her.)
He was fool enough to enjoy the game.
She was so kind as to accept my proposal. (= She was so kind, therefore
she accepted my proposa.l)
Do you think 1 am such a fool as to let it out o f my hands?
In all these cases the infinitive denotes an action, which would become or
became possible (enough, so, such) or impossible (too) due to the degree of quality
Or quantity expressed in the words it refers to.
The position of the infinitive is fixed, it always follows the words it modifies.
I he form of the infinitive is non-perfect, common aspect, active or passive.
4. The adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances. The infinitive used
m this function shows what other actions take place at the same time as the action
of the predicate. In this function the infinitive is sometimes preceded by the adverb
never or particle only:
e.g. She was driven away, never to revisit this neighborhood. (Bronte)
I am sorry to have raised your expectations, Mr. Blake, only to disappoint
them. (Collins)
The infinitive thus used always follows the predicate verb it modifies. As to its
form, it is non-perfect, common aspect, active and passive voice forms.
Note: Some grammarians maintain that in sentences of this type the infinitive
performs the function of an adverbial modifier of result (consequence).
5. The adverbial modifier of comparison. The infinitive used in this function
refers to predicate groups including adjectives or adverbs in the comparative degree. In
Ibis case it is introduced by than:
e.g. To give is more blessed than to receive. (Hardy)
Soon she realized, that it way much more pleasant to give than to be given.
(Wells)
In this function the infinitive can also be introduced by the conjunction as i f or
as though:
e.g. She nervously moved her hand toward his lips as i f to stop him ... (Dickens)
Although the infinitive of comparison is generally used with to, it may also
occur without it:
e.g. I was more inclined to see her safely married than go on watching over
her. (Hardy)
6. The adverbial modifier of condition. The infinitive used in this function
denotes an action which pre-conditions the action expressed by the predicate. The
conditional meaning is often, although not necessarily, supported by the
subjunctive mood form of the predicate denoting the consequence of this condition.
e.g. To look at Montmorency you would imagine that he was an angel sent
upon earth. (Dickens) {Ifyou looked..., you would imagine...).
To touch it one would believe that it was the best o f furs. (Christie) {If one
touched it, one would believe...)
 The position of this infinitive variés; it may either precede or follow the
predicate verb it modifies. The only possible form of the infinitive is the non­
perfect, common aspect, active voice form.
7. The adverbial modifier of exception. The infinitive used as an adverbial
modifier of exception denotes an action which is the only possible one in the
situation. The infinitive is generally used without to and is introduced by the
prepositions but and except. It is found in negative and interrogative sentences:
e.g. I had nothing to do but wait. (Segal)
There is nothing to do except turn back. (Segal)
8. The adverbial modifier of time. The infinitive used in this function
denotes an action which marks out the moment of time up to which or at which the
action of the predicate is performed. Very often it has a secondary meaning of
condition.
e.g. His father lived to be ninety. (Hardy) (lived till he was...)
Go away! I shudder to see you here. (Segal) {I shudder when I see...)
The position of the infinitive is fixed, it always follows the predicate it
modifies. Its form is non-perfect, common aspect, active.
9. The adverbial modifier of cause. The infinitive used as an adverbial
modifier of cause refers to a compound nominal predicate with the predicative
expressed by an adjective, a noun, or a prepositional phrase denoting someone’s
qualities (intellectual qualities, morals).
The infinitive denotes an action which serves as a cause on which this or that
characterization is based.
e.g. She was silly to come here. (Hardy) (She came here, and it was silly of her.)
They are out o f their minds to have sent you here! (Christie) (They have
sent you here, so one can think them out of their minds.)
The infinitive in this function follows the predicate. All the forms of the
infinitive are possible.
The Infinitive as Parenthesis
The infinitive used as parenthesis is usually part of a collocation, as in: to
begin with, to be (quite) frank, to be sure, to make matters worse, to put it mildly,
to say the least, to tell the truth, needless to say, strange to say, so to speak, to
make a long story short, to crown all, to be more precise, to say nothing o f..., etc.
e.g. Well, to cut a long story short, they thought it would be more economical
to live at the villa. (Maugham)
To speak the truth, I have been a little troubled, but it is over. (Dickens)
To put it mildly, it's good for nothing.
Infinitive Phrases
Infinitive phrases introduced by conjunctive adverbs (when, where, why,
how), conjunctive pronouns (who, what, which) and by the conjunction whether,
are used in the sentence as subject, object or attribute:
e.g. What to do was beyond him. (Dreiser)
 83

The infinitive also forms parenthetical phrases (phraseological/set expressions)

iich as: to tell the truth, to be sure, to be quite plain, to be more precise, to cut a
long story short, etc.:
e.g. To speak truth, sir, I don't understand it at all... (Bronte.)
To cut a long story short, l ’m leaving.
Infinitive Sentences
Infinitive sentences are usually one-member sentences in which the principal
part is expressed by an infinitive. Infinitive sentences may be declarative or
interrogative and, being always emotionally coloured, are usually exclamatory. The
Infinitive in this type of sentence is used either with the particle to or without it:
e.g. Leave grass like this! ...Leave his job before it had begun! (Galsworthy)
How tell him! (Galsworthy)
To be lonely and grow older and older yearning for a soul to speak to!
(Galsworthy)
Sometimes the subject of the infinitive is expressed by a pronoun (or noun),
then the infinitive sentence is a two-member sentence, the infinitive having the
function of the predicate:
e.g. His son, his eldest son, descend to this! (Norris)
§ 46. The Infinitive Constructions
The infinitive is used in predicative constructions of three types: the objective
with the infinitive construction, the subjective infinitive construction and for-
to-infinitive construction. Traditionally they are called the complex object, the
complex subject, and for-to-infinitive complex.
§ 47. The Objective Infinitive Construction
Some transitive verbs are followed by an object (a noun in the common case or
a pronoun in the objective case) with the infinitive attached to it:
e.g. I see the boy (him) run.
The relation between the noun (or pronoun) and the infinitive is similar to that
of subject and predicate. In this function the infinitive may be called “a secondary
predicate” (другорядний предикат) and the noun or pronoun “a secondary
subject” (другорядний суб’єкт).
Thus in the sentence I see the boy (him) run two things are predicated: the first
predication (предикація) is made about the subject of the sentence / and is
expressed by the predicate of the sentence see, a verb in the finite form; the second
predication refers to the object of the sentence boy (him) and is expressed by a
secondary predicate - the infinitive run. The two elements - boy and run - are
closely connected and form syntactically a complex object. What I see is the boy in
the process o f running. (= що хлопчик біжить). This construction is called the
objective with the infinitive construction.
The objective infinitive construction is used in the following cases:
1. After verbs of sense perception and observation {to hear, to feel, to see,
to notice, to observe, to watch and some others). In this case the only possible form
of the infinitive is the non-perfect common aspect active voice form, used without
particle to:
 84

e.g. I felt him take hold o f my arm.

"I ’m glad to hear you say so. " (Bronte)
He heard a blackbird sing. (Galsworthy)
The verb to listen to, though not a verb of sense perception, is used in the same
way, with a bare infinitive:
e.g. He was listening attentively to the chairman speak.
Note: If the verb to see or to notice is used with the meaning to realize, or the
verb to hear with the meaning to learn, the objective with the infinitive
construction cannot be used. Here only subordinate clause is possible:
e.g. I hear you have had a wonderful trip. (Hemingway)
2. After verbs of mental activity (to expect, to know, to believe, to deny, to
prove, to consider, to think, to understand, to suppose and some others/ In this
case in the objective with the infinitive construction the verb to be is generally
used. (This restriction does not apply to the verb to expect). Here the infinitive is
used in any form, though the non-peirfect forms are the most frequent (always with
the particle to):
e.g. I know you to be the most honest, spotless creature that ever lived. (Hardy)
I believe him to have no conscience at all. (Hardy)
We expect you to help us.
The use of this construction after most verbs of mental activity is more
characteristic of literary than of colloquial style.
Note: With the verbs to think, to consider, to find the same idea can be
expressed without an infinitive:
e.g. Boldwood thought her beautiful. (Hardy)
She found the subject rather interesting. (Dickens)
3. After verbs of emotion (to like, to love, to hate, to dislike and some others).
Here non-perfect, common aspect forms of the “to”-infinitive are most usual:
e.g. I hate him to behave like that.
I cannot bear you to speak o f that. (Eliot)
4. After verbs of wish and intention (to want, to wish, to desire, to intend, to
mean and some others). After these verbs only non-perfect common aspect forms
of the infinitive with particle to are used:
e.g. Do you wish me to be at home earlier? (Bronte)
I want you to come and dine with me. (Dickens)
Also with the expressions I won 7 have..., would you have ..?
e.g. Would you have me wait? (Voynich)
/ won 7 have you do such things. (Hardy)
5. After verbs of declaring (to declare, to pronounce, to report). Here non­
perfect and perfect common aspect forms of the to-infinitivc are most usual:
e.g. I declare you to be out o f your mind. (Hardy)
Note: If the action of the finite verb and that of the infinitive refer to the same
person or thing a corresponding reflexive pronoun must be used
e.g. Slowly, economically, he got dressed andforced himself to walk. (Lawrence)
6. After verbs of permission, request, intention, order, compulsion (to
allow, to permit, to order, to command, to compel, to force, to cause, to make, to
 85

induce, to persuade, to request, to get, to mean, to intend, and some others) The
verbs to have, to make and to let take a bare infinitive,
e.g. He ordered the cabman to drive on. (London)
I hope you 'll have him sign the papers. (Hardy)
She caused a telegram to be sent to him. (Galsworthy)
7. The objective with the infinitive construction also occurs after certain verbs
requiring a prepositional object (to count (up)on, to rely (up)on, to look for, to
listen to, to wait for):
e.g. Can I count upon you to help me?
I rely upon you not to go over to the opposition. (Dickens)
She lay motionless, listening to the telephone ringfor several minutes. (Caldwell)
Ways of translating the objective
with the infinitive construction into Ukrainian.
The construction is translated into Ukrainian mainly by an object clause where
the subject corresponds to the nominal element and the predicate - to the infinitive.
The Ukrainian object clause may be introduced by the conjunctions що, як, щоб.
After the verbs to hear, to see, to watch in translation into Ukrainian the object
clause is introduced by the conjunction як - чути, як; бачити, як. After the verb
to notice the objective with the infinitive construction is usually translated by an
object clause introduced by the conjunction що - помітити, що:
e.g. But right now he wanted her to stop crying. - Але зараз він хотів, щоб
вона перестала плакати.
Не stood where he was and watched her go. - Він стояв не рухаючись, і
дивився, як вона йшла геть.
Не noticed the girl steal into the room. - Він помітив, що дівчина
прокралась в кімнату.
After the verbs to make, to cause, to get, to compel, to force, to have (the so-
called causative verbs) the objective with the infinitive construction is rendered into
Ukrainian by a noun (a pronoun) in the accusative case and an infinitive (if the
infinitive in English construction is in the active voice):
e.g. He made me wait. —Він примусив мене чекати.
The circumstances forced him to leave the town. - Обставини примусили
його поїхати з міста.
But: Не ordered the doors to be locked. - Він наказав, щоб двері були зачинені.
In some cases due to the context there may be different lexical ways of
rendering the construction into Ukrainian, especially after the verb to make:
e.g. What makes you think so? - Чому ти так думаєш?
Jack made Aliena laugh. - Джек розсмішив Аліну.
They made her burn with shame. - Через них вона горіла від сорому.
§ 48. The Subjective with the Infinitive Construction
The subjective infinitive construction (or traditionally the nominative with
the infinitive construction) consists of a nominal element - a noun in the common
case or a pronoun in the nominative case, and a verbal element - an infinitive
 86

wliich denotes a state or an action performed by a person or ribn-persbn'expressed

by the nominal element.
The subjective infinitive construction is used in the following cases:
1. With verbs expressing permission, request, intention, order, compulsion
(to allow, to permit, to let, to suffer, to order, to command, to compel, to force, to
cause, to make, to induce, to persuade, to request, to get, to mean, to intend and
some others). When used in the passive voice the verbs to make and to let are
followed by a to-infmitive:
e.g. He must be made not to tell the truth.
2. With verbs of sense perception and observation (to hear, to feel, to see, to
notice, to observe, to watch and some others): When in the passive form these
verbs are followed by a to-infmitive. With this construction they express the idea of
evidence of some fact. Here also belong some other verbs which in the passive
voice express the idea of evidence (to find, to discover):
e.g. They were seen to leave the house early in the morning. (Hardy)
The door bell was heard to ring. (Lawrence)
3. With verbs of mental perceptions (to expect, to know, to believe, to deny,
to prove and some others). All of them express some kind of expectation, of
opinion or of attitude to the action expressed by the infinitive. With the verb to
expect the infinitive in this construction can refer to the future:
e.g. He is supposed to take part in this conference.
4. With verbs of saying and reporting (to say, to report, to declare and some
others). They denote different kinds of judgement or comment on the action (state)
expressed by the infinitive.
e.g. Your mother is said to know two foreign languages.
These islands are said to have been discovered as early as 1762... (Poe).
5. With such verbs as to seem, to appear, to happen, to prove, to chance, to
turn out. Here the predicate is in the active voice.
e.g. She turns out to know French.
She turned out to have been here before.
Our letters happened not to have been received.
6. Also with some modal phrases to be sure, to be certain, to be likely, to be
unlikely. With these modal phrases the infinitive denotes an action referring to the
future, so they cannot be followed by a perfect infinitive with reference to the past:
e.g. He appears to be very strong. (Dickens)
He is sure to come back. (Doyle).
The subjective infinitive construction is usually rendered in Ukrainian by a
subordinate object clause depending on a principal clause with an indefinite subject implied
(неозначено-особове речення), such as говорять, повідомляють, чекають, etc.:
e.g. He is said to be very ill. - Кажуть, що він дуже хворий.
She was not expected to reply, but she did - He чекали, що вона відповість,
але вона відповіла.
Sentences with modal phrases to be sure (certain, likely, unlikely) are rendered
in Ukrainian by a simple sentence with a modal word:
e.g. He is sure to come. - Він обоє 'язково прийде.
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§ 49. The for-to-Infinitive Construction

In the for-to-infmitive construction the infinitive (usually an infinitive
phrase) is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the
objective case introduced by the preposition for (that explains the name of the
construction). The construction is used where the doer of the action (or the bearer
of the state), expressed by the infinitive, is different from that of the finite verb (the
predicate):
e.g. It is necessary for you to go there.
It is high time for them to return..
The for-to-infinitive construction has the same functions as a single infinitive,
though with some restrictions.
1. Subject. The for-to-infinitive construction in this function occurs in
sentences with the introductory it, though it is occasionally placed at the head of
the sentence:
e.g. For you to come here is impossible... (Galsworthy)
I t ’s extremely funny fo r me to be consoling you. (Snow)
2. Predicative or part of a predicative. In this function the construction is
mostly used with link verb to be:
e.g. Then the best thing will be for me to go home and settle everything now... ”
(Voynich)
That is fo r me to decide, isn 't it? " (Doyle)
The house was easy fo r us to find.
3. A complex object. The construction functions as object of both verbs and
adjectives:
e.g. She had wanted to wait fo r the moon to rise... (Galsworthy)
4. A complex attribute:
e.g. Eppie was a suitable childfo r them to take into their home. (Eliot)
There was milk in the ice-chest fo r her to drink ... (Cusack)
5. A complex adverbial modifier of purpose and consequence. In the function
of the adverbial modifier of consequence the construction is chiefly preceded by
either the adverb enough or the adverb too-.
e.g. I left something under your door fo r you to read it. (Carter)
Butfive minutes was enoughfor them to understand one another. (Cronin)
His home was too fa r west fo r anyone to come to meet him. (Cusack)
The for-to-infinitive construction is translated into Ukrainian by either a
subordinate clause or an infinitive:
e.g. For Mother to ask Philip for mercy meant that she was upset. - Те, що мама
просила співчуття у Філіпа, означало, що вона була засмучена.
It is useless for me to interfere. - Мені не варто втручатися.
That was for you to do. - Саме ти повинен був це робити.
The house was easyfor us tofind - Нам було легко знайти цей будинок.
She didn 7 care fo r this to happen. - Вона не хотіла, щоб це сталось.
They are anxious fo r their son to enter the University. - Вони дуже
хочуть, щоб їх син вступив до університету.
 There were no chance fo r her to find a good job. - У неї не було шансу
знайти хорошу роботу.
The best thing for you to do is to confess. - Найкраще, що ти можеш
зробити, - це зізнатися
Не has done enough fo r me to hate him. - Він зробив досить, щоб я
зненавиділа його.
The car is big enough fo r six people to ride in. - Машина достатньо
велика, щоб в ній могло їхати шестеро чоловік.
They spoke too fast fo r us to understand. - Вони говорили так швидко,
що ми не могли їх зрозуміти.
§ SO. The Gerund
The gerund is a descendant of the Old English verbal noun and the present
participle; hence its double nature and its noun and verb characteristics.

§ 51. The Verbal Characteristics of the Gerund

The gerund has the following verb-characteristics:
1. The gerund has tense and voice distinctions (see the table below).
~-~-~-~_Voice Active Passive
Tense ~~~~—
Non-perfect writing being written
Perfect having written having been written
As we see, it has tense forms - non-perfect and perfect. The tenses of the
gerund comprise relative time indication.
The non-perfect gerund expresses the action which is simultaneous with the
action of the finite form of the verb in the sentence:
e.g..... she enjoyed sitting in the sun... (Harraden)
/ way tired o f reading and dead sleepy... (Dickens)
The non-perfect gerund may also refer to the future when it depends on such
verbs as to intend, to insist, etc. :
e.g. I intend going there to-morrow.
She insists on starting at six o 'clock.
I rely on his doing it properly.
The perfect gerund indicates that the action of the gerund precedes the action
of the finite verb in the sentence:
e.g. He did not remember ever having seen her in black. (Galsworthy)
He was conscious o f having acted very fairy... (Eliot)
The non-perfect gerund is commonly used instead of the perfect gerund after
the prepositions on (upon) and after because the meaning of the preposition itself
indicates that the action of the gerund precedes that of the finite verb:
e.g. ...my mother, after vainly trying to restrain herself, began to cry (Dickens)
But the perfect gerund may also be found after on and after
e.g. My bed at night way under another haystack, where / rested comfortably,
after having washed my blistered feet in a stream, and dressed them as
well as 1 was able, with some coo! leaves. (Dickens)
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The non-perfect gerund is also often used after the verb to remember to
Indicate an action prior to the action of the finite verb:
e.g. ... I can still remember running down the sandhills in the morning. (Cusack)
But also: He did not remember ever having been in that room. (Galsworthy)
The gerund of transitive verbs expresses voice:
e.g. The rain showed no sign o f stopping. (Maugham)
The need o f being loved, the strongest need in poor Maggie's nature,
began to wrestle with her pride... (Eliot)
As the passive voice is of later development, we still find in Modem English
instances when the active form of the gerund is passive in meaning; those
constructions are survivals of the time when one and the same form was used with
active and passive meaning.
The gerund is always used in the active form with passive meaning after the
verbs to need, to want, to require, to deserve; also after the adjective worth:
e.g. The car needs repairing (=being repaired).
The house wants painting. (Galsworthy)
2. In common with the finite forms of the verb, the gerund is modified by an adverb:
e.g. John had a passion fo r birds, and an aptitude for sitting very still to watch
them... (Galsworthy)
3. It may have an object; if the verb is transitive, it has a direct object:
e.g. She began clipping the flowers and arranging them in a vase. (Voynich)
After talking to us fo r a moment he left. (Cronin)
§ 52. The Nominal Characteristics of the Gerund
As a noun, the gerund is used as a subject, object (direct or prepositional) and
ii predicative of the sentence. When used as an attribute or adverbial modifier, the
gerund also clearly shows its nominal character, it is always preceded by a
preposition, which is a formal mark if the noun:
e.g. Smoking is forbidden here, (subject)
She enjoyed sitting in the sun... (Harraden) (direct object)
“Excuse me fo r interrupting you. (prepositional object)
She has a habit o f interrupting people, (attribute)
On coming home she went to bed at once, (adverbial modifier)
Your duty is cleaning the fla t (predicative)
§ 53. The Functions of the Gerund
The gerund can perform any syntactical function performed by a noun,
although in each case it has peculiarities of its own. It may function:
1) alone:
e.g. I like driving;
2) as the headword of a gerundial phrase (consisting of a gerund as headword
and one or more words depending on it):
e.g. / like playing the piano;
3) as a part of a gerundial predicative construction (containing some nominal
element and the gerund itself with or without some other words depending on it):
e.g. I like John’s (his) playing the piano.
 90 '

The Gerund as a Subject

As a rule the gerund as a subject stands in front position,
e.g. Swimming against the current was difficult.
Learning rules without examples is useless.
When the subject of the sentence is a gerundial phrase, it is sometimes placed
after the predicate. Then the sentence begins with the anticipatory it, the meaning
of the subject is accentuated and the predicate is a phrase such as to he (of) no use
(no good, useless), to make all the (no) difference.
e.g. It had been just splendid meeting you here. (Galsworthy)
It was no good worrying. (Galsworthy)
Note: Tbe gerund may be used as a subject in sentences with the introductory
there. In this case the gerund is preceded by the negative pronoun no. Such
sentences are usually emphatic.
e.g. There’s no denying the fact, he says... (Jerome.)
The Gerund as a Predicative
In this function the gerund may express either state or identity. In the second
case the predicative of identity reveals the meaning of the subject,
e.g. Her first job was getting her tea. (Cusack.)
I don't feel like going fo r a walk.
The Gerund as Part of Compound Verbal Predicates
With verbs and verbal phrases denoting modality (to intend, to try, to attempt,
and with can’t help) the gerund forms part of a compound verbal modal predicate:
e.g. We intended going to Switzerland, and climbing Mount Blanc. (Bronte)
Joseph could not help admiring the man. (Heym)
With verbs denoting the beginning, the duration, or the end of an action (to begin,
to burst out, to start, to continue, to go on, to keep on, to finish, to stop, to give up, to
leave off, to cease) the gerund forms a part of a compound verbal aspect predicate:
e.g. A cuckoo began callingfrom a thorn tree. (Galsworthy)
She went on sketching, I went on thinking. (Bronte)
He looked up and burst out laughing. (Voynich)
Note: The verbs to begin, to start, to continue may also be followed by the
infinitive. When to stop is followed by the infinitive, the latter has the function of
an adverbial modifier of purpose:
e.g. He put down the flowers and stopped to pat the dog. (Voynich.)
The Gerund as a Direct Object
In this function the gerund follows a number of monotransitive verbs, some of
which take only the gerund (to admit, to appreciate, to avoid, to deny, to detest, to
enjoy, to excuse, to fancy, to imagine, to mention, to mind, to miss ,to need, to
postpone, to practise, to put off, to recollect, to resent, to resist, to risk, to suggest,
to understand), while others may be followed either by gerund or by the infinitive
(to like, to dislike, to have, to plan, to prefer, to forget, to remember, to regret,
can’t bear, can’t afford).
e.g. Avoid making mistakes.
 91

This bookshelf needs mending.

Excuse my interrupting you.
She preferred staying (or to stay) at home on such a wet day.
She neglected tidying (or to tidy) her room.
I forget doing it (= that I did it).
Iforget to do it (= that I must do it).
1 remember going there (= that / went there).
I remember to go there (= that I must go there).
...she enjoyed sitting in the sun... (Harraden)
The gerund may function as an object to the adjectives busy, worth:
Ada was busy writing... (Dickens)
The Gerund as a Prepositional Object
In this function the gerund may follow:
a) monotransitive prepositional verbs (to agree to, to consist in, to devote to,
to hear of, to insist on, to learn of, to think of, to persist in, to count on, to depend
on, to rely on, to succeed in, to look forward to, to object to).
e.g. My parents insist on my staying there.
I object to your going there today.
Much depends on your coming in time.
b) ditransitive verbs taking a direct and a prepositional object (to accuse of, to
suspect of, to prevent from, tp stop from, to assist in, to help in, to thank for, to
blame for, to praise for, to punish for, to sentence for, to have difficulty in, to
congratulate on).
e.g. / had no difficulty in remembering which track to take. (Hartley)
c) adjectives and statives (to be afraid of, to be aware of, to be conscious of,
to be capable of, to be fo n d of, to be ignorant of, to be proud of, to be sure of, to
be responsible for, to be sorry about, to be keen on).
e.g. He was afraid o f being noticed.
d) participle II, generally used as a predicative (to be accustomed to, to be
used to, to be absorbed in, to be engrossed in, to be (dis)pleased with, to be
surprised at, to be tired o f.
e.g. He was surprised at my being late.
The Gerund as an Attribute
In this function the gerund modifies nouns, mainly abstract ones. It is always
preceded by a preposition. In the majority of cases it is the preposition o f (chance
of, custom of, fear of, feeling of, gift of, habit of, hope of, idea of, importance of,
intention of, manner of, means of, method of, necessity of, pleasure of, possibility
of, problem of, right of, risk of, sign of, sound of, trouble of, way of, etc).
e.g. We have no chance o f seeing him today. (Dickens)
In some cases the choice of the preposition depends on the req uirements of the
modified noun (apology for, excuse for, explanation for, instruction for, plan for,
preparation for, reason for; difficulty in, experience in, harm in, interest in,
sense in, skill in, use in; astonishment at, disappointment at, surprise at).
 92

When it modifies an abstract noun, the gerund is often used to reveal its
meaning, expressing the same notion in a more detailed way. In this case the
gerund functions as a particular kind of attribute, called apposition. Thus in: There
is a chance o f finding him at home the gerundial phrase explains what the chance
consists in.
When a gerund modifies a concrete noun it is preceded by the preposition for
and the whole gerundial phrase as attribute expresses the purpose or destination of
the thing mentioned: The barometer is an instrument fo r measuring the pressure
o f the air.
The Gerund as an Adverbial Modifier
As an adverbial modifier the gerund is always used with a preposition. Owing
to the variety of prepositions which may precede the gerund in this function, it may
have different meanings.
1. The adverbial modifier of time.
In this function the gerund may characterize the main verb ffom the point of
view of priority, simultaneity, or posteriority. It may also indicate the starting
point of the action. The prepositions used are on, after, in, at, before, since.
e.g. On arriving at the hotel he phoned her.
Think everything over before answering.
2. The adverbial modifier of reason (cause).
As the adverbial modifier of cause the gerund is introduced by the prepositions
because of, for, from, fo r fear of, on account of, owing to, through.
e.g. Ifeel the better myselffo r having spent a good deal of my time abroad. (Eliot)
He was sitting motionlesslyfo r fear o f waking her.
3. The adverbial modifier of manner.
In this function the gerund generally occurs with the prepositions by, in or without.
e.g. She improved her pronunciation by reading aloud.
4. The adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances.
In this function the gerund requires the preposition without, besides, instead of.
e.g. He left without saying “good-bye”.
3. The adverbial modifier of concession.
As the adverbial modifier of concession the gerund is preceded by the
preposition in spite of.
e.g. In spite of learning lessonsshe went for a walk.
6. The adverbial modifier of condition.
While performing this function the gerund takes the prepositions without, but
for, in case of.
e.g. He has no right to come bothering you and papa without being invited. (Shaw)
In case o f being invited I 'll accept the invitation.
7. The adverbial modifier of purpose.
In this function the gerund is introduced by the preposition for, though this
pattern is rather rare.
e.g. ... one side of the gallery was usedfo r dancing. (Eliot)
 93

The above examples show that the gerund preceded by one and the same
preposition may be used in different functions: with the preposition without it may
perform the function of an adverbial modifier of manner, attendant circumstances
and of condition; with the preposition in it may perform the function of an
adverbial modifier of time and manner; with the preposition fo r it may perform the
function of and adverbial modifier of reason and purpose. The most common
functions of the gerund are those of adverbial modifier of time, manner, and
attendant circumstances.
§ 54. Predicative Constructions with the Gerund
Like all the verbals the gerund can form predicative constructions, i.e.
constructions in which the verbal element expressed by the gerund is in predicate
relation to the nominal element expressed by a noun or pronoun. The nominal
element of the construction can be expressed in different ways.
1. If it denotes a living being it may be expressed:
a) by a noun in the genetive (possessive) case or by a possessive pronoun.
e.g. Do you mind my smoking (Hardy)
/ don't object to Helen’s going there.
b) by a noun in the common case.
e.g. / remember my brother-in-law going for a short sea trip once for the
benefit o f his health. (Jerome)
Note: In Modem English there are two parallel constructions of the type:
Fancy David’s courting Emily! and Fancy David courting Emily! They may be
used indifferently, but sometimes there is a slight difference in meaning: in the first
example the action (the verbal element of the construction) is emphasized, whereas
in the second the doer of the action (the nominal element of the construction) is
emphasized.
2. If the nominal element of the construction denotes a lifeless thing, it is
expressed by a noun in the common case (such nouns, as a rule, are not used in the
genetive case) or by a possessive pronoun.
e.g. / said something about my clock being slow. (Du Maurier)
Peggotty spoke o f my room, and o f its being ready for me. (Dickens)
3. The nominal element of the construction can also be expressed by a pronoun
which has no case distinctions, such as all, this, that, both, each, something.
e.g. Again Michael ... was conscious o f something deep and private stirring
within himself.
Gerundial constructions may have the function of a complex subject,
predicative, object, attribute or adverbial modifier (since the functions of these
constructions are identical with those of a single gerund and gerundial phrases we
shall not treat them separately).
e.g. Jim ’s coming to that fishing village was a blessing... (Conrad) (complex
subject)
Will you excuse my being late? (complex object)
There was little likelihood o f his meeting anybody at that time. (Joyce)
(complex attribute)
 94

How did you get out withoutKis seettigyou? (Voynich) (complex adverbial
modifier) it:>
A gerundial construction used as subject is often introduced by an anticipatory it:
e.g. It is not worth while your going there today.
I t ’s not much good my coming, is it?
§ 55. Rendering of the Gerund into Ukrainian
The gerund may be rendered in Ukrainian by an infinitive, a noun, or a
whole subordinate clause:
e.g. They got into the habit o f going to the cinema together. Вони звикли
ходити разом у кіно.
Learning rules without examples is useless. - Заучування правил
(заучувати правила) без прикладів - марна робота.
Don't you remember meeting me in Lviv? - Хіба ви не пам ’ятаєте, що
зустрічали мене у Львові?
When the gerund is used as an adverbial modifier it is often rendered in
Ukrainian by “дієприслівник”.
e.g. On returning home I .van- the doctor there. - Повернувшись додому, я
побачив у себе лікаря.
Complexes with the gerund are usually rendered in Ukrainian by whole
subordinate clauses, introduced by me, що; тим, що; як; після того, як, etc.
e.g. You may rely on my setting matters right. - Ви можете розраховувати
на те, що я все владнаю.
Excuse ту interrupting you. - Пробачте, що я вас перебиваю.
I insist on your going there immediately. - Я наполягаю на тому, щоб
ви пішли туди негайно.
You will discuss it after my leaving. - Ви це обговорите після того, як я піду.
§ 56. The Gerund and the Infinitive (compared)
The gerund and the infinitive have much in common since they both have
some nominal and some verbal features. However, in the infinitive the verbal
nature is more prominent, whereas in the gerund the nominal one.
The basic difference in their meaning is that the gerund is more general,
whereas the infinitive is more specific and more bound to some particular occasion.
When they combine with the same verb the difference in their meaning is
considerable.
1. With the verbs to like, to hate, to prefer the gerund expresses a more
general or a habitual action, the infinitive a specific single action.
e.g. I like swimming (I amfond ofswimming). -Ishouldn t like to swim in this lake.
I hate interrupting people. - I hate to interrupt you, but l have to.
They prefer staying indoors when the weather is cold I'd prefer to stay
at home in this cold weather.
2. With the verbs to begin and to start either form may be used, but the gerund
is preferable when the action is more general.
e.g. She began singing when a child - She went over to the piano and began to sing.
Note: No gerund is used:
 95

a) when the finite verb is in the continuous form:

e.g. He is beginning to study French;
b) with the verbs to understand and to see (meaning to understand):
e.g. He began to understand how it was' done;
c) when the subject denotes a thing, not a living being:
e.g. The doors began to creak.
3. The verb to remember is followed by a gerund when it means to recall, to
keep in one’s memory some past event, and by an infinitive when it suggests the
working o f one’s memory and accordingly refers to a simultaneous action.
e.g. I remember posting the letters {having posted the letters). - 1 remembered
to post the letters (/ didn 'tforget to post the letters. I did post them).
The same refers to the verb to forget.
e.g. I shall never forget hearing him (having heard). - 1 didn 't forget to post
the letters (/ did post them).
4. The verb to regret is followed by the gerund to suggest priority, whereas the
infinitive suggests a simultaneous action.
e.g. I regret not having worked harder at a language as a boy. - I regret to
inform you.
I regret following {having followed) his advice. - I regret to have to inform
you.
5. After the verb to stop the gerund is used when it suggests the end of the action
denoted by the gerund, whereas the infinitive is used as an adverbial of purpose.
e.g. 1 stopped talking (and resumed reading). - 1 stopped to talk to a friend of
mine {stopped in order to talk).
6. The phrasal verb to go on with a gerund suggests the continuation of the
action denoted by the gerund and forms part of a compound verbal predicate; an
infinitive points out a new stage in the sequence of actions.
e.g. The teacher went on explaining the use o f verbals {continued). - The
teacher went on to explain the use o f gerund after some verbs {explained
one rule and then started another).
7. The verb to allow is used with a gerund when it is not followed by an
indirect object.
e.g. They don t allow smoking here {smoking is not allowed). - They allowed
us to smoke.
The action of the infinitive often refers to the subject of the sentence, whereas
the action of the gerund used in the same connection is not necessarily associated
with the agent expressed by the subject of the sentence, but may also refer to some
other agent:
e.g. She does not like trifling with serious things {= either herself or when
somebody else does it.) - She does not like to trifle with serious things (=
herself.)
§ 57. The Gerund and the Verbal Noun (compared)
In the English language besides the gerund which is half-verb, half-noun, there
is a pure verbal noun ending in -ing. The verbal noun has only a nominal character.
 96

The main points of difference between the gerund and the verbal noun are as
follows:
The Gerund The Verbal Noun
1. The gerund has no plural. 1. The verbal noun may be used in the plural:
But all the sayings and doings and thinkings,
being unknown to Mr. Swiveller, affected him
not in the least. (Dickens)
2. The gerund has tense and 2. The verbal noun has naturally neither tense
voice forms: He did not nor voice forms.
remember ever having seen her
in black. (Galsworthy) She
couldn 7 bear being read to any
longer. (Shaw)
3. The gerund has no article: The 3.The verbal noun may have an article
rain showed no sign o f (definite or indefinite): He was interrupted by
stopping... (Maugham) the ringing o f the telephone. (Cronin)
4. The gerund is modified by an 4. The verbal noun is modified by an
adverb: ...I was tired o f sitting adjective: The early coming o f spring in this
still in the library through whole happy Devon gladens my heart. (Gissing)
long morning... (Bronte)
5. The gerund of a transitive verb 5. A verbal noun formed from a transitive
has a direct object: He was on verb cannot have a direct object, but takes a
the point o f resuming his prepositional object preceded by the
promenade... (Galsworthy) preposition of: The getting o f Sophia ’s ticket
to Bursley occupied them next. (Bennett)
From the table we can see that the distinctive features of the gerund are its
verbal categories in the sphere of morphology and its verbal combinability. The
distinctive features of the verbal noun are its nominal category of number and its
noun combinability. A verbal noun is an abstract noun , and the use of the article
and the plural form is determined by the requirements of the meaning and context.
It is more difficult to discriminate between a gerund and a noun in cases when
an -ing form is used as a single word without any modifiers or with such modifiers
which occur with both the gerund and the verbal noun (His coming was unexpected.
His acting was perfect). In such cases the meaning of the form should be taken into
account. Thus a gerund suggests a process, an activity, whereas a verbal noun
denotes kind of occupation (skating as compared to hockey), an art form (acting,
painting), a branch of knowledge (engineering).
The Participle
§ 58. Introductory Remarks
The participle is a non-fmite form of the verb which has a verbal and
adjectival or an adverbial character.
There are two participles in English: Participle I (traditionally called the
Present Participle) and Participle II (traditionally called the Past Participle).
 97

§ 59. Participle I
Participle I is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem of the verb. The
following spelling rules should be observed.
1. If a verb ends in mute -e, the mute e is dropped before adding the suffix -ing-.
to give - giving,
to close - closing.
2. If a verb ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel rendering a short stressed
sound, the final consonant is doubled before adding the suffix -ing:
to run - running,
to forget - forgetting,
to admit - admitting.
The final letter -/ is doubled if it is preceded by a vowel letter rendering a short
vowel sound, stressed or unstressed:
to expel - expelling,
to travel - travelling.
3. A final -y is not changed before adding the suffix -ing:
to comply - complying,
to cry - crying,
to deny - denying.
4. The verbs to die, to lie, to tie form Participle I in the following way: dying,
lying, tying.
§ 60. The Verbal Characteristics of Participle I
The verbal character of participle I can be manifested morphologically and
syntactically.
Morphologically the verbal character of participle I is manifested in the
categories of voice and tense (see the table below).
~~~~——-_^ _V oice Active Passive
Tense
Transitive Verbs
Non-Perfect writing being written
Perfect having written having been written
Intransitive Verbs
Non-Perfect coming
Perfect having come
The tense-forms of the Participle similar to those of the infinitive and the
Gerund comprise relative time indication — they denote that the action of the
participle is either simultaneous with the action expressed by the finite verb, prior or
posterior to it.
The non-perfect form of participle I usually expresses that the action of the
participle is simultaneous with the action of the finite form of the verb (in the
present, past or future). Thus the time-reference of the action expressed by the
participle I can be understood only from the context,
e.g. I see Mr. Rochester entering. (Bronte)
The captain walked up and down looking straight before him. (Conrad)
 98

The verbal character of participle I is kept when it functions as a predicative

after link verbs other than to be:
e.g. Isadora remained standing. (Christie)
Participle I non-perfect may occasionally express present time absolutely
without any reference to the time indicated by the finite verb:
e.g. The tower looming in the distance was built in the XV century.
Participle I non-perfect of terminative verbs such as verbs of motion (to
arrive, to enter, to come, to turn, to leave), of sense perception (to see, to hear)
and the verbs of certain specific actions associated with motion (to close, to
open, to put, to put on, to take, to take off, to seize, to grasp) used in the function
of an adverbial modifier of time usually indicates that the action of the participle is
prior to the action of the verb-predicate. In these cases the action of the verb-
predicate closely follows that of the participle:
e.g. Arriving at home and going upstairs, we found that my guardian was
out... (Dickens)
When participle I non-perfect of a terminative verb expresses priority, it is
rendered in Ukrainian by дієприслівник доконаного виду.
e.g. Passing into the ante-room, he sat down on the edge o f a chair...
(Galsworthy.) - Пройшовши до передпокою, він сів на край стільця...
Sometimes Participle I non-perfect of terminative verbs expresses
simultaneousness with the action of the finite verb:
e.g. Coming down the stairs, he was f i l l o f happiness (Snow.)
Crossing the street to catch his bus, he saw her drive by in her smart two-
seater. (Gordon). - Спускаючись no сходах, він весь сяяв від щастя,
що переповнювало його.
In those cases participle I non-perfect is rendered in Ukrainian by
дієприслівник недоконаного виду:
Participle I non-perfect always expresses simultancousness when it is
introduced by the conjunctions when and while:
e.g. While emptying the buckets at the back o f the house he could hear an
animated conversation in progress within-doors... (Henry.)
The perfect form of participle I denotes that the action of the participle
precedes the action of the finite form of the verb in the sentence:
e.g. One day he came in having just received some letters... (Gaskell.)
The perfect participle I of the terminative verbs is used when there is a lapse of
time between the two actions, or when the action denoted by the participle is
durative:
e.g. Seeing Jane, I rushed to greet her. - Having seen the girl only once, I
didn 't recognize her.
Participle I perfect is rendered in Ukrainian by дієприслівник доконаного виду:
e.g. One day he came in having just received some letters. - Одного дня він
прийшов, щойно отримавши декілька листів
Participle I of transitive verbs, both non-perfect and perfect, has voice
distinctions, which are realized in the contrast of active and passive forms:
 99

e.g. Translatingfrom English into Ukrainian, she should know both languages well -
Being translated into many languages, the novel is known all over the world
Having translated the text into Ukrainian, we handed it to the teacher. -
Having been translated long ago, the novel is likely to be re-translated.
Syntactically the verbal character of participle 1 is manifested in its
combinability. Thus, like the other non-finites, it may combine with a noun or a
pronoun as direct, indirect or prepositional object.
e.g. She heard Justine starting a fire in the kitchen. (Caldwell)
§ 61. The Adjectival and Adverbial Features of Participle I
The adjectival and adverbial features of participle 1 are manifested in its
syntactical functions as an attribute and an adverbial modifier.
As an adjective participle 1 is connected with a noun-word in the sentence,
thus performing the function of an attribute. In its attributive function participle I
і orresponds to the Ukrainian attributive subordinate clause:
e.g. The rising sun. - Сонце, що сходить.
But as the English participle I (as all modem English attributes) has lost its
forms of agreement with the noun with which it is connected, and is no longer
formally bound to that noun, it is sometimes attracted by the verb, thus assuming
Ihe force of an adverbial modifier. In such case it corresponds to the Ukrainian
itи прислівник:
e.g. Havingfinished my lessons I went home. -Закінчивши уроки, я пішов додаму.
Having по time I cotddn І get there. - He маючи часу, я не міг піти туди.
The adverbial force is especially felt in participle I perfect:
e.g. Having taken the key from the lock, she led the way upstairs. (Brontg.)
(adverbial modifier of time.)
In many cases two interpretations are possible. In such sentences as: The
children rushed into the room laughing loudly, laughing may be considered as an
adverbial modifier of manner to the predicate rushed, or as a predicative to the
subject the children. In the Ukrainian sentence Діти забігли в кімнату, голосно
сміючись дієприслівник сміючись is connected only with the verb забігли. If it
were що сміялись (attributive subordinate clause) it would be connected only with
Ihe subject діти.
Non-perfect participle I active has synonymous adjectives formed from the
same verb stem, such as resulting - resultant, convulsing - convulsive, abounding -
abundant, deceiving -deceptive. Some participles border on adjectives when used
as attributes or predicatives, and have qualitative adjectives as synonyms:
amusing - funny, boring - dull, deafening - (very) loud. There are some deverbal
adjectives that have completely lost their meaning: interesting, charming.
When it loses its verbal character, participle 1 may be modified by adverbs of
degree used with adjectives, such as very, so, too, as in very (greatly, exceedingly,
etc.) amusing, too boring, most exciting.
Like an adjective, participle I forms adverbs with the suffix -ly: laughingly,
jokingly, surprisingly, admiringly, appealingly, feelinly.
 100

§ 62. The Functions of Participle I

Participle I performs the syntactical functions characteristic of the adjective
and the adverb. It may be used 1) alone: He drank his coffee standing; 2) as
headword of a participial phrase: There are some people waiting fo r you.
Participle I as an Attribute
This function is peculiar to non-perfect participle I active, which denotes a
process simultaneous with the action denoted by the finite verb or with the moment
of speech. In this function it corresponds to the Ukrainian subordinate clause.
e.g. The fence surrounding the garden is newly painted. - Огорожа, що
оточує садок, щойно пофарбована.
Non-perfect participle I passive is very seldom used as an attribute.
e.g. The book being discussed in Room 25 now is a new novel of this young writer.
Participle I perfect active and passive is not used attributively.
When a participial phrase is used as an attribute it follows the modified noun.
Its verbal character is evident from its verbal combinability and sometimes from the
passive form itself. A participial phrase may be 1) non-detached or 2) detached:
e.g. We went along the street leading to the seashore.
A detached participial phrase is set off from the modified noun by a comma
(or commas) in writing and by a pause (or pauses) in speech.
When a single participle is used as an attribute, it generally functions as a
premodifier. Here we usually find only participle I active of intransitive verbs. Its
verbal character is clear from the processual meaning of the verb itself: living
people, a sleeping dog.
Note: When a prior action is meant no participle 1 can be used as an attribute,
only an attributive clause is used: Жінка, яка стояла на ґанку, зайшла до
будинку. - The woman who had been standing on the porch went into the house
(prior action), but Я звернувся до жінки, яка стояла на ґанку. - 1 addressed the
woman standing on the porch (simultaneous actions).
Participle I as an Adverbial Modifier
All the four forms of participle I can function as adverbial modifiers of
different semantic types (time, reason, manner, attendant circumstances, condition,
concession, comparison).
Note: In most cases the semantic lype is clear from the meaningful relationship of
the modifying and modified parts of the sentence, that is of the participle or a
participial phrase and the predicate group, as in: Being a newcomer, he felt ill at ease.
The very juxtaposition of facts suggests a causal relationship and thus we may say that
being a newcomer is an adverbial modifier of reason. In some cases, however the
distinction is not so obvious. For example, there may be a combination of causal
and temporal elements, as in: Seeing her, he stopped, or of causal and conditional
elements, as in: Living alone, one becomes self-centered. To make the semantic
relationship clearer, certain conjunctions are employed, such as: when, while,
though, as if, as though if.
1. The adverbial modifier of time.
 101

In this function the non-perfect participle I active may denote a simultaneous

or a prior action. When prior action is meant a participle of the verbs of motion {to
come, to walk, to go), position in space {to sit, to lie, to stand), sense perception {to
see, to hear, to look out) is used.
e.g. Coming near I found the door slightly ajar... (Bronte.)
Getting up, I ran impulsively across the room and flung my arms round
her neck. (Christie)
Anna ... hearing his step, ran to the foot o f the stairs to meet him. (Eliot)
If the action expressed by non-perfect participle I active is simultaneous with
action expressed by a finite verb conjunctions when and while are used,
e.g. He showed enthusiasm when talking about his books. (Maugham)
While waiting for the water to boil, he held hisface over the stove. (London)
Note: Non-perfect participle I of the verb to be is not used as an adverbial
modifier of time. Clauses of the type Коли він був дитиною .... Коли він був в
Нондоні...may be translated When a boy..., When he was a boy..., When in London...
When he was in London....
Perfect participle 1 as adverbial modifier of time, always denotes a prior action,
e.g. Having closed the drawing-room door on him, Isabel awaited a little,
absorbed in her own thoughts. (Collins)
Having reached the classroom, she became the object of many questions. (Collins)
2. The adverbial modifier of reason.
As an adverbial modifier of reason participle I can be expressed by all the four
Ibrms. The most frequently used non-perfect participles I are those of verbs
denoting mental perception and emotions {knowing, realizing, remembering,
expecting, hoping, fearing) also the participles being and hearing.
e.g. It being a hot day, and all o f us thirsty, she suggested that we should have
a glass o f beer. (Maugham)
I thought I should sleep well being tired; but I didn’t. (Jerome.)
Another characteristic feature of participles functioning as adverbials of reason
consists in their combinability with negation (no matter what it is expressed by),
e.g. Even then he hadn't been able to watch her, not having eyes in the back
o f his head.
3. The adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances.
The meaning of attendant circumstances is one of the most characteristic of
Participle I. It is considered to be the main grammatical meaning of non-perfect
participle I. Participle I denotes some action or event parallel to the action or state
denoted by the main verb.
e.g. Deb was silent, fidgeting with the spoon in her saucer. (Hardy)
4. The adverbial modifier of manner.
Participle I as an adverbial modifier of manner is akin to an adverbial modifier
of attendant circumstances. The difference is that an adverbial of manner
characterizes the action of the main verb.
e.g. She balanced herself on the curbstone and began to walk carefully; setting
heel to toe, heel to toe, and counting her steps. (Heym)
5. The adverbial modifier of comparison.
 102

As an adverbial modifier of comparison participle bis always preceded by the

conjunctions as if, as though.у
e.g. I stood on the highest hill looking into the sky as i f searchingfor some answer.
Bosinney was looking round as i f pointing out the peculiarities o f the
guests. (Galsworthy)
6. The adverbial modifier of concession.
When participle 1 is used as an adverbial modifier of concession the idea of
concession may be understood from the relationship between the modified and
modifying parts of the sentence. However the conjunction though makes the
semantic relationship clearer.
e.g. Somebody was waiting: a man who, though moving irregularly, was
making quite a speed in my direction. (Hardy)
7. The adverbial modifier of condition.
Participle I as an adverbial of condition is recognized by its syntactical
.surroundings. It is either the subjunctive mood or the future tense form which
allows a participial phrase to function as an adverbial modifier of condition.
e.g. She ought to be there and her absence might be resented, but being there
she wouldn 7 know what to say. (Hardy) (...якби вона там була...)
Participle I as Part of a Compound Verbal Predicate
As a rule non-perfect participle is a part of a compound verbal predicate.
Within this type of predicate the participle follows verbs of sense perceptions in the
passive voice, such as to see, to hear, to feel, to find, to catch, also some causative
verbs, such as to keep, to leave.
e.g. Presently otherfootsteps were heard crossing the room below. (Hardy)
The horse was seen descending the hill. (Hardy)
Participle I non-perfect of verbs expressing motion such as to run, to dance, to
pour, etc. combined with the verb to come in the past tense forms a special type of
a compound verbal predicate. The participle is the notional part of the predicate
denoting the action performed by the subject; the lexical meaning of the verb to
come is greatly weakened. In some cases to come serves to impart perfective
meaning to the action denoted by the participle:
e.g. The little maid came running down. (Galsworthy) ( збігла)
Peggoty came running in... (Dickens) (= вбігла)
In other cases the action expressed by the participle has imperfective meaning
and the function of the verb to come approaches that of an auxiliary verb.
e.g. The fo g came pouring in at every chink and keyhole. (Dickens) (= was
pouring in)
Participle I as a Predicative
In the position of predicative only non-perfect participle I active occurs, its
adjectival character being predominant. Although keeping the form of the
participle, it is treated as an adjective or an adjectivized participle, or a deverbal
adjective.
The participle in this position gives the qualitative assessment of the subject
(or the object, in the case of the obective predicative).
 103

e.g. The story is amusing. - 1find the story amusing.

Your answer is surprising. - 1 consider your answer surprising.
The verbal traits of the participle are not manifested in these examples at all. In
many cases participle I may have a synonymous adjective (deafening - loud,
amusing - funny).
However, these -ing forms have one feature that keeps them within the
•.phere of participles, viz., their active meaning as opposed to the passive
meaning of participle II (amusing - amused, surprising -surprised).
Participle I as predicative may be used with other link verbs, in which case
it may keep its verbal character, as in:
e.g. Isadora remained standing.
Participle I as Parenthesis
Participle 1 as parenthesis forms the headword of a participial phrase, the
meaning of which is a comment upon the contents of the whole sentence or
sometimes part of it. The commenting may take the form of a logical restriction
or personal attitude. Here we find such participial phrases as generally (properly,
roughly, legally, strictly) speaking, putting it mildly, judging by (from), allowingfor,
inking everything into consideration, etc.
e.g. Generally speaking, I don '1 like boys. (Dickens)
Judging by appearances, he is a rich man.
§ 63. Predicative Constructions with Participle I
Participle I may function as part of a predicative construction, entering into a
predicative relationship with some nominal element and forming a syntactical unit
with it.
In Modem English we find the following predicative constructions with
participle I:
1) the objective participial construction;
2) the subjective participial construction;
3) the nominative absolute participial construction;
4) the prepositional absolute participial construction.
§ 64. The Objective Participial Construction
The objective participial construction consists of a noun in the common case
or a pronoun in the objective case and participle I forming a syntactical complex,
the two main components of which are in predicative relationship. Since the
construction always follows transitive verbs, its syntactical function is that of a
complex object. Thus in its meaning it corresponds to a subordinate clause and
is usually translated into Ukrainian by a subordinate object clause.
e.g. / saw John (him) playing tennis. - Я бачив, як Джон (він) грає в теніс.
We heard John and Peter (them) singing. - Ми чули, як Пітер та Джон
(вони) співають.
The nominal element usually refers to a person or a thing different from that
denoted by the subject of the sentence. If it refers to the same person as the subject,
a reflexive pronoun is to be used, as in: He heard himself uttering the words.
 104

The construction is generally used with non-perfect participle I active, and

occasionally it occurs with participle I passive:
e.g. I could see the decision being taken.
The objective participial construction is used:
1. With verbs of sense perception (to see, to hear, to feel, to watch, to notice, to
observe, to perceive, to smell, tofind, to catch, to discover, to look (at), to listen (to) ).
e.g. He found her sitting at the breakfast-table... (Hardy)
He listened to his uncle talking to him... (Hemingway)
She listened to her father going round the house... (Greene)
Note: Some of the verbs followed by the objective participial construction
occur with the objective infinitival construction (such as to see, to watch, to hear,
to feel). The difference between these two constructions concerns the meaning
suggested by an infinitive or participle I, the former emphasizes the fact of an
action being completed, the latter its processual character, as in:
e.g. / saw the car stop at the gate. - Я бачив, що машина зупинилась біля воріт.
/ saw the car stopping. - Я бачив, як машина зупинилась.
If the homogeneous infinitives are used, they denote two actions in succession.
If two participles I are homogeneous, they suggest two simultaneous actions.
e.g. I heard him leave the room and lock the door. - Я чув. як він вийшов з
кімнати й зачинив її.
2. With various verbs of causative meaning (to have, to get, to keep, to leave,
to start, to set)
e.g. / won’t have you smoking at your age! Я не допущу, щоб ти палив у
такому віці!
Don 7 keep те waiting. I т in a hurry. - Не примушуйте мене чекати.
Я поспішаю.
Your words set те thinking. - Ваші слова примусили мене задуматись.
Note: The verbs to have, to get may be used in the construction without their
causative meaning, as in I have some students waiting for me. - Мене чекають
студенти.
3. With verbs expressing wish (to want, to wish, to desire).
e.g. I don 7 want you talking to me. - Я не хочу, щоб ви зі мною розмовляли.
They didn 7 like те leaving so early. - їм не сподобалось, що я покидала
їх так рано.
§ 65. The Subjective Participial Construction
The subjective participial construction is a construction in which participle 1 is
in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the nominative
case, which is the subject of the sentence.
In rendering this construction into Ukrainian a complex sentence is generally
used. Its principal clause is called неозначено-особове in Ukrainian syntax.
The peculiarity of this construction is that it does not serve as one part of the
sentence: one of its component parts has the function of (he subject, the other forms
part of a compound verbal predicate.
This construction is chiefly used after verbs of sense perception.
 105

e.g. At the same moment the carriage was heard rolling up the gravel-walk.
(Bronte)
Note: There exists a different point of view on this construction. The relations
between its components are treated as those of secondary subject and secondary
predicate and the whole construction functions as the complex subject to the
predicate of the sentence:
e.g. The children (they) were seen running to the river.
§ 66. The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction
This construction consists of two interdependent elements, nominal and
verbal, which are in a predicative relation. The nominal element is a noun in the
common case or a pronoun in the nominative case (the noun or pronoun is not the
subject of the sentence). The verbal element is participle I in any of its forms.
e.g. The door and window o f the vacant room being open, we looked in.
(Dickens)
Unlike the objective participial construction it does not depend on a verb. The
nominal and the verbal elements make a syntactical complex functioning as a
detached adverbial modifier:
1. It may be an adverbial modifier of time.
e.g. A private sitting room having been engaged, bedrooms inspected, and
dinner ordered, the party walked out to view the city. (Dickens)
In this case the construction is translated by a corresponding subordinate clause.
e.g. The work being finished, the two girls brushed their dresses and went
into the shop. - Коли робота була закінчена, дівчата почистилі
сукні і зайшли в майстерню.
2. An adverbial modifier of cause (reason):
e.g. Fleur having declared that it was simply impossible to stay indoors, they
all went out. (Galsworthy.)
Sentences with a nominative absolute participial construction as an adverbial
of cause (reason) are translated by complex sentences with the corresponding
subordinate clauses.
e.g. But I was a little on edge, there being something to report - Я нервувався,
оскільки було про що повідомити.
As well as in sentences with participial phrases causal and temporal meanings
may be combined, as in:
e.g. Ice having thus been broken, the twoformer rivals grew still more affectionate.
3. An adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances:
e.g. On the back o f a wave the boat came riding in, the ears stretched out,
their point tipping the water. (O’Flaherty)
Away go the two vehicles, horses galloping, boys cheering, horns playing
loudly. (Dickens)
A nominative absolute participial construction of attendant circumstances
usually stands in postposition, and is widely used in literature. It is translated into
Ukrainian by a coordinate clause.
 10 6

e.g. We were both standing leaning against the mtinlel/iiei .• \hr admiring her fan
o f blotting paper, I staring at her. - Mu ofnx етояпи біля каміну; вона
милувалась віялом із промокального паперу, а н дивився на неї
4. An adverbial modifier of condition. In this function the Nominative
Absolute Participal Construction occurs but seldom and is almost exclusively used
with the participles permitting and failing.
e.g. Weather permitting we shall start tomorrow
Sometimes, the Nominative Absolute Participal Construction expresses
attributive relations.
e.g. Tall trees, their barks covered with lichen and moss, shut out the sun... (Gordon)
The Nominative Absolute Participal Construction very often occurs in fiction
and scientific literature; the use of this construction in colloquial English is rare.
Note: There is a difference between a participial phrase and a nominative
absolute participial construction. In a participial phrase the subject of the sentence
is as a rule related both to the predicate verb and to the participle:
e.g. Having read the novel Jane (she) put it aside.
In a sentence with a nominative absolute participial construction the subject of
the sentence is related only to the predicate verb:
e.g. The novel having been read, Jane (she) put it aside.
Occasionally for the sake of emphasis or clarity the subject of the sentence and
the construction refer to the same person or thing:
e.g. The whole building being o f wood, it seemed to carry every sound like a drum.
Alongside the pattern described above the absolute participial construction
may occur without a nominal part, a so-called unrelated participial construction
with no subject to the participle: the participle is not related to the subject of the
sentence, it may be related to some other noun or a pronoun in the sentence:
e.g. Coming along the street, an idea struck me.
§ 67. The Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction
A prepositional absolute construction differs from a non-prepositional
participial construction in that it is introduced by the preposition with. Its nominal
part is usually a noun in the common case, or very rarely a personal pronoun in the
objective case. It is not necessarily set off by a comma.
The main syntactical function of the construction is an adverbial modifier of
attendant circumstances, as in:
e.g. The officer sat with his long fine hands lying on the table perfectly still.
The meaning of attendant circumstances may be combined with temporal or
causal ones:
e.g. / won't speak with him staring at me like that.
The construction is usually translated into Ukrainian by a coordinate or a
subordinate clause, and sometimes by means of a prepositional phrase.
e.g. Andrew went into the house with his heart beating fast. - (Коли) Ендрю
зайшов до будинку, його серце сильно билось.
Just now, with the harvest coming on, every thing looks its richest. -
Тепер, коли наближається час жнив, все так гарно.
 § 68. Absolute Constructions without a Participle
There are two types of absolute constructions in which we find no participle.
The second element of the construction is an adjective, a prepositional phrase, or an
adverb.
1. The nominative absolute construction is used in the function of an
adverbial modifier of time and attendant circumstances. In the function of an
adverbial modifier of time it is rendered into Ukrainian by an adverbial clause.
e.g. Breakfast over, he went to his counting house. (Bronte) - Коли сніданок
закінчився, він пішов до контори.
In the function of an adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances the
nominative absolute construction is rendered either by a coordinate clause,
пісприкметниковий зворот or a noun (pronoun) with the prepositions.
e.g. Manstone went homeward alone, his heartfu ll o f strange emotion. (Hardy) -
Менстон пішов додому сам; його душа була наповнена дивними
відчуттями.
There he stood, his face to the south-east, his cap in his hand. (Hardy) -
Він стояв, повернувшись на південний схід, шапкою в руці.
Note: Mind the difference between the meaning of the following constructions:
The lesson (concert, lecture) over... and The lesson (concert, lecture) being over... .
The lesson over has a temporal meaning, whereas the lesson being over has as a
rule a causal meaning.
2. The prepositional absolute construction is mostly used in the function of
.in adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances. In rendering this construction in
I Ukrainian a coordinate clause or дієприкметниковий комплекс is used.
e.g. I found him ready, and waiting for me, with stick in his hand. (Collins) -
Він був готовий і чекав на мене; в його руці була палка.
The nominative absolute participial construction and the nominative absolute
і (instruction are separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or a semicolon.
I he prepositional absolute constructions are separated from the rest of the sentence
by a comma.
§ 69. Participle I and the Gerund (compared)
Participle I and the gerund are alike in their verbal characteristics, both
morphological (the categories of voice and correlation) and syntactical (verbal
eombinability).
The difference between the two lies in their non-verbal characteristics, that is
in their syntactical functions and non-verbal eombinability. Participle I, unless
ubstantivized, cannot be used as subject or object, whereas such use is typical of
the noun and therefore of the gerund. When used as adverbial modifier or attribute,
participle I like an adjective or an adverb is never preceded by a preposition. On the
other hand when the gerund is used as attribute or adverbial modifier it is preceded
by a preposition like a noun in these functions.
The difference between the two is also to be found in the nominal tendencies
of the gerund and the adjectival tendencies of participle 1. This is most evident in
their function of a predicative and an attribute.
 10 8

As predicative participle I gives qualitative characteristics to the subject, thus

tending towards an adjective, as in:
e.g. The sound of the thunder was deafening.
The gerund does not qualify the subject, it rather identifies the subject by
revealing its meaning, as in:
e.g. Hisfavorite occupation is collecting stamps (or playingfootball orjustfootball).
When a gerund or a participle is used as an attribute, the difference between
them does not lie only in the absence, or presence of the preposition, but also in
their meaningful relationship to the modified noun.
Participle I denotes an action that the person or thing performs or experiences:
e.g. What is the name o f the man talking with your sister?
The gerund usually reveals the meaning of the modified noun, which never
denotes the performer of the action.
e.g. That was my last chance o f seeing him.
When used as an adverbial modifier, the gerund is more varied in its
application than the participle because it is used with different prepositions.
The participle and the gerund are interchangeable when used as adverbials of
time characterizing the verb through simultaneous or prior events:
e.g. (In) discussing the plan, we heard a lot o f helpful suggestions.
(On) entering the room, he closed the door.
After discussing (Having discussed) the plan we started carrying it out.
Only the gerund is possible when the starting or the final point of the action is
meant, as in:
e.g. He has never been at his native town since leaving it in 1999.
You must get your parents' permission before leaving fo r the mountains.
Yet there are a number of cases, especially among predicative constructions,
where the -ing form may be treated either as a participle or a gerund, the difference
between them being neutralized, as in:
e.g. 7 don't count on him scaring easily.
Then he was aware ofToscato shaking the door o f the box.
I remember them staying with us once.
Fancy him saying so!
§ 70. Participle II: General Notion
Participle II is a non-finite form of the verb with verbal and adjectival features.
§ 71. The Verbal Characteristics of Participle II
Participle II stands apart from the other non-finites, in that it does not possess
their morphological categories. Participle II has no tense forms. Nevertheless, being
a verb form, it possesses the potential verbal meaning of voice and aspect, which
depend upon the meaning of the verb it is formed from and which are realized in
the context. The main meanings of participle II are those of a state as a result of
some action and an action itself. One of the most essential voice peculiarities of
participle II is that this form of transitive verbs, when it is not part of a perfect
form, is always passive in meaning.
 10 9

Having a passive meaning participle II of transitive verbs is opposed to

common participle I active: asking - asked, loving - loved, seeing - seen, writing -
written, teaching - -taught, watching - watched, etc.
The passive meaning of participle II may be of three types:
1) denoting an action directed towards the subject as the carrier of the action.
This is peculiar to durative (non-terminative) transitive verbs, such as: to
accompany, to follow, to watch, to carry, to teach, to listen (to), to laugh (at), to
look (at, for, on), to speak (of, to), to love, to hate, as in:
e.g. Spanish is one o f the foreign languages taught at our Institute.
I won 7 have my friend laughed at.
2) denoting a state, which is the result of an action. This is typical of
lerminative transitive verbs, such as to bring, to catch, to do, to find, to make, to
put, to solve, to build, to realize, to open, to close, etc.
e.g. The problem is solved.
The door is shut.
Occasionally, in a certain context, participle II of the above-mentioned verbs
may denote action, as in:
e.g. Brightman's place was an old English farm-house, built two years before.
3) denoting a pure state. This is the case with verbs denoting psycological
states and emotions, such as to amuse, to annoy, to offend, to surprise, to please,
to excite.
e.g. / felt annoyed when he refused to help me.
I ’m very (much) pleased with what he has done.
Note: The carrier of the action or state denoted by participle II is to be found
in the subject of the sentence, in the noun or pronoun modified by participle II, in
the first (nominal) element of a predicative construction.
Participle II of intransitive verbs is always active in meaning. The use of the
active participle is restricted. Only participles II of verbs denoting motion or
change of state can be used independently, mostly as attributes. These are
participles II of the verbs to arrive, to fall, to go, to rise, to depart, to decease, to
retire, to fade, to wither, to vanish, to decay and some others (arrived guests, the
risen moon, the vanisned civilization, the fallen leaves, the retired president).
Among these participles we find some which can be used either transitively or
intransitively, such as hidden, increased, diminished, returned (the man hidden
behind the tree, an increased population, the returned traveller).
The original aspectual meaning of participle II is perfectivity. It is evident in
terminative verbs and verbs of double aspectual meaning.
In transitive terminative verbs the passive meaning of participle II is combined
with perfectivity. Thus participle II can be opposed to participle I in their aspectual
meanings of perfectivity / imperfectivity: taking - taken, asking - -asked, writing -
written, telling - told.
There is a growing tendency in present-day English to use participle I passive
as an attribute to emphasize the processual character of the action.
Compare: Why don 7 we believe stories told by hunters andfishermen? - Why
don 7 we believe stories being told by hunters andfishermen?
 1 10г

Participle II of intransitive verbs or verbs used intransitively is always

perfective in meaning and can be opposed to participle I indefinite: rising - risen,
decaying —decayed, going - gone, arriving - arrived, retiring - retired, as in: the
rising moon - the risen moon, the retiring director - the retired director. The same
in the auctioneer’s formula: Going! Going! Gone! (Продається! Продається!
Продано!)
As it has already been stated, participle II has no tense distinctions; the idea of
priority and simultaneousness is suggested by the aspectual character of the verb
and is realized in the given context.
With terminative verbs Participle II expresses an action already completed,
that is, an action expressed by the finite form of the verb in the sentence follows the
action, expressed by participle II (broken, opened, closed, translated, built, made,
written, etc.):
e.g. A few earlyfallen oak leaves strewed the terrace already... (Galsworthy.)
But depending on the context, participle II of a terminative verb may lose its
perfective meaning and indicate an action which is simultaneous to the action of the
finite form of the verb:
e.g. Give me some verbs written with a final -y in English (= які пишуться.)
With durative verbs participle II has no perfective meaning and denotes an
action simultaneous to the action of the finite form of the verb:
e.g.The time was coming when I should see him loved, trusted, admired... (Conrad)
I was highly amused. (Conrad.)
Note: In many cases, however, the ideas of priority and simultaneousness
become fused, since the action is prior to and the resulting state is simultaneous
with the action of the main verb or the moment of speech. Thus in the sentence
First o f all she went to the bombed building the action of bombing is prior to the
action of the finite verb “went", but the resulting state of the action is simultaneous
with it.
The verbal character of participle II is manifested in its combinability. Thus
participle II of transitive verbs easily combines with an agentive by-object.
e.g. Jane entered the room followed by her brother.
Participles II of phrasal verbs retain their composite structure: a boy brought
up in a teacher's family.
Participles II of prepositional transitive verbs are followed by the appropriate
prepositions: a book often asked for, the article referred to, a man much spoken of.
Ditransitive verbs keep their second object.
e.g. That was the main question asked her at the wedding.
Participle II may be accompanied by an adverbial modifier expressed by
adverbs or phrases combining with verbs: a house built two years before, man
hidden in the bush, a play well acted, a story long forgotten.
One of the main verbal features of participle II is revealed in its functioning as
part of the compound verb forms of the passive voice and the perfect.
 Ill

§ 72. The Adjectival Features of Participle II

The adjectival nature of participle II manifests itself in its function in the
x-ntence, which is usually that of either attribute or predicative. It may combine
with adverbs of degree peculiar to adjectives, such as very, too, slightly, so, much,
more, as in:
e.g. Iam very pleased with you.
The children were too excited to notice the newcomer.
No man has ever had a more devoted sister than I.
Instead of the negation not, which we find with the other non-finites, participle
II is often negated with the prefix un-, as in unfinished, unanswered.
Participle II may undergo adjectivization, sometimes acquiring qualitative
meaning and becoming synonymous with an adjective, as in celebrated-famous,
tired-weary. Some of these deverbal adjectives have true participles as homonyms.
I or example, compare these phrases: the celebrated professor and the anniversary
>elebrated all over the world.
Similar to adjectives and participle I, participle II may form adverbs by adding
ilie suffix -ly: fixedly, unhurriedly, admittedly.
The adjectival nature of participle II is traced in adjectivized participles with a
form different from the verbal participle II. These forms occur as attributes in such
phrases as on bended knees, a drunken man, a lighted match (candle, torch),
molten lava (lead, steel), roast meet, a rotten apple, a shaven head, a well-shaven
man, sodden clothes, sunken eyes, a swollen river. Some forms are used
predicatively: to be well-stricken in years, to be panic-stricken, to be poverty-
stricken (but thunder struck, theatre struck).
§ 73. The Functions of Participle II in the Sentence
As part of the sentence participle II may stand alone or be the headword of a
participial phrase. If may function as an attribute (close or detached), an adverbial
modifier, a predicative or a part of a complex object.
Participle II as an Attribute
As an attribute participle II usually functions either as premodifier when it
stands alone (a) or forms a very short participial phrase containing an adverb (b).
I he verbal character of the participle in the first case is made clear only by its
lexical meaning:
e.g. First o f all she went to the bombed building.
It was a neatly written letter.
As a postmodifier participle II manifests its verbal character more explicitly,
even when it stands alone. It may be accompanied by a preposition, by an agentive
by-object, an adverb and prepositional phrases as adverbial modifiers.
e.g. Things seen are mightier than things heard.
The dictionary referred to is to be found in our library.
These are cities inhabited by their creators.
When participle II or a participial phrase is detached, its position is not fixed.
It may occupy the initial position, the mid-position or the final position in the
sentence (Participle II in the function of a detached attribute may have an additional
 112

adverbial meaning and thus refer both to the noun (or pronoun) which it modifies
and to the predicate of the sentence:
e.g. Seen now, in a broad daylight, she looked tall, fair and shapely... (Bronte).
Detached attributes are separated from the noun by a comma in writing and by
a pause in speech. They are confined to literary style only.
e.g. The housekeeper had come out o f the room, attracted by the violent
ringing o f the bell. (Doyle)
Participle II as an Adverbial Modifier
The adverbial function and meaning of participle II can be seen only from the
general meaning of the sentence. Thus, if considered by itself the participial phrase,
arrived there does not suggest any idea of time, but in the context of the sentence
Arrived there, he went into a shop the phrase acquires the function and meaning of
an adverbial modifier of time. In the vast majority of cases, when used adverbially,
participle II is preceded by a conjunction, which explicitly indicates the semantic
type of the adverbial modifier.
1. The adverbial modifier of time, usually with the conjunction when or until
e.g. When questioned Annie had implied vaguely... that she was anxious
about her brother-in-law. (Cronin)
2. The adverbial modifier of reason.
e.g. Deprived o f his wife and son by the Spanish adventure, Jolyon found the
solitude at Robin Hill intolerable. (Galsworthy)
3. The adverbial modifier of condition, mostly with the conjunction i f or unless.
e.g. It was a dreadful thing that he now proposed, a breach o f the law which, i f
discovered, would bring them into the police court. (Cronin)
John will speak fo r hours, unless interrupted. (Hardy)
Nobody smoke unless spoken to... (Dickens)
4. The adverbial modifier of concession, with the conjunction though or although.
e.g. ...her spirit, though crushed, was not broken. (Bronte)
5. The adverbial modifier of comparison, with the conjunction as i f or as
though.
e.g. As i f torn with inner conflict and indecision, he cried. (Galsworthy)
Participle II as a Predicative
In this function participle II denotes a state.
e.g. The inner gate was locked, and the lodge closed. (Dickens)
A window o f a hotel was lighted; he saw a shadow move across the blinds.
(Galsworthy)
Participle II used as a predicative corresponds to дієприкметник in Ukrainian:
e.g. We were compelled to spend the night in Winchester. (Doyle.) - Ми були
змушені провести ніч у Вінчестері.
Occasionally we come across an active participle II used predicatively:
e.g. The sun is not risen.
Everybody is gone.
Evening is come.
 113

Participle II as Part of a Complex Object

Participle II may be used as part of a Complex Object.
e.g. She has found me unaltered; but I have found her changed. (Collins)
(For more details of participle II as part of a complex object see the objective
participle construction)
§ 74. Predicative Constructions with Participle II
Participle II forms the second (verbal) element of the Objective with the
Participle Construction and of the Absolute Participial Construction in two
variants: non-prepositional and prepositional.
§ 75. The Objective Participial Construction with Participle II
The objective participial construction with participle II consists of a noun in
ihe common case or a personal pronoun in the. objective case and participle II
forming a syntactical complex, in which the two components are in a predicative
relationship. The construction functions as a complex object to transitive verbs:
1) of a causative meaning: to have, to get, to make. In this case the
construction shows that the action expressed by the participle is performed at the
request of the person denoted by the subject of the sentence. Thus I had the piano
tuned means l made someone tune the piano.
Sentences with causative verbs are usually translated into Ukrainian by simple
sentences, the causative meaning being evident from the context or the situation. In
other cases a complex sentence is preferable with an object subordinate clause.
e.g. He ... had several bottles o f vine brought... (Dreiser)
Йому принесли декілька пляшок вина.
You can get your clothes made in Europe. (Dreiser)
Ви можете замовляти собі одежу в Європі.
In interrogative and negative sentences the auxiliary verb to do is used.
e.g. Why don 'tyou have your hair waved? (Du Maurier)
2) of physical perception: to see, to hear, to feel, to find.
e.g. The dog heard his name pronounced through the open door. (Collins)
You will probably fin d your sister grown, Bella. (Dickens)
3) of wish: to wish, to want, to like, to prefer.
e.g. The governor wants it done quick. (Bennet).
We prefer the letters answered by the chief. (Bennet)
§ 76. The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction
with Participle II
The construction consists of the nominal component (a noun or a pronoun) and
participle II which form a syntactical complex, the nominal component and the
participle being in predicative relation. The nominative absolute participial
construction with participle II has the syntactical function of a detached adverbial
modifier:
1) of attendant circumstances,
e.g. One morning he stood in front o f the tank, his nose almost pressed to the
glass (Dreiser)
2) of manner,
 114

e.g. He sat on the sofa,' his legs crossed. (Galsworthy) ";

3) of time, ••••--•
e.g. The duty completed, he had three months ’ leave. (Hardy)
4) of reason,
e.g. We began to talk, but my attention distracted by my surroundings, 1 took
small notice o f him. (Hardy)
5) of condition,
e.g. He was a gentleman, but he was passionate, the cup once sipped, would
he consent to put it down? (Galsworthy)
§ 77. The Prepositional Absolute Construction with Participle II
The construction differs from the nominative absolute participial construction
with participle II in that it is introduced by the preposition with, its nominal
element hardly ever presented by a pronoun; it is more closely related to the
predicate verb and seldom set off by a comma.
The main syntactical function of the construction is that of an adverbial
modifier of manner or attendant circumstances.
e.g. It is unhealthy to sleep with the windows shut. (Bennet)
Note: An additional idea of time, reason, condition may be promoted by the
context, as in:
e.g. I can 7 walk with my leg broken. (reason)
Suggested points for discussion
1. What are the Non-finite forms of the English verb?
2. Comment on the verbal and nominal characteristics of the Infinitive.
3. What are the main syntactic functions of the Infinitive in the sentence?
4. Speak on the Objective Infinitive Construction.
5. Speak on the Subjective Infinitive Construction.
6. Speak on the For-to-Infinitive Construction.
7. Comment on the verbal and nominal characteristics of the Gerund.
8. Comment on the syntactical functions of the Gerund in the sentence.
9. Comment on the constructions with the Gerund.
10. Compare the Gerund with the Infinitive and the Verbal Noun.
11. Comment on Participle I: its verbal, adjectival, adverbial features and
syntactical functions.
12. Comment on Constructions with Participle 1.
13. Comment on Participle II: functions in the sentence, constructions with
Participle II.
 115

Modal Verbs
§ 78. Introductory remarks
We find the following modal verbs in English: can, may, must, ought, shall,
should, will, would, need and dare. Besides, the verbs to have and to be in some
of their uses are also classed among modal verbs.
Unlike other verbs, modal verbs do not denote actions or states, they show the
attitude of the speaker towards the action expressed by the infinitive in combination
with which they form compound modal predicates. Thus modal verbs show that
the action indicated by the infinitive is considered to be possible, impossible,
probable, improbable, obligatory, necessary, unnecessary, advisable, doubtful,
certain, uncertain, etc.
Modal verbs are called defective or anomalous as they lack some features
characteristic of other verbs, that is:
1) they don’t take the ending -s in the third person singular;
2) they have no verbals, so they have no analytical forms;
3) they have only Present tense-form and no past tense (except for can and may);
4) they are followed by a bare infinitive (except for ought);
5) they need no auxiliary verbs to build up the interrogative and negative forms.
Most of the modal verbs have more than one meaning. Each of their meanings
is characterized by a specific usage:
1) some of the meanings may be found in all kinds of sentences; others occur
only in affirmative or interrogative or negative sentences;
2) different meanings may be associated with different forms of the Infinitive
Simple and Perfect (both in the Active and Passive forms), Continuous and Perfect
Continuous;
3) if the modal verbs have more than one form (can - could, may - might,
will - would, also the verbs to have and to be used in modal meanings), their
different meanings are not necessarily found in all those forms.
All modal verbs have two negative forms, full and contracted:
can - cannot / can’t;
may - may not / mayn’t;
must - must not / mustn’t;
should - should not / shouldn’t;
will - will not / won’t;
would - would not / wouln’t;
need - need not / needn’t.
Note: Mind the peculiarities of the spelling and pronunciation of some
negative forms:
can’t [ka:nt], shan’t [Ja:nt], won’t [wount].
Modal verbs have their periphrastic phrases - modal counterparts, ending in
to, which function semantically much like true modals:
 116

Periphrastic phrases of Modal Verbs

Modal verb Periphrastic modal
can be able to
will be going to, be about to
must have to, have got to
should, ought to be to, be supposed to
may be allowed to, be permitted to
would (= past habit) used to
§ 79. The Modal Verb CAN
The modal verb can has two forms - can (for the Present tense) and could (for
the Past tense and for the Subjunctive Mood).
e.g. I can skate now, but 1 could not when I was five.
Я вмію їздити на ковзанах, але я не вміла, коли мені було п 'ять.
I f only I could help her! -Я кби ж я міг допомогти їй!
The modal verb can has the following meanings:
1. Physical or mental ability or capability. In this meaning it occurs in all
kinds of sentences and is followed by the Simple Infinitive:
e.g. I can read French, but I can't write it.
Я вмію читати по-французьки, але я не вмію писати цією мовою.
Can you lift this bag? Ти можеш підняти цю сумку?
Не can play the piano. - Він уміє грати на піаніно.
I can’t swim. Я не вмію плавати.
Dogs can bark, but they cannot talk. - Собаки гавкають, але вони не
можуть говорити.
The form could is used in past-time contexts. In this case it is followed by the
Simple Infinitive too.
e.g. When I was young, I could run fast. - Коли я був молодим, я добре бігав.
Could you read before schooling? - Ти умів читати до школи?
I couldn ’t trust him after what had happened. - Я не міг більше йому
довіряти після того, що трапилося.
The form could is also used in the Subjunctive Mood to express unreality. If
the action refers to the present or future could is followed by the non-perfect
Infinitive.
e.g. You could be more attentive. —Ти міг би бути уважнішим.
In combination with the Perfect Infinitive could indicates that the action was
not carried out in the past.
e.g. You could have met her at the station. - Ти міг би зустріти її на станції.
Be able to is possible instead of can, but can is more usual,
e.g. Can you speak anyforeign language? - Ти говориш якою-небудь іноземною
мовою?
Are you able to speak any foreign language? Ти вмієш говорити якою-
небудь іноземною мовою?
 117

As can has only two forms (can and could) so sometimes (in Future and
I’erfect tenses, for instance) the periphrastic phrase to be able to is used.
e.g. I shan ’t be able to come tomorrow. —Я не зможу прийти завтра.
I haven 7 been able to sleep recently. - Я не можу спати останнім часом.
Tom might not be able to come tomorrow. - Том, мабуть, не зможе
прийти завтра. (Can has no Infinitive)
Mind, please, that we use could (but not: was/were able to) with the verbs of
scnce perception and mental activity (see, hear, smell, taste, feel, remember,
understand).
e.g. He spoke in a low voice but I could understand what he was saying. - Він
говорив тихо, але я міг зрозуміти, що він казав.
I couldfeel her hand trembling. - Я зміг відчути, як затремтіла її рука.
But if you mean that someone managed to do something in one particular
.dilation, you have to use was/were able to (but not could).
e.g. The fire spread through the building very quickly but everyone was able
(= managed) to escape (not could escape). - Пожежа дуже швидко
охопила всю будівлю, але всі зуміли спастися.
Compare could and was able to in the following examples:
e.g. Jack was an excellent tennis player. He could beat anybody (= He had the
ability to beat anybody).
Once Jack had a difficult game against Alf. A lf played very well but in the
end Jack was able to beat him (= He managed to beat him in this particular
game).
2. Possibility (a) due to circumstances or b) due to the existing laws).
a) Possibility due to circumstances.
In this meaning can (with reference to the present or future) and could (in
past-time contexts) occur in all kinds of sentences and are followed by the Simple
Infinitive.
e.g. Anybody can make a mistake. - Кожен може помилитися.
Can I have my photo taken here? - Чи можу я тут сфотографуватися?
I cannot go to the theatre with you, l m busy. - Я не можу піти з вами в
театр, я зайнятий.
I could read a great deal during my holidays. - У мене була можливість
багато читати під час канікул.
I am sorry І couldn’t come yesterday, I was ill. - Мені шкода, але я не
міг учора прийти: я був хворий.
То say that something was a possibility but didn’t happen we use could have (done).
e.g. He was lucky when he fell off the ladder. He could have hurt himself. -
Йому повезло вчора, коли він падав з драбини. Він міг би забитися.
b) Possibility due to the existing laws.
e.g. One can use either the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous in
this sentence. - У цьому реченні можна вживати і теперішній доконаний,
і теперішній доконано-тривалий.
 1 18

Can we use the indefinite article with this noun? - Чи можна вживати
цей іменник з неозначеним артиклем?
One can’t use the indefinite article in this case. - У цьому випадку не
можна вживати неозначений артикль.
3. Permission. In this meaning can is used in affirmative sentences and is
combined with the Simple Infinitive.
e.g. Girls can marry at the age o f 16. Дівчатм дозволяється виходити
заміж у віці 16 років.
You can take ту umbrella. Ти можеш взяти мою парасольку.
You can leave if you are in a hurry. Можеш іти, якщо ти поспішаєш.
The form could occurs in the reported speech, i.e. in accordance with the rules
of the sequence of tenses.
e.g. The mother said that children could go for a walk. - Мама сказала, що
діти можуть іти погуляти.
Не said that I could use his car. Він сказав, що я можу скористатися
його машиною.
Note: In Modem English can is more common than may (might) to express
the idea of permission.
4. Prohibition. In this meaning can is used only in negative sentences (it is
understood as the negation of permission - not to be allowed to...). It corresponds
to the Ukrainian “не дозволяється ”.
e.g. One cannot cross the street here. - Тут не дозволяється переходити вулицю.
I'm sorry, you can’t use (it's not allowed to use) my car today, I need it
myself. - Вибачте, ви не можете взяти мою машину сьогодні, вона
потрібна мені самому.
5. Request. In this meaning can and could followed by the Indefinite
Infinitive are used in interrogative sentences (could suggests a greater degree of
politeness).
One should distinguish polite requests with “I" as the subject and polite
request with “you " as the subject.
e.g. Can I borrow your pen? (the speaker is talking to someone she/he knows
fairly well)
Could I borrow your pen? (a more polite variant)
Possible responses: Yes, certainly. Yes, o f course. Sure.
Сап/could you pass the salt? (Is it possible fo r you do this?)
Typical responses: Yes, I ’d be happy to. Yes, I'd be glad to. Certainly. Sure.
Note: A person usually responds in the affirmative to a polite request. If a
negative response is necessary, a person might begin by saying: I ’d like to..., but..:
e.g. I ’d like to pass the salt, but I can’t reach it. Я передав би вам сіль, але
не можу дістати.
6. Surprise, uncertainty. In this meaning can/could is found only in interrogative
sentences (in general questions). It corresponds to the Ukrainian “невже ",
 119

Depending on the time reference can is used in combination with different forms
111 (he Infinitive. Thus, if reference is made to the present, the Simple Infinitive is
found with stative verbs and the Continuous Infinitive with dynamic verbs,
e.g. Can it be so late? - Невже так пізно?
Can she be sleeping now? - Невже він спить зараз?
In combination with the Perfect Infinitive can refers the action to the past or
Indicates that the action began in the past but still continued into the moment of
»peaking.
e.g. Can he have said it? - Невже він сказав це?
Can he have known her before? - Невже він знав її раніше?
If can is followed by a dynamic verb the Perfect Continuous Infinitive is used,
e.g. Can he have been waiting for us so long? - Невже вони чекають на
нас так довго?
Could expresses a greater degree of astonishment,
e.g. Could it be true? - Невже це правда?
Could she be telling lies? - Невже вона обманює?
Could he have been at home then? - Невже він був удома тоді?
Could she have been sleeping so long? - Невже вона все ще спить?
Note: The Ukrainian negative question of the type “Невже... не...?" can be
Iranslated into English in different ways:
a) by complex sentences:
e.g. Can it be that he hasn't seen him? - Невже він не побачив його?
b) by different lexical means (by the verbs to fail, to dislike and other lexical
units having the negative meaning in their semantics):
e.g. Can you have failed to see him? - Невже він не побачив його?
Can they have failed to finish the work? - Невже вони ще не закінчили
роботу?
Can you dislike this film? - Невже йому не подобається цей фільм?
Can nobody have seen him? - Невже ніхто не бачив його?
Can he have never соте here? - Невже він ніколи не був тут раніше?
c) by a statement with the modal word surely.
e.g. Surely you have met him before. - Без.умнівно, ви зустрічалися з ним раніше.
7. Strong doubt, improbability, incredulity. In this meaning can/could occurs
only in negative sentences (could expresses greater doubt or incredulity). The time-
reference is indicated not by the form of the modal verb but by that of the Infinitive
(perfect forms of the Infinitive should be used).
e.g. He can’t be ill. - He може бути, щоб він був хворим.
She can’t be telling lies. - He може бути, що вона бреше.
Не can Vhave said it. - Не може бути, щоб він сказав це.
Не сап Ч have been waiting fo r us so long. - He може бути, що він чекав
на нас так довго.
She couldn’t be working now. - He може бути, що вона працює зараз.
They couldn’t be sisters. - He може бути, що вони сестри.
It corresponds to the Ukrainian: "He може бути, щоб... ", “Навряд... ”
 120

Note: Double negation of the type “He може бути, щоб... не..." can be
translated into English in different ways:
a) by complex sentences:
e.g. It can’t be you haven't noticed him. - He може бути, щоб ти не помітив його.
b) by different lexical means:
e.g. You couldn 7 have failed to notice him. - Ти не міг не помітити його.
You couldn’t have misunderstood him. - Ти не міг неправильно зрозуміти
його.
Не couldn't have disliked this picture. - Йому не могла не сподобатися
ця картина.
8. Suggestion, reproach. In this meaning could is used, ft can be followed by
the Simple or Perfect Infinitive (it depends upon the time reference).
e.g. What should we do tomorrow? - We could go on a picnic.
Що б ми могли робити завтра? - Ми могли б організувати пікнік.
(Possible future happenings are meant.)
Jfailed my math class. - You could have talked to your teacher.
Я відстав з математики. - Ти міг би поговорити із вчителем
математики. (A person had the ability or the opportunity to do something
but he didn’t do and a suggestion is made that a person should have done,
should have behaved in a certain way.)
There are some set expressions with the modal verb can:
a) Cannot/can’t help (doing something). - He можу не/неможливо не...
(зробити щось).
e.g. One cannot help admiring this landscape. - Неможливо не захоплюватися
цим ландшафтом.
I couldn 7 help crying. - Я не могла не розплакатися.
b) Cannot/can’t but (do something). - He можу не...; Мені нічого не
залишається, окрім як... (зробити щось).
e.g. I could not but give him this book. - Я не міг не дати йому цю книжку.
(It was a must for me.)
I couldn 7 but hope. - Мені нічого не залишається, окрім як надіятися.
c) As... as can be - an intensifying expression.
e.g. She ’s as pleased as can be. - Вона надзвичайно задоволена.
9. Can and could followed by different forms of the Infinitive are found in
special questions to express puzzlement, impatience or some other emotional
colouring.
e.g. What can/could he mean?
What can/could he be doing now?
Where can/could he have gone to?
It corresponds to the Ukrainian: "Що, власне, він має на увазі? ”, "Що, власне,
він робить зараз? " тощо.
 121

§ 80. The Modal Verb MA Y

The modal verb may has two forms: may for the Present tense and might for
the Past tense. The expressions to be allowed and to be permitted, which have the
same meaning, can be used to supply the missing forms of the modal verb may.
e.g. You will be allowed to use a dictionary. - Ви зможете / вам буде
дозволено користуватися словником.
The form might is used in two cases:
a) in past-time contexts, mainly in indirect speech in accordance with the rules
of the sequence of tenses.
e.g. He told that it might be true. - Він сказав, що це може бути правдою.
The librarian told that I might take that book home. - Бібліотекар
сказав, що я можу взати ту книгу додому.
b) in present-time contexts as a milder and more polite form of may, or to
express unreality.
e.g. Might I use your telephone? - Можна скористатися вашим телефоном?
Не might have fallen ill if he hadn 't taken those pills. - Він міг би
захворіти, якби він не прийняв ті пілюлі.
The modal verb may has the following meanings:
1. Permission. In this usage it expresses the meaning ‘4o have permission to”,
“to be permitted to”, “to be allowed to”. In this meaning may is found in
affirmative sentences and is followed by the Simple Infinitive. The form might
occurs in the Past tense contexts.
e.g. You may go now. - Ви можете йти.
The dean is alone now, you may see him. - У декана нікого немає зараз, ви
можете зайти.
Не told that we might smoke in that room. - Він сказав, що нам можна
палити в тій кімнаті.
2. Request. In this meaning it is found in interrogative sentences and is
combined only with the Simple Infinitive.
e.g. May I smoke in here? - Тут можна палити?
The form might is used when we wish to express a more polite request.
e.g. Might I join you? - Можна мені приєднатися до вас?
May/might I help you? - Можна, я допоможу вам?
Note: Can is now more common to express a request or the idea of permission.
e.g. You can take my car. - Ви можете взяти мою машину.
Can I have а сир o f coffee? - Можна мені філіжанку кави?
Could I use your pen? (more polite) - Можна мені взяти вашу ручку?
3. Prohibition. In this meaning it is used only in negative sentences. The
contracted form mayn’t is very rare. It is usually rendered into Ukrainian as "He
смій... ”.
e.g. You may not go swimming (you are not allowed to...). —He смій купатися.
You may not smoke in here. - He куріть тут!
Note: May is seldom used to express prohibition. There are other ways of
expressing this idea which are more common, they are m ustn’t, can’t and don’t.
 1 2 2 ':

e.g. You mustn't get up - Вам не Мтіс'на ecmaeSthu.

One can’t cross the street here. - Тут не можна переходити вулицю.
Don’t go there. - Неидіть тути.
Mind: Don’t is less strict than may not, it is rather asking smb not to do smth
than actually prohibiting smth, which is expressed by may not.
Compare: Don’t smoke in here. - He куріть тут, будь ласка.
You may not smoke in here. - He смійте курити тут.
Must not means that it is not the person who prohibits the action but there are
some facts, rules, circumstances prohibiting it.
e.g. You must not smoke so much. - Всш не можна так багато кургани.
4. Possibility (due to circumstances). This meaning occurs only in affirmative
sentences:
e.g. You may order a taxi by telephone. - Ви можете замовити таксі телефоном.
The form might is used in past-time contexts in accordance with the rules of
the sequence of tenses.
e.g. He said that I might order a taxi by telephone. - Він сказав, що я можу
замовити таксі телефоном.
In this meaning might followed by the Perfect Infinitive indicates that the
action was not carried out owing to certain circumstances (expressed or implied).
e.g. Be more careful. You might have broken your leg. - Будь обережніш.
Ти мало не зламав ногу.
You are so careless. You might have broken the vase. - Ти такий
необережний. Ти мало не розбив вазу.
5. Supposition implying uncertainty. In Ukrainian this meaning is usually
rendered by means of the modal adverb "можливо". In English this meaning may
also be rendered by means of the attitudinal adverbs perhaps and maybe.
In this meaning the verb may occurs in affirmative and negative sentences and
is followed by different forms of the Infinitive depending on the time reference
expressed.
In combination with the Simple Infinitive may usually refers the action to the
future.
e.g. He may come soon. - Він, мабуть, прийде незабаром.
Не may not соте to the party, as he is not feeling well. - Він, мабуть, не
піде на вечірку, він погано себе почуває.
In combination with the Continuous Infinitive of dynamic verbs may refers the
action to the present.
e.g. He may be sleeping now, - Він, мабуть, спить зараз.
In combination with the Perfect Infinitive may refers the action to the past.
e.g. He may have fallen ill. - Він, мабуть, захворів.
The combination of may with the Perfect Infinitive may also indicate an action
which began in the past and continued into the moment of speaking (usually with
stative verbs).
e.g. He may have been ill for 2 weeks. - Він, мабуть, хворий протягом двох
тижнів.
 123

However, if may is followed by a dynamic verb, the Perfect Continuous

Infinitive is used.
e.g. He may have been sleepingfor two hows. - Вій спить, мабуть, уже дві години.
In the meaning of supposition implying uncertainty, the form might is also
found (it emphasizes more the idea of uncertainty). It can be followed by the
Simple, Continuous and Perfect Infinitive.
e.g. It might rain this afternoon. - Після обіду, мабуть, піде дощ.
She might be having lunch. - Він, мабуть, якраз обідає.
She might be fallen asleep. - Він, мабуть, уже заснув.
Note 1: May/might in the meaning of supposition is not used in questions.
1Incertainty in questions is rendered by: “Is it (he) likely...” or “Do you think...?”,
e.g. Is Mary likely to arrive tonight? - Мері, мабуть, приїде після обіду?
Do you think they have already arrived? - Як ви думаєте, вони, мабуть,
уже приїхали?
Note 2: In American English instead of may/might could is often used, but
with could the possibility is smaller,
e.g. - Where's Jack?
- I a m not sure. He could be in the office, though he's not usually there at
this time.
6. Disapproval or reproach. In this meaning only the form might is found in
affirmative sentences. It may be followed by the Simple (if some hypothetical wish
is expressed) or Perfect Infinitive (if a reproach or irritation is made that the action
was not carried out).
e.g. You might help me. - Ви могли б мені допомогти.
You might have helped me. - Ви могли б допомогти мені тоді.
7. Purpose. In this case may is used after the conjunctions so that, in order that,
e.g. I ’ll call him so that he may know when to expect us.
The modal verb may is also used to express wishes and hopes,
e.g. May you both be happy! - Хай щастить вам обом!
May/might can be found in some set phrases:
a) I may/might as well + Infinitive - a very mild way of expressing an intention,
e.g. I may/might as well take you with me.
It can be used with other persons to suggest or recommend an action,
e.g. You may as well take the child with you.
b) It might have been worse. It means “Things are not so bad after all”. In
Ukrainian it is rendered as “Могло б бути і гірше ”.
c) If I may say so... It has become a stereotyped phrase in which the meaning
of permission is considerably weakened.
e.g. I f I may say so, I think you are not right.
d) Might just as well. It is used to suggest alternative actions. It means “It
would be equally good to”.
e.g. You might just as well wait till Tuesday.
 124

§ 81. The modal verbs CAN and M AY {compared)

The use of can and may is parallel only in two meanings: possibility due to
circumstances and permission. In these meanings, however, they are not always
interchangeable.
1. Thus in the meaning of possibility due to circumstances the use of may is
restricted only to affirmative sentences, whereas can is found in all kinds of sentences.
MAY CAN
Не may fin d this book at the library. He can fin d this book at the library.
Can he find this book at the library?
He cannot find this book at the library.
Their time reference is also different. May refers only to the present or future;
the form might is used in past-time contexts only in reported speech. Can/could
may refer to the present, past or future.
MAY CAN
He may fin d the book at the library. He can find the book at the library.
I said that he might fin d the book at
the library. He couldfind the book at the library.
He can fin d the book at the library
tomorrow.
Both could and might combined with the Perfect Infinitive indicate that the
action was not carried out in the past.
e.g. He might have found the book at the library.
He could have found the book at the library.
It follows from the above that the sphere of application of can in this meaning
is wider than that of may.
2. In the meaning of permission the difference between the modal verbs can
and may is rather that of style than of meaning - may is more formal than can
which is characteristic of colloquial English.
e.g. May/might 1 speak to you fo r a moment, professor?
Can/could I have a cup o f tea, mother?
§ 82. The Modal Verb MUST
The modal verb must has only one form. It is used in present-time contexts
with reference to the present or future and in combination with the Perfect
Infinitive it refers to the past. In past-time contexts this form is used only in
reported speech, i.e. the rules of the sequence of tenses are not observed with must.
e.g. / must go there too. - Я також мушу піти туди.
1 knew I must go there too. —Я назв, що я також мушу піти туди.
The modal verb must has the following meanings:
1. Obligation (from the speaker’s point of view). There is no choice, this
action is required and consequently inevitable. This meaning occurs in positive
statements and questions.
e.g. I must go, indeed. - Я дійсно мушу йти.
Must you really go so soon? —Ви дійсно мусите йти так скоро?
 125

Obligation expressed by must refers to the present or future, but in reported

1 1>ecch it may refer to the past.
e.g. James said he must invite the Stewards to dinner. - Джеймс сказав, що
він повинен запросити Стюардів на обід.
Note 1: Future obligation can be made more precise with the Future Indefinite
of the verb have to.
e.g. I shall have to read it again.
Мені доведеться перечитати це.
You ’ll have to come once again. - Вам доведеться прийти сюди ще раз.
Note 2: The absence of necessity is expressed by needn’t.
e.g. Must I come tomorrow ? - No, you needn’t.
In different contexts must may acquire additional shades of meaning, such as
duty and necessity. In all these cases must is followed only by the Simple
Infinitive.
2. Prohibition (as a rule associated with some circumstances). This meaning
г. expressed in negative sentences and must is followed by the Simple Infinitive.
e.g. You must not get up. - Вам не можна вставати.
The girls must not go alone so late. - Дівчатам не можна ходити
самим так пізно.
3. Emphatic advice, urgent (emphatic) request, invitation, command.
I liese meanings are found in affirmative and negative sentences.
e.g. You must come and see us. - Ви мусите прийти і провідати нас.
You must have dinner with us. - Ви мусите пообідати з нами.
You must have your hair cut. - Тобі треба підстигтися.
You mustn 7 worry. - He варто хвилюватися.
You mustn 7 miss this film. - Обоє ’язково подивися цей фільм.
4. Supposition bordering on assurance, implying strong probability, near
certainty. In this meaning must is found only in affirmative sentences and it may
he followed by different forms of the Infinitive. In Ukrainian it corresponds to
"напевно”, “очевидно”.
e.g. He must be over fifty. -Йому, напевно, за n 'ятдесят.
He must be working in the garden now. - Він, напевно, працює в саду зараз.
They must have gone home. - Вони, напевно, пішли уже додому.
It must have been raining all the night. -Д ощ ішов, напевно, усю ніч.
The same meaning can also be expressed by means of the modal words
probably and evidently.
e.g. He is probably ill.
They look tired. Evidently they have been working all the time.
Note 1: With reference to the future must is not used. In this case we find
adverbs evidently, probably, be likely, be unlikely.
e.g. He will probably come tomorrow.
She will evidently feel alone.
She is likely to come.
They are unlikely to help us.
 126

Note 2: In the meaning of suppositionmM.vt is never -used in negative and

interrogative sentences.
To express supposition implying strong probability with negative meaning, the
following means are employed: negative affixes, negative pronouns, other lexical
units having negative semantics.
e.g. You must have misunderstood me. - Вони, напевно, неправильно зрозуміли мене.
You must have disliked thisfilm. - Тобі, напевно, не сподобався цей фільм.
They must have been inattentive. -Вони, напевно, були не уважні.
She must have failed to recognize you. - Вона, напевно, не впізнана тебе.
Не must have had по chance to warn you. - У нього, напевно, не було
жодного шансу попередити вас.
No one must have told him about it. - Йому, напевно, ніхто не сказав про це.
The letter must have never reached him. - Він, напевно, так і не отримав
листа.
The modal verb must occurs in some set phrases:
a) Must needs (it denotes obligation: обов’язково, вкрай).
e.g. He must needs go there. - Йому вкрай необхідно піти туди.
b) I must be going. 1 must be off. Both phrases mean “It’s time for me to go”.
e.g. I ’m terribly busy. I ’m sorry but I really must be going.
c) I must tell you...; I must say... These are stereotyped phrases in which the
meaning of obligation is weakened.
e.g. / must tell you it's an attack o f appendicitis. - Мушу сказати, це напад
апендициту.
§ 83. The Modal Phrase TO HA VE TO
The modal expression to have plus Infinitive with the particle to serves to
express obligation and necessity. It is found in all kinds of sentences (affirmative,
interrogative and negative) and is combined only with the Simple Infinitive. It is
rendered into Ukrainian as змушений, доводиться. This modal expression differs
from other modal verbs in that it is not defective. It can have the category of person
and number and all tense-aspect forms, as well as verbals. It builds up its
interrogative and negative forms with the help of auxiliaries.
e.g. We have to return. -М и змушені повернутися.
She knew what she had to do. - Вона знала, що вона мусила зробити.
I see that I shall have to reconsider my position. - Я бачу, мені доведеться
переглянути мою позицію.
It seems to те he is having to force himself to talk - Мені здається, він
примушує себе говорити.
Му impression wo? that he was having to force himself to talk - У мене було
враження, що він примушував себе говорити.
I have had to listen to a lot of lying. - Мені довелося вислухати море брехні.
But І have been having to give a lot of thought recently to myfeelings toward
you. - Останнім часом мені доводиться багато думати про мої почут­
тя до тебе.
 127

Having to work alone, he wanted all his time to be dedicated to his research. -
Оскільки йому доводилося працювати самому, він хотів, що увесь його
час був присвячений науковій роботі.
IVhat do you have to do to earn so much money. - Яку роботу тобі
доводиться виконувати, щоб заробити так багато грошей?
You don’t have to do what your sister tells you. - Ти не зобов'язаний робити
те, що твоя сестра каже тобі.
IVhy does he have to go there? —Чому він повинен іти туди?
Did he have to tell them everything? - Йому довелося сказати їм все?
How long did you have to stay there? -Я к довго тобі довелося бути там?
In colloquial English and especially in American English have got + Infinitive
і . ollen used in the same meaning as have + Infinitive, but this modal expression is
used in the Present Indefinite tense only; negative and interrogative forms are built
up without any auxiliary:
e.g. Have you got to do all this work yourself - No, 1 have not got to work so much.
When has Tom got to leave? (= When does Tom have to leave?).
To have to is similar in its meaning to must. Sometimes it doesn’t matter
which one we use. We can use either to say that it is necessary to do something,
e.g. Oh, dear, it's later that I thought. I must (have to) go now. - О, батечки,
уже пізніше, ніж я думав. Я мушу вже йти.
You must (have to) have a passport to visit a foreign country. - Необхідно
мати паспорт, щоб відвідати чужоземну країну.
But there is a difference between must and have to. With must the speaker is
riving his own feelings, saying what he thinks is necessary.
e.g. I must write to Ann. / haven’t written to her for ages (= the personally
Icels that he must write to Ann). - Я мушу написати Ганні листа. Я не писав їй
уже цілу вічність.
With have to the speaker is not giving his own feelings. He is just giving facts,
e.g. Ann's eyes are not good. She has to wear glasses fo r reading. - У Ганни
поганий зірю Вона змушена користуватися окулярами для читання.
І сап 7 meet you on Friday. I have to work. - Я не можу зустрітися з
тобою в п ’ятницю. Я мушу працювати.
M ustn’t and don’t have to are completely different. "You mustn't do
something ” means “it is necessary that you do not do it
e.g. You mustn’t tell anyone what I said. (= Don’t tell anyone.) - He кажи
нікому me, що я тобі сказав.
The baby is asleep. You mustn 7 shout (= It is necessary that you do not
shout). -Дитина спить. He кричіть.
“You don’t have to do something" means “it is not necessary to do it; you
don 7 need to do it
e.g. She stayed in bed this morning because she didn’t have to go to work. -
Вона довше полежала в ліжку сьогодні, оскільки їй не потрібно було
йти на роботу.
 1 28

§ 84. The Modal Phrase TO BE TO

To be + to Infinitive is a modal expression. It is used in two tenses - the Present
Indefinite and the Past Indefinite. It has the following meanings:
1. An obligation resulting from the arrangement or arising out of a plan. This
meaning is found in affirmative and interrogative sentences in the Present and Past
tenses. To be to is followed by the Simple Infinitive.
e.g. I am to be at home at six. - Я маю бути вдома о шостій.
We are to complete this work by tomorrow. - Ми повинні завершити цю
роботу до завтра.
Не is to return in a day. - Він має повернутися через день.
Who is to be the first? - Хто повинен бути першим?
When is the wedding to be. - Коли весілля?
Who was to speak at the meeting? - Хто повинен був виступати на зборах?
The Past tense of the verb to be in combination with the Perfect Infinitive
denotes that the action didn’t take place.
e.g. / was to have met my mother. - Я повинен був зустрічати маму. (But 1
failed to do so.)
She was to have arrived yesterday. - Вона повинна була приїхати вчора.
(But the action was not carried out.)
2. A strict order or an instruction (given either by the speaker or some
official authority). This meaning is found in affirmative sentences.
e.g. You are to stay here until 1 return. - Залишайся тут доти, поки я не повернусь.
You are to do it as you are told. - Ти мусиш зробити так, як тобі кажуть.
Mother says I am to leave you alone. - Мама каже, що я мушу
залишити тебе одну.
3. Strict prohibition (only in the negative form).
e.g. You are not to tell anybody about it. - Нікому не кажи про це.
You are not to leave the room until I return. - He смій виходити з
кімнати доти, поки я не повернуся.
4. Something unavoidable, that is destined to happen. In Ukrainian it is
often rendered by “судилося".
e.g. He was never to see her again. - Йому не судилося побачити її ще раз.
Не was to become a famous scientist. - Йому судилося стави відомим
вченим.
It was not to be. - Цьому не судилося збутися.
5. Possibility. This meaning comes very close to the meaning of the modal
verb can. In this case the passive form of the Simple Infinitive is used (unless it is a
question beginning with the interrogative adverb how).
e.g. He is to be trusted. -Йому можна довіряти.
Nothing was to be done. - Нічого не можна було зробити.
Where is he to befound? - Де його можна знайти?
If a question begins with the interrogative adverb how the active form of the
Infinitive is used.
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e g. How am I to reply? - Що я маю відповісти?

How am I to repay you for your kindness? - Як мені відплатити вам за
вашу доброту?
The modal phrase to be to occurs in some set expressions:
What am I to do? - Що ж мені робити?
What is to become o f me? - Що зі мною буде?
Where am I to go? - Куди мені дітися?
§ 85. MUST, TO HA VE TO, TO BE TO {compared)
The verbs must, to have to and to be to have one meaning in common, that of
obligation.
In the Present tense the verbs come very close to each other in their use,
Ihough they preserve their specific shades of meaning. Thus, must expresses
obligation or necessity from the speaker’s point of view,
e.g. I must do it myself (I want to do it myself).
To have to expresses obligation or necessity imposed by circumstances,
e.g. I had to do it myself (I had nobody to help me).
To be to expresses obligation or necessity resulting from an arrangement,
e.g. / am to do it myself (It was arranged so).
In the Past tense, however, the difference in the use of the three is quite
considerable.
Must has no Past tense. It is used in past-time contexts only in reported speech,
e.g. He said he must do it himself.
He said I m ustn’t tell anyone about it.
They believed the story must be true.
Parallelly to must, had to is also used in reported speech to express obl igation.
In this case had to doesn’t include the idea of a realised action but refers to some
future moment.
e.g. He said he had to make a telephone call at once.
Had to + Infinitive is generally used to denote an action which was realized in
the past as a result of obligation or necessity imposed by circumstances.
e.g. I had to take an umbrella (It was necessary because it was probably raining).
Was/were to + Infinitive is used to denote an action planned for the future which
is viewed from the past. If the plan was not fulfilled, the Perfect Infinitive is used,
e.g. We were to meet at six.
We were to have met at six, but she didn t turn up.
We were to have gone there with Nick but he was taken ill and couldn't.
So I had to go there alone.
§ 86. The Modal Verb OUGHT TO
The modal verb ought to has only one form which is used with reference to
the present or future. In reported speech it remains unchanged. Ought is always
followed by the Infinitive with the particle to.
Ought to has the following meanings:
1. Moral obligation, moral duty. It corresponds to the Ukrainian ",слід було б ".
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In this meaning ought to is possible tn all kinds of sentences though- rt-is felt to
be awkward in questions where should is preferred.
e.g. You ought to say a word about yourself. - Вам слід сказати декілька
слів про себе. ----- "
Ought she to do that? —Чи слід їй робити це?
You oughtn't to mention it. - Вам не слід згадувати це.
Generally ought to refers an action to the future. In this case it is followed by
the Simple Infinitive.
e.g. You ought to be more careful. - Вам слід бути обережнішим.
With reference to the present ought to is used with the Continuous Infinitive,
or with the Simple Infinitive if the verb is stative.
e.g. You ought to be earning your living at your age. - У вашому віці слід
заробляти гроші самому.
With reference to the past ought is used with the Perfect Infinitive. In the
affirmative form it shows that a desirable action was not fulfilled, and in the
negative form it shows that an undesirable action was fulfilled.
e.g. You ought to have helped him (but you didn’t). - Вам слід було
допомогти йому.
You oughtn’t to have said it (but you did). - Вам не слід було казати це.
Note: The opposite to ought to is needn’t which means that the action is
unnecessary.
e.g. We ought to wash the dishes but we needn’t dry them. - Нам слід
помити посуд, але витирати його немає потреби.
2. Advisability (which is sometimes understood as desirability).
e.g. You ought to see a doctor. - Вам слід піти до лікаря.
Не ought to be more careful. - Вам слід бути обережнішим.
3. Supposition, probability, something that can be naturally expected. It
corresponds to the Ukrainian “очевидно", “напевно".
In this meaning ought to is weaker equivalent of must. The use of ought to in
this meaning is not very common as this meaning is normally rendered by must.
e.g. Apples ought to grow well here. - Яблуні, напевно, ростуть добре тут.
You ought to be hungry. - Ти, напевно, голодний.
§ 87. The Modal Verb SHOULD
Historically should was the past form of shall and both the forms expressed
obligation. In present-day English shall and should have developed different
meanings and are treated as two different verbs.
The modal verb should has the following meanings:
1. Moral obligation or duty which may not be fulfilled. In this meaning
should is found in all kinds of sentences.
e.g. You should submit your work by Saturday. - Вам слід подати вашу
роботу на розгляд до суботи.
Should I talk to him about it? - Чи слід мені поговорити з ним про це?
 131

2. Advice, desirability. Sometimes it’s difficult to discriminate between the

lirst and the second meaning.
e.g. He should stay in bed. - Йому слід лежати в ліжку.
You shouldn ’t miss this chance. - Вам слід не упустити цей шанс.
You shouldn’t be sitting in the sun. It's dangerous for your health. - Вам
не слід сидіти на сонці. Це небезпечно для вашого здоров 'я.
In combination with the Perfect Infinitive should refers the action to the past.
In affirmative sentences should + Perfect Infinitive shows that a desirable action
was not carried out.
e.g. She should have told me about it earlier. - їй слід було сказати мені
про це раніше.
In negative sentences should + Perfect Infinitive indicates that an undesirable
action was carried out; smth. wrong has been done.
e.g. They shouldn’t have done that. - їм не слід було це робити.
They shouldn’t have married. - їм не слід було одружуватися.
3. Probability (only with reference to the present or future),
e.g. Thefilm should be interesting. - Фільм, очевидно, цікавий.
He shouldn’t come for another hour. - Він навряд чи прийде раніше, ніж
через годину.
Should may be used for emotional colouring. In this function it may be
called the emotional should.
The use of the emotional should is structurally dependent. It is found in the
following cases:
1) in rhetorical questions beginning with why:
e.g. Why should l do it? - А чому це я повинна робити це?
Why shouldn’t we go there? - А чому б нам не піти туди?
2) in object clauses beginning with why:
e.g. I don't see why we shouldn’t meet at 6. - Я не розумію, чому б нам не
зустрітися о шостій?
3) in attributive clauses beginning with why after the noun reason:
e.g. I don’t see any reason why she shouldn’t be happy. - Я не бачу причини,
чому б їй не бути щасливою.
4) in some set phrases:
How should / know? - Звідки мені знати?
Why should I...7 - А чого це я повинен...?
That it should come to this! - І д о чого діло дійшло!
To think that it should have happened to me! - Тільки подумати, що зі мною було!
§ 88. OUGHT ТО and SHOULD (compared)
There is hardly any difference between modal verbs ought and should and
very often they are interchangeable.
e.g. He ought to be punished, oughtn't he?
He should be punished, shouldn’t he?
 I
132

However, there is a slight difference between them, primarily in constructions.

First of all should is followed by the bare Infinitive whereas ought is always
followed by the to-Infinitive.
Secondly, both of them are possible in all kinds of sentences, but ought is felt
to be awkward in questions and negative sentences that’s why should is preferred.
As far as the meaning is concerned in the meaning of moral duty ought is
preferable while in the meaning of advisability while giving some instructions or
making some corrections should is more common.
e.g. You should use the definite cuticle here. - Тут слід вжити неозначений артикль.
Compare:
You should have married long ago (a piece of advice, an instruction is given). -
Тобі слід було одружитися давним-давно.
Yes, I ought to have married long ago indeed (moral obligation is expressed). -
Так, мені дійсно слід було одружитися давним-давно.
Notice that ought can’t be used instead of the emotional should.
§ 89. The Modal Verb SHALL
Historically shall and should were two forms of the same verb expressing
obligation. But later they came to express different meanings and in present-day
English their use is not parallel and they are treated as two different verbs.
The modal meaning of obligation in shall is combined with the function of an
auxiliary verb of the Future tense.
Shall is not translated into Ukrainian its meaning is usually rendered by
emphatic intonation, with the help of the Infinitive, etc.
Shall is combined with the Simple Infinitive and expresses:
1. Promise, strong intention.
e.g. You shall never know this. - Ти ніколи цього не дізнаєшся.
2. Threat or warning.
e.g. That day shall come. - Прийде той день.
You shall be punished. - Ти будеш покараний.
3. A suggestion, asking for instructions (in questions with he first person
singular and plural).
e.g. Shall l read? Yes, please. - Мені читати? - Так, будь ласка.
Shall 1open the window? No, you needn'd - Відкрити вікно? - Немає потреби.
Shall we begin? Yes, let's. - Розпочнемо? - Давайте.
4. Strict order, compulsion:
e.g. He shall do as I say. - Він зробить так, як я кажу.
§ 90. The Modal Verb NEED
The verb need may be used either as a defective or as a regular verbs.
As a defective verb need has only one form (the Present tense) and combines
with a bare Infinitive. In reported speech it remains unchanged.
Need expresses necessity or absence of necessity. It is used in interrogative and
negative sentences. It may be found in affirmative sentences too, but it is not typical.
 133

In interrogative sentences need usually implies that there is no necessity of

performing the action.
e.g. Need she go there? (hoping for a negative answer) - їй потрібно йти туди?
Need I repeat? - Чи потрібно мені повторити?
In the meaning of absence of necessity (in negative sentences) need is used
with the Indefinite and the Perfect Infinitive. “(You) needn’t (do)” means that it is
not necessary to do something.
e.g. You needn’t go there. - He потрібно йти туди або Даремно ви йдете туди.
You needn ’t shout. - He потрібно кричати.
In combination with the Perfect Infinitive need expresses an action which has
been performed though it was unnecessary. It implies a waste of time or effort.
e.g. You needn’t have come. The dean is off. - Даремно ви прийшли, декана
уже немає.
We needn’t have waited for her because she never came. - Даремно ми
чекали на неї, вона так і не прийииіа.
As a regular verb need can have all necessary forms, including verbals. It is
lollowed by the to-Infinitive. It may also be followed by a noun or a pronoun.
§ 91. The Modal Verbs WILL and WOULD
Will and would are looked upon as forms of the same verb, although in a few
cases their meanings differ.
The form will is used for the Present tense and the form would - for the Past
lense. The form would can express an actual fact in past-time contexts and unreality
or can be used as a more polite form of will in present-time contexts.
Will combined with the Simple Infinitive expresses:
1. Willingness, intention, determination in affirmative and interrogative
sentences and refusal in negative sentences. It is rendered into Ukrainian by
обоє 'язково, неодмінно, з охотою.
e.g. / will write as soon as I can. - Я обоє ’язково напишу.
I said I would do anythingfor him. - Я сказав, що я зроблю щось для нього.
They won’t go with us (they refuse). - Вони відмовляються йти з нами.
They wouldn't listen to me (they refused). - Вони не послухають мене.
2. A polite request or an offer. This meaning occurs only in questions.
e.g. Will/wouldyou pass me the salt, please? - Передайте мені сіль, будь ласка.
WillAvouldyou have some tea? - Bun 'єте чаю?
In comparison with will the form would renders a greater degree of politeness.
Note: It is still more polite to use the combinations: Would you mind (+ -ing
form), Would you be so kind as to...
e.g. Would you mind passing me the salt?
Would you be so kind as to pass me the salt?
3. A command.
e.g. You will do as I say. - Робіть так, як я кажу.
An impatient command can be with will you.
e.g. Will you be quiet! - Замовкніть нарешті!
 134

Will you in the tag after a negative command is pronounced with the falling
tone, but after a positive command wtf/ you has' arising intonation and-expresses
impatience.
e.g. 'Don't be hate, k i l l you?
'Sit /down, ]will you?
'Shut the Idoor, twill you?
Would is never used in this meaning.
4. Insistence. Will is stressed when used in this sense.
e.g. He will try to mend it himself (he insists or mending it himself). - Він
поправить це сам.
5. Resistance. In this meaning will and would occur in negative sentences;
showing that a thing fails to perform its function. In Ukrainian it corresponds to
“...ніяк не..:”.
e.g. The door will not open. - Двері не відчиняються.
The wound wouldn’t heal. - Рана не заживає.
6. Inevitability, something naturally expected.
e.g. What will be will be. —Чому бути, того не минути.
Truth will out. - Правди не приховаєш.
7. Prediction, a certainty (about the present or the future). In this meaning
will and would occur. They can be combined with different forms of the Infinitive.
e.g. That will be my wife. - Це, напевно, моя дружина.
That would be our train. - Це, напевно, наш поїзд.
Jane will have come back tomorrow. - Джейн, напевно, повернеться завтра.
That would be in 2005, I suppose. - Я думаю, це було в 2005 році.
8. Characteristic behaviour or quality:
e.g. Oil willfloat on water. - Олія легша за воду/Олія спливає на поверхню води.
This car will hold 5 persons. - Ця машина вміщає 5 осіб.
§ 92. The Modal verb DARE
The modal verb dare has two forms: dare for the present and dared for the
past tense. It means to have the courage, to venture. Its use is very restricted. In
present-day English it is mainly found in questions beginning with how, which are
actually exclamations, and in negative sentences.
e.g. How dare you say that! - Як ти смієш казати таке!
How dare she come here! - Як вона сміє приходити сюди!
Не dare not look at her! - Він на відважується глянути на неї.
Notice the colloquial set phrase “I dare say” which is rendered into Ukrainian
as “Насмілюся сказати
e.g. / dare say you look a little confused. - Насмілюся сказати, у вас збентежений
вигляд.
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Suggested points for discussion

1. What modal verbs are there in Modem English? Why are they called modal
and defective?
2. What modal verbs express obligation (possibility, request, permission,
prohibition, certainty, doubt, volition)?
3. What periphrastic phrases to modal verbs do you know?
4. Is there any difference between the meanings of the modal verbs should
and ought to?

CHAPTER II. THE NOUN

§ 93. Morphological Composition of Nouns
The noun is a word expressing substance in the concept of which not only
names of living beings and lifeless things, but also names of abstract notions are
included. So nouns name human beings (man, woman, boy, girl), other living
beings (bird, tiger), lifeless things (table, chair, book), materials (iron, oil, snow,
sugar), abstract notions, i.e. qualities (beauty, courage, kindness, strength), states
(consciousness, fear, sleep), actions (conversation, fight).
According to their morphological composition nouns can be divided into
simple nouns, derived nouns and compound nouns.
Simple nouns consist of only one root-morpheme: chair, man, window, paper, etc.
Derived nouns (derivatives) are composed of one root-morpheme and one or
more derivational morphemes (prefixes or suffixes): friendship, sailor, actress,
misconduct, inexperience.
The main noun-forming suffixes are as follows:
-acy conspiracy, piracy;
-age bondage, carriage, leakage, marriage, voyage',
-al arrival, betrayal, disposal, portrayal, refusal',
-anAan grammarian, historian, Parisian',
-ance/-ence assistance, distance, experience',
-ancyAency consistency, constancy, vacancy, tendency,
-antAent assistant, disinfectant, informant, student',
-ard coward, drunkard, sluggard',
-arian vegetarian',
-cy accuracy, adequacy, bankruptcy,
-dom freedom, kingdom',
-ee addressee, employee, payee, refugee',
-erAor singer, reader, actor, inspector, visitor, cutter, reaper, conveyor,
-ese Chinese, Japanese, journalese',
-essAstress actress, hostess, poetess, lioness, tigress, seamstress, songstress;
-ette kitchenette, roomette, usherette;
-M handful, mouthful, spoonful;
-hood brotherhood, childhood, manhood;
-ician mathematician, musician, politician, physician;
! -ieAyAey auntie, birdie, doggy;
 136

-ina/-ine tsarina, heroine',

-‘"g____ bedding, building, meaning, shipping',
-ion/-sion/-
rebellion, creation, examination, explanation, operation, tension;
tion/-ation
-ism/-icism criticism, darvinism, nationalism, patriotism;
-ist artist, dramatist, linguist, novelist, tobacconist;
-(i)tude fortitude, gratitude, multitude;
-ix proprietrix;
-kin catkin, lambkin, seedkin, tigerkin;
-let booklet, cloudlet, leaflet, townlet;
-ling duckling, firstling, ladling, nurseling, oakling, weakling;
-ment agreement, development, government, pavement;
-ness forgiveness, kindness, tenderness, weakness, whiteness);
-ry/-ety carpentry, fishery, infantry, laundry, nursery, poetry;
-ship friendship, membership, relationship;
-th breadth, growth, length, strength, width;
-ty/-ity banality, cruelty, generosity, sanity;
-ure culture, departure, exposure, measure, picture, pleasure, pressure;
-y difficulty, entry, honesty.
Noun-forming suffixes differ in their productivity. Productive noun-forming
suffixes are: -er, -ist, -ess, -ness, -ism. Suffixes -hood, -dom, -ship, -ment, -ance, -
ence, -ty, -ity are unproductive. The suffix -th is considered to be dead.
Noun-forming suffixes may signal the class of nouns. Thus abstract nouns are
signaled by the following suffixes: -age (vicarage), -ance/-ence (importance), -ancy/-
ency (tendency), -dom (officialdom), -hood (boyhood), -ing (meaning), -ion/-sion/-
tion/-ation (examination, translation), -ism (communism), -ment (nourishment), -ness
(tenderness), -ship (friendship), -th (death), -ty (cruelty). Concrete nouns are usually
formed by means of the following suffixes: -an (academician), -ant/-ent (servant), -
arian (agrarian), -ee (examinee), -er (reader), -ician (musician), -ist (linguist), -or
(sailor), -ess (stewardess), -ine (neighbourine), -ette (kitchenette), -kin (lambkin), -let
(townlet), -y/-ie/-ey (auntie, doggy).
The following list shows the noun prefixes:
anti- antibody, anticlimax; mis- misconduct, mismatch;
arch- archbishop; mono- monopoly;
bi- bilingualism; neo- neo-colonialism;
CO- co-chairman, co-founder, non- non-payment;
counter- counteraction, counterclaim; out- outpatient;
dis- disbelief, discomfort; poly- polytheism;
ex- ex-president; re- re-election;
fore- foreknowledge; semi- semicircle;
hyper- hyperinflation; sub- subgroup, subset;
in- inattention; super- supermarket;
inter- interaction; ultra- ultrasound;
mat- malfunction: under- underclass;
 137

mega- megastar; vice- vice-admiral, vice-chancellor,

mini- minibus;
Compound nouns are nouns built from two or more stems. Compound nouns
ollen have one stress.
The main structural types of compound nouns are as follows:
1) noun stem + noun stem: apple-tree, database, film-star, snowball, table-
eloth, shirt-collar, suitcase, identity-card;
2) adjective-stem + noun stem: blackbird, bluebell, highway, hot-dog, mad-
doctor, highway, sour-cream, sweet-heart, sweet-tooth;
3) verb stem + noun stem: cookbook, cut-throat, pickpocket, playboy;
4) verb-ing + noun stem: dining-room, filling station, dancing-hall, diving­
suit, mockingbird, reading-hall, writing-table;
5) noun + verb-ing: housekeeping, thanksgiving, window shopping;
6) verb stem + preposition: breakdown, break-up, checkout, fly-over, go-
between, handout, make-up, standby, take-off, teach-in;
7) adverb/preposition + verb/noun stem: downturn, inland, inlet, outfit,
outlook, outline, overcoat;
8) self + noun stem: self-control, e lf esteem, self-help;
9) noun stem + adverb/preposition: listener-in, looker-in, passer-by;
10) noun stem + preposition/conjunction + noun stem or any other parts of
speech combining in different ways: daughter-in-law, Jack-in-the-box, Jack-of-all-
trades, maid-of-all-work, man-of-war, mother-of-pearl, bread-and-butter, coach-
and-six, hue-and-cry, forget-me-not, merry-go-round, pick-me-up, stay-at-home,
stick-in-the-mud, touch-me-not;
11) Quotation-nouns: what's-her/his-name, what-d’you-call-'im.
§ 94. Classification of Nouns
Nouns can be grouped into a small number of classes which differ in meaning
and grammatical behaviour. Thus semantically all nouns can be divided into two
main groups: (A) common and (B) proper nouns. Common nouns, in their turn,
are subdivided into countable nouns and uncountable nouns, both of them may be
concrete and abstract. Thus semantically all nouns can be divided into two main
groups - common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns, in their turn, are
subdivided into countable nouns and uncountable nouns, both of them may be
concrete and abstract.
Semantic classification of English nouns is shown in the following scheme:
 138

miniate (boy, cat, girl, man)

, ^concrpti
■inanimate (book, table, chair)
counf '

Nouns

A. Common nouns are names that can be applied to any individual of a class of
persons or things (e. g. man, dog, book), collections of similar individuals or things
regarded as a single unit (e. g. family, peasantry), materials (e. g. cotton, iron) or
abstract notions (e.g. kindness, progress). Thus there are four different groups of
common nouns: class nouns, collective nouns, nouns of material and abstract nouns.
1. Class nouns denote persons or things belonging to a class. They are
countables and have two numbers: singular and plural. They are generally used
with an article (animal, tree).
2. Collective nouns refer to groups of people, animals or things, they denote a
number or collection of similar individuals, animals or thing as a single unit: army,
audience, committee, family, staff, team, flock, bunch. All these nouns behave like
ordinary countable nouns, varying for number and definiteness: a team, the team, the
teams, teams. Among collective nouns we also find proper nouns naming official bodies
or organizations: the BBC, the Senate, the UN, Congress, Parliament.
Collective nouns fall under the following groups:
a) nouns used only in the singular and denoting a number of things, collected
together and regarded as a single object: crowd, foliage, machinery;
e.g. There was a small crowd o f people around.
b) nouns of multitude, which are singular in form but plural in meaning: cattle,
gentry, people, police, poultry; when the subject of the sentence is a noun of
multitude the verb used as predicate is in the plural:
e.g. The police were so devilishly prudent. (Shaw)
c) nouns that may be both singular and plural: family, crowd, fleet, nation, etc.
e.g. A small crowd is lined up to see the guests arrive. (Shaw)
Crowds ofpeople were already pouringfrom a variety o f quarters. (Dickens)
 139

One special class of collective nouns are sometimes called of-collectives

because they generally precede of + plural noun, where the plural noun names a set
of people, animals, objects, etc. They are: bunch (a group of things that are
lustened, held, or growing together; a group of people), crowd (a large group of
people who have gathered together to do smth.), flock (a group of sheep, goats, or
birds; a large group of people), gaggle (a noisy group of geese, people), gang (a
group of young people who spend time together and who are often involved in
crime or drugs; a group of criminals), group (several people or things that are all
together in the same place, or are connected with each other), herd (a group of
animals of one kind that live and feed together), host (a large number o f people or
things), pack (a group of wild animals that hunt together, or a group of dogs trained
to hunt together), series (several events or actions of a similar type that happen one
niter the other), set (a group of similar things that belong together or are related in
nome way), shoal (a large group of fish swimming together), swarm (a large group
of insects, moving together; a crowd of people who are moving quickly), troop (a
group of soldiers, a group of people or animals that do smth. together). Some
typical collocations are:
bunch o f roses, flowers, keys, grapes, idiots, thieves;
crowd o f demonstrators, fans, shoppers, spectators;
flock o f birds, doves, geese, sheep, children;
gaggle o f geese, children;
gang o f bandits, hecklers, criminals, smugglers, thugs;
group o f adults, girls, animals, buildings, diseases, admirers, islands;
herd o f cows, elephants, cattle;
host o f stars, showbusiness celebrities;
pack o f hounds, lions, wolves; o f reporters; lies;
series o f accidents, attacks, events;
set o f tools, assumptions, characteristics, conditions, problems, values;
shoal o f fish;
swarm o f insects, bees, mosquitoes, tourists;
troop o f inspectors, monkeys.
Bunch, group and set are the most general words, allowing the widest range of
collocations.
Although many of these collectives have a specific range (e.g. flock and
gaggle refer to a group of birds), they can be extended, for special effect, to other
nouns (e.g. flock o f children, gaggle o f teenagers). Some of the collectives
frequently have a negative effect, especially bunch, gang and pack.
3. Nouns of material denote material: iron, gold, paper, tea, water, etc. They
are uncountables and are generally used without any article.
e.g. There was a scent o f honey from the lime-trees inflower. (Galsworthy)
Nouns of material are used in the plural to denote different sorts of a given
material, e. g.: the quality o f wines.
Nouns of material may turn into class nouns (thus becoming countables) when
they come to express an individual object of definite shape:
e.g. To the left were clean panes o f glass. (Ch. Bronte)
 140

He ordered a glass o f ale.

4. Abstract nouns refer to abstractions such as events, states, actions, times
and qualities: kindness, sadness, fight, courage, etc. They are usually uncountables,
though some of them may be countables, e.g. the noun idea.
e.g. Accustomed to John Reed’s abuse. - I never had an idea of plying to it.
(Ch. Bronte)
It's these people with fixed ideas. (Galsworthy)
The distinction between concrete and abstract nouns is purely semantic: it has
no real grammatical role, since abstract nouns, like concrete nouns, can be countable,
uncountable, common, or proper. Countable concrete nouns refer to persons, objects,
places (student, chair, town, etc.), while uncountable concrete nouns refer to
substances, materials, liquids, gases, particles (steel, plastic, silk, leather, water, air,
steam, oxygen, water, petrol, dust, sand, sugar, salt, etc). In fact, some nouns, like
thing, cross the boundary between concrete and abstract very easily.
Abstract nouns may change their meaning and become class nouns. This
change is marked by the use of the article and of the plural number:
e.g. Beauty is to be admired.
She was a beauty.
Common nouns are ftirther subdivided into countable and uncountable nouns.
Countable common nouns refer to entities which can be counted: they have
both a singular and a plural form (a table, two tables, etc.). Both in the singular and
in the plural there is a contrast between indefinite and definite, signaled by
articles: a table . the table; tables ; the tables.
Uncountable common nouns refer to something which cannot be counted.
They do not vaiy for number, cannot occur with the indefinite article, but they
allow a contrast between indefinite and definite: milk, the milk. But we say: a pity,
a relief, a shame, a wonder though they are uncountables:
e.g. What a pity!
I t’s such a shame!
Uncountable nouns take a singular verb eind can be used with some, any, no, much:
e.g. Information is available at the front desk.
I need some advice.
The most common uncountable nouns are: mass nouns (fluids: blood, coffee,
juice, milk, oil, tea, water, etc.; solids: bread, butter, coal, food, fruit, glass, ice, iron,
meat, soap, etc.; gases: air, oxygen, smoke, smog, stem, etc.; particles: corn, dust,
flour, hair, pepper, rice, salt, sand sugar, wheat, etc.); subjects of study (chemistry,
economics, history, literature, mathematics, physics, psychology, etc.); languages
(Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, etc.); games
(baseball, billiards, chess, football, golf, poker, rugby, soccer, tennis, etc.); diseases
(cancer, flue, measles, mumps, etc.); natural phenomena (darkness, fog, gravity, hail,
heat, humidity, light, lightning, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, wind) (but: the
rains = season of continuous rain in tropical countries); some abstract nouns
(accommodation, advice, anger, applause, assistance, behaviour, business, chaos,
courage, damage, dirt, education, evidence, housework, homework, information,
intelligence, knowledge, luck, music, news, peace, progress, traffic, trouble, truth,
 141

wealth, work, etc.)', collective nouns (baggage, crockery, cutlery, furniture, jewellery,
luggage, machinery, money, rubbish, stationery, etc).
B. Proper nouns are individual names given to separate persons or things. As
regards their meaning proper nouns may be personal names {Helen, John, Nick,
Shakespeare), geographical names {London, New York, Kyiv, Crimea, Scotland,
I iirope, Africa, the Alps, the Thames, the Black Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Panama
( 'anal), time names, the names of months and of the days of the week {Christmas,
Ramadan, June, Monday), names of religions and some religious concepts
(buddhism, Islam, God, Heaven, Hell), names of planets {the Moon, the Sun, the
Barth), names of ships {the Titanic, the Queen Elizabeth, the Santa Maria), names of
buildings with public functions, i. e. hotels, restaurants, theatres, museums,
libraries and clubs {Shepherd’s Hotel, the British Museum, the Library o f Congress,
Yale University), names of people or bodies with a unique public function {the
Rope, the President, the Senate, the Commonwealth, Parliament), names of political
parties and their members {the Democrats, the Labour Party), names of languages,
nationalities and ethbic groups {Arabic, Chinese, English, Sioux), names of
buildings, squares, streets, bridges, parks and gardens {Buckingham Palace,
Trafalgar Square, Regent Street, Charing Cross Road, Piccadilly Circus, Waterloo
llridge, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens), names of institutions and organizations
(the United Nations, the State Department, the British Council), names of newspapers
and magazines {the Financial Times, Economist, (the) Journal o f Psychology, the
(luardian, the New York Times).
Proper nouns have no contrast for number or definiteness: they are singular and
definite. For example, the proper noun Tom has no options a Tom, the Tom or Toms.
§ 95. Morphological Categories of Nouns
The noun has the following morphological characteristics:
1. Nouns that can be counted have two numbers: singular and plural (e.g.
singular: a table, plural: tables).
2. Nouns denoting living beings (and some nouns denoting lifeless things)
have two case forms: the common case and the genitive case.
3. In accordance with their meaning nouns may be classed as belonging to the
masculine, feminine and neuter gender.
§ 96. The Category of Number
Number is the form of a noun which shows whether one or more than one
object is meant. Some nouns in English may have the singular and the plural forms
(book - books, student - students). Other nouns are used either only in the singular
{e.g. freedom, milk) or only in the plural {billiards, goods, spectacles).
English countable nouns have two numbers - the singular and the plural.
Singular denotes one, plural denotes more than one. Most countable nouns can
occur with either singular or plural number.
The main types of the plural forms of English nouns are as follows:
1. In Modem English the singular form of a noun is unmarked (zero). The
plural form is marked by the inflexion -(e)s. The spelling and the pronunciation of
the plural morpheme vary. It is pronounced [iz] after sibilants:
 142"'

nose-hoses, horse-houses, bridge-bridges.' " "

After vowels and voiced consonants other than sibilants it is pronounced [z]:
bee - bees, boy - boys, bed-beds, table - tables.
After voiceless consonants other than sibilants it is pronounce [s]:
cap - caps, book - books, part - parts.
2. It should be noted that some nouns in the plural change the pronunciation of
their final consonants. Thus the noun house ending in [sj changes it into [z\:
(sj—►[ziz]:
house [hauz] - houses [hauziz].
3. Nouns ending in -th after a long vowel or a diphthong have [dz], i.e. [0]->[dz]:
bath [ba:0] - baths [ba.dz], path [pa:0] - paths [pa:dz],
mouth [mau0] - mouths [maudz], oath [ou0] - oaths [oudz].
But: birth [bo:0] - births [bo:0s], youth [ju:0]-youths [ju:0s].
After consonants (including r) and after short vowels [0] is retained:
month [mAn0] - months [mAn0s]), myth [mi0] - myths [mi0s],
smith [smi0] - smiths [smi0s].
4. If the noun ends in -s, -ss, -x, -z, -sh, -ch, -tch, the plural is formed by
adding -es to the singular:
bus - buses, glass - glasses, box - boxes, buzz - buzzes, bush - bushes,
brush - brushes, bench - benches, torch - torches, match - matches.
5. Nouns ending in -y preceded by a consonant change they into i before -es:
fly - flies, baby - babies, lady - ladies.
But the letter -y remains unchanged in the following cases:
a) if it is preceded by a vowel, except in nouns ending in -quy:
day - days, essay - essays, key —keys, but soliloquy - soliloquies',
b) in proper names:
Mary - Marys, the Kennedys, the Gatsbys;
c) in compounds:
stand-by - stand-bys, lay-by - lay-bys, cover-up - cover-ups.
The noun penny has two plural forms, pennies and pence:
pennies (for individual coins; a penny is a large bronze-coloured British coin
which is worth one hundredth of a pound used before 1971 when currency was
decimalized):
e.g. Here are ten pennies, (ten coins in British currency, each is worth one
hundredth of a pound) pence (in one coin or as a sum of money):
e.g. Here is a ten pence coin
It costs fifteen pence.
Ten pence isn't a lot o f money.
You haven't got 50 pence I could borrow?
6. Nouns ending in -o preceded by a consonant, generally form the plural by
adding -es:
echo - echoes, hero - heroes, mosquito - mosquitoes, potato - potatoes,
tomato - tomatoes, torpedo - torpedoes, veto - vetoes, volcano - volcanoes.
 143

The inflexion -s is added in the following cases:

a) if nouns end in -o preceded by a vowel:
cuckoo - cuckoos, embryo - embryos, kangaroo - kangaroos,
portfolio - portfolios, studio - studios, video - videos, zoo - zoos',
b) in proper names:
Romeo - Romeos, Eskimo - Eskimos, Filipino - Filipinos;
c) in nouns of foreign origin:
concerto - concertos, kimono - kimonos, piano -pianos,
solo - solos, tango - tangos;
d) in abbreviations:
auto - autos, photo - photos, kilo - kilos.
Some nouns ending in -o may form their plural in either way: -esAs:
banjo(e)s, cargo(e)s, halo(e)s, tornado(e)s, volcano(e)s, zero(e)s.
7. The following nouns ending in - / or -fe form their plural changing -f(e) into -v(e):
calf - calves, elf - elves, half - halves, knife - knives, leaf - leaves,
life - lives, loaf - loaves, s e lf- selves, sh ea f- sheaves, sh elf- shelves,
thief - thieves, wolf - wolves, wife - wives.
Other nouns ending in - f or -fe form their plural in the regular way:
chief - chiefs, cliff - cliffs, g rief- griefs, g u lf- gulfs,
handkerchief - handkerchiefs, proof —proofs, ro o f- roofs,
reef - reefs, safe - safes.
There are some nouns ending in - / which have two forms in the plural:
dwarf- dwarfs or dwarves, hoof- hoofs or hooves, scarf- scarfs or scarves.
8. Seven nouns form the plural by changing the root vowel:
man - men, woman - women, foot —feet, tooth - teeth,
goose —geese, mouse - mice, louse —lice.
9. For historical reasons there are two nouns which form the plural in -en:
child - children, ox - oxen.
The noun brother has two plural forms: brothers and brethren (the latter does
not mean blood relations, but members of the same society).
10. In compound nouns normally the head-noun is made plural:
boy-friends, lady-birds, travel agents, flying pans, brothers-in-law,
editors-in-chief, commanders-in-chief ladies-in-waiting;
The first word is made plural with compounds formed of verb + -er noun + adverb:
hungers-on, lookers-on, runners-up.
If there is no noun-stem in the compound, -s is added to the last element:
break-ins, forget-me-nots, let-downs, merry-go-rounds
When the first component is man or woman and both parts of the compound
are evenly stressed, the plural is expressed twice, i.e. both parts are changed:
man servant - men servants, woman doctor - women doctors.
However, if the stress is on the second element, the plural ending is added only to it:
woman-hater - women-haters.
The same is true about boy and girl:
girlfriend - girlfiends, lady driver - lady drivers.
11. Abbreviations generally form the plural by adding the inflexion -s:
 144

M.P.s [,em'pi:z] (Members o f Parliament),

M.D.s [,em'di:z] (Doctors o f Medicine),
Co.s [kouz] (Companies), VIPs [,vi:ai'pi:z] (very important persons),
UFOs [Jinsfauz] (unidentifiedflying objects).
Sometimes the plural of abbreviations is formed in spelling by doubling a letter:
p. (page) - pp., ms. or MS. (manuscript) -m ss. or MSS.
In a phrase like “Miss Brown” two different forms are used for the plural. We
may either say “the Miss Browns" or “the Misses Brown", the latter being generally
considered more correct.
12. With some nouns the plural is identical with the singular: cod, dace, deer,
grouse, mackerel, sheep, snipe, swine, trout, craft, counsel. There are some animal
names that have two plurals, but -s forms are uncommon: carp - carp/carps, fish -
fish/fishes, pike - pike/pikes, salmon - salmon/salmons, trout - trout/trouts. The
zero plural is more common to denote hunting quarries: to catch a few fish (five
salmon), to shoot two quail. The regular plural is used to denote different
individuals, species, kinds of animal, especially fish with the same name or insects
or other small animal which cause disease or damage:
e.g. Fish are too easy to catch here.
Each fish is caught, the hook is carefully removed and the weight noted
before release.
Identical singular and plural forms are also typical of nationality nouns in -ese,
-ss: Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swiss:
e.g. A young Chinese lent me this bicycle.
The Japanese are the people who come from Japan.
Nouns species (вид, рід, порода), series (ряд, низка, серія), corps (корпус,
рід військ) also have identical singular and plural forms.
Names, indicating number, such as pair, couple, dozen, score, stone and head
have the same form for both the singular and plural when they are preceded by a
numeral: five dozen o f eggs; two thousand head o f cattle. But when they have no
number as predeterminer they take the usual plural: dozens o f times, to go in pairs.
13. Some words borrowed from Latin and Greek have retained their original
plural en d in g s :________________ _____ __ _ _ _ _______________
Singular Plural thesis theses
-is -es -on -a
analysis Analyses criterion criteria
axis axes phenomenon Phenomena
basis bases -a -ata
crisis crises miasma miasmata
diagnosis Diagnoses -a -ae ri-l
hypothesis hypotheses formula formulae (or
neurosis neuroses formulas)
oasis oases antenna Antennae
parenthesis Parentheses vertebra vertebrae
synopsis synopses -urn -a
 145

addendum Addenda nucleus nuclei

agendum agenda radius radii
bacterium bacteria stimulus stimuli
curriculum curricula syllabus Syllabi
datum data terminus termini
Singular Plural corpus corpora
erratum errata genus genera
medium media -es, -ex, -ix -ices |aisi:z|
memorandum Memoranda appendix Appendices
ovum ova codex codices
stratum strata matrix matrices
symposium symposia vertex vertices
-us -i, -ora, -era -eau -eaux
alumnus alumni bureau bureaux
bacillus Bacilli (or bureaus)
locus loci tableau tableaux

Some loan nouns may have two plural forms:

memoranda
memorandum :
' memorandums
curricula
curriculum
curriculums
formulae
formula
. formulas
There is a tendency to use the regular English plural forms in fiction and
colloquial English and the foreign plural in academic or learned language.
Sometimes different plural forms have different meanings:
dexes (list of contents of books)
index.
indices (a mathematical term)
• geniuses (men of talent)
genius
genii (fabulous spirits)
14. A considerable number of nouns are used only in the singular in English.
(The Latin term singularia tantum is applied to them.) Here belong all names of
materials (e.g. iron, copper, sand, coal, bread, cheese wine, chalk ) and also a great
number of nouns denoting abstract notions (e.g. generosity, curiosity, anger,
poetry, fun, progress).
Some nouns end in -s look like plural but are actually singular:
a) nouns news, gallows, summons;
 b) some diseases: measles, munips, rickets, shingles, ''thdu^sometiitKiS' <Key
may be used in the plural; •: !
c) the names of some games: billiards, bowls, cards, darts, dominoes, draughts;
d) some proper nouns: Algiers, Athens, Brussels, Flanders, Marseilles, Naples,
Wales, the United Nations, The United States;
e) nouns ending in -ics: ceramics, ethics, gymnastics, mathematics, optics,
phonetics, physics, politics, tactics etc. These nouns may occasionally be treated as
plural in some special cases.
15. There are a few nouns in English which are used only in the plural. (The
Latin term pluralia tantum is applied to them.) Here belong:
a) nouns indicating articles of dress consisting of two parts (e.g. braces,
drawers, jeans, panties, pants, pajamas, shorts, slacks, tights, trousers, trunks)',
b) tools and instruments consisting of two parts (e.g. binoculars, clippers,
fetters, glasses, pincers, scales, scissors, spectacles, tongs);
c) some proper nouns (the East/West Indies, the Hebrides, the Highlands, the
Midlands, the Netherlands);
d) some miscellaneous nouns (e.g. annals, antics, archives, arms (weapons),
ashes, barracks, belongings, clothes, contents, damages (compensation), dregs,
earnings, goods, greens (vegetables), grounds, holidays, manners, oats, outskirts,
pains (trouble, effort), particulars, premises, proceedings, quarters, riches, savings,
spirits (alcohol), stairs, surroundings, thanks, troops, valuables, wages, wares,
whereabouts, etc.).
These nouns may sometimes be treated as singulars, e. g.: We may say: a
barracks, etc.
The abovementioned plural invariable nouns are marked, (they have the
ending -s) Here belong also invariable unmarked plurals:
a) the collective nouns: cattle, clergy, gentry, people, police, vermin, poultry;
b) substantivized adjectives denoting people: the helpless, the needy, the poor,
the sick, the rich.
e.g. All the cattle are grazing in the field.
Most police wear uniforms.
The rich don’t understand the poor.
16. There are nouns which have only the plural form but they happen to be
homonyms of nouns which are used in both forms, the singular and the plural.
These nouns are:
a colour - colours (= hues) colours (= regimental flags)
a custom - customs (=habits) customs (= taxes on imported goods)
a draught - draughts (= currents of air) draughts (= a game)
a force - forces (= powers) forces (= an army)
a glass - glasses (vessels for drinking) glasses (= spectacles)
a manner - manners (= ways) manners (=behaviour)
a minute - minutes (= spaces of time) minutes (= records of proceedings)
a moral - morals (= lessons of a story) morals (= standards of behaviour)
a quarter - quarters (= fourth parts) quarters (= lodgings)
 147

17. A noun used as subject of the sentence agrees in number with its predicate
verb: a singular noun takes a singular verb, a plural noun takes a plural verb. This
mlc is called grammatical concord. In this respect difficulties arise, however, with
i ollective nouns, i.e. nouns denoting groups of people and sometimes animals, e.g.:
ihe aristocracy, the clergy, the elite, the gentry, the public, government, army,
. ommittee, crew, team, staff, family, group, majority, minority, herd, flock, etc.
Such nouns may be used in two ways: they either indicate the group as a single
undivided body or as a collection of individuals. In the former case there is no
contradiction between the form and the meaning of such nouns and they take a
■•ingular noun (grammatical concord).
e.g. Our team has done badly this season.
In the latter case the nouns, though they remain singular grammatically, become
plural notionally and take a plural verb. This may be called notional concord.
e.g. The team are now resting.
The jury are considering their verdict.
18. Uncountable nouns denoting materials or abstract notions are always singular
and are not used with a/an. These nouns are often preceded by some, any, no, a little
or by partitives (unit nouns). The most typical partitives are the following:
a bit of cake, fun, luck, wood a piece/a lump of coal, sugar
a blade of grass a piece/a block of ice
a cake of soap a piece/a strip of land
a chunk of chocolate, concrete, gold a piece/an item of news, information
a drop of oil a piece/an article of furniture
a fit of passion, cough a piece of evidence
a grain of rice, com, dust, salt, sand a piece/a word of advice
a heap of ashes, bones, leaves a piece of research
an item of clothing, equipment, news a scrap of paper
a lump of clay, coal, soil, butter, fat a sheet of cardboard, iron, paper
a piece/a loaf of bread a slice of bacon, lemon, cheese
a piece/a stick of chalk a speck of dirt
a piece/a bar of chocolate a strip of cloth
a piece/a sheet of paper a wad of dollars.
Note: Uncountable nouns can be used in a particular sense and can take a/an
in the singular. Some examples are given below:
e.g. Her hair is black. Whenever she finds a black hair she pulls it out.
He askedfor a gin (two gins).
§ 97. The Category of Case
Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other
words in a sentence. English nouns have two case forms - the common case and
the genitive case. The common case is unmarked, it has no inflexion (zero
inflexion).
The genitive case is marked by the apostrophe s (’s) or the apostrophe (-’)
alone (for regular plural nouns and for nouns ending in -s).
 148

The -’s is added to singular nouns (sister's) and also to irregular plural nouns
(men's, children’s).
In speech there are four forms of pronunciation of the genitive case:
1) [z[ after vowels and voiced consonants: Mary’s, Negro's, dog's;
2) (s] after voiceless consonants: student's;
3) [iz] after sibilants: prince’s, judge’s;
4) zero: girls boys ’.
The zero form is used 1) with regular plural nouns: students'; 2) with Greek
proper nouns ending in -s of more than one syllable:
Socrates' wife, Archimedes ’Law, Pythagoras ’ Theorem, Sophocles ’plays.
Some other proper names ending in -s may also take the suffix - ’s:
Burns ’ (Burns’s) poems, Dickens ’(Dickens’s) novels, Jones ’ (Jones’s) car,
but the common pronunciation with both variants appears to be [iz].
Names ending in sibilants other than [z[ have the regular [iz] in genitive:
Marx's [ma:ksiz] ideas.
Compound nouns have’s joined to the final component:
mother-in-law 's room, my brother-in-law’s guitar, a passer-by’s remark.
Names consisting of several words are treated similarly:
Henry the Eighth’s wives, the Prince o f Wales’s sons.
Apostrophe’s can be added to abbreviations and acronyms in the same way as
to other words:
The majority o f NATO's members, the VIP's escort.
The suffix’s may be added not only to a single noun, but to a whole group of
words. It is called the group genitive. In this case’s is joined to:
a) a group of two coordinated nouns (when two or more persons are related to
something in common):
Jack and Ann 's children;
b) a more extensive noun phrase which may even contain a clause:
the Prime Minister of England's residence,
the President of the Company’s decision,
somebody else ’s umbrella,
day-but-one-before-yesterday’s paper,
the Oxford Professor o f Poetry's lecture;
c) a group ending in a numeral: in an hour or two’s time.
The number of nouns which may be used in the genitive case is limited. The
genitive case is used:
1) with nouns denoting persons, animals, and with collective nouns:
John’s idea, dog's tail, the team ’s victory;
2) with nouns denoting time, distance and measure:
a minute's rest, a moment's delay, a month’s absence, a week's time, a
mile’s distance, today's newspaper, yesterday’s meeting;
3) with names of countries and towns:
Canada’s population, London 's parks; Ukraine’s National Economy;
4) with names of newspapers and organizations:
the Tribune's role, the government ’s policy;
 149

5) with the nouns world, nation, country, city, town:

the nation’s wealth, the town's museums;
6) with the nouns ship, boat, car:
the ship s crew:
7) with the nouns denoting planets:
the su n ’s rays, this earth's life;
8) with some inanimate nouns in the following set expressions:
a hair’s breadth, a needle s eye, a pin’s head, a stone's throw, duty s call,
at death's door, at arm's length, at a stone’s throw, at the water’s edge,
at one ’s finger's end, at one's w it’s end, for God’s/heaven ’s sake,
in one's mind’s eye, out of harm’s way, to one's heart’s content/delight,
to move at a snail’s pace.
As to its use the genitive case falls under: 1) the dependent genitive and 2)
ihe absolute/or the independent genitive.
The dependent genitive is used with the noun it modifies and comes before it. The
illations between the noun in the genitive case and its head-word may be of two kinds:
The noun in the genitive case may denote a particular person or thing, as in my
aster’s room, the man’s voice. This kind of the genitive case is called the specifying
genitive. The more common meanings of the specifying genitive are the following:
a) possession: A nn’s book (= Ann has a book);
b) subjective genitive: the student's answer (= the student answered)’,
c) objective genitive: the boy's punishment (= somebody punished the boy)’,
d) genitive of origin: my friend's story (= my friend told the story).
The specifying genitive may be replaced if necessary by an o/-phrase:
the book o f Ann, the answer o f the student, the punishment of the boy,
the story o f myfriend.
The noun in the genitive case may refer to a whole class of similar objects.
I his kind of the genitive case is called the classifying (descriptive) genitive:
a doctor’s degree (a doctoral degree),
cow's milk (= milkfrom cox's),
a soldier's uniform (a uniform fo r soldiers),
a summer’s day (a day characteristic o f summer) etc.
In some cases such combinations have become set phrases:
a spider’s web, the serpent’s tooth, the bee's sting, a giant’s task,
a fool's errand, a cat’s paw, child’s play etc.
Sometimes we find the use o f-’s and o f together. This is called a double genitive,
e.g. He is an oldfried o f grandfather’s (one o f grandfather’s friends).
If a noun in the genitive case is used without a head-word, it is the
independent (the absolute) genitive.
The independent genitive is used with nouns denoting trade and relationship or
with proper names. It serves to denote a building (e.g. a school, a house, a hospital,
a church) or a shop. It is mainly found in prepositional phrases,
e.g. They were married at S t Paul’s.
Where is Ann? - She is at the grandmother’s.
On my way home I bought a loaf o f bread at the baker’s.
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§ 98. The Categorÿ of Gender

It is doubtful whether the grammatical category of gender exists in Modem
English for it is hardly ever expressed by means of grammatical forms. English
nouns do not have special inflectional endings for gender; instead gender is a
semantic category in English. The distinction of male, female and neuter may
correspond to the lexical meaning of the noun:
masculine (names of male beings) - boy, man, husband, bachelor, ox, cock;
feminine (names of female beings) - girl, woman, wife, maid, cow, hen;
neuter (names of inanimate objects including abstractions) - table, house, freedom.
However, there are nouns in English which may be treated as either males or
females (e.g. artist, child, cook, cousin, doctor, friend, guest, neighbour, parent, person,
professor, speaker, student, teacher). They are said to be dual gender words or
words of common gender. When there is no need to make a distinction of sex, the
masculine pronoun is used for these nouns. But if it’s necessary to distinguish
gender with such nouns, special gender markers can be used: a man speaker - a
woman speaker, a male nurse —a female nurse.
These are the major ways of specifying masculine and feminine contrast in nouns:
1) using totally different nouns (for personal nouns, domestic animals and
many of the larger wild animals):
bachelor - spinster, king - queen,
bridegroom - bride, lord - lady,
bull - cow, man - woman,
cock - hen, monk - nun,
dog - bitch, nephew - niece,
duck - drake, ram - ewe,
father - mother, son - daughter,
gander - goose, stag - doe,
gentleman - lady, stallion - mare,
husband - wife, uncle - aunt;
2) using derived nouns with feminine suffixes -ess, -ine, -ette:
actor —actress, author - authoress, conductor - conductress,
doctor - doctress, emperor - empress, god - goddess, heir - heiress,
host - hostess, Jew - Jewess, lion - lioness, manager - managress,
Negro - Negress, poet - poetess, prince - princess, steward - stewardess,
tiger - tigress, waiter —waitress, hero - heroine, usher - usherette;
3) using a modifier, such as male, female, man, woman, women, boy, girl or
forming compounds with these stems:
male beast, male bee, male cat, male dancer, male nurse, male pigeon;
female child, female insect, female officer; a man driver, a woman driver;
a man doctor, woman doctor; a boy-friend, a girl-friend;
4) using nouns in -man, -woman
chairman, Englishman, policewoman, spokeswoman;
5) forming compounds with pronouns he, she:
a he-wolf- a she-wolf a he-cousin - a she-cousin.
 151

So, as we see with personal names gender distinctions can be expressed by

different words (brother - sister), morphologically marked words (bride -
bridegroom, duke - duchess) or by special gender markers, such as boy, girl, man,
woman, male, female (a male nurse - a female nurse).
Animals have special names not only for male and female but also for young
species and for a group of species (see the table below)._________ i___________
animal male female young group
cattle bull COW calf herd
cat (tom)cat queen kitten -
chicken cock hen chick brood
dog dog bitch ....p u p ( p y ) pack
duck drake duck duckling flock
fox dog vixen cub -
__goat billy (goat) nanny (goat) kid herd
goose gander goose gosling flock, gaggle
horse stallion mare foal herd
lion lion lioness cub pride
__Pig boar sow piglet herd
sheep ram ewe lamb flock
tiger tiger tigress cub pride
bee drone bee - swarm
There are also some traditional associations of certain nouns with gender.
These are apparent in the use of personal or possessive pronouns:
a) moon and earth are referred to as feminine, sun as masculine:
e.g. It is pleasant to watch the sun in his chariot o f gold and the moon in her
chariot o f pearl.
At first the earth was large, but every moment she grew smaller.
b) the names o f vessels (ship, boat, steamer, ice-breaker, cruiser, etc.) are referred
to as feminine:
e.g. The new ice-breaker has started on her maiden voyage.
c) the names o f vehicles (car, carriage, coach) may also be referred to as feminine,
especially by their owners.
e.g. She is afine car.
The ship struck an iceberg, which tore a huge hole in her side.
d) the names o f countries, if the country is not considered as a mere geographical
territory, but as political/economic unit, are referred to as feminine:
e.g. Ukraine managed to increase her exports.
England is proud o f her poets.
Scotland lost many o f her bravest men in this battle.
But: Iceland is an island, it is washed on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.
§ 99. Syntactic Functions of the Noun
A noun may be used in the function of almost any part of the sentence,
although its most typical functions are those of the subject and the object. It may
function as:
 152

1. Subject:
e.g. Life is struggle.
2. Predicative:
e.g. Life is struggle
3. Object (direct, indirect, prepositional):
e.g. He gave me a book to read. He didn’t listen to my advice.
4. Objective predicative:
e.g. We elected him president o f our club.
5. Attribute:
e.g. He likes to read travel books. My friend’s father is a doctor.
6. Adverbial modifier:
e.g. “Stop everything!" he cried in astonishment\
§ 100. Combinability of Nouns
A noun may combine with:
1. Prepositions: after classes, before the lesson, instead o f the journey.
2. A preceding and occasionally following adjectives: a white flower, an
interesting book, time immemorial.
3. Some pronouns (possessive, demonstrative, indefinite, defining): my flat,
this house, some story, every day, the other book.
4. A preceding noun in the common case or in the genitive case: a poetiy
book a farm house, my grandfather ’s house.
5. A verb following or preceding it: the house stands, thefield is, to read a book
6. A following or preceding adverb: the then government, the government there.
1. Numerals (both cardinal and ordinal): the first lesson, two books, room twenty.
The most typical patterns of combinability of a noun and its positional
characteristics are the following (see the table below):
Noun Phrase
Determiner Premodifiers Noun Postmodifier
a flower
the red museums
the of London
London museums
some novels by Dickens
best
that that 1 saw
horror film
to get home
the then way
the president
As we see, noun phrases may be regressive and progressive. The basic noun
phrase can be expanded with noun modifiers and postmodifiers. Regressive
structures vary in volume. Modifiers that occur in front of the head noun in a noun
phrase include attributive adjectives, noun + noun sequences, and other more
specialised structures. In those cases when there is only one dependent component
of the phrase, its place is usually occupied by a possessive or demonstrative
pronoun, an adjective or a participle, a numeral, a noun in the common or the
genetive case: my book, his brother, real friendship, abandoned constructions,
sleeping children, two girls, world leaders, cigarette smoke, people's traditions.
 153

Noun phrases can be expanded in many ways and often involve both premodifiers
mid postmodifiers. If there are several premodifiers, belonging to different
morphological classes, they usually have the following structures: my own houde, these
vnnng girls, poor town dwellers, faded yellowflowers, a new leather armchair.
Scholars try to find regularities in the premodifying chain. The most detailed
description of this arrangement was suggested by A. Hill. He numerates the places
of classes and subclasses of words in the following way:
VI V III II I noun
all the ten fine old houses
One of the most disputable questions is the sequence of adjectives in
icgressive noun phrases (see the chapter dedicated to the adjective).
In progressive noun phrases postmodifiers can be expressed by an adverb, the
infinitive, participial constructions, prepositional phrases and clauses:
the man downstairs, money to buyfood, the letter sent yesterday, the girl standing
under the lamppost, students who have had no previous college courses.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Give the definition of the noun as a part of speech.
2. What can you say about the morphological composition of English nouns?
3. What noun-forming suffixes do you know? Comment on their meaning.
4. Into what groups are English nouns subdivided semantically?
5. What nouns belong to the class of uncountable nouns?
6. What subclasses of proper nouns do you know?
7. What are the morphological categories of the English noun?
8. Comment on the category of number.
9. Comment on the phenomenon of pluralia tantum.
10. Comment on the phenomenon of singularia tantum.
11. Comment on the category of case.
12. Comment on the category of gender. What are the ways of specifying
masculine and feminine contrast in English nouns?
13. Comment on syntactic functions of the nouns.
14. Comment on combinability of English nouns and peculiarities of a noun
phrase in English.
 154

CHAPTER W. THE ARTICLE

§ 101. General Remarks
The article is a form word specifying the noun. It serves as a noun
determiner. The absence of the article, which may be called the zero article, also
specifies the noun and has significance. (The absence of the article is not to be
confused with the omission of the article for stylistic reasons.)
There are two articles in English which are called the definite article the and
the indefinite article a/an. The pronunciation of the articles and the spelling of the
indefinite article depend upon the initial sound of the following word. Thus, the
indefinite article is spelled as a before consonant and as an before vowel sounds.
When stressed it is pronounced respectively as [ei] or [aen]. However, since the
articles are usually unstressed, the pronunciation of the indefinite article is
generally reduced to the neutral vowel [a] before consonant and [on] before vowel
sounds, e.g. a table [a teibl], a tool [a tu:l], but an apple [an aepl], an hour [an aua].
The definite article is pronounced as [Si:] when stressed. When unstressed, it
is pronounced as [3a] before consonants and [Si] before vowels: the house [da
hauz], the apple [Si tepl]; the is an article ['Si: iz an cutikl].
Both articles have originated from notional parts of speech whose influence may
be traced in their meaning and use.
The definite article developed from a demonstrative pronoun, which accounts
for its meaning of definiteness. The demonstrative force remains in many cases,
especially in its use before restrictive attributes and in some situational uses.
The indefinite article developed from the cardinal numeral one. The numerical
meaning is evident in the following cases: in a moment, not a student was present,
he didn 't say a word, etc.
The article is one of the main means of conveying the idea of definiteness and
indefiniteness. The notion of definiteness and indefiniteness determines the
important role of the article in the process of communication. The definite article
usually presents the notion of something already familiar before, whereas the
indefinite article introduces a new item of information. The presentation of objects
as definite or indefinite, as already known or as new, depends on the speaker or the
writer, who by using articles establishes mutual understanding between the speaker
and the listener, the writer and the reader.
Since the article is the opening element of a noun phrase, it is placed before
the noun it refers to or before all the other noun premodifiers.
The exceptions to this rule are as follows:
a) the definite article may be preceded by the predeterminers all and both:
e,g. All the students were present at the meeting.
Both the girls were good at mathematics.
b) the indefinite article may be preceded by the predeterminers what, such, quite:
e.g. What a beautiful landscape!
He is such a bore!
He is quite a magician.
c) the indefinite article is placed after adjectives preceded by the adverbs too, as, so:
 1 55

e.g. This is too difficult a problem for us to solve.

He is so miserable a creature.
The use of articles, as well as their absence, has generally grammatical
un .ming and falls under definite rules. There are cases, however, in which the use
■■I mticles cannot be accounted for grammatically as it has become a matter of
Imdition. This is found in numerous set phrases, as in: at night - in the night, in the
hMiince - at a distance, as a result o f —under the influence o f to take the trouble —
u •take care of, to be in danger - to be in a rage, etc.
The traditional use of articles is found in other cases as well. For example,
ii,unes of countries are generally used without any article but the names of certain
- <Mini ries or regions, owing to a well-established tradition, are associated with the
ildinite article (e.g. the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Congo, the Sudan, the Tyrol, the
Ituhr and some others).
Thus, in dealing with the use of articles it will be necessary to divide all the
i '.c s into two groups which may be called the grammatical use of articles and
llir Iraditional use of articles.
The grammatical use of articles is dependent on the character of the noun.
In order to describe the use of articles there must be some classification of nouns
upon which the description must be based (see chapter II).

nouns

common nouns proper names

countable nouns uncountable nouns

concrete abstract concrète abstract

e. g. e- g- e- g- e- g-
boy method sugar time
fox answer water freedom
table opinion silver happiness
According to this classification nouns are divided into two classes: common
nouns and proper names. Proper names form a special category and the use of
articles with them should be treated separately. With common nouns, the use of
articles is dependent on whether a noun is countable or uncountable.
§ 102. The Functions of Articles with Common Nouns
The main functions of the indefinite articles are: classifying, generic and
numerical. 4
In its classifying function (another term is nominating function) the article
serves to refer an object to the class or group of objects of the same kind. In this case
the indefinite article has the meaning of який-небудь, якийсь, один, for instance:
e.g. Her mother is a school teacher.
She works as an engineer.
 156

Somebody knocked at the door and a man entered the room.

1 see a house.
In the plural no article is used in this case. If the idea of number is implied the
noun is preceded by the pronoun some.
e.g. I hate to wearflowers.
I have bought some flowers.
The noun preceded by the classifying indefinite article may be accompanied
by pre- or postmodifying attributes. The indefinite article is used so long as the
reference to the class is preserved, as can be seen from the examples below,
e.g. He lives in a small house not far from here.
He has a house o f his own.
In its generic function the indefinite article implies that the object denoted by
the noun is spoken of as a representative of the class, and therefore what is said
about the thing, animal, person or notion mentioned, refers to any object of the
same kind The article has the meaning of every, as in:
e.g. A triangle has three sides.
A cat has four paws.
A library is a collection o f books.
A dog is a clever animal.
The noun preceded by the generic indefinite article may be modified by an
attribute which restricts the class represented by the object mentioned, but doesn’t
individualize it:
e.g. A complex sentence has two or more clauses.
A domestic animal has four legs.
The indefinite article in its generic function is often used in proverbs and
sayings expressing a general truth:
e.g. A friend in need is a friend indeed. - Друг пізнається у бідію
A cat andfiddle. - Дурниці! Нісенітниця!
A dog will not cry i f you beat him with a bone. —He страши кота сапом.
A man o f words and not o f deeds is like a garden full o f weeds. -
Найменше діло - балакать.
In the plural neither the article nor the pronoun some is used,
e.g. Real friends should have everything in common. - У справжніх друзів
усе повинно бути спільним.
Men are mortal. - Всі люди смертні.
The generic function of the indefinite article, though akin to the classifying
function, is different not only in its meaning, but also in its role in the process of
communication. In the majority of cases a noun with the indefinite article in its
generic function is the starting point of the utterance, whereas a noun with the
indefinite article in its classifying function presents a new item of information,
which is the most important part of the utterance.
In its numerical function the indefinite article retains its original meaning of
the cardinal numeral one. The numerical function of the indefinite article is evident
in the following examples:
e.g. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
 157

A stitch in time saves nine.

A week or two passed.
I 'll be back in a minute.
She bought a dozen o f eggs.
The idea of oneness may sometimes become quite prominent. It occurs in the
lullowing cases:
a) with nouns denoting units of measure (time, distance, length, weight, etc.)
hikI with the nouns hundred, thousand, million, dozen, score:
a pint o f beer, a pound o f butter, a metre o f cloth, 60 miles an hour, etc.
b) after the negative not - not a word, not a trace, not a thought, etc.
c) in some set phrases - one at a time, at a draught (as in: He emptied his
cLiss at a draught).
The function of the indefinite article is also numerical in noun phrases with a
iidinal numeral as premodifier, where the article suggests the meaning one more,
another.
e.g. Thus we come to a third way in which we can do it.
In its numerical function the indefinite article signals a change in the meaning
.I an uncountable noun making it countable: an ice-cream, a coffee, a tea, a beer,
a whisky, etc. where it means a portion of, a glass of, a pint of, etc.
e.g. He ordered a whisky and a beer.
With uncountable nouns the indefinite article serves to bring out a special
i ipect of the notion expressed by the noun, In this case the noun is usually, but not
necessarily, qualified by an attribute and the function of the indefinite article may
he called aspective (the indefinite article is devoid of the idea of oneness).
e.g. I t ’s a supernatural courage.
A dull anger rose in my chest.
There was a bitterness in her voice.
The three main functions of the indefinite article are interrelated, one of the
predominating in the context. Thus, for example, in the proverb An apple a day
keeps the doctor away the idea of number (one apple, one day) goes together with
ihe idea of class (a kind of fruit, a unit of time).
§ 103. The Main Functions of the Definite Article
The definite article implies that the speaker or the writer presents a person, a
lliing or an abstract notion as known to the listener or the reader either from his
general knowledge, or from the situation, or the context. Hence, the two main
functions of the definite article are specifying (some grammarians call it
individualizing) and generic.
The definite article in its specifying function serves to single out an object or a
group of objects from all the other objects (things, persons, animals, abstract notions)
of the same kind. The specification is cartied out by different means, namely:
I. By means of a restrictive particularizing attribute, which makes the subject
concrete; particularization may be applied by means of indicating the object’s
location, number, colour, shape, size, quality, belonging, material, etc.
 A restrictive attribute may be a clause, a prepositioftal phrase of à participial
phrase, all functioning as postmodifiers.
e.g. This is the book I have been looking fo r two days.
That was the end o f my first journey to Europe.
The girl standing by thé window is my sister.
Premodifying attributes, expressed by adjectives very, right, left, wrong, only,
one, opposite, last, next (following), the pronominal adjective same and ordinal
numerals have a restrictive force because of their meaning:
e.g. We got into the wrong train.
It is the only way to do that in time.
Thefirst room wasfull ofpeople, but the second one appeared to be empty.
Note 1: There is no article if the numeral is part of a proper name: Fifth Avenue.
Note 2: It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the particularizing from the
descriptive attributes. The particularizing attribute distinguishes one particular
example of the class from another, while the descriptive attributes simply describe,
add more information about the subject, but don’t make it specific.
Compare: / prefer Indian tea. (descriptive attribute)
I liked the Indian tea more, because the Cylon tea doesn 7 have
such delicious taste, (particularizing attribute)
2. By the preceding context. An object or a group of objects may be specified
by reference to the preceding context (backward reference). The use of the definite
article is referred to as its anaphoric use, i.e. the phrase with the refers back to a
previously mentioned item. The noun with the definite article may be a mere
repetition of the noun mentioned before, reference to the words or statements just
mentioned, or may be part of the deduction prompted by the context, for example:
e.g. Three little kittens lost their mittens. The three little kittens they found
their mittens.
How did you like the party?
The wedding looked dismal. The bride tear too old and the bridegroom
was too young.
He found her Ford in the car park. The vehicle was locked and the lights
were off.
3. By the situation. One of the most usual ways of singling out an object or a
group of objects is situational specification. Though the object is mentioned for the
first time, no attribute or context is necessary for the speaker or the writer to point it
out and for the listener or the reader to understand what object is meant.
e.g. Could you get me that book from the shelf?
I think there's somebody at the door.
Let's go to the river.
Joe took up the telephone.
The accident happened at about 9.25 a m.
4. By the meaning of the noun. The definite article in its specifying function
is used with unique objects and notions or a class. Here belong the nouns the sun,
the moon, the earth, the world, the universe, the horizon, the equator, the south,
the north, the west, the east.
 1 59

e.g. The moon is the heavenly body that moves round the earth.
Make a wish when the stars fall from the sky.
Note: The indefinite article can be used with the above mentioned nouns when
it certain aspect, a certain state of the sun, the moon etc. is meant. In this case an
nltribute is used.
e.g. A pearl-white moon smiles through the green trees. (Ch. Bronte)
The sun shone in an unclouded sky.
A singular countable noun with a definite article may represent a whole class
ol objects, thus becoming a composite image of that class (but not a typical
irpresentative). A noun in this function is called a generic singular. The definite
nitide in its generic function refers the following noun to the whole class of
objects of the same kind, i.e. a noun denotes a genus as a whole, a thing taken as a
lype, a genre. The generic article is always found with collective nouns denoting
locial groups or classes. The article serves to emphasize the idea of collectivity, as
in: the proletariat, the peasantry, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, the nobility, the
gentry, the clergy, the intelligentsia, the public, the police.
e.g. Nature provides animals with weapons o f defence: the snake, the
scorpion, the bee have their sting.
The detective story is one o f the literary genres.
The tiger lives in the jungle.
The lion is the king o f animals.
The trout is the real king o f fish.
The bath was invented many years ago.
When the noun man is used in used in a generic sense no article is used, but
when the noun woman is used in a generic sense it is used with the definite article
or occasionally without an article,
e.g. Woman is m an’s helpmate.
Woman is physically weaker than man.
He had always been interested in that mysterious being - the woman. (Bennett)
The definite article is also used with generic plurals but it is found only when the
idea of collectivity is definitely emphasized, suggesting “the whole body o f’, as in:
the Italians, the Americans, the peasants, the Tories, the Liberals, the catholics, etc.
e.g. The Italians have given the world many famous singers.
The generic use of the definite article is also found with substantivized
adjectives, e.g. the blind, the poor, the rich, the young, etc.
e.g. The young are always intolerant.
§ 104. Functions of the Absence of the Article
The absence of the article (the zero article) has only one function with
common nouns - the nominating function.
This function of the zero article may be found with countable nouns in the
plural; it is parallel to the use of the indefinite article with singular countable nouns.
But while the indefinite article is associated with the idea of oneness, the zero
article always implies more-than-oneness.
e.g. My mother gave me some pennies to buy apples.
 160

She had to take sleeping pills.

The nominating function of the zero article is also found with uncountable
nouns, both abstract and concrete (names of materials).
e.g. Last night l felt friendship and sympathy fo r Henry, but today he has
become an enemy.
Life goes on.
The place smelled o f dust.

The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns

§ 105. General Rules of the Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Countable nouns in the singular may be used both with the indefinite article and
the definite article (it depends on the context and the function of the article).
e.g. They couldn’t travel without a car there.
While her suit-case was being taken out o f the car, she looked round.
In the plural, countable nouns may be used without any article or with the
definite article. The absence of the article has nominating force and the definite
article is used in its individualizing function.
e.g. They couldn't travel without cars there.
While their suit-cases were being taken out of the cars, they looked round.
Since the choice of articles is determined by the context or the general
situation, we should take into consideration attributes modifying the noun as they
constitute a part of the context. Attributes are generally divided into two classes:
limiting and descriptive.
A descriptive attribute is used to describe an object (or a group of objects) or
give additional information about it. This kind of attribute does not single out an
object (or a group of objects) but only narrows the class to which it belongs.
e.g. He made a table.
He made a good table.
He made a good wooden table.
A limiting attribute indicates such a qualify or characteristic of an object (or a
group of objects) which makes it distinct from all other objects of the class.
e.g. I t’s the best table he has ever made.
Nouns modified by limiting attributes are used with the definite article.
Nouns modified by descriptive attributes may be used with either the
indefinite or the definite articles, as the choice of articles for countable nouns is not
affected by this kind of attribute.
But the division of attributes into two classes is not very helpful for practical
purposes, since most attributes are not limiting or descriptive by nature. Taken by
themselves, they are neutral, and it is only in the context that they acquire limiting
or descriptive force.
e.g. He was going to build a new house.
Shortly after he moved to the new house, he fell ill.
 161

I he adjective pronouns all and whole are to be treated as descriptive attributes

i'Ui Ihe choice of articles depends on the situation. When a limited number of
'iiiccts is spoken about the definite article is used:
e.g. All students are optimists.
All the students o f our faculty took part in this excursion.
All children like ice-cream.
All the children watched the game with excitement.
He never stayed a whole evening with us.
He spent the whole evening reading a book.
The above examples show that descriptive attributes do not affect the choice of
mtides, attributes taken by themselves cannot generally be regarded as reliable
11 itcria for the choice of articles.

§ 106. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns Modified

by Certain Adjectives and Pronouns
As it was mentioned above, the use of articles with nouns modified by
ні tributes is often determined by the situation. Nevertheless there are attributes
which are distinctly limiting owing to their form of expression.
Thus, the adjective pronoun such is also a descriptive attribute, but, unlike all
itnd whole, it is never combined with the definite article:
e.g. Yourfather is such a handsome man.
To the group of attributes which are distinctly limiting owing to their form of
expression also belong:
1) adjectives in the superlative degree, they are always limiting attributes.
e.g. She was the smartest girl in the room.
2) Some adjectives, adjective pronouns and adjectivized ing-forms: right
(правильний, доречний, саме той, який потрібен) and wrong (не той), very,
only, main, principal, central, left and right, same, coming, following, previous,
present, former (перший) and latter (останній).
e.g. I think he is the right man in the right place.
It is the very man I am looking for.
She is the only person whom I told what had happened.
Note: An only child is a set phrase (єдина дитина у батьків): Не is the only
child in their family.
Besides, there are other adjectives which commonly, though not always, serve
as limiting attributes, e.g. proper (правильний, належний), previous, opposite,
necessary, so-called, adjacent, alleged, usual, upper, lower, and some others.
e.g. This material was explained at the previous lesson.
She burst in through the opposite door.
What's the proper wordfo r those things?
Nouns modified by the adjectives next and last are generally used with the
definite article (though in narration there is a fluctuation in the use of articles with
nouns modified by next - we find either the definite article or no article at all). But
when these adjectives modify nouns denoting time, actually coming or just past
from the point of view of the speaker, there is no article at all.
 162

e.g. He whispered the words tcrthë next man.

I saw the last five minutés o f it:
But: She went to London last week. He is coming back next week.
Note the difference in the use of articles with nouns modified by the adjective
pronoun other. The definite article is used with a singular noun modified by other
if there are only two objects of the same description and we refer to the second of
these two things or people when the first has been mentioned,
e.g. He had his papers in one hand, his hat in the other.
If there are more than two objects of the same description, the indefinite article
is used {another). In this case another has three meanings: “ще один”, “інший”,
and “не такой”.
e.g. Could I have another cup o f tea?
The definite article is used with a plural noun modified by other if there is a
definite number of objects divided into two definite groups.
e.g. Of the three people invited by her for the week-end one had already arrived.
Her husband wanted to know when the other guests were expected.
My mother needed me more than the other members o f the family.
In this case the other guests, the other members, etc. means “решта”.
If some objects are divided into two groups and either one of the groups or
both of them are indefinite, there is no article.
e.g. I was thinking of other people in the same position.
In this case other people means “інші”.
Note: The other day is a set phrase meaning “недавно”, “цими днями”.
§ 107. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Numerals
Cardinal numerals serve as descriptive attributes. No article is used in this case,
e.g. Two students entered the classroom.
If a noun modified by a cardinal numeral is used with the definite article, this
is accounted for by the situation or context. So the two means “обидва, ті двое”,
e.g. The two friends travelled together.
The two books you lent me proved to be very interesting.
Ordinal numerals indicate order, they are usually limiting attributes, so the
noun is used with the definite article.
e.g. He hadjust finished the second cup o f coffee when the phone rang.
However, when ordinal numerals are not used to indicate order but acquire the
meaning “one more” or “another”, the noun they modify is used with the indefinite article,
e.g. The meat appeared delicious, he askedfor a second helping.
After a moment's hesitation she added a fourth spoonful o f sugar to her tea.
Note 1: The above mentioned rule does not apply to the numeral first. The
combination a first night (прем’єра) and a first prize are to be regarded as set
phrases.
Note 2: Different articles are used in the following patterns with nouns
modified by cardinal and ordinal numerals: the third chapter but chapter 3 (three),
the fifth page but page 5 (five).
 163

§ 108. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns

Modified by Participles
Attributes expressed by participles are placed either in pre-position or in post­
position to the noun they modify.
When they are placed in pre-position, they are usually descriptive attributes,
like adjectives.
e.g. He showed me a faded photograph of his mother.
In post-position we usually find participle phrases but not single participles,
ilicy may be either descriptive (a) or limiting (b) attributes, according to the
i 'intext or situation, e.g.:
a) It was a very small room, overcrowded with furniture.
b) He reached the sixth floor and knocked at the door numbered twelve.
§ 109. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Ing-Forms
Attributes expressed by /ng-forms are placed either in pre-position or in
postposition to the noun they modify.
When they are placed in pre-position, they are usually descriptive attributes.
e.g. I turned and saw a running boy.
In post-position the ing-form may be either non-prepositional or prepositional.
We generally find phrases and not single ing-forms here. Both kinds of these
phrases may be descriptive (a) and limiting (b) according to the context or situation.
e.g. a) He has an odd way o f behaving.
b) I can 7 bear the thought o f staying here for a week.
I was dazzled by the snow glittering on the tree tops. (Ch. Bronte)
§ 110. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Infinitives
Attributes expressed by infinitives tend to be descriptive.
e.g. Try to make an attempt to finish this work by Saturday.
She is no a woman to suffer in silence. (Hardy)
Yet, sometimes, depending on the situation or context, the infinitive may
become a limiting attribute.
e.g. I don 7 have the money to buy this dictionary.
§ 111. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Clauses
Nouns can be modified by two kinds of clauses - attributive (A) and
appositive (B).
A. Attributive clauses qualify the noun. They may be introduced by the
relative pronouns who, whose, which and that, by the relative adverbs where and
when or asyndetically.
e.g. She asked me a question, which I did not hear.
Attributive clauses fall into two groups:
1. An attributive relative non-restrictive clause that does not restrict the meaning
of the antecedent, it gives some additional information about it. Such attributive
clauses can be removed from the sentence without destroying its meaning. They are
 164

marked by a pause separating them from the principal clause. In writing they may be
separated by a comma. These clauses are never joined to the principal clause
asyndetically. Clauses of this kind are called non-defining clauses and they are always
descriptive and do not influence the choice of the article. So the use of the article is
determined by other factors (the context and other attributes).
e.g. He went in alone to the dining-room where the table was laidfor one. (Cronin)
2. Other attributive clauses are so closely connected with the antecedent that
they cannot be left out without destroying the meaning of the sentence. There is no
pause between this kind of clause and the principal clause, and in writing they are
never marked off by a comma. Such clauses may be joined to the principal clause
either by connective words or asyndetically. Attributive clauses of this kind are
called defining clauses and they may be limiting or descriptive, depending on the
situation or context.
When attributive clauses are limiting, the definite article is used with the
antecedent. In Ukrainian the antecedent in this case may be modified by the words
той самий... який.
e.g. They spoke no more all the way back to the lodging where Fanny and her
uncle lived. (Dickens)
When attributive clauses are descriptive, the article with the antecedent is
determined by the context or the situation. In Ukrainian the antecedent in this case
may be modified by the words такий, який ..., такого роду (типу), котрий... .
e.g. She stared at me with an expression that made me uncomfortable.
B. Appositive clauses disclose the meaning of the noun. They can modify
only certain abstract nouns, such as idea, feeling, hope, thought, impression, sense
and the like. Appositive clauses are usually introduced by the conjunction that
(що), occasionally by the conjunction whether or by adverbs how and why. They
are never joined to the principal clause asyndetically.
e.g. He stopped in the hope that he would speak. (Dickens)
Appositive clauses are generally limiting attributes, so the noun is usually
used with the definite article.
e.g. The idea that he can be o f use made him happy.
Occasionally, however, the noun modified by an appositive clause is used with
the indefinite article.
e.g. She had a conviction that she was going the wrong way.
§ 112. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Nouns in the Common Case
Attributes expressed by nouns in the common case are usually descriptive, so the
noun is used with the indefinite article,
e.g. She wore a large straw hat.
He wore a tweed sports jacket o f a greenish colour.
When the modified noun is used with the definite article, this is accounted for
by the situation, not by the attribute. Sometimes, however, nouns in the common
case may serve as limiting attributes. In this case the attribute is usually expressed
by a proper name and serves to show that reference is made to a particular object.
 1 65

e.g. I reached the housejust as the Whitehall lamps were coming out.
§ 113. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Nouns in the Genitive Case
The use of articles with nouns modified by other nouns in the genitive case is
•.pecific. Before speaking of the choice of the article it is necessary to find out to
which element of the combination it refers.
As has been said above (see chapter II), there are two kinds of the genitive case:
1) the specifying genitive which denotes a particular person or thing, as in:
my mother’s picture, the m an’s voice, the river’s bed. In this case the article refers
In the noun in the genitive case and is chosen in accordance with the general rules:
the boy's
the boys ’
a boy’s
boys'
Robert's
Note: When the noun in the genitive case is a proper name, there is naturally
no article.
2) the classifying (descriptive) genitive, which refers to a whole class of
objects, as in: sheep’s eyes, a doctor’s degree, a m ile’s distance. In this case the
urticle refers to the head-noun whereas the noun in the genitive case serves as a
descriptive attribute. The article for the head-noun is chosen in accordance with the
general rules.
e.g. Is there a baker’s shop in this street?
I am lookingfor the butcher’s shop, that used to be here when I was a child.
As the article here refers to the head-noun, the noun in the genitive case may
have the plural form and yet be preceded by the indefinite article, as in: a soldiers'
canteen, a girls' school, a three miles' walk, a fifteen minutes ’ break.
e.g. The College has a two years ’ course.
On the groundfloor there is a students ’ canteen.
§ 114. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
Modified by Prepositional Phrases
Attributes may be expressed by nouns with various prepositions. Depending
on the context or the situation, they may be either descriptive (a) or limiting (b).
e.g. a) But you must know that a marriage with a boy in a jazz band wouldn 't
last a year.
A man under such circumstances is always very helpless.
b) He always felt ill at ease among the callers at his sister’s house.
The darkness was almost complete, and the boats in the harbour were
swaying to the rhythm of the sea's breathing.
Within this type of attributes special consideration should be given to the so-
called of-phrase which is very common. Of-phrases may serve as descriptive and
limiting attributes.
Descriptive of-phrases are recognized by clear-cut meanings. They denote:
 166

quality - a book o f interest, a feeling'of'relief, a question, o f importance, a

portrait o f a girl; quantity or measure -a temperature of +20°, a distance of
three miles, a box of two .tons; composition - a group o f children, a flock of
birds, a team o f hockey players;
material - a wall ofglass, a ring o f gold, a scarf o f thick wool;
content - a cup of tea, a bottle of milk, a packet o f cigarettes;
age - a boy offive, a man o f middle age;
size - a sailor o f middle height, a building o f enormous size;
comparison - a wild cat o f a woman (=a woman like a wild cat), an angel o f a
wife (=:a wife like an angel), a devil o f a boy (=a boy like a devil).
Here also belong such combinations as: a friend o f mine, a book of my own, etc.
Nouns modified by descriptive of-phrases usually take the indefinite article.
But the definite article may also be used and then it is accounted for by the context
or by the situation.
All other o/'-phrases are limiting and, consequently, the head-noun is used with
the definite article. As limiting o/'-phrases express a great variety of meanings there
is no point in classifying them. The most common types of combinations are: the
house of my neighbour, the wife o f a miner, the foot o f the mountain, the collar o f a
shirt, the smoothness o f a new machine, the shot o f a gun, the development o f
science, the roaring o f the ocean, the invention o f the radio, the use o f articles, the
name o f John, the city o f New York, the position o f a teacher, the colour o f amber,
the shadow o f a tree, the outline o f a boat. In some cases, however, the choice of
the article is affected not only by the nature of the of-phrase but also by the
following factors.
If the head-noun denotes an object which is the only bearer of the property
expressed by the of-phrase, the definite article is used: the president of the club, the
glow o f a lamp, the murderer o f Caesar, the monitor o f the group, etc.
But if there are many objects of the same description, the indefinite article is
used: a member o f the club, a student o f the group, a p u ff of wind, etc.
Sometimes, however, the definite article is used, alongside of the indefinite
article, even if there is more than one object of the same description. This occurs
when there is a definite number of component parts: the (a) teg o f the table, the (a)
wheel o f the car, the (an) ear o f a dog.
§ 115. Peculiarities in the Use of the Definite Article
with Countable Nouns
There are certain uses of the definite article which are to be regarded as a
matter of tradition:
1. We often find the definite article used by reason of locality, i.e. with
reference to objects that surround the speaker (or the people and things described
by him). This usually refers to objects either indoors (e.g. the corner, the window,
the table, the door, the wall, etc.) or out-of-doors (e.g. the stars, the street, the
trees, the flowers, the houses, the leaves, the birds, the bees, etc.).
e.g. / closed the door behind me.
He came up to the window and opened it.
 1 67

A bee buzzed among the flowers.

They went into the café across the street.
They slept under the stars.
It should be noted that this rule applies only to a limited number of nouns.
2. The definite article is used with nouns denoting objects that are usually
found in a particular place. It is taken for granted that the object is to be found
there. For example, we speak about the cinema or the theatre we say: “I couldn't
/hid my seat and asked the attendant to help me. ” In a café or a restaurant we say:
"Let "s call the waiter. ” At home we may hear: “I ’ll put the kettle on and make you
some tea. ” or “Can I turn the radio off? I want to read the paper. ”
Note: It should be noted that it is customary in English to use possessive
pronouns (and not the definite article) when speaking about one’s relatives, parts of
the body, articles of clothing and other personal belongings.
e.g. She put her hand into her bag and took out her handkerchief
He rose up and put his hands into his smalt pockets.
However, in certain idiomatic phrases the definite article is the norm,
e.g. He took her by the arm and led her out o f the room.
§ 116. The Use of Articles with Countable Nouns
in Some Syntactic Patterns
In some syntactic patterns we observe certain peculiarities in the use of
articles.
1. A noun in the subject position is usually preceded by the definite article in
its specifying function, or by either of the article in their generic function. The noun
denotes some notion forming the starting point of the utterance.
e.g. The road past the church was quiet.
The estate where they were to spend the week-end was situated not far
from the town.
A girl was standing on the opposite side o f the landing.
A similar use of the indefinite article occurs in sentences with the existential
construction There is (comes, appears, etc.), as in:
e.g. There is an exception to the rule.
2. When used predicatively the noun is usually preceded by the indefinite
article in its classifying function.
e.g. By brother is an engineer.
The definite article serves to show that the speaker or writer is referring to a
definite person or object.
e.g. He is the telephone engineer we sent for.
The absence of the article with predicative countable nouns is observed:
a) when nouns denote a position (rank, state, post, occupation); the noun in
this case has an of-phrase attribute,
e.g. Mr Brown was chairman o f the committee.
b) when nouns denote a relationship; the noun is usually modified by an of-phrase:
e.g. Mrs White was wife o f the manager o f the firm.
The indefinite article can be found here too:
 1 68

e.g. One of these young men was the son o f an eminent writer.
Note: On the whole, with the nouns son and daughter used predicatively or in
opposition the following three variants are possible:
1) She is the daughter of a doctor (expresses mere relationship).
2) She is a daughter o f a doctor (expresses the idea that the doctor has more
than one daughter).
3) She is daughter o f a doctor (describes the social position o f the person in
question).
c) when nouns used predicatively serve to denote a certain characterisric of the
person indicated by the subject; the noun predicative is usually followed by enough here:
e.g. He isn '1fool enough to believe that sort o f thing.
d) when predicative nouns are used in clauses of concession with inverted
word-order (constructions of this kind are characteristic of only of literary style):
e.g. Child though he was, he suffered much.
3. In apposition either of the articles can be used, depending on whether the
noun in apposition serves to classify or to identify the notion expressed by the
noun, though there is a substantial difference in the communicative value of the
apposition depending on the use of the articles: the indefinite article implies that the
listener (reader) doesn’t know anything about the person or thing denoted by the
head-noun and requires some new knowledge about it; the definite article implies
that the listener (reader) is supposed to be familiar with the person or thing
mentioned from his general knowledge or the situation:
e.g. I have got acquainted with Mr Smith, an architect.
“Hamlet", the tragedy by Shakespeare, has been screened many a time.
4. With the nouns as the object any of the articles can be used depending on
how the speaker formulates his thought. The indefinite article is preferable after
verbs of possession and obligatory in verb-object phrases denoting a single action,
such as to have a smoke, to give a look. etc.
5. The use of the articles with nouns in the function of an adverbial modifier
depends partly on the type of the adverbial modifier. In adverbial modifiers of place
the definite article is preferable, in adverbial modifiers of comparison the indefinite
article is preferably used.
6. In attributes the indefinite article is used to emphasize the importance and
novelty of the notion mentioned: the son o f a teacher, the daughter o f a doctor.
The definite article suggests reference to a definite person known from the
situation: the daughter o f the doctor.
7. The rules given for the use of articles with predicative nouns and nouns in
apposition also hold good for nouns introduced by as.
e.g. He went to the conference as the head o f the delegation.
He acted as interpreter for Mr March.
Note: The above rules do not concern nouns introduced by as used for
comparison. The articles are used in accordance with the general rules for
countable nouns in this case.
e.g. The city looked to him as brilliant as a precious stone.
You were as white as the sheet in your hands.
 169

8. When nouns denoting titles, military ranks, or social standing are followed
by a proper name they are used without any article, as in: Colonel Holmes, Doctor
Smith, Professor Jones, Academician Filatov, Lieutenant-General Rawdon,
President Obama, Prime Minister Forbes, Queen Elisabeth, King George, Lord
Ryron, Lady Windermere, Sir William, etc. In such combinations only the proper
name is stressed.
Note 1: But we say: The doctor has come.
The Prime Minister made an announcement yesterday.
Note 2: The definite article is used in such cases as the late Professor Smith,
the celebrated playwright Osborne.
Note 3: A foreign title followed by a proper name is used with the definite article:
the Baron Munchausen, the Emperor Napoleon III, the Tsar Peter the Great.
9. The article is not used with some nouns denoting close relationship when
they are followed by names of persons, as in Aunt Polly, Uncle Timothy, Cousin
John.
Other common nouns, when followed by proper names, are used with the definite
article, as in: the boy Dick, the student Smith, the painter Turner, the composer
Britten, the widow Brown, the witness Foster, the geologist West, the dog Balthasar,
etc. In this case both the common noun and the proper name are stressed.
However, such combinations on the whole are not very common. We more
often find a proper name followed by an appositive common noun.
Britten, the modern English composer...
Turner, the celebrated English painter...
Combinations as above are found not only with names of persons but also with
lifeless things and abstract notions, as in: the planet Mars, the preposition on, the
verb to be, the figure 2, etc.
10. The article is not used with nouns in appositive of-phrases when the head-
noun denotes a title or a post:
e.g. They nominated candidates fo r the post o f President and Vice-President
He got the degree o f Master o f Arts.
11. The article is not used in the following adverbial pattern, in which the
same noun is repeated after the prepositions frorru..to, as in: from tree to tree, from
street to street, from town to town, from day to day, etc. Such combinations, though
they are built up on the same pattern, are to be regarded as free combinations (not
set phrases) as the number of nouns thus used is practically unlimited.
Care should be taken not to confuse such free combinations with set phrases,
which are somewhat similar to the above mentioned pattern but limited in number:
a) from head to foot, from top to toe, from top to bottom, from beginning to
end, from South to North. (Here after the prepositions from... to we find two
different nouns, not the same noun. The number of such units is limited.)
b) hand in hand, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, face to face, day by day.
(The same noun connected by different prepositions is repeated here. The number
of such units is also limited.)
12. There is no article with nouns in direct address.
e.g. "How is my wife, doctor?”
 170'

"Well, young man, ” said Eden with a smile,- ‘‘what can I do fdfyoti? ”
13. After the exclamatory what we find the indefinite article with singular nouns.
e.g. “What a day!” she exclaimed:
With plural nouns there is no article, in accordance with the general rules.
e.g. What marvellous books yo u ’ve got!
It is noteworthy that no article is used after the interrogative what modifying a noun.
e.g. What question did you want to ask me?
14. The definite article is found within an of-phrase preceded by one, some,
any, each, many, most, none, all, several, the first, the last, the rest, the majority.
e.g. “One o f the letters is from Tom, ” she said.
All o f the questions seemed to have been set for me.
Compare the above given combinations with: one letter, most lecturers, several
boys, etc.
15. There is a fluctuation in the use of articles in the following type of
combinations: a sort o f (a) man, the sort o f (a) man, what sort o f (a) man, this
sort o f (ajman, that sort o f (a) man, some sort o f (a) man; a (the, some, what,
this, that) kind o f (a) man, a (the, some, what, this, that) type o f (a) man
e.g. “What sort o f a day have you had? ” I asked him.
I said: "It's not the sort o f situation one laughs at.
The more commonly found variant is the one without any article.

The Use of Articles with Uncountable Nouns

§ 117. The Use of Articles with Uncountable Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns, like concrete nouns, fall into two classes: countables and
uncountables (the division of nouns into these two classes is a matter of tradition
and can hardly be accounted for either semantically or grammatically).
Among abstract countable nouns we find, e.g. answer, belief, conclusion,
doubt, effort, fact, government, holiday, idea, job, lie, mistake, opinion, plan,
principle, promise, question, reply, sentence, visit, word and many others.
Countable abstract nouns may be used in the singular and in the plural.
e.g. He had a brilliant idea.
He always had brilliant ideas.
I like their method o f work.
I like their methods o f work.
The class of uncountable abstract nouns includes such nouns as: anger, beauty,
curiosity, excitement, freedom, grace, happiness, impatience, jealousy, love,
modesty, nervousness, pride, respect, strength, time, violence, work and many others.
Uncountable abstract nouns are used only in the singular.
It is sometimes difficult to draw a line of division between countable and
uncountable nouns. Some abstract nouns are used as countables in one meaning and
as uncountables in another (see the table below):
Uncountable Countable
work - робота a work - твір
silence - тиша, мовчання a silence - пауза
 171

decision - рішучість a decision - рішення

kindness - доброта a kindness - добра справа, послуга
experience - досвід an experience - випадок у житті
favour - милість, прихильність a favour - послуга
failure - невдача, провач, неспроможність a failure - неудала справа; невдаха
society - громадськість, суспільство a society - организація, гурток
nature - природа a nature - натура, характер
grammar - грамматика (наука) a grammar - підручник з граматики
observation - спостереження an observation —зауваження
e.g. to walk in silence гуляти мовчки after a long silence після довгої паузи
to speak with decision говорити рішуче to take a decision приймати рішення
to have a good deal o f experience a pleasant experience приємний випадок
to adopt to society адаптуватися do „ , ,
. to found a soaetv заснувати гурток
суспільства
There are also a number of abstract nouns which appear both as uncountables and
countables without any noticeable change of meaning, e.g. difficulty, trouble,
temptation, torture, reason, war, language, chance, change, profit and some others.
Some of the nouns that generally tend to be uncountable are in certain
constructions regularly used with the indefinite article. Here belong pleasure, pity,
disappointment, comfort, relief, shame, disgrace and some others. They are found
with the indefinite article when they are used as predicatives after a formal it as
subject (a) or after the exclamatory what (b).
e.g a) It is a pleasure to see you.
It was a relief to know that she was safely home.
b) What a disappointment!
What a pity!
But we say: I'll do it with pleasure.
e.g. She gave a sigh o f relief.
He now knew what disappointment was.
She felt pity for the poor child.
The use of articles with countable abstract nouns does not differ from their use
with countable concrete nouns - in the singular countable abstract nouns are used
with the indefinite or definite article; in the plural they are used without any article
or with the definite article.
e.g. He told the child a story. He told the child stories. The child knew the
story he told. The child knew the stories he told.
As a general rule, uncountable abstract nouns are used without any article.
e.g. Indifference and pride look very much alike.
I felt sharpness in her voice and sharpness in her eyes.
The absence of the article (the zero article) serves the same purpose as the
indefinite article with countable nouns -- it performs the nominating function.
Cf. When in distress people look for a friend.
When in distress people look for friendship.
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The definite article is used with uncountable nouns when they are modified by
a limiting attribute, which may be expressed in different ways.
e.g. He was in a state o f the greatest excitement.
They were surprised at the curious silence into which they had fallen.
Sometimes the limitation is clear from the context.
e.g. It was very still in the house. Suddenly a faint sound could be heard in the
stillness.
For a long time they walked without saying a word. Jim was the first to break
the silence.
The definite article is used here in its restricting function, to denote a
particular instance of the notion expressed by the noun.
The definite article is also found with substantivized adjectives denoting
abstract notions, e.g. the ordinary, the average, the beautiful, the unusual, the
supernatural, the extravagant, the unknown, the regrettable, the normal, the
grotesque, the unbearable, etc.
e.g. She thinks she is something out o f the extraordinary
I don't believe in the supernatural.
The indefinite article is used with uncountable abstract nouns when they are
modified by a descriptive attribute which brings out a special aspect of the notion
expressed by the noun. The attribute may be expressed in different ways.
e.g. A bitter hatred rose in his chest.
There was a tenderness in his voice that moved her.
She felt a certain impatience but she tried to overcome it.
She had a natural grace that was very attractive.
The indefinite article is used here in its aspective function.
By way of exception the aspective indefinite article is sometimes used even
when the noun has no attribute.
e.g. There was a bitterness in her voice.
A bitterness means “a certain bitterness” here.
It should be stressed that the use of the indefinite article with uncountable
abstract nouns is typical of literary style (see the examples above).
Sometimes an uncountable abstract noun is used with an attribute and yet has no
article. This seems to contradict the general rule, but it can actually be explained by one
of the following reasons: a) the nature of the attribute and b) the nature of the noun.
a) In some cases the attribute does not bring out a special aspect of the notion
expressed by the noun. The attribute may express degree (e.g. great, perfect,
sufficient, huge, tremendous, immense, sheer, utter, complete, infinite, endless,
major and some others), or may qualify the noun from the point of view of time (e.g.
modern, ancient, impending, eternal, daily, contemporary, further, final, original),
nationality (e.g. English, French, etc.), geography (e.g. Kyiv, London, world, etc.),
authenticity (e.g. real, genuine, authentic, symbolic and some others) as well as
may give some social characteristic (e.g. proletarian, bourgeois, capitalist, racial,
religious, etc.).
As these attributes do not express a special aspect, the nouns modified by
them are used without any article.
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e.g. I have perfect confidence in him.

She has great experience in her work.
She has sufficient ability to carry out this task.
They talked about modern poetry.
Note: But the definite article is used with the combinations French poetry,
modern art, American literature, German philosophy, etc. if there is a limiting
attribute, as in: the Ukrainian literature o f that period, the French poetry o f the I у
century, etc.
b) Some nouns are never used with the indefinite article. They are nouns of verbal
character denoting actions, activity, process, such as advice, applause, assistance,
encirclement, admiration, guidance, permission, progress, recognition, research,
torture, work, information, approval, concern, trade (торгівля) and some others.
This rule applies also to the following nouns: weather, money, change
(здача), news, luck, fun, nature, (outer)space, health and some others,
e.g. No news is good news.
He felt honest admiration fo r his colleague.
Many o f the prisoners died under torture.
She is making good progress with her German.
Note 1: It should be noted that in a considerable number of cases both factors,
i.e. the character of the attribute and the character of the noun, are found together,
e.g. She was making great progress.
They promised me further assistance.
For further information please contact your local library.
Note 2: Although the above mentioned nouns are never used with the
indefinite article, they can be used with the definite article,
e.g. He told me o f the progress he was making.
The news was so upsetting that she didn 7 want to see anyone that night.
As he took the change, Rudolph had an impulse to buy another ticket.
Note 3: Notice the sentence patterns with the noun weather:
e.g. The weather is fine (cold, etc.).
What is the weather like today?
I f the weather changes ...
We are having fin e weather.
What cold weather we are having!
I wouldn 't like to go out in such (bad) weather.
A spell o f warm weather set in. (We had a spell o f bad weather.)
They were discussing (talking about) the weather.
The flight was cancelled because o f (the) bad weather.
Note 4: The noun wind is uncountable,
e.g. There isn't much wind today.
Yet it is regularly used with the definite article,
e.g. The wind was blowing and it was cold.
The wind is rising (falling).
He ran like the wind.
 174

But if the noun wind is modified by a descriptive -attribute it is used with the
aspective indefinite article.
e.g. A cold wind was blowingfrom the north.
For stylistic purposes it may be used in the plural,
e.g. The cold winds blew the: leaves off the trees.
Note 5: Notice the sentence patterns with the noun life:
e.g. Life goes on, ever changeless arid changing.
Life is worth living.
They began a new life.
They were leading a happy life.
The life he is leading now causes everyone distress.
The life o f our people...
Life in our country...
Sometimes the use of articles with an uncountable abstract noun is
affected by the syntactic function of the-noun.
1) Nouns in attributive prepositional phrases and in adverbial prepositional
phrases of manner have no article even if they have descriptive attributes.
Attributive prepositional phrases are usually introduced by the preposition o f
(other prepositions may also be found, but not often).
e.g. His flush o f anger died as he began to listen more attentively.
An oddfeeling o f curiosity made him look through the keyhole.
He awoke with a feeling o f sharp anticipation.
His face bore a look o f cold disapproval.
He had an unsatisfied hunger fo r knowledge.
Adverbial prepositional phrases are usually introduced by the preposition with,
sometimes in (other prepositions may also be found in this case, but not often),
e.g. The old man looked at the boy with curiosity.
He moved slowly, with deliberation.
He turned round in annoyance, and then walked away.
He began to speak with sudden heat.
She examined everything about her with great care.
She kissed him with warm affection.
The tendency to use the noun in attributive and adverbial prepositional phrases
without any article is so strong that sometimes even countable nouns have no
article in these functions.
e.g. It is a question o f principle, and it must be discussed before we take a decision.
It was just a plain statement o f fact.
He refused to help us without apparent reason.
He spoke with effort.
However, care should be taken to remember that the use of the indefinite
article in such cases is still the norm with a vast majority of countable nouns.
Although the general tendency is to use abstract uncountable nouns in
attributive and adverbial prepositional phrases without articles, occasionally either
the definite or the indefinite article may be found in this case.
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The use of the definite article is generally associated with the use of limiting
attributes modifying the noun.
e.g. “May I speak to you in the strictest confidence?” he asked.
“No, " said Eric after the slightest hesitation.
The use of the indefinite article appears to be optional - it seems to depend on
the desire of the speaker to lay particular stress on the special aspect expressed by
the attribute modifying the noun. Thus it would be correct to use the nouns in the
following examples without articles in accordance with the general rule.
e.g. He smiled at me with a grave sympathy. He walked in a solemn silence.
In some cases, however, the use of the indefinite article is obligatory. It is
always used in prepositional phrases in which the noun is modified either by the
adjectives certain and peculiar or by an attributive clause.
e.g. The girl interrupted him with a certain impatience in her voice.
She spoke to strangers with a peculiar intimacy.
He gripped his hand with an abruptness that revealed his emotion.
2) There is a tendency to use an uncountable abstract noun in the function of a
predicative without any article even if the noun has a descriptive attribute,
e.g. The result o f the experiment had been dismal failure.
‘‘It was righteous punishment, " he exclaimed.
When they were together, it was pure happiness.
I suspected that this was not just ordinary anxiety.
Prepositional phrases in the function of a predicative are usually set phrases.
Care should be taken to learn the use of the article in each case, e.g. to be in despair,
to be in service, to be in power, to be o f (the) opinion, to be o f importance, to be out
o f control, to be in danger, to be out o f danger, to be in a rage, to be in a good (bad)
humour, to be at a loss, to be in a hurry, etc.
§ 118. The Use of Articles with Uncountable Concrete Nouns
(Names of Materials)
Uncountable concrete nouns (names of materials) are generally used without
any article. The absence of the article has nominating force,
e.g. These sleeping pills should be dissolved in water.
She had nothing in the medicine chest but toothpaste and mouth-wash and
shampoo.
Unlike uncountable abstract nouns, names of materials are used without any
article even, if they are modified by a descriptive attribute,
e.g. Her dress was made o f pure grey wool
The letter was written in violet ink.
The definite article in its restricting function is used with names of materials if
they are restricted in their quantity or by reason of locality,
e.g. Where is the ink?
Together they walked through the slush and mud.
Their hats and coats were covered with the thin watery snow.
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Note 1: However, there is no restriction implied in such phrases and sentences

as: a bottle o f milk, a cup o f tea or The ground was covered with snow. The pond
was covered with ice.
Note 2: As is seen from the examples above, most uncountable concrete nouns
are names of materials. However, there are a few other uncountable concrete nouns
which are not names of materials (e.g. machinery, equipment, furniture and some
others). The same rules are applied to them.
e.g. 1 have saved enough money to buy new furniture.
The furniture they bought was old-fashioned.
Sometimes, owing to a change in meaning, names of materials become
countable and as such they are used with articles in accordance with the rules for
countable nouns. That means that they may then be used with the indefinite article.
Names of materials become countable nouns in the following cases:
a) when various sorts of food products and materials are meant,
e.g. There is a beautiful display o f cottons in the shop window.
(In the waters o f the Pacific, the snows o f Kilimanjaro or the sands o f the Sahara
the plural does not signify any change in meaning but is purely a stylistic device).
b) when a portion of food or drink is meant,
e.g. I f you want to please the boy, buy him an ice-cream.
We ordered two whiskies.
c) sometimes the change of meaning is quite considerable - the noun comes to
indicate an object made of a certain material,
e.g. A fu ll glass o f orange juice stood beside him.
Buy a tin sprats, please.

The Use of Articles with some Semantic Groups of Nouns

There are certain semantic groups of nouns which are very common in
English. These nouns are sometimes used as countables and sometimes as
uncountables. Besides, they are often found as part of set phrases. As a result, the
use of articles with these nouns has considerable peculiarities. They include the
following semantic groups.
§ 119. The Use of Articles with the Names of Parts of the Day
To this group of nouns belong: day, night, morning, evening, noon,
afternoon, midnight, dawn, twilight, dusk, sunrise, sunset, daytime, nightfall and
the like.
1) When the speaker uses these nouns he often means a particular day, night,
etc. and then naturally the definite article is used. The limitation is very often clear
from the situation or the context but it may also be expressed with the help of a
limiting attribute.
e.g. The night was starry.
He decided to spend the afternoon with his friends.
The weather was very cold on the day o f his arrival.
Sometimes we find a descriptive attribute with nouns denoting parts of the day,
but the definite article will still be used if the above mentioned limitation holds good:
 177

e.g. I could see a few faint stars in the clear night.

I was not in a hurry, and walked along, basking in the warm evening.
The definite article is also found with nouns denoting parts of the day used
generically.
e.g. He used to spend the morning lying about the beach.
I often sat up the night with him and read to him to ease his pain.
2) When nouns indicating parts of the day have a descriptive attribute and are
Ihe centre of communication in the sentence they are used with the indefinite article
(in its aspective function). This use of the indefinite article is mainly found in the
following sentence patterns:
e.g. It had been a wet day; the pavements were glistening, though now the rain
had stopped.
It was a fine, warm night and Charles and I decided to walk home.
On a hot September evening he strolled idly to the embankment.
We were having tea in my room on a cold January afternoon.
.1) Nouns denoting parts of the day have no article when they are used as
predicatives:
e.g. It was evening when he decided to lay his books aside and take a walk.
It was nearly midnight and neither o f us had eaten for a long time.
It was dusk but I could see Henry walking across the field.
However, if these nouns are used predicatively with a descriptive attribute, the
indefinite article is used (see point 2 above).
But the article is not used with nouns denoting parts of the day if they are
modified by one of the following adjectives: early, broad, high, late.
e.g. It was early morning.
It was broad day.
It was high noon.
It was late evening.
These adjectives do not describe any part of the day here, but just indicate the
time of the day with more precision. (Morning refers to a longer period of the day
than early morning or late morning.)
4) In numerous cases the use of articles with nouns denoting parts of the day can
hardly be accounted for, as it has become traditional. This is found in the following cases:
a) In some prepositional phrases either the definite article or no article is found.
They are to be treated as set phrases. The definite article is used in: in the morning,
in the evening, in the daytime, in the afternoon, in the night. No article is used after
the prepositions at, by, about, past, before, after, towards, till, until, e.g. at night, at
dawn, by day (вдень), by night (вночі), by noon (під обід), by midnight (біля
півночі), past noon, about midnight, before dawn, after sunset, etc.
e.g. I would take pills at night to make me sleep quickly, but I never found any
pills that would keep me asleep till daylight.
Rain was now falling in sheets as it so often did before dawn.
After midnight I walked to the beach with him, sad to see him leave so soon.
b) There is no article with the nouns morning, day and dawn when they are
used as subject to the verbs to break, to be at hand; the same is true of the nouns
 178

evening, night, dusk when they are followed by the verbs to,fall, tq gather, to set
in, to be at hand, to come:
e.g. Day was breaking when we set out.
The sky w<m overcast and dusk fell early.
Dawn was breaking among the olives, silvering their still leaves.
c) There is no article with nouns denoting parts of the day when they are
modified by the names of the days of the week and the words tomorrow and
yesterday.
e.g. I went to Aunt Milly’s house on Friday evening.
He spoke to Lin on the telephone on Thursday afternoon.
I shall see him tomorrow morning. She was here yesterday afternoon.
Note: Compare: We met on Saturday night (Ми зустрілися в минулу суботу
вечером) and We met on a Saturday night (Ми зустрілися якось суботнім вечором).
d) There is no article in the following phrases: all day (long) and all night
(through) (but we say: all through the night and all through the day), day after
day, night after night, day in day out, from morning till night, (to work) day and
night, in the dead o f night, late at night (but we say: early in the morning).
e) There is a tendency to use the nouns denoting parts of the day without any
article in attributive of-phrases. Yet, the definite article is used when a particular
day, night, etc. is meant.
e.g. He always woke up with the first sounds o f morning.
§ 120. The Use of Articles with the Names of Seasons
To this group of nouns belong: winter, spring, summer and autumn (AE: fall).
The use of articles with these nouns presents great difficulty because we find a
good deal of fluctuation here.
1) The definite article is used with these nouns when reference is made to a
particular winter, spring, summer or autumn present, past or future, or to a season
of a particular year. As a general rule, this limitation is clear from the situation or
context, but it may also be expressed by a limiting attribute. The nouns usually
have the function of subject in this case.
e.g. She is spending the summer in Greece.
The winter was veryfine that year and we were very happy.
In happened in the summer o f 1996.
The autumn o f2004 was very cold.
But when these nouns are used as the subject to such commonly used verbs as
to come, to approach, to set in, to come to an end, to be over, to pass and some
others, either the definite article or no article is found. In this case reference may be
made to a particular season or to the kind of season in general.
e.g. (The) winter came early and unexpectedly with a heavy fall o f snow.
(The) summer was over but we had not heardfrom him yet.
In those parts (the) spring usually sets in early.
The same fluctuation is observed when names of seasons are used in general
statements as a subject to a nominal predicate.
e.g. (The) winter is very long here.
 179

(The) summer is a rainy season on the island.

2) The definite article is generally found when names of seasons serve as an
object in the sentence. This is usually found after the verbs to spend, to like, to
love, to hate, to wait for, to talk about and some others. In this case reference may
be made to a particular season or to the kind of season in general.
e.g. He looks like somebody who spent the summer at the sea.
Dave loves the winter.
I liked the summer there, on account o f the bathing, I think.
Note: Although the use of the definite article is the norm in this case,
occasionally no article is found here.
3) When names of seasons have a descriptive attribute and are the centre of
communication they are used with the indefinite article (in its aspective function).
e.g. We had a short summer.
He had passed a sluggish winter and a lazy summer.
A cold May is a usual thing here.
4) When names of seasons are used as predicatives they have no article.
e.g. It was summer and the place broke up in redflowers.
However, when these nouns in their predicative function are modified by a
descriptive attribute, the indefinite article is used (see also No. 3 above).
e.g. “It has been a terrible summer, ” he said.
“It was a remarkably fin e autumn, ” she added.
But the article is not used with names of seasons if they are modified by the
adjectives early and late which do not describe the season but serve to indicate the
time of the year with more precision. (Early summer means the first month of
summer; late autumn means the last month of autumn.)
e.g. It was early summer.
It was late autumn.
5) There is a great deal of fluctuation in the use of articles with names of
seasons when they are used as adverbial modifiers in prepositional phrases. After
the prepositions in, till, until, before and after names of seasons may be used either
with the definite article or without any article. Reference again may be made to a
particular season or to the kind of season in general.
e.g. The sun in (the) summer warms the skin, but in (the) winter when it appears
it warms the heart.
In (the) autumn young Ben was to go to a preparatory school.
But after the prepositions through, for and during the definite article is to be used.
e.g. Through the autumn, a busy time fo r me, I was often uneasy.
“Are you going to stay here fo r the winter? " Jack asked after a while.
He stayed in Paris during the summer and worked without a break till
autumn was well advanced.
6) In attributive o/-phrases names of seasons usually have no article, as in: the
warmth o f spring, the dust o f summer, three months o f winter, the colours o f autumn.
Note: Note the following set phrases used adverbially: (to work) winter and
summer, early (late) in the autumn (summer, etc.), all the winter (spring, etc.).
 M
180

§ 121. The Use of Articles with the Names of Meals

The group includes the nouns: breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and tea.
1) In the overwhelming majority of cases names of meals are used without any
article. In this case neither the function of the noun nor its being part of a set phrase
is essential.
e.g. Lunch is ready and we can go in.
I was having tea with her.
He came in when we were eating breakfast.
Wefinished dinner and went to the drawing-room to have our coffee.
John came to lunch at the appointed time.
They met for dinner.
"Stay to tea, ’’ said Mrs Watson.
2) The definite article is infrequent with names of meals. It is used in a clear
case of back reference or if there is a limiting attribute.
e.g. The supper was very different from the one o f the evening before.
He was greedily eating the lunch his mother had given him.
3) The indefinite article is used when names of meals are modified by
descriptive attributes. The indefinite article has its aspective function.
e.g. It was a hearty breakfast.
I 'll try to give you a decent lunch.
Walter wanted a very special dinner.
You can get a good supper here.
4) Occasionally, owing to a change of meaning, names of meals become
countable nouns. This occurs in the following cases:
a) when they denote dinner party, tea party, etc. Both the definite and the
indefinite articles may be found here.
e.g. Fleur said: "We had a dinner last night. "
I was having a wash and a brush-up before starting out to go to the luncheon
Elliot had invited me to.
Each Friday night Mr March used to give a dinner to the entire family.
b) when they denote a portion. In this case the noun is used with the indefinite
article denoting one.
e.g. I have not enough money to buy a dinner at such an expensive restaurant.
He wheedled a few francs out o f me for a dinner and a bed.
§ 122. The Use of Articles with the Names of Diseases
This group includes a considerable number of uncountable nouns, e.g.
pneumonia, influenza (flu in colloquial English), scarlet fever, cholera, diabetes,
cancer, diphtheria, tuberculosis (consumption), mumps and measles (the latter are
both used with a singular verb), etc.
1) Names of diseases are generally found without any article, as in most cases
they are used just to name the kind of disease.
e.g. The doctor said I had pneumonia and told him to keep warm.
The boy Roger arrived home with measles.
She was suffering from diabetes.
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She fell ill with flu.

2) The definite article may be used with names o f diseases in a clear case of
back reference or if there is a limiting attribute.
e.g. The family were sitting around watching TV, recovering from the flu.
After the diphtheria Jane felt very weak and depressed.
Note: Certain nouns which are not special medical terms are, however, used to
name diseases. They may be countable or uncountable,
e.g. He had a (bad, splitting) headache
He had a toothache.
He had a sore throat
He had heart trouble.
I have a boil on my hand.
She had a bruise on her leg.
The poor lad had a duodenal (gastric) ulcer.
§ 123. The Use of Articles with the Names of Languages
Names of languages when they are not followed by the noun language are
used without articles.
e.g. She speaks English a little.
When the noun language is mentioned the definite article is used.
e.g. Besides the English language she also learns French.
Note the peculiar use of the definite article in:
It is a translation from the English (the French, etc.).
What is the English (the French, etc.) for “стіл”?
The definite article is used if the noun is modified by a particularizing attribute,
e.g. The English o f America differs from the English o f Britain.
§ 124. Some Special Difficulties in the Use of Articles
There are a number of countable nouns in English which are often used without
any article, as they undergo a change of meaning and become uncountable.
1. Thus, the nouns school, college, university, hospital, prison, jail, camp, church,
court, bed, table and occasionally market are used without any article when, as part of
set phrases, they lose their concrete meaning and express the purpose for which the
objects denoted by these nouns serve. Thus hospital comes to denote treatment, prison -
punishment, school, college, university —studies, bed-sleep, church - religious service,
etc. When they denote concrete objects the article are used according to the general
principle. Thus, to go to school (college, university) means to study, to go to the school
(college, university) - building is meant; to be in bed means to stay in bed, to sleep, to
be in the bed - an article o f furniture is meant; to be in prison, to be put in prison, to be
sent to prison means as a prisoner, but to be in the prison means not as a prisoner, but
as a visitor, to go to the prison - the building is meant, etc.
Compare the following examples:
There is a hospital in our street.
After lunch Dr Reily went off to the hospital
"How long were you in hospital with that wound? " she asked.
 182

Madame Duclerk sat at the table darning socks. v ,Vl

In the café we had a table to ourselves, but those around us were soon filled.
I asked her to tell me who all the people at table were.
The road to the prison was blocked by policemen.
He would be sent to prison i f he were caught.
Perhaps he was in a German prison.
I softly drew the chair to the bed and sat down.
/ found a bed made up for me, and placed the candles on the old-fashioned
chest o f drawers.
He went to bed early, but lay awake for a long time.
Mrs Kelly goes to church every Sunday.
The workmen went to the church to repair the roof.
School begins at five.
Mother went to the school to attend the parents ’ meeting.
When I leave school l want to go to university.
(t should be noted that the use of a descriptive attribute or a limiting attribute
destroys the idiomatic meaning of the phrases in question. See the examples above
and also compare the following sentences:
He was sent to school.
He was sent to a secondary (good, public) school.
He was sent to the best school in the town.
2. The noun sea is regularly found with the definite article. This may be
accounted for by different reasons.
In some cases it may be understood as a generic singular,
e.g. The sea covers nearly three fourths of the world's surface.
He always spends his holiday by the sea.
In other cases it is used with the individualizing definite article,
e.g. A cold wind was blowingfrom the sea.
Let's go for a swim in the sea.
3. The noun town when used with preposition does not take an article:
a) when we mean the nearest town to a country place (if we live in the country), the
town we live in, the centre or business part of a town,
e.g. I can 7 go to town with you tomorrow.
She drove into town and drew up at the curb beside the drugstore.
I had lunch in town.
I thought that he would be out o f town next week.
They spent the week-end out o f town.
b) when the known town is opposed to the noun country.
e.g. He was not used to country life, having spent twenty years in town.
Otherwise the noun town is used with the definite or indefinite article,
e.g. I would like to go to the town where I was born.
4. The usage of articles with the noun fruit depends on noun meaning.
 183

In the meaning fru it - kind o f food it is uncountable and cannot be used in

plural and with the indefinite article.
e.g. Fruit is useful.
There is fru it and ice-cream for desert.
It may used in the meaning differentfruits, Le. different kinds o f fruit are meant.
e.g. Many different fruits are brought from Italy.
In the meaning of a fruit as a part o f a plant the use of the articles is the same
as with countable nouns.
e.g. It was a strange-looking fruit.
In the transitive meaning (the results of smth) the noun is used with the
definite article:
the fruits o f my efforts, the fruits o f enlightenment.
5. The noun fish is countable in English and has the same form in singular and
plural.
e.g. There are many fish in this lake.
I f he were tofall into the pond, he would come out with a fish in his mouth.
In the meaning kind o f food it is uncountable and cannot be used in plural and
with the indefinite article.
e.g. There is always fish on my menu.
It can also be used in the meaning different kinds o f fish in water. In this case
it’s used in the plural.
e.g. There are different fishes in the aquarium.
The noun fish may be used as a collective noun, meaning animals that live in
water and use its fin s and tail to swim.
e.g. Fish travel long distance in the sea.
6. A considerable number of nouns of different character when used in
adverbial prepositional phrases have no article, e.g. at hand, at sea, by accident (by
chance, by mistake), by air (by sea, by land), by boat (by plane, by car, by bus, by
coach, by taxi, by train, by tram), by hand, by letter (by mail, by phone, by post,
by radio), by sight, in detail (in person), o ff hand, on board (on deck), on
business, on foot (on tiptoe), on hand, on holiday (on leave), to sea, etc.
e.g. It was too late, and I had to go home by taxi.
I had already told her by telephone about my talk with Keats.
You needn't tell me about it in detail.
7. There is no article in a number of combinations consisting of a preposition +
a noun + a preposition. Such set phrases are to be treated as compound
prepositions, e.g. by reason of, by way of, in return for, in charge o f in defiance
of, in favour of, in honour o f in memory of, in place o f in pursuit o f in
recognition o f in search o f in support o f in addition to, in answer to, in regard to,
in relation to, in reply to, in combination with, in comparison with, in conformity
with, in connection with, in contrast with, on account of, with regard to, etc.
e.g. I rushed through the passage in search o f my mother.
My father found himself in charge o f a factory.
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However, in other set phrases built up on the same pattern the definite article
is found: under the influence of, in the centre o f on the invitation of, by the side
of, in the middle o f on the initiative of, under the pretence of, etc.
There is no article in some combinations consisting of a preposition + a noun
+ a conjunction which are on the way of becoming compound conjunctions: for
fear that, on condition that.
However, in some cases the definite article is found, as in: on the ground that,
fo r the reason that.
8. The definite article is used in the following set phrases: to the forest, in (to,
across) the fields, to (at) the cinema, to (at) the theatre, to the pictures, to (in) the
country, on the spot, in the slums, in the trenches. (Note, however, that the nouns
museum, picture gallery, concert, exhibition do not form such set phrases.)
e.g. 1 took Marian aside and asked her to comefor a walk. We went to thefields.
We had an early dinner and went to the theatre.
"Oh, " he said, ",Sarah's come in. She's been to the pictures. ”
1 knew that Aunt Lin would not ring up because it was her afternoon at the
cinema.
But if these nouns indicate a particular object, the articles are used with them
in accordance with the general rules. But this case is not common.
e.g. Wefound that the film was on at a cinema across the river.
Charles suggested that we should have a meal and go to a theatre.
9. The definite article is also used in the following set phrases: to play the piano,
to play the violin and the like.
But no article is found in the combinations: to play volley-ball, to play hockey,
to play golf, to play cards and the like.
§ 125. The Use of Articles with Nouns
Denoting Unique Objects or Notions
There are a number of nouns in English denoting either concrete objects or
abstract notions which are considered to be unique. These nouns are neither
countable nor uncountable as, on the one hand, they express oneness but, on the
other hand, the idea of more-than-oneness, is inconceivable in connection with
them. Such nouns are used with the definite article as reference is always made to
the same object or notion. They include:
1. Names of unique objects, such as the sun, the moon, the earth, the world
the globe, the universe, the Milky Way, the ground, the cosmos, the atmosphere.
e.g. The sun was falling flat across the field and the grass was pale with it.
Even when these nouns have descriptive attributes they may be used with the
definite article in accordance with the rule stated above.
e.g. The stars were quivering in the frosty sky.
However, the indefinite article in its aspective function may also be used in
this case. Then attention is focused on the noun and it becomes the centre of
communication, which is as usual marked by strong stress.
e.g. There was a splendid tropical moon and a soft breeze last night.
It was a glorious night, with a great fu ll moon gleaming in a purple sky.
 185

My first reply was: “O f course, I want to see a better world. ”

It should be noted that the above use is typical of literary style.
2. Names of unique notions, such as the present, the past, the future, the singular,
the plural, the South, the North, the East, the West, the equator, the horizon, the post,
the press, the telegraph, the telephone, the radio. But: TV, (the) television.
e.g. Presently the sun rose over the horizon.
I knew that the future was going to be full ofpain fo r me.
“The telephone in this town, " Hallam said, "is as private as the radio. "
Note: The above rule does not concern the nouns radio and telephone indicating
concrete objects.
e.g. Somewhere a radio softly played.
The use of articles with these nouns modified by descriptive attributes is the
same as that with nouns denoting unique objects.
Compare: Even the distant future looked quite gloomy to him.
e.g. Everyone believed that he had a brilliant future before him.
Note: Note the following set phrases: at present (в цей час, тепер), in the
past (раніше, у минулому), in the future (в майбутньому), in future (наперед).

The Use of Articles with Proper Names

§ 126. The Main Groups of Proper Names
The use of articles with proper names seems to be based mainly on tradition.
It is true that some cases might be accounted for historically. Thus we can say
that the use of articles with names of certain countries is due to foreign usage: the
Senegal, the Tyrol. In other cases the article may be due to the ellipsis of a
common noun which was formerly added: the Sahara (desert), the Crimea
(peninsula), the Pacific (ocean), the Baltic (sea), the Bedford (hotel), the Lancet
(magazine). In the Urals the use of the definite article may be explained by the fact
that the noun originates from the name of a mountain range; the Congo may have
the article because the name originally denotes the river. Names of rivers are used
with the definite article because formerly the noun river often preceded the proper
name: the river Thames.
Although historical explanations of that kind may be convincing, they are not of
great help from the viewpoint of present-day English. In modem English the use of
articles with proper names lacks regularity and so does not always seem consistent.
Proper names fall into various groups, such as names of persons, geographic
names, names of newspapers and magazines, boats, hotels, public buildings, etc.
Moreover, geographic names may be divided into subgroups, such as names of
countries, continents, cities and towns, rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, islands,
peninsulas, etc. The use of articles with each of the above mentioned groups and
subgroups has peculiarities of its own. Within each group there are typical cases and
individual cases. Hence, it is necessary to describe the use of articles with each group
separately.
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§ 127. The Use of Articles with Names of Persons

Generally no article-is used with names of persons,'
e.g. There was a letterfrom Susan inviting me to a party.
I did not see Charles Strickland for several weeks.
No article is used either if names of persons are modified by such attributes as
little, old, young, dear, poor, honest.
e.g. Young Jolyon, standing by the little piano, listened with his dim smile.
When dear old Emily went back to town after staying with them for a
fortnight, she sent the children a doll's house.
However, both the definite and the indefinite articles may be occasionally
found with names of persons.
The definite article is used:
1. With a name in the plural to indicate the whole family,
e.g. The Whitesare intelligent people.
I didn 7 even know the Browns had a daughter.
2. When you emphasise that you mean a very famous and well-known person:
e.g. You say Shakespeare lived there. Do you mean the Shakespeare or
somebody else?
3. With a name modified by a limiting attribute,
e.g. You are not the Andrew I married.
4. In word-combinations of the “profession + name” type:
e.g. The poet Robert Burns wrote both in English and in the dialect of Lowland.
5. In word-combinations of the “adjective/participle + noun” type (except
such attributes as little, old, young, dear, poor, honest):
e.g. I was lucky to see the famous Klitchko in action.
6. With a name modified by a descriptive attribute when the limitation is clear
from the context or situation (a) or when the attribute indicates a permanent quality
of the person (b).
e.g. a) A remarkable number o f guests went without coffee because it was not
the right sort, a detail that had been overlooked by the embarrassed Otto.
b) He slapped him on the shoulder, which startled and slightly annoyed the
prim George Augustus.
The indefinite article is used:
1. To indicate that one member of a family is meant:
e.g. 1 have often wondered i f Arthur was really a Burton.
2. With a name modified by a descriptive attribute when it is the centre of
communication in the sentence:
e.g. He was met at the door by an angry Isabel, who demanded to know what
he meant by coming home at that hour.
Note 1: If a name is preceded by Mr, Mrs or Miss it may be used with the
indefinite article to denote a certain.
e.g. He was a lawyer, a Mr Reid from Melbourne.
Note 2: Sometimes, owing to a change of meaning, names of persons become
countable nouns indicating concrete objects (a) or typical features associated with a
 187

well-known name (b). The articles with such nouns are used in accordance with the
general rules for countable nouns.
e.g. a) There was a rack o f books and among them he saw a Hemingway.
b) She felt like an Alice in Wonderland.
You are quite a Monte Cristo.
Mozart was called the Raphael o f music.
3. In the word-combination “a certain + name” type:
e.g. A certain Mary White phoned you.
§ 128. The Use of Articles with Geographic Names
In the use of articles with geographic names there are two prevailing
tendencies: some of them are traditionally used without any article, others require
the definite article. As there seems to be no principle underlying the difference in
the use or the absence of the article with geographic names, it is more convenient to
divide them into semantic groups and consider the use of articles in each of them.
1. Names of continents are used without any article: Europe, Asia, Africa,
Australia, South America, North America.
No article is used either when names of continents are modified by such
attributes as northern, southern, western, eastern, central, minor, south-west, south­
east, Latin, e.g. Northern Europe, North America, Central Africa, Asia Minor,
South-East Asia, Latin America, etc.
But we say the Arctic and the Antarctic (regions) meaning the sea and the land
round the North and South poles.
2. Names of countries (a), states or provinces (b), cities, towns and villages
(c) are, as a rule, used without any article.
e.g. a) France, Great Britain, China, Brazil, Egypt, Ukraine, etc.
b) California, Kashmir, Brittany, etc.
c) Lviv, Lutsk, Olyka, etc.
Some of these nouns are used with the definite article. It concerns, first of all,
those names which contain the words Union, Kingdom, States, Dominion,
Federation, Republic.
e.g. the United Kingdom, the United States, the Irish Republic, etc.
Names of countries in abbreviations are used with the definite article,
e.g. the FRG, the USA, the USSR (historical).
No article is used either when these nouns have such attributes as north(em),
south(ern), east(ern), west(ern), ancient, old, new, central, industrial, medieval, modern:
e.g. West Germany, Old England, Ancient Greece, Southern France, Soviet
Russia, etc.
Countries named after geographical regions may be used both without article
and with the definite article.
e.g. Sudan (the Sudan), Yemen (the Yemen), Cameroon (the Cameroon).
With names of countries in plural the definite article is used,
e.g. the Netherlands (the Low Countries), the Philippines
Some of these nouns, however, are traditionally used with the definite article
(though nowadays there is a tendency to omit the article with some of them),
 188

e.g. a) countries (especially those in plural): the Argentine (but: Argentina),

(the) Lebanon, the Kameroon, the Senegal, (the) Congo, c) Kyiv, Oslo,
Rome, Delhi, Brighton, Tartu, etc.
b) provinces: the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Ruhr, the Riviera;
c) cities: the Hague.
Note: With parts of cities and towns the definite article is used,
e.g. the West End, the East End, the City, the Tower, the Soho.
3. Names of oceans (a), seas (b), straits (c), channels (d), canals (e), rivers
(0, and lakes (g) usually take the definite article:
e.g. a) the Pacific (ocean), the Atlantic (ocean), the Indian (ocean), the
Arctic (ocean);
b) the Baltic (sea), the Mediterranean (sea), the Black Sea, the Adriatic
(sea), the North Sea, the South Seas, etc.;
c) the Magellan Strait, the Bering Strait, the Torres Straits, and also the
Kattegat, the Bosporus, the Dardanelles, the Skagerrak, etc.;
d) the English Channel;
e) the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, etc;
f) the Thames, the Nile, the Amazon, the Mississippi, the Volga, the Dnieper,
g) the Leman, the Baikal, the Ontario, etc.
But when names of lakes are preceded by the noun lake (which is often the
case), no article is used.
e.g. Lake Baikal, Lake Ohio, Lake Como, Lake Superior, Lake Ladoga,
LakeSvitiaz, etc.
4. Names of bays generally have no article, e.g. Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, etc.
5. Names of peninsulas have no article if the proper name is used alone, e.g.
Indo-China, Hindustan, Kamchatka, Labrador, Taimir, Scandinavia, etc.
But we find the definite article if the noun peninsula is mentioned, e.g. the
Balkan Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, etc.
6. Names of deserts are generally used with the definite article, e.g. the
Sahara, the Gobi, the Kara-Kum, etc.
7. Names of mountain chains (a) and groups of islands (b) are used with the
definite article:
e.g. a) the Rocky Mountains, the Andes, the Alps, the Pamirs, etc.;
b) the Philippines, the Azores, the Bahamas, the East Indies, the Canaries,
the Hebrides, the Bermudas, etc.
8. Names of separate mountain peaks (a), separate islands (b) and waterfalls (c)
are used without any article:
e.g. a) Elbrus, Mont Blanc, Everest, Vesuvius, etc.;
b) Sicily, Cuba, Haiti, Cyprus, Madagascar, etc.
c) Niagara Falls, etc.
9. Names of mountain passes are generally used with the definite article, e.g.
the Saint Gotthard Pass, etc.
Geographic names that generally take no article may be occasionally found
with the definite or the indefinite articles. This occurs in the following cases:
1) The definite article is found when there is a limiting attribute.
 189

e.g. The England o f the Middle Ages.

2) The indefinite article is found when a geographic name is modified by a
descriptive attribute which brings out a special aspect.
e.g. It was a new Ukraine that he found on his return.
Note: The definite article is always used with the pattern: a common noun +
of + a proper name, e.g. the City o f New York, the village o f Grasmere, the Cape
o f Good Hope, the G ulf o f Mexico, the Straits o f Gibraltar, the Straits o f Dover,
the Bay o f Bengal, the G ulf o f Finland, the Lake o f Geneva, the Island o f
Majorca, etc.
§ 129. The Use of Articles with Proper Names
Denoting Various Places, Objects and Notions
Within certain semantic groups of these nouns the use of articles is not stable
it may vary from proper name to proper name. Hence it is sometimes necessary to
memorize them as separate items. In other instances it is possible to outline only
the general tendency in the use of articles within a semantic group.
1. Names of streets (a), parks (b) and squares (c) tend to be used without
any article:
e.g. a) Oxford Street, Kingsway, Mall, Piccadilly, Fleet Street, Whitehall, etc.
But names of some streets are traditionally used with the definite article, e.g.
the Strand, the High Street and some others.
Note: Names of streets in foreign countries are sometimes used with the
definite article, e.g. the Rue de Rivoli (in Paris), the Via Man-zoni (in Milan), etc.
b) Hyde Park, Central Park, Memorial Park, Regent’s Park, etc.
But: the Snowdonia National Park, the Botanical Gardens, etc.
Note: Names of parks in foreign countries are often used with the definite
article, e.g. the Gorki Park (in Moscow), the Tiergarten (in Berlin), etc.
c) Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly Circus, etc.
2. There is no article with names of universities and colleges, e.g. London
University, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Harward University, Trinity
College, etc.
Note: The definite article is used in the combinations: the University o f
London, the University o f Kyiv, etc.
3. There is a growing tendency not to use any article with names of airports
and railway stations, e.g. London Airport, Victoria Station, etc.
4. Names of theatres (a), museums (b), picture galleries (c), concert halls
(d), cinemas (e), clubs (f) and hotels (g) tend to be used with the definite article,
e.g. a) the Coliseum Theatre, the Opera House, the Bolshoi Theatre, etc.;
b) the British Museum, the Scottish National Museum, etc.;
c) the National Gallery, the Tate {Gallery), the Tredakov Gallery, the Louvre etc.;
d) the Albert Hall, the Chaikovsky Hall, etc.;
e) the Empire, the Dominion, etc.;
f) the National Liberal Club, the Rotary Club, etc.;
g) the Ambassador Hotel, the Continental Hotel, the Savoy, etc.
But in newspaper announcements and advertisements the article is usually not
found with these nouns.
 190';-;

5. Names of ships and boats are used with the definite.article, e.g. the Titanic, etc.
6. Names of newspapers and magazines are generally used with the definite
article, e.g. The Times, The Guardian, The Lancet, etc., but: Give me a Times, please.
7. The use of articles with names of separate buildings varies from name to
name and should be remembered as a special item.
e.g. Scotland Yard, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, etc., but: the Tower.
8. Names of territories consisting of a word combination in which the last
word is a common noun are generally used with the definite article, e.g. the Lake
District, the Yorkshire Forests, the the Virgin Lands, etc.
9. Names of months (a) and the days of the week (b) are used without any
article, e.g.:
a) January, February, etc.
b) Monday, Tuesday, etc.
Compare, however: We met on Friday (Ми зустрілися в минулу n ’ятницю)
and We met on a Friday (Ми зустрілися якось у n ’ятницю).
10. Names of state institutions, organizations and political parties are used
with the definite article,
e.g. the Supreme Soviet, the Komsomol, the Liberal Party, the National
Trust, the Church, the London City Council, etc., but: Parliament (in
Great Britain), (the) Congress (in the USA), NATO
11. We find the definite article with names of some grammatical categories,
such as names of tenses, moods, voices, cases and others.
e.g. the Past Indefinite, the Passive Voice, the Conditional Mood, the
Genitive Case, etc.
§ 130. The Place of Articles
The article is generally placed before the noun with which it is associated.
e.g. / was silent for a moment Then I thought o f the children.
If the noun is modified by an attribute (or attributes) placed before it, the
article generally precedes them.
e.g. She had a pair of the most intelligent bright brown eyes Robert had ever seen.
In the train, we found an empty third-class carriage.
Yet there are a few attributes in English which affect the place of the article.
1. The indefinite article is placed after an adjective if that adjective is
preceded by so, as. too and however,
e.g. I hesitate to make so complete a statement.
They are as happy a couple as I've ever seen.
It was too good a chance to be missed.
2. The indefinite article is placed after the attributive phrase too much of.
e.g. It was too much o f a temptation for George to resist saying it.
3. The place of the indefinite article is optional if the adjective which modifies
the noun is preceded by quite or rather. In this case the indefinite article may be
placed between quite (or rather) and the adjective or before the whole phrase.
e.g. He seems quite a decent fellow.
He made rather a surprising remark.
 191

And also:
He's a rather hard man.
4. The indefinite article is placed after such and the exclamatory what. When
the noun is modified by an adjective, the article precedes that adjective.
e.g. I cannot make such a categorical statement.
What a character he is!
What a dusty road this is!
5. The indefinite article is placed after many (and in that case the noun is used
in the singular).
e.g. He told me this many a time.
I have heard many a young girl say that.
6. The definite article follows both, all and double.
e.g. She was ill all the time she was abroad.
Both the boys were late for dinner.
I offered him double the amount, but he still refused.
It is noteworthy that the use of the definite article after both is optional,
e.g. Both (the) men were talking in low voices. He signed both (the) papers.
The use of the definite article after the pronoun all is determined by the general mles.
e.g. All children have to go to school one day.
All the children o f the boarding school were in bed.
Note: Note that when both is part of the correlative conjunction both...and, either
article may be found after it, i.e. in this case the article is chosen in accordance with
the general rules,
e.g. He was both a scrupulous and a kind-hearted man.
7. The definite and the indefinite articles follow half and twice.
e.g. H alf the men were too tired to go.
It took us ha lf an hour to settle it.
He paid twice the price fo r it.
They used to meet twice a week.
Note 1: Note the difference in meaning between twice followed by the definite
article and twice followed by the indefinite article: twice the price (подвійна ціна),
twice a week (двічі на тиждень).
Note 2. H alf may serve as the first component of a compound noun. In this
case the article naturally precedes it, e.g. a half-brother, a half-truth, etc.
Review of the Use of Articles
§ 131. The Use of the Indefinite Article
The indefinite article is used in the following cases:
1. With a countable noun in the singular to refer it to the class or group of
objects of the same kind. A noun may be accompanied by a pre- or postmodifying
attribute.
e.g. It s a table.
2. With a countable noun to show that the object is spoken of as a representative
of the class.
e.g. A dog barks.
 A

192

3. With a countable noun to express the idea of oneness. It is evident with

nouns denoting units of measure (time, length, distance, weight, etc.), after the
negative not and in some set phrases.
e.g. Nearly an hour passed.
Not a trace could be found.
4. With a countable noun used predicatively. The noun may be modified by a
descriptive attribute.
e.g. Her friend is a student.
His father is a prominent scientist.
5. With a countable noun in apposition. The indefinite article implies that the
listener or a reader doesn’t know anything denoted by the head-noun.
e.g. Yesterday I came across Mr Brown, an architect.
6. With countable nouns after what, such, rather, quite.
e.g. It is such an interesting book.
It is rather a difficult problem.
He is still quite a child.
7. With a countable noun after the construction there is. The noun may be
modified by a descriptive attribute.
e.g. There is a book on the table.
8. With concrete or abstract countable and uncountable nouns modified by a
descriptive attribute, an o/'-phrase or an attributive clause.
e.g. I have a brilliant idea.
He showed me a portrait o f a girl.
A bitter hatred rose in my chest.
He looked at me with an expression that made me uncomfortable.
9. With countable nouns modified by a descriptive genitive,
e.g. We have walked a mile’s distance.
The college has a two years’ course.
10. With uncountable nouns denoting names of material when these nouns
become countable.
e.g. Buy him an ice-cream.
A salad and a coffee will do.
11. With names of season, meals and nouns denoting unique objects when they
are modified by a descriptive attributes.
e.g. It was a terrible summer.
He gave a decent lunch.
There was a splendid moon in the sky.
12. With names of persons to indicate that one member of a family is meant,
e.g. Is he really a Burton?
13. With names of persons which, owing to a change of meaning, become
countable and denote concrete objects or typical features associated with a well-
known name.
e.g. They managed to buy an especially fin e Goya.
14. The indefinite article occurs in many set-phrases (see appendix 3).
 19 3

15. The following nouns of verbal character denoting actions, activity, process do
not have the plural form and are never used with the indefinite article: admiration,
advice, applause, approval, assistance, baggage, behaviour, cash, concern,
encirclement, equipment, furniture, guidance, hair, health, homework, information,
knowledge, luggage, machinery, money, music, news, permission, progress, prose,
recognition, research, shopping, torture, trade, traffic, wealth, weather, work.
With these nouns partitive meaning is expressed with the help of phrases denoting
measure or amount, e.g. a piece o f work, an article o f furniture, a sum o f money, an
item o f news (equipment), a word/piece o f advice, a spell o f good weather, etc.
§ 132. The Use of the Definite Article
The definite article is used when a particular object is meant or a composite
image of the class is presented. It takes place in the following cases.
1. When the noun refers to the whole class of objects of the same kind,
e.g. The pine is an ever-green tree.
2. When the idea of collectivity is emphasized with generic plurals,
e.g. The bourgeoisie is cowardly.
3. When the speaker singles out the object or objects by the situation,
e.g. Can I turn the radio off? I want to read the paper.
4. When the object is singled out by the preceding context,
e.g. / don't like the idea expressed by you the day before.
5. When the noun has a restrictive (limiting) attribute. The most common of
them may be expressed by the following adjectives, adjective pronouns and
adjectivized /«g-forms: right, wrong, very, only, main, principal, left, right, central,
same, present, former, coming, following, etc.
e.g. Am I on the right road to the stadium?
6. When the noun is modified by an adjective in the superlative degree,
e.g. I t ’s the most unpleasant thing you have ever told me.
7. When the noun is modified by the ordinal numeral,
e.g. 1 could not answer the third question.
8. When the noun is modified by a limiting rephrase or a limiting attributive clause,
e.g. The monitor o f the group suggested that we should visit that exhibition.
9. The definite article is used with nouns denoting unique objects or notions.
They are the sun, the earth, the moon, the world, the universe, the horizon, the sky,
the galaxy, the solar system, the globe, the equator, the North Pole, the South Pole.
e.g. The sun sank below the horizon.
10. The definite article is also used with:
- substantivized adjectives and participles: The rich never understand the poor,
- nouns of material when a definite part of the substance is meant: The coffee
was hot',
- names of persons denoting the whole family: The Browns are going tojoin us.
- the names of persons modified by a particularizing attribute: You are not the
Andrew I married',
- the nicknames: the Gadfly,
 194

- nouns denoting titles of monarchs, persons of high rank and fairy tale characters:
William the Conqueror, Ivan the Terrible, the Tsar Peter the Great;
- the names of countries which contain the words Union, Dominion, Kingdom,
Federation, Republic, States-,
-th e names of oceans, seas, rivers, channels, canals, streams, waterfalls: The
Pacific Ocean, The Baltic Sea, The Thames, the Ohio River, the Bosphorus,
the Gulf Stream, the Panama Canal, the English Channel, (the) Niagara
Falls;
- the names of mountain chains and groups of islands: the Apis, the British
Isles, the Hebrides, the Bermudas;
- the names of the regions and deserts: the Midlands, the Lowlands, the Ruhr,
the Crimea, the Far East, the Gobi, the Sahara Desert, the Kalahari;
- the names of theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums, hotels, restaurants,
unique buildings and monuments: the Opera House, the Albert Hall, the
Hermitage, the Tate Gallery, the Odeon, the Marine Hotel, the Great Pyramid,
the Sistine Chapel;
- the names of ships, ferries, yachts, trains: the Queen Elizabeth, the Titanic;
- the names of newspapers in English speaking countries, except Today: the
Times, the Observer, the Sun. With foreign newspapers the article is not
used: Ukrayinska Pravda;
- the names of unique books, film and book titles: the Bible, the Koran, the
Odyssey, the Armageddon;
- the names of organizations, companies, political parties: the United Nations,
the BBC;
- the names of political and state institutions, social and political moveme and
wars: the Senate, the Cabinet, the State Department, the Government, the
State Duma, the British Council, the Independency Movement, the Second
World War,
- the names of musical groups: the Rolling Stones, the Spice Girls;
- the names of sporting events: the Olympic Games, the World Cup, the World
Championship. But if geographical names are used as names of sporting
events, no article is used: Wimbledon (tennis), Epsom (horse racing);
- the names of cardinal points: the North, the South, the East, the West.
§ 133. The Omission of an Article
The omission of an article differs ffom the absence of an article.
l .The absence of any article is as meaningful as their actual use while the
omission of an article is determined stylistically. Thus, the omission of an article
occurs in cases where economy of expression is required and is often accompanied
by other ellipses, such as omission of prepositions, auxiliaries, etc. It often takes
place in newspaper headlines, in telegrams, in newspaper announcements and in
stage directions.
2. The absence of any article is sometimes referred to as the zero article. It is
regularly observed with countable nouns in the plural form, with non-countable
nouns used in a general sense and with proper nouns.
 195

e.g. Ann is a pupil. Ann and Nick are pupils.

A dog barks. Dogs bark.
If the idea of number is retained then an indefinite pronoun or a cardinal
numeral accompanies the plural noun.
e.g. There are some (several, many, three) books on the table.
The zero article is also found with uncountable nouns, both abstract and
concrete, when they are used in a general sense.
e.g. Time will show who is right.
3. With abstract nouns, which may function as both countable and uncountable,
the absence of the article indicates an uncountable noun in general meaning, whereas
the indefinite article shows that it is a countable noun, either abstract or concrete. The
most frequent nouns of this kind are: air, cold, history, speech, beauty, education,
language, study, business, experience, law, time, charm, grammar, memory, work.
Cf.: Air is necessary for life. There was an air of importance about him.
Timeflies. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent.
I have much work to do. This film is a work o f art.
Nouns expressing relationship followed by names of persons do not take the
article: Aunt Polly, Uncle Tom, Cousin Ann.
4. Nouns denoting ranks and titles (academician, professor, doctor, count,
lord, etc.) followed by names of persons do not take the article: Colonel Dobbin,
Doctor White, Professor Brown.
5. No article is used with names of persons, modified by the adjectives old,
young, poor, little, deer, lazy. But when modified by other adjectives or participles
the definite article is used.
e.g. He knew that the letter was written by old Henry.
But: The astonished Peter could not move.
6. No article is used with a noun modified by a proper name in the genitive case.
e.g. I met Robert's father.
7. With geographical names modified by the name of a person or a place no
article is used.
e.g. Kennedy Airport, Edinburgh Castle, Cambridge University.
8. Names of countries do not take the article, though there are some cases,
when the definite article is used (see III.8.3.).
9. Names of continents, states, cities, towns, villages are used with no article.
e.g. Asia, England, London, Kyiv, etc.
10. With the names of mountain peaks and single islands no article is used.
e.g. Vesuvius, Elbrus, Everest; Madagascar, Haiti, Cyprus.
11. Names of bays and peninsulas do not take the article if the word peninsula
is not used, but if it is applied the definite article is used.
e.g. Mexican Bay, Kamchatka, Taimir But: the Kola peninsula.
12. Names of streets, squares, lanes and avenues are used without article, but there
are some exclusions, namely: the High Street, the Mall, the Strand, the Wall Street
13. No article is used with the names of airports, stations and bridges (Victoria
Station, Tower Bridge), but: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Bridge o f Sighs, the Golden
Gate Bridge
 19 6

14. With the names of schools, colleges and universities used as proper names
no article is useb, but the Sorbonne.
15. Names of meals are usually used without articles (see also III.5.3.)
16. Names of diseases are used without articles (AIDS, appendicitis, cholera,
diabetes, hepatitis, herpes, malaria, measles, mumps, pneumonia, smallpox, etc.). The
definite article is possible with measles, mumps, chickenpox, flu (but not influenza).
17. The zero article is also used in many set-phrases (see appendix 3)
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on the etymology of articles.
2. What are the main functions of the indefinite article?
3. What are the main functions of the definite article?
4. Comment on the use of articles with the countable nouns.
5. Comment on the use of articles with uncountable nouns.
6. Comment on the use of articles with some semantic groups of nouns (the
name of parts of the day, the names of seasons, the names of meals, the
names of diseases, the names of languages? With the nouns denoting unique
things).
7. Comment on the use of articles with proper nouns.
8. Comment on the omission of the article.
 197

CHAPTER I V THE ADJECTIVE

§ 134. Morphological Composition of Adjectives
Adjectives are words expressing properties or state of a substance, and, hence, they
qualify nouns (e.g. big, large, blue, beautiful, economic,young, able, glad, etc.).
Grammatically, four features are generally considered to be characteristic of
adjectives:
1) their syntactic function of attribute,
2) their syntactic function of predicative,
3) their taking of adverbial modifiers of degree (e.g. very, completely, etc.),
4) their only grammatical category - the degrees of comparison.
However, not all adjectives possess all of the four features.
According to their morphological composition adjectives can be subdivided
into simple, derived and compound.
In the case of simple adjectives such as cold, hot, good, green, etc. the form
doesn’t indicate its status, so they are not recognizable morphologically.
Derived adjective consist of one root morpheme and one or more derivational
morphemes - suffixes or prefixes, e.g.: beautiful, careless, foolish, insufficient, illegal,
impossible, unkind, etc. There are the following adjective-forming suffixes in English:
-able/-ible/-uble eatable, noticeable, readable, reliable, sensible, soluble, visible;
-al cultural, formal, governmental, medical, musical, partial, vital;
-an American, certain, human, suburban;
-ant/-ent brilliant, important,, repentant, dependent, different, innocent;
-ary documentary, revolutionary;
-ate/-ite/-ute/ete accurate, desolate, contrite, exquisite, absolute, minute, complete;
-ed barbed, beaded, gifted, talented;
-en golden, earthen, silken, wooden;
-ern eastern, northern, southern, western;
-ese Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Congolese;
-esque grotesque, picturesque;
-fold twofold, manifold;
-fut delightful, deadful, powerful, skilful, useful,woderful;
-ic/-ic+al atomic, emphatic, gigantic, poetic, public, classic, classical;
-id morbid, torpid;
-ish bluish, brownish, feverish, bookish, boyish, childish, Irish;
-ive active, distinctive, effective, positive, productive, talkative;
-less careless, fearless, hopeless, motherless, spotless, useless;
-like businesslike, childlike, manlike, warlike;
-Iv dayly, homely, manly, weekly;
-most uttermost;
-ory compulsory, observatory;
-ous anxious, curious, famous, glorious, poisonous, tremendous;
-some gladsome, loathsome, tiresome, troublesome, wholesome;
-i______________ cloudy, dusty, grassy, handy, noisy, sleepy, sunny, windy.
 19 8

As to prefixes, the most common ones prove to be the negative prefixes un-
(unkind, uneven), in- and its variants il-, im-, ir- (incautious, infirm, illiterate,
immortal, irregular), dis- (dishonest). Some other prefixes also occure: a- (amoral),
counter- (counteroffensive), extra- (extra-official), inter- (international), pre-
(prehistoric), trans- (transcontinental), etc.
Some adjectives are former participles and therefore retain participial suffixes,
but only certain of them reach full adjectival status. Among those in current use are
common -ing and -ed, which form participial adjectives:
-ing: alarming, amazing, amusing, annoying, astonishing, boring, charming,
confusing, corresponding, cunning, daring, depressing, disappointing, disgusting,
distressing, disturbing, embarrassing, entertaining, exciting, exhausting, existing,
fascinating, following, frightening, horrifying, increasing, inspiring, interesting,
irritating, leading, missing, moving, outstanding, paralyzing, pleasing, promising,
relaxing, remaining, satisfying, shocking, surprising, terrifying, threatening, tiring,
touching, troubling, underlying, willing, working-,
-ed: advanced alarmed, alleged, amazed, amused annoyed, armed, ashamed,
astonished, bored, complicated, confused, crooked, depressed, determined, disabled,
disappointed, disgusted, distressed, disturbed, educated, embarrassed entertained,
excited exhausted, fascinated, frightened, horrified, inspired interested irritated,
learned, moved, paralyzed, pleased, ragged, relaxed, satisfied, shocked, surprised,
terrified, tired, touched, troubled, unemployed, unexpected, worried, etc.
As to prefixes adjectives can be formed from other adjectives by using the
negative prefixes un-, in- and non-, and the prefixes pre-, post-.
e.g. unhappy, insensitive, nonstandard, preschool, postwar.
Affixes differ in their productivity. The suffix -al is considered to be
extremely productive. The suffixes -ent, -ive, -ous and prefixes are un-, pre- are
also relatively common.
Compound adjectives may be of several patterns:
a noun + an adjective: grass-green, snow-white, age-old, life-long;
a noun + participle: life-giving, smoke-dried;
a noun /a pronoun + verbal: heart-breaking, all-seeing;
an adjective + an adjective: deaf-mute, grayish-blue;
an adjective + noun: full-time, large-scale;
an adverb + -ed participle: ill-suited, so-called, well-known, much-praised;
an adverb + -ing participle: slow-moving, tightly-fitting;
an adverb + adjective: highly-sensitive, already-tight;
an adjective + a noun + the suffix -ed: blue-eyed, long-legged;
an adverb + a noun + the suffix -ed: down-hearted;
a noun + a noun +suffix -ed: lynx-eyed;
a numeral + a noun + suffix -ed: four-wheeled.
§ 135. Classification of Adjectives
According to their meaning and grammatical characteristics adjectives fall
under two classes:
1) qualitative adjectives and 2) relative adjectives.
 199

Qualitative adjectives denote qualities of a substance directly, not through

Its relation to another substance, as size, shape, colour, physical and mental
qualities of general estimation: little, large, high, soft, hard, warm, white, strong,
hold, important, necessary, etc.
Relative adjectives denote qualities of a substance through their relation to
materials (feathery, flaxen, leathern, silken, woolen, wooden), to place (Asian,
European, Italian), to time (daily, monthly, weekly, yearly), to some action
(defensive, preparatory, rotatory).
Qualitative adjectives in their turn may be differentiated according to their
meaning into descriptive, denoting a quality in a broad sense (wonderful, cold,
warm, etc.) and limiting, denoting a category, a section of a whole, a number (the
previous page, medical aid, the left hand, several pages).
The descriptive adjectives (or descriptors) describe colour, size and weight,
chronology and age, emotion, and other characteristics:
- colour descriptors: black, white, dark, bright, blue, brawn, green, grey, red;
- size/quantity/extent descriptors: big, deep, heavy, huge, long, large, little,
short, small, thin, wide;
- time descriptors describe chronology, age and frequency: annual, daily,
early, late, new, old, recent, young;
- evaluative/emotive descriptors denote judgments, emotions, and
emphasis: bad, beautiful, fine, good, great, lovely, nice, poor.
- miscellaneous descriptors cover many other kinds of characteristics:
appropriate, cold, complex, dead, empty, free, hard, hot, open, positive,
practical, private, serious, strange, strong, sudden.
The limiting adjectives (or classifiers) single out the substance, impart a
concrete or unique meaning to it, specify it, and therefore can seldom be replaced
by other adjectives of similar meaning. Among them one can find:
relational/classificational/restrictive classifiers: additional, average, chief,
complete, different, direct, entire, external, final, following, general, initial,
internal, left, main, maximum, necessary, original, particular, previous, primary,
public, similar, single, standard, top, various;
affiliative classifiers identify the national or social group of a referent:
American, English, Christian, German, Irish;
topical classifiers give the subject area or specific type of a noun: chemical,
commercial, environmental, human, industrial, legal, medical, mental, official,
oral, phonetic, political, sexual, social, visual.
Most classifiers are non-gradable. This means that they usually cannot take modifiers
of degree or comparative/superlalive forms (we can’t say, e.g. more additional).
Among limiting adjectives there is a group of intensifiers, which often form a
phraseological unit with their head-word: an obvious victory, a definite task a
complete fool, absolute nonsense, a slight effort, etc.
Relative adjectives are also limiting in their meaning.
Many adjectives may function either as descriptive or limiting, depending on
the head-word and the context:
e.g. a musical voice (descriptive adjective), a musical instrument (limiting adjective).
 200

The actual application of adjectives is often connected with their semantic

characteristics. That’s why it appears reasonable to divide adjectives into semantic
groups each of which has its own possibilities or restrictions.
In this respect distinction should be made, first of all, between attributive and
predicative adjectives. Most adjectives can be used both attributively and
predicatively, but there are adjectives which can be used only attributively. To this
group belong:
1) intensifying adjectives:
a) emphasizers (giving a general heightening effect): clear, definite, real,
simple, sure, true: e,g. a real hero, a true scholar, etc.;
b) amplifiers (denoting a high or extreme degree): absolute, complete, entire,
great, strong, total, utter:
e.g. the entire world, a great scholar, a strong opponent, etc.;
c) downtoners (having a lowering effect): slight, feeble, e.g. a feeble reason, a
slight misunderstanding, etc.
2) restrictive adjectives (which restrict the reference to the noun exclusively,
particularly or chiefly):
e.g. the main reason, a particular occasion, the principal objection, etc. ;
3) adjectives related to adverbial expressions: e.g. the present leader (—> the
leader at present);
4) adjectives formed from nouns: e.g. a criminal layer, a woolen dress.
Adjectives that can be used only predicatively are fewer in number. The most
commonly used of the are: able, conscious, fond, glad, ill, subject, (unjwell, ablaze,
afloat, afraid aghast, alight, alive, alike, alone, ashamed, asleep, averse, awake, aware.
On the other hand, adjectives may be treated as dynamic and stative. Stative
and dynamic adjectives differ in some ways, e.g. the link-verb to be in combination
with dynamic adjectives can have the continuous form or be used in the imperative
mood.
e.g. He is being noisy.
Don't be noisy!
Stative adjectives do not admit of such forms (We can’t say: He is being tall. Be tall!).
To the group of dynamic adjectives belong: adorable, ambitious, awkward
brave, calm, careful, careless, cheerful, clever, complacent, conceited, cruel,
disagreeable, dull, enthusiastic, extravagant, foolish, friendly, funny, generous, gentle,
good, greedy, hasty, helpful, (im)patient, irritating, jealous, kind lenient, loyal,
mischievous, naughty, nice, noisy, reasonable, rude, sensible, serious, shy, slow,
spiteful, stubborn, stupid, suspicious, tactful, talkative, thoughtful, tidy, timid,
troublesome, vain, vidgar, wicked, witty, etc.
Adjectives are also distinguished as gradable and non-gradable. Most
adjectives are gradable. That means that they can be modified by adverbs of degree
and themselves change for degrees of comparison.
e.g. You are so (very, extremely, too) young.
She is the youngest in their family.
All dynamic adjectives are gradable; most stative adjectives are gradable, too.
 201

M orphological C haracteristics o f Adjectives

§ 136. Degrees of Comparison
Adjectives do not take any endings to express agreement with the head-word.
The only pattern of morphological change is that of comparison, which is
*.tiled the degrees of comparison. The three terms of it are called positive,
comparative and superlative. The positive form is the plain stem of an adjective,
r g. high, slow, extravagant, etc.
Ways of Forming Degrees of Comparison
There are three ways of forming the comparative and the superlative degrees
ol comparison: the synthetic, analytic and suppletive/irregular ways.
The synthetic way is by adding the inflexion -er, -est.
This method is used for:
1) monosyllabic adjectives:
nice - nicer - nicest,
new - newer - newest,
bright - brighter - brightest;
2) disyllabic adjectives ending in -er, -y, -some, -ow, -le:
tender - tenderer - tenderest,
clever - cleverer - cleverest,
cosy - cosier - coziest,
happy - happier - happiest,
handsome - handsomer - handsomest,
narrow - narrower - narrowest,
able - abler - ablest,
noble - nobler - noblest,
simple - simpler - simplest;
3) disyllabic adjective in which the stress falls on the last syllable:
polite - politer - politest,
profound - profounder - profoundest,
complete - completer - completest;
4) a few frequently used disyllabic adjectives:
common —commoner - commonest,
pleasant - pleasanter - pleasantest,
quiet - quieter - quietest.
The following spelling rules should be observed in forming the comparative
and the superlative degrees:
a) adjectives ending in -y preceded by a consonant, change the -y into -i+er and
-i+est:
happy - happier - happiest,
heavy - heavier - heaviest,
busy - busier —busiest,
easy - easier - easiest.
But adjectives ending in -y preceded by a vowel, remain unchanged:
gay - gayer - gayest;
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b) monosyllabic adjectives with a short vowel double their final consonant:

big-bigger - biggest,
thin - thinner - thinnest,
sad - sadder - saddest.
But monosyllabic adjectives ending in a double consonant, remain unchanged:
thick - thicker - thickest,
fresh - fresher - freshest;
c) adjectives with a mute -e at the end, add only -r and -st:
fine - finer - finest,
pale - pale - palest,
brave —braver - bravest.
Phonetic peculiarities arising from the addition of the comparative and
superlative suffixes are as follows:
1) a silent final r in the positive is pronounced before the suffixes:
dear [dio] - dearer [drara] - dearest [diarast];
2) the final ng [rj] of the positive becomes [rjg] before the suffixes with some
adjectives:
long [log] - longer [loijga] - longest [Jorjgist].
Polysyllabic adjectives form their degrees of comparison analytically, by
means of more and most:
difficult —more difficult - most difficult,
beautiful - more difficult - most difficult,
curious - more curious - most curious.
The second method of forming the comparative and the superlative degrees is
also used for most disyllabic adjectives, adjectives formed from participles and ing-
forms and adjectives used only predicatively:
careful - more careful - most careful,
private - more private - most private;
tired- more tired - most tired,
interesting - more interesting - most interesting;
afraid- more afraid - most afraid,
aware - more aware - most aware.
Some adjectives form the comparative and superlative degrees in two ways:
common - commoner / more common - commonest / most common,
friendly -friendlier / more friendly - friendliest / most friendly,
happy - happier / more happy - happiest / most happy,
lively - livelier / more lively - liveliest / most lively,
lonely - lonelier / more lonely - loneliest / most lonely,
lovely - lovelier / more lovely - loveliest / most lovely,
narrow - narrower / more narrow - narrowest / most narrow,
pleasant -pleasanter / more pleasant - pleasantest / most pleasant,
polite - politer / more polite - politest / most polite,
quiet - quieter / more quiet - quietest / most quiet,
shallow —shallower / more shallow - shallowest / most shallow,
true - true / more true - truest / most true.
 203

Several adjectives form their degrees of comparison irregularly. These are:

good/well - better - best,
bad - worse —worst,
little - less - least,
many - more - most;
■nearer - nearest (for distance)

nearer - next (for order)

later - latest (for time)

later - last (for order)

farther - farthest (with reference to distance),

■further -furthest (with reference to time, in figurative use);

older - oldest (with reference to age),

old
elder - eldest (with reference to the sequence o f brothers
and sisters; used only attributively).
e.g. My elder brother is two years older than me.
Adjectival compounds can be inflected in two ways, either the first element (if it is
an adjective or adverb) is inflected, or comparison is with more and most, for example:
well-known - better-known - best-known,
dull-witted - more dull-witted - most dull-witted,
kind-hearted - more kind-hearted - most kind-hearted.
The following adjectives generally do not form degrees of comparison:
1) limiting qualitative adjectives which single out or determine the type of
things or persons, such as: childless, left, medical, middle, previous, etc;
2) relative adjectives (which are also limiting in their meaning): woolen,
wooden, flaxen, earthen, ashen;
3) adjectives with comparative and superlative meaning (the so-called
gradables); their comparative meaning has been lost and they are used as positive
forms: former, inner, upper, junior, senior, superior, etc;
4) adjectives already denoting some gradation of quality, such as: darkish,
greenish, etc.
The Use of Degrees of Comparison
The comparative degree is used when there are two objects, actions or
phenomena compared or contrasted, for instance: His reading was more extensive
than ever before.
The superlative degree is used when an object, an action or a phenomenon is
compared or contrasted with more than two objects, actions or phenomena, for
instance:
e.g. She was the most active o f us.
Comparison is expressed in the following sentence patterns:
 204

a) comparison of equality (as ... as):

e.g. He is as cunning as a fox.
b) comparison of inequality (not so ...as, not as ... as):
e.g. She is not as nice as I though.
c) comparison of superiority (...-er than, -est of/in/ever):
e.g. It's the biggest risk I ’ve ever had to take.
She was the proudest o f women.
d) comparison of inferiority (less ... than):
e.g. I am less musical than my sister.
e) comparison of parallel increase or decrease (the ... the, ...-e r as):
e.g. The sooner you do it, the better.
He became more cautious as he grew.
There are many set phrases which contain the comparative or the superlative
degree of an adjective:
a change for the better (for the worse) - зміна на краще (на гірше),
none the less - проте, ніскільки не менш,
so much the better (the worse) - тим краще (тим гірше),
to be the worse for - почувати себе гірше (від чогось), прогадати (на
чомусь),
по (none the) worse (for/of it) - непошкоджений, з яким нічого не
трапилось: ніскільки не гірше,
if the worst comes to the worst —у найгіршому випадку/разі, якщо
трапиться найгірше,
to go from bad to worse - все гіршати, погіршуватися,
as best —як тільки можна,
at (the) best - в кращому випадку.
§ 137. Syntactic Functions of Adjectives
Adjectives may serve in the sentence as:
1) an attribute:
e.g. She had pleasant blue eyes and very long fair hair which she wore in neat
plaits round her head.
Adjectives used attributively may precede the noun immediately (premodifying
attributes, e.g. a good video) or follow the head-noun (postmodifying attributes, e.g.
the delegates present, something larger). The attributes may be close (they closely
attach to their head-words) or loose/detached (in this case they do not so much give a
permanent characteristic to the noun but rather refer to the temporary state,
circumstance or condition under which what is said takes place; they may be placed in
different positions in the sentence and are separated by a comma from the head-word):
e.g. Nervous and excited, myfriend opened the letter.
My friend, nervous and excited, opened the letter.
My friend opened the letter, nervous and excited.
2) a predicative:
e.g. The moon was full.
Your daughter is pretty.
 205

3) part of a compound verbal predicative:

e.g. I lay motionless as i f I were asleep.
They stood silent.
4) an objective predicative:
e.g. The news turned her face pale.
The thieves left the door open.
I consider my fried reliable.
5) a subjective predicative:
e.g. Her hair was dyed red.
The door was painted green.
She doesn 7 seem crazy.
6) an adverbial modifier (usually introduced by conjunctions):
e.g. When ripe, these pears are very sweet.
I f possible, do it today.
Whether right or wrong, he never stops quarrelling.
Some predicative adjectives are usually followed by a prepositional phrase and
Imve to be followed by a particular preposition. Here are some of them:
1) Adj + about: angry, anxious, concerned, crazy, curious, doubtful, glad, happy,
honest, mad, mistaken, nervous, pleased, sad, serious, sincere, sorry, surprised,
suspicious, worried, wrong;
2) Adj + at: amazed, amused, astonished, awful, bad, brilliant, clever, good,
hopeless, quick, shocked, slow, surprised, terrible, weak;
3) Adj + by: amazed, shocked, surprised;
4) Adj + for: bad, convenient, eligible, famous, late, prepared, qualified,
ready, responsible, sorry, suitable, useful;
5) Adj + from: absent, different, safe, separate;
6) Adj + in: experienced, interested;
7) Adj + of: afraid, ahead, ashamed, aware, capable, careful, certain,
characteristic, confident, critical, envious, fond, full, guilty, incapable, independent,
indicative, jealous, mindful, proud, representative, sick, sure, suspicious, tired;
8) Adj + on: dependent, intent, keen;
9) Adj + to: accustomed, adjacent, allergic, attentive, attuned, blind, close,
contrary, devoted, harmful, married, new, opposed, peculiar, proportional,
proportionate, sensitive, subject, superior, used;
10) Adj + with: angry, annoyed, bored, busy, compatible, content, delighted,
disappointed, disgusted, familiar, filled, patient, pleased, satisfied.
Adjectives are also often used to build up exclamatory sentences. In this case
an adjective is often preceded by how and is placed at the head of the sentence.
e.g. How charming your baby is!
How good o f you!
How cold it is today!
Excellent! Just right!
 m
206

§ 138. Combinability of Adjectives

Adjectives are combined with several parts of speech.
1. They may combine with nouns, which they may premodify or postmodify:
a wonderful place, a large room, a selfish man, time immemorial, people involved.
If there are several premodifying adjectives to one head-noun they have
definite positional assignments. Generally descriptive adjectives precede the
limiting ones, but if there are several of each type, adjectives of different meanings
stand in the following order, though the order of adjectives of size, shape, age and
colour can change:
Adjectives denotong / expressing

Limiting adjective
(purpose, type)
value, opinion

temperature

Substance,
Judjement,

material
Colour

Origin
Shape
Age,
Size

Noun
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
pleasant large young square red French iron writing
expensive big old round blue domestic metal medical
cheap small new thick dark-blue rural wooden fruit
nice little elderly bright-red stone
charming cold plastic
e.g. a brilliant (1) young (3) man,
a small (2) square (4) table,
a dirty (1) old (3) brown (5) coat,
a charming (1) French (6) writing (8) desk,
a large (2) green (5) Chinese (6) carpet,
a famous (1) German (6) medical (8) school,
a large (2) iron (7) box,
a big (2) old (3) square (4) chest,
a tall (2) young (3) London (6) policeman,
a big (2) fat (4) Italian (6) opera (8) singer,
this large (2) old (3) frying (8) pan.
black (5) leather (7) riding (8) boots.
Variation is possible when we focus on a particular feature, for example we can say:
a round black shape (= normal order) or:
a black round shape (= focus on colour).
We use a comma when there are two or more adjectives of equal importance
before a noun:
e.g. The room was full o f cold, hungry children.
Adjectives are linked with and when they come after verbs like be and feel:
e.g. The children felt cold and hungry.
He was tall, dark and handsome.
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The house was large and impressive.

When we use two or more colour adjectives before a noun, we put and between them:
e.g. They d\vh a red and white car.
They were waving a blue, white and redflag.
We can put a comma or and between two adjectives that describe someone’s
*liaracter:
e.g. We had a clever and imaginable teacher. We had a clever, imaginable teacher.
2. Adjectives may also combine with other words in the sentence.
They may be modified by adverbials of degree, like very, quite, rather, most, a
lot, a sort of, a bit, enough, totally, perfectly, so ... as: very difficult, quite easy, rather
interesting, a sort o f naive, far enough, a bit lazy, a little bit tired, not so foolish as /
thought, etc.
Note: With the adverbs rather and too the indefinite article is placed between
the adjective and the noun:
e.g. This is rather a difficult matter.
This is too difficult a problem.
Usually the position of the adjective is as follows:
determiner-2 noun
determiner-1
(determiner ordinals quantifiers adjectives phrase
(predeterminer)
proper)
all article first little/few
both demonstrative last many/much adj NP
half possessives next lots of
e.g. All his first days at the university.
Both my younger brothers.
All these horrible accidents resultedfrom...
Only half the guests had arrived by seven o 'clock.
Over the next couple o f months.
The last ten years.
My first responsibility.
For the last/next few days.
A good many years ago.
§ 139. Substantivized Adjectives
Sometimes adjectives become substantivized. In this case they function as
nouns in the sentence and are preceded by the article.
Substantivized adjectives may fall into several groups, according to their
meaning and the nominal features they possess.
1. Some substantivized adjectives have only the singular form. They may have
cither the singular or plural concord, depending on their meaning. These are:
a) substantivized adjectives denoting generalized or abstract notions. They
are used with the definite article and have singular concord: the unseen, the
fabulous, the unreal, the unknown, the invisible:
e.g. The unknown is always interesting.
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The good overweights the bad.

b) substantivized adjectives denoting languages are used without a
determiner, but are often modified by a pronoun. They also take singular concord:
e.g. My sister speaks excellent German but my German is poor.
c) substantivized adjectives denoting groups of persons are used with the
article the and admit only of plural concord: the blind, the dead, the brave, the dumb
and deaf, the elderly, the eminent, the homeless, the living, the mute, the old, the
poor, the sick, the rich, the unemployed, the wealthy, the wounded, the young, etc.
e.g. The blind are taught trades in special schools.
The young are always romantic.
2. Some substantivized adjectives have the category of number, that is they
can have two forms - the singular and the plural. These are:
a) substantivized adjectives denoting social rank or position (commercials,
equals, inferiors, nobles, ordinaries, superiors), military ranks {privates,
regulars), party (conservatives, liberals), creed (Christians,), nationalities ending
in —(i)sh (British, Danish, English, Irish, Swedish, Turkish, Welsh), in -ch (Dutch,
French) and in -ese (Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese), race (Asiatics, Easters,
Eurasians, Europeans, Indians, blacks, whites), groups of people belonging to
certain times or epochs (ancients, contemporaries, moderns, primitives), etc. In
the plural the use of the article is not obligatory, it is included or omitted according
to syntactic or communicative considerations.
e.g. The ancients are the people o f an old civilization.
When denoting an individual such words are used in the singular and are
preceded by the indefinite article: a Christian, a liberal, a noble, an ordinary, a
primitive, a private, etc.
b) substantivized adjectives denoting animals and plants: evergreens,
thoroughbreds (about horses):
e.g. A thoroughbred is a horse that has parents that are o f the same high breed.
3. Some substantivized adjectives have only the plural form. These are:
a) substantivized adjectives denoting studies and examinations. They take
either the singular or plural concord depending on whether they denote one notion
or a collection of notions: classics, finals (final examinations), etc.
e.g. Finals are approaching.
b) substantivized adjectives denoting collection of things, substances and
foods. Some of these admit either of both the singular and plural concord
(chemicals, movables, necessaries, valuables, eatables, greens), others admit only
of a singular concord (bitters).
c) substantivized adjectives which are the names of the parts of the body
are used with the determiner the and admit of the plural concord: the vitals, the
whites (of the eyes).
d) substantivized adjectives denoting colours are used in the plural without
any determiners: greys, reds, purples, greens.
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Suggested points for discussion

1. Comment on morphological composition of adjectives.
2. What are the main principles of classification of adjectives?
3. Comment on the degrees of comparison of adjectives.
4. What are the main syntactic functions of adjectives?
5. Comment on combinability of adjectives.
6. Comment on substantivized adjectives.

CHAPTER V. THE PRONOUN

§ 140. Classification of Pronouns
The pronoun is a part of speech which points out objects and their qualities
without naming them.
Pronouns include a miscellaneous group of words which function in the
sentence as noun pronouns or as adjective pronouns.
It is difficult to define the meaning of pronouns. Unlike nouns and adjectives,
they are devoid of concrete lexical meaning. They have a generalized meaning
instead, which becomes clear only in the context or situation.
Various individual pronouns may have different grammatical categories. Some
of them have the category of number (e.g. this - these, that - those), others have the
category of case (e.g. I -m e , somebody -somebody’s), still others are invariable (e.g.
each, such, all, what and some others).
As to morphological composition, pronouns may be of different structure:
simple, compound and composite.
Simple pronouns comprise only one morpheme - the stem: I, you, he, we,
this, that, who, all, etc.
Compound pronouns comprise more than one stem: myself, themselves,
somebody, nothing, etc.
Composite pronouns have the form of a phrase: each other, one another.
It should be pointed out that although pronouns function as nouns or adjectives
in the sentence, they do not cover all the functions of the two parts of speech, but
can only have some of them.
From the semantic point of view all pronouns fall into the following classes:
1. Personal pronouns, indicating persons or non-persons from the point of
view of their relation to the speaker: /, he, she, it, we, you, they.
2. Possessive pronouns, indicating possession by persons or non-persons: my,
his, her, its, our, your, their; mine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs.
3. Reflexive pronouns, indicating identity between the person and non-person
they denote and that denoted by the subject of the sentence: myself, yourself,
himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
4. Reciprocal pronouns, indicating a mutual relationship between persons or
non-persons: each other, one another.
5. Demonstrative pronouns, indicating directly persons or non-persons or
their properties: this (these), that (those), such, (the) same.
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6. Indefinite pronouns, indicating persons or non-persons or their properties

in a general way, without defining the class of objects they belong to, or the class of
properties they possess: some, something, somebody, someone; any, anything,
anybody, anyone, one.
7. Defining pronouns, indicating all objects (persons and non-persons) in
general or all the representatives of the groups of objects denoted by the nouns they
refer to (each, every, everybody, everyone, everything, all, either, both) and
pronouns indicating the detachment of some object from other objects of the same
class (other, another).
8. Negative pronouns, indicating the negation of the general meaning
expressed by their morphemes: no, none, neither, nobody, no one, nothing.
9. Interrogative pronouns, indicating the necessity to name persons or non­
persons, or their properties: who, what, which, whose, whoever, whatever, whichever.
10. Conjunctive pronouns, indicating persons or non-persons that are the
doers or the receivers of the action expressed in the principal clause or are identical
with it: who, what, which, whose, whoever, whatever, whichever.
11. Relative pronouns, indicating persons or non-persons denoted by words
modified by subordinate attributive clause: who, whose, which, that.
§ 141. Personal Pronouns
We find the following personal pronouns in English: I, you, he, she, it, we,
you, they
Personal pronouns have the category of person, number, case and gender, the
latter found in the 3rd person only (see the table):
—^ C a s e Objectiv
Number Person Nominative
Gender e
1st person - I me
2nd person - you you
Singular Masculine he him
3d person Feminine she her
Neuter it it
1st person - we US

Plural 2nd person - you you

3d person - they them
Pronouns / and we are said to be the pronouns of the 1st person, i.e. a person
(or persons) who speaks (speak). You is said to be the pronoun of the 2nd person,
i.e. a person (persons) spoken to. He, she, it and they are said to be the pronouns of
the 3d person, i.e. a person (persons) or a thing (things) spoken about.
We distinguish singular and plural personal pronouns. Singular personal
pronouns refer to one person or thing and plural personal pronouns refer to more
than one person or thing.
The pronouns /, we, you, he and she are mainly used for persons. /, we and
you are indifferent to gender, while he is masculine and she is feminine. The
pronoun it is used for animals, concrete things and abstract notions, i.e. it refers to
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neuter nouns. The pronoun they is used for persons, animals and things and is
indifferent to gender.
The personal pronouns change for case. There are two cases for personal
pronouns - the nominative case and the objective case.
The pronoun I (me) usually implies a person but it may as well imply an
unimal and an inanimate object if it is personified. The nominative case form is
nlways spelt with a capital letter. It is generally used as the subject of the sentence.
e.g. I have been living here for five years.
The nominative case form is also used as predicative in the compound nominal
predicate in sentences like: It was I; It is /, etc. and especially in emphatic
sentences: It was / who did it. In colloquial style the form of the objective case is
preferable: It was me, I t’s me.
After the conjunctions as and than in comparative constructions both the
nominative and the objective forms are used: You look older than I/me.
The objective case form is used mainly as object (with or without a
preposition).
e.g. Give me your dictionary for some days, please.
I 'm sure, you are speaking about me.
The pronoun we (us) being the plural form of I (me) functions similarly to the latter.
The pronoun you implies a person, but it may also imply an animal or an
inanimate object, when the latter is personified.
Its singular and plural forms, its nominative and objective case forms are
homonymous. The plural and the singular forms are differentiated through their co­
referents, as both agree with the verb in the plural, and the nominative and the
objective cases are distinguishable syntactically.
e.g. Are you ready, Ann?
Where are you going, children?
The pronouns he (him), she (her) usually refer to persons, he to male, she to female.
e.g. He is an engineer.
She is my elder sister.
Both can refer to things when they are personified. Besides, such phenomena as
sun, fear, love, wind are often referred to as he, and earth, moon, ship, boat, hope,
justice, modesty, England, France, Italy, the USA, other countries, and even cities,
and also inanimate objects, especially ships, motor cars, aircraft are referred to as she.
e.g. Love is omnipotent, he is mightier than power.
Ukraine showed that she supports the proposal.
Have a look at my new car. She is a beauty.
The nominative case forms of both he and she are used as subject and
predicative, and objective case forms are commonly used as objects. The functions
of attributes and adverbial modifier are possible but not common.
e.g. He returned late yesterday.
It was she, my cousin.
I don’t wish to talk about her any longer.
The pronoun it is generally used for concrete things, abstract notions and
animals. Yet the pronoun it may be used to identify an unknown person. Then, once
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it has been done, he Or she must be used. It may also refer to an idea expressed in a
preceding word-group, clause, sentence or even context,
e.g. I tried the door. It was locked.
He promised his help i f ever I needed it.
The music had stopped. He didn't notice it
It is vety often used as a formal subject in impersonal statements about weather
conditions, time, distance and all kinds of measurements or in sentences in which the
predicate is modified by an infinitive phrase, or an ing-form phrase, or a clause,
e.g. It is raining heavily.
It was very cold in the room.
It is half past three now.
It is a pleasure to see you again.
It won't be easy finding our way home.
It was a surprise that he had come back so soon.
The pronoun it is also used in the so-called emphatic construction, i.e. a special
sentence pattern that serves to emphasize some word or phrase in the sentence,
e.g. It was me who asked this question.
§ 142. Possessive Pronouns
There are the following possessive pronouns in English (see the table):

Number Person Forms Conjoint Absolute

Gender
1st person my mine
2nd person your yours
Singular Masculine his his
3d person Feminine her hers
Neuter its -

Is1person our ours

Plural 2nd person your yours
3d person their theirs
As can be seen from the table, possessive pronouns comprise two sets of
forms: the conjoint forms my. your, his, her, its, our, your, their on the one hand,
and the absolute forms mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs on the other
hand. There is no absolute form corresponding to the absolute pronoun it.
Pronouns my, mine indicate something belonging to the speaker himself; our,
ours - to the speaker together with some other person or persons; your, yours - to
some person or persons addressed by the speaker; his, her, hers, its, their, theirs
indicate something belonging either to one male, female or non-person or to more
than one of them all, that are neither the speaker nor the persons or non-persons
addressed by the speaker.
The difference between the conjoint and absolute forms lies in their
combinability and syntactic functions. The conjoint forms combine with nouns
premodifying them as their attributes and cannot combine with any other words,
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that is, they cannot have any other syntactic functions. The absolute forms on the
contrary cannot combine with nouns as premodifying attributes; they combine with
other words, thus performing all other syntactic functions as attributes,
e.g. Our parents are teachers and theirs are doctors.
Where are the children? - Mine are at home, and hers are playing in the yard.
This book isn 't mine, i t ’s yours.
Theirs is a large family.
I have lost my pen, will you give me yours?
Who is this girl? -It is Lilly, a friend o f mine.
Note: The form jours is commonly used as a conversational ending to letters,
e.g. Yours, sincerely (truly, faithfully). J. Smith.
It should be noted that in English the possessive pronouns are often used
instead of articles with nouns denoting relations, parts of the body, articles of
clothing and various other personal belongings,
e.g. He bit his lips, but said nothing.
She put her cigarette back into her bag.
But there are certain idiomatic phrases where the definite article is used
instead of a possessive pronoun,
e.g. / have a cold in the head.
He war shot through the heart.
He got red in the face.
He took me by the hand.
§ 143. Reflexive Pronouns
The reflexive pronouns are called reflexive because they serve to show that the
action performed by the person which is indicated by the subject of the sentence
passes back again to the same person. In other words, the subject of the sentence
and its object indicate the same person.
The reflexive pronouns are formed by adding -self (in the plural -selves) to the
possessive pronouns in the 1st and 2nd persons and to the objective case of the
personal pronouns in the 3d person (see the table). There is one more reflexive
pronoun which is formed from the indefinite pronoun one - oneself.
—^ ^ N u m b er
Singular Plural
Person ——
Is’ person myself ourselves
2nd person yourself yourselves
himself
3d person herself themselves
itself
These pronouns are used as noun pronouns in the sentence. They may serve in
the sentence as different kinds of objects —direct, indirect and prepositional,
e.g. We enjoyed ourselves at the dance.
Why is she sitting all by herself in the dark?
I can do it myself.
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Besides, reflexive pronouns may also be used in the function of a) subject, b)

predicative, c) attribute, d) adverbial modifier of comparison:
e.g. a) My wife and myself welcome you, sir.
b) In some minutes she became herself again.
c) She showed me a large picture o f herself as a bride.
d) My father was a Rocket like myself.
We find idiomatic uses of reflexive pronouns in many set phrases, e.g. to pride
oneself on something, to avail oneself o f something, to be myself (himself, etc.).
§ 144. Reciprocal Pronouns
There are two reciprocal pronouns in English: each other and one another.
They show that something is done mutually. Both pronouns are mainly used in the
function of an object (direct, indirect or prepositional) in the sentence.
e.g. They bitterly disliked each other.
They had come to understand one another.
Both each other and one another can be used when speaking of two persons.
However, when more than two persons are meant, only one another is usually used.
e.g. When he entered the cafe he saw the people wink at one another.
Each other and one another can be used in the genitive case.
e.g. They had not met so long that they hadforgotten each other's names.
In their letters they made it a rule to inquire after one another's relatives.
§ 145. Demonstrative Pronouns
There are four demonstrative pronouns in English: this, that, such and same.
They all may be used as noun pronouns and as adjective pronouns.
The pronouns this and that change for number. Their corresponding plural
forms are: these and those.
The pronoun this (these) refers to what is near in space, time or conception (a),
that (those) to what is farther off (b).
e.g. a) Take this pear. It looks very ripe.
Do you know these people? These are my cousins,
b) Do you see those houses in the distance? Is that your son?
The pronouns this (these) and that (those) may also have other applications.
1) In some cases this (these) may refer to what is to follow, that (those) to
what precedes.
e.g. After I've listened to you very attentively I ’ll tell you this - I don’t think
you should trust the man.
But I m glad to see you have an interest in sports. That means we have
two things in common.
2) The pronouns this (these) and that (those) are often used with nouns
indicating time. This (these) is used for time which is future or just past. That
(those) is used for time which is clearly past.
e.g. Why don 7 you come and see me some time? How about this Sunday, if it's
convenient?
Father had to go to Chicago this morning.
I remember that he woke up early that morning.
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3) Sometimes the use of this (these) and that (those) is emotionally coloured.
I lie kind of feeling implied (affection, vexation, disgust, contempt, etc.) depends
mi the situation.
e.g. Will this dog ever stop barking?
When will you stop trumping that piano?
4) The pronoun that (those) may be used instead of a noun already mentioned.
It is called a prop-word in this case.
e.g. He hung his daughter’s portrait beside that o f his wife's.
These poems are not so good as those written by you last year.
She was a good teacher. She knew how to teach bright children and those
who were slow.
5) That is often used instead of it. In this case that appears to be more
emphatic than it.
e.g. "Let's send him a wire. ” “That’s an excellent idea. ”
"Tell her I want to see her ” “I'll do that. ”
6) Those followed by a who-clause, a participle or an /Tig-form refers to persons,
e.g. Serious newspapers are read by those (=people) who want to know about
important happenings everywhere.
Even those (=people) who do not like his pictures are not indifferent to him.
Those (=people) injured in the accident were taken to hospital.
Note: Those present “присутні”апб those concerned “зацікавлені особи” are
set phrases.
7) In spoken English that may be used as an adverbial modifier of degree,
e.g. / did not think he was that stupid.
That, this are often found as part of set phrases. Here are some of them:
and all that - і таке інше; як кажуть; що називається (слова, якими
часто закінчують поздоровлення, висловлення подяки);
but fo r all that - незважаючи на;
fo r that matter - якщо на me пішло, власне кажучи;
hardly that - зовсім не про це;
leave it at that! - досить!, облиште!, обридло!;
like this - так, таким чином, подібно до цього;
more than that - тим більше;
so that’s that - нічого не зробиш, такі то справи;
that is - тобто;
that’s about it - правильно, точно;
that’s all right - нічого, будь ласка (як відповідь на вибачення);
that’s done it - це вже занадто;
that’s why - ось чому;
things like that - такі речі;
to know better than that - бути розумнішим.
The demonstrative pronoun such may mean o f this or that kind (a) or indicate
degree (b). Such is followed by the indefinite article before singular countable nouns,
e.g. a) I f I were you l would not have said such a thing,
b) He is such a bore.
 216

He wrote such desperate letters to me that year.

The meaning of such is often completed by a clause of consequence
introduced by that or a phrase introduced by as.
e.g. / had such a busy morning that / had no time to call you up.
Such may be followed by an infinitive with as.
e.g. His carelessness is such as to make it unlikely that he will pass his examination.
Note that such may be combined with some indefinite pronouns,
e.g. I ’ll do no such thing.
He didn t say any such thing.
Any such request is sure to be turned down.
On every such occasion dozens o f people get injured.
Such is sometimes found as part of set phrases. Here are some of them:
such as - як наприклад, такий, як;
such ... as - як наприклад, такий, як;
such being the case - в такому разі, якщо справа стоїть так;
such carpenters, such chips - no роботі пізнати майстра, який Сава,
така й слава;
such is life - таке життя, нічого не зробиш;
such master, such servant - яке коріння, таке й насіння, яблуко від
яблуні недалеко падає.
The demonstrative pronoun same means “identical”. It is always preceded by
the definite article.
e.g. I was astonished and at the same time very much excited.
The meaning of same is often completed by a clause introduced by that or as.
e.g. He wore the same suit that I had seen him in five years before.
He ate his sandwiches at midday in the same places as l did.
Same may also be followed by a phrase introduced by as.
e.g. Saying good-bye, my aunt gave me the same warning as on the day o f my
father's departure.
Same is sometimes found as part of set phrases. Here are some of them:
I t ’s all the same to m e -м ен і однаково, мені байдуже;
all the same - все ж, проте;
much the same - майже me ж саме; одного поля ягода, одного тіста книш.
§ 146. Indefinite Pronouns
The indefinite pronouns express various degrees and various kinds of
indefiniteness. We find the following items among them: some, any, somebody,
anybody, someone, anyone, something, anything, one.
Some and any are both noun-pronouns and adjective-pronouns whereas their
compounds ending in -body, -one or -thing as well as the pronoun one are only
noun-pronouns.
Some, any, something, anything have no grammatical categories, somebody,
anybody, someone, anyone, one have the category of case: somebody —somebody's,
anybody - anybody’s, someone - someone’s, anyone - anyone’s, o n e -o n e ’s.
 217

The pronouns some and any indicate indefinite qualities and quantities. The
idea of quality and quantity which they indicate is actualised depending on the class
and grammatical form of the nouns with which they are used.
The idea of quantity is actualised when these pronouns combine with:
a) countable nouns in the plural:
e.g. I have read some o f his novels.
Are there any books on the table?
b) nouns of material:
e.g. Give me some water, please.
c) abstract nouns:
e.g. I shan't give you any trouble.
The idea of quality is actualised where some and any with countable nouns in
the singular:
e.g. He gave me some book to read yesterday.
Any book will do.
Some is commonly used in affirmative and imperative sentences. It has
several meanings.
1) It expresses an indefinite number or amount or indefinite quality,
e.g. Mother gave me some pennies to buy sweets.
The visitor asked me to describe some o f the work we do in our laboratory.
2) When used with a singular countable noun, some may mean “a particular
but unidentified person or thing”.
e.g. Some boy had written a Latin word on the blackboard.
Some is very often used for contrast. Then it is strongly stressed,
e.g. Some o f us agree with the statement, some disagree.
3) Some may also mean “approximately1”,
e.g. It happened some twenty years ago.
When used as a noun-pronoun, some may be singular or plural. It depends on
whether some refers to countable or uncountable nouns,
e.g. Some o f his opinions were hard to accept.
Some o f the food was packed in waterproof bags.
As a rule, some is used in affirmative sentences (see the examples above). In
interrogative and negative sentences it is changed into any or no. However, there
are instances when some remains unchanged in interrogative and negative
sentences. It happens when the question or negation does not concern the part of
the sentence containing some, i.e. when the part of the sentence containing some
remains affirmative in meaning.
e.g. May I give you some more tea?
I could not answer some o f his questions.
Not all your answers are correct. Some are, some aren 7.
The pronoun any is also used as an adjective-pronoun and as a noun-pronoun.
In affirmative sentences any means “it does not matter who, what or which”,
e.g. Come any day you like.
Note: Any number o f \s a set phrase, meaning “a great many”,
e.g. 1 have any number of plants in my garden.
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In interrogative and negative sentences any is used instead of some.

e.g. Is there any chance o f seeing any o f his pictures?
I did not see any change in his life.
They asked him for some money. He said he didn 7 have any.
It should be noted that a negative meaning may be conveyed in the sentence
not only by not, but also by negatives never, neither, nor; incomplete negatives,
such as without, seldom, hardly, least, and by implied negatives, such as fail,
prevent, reluctant, hard, difficult, etc. It may also be expressed in another clause,
e.g. He never had any luck.
He went away without saying good-bye to any o f us.
The Dutchman spoke French with hardly any accent.
It was hard to find any traces.
He failed to find any o f them.
Any is used when some doubt or condition is implied. This often occurs in
object clauses introduced by i f or whether or in conditional clauses,
e.g. Let me know if you hear any news.
I wonder if you have met any o f these people before.
I f you have any news, call me up right away.
Any may be used as an adverbial modifier of degree in the sentence,
e.g. He isn 7 any better.
These are the most common contexts in which both some and any are used.
However, both pronouns can occur in sentences of similar structure, although
semantically quite different.
Thus, some, not any, is used in interrogative sentences (both general and
special), when they have a positive orientation, that is, when their basic meaning is
assertive (the speaker suggests that a certain state of affairs exists),
e.g. Did you see some new English books on the shelf?
Syntactically some and any can be used as:
1) subject:
e.g. Some were present.
Any will do.
2 ) object:
e.g. / remember some o f them.
I have some English books. Do you have any?
3) attribute:
e.g. Some people don 7 care about their clothes.
Let me know if you hear any news.
When used as attributes with countable nouns in the singular some and any are
determiners, and when used as subject and object they are substitute-words:
e.g. Look, some book is lying on the floor.
/ have got many English books, / can give you some.
You can take any book you like.
Give me some English books. - 1 haven 7 got any.
The pronoun one in all of its uses refers exclusively to persons or things that
are countable.
 219

The pronoun one is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun.

As a noun pronoun, it can have the plural form ones and the form of the
l enitive case one's. Besides, as has been said above, the reflexive pronoun oneself
is formed from it.
As an adjective pronoun one is invariable.
One has many various uses in English.
1) It is used to stand for people or for pronoun, it refers to nobody in particular,
e.g. One can't be too careful in matters like this.
One must always do one’s duty.
2) One may have the meaning of “a person”,
e.g. He is not one to rely on.
3) One is often used for contrast with other, in which case it preserves some of
its numerical meaning.
e.g. The brothers are so alike that I sometimes cannot tell one from the other.
4) One, in combination with nouns denoting time, is used to express some vague time,
e.g. One day he ’ll understand his mistake. One summer evening I went for a
stroll in the park.
5) One is used with the meaning of “only or single.”
e.g. This is the one way to do.
6) Last but not least, one is used as a prop-word, i.e. as a substitute for a
previously mentioned noun. It helps to avoid the repetition of the same noun.
e.g. Will you show me your pictures? I might feel like buying one.
If the prop-word one is preceded by an adjective, an article must be used with it.
e.g. No, that's not their car. Theirs is a blue one.
The prop-word one can be used in the plural,
e.g. / prefer red roses to white ones.
The prop-word one (ones) may also be used in combination with other
pronouns, such as this (these), that (those), which, each, every and other as well as
ordinal ordinal numerals, e. g. first, second, etc.),
e.g. I f you will take this chair, I'll take that one.
I ’re never seen such big tulips as these ones.
There are certain restrictions to the use of the prop-word one:
a) one is not used after own,
e.g. I won't go by your car. I'll use my own.
b) one is normally not used after a superlative adjective or a comparative
adjective preceded by the definite article,
e.g. The English climate is often said to be the most unpredictable in the world.
Of the two runners my brother was the swifter.
Note: Note that the prop-word one is possible when most is used in the
meaning of “very”, “extremely”.
e.g. His collection o f stamps is a most valuable one.
c) one is not used after cardinal numerals,
e.g. I have only one friend but you have two.
The pronoun one occurs in some set-phrases:
it’s all one to me -мені байдуже,
 220

one and a ll-у с і разом і кожен зокрема, всі до одного,

one by one - поодинці, по одному, один за одним, по черзі,
fo r one thing - по-перше, передусім, насамперед,
little one - дитина, малятко.
There are the following compound pronouns formed with some-, any- and -
one: something, somebody, someone, anything, anybody, anyone.
They are all used as noun pronouns and the same rules as for the use of some,
any and one in different kinds of sentences hold good for them.
The compounds in -one and in -body are singular in meaning and can be used only
of persons, e.g. There is someone in his office. Do you hear them talking?
e.g. Is there anyone at home?
Somebody must have been using my books. They've got all misplaced on the shelf.
Anybody can see that the whole thing has been a failure.
Did you meet anybody on your way home?
The compounds in -one and in -body can have the form of the genitive case,
e.g. Did you take anybody's photograph at the party?
Note: When the compounds in -one and in -body are followed by else, the
genitive case suffix -s is added after else.
e.g. That's not my hat. It's somebody else’s.
The difference between the compounds in -body and those in -one is that the
latter are, as a rule, more individualizing, i.e. the compounds in -body refer to
persons collectively, whereas those in -one refer to individuals.
Cf.: Somebody is sure to get interested in the job. (- some people, one or more
persons) '
This is a letterfrom someone interested in thejob. (=some person, one person)
As a result, the compounds in -body are never followed by an o/-phrase, while
the compounds in -one sometimes are.
e.g. Does anyone o f you correspond with her family?
The compounds in -thing can be used only of things. They are also singular in
meaning but they cannot have the form of the genitive case,
e.g. There is something wrong with him.
I 'll do anything for you.
Is there anything here?
He looked at me and didn ’t say anything.
Her husband never concealed anything.
The compound pronouns under discussion occur in some set-phrases:
anything but - який завгодно, але не, далеко не, зовсім не,
something like - трохи схожий, подібний; чудово, здорово; приблизно,
something like this - щось приблизно таке,
something or other - щось
All the compound indefinite pronouns may be modified by adjectives which
are generally placed in post-position to their head-words,
e.g. You should do something sensible about it at last.
Somebody important has arrived.
I want someone reliable to do this work.
 221

§ 147. Defining Pronouns

The defining pronouns are: all, each, every, everybody, everyone, everything,
either, both, other, another.
The pronoun all generalizing, it takes a group of things or persons as a whole.
It is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun.
All used as a noun pronoun is singular when it means “everything”, “the whole
of a thing”.
e.g. All is well that ends well, (proverb)
I don 7find any change here, all looks as it always did.
All used as a noun pronoun is plural when it means “every”, “everybody”, “the
total number of persons, animals or things.”
e.g .A ll are welcome.
All agree that he has behaved splendidly.
All o f us think so.
When all is used as an adjective pronoun, the verb may be singular or plural
depending on the noun modified by all.
e.g. All the money was spent.
All students are present.
There are a few peculiarities in the use of all:
1) When all is followed by a noun, there is no preposition between them.
e.g. He worked hard all time he was here.
All my friends were happy to hear the news. All boys prefer playing
games to going to school.
However, when all is followed by a personal pronoun, the preposition o f must
be used.
e.g. All o f us were disappointed by him.
Note: In American English nouns following all are often joined to it, like
personal pronouns, with the help of the preposition of.
e.g. All o f these books are mine.
2) Note the possible place of all with nouns (a) and personal pronouns (b) used
as the subject of the sentence.
e.g. a) All the students found the lectures helpful.
The students all found the lectures helpful.
b) All o f them found the lectures helpful.
They all found the lectures helpful.
3) All can modify not only nouns but demonstrative pronouns, absolute forms of
possessive pronouns, the pronoun other and cardinal numerals from “three” onwards:
e.g. All this was quite familiar to me.
All mine were lost.
All the other will come a bit later.
All the fo u r o f them were seen walking down the street.
Note: When used without a determiner all has a really universal meaning
(without exception, everywhere, always): when used as a predeterminer it means
only the whole of a certain group of things.
Cf.: All dogs bark. All the dogs were barking.
 222

4) All may also be followed by an appositive clause which is usually

introduced by the conjunction that or asyndetically.
e.g. She listened to all (that) he said with a quiet smile on her lips.
Note: the following idiomatic uses of all:
after all - нарешті, кінець кінцем, у кінцевому підсумку, на закінчення,
all alone - сам, без сторонньої допомоги,
all along - з самого початку, весь час,
all around - скрізь, з усіх боків,
all but - за винятком
all for/to nothing - даремно, марно,
all in all - повністю, цілком, в цілому,
ail kinds/sorts o f - всякі, всілякі
all o f - не більше,
all one (to somebody, all the same) - однаково, байдуже,
all over - всюди, скрізь,
all over again - ще раз від початку до кінця, знов і знов,
all over but... -у с е закінчено, крім..., лишилося тільки...,
all over oneself - дуже радий, на сьомому небі,
all right - підхожий: прийнятний; годиться, домовилися,
all the more - тим більше,
all the rest o f it - все інше; щодо всього іншого,
all the same —все ж таки, одначе, проте,
all the time - весь час; завжди,
all the way along - безперервно, весь час, неухильно,
all to nothing - даремно, марно,
at all - зовсім, цілком, взагалі.
The pronoun every is used only as an adjective pronoun and therefore has only
the function of attribute. It modifies singular countable nouns when there are more
than two objects of the same description. Being a determiner, every cannot be used
with articles or other determiners.
e.g. He knew by heart every word in her letter.
Every time I ring you up, I find you engaged.
Though every is singular in meaning, it can be used with certain plural
expressions, such as every two weeks, every few months, every five miles, etc.
e.g. They meet every two weeks.
Every is a synonym of all when the latter is used attributively. The use of
every is, however, more restricted than that of all because it cannot be used with
uncountable nouns.
With countable nouns, their use appears to be parallel,
e.g. The explosion broke all the windows in the street.
The explosion broke every window in the street.
Yet, in addition to the fact that every precedes singular nouns and all is
associated with plural nouns, there is a difference in meaning. The distinction
between all and every is that in a sentence like All the boys were present we
consider the boys in a mass; in the sentence Every boy was present we are thinking
 223

ні'the many individual boys that make up the mass. Nevertheless it is more usual to
use every instead of all where possible.
Note: the following set-phrases with the pronoun every:
every bit - зовсім як, точнісінько,
every inch - викопаний, у всіх відношеннях, повністю, цілком, до краю,
every last word - дослівно,
every m an’s man - людина, що намагається всім догодити
every other day - кожного другого дня, через день,
every so often - час від часу, коли-не-коли, зрідка, випадково,
every time - кожний раз, кожного разу, завжди.
There are the following compound pronouns formed with every: everyone,
everybody, everything.
All of them are used as noun pronouns and take a singular verb. Everyone and
everybody can be used only of persons,
e.g. Everyone has got a right to their own opinion.
Everybody is afraid, aren t they?
Both everyone and everybody can have the form of the genitive case,
e.g. He's sure o f everyone’s consent.
The difference in meaning between everyone and everybody is the same as between
someone and somebody. That is why only everyone can be followed by an o/'-phrase.
e.g. He is at once physician, surgeon and healer of the serious illnesses which
threaten everyone o f us in England today.
Note: The compounds with -one are distinct from such groups as every one,
any one and some one where one is numerical and refers back to a countable noun
that occurs in the sentence or the context (they are often followed by o/-phrases).
e.g. I have three sisters. Every one o f them is beautiful.
Give me one o f those books - any one will do.
Everything can be used only of things and also takes a singular verb but it
cannot have the genitive case form.
e.g. No wonder everything goes wrong in this house.
One can’t have everything.
The pronoun each indicates individual objects in a certain limited group and
treats them separately implying that what is said of one is true of them all. It may
be used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. In the former case it is
singular in meaning and takes a singular verb (a). In the latter case it is associated
with a singular countable noun and can be used when there are at least two objects
of the same description (b).
e.g. a) I told them what each was to do in case o f an emergency.
b) He gave each boy a present.
Being a determiner each cannot be used with the article or any other determiner.
Each as an adjective pronoun is a synonym of every, but there is some
difference in meaning between them.
Every tends to gather the separate items into a whole; each focuses attention
on them individually and so tends to disperse the unity, it takes the members of a
definite group one by one, without adding them up. In other words, every refers to a
 224

number of individuals or things, considered as a group; each refers to a number of

individuals or things, considered separately.
e.g. Every orange was wrapped in tissue paper.
He carefully unwrapped each orange before putting it on the scales.
As a result of its specific meaning, each may be followed by an o/-phrase,
which is not possible in the case of every.
e.g. Each o f the men signed his name as he came in.
Each o f the ten houses in the row had a garden.
The pronoun other can be used as an adjective pronoun and as a noun pronoun.
As an adjective pronoun, it is invariable. When it is preceded by the indefinite
article (an), they are written as one word another
The other + a singular noun means ”he second of the two”,
e.g. Their house was on the other side o f the street.
Another + a singular noun means “an additional one”, “a different one”,
e.g. He had to find himself another job.
The other + a plural noun means “the rest”, “the remaining”,
e.g. When I returned home l found my wife talking to our neighbour. The
other guests had gone.
Other + a plural noun means “additional”, “different”, “remaining”,
e.g. Some children like milk chocolate, other children prefer plain chocolate.
As a noun pronoun, other has the plural form others and the genitive case
form other’s (others').
Other used as a noun pronoun has the same meanings as when it is used as an
adjective pronoun (see above).
e.g. I f that cigar is too strong, try another.
That may be your opinion, but the others think differently. I have talked to them.
One o f his daughters is married to a man who lives by his pen. The other’s
husband is a doctor.
Note: some set-phrases with the pronoun other:
all the other way - навпаки,
other times, other manners - інші часи, інші звичаї,
the other day - нещодавно, щеми днями,
the other night —нещодавно увечері,
the other world - потойбічний світ.
The pronoun either indicates individual objects in a group of two, treating
them separately. It has dual reference (both to persons and non-persons). It is used
as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. When used as a noun, it takes a
singular verb. Either usually means “one or the other of two”.
e.g. “ Which o f the two rooms would you like, sir? " “Oh, either. / don't care. "
In the function of an attribute the pronoun either combines only with singular
nouns. Being a determiner, it cannot be used with an article or other determiner,
e.g. There is a train at 11.30 and one at 12.05. Either train will get you to
Oxford in time for the meeting.
Either may also mean “each of two”. In this meaning it is used as an adjective
pronoun and mostly found in literary English.
 e.g. There was a lamp at either end of the street.
Either does not occur in negative sentences. Here the negative pronoun
neither is used.
The pronoun both indicates a group comprising two objects and treats them as
a whole. It is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. It is plural in
meaning and applied only to two persons or things.
As a noun pronoun both correlates with countable nouns in the plural and can
function as subject, object and apposition,
e.g. We both came in time.
The adjective pronoun both is used as attribute. In this function it combines
only with countable nouns in the plural,
e.g. Both books are interesting.
It can also be used as a predeterminer,
e.g. He came up to her, took both her hands and kissed them.
Both these young men are quite reliable.
Note the possible place of both in the sentence,
e.g. Both (the) men were interested in the job.
Both these children are mine.
These children are both mine.
Both my children are boys.
Both o f them agreed that the matter had better be dropped.
They both accepted the invitation.
They have both been invited.
§ 148. Negative Pronouns
The subclass of negative pronouns comprises the following items: no, none,
nothing, nobody, no one, neither. The pronoun no is used only as an adjective
pronoun, none, nothing, nobody and no one as noun pronouns, neither as both
adjective pronoun and noun-pronoun.
Unlike Ukrainian in sentences with negative pronouns no other negative words
can be used: Я йому нічого не сказав. - 1 told him nothing.
The pronouns no, none, nothing, neither have no grammatical categories; the
pronouns nobody and no one have the category of case: nobody’s, no one’s.
The pronoun no is used only as an adjective pronoun. It is used with all classes
of nouns both in the singular and in the plural. It may mean “not a” when
premodifying countable nouns in the singular or “not any” when premodifying
countable nouns in the plural and non-countable nouns:
e.g. I have no pen with me.
I have no money left.
There were no people in the hall.
No stars could be seen.
Note the set phrase to be no good - нікуди не годитися,
e.g. He is no good as a pianist.
The pronoun none is a noun pronoun. It is negative in meaning indicating not
one or not any and can be used of persons (cf. no one) as well as of things,
 226

countable and uncountable (cf. nothing). The verb following it may be singular or
plural, according to the sense required.
e.g. None o f them really know how ill she is.
He asked them for advice. None was given.
I wanted some more coffee but none was left.
Note: The difference between none and the negatives no one (nobody) and
nothing is easily brought out with the help of questions. No one (nobody) is used in
answer to a w/i©-question.
e.g. "Who are you speaking to? " "No one (nobody)."
Nothing is used in answer to a what-question.
e.g. ‘ What are you doing there? ” "Nothing."
But none is used in answer to a how m©«y-question or a how muc/i-question.
e.g. "How manyfish did you catch?” “None."
“How much milk is there in the ja r? ” “None. ”
“How much progress did he make? " "None. "
The pronoun nothing refers to things only. It can be used as subject,
predicative and object.
e.g. Nothing happened.
Don 7 worry, it is nothing.
I can see nothing here.
The pronouns nobody and no one refer to persons only. They are generally used
as subject or object. When they are used as subject, the predicate verb is in the
singular:
e.g. Nobody has come yet.
1 saw nobody there.
Note: Nobody and no one cannot be postmodified by an ©/"-phrase. In such
cases none is used.
Their genitive case forms are used as attributes,
e.g. She attracted nobody's attention.
It’s no one’s fault.
The pronoun neither refers to two persons or things and therefore correlates
only with countable nouns. It can be used as subject, object and attribute. When it is
used as subject, the predicate verb is in the singular.
e.g. Two students were to have come, but neither came.
He promised us to come but neither o f us believed it.
Neither brother has been abroad.

§ 149. Interrogative Pronouns

The interrogative pronouns are: who (whom), whose, what, which. They are
all used in forming questions.
The pronoun who asks about persons. It does not distinguish gender or
number. It may be masculine or feminine, singular or plural in meaning. Who is the
nominative case and it is mainly used as the subject of the sentence. It is usually
followed by a singular verb. But if it evident that who has a plural reference, the
predicate verb may be in the plural.
 227

e.g. Who is coming with you?

Who are to come today?
Who were present at the meeting?
When who is used as predicative, the link verb naturally agrees with the subject:
e.g. Who is she?
Who are the people over there?
The objective case of who is whom which is used as an object in the sentence.
Il may be a direct object (a) or a prepositional object (b).
e.g. a) Whom did you see there?
Whom does he suspect?
b) To whom did you give the message?
O f whom are you thinking?
By whom i№ it done?
But whom is the literary form and is preferred in writing. In conversation it is
replaced by who. When who happens to be used as a prepositional object, the
preposition is placed at the end of the sentence,
e.g. Who did you see there?
Who does he suspect?
Who did you give the message to?
Who are you thinking of?
Who was it done by?
Note: the following set-phrases with the pronoun who:
who’s who - відомий, знатний: назва біографічного довідника про видатних
людей,
who knows - як знати, хто його знає.
The pronoun what may be used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun.
When it serves as a noun, it asks after things. It may be singular or plural in
meaning. It may be used as the subject, a predicative or an object in the sentence. It
has no case forms,
e.g. What’s this?
What is your name?
What do you mean?
About what are you going to ask him?
It should be noted that in the case of a prepositional object it is more usual to
place the preposition at the end of the sentence in present-day English,
e.g. What are you laughing at?
Special attention should be paid to the use of what asking about a person’s
profession.
Compare it with a w/io-question asking about the identity of a person. So,
w/го-questions inquire about person’s name or parentage, while vr/гаг-questions
inquire about person’s occupation, profession, rank, etc.
e.g. "Who is the man your father is talking to?” "He is Mr Brown, our new
neighbour. ”
"What is the man your father is talking to? ” “He is a lawyer. ”
What can also be used in asking about actions:
 228 - '

e.g. ‘‘What are you doing?” “I ’m cleaning the car.'*~ ' 1

Not»: the following set-phrases with what:
What about...? - як щодо... ?, як відносно... ?,
What are you about? - чим "ви зайняті?,
What between - внаслідок, через, а тут ще,
What is he like? - як він виглядає?,
What is he like as... (a pianist)? - що він собою являє як... (піаніст)?
What is what? - що до чого, що добре, а що погано,
What of it? —і що з того?
When what is used as an adjective pronoun it is also invariable and serves as
an attribute to nouns denoting both persons and things,
e.g. What languages do you know?
What play did you see last?
To ask after the kind or sort to which a person or thing belongs, synonymous
set phrases what kind o f and what sort o f are used instead of what.
e.g. What kind o f man is he? (Що він за людина?)
What sort o f chocolate do you like best? (Який шоколад ти любиш
більше всього?)
What preceding a noun may also be used at the head of an exclamatory
sentence. (This what is sometimes called the exclamatory what.)
e.g. What marvellous news he brought!
What fu n we had yesterday!
The pronoun whose is a possessive interrogative pronoun. It is used as an
adjective pronoun, mostly in the function of an attribute, though occasionally it
occurs as a predicative too.
e.g. Whose room is it going to be? Whose car do you prefer to go in?
The pronoun which serves as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. It
is used of persons and things and is invariable in form. It can have the function of
the subject, an object and an attribute in the sentence.
The use of which is more restricted than that of what because which is
selective - it selects one or more out of a definite number of persons or things,
e.g. Which will you have, tea or coffee?
Which students have answered all the questions correctly?
As a result of its selective meaning, which is often followed by an of-phrase,
e.g. Which o f your friends will you invite to the party?
Compare the use of what and which in the following sentences:
e.g. What examinations are you going to take this term? Which of them do you
find most difficult? What car have you? Which car is yours?
§ 150. Conjunctive Pronouns
The pronouns who (whom), whose, what, which, how much, how many and
that serve to connect subordinate clauses with the principal clause. Owing to their
auxiliary function they are called conjunctive pronouns. At the same time they all
have an independent syntactic function in the subordinate clause,
e.g. Do you know who has bought the house? (subject)
 229

He always said exactly what he thought, (object)

You ’ll never guess what present 1 want him to give me. (attribute)
1 had to find out what he was. (predicative)
When conjunctive pronouns are used in the function of a prepositional object,
the preposition is generally placed at the end of the clause,
e.g. You are the very person that I have been looking for.
Who it was done by is for us tofind out.
Conjunctive pronouns may be used to introduce different kinds of clauses,
except adverbial clauses and appositive clauses, which are introduced only by
conjunctions.
e.g. What was done cannot be undone, (subject clause)
The question is which o f them is going to be appointed president o f the
firm, (predicative clause)
Life in the country isn 't what it used to be. you know, (predicative clause)
I don’t know whose handwriting it is. (object clause)
I ’ll surprise you by what I ’ll do. (prepositional object clause)
He is one o f the men whom I can trust, (attributive clause)
§ 151. Relative Pronouns
This subclass of pronouns comprises the following items: who, whose, which, that.
The pronoun who like its interrogative and conjunctive homonyms has the
category of case. The others do not change their form. Relative pronouns are used
to join subordinate attributive clauses to their main clause.
e.g. I know the man who sold you these things.
Like conjunctive pronouns, relative pronouns have two functions, notional and
structural, being at the same time parts of the sentence in the subordinate clause and
connectives between the main clause and the subordinate clause they are used in.
However, there is a great difference between the two subclasses. First of all relative
pronouns are always related (hence their name) to some noun or pronoun in the
main clause, whereas conjunctive pronouns are not.
Compare the following sentences:
Who he was is still a mystery. : This is the man who has saved your child.
The objective case form of the pronoun who has the function of object in the
attributive clause.
e.g. The boy whom I saw yesterday is here now. : The man whom you were
talking about is here.
The pronoun whose introducing an attributive clause has the function of an
attribute within it.
e.g. Then the man whose face I could not see began singing.
The pronoun which has three functions within the attributive clause. It may be
the subject, an object and adverbial modifier.
e.g. He picked up the letter which was on the table.
Here is the book which I told you about.
He came up to the table under which the dog was sitting.
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The pronoun that has also three functions within the attributive clause. It may
be the subject, an object and an adverbial modifier,
e.g. All ran to the house that was on fire.
The evil that men do lives after them.
The oldfence that he stood behind was not high enough.
§ 152. Syntactic Functions of Pronouns
In accordance with their specific meaning pronouns may perform syntactic
functions characteristic of nouns or adjectives. Pronouns indicating things or
persons are as a rule syntactically similar to nouns, while those indicating the
properties of things or persons are usually similar to adjectives.
According to their syntactic potential pronouns fall into three groups:
1. Pronouns functioning like nouns. These are called noun-pronouns,
e.g. She gave me this book three days ago.
Nobody expected us to return today.
They all thought o f their peril, no one remembered o f mine.
Whose children are these? - They are ours.
2. Pronouns functioning like adjectives. These are called adjective-pronouns,
e.g. This is my brother.
Whose book is it?
Every man must do his duty.
3. Pronouns functioning either like nouns or like adjectives.
e.g. Some people don't care about their clothes. - Some were present.
This is my best friend. - You can take this book home.
As follow from the above, pronouns may have the functions of: subject, direct
object, indirect object, prepositional object, attribute, predicative, adverbial
modifier (rather seldom).
Suggested points for discussion
1. * Comment on the classification of pronouns.
2. Comment on syntactic functions of pronouns.

CHAPTER VI. THE ADVERB

§ 153. Morphological Composition
The adverb is a word denoting circumstances or characteristics which attend
or modify an action, state, or quality. It may also intensify a quality or
characteristics.
Some adverbs are single words (e.g. fast, well, clearly, somehow, nowhere,
sideways, southward(s), etc.), others are phrases (e.g. at last, at first, in front,
from above, the day after tomorrow, all o f a sudden, as a result, etc.).
Most adverbs serve to modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs in the sentence.
e.g. He spoke resolutely.
They are coming here tomorrow.
You look somewhat pale.
She speaks French very well.
 231

Some adverbs modify whole sentences expressing an evaluation of what is said in

iIn- sentence with respect to either the form of communication or to its content.
e.g. Briefly, I can do nothing about it.
Frankly, I am sick and tired o f your stories.
Still other adverbs have a connective function between what is being said and
what was said before.
e.g. He, however, has’t leftfor Kyiv yet.
The young man proved to be very intelligent, though.
Adverbs vary in their structure. There are simple, derived, compound and
imnposite adverbs.
Simple adverbs are after, here, there, well, soon, etc.
In derived adverbs the most common suffix is -ly, by means of which new adverbs
me coined from adjectives and participles, e.g. calm - calmly, slow - slowly, kind -
kindly, quick-quickly, late-lately, constant - constantly, charming-charmingly, etc.
The following spelling rules should be observed:
a) adjectives ending in -y change it to -i,
e.g. gay - gaily, busy —busily, happy - happily, but: dry - dryly/drily;
b) adjectives ending in -ableZ-ible drop the final -e and add not -ly, but only -y,
e.g. capable - capably, suitable - suitably, sensible - sensibly, etc;
c) adjectives ending in -/ double it,
e.g. skilftd - skilfully, final - finally, beautiful - beautifully.
But adverbs cannot be formed from adjectives already ending in -ly, such as
manly, friendly, silly, lively, fatherly, etc. An adverbial phrase is used in this case
instead of an adverb, e.g. in a silly way, in a friendly manner, etc.
The less common adverb-forming suffixes are the following (the first two are
Ilie most productive):________________________________________________
-wise clockwise, crabwise, corkscrew-wise, education-wise;
-ward(s) onward(s), back ward(s), homeward(s), eastward(s);
-fold twofold, manifold;
-like warlike;
-most innermost, outermost;
-way(s) longway(s), sideway(s).
Some adverbs, however, have the same form as the corresponding adjective
(fast, straight, early, hard, enough, long).
e.g. He usually walks very fast.
The road ran straight for several miles.
I usually get up very early.
He didn't try hard enough.
Did you have to wait for him long?
He spelled my name wrong.
Some other adverbs have two forms - the adjective form and the form in -ly.
In most cases the two forms differ in meaning,
e.g. He came late, (пізно)
We haven't seen him lately, (останнім часом)
 232

The time is drawing near for entrance exams, (близько)

I nearly missed my train, (майже)
He learns hard, (наполегливо)
There way hardly anywhere to go. (ледве, ледь)
I'm pretty certain she enjoyed it. (досить, значною мірою)
She was prettily dressed, (гарно, привабливо)
There is also a group of adverbs with which the form without -ly is mainly
found in set phrases where it often undergoes some change of meaning,
e.g. to decorated smth cheaply, but: to buy (sell, get) smth cheap;
to brush smth cleanly, but: clean through the forehead (=right) through
the forehead;
to speak clearly, but: to keep clear o f smth;
to shut the door closely, but: to keep close to smth/smb;
to love smb dearly, but: to sell (to buy) smth dear, to pay dear(ly) for smth;
to do smth easily, but: take it easy;, go easy about it;
to treat smb fairly, but: to play (fight) fair;
to move freely, but: to be admitted to the museum free.
to think (speak) highly o f smb,but: to fly high; to pay high fo r smth;
to speak sharply to me, but: to turn sharp to the right.
to go to some place shortly to put smth shortly, but: to cut smb shortl;
He slowly began to realize what she meant. But: You are going too slow.
In a few cases both forms can be used, if any difference in meaning,
e.g. to talk loud/loudly, to turn the idea flat/flat, to drive the car slow/slowly,
to back quick/quickly.
Note 1: Care should be taken to remember that after the link-verbs to feel, to
smell, to taste,to sound, etc, only adjectives are used as predicatives,
e.g. He felt happy.
She isfeeling bad (unwell).
The flowers smelled sweet.
The medicine tastes bitter.
It sounds nice.
Note 2: After certain intransitive verbs we find both adjectives and adverbs,
e.g. The wind blew strong(ly).
The sun shone bright(ly).
They stood motionless(ly).
They lay silent(ly) on the grass.
Note 3: There are a few adjectives and adverbs in English which have the same
form in -ly. They have been derived from nouns, e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, hourly, etc.
e.g. It was his daily duty to water the flowers.
Most newspapers appear daily.
Compound adjectives are formed of two stems: somehow, sometimes,
somewhere, everywhere, nowhere, downstairs.
Composite phrasal adverbs consist of two or more word-forms, as a great
deal, a little bit, fa r enough, now and then, from time to time, sort of, kind of, a
hell of, a lot of, a great deal of, etc.
 233

§ 154. Classification of Adverbs

According to their meaning, adverbs fall into the following groups:
1. Adverbs of time, which include those of duration (long, continually),
Interval (all day), timing (now, then, yesterday, lately, immediately, presently,
once, at once), indefinite time (already, soon, yet).
e.g. He is coming tomorrow.
He is now in his office.
2. Adverbs of frequency: often, seldom, sometimes, always, hardly ever,
never, constantly, occasionally, twice, three times, etc.
e.g. He is always in time for meals.
They sometimes spend their week-ends with us.
3. Adverbs of place or direction: here, there, everywhere, downstairs, below,
ashore, abroad, inside, outside, seaward(s), to and fro, backwards, where, in front, etc.
e.g. I lookedfor him everywhere.
It was all rather dark within.
The room below is my study.
A dog began to bark somewhere inside.
The use of somewhere, anywhere and nowhere in different kinds of sentences
is similar to the use of the corresponding indefinite pronouns some, any and no (see
“Pronouns”, Chapter V).
4. Adverbs of manner: well, badly, fast, quickly, clearly, deeply, sincerely,
willingly, carefully, intentionally, silently, sideways, somehow, how, etc.
e.g. He speaks English well
1 don 7 think badly o f him.
5. Adverbs of degree or intensifies, which may be subdivided into three
semantic groups:
a) emphasizes (emphasizing the truth of the communication): really, actually,
clearly, definitely, indeed, plainly, simply, literally, just, at all, etc.
e.g. I really don 7 know what he wants.
They were literally starving to death.
They were definitely not for sale.
The woman's appearance had plainly disturbed him.
I just can 7 understand it.
You haven 7 done it well at all.
b) amplifiers (expressing a high degree): absolutely, altogether, completely,
entirely, extremely, enormously, fully, perfectly, quite, thoroughly, tremendously,
utterly, too, very, much, badly, bitterly, deeply, (by) far, greatly, heartily, terribly,
a great deal, etc.
e.g. / thoroughly disapprove o f his behaviour.
He completely ignored my question.
He played an extremely important part in the revolution.
I became enormously fond o f her.
Your work is not altogether satisfactory.
Note: Adverbs very and much are synonymous, but their combinability is
different. Thus much is used to modify verbs, nouns, statives and adjectives, and
 234

very is used with adjectives and adverbs in the positive and superlative degrees;
with comparatives only much is used;
to work much very much very much in love
much better very glad very much alike
much slower very quickly very much afraid
c) downtoners (lowering the effect): almost, barely, enough, hardly, more or less,
moderately, nearly, partly, quite, rather, scarcely, slightly, somewhat, sufficiently, (a)
little, a bit. kind of, sort of, etc.
e.g. 1 know him slightly.
I partly agree with you.
I can scarcely remember what we ate.
This is barely possible.
I almost believed him.
6. Focusing adverbs which can be of two kinds;
a) restrictive: alone, exactly, just, merely, only, precisely, purely, simply,
especially, etc.
e.g. I am simply asking the time.
My father alone could help me at the time.
b) additive: again, also, either, equally, even, too, etc.
e.g. He didn’t answer my letter again.
I, too, am very busy at the moment.
7. Viewpoint adverbs: morally, politically, scientifically, economically,
weatherwise, program-wise, etc. Such adverbs are understood to mean ‘from a
moral (political, scientific) point of view’.
e.g. Geographically and linguistically, these islands are closer to the mainland
than to the neighbouring islands.
Economically, the project is bound to fail.
Our relationship to apes has been confirmed scientifically.
8. Attitudinal adverbs which express the speaker’s comment on the content
of what he is saying. Such adverbs can be of two kinds:
a) adverbs expressing a comment on the truth-value of what is being said,
indicating the extent to which the speaker believes what he is saying is true:
certainly, decidedly, definitely, surely, undoubtedly, quite likely, maybe, perhaps,
possibly, probably, presumably, supposedly, obviously, apparently, etc.
e.g. Perhaps the public does not have much choice in the matter.
Certainly, he had very little reason to fear anyone.
b) adverbs expressing some attitude towards what is being said: amazingly,
curiously, funnily enough, incredibly, ironically, oddly, remarkably, strangely,
unexpectedly, typically, (unjfortunalely, (un)happily, (un)luckily, preferably,
tragically, (in) correctly, (un)justly, cleverly, foolishly, reasonably, sensibly, etc.
e.g. The water was incredibly hot.
“ You shouldn 't go there ”, I said reasonably.
Naturally we were extremely annoyed when we received the letter.
9. Conjunctive adverbs: first(ly), secondly, next, then, finally, further,
furthermore, above all, likewise, similarly, incidentally, by the way, thus, therefore.
 235'

ntunely, fo r example, that is, accordingly, consequently, hence, so, as a result,

■<ilierwise', in other words, in that case, alternatively, on the one (other) hand,
m\tead, on the contrary, anyhow, anyway, besides, however, nevertheless, still,
though, yet, at any rate, in spite o f that, meanwhile, etc.
e.g. I ’d like you to do two things for me. First, phone the office and tell them
I'll be late. Secondly, order a taxi to be here in about half an hour.
Incidentally, he left you a message. It is on your desk.
I didn 7 like the food there. However, I didn't complain about it.
10. Formulaic adverbs (markers of courtesy): kindly, cordially, please, etc.
e.g. Will you kindly help me with the parcel?
We cordially invite you to our party.
Let me have a look at the picture, please.
The adverbs when, where, how and why belonging to different semantic
croups mentioned above have one point in common - they serve to form questions
mid introduce some kinds of subordinate clauses. In the former case, owing to their
mixiliary function, they are called interrogative adverbs (a). In the latter case, also
owing to their auxiliary function, they are called conjunctive adverbs (b). In both
cases they perform different adverbial functions in the sentence,
e.g. a) When did you see him last? (adverbial modifier o f time)
Where are you going? (adverbial modifier o f place)
How did you manage it? (adverbial modifier o f manner)
Why didn 7 you tell me about it? (adverbial modifier o f cause)
b) Sunday was the day when he was least busy, (adverbial modifier o f time)
The thing to find out was where he was then, (adverbial modifier o f place)
How it was done remains a mystery to me. (adverbial modifier o f manner)
I wanted to know why he had left us so abruptly, (adverbial modifier of cause)
As is seen from the above examples, the conjunctive adverbs can introduce
attributive, predicative, subject and object clauses.
Morphological Characteristics of Adverbs
§ 155. Degrees of Comparison
Most adverbs are invariable. But certain adverbs of manner change for degrees
of comparison.
The degrees of comparison of adverbs are formed in the same way as those of
adjectives.
Monosyllabic adverbs and the adverb early form the comparative and the
superlative degrees by adding the suffixes -er and -est.
e.g. hard - harder - hardest,
soon - sooner - soonest,
slow - slower - slowest,
quick - quicker - quickest,
wide - wider - widest,
early - earlier - earliest.
 236

Several adverbs ending \r\4y (quickly, loudly) form comparatives according to the
same pattern, dropping their adverb-forming suffix. These adverbs acquired the form in
-ly only recently and retained the older forms of the comparative and superlative:
e.g. quickly - quicker - quickest,
loudly - louder - loudest.
However most disyllabic adverbs in -ly form the comparative and superlative
analytically, by means of more and most:
e.g. wisely - more wisely - most wisely,
softly - more softly - most softly,
deeply - more deeply - most deeply,
beautifully - more beautifully - most beautifully,
cleverly - more cleverly - most cleverly.
The adverb often occurs with both types of comparison:
often —oftener/more often.
A few adverbs have irregular degrees of comparison,
e.g. well - better - best,
much - more - most,
badly —worse - worst,
little - less - least,
further - furthest

farther - farthest.
Note: Either farther (farthest) or further (furthest) are used when speaking of
places, directions or distance, but only further (furthest) is used with the meaning
more, later:
e.g. I'm too tired to walk anyfather (further).
Don't try my patience any further.
Most of the adverbs, however, stand outside the degrees of comparison:
pronominal adverbs denoting place and time (here, somewhere, there, sometimes,
when), denoting manner (somehow, thus), and adverbs of manner denoting
gradation (minimally, optimally, proximally).
Note: that it is only the comparative degree of adverbs that is actually found in English,
e.g. He ran faster than the wind.
Little Martha danced even more beautifully than her sister.
In the combinations most successfully and the like, most is an adverb of
degree denoting ‘very’. It is only the superlatives best, most, worst and least that
are actually used in English.
e.g. None o f us played well, but Tom played worst that day.
§ 156. Syntactic Functions of Adverbs
Adverbs may modify single words, phrases and sentences. When they modify
verbs, they can serve as adverbial modifiers of time, frequency, place, manner and
degree.
e.g. He was then onlyfifteen years old. (time)
During my walks I occasionally met people I knew, (frequency)
 237

As soon as she found herself outside she began to run. (place)

I loved her passionately, (degree)
The father held the boy tightly in his arms, (manner)
When adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs, they serve as adverbial
modifiers of degree (as intensifiers).
e.g. My English -was too poor to allow me to make speeches.
I led a very pleasant life there.
She left the room so quickly.
I t ’s going to rain pretty soon.
Adverbs of degree can also modify certain kinds of prepositional phrases,
e.g. They lived nearly on the top o f the hill.
I'm almost through with my work.
His remarks were not quite to the point.
There are a few adverbs in English which can function as attributes modifying nouns,
e.g. He was fully master of the situation.
She was quite a child.
Can you see the man over there?
Note: In some combinations the adverbs modifying a noun become adjectivized,
e.g. the then Prime Minister, in the above examples, in after years and some others.
Some groups of adverbs, namely, viewpoint, attitudinal and formulaic ones,
modify whole sentences.
e.g. Hefelt sure that, politically, the proposal might have serious consequences.
Luckily, I came just in time.
Will you kindly step aside?
Conjunctive adverbs connect what is being said with what was said,
establishing between two or more statements relations of enumeration, equality,
contrast, result, inference, replacement, concession, opposition, time and the like,
e.g. He felt ill, yet he didn 't stay in.
Paul went awayfor three days. Meanwhile hisfamily were to do the packing.
He got wet in the rain andfell ill as a result. I know you are not a doctor.
Nevertheless (still) you could have bandaged his cut.

§ 157. Place of Adverbs in the Sentence

There are generally four possible positions for adverbs in the sentence:
1) at the head of the sentence,
2) between the subject and the predicate or, if the predicate is a complicated
form, the adverb appears after the first auxiliary verb, link-verb or a modal verb,
3) before the word the adverb modifies,
4) at the end of the sentence.
Different semantic groups of adverbs tend to appear in positions peculiar to them.
Thus, many adverbs of time and frequency prefer Position 2.
e.g. Mother is now busy in the kitchen.
He will soon be back.
She is already typing the letter.
He can sometimes be seen in the library.
 238

However, some adverbs of time appear in Position 4.

e.g. He arrived yesterday.
I haven't heardfrom him lately.
If any adverbs of time and frequency are found in positions other than those
characteristic of them, it means that these adverbs are intended for special emphasis.
Cf.: He usually comes early, (common)
Usually he comes early, (emphatic)
Adverbs of place and direction usually occur in Position 4.
e.g. On Sunday they didn ’t go anywhere.
Adverbs of manner commonly appear in Position 4,
e.g. They welcomed us warmly.
Some adverbs of manner may occasionally be found in Position 2,
e.g. She knew she had deeply hurt her husband.
Occasionally adverbs of manner may be found in Position 1. In that case the
adverb does not only modify the predicative verb, but also the subject,
e.g. Stiffly she began to get out o f the car (=she was stiff when she began to
get out o f the car). Anxiously she watched the butterfly (=she felt anxious
when she watched the butterfly).
Adverbs of degree (or intensifies) are usually placed in Position 3, before the
word they modify.
e.g. He definitely saw me in the corridor.
I know almost nothing about it.
He came back so soon.
The adverb enough, when it modifies an adjective or an adverb, is placed in
post-position to them.
e.g. He spoke frankly enough.
However, adverbs of degree (intensifies), if they modify verbs, may also be
found in Position 4, at the end of the sentence,
e.g. 1 don't know him well
He ignored me completely.
Focusing adverbs occupy Position 3, most of them precede the word they refer
to (a) and only some of them follow it immediately (b).
e.g. a) Shall we just exchange the books?
He also bought a can of raspberry jam.
b) Ann alone knew my secret.
I, too, want a cup o f tea.
Viewpoint adverbs are usually found in Position 1 and marked off by a comma,
e.g. Theoretically, I have no objection to his proposal.
Note: A change in the position of an adverb may bring about a change in its
meaning.
Cf.: You may answer the question generally, (an adverb o f manner meaning
‘not in detail)
You generally answer the questions in too much detail, (an adverb of
frequency meaning ‘usually )
 239

Attitudinal adverbs mainly tend to appear in Position 1, at the head of the

«•nlence (a); they may also occur in Positions 2 and Position 4 (b).
e.g. a) Unfortunately, we didn 7find him in the office.
Honestly, we knew nothing about it.
b) It was possible o f course that Meg would deny everything.
Conjunctive adverbs may be found in Positions 1, 2 and 4.
e. g. Besides he was too exhausted to wait.
She felt she ought to find a job. She was nevertheless too tired to do it.
The corridor was full o f people anyway.
§ 158. Peculiarities in the Use of Some Adverbs
The Adverb SO
Note the peculiarities in the use of the adverb so. The adverb so, which is
Kcnerally used as an adverb of degree or a conjunctive adverb, may also be used to
•.land for a previous statement. This is found in the following cases:
1) So is used to express agreement with a preceding statement, especially after
the verbs to say, to think, to believe, to suppose, to expect, to hear, to tell, to
Imagine, to be afraid.
e.g. “ Will he do it?" “"I think so. ” (Iexpect so. I believe so.)
"Is he ill? " “I'm afraid so. "
Disagreement with a previous statement may be expressed in two ways: by
using not after an affirmative verb or by using so after a negative verb. The first
way is the only way possible with the verbs to hope and to be afraid.
e.g. "Can you come and see us tomorrow ” "I'm afraid not. ”
"Will you have to do it yourself ’ "I hope not ”
As to the other verbs, both ways are possible with them, the second being
more common, however.
e.g. "Will they ask you to do it?" “I don’t think so."
2) So expressing agreement and referring to a previous statement is also found
in the following two patterns:
e.g. a) “It was hot yesterday. " "So it was. "
b) "It's going to rain soon. ” "If so, what are we going to do? "
3) So is used with to do to refer to a preceding verb,
e.g. I told him to come and see me the next day, and he did so.
4) So meaning ‘also’ is used in the following sentence patterns:
e.g. My wife likes having visitors and so do I.
My brother is fond ofpop-music and so is his wife.
The negative counterpart of that is neither.
e.g. I haven 7 seen him for a long time and neither have they.
The Adverbs ALREADY and YET
Compare the use of already and yet
Already is generally found in affirmative sentences,
e.g. They've already left. (They've left already.)
In interrogative sentences it is used with an element of surprise or if one is
sure of a yes-answer.
 240

e.g. "Have they left already? " (',,Вони уже пішли?) ‘.‘Yes, a minute ago. ”.
Yet is found in negative sentences and in interrogative sentences when tin-
speaker really does not know the answer.
e.g. They haven’t left yet. (They haven't yet left.) Have they left yet?
The Adverbs STILL and YET
Compare the use of still and yet. Still may be used in all kinds of sentences
with an implication of an action (positive or negative) continuing,
e.g. He is still asleep. ('Він все ще спить. )
Is he still asleep? ('Він все ще спить? )
Не is still not asleep. ('Він все ще не спить. )
Yet may also be used in all kinds of sentences with an implication that an
action (positive or negative) has not started yet.
e.g. He is asleep yet. ( ‘Він ще не прокинувся. )
Is he asleep yet? ( ‘Він ще не прокинувся? )
He is not asleep yet. ( ‘Він ще не заснув. )
Compare also the following pairs:
e.g. Do it while it is still light. ( ‘Зроби це, поки ще видно. )
Do it while it is light yet. ( ‘Зроби це, поки ще не стемніло. )
Is it still light? ( ‘Все ще видно? )
Is it light yet? ( ‘Все ще не стемніло? )
It is still not light. ( ‘Все ще темно. )
It is not light yet. ('Ще не розвиднилося )
The Adverbs MUCH, FAR and LONG
The use of the adverb much has the same peculiarities as the indefinite
pronoun much - it is mainly found in interrogative and negative sentences (see also
“Pronouns”, Chapter V).
e.g. He. doesn 't care much what happens to him.
Did he travel much?
Similarly, other adverbs {far, fa r o ff fa r away and long) are mainly used in
interrogative and negative sentences. Their counterparts for affirmative sentences
are a long way, a long way off, a long way away and a long time respectively,
e.g. Did you have to walk far?
I've got a long way to go.
Special attention should be paid to a striking point in the use of English
adjectives and adverbs - what a Ukrainian student of English would expect to find
expressed by an adverb modifying the predicate verb (Cf. Він уважно оглянув
кімнату.) is replaced in English by an adjective modifying a noun in the sentence,
e.g. He gave a careful look round the room. (=He looked round the room carefully.)
He pays us occasional visits. (=He visits us occasionally.)
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on classification of adverbs.
2. Comment on morphological characteristics of adverbs.
3. Comment on syntactic functions of adverbs.
4. Comment on the use of some adverbs.
 241

CHAPTER VII. THE NUMERAL

§ 159. Classification of Numerals
The numeral is a part of speech which indicates number or the order of
persons and things in a series.
Accordingly numerals are divided into two classes: cardinals (cardinal
numerals) and ordinals (ordinal numerals).
Cardinals Ordinals
0 nought, zero
1 one 1st first
2 two 2nd second
3 three 3rd third
4 four 4th fourth
5 five 5th fifth
6 six 6th sixth
y th
7 seven seventh
8 eight 8th eighth
9 nine 9th ninth
10 ten 10th tenth
11 eleven 11th eleventh
12 twelve 12th twelfth
13 thirteen 13th thirteenth
14 fourteen 14th fourteenth
15 fifteen 15th fifteenth
16 sixteen 16th sixteenth
17 seventeen 17th seventeenth
18 eighteen 18th eighteenth
19 nineteen 19th nineteenth
20 twenty 20th twentieth
21 twenty-one, etc. 21st twenty-first, etc.
30 thirty 30th thirtieth
40 forty 40th fortieth
50 fifty 50th fiftieth
60 sixty 60th sixtieth
70 seventy 70th seventieth
80 eighty 80th eightieth
90 ninety 90th ninetieth
100 one (a) hundred 100th (one) hundredth
101 one (a) hundred and one, etc. 101 (one) hundred and first, etc.
1.000 one (a) thousand 1,000th(one) thousandth
1.001 one (a) thousand and one, etc. 1,001st one thousand and first, etc.
100,000 one hundred thousand 100,000th (one) hundred thousandth
1.000. 000 one million 1.000. 000th (one) millionth
1.000. 001 one million and one, etc. 1.000. 001a (one) million and first, etc.
 242

§ 160. Cardinal Numerals

Cardinal numerals indicate exact number, they are used in counting.
As to their morphological composition, among the cardinals there are simple,
derivative, and composite words.
The cardinals from one to twelve, hundred, thousand, million are simple
words; those from thirteen to nineteen are derived from the corresponding simple
numerals by means of the suffix -teen; the cardinals denoting tens are derived from
the corresponding simple ones by means of the suffix -ty.
Note: Mind the difference in the spelling of the stem in three and thirteen,
thirty, fo u r and forty, five and fifteen, fifty.
The cardinals from twenty-one to twenty-nine, from thirty-one to thirty-nine,
etc. and those over hundred are composite words. Such numerals are spelt with a
hyphen (tens and units are hyphenated): thirty-five, etc.
In cardinals including hundreds and thousands the words denoting units and
tens are joined to those denoting hundreds, thousands, by means of the
conjunction and: 108 - one hundred and eight, 346 - three hundred and forty-six,
3032 - three thousand and thirty-two, 9631 —nine thousand six hundred and
thirty-one, 28625 - two million eight thousand six hundred and twenty-five.
If not part of a composite numeral the words hundred, thousand and million
in the singular are always used with the indefinite article: a hundred pages; in
composite numerals both a and one are possible: a (one) hundred and fifty pages.
Cardinal numerals hundred, thousand and million may be substantivized and
used in the plural: hundreds, thousands and millions. When used after other
numerals they do not take -s; two hundred times, etc.
§ 161. Ordinal Numerals
Ordinal numerals show the order of persons or things in a series.
With the exception of the first three (first, second, third) the ordinal numerals
are formed from cardinal numerals by means of the suffix -th. Before the suffix -th
the final ‘y ” is replaced by “ie”: thirty - thirtieth, etc.
Note: Mind the difference in the spelling of the stems in the following
cardinals and ordinals: five - fifth, eight - eighth, nine - ninth, twelve - twelfth.
In ordinal groups only the last member of the group takes the ordinal form:
(the) twenty-first, (the) thirty-second, (the) forty-fourth, (the) fifty-ninth, etc.
Among the ordinals there are simple (first, second and third), derivative
(tenth, twelfth, etc.) and composite-derivative words (twenty-ninth, fifty-second,
one hundred andfirst, etc.).
Ordinal numerals are generally used with the definite article, but they may be
used with the indefinite article when they do not show a definite order of persons
and things in a series:
e.g. The second attempt proved more successful than the first.
He made an experiment which proved his theory. He made a second, a
third, a fourth experiment with the same results.
Note: Dates are read in the following way:
 243

1st September, 1999 - the first o f September (September the first), nineteen
ninety-nine;
5th January 2005 - thefifth o f January (January thefifth), two thousand andfive.
§ 162. Fractions
The words for common fractions are composite. They are formed from cardinals
denoting numerator and substantivized ordinals denoting denominator. If the
numerator is a numeral higher than one, the ordinal in the dominators takes the plural
lorm. The numerator and denominator may be joined by means of a hyphen: ‘A - one-
\econd, 'A - one-fourth, 2A - two-thirds, V*- threefourths, 3A - three-eighths.
In mixed numbers the numerals denoting fractions are joined to the numerals
denoting integers (whole numbers) by means of the conjunction and: 3% - three
andfive-eighths, 207A - twenty and seven-eighths.
In decimal fractions the numerals denoting fractions are joined to those
denoting whole numbers by means of the words point or decimal: 0.5 - zero point
(decimal) five, 2.3 - two point (decimal) three, 4.57 - four point (decimal) fifty-
seven, 8.03 - eight point (decimal) naught three, etc.
§ 163. Combinabiiity of Numerals
Patterns of combinabiiity of numerals fall into three groups:
1) patterns with the numerals as modifiers of other words;
2) patterns with the numerals as words modified by other words;
3) patterns with the numerals combined with link verbs.
Numerals combine mostly with nouns and function as their attributes, usually
as premodifying attributes If a noun has several premodifying attributes including a
cardinal or an ordinal, these come first, as in: three tiny green leaves, the second
pale old lady, etc. The only exception is pronoun determiners, which always begin
a series of attributes: his second beautiful wife, her three little children, these four
rooms, every second day, etc. If both a cardinal and an ordinal numeral refer to one
head-noun the ordinal comes first: the first three tall girls.
Postmodifying numerals combine with a limited number of nouns. Postmodifying
cardinals are combinable with some nouns denoting items of certain sets of things:
pages, paragraphs, chapters, parts o f books, acts and scenes o f plays, lessons in
textbooks, apartments and rooms, buses and trams (means and transport),
grammatical terms, etc: room one hundred and two, page twenty-three, bus eight,
participle one, etc.
Note: In such cases the cardinals have a numbering meaning and thus differ
semantically from the ordinals which have an enumerating meaning. Enumeration
indicates the order of a thing in a certain succession of things, while numbering
indicates a number constantly attached to a thing either in a certain succession or in
a certain set of things. Thus, the first room (enumeration) is not necessarily room
one (numbering), etc. Compare: the first room I looked into was room five.
Postmodifying ordinal numerals occur in combinations with certain proper
names, mostly thoses denoting the members of well-known dynasties: King Henry
VIII - King Henry the Eighth, Peter I - Peter the First, etc.
As head-words modified by other words numerals are combinable with:
 244'

1) prepositional phrases: the first o f May, one o f the men, two o f them, etc.;
2) pronouns: every three days, all seven, each fifth, etc.;
3) adjectives: the best three o f them, the last two weeks, etc.;
4) particles: just five days ago, only two, only three books, nearly sixty, etc.
When they have the function of subject or predicative the numerals are
combiriable with link verbs, generally the verb to be: ten were present, we are six,
the first was my brother, she is the second. Occasionally they are combinable with
some other link verbs (to seem, to appear, etc.): the third appeared to be wounded
§ 164. Syntactic Functions of Numerals
Though cardinal and ordinal numerals have mainly similar syntactic functions
they differ in certain details.
The most characteristic function of both is that of premodifying attribute:
two boys, the third person, etc. In this connection it must be remembered that while
the ordinals are used as ordinary attributes, cardinals with the function of an
attribute govern the number of the noun they modify: one page, but two pages.
Quite unlike Ukrainian, composite cardinals ending in one (twenty-one, thirty-
one, two hundred and one, three hundred and twenty-one, etc.) require a plural
noun: twenty-one students, three hundred and one pages.
In numbering the items of certain sets of things cardinals, not ordinals, are
used to modify the nouns denoting these things. The cardinals thus used are always
postmodifying. The nouns modified do not take an article: page three, lesson one,
room sixty-three, etc. In Ukrainian both ordinal and cardinal numerals are possible
in this case, though ordinals are preferable: десята вправа, вправа десять.
Both cardinals and ordinals may have the function of subject, object,
predicative and adverbial modifier of time:
e.g. Two o f them went home.
I gave three o f those books to him.
We are three.
I got up at seven yesterday.
In all these cases a noun is always implied, i.e., the numeral functions as a
substitute for the noun either mentioned in the previous context, or self-evident
from the situation. The only case in which the cardinal numerals can really have the
function of subject, object or predicative is when they are used with their purely
abstract force:
e.g. Five is more than three.
Two plus two is four.
§ 165. Substantivized Numerals
Numerals can be substantivised, that is, take formal nominal features: the
plural suffix -s, an article, the ability to combine with adjectives and some other
modifiers of nouns. When numerals undergo substantivization not only their
morphology is changed, but also their meaning. Thus when the numerals hundred,
thousand, million are substantivised they acquire the meaning “a great quantity”,
as in: hundreds o f books, thousands o f people, millions o f insects, etc. Other
numerals, both cardinals and ordinals, can also be substantivised.
 245

Cardinal numerals are substantivised when they name:

1) marks in this country and Great Britain:
e.g. He got a five.
He got three nines last week.
2) sets of persons and things:
e.g. They came in twos.
Form fours!
3) playing cards: the two o f hearts; the five o f spades; the seven o f diamonds;
the ten o f clubs; three o f trumps;
4) boats for a certain number of rowers: a four, an eight;
5) decades: in the early sixties, in the late fifties, etc.
The meaning of substantivized ordinals is less affected by the process, as in:
e.g. She was the first to come.
He was the fourth to leave.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on the classification of numerals.
2. Formation of cardinal numerals, ordinal numerals and fractions.
3. What are the main syntactic junctions of numerals?
4. Comment on combinability of numerals.

CHAPTER VIII. THE PREPOSITION

§ 166. Morphological Composition of Prepositions
Prepositions are structural words which are used with a noun (or a noun­
equivalent, e.g. a pronoun or an /wg-form) to show its relation to some other word in
the sentence (a verb, another noun, an adjective and occasionally an adverb).
e.g. The face o f his visitor was so distasteful to him that he could scarcely bear
to look at it.
He smiled at her, but her lips were moulded in gravity though there was
complete understanding between them.
The stream was very shallow because o f the drought but still it was active,
hurrying over the pebbles.
The question, thrown at her so vehemently, took from her the power o f
thought fo r a moment.
They agreed to his proposal independently o f each other.
Prepositions may be of different morphological structure. Most of them are
simple in structure: in, on, for, out, about, etc.
Derived prepositions are formed from other words, mainly participles: excepting,
concerning, considering, following, including, during, depending, granted, except.
There are also many compound prepositions: alongside, onto, outside, upon,
throughout, whereof, wherewith, whereupon, hereafter, herein.
Some prepositions consist of more than one word, including a word of another
class and one or two prepositions, as in: because of, but for, due to, in front of, in
spite of, instead o f opposite to, owing to, thanks to, etc. These are composite or
phrasal prepositions. A large number of them are combinations based on the pattern
 246

preposition + noun + preposition (e.g. in addition to, on top of, on account of, In
view o f in accordance with, in contrast with, with respect to, etc.). Composite
prepositions are indivisible both syntactically and semantically, i.e. no element of it
can be var ied, abbreviated or extended according to the normal rules of syntax.
§ 167. Semantic Characteristics of Prepositions
As it was already mentioned, prepositions show the relation of one word to
some other word in the sentence. Relations expressed by prepositions may be ol
various types:
1) agentive: a letter written by a friend;
2) attributive: the people in question;
3) possessive and partial relations: one o f my friends, the back o f the chair, a
rise in production, a decline in death-rate;
4) relation indicating origin, material or source: made o f silver, a boy from
the Crimea, collecting data from dictionaries;
5) objective relation: to work at the problem, to speak on the matter (about
the matter, o f the matter), to look into the matter, to be angry with somebody;
6) relation indicating direction: to give lessons to the children, to show the
way to somebody;
7) instrumental relation: to write with a pencil, to cut with a knife;
8) relation of subordination: to be secretary to a Minister;
9) relation defining the sphere or field of activity: he is good at Mathematics;
10) relation of involvement or association: tea with lemon, to get involved in
war, to cooperate with somebody;
11) respective relation: to look young fo r one's age;
12) relation of resemblance: she is like her mother;
13) relation of dissociation and differentiaton: to be devoid o f something, to
deduce from something;
14) various adverbial relations:
a) of manner, means, style and language: with diligence, by telegram, in
slang, in good style, in brief;
b) of purpose or aim: to send fo r a doctor, to do something fo r fun, the police
were after the criminal;
c) temporal relations (precedence, sequence, duration, etc.): in good time,
at 5 o ’clock, after dinner, before the dawn;
d) of cause or reason: to do something out o f fear, through somebody's
negligence, to despise somebody fo r something;
e) spatial and directional relation: past the gate, by the window, across the
road, at the table, to swim with the current, to go out o f the room, beneath the tree,
inside the office, in front o f one's house;
f) concessive relation: in spite o f the bad weather, despite somebody's
protests, fo r all somebody’s attempts, with all somebody's diligence.
The enumerated above relations do not exhaust all possible meanings
expressed by prepositions. Sometimes the relation indicated by a preposition is too
abstract to be defined in words, as its use is often figurative or metaphorical.
 So, semantically prepositions form a varied group of words. Some of them are
iii"iiosemantic (across, along, among, beneath, despite, down, during, off, over,
ml until, etc.), others are polysemantic (in, to, for, at, from). In the following
finmples the prepositions are monosemantic.
e.g. We had to swim across the river.
The palm trees along the shore swayed in the wind.
The dolphins disappeared beneath the waves.
The preposition at is polysemantic. It can be used to express position, place,
iiicction, time, state or condition, reason, etc.
e.g. We 'll meet at Harry’s.
Place it at right angles to the door.
I was still at home at lunch.
The film starts at 8 o ’clock.
These two countries are at war now.
The children laughed at his jokes.
The choice of prepositions is determined by different factors.
Sometimes it is quite free - it entirely depends on the meaning the speaker
wishes to convey.
e.g. There was a photograph o f a young girl on his desk.
There was a photograph of a young girl in his desk.
There was a photograph of a young girl over his desk.
There was a photograph o f a young girl under his desk.
But more often the choice of the preposition is determined by the head-word,
e.g. No one could account fo r his objection to our plan.
He should be ashamed o f himself.
You shouldn’t rely on him.
Who is going to look after your children while you are away?
Your brother was cruel to him. I've been dependent on both o f you so long.
She was treated fo r diabetes.
He was proud o f his elder son.
Everyone is conscious o f the change in the man.
He is quite good at painting.
There is no point in arguing.
It is in this case that the meaning of the preposition often becomes weakened.
The choice of the preposition may also depend on the noun that follows
the preposition.
e. g. Who was the first to speak at the meeting?
He went there on business.
He is now on a concert tour in Europe.
I'm planning to finish it in February.
He woke up at 8 o 'clock.
We discussed it in detail.
No one could help him under the circumstances.
 248

In this case-the preposition and the noun-often become, set phrases (e.g. in Hu-
evening, at dawn, by. day, by taxi, etc.). The meaning of the preposition is also
weakened here.
The prepositions of, by and to may become entirely devoid of lexical meaning
and serve to express mere grammatical relations. This occurs in the following
constructions:
e.g. Anne was the wife o f a miner.
They xvere followed by their two daughters.
They offered the job to Hawkins.
The prepositions are said to be grammaticalized in this case.
§ 168. The Use of Prepositions
The Use of Prepositions to Express Certain Relations
Time and Date: at, on, by, before, in
At, on
at a time:
a) clock times, points of time in the day: at nine o 'clock, at 4.30; at dawn, at
midnight, at noon, at lunch time, at night;
b) weekends and holiday periods: at the weekend, at weekends, at Christmas,
at Easter, at Ramadan;
c) points in time: at the beginning, at the end, at the moment, at present, at
the time, at times;
at an age: at sixteen, at the age o f sixteen;
on a day/date (specific dates and days): on Monday, on June 4, on Christmas Day,
on New Year's Day, on weekdays, on the day of departure/arrival, on Wednesday
morning, on a fine sunny day, on the morning/afternoon/evening/night ofa certain date.
Exceptions: at night, at Christmas, at Easter (the period, not the day only).
by, before
by a time/date/period = at that time or before/not later than that date. It often
implies “before that time/date
e.g. The train starts at 6.10, so you had better be at the station by 6.00.
by + a time expression is often used with a perfect tense:
e.g. By the end o f July I ’ll have read this book.
Before can be preposition, conjunction or adverb:
Before seeing this ... (preposition)
Before you sing this ... (conjunction)
e.g. I've seen him somewhere before,
on time, in time
on time = at the time arranged or expected, not before, not after. We can use
right, dead, bang with on time to emphasize that it is exactly at the right time:
e.g. The 8.15 train starts on time.
The train arrived right on time.
I finished my essay dead on time.
in time = not late, early enough:
e.g. Passengers should be in time for their train.
 249

We got there in time to see most of the film but we missed the beginning,
on arrival, on arriving, on reaching, on getting to
on arrival/on arriving, he... = when he arrives/arrived, he...
on can also be used similarly with the gerund of certain other verbs (chiefly
verbs of information):
e.g. On hearing/Hearing that the plane had been diverted, they left the airport,
at the beginning/end, in the beginning/end, atfirst/at last
at the beginning (of)/at the end (of) = literally at the beginning/end:
e.g. At the beginning o f a book there is often a table of contents, and at the end
there may be an index.
in the beginning/atfirst = in the early ages/ It implies that later on there
was a change:
e.g. In the beginning/At first we used hand tools, but later we had machines.
in the end/at last = eventually/after some time:
e.g. At first he opposed the marriage, but in the end he gave his consent.
Time: from, since, for, during
From is normally used with to or tilUuntil:
e.g. Most people work from nine to five,
from can also be used of place:
e.g. Where do you come from?
since is used for time, never for place, and means “from that time to the time
referred to”. It is often used with a present perfect or past perfect tense,
e.g. He has been here since Monday, (from Monday till now)
He wondered where Ann was. He had not seen her since their quarrel,
fo r is used of a period of time: fo r six years, fo r ever.
e.g. Bake it fo r two hours.
for + a period of time can be used with a present perfect tense or past perfect
tense for an action which extends up to the time of speaking:
e.g. He has worked here fo r a year. (He began working here a year ago and
still works here)
during and fo r
during is used with known periods of time, i.e. periods known by name, such
as Christmas, Easter or periods which have been already defined:
e.g. during the Middle Ages, during 2002, during the summer, during his
summer, during my holidays.
The action can either last the whole period or occur at some time within the period:
e.g. He was ill for a week, and during that week he ate nothing.
It rained all Monday but stopped raining during the night, (at some point of time)
fo r (indicating purpose) may be used before known periods:
e.g. I rented a house fo r my holidays.
Time: to, till/unti!
To and tilUuntil
to can be used of time and place; tilUuntil of time only.
We can use from ...to or from ... tilUuntil:
 250

e.g. They workedfrom five to ten / from five till ten.

But if we have no from we use till/until, to:
e.g. Let's start now and work till dark, (to would not be possible here.)
till/until is often used with a negative verb to emphasize lateness:
e.g. He usually pays me on Friday but last week he didn’t pay me till tlw
following Monday.
Travel and movement: from, to, at, in, by, on, into,
onto, off, out, out of
We travel from our starting place to our destination:
e.g. Theyflew/drove/cycled/walkedfrom Paris to Rome.
We also send/post letters, etc. to people and place. (Exception: home)
arrive at/in, get to, reach (without preposition)
We arrive in a town or country, at or in a village, at any other destination:
e.g. They arrived in Spain/in Madrid.
I arrived at the hotel/at the airport/at the crossroads.
Get to and reach can be used with any destination:
e.g. He got to the station just in time fo r his train.
They reached the top o f the mountain before the sunrise.
They went home by bus.
Transport: by, on; get in/into/on/onto/off/out of
We can travel by car (but in the/my/Tom’s car), by bus/train/plane/helicopter
and by sea/air.
We can also travel by a certain route, or by a certain place (though via is more usual).
We can go or walk on foot.
We can cycle or go on a bicycle or by bicycle.
We can ride or go on horseback.
We get into a public or private vehicle, or get in (adverb).
We get on/onto a public vehicle, or get on (adverb).
But we go on board a boat (= embark).
We get on/onto a horse/camel/bicycle.
We get out o f a public or private vehicle, or get out (adverb).
We get o ff a public vehicle, a horse, bicycle, etc., or get o ff (adverb).
get inAnto/out/out o f can also be used of buildings, institutions and countries
instead of go/come/return, etc. when there is some difficulty in entering or
leaving:
e.g. I've lost my keys! How are we going to get into the flat/to get in?
The house is on fire! We had better get out! (adverb)
It '.s' difficult to get into the university nowadays.
Giving directions: at, into, to, along, on
e.g. Go along the street till you see a grey building on your right.
Turn right at the second traffic lights.
Turn left into Fleet Street.
Take the second turning on your right.
 251

Place and movement: at, in, on, into, onto

At shows a point in space where something is happening: at home, at work, at
iIn- office, at school, at university, at an address, at number 18 Hill Street, at a
*i itain point, at the bus-stop, at grandmother’s, at Helen’s, at the table, at the door,
at the comer of the street, at the crossroads, at the wedding, at the funeral.
In shows that something taking place is inside rather than outside. We can be
in a chair, in an armchair, in a country, in a village, in a square, in a street, in a
mom, in a hotel, in the centre of town, in Europe, in London, in the park, in a
Ibrcst, in a wood, in a field or any place which has boundaries or is enclosed, in
town, in hospital, in prison, in bed.
In and into
In indicates position.
Into indicates movement, entrance:
e.g. The children are swimming in the river.
Thieves broke into my house.
With the verb put, however, either in or into can be used:
e.g. He put his hands inAnto his pockets.
On and onto
On can be used for both position and movement: on the beach, on an island, on the
coast, on board, on a cruise, on an excursion, on a trip, on a tour, on a farm, on a
mountain, on the outskirts, on page three, on the screen, and also on the radio, on TV.
e.g. His name is on the door.
Snow fell on the hills.
Onto can be used when there is a movement involving a change of level,
e.g. The cat jumped onto the mantelpiece.
We lifted him onto the table.
Above, over, under, below, beneath
Above and over
Above (preposition and adverb) and over (preposition) can both mean “higher
Ilian” and sometimes either can be used:
e.g. Flags waved above/over our heads.
Bur over can also mean “covering”, “on the other side o f’, “across” and “from
side from the other”:
e.g. We put a rug over him.
He lives over the mountains.
There is a bridge over the river.
Over can mean “more than” or “higher than” (compare: above can mean
‘higher that only”).
Both can mean “higher in rank”.
Over can be used with meals/food/drink:
e.g. They had a chat over a cup o f tea. (while having tea)
In the combination take + a time expression + over + noun/pronoun, over
can mean “to do/to finish”:
e.g. He doesn't take long over lunch/'to eat his lunch.
 252

Below and under

Below (preposition and adverb) knd under (preposition) can both mean “lower
than” and sometimes either can be used, but under can indicate contact while with
below there is usually a space between the two surfaces:
e.g. She put the letter under her letter.
The ice cracked under his feet.
They live below us. (We live on the fourth flour and they live on the third.)
Below and under can mean “junior in rank”,
e.g. He is under me. (It implies that I am his immediate superior.)
Beneath can sometimes be used instead of under, but it is safer to keep it for
abstract meanings:
e.g. He would think it beneath him to tell a lie. (unworthy of him)
Beside, between, behind, in front of, opposite
Imagine an assembly room with a stage and rows of seats: A, B, etc. Alex,
Ann, Bill, Mary, Bob and Jane are taking part in a certain sitting. They are sitting in
the following way:
Stage
Row A Alex Ann Bill
Row B Mary Bob Jane
e.g. Alex is beside Ann. Mary is beside Bob.
Ann is between Alex and Bill. Bob is between Mary and Jane.
Mary is behind Alex. Bob is behind Ann.
Alex is in front o f Mary. Bill is in front o f Jane.
But if Alex and Mary are having a meal and Alex is sitting at one side of the
table and Mary at the other, we do not use in front of, but we say:
e.g. Alex is sitting opposite Mary or Alex is facing Mary.
But He stood in front o f me could mean either “He stood with his back to me”
or “He faced me”.
People living on one side of a street will talk of the houses on the other side as
the houses opposite (us) rather than the houses in front o f us.
With other things these restrictions do not apply:
e.g. She put the plate on the table in front o f him.
She sat with a book in front o f her.
Where’s the bank? - There it is, just in front o f you!
Between and among
Between normally relates a person/thing to two other people/things, but it can
be used of more when we have a definite number in mind:
e.g. Luxembourg lies between Belgium, Germany and France.
Among relates a person/thing to more than two others; normally we have no
definite number in mind:
e.g. He was happy to be among friends again.
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§ 169. Polysemy of Prepositions

Many prepositions are polysemantic. Thus the main meanings of thé
preposition in are as follows:
1) at point within an area or volume:
e.g. She lives in a small village in France.
2) within the shape of smth; enclosed by:
e.g. What have you got in your hand/ pocket?
3) moving into smth:
e.g. Throw it in the fire.
4) during a period of time:
e.g. In the 2f/h century; in spring; in March; in the morning/afternoon.
5) after some length of time:
e.g. In a week; in a few minutes; She learnt to drive in three weeks.
6) forming the whole or part of smth; contained within:
e.g. Seven days in a week; I recognize his father in him.
7) wearing (clothes, colours, etc):
e.g. Dressed in rags; the man in the hat; the woman in white; in uniform
(mourning, disguise).
8) indicating physical surrounding, circumstances:
e.g. In the rain, sun, cold.
9) indicating the state or condition of smb/smth:
e.g. In order; in a mess; in poor health; in a rage; in anger.
10) indicating form, shape, arrangement or quantities:
e.g. A novel in three parts; stand in groups; sit in rows; in thousands.
11) indicating the medium, means, material:
e.g. Speak in English; write in code (ink, pencil); printed in italics; say smth
in a few words.
12) indicating smb’s occupation, activity:
e.g. In the army/navy; in business; injournalism; He has been in politics all his life.
The main meaning of the preposition o f is the meaning belonging to. In this
meaning it is often followed by a possessive pronoun or by a noun:
e.g. A friend o f mine; the role o f the teacher; the privilegese o f the élite; the
handle o f an umbrella; the lid o f the box.
Besides, the proposition o f has the following meanings:
1) originating from (a background) or living in (a place):
e.g. A woman o f royal descent; a man o f humble origin; the inhabitents o f this city.
2) created by (referring to smb’s works as a whole):
e.g. The works o f Shakespeare; the paintings o f Picasso; the poems o f Pushkin.
3) concerning or depicting smb/smth:
e.g. Stories o f crime; a photo o f my dog; a picture o f the Queen; a map o f
Great Britain.
4) indicating the material used to make smth:
e.g. A dress o f silk; shirts made o f cotton; a house built o f stone.
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5) indicating what is measured, counted or contained. In this meaning it often

occurs after nouns expressing quantities, groups, measurements or amounts:
e.g. A pint o f milk; a sheet o f paper; a jar o f paint; a big piece o f apple pie;
jewellery worth millions o f pounds; a loaf o f bread; a box o f matches.
6) showing the relationship between part and the whole of smth:
e.g. A member o f the team; fo r six months o f the year.
7) used after some, many, a few, etc. and between a numeral or superlative
adjectives and a pronoun:
e.g. Some o f his friends; a few o f my books; six o f them; the most expensive oj
the presents.
8) indicating a cause:
e.g. Die o f cancer; ashamed o f one's behaviour.
The preposition on can be used in the following meanings:
1) covering, touching or forming part of a surface:
e.g. A picture on the wall; dirty marks on the ceiling; sit on the grass; floating
on the water; the diagram on page 5; a carpet on the floor; hit smb on
the shoulder.
2) supported by, attached to smb/smth:
e.g. A roof on a house; stand on onefoot; a ring on one's finger; sit on a chair.
3) in or into (a large public hehicle):
e.g. On the train; travel on the bus, the tube, the coach.
4) being carried by smb (= при собі):
e.g. Have you got any money on you?
5) indicating a time when smth happens:
e.g. On Sunday; on the Ґ of Masy; on this occasion; on my birthday; on
Christmas.
6) about; concerning:
e.g. Lecture on Shakespeare; lesson on philosophy; an essay on political economy.
7) indicating membership:
e.g. On the committee, staff, jury
8) indicating direction; towards:
e.g. Pull/draw a knife on smb; On the left you can see a palace.
9) supported financially by smb/smth:
e.g. Live on a pension, one’s savings, a student grant. Drinks are on me.
10) by means of smth; using smth:
e.g. Broadcast on the TV/radio; speak on the phone.
11) indicating activity, purpose or state:
e.g. On business/holiday; on special offer.
The preposition with can mean:
1) that two or more people or things are together:
e.g. I saw Bob in the town with his girlfriend.
1 always wear these shoes with this dress.
2) having, possessing or carrying something (in descriptions):
e.g. Look at this tall gentleman with a beard.
3) using something or by means of something:
 255

e.g. Chop the onions with a sharp knife.

4) because of a particular feeling or physical state:
c.g. They were trembling with fear.
5) that something fills or covers something:
c.g. Her boots were covered with mud.
In summer Venice is crammed with tourists.
6) to be related to:
c.g. We have a problem with parking in this area.
7) how someone does something or how something happens:
e.g. He prepared everything with great care.
The day starts with a great breakfast.
The preposition fo r can have the meaning of intention, purpose, distance,
direction, time, relation, etc.
e.g. For more details see page 4.
These chairs are fo r the main office.
I have bought him a watch fo r his birthday.
We met fo r lunch.
We walkedfor miles.
A few days later she would be leaving fo r Manchester.
I've been here fo r two weeks.
A special meeting has been arranged fo r 16th October.
I'm sure she is the ideal person fo r the job.
§ 170. Prepositions Used with Adjectives and Participles
Certain adjectives and past participles used as adjectives can be followed by a
preposition + noun/gerund. Usually particular adjectives and participles require
particular prepositions. Some of these are given below.
Adjectives Preposition
angry, annoyed, anxious, certain, confident, excited, happy,
about
nervous, pleased, right, sorry, upset
amazed, angry, annoyed, bad, excellent, frightened, good,
at
hopeless, lucky, skilled, skilful surprised, useless
amused, bored, impressed, shocked, surprised by
anxious, famous, fit, good, late, liable, prepared, ready,
for
responsible, sorry, suitable
absent, different, safe, tired from
absorbed, interested, involved, successful in
afraid, ashamed, aware, capable, certain, confident, critical,
envious, fond, frightened, full, good, guilty, incapable, jealous,
kind, nervous, nice, proud, scared, short, stupid, sure, of
suspicious, terrified, tired, typical
keen, reliant on
accustomed, due, engaged, exposed, generous, inferior, kind,
to
married, owing, polite, possible, rude, superior, similar, used
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friendly, patronising ...... -v.._ towards

angry, annoyed, bored, busy, content, crowded, delighted,
disappointed, familiar, friendly, furious, happy, ill, occupied, with
pleased, satisfied
Some adjectives can combine with more than one preposition, for example:
angry about = angry because of a situation or action
angry at = angry with someone
angry towards = angry with someone
tiredfrom = physically tired as a result of
tired o f = bored or irritated by
friendly towards = behaving in a friendly way towards
friendly with = having a friendly relationship with
sorry fo r = feeling pity or sympathy for
sorry about = feeling ashamed or unhappy about
§ 171. Prepositions Used with Verbs
Some of verb + preposition combinations are listed below. More can be found
in a dictionary.
agree, ask, dream, forget, hear, know, laugh, quarrel, think, worry about
arrive, laugh, joke, look, shout, stare at
account, apologise, admire, apply (to smb), ask, beg, blame (smb),
care, fine (smb), forgive, hope, like, long, pay, prepare, punish fo r
(smb), wait, wish, work
come, differ, recover, resign, stop, suffer from
arrive, believe, call, deal, fill, include, involve, persist, succeed in
accuse, approve, beware, consist, die, dream, remind, smell,
suspect, taste, think, warn of
bet, congratulate, count, decide, insist, live, rely on
agree, apply, belong, conform, go, listen, object, occur, refer,
to
resort, shout, speak
agree, charge (smb), collide, compare, comply, cope, deal, discuss,
with
fight, provide, quarrel, sympathyse
§ 172. Positional Characteristics of Prepositions
Normally a preposition stands between two words to express the relation
between them. However, there are cases when one of the two words with which the
preposition combines either takes the initial position or is omitted altogether. In
these cases the preposition is attached to the remaining word. It occurs in:
1jspecial questions:
e.g. What problems did the lecturer speak on?
What disease did the woman die of?
However, the preposition may precede the interrogative (which is usually
more formal):
e.g. By what train shall we go?
 257

A t whose request did he leave the room?

2) exclamatory sentences:
e.g. What a nice place to live in!
3) passive constructions:
e.g. The doctor was sent fo r immediately.
4) some syntactical patterns with the infinitive and gerund:
e.g. My boss is difficult to deal with.
It is not worth worrying about.
Sometimes one and the same noun is associated with two or more different
prepositions. The noun itself need not be repeated after each preposition and is
usually placed after the last one.
e.g. It is a book fo r and about children.
The pronoun much is used o f and with uncountable nouns.
He cared fo r and looked after his ageing mother.
It follows from the above examples that the prepositions in this case are
retained by the preceding head-word.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on morphological composition of prepositions.
2. Comment on semantic characteristics of prepositions.
3. Comment on the use of prepositions to express certain relations (time, date,
place, direction, movement).
4. Comment on polysemy of prepositions.
5. Comment on the use of prepositions with adjectives, participles, verbs.

CHAPTER IX. THE CONJUNCTION

§ 173. Morphological Characteristics of Conjunctions
Conjunctions are structural words that serve to connect words or phrases as
well as clauses or sentences.
Conjunctions may be single words (e.g. and, but, or, as, while, because, though,
etc.), phrases consisting of more than one word (e.g. in order that, on condition
(that), in case, as soon as, as long as, for fear (that), as if, as though, etc.) and also
correlative conjunctions, i.e. conjunctions that are always used in pairs (e.g. both...
and, either...or, not only...but also, as...as, etc.). So according to their
morphological structure conjunctions are divided into the following groups:
1) simple conjunctions (and, or, till, so, that, etc.)-,
2) derivative conjunctions (until, unless, etc.);
3) compound conjunctions (however, whereas, wherever, etc.);
4) composite conjunctions (as well as, on the ground that, for the reason that, etc.).
Note: Some mg-forms and participles are also used as conjunctions (e.g.
supposing, seeing, given (= on condition, if), providing or provided).
According to their function in the sentence, conjunctions fall into two groups:
coordinating conjunctions (e.g. and, but. or, either...or, besides, moreover, likewise,
both ... and, yet, still, nevertheless, hence, therefore, accordingly, etc.) and
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subordinating conjunctions (e.g. that, if, whether, as, though, since, when, until, as
long as, before, after, because, unless, so that, than, as... as, etc.).
Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences
which are independent of each other. These may be coordinate clauses in a
compound sentence, homogeneous parts in a simple sentence, homogeneous
subordinate clauses in a complex sentence or independent sentences.
e.g. His light-brown hair was fine and thick.
She took a piece o f cake and a cup o f tea.
Meg ordered a fresh pot o f tea and they settled down to discuss the new
complication.
Just now I can't think o f anything but o f how you were made to suffer.
She looked scornful but she was secretly pleased.
She could no longer think clearly or speak with decision.
She was furious at me, yet I didn’t care.
It was hard to get the story clear from her cousin answers, nevertheless
she found out everything.
The meaning of coordinating conjunctions is closely connected with the relations
they express. There are four different kinds of coordinating conjunctions:
1) Copulative conjunctions: and, nor, as well as, both ... and, not only ... but
(also), neither ... nor. Copulative conjunctions chiefly denote that one statement
or fact is simply added to another (conjunctions nor and neither express that
relation in the negative sense).
2) Disjunctive conjunctions: or, either ... or, or else, else. They offer some
choice between one statement and another.
3) Adversative conjunctions: but, while, whereas. They show that one fact or
statement is contrasted with or set against another.
4) Causative-consecutive conjunctions: so, for. They denote consequence, result or
reason. But these conjunctions one statement or fact is inferred or proved from another.
Subordinating conjunctions serve to join a subordinate clause to the principal clause.
e.g. When the play was over he asked her i f she would let him see her home.
He felt marvellously happy as though everything he did were a marvel.
The two girls were silent till he left the room.
He winked at me as he passed.
The old man said to the boy: ”If you don’t like me you may go home
whenever you choose. ”
Subordinating conjunctions may occasionally introduce a word or a phrase
within a simple sentence.
e.g. When a child, he often had to run errands for his elders.
His father was sharp with his children, while at home. He promised to sell
the car i f necessary. There was a dry, pungent smell in the air, as though
o f dry vegetation, crisped by the sun.
He looked happy though somewhat tired.
Conjunctions have a lexical meaning of their own. Thus, conjunctions
introducing adverbial clauses are conjunctions of:
1) place: where, wherever, whence, wherein;
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2) time: as, as soon as, as long (is, when, whenever, while, now that, since, till,
until, after, before, while, directly, instantly, etc.;
3) reason or cause: as, because, since, seeing, so ... that, lest, considering:
4) condition: if unless, in case, provided, supporting (that), suppose (that), on
condition (that);
5) purpose: lest, that, in order that, so that, for fear that, so as, so;
6) consequence: that, so that;
7) manner and comparison: as, as ... as, not so ... as, than, as if, as though;
8) concession: though, although, as, that, even if, whether ... or.
e.g. I looked where she pointed. (Collins)
You can stay here as long as you want. (Hemingway)
He is suspicious andjealous fo r fear anyone might see him. (Lawrence)
1 'll do anything you wish, my brother, provided it lies in my power. (Dickens)
He made these exclamations in a suppressed voice lest they should overhear
anything. (Dickens)
Darkness had fallen and a keen blizzard was blowing, so that the streets
were nearly deserted. (Conan Doyle)
He was white as i f he had not slept for many nights. (Wells)
/ enjoyed that day though we traveled slowly, though it was cold, though it rained
The lexical meaning of the conjunction that is vague. It serves to introduce
different kinds of clauses.
e.g. That I was not going to be popular with the other children soon became
clear to my parents, (subject clause)
The probability is that he refused to cooperate, (predicative clause)
I was sure that many wouldfollow his example, (object clause)
My father then sold everything that he might have the money for my
education, (adverbial clause of purpose)
He h os so shabby that no decent landlady would take him in. (adverbial
clause o f result)
He agreed with the assertion that his results fell short of the requirements,
(appositive clause)
Note: It should be pointed out that a number of conjunctions (a) have
homonyms among prepositions (b) and adverbs (c).
e.g. a) He had not heard himself called that name since his mother died, (conj.)
b) Everything has gone wrong since that night, (prep.)
c) He had his last meal in the restaurant car and hasn 7 had anything to
eat since, (adv.)
a) He found himself in his mother's arms before he saw her. (conj.)
b) I talked to him before the conference, (prep.)
c) 1 've never seen him so angry before, (adv.)
a) They spoke little until they reached the less busy road, (conj.)
b) He stayed up until dawn, reading and writing, (prep.)
a) After he had taken all the things out, she started the car. (conj.)
b) After lunch they all went to their rooms, (prep.)
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Suggested points for discussion v, ...

1. Comment on morphological structure of English conjunctions.
2. Speak on functional classification of conjunctions.
3. Comment on semantic classification of conjunctions.

CHAPTER X. THE STATIVE

§ 174. Morphological Composition and
Semantic Characterisrics of Statives
The stative denotes a temporary state of a person or a non-person. The
number of of statives functioning in English is limited. Grammarians consider that
there are about 30 stable statives, used both in colloquial and in formal style:
ablaze ahead askew
adrift akin aslant
afire ajar asleep
aflame alight aslope
afloat alike astir
afoot alive astray
afraid aloof athirst
aghast alone awake
aglow amiss aware
agog ashamed awry
Besides, there are about 100 unstable ones, which are seldom used even in
formal style and never in colloquial: ashudder, atwist, atremble, agleam, etc.
From the point of view of their morphological composition the class of
statives is homogeneous: all of them have a special marker, the prefix a-: alike,
afire, etc.
As regards their structure, statives fall into two groups: those that can be divided
into morphemes (the prefix a- and the stem of a noun, a verb or an adjective, e.g
ahead, awake, ashamed) and those that cannot, because the part following a- does not
correspond to any noun, verb or adjective stem as in afraid, aloof, etc.
Semantically statives fall into five groups describing various states of persons
and non-persons:
1) Psychological states of persons: afraid, aghast, ashamed, aware, agog.
2) Physical states of persons: alive, awake, asleep.
3) States of motion or activity of persons or non-persons: afoot, astir, afloat, adrift.
4) Physical states of non-persons: afire, aflame, alight, aglow, ablaze.
5) The posture of non-persons: askew, awry, aslant, ajar.
§ 175. Combinability of Statives
Combinability of statives can be describes by patterns of three groups:
1) those with a stative as a modifying word;
2) those with a stative as a word modified;
3) those where a stative combines with a link verb.
In the first case statives are combinable with:
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1. Nouns and pronouns: the mischief afoot, life afloat, somebody alive,
everybody aware, etc. In this case they almost always postmodify the words they
hi e combined with, but the stative aloof usually precedes the noun it is combined
with: an aloof manner, an aloof attitude, the aloof members, etc. Some statives
(asleep, alert, aloof) may occur before the nouns they modify if they are
ilicmselves modified by certain adverbs: a fast asleep man, a fu ll alert dog, etc.
2. A verb and a noun (or a pronoun) at the same time: to keep the man alive, to
have the wood alight, etc. In such cases the statives always follow the noun or a pronoun.
Statives as words modified are combinable with:
1. Prepositional phrases which either indicate the source of the state denoted
by the stative, or characterize various aspects of the state (time, quality, etc.):
afraid o f the dark, ashamed o f his behaviour, aware o f the danger, ajar fo r a
minute, aloof in her room, agog over the news, aghast at the new discovery, etc.
2. Adverbs:
a) of degree: quite alone, slightly ajar, fully awake, deeply asleep, very
afraid, vaguely aware, sufficiently alert, etc.;
b) of time: aware beforehand, still alive, etc.;
c) of manner: all agog, well aware, strangely alike, etc.
Some statives (afraid\ ashamed, agog) can combine with an infinitive, which
indicates the source of the state: afraid to say a word, ashamed to appear, agog to
know, etc.
Some statives (afraid, ashamed, aware) combine with a clause, also indicating
the sorce of the state: afraid that someone might see him, aware o f what they were
doing there, etc.
In the third case statives can combine with:
1. Link verbs proper, of which the most common is the link verb to be: to be
asleep, to be alone, to be ajar, etc. Other link verbs combinable with statives are to
become, to remain, to look, to seem: to become aware, to remain afloat, to look
ashamed, to seem afraid, etc.
2. Certain notional verbs used as link verbs, such as to stand, to sit, to lie, to
return: to stand aloof to sit awake, to lie asleep, to return aghast, etc.
In both cases the stative follows the link verb it is combined with.
§ 176. Syntactic Functions of Statives
Statives may have three functions in a sentence:
1) of predicative in a compound nominal or a double predicate,
2) of objective predicative,
3) of attribute.
The most common function appears to be the function of predicative. When
used in this function statives describe the state of the person or non-person denoted
by the subject. They are connected with the subject by means of a link verb or in
some cases by a notional verb.
e.g. I'm ashamed to say I have been doing nothing all weekend.
I felt alert.
He was afraid even to turn his head.
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Guy became aloof gazing past Gertrude

Something was amiss.
They all looked alike to me.
Her senses seemed alive and incredibly keen.
He sat alone in his room.
For a minute she stood aghast, not knowing what to do.
I was lying wide awake.
She arrived agog to discover what had prevented him being there.
When used in the function of objective predicative, statives describe the state
of the person or non-person denoted by the object.
e.g. Don’t keep the door ajar.
Leave me alone, please.
She sounded afraid.
Although the function of attribute is not characteristic of statives, some of
them may have this function (either detached or undetached attributes). Statives as
undetached attributes are always postmodifying.
e.g. The children, asleep upstairs, new nothing so far.
Have I said something amiss?
Simon alone knew the truth.
On the table there were candles alight.
Statives can be modified by adverbs of degree and take prepositional indirect
objects.
e.g. He was half asleep.
He immediately came fully awake. (Heym)
I am ashamed o f you. Iam afraid o f my father.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on the status of statives.
2. Speak on the morphological structure of statives.
3. Comment on semantic classification of statives.
4. Comment on combinability and syntactic functions of statives.

CHAPTER XI. MODAL WORDS

§ 177. Classification and Use of Modal Words
Modal words express the speaker’s evaluation of the relation between the
statement made in the sentence and reality. This evaluation may be of different
kinds, i.e. the speaker may express various degree of certainty, doubt, desirability
of the action expressed in the sentence.
Modal words are an invariable part of speech. They do not enter any phrase
but stand outside them. Their syntactical function is that of a parenthesis. Besides,
they may also be a sentence in themselves, in which case they are used to answer a
general question.
e.g. Obviously they have left already.
Unfortunately we missed our train.
Will you come? - Certainly.
 263

Semantically modal words fall into three groups, denoting:

1. Certainty (certainly, o f course, indeed, surely, decidedly, really, definitely,
naturally, no doubt, etc.).
e.g. O f course, it wouldn't have changed anything.
Are you going to Greece this summer? - Definitely.
Surely you are not suggesting she did it on purpose.
2. Supposition (perhaps, maybe, probably, obviously, possibly, evidently,
apparently, etc.).
e.g. Obviously I don’t need to say how important this project is.
“I thought he owned the whole thing. ” - “So did I, but apparently, not. ”
The threat was possibly not great.
3. Desirability (luckily, unluckily, fortunately, unfortunately, happily,
unhappily, etc.).
e.g. Unhappily i t ’s clear that these demands are unreasonable.
Unfortunately, that letter never arrived.
Luckily for you, 1 happen to have the key.
Fortunately such occurrences are fairly rare.
Most modal words have developed from adverbs, so very often there exists a
lormal identity between modal words and adverbs. Thus, such modal word as
certainly, surely, happily are homonymous with the adverbs certainly, surely,
happily. Though formally identical with adverbs, modal words differ from them in
meaning and syntactical function.
e.g. We laughed and chattered happily together, (adverb)
He said he would happily lend us the money. (modal word)
Your answer is almost certainly right, (adverb)
Certainly, yes, I think that this is one o f the major problems, (modal word)
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on semantic classification of modal words.
2. Comment on the difference between modal words and adverbs.

CHAPTER XII. THE INTERJECTION

§ 178.Classification and Use of Interjections
The interjection is a part of speech which expresses emotions, without
naming them.
According to their meaning interjections fall under two main groups, namely
emotional interjections and imperative interjections.
Emotional interjections express the feelings of the speaker. They can express
different kinds of feelings, such as: joy (hurray, hurrah), grief, sorrow (alas, dear
me, oh, dear), approval (bravo; hear, hear), contempt (pooh, gosh, bosh, pah,
bah. fie), triumph (aha), impatience, indignation (bother), anger (damn),
surprise or annoyance (Goodness gracious, My God).
e.g. “Good Heavens!” cried my mother, "you will drive me mad!" (Dickens)
(annoyance)
“Good LordF said Fleur. “Am 1 only twenty-one? " (Galthworthy) (surprise)
 264

A man jumped on top o f the barricade and, waving exuberantly; shouted,

"Americans! Hurrah! ” (Heym) (joy, welcome)
e.g. Damn it! I have had enough o f it. (anger)
There, there, you haven't really hurt yourself, (soothing)
Some interjections have a very vague meaning, they express emotion in
general and the specific meaning depends either on the context, or the situation, or
the tone with which they are pronounced. Thus the interjection Oh may express
surprise, joy, disappointment, etc.
e.g. Oh! Really? (surprise)
Oh! How glad I am to see you. (joy)
Oh! I'm sorry! (pity, sorrow)
Oh! Don 7 be a stupid ass (disappointment)
The same is observed with the interjection well. Depending on the sentence in
which it is used, it may express a variety of emotions,
e.g. Well, who would have thought it? (surprise)
Well, here we are at last! (relief)
Well then? (expectation)
Well, it can 7 be helped, (resignation)
Well, it may be true, (concession)
Imperative interjections show the will of the speaker or his order or appeal to
the hearer. They are: here, hush, sh-sh, well, come, now, etc.
e.g. Come, come! You don 7 expect me to believe it! (blame)
Here! I am sick and tired o f it! (protest)
"'Hush, hush!" said one o f the women stooping over her... (Dickens) (order)
“Hark!” cried Dodger at this moment, “I heard the tinkler, ” catching up
the light, he crept slowly upstairs. (Dickens) (order)
In terms of their origin inteijections are classified into primary and secondary.
Primary interjections are not derived from other parts of speech. Most of
them are simple words: ah, oh, eh, pooh, hum, fie, bravo, hush, etc. Only a few
primaiy interjections are composite: heigh-ho, hey-ho, holla-ho, gee-ho, etc.
Secondary interjections are derived from other parts of speech. They are
homonymous with the words they are derived from: well, now, here, there, come,
why, etc. We even find phrases used as interjections: dear me, goodness gracious,
confound it, hang it, fo r shame, damn it all, damn you
Interjections are used as independent sentence-words or independent elements
of the sentence. They do not perform any of the syntactic functions in the sentence
and may be used parenthetically.
e.g. Oh, pooh, look at these shoes! They are very dirty.
For goodness’ sake, stop lying!
Some interjections may be connected with a word in the sentence by means of
a preposition.
e.g. Alas fo r my hopes!
We have done it. Hurray for us!
 265

Note: Interjections should be distinguished from such one-word sentences as

Help! Silence! Nonsense! The latter are notional words, non exclamations
expressing emotions.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on different principles of classification of onteijections.

CHAPTER XIII. THE PARTICLE

§ 179.Classification and Use of Particles
The particle is a part of speech the meaning of which is difficult to define. It
either emphasizes or limits the meaning of another word or phrase or clause.
Particles are invariable and have no syntactical function in the sentence. They form
a whole with the part of the sentence (a word or a phrase) they refer to.
According to their meaning particles fall into six groups.
1. Intensifying particles: just, even, yet, still, all, simply. They emphasize the
meaning of the word (or phrase, or clause) they refer to or give some special
prominence to the notion expressed by it.
e.g. I didn't even know that he was married.
They are working with still greater efficiency.
Pronounce it yet more softly.
I ju st know there’s something wrong.
1 think, he is a simply perfect father.
I feel all alone now.
2. Limiting particles: only, merely, solely, barely, but, alone. They single out
the word or phrase they refer to or limit the idea (notion) expressed by them.
e.g. We only wanted to help them.
Only a doctor can do it.
Man can 7 live on bread alone.
You are still but a child, I see.
I t ’s merely a reproduction.
1 do not believe that this is solely a matter o f money.
3. Specifying particles: right, exactly, precisely, just. They make the meaning
of the word or phrase they refer to more precise.
e.g. Our hotel was right on the beach.
Just then the telephone rang.
His father was not exactly poor.
He is precisely the kind of writer to whom the Nobel Prize should be awarded.
4. The additive particle else. It combines only with indefinite, interrogative
and negative pronouns and interrogative adverbs. It shows that the word it refers to
denotes something additional to what has already been mentioned.
e.g. Something else, nobody else, what else, where else.
5. The negative particle not
e.g. Not a word was said about it.
Not an original house remains, not one.
Not to go there was a bad idea.
 266

6. Connecting particles: also, too, which may function as conjuncts.

e.g. 1 went there too.
1 was also there.
Traditionally particles were classed with adverbs with which some are
homonymous:
e.g. It's just the thing I am looking for. (particle)
He has just left, (adverb)

PART II. SYNTAX

Introduction
The term «Syntax» oroginates from the Greek word syn which means
“together” and taxis, meaning “sequence, order, arrangement”. It studies the way in
which the units and their meanings are combined. In other words, Syntax is that
part of grammar which treats of the rules according to which words are connected
in the sentence, and also of the various types of sentences, their structure and
meaning.
The sentence is the smallest unit of speech, which expresses a more or less
complete thought and has a definite grammatical form and intonation. The principal
structures of the sentences are represented by clauses.
A clause is a group of words containin a subject and a predicate. It shouldn’t
be mixed with a phrase, which is also a group of words but not containing a
subject and a predicate. Thus a clause is a sentence and a phrase is not.
e.g. She lives in London, (a clause)
She lives in London not fa r from Trafalgar Square, (a phrase)
This is a girl, (a clause)
This is a girl dancing to the music in the halL (a phrase)
An independent clause (or main clause) is a complete sentence. It contains
the main subject and predicate of a sentence.
e.g. They study at the university.
Where do they study?
These examples are independent clauses as they are complete sentences.
A dependent clause (or subordinate clause) is not a complete sentence. It
must be connected to an independent one to make the idea complete.
e.g. a) what they study
b) The students tell us what they study.
Example (a) is a dependent clause as it doesn’t give a complete idea.
Example (b) is a complete sentence. It has an independent clause with the
main subject (the students) and predicate (tell) of the sentence. What they study is a
dependent clause connected to an independent one.
According to the number of clauses the sentences may be simple and composite.
 267

CHAPTER I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence is a sentence expressed by one clause containing the
subject and the predicate. Simple sentences may be regarded from the point of view
of their structure and their communicative value.
§ I. Classification of simple sentences
The classification of simple sentences is based on two principles:
1) according to the purpose of the utterance;
2) according to the structure.
According to the purpose of the utterance there are four types of simple
sentences: declarative; interrogative; imperative; exclamatory.
These types differ in the aim of communication and express statements,
<|uestions, commands and exclamations respectively.

declarative interrogative imperative exclamatory

The declarative sentence states a fact in the affirmative or negative form. In a

declarative sentence the subject precedes the predicate. If the verb is transitive, the
direct object immediately follows the verb. If the transitive verb has two objects -
direct and indirect - the indirect object is placed before the direct one.
Compare: Mor joined the conversation. (Murdoch) (direct object)
They had reached the dessert. (Murdoch) (direct object)
Peter gave me (indirect object) an apple, (direct object)
The declarative sentence is characterized by the falling tone, it is marked by a
pause in speaking and by a full stop in writing.
e.g. Benny is 'eager to have a qrabhit.
The interrogative sentence contains questions. There are four types of
questions: yes/no questions (general); “wh” questions; alternative questions; tag
(disjunctive) questions.
Yes/no question (general) asks whether the relation between the subject and
predicate is positive or negative. It requires an affirmative or negative answer (yes,
o f course, no, surely not, etc.).
Yes/no question is formed by placing the part of the predicate, i.e. the
auxiliary or modal verb before the subject of the sentence. The auxiliaries are also
called operators.
 268 ,

e.g. “'Is she 'coming, back?” (Murdoch) - *.

“'Mustyou 'really, work today?" (Murdoch) .
“'Canyou 'speak, German?" —“Yes, I ocan. ”
Yes/no question is characterized by the rising tone,
e.g. 'Can I , trust you, I wonder? (Murdoch)
'Canyou 'come to,morrow?
“Wh” question begins with an interrogative (question) word {who? what?
when? etc.) and is uttered with the falling tone. The word order is the same as in
general questions, but the interrogative word precedes the operator (an auxiliary verb),
e.g. “'What do you 'think IQam, Pat?" (Steinbeck)
“'Who's 'Jimmie QMunroe, Papa?” (Steinbeck)
"'Where are you Qgoing, my people?" (Steinbeck)
Question words
QUESTION ANSWER NOTE
When did they arrive? Yesterday. When is used to ask
WHEN
When will you come? Next Monday. questions about time.
Where is she? At home. Where is used to ask
WHERE
Where can 1 find a pen? In that drawer. questions about place.
Why did he leave early? Because he’s ill.Why is used to ask
WHY
Why aren’t you coming with us? I’m tired. questions about reason.
How did you come to school? By bus. How generally asks
How does he drive? Carefully. about manner.
How much money does it cost? Ten dollars. How is used with
How many people came? Fifteen. much and many.
How old are you? Twelve. How is also used with
HOW How cold is it? Ten below zero. adjectives and adverbs.
How soon can you get here? In ten minutes. How long asks about
Howfast were you driving? 50 miles an hour.length of time.
How long has he been here? Two years. How often asks about
How often do you write home? Every week. frequency.
Howfar is it to Miami from here? 500 miles. How far asks about
distance.
Who can answer that question? I can. Who is used as the
Who came to visit you? Jane and Eric. subject of a question. It
refers to people.
Who is coming to dinner Ann, Bob, and AI. Who is usually
WHO
tonight? We do. followed by a singular
Who wants to come with me? They are Kate and verb even if the speaker
Who are they? John. is asking about more
than one person.
Who(m) did you see? 1saw George. Whom is used as the
Who(m) are you visiting? My relatives. object of a verb or
Who(m) should 1talk (to)? The secretary. preposition. In spoken
WHOM
To whom should I talk? (formal) English instead of,
whom who is used.
Whom is used only in
 t

269

formal questions. Note:

Whom, not who, is used
if preceded by a
preposition.
Whose book did you borrow? David’s. Whose asks questions
WHOSE Whose key is this? It’s mine. about possession.
(Whose is this?)
What made you angry? His rudeness. What is used as the
What went wrong? Everything. subject of a question. It
refers to things.
What do you need? I need a pencil. What is also used as an
What did Alice buy? A book. object.
What did he talk about? His vacation.
About what did he talk? (formal)
What kind of soup is that? It’s bean soup. What kind of asks
What kind o f shoes did he buy? Sandals. about the particular
variety or type of
something.
WHAT What did you do last night? 1 studied. What + a form of do is
What is Mary doing? Reading a book. used to ask questions
about activities.
What countries did you visit? Italy and Spain. What may accompany
What time did she come? Seven o'clock. a noun.
What colour is his hair? Dark brown.
What is Ed like? He’s kind and What + be like asks for
What is the weather like? friendly. a general description of
Hot and humid. qualities.
What does Ed look like? He’s tall and has What + look like asks
What does her house look like? dark hair. for a physical
It’s a two-storey/ec description.
red brick house.
I have two pens. Which is used instead of
Which pen do you want? -what when a question
Which one do you want? The blue one. concerns choosing from
Which do you want? a definite, known
Which book should 1 buy? That one. quantity or group.
WHICH Which countries did he visit? Peru and Chile. In some cases, there is
What countries did he visit? little difference in
Which class are you in? His class. meaning between
What class are you in? which and what when
they accompany a noun,
as in (y) and (z).
♦American English: a two-story house. British English: a two-storey/edhouse
Adverbial phrases such as how long, how often may also function as
question words.
 Alternative question implies a choice between two or more alternative
answers and therefore contains the conjunction or. It is characterized by a rising
tone in the first part and a falling tone in the second one.
e.g. 'Do you 'speak ., English or oFrench?
Tag Questions are a way of adding a question to a statement, so that it becomes a
question. The tag is made of an operator and a personal pronoun. The personal pronoun
used in the tag corresponds to the subject in a statement. If the intonation of the tag rises,
it may be a genuine question, or a request for confirmation. If the intonation falls, the
speaker expects agreement.
e.g. “Let's have another bottle o f beer, Mr. Munroe. It's 'good and cold, isn I
it? ” (Murdoch)
'Peter is a Qstudent, oisn 7 he? (The speaker expects agreement)
'Peter is a Qstudent, , isn't he? (The speaker requests fo r confirmation)
Tags generally repeat operators, or do/did.
e.g. You will help me, won’t you?
Jack was born in Italy, wasn’t he?
Helen lives here, doesn’t she?
You left early, didn ’tyou?
A positive statement has a negative tag, and expects the answer ‘Yes’,
e.g. You agree with me, don ’tyou?
A negative statement has a positive tag, and expects the answer ‘N o'.
e.g. You don’t take sugar, do you?
It is possible for a positive tag to follow a positive statement, to express interest, or
ask for confirmation. These are less common,
e.g. So you like working here, do you?
Tags with will (won’t) you, can(’t) you, could you, would you can be used after
imperatives. If the imperative is negative ‘’willyou”can be used,
e.g. Don 7forget to go there, will you?
“Won’t ” is usedfor invitations. The other tags - for commands:
Come in, won’t you?
Stop talking, can’t you?
Don 7 drive toofast, will you?
Let’s... has a tag formed with shall we.
e.g. Let's have a drink, shall we?
The question tag for “7 am ” is usually “aren’t I ”, though the tag for “I ’m
not” is “am I ”.
e.g. I 'm a doctor, aren ’t I?
I m not a doctor, am l?
If there are negative words in the first part of the tag question (hardly, little,
never, scarcely, nothing, nobody, etc.), the positive tag is used in the second part of
this question. The pronoun it is used in the tag to replace nothing in the first part of the
question, and the pronoun they - to replace nobody, someone, somebody, everybody
in the first part of the tag question are usually replaced by “they” in the tag.
e.g. Somebody took my pen, didn 7 they?
Nothing can be found here, can 7 it?
 271

The imperative sentence expresses a command, a request, an invitation, a

earning, etc. Imperative sentences have the verb in the imperative mood.
Commands are generally characterized by a falling tone. Such sentences
u'.ually don’t have the subjects.
e.g. '"Put down that ogun, Wicks, and ’p ut up your ohands "(Steinbeck)
'Stop otalking!
Requests and invitations are generally characterized by a rising tone.
e.g. 'Come, in!
'Open the window, please!
To make the imperative sentence emphatic, place do at the beginning,
e.g. Do come back!
Negative imperative is formed by placing don’t at the beginning,
e.g. Don’t go home!
Never and always are placed at the beginning of the sentence,
e.g. Never say such things!
Always come home in time!
The common variant of forming the negative imperative with let’s is:
e.g. Let’s not argue about it!
The exclamatory sentence expresses some kind of emotion or feeling. It
ollen begins with the words what and how. What refers to a noun, how to an
adjective or an adverb. It is always in the declarative form, i.e. no inversion
lakes place. The exclamatory sentences are generally spoken with the falling tone
mid have an exclamation mark in writing.
e.g. 'What 'nasty oweather we are having today!
'How 'fast she is owalking!
Exclamatory sentences may be formed on the pattern of the following structures:
a) statements:
e.g. You do look a picture o f health!
b) commands:
e.g. Hurry up!
c) questions. These are “yes/no” questions functioning as exclamations
owing to the falling tone in speaking and an exclamation mark in writing.
e.g. Isn't funny! (How funny it is!)
Wasn t it a funny story! (What a funny story it was!)
A positive “yes/no” question has not only the falling tone but also stress on
both the operator and the subject.
e.g. Did he surprised me! (How he surprised me!)
Am I tired! (I am very tired!)
d) pseudo-subordinate clauses introduced by the conjunctions i f and that.
e.g. I f only I were a queen!
That this should be the result!
e) one-member sentences conveying signals of alarm such as Fire!
Bandits! and highly emotional infinitive or nominal one-member sentences
followed by a clause.
e.g. To think that it should have happened to me!
 272

The idea that they shauldhave behaved like thisl~‘*'-- .t;-,

According to their structure simple sentences are divided into two-member
and one-member sentences. The usual type of a sentence is a two-member
sentence, which comprises a subject and a predicate,
e.g. Coffee was taken to the library. (Murdoch)
A two-member sentence may be complete and incomplete. It is complete
when it has the subject and the predicate,
e.g. Tim passed him the milk. (Murdoch)
Harry watched her with admiration. (Steinbeck)
It is incomplete when one of the principal parts or both of them are missing,
but can be easily understood from the context. Such sentences are called
elliptical (неповні). Elliptical sentences are an integral part of conversational
English, because of the need to reduce syntactic complexity due to real-time
pressures. In addition, speakers respond to the impulse to seed up communication,
avoiding the tedium of unnecessary repetition,
e.g. Where are you going? To the cinema.
Who did it? - John o f course.
Ellipticail sentences may be changed into complete sentences. Compare:
e.g. Nobody in the room, nobody in the corridor.
There was nobody in the room, there was nobody in the corridor.
The missing part of the elliptical sentence may be supplied:
a) from the preceding or following context:
e.g. I sat near the window, - he - near the door.
b) from the context of the sentence itself:
e.g. I ran after him, but he - over the garden door.
c) by means of intonation:
e.g., Playing, children? (Are you playing, children?)
But: 'playing ochildren (playing is an attribute)
The following parts of the sentence may be omitted:
the subject:
e.g. See you tomorrow.
What’s concubine? Don’t know, get a dictionary. ("I" is omitted.)
the predicate:
a) a verbal predicate:
e.g Nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa. (Dickens)
Days passed like hours, and weeks like days. (Bronte)
b) a link-verb:
e.g. The sky was blue to the very horizon, and the sea wonderful... (Galsworthy)
In questions: Oh. You serious? (“Are” is omitted.)
c) a predicative:
e.g. “Are you well?" - “I believe I am". (Bronte)
/ am no judge of music, but Mr. Rochester is... (Bronte)
d) the operator is sometimes omitted in sentences with two or more
predicates:
e.g. ...she was playing on, and looking at me with her own calm smile. (Dickens)
 273

The sentence is also elliptical when only an operator is repeated in answer

to a question:
e.g. “Do you like this sunrise, Jane?” - “I do, very much.” (Bronte)
Sometimes several parts of the sentence are omitted, especially:
a) in an answer to a question or in lively speech:
e.g. " Where is he? ’’ - “In the picture-gallery. ” (Galsworthy)
“How was she? ” - “Very welL ” (Galsworthy)
b) in interrogative sentences:
e.g. Know what I mean? (“D oyou” is omitted)
c) after an infinitive to:
e.g. A: Oh dear! Take me home!
B: I'd love to. ( “takeyou home ” is omitted)
The repetition of an auxiliary and the end of the sentence in the tag questions
is also an elliptical construction:
e.g. “Ah, but you were by the sea, were you not?" said Evvy. (Murdoch)
“ We have been good friends, Jane, have we not? ” (Bronte)
A one-member sentence is a sentence having only one member, which is
neither the subject nor the predicate. Such sentences are generally used in
descriptions and in emotional speech.
1. One-member sentences in English are of two types: nominal and verbal.
If the main part of a one-member sentence is a noun, the sentence is called
nominal. The noun may be modified by attributes,
e.g. The grass, this good, soft, lush grass.
The sky, the flowers, the songs o f birds! (Galsworthy)
Nominal sentences share the characteristics of two-member sentences; they may
be declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory or negative in their form,
e.g. A thunderstorm? Let “s look for shelter. (Galsworthy)
Verbal sentences are those in which the principal part is a non-finite form of the
verb, either an infinitive or a gerund. Such sentences are usually emotionally
coloured.
e.g. Only to think o f it! (Galsworthy)
2. Imperative sentences with the predicate verb in the imperative mood also
belong to one-member sentences. Although the subject of the imperative sentence
is not expressed, it is clear that the action of the verb refers to the 2nd person (the
person addressed).
e.g. “Come on, " said Miss Handforth, “has the cat got your tongue? ” (Murdoch)
“Stop shouting, Fella, " said Donald. (Murdoch)
3. One-member sentences may also be formed by:
a) words of affirmation and negation -yes, no:
e.g. “Did your father teach you to point? " asked Bledyard - “Yes. ” (Murdoch)
b) modal words such as certainly, o f course, (all) right, sure, etc.
e.g. “But, mother, do you really think it’s a good idea?" said Laura... - O f
course! ” (Mensfield)
4. Set expressions of the polite address also form one-member sentences,
e.g. Thank you! Sorry! Please. Never mind.
 274

“Have a drink?" - “Thanks, very much!" (Galsworthy)

Note: Nominal sentences differ from elliptical sentences with a suppressed
verbal predicate in that they don’t contain any secondary parts which might be
connected with a verbal predicate. If we analyze the following sentences - A small
but cozy room; in the background a little writing table; to the left a sofa - we see
that only the first is a one-member sentence containing a noun with its attributes;
the two other sentences are elliptical because the prepositional phrases in the
background and to the left are adverbial expressions of place which may refer only
to a suppressed verbal predicate.
To sum up the information the classification of the simple sentence can be
presented in the following diagram.
According to the structure

X
one-member sentence
\
two-member sentence

/
nominal
\ verbal
/
complete
\
incomplete

elliptical
Simple sentences, both two-member and one-member, can be unextended and
extended. A sentence consisting only of the primary or principal parts is called an
unextended sentence.
e.g. John is an engineer.
1 am happy.
Mor was touched. (Murdoch)
Mor coughed. {Murdoch)
Cardlen was a scholar. (Murdoch)
An extended sentence is a sentence consisting of the subject, the predicate
and one or more secondary parts (objects, attributes, or adverbial modifiers).
e.g. My friend John is an excellent doctor.
He looked at his watch. (Murdoch)
She picked up her suitcase. (Murdoch)
At these small stations the trains waited only a minute. (Murdoch)

Parts of the Simple Sentence

§ 2. The Main Parts of the Simple Sentence
Parts of the sentence are usually classified into main and secondary. The
main parts of the sentence are the subject and the predicate. The secondary
parts of the sentence are the object, the attribute, the apposition and the
adverbial modifier. The secondary parts of the sentence modify the main parts or
each other. Besides, there are so-called independent elements, that is, elements
standing outside the structure of the sentence, and therefore of lesser importance.
 275

§ 3. The Subject
The subject is one of the two main parts of the sentence. It is grammatically
independent of the other parts of the sentence. The most important feature of the
subject in English is that in declarative sentences it normally comes immediately
before the predicate, whereas in questions its position is immediately after the
predicate. It means that in English sentences any word or words, which occur in these
positions, are to be treated as the subject of the sentence.
§ 4. Ways of expressing the subject
The subject may be:
a) a noun in the common case (including substantivized adjectives and
participles) or a nominal phrase with a noun:
e.g. The meetings took place in the Parish Hall. (Murdoch)
The sick were hospitalized.
Note: Occasionally a noun in the possessive case is the subject. This may be
where a noun denotes someone’s place of business or residence, as in:
e.g. The grocer’s was full.
b) a substantivized adjective or participle:
e.g. The poor were against their oppression.
c) a pronoun - personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative,
possessive, interrogative:
e.g. It was a beautiful way for her to do it. (Steinbeck)
Who told you to buy this book?
One cannot cross the street in this place.
d) a numeral (cardinal or ordinal):
e.g. The fo u r at the table sat frozen. (Steinbeck)
The three o f them stood by the tractor shed. (Steinbeck)
The third was his uncle.
Five cannot be divided by two.
e) an infinitive or an infinitive phrase:
e.g. To deny the past is to deny the future.
f) a gerund or a gerundial phrase:
e.g. Walking is a healthy exercise.
g) any other word when it is substantivized (used as quotations).
e.g. “A " is the first letter o f the English alphabet.
“But" is a conjunction.
h) a group of words, which is one part of the sentence, i.e. asyntactically
indivisible group:
e.g. Twice two is four.
The needle and thread is lost.
A lot o f people were present.
A quarter o f an hour has passed
i) a clause:
e.g. That he was a doctor o f high reputation appeared to be the truth.
 276

§ 5. It as the subject of the sentence

It as a. subject may be notional (representing a living being or a thing) and
formal (when it does not represent any living being or thing but performs a purely
grammatical function) (see the diagram below).
Subject

notional formal

personal demonstrative

It - subject There - subject

1. As a notional subject the pronoun it may be used in the following cases:

a) when it stands for a definite thing or some abstract idea (the personal it).
e.g. I bought a book. It was very interesting.
b) when it points out some person or thing expressed in the sentence by a
predicative noun (the demonstrative it).
e.g. It was a pretty furnished room.
It is Helen.
In the last two cases it is close to this and is usually translated into Ukrainian by u,e.
2. As a formal subject it may be used as: a) the impersonal if, b) the
introductory it; c) the emphatic it:
a) the impersonal it is used in the sentences denoting time, distance,
measurements, describing various states o f nature.
e.g. It was almost dark.
It took her an hour and a half to climb up the step trail under the oaks.
(Steinbeck)
b) the formal subject it is introductory (anticipatory) if it introduces the
notional subject expressed by an infinitive, a gerund, an infinitive, gerundial
phrase, a predicative complex, or a clause. Such sentences contain two subjects:
the formal (introductory) subject it and the notional subject expressed as stated
above. The notional subject in such sentences is placed after the predicate. The
sentence begins with the pronoun it.
 277

Sentences with introductory it can be transformed into sentences with the

notional subject in its usual position before the predicate.
e.g. It was easy to deal with him. —* To deal with him was easy.
It is natural that he has come in time. —* That he has come in time is natural.
It was no use convincing him. —* Convincing him was no use.
Note: Some grammarians treat it as a real subject and the rest of the sentence
as a predicate.
c) The emphatic it is used for emphasis.
e.g. It was Helen who did shopping yesterday.
It is they who 'll reach the place only tomorrow.
It was Gerald who stood in the homely entrance hall.
§ 6. The formal (introductory) subject there
When the subject of the sentence is indefinite (a pen, pens, some pens), it is
often placed after the predicate verb and the sentence begins with the introductory
(formal) subject there. Most typically, a sentence (a clause) with there has the
following structure:
there + be + indefinite noun phrase (+ place or time position adverbial)
There are some messages for you on your desk.
Sentences introduced by there express the existence or coming into
existence of a person or non-person denoted by the subject. Such sentences are
called existential sentences or sentences of presentation. Their main function is to
introduce new information, which is presented in the indefinite noun phrase, the
notional subject. As the notional subject usually introduces a new idea, the noun
expressing it is often used with the indefinite article.
e.g. There was a little pause (Voynich)
There was a dark night. (Springier)
 278

The notional subject may be also indefinite pronouns {some, any, somebody,
anybody, etc.), negative pronouns (nobody, nothing, no one, none, etc.), a
gerund or by a clause.
e.g. There was something privileged and unnatural about it. (Murdoch)
There was nobody in the room.
There was no talking that evening.
First, there is what we might call a pattern.
The predicate in such sentences is generally a simple verbal predicate expressed
by the verbs to be, to appear, to live, to come, to go or some other similar verbs.
e.g. There came a laugh, high, gay, sweet. (Galsworthy)
There soon appeared grey-haired old man. (Dickens)
... there lived a little man named Nathaniel Pipkins.
Occasionally the predicate may be a compound verbal modal predicate or a
predicate of double orientation. In both cases their second parts are expressed by
the verb to be or one of the others mentioned above.
e.g. There must be something wrong with him.
There seemed to be only two people in the room.
There developed from the place adverb there, but it no longer has a meaning
of place. The place adverb there has the lexical meaning and can be paraphrased:
there = in that place. Introductory there differs from the place adverb there in the
following ways:
- phonologically, it is normally reduced to /6a(r)/, instead of /Seo (r)/,
- it has no stress,
- it has no lexical meaning,
- it is an empty grammatical element,
- the original place meaning is lost.
e.g. There was a little pause. (Voynich) (there - an introductory subject; was -
a simple verbal predicate; a pause - a notional subject; little - an attribute).
e.g. There were two rocking chairs on either side o f the rusty stove. (Steinbeck)
§ 7. The predicate
The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence, which expresses an
action, state or quality of the person or thing denoted by the subject. It is
grammatically dependent upon the subject. According to the structure and the
meaning of the predicate we distinguish two main types: the simple predicate and
the compound predicate. There is also a type of predicate, which combines the
elements of the two above. Thus it is called the mixed type of predicate (see the
diagram below).
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§ 8. The simple verbal predicate

The simple verbal predicate is:
1) A finite verb in a simple or a compound tense form:
e.g. They approached the studio. (Murdoch)
The dog was lying on the floor.
That was published very long ago. (Murdoch)
2) A phraseological unit. Here belong:
- word combinations (verb + noun with the indefinite article) denoting
single actions such as to pay a visit, to have a swim, to have a talk, etc.
e.g. It's good to have a swim on a hot day.
- (verb + noun abstract) phrases denoting various kinds of actions such as to
get rid of, to make up one’s mind, to take care of, to make fu n , to change one’s
mind, to pay attention to, to lose sight of, to pay a visit, etc.
e.g. Burton gave a kindly little chuckle. (Maugham)
They take good care o f you. (Hemingway)
She made a gesture of dismissal and then suddenly changed her mind. (Wescott)
Note: Besides the simple verbal predicate N. A. Kobryna defines one more
kind of the simple predicate. It’s the simple nominal predicate. It is expressed with
a noun or an adjective, or a verbal. It does not contain a link verb, as it shows the
incompatibility of the idea expressed by the subject and that the predicate; thus in
the meaning of the simple nominal predicate there is an implied negation,
e.g. Nick, dishonest!
He a gentleman!
Sentences with the simple nominal predicate are always exclamatory. Such
sentences are used in colloquial English, although not frequently. The predicate is mostly
commad off (separated by a comma), but a comma is not regarded as a strict rule,
e.g. Me, a liar! She spying!
Ronnie, good-looking!
§ 9. The compound verbal predicate
The compound predicate may be verbal or nominal (proper and double).
The compound verbal predicate may be of three types:
1) the compound verbal modal predicate;
2) the compound verbal aspect (phasal) predicate;
3 ) the compound verbal predicate of double orientation.
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The compound verbal modal predicate consists of a modal part (expressed

by a modal verb or the verbs with the modal meaning, a modal expression) and an
infinitive (or sometimes a gerund).
Modal verbs: can, may, must, should, have to, would, ought to, dare, need.
Modal expressions: to be + infinitive, to have + infinitive, to be able to, to be
going to, to be anxious, to be ready, to be eager, to be glad, to be allowed, to be
willing, to be obliged, to be capable, had better, would rather, would have, etc.
The verbs with the modal meaning (attitudinal verbs): to hope, to expect, to
intend, to attempt, to try, to wish, to want, to desire, to like, to hate, to mean, to
plan, to have, to mind, to fail, etc.
e.g. She is going to visit him next Sunday.
He can read and speak English.
Harris tried to open the tin with the pocket knife. (Jerome)
I hope to see you soon.
The teacher tried to explain, and became a little angry with them in trying.
The combination can’t help + gerund also forms a compound verbal modal
predicate.
e.g. I couldn’t help smiling (Maugham)
Couldn’t help smiling is a compound verba! modal predicate which consists
of the past indefinite tense form of the modal expression can’t help and the
indefinite gerund active smiling.
The predicate of this type may be called a compound verbal attitudinal
predicate. Attitudinal verbs do not denote actions but express various modal
meanings: intention, determination, attempt, desire, hope, attitude, etc.
Note: A modal part may have two modal verbs or a modal verb and a modal
expression.
e. g. She must be willing to come here again.
The compound verbal aspect (phasal) predicate consists of an aspect
(phrasal) verb and an infinitive or a gerund.
The aspect verbs are of beginning: (to begin, to start, to commence, to set
about, to talk to, to fa ll to, to come), duration (to go on, to keep, to proceed, to
continue), repetition (would, used, (denoting a repeated action in the past)) and
cessation (to stop, tofinish, to give up, to leave off, etc.).
e.g. Give up smoking.
I used to write poetry when I was a child.
He began to walk along the pavement. (Murdoch)
It continued to rain the whole day.
People started to leave the theatre long before the end o f the play.
Note: The difference in the functions of the gerund and the infinitive after the
verb to stop is as follows:
e.g. She stopped talking to him. (part of the compound verbal aspect
predicate) - Вона перестала з ним говорити.
She stopped to talk to him. (stopped - the simple verbal predicate, to talk - the
adverbial modifier of purpose) - Вона зупинилась, щоб поговорити з ним.
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The compound verbal predicate of double orientation consists of two parts.

I he first part is a finite verb which denotes the attitude to, evaluation of, or
і ciinment on the content of the sentence expressed by the speaker or somebody not
mentioned in the sentence. The second part denotes the action which is (was/will
he) performed by theperson/non person expressed by the subject.
e.g. This type o f rocket is supposed to have many advantages. = They suppose
that this type of rocket has many advantages. (Припускають, що цей
тип ракети має багато переваг.)
Many books are known to be published in our country every y§ar. = We
know that many books are published in our country every year. (Відомо,
що багато книг друкується в нашій країні кожен рік)
Не is said to be a good doctor. (Кажуть, що він хороший лікар)
In this case we see different orientation of the actions which are regarded
from two points of view: that of the speaker and that of the person (or non-person)
expressed by the subject.
In a number of cases semantically this type of predicate has mucli in common
with the compound verbal modal predicate, as in: You can’t have misunderstood
me, but formally these predicates are different, because in the compound verbal
modal predicate the first component is a modal verb whereas in the compound
predicate of double orientation, it is a verb or a phrase expressing attitude,
evaluation, or comment. They belong to one of the following verb groups:
1. Intransitive verbs of seeming or happening with the general meaning of
evaluation in the active voice: to seem, to appear, to prove, to turn out, to happen,
to chance.
e. g. You seem to have been mistaken.
One day a Hare happened to meet a Tortoise. (Carroll)
The Hare turned out to be the loser of the race. (Carroll)
He appeared to be a very clever man.
My prediction turned out to be correct.
Her mother had chanced to look into her room. (Dreiser)
2. Some verbs in the passive voice:
a) verbs of saying: to say, to declare, to state, to report, to rumor:
e. g. He is said to know English well Кажуть, що він знає англійську добре.
The delegation is reported to have arrived in Kyiv. Повідомляють, що
делегація прибула до Києва.
b) verbs of mental activity: to believe, to consider, to expect, to find, to
know, to mean, to presume, to regard, to suppose, to think, to understand:
e. g. He was thought to have arrived on Sunday. Думачи, що він приїхав у
неділю.
I was supposed to meet him. Передбачалося, що я зуст ріну його.
Nick is known to be an honesI and hard working boy. Відомо, що Нік -
чесний працьовитий хлопець.
c) verbs of perception: to feel, to hear, to see, to watch:
e. g. Birds were heard to sing in theforest. Було чути, як співають пташки у лісі.
Не was seen to enter the library. Бачили, що він входив у бібліотеку.
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3. Phrases with some modal meaning: to be (un)likely, to be sure, to be certain.

e. g. He is sure to give us some useful information. Він обоє ’язково дасть
нам корисну інформацію.
Our team is likely to win this match. Схоже, що наша команда виграє
цей матч.
Не is certain to have come already. Він, напевно, вже прийшов.
§ 10. The compound nominal predicate proper
The compound nominal predicate proper consists of a link verb and a
predicative (the nominal part o f the predicate).
According to their meaning all link verbs can be divided into two large
groups: 1) link verbs of being and remaining; 2) link verbs of becoming.
1) Link verbs of being and remaining: to be, to remain, to keep, to continue, to
look, to smell, to stand, to sit, to lie, to shine, to seem, to prove, to appear, to stay, etc.
e. g. His voice sounded cold and hostile.
The sky was blue and cloudless.
2) Link verbs of becoming: to become, to grow, to turn, to get, to make, to
come, to go, to leave, to run, etc.
e. g. Outside it was getting dark (Hemingway)
The snow turned into a cold rain. (London)
The Predicative can be:
1) a noun in the common case (occasionally by a noun in the possessive case):
e. g. My sister is a doctor.
The face was Victorian’s.
It's evening. (Jerome)
2) an adjective or participle II (very seldom participle I):
e. g. He was tired o f the evening.
Mor was silent. (Murdoch)
The street was deserted.
Note 1: It should be remembered that in some cases a predicative adjective
in English corresponds to an adverbial modifier expressed by an adverb in
Ukrainian. Particular attention should be paid to such verbs as to look, to feel, to
sound, to smell, to taste. In English these verbs are link verbs. The predicatives
qualify the subject and are therefore expressed only by adjectives. In Ukrainian the
corresponding verbs form simple verbal predicates and are therefore modified by
adverbials expressed by an adverb.
e. g. She looks beautiful. - Вона виглядає чудово.
He feels bad. - Він почувається погано.
The rose smells good. Троянда має гарний запах. (Троянда гарно пахне.)
3) an infinitive, infinitive phrase or an infinitive construction :
e. g. Our intention is to help you.
My idea is to go there myself.
4) a gerund or a gerundial phrase:
e. g. Seeing is believing.
5) a numeral, cardinal or ordinal:
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e. g. Helen is twenty.
6) a pronoun:
e. g. The house was no longer theirs. (Dickens)
"It's me", she said. (Green)
7) a prepositional phrase:
e. g. I am on your side.
8) an adverb (an adverb used as a predicative loses its adverbial meaning and
begins to indicate state):
e.g. How are you? - I a m so-so. (a predicative)
Compare: She speaks English so-so. (an adverbial modifier of manner)
9) a clause:
e.g. That’s what has happened.
Note 2: Besides the predicative referring to the subject, there is another type
of predicative to the object, so called Objective Predicative. It does not form part
of the predicate. In this case the predicate is simple,
e.g. They painted the door green.
§ 11. The combination to be + participle II
The combination to be + participle II can denote an action, in which case it is
a simple predicate expressed by a verb in the passive voice, it can also denote a
state, then it is a compound nominal predicate consisting of a link verb and a
predicative.
e.g. The statue is broken. - Статуя розбита. (The predicate indicates the state
of the statue).
When 1 came up to the gate, it was already locked. - Коли я підійшов до
воріт, вони були вже замкнені. (The predicate indicates the state of the
gate at a given moment).
When I came up to the gate, it had already been locked. - Коли я
підійшов до воріт, їх уже замкнули. (The predicate indicates an action
completed before a definite moment in the past).
Don’t try to open the gate. It is locked. - He намагайтесь відкрити
ворота. Вони замкнені, (state).
It has just been locked. - їх тільки що замкнули, (action).
It is sometimes difficult to discriminate between the verb to be + participle II
as a simple and as a compound nominal predicate.
1. We clearly have the passive voice (simple predicate):
a) when the doer of the action is indicated and is the preposition by:
e.g. They were interrupted by Miss Bennet.
b) when there is an adverbial modifier of place, frequency or time:
e.g. His right arm was broken in many places.
The library door was opened at midnight.
c) when the verb to be is used in the Continuous, Perfect or in the Future tense:
e.g. The next moment he was being introduced to a middle-aged woman.
The horses were being put to punctually at a quarter to nine. (Dickens)
"Be careful, the door is freshly painted” (compound nominal predicate)
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- “Oh, has it already been painted? " (the passive voice) , ,

The entrance door will be closed at 7.
But: when the verb to be is in the present or past perfect inclusive and the
nominal verb admits of the continuous form, we usually have a compound nominal
predicate.
e.g. Our things had been packedfor two hours ...
The documents are ready. They have been typedfor two hours.
d) when the verb to be is associated with participle II of durative verbs
(such as to like, to love, to honour, to hate, to admire, etc.):
e.g. He was admiredfor his courage.
"Is he generally liked? ”
But: Such participles as disappointed, distressed, irritated, vexed, surprised,
astonished, amazed, frightened, alarmed, etc. which express mental states usually
form a compound nominal predicate even if there is an object introduced by the
preposition by. This object does not denote the doer of an action but the cause of the
state.
e.g. I was surprised to see her.
He was frightened by the remark.
2. When these criteria cannot be applied the context itself helps to decide
whether the predicate is a simple or a compound nominal one.
§ 12. The compound nominal double predicate
The compound nominal double predicate combines the features o f two
different types o f predicate. It has the features o f the simple verbal predicate and
those o f the compound nominal predicate. It consists of two parts, both of which
are notional. The first one is verbal and is a notional verb denoting an action or
process performed by the person/non-person expressed by the subject. From this
point of view it resembles the simple verbal predicate. But at the same time the
verbal part of this predicate performs a linking function, as it links its second part
(which is a predicative) to the subject.
The second part of the compound nominal double predicateis a noun or an
adjective which denotes the properties of the subject in the same way as the
predicative of the compound nominal predicate proper does,
e.g. The moon was shining cold and bright
The predicate here denotes two separate notions:
1) The moon was shining, and at the same time
2) The moon was cold and bright.
There are a number of verbs that often occur in this type of predicate, performing
the double function of denoting a process and serving as link verbs at the same time.
They are: to die, to live, to lie, to marry, to return, to rise, to sit, to stand, to shine,
etc. As in Modem English there is a growing tendency to use this type of predicate, the
verbs occurring in it are not limited by any particular lexical class,
e.g. My daughter sat silent.
He died a hero.
She married young.
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The light came grey and pale.

The men stood silent and motionless.
They met friends and parted enemies.
The moon rose round and yellow.
§ 13. Mixed types of compound predicate
Compound predicates can combine elements of different types (see the
diagram to § 7).
Thus we have:
1. The compound modal nominal predicate:
e.g. “You needn’t be afraid ", he answered smiling. (Voynich)
I may be glad to accept it. (Murdoch)
“The boys must be named like dogs", he maintained. (Steinbeck)
She couldn’t be happy.
2. The compound aspect (phasal) nominal predicate:
e.g. At about dinner-time the sky had begun to be overcast. (Murdoch)
It was just beginning to be daylight... (Hemingway)
3. The compound modal aspect (phasal) predicate:
e.g. “Could somebody finish translating?" (Murdoch)
He can V continue training.

§ 14. Subject Predicate Concord (Agreement)

In the English language the predicate verb agrees with the subject in number
and person. Thus a singular noun-subject requires a singular verb-predicate, a
plural noun-subject requires a plural verb-predicate.
The predicate is used in the singular when the subject is expressed by:
1) a gerund, an infinitive phrase, a prepositional phrase or a clause
introduced by a conjunction:
e. g. Growingflowers is her hobby, (a gerund)
To know everything is to know nothing (an infinitive phrase)
After the meeting is the time to speak (a prepositional phrase)
Whether you find me or not does not concern me. (a clause)
Note: Subject clauses introduced by conjunctive pronouns what, who may be
followed by either a singular or plural verb.
e. g. What I say and what I think are my own affair.
What I want to do is to save us.
2) arithmetic expressions, such as arithmetical addition, subtraction, division:
e. g. Twelve divided by two is six.
Ten minus four is six.
Note: However multiplication admits of two variants,
e. g. Twice two is/are four.
3) a definite, indefinite or negative pronoun each, either, every(-body, -one,
-thing), some (-body, -one, -thing), nobody, no one, nothing, neither, etc.:
e. g. Every bush and every tree was in bud.
Neither o f you is wanted.
 286

Nobody is present.
Note: None, originally singular, belongs also here when reference is made to
one person.
e.g. ...none knows better, what those fine words mean. (Kingsley)
In other cases none has a plural verb-predicate,
e. g. None o f them have come.
All in the sense of все has a singular verb, while all in the sense of всі takes a
plural verb:
e.g. All that he did was complain about everything.
Not all were invited.
4) pronouns who, what:
e.g. What is there? Who has come? Who is this man?
Note: With relative pronouns (who, which, what) the predicate agrees with
its antecedent.
e.g. Do you know the man who is standing there? (The man is standing...)
Do you know the men who are standing there ? (The men are standing...)
But: It’s me who has done it.
5) the emphatic it:
e.g. It was my friends who suddenly arrived.
I t ’s they who are responsible for the delay.
6) the word-group many a + noun:
e.g. Many a lie has been told.
7) plural nouns or phrases when they are used as names, titles o f books,
magazines, newspapers, etc.:
e.g. "Gulliver’s travels ” is full o f satire
"Fathers and Sons ” is the most popular o f Turgenev's novel.
Note: However, the titles of some works, which are collections of stories,
etc., may have either a singular or a plural verb.
e.g. “The Canterbuiy Tales ” consist o f about seventeen thousand lines o f verse.
8) a noun in the plural denoting time, measure or distance, when the noun
represents the amount or mass as a whole:
e.g. Ten dollars is too much to pay.
Eight hours o f sleep is enough.
Five thousand miles is too far to travel.
9) collective nouns, which are plural in meaning but singular in form
(family, group, company, government, committee, etc.) if the collective is taken
as a whole:
e.g. Myfamily is small.
A new government has been formed.
But: The verb is plural if the persons or things, which form the collective, are
considered separately.
e.g. The Government were seated on his left and the Opposition on his right.
(Aldridge).
The family were alone in the parlor (Lawrence)
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The word data is an irregular plural noun, but it takes a singular verb, though
a plural verb is also used especially in a very formal English:
e.g. The data in the census report is very interesting.
The data in the census report are very interesting.
10) two nouns expressing one person or thing:
e.g. The painter and decorator has come.
The bread and cheese was presently brought in and distributed... (Bronte)
But: The painter and the decorator have come.
The repetition of the article shows that two different persons tire meant.
11) such invariable singular nouns as hair, money, gate, information,
progress, advice, etc.:
e.g. The gate is open.
The information was usually interesting.
Her hair is fair.
But: There are two hairs in your milk!
Note: The corresponding Ukrainian nouns used as subject are either plural
(гроші), or have both the singular and then plural forms (новина-новини).
12) invariable singular nouns ending in -s news, works (завод), headquarters
(штаб), billiards, dominoes, checkers', fields of study that end in -ics linguistics,
economics, physics, etc.; certain illnesses that end in -s measles, mumps, diabetes,
rabies, rickets, shingles, etc.; sometimes a proper noun that ends in -s, is singular:
e.g. No news is good news.
Physics is easy for her.
Rabies is an infectious and often fatal disease.
Statistics is a rather modern branch of mathematics.
Note: Nouns in -ics may have a plural verb-predicate when denoting qualities,
different activities, etc. (gymnastics - “physical exercises”)

A profession
Politics
Political affairs, political ideas

e.g. Politics is a risky profession.

Politics have always interested me.
Statistics is singular when it refers to a field of study,
e.g. Statistics is an interesting field o f study.
When it refers to particular numbers, it is used as a countable noun:
singular = one statistic (no final -s); plural = two statistics,
e.g. This statistic is correct. Those statistics are incorrect.
13) there is a strong tendency to use the verb in the singular instead o f
plural when the verb precedes the subject (usually in interrogative sentences)
and when the sentence begins with here or there:
e.g. Where is my coat and hat?
Is she and Peter to meet you at the station?
And here was a man, was experience and culture. (Galsworthy)
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Note: If the subjects are of different number the predicate agrees with the
subject first.
e.g. There was a rose and some other flowers int the vase.
There were many notebooks and a textbook on the table.
In informal style, however, the singular verb is often used in both cases.
e.g. There's too many o f them living up there.
There's two kinds o f men here, you ’llfind.
14) if the subject is a word consisting of two nouns connected by the
preposition with, or the expression together with the predicate is in the singular:
e.g. A woman with the child was standing on the platform.

The predicate is used in the plural:

1) when there are two or more homogeneous subjects connected by the
conjunction and or asyndetically:
e.g. Mr. Murdstone and I were soon off... (Dickens)
Note: When a singular noun-subject has two attributes characterizing the
same person or non-person connected by and it has the singular verb and the
article is not repeated.
e.g. A well-equipped and extensivefactory was visited by the delegation yesterday.
But: If the attributes characterize different persons or non-persons the verb is
in the plural and the article is repeated, or the article is used once and the noun
is used in the plural.
e.g. The black and the white car were badly damaged.
The black and white cars were badly damaged.
2) when subjects are expressed by such invariable plural nouns as goods
(товар, товари, вироби), contents (зміст, суть), riches (багатство, скарби),
clothes (одяг), wages (зарплата), eaves (карниз, звис даху) :
e.g. The goods were delivered on time.
His wages were only 15 shillings a week.
His clothes were shabby.
3) with homogenous subjects connected by both ...and:
e.g. Both the teacher and the students have come.
Both the bread and the butter are fresh.
4) when the subjects are expressed by collective nouns denoting individuals,
such as cattle (худоба), poultry (домашня птиця), police (поліція), militia
(міліція), infantry (піхота), guard (гвардія), jury (присяжні), etc., though
singular in form, always have a plural verb-predicate:
e.g. I don’t know what the police are doing.
Note: the noun people (народ, нація) has a singular verb.
e.g. This people lives in the North.
When the word people has a final -s {peoples) it is used to refer to ethnic or
national groups.
e.g. All the peoples of the world desire peace.
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5) with homogenous subjects connected by the conjunctions not only...but

also, either...or, or, neither...nor the verb-predicate agrees with the nearest
noun-subject:
e.g. Neither you nor 1 am right.
Neither 1 nor you are right.
Either James or I am to do it. (Dickens)
6) with homogenous subjects connected by the conjunctions as well as,
rather than, as much as, more than the verb-predicate agrees with the first one:
e.g. My parents as well as my sister are teachers.
My sister as well as my parents is a teacher.
7) if the subject is a syntactic word-group the first element of which
denotes an indefinite number or amount, such as a number of..., a variety of...,
the majority of..., a lot of..., plenty of..., a mass of..., etc., the predicate may be
in the singular or in the plural. In most cases the form of the predicate
depends on the form and meaning of the second element, which from a
semantic point of view is the dominant element of the word-group:
e.g. “There is a lot o f truth in that ”said Johnson cautiously. (Lindsay)
A lot o f people are coming. (Hichens)
“There are a lot o f things still for you to believe", says Mr. Eversham,
beaming. (Wells)
There were plenty of rooms (at the hotel). (Hemingway)
8) if the subjectis substantivized adjectives denoting groups of people and
preceded by the: the young, the elderly, the dead, the poor, the rich, the blind,
the deaf, the old, the mute, the eminent, etc.
e.g. The poor are helped by government programs.

The Secondary Parts of the Sentence

The secondary parts of the sentence are: the object, the attribute, an
apposition and the adverbial modifier.
§ 15. The Object
The object is a secondary part o f the sentence which completes or restricts the
meaning o f a verb or sometimes an adjective, a word denoting state or a noun,
e.g. Nan spread out the paper on the table. (Murdoch)
They started down the drive. (Murdoch)
The object can be expressed by:
1) a noun in the common case:
e.g. Mor began to walk across the playground in the direction of Library. (Murdoch)
2 ) a pronoun (personal in the objective case, possessive, defining,
reflexive, demonstrative, indefinite):
e.g. “You must tell me all about Mr. Demoyte ”, said Miss Carter suddenly. (Murdoch)
Mor whistled to himself. (Murdoch)
Can 1 trust you, / wonder? (Murdoch)
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Note: Here we must mention the peculiar use of the pronoun it in the
function of a formal object, which is called introductory (or anticipatory) it, or in
the function of a real (notional) object.
The formal it is characteristic o f literary style and is mostly used after certain
verbs followed by adjectives (sometimes nouns). Here belong such verbs as to
think, to find, to consider, to make etc. After these verbs it introduces a real object
expressed by an infinitive or gerundial phrase or by a subordinate clause.
e.g. He made it a point to save so much every week. (London) (introductory it).
He was gradually making it possible to earn a livelihood by his art.
(Lawrence) (introductory it)
“What's the book, Don? ” he asked. Donald passed it over without a word.
(Murdoch) (notional it)
Mor thought he would show Miss Carter the hall next. They found it
empty. (Murdoch) (notional it)
3) an infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction. After
the verbs to advise, to ask, to decide, to discover, to discus, to explain, to forget,
to find out, to know, to learn, to remember, to show, to teach, to feel, to
understand the object may be expressed by the conjunctive infinitive phrase:
e.g. We plan to go on holiday together.
He decided to stop.
We didn 7 know what to say.
We were wondering where to put our coats.
The guide didn 7 tell the tourists when to come back.
4) a gerund, a gerundial phrase, or a gerundial construction:
e.g. Tim loved showing things. (Murdoch)
5) a clause (called an object clause), which makes the whole sentence a
complex one:
e.g. I shall decide what to do about it. (Murdoch)
He felt that his wishes had crystallized. (Murdoch)
" You know what it is, ” said Bledyard. (Murdoch)
6) various predicative complexes:
e.g. Everything depends on your coming in time. (Murdoch)
She felt the child trembling all over. (Murdoch)
7) a group of words, which is one part of the sentence, i.e. asyntactically
indivisible group :
e.g. He found a number ofpersons in the Morse house. (London)
8) a numeral:
e.g. At last he found three o f them high up in the hills.
§ 16. Kinds of Objects
There are following kinds of objects in English: the direct object, the
indirect object, and the cognate object (see the diagram below).
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Object

Direct Cognate
1 got a letter yesterday. She lived a happy life.
They sent a telegram.
The postman brought He watched her ring the bell.
the letters. My sister didn’t want me to go there.

Indirect

Non prepositional Prepositional

She gave me a book. She helped him with his English.
§ 17. The Direct Object
A noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case that completes
the meaning of a transitive verb is called a direct object.
The direct object immediately follows the transitive verb, which governs it (if
there is no indirect object). Thus, if a transitive verb takes only one object
expressed by a noun or pronoun without a preposition, it is always a direct object.
Very often the direct object in English corresponds to the indirect object in
Ukrainian:
Compare: 1. I help her (direct object) - Я допомагаю їй (indirect object,
accusative case).
2. I addressed her (direct) - Я звернувся до неї (indirect
prepositional object).
Mind the following!
to address smb. - звертатися до когось;
to affect smb. - впливати на когось, щось;
to answer smth. - відповідати на щось;
to approach smb., smth. - підійти, наблизитись до когось/чогось;
to attend smth. - бути присутнім на чомусь;
to enjoy smth. - отримувати задоволення від чогось;
to enter smth. - входити у, заходити, вступати;
to follow smb. - іти слідом, іти за кимсь;
tojoin smb., smth. - приєднуватися, входити в компанію, сполучатись з чимось;
to mount smth. - підніматися, сходити, залізати на щось, зійти на щось,
вилізти на щось, сісти верхи (на коня);
to need smth., smb. - мати потребу в чомусь, в комусь;
to play smth. —грати на чомусь, в щось;
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to reach smth. - доходити, простягатись (до якогось місця), дійти,

досягати чогось, дотягуватися до чогось;
to watch stub, smth. - слідкувати за кимсь, чимось, стежити, спостерігати,
наглядати за кимсь, чимось.
There are a few English verbs which can have two direct objects. These verbs
are: to ask, to answer, to take, to envy, to hear, to forgive:
e. g. I asked Tom a few questions. (I asked a few questions. / asked Tom.)
Forgive him his rudeness. (Forgive him. Forgive his rudeness.)
Answer me this question. (Answer me. Answer this question.)
The position of the direct object
The direct object may be separated from the predicate verb in the following
cases:
1) if there is a non-prepositional indirect object to the same verb in the
sentence. In this case the direct object follows the indirect one:
e. g. Mary told him everything.
Note: The direct object may come before the non-prepositional indirect
object if it is the pronoun it, and the indirect object is any other personal pronoun,
e. g.Give it me, will you? (in colloquial speech)
2) if the direct object is modified by a phrase or a clause. In this case it may
be separated from the verb by a prepositional indirect object or an adverbial
modifier (the case when the group of the object is rather lengthy).
e. g. She held in one hand a thread and needle...(Lawrence)
They found at the top of the hill a hidden wild field, two sides of
which were backed by a wood...(Lawrence)
He took into his hands the small beast that had been hiding under the
dry grass.
3) Such adverbs as about, back, down, in, off, on, out, over, through, up,
etc., when used as the second element of a phraseological unit (verb + adverb)
are usually placed before the direct object when the latter is a noun or one of
the longer pronoun, such as each other, one another, something, somebody, etc.
Personal pronouns always precede the adverb (Take it off. Put them on.).
e. g. He had put on a handsome tie...(Lawrence)
He laid down his stick. (Lawrence)
Note: With most of those verbs, however, the direct object may also precede
the adverb.
e. g. He laid down his stick. - He laid his stick down.
4) if the direct object precedes the verb, which governs it:
a) in exclamatory sentences:
e. g. What delightful weather we are having! What a beautiful dress she
has bought! (Murdoch)
“What a droll fellow Bledyard is!” he said. (Murdoch)
b) in special questions which refer to the direct object:
e. g. What can I do for you, Mary? (Murdoch)
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“What do you think of the coffee this time, Bill?” said Mr. Everard.
(Murdoch)
“What would you say, sir,” said Mor wickedly...(Murdoch)
c) for the sake o f emphasis (contrast sometimes). In this case the inverted order
of the subject and predicate may befound, and the verb to do is notional verbs.
e. g. Not another word does Mr. Bucket say...
I enjoyed arithmetic, as always.
Grammar I could not understand in the least.
§ 18. The indirect object
The indirect object usually denotes the person towards whom the action of
the finite verb is directed.There are two types of indirect object:
1. The indirect object of the first type, which expresses the addressee o f the
action. It is used with transitive verbs and has the following characteristics:
a) it cannot be used without the direct object. It is used with transitive verbs
which take a direct object, so it hardly ever stands alone.
e.g. I sent him a letter yesterday, (him - an indirect object, a letter —a direct
object)
It is possible to say: I sent a letter yesterday, or What did you send yesterday?
but not: I sent him (йому) yesterday, or To whom (кому) did you send yesterday?
Show me a room, and bring me a pen and paper, (me - an indirect object, a room, a
pen and paper - a direct object).
Note: If the indirect object is a noun, it is in the common case; if it is a pronoun,
it is in the objective case. Pronouns are commoner as indirect objects than nouns.
b) the indirect object has a fixed place in the sentence - it precedes the direct
object. In this case it is used without a preposition.
e.g. Mor offered her a handkerchief. (Murdoch)
" Wejust came over, " she said, “ to give you these flowers ”. (Murdoch)
c) the in direct object may follow the direct object. In this case the indirect
object is used with a proposition to or sometimes for if the indirect object expresses
the person for whose benefit the action is performed. These prepositions make the
indirect object more prominent.
e.g. She handed her bouquet to Rain. (Murdoch)
He gave all his money to his mother. (Lawrence)
They must find a room fo r me.
Note 1. When the direct object is expressed with the pronoun it, and the
indirect object by any other personal pronoun, the direct object always precedes the
indirect object and the latter is used with the preposition to.
e.g. Give it to me.
In colloquial speech preposition to is often not used. Give it me, but: Give it to John.
Note 2. There are a number of verbs after which the indirect object is used
with the preposition to even when it comes before the direct object. These verbs
are: to explain, to dictate, to suggest, to relate, to announce, to communicate, to
introduce, to repeat, to dedicate, to point out, etc.
e.g. I shall dictate to you the names o f books to be readfo r your examination.
 The teacher explained to Helen a new grammar rule.
Note 3. There are three verbs, which may take an indirect object without any
direct object. In this case the indirect object is used with the preposition to. These
verbs are: to read, to write, to sing. With the verb to write both forms are possible,
e.g. Please write to me as often as you can.
Won't you write me and tell me how you all are?
I shall read to you with pleasure.
Won't you sing to me?
II. The indirect object of the second type is a prepositional object that
follows both transitive and intransitive verbs and completes their meaning. This
type of object may be used with any preposition. It is not always easy to tell
whether a prepositional phrase stands for an object, or an adverbial modifier.
The prepositional phrase is an object when it denotes a certain person or thing
connected with the action expressed by the verb.
The prepositional phrase is an adverbial modifier when it serves to indicate the
time, place, manner, etc., of an action.
This difference of meaning is shown in the question put to an object, or to an
adverbial modifier. Asking of an object, we use a pronoun (who, what, etc.)
e.g. With whom did you go to the concert? - I went with my brother (an object)
We use an adverb when the question refers to an adverbial modifier,
e.g. How did you manage to lift that heavy box? - I did it with great difficulty
(an adverbial modifier).
Sometimes one and the same prepositional phrase may be interpreted in two ways:
e.g. What do you keep those instruments in? - I keep them in a glass box (an object).
Where do you keep those instruments? —I keep them in a glass box (an
adverbial modifier).
What did you open that box with? - 1 did it with a knife (an object).
How did you manage to open that box? - I did it with a knife (an adverbial modifict i
Here are some examples of the prepositional object:
e.g. / am looking for my pencil.
I don't care for such people.
John was delighted with his new skates.
She showed great interest in her pedagogical work.
Everybody looked at the newcomer.
§ 19. The Complex Object
The direct and the prepositional indirect object may be simple and complex.
The complex object consists of two parts (components). The first part is a
noun in the common case or in the possessive case, a personal pronoun in the
objective case, or a possessive pronoun; the second part is an infinitive (The
Objective with the Infinitive Construction), a gerund (The Gerundial Construction),
a participle (The Objective Participle Construction).
The second part of a complex object may also b e a noun, an adjective,
referring to the first part as a predicative (Objective predicative), a word denoting
state, or a prepositional phrase.
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The group object + objective predicative shouldn’t be mixed with the complex
object. The difference is the following:
1) the connection between the two elements of the group object + objective
predicative is not close enough to make them one part of the sentence;
2) the complex object can nearly always be altered into an object clause, while
ihe direct object with its objective predicative cannot.
Compare: He felt the story to be true = He felt that the story was true.
(complex object)
They left him alone. = They left that he was alone, (objective predicative)
e.g. I prefer the window open, (objective predicative)
She boiled the eggs hard, (objective predicative)
My mother insists on my going there, (gerundial complex)
1 saw her swimming in the river, (the objective participle complex)
My sister didn 7 want me to go there, (the objective with the infinitive complex)
§ 20. The Cognate Object
The cognate object is a special kind of object, which has the following peculiarities:
1) it is used with intransitive verbs though it has no preposition;
2) it is expressed with a noun, which is either of the same root as the verb or is
similar to it in meaning;
3) it is almost regularly attended by an attribute with which it forms a
combination that is close in meaning to an adverbial modifier: to live a happy life =
to live happily; to die a death of a hero = to die like a hero; to sigh a heavy sigh = to
sigh heavily, etc.
The verbs that most frequently take a cognate object are: to live (a life); to
smile (a smile); to laugh (a laugh); to die (a death); to sigh (a sigh); to sleep (a
sleep); to dream (a dream); to run (a race); to fight (a fight).
Such combinations are considered to be objects, not adverbial modifiers, because:
a) they are expressed by nouns without prepositions, which is not characteristic
of adverbials;
b) they may occur in the position of the subject in a passive construction.
e.g. He never doubted that life should be lived as he lived.
The construction with a cognate object is more emphatic than with an adverbial
modifier.
e.g. Here she stopped and sighed a heavy sigh.
She died a violent death.
One must live one’s own life.
Listening to a funny story he laughed a hearty laugh.
An old man laughed a bitter laugh.
He has lived a long and interesting life.
Sometimes the cognate object is similar to the verb only in meaning:
e.g. Theyfought a good battle.
They went a walk.
Note: The cognate object is not to be confused with the direct object of some
transitive verbs, which may also be of the same root or semantics as the verb it is
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attached to: to sing a song, to tell a tale, to ask a question, etc. The latter do not in
any way modify the corresponding verbs (to sing a good song does not mean to
sing well), but only name the object of the action of the verb. Unlike the cognate
object, such objects can easily occur alone, without any modifiers of their own.
e.g. Sing me a song.
Tell them the tale.
§ 21. The Attribute
The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence, which denotes the qualities
of a person or thing expressed by a noun (or pronoun) in any of its functions in the
sentence.
An attribute can be either in pre-position or in post-position to the word it
modifies.
The Attribute

Prepositive postpositive
The frozen ground was The people of the valley were
hard as stone. interested by the excursions to see men handed.
e.g. An English lesson has already begun (in pre-position).
The door o f the room was open (in post-position).

§ 22. Ways of Expressing the Attribute

An attribute may be expressed by:
1) an adjective (the most common way of expressing an attribute). It usually
precedes the noun. An adjective denoting nationality or origin is placed before the
adjective denoting material,
e.g. An English tweed coat.
A Japanese silk shawl.
Adjectives with suffixes -able, -ible, which are usually derived from verbs,
are placed in post - position owing to their predicative character,
e.g. It is the only thing notable (= which may be noted)
He is the only person reliable (= who may be relied)
Placed before the head-nouns these adjectives have no predicative force:
e.g. It is a sensible suggestion.
She is an unreasonable person.
Some adjectives of French origin are placed after the noun they modify in
accordance with the position of the adjective used as an attribute in the French language,
e.g. The only people present were Lucy, and Lucy's husband.
The same in: the first person singular, the second person plural, etc.
An adjective used as an attribute to a pronoun always follows it:
e.g. Everyone present turned reproving eyes upon me... (Maurier)
Is there anything new in this information? (Maurier)
Adjectives with the prefix a- such as: alive, awake, asleep, afraid, etc. always
follow their head - noun:
e.g. He spoke like a man afraid
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/ am the happiest man alive.

2) a pronoun (possessive, defining, demonstrative, interrogative, relative). An
attributive pronoun is placed before the noun, which it modifies.
e.g. Her face was close to the window pane... (Steinbeck)
Her daughter Hilda was a pretty, doll-like baby... (Steinbeck)
Every bough was swinging in the wind every spring bird calling... (Galsworthy)
3) a numeral (cardinal or ordinal). A numeral is placed before its head-noun,
e.g. Two or three days went by. (Maugham)
Ours was the first boat... (Jerome)
At leastfifty people were standing about the long tables under the trees. (Steinbeck)
4) a noun
a) in the common case in pre-position:
e.g. The Banks' gave one oftheir parties under the oak trees on theflat. (Steinbeck)
It happened on a December evening. (Steinbeck)
From the chicken yards came the contented gabbling of scratching news.
(Steinbeck)
The garden wall was almost ruined. (Steinbeck)
b) in the possessive case. This kind of attribute is generally used in pre -
position, thus occupying the usual position of an attribute in Modem English:
e.g. Maria’s eyes brimmed with tears of emotion. (Steinbeck)
Rosa’s eyes crept up to the brilliant red poppies and then to Maria’s face.
(Steinbeck)
John was my mother’s youngest brother. (Steinbeck)
Raymond’s nose and ears were terribly punished by the sun. (Steinbeck)
However, an attribute expressed by the preposition of + a noun in the
possessive case is used in post - position (the so-called Absolute Genitive: a book
of my brother’s).
5) a prepositional phrase. A noun with a preposition used as an attribute is in
post - position.
e.g. The people o f the valley were interested, fascinated and not a little
horrified by the excursions to see men hanged. (Steinbeck)
The preposition of is often dropped with nouns of colour, price, size, age, etc.
e.g. A room the same size as yours was shown to us.
Note: Care should be taken not to consider every pre-positional phrase
following a noun as an attribute to that noun because the prepositional group may
be connected with the predicate in the function of a prepositional object or
adverbial modifier.
e.g. The letter from my brother gave me much pleasure, (attribute)
I have received a letter from my brother, (prepositional object)
He wrote me a letterfrom London, (adverbial modifier)
6) an adverb in pre-position and post-position.
In Ukrainian an attribute cannot be expressed by an adverb in pre-position.
Consequently in translating these sentences into Ukrainian we use adjectives: the
then secretary - тодішній секретар.
e.g. The then Government did not respond to this just claim.
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The room upstairs was light and spacious.

Somebody appeared on the upstairs balcony.
7) a participle or a participial phrase.
In the function of an attribute the participle can be used in pre - position. In
the latter case it is mostly used with accompanying words.
e.g. The frozen ground was hard as stone.
She was looking at her daughter playing in the yard.
8) a gerund, gerundial phrases or gerundial complexes. A gerund with a
preposition used as an attribute follows the noun it modifies. Here are the nouns
after which the gerund is used as an attribute: of (chance, habit, idea, trouble,
risk, method, way, custom, fear, manner, means, problem, necessity,
possibility, pleasure, right, hope, intention, importance, effort, feeling, sound,
gift, sing, etc.), for (instruction, apology, explanation, reason, preparation,
excuse, plan), in (experience, use, skill, interest, sense, harm, difficulty), at
(astonishment, disappointment, surprise).
Gerunds generally characterize non-persons from the point of view of their
function or purpose.
e.g. Her walking shoes were elegant (shoes which she wore when walking).
Hand in hand with reading, he had developed the habit o f making
notes...(London)
The rain showed no sign o f stopping... (Maugham)
9) an infinitive, an infinitive phrase or an infinitive construction. The infinitive
as an attribute is always used in post-position.
e.g. I have no time to lose.
This is the book to read.
There’s nobody here fo r him to play with.
He gave me a chance to choose the right time fo r that.
§ 23. The Apposition
The apposition is a part of the sentence expressed by a noun or nominal
phrase and referring to another noun or nominal phrase (the head word), or
sometimes to a clause.

Close Loose
Is Miss Hilda all right? Helen, my elder sister, is a doctor
The apposition may give another designation to, or description of, the person
or non - person, or else put it in a certain class of persons or non-persons. In the
latter case it is similar to an attribute, as it characterizes the person or non-person
denoted by the head word.
e.g. He knows about everything - a man o f the world.
Then there was "Mr. W. Bones, mate ". (Stevenson)
Like the attribute, the apposition may be in preposition or post position.
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However, unlike the attribute, which is always subordinated to its head word and is
usually connected with other parts in the sentence only through it, words in apposition
are, at least syntactically, coordinated parts, that is, both the head word and the
apposition are constituents of the same level in the sentence. This may be illustrated by
two possible types of transformation of sentence with words in apposition.
e.g. Mr. Brown, the local doctor, was known to everybody.
The local doctor, Mr. Brown, was known to everybody.
However, an apposition can rarely replace the head word in the sentence.
Substitution is possible if the apposition denotes the same person or non - person as
the head word.
From the point of view of their relation to the head word, appositions, like
attributes, are subdivided into non-detached (close) and detached (loose) ones.
§ 24. The Close Apposition
A close apposition (невідокремлена прикладка) stands in close connection
with the head word and is not separated by commas. The head-noun is often a
proper name; the apposition denotes rank, profession, relationship, title, kinship
terms, geographical denotations, etc.: Doctor Watson, Sir Peter, Mr. Brown, Mount
Everest, the River Thames, etc.
e.g. Dr. Phillips left the house in disgust. (Steinbeck)
Is Miss Hilda all right?
“What's the matter, Mr. Munroe? (Steinbeck)
The close apposition precedes the head - noun, except in some phraseological
combinations where the apposition follows the head-noun (William the Conqueror,
Richard the Lion Hearted). The stress is on the head - noun. In geographical
names the apposition follows the head - noun. The stress is on the apposition (The
River Thames, Mount Everest). The apposition follows its head-noun also in some
other cases: the opera “Ivan Susanin”, The newspaper “Tribune”.
A special case presents those instances 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: the City of London,
the Isle of Man, the Straits of Dover. (For this treatment of the close apposition.
§ 25. The Loose or Detached Apposition
A loose apposition (відокремлена прикладка) follows the head-noun, has the
force of a descriptive attribute, is always separated by commas and has a stress of
its own, as it forms a separate sense group. It is wider in its meaning than the close
apposition:
e.g. Betty, my elder daughter, is a college graduate.
My brother-in-law, Mr. Smith, is a writer.
§ 26. The Adverbial Modifier
The adverbial modifier is a secondary part of the sentence, which modifies a
verb, an adjective or an adverb.
According to their meaning adverbial modifiers may be classified as follows:
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§ 27. The Adverbial Modifier of Place and Direction

This adverbial expresses 1) place proper (Ann was bom in Lutsk);
2) direction or distance (our family moved to Kyiv two years ago); 3) distance
(Mary lives far from her parents).
The identifying questions are: where? - for place proper, where to? - for
direction, where? how far? - for distance.
e.g. Outside the rain was falling steadily. (Hemingway)
A t the store they questioned him... (Steinbeck)
Mor paid the taxi-driver and stacked up the suitcases on the platform. (Murdoch)
Adverbials of distance may give the idea of measure and thus overlap with
adverbials of measure.
e.g. Max lives two miles from me.
§ 28. The Adverbial Modifier of Time
The adverbial modifier of time has four variations: 1) time proper;
2) frequency; 3) duration; 4) time relationship.
1. Adverbials of time proper. Adverbials of time proper give the time of
some event. They may be expressed:
a) with an adverb (tomorrow, yesterday, now, nowadays, tonight, at night,
etc.) or adverbial phrases (some days later, late at night, early in the morning, etc.).
e.g. Tomorrow morning I 'll give that cat something to remember. (Steinbeck)
Tonight you simply must put out some poison fo r that cat. (Steinbeck)
The living-room was very pleasant at night.
But he had no hesitation now. (Murdoch)
b) with a non - prepositional noun phrase, often containing such words as this, that,
next, last, any (that night, this morning, next Sunday, last year, any minute, etc.).
e.g. Molly got up early the next morning and took George about the yard to
show him the secrets. (Steinbeck)
“I had ten-inch blooms this year”, she said. (Steinbeck)
c) with a noun preceded by a preposition or by a prepositional phrase, most
frequently with a noun as headword.
e.g. After a while she began to dress slowly. (Steinbeck)
A t the end o f the week she had her birthday party.
d) with a noun, adjective or adverb preceded by the conjunction when (when
a child, when young, when there, when at school, etc.)
e.g. When angry count a hundred.
e) with a participle or a participial phrase, a gerund with a preposition or with
a prepositional gerundial phrase.
e.g. One day, on returning to his hotel, he found a note in his room. (Gerund)
Rounding the corner, I immediately caught sight of Mr. Davies. (Participle)
While making a tour o f England, we were impressed by its beauty.
f) with an absolute construction.
e.g. The meal over, they went with Thomas to the fuel store.
2. Adverbials of frequency indicate how often the event denoted by the
predicate takes place. The adverbial of frequency may be an adverb (often, seldom,
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always, ever, never, sometimes, once, twice, etc.), an adverbial phrase (twice a
week, once a blue moon, etc.), a non-prepositional phrase with the pronoun every or
the noun time (every morning, every year, many a time, several times), or by a
prepositional phrase from time to time.
e.g. Tim always got on well with the boys. (Murdoch)
Sometimes someone would speak in a boat. (Hemingway)
Once I could see quite well in the dark. (Hemingway)
Twice more it was the same on the turns. (Hemingway)
“I never heard o f one ”. (Steinbeck)
3. Adverbials of duration indicate a period of time during which some event
takes place. They may be an adverb (long, lately, of late), by a prepositional phrase
(the preposition may be for, during, since, till, until), by a noun or non-
prepositional noun phrase introduced by the conjunction while, or by an infinitive.
e.g. Harry looked seriously into the fire fo r a long time.
The storm had been raining fo r six terrible days. (Maurier)
She will stay here till the end o f May.
We lived in the cottage the whole summer.
He looked tired while speaking.
4. An adverbials of time relationship present the idea of time as related to
some other event in time. This adverbial is such adverbs as still, yet, already, at
last, before, after, by a noun, a gerund, or a prepositional phrase with the
prepositions by, before, after.
e.g. The train has left already means that it has left by this time.
It was still raining implies that it had been raining for some time before.
Here are some other examples of the adverbial of time relationship:
Harry was still reading his paper.
A t last the preparation was finished.
I still do not know how to go about it.
Rain had not yet become his mistress. (Murdoch)
The three first subgroups answer the identifying questions when? how often?
how long? The last subgroup (time relationship) has no identifying question.
§ 29. The Adverbial Modifier of Manner
Adverbials of manner are mainly adverbs or prepositional phrases introduced
by the propositions with, without, by, by means of, or with the help of, the latter
three suggesting means. The identifying questions are how? in what way? by
what means?
e.g. Once more he passed by table without stopping. (Maugham)
She left him staring after her. (Steinbeck)
Tularecito smiled badly. (Steinbeck)
Helen Van Deventer soothed and petted her and usually succeeded in
increasing the temper. (Steinbeck)
Rain sighed with relief and let him embrace her. (Murdoch)
Some adverbials of manner border on the prepositional object in cases like the
following:
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e.g. He opened the tin with a knife.

The identifying questions are either How did he open the tin? or What did
he open the tin with?
§ 30. The Adverbial Modifier of Degree and Measure
The adverbials of degree are expressed mainly with adverbs and by
prepositional phrases introduced by the preposition to. The identifying questions
are how much? to what extent?
e.g. “I think, it’s pretty easy. I entirely agree with you. I quite understand
you. ” (Hemingway)
Mor wasn't quite sure. (Murdoch)
You are perfectly right, o f course... (Murdoch)
The adverbials of measure are usually expressed by a noun denoting a unit of
measure (length, time, weight, money, temperature). Such nouns are preceded by
numerals or the indefinite article and are usually used after verbs denoting
processes allowing measurement, such as to measure, to last, to wait, to sleep, to
walk, to run, to weigh, to cost.
e.g. He was now a hundred yards from the water. (London)
They wentforward to the edge and stoodfor some time in silence. (Murdoch)
He looked at her fo r a moment. (Murdoch)
§ 3 i. The Adverbial Modifier of Cause (Reason)
The identifying questions of these adverbial modifiers are why? and for what
reason? This adverb is used mainly as a conjunctive adverb. The following
prepositions may be used: because of, due to, owing to, on account of, for the
reason of, thanks to and some others.
A number of polysemantic prepositions acquire causal meaning when
combined with nouns denoting a psychological or physical state,
e.g. She can't speak fo r happiness (anger, fear, joy).
She cried out o f fear (anger).
She did it out o f pity.
Many people come here from curiosity.
He was trembling with hatred.
It was very interesting to me to see them together not only on account o f
their mutual affection, but because o f the strong personal resemblance
between them...(Dickens)
He was going to marry her because o f a child. (Lawrence)
He tiptoed past her door and went outside, closing the door silently for
fear o f awakening her. (Steinbeck)
Participial phrases are freely used as adverbials of reason,
e.g. Wanting a cigarette, I took out my case.
Having lost the book, Helen couldn ’t prepare the topic.
§ 32. The Adverbial Modifier of Purpose
This adverbial answers the identifying questions what for? for what
purpose? It is most frequently expressed with an infinitive phrase or complex,
e.g. He went to the end o f the platform to wait. (Murdoch)
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Soames put on his coat so as not to be cold. (Galsworthy)

Sit still not to fa ll down.
The adverbial of purpose may also be expressed with a prepositinal phrase,
nominal or gerundial, introduced by a preposition for.
e.g. We use the thermometer fo r measuring temperature.
He stepped aside fo r me to pass. (Maurier)
§ 33. The Adverbial Modifier of Result (Consequence)
The adverbial of result has no identifying questions. It refers to an adjective or
an adverb accompanied by an adverb of degree, such as too, enough, sufficiently,
so ... (as). The adverbial of resultis is expressed with an infinitive, an infinitive
phrase or complex.
e.g. The unexpected offer o f shelter was too unexpected to be resisted. (Dickens)
He spoke loud enough fo r you to hear.
He dfdn t run fast enough to catch the train.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
§ 34. The Adverbial Modifier of Condition
The identifying questions are in what case? or on what condition? The
adverbial of condition is generally expressed with a noun or a pronoun with a
preposition, or with a prepositional phrase (nominal or sometimes gerundial) with
the prepositions but for, except for, without.
e.g. But fo r the rain the weather would be fine.
Except fo r the weather the picnic would have been a success.
This adverbial is sometimes expressed with a participle or an adjective with
the conjunctions if or unless.
e.g. I shall buy this book i f necessary.
§ 35. The Adverbial Modifier of Concession
The identifying question is in spite of what? The adverbial of concession is
expressed with a prepositional phrase introduced by in spite of, despite, for all,
with all and phrases the conjunction though.
e.g. Even Miriam laughed in spite herself. (Lawrence)
Though a bad painter, he had a delicate feeling for art.
With all his faults, I like him.
England! with all thy faults, I love thee still... (G. Byron)
§ 36. The Adverbial Modifier of Comparison
This adverbial is introduced with the conjunctions than, as, as if, as though
or the preposition like. The adverbial with than is preceded by the comparative of
the adverb or the adjective it modifies, the adverbial with as - by the correlative
adverbs as or so.
e.g. Ann speaks English better than Mary.
John is not so tall as his brother.
Tom speaks French as a born Frenchman.
You look healthy as a goat. (Hemingway)
I never used to be like this. (Barstow)
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There was a veranda as broad and warm and welcoming as an embrace.

Her lips moved as i f to warn him.
She shivered with fright as if realizing the danger.
§ 37. The Adverbial Modifier of Attendant Circumstances.
These adverbials have no identifying questions. The adverbial of attendant
circumstances expresses some fact that accompanies the event presented by the
modified part of the sentence. This adverbial may be expressed with a gerundial
phrase, a participial phrase and any kind of absolute construction, and rather rarely
with an infinitive phrase.
The infinitive phrase is often found after the verb-predicate the verbs of
motion (to come, to run, to rush, leave, to return, to drive away, to get to some
place, to arrive, etc.).
e.g. She left the room without saying good-bye.
Once more he passed my table without stopping. (Maugham)
She rushed home to fin d a thief exploring the house.
I returnedfrom Europe to fin d my house in ruins.
He spent the morning in the chair reading.
§ 38. The Adverbial Modifier of Exception
This adverbial is expressed with nouns or prepositional phrases the
prepositions but, except, save, but for, except for, save for, apart from, aside
from, with the exclusion of.
e.g. Your dictation is good except fo r some spelling mistakes.
Our cat eats nothing but fish.
There was nothing to do except follow the instruction.
As you have already noticed, in the majority of cases, an identifying question
may help you to distinguish between adverbial modifiers from the semantic point of
view. When? suggests time, where? - place, in what case? - condition, etc.
However, it is not always possible to find an identifying question for every
adverbial. Sometimes one and the same question word may correspond to different
kinds of adverbials. Thus how? may suggest manner, comparison and degree. On
the other hand such adverbials are those of result an attendant circumstances have
no corresponding question words.
§ 39. Ways of Expressing the Adverbial Modifiers
An adverbial modifier may be expressed by:
1. An adverb or adverbial phrase.
e.g. Mor was irritated and slightly shocked (Murdoch) (adverbial modifier of degree)
They spoke politely about the current and the depths. (Hemingway)
(adverbial modifier of manner)
This poem was written twenty years ago. (adverbial modifier of time)
... just then she heard a quick footstep on the stairs. (Eliot) (adverbial
modifier of time)
2. A noun, pronoun or numeral, preceded by a preposition (a prepositional
nominal phrase).
e.g. He walked away slowly into theforest. (Kingsley ) (adverbial modifier of place)
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He takes his exercise in the open air. (adverbial modifier of place)

... he could not eat fo r happiness (Joyce) (adverbial modifier of cause or
reason)
He lives at the end o f the village, (adverbial modifier of place)
I met him in 1980. (of time)
Behind him he could see a long valley, (adverbial modifier of place)
3. A noun without any preposition (a non-prepositional noun phrase)
expressing extent, distance, definite and indefinite time, price, etc. The latter may
contain such words as this, that, every, last, next, etc.
e.g. He wandered miles and miles. (Lawrence) (adverbial modifier of distance)
She walked a short distance up the road. (Cusack) (adverbial modifier of
distance)
She was silent a moment. (Cusack) (adverbial modifier of time)
Come this way, please, (adverbial modifier of direction)
• Wait a minute! (adverbial modifier of time)
4. A noun with accompanying words or a syntactical word-combination,
e.g. We went home early in the evening (Dickens) (adverbial modifier of time)
We had started from Yarmouth at three o ’clock in the afternoon, and we
were due in London about eight next morning.
Next day the morning hours seemed to pass very slowly at Mr. Pellet’s. (Bronte)
...all about the meadows shine in pure gold of buttercups. (Gissing) (a
syntactical word-combination)
5. A noun, a pronoun, an adjective, an infinitive, a participle, an infinitive or a
participial phrase, an adverb, introduced by subordinate conjunctions.
e.g. Helen knows English better than I. (adverbial modifier of comparison)
I 'll buy this book i f necessary, (adverbial modifier of condition)
While reading the book he dropped his spectacles, (adverbial modifier of time)
Nick playsfootball better than his brother, (adverbial modifier of comparison)
When traveling, / have now and then watched the sunrise... (adverbial
modifier of time)
She rose as i f to leave the room... (adverbial modifier of comparison)
They stood around her though at a little distance... (Dickens) (adverbial
modifier of concession)
Adverbial modifiers conjunctions are usually detached. (See §42, p. 243).
6. A non-finite verb forms.
a) a gerund or a gerundial phrase:
e.g. How did you get out without his seeing you? (Voynich) (adverbial modifier
of attendant circumstances)
On returning home, hefound a letter on his table, (adverbial modifier of time)
/ wash my hands andface before coming to bed (adverbial modifier of time)
She left the room without saying good-bye. (adverbial modifier of
attendant circumstances)
b) an infinitive, an infinitive phrase or an infinitive construction:
e.g. To do well is better than to speak well, (adverbial modifier of comparison)
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The children woke up to fin d no food in the house, (adverbial modifier of

attendant circumstances)
He is clever enough to solve any problem, (adverbial modifier of result)
She rose and went to the doorway to wave good-bye to him. (Lawrence)
(adverbial modifier of purpose)
He was too tired to go anyfarther. (Hemingway) (adverbial modifier of result)
They assembled to discuss their plans, (adverbial modifier of purpose)
He opened the study door, and held it fo r her to pass in... (Voynich)
(adverbial modifier of purpose)
She paused fo r him to continue, (adverbial modifier of purpose)
c) a participle, a participial phrase or a participial construction:
e.g. Hoping to catch the train, we took a taxi, (adverbial modifier of reason)
Walking along the park, Helen bumped into her old friend, (adverbial
modifier of attendant circumstances)
Having written his letter, Jack went to post office, (adverbial modifier of time)
The tourists were standing at the cathedra! looking up at its dome.
(adverbial modifier of manner)
Dehn burst in, the terror o f the streets written on his face. (Heym)
(adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances)
Little bare-legged children ran about him, playing on the grass...
(London) (adverbial modifier of manner or attendant circumstances)
Knowing well the English landscape, she wasn 't struck by its “park-like ”
appearance.
(Knowing is an adverbial modifier of cause, expressed by Participle 1
Indefinite Active)
§ 40. The Detached (Loose) Secondary Parts of the Sentence
The detached secondary parts of the sentence (there is no traditional
terminology in English grammars to denote that function) are those parts which
acquire a certain grammatical and semantic independence in the sentence and they
are much looser connected with the parts of the sentence on which they depend.
In spoken language the detached parts are marked by intonation, pauses, and
have a logical stress of their own. In written language they are usually separated by
commas or dashes.
Compare: l. In the east the day was breaking, pale and desolate. (Mason)
2. The morning had broken clear, the day was sunny and cloudless. (Mason)
In the first sentence the two adjectives joined by the conjunction and (pale
and desolate) are pronounced with a logical stress and there is a certain pause
before them - they are detached attributes.
In the second sentence the adjective clear is not detached, it forms a double
predicate together with the verb had broken (had broken clear).
The detached secondary parts of the sentence comprise an additional
communication and thus bear a predicative character. In their meaning and
pronunciation the detached parts of the sentence often approach subordinate clauses.
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e.g. Having posted the letter, he went into the dining-room (=when he had
posted the letter).
The detached secondary parts of the sentence may be adverbial modifiers,
attributes, appositins, prepositional indirect objects and the detached specifying
parts of the sentence (уточнюючі члени речення).
§ 41. The Detached Adverbial Modifier
The detached adverbial modifier (of place, time, condition, concession,
manner or comparison, attendant circumstances) may be expressed with an adverb,
a participle, an adjective, a noun or a gerund with a preposition. The detached
adverbial modifier is usually extended, but sometimes also unextended.
It is joined to the word which it modifies either asyndetically or by means of a
conjunction. The conjunction stresses the independent character of the detached
adverbial modifier.
The adverbial modifier the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction or
any other construction (phrase) introduced by with (without) is generally detached.
The detached adverbial modifier may stand either at the beginning or at the
end of the sentence, sometimes in the middle of it.
e.g. Without saying anything to Christine, he began to look fo r a convenient
consulting-room up West. (Cronin)
She glanced, sideways, at the old couple. (Mansfield)
He spoke slowly, with cutting deliberation. (Cronin)
She shrunk slowly away from him, and stood quite still, her eyes wide with
horror, her face as white as the kerchief at her neck. (Voynich)
The kitchen became the sitting-room, she and Robert eating their meals
before the warm stove. (Lawrence)
§ 42. The Detached Attribute
A detached attribute can modify not only a common noun as an ordinary
attribute does but also a proper noun and a pronoun.
A detached attribute can be expressed with an adjective, or a participle and
may stand be fore or after the word it modifies.
When a detached attribute an adjective or a participle stands before the word it
modifies, it has often additional adverbial meaning (cause, condition, time,
concession, comparison) in addition to its attributive meaning.
e.g. Thus encouraged, Oliver tapped at the study door.
Weary with watching and anxiety, he at length fell asleep. (Dickens)
When a detached attribute expressed by an adjective or a participle stands
after the word it modifies, it may follow it directly or be placed at some distance
from it at the end of the sentence. When the detached attribute immediately follows
the word it modifies, it is often synonymous to a subordinate clause:
e.g. We entered the forest, dark and gloomy. (= which was dark and gloomy)
A sound o f singing came down the water to him, trailing, distant, high and
sweet. (Galsworthy)
If the detached attribute stands at the end of the sentence, it may either have an
additional adverbial meaning or express a state of the subject attending an action. In
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the case it approaches in its meaning that of a predicate in a double predicate, the
difference consisting only in that the predicate in a double predicate is never
detached.
Compare:
Mont Blanc appears - still, snowy, and serene. (Shelley) (detached attribute)
The sun rose hot and unclouded. (Bronte) (predicatives in a double predicate)
He was a bright boy, healthy and strong. (London)
... then he sat up, offended, glaring at her. (Cronin)
§ 43. The Detached Specifying Parts of the Sentence
A specifying part of the sentence makes the meaning of some other part of the
sentence more precise, but is not homogeneous with the latter.
The specifying parts of the sentence may be extended or unextended. They
may be expressed with the same part of the speech as the words to which they refer
or with some other part of the speech.
The specifying parts of the sentence may be connected with the word to which
they refer either asyndetically or by means of conjunctions: that is, namely, etc.:
e.g. We walked a very long distance, about six miles. - the noun (distance) is
specified by another noun (miles).
There, in the wonderful pine forest, we spend a delightful fortnight. - here
an adverb (there) is specified by a noun (forest).
It all happened many years ago, namely in 1932.
Now, in the depth o f winter, it is hard to traverse those forests. (Cronin)
Ten members, that is the majority o f the commission, were in favour o f the
proposal. (Cronin)
§ 44. The Detached Object
The prepositional indirect object is often detached.
e.g. Huckleberry Finn was there, with his dead cat. (Galsworthy)
A silver tray was brought, with German plums. (Galsworthy)
§ 45. The Independent Elements
A word or a group of words that has no grammatical connection with the
sentence in which it stands is called an independent element of a sentence.
The independent elements are: interjections, direct address and parenthesis.

The Independent Elements of the Sentence

Interjections Direct address Parenthesis

(well, oh, ah, indeed, hallo, (Mama, look at that!) (Perhaps, you, I think, etc.)
know, eh, etc.)

Interjections are a specific class of words or expressions which we use to

express a strong feeling such as joy, sorrow, surprise, indignation, pain, horror, etc.,
and which we often say loudly and emphatically. Oh [3u] has some degree of
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surprise or emotion. Wow [wau] means that the speaker is surprised or impressed.
Ow [au] - an expression of sudden slight pain. Ouch [autj] Aft! Oft! - a cry
expressing sudden pain. Whoops [wups], oops [ups] - when someone has fallen,
dropped something, or made a mistake.
e.g. Oh wow, they really did that tree nice.
Ow! I've got the stomach ache.
Ouch, my neck hurts.
Whoops, easy Chester. Chester down.
“Oh, God! They ’re obviously paralyzed and can 7 move. ” (Murdoch)
“Ah, o f course, I have been there many times. ” (Steinbeck)
“Why, he is a bright youngster, a curious child. ” (Steinbeck)
Oops, I nearly dropped my cup o f tea!
Ouch, you hit my finger!
Wow, what a fantastic dress!
A direct address which is used to arouse the attention of somebody is also an
independent element of the sentence:
e.g. “Bill, l'm afraid i t ’s your son and young Carde. ” (Murdoch)
“What do you say, Don?" (Murdoch)
“Mama, look at that!" (Steinbeck)
“You have it, my boy, it’s no use to me. ” (Murdoch)
A parenthesis expresses the speaker’s attitude towards the utterance. It is
connected with the rest of the sentences rather semantically than grammatically. No
question can be put to it. Very often it is detached from the rest of the sentence and
consequently it is often separated from it by commas or dashes,
e.g. “Can l trust you, / wonder? " (Murdoch)
“O f course, I wanted to come. " (Murdoch)
"Still, neither o f them appeared to be moving. ” (Murdoch)
Evvy started, as usual, with a little joke. (Murdoch)
A parenthesis can be expressed with:
1. Modal words, such as perhaps, no doubt, indeed, in fact, evidently, may
be, certainly, decidedly, truly, naturally, actually, surely, assuredly, possibly,
obviously, etc., modal expressions or whole sentences which have modal force.
(M.A. Ganshina and N.M. Vasilevskaya consider such sentences as appended
sentences which are closely connected with parenthetical sentences.)
Very often such clauses are stereotyped conversation formulas, such as: I think,
I believe, I expect, I dare say, I suppose, I guess, I hope, I see, you know, etc.
Modal words often stand at the beginning, less often at the end of the sentence
or they may also stand in the very same positions as adverbs of indefinite time, i.e.:
a) before a notional verb or a stressed defective or an auxiliary verb;
b) after the first auxiliary in an analytical verb-form,
e.g. But i t ’s obviously a good picture. (Murdoch)
Perhaps it was silly o f me. (Murdoch)
O f course, the other matter could safely be regarded as closed. (Murdoch)
This is rather a bachelor establishment, I ’m afraid (Murdoch)
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But I expect she ’ll be cross with me (Murdoch)

“I think I ’ll be off”, he said. (Murdoch)
As it was, there was nothing to be done. (Murdoch)
I got it in a job lot, I dare say, and it cost me nothing.
2. Adverbs which to a certain extent serve as connectives, such as: besides,
anyway, firstly, then, yet, finally, consequently, otherwise, moreover, secondly,
thus, still, nevertheless, therefore, notwithstanding (незважаючи на те, що), etc.
e.g. ‘‘Yet", he thought, “I may have failed to understand her, but I have at
least tried. ” (Murdoch)
Anyway, she wouldn't come back in the night. (Murdoch)
Anyhow, nothing had been settled yet. (Murdoch)
Almost at once, however, certain other and quite irrational feelings came
to plague her. (Murdoch)
Still, I thought I had better go and see. (Maugham)
3. Prepositional phrases, such as: by the way, on the other hand, at least, on
the contrary, in short, by the by, to begin with, to tell the truth, in a word, in
truth, in my opinion, on the one hand, to one’s surprise, as for me, at any rate,
upon my word, etc.
e.g. On the other hand, she might wish to keep the affair quiet... (Maugham)
But all this is by the way. (Maugham)
A t least a dozen were at the pool this evening. (Steinbeck)
A t any rate I'll never go there again. (Carroll)
4. Infinitive and participial phrases, such as: to tell the truth, to be sure, to
begin with, to do somebody justice, frankly speaking, generally speaking,
strictly speaking, comparatively speaking, etc.
e.g. ‘I ’m sure that’s not it”, I said. (Maugham)
" I’m sure I ’m not Ada”, I said. (Carroll)
To tell you the truth, / don’t want to go there.
I ’d like some salad to begin with.
To sum it up, I completely lost control o f the situation.
To cut it short, she failed to do it.
That was, so to speak, another gift fo r you.
§ 46. Homogeneous Parts
There are sentences which contain several homogeneous (однорідні) parts: two
or more subjects to one common predicate, two or more predicates to one common
subject, two or more objects of a similar kind to one verb or adjective, etc.
Homogeneous parts may be connected either by means of coordinating
conjunctions or asyndetically. They are separated from each other by pauses in
speech and by commas in writing.
From the point of view of their syntactical function there may be:
1) homogeneous subjects
e.g. Raymond's nose and ears were terribly punished by the sun. (Steinbeck)
At that moment Joe and his father came out o f the back door. (Steinbeck)
His hope and his confidence had never gone. (Hemingway)
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2) homogeneous predicates
e.g. Mor mixed some brandy with black coffee and drank it. (Murdoch)
Mor went into the box andfumbled for his sixpence. (Murdoch)
He took a chair and sat down on the opposite side o f the table. (Murdoch)
3) homogeneous predicatives
e.g. Her eyes seemed glazed and sightless. (Steinbeck)
The vegetables grew crisp and green in their line-straight rows. (Steinbeck)
... but the devils grew stronger and more importunate. (Steinbeck)
Mor was surprised andflattered at this request. (Murdoch)
4) homogeneous objects (direct and indirect)
e.g. He soon got to know his brothers, sisters, father and mother. (London)
She had thrown her shoes and stockings away into the grass. (Murdoch)
He sat at his ease lookingfirst at Mor and then at Miss Carter. (Murdoch)
5) homogeneous attributes
e.g. He was a big, simple, young man. (Steinbeck)
With her short dark hair and strong dusky red o f her cheeks she looked
like Pierrot. (Murdoch)
6) homogeneous adverbial modifiers
e.g. He said this without thought, automatically. (Murdoch)
Mor decided to return home by the road and not by the fields. (Murdoch)
Richard sat in his sitting room, gripping the arms o f his chair and listening
to the weak screaming in the bedroom above.
Homogeneous parts may be connected by different coordinating conjunctions:
a) copulative conjunctions and, nor, neither...nor, as well as, both...and,
not only...but also:
e.g. He carried in chairs and tables (Steinbeck)
Neither I nor my descendants will be able to move. (Steinbeck)
b) disjunctive conjunctions or, either...or
c) adversative conjunction but and conjunctive adverb yet
e.g. There was a room, rather dark, but fu ll o f dark light, really. (Steinbeck)
There are, however, cases, which look very much like homogeneous parts but
which should be distinguished from them. They are:
1. Different kinds of repetitions which make the utterance more expressive but
which name the same notion. Any part of the sentence may be repeated in this way.
Repetition is a stylistic device used for the purpose of emphasis.
e.g. ...but it was as the face o f a stranger - a stranger anxious to please, an
appealing stranger, an awkward stranger. (Beerbohm)
2. Phrases where coordinated nouns refer to one thing or person, such as: my son
and heir, their friend and defender, her friend and counselor, bread and butter, etc.
3. Syntactically indivisible coordinated phrases in which neither component
can be removed and which make one indivisible part of the sentence.
e.g. Two and two is four.
4. Sentences where the predicate consists of two parts joined by the
conjunction and which in this case has no copulative meaning.
e.g. Come and help me. Come to help me.
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§ 47. Word Order ..... ..................

The absence- of inflections makes English a word order language not an
inflected one: that is, the ordey. p f words is essential to the meaning of a sentence. A
change in order means a complete change in meaning.
e.g. The dog bit the man.
The man bit the dog.
That is why word order in English is more fixed than in Ukrainian. It is fixed
for every type of the sentence. Departure from the standard word order pattern
often involves inversion.
The standard word order pattern in a declarative sentence has the following form:

Indirect Object - Direct Object

1. Subject - 2. Predicate - 3. 4. Adverbial modifier of:

a) manner; b) place; c) time

Direct - Prepositional Object

As seen above, if there are two objects, the indirect one precedes the direct
one, or the prepositional follows the direct one.
As to other secondary parts of the sentence, such as attributes and adverbial
modifiers, their position is less fixed. Usually attributes either pre-modify or post-
modify their headwords: a nice day, the scene familiar to us, etc.
Adverbials may be placed in:
1) front position:
e.g. Now she was entering the kitchen. (Steinbeck)
Gradually the light flowed down over the ridge. (Steinbeck)
Already the light was leaving the earth and taking refuge in the sky. (Murdoch)
2) contact position:
e.g. Mor immediately began to feel guilty. (Murdoch)
Now I really must get back to my tasks. (Murdoch)
They never make a mistake. (Steinbeck)
3) interposition between the elements of a composite verbal part or between
the parts of a compound predicate:
e.g. She was completely absorbed in what she was doing. (Murdoch)
I ’ve still got some time in hand. (Murdoch)
"He is nearly a man now ”, she said. (Steinbeck)
Nan was still not back. (Murdoch)
" I’m terribly tired". (Murdoch)
This position is occupied mainly by adverbs of indefinite time and degree:
already, always, sometimes, often, still, just, etc.
4) end position:
e.g. Anyhow, nothing had been settled yet. (Murdoch)
Did Pepe come to be a man today? (Steinbeck)
 313

1 shall not see you again. (Murdoch)

"/ must see her tomorrow ", he thought. (Murdoch)
Front and final positions are usually occupied by adverbials of place, time
(definite time adverbs) and attendant circumstances.
e.g. I've done a great deal o f work today. (Murdoch)
I ’ll go and put some clean sheets on it now. (Murdoch)
The school was in sight now. (Murdoch)
Note: It should be borne in mind that whereas in Ukrainian the word будь
лиска may occupy any position, in English the word please can either begin the
sentence or finish it.
e.g. Будь ласка, дайте мені вашу ручку.
Дайте, будь ласка, мені вашу ручку.
Дайте мені, будь ласка, вашу ручку.
Дайте мені вашу ручку, будь ласка.
In English we can only say:
e.g. Please, give me your pen.
Give me your pen, please.
§ 48. Inversion
Sometimes the usual order of the subject and the predicate or the part of the
predicate is changed: the predicate or the part of it is placed before the subject.
Such word order is called inversion.
When inversion takes place, either the whole predicate is put before the
subject (full inversion) or only the auxiliary or modal verb (partial inversion).
Full inversion: Were you at home yesterday, Mary?
The general rules of inversion are as follows:
1. Inversion may be required by the grammatical structure of a given type of
sentence. Thus, in interrogative sentences the finite verb must, as a rule, precedes
the subject. In most of the interrogative sentences the inversion is partial as only
part of the predicate is placed before the subject (the auxiliary or modal verb),
e.g. "Will you understand that? " {Murdoch)
"Shall I fetch your car and bring it round into the playground? " (Murdoch)
“ When did she go? " he asked. (Murdoch)
"Didyou point that?" asked Mor. (Steinbeck)
Can / see it again? (Steinbeck)
The inversion is full in interrogative sentences when the predicateis the verb
to be or to have:
e.g. When were you in England? Have you a book?
You haven 7 done any for months, have you? (Murdoch)
Ourfinances and her talent don 7 leave us much choice, do they? (Murdoch)
No inversion is used when the interrogative word (who, whose, which, what,
how many) is the subject of the sentence or an attribute to the subject,
e.g. "Who has the house now?" asked Mor. (Murdoch)
Whose book is that?
" Who is that? ” asked Mor. (Murdoch)
 314

How long will it be? (Steinbeck)

2. The inverted order of words require:
a) sentences introduced by the construction there is/are ... and sentences with
emphatic it.
e.g. There wasn’t a reason to tell you before this. (Springier)
There was a dark night. (Springier)
It was Helen who did shopping yesterday.
b) exclamatory sentences expressing wish, despair, indignation, or other
strong emotions.
e.g. Long live our freedom!
So be it!
c) some complex sentences joined without connectors: in conditional and
concessive clauses, in the second part of a sentence of proportional agreement
(although inversion is not obligatory in this case).
e.g. Were I you I would go there.
The more he thought o f it, the less clear was the matter, (proportional
agreement)
d) sentences beginning with one of the following adverbs: here, there (which
acquire demonstrative force (ось він), now, then (тепер, потім), but only if the
subject is a noun. If the subject is a personal pronoun, no inversion takes place.
e.g. Here's Freddy. (Joyce)
There's the Parrot. (Dickens)
But: There he is. (Dickens)
Here they are. (Marryat)
e) sentences when an adverbial modifier expressed by an adverb with negative
or restrictive meaning is placed at the head of the sentence: never, little, in vain,
hardly, nowhere, not only, under any circumstances, on no condition, rarely,
seldom, little, less, only, neither ... nor, etc. (Notice that little, less and only are
negative in meaning).
When the emphatic particle only, or the negative particle not or the
conjunction nor (neither...nor) opens the sentence, the word order has the
emphatic function. The same is true when the adverbs no sooner with the
conjunction than and scarcely with the conjunction when are placed at the head of
the principal clause of a complex sentence with the subordinate clause of time.
e.g. No sooner had she laid herself down than she heard the prolonged trill of
the front-doOr bell. (Bennett)
Scarcely had Nell settled herself on a little heap of straw in the comer
when she fell asleep. (Dickens)
e.g. Hardly had I got on the train when it started.
Nowhere was he to be seen. (Dickens)
3. There are also inversions:
a) when such adverbs of place as up, in, out, off, away, etc. are put at the
head of the sentence, but only if the subject is a noun. If the subject is a personal
pronoun, no inversion takes place.
 315

e.g. Out came the choice - in went the horses - on sprung the boys - in got
the travelers. (Dickens)
But: ...and away he hastened into the field... (Hardy)
b) sometimes when an adverbial modifier of manner opens the sentence,
e.g. Strangely fast fled the days in the valley. (Galsworthy)
But constructions with the normal word order are also used here:
e.g. Often and anxiously at this silent hour, her thoughts reverted to her grandfather.
c) when an adverbial modifier of time expressed by many a + noun opens the
sentence. Although constructions without inversion are also used in this case.
e.g. Many a time, too, was Punch displayed in thefull zenith of his humor. (Dickens)
But: Many a time they went up and down those long, long lines... (Dickens)
Note: An adverbial modifier of degree expressed by the adverb enough
generally follows the adjective it modifies, but may follow or precede a noun,
e.g. She is clever enough but very lazy.
I have time enough to do it.
I have enough time to do it.
d) when a direct object expressed by the word combination many a + noun, or
preceded by the negative particle not (not a word) is placed at the head of the sentence.
e.g. Not another word does Mr. Bucket say... (Dickens)
e) sometimes when a direct object is placed at the head of the sentence for the
sake of emphasis. If the predicate contains neither an auxjliary nor a modal verb,
the verb to do must be used in these constructions.
e.g. Many sweet little appeals did Miss Sharp make to him about the dishes at dinner.
And she said, you know, on no account must he strain.
In vain did his wife try and persuade Doctor Brown to taste any breakfast.
But: constructions without inversion are also used in this case.
e.g. Talent Mr. Micawber has, capital Mr. Micawber has not. (Dickens)
f) often when a predicate followed by as is put at the head of subordinate
clause of concession, but only if the subject is a noun. If the subject is a personal
pronoun, it precedes the verb.
e.g. Slender as was Jude Fawley’s frame he bore the two brimming house-
buckets o f water to the cottage without resting. (Hardy) (= although Jude
Fawley 'sframe was slender...)
But: Peaceful as it (the house) had looked when we first saw it, it looked even
more so now... (Dickens)
Constructions with the normal word order are also used when the subject is a noun,
e.g. Confident as the Blind Girl had been when she asked the question, her
delight and pride in the reply and her renewed embrace of Dot, were
charming to behold. (Dickens)
4. The word order may also have the linking function to express continuity of
thought in sentences (or clause) following one another. This continuity is often
supported by demonstrative pronouns and adverbs,
e.g. So ended the sorrows o f the day.( Eliot)
Thus ended Peggotty's narration. (Dickens)
They must saw their wild oats. Such was the theory.
 316

Women are terribly vain. So are men - more so, if possible. .

But: for the purpose of enumeration, a word (or words) marking continuity is
sometimes placed at the beginning of the sentence, with the words immediately following,
e.g. Next comes the most amusing scene.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on principles of classification of simple sentences.
2. The Subject. The ways of expressing the Subject of the sentence.
3. The Predicate. The types of the Predicate and the ways of expressing them.
4. Comment on secondary parts of the sentence.
5. Comment on word order. Inversion of word order. Types of inversion.

CHAPTER II. THE COMPOSITE SENTENCE

§ 49. The Composite Sentence
The composite sentence is a sentence consisting of two or more clauses.
Within a composite sentence the clauses may be joined by means of coordination
or subordination, thus forming a compound or a complex sentence respectively.
Coordination is a way of linking grammatical elements to make them equal in rank.
Subordination is a way of linking grammatical elements that makes one of
them dependent upon the other (or they are mutually dependent).
e.g. I will keep her with me, and you will come as always, but no one else must
interfere. (Steinbeck) (coordination)
e.g. There were now so many different things to worry about that they didn 7
know what to do. (subordination)
These sentences may be graphically presented in the following way:

I will keep her you will come as no-one else must

and but
with me. always__________ interfere_______
2.

A compound sentence may contain coordinate (independent) clauses

extended by subordinate (dependent) clauses, and the resulting structure is a
compound-complex sentence.
e.g. He felt that the name meant something personal to him: and he was very

him. (Steinbeck)
 317

The scheme of the above compound-complex sentence.

He felt 1 and he was very glad

that the name meant because for ten years

something personal to nothing in the word had
him been personal to him
A complex sentence may contain subordinate (dependent) clauses joined by
means of coordination, thus the resulting structure is a complex sentence with
homogeneous subordinate (dependent) clauses.
e.g. But one day, without warning, he announced that he didn't like work
and that he wasn’t suited for marriage. (Maugham)

The scheme of a complex sentence with homogeneous clauses.

[~But one day, iwithout warning, he announced \

that he didn’t like work and that he wasn't suitedfor marriage.

§ 50. The Compound Sentence

The compound sentence is the sentence which consists of two or more
independent clauses (simple sentences) which form one syntactical whole in
meaning and intonation. The independent clauses that are parts of a compound
sentence are also called coordinates as they are joined by coordination.
In a compound sentence the clauses may be connected:
a) syndetically i.e. by means of connectors: coordinate conjunctions (and, or,
but, else, nor, for, etc.) or conjunctive adverbs (moreover, besides, otherwise,
however, yet, still, therefore, nevertheless, etc.)
e.g. It was onlyfive o ’clock, but she needed to go to bed. (Clark)
e.g. He knew there were excusesfor hisfather, yet hefelt sick at heart.{Cxonm)
(b) asyndetically, i.e. without any connector. Asyndetical coordination is
always marked by a comma (,), a semicolon (;), a colon (:) or occasionally by a
dash (-). The conjunction and may always be inserted. Sometimes they are not
separated graphically at all.
e.g. The shop seemed to fill with customers all at once; three came together to
the counter infront of her.
In speaking the coordinate clauses are separated by pauses and are pronounced, as
a rule, with the falling tone, which shows the completeness of the idea in both clauses,
e.g. He 'liked the 'valley and the farm, but he 'liked them as they were. (Steinbeck)
The closer connection between two clauses in a compound sentence can be
expressed by the rising tone in the first clause.
e.g. I 'sat 'next to her 'once in the 'bus from OQ Hagerstown and we 'sort of
'struck 'up a converosation.
 318

The main semantic feature of the compound sentence is that it follows the
flow of thought; thus the content of each successive clause is related to the previous
one. Hence come the following syntactical features of the compound sentence
which distinguish it from the complex one:
The first feature is that opening clause mostly plays the leading role, and each
successive clause is joined to the previous one.
Note. A sentence may begin with a coordinating connector, but in this case the
latter joins the whole sentence to the previous context.
e.g. The sisters sat at their own yellow tables and waited. But veryfew customers
came. And the sisters began tofind difficulties in their business. (Steinbeck)
The second feature is that the clauses are sequentially fixed. Thus a coordinate
clause cannot change place with the previous one without changing or distorting the
meaning of the whole sentence, as in:
e.g. He was painstaking, industrious and capable, but he had not the will to
advance himself. (Lewis)
However the change is possible if the clauses contain description,
e.g. It (the shop) occupied a primer position at the end o f a small parade; it
was bigger than its neighbours, square in shape with double doors set
across one corner. (Steinbeck)
The third feature is that coordinate clauses, either opening or subsequent, may
belong to different communicative types.
e.g. You may go, but don 7 be late fo r dinner, (declarative and imperative)
/ had to leave at once fo r whatever else could I have done? (declarative
and interrogative)
§ SI. Types of Coordination
From the point of view of the relationship between coordinate clauses, we
distinguish four kinds of coordinate connection: copulative, adversative,
disjunctive and causative-consecutive.

Coordination.

copulative disjunctive adversative causative-

and, nor, or, else, or else, but, only, yet, consecutive
besides, either... or, whereas, for, therefore, so,
not only ... but, otherwise while, still, hence, consequently,
also, as well as, nevertheless accordingly
then, moreover
The type of connection is expressed not only by means of coordinating
connectives, but also by the general meaning of clauses conveyed by their lexical
and grammatical content.
Copulative coordination implies that the events or ideas conveyed by
coordinate clauses are merely joined in time and place. The copulative connectors
 319

are: the conjunctions and, nor, neither... nor, not only... but (also), as well as,
and the conjunctive adverbs then, moreover, besides.
And is the conjunction most frequently used to realize copulative
coordination. It may suggest mere addition.
e.g. They both got up and left the tea things on the table, and Mr. Tuinnus
once more put up his umbrella and gave Lucy his arm, and they went out
into the snow. (Lewis)
The events described in copulative coordinate clauses may be simultaneous or
successive.
e.g. It was only seven-thirty and the streets weren 7 crowdedyet. (Clark) (simultaneity)
e.g. He stooped down and wiped it quite clean on the grass and then wiped it
quite dry on this coat. (Lewis) (succession)
Occasionally the second clause may contain some commentary on the
previous clause.
e.g. She was familiar with the petty social problems, and they bored her.
Owing to its vague copulative meaning the conjunction and may also link
clauses with adversative or causative - consecutive connections. The meaning of
the second clause is either contrasted to the first or contains its consequence.
e.g. It was a bitter cold winter with long hardfrosts and heavy gales; and it t m plain
from thefirst that the poorfather was little likely to see the spring. (Levis)
The high rising tone can be used in the first clause of a compound sentence, if
the conjunction and has an adversative meaning.
e.g. The 'man is 'standing and the 'child is 'sitting.
e.g. ’This is a 'writing-desk and 'that is a 'kitchen table.
In sentences beginning with the verb in the imperative mood, the first clause
implies a condition for the fulfilment of the action in the second clause,
e.g. Just wait a little while, and I'll help you out. (Steinbeck)
The conjunction nor joins two negative clauses.
e.g. 1 didn 7 hurt you, nor did Ifrighten you. (Steinbeck)
The correlative pairs neither... nor, not only... but (also) express mere
addition, sometimes with accentuation on the second clause.
e.g. He had never sent any money, nor had he ever written to them... (Steinbeck)
The conjunctive adverb then joins clauses describing successive events,
e.g. I went through high school, then I went to San Jose and entered Teachers ’
College. (Steinbeck)
Copulative connection may also be expressed asyndetically, the clauses so
joined may describe simultaneous or successive events.
e.g. Her father sounded irritable; his voice dropped slightly as a token to
customer embarrassment.,.
Disjunctive coordination implies a choice between two mutually exclusive
alternatives. The disjunctive conjunctions are or, either... or, the conjunctive
adverbs are else (or else), otherwise.
e.g. Did you desire to be Wamphyri, or was it forced upon you? (Lumley)
All o f them were loyal to him, or else Brauch wouldfail. (Lumley)
 320 r

The correlative either emphasizes the exclusion of one of the alternatives.,

e.g. Either listen to me, or I shall stop reading to you."
You could either leave now or wait and ride with us.
The clause introduced by or may express a restatement or correction of what
is said in the first clause.
e.g. In the last quarter century we've learned the lessons o f history, or rather I
have learned them! (Lumley)
Coordinate clauses joined by disjunctive connectors may contain an implied
condition, real or unreal.
e.g. Tell the whole truth, or I ’ll do it. (real condition implied) (If you don’t tell
the whole truth, I'll do it)
If the first part is negative, the implied condition is positive,
e.g. Don 7 tell lies, otherwise you won 7 be trusted. (If you tell lies, you won’t
be trusted.)
Kate is busy, otherwise she would meet us. (unreal condition implied) (If
Kate weren 7 busy, she would meet us.)
Kate is busy, or she would have met us. (If Kate were not busy, she would
have met us.)
Kate was busy last night, otherwise she would have met us. (If she hadn 7
been busy, she would have met us.)
Adversative coordination joins clauses containing opposition, contradiction
or contrast. Adversative connectors are: the conjunctions but, while, whereas, the
conjunctive adverbs however, yet, still, nevertheless, and the conjunctive particle
only.
Adversative coordination is but, which expresses adversative connection in a
very general way. The clause introduced with but conveys some event that is
opposite to what is expected from the contents of the first clause.
e.g. Over and over he called to them, but they did not come. (Steinbeck)
But may join clauses contrasted in meaning.
e.g. The English system o f noun forms is very simple, but the system o f verb
forms is most intricate.
The conjunctions while and whereas specialize in expressing contrastive relations,
e.g. After he had bought the old place, Bert Munroe went to the work in the
overgrown yard while a crew o f carpenters made over the house. (Steinbeck)
Whereas it was stuffy in the room, I opened the window.
Contrastive relation may be conveyed by asyndetic coordination,
e.g. Two or three scenes stood out vividly in his mind - all the rest became a
blur. (Steinbeck)
Among coordinative connectives the particle only is frequently used to join
clauses with adversative connection, mainly in colloquial English.
e.g. Everybody laughed, only his voice was sad and discourage. (Steinbeck)
Causative-consecutive coordination joins clauses connected in such a way that
one of them contains a reason and the other - a consequence. The second clause may
contain either the reason or the result of the event conveyed by the previous clause. This
 321

type of coordinationis the only causative conjunction for and consecutive conjunctions
so, so that and consecutive adverbs therefore, accordingly, then, hence, thus,
consequently. A causative clause may be also joined asyndetically.
e.g. At first I thought that they were brother and sister, they were so much alike.
Causative conjunction for introduces coordinate clauses explaining the
preceding statement.
e.g. From the first day the children o f the school adored her, fo r she understood
them. (Steinbeck)
The conjunction for is intermediate between coordination and subordination,
as there are cases when for expresses relations approaching those of subordination
and introduces a clause containing explanation the action or idea expressed in the
preceding clause. In these cases the conjunction for is very close in meaning to the
conjunction because.
e.g. Now he had a home and a golden future, fo r (because) the new Mrs.
Maltby owned two hundred acres o f grassy hillside and five acres of
orchard and vegetable bottom. (Steinbeck)
But even here for is not a subordinating conjunction. As the connection
between the clauses is much looser: a certain fact is stated and then another
statement with a causal meaning is added as a kind of afterthought. Both sentences
are independent, and as a rule separated by a comma or semicolon.
A for-clause differs from a subordinate clause of reason in that it never
precedes the clause it is joined to. If a sentence begins with for, it means that the
sentence is linked with the previous one.
e.g. Their coach was going very slowly now. For they were approaching
Ranclagh and there was much traffic. (Walpole)
Consecutive connectives are conjunctions so, so that and conjunctive adverbs
therefore, hence, then, thus.
e.g. There was a knock on the outside door, then Nan stepped into the hall.
(Murdock)
So that is a conjunction intermediate between subordination and coordination.
When used after a comma in writing or a pause in speaking its connection with the
previous clause is loose r and it performs the function of a coordinating conjunction.
e.g. ... the stranger backed along with me into the parlour, and put me behind him
in the corner, so that we were both hidden by the open door. (Stevenson)
As we shall see later on (See “The Complex Sentence”), cause as well as
result may also be expressed by subordinating clause.
e.g. She was not surprised because they had talked of that together (Roche) (cause).
His feet were sore and his legs so weak that they trembled beneath him
(Dickens) (result).
The connection between the subordinate clause of cause or result and the
principal clause is a very close one; the subordinate clause is an adverbial modifier
to the predicate of the main clause.
We find a much looser connection in coordination: the cause or reason is
added as a kind of an afterthought, both sentences are independent, and as a rule
separated by a comma or semicolon.
 322

Compare ... it was so early that there was very little fear o f his being seen: so
he walked on. (Dickens)
§ 52. The Complex Sentence
The complex sentence is the sentence which consists of two or more clauses
that are linked by means of subord ination. The clauses are not equal in rank, one of
them being the main (principal) clause and others being dependent
(subordinate) clauses.
Note. This definition is true, however, only in a general sense. In an exact
sense there is often no principal clause; this is the case with complex sentences
containing a subject clause or a predicative clause. (For a detailed information on
this phenomenon see § 62, § 63).
The subordinate clause may follow, precede or interrupt the principal clause.
If the subordinate clause follows the principal clause, both clauses are uttered
with the falling intonation.
e.g. 'Kitty supposed, that he 'caredfor nothing. (Maugham)
If the subordinate clause precedes or interrupts the principal clause, the subordinate
clause has the rising intonation and the principal clause the falling tone.
e.g. As 'soon as they 'came to the 'place o f the work the 'master a o pproached
them. (Lewis)
e.g. So, 'when I 'told old 'Spencer about my equipment and stuff, 'that 'was a
'sheer o lie. (Salinger)
§ 53. Formal Indicators of Subordination (Connectors)
Subordination is marked by some formal signals contained either in the
subordinate clause (This is the news which he didn’t know; You should pardon
John, as he didn’t know the rules; He was turning round the corner when he saw
him), or in both - the main and subordinate clause (He was as ignorant as any
uneducated person is; The more he looked at the picture, the more he liked it).
These formal signals may be conjunctions or connectives.
Conjunctions are specialized formal devices (connectors) the only function of
which is to link clauses and express the relation between them. They usually stand
at the beginning of a subordinate clause. The only exception to this rule is the
complex sentence with a concessive clause, where owing to partial inversion the
conjunction may come second, after the word which is the focus of concessive
meaning (tired though he was..., hard as we tried...).
Conjunctions may be one word-form (that, because, though, etc.), phrasal
(in order that, providing that, for all that, so far as, etc.) or paired (or
correlative, that is, correlated with some element(s) in the principal clause: as...as,
such...as, etc.). Some conjunctions may be used in combination with particles
(even if, even though, even when, just as, if only).
Connectives combine two functions - that of linking clauses and that of a part
in the subordinate clause.
He doesn’t care what happens to us; This is where we live; etc. (what has a
linking function and at the same time is the subject of the subordinate clause;
likewise, where has a linking function and is an adverbial of place).
 323

Connectives are subdivided into conjunctive words (conjunctive

subordinating pronouns and adverbs), which are used to join nominal clauses and
relative words (pronouns and adverbs), used to join attributive clauses. Some
conjunctive and relative words coincide in form, and it is therefore necessary to
give some criterion according to which the two types can be distinguished.
The difference between conjunctive words and relative words lies in their role
within the sentence or clause. In the case of conjunctive words the choice is
determined by the structure and meaning of the subordinate clause itself.
e.g. She explained where she was'.
I can tell you who he is.
I don 7 know when he will return.
In the case of relative words the choice depends on the antecedent: in the main
clause:
e.g. Here is the book which 1 \e already bought.
Here is the place where I was born.
Meet my friend Kate, who l was telling you about.
Graphically these connectors can be presented in the following way (see the
diagram below).
Formal indicators of subordinations (connectors)

When clauses are joined by connectors they are said to be joined syndetically.
If no special linking element is used they are said to be joined asyndetkally. In
some cases inversion is employed as a signal to indicate the subordination of one
clause to another.
Some subordinating conjunctions are homonymous with prepositions (like,
till), some with both prepositions and adverbs (after, since, before). Some are
homonymous with participles (supposing, provided), some resemble nouns and
 324

nominal phrases denoting time (the very moment, the next time, the instant, the
second) or adverbs (immediately, directly, once).
A subordinate clause may be subordinated to the principal clause or to another
subordinate clause. This kind of relationship is called consecutive or successive
subordination. In such complex sentence we distinguish subordinate clauses of the
first, second, third, etc. degree of subordination.
1
e.g. She knew what he would sav before him.
(Maugham)
Accordingly the structure of the sentence is:

She knew

Main clause
-A-
Subordinate Subordinate
clause clause
The main clause may have several subordinate clauses of equal rank, which
are linked by means of coordination. This kind of relationship is called parallel
subordination or co-subordination. The subordinate clauses in such complex
sentences are homogeneous.
1 2
e.g. I know that he is a foreigner and that he speaks French and German.
In this case the structure of the sentence is:

that he is a foreigner that he speaks French and German

The main clause may have several subordinate clauses linked by successive
and parallel kinds of subordination. Such cases may result in a sentence of great
complexity, when two or more main clauses are coordinated, each of them being
the main in relation to their subordinate clauses.
1 2
e.g. He i

old two-horse omnibuses at Charins Cross, and fallen in front of a governess

3 4
cart, frightening that horse, as it had kicked her before she could set up.
 325

In this case the structure of the sentence is:

Subordination is used to join clauses with a different degree of interdependence

or fusion, is the same way as parts of the sentence are joined to one another with a
different intensity of connection. Therefore some clauses - subject, predicative, most
object clauses - are obligatory for the completeness of main parts, which are otherwise
deficient. For instance, in the sentence I suppose she is at home it is impossible to
drop the object clause, as a part I suppose makes no sense. In the same way if we drop
the predicative clause in the sentence Our idea was that we had to go there
together, the part left Our idea was is ungrammatical.
As can be seen from the examples given above, the role of a subordinate
clause for the completeness of the main is closely connected with the function of
the former.
Most adverbial clauses are optional, not essential for the completeness of the
main clause. Thus if we drop the subordinate part in the following sentence, the
part left will be identical with a simple sentence.
e.g. We ’ll discuss it at 5 o 'clock, when you come.
We ’ll discuss it at 5 o 'clock.
According to its syntactic function and the word it refers to, the subordinate
clause may be placed before, after, or in the middle of the main clause. Punctuation
also depends on these factors: if closely connected, a clause may be joined without
any punctuation mark.
e.g. I know she will meet us.
This is the girl I told you about.
If the connection between the main clause and the subordinate one is rather
loose a comma may be used.
e.g. I f we hurry up, we shall catch the train.
In some cases, especially in the case of asyndetic connection, a subordinate
clause may be separated by a dash to mark the borderline between the clauses.
e.g. Ban Trash didn’t speak, but shielded his eyes and continued to watch
because he must know the truth. (Lumley)
Semantically the main clause generally dominates the subordinate clause, as it
contains the main information of the utterance. However, there are cases when one part
is as important as the other and even cases when the subordinate clause is the central
 32(5
informative part of the sentence and the main clause is less important, introductory,
maintaining only the immediate communicative connection with the listener:
e.g. I asked him if he knew the man.
There are cases when the main clause is relegated to a link-verb only:
e.g. What 1 wonder is whether it is a truth or a lie.
Complex sentence are classified according to the function of the subordinate
clauses (that is, according to their meaning and position in relation to the main clause).
§ 54. Functional Classification of Subordinate Clauses
The principal clauses of complex sentences are usually not classified, though
their meanings are not neutral with regard to the meanings of the subordinate clauses.
Compare: He will come because he needs your help.
He will come i f he needs your help.
Two criteria are most often used in classifying the subordinate clauses of
complex sentences: meaning and combinability. When he came is a clause of time
according to the meaning imparted by when.
e.g. When he came, it was already late.
But in the sentence I know when he came the same clause is considered
objective owing to its subordination to the objective verb know.
There are two ways of using the criterion of combinability. Either subordinate
clauses are classified in accordance with their relation to the word of the principal
clause they are attached to, or they are related to some part of speech with similar
combinability. In the sentences When he came is of no importance, I remember
when he came the combinability of the subordinate clause resembles that of a noun.
Compare: The fact is o f no importance, I remember the fact.
Therefore the clause When he came is considered a noun-clause. If classified
in accordance with its relation to the predicate verb, the first clause would be called
a subject clause and the second an object clause.
Similarly in This is the man who wishes to see you the subordinate clause
may be regarded as an adjective clause in accordance with its own combinability,
or as an attributive clause, since its head-word is a noun.
Each of the criteria described has its advantages and disadvantages. In syntax the
correlation with the parts of the sentence is preferable to the correlation with the parts of
speech. Thus the subordinate clauses are classified into groups parallel to the parts of the
simple sentence. Accordingly we shall distinguish subject clause, predicative clause,
object clause, attributive clause, adverbial clause and parenthetical clause.
Note. N.A. Kobrina arranges all these types of clauses in three groups:
nominal clauses (i. e. clauses functioning as nouns in various syntactical positions:
subject, predicative, object, apposition), attributive clause and adverbial clause.
B. Sch. Azar distinguishes noun clauses (subject clauses and object clauses),
an adjective (relative) clauses and adverb clauses.
§ 55. The Complex Sentence with a Subject Clause
Subject clauses perform the function of the subject to the predicate of the
principal clause. Attention should be paid to the peculiar structure of the principal
 327

clause, which in this case has no subject, the subordinate clause serving as such.
Subject clauses may be introduced by:
a) conjunctions: that, if, whether, whether... or, because, the way
e.g. Because I ask too many questions doesn 't mean I am curious.
b) connectives: who, whoever, what, whatever, which (conjunctive pronouns)
where, when, how, why, (conjunctive adverbs) wherever, whenever
Who steals my purse, steals trash. (Shakespeare)
c) asyndetically
e.g. How wonderful (it is) you have arrived at last.
Types of subject clauses
Complex sentences with subject clauses may be of two patterns:
I. When a subject clause precedes the predicate of the main clause.
e.g. What annoyed him perhaps most o f all about her was the exquisite
calmness o f her assumption ... (Murdoch)
Whether they disputed this or not made little difference.
Subject clauses of this type cannot be joined asyndetically, as the opening
words signal the subordinate status of the clause. The main clause having no object
is deficient in its structure and meaning unless joined with the subordinate clause.
Thus the combination of words was a question is neither complete in its structure
nor in its meaning without the subject.
e.g. Whether they would be in time was a question (asked by everybody).
II, When a subject clause is in final position, the usual place of the subject
being occupied by formal it.
e.g. It upset me that nobody ever has told about her, Evil retorted. (Baker)
It is understood that modern science allows such experiments.
In exclamatory sentences the formal it may be only implied.
e.g. What a pleasure that you can breathe in the sea air. ( What a pleasure it is...):
In this pattern of the complex sentence the subject clause may be joined
asyndetically.
It is a pity they can’t meet us.
It is a pity her brother should be quite a stranger to her. (Eliot)
Subject clauses are not separated from the principle clause by a comma except
when we have two or more subject clauses coordinated with each other.
e.g. Who her mother was, and how she came to die in that forlornness, were
question that often pressed on Eppie's mind. (Eliot)
e.g. It was plain, pitiably plain, that he was aware o f his own defect o f
memory, and that he was bent on hiding it from the observation o f his
friends. (Collins)
Attention should be paid that complex sentences with subject clauses of the
first type (in initial position) are seldom used and belong to the bookish style. The
link verb is usually used in singular, but it can agree with the predicative, if the
predicative is used in plural.
What they want is/are revolts everywhere.
 328

To express one’s opinion I think/believe (BE), I guess (AE, CanE), I reckon

(south of USA, col. BE) are preferable to It seems to me.
§ 56. The Complex Sentence with a Predicative Clause
Predicative clauses perform the function of a predicative. In the complex
sentences with predicative clauses the link-verb is in the principal clause. The
predicative clause together with the link-verb forms a compound nominal predicate
to the subject of the principal clause. Predicative clauses may be introduced by:
a) conjunctions (that, whether, whether... or, as, as if, as though, because,
lest, the way)
e.g. At first side it seemed as i f she had spoiled it (the work). (Murdock)
The only reason for my coming is because I hoped to see you again.
The thing to be settled on now is whether anything can be done to sa\’e him.
b) connectives: who, whoever, what, whatever, which (conjunctive pronouns);
where, wherever, when, whenever, how, why (conjunctive adverbs)
e.g. That's what he wants you to think.
That was why you were not one (a) bit frightened. (Eliot)
c) a new conjunction like characterizing colloquial style and more often heard in AE.
e.g. It looks like it’s going to rain.
d) asyndetically. In this case they are usually separated by a comma or a dash,
thus forming superphrasal unity.
e.g. The result was, his master raised his wages a hundred a month.
The choice of conjunction is closely connected with the meaning of the word
functioning as the subject of the main clause. Thus the conjunction because is used
when the word functioning as subject expresse reason, the conjunction whether -
when it expresses doubt or implies choice. The connective when is used when the
noun functioning as subject expresses a temporal notion (time, day, evening,
moment) and the connective where is used when it denotes a place. Thus in the
sentence given above The only reason for my coming is because I hoped to see
you again the meaning of the subject reason predetermines the use of the
conjunction because. In the same way in the sentence The question is whether we
can manage without him the meaning of the subject question predetermines the
conjunction whether.
This, however, does not mean that a certain conjunction is the only possible
one, and that no other can be used after a certain word functioning as subject.
If the subject denotes order, proposal, request, suggestion, arrangement,
desire, etc., the conjunction that is generally used, followed by a clause with the
predicate in the subjunctive mood (should + infinitive).
e.g. Our suggestion is that he should make a report on this problem.
The order is that everybody should gather downstairs.
Predicative clauses with comparative meaning are introduced by the
comparative conjunctions as, as if, as though.
e.g. It seemed at first as i f there was no one there. (Murdoch)
It was as though our last meeting -wasforgotten.
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Note: Predicative clauses introduced by the conjunctions as, as if, as though

should not be confused with adverbial clauses of comparison introduced by the
same conjunctions. A predicative clause immediately follows the link verb, which
does not express complete predication without the clause. In the case of an
adverbial clause, the preceding verb is that of complete predication and the clause
may be distant from the verb it modifies.
e.g. The woman looked as though she'd been ill for a long time. (Baker)
(predicative clause)
The woman looked pale as though she’d been ill for a long time, (adverbial
clause of comparison)
As can be seen from the above examples, a predicative clause has a fixed position
in the sentence - it always follows a link verb, with which it forms a compound nominal
predicate. The link verbs used with predicative clauses are far less numerous than those
used with the nonclausal predicatives. The most common are to be, to feel, to look, to
seem. Less frequent are to appear, to remain, to become, to sound, to taste.
Types of predicative clauses
Predicative clauses may occur as parts of two structurally different kinds of
sentences:
I. They may follow the main clause in which the subject is a notional word,
although it usually has a very general meaning (thing, question, problem, news,
sensation, evil, rule, trouble, etc.). In this case the predicative clause discloses the
meaning of the subject.
e.g. The old thing was that ... she loved him more than ever. (Walpole)
The trouble was whether we could manage it ourselves or not.
II. The predicative clause may follow the main clause in which the subject is
expressed with the impersonal pronoun it. In this case the predicative clause
describes the situation, either directly or by means of comparison.
e.g. It appears he hasn’t been there.
It looked as i f they were able to get neither up nor down. (Murdoch)
Note 1. Care should be taken not to confuse this last type of sentence with
complex sentences with a subject clause, which also begins with it. In the latter case
the predicate of the main clause is complete, whereas in the case of a predicative
clause it consists only of the link verb. Compare the following sentences:
e.g. It seems that there is no cure, (a predicative clause)
It seems evident that there is no cure, (a subject clause, the predicate “seems
evident” is complete).
Note 2. If both subject and the predicative are expressed by clauses the
principal clause consists only of a link verb.
e.g. What it was hard fo r him to understand was that you may have five
thousand pound a year and vet be a zood man. (Walpole)
After the parts of the principal clause such as The fact remains, The question
is the predicative clauses are often separated by full stop thus forming an
overphrasal unity (надфразна єдність).
e.g. Nevertheless, Major Hoegle, the fact remains. 1 am not able to go alone.
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§ 57. The Complex Sentence with an Object Clause

Object clauses perform the function of an object to the predicate-verb of the
principal clause.
e.g. She hadn 't realized that he was so old. (Steinbeck)
Object clauses may be introduced with:
a) conjunctions: that, if, whether...or, lest
e.g. She was given to understand that the local children were not of her class. (Baker)
Shall we see i f she needs anything? (Baker)
Mor was not sure whether he liked it better. (Baker)
b) connectives: who, whoever, what, whatever, which, whichever (conjunctive
pronouns); where, when, how, why (conjunctive adverbs)
e.g. 1 know what is best for you. (Baker) She’d never understand why he'd told
her such a story. (Baker)
She saw how she bewildered and confused him. (Maugham)
c) asyndetically. In this case it always follows the main clause,
e.g. She told me she was in love with someone else. (Baker)
In your last letter you mentioned he was suffering with colic. (Walpole)
Object clauses may be preceded by a preposition.
e.g. I ’m sorry fo r what I said to you the other day... (Maugham)
He was deeply displeased by what had occurred that day... (Bronte)
An object clause may either follow or precede the main one.
e.g. What she thinks it would be impossible to say.
By this time I know what my life expects o f me. (Steinbeck)
An object clause may refer to any verbal form, either finite or non-finite.
e.g. He tried to picture what he would do then. (Steinbeck)
You 'refond o f telling everybody what they should do. (Baker)
She felt that this moment o f interview for her first job was a tremendous inch
in her whole existence. (Steinbeck)
Until that moment she hadn’t known how fi-ightened she really was.
(Steinbeck)
Object clauses may refer to some adjectives expressing perception, desire,
feeling, assurance (certain, sure, sorry, pleased, desirous, jealous, anxious, etc.),
and to statives (aware, afraid, etc.),
e.g. Helen was ashamed that she had disturbed them. (Steinbeck)
She was afraid the woman must be very ill. (Baker)
Mor was not sure whether he liked it better. (Murdoch)
He was very glad that no one was at home.
Note. After some adjectives denoting a state (glad, sorry, happy, etc.) the
object clause may imply semantically the cause of that state. This similarity to an
adverbial clause of cause may present some difficulty in analysing such sentences as:
e.g. I am very sorry 1 disturbed you —* I am very sorry because I disturbed you.
After adjectives and participles denoting wish or intention (anxious,
determined, interested, etc.) the object: clause may imply purpose:
e.g. I am anxious that you should succeed.
Occasionally an object clause may refer to a verbal noun.
 331

e.g. She had green eyes and a spattering o f what Joseph called American
freckles across the bridge o f her nose.
§ 58. Types of Object Clauses
Like objects in a simple sentence, object clauses may vary in their relation to the
principal clause and in the way they are attached to the word they refer to or depend on.
An object clause may directly follow the word it refers to (a non-prepositional
object clause), in this case it is parallel in function to a direct object.
e.g. Within three months o f her marriage she knew she had made a mistake.
(Maugham)
Kitty didn 7 know what she had done. (Maugham)
A typical most recurrent type of object clauses is indirect speech following
verbs of saying.
e.g. He said he had already bought a car.
She said she would have to reconsider her position. (Maugham)
Note. A sentence containing direct speech consists of two independent clauses,
e.g. “I f you go on like this we shan 7 be marriedfor years ", she said. (Maugham)
Mrs. Whiteside threw open a side door and called, “John, here's someone to
see you".
Object clauses of this subtype are more informative than their main clauses, the
role of the latter being relegated to that of introducing the source of information.
Like subject clauses, object clauses may be preceded by the formal it, usually
after the verbs to feel, to believe, to consider, to find, to take, to like, to insist on, etc.
e.g. / like it when you are kind to me.
He insisted on it that he had stolen that brooch.
An object clause may refer to formal it followed by the objective predicative
after the verbs to think, to find, to make, to consider, etc.
e.g. At the moment like this shefound it clear why she’dfallen for Gills. (Maugham)
Note. Veihman considers that there is difference between the structures with
and without introductory it. Thus, the sentence I expected it that there would
come a lot of guests means that a lot of guests were expected but a greater quantity
came. While the sentence I expected that there would come a lot of guests means
a lot of guests were expected but only a few of them came.
The conjunction that when it introduces an object clause, has no meaning in
itself. It simply marks the beginning of the clause,
e.g. I agree that he is a good doctor.
Unlike object clauses, the conjunction that is obligatory in subject clauses if
they are in preposition to the principal clause.
e.g. That she doesn Vunderstand spoken English is obvious.
Object clauses with that are more common for literary style and are used
predominantly in BE than in AE or AuE. In this case conjunction that is preferable
after the verbs of literary style, such as: to agree, to announce, to argue, to assume, to
calculate, to avert, to conceive, to contend, to indicate, to learn, to hold, to maintain,
to object, to observe, to reckon, to remark, to reply, to state, to suggest, to telegraph,
e.g. He remarked that the experiment had been a failure.
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Object clauses introduced without conjunction that are common for speaking
(If used in speaking, that is unstressed)
e.g. I guess he is a good doctor
Conjunction that is not usually used after to believe, to dare, to say, to presume, to
suppose, to tell, to think and it is optional after be told, to confess, to consider, to
declare, to grant, to hear, to know, to perceive, to propose, to say, to understand, to see.
e.g. I suppose you are right.
Note. Veihman considers that conjunction that is not used if the information
is given by the speaker himself.
e.g. The forecast says it's going to rain, (the speaker was an initiator as to give
the information).
But when asked about the forecast, the speaker can give the answer with or
without conjunction that.
Compare: The forecast says it’s going to rain. (The forecast says that it’s going to
rain).
What’s the weather for tomorrow?
Conjunctions whether and if introducing object clauses have some stylistic
difference. Whether is characteristic for literary style and is used after the verbs of
the same stylistic usage (see above), while if is more common in speaking. Besides,
whether differs from if in its meaning and combinability. It has the meaning of
“which of the two” and is used in the sentences that express choice in the
subordinate object clause.
e.g. She asked whether I preferred Mexican or Greekfood.
Unlike if, whether is used after prepositions, before infinitives with particle to
and immediately before or not.
e.g. I haven 7 settled the question o f whether I ’ll go back home.
She doesn 7 know whether to get married now or wait.
I wondered whether or not Helen was coming.
If at the end of the sentence, phrase or not is used after both conjunctions,
e.g. I wondered ifAvhether Helen was coming or not.
Object clauses parallel in function to indirect objects are very rare. However,
they are possible, the necessary condition for it being that the object clause should
be followed by a direct object.
e.g. You may give whoever you like any presents.
There are also cases when an object clause functions like a cognate object to a verb,
e.g. He and his mamma knew very few people and lived what might have been
thought very lonely lives.
An object clause may be joined to the main clause by the prepositions after,
about, before, beyond, for, near, of, as to, except, etc. (a prepositional object
clause). In this case it is parallel in function to a prepositional object. If a
preposition is very closely attached to the preceding verb or adjective (to agree
upon, to call for, to commet upon, to depend on, to hear of, to insist on, to be
certain of, to be sorry for, etc.) it generally precedes the object clause,
e.g. I am sorry for what I told you then.
She is commentine upon what she is doing.
 333

Some prepositions which would be indispensable before nouns or gerunds

used as objects are not always necessary before object clauses.
e.g. We heard that he has made a quick career lately. (We hear of his having
made a quick career lately).
They agreed that the manager hadn 7 any other choice. (They agreed upon
the manager’s not having any other choice).
The preposition is retained when there is a formal object it followed by an
object clause.
e.g. We heard o f it that he has made a quick career lately.
They agreed upon it that the manager hadn 7 any other choice.
§ 59. The Complex Sentence with an Attributive Clause
Attributive clauses perform a function of an attribute to some noun or pronoun
in the principal clause, which is generally called the antecedent. Usually an
attributive clause immediately follows its antecedent, although some types may
occasionally be distant. An attributive clause may be introduced with:
(a) relative pronouns: who, whose, whom, what, which, that, as;
e.g. The two detectives who had accompanied him straightened up. (Clark)
Mr. Appleby was a missionary and a widower, whose first wife had
capitulated to the unhealthy climate o f central Africa. (Baker)
(b) relative adverbs: where, when, whence, wherein.
e.g. It was no easy thing being a lie-detector in a world where the plain truth
was increasingly hard to find. (Lumley)
Every day Tom took a mysterious book out o f his desk and absorbed
himself in it at times when no classes were reciting. (Twain)
§ 60. Types of Attributive Clauses
According to their meaning and the way they are connected with the principal
clause attributive clauses are divided into relative (A) and appositive (B).
Attributive relative clauses qualify the antecedent, whereas attributive
appositive clauses disclose its meaning.
e.g. The fact those man were so eager to know had been visible, tangible,
open to the senses. (Conrad) (attributive relative clause)
Inquiry at the office revealed the fact that Tuppence had not yet
returned. (Christie) (attributive appositive clause)
A. Attributive relative clauses are joined to the principal clause syndetically
by means of connectives, and asyndetically, while attributive appositive clauses
only syndetically by means of conjunctions.
Attributive relative clauses fall into two types, depending on the degree of
connection and the relation they bear to the antecedent: 1) limiting (or
restrictive/defining) and 2) descriptive (or non-restrictive/non-defining).
An attributive relative limiting (restrictive/defining) clause. This type of
clause restricts the meaning of the antecedent. It is closely connected with the
antecedent and cannot be removed without destroying the meaning of the sentence,
because the information contained in the attributive clause singles out, determines, or
particularizes the person, thing, idea, etc., expressed by the antecedent. Hense attributive
 334

relative clause is not separated by a comma from the principal clause. The lack of
completeness is manifested by some deictic elements (determinants) before the
antecedent (mainly articles, demonstrative pronouns, or words with a demonstrative or
particularizing meaning, such as the same, the only, the best The presence of such
elements is justified only if the attributive clause is following,
e.g. A school is a place where the children study.
The money you spent on necessities was boring... (Maugham)
This could well be the only chance we 'll ever get. (Lumley)
In these sentences the main part taken separately is not clear because of the
article which has a classifying (the first sentence) or a demonstrative force (the
second sentence) and therefore requires some explanation in the form of an
attributive clause or some context to make explicit what kind of place the school
was, what money was meant.
In some cases the dropping of the attributive clause does not make the main
clause incomplete, but its meaning becomes altogether different from the meaning
it has in the complex sentence.
Compare: a) Is it the man who came to the house this afternoon? (Steinbeck)
(that particular man, who came with a visit)
b) Is it the man? (that particular man known to the speaker and the
listener, with no further information for the reader)
Attributive relative limiting clauses are introduced with:
a) relative pronouns: who, whose, which, that, as
e.g. I never met with anybody who delighted me so much. (Austen)
The wisest and the best o f men, the wisest and best o f their actions may be
rendered ridiculous by a person whosefirst object in life is a joke. (Austen)
Henry was coming to the new country (Cardiff) which he had never seen
before. (Steinbeck)
Captain Morgan took the runner to a small room that had escaped the
generalfire. (Steinbeck)
As introduces attributive clauses when the demonstrative pronoun such is
used in the principal clause.
e.g. He was such a listener as most musicians would be glad to welcome. (Trollope)
(b) relative adverbs where, when
e.g. The sight of his mother sitting there and of herface, where beauty and dignity
were combined, filled Amory with a sudden great pride o f her. (Fitzgerald)
It was one o f those days that New York gets sometimes in May, when the
air on Fifth Avenue is a soft, light wine. (Fitzgerald)
c) asyndetically. If the relative limiting clauses are joined to the principal one
asyndetically they are called contact clauses. Contact clauses are always limiting,
for both the main and the subordinate clause complete each other. Before limiting
contact clauses there is never a pause, the intonation of the whole complex too shows
unity and is different from that of two independent sentences. Thus in the sentence
Dr. Phillips, the family physician, told Mrs. Van Deventer the thing she had
suspected fo r a long time the clause had suspected fo r a long time makes no sense
unless the antecedent the thing in the main clause makes the meaning of the
 335

predicate had suspected (and thus the clause itself) complete, though formally the
word the thing cannot be considered as the direct object of the predicate. Some more
examples of the same kind:
e.g .He thought her the prettiest girl h e’d ever seen. (Baker)
This was something she had to know now. (Baker)
/ used to learn by heart the things they’d written.
This is the kind o f job I ’d like.
As can be seen from the above examples, contact clauses are possible only in
cases where the antecedent is semantically acceptable in the following positions:
1) of a direct object:
e.g. / only wanted to thank you fo r the trouble y o u ’ve taken with me. (Cronin)
(You’ve taken the trouble with me.)
The only taste h e’d known was the bitter bile (жовч) o f frustration. (Lumley)
(He’d known only that taste.)
I had cheerfully accepted this possibility as an unavoidable risk one o f the
risks a man has got to take. (Wells) (A man has got to take such risks.)
2) of a prepositional object, the preposition being placed after the verb,
generally at the very end of the sentence:
e.g. Do you remember the man I called your attention to in the dining room
today? (Twain) (I called your attention to the man)
The man I am writing about is not famous. (Maugham) (I am writing
about the man)
3) of a subject. In Modem English this position is possible when it/that is or
there/here is either precedes the contact clause or stands in the clause itself. Sentences
in which the main and the subordinate clauses have a common part which functions as
the subject in the subordinate clause are used nowadays only in dialects and in fiction
to give the narration local colour:
e.g. That’s a thing might happen to any man. (Bennett) (A thing might happen
to any man.)
There is nothing does irritate me more than seeing other people sitting
about doing nothing when I ’m working. (Jerome) (Nothing does irritate
me more than seeing other people sitting about doing nothing)
Perhaps it was his scars suggested it (His scars suggested it). John's was the last
name would have occurred to me (The last name would have occurred to me).
The next morning there was a boy came to see me (A boy came to see me).
4) of a predicative:
e.g. I want to write my story not indeed to the child you are now, but to the man
you are going to be. (Wells) (You are now not indeed the child)
I am not the man I was. (Dickens) (I was such a man)
5) of an adverbial modifier:
e.g. Every time they met was more decided and remarkable. (Austen)
It was the warmest place I ever was in. (Twain)
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Attributive relative descriptive (non-restrictive/non-defining) clause

This type of clause does not restrict the meaning of the antecedent. Usually such
clauses contain extra information about the antecedent and may be left out without any
serious change in the meaning of the main clause, as it is not essential to it.
The connection betv/een the principal clause and the relative descriptive (non-
restrictive) clause is loose, therefore the latter is out by commas. Attributive
relative descriptive clauses are in most cases introduced syndetically by means of:
a) relative pronouns: who, which
e.g. This snake (the King o f Serpents), which may reach gigantic size and live
many hundreds o f years, is born from a chicken's egg. (Rowling)
She had a sister married to a Mr Phillips, who had been a clerk to their
father and succeeded him in the business. (Austen)
b) relative adverbs: where, when
e.g. As Mor came to the corner o f the road where he lived he suddenly paused.
(Murdoch)
After school Miss Morgan walked half a mile to the farm where she
boarded. (Steinbeck)
On night when Harry was reading his paper under the lamp, Marry
jumped to him up. (Steinbeck)
On the afternoon when she had read about the gnomes, the grasses
beside the road threshed about for a moment and the ugly head of
Tularecito appeared. (Steinbeck)
The additional descriptive character of the attributive clause is determined by
the fact that the antecedent denotes a definite person, place, thing, notion, etc. It is
either specified by a limiting attribute, oris a proper name, or else denotes a unique
notion (or one specified by the situation).
e.g. At this age, which I judged to be near fifty, he looked extremely young.
I returned to London, where / remainedfor a week.
I consulted myfather, who promised to help me.
She was thinking how little the opening o f this war which had started
that morning at five-eleven with the German army's marching into
Poland was like the opening o f the last.
The supplementary status of the attributive clauses can be illustrated by the
following transformation of the first sentence given above.
e.g. At this age (and 1judged him to be near fifty) he looked extremely young.
In formal English relative pronouns and adverbs introducing descriptive clauses
may also occur in prepositional phrases opening the subordinate clause, for example:
according to which, instead of which, in spite of which, on which, of which, to
whom, since when, etc.; also within nominal phrases of the type: the largest part of
which, each of which, many examples of which, during which time, which fact, etc.
The relative pronoun approaches in its function the anaphoric demonstrative pronoun
this, and the clause can be paraphrased by a coordinate or parenthetical clause.
e.g. That is the only point, on which we do not agree. (Austen) (and we do not
agree on it)
 337

The absolute fact of Wickham's absence was pronounced by his friend Denny,
to whom Lydia eagerly applied. (Austen) (and Lydia eagerly applied to him)
Note. Compounds of where and a preposition, such as whereby, wherefore,
whereto, etc., are now confined to extremely formal English only and are replaced
in less formal style by for which, by which, to which, etc.
Attributive descriptive continuative clause.
A variant of the attributive descriptive clause is a continuative (or sentential)
attributive clause, whose antecedent is not one word but a clause, a sentence,
series of sentences, or even a whole story. Such sentence is generally introduced by
the relative pronoun which, occasionally by that, rendered into Ukrainian by the
preposition що. A continuative (or sentential) attributive clause is always separated
from the principal clause by a comma. Sometimes the attributive continuative
clause may be separated by a semicolon, a dash, or even by a full stop.
e.g. She did not answer, which was not unusual. (Clark) (... що не було
незвичним)
There was a great deal o f mutinous muttering around the room, which
made Professor McGonagall scowl even more darkly. (Rowling) (...
через що професор МакГонагал насупився ще більше)
She lived in two rooms over a teashop, which was convenient, since she
could send downfor cakes and scones ifshe had visitors. (... що було зручно,
оскільки...).
Several times he caught her looking at him with a hurt, puzzled
expression, which pleased his evil m ood(... що тішило його злість).
Note. The connection between the attributive continuative clause and the
principal clause is so loose that it is doubtful whether we have here a subordinate or
a coordinate clause; it may be considered a borderline case between subordination
and coordination.
Attributive appositive clause
Attributive appositive clauses disclose the meaning of the antecedent, which
is expressed with an abstract noun (idea, point, fact, thought, news, thing,
reason, question, comment, etc.). An attributive appositive clause is not separated
from the principal clause by a comma.
Appositive'clauses are chiefly introduced with the conjunction that,
occasionally by the conjunction whether or by the adverbs how and why. They are
not joined to the principal clause asyndetically. Appositive clauses may refer to a
whole clause.
e.g. You wake up and grasp the idea that something terrible really has
happened (Jerome)
There was no reason why she should not read it (the book). (Hichens)
Thus to Cytherea and Owen Gray the question how their lives would end
seemed the deepest o f possible enigmas. (Hardy)
His singing is a thing that you ought to hear once, and then die. (Jerome)
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§ 61. The Use of Relative Pronouns in Attributive Relative Clauses

As has already been stated, attributive relative clauses are introduced by the
following relative pronouns: who, which, that, as. The choice of relative word
depends on the categorical meaning of the antecedent. Thus, while using these
pronouns the following rules should be observed:
1) if the antecedent denotes a living being, the relative pronoun who, whom,
whose, or that is used.
e.g. Now he rented his room to a traveling dentist who came two days each
week. (Baker)
Maria, whose nature was very delicate and sweet, planted more
geraniums around the house. (Steinbeck)
2) with collective nouns we use which when the collective is considered as a
whole (verb is in the singular); who, when we think of the separate individuals
(verb is in the plural).
e.g. The crew, who were all asleep, forgot to hoist a lantern.
1 often went to see her family, which was a large one.
3) If the antecedent is used as a noun-predicative expressing profession,
character, etc, which or that is used for persons.
e.g. He is not the man which you think him to be. (Він не такий, яким ви його
вважаєте.
Compare: Не is not the man whom you think him to be = Він не той, за
кого ви його приймаєте).
She is a very diligent pupil which her sister is not.
4) If the antecedent denotes a thing or notion, the relative word which, whose,
or that is used; of these that is less formal.
e.g. Charlie was saying things which she would never have expected him to
say. (Maugham)
Mor turned and began to walk slowly along the road that led to his own
house. (Murdoch)
Note. In reference to the names of animals, who is used when the animal is
referred to as he or she; which, when it is associated with the neuter gender it. But
the rule is not always observed and we often meet which combined with he or she,
or who combined with it.
e.g. He called back his dog, which returned obediently to its master.
All at once I remembered that it might be Pilot: who, when the kitchen-door
chanced to be left open, not unfrequentlyfound his way up to Mr. Rochester’s
chamber. (Bronte)
5) If the antecedent is the name of the country which is used when the country
is regarded from a geographical point of view; who, when it is thought of as a
political notion.
e.g. For traveling I prefer Norway, which is more mountainous than Sweden.
Henry was coming to Cardiff, which he had never seen before. (Steinbeck)
 339

6) If the antecedent is expressed with pronoun a 11 denoting a living being the

pronoun who or that is used; if it denotes a thing or notion only the pronoun that is
generally used.
e.g. AU that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail. (Rowling)
7) If the antecedent is expressed with pronouns everything, something,
anything or nothing, much, little, few, the relative pronoun that is generally used,
or else the clause is joined asyndetically.
e.g. Everythin« Tzonov had told him was the absolute truth. (Lumley)
There was somethine / should ask myself thefirst time I saw her. (Lumley)
It was far easier than anything I ever did before. (Lumley)
There was nothing she wanted more. (Baker)
All the trains - the few that there were - stopped at all the stations. (Huxley)
8) If the antecedent is modified by the adjective only, the pronoun any, by the
adjective in the superlative degree, or the first, the attributive clauseis the pronoun
that or is joined asyndetically.
e.g. It was the first thins he had ever refused. (Steinbeck)
The only object that gave her satisfaction during those days was the white
monkey.
9) If the antecedent is modified by the demonstrative pronoun s u c h , the
relative pronoun as is used.
e.g. She was playing the piano with such feelintz as couldn’t he expected from
a girl o f her age.
10) After the antecedent modified by s a m e, several relative expressions may
be used: the same children as..., the same person who..., the same island that...,
the same time when..., the same place where..., etc.
11) Attributive clauses joined by the relative adverbs when, where, whence,
whereon, (rather obsolete) refer to antecedents designating spatial or temporal notions.
e.g. The end o f the pass was now in sight, where the mountains slopped down
to stairside’s boulder plains. (Lumley)
Miss Morgan enjoyed teaching and made school an exciting place where
unusual things happened. (Steinbeck)
On the afternoon when she had read about the gnomes, the grasses beside the
road threshed about for a moment and the ugly head o f Tularecito appeared
(Steinbeck)
12) The relative adverb why refers to antecedents denoting cause or reason.
e.g. It's just one more reason why I won’t take you east with us. (Lumley)
Note. As the word-forms coincide, care should be taken not to confuse relative
pronouns and adverbs with conjunctive pronouns and adverbs, which are used to
introduce nominal clauses. The difference between the two functions lies in the fact
that the relative words always refer to an antecedent, whereas in the case of
conjunctive words there is no such reference, compare the following three sentences:
e.g. That is the place where we always meet, (a relative adverb)
That is where we always meet, (a conjunctive adverb)
/ know where you always meet, (a conjunctive adverb)
 340

§ 62. The Complex Sentence with an Adverbial Clause

An adverbial clause performs the function of an adverbial modifier to a verb,
an adjective or an adverb in the principal clause.
e.g. Every night, after Katherine and Alice had gone to bed, he took down the
thick book and opened it under the hanging lamp. (Steinbeck)
Adverbial clauses differ from subject, object, predicative and attributive
clauses in the fact that they are joined to the principal clause by means of
subordinating conjunctions. They are not joined to the principal clause
asyndetically except sometimes adverbial clauses of condition, where the meaning
and the function of the clause can be understood only from the meaning of the
subordinate and the main clauses. Some types of adverbial clauses may be
introduced by at least a dozen different conjunctions (as for instance adverbial
clauses of time). On the other hand, many of the conjunctions are used to introduce
more than one kind of clause (as, since, that, when, now that). In some cases the
meanings and functions of the conjunction are so numerous that it is really difficult
to say what the basic meaning of the conjunction is, as its function depends on the
meaning of the clauses and their relationship.
An adverbial clause may precede, interrupt or follow the principal one. If it
precedes the principal clause, it is separated by a comma. If it follows the principal
clause no comma is used. If it interrupts the principal clause, it is separated by
commas at the beginning and at the end.
e.g. When Katherine had seen that the baby was beautiful, she was filled with
wonder and with awe and misgiving. (Steinbeck)
I thought I could turn a little more interest than that i f / looked around.
(Steinbeck)
On the afternoon when she had read about the gnomes, as she walked
home, the grasses beside the road threshed about for a moment and the
ugly head ofTularecito appeared. (Steinbeck)
§ 63. Types of Adverbial Clauses
According to their semantics we distinguish adverbial clauses of time, place,
manner, comparison, condition, concession, purpose, cause, result.
1. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of time (temporal clause)
An adverbial clause of time shows the time of the action expressed in the principal
clause. The action may be expressed by a finite or non-finite form of the verb. The
identifying questions for temporal clause are: When? How long? At what time? An
adverbial clause of time may be introduced by conjunctions (as, as soon as, as long as,
when, whenever, while, now that, till, until, after, before, since) or recently formed
conjunctions and phrasal conjunctions (the time (that), the day (that), the moment,
the instant, next time, every (each) time, directly, immediately, instantly, once).
Every conjunction in the above list imparts a particular shade of meaning to the
temporal relation priority, simultaneity, succession of actions, the beginning or the
end of the action, repetition, coincidence of two actions, gradual development of a
process, etc. These temporal relations can be illustrated by the following examples:
 341

e g. Did he say anything special to you before / came? (Murdock) (priority of

the action in the subordinate clause to that of the principal one)
I was watching his eyes pretty closely while we were exchanging these
remarks... (Maugham) (simultaneity of actions in the principal and
subordinate clauses)
When those two were gone Jolion did not return to his painting.
(Galsworthy) (succession of actions)
He had only spoken that one word since he entered the room. (Snow)
(subordinate clause shows the starting point of the action in the principal clause)
As they approached the house, they became quieter and quieter, (gradual
development of a process)
Sometimes temporal clauses may lose their subordinate character and tend to
become independent of the principal clause.
e.g. I hadjust crossed the street when suddenly I met John.
In such sentences the conjunction when can be substituted by and, thus
temporal clauses may lose their subordinate character and tend to become
independent of the principal clause. Such sentences occupy an intermediate
position between coordination and subordination.
Adverbial clauses of time introduced by when show that the action of the
principal clause and that of the subordinate are either 1) simultaneous or 2) follow
each other:
e.g. 1) / took the little baby in my arms, when it was awake, and nursed it lovingly.
When she alighted from the train there was a nearly full moon, and the
night was blowy and sweet-smelling.
2) When the symphony was over, he stopped the machine and restored the
discus to an album.
When he had sealed and stamped the envelope, he went back to the
window and drew a long breath. (Galsworthy)
Note 1. The conjunction when introducing adverbial clauses of time should
not be confused with the adverb when introducing subject clauses, predicative
clauses, object clauses, and attributive relative clauses.
e.g. She did not turn nor give any sign o f recognition when Maria entered.
(Steinbeck) (adverbial clause of time)
When they’d come was not clear, (subject clause)
The question is when the document will be signed, (predicative clause)
There was no net and the boy remembered when they had sold it
(Hemingway) (object clause)
It seemed that the valley lay crouched in waiting for the time when Bobbie
should go to school (Steinbeck) (attributive relative clause)
Adverbial clauses of time introduced by as denote that the action of the
principal clause is simultaneous to that of the subordinate:
e.g. He stood watching me, as / went out o f the shop. (Cronin)
I heard the opening of a door, and finally the rattle and clash as the gate
was unlocked.
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The conjunction as used in adverbial clauses of time in some cases has the
meaning of gradual development of a proces.
e.g. As the night drew on, the sea roughened. (Ch. Bronte)
Clauses introduced by as long as (so long as) denote the duration of the action
expressed by the principal clause:
e.g. They are prepared to take you (Harry) back next summer as long as you
stay at Hogwarts fo r the Christmas and Easter holidays. (Rowling)
She was prepared to play ball with him as long as it suited her convenience...
Note 2. The conjunction as may be used to join clauses of cause, manner,
concession, comparison and also to introduce parenthetic clauses.
e.g. As he was new to the area, he did not know anyone, (clause of cause)
Let me have a cup o f China tea as strong as you can make it (Galsworthy)
(clause of manner)
He kissed her quickly and ran towards the wicket as fast as he could
(Maugham) (clause of comparison)
Simple as it seem you wilt have to work a great deal on it. (clause of concession)
I was in real distress, as 1 can tell you. (Dreiser) (parenthetical clause)
Clauses of time introduced by directly and as soon as denote that the two
actions closely follow each other:
e.g. / wrote her a letter almost as soon as 1 was housed at Dover. (Dickens)
I recognized the place directly 1 saw it.
To express that the action of the subordinate clause closely follows that of the
principal clause, one of the restrictive adverbs (hardly, scarcely, no sooner) is
used in the principal clause. Scarcely and hardly are followed by when in the
subordinate clause; no sooner is followed by than. The principal clause has
inversion if the adverb is placed at the head of the sentence.
e.g. They had hardly taken some pieces ofpie when it was finished. (Jerome)
Hardly had she finished speaking when there was a flutter o f light footsteps
and Annette appeared.. (La Mure)
No sooner had I wiped one salt dropfrom my cheek, than anotherfollowed
Scarcely had his hands touched her head, when she sighed deeply. (London)
These sentences are intermediate between subordination and coordination.They
have the form of complex sentences but the relation between their clauses is similar in
its meaning to that existing between the independent parts of a compound sentence.
Corresponding sentences in Ukrainian present the same double character:
e.g. Hardly had 1 reached the station when the train started (Compare: He встиг
я дістатися станції, коли (як) потяг рушив = а потяг уже рушив.)
Kobrina considers such sentences to be complex sentences of mutual subordination.
Adverbial clauses of time introduced by while (whilst) denote either 1) that
the action of the subordinate clause is simultaneous with that of the principal
clause, or 2) that the action of the principal clause begins while the action of the
subordinate clause is already in progress:
e.g. The Lusitania had been struck by two torpedoes in succession and was sinking
rapidly, while the boats were being launched with all possible speed. (Christie)
 343

I was watching his eyes pretty closely while we were exchanging these
remarks... (Maugham)
While I was saying goodbye to the rest of the guests Isabel took Sophie
aside... (Maugham)
The conjunction while (whilst) may also introduce clauses expressing the
attending circumstances of an action. I n such a case the relation between the parts
of the sentence is rather that of coordination than of subordination:
e.g. He got down, and passed with Mr. Moss into the garden, towards an old
yew-tree arbour, while his sister stood tapping her baby on the back and
looking wistfully after them. (Eliot) ( =and his sister stood...)
White clouds so brilliant, went by overhead, while shadows stole along on
the water. ( Lawrence).
While (whilst) acquires the meaning of a coordinative conjunction also in
such cases when it serves to express contrast between the action of the principal
clause and that of the subordinate:
e.g. While I agree with most things he says, I can't accept all his statements.
(I can’t accept all his statements, but I agree with most things he says.)
Meanwhile William grew bigger and stronger and more active, while
Paul, always rather delicate and quiet, got slimmer and trotted after his
mother like her shadow. ( Lawrence)
While they were singing, he stood there at the edge o f the crowd. (J. London)
Jennie was a diligent student, while her sister was a rather lazy one.
In these examples the conjunction while has the same meaning as the
Ukrainian coordinative conjunction a. Kharytonov I.K. considers such sentences to
occupy an intermediate position between coordination and subordination, as the
conjunction while (whilst) weakens its temporal meaning to a great extent. Azar
distinquishes subordinate clause of contrast.
A clause introduced by before expresses that the action of the principal clause
is prior to that of the subordinate:
e.g. There is, however, one more thing you need to know before we leave thisflat.
(Brown)
"I'm sorry? " Langdon interrupted before he could stop himself. (Brown)
A quarter o f an hour passed before lessons began... ( Bronte)
A subordinate clause introduced by after expresses that the action of the
principal clause follows the action of the subordinate clause:
e.g. Very smart your owl arrived about five minutes after you did. (Rowling)
...long after night had overclouded the prospect, I heard a wild wind
rushing amongst trees. ( Bronte)
The subordinating conjunctions of time fronted by only at the beginning of a
sentence require subject-predicate inversion in the main clause.
e.g. Only when the teacher leaves us can we stand and leave the room.
Only after the phone rang did I realize that l hadfallen asleep in my chair.
The conjunctions till and until introduce clauses which fix the end of the
action in the main clause if the latter contains no negation, as in:
e.g. So we went on till we came to another hotel. (Jerome)
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If the time reference in the subordinate clause with till or until is to a starting
point, the main clause is always negative.
e.g. He slept through the early gray o f morning until the direct rays o f the sun
smote his closed eyelids... (London)
He did not say a word till he was asked.
They did not marry until she was forty.
Corresponding sentences with affirmative main clauses are impossible unless
the conjunction after is used.
*He said a word till he was asked.—♦ He said some words after he was asked.
*They did not marry until she was forty. —>They married after she became forty.
A subordinate clause introduced by since (ever since) denotes the starting point
of the action expressed by the verb of the principal clause. It may also express the
beginning of a period of time continuing until now or until some time in the past. In
the first case the present perfect is used in the principal clause, in the second the past
perfect. In a temporal clause the past simple tense is used in both cases.
e.g. “Mama has been dead ever since I was born. ” she said in her quiet way.
(Dickens)
He had only spoken that one word since he entered the room. (Snow)
If the actions expressed in both clauses are durative and still continuing, the
present perfect tense or past perfect tense is used in both the clauses. Such
clauses denote during the time that...:
e.g. Since we have been friends we have never quarreled.
“The rooks what has become o f them?" asked Miss Betsey. "There have
not been any since we have lived here," said my mother. (Dickens)
"What have you been doing to yourselfsince l have been away?" (Cusack)
Note 3. Adverbial clauses of t і m e introduced by subordinating conjunction
since should not be confused with adverbial clauses of reason (cause) which has
explanatory meaning.
e.g. The Lord o f the Rings has been read by many people since it finally
appeared in print. (Tolkien) (clause of time)
Katherine was glad o f every weakness in her daughter since each one
made her feel closer and more worthy. (Steinbeck) (clause of cause)
Homonymous clauses of time and cause, introduced by the conjunction since
are distinquished by the context. In the case of identical context they are
distinquished by the presence absence of the pause before since.
Compare: I haven’t seen him since he left, (c тих пір як)
I haven’t seen him| since he left, (оскільки)
Conjunctions of recent formation have mainly been formed from nouns
denoting time, although some are formed from adverbs denoting time. They are the
time, the instant, immediately, directly and others. Most of them are used to
introduce subordinate clauses denoting the exact moment of the action in the main
clause or the quick succession of the actions in both clauses.
e.g. We 'll be married the very moment we find a house. Directly he saw me,
he slipped back into the room.
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The colloquial style, signboards, the titles of radio programmes, the headlines
of newspapers and signs in photos in periodicals are characterized by complex
sentences with one-member principal clause and subordinate clause of time.
e.g. Mind the steps, darlings! Careful as you go. (the guide to the tourists)
“Repairs while you wait” “Ремонт в присутності замовника"
Draw as penalty missed (DW) “Нічия після незабитого одинадцяти-
метрового штрафного удару".
2. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of place
An adverbial clause of place defines the place or the direction of the action
expressed in the principal clause. It may be introduced by one of the following
conjunctions: where, whence, wherever, everywhere (that) and conjunctive
adverbs with prepositions. A clause introduced by wherever can express direction
as well as position. Subordinate clauses introduced by where indicate:
1) the place where the action is going on (де?);
2) the place towards which the action is directed (куди?);
3) the starting point of the action (звідки?).
To indicate direction, to is sometimes added; to indicate the starting point,
from where (whence) is used.
e.g. 1) The picture o f the pass was o f a too-perfect symmetry, where the left
and right halves o f the face seemed mirror images. (Lumley)
They had stopped to rest beneath a finger-post where four roads met.
(Dickens)
2) Trask ... stepped across the room to where David Chung was still
mazed, staggering. (Brian)
He, ... turned his head slowly towards where I stood... (Bronte)
3) Carol was now standing on the jetty, just inches awayfrom the front o f the
boat and no more than ten feet away from where the man was sitting.
(Clarke)
On the other side o f the hedge was a stream, whence.,, had come the
slight sounds o f voices and laughter ... (Hardy)
Notel. Adverbial clauses of place introduced by the conjunction where should
not be confused with predicative or object clauses introduced by the conjunctive
adverb where or its derivatives, or with attributive clauses introduced with the
relative adverb where. The discrimination is determined by the meaning and nature
of the word the clause refers to.
e.g. The end o f the pass was now in sight, where the mountains sloped down
to Starside’s plains. (Lumley) (clause of place)
Langdon had already discerned that this was where Sam ’s body lay.
(Brown) (predicative clause)
Now tell me where it is. (Brown) (object clause)
He moved to the bedroom where his father lay on the bed. (Brown)
(attributive clause)
Subordinating conjunctions of place fronted by only at the beginning of a
sentence require subject-predicate inversion in the main clause.
e.g. Only in my hometown do / feel at ease.
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3. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of manner

Adverbial clauses of manner characterize in a general way the action
expressed in the principal clause. Therefore they may have different reference. The
most common conjunctions to introduce them are as and the way. In such adverbial
clauses the idea of comparison is often implied.
e.g. Joe left the house as he had entered it... (Cronin)
Adverbial clauses of manner may have different reference:
1) They may modify the predicate of the main clause by attributing some
quality to it.
e.g. The giant full moon rises as it has risen fo r thousands o f years. (Clarke)
I'm sorry I talked the way I did at lunch. She cooks the turkey exactly as
my mother did.
2) They may refer to attributes or predicatives characterizing a state or quality
of a person or non-person.
e.g. Carol wasfive or six and sitting in her room, readyfor bed as she was requested,
and herfather came into the room carrying a picture book (Clarice)
Astonished, as one could be in such circumstances, he didn ’t give a sign of it.
3) They may refer to an adverbial modifier, giving additional information or
explanation concerning it.
e.g. He said it with contempt, as a grown-up serious man should treat such views.
In the second and the third case the connection between the clauses is rather
loose, and the subordinate clause is generally set off by commas.
4. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of comparison
Adverbial clauses of comparison denote an action with which the action in the
principal clause is compared.
e.g. He was white, as i f he had not slept fo r many nights. (Wells)
Clauses of comparison may be introduced with conjunctions as (with as, so,
not so in the principal clause), like, as if, as if (with as in the principal clause), as
though, than.
e.g. ...the wind had dropped, and it was as lovely a morning as one could
desire. (Jerome)
Your French is better than you admit. (Brown)
Julianne sounded as i f she had memorized the little speech (Clarke)
Complex sentences where the principal and subordinate clauses are connected by
the with a comparative (the more... the more, as ... so, etc.) show a correlative
increase, quantitative or qualitative, in both the principal and the subordinate clause:
e.g. The more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to answer. (Stockton)
The more I knew o f the inmates o f Moor House, the better I liked them. (Bronte)
Kobrina calls such types of subordinate clauses “the clauses of proportionate
agreement (or comparison)” and considers such complex sentences as those of
mutual subordination.
In the above type of complex sentences both clauses may be elliptical,
especially in colloquial speech and proverbs:
e.g. The sooner, the better. The more, the better. The nearer the bone, the sweeter
the flesh.
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Compare with the Ukrainian: Чим раніше, тим краще. Чим більше,
тіш краще. Що на дні, то й наіісолодше.
In comparative clauses the subject it is often omitted:
e.g. I leave you to act as seems best (as it seems best).
He spoke as follows (as it follows). He was a better scholar than was
usual in those days.
An adverbial clause of comparison may correlate with adverbs in the
comparative degree in the principal clause. In this case the clause refers to the
predicate with its adverbial modifier.
e.g. They don't have long intervals like they do at other theatres.
Note 1. The difference between the use of as and like is important. As implies
the idea of identification, as in: Let me speak to you as your father ought to (= /
am your father and 1 am speaking to you in that character), whereas like implies
the idea of mere comparison, as in: Let me speak to you like a father might (= I am
not your father, but I am speaking in the way your father might).
Note 2. The conjunctions as if and as though may also introduce appositive
and predicative clauses, as the comparative meaning may combine with different
syntactic connections.
e.g. She looked at me as i f nothing was wrong, (adverbial clause)
She had a look as i f she had something in her mouth, (appositive clause)
She looked as i f she had something in her mouth, (predicative clause)
The clauses of comparison sometimes have inverted word order,
e.g. He was as obstinate as were most o f his relatives.
Special mention should be made of cases when two subordinating devices are
used to introduce a clause, usually a conjunction and a conjunctive word: than
whose, than which, than where, or two conjunctions: than if. They bear double
relation to the main clause, one of which is that of comparison.
e.g. He is never more present in my work than when no image o f him is there.
(comparative and temporal relation)
The Butler took his tip far more casually, far more naturally than i f Dicky
had offered to shake hands with him. - ... ніж якби Дікі простягнув
йому руку, (comparative and conditional relation)
5. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of condition
Adverbial clauses of condition state some condition (either real or unreal)
which is necessary for the realization of the action expressed in the principal clause.
Adverbial clauses of condition may be introduced with conjunctions: if, even if,
only if, unless (якщо не), once, in case, suppose, supposing, on condition that, in the
event that, provided (при умові), whether or not, etc. There are also several
conjunctions derived from verbal forms sometimes followed by the optional that:
provided (that), providing (that), suppose (that), supposing (that), considering
(that), given (that), granted (that), granting (that), admitting (that), presuming
(that), seeing (that).
Conditional clauses introduced by if and other conjunctions (with the exception
of unless) imply uncertainty. Therefore they often contain non-assertive forms of
pronouns and pronominal adverbs, such as any, anybody, anything, anywhere.
 348

e.g. I f anything happens, you'd better tell me. I f anyone asks fo r me, tell him
to wait.
We use i f I were you ... when we want to give advice.
I f I were you, I wouldn ’t complain about it.
Only if expresses the idea that there is only one condition that will cause a
particular result. When only if begins a sentence, the subject and verb of the main
clause are inverted, no commas are used.
e.g. The picnic will be cancelled only i f it rains. Only i f it rains will the picnic be
cancelled.
Note 1. There is difference between clauses of condition of the types if you like
and if you would like. The first phrase does not require any object or predicative
expressed by infinitive, while the second phrase is usually used with them.
Compare: Come with us if you like / if you’d like to.
I’ll get you a copy if you like / if you’d like one.
Clauses beginning with unless express the only possible condition which will
make the action in the main clause possible. Therefore they usually contain assertive
forms like something, somebody. The verb is always in the affirmative after unless.
e.g. Unless somebody interferes, there may be a disaster.
For the same reason unless-clauses hardly ever express unreal conditions. In
some cases unless can be substituted by if not.
e.g. Unless you leave now, you 'll miss the bus. (= I f you don’t leave now, you 'll
miss the bus.)
Unless we change our way of life, then their (airplains ) noise is something
we have to live with too. (Brown)
But the exclusive meaning of unless accounts for the fact that, even if the
condition is real, the unless-clause is not always equivalent to an if-not-clause. The
difference is that their Ukrainian equivalent „якщо не” є багатозначним. The main
meaning of the phrase if not is „якщо відсутня певна умова” and the conjunction
unless has the meaning „за винятком випадку, якщо”. Thus the sentence I won't
come unless you invite me (я прийду, лише якщо ви запросите мене) and the
sentence I won't come if you don't invite me (я не прийду, якщо ви мене не
запрошуєте) are quite different in their meaning.
The conjunctions provided and providing open a clause containing some
desirable condition for the fulfilment of the action expressed by the predicate in the
main clause.
e.g. And you can do what you please, provided you do it neatly and don't make a
row over it.
You will get a seat providing (that) you reserve a ticket.
The conjunctions suppose and supposing always imply that the condition is
merely hypothetical.
e.g. Suppose someone gained access to this lab, what do you imagine it would
be after? (Brown)
Supposing it rains, will you still go for a picnic with them?
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The conjunction whether or not expresses the idea that neither this condition
nor that condition matters; the result will be the same. Whether or not can be
substituted by even if.
e.g. I ’m going to go swimming tomorrow whether or not it is cold, (or whether it
is cold or not) = Even if the weather is cold, I'm going to go swimming.
The conjunction in case and in the event that express the idea that something
probably won’t happen, but it might, it means “if by chance this should happen”. In
the event that is more formal than in case. The use of should in the adverb clause
emphasizes the speaker’s uncertainty that something will happen.
e.g. I ’ll be at my uncle’s house in case you (should) need to reach me. In the
event that you (should) need to reach me, l ’ll be at my uncle's house.
The following expressions can be used instead of if, as they have the same
meaning: provided/providing that, as long as, suppose/supposing.
e.g. You can see Mr. Carter provided you have an appointment to the party.
(If you have an appointment to the party you can see Mr. Carter)
We will all have dinner together providing Mary comes on time. (Evans)
Suppose/supposing the boss came now, what would you say? (I f the boss
came now, what would you say?)
“...I shall go provided you consent to accompany me: i f you refuse, I
shall not stir a foot." (Bronte)
Depending on the relation between the subordinate and the main clauses and
on the use of tense and mood forms, complex sentences with conditional clauses
may be subdivided into three types:
1) Complex sentences with clauses of real condition.
2) Complex sentences with clauses of unreal condition.
3) Complex sentences with clauses of rejected condition
6. Complex sentences with clauses of real condition
These are those sentences when the actions or events in both clauses refer to
the past or present and these actions or events are regarded as real facts. If the
actions or events in these clauses refer to the future, the actions or events are
regarded as possible real facts.
e.g. I f I have offended you, 1 am very sorry. Why did he send us matches if
he knew there was no gas? I f Jules comes back, simply defy him to enter
that is all. I won t phone you, unless something unforeseen happens.
Kohler grunted: "Ifyou think they (scientists) have released their reign
over science, ask yourself why half the schools in your country are not
allowed to teach evolution ". (Brown)
The conditional clause may be a statement for mere argument, no condition is
meant.
e.g. I f she got no money from her brother-in-law, she got what was as good
as money credit.
I f Adrian had a passion, indeed, except fo r Diana Ferse, it was a burning
desire to fix that breeding spot.
As can be seen from the above examples, the predicates in conditional clauses
may be in the past or present indefinite, present perfect, present or past continuous.
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Note 1. In cases like the following Let her come to me as she will, when shr
will, not at all if she will not; But I must run out for half a minute, if you’ll let
me the verb will is not auxiliary but modal, as it expresses wish, insistence, or
resistance (in negative form).
7. Complex sentences with clauses of unreal condition
These clause denote hypothetical situations or circumstances which may hr
(or may no be) realized in the present or future. Accordingly the subjunctive-mood
forms are used both in the subordinate and the principal clause to denote actions or
states.
In the main clause In the subordinate clause
Analytical forms with The present subjunctive (be, go, see, etc.)
should f indefinite or the present subjunctive for all Un­
would \ infinitive persons in the singular and plural. Of these
(In Modem English the tendency forms be and were can open asyndetically
is to use would for all the persons) joined clauses.
e.g. I f religion continued to promote pious myth as absolute fact, scientific
progress would halt, and mankind would be doomed to an ignorant
future o f senseless holy wars. (Lumley)
In case the state o f the patient became worse he would be taken to a hospital.
I f I were you, I would change into another dress.
You wouldn’t be talking that way unless you were hurt.
Quasi-subjunctive-mood forms with The form of Past Simple
may (might) + indefinite infinitive and Past Continuous
e.g. You might ask her this question i f you were less scrupulous.
This might seem to be unreal unless I saw it with my own eyes.
Analytical forms with should + non-perfect
The imperative mood.
infinitive (mostly with inversion)
e.g. Should he ask for references, tell him to apply to me.
Should he turn up, tell him to wait fo r me.
Note 2. The form would + infinitive in the subordinate clause may be not a
mood form, but a compound predicate, expressing a polite request.
e.g. / should be much obliged i f you would agree to take part in the concert.
(RKUfo б ви погодились взяти участь у концерті).
8. Complex sentences with clauses of rejected condition
Such sentences imply non-fulfilment of the condition, as the actions or events
described in the conditional clause refer to the past and the time of their realization
is over. The condition is generally not even supposed to have been fulfiled, but is
stated merely for the sake of argument. The following mood forms are used:
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In the main clause In the subordinate clause

analytical forms the form of Past Perfect
should
would
might ► + perfect infinitive
(may)
could
e.g. I f she had questioned him... he would have owned up {зізнався). (Murdoch)
I f I hadn’t woken you, you’d (would) have lain there for the whole fortnight.
She would have been playing her part well unless she had been stiff with
fright.
I might have persuaded her to change her mind if she had not been so
obstinate.
I f the book had been published they could have bought a copy in the shops.
Could he not have missed the train if he had been detained by the director?
(The forms with may (might) and could are compound verbal modal predi­
cates in the subjunctive mood.)
The non-factual past perfect form may open an asyndetically joined
conditional clause (with partial inversion).
e.g. Had the colour o f the dress been to my taste, I should have bought it.
Had the world been watching, it would have been startled.
A complex sentence with a conditional clause may be built on clauses of both
type II and type III, thus forming a mixed type of conditional relationship:
e.g. I f we hadn’t been such fools, we would all still be together, (the
subordinate clause with reference to the past type III, the principal clause
with reference to the present type II).
I f you were more attentive, you wouldn’t have made so many mistakes.
(the subordinate clause with reference to the present, as it implies
somebody’s ability to concentrate in general type II, the main clause with
reference to the past type III).
Sometimes the principal clause is not expressed: then the if-clauses of the
second and the third types (unreal condition) denote a wish:
e.g. I f only it could be avoided! (Gaskell)
I f their life together could always be like this! (Cronin)
In if-clauses of the second and the third types the conjunction if can be
omitted. In this case the inversion takes place. Such a construction is possible only
when the predicate comprises an auxiliary or modal verb, or when the verbs to
have and to be are used as predicates:
e.g. Were he (Langdon) here now, he wouldn 7 behave like this. (Brown)
Could you stay a little longer, we shouldfinish the work today.
Were he my friend, I should expect his help.
“Anne would have been a delightful performer, had her health allowed her
to learn. ” (Austen)
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"Yes; she would certainly have been found dead at the door in the morning,
had she been left out all night " (Bronte)
Were I you, I wouldn't trust him. Had he known, he would have called.
Note 3. Some of the conditional constructions may be used to join clauses
expressing other meanings or admitting a two-fold interpretation. Thus if may
introduce concessive clauses, clauses in which the meaning of condition is
combined with temporal meaning. The conjunction in case may introduce clauses
of negative purpose, as in:
e.g. / went and ate sandwiches in the woods, in case one o f the servants shoul
see me on the lawn from the window... (щоб хто-небудь з прислуги не
побачив...)
The subordinate clause of condition can come before or after the main clause.
If the clause of condition comes before the main clause, it is separated with comma.
If the main clause comes first, no comma is necessary.
e.g. When I have finished all my lessons, I shall go for a walk. I shall go for a
walk when I have finished all my lessons.
I f anything were to happen to us out here... well, the organization would
be weakened enough without losing you, too. (Lumley)
Conditional clauses may be joined to the main clause asyndetically by means
of inversion.
e.g. But had chance taken you out into the surrounding country and had it
taken you in the right direction, you would have found him toiling along
by the hedges...
... should Frank marry to-morrow, 1 shall have no ground fo r blaming
him. (Trollope)
9. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of concession
In complex sentences with concessive clauses there is a contrast between the
content of the principal clause and that of the subordinate one: the action or fact
described in the principal clause is carried out or takes place despite the action or
state expressed in the subordinate clause.
This type of clause is conjunctions: although, though, if correlative conjunctions:
though...yet, whether...or; conjunctive pronouns or adverbs: whoever, whatever,
whichever, whenever, wherever (which may stand for almost any part of the sentence),
as; or composite conjunctions: no matter how, no matter what, for all that, despite
that, in spite of the fact, despite the fact, even if, even though even when.
The abundance of means for expressing concessive relations is determined not
only by the necessity to differentiate various shades of meaning, but also by the fact
that different parts may form the focus of the concessive meaning:
However ignorant he was - Яким би
(The focus is the predicative.)
неосвічетш він не був...
Late as it was - Хоча було пізно...
Як би пізно не було...
Try as he might - Хоч як би він не (The focus is the notional part of the
старався predicate.)
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Whoever may come - Хто о не ґ ... .. , ,

л (The focus is the subject.)
прийшов...

Compound conjunctive pronouns and adverbs (whoever, whenever, etc.)

impart universal or indefinite meaning to the clause they introduce. Contrast the
following sentences:
e.g. Whenever you come send me a note (any time when...).
When you come send me a note (the definite time when...).
Note 1 . Care should be taken to distinguish compound conjunctive pronouns
from free combinations with the intensifying particle ever (what ever, who ever,
etc.), spelled usually as two words.
Compare: a) I asked him what ever he was doing there. (what on Earth he was
doing there)',
b) Whatever she touched she was certain to crash it.
There is some similarity between clauses of condition and concession. The
difference lies in the fact that whereas conditional clauses state the dependence of
one action or circumstance on another, concessive clauses imply a contrast or lack
of dependence between them. Thus the following sentences with concessive clauses
may be rephrased using coordinate clauses joined by the contrastive but.
e.g. Although the weather was bad, he went for a walk. The weather was bad,
but he went for a walk.
Although the weather was fine, he did not go for a walk (the second
statement is surprising in the light of the first) The weather was fine, but
he did not go for a walk.
In complex sentences with a conditional clause the dependence has no
contrast.
e.g. I f the weather was fin e he went fo r a walk. (The second statement results
from the first.)
N.A. Kobrina distinquishes three types of concessive clauses, which differ in the
relation they bear to the principal clause and in the way they are connected: 1) clauses
of admitted concession (підрядні поступки із значенням припущення); 2) clauses
of open concession (підрядні поступки із значенням гіпотетичного припущення);
3) clauses of disjunctive or alternative concession (підрядні поступки із значенням
альтернативи).
e.g. 1) Though there might be many obstacles to overcome, he faithfully
believed in future.
2) However much advice you give him, he does exactly what he wants.
3) "Coward!" he repeated. “Coward, am I? Then I'll be a coward, and
you shall kiss me whether you will or not! ”
1) Clauses of admitted concession may have inverted word order ; inversion is
possible both with the conjunctions though and as, which in this case occur in non­
initial position (after the predicative), and with conjunctive words.
e.g. Dark as it was getting, I could still see these changes. (= though it was
getting dark)
 354

Miraculous though it seemed to be, there was no miracle in their

survival. (= though it seemed to be miraculous)
2) Clauses of open concession express an unreal condition, despite which the
action in the principal clause is carried out. The predicate in the subordinate clause
may be in the indicative or in the subjunctive mood.
e.g. Whatever may be the shortcomings and defects o f the present treatment,
it is vain to attempt to extenuate or excuse them in a short preface.
However much advice you give him, he does exactly what he wants.
3) Clauses of disjunctive or alternative concession admit two possible
alternatives, both of which may be unreal, or may refer to the future. As can be
seen front the examples given below, the contrast between the principal and the
subordinate clause or clauses is weaker, as there are two alternatives, neither of
which can be considered as an acceptable condition.
e.g. Each time she merely dined with him whether she had a good appetite or
not. (Austen)
Note 2. Sometimes clauses concessive in form have a non-concessive meaning
of cause or attendant circumstance.
e.g. The sergeant, fool as he was, couldn 7 see the point. (= because he was a
fool, being a fool)
Clauses with a concessive as begin with a predicative and have often an
inverted order of subject and predicate; inversion does not take place if the subject
is a personal pronoun:
e.g. Barren as is the ground there, it will still yield some crops i f properly
cultivated. Late as it was, we still continued our way.
10. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of purpose
Clauses of purpose generally state the purpose of the action, which is
expressed in the main clause. The predicate in the subordinate clause is in the
subjunctive mood as it expresses a planned but not a real action. Adverbial clauses
of purpose are introduced by conjunctions that, so that, lest, so as, so, in order
that, for fear that.
e.g. Once or twice he fell to Tom’s promises o f lending money and gave him
considerable sums in order that he might make a fresh start (Maugham)
I tell you all this so that you may understand me perfectly.
The conjunctions lest and for fear (that) introduce clauses stating what is to
be prevented, as both the conjunctions have a negative meaning. Lest is now
extremely formal and after this conjunction the subjunctive with should auxiliary is
generally used.
e.g. He was like a man who is afraid to look behind him lest he should see
something there which ought not to be there, ‘‘it s a bit lighter in the
park, ” he said, "but take it (an electric torch) for fear you get off the
path. ” He wrote down the number for fear he shouldforget it.
In some cases the meaning of purpose in clauses introduced by lest and for
fear that is weakened so that the clause expresses rather general motivation than
purpose, or else an outcome of the action in the main clause, as in:
 355

e.g. Lest the wall should collapse, they evacuated the building. (They did not
evacuate the building with the purpose o f causing the wall to collapse.)
Better chain up the dog for fear he bites.
Note. The conjunctions that, so that, lest, so are found not only in clauses of
purpose: that may introduce subject clauses, predicative clauses, and object
clauses; so that may introduce clauses of result, lest clauses of cause, subject
clauses, predicative clauses and object clauses; so clauses of result and of cause.
11. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of cause
Adverbial clauses of cause (or causative clauses) express the reason, cause, or
motivation of the action expressed in the principal clause or of its content as a whole.
Causative clauses may be introduced by the conjunctions as, because, since, so,
that, lest, seeing (that), considering; or by the composite conjunctions for the reason
that, in view of the fact that, in so far as (insofar as), by reason of, now that Of
these the conjunction as is preferable when the sentence opens with a clause of cause,
e.g. As he was tired he preferred to stay at home. Since there is no help, let us
try and bear it as best we can. “Fred and George are in here with us,
because Bill and Charlie are in their room ", said Ron. (Rowling)
As can be seen from the above examples, the causative clause may stand in
preposition to the main clause, or follow it. It may also be embedded within the
main clause:
e.g. She loved to give, since she had plenty, and sent presents here and there
to Lilian, the children, and others.
Each of the conjunctions and conjunctive phrases expresses a certain shade of
causative meaning, and so they are not always interchangeable. Because usually
introduces clauses with the meaning of real cause. This can illustrated by the ability
of because-clauses (but not others) to be included in questions.
Thus it is correct to say: Did you ask him because he was famous or for
another reason?
But it is wrong to say: Did you ask him since he was famous...?
A subordinate clause introduced by because shows that the speaker takes it for
granted that the person spoken to expects him to give some reason. Therefore it is
always used in answer to a direct question (expressed or understood):
e.g. “And why didn 't you tell me?" “Because / forgot, simply." (Lawrence)
Unlike because, the conjunctions since and as introduce clauses with an
explanatory meaning, or else that of motivation,
e.g. Since we are here, we may start our work.
The other reason why causal conjunctions, though synonymous, are not
always interchangeable with because, is that some of them are polyfunctional: as
and since may be conjunctions of time, as well as of cause:
e.g. His mood changed as they marched down to the clocks.
Since I came here, I have met many people, (temporal relation)
A subordinate clause introduced by since expresses that the reason given in the
clause is clear from what has been said before, it means “because it is the fact that”:
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e.g. At this moment they could not even see one another, since they were on
the same side o f the table, and he could keep them both under his eyes.
(Murdoch)
As is used when the subordinate clause gives a reason and the consequences of
it are stated in the principal clause:
e.g. As it is already late, you had better go. ...as the fo g was collecting rapidly,
it began to grow dark in earnest. (Stevenson)
Now that means “because now” and is used for present causes of present or
future situations.
e.g. Now that the semester is over, I ’m going to rest afew days and then take a trip.
That had given them an unfair advantage; but now that it was off he
would show them. (London)
The company has decided to take on more staff now that sales are increasing.
Note 1. Causative relation may be found in compound sentences with the
coordinating conjunction for. Its coordinate character is unmistakably shown by the
fact that the clause with for cannot stand before the other half of the sentence.
e.g. Their mother didn 't know it, for she was confined and the neighbours
who came to help in the house hadn ’t the courage nor the cruelty to tell
her. (Steinbeck)
Some causative conjunctions (as, because) may connect their clause to the
main clause rather loosely, in which case the relation between the clauses is similar
to coordination (such clauses may even be independent sentences). The causative
clause generally expresses some grounds on which we can judge of the truthfulness
of some idea expressed in the main clause:
e.g. He was, I presume, a relative o f the coachman’s, as he lay atop o f the
luggage, with his face towards the rain.
Here the subordinate clause as he lay atop o f the luggage, with his face
towards the rain, does not express the cause, but gives some grounds which serve
to prove the truthfulness of the supposition expressed in the main clause.
In colloquial English a clause of cause may be joined rather loosely to a
sentence which cannot be its main clause:
e.g. Are you going to the post-office? Because I have some letters to post. (/
ask you this because I have some letters to post.)
12. The complex sentence with an adverbial clause of result (consequence)
An adverbial clause of result denotes some consequence or result of the action
expressed in the principal clause. It may be introduced by the conjunction so that,
or so/such ... that, (and) as a result, and (as a consequence, consequently, so).
Clauses of result introduced by so that express pure result, they are usually
separated from the principal clause by a comma.
e.g. Impatient for the light o f spring, I have slept lately with my blind drawn
up, so that at waking, I have the sky in view. (Gissing)
Adverbial clauses of result introduced by the conjunction that with so or such
in the principal clause comprise an additional meaning of degree. Such clauses are
not separated from the principal clause by a comma.
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e.g. So sudden it was, and so unexpected that Buck was taken aback. (L ondon)
He is so weak physically that he can hardly move. (Shaw)
§ 64. Pseudo-complex Sentences
N.A. Kobrina distinquishes pseudo-complex sentences consisting of two
clauses that are joined according to some pattern of subordination, but different
from other complex sentences in the relation the clauses bear to one another.
In one type the splitting of the sentence into clauses is a device for the sake of
emphasizing this or that part of the sentence; actually the meaning of the sentence
does not require splitting into clauses. These sentences are called emphatic (or
cleft) sentences.
§ 65. Emphatic (or Cleft) Sentences
These sentences in their turn fall into three patterns, in all of which the form of
the complex sentence is used to emphasize some part of he sentence.
In the first pattern the emphasized part is placed in the position of the
predicative, which is followed by a clause. The main clause is patterned on the
model of the it-clause and the subordinate clause may be patterned as an
attributive, temporal, local or nominal clause,
e.g. It is my aunt who helped me.
The role of the main clause is purely emphatic, as the information which is divided
between the main and the subordinate clause can be expressed in a simple sentence.
It is my aunt who helped me. ---- ► My aunt helped me.
It is the examination that you and I are concerned with. ---- ► You and I
are concerned with the examination.
It is not that he loved her. ---- ► He did not love her.
It was the idea they were buying, not the project ---- ► They were buying
the idea, not the project.
The emphatic position may be occupied by a whole clause,
e.g. It was what she said that spoiled the impression. Was it because dusk was
gathering that you failed to see anything?
In the last two sentences the content of the predicative clause is emphasized.
The position of the predicative serves for placing greater emphasis on the part
occupying this position. Semantically the emphasized part may fulfil different roles,
e.g. It was not till this very moment that I recollected him.
I did not recollect him till this very moment. (The emphasized part is
adverbial modifier of time.)
It is not that I hate you. I don't hate you. (Negation is emphasized.)
The cleft sentences and the simple ones given above are similar in meaning as
they describe the same situation. The difference lies in a special accentuation of the
bold-faced words.
The subordinate clause may be joined asyndetically:
e.g. It is not you I hate.
Pseudo-complex sentences of this type may be interrogative.
e.g. What is it that happened to you? What was it he disliked so much?
 358

A sentence can be transformed into different cleft sentences depending on

what element is to be emphasized. For example:
rlt is Kate who likes to write letters to herfriend.
Kate likes to write letters It is letters that Kate likes to write to herfriend.
to her friend. It is herfriend that Kate likes to write letters to.
The second pattern of cleft sentences is used to emphasize the predicate,
which is split into the operator in the subordinate subject clause and the infinitive in
the main clause.
e.g. What Kate likes is to write letters to her friend.
What he disliked so much was to be addressed by passers-by.
The particle to is often omitted.
e.g. What he has done is spoil the whole thing.
The third pattern of pseudo-complex emphatic sentences begins with the
conjunction if, which does not introduce a conditional clause.
e.g. I f I feel sony for anyone it’s Norman.------ ► I really feel sorry for
Norman.
Sometimes the subordinate clause is connected with the principal clause
asyndetically.
e.g. It was not without a certain wild pleasure I ran before the wind. (Bronte)
§ 66. Appended Clauses (повтори з уточненням)
There are several varieties of appended clauses, modelled on the pattern of the
main clause. These are used to intensify or reinforce a statement in the previous
clause. The most common type of appended clauses are tag questions (tags),
e.g. You are tired, aren’t you? You are not ill, are you?
In non-formal style there is another form of appended clause, which is elliptical,
e.g. He is always very gloomy, is that John o f yours.
She is a clever girl, is your friend.
In such sentences the link-verb to be is generally repeated, or a form of the
verb to do is used.
e.g. He never told me anything, did your brother.
Note. The appended part may consist only of a nominal group,
e.g. He is a clever boy, your brother John.
Such cases should not be confused with appended clauses.
§ 67. Absolute (or Indendent) Subordinate Clauses
Subordinate clauses may be used absolutely as independent exclamatory
sentences. They may have the form of a conditional or comparative clause.
e.g. I f only he knew her name! As though you didn 't know! That he should be
so late!
§ 68. The Compound-Complex Sentence
A compound-complex sentence is a sentence consisting of two or more
coordinative clauses one of which at least has one or several subordinate clauses.
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e.g. She was filled with a new sense of peace; she felt protected and clothed
asainst the tragedies which had beset her for!
He was sorry; he didn’t know how it
§ 69. Parenthetical Clauses (Parentheses)
A parenthetical clause (parenthesis) interrupts another sentence with which it
is either not connected syntactically or is only loosely connected with separate parts
of the sentence.
Parenthetical clauses are often called comment clauses, because they do not
simply add to the information given in the sentence, but comment on its truth, the
manner of saying it, or express the attitude of the speaker toward it. In some cases it
is direct address to the listener or reader.
e.g. He waited (which was his normal occupation) and thought, like other
citizens, o f the cost o f living... (Some information is added.)
...there is, as it were, a transparent barrier between myself and strong
emotions. (The figurative meaning of the utterance is indicated.)
My parents, you know, were peasants. (Direct address to the listener.)
Parenthetical clauses may occur in front, mid- and end position, but the end
position is mainly restricted to informal style. They are usually marked off from the
rest of the sentence by commas, dashes, or parentheses (brackets) in written English
and by a separate tone unit in speech.
Parenthetical clauses may be patterned like independent sentences, coordinate,
main, or subordinate clauses. In all cases the mechanism of turning a sentence or
clause into a parenthesis is the same the inverting of their usual sequence or
placing the parenthetical clause in an unusual position, which changes their
communicative value. The embedded (включене) structure acquires a secondary
status, informing the reader of the author’s opinion of the utterance, or containing
some comment on the content of the embedding sentence (речення, що включає),
or else addressing the reader directly. The embedding structure is primary in
importance and structurally independent. The following sentences may be taken as
examples:
e.g. Although the evening was still light we dined early the lamps were on. (a
parenthetical clause patterned like an independent sentence)
She cooked and she was a good cook and marketed and chatted with the
delivery boys, (a parenthetical clause patterned like a coordinate clause)
As you put it, it sounds convincing, (a parenthetical clause patterned like
an adverbial clause of manner)
Does your objection to tea (which I do frightfully want) mean that we 're
unlikely to be alone? (a parenthetical clause patterned like an attributive clause)
Mr Ford if this was now to be his name walked slowly up to the counter, (a
parenthetical clause patterned like an adverbial clause of condition)
Parenthetical clauses may be patterned like different communicative types of
sentences or clauses statements, questions, imperative or exclamatory sentences or
clauses.
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e.g. It was why hadn’t he noticed it before? beginning to be an effort for her to
hold her back straight, (a parenthetical clause patterned like a why-question)
I felt such curious shapes egoism takes! that they had come because of
me. (a parenthetical clause patterned like an exclamatory sentence)
Clauses patterned like main clauses with verbs of saying and those denoting
mental activity (he thought, the author said, etc.) may have an inverted order
(thought he, said the author).
Quite a number of parenthetical clauses are stereotyped conversation formulas,
used to attract the listener’s attention or to show the reaction of the speaker:
I hope/1 expect я сподіваюся,
/ believe я думаю (сподіваюся),
I guess я гадаю,
Isay послухай,
I see розумію,
As far as I know наскільки мені відомо,
As far as I remember наскільки я пам’ятаю,
you know як тобі відомо,
you see бачиш, розумієш.
Suggested points for discussion
1. Comment on the two types of the composite sentence.
2. Comment on the types of compound sentences and the types of
coordination.
3. Comment on the types of complex sentences.
4. Comment on the functional classification of subordinate clauses.
5. Comment on compound-complex sentences.
6. Comment on the parenthetical clauses.

CHAPTER III. DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

§ 70. Direct Speech VS Indirect Speech
Direct speech is the exact words a speaker used. Indirect (reported) speech
reports what a speaker said without using the exact words.
§ 71. The Rules for Indirect Speech
1. The grammatical form in which the speaker’s words are reported is a
subordinate object clause (for statements and questions) or an infinitive object (for
orders and requests).
2. The most frequent verbs of saying are the verbs to say and to tell for
reported statements, to ask for reported questions, to tell and to ask for reported
orders and requests.
Say Tell Ask Speak Talk?
Say is used in direct speech. It is also used in reported speech when say is not
followed by the person the words were spoken to.
e.g. “She won 7 come, " he said. —* He said (that) she wouldn 7 come.
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Tell is used in reported speech when it is followed by the person the words
were spoken to.
e.g. “She won't come, ” he said to me. —>He told me (that) she wouldn t come.
Ask is used in reported questions and commands or in direct questions,
e.g. He said to me, “Please leave. ” —* He asked me to leave.
He asked, “Have you got any money? ” —>He asked me if I had any money.
We use say + to - infinitive but never say--about. We use tell sb, speak/talk
about instead.
e.g. Ann said to call her at 12.00.
He told them/spoke/talked about the incident.
Expressions with say, tell and ask
say good moming/evening etc, say something, say one’s
Expressions
prayers, say a few words, say so, say no more, say for
with say
certain, say for sure etc.
tell the truth, tell a lie, tell (sb) the time, tell sb one’s
Expressions name, tell a story, tell sb a secret, tell sb the way, tell
with tell one from another, tell sb’s fortune, tell sb so, tell the
difference etc.
Expressions ask a favour, ask the time, ask a question, ask the price
with ask etc.
3. The subordinate clauses are joined to their principal ones by means of
conjunctions, conjunctive pronouns or adverbs, or asyndetically.
4. The word order in these clauses is always direct.
5. If the verb in the principal clause is in the past tense, demonstrative pronouns
and adverbials expressing nearness are replaced by words expressing distance: this -
that, these - those; here - there, now - then, at that time; today - that day; tonight
- that night; tomorrow - the following day, (the) next day; yesterday - the day
before, the previous day; ago - before; a year ago - a year before; last week
(month, year) - the previous week (month, year); last night - the previous night.
6. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the shifting of tenses takes place
(according to the rules of sequence of tenses).
a) the present simple is changed into the past simple, the present perfect is
changed into the past perfect, etc.
e.g. “It is too late, ” he said. (London) - He said it was late.
“Вже пізно”, він сказав. Він сказав, що вже пізно.
She said, “I'm reading a book. “ - She said she was reading a book.
Вона сказала: “Я читаю книгу". Вона сказала, що читає книгу.
Peter said, “I have done my homework. ” - Peter said that he had done
his homework.
b) the past simple is either changed into the past perfect or remains unchanged.
The past simple is changed into the past perfect when the time is relative,
that is, when it depends on another past moment.
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e.g. Mor said, "I saw Kate yesterday. ” (Murdoch) - Mor said that he had
seen Kate the day before.
The past simple usually remains unchanged when a definite past moment i‘.
indicated.
e.g. Iren said, "I was born in 1990. ” - Iren said that she was born in 1990.
The past simple after since generally remains unchanged.
e.g. She said, “I have been teaching English in this school since I graduated
from the University. ” - She said she had been teaching English in that
school since she graduatedfrom the University.
c) the past perfect or the past perfect continuous remains unchanged.
e.g. He said, “I had been working for two hours by that time. ” He said that he
had been working for two hours by that time.
d) when sentences containing the subjunctive mood are converted into
indirect speech the form of the verb usually remains unchanged.
e.g. “Oh, I wish he came here, ”she said. - She said she wished he came there.
e) the modal verb must, as a rule, remains unchanged in indirect speech if it
expresses advice (order) or supposition bordering on assurance (напевно).
e.g. She said to him, “You must be more polite. " - She told him he must be
more polite, (advice)
Must is generally replaced by had to if it expresses necessity arising out of
circumstances.
e.g. She said, “I must get up early on Sunday. " - She said she had to get up
early on Sunday.
Must is generally replaced by was to if it expresses arrangement or a kind of order.
e.g. She said, "I must meet her at the station at 5 o 'clock. ” - She said she was
to meet her at the station at 5 o 'clock.
The above mentioned rules can be presented in the following table.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

“She works hard,” he said.
“She is working hard,” he said.
“She worked hard,” he said.
“She was working hard,” he said.
“She will work hard,” he said
“She will be working hard,” he said.
“She has worked hard,” he said.
“She has been working hard,” he said.
He said (that) she worked hard.
He said (that) she was working hard.
He said (that) she had worked hard.
He said (that) she had been working hard.
He said (that) she would work hard.
He said (that) she would be working hard
He said (that) she had worked hard.
He said (that) she had been working hard.

§ 72. The Rules of Punctuation for Direct Speech

Direct speech may either follow or come before the reporting verb.
When direct speech follows the reporting verb,
1) put a comma after the reporting verb;
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2) use opening quotation marks before the first word of the direct speech.
Quotation marks can be single (‘) or double (“) but note that single quotation marks
are more common in British English;
c) begin the quotation with a capital letter;
d) use the appropriate end punctuation for the direct speech. It may be a full
stop (.), a question mark (?) or an exclamation mark (!);
e) put closing quotation marks (‘) or (“) after the end punctuation of the
quotation;
e.g. He said, 7 had a good time. ’
She asked, ‘Where's the party?'They shouted, ‘Be careful!’
f) for quotations inside quotations, use double quotation marks inside single
quotation marks.
e.g. 7 heard him shout “Come here!" but I ran away, ’ he said.
When direct speech comes before the reporting verb,
1) begin the sentence with opening quotation marks;
2) use the appropriate end punctuation for the direct speech. If the direct speech
is a statement, use a comma (,). If the direct speech is a question, use a question mark
(?). If the direct speech is an exclamation, use an exclamation mark (!);
3) use closing quotation marks after the end punctuation for the direct speech;
4) begin the reporting clause with a lower-case letter;
5) use a full stop at the end of the main sentence (.).
e.g. 7 had a good time,' he said.
‘Where’s the party? ’she asked. Be careful! ’ they shouted.
A sentence containing direct speech is preceded by a colon in Ukrainian, but
by a comma in English:
e.g. He said, “I m here. ”
In Ukrainian the full stop is placed after the inverted commas, and in English
it is within them.
§ 73. The Rules of Punctuation for Indirect Statements
Indirect statements are generally introduced by the verbs to say, to tell, to
announce and in official style by the verb to inform. The object clause is joined to
the principal clause by means of the conjunction that or asyndetically.
If the person is mentioned the verbs to tell and to inform are used. With the
verbs to say and to announce the person addressed may or may not be mentioned.
If it is mentioned, the preposition to is used.
e.g. The dean said to us, “There will be a meeting at 5 o 'clock. ” - The dean
informed us that there would be a meeting at 5 o 'clock.
Mother said to us, “There is an interesting film on TV today. ” - Mother
told us that there was an interesting film on TV that day.
She said, “I 'll be back soon. ”- She said (informed) she would be back soon.
Other verbs may also be used to introduce statements. It depends on the
character of the statement. Such verbs as to promise, to remark, to remind, to
assure, to admit, to deny, etc. are frequently used.
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e.g. The student said, "This text is rather difficult. ” - The student remarked
that that text was rather difficult.
The pupil said to his teacher, ‘‘I'll never be late for the classes. " - The
pupil promised his teacher never to be late fo r the classes.
Indirect Questions
Direct general questions are introduced by the conjunctions if or whether;
special questions begin with the corresponding conjunctive adverb or pronoun. (It
is treated as a conjunctive word). Indirect questions have no inversion: the
predicate follows the subject.
e.g. " Which way did she go? ” said Mor. (Murdoch) —Mor asked which way she
had gone.
'‘Where shall we go?'' said Mor. (Murdoch) - Mor asked where they wouldgo.
"Must you really work today?" said Nan. (Murdoch) - Nan asked if she
really must work that day.
"Did she leave any message for me? ” Mor asked. - Mor asked whether
she had left him any message.
Note: If a direct question to the subject contains the link verb to be, the direct
word order is not always strictly observed.
e.g. Mother asked, “Who is this girl? ” - Mother asked who that girl was/who
was that girl.
Indirect Orders and Requests
Orders or requests are usually introduced by the verbs to tell, to ask, to beg,
to order, to command.
The verb to request also may be used in official style, mainly in the passive
voice. It is best rendered into Ukrainian запропонувати.
Emphatic requests may be introduced by the verbs to implore (просити,
благати, молити), to beseech (благати, молити), to entreat (благати), to
urge (наполягати, настійно прохати). It is the case when the emphatic requests
begin with the emphatic do.
The Imperative Mood of the direct speech is changed into the infinitive.
e.g. Helen said to the doctor, "Do save my daughter!" - Helen implored
(благала) the doctor to save her daughter.
John said to his elder sister, "Do take me to the pictures!" - John begged
his elder sister to take him to the pictures.
The teacher said, "Stop talking, Jane!" - The teacher ordered Jane to stop
talking.
The teacher said to the pupils, "Open your books at page 20. ’’ - The
teacher requested the pupils to open their books to page 20. Or: The
pupils were requested to open their boob to page 20.
Indirect Offers, Suggestions and Advice
Indirect offers and suggestions are introduced by the verbs to offer and to
suggest. There is a difference between these two verbs: the person who makes an
offer intends to do the action himself, and the action is an act of kindness. A
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suggestion may also be an act of kindness, but not necessarily; the person who
makes a suggestion may or may not intend to do the action himself.
Sentences expressing advice are converted into indirect speech by means of
the verb to advise.
e.g. Mother said to her child, “Shall I read you this book? ” The child said, “Do
please. ’’
Mother offered to read her son that book and the child accepted her offer.
John said to his friend, “Let’s go to the pictures. ” His friend said, “No,
I 'd rather stay at home. ”
John suggested his friend that they (should) go to the pictures but his
friend refused. Or: John suggested his friend going to the pictures but his
friend refused.
The doctor said to his patient, “You had better stay in bedfor some days. "
The doctor advised his patient to stay in bedfor some days.
Indirect Exclamations
When exclamations are converted into indirect speech, it is not so much the
verb as the adverbial modifier which shows the character of the exclamation -
whether it expresses joy, sorrow, surprise, etc.
e.g. “I ’m so glad I found you!" cried Felicity. (Murdoch)
Felicity cried joyfully that she was so glad she hadfound him.
Marry said to her friend, “Thank you for your help. ”
Marry thanked her friendfor her help.
Greetings and Leave-taking in Indirect speech
When converting greetings and leave-taking into indirect speech, we usually
use such verbs as to greet, to welcome, to wish, to bid, etc.
e.g. Helen said to her parents, “Good night. " - Helen wished her parents good
night.
Oliver said to them, “Happy to see you at my place." - Oliver welcomed them.
The teacher said to his pupils, "How do you do? ” - The teacher greeted his
pupils.
Suggested points for discussion
1. What are the main rules of transforming the Direct Speech into Indirect Speech?
2. Comment on the rales of punctuation for the Direct Speech,
3. Comment on the rales of punctuation for the Indirect Speech.

CHAPTER IV. PUNCTUATION

§. 74. Rules of Punctuation
Punctuation marks show the grammatical relations between words, phrases,
clauses and sentences. We use them to separate different parts of the sentence, to
emphasize particular words and to indicate intonation. In other words punctuation
marks are signals to the reader when to stop, pause or quickly move on. If we do
not master these signals, then we run the risk of not communicating with our
reader. Leam the following rules of punctuation:
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The period or full stop indicates the end of a complete sentence. Use it often
in your writing, and remember that your sentences should average fifteen to twenty
words. Then end the sentences with periods. The lull stop is also used after most
abbreviations and after initial letters.
e.g. Josef stood in the doorway, quivering with rage, still holding his candlestick
before him though theflame had blown out in his angry rush upstairs. (Baker)
Forgive me, please, and try to understand. (Baker)
R. S. Ginsburg, Phil. Cand.
N. N. Amosova, Phil. Dr.
U. T. (Universal Time).
P. X. (Post Exchange).
P. R. O. (Public Relation Officer).
The comma is the most frequently used punctuation mark in the English language.
However, in "modem” punctuation, the trend has been not to use the comma often. Here
is an excellent maxim to follow rewarding commas: if in doubt, leave it out.
e.g. At home, Byron tried to avoid talking about his business to Veronica. (Baker)
The comma is sometimes inserted to mark the omission and save the repetition
of some words:
e.g. London is the capital o f England, Kyiv, o f Ukraine.
Our ship is boundfor Norway, yours, for India.
The comma is used to introduce a quotation:
e.g. All it (the note) said was, "My dear Trottwood, I am staying at the house
o f papa's agent, Mr. Waterbrook... ” (Dickens)
The colon is also used in such cases:
e.g. And the voice said: "Oh, there you are? " (Galsworthy)
Put the comma in dates, addresses, and titles.
e.g. December 15, 1992, is the date setfo r the conference.
Mr. Smith,
20 High Street
London, E.C.,
England
Dr. Jon Winterton, Associate Professor o f Communication, will join us next
week
Note: When only the month and the year are listed, then do not use commas,
e.g. The month o f December 1991 was a cold one in this state.
Put commas around absolute phrases (a phrase that modifies the whole
sentence and can be put anywhere in the sentence):
e.g. Taking advantage o f his offer to help me, I finished the letter.
Ifinished the letter, taking advantage o f his offer to help me.
Put the comma in a sentence when necessaryfo r clarity:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
The semicolon is used between two independent clauses (two complete
sentences) that are not joined by a coordinating conjunction: and, or, nor, for, but,
so, and yet. If you do not wish to use a semicolon for stylistic reasons, then you
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may separate the two independent clauses with a period. Periods and semicolons
are almost interchangeable. The semicolon is also used when a greater pause is
required than is indicated by a comma.
e.g. He sat down in his chair and beat his knees and laughed; he sat down in
his chair and beat his knees and laughed and cried together; he got out of
his chair and hugged Meg. (Dickens)
It (the shop) occupied a premier position at the end of a small parade ; it
was bigger than its neighbours, square in shape with double doors set
across one corner. (Baker)
She remembered her voice as she sang; her laugh as she'd taught her
nursery rhyme. (Baker)
Her father's tastes were austere; he didn’t approve o f shop cake. (Baker)
The weather in Colorado is unpredictable; the sun may shine tomorrow.
The colon is used to lead into a quotation, a list, or another clause that
explains the first. However, do remember this proviso: in front of a colon, there
must be an independent clause. If there is no independent clause in front of the
colon, then make the clause independent or eliminate the colon altogether. (This
proviso does not apply to titles.) The colon may be used at the writer’s discretion, if
he thinks that the pause is not sufficiently marked by a semicolon.
e.g. Then addressing me, she said, with enforced calmness: "My son is ill”. (Dickens)
She asked: “ What’s the matter, love?” (Baker)
There was always something o f interest going on: tugs fussing about the big
ships; smaller vessels scudding up and down the river underfull sail. (Baker)
His list included the following: books, cameras, and lunches.
The dash should be used sparingly in your writing, and it is used primarily to
set off information with emphasis. A dash or two dashes may be used to indicate a
sudden stop in the thought.
e.g. Two members - John and I - attended the fall conference.
“You like poetry? ”—"Ye-es, pretty well —some poetry, ”Alice said doubtfully.
"Oh, well, ” he said, “i t ’s such alone time since, ” He faltered. He stopped.
“Well —yes - a little, ” Alice replied gently. (Carroll)
She wasn't qualified to prescribe as her brother was - he didn't believe
women should be. (Baker)
The hyphen should probably be used a little more often in your writing than
you are currently using it. It is used chiefly when you have taken two or more
words and compressed them into the equivalent of an adjective that goes before a
noun. It is used: 1) to join the parts of a compound word: man-of-war, coal-pit,
printing-press. 2) to divide a word at the end of a line: col-lective; sub-ject; rec­
ognize, etc.
Note: A hyphen is shorter than a dash.
e.g. This device is a state-of-the-art product.
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Brackets should be used just as sparingly as dashes. They are needed when
you have enclosed loosely related information within your sentence (the
information is almost an afterthought) and when you are providing a brief
clarification ('brief means ‘quick’).
e.g. The "hero" of the play (the town people see him as heroic, but he is the
focus o f the author's satire) introduces himself as a veteran o f the war.
Presently returning, less the pattens (and a good deal less, for they were tall
and Mrs. Purybingle was but short), she set the kettle on thefire. (Dickens)
Quotation marks or inverted commas have two main functions: (1) to
enclose the exact words of a speaker or writer and (2) to enclose titles of short
works such as poems, short stories, or articles. (Titles of long works such as books,
newspapers, or magazines must be underlined or printed in italics.)
e.g. "Would you like to go to the concert? " Paul asked..
"The Grand Inquisitor” is a chapter in Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers
Karamazov ",
Note: In American English (as contrasted to British English), all periods and
commas are placed inside closing quotation marks without exception. All
semicolons and colons are placed outside closing quotation marks. All question
marks and exclamation points are placed either inside or outside, depending on the
quotation itself. If the quotation itself is a question, for example, then the question
mark goes inside; if the quotation is not a question, but someone is asking a
question in the sentence, then the question mark goes outside.
e.g. He asked, "Is beauty in the eye o f the beholder? ”
Did he say, “Beauty is in the eye o f the beholder? "
The apostrophe is used to show that some letter or letters have been omitted.
e.g. “I think we’re fellow lodgers here”. (Maugham)
"I can’t explain myself, I ’m afraid, Sir, " said Alice. (Carroll)
The note of exclamation is used after words or sentences which express emotion.
e.g. Oh, Joe, come back! (Steinbeck)
"Oh, dear, how puzzling it all is!" (Carroll)
“Oh, what a lovely day!" (Carroll)
“What a curious feeling!" said Alice. (Carroll)
“Explainyourself!" (Carroll)
The note of interrogation is used at the end of the sentence expressing a
question, real or rhetorical. The note of interrogation may also be used at the end of
sentence containing questions even if the order of words is that of an affirmative
sentence.
e.g. “You like poetry?” (Carroll)
“What will become o f me? ” (Carroll)
"Who am I, then?” (Carroll)
Note: It should be noted that the use of most stops largely depends on the will
of the writer.
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All proper nouns (nouns that name persons, places and special things) must be
capitalized: Wilson, Africa, Eiffel Tower, etc. Common nouns are not capitalized:
table, door, picture, etc.
Exceptions:
1) although the days of the week and months of the year are capitalized, the
seasons of the year are not: winter, spring, summer, autumn;
2) the numbers of the centuries are not capitalized: twentieth century,
fifteenth century;
3) general areas of study are not capitalized: physics, mathematics, biology;
however, the names of the languages are: German, French, English;
4) directions of the compass are not capitalized: west, east, south, north;
however, geographical locations are: The American Civil War was fought
between the North and the South;
5) the names of diseases are not capitalized: mumps, tuberculosis; however,
diseases that are named for a diagnostician are: Parkinson’s disease (the second
word may also be capitalized if you wish);
6) the main words of long titles capitalized, but the prepositions, articles and
conjunctions are not (unless, of course, they begin the title).
Note: If you write the full name of an organization, then capitalize it: Allen Barnes
Plumbing Company. However, if you use only a part of the name, then do not capitalize:
company, city, department. The same applies to titles: professor, mayor, etc.
To recapitulate the rules of punctuation, read this nineteenth-century
schoolmistress’s verse.
Sentence starts with a Capital letter.
So as to make your sentence better.
Use a full stop to mark the end.
It closes every sentence penned.
The comma is for short pauses and breaks,
And also for lists the writer makes.
Dashes - like these - are for thoughts by the way.
They give extra information (so do brackets, we may say).
These two dots are a colon: colons pause to compare.
They also do this: list, explain and prepare.
The semicolon makes a break; it’s followed by a clause.
It does the work of words that link; it’s also a short pause.
An apostrophe shows the owner of anyone’s things.
And it’s also useful for shortenings.
I’m so glad! He’s so mad! We’re having such a lark!
To show strong feelings use an exclamation mark!
A question mark follows What? When? Where? Why? and How?
Do you? Can I? Shall we? Give us your answer now!
’Quotation marks’ enclose what is said,
Which is why they’re sometimes called ’speech marks’ instead.
The Punctuation of the Simple Sentence
 370

The Homogeneous Parts o f the Sentence

The comma is used:
1. Between two or more homogeneous parts of the sentence joined asyndetically.
e.g. Yudrun was very beautiful, soft-skinned, limbered. (Lawrence)
But: No comma is used when two homogeneous parts of the sentence are
joined by the conjunction and:
e.g. The sun shone out bright and warm. (Dickens)
2. When several homogeneous parts of the sentence are joined by and.
e.g. Trees, and bridges, and houses were swept down by the flooded stream.
He bought a Penguin book o f poetry, and a box o f milk chocolates, and
two bananas. (Murdoch)
But:
a) when and occurs only between the two last homogeneous parts of the
sentence, the comma is usually inserted before this conjunction, although many
writers omit this comma:
e.g. They were newly and remotely happy. (Lawrence)
Tim's look expressed curiosity, diffidence, and affection. (Murdoch)
b) if two attributes expressed by adjectives are not homogeneous, no comma
is inserted between them:
e.g. The next day came, the little red bull, drawing the cart to the office door.
(O. Henry)
c) when the homogeneous parts of the sentence are intended to follow in quick
succession so as to present to the mind only one picture, they are spoken without
the pause, and no comma is used:
e.g. She went to the other side o f the pool and dipped her beak and threw
back her head. (Steinbeck)
3. When the homogeneous parts of a sentence go together in pairs, each pair is
separated by a comma.
e.g. Day after day, week after week, month after month, I was coldly neglected.
4. When two separate homogeneous parts of a sentence joined by the
conjunction but and the correlative conjunction not only ... but also.
e.g. Not only hope, but confidence has been restored. (Nesfield)
He had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet
begun it. (O. Henry)
The Detached (Loose) Secondary Parts o f the Sentence
A comma or a dash is used to set off the detached parts of the sentence. The
latter is less common.
e.g. To think that Johnnie - my bestfriend - should have acted so meanly. (Bennelt)
Mrs. Brown, an English teacher, was a very energetic woman.
A comma is used to set off all ty pes of detached adverbial modifiers, attributes,
objects and specifying parts of the subject.
e.g. Slowly, very silently, she went. (Galsworthy)
The ground was covered with crocuses, yellow, violet, white. (Galsworthy)
But instead o f the print, he seemed to see his wife. (Galsworthy)
 371

Here, between the elm trees, the moon, mysterious and powerful shone.
(Galsworthy)
Parenthetical phrases and sentences, direct address, words of affirmation and
negation (yes, no) are set off by a comma, a dash, or brackets. The comma is the
most usual.
e.g. Perhaps, it was silly o f me. (Murdoch)
Oh, my love, my precious, you don’t mean that. (Maugham)
What’s your name, child? (Carroll)
“Is Dr. Livesey in? " l asked. “No, " she said.
Interjections may be separated by a comma or a note of exclamation,
e.g. Why! It is only a lovely little girl. (Steinbeck)
Oh, no! I couldn 't let you do that. (Steinbeck)
Oh, Lord, what shall I do? (Steinbeck)
Oh, o f course I have been there many times. (Steinbeck)
A comma is sometimes inserted to mark the omission and save the repetition
of some words:
e.g. London is the capital o f England, Kyiv, o f Ukraine.
Our ship is boundfor Norway, yours, for India.
A comma is used to introduce a quotation:
e.g. All it (the note) said was, “My dear Trottwood, I am staying at the house
o f papa's agent, Mr. Waterbrook... " (Dickens)
The colon is also used in such cases:
e.g. And the voice said: "Oh, there you are? ” (Galsworthy)
The period indicates the end of a complete sentence.
Put comma in dates, addresses, and titles:
e.g. December 15, 19992, is the date set for the conference.
Mr. Smith,
20 High Street
London, E.C.,
England
Dr. Jon Winterton, Associate Professor of Communication, willjoin us next week
Note: When only the month and the year are listed, then do not use commas,
e.g. The month o f December 1991 was a cold one in this state.
Absolute phrases (phrases that modify the whole sentence and can be put
anywhere in the sentence) are put in commas:
e.g. Taking advantage o f his offer to help me, 1finished the letter.
I finished the letter, taking advantage o f his offer to help me.
Put a comma in a sentence when necessary for clarity:
e.g. Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
The Punct uation of the Compound Sentence
Coordinate clauses joined asyndetically are always separated by a stop. The
most used stop is the semicolon. A colon or a dash may also be used when the
second coordinate clause serves to explain the first one. A comma is used to
separate coordinate clause when the connection between them is very close:
 372

e.g. It (the shop) occupied a premier position at the end o f a small parade; it
was bigger than its neighbours, square in shape with double doors across
one corner. (Baker)
There was always something of interest going on: tugs fussing about the big
ships; smaller vessels scudding up and down the river underfull sail. (Baker)
Evie hesitated, but her curiosity got better o f her. (Baker)
Coordinate clauses joined by copulative conjunctions and, nor. neither ...
nor, not only ... but.
Clauses joined by the conjunction and may be separated by a comma (if the
connection between the clauses is close) or a semicolon (if the clauses are more
independent). Occasionally a dash is used.
Coordinate clauses joined by the conjunctions neither, nor are generally
separated by a semicolon. Occasionally a comma is used.
Clauses joined by the conjunctive adverbs moreover, besides, then are
usually separated by a semicolon.
e.g. We had arrived at the museum and our attention was directed to the
pictures. (Maugham) (the sentences are very closely allied)
Byron had letters to answer, and he tried to work, but he couldn't keep
his mind on what he was doing, and it seemed that Miss Pringle couldn’t
either. (Maugham) (the connection between the clauses is loose)
He seemed to have no desire to go; besides his clothes were not good enough.
(Cronin)
Martin did not laugh; nor did he grit his teeth in anger. (London)
But you can 7 get at him, neither can we. (Dickens)
Coordinate clauses joined by disjunctive conjunctions or, else, or else, either
. . . o r and the conjunctive adverb otherwise are usually separated by a comma. A
dash may also be used. Occasionally a semicolon or a dash is found before the
conjunction or.
e.g. She was disappointed - or did it only seem to him? (Wells)
Tell him about me. There’s no way round that. Otherwise things have to
stay as they are.
Clauses joined by the adversative conjunctions but and while are separated by
a comma or a semicolon. A dash may also be found.
Clauses joined by the conjunctive adverbs yet, whereas, still as a rule are
separated by a semicolon. A comma is used but seldom.
e.g. / put my hand to tell Miss Murgatroyd, but she took no notice. (Baker)
He was driven out into the cold world, he must submit - but he forgave
them. (Twain)
She often enjoyedAnnette’s company, yet the child made her nervous. (Murdoch)
Clauses joined by causative-consecutive conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs
are as a rule separated by a comma or semicolon. Occasionally we find a dash or a
colon before the conjunctions for and so.
e.g. Evie did as much as she could help with the housework, for she was afraid
it was becoming too much for Matilda. (Baker)
 373

Africa was where he had been happiest in the good time o f his work, so he
had come out here to start again. (Hemingway)
A sentence containing direct speech consists of two independent clauses,
e.g. “It's so hard to think of thefuture without thinking of money ”, said Queenie.
He said: “D on’t do anything, Mum. ” (Byron)
The Punctuation of the Complex Sentence
Subject clauses as a rule are not separated from the principle clause by any stop.
However, a comma is found if the subject clause is of some length and if a
subordinate clause is attached to it.
e.g. Whether she was determined to bring matters to a crisis, or where she
was prompted by some private sign from Mr. Buff, is more than I can
tell. (Collins)
Predicative clauses as a rule are not separated from the principal clause by any
stop. A comma is often used when they are joined asyndetically.
e.g. Miss Casement stopped what she was doing and stared at Rainsborough.
(Murdoch)
Object clauses are not separated from the principal clause by a stop. If the
object clause precedes the principal clause, a comma may or may not be used.
e.g. She was still coming over to the office, though he told her repeatedly he
didn 7 want it; that Byron didn 7 like it. (Baker)
Why did you tell me she was dead? (Baker)
But what passed between them further, 1 never knew. (Maurier)
Restrictive relative attributive clauses as a rule are not separated from the
principal clauses by stops.
e.g. This was the first dead person she'd ever seen. (Baker)
1prepared Ada for the account I was going to give her. (Dickens)
Scientists, who receive the Nobel Prize sometimes contribute usefully to
public-policy debates.
Non - restrictive relative attributive clauses are as a rule separated from the
principal clauses by a comma.
e.g. Tom presented himself before Aunt Polly, who was sitting by an open window.
(Twain)
Mr. Prusty, who kept no assistant, slowly got off his stool.
Continuative attribute clauses are always separated from the principal clause
by a comma.
e.g. But to-day ... he had slept only in snatches, which was worse than not
sleeping at all. (Cronin)
Appositive attributive clauses are never separated from the principal clause by
a stop.
e.g. The question whether Donald was a liar or not was beside the point already.
When the adverbial clause follows the principal clause, no stop is generally
used. When it precedes the principal clause, it is separated from it by a comma,
e.g. Why can 7you cook things as / like them? (Baker) (manner)
 374

She crept up the attic stairs to Matilda's room as quietly as she could.
(Baker) (comparison)
It was a long time since I had written to the States... (Hemingway) (time)
/ looked where she pointed. (Collins) (place)
An adverbial clause of result coming after the principal clause, which is
usually the case, is often separated by a comma.
e.g. The thicket was as close as a brush; the ground very treacherous, so that
we often sank in the most terrifying manner. (Stevenson)
Note: If in a complex sentence there are two or more homogeneous clauses,
they sre separated from each other by a comma.
e.g. Whether she was determined to bring matters to a crisis, or where she was
prompted by some private sign from Mr. Buff, is more than I can tell.
(Collins)

Suggested points for discussion

1. What are the main punctuation marks? Comment on their meaning.
2. The Punctuation of the Simple Sentence.
3. The Punctuation of the Compound Sentence.
4. The Punctuation of the Complex Sentence.

CHAPTER V. SOME SAMPLES OF SENTENCE ANALISYS

Simple Sentence Analysis
1. Hope was beginning to look pale. (Erica Spingler)
According to the purpose of the utterance it is a declarative sentence.
According to the structure it is a simple two-member complete unextended
sentence.
Hope is the subject expressed by a noun in the common case.
Was beginning to look pale is the predicate. It is a compound aspect (phasal)
nominal predicate (a mixed type). Was beginning is a phasal verb expressed by the
past continuous active form. It is a phasal verb of beginning. To look is a link verb
expressed by the infinitive. It is a link verb of being. Pale is a predicative expressed
by an adjective in the positive degree.
2. In the east the day was breaking, pale and desolate. (Mason)
According to the purpose of the utterance it is a declarative sentence.
According to the structure it is a simple two-member complete extended
sentence.
The principle parts of the sentence are:
a) the day is the subject expressed by a noun in the common case;
b) was breaking is the predicate. It is a simple verbal predicate. The verb to
break is used in its past continuous active form.
The secondary parts of the sentence are:
a) in the east is an adverbial modifier of place expressed by the prepositional
nominal phrase;
 375

b) pale and desolate is a detached attribute expressed by two adjectives in the

positive degree and joined by the conjunction and.
3. Soon her eye fell on a little glass box. (Carroll)
According to the purpose of the utterance it is a declarative sentence.
According to the structure it is a simple two-member complete extended
sentence.
The principle parts of the sentence are:
a) eye is the subject expressed by a noun in the common case;
b) fell is the predicate. It is a simple verbal predicate. The verb to fall is used
in its past indefinite active form.
The secondary parts of the sentence are:
a) her is an attribute to the subject eye expressed by the possessive pronoun;
b) soon is an adverbial modifier expressed by the adverb. According to its
meaning it is the
adverb of time. As to its structure it is a simple adverb in the positive degree;
c) on a box is an adverbial modifier of place or the prepositional indirect
object expressed by the prepositional phrase. It’s a dubious case as the noun box
denotes an inanimate object;
d) little glass are homogeneous attributes in pre-position which qualify a noun
box. Little is an adjective in the positive degree and glass is a noun in the common
case.
4. In my opinion, it will be wonderfulfo r you to stay with us.
According to the purpose of the utterance it is a declarative sentence.
According to the structure it is a simple two-member complete unextended
sentence.
For you to stay with us is the subject expressed by an infinitive phrase.
Will be wonderful is the predicate. It is the compound nominal predicate.
Will be is a link verb expressed by the verb to be in its Future Indefinite Tense
form. It is a link verb of being; wonderful is a predicative expressed by an
adjective in the positive degree.
It is a formal subject. It is an introductory as it introduces the notional subject
expressed by an infinitive phrase (for you to stay with us).
In my opinion is an independent element of the sentence. It is a parenthesis
expressed by a prepositional phrase.
5. There was a little pause. (Voynich)
It is a simple, declarative two-member complete extended sentence.
A pause is the subject expressed by a noun in the common case.
Was is a simple verbal predicate. The verb to be is used in the Past Indefinite
Active form.
There is an introductory particle. It is a formal subject, while a pause - a real.
Little is a attribute expressed by an adjective in a positive degree.
6. Bill, I ’m afraid, it’s your son and young Carde. (Murdoch)
 376

It’s a simple, declarative, two-member, complete, extended sentence.

The subject of the sentence is it expressed by the personal pronoun. It has a
demonstrative meaning (the demonstrative it).
The predicate is is son and Carde. It is a compound nominal predicate, where
is is a link verb of being.
Son and Carde are homogeneous predicatives expressed by: son - a noun in
the common case and Carde - a proper noun.
Your is an attribute in pre-position to the noun son expressed by the
possessive pronoun.
Young is an attribute to a proper noun Carde expressed by an adjective in the
positive degree.
Bill is an independent element of the sentence. It is a direct address expressed
by a proper noun in the common case.
I’m afraid is an independent element of the sentence. It is a parenthesis
expressed by a phrase (a conversational formula).
7. Dusk - o f a summer night.
It is a simple extended one-member declarative sentence.
Dusk is the main (principal) part of this sentence. It is a common noun in the
common case.
Of a summer night is an attribute to the main part. It is a prepositional phrase.
8. Stop talking!
It is an imperative exclamatory sentence.
Stop talking is the predicate. It is a compound phasal verbal predicate. It
consists of two parts. The first part is the phasal verb to stop in the imperative
mood. It denotes the end of the action. The second part is a non-perfect gerund
active denoting the action itself.
9. Could have been professional.
It is a simple unextended two-member elliptical declarative sentence. The
position of the subject is not filled with a word form.
Could have been professional is the predicate. It is a mixed type of predicate
(modal nominal).
Could is the modal part expressed by the verb can in the subjunctive mood. It
denotes a possibility referring to the past.
Have been is a link-verb expressed by a perfect infinitive. It is a link-verb of being.
Professional is a predicative expressed by an adjective in the positive degree.
10. Old Jolyon watching from his corner saw his brother’s face change.
It is a simple extended two-member sentence.
Jolyon is the subject expressed by a proper noun in the common case.
Old is an attribute to the subject. It is an adjective in the positive degree.
Watching from his corner is an attribute to the subject (or an adverbial
modifier of time) expressed by a participial phrase with participle I as headword.
 377

Saw is the predicate. It is a simple verbal predicate expressed by the verb to

see in the past indefinite active.
His brother’s face change is a complex object expressed by an objective with
the infinitive construction; it consists of a nominal phrase (his brother’s face) and
a non-perfect infinitive.
Note: Verbal and non-verbal complexes are to be treated as one indivisible
part of the sentence.
11 .Is the weather not likely to change?
It is a simple unextended two-member interrogative sentence.
The weather is the subject expressed by a common noun in the common case.
Is not likely to change is the predicate. It is a compound verbal predicate of
double orientation. It consists of two parts.
Is not likely is the first part. It denotes the estimate of the speaker of, or his
attitude to, the situation described in the sentence. Itis a phrase with a modal meaning.
To change is the second part. It denotes the action itself andis a non-perfect
infinitive.
12. The whole house being made o f wood, it looked good.
It is a simple extended two-member declarative sentence.
It is the subject expressed by a personal pronoun of the 3 rd person singular.
Looked good is the predicate. It is a compound nominal predicate, consisting
of a link verb and a predicative.
Looked is a link verb expressed by the past indefinite of the link verb to look,
which is a link verb of being in a state.
The whole house being made of wood is an adverbial modifier of reason
expressed by a nominative absolute participial construction.
13. /found my life dull.
It is a simple extended two-member declarative sentence.
I is the subject expressed by a personal pronoun of the 1st person singular.
Found is a simple verbal predicate expressed by the past indefinite of the verb
to find.
My life dull is a predicative complex (or a complex object) expressed by an
objective non-verbal construction (or by an object + objective predicative).
Composite sentence analysis
The compoud sentence
1. It was seven-thirty, nevertheless the streets weren ’t crowded vet
It is a compound sentence which consists of two coordinate clauses connected
by adversative connection with the help of the conjunction nevertheless.
The first clause is It was seven-thirty, the second clause is the streets weren’t
crowded yet.
 378

2. He saw her eyes side view behind the dark glasses, they were large with
thought.
It is a compound sentence which consists of two coordinate clauses connected
with each other asyndetically.
The first clause is He saw her eyes side view behind the dark glasses, the
second clause is they were large with thought.

3. Soon after Dr. Livesev’s horse came to the door. and he rode awav: but
the captain held his peace that evening, and far many evenines to come.
It is a compound sentence comprising three coordinate clauses. The first
clause is Soon after Dr. Livesey’s horse came to the door, he second clause is he
rode away, the third clause is the captain held his peace that evening, and far
many evenings to come.
The first two clauses are linked by means of copulative connection with the
help of copulative conjunction and. The second and the third clauses are connected
by adversative connection with the help of the adversative conjunction but.

The complex sentence

Graphically it is convenient to represent a principal clause by a
rectangle I I and subordinate clause by a triangle / \

The complex sentence

1. It is a pity her brother should be quite a stranger to her.
It is a complex sentence which consists of two clauses: the principal clause It
is a pity and subordinate clause her brother should be quite a stranger to her. It
is a subject clause introduced with the formal subject it.

2. Which side wins doesn ’t concern us here.

It is a complex sentence with the subject expressed with a subordinate clause
introduced by the conjunctive pronoun which. The principal clause is doesn’t
concern us here, the subordinate clause is Which side wins.

3. The question is whether she will agree to help us.

It is a complex sentence with the predicative clause introduced with the
conjunction whether. The principal clause is The question is the subordinate
 379

clause is whether she will agree to help us. The predicative clause follows the link
verb to be, which is used in the present indefinite tense form.

It is a complex sentence with one principal clause and two subordinate clauses.
The principal clause is is exactly. It is expressed with the link verb to be in the
present indefinite tense form. The first subordinate clause is what has happened to
me. It is a subject clause introduced with conjunctive pronoun what. The second
subordinate clause is what I willed to happen. It is a predicative clause, which is
introduced with conjunctive pronoun what. The subordinate clauses are
homogeneous and are connected with each other by means of parallel subordination.

5. Ann, whom I visited last week, left fo r Canada forever.

It is a complex sentence with a descriptive attribute clause introduced with a
relative pronoun whom, which refers to the antecedent Ann in the main clause. The
principal clause is Ann left for Canada forever the subordinate clause is whom I
visited last week.
The scheme of the sentence is the same as that of the first, second and third ones.
6. On hearing from the hall porter at the Iseeum that Mr. Dartie had not been
in today, he looked at the trusty fellow and decided only to ask i f that Mr. George
Forsyte was in the club.
It is a complex sentence with one principal clause and two subordinate
clauses. The principal clause is On hearing from the hall porter at the Iseeum he
looked at the trusty fellow and decided only to ask. The first subordinate clause
is that Mr. Dartiehad not been in today. It is an object clause introduced with
conjunction that. The second subordinate clause is if that Mr. George Forsyte
was in the club. It is also an object clause introduced with the conjunction if. The
subordinate clauses are homogeneous and are connected with each other by means
of parallel subordination.

7. This visit had been planed to produce in Annete and her mother a due
sense o f possessions, so that they should be ready to receive with resnect any
overture he might later be disposed to make.
It is a complex sentence with one principal clause and two subordinate clauses.
The principal clause is This visit had been planed to produce in Annete and her
mother a due sense of possessions. The first subordinate clause is so that they
should be ready to receive with respect any overture. It is an adverbial clause of
 380

purpose introduced with conjunction so that. This clause is of the first degree of
subordination. The second subordinate clause is he might later be disposed to
make. It is an attribute relative restrictive clause which is connected with the
antecedent asyndetically. This clause is of the second degree of subordination. The
subordinate clauses are connected with each other by means of successive
subordination.

The compound-complex sentence

8. And now Mason reeretted that he had not telephoned before leavine
fm he_ could see that the news o f his daughter’s death would shock

It is a compound-complex sentence consisting of two principal and two

subordinate sentences. The first principal clause is And now Mason regretted, the
second principle clause is he could see. The two principal clauses are connected with
each other by means of causative-consecutive conjunction for. The first subordinate
clause is that he had not telephoned before leaving Brigeburg. It is an object clause
introduced with the conjunction that This clause is depended on the first principal
clause. The second subordinate clause is that the news of his daughter’s death would
shock such a man as this most terribly. It is also an object clause introduced with the
conjunction that. This clause is depended on the second principle clause.
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Appendix I
IRREG U LA R VERBS

Неозначена
М инулий час Дієприкметник
форма
JV. Past Indefinite Past Participle О сновні значення дієслова
дієслова
Simple Past Participle II
The Infinitive
1 2 3 4 5
1 . arise arose arisen виникати, походити; підніматися
2. awoken
awake awoke (awaked) будити, прокидатися
(awaked)
3 be was/were been бути, знаходитися
4 bear bore bom носити; народжувати, створювати
5 beat beat beaten бити, лупити
6 become became become зробитися, стати
7. befall befell befallen траплятися, ставатися
8. begin began begun починати(ся)
9. bend bent bent гнути
10. besought besought
beseech заклинати, благати
(beseeched) (beseeched)
11. bet bet bet битися об заклад
12. bid bid bid просити
13. bind bound bound зв’язувати, переплітати
14. bite bit bitten кусати(ся)
15. bleed bled bled сходити кров’ю
16. bless blest(blessed) blest(blessed) благословляти
17. blow blew blown дути, роздувати
18. break broke broken ламати(ся), порушувати
19. breed bred bred розводити, вирощувати
20. bring brought brought приносити, доставляти
21. broadcast broadcast(ed) broadcast(ed) передавати по радіо
22. build built built будувати
23. bum burnt (burned) burnt (burned) горіти, палати
24. burst burst burst лопнути, вибухнути
25. bust bust, busted bust, busted збанкротувати, збанкрутувати
26. buy bought bought купувати
27. cast cast cast кидати
28. catch caught caught ловити, хапати
29. choose chose chosen вибирати, добирати
30. cling clung clung чіплятися, липнути
31. come came come приходити
32. cost cost cost коштувати
33. creep crept crept повзати, плазувати
34. cut cut cut різати, рубати, стригти
35. deal dealt dealt розподіляти, торгувати
36. dig dug dug рити, копати
37. dive dived, dove dived пірнати, занурюватися
38. do did done робити, виконувати
39. draw drew drawn тягти, малювати
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Н еозначена
М инулий час Д ієприкм етник
форма
JVt Past Indefinite Past Participle О сновні значення дієслова
дієслова
Simple P ast P articiple II
The Infinitive
dreamt dream t
40. dream мріяти, бачити уві сні
(dreamed) (dream ed)
41. drink ПИТИ
42. drive drove driven везти, гнати
43. dwell dwelt dwelt жити, перебувати
44. eat ate eaten ЇСТИ
45. fall fell fallen падати
46. feed fed fed годувати, вигодовувати
47. feel felt felt почувати (себе)
48. fight fought fought боротися, битися
49. find found found знаходити
50. fit fit (fitted) fit (fitted) підходити, обладнувати
51. flee fled fled тікати, рятуватися
52. fling flung flung кидати, жбурнути, швиргонути
53. fly flew flown літати
54. forbid forbade forbidden забороняти
55. forecast forecasted forecasted
передбачати
(forecast) (forecast)
56. forget forgot forgotten забувати
57. forgive forgave forgiven прощати, вибачати
58. forsake forsook forsaken залишати, кидати
59. foresee foresaw foreseen передбачати
60. freeze froze frozen мерзнути, заморожувати
61. get got got одержувати, ставати, робитися
62. give gave given давати
63. go went gone іти, ходити
64. grind ground ground молоти, терти
65. grow grew grown рости, ставати, збільшуватися
66. hang hung hung вішати, висіти
67. have had had мати
68. hear heard heard чути
69. hew hewed hewed (hewn) рубати, різати, тесати
70. hide hid hidden ховати
71. hit hit hit вдаряти
72. hold held held тримати
73. hurt hurt hurt ранити, завдавати болю
74. input input, inputted input, inputted вводити інформацію
75. keep kept kept тримати, зберігати
76. kneel knelt knelt ставати навколішки
77. know knew known знати
78. класти, розкладати,
lay laid laid
висловлюватися
79. lead led led вести
80. lean leaned (leant) leaned (leant) нахиляти, нагинати
 383

Н еозначена
М инулий час /JicnpH KM eTHHk
форма
№ Past Indefinite Past Participle О сновні значення дієслова
дієслова
Simple Past Participle II
The Infinitive
81. leap leaped (leapt) leaped (leapt) стрибати
82. learn learnt learnt вчити(ся), дізнаватися
83. leave left left залишати, заповідати
84. lend lent lent позичати
85. let let let дозволяти, здавати в найм
86. lie lay lain лежати
87. light lit (lighted) lit (lighted) запалювати, засвічувати
88. lose lost lost губити,втрачати
89. make made made робити, готувати, змушувати
90. mean meant meant значити, припускати
91. meet met met зустрічати
92. melt melted m elted (m olten) танути, плавити
93. mislead misled misled вводити в оману
94. mistake mistook mistaken помилятися
95. misunderstand misunderstood misunderstood неправильно зрозуміти
96. mow mowed mowed (mown) косити
97. overhear overheard overheard підслуховувати
98. overpay overpaid overpaid переплачувати
99. overtake overtook overtaken наздоганяти
100. partake partook partaken брати участь
101. pay paid paid платити, винагороджувати
102. звертатися з проханням,
plead pleaded (pled) pleaded (pled)
клопотатися
103. put put put класти
104. read read read читати
105. rewrite rewrote rewritten перетісувати
106. rebuild rebuilt rebuilt перебудовувати
107. repay repaid repaid повертати борг
108. rend rent rent роздирати
109. retell retold retold переказувати
ПО. rid rid rid звільняти
111. ride rode ridden їздити верхи
112. ring rang rung дзвонити
113. rise rose risen підводитися
114. rive rived riven розколювати, розщеплювати
115. run ran run бігти
116. saw sawed sawn пиляти
117. say said s a id , сказати
118. see saw seen бачити
119. seek sought sought шукати, домагатися
120. sell sold sold продавати, торгувати
121. send sent sent посилати, відправляти
122. поміщати, заходити
set set set
(про сонце)
123. sew sewed sewed (sewn) шити, пришивати, зашивати
 384

Неозначена
М инулий час Д ієприкм етник
форма
■Ns Past Indefinite Past Participle О сновні значення дієслова
дієслова
Simple Past Participle II
T he Infinitive
124. shit shit shit паскудити
125. shake shook shaken трясти, коливатися, тиснути руку
126. shape shaped shaped (shapen) надавати форму
127. shear sheared shorn зрізати, стригти
128. shed shed shed лити
129. shine shone shone сяяти, блищати
130. shoe shod shod взувати, підковувати
131. shoot shot shot стріляти
132. show showed shown показувати
133. shred shred(ed) shred(ed) шматувати
134. shrink shrank shrunk стискатись, скорочуватися
135. shrove shriven
shrive сповідати
(shrived) (shrived)
136. shut shut shut закривати
137. sing sang sung співати
138. sink sank sunk поринати, занурюватися, тонути
139. sit sit sat сидіти
140. slay slew slain вбивати
141. sleep slept slept спати
142. slide slid slid ковзати
143. sling slung slung кидати, підкидати
144. slink slunk slunk іти нишком
145. slit slit slit розрізати, роздирати
146. smell smelt (smelled) smelt (smelled) нюхати, пахнути
147. smite smote smitten вдаряти
148. SO W sowed sown сіяти
149. speak spoke spoken говорити, розмовляти
150. speed sped (speeded) sped (speeded) поспішати
151. spell spelt (spelled) spelt (spelled) читати по літерам
152. spend spent spent витрачати, проводити (час)
153. spill spilt spilt розливати, розсипати
154. spin spun (span) spun прясти
155. ........spit spat spat плювати
156. split
розщеплювати, розривати,
split split
розколювати
157. spoil spoilt spoilt псувати
158. spread spread spread поширювати
159. - sp n n g sprang sprung стрибати
160. stand stood stood стояти, ставити, триматися
161. steal stole stolen красти
162. stick
встромляти, липнути приклеювати,
stuck stuck
дотримуватися
163. sting stung stung жалити, кусати
164. stink stank (stunk) stank (stunk) смердіти
165. strew strewed strewn сипати, розкидати
 385

Н еозначена
М инулий час Д ієприкметник
форма
№ Past Indefinite Past Participle О сновні значення дієслова
дієслова
Simple Past Participle II
T he Infinitive
166. stride strode stridden крокувати
167. strike struck struck бити,страйкувати
168. string strung strung натягати
169. strive strove striven старатися
170. sunburn sunburned sunburned засмагати
171. swear swore sworn присягатися, божитися
172. sweep swept swept мести, підмітати
173. swollen/ розпухати, набрякати,
swell swelled
swelled збільшуватися
174. swim swam swum плавати
175. swing swung swung гойдатися, коливатися, махати
176. take took taken брати, хапати
177. teach taught taught вчити, навчати
178. tear tore tom рвати
179. tell told told казати, повідомляти
180. think thought thought думати
181. thrive throve thriven процвітати, квітнути
182. throw threw thrown кидати
183. thrust thrust thrust штовхати
184. tread trod trodden ступати, топтати, давити
185. unbend unbent unbent розгинати
undergo underwent undergone випробовувати, перевіряти,
186.
зазнавати
187. underlie underlay underlain лежати під чимось
188. underpay underpaid underpaid недоплатити
189. understand understood understood розуміти
190. undertake undertook undertaken починати, розпочинати
191. underwrite underwrote underwritten підписувати, підтверджувати
192. upset upset upset перекидати, засмучувати
193. wake woke woken прокидатися
194. wear wore wom носити
195. weave wove woven ткати, плести
196. weed wed wed полоти грядки, сапати
197. weep wept wept плакати, лити сльози
198. win won won перемагати
199. wind wound wound заводити, крутитися
200. withdraw withdrew withdrawn брати назад, викликати
201. withhold withheld withheld утримувати
202. withstand withstood withstood опиратися
203. wring wrung wrung скручувати, чавити, видирати
204. write wrote written писати
 386

A ppendix 2
SO M E C O M M O N PH RA SA L VERBS

P hrasal verb M eaning

ask smb round invite to one’s home
block smth out stop from passing through (light, noise)
blow smth out stop burning by blowing
blow smth up fill smth with air (a balloon, a toy)
break down stop functioning
break out occur suddenly
bring smth about make smth happen
bring smb or smth back return smb or smth
bring smth out introduce smth
bring smb up to raise (children)
call smb back return a phone call
call smth o ff cancel
call smb up telephone smb
carry on smth continue
carry smth out pursue a plan
catch on become popular
cheer (smb) up (make smb) feel happier
clean (smb or smth) up clean completely
clear (smth) up make clear
come about happen
come along accompany
come back return
come in enter
come o ff smth become detached
come out appear
come up arise
come up with smth invent
cover smth up cover completely
cross smth out draw a line through
cut smth down bring down by cutting
cut smth off 1) stop the supply o f smth,
2) remove by cutting
cut smth out remove by cutting
dream smth up invent
dress up put on special or formal dress
drink smth up drink completely
drop by/in visit unexpectedly
end up 1) do smth unexpectedly;
2) reach a final place or condition
fall o ff become detached
fill smth in complete with information (a form, an
application)
fill (smth) up fill completely
find (smth) out leant information
follow (smth) through complete
fool around be playful
get smth across get people to understand an idea
 387

get ahead make progress, succeed

get along relate well
get back return
get by survive
get out (o f smth) leave (a car, etc.)
get smth out o f smth benefit from
get together meet
get up rise from bed
get smth away give without charging money
give smth back return smth
give smth out distribute
give (smth) up stop, abandon
go after smb or smth pursue
go along with smth act in agreement with
go back return
go o ff explode (a gun, fireworks)
go on continue
go out leave
go up be built
grow up become an adult
hand smth in give some work to a boss or teacher
hand smth out distribute
hang up put the phone down
hang smth up put on a hook or hanger
hold on wait, not hang up the phone
keep on continue
leave smth out omit
let smb down disappoint
let smb or smth in allow to enter
let smb or smth out allow to leave
lie down recline
light (smth) up illuminate
look out be careful
look smb or smth over examine
look smth up try to find in a book or internet
make smth up create
pay smb or smth back repay
pay o ff be worthwhile
pick smb or smth out 1) select, 2) identify
pick up improve
pick smb or smth up 1) lift; 2) get (an idea, a new book)
play around have fun
point smb or smth out indicate
put smth away put smth in an appropriate place
put smth back return to its original place
put smb or smth down stop holding
put smth off postpone
put smth on cover the body with a piece o f clothing or jewellery
put smth together assemble
put smth up erect
 388

run into smb meet accidentally

run out o f smth not have enough o f a supply
see smth through complete
set smth off cause to explode
1) establish smth (an organization, etc.);
set smth up
2) prepare for use
show smb or smth off display the best qualities
show up appear
sign up register
sit down take a seat
stand up rise
stay up remain awake
stick with/to smb, smth not give up, not leave
switch smth on start a machine
take smth away/off remove
take smth back return
take o ff depart (a plane)
turn smb or smth down 1) reject; 2) decrease the volume (a radio, a TV)
turn smb or smth into change from one form to another
turn smth o ff stop a machine
turn smth on start a machine
turn out have a particular result
turn up appear
turn smth up increase the volume
use smth up use completely, consume
wake up arise after sleeping
wake (smb) up awaken
watch out be careful
work smth o ff remove by work or activity
work out 1) be resolved; 2) exercise
work smth out solve
write smth down write on a piece o f paper
write smth up write in a finished form
 389

Appendix
THE USE OF ARTICLES IN SOME SET EXPRESSIONS
Set expressions with the indefinite article

a great deal in a way

a great many in a whisper
as a result o f it is a pity
as a whole it is a pleasure
at a depth o f (but: in the depth) it is a shame
at a distance o f (but: in the distance) many a time
at a glance they were much o f a size
at a profit to a certain degree (extend)
at a time to be (to feel) at a loss
birds o f a feather flock together to fly into a passion
for a change to get in a fury (in a rage)
in a fury to go on a journey
in a good (bad, blue) mood to have a good time
in a good (evil) hour to have a headache (a sore throat)
in a hurry (but: in haste) to have a mind (to do smth.)
in a low voice to make a journey
in a mess to sing like a lark
in a moment (minute, flash, tick, trace) to take a fancy to
in a row to work like a slave
in a rude way what a pity!
in a rush what a shame!
in a small voice with a look (nod, sigh, yawn)
in a twinkle
Set expressions with the definite article
all the same in (the) summer
at the end it is out o f the question
at the bottom o f one’s heart just the same
by the by not for the world (life)
by the dozen (the score, the hundred) not in the least
by the way on the average
for the better (worse) on the contrary
in the afternoon on the one hand
in the circumstances on the other hand
in the dead o f (the) night on the radio (telephone
in the end on the way
in the evening on the whole
in the face o f day out o f the question
in the future (but: in future = from this time on) the other day
in the long run to be on the safe side
in the meanwhile to keep the bed
in the morning to keep the house
in the neighbourhood o f to kiss smb on the cheek
in the night to pass the time
in the original to play the piano (etc.)
in the past to pull smb. by the hair
in the plural to take smb by the shoulder (arm)
in the present to take the trouble to do smth
 390

in the singular to tell the time

in (the) springtime to tell (to speak) the truth

Absence of the articles in set expressions

a kind o f in secret
arm in arm in sight
a sort o f in spite o f
at dinner (breakfast, etc.) in time
at first in turn
at first notice (sight) in vain
at last (length) night after night
at least night by night
at most on account o f
at night on behalf o f
at once on business
at peace (war) on condition that
at present on deck
at sunrise (dawn) on duty
at sunset (dusk) on fire
at table on foot
at work (at leisure) on hand
bit by bit on purpose
by accident on sale
by air (by water, by sea, by land) out o f date
by car (train, ship, tube) out o f doors
by chance out o f envy
by degrees out o f fashion
by force out o f humour (spirits)
by fortune (luck) out o f order
by heart out o f place
by letter (post, e-mail, telegram) out o f sight
by mistake out o f work
by name to ask (for) permission
by no means to be at hospital (prison)
by sight to be at school (college, university)
day after day to be at sea
day by day to be in bed (church, town)
for ages to catch (to lose) sight o f
for certain (sure) to come from school (university)
for ever (good) to come to school (university)
for example (instance, one) to do housework
for hours to give offence (permission)
for nothing to give way to
from bad to worse to go to school (university)
from beginning to end to go to sea
from day to day to go to bed (church, town)
from east to west to keep house
for sale to keep time
from head to foot to leave school (university)
from morning till/to night to lose heart
from my point o f view to lose touch with
from side to side to lose track o f
 391

from time to time to make fun o f

hand in hand to make use o f
in addition to to pay attention to
in advance to put to prison
in care o f to set fire to
in case o f to shake hands with
in charge o f to take care o f
in debt to take notice o f
in demand to take to heart
in exchange to take to hospital
in fact under age
in general under control
in love under cover
in order under pressure
in part under suspicion
in reference to without delay (difficulty, doubt, fail)
in search o f without regard (relation, respect) to
 392

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