16. The adjective. Degrees of comparison

Gen. features: 1) mean-g- expresses property; 2) form-invariable. some form degrees of comparison (long, longer, longest); 3) funct. a) proceed or follow nouns (times immemorial) ; combine with a preceding advjective (very large); can be followed by the phrase “preposition + n-n” (free from danger); occasionally follow a verb (married young). b) in the sent. it can be an attribute or a predicative (is large); an objective predicative (painted the door green).

All the adjectives are traditionally divided into 2 large subclasses: qualitative and relative.

Relative adjectives express such properties of a substance, determined by its direct relation to some other substance (wooden). Qualitative adjectives denote various qualities of substances which gain a quantitative estimation.

There are 3 degrees of comparison (positive-the basic form, comparative-restricted superiority, superlative- unrestricted superiority). Not all adjectives admit d. of comp. Adjectives which denote properties with qualitative character are able to appear in dif. degrees: (middle, blind, deaf, dead have no d. of comparison ).

The positive degree is not marked. We may speak of a zero morpheme. The comparative and superlative degrees are formed either synthetically (by affixation or suppletivity) or analytically (with the help of word-morphemes more and most), which depends mainly on the structure of the stem.

“More, most” can form either analytical d. of c. or free phrase (more difficult- very difficult)- there“difficult” has no d. of c. at all. The basic mean-g of the superlative degree is that property surpasses all the other objects mentioned or implied. But there are cases when just a very high degree of a property is meant without any comparison (it is with the greatest pleasure that we learn of…- It was just very great, it wasn’t greater than all other pleasures, owing to the context). The phrase “most + adj.” can be used with the indef. article (a most satisfactory result).There we deal with notional words but not word-morphemes of comparison.

17. The Verb. Tense

Verb is a part of speech with grammatical meaning of process, action. Verb performs the central role of the predicative function of the sentence. The verb is characterised by an elaborate system of morphological categories, some of which are, however, controversial. These are: tense, aspect, mood, voice, person, and number.The category of tense reflects objective category of time and expresses the relations b/n the time of the action and the time of the utterance. In English there are 3 tenses (past, pr., future). There are some doubts about the existence of a future tense. Jespersen: Engl. has no way of expressing “pure futurity”, as shall is an element of obligation, will- an element of volition. A pr. tense form & present continuous may be used when the action belongs to the future.

These 3 tenses may appear in the common and in the contin. aspects. Besides, there are 2 more: the fut-in-the-past and the fut-cont-in-the-past. They are a deviation from this straight line: their starting point is not the present, from which the past and the future are reckoned, but the past itself. These forms are used chiefly in subordinate clauses depending on a main clause. They can be found in independent clauses as well.

N. Irtenyeva divides the system into 2 halves: 1) tenses centering in the present- pres., pr.perfect, fut., pr. cont., pr. perf. cont; 2) t-s centering in the past- past, past perf., fut-in-the-past, past cont., past perf. cont. Two future tenses are included into the past and the pres. A. Korsakov has developed 2 stages of the grammatical expression of verbal time:I.Absolutive stage: Category of primary time (present & past)II. Relative stage: category of prospective time (non-future & future (afteraction)). Dynamic tenses-are tences of the continuous aspect; anterior- tenses of the perfect correlation. This system has yet to be worked out.