Questions

1. What does the problem of the combination b + Ven consist in?

Verbals

The verbals (infinitive, gerund, participle) make up a part of the English verb system. They have some features in common with the finite forms, and some peculiarities of their own. Verbals are characterized by the categories of voice, aspect and correlation; they lack the categories of person, number, mood and tense.

Their combinability is like that of a finite form of the verb on the one hand and like that of a noun and an adjective on the other. In a sentence verbals may be a subject, an object, a predicative and attribute and an adverbial modifier. But they are never used in the function of a simple verbal predicate (as they lack the categories of person, number and mood) and tense.

The English verbals are the basis or predicative constructions and phrases, which are synonyms of clauses fulfilling the functions of attribute, object, predicative, adverbial modifier, subject. Some scholars do not distinguish between the gerund and participle I as they have the same paradigm (Barkhudarov, Plotkin).

writing – being written

having – having been written

written – having been written

V. Plotkin points out that their plane content and plane of expression are forms of the category correlation (priority – non-priority opposition). All the verbals can occur singly in the sentence and perform different functions or form complexes, i.e. predicative constructions with secondary predication where the verbal is in predicate relation to a noun or a pronoun. Their functions may be divided into the Independent use and Dependent use. In the former case they may be used as subject, predicative, parenthesis. In their dependent uses the verbals modify nouns, adjectives which function as their head-words.

The Infinitive and Infinitive constructions

The lexico-grammatical meaning of the infinitive is that of an action partially viewed as a substance. The infinitive was originally a noun in the dative case with the preposition ‘to’. Like a finite form of the verb the infinitive may be associated with adverbs or nouns and pronouns. E.g. I want to read this book. In common with the finite form of the verb the infinitive has the categories of aspect, voice and correlation. It has the following paradigm:

Active Passive

Indefinite: to ask to be asked

Continuous: to be asking -----------------

Perfect: to have asked to have been asked

Perfect Cont.: to have been asking -----------------

Some scholars admit that the infinitive may be used as the predicate (simple verbal). E.g. you – a man of the word – to suggest it? Why lose your temper?

In spoken English the active indefinite is soften used instead of the passive one. The house is to let. There are some points of difference among scholars on the syntactical functions of the infinitive. In the sentence ‘The ship was seen to leave the harbor’ ‘to leave’ is treated as part of a compound verbal predicate (Ilyish, Kaywatskaya), subjective predicate (Gordon, Krylova), as part of a complex subject (traditional grammar). Professor Barkhudarov is of the opinion that the infinitive is used in complex only in ‘for-phrases’ – ‘for me to do this is rather hard’.

The infinitive differs from the –ing forms in modality, expressing a modality of necessity or possibility. E.g. the man to do the work – the man who must do the work. The house is to live in – the house where one can live.

Besides the infinitive differs from the –ing forms in the category of aspect, which is not inherent to the –ing forms.