Subordinating Conjunctions

A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause and indicates the nature of the relationship among the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s).

The most common subordinating conjunctions are "after," "although," "as," "because," "before," "how," "if," "once," "since," "than," "that," "though," "till," "until," "when," "where," "whether," and "while."

Each of the words in the following sentences is a subordinating conjunction:

After she had learned to drive, Alice felt more independent.

The subordinating conjunction "after" introduces the dependent clause "After she had learned to drive."

If the paperwork arrives on time, your cheque will be mailed on Tuesday.

A Subordinating Conjunction (sometimes called a dependent word or subordinates) comes at the beginning of a Subordinate (Dependent) clause and establishes the relationship between the rests of the sentence. It also turns the clause into something that depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning.

He took to the stage as though he had been preparing for this moment all his life.

Because he joined acting, he refused to give up his diary of being in the movies.

Unless we act now, all is lost

Midwifery advocates argue that home births are safer because the mother and baby are exposed to fewer people and fewer germs.

In this sentence, the dependent clause "because the mother and baby are exposed to fewer people and fewer germs" is introduced by the subordinating conjunction "because."

Notice that some of the subordinating conjunctions — after, before, since -are also prepositions, but as subordinators they are being used to introduce a clause and to subordinate the following clause to the independent element in the sentence.

The majority of conjunctions are "subordinating conjunctions". Common subordinating conjunctions are:

After, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, while

A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main (independent) clause:

main or independent clause	Subordinate or dependent clause
Ram went swimming	although	it was raining.
	subordinating conjunction

A subordinating conjunction always comes at the beginning of a subordinate clause. It "introduces" a subordinate clause. However, a subordinate clause can sometimes come after and sometimes before a main clause. Thus, two structures are possible:

Ram went swimming although it was raining.

Although it was raining, Ram went swimming.

Correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs -- you use them to link equivalent sentence elements. The most common correlative conjunctions are "both...and," "either...or," "neither...nor,", "not only...but also," "so...as," and "whether...or." (Technically correlative conjunctions consist simply of a co-ordinating conjunction linked to an adjective or adverb.)

Some conjunctions combine with other words to form what are called correlative conjunctions. They always travel in pairs, joining various sentence elements that should be treated as grammatically equal.

She led the team not only in statistics but also by virtue of her enthusiasm.

Polonius said, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." Whether you win this race or lose it doesn't matter as long as you do your best.

The words in the following sentences are correlative conjunctions:

Both my grandfather and my father worked in the steel plant.

In this sentence, the correlative conjunction "both...and" is used to link the two noun phrases that act as the compound subject of the sentence: "my grandfather" and "my father".

Bring either a Jello salad or a potato scallop.

Here the correlative conjunction "either...or" links two noun phrases: "a Jello salad" and "a potato scallop."

Corinne is trying to decide whether to go to medical school or to go to law school.

Similarly, the correlative conjunction "whether ... or" links the two infinitive phrases "to go to medical school" and "to go to law school."

The explosion destroyed not only the school but also the neighbouring pub.

In this example the correlative conjunction "not only ... but also" links the two noun phrases ("the school" and "neighbouring pub") which act as direct objects.

Conjunctions are form-words; they have no independent meaning of their own, but serve to connect words, groups of words, and sentences or clauses. This connection is brought about either by way of co-ordination or by way of subordination. Accordingly, conjunctions are classed as coordinative and subordinative.

1. A coordinative (or coordinating) conjunction connects words, groups of words and clauses that are independent of each other:

2. A subordinative (or subordinating) conjunction connects a subordinate clause with the clause on which it depends. It may also introduce adverbial phrases.

3. Co-coordinative conjunctions may be subdivided into copulative, disjunctive, adversative, causal and regulative.

a) A copulative conjunction is one that denotes addition; sometimes it is used to express an opposition or an explanation: and, nor, neither ... nor, as well as, both... and, not only... but also

I both wished and feared to see Mr. Rochester on the day which followed this sleepless night.

The hall was not dark, nor yet was it lit...

Neither George nor I dared to turn round.

b) A disjunctive conjunction is one that denotes separation: or, either... or:

I had no difficulty in recognizing either Minnie or Minnie's children.

3. An adversative conjunction denotes that two ideas contradict each other: but, still, yet:

4. A causal conjunction denotes reason: for:

The windows were open, for it was hot. It grew dark, but a moon was somewhere rising, for little shadows stole out along the ground.

e) R e s u 11 a t i v e: so, hence:

The grass was drenching wet, so he descended to the road. "You have settled it all for yourself, it seems; so I wash my hands of it."

4. The divisions of subordinative conjunctions are:

a) Those introducing subject, predicative and object clauses: that, if, whether, lest:

She thought that the open air might do her good... She feared lest they should take her at her word.

b) Those introducing adverbial clauses or phrases:

1) Of place: where, wherever:

When they had gone, she moved across to where the wood fire burned.

2) Of time: since, until, till, as long as, before, after, while whilst, directly, soon as:

I wrote her a letter almost as soon as I was housed at Dover. So we went on till we came to another hotel.

3) Of concession: though, although:

A thin delight lingered though the sun had set sometime... Though not amusing, he was so good-humored and so easily pleased...

4) Of reason or cause: as, because, since, seeing:

We were up early the next morning, as we wanted to be in Oxford by the afternoon. It was a relief to get into the fresh air, and since the night was fine we walked.

5) Of condition: if unless, provided, supposing:

"If I were you," she said, "I should not worry".

6) Of purpose: lest, that, in order that, so that:

I went to Canterbury, that I might take leave of Agnes and Mr. Wickfield... She dared not approach the window, lest he should see her from the street.

7) Of result: so that, that:

She stirred the fire, so that a ripple of light broke from the disturbed coal... And I sat there so many hours, that the shade became sunlight, and the sunlight became shade again...

8) Of comparison: as, as... as, not so... as, than, as if, as though:

Traditional grammarians applied the label “conjunctions” to a wide variety of connecting words, but today it is usual to restrict this label to the small group of items formerly called “coordinating conjunctions”. In this definition, a conjunction is a grammatical word which can link two words or phrases of the same category. The familiar conjunctions are and or. Examples:

Susie and her friends under the bed or behind the sofa finished her drink and stood up a new jacket or a new pair of shoes.

A conjunction can join two complete sentences, as in this frame:

Susie is coming ___ Mike is staying home.

In this case, the two further words but and yet can also occur, and these two are sometimes included in the class of conjunctions.

The correlative pairs both...and, either...or and neither...nor are often also classed as pairs of conjunctions.

Morphological classification of conjunctions

With respect to their form, conjunctions are divided into:

a) Simple conjunctions: and, but, or, since, before, if.

b) Correlative conjunctions: both... and, either... or, neither... nor, not only... but also, as... as, not so... as, whether... or, though... yet, although... but.

3. Participial conjunctions (converted from participles): seeing, supposing, provided:

4. Phrase-conjunctions which present combination of two or more words forming one sense unit: in case "(that), as if, as though, in order that, no sooner than, as soon as, on condition ('that), etc.

The classification of Interjections

The interjections are a part of speech expresses various emotions without naming them. Interjections are word expressing emotions, such as surprise, anger, pleasure, regret, indignation, encouragement, they are used as exclamations.

Other interjections, according to the tone of the voice, may express emotions of different character, ah may show sorrow, surprise, pity, pleasure, etc; oh is an exclamation of surprise, fear, pain etc: eh is surprise or doubt: tush-contempt or impatience.

There are number of word which belongs to different other parts of speech but which are also used as interjections,

Bother, come, damn, hear, now, there, why, well, etc. We even find phrases used as interjections. Dear me; dear, dear; goodness gracious; hang it: well; I never, etc.

Some of them, like interjections proper, serve t express quite definite feelings. For example bother oh: bother are exclamations of impatience; goodness gracious. Goodness me are exclamations of surprise: there, there is used to soothe a person. There, there, you haven't really hurt yourself.

Other interjections of this kind may express quite different feelings, according to the tone of the voice or the context.

Note. Imitation sounds such as mew. Cock-a-coo; doodle-doodle-doo; bang, and like this cannot be treated as interjections since they do not serve to express any feeling.

Interjections are independent elements which do not perform any of the syntactic functions in the sentence. They are usually in sentence words themselves and may be used parenthetically.

"Oh" he exclaimed, unable to surprise his emotion.

"Oh. Pooh", look at these stocking!

Well.... Let's walk up there then.

Some interjections may be connected with a word in the sentence by meaning of a preposition

Hurrah for Jojo and Ed!

Alas for loamy!

Note: Interjections should he distinguished from such one word sentence as Help! Silence!

Nonsense! The hitters are national words, not mere exclamations expressing emotions.

According to their meaning interjections fall under two main groups; namely emotional interjections and imperative interjections.

1) Emotional interjections express the feeling, of the speaker. They are ah, oh, eh, bravo, alas. etc.

Oh. Bother! 1 can't see anyone now. Who is it now?

2) 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.

Here! we had enough of this. I'm going.

Hush. tush, my dear!" said the Jew abruptly resuming his old manner.

Interjections may be primary and secondary.

I) Primary interjections are not derived from other parts of speech. Most of them are simple words: ah. oh. eh. pooh. hum. bravo, hush. Only a few primary interjections are composite: heigh-ho! hey-ho! holla-ho! gee-ho!

2) Secondary interjections arc not derived from other parts of speech. They are homonymous with the words they are derived from. They are: well, now, here, there. Come. why. etc.

Derivative interjections may be simple: well, here, there, come, etc… And composite: dear me. Confound it. Hang it. etc.

Well. I don't like those mysterious little pleasure trips that he is s fond of talking.

Many at tempts have been made by grammarians to classify interjections elaborately, but such classification has proved unsatisfactory in the main. One person may differ from another in the words he uses to express emotion; almost everything depends upon temperament, the following classification is set down here for what it may be worth to one reader or another:

Attention - hey. Ho. Look. Say. See.

Aversion foils, nonsense, ugh.

Calling ahoy, hallo, halloo, hello, hey, hallo.

Detection aha. ()-(). Oho. And so, well I never.

Departure bye. farewell, goodbye, so long.

Dread ha. hah. no-no, oh. ugh.

Expulsion away. off. out.

Exultation ah. aha. hey. hurrah, hurray, whee.

Interrogation eh. ha. hev. huh. really. what.

Joy eigh. great, io. right, thank God.

Daughter ha-ha, he-he, te-hee. yi-yi.

Pam ah. eh. Oh. uuh.

Salutation greetings hail, hello, hi. howdy, welcome.

Silencing easy hist. Hush, quiet, shh.

Sorrow ah. Oh. Oh no. woe.

Stoppage avast, halts. Stop. Wail. Whoa.

Surprise gee."Gosh'! Hello man. Whew. What.

Wonder indeed. (). strange, well-well, whew.

You may find it interesting to insert among these various items slang and other exclamatory words that yourself may have heard or used. The word lists are capable of extension; perhaps the classification heading are also.

Interjections are sometimes clipped forms or corruptions of words and phrases; thus, lo is short for laok, once hut no longer written lo'; adieu is French through the Latin ad deum, meaning to God. that is. to God I recommended you; goodbye is a clipped from of God be with you.

The interjection is a part of speech which expresses various 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 are: Oh! Eh! Ah! Bravo! Alas! etc.

Oh, bother! I can not see anyone now. Who is it?

Imperative interjections show the will of speaker or his order or his appeal to hearer. They are: Here! Hush! Sh-sh! Well! Come! Now! etc.

Here! I have had enough oh this. I am going.

Interjections may be primary and secondary.

Primary interjections are not derived from other parts of speech. Most of them are simple words: ah, eh, oh, pooh, bravo, hush.

Secondary interjections are derived from other parts of speech. They are homonymous with the words. Well, now, there, come why.

An interjection is a part of speech that usually has no grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence and simply expresses emotion on the part of the speaker, although most interjections have clear definitions. Filled pauses such as uh, err, um, are also considered interjections. Interjections are generally uninflected function words and have sometimes been seen as sentence-words; since they can replace or be replaced by a whole sentence (they are holophrastic). Sometimes, however, interjections combine with other words to form sentences, but not with finite verbs. Interjections are used when the speaker encounters events that cause these emotions — unexpectedly, painfully, surprisingly or in many other sudden ways. But several languages have interjections that cannot be related to emotions. The word "interjection" literally means "thrown in between" from the Latin inter ("between") and / acres ("throw").

An interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence.

You usually follow an interjection with an exclamation mark. Interjections are uncommon in formal academic prose, except in direct questions.

The words in the following sentences are interjections:

Ouch, that hurt!

Oh no, I forgot that the exam was today.

Hey! Put that down!

I heard one guy say to another guy, "He has a new car, eh?"

I don't know about you but, good lord, I think taxes are too high!

She does not know about his real mother but, she will find her. Oh! It will be super.

Oh no, I forgot that the exam was today. God! Help me please!

Here! I did my homework regularly. I am going to school now.

Interjections are words expressing emotions, such as surprise, anger, pleasure, regret, indignation, encouragement, triumph, etc. They are used as exclamations.

Some interjections are special words which are not associated with any other parts of speech, e.g. oh [ou], ah [a:], eh [ei], aha [a(:)'ha:, alas [a'lal, humph, hum [hAm], pshaw [fa:],pooh [pu:l, bravo [bra:voul, hurrah [hura: ], etc

Some of these interjections serve to express quite definite feelings. Thus alas is a cry of sorrow or anxiety; bravo is a cry of approval, meaning well done, excellent; hurrah is a cry of expressing joy, welcome. Other interjections, according to the tone of the voice, may express emotions of different character, e.g. ah may show sorrow, surprise, pity, pleasure, etc.; oh is an exclamation of surprise, fear, pain, etc.; phew may express relief, astonishment or contempt; eh—surprise or doubt; tush—contempt or impatience; humph—doubt, disbelief or dissatisfaction.

There are a number of words which belong to different other parts of speech but which are also used as interjections, e.g. bother, come; damn; hear, hear; now; there, there; well; why, etc. we even find phrases used as interjections, e.g. dear me; dear, dear; goodness gracious; confound it; hang it; for shame; well, I never, etc.

Some of them, like interjections proper, serve to express quite definite feelings. For example, bother; oh, bother are exclamations of impatience; goodness gracious, goodness me are exclamations of surprise; damn, damn it all, damn you, confound you and hang it are used to express anger, annoyance; for shame serves as a reproof for not being ashamed of one's actions, behavior; well, I never expresses surprise and indignation at the same time;

Hear, hear is used as a form of cheering, usually to express approval, but it may also be used ironically; there, there is used to soothe a person. There, there, you haven't really hurt yourself)

Other interjections of this kind may express quite different feelings, according to the tone of the voice or the context.

Thus dear, dear or dear me or oh, dear express sorrow, impatience or wonder; why may be an expression of surprise or protest, as in: Why, it's quite easy!

Come or come, come indicate either encouragement or blame, as in: Come, come. Don't be so foolish! or Come, come! You don't expect me to believe it!

Now and now, now can in different cases serve a different purpose: Now listen to me! Means I beg you to listen to me; oh, come now! Expresses surprise, reproof, disbelief. Now, now or now then are meant as a friendly protest or warning.

Well, depending on the sentence in which it is used, may express a variety of emotions. In well, who would have thought it? it serves as an expression of surprise. In Well, here we are at last! it expresses relief. Well serves to express expectation in well then? Well, what about it? resignation in Well, it can't be helped; concession in Well, it may be true, etc.

Note. Imitation sounds such as mew, cock-a-doodle-doo, bang and the like cannot be treated .as interjections since they do not serve to express any feeling.

4. Interjections are independent elements which do not perform any of the syntactic functions in the sentence. They are usually sentence-words themselves and may be used parenthetically. "Oh," he exclaimed, unable to suppress his emotion.

"H'm," said Mr. Fox thoughtfully.

The great poet said: "The tragedy of our age is that aesthetic values do not keep pace with social—and, alas, technical—developments."

"Did you notice the stink in the hall?" "Well, not particularly."

"Phew! Three times I was nearly sick." "Marian is going to see her old nurse, Nannie Robeson, in the afternoon." "Confound Nannie

Robeson! Marian's always going there."

Oh, pooh, look at these stockings!

Now, Marilyn, you don't know what you are doing.

Well... let's walk up there then. You're about to make a confession to me. Well, don't do it. I don't want to hear.

Some interjections may be connected with a word in the sentence by means of a preposition, e.g. Hurrah for Jojo and Ed! Alas for poor Tommy!

Note: interjections should be distinguished from such one-word sentences as Help! Silence! Nonsense! The latter are notional words, not mere exclamations expressing emotions.

We can make a wide range of emotional noises which stand in for sentences, such Eh? Oy?, Huh?, Tut-tut!, Coo!, and Yuk!. The important point to note is that they are standing in for sentences, not words, as the punctuation marks indicate. They are therefore better treated as a type of sentence rather than as a word class.

Emotion

Although a widespread word, it is not so easy to come up with a generally acceptable definition of emotion. Growing consensus does agree that the distinction between emotion and feeling is important. Feeling can be seen as emotion that is filtered through the cognitive brain centers, specifically the frontal lobe, producing a physiological change in addition to the psycho-physiological change. Daniel Goleman, in his landmark book Emotional Intelligence, discusses this differentiation at length.

Robert Masters makes the following distinctions between affect, feeling and emotion: "As I define them, affect is an innately structured,

non-cognitive evaluative sensation that may or may not register in consciousness; feeling is affect made conscious, possessing an evaluative capacity that is not only physiologically based, but that is often also psychologically (and sometimes relationally) oriented; and emotion is psychosocial constructed, dramatized feeling. In the Triune brain model, emotions are defined as the responses of the Mammalian cortex. Emotion competes with even more instinctive responses from the Reptilian cortex and the more logically developed neocortex.

Emotion is complex, and the term has no single universally accepted definition. Emotions create a response in the mind that arises spontaneously, rather than through conscious effort. It is unclear whether animals or all human beings experience emotion. Emotions are physical expressions, often involuntary, related to feelings, perceptions or beliefs about elements, objects or relations between them, in reality or in the imagination. The study of emotions is part of psychology, neuroscience, and, more recently, artificial intelligence. According to Sloman, emotions are cognitive processes. Some authors emphasize the difference between human emotions and the affective behavior of animals.

The definition and classification of Prepositions.

The preposition is part of speech which denotes the relations between object and phenomena. It shows the relations between a verb, another noun, an adjective and sometimes an adverb. Usually the prepositions are not stressed and stands before the word it refers to. E g. Desert moved quickly to the windows.

Sometimes, however a preposition may be separated from the word it refers to and placed at the end of sentence or clause. In that case it is stressed.

But he sounds as though he knows what he's talking about.

The prepositions may be weekly stressed before a pronoun.

She wrote the words to them herself, and other poems.

The preposition is stressed when its meaning is emphasized.

The book was in the table, not on it.

As to their morphological structure prepositions fall under following groups:

To simple preposition consists of a single monosyllabic word, as a: in, on, at, with, for, from like, since, till, of, off, up.

1) Derivative or compound preposition consists of two or more syllables and is usually made up of two or more words or is formed by prefixing and suffixing as: behind, below, across, along, around, inside, outside, within, without, into, despite, after, under, outside, except, over, until, upon, about.

2) A participial preposition is a participial form used with the force of a preposition rather than with the force of an adjective, gerund, or verbal noun as: barring, concerning, during, saving, accepting, past, providing, respecting, notwithstanding, regarding, providing, touching. It will be observed that a few of these - during, notwithstanding, regarding - are now used almost exclusively as prepositions; that others - providing, touching arc more. ...ninonl) participles than prepositions.

3) A phrasal preposition is a group of two or more words that may be used as a unit preposition and is at the same lime capable of being resolved into its constituent parts as: according to. as to, because of, by means of, for the sake of, in consequence of, in reference to, in regard to, in respect to with a view to, due to, laugh at and stand by.

According to their meaning prepositions may be divided into prepositions of place and direction (in. on. below, under, between, etc), time (after, before, at, etc), prepositions expressing abstract relations (by. with, because of. with a view to, etc.).

The lexical meaning of some prepositions is quite concrete in, below, between, after, till, etc.).While that of some other prepositions may be weakened to a great extent to. By, of.

Some prepositions are homonymous with adverbs and conjunctions. For instance, the prepositions alter and before, are homonymous with the adverbs after and before and with the conjunctions after and before.

The color rushed into Bosinney's face, but soon receded, leaving it sallow-brown as before.

He didn't write to her. And it was almost a year before he began to see her again (adverb). I his letter seemed to afford her peculiar satisfaction; she read it through twice before replying to the landlady (conjunction).

Some prepositions (on. in. by. over, off, up) are homonymous with postpositions. A preposition as well as a postposition doesn’t perform any independent function in the sentence. But while a preposition denotes the relation between objects and phenomena, a postposition is part of composite verb. A preposition usually bears the stress.

We've got 1 live on what we earn.

Although prepositions serve to express various relations between the noun following it and other words in the sentence, they sometimes get separated from the noun this occurs in:

a) Special questions.

What are you speaking for?

What conclusion did you come to?

b) Some kinds of subordinate clauses.

What he is waiting for is not likely to happen. That is what he wanted to begin with.

c) Certain passive constructions.

He loved the dogs and they were taken good care of.

They found him so ill that a doctor was immediately sent for.

Sometimes one and the same noun is associated with two or more different prepositions, the noun itself need to he repeated after each preposition and is usually placed after the last one. E .g. He is a hook for and about children.

He cared for and looked after his ageing mother.

According to Susan M. Gass's classification all prepositions may be subdivided into: grammatical (helping to form a grammatical), lexical (denoting several specific lexical meaning of place, cause and so on: Marry fell down the well), and idiomatic (having special meaning in idiomatic expressions. We may agree with.)

The Meaning of Prepositions

Most prepositions are polysemantic comprising a variety of meanings. The meaning of the preposition is determined a) by the meaning of the noun before which the preposition stands and b) by the meaning of the word on which the prepositional phrase depends.

1. Most prepositions have local or temporal meaning. Local relations are expressed by prepositional phrases denoting:

1. Position in a place; these prepositional phrases answer to the question where? The following prepositions are used here: in, at, on, upon, by, beside, near, before, in front of behind, beyond, over, under, beneath (underneath), below, amidst, among, between, within, without, out, outside, around, round, about, etc.:

2. Direction: these prepositional phrases answer to the questions where and from where? The following prepositions serve to express those meanings: to, towards, into, along, through, across, on, by, before, over, round, under, out of, from, etc.:

Temporal relations are expressed by prepositional phrases denoting:

a) A point or period of time; these prepositional phrases answer to the question when? The following prepositions express those meanings: in, at, on, of by, near, before, after, past, over, beyond, between, within, during, for, through, etc.:

b) The point of time at which the action starts or terminates; these prepositional phrases answer to the question since when? Or till what time? The following prepositions serve to express those meanings: from, since, to (down to, up to), into, till, until, etc.:

3. Besides local and temporal meanings prepositional phrases-may have a variety of more abstract meanings such as:

a) Manner or comparison:

A light fringe of snow lay like a cap on the shoulders of his overcoat...

I looked in astonishment towards the old man. The scented air of the garden came to us in a warm wave...

b) Attending circumstances:

Winter set in early and unexpectedly with a heavy fall of snow.

...I have slept lately with the blind drawn up...

c) Cause:

Maggie's cheeks began to flush with triumphant excitement...

My dog pants with the heat... could hardly contain herself for excitement,

I shall remember our trip to Vesuvius for many days —partly because of its sight-seeing experiences, but chiefly on account of the fatigue of the journey.

d) Purpose:

He went in search of it. Do it for your own sake. He fought for his life.

e) Agent or instrument of an action:

The shining sea was blotted out by blackness.

He chopped some wood with an axe. Participation:

They played ail sorts of games with other children...

...she trudged up the hill under the tall hedge with her child.

4. The preposition has a still "more abstract meaning in those cases when the verb requires a definite preposition to govern its object:

The dogs barked at him as he passed. "I rely on that promise

A preposition expresses a relationship of meaning between n two parts of sentence, most often showing how the two parts are related in space or time.

We sat on the bench. They left at three.

Most of the common prepositions consist of only one word; they have no distinctive ending, and do not vary. Several prepositions consist of more than one word. (Look at the appendix page- 65,66 )

Several prepositions are restricted in their frequency of use, especially such foreign borrowings as anti, circa, versus, and vis-à-vis. Unto is archaic, and used only in religious contexts. There are also some dialect uses, such as towards (British) vs. toward (American).

Morphological classification of prepositions

With regard to their forms prepositions are divided into:

1. Simple prepositions such as: at, by, in, on, etc.

2. Compound prepositions formed by two simple prepositions. In the compound prepositions one preposition supplements the meaning of the other: within, out of, upon, into, throughout.

3. Participial (converted from participles): concerning, during, past, regarding, respecting, considering:

I spoke with him concerning our lessons. He did it well considering the difficulties he had to meet.

d) Phrase prepositions (usually consisting of a noun preceded and followed by a preposition): by means of, in consequence of, on account of, with regard to, in front of, in spite of etc.

A preposition is a word used to show the relationship of a noun to something else, usually a location in space or time. A preposition is one type of a larger grammatical category referred to as adpositions. Virtually all adpositions in English are prepositions -- with a few exceptions that can be sometimes as postpositions, such as hence and thereafter. In most languages, the set of prepositions is extremely subject to change, and English is no exception. Over time a word may take on meaning as a preposition, or may lose that meaning and no longer be classified as a preposition. For this reason, "complete" lists of prepositions in any language are a questionable affair, though many grammar textbooks still attempt to provide such a reference. When trying to determine whether a word is a preposition, one need only look to the role it serves in the sentence -- is it being used to demonstrate a spatial or temporal relationship between the subject and object of the sentence, or between two objects? If so, the word is likely a preposition.

Common prepositions include the words: about, above, after, among, around, at, before, behind, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, like, near, of, off, on, out, over, through, to, up, upon, and with. This is only a sampling of the many, many prepositions found in English. Many prepositions are also formed by combining multiple words, such as the phrases ahead of, in front of, on top of, on to, and prior to. Additionally, many archaic prepositions are no longer in common usage, but still sometimes crop up in writing or speech, such as betwixt, versus, unto, and sans. A word such as but or except may be classified by some as a preposition, while others hold these words to be similar to prepositions, but not strictly belonging in that class.

In sentences such as fourscore and seven years ago or all evidence aside, we see examples of a different type of apposition, known as a postposition. English has few postpositions, and in most cases they may also be used prepositionally - we can change our example of aside in the above to be prepositional by simply changing the order, as in, aside from all evidence. A prepositional phrase is formed by combining a preposition with a noun and adding any additional modifiers that may be desired. In the phrase at work, for example, the word at is a preposition, and the noun work combines with it to make a prepositional phrase.

A prepositional phrase may serve a number of functions. It may be the object or subject of a sentence or it may function as an adjective or adverb. In the sentence ‘The women ran with vigor’, for example, the prepositional phrase with vigor is acting as an adverb to modify ran. In the sentence The men are in denial, on the other hand, the prepositional phrase in denial serves as an adjective to modify the men.

There is some debate in English as to whether it is acceptable to distance the preposition in a sentence from its object, or to end a sentence with a preposition. Different grammarians have different feelings about these issues - though in most cases tensions run high.

Usage recommendations seem to be tending towards the liberal as time passes, with few mainstream grammarians arguing against terminating a sentence with a preposition in a case such as: This is something I can't put up with.

Preposition is common knowledge that prepositions are a most important element of the structure of many languages, particularly those, like Modern English, have no developed case system in their nominal parts of speech. It is sometimes said that prepositions express the relations between words in a sentence, and this is taken as a definition of the meaning of prepositions. If true, this would imply that they don't denote any relations existing outside the language. However, this is certainly not true, and tw3 or three simple examples will show it.

If we compare the two sentences: The book is lying, on the table, and The book is lying under the table, and ask ourselves, what do the prepositions express here, it will at once be obvious that they express relations (in space) between the book (the thing itself) and the table (the thing itself)- The difference in the situations described in the two sentences is thus an extra-linguistic difference expressed by means of language, namely, by prepositions. It would certainly be quite wrong to say that the prepositions merely express the relations between the word "book" and the word "table", as the definition quoted above would imply. The same may be said about a number of other sentences.

We must add that there are cases in which a preposition does not express relations between extra-linguistic phenomena but merely serves as a link between words. Take, for instance, the sentence: This depends on you. Here we cannot say that the preposition has any meaning of its own. This is also clear from the fact that no other preposition could be used after the verb "depend" (except the preposition upon, which is to all intents and purposes a stylistic variant of on). Classes of prepositions

According to their meaning prepositions are often divided into those of:

Place and direction - in, on, below, under, at, to, from;

Time - after, before, in, at;

Cause - because of, owing to;

Purpose -for, in order to.

According to Susan M.Gass's classification all prepositions may be subdivided into:

Grammatical (helping to form a grammatical category), lexical (denoting several specific lexical meaning of place, cause and so on, e.g.: Marry fell down the well.) and idiomatic (having special meaning in idiomatic expressions, e.g.: We may agree with.) Barchudarov L.S. called such prepositions absolute ones .The most problematic thing is a prepositional phrase, the structure of which is usually : preposition + noun + preposition, e.g.: in danger of, on account of.

Morphological Characteristics

Form — in accordance with their structure prepositions may be subdivided into: Simple- of, with, under, on, etc. Compound- out of, owing to, because of, etc.

Grammatical categories — there are no grammatical categories.

Syntactic characteristics

Combinability - On the phrase level there are patterns like:

"noun + preposition + noun" - a letter from my friend;

"adjective + preposition 4- noun" - true to life:

"verb + preposition + noun" - wait for an answer.

Functions

On the sentence level: a preposition is never a part of a sentence by itself; it enters the part of sentence whose main center is the following noun, or pronoun, or gerund. We ought not to say that prepositions connect parts of a sentence. They do not do that, as they stand within a part of the sentence, not between two parts. The connection between the preposition, the word, which precedes it, and the word, which follows it requires special study. Different cases have to be distinguished here. The question is, what predicts the use of this or that preposition. We have already noted the cases when it is the preceding word, which determines it (or predicts it) In the cases where the use of a preposition is not predicted by the preceding word the connection between them is looser, and the connection between the preposition and the following word may prove to be the stronger of the two. This difference more or less corresponds to that between objects and adverbial modifiers expressed by prepositional phrases. Thus, in a sentence like this depends on him the preposition is predicted by the verb and the phrase on him is of course an object, whereas in a sentence like the book is lying under the table. The preposition is not predicted by the verb and the phrase is an adverbial modifier. However, this criterion does not bold good in all cases.

The definition and classification of Articles.

The article is a structural word specifying the noun. The absence of the article, which may he called the zero articles, also specifies the noun and has significance.

Article is a determining unit of specific nature accompanying the noun in communicative collocation. The function of the determiners such as "this, any, some" is too explicit!) interpret the referent of the noun in relation to other objects or phenomena of ,like king, the semantic purpose of the article is to specify the nounal referent, as it were all together unostentatiously, to define it in the most general way without any explicit!) Expressed centrals.

Will you give me this pen? Willy?

Here are two articles in English which are called the definite and the indefinite. The indefinite article is used when one wish to name an object (a thing, a person, an animal or an abstract notion) to state what kind of object is meant.

There came a tap at the door, and a small elderly man entered.

These functions may be called the nominating function. But at the same time, owing its origin from the numeral one the indefinite article always implies the idea of oneness and is used only before nouns in the singular. The idea of oneness may sometimes become quite prominent, it occurs in the following cases:

a) A hundred, a thousand, a minute, a mile, etc.

b) After the negative not-not a word, not a trace, not a thought.

c) Some set phrases-one at a time, at a draught (as in: He emptied his glass at a draught) stitch in lime save nine.

When the speaker uses the indefinite article, he just names an object which is usually new to hearer. So the indefinite article is often used to introduce a new element in the sentence. Since the new element is as a rule, important and attracts attention, the noun with the indefinite article frequently becomes the center of communication and is marked by strong stress.

Presently the Browns arrived. They brought with them a small child, a governess and a dog. He table was covered with a white cloth.

In contrast to this the definite article usually indicates that a definite object is meant and that it is not new to the hearer. That is why is often serves to show that the noun is not the center of communication. Compare the following sentences:

I bought a book yesterday.

I bought the book yesterday.

From the first sentence the hearer learns what object was bought yesterday. So "a book" is the new element in the sentence, from the second sentence the hearer learns when the book was bought. In this case "the book" is not the center of communication.

In the Russian language which has no article, the center of communication is usually marked word-order and also stress.

They sent to a conference in May.

They were sent to the conference in May.

This distinction between the two articles is very helpful in most cases but the rule does not always hold good .We may find sentence which a noun with an indefinite article dose not serve as the center of communication and is not marked by strong stress (a) and, vice versa, a noun with the definite article marked by strong stress may become the most important element of communication (b).

а) A camel can carry heavy loads.

b) "Shut the door", he ordered.

It follows from the above examples that the use of the indefinite article with noun serving as the centre of communication is to be regarded as an additional rule.

With uncountable nouns the indefinite article serves to bring out a special aspect of the notion expressed by the noun. In this case its function may be called aspective.

A dull burning anger rose in his chest.

He had almost a supernatural courage.

In this case the noun is usually qualified by an attribute which also brings out a special aspect. In its aspective function the indefinite article is devoid of the idea of oneness.

The definite article expresses the identification or individualization of the referent of the noun.

The use of this article shows that the abject denoted is taken in its concrete, individual quality. Look at the apple-tree!

When used with countable nouns the definite article has two distinct functions: 1) It may be used with singular and plural nouns to show that the noun denotes a particular object (a thing, a person, an animal or an abstract notion) or a group of object as distinct from the others of the same kind. In other words, the definite article serves to single out an object or several objects from all the other objects of the same class. This function is called the individualizing function of the definite article.

The ear stopped. Paul got out and stretched himself.

As we stood on the steps, we felt the smell of fallen leaves coming from the garden.

2) The definite article may also have the generic function with countable nouns. With nouns in the singular it serves to indicate that the noun becomes a composite image of the class.

The tiger has always had the reputation of being a man-eater.

The Linguist is interested in the form and meaning of all possible statement in a language. With uncountable nouns the function of the definite article called restricting. The definite article restricts the material denoted by a concrete uncountable noun t a definite quantity, portion or to a definite locality (a), it also restricts the abstract notion expressed by an; uncountable noun to a particular instance (b).

a) He slowly pulled on his gloves, concentrating on each fold in the leather.

b) The work seemed to consist chiefly of interviewing young women for jobs in

Department stores.

A singular countable noun with a definite article may represent a whole class of object. Thus, becoming a composite image of that class. A noun in this function is called a genetic singular.

The violet is a lovely flower. To the philosopher. Language may be an instrument; bf thought, to the sociologist, a form of behavior, to the psychologist, a cloudy window through which he glimpses the working of the mind, to the Linguists, a system of arbitrary. It is also possible to use the indefinite article in similar case.

A violet is a lovely flower.

This use of indefinite article is not to be indefinite with the genetic function of the definite article. The indefinite article is used here in nominating function, implying any representative of the class.

The genetic article is always found with collective nouns denoting social groups or classes. The article serves to emphasize the idea of collectivity, as in the proletariat, the peasantry, the bourgeoisie, the nobility, the gentry, the clergy, the intelligentsia, the public. With other nouns the use of generic singular is restricted in two ways:

1) Only a semantically limited group of nouns appear to be used generically. Here names of animals, plains, professions and occupations, the nouns man, woman, child, collective nouns denoting social groups and scientific terms.

2) Generic singular are mainly characteristic of scientific and literary prose where the e is a need for generalization. That means that there is a stylistic restriction to the use of generic. The definite article is used with generic plurals but it is found only when the idea of collectivity is definitely emphasized. Suggesting the whole body of, as in: a) The Russian, The Germans. The Italians. The Americans, b) The Communists, the peasants, the workers, the capitalists, the Forties.

The workers have nothing to lose but their chains.

The use of the generic definite article is found with names of nationalities, representatives of political parties, classes, social groups, and religious beliefs. However that there is no article when not the whole body of but separate individual representatives are meant.

Italians are often are good singers.

Brazilians are generally keen on football.

The noun, people are used with the definite article when the idea of collectivity is emphasized.

(All) I he people in our country are going their best to ensure a lasting peace.

But if the idea of collectivity is not uppermost in the mind of the speaker, there is no article at all.

She was speaking with absolutely certainty: "(All) People are selfish."

I he Name generic use of the definite article is found with substantives adjectives

The blind. The poor, the rich, the young, the old etc). This is also the case with some adjectives denoting names of nationalities

The British, the French, the Chinese etc). On the whole it should he noted that the number of adjectives thus substantives is very limited.

The class policy put forward by the Tories is a policy intended to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor.

When noun denoting titles, military ranks or posts are followed by a proper name they are used without am article, as in: Colonel Holmes. Doctor Smith, Professor Jones, Academician Fedoras. Queen Elizabeth. King fears. Lady Windermere, President Wilson, General Rawson etc. In such combinations only the proper name is stressed.

The article is not used with the same noun denoting close relationship when they are-followed by names of persons as in: Aunt Polly. Uncle Timothy. Cousin John etc.

Other common nouns, when followed by proper names are used with the definite article, as in: the holy Dick, the student Smith, the painter Turner, The Composer Brittan, Ghee Geologist Foster etc.

Combination as above is 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 "&" etc.

The article is not used with nouns in appositive of-phrases when the head-noun denotes a title or post.

He was awarded the title Old Hero of the USA.

They nominated candidates for the post of President and Vice-president. There is no article with nouns in direct address. "How is my friend, doctor?'"

«Well, young man. " said Hidden with smile. » What can I do for you?" After the exclamatory what the indefinite article with singular nouns are used.

"What a car!" she exclaimed.

What a narrow-minded, suspicious woman Maria was! With plural nouns there is no article, in accordance with the general rules.

What marvelous hooks you've got!

Uses of the definite article

The definite article is used to mark the phrase it introduces as definite, i.e. as referring to something, which can be identified uniquely in the contextual or general knowledge shared by speaker and hearer. There are several ways in which the identity of the referent may be determined or 'recovered' by the hearer.

Immediate situation

Extra -linguistic situation:

The roses are very beautiful, /said in a garden/

Have you visited the castle? /Said in a given town/

Have you fed the cat? /said in a domestic context/

General knowledge

a) Unique denotation

The North Pole, the Equator, the earth, the moon, the sea, the sky, the cosmos, the Renaissance, the prime Minister, the airlines, the last war.

b) The larger situation which speaker and hearer share:

Felicity bought a TY and a video recorder, but she returned the video recorder because it was defective.

Anaphoric reference:

Direct: the noun head has already occurred in the text:

John bought a new bicycle, but found that one of the wheels was defective.

I lent Bill a valuable book, but when he returned it, the cover was filthy, and the

Pages were torn. '

Indirect: inference from what has: ad\ been mentioned:

The President of Mexico is to visit China. The girls sitting over there are my cousins.

Categorical reference

a) The modification of the noun phrase restricts the reference of the noun:

The Parents of Elvis Priestly, the height of Mont Blanc.

b) The whole phrase may have unique denotation: My sister goes to the theater every month.

Did you hear the ten o'clock news? What's on the radio this evening?

The logical use of ‘the’

a) Uniqueness of the referent is explained by appeal to the logical interpretation of certain word: first, same, only, sole, next, last, best, largest.

b) The use of ‘the’ with reference to body parts.

They pulled her by the hair.

My mother complains of a pain in the/her hip.

It will improve your tennis if you keep the back straight when you serve.

The indefinite article in contrast to the definite article makes no assumptions about an earlier mention. There are two possible uses of the indefinite article:

a) Non-referring uses of the indefinite article. The indefinite article is strongly associated with the complement function in a clause, or more generally with noun phrases in a copular relationship:

Paganini was a great violinist, found Lisbon (to be) a Delightful city.

b) The indefinite article and the numeral one. The indefinite article derives historically the unstressed form of one, and in present-day English there are still many contexts in which this numeral is uppermost:

A mile or two of: one or two miles; a foot and a half of water of: one and half feet.

c) The use of the indefinite article with nouns in set expressions:

In a hurry, to have a mind to do something, to flu into a passion, to get into a fancy to, in a low voice, a great many, a great deal, it is a pity (shame), as a result, to have a good time, to be at a loss, at a glance.

Uses of the zero articles

The zero article compared with unstressed some. It is used:

l. With plural countable nouns

2. With uncountable nouns

3. Phrases without article

a) Some institutions of human life and society:

Be in town, be in bed, be in prison, go to hospital, be at school, be at church and etc.

b) Means of transport and communication:

Travel by bicycle, leave by bus, come by boat, go by train.

c) Times of day and night:

at sunrise, by night, after nightfall, day-by-day, all-day and etc.

d) Seasons: in spring, in summer; winter is coming.

e) Meals: stay for breakfast, have brunch, before tea, after dinner, for supper.

f) Illnesses: appendicitis, influenza, diabetes, anemia.

g.) Parallel structures, arm in arm, face to face, day by day, hand in hand, eye to eye, from right to left, husband and wife.

Article expresses the specific limitation of the substantive functions.

He has been a long debated question how many article are in English.

Obviously, there were two material articles: the definite article ‘the’ and indefinite article ‘a/an’

Of course, there were different viewpoints, and there is a view, which has been gaining around lately is that the very absence of the article is a special kind of article, which is then termed ‘zero article’

According to this view, then there would be 3 articles in English language: definite, indefinite and zero.

The peculiar feature of the article is that the use of the article with the noun is obligatory.

The English article differs greatly from the article in such languages as German and French, where it has gender distinctions. Not being connected with the gender and case (as in German) the English article appears to be more independent of the noun.

Consequently, semantically and functionally it acquires an exceptionally wide use in speech. The status of the article in the system of the language is one of the most difficult and controversial problems.

Article has semantic, morphological and syntactic properties.

Semantically indefinite article has developed from the numeral ‘one’ and can therefore be used only with countable nouns in the singular. The lexical meaning of the definite article is a pale shadow of its original demonstrative meaning. The names of the article denote the nearest approach to their lexico-grammatical meaning, which, for lack of a better term, might be defined as that of “definiteness- indefiniteness”.

We must take into consideration their syntactic properties, i.e. their combinability with nouns, substantive adjectives.

Definite article expresses the identification or individualization of the referent of the noun. It has its origin from the demonstrative pronoun “that” and has only one form “the”:

1) Before nouns, which begin with consonant. The boy

2) Before nouns, which begin with vowels. The evening.

The definite article can be used before nouns of different types:

a) It is used when we give a name to a thing and make it one of a whole category of things as contrasted to a member of another category:

I shall speak to the teacher. (That teacher who teaches us)

Put the milk on the window-sill. (That milk which you brought from the shop and that window-sill at which you are standing)

b) We use it before the unique denotations: the moon, the sky, the earth, the cosmos, the prime minister:

c) With the noun which has already occurred in the fact.

John bought a new car, but hasn’t paid all money for the car yet.

d) With nouns in set expressions:

It’s out of the question, in the original, to play the piano, the other day:

e) We use the definite article when the noun has limited attribute, expressed by words: only, main, central, same, right, wrong, left, right, next, last, final:

It’s the only way out.

Who can give me the right answer?

f) With ordinal numerals:

He was the first man who helped us.

Read the second text.

g) With adjectives in superlative degree of comparison:

It is the best book I’ve ever read.

h) With nouns which are used as the adverbs of place:

In (on) the street, at the theatre, at the office, at the library, on the balcony, the, etc.

I) before substantial parts of speech (adjectives, participles, verbs, which are used as a noun).

The English are very polite people.

The unemployed should be helped:

j) With the names of mountain chains, groups of islands, seas, river, channels, countries, regions.

The Atlantic Ocean, The Panama Canal, The United States of America.

k) Before the names of hotels, English and American magazines and newspapers:

The “Titanic”, The “metropolis”, The “morning star”.

l) With the surnames, which are used in the plural form in order to point all members of one and the same gamely:

The Browns, the Ivanovs.

The indefinite article is commonly interpreted as referring the object denoted by the noun to a certain class of similar objects: in other words, the indefinite article expresses a classifying generalization of the noun referent. It makes no assumptions about an earlier mention. As it was mentioned above there exist 2 kinds of indefinite articles: a/an.

Article “a” is used with words which begin with consonants and “an” is used with words beginning with vowels. One more thing and feature which distinguishes it from the definite article is that it is used only with singular countable nouns.

The indefinite article keeps its old meaning of the numeral “one” in such constructions as:

Wait a minute, two lessons a week. We covered half a mile.

Owing to this meaning the indefinite article has limited possibilities of usage and can be used only with countable nouns in the singular form.

A flower, an orange.

This article is used when we give a name to a thing and make it one of a whole category of things as contrasted to a member of another category.

If we say “bring me one pencil” then we mean only one pencil but not two or more.

If we say “bring me any pencil”, then we mean any pencil and it doesn’t matter if it is red or yellow.

If we say “bring me a pencil”, then we want to underline that we need a pencil, but not a pen or a rubber.

Indefinite article is used in the following cases:

1. If the noun has a descriptive attribute.

This is a red flower (the category of the red flowers).

He has become a teacher of English (a teacher of the English language as the category of teachers).

2. it is used in a set of expressions such as:

a lot of, a number of, a few, a little, as a result of, at a time, for a short, in a hurry.

c) In some cases indefinite article keeps the meaning of numeral “one”

I shall come in an hour.(after one hour)

He didn’t say a word (one word).

d) Before the countable nouns in he singular which are preceded by “so” or “too”

It is not so simple a problem as it seems. It is too urgent a matter to postpone.

e) In exclamatory sentences:

What a nice child!

f) After the construction “there is/was/will be”

There is a letter for you.

There was a boot on the lake.

g) It is used as an object:

I have a dog. She got a fax.

Some grammarians speak of the “zero article” or the zero form of the indefinite article.

As a grammatical zero morphemes are created in an opposeme owing to the relative nature of grammatical meanings. As shown above, the articles are not grammatical morpheme and their meanings are not relative.

They are words and the absence of a word cannot be regarded as a zero word. Majority of our scholars as well distinguish the zero morphemes.

The zero article is compared with unstressed some. And used in the following cases:

1. With plural countable nouns:

Teachers should be competent.

b) Some institutions of human life and society:

Be in town, be in bed, be in prison.

c) Times of by and night: at sunrise, by night, after nightfall, day -by-day.

d) Seasons: In spring, in summer, winter is coming.

e) Meals: stay for breakfast, have brunch, before tea, after dinner, for supper.

f) Illnesses: appendicitis, influenza.

g) Parallel structures: arm in arm, face to face, eye to eye, from right to left.

h) Fixed phrases involving prepositions: on foot, in turn, out of step, on top of, by way, set fire to, take advantage of.

The three articles — a, an, the — are a kind of adjective.

‘The’ is called the definite article because it usually precedes a specific or previously mentioned noun; a and an are called indefinite articles because they are used to refer to something in a less specific manner (an unspecified count noun). These words are also listed among the noun markers or determiners because they are almost invariably followed by a noun (or something else acting as a noun).

‘The’ is used with specific nouns. The is required when the noun it accompanies or refers to something that is one of a kind:

The moon circles the earth.

Zero articles: Several kinds of nouns never use articles. We do not use articles with the names of languages ("He was learning Chinese." [But when the word Chinese refers to the people, the definite article might come into play: "The Chinese are hoping to get the next Olympics."]), the names of sports ("She plays badminton and basketball."), and academic subjects ("She's taking economics and math. Her major is Religious Studies.")

When they are generic, non-count nouns and sometimes plural count-nouns are used without articles. "We like wine with our dinner. We adore Baroque music. We use roses for many purposes." But if an "of phrase" comes after the noun, we use an article: "We adore the music of the Baroque." Also, when a generic noun is used without an article and then referred to in a subsequent reference, it will have become specific and will require a definite article: "The Data Center installed computers in the Learning Center this summer. The computers, unfortunately, don't work."

Principles of Choosing an Article

Choosing articles and determiners: Briefly defined, a determiner is a noun-marker: when you see one, you know that what follows is a noun or noun phrase. There is a list of such words in the table below. When you place your mouse-cursor over a word or pair of related words (such as either/neither), you will see in the right-hand frame an image describing the kinds of words that word can modify.

The definition and classification of Particles.

The particles have no independent lexical meaning of their own. Nor do they perform an independent syntactic function in the sentence. They only serve to emphasize a word, a phrase or a clause in the sentence. According to the purpose they serve, particles may be divided into the following groups:

1) Limiting particles - only, solely, but. Alone, barely, merely.

She was barely nine when the war broke out.

I told him that I was a military officer merely doing my duty.

2) Intensifying particles - simply, just, even, still.

I lie night drew still colder.

What he wanted done was just the job for me.

3) Connecting particles also. too.

They had also been told that they would have to wait for further orders.

4) Negative particles - not.

I have not given up hope.

I wanted to see the telegram, not the letter.

It was difficult for Roger not to agree.

Note: It should be pointed out that a number of particles have homonyms among other parts of speech.

This is just the thing I want (particle).

I've just see him. (Adverb)

He is lazy too (particle).

He is too lazy (adverb).

To include a word in the class of particles we must find out whether it has the characteristic features of particles which we have described in our general survey of parts of speech, and we should not apply any other criteria. We shall not inquire whether the word has one syllable, or two, or many; this phonetic quality of a word is irrelevant to its grammatical status: just as, for example, a preposition may have one syllable (of, to) or four (notwithstanding) a particle may have one syllable (just) or four (exclusively). Thus the diminutive suffix should not be taken to refer to the length of the word.

Semantic properties meaning:

When speaking of particles in our review of parts of speech we have noted already that they usually refer to the word (or, sometimes, phrase) immediately following and give special prominence to the notion expressed by this word (or phrase), or single it out in some other way, depending on the meaning of the particle. As we know, the definitions of the lexico-grammatical meanings of parts of speech are not general enough. With particles it is, probably, more so than elsewhere because they are less uniform. In most of them the meaning of emphatic specification' is quite obvious.

Never thought of that then.

Notice that there is but one chair in it.

But there are particles in whose meanings there is as much 'emphatic specification' as there is 'action' in the verb belong or 'substance' in the noun faith. There are, for instance, the connective particles also, too, else, either. They seem to resemble the conjunction and lexically, but their properties are different. Compare, for instance, the particle too and the conjunctions and, if in the following sentence.

Life is dull, you can be dull too, and no harm is done.

The particle too in fact 'specifies' the pronoun you (you too can be dull), but as a condition of that specification it requires, in accordance with its lexical meaning, that the content of the clause, of which the specified word is part, should be similar to the content of the previous clause. Thus it connects the two clauses lexically. So according to their meaning particles fall under the following main groups:

Limiting particles: only, just, but, alone, solely, merely, barely, etc.

Intensifying particles: simply, still, just, yet, all, but, only, quite, even, etc.

Connecting particles: too, also.

Negative particles: not, never.

Morphological properties

Particles have no grammatical categories, no typical stem-building elements. As far as their structure is concerned, they may be simple (just, still, yet, even, else), derivative (merely, simply, alone), compound (also). Very few particles (else, merely, solely) are not homonymous with other words.

Most of them are identical in form with adverbs (exactly, precisely, simply, never, still), adjectives (even, right, just, only), pronouns (all, either), conjunctions (but), articles (the).

The particle ‘not’ deserves special attention. It can, as is well known, be used in two different ways. On the one hand, it may stand outside the predicate, as in the following sentence:

Not till Magnus had actually landed in Orkney did he consider the many difficulties that confronted him.

It also stands outside the predicate in a type of so-called short answers, in which (he negative is expressed by the particle not, if it is accompanied by a modal word like certainly, perhaps, or a phrase equivalent to a modal word, e. g. of course: Certainly not. Perhaps not. Of course not. I am afraid not, I think not, etc. In these cases the particle not appears to be the main part of the sentence. Another use of the particle not is that within the predicate. In these cases it is customary to treat it as part of the verb itself. The usual way of putting it is this. The negative form of the present indicative, e. g., of the verb is: (I) am not, (he) is not, etc.

The definition and classification of Modal words.

Modal words serve to express the relation between the statement made in the sentence and reality as established by the speaker. With the help of these words the speaker expresses various degree of certainly, supposition, desirability or undesirability of the action indicated in the sentence.

The modal words express the attitude of the speaker to the reality, possibility or probability of the action he speaks about.

According to their meaning modal words fall under the following main groups:

1) Word expressing certainty (certainly, surely, assuredly, of course, no doubt, apparently, undoubtedly, etc)

2) Word expressing supposition (perhaps, maybe, possibly, probably, etc.)

3) Word showing whether the speaker considers the action he speaks about desirable or undesirable (happily - unhappily, fortunately - unfortunately). Most modal words have developed from adverbs, so very often there exists a formal identify between modal words and adverbs, for instance such modal words as certainly, surely, happily are homonymous with the adverbs certainly, surely, happily. Such modal words as possibly, probably indeed, also derived from adverbs have no corresponding homonymous adverbs because the latter ceased to be used in Modern English.

Though formally identical with adverbs, modal words differ from them in meaning and syntactical function.

If he weren’t married as happily as he was might not something come of it?

Modal words have no syntactic function in the sentence. They are used as parenthesis besides. Some modal words can make up sentence by themselves when they are used in answer to or comment on a previous question or statement.

Modal words serve to express the relation between statement made in the sentence and reality as established by the speaker. With the help of these words the speaker expresses various degrees of certainty, supposition, desirability of undesirability of the action indicated in the sentence. Modal words are an invariable part of speech.

Semantically modal words may be divided into the following groups:

1) Those expressing certainty (e.g. certainly, of course, undoubtedly, no doubt, surely, decidedly, definitely, really, in fact, naturally and some others).

What was the interview about?" "Surely you know it."

2. Those expressing supposition (e.g. maybe, perhaps, possible, presumably, probably, evidently, obviously, etc.)

The old man was traveling with a young girl. She perhaps is his niece. Possible he was mistaken in his suspicions.

The modal words express the attitude of the speaker to the reality, possibility or probability of the action he speaks about. With the help of these words the speaker expresses various degrees of certainly, supposition, desirability, or undesirability of the action indicated in the sentence.

According to their meaning modal words fall under the following main groups:

1. Words expressing certainly (certainly, surely, assuredly, of course, no doubt, apparently, undoubtedly, etc.);

2. Words expressing supposition (perhaps, maybe, possibly, probably, etc.);

3. Words showing whether the speaker considers the action he speaks about desirable or undesirable (happily - unhappily; luckily -unluckily; fortunately - unfortunately).

In the sentence modal words are used as parentheses. Sometimes they are used as sentence-words.

Certainly you'll admit we could finish all this in a month. (Wilson) "Will you allow me to detain you one moment," said he. "Certainly," replied the unwelcome visitor.

Most modal words have developed from adverbs, so very often there exists a formal identity between modal words and adverbs. For instance such modal words as certainly, surely, happily are homonymous with the adverbs certainly, surely, happily.

Such modal words as possibly, probably, indeed, also derived from adverbs, have no corresponding homonymous adverbs because the latter ceased to be used in Modern English.

Though formally identical with adverbs, modal words differ from them in meaning and syntactical function.

If he were not married as happily as he was, might not something come of it?

... She hauled me to the washstand, inflicted a merciless, but happily brief scrub on my face and hands with soap water, and a coarse towel... lamlein rose. "We have fulfilled our obligations," he said pompously and yet not quite certainly. (Adverb)

Somas smiled. Certainly, uncle Jolyon had a way with him. (Modal words)

Slowly, surely, with the secret inner process that works the destruction of an old tree, the poison of the wounds to his happiness, his will, his pride, had corroded the comely edifice of his philosophy. (Adverb)

Over the ridge she would find him. Surely she would find him over the ridge. (Modal words)

1. The conjunction is a part of speech which denotes connections between objects and phenomena. It connects parts of the sentence, clauses, and sentences.

(b) The conjunction seems to have some peculiar features: unlike the preposition it conveys grammatical relations in a more abstract way, it has no nomination and it cannot be a member of the sentence; on the other hand, it is more universal than prepositions and conjunctive words, for it can connect various syntactic structures and units.

(c) As to their functions conjunctions fall under two classes: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions join coordinate clauses in a compound sentence, or homogeneous parts in a simple sentence, or homogeneous subordinate clauses in a complex sentence, or independent sentences. There are four different kinds of coordinating conjunctions:

1. Copulative conjunctions: and, nor, as well as, both…and, not only…but (also), neither…nor. They chiefly denote that one statement or fact is simply added to another (‘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 statement or fact is contrasted with or set against another.

4. Causative-consecutive conjunctions: so, for. They denote consequence, result, or reason.

Subordinating conjunctions generally join a subordinate or dependent clause to a principal clause, or adverbial modifiers to the predicate in a simple sentence, or sometimes they join homogeneous parts.

(d) Polysemy of conjunctions may be demonstrated by the example of the subordinating conjunction ‘that’ which may introduce different kinds of clauses(subject, predicative, object, etc.).

Synonymy of conjunctions is easily seen in such pairs as: in order – so as (that), as if – as though, etc.

(a) The preposition is a part of speech which denotes the relations between objects and phenomena. It shows the relations between a noun or a pronoun and other words.

(b) The lexical meaning of some prepositions is quite concrete (e.g. in, below, between, before, after, till, etc.), while that of some other prepositions may be weakened to a great extent (e.g. to, by, of).

(c) According to their meanings prepositions may be divided into:

- prepositions of place and direction (in, on, below, under, between, etc.);

- time (after, before, at, etc.);

- prepositions expressing abstract relations (by, with, because of, etc.).

(d) A preposition does not perform any independent function in the sentence; it either reflects a relation between sentence-members, or is included in a word-combination.

(e) Prepositions may function as other parts of speech (e.g. ups and downs), while other parts of speech may serve as prepositions (e.g. owing to, in spite of).

(a) The particle is a part of speech giving modal or emotional emphasis to other words or groups of words or clauses.

(b) The theory of particles has not yet been elaborated well enough. Almost all the particles are homonymous with other parts of speech, chiefly with adverbs (simply), but also with conjunctions (but), pronouns (all), and adjectives (only). The particles ‘else, solely, merely’ have no homonyms. Taking this latter fact into account, as well as the emphasizing and sense-changing functions of the particle, we may set it off as a functional part of speech.

(c) Particles have no independent function in the sentence. Thus they may be treated dubiously: either as independent sentence units, or as parts of the sentence-members they refer to. As the former, they would require a specific name, apart from the traditional five sentence-members, otherwise they should not be considered while analyzing a sentence. As the latter, according to B.A.Illysh, they may lead to a confusion in case of a distant position with regard to the mother-member.

(a) The article is a structural part of speech used with nouns.

(b) The categorial status of the article implies that it reflects the category of definiteness or indefiniteness.

(c) Opinions differ as to the number of articles in English. Recently, widespread has been the theory of three articles: the definite article, the indefinite article and the so-called ‘zero’ article. The theory of the zero article is, of course, directly connected with the theory of the zero morpheme. But if we assume that the article is a word, the concept of a ‘zero’ word seems hardly reasonable. Consequently, it appears more feasible to stick to the theory of two articles.

(d) The morphological function of the article is that of indicating the noun. Its syntactical function is that of defining the left border of an attributive word-combination. The main semantic function of the article is that of actualizing the notion; in other words, the article correlates a notion with the reality represented in the given text, i.e. any utterance irrespective of its volume and contents.