Miscellaneous

Parallel Uses of Got, Got + Infinitive and Have Got, Have Got"+ Infinitive. Frequently the Past Static of the verb to get is used in sentences in which certain resultative connection of the past process denoted by it with some situation in the present is expressed or implied, as in:

1. "I got 500 dollars tonight, and I get 30 a week next year" (Th. Dreiser); 2. "It's only recently that I got my eyesight, if the truth were told" (J. London); 3. He blew the egg, and placed it in my hand. "There. It's a beauty, isn't it?" — "A perfect beauty. I'm so glad we got it at last" (A. Cronin).

Since the use of the Past Static of the verb to get is often associated with certain results in the present, got has gradually acquired the var­iant meaning of "have" and begun to be used parallel to have got and have got + Infinitive.

In the American variant of the English language got is about as frequent as have got. In the British variant it is as yet mainly the domain of vulgar speech.

Examples of got used in the meanings of "possess" (a) and "must"(b):

1. 1. "I got a car and a radio in my house" (E. Hemingway); 2. "You got a Coloured brother" (G. Gordon); 3. "We got no jobs, no money" (R. Bradbury); 4. "I got worries of my own and plenty" (D. Parker); 5. "Let it wait, Tom, I got something on my mind" (A. Maltz); 6. "You got dirty nails" (J. Galsworthy); 7. "I got a feeling that my luck's out" (E. Wallace); 8. "I still got two minutes" (R. Bradbury);

2. 1. Llewellyn beamed. "We got to make ends meet, Doctor Man-son" (A. Cronin); 2. "I got to watch my diet. It's the blood" (A. Cronin); 3. "But if you come here to work, you got to work. That's reasonable"

(J. Lindsay); 4. "You see", she said. "I got to get something to eat before my show" (J. Galsworthy); 5. "Leave me alone I got to think"(E. Hem­ingway); 6. "I don't know much about it, I got to admit" (S. Lewis).

Used to. The construction used + to-Infinitive refers verbal pro­cesses to a period of time a s s о с і a t e d in the speaker's mind with particular circumstances in the past. Verbal processes themselves can be either continuous or repeated, objectively inclusive or exclusive, relevant or irrelevant at the moment of speaking.

Examples of repeated verbal processes:

1. "People used not to be always falling in love in my time, except Fred, and that was in a rational way" (Miss Yonge); 2. "The room is full of girls who used to go around with you" (I. Shaw); 3. "He used to write quite a lot of poetry and stuff in the College Quarterly" (G. Gordon).

Examples of non-repeated verbal processes:

1. "Three thousand years ago this old river used to be like those I've seen in the wilds, an unshaped flow of water in matted jungle"(J. Gals­worthy); 2. "But tell me, aren't you trying to reconnect yourself with the set to which you used to belong?" (Th. Dreiser); 3. "We used to have a pool at home, but I never had a chance to swim in it. I was always studying the violin" (J. Cheever); 4. "Well, well, Brother, so this is the little lad I used to know as a shaver!" (S. Lewis); 5. "You can have the house my wife's people used to live in" (F. Norris); 6. "He used to respect you" (J. Galsworthy); 7. At the present day the Gulf of Latmus, on which Miletos used to stand, is completely filled up (J. Burnot).

Most frequently, used + to- Infinitive refers to non-repeated pro­cesses with the verbs to be (42%), to live (16%), and to know (14%).

Examples of sentences with used + to-Infinitive in which connec­tions relevant at the present are expressed or implied:

1. "I'm just the same full figure than I used to be" (K. Mansfield); 2. "You Used to be in love with my wife, Cherrel; you still are" (J. Gals­worthy); 3. "Jon, your hair grows exactly as it used to" (J. Galsworthy); 4. You're much handsomer than you used to be (B. Shaw); 5. "They certainly fear. And I think they fear more today than they used to do" (H. G. Wells); 6. "They say that people live longer than they used to" (J. Galsworthy).

It will be noticed that in the last six examples the verbal processes are objectively inclusive.

For Some Time ... Then ... . This syntactic structure has a number of variants: (l)"for" can be emitted; (2) any period of time can stand for "some"; (3)"for some time" can open the sentence or stand at its end or at the end of the clause; (4) "then" can begin' a new sentence or an independent clause; (5) "at last" can be used for "then". Examples:

1. For a long half hour the loud hum of eager conversation continued to issue from behind the door. Then, at length, there was a prolonged scraping of chairs (F. Norris); 2. She hesitated a moment, then entered (Th. Dreiser); 3. For a time he listened under the ledge, then raised his eyes above the sill (H. G. Wells); 4. I sat for twenty minutes and then I ordered dinner (G. Greene); 5. For over a quarter of an hour he pottered about the barn. At last he came out again (F. Norris); 6. "But don't

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you feel afraid sometimes?" — Mrs. Carlton lay still for a long time. "Yes," she said at last (D. Cusack).

Sequent Verbal Processes One of Which is Represented with No Em­phasis on Its Limits:

1. He leaned over and continued his steady gaze(Th. Dreiser); 2. And then she fell at last into a deeper sleep and dreamt of the lawns and cedars of Watton Vanborough (E. James); 3. He flung himself down in his chair and gazed long and silently at his joined finger-tips (M. Mit­chell); 4. She took off her hat and held it on her knee (K. Mansfield); 5. I crossed the street and kept on walking (J. Braine); 6. Margot closed her eyes and lay still (I. Shaw); 7. I slept little, hurried over my break­fast, and after a slight hesitation gave up my early morning visit to the ship (J. Conrad); 8. He lit a cigarette for her and one for himself, and they smoked in silence (D. Cusack); 9. He arrived first and stared at the candles until she came (D. Parker); 10. She stood up from her stool and worked that way for a while (Th. Dreiser).

Verbs most frequently used in this pattern to represent processes with no emphasis on their limits:

to lie (28%), to stand (20%), to sit (14%), to hold (9%), to be (4%).

Sequent Verbal Processes Represented with No Emphasis on Their Limits:

1. I was asleep at first, and then I didn't want to be disturbed (G. Greene); 2. He was feverish until morning, and sat about the next day while Carrie waited on him (Th. Dreiser); 3. She sat with Minnie, in the kitchen, holding the baby until it began to cry. Then she walked and sang to it (Th. Dreiser); 4. The bird watched me all the evening and it mopped and mowed in the night (H. G. Wells); 5. A tiny stream flowed out of a dense fern-brake, slipped down a mossy lipped stone, and ran across the path at their feet (J. London); 6. In the press-pit Harry Tug-man loafed comfortably. A broad river of white paper rushed constantly up from the cylinder and leaped into a mangling chaos whence it emerged a second later, cut, folded and stacked (Th. Wolfe).

In Sentences with a Till- (Until-) Clause. In Till-clauses a process denoted by a verb in the Past Static is often represented without any emphasis on its limits¹. Examples:

1. After breakfast he watched her horse canter away with her into the brown heat of the morning, until they were only a speck on the foothills of the mountains (G. Gordon); 2. She stood struggling with her sobs till at last she had control of herself (D. Cusack); 3. "It gave me the horrors up there yesterday. All the windows and the doors open and the mist creeping in till the place seemed full of it" (D. Cusack); 4. In a panic she tore off her cashmere bodice and skirt, her petticoat, her clinging slip, undressed completely until she stood, bewildered, in a chaste nudity, touching her body with confused hands (A. Cronin).

The Past Static in Sentences with Inclusive Verbal Processes. Fre­quently, the Past Static is used in sentences where the verbal process is objectively inclusive, for example:

l."Look, baby, that is your old tooth-brushing glass. I kept it all the time to remind me of you" (E. Hemingway); 2. "I love you too," she said. "I think I did all the time" (J. Braine); 3. "It's incredible! in­credible!" I whispered.— "Oh no. It's not incredible at all. I knew it all along, of course," said the cold, salty little voice. "From the very moment that we started" (K. Mansfield); 4. "You are in love with her, and deceiving me. I thought so all along" (Th. White); 5. "I've thought of such heaps of things I wanted to say to you about since that dance" (E. Delafield)¹.

The use of the Past Static in such cases can be explained by the factor of economy of speech efforts (see pp.57—59). The Inclusive Past Static, however, is also frequent in utterances having no such adverbial modifiers as all the time, all along, since that dance, and the like. For example:

1. "My heart was yours, and is and will be yours for ever" (G. Mer­edith); 2. "Why, I loved you. I love you now. I'll always love you" (E. Hemingway); 3. "You'll find the cook not bad. I kept on Watson's boy for you" (W. S. Maugham); 4." Ah, Cole, I wanted to speak to you".— "Yes, sir," said Jeremy (H. Walpole); 5. "Harry, something has gone wrong with my electric iron. I wondered if you could put it right" (D. Hicks).

In such cases, the speaker mentally associates the verbal pro­cesses, which objectively include the moment of speaking, with particular circumstances in the past.

As I Said, etc.: 1. "I'm pretty busy as it is, and, as I said a while ago, I'm getting along" (Th. Dreiser); 2. As I said, I was not present in the Mansion House (D. Worker); 3. "As I said before, he was not mag­netic" (H. Walpole); 4. "As I told you, I have only a little time" (M. Wil­son).

I Expected That¹, I Thought So, I Told You So², etc.: 1. "By the way, they've altered the place of the inquest." — Roger nodded. " I expected that" (A. Berkley); 2. "Hello, hello!" cried Lyman, jumping up, "why, here's a surprise. I didn't expect you all till tonight" (F. Norris); 3. "He isn't on our books, is he?" — "No, sir."— "I thought so" (Th. Drei­ser); 4. "I'm going to order the socks." — "Ah, I told you so!" (S. Lew­is); 5. "I told you! It's silly!" (Th. Dreiser).

I Forgot, I'm Glad I Met You, I Came + Infinitive³.

General and Special Questions. Only the Past Static has been found in the sources analysed in such sentences as:

1. "Did you know, mother, the Spencers are getting ready to go away?" (Th. Dreiser); 2. "What a crowd!" said she. "Anything special on?"— "Didn't you know, dear? There was a call at 9 : 30 for attractive girls" (K. Mansfield); 3. "Did you like the wedding?" (A. Saxton); 4. "Sleep well?" Wilson asked.—"Did you?"—"Topping" (E. Hemingway); 5. "And where is your sister?" —"How did you know I got one?" (J. Lind­say); 6. "How did you learn that little trick?" — "By accident. It was when I was in India" (W. S. Maugham); 7. "But I thought you and Browdie don't get on well together?" — "Who 'said so?" (H. Smith);

8. "Ah, Roger," Colin greeted him. "How did you sleep?" (A. Berkley);

9. "What did you say?" — She repeated her words (J. London); 10. "When¹ did you reach the decision?" (D. Carter); 11. "Have you got a radio?" — "Yes, sir." — Where did you get it?" (E. Caldwell); 12. "At Winnerton?"— "Yes, that's where he is, isn't he?" — "Who told you?" (G. Gordon).

Exclamatory Sentences with the Word Order of Interrogative Sen­tences: 1. "Did you hear the latest! That clever lass of Brodie's is away up to college" (A. Cronin); 2. "Did you ever think of a divorce?" — "Did I ever think of one!" (R. Lardner); 3. "Why did you bring it!" (D. H. Lawrence).

In Stage Directions: Alleluia shuts the Surgery door and locks it, putting the key in his pocket. He goes to the Dispensary dpor and locks that too. He sees the three bottles on the floor that Green Muffler left behind him. He takes them up and shoves them under the bench (O'Ca-sey); An empty chair at the table was lately occupied by Cornelius, who has finished his breakfast and gone (B. Shaw).

The Past Static in the first example is explained by the fact that the author refers the reader to the action of Green Muffler which was pointed out by him in a stage direction earlier in the text (Green Muffler takes the three bottles from the ledge and deposits them on the floor — O'Casey). The process of the second example, if denoted by the Before-present Static, might have been understood as inclusive.

Past Static in Newspaper Headlines Parallel to the Beforepresent • Static in the Text: 1. Headline "We learned a lot" — Knight. Text: Knight said: "We have learned a lot" (D. Worker); 2. Headline: Why I rejoined? Text: Why have I rejoined the Communist Party at this time? (D. Work­er); 3. Headline: "I watched TV murders". Text: "I have watched stabbing on television" (D. Worker).