Грамматика. Практикум

2) with nouns denoting time, measure and distance: minute, moment, hour, week, month, year, inch, foot, mile, etc.): a moment's delay, a shilling's worth of apples, etc.

Note1: We can say: We had two weeks' holiday in Spain or We had a two-week holiday in Spain.

3)with substantivized adverbs (yesterday, tomorrow, today, etc.): yesterday's newspaper, etc

4)with the names of countries and cities: Canada's population, etc.

5)with the names of newspapers and nouns denoting different kinds of organizations: the government's policy, the Morning Star's famous column, etc.

6)with the nouns country, world, nation, city, town: the nation's wealth, etc.

7)with the nouns ship, boat, car: the ship's crew, etc.

8)with nouns denoting planets: the sun's rays, etc.

9)with some inanimate nouns in the following set expressions:

to one’s heart’s content (сколь душе угодно)

at arm’s length (на вытянутую руку)

out of harm’s way (от греха подальше)

a needle’s eye (игольное ушко)

to be at one’s wit’s end (быть в крайнем недоумении, не знать, что делать)

at a stone’s throw from…(рукой подать)

at a snail’s pace (черепашьим шагом)

to have smth at one’s fingers’ ends (знать как свои пять пальцев)

for old friendship’s sake (в память о былой дружбе)

for appearance’s sake (ради приличия)

for conscience’s sake (для успокоения совести)

at a hair's breadth (на волосок от)

in the mind's eye (мысленно, мысленным взглядом)

for Heaven's sake (ради всего святого)

for Goodness' sake (ради всего святого)

at death's door (на пороге смерти)

to be nobody's fool (далеко не дурак)

to know someone for donkey's years (со времен Бурской войны)

at razor's edge (на острие ножа, на краю пропасти)

at gun's point (под дулом револьвера)

from a bird's eye view (с высоты птичьего полета)

Note 2: In general we are likely to use the of + noun phrase:

1)with inanimate and abstract nouns: the cover of the book, etc.

2)when we are talking about the process or a change over time: the destruction of the forest, etc.

3)when the noun is a long noun phrase: She is the sister of someone I used to go to school with, etc.

Note 3: The use of the genitive case with nouns denoting animals is not common though possible, e.g. the cat's tail, a bird's nest. The genitive case is also possible with nouns denoting inanimate things and abstract notions, but it is not common and may be found only in literary style, e.g. Nature's sleep, the play's title.

Note 4: A noun in the possessive case may be used without a head-word. This is called the independent (absolute) possessive. It is used:

1)to denote places where business is conducted: the butcher's, the baker's, the chemist's, etc.

2)to denote institutions where the genitive case is usually a saint's name: St Paul's, etc.

3)to denote places of residence: at my uncle's, etc.

4)to avoid repetition: Our house is better than Mary's, etc.

5)to express a partitive meaning ''one of many''. The indefinite article is used with the noun modified and the absolute possessive is introduced by the preposition 'of': This is a relation of the Whites', etc.

6)to express praise, pleasure, displeasure (with emotional colouring). In this case the construction is used after the demonstrative pronouns 'this-these', 'that-those': I don't like that foolish wife of Peter's.

V. Articles with Nouns in the Possessive Case

A noun in the possessive case generally precedes another noun which is its head-word. The relations between the noun in the possessive case and its head-word may be of two kinds.

The noun in the possessive case may denote a particular person or thing, as in my mother's room, the man's voice. This kind of the possessive case is called the specifying possessive. The specifying possessive may indicate the owner of a thing (e.g. my uncle's car), the doer of an action (e.g. the minister's speech), the bearer of a state (e.g. my sister's illness). The specifying possessive may be replaced if necessary by an of-phrase, e.g. the father of the boys, the room of my father-in-law, etc. With proper names, however, the possessive case is the rule, e.g. John's parents, Mary's birthday, etc.

The noun in the possessive case may refer to a whole class of similar objects. This kind of the possessive case is called the classifying possessive, e.g. sheep's eyes (which means eyes of a certain kind but not the eyes of a particular sheep), a doctor's degree, a soldier's uniform, a summer's day, a doll's face, a mile's distance. The classifying possessive is normally not replaced by an of-phrase.

THE ADJECTIVE

General Characteristic

According to the semantic principle adjectives fall into two groups: qualitative (directly denoting properties) and relative (describing properties through some relations). Adjectives in English do not take any endings to express agreement with the head-word. The only pattern of morphological change is that of degrees of comparison.

Degrees of Comparison

There are three grades of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative. The superlative is generally used with the definite article.

I.Formation

Ways of formation may be synthetic, analytic and suppletive.

1) The comparative and the superlative of most one-syllable and two syllable words are formed in the synthetic way, i.e. by adding the suffix -er, -est: fast-faster-fastest, etc.

Note 1: The comparative of real, right and wrong is formed with more and most: real – more real - most real, etc.

Note 2: The comparative of an adjective ending in -y is formed by adding -er and –est but –y is changed into -i: easy – easier – easiest, etc.

Note 3: If the last syllable of an adjective is stressed and contains a short vowel, the last consonant should be doubled: thin – thinner – thinnest, etc.

2) The comparative and the superlative of three and more syllable adjectives are formed analytically, i.e. with more and most: ridiculous – more ridiculous – most ridiculous, etc.

This is also the way to form the degrees of comparison of the adjectives ending in -ing, - ed, -ful, -less: amusing – more amusing – most amusing, confused – more confused – most confused, stressful – more stressful – most stressful, hopeless – more hopeless – most hopeless, etc.

Note 4: Some two-syllable adjectives such as: clever, common, narrow, gentle, friendly, simple, etc. take either -er/est or more/most.

Note 5: Care should be taken to remember that most when used before an adjective does not always form the

superlative degree. It may have the meaning of very, extremely. Then it is preceded by the indefinite article. Examples are:

She's most polite.

Dogs run far slower than horses.

It's a bit colder than yesterday.

Can you hang the picture a little higher, please?

This equation is slightly more difficult than the

Note 1: Notice some set expressions which contain the comparative or the superlative degree of an adjective:

a change for the better/for the worse – перемена к лучшему/к худшему

none the less – тем не менее

so much the better/the worse (for smb) – тем лучше/хуже

if the worst comes to the worst – в худшем случае

at (the) best – в лучшем случае

to go from bad to worse – становиться все хуже и хуже

THE ADVERB

General Characteristic

The adverb is a word denoting circumstances or characteristics which attend or modify an action, state, or quality. It may also intensify a quality or a characteristic.

According to the meaning adverbs fall into many groups: adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of degree and adverbs of manner. The latter are used to describe the manner in which the action is performed. They modify verbs.

Note 1: Adverbs are not used to modify link verbs like look, taste, smell, feel, sound. They are followed by adjectives only. Examples are:

I.Formation

1)Many adverbs of manner and some adverbs of degree are formed by adding –ly to the corresponding adjective: carefulcarefully, etc.

2)The adjectives ending in –ly cannot be used as adverbs and have no adverb form. To supply this deficiency we use a similar adverb or an adverbial phrase: likely (adj.) – probably (adv.),

3) are used in questions to ask about quantities or amounts.

Note 1: In affirmative sentences we often use a lot of, lots of, or plenty of to talk about large amounts and quantities, particularly in conversation and informal writing. Using much (of) often sounds a little formal, and many (of) is often very formal or inappropriate:

Lots of her students went on to become teachers. ('many of ' is a little more formal)

We had plenty of hotels to choose from. ('many hotels' is more formal)

I've given the problem a lot of thought. ('much thought' is very formal)

However, in formal contexts, such as academic writing, much (of) and many (of) are often preferred, or phrases such as a great deal of or a large amount/number of:

Much debate has been generated by Thornton's controversial paper.

A great deal of the exhibition was devoted to his recent work. (or Much of...)

A large amount of the food was inedible. (or Much of ...)

Note 2: We rarely use much and many without a noun at the end of affirmative sentences. Instead we use phrases such as a lot or lots:

'Have you got any small nails?' 'Yes, I've got a lot / lots.' (not ...I've got many.) But we can use much and many at the end of affirmative sentences after as, so, and too:

Do you want some of the pudding? I've got too much.

Note 3: We often use plenty of instead of a lot of or lots of. However, plenty of means 'enough, or more than enough' and is therefore not likely in certain contexts. Compare:

We took lots of food and drink on our walk through the hills. (or ...plenty of...)

Jim doesn't look well. He's lost a lot of weight. ('plenty of’ is unlikely here)

Note 4: Notice that we don't use plenty without of before a following noun:

We've got plenty of time left. (not We've got plenty time left)

THE VERB

General Characteristic

Verbs denoting actions or states are called notional verbs (actional, statal or relational). There are other groups of verbs:

modal;

auxiliary;

link verbs.

Notional verbs present a system of finite and non-finite forms. The latter (the Infinitive, the Gerund and the Participle) are not conjugated. The former possess the morphological categories of person and number (in present tenses), tense, aspect, perfect, voice and mood. Its syntactical function is that of the predicate.

The category of number shows whether the action is performed by one or more than one persons or non-persons.

The category of tense expresses the relationships between the time of the action and the time of speaking. It is constituted by the opposition of the present tense, the future tense and the past tense.

The category of aspect shows the manner in which an action is performed. It is constituted by the opposition of the continuous aspect and the common aspect.

The category of perfect is constituted by the opposition of the perfect and the non-perfect.

The perfect forms denote actions preceding certain moments of time in the present, past or future. The category of voice denotes the relationship between the action expressed by the verb and

the person or a non-person denoted by the subject of the sentence.

The category of mood expresses the nature of relations of things and their properties, as well as states, events and conditions in which they occur in objective reality. The modes of relations between the thing and the property are those of necessity, possibility, contingency and impossibility.

PRESENT TENSES

All the present tenses refer the actions they denote to the present, i.e. to the time of speaking. The difference between them lies in the way they treat the categories of aspect and correlation.

The Present Indefinite (Simple)

I. The Formation:

The Present Indefinite is formed from the Infinitive without the particle 'to'. In the third person singular the ending '-s' is added.

In interrogative sentences (questions) the auxiliary verb 'do' is placed before the subject.

In negative sentences the auxiliary verb and the negative particle 'not' are placed between the subject and the notional verb.

II. Spelling of the third person singular forms.

III. The Meaning:

As a present tense form the Present Indefinite refers the action which it denotes to the present time in the broad sense. As a common aspect form it bears no indication as to the manner in which the action is performed (the meanings can be given to the form by the lexical meaning of the verb or by the context).

As a non-perfect form it bears no indication as to the precedence of the action it denotes to the moment of speaking, thus this tense has no connection with the moment of speaking.

We use the Present Simple to talk about things in general. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly, or that something is true in general. It is not important whether the action is happening at the moment of speaking.

IV. The Use of the Present Indefinite

1)The Present Indefinite is used to denote permanent actions and states:

Alice works for an insurance company.Her daughter is rather naughty.

2)The Present Indefinite is used to denote habitual and repeated actions.

Do you often come to those parties?He wakes up and has a cup of coffee.

Uncle Tom goes to his summer house every weekend.

3)The Present Indefinite is used to state laws of nature and general (universal) truths of the physical world, including the generalised folk wisdom expressed in proverbs and other statements made “for all time”:

Two plus two makes four.Magnet attracts iron.

It never rains but it pours.It snows in winter.

4)The Present Indefinite can denote events simultaneous with the present moment and normally

occurs in certain contexts.

a)The Present Indefinite is used with verbs that do not have continuous forms:

I don't understand what you mean.

We rely on you to bring the map with you.

I like this wine very much.

b)The Present Indefinite is preferred to the Present Continuous when the progress of the action is not uppermost in the mind of the speaker. It is the occurrence itself, the action as such that attracts the attention of the speaker and the idea of its progress becomes unimportant at the moment, but the attending circumstances (the time, the manner, the place);

You leave me no choice.

I refuse to listen to you. You talk such nonsense.

c)The Present Indefinite is used with the first person of performative verbs to express declarations, announcements, etc. Performative verbs both describe a speech act and express it (you do things by saying them). For example, when you promise to do smth, you say 'I promise ...', when you advise to do smth., you say 'I advise ...', etc. Common performative verbs are: accept, agree, apologize, congratulate, declare, deny, disagree, forbid, forgive, guarantee, insist, invite, order, predict, promise, recommend, refuse, thank, warn, etc.

I declare the meeting over.

I agree to your proposal.

I give you my word.

I apologise for the mistake.

d)In sports commentaries:

Lydiard passes to Taylor, Taylor shoots – and it’s a goal!

5)The Present Indefinite can be used instead of the imperative to give instructions (often with the impersonal you). The imperative in such sentences sounds more abrupt.

You sprinkle some cheese on the meat and then you bake it.

How do I get to the station? – You go straight on to the traffic lights, then you turn left, ...

6)It is used, chiefly, with the verb 'say'(advise/warn), when we are asking about or quoting from books, notices or very recently received letters

What does that notice say? - It says, 'No parking'.

I see you've got a letter from Ann. What does she say?

She says she is coming to London next week.

Shakespeare says, 'Neither a borrower nor a lender be.'

Shakespeare advises us not to borrow or lend.

It says in the paper that petrol’s going up again.

7) In stage directions:

When the curtain rises, Juliet is writing at her desk. Suddenly the window opens and a masked man enters.

8) The Present Indefinite is also found in exclamatory, interrogative and negative-interrogative sentences.

My dear, how you throw about your money!

Why do you talk like that to me?