4. What grammatical categories do the finite forms of the verb have? What are they? What are synthetic and analytical forms?

The finite forms of the verb have seven grammatical categories:

• person (first, second, third)

I write – You write – He writes

• number (singular, plural)

He writes – They write

• aspect (continuous and common) (вид)

I am writing – I write

• tense (present, past, future)

I write – I wrote – I shall write

• order (perfect, non-perfect)

I have written – I write

• voice (active, passive)

He writes – A letter is written

• mood (indicative, imperative, subjunctive) (изъявительное, повелительное, сослагательное)

To express the grammatical categories the verb uses synthetic and analytical forms.

Synthetic forms mainly employ endings. For example, to form 3d person from the 1^st you can use ending “-s”: I write – he writes, to form past tense from the present – the ending “-d” or “-ed”

More often English verb forms are built up analytically – with the help of one (or more) auxiliary verbs: shall, will – for future tense forms; to be – for passive voice forms or continuous; to have – for perfect forms.

для особых эстетов расписывать каждую форму не стал ... думаю и не надо.

5. What factors govern the choice between aspect forms?

There are two aspect forms in English. The choice between the forms is determined by the way the action is presented in the context, the following factors being the major importance here:

1) Number of enumerated actions. A single action may be described in the context or a chain of successive actions.

I was writing he came – single actions.

I wrote a letter, put it into an envelope and posted it. – a chain of successive actions.

2) Frequency of the last action. The action maybe presented as done once or repeatedly, permanently.

I said that I was writing a letter to my friend. – action done once.

I often write letters to my friends. – repeated action.

3) Presence of an exact indication of time. The time of the action maybe exactly indicated or not.

I wrote a letter when he came. – the time of the action is exactly indicated.

I shall tell them that I wrote this letter. - the time of the action is not exactly indicated.

4) “Character” of the action. The event may be presented as completed or not completed at the time.

I wrote a letter when he came. – a completed event

I was writing a letter when he came. – an event that isn’t completed.

Forms Factors	Continuous	Common
Number of enumerated actions	Single action	Single action, a chain of actions
Frequency of the action	Done once	Done once or repeatedly, permanently
Presence of an exact indication of time	The time is indicated exactly	The time is or is not exactly indicated
"Character" of the action	The action is not completed at the moment	The action is completed at the moment

Thus the continuous form will be generally used to denote one action, done once, taking place at a moment (period) exactly indicated in the situation and presented as a continual process.

The non-continuous form will be used to denote a chain of successive actions, a repeated or permanent action, an action the time of which is not exactly indicated or a completed event.