Теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка = Theoretical grammar of modern English. Учебно-методическое пособие
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Actual division of the sentence
The aim of the actual division of the sentence is to disclose the corresponding significance of the sentence parts from the position of their actual informative role in an utterance. The main elements of the actual division of the sentence are the theme and the rheme.
The theme conveys the starting point of the communication. It denotes an object or a phenomenon that is reviewed about. The rheme conveys the basic informative part of the communication, its contextually relevant nucleus. There are transitional parts of the actual division of various degrees of informative value between the theme and the rheme.
The theme of the actual division of the sentence sometimes may or may not correspond to the subject of the sentence. The rheme of the actual division may or may not correspond to the predicate of the sentence – either with the whole predicate group or its part, such as the predicative, the object, the adverbial.
Example: The idea was quite interesting (the idea – theme); there is a question (a question – rheme).
There are some ways how to express the theme:
The usage of the definite article;
The loose parenthesis introduced by the phrase as to / as;
Some linguists consider that any notional constituent put at the beginning of the sentence is made its theme (next evening we are leaving for London).
There are some ways how to express the rheme:
The grammatical construction “…It is …which/that/who”;
The subject or any other sentence member can be a rheme by means of intonation;
The intensifying particle (just, even, only, etc), followed by the word in question;
The subject put at the end of the sentence becomes rhematic (And there came some new information from the editor)
The indefinite article, e. g. There is a problem.
Questions for reflection
1. Comment on the notion of the sentence. What makes the sentence the main object of syntax?
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2.What are the differential features of the sentence?
3.What functions do you think sentence perform?
4.What are the basic principles of sentence division?
5.Dwell upon actual division of the sentence.
6.Speak about modern classification of communicative sentence types.
7.What is your opinion about simple sentence as a system of function-
expressing positions, the content of the functions being the reflection of a situational event?
8. What are the peculiarities of compound and complex sentences?
Practical assignments
1. Define the communicative sentence type, dwell on the actual division of the following sentences.
An explosion at night
All that month Andrew worked from early morning till late at night. He loved his work. His patients were already almost well. The results of his work were even better than those of Denny's. The epidemic was coming to an end.
On the tenth of November Denny suddenly rang him up.
"Manson! I'd like to see you. Can you come to my place at three o'clock? It's important."
"Very well. I'll be there!"
On the way to Denny's house he saw Doctor Bramwell.
"Ah, Manson, my boy! I'm so glad to see you. " Andrew smiled. Doctor Bramwell, unlike Lewis, had been friendly towards Manson all that month. "Of course, we have all heard of your work with the typhoid cases, and we are proud of you, my dear boy. You must come to see us one evening."
Andrew promised to come.
When Andrew entered Denny's room, he saw immediately that something was wrong with Denny. He was very sad.
After a moment he looked up.
"One of my patients, a boy, died this morning," he said coldly. "And besides, I have two new typhoid cases. What shall we do?"
Andrew stood at the door, hardly knowing what to say.
"We have to do something about it," he began. "We must write to the Ministry of Health."
"We could write a dozen letters but it won't help much, I tell you. No! There's only one way to make them build a new sewer."
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"How?"
"Blow up the old one. And let's do it tonight!"
"But there will be a lot of trouble if it becomes known." Denny looked up angrily.
"You needn't take part in it if you don't want to." "I'll go with you," Andrew answered.
He understood it was a crime, a dangerous game with the police [6]. 2. Dwell on the actual division of the following sentences.
a) Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller movie directed by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film is inspired by the characters of an American comic book company referred to as DC Comics. The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker. The supporting roles are played by Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron. The movie was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, and Joint Effort in association with Bron Creative and Village Roadshow Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros. The story is set in 1981 and follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City. Always feeling alone in a crowd, the joker looks for getting connected to others as he walks the streets. He lives a poor life with his mother. He is isolated, bullied and disregarded by society. As a result, Arthur embarks on a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the joker [12].
b)I came across a site that does something close to what you want based on movie subtitles.
c)It can show sentences in English and you have to guess the Russian translation.
d)Many of you will be forgiven for thinking that studying an English Language course consists of English grammar more than anything else.
e)During the invasion, the native Britons were driven north and west into lands we now refer to as Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
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QUESTIONS FOR SELF-DEVELOPMENT
1.Think over the problem of rules in theoretical and normative grammar and discuss it.
2.What is your opinion concerning the plan of expression and the plan of content of grammatical elements of the language, especially its relation-
ship in modern English?
3.Put on your thinking cap and exchange your views on the problem of the imperative mood system of English.
4.Figure out the problem of perfect forms. What are the grounds for the allocation in a separate grammatical category?
5. What do you think about mixed character of non-finite forms of the verb?
6.Ponder the question of Infinitive as a process-object form of the verb and of Infinitive forms and its semantics. What can you tell about the "particle" problem?
7.Present your view about the problem of “Half Gerund”.
8.Give thought to the problem of the status of analytical forms and suppletivism.
9.Reflect on the problem of modal words.
10.Ruminate about the problem of the stative.
11.Reveal the main aspects of the model of immediate constituents of a sentence.
12.What is the point of the problem of the future tense?
13.Explain the status of medial, reflexive and reciprocal structures (the category of voice).
14.What is the difference between a phrase and a sentence?
15.Comment on the relation between language and speech.
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Test 1
1. Choose the correct order.
1.Claudia is going camping with_______girls
a)Little three other
b)Three little other
c)Three other little
d)Little over three
2.We visited some temples and spent the___days at the seaside
a)Few last sunny
b)Few last sunny
c)Last few sunny
d)Last sunny few
3.Peggy was so sleepy that she could hardly keep her eyes __
a)Opening
b)Open
c)To be opened
d)To open
4.The tragedy sounds____
a)To be true
b)True
c)Are true
d)Being true
5.These tangerines taste____
a)Good
b)Well
c)To be well
d)To be good
6._______I went to the railway station to see my friend off
a)After finishing my quickly project
b)After finishing my project quickly
c)After my quickly my project
d)After finishing quickly my project
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7.Will you give this message to Ms. Clair. Sorry I can’t she__
a)Doesn’t work here any longer
b)Doesn’t any longer here work
c)Doesn’t any more work here
d)Doesn’t work any more here
8.Can’t you read? Sandy said___to the poster
a)Angrily pointing
b)And pointed angrily
c)Angrily pointed
d)And angrily pointing
9.If I had__ I’d visit Florence stopping at all the small interesting
places
a)A long enough holiday
b)A holiday enough long
c)An enough long holiday
d)A long holiday enough
10.___ to take this adventure course we’ll certainly learn many useful
skills
a)enough brave people
b)brave enough people
c)people enough brave
d)People brave enough
2. For each sentence, choose the adverb that fits best [13].
actually – cheerfully – conscientiously – convincingly – gleefully – happily – precariously – recklessly – stealthily – wordlessly
1.If you drive ____________, you might have an accident.
2.The car ran off the road and stopped ____________ close to a cliff.
3.Cinderella married the prince, and they lived __________ ever after.
4. Although the family didn't have very much themselves, they _________________ shared with those who were in need.
5.The children laughed and shouted _______________ when the clowns came in.
6._____________ I was just about to call you myself.
7.She just looked down and nodded _________________.
8.The robber sneaked ___________________ into the house.
9.He _________________ paid all his bills on time.
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10. The salesman spoke very ______________________ about the merits of the product.
Test 2
Read the sentences and identify their type.
1.I like playing basketball, and my brother likes playing tennis.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
2.I'll help you if you help me.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
3.Her name is Mary and she comes from London.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
4.While I was doing my homework, my father cooked the dinner and my mother was asleep in front of the television
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
5.I've brought my umbrella with me in case it rains.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
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6.My family came to Germany when I was in grade 5, but I never learned to speak German very well.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
7.He told me that he is returning to London next summer.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
8.Although it was cold and the rain was getting heavier, we decided to go fishing as planned.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
9.Most European countries now use the Euro, but the United Kingdom still uses the pound
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
10.To build a doll's house you need wood, a hammer, a saw, and lots of
nails
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
11.She doesn’t know why they did that.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
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12.Because she does sport every day she is very slim.
a.Simple
b.Compound
c.Complex
d.Compound-complex
Test 3
1.Write the correct form of the plural.
a.Grown-up
b.Passer-by
c.Aircraft
d.Radius
e.Crisis
f.Crossroads
g.Phenomenon
h.Logo
i.Series
j.Deer
k.Brother-in-law
2.May the following nouns be counted or not?
a.Research
b.Peace
c.Traffic
d.Luck
e.Permission
f.Addition
g.Philosophy
h.Crew
i.Glass
j.Gold
k.Addiction
3.Write the correct form of the possessives apostrophe’s and define its semantic role.
a.Mary is_____aunt ( Claire)
b.These are our_____ cats (neighbours)
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c.Let's meet at____for dinner (Charden)
d.Where is the____seat (grandpa)
e.Have you heard____news (morning)
f.___boots are brown(David)
g.___and___school is old (Jack, Kate)
h.Let’s visit ____ (Catwoods)
Test 4
Choose gerund or infinitive and fill in the gap.
1.I learned how to cook by ________ my mother in the kitchen.
a.Watching
b.To watch
c.Watch
2.Jake dreads ________ to retire.
a.To have
b.Having
c.Have
3.The children are anxious ________ to the circus.
a.Go
b.To go
c.Going
4.The administrator let Kate ________ early as she had a doctor's appointment.
a.To go
b.Going
c.Go
5.I don't want ________ such a decision right now.
a.Making
b.To make
c.Make
6.________ a second language takes time and practice.
a.Master
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