Синтаксис английского языка от слова к тексту = A Students’ Guide to English Syntax from Word to Discourse. Учебное пособие

Chapter III. Composite sentence as a polypredicative construction

6.Didn’t she consider the young man suitable? Was this the problem?

7.Were they willing to agree? What was your understanding?

8.How did she look? Did she know who he was or what he was talking about?

9.What is his idea? Will he take the children to the zoo?

10.What is the fact? Is there a fairly high tax on good wine?

Exercise 7. Make up complex sentences with object clauses out of the following pairs of utterances.

Model: What did I feel? Could he speak against our proposal? I felt that he could speak against our proposal.

1.What is she always saying? Should one make friends wherever one gets about?

2.What did I wonder? Why did she pronounce the phrase so significantly?

3.With what doesn’t the instruction agree? What were we told about the engine?

4.What are you not quite certain of? Are they eager to be with us or not?

5.What did Edgar feel? Was Helen ready to forgive him?

6.What did he explain to you? Was it the custom in England to wash one’s car at the weekend?

7.What does he know? Will I sing a song at the school concert? Will I get Paul to accompany me on the guitar?

8.What did I think? Was he going to offer Ann the job?

9.What cannot I repeat to you? Did she say it to me in confidence?

10.What should you promise me? Will you have a thorough rest this summer?

Exercise 8. Form complex sentences with attributive and appositive clauses out of the following pairs of sentences and single compound sentences. Delete the relative connector where possible.

Model: 1. The man called in the morning. You had told me about the man.

The man (whom) you told me about called in the morning.

2. You ask me the same kind of question. Your brother asks me the same kind of question.

You ask me the same kind of question as your brother does.

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

1.We entered a small room. The room looked out on the back garden.

2.Jane turned to Nellie. Nellie sat upright in her chair by the window.

3.I wish there was something. One could do something to help us.

4.I want a cup of coffee. This is all I want.

5.The reason is quite clear. He has rejected our invitation for the reason.

6.She avoided looking me in the face, and that was a bit odd.

7.I was waiting for my friend. She didn’t turn up.

8.The firm is sending me to London. I work for this firm.

9.The car crashed into a queue of people. Two of them were wounded.

10.The boats were crowded with refugees. Many of them were exhausted.

11.This is Mrs.Smith.Her daughter won the championship last year.

12.A woman answered the phone. She said Jack was out.

13.She was sitting in a chair. It suddenly collapsed.

14.My father had been driving all day. He was tired and wanted to stop.

15.They said that the men were thieves. This turned out to be

true.

16.Yesterday I cleaned ten windows. Most of them hadn’t been cleaned for at least two years.

17.I met John. He asked me to give you this.

18.Ann had been sleeping for eight hours. She felt fresh and happy.

19.They had climbed the highest mountains. This had never been done before.

20.I went to Sochi. I had always wanted to visit Sochi.

Exercise 9. Translate into English using complex sentences with attributive and appositive clauses, as well as with related constructions.

1. Эту историю мне рассказал человек, имени которого я уже непомню. 2. Веедушескрываютсятакиеморальныесилы, око- торыхонасаманеподозревает. 3. То, чтомальчикнесумелотве- титьнамойвопрос, меняозадачило. 4. Этожетотсамыйчеловек, которого я встретил в Париже в прошлом году. 5. Вот книга, на-

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звание которой известно каждому школьнику. 6. Новость, кото- рую вы принесли нам, просто ошеломительная. 7. Я приглашаю васпосмотретьпьесу, окоторойтеперьмногоговорят. 8. Невижу причины, почему бы нам не провести выходной день в парке.

9.Это была такая проблема, которая вызывала много споров.

10.Онигралнаскрипкевсюночь, чтооченьраздражалоегососе- дей. 11. Яничегонекупила, потомучтоненашлатетуфли, кото- рыеискала. 12. Комарыжужжаливсюночь, чтонепозволилонам уснуть. 13. Они решили остановиться на ночьв отеле, где имтак понравилось, что они остались еще на неделю. 14. Однажды ее укусиласобака, чтозаставилоеебоятьсяихвсюжизнь. 15. Онжил вмаленькомгороде, которыйтруднонайтинакарте. 16. Моймуж хотел, чтобы я сделала все покупки за час, что было совершенно невозможно. 17. Онзадалмневопрос, накоторыйяответила, за- тем он задалтотже вопрос, и я поняла, что он не слушал. 18. Все дороги были занесены снегом, и это означало, что помощьпри- детнескоро. 19. Вопрос, где и как этилюдидоставали информа- цию, беспокоилменянеодиндень. 20. Мыпровелисредихолмов самый чудесный день, которыйтолько можно представить.

Exercise 10. Consider the following complex sentences. Distinguish between different types of attributive clauses. Comment on the type of the connector.

1. He had a feeling in his heart that he was not as guilty as they all seemed to think. 2. The man to whom she had been speaking continued to stare thoughtfully into his beer. 3. Mrs. Griffiths, who was more practical than her husband at all times, had already started looking for a new tenant. 4. Why is Jerry so enthusiastic about this new situation, which, according to his own words, involved longer hours and not so much more pay? 5. Sometimes I think it’s just a phase, old Mother Nature, who we keep forgetting we’re children of, just cutting the population back to a sane kind of size, and then we’ll start again. 6. There is censorship, which means that the real news is even worse. 7. Popular media welcome the new situation, which allows them to monopolize the dissemination of information. 8. The policeman who arrived shortly afterwards on his bicycle had little sympathy for Martin's black eye. 9. He had this great quality, which very few of us can claim, that his presence was as big as his absence. 10. He was left over the coffee with Brayne, the hoary Yankee who believed in all religions,

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

and Valentin, the grizzled Frenchman who believed in none. 11. As he went towards the back of the house, where was Valentin's study, he was surprised to meet his daughter, who swept past with a white, scornful face, which was a second enigma. 12. I just finished reading a story by Murakami, in which elephants and granaries inexplicably go up in flames, which reminded me of the prophecy of an elderly shaman who once claimed to be my grandfather. 13. He looked out of the window, which had a wonderfully clear glass in it, and the trees, the houses, the fields, and the long roads seemed to fly round and round about him till his head swam. 14. He went up on his hands and knees in mortal fear of falling into the water below, which made a great splashing. 15. There were some who sold their huts and their land because it cost a lot of money to get to America. 16. The hospital smells of herbal medicines, a sharp green smell that reminds me of childhood illnesses and my mother's cool hand on my hot forehead. 17. One of the most complex structures is the human body which contains over 100,000 billion cells. 18. The announcement that the train would be delayed caused everybody's irritation. 19. He often promised himself a visit to the place where the old Forsytes came from. 20. I found myself a quiet nook where I was going to spend the rest of the day.

Exercise 11. Analyze the following complex sentences with attributive clauses. Point out the sentences in which relative pronouns or adverbs can be omitted and explain your choice.

Charles Dickens was one of the first authors whose books reached a wide public. This was partly because, with the first book that he wrote, he introduced a range of mainly London characters which people found interesting and amusing. He invented people whose names often suggested what they were like. For example, David Copperfield has an unfeeling stepfather who is called Mr. Murdstone. It was also a result of changes in publishing which were introduced at around the time when he began writing. Books became cheaper because of new methods of printing which used steam-powered machinery. His novels were published as serials, and people waited impatiently to read the next part that he produced. He was one of the first novelists who also worked as a journalist and a magazine editor. The magazine that he edited, Household Words, was mainly his own writing. Dickens was also famous for the dramatic readings that he gave from his own novels.

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Exercise 12. Rewrite the sentences using the proper relative pronoun. Omit it where possible. Mind the use of the article.

Model: I have borrowed this book from the library.– This is the book (which) I have borrowed from the library.

1. Jane took this photo of the football team at the yesterday’s game. 2. We found this dog at the playground. 3. I read this novel in my first year at the University. 4. We have used this computer to get the necessary information. 5. Lucy painted this portrait as a part of her graduation project. 6. The children lost this ball in the park last week. 7. I made this vase at my craft lesson. 8. Thomas has written this poem for his girlfriend. 9. My parents gave me this phone for Christmas. 10. Mary has baked this cake for her birthday party. 11. My boss gave this task at the last meeting. 12. We met this person at the philharmonic concert last weekend. 13. The students study this poet in translation. 14. Everyone admires this work of art. 15. Jonny broke this lamp with a ball yesterday.

Exercise 13. Match the famous people with information about their achievements. Complete the sentences through relative pronoun who/whose.

1.She was a Norwegian ice-skater and took part in the Olympic Games at the age of eleven.

2.He was a Greek philosopher and a teacher of Alexander the Great.

3.He was a Swedish botanist and worked out a method of naming plants and animals.

4.He was an American president and his death was a political assassination.

5.She was a noble English lady and her work in mathematics led to the development of the first computer.

6.He was an Italian merchant and visited China in the 13th century.

7.She was an English writer and wrote the novel Frankenstein.

8.He was an ancient Greek writer and his works are translated to many modern languages.

9.He was a French designer and his career in fashion was very successful.

10.She was a French physicist and the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize.

11.He was a Spanish artist and his pictures have become famous worldwide.

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

12.He was an American physicist and he created the Relativity theory.

13.He is a Spanish pop-star and his father used to be a pop-idol as well.

14.He was a French physicist and made an instrument for measuring current and voltage.

15.She was an Italian doctor and invented a new method of teaching young children.

(Carl Linnaeus, Marie Curie, Marco Polo, Aristotle, Maria Montessori, Pablo Picasso, Ada Lovelace, John F. Kennedy, Homer, Andre-Marie Ampere, Sonja Henie, Albert Einstein, Mary Shelly, Yves Saint Laurent, Enrique Iglesias)

Exercise 14. Read the story of Macbeth. Analyze the following complex sentences with attributive clauses. Make a summary of any other play by Shakespeare following this example.

William Shakespeare was the great English dramatist who wrote many plays, which are grouped as tragedies and comedies. Macbeth is a tragedy that tells the story of Macbeth who was a great Thane in the court of Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth, one day, met three witches from whom he learnt that he would become king one day. Lady Macbeth, wife of Macbeth, was an ambitious woman who successfully persuaded her husband to kill Duncan. Macbeth became the king of Scotland. As King Macbeth was afraid of other powerful Thanes, for instance, Banquo family of the Thane of Fife, so he killed them. Both the king and the queen, whose guilty conscience didn’t allow them to live peacefully, were insecure all the time. Finally Macduff, the son of slain king Duncan, gathered an army of rebels in Scotland and waged a war against Macbeth who was killed in the battle. This was the tragic end of a person who was ambitious in his life.

Exercise 15. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate relative pronouns/adverbs. Use commas where necessary.

A. Dear Rita,

I write this letter to apologize to you for… had happened yesterday. Your friend… you had sent to meet me, came late by half an hour. I couldn’t wait long to meet him because I had an appointment that time with the doctor… allergy clinic is located 10 kilometers away

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from my house. So I rushed to the clinic with the hope of returning soon. But I told my sister … was at home to request your friend to wait until I returned. Your friend… had no patience even to listen to her, immediately left.

B.1. The animals … were caught in the snare struggled furiously.

2.The melancholy tune … is being played now brings back all the sad memories of my long-forgotten love. 3. The opinions … are expressed by the critics differ greatly. 4. There was a peculiar silence in the hall … was broken only by occasional cough. 5. The fabrics … are produced by the local factory are of exceptionally fine quality. 6. Dr. Clapp specializes in treating occupational lung diseases … are mainly caused by dust. 7. The film … had so long been expected came out at last. 8. They decided to abandon some of the methods … were used formerly. 9. The newspapers carried reports of the hurricane … had devastated the eastern coast of the USA. 10. The number of apartment houses … are being built in Moscow is rapidly growing.

11.She didn’t congratulate me on my birthday … was absolutely unexpected. 12. They put up for the night at a temporary camp … they left the following morning. 13. The children looked wonderingly at the elephant … they had never seen before. 14. Stories … the editorial board reject are returned to their authors. 15. There are the samples of products … we received last month.

C.1. What is the name of the person … I saw you together at the party? 2. Your assistant left a message … he could be found if needed. 3. Bessy was the only person … had already risen. 4. He hailed a cab and told the driver to go to Park Lane … he lived. 5. The light …

was streaming through the entrance door half-blinded him.

6.She was about to take a step … might lead to further complications.

7.Several items of the plan…was agreed upon require certain changes.

8.From a notion … he once took into his head he parted very slowly.

9.We went to see our friend … had just returned from a far voyage.

10.I was always a cherished child … the parents indulged in many ways. 11. He plunged into the heap of letters … were waiting for him at the table. 12. From the kitchen came an appetizing smell of some food … was being cooked there. 13. The boy tried to put together the pieces of a vase … he had broken. 14. The sidewalks were crowded

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

with people … came to watch the parade. 15. The thought … he was not happy worried him a lot.

Exercise 16. Define the words in bold type: a conjunction, a conjunctive pronoun/adverb, a relative pronoun/adverb, or an interrogative pronoun/adverb; state the syntactic function of the clauses.

1. He didn’t know what he should say. 2. She knew by heart where the house stood. 3. I wondered what would be happening at Villa Park. 4. What he saw was the past, but not the past as we know it. 5. This may explain why I am so fond of him. 6. Why didn’t you come when I asked you to? 7. What will you be doing if I am not able to help you? 8. I am wondering if he’ll come back soon. 9. And if we can do anything to help, please let us know. 10. They didn’t ask me why I hadn’t come in time. 11. That was why the reporters had been ringing at the door so soon. 12. He had realized what was going to happen. 13. He already knew what John was going to say. 14. Show me what you’ve got in your hand. 15. I am sure that what you say is true. 16. Anything which falls to the bottom lies there quietly. 17. The bird flew around the old man’s head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable. 18. There are some facts about the universe which scientists are not sure about. 19. Some experts believe that school books cover too many topics. 20. This is his third book, the one that made such an impression when it was published.

Exercise 17. Define the words in bold type: a conjunction, a conjunctive pronoun/adverb, a relative pronoun/adverb, or an interrogative pronoun/adverb; state the syntactic function of the clauses.

1. He decided suddenly, on the spur of the moment, that he would start dodging some of the medication as soon as he got a first chapter that Annie liked on paper – a chapter which Annie decided wasn’t a cheat. 2. Part of him protested that the woman was crazy, that there was no way to tell what she might or might not accept; that anything he tried would be only a crapshoot. 3. This is Pickwick Papers, one of the first books that Dickens wrote. 4. Louis Agassiz was the first scientist who argued that there had been an Ice Age in the past. 5. Glaciers are rivers of ice which form in cold climates on mountains. 6. A habitat is the place where an animal or a species lives.

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7. When water finds a natural opening in the ground that is lower than the water table, a spring comes into existence. This is the reason why most springs are found in low places or valleys. 8. It is difficult to predict exactly when leaves will change colour in autumn, as it depends on the autumn weather. 9. We all admire people to whom we owe a lot – our parents and teachers. 10. I have passed my driving test, and that is the reason why I’m so happy. 11. All cells contain DNA which holds genetic information and shows how your biological parents contributed to your Ancestry Composition. 12. We used an umbrella so that we wouldn’t get wet in the drizzle that started on our way home. 13. John Lennon, who was a member of the Beatles, grew up in Liverpool, where he performed in a number of groups before he met the other members of the British rock group. 14. There was not enough food with which to feed such a large population, and they were unable to leave the island, so the civilization fell. 15. This is an obvious fact that there is still disagreement as to how long oil supplies will last.

Exercise 18. Make complex sentences with non-defining relative clauses from two simple sentences. Add the necessary relative pronoun or adverb.

1.The polar bear is a large bear. It lives in the Arctic. It is also known as the white bear.

2.The polar bear is found all across the Arctic. It has a population of about 20,000.

3.About 60 % of the bears are found in Canada. They hunt well on land and in water.

4.The polar bear may become extinct by the end of the century. It is threatened by global warning.

5.The sea ice in the Arctic is beginning to melt. Bears use this as a platform when they hunt seals.

6.The polar bear is the largest land predator. It is twice the weight of a lion or tiger.

7.The males weigh between 400 and 600 kg. They are twice the size of the females.

8.The bear cubs remain with their mothers for ten months. They are born helpless and blind.

9.Adult bears live for as long as 30 years. They do not hibernate.

10.Polar bears can often be seen in open water kilometers from land. They are excellent swimmers.

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YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

Exercise 19. Complete the text with the necessary connectors and comment on the types of clauses they introduce.

A. Two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, live in Verona,

…they don’t get on with each other. Romeo, son of Montague, thinks

…he is in love with Rosaline, … unfortunately she doesn’t love him. He goes to see her at a party at the house of his enemy Capulet, … he sees Juliet, the Capulet’s daughter. She doesn’t know his name,

…he wears a mask. Tybalt, one of the Capulet family, tries to fight with Romeo, …Capulet doesn’t allow it. Tybalt agrees with him, … he doesn’t forgive Romeo for coming to the house. Romeo manages to talk to Juliet … he kisses her. They understand … their families are enemies.…Romeo learns the truth, he cares … his love for Juliet could be very dangerous. Later he goes back to the house and stands in the garden. Juliet is standing on the balcony and talking to herself about Romeo … she doesn’t see below in the garden. … he talks to her, they show their love to each other, … soon agree to get married. However, they realize … a terrible tragedy is about to happen.

B.In theory people are … morning people, … get up very early, … afternoon people, … don’t, … things may not be quite as simple as this. People … sleep until late may not do this on purpose. They may just be under the impression … they are afternoon people, … they simply couldn’t get up early …… they tried.… they think … they could get up early, … they are out of practice. It’s just a question of getting used to it. Then one day they realize … morning people are more successful. They decide … they have to change,… then their problems start. For example, you may really want to get up at 5 a.m., … … the alarm clock goes off, you decide … you are an afternoon person after all. … you fall asleep again. What can you do?

Some research suggests … people … want to get up early often go to bed too early, … this is … lands them in trouble … the alarm clock rings. Their sleep patterns are out of order: … they can’t get to sleep

…they wake up too early, … they can’t wake up until late. In fact, we may not need the same number of hours to sleep every night. … we sleep roughly the same amount over a period of time, we probably get enough sleep. … in the end we may be better off going to sleep only

…we really feel tired, … we always get up at a fixed time every day.

C.… they were deciphered nearly two hundred years ago, Egyptian hieroglyphics could not be understood by European scholars. … hieroglyphics were deciphered, people had to guess … this form

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