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

Chapter II. The structure of a simple sentence

3). With relative pronouns the form of the verb depends on the noun or pronoun which is its antecedent.

Do you know the girl who lives next door? (The girl lives…) Do you know the girls who live next door? (The girls live…)

Mary is one of those girls who never know what they will do next. Even I, who have seen it all, can hardly believe it.

It is you who are right. It is I who am wrong. But: It’s me who is wrong.

4)The pronoun both has a plural verb-predicate.

Which of the letters are yours? – Both are mine.

5)In the case of subjects expressed by collective nouns proper

(family, team, gang, group, crew, committee, company, band, board, government, congregation, public, audience, crowd) there is the socalled notional agreement, that is, the choice of the number is based on whether the group is being considered as a single undivided body, taken as a whole, or a collection of individuals taken separately.

A new government has been formed.

The government have asked me to go, so I am leaving now.

It was now nearly eleven o’clock and the congregation were arriving. The congregation was small.

How are your family?

Our family has always been a very happy one.

The commanding officer does not know where his cavalry is and his cavalry are not completely sure of their situation.

NB! The noun people (народ, нация) has a singular verb. It is a countable noun with a singular and a plural form:

This people lives in the North. Peoples of the world fight for peace.

The noun people (люди) has a plural verb.

People are human beings, while animals are not.

6) Subjects expressed by nouns of multitude always have a plural verb-predicate: cattle – скот, poultry – домашняя птица, vermin – паразиты, police – полиция, guard – гвардия, clergy – духо- венство, gentry – мелкопоместное дворянство.

I don’t know what the police are doing.

The cattle stiffen. They stop grazing. They know, before you hear any sound, that wolves are approaching.

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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

7)Subjects expressed by nouns denoting measure, weight, time, etc., have a singular verb-predicate when the statement is made about the whole amount, not about the units.

Ten years is a long time. Another five minutes goes by.

A million francs is a lot of money.

8)Notional agreement is also observed with subjects expressed by word-groups including nouns of quantity: a/the number of…, a/the majority of…, (a) part of…, the bulk of…, a variety of…. These nouns admit of either a singular or a plural verb-predicate.

9)Subjects expressed by such invariable plural nouns as goods, contents, riches, clothes, wages, outskirts, etc. have a plural verb.

His wages were only 15 shillings a week. I asked her what the contents were about. His clothes were shabby.

The goods were delivered on time.

10)Subjects expressed by such invariable singular nouns as hair, money, information, funeral, progress, advice, etc. have a singular verbpredicate.

Her hair is beautiful. The money is mine.

The information was unusually interesting.

If the funeral is so detestable to you, you don’t have to go to it.

11)Subjects expressed by invariable singular nouns ending in suffix -s have a singular verb-predicate – measles, mumps, billiards, dominoes, linguistics, economics, news, headquarters, works, etc.

No news is good news.

The new works that has been built in our district is very large.

Though nouns with the suffix -ics which are names of sciences and other abstract notions have a singular agreement when used in their abstract sense, they may have a plural verb-predicate when denoting qualities, practical applications, different activities, etc. (ethics – moral rules, gymnastics – physical exercises, ceramics – the art of making crockery, phonetics – pronunciation skills, acoustics – the quality of the sound). Thus these nouns have notional agreement and may be followed by either a singular or a plural verb.

e.g. Statistics is a rather modern branch of mathematics (a branch of science).

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Chapter II. The structure of a simple sentence

Statistics are available on this subject. They show deaths per 1,000 of population (collected numbers, figures, representing facts).

Tactics is one of the subjects studied in military academies (the art of arranging military forces for battles).

Your tactics are obvious. Please, don’t insult my intelligence (methods of achieving one’s goal).

Politics is a risky profession (a sphere of activity).

Politics have always interested me (political affairs, political ideas). Your politics don’t seem fair to me (the way your treat other people).

Agreement of the predicate and the subject, expressed by a syntactic word-group

A plural verb-predicate is used in the following cases:

1. With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunction and. Sun and air are necessary for life.

Tom and Mary are my friends.

The ebb and the flow of the tide are regular.

NOTE 1. However, with structures where coordinated nouns refer to one thing or person a singular verb-predicate is used.

Bread and butter is not enough for breakfast.

Bacon and eggs makes a traditional English breakfast. The painter and decorator is here.

If the article is repeated, the reference is to two persons or objects and a plural verb-predicate is used.

The bread and the butter are on the table. The painter and the decorator are here.

NOTE 2. When a singular noun-subject has two attributes characterizing the same person or non-person connected by and it has a singular verb and the article is not repeated.

A tall and beautiful girl was waiting in the office.

A black and white kitten was playing on the hearth rug.

But if the attributes characterize different persons or non-persons the verb is in the plural and the article is repeated.

A black and a white kitten were playing on the hearth rug (A black kitten was playing and a white kitten was playing as well).

The yellow and the red car were badly damaged (Two cars were damaged).

However, uncountable nouns have the zero article.

American and Dutch beer are both much lighter than British.

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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

2.With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions both… and.

Both the bread and the butter are fresh. Both the teacher and the students have come.

3.With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions not only… but also, either… or, or, neither… nor the verb-predicate agrees with the nearest noun-subject (so-called «proximity rule»):

Either my sister or my parents are at home. Either my parents or my sister is at home. Neither you nor I am right.

Neither I nor you are right.

Not only my parents but also my brother knows about it. Not only my brother but also my parents know about it.

4.With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions as well as, rather than, as much as, more than the verb-predicate agrees with the first one.

My parents as well as my sister are teachers. My sister as well as my parents is a teacher.

The manager as well as/rather than/more than/as much as the members of the board is responsible for the present situation.

2.5. THE OBJECT

The object is a secondary part of the sentence referring to some other part of the sentence (expressed by a verb, an adjective, a stative or, very seldom, an adverb) completing, specifying, or restricting its meaning.

The object can be expressed by:

1.A noun in the common case or a nominal phrase. e.g. I saw the boy two hours ago.

Do you take bread and butter for breakfast?

2.A substantivized adjective or participle.

e.g. Susan works at the charity organization and helps the poor. The ambulance brought the injured to the nearest hospital.

3. A noun-pronoun. Personal pronouns are in the objective case, other pronouns are in the common case, or in the only form they have.

e.g. I don’t know anybody here.

I need another pair of shoes. Could you give me those from the shelf, please?

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Chapter II. The structure of a simple sentence

4. A numeral or a phrase with a numeral.

e.g. At last he found three of them high up in the hills.

5.A gerund or a gerundial phrase. e.g. He insists on coming.

6.An infinitive or an infinitive phrase.

e.g. She was glad to be walking with him.

7.Various predicative complexes (for more information see 3.3) e.g. I want it done at once.

I hear you talking in class.

8.A clause (object clause) which makes the whole sentence a complex one (for more information see 3.2).

e.g. I don’t know what it was.

So we see that from the point of view of their structure, objects may be simple, phrasal, complex or clausal.

From the point of view of their grammatical peculiarities two types of objects can be distinguished in English:

The direct object is used after transitive verbs with which it is closely connected as it denotes a person or thing directly affected by the action of the verb. It is used without any preposition.

e.g. I wrote an essay, but my teacher didn’t like it.

The indirect object denotes a living being to whom the action of the verb is directed. There are also cases when it denotes a thing. There are two types of indirect object–with and without a preposition.

1) the indirect object which expresses the addressee of the action usually follows a transitive verb, so it hardly ever stands alone.

e.g. Give me a book.

I haven’t told him the truth.

As a rule the indirect object comes before the direct one. In this case it is used without a preposition. When the direct object precedes the indirect object, the latter is used chiefly with the preposition to.

e.g. Give a book to me.

I haven’t told the truth to him.

2) the indirect object of the second type is more frequently used with intransitive verbs than with transitive ones and doesn’t always express the addressee of the action.

e.g. One must always hope for the best.

NB! The indirect object preceded by a preposition can be called a prepositional object.

Also consider the following structural types of objects:

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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

The complex object consists of two components, of which the second stands in predicate relation to the first. The two components form an indivisible unit and, consequently, must be regarded as one part of the sentence. The complex object can be prepositional and non-prepositional.

e.g. I want you to do it at once.

I worry about him going there alone.

The cognate object is a special kind of object in English which has the following peculiarities:

1)It is used with intransitive verbs though it has no preposition.

2)It is expressed by a noun which is either of the same root as the verb or is similar to it in meaning.

3)It is almost regularly preceded by an attribute with which it forms a combination that is close in meaning to an adverbial modifier: to live a happy life – to live happily.

e.g. The child smiled a happy smile.

They won a hard victory.

2.6. THE ATTRIBUTE

The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which qualifies a noun, a pronoun, or any other part of speech that has a nominal character. An attribute can be either in pre-position or in postposition to the word it modifies.

It can be expressed by: 1. An adjective.

e.g. I’ve never seen a better place. Still waters run deep.

2.A pronoun (possessive, indefinite, demonstrative, interrogative, relative).

e.g. Here is some news for you that I have just heard. Who is that boy? – Which one?

3.A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).

e.g. He arrived just three weeks ago. It’s my second visit to the USA.

4. A noun in the common case.

e.g. The garden wall was almost ruined. Where is my coffee cup?

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Chapter II. The structure of a simple sentence

5. A noun in the possessive case. This kind of attribute is generally used in pre-position. However, an attribute expressed by the preposition of and a noun in the possessive case is used in postposition.

e.g. Jane’s house is far from yours.

This clever joke of Peter’s made everyone laugh heartily.

6. A prepositional phrase.

e.g. He was a man of very regular habits. It was a flower with white petals.

7.An adverb in pre-position or in post-position. e.g. Somebody appeared on the upstairs balcony.

8.Participle I and Participle II or a participial phrase. e.g. The day died in the darkening twilight.

The present chosen by his parents didn’t please the child.

9.A prepositional or non-prepositional gerund.

e.g. He would not run the risk of being too late. I take dancing lessons twice a week.

10.An infinitive or an infinitive construction. e.g. You are the one to blame.

It was a problem too difficult for him to solve.

11.Word groups used as single nominative units.

e.g. She looked at me with a kind of don’t-touch-me-or-I’ll-slap- you air.

An apposition is a special kind of an attribute expressed by a noun (with or without accompanying words) which characterizes or explains the word modified by giving the person or thing another name. There are two kinds of apposition: the close apposition and the loose or detached apposition.

A close apposition is not separated by commas and stands in close connection with the word modified. These word-groups generally consist either of the name of a person and a noun denoting relationship, or a geographical name and some common noun, e.g. Professor Brown, President Roosevelt, Aunt Polly, etc.

A loose or detached apposition is not so closely connected with the noun. It is always separated by commas and has a stress of its own.

e.g. Big and strong, he impressed us greatly.

My brother, a five-year-old boy, doesn’t go to school yet.

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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

2.7. THE ADVERBIAL MODIFIER

The adverbial modifier is a secondary part of the sentence which modifies a verb, an adjective or an adverb. According to their meaning we distinguish the following kinds of adverbial modifiers.

1. The adverbial modifier of time.

e.g. We shall meet tomorrow early in the morning.

2. The adverbial modifier of frequency.

e.g. I often tried to join the club, but always failed.

3.The adverbial modifier of place and direction. e.g. He lives far from the University.

4.The adverbial modifier of manner.

e.g. They were dancing badly, but energetically.

5.The adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances. e.g. He stood before the window, smoking his pipe.

6.The adverbial modifier of degree and measure.

e.g. I was slightly baffled by his question.

7. The adverbial modifier of cause.

e.g. You mean you’ve failed because of me?

8.The adverbial modifier of result (consequence). e.g. It is too cold to go out.

9.The adverbial modifier of condition.

e.g. But for you I wouldn’t be here at all.

10. The adverbial modifier of comparison. e.g. The mountain is higher than a hill.

11. The adverbial modifier of concession. e.g. In spite of the danger John was calm.

12. The adverbial modifier of purpose. e.g. I am here to help you with your task.

The most frequent ways of expressing the adverbial modifier are as follows:

1) An adverb:

e.g. The boy was running fast. I’ll come earlier if necessary.

2) A noun with or without accompanying words, i.e. a prepositional phrase:

e.g. Behind the door he could hear Kristie sobbing. Classes begin on the first of September.

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Chapter II. The structure of a simple sentence

3) Participle I or Participle II:

e.g. Sighing heavily Betty returned to the kitchen.

Distracted by a deer crossing the road, the driver crashed into a tree.

4)the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction: e.g. There having been no rain, the earth was dry.

The meal over, they went to the garden.

I don’t want to discuss it with the children listening.

5)A prepositional phrase with a gerund.

e.g. Are you angry because of my being late?

6) An infinitive or an infinitive construction. e.g. The problem is too difficult to solve.

I study hard to pass the exams with high grades.

2.8. DETACHED (LOOSE) PARTS OF THE SENTENCE

Detached (loose) parts of the sentence are secondary parts with a certain grammatical and semantic independence.This phenomenon is characterized by the loose connection of these parts with the words they modify. Loose connection is due to the position of these words, the way they are expressed, their meaning, or the speaker’s desire to make them prominent. In spoken language detached parts are marked by intonation, pauses; in written language they are generally separated by commas or dashes. Adverbial modifiers, attributes, and prepositional indirect objects may be detached (loose) parts of the sentence.

The detached adverbial modifier.

Any part of speech in the function of an adverbial modifier, especially that of attendant circumstances, can be detached, which accounts for the comma that separates it from the rest of the sentence. e.g. In her excitement, Maria jammed the bedroom-door together.

He came in, with an air of great triumph on his face.

The detached attribute.

A detached attribute can modify not only a common noun as an ordinary attribute does, but also a proper noun and a pronoun.

e.g. It was a wide white building, one storey high.

She was like a star, radiant and unreachable.

The detached object.

The prepositional indirect object is often detached.

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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

e.g. She does not change – except her hair.

Huckleberry Finn was there, with his dead cat under his arm.

Elements that are not parts of the sentence

Interjections, particles, parenthetical enclosures, direct addresses, time fillers stand outside the structural analysis of the sentence, i.e. they are NOT parts of the sentence.

e.g. To make a long story short, he failed the task.

Well, I don’t know what to say. Stop it at once, you moron!

2.9. WORD ORDER AND INVERSION

The typical word order in a neutral declarative sentence is DIRECT: the subject precedes the predicate.

In certain contextual conditions the word order changes: the whole predicate or a part of it precedes the subject. It is INDIRECT or INVERTED word order.

Inversion can be classified on different grounds.

First of all we distinguish full inversion (when the whole predicate precedes the subject) and partial inversion (when a part of the predicate precedes the subject and the other part follows it).

Secondly,we distinguish grammatical inversion,which is obligatory for the English language, and emphatic inversion, which is used by the speaker to emphasize the utterance and, therefore, is optional.

As a result of these two classifications there exist FOUR TYPES of inversion.

I.FULL GRAMMATICAL INVERSION

1)The subject of the sentence is placed in the final position when it becomes the rheme (the most important information) of the utterance.

e.g. Once upon a time there lived a king with his queen.

In the middle of the room, as became a host, stood the head of the family old Jolyon himself.

There comes our bus!

NB! When the subject is expressed by a personal pronoun there is no inversion!

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