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In the sentence The picture was painted by C. Monet (Passive Voice)
the emphasis falls on “the picture”. It is the case where the agent (C. Monet)
is important to us, therefore it is not omitted.
The agent with the preposition “by” can often be omitted. For
example, in turning the following sentence from Active Voice into Passive:
People in Brazil speak Portuguese – Portuguese is spoken in Brazil (NOT:
Portuguese is spoken in Brazil by people.)
In the English language, both transitive and intransitive verbs can be
used in the Passive Voice. Certain transitive verbs can be made into
intransitive by adding a preposition:
His picture was laughed at by everyone who saw it.
Such success was never dreamt of when he first started painting.
Such verbs of Incomplete Predication as ‘seem’, ‘be’, ‘become’ etc.
can never be used in the passive: He became an artist.
If a sentence containing two objects is expressed in the Passive Voice,
either of those objects may become the subject of the sentence:
They awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.
a) He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.
b) The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded him in 2012.
They offered him a post in the State Tretyakov Gallery.
a) He was offered a post in the State Tretyakov Gallery.
b) A post in the State Tretyakov Gallery was offered him.
Note in the above-mentioned sentences the omission of the agent with
the preposition “by”. The construction “by + agent” would be unnatural and
unnecessary in sentences like these, where the “doer” is either clear from the
meaning (context) of the sentence, or is not of any interest to us.
The Passive Voice is also employed in the following cases:
The picture by Renoir is painted in oil.
This portrait is painted in watercolor.
The described drawing is executed in pencil.
§ 3. PASSIVE VOICE IN THE CONTEXT OF GENERAL
INFORMATION ABOUT AN ARTIST
Describing an artist, we can also say where and when he or she was born:
Alfred Sisley was born in Paris, France (where?), October 30, 1839 (when?).
Edgar Degas was born in Paris in 1834.
Edouard Manet was born in the bustling city of Paris, on January 23, 1832.
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Then we can also stress the artist’s parental background. While
describing in what kind of a family a person was born, we can employ the
construction: “to be born into a family”:
Edouard Manet was born into an upper-middle class Parisian family.
C. Pissarro was born in the Dutch West Indies into French parents
and raised near Paris.
Here one can observe how the preposition “into” stresses the dynamic
aspect of the birth process.
§ 4. PREPOSITIONS USED IN THE SPHERE OF ART (PAINTING)
As English is an analytical language, prepositions play a large role in
its structure and are the cause of many difficulties to the learners of English.
As Modern English lost almost all case forms in the course of
historical processes, prepositions substitute the lost case endings. They,
metaphorically speaking, “imbibed” practically all case endings functions.
Prepositions became a most important means of indicating the various
relations of nouns (or pronouns) to the other words in the sentence. The
purpose of a preposition is to connect a noun (or a noun substitute) to some
other element of the sentence, along with some meaning that is incoherent in
the preposition itself. They express such ideas as location, destination,
direction of motion, time, manner etc.
A preposition is always followed by a noun construction, and the two
together make a phrase. These prepositional phrases usually function like
adjectives or adverbs; that is they modify nouns, verbs, or some other
elements in the sentence.
When we speak about art in English, we can have some difficulties
using the prepositions ‘in’ and ‘on’ with such words as “the picture”,
“photograph” (“photo”), “painting”, “canvas” etc. This difference will be
described in the next section.
§ 5. IN THE PICTURE OR ON THE PICTURE: STEREOSCOPIC
PERCEPTION VS SURFACE PERCEPTION
Having described the artist, we can proceed to the description of the
subject matter of the picture. In other words, we should stress who or what
is depicted in the picture.
Here we come across a very interesting phenomenon that is the
peculiarity of world perception (“in the picture” – “на картине”).
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In a more general meaning, perception can be defined as the reflection
of world subjects and events in their entirety in the person’s psyche during
their direct impact on sensibility organs (Sosnovsky 2011).
The use of different prepositions can be explained by the differences in
the world perception of native English and Russian speakers. Thus, native
English speakers possess a stereoscopic perception, which is carried into the
language as well. In other words, many objects are perceived in 3D: in the
sky, in the face, in the tree etc.
The preposition “in” is applied to three-dimensional locations and it is
used with such names as “picture”, “photograph”, and “painting” when we
describe the location of objects in them:
An Italian woman is depicted in the picture.
The girl in the photograph is my sister.
The Figure 1 demonstrates the peculiarities of 3-D perception.
Figure 1. 3-D perception.
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For native Russian speakers, surface perception is much more
common, and it is also reflected in the language:
На картине изображена итальянка.
Девушка на фотографии – моя сестра.
This kind of perception is presented in the following Figure 2:
Figure 2. 2-D perception.
We should take into consideration that the dimension-type of a
preposition is the dimensional property ascribed, subjectively speaking, to
the location denoted by the prepositional complement. This distinction
involving dimension-types is psychological or perceptual, rather than “real”.
A picture can also be perceived as a surface in English. It takes place
when the location of such objects as “dust” is described. As a rule, the
preposition ‘on’ is used in such situations: “dust on the picture”.
With the name “canvas”, it is quite common and grammatically correct
to use a two-dimensional preposition “on”:
There is a waterlily pond on the canvas.
NOTES: A person in the English language can also be described
within the framework of stereoscopic perception:
eyes in her face – глаза на ее лице;
the wrinkles in her face – морщины на ее лице;
an Adam’s apple in his neck – кадык на его шее.
The English preposition “in” in the above-mentioned sentences places
an emphasis on the physiological characteristics of a person.
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To express the idea that something is depicted in the picture is possible
with the construction there is / there are:
There is an Italian woman in the painting.
This construction is frequently used in the English language while
describing works of art. Note that, though there appears to be the subject,
the real subject is the noun that follows the verb, and if this noun is in plural,
the verb must be in plural too:
There are two Italian women in the painting.
Such kinds of sentences are to be translated into Russian from the end
of the sentence:
На картине изображена итальянка.
На картине изображены две итальянки.
§ 7. ENGLISH FORMAL SUBJECT AND RUSSIAN LOCATIVE
§ 6. THERE IS / THERE ARE
As a rule in the sentences with the construction there is / there are
that were described in the previous section § 6, the locatives are explicitly
represented: “in the picture”, “in the painting”, “in the photograph”, “in the
drawing” etc.
To express the idea that the object is situated in the picture we can
avoid using the above-mentioned locatives. In some cases, we come across
the sentences where the words “portrait”, “picture”, and “painting” play the
role of the subject in the English sentence:
The picture portrays a young girl.
This phenomenon (when an inanimate noun is used in the function of
the subject in the sentence) is typical of the English language due to its
direct word order. The subject is known as the formal subject or
unprototypical one (for more details see Levitskaya, Fiterman 1973;
Misuno, Shablygina 2009).
In the Russian language, in its turn, the word “картина” is used in
the function of the adverbial modifier of place; it plays a role of the locative:
На картине изображена молодая девушка.
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§ 8. PERSONAL EVALUATION OF THE PICTURE
“Everybody has eyes but everybody
sees the world differently.”
Looking at the picture and seeing, for example, a girl in it, one can
compare her with an angel, the other one with a devil. Here we come across
the notion of “subjectivity”. Our mental process, which is perception, is a
subjective phenomenon.
Attaching some characteristics to the described objects in the picture,
we can use a comparison pattern “to look like”.
She looks like an angel.
She looks like a bourgeois lady.
She looks like a professional ballet dancer.
Comparing the described objects the viewers can have different
associations. Associations are characterized by subjective, personal
experience. In psychology, the term association is defined as a connection
between different objects of reality and its reflection in the consciousness;
when a concept about one object causes the appearance of a thought about
the other (Sosnovsky 2011). Associations are primarily individual.
NOTES: The question “What does she / he look like?” concerns
appearance only, and can also mean, “What does she / he resemble?”
What does she look like? → She is beautiful. She looks like an angel.
Used of people, the question “what + be … like?” (What is she like?)
may concern either appearance or character.
What does he look like? → He is handsome. He is a very nervous man.
The answer to the above-mentioned question presupposes the
description of both inner and outer worlds of a person.
The peculiarities of our subjective perception can also be shown by an
example of the English verb “to seem”. Note a small difference between the
patterns “seem excited” and “seem to be excited”. We prefer “seem to be”
when we are talking about relatively more objective facts – things that seem
definitely to be true. Seem is used without “to be” when we describe
primarily our subjective impressions.
However, the difference between them is not always clear-cut, and
both are often possible. Compare:
She seems to be excited.
She seems excited.
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However, in the sentences like “He seems older than he is”, it is
impossible to use “to be” (NOT: He seems to be older than he is). As this
would suggest that he might be actually older than he is.
With the help of the above-mentioned syntactical models, we can
describe both inner and outer worlds of a described person and give our
personal evaluation to a person considering him as a holistic unity.
§ 9. THE PREPOSITION ABOUT IN THE CONTEXT OF PERSON’S
OUTER AND INNER WORLDS
While describing people depicted in the picture or portrait we come
across a very interesting phenomenon that is the description of their
appearance (their outer characteristics) and their inner world.
When we express our personal opinion (personal thoughts) about
people depicted in the portraits, we can use the constructions where the
preposition “about” is employed:
There is something unusual about her. В ней есть что-то странное.
The preposition “about” itself originated from the old-English
complex preposition “onbŭtan” (an alternative form – “abŭtan”). This
complex preposition consists of the preposition “on” (on) and adverb
“bŭtan” (ŭt – out, outside of) → on the outside of) [SOED 1973]).
This preposition can be used in the following situations:
Metaphorical description of a person’s smile.
The following sentence demonstrates human smile in terms of its
“process” nature:
In the portrait, we can observe a faint smile cling about her lips.
In the Russian language, the preposition “на” is used:
На портрете мы можем наблюдать, как на ее губах играет
ироничная улыбка.
In the description of person’s hair, when it is perceived as “an
indiscriminate mass”:
Her flowing chestnut hair fall about her shoulders in disarray.
(We see her chestnut hair fall about her shoulders in disarray).
In the Russian language, the same idea is expressed with the help of
the preposition “на”.
Ее каштановые волосы беспорядочно падают на плечи.
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In the description of a locket (chain) location.
There is a small silver locket about her neck.
In Russian, we can more commonly say:
На ее шее висит тонкая серебряная цепочка.
In representing the approximate location of the localized
objects.
When it is used in the situations of the appearance description, it often
denotes the approximate location of the localized objects:
Some dark substance is smeared about his lips and chin.
По губам и подбородку размазано что-то темное.
In expressing the so-called “immediate proximity” when the
location of the described objects is also approximate:
There is a quiet malice about his eyes and mouth.
Около глаз и у рта собрались злющие–презлющие морщинки.
The wrinkles were about her eyes. У нее были морщины в области глаз.
When we describe the inner world of a person, the preposition “about”
helps us sound less categorical:
There is something strange about her.
This preposition enables us to stress our uncategorical attitude toward
the person and to stress our subjective estimation (opinion) that is known in
psychology as “partiality” (“пристрастность”).
This preposition helps us describe such a complex phenomenon as the
human soul:
He had something of a poet about him.
In the Russian language, we can express this idea as:
В душе он был поэтом; в нем чувствовался поэт.
One more very important thing about this preposition is that it helps
create the so-called aureole. B.N. Aksenenko stresses that the preposition
“about” creates an atmosphere or some kind of aureole about a person. This
aureole allegedly encircles a person. The idea of aureole is skillfully
rendered with the help of this preposition:
A glow of life seems like an aureole to shine about her.
The effect of the aureole is produced in the language with the help of
the preposition “about”. Behavioral outer characteristics that can easily be
noticed by the viewer give evidence that the portrayed woman irradiates
vitality:
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Она словно излучает жизненную силу.
We can conclude that the preposition “about” can be used while
describing a person’s appearance and his inner world.
§ 10. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES: COMPARING ART
When one thing is compared or contrasted with another (or others) in
respect of a certain attribute, we use an inflection called “comparison”.
Comparison can express equality, superiority or inferiority. That is to say, it
can state whether two people or things possess some quality in the same
degree (equality) or in different degrees (superiority or inferiority). It can
also express supremacy of one person or thing in respect of an attribute.
There are three degrees of Comparison:
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Equality is expressed by the Positive Degree, e.g.
This picture is as wonderful as this one.
These brushstrokes are as skillful as these ones.
Superiority is expressed by the Comparative Degree, e.g.
This manner of colors applying is better than that one.
Inferiority is expressed by using “less … than”.
George is less professional than William.
This construction is rarely used. It would be far more usual to say:
George is not so (as) professional as William is.
In affirmative sentences the construction “as…. as” is always used. In
negative sentences “so … as” is the normal form, but “as … as” is also
frequently used.
Supremacy is expressed by the Superlative Degree, e.g.
This is the greatest picture in the C. Manet’s collection.
Notes on the Comparison of the Adjectives
FARTHER
“Farther” generally refers to distance, e.g.
Manchester is farther from London than Oxford is.
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FURTHER
“Further” has the specialized meaning of “additional”, e.g. I will
give you further details later.
Farthest and furthest are interchangeable.
LESS
“Less” is used with uncountable nouns, fewer with countable nouns, e.g.
He has spent less time on this portrait than usual.
There are fewer pictures in this Gallery than in the State Tretyakov
Gallery.
LATTER
“Latter” means the second of two and is contrasted with “former”, e.g.
He likes Impressionism and Realism. The latter impressed him when he was
very young. The former – when he visited one of the Impressionists’
exhibitions in Paris.
LATEST
“Latest” means “the most recent”, “the last up to present”, e.g. Have
you seen John’s latest picture? He painted it in oil two months ago.
LAST
“Last” has the meaning “final”, e.g. The portrait of his wife was
probably the last work that this famous artist painted.
It also has the meaning “previous”, e.g. I think this recent work is
better than his last one.
Comparison, alongside with synthesis, analysis, generalizing, and
concretization, is one of the major logical operations of thinking.
§ 11. CONDITIONAL CLAUSES
Conditional clauses describe an activity that may or may not occur,
depending on circumstances. The conditional form is used in four ways:
present general, future possible, present unreal and past unreal.
There are four basic conditional sentence patterns where our choice of
tense depends on the time of the condition (past, present or future) and on
how possible or impossible we think the event is:
Zero Conditional (Present General): He creates good pictures if he is
in a good mood.
First Conditional (possible in the future): Type 1 is represented by
sentences like:
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