Revision

1. Define phrase as a syntactic unit.

2. What are the criteria for classification of phrases?

3. Explain the difference between endocentric and exocentric phrases.

4. What types of phrases do you know?

5. Give examples of syntactic roles of noun and verb phrases.

6. Explain the difference between premodification and postmodification.

7. Give examples of discontinuous noun and verb phrases.

8. Give examples of adjective, adverb and numeral phrases.

Assignments for practice:

1. Pick up abstracts from fiction, academic conversation and news and find out examples of various structural types of phrases. Comment on their discourse functions. 2. Sort out your examples of phrases according to the following groups: 2.1. subordinate - coordinate; 2.2.endocentric- exocentric; 2.3. progressive - regressive. 2.4. noun-, verb-, adverb-, adjective-, prepositional-, numeral- phrases

Suggestions for further readings:

1. Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Svartvik J. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. - Ldn and N.Y. Longman, 1985. - 1779 p.

2. English syntax A Grammar for English Language Professionals Roderick A. Jacobs Oxford University Press 1995.

3. Woods E. Introducing Grammar.-London, 1995 H.Zwicky A., Kantor R.N. A Survey of Syntax // Language Development, Grammar and semantics. – Arlington, 1980.

5.3. Grammar of sentence

1. SENTENCE AS A SYNTACTIC UNIT. The kernel concept in syntax is the concept of the sentence, since it is an ultimate product of language. Sentence tops the hierarchy “morpheme-word-sentence element-sentence”, since it performs communicative function, while other elements do not. Though this term appears in all syntactic research work, its concept seems to be very variable and vague. It covers elements of very different nature, and a complex, undifferentiated concept like this leads to much confusion. To cope with this unsatisfactory situation the concept of the term “sentence” three different basic concepts should be distinguished: (1) sentence as a singular and individual speech event, or the utterance event; (2) sentence as one of all the possible different minimal communicative units, or the utterance; (3) sentence as an abstract structure or configuration, i.e. as a pattern of distinctive features. The set of such patterns represents a subsystem of the overall grammatical system of the given language, or the sentence-pattern.A great majority of utterances represents manifestations of a small set of sentence patterns. Such utterances may be called sentences. A sentence is an expression of a thought or feeling by means of a word or words used in such form and manner as to convey the meaning intended. The term sentence covers more or less ground according to the meaning given to it. It is often defined by grammarians as being any complete and independent communication. A sentence is a communication of words, conveying a sense of completeness and containing at least one independent verb with its subject. A definition of a sentence to which few or no exceptions саn be taken has yet to be constructed, description is preferable to definition: the sentence consists of a number of standardized patterns that have been agreed upon by the users of a language, and that for English, a noun-verb or actor-action sequence such as Dogs bark is the simplest concrete form of such a pattern, liable to all sorts of extension and amplification. According to Bloomfield “Each sentence is an independent linguistic form, not included by virtue of any grammatical construction in any larger linguistic form”. In classical scientific grammar a sentence is considered as a word or group of words capable of expressing a complete thought or meaning. Whether or not a given word or group of words is capable of doing this in any one language depends on the way in which that language constructs its sentences – that is, on their form. A sentence is, therefore, a word or group of words whose form makes us expect it to express a full meaning. It depends on the context whether or not any one sentence expresses a complete meaning. A sentence is not only a logical but a phonetic unity. A continuous discourse from a phonetic point of view consists of a succession of sounds divided into a breath-groups by the pauses required for taking breath.

Like other meaningful language units, sentence has a form, since it is a composite sign and its form consists of a set of signs positioned in a certain order. On the basis of formal properties we can treat I like reading books as a sentence and *Readings I books like as a string of words which do not make any sense. The sentence form includes formal properties of components - sentence parts, their order and number. English sentence is under fairly strict constraints on word order. Typically the subject is followed by a verb and then its object. For this reason, English is called an S-V-O (Subject-Verb-Object) language. However even in English this word-order is not entirely rigid. The sentence Mary showed John the picture has an indirect object (IO). John intervenes before the object to produce the order of S-V-IO-O. A sentence such as The man who lives next to my sister collects antique cars also disrupts the typical S-V-O order in English. It interposes the center-embedded relative clause who lives next to my sister between the subject and the verb and object, which produces discontinuity in the S-V-O pattern. Furthermore, sentences such as John clumsily opened the саn and John opened the саn clumsily саn have similar meaning even if their word orders differ from one another. Implicit expectation that words follow a conventional order in English aids a listener immensely in arriving at a rapid and accurate interpretation of many sentences. Typical word order patterns are used as a comprehension strategy in English. But if word order deviates from the norm, problems in interpretation or differences in emphasis саn arise. For instance, the active sentence The tornado transported Dorothy has a focus different from its almost synonymous passive, Dorothy was transported by the tornado. One of the characteristic features of any sentence is intonational arrangement. Intonation patterns are special for different communicative types of sentences. For instance, intonation patterns of declarative sentences are different from intonation patterns of imperative sentences. Thus, intonation patterns are important for sentence intonation, since they add to structural and grammatical organization of sentences. Phonetic arrangement of a sentence is also important, since it may provide neutralization of grammatical features. For instance, declarative sentences, pronounced with a certain intonation, may acquire interrogative meaning: You do not like it? They are still here?

The sentence is a broad notion that covers various sentence constructions - from one-word to complex. Unlike word or phrase, sentence denotes a situation correlated with the real world., i.e. it presents a phenomenon as a fact of reality, for instance: It is a good idea. It would be nice. Winter. Spring is coming. It was too late. As a communicative unit, sentence has certain time perspective (present, past, future), mood (the phenomenon is presented as real or unreal). As a meaningful construction sentence should be characterized in terms of the three aspects of any meaningful language unit: structure, meaning and function. To put it another way, sentence can be classified according to the following criteria: structural (simple – composite); semantic (declarative – interrogative – imperative); functional or pragmatic (directive, assertive, declarative, comissive, questitive, requestive, menassive, constative, performative) sentences. There exist many more than three hundred – definitions of the sentence, but none of them is generally accepted. Of these, two definitions have been most often used in grammar books: a) a sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought (notional approach); b) a sentence is a group of words that contains an unsubordinated subject and predicate (formal approach).

The first of these, a 'notional' definition, fails because it is wholly subjective. There is no objective standard by which to judge the completeness of a thought. Completeness is, in fact, very relative. It depends largely on the-purpose of the speaker or writer as well as on the context, linguistic or situational. On the other hand, the second definition 'is not more than half truth, for it rules out all verbless sentences, which may be just as complete and independent as the verb sentences: Beautiful day! Taxi! Good. A full sentence may range from a single word (Stop! Go! Coffee? Yes?) to an indeterminate length. In the majority of ;ases people actually experience no difficulty in separating one sentence from another in their native tongue. This is reflected in writing, where the graphic form of each sentence is separated by punctuation marks (./?) from its neighbours.

It is much more difficult to identify sentences in natural spoken conversation. Words like and are frequently used, making it difficult for a grammarian to work out where one sentence ends and the next begins [Hatch, 1992: 243]: When I was 18 I got pregnant and + it was with a + a boy I'd been going with a + a year and a half an:: we decided to get married + + an:: I went home lo tell my parents + and my dad said, "No, it will send your mother over the edge."

In situations where we have to speak spontaneously, there is no time to plan far ahead, to work out where the 'full stops' ought to go. Spoken sentences therefore have a very different kind of structure from written sentences. Interactive talk is often clausal or phrasal in structure. In polished writing, the organization is sentential. The following general points apply to any English sentence.

1. Though a sentence contains words, it is not merely a group of words, but something integral, a structural unity built in accordance with one of the syntactical patterns existing in a given language. It is constructed according lo a system of rules, known by all the adult mother-tongue speakers of the language. A sentence formed in this way is said to be grammatical: I told you so. Come in. Where have you been? The following sentences are ungrammatical: *What and why did he go?

2. All the sounds of a sentence are united by typical intonation. Our intonation conveys information about our emotions (anger, surprise, etc.) as well as about grammar.

3. All the meanings are interlaced according to some pattern to make one communication. The sentence is a minimal unit of communication distinguished by conlextually relevant communicative purpose (imparting of thoughts, opinions, or information).

4. The sentence is the basic unit of communication distinguished from all other units by its predicativity.

Predicativity is understood in linguistics as the relation of the sentence to the situation of speech. It includes relations to the act of speech, to the speaker, and to reality (as viewed by the speaker). The act of speech is the event with which all other events mentioned in the sentence are correlated in time. This correlation is fixed in English and other languages grammatically in the category of tense and lexically in such words as now, yesterday, tomorrow, etc. The speaker is the person with whom other persons and things mentioned in the sentence are correlated. This correlation is fixed grammatically in the category of person of the verb and lexico-grammatically in such words as I, you, she, they, student, river, etc. Reality is either accepted as the speaker sees it, or an attempt is made to change it, or some unreality is fancied. Cf.: The door is shut. Shut the door. I wish the door were shut. The attitude towards reality is fixed grammatically in the category of mood and lexically or lexico-grammatically in words like must, may, probably. Predicativity is an essential a part of the content of the sentence as intonation is of its form. The sentence as a predicative unit of language verbalizes human thought and represents lingually the main predicative form of thought, i.e. the proposition. Within a sentence, the word or combination of words that contains the meanings of predicativity may be called predication. The main parts of the sentence are those whose function it is to make the predication. They are the subject and the predicate.

In the sentence He mused over it for a minute the predication is he mused. He indicates the person, mused - the tense and mood components of predicativity Thus the sentence has predicativity plainly expressed by a positive two-member predication. In the sentence Tell me something there is a one-word predication tell containing the mood component of predicativity. The person component is only implied. The situation generally makes it so obvious who the second person subject of imperatives is, that its expression is the exception rather than the rule. The simplest relation to the situation of speech can be found in sentences like Rain which when pronounced with proper intonation merely states the phenomenon observed. The noun rain, like any noun, is associated with the third person. The present tense and the indicative mood are implied. In Tea! the imperative intonation expresses the difference in the modal component of predicativity. From the structural point of view the sentence is the immediate integral unit of speech built up of words according to a definite syntactic pattern and distinguished by a contextually relevant communicative purpose. A syntactic pattern is usually defined as an abstract theoretical scheme which reflects the structure of a syntactic unit, i.e. its components and the syntactic links between them [Mukhin 1980:4]. One of the disputable syntactic problems, as was noted, for instance, by Budagov, Moskalska, is distinguishing syntactic patterns from their variants, which is important for objective classification of syntactic phenomena.

Most grammarians are agreed that the features distinguishing different syntactic patterns are more essential that those distinguishing the variants of the same pattern. But so far there is no unanimity as to the criterion for differentiating between essential and inessential features.

Any coherent connection of words having an informative destination is effected within the framework of the sentence. Therefore, the sentence is the main object of syntax as part of the grammatical theory. The sentence, being composed of words, may in certain cases include only one word of various lexico-grammatical standing: Summer. Congratulations. Away! Why! Certainly!

The actual existence of one-word sentences, however, does not contradict the general idea of the sentence as a special syntactic combination of words, the same as the notion of one-element set in mathematics does not contradict the general idea of the set as a combination of certain elements. Moreover, this fact cannot lead even to the inference that under some circumstances the sentence and the word may wholly coincide: a word-sentence as a unit of the text is radically different from a word-lexeme as a unit of lexicon, the differentiation being inherent in the respective places occupied by the sentence and the word in the hierarchy of language levels. While the word is a component element of the word-stock and as such is a nominative unit of language, the sentence, linguistically, is a predicative utterance-unit. It means that the sentence not only names some referents with the help of its word-constituents, but also, first, presents these referents as making up a certain situation, or, more specifically, a situational event, and second, reflects the connection between the nominal denotation of the event on the one hand, and objective reality on the other, showing the time of the event, its being real or unreal, desirable or undesirable, necessary or unnecessary, etc. For example: I am satisfied, the experiment has succeeded. I would have been satisfied if the experiment had succeeded. The experiment seems to have succeeded – why then am I not satisfied.

Thus, even one uninflected word making up a sentence is thereby turned into an utterance-unit expressing the said semantic complex through its concrete contextual and con-situational connections. By way of example, compare the different connections of the word-sentence "night" in the following passages: 1) Night. Night and the boundless sea, under the eternal star-eyes shining with promise. Was it a dream of freedom coming true? 2) Night? Oh no. No night for me until I have worked through the case. 3) Night. It pays all the day's debts. No cause for worry now, I tell you. Whereas the utterance "night" in the first of the given passages refers the event to the plane of reminiscences, the "night" of the second passage presents a question in argument connected with the situation wherein the interlocutors are immediately involved, while the latter passage features its "night" in the form of a proposition of reason in the flow of admonitions.

It follows from this that there is another difference between the sentence and the word. Namely, unlike the word, the sentence does not exist in the system of language as a ready-made unit with the exception of a limited number of utterances of phraseological citation, it is created by the speaker in the course of communication. Stressing this fact, linguists point out that the sentence, as different from the word, is not a unit of language proper; it is a chunk of text built up as a result of speech-making process, out of different units of language, first of all words, which are immediate means for making up contextually bound sentences, i. e. complete units of speech.

Being a unit of speech, the sentence is intonationally delimited. Intonation separates one sentence from another in the continual flow of uttered segments and, together with various segmental means of expression, participates in rendering essential communicative-predicative meanings (such as, for instance, the syntactic meaning of interrogation in distinction to the meaning of declaration). The role of intonation as a delimiting factor is especially important for sentences which have more than one predicative centre, in particular more than one finite verb: The class was over, the noisy children the corridors. The class was over. The noisy children filled corridors.

Special intonation contours, including pauses, represent the given speech sequence in the first case as one compound sentence, in the second case as two different sentences (though, certainly, connected both logically and syntactically).

On the other hand, as we have stated elsewhere, the system of language proper taken separately, and the immediate functioning of this system in the process of intercourse, i.e. speech proper, present an actual unity and should be looked upon as the two sides of one dialectically complicated substance – the human language in the broad sense of the term. Within the framework of this unity the sentence itself, as a unit of communication, also presents the two different sides, inseparably connected with each other. Namely, within each sentence as an immediate speech element of the communication process, definite standard syntactico-semantic features are revealed which make up a typical model, a generalized pattern repeated in an indefinite number of actual utterances. This complicated predicative pattern does enter the system of language. It exists on its own level in the hierarchy of lingual segmental units in the capacity of a "linguistic sentence" and as such is studied by grammatical theory. Thus, the sentence is characterized by its specific category of predication which establishes the relation of the named phenomena to actual life. The general semantic category of modality is also defined by linguists as exposing the connection between the named objects and surrounding reality. However, modality, as different from predication, is not specifically confined to the sentence. This is a broader category revealed both in the grammatical elements of language and its lexical, purely nominative elements. In this sense, every word expressing a definite correlation between the named substance and objective reality should be recognized as modal. Here belong such lexemes of full notional standing as "probability", "desirability", "necessity" and the like, together with all the derivationally relevant words making up the corresponding series of the lexical paradigm of nomination; here belong semi-functional words and phrases of probability and existential evaluation, such as perhaps, may be, by all means, etc.; here belong further, word-particles of specifying modal semantics, such as just, even, would-be, etc.; here belong, finally, modal verbs expressing a broad range of modal meanings.

2. SENTENCE ELEMENTS. Sentence elements are interrelated with parts of speech, since the content expressed by sentence parts corresponds to lexical categorical meanings of parts of speech. For example, subjects and objects are expressed by nouns and pronouns; predicates - by verbs, etc. However parts of sentence and parts of speech are not similar, since a sentence element is formed by interaction of words with other units. By contrast, According to A.I. Smirnitskiy, the function of a sentence element is determined by the content of relations formed between words in the sentence. The content is determined by relations between meanings of words and meanings of syntactic means. For instance, the subject has the content of “thingness”, the attribute - “quality”, the adverbial - “circumstance” etc. The relation between sentence elements and parts of speech results from the distinction between speech and language. Sentence elements produced in speech are inseparable from parts of speech, though not identical with them, since in speech they are formed in interaction with other units.

Thus, the system of sentence members correlates with the system of parts of speech only to a certain extend, since structural and semantic nature of some morphological classes presuppose polyfunctioning in syntax. For instance, noun may express subject, object, attribute and nominal part of compound predicate.

It is traditionally considered that there are two essential or principal elements in every sentence - the subject and the predicate: Bird sings. The subject is that which is spoken of. The predicate is that which is said of the subject. The subject and the predicate are considered interdependent. They make the predication and thus constitute the backbone of the sentence. Without them the sentence would not exist at all, whereas all other parts may or may not be there. In a normal sentence both subject and predicate are present, but sometimes the one or the other or both may be absent and yet the sentence may be a complete expression of thought. Secondary parts of the sentence - object, compliment, attribute, adverbial modifier, apposition, predicative - modify the main parts of the sentence or each other. Besides these two kinds of sentence components there are independent elements, i.e. elements standing outside the structure of the sentence, and therefore of lesser importance. The independent elements are parentheses and direct address - vocatives.

The secondary elements of the sentence are classified according to the syntactic relations between sentence elements. Oppositional relations between the principal and secondary parts of the sentence are quite evident. The principal elements are the core of the communicative unit, the secondary are related to the predicative core as a whole.

2.1. Principal sentence elements. The subject denotes the thing whose action or characteristic is expressed by the predicate. The subject of the sentence has a close general relation to “what is being discussed”, the “theme” of the sentence, with the normal implication that something new (the predicate) is being said about a “subject”. Subjects can refer to something that is identified, described, classified, or located, implying something that performs an action, or is affected by action, or something involved in an occurrence of some sort. The subject performs two syntactic functions: categorical and relating. The categorical function of the subject lies in that it names the thing or person whose property is indicated by the predicate. The relating function of the subject presupposes that the subject is the starting element in consecutive syntagmatic development of the sentence. For instance, the subject is the left-hand surrounding to the predicate, and right-hand surrounding to the object. The compulsory two-member structure of the English sentence makes the subject an essential sentence constituent. The subject determines concord. It determines the form of the predicate: I go - S/HeIt goes - They go.

In terms of content or its grammatical value, the subject саn be definite or notional, if denotes a person or a non-person, a concrete object, process, quality and indefinite or formal, if denotes some indefinite person, a state of things or a certain situation. It is used only as structural element filling the linear position of the subject. There are two such position-fillers: it and there: She is a good student. He knows all about it. The audience laughs. There are some books for reading. It is a good idea.

The formal subject is impersonal when it is used in sentences describing various states of nature, or things in general, or characteristics of the environment, or denoting time, distance, or their measurements: It's spring. It is cold today. It's freezing. The formal or empty subject it is introductory (anticipatory) if it produces the notional subject expressed by an infinitive, a gerund, infinitival or gerundial phrase, a predicative complex, or a clause: It's impossible to deny this. It was no good coming there again. It would be wonderful for you to stay with us. It did not occur to her that the idea was his. Sentences with introductory It can be transformed into sentences with the notional subject in its usual position: It was impossible to deny this. - To deny this was impossible.

Sentences with introductory it must be distinguished from certain patterns of sentences with impersonal it: a) sentences with the predicate expressed by seem, appear, happen, turn out followed by an object clause (It seemed that he did not know the place - *That he did not know the place seemed, b) sentences with predicative adjectives preceded by too and followed by an infinitive used as an adverbial modifier of result (It was too late to start ?*To start was too late); c) sentences with the predicative expressed by the noun time allowed by an infinitive used as an attribute (It was time to take their departure 2 *To take their departure was time). Sentences with introductory it must also be distinguished from certain patterns with the notional subject it, where the latter back to a noun previously mentioned, as in Her voice was untrained but it was pleasant to listen to.

The formal subject there introduces a notional subject in existential sentences (which express the existence of a person or person denoted by the subject). The notional subject introduced by there is expressed by a noun or noun phrase, noun-pronouns, a gerund or a gerundial phrase, a clause: There was silence for a moment. There came the priest. There was nothing to do. There was no discussion anymore. There did not appear to be anything of vital importance. It should be noted that in many sentences the subject and the doer of the action are by no means in full correspondence: This room sleeps three men. Such books sell readily. The subject may be expressed by different parts of speech: nouns in the common case ( Knowledge is power), personal pronouns in the nominative case (She is beautiful), other noun-pronouns (Nothing can be done about it), numerals (Five cannot be divided by two), an infinitive (To forgive is to understand), a gerund (Seeing is believing). It may be expressed by a phrase (Two of them were Germen), predicative complex (His walking out of the room was unexpect(ed), or a clause (What girls want is just a wedding ring).

In contrast with the subject, the predicate tends to be a more complex and heterogeneous unit. The predicate саn be composed of several different structures. The common definition of the predicate in terms of modern linguistics is that it is a more or less complex structure with the verb or verb-phrase at its core. As the second principal part of the sentence and its organizing centre (the object and nearly all adverbial modifiers are connected with and depend on it) the predicate denotes the action, state, or property of the thing expressed by the subject.

Due to its categorical nature, the predicate is related to the subject, since the categorical, i.e. predicate function of the predicate is to expresses a predicate property of the thing or the person named by the subject: They left for London. The predicate also performs the relating function, since it appears a link between the subject and the right-hand element - the object and the adverbial modifier: Tom speaks English well.

Except for categorical meaning, i.e. the meaning peculiar to the predicate as sentence element, the predicate expresses the meaning of grammatical categories of forms of the finite verb: Mood, Tense, Voice, Number and Person, for instance, in Tom speaks the grammatical morpheme -s expresses present tense, indicative mood, active voice, third person singular.

The predicate may be composed of a word (simple), a phrase, or an entire clause (compound). From the structural point of view there are two main types of predicate: the simple predicate and the compound predicate. Both these types may be either verbal or nominal.

The simple verbal predicate is expressed by a verb or a verbal phrase denoting one action (take a decision, have a look, give a cry, make a move): John runs quickly. She gave him a cry and ran out.

The simple nominal predicate is expressed by a noun, an adjective, an infinitive, or participle I. It does not contain a link verb, as it shows the incompatibility of the idea expressed by the subject and that expressed by the predicate (implied negation). Such sentences are always exclamatory: My son a clergyman! She, a singer! Me a liar! Tonny, good-looking! You said! She complaining! Me trying, to be funny!

The compound predicate consists of two parts: the structural (expressed by a finite verb - a phrasal verb, a modal verb, a link verb and the notional (expressed by a noun, an adjective, an adverb, a verbal, a phrase, a predicative complex, or a clause). The structural part carries grammatical information about the person, number, tense, voice, modal and aspect of the whole predicate. The notional part contains information about the subject. The compound predicate falls into several types.

The compound verbal phrasal predicate denotes the beginning, duration, repetition, or cessation of the action. It consists of a phrasal verb of a) beginning (begin, start, commence, set about, take to), b) duration (go on, keep, proceed, continue); c) repetition (would, used to), d) cessation (stop, finish, cease, give up) and an infinitive or a gerund: They began to talk. He started training. They used to talk to me about it. He gave up smoking.

The compound verbal modal predicate shows whether the action is looked upon as possible, impossible, obligatory, necessary, desirable, planned, certain, permissible. It consists of a modal part expressed by a modal verb or a modal expression (be able, be capable, be going) and an infinitive: I can say a word. He has to return. You are going to attend the college.

The compound nominal predicate consists of a link verb of being (be, feel, sound, smell, taste, look, appear, seem), b) of coming (become, grow, turn, get, make); c) of remaining (remain, keep, stay) and a predicative.

The predicative can be expressed by a noun in the common case (Her father was a teacher) or genitive case (The face was Victoria's), adjective (She looked beautiful), a pronoun (It was he), a numeral (He is twenty), a stative (I was awake), an infinitive (To decide is to act), a gerund (Seeing is believing). It may also be expressed by a phrase (He is on our side), predicative complex (The main problem was his went away), or a clause (That's what has happened).

The compound nominal double predicate consists of two parts, both of which are notional. The first one is verbal and is pressed by a notional verb (die, leave, lie, marry, return, rise, sit, and, shine) which performs a linking function, as it links its second part (a predicative) expressed by a noun or an adjective to the subject: The sun was shining gold and bright (= The sun was shining. The sun was gold and bright). Doris sat silent. (=Doris sat. She was silent)

Mixed compound predicates combine elements of different types:

a) the compound modal nominal predicate (She couldn't be glad), b) the phrasal nominal predicate (He was beginning to look happy); c) the compound modal phrasal predicate (You ought to stop doing that).

Three most typical semantic characteristics of predicates are: identification (London is the capital of Britain), classification (She is a student) and characterization (The book is good).

To sum it up, there are the following types of the predicate:

Simple verbal predicate	The rain stopped
Simple nominal predicate	You, a teacher!
Simple phraseological predicate	Tom took a decision
Simple double predicate	The rain fell cold
Compound verbal modal	Tom could speak
Compound verbal aspectual	Alice began to cry
Compound nominal	Tom seems to be reliable
Compound phraseological	I can give a tip of advice
Compound contaminated	I become to feel well

2.2. Secondary sentence elements. Traditionally, there are three secondary sentence parts: object, attribute and adverbial. They express various types of semantically similar non-predicative relations. For instance: the object expresses “the thing – process” relation (I read a book); the attribute - relation of quality (It is a good book); adverbial - various adverbial relations: time, place, manner etc (I put the book on the table). However, to draw a demarcation line between various types of secondary sentence parts is sometimes difficult, since the characteristic features of each of the three types are not clearly defined and to describe a word as an object or an attribute, or an attribute or an adverbial in some cases proves to be a matter of predilection. Therefore, in real communication one may come across intermediate cases, i.e. combinations of these three meanings. For instance, the adverbial modifier of manner (expressed by qualitative adverb) in premodification to a verb appears syntactically related to modifying adjectives or nouns and must be therefore treated as verbal attribute: She definitely asked him not to come any more. It is a less distinct, less typical attribute, sharing some properties of both attribute and adverbial. Such intermediate cases result from the very nature of parts of the sentence as produced in speech and created from interaction of linguistic units. Using field structure approach, we can classify sentence parts into core or nucleus and periphery. Core sentence elements are characterized by coincidence of syntactic, morphological and lexical properties. Periphery sentence elements combine syntactic, morphological and lexical properties of different sentence parts. Thus, the differentiation between secondary sentence parts is relative and reflects combinations that occur in speech communication.

Depending on the type of relation to predication, secondary sentence parts fall into dependent and independent. The secondary parts of speech are called dependent if they are introduced together with another part of the sentence as its component, for instance: Sally was a beautiful girl. (the attribute) The secondary parts of speech are called independent if they join predication as independent units, developing the sentence as a whole, for instance: Adam likes reading. (object) There are no works on Sundays. (adverbial)

2.2.1.The object is a secondary part of the sentence which refers to any other part of the sentence expressed by a verb, a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a stative, a numeral, or, very seldom, an adverb, completing, specifying or restricting its meaning.

The object can be expressed by nouns in the common case (I saw the birds), personal pronouns in the objective case (I saw them), other pronouns (They didn't know that), numerals (He found three of them), a gerund (He insists on coming), and infinitive (He decided to stop). It may also be expressed by an infinitive phrase (We had to learn new words), a predicative complex (I want it done), or a clause (I don't know anything).

According to the way the object is connected to its headword, it may be either non-prepositional: see you tomorrow or prepositional never speak to you again. Many verbs govern their objects by means of prepositions. There are verbs which are never used without prepositions: aim at, consist of, rely on (upon), etc.

From the point of view of their value and grammatical peculiarities, three types of objects are distinguished in English, the direct object, the indirect object, object predicative/object compliment, oblique object, and the cognate object.

The direct object is a non-prepositional object that follows transitive verbs, adjectives, or statives and completes their meaning. Semantically, it is usually a non-person which is directly affected by the action of the verb: I wrote a story. He promised to work upon his pronunciation. You like singing, don't you?

The indirect object also follows verbs, adjectives and statives. Unlike the direct object, however, it may be attached to intransitive verbs as well as to transitive ones. Besides, it may also be attached to adverbs, although this is very rare. From the point of view of their semantics and certain grammatical characteristics, indirect objects fall into two types.

The indirect recipient object is attached only to verbs and expressed by a noun or pronoun which, as a rule, denotes a person who is the addressee or recipient of the action of the verb.It is joined to the headword either without a preposition or by the preposition to (or occasionally for): He gave the kids cakes She did not tell anything to anyone Will you bring a cup of coffee for me ?

The indirect non-recepient object is attached to verbs, adjectives, statives and sometimes adverbs. It is usually a noun (less often a pronoun) denoting an inanimate object, although it may be a gerund, a gerundial phrase or complex, an infinitive complex, or a clause. Its semantics varies, but it never denotes the addressee (recipient) of the action. It is joined to its headword by means of a preposition: I thought about it. One must always hope for the best. She's not happy about her new friend. I was amazed at his being so wise.

The cognate object is a non-prepositional object which is attached to otherwise intransitive verbs and is always expressed by nouns derived from, or semantically related to, the root of the verb: The child smiled the smile and laughed the laugh of contentment. He died the death of a hero. One must live one's own life. The verbs that most frequently take a cognate object are: live (a life), smile (a smile), laugh (a laugh), die (a death), sigh (a sigh), sleep (a sleep), dream (a dream), run (a race), fight (a fight, a battle). The cognate object is always used with words modifying it, never alone: the death of a hero, a heavy sigh, one's own life, etc.

Together with these words such objects modify the verb rather as adverbials than as objects: to die the death of a hero = to die like a hero; to sigh a heavy sigh = to sigh heavily, to live a happy life = to live happily, etc. Nevertheless, they are considered to be objects, not adverbial modifiers, because: a) they are expressed by nouns without prepositions, which is not characteristic of adverbials; b) they may occur in the position of the subject of a passive construction: He never doubted that life should be lived as he lived.

The cognate object is not to be confused with the direct object of some transitive verbs which may also be of the same root or semantics as the verb it is attached to: sing a song, tell a tale, ask a question, etc. The latter do not in any way modify the corresponding verbs, but only name the object of the action. Unlike the cognate object, such objects can easily occur alone, without any modifiers of their own: Sing me a song. Tell them the tale. Give me a smile.

Sometimes a notional object expressed by a clause may be introduced by means of the formal object called introductory or anticipatory) it: I understand it that you are my wife's brother. He objected to it that they should be taken to the island too.

2.2.2.The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which characterizes a person or non-person expressed by the headword either qualitatively, quantitatively, or from the point of view of situation. Attributes refer to nouns and other words of nominal nature, such as pronouns and substitute words. An attribute forms a nominal phrase with its headword. An attribute is expressed by adjectives (He was a wise man), pronouns (Here's some flowers for your girl), numerals (The third attempt gave good result), nouns in the common case (It happened on winter day ), nouns or pronouns in the possessive case (The flowers’ fragrance was sweet), statives (They were asleep), participles (They were looking at shimmering stars), gerunds (Her dressing code was elegant), infinitives (You are the one to be my friend), adverbs (The then government did not do anything to solve this problem). It may also be expressed by a phrase (He had a heart of gold), a predicative complex (This is a book for you to illustrate), or clause (Everything that you may want is in the shop).

An attribute may be expressed by sentences used as a whole (the so-called “quotation nouns”). These are used mainly as hyphenated chains before the headword: She looked at me with a kind of don don't-tell-me-a-word- of consolation-or-I will-cry air. She had take-me-or-leave-me attitude. In this 'a-place-for-everything parlor she felt comfortable. In some structures, the semantic roles of the elements may be reversed: the first (subordinating) element becomes a modifying word, the second (subordinated) - the modified one, as in: his carrot of a nose, the angel of a girl, a hell of a noise, a jewel of a nature, a jewel of a wife. Though logically his carrot of a nose means that the nose is characterized as resembling a carrot, syntactically it is the word carrot that is modified by the of-phrase of a nose. This accounts for the marked stylistic effect of these structures: a skyscraper of a silver cup, an orchid of a woman, a box of an office.

From the point of view of their semantic characteristics, attributes are divided into limiting and descriptive.

A limiting attribute indicates such a quality or characteristic of an object which makes it distinct from all other objects of the class: That he should help a promising child was perhaps the most important thing of all. She sat listening but the sound of her own voice covered any other sound.

A descriptive attribute is used simply to describe an object or give additional information about it: There was a picture of Gleb and a tall fragile fair girl. I showed them an album that contained pictures of some flowers.

From the point of view of their connection with the headword, attributes fall into non-detached (close) and detached (loose).

Non-detached attributes form one sense group with their headword and are not separated from it by commas. They generally adjoin the headword, either premodifying (a nice girl; crimson, white and yellow flowers) or postmodifying (baskets stuffed with towels; the habit of joking at the wrong moment). They are connected with other parts of the sentence only through the headword.

A detached attribute is only loosely connected with its headword and is often optional from the point of view of structure, although very important semantically. It forms a separate sense group in speech and is accordingly separated by commas in writing. It may be placed in preposition, post-position, or often at some distance from the headword. Unlike non-detached attributes, a detached attribute may modify personal and relative pronouns: Clara looked at him, very much disturbed and quite sure that she did not want to marry him. A son of poor but honest parents, I have no reason to be ashamed of my origins.

2.2.3. The adverbial modifies a part of the sentence expressed either by a verb (in a finite or non-finite form), an adjective, a stative, an adverb. An adverbial characterizes the process denoted by the verb from the viewpoint of situation, quality or quantity. An adverbial may refer to the whole of the sentence or to its part: In the evening they gathered together again. I told him again that I do not know about the fact.

Adverbials are elements of clauses with three major functions: to add circumstantial information about the proposition in the clause, to express speaker/writer stance towards the clause, or to link the clause (or some part of it) to some other unit of discourse. Although the relationship between an adverbial and the rest of the clause can differ, it is important to distinguish adverbials from other features which have similar structures but are constituents of a phrase rather than elements of a clause. For example, 1-3 below are adverbials, but 4 and 5 are not: 1. I keep walking in this rubbish. (conv) 2. She grinned widely. (fict) 3. In all honesty, $300 million is not going to make a fundamental change. (news) 4. The $3,000 prize in the women's event went to Bev Nicholson. (news) 5. Widely varying types of land are cultivated. (acad) The prepositional phrase in this rubbish in 1, and the adverb widely in 2, provide circumstantial information for their respective main verbs (walking and grinned). In 3 the prepositional phrase in all honesty provides the speaker's comment about the entire subsequent clause. All three of these examples are thus elements of their clauses and are adverbials. In contrast, the prepositional phrase in the women's event in 4 modifies the noun prize, while the adverb widely in 5 modifies the adjective varying. These examples are therefore only constituents of a noun phrase and adjective phrase, and are not adverbials. Adverbials differ from other clause elements in a number of ways. Consider the following text samples ([] are used to distinguish adjacent sequences of adverbials). 6. As I say, we were eleven hundred feet above sea level and we er really moved [here] [because er I could not stand the er the bad weather]. (conv) 7. In spite of great efforts by their authors, these books usually contain a number of fallacies and errors that are in due course passed on [repeatedly] [by later writers of other books] <.. .> Unfortunately, these authors lack <. ..> (acad) These samples illustrate many of the important characteristics of adverbials: 1) they perform a variety of functions: add information about the circumstances of an activity or state described in a clause (e.g. here, usually); give a speaker's comment on the proposition of a clause (e.g. unfortunately); serve connective functions (e.g. as I say marking a restatement of an earlier utterance); 2) they fulfill a variety of semantic roles even in the short excerpts above, for example, adverbials are used to express location (eleven hundred feet above sea level, here); reason (because ...); concession (in spite of...); agency (by later writers); and attitude (unfortunately); time (usually, in due course, repeatedly) 3) they are realized by a wide range of syntactic forms: adverbs (e.g. here, usually, unfortunately), prepositional phrases (e.g. in spite of great efforts, in due course), and clauses (as I say, because ...); noun phrases; 4) they can be placed in a variety of positions: in the initial position of a clause (e.g. as I say), in one variant of the medial position - i.e. before the main verb but after the subject (e.g. really, usually), and in final position (e.g. here, repeatedly, by later writers...), adverbials can also be placed between the main verb and obligatory final clausal elements; 5) multiple adverbials can occur in a clause. In 7, for example, the first clause (the main clause) has two adverbials (in spite of... and usually) and the subordinate clause has three adverbials (in due course, repeatedly, by ...); 6) finally, most adverbials are optional (the only exceptions are associated with certain verbs that require adverbial complementation, for example, the first sentence in the academic prose sample above would be well-formed without the adverbials: These books contain a number of fallacies and errors that are passed on.

It should be noted that not all adverbials exhibit all of these characteristics to the same extent, since a wide range of structures and functions is included in adverbial modification. Thus, each of these characteristics, the relationships among them, and the association patterns with registers are to be discussed in depth. It seems to be reasonable to start giving overviews from three perspectives: the functional classes of adverbials, the syntactic forms of adverbials, and their positions in clauses.

The three classes of adverbials. Adverbials can be divided into three major classes by their functions: circumstance adverbials, stance adverbials, and linking adverbials. Although each class is an element of a clause, the classes differ in the extent to which they are integrated into the clause structure and the amount of variability in the precise functions of the class.

Circumstance adverbials are the most varied class, as well as the most integrated into the clause structure. Circumstance adverbials add information about the action or state described in the clause, answering questions such as “How, When, Where, How much? To what extent?” and “Why?” They include both obligatory adverbials, as in the first example below, and optional adverbials, as in the second: And where were you this morning then? You weren't in Geography. (conv) Writers on style have differed [a great deal] [in their understanding of the subject]. (acad) Furthermore, circumstance adverbials can have scope over differing amounts of the clause. They may modify an entire clause (in this case with a dependent clause within it): After intensive tests, they believe the AIDS virus had been eradicated from the patient's body. (news) Or they can have scope only over the predicate of the clause, as in the following example where the prepositional phrases add information only about the verb sitting: He was even now sitting [beside her] [on the sofa]. (fict)

The second class of adverbials is stance adverbials. Stance adverbials convey speakers' comments on what they are saying (the content of the message) or they are saying it (the style). Stance adverbials fall into three categories: epistemic, attitude, and style. Epistemic stance adverbials focus on the truth value of the proposition, commenting on factors such as certainty, reality, sources, limitations, and precision of the proposition: Well she definitely looks at her mobile. (conv) (news) From my perspective, it was a clear case of abuse. (news) On the whole, sons-in-law were in better paid jobs than their fathers-in-law.(acad) Attitude stance adverbials express the speaker's attitude towards or evaluation of the content: The Yard's wonder boy, appropriately, descends from the clouds. (fict) To my surprise the space devoted to the kinetic sculptures had a lively and progressive atmosphere. (news ) More importantly, they do not provide information about the chemical composition of the substance. (acad) Finally, style stance adverbials convey a speaker's comment on the style or form of the utterance, often clarifying how the speaker is speaking or how the utterance should be understood: Well, yes, technically speaking, I guess it is burnt. (conv) That proves at least that Cassetti or Ratchett, as I shall continue to call him, was certainly alive at twenty minutes to one. At twenty-three minutes to one, to be precise. (fict) Quite frankly, we are having a bad year. (news)

In most cases, as in all of the above examples, stance adverbials have scope over the entire clause; that is, the adverbial provides a comment on the content or style of the entire proposition. In addition, unlike some circumstance adverbials, stance adverbials are always optional.

The third class of adverbials is linking adverbials. Linking adverbials have a more peripheral relationship with the rest of the clause than circumstance adverbials typically do. Rather than adding additional information to a clause, they serve a connective function. They make explicit the relationship between two units of discourse, as in the following examples: 1. They were kid boots at eight shillings a pair. He, however, thought them the most dainty boots in the world, and he cleaned them with as much reverence as if they had been flowers. (fict) 2. Some hospitals use their own ethics committees to settle such cases, but a hospital's biases could creep into its committee's decisions, Ms. Yuen says. Furthermore, the committee's decision wouldn't be legally binding and wouldn't shield a physician from liability. (news) 3. Now clearly, such semiotics are often manipulated <...>. Nonetheless, these Latin and North American "ethno-semantics" capture an important sense in which capitalistic labor is "unproductive" in a material sense. (acad) As the above examples illustrate, linking adverbials can connect units of discourse of differing sizes. The linked units may be sentences, as in 1 and 2. The units may also be larger than the sentence, as in 3 where nonetheless connects the subsequent sentence with several preceding sentences about such semiotics. Linking adverbials can express a variety of relationships, including addition and enumeration, summation, apposition, result/inference, contrast/concession, and transition.

Syntactic realizations of adverbials. Adverbials are realized by a variety of syntactic forms. In terms of overall frequency, prepositional phrases are the most common syntactic realization of adverbials. Adverbs are also relatively common as adverbials. In comparison, noun phrases, adverb phrases finite and non-finite clauses are relatively rare: (1) single adverbs and adverb phrases: Oh she never does anything does she? (conv) We know each other very well and frankly we would have preferred to come out of that first. (news); (2) noun phrases (including single nouns): Well I went to that wedding Saturday. (conv) The man came to stay with them for a few weeks each year. (fict); (3) prepositional phrases: The man came to stay [with them] [for a few weeks] each year. (fict) In this chapter three of the most important approaches are examined. (acad); finite clauses: I had to turn it off earlier because Rupert was shrieking. (conv) If you read these stories day by day, you simply don't realize how many there are. (news); (4) non-finite clauses: He got up and refilled the teapot, then his cup, adding a touch of skimmed milk. (fict)

The high frequency of prepositional phrases as adverbials is due to their common use as circumstance adverbials (by far the most common class of adverbials). Prepositional phrases are particularly suited to use as circumstance adverbials because they allow a wide range of meanings of this sort to be expressed. The prepositions themselves can convey a wide variety of relationships and the complement of the preposition can be selected to express the specific content of the phrase. Even a small number of examples can illustrate the widely variable uses for prepositional phrases as circumstance adverbials. Identification of location: You're not from this area though are you ? (conv) Specification of the respect in which action of the verb is relevant: I wish they'd stop going on about Christmas. (conv); Identification of an agent: French astronomers report that a vast, hitherto-unknown galaxy at the very edge of the universe has been purchased by Japanese investors. (news); Expression of result: Two patients died as a consequence of the complications. (acad) Unlike circumstance adverbials realized by a prepositional phrase, many stance and linking adverbials have a more fixed meaning. For example, the same single adverbs expressing comments of certainty/doubt and style are repeatedly used as stance adverbials in clauses with very different content: That's probably why I've been getting low. (conv) If he had shouted class or guilt after it, it would probably have answered. (news ) These factors are probably important in the development and regeneration of the nervous system. (acad) Well that's true of course. (conv) There must be a limit to how much cloth you can cram into any one house, but of course it's disposable. (fict) I do not, of course, wish to argue that the writing of the authors discussed in this book represent the only significant streams of social thought. (acad) Frankly I think that's very bad. (conv) Frankly I don't know why I sit here drinking with you. (fict) Frankly, few societies would have tackled even the choreography of this week's presentation. (news)

Interestingly, the finite clauses and prepositional phrases realizing stance adverbials also tend to be more fixed expressions than the prepositional phrases realizing circumstance adverbials: If you want my opinion, the old boy's a terrifically distinguished Wales. (fict) Egypt, it seems, is not preparing or more realistically, does not have me resources to change the environment. (news) Yet many of the crowd were kept interested by the possibility of victory, which is, I suppose, what derbies are about. (news) In fact I might not even need to vacuum the floor. (conv) By any reckoning, Alun has done some good things. (fict)

The particularly strong preference of linking adverbials for single adverbs reflects their relatively fixed nature and more restricted repertoire. The saw relationship (exemplified below with contrast or concession) is often marked with a single linking adverbial in texts with very different content. These fixed linking adverbials tend to be single adverbs (including some multi-word expressions which have become single words, such as nevertheless): A further $13 a week goes on fuel. Nevertheless, families still manage to set aside Ј40.90 a week for leisure goods and services. (news) The 29 other defendants were found not guilty and acquitted. Only eight were released, however, because the other 21 face a second trial for "economic crimes". (news) Prepositional phrases used as linking adverbials, like those for stance adverbials, also tend to be more fixed phrases than those used as circumstance adverbials:"Gossip is mischievous, light and easy to raise, but grievous to bear and hard to get rid of." In other words, mud sticks. (news) While further compounding the small numbers problem, there were interesting differences between the two course types. For example, specialist students of control were almost twice as likely to be in work than those pursuing control n conversion mode. (acad) The promiscuous princess quickly becomes a pawn. As a result, the aging princess becomes bitter and cynical about men. (acad)

Positions of adverbials in the clause. An important characteristic of adverbials is that they can occur in a variety of positions in a clause. Four major positions can be distinguished, with some positions including more than one variant. It is also possible for more than one adverbial to occur at each of the positions.

Initial position. The adverbial is in the first position in the clause, occurring before the subject or other obligatory elements of the clause: In the nature of things, a good many somebodies are always in hospital. (fict) [Generally], [however], the plants under consideration have been annuals, seedlings or cuttings of perennials grown under controlled conditions. (acad)

Medial position. This includes all positions between obligatory initial and final clausal elements. Several more specific positions can be distinguished. First, adverbials can be placed between the subject and the beginning of the verb phrase: Jean never put anything away. (conv) Mr. Chris Patten, the environment secretary, yesterday moved to mitigate the effects of the inland revenue revaluation. (news) When an operator is present, the adverbial can be placed after the operator before the main verb: Carrie had often dreamed about coming hack. (fict) The utilisation of computers is not of course limited to business. (acad)

Adverbials can also be placed after the main verb but preceding other obligatory elements of the clause, such as obligatory adverbials, subject predicatives, and direct objects. When this placement occurs with he as a main verb, it can be considered a special case of placement immediately after the operator: It is still three weeks away. (conv) For it is no longer a casino. (fict) However, adverbials are also occasionally placed after other main verbs: Kathy Acker's off-the-shoulder dress displayed to advantage her collection of off-the-shoulder tattoos. (news) In this example the adverbial precedes the direct object of displayed. The adverbial is in the final position in the clause, after all obligatory elements (though it may not be the last element if there are other final adverbials in the same clause): And he's trailing some [in the hack window] [as well]. (conv) There was an extensive literature on agriculture in Roman times which maintained a pre-eminent position until comparatively recently. (acad) In conversation and occasionally in dialog in fiction, speakers will co-construct clauses or clarify each others' speech so that one speaker adds an adverbial to another speaker's utterance, for example: A: I mean you don't have to pay for those. B: Oh for the films (conv) In these cases, when the second utterance is clearly an adverbial relating to the first speaker’s utterance, the position is identified as other speaker main clause. In some cases, particularly due to the fragmented nature of conversation, adverbials occur without a main verb in a clause. In the following excerpt, for example, the meaning clearly is “your potato fork is on the table” but it is impossible to assign a precise position to the adverbial: Are you gonna have a potato fork? There you are. On the table.(conv) In overall frequency, final position is by far the most common position of adverbials. Initial and medial positions are relatively common, while adverbials connected to other speakers’ main clauses are rare. Adverbials are expressed by an adverb (She sings beautifully), a noun (Wait a moment ), a gerund (Switch off the light before leaving the house), an infinitive phrase (We've come Britain to study the language), a participle (Sighing, Roberta told him the truth). It may also be expressed by a phrase (We met ten years ago), a predicative complex (There having been no rain, the earth was dry), or a clause (We stayed at home because it rained).

1.Circumstance adverbials. Semantically, adverbials are divided into seven major categories with several of the major classes having subclasses within them:

• Time: position in time, duration, frequency, temporal relationship;

• Place: distance, direction, position;

• Process: manner proper, comparison, accompaniment; means, instrument, agent;

• Contingency: reason,/cause, purpose, concession, condition, result;

• Extent/degree: amplifier, diminisher;

• Adition/restriction: addition, restriction;

• Recipient:

• Other:

Time adverbials are used to convey four time-related meanings. First, these circumstance adverbials can indicate position in time, telling when an event took place. Answering the question (when?), they express time proper: We’ll meet tomorrow night (conv) Perhaps we can put that right in June. (news) It is not uncommon nowadays to have many hundreds of cattle in one building. (acad) Another meaning of time adverbials is duration, describing how long an event lasted: Have you been here long? - A couple of hours. It was still raining.(conv) It lasted years. (conv) Time adverbials can also convey frequency, describing how often an event occurs: We often see each other (conv) Occasionally she would like to gaze out the window. (fict) Soon he was working once or twice a week round the local pubs. (news) Furthermore, the term register is sometimes used to refer to … (acad) Finally, time adverbials can convey the temporal relationship between two events/states: I want to clean the floor before I take a load of stuff in. (conv) After this the conversation sank for a while into mere sociability. (fict) Note that the store location accessed still contains a copy of the information. (acad)

Place adverbials convey distance, direction, or position. Place proper adverbials typically answer the question (where?), direction or destination - (where to? where from?), distance - (how far?) and include both general descriptions of distance and specific measurements: I had to go a long way to put the camp behind me. (fict) John was born in Australia, but lives far from his parents, in England (fict) He had traveled some miles, his horse and he. (fict) A woman who fell 50 feet down a cliff was rescued by a Royal Navy helicopter. (news)

Direction adverbials describe the pathway of an action. Some give a general orientation of the direction, for instance, southwards, while others describe direction from a point of origin, for instance, from here or towards a destination, for instance, to the capitol: And they went from here about - nine-ish, I suppose? (conv) You will admit that when you bring dung into the field it is to return to the soil something that has been taken away. (acad)

Position adverbials occur most often with stative verbs. However, as the following examples illustrate, they also occur with communication and activity verbs, e.g. discuss, build up:It would be cold up there. (conv) A Panamanian passenger bus lay in a ditch. (news) In the process an information model is nuilt up on a computer database.(acad)

Process adverbials cover a wide range of semantic roles and are a less unified group than place or time adverbials. The most common subcategory of process adverbials is manner, which describes the way in which something is done. They characterize the action by indicating the way it is performed or by what means it is achieved (how? in what way? by what means?): We were frantically doing that painting. (conv) I found myself writing slowly, and rewriting, [piecemeal], [endlessly]. (fict) This is blue-sky country where they play their music in that western way. (news)

Adverbials of comparison can also be considered manner adverbials, comparing the manner of a state or action relative to another. Adverbials of comparison are introduced by the conjunctions than, as, as if, as though or the preposition like: A mountain is higher than a hill. Tom speaks French like a Frenchman. There are few better exponents of the art of looking as though life is a complete grind. (news) Then I would go through the refrigerator like a vacuum cleaner, sucking in whatever there was. (fict) The lip curled like a snail's foot, the left nostril gaped. (fict) Those adverbials that show accompaniment are also included under the category of manner. As the following examples illustrate, these adverbials lie along a continuum from clearly conveying manner to encompassing more ambiguous meanings: 1. I had dinner with Clay the other night. (conv) 2. I would feel safer leaving with somebody else anyway. (conv) Such occurrences, as examples 1 and 2, contain adverbials that show physical accompaniment. Though they are not always obvious answers to a 'How?' question, they can be replaced with the opposite manner adverbials such as independently or by myself and thus fit the manner category most clearly. Process circumstance adverbials also include the subcategory of means - that is, adverbials telling the means by which an activity or state was accomplished: The US, as the country of origin for the uranium, had originally insisted that shipments be made by air. (news) We examined this question by excluding birds for 3 years from experimental plots. (acad) Thoughts are expressed by means of words (conv). Further, process adverbials include instrument adverbials, describing the item used to undertake a task: Well you can listen to what you've taped with headphones. (conv) She tried a bottle; when it could not suck from the bottle she fed it with a teaspoon (fict) Finally, agentive adverbials specify the agent of an action and are used with passive constructions corresponding to the subject of an active voice construction: The naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns. (fict) Empirical data show that similar processes can be guided quite differently by users with different views on the purpose of the communication. (acad)

Contingency adverbials show how one event or state is contingent upon another, including: cause, reason, purpose, concession, condition, and result.

Despite the diversity in the category, several of the subcategories are closely related. In particular, cause and reason both answer the question 'Why?' Traditionally, cause has been associated with a relatively objective statement, as in 1, while reason has implied a more subjective assessment, as in 2: 1. He was buried under bricks, and died of head injuries. (news) 2. He's quite frightened cos he doesn't know you. (conv) In the majority of cases, however, it is difficult to judge the level of objectivity and thus to discern between cause and reason, as with the following examples: Well I can imagine other people wearing big earrings because they're super confident. (conv) Because Allitt opted not to go into the witness box, the defence case lasted just two and a half days. (news)

Purpose adverbials answer the identifying questions “What for?” “For what purpose?” They can be paraphrased as “for the purpose of”, as in the following examples: I've got to talk to you to explain what we're doing. (conv) They were pussy cats, and although some of them carried weapons, the knives were just for show. (fict) Other life insurers sought to increase their distribution networks, either increasing their branches or their personnel in a variety of ways in order to market their products in increasingly competitive environments. (news) Purpose adverbials are also closely related to reason adverbials. It is possible, for instance, to paraphrase the first example above as 'The reason I've got to talk to you is to explain what we're doing.' Concessive circumstance adverbials are used to express material that runs counter to the proposition of the rest of the clause or, in the case of adverbials realized as clauses, counter to the proposition in the main clause: 1700 miners have been out for seven months and, despite intimidation, no one has gone back to work. (news) Although it has been used by others, this book is written for beginning students who have had no previous college science courses. (acad) I suppose I wanted her timeless, though there is no such thing on earth. (fict)

Conditional adverbials express the conditions which hold on the proposition of the main clause, including both positive and negative conditions: And if you were in the mood we could at least go. (conv) These people cannot operate unless they receive support. (news) Adverbials of condition answer the questions in what case? on what condition?: But for you I wouldn't be here in time. (conv) Without faith there can be no cure. (news) I would have done better to be followed my first thought. (fict)

Adverbials of result (consequence) expressed by an infinitive, an infinitive phrase or complex refer to an adjective or an adverb accompanied by an adverb of degree, such as too, enough, sufficiently, so...(as): It is too cold to go out. He spoke slowly enough for us to take notes. (conv)

Adverbials of concession express some idea that is in contradiction with what is stated in the modified part of the sentence: In spite of his anger John listened to me attentively.(conv) With all his faults, I like his way of speaking (fict). Though a bad painter, he had a delicate feeling for color. (news)

Adverbials of attendant circumstances express some fact at accompanies the event presented by the modified part of the sentence: We walked three miles without meeting anyone. "No," said Lisa, turning to his son.(conv)

Adverbials of subsequent events point out an event modifying the event presented in the modified part of the sentence: They said something to her, receiving no answer. (conv)

Extent/degree circumstance adverbials tell the extent to which a proposition holds, answering questions such as 'How much/many?' and 'To what extent?' Adverbials of degree modify various parts of the sentence expressed by verbs, adjectives, adverbs and statives, characterizing functions, states and quality from the viewpoint of their intensity: The story is extremely long. All was planned in the split second. Now you may read to your heart's content.(conv) Extent/degree adverbials can show amounts, either in exact terms or more generally: She's getting on a bit now. (conv) The government had predicted that rateable values would rise by about seven times. (news) They can either amplify the intensity of the clause proposition, sometimes called amplifiers or intensifiers, or lower the intensity, also called diminishers: In places the grass was gone altogether, (fict) She looked very much like her mother. (fict) The idea is for them eventually to be restored completely. (news) You know, I think you can fix it by pulling the prongs out a little bit. (conv) He hardly dared to look at what was framed in the hole in the sheet. (fict) The land tenure system varies slightly from place to place. (acad)

Additive adverbials show that a current proposition is being added to a previous one: 1. Someday you'll be old, too, Carol. (conv) 2. Known in Bolivia as the 'Minister of Cocaine', Mr. Arce Gomez also has a grisly human rights reputation. (news) 3. The tycoon, who is also chairman of Dublin-based independent newspapers, now has a 1.3 shareholding. (news) It is important to note that these additive circumstance adverbials have a slightly different focus from linking adverbials of addition. Unlike linking adverbials, additive circumstance adverbials do not serve primarily to link units of discourse; their primary purpose is to show that one bit of propositional content is being added to a previously mentioned idea or entity.

Restrictive adverbials emphasize that the proposition is true in a way which expressly excludes some other possibilities: The villagers say jokingly that only a sick man would choose such a remote place to build. (fict) That is, the time taken to access a store location in order to store or retrieve information is constant and in particular is independent of the particular location being accessed. (acad) In some cases, adverbials combine qualities of both the restrictive and extent/degree categories. Particularly the adverb just, common in conversation, often seems to have qualities of both restricting the action and lessening the intensity: I just want to show you the tape I bought. (conv) It's just that he wanted to see Jenny in front of everyone else (conv) Well they just fell behind you know. (conv)

By the way, the word just is one of the very common adverbials in conversational discourse. It not only fulfils the primary semantic purpose of restriction, but also has more subtle functions that are especially useful in face-to-face interactions. The primary semantic role as a restrictive adverb is clear in the following examples, where just is used to focus on the part of the clause for which the truth value of the proposition is most important: I just can’t believe it. (conv) It’s just crazy! (conv) When used with imperatives, just has a somewhat different function, conveying a strong sense of “I’m not asking so much, only this one thing” or Don’t argue; simply do as I say:

Just stay here! (conv) Just give me some water! (conv) However, in another context, just has the effect of softening what is being said. This occurs particularly when people are justifying their or others’ actions, or making a claim on another’s attention: I’m just correcting her! (conv) Let me just show you this. (conv) As these examples show, the slightly different impacts that just can have make it a useful adverbial for a variety of contexts in conversation. A feature shared by additive and restrictive adverbials is that, unlike many other adverbials, they often cannot be moved without affecting their meaning in the clause. The position of the adverbial is important in determining what element of the clause is the focus of the addition or restriction. Thus, the following pairs of sentences are not equivalent: A heart born especially for me, Jackie used to tease. (fict) Especially a heart born for me, Jackie used to tease. Mr. Arce Gomez also has a grisly human rights reputation. (news) Also Mr. Arce Gomez has a grisly human rights reputation. (fict)

Recipient adverbials (including what are sometimes called benefactive adverbials, typically expressed by for-phrases) identify the target of an action. In the majority of cases, the recipient is a person or group of people: 1. Did you hear what happened to me? (conv) 2. Okay and then I'll just write the check for you. (conv) 3. OHA will present the referendum results to the Democrat-controlled Legislature. (news) However, other animate and even inanimate objects can occur in recipient adverbials: 4. Special cages have been developed for wild mice. (acad) 6. I think we're getting that for our house. (conv) Recipient adverbials occur both in contexts that show volition and those that do not.

Adverbials of exception are expressed by nouns or preposition phrases: I looked everywhere except in the bedroom.(conv) Our cat eats nothing but fish. Your composition is good apart from spelling.(conv)

From the point of view of their connection with the headword, adverbials are divided into non-detached and detached. Detached adverbials being more loosely related to the modified parts of the sentence than non-detached adverbials are ever obligatory. They are separated from the rest of the sentence by intonation in speaking and by commas in writing. Owing to their structure and meaning, absolute constructions are nearly always detached: We saw the ship, its decks broken ( fict). Participial phrases as adverbials tend to be detached: She then returned to her empty house, not having spoken a word. Any adverbial may be detached if the speaker wishes to emphasize its meaning. “She is my mother,” said Florance, happily. Independent elements are not grammatically dependent on any particular part of the sentence, but as a rule refer to the sentence as a whole. They are optional elements: they can be added to or removed from the sentence without the rest of the construction being affected. They may occur in different positions in the sentence, conveying different kinds of nuance and emphasis.Epistemic stance markers can also be used for emphasis: I need the person to go with because definitely you need a person to go with. (conv) In this example the reason clause does not give a reason; it simply restates the idea of the main clause with a stance adverbial conveying certainty. The above examples serve to illustrate the point that stance adverbials can be multi-functional in discourse. Though these functions can be important in all registers, they are often most obvious in conversation.

Although many circumstance adverbials clearly fit only one of the seven major semantic categories, not all occurrences of circumstance adverbials are so clear cut. First, there are many cases in which adverbials fit primarily into one category, but have secondary roles that fit another semantic category. Manner adverbials in particular often include aspects of another semantic category; for example, slowly and quickly in the examples below are not only descriptions of the manner of an action, but can also be interpreted as describing duration: I've started but it's going rather slowly. (conv) They evidently expected him to go quickly. (fict) Other manner adverbials can include a meaning of extent/degree: They have no desire to investigate this matter properly. (news) The disease pattern has changed radically. (acad) In addition, certain adverbials have extremely ambiguous meanings. The ambiguity in the use of just as restrictive and extent/degree was noted above. ing-clauses often present an even greater problem for interpretation. These clauses typically have an implicit and somewhat ill-defined relationship with the main clause. Consider the following: 1. Watching him as the days went by, the guilty collector had noticed signs of physical and moral decline. (fict) 2. Three weeks ago Swedish and Scottish police searched Talb's flat in Uppsala, removing fifteen bags of clothing. (news) 3. The result of the operation is placed in the accumulator, destroying its previous contents. (acad) In 1, the adverbial clause could be interpreted as showing a concurrent time relationship (i.e. while watching him, the collector noticed the decline) or as giving a reason (i.e. because he watched him, the collector noticed the decline). In 2 and 3, the adverbial clause could be interpreted as describing a result, a concurrent time relationship, or an event that happened in a time sequence. Circumstance adverbials can also serve functions similar to linking adverbials. Much of the information in circumstance adverbials creates cohesion with information that has come before. For example, the time adverbials then and meanwhile show the connection between the events in the previous clause and the subsequent clause: He plonked the bottle on the table, and shambled muttering round the corner. Then he put his head back into sight. (fict) The 21 sambas originally submitted were whittled to one. Meanwhile, seamstresses and tailors all over Rio made costumes. (news) With adverbials such as these, the connective function is made semantically, through the circumstantial information which indicates time relationships. Thus, they are still categorized as circumstance adverbials. Place, time, process, and contingency are the four most common categories of adverbials in all four registers; however, their order of frequency varies across registers:

• In conversation, time and place are almost equally the most common.

• In fiction, place, process, and time are all frequent, following that order.

• In news, time dominates, followed by place, then process.

• In academic prose, only process stands out.

Within the category of process adverbials, manner is by far the most common subcategory in all four registers. Agentive adverbials are moderately common only in news and academic prose. The means and instrument subcategories are rare in all four registers.

2. Linking adverbials. The primary function of linking adverbials is to state the speaker/writer's perception of the relationship between two units of discourse. Because they explicitly signal the connections between passages of text, linking adverbials are important devices for creating textual cohesion, alongside coordinators and subordinators.

Semantic categories of linking adverbials A variety of different relationships can be marked by linking adverbials. We distinguish six general semantic categories, described below.

Enumeration and addition. Linking adverbials can be used for the enumeration of pieces of information in an order chosen by the speaker/writer and for the addition of items of discourse to one another. Linking adverbials used for enumeration include ordinal numbers such as first and second, and adverbs such as finally and lastly, as well as other structures such as prepositional phrases: This new structure must accomplish two special purposes. First, as a part of overcoming the division of Europe there must be an opportunity to overcome through peace and freedom the division of Berlin and of Germany. Second, the architecture should reflect that American's security remains linked to Europe. (news) We are already acquainted with six properties which may be used to describe the thermodynamic state of a system: pressure, volume, temperature, internal energy, enthalpy, and entropy <.. .> Lastly, entropy S was shown to be a property as a consequence of the First Law. (acad) He couldn't bring himself to say what he thought. For one thing, she seldom stopped to listen. For another, he doubted that he could make himself clear. (fict) In some cases the order of enumeration follows real-life logical or time sequence orders but this need not be so. For example, in the last sample above, the pieces of information could have been enumerated in the opposite order. Other enumerating adverbials include: firstly, secondly, thirdly (etc.), in the first/second place, first of all, for one thing, for another thing, to begin with etc. In some cases, linking adverbials simply mark the next unit of being added to the previous one: Mr. Justice Hirst said that the criteria in determining whether an oversee company had established a place of business in Great Britain were summarised in Palmer's Company Law, 24th edn (1987) page 1658. Further, a visible sign or physical indication was not essential. (news)

It should be noted that in the first example the addition is directly that of the writer. While in the second example it is attributed to Mr. Justice Hirst. Furthermore, further in the second example links not to the entire preceding sentence, but just to the reported speech clause following said. Other additive linking adverbials include also, by the same token, furthermore, likewise, and moreover.

Summation. Adverbials marking summation show that a unit of discourse is intended conclude or sum up the information in the preceding discourse: In sum, then, to account for a synchronic assimilation from [k] to [t] under this view, the processes of tier promotion and complex segment simplification must apply along with the spreading of the assimilation feature. (acad) To conclude, we may place the three notions of saliency in an ordered relation as follows…(acad) Other summative adverbials include all in all, in conclusion, overall, to and to summarize.

Apposition. Adverbials of apposition show that the second unit of text is to be treated as equivalent to or included in the preceding unit. An appositive linking adverbial can be used to show that the second unit be taken as a restatement of the first, reformulating the information it expresses some way or stating it in more explicit terms: I looked into my Being, all that lovely light and rotting nerve, and proceeded to listen. Which is to say, I looked out deep into that shimmer of past death and new madness. The current edition <.. .> shows that road users cover their track costs by a factor of 2.4 to 1. In other words, users of all types pay almost two and a half times as much in taxes as is spent on all road costs. (news) All the items would have low omission rates among the bottom 20 per cent band of attainers nationally; that is, they would not deter this group of pupils, who would be willing to have a go at them. (acad) In many cases, the second unit of text is an example. It is therefore presented as information that is in some sense included in, rather than exactly equivalent to, the previous text (marked in []): She understood [the parameters of the picnics all too well]. E.g. they could not go to the beach because of the sand. (fict) If a population becomes highly entrained, [its diversity is greatly reduced]. For example, the age structure could become very narrow. (acad) It's also an opportunity to say that [the US supermarket papers are streets ahead when it comes to headline writing].

Result/Inference. Linking adverbials in the result/inference category show that the second unit of discourse states the result or consequence–either logical or practical–of the preceding discourse:This year's commitment we will not reach this year. Therefore, we'll be into deficit! (conv) I once acquired a set of recordings of a Bach piano concerto. I was very fond of it, but my mother was forever criticizing and chastising my poor taste <...>. Consequently, I now hardly listen to Each. (fict) As the spatial file contains all the geometric relationships necessary to specify the body, this can be used to generate any pictorial view. It is thus not necessary to produce an engineering drawing specifically for the purpose of showing everyone what it looks like. (acad) Other typical resultive linking adverbials are as a result, hence, in consequence, and thus. In conversation this category is also commonly realized by so. In some cases, so clearly marks a resultive relationship: 1. He's being a zombie, so he's coming downstairs with two sleeping bags over the top of his head and knocking everything over. (conv) 2. Oh well you've seen it anyway, so I won't put it on. (conv)

In both of these examples, so introduces the result of the event which has already been stated in the first clause. So clearly has the same meaning as other resultive adverbials, and could, for example, be replaced with therefore. However, so does not always have such a clear role. At times, it appears to be used to show the result of something understood from the context that is not available to analysts of a written transcription. In the following example, so could relate to some accompanying action that is not put into words (presenting a finished product, putting away tools, closing a book, etc.) which suggests work is finished: Okay so that's that. (conv) The result/inference category also includes inferential linking adverbials, which mark one idea as an inferred result of another:He works late. How am I supposed to get there then? (conv) In this example, then marks the connection between the idea of the first clause (his working late) and the speaker's problem of getting to another location. However, this connection is not as overtly stated as with many resultive adverbials (e.g. He works late; therefore, he cannot drive me there.)

Contrast/concession. The category of contrast/concession is broader than many other categories of linking adverbials, containing items that in some way mark incompatibility between information in different discourse units, or that signal concessive relationships. Some adverbials clearly mark contrasts, alternatives, or differences: Administration officials, notably the White House Chief of Staff and Deputy Treasury Secretary, were irked by his independence. On the other hand, Taylor reportedly is well-regarded by Treasury officials for his low-key, out-of-the-limelight style. (news) Many statutory water companies are already saddled with high borrowings. In contrast, the water authorities are going into the private sector flush with cash. (news)

Other adverbials more clearly mark a concessive relationship, showing that the subsequent discourse expresses some reservation about the idea in the preceding clause: A: Wish I could afford a new car, I would love a nice new car! We won't be able to afford one for a couple years yet. B: You could afford a Mini though. (conv) Now that the lawyers have taken over, science will never be able to reach a verdict, and anyway it no longer matters. (news) In some cases, elements of contrast and concession are combined in uses of linking adverbials: Until recently hypobiosis was not considered to be a feature of this genus. However, there is now ample evidence in temperate areas that hypobiosis plays an important part in the epidemiology, the seasonal occurrence being similar to that of Ostertagia spp. (acad) Other examples of contrast/concession linking adverbials can be grouped according to their primary meaning: focus on contrast - conversely, instead, on the contrary, in contrast, by comparison; focus on concession - anyhow, besides, nevertheless, still, in any case, at any rate, in spite of that, after all.

Linking adverbials of transition mark the insertion of an item that does not follow directly from the previous discourse. The new information is not incompatible with what it is linked to but rather it is signalled as only loosely connected, or unconnected. That is, these adverbials mark the transition to another, usually tangential, topic. Certain occurrences of now and meanwhile are transition linking adverbials, as are the following: "It reminds one of some story in Punch. Did you know there was a place called Punch in Kashmir by the by?" (fict) It seems clear that there is nothing for it hut to go hack and attack the first difficulties again. Incidentally, one way to motivate yourself if things do get sticky is to imagine that you have to explain the subject to the class the next day. (acad)

Linking adverbials can have functions that overlap with those of circumstance and stance adverbials. For example, consider the following use of thus: When the democratically-elected Colombian senate rejected Mr. Roosevelt's proposal because the money offered was too low, he sponsored the invasion instead. Thus Panama gained its independence from Colombia and the Canal Zone was horn. (news) In this passage, thus marks the second sentence as containing the result of the first. However, it can also be interpreted as a circumstance adverbial, equivalent to in this way. Some occurrences of linking adverbials also blend functions of stance adverbials. Certain summative linking adverbials, in particular, not only mark summation, but also include the sense of a style stance adverbial, because the summative statement is a brief analysis of a situation. In the following passage, in sum seems closely related to the stance adverbial in brief: Inevitably it must be answered in such a way as to produce either a kind of dualism or atrue monism. In the former case, mental indispensability cannot be achieved by what is on hand. In the latter case, the upshot is Local Idealism. Identity Theories, in sum, face a defeating dilemma. (acad)

3. Stance adverbials have the primary function of commenting on the content or style of a clause or a particular part of a clause. Stance adverbials are much less common than circumstance adverbials. In fact, most sentences in English do not contain stance adverbials. Rather, they are statements made without overt stance markers:They went to some park in Ann Arbor and got an ice cream and sat around, walked around Ann Arbor and then went back to the car and got their stuff. (conv) The Queen of England will race a horse in the United States for the first time in 35 years at Arlington International Racecourse. (news)

Of course, even circumstance adverbials can imply some comment on the form or style of a proposition. For example, the following circumstance adverbials can be interpreted as showing the speaker/writer's assessment of the situation: 1. The disease pattern has changed radically. (acad) 2. I was only asking. (conv) In 1, the use of radically shows the writer's assessment of the change–that whatever amount it is exactly, it is radical. In 2, only conveys the speaker's attitude that asking should not be taken as a very serious or intrusive action. However, with stance adverbials, the author/speaker's attitude or comment on the content is much more overt: 3. Ruth was definitely at Goosehill School. (conv) 4. It was funny, though, how Christmas undeniably brought out the gentler, kinder aspects of human nature. (fict) 5. Regrettably, last night's audience was a meagre one, but what they got was impressive. (news) In these examples, statements of certainly (definitely, undeniably) and the attitude of regret (regrettably) are overtly stated. Furthermore, stance adverbials are frequently distinguishable by their greater potential mobility and prosodic separation from the rest of a clause. It should also be noted that stance can be conveyed with constructions other than adverbials. These other stance devices include nouns (e.g. the fact that...), modal auxiliaries and main verbs (it maybe, it seems that...), and adjectives (e.g. it is likely that ...). In conversation paralinguistic features such as prosody and loudness can also function as markers of stance. Stance adverbials fall into three major semantic categories: epistemic, attitude, and style. Epistemic stance adverbials and attitude stance adverbials both comment on the content of a proposition. Epistemic markers express the speaker's judgment about the certainty, reliability, and limitations of the proposition; they can also comment on the source of the information. Attitude stance adverbials convey the speaker's attitude or value judgment about the proposition's content. Style adverbials, in contrast, describe the manner of speaking.

Epistemic adverbials are the most diverse category of stance adverbials. Typicall they convey one of the following six major areas of meaning. Doubt and certainty adverbials show the speaker's certainty or doubt about the proposition in the clause. They include both absolute judgments of certainty and indication of belief in various levels of probability. Expressing certainty:No doubt his bifocals added to this impression, as did his nonchalant gait and slouchy posture. (fict) That sort of gossip certainly should be condemned. (news) During the action the person will undoubtedly have certain feelings towards it and gain satisfaction from achievement. (acad) Expressing doubt: In spite of that it was probably more comfortable than the home they'd left anyway. (conv) And perhaps the soul thrived on its sufferings. (fict) Maybe it is true, maybe it isn't. (news) Others epistemic stance adverbials of certainty or doubt include: arguably, decidedly, definitely, incontestably, incontrovertibly, most likely, very likely, quite likely, of course, I guess, I think.

Actuality and reality adverbials comment on the status of the proposition as real-life fact: In fact I'm taller than the doors. (conv) Everybody remembers where they were when JFK was shot and now a new round of "Who Really Killed the President" books are coming out. (news) Not all the evidence by any means concurs with the view that women were actually superior to men in some respects. (acad) In actual fact, for a fact, and truly are other typical stance adverbials of reality or actuality.

Source of knowledge adverbials show the source of the information reported in the associated proposition. These adverbials include adverbs such as evidently, apparently, reportedly, and reputedly which allude to evidence supporting the proposition: Evidently, the stock market believes that matters will not rest there anв Pearl's share price raced up 87p to 639p. (news) Today it was the dish towel she'd brought with her. Apparently, Rosie had interrupted her in the middle of some chore. (fict) These adverbials may also identify a specific source: Egypt's nuclear power industry is still in the design phase, but according to Mr. Kandil, nuclear power was the only clean energy alternative for Egypt. (news)

Limitation. Epistemic adverbials can mark the limitation of the proposition: In most cases he would have been quite right. (fict) Its footage is mainly licensed world-wide to film makers for inclusion in features and documentaries. (news) Typically there is a pair of ganglia in each segment of the body. (acad) Other stance adverbials commonly used to mark limitation include: generally, largely, in general and in most cases. In comparison with these stance adverbials, circumstance adverbials of respect limit the application of a proposition in somewhat different way. Viewpoint or perspective. Epistemic adverbials can mark the viewpoint or perspective from which the proposition is true: In our view it would be a backward step. (news) From our perspective, movement success is paradoxical. (acad) Such stance adverbials often include a possessive pronoun, as in examples and the expression in my opinion. Imprecision. A number of epistemic adverbials are used to show that the propolis: conveyed is somehow imprecise: Men were like literally throwing themselves at me. (conv) It kept sort of pouring out of his pocket, my brother said. (FICT) Indeed, the only real drawback, if you can call it that, is that people continually coming up and congratulating us on our victory over England (news) As in the examples above, the adverbials showing imprecision can be for particular element of the clause - e.g. marking the word drawback as able. Other expressions typically used as stance adverbials of imprecision about, kind of, roughly, and so to speak. All of these markers of imprecision can be considered the classification that also includes non-adverbial items, and which is not easily distinguishable from degree. Attitude adverbials. Attitude adverbials tell of the writer's or speaker's attitude toward the typically conveying an evaluation, value judgment, or assessment of expectations: Unfortunately I have too many of them but someday you'll be old too.(conv ) Fortunately, during my first few months here, I kept a journal. (fict) Born to salty, honest East End folk - this was hinted at, the script sensibly avoiding the risk of fleshing them out – he had risen in the city. (news ) Later cretaceous chalks (still contemporaneous with the European development) are found in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. And most surprising of all, much farther away still in western Australia, we have the gingin chalk of late cretaceous age. (acad ) Often these adverbials can be restated as to-clauses or that-clauses with adjective describing attitude, e.g. It is fortunate/unfortunate that..., I think it sensibly that...,It is surprising that.. A wide variety of attitudes, judgments, expectations can be conveyed by items are as semantically diverse as the following: Accordance with expectation - as might be expected, inevitably, as you might guess, to my surprise, astonishingly. Evaluation - conveniently, wisely, sensibly, unfortunately, quite rightly, even worse, disturbingly.Judgment of importance - even more importantly. In addition, the adverb hopefully is sometimes used as an attitude stance adverbial: Hopefully it's self-explanatory. (conv).Hopefully their detective will be equally lost as to where to find him. (fict Jose Ramon, a new chef who arrived at the Guernica two months ago, will hopefully maintain these high standards. (news) Hopefully this problem will be solved when the group is thoroughly revised. (acad) In these examples, the meaning might be glossed as I am hopeful that. Although writing manuals often warn against this use of hopefully, it occurs in the more formal registers of news and academic prose, as well as in conversation and fiction.

Style adverbials. Stance adverbials focused on style, comment on the manner of conveying the message (e.g. frankly, honestly, truthfully): Well honestly I, I don't know. (conv) Quite frankly, he looked terrible. (fict) More simply put, a feedback system has its inputs affected by its outputs. (acad) Often these stance adverbials can be glossed as: I am being X when I say...; e.g. I am being honest when I say I don't know. In this way, style adverbials are more focused on the speaker than are epistemic and attitude adverbials, although all three convey a speaker's or writer's stance. Other typical style adverbials include: confidentially, figuratively speaking, in a word, in short, putting it bluntly, strictly, technically speaking, truthfully.Finite clauses are also occasionally used as style adverbials, often with the subordinator if: Is it a fact that you have refused to take any fee for the work you are doing, if you don't mind my asking? (fict) I have to say that in terms of violent crime generally the amount of it in the United Kingdom is small compared with that in other countries and, if I may say so, here in Washington. (news) Such clauses are not as easily glossed, but they clearly show that the speakers view themselves as speaking bluntly or in a potentially offensive way. Syntactic realizations of stance adverbials. Every type of adverbial structure reviewed in is possible for the realization of stance adverbials. Single word adverb: They had evidently been too scared of their autocratic director to record such an unlikely phenomenon. (acad) Adverb phrase: But quite frankly I can't see myself ever getting - given the same sort of circumstances. (conv) Prepositional phrase: His bedside manner was, in a word, menacing. (news) Noun phrase: Some will no doubt accuse Jarman of shock tactics along Warhol lines. (news) Finite clause: Well, then, I have come here to heal myself, if you like to put it that way. (fict) Non-finite clause: Based on studies of crop plants and native species grown under controlled conditions, root growth often responds at least as much, and perhaps more, to elevated carbon dioxide than does shoot growth. (acad)

Multi-word stance adverbials are often more fixed and conventionalized than circumstance adverbials. Hence, fixed phrases such as of course and sort of can be considered single adverbs, since they function as a unit and never vary in form. In contrast, the expression in fact shows variability (e.g. in actual fact, in true fact, in any fact) and is therefore considered a prepositional phrase. Stance adverbials can also be realized as adjectival phrases, although this structure is very rare: Even more important, the prospect of a single currency would eliminate an enormous source of uncertainty for business. (news) Still more important, children who grew up in elite homes enjoyed advantages that helped them maintain elite status. (acad) Single adverbials can be used to convey virtually every kind of stance meaning with respect to a proposition. Certainty and doubt: I shall definitely be at the airport to meet you. (conv) Maybe this damp weather has taken away my enterprise or my book has. (fict) Actuality or reality: A: You can't see it there can you?

B: What? A: The cream. B: No. Well I wasn't looking for it actually. (conv) And he doesn't eat much really does he? (conv) Evidence, particularly with apparently and evidently: You know about this meteor crater in Flagstaff. That apparently is why you go to Flagstaff. (conv) The terms of the settlement evidently also require both sides not to talk about the matter publicly. (news) Limitation: Generally, a new broom sweep clean. (news) Imprecision in the communication of a proposition: Oh yeah, see how people sort of natter on. (conv) They like didn't know anything about the city. (conv) You kind of have to nail him to the wall. (news) Single adverbs are also used as attitude adverbials, conveying an attitude towards the proposition or giving a judgment about it: I have inevitably covered a great deal of familiar ground. (acad) Unbelievably, the court was told that they would not help the defence case - a demonstrable falsehood that could have landed the three in jail. (news) Amazingly he was permitted to witness the illicit luftwaffe build-up of the mid-thirties, the preparations in East Prussia for the drive on the USSR, and much else. (news) Finally, single adverbs can be used to communicate the style of speaking (most commonly in conversation, but in other registers as well): Well, frankly, I would rather have a little mud than a hatchet thrown at my back. (news) Confidentially, I'm not too happy with Colonel Cargill." (fict) Given these varied functions of single adverbs, it is not surprising that they are the most common realization of stance adverbials for all four registers. In addition, the most commonly used individual stance adverbials tend to be single adverbs.

Prepositional phrases. The functions of prepositional phrases as stance adverbials are more limited than single adverbs. In news and academic prose they tend to be used for functions which are less important in conversation and fiction, thus accounting for their greater use in the two expository registers. In news, prepositional phrases are often used to convey the source of information, especially with the preposition according to: Venezuela has paid more than $900m dollars in overdue interest on its public sector debt to commercial banks, according to Chase Manhattan. (news) According to later reports Gerard Harte was suspected of triggering the Ballygawley bomb. (news) The driver of the small truck and four family members in the car when fire engulfed the two vehicles, according to Sgt. Rick Fields. (news) Academic prose often uses prepositional phrases to qualify claims, limiting the generality of the proposition: In general, then, recent evidence points to conceptual or linguistic of a fairly high level. (acad) On the whole, however, philosophers have ignored this possibility. (acad) It may also involve explicitly stating that the author's viewpoint presented: In fact I must emphasize again that, in my view, the early were the theoreticians and the Catastrophists were the careful field (acad). News and academic prose also use prepositional phrases for style although these are relatively rare: But what of the car's performance capabilities? In short, they're very impressive. (news) It is, in a word, more modernist. (acad) The answer, in brief, is the method of empirical inquiry, at its best the method of science. (acad) On the other hand, all four of the registers use prepositional phrases the actuality of propositions, particularly with expressions that include the word fact: In fact, the hijack was a plot hatched between the two presenters to listeners, some of whom phoned to find out what was going on. (news) As a matter of fact, at this very moment a theory of those systems is in the process of establishing itself as worthy of independent study. (acad) A less common use of prepositional phrases is to show doubt or attitude by more informal expressions for all I/we know/care. These are most common in fiction, but they also occur in conversation: She might chuck me in tonight for all I know. (conv) "And, for all we know, he may be giving her a message to take to Reuben." (fict) I am so glad to see him up there with the snowy clouds about him that he may dance a jig for all I care! (fict)

Finite clauses. With respect to the use of finite clauses, the higher percentage in conversation and fiction is due largely to the use of comment clauses. These finite clauses usually have a first person pronoun subject and no subordinator, and are used explicitly to mark a proposition as the speaker's opinion, or to convey some level of personal doubt or certainty. When these expressions are integrated into the clause structure, they usually occur as a main clause taking a that-complement clause (e.g. I think that...). When they are not integrated into the clause structure, they are finite clause stance adverbials: I'm going to get a new one for the basement I think. (conv) It'll come out in the wash I guess! (conv) You'd wear that more than I would I bet. (conv) This room's not been used in years, I would say. (fict) Well, he has had to he careful so long, watching every tiny little thing he does, I suppose. (fict) We have, I believe, paid more attention to sentimental Goldsmith and Richardson than lively old Fielding and Smollett! (fict) In fiction, finite clauses are also occasionally inserted to show doubt or possibility, especially with the clause who knows: They fantasise that if they had parents like yours, they'd sit on their backsides and eat chocolates, and hell, who knows, maybe they resent you because you don't. (fict) In addition, conversation has finite stance clauses with because that give the evidence for the speaker's claim: He's seriously deficient in what he should be learning cos - he should know that at least. (conv) News and academic prose more commonly use comment clauses to show the source of information - sometimes vaguely and sometimes specifically: Ratepayers in Ards may have to foot the bill if the district council goes ahead with a proposal not to charge for collecting rubbish from orange halls, it has been disclosed. (news) The view that organizations are rational structures set up to achieve their goals in the most efficient way has been legitimated, Albrow has claimed, on the erroneous assumption that Weber associated rationality with efficiency. (acad) The comment clauses it seems and it appears also allude to some evidence supporting the proposition, although at the same time they introduce a certain level of doubt: The new 1.8 engine is worth a second glance, it seems. (news) For, by 1841, he had worked out not only his theory of the origin of species, natural selection, but also, it seems, his theory of generation (or reproduction, including heredity, variation so on), pangenesis. (acad) Wallace, it appears, created a model for scientific sociology which has an elitist appeal rather than the pluralistic one desired in the present project. (acad) The net result was she had to do most of the work, the finished products were, as one might expect, completely professional. (fict)This, as you might guess is called "systematically contributing to the field's knowledge base." (acad) In news and academic prose, the use of the subject you in these clauses creates a more involved text, overtly attributing an attitude to the reader.

Other syntactic forms (adverb phrases, noun phrases, and non-finite clauses) have more limited functions as conveyers of stance. Adverb phrases, when they do occur, tend to be a combination of an adverb such as quite, rather, or most modifying an adverb of attitude or likelihood: They most likely wouldn't be able to give you the help as well. (conv) Quite likely he's not even a doctor. (fict) Beer is, quite rightly, Britain's favorite Friday night drink. (news) "These appointments are stressful and quite honestly something like this just makes it even more traumatic," she said. (news) Rather surprisingly, Friedman (1976) has found that in Gryllus assimilis the ultrastructure of the cells is <.. .> (acad) Noun phrases are uncommon as stance adverbials, with the exception of the phrase no doubt: These rows and rows of blue balloons - so no doubt it was a boy that was being christened. (conv) The thing no doubt would have happened differently to another man. (fict) But many people would no doubt argue that the current "anything goes as long as it sells papers" style goes too far the other way. (news) At the same time, readers will no doubt continue to be inventive I harnessing the insights of teachers and the tools of linguistic analysis. (acad) Finally, when non-finite clauses occur as stance adverbials, they tend to be style adverbials conveying how the speaker/writer is communicating: I don't know to tell you the truth. (conv) There's still a good deal afforest left, comparatively speaking, anyhow. (fict) We feel that if we did not pursue this second transplant it would be like, to put it bluntly, pulling the plug on her. (news) Generally speaking, you get what you pay for in a kitchen. (news) To put it less charitably, it has been a hotch-potch approach in which any variable deemed by the researcher to be even vaguely relevant has been thrown into the statistical melting pot. (acad)

2.2.4.The apposition is a part of the sentence expressed by a noun or nominal phrase and referring to another noun or nominal phrase (the headword), or sometimes to a clause. There are several kinds of meaning expressed by the relationship of apposition: a) the two noun phrases are equivalent in meaning, with one providing the name or specific identity of the other (I came to my sister, Miss Helga); b) one noun phrase provides a rewording of the other (He's a philologist - that is, a linguist); c) one noun phrase expresses an attribute of the other ( I like reading books, good ones); d) one noun phrase includes the other (I like good classical music, for example Mozart). The apposition is similar to an attribute, as it characterizes the person or non-person denoted by the headword: I always admired cats, very pretty creatures. Beyond the house, a big, good-looking building, began the forest. Some grammarians treat the apposition as a variety of the attribute (appositive attribute).

Like the attribute, the apposition may be in preposition or postposition to its headword. However, unlike the attribute, which is always subordinated to its headword, words in apposition are, at least syntactically, coordinated parts, i.e. both the headword and the apposition are sentence constituents of the same level: Mr Smith, the local doctor, was known to everybody. – The local doctor, Mr Smith, was known to everybody. However, an apposition can rarely replace the headword in the sentence. Communicatively they are not of the same rank – the headword is superordinate (semantically, or informatively, or both), and the apposition is subordinate. From the point of view of their relation to the headword, appositions, like attributes, fall into non-detached and detached. Non-detached appositions form one sense group with their headword (titles, professions, kinship terms, geographical names): Mr Brown, Doctor Watson, Uncle Sam, President Abama, Queen Elizabeth, Oxford Street, Mount Everest, the River Thames. Detached appositions form separate sense groups and are wider in their meaning: they may give identification, explanation, etc., especially when referring to pronouns. They may follow the headword immediately or be separated from it: He actually envied Jolyon the reputation of succeeding where he, Soarnes, had failed. Cooper was taller than Mr Warbutlon, a strong, muscular young man. (fict) An apposition may also refer to a clause or sentence as an explanatory remark: The night was quiet, a bit drizzly, windless, and very warm - the ideal conditions for a walk. (fict)

3. The order of sentence elements. The term word order is most often used to refer to the order of the elements in the clause, elements which are, of course, often each realized by phrases or clauses rather than just one word each: subject, verb, object, predicatives, and adverbials. The syntactical structure of a language imposes restrictions on the way messages may be organized in that language. English word order has often been described as relatively fixed. Most of English grammar is taken up with the rules governing the order in which words in a sentence can appear. The order of the constituents in syntactical constructions is crucial for English. Due to its analytical structure, syntactical functions of elements have, as a rule, no special morphological markers (e.g., case inflections). The position itself, or more exactly the distribution of an element, may determine its relationship with other elements in a syntactical construction.

The meaning of a sentence often depends entirely on the order in which the elements are placed: The man ate the fish. – The fish ate the man. They are here. – Are they here? Only Mary loved Joan. – Mary loved only Joan. The man with a dog saw me. – The man saw me with a dog. Synthetical languages which have elaborate systems of case inflections tend to have fewer restrictions on word order than analytical languages like English. The words in an English sentence are arranged in a certain order, which is fixed for every type of the sentence, and is therefore meaningful. Word order fulfils several functions: grammatical, phatic or communicative, and linking. These functions are manifested in different arrangements of the parts of the sentence. The main function of word order is to express grammatical relations and determine the grammatical status of a word by fixing its position in the sentence. There are thousands of rules forbidding speakers to put words in a certain order: I walked to town. - * To town walked. That's a fine old house. - *That's an old fine house. John and I saw her. - *I and John saw her. She switched it on. - *She switched on it. Thus, it is certainly true that the placement of the core elements of the clause is strictly regulated. Yet there is variation, even in the core of the clause. Consider the following passage from a fiction text: It was beautiful grey stone mellowed by the years. There was an archway in the centre and at the end of he west wing was a tower with battlements and long narrow slits of windows which looked rather definitely out of place with the rest of the house which was clearly of a later period. (fict) This is a description of a house, and the house is the topical starting-point in both sentences. The portion in bold illustrates an unusual or marked choice of word order: the clause opens with a circumstance adverbial, identifying a location in the house, followed by inversion of the subject (a tower ...) and the verb (was). This word order contributes to the maintenance of a consistent perspective. It is also significant that the author chose a there-construction to open the same sentence. The word order of English clauses is determined by the interaction of a number of factors. First and most important, however, word order is used as a grammar signal. One of the functions of word order is to express continuity of thought in sentences (or clauses) following one another. This continuity is often supported by demonstrative pronouns and adverbs: Some people looked down on him. Those people he despised. And, oh, that look! Oh that look Euphemia had spent much anxious thought. They must sow their wild oats. Such was his theory. Women are terribly vain. So are men – more so, if possible. Similarly, for purposes of enumeration, a word (or words) marking continuity is sometimes placed at the beginning of the sentence, with the verb immediately following: Next comes the most interesting fact.

In order to study the discourse functions of word order and its variations, we need to understand the nature of the normal or unmarked order which may be altered to meet particular requirements of information flow or weight distribution, or to convey a special effect of emphasis. Fundamentally word order is used as a grammar signal in English in the following four ways: 1. Clause elements appear in a preferred order in relation to each other: the subject before the verb, the verb before its complements, etc. SV, SVA, SVC, SVO_d, SVOiOd, SVO_dO_i, SVO_dC, SVO_dA. 2. Independent interrogative clauses are signalled through subject-operator inversion (with the exception of clauses with a wh-word as subject, e.g. Who did it?) Subject-operator inversion is also obligatory after certain other elements when placed initially, such as never.

3. All clause elements realized by wh-words are regularly placed in initial position. This applies to all wh-clauses, whether they are independent interrogative or exclamative clauses, or dependent nominal, or relative clauses. (However, if there is more than one such clause element in a clause, only one is placed in initial position, e.g. Who did what?)

4.Phrases are normally continuous. This could be called the principle of contact. These grammatical principles frequently operate in agreement with other ordering principles: She's had a miserable life. (conv) Here we have the regular SVO order, and the clause also conforms to the information principle and the principle of end-weight.

There exist two ways of arranging words direct and inverted word order. The most common pattern for the arrangement of the parts in declarative sentence is Subject - Predicate Verb - Object (SVO), which is called direct word order. The direct or unmarked order serves all the needs of communication. Direct word order allows of only few variations in the fixed pattern, and then only for the secondary parts. Thus if there are two objects, the indirect one precedes the direct one (Subject - predicate - Indirect object - Direct object), or the prepositional allows the direct one (Subject - Predicate - Direct object - prepositional object): The boss gave me no information. The boss gave no information for me. As to the secondary parts of the sentence, such as attributes and adverbial modifiers, their position is less fixed. Usually those parts that are closely connected tend to be placed together. Secondary parts referring to main parts are placed close to them. Attributes either premodify or postmodify their headwords. Adverbials and different function words seem to be the most mobile parts in the sentence. Their mobility is partly accounted for their varied reference to different parts of the sentence.When referring to a verb adverbials may be placed in: a) front position (Again he was late), b) contact preposition (He often did it) interposition (He has never seen ocean); d) contact post-position (they are never on time); e) end position (Tom works hard). When adverbials refer to adjectives, adverbs, nouns, numerals, or pronouns they are usually placed close to these words, generally preceding them: Mother was very upset about it. For adverbials allowing of different reference any change of position may result in a change of meaning: Nearly all died. – All nearly died.

In indirect or marked word order core clause elements are placed in an unusual position to achieve cohesion, emphasis, or some other stylistic effect. The main types are fronting of elements which are normally found in post-verbal position and inversion of subject and verb, while there is less variation in the placement of the core elements at the end of the clause.

There is a natural tendency in any language to develop its emotional and effective means of expression. Emotive nuances and intensity of meaning can be obtained by linguistic devices of different levels: phonetic, morphological, syntactic and phraseological, by word-making and special intensifiers. All these can function as effective means to produce emotive and logical intensity of the utterance. There are two different types of grammatical focus. The first type of focus involves the recording of constituents such that the constituent appearing in sentence-initial position – or sometimes sentence-final position – receives special emphasis in the discourse. The other type of grammatical focus entails the use of special constructions. A focus construction is a structure that frames, i.e., gives explicit grammatical focus to the constituent appearing in the focus slot.

There are numerous ways of producing intensity and emphasis in Modern English. We include here the structures of modification (She is activity itself, She is all nerves, All wrong, all at once). Idiomatic variety of Partitive Genitive (An actor's actor. An actors' actor. An actor of actors). Idiomatic Variety of the Comparative Degree (Deafer then deaf).The Superlative + of-phrase: The best of the seasons. The kindest of the kind. Adjectives or adverbs intensified by far, by far, well, far and away, a great deal, still:He was well ahead. She is far better now. Syntactic Metathesis: A baby of a thing. A Spartan of a boy. Structures of Predication Paradigmatic emphatic forms of the Present Indefinite, Past Indefinite and the Imperative Mood: She did help me. Do help him. A fixed phrase of emphatic precision: It was he who did it. Grammatical idioms: to be sure + to V: He is sure to come; be sure + and + V: Be sure and come; go + and + V: He went and married. Don't go tiring yourself. He came to be highly respected. He got to be highly respected. He fell to thinking. Grammatical idioms do nothing but + V: He does nothing but grumble. Grammatical idiom "all you can": Sit still all you can. Cf.: Sit as still as you can. Idiomatic sentence-pattern: This is a war, if ever there was one. Patterns with "...and all": I would do it, I would and all. I did it in spite of what you told me, I did and all. Patterns with "appended statement": He likes it, he does. Sub-clauses of comparison or degree in absolute use As if I ever stop thinking about it. Patterns with "nexus of deprecation", rhetorical questions: Me catch cold! No fear. What's the good of that?

In modern English there are trends in the increasing development of inversion and segmentation. Sometimes one of the secondary parts of a sentence by some specific consideration of the writer is placed so that it seems formally independent of the word it logically refers to. Such parts of structures are called detached. The essential quality of detached construction lies in the fact that the isolated parts represent a kind of independent whole thrust into the sentence or placed in a position which will make the phrase (or word) seem independent. But a detached phrase cannot rise to the rank of a primary member of the sentence - it always remains secondary from the semantic point of view, although structurally it possesses all the features of a primary member. This clash of the structural and semantic aspects of detached constructions produces the desired effect - forcing the reader to interpret the logical connections between the component parts of the sentence. Here are some more examples of detached constructions: "Daylight was dying, the moon rising, gold behind the poplars." (Galsworthy).“I want to go,” he said, miserable." (Galsworthy) "She was lovely: all of her–delightful." (Dreiser). The segment does the duty of the object: My handkerchief. He threw (J. Joyce); the prepositional object: About Mincho. Could you let me know? (J. Galsworthy); the adverbial adjunct: Behind.There is someone (J. Joyce). The postponed segments may do the duty of the predicative: I am quite alone here. Sad too (J. Joyce); the attributive adjunct: A cloud began to cover the sun. Grey. Far (J. Joyce); adverbials of place: The carriage rattled swiftly across Blessington street. Over the stones (J. Joyce); adverbials of time: belong to a race... that is hated and persecuted. Also now. This very moment. This very instant (J. Joyce); adverbials of purpose: Dedalus, come down. For my sake and all our sakes (J. Joyce); adverbials of manner: He just knocked again. Louder (D. Salinger); adverbials of attending circumstances: He drank. With faraway mourning eye (J.Joyce). Segmented structures should be distinguished into: structures with the contact position of the segment: He was interrupted at that point. By me (D. Salinger) and structures with the distant position of the segment: ''Someone laid a bunch of flowers there. Women. Must his birthday. For many happy returns (J. Joyce). Segmentation is not unfrequent in larger syntactic its: You must get some sleep. If you can (G. Greene). The progressive development of segmented structures of various types, their grammatical organization and communicative value deserve prior consideration in syntactic description.

3.1. Fronting. Fronting refers to the initial placement of core elements which are normally found in post-verbal position. There are patterns which differ in stylistic effect and in register distribution. A full understanding is not possible without also considering variation in the order of the subject and the verb. The main discourse functions of fronting are: organizing information flow to achieve cohesion; expressing contrast; enabling particular elements to gain emphasis. Apart from the grammatically conditioned initial placement of wh-words, fronting of core elements is virtually restricted to declarative main clauses, and is relatively rare in English. When an object is placed in initial position, the subject is not moved (i.e. there is no subject-verb inversion). The subject is generally a personal pronoun. The fronted object is often a demonstrative pronoun or a complement clause. Noun phrases as fronted objects. Demonstrative pronouns often occur as fronted objects: 1. Sandy moves ahead. "This I do not understand," he said. (fict) 2. I put in the day on the job, which I like, and I go home at night. That I also like. (fict) The fronting in such examples can partly be accounted for by the information principle, since the clause opens with given information: the pronouns refer anaphorically to the preceding text. In examples with such, there is a similar reference to the preceding text: Such a blunder I had now committed. (fict)Why didn't you tell me? Such things you must tell me. (fict) However, givenness alone is insufficient as an explanation of fronting. Notice that an unstressed object pronoun (e.g. it, him, them) never occurs in initial position, and the fronted demonstrative pronouns in examples 1 and 2 would normally be stressed if spoken aloud. Fronting therefore also signals emphasis and allows focus to be placed on two elements in a clause in a way that would not be so easy with the unfronted equivalent. It would be difficult, for example, to show in writing, or indicate by stress in speech, that both understand and this were focal in the version with unmarked order I do not understand this - compare example 1. In addition, contrast is often involved with elements in other clauses, as in the following examples, which contain other types of fronted objects: Bess was satisfied with her hair, but her freckles she regarded as a great and unmerited affliction. (fict) Some things you miss because they're so tiny you overlook them. But some things you don't see because they are so huge. (fict) Some things you forget. Other things you never do. (fict) In the first two of these examples, the contrast is made explicit not only by the reference to both contrasted entities, but also through the conjunction but. In the last example there is close parallelism of the clause structures which also highlights the contrast.

A second type of object fronting contains a complement clause: That he has prepared his speech I do not believe for there was not even one shorthandwriter in the hall. (fict) What it was that changed this conclusion, I don't remember. (fict) Why he came this way I will probably never know. (fict) How he would use that knowledge he could not guess. (fict) Unfortunately, eating was her weakness. Whether this was congenital, stemmed from growing up around a grocery store, or nerve induced, she sometimes wondered. (fict) All these complement clauses contain pronouns referring back to the preceding text, signalling a connection with given information, although they also contain substantial new information. But the fronting goes completely against the principle of end-weight: note particularly the long whether-clause in the last example. Additionally, most of these examples contain a negative main clause, so that the fronting seems to bring about a kind of double focus: on the matter reported in the complement clause and on the negation in the main clause. That is, both clauses receive equal emphasis and are contrasted, which would not be the case if the dependent clause was in its usual position at the end. There can be a similar element of contrast when the main clause is positive, and structured in a parallel way to the fronted clause: What she had wanted, she was to have. (fict) What they can do, we can do. (fict) In the first example, the contrast is in the verb (want v. have); in the second example, the contrast is in the subject (they v. we). There is a similar double focus in example 2 in A above.Note also the co-occurrence of a fronted complement clause and a co-referent demonstrative pronoun in the following example: Whether she's involved in this hootenanny, that I do not know. (fict)

The same factors which govern the fronting of objects apply more generally to the fronting of nominals which have other syntactic roles: 1. Question's whether they can prove it. That I tend to doubt. (fict) 2. "Pretty strange, huh?" That it is. I nod sadly. (fict) 3. Whether Nancy was there or not, she could not be certain, looking from one to the other in her mind's eye. (fict) The fronted element in 1 is a direct object of an embedded infinitive clause, in 2 it is a subject predicative, and 3 illustrates a fronted nominal clause functioning as adjective complement. Some passages have fronted nominals which are in parallel structures and contrasted, even though they serve different syntactic roles. For example, in 4 the parallel forms are a complement of the noun idea and a direct object of know, ir 5, they are a noun phrase as prepositional object and a prepositional phrase. 4. What he was doing here I have no idea. Why he came this way I will probably never know. (fict) 5. Some things he could not vouch for (his friends had told him), but of others he had had personal experience. (fict)

Single-focus structures. Although the prime purpose of nominal fronting generally seems to be to take advantage of both of the main focal points in the clause (the beginning and the end), we also find structures with focus exclusively on the fronted element: Only one saucepan we had! – And it was stew every day if we didn't go out for dinner! (conv) Here, when spoken aloud, there would typically be no stress on either word in the non-fronted part of the clause – we had. By contrast, in most of the examples of fronting above there would typically be focus on the non-fronted part of the clause, often the verb, as well.

Predicative fronting with subject-verb inversion. Fronting of predicatives may be accompanied by inversion of subject and verb. Fronting of predicatives with inversion of subject and verb is more common than without. The subject is usually not light in weight (i.e. not a pronoun).Subject predicatives in initial position generally contain an element of comparison with respect to the preceding context which forms a cohesive link. The predicative is given in bold and the inverted subject placed in [] in the examples below: The hens in the next garden: their droppings are very good dressing. Best of all though are [the cattle], especially when they are fed on those oilcakes. (fict) Far more serious were [the severe head injuries]; in particular a bruising of the brain. (news) But time-wise the gap between them may well be much more important than the time-span between them. <.. .> Even more important, perhaps, is [the realisation that all through this long history, the environmental belts have hardly changed their positions or their nature]. (acad) In the last example, for instance, the comparative even more important implies than this, where this links anaphorically to the preceding context; furthermore, importance is an issue which has already been introduced in the preceding context and is therefore given information. A similar connecting link is found in examples with also and such (in the case of such, the initial element could arguably be analysed as subject): Also popular for travelling are [quilted, overblown pseudo-ski jackets in pink or blue that look like duvets rampant]. (news) Under stress, Sammler believed, the whole faltered, and parts (follicles, for instance) became conspicuous. Such at least was [his observation]. (fict) It's rotten luck for a prolific writer of talent to be known for only one work, a masterpiece which overshadows any later writing. Such was [the fate of Stella Gibbons]. (news) The reference to the preceding context may also be made through a definite noun phrase expressing given information: A group of councillors, along with council officials from North Down, recently met with representatives from the Board to discuss the move. Present at the meeting were [outgoing Mayor Ellie McKay, deputy mayor Jane Copperd (news) <.. .> are noted in a number of research reports. Not least among these reports are [those of Brake (1980), Rudduck and Hopkins (1984), <...>] (acad) The organization of these examples is in agreement with the information principle, opening with a reference to what is already known (the meeting and the existence of reports) and ending with the introduction of new information (the identity of those present at the meeting or the specific reports).

Two special types of predicative fronting are illustrated in the examples below. The first group contains proportion clause combinations marked by pairs of phrases with the, where fronting of the correlative phrases almost always occurs: 1. I think the better the players are treated in these respects, the more enthusiastic is [their response to the challenges before them]. (news) 2.The more general the domain, the more general, selective and tentative are [the statements about its style]. (acad) 3. The more firmly he tells them and the country that, as Prime Minister, he and not they will rule, the more likely [it] is that he will eventually reach Downing Street. (news ) 4. The larger the base the easier [it] will be to perform the action (acad) When the subject is long and heavy, there is subject-verb inversion (as in 1 and 2 above); clauses with a subject pronoun often have no inversion, as in the extraposed structures of 3 and 4 above (where, following the principle of end-weight, the complements of likely and easier are not fronted along with them).

The second special type of predicative fronting, with subject-operator inversion, frequently affects adjectives premodified by intensifier so introducing a that-comparative clause, which is not fronted: So preoccupied was [she] at this moment, she was unaware that Diana was standing in the arched doorway to the sitting room. (fict) cf. She was so preoccupied at this moment that she was unaware ... So ruthless was [the IRA] in its all-out onslaught against the police and the Army, it didn't care who got in its way. (news) So different, however, are [the theories of the schools] from the practice of ordinary business–every establishment, too having peculiarities of its own– that much which he learned in the former will have to be unlearned in the latter. (acad)

Where the subject is an unstressed pronoun, we find the same pattern without inversion as with fronting of direct objects, and often with a single focus on the initial element: Right you are! (conv) They're tiles. Horrible they are! (conv) Bloody amazing it was! (conv) Pink as a fingernail it was, and sprinkled with glittering chips. (fict) The fronting has an intensifying effect, which is often strengthened by the choice of words (horrible, bloody amazing, etc.), or by emphatic stress when spoken (reflected by exclamation marks). Furthermore, the fronted material is new rather than old information.Fronted predicatives with initial focus are related to structures with declarative tags: You're a little devil you are! (conv) Oh God, it was magic it was! (conv) It's terrible it is! (conv) If the subject pronoun and the copular verb are ellipted, as is frequently the case, we get a structure with a fronted predicative, e.g. A little devil you are or Terrible it is. The following examples illustrate a special type of pattern with focus on the initial element: A: No, their surname isn't anything even similar to that. B: No. A: Because - Jones - their name is! (conv) I don't know what her name is. Dot I think her name is. (conv) Peter Harronson, he said he was called. (fict) The initial predicative in these examples highlights the main purpose of the utterance - establishing the name of a person or place - and therefore contains the new information. The rest of the structure follows almost as an afterthought, contains given information, and is not in focus, even though it may contain extensive lexical material. Note that the predicative may belong to an embedded clause.

The choice to front objects or predicatives differs in important ways. Object fronting is typically chosen when there is a communicative need to emphasize or contrast a clause element. Both the fronted element and the verb are strongly focused. In contrast, fronting of predicatives is basically cohesive. The clause opens with a reference to the preceding text, followed by a light-weight verb, which is in turn typically followed by a long and heavy subject introducing new information. Furthermore, in the unfronted, uninverted version of such a clause, both the same elements could be focused, or stressed in speech if required: there is no gain in capability to focus an additional element in the fronted version such as is obtained with fronted objects. Furthermore, the structures differ with respect to weight distribution. With fronted objects, the end of the clause is light, because both the object and the subject precede the verb (OSV). With fronted predicatives there is a much more balanced distribution, as such fronting is usually accompanied by inversion of the subject and the verb (PVS). The subject, as in the examples in A, is often a substantial noun phrase rather than a single word, so the outcome is a clause with more or less equal weight at both ends. This accords better with the principles of weight distribution in English than does a clause with weight only at the front.

Fronted infinitive predicates. In a finite clause it is possible to place in front of the subject the main verb, with everything that follows it in normal clause order. The fronted element then constitutes a non-finite predicate (in the traditional sense of that term). There are three main types of fronted non-finite predicates, corresponding to the three types of non-finite verb forms: predicates beginning with a bare infinitive (discussed in the present section), those beginning with an ing-participle, and those beginning with an ed-participle. Infinitive predicates are fronted with the remainder of the verb phrase without inversion of the subject (which is usually short). The operator, which renders the clause as a whole finite, with other auxiliary verbs, if any, remains in the normal position after the subject and takes the form of do in the absence of any other auxiliary verb. One situation where infinitive predicates may be fronted is when they repeat or echo a previous verb (or predicate): 1. I had said he would come down and come down he did. (fict) 2. But, as he said, it had to be borne, and bear it he did. (fict) 3. Who better to help her than her father's old friend and distant relative, Eamonn Casey? And help her he did - into his bed. (fict) Since an echoed element has, of course, already occurred previously, the echo is not providing new information so the fronting of it serves the information principle and is explicitly cohesive. However, the fronting also serves to emphasize the repeated element, since it would be more usual to ellipt such a repetition. For example, compare with 1:I had said he would come down and he did. In fact, the fronting brings about a double focus in the clause, such as we have seen with other types of fronting above, in this case placing emphasis on both the lexical verb and the final auxiliary verb. Thus both the meaning of the lexical verb (or the entire non-finite predicate) and the truth of the proposition can be focused separately in a way not possible in non-fronted versions. In 3 there is really a triple focus, because part of the predicate - into his bed - is not fronted along with the earlier part of the predicate - help her - but postponed for emphatic effect so that it occupies the end focus position in the clause. Fronted infinitive predicates are also found outside echo contexts with similar double focus: Hit my bloody shoe that will! (conv) Work I must, and for money. (fict) Note the similarity of effect of structures with fronted infinitive predicates and declarative tags: You'll get a smack you will! (conv) With initial ellipsis of the type that often happens in speech, this would become identical to a structure with a fronted infinitive predicate Get a smack you will. While fronting is a fairly marginal phenomenon with infinitive predicates, it is far more general with other non-finite forms. Fronting of ed- and ing-predicates is accompanied by inversion of the subject and the non-fronted portion of the verb phrase. Examples of fronted ed-predicates, with subject in []: 1.Nothing on the walls, with one exception: Tacked over the bed was [a yellowed, deckel-edged photograph]. (fict) 2. Pasted to his pointed head, its overlapping cap of bone already springing apart under the elastic scalp, was [a mat of thick black hair]. (fict) 3. Enclosed is [a card for our permanent signature file which we request you to sign and return to us]. (fict) 4. There were a couple of framed photographs on the walls, <. ..> Also framed on the wall was [a small inspirational legend in steely letters on a grey background]. (fict) 5. Also billed to appear as a special mystery guest is [Vivacious Val]. (news) As might be expected, since participles as main verbs shade off into adjectives, these structures behave similarly to classic examples of predicative fronting. Through fronting and subject-verb inversion, we get balance of weight between the fronted element and the subject. The order agrees with the information principle since there is generally a reference to the preceding context early in these structures: note the occurrence of definite noun phrases in the fronted ed-predicates of 1, 2, and 4, and the use of also in examples 4 and 5. The whole structure prepares for the introduction of new information in the final focus position, occupied by the subject. A different effect is found with the more stylistically coloured fronting of gone, though the inversion ensures end-weight and end focus on the information in the subject, which often relates to an institution or customary event of a past time: 6. Gone was [the vamp, the English schoolboy]. Instead, she appeared in clogs, a long granny dress of an old-fashioned print and sleazy texture, with a purple velvet cape. (fict) 7. Gone were [the crises that had once produced banner headlines]. There were no mysterious murders to baffle the police <.. .> (fict) 8. Gone are [the days when the average man would be happy with soap on a rope in his Christmas stocking]. Now he is more likely to ask for a body spray or shower gel. (news) 9. Gone is [the sanctity of the family meal]. Irretrievably altered is [the role of Mom, the nurturer]. (news) Here the initial element does not contain an explicit reference to the preceding text and the clauses end with a definite rather than an indefinite noun phrase, often with generic reference. Fronted ing-predicates are used under much the same conditions as the regular type of fronted ed-predicate. Note the following example, which contains an instance of each: 10. The money was left on the parapet of a bridge carrying the track over an old dismantled railway line, the Dove Valley Trail. Waiting below was [Michael Sams, who had left a tray on the bridge parapet for the money]. Attached to it was [a sash cord, linked to a rope hanging down to the track]. (news) As with fronted ed-predicates, fronted ing-predicates regularly open with elements conveying given information, so that the main clause ends with the introduction of new information: 11. Billy beamed lovingly at a bright lavender farmhouse that had been spattered with machine-gun bullets. Standing in its cock-eyed doorway was [a German colonel], (fict) 12. Waiting for him behind the Speaker's chair and out of sight of the other members was [the leader of the opposition, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who also shook him warmly by the hand]. (fict) 13. Coming to Belfast this month are [The Breeders and Levellers], while next month sees Jethro Tull in Town. (news) 14. Standing on the step was [Father James Morrow, the Roman Catholic priest and pro-life activist who has threatened to bring a private prosecution for murder against the anguished couple if their son is allowed to die]. Father Morrow felt it his duty to try to appeal face to face to Tony's parents to allow their son to live. (news) In 14 we clearly see the progression from a place known through the preceding text to the person who is introduced and serves as the starting-point in the following sentence. If we examine the non-fronted paraphrases of clauses with initial ing-predicates, we sometimes find that they would actually be expected to contain a non-progressive verb form: 15. Standing on the sand is a beach hut built like a mini-mosque. (fict) 16. They suffered 25 per cent performance-related pay cuts, dropping to $996,000 and $740,700 respectively. Also suffering was Sir Derek Alun-Jones, chairman of Ferranti International Signal, the troubled electronics company. (news) 17. He is keen to catch up with family and friends, especially his 91-year-old mum Dolly Simmons who lives in Bebington. Also living on the Wirral are brother Stanley, 72, and sister Dorothy Jones, 68, and Audrey Duncan, 66. (news) The hut in 15 was presumably not temporarily placed on the beach; hence a non-progressive form would be expected: A beach hut... stood on the sand. In 16 and 17. the preceding sentence contains non-progressive forms of the same verbs. In other words, we do not seem to be dealing here only with progressive aspect verbs that have been moved to initial position. We may note that the main verb in the non-progressive verb phrase could not readily be fronted in such instances as an infinitive predicate, because of the length of the subject and the quite different communicative effect that would be produced: e.g. *Stand on the sand a beach hut did. In other cases, fronted ing-predicates behave much like adverbials, which may take the form of ing-clauses , and may occur fronted with subject-verb inversion: 18. Standing on the corner outside the petrol station on Park Lane stood a young girl smiling at him invitingly, her white leather mini skirt so short it might have been better described as a handkerchief. (fict) 19. There on one side were three large bedrooms and a bathroom, <...> and on the far side this one bedroom. Adjoining it was the side verandah where <...> (fict) 20. There, standing at the bar of the Commons, was the victor of the first by-election since <...> (fict) Neither of the first two examples allows a straightforward paraphrase with a progressive verb phrase. Standing in 18 clashes with stood, it is in fact redundant and can be left out without loss of meaning, leaving a prepositional phrase as a place adverbial. Adjoining in 19 could easily be replaced by the complex preposition next to. Finally, note how the ing-predicate in 20 is used as a non-restrictive amplification of the preceding place adverbial there. Initial ing-predicates like ing-constructions in general - are chameleon-like structures. But whatever the correct structural analysis may be, it is quite clear what work these initially placed ing-constructions do: they connect with given information and provide the frame or setting for the situation described in the clause, especially the new information given in the grammatical subject.

Fronting in dependent clauses. Apart from syntactically conditioned fronting, which is completely regular in wh-clauses fronting in dependent clauses is restricted to special structures with the subordinators as and though. It can, however, be related to types of fronting which occur more generally. Consider the following (with the dependent clause shown in [ ]): 1. [Try as she might to make it otherwise], the sycamores beat out the children every time and she could not forgive her memory for that. (fict) 2. Modern penitentials won't be of much use to future historians of the twentieth century, but eleventh-century penitentials might be, [rich as they are in the prejudices of our enlightened age–particularly the inferior status of women]. (news) 3. [Astounded though she was], Francesca was thrilled and excited. (fict) 4. <...> the proponents of more traditional solutions to the problem of universals, [unsuccessful though they have been in their own proposals], have made trouble for the solution in terms of individual properties. (acad) We may note that the fronting of the main verb in 1 and of the predicative adjectives in 2-4 occurs without subject-verb inversion, in a similar way to independent clause occurrences. Furthermore, complements are often not fronted along with their controlling words (e.g. the to-infinitive complement of try in 1 and the in-prepositional complements in 2 and 4), thus avoiding an unsatisfactorily front-weighted clause. The main purpose of placing the fronted forms where they are in these structures, in a conspicuous position preceding the subordinators, is clearly to emphasize them. In 1, 2, and 4 the special effect is lost if the fronted element is placed in the unmarked position (using subordinator though in place of as, which only occurs with fronting) because it is then no longer focussed by being in initial or final position. End focus would naturally fall on a later word in the complement, such as otherwise in 1: Though she might try to make it otherwise,.... It is no coincidence also that these clauses are generally concessive, and the emphasis may involve contrast, as in 3, between the adjective predicated of Francesca in the dependent clause and those predicated of her in the main clause.

Fronting in exclamations. Exclamative clauses introduced by wh-words have syntactically conditioned fronting and thus do not belong in the survey here. However, there are declarative main clauses which have exclamatory force and mirror the structure of exclamative clauses, though there is no wh-word. Note the fronted predicatives and objects in the following examples, where such is used in much the same way as what: Such a rich chapter it had been, when one came to look back on it all! (fict) Such a gift he had for gesture. He looked like a king in exile. (fict) And she thought: Such a sure hand my son has with people. (fict) Note that this use of such is quite different from the cohesive uses illustrated earlier. Compare also: 1. Charming you are! (fict) 2. How brave you are! (fict) 3. Some diet that is! (conv) 4. And what a great night that was! (fict) Here the exclamation marks reflect the similarity in speech act function. Fronting in exclamations may express irony and sarcasm, as in 1 and 3 above. The exclamative force is particularly strong with the single-focus types of fronted objects and predicatives. In general, though fronting of core elements is relatively rare in present-day English, it is an important option, because of the special effects it may have - which may be all the more conspicuous because of the comparative rarity.

3.2. Inversion. Another common pattern of word order is the inverted word order (inversion), one of the forms of emphatic constructions. Inversion reverses the usual order of words. Any unusual position of any part of the sentence may be treated as inversion in the broad sense of the term, e.g., The fact I know (the object precedes the subject). But, for the most part, the term inversion is used in its narrow meaning with regard to the principal parts of the sentence. It indicates that the predicate precedes the subject (indirect order of words). In an overwhelming majority of cases only the structural part of the predicate is placed before the subject: Is he writing? May I enter? Where does he live? Cases like Away ran the horse are comparatively rare.

Inversion, as one type of a large variety of non-canonical word-order phenomena, has received a considerable amount of attention over the last few decades. Studies on inversion include approaches in various generative and transformational frameworks, functional and cognitive linguistics. M.L. Borroff [2000: 206-209] considers that inversion and its non-inverted counterpart are word-order variants that denote the same event and express the same proposition, but differ in how the speaker directs the hearer (or the writer directs the reader) to view, construe and conceptualize the event. In general, inversion is used to direct the hearer's or reader's attention to a previously unknown figure, something that its non-inverted counterpart cannot do.

Grammarians distinguish full inversion (when the predicate precedes the subject, as in Here comes the most interest part of information) and partial inversion (when only part of the predicate precedes the subject, as in Out he went. Some scholars also distinguish double inversion (when parts of the predicate are placed separately before the subject, as in Hanging on the wall was a picture). In some cases inversion may be taken as a normal order of words in constructions with special communicative value, and is thus devoid of any special colouring. Grammatical inversion is used: 1. In various communicative types of sentences: a) general questions, polite requests and in tag questions: Is it really true? Won't you sit down? You are glad to see me, aren't you? b) pronominal questions: What are the police after? c) existential fact-sentences: There has been an accident d) exclamatory sentences expressing strong emotions: Long live the king! Come what may! e) exclamatory sentences which are negative in form but positive in meaning: Have I watched them! Wouldn't that be fun! f) negative imperative sentences: Don't you do it. 2. In some complex sentences as a grammatical means of subordination: a) conditional clauses joined without connectors: Were you sure of it, you wouldn't hesitate, b) concessive clauses: Proud as he was, he had to consent to our proposal, c) the second part of a sentence of proportional agreement (although inversion is not obligatory): The more he thought of it, the less clear was the idea. 3. In sentences beginning with adverbs denoting place. This usage is traditional, going back to Old English norms: Here is another example. There goes another bus. 4. In stage directions, although this use is limited: Enter the King and the Queen. 5. In sentences indicating whose words or thoughts are given as direct or indirect speech: “That's him,” said Tom. How did he know, said Jack, miserably. Direct word order can also be used here. 6. In statements showing that the remark applies equally to the one or something else: I am tired. – So am I. He isn't ready. – neither is she. But if the sentence is a corroboration of a remark just made, direct word order is used: You promised to come. – So I did. We may meet him later. – So we may.

In other cases inversion is a sort of reordering for stylistic effect or for emphasis. The second function of word order is to make prominent or emphatic that part of the sentence which is more important or informative in the speaker's opinion. These two functions to express prominence, or information focus, and emphasis are different in their purpose, but in many cases they go together or overlap and are difficult to differentiate. Prominence and emphasis are achieved by placing the words in an unusual position: words normally placed at the beginning of the sentence (such as the subject) are placed towards the end whereas words usually occupying positions closer to the end of the sentence such as objects and predicatives are shifted to the beginning. The following patterns of stylistic inversion are most frequently met in both English prose and poetry. (1) The attribute is placed after the word it modifies (postposition of the attribute). This model is often used when there is more than one attribute, for example: "With fingers weary and worn..." (Thomas Hood). "Once upon a midnight dreary..." (E. A. Poe). (2) The object is placed at the beginning of the sentence, e.g. Talent Mr Micawber has, capital has not (Thomas Hood). Courage George II certainly had. Money he had not (E. A. Poe). (3) The predicative is placed before the subject, as in "A good generous prayer adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence, as in:"Eagerly I wished the morrow" (Poe); "My dearest daughter, at your feet I fall." (Dryden). "A tone of most extraordinary comparison Miss Tox said it in" (Dickens). Horrible these people are, ugly, dirty. Many and long were the conversations they had in the evenings. A really great day it was for all of us. (4) Both adverbial modifier and predicate stand before the subject, as in:"In went Mr. Pickwick." (Dickens) "Down dropped the breeze..." (Coleridge). Out came the chase – in went the horses – on sprang the boys – in got the travellers (Mark Twain). End position is always emphatic for the subject. (5). The adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence. At you feet I fall. Off he went. Up they rushed. Front position is emphatic for adverbials of time, manner, and degree. It is often accompanied by subject-predicator inversion: Well do I remember the day. Many a time has be given me real help. (6). The predicate, expressed by the verb, precedes the subject: Into this country came our parents. Stylistic inversion, also termed anastrophe or hyperbaton, is considered to be a very common device in poetry, prose and rhetoric. Specific types of hyperbaton are hypallage and chiasmus. Hypallage involves an interchange of elements in a phrase or sentence so that a displaced word is in a grammatical relationship with another that it does not logically qualify, as in her beauty's face for her face's beauty. Chiasmus involves a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in He went to the country, to the town went she. To stop too beautiful, and too faint to go. As high as we have mounted in delight, In our dejection do we sink as low (Wordsworth). The night wings sigh, the breakers roar, And shrieks the wild sea-mew (Byron).

These models comprise the most common and recognized models of inversion.

Inversion is closely connected with fronting. Centuries ago, English was predominantly a verb-second language: the verb was placed in second position in the clause, whether it was preceded by the subject or by some other clause element. The latter case caused inversion of subject and verb. In present-day English, the subject generally stays before the verb - with the exception of interrogative clauses - whether there is some other pre-verbal element or not. Nevertheless, given the right circumstances, inversion does occur in present-day English outside interrogative clauses. There are two main types: subject-verb inversion or full inversion, where the subject is preceded by the entire verb phrase (or whichever portion of it remains if the main verb part of it is fronted); subject-operator inversion or partial inversion, where the subject is preceded by the operator rather than by the main verb or a full verb phrase. As in independent interrogative clauses, the auxiliary do is inserted, if there is no other verb that can serve as operator. The remainder of the verb phrase follows the subject, if included. Both types are triggered by some element other than the subject being placed in clause-initial position. Yet the behaviour of the two types is quite different, as we shall see below. Furthermore, there is a great deal of variety in inversion patterns, some of which are obsolescent, reflecting differences both in form and communicative effect. In general, inversion serves several discourse functions:

cohesion and contextual fit (especially subject-verb inversion); placement of focus (end focus and double focus); intensification (especially: subject-operator inversion). Through skilful use of fronting combined with inversion, the speaker/writer can exploit the potential of the two most prominent positions in the clause: the opening and the end. The resulting structures adapt the clause to the context or produce some special stylistic effect (or both at the same time).

Use of subject-verb inversion. Subject-verb inversion is found most typically under the following circumstances:

• The clause opens with an adverbial, especially one of place, providing the background or setting for a situation. This adverbial often links the clause explicitly to the preceding text through a definite noun phrase. The opening element may also be a subject predicative linked to the preceding text.

• The verb is intransitive or copular and has less weight than the subject. It often expresses existence or emergence on the scene.

• The clause ends with a long and heavy subject introducing new information, often as an indefinite noun phrase, which may be further developed in the following text.

In other words, these structures conform to the requirements of the information principle and the end-weight principle.

The contextual fit of clauses with subject-verb inversion is such that a simple reordering of subject and verb is generally excluded for a clause in its context: I do her worm for her, when her teacher isn't looking. Then I draw a diagram of the worm, cut open, beautifully labelled. After that comes the frog. The frog kicks and is more difficult than the worm, it looks a little too much like a person swimming. (fict)

Here it is hardly possible to reorder the subject and the verb (After that the frog comes), in part because light-weight verbs are not generally used in final position. The only possible alternative order would be: The frog comes after that. This is less effective than the word order found in the text, which starts with a reference to the preceding text (after that) and moves on to the new referent (the frog), which is in its turn the starting-point of the following sentence. The order in the text also underlines the temporal sequencing of the events narrated.

Opening place adverbial. Place descriptions with overt or implied anaphoric elements are common with subject-verb inversion (subject-verb inversion is in bold, while the initially placed triggering elements are given in []): [On one long wall] hung a row of Van Goghs. (fict ) A massive mirror, framed in intricately-chased silver, hung above a carved pine chest, and [in its glassy depths] trembled reflections of the entire area. [Next to it] stood a silver urn bursting with branches of red berries. (fict) [On the horizon] is a field of view overgrown with nettles. (news) They found an extension to the drawing room with thigh-high cannabis plants growing in polythene bags full of compost. [Nearby] was a 400-square-yard warehouse with more plants flourishing in conditions controlled by artificial lighting and automatic watering systems. (news) In the following passage we find several instances of such locative inversion: The seating blunder saw the Queen sitting with French president Francois Mitterand on her right. [Then] came the Princess of Wales on his right. The Duke of Edinburgh was opposite the Queen, sitting next to EEC chief Jacques Delors–and with his back to Charles. [Opposite him on one of the three tables set out for the lavish dinner] was Prime Minister John Major. [On the third table] sat Princess Anne in between the prime minister of Greece, Constantine Mitsotakis, and Irish prime minister, Albert Reynolds. (news) <note that then in the second sentence indicates place rather than time> The distribution of information often reflects how a scene is observed (as in the above example). Note the following description of the streets moving by: This was Amsterdam Avenue, with the cross streets moving slowly by. [There] goes Eighty-seventh. [Here] comes Eighty-eighth. (fict) Here and there define a place as proximate v. distant from the point of view of the speaker and are often found in inversion structures:[Here]'s the bag. (conv) [Here] comes the first question. (fict) [There is the dog. Call the dog. (conv) Locative there (as in the last example) should be distinguished from existential there, though a comparison between the two constructions is instructive. A special type of place element triggering subject-verb inversion is an adverbial particle indicating direction: Worry, worry, Alice sat worrying, [in] came Jasper, smiling jaunty, stepping like a dancer, (fict) Billy opened his eyes, and [out] came a deep, resonant tone. (fict) [Back] came the pompous reply: <...> (news) When Sam tugged the rope, [down] came the money and he rode off with it in his scooter, leaving $2,500 in his haste to get away. (news) And this being a boiling Bank Holiday Monday the British are burning: [out] comes the sun, [off] come the clothes. (news) This type of structure is unusual in that the opening element does not indicate a background or setting, but is strongly focused. It is used in dramatic narration, to emphasize a sudden change or event. Descriptions with place adverbials are particularly common with subject-verb inversion in fiction and news texts, especially the type realized by a full prepositional phrase. The inversion type with here and there is also common in conversation. The type with a fronted adverbial particle is particularly frequent in fiction.

Opening time adverbial. The opening adverbial may also be one of time, frequently then introducing a new event: For a moment nothing happened. [Then] came voices all shouting together. (fict) [Then] came the turning point of the match. (news) [Again] came the sounds of cheerfulness and better heart. (fict) [First] came the scouts, clever, graceful, quiet. (fict) [Next] came the Chaplain. (fict) [Now] comes the business of sorting out the returned forms. (news) Most of these adverbials imply reference back to preceding, given, information.

Other types of opening adverbials. In academic prose, where there is less scope for place description and narration, we find examples such as the following: Formaldehyde may be generated in various ways. [Among these] is heating a solution of formaldehyde in a <.. .> (acad) [With incorporation, and the increased size of the normal establishment], came changes which revolutionized office administration. (acad) Clauses with subject-verb inversion may open with a fronted predicative or with a fronted ed- or ing-predicate. The information flow in these construction types is much the same as in clauses with opening adverbials.

The verb phrase preceding the subject may be complex, provided that it is lighter than the following subject. For example: Best of all would be [to get a job in Wellingham]. (fict) 5. Among the sports will be [athletics, badminton, basketball, <.. .>. (news) Here is provided [a patchwork of attractive breeding sites, which <. ..>].(acad) It should be noted that the verb phrase is not split with subject-verb inversion, as is the rule with subject-operator inversion.

Unlike subject-operator inversion, which is syntactically obligatory with particular elements in initial position , subject-verb inversion varies with the complexity and information value of the subject and the verb. Compare: 1. Then the night came up in dark blue vapour from the snow. (fict) 2. Then the words came out in a rush. (news) 3. Then came the call from Sergio Leone. (fict) 4. Then came the turning point of the match. (news) The regular subject-verb order is the natural choice in 1 and 2, where the subject is a simple definite noun phrase and the verb is accompanied by elements complementing the verbal meaning. In contrast, inversion is just as natural in 3 and 4, where there is a simple intransitive verb followed by a longer and more informative subject. Subject-verb inversion is excluded with a light-weight pronoun as subject, although ordinary subject-verb order is often possible: On one long wall hung a row of Van Goghs. (fict) cf. *On one long wall hung it/they. But: On one long wall it/they hung. Then came the turning point of the match. (news) cf. *Then came it. But: Then it came. Although inversion is most typically found with long and/or indefinite noun phrases in subject position, we also find examples such as: Watch out! [Here] comes Amanda! (conv) And [then] came that clap of thunder. (fict) [Here] comes the rub. (news) Sitting together on a settee as they faced hostile questioning, Bill Clinton seemed at first to be struggling as he was tackled over the Flowers affair. Then [in] leapt Hillary. (news) Such inversions frequently seem to convey an element of suspense and surprise.

Subject-operator inversion. Subject-operator inversion, or partial inversion, differs from subject-verb inversion in a number of ways: inversion may occur with both transitive and intransitive verbs, especially with the former, there is often a weighty predicate occupying end position in the clause; the opening elements triggering subject-operator inversion are much more restricted; inversion is obligatory where the triggering elements are found and occurs both with light-weight unstressed subject pronouns and with noun-headed subjects; in addition, the effect of the two types of inversion is quite different, as illustrated below.

Negative or restrictive opening elements. Subject-operator inversion is found after opening negative or restrictive coordinators or adverbials, such as: neither, nor, never, nowhere, on no condition, not only, hardly, no sooner, rarely, scarcely, seldom, little, less, only. In the following examples, inversion is marked in bold and triggering elements are marked by []:

1. And she said, you know, [on no account] must he strain. (conv) 2. [Nor] was there the faintest scent of ink or the cherry gum and oak bark from which it was made. Nothing. (fict) 3. [Not before in our history] have so many strong influences united to produce so large a disaster. (news) 4. [Rarely] are all the constraints on shape, function and manufacturing clearly defined at the commencement of the activity. [Even less] are they understood and their effect, one on another, recognized by the designer. (acad)

Due to the prominent placement, there is an intensification of the force of the negative/restrictive element. Note how the effect is underlined even further by other devices in most of these examples: the expression the faintest and the following sentence fragment Nothing in 2; the use twice of intensifier so in 3; and the parallel structures in the two sentences in 4. Subject-operator inversion after most initial negative/restrictive elements has a rhetorical effect and is virtually restricted to writing. However, subject-operator inversion after initial nor or neither is found in conversation as well as in the written registers. Note also the colloquial expression no way: Oh [no way] do I want to take that. (conv) And if the case went to trial, there wasn't a damn thing Katheryn could do to stop them. And [no way] could she get Sarah to understand that. (fict) No way expresses strong negation and is obligatorily placed in initial position.

Order of sentence elements and negative scope. Inversion is found only if the negative scope affects the whole of the clause. Thus there is no inversion in: 1. No doubt he will issue his instructions. (fict) 2. Not surprisingly, most studies have concerned themselves with ill effect, notably that of emotional stress. (acad) 3. Not many years ago, it seemed that almost all readability research, and almost all research in linguistics confined itself to the analysis of units no larger than a sentence. (acad) In 1 and 2 the negation is part of the stance adverbial only, while in 3 it is part of the modification of the time adverbial. The main statements are thus expressed in positive terms (e.g. he will issue ...). Occasionally, we find differences in ordering and in some cases meaning with the same or similar forms. Compare: Forms with normal word order: 4. [In no time at all] the hotels would be jammed to the doors. (fict) 5. I could have gone there. [Only] I didn't. I didn't care. (fict) 6. In the winter, sometimes, [rarely], you can hear the thunder of a siren but it is another country. (fict) The following are forms of triggering inversion: 7. [At no time] did he indicate he couldn't cope. (news) 8. [Only then] did he feel better. (fict) 9. [Rarely] can two sets of forwards have covered so much ground.(conv) In no time in 4 clearly does not affect the positive nature of the statement: we still conclude that the hotels would be jammed to the doors, while in 7 the implication is he did not ever indicate that he couldn't cope. Example 5 illustrates the use of initial only without inversion in the sense of 'but' or 'except', rather than in its customary restrictive adverb use as in 8. Finally, 6 illustrates the use of rarely meaning 'occasionally, sometimes' rather than 'not very often' (note the following comma, marking a looser connection with the clause). In most examples, however, initial rarely does trigger inversion.

Degree expressions with so and such. There is subject-operator inversion after opening elements consisting of the degree adverb so followed by an adjective or adverb: He refused to stir. [So greatly] had he suffered, and [so far gone] was he, that the blows did not hurt much. (fict) [So badly] was he affected that he had to be taught to speak again. (news) The pattern has a degree expression in initial position, usually accompanied by a following comparative complement clause. The effect of the pattern is a further intensification of the degree expression. Compare similar examples with subject-verb inversion triggered by clause-initial such: [Such] is the confusion aboard this vessel I can find no one who has the authority to countermand this singularly foolish order. (fict) [Such] is the gravity of the situation that it has already sparked an international incident. (news)

Inversion can occur after initial so when it is used as a pro-form pointing back to the predicate of a preceding clause: 1. A: We used to watch that on T.V. B: Yes, [so] did I. (conv) 2. A: French oral's a doddle. B: Is it? A: Yeah, [so] is German reading. (conv) 3. Gail's in, and [so] is Lisa. (conv) 4. She despised him; [so] did Prue Ramsay; [so] did they all. (fict ) 5. As infections increased in women, [so] did infections in their babies. (news) This inversion pattern usually includes no part of the verb phrase other than the inverted operator. The pattern expresses semantic parallelism and could be paraphrased with subject-verb order plus additive too, e.g. I did too in 1.This use of so is clearly different from initial so in degree expressions. The initial so in these examples stands for given information, and so has a cohesive effect; it is also in initial position, and so emphasizes the parallelism between the clauses. The subject is the main new communicative point of the clause and is placed in the end focus position after the verb. The result is a structure with double focus. Clauses with the initial pro-form so are closely related to structures with initial nor and neither, which express parallelism with respect to a preceding negative clause: 6. She hadn't known much about life, [nor] had he. (fict) 7. The generalization s truth, if it is true, is not affected by how we count things in question, and [neither] is its falsehood if it is false. (acad) The meaning could be paraphrased with subject-verb order plus either, e.g. ... and he hadn't either in 6. Again the inversion pattern produces both a cohesive link and a double focus which emphasizes the parallelism. Unlike no and neither, so is sometimes found with subject-verb order: 8. Aye, he's a bastard, [so] he is. (conv) 9. Have we a file? Yes [so] we have, (fict) 10. "I saw it distinctly, sir! You threw salt over your shoulder!" "[So] I did, sir, I confess it." (fict) In these instances the verb is in end focus rather than the subject. The effect is not of adding a proposition parallel to that which has gone before but of emphaticallyaffirming the same proposition implied in the preceding clause; note the combination with aye and yes in 8 and 9.

Special cases of inversion in independent clauses. Some uses of inversion are highly restricted and usually confined to more or less fixed collocations. Types A and B described below are remnants of earlier uses and carry archaic literary overtones. Formulaic clauses with subjunctive verb forms. The combination of the inflectionless subjunctive and inversion gives the highlighted expressions below an archaic and solemn ring: Be it proclaimed in all the schools Plato was right! (fict) If you want to throw your life away, so be it, it is your life, not mine. (fict) "I, Charles Seymour, do swear that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors according to law, so help me God." (fict) Long Live King Edmund! (fict) Suffice it to say that the DTI was the supervising authority for such fringe banks. (news)

The auxiliary may is used in a similar manner to express a strong wish. This represents a more productive pattern: May it be pointed out that the teacher should always try to extend the girls helping them to achieve more and more. (fict) May God forgive you your blasphemy, Pilot. Yes. May he forgive you and open your eyes, (fict) The XJS may be an ageing leviathan but it is still a unique car. Long may it be so! (news) Long May She Reign! (news) Imperative clauses may contain an expressed subject following don't: Don’t do it!

Subject-verb inversion with opening adverbials. The formal conditions and the effect of the inversions illustrated below clearly parallel subject-verb inversion in main clauses following place adverbials and adverbial particles: She pointed to an impressive but imitation oak desk [at which] sat a prissy, tiny, bespectacled individual (fict). In the centre of the green was a pond, beside it was a wooden seat [on which] sat two men talking. (fict) The bee <. . .> was working hopefully, curled in the very kernel of the bloom, when [in] came the kindly officer's little finger. (fict)

Subject-operator inversion with opening negatives/restrictives. Subject-operator inversion can penetrate into dependent clauses under the same circumstances and with the same effect as in main clauses: Mr Teague said that [at no time] was Paul Jones ever hit with a cane or whip, [at no time] was he tied upside down and hit. (fict) Introspection suggests that [only rarely] do we consciously ponder the pronunciations of words. (acad)

Clauses introduced by as and than. Inversion involving an operator on its own is found in formal writing in comparative clauses introduced by as and than, provided that the subject is heavier than the verb. In addition, inversion also occurs in other as-clauses. comparative clauses: 1. Independent agencies are in a better position to offer personal service than are those tied to big chains, believes managing director Daphne Armstrong. (news) 2. The liquid products are fractionally distilled, and refined in the same way as are the petroleum fractions. (acad); other as-clauses: 3. They chatted about Hollywood, and Charlotte was fascinated, as were the other guests. (fict) 4. The contraceptive cap can also spark the syndrome, as can a wound infection. (news) 5. It would be agreeable to pass it by, as have many inquiries into determinism pertaining to decisions and actions. (acad) 6. At least it is only two kisses and not three, as is the Russian custom. (news) Clauses of this latter kind are often reminiscent of inversion with the pro-form so, which may account for the inversion. We might closely paraphrase 3 with:(as) Charlotte was fascinated, so were the other guests. In 6 the pattern is similar to a non-restrictive relative clause introduced by which: … which is the Russian custom.

Hypothetical conditional clauses. In formal writing we find conditional clauses marked by inversion rather than by a subordinator. This is restricted to clauses introduced by had, should, and subjunctive were: "I would be more hopeful," Sandy said, "were it not for the problem of your testimony." (fict) Were it running more slowly, all geologic activity would have proceeded at a slower pace. (acad) He would have accepted only the usual expenses had he undertaken this summer's tour marking the South African Rugby Board's centenary. (news) Should either of these situations occur, wrong control actions may be taken and a potential accident sequence initiated. (acad)

In all of these cases, it is possible to use a paraphrase with if, which is the more common option. For example, we could re-word the first sentence above as follows (with a subjunctive or an indicative verb form): ... if it were/was not for the problem of your testimony.

Alternative and universal conditional clauses with subjunctive verbs. In the examples below, the dependent clauses can be paraphrased by whether it/ he/they be/is/are introducing a clause providing two alternative possible conditions: When the going gets tough, it's these people who react best - be it at a natural disaster, accident or sudden emergency. (news) His passion is really for the others he writes about, be they as famous as Brecht or as obscure as his landlady. (news) They have brought out a range of confectionery for the man in your life, be it father or partner. (news) Examples such as the following are paraphrasable with an uninverted whatever clause, expressing a universal condition: La Bruyere strikes one as a naturally timid man who has somewhat desperately made up his mind to utter his whole self, come what may. (acad) These patterns of inversion are remnants of constructions which at one time were more widespread. They are highly restricted and carry a literary overtone.

Dependent interrogative clauses with inversion. Dependent interrogative clauses are normally introduced by a wh-word, and regularly have ordinary subject-verb order. A more informal alternative, without a connecting link, is found in colloquial English: One lady thought we were turfing - and she said could we turf the lawn for her. (conv) And she said would we like these shirts. (conv) And then he said try it again and she rang and she asked, she said had the cheques come. (conv) The young man who had seen Mac in Westmoreland Street asked was it true that Mac had won a bet over a billiard match. (fict) She needed a backing guitarist and asked Kieran, who she had met once or twice on the road, would he help out. (news) This pattern represents a compromise between direct and indirect speech. It preserves the subject-operator inversion of the independent interrogative clause, but pronouns have been adjusted and verb forms backshifted to the reporting situation. For example, compare in the last example the direct speech form: Will you help out? Note that the examples with said require a change of reporting verb if they are rephrased as ordinary indirect questions: direct speech: She said, "Can/Could you turf the lawn for me?"; semi-direct: She said could we turf the lawn for her; indirect speech: She asked whether we could turf the lawn for her. The compromise form expresses a more direct report than ordinary dependent interrogative clauses.

Inversion in reporting clause. Types of reporting clauses Reporting clauses are appended to direct reports of a person's speech or thought and are on the borderline between independent and dependent clauses. Such clauses contain some kind of reporting verb, either a straightforward verb of speaking/thinking (e.g. say, think) or a verb identifying the manner of speaking (e.g. mutter, shriek), the type of speech act (e.g. offer, promise), the phase of speaking (an aspectual verb such as begin, continue), etc. Such clauses frequently have inversion: "That's the whole trouble," said Gwen, laughing slightly. (fict) "It's the fuel," said the chauffeur, "dirt in the pipe." (fict) "I'd be delighted to pair with you," continued Charles. (fict) Fifties and post-impressionist, thought Alexander, connecting. (fict) Sketching, says Uderzo, is a fast process. (news) Councils, argues Mr Cawley, are being hit by an unenviable double whammy. (news) As shown by the examples, quotation marks identifying the reported text are often missing (especially in news). In news, reporting clauses can also be used for attributions of written text: Where farming used to be the only viable source of income, hundreds of people have found regular work, reveals Plain Tales from Northern Ireland. (news) Inversion is found in medial or final reporting clauses containing a simple verb and a noun-headed subject. But subject-verb order occurs under the same conditions: "Are we to gather that Dreadnought is asking us all to do something dishonest?" Richard asked. (fict) "You can ask one or two of them to stay behind for a drink, if you like," Laura said, "if there's anyone possible." Increasing work loads, job insecurity and changes at work are taking their toll on nurses' health, a report shows today. (news) Reporting clauses may be characterized not only in terms of their inversion (or not) and position relative to the reported clause (initial, medial, or final), but also in terms of their complexity (left expansion, right expansion, no expansion): Final position; right expansion: "Do you in point of fact want us to say that Dreadnought doesn't leak?" asked Richard patiently. (fict)

Strong preference for uninverted order. For obvious reasons, reporting clauses are chiefly found in fiction and news, whether with or without inversion. Subject-verb order is virtually the rule where one or more of the following three conditions apply: The subject is an unstressed pronoun: "The safety record at Stansted is first class," he said. (news) The verb phrase is complex (containing auxiliary plus main verb): "Konrad Schneider is the only one who matters," Reinhold had answered (fict).

To some extent, the conditions of inversion in reporting clauses are similar to those applying more generally to subject-verb inversion, reflecting the weight and communicative importance of the subject v. the verb: whichever is placed last becomes relatively more prominent. However, inversion in reporting clauses is occasionally found with subject pronouns: I said I think something's gone wrong with the auto bank machine, says I.(conv) "We may all be famous, then," said he. (fict) Note the fixed combination says I which is used by some speakers in reporting a conversation. The sequence say I with the grammatically correct verb form is not attested in the LSWE Corpus. Where clauses identifying the source of some quoted text precede the text reported, they have a more independent status and subject-verb order is typical, regardless of the relative weight of the subject and the verb: Standing, Rick said, "Can I take Dave Holden's notes with me?" (fict) She said: "Elderly people often have smaller groups of friends and family to support them." (news) However, subject-verb inversion is sometimes found in initial position in news: Said a pollster: "Frenchmen still like to believe that they are the world's greatest lovers." (news)

Reporting clauses are very common in fiction and news (including clauses with inversion (VS word order) and those with regular SV word order. News uses initial reporting clauses to a greater extent than fiction. The majority of reporting clauses have no expansion. When they are expanded, right expansion is strongly preferred over left expansion, especially with reporting clauses in final position.

Inversion is overwhelmingly a main-clause phenomenon: over 90% of all inversions in conversation, fiction, and, news occur in main clauses. 75% of all inversions in academic prose occur in main clauses. In fiction and news, inversion is most common in reporting clauses (over 50% of the total occurrences) [ Biber, 765] . In spite of its relative rarity, inversion is an important option. Inversion is usually so strongly conditioned by context that it is impossible to normalize the order without affecting the contextual fit of the clause or without loss of stylistic effect. Inversion is more frequent in the written registers than in conversation, with the highest frequency in fiction. In general, we may assume that writers of fiction make more use of the resources of the language, including options which were formerly in more frequent use. Subject-verb inversion is the main inversion type found in fiction, particularly for description of settings, where inversion is a natural option. Subject-operator inversion is virtually restricted to the written registers, presumably because it is usually a deliberate rhetorical choice. At the other extreme, inversion is least common in conversation, with dependent-clause inversion being especially rare. Conversation is spontaneously produced, and leaves less room for planning and varying the use of language resources. In addition, conversation is at the forefront of linguistic change and is thus less likely to make use of features which were previously more frequent in the language. Nevertheless, inversion is quite a normal option in conversation with certain more-or-less fixed patterns: here's ..., here are ..., there's ... (with locative there), and so is ..., so am I. The strong association of inversion with main clauses can be interpreted as follows: independent clauses are the main means of carrying the communication forward. Their syntactic independence correlates with greater possibilities of internal variation and adaptation to context. Dependent clauses, on the other hand, must fit into the superordinate syntactic structure and are less free to adapt to contextual requirements.

4. Structural types of sentences. Sentence is a multidimentional phenomenon.Therefore, the foundation for its classification is based on the three aspects: form, function, and meaning. Correspondingly, the classification is based on sentence structure, sentence meaning and pragmatic or communicative value.

Structurally, sentences fall into: a) simple or composite (compound and complex); b) one-member or two-member; c) complete or incomplete (elliptical). These three classifications are based on different approaches to the structural organization of sentences and reflect its different aspects. Schematically it can be presented as follows:

Sentences with only one predication are simple sentences. Those with more than one predication are composite sentences.

One-member and two-member sentences differ in the Tiber of principal parts they contain. Two-member sentences have two principal parts – the subject and the predicate. One member sentence have only one principal part, which is neither the subject nor the predicate: An old park. Mid-summer. Low tide, dusty water.

Complete and incomplete (elliptical) sentences are distinguished by the presence or absence of word-forms in the principal positions of two-member sentences. In complete sentences principal positions are filled with word-forms. In incomplete sentences one or both of the main positions are not filled: Cheerful, aren't you? Ready? Wrong again.

4.1. Simple sentence. The classification of sentences into simple, compound and complex, established in the English prescriptive grammar of the mid-19th century and accepted and developed by the authors of the classical scientific grammar, remains the prevalent scheme of the structural classification of sentences in the grammars of all types in the modern period. A very important syntactic concept which developed along with this classification was the concept of the clause as a syntactic unit, containing a subject and a predicate.

The attempts of the authors of the older scientific grammars to destroy the concept of the clause as it was understood by prescriptive grammar by introducing such notions as "half" clauses, "abridged" clauses, "infinitive", "gerund", "participle" clauses may be observed in the excerpt from Bryant's grammar, treating verbid clauses. This tendency, which has found favour with some structural linguists, may have far-reaching consequences in the theory of the complex sentence, as it leads to the demolition of the structural distinction between simple and complex sentences. Transformational grammar derives complex and traditional compound sentences from two or more underlying strings or source sentences (double-base transformations), including them into matrix sentences. The basic pattern of a simple sentence in English is one subject-predicate unit. It is the pattern of a two-member sentence. There are several variations of this basic pattern, depending on the kind of verb occupying the predicate position: SV: Tom walk; SVC: Tom is clever/a student; SVO: Tom speaks French; SVOO: Tom gives Mary his books; SVOA: Tom put the plate on the table; SVA: Tom lives in London/there; SVOC: We found Tom guilty/a bore;

A simple sentence containing some words besides the predication is extended. An unextended sentence contains no other parts but the subject and the predicate (SV and SVC). The extending elements in the above patterns are obligatory, i.e. the sentence is incomplete if one of these elements is omitted: *We read the book (type SVOA) and *He resembled (type SVO) are unacceptable. A sentence may be extended not only by obligatory elements but also by optional ones, including attributes, certain kinds of prepositional objects and adverbial modifiers. John ran quickly to me. My friend John is a very clever student. As part of the principle of end-weight in English, there is a feeling that the predicate of a clause should where possible be longer than the subject, thus a principle of structural compensation comes into force. With the SV pattern, one-word predicates are rare, and there is a preference for expressing simple present or past actions or states by some other, circumlocutory means. For example, the verb sang is very rarely used as a predicate in itself, although semantically complete. We may easily say He sang well or He was singing, but would rarely say simply He sang. A common means of 'stretching' the predicate into a multiword structure is the construction consisting of a verb of general meaning (have, take, give, make, do, etc.) followed by an object. She talked, He smoked, or We swam, I decided can be replaced by She had a talk, He had a smoke, We had a swim, I took a decision. Similarly, the habitual use of the present or past in He smokes and He smoked can be expressed by a SVC structure: He is/was a smoker.

4.1.1. One-member sentences. There are two types of one-member sentences: nominal and verbal sentences. Nominal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a noun. They state the existence of the things expressed in them. They may be unextended or extended: Silence, summer. Midnight. Dusk of a summer night. First spring flowers! There are the following subtypes of nominal sentences: a) nominal sentences naming an object of reality (A sunny day), b) sentences expressing command or request (Silence! Courage!), c) sentences with modal meaning of appraisal and emotional colouring (That woman! The unfairness of it all); d) wish-sentences (The sweet fragrance! Oh, the fine clothes, the expensive cars, the luxurious homes!); e) sentences of hypothetical modality (Loud creams, shouts, noises… you children, perhaps!)', f) conditional sentences (A word of excuse from Robert to his wife, and certainly he would be forgotten).

Verbal sentences are those in which the principal part is expressed by a non-finite form of the verb (infinitive or gerund). They are mostly used to describe different emotional perceptions of reality: To think of that! Living at the mercy of a woman. Considered in their grammatical organization one-member sentences should be divided into: 1) nominal sentences and 2) infinitival sentences. Nominal sentences may be unextended: Winter, and extended: Volcanic lake, dead sea (J. Joyce). One-member nominal sentences may express: 1) modality of reality: Poor thing! 2)imperative modality: Courage, wife!; 3) suppositional modality: Into that cop pice the moonlight would have crept! There would be shadows... No birds, beasts, flowers.... Infinitival sentences most colourful and affective in their stylistic aspect are fairly common in present-day English.

In terms of structure one-member infinitival sentences may be subdivided into two groups: 1) infinitival sentences, always exclamatory, in which the infiniyive with to stands at the beginning: To be alive! To have the life before you! To give her to that boy! 2) Another type is an interrogative sentence beginning with why followed by the bare infinitive: Why waste time? Why not tell the truth?(J. Galsworthy). Infinitival sentences may differ in their modal force. Compare the following: a) To have given such promise! = That I should have given such promise... (a real fact); b) To know what was in her mind! =I wish I knew what was in her mind! - irreality (a wish-sentence); c) Why not prove it? Do prove it! (a request). Infinitival sentences can communicate not only their denotative meanings but also the connotative suggestions of the various circumstances of their use. The occurrence of infinitival sentences in different syntactic environments shows a great variety of their grammatical content, subjective modal force, in particular (indignation, surprise, pleasure, blame, impatience, reproach, etc.). Imperative sentences with no subject mentioned are also classed among one-member infinitival sentences: Get away! Tell them the truth. Don’t do it!

A special interest attaches to sentence-patterning "predicative without a verb". Here belong: one-member sentences type (Beautiful! Charming!); the isolated predicative with "and" (You were angry, and small blame to you); two-member sentences type: (Quite serious all this! Beautiful this view! No good doing such things. Nice of you to help us. Small wonder that we all liked it immensely).

4.1.2.Two-member sentence. A two-member simple sentence may be either complete or incomplete (elliptical). An elliptical sentence is a sentence in which one or more word-forms in the principal (subject and predicate) positions are omitted. Those words can be omitted, because they have only grammatical, structural relevance and do not carry any new relevant information. There are several types of elliptical sentences in English:

1. Sentences without a word-form in the subject position: Looks like rain. Seems difficult. Don't know anything about it.

2. Sentences without a word-form in the subject and part of the predicate position. The omitted part of the predicate may be either an auxiliary verb or a link verb: Not bad. Heard nothing about him lately. Going home soon? See what I mean? Free this evening?

3. Sentences without a word-form in part of the predicate position which may be an auxiliary or a link verb: You seen them? Everything fixed? You sure? All settled.

4. Sentences without a word-form in the subject and the predicate position. Such ellipses occur in various responses: What were you thinking about? – You. Where're you going? – Home.

5. Sentences without a word-form in the predicate position. Such ellipses occur only in replies to questions: Who lives there? – Jack. What's happened? – Nothing.

Ellipsis can act in apparently bizarre ways. The subject of a sentence can be ellipted in the main clause but not in the subordinate clause: He's good at his job. Knows what he's doing, but not *He's good at his job because knows what he's doing [Fawcett, 1997: 92]. Elliptical sentences are only special cases of full sentences (on condition that we can supply what is felt as missing from the immediate context. It is part of the definition of ellipsis that it should be absolutely obvious what the omitted words are. If it is unclear what has been omitted, we cannot call a sentence elliptical. The principle of being able to work out exactly what the omitted words are, by looking at the context, is called the principle of recoverability There are three kinds of recoverability:

1.Textual recoverability. The full form of the sentence can be found by looking at the rest of the text (the immediate context): How was the concert? - Very good (= The concert was very good).

2. Situational recoverability. The full form of the sentence can be deduced by looking at the situation in which it was used: Told you so, while the choice of omitted subject (I or we) would be evident from the people present. Situational ellipsis is very common in conversation: Want a drink?

3. Structural recoverability. The full form of the relevant complete grammatical construction of a given pattern: Looks like rain (=It looks like rain). Good to see you (= It is good to see you).

Ellipsis is typical of conversational English. It is the most vivid manifestation of speech economy. When a speaker combines a sentence with a previous sentence in speech, s/he often leaves out some redundant parts that are clear from the foregoing sentence, otherwise speech would be cumbersome. A sentence is often reduced to one word: Why did she die? – Cancer. One and the same sentence may be represented differently in speech, depending on the sentence it is combined with. If the sentence John returned from London yesterday is to be the answer Who returned from London? it may be reduced to John. As answer to When did John return from London? it may be reduced to yesterday. In answer to Where did John return from? Thus, John, Yesterday, London, may be regarded as positionally conditioned speech variants of a regular two-member sentence. In this they differ from one-member sentences.

In present-day English the tendency to compactness through nominality is brought into particular prominence, The variety of nominalization may be well illustrated by the extensive use of one-member sentences (Winter. Silence. The stillness of the night); the use of infinitival sentences as independent units of communication and infinitival phrases: (To have her friendship, her admiration! (J. Galsworthy). Carrie smiled to think of it (Th. Dreiser)); the extensive use of noun-adjunct groups (nuclear students, ice-cream woman, coal production, horse power); compression of different types of sub-clauses by nominalization (gerundial, infinitival and participial nominals:I rely on it that he will come – I rely on him to come – I rely on his coming); different types of sentence-patterning in syntactic structures introducing direct speech (And another voice: "I do not want to be too down" (Th. Dreiser))."It's good", with a sincerity (A. Sillitoe); the use of nouns and prepositional phrases with prepositional meaning: They did not come because the children were ill - They did not come because of the children. With a sigh, he left the room. The absolute use of verbal nouns transformed into independent sentences is most characteristic in Modern English, for instance: Another glance or two, however, would reveal Hie fact that he was only a rough, weekly unfurnished sketch of the type (J. Priestley). The term nominalization may apply not only to noun phrases with an abstract noun head as in the following examples: the critic’s hostile reception of the play or the play’s hostile reception by the critics, but also to concrete noun phrases with an agential noun head as in: She is a good writer. ~ She writes well. The relation between a nominalisation and a corresponding clause structure саn be more or less explicit, according to how far the nominalization specifies, through modifiers and determinatives, the nominal or adverbial elements of a corresponding clause. In this respect we may compare a clause The reviewers criticized his play in a hostile manner with the following patterns: the reviewers’ hostile criticizing of his play; the reviewers’ hostile criticism of his play; the reviewers’ criticism of his play; the reviewers’ criticism; their criticism. These noun phrases are ordered from most explicit to least explicit, but each of them could occupy the function of a nominalization. The study of various aspects of nominalization yielded conclusions highly relevant to such broader theoretical issues as language variation, semantic correlation of linguistic units in speech acts, synonimy and paraphrase. In a word, aspects which are relevant to style problems in grammar.

5. Composite sentence. There is structural opposition between the simple sentence and the composite sentence. The difference between the two lies in that the former contains only one predication, whereas in the latter predication occurs more than once. Compare, for instance: You can take my life, but you cannot change my mind. I can’t tell you how can I help you till I know the truth. This general characterization of the composite sentence should be specified. In a composite sentence, each predication together with the words attached makes up a clause, a unit structured around a verb phrase. The lexical verb in the verb phrase characteristically denotes an action (drive, run, shout) or a state (know, seem, resemble). The verb phrase is accompanied by one or more elements which denote the participants involved in the action, state, (agent, affected, recipient, etc), the attendant circumstances, the relationship of the clause to the surrounding structures, etc. Together with the verb phrase, these are the clause elements. The clause elements are realized by phrases or by embedded clauses. The following examples illustrate the distribution of clauses in discourse. The verb phrases are given in bold, and the elements of the same clause are enclosed within brackets: The Prime Minister threatened [to quit] last night, [as hard bargaining continued for a second day with the opposition over the shape of the new government.] The Prime Minister’s threat appeared [to seek a weakening of the opposition demands], but may also have been directed at hardline elements in the party reluctant [ to yield any further to the opposition]. (news report)

As it is shown by examples, in its structure a clause is similar to a simple sentence, but unlike a simple sentence it forms part of a bigger syntactical unit. The English language provides separate terms for the denomination of sentence as an independent unit, and clause as a unit which possesses the structure of a sentence, being at the same time a dependent syntactical unit within a sentence. A component of the composite sentence does not equal sentence, since it has no independent communicative meaning. The clause is used in communication only as a component of a larger syntactic unit - composite sentence. Even parts of the composite sentence may hardly be called communication units. As a rule, they are linked by cause-consequence, temporal or other types of relations, and breaking these relations by presenting a clause as an independent syntactic unit means breaking these syntactic and semantic relations.

Polypredication of the composite sentence does not mean just multiple predications as such. For example, in the sentence She said good-buy and left, predication appears twice: said good-buy and left. Each of the predicates is related to she, yet there is no composite sentence. Therefore, it is essential that the composite sentence contains several predication centres represented by the subject and the predicate. Two or more consecutively placed sentences are also characterized by several centres, still it is obvious that they do not make up a composite sentence. Clauses form a certain type of the composite sentence on the basis of syntactic relations. In complex sentences, the syntactic relation is explicitly expressed by subordinating conjunctions, The issue of the compound sentence is much more complicated. Even if there is a conjunction (e.g. and, but, etc.), the predicate construction may be an independent sentence.

Functionally, the composite sentence is similar to the simple sentence. Like the simple sentence, the composite sentence constitutes a communicative integrity and is complete intonationally. From the point of view of their communicative content, composite sentences, like simple sentences, maybe declarative, interrogative, optative and imperative.

The composite sentence is more specific when its structural characteristics are concerned. Predication here is realized on the level of constituents rather than on the sentence level. Unlike the simple sentence, constructed, with qualitatively different units (word forms, words, word combinations), the composite sentence is constituted with the help of units similar to sentences.The composite sentence is classified according to the way in which the parts of a composite sentence (i.e. its clauses) are joined together. This may be achieved either by means of special words designed for this function, or without the help of such words. In the first case, the method of joining the clauses is syndetic, and the composite sentence itself may be called syndetic. In the second case the method of joining the clauses is asyndetic, and so is the composite sentence itself. The difference between two variants of syndetic joining of sentences depends on the character and syntactic function of the word used to join them.

This joining word may either be a conjunction, a pronoun or an adverb. If it is a conjunction, it has no other function in the sentence but that of joining the clauses together. If it is a pronoun or an adverb (i.e. a relative pronoun or a relative adverb), its function in the sentence is twofold: on the one hand, it is a member of one of the two clauses which are joined, and on the other hand, it serves to join the two sentences together, that is, it has a connecting function as well. Within syndetic composite sentences, clauses may be linked by means of coordination or subordination, forming a compound or complex sentence respectively.

In compound sentences, the clauses of which they consist are linked by coordination. They are equal in rank and have the same status in the sentence. Their equality in rank is expressed above all in each sequential clause explicitly corresponding to a new effort of thought. Coordination is signaled by a linking word, called coordinator. The most common coordinators are and, or, but, correlatives both…and, neither.. nor. Each coordinate clause could stand as a sentence on its own, that is to be independent: I study the English language in Britain and Mary in the USA. (=I studied the English language in Britain. Mary studied the English language in the USA).

In complex sentences, the clauses are linked by subordination, usually signaled by a linking word, called a subordinator. The structurally simplest complex sentence consists of the main clause and the subordinate, standing beneath the main clause in rank. There more than one main clause and more than one subordinate clause in sentence. There are two kinds of subordinators: a) conjunctive words (conjunctions), whose function is to mark a structure as a certain type of sub-clause; b) conjunctive and relative pronouns, which have a further function within the structural pattern of a sub-clause. In subordination, the clauses that are joined together do not have the same grammatical status. One clause (the subordinate, dependent, or embedded clause) is subordinated to another (the main or principal clause). A subordinate clause, however important the information rendered by it might be for the whole communication, presents if as naturally supplementing the information of the principal clause: I answered the door when Jane rang the bell. The subordinate clause cannot stand as a sentence on its own. When Jane rang the bell needs some other clause before it can be used.

In compound sentences, the whole clauses are coordinated, together with their predications (a sequential clause refers to the whole of the leading clause). In complex sentences, a clause is mostly subordinated not to the whole principal clause but to some word in it which may be regarded as its head-word. The subordinate clause always expands an element of main clause structure, all or part of the subject, object, predicative, or adverbial. In I know where she lives the subordinate clause is an adjunct of the objective verb know. In I know the place where she lives the subordinate clause is the adjunct of the noun place. In The important thing is where she lives the subordinate clause is an adjunct of the link verb is. The only exception is the subordinate clause in a sentence like Where she lives is unknown in which it functions as the subject. The order of clauses within a compound sentence is often more rigid than in complex sentences. The position of a coordinate clause is rigidly fixed in relation to the previous clause, and cannot change places with it without impairing the sense of the sentence: He came at six and we had dinner together. – *And we had dinner together, he came at six. This is a big difference between coordinate clauses and most subordinate clauses: Harry went to Leeds, when Mary went to York. When Mary went to York, Harry went to Leeds. Coordinators cannot be preceded by another conjunction: Hilary went to Leeds, and but Mary went to York. This is another way in which coordination differs from subordination: Hilary went to Leeds; and when she arrived, Mary left.

These peculiarities of compound and complex sentences may account for the difference in their treatment. The clauses of compound sentences are sometimes regarded as independent. Some linguists are even of the opinion that compound sentences are merely sequences of simple sentences, combinations of sentences. The clauses of a complex sentence, on the contrary, are often treated as forming a unity, a simple sentence in which some part is replaced by a clause. Such extreme views are not quite justified, especially if we take into consideration that the border lines between coordination and subordination are fluid. A clause may be introduced by a typical subordinating conjunction and yet its connection with the principal clause is so loose that it can hardly be regarded as a subordinate clause at all. Compare: I met John, who told me (- and he told me) the latest news. Or, conversely, a coordinating conjunction may express relations typical of subordination: You must interfere now, for (= because) they are getting quite beyond me.

Coordinative connections are correlated semantically with subordinate connections so that a compound sentence can often be transformed into a complex one with the preservation of the essential relational semantics between the clauses: There was nothing else to tell, so I soon began kidding again. – I soon began kidding again because there was nothing else to tell. Both compound and complex sentences can contain several instances of coordination: I like cars and I like boats and I like planes. Or subordination: I see that you have spent the money which I gave you. With multiple subordination, we must take special care to keep the different levels of subordination apart. The main clause in a complex sentence may have several subordinate clauses with different functions: He thought [that they would leave (when the car arrived)]. This is called consecutive or successive subordination.

It forms a hierarchy of clauses. Here each succeeding subordinate clause is subordinate to the preceeding clause. Hence, the form of dependence is lineal or direct. Consequently, the clauses are in the first, second, etc. degree of subordination. The subordinate clauses with a lineal (consecutive) dependence may be of different types.

Several instances of subordination may occur at the same level. This is parallel heterogeneous subordination: The speakers [who represented different organizations] were unanimous in the problem solution [which is so ardently desired]. [What I said] is [what I meant]. Sometimes subordination and coordination may be combined within one sentence, in which case we may have compound-complex and complex-compound sentences. A compound-complex sentence is essentially a compound sentence in which at least one coordinate clause is extended by a subordinate one: I know [that she loathes me], but I'll make her love me. The lightning flashed and the rain fell [as we entered the house]. A complex-compound sentence is essentially a complex sentence with two or more subordinate clauses joined by coordination: I know [that you trust me] and [that you tell me the truth]. This is called parallel homogeneous subordination, or co-subordination, and the subordinate clauses are homogeneous. The length of the composite sentence in terms of the number of its clausal parts is in principle unlimited; it is determined by the informative purpose of the speaker.

5.1. The compound sentence. A compound sentence consists of two or more coordinate clauses of equal rank which form one syntactical whole in meaning and intonation. The first clause is called the leading clause (leader clause), the successive clauses are called sequential. The main semantic feature of the compound sentence is that it follows the flow of thought; thus the content of each successive clause is related to the previous one. The compound sentence usually describes events in their natural order. The clauses are sequentially fixed. The opening clause plays the leading role, and each successive clause is joined to the previous clause either syndetically or asyndetically. Syndetic coordination is realized with a number of conjunctions, such as and, but, or, nor, for, or with conjunctive adverbs so, yet, still, otherwise, therefore, etc. Structurally, coordinate clauses, either leading or sequential, may belong to the same communicative types as simple sentences: You may go, but don't be late for dinner! I had to leave at once, for whatever else could I have done? In writing, coordinate clauses are marked off by a comma, a semicolon, a colon, or a dash. Sometimes they are not separated graphically at all. In speaking, they are separated by pauses.

From the point of view of the relationship between coordinate clauses, scholars distinguish four kinds of coordinate connection copulative, adversative, disjunctive, and causative-consecutive, expressed not only by means of coordinating connectives, but also by the general meaning of clauses (especially in asyndetic coordination).

Copulative coordination implies that two events or ideas conveyed by coordinate clauses are merely joined in time and place. Copulative connectors are: and, nor, (neither)... nor, not only... but (also); conjunctive adverbs then, moreover. And is the conjunction most frequently used to realize copulative coordination. It often expresses a very general meaning of addition: We speak English and they speak French. Copulative clauses in English may have more or less clear reference to some adverbial meaning - temporal, causal, concessive, resultative, conditional, etc. Temporal relations imply that the events described in copulative coordinate clauses may be simultaneous or successive: The sky was blue and the birds were flying in it (simultaneity). The door opened, and an old man stepped out on the porch (succession). Causal relations can be identified in the following examples: He didn't have any money and he was ashamed (= He was ashamed because he didn't have money). It was a Monday and the market was empty (= The market was empty because it was Monday). In sentences beginning with a verb in the imperative mood, the first clause implies a condition for the fulfillment of the action in the second clause: Take these pills, and you will feel better (= If you take these pills, you will feel better). The action of the verb-predicate in the sequential clause may result from the action of the leading clause (the relation of result): Life is a difficult business and we have to work hard to survive.

Owing to its vague copulative meaning, the conjunction and may also link clauses with adversative connections (the meaning of the second clause is either contrasted to the first): The family was rich, and Jimmy never knew where the money was coming from. Or causative-consecutive connections (the meaning of the second clause contains the consequence of the first: The fire in the stove had gone out and they had dinner in the cold. Money was by no means plentiful and in consequence there was endless borrowing and paying up among them. Temporal and consecutive/resultative meanings may be created by the predicate verb in the leading clause: Children came from school and it was time for breakfast. Then they began to watch a feature film. The interrelations existing between the action in the leading clause and in the sequential clause may be that of time and concession: It was getting dark, and he had ten miles to go (= Though it was getting dark, he had ten miles to go). Conjunction nor joins two negative clauses: I didn't recognize the girl, nor did I remember her name. Correlative pairs neither ... nor, not only ... but (also) express mere addition: I not only remembered the girl's name, but I also knew everything about her family. Conjunctive adverb then joins clauses describing successive events: We went along the street, then we turned to the left. Copulative connection may also be expressed asyndetically: She was frowning; she wanted to go. The bus stopped, a lady got in, then another lady. Their hair was cropped; they wore jeans.

Adversative coordination links clauses containing opposition, contradiction, or contrast. Adversative connectors are: conjunctions but, while, whereas, conjunctive adverbs yet, still, nevertheless, nontheless, conjunctive particle only. Adversative coordination may also be realized asyndetically. The main adversative conjunction is but, which expresses adversative connection in a very general way. But always expresses a contrast in meaning: I'm old, but you are young. The clause introduced by but conveys some event that is opposite to what is expected from the contents of the first clause: The story was amusing, but nobody laughed. A compound sentence with but often implies a concessive relationship: Though the story was amusing, nobody laughed. However, a but-clause is used to stress the contradiction between the first and the second event. A but-clause often contains an unexpected or contradictory consequence. It may also give the reason for which the expected event did not take place: I wanted to call you up, but my telephone was out of order. The implied consequence is: I didn't call you up. The first clause may contain a modal phrase or an oblique mood form: I would have called you up, but my telephone was out of order (consequence implied). But may also join clauses contrasted in meaning: The system of noun forms is very simple, but the system of verb tense is most intricate. Conjunctions while and whereas express contrastive relations: Boris is a teacher, while his brother is a musician. Some people prefer going to the theatre, whereas others will stay at home watching TV programmes. Among coordinative connectives the particle only is frequently used to join clauses with adversative connection: All your classmates work with this programme, only you don’t know how to use it. Contrastive relations may be conveyed by asyndetic coordination: All your arguments didn't convince me, they made me feel boring. Disjunctive connection denotes choice, usually between the mutually exclusive alternatives. Disjunctive conjunctions are or either... or, conjunctive adverbs else (or else), otherwise. Conjunction or introduces an alternative. Usually, the alternatives are taken to exclude each other: You can join us at the station, or we can wait for you at home. Inclusive interpretations also occur, where or approaches the meaning of and: We can eat now or we can eat later – I don't mind which.

Correlative either emphasizes the exclusion of one of the alternatives: Either listen to me, or I shall stop reading to you. The clause introduced by or may express restatement or correction of what is said in the first clause: We were talking about books, or rather he was talking and I was listening. Coordinate clauses joined by disjunctive connectors may contain an implied condition, real or unreal: Hurry up, or you will be late (=If you don't hurry up, you will be late). If the first part is negative, the implied condition is positive: Don’t be late, otherwise you may not be let in (If you are late, you are not be let in). John is busy, otherwise he would be here (If John were not busy, he would be here). John is busy, or he would have come (If John were not busy, he would have come).

Causative-consecutive coordination links clauses in such way that one of them contains a reason and the other - a sequence: The weather was fine, so there were many people on beach. The days became longer, for it was now springtime. The second clause may contain either the reason or the result of the event conveyed by the previous clause. The only causative coordinating conjunction is for. Consecutive connectives are so, so that, therefore, hence, then. A causative clause may be also joined asyndetically: At first I thought that they were brother and sister, they were so much alike. Conjunction for is intermediate between subordination and coordination. It is most often treated as a coordinating conjunction, because its semantic application is to introduce clauses containing an explanation or justification of the idea expressed by the previous clause: The land seemed almost as dark as the water, for there was no moon. Sometimes the consequence may serve as a justification of the previous statement: John must have gone, for nobody answers the call. A for-clause differs from a subordinate clause of reason in that it never precedes the clause it is joined to. If a sentence begins with for, it means that the sentence is linked with the previous one: When I saw her in the river I was frightened. For at that point the current was strong. So that is also intermediate between subordination and coordination. When used after a comma in writing or a pause in speaking its connection with the previous clause is looser and it performs the function of a coordinating conjunction: John is unlikely to come soon, so that we'd better go home.

The commonest type of the compound sentence is a two-clause construction. On the other hand, predicatively longer sentences than two-clause ones, from the point of view of semantic correlation between the clauses, are divided into open and closed. Copulative and enumerative types of connection, if they are not varied in the final sequential clause, form open coordinations which could continue indefinitely: Sometimes they were too large and sometimes they were too small; sometimes they were too far from the center of things and sometimes they were too close; sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they wanted too many repairs; sometimes they were too stuffy and sometimes they were too airy. A fault that made the house unsuitable was always found. (fict)

In the multi-clause compound sentence of a closed type the final part is joined on an unequal basis with the previous ones, whereby a finalization of the expressed chain of ideas is achieved. The most typical closures in such compound sentences are effected by conjunctions and and but. His fingernails had been cleaned, his teeth brushed, his hair combed, and he had been dressed in formal black.

5.2. The complex sentence. A complex sentence is a polypredicative construction built on the principle of subordination. The complex sentence of minimal composition includes two clauses - a principal/main one and a subordinate/dependent one: I respect him (main) because he is always telling the truth. (dependent) The terms “main” and “dependent” are relative, since there are constructions where the principal clause is represented by only a component of a sentence part, e.g. What I’d like to do now is to write an article on this problem. Although the principal clause positionally dominates the subordinate clause, the two form a semantic and syntactic unity. Complex sentences correlate with simple ones and are formed according to the same structural patterns. The subordinate clause is joined to the principal clause either syndetically by subordinating connectors (conjunctions, connective pronouns or adverbs), or, with some types of clauses, asyndetically. Complex sentences are classified according to the function of the subordinate clauses. Functional classification of subordinate clauses is done on the simple sentence-part analogy.

Subordinate clauses may be finite and/or non-finite, depending upon the structure of their verb phrase. A finite dependent clause contains a verb phrase which is marked for tense or modality. Finite dependent clauses are regularly marked by a clause link, either a subordinator or a wh-word. The grammatical roles of finite dependent clauses are many and varied. It is not always clear to what extent clauses should be regarded as independent or as part of other structures. There are degrees of integration, ranging from clear subordination to loosely attached structures. As a result, all dependent clauses fall into the clearly subordinate types and more peripheral types.

Clearly subordinate clauses perform functions of different parts of the sentence: subject, predicative, apposition, attribute, adverbial modifier. Traditionally, these numerous types of clauses are arranged in three groups: nominal clauses, attributive clauses, and adverbial clauses.

Their grammatical function can always be tested by replacing the clause with a simpler unit, such as a pronoun, adjective, adverb, noun phrase. Subject: That he didn't tell the truth is awful. - It is awful. Object: I know what to do. - I know something. Predicative: The results are what I did not expect. - They are interesting. Attribute: I found a place where we could have a talk. - I found such kind of place. Adverbial: Bring me the books when you next visit us. - Bring me them then. From the point of view of their nominative features, all the subordinate clauses are divided into three semantic groups. Categorial classification of subordinate clauses is based on the part-of-speech classification.

In terms of syntactical positions all the subordinate clauses are divided into three groups: clauses of primary nominal positions to which belong subject, predicative, and object clauses; clauses of secondary nominal positions to which belong attributive clauses and adverbial clauses. The device of subordination is used to join clauses with a different degree of interdependence or fusion. Therefore some clauses – subject, predicative, most object clauses – are obligatory for the completeness of main parts, which are otherwise deficient. For instance, in the sentence I think you are right it is impossible to drop the object clause, as the part * I think makes no sense. Most adverbial clauses are optional, not essential for the completeness of the main clause. Thus if we drop the subordinate part in the sentence We'll watch a film in the evening, when you come back, the part left will be identical with a simple sentence: We'll watch a film in the evening.

According to its syntactical function and the word it refers to, the subordinate clause may be placed before, after, or in the middle of the main clause. If closely connected, a clause may be joined without any punctuation mark. I know you are not guilty. This is the man I told you about.

The principal clauses of complex sentences are usually not classified, though their meanings are not neutral with regard to the meanings of the subordinate clauses. Cf.. He will come because he needs your help. He will come if he needs your help. Semanlically, the main clause generally dominates the subordinate clause, as it contains the main information of the utterance. However, there are cases when one part is as important as the other and even cases when the subordinate clause is the central informative part of the sentence and the main clause is less important, maintaining only the immediate communicative connection with the listener: I asked him if he knew the man.

1. Nominal clauses name an event as a certain fact: That his proposal remained answered frustrated him. - That fact frustrated him. They are used as subject, subject predicative, or direct object in the main clause. Finite nominal clauses are introduced by the omissible subordinator that or by a wh-word. Subject clauses are usually extraposed, though the following examples illustrate them in their basic clause element positions. That - clauses: That this was a tactical decision <S> quickly became apparent. (news)They believe that the minimum wage could threaten their jobs. (news) The important point, he said, was that his party had voted with the Government more often in the last decade than in the previous one. (news) Wh-clauses: "What I don't understand," she said, "is why they don't let me know anything." (fict) Understanding how a planet generates and gets rid of heat is essential if we are to understand how that planet works. (acad) Wh-clauses may also appear as other clause elements: Any reciprocal learning will depend mainly on what Japanese companies choose to make available. (news) Give whoever has it your old Cub. (fict) Perhaps it is us who made them what they are (fict)

Nominal wh-clauses are often divided into two types: dependent interrogative clauses (or indirect questions) and nominal relative clauses. Compare: 1. I forgot to ask you what was in the caravans, the sleeping arrangement. (conv) 2. I mean basically we can go up the Top Shop and buy what we like can't we? (conv) Example 1 contains a dependent interrogative clause; notice that we might paraphrase it as 'I forgot to ask you this question, about what...'. In the nominal relative clause 2, the wh-word can be paraphrased by that which or anything which, i.e. with an antecedent and a relativizer as ordinary relative clauses. That-clauses are further used as complements in adjective phrases 3 and noun phrases 4: 3. He was unaware that a Garda Inquiry was being conducted into the allegation, he stated. (news) 4. There is a fear that such rules will be over-bureaucratic. (news) Wh-clauses, characteristically more versatile than that-clauses, may appear as complements in adjective phrases 5, noun phrases 6, and prepositional phrases 7: 5. Be very careful what you tell me. (fict) 6. If he were in a hurry it opens up the interesting question why he should be in a hurry. (fict) 7. She was afraid of what might happen if Chielo suddenly turned round and saw her. (fict) A nominal clause is closely integrated with the main clause in which it is embedded. It cannot normally be left out without injuring the structure of the main clause. Its freedom of movement is limited.

Clauses containing direct speech are often analysed as nominal clauses, embedded within the clause containing the reporting verb: Veronica said, "Take them both up to their room, Nanny." (fict) However, the relationship between the clauses is looser in such structures than is normally the case with nominal clauses. Where the clause containing the reporting verb is short and mobile, it is indeed best regarded as a dependent peripheral element. There is, however, no clear line of demarcation, and alternative analyses are often equally justified. Because nominal clauses are normally selected or controlled by a preceding verb, adjective, noun or preposition, they are frequently referred to as complement clauses.

All nominal clauses have a function approximating to that of a noun or a nominal phrase, they may fulfill the function of a basic part of the main clause: a subject clause functions as subject of the main clause which has no subject of its own, a predicative clause functions as predicative to the link verb within the main clause. An object clause refers to verbs in different forms and functions, to adjectives, statives and occasionally nouns, and may be obligatory or optional. An appositive clause refers to a noun with a very general meaning and is therefore essential to the meaning of the sentence. Owing to their essential structural and semantic role in the sentence, all nominal clauses are very closely connected with the main clause, and if such a clause is removed, both structure and the meaning of the sentence are changed or become ungrammatical.

1.1. Subject clauses may be introduced by conjunctions (that, if, because, the way), correlatives (either... or, whether... or), conjunctive pronouns (who, whoever, what, whatever, which) or pro-verbs (where, wherever, when, whenever, how, why). Complex sentences with subject clauses are of two patterns:

1. With a subject clause preceding the predicate of the main use: a) What I need is a piece of good advice. Why she did is a mystery, b) That he has not married yet is what surprised me most. Subject clauses of this type cannot be joined asyndetically, as the opening words signal the subordinate status of the clause.

2. With a subject clause in final position, the usual place of the subject being occupied by formal it. It seemed unfair to him that should work harder than his wife.

1.2. Object clauses may be introduced by conjunctions (that, if, whether, lest), correlatives (either...or, whether...or), conjunctive pronouns (who, whoever, what, whatever, which) or pro-adverbs (where, wherever, when, whenever, why, how). An object clause may refer to any verbal form, either finite or non-finite: I don't know why I like you so much. It may refer to an adjective or a stative: He was glad none was in.

The usual place of an object clause is after the principal clause, though it may be placed before the principal clause for the purpose of connecting two thoughts, the object clause denoting something familiar, mentioned previously: Whether she had been right in this she was utterly unable to tell. He said he would go back to dinner at Tim's. Like objects in a simple sentence, object clauses may vary in their relation to the principal clause and in the way they are attached to the word they refer to or depend on.

An object clause may directly follow the word it refers to: I know when I am wasting time and energy. An object clause may be preceded by formal it: I like it when people are kind to me. I insist upon it that you tell me the truth. Object clauses parallel in function to indirect objects are very are. However, they are possible, the necessary condition for it being that the object clause should be followed by a direct object: You may give whoever you like any presents. An object clause may function like a cognate object: He lived what might have been thought very interesting live. A prepositional object clause is joined to the main clause by prepositions (after, about, before, beyond, for, near, of, as to, except). If a preposition is very closely attached to the preceding verb adjective (agree upon, call for, comment upon, depend on, hear of, insist on) it generally precedes the object clause: I want to be paid for what I did. A peculiar feature of object clauses lies in their ability to render implicit adverbial meanings introduced by the corresponding relative adverbs of time, place, manner, cause, etc.: How long he walked he didn't know (time). I wondered come (cause). I asked him how he liked London. (manner). Attributive (relative) clauses function as modifiers to a word of nominal character (noun, pronoun, numeral), which is called the antecedent. Usually, an attributive clause immediately follows its antecedent, although some types may occasionally be distant.

2. Predicative clauses may be introduced by conjunctions (at, whether, as, as if, as though, because, lest), correlatives (either...or, whether...or), conjunctive pronouns (who, whoever, what, whatever, which) or pro-adverbs (where, wherever, when, whenever, how, why). It has a fixed position in the sentence – it always follows a link verb (be, feel, look, seem, appear, remain, become, sound). It performs the function of the nominal part of the predicate. Predicative clauses may occur as parts of two structurally different kinds of sentences:

1. They may follow the main clause in which the subject is a notional word of abstract semantics (thing, question, problem, news, sensation, rule, trouble). They disclose the meaning of the subject: The fact was that he had forgotten about it. The trouble was whether we could manage it ourselves or not.

2. They may follow the main clause in which the subject is expressed by the impersonal pronoun it. They describe the situation, either directly or by means or comparison: It was as if they had not been there at all.

Predicative clauses with comparative meaning are introduced by comparative conjunctions (as, as if, as though) It was as though our cooperation was forgotten. They should not be confused with adverbial clauses of comparison. A predicative clause immediately follows the link verb, which does not express complete predication without the clause. In the case of an adverbial clause, the preceding verb is that of complete predication and the clause may be distant from the verb it modifies. He nodded vigorously, as though it were the most reasonable solution. (adverbial clause). Predicative clauses may be joined asyndetically. In this case they are usually separated by a comma or a dash: The effect was, his mother left him alone.

3. Relative clauses name an event-fact which gives a characteristic to the substantive entity: The man who came in the morning left a message. - That man left a message. A relative clause (also called “adjectival clause” in some grammars) is characteristically a postmodifier in a noun phrase. It is introduced by a wh-word (relative pronouns: who, whose, whom, what, which, that; or pro-adverbs: when, where, whence, wherein), which have a grammatical role in the relative clause in addition to its linking function. The relativizer points back to the head of the noun phrase, which is generally referred to as the antecedent. If the antecedent denotes a living being, the relative words (who, whom, whose) are used. If the antecedent denotes a thing or notion, the relative words which, whose, or that are used; of these that is less formal. Attributive clauses fall into two types, depending on the degree of connection and the relation they bear to the antecedent: restrictive or non-restrictive.

1. Restrictive or limiting clauses are used to establish the reference of the antecedent, while non-restrictive relatives give additional information which is not required for identification. Limiting clauses restrict the meaning of the antecedent, so that when the clause is left out, the sense of the sentence is seriously impaired; they may be joined to the main clause by prepositional relative pronouns: We have 30 men who are working from 6 am to 11 pm and most of the extra payments we would expect to receive may go on overtime. (news) In this example the restrictive clause identifies a group of men who are working long hours.

Contact clauses are always limiting, for both the main and the subordinate clause complete each other: I know the stories you have been feeding him. This is the kind of job I'd like.

2. Non-restrictive (descriptive) clauses supply additional information which does not restrict or specify the meaning of the antecedent. They provide optional, extra information and may be left out without any serious change in the meaning of the sentence. They are joined by the same connectives as limiting clauses, although the relative pronoun that and asyndetic connection hardly ever occur: He warned the public not to approach the men, who are armed and dangerous. (news) The non-restrictive clause in this example gives information about some particular men whose identity is already known. Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses differ in a number of respects: the choice of relativizer, the type of antecedent, etc. They are separated by a semicolon, a dash, or even by a full stop. Adjectival clauses can express implicit adverbial meanings through their adverbial connectors: It was the time when they were friends (time). There was no reason why she should not try again (cause). Some types of relative descriptive clauses refer back to whole sentences, not just to nouns. They are not used as postmodifiers of nouns. This is true of nominal relative clauses, where the wh-word can be regarded as representing both the antecedent and the relativizer. It is also applies to so called sentential relative clauses or sentence relatives, introduced by which, occasionally by that: All you told me was that Miss Ann was retiring but I hadn’t to tell anyone, which I haven’t done, which I don’t intend do. (conv) The waves are transverse, which means that the direction of oscillation has to be perpendicular to the direction of the motion of the wave. (acad)

A sentential relative clause can be paraphrased by expressions such as something which ( where the which-clause is actually a postmodifier in a noun phrase) or and that (with a coordinate clause). Sentence relatives are most commonly used to convey an attitude or value judgment about a proposition, as in the following examples: We seem to be taking on more than hopefully the old, the old wages at the moment, which is encouraging. (conv) Mom washed her hands of Kitty after the last incident, which isn’t as heartless as it sounds. (fict) Sentence relatives are also used to comment on the truth or likelihood of a proposition: Okay, supposedly she claims that he hit her and winded her and she screamed after she was winded, yeah, which is an impossibility anyway but that’s okay. (conv) No risk for me; all I have to do is walk in and laser him. Assuming, of course, that he’s in his apartment, which isn’t likely. (fict)

4. Appositive clauses may be introduced by conjunctions (that, if, whether, as if, as though), conjunctive pronouns and pro-adverbs (what, how). Appositive clauses are not separated by a comma and cannot be joined asyndetically. Appositive clauses are very similar to relative clauses. Cf.: The story that I wrote was published (relative clause: that can be replaced by which). The story that I had resigned was published (appositive: that means 'that is', and cannot be replaced by which). Appositive clauses disclose the meaning of the antecedent of abstract semantics (idea, thought, feeling, fact, impression, reason, doubt, question, thing, remark, probability): The question how did she get the information still worried him. The fact that I might never have seen her is rather appalling. Appositive clauses may refer to a whole clause: I at once noted - what my husband had not - that our son had come to tell us something very important. (fict)

5. Adverbial clauses make their event-nomination into a dynamic relation characteristic of another event or a process or a quality: All will be well if we trust each other. – All will be well on condition that we trust each other. Adverbial clauses are used as adverbials in the main clause, generally as circumstance adverbials. As with adverbials in general, they are optional and have some freedom of positioning; both initial and final placement are common. Adverbial clauses are regularly marked by a subordinator indicating the relationship to the main clause. I/ we were having a caravan like that, I would be too frightened to let it. (conv) There's a term and a half left before he moves on. (conv) When the houses were ready, prices of up to 51,000 were quoted. (news) Most ions are colourless, although some have distinct colours. (acad) Adverbial clauses are usually classified according to their meaning (the relation they bear to the main clause) into three groups. 1. Clauses of time and place with the common semantic basis of temporal and spatial localization. 2. Clauses of manner and comparison with the common semantic basis of qualification to the action or event rendered by the principal clause. 3. Clauses of circumstantial semantics are connected with the meaning of the principal clause by various circumstantial associations: clauses of attendant circumstances, condition, cause, reason, result (consequence), concession, purpose. Adverbial clauses serve to express a variety of adverbial relations and, consequently, they are introduced by a great number of subordinating conjunctions. An adverbial clause may qualify the whole main clause, the verbal predicate or any verbal part, and also parts expressed by an adjective or adverb.

1. Adverbial clauses of time and place. Clauses of place define the place or direction of the action expressed in the principal clause. They may be introduced by the connectors where, wherever, everywhere (that). Why can't we go where it's warm? He was standing where he always had stood. Wherever they came people greeted them enthusiastically.

Clauses of time characterize the action in the principal clause from the temporal point of view. They may be introduced by the conjunctions or adverbial connectives: as, as soon as, as long as, when, whenever, while, now that, till, until, after, before, since, once, directly, instantly, conjunctive phrases the time (that), the day, the moment, the instant, next time, every (each) time: When the cat is away the mice will play. Never tell a thing to a woman till it's done. I'll talk to him as soon as I get back.

Every conjunction or relative adverb/phrase adds a particular shade of meaning to the temporal relation – priority, simultaneity, succession of actions, the beginning or the end of the action, repetition, gradual development, coincidence of two actions, etc.

A special variety of complex sentence with a time clause is presented by constructions in which the main predicative information is expressed in the subordinate clause, the actual meaning of temporal localization being rendered by the principal clause of the sentence: I was waiting downstairs when Terry came back. This type of complex sentence is known in linguistics as inversive, what is meant by the term, is semantics taken against the syntactical structure.

2. Adverbial clauses of manner give some qualitative characteristics of the action in the main clause. They may refer to the verbal predicate or any verbal part as the only modifier of the action expressed, to a detached attribute or to an adverbial modifier. They may be introduced by the conjunction as, connective word the way. There are different types of adverbial clauses of manner:

1. Clauses of manner which modify the predicate of the main clause by attributing some quality to it: I'm sorry I talked the way I did. She could cook the cake as no one else could do.

2. Clauses of manner which refer to attributes or predicatives characterizing a state or quality of a person/non-person: Shocked, as one could be in such circumstances, she didn't give a sign of it. 3. Clauses of manner which refer to an adverbial modifier, giving additional information or explanation concerning it. The connection between the clauses is rather loose, and the subordinate clause is generally set off by commas: He said it with contempt, as a serious expert should treat such kind of articles.

3. Adverbial clauses of comparison characterize the action expressed by the predicate in the main clause by comparing it with some real or hypothetical circumstance or action. Clauses of comparison may be introduced by the conjunctions (as, as though, than), correlatives (as...as, so...as, as if): Their voices rose and fell as though they were singing together. Her broken heart healed sooner than she expected. Sometimes they have inverted word order: He was as gentle as were most of his friends.

4. Adverbial clauses of condition contain some condition (either real or unreal) which makes the action in the main clause possible. They may be introduced by the conjunctions if, unless, in case, provided (that), providing (that), suppose (that), supposing (that), considering (that), given (that), wanted (that), granting (that), admitting (that), presuming (that), seeing (that). They may also be joined asyndetically by means of link-inversion: Had the color of the car been to my taste, I should have bought it. Depending on the relation between the subordinate and main clauses and on the use of tense and mood forms, conditional clauses are subdivided into three types:

1. Clauses of real condition, when the actions or events in both the clauses are regarded as real possible facts: If you want to be a teacher, you should know a lot.

2. Clauses of open condition (unreal condition referring to the present or future) denote hypothetical situations or circumstances which may be realized in the present or future. Accordingly, the subjunctive mood forms are used both in the subordinate and the principal clause: If I were you, I would change my mind.

3. Clauses of rejected condition (unreal condition referring to the past) imply non-fulfillment of the condition, as the actions or events described in the conditional clause refer to the past and the time of their realization is over. The subjunctive mood forms are used in the subordinate clause and in the main clause: We might have persuaded her not to do it if she had not been so lighthearted.

5. Adverbial clauses of concession denote concessive relations: the action described in the main clause is carried out or takes place despite the action expressed in the subordinate clause. They are introduced by the conjunctions although, though, if, as, whether...or, even if, even though, even when, though...yet, conjunctive pronouns or pro-adverbs whoever, whatever, whichever, whenever, wherever, conjunctive phrases no matter how, no matter what, for all that, despite that, in spite of the fact, despite the fact. There are three types of concessive clauses, which differ in their relation to the main clause and in the way they are connected. 1. Clauses of admitted (real) concession express a real condition, despite which the action in the principal clause is carried out. The predicate in the subordinate clause is in the indicative mood: Though all efforts fail, we shall never surrender. I could always eat, however excited I was. 2. Clauses of open (hypothetical) concession express an unreal condition, despite which the action in the principal clause is carried out. The predicate in the subordinate clause may be in the indicative or in the subjunctive mood: Though she may disapprove of our arguments, she will have to put up with them. 3.Clauses of disjunctive or alternative concession admit two possible alternatives, both of which may be unreal, or may refer to the future: Whether Miss Dana be interested or not, she is fascinated with his work. You shall do your job whether you like it or not.

6. Adverbial clauses of purpose contain a contemplated or planned action, which is to be achieved by the action expressed in the main clause. They are introduced by the conjunctions that, so that, lest, so as, so, in order that, for fear that. The predicate in the subordinate clause is in the subjunctive mood: He opened the window wide that he might hear the conversation below. I tell you all this so that you may understand me perfectly. Adverbial clauses of cause express the reason, cause, or motivation of the action expressed in the main clause. They may be introduced by the conjunctions as, because, since, so, that, lest, seeing (that), considering, conjunctive phrases for the reason that, in view of the fact that, insofar as, by reason of: As he wanted to air the room, he opened the window wide.

7. Adverbial clauses of result (consequence) denote some consequence or result of the action expressed in the main clause. They may be introduced by the conjunctions (so that) connectives (as a result, therefore, seeing that). I was so tired that I could hardly speak. Adverbial clauses of attendant circumstance present the event as some sort of background in relation to the event described by the principal clause. They are introduced by the conjunctions while and as: As (while) the reception was going on, Miss Olga was engaged in a lively conversation with the pretty young girl. The construction of attendant circumstance may be taken to render contrast: Indeed, there is but this difference between us – that she wears fine clothes while I go in rags, and that while I am weak from hunger he suffers not a little from overfeeding.

6. Periphery clauses. In complex sentences with mutually subordinated clauses it is impossible to state which of the clauses is the main one and which is subordinate. There are two patterns of such sentences. 1. Comparative clauses express a proportional relationship – proportionality or equivalence; the more intensive is the action or quality described in one clause, the more intensive becomes the other, described in the following clause. They are joined by the conjunction as (correlated with the adverb of degree so in the other clause); or by means of the correlative adverbs so...so in both clauses. Proportionate agreement between the clauses may also be expressed by the correlative particles (conjunctions) the...the, followed by the comparative degree of adverbs (or adjectives): As time went on, so my hopes to enter university began to wane. It is often given in the form of a following comparative clause introduced by as or than: Maybe Henry would realize she was not as nice as she pretended to be. (fict) She fled these Sunday afternoons earlier than she should have, and was punished by guilty dreams because of it. (fict) Ellipsis is frequent in the comparative clause, which usually mirrors the structure of the main clause. A related type of clause expresses result or consequences in relation to a preceding degree expression: so/such + that-clause: He awoke so cold that he could barely straighten his legs. (fict) The syntactic role of the degree expression varies; most typically it is a modifier of an adjective or adverb. 2. Mutually subordinated clauses which expresses temporal relations – a quick succession of actions or events, often overlapping with one another for a short period of time. These clauses form an indivisible whole owing to correlative elements no sooner ... than, scarcely ... when/before, hardly ... when and sometimes partial inversion in the first clause: The door had scarcely closed behind her before it opened again. Hardly have we got into the house, when it began to rain. He had just cut a slice of bread when he heard somebody's footsteps.

7. Reporting clauses. A reporting clause accompanies direct reports of somebody's speech or thought. It specifies the speaker/thinker, the addressee (sometimes), the type of act (ask, say, think, etc.), and frequently also the mode of the act (abruptly, apologetically, bitterly, etc.). The reporting clause may be placed in initial, medial, or final position: They said, "Yes, sir," and saluted. (fict) "Yes," thought Fleury, "she's going at it hammer and tongs for his benefit." (fict) "Please come too," she begged. - "I'll be back when I feel like it," he said (to her) without emotion. - "I'm sorry," she whimpered, (fict) Can we do some singing? he asks. (fict) "Of course, dear. Please do come over," she invited, (fict) Madonna, forgive me, he prayed, forgive me for doubting the Holy Father. (fict) It should be noted that the choice of verb varies from straightforward verbs of saying to verbs describing the form or function of the speech act. As shown in the first of these examples, the reporting clause may be coordinated with narrative text. As there is no link specifying the type of connection, the syntactic role of the reporting clause is indeterminate. The clause containing the reporting verb is often described as the main clause, with the direct speech in object position. This analysis is obviously excluded where the verb in the reporting clause does not normally take a direct object (verbs such as whimper, exult, smile). Note also the clear difference between indirect and direct speech: 1. They said that everything was great. 2. They said, "Everything is great." - "Everything," they said, "is great" - "Everything is mouldy," she said.In 1 there is indirect speech, with a subordinator introducing a regular nominal clause; the connection between the two clauses is close. In 2, this structure is paraphrased using direct speech. Note that the connection is much looser, as shown by the comma and the mobility of the reporting clause. The order of the subject and the verb phrase of reporting clauses may vary depending upon its position and internal structure.

8. Comment clauses. Comment clauses are similar in structure to reporting clauses: they are loosely connected to the main clause, they normally lack an explicit link, and they are usually short and can appear in a variety of positions. They differ from reporting clauses by being more formulaic, and in the frequency counts later in the book we therefore choose to regard some of them (notably you know and I mean) as inserts. They are also usually in the present rather than past tense, first or second rather than third person, and comment on a thought rather than the delivery of a wording: It's a good tip you know, isn't it? (conv)

It's a nice approach I think. (conv) You know it makes you wonder, you know, you see all this unemployment. (conv) I mean it's, it's general I suppose I mean if it would be better to switch it on and off which you can do and er, you know, I mean we can't sit here continually talking. (conv) Mind you, he was probably still as sound as a bell. (fict) The following exchange was overheard (I swear), by a reader from Quainton, Bucks, in his local pub. (news) The conclusion, it seems, is intolerable. (acad)

Many comment clauses directly express the speaker's or writer's attitude to the message and can therefore be grouped among stance adverbials. The syntactic role of comment clauses is indeterminate in much the same way as with reporting clauses. In medial and final position they are best described as peripheral elements. In initial position they may look superficially like main clauses with an embedded nominal clause. Compare: You know, there's no money to be made out of recycling. (conv) v.You know (that) there's no money to be made out of recycling. In the first example, the speaker tells the addressee something the latter perhaps does not know; the function of you know is to underline the truth of the statement. This is clearly a comment clause. The second example is ambiguous: it either means “you are aware that ..." or it is identical in meaning to the first example. The first interpretation corresponds to a structure with an embedded nominal clause (that can be inserted), the second to a structure with a comment clause (that cannot be used).Comment clauses are very characteristic of speech.

9. Other peripheral clauses. In addition to reporting clauses and comment clauses, we find two further types of loosely attached dependent clauses. They are typical of conversation.

Pseudo-complex sentences consist of two clauses joined according to some pattern of subordination, but different from other complex sentences in the relation the clauses bear to one another. There are several types of pseudo-complex sentences.

Emphatic or cleft sentences fall into three patterns, in all of which the form of the complex sentence is used to emphasize some part of the sentence. 1. In the first pattern the emphasized part is placed in the position of the predicative, which is followed by a clause. The main clause is patterned on the model of the if-clause and the subordinate clause may be patterned as an attributive, temporal, or nominal that-clause: It is my friend who told me the truth. It was the idea I borrowed, not the project. It was what she said that spoiled the impression. The subordinate clause may be joined asyndetically: It is not you I love. The role of the main clause is purely emphatic, as the information which is divided between the main and the subordinate clause can be expressed in the simple sentence: My friend told me this. I don't love you. Splitting into two clauses serves as a device for placing greater emphasis on the part occupying the position of the predicative. Pseudo-complex sentences of this type may be interrogative: What is it that happened to you? What was it he disliked so much? A sentence can be transformed into different cleft sentences depending on what element is to be emphasized. For example: John liked to read books at home. – It was John who liked to read books at home. It was books that John liked to read at home. It was at home that John liked to read books.

2. The second pattern of cleft sentences (called pseudo-cleft sentences) is used to emphasize the predicate, which is split into the operator in the subordinate subject clause and the infinitive in the main clause: What John liked was to read books at home. What he disliked so much was to be addressed by passers-by. What he has done is spoil the whole thing.

3. The third pattern of cleft sentences is used to emphasize the prepositional object. If I feel sympathy for anyone it's you.

There are several varieties of appended clauses, modelled on the pattern of the main clause. These are used to intensify or reinforce a statement in the previous clause. The most common type of appended clauses are tag questions (tags):You are not ill, are you?

In non-formal style there is another form of appended clause, which is elliptical: He is always very kind, is that friend of yours. The appended part may consist only of a nominal group: He is a clever girl, your friend July. Such cases should not be confused with appended clauses. Appended clauses are used for a) emphasis: Thai's just perfect, that is! b) correction: I object – we all do. c) explanation: She's had a hard life, has my grandmother. Like my cakes, kids do.

Absolute subordinate clauses are used absolutely as independent exclamatory sentences. They may have the form of a conditional or comparative clause. If only I knew his address! As though you didn't know!

Parenthetical/inserted clause interrupts another sentence with which it is either not connected syntactically or is only loosely connected with separate parts of the sentence. Parenthetical clauses are often called comment clauses, because they do not simply add to the information given in the sentence but comment on its truth, the manner of saying it, or express the attitude of the speaker toward it: There is, as it were, a barrier between my words and my deeds. My parents, you know, were teaches. He is, as I told you, their only son. Parenthetical clauses may occur in front, middle and end position, but the end position. They are usually marked off from the rest of the sentence by commas, dashes, or parentheses in written English and by a separate tone unit in speech. Parenthetical clauses may be patterned like independent sentences, coordinate, main, or subordinate clauses: Although the morning was still dark – we got up too early – the lights were off. She cooked – and she was a good cook – and chatted with the kids. As you put it, it sounds good. Does your suggestion to have tea (which I do want) mean that you are not going to leave me alone? Parenthetical clauses may be patterned like different communicative types of sentences or clauses – statements, questions, imperative or exclamatory sentences or clauses: It was – why hadn't I noticed it before? – beginning to be an effort for him to apologize. I felt – such awful shapes pride takes! – that people hated each other because of it. Quite a number of parenthetical clauses are stereotyped conversation formulas, used to attract the listener's attention or to show the reaction of the speaker: you know, you see, I see, as you know, what's more, etc.

Parenthetical clauses may appear within another clause and interrupt its structure. A clause of this kind may either be asyndetic, or it may be introduced by a conjunction, most usually by the conjunction for. It usually contains some information serving to elucidate what is said in the main body of the sentence, or it may be a causal interruption due to the speaker suddenly thinking of something vaguely connected with what he is talking about, etc. There is certainly no reason for calling an inserted clause "subordinate", since no signs of subordination are to be found. Neither is there any valid reason for saying it is coordinate in the sense that clauses are co-ordinate within a compound sentence, indeed there are no clear signs which would prove that a sentence with an inserted clause is a composite sentence at all - though this of course depends on the exact interpretation is given to the notion of "composite sentence". Hence, a sentence with an inserted clause should not be taken as composite. It is rather a special type of a simple sentence with an inserted clause: The flowers were white and red, she recollected, roses, lilies, tulips and lots of orchids (Chavalier,87) Here the inserted clause contains information about the author of the statement, and in this respect it is akin to parenthetical clauses. However, in the following example, the inserted clause has nothing of a parenthesis about it: At last I decided to introduce Tom to my parents as my future husband (a few days ago he told me that he loved me and wanted to marry me) and to my friends who were looking forward to meet him. ( Chavalier,79) The inserted clause can be introduced by the conjunction for. It does not change the meaning essentially, but make it more explicit. As it can be seen, the boundary line between inserted clauses remaining outside the structure of the sentence proper.

10. Non-finite clauses. Non-finite clauses are regularly dependent. They are more compact and less explicit than finite clauses: they are not marked for tense and modality, and they frequently lack an explicit subject and subordinator. Compare the following examples to paraphrases using finite clauses: I don't know what to write about. (conv) I don't know what I should write about. Crossing, he lifted the rolled umbrella high and pointed to show cars, buses, speeding trucks, and cabs. (fict)

As he was crossing, he lifted the rolled umbrella high and pointed to show cars, buses, speeding trucks, and cabs. Style being a relational concept, the aim of literary stylistics is to be relational in a more interesting sense than that already mentioned. Since style is a relational concept, the aim of literary stylistics is to be relational in a more interesting sense than that which has already been mentioned. To interpret a non-finite clause, it is necessary to use clues from the main clause and often also from the wider context. There are three main types of non-finite clause, each containing a different type of verb phrase: infinitive clauses, ing-clauses, and ed-clauses. The three types differ considerably with respect to the grammatical roles they can play. Infinitive clauses and ing-clauses are the most versatile grammatically. Non-finite clauses are often loosely integrated into the main clause and may even lack a verb altogether.

Infinitive clauses can have a range of syntactic roles: 1. Subject: Artificial pearls before real swine were cast by these jet-set preachers. To have thought this made him more cheerful. (fict) "I believe that homosexuality is a gift from God. To deny that gift is to deny God's will, saying His way isn't good enough." (news) 2. Extraposed subject: It's difficult to maintain a friendship. (conv) It is a mistake to take sides. (news) 3. Subject predicative: "My goal now is to look to the future." (news) The only way out of the dilemma is to suppose that sometimes the photon gets through and sometimes it does not. (acad) 4. Direct object: Do you want me to send them today? (conv) He upset you very much, and I hate to see that. (fict) 5. Object predicative: Some of these issues dropped out of Marx's later works because he considered them to have been satisfactorily dealt with. (acad) 6. Adverbial: A little group of people had gathered by Mrs. Millings to watch the police activities on the foreshore. (fict) To succeed again they will have to improve their fitness and concentration. (news) 7. Part of noun phrase He is the third man to be murdered on the corner of the Donegal Road and the Falls Road in the past two years. (news) They say that failure to take precautions against injuring others isnegligent. (acad) In the first example, the infinitive clause is a postmodifier comparable with a relative clause, in the second a noun complement. 8. Part of adjective phrase: They're too big to fight, that's the trouble isn't it? (conv) I think the old man's a bit afraid to go into hospital. (conv) In all these roles except 1 and 6 (and the first type illustrated in 7, to-infinitive clauses act as complement clauses.

Ing-clauses can have a range of syntactic roles: 1. Subject: Having a fever is pleasant, vacant. (fict) Understanding how a planet generates and gets rid of its heat is essential if we are to understand how that planet works. (acad) 2. Extraposed subject: Anyway I says to Alice it's not fair getting in somebody's car feeling the way 1 feel I says - and puking in car. (conv) "There is only around five tonnes of newsprint left and it's very difficult getting supplies into Sarajevo." (news) 3. Subject predicative: Erm what I'm thinking of is disconnecting the pipe there, and running it through - that way. (conv) The real problem is getting something done about the cheap imports. (news) 4. Direct object I started thinking about Christmas. (conv) "It's as if the guy never stops thinking about the issue." (news) 5. Prepositional object: No-one could rely on his going to bed early last night. (fict) 6. Adverbial I didn't come out of it looking particularly well, I know. (fict) Having established the direction of the line, we now wish to find some point on the line. (acad)7. Part of noun phrase: I think he smashed two cars coming down the road. (conv) The man making the bogus collections was described as middle aged (news) 8. Part of adjective phrase: It might be worth giving him a bell to let him know what's happening. (conv) The town is busy taking advantage of its first City Challenge victory by implementing plans aimed at revitalising East Middlesbrough. (news) 9. Complement of preposition: Jordan said he would get tough with the homeless by running identification checks on them. (news) The art of expanding limited recall by asking leading, open-ended questions is a subtle one. (acad)

Ed-clauses are less versatile than the other types of non-finite clauses. They can have the following roles: 1. Direct object: God you've gone mad with the sugar in yours. Do you want it topped up? (conv) Two-year-old Constantin will have his cleft palate repaired. (news) 2. Adverbial: When told by police how badly injured his victims were he said: "Good, I hope they die." (news) Taken in the order shown they provide propulsive jets increasing mass flow and increasing jet velocity. (acad) 3. Part of noun phrase: There wasn't a scrap of evidence to link him with the body found on the Thames foreshore at low tide. (fict) This, as we have seen, is the course chosen by a large minority of households. (acad)

The non-finite clauses have been clearly integrated within the main clause as clause elements or parts of phrases. Loosely integrated clauses, marked off by a comma in writing, are found in initial, medial, or final position: Directed by Benjamin Twist, who, incidentally, is one of the names being mentioned as a possible successor to Nowozielski, the production is a delightfully theatrical retelling of Dickens’s famous novel. (news) The celebrated bust, looking like two dunces' caps applied to her chest, was encased in a puce halter-necked sweater which left all but essentials bare. (fict) He walked with a lilting gait, his left Achilles tendon apparently shortened, pulling his left heel up. (fict) The relationship between the non-finite clause and the main clause is very loose in these examples, both syntactically and semantically. By using a supplementive clause, the speaker marks the information given in the clause as subordinate: as background (initial position), parenthetical (medial position), or supplementary (final position).

11. Verbless clauses. Among non-finite clauses we may also include verbless clauses such as: 1. She had also been taught, when in difficulty, to think of a good life to imitate. (fict) 2. Although not a classic, this 90-minute video is worth watching. (news) 3. He does not believe celibacy should be demanded of priests whether gay or straight. (news) 4. Every day, if possible, allot time at your desk to sorting and filing everything you have collected since the previous day by way of either elicited or spontaneous data. (acad) Such clauses can usually be related to finite clauses with the verb be and, apart from formulaic expressions such as if possible (in 4), if so and if necessary, have the same subject as the main clause. Compare with 1 when she was in difficulty and with 2 although it is not a classic. Although there is no overt verb phrase, these clauses can be analysed in terms of clause elements. Sometimes they can be closely paraphrased by a detached predicative structure simply by omitting the subordinator: compare with 2 Not a classic, this 90-minute video is worth watching. As with supplementive clauses, their role is usually adverbial. Verbless clauses in the written registers typically mark information as communicatively less important, while in conversation they are usually limited to the formulaic expressions.

6.Communicative types of sentences. From the viewpoint of their role in the process of communication, sentences are divided into five types: declarative (Tom is speaking French), providing information, stating a fact, closing with a period; interrogative, inquiring information, asking a question, closing with an interrogation point (Is Tom speaking French?); imperative, aiming at inducing the hearer to perform an action (Tom, speak French!); negative, negating smth (Tom is not speaking French); optative, expressing unrealized volition (If Tom could speak French); exclamatory, uttering an outcry, or giving expression to a command, wish, or desire, often closing with an exclamation point – the oldest form of a sentence; (Tom is speaking French!). The sentence performs two functions: (1) emotive, i. e., it is an expression of will, or is an expression of emo­tions, attitudes, intentions, and moods present in the speaker or to be evoked in the listener; (2) it makes a state­ment, or, in the case of a question, calls for a statement. The question belongs to both, since it contains an expression of will.

6.1.Declarative sentences typically express statements which give the information about various events, activities, attitudes, thoughts, things. A statement may be positive (affirmative) or negative: I have come back from a business trip. I haven't seen my sister yet. Grammatically, declarative sentences are marked by SV structure with the direct order of words; they have a falling tone and are marked by a pause in speaking and by a full stop in writing. They are the predominant type of independent clause in news and academic prose: Police yesterday disarmed a parcel bomb at a black human rights office in Florida, the latest in a rash of mail bombing in the South that have killed a judge and a civil rights lawyer. (news) They are mostly two member sentences, although they may be one-member sentences: Very late evening. Cold sunny morning. Under special circumstances, declarative clauses may have VS order: There was a dip, a grass ravine, by the road, and some mist was crouching in the deepest part. Across it hung a wooden bridge leading to the office blocks and the other buildings on the far bank. (fict) In conversation and fictional dialogue, declarative clauses can be used with appropriate information in speech to express questions: 1.“You weren’t happy together?” - “No”, I said. (conv) 2. A: So he’s left her? B: She left him – (conv) 3. A: She’s gonna go back tonight. B: Does, she lives in Hitchin? (conv) In these examples, the speaker asks for confirmation rather than for information. The speaker is all but sure what the answer will be (positive or negative), but by asking the question suggests the answer:Note the use of so in 2, signaling that this is a conclusion drawn by the speaker. In 3 speaker B clearly starts out with a regular yes/no-question, but changes tack and opts for a declarative clause. The effect of using a declarative question is somewhat different in: A: Do you understand? B: No. A: You don’t understand? Why don’t you understand? (conv) In this example the first speaker starts out with a regular interrogative structure asking for information. After hearing the response, the speaker repeats the question in the form of a declarative clause expressing surprise or disbelief. Such declarative questions are also called suggestive [Kobrina, 1985:12-13]. They form a peculiar kind of yes-no questions. They keep the word order of statements but serve as questions owing to the rising tone in speaking and a question mark in writing: You really want to go now, to-night? Suggestive questions are frequently used as question responses with various kinds of emotional colouring, most often that of surprise or incredulity: He said you were a very good interpreter. — He said that? — You sound surprised.

6.2. Interrogative clauses contain questions. Their function consists in asking for information. They are graphically identified by a question mark.. Naturally, interrogative clauses tend to occur in dialogue situations. They are frequent only in conversation and to a lesser extent in fiction. Interrogative sentences have a number of structural and communicative modifications. There are three main types of independent interrogative clauses: wh-questions, yes/no-questions, and alternative questions. Their basic uses are to supply missing information, to invite the addressee to indicate whether a proposition is true or not, and to select among alternatives presented. In addition, there is a special type of interrogative clause which has the same clause structure but differes sharply from other interrogative clauses both in form and use: this is the question tag [Biber,1999:203].

Yes/no-questions or general questions open with a verb operator (an auxiliary, modal, or link verb) followed by the subject. In such questions the speaker is interested to know whether some event or phenomenon asked about exists or does not exist. All the elements are taken to be already specified, and the addressee is expected to supply a truth value, by answering yes or no. Needless to say, there are other possible answers indicating various degrees of certainty (definitely, certainly, perhaps, etc.) A general question is characterized by the rising tone: Is that girl a friend of yours? Can you speak French? A negative general question adds emotional colouring of surprise or disappointment: Haven't you posted the letter yet? (Why?)The addressee may also supply additional information: A: Is it Thursday today? B: No, Friday. (conv) A: Have you got a busy week now Michael? B: Well Tuesday is my busiest day. (conv) Yes/no questions are frequently elliptic: You alright? < are omitted > (conv). Got what you want? (conv) <have you omitted > Yes/no questions are often used for purposes other than asking for information: A: Isn’t that lovely! B: Oh that’s lovely. (conv) Will you behave!? (conv) Could I have two pounds please? (conv) The above interrogative structures express exclamations, commands, and requests. Especially in conversation, yes/no-questions frequently have a minimal form, consisting only of the operator and a pronoun: A: She’s a teacher. B: Oh is she? (conv) These comment questions do not really ask for information, but are used to provide feedback and keep the conversation going.

An alternative question is structurally similar to a yes/no-question in opening with the operator followed by the subject, but rather than expecting an answer in terms of yes or no it presents alternatives for the addressee to choose between two or more alternative answers. The part of the question before the conjunction is characterized by a rising tone, the part after the conjunction has a falling tone: (1) A: Do you want one or two? B: Two. (conv) (2) A: So do you like haircut or not? B: It’s alright. (conv) While 1 presents a choice between alternatives within the clause, the alternatives in 2 affect the whole clause. This type could be regarded as a more explicit way of asking a yes/no-question. In case when the second part of the question contains negation and the whole question has the emotional colouring of anger, annoyance, or impatience, an alternative question requires a yes-no answer: Will they ever stop arguing or not? Did you go to the university, or didn't you (go there at all).(conv) It should be noted that or not could be left out without causing any drastic change of meaning. Conversation frequently contains interrogative structures ending in or anything/something: Do you want a drink of water or anything? (conv) Although these structures are superficially similar to alternative questions, they are really yes/no-questions. Alternative questions proper are related in function to wh-questions. Both types of interrogative clauses ask for specification of an unknown element, in one case represented by a wh-word and and in the other by listed alternatives. Both types may combine in the context: Which one should I use, the blue or the pink? (conv) Here the wh-question is followed by an elliptic alternative question. The alternative question narrows down the range possible answers offered by the wh-question.

Wh-questions (also termed pronominal/special questions) open with a wh-word (what, which, who, whom, whose, where, when, why, how) which indicates an element to be specified by the addressee. The rest is taken to be already known. The element to be specified could be a clause element (subject, object, predicative, adverbial) or part of a phrase. What + do is used to ask for specification of the verb phrase: Who’s calling? <subject> (conv) What do you mean? <direct object> (conv) How was your trip, Nick? <predicate > (conv) Whose turn is it tonight? < part of noun phrase > (conv) In informal language the wh-word may be reinforced by a following expletive: Where on earth have you been Gordon? (fict) What the heck has happened? (conv) These structures signal a strong emotional involvement on the part of the speaker. When the speaker asks for specification of two pieces of information, there can be more than one wh-word in the same clause: Who’s getting what? (conv) Who is bringing in what? (fict) The most natural answer to a wh-question supplies the missing information, by itself or, more rarely, in the context of a whole clause: A: Who told you that? B: My mate Sue. (conv) In spontaneous conversation the relationship between question and answer is frequently far more complex. Very often the speaker asking the question also suggests an answer, in the form of an elliptic yes/no-question or alternative question: A: Who drove, Karen? B: No she can’t drive. It was our mum. (conv)

Adverbial phrases (how long, how often) may also function as question words. Wh-questions are often used as short responses. They usually consist of a question word or a question word followed by a preposition: He will be absent. - How long?- Two days. I have English classes - How often? – Twice a month.

The wh-word sometimes stays in the regular position for the relevant phrase or clause element (the tone is rising and the question word is heavily stressed), especially in echoing what has been said by the previous speaker: I opened the door with a pin. — With what? Such echo questions may express surprise or disbelief and ask for confirmation rather than information. Let's talk about life on Saturn. — About what? The question may be reduced to the question word, with the article repeated if necessary: Your friend was telling us all about the chromosomes. — The what? The Boss wants to see you. — The who? Echo questions request confirmation of what has already been said, by repeating part of its content. They are used in dialogue to confirm, question, or clarify what the previous speaker has just said. All types of sentences can be echoed: John didn't like the film. — He didn't what? Sit down here. — Down there? Some echo questions repeat the structure of what was said earlier, using interrogative intonation, or else make the purpose of the echo question clear by the use of the words did you say: A: I don’t see nothing in San Francisco. B: Oh, did you say San Francisco? (AmE) A: Yeah, could I please have some Percoset?B: Can you have Percoset, did you say? (AmE) On the other hand, often the echo questions simply reiterates part of the nearby utterance which needs to be repeated or clarified: A: The weather was really crappy. B: Oh yeah? A: Yeah, we ended up coming home Saturday? B: Are you serious? A: Yes. B: Saturday? (AmE) A: They have white chocolate. They have it for one of their mocha drinks or something, but you get white chocolate hot cocoa. B: White chocolate hot cocoa? (AmE) As is often the case, here the reason for seeking a repetition is not so much that the questioner filed to decode the previous remark, as that he or she found it difficult to believe. Echoes sometimes sound impolite unless accompanied by an apologetic “softening” phrase, such as I'm sorry or I beg your pardon. This is most noticeable with the question What did you say?

Although wh-questions most typically ask for information, they may have other speech-act functions. For instance, some wh-questions may contain rhetorical questions expressing an opinion rather than asking a question: Who needs sitcoms? (news). By choosing an interrogative form, the speaker appears to let the addressee be the judge, but no overt response is expected. This is therefore a type of question that can just as well occur in monologue as in dialogue. Wh-questions opening with why don’t you/we are frequently used to express invitations (1) or suggestions (2), in which case they do not ask for an explanation: 1. Why don’t you come with us for an hour or so? Mum’ll be there after bingo at half past nine? (conv) 2. Why don’t we go next week? (conv) The wh-question in the following example has a third person subject and is combined with a yes/no-question: Why didn’t he come, was he ill? (conv) The point in this example is to find out why an event in the past did not occur, rather than to suggest a future action.

As has been mentioned above, rhetorical questions does not ask for any new information. It contains a statement disguised as a question and is always emotionally coloured. Usually it is a positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected. Who, being in love, is poor? What is wealth without friends? Do we always act as we ought to? Rhetorical questions are employed in oratory and poetry in the writer's digressions. They occur in colloquial English too: How should I know? What difference does that make? Where was I to go? What else could I do? Why should I feel guilty about it? What for? The declarative nature of the rhetorical question is revealed also in the fact that it is not infrequently used as an answer to a genuine question — namely, in cases when an emphatic answer is needed: Do you expect to save the country? — Well, who else will?

Tag questions are short yes-no questions added to a statement. It consists only of an operator prompted by the predicate verb of the statement and a pronoun prompted by the subject: She’s so generous, isn’t she? (conv) You know French, don't you? George is not a football fan, is he? (conv) Generally, the tag has a rising tone. Falling tone makes the whole sentence sound like a statement. The speaker actually knows the answer and can do without it: You knew about it before, didn't you. Here the question mark may be replaced by a full stop. Question tags are not strictly independent clauses. Question tags consist of an operator and a personal pronoun. The former is identical to the operator of the clause to which it is appended, and the latter is co-referent with the subject of the preceding clause. Question tags are most often added to declarative clauses. The main clause and the tag are generally opposite in polarity: positive statement - negative tag - positive answer: You knew that before, didn't you? - Yes, I did. Negative statement - positive tag - negative answer: You didn't know that before, did you? - No, I didn't. The answer, however, may be unexpected, as in: You didn't know that before, did you? - But I did [Kobrina,1985:11]. A clause with no-negation counts as a negative clause and is followed by a positive tag: If you talk nice and polite, people listen to you, If you shout, this is no good, is it? (conv) There is one more sentence pattern with a tag question which is less frequently used. This sentence pattern is used when the speaker comes to a conclusion concerning some event. Positive statement - positive tag: You liked your job, did you? Negative statement - negative tag: You didn't know about it before, didn't you? The main function of the tags is to elicit confirmation or agreement (thus involving the addressee in the conversation) rather than to elicit information. Tags are often added to a phrase or an incomplete clause: A: When does he go to school? B: Next September isn’t it? C: No this September. (conv) Although question tags are generally added to declarative clauses, they may also be appended to interrogative clauses: Do you want this do you, anywhere? (conv) Question tags may also be added to imperative clauses, in which case they generally take the forms will you, can’t you, won’t you, would you and shall we: Oh, Clare, turn it up will you please? (conv) Go and see the ladies now can’t you? (conv) Let’s try that shall we? (conv)

6.3. Imperative clauses are formally characterized by the lack of a subject, use of the base form of the verb, and the absence of modals as well as tense and aspect markers. They are generally characterized by the falling tone and in writing are marked by a full stop or an exclamation mark. Imperatives are typically used in contexts where the addressee is apparent; the subject is usually omitted but understood to refer to the addressee. Imperatives typically urge the addressee to do or not to do something after the moment of speaking: Get off the table. (conv) Don’t forget about the deposit. (conv) Hold on, are we late? (conv) Hence there is no need for tense, aspect, or modal specification. A special type of imperative clause is found with the verb let used with a first person plural pronoun (us, usually contracted to’s) to express a suggestion involving both the speaker and the addressee: Let’s catch up with Louise. (conv) The addressee in imperatives is specified in the form of a subject or, a vocative: You go home and go to sleep. (conv) Melissa, take those things away. (conv)

Apart from expressing commands, imperatives can be used for a wide range of purposes depending on the communicative situation, context, wording or intonation. For instance, to express request: Pass me his drink please. (conv); a polite appeal to the addressee: Oh, Clare, turn it up will you please!; invitation: “Please do come over,” she invited. (fict); warning: Mind your head on the beam; persuasion or advice: Take an aspirin; good wishes: Have a nice day!; prohibition: Don't interrupt me! etc. suggestion: Do ring Cathy if you feel like it. (conv) The auxiliary do makes a positive imperative more urgent, or it can be used to add a politely persuasive force to an offer, suggestion or invitation [Biber, 1999:220].

Commands can be softened and made into requests with the help of the word please, the rising tone, a tag question, or a yes-no question beginning with will or would: Speak louder, please. Repeat the last word, will you? Would you do me a favour? The falling tone and an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence opening with will express irritation and impatience: Will you stop arguing! Will you be quiet! Though in the vast majority of commands the subject is only implied, the subject expressed by the pronoun you occurs when it is necessary a) to specify the subject for the sake of contrast (You come first, and I'll wait a little) b) convey the speaker's personal altitude to the event, e.g., irritation, anger, threat, impatience You say it again, and I'll turn you out of here! c) soothe somebody (You be a good girl, and don't worry). A third-person command may begin with a noun or a pronoun denoting the person addressed: Somebody switch off the light. Mark and John fetch dictionaries. Don't anybody switch off the light! In the case of first person plural and third person singular and plural subjects, the imperative let is followed by a personal pronoun in the objective case: Let him try again. Let them come in. Let us have some tea. There are two negative constructions with let for the first person: Don't let's quarrel about trifles. Let's not quarrel about trifles. A third-person command admits of only one negative: Don't let him interfere in our affairs. Commands are sometimes expressed without an imperative verb (verbless commands): Silence! Gently, darling. Water, please. Careful, please. To the right! No smoking! Off with you! Hush! [Kobrina,1985:16-18]

6.4. Exclamative clauses are used to impress the extent to which speakers are impressed or aroused by something. Each of the communicative sentence types, besides performing their main communicative function, may serve as exclamations: You do look a picture of health! Hurry up! An exclamation has a falling tone in speaking and an exclamation mark in writing.

Exclamations can be expressed in a range of structures, both clausal and non-clausal. What a good dad he is! (conv) What a cheek! (conv) The above examples illustrate special exclamative structures, one in the form of a full exclamative clause, the other in the form of a phrase. In the following examples, the exclamations are expressed by other clause types or structures: an interrogative clause: Isn’t that infuriating though! (conv); an imperative clause: Look at that! Incradible! (conv); declarative clauses: Oh, that’s a shame! (conv); non-clausal forms: Oh great! (conv).

An exclamation as a sentence type opens with pronominal words what or how. It has a subject-predicate structure: What a lovely day it is! What a mess you've made! How beautifully she sings! How nice she looks! Exclamatives with subject and verb inverted are very rare. They can sometimes be found in literary English: How often have I cursed that terrible day! Exclamatory sentences can be reduced to the word or phrase immediately following what or how: What a lovely day! What a mess! What a terrible noise! How nice! Yes-no questions may function as exclamations owing to the falling tone, stress on both the operator and the subject in speaking and an exclamation mark in writing: Wasn't he angry! Was he angry! Isn't it funny! Hasn't she grown!

7. Negation. Both structural and communicative types of sentences fall into affirmative sentences and negative sentences. Negation is a marked member of the “affirmation-negation” opposition. The scope of negation is that part of a clause that is affected by the negative form: the negator not or by some other negative word ( no, nothing, never, none etc) The scope of negation may be restricted to a single word or phrase. If Negation refers to any sentence part except the predicate, it is called local (also called partial): 1. You've abducted a not unknown holder of government office, a member of the House of Representatives. (fict) 2. One rabbit can finish off a few hundred young trees in no time. (fict) 3. Not surprisingly, two GOP Assembly incumbents were defeated for re-election in California that November. (news) 4. Robertson, not unexpectedly, claimed afterwards that his strike should have been recognised. (news) 5. Not infrequently two or more adjacent cells may become confluent owing to the atrophy of the vein or veins separating them. (acad)

In 1 the negative effect is located within a noun phrase. In the other examples, it is limited to time adverbials or stance adverbials. In all these cases, there is no doubt that the propositions expressed in the clause as a whole are positive. A special type of local negation is found with nowhere and nobody: 6. It's in the middle of nowhere, isn't it? (conv) 7. Cats appear from nowhere. (fict) 8. "You murdered Schopee, and he's not a nobody." - "Nobody's a nobody." (fict) Nowhere in 6 and 7 means 'an unknown or little known place' and cannot be paraphrased by not... anywhere. In 8 nobody is used as a noun meaning 'a person of no importance' (note the indefinite article) and does not allow a paraphrase with not... anybody. This use freely combines with other negative forms.

With clausal (also called general) negation, the entire proposition is denied or rejected, and the negative scope extends from the negative form until the end of the clause. It concerns predication and is concentrated in the finite part of the predicate: I do not understand what you are talking about. You can’t do such things! Placement of the adverbial before or after not may correlate with a difference in meaning: 9. "Our investigations indicate that this substance was not deliberately administered." (fict) 10. Alexander looked at Wilkie who deliberately did not see him. (fict) 11. Don't just see the world, see how it works, do some work yourself. (news ) 12. You're not being serious. I just can't believe you. (fict) Thus, in 9 and 11 the adverbial is inside the scope of negation, while in 10 and 12 the adverbial is outside the scope of negation.

In a number of cases negative sentences are not characterized as such by any grammatical peculiarities. For instance, there is no grammatical difference between the sentences Nobody knows it and Everybody knows it. The difference lies entirely in the meaning of pronouns functioning as subjects, i.e. it is lexical, not grammatical. Since in a number of cases negative sentence are not characterized as such by any grammatical peculiarities, they are not a grammatical type. They are a logical type, which may or may not be reflected in grammatical structure: I did not know anybody. I knew nobody. Accordingly, the division of sentences into affirmative and negative is not included into their grammatical classification.

Full form VS contraction form. A sentence is made negative by the particle not which is the most widely used negator put immediately after the auxiliary or modal verb. The negator not has two forms: uncontracted and contracted. There are two possible forms of negation contraction: one is when the operator is contracted and the negator uncontracted (They've not come), and the other is when the negator is contracted but the operator is used in its full form (They haven't come). Only the full negative form is possible for the first person singular of the verb be in declarative sentences (am not), the form ain't is not accepted as a standard form. However, the verb contraction I'm is possible: I'm not late. In questions the contracted form is aren't (informal) or am I not: Aren't I early? Am I not early? I'm early, aren't I? I'm early, am I not?

Function words in English frequently have reduced forms. Here the focus is on contracted forms in negative constructions. There are three possible ways of realizing an operator followed by the negator not, though the two contracted ways are not equally available for all operators: Full forms: I hope you are not a "Van Gogh". (fict) Not-contraction: You're alright aren't you? (conv) This isn't a bad sort of place at all. (fict) He can't do anything else. (news) It should be noted that there are special contracted forms of shall and will + not: shan't, won't: But it won't be good for the party. (news) Operator contraction: It's not a secret. (fict) I hope we're not a contrary indicator. (news) This is only available, at least as a written variant, for am/is/are, have/has/had and modals will and would. In archaic or jocular use, main verbs are sometimes used before not: I know not what to say! Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country!

In negative questions the place of the negator not depends on whether it is contracted or uncontracted. The contracted form n't is not separated from the auxiliary or modal verb, whereas the uncontracted not comes after the subject: Don't you see? Do you not see? Can't you coma with me? Can you not come with me? Not can be attached to other parts of the sentence, not only the predicate verb: It's here, not upstairs. It's a tiger, not a cat. The question is important and not easy to answer.

After the verbs think, believe, suppose, imagine the negation which belongs to the object clause is transferred to the principal clause. This is called transferred negation: I don't believe he has come (= I believe he hasn't come). I don't think you've heard about it. Besides not there are other words that can serve as negators to make the sentence negative. They are: no and its derivatives: one, nobody, nothing, nowhere, none (of) and also neither (of), the conjunction neither... nor. Besides all the N-negators (beginning with the letter n, such as not, no, never, none) there are other words that make a sentence negative in meaning: seldom, rarely, scarcely, barely, hardly, ever, little, few.

As a rule, a sentence can contain only one negator: I didn't tell anything to anybody. Double negatives are sometimes possible in English, but only if both negative words have their full meaning and the meaning is emphasized: You've no reason not to trust me. I just don't do nothing. It's not only not important, it's not a fact.

Multiple negation. Sometimes two or more negative forms co-occur in the same clause. There are two basically different types of multiple negation, one - dependent - in which the negative forms co-occur in the same clause to express a single negative meaning, and one in which the negative forms have independent negative force. Dependent multiple negation. Two or more negative forms may co-occur within the same clause to express a single negative meaning. This represents a very old pattern which is found in casual speech, although it is socially stigmatized: You've never seen nothing like it. (conv) cf. You've never seen anything like it. I told her not to say nothing to nobody. (conv) cf. ... not to say anything to anybody. Besides, I never said nothing about fishing. (fict) cf. I never said anything about fishing. There ain't nothing we can do. (fict) cf. There isn't anything we can do. There ain't no elm trees on the North Moors, (fict) cf. There aren't any elm trees ... In examples such as these, negative forms are used where non-assertive forms would occur in writing and careful speech. Because of the repetition of the negative forms, this type of negation appears to have a strengthening effect. This is no doubt true of: And now they just don't know what to do, there's no jobs, there's no nothing. (conv) But without that heater they've no hot water, no nothing! (conv) Here no nothing equals not anything.

Multiple negation of this kind is relatively rare and is generally restricted to conversation and fictional dialogue. Interestingly this distribution does not fit the picture seen earlier for no-negation. As with no-negation, this type of multiple negation is very old, so it ought to be better represented in the written registers. This is apparently a case where prescriptive traditions have been particularly influential, resulting in the present-day distribution of this form. A special type of dependent multiple negation, which is not of the stigmatized kind, is found with repetition of not: 1.A: Did Jill say what time Caroline's appointment was? B: No. Er - not to me she didn't. (conv) 2. A: The fact you get the films or - recent films. B: Not all of them they're not. (conv) 3."Can I speak to Peter Holmes?" - "Not here, you can't." (fict) These examples exploit the two most prominent positions in the clause, i.e. the beginning and the end. One element (usually an adverbial) is fronted for emphasis, and the preceding not makes it clear that it is included within the scope of negation while at the same time strengthening the negation. A less emphatic form would be: She didn't, not to me; this would be a case of independent multiple negation.

Independent multiple negation. Negative forms may naturally co-occur in cases of repetition or reformulation.In these cases, the negative forms are not integrated within the same clause: Won't eat any veggies you know, none. (conv) No, not tomorrow, she said. (fict) Rising, working, there is no reason any more, no reason for anything, no reason why not, nothing to breathe but a sour gas bottled in empty churches, nothing to rise by. (fict) There's no one to blame, not really. (fict) In these examples, the negative forms are independent, since none of them can be replaced by non-assertive forms (without also adding not). Repeated occurrences of not within the same clause, each with its own negative force, are also found. Here two negatives can make a positive meaning: Oh well you sleep on sherry though - it makes you sleepy, you can't not sleep. (conv) <meaning that you just have to sleep> Of the many directives gummed to the glass partition, one took the trouble to thank me for not smoking. I hate that. I mean, it's a bit previous, isn't it, don't you think? I haven't not smoked yet. As it did turn out, I never did not smoke in the end. I lit a cigarette and kept them coming. The frizzy-rugged beaner at the wheel shouted something and threw himself around for a while, but I kept on not not smoking quietly in the back, and nothing happened. (fict) Other cases of independent multiple negation are illustrated in: 1. A: Well at a price yeah. I mean - they don't do nothing for nothing. B: No of course not. They're are out to get money, aren't they? (conv) 2. Not a house in the country ain't packed to its rafters. (fict) 3. It was not for nothing that he was chosen as Mr Squeaky Clean after the sexual and financial aberrations of his two predecessors. (news) 4. Do we not in fact have no decent idea of a set of things if we have no settled rule as to counting them, whether or not we are able to act effectively on the rule? (acad)

While dependent multiple negation is characteristic of, and virtually restricted to, conversation (and dialogue in fiction), independent multiple negation is a complex choice which requires deliberate planning. It is not stigmatized and is found particularly in writing. However, there are also colloquial examples. In 2 the two negatives cancel each other, and the result is a positive statement 'Every house in the country is packed to its rafters.' Example 1 is of particular interest in that it illustrates how dependent and independent multiple negation may combine. The first occurrence of nothing corresponds to a non-assertive form, the second carries independent negative force. The meaning is presumably 'They don't do anything for nothing.'

Not-negation VS No-negation. The negator not is inserted after the operator in the verb phrase. If there is no other auxiliary, do is obligatorily inserted as operator: You can do this but you can't do that. (conv) I didn't study the label. (conv) cf. I studied the label. All uses of be behave like auxiliaries and require no do-insertion: It just wasn't worth our while. (conv) They are not that little. (news) The exception to this rule is negative imperatives: Don't be silly! (conv) Don't be so hard on yourself. (fict) The use of the auxiliary do varies with the transitive verb have, and with have to and the marginal modal auxiliaries dare, need, ought to, and with used to. The negator not is usually attached as an enclitic to the preceding operator and appears in informal writing as the contracted form n't. In speech and informal written English the auxiliary may alternatively be contracted with a preceding word, leaving a full form of not . The transitive verb have (got) has a bewildering number of possible negative forms. There are five main types: (1) not-negation, lexical verb construction (with do): She doesn't have a dime. (fict) We simply do not have enough money. (news) (2) Not-negation, auxiliary-like construction (without do): I haven't a clue what her name was! (conv) I haven't any spirit to argue. (news) (3) Not-negation, have got: We haven't got any cheesecake. (conv) (4) No-negation, have: He had no clue that I liked him. (conv) He liked the fact that Venice had no cars. (fict)

Such rocks have no fossils. (acad) (5) No-negation, (have) got:According to you I've got no friends. (conv) I said to him, "I've got no work now, what can I afford?" (fict)

According to LGSWE Corpus findings, with an indefinite object, no-negation with have is the majority form in all registers except British conversation. With a definite object, not-negation with do is the majority choice, except in BrE conversation and BrE fiction. Preferences differ in BrE and AmE: do-insertion is more common in AmE in clauses with a definite object. Got-forms are frequent in BrE, but rare in AmE. Not-negation with have is rare in all registers, except in British fiction. Clauses can be negated by other negative forms than not: They had no sympathy for him. (fict) cf. They didn't have any sympathy for him. There was nobody in the hut and the fireplace was cold. (fict) cf. There wasn't anybody in the hut. Now, West Ham have no one with the wit to surmount such obstacles. (news) cf. West Ham do not have anyone ... It's no good pretending you've any aptitude for art when it's quite clear you've none at all. (fict) cf. It's not any good pretending ... when you haven't any at all. Say nothing! (conv) cf. Don't say anything. There's nowhere to stand, (fict) cf. There isn't anywhere to stand. I'll never be able to tell her. (fict) cf. I won't ever be able to tell her. Not-negation is the more neutral choice in such constructions. It can be used both to give a neutral characterization and to express a judgement. The latter is characteristic of no-negation. Compare also: 1. He's a teacher, like you. (fict) v. He's not a teacher. 2. He's some mensch. (fict) v. He's no mensch. He's not much of a mensch. In 1 there is a neutral description of category membership. However, the forms in 2 are all evaluative. Similarly, He's no teacher would be much more likely than 1 to be evaluative and refer to a person's pedagogical abilities rather than his actual objective profession. We note that a quantifier may be used to highlight an evaluation both in positive and negative contexts. Although it is hard to pin down differences in communicative effect between the two negation types, it seems that no-negation may be more emphatic. It is probably significant that no-words normally receive some stress, while not is characteristically reduced and appended to the preceding auxiliary. No-negation is decidedly emphatic where it occurs repeatedly in the same context: And we will keep on winning with no wheeling, no dealing, no horse-trading and no electoral pacts. (news) In the drunk tank it is not so good. No bunk, no chair, no blankets, no nothing. (fict) A paraphrase using without any/not any would be far less expressive. A no-negated form can usually be replaced with no-negation (c. 80% of the time), while not-negation can be formally replaced by no-negation only about 30% of the time. For a not-negated structure to be restated in terms of no-negation, not must co-occur with some other form which can incorporate the negative element (most typically an any-form). The negative element can also be incorporated in an indefinite noun phrase without any: She doesn't have a car yet. (fict) cf. She has no car yet. Contrast She doesn't have the car yet where a no-negated form is impossible. In the position following not a far greater number of forms with a high co-occurrence score, chiefly lexical verbs are found, as is to be expected. There is a preponderance of mental verbs, and this is even more striking if the comparison is restricted to forms following contracted n't. which for the most part represent the patterns of co-occurrence in conversation. The co-occurrence of negation and mental verbs appears to be an important factor contributing to the very high frequency of negative forms in spoken discourse.

Implicit negation is presented a major interest. By implicit negation we mean implied non-grammatical negation in sentences without negative words: A lot you know about love! (= You know nothing about love). Much she knew of it himself (= He didn't know it himself). I didn't worry about him any more because he was going to believe him (= nobody was going to believe him). Some grammarians hold the view that rhetorical questions presuppose a negative answer and are a special form of implicit negation: Who knows? (= Nobody knows). How do I know? What can I do? What business is it of yours? Lexical indicators of implicit negation include verbs fail, miss, cease, finish, drop, particles even and only, the adjectives last then I fail to understand you (= I can't understand you). Now I'm only afraid of loosing her(= Now I'm not afraid of anything else). Phraseological indicators of implicit negation are phrases like ell, like devil, my eyes, my foot, the hell with sb (sth), God knows, le hell knows: I'll try lo help you. — Like hell you will. Surely we are civilized people nowadays? — Civilized people my foot! Morphological indicators of implicit negation include verbs in past tense: Do you love him? — I loved him (= I don't love him now), forms of the imperative and subjunctive mood: Catch her! I wish I had it now. Syntactical indicators of implicit negation include compound sentence with the adversative conjunction but: I tried to follow the professor, but he pulled me back (= I couldn't follow the priest); pseudo-subordinate clauses introduced by as if, as though. As if I'd give up my dream to leave this country for ever! Implicit negation blended with irony may be rendered by a) inversion; b) inversion in combination with words like fine, good, swell, excellent, precious, lovely, likely, much, a(fat)lot, c) repetition+indeed, d) repetition of the noun/personal pronoun + and + possessive pronoun + repetition of the noun: The children I'm raising! A fine friend she turned out to be. A fine product they put out! A likely story that is! Here's a nice scarf for you. — A nice scarf indeed! I want my revenge. — You and your revenge. It is also interesting to note that negative sentences mayhave affirmative meaning: Blame me, if it didn't come into my head once or twice (= it came into my head) [Beйxмaн, 1990: 67-68].

8. Syntactic non-clausal units. There are utterances which do not constitute sentences - non-sentence utterances, quasi - or minor sentences, or non-clausal units, which do not contain a message and are devoid of the binary Subject - Predicate structural opposition. They can be given a syntactic description in terms of the structures and categories of sentence grammar. These units are often classifiable according to standard phrase categories, such as noun phrases ( poor kids, no sweat), adjective phrases (perfect, good for you), adverb phrases (not really, absolutely!) or prepositional phrases ( for goodness’ sake!). On the other hand, they are often phrases augmented by inserts or other syntactically peripheral elements, such as vocatives (oh shame! Ah you cunt, this way please, good play there, dude) which help to underline their discourse roles, e.g. as exclamations or directives. Others have the form of unembedded dependent clauses (e.g. not to worry is a negative infinitive clause). Non-clausal units are not constructed in a regular way. They use abnormal patterns which cannot be clearly analyzed into a sequence of clause elements, as sentences can. Various types of non-clausal units are frequently used in everyday conversation and when conversations are represented in fiction. These units do not follow all the rules of English grammar. For example, in a major or proper sentence, verbs can change their tenses from present to past: How do you manage? — How did you manage? But the greeting How do you do? is a non-clausal unit. We cannot change its tense, and say *How did you do? Nor can we change the pronoun and ask *How does he do?

Looking at syntactic non-clausal units more carefully, it is useful to note the varied functions they perform. In most cases, the “ fragmentary” nature of these units, i.e. the absence of a clausal unit structure, reflects a dependence of the message on context, explicable in general terms either by anaphoric or situational ellipsis. For example, perfect could in principle be elaborated into that’s perfect, or absolutely into I agree with you absolutely, but many such “reconstructions” have dubious linguistic motivation: indeed, in the above cases alternative verbalizations could be proposed (e.g. this is perfect; that’s absolutely true).

Non-clausal units may consist of a single word or a functionally equivalent phrase expressing affirmation, negation, exclamation, an address, some emotive, incentive or metacommunicative meanings. It is necessary to find some name and classification for the many English non-clausal communications which are not sentences. Such communications are common – on windows, buildings, and billboards; on cards, letters, and envelopes; in conversation and in formal writing. They have been variously called partial, and incomplete sentences, verbless sentences, nonsentences or non-clausal units. A number of functional categories can be usefully distinguished.

8.1. Elliptic replies. In the to-and-fro of conversation, it is natural for one speaker to build on the content of what a previous speaker has said, and to avoid unnecessary repetition. Thus ellipsis is a pervasive feature of conversational dialogue. In cases of anaphoric ellipsis the missing content is directly recoverable from the preceding utterance(s). The paradigm case is an elliptic reply to a wh-question: 1. A: Where did you guys park? B: Right over here. (AmE) <i.e. We parked right over there.> Less typically, the roles of question and assertion may be reversed, the assertion eliciting a question in reply: 2. A: Well I personally think it's too cold to snow tonight. B: Too cold? (BrE) <i.e. Is it too cold to snow tonight?> An assertion may also elicit another assertion in reply, particularly in the case of co-construction: 3. A: It takes about – well B: About two ticks, ya. Alright. (AmE) Alternatively, a question may elicit another question which is elliptic:4. A: Did you have a good weekend? B: Yeah. / Yourself? (AmE) Example 5 combines two kinds of ellipsis pattern: A's assertion elicits from B an elliptic question, consisting just of a wh-word, which in turn elicits an elliptic answer, in the form of a because-clause, from A: 5. A: This is what gets me, this is what gets me about people, you know periodically there's this effort to, to ban Tarzan from the school somewhere. B: Why? A: Because he and Jane aren't married. (AmE) In example 6, there is a yet more complex case of continuing ellipsis, where B's first turn sparks off a disagreement from A, which is in turn queried by B, and confirmed further by A. The same syntactic frame underlies turns A2, B2, and A3, but in each case the subject and verb - they started - are ellipted: 6. A1: and one, one is from the Hotel <unclear> in Paris which is one of the oldest hospitals in the, in the world. B2: <unclear> where they started in fourteen hundred, fifteen <unclear> A2: No, earlier than that B2: Earlier even? A3: Probably the tenth, eleventh century. (AmE)

Turn B2 has two separate adverbials: a time adverbial (earlier) and a focus adverbial (even). Similarly, turn A3 contains an adverbial (probably) followed by the noun phrase (the tenth, eleventh century). These units with two clause elements (either adverbial + adverbial or adverbial + noun phrase), even though they lack a finite verb, more closely approximate to full clauses than those consisting of just one phrase.

8.2.Condensed questions. Situational ellipsis is the best explanation for condensed questions. More sauce? (BrE) <i.e. 'Would you like more sauce?'> Any luck? (AmE) <i.e. 'Did you have any luck?' Any more questions for me? (AmE) <i.e. 'Do you have any more questions for me?'> Two conventionalized types of condensed questions are ones which begin How about and What about, and normally lack a main verb structure: How about your wife? (BrE) Now what about a concert this Friday? (BrE) In all these cases there is no sure way of adding to an ellipted structure to complete a regular clausal question, yet the interpretation of the question depends heavily on context.

8..3. Elliptic question-and answer sequences. We have noted the tendency of speakers to answer their own questions, or rather to proffer an answer to their own questions, in the form of another interrogative. In some cases the initial question is elliptic; e.g. Why and Why not in the following examples: A: Did you talk to <unclear>? B: No. Why, did she call? (AmE) A: Oh, I don't want to go on tour trip I mean uh a boat. B: Why not, do you get sea sick? (AmE) In other cases, the second interrogative, the proffered answer, is elliptic: Where can I get parchment paper? An art store? (AmE) Where was that now? In California? (AmE)

8.4. Condensed directives. Condensed or elliptical directives are a fairly rare but diverse group. The following have the force of commands (addressed to children or pets) or else, in the case of the last example, a piece of advice: No crying. (AmE) Head down! Come on, head down. (BrE) <talking to a dog> Up the stairs, now. (BrE) <to a child>

Careful when you pick that up, it's ever so slippery. (BrE) In the following examples, the directive force of the utterance is marked, and somewhat softened, by the use of the politeness insert please: Down! Down the stairs please! (BrE) <to a child> Hands off the jug please. (BrE) Thirty pence please. (BrE) <asking for payment>

8.5. Condensed assertions. Non-clausal units with assertive force often consist of a noun phrase or an adjective phrase: A: Why does he just hang it - you know - put in the tumble dryer or hang it in the garage? B: Too lazy! - Easier to do it that way! (BrE) Very special. Prawns in it and all sort (BrE) <in a restaurant> No wonder this house is full of dirt! (AmE)

8.6. Elliptic exclamatives. Reduced exclamative clauses typically have ellipsis of a pronoun subject and a form of the verb be: e.g. What a sweet child can be analysed as an elliptical form of What a sweet child he/she is, the actual choice of subject being determined only by context. Further examples: How cool! (AmE) How wonderful. Good for you. (AmE) What an unfortunate first experience. (AmE) What a joker, eh? (BrE) Oh this is lovely isn't it? What a nice wide street. (BrE) There are other exclamations (including insults): The bloody key! - The key to the bloody boiler! (BrE) Ah! That boy! This is the one who said - I think we should be allowed to hit girls. (BrE) Timmy! Sit down! Good boy! (BrE) <addressing a pet> Particularly characteristic are disparaging or abusive exclamations, often containing expletives and used with varying degrees of playfulness. One type (referring to the addressee) contains you either at the beginning or the end or both: How did you get two of those phones, you little devil? (AmE) Come on you silly cow (BrE) Oh come on, lazy lot of buggers you, come on - (BrE). These exclamatory noun phrases superficially resemble vocatives, and can combine, like vocatives, with an imperative or other clausal unit, as the examples show. Another type is directed to third persons, and can be introduced by the definite article: e.g. the dirty bugger (BrE). Yet another group shows how expletives can be extended in the direction of becoming free expressions: damn you, bugger me (BrE), sod the choir (BrE). These have the appearance of imperatives, but are clearly not - in the first example, an imperative would contain yourself, not you. Historically, they are subjunctive clauses, but in the present context we treat them simply as formulae with phrasal elaborations.A small group of genteel exclamatory words and phrases function like expletives, except that they have no taboo associations: Boy, there's a lot of rocks, huh? (AmE) <laughing> My word! I've never heard of anybody starting to jimmy a car without the people standing there and saying which car. (AmE) A: No, I have, I'll try pie next time. I had all the cake last night. B: Oh, my. C: My, my, my. (AmE) Oh dear the phone is ringing. (AmE) Have you been swearing! Oh dear me! That's naughty! (BrE) Dear and dear me express sad emotions such as regret or disapproval.

3.7.Various polite speech acts. Polite formulaic expressions are used in conventional speech acts, such as thanking, apologizing, requesting, and congratulating. Such formulae also frequently elicit a polite reply. For example, in the case of thanks, an appropriately polite reply is a minimizer such as No problem or You’re welcome. For example, non-clausal elements may perform a speech-act function of a request propitiator, indicating requesting and thanking: A: Would you like another drink Adam? B: Yes please (BrE) Can I another two Diet Cokes please? Thank you. (BrE) Non-clausal element may be used to indicate acknowledging thanks and good wishes: A: Thanks Carl, I appreciate it. B: You're welcome and good luck huh. (AmE) Non-clausal element may be used to indicate acknowledging thanks and 'minimizing' the debt: A: That helps, that helps. Thank you. B: No problem, I just had to brown-nose with Greg for a little while. (AmE) Non-clausal element may be used to indicate apologizing and acknowledging the apology for a minor social transgression, e.g. coughing, sneezing. A: Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. B: That's okay. (AmE) A: Get off. B: Shut up! A: Ah! Beg your pardon!

These formulae behave as invariable items, in effect as inserts, but they can also combine with grammatical constructions such as prepositional phrases and complement clauses: Thank you both for having us. ( BrE) Thank you very, very, very, very much.(BrE) Sorry to keep bothering you. (AmE) The boundary between formulae and free expressions is a gradual one, and there is need to acknowledge the range of non-clausal variations on the basic formulae which are possible, for good wishes, thanks, apologies, and other polite speech acts. As the following examples show, these may be elaborated according to need. For instance: birthday or holidays congratulations: Happy birthday to you. (AmE, BrE) Okay one more here. Okay happy birthday from Maria. Happy birthday to a person with style, grace and dignity. (AmE) Oh, Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone. (AmE) Congratulations to you my dear brother on all your fine accomplishments in school. (AmE) Reading from a letter: Glad you could make it. (AmE) Thanks a lot, sorry about that. (BrE) Referring to a photograph: Sorry about cutting the top of your head off '— but never mind, you know! (BrE)

8.8. Vocatives. Vocatives are the names of persons and non-persons (emotionally charged or neutral) to whom the rest of the sentence is addressed. Vocatives can constitute a 'lone' non-clausal unit, with or without accompanying inserts: Darling! Hey Martin. On the other hand, they more frequently act as prefaces or tags to a larger construction, such as an imperative or a declarative clause: Yes I'm coming in a moment darling. (BrE) Vocatives are used alone for a variety of purposes: for example, to summon, to rebuke, to question whether the person addressed is present, or to remind of an order or a request.

Names or noun phrases referring to persons are used in verbless introductions, generally with a vocative: Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States of America! ['I present the next president...!'] My mother and Father, Susan. ['These are my ...'] dad - John Robin, a good friend of mine. ['Dad, let me introduce ...'] Two or more persons may be introduced to each other, gestures perhaps indicating the different persons: joan, my sister - john, a good friend of mine.

Vocatives are important in defining and maintaining social relationships between participants in conversation. In general, vocatives maintain and reinforce an existing relationship. The following categories represent an approximate scale from the most familiar or intimate relationship to the most distant and respectful one. Endearments: my darling, my dear, sweety pie: Is that you darling come here sweetie pie. (AmE) Family terms: mommy, grandma, granny, dad, pa, baby: Thanks Mom - okay - talk to you later - see you soon - bye. (BrE) <on the telephone> I said no, no come on Grandpa, I'm not tired. (AmE) Anyway she's shouting away, Dad dad dad. So I says, what? (BrE) Mum, have you ever seen a duck with a bow-tie on? Do you want that, baby? (fict) (BrE) Familiarizers: guys, bud, man, dude, buddy, mate, folks, bro. All these forms are chiefly AmE, except mate, which is BrE: Hey, man. I'll make this real short. What's happening, man? It's time to light the candles, guys. Got a ticket, mate? (BrE) How dy folks! Whatcha doing John? Familiarized first names (shortened and/or with the pet suffix -y/-ie): e.g. Marj, Paulie, Jackie, Tom Hey, Mike, grab your dominoes! (AmE) First names in full: Marjorie, Paul, Jennifer, Thomas Huh, you get to do this next year, Jason. (AmE) Hi, Joyce, how are you? (AmE) Title and surname: Mrs Johns, Mr Graham, Ms Morrissey. In the AmE conversational Corpus data, surnames have often been deleted for reasons of confidentiality, and replaced by the empty tag name: How ya doing Ms. <name>? (AmE) Hello Dr. Denton. How do you do? (AmE) I'll let you know as soon as I know. Alright Mr Jones? Thanks. Bye. (BrE) Honorifics: sir, madam. customer: Madam! Madam! May we have two glasses of water please? Thank you. (BrE) From a restaurant meal: customer: Tell me what you've got here will you? waiter: Okay yes sir. Stuffed mushrooms. (BrE) Oh. Nobody would marry you. You're, you better keep the one you've got <laugh>. You're in the same boat as I am sir. (AmE); Labels for occupations: waiter, nurse, teacher, doctor: Teacher! Teacher! Teacher! (conv) No hard feelings, Doctor. (fict) The personal pronoun you (impolite use): You, there's the phone in here? or an indefinite pronoun: Help me, somebody; Certain kinds of clause (occasionally): Whoever you are, stop shouting. Some vocatives can be extended by modifiers: old man, my dear Mrs Johnson, you boys. The vocative marker O is used only in religious settings: O God, knowest all things...

8..9. Miscellany. A group of varied types of vocative (including nicknames): e.g. boy, red dog, lazy!, everyone, you, Uncle Joe. This group covers a wide range of nominal structures which can act as vocatives, including some quite complex noun phrases: Hello lazy! Oh, make your bloody mind up boy! Hi, my dear Aunt Margaret? (BrE) Addressing a football team during a match: Come on you reds, come on you reds, come on you reds! Those of you who want to bring your pets along, please sit in the back of the space ship. (BrE)

8.10.Verbless clauses appear as the first clause in coordinated constructions that express a conditional relationship. The construction may have the force of a directive: One more step and I'll shoot, [cf. Take one step more and I'll shoot.] Twenty pounds and you can have the radio, [cf: Give me twenty pounds and you can haven the radio.] Another drink or I'll die of thirst, [cf: Give me another drink or I'll die of thirst.]

8.11. Metacommunicative. Conversational formulas serving to establish or to terminate verbal contact, organizing logical arrangement, making commentary to the propositional information: Thanks. Good-bye. Bye-bye. Hello. Good morning. How do you do. Cheers!How are you, Tom?To cut a long story short, the problem is not of vital impotance.

8.12.Yes-no utterances are mostly responses to yes-no questions: Are you coming? - Yes/No;

8.13. Social instructions: No parking. No smoking. Employees only. Wet paint. Please keep your bag with you at all times and report any unattended items or suspicious behaviour to a member of staff. Priority seat. Please offer this seat to elderly or disabled people or those caring children. PRIVATE No unauthorized access Provost and fellows of Eton College. Privat car park For permanent residents only. Release of door blocking, use only in emergency! Seat belts must be worn whilst the vehicle is on motion. Suspect Packages. If you see an unattended package or bag: 1. Alert our staff or a Police Officer 2. Do not ignore it 3. Do not touch it; If you have any information on terrorists activities call 0800 789 321 The 24 hour hot line.Thank you for non-smoking. Used tickets only.Supermarket: Bags subject to search. Beware of pickpockets. Danger Electric Shock Risk . Slippery Surface. Thank You For Shopping With Us. Thank you for shopping at Woolworths; Eating & drinking places: Good Food, Good Beer & Good Fun Guaranteed! If you are tight for time, then please let us know so we can speed you along. We will be only too pleased to help! Now Wash Your Hands. Out of Order. Please clear your tables. Thank you. We apologize for any inconvenience;Museums theatres & sightseeing places: All passes to be shown. By ticket only. CAUTION. Mind the step. Do not touch. Hands off. Mind the step. Pickpockets operating in this area. Visitors are requested not to touch monuments. Universities: Food and drink must not be consumed in the library. Please leave this room in the state you would like to find it! Parks, forests, footpaths, golf places: Beware traffic in and around the park. Cattle on the golf course cattle craze the same course as a matter of right from 1st May to 31st October Annually.Cows can display aggressive tendencies especially when calves are present. Dogs are a particular target. You are strongly advised not to take dogs onto the course in the above period. Do not climb onto wall Authorized access only beyond this point. Danger! Golf balls can kill Look left. Escape from reality. Fishing only from this bank. No hot ash. No flying of kites here.No Litter. No swimming. No smoking, no naked lights, no combustible materials. Not for drinking. Please keep off the grass. Please Help Keep Our Country Beautiful. Please do not sit on the steps. Risk of Forest Fire. No smoking! Smoking prohibited in this area. Take your litter home. Take special care of county roads. Unsafe water. Your feet are killing the spring bulbs. Keep to the paths, please. Animals around: Any person who permits a dog foul the footpath is liable to prosecution. Beware of the dog. Dogs must be on lead. Do not feed the deer. Do not feed the animals. Have fun with your dog! Keep Our City Free of Dog Dirt. Clean It Up! Keep your dog in sight and under control Keep your dog under control. Keep your lead handy, you may need it. Please do not feed the birds. Please respect the dog-free areas. These are fenced and signed. Please respect other users and the wildlife (the park is for them too). No pigeon feeding