Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Do you have... ?
Have you... ?
I lost my key. Did you see it?
Have you seen it?
The government is...
government is/are...
IN the weekend
weekend
I will see you Friday...
you ON Friday...
There ' s no use...
use...
I insist you leave...
that you should leave...
Spelling:
traveling
travelling
color
the
I will see
It/ There' s no
I insist
colour
theater
theatre
Lexical diff. :
lift
elevator
streetcar
tram
Criteria:
main: - paradigmatic (vertical)
- syntagmatic (horizontal)
marginal: - phonological
- semantic
1. paradigmatic
words of the same class have similar paradigms - set of
inflectional morphemes a word can take
they are paradigmatically related - they can replace each
other in certain contexts, can be used in the same frame
Their _____________ disappeared.
were ______ pretty.
They
scholarship
bursary
- radio sets have had valves in BrE and tubes in AmE, television
sets have tubes in both; mass communication neutralizes
differences...
3. phonological
some sound groups are typically found with certain word
classes
-ize, ify - verbs
4. semantic
nouns - name mostly people and things - but not all of
them
verbs - name processes - but have or must are no
processes
Linguist dont study each word separately, they form word classes
- a group of words sharing some grammatical properties. Words
can be:
central to the word class - sharing more (or all)
properties of the class
full verbs
adverbs
A word can belong to more than one class, e.g.: round can be
preposition or adjective. In English we cant say what class does a
word belong to if we have no context lets take table as
example : they bought a new table (noun) He bought a table
lamp (adjective) It was my turn to table a proposal (verb)
Dynamic/Stative
Dynamic verb is a verb that relate to action/activity/temporary
condition : I hit him. But live is neither temporary nor active,
but in certain contexts it can be dynamic : The tigers are living in
a cramped cage. = temporary. Also words that lack motion or
activity can be dynamic : I was resting. Are you sitting?
Beware : not only verbs can be stative/dynamic. Adjectives/nouns
and others can be static/dynamic too. For example Jack is an
engineer/very tall is very unlikely to change and therefore it is
static. Once again : a word such as kind (mil) can seem to be a
permanent quality, but it can also be a dynamic word : You are
being very kind.
Mutually defining/exclusive words
Mutually defining = the meaning or function of an item is that
which is not contained in the other item or items of the same
class; This is a rose this rose carries more than one meaning
it means that we are talking about a flower and then it says what
kind of flower is concerned...
Mutually exclusive = two items of the same class cannot be used
in the same place together; you cant say the my brother >
the and my are mutually exclusive...
Conversion
also called zero derivation
phenomenon when a word passes from one word class to
another without any change in its form
Bound morphemes
- derivational morphemes affixes, they are used to form new
words, to change the meaning of existing words
o prefixes - put before other morphemes to built up the
meaning of the whole word (un+tie)
o suffixes - put after other morphemes (teach+er), they can
change the word class of a word
-
adjective phrase
o head is adjective,
o can be premodified by a restricted group of adverbs (very,
terribly, surprisingly)
o postmodified by some adverbs (enough), prepositional
phrases or infinitive clauses
adverb phrase
o head is adverb
o less complex than adjective phrase
o rarely contain postmodifiers
Determiner
- obligatory element of a NP
- it expresses the grammatical category of definiteness
indefinite determiners (some, a, one, any)
definite determiners (my, your, his, our, their, her, its, this,
these, that, those, every, the)
- definiteness of a NP depends on contextual reference
- marking of definiteness is the primary function of articles:
Classification
1. countable or uncountable
2. concrete or abstract
3. proper (unique things, names of individuals, cant be
predictable without any knowledge / London, ale the Hage
!!!) or common (classes of things)
4. collective - a special subclass of nouns
some have singular form, but plural meaning - the
police have arrested a criminal, the government have
caused the crisis, the team are getting ready
Pl- sweepings, Sg- litter, waste, rubish, garbage, trash...
some have both numbers - information, knowledge
Morphological cathegories of nouns: NUMBER, CASE, GENDER,
DEFINITENESS
a) Number, differences between English and Slovak, plual
of English nouns (including foreign plurals), plural and
meaning
Number
expresses the difference between one and more than one
= a strip of cloth
= a suit of armour/clothes
Quality partition :
a kind of, a sort of, a type of, a variety of,
Quantity
Quantifiers
- quantifiers are words such as: few, little, plenty... they modify
NPs and show how many things or how much of something we
talk about.
- quantifiers combining with countable nouns = how many/a few.
- quantifiers combining with uncountable nouns: how much/ a
little
- some quantifiers combine with both: How many eggs do we
have? Plenty.
How much milk do we have? Plenty.
- quantifiers can function as determiners and pronouns and
adverbs (I dont like coffee very much)
- some quantifiers always use of: We have a lot of answers.
They are: a couple of, dozens of, the majority of, a number of, a
lot of, plenty of... Other quantifiers go directly before the noun
more people came. These quantifiers can take of if the
speaker needs to be specific. Determiner is added in such cases:
Have some of this cheese.
Quantifier + noun combinations
- quantifier + plural countable noun: both, a couple of, dozens
of/hundreds of..., a few, several, minority of...
- quantifier + uncountable noun: a small amount of, a bit of, a
drop of, a great deal of, a good deal of, little, less, the least,
much...
- quantifier + plural countable or singular uncountable noun: a lot
of, some, any, enough, half of, more, no, none of, part of
theplenty of, the rest of...
- quantifier + singular countable: another, any, each (of the man),
either, one...
Indefinite quantity
- quantity is definite if we know exactly how much/many of
something there is: We need six eggs and half a kilo of butter.
Not...any vs. no
- Not...any: There arent any buses
- No: There are no buses. This is more formal and emphatic. No
combines with singular noun.
No vs. none
- No is a determiner and must precede a singular noun.
- None is a pronoun and can stand on its own: Is there any
bread? Theres none
A few vs. a little
- few = hardly any at all. A few = some but not much. Both are
used with plural countables.
- little = hardly any at all. A little = some but not much. Both
are used with plural uncountable nouns.
Both & all
- they need to stand !before! full verbs: The girls all/both left
early.
- if the subject is a pronoun we need to use of after both or the
it can be at the end of the sentence: I love both of you/I love
you both.
- negative = neither & none.
All vs. whole
- the whole = singular concrete nouns. Not used with plurals and
uncountables. Can be preceded by a (a whole collection) and
followed by of the (Whole of the book/the whole book)
- All and whole combine with abstract nouns: All my business/My
whole business. All my life/my whole life.
- only all: all my hair, all the money
Case
When we connect words we use prepositions and word order in
English. In Slovak we use word endings added to nouns and
adjectives. Entering a space = to : She went to the classroom. In
Slovak we use both ending and preposition : do triedy. The ending
that is used in the same grammatical construction is called case.
Case indicates the function in which the word is used. Genitive
case is expressed in the postmodifier (the roof of the house).
Syntactic function of case is to hold the NP together.
English cases
There are 2 cases in English : unmarked common and marked
genitive (possessive or nominal case). The genitive inflection
works phonologically the same way as with number. In singular it
looks like cows in plural it looks like cows. However, the
distinction between number and genitive shows in longer NPs :
The chiefs of staff vs.
The chief of staffs
- s genitive is
always at the end of a NP. But if we were to say that the man in
the dark suit has name (the name belonging to the man in the
dark suit) we might be uncertain, so we use of-construction : The
name of the man in the dark suit.
Zero genitive = s genitive thats phonologically identical with the
plural : Socrates [...ti:z], Moses [...zz], for goodness sake. But,
Dickens (domestic nouns) can be read two ways we have a
choice : [dknz] or [diknzz].
The genitive and the of-construction
They are not always interchangeable. Generally, persons
possession is expressed by means of s-genitive, while the
possession of inanimate objects is expressed by of-genitive. The
rule for foreign learners is, that if not sure, use of-genitive.
Genitive meanings
Possessive - Mrs. Johnsons coat (Mrs. Johnson has a coat)
Genitive of attribute - The victims outstanding courage
(the victim was courageous)
Partitive - The hearts two ventricles
Subjective - The parents consent
Objective - The prisoners release
Genitive of origin - Mothers letter
Descriptive - A doctors degree
Grammatical status of genitive case
Determiner - Joans new briefcase
Modifier - a womens university
Independent genitive - if the reference is known from the
context, the noun following the genitive can be omitted
(Jennifers is the only face I recognize here), especially
when the genitive refers to homes and businesses (I arrived
at Freds, I hate going to the dentists, The butchers is
open till 6)
Post - genitive - this heart of mine, that new house of
Mary's, a friend of Johns
Gender and genitive
Personal gender (something with personality) take s-genitive
(rather than of-genitive) :
- persons (or pets viewed as having a personality) : students
possessions, dogs name,
- collective nouns : committees decision, Chinas policy, the
hotels occupants (hotel = institution).
- expressions with edge and sake neednt be of personal gender,
but they use s-genitive : He stood at the waters edge/He died for
countrys sake.
- worth : no of-construction is possible : get your moneys worth
(idiom)
Coordination
5. higher animals
- gender in higher animals is observed by people with a
special concern
- bull cow, gander goose, lion lioness
6. higher organisms
- here belong names of countries, their gender depends on
their use:
o as geographical units they are inanimate (Look at the map.
It is France here.)
o as political/economic units they are often feminine (France
has increased her exports)
o in sports countries are referred to as personal collective
nouns (France have improved their chance of winning the
cup)
7. lower animals and inanimate nouns
- they do not differ from inanimate nouns (snake and box both
can have which and it pronouns)
- but sex differences can be marked by means of gender
markers, when they are relevant (she goat he goat)
Slovak vs. English
Various languages differentiate various number of gender. Slovak
has : masculine, feminine and neuter. If we are talking humans
its easy to say whether the ones masc. or femin. But non-human
objects are more complicated : we do not denote them as it but
they can be it/he/she. Animals for example : we say ten bizon
even if its she. But sometimess we can make a difference by
saying : lisiak, liska (fox, vixen). But if we say ta liska it doesnt
mean that the fox isnt a guy.
Therere typical sounds belonging to gender. In Slovak a word
ending in a will most probably be she.
EN Gender he (who)= male, she (who)= female. the rest is just
it (which). Now, if u say clerk how do you know if it is she or he?
In order not to be called a sexist u use neutral form : so u dont
say spokesman but spokesperson.
Dual gender : father mother, actor actress...
The gender is only reflected in English in the pronoun.
( PERSONAL who, NON-PERSONAL which)
But we also have lower and higher animals. Higher animals are
more likely to be called he or she and low animals are most likely
to be called it. But it also depends on ur attitude towards them.
When you say she/her it expresses a positive emotional attitude.
(our car is she). If a dog bit u u refer to it as it = negative
attitude. In SK u use diminutive / augmentative instead : macicka,
psisko...
Gender in English
Gender in English is not part of the words themselves (as in
Slovak) but it relates to the meaning of the nouns and thus
determines selection of who/which, personal pronouns, and
reflexive. According to this there are 2 gender classes : personal
(human)and nonpersonal (nonhuman, inanimate). Only then do
we differentiate sex (male, female, dual).
Nouns with personal reference
male/female pairs : father/mother, brother/sister...
Dual gender : with no context you dont know whether the noun is
male/female = friend, guest, person, parent...
Common gender make gender irrelevant = child, baby (you say
it, even though you might be referring to boy/girl).
Collective nouns sex is irrelevant, and we use it/which :
committee, army, class, club, community, crowd, family,
government, team, university. the clergy, the intelligentsia, the
public.
Nouns referring to animals and inanimates
We refer as it/which to the animals, but if we have a relationship
to the animal, we can call it he/she (pets). But many animals form
male/female pairs even though we have no special interest in
them. In this case we use which, but as far as personal pronoun is
concerned we use he/she(/it) : This is the bull which has a brand
mark on his(/its) back.
These pairs are : ram/ewe, stallion/mare, hen/cock (even
peahen/peacock), lion/lioness, tiger/tigress, dog/bitch, duck/drake,
bull/cow (elephant cow/elephant bull), fox/vixen
Ships and countries can be referred to as she- but on the map
it.
Sun = He
Moon = She
determiner is an obligatory element of noun phrases every noun phrase contains a determiner unless there is a
reason for its absence
2. Definiteness in Slovak
only a semantic category - its not grammatically
conditioned
there are no rules explaining the presence or absence of a
determiner
Articles
a subclass of determiners
their function is to determine definiteness
in English they are connected with the category of number
- with nouns taking the zero ending in the plural is the
number distinction indicated in the article (They were
looking for a sheep, They were looking for sheep)
The
that
dont
permit
1. Proper nouns
they are always definite - there is no need to express
definiteness with the article
2. Common nouns
if the noun phrase contains two coordinate heads which are
semantically close to each other (day and night, husband
and wife, head over heals, day in day out
6) Characteristic and division of pronouns, grammatical
caterories of pronouns, description of each pronoun class
pointing out the main differences between English and
Slovak
-
Person
- is distinguished in personal pronouns, possessive
pronouns and reflexive (emphatic) pronouns
- in Slovak reflexive pronouns do not distinguish this
category
Number
- morphologically unrelated forms are found with those
pronouns which distinguish person
- in the second person with personal and possessive
pronouns number is not distinguished in English(similar
in the Slovak pronoun vy when used in polite address)
- reflexive pronouns in English express the number
distinction twice (himself - themselves), in Slovak number
is not distinguished
- some pronouns are marked as singular only each,
everybody, someone
- the number can be considered as either indefinite
(everyone, no one, nobody) or definite (each, none) if
the umber is two, only the pronoun neither (either, both)
can be used (pronoun with the same meaning doesnt exist
in Slovak)
- pronouns unmarked for number = may be used as either
singular or plural none, the former, the same
Gender
- pronouns which distinguish person also distinguish gender
in the third person singular masculine, feminine
and neuter
- relative pronouns who/whom and which are gender
sensitive choice depends on whether their referent is
human or non-human (in Slovak they reflect the
grammatical gender of the referent ktor, ktor, ktor)
Case
- some pronouns participate in a subsystem of cases parallel
to that of nouns (someone someones ), some do not
distinguish case at all (all, each)
- personal pronouns have one form when used as the subject
(subjective case) and another form as the object
(objective case) he him
- almost all the Slovak pronouns can be inflected for
case (correspond to the cases of adjectives and nouns)
Definiteness
- two groups definite and indefinite pronouns (used with
definite or indefinite meaning )
- some pronouns are used with articles (the same, the
other, the one, another)
- some subclasses may be only definite or only indefinite,
some contain items of both kinds
Division of pronouns
Personal pronouns
- only as NP-pronouns, 1st and 2nd person used only
deictically (never referentially)
- English sentences without a personal pronoun used in the
subject refer to the third person
- usually understood as definite
- no distinction between the sg and pl in the second person
pronouns
- gender is distinguished in the third person singular (both
in English and Slovak), but in Slovak there is a gender
distinction in the plural (oni - ony)
- we is not the plural of I, but a pronoun meaning I and one
or more other people
- it has a much wider use than ono correspond to Slovak
to
in Slovak they are used in the subject only when they are
stressed (She came. Prila.) subject in English
cannot be left empty (it used as the filler pronoun It is
late.)
tendency in English to replace the subjective-case forms by
the objective-case forms (It is we/us.)
in Slovak stressed and unstressed forms in G, D, A
(ma ma, tebe - ti); special forms with and without
prepositions (ju pre u) in English we can hardly find,
only in pronunciation (me mi, mi:)
the only case of omission of the English personal pronoun
in the function of subject is that of you in the imperative
sentences (Come tomorrow. Pr zajtra.)
Possessive pronouns
- two sets of possessive pronouns those functioning as
NP-pronouns and those functioning as determinerpronouns (my - mine) in Slovak there is the same form
- possessive pronouns in both English and Slovak are
generally definite
- within possessive pronouns English distinguishes between
personal (his, her, etc.) and impersonal pronouns (ones)
Slovak svoj is not an impersonal possessive pronoun (it
is reflexive possessive)
- English possessive pronouns are not always translated into
Slovak by possessive pronouns in Slovak they are used
much less frequently than in English
- are not used in English if the possessed thing belongs to a
possessor who is the object of the clause (She kicked him
in the leg.)
- in Slovak a possessive pronoun may be preceded by a
demonstrative (T tvoja lenivos.), but in English two
determiners must not follow each other (That laziness
of yours.)
- generally used anaphorically if in Slovak is used
cataphorically, it is at the same time anaphorical (Dievat
si chystali aty. Svoje si zabalila aj Eva. svoje points
cataphorically to possessor Eva and anaphorically to
possessed thing aty )
Interrogative pronouns
- all relative (except that) are also interrogative pronouns
- one interrogative pronoun which is not used as a relative
pronoun what (Slovak o can function as both, but is
only interrogative)
- five of them who, whom, whose, which, what
- used in interrogative sentences asking about one
element of the clause
- always come first in English clause (can be preceded
only by prepositions or conjunctions for whom, and
who..?)
- in position other than initial echo questions (Shell marry
who?)
- emphatic by adding the morpheme ever (whoever)
- the interrogative pronoun which is not limited to nonhuman referents
Referential pronouns
- their only function is reference or deixis
- those which can be used both referentially and deictically
demonstrative pronouns
- the most typical are this and that
- when use deictically this/these shows close association
with the speaker or the moment of speaking as opposed to
that/those
- in Slovak ten, tento, tamten, onen, henten
- one is a referential pronoun which cannot be deictic no
direct counterpart in Slovak
Quantity pronouns
- used when we are not interested in the exact
number but the distinction between the singular and
plural is not sufficient
- may be either NP-pronouns or determiner-pronouns
- divided into:
positive universal, amount, assertive, non
assertive
negative
- universal pronouns indicate that the whole class of
items denoted is treated (all, both)
- pronouns of amount several, a few, much, many, little,
few
- assertive pronouns those of the some type (used in
positive declarative clauses),
- non assertive those of the any type (negative and
interrogative clauses, subordinate adverbial clauses of
condition); may be used in assertive clauses when their
meaning is no matter which
- in Slovak there is no distinction between assertive
and non-assertive pronouns
- negative pronouns make the meaning of the whole
clause negative and are used instead of non-assertive
pronouns if the clause does not contain any other negative
element in Slovak, several negative elements can be
used in one clause (nobody, no one, nothing, none)
Noun vs. pronoun
Difference between nouns and pronouns : nouns = closed word
class. Pronouns are closed word class. Archaic pronouns : thou,
thee, thy, thine. The fact that is also a pronoun. The former &
the latter = pronouns.
See this :
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. The city has an excentric
position. It is situated on the Danube. The first sentence = noun,
the second one = continuum, the third one = pronoun : this is
how a noun changes into pronoun.
Pronouns can distinguish person, case, number and definiteness.
Opposition in nouns e.g.: opposition in numbers = book vs. books.
1 of major calsses
adj mirror the nouns (the same gender, case, number)
to say sth about the nouns
Adjectives
central features:
1. They can freely occur in attributive function
Peripheral features:
1. They can be premodified by the intensifier very
They are very happy
2. They can take comparative and superlative forms
1. Attributive
When an adjective premodifies a head of a noun phrase
A small garden, popular song
2. Predicative
When adjectives function as subject or object complements
(CO I find him careless, CS He seems careless)
Adjectives can function as subject complements to clauses
(That you need a car is obvious) or object complements to
clauses (I consider what he did foolish)
3. Postpositive
If the adjective immediately follows the noun it modifies
Something useful (predicative - the information is useful,
attributive - useful information)
Compound indefinite pronouns and adverbs ending in
-body, -one, -thing, -where can be modified only
postpositively (Anyone intelligent can do it)
Substantivization of adjectives
Adjectives as heads of noun phrases
They dont inflect for number or for the genitive case
They require a definite determiner
There are various types of adjectives which can function as
heads of noun phrases:
1. Adjectives which can premodify personal nouns
With plural and generic reference denoting classes,
categories and types of people (The poor are causing the
nations leaders great concern)
The adjectives itself can be premodified or postmodified
(The extremely old need our help, The young in spirit enjoy
life)
2. Adjectives denoting nationalities
Adjectives ending in -(i)sh (British, Spanish), -ch (Dutch,
French), -ese (Chinese, Japanese) + Swiss
The industrious Dutch are admired by their neighbors
Adjective phrases
- phrases with an adjective as head
- an adjective can be premodified by a restricted group of
adverbs (very, surprisingly) or postmodified by some
adverbs (enough), prepositional phrases or infinitive
clauses
- can function as a complement, premodifier in a NP
Complementation of adjectives
by a prepositional phrase (happy about, good at, sorry
for, different from, afraid of, keen on, due to, bored with)
by a finite clause
three types:
a) the indicative used with adjectives expressing
degrees of certainty or confidence (We were confident
that Karen was still alive.)
b) the subjunctive or putative should with adjectives
expressing volition (I am anxious that he be/should be
permitted to resign.)
c) the indicative or putative should used with emotive
adjectives (I am surprised that you didnt call the
doctor before. I am surprised that anyone of your
intelligence should swallow a lie like that.)
by a to infinitive seven kinds of construction, f. e.:
Bob is slow to react. Bob is hard to convince. The food is
ready to eat. It is important to be accurate.
Classification:
- adverbs of circumstances space, time (to the bank, last day
of)
- adverbs of manner (carefully)
- adverbs of degrees (very much)
- adverbs of cause (to be ill with flu)
- primary adverbs now, then
- adverbs derived from
o adjective alive, aboard
o nouns clockwise, westward
- phrase adverbs up-side down, inside-out, on the average,
at once (they are prepositional phrases)
- adverbs with preposition from here, in there, till tomorrow,
before long
Syntactic functions of adverbs
- adverb as adverbial
o adjuncts are integrated within the structure of the clause
to at least some extent (They are waiting outside.)
o disjuncts are not integrated with the clause, express an
evaluation of what is being said (Fortunately, no one
complained.)
o conjuncts are not integrated with the clause, are
connecting what is being said and what was said before (If
they open all the windows, then Im leaving.)
- adverb as modifier
o of verbs premodify particles in phrasal verbs (They left
him WELL behind.)
o of adjective most commonly the modifier is an intensifier
(very, so, pretty, rather, unusually, quite, unbelievably),
insifiers can modify adjectives, adverbs and verbs alike,
adverb as qualifier only one = enough (high enough)
o of adverb may premodify another adverb as intensifier
(smoking very heavily)
o of prepositional phrase (it went right through the wall)
o of determiner, predeterminer, postdeterminer (Nearly
everybody came.)
o of noun phrase (What a (big) fool he is!)
- adverb as complement of preposition
o mostly adverbs of space and time
prepositions since, till, until, after, before, by, from,
for
adverbs connected with them lately, recently, then,
today, yesterday, now, tomorrow, tonight, after,
afterwards, later, always, ever, once
- position in sentence of an adverbial
o initial secondary adverbial of time, less frequency, place
o medial secondary frequency (often, never, always),
betwee subject and verb
o final primary, most neutral position
Comparison
absolute
comparative between two
superlative more than two adverbs are involved
Adverb-adjective correspondence
ADVERB
a heavy sleeper
heavily
a former student
formerly a student
ADJECTIVE
someone who sleeps
someone who was
a faithful friend
faithfully
head is adverb
less complex than adjective phrase
rarely contain postmodifiers
Expressed by as as
Anna is as tall as Bill.
- it also can have the operator : Questions (operator + subjectoperator inversion), Negation (operator + not), Emphasis
(operator)
a) Tense, tense vs. time, problem of determining the
number of tenses in English, comparison of English and
Slovak tenses, existence of the future tense, forms
reffering to the future, tense-shift
Future tense
Integral part of Slovak system of tenses with two forms periphrastic (for imperfective verbs) and present tense
from with future meaning (for perfective verbs)
In English to future events is most frequently referred to
using will/shall construction + plain non - perfective
infinitive (events after now) or plain perfect infinitive
(events happening in the future and preceding other future
events)
English has no future inflected forms of verbs, so the future
tense is not firmly established + the verbs will and shall
retain some of their original modal meaning (willingness,
determination)
Means of expressing future
1. Will/shall + infinitive
The most common means
Shall is used with the 1st person
Almost neutral future, but covers some modal meanings
2. Be going to + infinitive
Future fulfillment of a present intention (She is going to
lend us her car)
Future result of a present cause (Its going to rain, Shes
going to have a baby)
3. Present continuous
Future based on present arrangements, plan or program
The match is starting at 2:30 tomorrow
4. Simple present
Expresses future in subordinate clauses (What will you do if
I marry him?)
5. will/shall + progressive
A future period of a time within which another event occurs
(When you reach the end of the bridge, Ill be standing
there to show you where to go)
Neutral future (Well be flying at 30,000 feet)
6. To be (about) to
To be to refers to future arrangements or plans (Their
daughter is to get married soon, If hes to succeed in the
new job, he must try harder)
To be about to simply expresses near future (The train is
about to leave)
b) Aspect in English and Slovak, aspect and tense, perfect
vs. non-perfect, verbs used in the progressive aspect,
characteristics and meanings of the English progressive
ASPECT IN SLOVAK
every verb fits into one of the two groups:
o imperfective verbs (nedokonav) referring to events
viewed as not completed
o perfective verbs (dokonav) referring to events viewed as
completed
choice is not dictated by the extralinguistic reality only, it also
depends on the communicative needs in the individual situation
-
Future
Present
Past
Imperfective
budem robi
robm
robil som
Aspect in English
- in each of the tenses of the verb the non-progressive and also
the progressive aspect form is used
- the progressive aspect is formed appropriate form of the
auxiliary be + -ing form of the lexical verb
- with verbs used in stative meaning, only the non-progressive
form is possible
- in some passive constructions, only the non-progressive form
is possible
future
future perfect
non-progressive
I will do
I will have done
present
present perfect
past
past perfect
I
I
I
I
do
have done
did
had done
progressive
I will be doing
I will have been
doing
I am doing
I have been doing
I was doing
I had been doing
it.
= He read it.
-
stative verbs
- verbs of inert perception and cognition adore, believe,
desire, doubt, feel, forgive, guess, hate, hear, imagine,
know, like, love, realize, please.
- relational verbs apply to, belong to, consist of, cost,
depend on, possess, lack, matter.
Stative vs. dynamic (and stance)
- Dynamic verb is a verb that relate to action/activity/temporary
condition : I hit him. But live is neither temporary nor active,
but in certain contexts it can be dynamic : The tigers are living in
a cramped cage. = temporary. Also words that lack motion or
activity can be dynamic : I was resting. Are you sitting?
- Whats the big deal about verbs being stative/dynamic? It is
because only dynamic verbs can be progressive (-ing). And only
dynamic can be imperative (you cant say Know it!).
- Typical stative verbs :
states of being/having : be, heve, contain, resemble
intellectual states : believe, know, realize, think,
understand
state of attitude : disagree, dislike, like, want
state of perception : feel, hear, see, smell, taste
state of bodily sensation : ache, feel, sick, hurt, itch, tickle
- Stance verbs (verbs that are between stative and dynamic) :
live, lie, sit, stand (He lives there = static. He is living there =
dynamic.)
- Dynamic durative :
inanimate force activity : (wind) blow, (engine) run, rain,
(watch) work...
animate agents activities : dance, eat, play, sing
change over a period : change, deteriorate, grow, widen...
accomplishment : finish, knit, read, write
- Dynamic punctual (with little or no duration) :
momentary acts : jump, nod, knock...
transitional events : arrive, die, drown, land, leave, stop...
Temporal clauses
- finite adverbial clauses of time are introduced by
subordinators as after, before, since, until, when
- - ed clauses are introduced by once, until, when and while
(Once published, the book caused a remarkable stir.)
c) Mood, characteristics of the imperative, characteristic
features of subjunctive I and II (forms, uses)
-
subjunctive mood
two forms:
present subjunctive (subjunctive I or be
subjunctive) expressed by the base form of the
verb
with the verb to be the paradigm is different from
that of the indicative mood (am, are, etc.)
with other verbs the difference is in the absence of
an ending in the third person
tense is not distinguished in a subjunctive form,
but from the verb in the main clause
two main uses:
a) mandative subjunctive used in a thatclause after an expression of such notions as
demand,
recommendation,
proposal,
intention; is more characteristic of AmE (The
employees demanded that he resign The
headmaster requires that the teachers be
strict.)
b) formulaic (optative) subjunctive used in
certain set expressions (God save the
Queen. Long live the King. Heaven forbid that)
past subjunctive (subjunctive II or were
subjunctive)
form identical with that of the past tense
indicative, to be has the form were in all person and
both numbers
never used with a past meaning, it is used as a
present tense
hypothetical in meaning
used in subordinate clauses of condition,
concession or comparison (subordinators if,
suppose, even if, even though, as if) and after the
expressions I wish, it is time, if only, Id rather
Visitors cant walk over the lawn. The lawn cant be walked
over. (by visitors)
multi-word verbs and complex structures:
- consist of a verb followed by two particles (He puts up with
a lot of teasing.)
- transitive verbs with a noun phrase as direct object
- they allow pronominal questions and under certain
conditions can occur in the passive:
He cant put up with bad temper. What cant he put up
with?
Bad temper cant be put
up with for long.
- some of them have figurative meaning, others are fused
combinations and it is difficult or impossible to assign
meaning to any of the parts (put up with tolerate)
- examples: break in on (the conversation) interrupt; look
in on (somebody) visit; look up to (somebody) - respect
reasons for usage of passive construction
- context where the agent is unknown or unimportant
- passive subject corresponds to the indirect object of an
active clause (John was given a present. P They gave John a
present. A)
passive constructions without passive counterparts in
Slovak:
- in English passive is used to avoid expressing the agent, in
Slovak an active clause without the subject is used (That
old house is haunted. V tom starom dome stra.)
- English clause in which the passive subject corresponds to
the indirect object of an active clause. (John was given a
present. They gave John a present.)
in English the frequency of use of passive is much higher than
in Slovak, because:
o in Slovak in many cases we use active construction instead
of passive (clauses without subject in the third person
Prelo ho auto.
Zaprinila to nedbalos.
Verb phrase
- analysed in terms of the main verb, or lexical verb and
several auxiliaries grammatical verbs which help to
May / might
possibility (In this museum you may see much of interest.)
may is also used to say what we assume, expect or
guess about present or future happenings
may + perfect infinitive offer a possible explanation
of something that has not happened as expected (Wheres
Martin? He may have missed the train again.)
might + perfect infinitive the action considered
advisable was not carried out in the past (You really might
have done it long ago.)
permission (in the negative form prohibition)
Ought to
- to express the idea of moral obligation, duty,
desirability (You ought to help your mother in
everything.)
- in most cases it can be replaced by should ought to is
more emphatic
- ought to + perfect infinitive refers to the past and
shows that the obligation was not carried out (You ought to
have finished the paper long ago.)
Dare (to)
- means have the courage to and is usually found in
negative (Dont you dare try to walk across the road until
the light is green!)
Need / need not / neednt
- as an auxiliary it occurs only in the present tense
(negative sentences, questions - when the hopes to get
a negative answer)
- not used in affirmative sentences (only negative and
interrogative) affirmatively used with never, hardly,
scarcely
- need + perfect infinitive the action carried out in the
past was not necessary (You neednt have sent a telegram;
a letter would have done.)
Modal idioms
a combination of auxiliary and infinitive or adverb
none of them have non-finite forms and they are always the
first verb in the verb phrase
had better, would rather, have got to, be to
Semi-auxiliaries
set of verb idioms which are introduced by one of the primary
verbs have and be
be able to, be bound to, be going to, be supposed to, be
about to, be due to, be likely to, have to
phrasal verbs
cant predict the meaning
from the meaning of verb &
particle in isolation (
idiomatic combination)
particle cant be separated
from the LV
adverb cant be fronted
free combinations
predictable (possible substitutions
(walk past run past, trot past,
walk by); adverb has intensifying
(chatter away) or aspectual force
(drink up)
particle can be separated from the
LV
adverb can be fronted
TYPE
THE DISTINCTION
COMBINATIONS
BETWEEN
looked
after
her
PREPOSITIONAL
son
O
VERBS
AND
FREE
THE DISTINCTION
VERBS
BETWEEN
PREPOSITIONAL
VERBS
AND
PHRASAL
phrasal verbs
particle can precede of follow
the direct object
She called up her friends /
called her friends up
precedes the particle
She called him up / called up
him.
cant be inserted betw verb &
adverb
She called angrily up her
friends.
particle cant precede relative
pronoun or wh-interrogative
The friends up whom she called
particle is stressed, in final
position bears nuclear stress
II PREPOSITIONAL VERBS
- ditransitive verbs followed by 2 NPs (separated by
preposition) 2nd is the prepositional object
The gang robbed her of her necklace.
- passive clause direct object subject (She was robbed
of her necklace)
- 2 subtypes in which the direct object is a part of the
idiomatic combination:
TYPE
make a mess of, make allowance for, take care of, pay
attention to, take advantage of
catch sight of, keep pace with, give way to, lose touch
with, cross swords with, keep tabs on, give rise to
only the prepositional object can become the passive
subject, but its clumsy
PHRASAL-PREPOSITIONAL VERBS
LV + adverb + preposition
the wh-question eliciting the prepositional object who(m)
or what
type I have only prepositional object (We are looking
forward to the party)
- prepositional passive is possible (The tantrums
couldnt be put up with any longer)
type II ditransitive (2 objects 2 nd is prepositional) (Dont
take it out on me!)
- passive is possible only active direct object (Our
sources can be put down to hard work)
verbs
with
Have as auxiliary
- combines with past participle to form perfective verb phrases.
(I have done it. It cant have been her.)
Do as a full verb
- Meanings of do
tasks : do + gerund (=ing form) : I have to do the washing
up.
general purpose (wide range of uses): Do the dishes.
Who does your car?
disapproval : Whats that doing on the floor?
- it can function as a pro-predicate or pro-predication referring to
some unspecified action, alone or in combination with so, it, this,
that, interrogative what , or an indefinite pronoun: I dont know
what to do, so I did nothing. Why are you doing that?
- Do vs. Make : Make = create : question : What are you doing?
reply : I am making a cake.
Typical combinations with do : do my best, do business, do
damage, it will do you good, do my duty, do an experiment, do a
favor...
Typical combinations with make : make an accusation, make an
appointment, make an agreement, make a bed
Sometimes both are possible : Ill make/do the bed this morning.
- Do in fixed expressions : What does he do (=job), How do you
do, That will do (=enough!), That wont do (its not enough; its
not acceptable), How did you do (=how did you manage), I could
do with a drink, It has nothing to do with me, I can do without a
car, you did me out of my share (=you cheated me).
Do as auxiliary
- Do as auxiliary has no individual meaning its a dummy
operator (=an added element, which means nothing by itself).
Auxiliary do is periphrastic (= Its difficult to put in words
example will be more suitable : simpler = normal/more simple =
periphrastic. Do it! = normal, Lets do it = periphrastic.) and is
used in :
questions with inversion : What did he say?. Exception :
wh-questions (What happened?)
For + infinitive
for + noun/pronoun + infinitive used when infinitive
needs its own subject (Ann will be happy for the children
to help you. = The children will help); often the same
meaning as a that clause
adjective + for + object + infinitive after adj.
expressing wishes, personal feelings (anxious, eager,
willing, etc.)
it + adjective + for + object + infinitive adj.
expressing possibility, necessity, importance, etc. (It is
impossible/necessary/important for the meeting to start
at eight)
after something, anything, nothing (Have you got sth
for me to do?)
after verbs normally followed by for (ask, hope, wait,
look, pay, etc. Ann asked for the designs to be ready by
Friday.)
after too and enough (This is too heavy for you to lift.)
as subject or object (For us to fail now would be a
disaster.)
for there to be (Im anxious for there to be plenty of
time for discussion.)
-ing form
- use not only as verbs, but also like adjective (a
smoking cigarette end), adverb (She walked out of the
room smoking.), or noun (Smoking is bad for you.)
- used after all prepositions
Gerundial and participial uses
- when ing forms are used as verbs, adjectives or adverbs,
they are often called present participles
when they are used more like nouns, they are called
gerunds
grammarians try to avoid these terms the general term
is used (-ing form)
-ing forms can be used as modifiers before nouns
A waiting room (noun-like ing form gerund)
A waiting boy (adjective-like ing form participle)
not the same meaning
4 subclasses:
to-infinitive (The best thing would be to tell
everybody/for you to tell)
bare infinitive (All I did was hit him. Rather than you do
the job)
-ing participle (Leaving the room, he. Her aunt having
left the room,)
-ed participle (Covered with confusion, The discussion
completed, he)
absolute clauses have an overt subject, but are not
introduced by a subordinator; -ing (No further discussion
arising, the meeting), -ed (Lunch finished, the guests)
or verbless clauses (Christmas only days away, the
family)
attachment rule = when a verbless or a nonfinite
clause has no subject, for identifying it we assume that it is
identical to the subject of the subordinate clause (The
oranges, when (they are) ripe, are picked)
non-finite clauses as direct object
She prefers to go by bus. (decide, dislike, forget)
wh-infinitive clause
They discovered how to isolate it. (explain, learn,
see) subjectless inf.
They like talking about it. (cant bear, dislike, enjoy)
subjectless -ing
He wants you to stand for election. (wish) to-inf.
clause with subject
I hate them gossiping about our colleagues. - -ing
participle with subject
direct object + to-infinitive clause (The police
reported the traffic to be heavy.)
direct object + bare infinitive clause have, let,
make (They had me repeat the message.)
direct object + -ing clause perceptual (feel, hear,
see), encounter (leave, catch, find), causative (have, get)
can never take genitive case (I saw him lying on the
beach. not I saw his lying on the beach.)
Modification
- prepositions and prepositional adverbs can be modified in terms
of measure and degree by means of intensifiers : She arrived
(shortly) after. He wanted to be (well) ahead but finished (just)
behind.
- Modification can apply just to the preposition (the examples
above), or to the entire prepositional phrase : Right in the
middle.
Prepositional phrase
- Prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and a phrase
(prepositional complement/object). This phrase can be :
Drink (verb phrase) out of a cup (prepositional phrase)
Grateful (adjective phrase) for the help (prepositional
phrase)
Man (NP) in the raincoat (prepositional phrase)
wh-clause
- Prepositional phrases can work as adverbials : In a few minutes
we will know that.
- syntactic function of PrepP :
postmodifier in a NP (I saw a man with an umbrella)
Deferred prepositions
- though
prepositions
normally
precede
their
complements, there are circumstances in which this
cannot happen:
where the subject of a passive construction
correspond to the prepositional complement in the
active analogue (We have paid for the car The car
has been paid for.)
where the prepositional complement is thematized in
sentences with infinitive or ing clauses (It is
unpleasant to work with that man That man is
unpleasant to work with. / It is not worth listening to
his advice. His advice is not worth listening to.)
Problems for Slovak learners
- only one Slovak preposition is sometimes equivalent to 8
different prepositions and also some adverb
- a lot of mistakes have been recorded where the so-called
seeming equivalents (zdanliv ekvivalenty) were used
instead of those required by the English system
- Slovak learners have problems with the three basic
prepositions at, on and in
- Seeming equivalents : it is when you say in is v in Slovak.
This can be true, but the use in English can be different and then
someone who took you for your word can use this seeming
equivalent incorrectly. Seeming equivalents are : at (pri), on (na),
in (v).
- Sometimes Slovak uses prepositions where EN does not : join
the army, beg someones pardon, marry someone, talk politics,
climb the tree.
possibility : You can boil yourself an egg or (else) you can make
some sandwiches.
- or can be inclusive when you indicate it in a third clause : You
can boil yourself an egg, or you can make some sandwiches, or
you can do both.
- corrective function : He loves me, or (at least) he appears to
love me.
- negative condition : Switch on the radio or we will miss the
news.
- or can be equivalent to and in negative sentences : He
doesnt have long hair or wear jeans.
But
- expresses a contrast. It can be replaced by and yet : He is
poor, and yet he is happy.
- expresses in positive terms what the negation in the first clause
conveys : She didnt waste her time, but (on the contrary)
studied hard.
Correlatives
Either... or/neither... nor
- Either...or/both...and/neither...nor. The first item is called an
endorsing item and the second is a coordinator.
- Either expresses the exclusive meaning of or.
- Neither...nor is a negative counterpart of both...and. It
emphasizes the negation of both units.
- When either...or is within the scope of negation, it is
equivalent to neither...nor : He hasnt met either me or my
mother. = He has met neither me nor my mother.
- In written (formal) English we prefer putting either first rather
than in the central position : Either she is stupid or she pretends
to be. (rather than : She is either stupid or pretends to be.)
- When followed by a subject-operator inversion (do I instead of
I do) nor and neither can be used separately, not forming a
correlative pair. The previous clause needs to be negative
explicitly (He didnt do it, neither did he want to.) or implicitly
(All the students were unhappy. Nor were the teachers pleased.)
Both... and
Simple coordination
- Is a coordination in which single clause/clause constituent are
linked to others that are parallel in meaning/function/form. The
coordinated units are conjoins and the result is a conjoint.
Coordination analysis
- There are two ways to analyze simple coordination :
He has cleaned the house and mowed the lawn.
1) elliptical analysis : He = subject, has = verb. Both subject
and verb are ellipted from the second clause.
2) single-clause analysis : two coordinated verbs : He has
[[cleaned the house] and [mowed the lawn]]. This one is simpler
and preferred.
Types of single coordination
- coordination of clauses : I didnt know who she was or what she
wanted.
- coordination of predicates and predications : the same subject is
shared but theres a different verb : They were married in 1960,
but divorced in 1970.
- coordination and the scope of adverbials : Yesterday [the sun
was warm] and [melted the ice]. The meaning of adverbial
covers the entire sentence.
Coordination of NPs and their constituents
- Subject coordination : Some of the staff and all students joined
in
- Object coordination : They keep sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens.
- Combinatory and segregatory coordination of NPs :
Questions
- can be divide into three major classes according to the type
of answer they expect:
o
RISING TONE
FALLING TONE
I.He likes his JB,
III.He
Positive + negative
likes his JB,
DESnt he?
DESN
T he?
Negative + positive
doesnt like his
Commands
Exclamations
-
NEGATION:
- in SVK multiple negation
- all words that can be negated within one sentence are
negated:
- Nikdy som ni tak nevidel.
- but in English - only 1 negation
- when 2 negatives are used = positive meaning
- You can't not go to that funeral. = You must go there...
- It is possible to use NOT with an element, although DO is
not used but NOT doesn't negate the whole sentence: I
want NOT this but that.
Nominal clauses
- function as subject, object, complement, appositive and
prepositional complement
- rarer than NPs because they are semantically abstract
nominal that-clauses I noticed he spoke English. We
are glad that you are here. That the invading troops have
been withdrawn is news for me.
when it is direct object, complement or extraposed
(extraposition = subject is postponed until the end of the
sentence, comes after the verb) that is frequently omitted
leaving a zero that-clause (except in formal use) Its a
pity (that) you dont know Russian.
nominal wh-interrogative clauses I cant imagine
what they want. The problem is who will water my plants.
leave a gap of unknown info
nominal yes-no (introduced by whether, if) and
alternative clauses (introduced by whetheror, ifor)
Do you know if the bank is open? They didnt say whether it
will rain or whether it will be sunny. He didnt tell us whether
to wait or go on without him.
if cannot introduce a subject clause/to-infinitive clause
(Whether she likes the present is not clear to me. I dont
know whether to see my doctor)
nominal exclamative clauses Its incredible how fast
she can run. I remember what a good time I had at your
party
nominal relative clauses introduced by wh-element
that may express specific (without ever) or nonspecific
meaning (with ever) April is when the flowers bloom.
You can call me whatever you like.
nominal to-infinitive clauses He likes to relax. The best
excuse is to say that you have an exam tomorrow.
clauses
of
concession
introduced
by
although/though, while, whereas, even if, etc. (No goal
were scored, although it was an exciting game.)
Relative clauses
- refer back to predicate or predication of a clause or to the
whole sentence or even to a series of sentences (Things
then improved, which surprised me. He says he plays
truant, which he doesnt.)
Comparative clauses
- the proposition in the matrix clause is compared with the
proposition in the subordinate clause
- comparison includes comparisons of equivalence (asas),
nonequivalence (healthier than), sufficiency (he is
sensitive enough to understand) and excess (She was too
polite to ask.)
- comparative element can function as any of the clause
element apart from the verb
- ellipsis occur when two elements are repeated
ambiguity through ellipsis (He loves his dog more than
his children. = they or them)
- He is more relaxed than he used to be. She knows more
about the history than I do. More people use this brand
than any other.
Verbless clauses
- an elliptical clause structure without a verb
- are usually independent (Charming couple. Sorry.)
- can usually be expanded to a full clause by filling in a form
of the verb be
- tend to function either as an adverbial or as a free
predicative.
- E.g. When in Rome, do as the Romans. Whatever their
faults, they are not hypocrites. He drove on, wary and
Cleft sentences
- Cleft sentences are sentences where prominence of one element
(we want to highlight this element) is achieved by means of
dividing the sentence into two clauses, each with its own verb :
- It is his callousness that I shall ignore
- What I shall ignore is his callousness
- His callousness is something I shall ignore...
- In a sentence, more elements can be emphasized : He wore a
white suit at the party. > I was a white suit John wore... or >
It was John who wore... or > It was last night that John...
- With prepositions, there are two possibilities : It was me he
gave it to / It was to me he gave it.
- Cleft sentences are divided into cleft sentences proper and
pseudo-cleft sentences.
Pseudo-cleft sentences are kind of cleft sentences in which the
subordinated clause is a relative clause (relative clause = clause
describing the referent of a head noun/pronoun) headed by an
interrogative pro-form(what mostly). In English they are of form :
wh-relative clause + be + X, where X can be a constituent of
many varieties. Pseudo-cleft sentence = What I gave her were
flowers. /What I wanted was this.
So called inverted pseudo-cleft sentence is = Flowers were
what I gave her./ This was what I wanted.
Existential sentences
- Normally, a sentence starts with something we know and then it
proceeds to give us the new information. There are some
situations, though, where the theme is entirely new. In such
circumstances we introduce a kind of dummy theme: There is, We
have, One finds... These constructions are known as existential
sentences. The most common is unstressed There + be.
- Block language doesnt have to use existential sentences. They
only say: DANGER!
- It can serve the same purpose as there in existential
sentence.
Existential there
- There in existential clauses is the grammatical subject. The
subject of the clause before adding there to it is the notional
subject.: Something (=subject) is wrong. There (=grammatical
subject) is something (=notional subject) wrong.
- Existential there-sentences:
SV: There was no-one waiting.
SVC: There must be something wrong
SVA: Was there anyone in the vicinity
SVO: There are plenty of people getting promotion
SVOC: There have been 2 bulldozers knocking the place flat
SVOA: Theres a girl putting the cattle on
passive constructions are allowed: There was a whole box
stolen.
- Existential sentences can be postponed if necessary: There was
in the vicinity a helpful doctor.
- There
follows the operator in yes-no questions and tag questions:
Is there any more soup?
It can be a subject in ing-clauses: He was disappointed at
there being so little to do.
has no locative function (describing the position) and
therefore can be form combinations such as: Theres a
screwdriver here. We need to differentiate between thereadjunct & existential-there. There-adjunct cannot form
combinations with other locatives: Theres the screwdriver
here*
BUT!
Simple sentence
- There are 5 patterns : SV, SVC, SVO, SVOO, SVOC
- Joining subjects : 2 simple sentences can be joined into one : He
was flying to NY. + She was flying to NY. = He and she were flying
to NY. Subject can be joined this ways : either...or, both...and, but
not.
Adjectives
- postmodification place : age (old) color (red) participle
(crumbling) provenience (Chinese) noun (church) denominal
(atomic)
- premodification :
precentral : peripheral and nongradable (sheer, certain,
complete, slight...)
central (hungry, ugly, stupid, rich...)
postcentral : participles (retired, sleeping) & colors (red...)
prehead : denominal adjectives, nationality (atomic,
Austrian)
- we use commas to separate two adjectives that are equally
important : a beautiful, bright clean room.
Adverbs
- at the end of the sentence they are placed as follows : manner,
place, time
- adverbs of manner
after object
after verb
after an adverb particle : He took it down carefully
We dont put adverb between the verb and its object, only
if it is very long : We could see clearly a strange light ahead
of us.
adverb of manner, if consisting of 1 word, can sometimes
occur between the subject and the verb : He angrily
slammed the door. But well and badly only can occur at
the end.
at the beginning
- adverbs of place
at the end of the sentence, if there are more adverbials,
they occur after the adverbial of manner, but before the
adverbial of time.
Initially : On many large farms, people live in cottages.
- adverbs of time
initially : This morning I had a telephone call
at the end
adverbs of indefinite time can be placed before the verb : I
recently went to NY. They are : another day, at last, early,
eventually, formerly, immediately, just, lately, nowadays,
once, one day, presently, then, these days, yet...
- inversion after adverbs :
place : Here comes the taxi! If the subject is a pronoun,
theres no inversion : Here she comes, Here you are,
There she is.
in descriptive writing : At the top of the hill stood the poky
little house. This exists in the passive, too : In the
distance could be seen the mountains.
after negative adverbs : At no time, Barely, Hardly, Never, Little,
No sooner, Not, Not only, Not until, Nowhere, On no condition, On
no occasion, Only, Only after, Only if, Only later, Only then, Only
when, Rarely, Scarcely, Seldom... : Never have I seen such a
boy.
So, Such, As : Such was the extent of our victory that our
opponents... So absorbed was he that she didnt dare...
We invested all our money, as did many other people.
Inversion
- the normal order is subject predicator in certain
constructions this order is changed and is called inverted
word order (inversion)
- two kinds of inversion:
subject operator inversion (PARTIAL) the
operator(the first of auxiliaries is called operator)
comes before the subject, the rest of the VP comes
Sentence
A sentence is a group of words, usually containing a verb, which
expresses a thought in the form of a statement, question,
instruction or exclamation and starts with a capital letter when
written:
A sentence consists of one or more clauses. Clause =
veta/vedlajsia veta.
1 clause : On his arrival at the library, Peter saw an old woman in
a bright red dress. (1 verb)
2 clauses : When he entered the library, Peter saw an old woman
in a brigh red dress. (2 verbs)
Clause
A clause usually has a subject (podmet) and a predicator
(prisudok). These are called clause elements.
Peter saw an old woman in a bright red dress.
Peter = subject
saw an old woman in a bright red dress = predicator (we dont
need to say predicator all the time we can call it verb, too)
These words in the predicator part are connected to one another
and we call it a phrase or a group of words.
A sentence which contains a predicator and a subject is a clause.
However there are more clause elements : subject, predicator (we
also call it a verb because in EN a verb is always used in this
element), object (predmet), complement, adverbial.
Clause Elements
A sentence which contains a predicator and a subject is a clause.
However there are more clause elements : subject, predicator (we
also call it a verb because in EN a verb is always used in this
element), object (predmet), complement, adverbial.
Phrases
A phrase is a bunch of words that are connected to one another. A
clause element is usually realized by a phrase or several phrases.
In a phrase one word is usually dominant and determines the use
of the phrase. This dominant word is called the head. If there is
only one word in a phrase its the head. According to whether
Affected/agentive subject
- If there are more NPs in a clause, one of them has to be a
subject. The preference is : 1) agentive NP 2)recipient NP 3)
instruments NP
- Non-agentive subject needs sa in Slovak (Piesok sa sype). In
English many verbs that have agentive subject can also be used
with non-agentive subjects (we call them affected subjects then) :
That book reads well.
- Both types of subject are possible with : read, spoil, burn, open,
shut, cook, smell, divide. Only agentive with : find, see, lose,
introduce. Only affected with : appears, disappear, fall, die,
emerge...
- Thus we get spoilt. = pokazit, pokazit sa. But there are other
words that dont work according to this pattern : objavit, objavit
sa = discover, appear. Or the other way round : burn = horiet,
palit.
- Sometimes the verb only can be used along with an adverbial
and cannot stand by itself : The book reads well. (the book
reads would mean nothing).
- Intransitive verbs the subject is either agentive/affected
depending on whether the verb want an agent or not /animate
subject or not : Mary was cooking (agentive) vs. The stew was
cooking (affected).
- In some cases the verb can become transitive : John walked the
horse The commander marched the soldiers it is when the
subject doesnt perform the verb but rather makes someone else
do it.
impersonal subject it
- When there is no nominal element to be used as the subject
English has to use a formal subject impersonal subject it : It
rains (not rains). It is used with meteorological phenomena (its
getting dark), time phenomena (it is late), distance phenomena
(it a long way), and prepositional phrases with it (Were it not for
your laziness...). All these sentences are called impersonal. All
others (not having this it as impersonal subject) are personal.
Subject expressed by a clause & anticipatory it
- Expressed either by finite/non-finite clause (to do/doing).
To err is human (It is human to err).
It in cleft sentences
- Cleft sentence = a sentence where it comes first and one
element is highlighted by being put towards the beginning of the
sentence : She lacks courage > It is courage she lacks. But
any other clause element (except for verb) can be highlighted :
It was John who did it (subject), or It was yesterday that John
did it (adverbial).
- pseudo-cleft sentences : begin with what : What she lacks is
courage the highlighted item comes at the end.
Split subject
- Is a subject consisting of there and a NP : Theres a lamp on
the table. There has some features of the subject : it precedes
the verb and follows the operator in questions. But it lacks the
agreement in number with the verb. But the NP agrees with the
verb in this respect.
- There makes us aware that the subject is yet to come. The
subject introduced by there is usually indefinite (a article :
Kinds of objects
- In Slovak object is never in the nominative case. It can be in the
accusative, dative, genitive, instrumental. Indirect object is a
dative object. Not so in English. In English, indirect object is
always the first object (I brought him a pen). In most cases its
omissible. It only can exist together with the direct object and it
cannot be the only object of the verb. Indirect object usually
denotes a person, rarely a thing (I gave the door a hard push).
But sometimes both objects (indirect and direct) are omissible : I
envied them (indirect) their success (direct) > I envied them/I
envied their success. When you omit one of the objects, the
other one becomes direct object. Therefore we say that both are
direct objects.
Cognate object
- is usually used with transitive verbs but in some cases it is also
used with intransitive verbs too : He died a heroic death/I
dreamed a beautiful dream/I live this life of luxury. As evident,
the object has a semantic closeness to the meaning of the verb.
You cannot use other than cognate objects in this pattern : He
died a car accident * A cognate object is a NP that follows the
predicator and is bound to its place. It also needs to have a
pre/postmodifier ( He died a death * would be incorrect)
because the NP without the it carries no semantic meaning at all.
But since He sang a song can be replaced by melody, tune...
this last construction is not a real cognate object.
Differences between object in Slovak and in English
ENGLISH
SLOVAK
- climb a tree (object)
- liezt na strom
(adverbial)
- adding ad hoc object to intransitive verbs : He nodded
approval
- what is an object in English can be something else in Slovak : Worry
Robit
si
starosti
he graduated
Skoncil
studium
- more frequent passive construction : He was injured
less frequent passive constructions : ranilo ho
Predication Adjuncts
Predication adjuncts are related to predication (the post operator
section) rather than to a whole sentence : She put it on the
kitchen table. / She found the letter on the kitchen table. In the
first sentence the adverbials obligatory, in the second one it is
optional. As for the position, it is usually placed at the end, but if
there is a lengthy post-verb element in the clause, this adjunct
can be placed before it : She put on the table a letter she had
just received from her lawyer. Or if you want to make your
sentence sound more dramatic you can put the adjunct at the
beginning : From Australia he came and to Australia he
returned.
Sentence Adjuncts
With these there are two possibilities : He kissed her on the
cheek only end position is possible. Or :
He kissed her on the platform/On the platform he kissed her
initial and end positions is possible. We can put it at the beginning
because of the fact that on the platform has a rather peripheral
relationship to the sentence.
Sometimes there is a difference between the initial/end position :
I foresaw a disaster in June (I knew it would happen in June) / In
June, I foresaw the disaster (I had the vision in June).
Semantics Adjuncts of space
- Spatial adjuncts : expressed by a NP (They travelled several
miles) or PrepP or determiners that/this/which (Which way did he
come?)
- Direction adjuncts : only with dynamic verbs (Dynamic verb is a
verb that relate to action/activity/temporary condition : I hit him.
But live is neither temporary nor active, but in certain contexts
it can be dynamic : The tigers are living in a cramped cage. =
temporary. Also words that lack motion or activity can be dynamic
: I was resting. Are you sitting?) : The boy kicked the ball
through the window.
- Position adjuncts : He lives in London.
- Distance adjuncts : He lives 20 km from here.
- Space adjuncts : Eat in restaurants.
Disjuncts
- style disjuncts : Frankly, I am tired. Other instances : If I may
say so, to be frank, putting it bluntly... generally, personally...
- content disjuncts : certainty (undoubtedly, apparently, perhaps)
& evaluation (wisely, naturally, curiously, unexpectedly, happily
sadly...)
Conjuncts
- Connect two utterances expressing the same semantic
relationship between them.
- listing : enumerative (in the first place, for one thing...) &
additive (above all, furthermore, moreover, what is more, in
addition, on top of that...)
- summative (all in all, therefore, to sum up...)
- appositive (namely, i.e., that is, in other words, for example...)
- resultive (so, as a result, in consequence...)
- inferential (in that case, so, then, else...)
- contrastive (still, instead, worse...)
- transitional (by the way, now, meanwhile...)
- more conjuncts can appear in one sentence : So I did
reasonably well, all in all.
Syntactic functions of clause elements vs. Semantic roles
of clause elements
- direct & indirect object = syntactic function (He poured Jim
some whisky)
- obligatory adverbials = syntactic function
- definition of verb, subject, object, complement, adverbial =
syntactic
Apposition:
- is when in one sentence two linking units have grammatical
affinity, units are called appositives they must be identical
in reference or the reference of one must be included in the
reference of the other (A neighbour, Fred Brick, is on the
telephone.)
- omission of either appositive is possible, because of coreference and grammatical similarity
A neighbour is on the telephone.
Fred Brick is on the telephone.
- the two appositives need not have the same grammatical form
(Playing football on Sunday, his favourite exercise, kept him fit.
(noun, non-finite clause))
- occasionally there may be more than two units in apposition
( They returned to their birthplace, their place of residence,
the country of which they were citizens.)
indicators of apposition
- can be inserted between appositives (The passenger plane
of the 1980s, namely the supersonic jet, will)
- express certain semantic relationships between the
appositives and therefore cannot be used for all cases of
apposition
- e.g. that is to say, that is, ie; namely, viz; to wit; in other
words; or, or rather, or better; and; as follows; for example,
for instance, eg, say, including, included, such as; especially,
particularly, in particular, notably, chiefly, mainly, mostly; of
- some precede or follow the second appositive (The President
of the United States, in other words Richard Nixon The
President of the United States, Richard Nixon in other
words)
- some can only precede the second appositive namely, and,
or, as follows, including, such as, of, ie, viz, eg
- included can only follow the second appositive
Non-restrictive and restrictive apposition
Restrictive apposition
o namely
o the second appositive is more specific, identifying what is
given in the first, which is typically an indefinite noun
phrase ( A company commander, (namely) Captain
Madison, assembled his men and announced their
mission.)
o unlike the two previous types of equivalence apposition,
replacement of the second appositive by a relative clause
is not possible
Non-restrictive apposition
one of the appositives is subordinate in the distribution of
information (bonus information)
it is indicated in speech by separate tone units for the
appositives and in writing by comas
Mr Campbell, the lawyer was here last night.
- He was examined by Bob Ray, a doctor.
Explicit apposition
- is an apposition characterized precisely by an adverbial: for
example, for instance, especially, particularly, in particular,
mainly, namely...: The kids enjoyed watching the animals,
particularly the monkeys.
Equivalence (ie, in other words)
- appellation
o namely, who/which + BE
o both appositive noun phrases are definite and the second is
typically a proper noun (but need not to be)
The company commander, (that is to say) Captain Madison,
assembled his men and announced their mission.
the second appositive can be replaced by a
corresponding relative clause The company commander,
who was Captain Madison, assembled his men and
announced
the second appositive is often a finite clause He told
them the good news: (namely) taxes are to be reduced.
- designation
o who/which + BE
o the second appositive is less specific than the first, both
appositives are commonly definite noun phrases (Captain
Madison, (that is to say) the company commander,
assembled his men and announced their mission.
- identification
reformulation
o or
o is rewording in the second appositive of the content of the
first
based on linguistic knowledge - a terminological
inexactitude, in other words a lie
reformulation based on knowledge about the external
world, the second appositive is a co-referential
expression (Fred or Ginger as he is usually called)
o a synonymous word or phrase may replace the first
formulation in order to avoid misinterpretation or provide
a more familiar or a more technical term, or may be a
correction of what was said
Attribution
- who/which + Be
- involves predication rather than equivalence, the second
appositive can be replaced by a corresponding relative clause
- second appositive is commonly an indefinite noun phrase
The house, an imposing building, dominated the street.
- also can be definite
Many soldiers, the cream of the battalion, died in the
attack.
- typical attributive appositions
o an article is absent from the second appositive (Robinson,
leader of the Democratic group on the committee,
refused to answer questions.) newspapers and
magazines
o an adverbial that is a clause constituent is added to the
second appositive (Your brother, obviously an expert on
plural
subject
with
singular
subject
complement verb is singular in English, plural in
Slovak (Cornflakes is my favourite dish. Kukurin
lupienky s moje obben jedlo.)
non-count nouns in the plural form (pluralia
tantum) which denote one unit understood as
singulars (Darts is played in every English pub.)
proximity if the verb comes next to the
postmodifier, it agrees with it, if it does not, it agrees
with the pronoun used as head (Nobody knows that
except my friends. Nobody except my friends know
that.)
Other types of concord
- subject complement and object complement
concord there is usually concord between subject and
subject complement (My child is an angel. My children are
angels.) and between direct object and object complement
(I consider my child an angel. I consider my children
angels.)
Subject + subject complement concord
- My children are angels.
- Pronopuns: they is used in the 3rd person singular: Everyone
thinks they have a solution this also helps avoid the gender
problem : everyone = he/she? In formal speech, however, we sat :
Everyone thinks he has a solution. or Everyone thinks he or
she has a solution. This last alternative is more prudent in this
world full of raging feminists
20) Finite and nonfinite clauses, verbless clausses
Finite and non-finite clauses
- finite clause clause whose verb element is finite (takes,
took, can work, has worked)
- non-finite clause clause whose verb element is nonfinite (to work, having woked, taken)
4 subclasses:
to-infinitive (The best thing would be to tell
everybody/for you to tell)
bare infinitive (All I did was hit him. Rather than you do
the job)
-ing participle (Leaving the room, he. Her aunt having
left the room,)
-ed participle (Covered with confusion, The discussion
completed, he)
absolute clauses have an overt subject, but are not
introduced by a subordinator; -ing (No further discussion
arising, the meeting), -ed (Lunch finished, the guests)
or verbless clauses (Christmas only days away, the
family)
attachment rule = when a verbless or a nonfinite
clause has no subject, for identifying it we assume that it is
identical to the subject of the subordinate clause (The
oranges, when (they are) ripe, are picked)
non-finite clauses as direct object
She prefers to go by bus. (decide, dislike, forget)
wh-infinitive clause
They discovered how to isolate it. (explain, learn,
see) subjectless inf.
They like talking about it. (cant bear, dislike, enjoy)
subjectless -ing
He wants you to stand for election. (wish) to-inf.
clause with subject
I hate them gossiping about our colleagues. - -ing
participle with subject
direct object + to-infinitive clause (The police
reported the traffic to be heavy.)
direct object + bare infinitive clause have, let,
make (They had me repeat the message.)
direct object + -ing clause perceptual (feel, hear,
see), encounter (leave, catch, find), causative (have, get)
can never take genitive case (I saw him lying on the
beach. not I saw his lying on the beach.)