8 страница. After many adventures I and a little girl lay senseless in the Bad Lands

After many adventures I and a little girl lay senseless in the Bad Lands. (Haggard)

The poor woman sat amazed. (Trollope)

I stood transfixed with awe and joy. (Haggard)

Here the important thing is not that the speaker stood but that he stood transfixed with awe and joy.

Happily, too, the greater part of the boys came back low-spirited. (Dickens)

Sometimes the predicative does not immediately follow these verbs but is separated from them by an adverbial.

One evening she came home elated. (O. Henry)

Thus the same verb when used as a link verb may either lose its meaning or fully preserve it.

Irene's hair was going gray. (Galsworthy) (link verb)

Tom went home miserable. (Twain) (notional verb performing

the function of a link verb)

According to their meaning link verbs can be divided into two large groups: (1) link verbs of being and remaining; (2) link verbs of becoming.

The first group comprises such verbs as to be, to remain, to keep, to continue, to look, to smell, to stand, to sit, to lie, to shine, to seem, to prove, to appear, etc. The latter three verbs have some modal colouring.

Cotman was a nice-looking fellow, of thirty perhaps... (Maugham)

Do not delay, there is no time. Teacher Williams lies dead, al­ready. (Buck)

The Western powers stood aloof. (Buck)

Idris. aged five, at a litte desk all by himself near the fire, was

looking extraordinarily pleased with life. (Cronin)

He felt exhausted not with physical fatigue, but with the weight

of vague burdens. (Lindsay)

Either course seemed unthinkable, without any connection with himself. (Lindsay)

The door remained wide open; the voices inside were louder than ever. (Priestley)

... the dancing continues fast and furious. (Douglas) That sounds not unsatisfactory. (Wilde)

The second group comprises such verbs as to become, to get, to grow to come, to go, to leave, to run, to turn, to make, etc.

Oh, Adolphus Cusins will make a very good husband. (Shaw) This becomes uninteresting, however, after a time. (Jerome) How can I get married without my best man? (Lindsay) And every month of his life he grew handsomer and more interest­ing. (Burnett)

The great day dawned misty and overcast. (Du Maurier)

 

§ 13. The predicative.

The predicative is the significant part of the compound nominal predicate. It can be expressed in different ways:

1. By a noun in the common case, occasionally by a noun in the
possessive case.

She is a pretty child. (Galsworthy) The book is my sister's.

In Russian the predicative is expressed either by a noun in the nominative case or by a noun in the instrumental case.

Он учитель.

Он был учителем.

2. By an adjective.

He's awfully dear and unselfish. (Galsworthy)

Very often the predicative expressed by an adjective in English does not correspond to an adjective in Russian. It often corresponds to an adverb, serving as an adverbial modifier.

In this connection particular attention should be paid to the fob lowing verbs as they are very often used in everyday English: to look, to feel, to sound, to smell, to taste.

The dinner smells delicious. — Обед пахнет восхитительно-

When she got angry, her voice sounded shrill. — Когда она

сердилась, ее голос звучал пронзительно.

She looks bad. — Она выглядит плохо.

Не feels bad. — Он чувствует себя плохо.

This orange tastes bitter. — Этот апельсин горький.

As is seen from the examples given above all these predicative ad­jectives (with the exception of the one that follows the verb to taste) are rendered by adverbs in Russian.

3. By a pronoun — personal, possessive, negative, interrogative,
reflexive, indefinite, defining.

It was he.

The guns were his. (London) You are nobody. (London) Why? What is he? (Galsworthy)

But she was herself again, brushing her tears away. (Lindsay)

As a rule the pronoun in the function of a predicative is in the nominative case, but in Modern English there is a marked tendency to use personal pronouns in the objective case, especially the personal pronoun /.

It's me, Matt. (Lindsay) Someone said, "That's him!"

4. By a word of the category of state.

He was aware all the time of the stringy tie beneath the mackin­tosh, and the frayed sleeves... (Greene) But I'm afraid I can't keep the man. (Galsworthy)

5. By a numeral, cardinal or ordinal.

I'm only 46. (Shaw)

Mr. Snodgrass was the first to break the astonished silence. (Dickens)

6. By a prepositional phrase.

The things were outside her experience. (Wells) After all, the little chap was on the side of the Capital. (Galswor­thy)

7. By an infinitive, infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction.

June's first thought was to go away. (Galsworthy)

His first act was to bolt the door on the inside. (Dickens) The best thing is for you to move in with me. (Abrahams)

8. By a gerund, gerundial phrase, or gerundial construction.

My favourite sport is swimming.

The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manners for all human souls. (Shaw) The point of their disagreement was Jane's going on holiday in July.

9. By Participle II or very seldom Participle I; the latter is generally
adjectivized.

He was surprised at the sound of his own voice. (London) Here was change, indeed! I fell back astounded in my chair. (Buck)

It is very distressing to me, sir, to give this information. (Dick-ens)

The moment was soothing to his sore spirit. (Sanborn)

(A detailed treatment of the difference between a compound nomi­nal predicate with a predicative expressed by Participle II and a simple predicate expressed by a verb in the Passive Voice is given in Chapter VII, Passive Voice, § 6.)

 

10. By an adverb.

That was all. It was enough the way she said it. (Sanborn)

 

§14. The Objective Predicative.

Besides the predicative referring to the subject, another type of predicative referring to the object can be found in English. It is generally called the Objective Predicative. It expresses the state or quality of the person or thing denoted by the object and is generally expressed by a noun, an adjective, a word denoting state, or a prepo­sitional phrase.

He appointed Bush secretary in his stead. (Swift)

Lord and Lady Masham... left him alone with them. (Swift)

In a few minutes I came to myself and he carried me safe to шУ

little nurse. (Swift)

They painted the door green.

The Objective Predicative does not form part of the predicate, in _this case the predicate is simple.

§ 15. The compound verbal predicate.

The compound verbal predicate can be divided into two types ac­cording to the meaning of the finite verb:

(1) the compound verbal modal predicate;

(2) the compound verbal aspect predicate.¹

§ 16. The compound verbal modal predicate shows whether the action expressed by a non-finite form of the verb is considered as possible, im­possible, obligatory, necessary, desirable, etc. These shades of meaning are expressed by the first component of the predicate.

The compound verbal modal predicate may consist of the follow­ing components:

1. A modal verb and an infinitive.

Here belong the combinations of such verbs as can, may, must, should, would, ought, dare, need with an infinitive.

You can prove everything and nothing. (London) His aunt would not give him the photograph. (Hardy)

2. Modal expressions: to be + Infinitive, to have + Infinitive.

The loudspeaker operation was to take place in C. Company's sector. (Heym)

I have to work for my living. (Jerome)

3. A verb with a modal meaning² and an infinitive or a gerund.
Here belong such verbs as to hope, to expect, to intend, to attempt, to try,
to endeavour, to long, to wish, to want, to desire, etc.

He wanted to throw himself into the whirlpool of Paris. (Heym)

We intend going to Switzerland, and climbing Mount Blanc.

1 It should be borne in mind that by 'aspect' we do not mean here the verbal category of aspect but the lexical meaning of certain verbs as denoting *he beginning, the duration and the cessation of the action. 2 Verbs with a modal meaning should not be confused with modal verbs as such, which in the English language form a special group of defective verbs (see Chapter VII, Modal Verbs).

(Ch. Bronte)

Of course she longs to have a ball in her honour. (Du Maurier) Certainly I don't mean to take advantage of my position (Wilson)

Harris tried to open the tin with a pocket knife and broke the knife and cut himself badly. (Jerome)

4. Modal expressions and an infinitive.

They are synonymous with modal verbs or verbs with a modal mean­ing. Here belong the combinations of such expessions as to be able, to be obliged, to be bound, to be willing, to be anxious, to be capable, to be going with an infinitive.

Baring had been obliged to forego making friends. (Wilson)

I am going to leave Paris. (Heym)

We are most anxious to cooperate. (Heym)

5. Verbs and expressions used in the predicate of sentences con-
taining the Subjective Infinitive Construction (Nominative-with-the-
Infinitive Construction).

These words and expressions show the attitude of the speaker to­wards the person or thing expressed by the subject.

A ship — the Vestris — is reported to be arriving at Joppa. (Douglas) — Сообщают, что корабль «Вестрис» должен вскоре прибыть в Яффу.

About 4,000 port workers are believed to be on strike. (Daily Worker) — Предполагается, что бастует около четырех тысяч портовых рабочих.

Naturally all this had some chilling discouraging effect on him, but he appeared not to hold it against her. (Wescott) — Естест­венно, что все это расхолаживало и обескураживало его, но он, по-видимому, на нее за это не сердился. Never mind who told me. I happen to know his car was seen here yesterday afternoon. (Du Maurier) — Неважно, кто мне сказал. Просто я знаю, что его машину видели здесь вчера днем.

Just at this moment you seem to be having difficulty with your left hand. (Wilson) — Как раз сейчас у вас, кажется, что-то не в порядке с левой рукой.

 

§17. The compound verba! aspect predicate.

The compound verbal aspect predicate expresses the beginning' repetition, duration, or cessation of the action expressed by the noⁿ~ finite form of the verb. It consists of such verbs as to begin, to start, to commence, to fall, to set about, to go on, to keep on, to proceed, to con­tinue, to stop, to give up, to finish, to cease, to come and an infinitive or a gerund.

Here also belong would and used + Infinitive, which denote a re­peated action in the past.

Elaine, this ill-advised behaviour of yours is beginning to have results. (Erskine)

That view had come to give him a feeling of ease and happi­ness. (Lindsay)

His bones ceased to ache. (Lindsay) She had stopped asking Yates about the time. (Heym) Meanwhile armored infantry continued to feel its way in a north­erly direction. (Heym)

I kept glancing at her through the rest of the play. (Braine) I used to write poetry myself when I was his age. (Herbert) I lived with a man once who used to make me mad that way. He would loll on the sofa and watch me doing things by the hour. (Jerome)

 

§18. Mixed types of predicate.

Besides the compound nominal predicate, the compound verbal modal predicate and the compound verbal aspect predicate, there is a type of predicate in which we have elements of two types of predicates. Such predicates contain three components.

Thus we have:

1. The compound modal nominal predicate.

The nephew was to be the means of introduction. (Du Mau­rier)

He greatly longed to be the next heir himself. (De la Roche) Don't think I mean to be unkind. (Du Maurier)

2. The compound aspect nominal predicate.

The grey house had ceased to be a house for family life. (Buck)

It was like coming ashore after a channel crossing. I began to feel rather hungry. (Du Maurier)

I was glad that the doctor had been Chinese, and not American. I continued to be glad for that. (Buck)

3. The compound modal aspect predicate.

And all the while he felt the presence of Pat and had to keep ₀n

resisting the impulse to turn round. (Lindsay)

Something happened nearly a year ago that altered my whole

life. I had to begin living all over again. (Du Maurier)

He ought to stop doing nothing and criticizing everybody

(Lindsay)

 

 

Agreement of the Predicate with the Subject

 

§ 19. In the English language the predicate agrees with the subject in person and number.

Agreement implies that the use of one form necessitates the use of the other, for example: a singular subject requires a predicate in the singular, a plural subject requires a predicate in the plural.

The house was alive with soft, quick steps and running voices. (Mansfield)

This evening there was no bright sunset; west and east ivere

one cloud... (Ch. Bronte)

But in Modern English there is often a conflict between form and meaning; in these cases the predicate does not agree with the subject.

The Durham family ivere at breakfast, father, mother and seven children. (O'Conor)

"Great Expectations" was written by Dickens in 1860.

He further intimated that the United States was so interested

in its own internal affairs that it would not be drawn into the ques­tion. (Graves)

In Modern English, with its few inflexions, agreement of the predicate with the subject is restricted to the present tense apart from the verb to be. The verb to be is an exception because it agrees with the subject not only in the present but in the past tense as well.

I am serious myself... (Lindsay)

We are men and women who respect ourselves and love our families! (Burke)

And Joseph was there with me. (Abrahams) All the blinds were pulled down at the hall and rectory. (Thacke­ray)

§ 20. The following rules of agreement of the predicate with the subject _should be observed:

1. The predicate is used in the plural when there are two or more
homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunction and or asyndeti-

cally.

Her father and mother... ivere obviously haunted and haras­sed. (Galsworthy)

The top of a low black cabinet, the old oak table, the chairs in

tawny leather, ivere littered with the children's toys, books, and garden garments. (Eliot)

If two or more homogeneous subjects are expressed by infinitives the predicate is in the singular.

To labour in peace, and devote her labour and her life to her poor son, ivas all the widow sought. (Dickens) To leave the quiet court, to gain the Strand, to hail a belated hansom ivas the work of a moment. (Thurston)

2. When the predicate-verb precedes a number of subjects it is often
in the singular, especially if the sentence begins with here or there.

And here ivas a man, ivas experience and culture. (Galswor­thy)

Besides the chair at the writing-table there is an easy-chair at the medicine table, and a chair at each side of the dressing table. (Shaw)

The wind drove down the rain and everywhere there ivas stand­ing water and mud. (Hemingway)

If the subjects are of different number the predicate agrees with the subject that stands first.

There ivas much traffic at night and many mules on the roads with boxes of ammunition on each of their pack saddles. (Hem­ingway)

3. When two homogeneous subjects in the singular are connected
by the conjunctions not only... but (also), neither... nor, either... or, or,
ⁿ°r, the predicate is usually in the singular.

There ivas neither heroic swift defeat nor heroic swift victory. (Wells)

Not only the anchor of hope, but the footing of fortitude ivas gone at least for a moment. (Ch. Bronte)

If the subjects are of different person or number, the predicate agrees with the one next to it.

Neither I nor my sister is to blame. Neither your sister nor you are to blame.

4. When two subjects in the singular are connected by the conjunc-
tion as well as the predicate is in the singular.

Activity as well as cell structure is an essential condition of life. (Young)

If the subjects are of different person or number, the predicate agrees with the subject that stands first.

The Volga as well as its tributaries is very picturesque.

5. If a subject expressed by a noun is modified by two or more at-
tributes connected by and, the predicate is in the singular when one
person, thing, or idea is meant.

The complete and beautiful quiet was almost the quiet from beyond the grave. (Stone)

Here a new social and political consciousness was in the making. (Abrahams)

If two or more people, things, or ideas are meant the predicate is in the plural.

Classical and light music have both their admirers. The red and the white rose are both beautiful. The red and white roses are both beautiful.

The above examples show that, in this case, the subject expressed by an abstract noun stands in the singular; with class nouns we either repeat the article and put the noun in the singular or use the article once and put the noun in the plural.

 

6. If the subject is expressed by a defining, indefinite, or negative
pronoun (each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, somebody, some-
one, something, nobody, no one, nothing, neither, etc.), the predicate is
in the singular.

In turn each of these four brothers was very different from the other, yet they, too, were alike. (Galsworthy)

Everybody was glad to see Martin back. (London)

There was something in her silence which disconcerted him.

(Galsworthy)

Nobody was at home — Soames in London, Annette at a garden party. (Galsworthy)

There was nothing to attract attention or excite alarm in this. (Dickens)

7. If the subject is expressed by an interrogative pronoun (who,
what) the predicate is usually in the singular.

"Who is to apply to her for permission?" I asked. (Collins) Tom called: "Hold! Who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass?" (Twain)

What was there in him that could make him feel that shameful impulse in Regan's office? (Wilson)

If the question refers to more than one person the predicate may be used in the plural.

Who were to be the subjects of their piracies was a matter that did not occur to him. (Twain)

8. If the subject is expressed by a relative pronoun (who, which, that)
the predicate agrees with its antecedent.

Mrs. Gowan, who was engaged in needlework, put her work aside in a covered basket, and rose a little hurriedly. (Dickens) Near them were the old people who were watching the danc­ing. (Abrahams)

She (Lillian) looked at his handsome face, which was turned to hers, with childlike simplicity. (Dreiser) This gentleman told me of two recent events in his life, which were of some importance and which had not previously reached my ears. (Collins)

9. If the subject is expressed by the emphatic it the predicate is in
the singular no matter what follows.

Foreigners say that it is only English girls who can thus be trusted to travel alone... (Ch. Bronte)

10. If the subject is expressed by a noun in the plural which is the
title of a book, or the name of a newspaper or magazine, the predicate
^is usually in the singular.

 

' Рлмматика am чийскот языка

"The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" ivas written

when Dickens was twenty-four years of age.

11. If the subject is expressed-by a noun in the plural denoting time,
measure, or distance, the predicate is in the singular when the noun
represents the amount or mass as a whole.

Four hundred miles ivas a huge distance when a man was no longer young and had no means. (Maltz) Three dollars is the sum laid aside for all other purposes and pleasures. (Dreiser)

Twenty-one years is a longish time, lad, but memory Is longer and deeper and stronger than time. (Farnol)

12. If the subject is expressed by a collective noun denoting a group
or collection of similar individuals taken as a whole (mankind, humanity,
etc.) the predicate-verb is in the singular.

He consoled himself with the Idea that perhaps humanity ivas better than he thought. (Dreiser)

"Well, what is mankind, then, Mrs. Jenkins?" I asked her. "Mankind is all of us," Mrs. Jenkins said, "you and me and everybody you can think of all over the world. That is mankind." (Llewellyn)

If the subject is expressed by a noun of multitude, i. e. a collective noun denoting the individuals of the group taken separately (people — люди, infantry, cavalry, gentry, clergy, police, cattle, poultry, jury, etc.) the predicate-verb is as a rule in the plural.

The weather was warm, and the people ivere sitting at their doors. (Dickens)

"I belong to a church that is older and better than the English Church," Mr. Holt said... "in our church the clergy do not marry-" (Thackeray)

The police are all over the place. (Kennedy)

At the present time, too many commercial cattle are bred with

no particular end in view. (Garner)

As experimental animals poultry have their excellent points (Hagedeorn)

With collective nouns (family, committee, crew, army, board, chorus* government, party, team, company, band, etc.) as subject the predicate is either in the singular or in the plural; this depends on what is upperm°^sl in the mind, the idea of oneness or plurality.

... the branch committee ivas meeting in the room of a textile trade union. (Lindsay)

... I am glad to tell you, Doctor Manson... that the committee have decided by a majority to ask you to remain. (Cronin) The company ivas then complete, twenty-one in all. (Galswor­thy)

"One of them might have slipped into the hall, in the confusion, when the dinner company ivere going away," says Mr. Franklin. (Collins)

The Board ivas again full... (Galsworthy)

The board ivere sitting in solemn conclave, when Mr. Bumble

rushed into the room in great excitement... (Dickens)

Michael followed with the Upshires and Aubrey Green, whom

he had encountered in the hall. The party ivas complete.

(Galsworthy)

The meal over, the party ivere free to run and play in the mead­ows. (Ch. Bronte)

... the band ivas beginning to play a selection from the music of Grieg. (Hichens)

When we came to the house we found that the band had arrived and ivere standing about in the hall. (Du Maurier)

§21. The predicate agrees in number with the subject expressed by a syntactic word-group,¹ consisting of two nouns connected by the conjunction and. Here we find agreement according to the meaning expressed in the word-group.

1. (a) If the word-group consists of two nouns denoting different people, things, or notions, the predicate-verb is in the plural.

Andreis and I ivere alone. (Abrahams)

I knew that matter and spirit ivere one. (Bennett)

m ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note. Syntactic word-groups forming one part of the sentence should not be confused with homogeneous parts of the sentence. A sentence with two homogeneous subjects can be divided into two sentences with each subject taken separately, independently of the other.

Kath and Pearl ivere good-looking girls. (Lindsay)

(= Kath ivas a good-looking girl; Pearl ivas a good-looking

1 A syntactic word-group is a combination of words forming one part of *he sentence.

girl.)

(b) The predicate-verb is in the singular when the subject is expressed by several nouns which represent one person or thing, or two people or things forming a close unit often corresponding to one notion. ... the wife and mother was asked with affectionate deference before the plan was made. (Broughton) A carriage and pair was passing through the lodge gates of Transome court. (Eliot) ... Chitterlow's needle and thread in his still unmended trouser leg was making an annoying little noise on the pavement behind him. (Wells) 2. If the subject is expressed by a word-group consisting of two nouns connected by the preposition with, or the expression together with, the predicate-verb is in the singular. It should be noted that these word-groups are very seldom found in English. A woman with a child on the third floor is screaming and wav­ing her free hand frantically. (Dreiser) An engine with a number of trucks was creeping up splut­tering and snorting, halting and knocking. (Lindsay) 3. If the subject is expressed by a syntactic word-group the first element of which denotes an indefinite number or amount, such as а number of..., a variety of..., the majority of..., a lot of..., plenty of..., a mass of... etc., the predicate may be in the singular or in the plural. In most cases the form of the predicate depends on the form and meaning of the second element, which from a semantic point of view is the dominant element of the word-group. A number of cars were parked on the lot before a two-storey building. (Maltz) A number of Connoisseurs were sitting and standing about (Galsworthy) There were a number of paper-covered booklets too (Cronin)

If we have a sentence with the subject expressed by a syntactic word-group its elements cannot be used separately without destroying the meaning of the sentence; only the whole word-group (in the above examples: Andreis and I, matter and spirit) can serve as the subject in the given sentence.

The majority of the old seamen are but little moved by such graven beauty. (Dreiser)

The vast majority of men and women ivere not essentially above slavery even when they had all the guarantees of a con­stitution formulated to prevent it. (Dreiser) "There is a lot of truth in that," said Jonson cautiously. (Lind­say)

A lot of people are coming. (Hichens) "There are a lot of things still for you to believe," says Mr. Ever-sham, beaming. (Wells)

The troubles and hardships of war ivere over, but there ivere still plenty of others to be coped with. (Sommerfield) There ivere plenty of rooms (at the hotel). (Hemingway)

 

Note. The nouns number and variety may retain their concrete mean­ing (количество, разнообразие) and serve as subject of the sentence. In this case they are used with the definite article; the o/-phrase that follows them is a separate part of the sentence — an attribute to the subject. The predicate is naturally in the singular as it agrees with the subject the number, the variety.

They tell me that the number of teachers in town has not in­creased in years. (Hughes)

4. If the subject is expressed by the word-group many a... the predi- cate is in the singular. The banks of the Avon are beautiful in these parts. Many an artist comes there. (Thurston) There is many a slip between the cup and the lip. (proverb)... hospitality obliges as much as nobleness, and many a sound­ing lie has been told in its name. (Broughton) 5. If the subject is expressed by a group of words denoting arithmetic calculations (addition, subtraction, division) the predicate is usually singular; multiplication presents an exception as the verb may be in the Angular or in the plural. Two and two is four. Six minus four is two. Twenty divided by five equals four. Twice two is (are) four.

Her acquaintance ivas fairly large, the number of her intimates ivas small. (Swinnerton)

The Secondary Parts of the Sentence

 

The Object

 

§ 22. The object is a secondary part of the sentence which completes or restricts the meaning of a verb or sometimes an adjective, a word denoting state, or a noun.

Haviland closed the door. (Wilson) I was very proud of it. (Braddon)

He had never liked Soames. He now held him responsible for