The Conditional mood

Probably the only thing linguists are unanimous about with regard to the conditional mood is that it represents action as a “non-fact”, as something imaginary, desirable, problematic, contrary to reality.

In modern Ukrainian the conditional mood is formed analytically by the way of adding the particle би (after the vocal б) to the form of the past tense or the infinitive of the conjugated verb читав би, прочитала б, погуляти б. This particle is written separately from the verb, it can easily move in the sentence, being placed either before the verb or after it, or can be separated from the verb by other words (він би вже давно прийшов). With some conjunctions it is joined into one word, e.g.: щоб, якби, начебто, мовби and others.

The characteristic feature of the whole analytical form of the conditional mood in Ukrainian is its atemporal (позачасовий) meaning. The form писав би can be easily referred to any time (the present, past or future), being joined with any adverb of time: сьогодні, завтра, зараз, учора.

Besides the forms with the particle би in Ukrainian there is also used the peculiar form of the conditional mood with the particle бодай with the meaning of the wish of great intensity (побажання великої інтенсивності): Бодай ви терном поросли … (Т. Шевченко).

Unlike this very distinct and simple system of forms of the conditional mood, in modern English language this system is a very complex one.

Meanings of the conditional and unreal action are rendered in English by the following verb forms:

1) the outdated synthetic forms: be, were, have (take and other forms of the third person without the ending -s);

2) forms of the indicative mood – the past tense of the common aspect (Past Indefinite) and Past Perfect that in certain syntactical conditions acquire the meaning of the unreal action;

3) analytical forms of the conditional mood, built by using the auxiliary verbs should and would and different forms of the infinitive of notional verbs;

4) combinations of modal verbs may (might), can (could) with infinitives of notional verbs, which acquire the meaning of the unreal action depending on the type of the sentence. But in these combinations modal verbs do not lose completely their lexical meaning as it happened with should and would that have acquired a totally grammatical meaning.

Synthetic forms of the conditional mood in English are outdated ones, and are used mainly in writing, whereas analytical forms are spread in all spheres of the language use.

The conditional mood is the category which is closely connected with the structure of the complex sentence (складно­підрядне речення). In all its usages it is a direct dependence on the type of the sentence in which it is used. Though this peculiarity is characteristic of both languages, it is revealed much more distinctly in English wherein even the form of the conditional mood is determined by the type of the sentence, in which it is used. Since the form cooperates with its meaning then this or that shade of mood is caused by these syntactic conditions in which this form is used. A vivid example of this are analytical forms of the conditional mood “ should/would + infinitive” that in certain types of sentences can be used as the forms of “Future-in-the-Past”, as well as “ were ” and forms Past Indefinite or Past Perfect, which in certain syntactic conditions are the forms of Indicative mood, and in others – forms of the conditional mood.

So attachment to a certain type of a sentence is the characteristic feature of the forms of the conditional mood of modern English language.

Unlike Ukrainian, the English conditional mood can express the category of tense: analytical forms should/would + Indefinite Infinitive and the form of the past time (Past Indefinite), used with the meaning of the unreal action, point towards the action that could happen in the present or future. Analytical forms should/would + Perfect infinitive and Past Perfect, used with the meaning of the unreal action, serve to denote the action that could happen in the past.

In both languages forms of the conditional mood have the category of state, compare: були б запрошені, be done/ were done, should be done, as well as the category of aspect, e.g.: читав би, прочитав би, should be going.

It is interesting to note that a big role in the system of conditional mood in both contrasted languages is played by forms of the past tense. It doesn’t happen by chance since it is explained by the near character of the past and the unreal. Even O.O. Potebnja pointed out that the common feature of the past tense and “ideal” moods is the fact that in both cases the action is not available in reality, and we render events that do not exist at the moment of speaking. That is why in many languages forms of the conditional mood are built on the basis of the past tense [5; 93–96].

Summing up all the above mentioned information let us consider the use of the verb grammemes in speech. When used in speech a word has but one of its lexical meanings and all of its grammatical meanings. Thus, in the sentence He writes to me every week, the verb writes conveys only one of its lexical meanings (“communicates in writing”), whereas it has seven elementary grammatical meanings: 1) active voice; 2) non-perfect order; 3) non-continuous aspect; 4) present tense; 5) indicative mood; 6) third person; 7) singular number.

Since each of these elementary meanings can be singled out in a certain opposeme, the entire grammatical meaning of a grammeme as a unit of language must be regarded as the sum of its elementary gramma­tical meanings (present tense + active voice + indicative mood, etc.)

When used in speech, however, in diverse speech situations, in various lexical and syntactical surroundings, with verbs of different lexical meanings, a grammeme may acquire some complex meaning which cannot be directly inferred from the meanings of its constituents. In other words, the entire meaning of a grammeme in speech is often not equal to the sum of its elementary meanings and we may speak, in some sense, of idiomatic meanings of grammemes. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the meanings of grammemes not only as units of language but as units of speech as well.

For example, in most cases imperative mood grammemes in speech serve to present order, command, request, etc. as a direct expression of the speaker’s will. In certain surroundings, however, mostly in the first clause of a compound sentence or when used parenthetically, they can express condition the consequence of which is stated in the same sentence, e.g.:

Do it again and you will find it much easier.

This event, only try to see it in its true light, will show you who is at the bottom of all this [24; 157, 182–183].

Discussion questions and exercise tasks:

I. Consider your answers to the following:

1. Compare the English verb system with the Ukrainian verb system.

2. Characterize the verb as a part of speech (think of the number of grammatical categories, typical stem-building elements, combinability, syntactic functions). Do these characteristics differ in the contrasted languages?

3. What is the subdivision of verbs according to their stem structure? Does it coincide in English and Ukrainian languages?

4. Mention the groups, into which verbs are subdivided as a class of lexemes, taking into account their grammatical and semantic characteristics. Provide examples in English and Ukrainian languages.

5. Describe the category of person of the verb. Does it differ in two languages under study?

6. Dwell upon the group of impersonal verbs in Ukrainian and English languages. Provide examples.

7. Describe the category of number of English and Ukrainian verbs. Are there any similarities and differences?

8. What can be mentioned concerning the category of gender within the English and Ukrainian verb systems?

9. Does the expression of the category of aspect of the verb coincide in English and Ukrainian languages?

10. Compare the aspect verb groups in both contrasted languages.

11. Dwell upon the isomorphic and allomorphic features of the category of tense in English and Ukrainian languages.

12. Describe the present tense expression within the English and Ukrainian verbs systems.

13. Describe the past tense expression within the English and Ukrainian verbs systems.

14. Describe the future tense expression within the English and Ukrainian verbs systems.

15. Dwell upon the phenomenon of the “Future-in-the-Past” tenses in the English language.

16. Describe the category of voice of the verb. Does it differ in two languages under study?

17. What are the peculiarities of the Passive voice of English verbs in comparison with Ukrainian verbs?

18. In what way is the “reflexive state” expressed in two contrasted languages?

19. Dwell upon the category of mood of English and Ukrainian verbs.

20. What are the peculiarities of the imperative mood in English in comparison with the Ukrainian one?

21. Describe the similarities and differences of the conditional; mood expression in English and Ukrainian.

22. What are the peculiarities of usage of the verb grammemes in speech?

II. Lexical verbs express many meanings, which can be classified into seven major semantic classes:activity verbs (bring, get, make), communication verbs (ask, offer, talk), mental verbs (believe, find, listen), causative verbs (cause, allow, help), verbs of occurrence (become, grow, change), verbs of existence or relationship (appear, seem, exist), and verbs of aspect (begin, continue, keep). Underline all lexical verbs in the sentences below. Identify the semantic class of each verb.

1. Erin bought it when she was in high school to learn to sew (conversation).

2. I asked him for a raise – I told him I wanted five fifty an hour. (conversation)

3. In mid-September, he met Pamela Digby on a blind date and proposed (newspaper writing).

4. She moved in with him and then she helped him buy a condo (conversation).

5. We stayed at his parents’ house (conversation).

6. He asserted that nothing improper occurred during the gathering (newspaper writing).

7. I said “so what do you think I can get for my computer”, and he looked at me and he smiled and he said “you just better give it away” (conversation).

8. Hyponatremia is associated with a variety of disorders, including Addison’s disease, which involves the inadequate secretion of aldosterone, resulting in decreased reabsorption of sodium (academic writing).

9. A: Wait, what are you getting again?

B: This looks so dry.

A: You’ve got the linguini. Stop complaining, will you?

*The material is taken from “Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English Workbook” by Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber, Geoffrey Leech, Pearson Education Limited, 2003. – P.30–31.

 

III. Characterize the verbs in the presented piece of writing according to such grammatical meanings: 1) type of the conjugation; 2) transitiveness/intransitiveness; 3) perfective or imperfective aspect; 4) personal/impersonal type of the verb.

Вечоріє, палає, зачаровує.

Сиджу, дивлюся, думаю, мрію, сподіваюся.

Підходиш, сідаєш. Питаєш, відповідаю, розповідаю, пояс­нюю. Намагаєшся зрозуміти. Не виходить. Перебиваєш, перепи­туєш. Сміюся, усміхаєшся. Розказую, слухаєш, вдумуєшся, розумієш. Перебиваєш, цілуєш. Ображаюся. Відвертаюся, сиджу, сумую. Смієшся. Обіймаєш, вибачаєшся.

Не відповідаю.

Починаєш лоскотати. Ображаюся, ОБРАЖАЮСЯ, обра …

Сміюся, лоскочеш, сміюся. Лоскочеш. Регочу! Не можу зупинитися.

Підхоплююся, біжу, кричу: “Допоможіть!” Сміюся.

Дивуєшся, усміхаєшся, встаєш, біжиш, наздоганяєш.

Біжу, задихаюся.

Наздоганяєш.

Хапаєш, розвертаєш, падаємо, хихочемо.

Цілуєш, цілую …

Сидимо, обіймаєш. Розповідаєш, слухаю: сміюся, співчу­ваю, боюся, дивуюся …

Відволікаюся, вслуховуюся. Зупиняєш, говориш: Не слухаєш – ображаєшся!

Вибач. Чуєш, співають. Вслухайся …

Замовкаємо. Слухаємо.

Зачаровують …

Дивись – падає! Загадуй, бажай.

Загадую. Цілуєш: “Вгадав?” …

Сидимо, мовчимо, думаємо, мріємо.

Люблю …

Кохаю … (Ганна Шевчук).

*The material is taken from the article “Цікава морфологія” // Урок Української. – № 5–6, 2006. – P. 51–52.

IV. Lexical verbs occur with one of five different valency patterns: intransitive, monotransitive, ditransitive, complex transitive, and copular. Underline all lexical verbs in the sentences below. Identify the valency of each verb.

a) in the English language:

1. I told Dad stuff about Georgia (conversation).

2. We went to Disneyland (conversation).

3. He smiled into my eyes. “I’ve got news for you” (fiction writing).

4. A: A dog found it in the street and ate it.

B: Do you want that other piece? (conversation).

5. Usually these dogs bark a lot – He looks really tired (conversation).

6. He called her a stupid idiot (conversation).

7. Put it on that table, where all the other folders are (conversation).

8. U.S. officials considered them a serious threat to U.S. peacekeeping troops (newspaper writing).

9. In a study published last year, Wells found that many HMO doctors prescribe minor tranquilizers (newspaper writing).

10. Plans for the Botanical Garden started about a decade after two American botanists made an 1887 visit to England that included a stop at London’s prestigious Kew Gardens (newspaper writing).

11. This lightly effervescent Italian wine seemed sharp at first (newspaper writing).

*The material is taken from “Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English Workbook” by Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber, Geoffrey Leech, Pearson Education Limited, 2003. – P.32–33.

b) in the Ukrainian language:

Дієслово – повновладний господар у реченні, його визнаний граматичний керівник. Воно керує навіть такою могутньою частиною мови, як іменник, і лише в деяких випадках залежить від нього. Дієслову у єдності з іменниками жодні перешкоди не страшні. Ця граматична пара творить різноманітні речення. Своєю постійною присутністю в реченні дієслово мовби нагадує нам про своє граматичне всесилля. Дієслово у кожному реченні – немовби диригент малого, але здібного оркестру чи ансамблю. Воно формує оркестри чи ансамблі речень. Воно визначає, скільки учасників має бути, яку партію дати кожному. Дієслово може перемістити або вилучити з речень деяких виконавців. Воно придивляється, кого зробити солістом, пильно стежить за тим, щоб хтось із підлеглих не взяв фальшивої ноти. На плечі дієслова покладено повну відповідальність за граматичний порядок слів у реченні. Дієслова наче змагаються за те, щоб підвладні їм члени речення якнайкраще виявили себе і показали смислову точність та чіткість синтаксичних побудов (Євгенія Куца).

*The material is taken from the article “Цікава морфологія” // Урок Української. – № 5–6, 2006. – P. 52.

 

V. Many copular verbs can also be used with other valency patterns. Focus on the underlined main verbs in the sentences below. Identify the valency pattern of each verb: copular, intransitive or transitive. Render these sentences into Ukrainian; make the contrastive analysis of English verbs with their Ukrainian equivalents, taking into account their valency patterns.

1a. As the sun slanted lower in the afternoon sky, he grew restless and ordered the band to play. (fiction writing) grew = copular verb.

1b. So I’m really not sure why we grow it (conversation)
grow = transitive verb.

1c. They burned her eyebrows off, and they didn’t ever
grow back (conversation) grow = intransitive verb.

2a. It was the first time he had appeared in public since this incident (conversation).

2b. Gram appeared relaxed and at peace with his decision (newspaper writing).

3a. Well he’ll probably stay warm in the winter time then (conversation).

3b. So how much longer did she stay? (conversation).

4a. The whole color scheme looked nice but it could have looked better (conversation)

4b. If you look out the window, you can see the leaves are starting to change. (conversation).

5. Your breath smells fine – I don’t smell your breath, so I don’t even know it smells (conversation).

6a. He had been in radio since he went to Everett High School in Lansing, Michigan (newspaper writing).

6b. I think it’s the biggest concert any one act has played, and the audience went wild (newspaper writing).

7a. Well, uh, I got hungry and wanted something to chew on (conversation).

7b. And I of course want to go and get the scrub brush and scrub those walls (conversation).

8a. Your hero is Dr Frankenstein, you’ve proved that tonight (conversation).

8b. Finding common ground often has proved difficult over the past two years (newspaper writing).

*The material is taken from “Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English Workbook” by Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber, Geoffrey Leech, Pearson Education Limited, 2003. – P.36.