Учебник Кобрина. Грамматика. Синтаксис.1999. Учебное пособие для студентов педагогических институтов и университетов по специальности 2103 "Иностранные языки". Спб., Союз, 1999. 496 с
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The compound predicate§ 50. The compound predicate consists of two parts: the notional and the structural. The structural part comes first and is followed by the notional part. The notional part may be expressed by a noun, an adjective, a stative, an adverb, a verbal, a phrase, a predicative complex, or a clause. The structural part is expressed by a finite verb - a phasal verb, a modal verb, a verb expressing attitude, intention, planning, etc., or a link verb. From the point of view of meaning the most important part of the compound predicate is the notional part as it contains the information about the person or non-person expressed by the subject. From the point of view of structure the most important part of the predicate is the first one, since it is expressed by a finite verb and carries grammatical information about the person, number, tense, voice, modal, attitudinal and aspective (phasal) meaning of the whole predicate. The compound verbal predicate The compound verbal phasal predicate § 51. The compound verbal phasal predicate denotes the beginning, duration, repetition or cessation of the action expressed by an infinitive or a gerund. It consists of a phasal verb and an infinitive or a gerund, Accordingly its first component may be a phasal verb of: 1.Beginning: to begin, to start, to commence, to set about, to take to, to fall to, to come. Andrew and he began to talk about the famous clinic. Jack started training out at Hogan’s health farm. So I took to going to the farm. He fell to poking the fire with all his might. I come to think that you are right. 2. Duration: to go on, to keep, to proceed, to continue. The talk kept running on the possibility of a storm. As we continued to laugh his surprise gave way to annoyance. 3. Repetition: would, used (denoting a repeated action in the past). Alfredo used to talk to me about it. During her small leisure hours she would sit by the window or walk in the fields. 4. Cessation: to stop, to finish, to cease, to give up, to leave off. The band had ceased playing. Give up smoking. Note the difference in the functions of the gerund and the infinitive after the verb to stop: She stopped talking to him. (part of a compound verbal phasal predicate) - Она перестала с ним говорить. She stopped to talk to him. (an adverbial modifier of purpose) - Она остановилась, чтобы поговорить с ним.) The compound verbal modal predicate § 52. The compound verbal modal predicate consists of a modal part and an infinitive (or a gerund). It shows whether the action expressed by an infinitive is looked upon as possible, impossible, obligatory, necessary, desirable, planned, certain, permissible, etc. In most cases it denotes the attitude to the action of the person expressed by the subject or by the speaker. The modal part may be expressed by: 1. A modal verb. You must forget it. He can’t say a word, he can’t even apologize. I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing. Ought he not to treat her generously? May I ask you a question? 2. A modal expression of nominal nature: to be able, to be allowed, to be willing, to be going, to be anxious, etc. You are going to attend the college at Harvard, they tell me. Are you able to walk another two miles? We were anxious to cooperate. The modal part may have two modal verbs or a modal verb and a modal expression. He may have to return. She must be willing to come here again. З. Аn attitudinal verb such as to like, to hate, to attempt, to expect, to hope, to intend, to mean, to plan, to try, to have a mind, to wish, to want followed by an infinitive denote the attitude of the person expressed by the subject to the action denoted by the infinitive. The predicate of this type may be called a compound verbal attitudinal predicate. He hoped to see them the next day. I mean to find out the truth. The compound verbal predicate of double orientation § 53. The compound verbal predicate of double orientation consists of two parts. The first part is a finite verb which denotes the attitude to, evaluation of, or comment on, the content of the sentence expressed by the speaker or somebody not mentioned in the sentence. The second part denotes the action which is (was/will be) performed by the person/non-person expressed by the subject. The Gadfly seemed to have taken a dislike to her ———>It seemed (to the people) that the Gadfly had taken a dislike to her. Philip Bosinney was known to be a young man without fortune ———> They knew that Philip Bosinney was a young man without fortune. He is said to be looking for a new job. (Говорят, что он ищет новую работу) The plane is reported to have been lost. (Сообщают, что самолет пропал) In this case we see different orientation of the actions which are regarded from two points of view: that of the speaker and that of the person (or non-person) expressed by the subject. . In a number of cases semantically this type of predicate has much in common with the compound verbal modal predicate, as in: You can’t have misunderstood me, but formally these predicates are different, because in the compound verbal modal predicate the first component is a modal verb, whereas in the compound predicate of double orientation it is a verb or phrase expressing attitude, evaluation, or comment. They belong to one of the following verb groups: 1. Intransitive verbs of seeming or happening with the general meaning of evaluation in the active voice: to seem, to appear, to prove, to turn out, to happen, to chance. He seemed to understand everything I said. Money just doesn’t happen to interest me. No one appears to have noticed his escape. 2. Some verbs in the passive voice: a) Verbs of saying: to say, to declare, to state, to report, to rumour. This country is said to be rich in oil. The rocket is reported to have started its night at 6.30. b) Verbs of mental activity: to believe, to consider, to expect, to find, to know, to mean, to presume, to regard, to suppose, to think, to understand. Mr. Sharp was always expected to say he preferred cold meat. He has never been known to lose his temper before. c) Verbs of perception: to feel, to hear, to see, to watch. My dog was heard to bark in the yard. The lady was seen to leave the house. 3. Phrases with some modal meaning: to be (un) likely, to be sure, to be certain. The adjectives likely, unlikely, sure and certain indicate the speaker's attitude to the future: The weather is not likely to change. This event is certain to produce a sensation. If you don’t post the letter at once, it is unlikely to arrive in time. George is sure to see Mary. (Sure indicates the attitude of the speaker, it is the speaker rather than George who is sure) The compound nominal predicate The compound nominal predicate proper § 54. The compound nominal predicate consists of a link verb and a predicative (nominal part). The link verb is the structural element of the predicate, as it joins the subject and the predicative. It expresses the grammatical categories of person, number, tense, aspect and mood. The predicative is the notional part of the compound nominal predicate. It characterizes the person or non-person expressed by the subject. The characterization may concern the following: 1. The properties of the person or non-person (the state or quality or quantity of it). The girl looked tired but pretty. I felt sore for a minute. But he is not always alone. The visibility seemed very good. He was forty and in his prime. We are seven. 2. The identity of the person or non-person, that is, what class of persons or things they belong to. This man is my father. Old Mr Clare was a clergyman. Miss Sedley’s papa was a man of some wealth. My wish is to learn many languages. § 55. Among the class of link verbs we may distinguish: 1. Those which have lost their original lexical meaning (to be, to get). He is just the kind of man I want. Elisabeth got very restless. 2. Those which have only partly lost their lexical meaning (to remain, to become, to grow, to turn, to look, to seem). That request seemed superfluous. The room looked snug and cheerful. Ellen’s eyes grew moist. In both cases (1,2) the link verbs proper are used. 3. Those which have fully preserved their lexical meaning but still serve as link verbs followed by a predicative. They are used in the passive voice: to elect, to call, to leave, to keep, to make. The boy was called John. She was left alone. He was elected president. According to their semantic characteristics link verbs fall into three groups: link verbs of being, of becoming, of remaining. l. Link verbs of being: to be, to feel, to sound, to smell, to taste, to look, to appear, to seem, etc. Of these only the verb to be is a pure link verb of being, as the others may have some additional meaning (see examples below). When he was seven, starting school had been a nightmare and a torture to him. His face looked awful all the time. I felt better pleased than ever. His voice sounded cold and hostile. He seemed bewildered. Everything appeared very grand and imposing to me. Note how the link verbs to taste and to feel are translated into Russian: Lemons taste sour. - Лимоны кислые на вкус. The fur feels soft. - Мех мягкий на ощупь. 2. Link verbs of becoming: to become, to grow, to turn, to get, to make. The noise of the rattling dishes becomes intolerable. The Elephant’s Child’s nose grew longer and longer. The girl’s face suddenly turned red. The girl will make a good teacher. 3. Link verbs of remaining: to remain, to continue, to keep, to stay. She remained vexed with him. The children kept suspiciously silent. Ways of expressing the predicative § 56. The predicative can be expressed by: 1. A noun in the common case or in the genitive case. Miss Sedly’s father was a merchant. The face was Victoria's. 2. An adjective or an adjective phrase. Ellen’s eyes grew angry. She was full of enthusiasm. The man was difficult to convince, Note: It should be remembered that in some cases a predicative adjective in English corresponds to an adverbial modifier expressed by an adverb in Russian. The apples smell good. Яблоки хорошо пахнут. The music sounded beautiful. Музыка звучала прекрасно. S       he looks bad - Она плохо выглядитfeels чувствует себя In English the verbs to smell, to sound, to look, to feel are link verbs and are the first part of the compound nominal predicate. The predicatives (which form the second part of these predicates) qualify the subject and can therefore be expressed only by adjectives. In Russian the corresponding verbs form simple verbal predicates and are therefore modified by adverbials expressed by an adverb. 3. A pronoun. It was he. It’s me. (There is a growing tendency to use personal pronouns as predicatives in the objective case.) She is somebody. The hat is mine. (In this function only the absolute form of the possessive pronoun is used.) Who are you? She was not herself yet. 4. A numeral. He was sixty last year. I’m the first. 5. An infinitive (or an infinitive phrase or construction). His first thought was to run away. My idea is to go there myself. The only thing to do is for you to whip him. 6. A gerund (or a gerundial phrase or construction). My hobby is dancing and his is collecting stamps. The main problem was his being away at the moment. 7. A participle or a participial phrase. The subject seemed strangely chosen. Participle I seldom occurs in this function unless it has become an adjective. That sounded quite distressing. 8. A prepositional phrase. She is on our side, 9. A stative. I was wide awake by this time. . 10. An indivisible group of words. It is nine o’clock already. 11. A clause. That’s what has happened. Semantic characteristics of the predicative § 57. The three most typical semantic characteristics of a predicative are: identification, classification and characterisation. 1. An identifying predicative expresses equality between the notion expressed by the predicative and by the subject, or means that they are of the same rank or value. In this case the predicative and the subject are positionally interchangeable. Such predicatives are expressed by a noun with the definite article. London is the capital of Britain. = The capital of Britain is London. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. = The highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest. 2. A classifying predicative names a class of persons or non-persons to which that denoted by the subject belongs. The predicative in this case is expressed by a noun with the indefinite article. John is a student. My father is a teacher. This is a book. 3. A characterizing predicative denotes a state or quality of a person or non-person and is expressed by an adjective or a stative. The room is dark. The sky was blue. The patient fell asleep. The house was aflame. A characterizing predicative may also be a noun which in this case has no article. He turned traitor. He was elected president. The compound nominal double predicate § 58. The compound nominal double predicate combines, as its name suggests, the features of two different types of predicate. It has the features of the simple verbal predicate and those of the compound nominal predicate. It consists of two parts, both of which are notional. The first one is verbal and is expressed by a notional verb denoting an action or process performed by the person/non-person expressed by the subject. From this point of view it resembles the simple verbal predicate. But at the same time the verbal part of this predicate performs a linking function, as it links its second part (which is a predicative) to the subject. The second part of the compound nominal double predicate is expressed by a noun or an adjective which denotes the properties of the subject in the same way as the predicative of the compound nominal predicate proper does. The moon was shining cold and bright. The predicate here denotes two separate notions: 1) The moon was shining, and at the same time 2) The moon was cold and bright. There are a number of verbs that often occur in this type of predicate, performing the double function of denoting a process and serving as link verbs at the same time. They are: to die, to leave, to lie, to marry, to return, to rise, to sit, to stand, to shine, etc. As in Modern English there is a growing tendency to use this type of predicate, the verbs occurring in it are not limited by any particular lexical class. My daughter sat silent. He died a hero. She married young. The light came gray and pale. The men stood silent and motionless, They met friends and parted enemies. The moon rose round and yellow. Mixed types of compound predicate § 59. Compound predicates can combine elements of different types. Thus we have: 1. The compound modal verbal nominal predicate. Jane must feel better pleased than ever. She couldn’t be happy. He may have been ill then. 2. Тhe compound modal nominal verbal predicate. Are you able to walk another two miles? We were anxious to cooperate. 3. The compound phasal nominal predicate. He was beginning to look desperate. George began to be rather ashamed. 4. The compound modal phasal predicate. You ought to stop doing that. He can’t continue training. 5. The compound nominal predicate of double orientation. Mrs Bacon is said to be very ill. Walter seems to be unhappy. |