VERBS
major types:
1.FULL(lexical)-belive,say,like,want
2.MODAL AUXILIARIES-can,could,may
3.PRIMARY VERBS-be,do,have
verb forms:
+FINITE
1.tensed forms:
*general present tense(I/You/we want)
*the 3rd person present tense
(He/she.it wants)
*general past tenste-(wanted)
2.imperative forms(Stay here!Stop talking!)
3.the subjunctive(in subordinate clauses)
(I insist that she stay here)
*present-involves the using of the basic form
of the verb(academic and formal writing)
-It is essential that..
-it is necessary that..
-...that this project be finished by Monday
-...that he do it
-the general ordered that the soldiers
stay in the camp.
*past-involves the using of past form in
specific situation
-If i were you(conditionals)
-If she were here
-if you were my friend
+NON FINITE
1.participles
-the present participle:going,listening
-the past participle:gone,have finished
2.infinitives
-the bare infinitive:go,think
-the „to” infinitive:to go,to think
VERBAL CATEGORIES
Modality is the category by which
speakers express attitudes towards
the event contained in the proposition
Modality is expressed by:
-modal verbs
-lexical verbs:allow,beg.command,forbid,
guess,promise,suggest,warn
-modal adverbs:probably,possibly,surely,
hopefully,obviously
-modal adjectives:possible,probable,likely
-modal nouns:possibility,probability
chance,likelihood
-conditional sentences
-intonation and hesistation markers
Epistemic modality-expresses the
speaker's knowledge of an event,It is
concerned with probability,possibility
or certainty that the proposition is true
(the speaker is outside,an observer)
-You must be hungry
-They may be real pearls
-He might be twenty
-It may snow tomorrow
Epistemic expressions:
-I think,I reckon,I suppose,Iguess,
I gather,I assume,I presume,I belive
I find,I understand,I suspect
Deontic modality-expresses obligation
prohibition,permission,ability.Here,
speaker intervenses in the speech event
(the speaker is involved)
-I must leave
-May I come in?
-You cant do that
-Will you sign this for me?
-Will you marry me?
MOOD(tryb)
+indicative(did)-about facts
+imperative(do it)-orders,commands
+subjunctive-it is essential that they do it
+conditional-He would die/he would
have died
*WH-imperative-interrogative sentence-
to make request
Why dont you stop doing that?
Would you/Could you..
TENSE-grammatical realisation
of time
2 tenses in English:
+past
+non-past(present)
The meanings of the PRESENT:
a)at present-Im working
b)at all times(or at no particular time)
Two and two make four.
c)in the future-We leave for Paris 2morrow
d)in the past-Thousands flee persecution-
-newspaper headlines
The meanings of the PAST :
a)in the past-I saw that film last week.
b)unreality,hypothetical clauses-I wish
we were on the beach
He walkes as if he owned the place
c)at the moment(in polite requests and
enquiries)Did you want to speak to me now?
I wondered whether you needed anything.
ASPECT-in English there are 2 types of
aspectual contrasts:
progressive:non progressive(do,doing)
perfective:non-perfective(done,do)
Aspect is marked syntactically
-auxiliaries+verb
-preposition added to the verb(cry out)
Aspectual verbs:
begin,start,take off,continue,go on,finish,
end,stop,complete
VOICE-to emphasize an important aspect
-active-emphasizes the agent,subject-informal
-passive-emphasizes the action itself-formal
PASSIVE VOICE:
-agent-ful -The parcel was brought by apostman
-agent-less-Passangers are asked to leave their l..
subject-animate(ozywiony)
They told John the truth.John was told the truth.
NOUNS
Degrees of countability:
*fully uncountable-drinking,running,weather,
luck,thunder,advice,information
*partially countable-tea,coffee,cheese,
meat,wate
*fully countable:table,tree,wall,book
Quantifiers:
-uncountable:
an amount of...a portion of...
-countable:
a number of,numerous,few,several
PRONOUNS
*personal:I,me,you,he,him,we,us..
-deixis-depends on the context
nouns are partially deictic
John-there is a number of people called
John.The president of Poland.
-person-1st-I,we->speaker,writer,
(except:How are WE feeling today)-doct
2nd-you->addressee(except impersonal
view:you can buy cheeper..)
3rd-she,he,it,they-outside the speech
event(except:Mummy will do this)
-gender-natual,logical
*reflexive: myself,ourselves,yourself,
John talks to himself.- used anaphoricaly
*reciprocal:each other,one another
*possesive:mine,yours,his,hers,its
*demonstrative:this,that,those,these
*indefinite:everything,everyone,somethin
*relative:whom,who,whose,which
*interrogative:who,whom,whose,what
Who did you talk to?
ADJECTIVES
The position of adjectives:
-attributive: a nice person
main,major,principal,chief,only,elder
-predicative: She is nice.
afraid,asleep,ashamed,alone,alive
-postpositive:the person responsible
general,the Princess Royal,president elect
the meal proper(a main course)
the visible stars(permamently,from this
place)+phrases:
something useful,everyone present,
the best hotel available
ADVERBS
Adjuncts- refer to the main verb in the
sentence,after the verb or at the end of
the senctence:
I'll see you tomorrow.She hit the letter
hastily.The bells rang all day long.
(PLACE,TIME,MANNER)
Disjuncts-superior to the rest of the
sentence,may refer to the speaker,
may refer to fields of science
Frankly,I think it's useless.
Medically,it has little to recommend it.
Conjuncts-used to join some elements,
at the beginning,or in the middle of a s.
The students are on strike,nevertheless,
the examinations wont be cancelled.
EPISTEMIC ADVERBS:
probably,likely,possibly,supposedly,
seemingly,certainly,apparently,obviously
DISCOURSE PARTICIPLES:
indeed,surely,of course,perhaps,maybe,
TYPES OF CLAUSES AND SENTENCES
Clauses:
*grammatical type
a)declarative:He is tall.
b)imperative:Be careful!
c)interrogtive:Are you careful?
d)exclamative:How tall is he?
*illocutionary force:
a)statement
b)directive(to make sb do sth,to stop sb)
c)question(to ask dor information)
d)exclamatory sentence(expression of
surprise,astonishment)
WISH-another type of illocutionary force
Sleep well!Get better!Have a good journey
imperatives,but they are not about making
sb do sth!!!
-DECLARATIVES,BUT NOT STATEMENT-
-they are declaratives:
-You are under arrest.I name this ship
Queen Elizabeth.
ILLOCUTIONARY VERBS-verbs which name
speech acts,for example:apologise,promise,
thank,beg,ask
INTERROGATIVE BUT NOT A QUESTION:
(not used to ask for information)
Would u mind speaking a bit more slowly?
DECLARATIVE BUT NOT A STATEMENT-
they are directive-u want sb to do sth
I ask you to leave.
NEGATION
*Explicit negation
a)syntactically marked(no,not)
Andy doesnt like any such thing.
Of course,they will do no such thing.
b)morphologically marked
impossible,dishonest,abnormal,homeless
*Implicit negation
a)negation by:hardly,rarely,seldom,few
b)pragmatically negative rhetorical
questions:Who knows?Who cares?
*Transferred negation
I dont think its good.
We dont belive he's stupid
He doesnt seem to be listening
*Double
Dont say nothing,I aint got no books.
a)used in standard English
No,Im not homeless,
You cant decide not to go.
*Scope of negation
a)Tom didnt read the report carefully
b)I dont really understand it.
c)I dont particularly like oysters.
*Clausal negation
I havent written the report yet.
I have never expected this.
*Subclasual negation
Nothing interesting ever happens.
No good will come of this.
IMPERATIVES
1.subjectless – Close the door; Open the book (no subject)
2. subject-full a) subject has a distinguishing function - John stay here and Mark come with me. b) function – emphasis, to make an imper. stronger – You stop talking.
Somebody call a doctor.
Let’s go home.
1. Let’s not go home
2. Don’t let’s go home. – potocznie
DECLARATIVE SENTENCES
Kernel – basic sentence (the word order is the most typical – Subject – verb) Sentence is in active voice; a simple sentence (one verb & one clause at the same time) e.g. A waiter brought them cocktails.
Non-kernel – sentences after transformations
e.g. They were brought cocktails by a waiter. (passive)
Cocktails they were brought by a waiter. (fronting)
Bring them cocktails, the waiter did. (fronting)
It was cocktails that a waiter brought them (cleft)
What the waiter brought them was cocktails (pseudo-cleft)
There was a waiter who brought them cocktails (existential)
Fronting – putting a word at the beginning to emphasise it
a) object – Just think, in another month you’ll be done for the summer. Nice job you have; They say I was immature and over-enthusiastic. That sort of remark I can do without. b) subject complement – For the students this book is fine. But a beauty queen it is not.
Millionaires they probably were, but generous they were not.
c) object complement – Unkind I call it.
d) part of predicate – They say they weren’t going to criticize, but criticize they did.
They’d grumble and grumble over some $ 10 item. Always grumbling they were.
e) adverbial – In its present state the law cannot be seriously defended.
To them I must have seemed a child.
Cleft sentences
It’s a boredom and longing for excitement that makes people experiment with drugs.
It’s mainly among the young that we find drug-taking
Pseudo-cleft sentences – the emphasized element is at the end of the sentence
What we need to make ppl realize is that drug-taking is self-destructive.
What worries many governments is the increase of drug-taking.
THEMES
We have sold our car.
theme ^ theme ^
- clausal themes – subject, object, verb, adverbial (basic elements of a sentence)
- unmarked (typical, basic) – Mary is a student. Is she Polish? Stop the car! Where are you going? There is one near here.
- marked (usually in fronting, the wrd is in unusual position) – Unkind I call it. Near here there is one.
- discourse themes (optional, they introduce the sent., additional elements in the sentence – disjuncts, conjuncts)–
- vocative (form of address)
John wait for me! Ladies and Gentlemen, our guest today is…
- linking
However, this problem is more complicated than it seems.
Frankly, I don’t like cats.
INFORMATION ORDERING
Clausal theme -> given info – we know it already (non-focal)
Theme contains new info (focal – we have to focus on the info) –
Our subject today is the thematic system of a clause.
Our subject today (clausal theme – non-focal info) is the thematic system of a clause (theme – focal info) -What’s your name? –...
Ylayda