Proper Usage of «That» in English
Updated on November 26, 2019
The word ‘that’ is a common word in English that is used in many different ways. Did you notice the use of ‘that’ in the previous sentence? In this case, ‘that’ was used as a relative pronoun as a complement. Often ‘that’ can be used or left out of a sentence entirely. For example, many English students know (that) you can leave out ‘that,’ depending on the instance. This guide to the use of ‘that’ will help you understand when to use the word, as well as when it’s okay to leave it out.
‘That’ as a Determiner
‘That’ is used as a determiner at the beginning of sentences to indicate one object which is far from the speaker. Note that the plural form of ‘that’ as a determiner is ‘those.’ ‘That’ and ‘those’ is generally used with ‘there’ to indicate that the object(s) is not close to the speaker.
Examples
- That’s my friend Tom over there.
- That’s a pencil you have in your hand.
- Those paintings are by Cezanne.
- That is my house on the corner of the street.
‘That’ as a Relative Pronoun
‘That’ can be used as a relative pronoun to connect two clauses. In this case, ‘that’ can also be substituted by ‘who’ or ‘which.’
Examples: That = Which
Tom bought the apples that the man was selling.
OR
Tom bought the apples which the man was selling.
Examples: That = Who
Peter invited the boy that was new in class.
OR
Peter invited the boy who was new in class.
‘That’ in a Clause as an Object
‘That’ can be used in clauses that act as the object of a verb.
Examples
- Jennifer hinted that she would be late for class.
- Doug knew that he needed to hurry up.
- The teacher suggested that we finish our homework.
‘That’ in a Clause as a Complement to a Noun or an Adjective
‘That’ can be used in a clause following a noun or an adjective as a complement. A complement helps give additional information about the noun or adjective. It answers the question ‘why.’
Examples
- Peter is upset that his sister wants to drop out of high school.
- Mr. Johnson appreciates our efforts that have brought in a lot of donations.
- She is certain that her son will be accepted to Harvard.
‘That’ Clause as Subject of a Sentence
‘That’ clauses can introduce a phrase acting as the subject of a sentence. This use of ‘that’ clauses is somewhat formal and is not common in everyday speech.
Examples
- That it is so difficult is hard to understand.
- That Mary feels so sad is very upsetting.
- That our teacher expects us to do two hours of homework every day is crazy!
The Fact That …
Related to the use of ‘that’ clauses as a subject is the more common phrase «The fact that…» to introduce a sentence. While both forms are correct, it is much more common to begin a sentence with the phrase «The fact that….»
Examples
- The fact that he wants to see you should make you happy.
- The fact that unemployment is still high proves what a difficult economy this is.
- The fact that Tom passed the test shows how much he has improved.
Compound Conjunctions with ‘That’
There are a number of compound conjunctions (words that connect) with ‘that.’ These expressions tend to be used in formal English and include:
«in order that,» «so that,» «providing that,» «in case that,» «now that,» «given that»
Examples
- He purchased the computer so that he might improve his typing.
- Susan told him she would marry him providing that he found a job.
- Alice feels happy now that she has moved into a new home.
After Reporting Verbs
‘That’ can be dropped after reporting verbs such as say (that), tell someone (that), regret (that), imply (that), etc.
Examples
- Jennifer said (that) she was in a hurry.
- Jack told me (that) he wanted to move to New York.
- The boss implied (that) the company was doing very well.
After Adjectives
Some adjectives can be followed by ‘that’ when answering the question ‘why.’ ‘That’ can be dropped after the adjective.
- I’m happy (that) you found a new job.
- She’s sad (that) he’s going to move to New York.
- Jack is anxious (that) he didn’t pass the test.
As Object in Relative Clauses
It’s common to drop ‘that’ when it is the object of the relative clause it introduces.
- He invited the boy (that) he met on the train.
- Shelly purchased the chair (that) she had seen at the auction.
- Alfred wants to read the book (that) Jane recommended.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the mode in northern Indian or Hindustani music, see Thaat.
That is an English language word used for several grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction, pronoun, adverb, and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words like this. The word did not originally exist in Old English, and its concept was represented by þe. Once it came into being, it was spelt as þæt (among others, such as þet), taking the role of the modern that. It also took on the role of the modern word what, though this has since changed, and that has recently replaced some usage of the modern which. Pronunciation of the word varies according to its role within a sentence, with two main varieties (a strong and a weak form), though there are also regional differences, such as where the sound is substituted instead by a in English spoken in Cameroon.
Modern usage[edit]
The word that serves several grammatical purposes. Owing to its wide versatility in usage, the writer Joseph Addison named it «that jacksprat» in 1771, and gave this example of a grammatically correct sentence: «That that I say is this: that that that that gentleman has advanced, is not that, that he should have proved.»[1] That can be used as a demonstrative pronoun,
demonstrative adjective,
conjunction,
relative pronoun,
relative adverb,
and an intensifier.[1]
- That as a demonstrative pronoun refers to a specific object being discussed, such as in «that is a cat»;[2] the word is a distal demonstrative pronoun, as opposed to proximal, because there is distance between the speaker and the object being discussed (as opposed to words such as this, where there is a relative sense of closeness).[3]
- When used as a demonstrative adjective, that describes which specific object is being discussed; for example, in the phrase «that spotted dog is Fido», that specifies which particular dog is Fido among all spotted dogs.[4]
- In its usage as a conjunction, it connects clauses together, such as in «I know that Peter is right».[5] In sentences with several clauses, that is also used as a discriminator to differentiate between subjects of a clause.[6]
- As a relative pronoun, that introduces restrictive clauses, such as in «the different factors that are fundamental and specific to particular features»; in a study of medical science journals in Britain leading up to 2004, it was found that that had been largely replaced by the word which when used in this context,[7] while writing that is increasingly formal—ranging from verse to fiction to nonfiction—finds that usage decreasing as wh- words (interrogatives) relatively increase.[8]
- That is used as a relative adverb, such as in «it doesn’t cost that much».[9] When used in this way, that requires inferences be drawn by the listener to determine the meaning of the speaker.[9]
- The word also intensifies elements of a sentence, similar in function to the word so, such as when one says «I was that ill … I couldn’t even stand up.»[9] But just as in its use as a relative adverb, that as an intensifier is best understood when the addressee infers meaning from its usage.[9] In the example given, that intensifies and refers to a possible view already held by the addressee (whether the speaker was not seriously ill), even though the speaker does not explicitly confirm or intensify this previously-held belief.[9]
Historical usage[edit]
In Old English, that did not exist, and was only represented by þe.[10] It originated in the north of England sometime before the 1200s and spread around the country in the thirteenth century; it then rapidly became the dominant demonstrative pronoun.[11] Before the writings of Ælfric of Eynsham, þæt was normally regularized as þe in writing, but by the time Ælfric lived, þæt was common.[12] As a pronoun, þæt was widely used in Old English, though it was later replaced by wh- words.[10] Where þe had only stood in for subjects of a clause, þæt instead took on the role of both a subject and an object,[13] and when þe and þæt were both used, þæt was always relative in orientation.[14] The symbol ꝥ () was used as an abbreviation, before it was phased out by the Romantic þt.[15] Similarly, yͭ was a ligature to represent that,[16] as seen in the gravestone of William Shakespeare: «Bleste be yͤ man yͭ spares thes stones«.[17] In Middle English, þe was entirely replaced by þat (among other representations), before again being replaced by the modern that.[10] Among all relative markers in the English language, including who, which, whose, and what, that—through its ancient form of þæt—appears to be the oldest.[11]
In Old English translations of Latin (but only sparsely in original Old English texts), the phrase þæt an is frequently used—typically meaning «only»—but its origins and characteristics are not well-understood.[18] Frequently, the construction of þæt an was in the original Latin, which referred then to a following clause.[19] The use of þæt an was for cases in which there was exclusivity (to distinguish between general and specific objects), but translators also used it in situations where exclusivity was already given through other syntactical elements of the sentence.[20] In these texts, þæt seems to be used pleonastically (redundantly), and it began to be used as an independent adverb.[21] In the context of weather events, þæt was never used, such as in the example sentence þæt rigneð (translated as «that rains»).[22]
Similarly, for several centuries in Old English and early Middle English texts, the phrase onmang þæt (translated as «among that») persisted.[23] In the hundreds of years of its existence, it was used infrequently, though the usage was stable.[24] Even in Old English, usage of hwile («while») was much more commonplace, with its frequency some six times as large as onmang þæt in a surveyed corpus.[25] Onmang þæt experienced grammaticalisation (turning a word into a grammatical marker),[25] and as a result of its low usage, possibly underwent a period of specialization, where it competed with other grammaticalised phrases.[26]
After verbs such as said, and more generally in introducing a dependent clause, contemporary English grammar allows the speaker to either include that or to omit it.[27] This construction—as in «I suspect (that) he is right»—is called the zero form when that is not used.[27] While there has been some analysis of the relative frequency of Old and Middle English usage of the zero form, these studies are of limited value, since they rely on unique text corpora, failing to give a general view of its usage.[28] In the late period of Middle English, the linguist Norihiko Otsu determined, the zero form was generally as popular as the form in which that is included.[29] The zero form was common in documents closely relating to speech, such as sermons, suggesting spoken English often omitted that in these contexts.[30]
Pronunciation[edit]
That has several pronunciations. While in received pronunciation, it is pronounced either as or , in Cameroonian English, for example, the /ð/ is alveolarised as /d/, resulting in a pronunciation of /dat/.[31] The weak and strong forms (the two of received pronunciation) of that vary according to their grammatical roles, with one as a demonstrative and the other as an anaphoric (referencing adverb).[32] In this way, /ðæt/ represents a determining pronoun (such as in «what is that?»), while /ðət/ is a subordinating word (as in «that is as it should be»).[33]
See also[edit]
- Dependent statement
- Deixis
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b Cheshire 1995, p. 370.
- ^ Weinstein 1974, p. 180.
- ^ Pavesi 2013, p. 105.
- ^ Reimer 1991, pp. 194–195, 201.
- ^ Mańczak 1973, p. 58.
- ^ Otsu 2002b, p. 226.
- ^ Sonoda 2004, p. 1.
- ^ Van den Eynden Morpeth 1999, p. 121.
- ^ a b c d e Cheshire 1995, p. 378.
- ^ a b c Suárez 2012, p. 80.
- ^ a b Cheshire, Adger & Fox 2013.
- ^ Morris 1868, p. ix.
- ^ Suárez 2012, p. 89.
- ^ Seppänen 2004, p. 73.
- ^ Honkapohja 2019, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Sutherland 2020, p. vii.
- ^ Bovilsky 2011, p. 292.
- ^ Rissanen 1967, p. 409.
- ^ Rissanen 1967, p. 412.
- ^ Rissanen 1967, p. 425.
- ^ Rissanen 1967, p. 417.
- ^ Naya 1995, p. 28.
- ^ Nykiel 2018, pp. 575, 586.
- ^ Nykiel 2018, p. 575.
- ^ a b Nykiel 2018, p. 586.
- ^ Nykiel 2018, p. 588.
- ^ a b Otsu 2002a, p. 225.
- ^ Otsu 2002a, pp. 225–226.
- ^ Otsu 2002a, p. 227.
- ^ Otsu 2002a, p. 232.
- ^ Ngefac 2005, p. 44.
- ^ Poussa 1997, p. 691.
- ^ Cornish 2018, p. 438.
Works cited[edit]
- Bovilsky, Lara (2011). «Early modern ecostudies: From the Florentine Codex to Shakespeare (review)». Shakespeare Quarterly. 62 (2): 292–295. doi:10.1353/shq.2011.0017. S2CID 191566397.
- Cheshire, Jenny (March 1995). «That jacksprat: An interactional perspective on English that«. Journal of Pragmatics. 25 (3): 369–393. doi:10.1016/0378-2166(95)00032-1.
- Cheshire, Jenny; Adger, David; Fox, Sue (March 2013). «Relative who and the actuation problem». Lingua. 126: 51–77. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2012.11.014.
- Cornish, Francis (November 2018). «Revisiting the system of English relative clauses: Structure, semantics, discourse functionality» (PDF). English Language and Linguistics. 22 (3): 431–456. doi:10.1017/S136067431700003X. S2CID 125481529.
- Honkapohja, Alpo (2019). «Anchorites and abbreviations: A corpus study of abbreviations of Germanic and Romance lexicon in the Ancrene Wisse«. In Stenroos, Merja; Mäkinen, Martti; Thengs, Kjetil Vikhamar; Traxel, Oliver Martin (eds.). Current explorations in Middle English. Berlin: Peter Lang. ISBN 9783631784730.
- Mańczak, Witold (1973). «The use and omission of the conjunction that«. Linguistics. 11 (95): 51–58. doi:10.1515/ling.1973.11.95.51. S2CID 144204069.
- Morris, Richard (1868). Old English homilies and homiletic treatises (Sawles Warde, and þe Wohunge of Ure Lauerd: Ureisuns of Ure Louerd and of Ure Lefdi, &c.) of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. London: Early English Text Society.
- Naya, Belén Méndez (1995). «‘Hit’ AND ‘ðæt’ anticipating subject clauses in OE: True syntactic equivalents?». Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 96 (1): 23–37. ISSN 0028-3754. JSTOR 43346052.
- Ngefac, Aloysius (2005). «Homophones and heterophones in Cameroon English». Alizés: Revue angliciste de la Réunion: 39–53.
- Nykiel, Jerzy (November 2018). «Onmang Þaet – Incipient grammaticalisation in Old and Middle English». Transactions of the Philological Society. 116 (3): 574–593. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.12140. S2CID 149971418.
- Pavesi, Maria (2013). «This and that in the language of film dubbing: A corpus-based analysis». Meta: Journal des traducteurs. 58 (1): 103–133. doi:10.7202/1023812ar.
- Reimer, Marga (1991). «Demonstratives, demonstrations, and demonstrata». Philosophical Studies. 63 (2): 187–202. doi:10.1007/BF00381687. ISSN 0031-8116. JSTOR 4320229. S2CID 170148319.
- Rissanen, Matti (1967). «Old English þæt an ‘only’«. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 68 (4): 409–428. ISSN 0028-3754. JSTOR 43342366.
- Seppänen, Aimo (May 2004). «The Old English relative þe«. English Language and Linguistics. 8 (1): 71–102. doi:10.1017/S136067430400125X. S2CID 122524683.
- Sonoda, Kenji (2004). «The restrictive relative pronouns that and which in BrE». Bulletin of the School of Allied Medical Sciences Nagasaki University. 17 (2): 1–4.
- Suárez, Cristina (1 January 2012). «The consolidation of þat as an invariable relativizer in the history of English». Nordic Journal of English Studies. 11 (1): 79. doi:10.35360/njes.256.
- Sutherland, Kristina Regan (2020). Conduct and carnival: Domestic soft power in early modern comedies (PhD). University of Georgia.
- Otsu, Norihiko (2002a). «On the absence of the conjunction that in late Middle English». In Saito, Toshio; Nakamura, Junsaku; Yamazaki, Shunji (eds.). English corpus linguistics in Japan. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 9789042013698.
- Otsu, Norihiko (November 2002b). «On the presence or absence of the conjunction þæt in Old English, with special reference to dependent sentences containing a gif-clause». English Language and Linguistics. 6 (2): 225–238. doi:10.1017/S1360674302000217. S2CID 120420972.
- Poussa, Patricia (1997). «Derivation of it from Þat in eastern dialects of British English». In Hickey, Raymond; Puppel, Stanislav (eds.). Language history and linguistic modelling. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Van den Eynden Morpeth, Nadine (1999). «Jack Sprat that and the humble wh- relatives: Reconstructing social contexts by means of commercial CD-ROMS». In Tops, Guy A.J.; Devriendt, Betty; Geukens, Steven (eds.). Thinking English Grammar To Honour Xavier Dekeyser, Professor Emeritus. Peeters. ISBN 9789042907638.
- Weinstein, Scott (1974). «Truth and demonstratives». Noûs. 8 (2): 179–184. doi:10.2307/2214785. ISSN 0029-4624. JSTOR 2214785.
External links[edit]
- The dictionary definition of those at Wiktionary
Get the grammar rules for using that and which.
There’s a lot of confusion about that and which. These two words are often used interchangeably, even though they’re not necessarily interchangeable.
Historically, that and which may have carried the same meaning, and some English dialects may allow for that and which to be swapped without affecting the meaning of a sentence.
However, in American English, the grammar rules offer a distinct difference between the two words. By the time you’re done reading this post, you’ll fully understand the difference between that and which, and you’ll be able to use both words correctly.
That and Which
As with most grammar rules, there are exceptions and exemptions from the standard ways that and which should be used in a sentence. To gain understanding of confusing word pairs, it’s always best to start with the basics. As we look at how to properly use that and which, we’ll focus on simple, standard usage.
That and which can be categorized into several different parts of speech. Both words can function as adjectives and pronouns. Additionally, that can serve as a conjunction and as an adverb. Today, we’re looking at how that and which should be used when they are working as relative pronouns.
Relative Pronouns
From Wikipedia: “A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. It is called a relative pronoun because it relates to the word that it modifies.”
Like adjectives and adverbs, relative pronouns modify other words. Adjectives modify nouns:
- I have a car.
- I have a red car.
Adverbs modify verbs:
- I am walking.
- I am walking quickly.
The main difference between adjectives and adverbs is that adjectives usually modify things (nouns) while adverbs modify actions (verbs). Relative pronouns also modify words, but they often do so as clauses rather than as single, descriptive words. In the examples below, the clauses are italicized.
- Bring me the bucket.
- Bring me the bucket that has apples in it.
- The bucket, which has apples in it, is blue.
The difference between the words that and which and how they are used as relative pronouns depends on whether the clause they belong to is restrictive or nonrestrictive.
Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses
Restrictive Clauses Are Necessary
A restrictive clause is necessary to the meaning of a sentence. For example:
- I want the bucket that has apples in it.
If you removed the clause “that has apples in it,” the meaning of the sentence would be lost. Nobody would know which bucket the speaker wants. The clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence and is therefore a restrictive clause. Because it’s a restrictive clause, it should take the relative pronoun that.
Nonrestrictive Clauses are Unnecessary
A nonrestrictive clause is not necessary to the meaning of a sentence. In fact, it can be removed from a sentence without affecting its meaning. For example:
- The bucket, which is blue, has apples in it.
- There are apples in the bucket, which is blue.
If you removed the nonrestrictive clause “which is blue,” from either of the sentences above, the meaning of the sentences would not be lost. We’d still know that the bucket has apples in it. Note that in the second example, the nonrestrictive clause adds information about something that has already been identified. Because the clause is unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence, we know it’s a nonrestrictive clause, and therefore should take the relative pronoun which.
- Use that before a restrictive (necessary) clause.
- Use which before a nonrestrictive (unnecessary) clause.
The Easy Way to Remember the Difference Between That and Which
I Needed That
If you need the clause to maintain a sentence’s meaning, then use that. A quick trick for remembering this grammar rule is the phrase “I needed that.”
Which?
Because which is also an interrogative pronoun used to mark questions, it is questionable. You can take it or leave it. It’s not necessary. Think of the word which with a question mark (which?) to remind yourself that if the clause’s presence is questionable and can be removed, then you should use the word which to introduce the clause.
Exceptions and Notes
Here are some exceptions and notes to these rules:
- Which can be used restrictively when it’s preceded by a preposition. For example, “The bucket in which the apples have been stored is blue.”
- Which is almost always preceded by a comma, parenthesis, or a dash.
- In British English, there is little distinction between that and which.
Has this article helped clarify any questions you’ve had about grammar rules? Do you have any other questions about that and which? Do you have any tips to share for remembering how to use these two words? Leave a comment.
Sources (aff links):
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- Grammar Girl, “Which Versus That“
- Wikipedia, “Relative Pronouns“
My answer comes so late that it is probably doomed to dwell at the bottom of the answer column, but the question remains a question about which I care, so my answer adds a point other answers have missed.
«Which» instead of «that» is almost always used in sentences with nonrestrictive qualification, as
The horse, which is in the paddock, is six years old.
The horse would still be six years old even if it were in the stable, see? Alternately and more to the point, there seems to be no second horse in view; there is no four-year-old horse about that might (which might?) also concern us.
As other answers have noted and as NOAD has advised, American English slightly, abstractly prefers the word which—as a conjunctive pronoun—to be reserved for this nonrestrictive use.
However, the best American writers have not uniformly followed NOAD’s advice. Peggy Noonan does indeed follow it (with no recent exception I have observed):
My thought, which is really a question, is that candidates for president, while natural competitors, sometimes get to the point where they think they are going to win, and it messes with their heads.
John Steinbeck however does not:
The mattresses which had been on the floor were gone.
Even if you are of the rigid, conservative, antidemocratic school of proper usage, as I tend to be, it is hard to argue with Steinbeck. Nor is Steinbeck the only one.
NOAD’s advice, quoted in another answer, is fine as far as it goes. NOAD is correct. NOAD should be heeded. However, there is more to the story than NOAD tells.
The trouble with the conjunctive pronoun that is that that is not just a conjunctive pronoun. It is a word with too many uses for its own good—too many uses, even in this very paragraph. The word that is a word which (a word that?) serves so many roles, in various parts of English speech, that the less frequent word which makes a welcome change. In the usage of which versus that, the euphonic has trumped the strictly logical.
Germanic languages are sometimes like that. Can’t help it. It’s in the bones of the language. English is not like Greek.
In short, heed NOAD’s advice by default, but where which sounds better than that—as in complex sentences it often does, and even sometimes in simple sentences like Steinbeck’s—even if you are American, feel free to switch to which.
You may often find cause to switch.
That is a very common word in both writing and speaking. We use it as a determiner, a demonstrative pronoun and a relative pronoun. We also use it as a conjunction to introduce that-clauses.
That: determiner and pronoun
We use that most commonly to point to a thing or person. We use it with singular nouns. The thing or person is often distant from the speaker and sometimes closer to the listener, or not visible to either the speaker or listener:
Can you pass me that green bowl over there? (determiner)
[pointing to one of a selection of different paint colours]
I quite like that one.
That’s Harold in the white shirt, isn’t it? (pronoun)
We also use that to refer back to a whole clause:
A:
We’re having a few friends round for dinner. Would you like to come?
Why don’t you come at around 8? That’ll give me time to get ready.
A:
Can you tell Kat to hurry up? We’ve got to leave at 11.
B:
I’ve already told her that.
We use that to refer back to something that has already been spoken or written about:
If he gets that job in London, he’ll be able to visit us more often.
That: relative pronoun
We use that to introduce defining relative clauses. We can use that instead of who, whom or which to refer to people, animals and things. That is more informal than who or which:
She picked up the hairbrush that she had left on the bed.
He was the first director of the National Science Foundation, and he funded science research with an annual budget that grew to 500 million dollars.
That-clauses
We also use that to introduce that-clauses after some verbs, adjectives and nouns:
I admit that I was wrong. (verb + that-clause)
Are you certain that the man in the car was Nick? (adjective + that-clause)
The name of the company illustrates my belief that sign language is a fascinating form of communication. (noun + that-clause)
That: other uses
That’s + adjective
We use that’s + adjective (e.g. that’s lovely, that’s good, that’s great, that’s terrible, that’s awful) to respond to something that someone is telling us, to show that we are listening:
A:
They got stuck in traffic on the way to the airport and missed the plane.
-
The
notion of ‘grammatical meaning’.
The word
combines in its semantic structure two meanings – lexical and
grammatical. Lexical meaning
is the individual meaning of the word (e.g. table).
Grammatical meaning
is the meaning of the whole class or a subclass. For example, the
class of nouns has the grammatical meaning of thingness.
If we take a noun (table)
we may say that it possesses its individual lexical meaning (it
corresponds to a definite piece of furniture) and the grammatical
meaning of thingness
(this is the meaning of the whole class). Besides, the noun ‘table’
has the grammatical meaning of a subclass – countableness.
Any verb combines its individual lexical meaning with the grammatical
meaning of verbiality – the ability to denote actions or states. An
adjective combines its individual lexical meaning with the
grammatical meaning of the whole class of adjectives –
qualitativeness – the ability to denote qualities. Adverbs possess
the grammatical meaning of adverbiality – the ability to denote
quality of qualities.
There are some classes of
words that are devoid of any lexical meaning and possess the
grammatical meaning only. This can be explained by the fact that they
have no referents in the objective reality. All function words belong
to this group – articles, particles, prepositions, etc.
-
Types
of grammatical meaning.
The
grammatical meaning may be explicit and implicit. The implicit
grammatical meaning is not expressed
formally (e.g. the word table does
not contain any hints in its form as to it being inanimate). The
explicit grammatical
meaning is always marked morphologically – it has its marker. In
the word cats the
grammatical meaning of plurality is shown in the form of the noun;
cat’s –
here the grammatical meaning of possessiveness is shown by the form
‘s; is
asked – shows the explicit
grammatical meaning of passiveness.
The
implicit grammatical meaning may be of two types – general and
dependent. The general
grammatical meaning is the meaning of the whole word-class, of a part
of speech (e.g. nouns – the general grammatical meaning of
thingness). The dependent
grammatical meaning is the meaning of a subclass within the same part
of speech. For instance, any verb possesses the dependent grammatical
meaning of transitivity/intransitivity,
terminativeness/non-terminativeness, stativeness/non-stativeness;
nouns have the dependent grammatical meaning of
contableness/uncountableness and animateness/inanimateness. The most
important thing about the dependent grammatical meaning is that it
influences the realization of grammatical categories restricting them
to a subclass. Thus the dependent grammatical meaning of
countableness/uncountableness influences the realization of the
grammatical category of number as the number category is realized
only within the subclass of countable nouns, the grammatical meaning
of animateness/inanimateness influences the realization of the
grammatical category of case, teminativeness/non-terminativeness —
the category of tense, transitivity/intransitivity – the category
of voice.
GRAMMATICAL
MEANING
EXPLICIT
IMPLICIT
GENERAL
DEPENDENT
-
Grammatical
categories.
Grammatical categories are
made up by the unity of identical grammatical meanings that have the
same form (e.g. singular::plural). Due to dialectal unity of language
and thought, grammatical categories correlate, on the one hand, with
the conceptual categories and, on the other hand, with the objective
reality. It may be shown with the help of a triangle model:
Conceptual
reality Conceptual category
Objective
reality Lingual reality Objective category Grammatical
category
It
follows that we may define grammatical categories as references of
the corresponding objective categories. For example, the objective
category of time
finds its representation in the grammatical category of tense,
the objective category of quantity finds
its representation in the grammatical category of number.
Those grammatical categories that have references in the objective
reality are called referential
grammatical categories. However, not
all of the grammatical categories have references in the objective
reality, just a few of them do not correspond to anything in the
objective reality. Such categories correlate only with conceptual
matters:
Conceptual
correlate
Lingual
correlate
They
are called significational categories.
To this type belong the categories of mood
and degree.
Speaking about the grammatical category of mood we can say that it
has modality
as its conceptual correlate. It can be explained by the fact that it
does not refer to anything in the objective reality – it expresses
the speaker’s attitude to what he says.
-
The
notion of opposition.
Any
grammatical category must be represented by at least two grammatical
forms (e.g. the grammatical category of number – singular and
plural forms). The relation between two grammatical forms differing
in meaning and external signs is called opposition
– book::books
(unmarked member/marked member). All grammatical categories find
their realization through oppositions, e.g. the grammatical category
of number is realized through the opposition singular::plural.
Taking
all the above mentioned into consideration, we may define the
grammatical category as the opposition between two mutually exclusive
form-classes (a form-class is a set of words with the same explicit
grammatical meaning).
Means
of realization of grammatical
categories may be synthetic (near –
nearer) and analytic (beautiful
– more beautiful).
-
Transposition
and neutralization of morphological forms.
In the process of
communication grammatical categories may undergo the processes of
transposition and neutralization.
Transposition
is the use of a linguistic unit in an
unusual environment or in the function that is not characteristic of
it (He is a lion).
In the sentence He is coming tomorrow
the paradigmatic meaning of the
continuous form is reduced and a new meaning appears – that of a
future action. Transposition always results in the neutralization of
a paradigmatic meaning. Neutralization
is the reduction of the opposition to one of its members : custom ::
customs – x :: customs; x :: spectacles.
LECTURE 4: THE PARTS OF
SPEECH PROBLEM. WORD CLASSES
The parts of speech are
classes of words, all the members of these classes having certain
characteristics in common which distinguish them from the members of
other classes. The problem of word classification into parts of
speech still remains one of the most controversial problems in modern
linguistics. The attitude of grammarians with regard to parts of
speech and the basis of their classification varied a good deal at
different times. Only in English grammarians have been vacillating
between 3 and 13 parts of speech. There are four approaches to the
problem:
-
Classical
(logical-inflectional) -
Functional
-
Distributional
-
Complex
The
classical
parts of speech theory goes back to ancient times. It is based on
Latin grammar. According to the Latin classification of the parts of
speech all words were divided dichotomically into declinable
and indeclinable
parts of speech. This system was
reproduced in the earliest English grammars. The first of these
groups, declinable words, included nouns, pronouns, verbs and
participles, the second – indeclinable words – adverbs,
prepositions, conjunctions and interjections. The
logical-inflectional classification is quite successful for Latin or
other languages with developed morphology and synthetic paradigms but
it cannot be applied to the English language because the principle of
declinability/indeclinability is not relevant for analytical
languages.
A
new approach to the problem was introduced in the XIX century by
Henry Sweet. He took into account the peculiarities of the English
language. This approach may be defined as functional.
He resorted to the functional features of words and singled out
nominative units and particles. To nominative
parts of speech belonged noun-words
(noun, noun-pronoun, noun-numeral, infinitive, gerund),
adjective-words
(adjective, adjective-pronoun, adjective-numeral, participles), verb
(finite verb, verbals – gerund, infinitive, participles), while
adverb, preposition,
conjunction
and interjection
belonged to the group of particles.
However, though the criterion for classification was functional,
Henry Sweet failed to break the tradition and classified words into
those having morphological forms and lacking morphological forms, in
other words, declinable and indeclinable.
A
distributional approach
to the parts to the parts of speech
classification can be illustrated by the classification introduced by
Charles Fries. He wanted to avoid the traditional terminology and
establish a classification of words based on distributive analysis,
that is, the ability of words to combine with other words of
different types. At the same time, the lexical meaning of words was
not taken into account. According to Charles Fries, the words in
such sentences as 1. Woggles ugged diggles; 2. Uggs woggled diggs;
and 3. Woggs diggled uggles are quite evident structural signals,
their position and combinability are enough to classify them into
three word-classes. In this way, he introduced four major classes
of words and 15 form-classes.
Let us see how it worked. Three test frames
formed the basis for his analysis:
Frame
A — The concert was good (always);
Frame
B — The clerk remembered the tax (suddenly);
Frame
C – The team went there.
It
turned out that his four classes of words were practically the same
as traditional nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. What is really
valuable in Charles Fries’ classification is his investigation of
15 groups of function words (form-classes) because he was the first
linguist to pay attention to some of their peculiarities.
All
the classifications mentioned above appear to be one-sided because
parts of speech are discriminated on the basis of only one aspect of
the word: either its meaning or its form, or its function.
In
modern linguistics, parts of speech are discriminated according to
three criteria: semantic, formal and functional. This approach may be
defined as complex.
The semantic
criterion presupposes the grammatical meaning of the whole class of
words (general grammatical meaning). The formal
criterion reveals paradigmatic
properties: relevant grammatical categories, the form of the words,
their specific inflectional and derivational features. The functional
criterion concerns the syntactic
function of words in the sentence and their combinability. Thus, when
characterizing any part of speech we are to describe: a) its
semantics; b) its morphological features; c) its syntactic
peculiarities.
The
linguistic evidence drawn from our grammatical study makes it
possible to divide all the words of the language into:
-
those
denoting things, objects, notions, qualities, etc. – words with
the corresponding references in the objective reality – notional
words; -
those
having no references of their own in the objective reality; most of
them are used only as grammatical means to form up and frame
utterances – function words,
or grammatical words.
It is
commonly recognized that the notional parts of speech are nouns,
pronouns, numerals, verbs, adjectives, adverbs; the functional parts
of speech are articles, particles, prepositions, conjunctions and
modal words.
The
division of language units into notion and function words reveals the
interrelation of lexical and grammatical types of meaning. In
notional words the lexical meaning is predominant. In function words
the grammatical meaning dominates over the lexical one. However, in
actual speech the border line between notional and function words is
not always clear cut. Some notional words develop the meanings
peculiar to function words — e.g. seminotional words – to
turn, to get, etc.
Notional
words constitute the bulk of the existing word stock while function
words constitute a smaller group of words. Although the number of
function words is limited (there are only about 50 of them in Modern
English), they are the most frequently used units.
Generally
speaking, the problem of words’ classification into parts of speech
is far from being solved. Some words cannot find their proper place.
The most striking example here is the class of adverbs. Some language
analysts call it a ragbag, a dustbin
(Frank Palmer), Russian academician V.V.Vinogradov defined the class
of adverbs in the Russian language as мусорная
куча. It can be explained by the
fact that to the class of adverbs belong those words that cannot find
their place anywhere else. At the same time, there are no grounds for
grouping them together either. Compare: perfectly
(She speaks English perfectly)
and again
(He is here again).
Examples are numerous (all temporals). There are some words that do
not belong anywhere — e.g. after all.
Speaking about after all
it should be mentioned that this unit is quite often used by native
speakers, and practically never by our students. Some more striking
examples: anyway, actually, in fact.
The problem is that if these words belong nowhere, there is no place
for them in the system of words, then how can we use them correctly?
What makes things worse is the fact that these words are devoid of
nominative power, and they have no direct equivalents in the
Ukrainian or Russian languages. Meanwhile, native speakers use these
words subconsciously, without realizing how they work.
LECTURE
5: THE NOUN
1.General
characteristics.
The noun is
the central lexical unit of language. It is the main nominative unit
of speech. As any other part of speech, the noun can be characterised
by three criteria: semantic
(the meaning), morphological
(the form and grammatical catrgories) and syntactical
(functions, distribution).
Semantic
features of the noun. The noun possesses the grammatical meaning of
thingness, substantiality. According to different principles of
classification nouns fall into several subclasses:
-
According
to the type of nomination they may be proper
and common; -
According
to the form of existence they may be animate
and inanimate.
Animate nouns in their turn fall into human
and non-human. -
According
to their quantitative structure nouns can be countable
and uncountable.
This set of
subclasses cannot be put together into one table because of the
different principles of classification.
Morphological
features of the noun. In accordance
with the morphological structure of the stems all nouns can be
classified into: simple,
derived (
stem + affix, affix + stem – thingness);
compound (
stem+ stem – armchair
) and composite
( the Hague ). The noun has morphological categories of number and
case. Some scholars admit the existence of the category of gender.
Syntactic
features of the noun. The noun can be
used un the sentence in all syntactic
functions
but predicate. Speaking about noun combinability,
we can say that it can go into right-hand and left-hand connections
with practically all parts of speech. That is why practically all
parts of speech but the verb can act as noun determiners.
However, the most common noun determiners are considered to be
articles, pronouns, numerals, adjectives and nouns themselves in the
common and genitive case.
2.
The category of number
The grammatical category of
number is the linguistic representation of the objective category of
quantity. The number category is realized through the opposition of
two form-classes: the plural form :: the singular form. The category
of number in English is restricted in its realization because of the
dependent implicit grammatical meaning of
countableness/uncountableness. The number category is realized only
within subclass of countable nouns.
The
grammatical meaning of number may not coincide with the notional
quantity: the noun in the singular does not necessarily denote one
object while the plural form may be used to denote one object
consisting of several parts. The singular form may denote:
-
oneness
(individual separate object – a cat); -
generalization
(the meaning of the whole class – The
cat is a domestic animal); -
indiscreteness
(нерасчлененность or
uncountableness — money, milk).
The plural
form may denote:
-
the
existence of several objects (cats); -
the
inner discreteness (внутренняя
расчлененность, pluralia
tantum, jeans).
To sum it
up, all nouns may be subdivided into three groups:
-
The
nouns in which the opposition of explicit
discreteness/indiscreteness is expressed : cat::cats; -
The
nouns in which this opposition is not expressed explicitly but is
revealed by syntactical and lexical correlation in the context.
There are two groups here:
-
Singularia
tantum. It covers different groups of nouns: proper names, abstract
nouns, material nouns, collective nouns; -
Pluralia
tantum. It covers the names of objects consisting of several parts
(jeans), names of sciences (mathematics), names of diseases, games,
etc.
-
The
nouns with homogenous number forms. The number opposition here is
not expressed formally but is revealed only lexically and
syntactically in the context: e.g. Look!
A sheep is eating grass. Look! The sheep are eating grass.
3. The
category of case.
Case
expresses the relation of a word to another word in the word-group or
sentence (my sister’s coat). The category of case correlates with
the objective category of possession. The case category in English is
realized through the opposition: The Common Case :: The Possessive
Case (sister :: sister’s). However, in modern linguistics the term
“genitive case” is used instead of the “possessive case”
because the meanings rendered by the “`s” sign are not only those
of possession. The scope of meanings rendered by the Genitive Case is
the following :
-
Possessive
Genitive : Mary’s father – Mary has a father, -
Subjective
Genitive: The doctor’s arrival – The doctor has arrived, -
Objective
Genitive : The man’s release – The man was released, -
Adverbial
Genitive : Two hour’s work – X worked for two hours, -
Equation
Genitive : a mile’s distance – the distance is a mile, -
Genitive
of destination: children’s books – books for children, -
Mixed
Group: yesterday’s paper
Nick’s
school cannot be reduced to one nucleus
John’s
word
To avoid
confusion with the plural, the marker of the genitive case is
represented in written form with an apostrophe. This fact makes
possible disengagement of –`s form from the noun to which it
properly belongs. E.g.: The
man I saw yesterday’s son,
where -`s is appended to the whole group (the so-called group
genitive). It may
even follow a word which normally does not possess such a formant, as
in somebody else’s
book.
There is no
universal point of view as to the case system in English. Different
scholars stick to a different number of cases.
-
There
are two cases. The Common one and The Genitive; -
There
are no cases at all, the form `s is optional because the same
relations may be expressed by the ‘of-phrase’: the
doctor’s arrival – the arrival of the doctor; -
There
are three cases: the Nominative, the Genitive, the Objective due to
the existence of objective pronouns me,
him, whom; -
Case
Grammar. Ch.Fillmore introduced syntactic-semantic classification of
cases. They show relations in the so-called deep structure of the
sentence. According to him, verbs may stand to different relations
to nouns. There are 6 cases:
-
Agentive
Case (A) John
opened the door; -
Instrumental
case (I) The key
opened the door;
John used the key to open the door; -
Dative
Case (D) John
believed that he would win (the case of the animate being affected
by the state of action identified by the verb); -
Factitive
Case (F) The key
was damaged ( the result of the action or state identified by the
verb); -
Locative
Case (L) Chicago is
windy; -
Objective
case (O) John stole
the book.
4. The
Problem of Gender in English
Gender
plays a relatively minor part in the grammar of English by comparison
with its role in many other languages. There is no gender concord,
and the reference of the pronouns he,
she, it is very
largely determined by what is sometimes referred to as ‘natural’
gender for English, it depends upon the classification of persons and
objects as male, female or inanimate. Thus, the recognition of gender
as a grammatical category is logically independent of any particular
semantic association.
According
to some language analysts (B.Ilyish, F.Palmer, and E.Morokhovskaya),
nouns have no category of gender in Modern English. Prof.Ilyish
states that not a single word in Modern English shows any
peculiarities in its morphology due to its denoting male or female
being. Thus, the words husband
and wife
do not show any
difference in their forms due to peculiarities of their lexical
meaning. The difference between such nouns as actor
and actress
is a purely lexical one. In other words, the category of sex should
not be confused with the category of sex, because sex is an objective
biological category.
It correlates with gender only when sex differences of living beings
are manifested in the language grammatically (e.g. tiger
– tigress).
Still, other scholars (M.Blokh, John Lyons) admit the existence of
the category of gender. Prof.Blokh states that the existence of the
category of gender in Modern English can be proved by the correlation
of nouns with personal pronouns of the third person (he,
she, it).
Accordingly, there are three genders in English: the neuter
(non-person) gender, the masculine gender, the feminine gender.
LECTURE
6: THE VERB.
1.General characteristics
Grammatically
the verb is the most complex part of speech. First of all it performs
the central role in realizing predication —
connection between situation in the utterance and reality. That is
why the verb is of primary informative significance in an utterance.
Besides, the verb possesses quite a lot of grammatical categories.
Furthermore, within the class of verb various subclass divisions
based on different principles of classification can befound.
Semantic
features of the verb. The verb possesses the grammatical meaning of
verbiality — the
ability to denote a process developing in time. This meaning is
inherent not only in the verbs denoting processes, but also in those
denoting states, forms of existence, evaluations, etc.
Morphological
features of the verb. The verb possesses the following grammatical
categories: tense, aspect, voice, mood, person, number, finitude and
phase. The common categories for finite and non-finite forms are
voice, aspect, phase and finitude. The grammatical categories of the
English verb find their expression in synthetical and analytical
forms. The formative elements expressing these categories are
grammatical affixes, inner inflexion and
function words.
Some categories have only synthetical forms (person,
number), others
— only analytical (voice).
There are also categories expressed by both synthetical and
analytical forms (mood, tense, aspect).
Syntactic features. The
most universal syntactic feature of verbs is their ability to be
modified by adverbs. The second important syntactic criterion is the
ability of the verb to perform the syntactic function of the
predicate. However, this criterion is not absolute because only
finite forms can perform this function while non-finite forms can be
used in any function but predicate. And finally, any verb in the form
of the infinitive can be combined with a modal verb.
2.
Classifications of English verbs
According to different
principles of classification, classifications can be morphological,
lexical-morphological, syntactical and functional.
A.
Morphological classifications..
I.
According to their stem-types all verbs fall into: simple (to
go), sound-replacive
(food —
to feed, blood —
to bleed), stress-replacive
(import
— to im port,
transport —
to transport, expanded
(with the help of suffixes and prefixes): cultivate,
justify, overcome, composite
(correspond to composite nouns): to
blackmail), phrasal:
to have a smoke, to give a smile
(they always have an ordinary verb as
an equivalent). 2.According
to the way of forming past tenses and Participle
II verbs can be regular
and irregular.
B.
Lexical-morphological classification is
based on the implicit grammatical meanings of the verb. According to
the implicit grammatical meaning of transitivity/intransitivity verbs
fall into transitive
and intransitive.
According to the implicit grammatical meaning of
stativeness/non-stativeness verbs fall into stative
and dynamic.
According to the implicit grammatical meaning of
terminativeness/non-terminativeness verbs fall into terminative
and durative.
This classification is closely connected with the categories of
Aspect and Phase.
C.
Syntactic
classifications. According to the nature of predication (primary and
secondary) all verbs fall into finite
and non-finite.
According to syntagmatic properties (valency) verbs can be of
obligatory
and optional valency,
and thus they may have some directionality or be devoid of any
directionality. In this way, verbs fall into the verbs of directed
(to see, to take, etc.)
and non-directed
action (to arrive, to drizzle, etc.):
Syntagmatic
classification of English verbs
(according
to prof.G.Pocheptsov)
V
Vobj. She shook her head
Vaddr. He phoned me
V2
– V10 Vobj.-addr. She gave me
her pen
V11
– V15 Vadv. She behaved well
V1
V2 – V24 V16 – V24 Vobj.-adv. He put his hat
on the table
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3. Means of form-building in modern English. The grammatical meaning finds its expression in a grammatical form which is a means of |
5. Synthetic means of form-building in modern The grammatical meaning finds its expression in a grammatical form. There are several types of form-building in English. The main subdivision of |
4. The predicate as the main means of expressing The Predicate is |
6. Secondary parts of sentence. Difficulties of The theory of the |
7. Suffixation as a means of form-building in modern The grammatical meaning finds its expression in a grammatical form. There are several types of form-building in English. The main subdivision of |
8)Classific-n of subord. clauses: 2 (2) |
9. Language — is a means of · · · The grammatical system is Grammar- is the structure of The The Another approach to the
|
49. Cohesion as the main text Cohesion is the main property Cohesion is characterized by 1) 2) Text cohesion — — — — — |
50. Means of expressing gender in Modern English It’s doubtful Masculine (names of male Feminine (names of female Neuter (names of Gender may be expressed by a) b) From the point of view of There are also some a) b) c) d) All these arguments speak in favour of treating the category of gender in English |
51. The problem of homonymity in the system The category of Linguists differ Such a variety of |
53. Controversial problems of the part of speech classification: VERBALS The There Lexically The 1) 2) 3) |
52. Making a The theory of speech acts is SPEECH-ACT THEORY AND RHETORIC In
|
54. Modality. Means of The category of modality is The primary modality expresses the relation of the contents |
Secondary |
56. The problem of analytical forms in the system of English Moods Most analytical Some linguist But it should be Analytical forms 1) 2) 3) Some linguists (prof. Vorontsova) are of |
10. Syntax as part of Grammar. Main Units of English There’s a debate 1) 2) 3) Смирницкий: The analysis of the · · · Therefore, sent-s The fundamental Basic English When the noun and In most general A sentence may be defined as the basic unit of communication, grammatically Narrative analysis studies lexical & So, these Word-groups => |
12. Text grammar is a rather new Text is an ordered Those who studied the The main semantic — — — — Structural Cathegories: 1) — 2) — — 3) — 4) — 5) Polyphony — a good text usually has |
11. Correlation btw various means There The synthetic form-building means — — — Affixation is the most Sound interchange is a In suppletive forms there is a complete change of Analytical This This process can So we should conclude that |
13. It’s more productive in 1. The theory of the splitting of 2.Acc. to the second 3. Acc. to Бархударов a true analyt.form should posses a discontinuous morpheme |
14. Various classifications of sent-s. A sent. is a (I) (II) A sent. which If it contains one (III) Complete sent. contains — the subject + the predicate (if it’s a — the subject + the predicate + object 1-member sent. can Incomplete (elliptical) — — |
15. The general definition of a A part of speech is a mixed lexical-grammatical phenomenon, 1) Words are characterized by PS are distinguished from one Modern classification of parts of Classifying a lang. from the 1) 2) 3) 4) |
The existing principles: The semantic approach: (based on the The formal approach: Only form should They distinguished between The formal-semantic approach: 1. 2. 3. a) b) The syntactic (functional) |
17. A part of speech (PS) is a |
16. Main features of the 1) expresses predication => is called a 2) nominates a situation or a situational event => 3) can be called a communicative unit as it The problem of the composite sent.: how to define Semi-composite sent. How to Main features of the composite sentence: 1) a polypredicative Types of composite sentences: Acc. to the type The means of combining clauses: syndetic (союзн.) & asyndetic (бессоюзн.). Syndetic => conj-s, relative pron-s Classification of subord. (1) shows correlation of clauses with parts of the (2) correlates clauses with parts of speech & |
18. The word ‘syntax’ The type ‘noun+noun’ |
19. A part of speech (PS) is a The adv. is a PS characterized by the following features: 1) 2) 3) 4) The function of adverbial complement (дополнение), sometimes other functions |
20. The grammatical meaning, the gram form, the gram Gram meaning (GM) is The grammatical meaning finds its expression in a grammatical form which is a means of expressing a grammatical meaning. |
21. A part of speech (PS) is a The numeral as a part of 1) 2) the category of 3) 4) 5) |
22. The word ‘syntax’ WC – every combination of 2 |
23. Nouns are preceded by atr. though much has been written about art, the theory The art. have morph and |
24. The number of moods in Modern English. The grammatical category of mood has the reputation of being one of the most controversial categories. |
27. 3 stages can be distinguished in the 1st 2nd 3rd |
Билет 36 theoretical The article is a determiner |
29. The It’s a form of a noun showing The genitive case- is built up by The common case- this form is The method of 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) The number of cases in Modern |
Билет 38 Various Passive voice: accord. to a |
43) The category of tense – verbal cat, which The future tense form is The reasons the fut.tense is analytical: 1) 2) 3) Reasons shall/will + inf should be 1) 2) 3) 4) 2 groups of linguists: — there are 3 tense forms — there are 2 tense forms – the -are used chiefly in — do not easily fit into a — starting point isn’t in the — in many sentences the — what is certain is that it |
42) Classification Aspects of the sentence: — the structural aspect – — the semantic aspect – the — the actual aspect – — the pragmatic aspect – the Types of communication: declarative, interrogative, imperative (incl.emotional) and exclamatory Declarative – the subj precedes the verb Interrogative – aux.v in front of the subj.special w-order, very few modal words – modal w-s Semi-interrogative sent-s – “oh, you’ve seen him?” Imperative – no gram.subj, the v – in the imperative mood; modal words, The notion of exclamatory sent-s and their relation to the other 3 Eq. But he can’t do anything to you! What can he Purely exclamatory sentence: “Oh, for God’s sake, Henry!” The structure of a certain sent.may be used eq. Yes/No questions – You will speak to him? – Rhetorical questions – Is that the reason for despair? (of course not) |
44) The structural, semantic Aspects of the sentence: — the structural aspect – the form of the sentence, the way words are — the semantic aspect – the meaning of the sent. — the actual aspect – determines which part of the sent conveys the — the pragmatic aspect – the use of the sent.as Structural division: I.-simple -composite: compound and II. extended – unextended, IIIСomplete / incomplete Complete sent. contains — the subject + the predicate (if it’s a — the subject + the predicate + object 1-member sent. can Incomplete (elliptical) — — |
46) The imperative Mood – represented by one form The Imp.Mood expresses a command or a request to perform The Imp.mood The negative form is built by means of the aux. DO: Eq Don’t be a fool. Don’t worry. Emphatic requestscommands: eq. Do come and stay with us. Do be quiet. In commands and requests Eq. Let us go In negative sent-s the anal.forms take the The anal.forms Let us do smth Let him do it – the meaning The imp.mood |
47) The number of voices in The category of Voice Opposition: active Forms of Fut.Cont, Any other voices??? -> — the reflexive voice (eq.He dressed himself) – the agent and the object of the — the reciprocal voice (They — the middle voice (The door The active voice has a number Pr. Ilyish Pr. Barhudarov |
41) The category of ASPECT in modern English Aspect – a gram.category which characterizes the way in which the In Russian – 2 aspects: imperfective (несов.), perfective (сов.) Imperfective expresses an As the Eng.language grammarians of the past The majority of grammarians believe the Eng.verb · 1) 2) Most English verbs are polysemantic and may · 1) 2) The terms used to describe aspect are not stable (progressive — The difference bw the aspect forms isn’t The cont.aspect has a specific The common aspect shows the action Prof.Barhudarov: common aspect = Common aspect may denote: 1)a momentary action (eq she dropped the 2)a recurrent/repeated action (eq.I get up at 3)an action occupying a long period of time (eq.he 4)an action of unlimited duration (eq.The |
48) Functional sentence perspective — actual division of the sentence; The theory of the division into 2 units, in accordance with the Ian Firbas (Czech): the info known from the Michael Halliday: given (данное) — new(новое); Charles Pocket: topic (называние)- comment(толкование) In European languages – new info – at the end of the sentence The group of the subj.(together with attr-s) The most important piece of new info occupies the end position of the Eq. The girl told him everything ↑Theme Rheme But English has a strict word-order, it has special means of expressing the rhemes: · · ·
·
· ·
·
· There are other means of expressing the rheme,
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26. Principal parts of the sentence. Their general characteristics. The subject and The subject is one of the 2 main parts 1) 2) It The predicate is one of the 2 main parts 1) 2) Types of predicate: Predicates may be Structural classification: 1. 2. Morphological 1. 2. |
Билет 34 Predicativity. Means of expressing. The main Predicativity is a category V.G.Gak points Predicativity |
*Functional words Here belong: · expresses the · expresses the · expresses · unites the · expresses the · is a signal of |
30. Notional words and function words in Modern English. Parts of speech are Functional parts of Ilyish => Some notional words denote functional words denote This view is shaky, because e.g. The The The match was called off because it was raining. (the conjunction because denotes the causal Some words belonging to a e.g. I have some I have found a dog. (have |
Билет 40. Classification of sentences based of their The structural aspect of the sentence deals with the structural According to their structure Though the difference between the complex and compound sentences is Besides there are |
Билет 39 Presents a specific linguistic Semantically the forms of the From the Singularia Tantum nouns, when used in the plural form, always The group of Pluralia Tantum nouns includes: 1. nouns |
Билет 37 THE CATEGORY OF MOOD The category of 2 groups of Moods — — The Indicative Mood is the There are 2 non-fact Moods in The Subjunctive Mood Some linguists think that the The classification |
Билет 35 The category of voice The category of voice (which is found both with finite Opposition: active Forms of Fut.Cont, Any other voices??? -> — the reflexive voice (eq.He dressed himself) – the agent and the object of the — the reciprocal voice (They — the middle voice (The door The active voice has a number Pr. Ilyish Pr. Barhudarov The idea of the Passive voice The existence of various |
31. Theories suggesting more Case can be defined in the Different 1. The 3-case theory / the substitutional theory. Was prompted by the fact that 2. The theory of positional cases. It is |
3. The theory of prepositional cases (Curme, also connected with the old school grammar 4. |
While the existence of the The time of the action can be |
32. The category of time-correlation. Various The gramm. category of phase or time-correlation built on Non-Perfect The 1) The perf. denotes a secondary temporal characteristic of an Thus, The The 2) Prof. 3) From the view This theory was favourably accepted by grammarians, but some of them said |