Грамматика английского языка Морфология. Синтаксис - пособие Н. А. КОБРИНА, Е. А. КОРНЕЕВА, М. И. ОССОВСКАЯ, К. А. ГУЗЕЕВА ГР А ММ А ТИКА А НГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫК А Морфология. Синтаксис СОЮЗ С.-ПЕТЕРБУРГ 1999 ББК 81.2 Англ. К 85 Н. А. Кобрина, Е. А. Корнеева, М. И. Оссовская, К. А. Гузеева К 85 Грамматика английского языка: Морфология. Синтаксис. Учебное пособие для студентов педагогических институтов и университетов по специальности № 2103 "Иностранные языки". - СПб., СОЮЗ, 1999. - 496 с. ЛР № 065425 от 30.09.97 ISBN 5-87852-108-3 Пособие представляет собой второе дополненное и переработанное издание ранее изданного курса практической грамматики в двух частях - Морфология (М., Просвещение, 1985) и Синтаксис (М., Просвещение, 1986). Пособие было допущено Министерством просвещения СССР в качестве учебного пособия для студентов педагогических институтов по специальности №2103 "Иностранные языки". Рецензенты: Кафедра грамматики английского языка Минского ГПИИЯ; профессор М. Я. Блох (МГПИ им. В. И. Ленина) Авторы уделяют особое внимание тем грамматическим явлениям, которые не имеют аналогов в русском языке. Оригинал-макет Подготовила К. П. Орлова © Н. А. Кобрина, Е. А. Корнеева, М. И. Оссовская, К, А. Гузеева © "СОЮЗ", 1999 © В. А. Гореликов, оформление обложки, 1999 Новелла Александровна Кобрина, Елена Александровна Корнеева, Мария Ильинична Оссовская , Ксения Александровна Гузеева ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА Морфология. Синтаксис Учебное пособие Подписано в печать 25 июля 1999 г. Формат 70х1001 /16. Гарнитура «Таймс». Бумага офсетная. Печать офсетная. Объем: 31,0 печ. л. Тираж 10 000 экз. Заказ № 830. Издательство «СОЮЗ» 195197, Санкт-Петербург, ул. Васенко, 6. Отпечатано с готовых диапозитивов в ГИПК «Лениздат» (типография им. Володарского) Государственного комитета РФ по печати. 191023, Санкт-Петербург, наб. р. Фонтанки, 59. ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ Настоящее пособие дает достаточно полное и систематическое описание строя современного английского языка, подробно излагая разделы грамматики, предусмотренные Программой Министерства просвещения СССР для студентов I-III курсов факультетов и отделений английского языка педагогических институтов. Задача пособия состоит в том, чтобы дать студентам практическое знание грамматического строя английского языка, необходимое для владения языком. Основной материал учебника излагается с позиций современной английской литературной грамматической нормы, однако фиксируются и американские варианты, а также коллоквиализмы и архаические формы, используемые в поэзии. Каждой новой теме предпосылаются краткие сведения, дающие общую характеристику описываемого явления. Пройденный материал рекомендуется закреплять сериями упраж­нений, среди которых значительное место должны занимать упражне­ния коммуникативного типа. Для удобства пользования весь материал учебника разделен на параграфы, имеющие сквозную нумерацию. Основной иллюстративный материал почерпнут из англо-амери­канской литературы последних десятилетий. Пособие было апробировано в течение нескольких лет на ан­глийском отделении факультета иностранных языков РГПУ им. А. И. Герцена. Авторы INTRODUCTION The grammatical system of English, like that of any other language, possesses its own peculiar features. The English language has comparatively few grammatical inflections. They are the plural and the Genitive case endings of some nouns, the com­parative degree endings of some adjectives and adverbs; personal inflections of verbs are confined to the third person singular and the opposition of the forms was - were. What is most characteristic of these inflections in com­parison with Russian is that they are more unified. Thus the plural ending -s in nouns is used with the majority of count nouns. The few exceptions (such as tooth - teeth, goose - geese, child - children, ox - oxen ) are regarded as obsolete forms. In the sphere of the verb, however, many complications arise, as there is no such regularity among the past tense and participle II forms. Some of them are formed with the inflection -ed (help - helped – helped ) , others by means of root vowel change (bring - brought - brought, come - came - come ). The latter are considered as irregular verbs. Alongside synthetic forms, the verb has an elaborate system of analytical forms (most of the tense, aspect and perfect forms, the passive voice forms, most of the subjunctive mood forms). The analytical forms, include an auxiliary verb, as the bearer of the grammatical meaning, and a notional part: has gone, was sent, would like, to be posted, being done, having been done, etc. Many words are not inflected at all: most adjectives and adverbs, modal words, statives, non-count nouns, conjunctions, prepositions, particles and interjections. Moreover, most words are devoid of any word-forming (derivational) morphemes which would show that they belong to a certain class. This lack of morphological distinctions between the classes accounts for the fact that a great number of words (both notional and functional words) may easily pass from one class to another, their status being determined mainly syntactically, by their function in the sentence. The prevailing role of syntax over morphology is also revealed in the fact that words, phrases and clauses may be used in the same functions. The order of elements in the English sentence is fixed to a greater degree than in inflected languages (as the Russian language). The order subject - predicate - object is most characteristic of statements, and any modi­fication of it is always justified by either stylistic or communicative conside­rations. Attributes may precede or follow head-word, the first pattern be­ing more usual. The most mobile element in the sentence is the adverbial, but that can be explained by its reference to different parts of the sentence. A most peculiar feature of English is a special set of words employed as structural substitutes for a certain part of speech: noun substitutes (one, that), the verb substitute (do), the adverbs and adjective substitute (so). Morphology PARTS OF SPEECH § 1. All the words of the English language are grouped into different types of classes. This classification is based on three main principles: 1) their grammatical meaning; 2) their form and 3) their syntactical characteristics. By the first we understand the meaning common to all the words of the class, such as thingness for the noun or either process or state for the verb. By the second we mean the morphological characteristics of the class meant, such as the number of the noun or the voice of the verb. By the third - the combinability and the syntactical functions of a type of word. We distinguish between notional and functional parts of speech: the former denoting extralinguistic phenomena such as things, actions, qualities, emotions and the latter - relations and connections between notional words or sentences. Thus there are 9 notional parts of speech and 3 functional ones. The notional parts of speech are: The functional parts of speech are: the noun the adjective the stative the pronoun the numeral the verb the adverb the modal words the interjection the preposition the conjunction the particle THE VERB § 2. Most verbs denote action or state. However, there are some verbs which have other meanings. They are modal verbs, causative verbs, some impersonal verbs, relational and link-verbs . They present a system of finite and non-finite forms, except for modal verbs, which have no non-finite forms. The verb in its finite forms possesses the morphological categories of person, number, tense, aspect, perfect, voice and mood. Its syntactical function is that of the predicate. The non-finite forms (or verbals) are four in number, they are: the infinitive, the gerund, participle I and participle II. Non-finite verb forms possess the verbal categories of perfect, voice and to a certain extent aspect. Owing to the richness of its morphological catego­ries, the flexibility of its syntactical functioning and wide combinability, the verb is of the greatest importance in the structure of the sentence. The morphological categories of the verb are interrelated, that is every verb form expresses all these categories simultaneously. Formation of verb categories § 3. English morphological categories are formed in two ways, synthetically and analytically. Synthetic or simple forms are those the formal elements of which are to be found within one word from which they are inseparable. These are the present and the past indefinite affirmative (sing, sings, sang ); the non-perfect common aspect forms of the infinitive, participle I, the gerund, participle II (sing, singing, sung ); the imperative mood (sing! ). Analytical or compound verb forms consist of at least two verbal elements, an auxiliary verb and a notional verb; the latter is presented by participle I, participle II, or the infinitive. An auxiliary verb is devoid of its lexical meaning, its role is purely grammatical. It may be finite or non-finite, thus showing whether the whole verb form is finite or non-finite as in: Jane is singing. Someone seems to be singing in the next room. The auxiliary verbs in English are not numerous, they are seven: to do, to be, to have, shall, will, should, would. The notional verb of a compound verb form is always non-finite, it carries the lexical meaning of the whole verb form. The analytical verb forms are the forms of the continuous aspect, the perfect forms, the passive forms, the future forms, the future in the past forms, some forms of the subjunctive mood, the interrogative, negative and emphatic forms of the present and past indefinite. The meaning of the analytical form as a whole is the result of the complete fusion of the auxiliary and the non-finite form. Morphological composition § 4. According to their morphological composition verbs can be divided into simple, derivative, compound and phrasal. Simple verbs consist of only one root morpheme: to ask, to build, to come. Derivative verbs are composed of one root morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes and suffixes). The main verbforming suffixes are -ize, -fy, -en, -ate , as in: to criticize, to justify, to blacken, to enumerate. Compound verbs consist of at least two stems: to overgrow, to undertake . Phrasal verbs consist of a verbal stem and an adverbial particle, which is sometimes referred to as postposition. The adverbial meaning is evident in phrasal verbs of the type to come in, to look out , whereas it is quite lost in the verbs to give up, to give in, to bring up. Basic verb forms § 5. Among the synthetic verb forms there are those which are used independently and those which are used to build other verb forms. They are four in number: the infinitive the past indefinite participle II participle I - work, rise; - worked, rose; - worked, risen; - working, rising. The infinitive stem and participles I and II are employed to build other verbal forms. The past indefinite is the only basic form that is not used to build other forms. Regular and irregular verbs § 6. Owing to the historical development of the verb system the English verbs fall into two groups: regular and irregular verbs. The regular verbs, which go back to the Germanic weak verbs, constitute the largest group. The past indefinite and participle II of these verbs are formed by means of the dental suffix -ed added to the stem of the verb. This is the productive pattern according to which all new verbs form their past indefinite and participle II. The irregular verbs form their past indefinite and participle II according tо some fixed traditional patterns going back partly to the Germanic strong verbs, partly to the weak verbs, which underwent some changes in the process of history. The irregular verbs are about 250 in number. They can be arranged according to sound changes. The list of irregular verbs arranged according to sound changes Infinitive Past Indefinite Participle II Translation 1 2 3 4 [ɪ] [æ] [ʌ] begin [bɪgɪn] began [bɪ'gæn] begun [bɪ'gʌn] начинать drink [dnɪŋk] drank [dræŋk] drunk [drʌŋk] пить ring [rɪŋ] rang [гæŋ] rung [rʌŋ] звонить shrink [∫rɪnk] shrank [sræŋk] shrunk [∫rʌŋk] сокращать(ся) sing [sɪŋ] sang [sæŋ] sung [sʌŋ] петь sink [sɪŋk] sank [sæŋk] sunk [sʌŋk] тонуть spring [sprɪŋ] sprang [spræŋ] sprung [sprʌŋ] прыгать stink [stɪŋk] stank [stæŋk] stunk [stʌŋk] вонять swim [swɪm] swam [swæm] swum [swʌm] плавать [ɪ] [ʌ] [ʌ] dig [dɪg] dug [dʌg] dug [dʌg] копать fling [flɪn] flung [flʌŋ] flung [flʌŋ] кидать(ся) spin [spɪn] spun [spʌn] spun [spʌn] прясть stick [stɪk] stuck [stʌk] stuck [stʌk] втыкать sting [stɪŋ] stung [stʌŋ] stung [stʌŋ] жалить swing [swɪŋ] swung [swʌŋ] swung [swʌŋ] качать(ся) win [wɪn] won [wʌn] won [wʌn] побеждать wring [rɪŋ] wrung [гʌŋ] wrung [rʌŋ] скручивать [ɪ] [æ] [æ] sit [sɪt] sat [sæt] sat [sæt] сидеть spit [spɪt] spat [spæt] spat [spæt] плеватъ(ся) [i:] [e] [e] bleed [bl:d] bled [bled] bled [bled] кровоточить breed [bri:d] bred [bred] bred [bred] выводить, разводить (животных ) feed [fi:d] fed [fed] fed [fed] кормить lead [li:d] led [led] led [led] вести meet [mi:t] met [met] met [met] встречать(ся) read [ri:d] read [red] read [red] читать speed [spi:d] sped [sped] sped [sped] спешить [е] get [get] [ɔ] got [gɔt] [ɔ] got [gɔt] получать [æ] hang [hæŋ] [ʌ] 1) hung [hʌŋ] 2) hanged [hæŋd] [ʌ] hung [hʌŋ] hanged [hæŋd] вешать вешать (казнить ) [aɪ] bind [baɪnd] ] find [faɪnd] grind [graɪnd] wind [waɪnd] [au] bound [baund] found [faund] ground [graund] wound [waund] [au] bound [baund] found [faund] ground [graund] wound [waund] связывать находить молоть виться [aɪ] light [laɪt] slide [slaɪd] [ɪ] lit [lɪt] slid [slɪd] [ɪ] lit [lɪt] slid [slɪd] светить, зажигать скользить [aɪ] shine [∫aɪn] [ɔ] shone [∫ɔ n] [ɔ] shone [∫ɔn] светить, сиять [aɪ] fight [faɪt] [ɔ:] fought [f ɔ:t] [ɔ :] fought [f ɔ:t] бороться [aɪ] strike [straɪk] [ʌ] struck [strʌk] [ʌ] struck [strʌk] ударять(ся) [ou] hold [hould] [e] held [held] [e] held [held] держать [u:] shoot [∫u:t] [ɔ] shot[∫ɔ t] [ɔ] shot [∫ɔ t] стрелять [i:] creep [kri:p] keep [ki:p] leap [li:p] [e] crept [krept] kept [kept] leapt [lept] leaped [e] crept [krept] kept [kept] leapt [lept] leaped ползать держать прыгать [i:] sweep [swi:p] sleep [sli:p] weep [wi:p] [e] swept [swept] slept [slept] wept [wept] [e] swept [swept] slept [slept] wept [wept] мести, подметать спать плакать, рыдать [e] [ou] [ou] sell [sel] sold [sould] sold [sould] продавать tell [tel] told [tould] told [tould] говорить [i:] [e] [e] flee [fli:] fled [fled] fled [fled] бежать, спасаться бегством [ɪǝ] [ǝ:] [ǝ:] hear [hɪǝ] heard [hǝ:d] heard [hǝ:d] слышать [eɪ] [e] [e] say [seɪ] said [sed] said [sed] говорить, сказать [i:] [e] [e] deal [di:l] dealt [delt] dealt [delt] раздавать, распределять dream [dri:m] dreamt [dremt] dreamed dreamt [dremt] dreamed видеть сны; мечтать feel [fi:l] felt [felt] felt [felt] чувствовать kneel [ni:l] knelt [nelt] knelt [nelt] преклонять колени lean [li:n] leant [lent] leant [lent] наклоняться mean [mi:n] meant [ment] meant [ment] значить [aɪ] [ɔ :] [ɔ :] buy [baɪ] bought [bɔ :t] bought [b ɔ:t] покупать [i:] [e] [e] leave [li:v] left [left] left [left] покидать [u:] [ɔ ] [ɔ] lose [lu:z] lost [lɔst] lost [lɔst] терять [aɪ] [ou] [I] drive [draɪv] drove [drouv] driven ['drɪvn] вести, ехать (в экипаже, автомобиле и т. д.) ride [raɪd] rode [roud] ridden [ 'rɪdn] ехать верхом rise [raɪz] rose [rouz] risen [ 'rɪzn] подниматься, вставать write [raɪt] 4 f\ wrote [rout] written ['rɪtn] писать [aɪ] flу [flaɪ] [u:] flew [flu:] [ou] flown [floun] летать [i:] freeze [fri:z] speak [spi:k] steal [sti:l] weave [wi:v] [ou] froze [frouz] spoke [spouk] stole [stoul] wove [wouv] [ou] frozen ['frouzn] spoken [ spoukǝn] stolen ['stoulǝn] woven [ 'wouvǝn] морозить разговаривать красть ткать [eɪ] break [breɪk] [ou] broke [brouk] [ou] broken ['broukǝn] ломать [e] forget [fǝ'get] [ ɔ] forgot [fǝ'gɔt] [ ɔ] forgotten [fǝ'gɔtǝn] забывать [ɛǝ] swear [swɛǝ] tear [t ɛə] [ɔ :] swore [sw ɔ:] tore [tɔ :] [ ɔ:] sworn [sw ɔ:n] torn [tɔ :n] клясться рвать [aɪ] lie [laɪ] [eɪ] lay [leɪ] [eɪ] lain [Ieɪn] лежать [aɪ] bite [baɪt] hide [haɪd] [ɪ] bit [bɪt] hid [hɪd] [ɪ] bitten ['bɪtn] hidden ['hɪdn] кусать(ся) прятать(ся) [u:] choose [t∫u:z] [ou] chose [t∫ouz] [ou] chosen ['t∫ouzǝn] выбирать [i:] see [si:] [ɔ:] saw [sɔ:] [i:] seen [si:n] видеть [i:] eat [i:t] [e] ate [et] [i:] eaten ['i:tn] есть [ɪ] forbid [fe'bɪd] forgive [fǝ'gɪv] give [gɪv] [eɪ] forbade [fo'beɪd] forgave [fǝ'geɪv] gave [geɪv] [ɪ] forbidden [fǝ'bidǝn] forgiven [fǝ'gɪvn] given ['gɪvn] запрещать забывать давать [eɪ] shake [∫eɪk] take [teik] [u] shook [∫uk] took [tuk] [eɪ] shaken ['∫eɪkn] taken ['teɪkn] трясти брать [ɔ:] fall [fɔ:l] [e] fell [fel] [ɔ:] fallen [fɔ:lǝn] падать [ɔ:] draw [drɔ:] [u:l drew [dru:] [ɔ:] drawn [drɔ:n] рисовать [ou] blow [blou] grow [grou] know [nou] throw [θrou] [u:] blew [blu:] grew [gru:] knew [nju:] threw [θru:] [ou] blown [bloun] grown [groun] known [noun] thrown [θroun] дуть расти знать бросать [e] swell [swel] [e] swelled [sweld] [ou] swollen ['swoulǝn] надувать(ся) [eɪ] make [meɪk] [eɪ] made [meɪd] [eɪ] made [meɪd] делать [ɪ] bring [brɪŋ] think [θiŋk] [ɔ:] brought [brɔ:t] thought [θɔ:t] [ɔ:] brought [brɔ:t] thought [θɔ:t] нести думать [i:] teach [ti:t∫] [ɔ:] taught [tɔ:t] [ɔ:] taught [tɔ:t] учить [æ] catch [kæt∫] [ɔ:] caught [kɔ:t] [ɔ:] caught [kɔ:t] хватать [æ] stand [stænd] understand [ʌnde'stænd] [u] stood [stud] understood [ʌndǝ'stud] [u] stood [stud] understood [ʌndǝ'stud] стоять понимать [d] build [bɪId] lend [lend] mend [mend] spend [spend] send [send] [t] built [bɪlt] lent [lent] ment [ment] spent [spent] sent [sent] [t] built [bɪlt] lent [lent] ment [ment] spent [spent] sent [sent] строить одалживать, сдавать в аренду чинить тратить, расходовать посылать bet [bet] burst [bǝ:st] bet [bet] burst [bǝ:st] bet [bet] burst [bǝ:st] держать пари лопаться; взрываться (о снаряде) cost [kɔst] cost [kɔst] cost [kɔst] стоить, обходиться cut [kʌt] cut [kʌt] cut [kʌt] резать hit [hɪt] hit [hɪt] hit [hɪt] ударять hurt [hǝ:t] hurt [hǝ:t] hurt [hǝ:t] причинять боль let [let] let [let] let [let] позволять, разрешать put [put] put [put] put [put] класть, положить shut [∫ʌt] shut [∫ʌt] shut [∫ʌt] закрывать(ся) split [splɪt] split [splɪt] split [splɪt] раскладывать(ся) spread [spred] spread [spred] spread [spred] развертываться upset [ʌр'set] upset [ʌp'set] upset [ʌp'set] опрокидывать (ся) расстраивать, нарушать (порядок) Pronunciation rules of the suffix –ed The suffix -ed is pronounced in three ways: 1) [id] when the verb stem ends in the dental consonants [d] or [t]: skate - skated chat - chatted decide – decided end - ended 2) [d] when the stem ends in any voiced sound except [d]: live – lived travel - travelled stay - stayed change – changed 3) [t] when the stem ends in any voiceless sound except [t]: talk - talked stop - stopped wish – wished place – placed Spelling rules of the verb forms with the suffix –ed 1) The letter -d is added to stems ending in -e : skate - skated free – freed 2) In all the other cases the letters -ed are added: stay - stayed talk – talked The final consonant letter is doubled if it is single and follows a short vowel in a stressed syllable: nod - nodded stop- stopped stir - stirred permit - permitted refer - referred compel- compelled The final - l is doubled even in an unstressed syllable (British English): travel - travelled cancel – cancelled In some words the final -p is doubled in the same position: kidnap - kidnapped handicap – handicapped worship – worshipped The final -y is changed to -i if it is preceded by a consonant: cry – cried reply – replied Formation of participle I § 7. Participle I of both regular and irregular verbs is composed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem of the verb. In writing the following rules of spelling are observed: 1) if the stem ends in a mute -e , the -e is dropped before adding -ing : skate - skating 2) if the stem ends in a single consonant letter preceded by a short vowel of a stressed syllable, the consonant letter is doubled: stop - stopping nod - nodding stir – stirring permit – permitting refer - referring compel – compelling 3) if the stem ends in -l after a short vowel of an unstressed syllable, the -l is doubled (in British English): travel – travelling cancel – cancelling The same refers to some words ending in -p : kidnap - kidnapping handicap- handicapping worship – worshipping 4) verbs ending in -ie drop the final -e and change i into у before taking the suffix -ing : lie – lying die – dying Note: The same rules apply to the formation of the gerund. Semantic classifications of the verb § 8. Semantic classifications of the verb may be undertaken from different standpoints. Grammatically important is the devision of verbs into the following classes: Actional verbs , which denote actions proper (do, make, go, read, etc.) and statal verbs , which denote state (be, exist, lie, sit, know, etc.) or relations (fit, belong, have, match, cost, etc.). The difference in their categorical meaning affects their morphological paradigm: statal and relational verbs have no passive voice (though some have forms coinciding with the passive voice as in The curtains and the carpet were matched ). Also statal and relational verbs generally are not used in the continuous and perfect continuous tenses. Their occasional use in these tenses is always exceptional and results in the change of meaning. From the syntactic standpoint verbs may be subdivided into transivite (переходные) and intransitive (непереходные) ones. Without the object the meaning of the transitive verb is incomplete or entirely different. Transitive verbs may be followed: a) by one direct object (monotransitive verbs) ; Jane is helping her sister . b) by a direct and an indirect objects (ditransitive verbs) ; Jane gave her sister an apple . c) by a prepositional object (prepositional transitive verbs) : Jane looks after her sister . Intransitive verbs do not require any object for the completion of their meaning: The sun is rising. There are many verbs in English that can function as both transitive and intransitive. Tom is writing a letter. (transitive) Tom writes clearly. (intransitive) Who has broken the cup? (transitive) Glass breaks easily. (intransitive) Jane stood near the piano. (intransitive) Jane stood the vase on the piano. (transitive) The division of verbs into terminative and non-terminative depends on the aspectual characteristic in the lexical meaning of the verb which influences the use of aspect forms. Terminative verbs (предельные глаголы) besides their specific meaning contain the idea that the action must be fulfilled and come to an end, reaching some point where it has logically to stop. These are such verbs as sit down, come, fall, stop, begin, open, close, shut, die, bring, find, etc. Non-terminative, or durative verbs(непредельные глаголы) imply that actions or states expressed by these verbs may go on indefinitely without reaching any logically necessary final point. These are such verbs as carry, run, walk, sleep, stand, sit, live, know, suppose, talk, speak, etc. The end, which is simply an interruption of these actions, may be shown only by means of some adverbial modifier: He slept till nine in the morning. The last subclass comprises verbs that can function as both termi­native and non-terminative (verbs of double aspectual meaning ). The difference is clear from the context: Can you see well? (non-terminative) I see nothing there. (terminative) The finite forms of the verb § 9. The category of person expresses the relation of the action and its doer to the speaker, showing whether the action is performed by the speaker (the 1st person), someone addressed by the speaker (the 2nd person) or someone/something other than the speaker or the person addressed (the 3rd person). The category of number shows whether the action is performed by one or more than one persons or non-persons. For the present indefinite tense* of the verb to be there are three contrasting forms: the 1st person singular, the 3rd person singular and the form for all persons plural: (I) am - (he) is - (we, you, they) are. * The other term used for indefinite tenses is "simple tenses". Accordingly there are the simple present, "the simple past", "the simple future". In the past indefinite tense it is only the verb to be that has one of these categories - the category of number, formed by the opposition of the singular and the plural forms: (I, he) was - (we, you, they) were. All the other verbs have the same form for all the persons, both singular and plural. In the future and future in the past tenses there are two opposing forms: the 1st person singular and plural and the other persons: (I, we) shall go - (he, you, they) will go; (I, we) should come - (he, you, they) would come. In colloquial style, however, no person distinctions are found either in the future or in the future in the past tenses. The only marker for the future tenses is ‘ll used with all persons, both singular and plural: I'll do it; He'll do it; We'll do it, etc. The marker for the future in the past tenses is ‘d , also used with all persons and numbers: I said I’d come; He said he’d come; We said we’d come, etc. Historically ‘ll is the shortened form of will , ‘d is the shortened form of would. The categories of person and number, with the same restrictions, as those mentioned above, are naturally found in all analytical forms contain­ing the present indefinite tense of the auxiliaries to be and to have , or the past indefinite tense of the auxiliary to be : (I) am reading - (he) is reading - (we, you, they) are reading; (I) am told - (he) is told - (we, you, they) are told; (he) has come - (I, we, you, they) have come; (he) has been told - (I, we, you, they) have been told; (he) has been reading - (I, we, you, they) have been reading. A more regular way of expressing the categories of person and number is the use of personal pronouns. They are indispensable when the finite verb forms in the indicative as well as the subjunctive moods have no markers of person or number distinctions. I stepped aside and they moved away. They had been walking along, side by side, and she had been talking very earnestly. If you were his own son, you could have all this. If she were not a housemaid, she might not feel it so keenly. The verb is always in the 3rd person singular if the subject of the predicate verb is expressed by a negative or indefinite pronoun, by an infinitive, a gerund or a clause: Nothing has happened . Somebody has come . To see him at last was a real pleasure. To shut that lid seems an easy task. Seeing is believing. Visiting their house again seems out of the question. What she has told me frightens me*. * For further details see § on Agreement of the Subject and Predicate. The category of tense § 10. The category of tense in English (as well as in Russian) expresses the relationship between the time of the action and the time of speaking. The time of speaking is designated as present time and is the starting point for the whole scale of time measuring. The time that follows the time of speaking is designated as future time; the time that precedes the time of speaking is designated as past time. Accordingly there are three tenses in English - the present tense, the future tense and the past tense which refer actions to present, future or past time. Besides these three tenses there is one more tense in English, the so-called future in the past . The peculiarity of this tense lies in the fact that the future is looked upon not from the point of view of the moment of speaking (the present) but from the point of view of some moment in the past. Each tense is represented by four verb forms involving such categories as aspect and perfect. Thus there are four present tense forms: the present indefinite, the present continuous, the present perfect, the present perfect continuous; four past tense forms: the past indefinite, the past continuous, the past perfect and the past perfect continuous; four future tense forms: the future indefinite, the future continuous, the future perfect and the future perfect continuous; and four future in the past tense forms: the future in the past indefinite, the future in the past continuous, the future in the past perfect, the future in the past perfect continuous. The category of aspect § 11. In general the category of aspect shows the way or manner in which an action is performed, that is whether the action is perfective (совершенное), imperfective (несовершенное), momentary (мгновенное, однократное), iterative (многократное, повторяющееся), inchoative (зачинательное), durative (продолженное, длительное), etc. In English the category of aspect is constituted by the opposition of the continuous aspect and the common aspect. The opposition the continuous aspect <——> the common aspect is actualized in the following contrasting pairs of forms: Continuous Common is speaking was speaking will be speaking has been speaking speaks spoke will speak has spoken The forms in the left-hand column (whether taken in context, or treated by themselves) have a definite meaning: they describe an action as a concrete process going on continuously at a definite moment of time, or characteristic of a definite period of time (hence its name - the continuous aspect). The forms in the right-hand column, if treated by themselves, are devoid of any specific aspectual meaning. They denote the action as such, in a most general way, and can acquire a definite and more specified aspective meaning due to the lexical meaning of the verb and specific elements of the context in which they are used. Thus, for example, the verb form sang , when regarded out of context, has no specific aspectual characteristics, conveying only the idea of the action of singing with reference to the past. However when the same form is used in the context, it acquires the aspectual meaning conferred on it by that context. Compare the following sentences: When he was young he sang beautifully (пел = умел петь). He went over to the piano and sang two folk-songs (спел). He went over to the piano and sang (запел). While everybody was busy lighting a camp fire, he sang folk-songs (пел). The fact that these forms may express different aspectual meanings according to the context, accounts for the term - the common aspect. § 12. Whereas all verbs can be used in the common aspect, there are certain restrictions as to the use of the continuous aspect. Some verbs do not usually have the forms of the continuous aspect. They are referred to as statal verbs . The most common of them are the following: 1. Relational verbs have, be and some link verbs: become, remain, appear, seem, sound. However, both to be and to have can be used in the continuous aspect forms where to be has the meaning to act and to have has a meaning other than to possess . She is so foolish! I have three brothers. She is being so foolish (acting foolishly) today. I am having dinner (am dining) now. Other verbs having the same meaning of relation are not used in the continuous aspect forms: to apply to to belong to to compare (to) to concern to contain to cost to depend on to deserve to differ from to exist to hold to interest to matter to measure to own to possess to remember to stand for to weigh 2. Verbs expressing sense perception, that is involuntary reactions of the senses: to feel (чувствовать), to hear (слышать), to see (видеть), to smell (чувствовать запах), to taste (чувствовать вкус). However these verbs as well as other statal verbs may be sometimes used in continuous and perfect continuous forms, especially in informal English.* * These verbs will be considered in detail in § 22. 3. Verbs expressing emotional state: to care, to detest, to envy, to fear, to hate, to hope, to like, to love, to prefer, to want, to wish. 4. Verbs expressing mental state: to assume, to believe, to consider, to doubt, to expect, to find, to forget, to imagine, to know, to mean, to mind, to notice, to perceive, to remember, to suggest, to suppose, to think, to understand. Note: Care should be taken to distinguish between some of these verbs denoting a mental state proper and the same verbs used in other meanings. In the latter case continuous aspect forms also occur. Compare, for example, the following pairs of sentences: I consider (believe) her to be a very good student. I expected ( supposed, thought) you’d agree with me. I feel (suppose) there is something wrong about him. I think (suppose) you’re right. I’ m still considering (studying) all the pros and cons. I could not come for I was expecting (waiting for) a friend at the time. I’m feeling quite cold. I am thinking over (studying) your offer. I am forgetting things more and more now (beginning to forget). She is understanding grammar better now (beginning to understand). Moreover, all the verbs treated in § 12 can occur in the continuous aspect when the ideas they denote are to be emphasized: Don’t shout, I' am hearing you perfectly well! Why are you staring into the darkness? What are you seeing there? Are you still remaining my friend. You see, she’s knowing too much. They don’t know that inside I know what they’re like, and that all the time I’m hating them. The category of perfect § 13. The category of perfect is as fundamental to the English verb as the categories of tense and aspect, whereas it is quite alien to the Russian verb. The category of perfect is constituted by the opposition of the perfect to the non-perfect . The perfect forms denote action preceding certain moments of time in the present, past or future. The non-perfect forms denote actions belonging to certain moments of time in the present, past or future. To see the difference between the two categories compare the following pairs of sentences containing non-perfect and perfect forms: Perfect Non-perfect I have seen the film, and I think it is dull. At last you are here! I’ve been waiting for you so long! She had left by the 2nd of September. She had been sleeping for half an hour when the telephone woke her up. I shall have returned before you get the supper ready. I see you are tired. Whom are you waiting for? She left on the 2nd of September. When the fire began, everybody was sleeping. I shall return at 10. § 14. The perfect forms belong either to the continuous or to the common aspect and as such they have specific semantic characteristics of either one or of the other. Thus the perfect continuous forms denote continuous actions taking place during a definite period of time preceding the present moment or some moment of time in the past or future. The moment of time in question may be either excluded or included in the period of time of the action, as in the following:       Don’t wake her up, she has only been sleeping for half an hour . (She is still sleeping at the moment of speaking.) I’ve woken her up, she has been sleeping ever since dinner . (She is not sleeping at the moment of speaking.) She had been living in St.-Petersburg for 10 years when we met. (She was still living there at that moment of past time.) They had been living in St.-Petersburg for 10 years when they moved to N. (They were not living in St.- Petersburg any longer at that moment of past time.) He will have been working here for 20 years next autumn . (He will still be working here at that moment of the future.)