Modern English Grammar - cần phải biết

Modern English Grammar - cần phải biết

#n#e#g#a#t#i#o#n# #t#h#a#n# #i#n# #t#h#e# #m#e#a#n#i#n#g# #o#f# #"#n#o#t#

#e#v#e#r#"# #a#t# #"#n#o# #t#i#m#e#"#,# #e#.# #g#.#:##H#e# #a#n#s#w#e#r#e#d#

#n#e#v#e#r# #a# #w#o#r#d# ## ###V#=# #B#0#:# #9# #=#5# #2#V#4#?#>#2#V#2#

#=#V#G#>#3#>#.##B#i#l#l# #n#e#v#e#r# #t#u#r#n#e#d# #h#i#s# #h#e#a#d#

#(#L#o#n#d#o#n#)## ###V#;# #B#0#:# #V# #=#5# #>#1#5#@#=#C#2#A#O#.##"#S#o#

#y#o#u#'#v#e# #c#o#m#e# #b#a#c#k#"#,# #h#e# #r#e#p#e#a#t#e#d#.# #S#h#e#

#n#e#v#e#r# #l#o#o#k#e#d# #u#p#,# #a#n#d# #n#e#v#e#r# #s#p#o#k#e#,# #t#h#e#

#f#i#r#e#l#i#g#h#t# #p#l#a#y#i#n#g# #o#v#e#r# #h#e#r# #m#o#t#i#o#n#l#e#s#s#

#f#i#g#u#r#e#.# #(#G#a#l#s#w#o#r#t#h#y#)# ## #.#.# ###@#5#=# #=#5#

#3#;#O#=#C#;#0# #=#0# #=#L#>#3#>#,# #=#5# #A#:#0#7#0#;#0# #=#V#

#A#;#>#2#0#.#.#.##T#h#e# #u#s#e# #o#f# #t#h#e# #P#a#s#t# #T#e#n#s#e# #i#n#

#p#a#t#t#e#r#n#s# #l#i#k#e# #"#D#i#d# #y#o#u# #e#v#e#r#?#"# #o#r# #"#Did you ever hear of such a thing?" is virtually synonymous with "Have you ever heard ofsuch a thing?" The two structures differ only in style, the former as highly expressive is generally used merely as emotional exclamation in expressive language.the Past Tense is common in narration to indicate anteriority, e g.:

He thought he had lost her, then almost ran into her standing quite stilt (Galsworthy)there are also cases when the Past Tense is used for stylistic purposes to denote that what has hitherto been true is so still and will always remain so Familiar examples quoted by O Jespersen are:Men were deceivers ever.(Shakespeare) Faint heart never won fair lady.THE PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) TENSEThe primary meaning of the Past Continuous is that of a past action shown

in its progress at a given past moment, e g.:The door was slowly opening, and Anthony found himself gazing into a pair of pale-gray hooded eyes (Gordon) She followed his gaze through the falling rain and saw a man and a girl coming from the large block of flats opposite her home Now they were getting into a little motor car (Gordon)Verbal processes in narration may also be denoted by the PastContinuous, e g.:The fog was rapidly disappearing, already the moon shone quiteclear on the high ground on either side It seemed to him very far off a great throng was forming It was menacing, shouting It stirred, it moved, it was advancing.147

Progression in time as denoted by the Past Continuous is most fluctuating and variable: from several short stretches of time to long duration, repeated

actions or simultaneity or, say, increasing duration Examples are:Suddenly Soames said: "I can't go on like this I tell you I can't go on like this His eyes were shifting from side to side, like an animal's when it looks for way of escape" (Galsworthy) Jolyon gazed into his hat, his embarrassment was

increasing fast; so was his admiration, his wonder, and his pity

(Galsworthy) But Mammy was showing her age and rheumatism was slowing her lumbering tread (Mitchell) Here the implied context is all that exists or can

be considered relevant.Two other youths, oblique-eyed, dark-haired, rather faced, like the two little boys, were talking together and lolling against the wall; and a short, elderly, clean-shaven man in corduroys, seated in the window,was conning a battered journal (Galsworthy) Compare also:a) She was playing thepiano from eleven to twelve this morning b) She played the piano from eleven totwelve this morning.What matters in the choice of the verb-form, as always in language, is the speaker's view of matters.To sum up, continuous forms may either indicate that an activity is incomplete or not as yet completed, or else may be noncommittal regarding the completion of the specified activity.A specialinterest attaches to its stylistic transposition where it comes to represent:future action when that future moment is viewed from the past This is often thecase in patterns with the free reported speech The primary meaning of the verb-form comes to be neutralised by the situational context, e g.: At last, my dear, I thought you were never coming.with adverbs of frequency and repetition the Past Continuous will generally denote habitual actions, abilities,

sly-properties and other characteristic traits, e g.: Annette was always running up

to town for one thing or another, so that he had Fleur to himself almost as much

as he could wish (Galsworthy) 'Instances are not few when patterning with such adverbs becomes an effective stylistic device to express various emotions: annoyance, irritation, displeasure, anger, amusement, praise, etc The

expressive element is often intensified by some other indicators of the given context, e g.:His car bumped something slightly, and came to a stand That fellow Riggs was always bumping something (Galsworthy)The emotive factors determine and modify patterns of grammatical structure in unnumerable ways Attention has been repeatedly drawn to the fact that they may affect not only the choice of vocabulary but the character of such metaphors as occur in the use

of grammatical forms The Continuous Tenses of the present-day English are most dynamic in this respect More and more they are used with special functions of different modal force The stylistic range of their application in expressive language has become surprisingly wide.c) we also know such transpositions when the Past Continuous is endowed with special emotive functions and comes to express rather the148

intention of doing something than the action itself In such patterns of

"implied negation" the connection between the subject and predicate is not to betaken in a direct or positive sense The meaning is thus negative, that of an unrealised intention to do something (suppositional modality), e g.: "I supposeyou were too busy to come to the station".He coloured crimson "I was coming, ofcourse", he said, "but something stopped me" 1.'I was coming' means: "I intended

to come" (but I did not) 2.Like in other cases, the opposition "real — unreal" comes to be neutralised here by contextual indication.Here he was not surprised

to meet Stener just coming out, looking very pale and distraught At the sight

of Cowperwood he actually blanched."Why, hello, Frank", he exclaimed,

sheepishly, "where do you come from?"."What's up, George?" asked Cowperwood "I thought you were coming into Broad Street"."So I was", returned Stener,

foolishly, "but I thought I would get off at West Philadelphia and change my clothes I've a tot of thi#n#g#s# #t#o# #t#e#n#d# #t#o# #y#e#t# #t#h#i#s#

#a#f#t#e#r#n#o#o#n#.# #I# #w#a#s# #c#o#m#i#n#g# #i#n# #t#o# #s#e#e# #y#o#u#"#.#

#A#f#t#e#r# #C#o#w#p#e#r#w#o#o#d#'#s# #u#r#g#e#n#t# #t#e#l#e#g#r#a#m# #t#h#i#s#

#w#a#s# #s#i#l#l#y# #b#u#t# #t#h#e# #y#o#u#n#g# #b#a#n#k#e#r# #l#e#t# #i#t#

#p#a#s#s#.# #(#D#r#e#i#s#e#r#)#.##C#f#.# #R#u#s#s#i#a#n#:# #>#B#:#@#K#2#0#;#,#

#4#0# #=#5# #>#B#:#@#K#;#,# #2#K#1#8#@#0#;#,# #4#0# #=#5# #2#K#1#@#0#;#.#

#U#k#r#a#i#n#i#a#n#:# #@#>#7#:#@#8#2#0#2#,# #B#0# #=#5# #@#>#7#:#@#8#2#;#

#2#8#1#8#@#0#2#,# #B#0# #=#5# #2#8#1#@#0#2#.##C#l#o#s#e#l#y# #r#e#l#a#t#e#d#

#t#o# #t#h#i#s# #i#s# #t#h#e# #a#n#a#l#o#g#o#u#s# #m#o#d#a#l# #u#s#e# #o#f#

#t#h#e# #P#r#e#s#e#n#t# #P#e#r#f#e#c#t# #C#o#n#t#i#n#u#o#u#s#,# #e#.# #g#.#:#

#M#r#.# #S#.# #l#a#n#d#s# #a#t# #S#o#u#t#h#a#m#p#t#o#n# #t#o#n#i#g#h#t#.# #H#e#

#h#a#s# #a#l#w#a#y#s# #b#e#e#n# #c#o#m#i#n#g#.# #T#h#i#s# #t#i#m#e# #h#e#

#h#a#s# #c#o#m#e#.##T#H#E# #P#E#R#F#E#C#T# #T#E#N#S#E#S##T#h#e#

#c#a#t#e#g#o#r#y# #o#f# #t#i#m#e# #r#e#l#e#v#a#n#c#e# #i#n# English is based on the binary opposition "non-perfective :: perfective"; the former is known to be unmarked, the latter possesses a special grammatical meaning This is to suggestthat the action denoted by the unmarked form is not correlated with some other moment of time or some other action whereas the perfect form is characterised by

a special current relevance.Grammarians differ greatly in defining the

linguistic nature of the Perfect Tenses in English That the category of Perfect

is a tense category is sometimes denied Reference is often made to the specificaspective essence of these verbal forms defined as resultative, retrospective, successive, etc.A I Smirnitsky's3 viewpoint presents a special point of

interest His basic assumption is that the Perfect Tenses express the category

of "time relation" presented by the regular opposition of all#1 Quoted from H

#"#i#m#p#e#r#f#e#c#t#u#m# #d#e# #c#o#n#a#t#u#"# #u#s#e#d# #w#i#t#h#

#a#n#a#l#o#g#o#u#s# #m#e#a#n#i#n#g#,# #e#.# #g#.#:# #V#e#n#i#e#b#a#t#i#s#

#i#g#i#t#u#r# #i#n# #A#f#r#i#c#a#m#.#.#.# #p#r#o#h#i#b#i#t#i# #e#s#t#i#s# #i#n#

#p#r#o#v#i#n#c#i#a# #v#e#s#t#r#a# #p#e#d#e#m# #p#o#n#e#r#e#.##3# ###.# ###.# #!

#P#e#r#f#e#c#t# #f#o#r#m#s# #t#o# #a#l#l# #n#o#n#-#P#e#r#f#e#c#t# #f#o#r#m#s#,#

#s#u#c#h# #a#s# #w#o#r#k#s#:#:# #h#a#s# #w#o#r#k#e#d#;# #w#o#r#k#e#d# #:#:#

#h#a#d# #w#o#r#k#e#d#; will work :: will have worked, etc The corresponding relative terms adopted by A Smirnitsky for these grammatical contrasts are

"non-perfect" and "perfect".The unmarked non-Perfect forms do not refer to a special current relevance whereas the marked Perfect forms express priority.A

I Smirnitsky presents a logical system of the correlation between the

Indefinite, the Continuous, the Perfect and the Perfect Continuous forms

graphically as a parallelepiped on whose three dimensions he placed: 1) the category of tense (the Present, the Past and the Future), 2) the category of aspect (the Common and the Continuous) and 3) category of time relation (the non-Perfect and the Perfect forms).Somewhat similar views on the categories of the English verb are held by the American scholar M Joos 1.In treating the Indefinite, the Continuous, the Perfect and the Perfect Continuous forms M Joos, like Prof Smirnitsky, marks out three different verb categories which he calls "tense", "aspect" and "phrase".Other grammarians advocate the view

according to which the category of Perfect is a peculiar tense category, i e acategory included in the verb paradigm along with the categories "present" and

"past" 2 According to G Vorontsova 3 the category of Perfect is a peculiar aspect category and as such must be included in the regular grammatical

contrasts of "common" and "continuous" aspects.The divergency of the linguistic approaches to the identification of the Perfect Tenses in English is indeed striking.The question much debated nowadays is how define the invariable meaning

of these grammatical forms.What should not escape our notice is that the shift from tense to aspect which is so specific in the functional relationships of English verb-forms cannot be studied in isolation from the distributional

meaning of the Perfect Tenses.One more question primary in importance is that the grammatical content of the Perfect Tenses cannot be studied without a

considerable reference to the lexical character of the verb and variations of denotative and connotative meaning resulting from the use of Perfect forms in different syntactical environment, large patterns, in particular.The occurrence

of the Perfect Tenses in different syntactic environments will show variations

of their basic grammatical content Instances are not few when the context comes

to be explicit enough to neutralise the opposition between the Perfect Tenses and the preterit verb-forms.The current relevance as marked by the Perfect Tenses must reasonably be r#e#f#e#r#r#e#d# #t#o# #a#s# #t#h#e#i#r# #b#a#s#i#c#

#m#e#a#n#i#n#g#.####1# #S#e#e#:# #M#.# #J#o#o#s#.# #T#h#e# #E#n#g#l#i#s#h#

#V#e#r#b#.# #T#h#e# #U#n#i#v#e#r#s#i#t#y# #o#f# #W#i#s#c#o#n#s#i#n# #P#r#e#s#s#

#M#a#d#i#s#o#n# #a#n#d# #M#i#l#w#a#u#k#e#e#,# #1#9#6#4#.##2# #S#e#e#:# #O#.#

#J#e#s#p#e#r#s#e#n#.# #T#h#e# #P#h#i#l#o#s#o#p#h#y# #o#f# #G#r#a#m#m#a#r#.#

#L#o#n#d#o#n#,# #1#9#6#8#,# #p#.# #2#5#4#.##3# #S#e#e#:# ###.# #H#.#

###>#@#>#=#F#>#2#0#.# ###G#5#@#:#8# #?#># #3#@#0#<#<#0#B#8#:#5#

#0#=#3#;#8#9#A#:#>#3#># #O#7#K#:#0#.# #M#.#,# #1#9#6#0#,# #p#.# #1#9#1#.##1#5#0#

#

#O#b#s#e#r#v#a#t#i#o#n#s# #o#n# #t#h#e# #d#i#f#f#e#r#e#n#c#e# #o#f#

#d#i#s#t#r#i#b#u#t#i#o#n#,# #i#n# #t#h#e# #k#i#n#d# #o#f# #c#o#n#t#e#x#t#,#

#l#i#n#g#u#i#s#t#i#c# #o#r# #s#i#t#u#a#t#i#o#n#a#l#,# #w#h#e#r#e# #e#a#c#h#

#p#e#r#f#e#c#t# #f#o#r#m# #o#c#c#u#r#s#,# #g#i#v#e# #e#v#e#r#y# #r#e#a#s#o#n#

#t#o# #s#a#y# #t#h#a#t# #t#h#e# #r#e#s#u#l#t#a#t#i#v#e# #m#e#a#n#i#n#g# #a#n#d#

#t#h#e# #m#e#a#n#i#n#g# #o#f# #c#o#m#p#l#e#t#e#n#e#s#s# #d#o# #n#ot exhaust the aspective content of the Perfect Tenses with all their multiple polysemantic essence in present-day English.What needs further investigations as grammar learning advances is the study of the dependence of the meaning of Perfect forms

on the tense category (present, past and future) and its distributional meaning

in cases when the application of the verb-form seems to go far beyond the strictlimits of the system The fact is, that we occasionally find such varied uses ofthe Perfect Tenses that they may bring to considerable linguistic changes of themeaning of the form itself It is also interesting to note that considerable variations in their patterning sometimes appear a matter of stylistic

preference There are important treatments of their distributional value

#2#V#4#=#>#H#5#=#L# #2# #0#=#3#;#V#9#A#L#:#V#9# #<#>#2#V#»#.##I#t# #w#i#l#l#

#n#o#t# #b#e# #s#u#p#e#r#f#l#u#o#u#s# #t#o# #p#o#i#n#t# #o#u#t# #t#h#a#t#

#t#h#e#r#e# #i#s# #a# #g#o#o#d# #d#e#a#l# #o#f# #d#i#f#f#e#r#e#n#c#e#

#b#e#t#w#e#e#n# #t#h#e# #u#s#e# #o#f# #t#h#e# #P#a#s#t# #a#n#d# #P#e#r#f#e#c#t#

#T#e#n#s#e#s# #i#n# #E#n#g#l#i#s#h# #a#n#d some other languages The Perfect Tense is often used in other languages where the Past Tense is required in English This is the case when attention is drawn to the time at which an action

or event took place in the past; hence especially in questions beginning with when? (Sometimes with where?), and in sentences with adverbial adjuncts

answering such questions, e g.:When (where) did you see him last? (Cf Where have you been all the time?) Two aeroplanes were shot down yesterday I

received his letter a week ago His father was born in Ireland Did you come by tram or by bus?The Present Perfect Tense usually denotes an action that falls within the time-sphere of the present Its uses are mainly three: (a) the

Continuative Perfect; (b) the Resultative Perfect; (c) the Perfect of

Experience.The Continuative Perfect often corresponds to a Present Tense in other languages; English shares with some other languages the use of the

Resultative Perfect, which denotes a past action connected, through its result, with the present moment, e g.:We have bought a new car (Cf We bought a new car last week) Look what you've done Ten years have passed since we first met.We have a use intermediate between the Continuative and the Resultative Perfect when the reference is to a period of time that is not yet over, e g.: I've been to the pictures twice this week.(But: I went to the pictures twice last week).151