Tài liệu Grammar for everyone part 23 ppt

usefulness of using ‘shall’ for the first person, and ‘will’ for second and third in the indicative or statement mood.. Students each write a given number of sentences each containing so

usefulness of using ‘shall’ for the first person, and ‘will’ for second and third in the indicative (or statement) mood

So, ‘I shall do it’ when emphatic becomes ‘I will do it’ and ‘It will be done’ when emphatic becomes ‘It shall be done.’

22.1 Activities: emphasis

1 a Students each write a given number of sentences each containing some form of emphasis and underline the stressed word or words.

b Students each, in turn, read out one of their sentences using their voices to convey the emphasis, for example:

We were so sick on that boat.

2 The sentence ‘Did you really do that?’ is written on the board and students read it, emphasising each word in turn, for example:

Did you really do that?

Did you really do that? etc.

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Definition: The word ‘mood’ comes from Latin modus and refers

to the mode or manner in which an action is expressed

Before studying mood, students should know about:

• the different kinds of sentences

• verb tenses for all kinds of statement apart from the

conditional

• auxiliary verb forms

Many people have no idea what mood means and believe that

it is an obscure, perhaps old-fashioned grammar term In reality

mood is a verb form, which, as the term implies, describes the

mode or manner in which an action is spoken about, and it affects

every sentence we utter

In English there are just three moods The first two, indicative

and imperative, we have been practising from the beginning The

third, subjunctive is the worry as it is misunderstood and therefore

confused, though in reality, it is straightforward and lends clarity

and subtlety to our language

The subjunctive mood causes confusion for several reasons, the

first being the decline in grammar instruction in recent decades

The second is the process of attrition by which some finer points

of language get lost over centuries Thirdly, the remaining forms

in some cases duplicate the indicative forms, so those subjunctive

ones get overlooked or deemed unnecessary But they are still with

us and, without being pedantic, we owe it to our students and

future generations to provide them with correct and empowering

information about their own language Colloquial speech does,

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by definition, shy away from fastidiousness, but students should have the opportunity to learn the correct forms and use them in formal speech and writing

Indicative mood

From Latin indicativus meaning ‘stating’, the indicative refers

simply to statements such as those that form most of our speech and which we have studied earlier

For example:

I like bananas.

Imperative mood

This word is from Latin imperare meaning ‘to command’ Students

are familiar with this kind of sentence

For example:

Go and buy bananas.

Subjunctive or conditional mood

The word ‘subjunctive’, from Latin subjunctivus, means ‘joined

under’ and in grammar this refers to the fact that it is often expressed in a joined, subsidiary clause (see page 170)

This mood expresses uncertainty, doubt or a wish – the ‘maybe’ situation It is, in fact, much less complicated than in many other languages

It is sometimes called the conditional mood from Latin conditio

to discuss; in other words, the matter is as yet undecided We form the subjunctive in several ways

1 We use auxiliaries may or might with the bare infinitive.

For example:

We may buy some bananas.

We might have them for dinner.

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If, on the other hand, the outcome of the event has been decided,

we use might.

For example:

If you had closed the gate the cows might not have got out.

2 The verb ‘to be’ features in the majority of subjunctive forms

In the present tense we use ‘be’ for all persons

For example:

He suggested I be on the committee.

Be he live or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread ….

In the future we use ‘were’

For example:

If I were you, I would laugh.

If all the seas were one sea …

But in the past we use ‘had’

For example:

Had I been there I would have laughed.

3 Sometimes the auxiliary is omitted (understood) especially in wishes

For example:

So be it.

God save the Queen.

And in the negative:

Lest we forget.

Many a blessing or kind wish has been expressed in the subjunctive

For example:

May the wind be always at your back (Irish blessing)

Well may your lums [chimneys] reek [smoke]

(A Scottish Gaelic blessing for new brides – not Gaelic spelling)

A 23.1 Activities: mood1 Students complete sentences orally around the class with the

follow-ing beginnfollow-ings:

a I wish

For example: I wish I were (not was) at the show.

b I/he/she suggested

For example: She suggested that he stay (not stays) at home.

c If this be the case

For example: If this be (not is) the case, we should tell the

police.

Students write one of each type in their own grammar exercise books Remember that each section should have a heading to aid revision.

2 Students are given verbs with which to form sentences in each mood, for example:

Wear – Indicative: He is wearing his best shoes.

Imperative: Don’t wear your best shoes in the paddock Subjunctive: I suggested he wear his farm boots.

3 Students compose their own blessings or sayings using the subjunc-tive mood For homework, they could see if they can discover any more from popular or classical literature.

Checklist: mood

Students should now be able to:

• explain the term ‘mood’ and state the three forms in English.

• explain the function of the indicative and imperative moods with examples.

• explain the terms ‘subjunctive’ and ‘conditional’

• discuss the argument for retaining these forms in our language

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• give examples of the subjunctive mood

− using the verb ‘to be’

− using may and might

− expressing doubt, wish or intention

• correctly form sentences in indicative, imperative or subjunctive

mood

• correctly form sentences indicating doubt, wish or intention

Case is the term for a system of categorising nouns or pronouns according to their function in a sentence or clause The system is very simple and provides clarity and a means of revising, as well as the important function of enabling better understanding of certain foreign languages

Simply, the part that a noun or pronoun plays in a sentence gives it its case

Nominative

The subject of a verb is in the nominative case, for example:

The taxi is here.

We are going to the theatre.

Accusative

The direct object of a verb is in the accusative case, for example:

Have you got the tickets?

The ball hit me on the head.

Dative

The indirect object of a verb is in the dative case, for example:

Pay the driver a tip.

Give her the umbrella.

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