Lecture 4

Major families of words in English grammar. The problem of

parts of speech. The survey of the nominal parts of speech.

Words are generally considered to be the basic elements of language. According to various
formal and semantic features, all words are divided into three major families: lexical (i.e. content)
words, function words and insert words. Linguists also speak about grammatically relevant classes
of words, so called parts of speech.
In modern linguistics, parts of speech are defined as lexico-grammatical classes of words
which are differentiated on the basis of semantic, morphological and syntactic criteria:
1. the semantic criterion implies the generalized categorical meaning, which is
characteristic of all the subsets of a given part of speech.
2. the morphological criterion implies the specific inflectional (form-building) and
derivational (word-building ) features of a given part of speech;
3. the syntactic criterion implies the typical syntactic role, played by a given part
of speech in the sentence.
According to the described criteria, scholars differentiate into three major families of words:
lexical (i.e. content), function and insert words.

Lexical (content) words

Linguists point out the following characteristic features of lexical words:

1. Lexical words are the main carriers of information in the text or speech act.
2. Lexical words can be used independently in the sentence performing some syntactic
function.
3. Of all the word families, lexical words are the most numerous and their number is
growing all the time. They are members of open word classes, because people regularly
add new words to these classes to denote new concepts and inventions. For instance,
words like download, upload, blog or e-mail entered the language quite recently with
the Internet revolution.
4. Lexical words often have a complex internal structure and they can be composed of
more than one morpheme. E.g.: un-friend-li-ness.
5. Lexical words can be heads of phrases. For instance: a group of students, a box of
chocolates.
6. Lexical words are usually stressed in speech.
7. Lexical words always remain if a sentence is compressed in a newspaper headline. E.g.:
The Georgian Premier in the White House.

Function words

1. Function words do not have clear lexical meaning, they have only grammatical function.

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 2. Function words are represented by such parts of speech as determiners (articles) მსაზ-
ღვრელები), prepositions (წინდებულები), conjunctions (კავშირები) and particles
(ნაწილაკები).
3. Function words can’t perform independently any syntactic function in the sentence, they
usually indicate how units are related to each other. For example, articles indicate whether
a noun denotes a familiar or unfamiliar thing: the boy or a boy. Prepositions indicate
different kinds of relations among things, etc.
4. Function words belong to the closed classes of words, which have a limited and fixed
membership. It is difficult to think of new conjunctions, prepositions, or articles that have
recently entered the language.
5. Function words tend to occur frequently in almost any type of text.

Inserts

1. Inserts are found mainly in spoken language.

2. Inserts don’t have any syntactic function in a sentence, but they are inserted freely in it.
3. Inserts are often marked by a break in intonation in speaking, and by a punctuation mark
in writing. E.g.: Well, we made it.
4. Inserts can be subdivided into the following groups: interjections (შორისდებული), modal
words, greetings and farewells, attention getters, discourse fillers, etc.
5. Inserts generally carry emotional and discoursal meanings, expressing the speaker’s
emotions or subjective attitude to a target situation (Words such as interjections oh, ah,
wow are used to express the speaker’s emotional response to a situation while modal words
perhaps, fortunate-ly, evidently, etc. are used to express the speaker’s subjective attitude to
a target situation; or yeah, no, O.K. and others signal a response to what has just been said).
6. Inserts are generally simple in form, though they often have an atypical pronunciation.

Part 2

Survey of the nominal parts of speech

Grammarians differentiate between notional and functional parts of speech. Notional parts of
speech are represented by nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, verbs and adverbs, while
functional parts of speech are represented by determiners (articles), prepositions, conjunctions and
particles. Notional parts of speech can be used independently in a sentence performing syntactic
functions of a subject, object, predicate, attribute or adverbial modifiers while function words
can’t perform independently any syntactic function in a sentence. Notional parts of speech can act
as heads in phrases and most of them belong to open classes of words (except pronouns and
numerals), whereas function words represent closed classes of words, which have a very limited
and fixed membership. Below, we offer the survey of the nominal parts of speech.

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 The noun

1. Semantic features. The categorical meaning of nouns is substance, thingness ( book,

friend, iron), though they can also denote abstract entities, such as qualities and states ( freedom,
wish, friendship).
2. Morphological features. Nouns have the inflectional forms of the grammatical categories
of number (a book – two books) and case (Sara − Sarah’s book). Structurally nouns are
differentiated into simple (boy; street; car, etc.), derived (singer; brightness; friendship) and
compound (bombshell; bridgehead; merry-go-round ) types.
3. Syntactic features. Syntactically nouns can function in the sentence as a subject, object,
predicative, attribute and adverbial modifiers:
subject: A man was walking in the street.
object: I see a man in the street.
predicative (following the link verb in a compound nominal predicate): She is a teacher.
attribute: a stone wall; a gold medal.
Adverbial modifiers: Every morning (time) he goes to the bank (place).

The adjective

1. Semantic features. The categorical meaning of the adjective is quality. They describe the
qualities of people (a tall man; He is busy.), things (a heavy box) and abstract notions (The case is
serious.);
2. Morphological features. Many adjectives have inflectional forms of degrees of compa-
rison: -er for the comparative degree and -est for the superlative degree. E.g.: dark – dark er –
darkest. Structurally adjectives are differentiated into simple (red, tall, fast), derived (eatable,
beautiful, useless), compound (color-blind, home-made, ice-cold) and compound-derived types.
(broad-shouldered, narrow-minded, etc.).
3. Syntactic features. Syntactically adjectives and adjective phrases are commonly used as
attributes (a pretty girl) and as predicatives, following the link verb in a clause (She is pretty).

The numeral

The problem of the grammatical categorization of numerals, as to which class of parts of

speech they should belong, is controversial. American and British linguists think that numerals
should be treated as a special class of function words as they form a restricted (limited) area of
English grammar. Others, Russian scholars mainly, consider that numerals should belong to the
notional (i.e. content, lexical) parts of speech, as they can be used independently in a sentence,
performing some syntactic function (Blokh 1983: 37). Numerals possess the following characte-
ristic features.
1. Semantic features. The categorical meaning of numerals is number. There are two sets of
numerals: cardinals (რაოდენობრივი), answering the question “How many?” ( two, four, sixteen)

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and ordinals (რიგობითი), answering the question “Which?” and serving to place entities in order
(first, second, fifth).
2. Morphological features. Structurally, numerals consist of a small set of simple forms (one,
ten, hundred, million) and a large set of derived cardinal and ordinal numerals (thirteen; twenty;
fifth; seventh) and compound numerals (25 = twenty-five, 2010 = two thousand and ten).
3. Syntactic features. Numerals are most commonly used in the role of:
attribute: Four people were arrested. The first lecture begins at 9 a.m.
subject: Two of the men were arrested. We have five lectures today. The first is Math.
object: There were some apples on the table. I took one and left the room.
predicative (following the link-verb): He was the third to leave the room.

The pronoun

The problem of the grammatical categorization of pronouns, as to which class of parts of

speech they should belong, is controversial. British and American linguists consider pronouns as
function word subclass, because they are devoid of independent lexical meaning and their system
is closed. Others, Russian scholars mainly, think that pronouns should belong to the notional (i.e.
content, lexical) parts of speech, as they can perform syntactic functions that of a subject, object
and attribute independently (Blokh 1983).
The categorical meaning of pronouns is indication or reference (მითითება). Pronouns fill
the position of a noun or a whole noun phrase. The reference of a pronoun is usually made clear
by its context. There are eight major classes of pronouns:
1. Personal pronouns refer to the speaker, the addressee (s) and other entities. They are used
more frequently than other pronouns. E.g.: I won’t tell you how it ended.
2. Demonstrative pronouns refer to entities which are “near to” or “away from” the
speaker’s immediate context: this book; that book; these books; those books.
3. Reflexive pronouns refer back to a previous noun phrase, usually the subject of the
clause: I taught myself. She never introduced herself.
4. Reciprocal pronouns, like reflexive pronouns, refer to a previous noun phrase, but
indicate that there is mutual relationship: They know each other pretty well.
5. Possessive pronouns have two forms:
possessive determinars, so-called conjoined forms, that are used attributively
preceding a noun (e.g.: my book, your sister, their neighbours);
absolute forms of possessive pronouns (such as mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs ),
which usually imply a missing noun head: This is my book. Where is yours ?
6. Indefinite pronouns have a broad, indefinite meaning. Structurally they are compound
(everything, nobody, somebody, someone, etc.) and simple (all, some, many, etc.).
7. Relative pronouns (who, whom, which, what, that, etc.) introduce an attributive relative
clause: He is the guy who told me about this.
8. Interrogative pronouns ask questions about unknown entities: What did he say?
Most relative and interrogative pronouns belong to the class of wh-words.

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 Study Questions:

1. Name the major families of words in modern English.

2. How are parts of speech defined in modern linguistics? Comment on the semantic, morpho-
logical and syntactic criteria of their differentiation.
3. Name and discuss seven characteristic features of lexical (i.e. content) words.
4. Name and discuss five characteristic features of function words.
5. Discuss the English inserts.
6. Discuss the difference between notional and functional parts of speech?
7. Characterize nouns (comment on their semantic, morphological and syntactic peculiarities).
8. Characterize adjectives (comment their semantic, morphological and syntactic peculiarities).
9. Why is the problem of numerals controversial?
10. Characterize numerals (comment on their semantic, morphological and syntactic peculia-
rities).
11. Why is the problem of pronouns controversial?
12. Discuss the main types of English pronouns.

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 Lecture 5

Verb, as the central part of speech. Its different classifications.

Grammatically verbs are the most complex and central part of speech. The centrality of the
verb implies the essential role they play in the expression of predicativity of the sentence. Besides
this, the finite verb, being the centre of predication, determines with its semantics the structural
configuration of the sentence. The centrality of the verb is also conditioned by the complex system
of its grammatical categories and various classifications according to their functional, semantic,
structural and valency characteristics.

1. Functional classification of verbs

According to their functions, verbs are divided into three major categories or classes: lexical or
full verbs, primary verbs and auxiliary modal verbs (Biber et al. 2003; Greenbaum & Quirk 1991).
1. The grammatical categorical meaning of lexical or full verbs is to denote action, process
or state dynamically, developing in time. The full verbs are only used as main verbs because of their
lexical meanings (e.g.: Every morning he goes to the office and comes back at eight). They belong to
an open class of words since the English language is always adding new verbs to denote new concepts.
E.g.: to download, to upload, to e-mail, etc.
2. There are only three primary verbs in Modern English: BE, HAVE and DO. These verbs
form a separate class because they can be used either as main verbs or as auxiliary verbs. Primary
verbs can act as main verbs when they realize their own lexical meaning.
a) BE denotes existence in general or existence in some location: Once there was a man
who had five sons; He is at home.
b) HAVE denotes possession or owning something: He has a big family – a wife and six
children. Nick has a new car.
c) DO denotes acting or performing something: They did everything to save the child.
When the primary verbs lose their lexical meaning they are used as auxiliaries:
a) The auxiliary BE is used to form the progressive/continuous aspect (He is having lunch;
Ben is writing a letter.) and the passive voice (Football is watched by millions of people).
b) The auxiliary HAVE is used to form the perfect and perfect progressive aspects:
I have just come home. It has been raining since morning.
a) The auxiliary DO is used to form negative statements and questions, and this is known
as “DO insertion”. For instance: Where do you live? He does not speak French at all.
3. Modal verbs (can, may, must, could, might, ought, have to, be to, be able to, shall, will,
should, would, need, etc.) are used only as auxiliary verbs to express ability (უნარი), possibility
(შესაძლებლობა), obligation (მოვალეობა), necessity (აუცილებლობა), volition (ნებელობა) or
prediction (წინასწარგანჭვრეტა, პროგნოზირება) of the action, process or state which is denoted
by the main verb. For instance, in the sentence – People thought he might have been joking. – the
modal might expresses possibility, while in the sentence – He would probably come. – the modal
would already expresses prediction of the action, denoted by the main verb.
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 2. Morphological classification of verbs

Verbs traditionally fall into two sets of morphological classes: 1) regular and irregular verbs,
and 2) finite and non-finite verbs.
1. The main principle of the morphological classification of verbs into regular and irregular is
the way how they form simple past and past participle forms. Regular verbs form past simple and
past participle by adding the inflectional suffix –ed (play - played - played), while irregular verbs
form them individually (give – gave - given).
2. The second morphological classification of verbs is based on the discrimination between
their finite and non-finite forms. They differ both in the number of their grammatical categories and
their syntactical functions.
There are three non-finite forms of the verb in English: the infinitive, the participle and the
gerund. The participle has two forms: present participle (participle I), which is formed with the help
of the inflectional suffix –ing (dancing, singing, etc.), and past participle (participle II) with the
inflectional suffix –ed for regular verbs and other means of word-forming for irregular verbs
(danced, brought, taken, etc.).

Finite forms are distinguished from the non-finites as follows:

1. Finite verbs can occur only INDEPENDENTLY as a simple predicate without copular
(link) verbs or modal auxiliaries (e.g. Nick speaks five languages.), while non-finite verb forms can
function as part of a complex verbal predicate ( Nick can speak five languages). They can also
perform other syntactic functions in a sentence. The most common functions of non-finite forms are
the following:
 Nick can speak five languages. (infinitive as part of a compound modal verbal predicate.)
 Dancing is my favorite pastime. (gerund as a subject)
 I like dancing. (gerund as a direct object)
 He sat on the sofa reading a book. (participle I as an adverbial modifier of attending
circumstances)
 He saw a dancing girl. (participle I as an attribute)
 There was a broken vase in the box. (participle II as an attribute)
2. Finite verbs have TENSE distinction (i.e. between present and past tenses: She works hard.
She worked hard.) while non-finite verb forms don’t have tense distinction, that is, they don’t have
the grammatical category of tense.
3. Finite verbs have grammatical categories of PERSON and NUMBER while non-finite verbs
don’t have any of them. There is a person and number concord between the subject of a clause and
its simple verbal predicate (e.g.: Nick swims well. he can swim well.)
4. Finite verbs have different forms to mark the grammatical category of MOOD, which
requires a choice between the indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood, while non-finite verb
forms are devoid of this grammatical category.
5. Both, finite and non-finite verbs have different grammatical forms for ASPECT distinction,
that is, distinction between the non-perfect and the perfect forms, on the one hand, and between
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the non-progressive/non-continuous and progressive/continuous forms, on the other. You can
compare these forms:
Finite verb forms:
• He writes poems. (non-perfect, non-progressive).
• He has written poems. (perfect: auxiliary have + participle II)
• He is writing poems. (progressive: auxiliary be + participle I)
• He has been writing poems. (perfect-progressive)

Non-finite verb forms (modal auxiliary must + bare infinitive):

• He must write poems. (bare infinitive, simple, non-perfect, non-progressive)
• He must have written poems. (bare infinitive, perfect, non-progressive)
• He must be writing poems. (bare infinitive, progressive, non-perfect)
• He must have been writing poems. (bare infinitive, perfect, progressive)
6. Both, finite and non-finite verbs (except the gerund) have different grammatical forms for
VOICE DISTINCTION. The active form of the verb shows that the action denoted by it is performed
by the subject of the sentence, while the passive form indicates that the action is performed upon
the subject. For instance:
He writes poems (active)
Poems must be written by him (passive)
He has written poems (active)
Poems must have been written by him (passive), etc.
Due to the above-mentioned grammatical categories of tense, person, number, aspect, voice
and mood, finite verbs are capable to perform independently syntactic function of a simple predicate
in a sentence, whereas the number of these categories being restricted to aspect and voice, non-
finite verb forms are devoid of this feature.

3. Structural classification of verbs

According to their structure, English verbs are divided into simple (i.e. root) verbs, derived
verbs, compound (composite) verbs and phrasal verbs.
1. Simple or root verbs consist of a content morpheme that cannot be subdivided any further
into smaller parts. Such verbs are not numerous. For instance: ask, go, play, take, tell,
declare, etc.
2. Derived verbs fall into four subclasses according to their word-building peculiarities:
a) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of conversion, i.e., zero-suffixation. The
most common type of conversion is “noun – verb” conversion, such as: a cloud – to
cloud; a house – to house; a park – to park, an iron – to iron, a book – to book, etc.
b) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of vowel interchange:
food – to feed; blood – to bleed; drop – to drip, etc.
c) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of replacing the stress:
'import – to im'port , 'transport – to trans'port; ′import – to im′port,
etc.
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 d) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of affixation (a root morpheme + prefix or
suffix). They represent the most common type of derivation. There are many deriva-
tional prefixes used to form new verbs in English:
re-: rebuild, rename, etc.
dis-: disarm, dislike, etc.
over-: overeat, overtire, etc.
un-: unload, unfold, etc.
mis-: misinform, misunderstand, etc.
out-: outbid, outdo, etc.
However, there are only a few derivational suffixes (realize, stabilize, lengthen, moisten,
activate, regulate, beautify, notify, etc.).
3. Compound (composite) verbs consist of two or more roots: blackmail, broadcast,
whitewash, etc.
4. Phrasal verbs are represented by two specific types:
a) the first is a combination of the head verb have, give and take (occasionally some
others) and a noun. Such phrasal verbs have ordinary simple verbal equivalents: to
have a smoke = to smoke; to give a smile = to smile; to take a stroll = to stroll;
b) The second is a combination of a head-verb with a preposition which determines the
semantics of the phrase. For instance: look at, look after, look for, look through, look
up, look out, etc.

4. Semantic classification of lexical verbs

American and British linguists differentiate seven semantic classes of English lexical verbs:
activity verbs, communication verbs, mental verbs, causative verbs, verbs of occurrence, verbs of
existence or relationship, and verbs of aspect (Biber et al. 2003; Greenbaum & Quirk 1995).
1. Activity verbs (მოქმედების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) usually refer to an action
performed intentionally by an agent or ‘doer’. Thus, in the following example, the subject performs
the action which is underlined: He bought biscuits and condensed milk.
According to Biber, Conrad and Leech (2003), there are twenty most commonly used activity
verbs in conversation, fiction, newspaper writing and academic prose. They are: bring, get, make,
play, take, buy, give, meet, put, try, come, go, move, run, use, follow, leave, pay, show, work.
2. Communication verbs (კომუნიკაციური აქტივობების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) form a
subclass of activity verbs that involve communication activities, particularly verbs describing
speaking and writing. For instance: You said you didn’t have it.
Corpus based grammar points out twelve most commonly used ‘communication’ verbs: ask,
talk, call, say, tell, claim, speak, shout, thank, describe, suggest, write and offer.
3. Mental verbs (გონებრივი მდგომარეობის და აქტივობების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები)
denote mental states and activities. Mental verbs express a wide range of meanings such as:
 mental states or processes (think, know, believe)
 attitudes or desires (love, want, wish, need)

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  perceptions (feel, see, touch, taste, smell)
 emotional attitudes (hate, like, love, etc.)
There are twenty most frequently used ‘mental’ verbs: believe, hear, feel, love, think, listen, read,
consider, remember, expect, see, understand, know, mean, want, like, find, need, suppose, wonder.
4. Causative verbs (კაუზატიური ზმნები), such as allow, let, enable, require, cause, force
and help indicate that some person or thing helps bring about a new state of affairs. These verbs
often occur with a derived noun as the direct object (i.e. complement), which reports the action or
event that was facilitated as in the examples below where such an object is underlined:
a) This information enables the formulation of precise questions.
b) Still other rules cause the deletion of elements from the structure.
5. Verbs of occurrence (მოვლენებისა და ხდომილების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) report
events that occur without an actor. Seven verbs of occurrence are especially common in English:
become, grow, change, happen, develop, occur, die.
The lights have changed.
This incident occurred many years ago.
6. Verbs of existence or relationship (ეგზისტენციური და ლოგიკური ურთიერთო–
ბების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) report a state of existence or a logical relationship that exists between
entities. Some of the most common existence verbs are copular verbs: be, seem, appear, go, grow,
look, feel, sound, smell, taste, remain, keep, turn, get, become, prove, exist, etc.
Witnesses said he appeared happy and relaxed.
It was growing dark when we set out.
7. Verbs of aspect (ასპექტური ზმნები) characterize the stage of progress of an event or
activity. These verbs usually occur with a non-finite complement clause following the verb. Some
common aspect verbs are: begin, start, commence, continue, proceed, keep, go on, stop, give up, etc.
He couldn’t stop talking about me.
Tears started to trickle down his cheeks.

5. Valency patterns

The finite verb, being the centre of predication, organizes the sentence structure. In other
words, the main verb, with its semantics, determines the configuration of other elements that are
required in the sentence. This combining power of the verb is called VALENCY. British and
American grammarians differentiate five major valency patterns of the verb in Modern English:
intransitive, mono-transitive, ditransitive, complex transitive and copular patterns (Biber et al.
2003: 119-123):
1. Intransitive pattern (S + V) is a combination of a subject and an intransitive verb (ქვემდე-
ბარის და გარდაუვალი ზმნის კომბინაცია). For instance: More people came. He sleeps badly.
2. Monotransitive pattern (S + V + DO) represents a subject-verb combination with a single
direct object (i.e. complement). Cf.: She was carrying a heavy bag. Tom has built a new house.
(გარდამავალი, ერთდამატებიანი მოდელი).

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 3. Ditransitive [dai'trænzitiv] pattern (S + V + IO + DO) represents a subject-verb combination
with two object phrases: an indirect object followed by a direct object. For instance: His father gave
him the money. They called him Johnny. (გარდამავალი, ორდამატებიანი მოდელი).
4. Complex transitive patterns (რთული გარდამავალი მოდელები) are represented by two
types in which a transitive verb occurs with a direct object followed either by an adjective (e.g.: The
boy made his mother angry.) or by an obligatory adverbial (e.g.: He put the book on the table.).
5. Copular pattern (S + Copula + P) represents a combination of a subject and a copular verb
followed by a predicative which is expressed by a noun, adjective, adverb or prepositional phrase.
For instance: She was a school teacher then. (predicative expressed by a noun)
Carrie felt a little less bold. (predicative expressed by an adjective)
She felt well. (predicative expressed by an adverb)

Study Questions:

1. What does the centrality of the verb imply?

2. How are verbs differentiated functionally?
3. Characterize lexical (full) verbs.
4. Name and characterize English primary verbs.
5. Name and characterize functionally modal verbs.
6. How are verbs classified morphologically?
7. Discuss the main principle of the differentiation of verbs into regular and irregular classes?
8. Name and comment on the non-finite forms of the verb.
9. How do finite forms of the verb differ functionally from the non-finite verb forms?
10. Name the structural classes of verbs. Give examples.
11. Describe the main types of derived verbs in modern English.
12. Describe the main types of phrasal verbs in modern English.
13. Name and characterize semantic classes of full verbs (7 classes).
14. What does the valency of verbs imply? Name the major valency patterns of verbs in English
grammar.

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 Lecture 6

The system of grammatical categories of the verb: person

and number, tense, aspect, voice, mood.

1. Grammatical categories of person and number

The categories of person and number are closely connected with each other. There is a
concord between the subject of a sentence and its finite verb predicate. That is, the subject
dominates the predicate determining the person and number of the predication , while the
predicate dominates the subject, ascribing to it some action, state or quality (e.g.: Ann plays the
piano every day. We play the piano every day.). Therefore, grammarians consider grammatical
categories of person and number as syntactically conditioned categories.

2. Grammatical category of tense

When we speak about the expression of time by the verb, it is necessary to distinguish
between the general notion of time and the grammatical time proper, which is called tense.
TIME, like space, is considered to be a universal form of existing things and phenomena that
are continually changing. Semantically time is represented by the present, future and past times.
The present coincides with the moment of speech-making. Anything ahead of the present
moment is in the future, and anything behind it is in the past.
TENSE (from Lat. tempus) is a grammatical time that is realized with the help of verbal
inflexion. Since English has no inflected form of the verb for expressing future time, the threefold
semantic opposition of time is reduced to two tenses: the present tense and the past tense
(Greenbaum & Quirk 1991: 47-48; Biber, Conrad & Leech 2003: 150-156).
The main principle of the morphological classification of English verbs is the way how they
form two of their forms: simple past and past participle (i.e. participle II). Accordingly verbs are
divided into two large groups: regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs form their past simple
and past participle by adding the inflectional suffix -ed while irregular verbs form these forms
individually.

Some means of expressing future time

In the absence of an inflectional future tense, there are several ways to express future time in
English.
1. The most common way to express future time is by means of modal auxiliaries will /shall +
the bare infinitive. E.g.: He will be here in half an hour. Shall I help you with the work?
2. The semi-modal to be going to + the bare infinitive is used to denote a projected (planned)
future action which is mainly associated with personal subjects and agentive verbs:
When are you going to get married?

12
3. Present progressive is usually used to denote a projected event that will occur in the nearest
future: I’m taking the children to the zoo next week. Ann is meeting her friends tomorrow.
4. The simple present tense is used to denote a future event which is certain to take place
according to the schedule: The train leaves at eight o’clock. The match starts at 2.30.
5. The simple present tense is used to denote a future event in conditional and adverbial clauses
of time: He’ll do it if you pay him. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from her.

3. Grammatical category of aspect

Aspect is a grammatical category that adds time meanings to those meanings of the verb
which are expressed by tense. The category of aspect answers the question: ‘Is the event or state
described by the verb completed or is it continuing?’
There are two aspects in English: perfect and progressive (sometimes known as continuous).
The perfect aspect usually describes events or states that took place during a preceding period of
time (I have sent him a letter .). It is formed analytically with the help of the auxiliary have + past
participle (participle II) of the main verb. The progressive or continuous aspect describes an event
or state in progress (I am writing my paper.). It is also formed analytically with the help of the
auxiliary be + present participle (participle I) of the main verb.
Both perfect and progressive aspects can be combined with present or past tense. E.g.:
They have been unhappy for a long time.
We had lived in Amsterdam for five years when Grandmother died.
He’s working in the garden.
I felt he wasn’t listening.
Verb phrases can be also marked for both aspects at the same time, which is known as perfect
progressive aspect. The perfect progressive is a hybrid form when the perfect and progressive
aspects are combined in the same verb phrase to refer to a temporary situation leading up to the
present (It has been raining since morning . - the present perfect continuous) or to some point in
the past (The fire had been raging for over a week when the fire-engines arrived. - the past
perfect continuous).
4. The category of voice
Most transitive verbs can occur in two voices: active and passive. The active voice shows that
the action described by the verb is performed by the subject of the sentence, while the passive form
indicates that the action is performed upon the subject:
The butler murdered the detective. (active voice)
The detective was murdered by the butler. (passive voice)
The active is an unmarked voice while the passive is a marked member of the voice opposition
as it is formed with the auxiliary be + the past participle of the main verb . Compared to active voice,
passive voice reduces the importance of the agent (i.e. the doer of the action).
E.g.: The house has been repaired and furnished.

13
 However, passive verb phrases can also be formed with the auxiliary get, and it is called “the
get-passive” (get caught, get dressed, get arrested, get run over, etc.). Get-passives are usually used in
conversation or in informal English. E.g.: It’s about these people who got left behind in Vietnam.
There are short and long passives. In short passives (also called agentless passives) the agent is
not specified while long passives contain a by-phrase which specifies the agent of the action. For
instance: The children were sent to the camp. (Short passive)
The children were sent to the camp by their uncle. (Long passive)

5. The category of mood

The category of mood is a morphological expression of modality. It marks the modality of

reality or unreality of an action or state as viewed by the speaker. Grammarians differentiate three
moods in modern English: the indicative mood, the imperative mood and the subjunctive mood.
The indicative mood presents an action as a real fact that happened in the past, is happening
now or will happen in future. That’s why it is called a real mood or a fact mood. The indicative
mood is rich in forms reflecting all grammatical categories of the finite verb (the categories of person
and number, tense, aspect and voice). For instance:
Nick speaks French and English fluently but I speak only German.
When I got to the station the train had already left.
The imperative mood actually does not give any information as to the reality of an action
described by the verb. An imperative mood typically urges the addressee to do or not to do
something. It is used to give orders or requests, and expects some action from the addressee. Most
imperative sentences don’t contain a subject in their surface structure. They are formed with the
help of the “bare” infinitive of the verb, that is, infinitive without the particle – to. For instance:
Get off the table. Don’t forget to send a letter to Nick.
A special type of imperative, which refers to the first or third person both singular and plural,
is formed according to the formula: let smb. do /not do smth:
Let’s take a taxi. Let him try this.
Although most imperative sentences lack a subject in their surface structure, it can be identi-
fied either by a subject pronoun you or a vocative address term:
You go home and go to sleep. (you as subject)
Melissa, take those things away. (Melissa as vocative)
The subjunctive mood presents an action as unreal or hypothetical. There are two forms of the
subjunctive mood: synthetic and analytical. Synthetic forms of the subjunctive mood are represen-
ted by the present and past subjunctive.
The form of present subjunctive coincides (ემთხვევა) with the infinitive of the verb. Present
subjunctive is used in certain set expressions: God bless you. Long live the King. God save the
Queen, etc.
Synthetic past subjunctive is identical in form with the simple past of the verb (e.g.: If I had
time, I would go and see her. ). The exception is the verb be which occurs in the past subjunctive as
were with all the persons both in singular and plural. Because of this, the past subjunctive is

14
sometimes referred to as “were-subjunctive”. The past subjunctive is hypothetical in meaning. It is
used mostly in conditional clauses and in object subordinate clauses after the verbs wish and
suppose:
If I were you, I would travel in Africa.
I wish he were here.
There are two analytical forms of the subjunctive mood:
a) The first form is homonymous with the past perfect. It is used in conditional clauses of the
third type (so called, “unreal for ever clauses”), expressing the situation which was not fulfilled in
the past. For instance: If I had lent him money he would not have committed a larceny. = ფუი რომ
მესესხებინა მისთვის, ის ქურდობას არ ჩაიდენდა.
b) the second form is represented by the mood auxiliaries should/would + indefinite or perfect
infinitive of the main verb. E.g.: If I had money I would go to the concert (second conditional). =
ფული რომ მქონდეს, კონცერტზე წავიდოდი. If I had had money, I would have gone to the
concert (third conditional). = ფული რომ მქონოდა, კონცერტზე წავიდოდი (ე.ი., ვერ წავედი
იმიტომ, რომ ფული არ მქონდა.)

Study Questions:

1. Comment on the grammatical categories of person and number of the verb. What does their
concord imply?
2. Define the notions of “time” and “tense”. Why is the grammatical category of tense in modern
English represented by a binary paradigm?
3. Discuss the main ways of expressing future time in English (5 cases).
4. What does the category of aspect imply? Name the main types of aspect in English and cha-
racterize them.
5. Characterize the perfect progressive aspect of the English verb. Give examples.
6. What is the essence of the grammatical category of voice? Comment on the semantic
distinction of voice forms.
7. Define the essence of the grammatical category of mood. Name its types in modern English.
8. Characterize the indicative mood.
9. Characterize the imperative mood.
10. What is the essence of the subjunctive mood? Comment on its forms.
11. Comment on the form and functional-semantic peculiarities of present subjunctive. Give
examples.
12. Comment on the forms and functional-semantic peculiarities of synthetic past subjunctive.
Give examples.
13. Comment on the analytical forms of the subjunctive mood and their functional-semantic
peculiarities. Give examples.
14.

15
 Lecture 7

What is syntax? Sentence, as the main unit of syntax. Syntactic

structure of the sentence: primary and secondary parts of the sentence.

We have already discussed the notion of “Grammar” and indicated that this term
derives from Greek (it means “art of letters” as in Greek gramma = letter) and it refers to the
study of morphology and syntax. We have already analysed the subject of morphology and
discussed its main problems. This time we are going to talk about syntax and determine its
subject. In university grammar text books syntax is defined as a branch of grammar that
studies a sentence, the rules of its formation, its structure and its different classifications.
Therefore a sentence is both the main unit and the subject of syntax as part of the
grammatical theory.
What is a sentence? When we speak or write, we convey our thoughts through
sentences. A sentence is the smallest unit which is capable of performing a communication,
transmitting some kind of information. With the help of a sentence we can make a
statement (“London is the capital of the UK.”), command or request (“Wash your hands
before eating.”) or ask a question (“Have you ever been to Paris?”). In written language a
sentence is a string of words standing between an initial capital letter and the mark of
punctuation at the end, while in spoken language a sentence is marked by s special
intonation (Fromkin et al. 2003; Talerman 1998).
The sentence as a lingual sign is based on predication in the centre of which stands a
finite verb. Due to this feature, the sentence can perform two essential functions:
a) designating function, as it denotes a target situation or event;
b) communicative function which implies transmitting some kind of information.
Syntactic structure of sentence. The sentence as a lingual sign designates (denotes) a
situation or event with its agent and objects, and also various conditions and circumstances
of its realization. This content of the target event forms the basis for the syntactic structure
of a sentence and its traditional division into its functional parts. Therefore is a structure in
which words are arranged to reflect a target situation or event.
The primary, i.e., obligatory parts of the sentence. A sentence is made up of the subject
and the predicate which are its main parts, and words which complete or modify the subject
and the predicate or the whole sentence, i.e. secondary (optional) parts of the sentence. The

16
subject and the predicate are obligatory members of the sentence as their removal destroy its
structure. They are immediate constituents of the sentence and most of English sentences
contain both a subject and a predicate forming a two-member sentence structure.
The predicate is always explicated by a finite form of the verb or verb phrase. It is
normally present in all clauses, including imperative sentences, where the subject is
typically absent. The verb with its semantics determines what other elements, apart from
the subject, may or must occur in the clause.
The subject is typically a noun, noun phrase or a pronoun in the nominative case
which normally occurs before the verb in declarative sentences (“My brother bought a new
car on Sunday.”) and after an auxiliary verb in “ yes-no interrogative sentences” (“Do you
speak English?”). The subject determines the number and person of the verb, which is
particularly clear with the verb be, the only conjugated verb in modern English ( I am; you
are; he/she/it is;, etc.) and third person singular, present tense of other verbs (“My father
works at this factory.”).
Impersonal sentences. There are sentences in which no agent is required. They are
considered as impersonal sentences. In such cases, the subject position may be filled by the
formal or dummy “it”, which is devoid of semantic content (i.e. lexical meaning) and only
replaces the subject position in a sentence structure. The formal it mainly occurs in
impersonal sentences denoting time (It’s morning. It’s ten o’clock precisely. ), atmospheric
conditions (It’s getting dark. It’s raining. ), and distance (It’s not very far to New York . It’s
just one more stop to Toronto.).
The secondary, i.e., optional parts of the sentence are represented by object, attribute
and adverbial modifiers which modify either the main and secondary parts of the sentence
or the whole sentence. The secondary parts of the sentence cannot form a sentence by
themselves and any of them might be removed without destroying its structure. By
removing optional elements we arrive at the basic (elementary, kernel) sentence. For
instance, if we remove the secondary parts from the sentence − He often works at the
library. – we’ll get a kernel sentence He works, while the removal of the subject or the
predicate will destroy the sentence (for instance, works at the library is not a sentence but a
word-group.).

17
 Syntactical characteristics of the secondary parts of the sentence are not as definite as
those of the principal ones. Their classification is based on grammatical and semantic
criteria.
The object is typically represented by a noun, noun phrase or a pronoun in the
objective case denoting a thing or a person which is grammatically connected with the verb
modifying it. The object usually follows the verb and if both objects are present, the indirect
object normally comes before the direct object. For instance, Justin poured David some
whisky is more frequent than Justin poured some whisky to David. The object may generally
become the subject of the corresponding passive clause as in this sentence: David was
poured some whisky by Justin.
The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which modifies an entity, expressed
by a head noun: a beautiful girl; a deep river, a clever boy, a broken glass, etc.
The adverbials modify the verbal predicate denoting either external relations (of time,
place, reason, purpose, etc.) or inner qualities of the actions and processes such as manner,
degree, and so on. There are some formal differences between the adverbials and objects:
1. First, adverbials of external relations may modify the whole sentence, while
objects are grammatically connected only with the verb.
2. Second, objects make the grammatical structure of the sentence complete
whereas adverbial modifiers are usually used to make the meaning of the
sentence complete.
3. Finally, the position of the object is fixed in English, it follows the verb, while
adverbial modifiers (especially adverbials of external relations) are relatively free
as to their position in the sentence. For example:
I met a friend of mine on the way to the college.
On the way to the college I met a friend of mine.
Thus, a sentence is a certain structure built up of elements some of which are
obligatory for the sentence while others are optional for they may be removed away without
destroying the sentence as a grammatical structure. By removing optional elements we
arrive at the basic (elementary, kernel) sentence.
No matter how long a sentence might be, one can always arrive at its base. And basic
sentences constitute a rather limited set of sentence types in English.

18
 Study Questions:
1. What is syntax? What does it study?
2. How is a sentence traditionally defined in university grammar books? Comment on
the sentence definition in written and spoken languages.
3. Define the essence of sentence as a lingual sign. What are its two main functions?
4. Comment on the syntactic structure of a sentence and its relation to the target event or
situation.
5. Characterize the primary (obligatory) parts of the sentence.
6. How is the predicate presented in the sentence?
7. How is the subject presented in the sentence?
8. Comment on the impersonal sentences and their semantic subtypes. Give examples.
9. Name and give a general characterization of the secondary (optional) parts of the
sentence.
10. Characterize the object (complement).
11. Characterize the attribute.
12. Characterize the adverbials. Comment on the difference between them and the objects
of the sentence.

19
 Lecture 8

Different classifications of sentences: communicative and

structural types of English sentences. Structural-semantic
classification of composite sentences.

1. Communicative types of sentences

According to the purpose of communication sentences are classified into four main
types: declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentences (Quirk, Greenbaum,
Leech).
1. The declarative sentence expresses a statement which might be affirmative or
negative. For instance: “It was getting dark and the streets looked deserted.”
2. The imperative sentence expresses inducement. It urges the listener, in the form
of request or command, to perform or not to perform a certain action and expects a verbal or
action response from the addressee, showing that the inducement is either fulfilled or
rejected ("Shut the piano, Dinny. Let’s go and sit down up there." Diana closed the piano
without noise and rose.
3. The interrogative sentence expresses a question, i.e. a request for information
wanted by the speaker from the listener. Because of this, the interrogative sentence is always
connected with an answer, forming together with it a question-answer adjacency pair. for
instance:
- Did you know about it?
- No, I had no idea about it. / Yes, I did.
There are four main types of questions in English. They differ from each other by the
type of reply they expect. These types of questions are:
 YES-NO QUESTIONS (that is, general questions) that expect affirmation or
negation in answer:
- Have you brought my book?
- Yes. / No.
 SPECIAL QUESTIONS (so called WH-questions) which are formed with the help of
one of the interrogative words ( who, whom, whose, what, which, when, where, how, why )
and which expect an answer from an open range of replies. For instance:
- What’s your name? - How old are you?
- Nick / Ann/ David. - 18/20/52.

20
  ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS which expect a reply to one of two or more options
presented in the question:
- Would you like to go for a walk or stay at home?
- I’d rather stay at home.
 TAG QUESTIONS in which the inducement is expressed by a tag question added to a
statement which is given in the form of a declarative sentence.
- Joan recognized you, didn’t she?
- The boat hasn’t left, has it?
4. The exclamatory sentence expresses the emotion of the speaker to something in an
initial phrase which is introduced by the lexemes what and how. For instance:
What a fine watch he received for his birthday!
How nice to see you again!

2. Structural types of sentences

General characterization of structural types of sentences. Depending on the number of

the grammatical subject-predicate relationship, sentences in English are divided into simple
and composite. Simple sentences are “monopredicative” by structure as they contain one
subject-predicate relationship, while composite sentences are “polypredicative” since they
comprise two or more subject-predicate relationships. Simple sentences are subdivided into
one-member and two-member sentences whereas composite sentences are subdivided into
compound and complex ones.
A two-member sentence pattern is typical in English. There are two structural types of
two-member simple sentences: unexpanded (განუვრცობელი) and expended
(განვრცობილი). The unexpanded simple sentence is formed only by obligatory members
such as the subject, the predicate, and the direct object, when necessary. For example: The
boy is sleeping. Tom wrote a letter. The expanded simple sentence includes both the
obligatory members and some optional secondary members (indirect object, attributes or
adverbial modifiers). For instance, The tall trees by the island shore were shaking violently
in the wind. – is an expanded simple sentence where − The trees were shaking – is the
subject-predicate kernel, which is expanded with the help of some optional secondary

21
parts: tall is an attribute to the subject; by the island shore − adverbial modifier of place;
violently − adverbial modifier of manner; and in the wind − prepositional object.
One-member sentences contain only one principal member of the sentence which is
not related to the other principal member. There are two kinds of one-member sentences in
modern English:
a) substantival one-member sentences like: Morning. Autumn. What a nice
house!
b) verbal one-member sentences that are mainly represented by impersonal
sentences in which no agent is required, and because of this, the position of the subject is
assumed by the formal “it”. Impersonal sentences are used to denote:
atmospheric conditions: It’s getting dark. It’s raining. It was very cold
yesterday.
time: It’s morning. It’s ten o’clock. It’s my birthday next Sunday .
distance: It’s not very far from here. It’s just one stop to the Opera House .

3. The composite sentence

A composite sentence is a sentence which contains two or more clauses. A clause is a

unit consisting of a subject (which may sometimes be ‘dummy’) and a predicate. Clauses may
be independent (i.e. coordinate თანწყობილი) and dependent (i.e. subordinate
ქვეწყობილი). Independent clauses are of the same rank as they are independent from each
other, while subordinate clauses are always embedded (contained) within the main clause.
Hence they are also known as embedded clauses.

Structural-semantic types of composite sentences

According to the type of clauses, the composite sentence may be subdivided into two
structural-semantic classes of sentences: compound and complex.
A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses which have equal
syntactic status that of the main clause. There are no syntactic restrictions on their order,
although the sentence may not make good sense. For example, – The wind blew and the
rain poured. – is a compound sentence because it consists of two independent clauses: The
wind blew and the rain poured.

22
 Different from a compound sentence, a complex sentence consists of one main clause
and one or more subordinate clauses. The terms ‘main’ and ‘subordinate’ imply that the
clauses in the complex sentence do not have the same syntactic status. Subordinate clauses
are always embedded either within the main clause or within another subordinate clause.
For instance:
When the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince. (adverbial clause of time)

4. Types of connection of clauses in a composite sentence

Clauses in a composite sentence may be linked syndetically, asyndetically and with the
help of inverted word-order.
1) Clauses are connected syndetically when they are linked by means of
coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and connective words such as adverbs and
pronouns. For in-stance: It was very cold and the children stayed at home; I know where he
lives; I know what he said.
The conjunctions and, or and that are not members of the sentences whereas
connective words where, when, which, whose, etc. are parts of the subordinate clauses:
where is an adverbial modifier of place, when is an adverbial modifier of time, what is an
object, etc. For instance: I know where he lives; I know when he will arrive.
2) Clauses are connected asyndetically when they are linked without a conjunction
or a connective word. In writing, clauses are linked asyndetically mostly by means of
punctuation marks (i.e., by a comma, a semicolon, or a colon; e.g.: I have only one
explanation: I hate you.), while in speaking clauses are joined within the sentence by means
of intonation.
3) In conditional clauses the inverted word order serves as a means of subordination
which is equivalent to a conjunction. For instance, Had she been near him, she would have
told him everything. – is a complex sentence with an adverbial clause of condition with
inverted word order that makes the use of the conjunction if unnecessary (If she had been
near him…).

Study Questions:

23
1. Name communicative types of English sentences. Comment on the essence of the
declarative sentence. Give examples.
1. Comment on the essence of the imperative sentence. Give examples.
2. Comment on the main types of questions in English (four of them). Give examples.
3. Comment on the exclamatory sentence. Give examples.
4. Give a general characterization of the main structural types of sentences (simple and
composite).
5. Discuss a two-member sentence patterns according to structural types. Give
examples.
6. Discuss the types of one-member sentences. Give examples.
7. Give a general characterization of the composite sentence. Define the notion of a
clause and comment on its main types.
8. Comment on the structural-semantic types of the composite sentence.
9. Name the types of connection of clauses in a composite sentence (3 types). Discuss
the syndetical connection. Give examples.
10. Discuss asyndetical connection of clauses. Give examples.
11. Comment on the connection via the inverted word order. Give examples.

24
 Lecture 9

Functional-semantic types of subordinate clauses

Subordinate clauses may function as subject, predicative (i.e. subject complement),

object (i.e. predicate complement), relative (i.e. attributive clauses) and adverbial clauses of
the complex sentence. On the basis of their potential functions, British and American
grammarians (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, Tallerman and others) distinguish three major
categories of subordinate clauses: nominal, relative (i.e. attributive) and adverbial clauses.

1. Nominal subordinate clauses

Like noun phrases, nominal clauses may function as subject, predicative (i.e. subject
complement), and objects (i.e. predicate complements such as direct, indirect and
prepositional object clauses). Semantically the clauses are abstract as they denote events,
facts, and ideas.
1. Complex sentences with subject subordinate clauses. There are two types of
complex sentences with subject clauses in English:
a) The first type of subject clause precedes the main clause which is incomplete, the
clause functioning as the subject of the complex sentence. This type of subject clause can be
introduced by the conjunctions that, what and whether. For example:
That Chris liked Lee so much didn’t surprise me.
Whether she liked the present is not clear to me.
b) The second type of subject clause follows the main clause which begins with the
introductory or dummy it :
It was evident that he did not understand anything;
It is a miracle how he managed to escape the danger.
In such sentences, the introductory it and the subject clause form a compound subject
of the main clause in which the dummy it constitutes its formal part while the subject clause
represents its lexical part.
2. Complex sentences with predicative clauses. Predicative clause performs the
function of the nominal part of the predicate, following the link verb, so-called ‘copula’. Tne
most frequently used copula (link verb) is be, and less frequently used links are seem and

25
look. The use of other links is occasional. The predicative clause, like other nominal clauses,
can be introduced by the conjunctions that, whether, as if and as though. For example:
The trouble is that I don’t know him at all.
She looks as though she has never met him.
3. Complex sentences with object (predicate complement) clauses. Complement
clauses function as an object to the verbal predicate of the main clause. Object clauses may
be non-prepositional (I noticed that he spoke English well enough.) and prepositional (I’m
sorry for what I said to you yesterday.).
The preposition may sometimes occur at the end of the subordinate clause. Such a
proposition is called detached (განკერძოებული) or end-preposition. For example, we have
detached prepositions in these sentences:
I don’t understand what they are talking about.
I wonder what you are looking at.

2. Types of relative clauses

Relative (i.e., attributive) clauses modify a head noun. They are embedded within the
main clause with the help of relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which), relative
adverbs (when, where, how, why) or by the subordinating conjunction that. Relative clauses
are classi-fied into four main types: restrictive (დამაკონკრეტებელი,
მაიდენტიფიცირებელი), descriptive (i.e., non-restrictive აღწერითი), continuative
(განგრძობითი) and appositive (დამაზუსტებელი).
1) The restrictive relative clause performs a purely identifying function as it singles
out the referent of the antecedent which is always preceded by the definite article “ the”. In
other words, this type of relative clauses restricts the possible class of things just to the
subset that the speaker wants to talk about. For example, in the sentence − "I met the
students who had not read the book" – the speaker implies that he didn’t just meet all the
students, but only those ones who hadn’t read the book.
2) The descriptive relative clause denotes some characteristic of the antecedent
which is always preceded by the indefinite article “a/an”. For instance, in the complex
sentence − “At last we found a place where we could make a fire.”− the relative clause is
descriptive.
26
 3) The continuative relative clause gives some additional information about the
ante-cedent represented by a proper name which refers to a concrete individual or entiry,
thus developing the chain of situations denoted by the sentence as a whole. For instance, "I
phoned to Mr. Smith, who recognized me at once and invited me to his office."
4) The appositive relative clause refers to a substantive antecedent of abstract
seman-tics, defining or clarifying its concrete meaning in the context. Therefore, appositive
clauses are nearer to restrictive clauses than the rest of relative clauses. According to the
type of the antecedent (i.e. head noun), all the appositive clauses fall into three groups:
a) appositive clauses which modify abstract nouns like fact, idea, question,
suggestion, news, information, etc.. For instance:
The news / that John had married Helen / made a stir among their friends.
The fact / that he has lost all his money / is a great shock for him.
b) appositive clauses which modify abstract names of adverbial relations, such as
time, moment, place, condition, purpose, etc. which are usually preceded by the definite
article the:
“We saw him at the moment (when) he was opening the door.”
“I remember the time (when) we went to school together.”
“They did it with the purpose that no one might escape the punishment.”
c) appositive clauses which define the meaning of the antecedent represented by
inde-finite or demonstrative pronouns:
“I can’t agree with all / what you are telling me.”
“Everything / what you see in this room / is yours.”

Study Questions:
1. Comment on the major functional-semantic types of subordinate clauses.
1. Characterize complex sentences with subject subordinate clauses. Give examples.
2. Characterize predicative (subject complement) clauses. Give examples.
3. Characterize object (predicate complement) clauses. Give examples.
4. Give a general characterization of English relative clauses. Name their main types (4).
5. Comment on the restrictive relative clause. Give examples.
6. Comment on the descriptive relative clause. Give examples.
7. Comment on the continuative relative clause. Give examples.
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8. Comment on the appositive relative clause. Give examples.

Underline and define the kind of subordinate clauses:

1. The trouble with you is that you are always looking for a master.
2. Suddenly he caught sight of Miss Nellie who was walking on the other side of the
street.
3. What he would do next he did not know.
4. What you saw tonight was an ending.
5. It looks as though spring will never come.
6. Rachel had become aware of the fact that she was talking loudly.
7. She could not admit that they were unhappy at this moment.
8. It is odd how it hurts at these times not to be part of your proper family.
9. Everybody who makes this kind of blunder should apologize.
10. I cannot help thinking there is something wrong about that closet.
11. I could not understand anything she mumbled in her despair.
12. George was a postgraduate at Cambridge where he had previously taken a degree in
economics.
13. That is all I can tell you.
14. He looked as if he had never seen her before.
15. It seems as if all these years I've been living under false pretences.
1. Nick could not remember where he had seen her.
2. He spent most of his time in London where he had a formidable number of well-
known patients.
3. Mr. Brown, who kept no assistant, slowly got off his stool to open the door.
4. I felt as if death had laid a hand on me.
16. Nobody could tell where the Browns lived.
17. That he had committed suicide was not known to anyone yet.
18. At last the police caught the man who had murdered the butler.
19. I wonder where he has disappeared so long.
20. The problem is that none of you knows his address.
21. Nick did not like the idea, that he was to stay at home to look after the dog.
22. Whether Ann would marry David was not decided yet.
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23. I remember the day when I first saw him at the University.
24. He felt as though he would never recover after that shock.
25. Can you tell me where you have been all this time?
26. Suddenly he caught sight of Helen who was walking with s tall man on the other
side of the street.

Lecture 10
Functional-semantic types of adverbial clauses.

Adverbial clauses refer and define a verb, an adjective or an adverb of the main clause.
They are usually joined to the main clause by means of subordinating conjunctions. When
an adverbial clause precedes the main clause it is separated from the main clause with a
comma. On the basis of their functional-semantic peculiarities, British and American
grammarians subdivide adverbial clauses into four groups:
1. The first group is represented by clauses of time and place;
2. The second group includes clauses of manner and comparison;
3. The third group is represented by the clauses of attendant circumstances
(თანმხლები გარემოების დამოკიდებული წინადადება), condition, cause,
purpose, result and concession (დათმობითი დამოკიდებული წინადადება);

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 4. The fourth group of adverbial clauses is formed by parenthetical, i.e., insert
clauses.

1. The first group includes adverbial clauses of time and of place – temporal
(answering the question when), and spatial (answering the question where).
Adverbial clauses of time are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions when, as,
since, before, after, until, as soon as, now that, etc. For example:
• We lived in London when the war ended.
• After the war ended, our family moved to Glasgow.
Adverbial clauses of place are introduced by the subordinating conjunction where,
which can be sometimes preceded by the prepositions from and to. For instance:
• The swimmers gathered where the beach formed a small mound.
• We decided to go back from where we had started on our journey.
2. The second group comprises adverbial clauses of manner and comparison. They
denote “qualification”, as both of them modify the action or event denoted by the main
clause.
Adverbial clauses of manner characterize the action expressed by the verb answering
the question HOW? They are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions: as, as if and
as though:
• He spent the evening as he had been told. (How did he spend the
evening?)
• You talk to him as if he were your Boss. (How do you talk to him?)
Adverbial clauses of comparison (შედარებითი დამოკიდებული წინადადებები)
are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions: as … as (ისე ... როგორც), not so … as
(არა ისე ... როგორც), than (ვიდრე). For instance:
• That summer he took a longer holiday than he had done before.
• Mary received the guests as nicely as her )mother would have done.
• It is not so hot today as it was yesterday.
3. The third group of adverbial clauses is most numerous. It includes clauses of
attendant circumstances, condition, cause, purpose and result.
Adverbial clauses of attendant circumstances are introduced by the subordinating
conjunc-tions while and as which express simultaneity of the events described in the

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complex sentence (თანხმლები გარმოების დამოკიდებული წინადადება, რომელიც
თანადროულ, პარალე-ლურ სიტუაციას ან ხდომილებას აღნიშნავს). For instance:
• While(as) the reception was going on, Mr. Brown talked to his business
partners.
• While (as) Mother was making supper in the kitchen, I did all my lessons.
When it precedes the main clause, a subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction
while may sometimes express contrast rather than simultaneity of actions. In such cases, we
have to deal with an adverbial clause of contrast. (ზოგჯერ, როდესაც while კავშირით
შემოყვანილი დამოკიდებული წინადადება წინ უსწრებს მთავარ წინადადებას, ის
იძენს კონტრას-ტულობის მნიშვნელობას და შესაბამისად გადაიქცევა კონტრასტულ
დამოკიდებულ წინადადებად). For instance:
• He wears fine clothes while I go in rags.
(მას დახვეწილად აცვია, მაშინ როდესაც მე ძონძებში დავდივარ.)
• While I am weak from hunger he suffers from overfeeding.
(მაშინ როდესაც მე შიმშილისგან ვარ დასუსტებული, ის გაძღომისგან
იტანჯება.)
Conditional adverbial clauses (პირობითი გარემოებითი წინადადებები) view the
stated condition either as possible or real at present (როგორც რეალურად შესაძლებელს
ახლა), or hypothetical, i.e. unreal at present or unreal in the past, therefore for ever
(ჰიპოთეტურს, ანუ არარეალურს ამჟამად ან არარეალურს წარსულში და ამდენად
სამუდამოდ ჰიპოთეტურს) Accordingly, grammarians speak about three subtypes of
conditional clauses: real, unreal at present and unreal for სამუდამდ ever. Conditional
clauses are mainly introduced by two subordinating conjunctions if and unless (which is
equivalent of - if not). Less frequently they may be introduced by such phrases as: in case
(that), on condition (that), provided (that), supposing (that), whether or not, so/as long as,
etc.
a) Real conditional clauses denote that the condition is possible or real. For
instance:
• Read the paper if you don’t believe me!
• We won’t go to the party unless you feel we have to.
• In case our team wins, it will be the new champion.

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 b) The second subtype of conditional clauses , which is called hypothetical 1,
indicates that the condition is not fulfilled as it is unreal at present, and unlikely to happen
in the future. Because of this, hypothetical 1 is also known as unreal at present. For instance,
• If you drove carefully, you would not have so many accidents.
(Meaning: You do not drive carefully, so you do have many accidents.)
• If I were you, I would never do that.
• If I had money, I would buy a jaguar.
c) The third subtype of conditional clauses , which is called hypothetical 2, describes
the conditions and results that were/or were not fulfilled in the past, and, therefore, they are
unreal for ever. For instance, If you had brushed your teeth carefully, you would have had
fewer cavities.
Hypothetical conditional clauses can be sometimes introduced by the inverted word
order:
 Had you driven more carefully, you would not have had so many accidents.
 Were the truth known, public opinion would change.
 Should it rain tomorrow, we will have to stay at home.
Causal adverbial clauses (მიზეზის გარემოებითი წინადადება) indicate the cause of
the action expressed in the main clause. They are introduced by the conjunctions because,
as, since, for, for the reason that, on the ground that, considering that, seeing that . For
instance:
• Since you don’t like to live England, I’ll take you back to France.
• David was alone at home for Helen had gone to see her parents.
• I opened my umbrella because/as it was raining.
Clauses of purpose (მიზნის გარემოებითი წინადადება) are introduced by the
conjunctions that, lest, in order that and so that followed by the verbs may (might) or
should as part of its predicate. For example:
• He stepped back so that she might see everything well.
• The captain spoke Pidgin Italian in order that I might understand him perfectly.
Adverbial clauses of result (შედეგის გარემოებითი წინადადება) tell the results of
the events described in the main clause. Adverbial clauses of result may be connected with
the main clause in two ways:

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 a) They can be introduced by the conjunction that, which is correlated with the
pronoun such or adverb so in the main clause (i.e. so … that; such … that):
• He was so tired that he could hardly move.
• She was such a lovely baby that her parents adored her.
b) They can be introduced by the phrasal conjunction so that or so. For instance:
• In the centre there were candlesticks, brass but polished, so that they shone
like gold.
• We paid him immediately, so (that) he left contented.
Adverbial clauses of concession (დათმობითი გარემობითი წინადადება) express
some circumstance despite which the action denoted by the main clause is performed. In
other words, adverbial clauses of concession convey an idea that contrasts with the main
idea of the sentence. Clauses of concession are introduced by the conjunctions though, and
although, and connectors ending in – ever (e.g.: however, whoever, whenever, etc.). For
instance:
• Though she was very tired, she decided to go to the party.
• Whoever calls, I’m not at home.
• However tempting the offer might be, Jim cannot accept it.
4. The fourth group of adverbial clauses is formed by parenthetical, that is, insert
constructions. Parenthetical clauses are inserted in the main clause on a looser basis than the
other types of adverbial clauses; still, they do form with the main clause a syntactical
sentence, which is easily proved by the procedure of diagnostic elimination. For instance, in
the sentence − Jack has called here twice this morning, if am not mistaken. − the elimination
of the parenthetical clause in the second one changes the meaning of the whole sentence
from problematic to assertive one. Parenthetical clauses may occur initially, finally, or
medially, and they are separated from the main clause by commas. For instance:
• Kingston, as you probably know, is the capital of Jamaica.
According to the introducing conjunctions, parenthetical clauses can be of two types:
a) coordinate, when it is inserted in the sentence by the coordinating conjunction
and:
Jim said, and I quite agree with him, that Helen is very stubborn.
b) subordinate, when it is inserted in the sentence by a subordinating conjunction:

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 Jim said, though I don’t quite agree with him, that Helen is very stubborn.

Study Questions:
1. Give a general characterization of functional-semantic types of adverbial clauses.
2. Characterize adverbial clauses of time and place. Give examples.
3. Characterize adverbial clauses of manner and comparison. Give examples.
4. Characterize adverbial clauses of attendant circumstances. Give examples.
5. Characterize conditional adverbial clauses. Give examples.
6. Characterize adverbial clauses of cause and purpose. Give examples.
7. Characterize adverbial clauses of result. Give examples.
8. Characterize adverbial clauses of concession. Give examples.
9. Characterize parenthetical (insert) clauses. Give examples.

Underline and define the kind of subordinate clauses:

1. He too had moved and was now standing where she had been a moment before.
2. If anything particular happens, you can write to me at the post-office, Ipswich.
3. Gladys leaned forward and then turned her head so that she should look Andrew
almost squarely in the face.
4. I could work faster of your iron were only hotter.
5. He was made so miserable by the news that he could hardly speak.
6. Howard puffed his cigarette thoughtfully before speaking, as if he didn’t know what to
say.
7. His wife, as I have said, was small and talkative.
8. No matter how brilliant a physician Nick might be, Diana's case will ruin his career.
9. His smile was so easy and friendly, that Laura recovered.
10. I was in real distress, as I can tell you.
11. If I had lent him money, he would not have committed the felony.
12. They went into the grill-room for dinner, since none of them were dressed.
13. While he was speaking, Joseph returned bearing a basin of milk-porridge, and placed it
before Linton.
14. This visit had been planned to produce in Annette and her mother a due sense of his
possessions, so that they should ready to accept any proposal from Soames Forsyte.

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15. Although it happened to him so many times, he could not reconcile himself with the
idea of being ignored so openly.
16. On that night, at about nine o'clock, as they were nearing the south shore, they met a
young man walking towards the Inn.
17. I do not wish to see you unless you apologize.
18. Since he had a certain talent for composition, his English master encouraged him to
write little pieces.
19. I enjoyed that day, though it was cold and it rained during the whole journey.
20. He was so weak physically, that he could hardly move.
21. She often enjoyed Annette's company, though the child made her nervous.
22. As soon as they entered the house, a violent thunderstorm broke out.
23. I crouched against the wall of the gallery so that I should not be seen.
24. Three years have passed since he abandoned his family.
25. If I were you, I would tell him the truth.
26. Although it was still very early, there were a lot of people in the street.
27. He returned home very late so that his parents would not bother him with
questions.

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