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THE STRUCTURE
OF ENGLISH
A PRACTICAL GRAMMAR
FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS

BY

F.L.SACK, PH.D.,M.A.

A.FRANCKE LTD., BERNE

Copyright 1954 by A. Francke Ltd., Berne

Printed by Stampfli & Cie., Berne

Printed in Switzerland
 — Ill

Preface

This Grammar, together with its companion volume "English Exer-

cises.^ ",is intended for the advanced student at a higher secondary
school, college, or university, and for the "Old Boy" who wishes to
brush up his English and reach that degree of proficiency where the
correct English expression of a thought words, forms, sentence-pattern,
:

comes to him naturally and without the help of his mother tongue.

Why grammar? As grammar is, at best, considered a necessary

evil, a few words be said to vindicate its right to exist. A child learns
may
its mother tongue by pure imitation and unconscious analogy and may
pick up a second language, even a third, "the easy way". So why should
not a grown-up person learn "naturally", merely by listening, reading,
and speaking ? The thousands of immigrants in America who even after
years of residence in the new country speak a broken or faulty English
provide the answer. An adult, even an adolescent, cannot, as a rule,
"pick up a language". It is not only that his memory is less impression-
able, but his mental consciousness has become sharper, so that speech
habits of his native tongue intrude when he is speaking a foreign lan-
guage. That means he is apt to arrange the words of the new language
according to the patterns to which he is used. A Frenchman is inclined
to say " I am here for two months", by analogy with « Je suis ici depuis
deux mois». Once his attention is directed to the specific English speech
pattern, there is a good chance that he will in future use the correct
form " I have been here for two months". It is the function of grammar
to sharpen the student's observation and to help him recognise "what
is done".

The snags of English. The difficulties of learning English vie with the
weather as a popular topic of conversation when English people and fo-
reigners meet. In the one case as in the other there is generally complete
agreement. As regards English, the opinion prevails that the language
would be easy to learn if it were not for the chaotic spelling. Now th,e
truth is (as Ch. Ill sets out to prove) that spelling is not chaotic at all.
On the other hand, the difficulties of syntax are considerable. In them-
selves the patterns are simple enough, but English abounds in alterna-
tive constructions: simple tense and progressive tense, who/ which and
that, gerund and infinitive, etc. What is the sphere of application of
each? How do they differ? And to complicate matters still further,
written English and spoken English frequently go different ways.

The ideal grammar-book will be clear, accurate, reliable, and rea-

sonably complete, simple in its explanations, and entertaining in its
examples. It has not yet been written, but perhaps a kind critic will find
in the present work an approximation to the ideal. Anyway, my endeav-
our was

^ A completely revised edition of « English Exercises », published by Messrs.

Fran eke, is in preparation.
 — IV —
(a) to present a clear picture of the essential structural features of
English, carefully distinguishing between main rule (i. e. pattern of
usage) and minor rule or exceptions;
(b) to explain the differences between alternative constructions, and in
particular to differentiate between written and spoken English;
(c) to use simple language, with a minimum of technical terms;
(d) to give examples that are natural and not too dull;
(e) finally so to choose the type and so to arrange each page that the
student with a visual memory will have the greatest possible help.
As regards method, book is a compromise: Mainly it is a functional
this
grammar, i. e. it sets out to answer such questions as "How do we
express past action in English?" or "What means has the language of
expressing obligation?" But a strict consistency in the observance of this
principle would have obscured rather than shown up certain important
patterns, and therefore the other method, starting from the form, has been
adopted occasionally.
Acknovvlcdgements. On p. VIII I have indicated the scholarly and
practical works to which I am chiefly indebted. Here I wish to acknow-
ledge the assistance that was afforded to me personally. My thanks are
due to Mrs. M. D. Hottinger-Mackie, M. A., whose criticism in the initial
stage of the book I found very wholesome, MissE.Raybould, Ph.D., and
Miss M. Schubiger, Ph.D., with whom I was able to discuss a few* moot
points, Mr. N.H. G. Lawless of Berne, who read the greater part of the
MS and offered many valuable suggestions, and Professor Daniel Jones,
who kindly checked Chapter II.
I am under thegreatest obligation to Dr. Fredrick T.Wood of Sheffield
for his very generous help. Dr. Wood read nearly the whole of the proofs
and let me have the full benefit of his vast knowledge and unfailing
judgement where finer shades of meaning and usage of rival constructions
were concerned. Considerations of space prevented me from making full
use of all his comments. Any shortcomings and errors are, of course, to
be laid at my door.
Finally I wish to thank Mr. C.E.Lang, head of the publishing firm of
Messrs. Francke, for his kindness and encouragement.

Wabern-Berne, May 1954. F.L.Sack

 _ V —

Table of Contents

History of English. Phonology

page
I. History of the English Language 1-6 1

II. Pronunciation 3
A. The English sounds. Consonants 8-13. Vowels 15-19.
B. Connected speech. Sense-groups 20. Word- and sen-
tence-stress 21-24. Rhythm 25.

III. Word-stress 26-33 11

IV. Spelling and Pronunciation 15

Vowels 35-40. Consonants 41-46.
Capital letters 47. Separation of syllables 48.

Accidence
V. Article and Noun 23
Definite and indefinite articles 49, 50. Gender 51-53.
Plural 54-56. Case 57-60.
VI. Pronouns 27
A. Personal and possessive pr. 61-64. B. Other pr. 65.
VII. Adjective 29
Form, position 66. Comparison 67-74. - Adverb 75-77.
VIll. Numbers 33
Cardinal numbers 78, 79. Ordinal numbers 80, 81.

IX. Verb 35
A. Simple tenses. Survey; full and short forms 82-84.
Tenses in detail 85-94. Strong and weak verbs
95-97.
B. Progressive tenses 98. C. Passive tenses 99.
D. Subjunctive 100. E. Auxiliaries 101-103.

The Sent en ce
X. Order of Words 45
Main rule 105. Object 106. Adverbial 107-112. Deviation
from the normal word-order 113-119. Emphatic speech
120, 121.
XL Questions 52
Main rule 123. Interrogative pronouns 124-129. Questions
in reported speech 130, 131.
XII. Negation 132-135 56

XIII. Auxiliaries 57
do 136. be 137. have 138-145. - Tag-phrases 146-151.
 — VI —
page
XIV. Intonalion 152-161. - Pimctuation 162 63
XV. Sentence Structure 68
Subject 163, 164. Predicate 165-169. Adverbial 170, 171.
Noun-group 172. Clipped speech 173.

The Noun-group
XVI. Number of nouns 73
Countable and uncountable nouns 174-176. Words with
special plural meaning 177. Collective nouns 178.

XVII. Determination of the noun 76

A. Articles 181-191.
B. Emphatic determinatives, this/that 192-194. the
one - those 195. such; so 196-198.
XVIII. Indication of number and quantity 84
A. a/one, some, any; other 199-210.
B. much, many; little, few 211-214.
C. all, whole, every, each, everybody, everything 216-225.
D. no/none; not - a/any 223-225.
E. both, either, neither 226-229.
XIX. Adjective 95
Meaning, position 230-232. Prop-word one 233, 234.
As noun-equivalent 235, 236. Names of languages 237,
238. Comparison and degree 239-243.
XX. Relative clauses 102
who, which, that; omission of pronoun 245-248. Prepo-
sitions in relative clauses 249. Defining and non-
defining clauses 250, 251. Relative adverbs 254.
who/whoever, what/whatever 257, 258.
XXI. Genitive 108
Genitive of persons 259-261 ; of things 262-264. Used
without headword 265.
XXII. Personal pronouns, possessives Ill
he, she, 266-270. Indefinite pronoun 271, 272.
it

myself etc. 273-275. Reciprocal pronoun 276.

Indication of possession 277-281.

Functions of the Verb

XXIII. Tenses 116
Present 283, 284. Past. Preterit and perfect 285-289.
used to 290. Pluperfect 291. After-past 292. Future.
shall/will 294-297. Present tense to denote future 299,
300. to be to 303. Future perfect 304, 305.
Reported speech 306-309.
XXIV. Aspect 127
A. Beginning, continuity, end of action 310-312.
B. Habit, repetition 313, 314.
Progressive tenses 315-322. •
 — VII —
page
XXV. Verb and Object 133
Verb with one object 323; with two objects 324-328;
with prepositional object 329; with object and comple-
ment 330, 331.
Transitive and intransitive verbs 332, 333. Reflexive
verbs 334, 335.
XXVI. Passive 336-340 139
XXVII. Possibility, Volition, Necessity.(Mood) 141
I. Modal auxiliaries 342-344. Possibility, ability,
permission: can, may 345-353. Volition: will j would
354-359. Obligation, necessity: must 360-364.
shall 365. should, ought 366-368. to be 369. - need, dare370.
II. Imperative, Conditional, Subjunctive 331-377.

Infinitive, Participle, Gerund

XXVIII. Infinitive, Participle, Gerund 157
A. Infinitive 379-388. B. Participles 389-391.
C. Verbal noun and gerund 392, 393. - Gerund and
infinitive 395-402. - Action-noun 403.
XXIX. Object phrases . 168
After verbs of perception 404, 405. After to have 406-408.
Other infinitive phrases 409-413. Other participle
phrases 414.
Permission and causation 415-419.
/or + noun + infinitive 420.

XXX. ing-Constructions 174

A. Participle (equivalent to clause) 421, 422. Absolute
participle construction 423-425.
B. Gerund- and ing-phrase 426-429.
C. Fvirther remarks on the use of the ing-form 430.

XXXI. Subordinate Clauses 179

I. 431-437. II. Adverbial clauses 438-441.
that-clsiuses
III. Conditional sentences 442-447.
XXXII. Adverbials 185
Adverbials of place 448, 449; of time 450-458; of manner
454, 455. - Prepositions 456-458.
XXXIII. The English Vocabulary 191
I. Twin-words 459-461. II. Compounds 462-468.
III. Derivation 469-481. IV. Distinction of sex in nouns
482-484.

Appendix A : Strong and irregular weak verbs . . . 201

Appendix B : Some prepositions 203
Appendix C : Archaic English 206
Index 207
 VIII

Acknowledgements

The following books have been of particular help to me:

Otto Jespersen : Essentials of English Grammar.
A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles.
H.E. Palmer: A Grammar of Spoken English.
R.W.Zandvoort: A Handbook of English Grammar (3rd edition).
W. Stannard Allen Living English Structure.
:

I am also indebted to P. A.Erades, whose excellent articles "Points of

Modern English Syntax" have been published in "English Studies" over
a number of years. I have also found useful information in the BBC publi-
cation "London Calling Europe" and in the British Council's periodical
"English Language Teaching".

The following is a list of the paragraphs which in substance or in the

actual wording of the rule owe much to one of the scholars mentioned
above, (n = Note, fn = Footnote.)
Jespersen: 281, 282, 298, 316-318, 354, 420.
Zandvoort: 60, 235, 261, 265, 268 n, 396 n, 404 fn, 474.
Erades: 275, 281, 346, 414.
Dr. Wood: 113 n, 108 fn, 128, 163 n, 257 fn, 262 n, 331, 319 n, 362, 407,
421 n.

In a few places the source of inspiration is indicated by the initials

J, Z,E, W.

Some of the examples were taken over from "An Advanced Learner's
Dictionary" by A.S.Hornby, E.V. Gatenby, and H.Wakefield, about
half a dozen I borrowed from Jespersen, and some were kindly supplied
by Dr. Wood.
F. L. S.
 I. The English Language ^

The original population of the British Isles, the Britons, spoke 1

a Celtic language,which still lives on in the Welsh of Wales and
the Gaelic of Scotland and Ireland. In the 5th century Germanic
invaders, in particular Angles and Saxons, made themselves
masters of England. Their language, on which modern English is
based, was closely related to Dutch and German and to the Scan-
dinavian languages.

In the 8th and 9th centuries another Germanic invasion

occurred, this time of Scandinavians, especially Danes, who
settled in the eastern part of England, north of the Thames.
At that time Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse (as the older form of
the Scandinavian languages is called) were still so close to the
common source as to pass for different dialects rather than
distinct languages. Still, the Danes brought new words and new
forms with them, and a great many Scandinavian words found
their way into Enghsh. Thus, to give one example, all the words
beginning with sk are of Scandinavian origin, and we have e. g.
skipper besides the English word ship. Then there is sky besides
the Saxon word heaven, skin besides hide.

The relation between English and German, both mem- 2

hers of the West-Germanic group, is somewhat obscured owing to
the drastic changes in the consonant system which affected German
in very early times, A Germanic th, preserved in English, became d
in German, and we have the cognates thingJDing, thick/dick, thinjdiinn,
northjNorden, south/ Siiden, and many more of that kind. Other changes
were (th-d belongs to group a):
(a) d — do t: deed/ Tat, wide/weit, dead
/tun, side/Seite, death/ Tod. /tot,

t— z, tz,two/zwei, ten/zehn, cat/Katze, white

s, ss: /weiss, that/das.
(b) p— pf, penny /Pfennig, apple/ Apf
f, ff: pipe/Pfeife, el, deep/tief.
—b in some words:
V, f live/leben, love/lieben, half/halb.
(c) k — eh (except position): make/machen, cook/kochen,
in initial
smoke /schmauchen, yoke/Joch.
The sound g was kept in German, but changed in Old English to
y or i; thus we have say/sagen, day /Tag, rain/Regen, etc.

In 1066 England was conquered by the Normans, who spoke 3

a French dialect, and for a considerable time the two languages

1 For fuller treatment of the subject the student is referred to the excellent work

by Dr. F. T. Wood: An Outline History of the English Language (Macmillan & Co.).
 — 2 —
existed side by side. Gradually they mingled: the structure of
the language and the bulk of the everyday vocabulary remained
Germanic, but hundreds of French words were absorbed and
are today hardly distinguishable from the native element. The
political and social superiority of the conquerors is reflected in
these loans; words pertaining to administration, militar}^ matters,
law, and refined living are French. Examples:
sovereign, parliament, minister, council,' royal, peer, duke.
war, battle, siege, peace, attack, defend, defeat, conquer, enemy.
court, judge, jury, crime, accuse, acquit, plead.

But also a great many words of everyday life were adopted,

e. g. uncle, cousin, to marry, age, use, aid, money, price.
Norman French differs from modern French, e. g. in preserving s
before consonant. Compare state/etat, school/ecole, sponge /eponge;
forest/foret, beast/bete, pasture/paturage.

4 Another event in the life of the nation that had a far-reaching

influence on the language was the revival of learning in the 16th
century, with its eager study of Latin. Latin was not onh' read
but spoken by scholars and courtiers, and in consequence a great
number of Latin words flowed into the language, though nearly
all of them belong to literary English. Examples: sumnmry, con-
tradict, comprehend, fact, pcdernal, filial, floral and many other
adjectives.

5 While the vocabulary spoken English is predominantly of

of
Saxon draws from an inexhaustible store
origin, written English
of Romance words, derived partly from French, partly direct
from Latin. Many are synonyms of Saxon words. Examples:
Jielp begin hearty feeling freedom understand climb
aid commence cordial sentiment liberty comprehend ascend
There are even triplets, e. g. kingly, royal, regal; wonderful,
marvellous, miraculous : This wealth of synonyms, i. e. pairs or
groups of words that mean more or less but not exactly the same,
is one reason why English is not an "easy language".

6 This book deals with the English as spoken by educated

people in Britain. While local differences are comparatively
unimportant, a distinction must often be made between written
English and spoken English.
American English (again taking the language of educated
speakers) differs little in grammar, but considerably in pronun-
ciation and the evervdav vocabularv.
 :

— 3 —

II. Pronunciation
A. The English Sounds ^

We cannot learn the pronunciation of a language from books any more than
we can learn swimming from books. The student will find in this chapter a survey
of the English sound system and some practical hints on how the more difficult
sounds are formed, but it must be understood that the exact or specific quality of
the English consonants and the timbre of the English vowels can only be acquired
by imitation.
matter of common knowledge that English spelling is a very uncertain
It is a
guide to pronunciation, and there are two reasons for this:
(a) our alphabet lacks the means of conveying even a rough idea of some of
the sounds, as there are many more sounds than letters;
(b) the spelling is historical, i. e. registers the pronunciation as it used to be (see
Ch. 3). So if the present-day pronunciation of words is to be recorded in writing,
a special phonetic script, must be used, based on the principle that each distinct
speech sound is represented by one and only one symbol. The phonetic script
adopted in this book is that of the Association Phonetique Internationale, which
makes use of the normal alphabet as far as possible, but requires a few extra
symbols, e. g. for the //i-sounds and the open e-sounds. Where it is desirable to
distinguish sound-symbols from letters, the phonetic script (or as it is also called
phonetic transcription) is given in square brackets, e. g. team [ti:m], begin [bi'gin].
Note that stress is indicated by a sort of straight apostrophe and that long vowels
are marked as such by a colon.

Consonants
The following consonants exist in English:
voiceless ptkfsj 9 h
voiced bdgvz3 9 rlmnr)
Examples for s z, 6 9, J 3, and q
s, z hiss, pass, see sit. — - rose, reason, zero.
3 ship, shilling, bash. —
measure ['me/^?]
J,

Frequent combinations are tj and d3: chap, check, each. —

Jim [d3im], John, age [eid3].
0, 6 thick, thin, south. — that, father.
J] king [kiq], long.
Note. "Voice" is produced by the vocal chords behind the Adam's apple,
which are made to vibrate. Pronounce a few sonorous words, like moon, name,
mean, and cover the ears with your hands. You will hear a buzzing noise. Then
whisper the words and note the difference. The vibration of the vocal chords may
by placing three or four fingers against the throat.
also be felt
This distinction between voiced and voiceless sounds is of the utmost im-
portance. Many foreigners, especially speakers of a Germanic language, fail to
make English sufficiently sonorous. —
On the other hand, the "buzzing" must
not be overdone. (See § 14.)
^ This chapter is based on the standard work "An Outline of English Phonetics"

by Professor Daniel Jones (fourth edition). All the diagrams are taken from that
work and are reproduced by kind permission of the author. The upper figure on
p. 6 is a combination of two figures in Professor Jones's book.
 — 4 —
9 p t k and b d g. —p t k are pronounced with considerable
force of breath, and a slight h is heard after these sounds, thus:

time [t^'aim], pin [p^in], king [kMr)]. b d g are pronounced —

with than p t k, and care must be taken that they
less force
are really spoken with "voice", in initialand final position as
well as elsewhere. Hints for practice speak :

a "long" b, d, or g, e.g. bad [bbseidd], big

[bbigg].
As regards the pronunciation of t and d,
the diagram shows the correct tongue-posi-
tion the tip of the tongue touches the
:

teeth-ridge, i. e. the part between the

upper teeth and the hard palate.
10 f, V. The sounds are formed by pressing the lower lip against

the upper teeth. Examples; five, vivid. For practice bite on —

the lower lip.

11 9, 6. The spelling th has often proved misleading; the sounds

have nothing to do with either t or d, but can best be compared
to lisped s-sounds. Say Susy lisps, imitating the lisping sounds,
i. e. pronounce [s] and [z] with the tip of the tongue between
the teeth.
Special care must be taken, when and 6 occur near the
sounds [s] and Example: Tliis is the house thai Jack built.
[z].

Practise [izSa] as if it were one word.

12 There are different kinds of r: there is

r.

e. g.the rolled or trilled r, where the tip of

the tongue taps against the teeth-ridge in
rapid succession, or the "back rolled" r,

where the uvula (that little point at the

end of the soft palate) vibrates similarly
against the tongue. Now the English ris —
not a rolled consonant but a fricative con-
sonant, like J or f, i. e. it remains unchanged
and continuous no matter how long the sound is drawn out. The
diagram shows the tongue position, which is similar to that of J.
The hps are usually slightly rounded ^
Foreigners find it difficult to acquire this special kind of
r, and here are a few practical hints: Place bent knuckle of

thumb between the teeth and pronounce the words [a 3aund 3113,
^ r between two short vowels is short itself, often it is heard as a mere "flap",
e. g. carry, luirrij.
 — 5 —
9 3ed 30uz], or [ai d3i:m 9 d3i:m], pressing the tip of the
tongue against the teeth-ridge^. Tlie resulting sound is
very near to an Enghsh r (a round ring, a red rose, I dream a
dream). Another way is to say[9aund gir), 9ed 90uz], curhng back
a little the tip of the tongue in pronouncing 9. Do not forget to
round the lips! (Small children in England replace r by w!)
r after p, t, k is voiceless. Examples: prize, tree, cream. For
practice whisper the words prize,
: tree, etc., then repeat the words
whispering only the first half.
Note that in Standard Southern English r does not occur before a consonant
or in final position, i. e. the letter r in words like part, car is not pronounced. In the
western parts of England, however, there is a difference between caught and
court (pronounced in Southern English as [ko:t]; no proper r is pronounced either,
but the preceding vowel is spoken with the tip of the tongue a little curled back
—
("retroflexed vowel").- -Many Scotsmen pronounce a front rolled r in all positions.

1. There are in English two kinds of 1: clear 1, used before vo- 13

wels, and dark 1, used before consonants and in final position.
Examples: live, light, black; cold, help, hill. The dark 1 is pro-
nounced with the back part of the tongue raised in the direction
of the soft palate. For practice of the dark 1: Say [ull], trying to
keep the [u]-sound in the 1.

Note concerning voiced consonants. 14

b d g when initial are pronounced by many Englishmen as partially or totally
1.
unvoiced (Books are cheaper now. He wrote books.) After a vowel these sounds are
always voiced (I got a book).
position is not fully voiced. It begins with "voice", which stops before
2. [z] in final
the sound finished (rise, rose). The ending -s may be completely voiceless and
is
sound like a weak [s] e. g. in dogs, hands. This devoicing, however, occurs only at
the end of a word-group; compare Put up your hands! Hands'~'off!
3. 6 and v in initial and final position are also partially unvoiced in the pronuncia-
tion of some speakers.

Vowels. The following vowels occur in English: 15

Single vowels: i: i e ae a: d »: u u: a a: a
Diphthongs: ei ai oi. au ou. ia ea ua
Half-vowels: j w
Vowels are classed according to the part of the tongue that
is raised —
front vowels, back vowels, central vowels
— and according to the height to which the tongue is raised —
close, half-close, half-open, open vowels.
The quality of the vowel is also determined by the lip-
position. In English only the back-vowels [o:, u:, u] are

^ Or say sraund srir), bsraun bared, gradually shortening the 3.

 — 6 —
rounded. —
Another element is muscular tension, i. e. a vowel
may be pronounced with a certain strain or as a slack, or relaxed,
sound. (See below i:, i and u:, u.)
To get a rough idea of the possible tongue-movements: raising and lowering of
front part or back part of the tongue, the student should place the little finger on
his tongue and ])ronounce [i-u-a], [a-i], [a-u].

In the vowel [a] we distinguish a clear or front [a] and a dark or back [a]. If
we connect the four points by lines, we get this figure:

Close Central

Half-close

Front Back

This diagram is useful to show 1. the relation of the English vowels to each
other, 2. the English vowels in relation to the vowels of the student's language.
In most dictionaries the symbol o is replaced bj' o so as to simplify the
phonetic transcription. But the vowels differ so widely in quality that two distinct
symbols would seem preferable. —
a and o, however, need not be differentiated,
as a only occurs in the diphtongs [ai] and [au].

16 Single vowels
i:, i. seat [si:t], team [ti:m]. — sit, Tim.
The two sounds differ not merely in length, [i:] is a very close
vowel, the lips are well spread, [i] is less close, it is a lax sound,
the lip position is neutral. For the sake of simplicity the same
symbol is used for both.
c. pen, ten, head [hed].
se. man [mne:n].
black [blsek], cat [kaet], bad [ba?:d],
[se] a very open sound. It is mostly short.
is For pratice: —
listen to a sheep. What does it say? bae:, bse:, bse:.
 — 7 —
a:, park [pa:k], start [sta:t], car [ka:], master ['ma:st9].
The English [a:] is of the back variety. — Cf. § 15, footnote.

u:, u. pool [pu:l], fool [fu:l]. pull, full.

As with [i:, i], the difference is not merely one of length, [u] is
more open than [u:] and is spoken with less energetic rounding
of the hps. Altogether it is a "slack" vowel.
3:. lawn [lo:n], call [ko:l], port [po:t], short [Jo:t].
This is a very sonorous sound. Note that the tongue is fairly
far back, the mouth is well open, the lips are rounded. For
practice: cup your hands and shout [ko:l], making the sound
carry far.
D. Tom
[tpm], dog [dog], not [nut], stop [step].
Though mostly spelt with o, this is not an [o]-sound, but rather
a dark [a], spoken with hardly any lip-rounding.
A. duck [dAk], bumble-bee [bAmblbi:], hunt [liAnt], come [kAm].
This is a central vowel, standing half-way between [d] and [a].
It is spoken with lax muscles, and the lips must not be
rounded. Students who have an open [o] in their language
(German komm, French bonne) can start from this sound, speak-
ing it without lip-rounding. —
The acoustic quality happens to
be very near to the front [a], which may serve as a substitute.
a:, bird [bsid], first [f9:st], Percy [p9:si], turn [t9:n].
This is a tense vowel; the lips are well spread, the teeth
but little apart. For practice, it may be advisable to speak [a:]
with the teeth kept actually in contact. The sound is mostly—
spelt ir, er, ur, but in Standard Southern English no trace of
the r is heard.
a occurs only in unstressed syllables. See § 38.

Lip-position of a Lip-position of 9:

. Diphthongs ['difGDrjz). 17
Diphthongs are gliding sounds, in which two vowels are
distinguishable. There are two kinds: they either end in [i] or
[u], or they end in [9].

1. ei (name), ai (time), au (town), ou (note), oi (boy).

2. ia (dear), £9 (dare), ua (poor).
 ai and au begin with the front vowel [a] (as in French la paiie),
and move in the direction of [i] and [u] ^.
ou is a difficult sound to acquire. It is important to start with
[o], and not with [d] or [o:]. The initial [o] differs from the pure
[o] heard in French beau or German wohl, being a more central
vowel, i. e. having a littJe of the [aj-quality, though the lips are
rounded throughout. (Slight rounding at the beginning, strong
rounding at the end of the diphthong.)
ia and ua begin with the lax [i] and [u]. ea begins ^^dth an
[e]-sound that stands half-way between [e] and [ae]. This open
[e] only occurs in combination with [9].

Note. Some speakers use oa in words that are spelt — ore or oar, e. g. more,
board.But [o:] is just as good.

18 Length of vowels
The length of a vowel is not absolute. If we compare cart,
why, we find that
card, car, or wheat, weed, see, or white, wide,
the vowels are shorter before voiceless consonant than before
voiced consonant or when final.

19 Semi-vowels
English semi-vowels are [w] and [j]. Examples: winter, well,
queen [kwi:n]; year, young. They are really very short vowel
glides, from the [u]- or [i]-position to the next vowel. Note that
[w] is pronounced with the lips well rounded. (Foreign speakers
frequently replace the [w] by some sort of v.)
Note. Some English speakers pronounce what, when, etc. as [hwDt, hwen].
This is not recommended to foreign students.

B. Connected Speech
20 Sense -groups
Normally speech is broken up not into words, but into
sense-groups; a sense-group is spoken without any stop or pause
between the words. Examples:
Jack of all trades, and master of none.
'd38ek9v'o:ltreidz, 9n'ma:st9r9v'nAn.
What do you think of the weather? —
Fni sure iVll keep fine.
'wDtd3u:'0ii]k9v59'we89? —
aim'Ju5ritrki:p'fain.
WhaVs on the wireless tonight? —
/ dont know. LeVs look at
the programmes. There's a play by Shaw. That's the only
^ [i] and [u] are often not actuallj^ reached, lime being pronounced [taim]
or [taem].
 — 9 —
attractive tiling as far as I can see. — What time does it be-
gin? — At a quarter past eiglit.

'wDtspnSa'waialista'nait? —
ai'dount'nou (or: 'douii'nou).
lets'lukataa'prougrsemz. Qaza'pleibai 'Jo:.
'SaetsSi'ounlia'trsektiv'Giq az'fairaz'aikan'si:.
'wDt'^taimdazitbi'gin ? — 9t9'kwot9pa:st'eit.
Note in particular:
(a) There is no stop before initial vowels.
(b) Final r is pronounced if the following word begins with a

vowel, master^of none. Other examples: dear^old chap,

e.g.
neuer'" again, far-away, your^English book.
(c) In word-groups like what^time, we had a good^time, ifs a
hof^day, i.e. when the final consonant of the first word and the
initial consonant of the second word are of the same or a similar
kind, the two consonants fuse to one "long" sound. Further
examples: a black^cat, abig^gap, theback^garden. The difference
between big gap and began as far as the g is concerned is that in
the former case the consonant is "long"^. Similarly only —
one "long" consonant heard in begin'~'now, a fine^night, the
is

same^man,ihough in rapid speech what often happens is that the

first consonant simply drops out.

Word-stress and Sentence-stress

Most words of more than one syllable have one syllable 21
stressed,and the other syllable or syllables unstressed. The dif-
ference between stressed and unstressed syllable is strongly
marked, as in all Germanic languages, and speakers of a non-
Germanic language must be careful not to give too much pro-
minence to the unstressed syllables. For practice: say 'spi:k"',
'spi:k^ Trend", 'frend"°'^ (speaking, speaker, friendly, friend-
liness).

By sentence-stress is meant the distribution of emphasis 22

within a sentence. Examples are given in § 20. Generally there
is a stress on all nouns, adjectives, full verbs, also on demonstra-

tive and interrogative pronouns and on adverbs; there is no

stress on "function-words", such as articles, and auxiliary verbs.

^ k g, p b are "plosives", i. e. the speech organs block the air passage

t d,
which suddenly opened again. Now in what time, big gap etc. this blocking, also
is

called the "stop", is prolonged. Further: in began an impetus is given to the air
stream before the g, in big gap it is given within the "stop", just before it is re-
leased.
 — lo-
ss As English is rich in one-syllable words, it frequently
happens that two or three stressed syllables follow in succes-
sion, e. g. iVll 'keep 'fine, it was a 'fine, 'warm 'day.

Yet if three normally stressed words form a close sense-

group, the middle stress may be suppressed. E. g.
It's a 'good 'thing. It's a 'very good 'thing. He 'went 'off.
'John went 'off. We 'got 'home at 'six. We 'all got 'home
at 'six. 'Put it 'on. 'Put on your 'hat.
This change is called rhythmical variation. It is, however,
not always essential for correct pronunciation, and when in
doubt the student had better keep the stress.

24 The consequence of the division into sense-groups and of

the rhythmic principle (§25) is that many words, which in normal
speech are unstressed, possess weak forms, i. e. they are treated
like unstressed syllables. This weakening of function-
words is a distinctive feature of English and is inde-
pendent of speed (as long as the speech is normal). Foreign
students are apt to use the strong forms, saying e. g. [ai haev
si:n it], instead of [ai hav 'si:n it] or [aiv 'si:n it].

Here is a words that mostly occur in their weak-

list of the
ened form. The three groups will be fully dealt with in
first
Section II of this book.
Articles: the § 49, a § 50.
Auxiliaries : to be ^ 84, 101, to have §84, 87, 88, to do § 123, Note.
can § 345, must § 360, shall/should § 89, 91.
Pronouns: personal pronouns § 62, some § 199, that § 246.
Prepositions : of, at, to, for, from.
Other words: and, or, as, than § 239, that (conjunction),
there § 113.

Notes concerning the prepositions:

1. of is weakened to [av] before voiced sounds, e. g. the end of a fine day [Si'end

av 3 'fain 'dei]. to is [tu] iDefore vowels and mostly [ta] before consonants, e. g.
I went to England, to France.
2. Prepositions have the full forms in final position, e.g. What are you looking at?
[wDt a ju: 'lukiq a?t?], Where does he come from? ['wes d9z hi: 'kAm from?]

25 Rhythm
Every language has its own characteristic rh^^hm. In Eng-
lish we may observe two tendencies:
(a) to alternate, as far as possible, stressed and unstressed
syllables (cf. § 23, § 106);
(b) to make stressed syllables follow each other at regular in-
 .

— 11 —
tervals,irrespective of the number of unstressed syllables be-
tween. Examples (from Jones):

.^ .^ / .^ JTj J"
there's 'no 'time there's 'nobody 'there

.
fc
«r
h
••
^
0^ Rn fc
tr
I i n hHi
the 'scene was 'beautiful the 'scenery was 'beautiful

In this notation, speech is compared to music: in each beat

there one stressed syllable, but a different number of un-

is

stressed syllables. If a beat contains only one syllable or two,

the vowels and consonants (e. g, n, f, 1) are longer than if the
beat is "crowded". The [ou] in There's no time is considerably
longer than in There's nobody there.

III. Word-Stress
There are no hard and fast rules as to the stress of
longer words, but some general principles may be formulated
and will be found helpful.

Most words of Anglo-Saxon origin have the stress on the 26

first syllable, which is generally the root syllable. Examples:
'friendly, 'friendliness; 'loving, 'lovingly; 'hasty, 'hastily.

Also most compounds have first-syllable stress. Examples:

'sunshine, 'thunderstorm, 'rainbow, 'blackbird, 'flower-bed; 'foot-
ball, 'linesman; 'bedroom, 'drawing-room, 'fireplace,
'goalkeeper,
'tea-party; 'newspaper, 'headline'^. —
These compounds are mostly
written as one word, though in some the two components are
separated by a hyphen. No definite rule regarding the use or
non-use of the hyphen can be laid down. (See § 463.)
The principle: "stress on the root-vowel" also accounts for
words with unstressed prefix. Examples: be'gin, be'come,
a'rise, a'wake, for'give, for'get. — Note further to'day, to'morrow,
in' deed, be' side (be originally ^hy)
French words, and later borrowings from Latin and Greek, 27
do not present so simple a picture. Most French words were
originally end-stressed, but the stress was frequently shifted by
analogy with native words, and for rhjrthmical reasons,
^ Exceptions are very rare indeed. Examples: up' on, un'til, through' out, where' as,

al'mighty, ful'fil; my'self, your'self etc. —

See also § 33.
 .

— 12 -

A. Words of two syllables

1. The accent was shifted to the first syllable. Examples: 'cou-
sin, 'colour, 'danger, 'courage, 'mountain, 'river, 'season, 'finish^.
2. End-stress was retained in many words resembling native
words with unstressed prefixes. Examples: to al'low, ap'pear,
ac'cept (cf. a'rise, a'fraid), de'scribe, de'clare, re'turn, re'sisi (cf.
he' gin, he' come), es'cape, ex'cept (cf. e'nough), per'mit, pre' pare (cf
for'get). More precisely:

Practically all verbs have unstressed prefix; see examples above.

Nouns and adjectives, on the other hand, do not conform to
any definite pattern. Some are stressed on the first syllable, e. g.
'concert, 'progress, 'profit, 'discord, 'perfect, others on the second,
e. g. con'tempi, con'sent, re'gard, de'gree, pro' found.

28 Some "twin-words" though identical in spelling,

(see § 459),
differ in stress, e. g. the 'conduct, to con' duct. The noun is stressed
on the first syllable, the verb on the second. Further examples:
tlie 'contrast to con'trast the 'produce to pro'duce
the 'conflict to con'flict the 'record to re'cord
the 'protest to pro'test the 'export to ex'porl
the 'insult to in'sult the 'present to pre'sent

Occasionally noun and verb differ in meaning, too, e. g. the

'ohject, to ob'ject; the 'present, to pre'sent.

B. Words of three and more syllables

29 Here, too, a distinction must be made between w^ords with
prefix and words without prefix.
Words without prefix were originally end-stressed, but had
1.

a secondary accent on a preceding syllable, e. g., ^melo'dy,

^chari'ty. Later the end stress was weakened, while the secondary
stress gained strength, which led to the accentuation 'melody,
'charily. Today most long words of French and Latin
origin are stressed on the third syllable from the
end. Examples: 'character, 'honesty, sin'ceriiy, no'hiliiy, magna-
'nimity; 'politics, po'litical, am'hassador, 'emhassy-.

^ At the time of Chaucer usage was not yet settled. Even today there is no

absolute consistency, and we find such exceptions as po'lile, po'ssess, u'nite.

Words recently borrowed from French have kept the French accentuation
and (as far as possible) the French vowel. Examples: ma'chine [mo'Ji:n], po'lice.
^ Exceptions are words in -arij, -orij, like 'necessary, 'ordinary, 'military,
which were originally stressed on the last syllable but one. Hence the modern
stress on the fourth syllable from the end.
 — 13 —
2. Words with prefix show the same inconsistency as mentioned
in § 27,2.
Verbs have unstressed prefix: to de'iermine, de'velop, con'sider,
con'tinue, re'member, re'turn, pre'pare.
Nouns and adjectives do not follow any rule. Examples:
'company, 'confidence, 'competent, 'definite, 'relative; but com-
'partment, de'pariure, re'sistance. Note that many derivatives,
especially those in -at and -ment follow the verb-pattern: ar' rival,
(to ar'rive), re'fusal (to re' fuse), em'ployment, re'freshment.

The following rules are of particular importance: 30

I. All words in -ate are stressed on the third syllable from the
end, according to § 29,1. (Note pronunciation of -ate!)
Adjectives: /or/izna/e ['fo:tjmt], adequate ['sedikwit], illiter-

ate [i'iitgrit], immediate [i'mi:dJ9t].

Verbs: to hesitate ['heziteit], to imitate ['imiteit], to immi-
grate ['imigreit], to predominate [pri'domineit].

II. Words ending in (a) -ion,-ious, -ial,-ian, (b) -ic always bear
the stress on the syllable preceding this ending.
(a) con'dition, tra'diiion; vic'torious, de'licious; arti'ficial; mu'si-
cian. Reason : i in -ion etc. used to count as separate syllable.
(b) me'chanic, eco'nomic, do'mestic, pho'netic. Reason: stress by
analogy with the many words in -ical,e. g. po'litical, 'musical.

Rhythm, as has been shown, is a powerful factor in deter- 31

mining the stress; rhythmical stressing is responsible for word

families being torn asunder, e. g. 'music, mu'sician, musi'cality;
'providence, provV dential; 'politics, po'litical, poli'iician; 'history,
his'torical, his'torian; 'family, fa' miliar; 'Canada, Ca'nadian.

Secondary Stress. Long words frequently have a secondary 32

stress. The sign for it is ,
or \
1. two syllables precede: x's.kx(x):^natio'nality, ^expla'ncdion.
2. three syllables precede:
a) X X X X x(x): e,xami' nation, pe^culi'ariiy, su^peri'ority.
b) xxxxx(x): ^modifV cation, ^individa'ality, ^qualification.

Double Stress (or: Even Stress) 33

While most compounds have single stress ( § 26), there are a good
many with double stress (also called even stress), i. e. the two
parts are equally stressed. We may distinguish several groups:
 ;

— 14 —
1. Compound expressions of recent formation, e.g.
in'telligence 'service, 'war 'cabinet, de'fence 'system. Tiie official
style is full of such loose collocations. Further examples: em'ploy-
ment ex'change, 'works 'manager, 'welfare 'officer.
2. Composite Place-names. Examples: Tra'falgar 'Square,
'Edgware 'Road, Vic'ioria 'Station, 'Buckingham 'Palace, 'Hyde
'Park. (Names with street have single stress, e. g. 'Oxford Street.)
— Note in particular expressions with north, east, etc., e. g. the
'West 'Indies, 'South 'Croydon.
3. Old compounds. This is a very mixed group, defying classi-
fication. Examples: 'head' master,
'head' mistress, head' quarters '

'ground' floor, 'hack'garden, 'up'stairs, 'down'stairs, 'up'hill, 'down-

'hill, 'after'noon; 'half-price, 'halfway; 'week-end.
4. Compounds adjective + adjective and compounds
with participles. Examples: 'dark-'hlue, ' dead-' serious ; 'good-
'looking, 'hard-' working, 'far-'seeing, 'old-' fashioned, 'absent-
'minded, 'home-'made.
5. Many words with in- (ill-, ir-, im-), un- and mis-.
Usage is not settled, but here are some practical rules for foreign
students.
(a) Place secondary or full stress on in- and mis- where the
rhythm demands it (i. e. if prefix is followed by unstressed
syllable), e. g. inefficient, Jnex' perience, ^inex' pensive, ^ir-
res'ponsible; ^misin'terpret, ^misin'form. In other cases speak
secondary stress only if the negation is strongly emphasised,
e. g. ,il' legal. (Im' possible and in' credible are always single-

stressed.)
(b) always give full or secondary stress to un-: 'un'known, 'un-
'tiring, 'un'written.
The numerals 13-19: 'thir'teen, 'four'teen, etc.
6.

Always stress on non-, e. g. 'non-payment, 'non-' smoker, also

7.

on pre- and re- when these prefixes mean "in advance, before"
and "again, once more", e. g. 'pre-paid, 'pre-war, to 're' read,
're'write, 're'arrange.

The words mentioned in groups 2-6 may lose a stress in

connected speech, for reasons of rhythm (§ 23).
IVs 'uphill 'work. We 'walked up'hill.
The 'upstairs 'rooms. The 'rooms up'stairs.
How much does it cost? 'Fifteen shillings. What, only fifteen?
 —

— 15

IV. Spelling and Pronunciation

The wide divergence of spelling and pronunciation in modern English is 34:
due to the fact that the spelling became fixed about 1500, after the first printing
presses had been set up, whereas the language itself continued to change, and
to change drastically. All the long vowels underwent a change, final e became
mute (at the time of Shakespeare), and r before consonant and at the end of a
word was dropped (about 1800).
Popular opinion proclaims English spelling to be a chaos, in support of
which assertion usually such word-groups as tough [tAf], cough [kof], through [6ru:],
though [Sou] etc. are produced. Now it cannot be denied that much in English
spelling is unreasonable and capricious, but it is absurd to maintain that the
student has to learn of each word both the pronunciation and the spelling. As
a matter of fact, about 85 % of all words —
considering only the stressed vowels
come within very clear and easily definable rules.

Vowels
Vowels in stressed syllables
If we consider a number of words spelt with a, we find that 35
a is pronounced in various ways. E. g.
[se]: cat, camp, blanket, lamp. Jack, Patrick.
black,
[ei]: lake, wave, take, make, lady, baby. Jane, James.
[a:]: car, star, park, start, farm. Charles.
Yet is by no means necessary to learn with each word
it
how pronounced. As the examples show, a has the phonetic
it is

value [se] in words ending with a consonant, [ei] when followed

by consonant + vowel (mostly mute e), and [a:] when followed
by r. (Or rather: ar is pronounced as [a:].)
Here is the list of the 5 vowels:

Letter Short vowel Long vowel Vowel + r

a [ae] cat, black [ei] lady, made [a:] star, farm

e [e] ten, yes [i:] we, even [a:] term, her

i [i] Miss, it [ai] time, fine [9:] bird. Sir

o [c] golf, not [ou] home, open [o:] for, north

[a] ^ son, month
11 [a] up, summer [ju:] student [9:] fur, turn
[u] 2 pull, push

^ is [a] in a limited number of words, especially before or after m, n, v,

where formerly u was written, o and u had similar phonetic value, and o replaced
u in these words for the sake of better legibility. It must be remembered that v
and u were not distinguished in writing.
^ u is [u] in a few words that begin with
p or b.
 — 16 —
The general rule may be stated thus: The vowel-sound
is short, if the word ends in a consonant (closed
syllable); it is long in an open syllable^, i.e. if the
word or syllable ends in a vowel (we, la-dy), or if the
vowel is followed by consonant and mute e (make, fine);
vowel + r (before consonant or when final) fuse to one sound.

36 There are a number of minor rules.

1. Long or short vowel-sound.

animal ['senimal], family ['fsemili], nalural ['n8etjr9l]; general
['d3enr9l], /edera/['fed9r9l]; military['mi[i\:9ri],similar ['simile].

Most words of three syllables with the stress on the first syllable
are pronounced with a short vowel even when the syllable is
an open one. Compare nature/ natural, nation /national, grateful/
gratitude.
Notes. Words in -le like able, table, Bible, idle, noble are pronounced as if

they were spelt with -el, i. e. [eibl, baibl]. Cf. Mabel, label.

-nt, -nd, -Id, -st have the tendency to lengthen the preceding vowel. Thus
we get mind, kind, wild, child with [ai], don't, won't, old, cold, bold, most, post with
[ou]. (But cost, lost with [d].)

Final [v] is always spelt -ve, even if the preceding vowel-sound is short.
Hence drive, arrive, alive, brave, save, rove with long vowel, but live, give, have,
love with short vowel.

2. Vowel + re. Note in particular:

a + re = [ed] fare, care, bare, com' pare. (Exception: are)
e + re = [ig] here, sincere, inter' fere. (Exception : there)

o + re =^ [o:] more, shore, store, ex'plore.

Note further fire [fai9], tired [tai9d]; endure [in'dju9].

3. Special groups. (See also footnotes on p. 15.)

a = [a:] before ss and +

consonant, e. g. class, pass, fast,
s
master, task; also in some other words^, e.g. chance,
dance, advantage, plant; after, half, bath, path.
[o:] before //, e. g. all, ball, call; and in the combination
war- e. g. war, warm, warn, reward.
[0] in some words preceded by w or qu, e. g. want,
what, quantity.
igh - [ai] e. g. high, light, night, right.
or - [a:] after w, e. g. word, work, worth, world.

^ The terms <(closed)> and «open must be taken historically; malx-c. time. etc.
used to be pronounced ad two-syllable words.
2 Mostly pronounced with very open [oe] in northern Britain and in America.
 — 17 —
Vowel combinations 37
ai 1 = [ei]
Daily Mail ie - [y-] chief, field
ay 1 day, May oa = [oil] soap, road
au 1
= [o:]
Maud, fault oo == [u:] moon, food
aw J lawn, Shaw [ii] book, foot
ea = [i:] tea, team oil = [au] scout, mountain
[e] head, meadow [A] cousin, country
ee = [i--] meeting, week ow = [au] cow, brown
eu Europe ['jurap] [oil] snow, known
1 -^ [jii:]^
ew 1 new, few

ai -\- r = [sd]: fair, hair, pair, ee -\- r = [ia]: peer, queer,

steer, oa -\- r =^ [o:]: board, ou ^ r = [o:] or [aua]: four,
roar,
court, hour. No practical rule can be given for ea r. +
Notes, ea ist mostly pronounced [i:] ; the words where it is [e] may be learnt as
exceptions.
ou ist the French spelling for original [u:]. (Cf. Louis, Louvre.) This [u:] de-
veloped to [au]. —
In some words the vowel became short and subsequently
developed to [a]. This explains such alternations as soiithj southern, the pronun-
ciation ['tApans] for twopence, and words like cousin, double, courage'^.
ow ist a troublemaker. The only guidance as to whether we
something of
pronounce [ou] or [au] is the rule that in words like fellow, follow, window (ow
as second syllable) the pronunciation is [ou].

Vowels in unstressed syllables 38

Prefixes
[i] in be-, de-, re-, pre-: begin, decide, return, prepare.
in most other prefixes: asleep, aivake, agree, alloiu; compare^,
consider, admire, aclmit^.

Suffixes
[i]^ in -ness, -less, -age: happiness, courage, village.
[i] or [9] in -ate: fortunate ['fortjnit], immediate [i'mi:djat] (only
adjectives). See § 30.
[a] in most other suffixes:
master, stranger, doctor, liar, colour, labour.
famous, glorious; comfortable, valuable; usucd, original.
garden, German, human; important, independent; moment.
Endings of noun, adjective, verb see §§ 54, 67, 85, 96.

^ u in open syllable and ew are pronounced [u:] not [ju:] after r, I -\- conso-

nant, ch and /: rude, drew, blue, blew, chew, June.

^ Exceptions: ou is [u:] in you, wound group; it is [ou] in soul, shoulder, though.

^ Pronounced [kam'pea] or [kom'pea]; [ad'maia] or [a?d'maia].

* Very open and lax [i]I
 — 18 —
39 The vowel tends to disappear before / and n; e. g. difficult
['difikalt], fatal [feitl], cotton [kutn], written [ritn], given [givn],
Britain [britn]. (/ and n become syllabic.) —
But: London
['lAndan], woman ['wuman], i. e. the [9] must not be omitted be-
tween two nasal sounds.
[a] is also apt to disappear in words like history, favourite,
['histri, 'feivrit], i. e. in a middle syllable before r.

411 So far the starting point has been the letter. It is also possible to start from
the sound and examine how a certain vowel-sound is spelt. Examples: [je, ei, i:].
[se] is always spelt a: bad, man, cat, camp.
[ei] is spelt 1. with a: lady, baby, made, make, sale.
2. with ai: rain, main, maid, sail.
[i:] is spelt 1. with e: Peter, evening, tie.
2. with ee: see, meet, keen.
3. with ea: sea, meat, mean.

Then there are exceptional spellings such as grief, field, receive, key, machine.
The student may complete the system. Tabulating a few hundred words
will convince him that the bad reputation of English spelling is not wholly de-
served. E. g. though [i:] may be spelt in seven different ways, yet about 45 of %
the words are spelt with ee, 30 with ea, 17 with e, and the rest are isolated ex-
ceptions. See also § 45, 1.

Consonants

41 c = [s] before e, i, y: central, city, bicycle.

[k] before a, o, u: cat, call, cold, cut.

g = [^3] before e and i in French words: general, generous,

also before mute e: page, college.
[g] in all other words: give, get, garden, good.
ch = m
[k]
in
in
most words: Charles, chap, church, beach.
Greek words: character, chemistry, Christ.
gh -m in some words: laugh [la:f], enough [i'uAf], rough.
Mostly it is mute: high, light; thought, caught (§ 44).
J = [^5] John, June, jolly, injure ['indsa].
s = [s] at the beginning of a word : see, send, serve; also
frequently in other positions, e. g. this, house, sen-
sible, case, cease, course, horse.
[z] between two vowel-sounds, frequently before mute e:
season, easy, busy; rose, rise, raise, roiise^ (also in
has, does, is, his, as).

[J,
z] tension, treasure, measure. See § 42.

^ There is no rule as to the value of -se after vowel, and the student has to

learn the pronunciation of each word as he comes across it.

 — 19 —
th = [9] at the beginning or end of a word: thing, thick, thin;
north, south, path^.
[5] in the middle of a word : weather, father, brother, and
before mute e: bathe, breathe. (Also in the, this /these,
that/those, they /them/their, and in with.) See also § 55.
ex = [igz] before stressed vowel: ex' amine, ex' act, ex'ist, ex-
ample.'

[eks] in other words: ex' case, ex' plain; 'exercise, 'export.

y = [J] ^t the beginning of a word: yes, yellow, year.

^S = [^] ill final position: thing [9ir)], sing, also in singing,

singer.
[r)g] in the middle of a word: English ['iqglij!], finger.

c, s, and t, d, when originally followed by [j] and unstressed 42

vowel are pronounced J, 3, tj, d3. (Consonant and [j] have
fused to one sound.)
c,s. 1. (a) tension, permission, special, social, musician^.
(b) condition, nation, and other words in -tion. This syl-
lable was formerly spelled -cioun or -cion and pro-
nounced accordingly. Similarly words in -tial like
essential, partial.
2. vision, occasion, visual (from [vizju9l]), usual, treasure.
I, d nature (from [natjug]), century, fortune, picture; soldier^.

English spelling regards consonants looks even more inconsistent and 4:0
as
irrational if we from the sound. In many cases the reason for the actual
start
spelling may be found in the etymology, which though a useful, is by no means
an infallible guide. Note in particular:
[s] initial = s: see, send, serve, seed, slow, swift,
c: centre, certain, cede, citizen.
medial = s after consonant, in particular after the prefixes ab-, con-, in- un-:
'absent, ab'surd, 'consonant, con'sider, 'insult, in'sist; also in the
prefix dis-: dis'please, disre'gard, diso'bey.
ss: lesson, possible, passive, passage, blossom.
c: necessary, mercy.
final = ss: pass, bless, miss, cross, happiness, useless.
se: house, case, cease, increase, course, dense, expense,
ce: face, place, peace, voice; force.
(A few words are spelt with sc like their Latin ancestors: science, descend,
adolescent and others.)

1 In the middle of a word th is [9] a) in Greek words such as author, method.

Catholic; b) in derivatives like healthy, wealthy. — th = [t] in Thames [temz], Thomas,
Anthony, and a few other words.
^ Also in sure [Jua], sugar
['Jug9].
^ In some words [tJ] or [tj] are heard: literature, virtue. Christian; [dj] is
generally used in gradual, individual.
 — 20 —
[z] initial =^ z; zero, zoo.
medial = s: easy, cosy, /ies//a/e; also after the prefixes rfe-, re-, pre-; de'serve,
de'sire, re'sist, re'solve, pre'sent, 'presence,
final = s or z: advise, choose, please, revise; amaze.
[tj] = ch in most cases: chap, cheer, each, teach, touch, torch.
tch after single vowel: catch, fetch, kitchen, stitch, Dutch. (But:
much, such, which, rich.)
t in words like nature, picture (§ 42).
[ds] initial = /. John, June, just.
g: general, generous. (§ 41.)
final — ge: page, siege, courage, college.
dge after stressed short vowel: badge, edge, bridge, lodge, judge.

44 Simplification of consonant groups

In the course of time certain consonants were dropped in
speech but retained in spelling.
1. (a) know [nou], knee [ni:], knight, knife, etc.
(b) write [rait], wrong [rDq], wrap, wrist; who, ivhole.
2. castle [ka:sl], listen [lisn], hasten, often, you mustn't, Christmas
['krism9s], handkerchief ['haeqkatjif], Windsor ['winza]. (/ and
d when preceded and followed by a consonant.)
3. light [lait], night, right, thought [0o:t], nought, taught, caught.
4. half [ha:f], calf, calm, talk [to:k], ivalk, folk [fouk], would,
should, could; Lincoln [linkan], Sherlock Holmes [houmz].
(/ in certain words.)
5. h is mute in hour, honour, heir and the derivatives hourly,
honest, honourable, etc.
6. Other cases: & dropped in lamb, dumb, also mute in debt, doubt;
n dropped in autumn, solemn, damn; p dropped in Greek,
words such a psychology [sai'kol9d3i], pneumonia [nju'mou-
nia]; iv dropped in ansiver, two, Greenwich.

Note. Words like what, when, white used to be pronounced [hwot] [hwen] etc.
Mostly the h has become mute, but in who and whole it was the w that disappeared
by fusing with the vowel.

Further spelling rules

Spelling was still fairly flexible at the time of Shakespeare. It is noteworthy that
the Elizabethans considered spelling so little sacrosanct that they even varied
the spelling of their names (Raleigh and Ralegh). It was only in the ISth century
that Dr. Johnson and other lexicographers laid down the law.

45 I. Traditional rules
1. Homonyms kept apart in spelling as far as possible.
are
Examples: meet j me at j mete (mete = measure, give); sale/
see/sea,
sail, made/maid, tale/tail; sun/son, swnlsome. Very often there
is a historical reason for the difference, but in other cases the

distinction is arbitrary and absurd.

 :

— 21 —
2. Doubling of consonants. Often the doubJing of consonants in-
dicates that the preceding vowel is short dine/ dinner, write /written.
:

Other examples: ladder, summer, butter, beggar. (The Enghsh

language is not, however, consistent in this respect: city, finish,
level, lemon.) —
The doubling is without any phonetic function
and merely etymological in the following cases
(a) approve, arrive, assemble, commend, correct, etc. (Latin spelhng
where the prefix ad-, con- etc. were assimilated to the follow-
ing consonant.)
(b) cliff, stuff; full, well, hill; miss, class, pass; back, luck (final
/, s, I, are doubled after single vowel, k is replaced by ck).
Note the compounds: useful, careful, almost, welcome etc.

3. Mute e. Its chief function is to indicate that the preceding

vowel is long. Compare Tim/ time, not/ note (§ 35). It also serves
a useful purpose in words like courage, college, hedge; voice, to
indicate the pronounciation of g, dg, and c.

Mute however, also to be found in other positions where

e is,
it might well be dispensed with.

(a) horse, purse, sense, glimpse; house, raise. (After consonant

+ s and vowel digraph + s).
(b) live, love, have, adjective. (After y, even when the vowel is short.)

4. Most words of two sounds or one sound (nouns, verbs, ad-

jectives) are spelled with three letters. Thus
(a) add, odd, egg, ebb, inn, err; (but bad, leg, win etc.)
(b) lie, die, tie; owe, awe; (but try, fly, flow, low, law).

II. Functional (living) rules 46

These rules concern changes that occur before endings.
1. run —
runner, beg beggar. Fred —Freddy. —
Final single consonant is doubled after single stressed vowel, to
indicate that the vowel is short.
2. write— manage — mcmager.
writer,
Mute e dropped
is i).

3. happy — happiness, happily. But: enjoy — enjoyment.

y after consonant is changed to i.

The above examples concern derivatives. The same rules

apply also to conjugation (§ 85, 94, 96), comparison (§ 67) and
the formation of the plural of nouns (§ 55).

^ The e is preserved in words like changeable, manageable, peaceable, to siiow the

pronunciation of g and c.
 — 22 —
Verb: stop — stopping, stopped.
1. — 2. live living, lived.
— he
3. try he (but he plays, he played).
tries, tried
Adjective: hot — 1. — hotter, hottest. 2. fine finer, finest.
merry — merrier,
3. merriest.
Noun: lady — (but boy — ladies boys).
Note. No doubling after unstressed vowell Compare: permitting and visiting,
referring and differing, slopping and developing.
Exception: In British English 1 is always doubled: travel — travelling,
travelled, traveller. The Americans write traveling etc.

47 Capital Letters
The following words are written with capitals;
1. Proper nouns and adjectives derived from proper nouns,
in particular thosedenoting a language England, English, Great :

Britain, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square. Further words which

may be considered as proper nouns:
names of months and days of the week: January,
March, Sunday, also special days such as New Years Day, Armi-
stice Day, and religious festivals, e. g. Christmas, Easter;
nouns and adjectives denoting parties or religious com-
munities: Conservative, Liberal, Catholic, Protestant, e. g. a Li-
beral newspaper, a Protestant church;
titles if followed by proper noun: President Wilson, Queen
Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh. (King, Queen, Prime Minister
etc. are written with capital letter if they refer to the reigning
monarch or the minister in office.)
2. Sir, Gentlemen sometimes Father, Uncle, etc.
(in letters);
3. Lord ( = God), and other religious terms.
Scripture,
4. The important words in titles of books or essays, i. e.
all nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs. E.g. "A Ramble in the
Country".
5. The pronoun /.

4g Separation of Syllables
1. Words that are pronounced as one syllable cannot be sepa-
rated : Times, late, notes.
2. Compounds are separated into their component parts Eng- :

land, an-other. Similarly: suffixes and endings are separated

from the root or stem: mis-under-stand-ing, start-ed, start-er
(stopped, pulled cannot be separated, of course).
3. The following examples will illustrate the principle in other
cases: la-dy, ne-ver, easy; gram-mar, num-ber.
The best rule as to the separating of syllables is "Don't!"
 — 23 —

V. Article and Nouni

Definite and indefinite article 49
Persons, male: Sg. the boy, the king. PL the boys.
female: Sg. the girl, the queen. PL the girls.
Things: Sg. the book, the day. PL the books.

The definite article the is invariable: it is used for persons

and things ^ singular and plural. Note the pronunciation:
the book [69 buk] the old book [Si ould buk]
The pronunciation is [69] before consonant, [&i] before vowel.

a boy, a girl, a book. — an English boy, an old book. 50

The indefinite article is a, an [9, 9n]. a comes before consonant,
an comes before vowel ^.

Gender
Where's the boy? He's in the garden. 51
Where's the girl? She's in the kitchen.
Where's the book? It's on the table.
Neither the form of the noun nor the article indicates
whether the word denotes a person (male or female) or a thing.
But the personal pronouns that may replace the nouns in
the singular are he (for male persons), she (for female persons),
it (for things). No difference is made in the plural, where they

serves for persons and things (the boys they). —

This grammatical distinction between persons and things
is called gender the three genders are masculine, feminine,
;

and neuter.
Animals are usually neuter. However, when we speak of 52
our pets (dog, cat) or our domestic animals (horse, cow), or
when the hunter speaks of wild animals such as lion, tiger,
elephant, the personal gender is used.
Animals appearing in animal stories like "Wind in the
Willows" or in fairy tales, where they behave like persons, are
also given personal gender, mostly masculine.
^ The use of the definite and indefinite article is, in principle, the same as
that in other Germanic and in Romance languages. Speakers of other languages
will naturally have great difficulty here. The function of the article is, roughly,
this: the definite article indicates that something is known or determined, the
indefinite article serves to introduce something. See §§ 181-189.
^ "thing" is here used to denote objects and abstract notions.

^ Apparent, but no real, exceptions are an hour [an au^], an honour [an
'ona], a unit [a 'junit], a University [a juni'va:siti], a European Federation [a 'juara-
'pi:an f.]. What matters is the initial sound of the following word.
 — 24 —
53 Personal gender with things. (Exceptions to § 51.)
(a) The "Queen Mary'" won the Blue Ribbon on her first voyage.
Have you seen my new car? She can do 90 miles an hour.
Ships and boats are always feminine, as an expression of the
personal relation (affection, familiarity) between sailor and ship,
perhaps also because a vessel seems to possess a life of its own.
For the same reason the owners of motor-cars will speak of their
car as she, and trains in the language of railwaymen are feminine.
(b) Poetry is rich in personifications, the gender being generally
determined by classical allegorical representation. Examples:
Masculine: sun, time, war, death.
Feminine: moon, earth, nature, night; virtue, mercy.

The Plural of Nouns

54 (a) the book — the books [buks] the map — the maps [maeps]
(b) the pen — the pens [penz] the boy — the boys [boiz]
(c) the class — the classes ['kla:siz] the page — the pages ['peid3iz]
The ending is

(a) [s] after voiceless sound

'^

( b) [z] after voiced sound

( c) [iz] after a hissing sound [s, z, J, 3) written -es or -s.

55 Special cases
1. leaf — leaves thief — thieves half — halves
knife — knives wife — wives
Most nouns ending in -/ or -fe change the f to v. — The following
words are regular: chief, handkerchief ['hseqkatjif], roof, proof,
and words in -//, like cliff, staff. E. g. chiefs, proofs, cliffs.
Note. The same alternation of voiceless and voiced consonant is to be
found in house— houses [haus — 'liauziz], and in a few words ending in -th: path —
— pa:6z],
•

paths [pa:9 mouth,

bath, oath; tliis change is not reflected in spelling.

2. lady — ladies story — stories cry — cries

boy —
boys day days —
key [ki:] keys —
Final y after consonant is changed to i and the ending is -es.
(So the irregularity is merely one of spelling.)
Note. Also certain words in -0 take the ending -es. Examples: hero (-heroes),
negro, potato, tomato. Words that are abbreviations, like piano (from pianoforte),
photo (from photograph) only take -s.

56 Irregular Plural
The number of words with irregular plural is very small;
the chief of these are:
 :

— 25 —
1 . Survivals of older types of plural ^

man — men Englishman — Englishmen

[msen men] ['iqglijmaii 'irjglijman]
woman — women Englishwoman — Englishwomen
['wum9n 'wimin] ['irjglishwumen 'irjglijwimin]
child— children — [tjaild 'tjildran]

foot— —feet goose —

tooth teeth geese [gu:s, gi:s]
mouse [mails] — mice — louse lice ox — oxen

There are a great many compounds with mcui and woman.

Examples: Englishmcm, Scotsman, Irishman, Frenchman (§ 237),
gentleman, policemcm —
note that singular and plural are pro-
nounced ahke —
Frenchwomcm, policewoman.
;

2. Words without plural ending

(a) The words people ( = persons) and cattle ( = cows, oxen,
calves) only occur with a plural meaning, e.g. Were there many
people there? I don't know these people^,

(h) The following words have the same form for singular and
plural
Swiss (one Swiss, two Swiss), Japcuiese, Chinese (§ 237).
§ 175), trout, scdmon, etc; wild
sheep, deer, buffalo; fish (see
duck, grouse (and other birds that are hunted).
craft ( = ship), aircraft.
means ^. — apparcdus, series, species ^.

3. A few nouns have two plural forms, with different meanings.

penny has pennies (= coins) and pence (= value):
give me pennies for a shilling? It costs fourpence.
Can you
Note the pronunciations halfpenny ['heipni], twopence ['tA-
p(9)ns], threepence ['Grep(9)ns], fourpence ['fo:p(9)ns] etc.
clothhsiscloths [klD0s], as in table-cloths, dishcloths, and clothes
[klou6z or klouz] as in bed-clothes (= sheets and blankets);
clothes meaning ((dresses)) is regarded to be a distinct word.
brother has the irregular form brethren (= fellow members).
4. Some
learned words taken from Latin or Greek have retained their foreign
endings. Examples: crisis —
crises ['kraisiz, 'kraisi:z], thesis theses, nebula — —
nebulae ['nebjula, 'nebjuli:]. medium —
media, phe'nomenon phe'nomena. —
^ The forms man/men are examples of vowel-mutation (Umlaut), frequent in

Old English and other Germanic languages.

^ People may also mean all the persons forming a nation or tribe, in which

case it is regular: a brave people, the peoples of Africa.

3 For means see § 177. - Apparatus etc. are really foreign plurals.
 :

— 26 —
57 Case
English used to have four distinct cases: nominative, accu-
sative, dative, genitive, but most of the case-endings got
lost, and the case-system in modern English is much simplified.
Considering English without regard to former stages or to related
languages, we should arrive at a different classification. Still,
the traditional terms serve a useful purpose to students who
distinguish the four cases in their own language, and they will
be kept, side by side with the more accurate terms. It is helpful
to consider the pronouns together with the nouns.

58 Personal pronouns. (See § 61.)

Subjective or Nominative He is ten years old.

^, . Accusative
. f I know him.
J
iDative Give him this letter. Give it to him.

Nouns denoting persons.

g Nominative The boy is ten years old. The boys are ten y. o.

1 1 Accusative / know the boy. / know the boys.

5 Dative Give the boy this letter. Give the boys this I.
Give it to the boy. Give it to the boys.
Genitive The boy's name is Tom. (the boys' nanus. .) .

the name of the boy the names of the boys.

Nouns denoting things. (Dative is rare.)

I
cj Nominative The book costs 6j-. The books cost 15 j-.
I 2 Accusative Fve read the book. I've read the books.
^ Genitive the price of the book. the price of the books.

The examples show that pronouns posses two forms (except it)
one for the subject function, the other for the object function;
there is no genitive. So the appropriate terms would be sub-
jective ease and objective case (or: subjective, objective).
Nouns have the same form (the stem) for subject and object
functions; so the appropriate term would be conunon case.
All prepositions are used with objective or common
case: / had a letter from him. Give it to him.

59 Objective case.
Some verbs have two objects, called direct object (accusative)
and indirect object (dative). The latter is often marked by the
preposition to. See § 325.

^,
1
 :

— 27 —
Genitive 60
1. Persons. There are two ways of marking the genitive
relation
(a) In the singular the genitive is formed by means of the
ending 's. The pronunciation is the same as that of the plural
ending (§ 54), thus; Jack's book [d seeks buk], Tom's book [tomz
buk], George's book ['dsoidsiz buk]. Further examples: my uncle s
house, my friends car, Mr. Jones's address.
Charles's birthday,
In the plural the genitive is marked only by an apostrophe.
The irregular plurals men, women, children, people add, of course,
the full ending 's: the children's nursery.

Note that the genitive stands before the noun to which it

belongs, the "headword".
This genitive is called the inflected genitive, or, be-
cause it goes back to Old Enghsh, the Saxon genitive.
(b) The inflected genitive maybe replaced by the genitive of +
common case, which is rare in the singular, but frequently occurs
in the plural : our neighbours' house, or the house of our neighbours.
2. Things The . o/-genitive is the rule. (Exceptions in § 263/4.)
Notes. 1.The ending s is mostly omitted in classical names ending in s,

also in the word Jesus, e.

Bruins' love for Caesar, Jesus' disciples.
g.
2. English allows of a "group genitive". It is possible to say e. g. some one
else's idea, the Duchess of Kent's son, His Majesty the King's speech; i. e. someone
else, the Duchess of Kent etc. are considered as sense units.

VI. Pronouns
A. Personal Pronouns and Possessives. (See §§ 266-281.)

61
Personal Pronouns Possessives

nominative objective adjective pronoun

I me my mine myself
you you your yours yourself
he him his his himself
she her her hers herself
it it its itself

we us our ours ourselves

you you your yours yourselves
they them their theirs themselves
one one one's oneself
 — 28 —
62 Personal Pronouns. (See §§ 58, 325.)
connected speech many pronouns are spoken with
In
shortened or weakened vowel. .

(a) You, he, she, we, me are often pronounced with half-long or
short vowel. He didn't come [hi didnt kAm]. We don't know [wi
dount nou]. You needn't do it [ju ni:dnt du:it].
(b) In us, them, the vowel is weakened to [d]. Tell us what hap-
pened [tel 9S wDt hsepnd]. I saw them [ai so: 59m]. Us is short- —
ened to s in the phrase let's e. g. Let's go now (§ 359).
Notes. 1. Ill rapid speech further weakening takes place.
(a) In familiar speech them is often replaced by 'em [am], which is, historically, not
a shortening of them, but of an old form hem. (Not recommended.)
(b) the h of him and her is dropped: Give him my kind regards [givim mai kaind r.].
/'// call her up [ail ko:l ar Apj. Foreign students are advised not to use these

forms unless they have attained real fluency in speaking.

2. Note the pronunciation of the groups to us, for us, at us, of us; to them etc.
He was waiting for us. far as. or for as.
. .

It was kind of them. 9V 6em or ov Sam

. .

i. e. either the preposition or the pronoxm is weakened.

63 Possessives
Adjectives. Like other adjectives, they are invariable: my
book, my books; our room, our rooms.
Pronouns. Whose book is this? It's mine.
Whose books are these? They are mine.
I can't find my pen, may I take yours?
The possessive pronoun, too, is invariable; it is used without
article. See §§ 280, 281.

64 The self-pronoun has two functions: Las emphatic personal

pronoun (I did it myself), and II. as reflexive pronoun
(He only thinks of himself). See §§ 273-275.

65 B. Other pronouns
I.Of the other pronouns only one has case forms: luho, which
is question word (§ 124) and relative pronoun (§ 245).
Nominative who, dative to whom, accusative whom (or in
questions who), genitive whose.
II. The following pronouns have distinct forms for sg. and pi.:
Singular this that (§§ 192-195) much (§ 211)
Plural these those many
III. other (see § 209) is (a) adjective and invariable: other
people, other opinions, (b) noun with plural form in s: Xci^er
leave to others what you can do yourself.
 — 29

VII. Adjective

Form. Position. (See §§ 230-232.) 66

a new book, new books.
The adjective is invariable. It precedes the noun which it

qualifies. (Exceptions § 231.)

Comparison. (See 239.)

I. 1. warm warmer warmest 67
hot hotter hottest
fine finer finest
2. happy happier happiest
simple simpler simplest
clever cleverer cleverest
II beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
comfortable more comfortable most comfortable
tired more tired most tired
pleased more pleased most pleased
Rule: I. Comparative and superlative are formed by means
of the endings -er and -est. Note the pronunciation ['faina,
'fainistj. To this group belong all adjectives of one syllable and
all adjectives of two syllables that end in -y, -er, -le.

II. Comparative and superlative are formed by means of more

and most. To this group belong all the other adjectives, and all
participles.
It will be seen that the principle underlying this usage is ease
of pronunciation.
Note. Deviations from this rule are fairly frequent.
A number adjectives of two syllables, besides those mentioned above,
of
take endings, e. g. some adjectives that are stressed on the last syllable like polite,
sincere, profound; further: common, narrow, quiet, pleasant.
More and most are used with adjectives like afraid, cdive, glad, which are
only used as part of the predicate.

With regard to Group I note: 68

Pronunciation.
(a) dear [dia], dearer, dearest ['diora, 'diarist], similarly clear,
poor, and the other adjectives ending in r.

(b) long [bi]], longer, longest ['lor)g9, 'loggist]; similarly young

and strong.
Spelling. See § 46. Note in particular the rule concerning the
doubling of consonants. Examples: big, bigger, biggest; thin,
thinner, thinnest; fit, fitter, fittest.
 :

30 —
Irregular com parison
69 (a) good 1

better best
weU J

bad
evil worse worst
iU
(b) much
more most
many
httle less least
few fewer (less) fewest
(c) near^ nearer nearest
next
far farther farthest
further furthest
2
late later latest
last
old older oldest
elder eldest

In the groups (a) and (b) the comparative and superlative are
from different roots.

70 There are a few comparatives and superlatives derived from

adverbs
in inner inmost, innermost
out outer outmost, outermost
up upper upmost, uppermost
Note also the isolated forms topmost, foremost, utmost, easternmost,
westernmost, e. g. Land's End is England's westernmost point.

71 English has borrowed a few comparative forms from Latin,

taking over also the construction.
superior to —
inferior to (better or lower in rank, value,
quantity). Is central heating superior to a fire-place? No direct
comparison is implied in expressions like: This bicycle is of
inferior quality.
major —
minor (greater, more important —
less important).
the major pari of one's life. - In schools Smith major means the elder
of two brothers, Smith minor the younger.
^iVear is an old comparative to nigh, -which is now archaic; cf. neighbour.
Tliere also exists a form latter, which denotes time only in the expression
-

in these latter days. Otherwise it is opposed to former, e. g. Of the two speakers the
latter was not so good as the former {latter =
second).
 — 31 —
Notes to § 69. 72
well, better, best and ill, worse, worst occur both as adjectives and as adverbs.
well as adjective means (a) in good health How are you ?Iam very well, thank you.
:

to look well, to feel well, (b) in a satisfactory state: We are very well where we are.
it would be well =
it would be good, advisable, e. g. // would be well to start early.

well as adverb
has various functions. Note position (§ 110).
(a) = way: He speaks English very well. He spoke belter than
in a good, satisfactory
I had expected. The book is well written. —
There are numerous combinations of
the type well +
participle, e. g. well-known, well-informed, well-dressed, well-
mannered.
Note also the expressions to think, speak well of someone (= have a good opinion),
to treat well (= with kindness).

(b) =
thoroughly, considerably: Examine it well, before you buy it. He is well over
my.
(c) after may and can =
with good reason, easily: You may well be surprised. You
can't very well refuse to help him. —
We might fust as well do it now =^ with equal
reason, advantage. - As well as means "in addition", e. g. She has charm as
well as brains.
well at the beginning of a sentence is used when the speaker starts or
resumes a story or explanation: Well, as I was saying. It may also express a . .

feeling or agreement: Well, who would have thought it! Well, here we are at last.
Very well, then that's settled.
There is also the interrogative well ? meaning «What do you want? What have
you got to say ? » etc.

ill as adjective means (a) in bad health: to be ill, to fall ill. (b) bad, evil (only
in a few expressions where bad would also be correct): ;7/ health, ill news, ill luck.

ill as adverb means "badly" but occurs only in certain idioms, e. g. to treat ill, to
speak ill of a person. We could afford the time (= not easily).
ill — Yet there are
numerous compounds, like ill-bred, ill-mannered, ill-informed.

much and little are pronouns and adverbs. See §§ 211-214. 73

Note that little is also a proper adjective, has an meaning small; mostly it
emotional colouring (a little house corresponds to diminutive forms in other lan-
guages). Comparative and superlative do not normally occur.

farther and further are used to denote distance, e. g. It was farther (or further) than 74:
we had thought; further may also mean additional or advanced further examples, :

further remarks, on further inquiry.

nearest, next nearest refers to distance, next to sequence. Where's the nearest
.

post-office? Where's the nearest bus-stop? The next train leaves at 5.10. Brighton
is the next stop. — next Monday, next week.
latest, last^. latest means "most recent", e. g. the latest news, the latest fashion,
his latest book, last means fa) coming at the end, final, e. g. the last page of the book.
That's my last word. The last of the Mohicans, (b) past, in expressions of time:
last Monday, last week.
elder, eldest are used chiefly to distinguish two or more members of the same
family; e. g. my elder brother, the eldest son. Note that older, not elder, i?, used when
followed by than: My
elder brother is two years older than I (colloquially: than me).
All the words in this group, except latest, elder, eldest also serve as adverbs:
We arrived late. We live far from the town.

^ Latest is restricted in its sphere of application. E. g. One would say: " What
did he write in his last letter? (not latest).
 — 32 —
Adverb
75 There are two kinds of adverbs:
(a) original adverbs, e. g. near, far; early, soon, often; fast.
Some of these words serve both as adjectives and adverbs. (§455.)
(b) adverbs derived from ad jectives. Most adverbs of
manner are derived from the corresponding adjective by means
of the ending -ly : calm — calmly, beautiful — beautifully, quick —
quickly.

As regards spelling note:

1. easy —
easily, happy happily.—
2. simple — simply, noble — nobly; full — fully, whole — wholly.
3. Isolated cases are true — truly, due — duly.

Note. There are also adjectives ending in -ly, e. g. kindly, lively. From
these no adverbs can be formed, and the speaker has to make shift with phrases
like in a lively way, at a leisurely pace.

76 Comparison of adverbs
Adverbs that are not derived take the ending -er, -est, e. g.

soon, sooner, soonest; fast, faster, fastest; early, earlier, earliest.

Adverbs that are derived from adjectives take more and most,
e. g. careful, more carefully, most carefully.
Note that well is the adverb corresponding to good, and that
badly and ill are the adverbs corresponding to bad. badly and
/// are not, however, interchangeable; see § 72.

77 Adverbs of number, (Cf. §§ 78, 80.)

once, twice, three limes, four times, five tim.es, a hundred

1.

These are adverbs of frequency. Examples: / have read the

/{me.s.
book twice. I have told you a hundred times to be more careful.
Twice seven is fourteen; five times seven is thirty-five.
2. secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, etc. (=in the
firstly,
first,second, thirdfplace). Also first occurs as an adverb, mean-
ing "before everything" or "for the first time", e. g. We nuist
first consider the costs. Where did you first meet him?

Note. Distinguish betNveen at first and first or firstly.

Al first means "in the beginning", it denotes the initial stage, as in Al first the
weallier was dull, tlien it cleared up, and at noon we had brilliant sunshine.
First, firstly denotes the first item in a series, as in First we must pack, tlien we will
have lunch, then we lock up the house, etc.

^ The numbers 13-19 have double stress: 'four'teen etc. (§33)

'Ihir'leen,
2 Hundred, tlwusand, million are used like nouns (and take a plural -s) in
expressions like hundreds of people, tlwusands of copies.
 :

33 —

VIM. Numbers
Cardinal Numbers 78
1 one [
1
WAn ]
11 eleven 21 twenty-one
2 two [tn:] 12 twelve 22 twent37-two
3 three [eri:] 13 thirteen^ 30 thirty
4 four [fo:] 14 fourteen 40 forty (!)
5 five 15 fifteen 50 fifty
6 six 16 sixteen 60 sixty
7 seven 17 seventeen 70 seventy
8 eight [eit] 18 eighteen 80 eighty
9 nine 19 nineteen 90 ninety
ten 20 twenty 100 a hundred
1000 a thousand
3546 three thousand five hundred and forty-six
7013 seven thousand and thirteen
3 500 000 three milhon five hundred thousand
Note
1. Hyphen between multiples of 10 and following numbers.
2. "and" is used after hundred and thousand, if one of the
numbers from 1 to 99 follows.
3. 100 is a hundred or one hundred. 1000
is a thousand or one

thousand.
4. million takes a plural -s when the word stands by itself,
e.g. three millions. But: three million five hundred thousand,
five million books, ten million people-.
Note. One billion is 1000 000 000 000 in England and only 1000 000 000 in
America.

Note further: 79
nought, zero, nil (= 0). Nought is the usual word. To multiply
a number by ten add a nought to the end of it. The ticket had the
number four nought one (401). —
Telephone numbers, however,
are given in this way: five three o [on] nine (5309), double six
double (6600). Zero denotes the point that divides the negative
from the positive quantities on a scale, e. g. on the thermometer:
ten degrees below zero. Nil is used to indicate the score in football
matches. We beat them 2-0 (two nil). A/"// also means « no things:
The profits were nil.

Decimal fractions are read three point four (3*4), six point two
five (6-25), twenty-three point nought one (23-01).
1 2 Notes on p. 32.
 :!

— 34 —
80 Ordinal numbers
1st the first 11th the eleventh
2nd the second . 12th the twelfth
3rd the third 13th the thirteenth
4th the fourth 14th the fourteenth
5th the fifth 15th the fifteenth
6th the sixth 16th the sixteenth
7th the seventh 17th the seventeenth
8th the eighth [eitO] 18th the eighteenth
9th the ninth (!) [nainG] 19th the nineteenth
10th the tenth 20th the twentieth
30th the thirtieth 80th the eightieth
40th the fortieth 90th the ninetieth
50th the fiftieth 100th the hundredth
60th the sixtieth 1000th the thousandth
70th the seventieth 1000000th the milhonth
21st: the twenty-first
438th: the four hundred and thirty-eighth
In compound numbers (twenty-first etc.) the second part takes
the form of the ordinal number. Abbreviations accordingly;
compare 1st, 11th, 21st.

81 Ordinal Numbers are used

1. for the date.
(a) In letterhead London, 21st March 1953. (This is read London
: :

the twenty-first of March nineteen hundred and fifty-three.)

(b) In a sentence: Spring begins on the 21st of March. This is
the 1st of June. —
Or / arrived here on 5th April. (Read
:

on the 5th of April.) Thank you for your letter of 3rd May.
Note. It is unusual in England to abbreviate the date, e. g. 21/3/1953. - Note
that 4/7/1950 in American letters means the 7th of April, and not the 4th of July
2. for fractions.
V2 « or one half, Vs « or one third, V4 « quarter or a fourth,
Vs two thirds, ^/g five sixths, 7^/^ seven and three fifths.
Note the usage when the fractions are followed by nouns:
a quarter of an hour, half an hour, an hour and a half, two hours
and a half; half a mile, three quarters of a mile, a mile and a half;
half a pound etc.
To indicate time
it is usual to say three months, si.v months,

nine months, a year, a year and a half, two years and a half.
3. to indicate succession of riJers e. g. Henry VIII (read
Henry the eighth), George VI.
 35

IX. The Verb

There are two sorts of tenses: simple tenses and progressive
tenses. Their functions are explained in chapters22 and 23.

A. The Sunple Tenses

Survey
Affirmative Tenses 82

Full form Short form

I speak
Present tense
he speaks
I spoke
Past tense
he spoke

Perfect tense I have spoken I've spoken

he has spoken he's spoken
Pluperfect I had spoken I'd spoken
he had spoken he'd spoken

Future I I shaU speak I'll speak

he wiU speak he'U^speak

Future II I shall have spoken I'U have spoken

Conditional I I should speak I'd speak

he would speak he'd speak
Conditional II I should have I'd have spoken
spoken
he would have he'd have spoken
spoken

Imperative speak
Infinitive to speak
to have spoken
ing-form speaking
Participle II spoken

Note. It has been found convenient to list the conditional

together with the tenses, though it has no tense function pro-
perly speaking. See § 375.
 — 36 —
83 Negative Tenses

Full form Short form

Present tense I do not speak I don't speak

he does not speak he doesn't speak
Past tense I did not speak I chdn't speak
he did not speak he didn't speak

Perfect tense I have not spoken I haven't spoken

he has not spoken he hasn't spoken
Pluperfect I had not spoken I hadn't spoken
he had not spoken he hadn't spoken

Future I I shall not speak I shan't speak

he will not speak he won't speak
Future II I shall not have I shan't have
spoken spoken
Conditional I I should not speak I shouldn't speak
he would not speak he wouldn't speak
Conditional II I should not have I shouldn't have
spoken spoken

Imperative do not speak don't speak

Infinitive not to speak not to have spoken

84 Full and short forms. (See §§ 87-92, also 101.)

Speech, i. e. ordinary conversation^.
Affirmative tenses. There are three possibilities of pro-
nouncing the auxiliaries: full forms, spoken either with strong or
weakened vowel, and short forms.
The strong form —
[hsev, hsez, a:] etc. — is used
(a) when stressed: You have been quick. I am glad. II was
funny,
(h) very often at the beginning, always at the end of a sentence
(or sense-group): Have you seen the film? Yes, I have. Are
you sure? Yes we are.
(c) in the contracted negative forms haven l, hasn't aren't etc.

^ In formal lectures and addresses and in solemn speech, short forms are avoided.
 :

— 37 —
The weak form - [hav or av, haz or oz], etc. —
is mostly used

after noun or question-word George has told me. The hooks have
:

come. How much have you got?

The short forms — 've, 's, 'd etc. —
are used after pronouns:
Fve seen it, he's told me, you're right; also after nouns and
question words, if this does not make pronounciation awk-
ward. Examples: Jack's right, Tom's right, but George is right.
Negative tenses. Only the short forms are used.

Writing. Short forms are found in novels, to render conver-

sation, in plays, and in letters to friends. Otherwise only the
full forms occur, i. e. in novels and stories to tell or describe
something, as well as in newspaper articles, essays, scientific
prose etc., and in business or official correspondence. When such
prose is read, the auxiliaries are pronounced with weak vowel
(unless they are stressed or stand in initial or final position).

Note. Advice to learners ^

Positive tenses: Short forms after personal pronouns, also 's for is

afternouns and question words ^; otherwise full forms (mostly pro-

nounced with weak vowel).
Negative tenses only short forms. :

The tenses in detail

Present tense 85
I speak we speak
you speak you speak
he speaks
she speaks they speak
it speaks

Ending of the 3rd person singular^:

(a) I speak he speaks [spi:ks] / stop he stops [steps]
(b) I see he sees [si:z] / call he calls [ko:lz]
(c) I push he pushes ['pu^iz] I change he changes l'tleindT,iz]

i. e. the ending is (cf. § 54)

(a) [s] after voiceless sound | .

(b) [z] after voiced sound J

(c) [iz] after a hissing sound written -es or -s

^ To get used to the short forms the learner should keep to these rules both in

speaking and writing. More advanced learners will differentiate according to the
rules given above.
2 Except, of course, after sibilant.

^ This is the only ending added to the stem. Don't forget to put it!
 — 38 —
Peculiarities in spelling (§ 46).
/ fly he flies. I carry he carries. I play he plays.
An isolated form is he goes [gouz).
Irregular forms.
/ have I do [du:] / say [sei]
he has he does [dAz] he says [sez]

The forms of to be are given in § 101.

The auxiliaries can, may, will, shall, must have no ending in

the third person singular: he can, he may, he will, he shall, he
must. The contracted negative forms are can't, maynt, wont,
shan't, mustn't. (See § 103.)

86 Past tense
I spoke we spoke
you spoke you spoke
he spoke they spoke
The past tense has no personal ending at all. — For the formation
of the past tense of weak verbs see § 96.

87 Perfect tense
I have spoken we have spoken
you have spoken you have spoken
he has spoken they have spoken
The perfect is formed by means of the auxiliary to have and
the Participle 11.

students who speak a Germanic or Romance language will note that the auxiliary
is tohave for all verbs: he has come, he has gone, he has been. - he is gone occurs,
but has a special meaning, namely a "Ae is not here" ; it is gone == "it is lost or spent".

Pronunciation. / have spoken [ai hav spoukn] ^

he has spoken [hi h9z spoukn]

Short forms. Fve spoken, you've spoken, he's spoken etc.

88 Pluperfect
I had spoken we had spoken
you had spoken you had spoken
he had spoken they had spoken
The auxiliary is the past tense of to have.

Pronunciation. / had spoken [ai had spoukn]^

he had spoken [hi had spoukn]
Short forms. I'd spoken, you'd spoken, he'd spoken etc.

^ Often further reduced to [ai 9v sp., hi oz sp.; ai ad sp., he ad sp.].

 — 39 —
Future tense I 89
I shall speak we shall speak
you will speak you will speak
he will speak they will speak
The future tense is formed by shall or will and the infinitive.

This distinction: shall for the first person, will for the second
and third person, is only made in British Enghsh. In the USA
and the Dominions will is used for all persons.
Pronunciation. / shall speak [ai Jal spi:k] ^

has no weakened form)

(will
Short form. 7/ (from will) is the short form for all the per-
sons, also in British English: F II speak, you'll speak, though stu-
dents are advised not to substitute Fll, we'll for / shall, we shall.

Future Tense II 90
I shall have spoken you will have spoken he will have spoken
This tense (rare in Sp. E.) is formed by shall or will and the past infinitive.

Conditional I 91
I should speak we should speak
you would speak you would speak
he would speak they would speak
The conditional formed by should/would and the infinitive.
is —
Should only occurs in British English, and even there / would
is to be found nearly as often as / should. In the USA and the

Dominions only / would is used.

Pronunciation. / should speak [ai Jud spi:k] or [ai Jad sp.]^
(would has no weakened form).
Short forms, 'd (from would) is used for all persons, also in
British English. I'd speak, you'd speak, he'd speak etc.

Conditional II 92
I shouldhave spoken we should have spoken
you would have spoken you would have spoken
he would have spoken they would have spoken
The conditional II is formed by should/ would and past infinitive.
Pronunciation. Have is quite unstressed: not only is the
vowel weakened, but the h is mostly dropped.
/ should have spoken [ai Judav spoukn]
he would have spoken [hi wudav spoukn]
Short forms. I'd have spoken etc.
1 Or [ai fl spi:li] with syllabic 1. ^ Qr [ai Jd, ai Jt].
 — 40 —
93 The Imperative has the form of the infinitive.

94 The ing-form may be participle, gerund, or part of a pro-

gressive tense (§§ 389, 392, 98).
For spelling
— dying, —
see § 46.
tying.
— Note the irregular forms lie — lying,
die tie

Strong and weak verbs

95 Strong verbs
A strong verb is to speak. As appears from § 82 the verb has
three different stem-forms:
(a) root-form, which is identical with the infinitive; this form
also serves for the present tense, as imperative, and for the
ing-form.
(b) past tense (also called preterit).
(c) participle II, which also serves to form perfect and plu-
perfect and the past infinitive.
Mostly the three forms are listed like this:
speak spoke spoken
see saw seen
give gave given
The number of strong verbs is limited, but nearly all of them
belong to the commonest words in the language. See App. A.
Note. A few verbs have identical forms for past tense and participle, e. g.
Here the old participle was replaced by the preterit form (by
gel got got, sit sat sat.
analogy with the irregular weak verbs, § 97), e. g. to get had the participle gotten,
which is still used in America and is preserved in the verb forget forgot forgotten.

96 Weak verbs
The great majority of the English verbs are weak verbs. Past
tense and participle are formed regularly from the root form by
means of the ending -ed:
look looked looked [lukt]
miss missed missed [mist]
call called called [ko:ld]
turn turned turned [t9:nd]
end ended ended [endid]
want wanted wanted [wontid]
The pronunciation is [t] after voiceless consonant, [d] after

voiced consonant, [id] after d or /. —

Note the pronunciation
of verbs in -er: answer ansivered ['a:nsad], rementbcr remem-
bered [ri'membad], enter entered ['entad].
 — 41 —
Peculiarities of spelling. (§ 46.)

(a) stop — stopped, beg — consonant after

begged. Single single
stressed vowel is doubled. (Therefore: it oc'curs — it

oc'curred, but it 'differs, it 'differed.)

(b) live — lived, change — changed. Mute e is dropped.

(c) try — tried, — worried. But: play — played, stay —

worry
stayed, enjoy — enjoyed, y after consonant changed to is i.

Note the exceptional verbs pay paid paid [peid], lay laid
laid [leid] and say said said [sed].

There are about 70 irregular weak verbs. Examples: 97

(a) flee fled fled feel felt felt^
say said said [sed] sleep slept slept

(b) read read read [red] put put put

lead led led cost cost cost
meet met met let let let

Past tense and participle are always identical in form. In —

group (b) the ending has fused with the final d or / of the stem.
A full list is given in Appendix A. Though a distinction
ought to be made between strong verbs, irregular weak verbs
and regular weak verbs, this threefold division is of little practical
value to the student, who —
like the English child — feels that
there are "irregular" and "regular verbs".

B. The Progressive Tenses. (See §§101, 102; 315-322.) 98

The progressive tenses are formed by to be + zn^-form.

Present tense I am reading I'm reading

Past tense I was reading I was reading

Perfect tense I have been reading I've been reading

Pluperfect tense I had been reading I'd been reading
Future P I shallbe reading I'll be reading

Conditional P I should be reading I'd be reading

Infinitive to be reading

^ This vowel change is different from that in the strong verbs. The change in

verbs such as sing sang sung, see saw seen goes back to the Indo- Germanic period,
whereas the change as in sleep, slept took place in historical times. Originally it was
merely a difference in length: Middle English slbpen slepte. Long e became [i:], short e
remained [e].
^ Future II and Conditional II are left out as they are rare forms.
 — 42 —
99 C. The Passive Tenses. (See §§ 101, 336-340.)
The passive tenses are formed by lo be + participle II.

Present tense I am called I'm called

Past tense I was called I was called
Perfect tense I have been called I've been called
Pluperfect I had been called I'd been called
Future I I shallbe called I'll be called
Conditional I I should be called I'd be called
Conditional II I should have been c. I'd have been c.

Infinitive to be called, to have been called

Participle bemg called

There also exist a present progressive tense and a past

progressive tense. E. g. Our car is being repaired. The evidence
is being examined by the police.

100 D. The Subjunctive. (See §§ 376, 377.)

Of the subjunctive, so flourishing in Latin, French, German,
and other languages, English has only scanty remainders. The
only forms really alive are / were, he were. Originally there were
two subjunctive forms, both referring to the present; one showed
the infinitive stem, the other the stem of the past tense.

These subjunctives are still clearly preserved with the verb

to be:

Subjunctive I: I be you be he be etc.

Subjunctive II: I were you were he were etc.

With all other verbs, Subjunctive I has become identical with

the present tense, except in the 3rd person singular, and Sub-
junctive II has become identical with the past tense:
Subjunctive I: I speak you speak he speak etc.
Subjunctive II: I spoke you spoke he spoke etc.

There are also the compound subjunctives / have spoken,

he have spoken etc. and / had spoken, he had spoken etc., which
refer to the past.
 — 43 —
E. The AuxiUaries
to be (Cf. § 84) 101
Affirmative Tenses

Full form Short form

I am [aem] / am ready [ai 9m r.] I'm ready [aim r.]

you are [a:] you are late [ju: 9 1.] you're Icde [ju:9 1.]^
he is [iz] he is nice [hi: iz n.] he's nice [hi:z n.]
a) she is she is nice [Ji: iz n.] she's nice [Ji:z n.]
it is it good [it iz g.]
is it'sgood [its g.]
we are we are glad [wi: 9 g.] we're glad [wi:9 g.]
you are you are happy [ju: 9 h.] you're/zapp y [ j u 9 h ] : .

they are they are kind [5ei 9 k.] they're kind [5ei9k.]2

I was [woz] / was sure [ai W9z Ju9]

you were [w9:] you were clever [ju: W9 'klev9]
1^ he was he was silly
we were we were right
you were you were late
they were they were at home [5ei W9r 9t houm]

Imperative: be
Infinitives: to be to have been
ing-form: bemg Participle II: been [bi:n, bin]

The compound tenses are I have been, I had been, I shall be,
I should be, etc.

Negative Tenses

Full form Short form

0)
I am not [ai 9m not] I'm not
you are not [ju: 9 not] you're not or you aren't
he is not he's not he isn't
S
she is not she's not she isn't
Oh
it is not etc. it's not it isn't

a I was not I wasn't

you were not you weren't
he was not etc. he wasn't
1 Or [jo: a leit]. 2 Or [Seo kaind].
 _ 44 —
There are thus two ways of expressing a negative statement:
Hes not at home, or He isni at home. Its not true, or // isni true.
We're not tired, or We aren't tired. You're not listening, or You
aren't listening.
Which form the student to use? When not is stressed, the type
is

he's not, we're not etc. must be used, of course. Otherwise no rule can
be laid down, but it would seem that there is a preference on one hand
for it isn't, it wasn't, and on the other hand for we're not, you're not.
Notes.
1. The negative imperative is don't be, e. g. Don't be afraid. Don't be so
rude.
2. Am not cannot be contracted, but in negative questions the form am I no'
is replaced in colloquial speech by aren't I, e.g. I am right, aren't I?

102 to have
To have may be a full verb, in which case the vowel is given its
full value [se]:
/ have [hsev], you have, he has [hsez], ive have, etc.
/ had [hsed], you had, he had, etc.
or it is an auxiliary, when it is pronounced with a weakened

vowel or shortened. See §§ 87, 88.

As a full verb it may form the negative tenses and questions
with to do: I don't have the time. See § 144.

103 The auxiliaries can, may, wiU, shall, must also need and dare,
are fully dealt with in chapter 27. See also § 85.
Short forms exist of will (e. g. I'll) and in the negative.

104 Additional remark to Chapter IX

As regards the form of present tense, past tense, and im-
perative, would be possible to say that the English full verb
it

possesses besides the simple tenses and the simple imperative

/ speak, J spoke, speak the periphrastic forms / do speak,
I did speak, do speak. The latter are used
1. in affirmative statements for emphasis: / do hope. (§ 120.)
2. in questions: Do you
knoiv him? (§ 123.)
3. in negative statements: / did not write. Don't hurry. (§ 133.)
4. in inversion: Not a soul did ive see. (§ 117.)
5. shortened in "tag-phrases": / saiv it, so did you. (§§ 146
to 151.)
At the time of Shalvespeare usage was not yet settled. On the one hand we
find sentences lilve / know tiim not. Know tjoii not?, and on the other hand the
periphrastic form frequently occurs in affirmative statements without giving
special emphasis, e. g. You all do know iliis mantle.
 — 45 —
X. Order of Words
Main rule
Adverbial Subject Adverb Verb Object Adverbial
105
We spent a week in Devon
last year.
In the morning we always went to thebeach.
When theweather kept us indoors,
everybody read books.
We all had a good time.

The order of words is very important in English. As the noun

has no inflection, only its place in the sentence can show whether
it is subject or object. It follows from the examples that the rule

both in main clauses and in subordinate clauses is

Subject Verb Object
The place of the adverbial varies greatly according to
the type of adverbial, emphasis, and meaning. Adverbials may
stand at the beginning or end of a sentence (front-position
or end-position); some adverbs are normally placed before
the verb (mid-position). Note that verb and object must not
be separated. - For a definition of adverbial and adverb see § 170.
The complete formula for word-order, then, is

aSaVOa
Place of objects 106
1. Turn on the light. Turn the light on. 2. Turn it on.
I took off my boots. I took my b. off. 2. / took them off.

When the verb is combined with an adverb (turn on, turn off,
put on, take off, put away etc.) the rule for word-order is:

1 . A noun usually follows the adverb mid-position is often possible.

;

2. A personal pronoun must come between verb and adverb, for

rhythmical reasons (§ 25).

Further examples:
/ must ring up John. Do you knoiv his telephone number? No,
but I ivill look it up for you. Thank you, and please turn off
the wireless, or turn it down (= make it less loud).
Take off your raincoat; you can hang it up here.
Put your books away. Take out your exercise-books.
Note. Here is some further guidance regarding the position of the noun, though
no exact rule can be given.
End-position when the noun is strongly stressed, also when verb + adverb form
a close sense unit, as in to put up a friend, to put on a new play (§ 449).
Mid-position is frequent, when the noun is less stressed than the adverb.
 : e

— 46 —
When a sentence contains two objects, their sequence is like-
wise determined by rhythm. See §§ 324-328.

Place of adverbials
107 It has been mentioned that there is a great deal of freedom
in the placing of the adverbial. The student is advised to keep

to the following patterns, even though he may read and hear

others used by English people.

Adverbials of Time and Place.

(a) I am writing this from Geneva. I left London six hours ago.
We had to be at the air-terminus at 9 a. m. A bus took us to

the airport,where our passports were checked. We took off at

10.15 and arrived at Geneva Airport at hcdf past one.
He's got a nice house in the country. He works in his garden
every Saturday afternoon.
(b) Some years ago we had a fox-terrier called Chink. He was
a funny little fellow. He was always do something
trying to
foolish. One summer we went camping and took Chink with
us. There were a lot of rabbits about, and Chink made up his
mind to catch one. (For sequel of story see § 313.)
Rule
(a) The most frequent place for the adverbial is at the end
of the sentence. When there are two adverbials, the order is

Place — Time
(b) When a longer story is told, the adverbial of time is often
placed at the beginning to introduce something or to carry on
a thought; something is expected to follow. This is especially
the case in literary English, e. g. During the 19th century England
rose to a height of power and influence she had never known before.

Note that end-position always carries some weight,

i. e.an adverbial is placed at the end when it is stressed.

Notes.
1. Also adverbials of place may take front-position. When a sentence contain.s
several objects good rule for the student is: place the least
and adverbials, a
emphatic adverbial at the b e; n n n g to get it out of the way. as
i i ,

it were.
2. If there is more than one adverbial of time, the more precise indication
comes before the more general: We siarfcd at 7 o'clock in the morning.
3. When two adverbials are contrasted, they may have front-position or end-
position. The former is very usual, e. g. In the morning we went swimming, sun-
bathed, and Iniill sand-castles, in tlie afternoon we played tennis or went for an e.r-
cnrsion.
 — 47 —
1. Mr. Johnson is a model person. He always gets up early. He 108
is never late at his office. never in a hurry. He always
He is

answers his letters promptly. He never forgets to post a letter.

He never gets angry. He rarely grumbles. He never makes a fuss.
2. As long as I have known Mr. Johnson, he has always got up
early. Hehas never been late at the office. He has never been in
a hurry. He has always answered his letters promptly, etc.
(I have made good resolutions): From now on I will be like
Mr. Johnson. I shall cdways get up early. I shall never be late
at the office. I shall always answer my letters promptly, etc.

Some adverbs of indefinite time have mid -position. The most

common of these adverbs are
always, never, often, sometimes, rarely;
generally usually; soon, already, still^.
,

Note also ever (in questions): Have you ever been to Stratford?

These adverbs are placed before the main part of the verb :

1. before a simple tense,

2. if the tense is a compound one, between auxihary and parti-

ciple or infinitive; they are also placed between to be and adjective
(or other complement).

When the verb consists of three parts, the adverb comes

after the first:He has never been Icde. We shall always be pleased to
see you. I should never have thought of it.

There are other adverbs that frequently take mid-position 2: 109

(a) You probably know this. You have probably heard this before.
I distinctly remember hewing seen it. His face clearly showed
that he wasnt pleased to have visitors.
(b) I nearly forgot it. I could hardly believe
it. I quite understand.

I much prefer to stay at home. I rcdher like him.

Such adverbs are
(a) possibly, probably, certainly, surely, really, i. e.
adverbs that express a degree of certainty. Similarly: —
clearly, distinctly, o 6 y o u s / which serve to emphasise
t f/ ,

a statement.
(b) almost, nearly, hardly, when qualifying a whole sen-
much, rather and others. (In / wrote nearly six
tence, also
pages, nearly qualifies a part of the sentence.)

^These adverbs, except the last three, are adverbs of frequency answering the
question "how often?"
^ They mostly precede negatived auxiliaries: You obviously don' I know him.
 — 48 —
Adverbials of Manner
110 Adverbial phrases come at the end:
We went to Eastbourne by train. We travelled third class.
I shall do it with pleasure.

Simple adverbs
(a) He
spoke very quietly. She read the story beautifully. I slept
soundly. We can do it easily. You must work more carefully.
(b) It was beautifully done. This can easily be arrcmged. The
letter was carelessly written.

The adverb has end position if the verb is in the active

form, but mostly placed before a passive participle.
is

Foreign students are apt to make mistakes in the use of well and badly.
Yet these two adverbs follow the general rule: He speaks English well.
She plays the piano very well. I can understand him very well. The —
play is bad, but it was well acted. That was well done.

111 He behaved very foolishly. I foolishly refused the offer.

When you borrow books, return them promptly. I promised
to post the letter and promptly forgot it.

I saw it distinctly a moment remember having

ago. I distincly
put the key in my pocket.
He speaks English perfectly. I perfectly understcmd your
position.
Adverbs of manner may have mid-position when they are un-
stressed. If in doubt, put it at the end.

More precisely:
1. The adverb may qualify the verb: it describes the manner in

which something is done; it is an essential part of the sentence. Such

adverbs have, as a rule, end-position i.
2. The adverb adds something to the whole sentence. It might be
replaced by a new sentence (e. g. / refused the offer; that was very
foolish) or it merely serves for emphasis and might be omitted alto-
gether (e. g. in / distinctly remember). Such adverbs, which cease to
function as adverbs of manner and become « sentence adverbs », have,
as a rule, mid-position. —
Some of them, e.g. distinctly, clearly,
have been mentioned in § 109 2.

Further examples: He kindly promised us his help. I sincerely hope

thatyou wilt be well soon. I deeply regret this mistake.

1 Note that when the adverbs of manner have end-position, they very often

are qualified by very, rather, quite etc., e. g. He spoke very distinctly. You played it
too quickly. He did it rather well.
" Note the difference of meaning, according to the function in the sentence.
 — 49 —
Notes. 112
1. The adverbs mentioned in §§ 108 and 109 stand before a stressed auxi-
liary. E. g.
John's late again. Yes, he ahvays is late.
We grumble. We ahvays have grumbled, but we never worry. (Baldwin.)
Hence also in brief replies: Do you walk to your office? Yes, I always do.
2. The adverb only deserves special consideration. It has mid-position
always when it refers to the whole sentence: I only wanted to make an inquiry. He
didn't say anything and only nodded.
often when it refers to object or adverbial: / only found three examples. I only saw
it five minutes, though the alternative constructions are to be preferred: / found

only three examples. I saw it only five minutes ago.

Deviation from the normal word-order

Inversion of subject and verb
1. The sentence is introduced by there is/there are. 113
There is a fireplace (or There s a fireplace) in my room. There
are two arm-chairs, there's a ivireless-set, there's a book-case,
there are two lamps, etc.

There has been an accident (or There s been an accident).

There is/there are is the usual way of denoting existence, when
the thing (or person) has not been mentioned before. In spoken
Enghsh both there and the auxihary are weakened or shortened ^:
there's a fireplace [Saz 9 'faiapleis]
there are two arm-chairs [&9r 9 'tu: 'a:m'tje9z]
Note. When the sentence begins with an adverbial of place, there is often
omitted. But there is this difference:
At the back of the house there was a tennis court. (Mere description of the house
and its surroundings.)
At the back of the house was a tennis court. (This sentence leads us to expect
some further information, e. g. We played there every evening.)

There's a car coming. There's somebody ivaiting outside. There's 1 14

a good deal to be said for him.
This introductory there is also found in sentences where to be
ispart of the progressive tense or auxiliary of obligation (§ 369).

Similar cases of inversion 115

(a) Once upon a time there lived a king who had three beautiful daughters. There
will come a time when you will regret this.
Irr these examples there serves to introduce an indefinite subject. The verbs are
such intransitive verbs as live, come, happen, occur. Pronunciation [. .69 livd 9 k.].
(b) There lay the Black Country before us, like a smouldering carpet (Priestley).
Here's the picture.
The introductory word isthe adverb there [6e9], or some other adverb of place
or time ;the verb is to be orsome other intransitive verb serving as a mere connec-
tive. This inversion is not possible with pronouns: Here it is. There it lay.

^ This weakened there must be distinguished from the proper adverb there
[6£9]. There was nobody there [59 W9z 'noubadi '6£9].
 — 50 —
116 2. "We//," said Tom, ''its a queer world.'' "You're right",
replied his friend.
Sherlock Holmes looked at the man. ''Didnt you know", he
remarked, ''that crime doesnt pay?"
Inversion frequent in written English after direct speech (or
is

inserted in direct speech)if the subject is a noun^. The verb

must not be followed by an object. Compare: "Are you ready?"

asked John and "Are you ready?" John asked me.

117 3. Not a word could we understcmd. Not a soul did we see.

Never had such a thing happened before.
Inversion must take place when the sentence begms with a nega-
tive object or adverbial, or a restricting expression like hardly,
scarcely, rarely. Note in particular:

No sooner had we started, than // began to rain.

o 1 (
had we started, when // began
^ to rain.
scarcely )

This inversion more usual in written than in spoken English.

is

In spoken English one would rather say; We couldnt understand

a word. We had Imrdly started, when it begem to rain.
For use of do, did see § 104.
Note. In written English inversion is sometimes found also in sentences
tliis
beginning with some other emphatic word than a negative object or adverbial.
(a) after adverb: Only then did he speak. Little did we think. . .

(b) after adjectives: Great was our astonishment . . .

llo 4. Other cases of inversion (see also § 146, 3):

(a) In rushed the train. In came the boys dressed as Red Indians.
With verbs of motion combined with an adverb, like come in, get out, go off. the
adverb is sometimes placed at the head of the sentence for the sake of emphasis.
Inversion only when the subject is a noun.

(b)Had I known it. = . . had known it.

If I

Had this happened before. =

if this had happened before.
. .

This inversion in conditional clauses (§ 445, Note 2) belongs to Wr. E.

(c) May you be happy. May you never regret your decision.
—
Also this pattern inversion in wishes with may does not belong to spoken —
English. Note the isolated expression Long live the Queen.

119 Position of object

The word-order is SVA
(a) What an escape he has had! What a kwely present you've
given me. (b) Professor Jones is a great scholar, and a better golfer
I never saw.

^ Inversion of reporting verb and pronoun only occurs when the verb is to say.
 ^ 51 —
The object naturally begins the sentencein certain exclamations.
Otherwise it may be shifted to front-position for the sake of
strong emphasis or contrast, but this pattern is uncommon, and
learners are advised never to use it.
The word -order is SVAO.
/ have indicated on the enclosed sheet the titles of the books
that may interest you.
The object may
follow an adverbial for the sake of balance in
the sentence. (Chiefly literary English.)

Emphatic speech
The truth of the whole statement is emphasised. 120
(a) You have been thoughtless, John. You must come and see
us one day. Well, this is a surprise.
(b) I do hope the weather will keep fine. Oh do come.
The aim of this book is not to show how people ought to speak,
how they do speak. (Prof. Jones.)
but
Emphasis is achieved by stressing the verb:
(a) when there is an auxiliary, this auxiliary is pronounced
with full vowel and special force.
(b) in other cases, the verb is combined with to do. See § 104.

One part of the sentence is stressed. 121

1. Do you music? I hate
like jazz it. I dont ccdl thcd music.
We didnt understand a word.
2. (a) He is spreading the news. If s he who is spreading the news.
I learnt it from you. It was from you that I learnt it.
I met her in London. It was in London that I met her.
It was a sense of proportion that Brookfield (a Public
School) ought to teach.
(b) I was looking for that. Thafs what I was looking for.
I found it there. Thafs where I found it.
Therefore I don't trust him. TlmVs why I dont trust him.
The important word is made prominent in the following ways:
1. The word is stressed (greater force, emphatic intonation).

2. The word is thrown into relief by the "pointers" it is, that is,
The latter points to demonstrative pronouns or adverbs. The —
tense of the "pointer" in the examples under (a) corresponds to
the tense of the main verb; that is does not vary.
 :

— 52 —

XI. Questions
UJ! There are two types of questions:
(a) Have you spoken to John? Did you see him yesterday? Is he in town?
(b) When did you see John? What did he say? Where is he now?
Questions of the first type require for answer Yes or No (or a synonym like
certainly); questions of the second type —
they begin with a question word re- —
quire for answer some definite information. This distinction is of great importance
for the pronunciation of the auxiliaries and for the intonation (§§ 153, 155).
A special group are the alternative questions; e. g. 7s (7 right or wrong?

123 Main Rule

1. Have you a dog? Is he a fox-terrier? Can he do tricks?
How old is he? What is (or WhaVs) his name?
If the verb is to be, to have or a defective auxiliary (can, must etc.),
the question is formed by placing the subject after the verb. This — ^

rule applies of course also to the compound tenses of the verb:

Have you seen John? Will he be here to-morrow?

What are you doing? What is Jane doing?
2. Do you speak English? Does Jack speak French?
Did you ivalk? Did Peter go with you?
Where do you live? Where does Mr. Brown live?
When did he come? When did the film begin?
If the verb is a full verb in the present or in the past tense, the
question is formed with the help of "to do". Note the word-
order
(Question word) — auxihary — subject — main verb
The use of do arose from the tendency in English to place the
subject before the principal or main verb, in accordance ^^ith the
main rule on word-order given in § 105.
3. Who knows the answer? Who came first?
What happened then? What came next?
The auxiliary do is not required when the interrogative word is

itself the subject of the question.

Note. After question words the auxiliaries are weakened (§ 84).
have. What have you done? [wet hav ju d.\n?] What has he done? [wnt haz hi:
dA.n?], or [wDt az i: dAn?]
be. What are you doing? [wDt a ju du:ii] ?] When was that? [wen waz d.^t Why '?]

were you late? [wai W9 ju leit?]

do. Where do you live? [wea du ju liv?] Where does he live? [wfa daz hi: liv?]
Note in particular this weakening of does to [daz]. do you is often shortened to
a mere [dju: or dju], e. g. How do you know? [hau dju nou?].
Many speakers weaken the auxiliary also in initial position, but this is not re-
commended to learners. See also § 62.
 — 53 —
Interrogative pronouns

what
1. who — 124
Referring to persons
Subject case: Who knows it?
Object case: Whom do you mean? or: Who do you mean?
To whom did you give it? or: Who did you
give it to?
Genitive: Whose book is this?

In the object case a distinction is made between accusative

and dative (see § 58). —
As regards the form: whom is the
hterary form and is recommended for writing; but who is mostly
used in the spoken language, even by educated people ^.
On the special use of whose see § 280.

Referring to things
Subject case: What happened then?
Object case: What do you want?
There is only one common case; a genitive does not occur.

Whom did you get it from? or: Who did you get it from? 125
Whom are you thinking of? or: Who are you thinking of?
What are those people staring at? What are they waiting for?
What is he interested in? What are you talking of?

In spoken English prepositions governing an interrogative pro-

noun are mostly placed after the predicate (verb or verb ob- +
ject). This also applies to the "dative -/o" Who did you give it to? :

Notes. 126
1. Note the following idioms:
what about It's 10 o'clock; what about lunch?
Can you come? And what about John?
what — like What's the film like? What's your new master like? What
was the weather like?
what — for (= why) What did you do it for? M'hat did he come here for?
2. Colloquial speech has "interrogative responses".
I just got a letter. —
Who from? Open it. What with? —
Send it at once. — Who to?
The hearer asks for further information. The stress is on the preposition.
(You've missed the train and say) What ever are we going to do now?
3.
What ever does he want? Who ever would have thought thai?
Ever has here the sense of "on earth" or "in the world" and expresses surprise,
impatience or annoyance on the part of the speaker.

1 Many
English people, while cheerfully using who themselves, object to it in
theory and may tell a foreign student: "Don't say who unless it is the subject.
I wonder who you learnt your English from."
 — 54 —
127 2. whati -^ which
what
(a) y^hai languages do you know? What books have you read on
the subject?
(b) What evidence has the inspector thai it wasnt murder? What
reasons does he give? What witnesses can he produce?

What is used
(a) when we are to make a selection from an indefinite number
or to supply a name or names.
(b) when we are asked to specify, describe or characterise
something.

What may also ask after the predicative: WhaVs the news?
What's your opinion? etc. Note in particular:
Whafs your name? (address, telephone number etc.)
WhaVs the English for "dejeuner"?
What do you call this in English?

which
Which words of this text are difficult to pronounce?
Which syllable is stressed in ''necessary''?
Which of these books do you like best?
Tell me, Madge, which would you rather be: pretty or good? —
/ would rather be pretty, I can easily be good whenever
I like to try.

Which is used when we are to select one or more things or persons

from a limited number. As the examples show, which may be
adjective or pronoun. Which one also occurs, e. g. Here are two
pictures; which one would you like?
Compare the use of what and which:
What subjects do you take? Which is your favourite subject?
Whcd books have you read for your essay? Which book did
you find the most helpful?
What gcmies do the English play? (football, rugb}^ etc.).
Which of these games do you play in your country?
What train shall we go by? —
Which train shall we take,
the 2.30 or the 3.10 train?
(Which is always used when the choice is between two things.)
Note. Often the choice is logically restricted, but the speaker does not
know the number or does not care about it. In such cases what is frequent.
E.g. What's your room number? On what page? ]y hat season does tlw poem describe?

^ For practical purpose there are two different question words wliat.
 — 55 —
Note further that who is also possible in questions like Who of you has read
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"? Who of you would like to go on the excursion?
What is the difference between Who of you? and Which of you? In the first case
the result of the inquiry may be "all" or "some" or "none". In the second case a
selection is made; we single out one or more members of a group, at the same time
excluding or rejecting others.

Prepositions frequently take end-position, but this 128

rule not so absolute as the one mentioned in § 125.
is

When the preposition belongs closely to the verb (§ 167, 3), it

mostly takes end-position: What play are you thinking of? What
word are you looking for?
In other cases there is no rule for spoken English. We say e. g.
What part of the country do you come from? What train did you
come by? But: At ivhat time did you go? In what year was that?
In ivhcd respect do the two reports differ?

What sort of man is he? What sort of company does he keep? 129
What kind of books does he read?
In questions that refer to the quality or nature of a thing or
person, ivhat may be replaced by what sort of or what kind of.

Questions in reported speech 130

(a) Direct question: When does the play begin? How much are
the tickets? How do I get to the theatre? Whcd do the papers
say?
Indirect question: He wants to know when the play begins,
how much the tickets are, how he gets to the theatre, what
the papers say.
(b) Direct question: Do you speak English? Do you like Eng-
land? Is this your first visit?
Indirect question: / asked him whether (or if) he spoke
English, if he liked England, if this was his first visit.
The word order is the usual one: S P 0. — Indirect questions
without question word are linked with the main clause by
whether or if i. For the tenses see § 306.

Tell me what to do. (= Tell me what we must do.) 131

/ didn't know where to begin. (. .where I was to begin.)
.

/ don't know whether to tell you or not.

An infinitive takes the place of a question clause, if the idea

of obligation is implied.

1 In alternative questions whether must be used: He asked me whether I wanted

to go for a walk or sit in the garden.
 56 —

XII. Negation (Cf. §§223-225)

132 Originally not followed every conjugated verb, not only the auxiliary: it was
not difficult, he came not. But various tendencies combined to produce the modern
form he did not come: the desire to put the negative before the significant and
important part of the predicate, the force of the pattern S PO, rhji.hm.
Possibly also another tendency was at work, namely the desire to make a elear
distinction in the pattern of the sentence between affirmative and negative meaning.
This is especially noticeable when pronouns like somebody, something, nobody,
nothing are involved. Compare: (a) I saw John. I saw the play, (b) I saw nobody.
The outward form of the sentence is the same, though the ideas in (a) and (b)
are very different. English is averse to stating something positive which is can-
celled by the following not. So the idiomatic expression is: I didn't see anybody.

133 A survey of the negative simple tenses is given in § 83. There

are, thus, two ways of expressing negation:
1. This is not my pen. or This isn't my pen.
I have not seen it. or / haven't seen it.

Hecannot come. or He cant come.

If the sentence contains an auxihary (to be, have, can, must, etc.),
the negation not follows the auxiliary, with which in spoken
Enghsh it is mostly contracted into one word. (But see § 101.)
2. / do not believe it. or / dont believe it.

He did not write. or He didnt write.

Do not speak so fast, or Dont speak so fast.
If the sentence contains a fuU verb in the present, preterite or
imperative, negation is expressed with the help of the auxihary do.
Auxiliary and not are always contracted in spoken Enghsh.
Further examples. Here are a few things that a gentleman doesn't
do: He doesn't lie, he doesn't cheat, he doesn't "jump the queue",
i. e. he doesn't push ahead of others, he isn't noisy, etc.

134 Negative question

Is he not at home? or Isn't he at home?
Do you not believe it? or Don't you believe it?
Does not John help you? or Doesn't John help you?
Not follows the pronoun but precedes the noun. In spoken
English the contracted form is of course used.
Negative questions frequentlj^ express surprise or suggest a
positive answer, as in Don't you know it? Hasn't Fred written yet?
Won't you take another cup? —
Negative questions beginning with
why may denote mild rebuke or imply a command Why don't :

you ring him up? Why didn't you say so before? Why don't you try?
Note. Who doesn't understand the question? —
Negative questions beginning
with who also need the auxiliary to do.
 — 57 — .

Notes. 135
1. The negation may one particular part of the sentence. E. g. Not every-
refer to
body would say so. This happened not- last year, but the year before. But even in such
cases there is a tendency to combine not with the verb, where it is compatible
with clearness, and it would be quite correct to say: This didn't happen last year,
but the year before. Or: I didn't read it in "The Times", but in the "Daily Mail".
2. The auxiliary do is not used with other negatives, e. g. never. The perfect
student never forgets his things. He never talks to his neighbour during lessons. He
never scribbles on the table or desk.
3. In literary English, negation is sometimes expressed by the verb to fail. In
spoken English sentences like: / fail to see the joke, convey a special feeling (scorn,
snub etc.).
4. Note that I hardly knew him at first, is better than I almost did not know him.
Other examples: / was so tired that I could hardly keep my eyes open. He spoke
so fast that we could hardly understand him. Are you not well? You hardly ate anything.
The water was hardly ever warm enough for bathing.
5. No replaces not before comparatives : You're no better than we are. There were
no fewer than fifty people there. Mr. Brown no longer lives here. This is serious, it's
no longer a joke.
6. not — yet (= not up to now, not up
to that time).
haven't seen the film yet. Or: We haven't yet seen the film.
We
He
hadn't got up yet when I called. Or: He hadn't yet got up. . .

As the examples show, yet may follow the negation immediately, or take end-
position. (Yet has several meanings, for which consult the dictionary.)

XIII. Auxiliaries!
to do 136
To do as auxiliary in question and negation: see §§ 123, 133. —
To do occurs in positive statements, too, where it serves to give
a special emphasis, e. g. / do hope the weather will be fine. (§ 120.)
To do as a fuU verb is used extensively. Note that it often cor-
responds to "faire, facere, machen, maken, etc." Examples:
Whatare you doing? What did you do yesterday? I didn't do
anything. (Questions and negation are formed as of other
full verbs!)
to do one's homework, a composition, an exercise. He did his

duty. Will you do me a favour? —

to do the rooms, the bed.

Will this do? (= suit, be convenient) That won't do.

To make means "to produce" as in to make shoes, a suit, "Made in England".
But there are a great many idioms to make friends, he made a fool of himself, a self-
:

made man; to make a mistake, an effort, a complaint, etc.

to be 137
To be is (a) part of the predicate as in Fm ready, he's a teacher,
(b) auxiliary used to form the mg-tenses (§ 98), and the passive
(§ 99), (c) an auxiliary denoting obligation (§ 369).
^ The auxiliaries can, may, will, shall, must are dealt with in ch. 27.
 — 58 — .

to have
138 To have is (a) a pure auxiliary, used to form the perfect and
pluperfect tenses and the past infinitive (§ 82), and (bj a prin-
cipal verb with various meanings and functions.
As a full (principal) verb, to have is a difficult word to handle.
For one thing, spoken and written English differ, the former
often preferring the form I've got to / have. Secondly, usage is
not fixed as regards the use of do in questions and in negation.
The following rules are practical rules to guide the students.

To have as a prmcipal verb is used in the following ways:

139 1. to have = to possess, to own. Examples:
io have a pencil, a knife, stamps, a car, a house in the country,
a new dress, glasses.
io have blue eyes, brown hair, a good memory, pleasant manners;
io have a headache, a cold, a temperature,
to have an idea, a plan, a reason; to have plenty of time, plenty of
room; to have permission, to have the day off.
to have a rich uncle, a good friend, a dog, a cat.
As the examples show, possession may be a material thing, a
personal characteristic (or state), or something immaterial, or
the "ownership" may refer to a person or to an animal.
To have may be equivalent to there is; e. g.

The house has a nice garden. My study has two windows.

We had a lot of snow last winter. We had fine weather, a
storm, etc.

140 In colloquial English the form I've got is mostly used for / have.
He has a new car. or Hes new car.
got a
I have a bad cold. or Fve got a bad cold.
Have you the tickets? or Have you got the tickets?
Further example:
Have you got a wireless-set? No. —
Hcwe you got a gram- —
mophone? No. — —
Then what have you got? Peace —
and quiet. (Brush up your English.)
The form Fd got for / had also occurs, but is not recommended
except in reported speech, e. g. He said hed got a new car.

Notes.
1. In negative sentences have got is not used so extensively. / haven't the time
isas usual as / haven't got the time.
2. A distinction is often made between I've got a headache (now) and / often
have headaches (habitual); or We've got a lot of snoiv this winter. We usually have
snow from November till February.
 — 59 —
2. I have ^ I must (obligation, necessity). 141
(a) We have to go now. or: Weue got to go now.
I have to he at my office at 8 o'clock today, or: Fve got to
be at my office at 8 o'clock.
We had to wait a long time. We had to change trains at Bath,
(h) I have to be at my office at 8.30 (every day). / have to leave
home at a quarter to eight.

A
distinction is often made between a specific or particular
obligation (a), and a habitual or permanent obligation (b). In
spoken English I've got for / have (also Fd got for / had) is very
usual for occasional obligation (especially if the auxiliary is
stressed), less common for habit.

3. To have + noun or verbal noun denotes an activity or 142

experience. (It is a sense unit.) e. g.

to have a lesson, to have breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, a drink,

to have a good time, an adventure, fun, to have a game of chess,
to have trouble with somebody or something,
to have a swim, a bathe, a wash, a talk with somebody, a look at
something, (to have a swim = to swim, for a while.)
Examples.
Have a good time. I hope you are having a good time. We always
have a good time at the sea-side.
Where's John? He's having his piano lesson. He always has
a lesson at this time.
I had a long talk with him. I never had had any trouble before.
To havein this sense of doing or experiencing something is used
like any other full verb, e. g. to enjoy oneself, to talk, i. e. it is
capable of forming progressive tenses to denote a single activity
in which one is just engaged (§ 316). —
To have got does not occur.
Note. To have means to take, to receive in sentences like Have another
cup. I had a letter this nwrning. John and his wife want to come and
stay with us for a few days, but I don't see how we can have them.

4. The constructions 143

to have somebody do something,
to have something done, (e. g. / had the parcel sent home.)
will be fully dealt with in the §§406-408.

Use of to do in question and negation. A practical, 144

though not an may be stated thus: We use have
infallible, rule
you (has he, etc.) in sentences where have may alternate with
 :

— 60 —
have got; we use do you have in other cases. The negative forms
are accordingly you haven t and you don't have. The following
examples will bear this out.
1 . to have = to posses, to own.
Have you a car? or: Have you got a car?
Has Peter a brother? Has Peter got any brothers or sisters?
Can you give me a lift? Fm sorry, we haven't got room.
Note. When to have refers to a recurring or habitual "possession" do is frequently
used. Compare:
You look tired; have you got a headache? Do you often have headaches?
Have you time for a game of tennis? (now). Do you have much time for tennis?
Have you (or have you got) much snow in your part of the country? (now). Do
you have much snow? (as a rule).

2. I have = I must.
(a) Have you to go already? or Have you got to go already?
What time have you to be home? You haven't to go yet, have you ?
Had you to wait long?
(b) When do you have to be at your office? (i. e. every day) Do you
have to get up so early every day ?
For occasional or specific obligation the question is mostly formed
without do, for habitual obligation it is commonly formed with do ^.
3. to have in groups denoting activity or experience.
(a) When had you breakfast this morning? or: When did you
have br.? Had you a good time? or: Did you have a good time?
I'm hungry, I hadn't any lunch (or: / didn't have any lunch).
(b) When do we have breakfast? (asked on arrival at a hotel)
Did you have a swim every morning?
For occasional or specific activity do may be used, and very
frequently is; for habitual or repeated activity do must be used.
4. to have something done, etc. Question and negation
are always formed with do: Why didn't you have the parcel
sent home?

145 Notes. Matters are further complicated by the fact that also the
short form of have occurs, especially for to have
to possess. E. g. =
I've an idea. I've no time. I've a right to know. You've lots of time. We'd
plenty of food. —
Learners had better avoid the short forms in this
function.
Then there is the difference betwen American and British usage.

It is e. g. good American to say: Do you have a brother?

^ Usage is not consistent. In the past tense do is quite normal also for type (a)

Did you have to wait long? Do is also used of the present moment if we think of a
pre-arranged plan, general rule or custom, e. g. (in a game) Wliat do we have to do
now? (Preparing for a party) We don't have to wear evening dress, do we?
 :

— 61 —
Use of the auxiliaries in tag-phrases 146
The auxiliaries occur very frequently in "tag "-phrases ^ or
"tag "-questions, where they replace the full predicate. Such
phrases are a distinctive feature of colloquial English. If the
main sentence contains an auxiliary already, that auxiliary is

repeated; otherwise the verb is represented by do/ did.

1. Tag-phrases are frequent after Yes and No. (Often a bare 147
yes or no would sound abrupt or even rude.)
A. Do you know who won the Derby? B. No, I don't. —
A. Haven't you read the newspapers? B. No, I haven t. —
A, Have you never been to a race? B. Yes, I have, but I dont —
care for races.

The auxiliaries are also used for agreement or disagreement.

Grandfather: You modern girls don't even know what a needle
is. M. G.: Of course we do! It's the thing we use for the
gramophone.
Other examples: It's rather cold today. Yes, it is. No, it isn't.
You're late. Yes, I'm afraid I am. No, I'm not. (See also § 155.)

Note 1.
Frequently Yes and No are omitted, the auxiliaries being sufficient to express
affirmation or negation. This is the custom in cross-examinations, e. g. Are you
a citizen of (his town? I am. Do you live at IS, High Street? I do.

Note 2.
Various modifications are possible to emphasise agreement or disagreement
(a) Grandfather: Where are my glasses? Granddaughter: You've got them on. Grand-
father: So I have.
Well, it's already 11 o'clock! —
So it is!
The agreement is coloured with surprise or implies "you are quite right".

fb) You don't mean that! But I do!—

Oh, you haven't understood. But I have! —
That settles it. —
But it doesn't.
The disagreement takes the form of a protest.
(c) That looks good! — Yes, it does, doesn't it.

He is a liar. — Yes, he is, isn't he!

He
isn't clever enough for the job. —
No, he isn't, is he.
If agree wholeheartedly, we may combine the simple response with the tag
we
question mentioned below. —
Or in response to That looks good we may merely
say: Yes, doesn't it (falling intonation).

2. The phrases mean "really?" (marking surprise or interest) 148

or "indeed!" (irony).
A. We must be going on. B. Oh, must you? —
A. I haven't any time. —
B. Oh, haven't you? (or: haven't you!)
A. I don't know what you mean. B. Oh, don't you? —
1 I. e. in short answers, or in phrases tagged on to the main clause.
 — 62 —
149 3. The phrases mean "I, too; he too", or the opposite.
A. / am quite sure. —
B. So am I.
A. / am not quite sure. —
B. Nor am I^.
A. We saw the film last week. B. So did we. —
A. / haven't seen the film yet. B. Nor have L —
Mark plays well, so does Mary.
John doesn't play well, nor does Jane.
Note. In the above examples A and B agree in what they do or do not do.
What, if they don't agree ? Here are a few examples (stress on the subject of the
tag-phrase): A. I'm quite convinced. —
B. Well, 'I'm 'not. A. I'm not certain
yet. —
B. But '/ 'am! John works well, but '.Jack 'doesn't.

150 4. The speaker asks for confirmation. The tag-questions cor-

respond to n'est-ce pas?, non e vero ?, nicht wahr?, etc.
You know English, don't you? IV s easy, isn't it?
You don't know Russian, do you? It isn't easy, is it?
If the main clause is positive, the tag-question is negative, and
vice versa.
Further examples. (Mr. and Mrs. Smith are looking through
some hotel prospectuses.) This looks a nice place, doesn't it?
The terms are six guineas a week, aren't they? That includes tea,
The Browns luere staying there last year, weren't they?
doesn't it?
You don't remember hoiv much they paid, do you?
Note that the phrasesmay be spoken as proper questions,
(i. with rising intonation) or with falling intonation. (See §160.)
e.

The former is the case if the speaker is not quite sure and really
wants to know if he is right, the latter, if he merely wishes to
have his opinion confirmed or wants to avoid abruptness. It may
degenerate into a mannerism.
Note. It's hardly a success, is it? We hardly ever spoke to him, did we?
{Hardly and scarcely imply negation; the tag-questions are formed accordingly.)

151 5. The auxiliaries occur in many other situations which need

not be listed in detail. Examples:
(a) in rephes to questions with who. Who is coming to the beach?
I am. I'm not. Who sees the mistake? I do. I don't.
Similarly; Did you see the play, John? Did you, Mary? etc.
(b) in comparative clauses. You hcwe more experience tlian I have.
Your views are exactly the sanie as they were ten years ago.
(c) other examples. / don't agree with the new pronunciation. I
never did. Please consider my proposals. I don't need to con-
sider them. I suggest that you do.

^ Instead of Nor am I, we can also say Neither cwi I.

 .

63

XIV. Intonation
Intonation or speech-melody - the variation in the pitch of the voice in con- 152
nected speech - is as distinctive a feature of a language as the sound-system,
stress, or word-order. Shades of meaning, feeling and attitude of the speaker are
often conveyed merely by differences in intonation. The foreign student must
realise that to acquire a correct intonation is hardly less important than practising
the correct speech-sounds. Intonation, like pronunciation, cannot be learnt from
books, but the following remarks will help the student to recognise the essential
patterns of English speech melody.
The method here used in recording intonation was devised by the Misses Arm-
strong and Ward and is used in their excellent "Handbook of English Intonation",
from which also most of the examples are taken i. The two lines indicate the range
of the voice. Stressed syllables are marked by a stroke, unstressed syllables by
dots. A simplified way of marking intonation is to be found in H. E. Palmer's
"Grammar of Spoken English"^, from which a few examples are quoted, too.
We distinguish two main types of intonation, here called
"Tunes".

Tune I 153
• • •
• •
• "^
• . •
(a)
•
Fm sorry Fm late. / hope yo 11 haven t been waiting for me.
• • • • •
• •
•

/ read it iin The Times. Op>en your books. Begin to read. [

• •
~~ • •
• -\ ,
(b)
I When are you leaving? Where are you going?
The stressed syllables form a gradually descending line, and
there is a glide to a low level within the last stressed
syllable 2. Initial unstressed syllables are on a low-level note
(or may intermediate unstressed syllables follow
rise gradually);
the general line; final unstressed syllables remain on a low level.
This type is used
(a) in ordinary statements, also in commands and unemphatic
exclamations;
(b) in questions beginning with a question-word (who, what,
etc.)
^ Published by Messrs. W. Heffer & Sons, Ltd., Cambridge.
2 This rule will be found useful in teaching. As a matter of fact it is only in

stressed syllables with a long vowel or ending in a sonorous consonant that the
full glide occurs. In It's my
letter (short stressed syllable followed
country. Here's the
by unstressed spread over the two syllables, or there is a drop.
syllable) the glide is

In Where's the cat? (short syllable is final) no drop is heard, though the speaker may
feel a lowering of the pitch within the t.
 — 64 —
154
m •
• • ^
// was ten o'clock. on aj cold December morning.

• • ' •
•
• -^ ..
He shut the door as f quietly as possible.

In a long group the descent of the voice may be broken by

raising the pitch of one of the stressed syllables.

155 Tune II

(a)
•
^
Do you speak English ? Do you speak French?
• •
• . . • ~\ .

As / was in a hurry, / took a taxi.

»
• • •
(c) J
Dont be frightened. I think ifs all right.

The stressed syllables form a gradually descending line until

a low level is reached. If the Then the voice rises again.
sentence ends with a stressed syllable, the rise occurs within
that stressed syllable, i. e. there is an upward glide.
This type is used
(a) in questions to which the answer is Yes or No.
(b) in phrases or sense-groups which do not complete the
sentences, especially in subordinate clauses that precede the
main clause and in adverbial expressions^.
(c) in sentences that imply something, i. e. when the speaker
leaves something unexpressed.
Dont be frightened. = There's no danger.
/ think iVs all right. = .but am not
. . I quite sure.
// won't take long. = So don't be impatient.

A statement with a rising intonation is less definite or final when spoken with
tune The speaker may wish to avoid abruptness, to make the statement sound
II.
more friendly or polite; or it may indicate uncertainty or indecision; or else the
rising intonation is an expression of indifference and casualness or of the desire
not to commit oneself.

^ Incomplete groups that begin the sentence may also be spoken with falling
intonation, though Tune II is the more common.
 — 65 —
(d) often in requests. Whereas Try again spoken with Tune I
is a command, the same words spoken with a rising intonation
are a polite request or an encouragement. Other examples:
Ring me up at eleven. Don't forget to write.

Emphatic speech 156

The effect of emphasis produced by greater
is stress (also by
a lengthening of initial consonants), but largely it is a matter
of intonation. Compare:

f
(
•
~~ ' ~ •
-A^ • •
~^
\
• • • • • —.I.-.

I / told you not to do it. I told you not to do it (or do it).

"^

[ I can't understand it. I can't understand it.

If special prominence is to be given to a word, that word (or the

stressed syllable of a longer word) has the "intonation glide",
which has a wider range than in ordinary speech. Preceding
syllables are mostly spoken on a lower pitch, like unstressed
syllables, or they may rise gradually:

/ don't think he knows . • "~^ or ^

— * ~~^

Also two words may receive prominence, e. g.

/ can't understand it. Some people love their work.

Frequently the pitch is raised at the end of an emphatic sentence, 157

which makes it sound more friendly, less assertive or dogmatic,
or it may indicate uncertainty or indecision (cf. § 155, c).

Fm glad you think so. I think it's on Saturday.

If the stressed syllable is the last of the sentence, the down- 158
ward glide and the upward glide occur within that one syllable.

• ' -\J '

' * -^j
It won't take very long. I can't do it in a day.
 — 66 —
This fall-rise of the voice is a typical feature of Southern
English, but foreign students are warned not to overdo it ^.

159 Further remarks

Variations in intonation
1 . The syllables preceding the downward gUde may be scandent,
i. e. form a rising line. This intonation expresses animation, a
lively interest, etc. Examples:

— \ • • • - • "^
/ wonder what they think about it. Come and sit down.

• •
^ • '
^.
Where does he live? What does he do for a living?

The sentence may start on a high pitch, which results in a

'switchback" intonation:

What a pity he didn't come. What are you doing?

2. Variation of Tune II. The variation consists in a short rise

before the fall sets in. This initial rise is often hardly percep-
tible. Example: Wonderful! '^
There may even be a rise-fall-rise:

— . . ^\j — . "^
/ can't do it today. It isn't bad.

The imphcation in these two examples is: " I can't do it today,

but I might be able to do it tomorrow" and "It isn't bad, but
it's not very good either".

160 Here are a few further examples to show how different

intonations may indicate shades of meaning.
1. Thank
Thank
you.
you.
^ ^

•
= sincere expression of gratitude.
= routine acknowledgment.
^ For practice: (a) I can't do it immediately, (b) I can't do it in a fortnight,
(c) I can't do it today. In (a) the fall-rise is spread over three syllables, in (bj
over two, in (c) it is compressed within one syllable (Armstrong and Ward).
 — 67 —
2. The play starts at 2 o'clock, doesn't it. ~^ ^

The play starts at 2 o'clock, doesn't it? •

For difference in meaning see § 150.

3. Good morning is spoken (a) — ~^, » (b) *• The first

intonation is used on meeting, the second on leaving a shop

or office.

There is a simphfied way of recording intonation, used by 161

H. E. Palmer. A stroke marks the initial pitch, a slanting stroke
(/) stands for scandent intonation, the symbol n. marks the
downward glide, the symbol / the rise, which may be an
upward glide or spread over several syllables. Examples:
A~good beginning is half the \battle.~When are you\leaving?

It was~ten o'clock on a~cold December \morning. ~Do you [dju:]

speak /'English? What / are you \doing? I~ beg your /'pardon.

Punctuation 162
The only punctuation mark that needs any explanation is
the comma. No hard-and-fast rules can be laid down, but the
student will not go wrong if he remembers that the comma
serves to indicate a pause in speaking.
A comma is used:
1. mostly before a co-ordinated main clause, e. g. The time
is 9.15, and that is the end of the news.
2. after subordinate clauses and participle phrases, often also
before clauses. For examples see chapters 30 and 31.
3. in enumerations, e. g. We had tea, sandwiches, buns, cmd cake.
(Comma also before and.)
4. before and after insertions, e. g. This is, in a few words,
the story. Note that also some simple adverbs may interrupt the
flow of speech, especially however, indeed, too.

5. in letters after the salutation, e. g. Dear John, . . . Dear Sir, . . .

There is no comma before clauses that are joined so closely

to what precedes that the speaker does not make a break; in

particular there is no comma
1. before that clauses (§§ 431-437) and before defining rela-

tive clauses (§ 250),

2. before infinitive phrases (§§ 384-388).
 : :

68

XV. The Sentence

Subject

163 1. Usually the subject is a noun (person or thing) or a pronoun:

The train was late. It arrived at 11.20.
The subject may also be an action-noun (§ 403), an infinitive
or a gerund: His complaint is useless. Complaining (or
to complain) is useless (§ 394); or it may be a whole clause:
That he was guilty cannot be proved.
2. The subject may be backshifted, for the sake of emphasis
or for better balance. The sentence begins with a substitution
word
(a) by there if the subject is a noun: There's a man outside who
wants to see you. There's a mistake here. There has been a
misunderstanding. There's a regular bus service. (§ 113.)
(b) by the subject is a gerund or infinitive or a clause
it if

// is useless tocomplain. It cannot be proved that the man was

guilty. It is no use crying over spilt milk.

3. // is a formal subject word in sentences expressing weather

conditions, time or distance, e.g.
it's raining, it's warm, it's a lovely morning

it's six o'clock, it's Saturday, it's getting late

it's six miles from here, it's two miles to the station

Students must be clear about the use of there is and it is. Compare:
There's a strong wind; it's rather windy. There's plenty of time; it's time

to go now. There was a quarrel; it's no use quarrelling.

Note. This it in examples like It is useless to complain is usually called gramma-
tical subject, as distinct from the real subject (to complain). Yet in some
sentences constructed on the same pattern there is another way of looking at things.
Compare: Can't we get a drink? No, it's impossible.
It's impossible to get a drink at this time.
In the second sentence "to get a drink" may be taken to be an adjunct to the
whole phrase "It's impossible". Another example: It's too wet to work in the
garden. (Here // vaguely refers to the conditions prevailing at that time.)

164 The subject agrees with the verb in number: lie

speaks, tliey speak. Note:

1. (a) Courage and common sense are needed. Courage with
common sense is needed^,
(b) NeitJier Jolm nor Mary knows anything about it. (Singular
after eitlier — or, neitlier — nor.)

^ If two nouns form a unity, the singular is also correct: Triiili and honesty
is the best policy.
 — 69 —
2. Exceptions from the main rule are frequent with collective
nouns. The jury consists of twelve people. The jury were divided
in their opinions. See § 178.

Predicate 1 65

The predicate may be

1. an intransitive verb: We started, we went away. The verb
may be a single verb or a compound (verb plus adverb).
2. to verb with related meaning) and complement
be (or a
which something of the subject. This complement, also
tells
called predicative, may be
(a) an adjective: / am ready. They were cheerful in spite of
the rain. Some adjectives are only used in this way, e. g. alive,
afraid, ill (§ 232).
(b) a noun He : is a doctor. He is an American. He became a
professor at Oxford. Baden-Powell was a captain at the age of
twenty-six and a colonel at the age of forty. These nouns denote
profession, rank, nationality; note the use of the indefinite article.
(But: Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940. Brown is captain
of the school team. No article, because there is only one Prime
Minister of Britain or one captain of one particular team.)
(c) an adverb: He is away. Mother is upstairs. Imust be off,
or an adverbial consisting of preposition + noun: He wasn't at
home. He is in the garden. I am of your opinion.
(d) Note the idioms: //e is my age. The stick was just the
right length. The City of London is a mile square. The oranges are
three pence each. The noun, or noun group, expresses a quality
of the subject: age, size, price, etc.

To be is called a link verb. Other link verbs are 166

(a) to seem, appear, look: This looks perfect. It seemed hopeless,
to sound, taste, feel: The story sounds true. The apple tastes
good. They felt cold, hungry and tired.
(b) to remain, stand, keep. Keep quiet. He remained firm.
(c) to become, get, grow, turn (§ 312): IV s getting late.
Link verbs express a state (real or apparent) or a transition. There are other
verbs, which though they retain their full meaning may be followed by a pre-
dicative, e. g. / awoke very tired. He arrived safe and sound. The snow lay thick.
He was born poor. There is a gradual transition from such verbs to the meaningless
link verb to be, e. g. / awoke tired, I felt tired, I was tired. (Z.)
If the predicative is a noun, it is often joined by as, e. g. He came as a friend.
He spoke as a friend.
See also § 331 He was appointed Secretary Genercd. He was made a Knight.
:
 . : :

— 70 —
167 Then there are the verbs demanding an object to make sense.
We may distinguish three types:
1. Verbs requiring one non -prepositional object. (Such verbs

are usually referred to as transitive verbs.) I saw the match.

I know the story. I read the book. See § 323.
2. Verbs requiring two objects. He showed me the town. I offered
him my help. See § 324.

3. Verbs requiring a prepositional object. He looked at me.

I spoke to him. You can rely on me. See § 329. — Verbs with pre-
positional object exist in all European languages, but in English
the preposition is more closely connected with the verb; as a
matter of fact, it seems to belong as much to the verb as to the
following object. This appears from the frequent cases where the
noun or pronoun is detached from the preposition:
Question: What are you talking of? (§ 125.)
Relative clause: an event that everybody is talking of. (§ 249.)
Passive: They are talked of everywhere. (§ 340.)
Note. From constructions like What are you talking of? The doctor was sent for
it might appear that verb +
preposition formed such a close unit as to amount
to a transitive verb. But it would be wrong and misleading to call speak of, send for
transitive verbs. Suppose we interrupt the sentence / approve of your plan, we
should say / approve, wholeheartedly, of your plan, and not " I approve of, whole-
heartedly, your plan".
Verb -\- adverb may, of course be transitive, e. g. put on, take off.

168 The object may be He promised a reply, (b) an

(a) a noun:
promised to reply, (c) a subordinate clause
infinitive or gerund, //e
He promised that he would reply, (d) a verbal group consisting of
noun + participle or infinitive: / saw John come/coming (ch. 29).

There is some difficulty when a verb requiring a prepositional

object (to speak of, to rely on, etc.) is completed by a clause.
English is not consistent here.
1 He spoke of what he would do. We relied on what he had promised.
We thought of how much it would cost. He was sorry for what
had happened.
Clauses beginning with what or how may depend on a preposition.

2. //ia/-clauses, however, cannot be used after a preposition^.

English has here various means of expressing the idea
(a) You may rely on it that I shall give you a full report. We
saw to it that everyone had his fair share.

^ Exception after in. Men differ from brutes in that they can speak.
 — 71 —
(b) Thanks to a good railway service the suburbian can enjoy the
comforts of a big town and thanks to the fact that each house
has its own garden, he feels he almost lives in the country.
(c) He insisted thai I should stay, (to insist on!) He complained
that he had been misunderstood, (to complain of !)
In (a) and by preposition
(b) the object-clause is heralded
+ it or preposition + the preposition is simply
the fact; in (c)
dropped. — Another frequent construction is the i/7(/-clause, e. g.
You may rely on my giving you a full report. See § 426.

Finally there are the verbs demanding object + object com- 169
pleiuent :

(a) He pushed the door

open. He let the dog loose. The sun made
me lazy. He makes
everybody cmgry.
(b) I found him quite nice. I thought the play very good. I like
my tea strong. I hold you responsible for the damage.
In group (a) verb + object complement form a sense unit:
let loose =
release, make very angry enrage. In group (b) =
they are equivalent to a clause: / thought that the play was good.
This distinction is not of much practical value, though, especially
as the two groups are not sharply divided from each other.
The complement may be a noun: / thought the play a failure.
This invention made him a rich man. See § 330.
Object phrases with second participle, infinitive, and ing-
form are discussed in chapter 29.

Note further: If the object is an infinitive or a clause, it is

usually backshifted: We found it impossible to get a taxi. (§ 269.)

Adverbial 17Q
Adverbials may qualify a word (noun, adjective, verb.): a
journey by train, an awfully cold day, he walked slowly, or
they may qualify a whole sentence: / really dont know. That
happened last week.
The word "adverbial" is a convenient term to denote
(a) adverbs (i. e. single words), e. g. far, upstairs, early, fast,
beautifully, and
(b) adverbial expressions, consisting of a noun-group, mostly
preposition +noun. Examples: last week, (for) two hours; on
Monday, in March, at the station, in London, with pleasure.
For the difference between prepositional object and adver-
bial see § 457.
 )

— 72 —
Adverbials without preposition express extent in space or time
or a point of time; they consist of numeral (or other determina-
tive) and noun. Compare:
We walked five miles. We walked for miles.
We waited two hours. We waited for hours.
We arrived last Sunday. We arrived on Sunday.

171 Adverbs denote place, time, manner, also reason and cause
(therefore, he was weak from hunger), circumstances or condi-
tions (I like walking in the rain). The same work may be done
by various phrases or subordinate clauses, which are dealt with
in chapters 30 and 31.

172 Noun groups

A noun may be determined or its meaning qualified in various
ways:

1. by determinatives, which in their widest sense comprise:

(a) article, this/that: the book, this book, these books.
possessive adjectives or genitive; my book, Tom's book.
(b)
numbers, some, many, few, all, etc. five books, some books.
(c) :

Mostly, however, the term "determinative" is restricted to the

article and the pronouns this/that, or only to the latter.
2. by modifying words or clauses:
(a) adjectives or participles: a good book, an illustrated book.
(b) prepositional group or adverbial: the book in question,
a journey abroad.
(c) relative clause: the best book that I know.
(d) compounds: a history-book, a story-book, a log-book.

173 Clipped speech

In familiar speech, sentences are often shortened in various
ways: What a fog! Couldn't see my hand before my eyes. (=1
couldn' t ) Got a match ?{ = Have you got
. .
. ?) Coming ? ( = Are . . .

you coming?) Sure you don't want one? (= Are you sure. 7) . .

Better go and look at it. ( = You had better go ...

Footnote to § 174.
2 Anuncountable noun is logically neither singular nor plural; as the language
possesses no "neuter number", it makes use of the singular, which is identical with
the stem-form. A few words, however, appear in the plural form, e. g. ashes, oats. —
It is this neutral or stem form (seeming to be a singular) that is behind usage in
such compounds as apple-tree, toothbrush, picture-gallery, word-groups such as a
five-pound note, a four-course dinner (§ 180), and "irregular plurals" such as wild
duck, grouse (§ 56).
 :

— 73 —

XVI. Number of Nouns

Countable and uncountable nouns
The distinction will be clear from the following examples^: 174
Countables book, pen, car; day, question, word.
:

Uncountables water, air, jam; happiness, hate.

:

Countable nouns denote things with a definite shape or form

and immaterial "things" that can be clearly dehmited. These
nouns have a plural (two books, five days). Uncountable nouns —
denote something that is not shaped or defined, something that
cannot be counted, but is measured or evaluated. These
nouns do not, therefore, possess a plural form 2.
Other useful terms for countables and uncountables are
thing-words and mass-words.
The indefinite article is, in general, only used with countable
nouns (a, an is a weak one!).
Note. To single out a part of some material, English has various expressions
a piece of wood, a pier.e of cheese, a lump of sugar, a slice of bread, a pat of butter.
Note the following expressions with immaterial nouns, to denote a separate
instance: a piece of impertinence, a piece (or a stroke) of luck, a word of advice.

A great many English words are used both as mass-words and 175
as thing-words. Examples:

cake Is there cake for tea? to buy a cake

chocolate IV s made of chocolate, a box of chocolates
glass This is unbreakable glass, a glass of milk
copper The wire is made of copper. Here are a few coppers
(= copper coins).
noise I can't stand noise. What's that noise?
What are those noises?
room There's plenty of room in Our house has six rooms.
our car.
light There wasn't much light. We saw a light.

Other words that go like cake are pudding, pie. (But bread is
only mass-word, the corresponding thing-word being loaf.) Fruit
is mostly a mass-word: Eat more fruit; but: various fruits, the

fruits of hard work. —

Note in particular hair: He has broiun hair;
the first white hairs.
1 This distinction is of the greatest importance in English. As appears from

the examples, it cuts across the usual division into concrete and abstract.
2 See page 72.
 — 74 —
1 76 There are a number of uncountable words in English which correspond
to countable words in other languages. Note in particular:
news. No news is good news. What's the news?
knowledge. His knowledge of French is poor (= not good). (Note the
idiom: to have a good knowledge of something.)
progress. He has made good progress in his work,
advice. Your advice is sound. To offer advice,
interest, to pay 6%
(percent) interest on a Zoan. (In other meanings
the word is a countable, e. g. his two interests are books and music.)
Other words are produce, merchandise, furniture.

177 Words with a special plural meaning

A number of words occur only in the plural form or else have
a special meaning in the pluraP.
(a) names of things that consist of two equal parts, e. g.

glasses, spectacles; scissors ['siz9z], pincers.

trousers, flannels (= flannel trousers), shorts, braces.
Examples: Where are my glasses? I can' I find them. He has torn
his trousers; he must get a new pair.

(b) a few mass-words (see § 174, footnote 2), e. g. ashes (but

cigarette ash), soap-suds, oats.

(c) other words, e. g.

manners, customs. Middle Ages, surroundings, Ihcmks;
stairs, quarters, lodgings, works; goods, contents, remains,
clothes [kIou9z],

Examples IV s bad manners to stare at

: people. The customs official
was very polite. Where do these stairs lead to?

Note. A special group are the words in -ics: mathematics, physics, statistics,
politics etc. Tliese are treated as singular or plural, e. g. Statistics is a new science.
Statistics are not always to be trusted. — Politics is always plural, e. g. Politics
don't interest me.
Also means isused as a singular or plural noun: this means or these means.
News (§ 176) is always singular, so are measles, mumps.

^ Strictly speaking the examples belong to different groups:

1. The word possesses only the plural form: trousers, shorts, scissors.
2. The word has a singular and a plural, but with different meanings: middle age,
= period of life from 40 to 60; Middle Ages = period in the history of Europe
from 500-1500 A. D.
3. The word has a singular and a plural; the plural form carries a special meaning
in addition to the ordinary one: custom(s), manner(s), work(s).
Work is an example of a word may be: work is uncountable in the
how complex
meaning employment, trade. I have some work to do. He is
of (a) activity, task, (b)
fond of work. He tried to find work (= employment). Work is countable in the mean-
ing a work of art, used chiefly in the plural the works of Shakespeare. Special mean-
—
:

ings of works are mechanism e. g. the works of a watch, and factory. The collo-
quial term for some definite work or for employment is job. Here's a job for you.
 — -75 —
Collective nouns 178
Collective nouns are e. g. family, committee, jury, staff, govern-
ment, public. They denote a unit or group composed of several
or many individuals. This plural meaning may predominate in
the mind of the speaker and lead to sentences such as
My family are still away. The jury were unable to agree.

The whole staff are working overtime.

i.e. though the noun (subject) is in the singular, the verb is in

the plural. The singular form would, mostly, be correct, too ^.

The counterpart to sentences as given in § 178 is to be found 179

in expressions such as
We spent a very pleasant three weeks in Devon.
We a good twenty miles from the centre of London.
live
every five minutes, in another two hours.
We think of the three weeks or 20 miles as a unit.

Some further remarks about the use of singular and plural 180
1. The room is fourteen feet long and ten feet high.
The book costs four shillings. The parcel weighs two pounds.
The plural is usual to indicate measure or price^.
2. They shook their heads. Put up your hands.
They all lost their lives. We changed our minds.
There were clubs for those whose tastes were for the theatre or
for literature.In England people do not scramble excited-
ly for seats in buses, but take their places in queues.

The plural is used with parts of the body or articles

of dress, also with life, mind (and other words), when several
persons are referred to.
3. Note the plural in expressions like the 19th and 20th centuries,
the 4th and 5th chapters.
4. The singular (or rather the stem form) is used in compounds
of the type a five-pound note. Other examples: a fifty-minute tcdk
a four-wheel carriage, a two-mile drive, a six-yecu' old girl.

^ Police, clergy, cattle are always used with the plural: What are the police for?
2 Note however the followmg exceptions:
(a) I am (=11 inches); foot, not feet, to indicate a person's height.
five foot eleven
stone (= 14 pounds) is uninflected. I weigh 9 stone.
Note that
(b) a dozen handkerchiefs, two dozen bottles, (But: dozens of times. Cf. two hundred
bottles, hundreds of times.)
 :

— 76

XVII. Determination of the Noun

A. Indefinite and Definite Articles ^

181 To understand the functions of the articles it is useful to recall

their origin.

The indefinite article is historically a weak form of one and it

may still have this original numerical meaning. E. g.

a hundred, a thousand, a million.

It costs a shilling. It's a foot long, an inch thick.
Wait a minute. I can only stay a minute or two.
Note that the corresponding plural would have a numeral or
some, a few, e. g. three hundred, a few minutes, five shillings.

182 Mostly, however, the original meaning is quite weakened.

(a) (description of a breakfast table) There was toast, a bowl of
sugar, a fug of milk, butter, marmalade, a big tea-pot, etc.
Can you give me a sheet of paper? I want to write a letter.
For my birthday I got a puppy, a book, a picture, etc.
The indefinite article denotes an unspecified person or thing (or
animal). As appears from the examples, it is only used with
countable nouns.
In corresponding plurals the noun is mostly preceded by some,
a few, e. g. Can you give me a few sheets, I have to write some
letters. (§ 199.)

(b) Once upon a time there lived a king. The king had three
daughters.
Here the article introduces a person or thing and we expect
further information.
(c) (In the Zoo) This is an elephant. That is a Panda.
What sort of dog is that? ThaVs a poodle.
This is my room; it isn't a very big room, but it's a nice room.
The indefinite article names or defines something. In the plural
These are elephants. These flowers are called buttercups.

183 The definite article was- originally a demonstrative pronoun,

possessing the same root as this and that^. A better name than
^ Usage in English is similar to that in most other European languages. §§181
to 184 will be of interest chiefly to students whose mother language knows no
articles.
^ Cf. the idioms nothing of the kind (= that kind), I'm busy for the moment
(= this moment).
 — 11 —
definite article would be defining (or determining) article.
This original function is still fairly well preserved in English:

1. (a) Please pass me e. the butter on the table).

the butter (i.

Can I see the paper? (i. the paper of to-day).

e.

We made an excursion. We reached the top at 12 o'clock.

The view was wonderful (i. e. the view from the mountain).
(b) The film I saw last week was excellent. Also the play at the
Studio Theatre is worth seeing.
2. Once there was a king. The king had three daughters. .

One day Dr. Watson visited his friend Sherlock Holmes. The
detective was studying a letter. The letter had a foreign stamp.

Article + noun denote something that is known or determined

(1) because it is determined by the situation or defined by some

adverbial or clause, (2) because it has been named before.

The definite article has another function. Compare Where's 184

the cat? (= ourone special cat is thought of.) The cat
cat, i. e.

is more independent than the dog. (The whole class or species of

cats is meant.) No article in the plural Cats are more independent :

than dogs.
The indefinite article is used in a similar way; we can also say:
A cat is more independent than a dog.

Further remarks on the articles

Indefinite article. Though the indefinite article is, as a rule, 185
only used with countable nouns, yet there are a number of idioms
consisting of indefinite article and uncountable noun. Examples:
to have a headache, to have a temperature.
to be in a temper, to be in a hurry, to make a fuss.
Further: to have a swim, a talk, a wash (§ 460).

Note. Occasionally the indefinite article is also used when an abstract un-
countable is preceded by an adjective. E. g. to have a good knowledge of English. He
showed an extraordinary courage.

The defining article is not so frequent in English as in many 186

other European languages. It is not required
where a special determination or singling out is not needed,
I.

e. g.with proper names,

II. where such a determination is not possible, e. g. with
mass words.
 — 78 —
I. No article, because the noun denotes something definite.

1. Proper names, i. e. names of persons, also when combined

with title, word indicating relationship, or adjective: King

George, Uncle George, Saint George, Old Lord Greenwood.
Also family terms, like father, uncle, cousin, furthermore cook,
nurse, baby (when used within the family) are considered as
proper names, e. g. Where's father? See what baby is doing and
tell her not to do it.

2. Geographical Names
(a) countries in England, in Great Britain, in Switzerland,
:

in Northern France. (But of course: The United Stcdes.)

(b) Names squares, buildings etc. (Note
of streets,
stress!) The Queen 'Buckingham 'Palace, not far from
lives in
Tra'falgar 'Square. Where's 'Leicester 'Square? Go down 'Regent
Street until you get to 'Piccadilly 'Circus, then turn left. Other —
examples: Vic'ioria 'Station, 'Westminster 'Bridge.
Notes.
(a) Names of mountains have no article 1. if they are British, e. g. to climb
Great Gable, 2. if they are composed with Mount, Mont, Piz etc. to climb Mount :

Everest, Mont Blanc, Piz Palii. (But: We climbed the Matterhorn.) Ranges of
mountains or hills with article: The Downs, the Cotswolds.
(b) Names of rivers and oceans have the article, as originally the word
river or ocean was added: The Thames, the Hudson; the Atlantic, the Pacific, the
Mediterranean [medite'reinjan].
With names of lakes usage varies according to whether lake is felt as part of
the proper name or a general word: Lake Windermere, Lake Michigan; but the
Lake of Lucerne.
(c) Names of hotels and inns with article: We stayed at the Lion, at the Royal
Oak. (The word hotel or inn is understood, and often actually added, e. g. We stayed
at the Bear Hotel.)
(d) No article with town in such phrases as to go to town, to return from town,
when the home town (especially London) is referred to; further Parliament,
when the English Parliament is meant: / listened to a debate in Parliament. (Simi-
larly Congress in the USA.)

3. Nouns denoting time like Monday, Christmas, as the speaker

usually has in mind the time nearest to the present moment.
(a) days of the week, months, seasons.
Will Monday suit you? Are you free on Tuesday?
The next term begins in April.

(b) Special days: Christmas, Easter, Whitsunday, hulepend-

ence Day, Speech Day, Founder's Day.
(c) meals^. Is breakfast ready? I shan't be home for lunch. Musi
we dress for dinner? Will you be in for tea?
^ The article is used when the word denotes the meal as a social function:
Will you be at the dinner to-night?
 :

— 79 —
4. Religious conceptions : God, Providence, heaven, hell, Para-
dise, Scripture, also Fate, Fortune, which are thought of as deities.
The way to hell is paved with good intentions.
He often quoted from Scripture.
(But: the Bible, the Lord.)
If any of the nouns mentioned in sections 2-4 is quahfied or
specialised, the article is used.
We now speak England of the 16th
of the century.
It was the first Sunday in August.

11. No article, because a singling out is not possible. This is the 187
case with uncountable nouns used in a general sense.

1. Mass nouns (water, snow, gold, bread, etc.)

Water boils at 212° F. Iron melts at 1530° C.
Bread, butter and cheese were rationed during the war.
Money is a good servant but a bad master.

But the a certain quantity is referred to

article is required if

Is the water boiling? the water in the tea-kettle).

(i. e.

Pass me the bread, please (i. e. the bread on the table).

He spends all the money he earns.
2. Abstract nouns (time, space, happiness, goodness, life, litera-
ture, etc.).

Time will show who is right. Don't waste time.

How did life begin? Where did life come from?
The Declaration of Independence says that every man has the
right to life, liberty, cmd pursuit of happiness.

IN WAR: RESOLUTION;
IN DEFEAT: DEFIANCE;
IN VICTORY: MAGNANIMITY;
IN PEACE: GOODWILL. (Winston Churchill.)
But when the noun is defined (specified, restricted) in some way,
it takes the article: The life of Shakespecwe. The time of Queen
Elizabeth. The war (the second world war) started in 1939.
Notes.
1. No article in sucli comi:(ound expressions as English Literature, American
modern life, where adjective + noun is felt to form a
history, close sense unit.
Example: One of the most striking features of English life is the self-discipline one
meets with everywhere.
2. Languages as a rule do not take the article: to learn English, in colloquial
English, in literary English. —
But: What's the English for "chanter"? (= the
English word or expression), to translate from the English.
 — 80 —
3. school, college, church; bed; hospital, prison and some other
words are used without the article if not the place so much as
the purpose (or activity) is thought of {lessons, lectures, service,
rest, etc.). E. g. to go to school, to be sent to college, to go to church,
to go to bed, to stay in bed.
But: The hospital was opened last year. I took a photograph of
the church.

188 III. Further examples

1. man, woman also people do not take the definite article
when used in a collective sense.
God made the country, and man made the town.
Never mind what people say, do what is right.
These streets were crowded with people.
But: / don't know any of the people in the hotel.

2. No article before most +

noun. Most American Colleges are
in small towns. Most The names of most clubs
students live in clubs.
consist of two or three Greek letters, the initials of a Greek motto.

3. There are a great number of set phrases and idioms where

the noun stands without the article. Examples:
to come by train,by car in reply to your letter
to be at sea, on shore by return of post
to set to work How's business?
to lose sight of

The article is frequently omitted in phrases like: from beginning

to end, from top to bottom; I saw him face to face. Time and tide
wait for no man. the relations of teacher and pupil.

189 The omission of the article is frequent in the abbreviated style

as found in headlines of newspapers and in notes at lectures
it is

or in diaries. E. g. Man Dead in House. Family on Tour Abroad.

Went to theatre. Play disappointing, but acting quite good.

Place of the articles

190 The determinative stands before an adjective: the old house.
Note the following exceptional cases:
All determinatives (the articles, this, my, etc.) are preceded by
all and half: All the seats were taken. Whafs all this fuss about?
all my friends. A good beginning is half the battle, half a mile;
half a page. Half a loaf is better than no bread.
 — 81 —
~
The indefinite article is preceded 191
(a) by such, quite, rather: He is such a nice fellow (§ 196). It
was quite a good film. It was rather a cold day.
(h) by how, too, so, as + adjective: How good a detective are
you? IV s too good a story to be true. (More usual: The story is
too good to be true.) He was impatient at so stupid a question.
The subjects are chosen from as wide a field as possible. We had
as fine a view as you could wish.

B. Emphatic Determinatives

this, these, that, those 192

These determinatives (also called demonstratives) point to something: a person,
an object, an idea. They are used (a) together with a noun (this pen), (b) abso-
lutely, i. e. as pronouns (What's this?). —
§§ 192, 193 deal with the difference
between this and that, § 194 with their use as adjective or pronoun.

(a) A. (holding up a handkerchief) Is this handkerchief yours?

B. Yes, ihaVs mine.
(After a game of tennis) A.: Are these balls yours? B. Yes,
those are mine.
Look at this little beetle. — Look at those birds.

This points to something near the speaker, that points to some-

thing farther away. The difference is not merely one of inches
or yards: this refers to something in the sphere of the speaker,
that to something outside.
(b) Fve got no time this week.
At that time I was still a child.
Referring to time, are used for the present, that, those
this, these
for the past. — Note:morning, this evening (= the morning,
this
the evening of to-day), e. g. We went for a long walk this morning,
in these days =
at the present time.

(c) Do it like this. Listen to this.

Listen to this story: . . . Oh, Fve heard thai story before.
This is the BBC National Programme. —
The time is 10.30
and that is the end of the neivs.

This refers to what follows (it points forward), that to what pre-
cedes (it points backwards).

Further examples (At a show) Isn't this beautiful? (Remember-

:

ing it later) Wasn't that beautiful? (I see a bus coming and—

say) This is our bus. (I see a bus starting before I get to the stop)
That was our bus.
 — 82 —
19o Many fine shades of meaning can be expressed by tlie choice of this or that.

Compare (you
(a) are criticising the dress of a person) You can't go like this!
and You can't go like that! The first remark is friendlier than the second. Or: —
Tom surprised at something that Jack has done or said; he says What does this
is
mean? This is a friendly question, Tom and Jack are on common ground. What
does that mean? would imply distance, that they are not on common ground.
(b) That is sometimes used with the connotation of annoyance; e. g. Mr.Brown
(leaving his house): Where's my stick? That dog's had it again. Mrs. Brown (at
table, to her husband): George, put that paper down for a moment.

194 As mentioned in § 190, the determinatives may be used with

nouns or stand alone. There is a third case, halfway between,
namely this one, thai one.
1. (a) (Introducing guests) This is my mother, these are my
friends. —
This is the BBC National programme.
This is my study. These are the prizes I won.
That is the Matter horn. Those are the Bernese Alps.
This is, that is and these are, those are serve to introduce persons
or to identify or name
persons or things, (this this thing, this =
stuff, or this person.)Likewise in questions: 7s this your hat?
Are these your gloves? Is that you, George?
(h) A. Give me the paper, please. B. This one?
I must have a new hat. I bought this one five years ago.
I must have new gloves. These are rather shabby.
The determinative refers to a noun that has been named before.
If the noun is in the singular, the determinative mostly takes the
prop-word one (§ 233)^. —
Similarly when objects are merely
pointed to, e. g. Take this or take this one. Try these.

2. . Now we've missed the train. Thafs very awkward.

Listen to this. . . . That's all.

This and thai are used in a general sense meaning "this situation
or matter "^

195 that /those, the one/the ones

The determinatives discussed in the preceding section merely

point to something, and the situation or the context makes clear
what is meant. We may, however, express ourselves with greater
precision, by adding an adverbial phrase or a relative clause
(or participle phrase).

^ If the back-reference is to a person, this one, that one are not often used,

English preferring he, she (or who).

" That replaces // when the pronoun is emphatic, e. g. / found a photograph of
her; perhaps you remember her from that.
 — 83 —
(a) determinative adjective
Look at that lady with the Scotch terrier.
It is one of those books that everybody talks about.
The determinative is that, those.

(b) determinative pronoun

(In the Zoo) Look at those birds! Do you see the one with the
funny beak? — Do you mean the one standing on one leg? —
Yes, thaVs the one I mean.
The voice was that of the BBC announcer.
If you have hcdf an hour to spend, dont spend it with those
thai haven t. The smaller towns are still pleasant. They are
the ones built before the industrial age.
The determinative is

singular : the one, or (only for things) that,

plural : those, or the ones.

such, so
This is a convenient place to deal with such (adjective and 196
pronoun) and the adverb so, which have both a demonstrative
function.

/ have never seen such a sunset before. I have never heard of

such a case. Dont say such things. There are such people.
The much, the loss of time is more.
loss of gold is
The honour such a loss as no man can restore.
loss of

Such means "of this (or that) kind". Note the position of the
indefinite article! —
Often the sentence demands the completion
with an as-clause or an infinitive. The clause may be a clause
of comparison, or it may indicate result; e. g.
He had such manners as to make everybody dislike him.
that everybody disliked him.
Such is also used pronominally. e. g. Such is life. Such are the
conditions. This usage belongs rather to the written language.
Spoken English: Life is like that.

It was such a pleasure meeting you again.

It was such a nice 197
There were such nice people there.
party.
There was such a noise. such an awful noise.
. . .

They are such friends. They are such good friends.

Here such denotes a high degree. It stresses the quality inherent
in thenoun or emphasises the adjective.
 — 84 —
198 so as adverb expresses a degree and has a similar function as
such. Note (a) =
attributive adjective, (b) predicative adj.: =
(a) Sg. / cant do it in such a short time. (Spoken English)
// cannot he clone in so short a time. (Written English)
PL They are such good friends, {so not possible)
(I)) He is so amusing.

XVIII. Indication of Number and Quantity

A. Indefinite specimen or indefinite number or quantity

The English language has special words to denote an indefinite specimen or
an indefinite quantity or number. To understand this usage, the student must
be clear about the distinction between countable and uncountable nouns (§ 174).

a, one. some
199 Some examples. We are giving a party and say to our guests:
1. Take a sandwich. Take one of these sandwiches.
Have a cigarette. Take one of mine.
2. Take some sandwiches. Take some of these sandwiches.
Here are some biscuits, some apples, some oranges.
Have some ice-cream. Try some of this cake.
Take some butter, some jam, some cheese.
These examples show:
1. We use the indefinite article a, an for an indefinite thing or

specimen (§ 182), i. e. with a countable noun in the singular.

The corresponding pronoun is one^.
2. We use some for indefinite number (with countable nouns
in the plural)and for indefinite quantity (uncountable nouns);
some is adjective or pronoun. Note the pronunciation: some tea
[s9m ti:], take some [teik SAm].

200 Notes.
1. There is a difference in meaning between Here are stamps and Here are some
stamps, or between Money will be needed and Some money will be needed. Money
will be needed means: "We can't do it without money." Some money will be needed
means "We must have money, though not a large amount". Describing a feast
one would say: Tliere were sandwiches and cakes and biscuits, there was tea and
lemonade and ginger ale, etc., which means there were such things as cakes, etc.
But when offering these delicacies to a guest, one would say: Take some sand-
wiches, etc.
2. Some people like jazz music, others don't. There was no agreement: some {= some
people) said Yes, some said No. —
some when stressed and pronounced [s.vm]
means "certain persons or things, but not all". A contrast is implied.
1 One may also be numeral (§ 78), "prop-word" used with adjectives (§ 233), or
the indefinite personal pronoun (§271). It may also mean some one, a man, e.g.
There's one in the class whom I don't trust.
 — 85 —
Some, pronounced [sAm] is also used before a countable noun 201
in the singular, as a sort ofemphatic indefinite article.
There must be some reason for it. There must be some mistake.
There was some difficulty or quarrel about money. He went to
some place in Africa.
The meaning of some reason is a particular reason which is either
unknown or which one does not wish to specify.
Notes. 202
1. Some may have a disparaging quality, e. g. He's writing some book (or some
book or other), wliicli means I don't know wiiat it's about or wlietlier it's good.
Occasionally some is used to tone down a statement. There's some doubt about his
honesty.
2. That's some car! It ivas some party! some here means "fine, extraordinary".
This usage, originally American, is still felt to be slang.
3. Note the idioms some day, some time, e. g. You'll understand it some day
(= on a future day). Some day I'll tell you the story.

It will be seen from the examples in §§ 200-202 that the indefinite article and 203
some form a system. (CN = countable noun, UN = uncountable noun).
CN (a) Give me a book. Give me one.
Give me some books. Give me some,
(b) I read it in some book.
UG Give me some water. Give me some.

some — any
In questions some is frequently replaced by any. 204
(a) Won't you have some sandwiches? Won't you have some tea?
May 1 give you some of this fruit-cake?
May I have some stamps (= of your stamps)? Can you lend
me some money?
5ome is used when an answer with "yes" is expected or invited,
i.
e. g. at table in offering something to a guest

(b) Now suppose we come home hungry and thirsty and want
to know what there is in the kitchen or larder. We ask:
Areany sandwiches? Are there any apples? Is there any
there
any pudding left?
tea? Is there
We use any when we ask about the existence of something. The
answer may be "yes" as well as "no".
Note. Any may also be used in conditional clauses. E. g. If there are any
difficulties, let me know. But: / shouldn't wonder if we had some rain soon. (Meaning:
/ quite expect that we shall have some rain soon.)

1 is a rough-and-ready rule. More precisely: some denotes something de-

This
something of which we know or imagine that it exists. We use some in questions
finite,
when we do not ask whether this or that exists but inquire after a person's wish, ask
for permission, etc.
 — 86 —
205 Any is also used in negative statements. There are two ways of
expressing negation:
/ haven't a fountain pen. I have no fountain-pen.
Tliere isn'tany writing-paper. There is no writing-paper.
There aren't any stamps. There are no stamps.
Further examples are given in § 208.
Similarly after negative words like hardly, barely, without:
There's hardly any time. He did it witliout any help.

206 Further function of any:

He may come any day. (i. e. on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednes-
day.) You must find some excuse —
any excuse will do.
You can get tliis book at any bookshop. You know wliat happens
to any good idea in tlie world: H is misunderstood.
Any, which is strongly stressed, stands in affirmative sentences
meaning "no matter who or which". It is frequent in compari-
sons, e. g. Spring in England is lovelier than in cmy other country.

Any serves as an adverb of degree in sentences like We can't

wait any longer. Will it be any easier if you wait?

207 Compounds with some and any

somebody
There's somebody at the door. Do you know anybody in Wcdes?
No, I don't know anybody there.
something
/ read something about it in the paper this morning.
Have you heard anything? No, I haven't heard anything.
somewhere = in some place or to some place.
Where's my fountain-pen? It must be somewhere in this room.
Have you seen it anywiiere? No I haven't seen it anywhere.
A synonym of somebody and anybody is someone and anyone.
Examples for something /anything in questions (§ 204):
Talk, talk, talk! Why
can't they do something!
Will you do something for me? Can I do anything for you?
Can you give me sometliing to cure this cold? (Almost "Please
give me something".) Can you give me anything for my cold?
Examples for anybody, anything in statements (§ 206):
Anybody can fly to America if he has got tlie money.
(In a mist) / can see something, but only a shape; it might be
anything.
 — 87 —
Notes.
1. Instead of somebody, someone, an Englishman often uses the words a man,
a person, m
colloquial English a chap, a fellow. E. g. // a man has a good conscience,
it may only mean that he has a bad memory.

An equivalent to something is a thing. E. g. You can cdways do a thing when

you know it must be done. There's another thing I want to tell you. How can you say
such a thing? I can't see a thing.
2. The difference between somebody and someone is slight; somebody is more
general, refers in particular to strangers (e. g. Somebody was coming towards us);
someone is preferred if we think of a definite group of persons. —
This difference is
even more marked with everybody/everyone and nobody/no one. (E.)
3. Idioms. hope we shall see something of you during the holidays. (= I hope
/
we shall meet.) He
has no manners, but he has courage, and that is something (= there
is at least one thing in his favour).

Further examples any and compounds.

of some, 208
Some old philosopher said that goii should know something of
everything, and everything of something.
I had some letters this morning; had you any? / had one —
yesterday, I didn't get any to-day.
I hope we can get something to eat on the train. No, there—
isn't a restaurant car. Fve brought some sandwiches. Would
you like some? There's also some potted meed. Good, —
but where can we get something to drink?

other 1. See § 65. 209

Sg. another means (a) "different, not the same". This pen
is me another, (b) "additional". Stay another day. Give
bad, give
me another example. Have another cup of tea.
the other means the opposite of two things. We ought to have
taken the other road. Use your other hand.
PI. The meaning is "different", "additional" or" remaining".
Some say this, others say that. There are other (= further) possi-
bilities. We iveni on ahead, the others are coming.
Idiom: the other day = a few days ago. — See also §276.

Note the expressions to denote additional quantity or number : 210

Have another cup of tea more cup). Take some more cream,
(or one
some more of this pudding, some more of these biscuits.
Note. That's another story. Thai's something else.With pronouns else is used
in the sense of "in addition", or "different". E. g. somebody else, who else, what
else.
Since another has two meanings, its use may sometimes lead to ambiguity. To
avoid misunderstanding, different is employed, e. g. This is a different matter.

^ In British English another is spelt as one word. — Note the predi-

cative use of other in sentences like / could wish thcd things were other than they are.
 — 88 —
B. Large or small Quantity

The following expressions are used either as adjectives (i. e.

before nouns), or as pronouns. For comparison see § 69.

211 To denote large or considerable quantity

Sg.much Synonyms: a great deal of \ ^ ^^^ ^^ r ^^
PL many Synonyms a great many
i i
: J ^

Wr.E. There is much truth in this argument. Many people think so.
There was a great deal of work, in fact there was too much
work (or there was too much).
English spelling presents a great many difficulties, but not
as many as people generally believe.
Sp.E. There's stilla lot of snow on the hills, but there isn't much
snow in the valleys.
We've got plenty of time. —
No, there isn't much time.
I've read a lot of books lately, but I haven't been to many
shows.
Usage much/many and their synonyms is not strictly fixed.
of
In affirmative sentences much/many stand after too, so
as. Otherwise a distinction must be made between written and
spoken English:
In written English much is frequently, many sometimes replaced
by the more emphatic expressions a great deal of, a great many.
In spoken Enghsh much/many are nearly always replaced by a
plenty of. A lot of is the usual form in familiar speech;
lot of,
plenty of has the connotation "more than enough".

In questions and in negative sentences much/many are

the rule.

212 Much and its synonyms also occur as adverbs.

1. much ora synonym is used (a) as an adverb of quantity;
(b) as adverb of degree:
(a) Politeness costs little but is worth a great deal.

It is raining a great deal (a lot) It didn train so

. much last year.
He smokes a lot —he smokes far too much.
(b) I feel much better (or: a good deal better).

2. Only much is used as an adverb of degree with verbs (a),

or participles (b) :

(a) Thank you very much. I very much hope you'll be able to come.
(b) I am much surprised. She was much admired. (Cf. § 242.)
 — 89 —
Idioms with much and many.
(a) I don't think much of it. (= I have no high opinion.) This isn't much of a
letter (= not a long or detailed letter). He isn't much of a linguist (= not a good
linguist). We didn't see much of him (= we didn't often meet).
(b) There's one chair too many (opposite: one too few), many a time (= often).

A synonym of a great deal, a great many is a good deal,

a good many, which are a httle less emphatic.
other expressions denoting quantity are a large (or great) number of,
e. g. There are a great number of exceptions. (Note plural in verb.) — An alternative
to a lot of is lots of, e. g. We've got lots of flowers (familiar style).

To denote small quantity

Sg. little, a little, PL few, a few. 213
(a) He has Utile knoivledge of the matter. I have little to say.
I have little time.
He has few friends. Feiv people know him ivell.

(b) I know a little Italian. I spent a few weeks in Italy.

Little the opposite of muc/i, meaning "not much, hardly any,

is

practically no or none". A little means "some, but not much,

a small amount"; little is negative in sense, a little positive. / have
little time may be a polite way of saying "I have no time".

/ have a little time may be taken as an invitation to a friend to

stay. —
Similarly few and a few. He is a man of few words. He said
a few words.
Little, few are strongly stressed, a Zi7//e, a /cm; have weak stress.

Examples with the comparative forms: IV s been an awful sum-

mer: we had less sunshine and fewer warm days than ever; there
was less opportunity to play tennis than last year, there ivere feiver
flowers, and we got much less fruit.

Little and a little are also adverbs. Examples: 214

(a) I sleep little. You are little better than a liar. It shoivs how
little you really care'^.
(b) I know him a little. It rained only a little last night.

For little as adjective see § 73.

C. Totality
The most universal word denoting totality is all. Being a basic word of the
language, it cannot be defined or explained in simple terms. The determinative —
all stands in competition with other determinatives of totality, namely whole, every,
everything, everybody.

1 / little thought, guessed, imagined, etc. means: / never thought, etc. (literary
usage).
 :

— 90 —
215 aU
all as adjective.
Sg. / had all the work and all the responsibility, and other people
had all the fun. He lost all hope and all courage. We've spent
all our money. Weue used up all the sugar.

We walked all the way. We had rain all the time.

All the house was quiet. You couldn't find it in all the town.

PI. All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely
players (Shakespeare). All the papers (= newspapers) were
full of this All the pictures I took came out well. All
story.
boys like noise. All the boys in our street are noisy.
In the singular all is chiefly used with uncountable nouns, but
it also occurs with countable nouns (when it corresponds to
French entier, German ganz).
Note. Use or omission of the definite article follows the general rule.
1. say We
Boys like noise, but the boys in our street (definite number), hence All boys like noise,
all the boys in our street. Similarly: He lost courage and He lost all courage, I had the
responsibility and I had all the responsibility.
2. AU has a somewhat different meaning in / am all attention. With all speed
(— with the greatest possible speed). He hated all interference (= every sort of
interference). (Z)

216 all as pronoun.

Sg. There's nomoney left, we've spent all we had. I knoiv all
about it. All that happened a long time ago. I don't remember
all he said. That's all for to-day.

PI. The commando consisted 30 men;

all had been specially
of
picked. We were all surprised. We
wondered. There ivas a all
chimpanzee in the train; all the passengers brought him sweets
and he shook hands luith them cdl. or ivith all of them. . . .

In the singular all refers to a material noun (money, jam, cream)

or it means "everything" (§ 219). Mostly all is followed by a
relative clause (all we had) or is combined with another pronoun
all that, we spent it. itAs a plural cdl refers to
all, or all of —
persons or things that have been mentioned ^. Note word-order;
they all ~ all of them.

217 all and whole

/ swear to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth. Fve read the whole book. The whole town is talking of
the scandal. He's drunk a whole bottle of whisky.

^ All not referring to a previously mentioned noun means "all people, or all the
people". Who told yon that? They all say so.
 .

— 91 —
W/io/e means "complete, every part, from beginning to end". It
ischiefly added to countable nouns, and a practical rule for the
student is: use all with uncountable nouns and whole
with countable nouns.
Note the usage with proper names all England or the whole :

of England, all Europe or the whole of Europe. It rained all De-

cember, or the whole of December^. —
Note further the idioms all
day, all night =
the whole day, the whole night.

all and every 218

There were pictures in all the papers. in every paper. =
Have you read all the books in your library? every book. =
I can't answer all the letters I get = every letter,

in all directions = {77 every direction.

The idea of totality of or parts of a group may be
members
expressed by all + plural or every + singular. Very often there
is hardly any difference in meaning, but the two determinatives

are not always exchangeable. When we say all the books, we view
the whole lot, we think of the books as lumped together; when
we say every book, we are thinking of the many separate books
(this book and that and that). Or when we say; Every house has
a refrigerator, every family in this town has a car, we think of one
or some specimens typical of the whole number. The expres-
sions with every are the more common Often only !

every would be correct, e. g. / enjoyed every minute of it {— every

single minute). There was a mistake in every sentence.

all and everything, everybody 219

(a) I don't remember all he said = . .everything he said. The
.

perfect order is: everything in its place, and a place for every-
thing. He
has thought of everything. Have you got everything
you need? Is everything ready?
(b) They all said so. = Everybody (everyone) said so. The com-
mando consisted of 30 men; every one of them had been specially
picked.
When all means "all things" or "all the things" it is generally
replaced by everything. {All denotes something collective, every-
thing suggests a number of separate items or details.) A //mean- —
ing "all people" or "all the people" is usually replaced by
'everybody or 'everyone. On the use of 'every 'one see § 221, 1.

^ All England generally means the people, the whole of England the country itself
 .

— 92 —
220 All may also be an adverb, used for emphasis: all too early, all
the better, iVs all to the good.

Note the following idioms (all is pronoun or adverb):

after all (= considering everything). / don't worry about it, it's not my business
after all. (Buying something after some hesitation) Well, I'll take it after all.
It wasn't a bright day, but ttie weather might have been worse after all.

at all. I'm late, but I am glad I was able to come at all. I am

surprised he takes any
notice of us at all. Do you know him at all? Have you read the book at all? I'm
afraid I gave you a lot of trouble. It was no trouble at all.

once and for all. I am warning you once and for all that you must not be late again
{= for the last time, or: only this time).

221 every, each

1. He has read every book on the subject. Such things do not hap-
pen every day. I enjoyed every minute oj it. We work in the
garden every Saturday afternoon.
2. We slept in tents. Each tent was 10 feet long and 4 feet wide.
Each boy had a sleeping bag.
The difference between every and each is this : When I say every,
I have mind the whole group or series, which need not be
in
limited; when I say each, I am thinking of a limited number
and focus my attention on one person or thing representative
of the group. —
With reference to two things, only each can be
used.
Note: every other day, every three days (= every second or
third day), every five minutes (= after 5, 10, 15 minutes).

Every only used as an adjective. Like other adjectives, it

is

may noun substitute together with the prop-word one:

serve as a
'Every 'one of the men had been specially picked. 'Every 'one of
these watches is waterproof.

E'ac/iis ad jective and pronoun, though eac/io/ie also occurs.

Each of the boys had a rucksack. —
Note the idiom These apples
are 4 d each.

222 every and any

// rained every day. He may come any day.
You may ask any policeman; every policeman can tell you.
Every means a + b + c + d any (§ 206) means a or b or c or d
;

Similarly: You may ask him anything, he knows everything.

Anything may happen. Everything happened as we had expected.
Anybody can do that. Everybody was ]<ind to us.
 — 93 —
D. Negation
To express negation, English has two means, (a) no, none; 223
(b) not -a, not- any, not -one. (See §§ 199, 201, 204.)
The determinative is an adjective: (a) no, (b) not - a,
not - any.
(a) (An unsatisfactory hotel) There was no fire-place, no carpet,
there was no running water, no soap, no towel, etc.
(Spending the night in the open) We had no sleeping-bags,
no tent, no warm clothes, no matches to make fire, no tea,
no food, no reliable map.
(b) (A little chalet in the mountains) There wasnt a radio, we
never got any newspapers, there wasn't any noise, there
wasnt a cinema for 50 miles round, we never met any tourists
except on Sundays, etc.
/ don't need any help. I dont want any advice.
I neuer get any letters. I haven't seen any papers to-day.
no serves to introduce a sentence, e. g. No rose without a thorn,
and it is found in prohibitions like No Smoking, No Exit; it is
also fairly frequent after to be, and to have. Otherwise no is
mostly split up into the group not-a, not - any.

The determinative is a pronoun: (a) none, (b) not - one, 224

not - any.
(a) None are so deaf as those that won't hear.
Will you have some coffee? —
No, thank you, none for me.
How much money is left? None. How many mistakes? None.
(b) Can you lend me your pen? I haven't got one with me.
Can you give me two stamps? Sorry, I haven't got any myself.
none is singular or plural. In spoken English it chiefly occurs in

short responses. (Note that none can only be used with reference
to a preceding or following noun.) Otherwise none is re-
placed by not - one, not - any.

Compound pronouns are nobody (or no one) and nothing 225

which are also mostly replaced by not - anybody (not -
['uAGir)],
anyone), not - anything.
Nobody was at home. There was nobody at home. I didn't find
anybody at home. I didn't speak to anybody.
Nothing can be done. There's nothing to be done. I couldn't
do anything. He didn't tell me anything of interest.
 __ 94 —
Note that nobody is the negative of somebody and everybody,

nothing is the negative of something and everything.

E. Determinatives referring to two things

EngUsh has three determinatives referring to two persons or
things: both, either, neither. They are used as adjectives or as
pronouns.

226 both = the one and the other (or the one as well as the
other).
He had both hands full. Here are two books, take both.
The Bill has passed both Houses (i. e.the House of Commons
and the House of Lords).
Both has about the same meaning as the two, but stresses the
two or that the two belong together.
fact that there are only
Note. The position of both in the sentence is similar to that of all: all my books
— both my suggestions. They have all signed. — They have both signed.

227 either = (a) the one or the other of two.

There are tivo roads. You can take either road.
Here are two dictionaries: Take either of them,

(b) the one and the other.

There was an armchair on either side of the fire-place.
There were hedges on either side of the lane (= on each side).
Either meaning "the one and the other" is practically restricted
to a few set expressions: on either side (or hand), at either end.

228 neither = not the one and not the other (of two alter-
natives).
Neither method is good. Neither of you is right.
Which of these two books would you recommend? Neither.
As object neither is often replaced by not - either, e. g. / know
neither of them or / don't know either of them. I didni accept either
of the tivo offers.

229 Both, either, neither occur as con j unctions. Expressions lilce Both: John and I
went there were changed by omitting tlie pause and tlie colon to Both Johii and I
went there (= not only John, but also I). Similarly: You can take cither the under-
ground or the bus. It is neither blue nor green.
Either is adverb in negative sentences, corresponding to also or too in positive
sentences: / saw the accident. John saw it, too.
I didn't see the accident. John didn't see it either.

Neither in short responses. See § 149.

 — 95

XIX. Adjective
Meaning. Position
a new car, a big car, a blue car. 230
the wide sea. golden daffodils.

The adjective indicates a quality or singles out a characteristic

of thenoun to which it belongs.
Notes.
1. The function of the adjective is different in examples like He is an early
riser,a heavy smoker, a fluent speaker, which are equivalent to He rises early,
he smokes heavily, he speaks fluently. Further examples: a slow walker, a light sleeper.
Examples of a different kind are he is a perfect stranger, he is an absolute fool,
which are equivalent to he is perfectly strange to me, he is absolutely foolish.
2. Foreign Office means Office for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Secretary is short
for Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The adjective conies before the noun. — In literary English 231

it occasionally follows, when accompanied by some phrase:
a river three miles wide, a house four storeys high.
These are the qualities necessary for a successful diplomatist:
truthfulness, intelligence, accuracy, good temper.
There may be a price too high to pay for this triumph.
These phrases may be considered as shortened relative clauses.
(Cf. §§389, 421.)

Notes.
1. Occasionally a group of two or more adjectives is placed after the noun for
the sake of emphasis or rhythm (only Wr. E.). E. g. U was a business both tedious
and unprofitable.
There are a few fixed expressions with the adjective following the noun:
2.
all thepersons present (but: the present moment =
now), the town proper (= the
town itself, without outlying districts). —
next and last may follow, though
usually they precede: last Sunday or on Sunday last. —
Other Cases: Secretary
General, Postmaster General, from time immemorial, proof positive.

The adjective may be used in two ways: 232

(a) as part of a noun group Fve read a good : story. This is a
neiv car. (attributive adjective)
(b) as part of the predicate: The story is good. The car looks
neiv. You make me
angry. I thought tlie story very good, (predicative
adjective, referring to subject or object) See also § 169.
A few adjectives occur only or chiefly in the latter function^:
/ am well, I am ill, I am glad, I am sorry, it is worth.
I am afraid, asleep, awake, alive.
^ But in a few expressions glad and sorry are used attributively: a glad heart,

glad tidings, a sorry sight. For ill see § 72.

 — 96 —
Adjective and prop-word one/ones
233 Can you lend me a pen? —
Do you want a soft one? (= a soft
pen?)
/ want a suit-case, a fairly big one. How much is that brown
one? No, thaVs too much, haven't you got any cheaper ones?
Have you got a book for me? an interesting one, but not a
learned one.
In these examples soft, cheap, interesting refer to nouns that have
been mentioned before and which we do not wish to repeat. The
noun is replaced by a substitute, namely the "prop-word" one
(for singular) or ones (for plural) ^.

The prop-word is frequently used in this pattern: The problem

is not an easy one. Your excuse is a poor one. The war years were

difficult ones for women.

One I ones are also used with this, that(^ 194), which (§ 127), every
(§ 219) to form pronouns.

234 Usage of this prop-word one/ ones is not absolutely fixed; use
or omission is largely a question of euphony (i. e. of whether it
sounds right), or just idiom.

The prop-word is omitted

(a) always after own: A child in a foreign country learns the new
language and forgets its own.
(b) very often after a superlative or ordinal number, frequently
after a comparative: This picture is quite good, but I have
seen better (or better ones). I want a good fountain-pen; is this
the best you have? (Giving directions) Take the first turning on
your right, the second on your left and go straight on.
(c) frequently when two adjectives are contrasted the Old World :

and the New (always omitted if the adjective refers to an

uncountable noun: white bread and brown).

Adjectives as noun-equivalents
235 A. 1. There was one law for the rich (= the rich people), and
another for the poor. Fortune favours the brave.
2. Only a rich man can afford it. This is for rich people.
He talks about music like a blind man about colours.

^ The prop-word only possible if we speak of two varieties of the same thing.
is
E. g. / prefer a warm
climate to a cold one. But I prefer the South African climate to
:

the English (or English climate), for here we are speaking of two different things. (W.)
 — 97 —
B. 1. Hope for the best and expect the worst. Take the good with
the bad. From the sublime to the ridiculous is but one step.

2. That's the best thing you can do. This is the only thing I can
remember. The blackest thing you can imagine is a black cat
in a coal-cellar on a dark night.
Now comes the amusing part of the story. That's the strangest
part of our experience.

The use of the adjective as noun-equivalent is very restricted in

Enghsh. It only occurs in this function with the definite article.

A. the adjective refers to persons, it denotes the whole

If
poor
class: the =
all the poor people, the brave all the people =
with courage. Note that there is no plural ending.
To indicate one or several individual members of the class
or category of people we must add a noun like man, person,
people.
This rule applies in particular to a few adjectives in [J], de-
noting a people: English, French, Irish, etc. (§ 237): an English-
man, the English.

B. The adjective may be in the singular. It then denotes some-

thing abstract and general. Mostly, however, thing or some other
noun (plan, part, etc.) is added. —
An alternative construction
is a clause with what, e.g. He had an eye for the valuable, or He

had an eye for what was valuable.

Some adjectives have become nouns, and as such take a 236

plural-s. Most of these words denote some form of community:

(a) American, Canadian, German. (Nation, § 237.)

(b) Christian, Protestant, Catholic, Puritan. (Religion.)
(c) Conservative, Liberal, Republican. (Party.)
(d) white, black; — modern, junior, senior, equal.

Note capitals in the first three groups.

Notes.
1. Some adjectives also serve as nouns, but have no plural ending.
(a) Swiss, Japanese, Chinese, and others. (A Swiss, two Swiss, § 237. j
(b) a few participles. Chiefly in the singular: the accused, undersigned, de-
ceased, rescued. Chiefly in the plural: the wounded, dead, unemployed.
2. Further cases.
(a) languages, e. g. He knows English and French. To translate into English.
(b) colours, e. g. a delicate blue, various greens. (Note ending.) — Further:
my dear, my dears.
Words like square, equivalent are twin-words. See § 461.
 — 98 —
237 Names of languages and nationalities

Adjective Individuals W^hole people

I. American an American three Americans the Americans

German a German some Germans the Germans
II. English an Enghshman some Enghsh- the English
men
French a Frenchman fourFrenchmen the French
III. Swiss a Swiss some Swiss the Swiss
Japanese a Japanese some Japanese the Japanese
IV. Spanish a Spaniard two Spaniards the Spaniards
Pohsh a Pole some Poles the Poles

Group I comprises words in -an; further examples: Canadian,

Austrian, Italian, Belgian, Russian.

Group II comprises the words ending in [J]. Further examples:
French, Irish, Dutch.
Group III comprises words ending in [s] or [z].
In Group IV adjective and noun have different forms. Mostly
the adjective is derived from the noun, e. g. Swede/ Swedish,
Pole/ Polish, Turk/ Turkish, Dane/ Danish.
Here is a useful rhyme to remember the rule:
The Germans live in Germany, the Romans live in Rome,
The Swiss live in Switzerland, but the English live at home ^.

Note. The inhabitants of Scotland are the Scots or Scotsmen. The adjective
is Avoid the forms Scotchman and Scotch.
Scottish.

238 Though an American, a Siviss, a Siuede say nothing about the

sex of the person, the words are normally taken to denote male
persons. To make clear that we mean a girl, a woman or lady,
we must add one of these words to the adjective: an American
girl, a Siviss girl, a Swedish lady. —
Similarly with names of
Group II. Note that Englishivoman, Frenchwoman etc. are
written as one word.
To denote mixed company:
Groups I and IV: The hotel was full of Americans. I was travelling with sonjc
Swedes. Groups II and III: / met some very nice English people. Do you know
any Swiss people?
Note further: Instead of saying I am an Englishman, my mother was a French-
woman, it isusual to say I am English, my mother was French.

^ To the Englishman abroad England is his home country; the friends at home
are the friends in England.
 — 99 —
Comparison and Degree ^

I. Comparison (See §§ 67, 68)

If we compare two persons or things, we find either equahty 239
or difference. The following constrnctions occur:
1. July is as hot as August. [d3u'lai iz az hDt 9z 'o:g9st]
June isn't as hot as August.
2. August is hotter than September. ['o:g9st iz 'hDta San s.)

Difference may also be expressed by less: September is less hot

than August, but it would he more usual to say: September isn't
as hot as August. —
Note that as and than are pronounced with
weakened vowel.
Further examples: A fire-place makes a room cosier and friend-
lierthan central heating, but it isn't as comfortable.
The film was worse than I had expected. It was as bad as it could be.

Notes.
1. I was not so foolish as you think. When not is spoken or written as a full
word (i. e. if it is not shortened to n't), so —
as is frequently used, instead of as — as.

2. We any longer.
couldn't stay
He isn't any better than we are. Or: He is no better.
If the verb is negatived, the comparative is often preceded by any. Not — any may
be replaced by no (meaning not).
3. Than also occurs after another: The story had another ending than we had
expected.
But: It was different from what I had expected. He reads nothing but detective
stories. It was nothing but a dream. There was nobody at home but the maid.

Examples for the superlative // was the hottest summer I can

: 240
remember. The highest temperature was 98 F in the shade. He is
the laziest, dullest, most incompetent felloiv you can find.
Note the idiom: It's by far the best thing you can do.

The superlative form is also used to express a high degree

(without thought of a direct comparison). This is a most interest-
ing book. It ivas most exciting. It's a most extraordinary thing.
This usage is restricted to adjectives that form the superlative
with most. (Exception: It is most kind of you to send me a copy
of your report.)

Note. / work best in the morning. Which of these pictures do you like best? An
Englishman is happiest when he can work in his garden. People are most amiable
after a good dinner. He was kindest when we expected it least. When there is no
comparison between persons or things, the predicative adjective and the adverb
take, as a rule, no article.

^ It is convenient to deal here with adjectives and adverbs.

 — 100 —
II. Degree

241 1. To modify a statement, there are various adverbs.

fairly. The text is fairly easy. The film was fairly good. This is

a fairly accurate report.

Fairly "tones down" a statement; it means "moderately", or
"to a satisfactory degree"; fairly good is something like "good,
but not very good"^.
rather tones down ways:
a statement in various
(a) Fm afraid Fve got rather had news for you. The party was
rather dull; the people were rather uninteresting. The lecture
was rather disappointing.
With adjectives that denote something negative or unpleasant,
rather takes the edge off the unfavourable comment or news.

Rather may come near the meaning of "too much":

IVs rather hot in this room. IVs rather overcrowded in here.
These sheets are rather thin for writing paper.
(h) I was rather lucky to-day. She's rather pretty.
Rather a funny thing happened to me today.
With adjectives that express praise or success, especially when
apphed to the speaker, rather makes the sentence sound more
modest. It may really mean "very", but is typical of the English-
man's love of understatement.
Often rather implies "more than I expected" or (of unpleasant things) "more
than I like". E. g. Your work's rather good this week. I got this for 25 shillings;
that's rather cheap, isn't it. You're rather late.

pretty. Thafs pretty good. The theatre was pretty full. It was
pretty chilly. He works pretty hard. He has a pretty good knoiv-
ledge of English.
Pretty comes near in meaning to "very" or "quite". (Under-
statement.) // was pretty full means "nearly full".

quite expresses degree, but its force varies considerably.

Often it has an intensifying function, meaning "really,
no doubt", as in IVs quite hot. It's quite certain. You re quite
right. The test was quite difficult, or "completely", "absolutely"
as in We're quite ready. The sky is quite blue.
On the other hand, quite may tone down a statement; fre-
quently it carries a patronising undertone. IVs quite nice. IVs
quite amusing ( — mildly amusing), //e speaks English quite fluently.

^ Fairly may emphasise a statement when attached to the verb : This news fairly
took my breath away.
 :

— 101 —
2. A high degree is expressed by very. 242
The examination was very difficult. We're very late.

This church is very old.

Very is used before adjectives and adverbs, also before parti-
ciples which are felt to be real adjectives, e. g. Fm very pleased.
He's a very celebrated man. With true participles much or very
much are the rule. / am much This is a much
obliged to you.
debated question. I am very much your story. With
interested in
some participles, e. g. surprised, embarrassed, usage is not fixed
/ was very surprised, or / was very much surprised.
Colloquial English is rich in other intensifying words, e. g.

Fm awfully glad you could come. Fm

terribly sorry. It was fright-
fully difficult. Other adverbs, also used in written English, are
extremely, considerably. —
See also § 240.

3. A higher degree is expressed by the comparative form. 243

(Mostly a comparison is implied.) warmer to-day (= than
It's
yesterday). That's better. Please speak more slowly.

Note the idioms:

(a) gradual increase (or decrease).
The storm grew worse and worse; the wind became more
and more violent. Your work is getting worse and worse.
She grew more and more beautiful, like the princesses in
fairy-tales.

(b) parallel increase i.

There was an owl who lived in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke,
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why can't we all be like that bird?

Further remarks to Chapter XIX. 244

When a noun is modified by another noun, the two words mostly form a com-
pound: picture book, evening paper, post-office. These compounds are dealt with
in § 462.
In collocations like a gold watch, copper coins, silk stockings, a brick house, a
stone wall the modifying noun denotes a substance. It resembles an adjective
because we can say a gold watch and a silver one.
To some nouns there are adjectives, e. g. woollen cloth, a wooden box. The ad-
jectives golden and silken are used figuratively: golden words of wisdom, silken hair.
Also a few adverbs serve as noun-modifiers. Examples: a far-off country, an
up-train, a down-train (train to or from London), the then government.

^This the goes back to the Old English instrumental case. (Cf. Latin eo majus,
meaning "by so much greater".) The has a similar function in expressions like
so much the better, he worked all the harder. (J.)
 — 102

XX. Relative Clauses

245 who/which, that. Omission of pronoun
Consider the following examples:
What is a gentleman? A man who speaks the truth, a man
whom you can trust, a man on whom you can rely, a man
whose word is as good as his signature.
James Watt man to whom we owe the steam-engine.
is the

An English word which has passed into many languages is

''fair play". A quality which you will find in all classes
in England is tolerance.
The pronouns are

for persons for things

Nominative who which

Accusative whom which
Dative to whom (to which)
Genitive whose of which (whose)

So a distinction is made between persons and things. Students

should remember that the same distinction is made with personal
pronouns (he, she —
it), possessive adjectives (his, her its), —
and the genitive (John's address —
the address of the house).
-

Note. Here are some examples for the genitive referring to things :

"A penny saved is a penny gained" is a saying of which I doubt the wisdom.
or ..the wisdom of which I doubt.
.

New York is famous for its sky-scrapers, the highest of which has eighiy-si.r
storeys.
Note that
of which either begins the relative clause or follows the noun to which
itbelongs. In literary English also whose, for of which, occurs, e. g. Cricket is a game
whose rules are a mystery to foreigners.

246 This is the house that Jack built [. . . Sat d38ek bilt].
On Boxing Day (December 26th) presents are given to the
postman, the milkman, the boy that brings the paper, etc.
/ can't find the letter that came this morning. Thank you for
the snaps that you sent me.

In these examples the connective word is that (pronounced with

weakened vowel). It refers to both persons and things; unfortu-
nately, for the foreign student, it cannot replace who and which
inevery relative clause. (See § 250.) —
That is invariable, i.e. maj'^
be nominative or objective case; there is no genitive.
 — 103 —
This connective thai is the rule (i. e. who/which are uncom- 247
mon)
(a) after an adjective in the superlative:
Pitt was one of the greatest statesmen that England has ever
had. This is the best thing that could have happened.
(h) after something, everything, all (= everything);
much, little:
There's something that I wanted to tell you. Have you got
everything that you need? ThaVs all that I know about it.
There isn't much that we can do about it.

Now there is a third possibihty of joining the relative clause 248

to the main sentence without any connecting word.
:

He's the you can find. He is a man you can trust.

best friend
It's the best book Fve ever read. There's something I wanted to
tell you. That's all I know. There isn't much we can do.
There are two or three letters Fve got to write.
The pronoun may be omitted in cases where it would be the
object of the relative clause. This omission is very usual in
spoken English.
A useful term for such clauses is Contact Clauses, since they are bound very
closely in sound and sense to the statement that precedes them. (J.)

Prepositions in relative clauses 249

A preacher announced that next time he would preach about
liars and asked the people to read up the seventeenth chapter of
St. Mark. The next time, before beginning his sermon, he
asked who had read that chapter. A number of people put up
their hands. "You are the very people I want to talk
to", he said, "there isn't a seventeenth chapter in St. Mark."
The last sentence may be put in the following ways:
(a) You are the very people to whom I want to talk.
(b) You are the very people whom I want to talk to.
(c) You are the very people that I want to talk to.
(d) You are the very people I want to talk to.
Note that a preposition connot be placed before that. The most
common construction in colloquial speech is (d).

Further examples: You're the man I've been looking for. He's
a person you can rely on. He's not the sort of fellow a girl falls
in love with. Here are the pictures you had asked for. Bridge
isn't a game I care for or am interested in.
 — 104 —
250 Defining and non-defining relative clauses

In all the examples given so far the relative clauses are neces-
sary for the sense of the whole sentence; they could not be left
out. They define or determine the words to which they refer.
That is why they are called defining relative clauses. As

they form an essential part of the sentence they are also called
essential relative clauses^. —
There is no pause in speaking
before a defining relative clause, and therefore no
comma.
Another type of relative clause are the non- defining re-
lative clauses, or non-essential relative clauses. Examples:
(a) Nansen, who lived from 1861 to 1930, was the first explorer
to cross Greenland. Greenland, which belonged to Denmark,
was only known along the coast.
The Youth Hostel Association, which was founded in 1930,
is a great help to young people who wish to explore the beauties

of the English countryside.

(b) Another great explorer was Scott, who perished with his party
on his return journey from the South Pole. Scott wrote a diary,
which was found after his death.
These relative clauses are not essential to complete the meaning
of the principal sentence. They could be left out or turned into
separate sentences: Nansen was the first explorer to cross Green-
land. He lived from 1861 to 1930. (Test the defining relative
clauses and see if you can make two separate sentences.)
The examples of relative clauses under (a) contain a casual
remark, an aside, an explanation and such like. The examples
under (b) are connective clauses {who =
and /ze, etc.); we use
who or which to avoid the repetition of some word, also for
rhythmical reasons. Or to put it more briefly: in the first group
something is tucked in, in the second group something is tacked on.
In spoken English only non-defining relative clauses of the con-
nective type occur.

Now in non-defining relative clauses only who/whom and which

can be used (that would be wrong). A preposition must come be-
fore the pronoun. E. g. He is a fine fellow, on whom you can ab-
solutely rely. — Note that there is a pause before the
relative clause, and therefore a comma.
^ A third term is restrictive relative clause, because it ofteu restricts the meaning

ot the word to which it belongs. This is the best book thai I've read means: "the best
book of the limited number known to me", not "the best in existence".
 — 105 —
Note. Here are a few examples to illustrate the difference between defining
and non-defining clauses.
(Report about a railway accident.)
There were about a dozen passengers in the train who (that) escaped unhurt.
There were about a dozen passengers in the train, who escaped unhurt.
The first sentence has the meaning that only a dozen of all the travellers were
not injured, the rest being more or less seriously hurt. According to the second
sentence the accident was a light one: there were only a dozen passengers in the
train, and of these no one was injured.
There was a difficulty which (thcd) I had not foreseen.
There was a difficulty, which I had not foreseen.
The first sentence implies that several difficulties had been reckoned with, only
one coming as a surprise. The second sentence means that no difficulties had been
expected to arise at all.

There is a special group of non-defining relative clauses, re- 251

ferring to a whole sentence or part of a sentence.
He said he had no time, which isn't true.
He refused to come, which I had expected.
The relative pronoun is ivhich.

To sum up There is, then, a good deal of freedom in the choos-

:
252
ing of the relative pronouns. The following is a practical rule
for students.
Spoken English. Nearly all the clauses occurring in spoken
English are defining clauses. Use
in subject ease: who for persons, that for things,
in object case: that for persons and things, or preferably
leave out.
with prepositions preposition at the end, no pronoun.
:

Written English. Use who /whom and which; that according to

§ 247.

Further notes on the relative pronouns. 253

1. He wrote to his family, who are (which is) away. The pronoun referring to a
collective word like family, committee, army (§ 178), is who when the verb is in
the plural; it is which, when the verb is in the singular.
2. "What about a walk, old chap?" I said. Rover, who loved walks, jumped up
at once, wagging his tail.
The pronoun referring to an animal is who if the animal is given a personal
name (§ 52).
3.You're the only person I've ever met who could do it. He gave me all the infor-
mation I wanted and which I could not have got anywhere else.
If there are two relative clauses we normally choose the wh-torm for the second
relative pronoun. (A.)
4. No pronoun before there is/there are: It's the only remedy there is.

5. There is also a type of connective clause with which used as adjective.

Telephone me at four o'clock, by which time I should have the information.
He may be unwilling to lend us the money, in which case we shall try elsewhere.
 — 106 —
254 Relative adverbs

1. Relative clauses may also be introduced by the interrogative

adverbs when, where, why.
Come and see me at a time when I am free.
We found a place (= restaurant) where the food was excellent.
This is the reason why I don't believe him.
(= a time at which, a place at which, the reason for which.)
When and where occur also in non-defining relative clauses:
Come again to-morrow, when I shall have more time.
We went again to Eastbourne, where we had been before.
The adverb how, which denotes manner, is not often used as a relative con-
nective; the way (often short for the way in which) serves as a substitute: / didn't
like the way he laughed. I was satisfied with the way you did your work.

2. An alternative to clauses introduced by ivhen, where, why

are contact clauses, or clauses with that (which is felt to be
a conjunction !)
^.

We were in Devon the year we had the great flood. ( =^ the year
when, or the year that .) . .

A student at Cambridge has luonderful opportunities for enjoy-

ing himself during the three years he is there.
He is again a brave fellow now (that) the danger is over.
That was the reason I didn't stay longer.

Note. Instead of saying This is the place where we picknicked last year, we
can say This is where we picknicked. Other examples: Do you know White's? Yes,
that is where I buy my books. That was when I met him. See § 121.

255 Note further: as is the connective word after such:

The loss of gold is much, the loss of time is more,
The loss of courage such a loss as no man can restore.
but serves as a connective after a main clause, replacing who —
not, or which —
not, but only in literary English.
There is not a man but has a rifle in his house.
No voice but was praising this Roland of mine. (Browning.)

256 Participle and infinitive instead of relative clause

Participle : Here's a programme of the course giving full parti-

culars. See § 421.
Infinitive : There was nobody to help me. There luas nobody
to talk to or to play with. He luas the first to come. See §§387/8.

^ In a sentence like / recognised him the moment I saw him we feel that the moment
functions itself as a connective.
 — 107 —
Relative who, whoever; what, whatever^ 257
Persons.
1. He
gave an account of who had been at the party.
To whom it may concern. (Often put at the head of a notice.)
Here who means "the person, or persons, who". In You may
invite who (or whom) you like, the meaning is "any person".

Note. Who steals my purse steals trash. Whom the Gods love die young. Here
the ly/jo-clause must be considered as the subject of the main clause. Such con-
structions are archaic, however; in modern English we should say: anyone who,
a man who, or any person who; in the plural: those who. E. g. Anyone who wants
to leave can do so. A literary form is he who, e. g. He who will thrive must rise at
five. He who has thriven may lie till seven.

2. Whoever says so is a liar. (= The person who says so is a

har, I don't care who he or she is.)
whoever is also used in spoken Enghsh.

Things. 258
1. What you say is true. I did ivhat was right.
I have given up what may have been my best years.
what means "that which" or "the thing, or things which".
W/7a/-clauses are frequent after prepositions (§ 168):
He only laughed at what I said. He is indifferent to what
people think of him. Ws an example of ivhat complaining of. Fm
2. Give me whatever you can spare. Do whatever you like.
J shall be thankful for whatever you can do for me.
whatever is the generahsing pronoun, meaning "anything that",
or "everything that".

Notes.
(a) I shall be blamed whatever I do. Don't change your mind, whatever happens.
Take your bag or parcel, or whatever it is ( whatever ="
no matter what").
(b) There is no doubt whatever (^no doubt of any sort, no doubt at all). We have
no hope whatever.
(c) What time I can spare is at your disposal. Whatever reason he may give, don't
him.
believe
What and whatever may also be used with nouns (what time =
that time which).
(d) Talce whichever you like best.
There is also the pronoun whichever, corresponding in meaning to the selective
meaning of interrogative which.
(e) Students are warned not to mix up this generalising whatever with the inter-
rogative what ever, mentioned in § 126. ^

^ Sweet calls these wh-fovms connectives. —

In form the relative clauses illus-
trated in this section are not distinguishable from indirect questions, but there is
of course a clear distinction in meaning. Ask him what he wants (ind. question)
means "Say to him: What do you want?" Give him what he wants (relative) means
" Give him that which he wants".
 — 108 —
XXI. Genitive^
259 Nouns denoting persons
(a) Everybody's friend is nobody's friend. When is Johns birth-
day? Do you know Robert's sister?
(b) We all listened in to the Queen's speech. I am looking forward
tomy brother's visit. It was John's decision.
(a) The most important function of the genitive is to express
possession or personal connection : Tom's car, Tom's dog, Tom's
name, Tom's brother. The relation is the same as that expressed
by to have. (Tom has a car, a dog, etc.)
(b) The genitive is used with a verbal noun : Tom's visit to his
uncle, the King's speech. The relation between genitive and head-
word is that of subject and verb: Tom visited his uncle, the King
spoke.

A different function of tlie genitive appears from examples sucii as John's

defeat in the semi-finalswas much talked about. The King's murder. The relation
between genitive and lieadword is that of subject and verb in the passive. (John
^ was defeated.) For such cases the o/-genitive is nearly always used, e. g. the election
of the president.
An analysis of all the possible relations would serve no practical purpose, as
all European languages agree pretty well in the use of the genitive. Examples:
Shakespeare's plays, Churchill's life, Mary's photograph (= the picture taken
of her).

260 As mentioned in § 60, the inflected genitive alternates with

the o/-genitive.
In the singular the o/-genitive is used to give prominence to
the proper name or for the sake of balance; e. g. Shakespeare's
plays, the ivorks of Shakespeare. John's father, the father of John
and Mary.
In the plural the inflected genitive is mostly used with the
irregular plural forms men, women, children, people; with other
nouns the genitive with of isthe rule^.
Much depends on the men's initiative. ...on the officers'
initiative, or on the initiative of the officers.
^ As explained in § 60, there are two means of marking the genitive relation: the

inflected genitive (formed by 's or indicated by the mere apostrophe) and the of-
phrase. In many cases the two expressions are interchangeable, or have the same
function.
But of may be a teal preposition, as in a satchel of leather, the Battle of Britain; to
speak of somebody, to think of something ( § 167, 3). —From the point of view of English
we are also hardly entitled to speak of a genitive in combinations like some of my
friends, three of the pictures, where of has the meaning "from amongst". Another case
is the "appositional genitive" illustrated in § 262, Note.
2 Because to the ear there is no difference between my neighbour's garden and
my neighbours' garden.
 — 109

The inflected genitive (sg. and pi.) occurs also in compounds : 261
(a) She's a lady's maid. He has got a doctor s degree. It's child's
play.
(b) Please sign the visitors' book. Tradesmen' s entrance. Ladies'
waiting room. All Saints' Day. a boys' school, men's clothes.
He speaks a foreigners' English.
Such compounds are fairly frequent. Singular or plural occurs
according to the sense, (a lady's maid a maid serving a lady. —
Ladies' waiting-room =
waiting-room for ladies.)
These compounds differ from the ordinary groups genitive + noun in meaning.
Compare He is proud of his doctor's degree. He took his doctor's advice. In the com-
pound the genitive refers not to a specific person, but to a category, and the accent
on the genitive is slightly stronger than on the headword.
There is, moreover, this difference: his doctor's advice = the advice of his doctor,
his doctor's degree =
his degree; similarly: the new boy's parents ^= the parents of
the new boy (at school), a new boys' school == a new school for boys.

Nouns denoting things 262

Apart from a few exceptions, only the o/-genitive is used the :

name of the book. —

Here, too,' the genitive has different func-
tions, e. g.

(a) the name of the book, the colour of the cover, the hero of the
story, the end of the chapter, the beauty of the country.
(b) the beginning of the story, the arrival of the train; the con-
struction of the house, his knoivledge of English. characteristic A
of the English is their love of animals. The relation between the
nouns is that of subject and verb (the train arrives) or verb and
object (he knows English).
(c) a cup of tea, a glass of water, a piece of paper; an ounce of
tea, a pound of cheese. The headword denotes quantity or number i.
Note further the town of Berne, the county of Surrey, in the month of May, the month
:

ofSeptember, the game of cricket, the art of making friends. In these groups the second
word names or specifies the first; it serves as an appositional adjunct.

The inflected genitive (singular and plural) is the rule 263

with nouns or adverbs denoting time :

Ws an hour's journey. It's a three hours' walk. The bus-stop

is a wdnute's walk (five minutes' walk) from here.
a lueek's holiday, a six weeks' holiday.
This invention is the result of seven years' experiments.
I read it in yesterday's paper. It's in to-day's paper.
^ The important word is tea, water, etc., just as in the group much tea, plenty
of tea, some water.
 — 110 —
The inflected genitive is also found in a number of set phrases,
e. g. for heaven's sake, a stone's throw from here, a shilling's worth.
264 Notes.
1. In literary English the s-genitive is used more freely. Note in particular
its use
(a) with collective nouns indicating persons: the committee's decision, a glorious
event in the nation's history.
(b) with geographical proper names, especially if we think of the population:
Britain's position in the world, England's contributions to world civilisation.
(But in an objective geographical description: the coast-line of England, the
climate of England.)
Similarly with words like world, country, city: What share do you lake in
the world's work?
(c) with nature, life: The scientist tries to discover Nature's laws. Life's Lillle Ironies.
(Title of book by Thomas Hardy.)
In poetry it is part of the poet's licence to use the s-genitive whenever there
is an open or a veiled personification, e. g. in the poem "Sea-Fever" by Mase-
field: the wheel's kick, the wind's song, the sea's face, the whale's way.
The popular press, too, shows a distinct tendency to use the inflected genitive
for things, possibly because it sounds more personal and intimate than the o/-genitive.
2. With animals the s-genitive isusual when we speak of our pets, e. g. Rover's
basket. Otherwise the of-genitive is the rule. This is in accordance with the use of
personal pronouns (§ 52).

265 Special use of the inflected genitive

The inflected genitive is used without headword.
(a) Whose bicycle is this? It's my brothers'. (= my brother's b.)
He neglects his oivn business to look after other people's.
Where shall I put my coat? Put it on John's. (= on John's c.)
She regards the universe with an air of contempt equalled only
by a camel's. (= by that of a camel.)
The headword has been named, and the speaker wishes to avoid
repetition.

(b) I spent a iveek at my uncle's. (= in the house of my uncle.)

Mr. Chips lived at Mrs. Wickett's, fust across the road from
the school.
I met him outside the greengrocer's. ( = the greengrocer's shop.)
/ bought it at Self ridge's. (= in the store of Selfridge.)
Dean of St. Paul's.
the

The name in the genitive denotes the house, shop, or store be-
longing to that person, or a building otherwise connected with
the name.
Note. Names of stores, publishing firms and shops are freely used in this way.
As a matter of fact, the apostrophe is frequently dropped, which shows that the
word is no longer felt as a genitive but as a plural form 7 bought it at Self ridges.
:

A useful rule: Put the apostrophe when referring to the house (Meet nw outside
Harrod's), omit it when referring to the firm (Harrods sell all sorts of things).
 — Ill —
XXII. Personal Pronouns
he, she - it
He and she refer to persons, it refers to things and events (§ 51). 266
See also § 163, 3.
Note. Somebody was coming; it was the caretaker. —
Who's that man? He's
•

the president of our club. In sentences that identify an unknown person, it is used
when nothing is Ivnown of the person, he and she are preferred when the sex is
known.

// has further functions: the pronoun may refer back to a 267

statement, or more or less vaguely to a situation. (Cf. § 192, 2.)
They say they are poor. IVs not true.
He was very good. I shall never forget it.
You say your car was stolen. I dont believe it.

Note. has no definite meaning in certain expressions, e. g. I can't stand it.

It
We must it. I'm in for it.
stick We'll make a day of it. You've had it (=^ you've
been defeated, you've come off worst, etc). Most of these expressions belong to
colloquial or familiar speech.

(a) Is the post-office still open? I think so. I dont think so. 268
Will you be back for tea? I suppose so. I don't suppose so.
Are you free to-morroiv evening? I believe so. afraid not. Fm
After some verbs denoting "to say, to think", English makes use
of so in a function similar to it, i. e. to refer back to a statement
or a situation. Such verbs are to say, tell, think, believe,
suppose, hope, be afraid. The expressions are chiefly short
responses. Note the negative responses / hope not, I'm afraid not.
This so also occurs after to do. E. g. May I open the windoiv? Do so.
He tried to catch the bus, and in doing so slipped.
(b) When does the post-office close? I dont know. I don't remember.
Come next Sunday, don't forget.
After a few verbs, e. g. to knoiv, remember, there is in short re-
sponses neither "it" nor "so " to refer to the preceding statement.

It may point forward and refer to a subordinate clause or to 269

an infinitive or gerund that follows.
(a) It is useless to argue. It is splendid that you could come.
It may be considered a substitute for the real subject (163, 2).
(b) We found it impossible to get a taxi. I think it a mistake to
start so late. It refers to an object; see § 169.
(c) You may rely on it that I shall give you a full report. The
clause is a prepositional object; see § 168.
 — 112 —
270 Idiomatic use of me, him, etc.

Who's there? IV s me. Teacher: Who did it? Boy: Please, sir,
it wasn't me. It might have been him.
In spoken English the forms me, him, her, etc. are used after it
it was, instead of /, he, she, etc., as one would expect
i.
is, For
formal speech and literary English it is he, etc. is recommended.
Notes. 1. Other cases where me has taken the place of /; There were three of
us: Jack, Mary and me. John: You ought to do it. Tom: What, me?.' Nobody knows
it better than me.
2. want to be like him. People like us must be careful. That's like him!
/ don't
(= That was to be expected of him.) like is felt to be a preposition and the objec-
tive case of the pronoun must be used.

271 The indefinite personal pronoun 2.

One has to do one's best. One can't be too careful.
One might have expected a politer answer.
There is the special indefinite pronoun one, genitive one's, mean-
ing "a person" or "any person". Mostly the speaker thinks of
himself, and one stands for "I or any person in my position".

272 Often the pronouns we and you, sometimes also they, are used
in a general sense.
Englishman to Continental: We don't shake hands so much as
you do. Continental: Do you shake hands luith your host?
E.: Yes, we do, but we don't shake hands ivith the other
guests, unless ive know them well.

How do you spell [in'kwairi] ? You spell it with an i or luith

an e (inquiry or enquiry).
You can't eat your cake and have it.

The fine iveather won't last; they said on the ivireless it ivould
turn to rain later on.
we refers to a community that includes the speaker, or it may
express a general truth, as in We nnist all learn.
you is especially frequent. It is used when it refers to the
community of the person addressed, but also in general state-
ments.

^ Many people denounce this use of me as vulgar, and though it is a very small

matter indeed, it has aroused angrj^ discussions, and still does. The fact is that
hardly anybody would say "it is I".
^ It corresponds to French on, German man, the Italian use of the reflexive
verb (si chiama).
 — 113 ^
Other words serving as indefinite or general personal pronoun
are people and a fellow. (The latter only Sp. E.)
What did people do before there were radio and television?
Never mind what people say, do what is right.
In England people do not scramble for seats in a bus.
What is a fellow to do in such a case?

See also the chapter on the passive (§ 337); a passive construc-

tion is a convenient way of expressing a thought without naming

a definite person, e. g. How is this done in America?

The self-pronouns (§61)

These pronouns —
myse//, yourself, etc. —have two distinct 273
functions: they are either emphatic personal pronouns or re-
flexive pronouns.

I. The pronouns as emphatic personal pro-

nouns.
/ have seen it myself. He told me so himself. Never leave to

others what you can do yourself. I went to the manager him-

self. I didnt read the book itself, I only saw a review of it.
The seZ/-pronoun is strongly stressed; it points to a contrast
meaning "I or you or this person, not another person". Often
there is implied that something is done alone, without help, or
that it is not left to somebody else. Note the idioms / was there
by myself (= alone). / did it by myself (= without help). Simi-
larly itself means "this thing, not its substitute or something
connected with it".
When used together with a simple personal pronoun, the self-
pronoun is usually placed at the end.

Occasionally the se//-pronoun stands in place of the simple pronoun: Nobody

knows it belter than myself. There were three of us: Tom, Mary and myself.

II. The pronoun as reflexive pronoun. 274

We should see ourselves as others see us.
You work for yourselves, not for the teacher.
He only thinks of himself and cares for himself.
Speaker in Hyde Park: Quiet, please, I can hardly hear
myself speak. Listener: Cheer up, you're not missing much.
The reflexive pronoim is used when subject and object are iden-

tical. It is stressed if a contrast is expressed or implied.

See SS 334 and 335.
 :

— 114 —
275 Note the use of tlie pronouns after prepositions :

He took his camera with him. I had no money with me.

Have you your passport with you?
got
We have a long journey in front of us.
Shut the door after you. He left no trace after him.
But: You work for yourself, not for your teacher.
He was very pleased with himself. He can look after himself.
The simple pronoun i.s used when the identity of the
person is obvious ^ We can say: Tom works for Jack, for the
master, for his club, or: for himself. Peter is pleased with Mary,
with the world or: with himself. But we cannot replace the pronoun
in a sentence like Tom took his camera with him^.

276 Reciprocal pronouns

Enghsh has special reciprocal pronouns: each other and one
another. Compare: We looked at ourselves in the glass. (Each sees
himself.) We looked at one another. (Each sees the other.) Further
examples
We had known each other for years. We had helped each other
and enjoyed each other s company. One day we got into a
dreadful muddle of misunderstandings and hurt each other s
feelings. We didn't speak to one another. Then we made it
up and again got on well with one another.
Some people prefer each other when speaking of two persons and one another
for more than two persons, but this distinction is by no means generally made.

Indication of possession
277 One main functions of the genitive is to denote posses-
of the
sion (§ 259). The personal pronouns possess no genitive, the gap
being filled by the possessive adjectives: Tom's book = the book
belonging to Tom. his book = the book belonging to him.

278 The possessive adjectives are usual in English also in cases

where other languages prefer the definite article:
He took off his boots. He put on his slippers.
I sprained myknee. He broke his leg. Wash your hands.
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

^ I. e. the identity of the person denoted by the pronoun and by the subject of

the sentence.
" It will be found that in most cases the simple pronoun is used if it is part of
an adverbial, the se//-pronoun, if it is part of a prepositional object. —
Note that
what matters is the meaning or the situation. When I say Shut the door after you,
my meaning is "as you go out".
 — 115 —
The possessive adjective stands before nouns denoting clothes or
parts of the body.
Note. In some idiomatic expressions the is used instead of tlie possessive adjec-
tive: He had a cold in the head. He got red in the face. I hit him on the nose.

This is my oiun house. This house is my oivn. 279

/ saw it with my oivn eyes. He wrote it with his own hand.
Mind your oivn business.
own gives emphasis to the possessive adjective. Note, however,
that own cannot follow the indefinite article or no and that we
must say: He has a house of his own. I have a room of my own.
He has no opinion of his own.

Idiomatic use of the genitive and possessive pronouns

Whose book is this?
•

280
It's Jane's. It's hers. It's my brother's. It's his.
It isn't mine, it must be yours.

This construction serves to indicate possession. An alternative

(which in Sp. E. is less common) is To whom does the book
•

belong? It belongs to Tom, to me.

Another pattern is a friend of mine, a friend of my brother's, 281

i. e. o/ + possessive pronoun or of + noun in the Saxon genitive.
(a) I was staying with an uncle of mine. He's a friend of ours.
Is he a cousin of yours? It's no business of his. He objects
to every suggestion of mine. This is an occasion this —
meeting of ours.
(b) I was staying with a friend of my fcdher's. He is a friend of
Tom's. He is cm admirer of Jane's.
These examples combine two ideas determination (a, no, every, :

this) and possession. The meaning is: "a friend that I have,
every suggestion that I make" etc. ^.
There is in (b) the alternative construction He is a friend of my
father. The meaning is a subtle one. He is a friend of Tom's,
difference in
of my father's, etc. means that Tom acknowledges him as his friend.
He is a friend of the Minister, of my father, means that he has friendly
feelings towards the Minister (who may not know him at all). Simi-
larly: He is an admirer of Jane's and He is an admirer of T. S. Etiot.

^ It is not possible to say "a

friend, everymy my
suggestion". (In Italian:
un mio amico!) —A
friend of mine might also be explained as "a friend who is
mine. —
This my friend was once possible but is not modern usage.
Note the difference between one of my friends and a friend of mine. The —
former example makes it plain that I have many friends, the latter leaves it in-
definite whether I have more than one friend.
 116

XXIII. Tenses
JioJi "We must distinguish between time and lense^. The idea of time is a universal
notion, tenseis a means of expression, which varies from language to language.
This chapter discusses what means English possesses to express present time,
past time, and future time.
Now it is possible to subdivide time in the following way. The course of time
ismostly represented by a straight line where a dot (^= present moment) di\ides
the past from the future:

past present future

(The present may also be a period of considerable duration, e. g. this year, oar age,
our century). If we consider a point in the past, we may take it, too, as a centre
of time extending before and after, and the same in the future:

X X X V X X
past present future
before-past after-past before-future (after-future)

(For the after-future there is no expression in the language.)

The Present
283 When we speak of "the present time", we may think of a
very short span of time a few seconds or minutes — or of a —
period of considerable length, e. g. this year, our century.
The srniple present tense is used
1. as a real present; e. g. (Conjurer giving a demonstration:)
/ take this hat. I place it on the table. I spread a cloth over it.
I strike the table with this stick. I remove the cloth — and I pull
out a rabbit!
For other examples see § 318.
Note that for actual events, English mostly uses the progres-
sive present tense (see § 316):
What you doing? I am reading. I
are am writing to John.
Listen, somebody is coming.

2. as a neutral tense (a) for general statements, i. e. some-

thing that is true at all times, (b) for habits and characteristics
(also for capability).

(a) Fortune favours the brave. A bad workman guarrels with his
tools. A stitch in time saves nine.
(b) I alivays get up at 6 o'clock. I take breakfast at 8.
He speaks English and French. I don't speak Italian.
You smoke too much. You doni work enough.
^ This paragraph is based on a section in Jespersen's "Essentials of English
Grammar".
 .

___ 117 _--

The present tense is also used when we tell or sum up a story 284
or play. E.g. Dickens's "Christmas Carol":
It is Christmas Day. Scrooge is in his counting-house. It is

a foggy afternoon. Two gentlemen call on him to collect money

for the poor, but he refuses to give anything. His nephew enters
and greets him with "A merry Christmas, uncle''; etc.
The preterite would be correct, too, but the present tense makes
itmore vivid, shows the story as something happening before ^
our eyes.

Tenses of the Past

English has three past tenses: the preterit or past (I saw), 285
the perfect (I have seen) and the before-past or pluperfect (I had
seen) ^. —
The preterit is associated completely with some mo-
ment or period of the past, whereas the perfect is mostly con-
nected in some way with the present time. The pluperfect corre-
sponds in function to the pluperfects of other languages.

Preterit 286
He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur cmd his
tail, but like a weasel in his head and his habits. His eyes
and the end of his restless nose were pink. He could scratch
himself anywhere he pleased, and his war cry was Rikk-
rikk-tikki-tikki-tikk. —
One day a summer flood washed
him out of his burrow where he lived with his fcdher and
mother and carried him down a roadside ditch. .

(Kipling, Rikki-tikki-tavi.)
What did you do last night? I went to a concert. Did you enjoy
it? Yes, it was a very good concert indeed.
Did you see the match? (i. e. the match of last Saturday).
No, I didn't. I was kept late at the office.
Do you know Scotland? Yes, I was there two years ago.

The used in any continuous narrative, both

preterit is the tense
for description and for the
telling of events.
The preterit is also frequently used in conversation, namely
whenever the time of the occurrence is indicated, either by an
adverb such as yesterday, last night, three days ago, or by the si-
tuation or context. The preterit is likewise required in questions
beginning with when or what time, e. g. When did you arrive?

^ The terms found in most grammars are Past Tense, Present Perfect Tense
and Past Perfect Tense.
 — 118 —
Perfect
287 / am afraid I have given you a lot of trouble. You have been
very good to me.
Tom doesnt look well. He has been working too much, and he
has been worrying.
Whafs the matter, have you lost anything? Yes, Fve lost my
key. I cant find it, Fve looked for it everywhere.
Have you made plans for the summer holidays yet? Have you
ever been to Switzerlcmd? Yes, we were there last year.

The perfect is used to state some occurrence in the past when

no definite time is indicated. We are thinking of a period of time
that extends right up to now (the present moment).
Mostly the perfect has a present meaning : it shows
the present result or consequences of a past action (or event), and
the verb in the perfect might be replaced by some expression
in the present tense, thus:

Have you read the book? = Do you know it?

/ have lost something. = I miss something.
Fve bought a car. = I now possess a car.
He has lost all his money. = He is poor.

288 Further use of the perfect.

/ have been here for two hours. I have been here since three
o'clock. We have known each other for five years. I have
been up for four hours. I have been working since five o'clock.
How long has the film been on? H
has been on since Monday.
How long have you had your car? Fve had it for three years.
The perfect is used to denote an action or state that began in the
past and continues right up to the present moment ^. Note that for
indicates the length of time from some point in the past until
now, since indicates the point of departure, thus:
^"'
^
I
X—
I
*- since

Frequently the verb is in the progressive form (see § 321)^:

/ have been waiting for two hours. He has been living next door to

us for five years. I have been learning English for two years.

^ We may visualise this perfect as a bridge, spanning the time betNveen a point
of the past and the present moment.
^ This applies to verbs denoting a state: wait, stand, sit, lie, live, stay, and to
other non-conclusive verbs, such as smoke, talk, work.
 — 119 —
Preterit and Perfect. Further remarks. 289
1. / have never seen such a marvellous sunrise.
I never saw anything so unprofessional. (Shaw.)
Faint heart never won fair lady.
In sentences with the adverbs always and never, the perfect or
the preterit may be used (though only the perfect would be
expected, according to the main rule).
Note. Have you ever heard such a thing? (Real question)
Did you ever hear of such a thing! (Exclamation)

2. (a) WhaCs the time? It has fust struck 12 o clock.

Where's John? He was here fust now.
(h) I haven t heard from him lately.
Just is an adverb of the present sphere, fust now belongs to the
past sphere. Hence the use of perfect with fust and the use of
the preterit with fust now. —
The perfect is used with lately and
recently.

3. / have worked hard to-day. (= and am now tired.)

Something funny happened to-day. (Said when the day is

over.)
/ haven't looked at the papers this morning. (Said at 10 a. m.)
/ didnt see the papers this morning. (Said in the evening.)
With such adverbs as to-day, this morning, this week, this year,
the perfect is used if the speaker thinks of the present moment
as included in the time mentioned.

Note. Further examples to show the use of preterit and perfect: Have you seen
the new Shakespeare film? (i. e. at any time within a period that extends right to
and includes the present moment. The question implies that the film is still on.)
Answer e. g. No, I haven't seen it yet. — Did you see the new Shakespeare film?
(i. e. while the film was shown. The question implies that the film is no longer on.)

Answer e. g. No, unfortunately I missed it.

The following analogy may be found useful: Let us imagine the past time as
the sea. When we use the perfect, we are standing at the edge of the sea, and when
we use the preterit, we are inland, at some distance from the sea.

used to 290
If we wish to stress thatsomething existed in the past but
exists no longer now, we can do this by means of used to [ju:st].
Near the Bank in London is Lombard Street, where the
bankers from Italy used to live.
People used to think that the sun iveni round the earth.
I used to know him quite well.
He used to live in Paris, didn't he?
 — 120 —
/ used to know him means: I knew him once, but I haven't seen

him, or we haven't met, for a long time. — Negative form:

/ used not (usedn't) to smoke, or (only Sp. E.) / didn't use to smoke.
I used to may also indicate habit or repeated action. See § 314.

291 The before-past (or pluperfect)

The play had already begun when we arrived.

I hadnt seen him before that day.
The pluperfect expresses an action or occurrence that took place
before some definite time in the past.
In examples like He had lived in the suburb for fifteen years and
stillliked it, the pluperfect has the same function as the perfect
explained in § 288.

292 The after-past

(a) We all hoped that our team would win. He said he would ring
us up. He told us that he would meet us at the station.
(b) I knew what was to come. I felt that we were not to meet again.
In these examples an event is regarded as a future event from
some moment in the past. The time-relation is expressed either
by the conditional (§ 306) or by / was + infinitive (§ 369).

Future
293 Introductory note
Originally English had no future tense, but made use of the present tense to
express futurity, i. e. future action or state. In certain cases this is still the usage
in modern English.
Later shall and will came to be used as auxiliaries to denote the future. Shall
originally expressed obligation, duty, etc., will expressed intention, preparedness,
etc.; both pointed naturally to the future. While preserving their old meanings,
they have developed a new function serving as pure form-words. Often they stand
halfway, i. e. they combine the idea of futurity with volition or obligation (coloured
future).
Because shall and will may be ambiguous, other verbs are now preferred to
denote obligation (have to, ought) or volition {want, wish, etc.), and on the other
hand, futurity in modern English is often expressed by means of going to. Primarily
this referred to the immediate future, but now it mostly contains an element of
volition.
Thus English has the following ways of expressing futurity:
(a) shall/will with plain infinitive: / shall do it, he will do it.
(b) I am going with ^o-inf initive / am going to do it.
:

(c) present tense, either in its simple form or its progressive form: TFc start on
Monday. He is coming to-night.
Matters are thus far from simple, and frequently an idea can be stated in two
or three different ways.
 — 121 —
shaU, wiU (§89)
(a) I hope the weather will he fine and you will have a good cross- 294
ing. I dont remember his name, but it will come back to me.
In a few years there will be a television-set in every home. Cur-
rent events will be televised, people will see plays, they will
watch a workman at his machine, etc. But what will hap- —
pen to their imagination? Will TV do more good or harm?

(b) We shall be late we dont hurry. If we have to wait long,

if
I shall catch cold. He
will ring us up as soon as he gets home.
I shall believe it when I see it.
Shall/will express pure future, i.e. the statement is not coloured
by any person's inclination or intention. We merely say what
we expect to happen. —
This form is used in particular when a
temporal or an i7-clause makes it quite clear that a future action
depends on external circumstances. (A temporal clause is one
beginning with when, as soon as, until.)

In American English (also in Scottish and Irish Enghsh) 295

will is used in persons. E. g. (Dale Carnegie):
all
Our life is what our thoughts make it. If we think happy
thoughts, we will be happy. If we think miserable thoughts, we
will be miserable. If we think fear thoughts, we will be fearful.

Some English people make no distinction either in colloquial speech,

using the short form 7/ for all persons; e. g. /'// have his answer to-
morrow. We'll be late if we don't hurry. Non-English students are advised
not to say Fit, we'll for pure future.

/ will; you, he shall (§§ 354 and 365). 296

1. All right, I will do it. I will (Vll) let you know to-morrow.
I promise you I won't forget it.

I will is frequently used to express both intention or willingness

and assurance that something will be done. / will do it = I am
wilhng, I mean to do it and I shall do it.
2. You shall have it to-morrow. {= I will give it to you.)
You shall not find me ungrateful. Since you force me to use
plain words, you shall have them.
Shall may express obligation mostly it denotes promise or threat.
;

Note I. In questions with you like When will you be back? Will you be able 297
to do it? tlie auxiliary expresses pure future. But will you so often stands for a
request (Will you shut the door, please) or wish, choice, etc. (What will you have?)
that it was found desirable to have unambiguous forms for the future.
 — 122 —
1. Some English speakers use shall you, not will you. When shall you be back?
Shall you be in this afternoon? But this form is not recommended, as it is falling
into disuse.
2. A device that is frequently used nowadays is the future progressive form:
Will you be coming to the garden-party? Will you be going out again? Will you be
needing anything else? Where will you be staying? Will you be staying there long?
(The last two examples may also be explained according to § 319.)

iiiOO Note II. Special functions of the future tense.

1. He's waiting for us; he'll be wondering where we are.
You will have seen it in the papers.
Will here indicates supposition and is equivalent to such phrases as / suppose,
I expect, I imagine, e. g. / suppose he is wondering, I suppose you have seen it. —
Note also the idiom: That will be 12/- altogether. {= it costs.)
2. (I won't have this.) You will apologise at once. You will do what I tell you.
These examples express a strict command; the speaker anticipates resistance or
arguments, which he tries to stop in advance.
3. For will indicating habit or characteristic see § 319.

The present tense

299 The present tense when
for denoting the future is usual only
the future time is indicated by an adverbial or a
clause.
Simple present tense.
(a) We leave London by the night train and arrive at Basel at
6.10 a. m. We stay tivo days in Lucerne and then go on to the
Bernese Oberland.
The future action or event is considered as part of a programme
or an agreement. The shall/ ivill future would be correct, too.
(b) I shall tell him what I think of him when he comes to-morrow.
I shall read the book as soon as I find the time. What shall
we do if the weather is bad? When he comes, show him in.
In clauses beginning with if, when, as soon as, etc. only the present
tense is correct. (The main clause contains a future tense or an
imperative.)

300 Progressive present tense.

Fve just had a letter from Doris; she's coming on Monday.
When are you leaving? —
Fm leaving to-morroiv morning.
When are you taking your holidays?
The present progressive tense mostly expresses near future and
at the same time intention. We use this form wiien we are speak-
ing of things we have planned, things we have made up our
minds to do. —
This usage is especially frequent with verbs de-
noting movement: go, come, leave, etc.
 ::

— 123 —
Note. Difference between simple present tense and progressive present tense:
The latter is more casual and personal, less formal. Compare: / give a lecture next
Tuesday. I am giving a party next week.

going to 301
(a) I don't feel at ease; something is going to happen.
Hurry up, ifs going to rain.
The story I am going to tell you is a true story.
To be going to may express an immediate future. Note the dif-
ference between
/ hope it won't rain (when we are on hohday), and
/ think iVs going to rain (presently, in the next 10 min.).

The is not merely one of time interval. In

difference, however,
the first example thereno connection between the future and
is

the present moment; in the second example we feel that some-

thing is in store for us, is waiting for us, is in preparation or is
being formed. Further examples of the latter kind: We're going
to have chicken for dinner. I've got a headache; I think I'm going to

have influenza.

(b) What are your plans for the holidays? — I am going to ivork
hard for myexam. What are you going to do? — I'm not going
to touch a book. I'm going to have a good time.
In these cases going to does not express a pure future, but indi-
cates intention, plan. The same idea might be expressed by
/ mean, I intend to work, etc. Compare:
All right, I shall write to him soon. (= when I have time.)
/ am going to write to him at once.
The underlying principle is the same as with the examples given
under (a): The future event is connected with the present mo-
ment, here by intention, preparedness, etc.
The meaning of going to shades over into firm determination,
especially in the negative. In sentences like I'm going to teach
him a lesson, or stand this, there is a marked
I'm not going to

display of energy, a bracing of one's muscles, as it were.

Occasionally going to conveys the idea that something is probable or certain,
or inevitable, e. g. You are going to like this. It's going to be a success.

Note. Will and going to. In many cases either form is possible and 302
thereis little to choose between them. A practical rule for the student is

When in doubt use the shall j will-future.

But quite frequently there is an appreciable difference in meaning
between the two constructions. Here are some further examples (Allen)
 :

— 124 —
// there's a crisis, things will get much dearer. - - Now that there's a
crisis, things are going to get much dearer.
What will happen if you are late? What's going to happen now?
I shall tell you the story next time. — Listen, I am going to tell you
something.

r]03 to be to
He is to be the hero of the book.
The meeting is to be held next week.

To be + /o-infinitive is a further means of expressing a future

event, though it denotes rather a plan or arrangement for a
future event than the event itself.

The future perfect

304 We shall be late — the play will have begun by the time we get
there.I shall have finished my work by to-morrow night.
I hope you will have recovered by the end of next week.
The future perfect indicates that an action will take place before
a certain time in the future it implies a state resulting from that
;

action, thus closely resembling the perfect tense. Compare:

The play has begun. = The play is in progress.
The play will have begun. = The play will be in progress.
Similarly: / shall have finished my work. My work will be = com-
pleted. He will have recovered. =
He will be well again.
Note. Adverbs often used in this connection are by to-morrow, by the end of the
week, etc. While to-morrow, next week, etc. simply denote a certain time, the expres-
sions with by imply progression to a certain point of time. This time is set as a limit;
by to-morrow night means "possibly before, but certainly not later".

305 / shall buy a car as soon as I have saved up the money for it.

I shan't speak to him until he has apologised. By the time

you have washed and dressed, dinner will be ready.

The perfect tense (never the future perfect)is used in clauses

that begin with a conjunction of time: ivhen, as soon as, by the

lime (that).

Reported Speech
There are two ways of stating w'hat someone says or has said (or thinks or has
thought)
Direct speech. He said: "I don't believe it."
Reported speech. He said that he didn't believe it.

The changes in reported speech affect pronouns and tenses, also certain adverbs.
 125

The tenses in reported speech 306

Direct Speech He says He said

// is a good that it is a good that it was a good

story. story. story.
I liked it. that he liked it. that he had liked it.

I have read it that he has read it that he had read it

twice. twice. twice.

I shall read it that he will read it that he would read it

again. again. again.

Rule: When the mtroducmg verb (to say, tell, etc.) is in the pre-
sent tense, the tenses in reported speech remain unaltered.

When the introducing verb is in the preterit, the tenses of the

reported speech are shiftet so that
present tense becomes preterit,
preterit or perfect becomes pluperfect,
future tense becomes conditional.
Notes. The rule as given in § 306 needs completion.
1. The tenses of reported speech also remain unaltered after perfect and future.
"I don't mind." He has said that he doesn't mind.
"My train was late." He will give as an excuse that his train was late.
2. The tenses of reported speech are shifted also after pluperfect and after
conditional.
// you went like this, people would think you were mad.
What would you say if a policeman caught you? I should say that I was a
stranger cmd didn't know the rules, or that I hadn't seen the trafic flights.

Use of to say and to tell 307

1. He said: "/ have found something.''
He said to John: "/ have found something."
2. He said that he had found something.
He told John that he had found something.

i.e. the verb is to tell in reported speech, when the person ad-
dressed is mentioned.

Imperative in reported speech 308

He said me: ''Wait here."
to He told me to wait here.
He said: "Don't move." He told me not to move.
Other introducing verbs are to order, to ask, to invite.
 — 126 —
309 Further Notes.
While say and tell are the normal verbs in colloquial English, they should not
1.
be used to the exclusion of all others. Alternatives are: to explain, to state, to remark,
to mention, to observe, to argue, to object, to admit, to point out, to add; to reply, to
answer. Similarly: instead of to ask we may say to wonder, to want to know, to inquire.
"When direct speech contains statements and questions, the introducing verb
must vary accordingly. " / have left my purse at home. Can you lend me a shilling?"
He said that he had forgotten his purse and asked if I could lend him a shilling.

2. The changes noted in § 306 are carried out automatically, also in subordinate
clauses. E. g.
He said: "I shall do what is expected of me."
He said that he would do what was expected of him.
There are exceptions, though:
(a) In sentences like " We leave at 10 a. m. We have lunch on the boat. We get to
Paris at 6 p. m." The present tense refers to a future action; hence in reported
speech: He said that they would leave at 10 a. m., that they would have lunch on the
boat, etc.

(b) Anexcess of pluperfects is avoided. E. g.

He said: " I was born in Bristol. I attended the local grammar school and at
the age of 16 won a scholarship."
He told us that he was born in Bristol, (that he) attended the local grammar
school, etc. (Pluperfect is correct, of course.)
Conditional clauses cannot be changed, e. g. He said that if John were a gentleman,
he wouldn't do such a thing.

Must and might (= was allowed) occur as past tenses in reported speech:
3.
He said that he must be going on. He muttered that he must think it over. The master
said that I might work in the workshop. We asked him whether we might come.

4. There is also "reported thought". (Another name for it is "substitutionary

speech".) Example: (Mr. Chips is supervising boys at a Public School) Someone
dropped a desk-lid —
quickly, he must take everyone by surprise; he must show that
there was no nonsense about him. (= He thought: I must take everyone by surprise.)
The forms he must take, he must show are preterit forms.

5. Common sense must be used in the rendering of exclamations or brief answers

like Yes, No, Possibly. Examples:
"What, are you back already?" He was surprised that we were back already.
"Hey, John, wait a minute!" He shouted after John and asked him to wait
a little.

"Do you know the way?" " Yes." I asked him if he knew the way, and he
assured me that he did.

6. Care must also be taken in the rendering of expressions that denote nearness of
place or time. E. g.
Letter written at Bath on May 12th: "/ am staying at Bath. I arrived here
last week, I shall leave to-morrow."
He wrote on May 12th that he was staying at Bath, that he had arrived there
the week before and (that he) would leave on the following day.

The corresponding words are (see § 451)

here there lastweek the week before
to-day that day ne.vtweek the following week
yesterday the day before 5 days ago 5 days before
to-morrow the following day in 5 days 5 days later
 127

XXIV. Aspect!
A. Begmning, continuity, end of action 310
Anaction or event may be momentary (i. e. very short), e. g. to hit, find, arrive,
or of some duration; to live, read, write, spealc. In the latter case we may point to
the different phases of the action: beginning, duration or proceeding, end. English
has various means to express these phases:
different verbs : be born, live, die; blossom, fade; (of fire) be ligttted, burn, go out.
adverbs: sit down, lie down, stand up; read on, go on.
derivatives: steepen, harden, lengthen, shorten.
auxiliaries: begin, stop, cease, go on.
special verb forms: the progressive tenses. These will be considered separately.

Auxiliary + verb (Cf. § 430.) 311

(a) to start, to begin. // started raining. It began to rain.

(h) to go on. / went on reading. They went on talking. (Mostly

continuation after a break or pause.)
to keep on. // kept on raining. I kept on falling. (For continuous,
uninterrupted action.)
Other ways of expressing continuity or "keeping on":
verb + on: We marched on. Read on, Peter. Go on.
repetition of the same verb He talked and talked. It rained
:

and rained. (Tliis construction expresses weariness, wonder, etc.)

(c) to stop. It has stopped raining. Stop talking!
Other verbs: to cease, to leave off, to finish; note the idiom
Have you done talking? Have you done grumbling?
Note the following idioms (which denote result) I : got to know
him quite ivell. I came to hate him. I came to like it.

Auxiliary + adjective 312

to get. // is getting late, dark, cold. Don't get excited.
to become. Byron became rich and famous overnight.
to grow. // began to groiv dark. You ivill groiv wiser by ex-
perience.
To get is used for every day expression, to become for more "ex-
alted" words; to grow denotes gradual transition.
Note the following idioms: to fall ill, to go mad, to turn pale, it

turned chilly, cold. (To turn indicates sudden change.)

Note. The slope steepened. The snow hardened. The days are lengthening. Fre-
quently transition or beginning of a state is denoted by a verb in -en, derived from
an adjective or noun. (§ 481.)
^ For the pattern / had a swim, I had a talk with him see §§ 403, 460, also

p. 161 footnote 3.
 :

— 128 —
313 B. Habit and Repetition
1. will/would. This auxiliary has two different functions:
(a) Would expresses habit or repetition. Will is rare in this
function.)
Chink (our clog) tried every day to catch a rabbit. A rabbit
would come out of its hole and sit straight up like a wooden
peg. ''Fit have that one", Chink would say to himself. He
would begin by crawling through the grass, but just as he was
getting near the rabbit, he would jump up and run at it, and
the rabbit would dive down its hole. At last, one day, he saw
a fine fat rabbit sitting very straight in the sun. Chink very
carefully crawled a long way through the grass. Then he made
a grand rush — and caught the rabbit. But this time it was a
wooden peg.

(b) Willjwould express something that is typical or charac-

teristic, something that is or was to be expected,

will To get at milk, a cat will do

A hundred things she oughtn't to.
But when ifs milk she wants, why, then
She'll multiply her sins by ten.
Such things will happen. Murder will out.
would John only laughed when I told him the story. — Yes, he
would laugh.

314 2. I used to [ju:st] expresses habit. This auxiliary is an isolated

form to which there is no corresponding present tense. Examples
We used to go swimming before breakfast. We used to play chess
every Sunday. — • See also § 290.

The Progressive Tenses (See § 98)

ol5 The forms / am speaking, I am
reading, he was hunting look like combinations
of to be +participle. But historically it is not quite certain whether the forms
derive from a participle or from the older form / am a-reading; they may be due
to a mixture of the two. —
The forms / am a-reading, he was a-hunting are still
to be found in older texts and in dialects, e. g. in the song A-hunting we will go.
The a- is a weakened on, so the construction originally was he was on hunting.
where the ing-iorm is the verbal noun, and the meaning was "he was on a hunt",
or "he was engaged in hunting"^.
This function "to be engaged in something", i. e. the idea of i n c o p 1 e t i o n, m
is inherent in the modern usage of the progressive tenses.

The use of the progressive tenses has enormously spread in the last two hundred
years. Many cases can hardly be explained by clearly defined rules, and often pro-
gressive tenses and simple tense would be equally correct.

^ In the forms to be asleep, to be alive etc. also Standard English has preserved
this a-, which is a weakened on.
 ^ 129 —
Main use of the progressive tenses

Present : (From letter) / am writing this letter in our hut. IV s rain- 316
ing,and the wind's howling. Fred and Harry are playing chess.
They play every evening. John is reading. He reads a whole
book every day. Peter is studying the map.
You are not telling the truth. You are hiding something.

Past: When I woke up in the morning, the sun was shining. A bird
was singing just outside my window. A breeze was blowing, and
the leaves of the big elm tree were gently rustling.
Have you heard from John? WhaVs he doing now? When I
heard from him last, he was selling cars. He may be farming
now, or shooting big game in Africa.
Future: To-morrow at this time we shall be travelling through
France. We meet at six o'clock. I shall be waiting for you.
The progressive tense represents an action or an event as
"in progress" i. e. at a certain time a person is just doing
something or something is just happening. This time may be
very short, or it may be of some duration: an hour, a few
weeks or some years (as in He is studying languages. He is living
in America) ^, but the action always denotes something transi-
tory. —
The point or period of time is given with the situation
or is expressed by an adverbial of time or by a "point-action"
(when I woke up).
In describing pictures both the progressive tense and the
simple tense are usual.

The manager of a store was making the round through his de- 317
partments one morning. In one department he saw a lad who
was reading a newspaper. ''How much do you get a week?''
"A pound. Sir." The manager took a pound note out of his
pocket-book and said: ''Now get out of here, you're fired." —
Later he found out that the boy was from another firm and had
been wcdting for an answer.

The progressive tense serves to indicate the frame or background

to what foUows. (Thus frequently in the first sentence of a story
or anecdote.)

The progressive tenses are frequently used for two parallel actions, i. e. two things
are happening at the same time and are going on for the same length of time.
We spent a pleasant evening. I was reading while John was listening to a concert
on the wireless.

^ I am reading a book by Jeans may mean "at this moment" or "this week".
 :

— 130 —
318 It follows from the nature of the progressive tenses that they
are not usual in the following cases :

1. They They play every evening.

are playing chess.
Whal you reading? Do you always read detective novels?
are
Fve got no time now, Fm working. You work too much.
IV s raining again. Does it always rain here?
No progressive tense when we speak of habitual or repeated ac-
tion or make a general statement. Students are in particu-
lar advised not to use a progressive tense in sen-
tences with always, often, never and similar expressions.

2. (a) The dog was lying near the fire. London lies on the Thames.
Where do you live? (permanent address) Where are you
living now?

(h) (football report) Lawson has the ball. He is dribbling. He

shoots. The back stops the ball. He passes it to the outside
right, who is gaining ground quickly.
No progressive tenses
(a) when the action or state is, by its nature, permanent or
of unlimited duration;
(b) when the action is momentary.

The simple tense is also used in step-by-step demonstrations

and explanations, of which an example is to be found in § 283.

3. / don't understand you. What do you mean? I don't know this

word. I like this picture. I prefer old masters to modern art.
There are many verbs which on account of their meaning do not
normally form the progressive tenses. Such verbs are:
(a) verbs of physical or mental perception ^

to see, hear, feel, taste; to understand,

(h) verbs that express feeling or knowledge^:
to love, hate, like, dislike, prefer, fear; to know, remember,
believe, mean,
(c) verbs that express something lasting^:
to last, belong, possess, consist of.

^ These are verbs which denote a response of our senses or our mind to external

impressions, not some activity controlled by us. (Cf. / hear —

I listen, I see —
/ look,
I understand — I study.) —
Instead of saying / see (or / hear) something, it is more
usual to say I can see, I can hear something, e. g. Can ijou still hear me?
2 These verbs are not connected in our tlioughts with a limited time. (E.) They

cannot normally be referred to one definite moment.

 — 131 —
Further use of the progressive tenses
The progressive tenses are used extensively in modern spoken 319
English, also in situations that are different from those explained
in §§ 316 and 317. Not all examples can be accounted for by neat
rules, but the following remarks may be of some guidance.

1. / was working all day yesterday, what were you doing?

WhaVs the matter? We were having a little argument.
I shall be thinking of you all the time.
Fve been waiting for two hours. We've been looking for you
everywhere. Ifs been raining for a month.
There is, and future tense, considerable freedom
for past tense
in the choice of progressive tense and simple tense. Often both
are correct, but there is this difference: When we think of an
action or event as happening, as filling up a certain time,
we use the progressive tense. If we merely wish to state a fact,
we choose the simple tense. The progressive form often adds
warmth or vividness to a statement. In the perfect the pro- —
gressive form is the rule with non-conclusive verbs. (§ 288,
p. 160, footnote 3.)

2. What have you

been doing lately? Have you done your work?
Fve been reading Shakespeare lately. Fve read three plays.
Another idea inherent in the progressive tense is that of in com-
pletion. This accounts for many examples, especially in the per-
fect 1.

3. Because the progressive tense is less definite than the simple

tense, it occurs in spoken English to make a statement sound
more friendly and modest, or more casual. Examples: Fm afraid
I must be going. As I was saying / hear you've been having the
. . .

deuce of a row with Ralston (Good-bye, Mr. Chips). Questions —

in the future sound less inquisitive. Shall we be seeing you next
week? Will you be coming to the garden-party? Where will you be
staying. (But see also § 297, 2.)

/ am leaving to-night. — When are you taking your holidays? 320

John is coming to-night.

The progressive present tense of certain verbs, especially

verbs of movement, has a future meaning, implying intention.
See § 291. On the special use of I am going to see §§ 298, 357.
Sometimes the progressive tense suggests some thought that remains unex-
^

pressed. E. g.Mary, you've been telling stories (i. e. you were not fair or loyal).
Somebody has been using my fountain pen (implying "I don't like that").
 — 132 —
321 Note I. (Supplementary to § 317.)

The difference in aspect appears clearly in subordinate clauses introduced by

as or while.
as-clauses.
(a) I saw the headlines of a paper, as I passed a newspaper-boy at the corner.
At the station was a car to meet Frank. He learnt, as he drove along, that his friend's
cottage was two miles from the village.
(b) As I was walking along the Strand, I met my friend.
In (a) the two actions are of the same importance. In (b) the os-clause provides
the background for the main clause; the two actions might be represented like this:

"line-action" / was walking along.

• "point-action": / met my friend.
i. the "point action" took place while something else, the "line action", was
e.

going on. (The same idea might be expressed thus: / was walking along the Strand,
when I met my friend.)

while-clauses.
(a) Can you wait while I write this letter? (I. e. until I have finsished.)
Stay here while I slip across to the shop. (I. e. until I come back.)
(b) The accident happened while he was driving home.
He was knocked down while he was crossing the street.
While v^ith the simple tense means "throughout the whole time of the activity";
with the progressive tense it means "during or within that time, while the action is
going on". (Again the clause gives the background, or setting.)

Note II. (Supplementary to § 318.)

1. He's always forgetting his things.
She's always finding fault with somebody.
is sometimes used, contrary to the general rule, to express
The progressive tense
habit. The one of exaggeration: we imagine the person thus characterised
effect is

as constantly hunting for his things or constantly criticising. Frequently there

is an emotional element, e. g. annoyance or impatience.
In examples like / have been receiving beautiful long letters from John, the pro-
gressive tense expresses repetition spread over a certain period.
2. What do you think of this picture? {= What is your opinion?)
What are you thinking of? (= "What is occupying your mind?)
"With some verbs the usage of the simple or the progressive tense depends upon
meaning or situation. —
Note that to feel, to see, to hear may be used in the pro-
gressive tense when these verbs do not denote sense-perception. Examples: How
are you feeling this morning? You must be feeling pretty pleased with yourself. I am.
seeing Tom on Friday, (see = meet.)
3. To have forms the progressive tenses when to have + object denotes weather
conditions or some activity: We
are hewing wonderful weather. He is having lunch.
I am having my car repaired. —
There is also a progressive tense of to be. Example:
You are a wonderful player; I mean it, I am not being polite. (= This is no mere
compliment.)

322 The progressive tense, owing to its form to be -\- ing-fovm, suggests a state.
Frequently the verb might be replaced by to be + adjective, or to be -{- noun. E. g.
We shall be dining out. (= We shall be out for dinner.)
Let's speak one at a time; otherwise we'll all be talking at once and we shan't
get anywhere. (= There will be confusion.)
How long will they be staying here? (= How long will the stay last?)
This aspect of the progressive tense may also account for examples like If
I said that I wasn't afraid, I should be lying. If I took the bet, I should be robbing
you. (= Taking the bet would mean robbing you.) Would you like a cup of tea?
Well, if it isn't giving yon too much trouble.
 :

— 133

XXV. Verb and Object

Verb with one object 323
/ read a book. I liked it. I copied a passage.
John helped me. I thanked him.
These objects correspond to accusative objects in other languages,
frequently to dative objects. —
Note in particular the following
verbs, where the object normally is a person. (In earlier English
these verbs were followed by the dative, as is still the usage in
some Germanic languages.)
(a) to help, assist, advise, serve, to thank, trust, mistrust,
(h) to order, command, threaten; flatter.
to obey; disobey, defy, resist, oppose, contradict,
(c) to follow, precede, succeed; join, meet.

Verb with two objects 324

He showed He
them something of the
his friends the town. told
history of the town. He gave each of them a map.
I owe uncle a letter. Can you lend me a shilling? Pass me
the bread, please. We gave the waiter an extra tip.
Verbs with two objects mostly denote some kind of giving (ma-
Such verbs are
terial things or instructions).

(a) to give, lend, offer, pass, hand; bring, send, return,

to pay, sell; to refuse, deny (= opposites of to give).
(b) to allow {= give permission), grant, promise; to forbid.

(c) to show, teach, write, tell.

Other verbs: to owe, grudge, forgive.

Of the two objects one is, as a rule, a person, the other a 325
thing 1. Originally the object denoting a person was in the dative,
the object denoting a thing in the accusative. When the distinc-
tion of case was lost, the preposition to came to be used to mark
the person-object. This construction started with sentences like
/ sent a letter to my friend, where to really indicates direction.
^ The two objects are also referred to as direct object (thing) and indirect
object (person). In the sentence He showed his friend his stamps, stamps is object
to he showed, whereas his friend is the complement to he showed his stamps; this
appears quite clearly from the possible question forms. We may put the question:
What did he show? but only: To whom did he show the stamps (or: Who did he show
his stamps to?).
To give (other verbs very rarely) may be followed by two objects denoting things
/ never gave it a thought. Give the door a push.
 — 134 —
The use of to in present-day English is closely connected with
the order in which the objects stand, and this order is determined
by rhythm, the weightier word being placed at the
end. Examples:
1. He showed his friend the town. He showed him the town.

2. He showed it to his friend. He showed it to him.

The rule may be formulated thus:
1. The object denoting a thing is a noun: the person-object
precedes and is not marked by to.
2. The object denoting a thing is a pronoun (it, them) : the
person -object follows and is marked by to.
When both objects are pronouns, the to may be omitted Give :

it me.

3. Pass the book first to John, then to Mary.

I gave the map to him, not to you.
Rule: If the person-object is stressed, it follows and is there-
fore marked by to.

Note. This is a practical rule, to which students should strictly keep. But
deviations from it do occur. E. g. He liked to show to his visitors the treasures he had
collected.

326 Note further:

A post was offered to the young man. A post ivas offered
(to) him.
What did he give (to) the servants? What did he give you?
I never know what to give people for Christmas.
This is something that I haven t shown (to) anyl>ody before.
In these examples the word denoting the thing that is given,
offered, shown, stands before the verb, either because it is
etc.
subject in a passive construction or object in a question or
relative clause. In such cases the to before the person is optional.
Practical rule: use to before nouns, omit to before pro-
nouns.
For questions and relative clauses beginning with the per-
sonal object see §§ 125, 244.

327 / will get you a ticket. Please get me one, too; or Please get
one for me, too. Daddy bought me this hat in Paris.
With some verbs, e. g. to get, buy, change, the personal object
may be made more prominent by for. All these verbs mean "to
do something for somebody". Other examples: Fll find you a fob.
Make me a cup of tea. Will you do me a favour?
 — 135 —
Notes.
1. Some verbs govern two objects, but the personal object cannot take any pre-
position.
to ask. asked the policeman the way. May I ask you a question?
We
to That will cost you ten shillings. It costs you nothing,
cost.
to save. That will save you a great deal of trouble, (save = avoid)
to envy. I envy you your fine garden.
Other examples: to call somebody names, to fine a person five shillings, to do some-
body wrong, an injustice.
2. The opposite of "to give" are verbs like to take from, borrow from, steal from,
hide from. The order of the two objects is free. E. g. He borrowed from me five shillings.

Can you explain this rule lo me? Can you explain to me the 328
working of this machine?
The painter Whistler once described to his friends how he had
to appear before a jury to give his opinion. The judge said

to him: "Can you explain to these gentlemen what art is?"

Whistler looked at the men and said: "No, my Lord.''

With some verbs the personal object is always preceded by to. The
order of the two objects is determined by rhythm. Such verbs
are:
(a) to explain to, describe to.

(b) to say to, suggest to, announce to, mention to, read to.

(c) prove to, mean to.

(d) to write to, send to. (These two verbs also after § 324.)

With the verbs to introduce to and to present to both objects may

be persons; e. g. / have great pleasure in introducing to you the
speaker of the evening.

Verb and prepositional object 329

He looked at me. I spoke to them. I agree to it. Ring for the
ivaiter, please. We sent for the doctor. Fm not interested in this.
He didnt approve of the plan. I insisted on my right. I rely
on your help. Listen to this story. He spoke of his work.
I congratulate you on passing the examincdion. He spends
all his money on books. That reminds me of a story. What
prevented you from coming?
The preposition is closely connected with the verb, as is explained
in § 167. The preposition must be learnt together with the verb!

Some verbs only govern a prepositional object (to look at),

others are followed by direct object and prepositional object
(to spend something on, to remind somebody of). Examples of
verbs with prepositional complements are given in Appendix B.
 — 136 —
330 Verb and object + object- complement

I. / thought him an honest man. People considered him a genius.

I took you for a gentleman. They looked upon him as their
leader.
I found the film quite good. I don't call this poetry.

In these sentences the object consists of two parts, which in

meaning are equivalent to a sentence: / thought (that) he was
an honest man. Verbs thus used denote some sort of judging
or calling.
Note the inconsistent use of as and for. Examples:
(a) to think, find, call, consider''-,
(h) to look upon as, to take for.
The complement may be a noun or an adjective (or participle)^.

II. There is the same pattern with a group of verbs meaning

choosing or making.
(a) to appoint, make, nominate, elect; proclaim, crown,
(h) to choose for (or as), to propose for (or as), to want for.

E. g. Churchill appointed General Ismay Liaison Officer between

himself and the General Staff. He chose Lord Beauerbrook for
Minister of Aircraft Production.
Note also the verb to prove oneself, e. g. He proved himself an
excellent scout.

III. other cases with object plus complement are e. g. / like my tea strong.
I never saw him so angry. Make the story a little shorter. See § 169.

331 The verbs mentioned in § 330 are frequently used in the pas-
sive. Examples:
Canterbury Cathedral is considered one of the finest examples
of English architecture.
Eisenhoiver was elected President of the United States in 1952.
Elizabeth was croivned Queen on June 2nd 1952.
Newton ivas made President of the Royal Society.
With to think and to find an infinitive construction is usual:
He was thought to be an honest man. It ivas foimd to be a false alarm.

332 Transitive and intransitive verbs (cf. §§ 165, 167)

It is a distinctive feature of English that many verbs are used
both transitively and intransitively. Examples:
^ To consider is also used with as.
^ Or an adverbial. I found him in great excitement.
 :

— 137 —
to change LeVs change the subject. Fashions change.
to move to move a stone. The stone moves.
to pass How can we pass the time? The time passed.
to stop Stop the thief! The train stopped.
to begin How do you begin a letter? The play begins at 8.
to beat to beat a dog, an enemy. His heart beat rapidly.
to drop Youve dropped something. A letter dropped from the bag.

Note. The case is different in suchi sentences as He plays the violin. He plays
well, or He spent five pounds. He spent liberally. In He plays well, he spent liberally,
the object (violin, money) is understood.

While in the examples given above, transitive and intransitive 333

use are equally frequent, there are other verbs where the one
or the other function is felt to be the original one: in (a) it is
the transitive use, in (b) the intransitive.
(a) to open to open a window, a book. The door opened.
to shut to shut a door, a box. This trunk wont shut,
to read to read a book. This translation reads well,
to break to break a window. Glass breaks easily,
to sell to sell newspapers. The book sold well.
In these last four examples (where the verb is intransitive) we draw attention
to some characteristic or quality of the thing.

(b) to grow Rice grows in India, to grow rice (= plant).

Japan, etc.
to run The train doesn't run on They ran three extra
Sundays. trains,
to stand The piano stands in the Stand the box against the
corner. wall.

The verb in its transitive function is mostly a causative verb

to grow rice = to make it possible for rice to grow.

Note. In a few cases there are pairs of verbs: one verb intransitive and strong,
the other verb transitive (causative) and weal<. Note in particular:
lielay lain. The book lay on the table. London lies on the Thames. Let sleeping dogs lie.

lay laid laid. The book is on the piano, I laid it there myself.
Note also mislay: I have mislaid the letter, I can't find it.
rise^rose risen. The sun rises in the east. We rose to our feet (= 'We stood up). The
temperature is rising. Prices have risen. He rose in the estimation of the world.
raise raised raised. He raised his head. We raised our rucksacks. We must try to
raise the standard of living.
There is a third verb: to rouse roused roused meaning "to stir from inactivity
or sleep": The slightest noise roused our dog.

Then there are the verbs to arise (arose arisen) and arouse (aroused aroused),
both used figuratively: A quarrel arose. This project aroused violent opposition.
10
 — 138 —
Reflexive verbs. (See § 274.)

334 1. We should see ourselves as others see us.

You work for yourselves, not for your teacher.

2. Churchill first distinguished himself in the Sudan.

Let us bear ourselves with dignity and fortitude.
He prided himself on his knowledge of men.
In these examples the predicate consists of verb + reflexive pro-
noun, but there is this difference:

In the first group the sense of the verb remains the same, no
matter whether the verb is followed by the reflexive pronoun
or some other object: you work for yourself — for the teacher.
In the second group verb + reflexive pronoun forms a sense-
unit. To distinguish means "to see clearly, to see the difference",
as in The twins were so alike that it was impossible to distinguish
the one from the other; to distinguish oneself means "to become
famous through a gallant deed or some other achievement".
Similarly to bear and to bear oneself are differentiated in mean-
ing. —
A few verbs, like to pride oneself, occur only as reflexive
verbs.

Note. Other European languages are rich in reflexive verbs of the second type;
most of them correspond to simple intransitive verbs or to to be -J- adjective in
English. Examples:
to remember, inquire, complain.
to lie down, sit down, spread, stretch.
to be glad, be afraid, be mistaken.

335 A special grotip are those verbs that can be used either with
a reflexive pronoun or intransitively. Examples: to wash oneself
or to wash, to dress oneself or to dress; similarly to hide, to prove,
to behave'^.

are more generally used without the pronouns. Occasionally

The verbs
there a slight difference in meaning, to behave oneself means "to show good
is
manners", e.g. Behave yourselves, children! to behave^ to act. Or: to prove is
always used without the pronoun when the subject is a thing: It proved a mistake.

^ To wash, dress, hide, prove are also ordinary transitive verbs, e. g. to wash
the dog, to dress a doll, to hide a book, to prove one's innocence.
 — 139 —
XXVI. Passive
Form. See § 99. 336
The group to be + participle II may designate a state or an
action. Compare:
When we arrived, the door was locked. I don't know when the
door was locked.
This book is well printed. A copy of every book that is printed
in England must be given to the library of the British
Museum.
The context mostly makes the meaning clear. To avoid ambi-
guity, English has two means:
1. to be is replaced by to get.

We were caught in a storm, or We got caught.

In the mass work your letter got overlooked.
of
Most learners would like to speak the foreign language like a
native; this is an ambition which seldom gets fulfilled.
2. The progressive form is used (only for present and past).
The book is being printed; it will be published in a fortnight.
The whole building shook as if it were being lifted off its
foundations.

Function and use

Compare the two sentences: 337
Active: A large crowd cheered him.
Passive: He was cheered by a large crowd.
The two sentences mean exactly the same thing. But in the
firstexample the interest is directed towards the crowd, in the
second example towards the hero; i. e. the difference is one of
perspective or point of view ^. How would you film the first sen-
tence, how the second ?

It follows that the passive is especially used

(a) when the agent (i.e. the person who does something) is not
known or is unimportant, or when his identity is evident from the
context;
The house was built in 1950. The Society was founded in 1924.
Hand luggageexamined
is at Dover, registered luggage at
Victoria Station, London.
~
This is to certify that ''Passport to Pimlico'' has been passed
by the Censor for universal exhibition.
1 The terms "active" and "passive" are unfortunate and rather misleading.
 — 140 —
(b) when the passive corresponds to active sentences with
people, one, somebody, nobody^.
This story will soon be forgotten. (= People will forget.)
isn't done in good society. (= One doesn't do that.)
That
This question cannot be answered. (= Nobody can answer it.)
A very great number of passive constructions are of this kind.
The passive is also usual when the "doer" is not a person:
The house was struck by lightning. He was run over by a car. The
Englishman is governed by the weather in his soul (Santayana).

338 In chapter 25 a distinction was made between verbs with one

object, verbs with two objects, and verbs with prepositional
object. All three types allow of passive constructions:

Verb with one object.

America was discovered by Columbus. It was explored by a
man called Amerigo Vespucci. Only one country was named
after Columbus. The first English colony was founded by Sir
Walter Raleigh. Raleigh is remembered, too, as a poet.
The verb in the passive is a transitive verb. Note the use of the
preposition by.
For passive of verbs with object and complement see § 331,
for passive infinitive § 387.

339 Verb with two objects.

Active: The King gave Raleigh permission to sail to America.
Passive: 1.Permission was given to Raleigh to sail to America
(by the king).
2. Raleigh was given permission to sail to America.
Active: A friend told me this story.
Passive: 1. This story was told (to) me by a friend.
2. I was told this story by a friend.

Certain of the verbs with two objects allow of two passive con-
structions.The possibility of making the indirect object ("da-
tive") the subject is unknown in the other Germanic languages
and in Latin, but this personal construction is ver^^ frequent in
English. Further examples:
/ was given a room on the fifth floor. I was shown everything.
He was offered a post in Canada. He was promised a higher
salary.

^ In many other languages this is often expressed by means of reflexive verbs.

 — 141 —
Note. This construction is due to tlie disappearence of the formal distinction
between dative and accusative. (J.) Another inducement was no doubt analogy.
The King gave him the permission = the King allowed him. If the latter phrase can
be turned into the passive, why not the former? —
A further reason may be that
English has a preference for personal constructions. (Cf. §§ 407, 408.)

Verbs with prepositional object. 340

We sent for the doctor. The doctor was sent for.
Everybody laughed at him. He was laughed at by everybody.
Also many verbs with a prepositional object may be used in
the passive. Further examples:
The Englishman will not be interfered with; he will not be
preached to or shouted at. Don't speak until you're spoken to.

This matter will be attended to. Our plan was approved of.
The mcdter is being dealt with. A compromise was aimed cd.

Even whole phrases may appear in the passive, boldly defying

any analysis.Examples:
to lose sight of The ship was lost sight of.
to take notice of He was taken no notice of.
to find fault with Nobody likes being found fault with.

The learner had better not experiment with this sentence pat-
tern, as it can only be applied to certain phrases.

Note. Also the passive construction discussed in this paragraph may be due to
analogy. Often a verb +
prepositional object is equivalent to a transitive verb:
We sent for the doctor. We fetched the doctor.
Everybody laughed at him. Everybody mocked him.
He approved of our plan. He accepted our plan.
As we can say the doctor was fetched, the plan was accepted, why not also say The
doctor was sent for, the plan was approved of? This extension of the passive was
facilitated by the fact that preposition and noun part company in other cases,
too. (§§ 125, 249.)

XXVII. Possibility, Volition, Necessity

An event or condition may be stated as a fact, or else as something that is pos- o41
sible, necessary or demanded, or desired.
The English language has the following means of expressing these functions.
1. Verbs, expressing possibility, demand etc., such as / think, suppose, fear, it is
possible, I want, wish; or adverbs such as probably, possibly.
2. The auxiliaries can, may, must, will, shall, ought.
3. The imperative.
4. The conditional.
5. The subjunctive.
This chapter figures in most grammars under the heading of Mood, but the
term is rather unfortunate and may even be misleading. The word has nothing to
do with "mood" ^
disposition of mind, but was originally the same as "mode",
meaning manner. The term modal auxiliaries is not very good either, but is
of some use to distinguish can etc. from other auxiliaries.
 •

— 142 —
I, The Modal Auxiliaries
342 These auxiliaries are not complete. They lack both infinitive
and participles, and therefore also future, perfect and pluperfect.
Only can has a preterit that is used freely. For the missing tenses
other verbs must be used; these substitute verbs also occur in
the present tense.

Present Past Conditional Substitute

I can I could I could I am able

I may I might I might I am allowed 1
I must I must — I have to
I wiU I would I would I want, wish
I mean, try
I am going to
I hke
I shall — I should I am to
I am obhged
— — I ought to

Here are two examples of auxiliaries and their substitutes.

Present he can't come. I must ask, or: / have to ask.
Past he couldnt come. I had to ask.
Perfect he hasn't been able to come. I have had to ask.
Future he won't be able to come. I shall have to ask.
Condit. he couldn't come. J should have to ask.

343 Notes.
1. Shall/should and will/would are used in two ways:
(a) as pure form-words to make up, together witli tlae infinitive of the main
verb, the future and conditional tenses: / shall do it next week. It will be dark soon.
(§§ 89, 91.)
(b) in their original function: to denote obligation and volition, e. g. / will try.
(§§ 354, 365.)
2.Some remarks on the Past and Conditional tenses.
Past tense. Might and must occur mainly in reported speech (§ 309). On would
see § 356.
Conditional^. These forms also occur in ;7-clauses (§ 443), e. g. If we could get
a taxi, we should get there in time. —
Ought is an isolated form.
•

^ To be is a substitute of may only when permission is expressed (§ 352).

allowed
- Must used as a conditional in very exceptional cases, e. g. But for the warning
is
(i. e. if he had not been warned), he must have died. Tlicy knew well enough what
direction the discussion must take if it went on.
 — 143 —
These auxiliaries are always followed by an infinitive (or the 344
infinitive is understood).They may also be combined with the
past infinitive. Note in particular the conditionals I and II:
/ could help you. I could have helped you.
It might be true. It might have been true.
You should write at once. You should have written.
I ought to know that. I ought to have known that.
The pronunciation is [ai kud 9V helpt ju:, it mait 9v bi:n tru:]
/ could help you refers to the present or to the future, / could
have helped you to the past (and expresses non-fulfilment). Simi-
larly you should write, you should hcwe written.

Note. When can, may, must are combined with the past infinitive, they express
that an event in the past is considered as impossible, possible, or certain now, at
the present moment. Examples: He can't have meant it. (= It is not possible that
he meant it.) // may have been true. You must have lost it.

PossibiKty
The term "possibility" is here taken in its widest sense, to
include ability and permission. The auxiliaries are ccm and may,
which overlap in their usage.
For the use of may /might in subordinate clauses see
§§ 432-436.

Ability

(a) A can climb, a dog cannot (can't ) climb. He can run the
cat 345
100 yards in 10 seconds. She can speak five languages.
I can still see him. (I have good eyes.)
/ couldn't do my homework. (It was too difficult.)
(b) I can be here at 3 o'clock. We
can start in half cm hour.
Ccm you tell me Ccm you lend me a shilling?
the time, please?
I can see very well. (In the theatre: =
It's a good seat.)
/ couldn't do my homework. (I hadn't my books with me.)
These examples express
(a) physical or mental ability (strength, skill, intelli-
gence, talent; power).
(b) ability or possibility to do something owing to
favourable circumstances.
The auxiliary is can/could. Pronunciation [ai kn du: it]. Note
that could is either past tense (I could not find my key, so I was
late) or conditional (I could not do it even if I tried).
Note. I think I could do it. (= I think I can do it.) / could be here at three o'clock.
Occasionally could is used instead of can to make a statement more guarded.
 — 144 —
346 / haven i to do my homework. I
been able am afraid I shan't
be able to do I was so glad you were able
it. to come. I was quite
unable to remember anything.
The substitute verb to be able must, of course, be used for per-
fect, pluperfect and future. It also occurs quite frequently in the
present and in the past. Negative : I am not able or I am unable.

Often it is better to use I was able instead of / could (because could may be past
or conditional). When the meaning is " I tried and succeeded after overcoming
difficulties" only I was able is used, or else verbs like to manage (to do something)
or to succeed (in doing something). E. g. At last I was able to persuade him (= I
managed to persuade him).

^
Possibility

347 There are various shades of meaning. We may distinguish two

main groups.
(a) There's a belland a knocker; you may ring or knock. You
may say ''Thanks" or " Thcmk you". We may write "in-
quiry" or "enquiry".
You may learn to drive a car in a week. He may become a
rich man. This may happen to anyone.
(b) Why isn't Tom here? — He may be late, he may have missed
the train. He may be here any minute.
He may be 20 years old. (Past: He was perhaps 20 years old.)
You may be right.
The meaning is:

(a) Possibility in the sense that we are free to do something,

in particular have the free choice between two or more alter-
natives, or that something is within reach of our power (or the
power of fate). The auxiliary is mostly may, in spoken English
often can 2.
(b) Possibility in the sense of "perhaps", "it is pos-
sible, but uncertain". The auxiliary is may. May also —
denotes concession, e.g. // may be late, but it isn't too late.

Note. //might be worth trying. (= It may. .) // might be a good

.

idea. In Sp. E. might often stands for may to express a more remote possi-
bility.

^ Probability is expressed in various ways: It is probable that he knows it. He

is likely to know it. He must know it (§ 363). He ought to be here soon (§ 36(3). You
will have heard the news (§ 298).
^ May
and can are used almost indiscriminately in cases like Information may
(or can) be obtained from the Secretary. You may (or can) get this at the grocer's. We
may discuss this later. The auxiliary denotes that something is possible in accordance
with some arrangement, local custom, the nature of things, etc.
 :

— 145 —
. Negation. The auxiliary is can. 348
(a) You may lead a to the water, but you cannot make it
horse
You cant
drink. your cake and have it.
eat
I prefer a fire-place to central heating; you may (or ccm) sit
round a fire, you can't sit round a radicdor.
(h) He can't he right. He can't be so old. He cant have missed the
train.

There is in group (b) of course this distinction:

He may not be right. (It is possible that he isn't right.)
He can't be right. (It isn't possible that he is right.)

Further example for the former case:

The Englishman is made for a time of crisis. He is serene in
difficulties, but may seem to be indifferent when times are easy.
He may not look ahead, he may not heed warnings, he may
not prepare, but when he once starts, he is persistent to the
death. (Baldwin.)
Also in questions the auxiliary is mostly can, especially in
group (bj, e. g. Can this be true? Ccm he be so old?

How is possibility expressed when we refer to the ]^ast'! Might 349

(as past tense) occurs in reported speech, e. g. He said he might
not be back before dinner, but rarely otherwise ^.

(a) To express free choice we use could, e. g. We could have

tea or coffee.

(b) To express uncertainty in the past and perfect, there

are two means 2:
1. may + past infinitive. He may have missed the train. I
may have been wrong.
2. "perhaps", or "possibly". Perhaps he has missed the
train.Perhaps I was wrong.

Further functions of can and may. 350

Ability, possibility, permission, suggestion, request there is a —
gradual transition from the one to the other. Rules can only fix the
main types, they are not exhaustive. Note these further uses of the
auxiliaries

1 Example for might as past tense: The Public Schools in the 19th century were

rough, undisciplined societies, in which a boy might learn to stand up for himself.
2 "I may have been wrong" stresses the fact that I am viewing a past event

from the present moment (§ 344).

Then there is the "past of irreality": We might have missed the train. (= There
was the possibility, but we did not miss the train.) Here might is the conditional.
 :

— 146 —
1. Could you lend a shilling? (= Can or will you lend me a sh. ?)
me
Oh James, when you go out, could you take my book back to the library,
and could you get me some writing-paper?
2. You might help me, Jack. We might ask him.
He might at least have written a postcard.
Could expresses a polite request (mostly in questions). Might, too, ex-
presses a request (often coupled with a reproach) or a suggestion.

351 Other means of expressing possibility or impossibility:

1. Is it still had? = Can it still be had ? (§ 369.)
to be
// wasn't had for love or money. It was not to be found.
to be

2. I had nobody to talk to. = I had nobody to whom I might

have talked. (§ 387.)

352 Permission
You may (or can) keep the book. May (can) I ask you some-
thing? May I use your telephone?
Can and may are used to denote permission,with this difference
can means "there is no objection", may means "the permission
is explicitly given i".

For the past, perfect and future tenses to be allowed, to be

permitted are used. Examples:
When I was young, we weren't cdlowed to play tennis on a
Sunday. We weren't allowed to read ''worldly" books, or to
play gay music.

353 Negation :

(a) We may not keep the books longer than four weeks. -

In those days, boys were not allowed to smoke.

(b) In English parks you may walk on the grass, you nmy lie
down, you may play, games, but you must not pick flowers,
of course, you must not leave litter lying about, you must not
be noisy. (In a castle: attendant to visitors) You must not
take your cameras with you. You must not smoke. You must
not touch anything, (or You mustn't take your cameras etc.)
I may
not means: the permission is not given. I must not
(§ 364) means "it is not done, it is against the rule, or good
manners". The pronunciation of nnisin't is [niAsnt].
Must not may also denote exhortation: We mustn't stay loo
long. We mustn't miss the train (— we must catch the train).

^ You can go now. You can pass me the salt. These examples are in form a per-
mission, in meaning a casual request.
 — 147 —
Volition (Will or inclination)
will/would
Historical note: It is a natural consequence of the notion of volition that it o54
generally refers to what is to happen in the future. Hence the auxiliary will came
to be used extensively first as a volition-coloured future, and finally as a future
without any trace of volition. In the course of time the original meaning of will
was weakened, and now we mostly have to use other verbs to express real voli-
tion. (J.)

will frequently occurs:

(a) in the first person meaning "I am willing to do it and
I shall do it".
/ will let you know soon. All right, we will do it. Please lend
me your dictionary; I will bring it back to-morrow.
(b) in the second person interrogative:
Will you have tea or coffee? Will you come for a walk this
afternoon ?

Very often these questions are really polite requests or invita-

tions, e. g. Will you give me your name, please? Will you shut the

window? —
Similarly in conditional clauses: We shall be very
glad if you will come and hcwe tea with us.

Because will no longer expresses wish, intention, etc. clearly,

the auxiliary is replaced by the substitute verbs even in the
present tense. (§ 357.)

Notes. 355
1. Will denotes real volition:
(a) when pronounced strongly, to denote determination (or obstinacy): We
warned him, but he will go. If you won't do it, then I will.
(b) often when negative: He won't listen to us. He won't do what we tell him.
(c) in clauses of indifference, Do what you
e. g. Come when you
will. will, though
Do what you like, Come when you like are now the more common expressions.
2.Sentences like You will go at once. You will report at Headquarters at 5 p. m.
are really requests or orders. (Cf. § 298.)
3. Also things are occasionally considered as having a will of their own, hence we
find sentences such as The door won't open. It won't work. (Cf. § 333 a.)

would is past tense and conditional. 356

1. As a past tense would is rare in positive statements, and

should never be used by learners i. (Take zi^an/, zff's/z, etc.)

The negative form ivould not occurs more frequently, e. g. / asked
him to come, but he wouldn't give a definite promise. You disliked
me, because I would not flatter you.

^ When would occurs in affirmative statements, it suggests determination or

persistence § 355,1a): / warned him, but he would
(cf. go.
 :

— 148 —
2. Would as a conditional is fairly frequent. It occurs chiefly
like will (§ 354)
(a) in the first person. / would = I should like to.
/ would ask you to do me a favour.
(h) in the second person interrogative
Would you tell me the way to the station, please? (a more po-
lite and more modest request than Wf/Z you show me the way.)

(c) in {/-clauses, where it expresses willingness:

He could do good work, if he would take the trouble.

I should be grateful if you would help me with this letter.

Also after the verb / wish (§ 377): / wish he would listen to me.
Will/would have also the function of expressing something
that is typical or characteristic. See § 313.

357 The substitute verbs are numerous and express various shades
of meaning.
1. to want, wish. These are the most widely used verbs to

replace will.
I want to make an inquiry: I want to go to Edinburgh, but
I dont want to travel by night.
I don't want to talk about it. I dont wish to disturb you.
What did you do last night? — / wanted to stay at home and
Jane wanted
read, to go out and see a show — so we com-
promised by going to our neighbours' who have got a T. V.
set.

2. to mean, to be going express intention.

/ meant to write to you, but I hadn't your address.
I didn't mean hurt you.
to
Why did he do that? going Fm to find out. (See § 301.)

be about, to be going express intention to do something

3. to
immediately.
/ was going to write to you, when I got your letter.
We were about to go out, when somebody called.
4. to be willing (= to be ready or eager to do something).
/ am willing to share in the costs.

5. to hke. This verb is mostly used in subordinate clauses.

You can ring me up, if you like. Come as often as you like.
Do what you like.

to try is used in the sense of " I wanted to do something, I started to do it, but
was not successful", e. g. / tried io catch the bus, but was too late.
 — 149 —
Note. You want is also found in sentences giving instructions or advice (being
equivalent to an imperative). E-. g. Can you tell me the way to the station? You want
to take the first turning to the left.

want used with nouns denotes "I require, I will have", e. g. What do you want?
I
Do you want anything? I want the newspaper. (In shops) / want a book on London,
I want a writing-pad. —
In the sense of "require", to want may also be followed
by the gerund, e. g. This car wants oiling (instead of This car needs oiling).

Negation is expressed (apart from wont and ivoiildiit) either 358

by / dont want, I dont wish, etc., or often by the verb to refuse :
He refused to give in. He refused to share in the costs.

Other verbs and expressions indicating will or inclination: 359

I should like (Synonyms: I want, I would).
/ should like to go to England. What ivould you like to do?
(I would like is quite usual also in British English.)

I would rather 1, short form: I'd rather (=1 prefer).

rd rather stay at home. Would you rather not go out?
Shall we —
Let's... (§ 365).
What shall we do this afternoon? Let's (= let us) go for a walk.
Shall we go to the theatre? Yes, leVs. (= Let us go.)
See also § 377,2.

— Obhgation, Necessity
must 360
The most common verb to express obligation or necessity is

must, with the substitute verb to have to 2.

We must take a taxi, if we want to catch the train.

We must be ready by 8 o'clock. You must work harder.
Examples in other tenses: We had to take a taxi. We shall have
to start early. — Pronunciation: / must be ready [ai mast bi
'redi]. .

The opposite of / must is I need not ( = there is no obligation). 361

You need not (neednt) be ready before 9. We needn't take a
taxi, there's plenty of time. He needn't come if he doesn't
want to.

Note that need not is followed by the "plain infinitive" (no to).

^ Also / had rather, I would sooner, I had sooner.

2You must stay another day. You must come and see us. The sentences are
equivalent to an urgent request. The opposite is must not, e. g. You must see this
film, you must not miss it.
 — 150 —
Notes.
1. Need also used in sentences that contain negative adverbs like hardly,
is
scarcely, I need hardly tell you that.
e. g.
In questions the sense is sometimes "is it necessary that. .", e. g. Need you go.

so early? Need you make such a noise? (We can also say: Must you go so early, must
you make such a noise?)
2. Need is conditional in sentences like: You needn't have done it. You needn't
have worried. You needn't have said anything. (= It wouldn't have been necessary
to do it, etc.). Need has this function only when followed by the past infinitive.
3. Need is also a full verb, fully conjugated
(a) used with noun = to require, want. We need rain. I need a good dictionary.
This car needs oiling (= itought to be oiled).
(b) negative with infinitive = it
is not necessary, it is superfluous. He doesn't need

to be told that. (= He knows already.) / don't need to consider the suggestion, my

it
mind is made up. {He needn't be ^oM would mean "there is no obligation to tell him".)

362 The substitute verb to have, to have got frequently occurs in

the present tense. As is pointed out in § 138, usage is not fixed
either in the case of the forms / havejFve got or in that of the
use of to do in question and negation. Thus we may say in col-
loquial Enghsh (cf. § 141):
/ must go I needn't go
I have to go I haven't to go, or / don't have to go
Fve got to go (I haven't got to go)
In the other tenses matters are simple: / had to go, I have had
to go,I shall have to go, etc. / hadn't to go (or / didn't have to go),
I shan't have to go, etc.
Note. I must and / have are not always interchangeable.
We use must when we impose an obligation on ourselves or on others, e. g.
/ must go now =
I have decided to go. You must speak more clearly (said by teacher
to student).
W^e use have when the obligation is imposed by a third person, or when we
have to comply with an arrangement, with circumstances, necessity, etc. E. g.
/ have to go now == There is no more time at my disposal.
Habitual obligation is almost always thought of as something imposed by cir-
cumstances, rules, etc.; hence the use of have for this. (W.)

Other substitute verbs are: to be obUged, to be forced, to be

bound to do something. These belong to a more formal language.

363 Must has a different function in the following examples:

This must be yoiw book, it has your initials. You nnist knoiv
that. He must be mad.
Here must means probability, or logical conclusion (or logical
necessity). In this function, must is frequently followed by the
past infinitive, e. g. He must have knoivn that. (=1 am sure that
he knew that.) He must have misunderstood me. The opposite —
of He must knoiv that is He can't know that.
 — 151 —
I mustWhereas / need not means "there is no obligation ", 364
not.
I must not means "there is the obhgation not to do something".
E. g. You must come before ten o'clock.
You need not come before ten. (= You may come if you hke.)
You must not come before ten. (= Don't come before.)
See §§ 353 and 360 footnote. Further examples: You must not
ask any questions. You must not stay longer than half an hour.
More emphatic than / must not is I am not, e. g. You are not
to touch anything. In the past only / was not is possible, of course.
E. g. When I went to see my friend in hospital, I was told by the
nurse that I wasnt to ask cmy questions, that I wasnt to stay longer
than half an hour, etc. See § 369.

shaU 365
1. The original meaning of shall was obligation or duty, e. g.

the command in the Bible: Thou shall love thy neighbour. Thou
shall not kill. In this sense shall is no longer much used nowadays,
except in questions:
Shcdl I open the window? Shcdl I look up the address for you?
Shall the boy wait?
Note that shall I /shall we? often does not express obhgation,
but equivalent to an offer of service. (Shall I open the window?
is
= Do you want me to open the window?)
Then there is the idiom shcdl we?, e. g. What shall we do? Shall
we go to the theatre? in sentences where arrangements are dis-
cussed. (Answer: Yes, leVs go.)

In literary Enghsh shall occurs in subordinate clauses (§§ 433

to 437) and in legal style, club rules, etc.; e. g. The cmnucd sub-
scription shall be one pound. Members shall not introduce more than
three guests.

2. Very often shcdl expresses promise or threat (in second

and 3rd person) ^:

This is a dull letter; the next shcdl be more amusing.

You shall hear from me soon. It shcdl be done.
Since you force me to use plcdn words, you shall hcwe them.
You shant have another penny!
^ You shan't, he shan't means an assurance that so far as it depends on the
speaker, the other person will not succeed in doing this or that. (J.)
In archaic English shall is used in a "prophetic future", e. g. And nation shall
rise against nation. (Bible.)
 — 152 —
should, ought to
366 1. You should work harder. You ought to know this word.
You should go and see a doctor.
2. There ought to be a letter for me. With his intelligence he ought
topass the examination easily. There ought to be a good
harvest.
Should, ought to denote
1. obligation (moral necessity or duty); something that is
desirable or advisable.
2. probability, something that is expected^.
There is little or no difference between ought to and should, except that ought
to is the more emphatic auxiliary.

367 Should and oughtwith past infinitive are frequent. / should

do it refers to the present and future I should have done it refers
;

to the past and implies non-fulfilment. Examples:

IVs uncle's birthday; I ought to have written to him or sent a
wire.He should have been more careful. He oughtn't to have
made such a fuss.
There, we've lost the way; we should have asked somebody. We
should have taken a map with us. We ought to have taken the
other road. We shouldn't have started so late.

should in subordinate clauses: see §§ 433-438.

3g8 A synonymous expression to I should is I had better.

You had better stay at home to-day. You had better not go out.
You had better see a doctor. —
It's late, we had better stop now.
You'd better not listen to him. You'd better be careful.
Note the plain infinitive. Short form: I'd better. (Cf. § 173.)

369 to *»e to
The pattern to be + infinitive (I am to do it; it is to be done)
has various functions, which shade off into one another.
1. (a) The plan was: The boys were to meet at midnight, they
were to run three times round the Cathedral and then run

home again. (Walpole, Jeremy and Hamlet.)

When is the garden party to be? Who is to be invited?
I was to have £ 50 on the publication of the book.
^ Similarly in rhetorical questions expressing surprise or indignation. E. g.
Why should you be worried about it? Why sliould I be sorry? (only should!)
 — 153 —
(b) The headmaster says you are to come at once.
Albert, you are not to do it, I tell you, you are not!!
The doctor was very strict in his orders: I was not to smoke,
I was to go to bed early, I was not to go to the pictures, etc.

(c) What is to become of me? What am I to do? Where am I

to go? How was I to know that?
To be + active infinitive (rarely passive inf.) expresses ^

(a) arrangement or plan;

(b) strict command,
often orders of a third person (A trans-
mits to B a wish or command of C); in the negative: emphatic
prohibition (§ 364);
(c) obligation arising from circumstances, destiny. This
is especially frequent in questions.
Note also the use in conditional clauses // we are to catch the :

train,we had better hurry. If our friendship is to continue, you

must be more punctual. A diplomatist, if he is to be successful,
must be accurate, truthful, and patient.

2. (a) That was to be expected. He was nowhere to be found.

It wasn't to be had for love or money,
(b) This mystery is still to be solved.
This book is still to be written.
To be + passive infinitive^ is equivalent to expressions with
can or must, e. g. We couldnt get it at any price. This mystery
must still be solved.

3. / was not to see him again. Worse was to come.

This was to be a turning point in my life.

I was + infinitive may mean a prediction from a point of

the past. (Cf. 1 c.)

There is also the pattern I was to have done it, e. g. We were to have met at 6 o'clock ohuH
(but my friends missed the train). I was to have had £ 50 (but I never got it).
We were to have gone abroad. There was to have been a special train. The meaning —
is: something was arranged, but there was some hitch or obstacle and the plan
was not carried out.
The same idea might be expressed differently: We had arranged to meet at
6 o'clock. I had been promised £ 50. We had planned to go abroad.

1 The idea underlying all these examples is determination, i. e. what has

been determined by arrangement, plan, or agreement, by instruction, or by cir-

cumstances. (W.)
^ Active infinitive in the idioms House to let, He is to blame, That is easy to

understand and similar expressions.

11
 — 154 —
370 to need, to dare
These two verbs are either full verbs or function as auxiliary verbs, sharing all
the characteristics of can, may, etc. (followed by plain infinitive, question and
negation without do, no ending in present tense), to need has been dealt with in
§ 361 here are some examples for to dare.
;

(a) full verb. The meaning is 1. to risk, have the courage, 2. to challenge.
/ didn't dare tolook down. I shouldn't dare to do again. I dare you
it to deny the truth
of what I have said.
(b) auxiliary, used chiefly in question and negation. Dare you jump down
from here? Dare you ask him? I daren't think of it. Note the idioms / daresay (written
in one word), meaning "very likely". How dare you!, meaning "how can you be
so impudent", e.g. How dare you come here!

II. Imperative, Conditional, Subjunctive

371 Imperative
1. Get out of here. Leave me alone. Shut the door.
Be careful! Don't stay up too long. Don't be so impatient!
Help yourself. Come and see us some time.
The imperative expresses a request, which according to the cir-
cumstances may be a command, warning or advice, or an invita-
tion. The use of the exclamation-mark is not fixed ^.

2. The simple imperatives Take it, Help yourself, Come, may

be emphasised in the following ways:
(a) Do take some more tea. Do help yourself.
Do let me try. Do be sensible.
Use of to do (§ 120) expresses an urgent request or appeal.
(b) You leave that alone. you say. You be careful luhat
Don't you touch it.
You added to the imperative makes it a strict order, often with
the undertone of "or you'll be sorry", or an urgent plea.
3. In polite society, a command is mostly accompanied by
please. Another way of turning a command into a polite request
is the addition of will you:
Sliut tlie door, will you? Ring me up, will you?

372 The means of expressing a request are numerous. Here

are some patterns, in a rising scale of politeness:

Shut the door. Shut the door, please. Sliut tlie door, ivill you?
Will you shut the door, please? Would you slnd the door, pL?
Do you mind sliutting the door (please) ?
Would you mind shutting tlie door (please) ?
^ The general rule is to use it only to indicate that the words are uttered in an
exclamatory tone.
 — 155 —
Advice may be given in the following terms, apart from the
imperative : You had better go and see a doctor. (§ 368.) You should
smoke less. (§ 366.) Why dont you take some lessons? (§ 134.)

Let him come himself. Let him speak for himself. 373
Lefs go to tlie pictures. LeVs go for a wcdk.
Let is used in exhortations directed either to a person that is
absent, or to a group of persons including the speaker. (§ 359.)

To express prohibition, there exist the following patterns: 374

Dont do it. Don't listen to him. (Command or advice.)
You mustn't do it. You mustn't smoke here. (§ 353.)
You're not to do it. You're not to talk to him. (Strict order.)
Then there are the public notices where something is forbid-
den. The words "forbidden "and "prohibited "themselves are not
popular in England, and the idea is often expressed differently:
No Smoking. No Entrance. No Admittance.
Don't cross the lines. Don't lean out of the window.
Keep off the grass. Private (= keep out!)

Conditional 375
The conditional is not a tense, though for practical reasons

it is such in the table of conjugation on p. 35. Con-

listed as
ditional I refers to the present or future, conditional II to
the past, from the point of view of the speaker. (It
might be called a relative tense.)
The Conditional is used
1. in the main clause of a conditional sentence: / should write
to him if I had his address. (§ 443.) The condition may be under-
stood or expressed in some other way than a clause, e. g. What
would you do in my place? Would you buy the car?
2. in reported speech, e. g. He said he would come. (§ 306.)

3. The conditional is also found in certain idioms:

/ should like, I shouldn' /I'A'e t are the usual expressions
of inclination or disinclination: / should like to see the film. Would
you like to have another cup of tea?
I should say, I should think, it would seem, intro-
ducing a sentence, make the statement sound modest, diffident, or
casual. How many people were there? I should say about 300.
 : : :

— 156 —
Subjunctive. See § 100.

376 Of Subjunctive I there is nothing left inspoken English except

a few set phrases, e. g. God bless you. Heaven help you. God save
the Queen. In older English and in the formal English of our own
day (especially legal English), the subjunctive occurs

(a) after such verbs as to propose, suggest, move, demand,

i. e. in subordinate clauses expressing a wish, suggestion, etc.
/ move that this passage be struck out.
(b) in subordinate clauses expressing a purpose: Judge not
that ye be not judged.

(c) in if-clauses (§ 442): // this be jolly, yet there is some method

in it. (Hamlet.)

377 Subjunctive II, as mentioned in § 100, has become identical

in form with the preterit. So we may say that the preterit form
has a double function
(a) it is the past tense, denoting something real.
something un-
(b) it is a "relative present tense", denoting
real, not a fact, but something imagined, desired, etc. It only
i. e.

occurs in subordinate clauses, and the term "relative present

tense" means that it refers to the time indicated in the main-
clause. —
There is also a "relative past tense", in form identical
with the pluperfect.

The Subjunctive II is used in the following ways:

1. in if-clauses (§ 443), e. g. // / had his address, I should write
to him. Ij I had had his address, I should have written.

2. after I wish, I had rather ^, and it is time.

/ wish I knew him, I wish I had known him.
I had rather you didn't smoke.
IVs time we started. It is time something were done about it.

3. in subordinate clauses, especially clauses dependent on a

verb in the conditional, where something is imagined
What would you do ij you had plenty oj money? / should —
study the things I wanted to, no matter whether they were
usejul or not; I should travel until I had seen the whole
world, and I should live in a house that had a big garden
and a view oj the sea.
Would you marry somebody who had no sense of humour?
^ I wish he would come soon. Conditional in tlie subordinate clause if the re-
ference is to the future.
 — 157 —
In i7-clauses (1), and after I wish, etc. (2), written English has
the forms I were, he were, i. e. the old subjunctive forms. In
spoken English both / were/ he were, and / was /he was are heard,
the latter forms being the more common, e. g. IVs time Baby was
in bed. In subordinate clauses after the conditional (3) both
Wr. E, and Sp. E. have / was/he was, e. g. He would never do
a thing that was dishonest.

XXVIII. Infinitive, Participle, Gerund

Infinitive and gerund were originally verbal nouns. While keeping certain o7o
functions of the noun (they may be the subject or the object of a sentence), they
gradually adopted certain characteristics of the verb: governing an object, being
qualified by an adverb, and possessing perfect and passive forms. So being "double-
faced", i. e. having something of the nature of the verb and something of the nature
of the noun, they are most flexible elements, and the student should note in parti-
cular with what ease a clumsy subordinate clause can be replaced by an infinitive
or gerund construction. —
- Similarly the participle shares characteristics of the

verb and the adjective.

Infinitive, gerund, and participle overlap in their functions, and here more than
in any other chapter does the classification present considerable difficulties.

A. Infinitive
A better name than "infinitive" would be call-form, since 379
it is used to name the verb, e. g. in dictionaries.
The infinitive occurs with and without the particle to^: to
speak, speak. The latter form is termed plain infinitive.
The plain infinitive is used with certain auxiliaries (§ 383),
often as call-form (§ 382), and in certain object constructions
(§§ 404, 406, 409). Otherwise the infinitive is preceded by to.

There are special infinitive forms to express perfect (or 380

anterior) action and the passive :

active to call to have called

passive to be called to have been called
Note the negative forms not to call, not to have called, etc..

Examples: You should return the book. You should have re-
turned the book. The book ought to have been returned long ago.
You promised not to keep us waiting. I warned you not to touch it.
I am sorry not to have come earlier.

^ This was originally the ordinary preposition indicating direction or purpose,

as is apparent from examples like/ came to warn you, I did it to save time. In most
cases, however, the original meaning is completely lost, and to is an empty form-
word.
 ;

— 158 —
Note. The infinitive, as lias been explained in § 378, was originally a verbal noun,
invariable in form, although the meaning might be active or passive. This usage of
a "neutral infinitive" is still preserved in a few cases, e. g. He is to blame. House to
let, There is no time to lose (where passive infinitive would be correct, too), fre-

quently when the infinitive is adjunct to a noun. See § .387.

But on the whole, English is stricter in the use of the passive infinitive than
other European languages, as is shown in § 369, 2 and § 418.

381 You need not do it if you don't want to.

I asked him to go to the pictures, hut he has no mind to.
Won't you both come and dine with us? We should love to. —
Fm afraid I cant come to-morrow. —
But you promised to.
We'd better take an umbrella. —
Oh, is there any need to?
In these examples the to at the end of a sentence refers to an
infinitive or infinitive clause whose repetition one wishes to
avoid. This to is frequent after verbs (or nouns) expressing desire,
hope, intention, determination.

Functions
382 The infinitive is call-form
Examples: What are the meanings of ''to get"? or What are the
meanings of "get"? — The three forms of ''to rise" are "rise, rose,
risen".

Further usage:
in rhethorical questions (plain infinitive).
Why stop here? (= Let's go on!)
What, go and apologise? Nevtr!
Why not try again? {= Come on, try once more!)
In the first two examples a possible action is rejected as absurd
in the last example, on the contrary, a suggestion is made to do
something (negative infinitive!).

in exclamations or reflections (/o-infinitive).

Oh, to be in England, now that April's there. (Browning.)
To be or not to be — that is the question. (Hamlet.)

383 Here may also be mentioned the verbal groups auxiliary +

infinitive :

Plain infinitive after to do (§ 136), after can, may, must,

shall, will(^ 344), also after / had better, I had rather (§§ 368, 359).

Infinitive with to after to have (§ 141), to be (§ 369), ought

(§342), / used (§ 290). —
Also such verbs as to fail (§135,3),
to happen, to begin, to cease (§ 311) are in their function auxi-
liaries.
 — 159 —
The infinitive expresses purpose or result
Purpose. 384
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to
bury Caesar, not to praise him. (Shakespeare.)
We got up early to see the sun-rise. (= so that we might see.)
For the sake of emphasis (or rhythm) simple to may be replaced
byso as to, in order to. In spoken English so as to is the more
common of the two.
/ will repeat it, so as to make it quite clear.
or: in order to make it quite clear.
We had to take a taxi, so as not to be late.

or: in order not to be late.

Result or consequence. 385

/ needed only a few words to convince him.
or: in order to convince him.
Result may be expressed in the same way as purpose.

Note the following two idiomatic constructions:

(a) We were so lucky as to get two corner seats.
We were lucky enough to get two corner seats.
Would you be so kind as to tell me the time?
Would you be kind enough to help me with my luggage?
(b) This story istoo good to be true. It is too late to start now.
You are too young to understand this. The weather was too hot
to go out.

Note. He threw back his head as if to say "/ don't care" (= as if he wished to
say), as if + infinitive express apparent intention.

Further functions of the infinitive

The infinitive with to may have all the functions of a noun 386
in the sentence: subject, object, adjunct to noun and adjective;
frequently it stands in rivalry with the gerund. See §§394-403.

Frequently the infinitive phrase is equivalent to a subor-

dinate clause.
Infinitive instead of an indirect question or
command.
/ dont knoiv where to begin. Tell us what to do. (§ 131.)
/ told him to come early. I told him ivhere to look. (§ 308.)
 — 160 —
387 Infinitive as equivalent to a relative clause.
The infinitive may be adjunct to a noun. Often the infinitive
stands in competition with the gerund, which is discussed in
§ 400. In the following examples the infinitive phrase may be
considered as the equivalent of a relative clause ^. It expresses
purpose, or implies possibility or necessity. Prepositions
are placed at the end.
(a) He is the right man to do it. (= He is the man who must or
can do it.)
There was nobody to advise us. (=-- ... who could advise us.)

(b) There was nobody to consult, nobody to turn to. (= nobody

who might have been consulted, to whom we might have
turned.)
There were the holidays to look forward to, but first there were
the examinations to think about.
I heard him singing "Oh give me something to remember you
when I am far away from you'\
by,
Can you give me a knife to cut this string with?
The infinitive is neutral as to active or passive meaning. Com-
pare: There was nobody to advise us, and There was nobody to
consult. But the passive infinitive occurs, too, especially after
there is/there are, e. g. There is nothing to fear, or There is nothing
to be feared. There is no time to lose, or to be lost. (Cf. § 380.)
. . .

There is little to choose between the two patterns. We

tend to use the active in-
finitive the agent, i. e. the person who does something, and the
when we think of
passive direct our attention to the thing or notion. Compare We
infinitive when we :

must lose no time and Time is precious, no time must be lost.

388 Notes.
1. Francis Drake was the first Englishman to sail round the world.
He was the first to come and the last to go.
After first and last the infinitive stands instead of a relative clause, but it de-
notes a fact.
2. is not a man to do anything by halves.
He
There were plenty of people to believe that.
Here the implication is of something typical, an inclination or characteristic.
3. The little chimpanzee felt unhappy in his new home, as there were no trees on which
swing (or
to .no trees to swing on).
. .

They were given three minutes in which to dress.

Occasionally the relative pronoun is used together with the infinitive clause.

Object phrase with infinitive, see chapter 29.

Absolute infinitive clause, see § 403.

^ In the examples under (a) the subject of the infinitive phrase is identical
with the subject of the main clause. In the examples under (bj the subjects of
infinitive phrase and main clause are different.
 — 161 —
B. Participle
English has two participles, which in this grammar are called 389
Participle I and Participle IP:
Participle I : speaking, calling.
Participle II : spoken, called.

The participles are used in two ways:

(a) the setting sun, the flying clouds, the rushing stream,
spoken English, written English, an honoured guest.
The participles are like adjectives, and therefore stand before
the nouns they modify. —
Many participles have become real
adjectives, e. g. amusing, charming, interesting, disappointing;
distinguished, excited.
Of some participles negative forms are used, though there
isno verb with this prefix, e. g. uninteresting, unchanging, un-
promising, undecided, undistinguished, undamaged, unknown.

(b) We watched the sun setting behind the clouds.

I found the passage marked by him with a blue pencil.
If the participle has verbal force, which is shown by its
governing an object or adverbial, it follows the noun. (Cf. § 421.)
Compare: a written document, the written language and a letter

written in great haste.

The participle II is also used in the formation of the com-

pound past tenses (§ 82) and the passive (§ 99).

Note further: 390

Participle I is active; says nothing about the time. (In
it

participle clauses it expresses simultaneous action or state.)

Participle II has mostly a passive meaning 2. According to
the nature of the verb^ it is (a) indifferent as to time, or (b)
if indicates a state resulting from some action in the past.
(a) an honoured guest, spoken English, a crowded street.
(b) a damaged house, a newly discovered country.

1 The traditional names "present participle" and "past participle' are in-
accurate, as appears from § 390.
2 The participle has active meaning in a few cases, e. g. a faded rose, a retired

colonel, a risen star, a well-behaved boy, a learned person, a far-travelled man. These
participles belong to intransitive verbs.
^ There are perfective and imperfective verbs (also called conclusive and

non-conclusive). Perfective verbs denote momentary action, or action leading to

a result; e. g. catch, damage, invent, discover. Imperfective verbs denote a state,
e. g. to love, hate, admire, crowd. Hence the difference in meaning of participle II.
 — 162 —
391 There are three compound participles, which are used in parti-
ciple phrases (§§ 421, 423). Together with the participle I they
form a closed system:

happening at the time happening before the time

expressed by the main verb

active calling having called

passive being called having been called

The simple participle II (called) may be equivalent to either

being called or having been called. When the participle stands for
the relative clause (§ 421, 1), only the simple form is used, e. g.
// will cost millions of pounds to build up all the houses damaged
by the flood (= which have been damaged). When the parti-
ciple stands foran adverbial clause (§ 421, 2), the compound
forms are mostly used.

C. Verbal Noun and Gerund

392 I. Everybody is ready to give advice about the bringing up of a
dog; nobody has anything to say about the bringing up of a cat.
I never saw such perfect ski-ing.
II. Everybody is ready to give advice about bringing up a clog.

Thcmk you for answering so promptly.

The tn^-form with noun-function is used in two w^ays: as
verbal noun and as gerund.
I. The verbal noun
an action-noun (§ 403) and shares its
is

characteristics: It may
be preceded by article, adjective and
s-genitive and followed by the o/-genitive.
II. The gerund, work of a noun, e. g. is used
too, does the
after prepositions; at the same time it has verbal functions in
that it may take an object and is qualified by adverbs^.
Where the two constructions are possible, the gerund is
generally preferred. Often this distinction cannot be made,
however, e. g. in general statements like / love travelling, I am
fond of reading, and in compounds of the type reading-room,
walking-stick (§ 467).
Note. In a great many instances, tlie verbal noun has become a real nomi,
sometimes even denoting a thing. Examples: beginning, meeting, feeling; building.

1 In most other European languages the verbal noun corresponds to some action-

noun, the gerund corresponds to an infinitive phrase or a subordinate clause.

 — 163 —
The gerund, like the infinitive and the participle, has a per- 393
feet and two passive forms:
bringing up having brought up
being brought up having been brought up.
Example: Judy did not like to think of her having been brought
up in an orphanage.
Note. In certain idioms the simple gerund or verbal noun has a passive meaning;
e. g.What is worth doing is worth doing well. The story lost nothing in the telling.
My shoes want mending. The story doesn't bear repeating (= is not fit to be
repeated).

Gerund and Infinitive

The gerund and the infinitive overlap in their functions, and 394
frequently either form may be used. It will be seen that usage
is not free from arbitrariness.

Gerund and infinitive are subject (or predicative)

To see neiv countries ivith one's oivn eyes is better than reading
all the travel books in the world. (Thackeray.)
To convince him won't be an easy matter. That is throwing
money aivay.
Generally the infinitive is possible as an alternative to the gerund.
Frequently gerund or infinitive are moved to the end of the
sentence (see § 163).
IVs awkward talking to people whose name you've forgotten.
It won't be an easy matter to convince him.

Only the gerund is usual after it is no good, it is no use:

It'sno good crying over spilt milk. It's no use trying. It's no use
waiting for them any longer.
Note. In a sentence like That's a silly thing to say the infinitive is the logical
subject: To say such a thing is silly, or: It's silly to say such a thing. Further—
examples: A coal fire is more cheerful to sit by than a gas-fire. What an awful situa-
tion to be in!

Gerund and infinitive are object

After most verbs either form is possible: 395
/ love working in the garden, or / love to work in the garden.
I don't like troubling you. or / don't like to trouble you.
I prefer staying at home, or / prefer to stay at home.
He began asking questions, or He began to ask questions.
The practical rule for the foreign student is: When in doubt,
which is the better, choose the infinitive.
 : :

— 164 —
Note. Occasionally there is some difference in meaning:
(a) I like watching people in the street (in general). / should like to see the match
(one particular occasion). Further examples: English people do not like displaying
their emotions, even in dangerous circumstances. They do not like any boasting or
showing-off in manners, dress, or speech. An Englishman dislikes talking about him-
self.

(b) I distinctly remember writing to him last week (reference to the past). Please
remember to post this letter (reference to the future).

(c) He tried writing for the papers. (= He did it as an experiment.) He tried to

write a novel. (= He began it, he attempted it.) (Z.)

396 After certain verbs only the gerund is used, thus after
to give up, put off, avoid, miss^; stop, finish; mind 2;
to enjoy, risk, I can't bear, to imagine, fancy ^.

Examples
You should give up smoking. Don't put off writing this letter.
One couldn't miss seeing you. It has stopped raining.
Do you mind opening the window? I don't mind waiting.
You enjoy contradicting people, don't you. I won't risk letting
it happen again.
The infinitive is usual after some verbs denoting intention
or desire: to want, decide, hope, promise, desire, also after to
beheve, swear, declare and other verbs, e. g. / want to make cm
inquiry. He promised to come early. I decided to call on him^.

Sod Note the special usage with the verbs to learn, teach, knoiv, show.
1. To learn, to teach are followed by gerund or infinitive:
I learned to drive when I was 16 years old.
My father taught me drawing and painting. He taught me to observe carefully
and to be true to nature.
In these examples merely the fact of learning or teaching is stated. To express
the way or manner in which something is done, the pattern how to do soniethinf)
is used § 131). E. g.
(cf.
It isnot enough to learn words, you must also learn idioms: you must learn how
to thank people, how to apologise, how to start a conversation, etc.
She hasn't even learnt how to make tea.
2. To know and to show are only used in this way:
I don't know how to spell this word. Show me how to do it.

3. Note how to do something in titles of books or articles

also the idiomatic use of
How to improve your memory. How to make friends. How to make a rabbit-hutch.

^ Note that
to give up, put off, avoid, miss have something of the nature of an auxi-
liary;they carry no meaningof their own, but merely express that a certain action
does not take place. See also § 430.
2 In questions and after negation. Do you mind opening the window? Please =
open the window. / don't mind waiting. = I have no objection.
^ Used especially in negative sentences: / don't fancy walking after a good dinner

(= I don't like). The imperative expresses surprise: Fancy doing a thing like that
(= how extraordinary...)
* To think is mostly followed by a that-clause: / think I am right.
 — 165 —
Gerund is prepositional object 398
After a preposition only the gerund is possible. Examples:
to rely on We relied on catching the bus.
to count on We can't count on getting good seats now.
to come of That comes of not working enough,
to look forward to We look forward to seeing you again.
(to is here real preposition!)
to be used to I am not used to living in a big town.

Some verbs that normally require a prepositional object may

also be followed by the infinitive the ; preposition is simply left
out. Examples: We longed to be back in England (to long for).
We agreed to pay the sum (to agree on).

The gerund occurs likewise after verbal phrases (to be + adjec- 399
tive) that demand a prepositional adjunct. (The adjunct may be
a real noun or a gerund.) Such expressions are:
to be fond of, capable of, tired of, sick of;
to be good at, used to, to be far from.
Examples:
/ am fond of reading. (Cf. / am fond of books.) He is capable
of doing good work. He is good at imitating people.

Gerund and infinitive are adjuncts to noun and adjective 400

There is of getting home before midnight.
no hope
You didn't take the trouble of looking up the word, or: . . .the
trouble to look up the word.
There are three ways of spreading news: telephone, telegraph,
tell a girl, (or a boy!)
When shall we have the pleasure of seeing you again?
Generally gerund and infinitive would be equally correct, but
the gerund is by far the more usual construction ^. See also § 387.
Notes.
1. After some nouns the infinitive is exclusively or mostly used, e. g. after time,
desire, order, e. g. / had no time to tidy up the room.

2. Occasionally a noun demands an adjunct with some preposition other than

of. Examples:
A is always an excuse for being late at the office.
thick fog
There no reason for staying indoors.
is
We had no difficulty in getting the tickets.
Here an infinitive would also be correct: an excuse to be late.. . .

^ When the statement is general or concerned with what is habitual, the gerund
is the rule.
 — 166 —
401 Adjectives that take an adjunct are of two kinds:
1. Adjectives that need a prepositional adjunct to make sense,

such as fond of, tired of, good at. ("I am fond" makes no sense,
and / am tired is not the same as / am tired of something.) These
have been dealt with in § 399.
2. Adjectives that may stand without an adjunct. Such
adjectives are e. g.

(a) ready, easy, difficult, good, pleasant,

(h) adjectives denoting a feeling: happy, glad, sorry, afraid.
All these demand the infinitive:
We are ready to start. The hook is pleasant to read. It is good
to he back home again.
I was glad to get your letter. I am afraid to ask him. I was
sorry to hear it.

The infinitive is often equivalent to an adverbial clause : I was

glad because I got your letter; I was sorry when I heard it.

Notes.
1. Someadjectives may take gerund or infinitive, e. g. He was pleased at having
the chance to show off, or He was pleased to have the chance. We were lucky in getting
seats, or We were lucky to gets seats.

2. The idioms He sure to come. The train is sure to be late. He is likely to

is
forget it, mean "It sure that he will come", "It is likely that he will forget".
is

Similarly The interview is bound to be unpleasant. We are apt to overlook these diffi-
—
:

culties. Note further: She is difficult (easy) to get on with. (Cf. § 394 Note.)

402 The gerund in adverbial phrases

These consist of preposition + gerund. An infinitive is, of
course, not possible.
for Thank you for calling me up. (= because j^ou called
me up.)
They made fun of liim for hewing helieved tlie story.
I must apologise for being late.
by You won't gain much by waiting. (= if you wait.)
We reserve seats in the train by putting something on
means or manner.)
them, (by indicates
without you type without looking down on the keys?
Ccm.
We went out without saying a word.
instead of You might help me instead of only looking on.
in Cecil Rhodes, in founding the Rhodes Scholarships,
wished to strengtiien the British Empire.
Intention is usually expressed by the infinitive (§ 384),
rarely by for + gerund.
 :

— 167 —
Further examples to §§ 394 to 402. 402a
Reading makeih (= makes) a full man, conference (i. e. debat-
ing) a ready man, and wriling an exact mem. (Bacon.)
/ think I love travelling more than anything else in the world.
It always gives me such a tremendous feeling of adventure. First of
all the excitement of packing, of getting your passport, then the
thrill of actucdly starting, then meeting all sorts of persons in
trains and on ships, and then the most thrilling thing of cdl: arriving
at strange places, and seeing strange people, and eating strange
foods.

Supplementary remarks to Chapter 29. 403

I. A verbal idea (action or state) maybe expressed by action nouns.
also
These are either derivatives or "twin-words" (§ 459):
(a) to arrive —
arrival, to know —
knowledge, to speak speech. —
(b) to fight —
the fight, to work —
the work, to call the call. —
So there is frequently the choice between the action noun on the
one hand and the gerund or verbal noun on the other hand. E. g.
A great deal depends on the right choice of a profession.
Many young people have difficulty in choosing their profession.
The difference is this If we view the event as a whole, if we state a
:

fact, we choose the action noun. If we think of the course of the

event or activity, we prefer the gerund or verbal noun.
Note further the pattern to have +
twin- word: / had a talk with
him, I had a swim before breakfast, We had a bathe in the river. All —
these nouns are linked with imperfective verbs (p. 161, footnote), and
the collocation denotes an activity that is rounded off.

Note. Action nouns are active or passive in meaning, according to the nature
of thie verb and ttie context. Compare:
his discovery, Edison's invention, the arrival of the guests;
Tom's education, the production of a play, the sale of tickets.
Tom's knowledgeof languages corresponds in meaning to Tom knows languages.
Ttie difference that the latter is a complete statement, the former a noun-group
is

within a more complex sentence. Subject and object of a complete sentence appear
as genitives in the noun-group, either the inflected genitive or the o/-genitive.

II. Some further notes concerning the infinitive.

1. we sometimes find the infinitive in an absolute con-
In literary English
struction. E. g. There is a cash payment of £ 10, the rest to be paid in monthly
instalments. (Cf. §§ 369 and 423.)
2. Then there are loose constructions like / was a fool not to have insisted.
To hear him talk you would think he owned the world. The infinitive phrase ex-
presses condition or cause.
3. An
expression the correctness of which is still hotly debated is the "split
infinitive", as in / don't claim to really understand this theory. It is possible to
considerably increase the output, where the adverb is placed between to and the
verb. The student had better avoid this construction.
 — 168 —
XXIX. Object Phrases
The object of a sentence may be a simple noun: / heard a noise; or it may be
a verbal phrase: / heard the clock strike. I heard somebody moving about.

404 After verbs of perception

(a) (in a camp). // was a fine night. I saiv the stars glitter through
the trees. I heard a dog bark in the distance. I heard the clock
strike.
(b) I watched the ships sailing past. Can you see him coming?
Verbs of perception: to see, ivatch, hear, feel'^ may be followed
(a) by noun (or pronoun) + infinitive, (plain infinitive!)
(b) by noun (or pronoun) + participle.

In most cases either of these constructions is possible, but

there is this difference: an infinitive phrase merely states an

action or event; a participle phrase suggests that the action is
going on, is in progress. The infinitive corresponds to a simple
tense, the infz-construction to a progressive tense.
For actions lasting only a moment, only the infinitive phrase
is, of course, possible: I saiv him pull out his pistol and shoot-.

405 Notes.
1. I heard my name called. Such things are not done you say? I have seen them done.
(= I have seen that they were done.)
Also the participle II occurs in object phrases.
2. He was heard to say. He was heard swearing and cursing.
In corresponding sentences in the passive the infinitive has to.

Object phrase after to have

To have may be followed by a participle phrase or by an infini-
tive phrase, and each allows of very different interpretations.
406 with infinitive
(a) wont have you say such things.
I won't have you shout at me. I
I had it me again and again.
happen to

(b) Have him come early. You ought to have them understand that
once for all.

(Baden-Powell, advising scoutmasters) Your boys should

know something of first aid. Have a doctor give them four or
six short lectures. Have a nurse show them how to bandage a
hand. Have the boys make a stretcher with makeshift material.
^ means "think", only an infinitive construction is possible. See §411.
If to feel
Sometimes the distinction is one of completion or incompletion. (Z.) / saw him
2

wcdking across the road. I saw him walk across the road.
 : :

^ 169 —
The meaning "is

(a) have
to =
to experience. This usage is not frequent.
(b) to have =
to cause, to make, ask, or order. A more usual
expression is with to get (§ 416): Get a doctor to give, etc.

with participle I 407

You will have the whole world talking about it.
(= You will see that the whole world will be talking. . .)
/ can't have Utile boys climbing into my gcwden.
(=1 can't admit that little boys climb into my garden.)
/ wont have you talking to me like that.

The meaning is similar to that in § 406 a: "The situation will

arise that. .
." or "You will create a situation where. .
."

with participle II 408

(a) Some some
are born great, and some have
achieve greatness,
greatness thrust upon them. (Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night".)
(= .and on some greatness is thrust.)
. .

He is so stupid that he must have everything explained to him.

(= Everything must be explained to him.)
// was a real English afternoon tea, where you had tea and
bread-and-butter handed round to you, and you had to hold
a cup in your hand and balance a plate on the arm of your
chair, praying it wouldnt fall off.

(b) We had the fence painted last year. ( = The fence was painted,
because we had ordered it.)
/ had the film developed and printed. I had two copies made
of each photograph. I had the good pictures enlarged. I must
have my watch repaired. You should have your clock seen to.
Meaning
(a) As in § 406 a and § 407 the meaning is to experience; some-
thing happening to a person (the subject of the sentence).
is

(b) to have = to cause, to give the order that something is done.

This is the chief usage of to have + object phrased See § 417.
Note question and negation: When did you have your fence
painted? I didn't have it painted, I painted it myself.

^ The pattern I have something done or I've got something done may have yet

another meaning. Examples: They have all their plans made. In half an hour we had
our camp pitched. You had me scared. The usual construction, to which the foreign
student should strictly keep, is of course They have made their plans, etc. The
pattern to have object + —
participle does not denote so much an action as a state
or condition resulting from the action. (Kirchner.)

12
 — 170 —
Other infinitive phrases
409 I. Thai made me think. Thai makes you look younger. You can
lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink.
Let me try. Let me help you. Lei sleeping dogs lie.

The plain infinitive stands after the verbs to make and to let;
Enghsh also after to hid. See § 416.
in archaic

410 II. 1. / asked him to come at 6 o'clock. I got him to do it. The
government didn't allow foreigners to accept work.
2. Doctor (called on the phone at 2 a.m.): What is it? —
Voice: Doctor, I want you to help me. I can't sleep. —
Doctor: Well, what do you want me to do? Sing you a
lullaby?
Before the battle of Trafalgar Nelson sent this message to
his sailors: "England expects every mem to do his duty."
I should like you to do me a favour.

The infinitive with to stands after the following verbs, most

of which express the will of the speaker.
1. to ask, beg, invite, instruct, request; to get (§ 416).
to encourage, advise, warn; to teach, to allow, permit,
order, compel, oblige.

2. to want, expect, mean, cause; to tell (§ 308); like, love, hate.

The distinction between the two groups is this to ask, to cdlow, :

etc., may govern a real personal object: / asked him something.

The construction may be called object + infinitive. This is not
so after to iyan/,ea;pec/, etc., where the object is the whole phrase^.
While most European languages have the same constructions
with the verbs of group 1, they have subordinate clauses
after verbs corresponding to want, expect, etc.

411 III. / thought him to be older than that. They believed me to be a

millionaire. We all supposed him to be honest.
Fve seldom known him to take so much interest in a book.
I felt a change to be necessary.
An object phrase is also found after some verbs denoting an
opinion, such as to think, believe, consider, suppose, feel, also after
to know, to declare. The infinitive is mostly the link verb to be.

I like boys to be quiet may be said by somebody who does not like boys at all. (Z.)
^

Also to allow and to permit may govern an object phrase where noun infinitive +
form a close unit He allowed the secret to leak out. I can't allow John to be disturbed.
:

See § 412.
 ;

— 171 —
The object may be a reflexive pronoun: She imagines herself
to be a great actress.

This construction belongs to written English and educated

speech; it is less frequent in colloquial English, where one would
rather say They thought I was a millionaire, etc.

According to the sense of the clause, the infinitive is active or passive. 412
Compare: / cannot let him cheat you, I cannot let you be cheated. I won't
let anybody force me to do it. I won't let myself be forced to do it. Other

examples with passive infinitive: / won't allow such things to be trifled

with. He ordered his horse to be saddled at once.

If the verbs mentioned in §§ 409-411 stand in the passive, 413

the infinitive refers to the subject.
/ am expected to write once a week. I was made to feel un-
comfortable. If you won I do it yourself, you will be made
to do it. (Note the infinitive with to. Cf. § 405.)

This pattern is quite common also in Sp.E. Note also the two
idioms: / am not supposed to do it. (— I ought not to do
it.) You are not supposed to be here. He is said to be very rich.

Further participle phrases 414

(a) I want this letter registered, please. I want my hair cut and
washed, please. —
/ consider this matter settled.
-

Verbs mentioned in § 410, 2 and § 411 may govern a phrase with

participle II. This may be considered short for / want this letter
to be registered, etc^.

(b) Don't leave your things lying about. I found the burglar trying
to open the safe. Don't keep me waiting.
Object phrase with participle I after to leave, find, keep, set.

Permission and causation (Summary)

Many foreign students have difficulty in choosing the correct 415
sentence pattern when they wish to express that something is per-
mitted or caused. .

Permission
The introductory verbs are to let (§ 409) with plain infinitive
and to allow, to permit (§ 410) with /o-infinitive.
1 When we
are concerned with the activity itself, we use the passive infinitive
if we have mind the result of the activity, we use merely the participle. Cf.
in
Would you like the window to be closed? Would you like the window closed? Further
example: How do you want your egg boiled? I'd like it soft boiled.
 — 172 —
Letme try. Let me help you. Let sleeping dogs lie.

•
He was a good-tempered man, who let few things worry him.
The doctor did not allow anybody to visit the patient.

A scientist does not allow his feelings to influence his judgment.

Difference between let and allow: let is more casual and informal;
allow suggests a more definite or express permission (or, in the negative,
prohibition). Let me pass, please is a normal request; Allow me to pass
please has a rather haughty or sarcastic ring, suggesting that the oli-
struction is deliberate. (W.)

Causation
416 1. (a) Our French master was Old Bill; he made us work pretty
hard: he made us learn twenty words for every lesson, he
made us revise the words every month, he made us write an
essay every fortnight. But he knew a lot of little stories and
jokes that made us laugh and helped us to remember the
rules of grammar.
You may lead a horse to the water, but you cannot -make
it drink. The last drop makes the cup run over.

(b) Have a doctor come and give short lessons to your scouts.

(c) We got him to withdraw his proposals. At last I got him

to see my
point of view.
I can't get the door to shut properly.
The introductory verbs are to make (§ 409), and to have (§ 406)
with plain infinitive and to get (§ 410) with /o-infinitive. They
express an order, a suggestion or cause. The pattern is
to make (have) a person do something
to get a person to do something.

Note that the object phrase is equivalent to a sentence with

the verb in the active: a person does something. The "doer"
may also be an animal or a thing. Word-order as in independent
sentences:
The boys learn. The master made the boys learn.
The cup runs over. It makes the cup run over.

Difference between make, have, get: make denotes either compulsion

or an express order or it denotes a cause that leads inevitably to a

certain effect; have expresses an invitation, get implies persuasion or an

effort to achieve something.

Note the idioms:

He kept me wailimj. Don't keep me waiting.
We sent for the doctor. (= We
asked liim te come.) He sent for mc.
She dropped her book. (= She let the book fall.)
 : :

— 173 —
We had the fence painted last year. I had the film developed 417
and printed. I had my watch repaired.
I got this suit made in London. I got my watch repaired.
In these examples a person causes something to be done the :

fence was painted, the suit was made. The sentence pattern is
to have somethmg done or to get something done i.
See § 408 for further examples, and § 143.

In formal speech also to order, to command, to cause are 418

used both in the sense of "to make a person do something" and
"to have something done":
Tlie banker ordered the cashier to pay me.
The bank order the sum to be paid at once.

In many languages there is one verb corresponding to the two Eng- 419
lishverbs to let and to leave. Students are warned not to confound
these two verbs. To let is followed by an infinitive phrase, to leave is
followed by a noun: / left my keys at home. Leave me alone.

for + noun + infinitive 420

For an understanding of this typically English sentence pat-
tern it is useful to trace its development. — Consider the following
examples
Put tlie boots out for the boot-boy to clean.
This is too lieavy for me to lift.

Here the not strictly necessary; Put tlie boots out for
infinitive is

the boot-boy would be quite sufficient, and the infinitive merely

adds something that is obvious. Later on, noun (or pronoun)
+ infinitive were felt to be a unit, and the sentence was consi-
dered to consist of the two parts Put tlie boots out/ for the boot-boy
to clean (=so that the boot-boy can clean them). Similarly:

This is too heavy/for me to lift.

This construction was then extended

We waited for tlie clock to strike the hour.
was unusual for anyone to call so late.
It
In these examples it would not be possible to stop after the noun
or pronoun, and the only division that makes sense is We
waited/for the clock to strike.

^ The more common expression is to have something done; to get something done
may imply that some effort is or was needed.
 )

— 174 —
Originally this construction was used after verbs or adjectives
requiring a complement with for. Then a further extension took
place, and we find examples such as these:
We had arranged for the meeting to take place at 11.
It was a mistake for us to write. (=that we wrote)
There is nothing for you to worry about.

Note that these infinitive phrases correspond to subordinate

clauses and either indicate a fact (It was unusual that people
called so late) or else possibility, expectation, often purpose
(We waited until the clock should strike the hour).

The student should note for his own use the constructions after
it is + adjective. // is impossible for us to wait.

It is absurd for you to make such a fuss.

too + adjective. This is too heavy for me to lift.
The street is too small for two vehicles to pass.

XXX. ing-Constructions
The ing-form may be participle, gerund, or part of a progressive tense, yet it is
often hard to decide which of the three functions it fulfils, and in some cases it
defies classification altogether. This flexibility of the ing-form will account for the
arrangement in this chapter.

A. Participle construction
421 1. Here the programme, giving full particulars of the course.
is

{= which gives
. . . or it gives . . . , : . .
.

"Brush up your English'' is a useful book for foreigners

visiting England and wishing to learn English. (= ...who
visit England and wish to learn English.)
Factory Acts are laws governing conditions of work in factories,
e. g. hours of work.
The participle construction is equivalent to a relative clause
(or sometimes to a main clause). The participle may refer to the
subject of the sentence or to an object.
Also participle II occurs in this function: see § 389.

2. One day, climbing on Great Gable, Chips noticed a girl who was
waving from a dangerous looking ledge. Thinking she was in
difficulties, he hastened towards her. Having got to the ledge
he discovered thai she had merely been signalling to a friend
farther down the mountain. (Good-bye, Mr. Chips.)
We were worried, not having heard from you so long.
 :

— 175 —
The participle construction stands for an adverbial clause of time
or cause (climbing. . . =
as he climbed, having got there =
after he had got there; thinking. as, because he thought,
. . =
not having heard. . . =
because we hadn't heard, .) .

Occasionally a conjunction is placed before the participle

clause; Dont mention anything when writing. Finish this work
before starting anything new. After having listened to him, I gave
my opinion.
Also Participle II occurs: At last, tired of waiting, I went away.

3. played happily in a blue sky, skipping from

Little soft clouds
timetotimein frontofthesun as if they had come to put it out
and then sliding away suddenly so that the next might have
its turn.
We stopped in Berne for an hour, leaving our luggage at the
station.
"/ must
go now", he said, taking his hat and stick. (. .he .

and at the same time he took his hat and sticl^.)

said
The participle group indicates attendant circumstances or paral-
lel action. It explains how something is done, or it sets forth
particulars or details. Often it corresponds to a main clause^.
All these participle constructions are not usual in spoken Eng-
hsh, whereas they are widely used in written English, especially
in the function of type 3.

Note. Participle construction and progressive tense sometimes shade into one
another. Here are some border-line cases:
There's a 49-bus just coming round the corner.
There's a fast train leaving Paddington at 11.05 a.m.
In the last scene there's only a glimmer of daylight remaining.
Whether the ing-form is participle or part of the progressive tense may depend on
the context. Compare: There was a patli connecting the two houses (participle) and
There was a man connecting the two cables (progressive tense —
another way of
saying a man was connecting, etc.).
Nor are there neat pigeon-holes separating participle from gerund. See § 427.

There are a number of idioms consisting of loose participle constructions 4^!i2

i. e.the participle is not related to any noun or pronoun. Examples
Talking of hotels, do you know the Bear Hotel?
There were ten of us, not counting the children.
It didn't take us long, considering the difficulties.
Judging from
appearances, he is well off.
As appears from the examples, these idioms belong to spoken English as well as to
written English ^.

^ Very frequent in stage directions. (Abundant examples in Shaw's plays.)

^ Students should beware of "unrelated participles". Here is an example: With
the car travelling at 50 miles an hour, the police gave chase. Warning shots were fired
and, after travelling several miles at high speed, a bullet pierced the car's rear tyre.
 — 176 —
Absolute participle construction
423 1. The work having been done, we felt very tired. (After the work
had been done. .) .

Their conversation being in Dutch, we could not understand

them. (Because their conversation was in Dutch...)
There being no taxis, I had to walk. (As there were no t.)
God helping me, I will do it. (If God helps me. .) .

2. The Scout Law has ten rules, the first being "A Scout's honour
is to be trusted".
There were many quarrels, each party blaming the other when
things went wrong. (. .and each party blamed the other.)
.

A remarkable feature of the public schools is the Debating

Societies. The debates are held in parliamentary style, the
boys being divided into two opposing parties cmd a chair-
man presiding over the whole meeting.
These phrases, consisting of noun + participle, stand outside the
main clause. They indicate (as in § 421, 2 and 3):
1. time relation, cause, or (rarely) condition,
2. attendant circumstances, descriptive details, par-
ticulars, being often equivalent to a main clause.

424 Sometimes the absolute clause is connected with the main

clause by means of with. It invariably denotes attendant cir-
cumstances, etc.

This is the sunniest winter afternoon, with all the trees bending
under a weight of snow and icicles dripping from roofs.
We rode away with the dogs trotting at the ponies' heels.
How do you think I can do my Latin with you interrupting
every few seconds.

Note. Also other phrases may thus loosely be connected with the main clause.
Examples: / can't live on my wages with prices what they are. She looked at him with
the colour gone from her face. There's an awful drcmght with all the windows down.
(In some examples being might be inserted, e. g. / ccm't live on my wages with prices
being what they are.)

4^5 Modern novelists occasionally make use of a sort of "block style"- a series of
noun-and-participle groups —to produce the effect of crowding impressions or
memories. E. g. from "Good-bye, Mr. Chips", bj' Hilton:
(Twilight brought back the memories of his wife.) Katherine scampering along
the stone corridors, laughing beside him at some "howler" in an essay he was
marking, taking the cello part in a Mozart trio for the School concert. Katherine
tendering her advice in any little problem that arose.
1915 — Armies from the sea to Switzerland. Military camps springing up near
Brookfield. Soldiers using the playing fields for sports and training.
 — 177 —
B. Gerund and ing-phrase
The gerund, as has been shown,
is akin to the action-nouns, 426
and hke these it may
be combined with what would be the sub-
ject in a verbal expression. Thus: / had hoped that John would
invite us. I had counted on John's invitation. I had counted on
John's inviting us. Or the gerund may be preceded by a posses-
sive adjective: / had counted on his inviting us.

Further examples arranged according to function in the

sentence(cf. §§ 394-402):

(a) Their taking it in this way irritated me.

(h) Do you mind our leaving a little earlier?
(c) Poet: Do you think there is any chance of my getting this
poem into your magazine? — Editor: There may be. Fm not
going to live for ever.

(d) Thousands of people relied on Hansen's helping them. We

insisted on John's being present.

Now besides this expression of genitive + gerund orpos- 427

sessive adjective + gerund, there has developed a shghtly
different one, in which the noun stands in the common case:
/ had counted on John inviting us to dinner.
They relied on N
ansen helping them.
We insisted on John being present.
Where no s-genitive is formed, i. e. especially with nouns de-
noting things, only this construction is possible:
He relied on his plan succeeding. I had counted on dinner
being ready. We parted without either of us speaking a word.

Note that noun + gerund is a unit. (We separate: I had counted/

on John inviting us.) What this in^-form is would be hard to
decide. It certainly cannot be called a gerund, and though it

resembles the participle, it is not felt to be that either. The label

suggested in this book is ing-phrase i.

Just as the genitive may be replaced by the common case, 428

so the possessive adjective may be replaced by the pronoun: You
can rely on his doing his duty. Or: You can rely on him doing his
duty. I hate think of you (or your) going back alone. The pattern
to

with the possessive adjective is in most cases preferable, at any

rate in written English.

^ For teaching purposes it would seem preferable to apply this term of "ing-
phrase" to both § 426 and § 427.
 :

— 178 —
429 Further examples:
What is tolerance? To admit the possibility of the other man
being right. (Baldwin.)
A football-match consists in 22 people playing and twenty
thousand looking on.
Some people think they are good because they object to others
being bad.
We are not shocked by a girl smoking cigarettes, but we are
old fashioned enough to dislike a girl smoking a pipe. (Here
smoking might be considered a true participle.)
In the case of anything happening, ring this number.
We may also form ing-clauses corresponding to sentences with
there is/there are, e. g. / hcwe heard of there being some difficulties.
He complained of there being too much noise.

Note. The gerund-construction is the older of the two. But in the plural the
genitive could not be distinguished in sound from the common case: She had
counted on her daughters' staying at home. He was keen on the fellows' keeping fit, and
it is well possible that examples of that kind prepared the way for the ing-con-

struction.
Also the construction with +
absolute participle (§ 424) may have been of some
influence. Compare: / can't work with people talking around me. He can't live without
people admiring him. Then there are the border-line cases where the ing-form may
be participle or part of the ing-phrase (see fourth example above).

430 C. Further remarks on the use of the ing-form ^

The ing-form is used

1. with verbs that denote beginning, continuity, or end of
an action. Such verbs are to start (infinitive is possible, too),
to go on, to keep on, to stop. (§§ 311, 312.)
// started raining. It kept on raining. It stopped raining.
He went on working.
2. with the verbs to come, to go, to be out.
He went sivimming. I went ski-ing. We were out riding.
A boy came running down the street.
3. with the verbs to sit and to stand.
He stood staring at me.
4. after I can't help, e.g. / couldni help laughing. I cant
help admiring him.
5. after the expressions to be worth, busy, feel Uke.
The book isn' t worth buying. I felt like crying.
He's still busy writing out a report.

^ See the introductory note to Ch. XXX (p. 174).

 — 179 —
XXXI. Subordinate Clauses
Subordinate clauses are less frequent in English than in many other languages
owing to the numerous constructions with infinitive and ing-form.

I. that -clauses

that-clauses denoting a fact 431

(a) I know that you are busy. I know you are busy.
I feel that something is wrong. I feel something is wrong.

(b) I am sure that you're right. I am glad you could come.

I am sorry that I forgot to call you up.
It is clear that he did not want to come.

(c) The fact is you're late. The excuse thai you missed the bus is
a poor one.
These clauses have their close parallels in all other European
languages. They occur (a) after verbs like to say, think, know
(cf. §§ 306, 307), (b) after verbal phrases to be + adjective,
(c) after nouns ^.

The conjunction that is frequently left out^ and we might

speak of a contact clause. (Cf. § 248.)

that-clauses denotmg possibility, necessity etc. 432

A thai-dsiuse may contain a statement of a fact, or it may
depend on a verb that expresses possibility or uncertainty, wish
or demand, expectation or surprise, fear or apprehension. In
such cases the clause very often contains one of the auxiliaries
may /might, shall/should^. The usage is by no means fixed, but
generally may/might and shall/should have in the subordi-
nate clause the function they would have in the
corresponding main clause. May and shall are only possible
after a verb in the present tense; might and should are used after
a verb in the past tense, but in many cases should must also be
used after a present tense. —
The following rules are simplified
for the guidance of the student.
^ It is of no practical value to determine which part of the sentence the thai-
clause is. It may be subject or predicative or object, or adjunct to noun or ad-
jective. In / am sorry that you did not come, it may be called a "content clause",
because it indicates the "content" of the emotion, i. e. in what respect one is sorry,
or glad etc.
^ Always after I'm afraid, e. g. I'm afraid I can't help you. —
Literary English
has the conjunction but that after expressions of doubt, e. g. / do not doubt but thai
this matter will be set right.
^ They often correspond to subjunctives in French, German and other languages.
 — 180 —
A. Possibility, uncertainty
433 (a) It is possible thai he may be late. It is possible that you may
have misunderstood him.
(b) It is impossible thai he should not have received the letter.

The auxiliary after it is possible is may /might (often optional);

the auxiliary after it is impossible, is it possible? is should.

434 Clauses after expressions of fear or anxiety^:

/ was afraid that you might not like it. I had the uneasy fear
thai I might fail. Granny worries for fear that I should (or
might) catch cold.
The auxiliary is mostly may/might, occasionally should.
The subordinate clauses, as appears from the examples, point
to the future from the point of view of the speaker. Ifthey refer
to the present or the past, the ordinary tenses are used : / fear
I have made a mistake. Fm afraid ifs too late now.

B. Wish, demand, suggestion

435 Children welcome visitors hoping that they may have something
for them.
You have no right to demand that your word shall be law.
He prefers that I should not accept the invitation.
The host proposed that each of the pilgrims should tell a story.
The auxiliary is may/might or shall/should according to whether

expression given either to a request or hope or to a demand.

is

May and shall come after a verb in the present tense, might and
should after a verb in the past tense.

436 Clauses of purpose are introduced by that or so that:

Write to him at once so that he may have the letter to-night.

We went early so that we might get good seats.
Put out the candles so that they shall not see the light
We switched off the light so that they should not see us.
A useful rule is: may/might in positive statements, shall/should
in negative statements.

Note. Literary English lias also the conjunction lest, which means
(a) that —
not. They doubled their efforts lest tlie otiier party should get tliere first.
(b) that (after expressions of fear). He trembled lest the others should diseover his
secret.

^ Learners are apt to misinterpret the word anxious, w^hich often means " I am
eager, keen, I strongly wish": / am anxious that there shall be no misunderstanding.
 — 181 —
C. Surprise, expectation 437
// is strange that he should not have thought of it. It was queer
that a thing like that should stay in the memory so clearly.
Chips was wondering why Ralston should have asked him.
I forgot to post the letter; I very much regret that this should
have happened.
We celebrate Armistice Day. It is right that we should do so.
It is necessary thcd we should start at once.

Should frequent in clauses after expressions of surprise or

is
regret, approval and disapproval, also after it is necessary and
related impersonal phrases. Such expressions are

it is strange, wonderful, surprising, queer; I am surprised,

I wonder. I am sorry, it a pity,
is

it is right, natural, fit, proper; wrong, improper,

it is necessary, important, essential.

II. Adverbial clauses

purposes to comment briefly on a few conjunctions.
It is sufficient for practical
It will be seen that some conjunctions have more than one function, i. e. may
introduce different kinds of clauses.
The clauses here dealt with are called adverbial clauses, because they are
equivalent in function to adverbials of time, of cause, etc.
Adverbial clauses may be replaced by participle constructions, as is shown in
§§ 421-423. Other alternatives are expressions with the gerund (§ 402). Finally
cause may be expressed by the infinitive, for which examples are given in § 401.
For that-clauses indicating time or reason see § 254, also § 401, 2.

Clauses of time 438

1. when. // was raining when weme when you are arrived. Call
ready. We smoke when we were young.
weren't allowed to

When means "at the moment that, or during the time that".
as. You will lose your optimism as you grow older.
I woke up as the boat was nearing the coast.
We use as when we think of the course of the action or event.
That is why an as-clause frequently contains a progressive tense.
2. synonyms for when:
directly. Call you have any news. (=the
me directly moment
that.) / recognised saw it.it directly I
once. Once you've made up mind, you can't change it. (= from
the moment that, or if ... )
by the time. By the time you are ready, it will be too late.
See § 304.
 — 182 —
3. till, un'tiP. We worked till it was too dark to see.
while. Make hay while the sun shines.
since. He has not opened a book since he left school. {Since is

preposition in the examples given in § 288!)

439 Clauses of cause or reason

as. As we had nothing else to do, we played cards.
because. We stayed at home, because the weather was too bad to

go out.
since. Look for yourself, since you do not believe me.
The clause introduced by as mostly precedes the main clause,
the clause introduced by because mostly follows. As has less weight
than because; since implies that the reason or cause is known to
the other person; the reason is given as an undisputed fact (Z.).

440 Comparative clauses

Everything happened as we had foreseen.
as^.
The play wasnt as good as we had expected.
than. You know him better than I do. (§ 239.)
whereas expresses a contrast. Some people think him a genius,
whereas others call him a fool.
Contrast is also denoted by while. E. g. While we shall be glad
to tell you anything you want to know, I don't think we can help

you much. (Instead of while one occasionally hears whilst.)

441 Other clauses

Clauses of purpose (§ 436), Clauses of result, intro-
duced by so that.
Clauses of concession, introduced by though, although,
whatever, however + adjective (or adverb), frequently with
may /might.
I couldn't sleep, though I was dead tired. It is true whatever
you may say. However stupid he may be, he's got some
common sense. You cannot convince me whatever reasons you
may give.

A
very frequent construction in Sp. E. is an expression with
no matter: It is true, no matter what you may say Theboss is never .

pleased, no matter how hard we work.

1 There is hardly any difference between till and until. Clauses with till denote

something that is more immediate. Wait till I find my key. Wait until I return from
America.
^ Note that "it" is left out in an as-clause: The library is in charge
of Mr. Brown,
as was settled at the masters' meeting.
 — 183 —
^
III. Conditional Sentences

A. // it is fine next Sunday, we shall go for a ramhle; if it rains, 442

we shall stay at home and read.
If we miss the bus, we shall have to walk home.
If there is a mistake, it is not my fault.
If you see John, tell him there is a letter for him.
In this kind expresses a condition
of sentence the if-dause
which can be fulfilled; the event is possible or likely. (It may
very well be a fine day, it is possible that we miss the bus.)
The main clause expresses the result, i. e. what will happen (or
not happen) in such a case.
Rule The
: if- clause is in the present tense,

the main clause is in the future or present tense (or

imperative).

Note. In the sentence // there is a mistake, it is not my fault, a condition is

accepted or granted for the sake of argument. Such sentences are also possible
with reference to the past, e. g. // there was a mistake, it was not my fault. If he
said so, he was mistaken.

B. If I had a thousand pounds, I should buy a car. 443

// / had had a thousand pounds, I should have bought a car.

If I kneiv his address, I should write to him.

If I had known his address, I should have written to him.
If he ivere a gentleman, he would keep his word.
If he had been a gentleman, he would have kept his word.

In this kind of sentence the ^/-clause expresses a condition that

is contrary to fact, or which we do not expect to be fulfilled.
The supposition is virtually a negative: If I had a thousand
pounds — but I haven't got the money. If I knew his address - but
I don't know it. If he had been a gentleman — but he wasn't a
—
gentleman^. -These sentences may refer to the present
or to the past time.
Rule The if-clause
: is in the preterit or pluperfect,
the main clause is in the conditional I or the conditio-
nal II.

The order of i7-clause and main clause may be reversed, e. g

He would keep his word, if he were a gentleman. I should have
come, if I had had the time. See also § 375.

^ The term "conditional" ought really to be applied to type A only; type B

might be called "hypothetical". §§ 442/3 partly after "BBC English by Radio".

2 Another use of this kind of sentence is to make a suggestion. If you went to

bed earlier, you wouldn't be so tired. You would feel better, if you smoked less.
 — 184 —
444 Originally the z7-clause contained the subjunctive, which in
the course of time became identical in form with the preterit
(§ 100). Only to be has preserved the distinction, hence the forms
if I were, if he were. But in spoken English these irregular forms
are often, with some speakers always, replaced by if I was, if
he was, i. e. the usual forms of the preterit. The foreign student
is advised to keep to the "correct" forms if I were, if he were.

445 Notes.
1. / should be grateful if you would do me this favour. He could write good essays
if he would take the trouble.
Would in if-clauses denotes volition and is not, of course, the colourless auxiliary
of the conditional. (Cf. Will you do me this favour? § 356.) This would is frequent in
•
exclamations of the type // only you would listen tome! If only it wouldn't rain the
whole time!
2. In written English the following pattern occurs:
Had I known it, I should have been more careful.
Even were there no policeman
an English crowd would be orderly.
in the street,
i. e. ;/ is omitted and inversion takes place. This construction is only possible if

the subordinate clause contains an auxiliary.

446 When we speak of conditions that may or might occur in the

future, we use the following patterns:

1. Should you be free io-niqhi \

Ti" iu ij I. f 4 14 come and see us.

you should
It be tree lo-nighi
\

Other examples: // you should hear of a good second-hand car, let

me knoiv. Should you meet John, give him my kind regards.

In these conditional clauseswe suppose something that is
possible,something that may well happen, but is uncertain. We
can emphasise the idea of uncertainty or improbability bj^ saying
// you should happen to be free, come and see us.
Note. The pattern may also refer to the present. // you should happen, by any
unlikely chance, to know a more cheerful man than Scrooge's nephew, all I can say is.
I should like to know him, too. (Dickens.)

2. If you were to get a hundred pounds, what would you do with

it? If I were to tell you all I know about the case, you ivouldnt
believe me.

Here we suppose something that is most unlikely to come to

pass or could not happen at all, something that belongs to the

realm of fancy.

Note that these two patterns correspond to types A and B in

§§ 442 and 443.
 — 185 —
Other conjunctions, besides if, to introduce a conditional 447
clause are:
(a) for Types A and B: suppose (that), supposing (that), unless.
Suppose you were in a foreign country and didni know the
language, what would you do?
An Englishman profoundly mistrusts intelligence, unless it is
rooted in character,
(h) only for Type A: in case (mostly referring to the future).
Here is my address, in case anything should happen.
Further: provided, as long as, e. g. / don't mind how you do it,

provided you do it quickly,

(c) Only for Type B: as if, as though.
// was as if he had guessed my thoughts. He talks as if he were
a millionaire, as if he owned the world.

Note. Here must be mentioned an idiom witli but, which also expresses con-
dition :

But for his father's money, he would be in prison. (= Tf there had not been his
father's money. .
.)
Many people believe that, but for the spelling, English would be an easy language.
(= If there were not the spelling difficulty.)

XXXIII. Adverbials (Cf. § 171)

Adverbials of place and direction 448

The adverbs most frequently used are:
there near in front up upstairs above in inside
here far^ at the back down downstairs below out outside
Further adverbs: around, opposite, across, through, also on, off.

These adverbs denote both place and direction:

Where's John? Where are you going?
IVs not far. We didn't ivalk far.
To is occasionally used with where to denote direction, e.g. Where are you going to?
Note also the opposite: Where are you coming from?
Archaic forms are hence, thence, whence (from here, from there, from where)
and hither, thither, whither (here, there — indicating direction — , where to).

Most of these adverbs are also prepositions:

He's ivaiting outside. He is outside the tent.
We couldn't get across. We walked across the street.
Note : in front of the house, at the back of the house; near the
house, far from the house.

^ In affirmative sentences far is replaced by a long way, e. g. / live a long way

from here.

13
 — 186 —
449 A distinctive feature of English is its wealth of compound ex-
pressions verb + adverb.
Expressions like come in, look up, jump down, go away, are
loose connections; the sense of each expression from the is clear
meanings of the verb and the adverb ^.
Very frequently, however, verb and adverb form a sense unit,
whose meaning cannot always be deduced from the elements.
Such adverbs are in, out, on, off, up, down, away.
Examples to turn in (go to bed), turn in something (hand in,
:

give), turn out (become, appear to be), turn out something (pro-
duce), turn out somebody (send away, throw out), /urn up (appear),
turn up the radio (make louder), turn down the radio or liglU
(make weaker), turn down an offer (refuse).
Other examples: put up^, put down, put on, put off, etc.
The number of such combinations is very great indeed, and
each one has to be learnt like a single word. To make matters
worse for the learner, many of these expressions have more than
one meaning, as appears from the examples.

Adverbials of time

450 1 . Denoting a day or time of day.

to-day to-nwrrow the day after to-morrow in 3 days
yesterday the day before yesterday 3 days ago
Idioms: the other day (= some days ago); to-day week, to-day
fortnight( = in a week, a fortnight from now), e. g. We shall
meet to-day week.
Expressions to indicate the time of the day are: at noon, at
midnight, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening; at dawn,
at dusk; by day, at night.

If we wish to specify the time of to-day, to-morrow, or yester-

day we say:
thismorning, this afternoon, this evening, to-night.
to-morrow morning, afternoon, evening, to-morrow night.
yesterday morning, afternoon, evening, last night.
Note that for the time after dinner and before going to bed
to-night is more usual than this evening. Referring to the same

time of the previous day, the student should only use last night.

^ In some compounds up merely suggests completion, e. g. to tear up a letter,

to finish up.
" E. g. Put up your tiands (raise), to put up a notice (exhibit), he puts my back

up (makes me angry), / can put you up for the night (give a room), I won't put
up with this (endure, bear).
 :

— 187 —
The adverbials to-day, to-morrow, yesterday determine the time 451
as viewed from the present moment. When we refer to a time of
the past, we say:
0/1 that day the next (foltowing) day two days later
the day before two days before
E. g. We started the ascent of the Matter horn on August 1st.
On that day conditions were favourable. It had been fine
the day before. We were lucky, for the next day the weather
changed again.

2. Denoting a special day on Monday, on Tuesday, on 452

:

February 5th. But at Easter, at Christmas. No preposition with —

next and last: next Monday, last Tuesday.

Adverbs of frequency, answering the question how often: 453

(a) with general or indefinite meaning:
always, frequently, often, sometimes, rarely, hardly ever,
never; generally, usually, occasionally.
(b) with specific meaning:
hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, yearly. These words
are adjectives and adverbs; / pay monthly; monthly pay-
ments.

Adverbials of manner
These adverbials answer the question "how?", e. g. She sang 454
beautifully. He spoke slowly. He worked carefully. Nearly all the
adverbs are derived from adjectives by means of the ending
-ly (§ 75). Exceptions are the adverbs well and ill. Comparison —
of adverbs see § 68.
Some foreign students have difficulty in distinguishing between
adjective and adverb. Compare
He was careful. He worked carefully.
He looked angry. He looked angrily at me.
Do you feel warm? I ccm warmly recommend it.

Keep quiet. (=Be quiet.) He spoke quietly.

The adjective says something about a person or a thing:
it describes character or characteristic, condition or state. It al-
ways comes after to be, and frequently after such verbs as to look,
seem, appear, keep, sound, feel, also after verbs denoting a change
to become, get, turn.

The adverb says something about an action. Some adverbs

also qualify adjectives, e. g. iVs awfully cold, Fm terribly sorry.
 — 188 —
455 In a number of cases the adverb is not marked as such. The
following lists are not exhaustive.

1. There is no form in -ly at all, i. e. the word serves both as

adjective and as adverb.

fast a fast train. Don't run so fast.

straight a straight line. Two stars of the Great Bear point
straight at the Northwent straight home,
Star. We
far . in the Far East. We clidnt go very far.
long^ It was a long journey. Have you been waiting long?

The words hourly, daily, weekly, etc. are adjective and adverb;
the syllable -ly is not the adverbial suffix. (Cf. § 453.)

2. There are two adverbs, one without suffix, the other ^^^th
suffix. The latter usually has a figurative sense.

high (a) to climb high, to rise high.

(b) to speak highly of sb. a highly technical problem,
deep (a) to sink deep, (b) deeply in love, deeply regretted.

right^ (a) You did right. You guessed right. It serves you right.
(b) If I remember rightly . . . , if I am rightly informed.
(chiefly before participle)
wrong (a) You did it wrong. We went wrong.
(b) I was wrongly informed.

near (a) Come nearer. The night drew near.

(b) nearly related. Its not nearly the same.
(nearly 10 o'clock == almost)

loud (a) Dont talk so loud. Speak louder.

(b) They loudly protested. He complained loudly.

3. There are two adverbs, the adverb in -ly having a meaning

that isentirely different from that of the adjective.
hard (a) to work hard, to try hard.
(b) hardly = scarcely. / hardly understood him.

direct (a) I wrote direct to the manager (not to his assistant or

secretary). The goods were sent direct from the factory

to the consumer,
(b) directly = without delay. /'// come directly.

1 In affirmative sentences a long time: We waited a long time.

2 Right has further meanings: fa) opposite of left: turn right, (b ) exactly, e. g.
right in the middle, right opposite, (c) completely: Turn right round. The rain came
right through the roOf.
 — 189 —
fair and fairly occur as adverbs: to play fair, to fight fair, he
did not treat us fairly. For the special meaning of fairly —
(= moderately) see § 241.
late is the opposite of early: a late train, to get up late, to stay
up late; lately =
"recently": / haven't seen him lately.

Note further the expressions to stop short, look sharp (= make

haste), wide open, pretty good (§ 241), jolly nice.

Note. In Sp. E. there is some freedom in using the adjectival form for the com-"
parative. Examples : It's easier said than done. If you take a taxi you will get there
much quicker.

Prepositions

Originally, most prepositions denoted place or direction and 456

were later used for time relations and in a figurative sense.
Here is a list of the chief prepositions with their root meanings.

I
l_J I
! I I

at on in outside in front of behind over above

under below
DB
near, by
DBD
between
an
among around
©
(D) D
opposite

B. o —> — >-o — y o — ]~>~|

I
— 1-> — -k
I
— >! ^^
from to towards into out of through across past
A
I t
up down against after

Nearly all prepositions under A denote both place and direc-

tion. E. g. IVs betiveen the books. Put it betiueen the books. The pre-
positions under B express direction or motion.
Note in particular in /into. He ivas in the room. He came into
the room. It's in the book. I put it into the book'^. — Occasionally
on used after verbs of motion instead of simple on: He
to is
threw on to the table.
it —
From may be combined with a preposi-
tional group The dog came from under the table. The man stepped
:

from behind the tree.

^ The learner is advised always to use in when the meaning is "place within",
and intowhen the preposition follows a verb of motion. But as a matter of fact in
the latter case, too, in is sometimes used, especially after to put: He put the letter
in his pocket:
 :

— 190 —
457 A preposition may be part of an adverbial, or it may form
part of a prepositional object, in which case it is closely con-
nected with a verb or adjective (§ 169).
Consider the following examples
(a) I read it in a book. We arrived in time,
(h) I am interested in books. Do you believe in ghosts?
(c) He put in a good word for me. It's time to turn in.
(d) He went in. They came in.
In (a) we have adverbials (prep. + noun), in (b) prepositional
objects. In (c) and (d) the word in is an adverb, but with this
distinction that in (c) it forms together with the verb a sense
unit.

458 Here is a summary of the prepositions indicating time.

(a) point of time or period.

at at 5 o'clock, at half past twelve, at noon, at midnight.
in in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening.
in spring, insummer, in 1960.
in afew weeks, in five minutes.
on on Sunday, on February 1st.
before before 5 o'clock. after after 5 o'clock.

(b) direction, limit.

from -to from 5 to 6 o'clock, from Monday to Saturday.

Till or until is frequently used instead of to: from

morning till night.
since I've been here since Saturday. We've been waiting since
2 o'clock. Since, not from, indicates the starting point
when the end point is not mentioned.
till We worked till midnight. (Only till, not to, when the
starting point is not mentioned.)
by The composition must be finished by to-morrow. You
must be here by 6 o'clock. The meaning is: at that time
at the latest.

(c) duration.
for I've been waiting for three hours. It's been raining for
two weeks. - This for is often omitted.
during // rained during the whole day ( throughout). =
Another meaning is: at some time in the period men-
tioned, e. g. He called during my absence.
 — 191

XXXIII. The English Vocabulary

I. Twin-words
many words in English, such as work, play,
There are a great 459
want, that have a double nature: They may be used
love, fighl,
either as nouns (the work, the want), or as verbs (to work, to
want). Phonetically, work is a unit, but for the learner there is
the double task of learning the work and to work. The difference
may be one of meaning as well as of function; e. g. the want
mostly means lack or scarcity, to want means to require, need,
or to wish. A useful term for a word with such a twofold function
is twin-word.
Further examples: hope, desire, hate, turn, help, talk, change,
also most words imitating a sound, such as cry, scream, roar,
yell.In all these examples we do not feel that one function is

derived from the other ^.

There are other twin-words, where quite obviously one func- 460
tion is the original, the other the derived one.
(a) Nouns used as verbs. The words hand, finger, elbow,
shoulder, head, eye are, of course, nouns, but they may occasion-
ally also serve as verbs: hand me the hammer, you shouldnt
finger the book, he elbowed his way through the crowd, we must
shoulder the responsibility, the band headed the procession, I eyed
him criticcdly. —
Other examples: to paper a room, to fence in
a piece of land, to rope off the roacV^.
Verbs used as nouns. Swim, bathe, walk,
(b) drive, climb,
fall are felt primarily to be verbs, but we can say to have a swim,
to have a bathe, to go for a walk, to take a drive in the park, it was
a hard climb, he had a bad fall. Even the phrase verb + adverb
may take on the function of a noun: a break-down, a hold-up.
On twin-words like the 'insult, to in'sult, the 'record, to re'cord,
i. e. where the two functions are differentiated by stress, see § 28.

There are other twin-words combining the functions of noun 461

and adjective, e. g. quiet, calm, dark, cold, square; or adjec-
tive and verb, e.g. open, dry, clean; or adjective and
adverb, e. g. near, far, fast, hard (§ 455). See also §§ 236, 237.—
^ Some twin-words are derived from Old English, where noun and verb were
differentiated by the ending.
2 The meaning of the verb is often narrower than that of the noun, or the verb
is only used together with an adverb.
 — 192 —
II. Compounds
In the formation of compounds, English has great freedom,
though only a good sense of the language will tell the student
what is permitted and what not.

Compound nouns ^
462 By far the greatest number of compounds consist of noun +
noun. Some examples are given in § 27. Here is another batch:
'postman, 'letterbox, 'post-' office, 'note-, paper, 'shopkeeper, 'shop-
as, sistant, 'shop-' window, 'railway, 'engine-, driver, 'station- master. ,

Beside thecompounds that form a close sense unit, there are

loose collocations, though we find, of course, many border
eases. Some examples are to be found in § 33, 1 here are a few ;

more: coro' nation 'service, 'winter 'gales, 'air offensive, 'food

'shortage. " String compounds" are by no means uncommon, e. g.

first-class railway fare, school debating-society.

For compound proper names, like 'Buckingham 'Palace,

'Kensington 'Gardens, see § 33, 2.

463 The question of how these compounds are stressed and

written (i. e. whether as one word, with hyphen, or as separate
words) is a troublesome one, for English is rather inconsistent
in this respect 2. Here are a few general rules:

1. Many compounds have single stress and are written in one

word: 'postmcm, 'sunshine, etc. But numerous compounds,

though single-stressed, are commonly written with hyphen, e.g.
'book-keeper, 'life-boat, 'life-belt, 'sign-post, 'cross-road.

2. Many compounds have secondary or full stress on the

second part, and these are written with hyphen or as separate
words, e. g. 'post-, off ice, 'shop-as sistant, 'shop-' window; garden
city, Sunday paper. (For exceptions i.e. compounds with double
stress that are written as one word, see § 33, 3)

3. Loose collocations have double stress and are written as

separate words.

^ The relation between the two parts of a compound varies so widely that a
classification would serve no practical purpose. Compare sunshine, sunflower,
sundial, sunglasses, sun-worship.
2 Not even dictionaries agree on the use of the hyphen, which shows not only

how unsettled usage is but also that the Englishman does not attach much im-
portance to this detail of spelling.
Practical rule for the student: When in doubt write short compounds as one
word, longer ones with a hyphen.
 — 193 —
Notes. 464
1. As regards the form of the compounds, it will have been observed that the
first part appears in the singular form (which is really the stem-form). Thus we say
letter-box, apple-tree, tooth-brush, stamp-collector, though it is a box for letters, a
tree with apples, etc.
For the compounds men-students, women students see § 483.
2. In a number of old compounds the second word shows a weakened vowel.
Examples: Sunday, yesterday, breakfast, postman, cupboard; Bournemouth, Margate.

A very common type of compound is ing-form -f noun. 465

Examples: 'dining-room, 'reading-room, 'writing-paper, 'blotting-
paper, 'lualking-stick, 'rowing-boat. These words have single
stress, they are always written with hyphen.
Then there are compounds of the type letter-writing, fox-
hunting, letter-writer, dish-washer, shareholder, where the relation
of the two elements is that of verb and object {to write letters, etc.).

Other compounds with nouns are less frequent.

Adjective + noun: 'blackbird, 'redbreast, 'bluebell, 'redskin,
'paleface, 'highway, 'nobleman, free-trade.
Adverb + noun: 'through-carriage, 'up train, 'down train,
'outpost, 'outlaw, 'underground. — Numeral + noun is chiefly
to be found in "double compounds", like 'five-act 'play, 'ten-
pound 'note (§ 180).

It has been mentioned that though English is most flexible 466

as regards the formation of compounds, the possibilities are
limited. Thus we have bookseller, bookstall, bookmark, book-title,
book-number, but we say the size of the book, the colour of the book,
i. e. we use a phrase with the genitive.
the price of the book, etc.,
When a compound usual or admissible and when not, it is
is

impossible to state. Usage here defies classification, and the

student will have to rely largely on his "sense of the language".
While the size of the book is an ordinary noun phrase, there are
also real compounds with the o/-genitive, e. g. point of view, pre-
sence of mind, block of flats, at this time of year, lilly-of-the-valley.
Another type are compounds with the inflected genitive, e. g.

men's clothes, a visitors' book, ladies' waiting-room. See § 261.

Finally note: Compounds may stand in competition with the

group adjective and noun: e. g. postcard, post-office, postmcm, but
postal order, postal delivery, postal authorities. Or: sunshine, sun-
light, etc. but solar system. — Words like Public School, common
though written in two words, form a sense-
sense, general meeting,
unit and must be considered as real compounds. Ch. § 230, Note.
14
 — 194 —
467 Compound adjectives and participles
Compound adjectives have double stress and are written
with a hyphen,
(a) 'dark-'hlue, 'light-'blue, 'red-'hot, ' dead-' serious ; 'blue-'eyed,
'fair-' haired,' broad-' minded,' open-' handed, 'big-' hearted ( = ge-
nerous)^. .

(b) ' snow-' white, 'nut-'brown, 'coal-'black; 'world-wide.

Though words hke blue-eyed, fair-haired look like participles,
they are really adjectives, for no verbs exist.

Compound participles are very numerous, especially com-

pounds with well. Examples: 'good-' looking, 'hard-' working, 'well-
' prepared, 'well-worn; 'hand-'made, ma' chine-' made ^.

468 Compound verbs

Compounds of the type go out, come in, put away, turn on, i. e.

verb + adverb are dealt with in the §§ 106 and 451.

There is another type of compound: to outdo, to overcome, i. e.

adverb +verb, which is much less fruitful. Examples:

to out'do, out'live, out'last, out'grow.
to , over' come, ,over'look, ,over'take, 'over' charge.
to ' under' state, 'under'sell, 'under'rate, 'under'mine.
to up'hold, up'set; 'by-pass.
Some of these verbs are on the borderline between compound
and derivative.

III. Derivation
469 (a) fair, unfair, fairness, man, manly, unmanly, unmanliness.
speak, speaker, swim, swimmer, learn, learner, teach, teacher,
(b) true, truth, wise, wisdom, long, length.
inform, informant, act, actor, inspect, inspector.

Derivation is the formation of new words from

root words
by means derived from the
of prefixes or suffixes, speaker is

verb to speak by means of the prefix -er; it is a "derivative"

of to speak. —
These prefixes and suffixes are of two Idnds:
(a) living or working prefixes and suffixes, which allow of
new words being formed on those patterns;
(b) traditional prefixes or suffixes, which occur only in iso-
lated words.

^ These words are subject to "rhythmical variation". (§ 33.)

 — 195 —
Example: How are nouns formed from adjectives? The usual
pattern adjective + -ness, e. g. fairness, manliness, happiness,
is

goodness, badness, greatness. But there are isolated formations in

-th, often with vowel change, like length (long), strength (strong),
mirth (merry), or in -/, like height (high), or in -dom, like wisdom
(wise). The freedom in forming new words with living prefixes
and suffixes shows great inequality.

Prefixes

The most important group are the prefixes of negation and 470
opposition. (They are equivalent to not.) Note the stress ^.

un- can be added to the majority of adjectives ^ and to a great

many participles: 'un'fair, 'un'wise, 'un' manly, un' certain,
'un' necessary, un'fortuncde; un' known, 'un'written, 'unde'cided,
'

un'tiring, un'ceasing.

in- ^ is used with many adjectives of Latin or French origin,

especially adjectives in -ate, -ant/ent, -ible: 'incom'plete, 'in-
dis'tinct, 'incon'siderate, in'cessant, in'credible. — The Latin
prefix in- was assimilated to the following sound, becoming i7-

before I, ir- before r, im- before b, p, m: il'legal, il'literate,

ir'regular, drres' ponsible, im'patient, 'impo'lite, im'movable.

dis-* is used with a limited number of adjectives, nouns and

verbs: dis' honest, ,discon' tented, dis' courteous ; ,disad' vantage,
'discontent, ^dissatis' faction, dis' trust; to dis' like, ,disa'gree, ,dis-
be'lieve, ,discon'tinue. (dis- is unstressed before a stressed
syllable; otherwise it has a secondary or full stress.)

non- is used (a) with a limited number of action nouns to de-

note that something is not done: 'non-payment, fton-ag' gres- '

sion, non-inter' ference; (b) with some adjectives and par-

'

ticiples, meaning "not": non-ex' istent, 'non-in' flammable;

'

'non-commissioned 'officer, 'non-'combcdant.

The prefixes un-, in- and dis- also serve to negative adverbs
and nouns derived from adjectives: unfairly, unfairness, indis-
tinctly, indistinctness, disproportion.

^ un- and in- are mostly stressed, but often spoken with secondary accent.

Exceptions cannot always be explained.

2 More precisely: to all native English words (if they can be negatived at all),

and a great many adjectives of French origin.

^ Latin had a second prefix in-, meaning "in, into, towards", e. g. include,
immerge, incline, invoke.
* dis- has a different function in disappear, disembark, disarm. Verbs like dis-
courage, discuss, disgust, are not English derivatives, as the root words do not occur.
 — 196 —
471 Other prefixes are:

un- with verbs denotes "doing the opposite of what the simple
verb says": io 'an' lock, 'un'load, 'un'screw, 'un'iie, 'un' dress.

mis- is used with verbs to denote that something is done badly

or wrongly: 'to mis' govern, 'mis' manage, 'misin'terpret, 'mis-

'

'place, 'misunder' stand, mis'lay. —

Similarly with nouns of
action: mis' conduct, mis' fortune, mis' chance, 'misprint.

re- prefixed to verbs (also to nouns and adjectives derived from

these verbs) expresses repetition {re- =
again, once more):
to 're'print, 'recon'sider, 'rearrange, re-e' xamine, 're'write, 're-
'

'read. Often the idea is implied that the repetition means an

improvement or alteration (e. g. to rewrite, rearrange). In
other cases the sense is "restoring to a previous state": to
're'build, 'recon' struct, 're-'open. —
These derivatives are often
written with hyphen, always when the stem begins with an e.
Examples for nouns: 'reconside' ration, ' recon' struction.

472 There another, quite different kind of prefix in words like

is

prefer, resist, demand, which are of Latin or French

prepare,
origin and were taken over as Latin or French derivatives;
the original root words do not generally occur in English. These
prefixes had distinct meanings, which are in many cases still
apparent, e. g. in precede, predestination, revise, return, include,
immerge, emerge, immigrate, emigrate. —
For stress see Ch. 3.
The prefixes pre- and re- have been revived as is shown in
§§471 and 473.

47o The following prefixes — mostly Latin prepositions - are living prefixes in that
new formations are possible, but the number in actual use is small. They are all
stressed.

ante- (= before): to antedate, antechamber,

pre- (= in advance): to pre-arrange, pre-fabricate; (= existing before): pre-war
prices, pre-war times.
posl- (= the opposite of ante- and pre-, meaning after, behind) : to post-date, post-war,
e. g. post-war times, the post-revolutionary period.

ex- (= former, used with personal nouns denoting office or occupation): e.t-King,
ex-Chancellor, ex-service men.
CO- (= together): to co-operate, co-ordinate; co-education.
pro- (= in favour of, supporting): pro-British, pro- Boer.
aiiti- (= opposed to): anti-slavery society, antisocial, antimonarchical.
semi- (= half): semi-circle, semi-official.
super- (= above, or more than normal, superior): superstructure; supernatural,
superhuman, super-cinema.
ultra- (= beyond, excessively): ultra-violet, ultra-conservative.
inter- (^ between) international, inter-communication.
International was coined in 1780. Most of the other words are even more recent
formations.
 — 197 —
Suffixes

These are listed according to their function of forming nouns,

adjectives, or verbs.

Nouns
-er forms nouns from verbs to denote persons doing something 474
either regularly as a trade or profession, or occasionally: writer,
painter, speaker, swimmer, bookseller, buyer. —
Note that writer
may (He's a famous writer), or to an
refer to a profession
occasional activity (the writer of this letter) ; a speaker is a man
who is just speaking, the Speaker is the man presiding over the
House of Commons.
There are some nouns with the suffixes -or, -ar, which have similar functions:
but though the verbs to sail, inspect, etc. exist, the
sailor, inspector, possessor, liar,
corresponding nouns are not felt to be derivatives of the same kind as writer or
swimmer, -or is, however, a living suffix to form nouns from verbs in -ate: adminis-
trator, legislator, originator.
Some of the derivatives in -er denote tools and instruments lawn-mower, paper-
:

cutter, india-rubber, ruler.

There also exist a few words in -er derived from nouns they
; denote persons:
Londoner, New Yorker, banker.

-ess added to personal nouns denotes a female person: hostess,

stewardess, countess, but the use is restricted to only a few
words. See § 482.

-ment forms nouns from verbs government, movement, amusement, 475

:

punishment, commencement. Originally these words expressed

action, but many have adopted further meanings. (§ 403).

-ion is added to verbs in -ate: administration, hesitation, immi-

gration, operation. (This suffix occurs in a great other many
nouns: opinion, nation, union, which are not English deri-
vatives.)

-al forms action nouns from a limited number of verbs: arrival,

refusal, recital, denial a. o.

Note. These derivatives may stand in competition with the gerund or verbal
noun (§ 392). Just because government, e. g., may mean the governing body as well
as the activity, the ing-iorm may be preferred to avoid ambiguity.

-ness forms nouns from adjectives: kindness, fairness, friend- 476

liness, brightness, cleverness, greatness. They express a character-
istic, a quality or condition (e. g. sleeplessness).

Note. By means of the suffix -ness hundreds of nouns are formed, but it cannot
be added to all adjectives. Isolated formations are:
 — 198 —
(a) words of Germanic origin: true, truth; long, length; strong, strength; wide,
width; high, height; —
wise, wisdom; free, freedom.
(b) words of French origin: Note word pairs lilce patient, patience; distant,
distance; different, difference; accurate, accuracy.

-ity forms nouns from adjectives ending in -able, -ible, -al: re-
liability, visibility, responsibility, nationality, sentimentality.

-ism forms nouns from nouns or adjectives to denote conduct or

attitude: heroism, patriotism, despotism, or peculiarity of
speech: Americanism, provincialism.

Adjectives
477 -able forms adjectives from verbs: i'maginable, 'eatable, 'manage-
able, 'bearable. The meaning is "what can be imagined, eaten,
etc.".Negative adjectives are frequent, in fact sometimes the
corresponding positive adjective does not occur, e. g. 'im'mo-
vable, un' thinkable, in' suffer able.

N 1e 1 . Tiie meaning of tlie suffix is different in words like 'honourable, a'greeable,

'suitable, 'reasonable. — Exceptional formations are 'admirable (from to ad'mire),
'comparable (to com'pare), 'preferable (to pre'fer).
Note 2. There is also the suffix -ible, which however is rare as a living suffix.
Examples: con'vertible, dis'cernible. — Terrible, visible, etc. are not English deri-
vatives.

478 -ed^ forms adjectives from nouns: skilled, cultured, talented. The
meaning is "having skill, culture, etc.". Mostly the adjective
thus formed is part of a compound blue-eyed, fair-haired, open-
:

hearted, etc. See § 467.

-y forms adjectives from nouns; meaning (a) "having the charac-

ter of, like" e.g. stony, fiery, bushy, or (bj "having", e.g.
sunny, shady, hungry, thirsty, or "full of", e. g. noisy.

-fuP is added to nouns to denote "having that quality": careful,

thoughtful, resourceful; with weakened meaning: wonderful,
powerful, eventful.

-less means "without": lifeless, penniless, homeless, fatherless,

childless.

Derivatives with -ful and -less from the same root may have
opposite meanings, e.g. careful-careless, thoughtful-thoughtless, hut
this is not always so, e. g. helpful =
helping other people, help-
less ~
not being able to help oneself. Derivatives in -less are
much more numerous than derivatives in -ful.
1 This suffix is in form identical with the ending of weak verbs.
^ Note the spelling with one 1.
 — 199 —
The following suffixes form adjectives and nouns to denote 479
nationality or language. See § 237.
-an American, African, Roman, Russian.
-ian Canadian (Canada), Brazilian (Brazil), Parisian.
-ese Chinese (China), Japanese (Japan), Maltese (Malta).
-ish Swedish, Danish, Polish, Turkish; Jewish.

To denote the characteristics, qualities or appearance of a 480

person there are the suffixes -like, -ly, -ish:
-like : childlike, ladylike, godlike. These words may be considered
as compounds (like a child).

-ly : manly, womanly, kingly, masterly, gentlemanly, cowardly.

-ish : boyish, girlish, childish. — foolish, snobbish, amateurish.

Note, -ish is also added to adjectives, especially those denoting a colour:

reddish, bluish, greenish; longish, oldish. Reddish means: of a mixed colour with red
in it; longish =
fairly long.

Verbs 481
-en forms verbs from adjectives: darken, fasten, sharpen, shorten.
The meaning is to make or become dark. Note also the —
formations to lengthen, strengthen, heighten.

For the formation of adverbs see § 75.

IV. Distinction of sex in nouns

The English language is not consistent in the indication of 482

sex in the names of persons. We may distinguish three groups.
1. There are two separate words for the two sexes:
man gentleman husband father boy son
woman lady wife mother girl daughter
brother uncle nephew king tutor
sister aunt niece queen governess
In two cases there are even three words: one for both sexes,
one for the male person and one for the female person. Thus
child is the "common-sex word" standing either for boy or girl
or for son and daughter; parent may mean father or mother.
Note. Man is used in a double sense: It may mean a male person, or, more
generally, any human being without regard to sex (as in All men must die) or the
human race, mankind (as in God made the country and man made the towns).
2. The feminine noun is derived from the masculine. The num-
ber of such derivatives is very small, however.
 :

200 -^

Examples
host waiter manager peer prince
hostess waitress manageress peeress pr in' cess
duke emperor heir (ea) actor
duchess empress heiress actrice

3. The noun does not indicate sex. By far the greatest number
of nouns denoting persons are of this type. Examples:
friend, cousin, relative, guest, companion, visitor, foreigner,
customer, assistant, artist, novelist, student, pupil;
American, Canadian, Swiss, Christian (see §§ 236-237);
reader, dcmcer, teacher, swimmer, liar, and many other
nouns derived from verbs.
Also the ranks in the army are no longer exclusively male appellations. The
Salvation Army started it ("Major Barbara" is a play by Shaw), and the two
world wars with the formation of the various women's services extended the usage.

483 If with words of the third type the sex has to be specified or

emphasised, we add the adjectives male J female or we form com-

pounds, e. g. boy-cousin, girl-cousin; boy-friend, girl-friend, man-
friend, woman-friend, lady-friend^; man-student, woman-student.
Note the plural forms boy-friends, girl-friends, men-students,
women-students. Further example: Women-customers are hcwder
to please than men-customers.

There are of course, other means of making it clear what is

meant, e. g. There were twenty children, ten boys and ten girls.

484 The names for higher animals fall into the same three groups.
1. Two or three separate words, e. g.

horse, stallion, mare cattle^, bull,cow

sheep, ram, ewe pig, boar, sow [sau]
poultry, cock, hen.

Dog, though really male, goose and duck, though really female, are
generally used to denote either sex.
2. Derivative for the feminine noun, e. g. lion lioness, tiger — —
tigress. Mostly, however, lion and tiger are used as common-sex words.

3. One word and females, e. g. elephant, goat, cat. Means

for males
of indicating sex are: (a) male elephant, female elephant; (b) he-rabbit,
she-rabbit, she-bear; (c) ball-elephant, cow-elephant; cock-pheasant, hen-
pheasant. Special compounds are tom-cat, tabby-cat; billy-goat, nanny-
goat.

^ A woman will speak of her women-friends, a man of his lady-jriends.

" Used only collectively.
 — 201

Appendix A. Strong and Irregular Weak Verbs

From the following list are excluded about thirty verbs which
are no longer current. Also most of the compounds have been
omitted.

A. Strong Verbs

1. drive drove driven [i] ride rode ridden

rise rose risen [i] arise arose arisen [i]

strive strove striven [i] thrive throve thriven [i

write wrote written

bite bit bitten hide hid hidden
2. bind [ai] bound bound find [ai] found found
grind [ai] ground ground wind [ai] wound wound
3. begin began begun swim swam swum
ring rang rung sing sang sung
spring sprang sprung
drink drank drunk sink sank sunk
shrink shrank shrunk stink stank stunk
4. spin spun spun win won [\] won [An]
cling clung clung fling flung flung
sling slung slung sting stung stung
string strung strung swing swung swung
wring wrung wrung slink slunk slunk
dig dug dug stick stuck stuck
strike struck struck hang hung hung
5. speak spoke spoken steal stole stolen
weave wove woven freeze froze frozen
break [ei] broke broken choose chose chosen
wake^ woke woke, woken awake ^ awoke awoke
bear [ea] bore borne, born ^ swear swore sworn
tear tore torn wear wore worn
tread [e] trod trodden
6. blow [ou] blew blown grow grew grown
know knew known throw threw thrown
draw drew drawn fly flew flown
lie lay lain

7. come [a] came come become became become

run ran run
take took taken shake shook shaken
give gave given forgive forgave forgiven

^ To wake mostly combined with up, e. g. / woke up at six o'clock. The verb has
is
also the / waked, I have waked. In the passive waked is more common than
weak forms
woke or woken. To awake lias the participle awaked besides awoke.
2 Born is used in the expression / was born in June. Borne is used in all other

cases, e. g. She has borne three children. I have borne (^ endured) it long enough.
 — 202

bid bade bidden forbid forbade forbidden

see saw seen fall fell fallen
slay slew slain
beat [i:] beat beaten eat [i:] ate [et] eaten

sit sat sat spit spat spat

stand stood stood under- under- under-
stand stood stood
get got got forget forgot forgotten
hold held held behold beheld beheld
shoot shot shot shine shone [o] shone [o]
fight fought fought

An isolated verb is go went gone.

B. Irregular Weak Verbs

All weak verbs, both regular and irregular, have identical forms
for preterit and participle. It would, therefore, have been sufficient
to list only the stem-form and the derived form, but for practical
reasons the three forms are given. (See § 97.)
Those verbs that are marked by asterisks possess the regular forms,
too; e. g. burn burned burned, lean leaned [li:nd] leaned. The
irregular forms are the more common in Sp. E.

9. layi laid [ei] laid mislay mislaid mislaid

pay paid [ei] paid
say said [e] said flee fled fled
hear [ia] heard fa:! heard

10. burn burnt * burnt * learn learnt * learnt

spilt * spilt * spoilt *
'

spill spoil spoilt

smell smelt smelt dwell dwelt dwelt

11. weep wept wept keep kept kept

sleep slept slept sweep swept swept
feel felt felt kneel knelt * knelt ^

mean [i:] meant [e] meant lean [i:] leant * [e] leant *

deal [i:] dealt [e] dealt dream [i:] dreamt *[e] dreamt *

leave [i:] left left leap [i:] leapt * [e] leapt *

lose [u:] lost lost

12. bend bent bent lend lent lent

send sent sent spend spent spent
build built built
shed shed shed spread [e] spread [e] spread
rid rid rid burst burst burst
cast [a:] cast [a:] cast broadcast broadcast broadcast
cost fo] cost [o] cost thrust thrust thrust

^ The verbs lay, mislay, pay are irregular only in spelling.

 203

bet bet bet let let let

set set set put [u] put [u] put
hurt hurt hurt hit hit hit
slit slit slit split split split
cut [a] cut [a] cut shut [a] shut [a] shut
13. bleed bled bled breed bred bred
fed fed speed sped * sped *
feed
meet met met light lit* lit*
lead [i:] led led read [i:] read [e] read
14. catch caught caught teach taught taught
bring brought brought think thought thought
seek sought sought beseech besought besought
buy [ai] bought bought
15. make made made have had had
sell sold [ou] sold tell told told

16. show [ou] showed shown mow [ou] mowed mown

sow [ou] sowed sown saw sawed sawn
hew hewed hewn sew [ou!] sewed sewn
strew strewed strewn

Appendix B. Some Prepositions

Most of the prepositions denote place and time and are used in a
figurative sense. The examples are arranged accordingly in three
sections, numbered I, II, III.

at denotes
I. 1. place and position:
(a) a small town^ or village; hotel, shop, or other building: We
spent the holidays at Bournemouth. We stayed at the Cliff Hotel.
He lives at 15 Woodland Road. We met at the station. I bought it at
Harrods. — at the sea-side.
(a) place of an activity to be at school, at church, at the theatre, at
:

a concert; to be at home. I met her at a party.

(c) other examples: at the top, at the bottom of the page, at the foot
of the mountain; at the beginning, at the end of the journey; at the
back of the house.
2. vicinity of a place ( = near, by). The taxi is at the door. He stood
at the window, to sit at the table.

II. point of time: at 5 o'clock, at noon, at midnight; at Easter.

III. 1. point on a scale: Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, at a speed
of 60 miles per hour. It's cheap at four shillings; at a high price,
at the age of twenty-five.
2. state or condition, occupation: to be at work, at play; to be at war,
at peace; to be at breakfast, at dinner.

1 The use of at and in before names of places is not fixed. When we live in the town

and speak of it as an inliabitant, we mostly use in, e. g. My home is in Bournemouth.

— With the names of big towns in is the rule / was in London, in Paris, etc.
:
 — 204 —
Note further:
to aim at, strike at, shoot at, rush at;
to look at, stare at, smile at, laugh at.
With verbs at marks the point to which the action is directed.
to be delighted at, pleased at, surprised at, alarmed at, annoyed at,
furious at.
In these expressions at is equivalent to "because of".

on (often replaced by upon, pronounced a'pon).

I.The basic meaning is contact with a surface, mostly a horizontal sur-
face, which serves as support, sometimes a vertical surface.
1. The book is on the table. Put it on the chair. My room is on the second
on board a ship, to go on board, on horseback, on
floor, to be the road.
(But in the street!)
2. The picture hangs on the wall, on the blackboard.
II. On denotes period or point of time: on Sunday, on February 5th, on
that day; on that occasion, on my arrival, on landing.
III. Figurative meanings.
1. = about, concerning: a lecture on the virtue of work; a book on
physics; comments on current events. I congratulate you on your
success.
2. (a) on holiday, on business; on a journey, on an expedition;
to be
to be on duty (opp. off duty), on guard. The house is on fire. {On
denotes state or action.)
(b) To live on rice; to live on thirty shillings a week.
(c) Idioms: on the right, on the left, on all sides; on principle, on pur-
pose, on the contrary, on an average, on the whole. I have it on the best
authority.

Note further:
to rely on, to count on, to insist on, to decide on. to call on a person
( = visit), keen on, intent on.

in denotes
I. position: It's in my
pocket, in the box, in the drawing-room; in London
(cf. at),in England, to be in bed, in prison. Note in particular: in the
north, south, etc., in the street. What do you see in the picture? in the sky;
in the world.

II. 1. period of time: in the morning^, afternoon, evening, in spring,

summer, autumn, winter (but at this time of the year), in the past,
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
I can do it in two hours (duration).
2. = at the end of: / shall be back in two weeks.
III. 1. conditions, circumstances: to be in the sun, in the shade, in the rain,
in the dark, to be in love, in trouble, in difficulties, to be in a good
temper, in good health.
2. field of activity: He's in the navy (army, air-force); in society, in
English literature, in art, in religion.

1 But if we think of a point in time we use on, e. g. We ariiued on a lovely spring

morninq.
 — 205 —
3. manner: in a friendly way; in a loud voice, in a whisper; in evening
dress. Say it in English.

Note further (see also § 402)

to believein God, to trust in one's strength, to fail in an examination, to
succeed in doing something.

above means "higher than a certain point, on a higher level", also

higher in scale, rank, intellectual or moral level.
I. We were above the clouds. 5000 feet above sea-level, a mile above the
bridge ( = higher up the river).

III. 60" (degrees) above zero. A baronet is above a knight, to value character
above brains. He is above criticism. That's above me = too difficult.

below is the opposite of above.

I. The Dead Sea is below sea-level.
III. 20° below freezing point. A viscount [vaikaunt] is below an earl in rank.
That is below your dignity.

over.

I. In its basic function of denoting place or space relation, over has four
different meanings.
1. = directly above, vertically higher: An aeroplane was flying over our
heads.
2. = covering a thing or surface, or moving along a surface: The town
has spread all over the countryside, over land and sea.
3. = across: We passed over a bridge.
4. = on (or to) the other side of something, especially an obstacle:
My bonnie is over the ocean. He jumped over the wall, to fall over a
chair.

11. You may keep the book over the holidays.

III. In a figurative sense over denotes "more than": It costs over ten
shillings. That happened over ten years ago. Note further: to rule over,
to reign over, a victory over.

under.
I. Under is the opposite of over meaning "in a lower place" or "covered
by". The letter was under the book, under the snow; under a tree; under
the smoky sky of London. Synonyms are underneath and beneath.

III. 1. Under is the opposite of over in the meaning of "less than" / can't :

do it in under three weeks. Children under twelve years pay half-

price.
2. under = controlled by or guided by: England under the Tudors.
He studied under Professor Fair.
3. There are various other uses of under, where the original meaning
is not always perceptible. Examples: under a heavy load, under

difficult conditions. T. E. Lawrence lived under the name of Ross.

I am under no illusion; under the impression that. The ship is . .

under way.
 206

Appendix C. Archaic English

students reading a play by Shakespeare or the Authorised Version
of the Bible willmeet with many forms and constructions that are no
longer in use. Only the most important ones can be mentioned here.
1. Pronouns. The old pronoun for the second person singular is thou,
objective case thee, possessives thy and thine. Ye occurs for you (nomina-
tive plural).
The possessive adjective its did not exist in the 16th century; his was
used instead. The relative pronoun which is frequently used with reference
to persons.
2. The verb-forms corresponding to thou are: thou speakest, thou spokest,
thou thou calledst; thou hast, hadst, thou art, wast (or wert), thou
callest,
dost [dAst], didst; thou canst, couldst, wilt, wouldst, shalt, shouldst, mayest.
3. An old ending of the third person singular of the present tense is
-th or -eth: he knoweth ['noui9], he hath, he doth [dA0].
4. The ending -ed weak verbs was originally [id] in all cases. Later it
of
was shortened to At the time of Shakespeare, the usage was
[d] or [t].
not yet fixed. In most modern editions of the plays the shortened forms
are printed thus: turn'd, deceiv'd, wish'd, which means that the unab-
breviated forms, like plunged, vexed, have to be pronounced with syllabic
ending ['plAnd3id, 'veksidj.
5. Verbs denoting movement sometimes form the perfect with to be:
This man is now become a God.
6. On the use of do in affirmative statements and its omission in questions
and in negation see § 104.
7. Subjunctive I occurs frequently in older texts. See § 376.
8. Occasionally Subjunctive II takes the place of the conditional, espe-
cially the form were: She were an excellent wife for Benedick. If it were
done when 'tis ( = it is) done, 'twere ( = it were) well, it were done quickly.
 — 207

Index
The references are to sections

a, an 50, 181, 182, 185, 191, Conditional clauses 442 to Habit 313, 314.
199. 447. had rather 359, had better 368.

Ability 345, 346. Conjugation 82-100. have 102, 138-145.

about + infinitive 357. Conjunctions 431-447. have got 140.
Absolute construction 423 Contact-clauses 248, 431. have + noun + inf. or par-
to 425. Contable nouns 174-176. ticiple 406-408.
Accusative 57-59, 323-326. Hyphen 463.
"Accusative with infini- dare 103, 370.
tive" 404-411. Dative 57-59, 324-326. Imperative 93, 308, 371 to
Action-noun 403. Defective verbs, s. Modal 374.
Adjective 66-74, 230-244. auxiliaries. Imperfect, s. Preterit.
I

Adverb 75-77, s. Adverbial. Degree 241-243. in, into 456.

Adverbial 107-112, 170 to Demonstrative pronouns Indefinite Pronouns 271,
172, 448-455. 192-194. 272; s. also Ch. 18.
Adverbial clauses 438-441. Derivation 469-481. Indirect speech, s. Reported
After-past 292. Determinatives 172, 192 to speech.
all 215-220. 196, 199-229. Infinitive 379-388, 394-402.
any 204-208, 223-225. Direct and indirect objects Inf. phrases 131, 386, 387.
Article 49, 50, 181-191. 324-328. ing-form 94, 430, s. Parti-
Auxiliary verbs 101-103, do 104, 123, 133, 136. ciple, Abs. constr.
136-151. Durative, s. Progressive. ing-phrase 426-429.
Interrogative pronouns 124
Back-shifting 163, 394. each 221. to 129.
Bare infinitive, s. Plain inf. either 227, 229. Intonation 152-161.
be 101, 137. Emphasis 120, 121, 156. Inversion 113-118.
be -f inf. 303, 369. every 218-222. it 266-269.
Before-past 291. Expanded tenses, s. Pro-
both 226, 229. gressive t. let 373.
but 255. Link-verbs 166.
fairly 241. little 69, 73, 213, 214.
can 85, 103, 345-353. few 213.
Capital letters 47. for + object + inf. 420. many, s. much.

Case 57-60, s. Objects. Future 293-305. Mass-words 174.

Causation 416-419. Future perfect 304, 305. may, might 85, 103, 345-353.
Collective nouns 178. Future tense 89, 90, 294 to Modal auxiliaries 342-368.
Comma 162. 298. Mood 342-377.
Common case 58. much 65, 211, 212.
Comparison 67-74, 76, 239, Gender 51-53. must 85, 103, 360-364.
240. Genitive 60, 259-261, 280, my, s. Possessives.
Compounds 462-468. 281. myself 273-275.
Conclusive verbs 389 foot- Gerund 392-402, 426-429.
note, 403. get something done All. near, next 74.
Conditional 91, 92, 375. going to 301, 302. Necessity 360-369.
 — 208 —
need 103, 361. Prepositions 456-458. Strong verbs 95, App. A.
Negation 83, 104, 132-135, Present tense 85, 283, 284, Subject 163, 164.
223-225. 299, 300. Subjunctive 100, 376, 377
neither 149, 228, 229. Preterit 86, 286, 289. Subordinate clauses 431 to
no 135, 223-225. pretty 241. 447.

none 223, 224. Progressive tenses 98, 315 Substantive, s. Noun.

not-yet 135. to 322. such 191, 196, 197.
Noun 51-60, 172, 174-180. Prohibition 374.
Numerals 78-81. Pronouns 61-65. Tag-phrases 146-151.
Pronunciation 8-25, 35-46. Tenses 282-306.
Punctuation 162. that (determinative) 65, 192
Objective case 57-59.
Purpose 384. to 195, (relative) 246,
Objects 106, 167-169, 323
(conjunction) 431-437.
to 331.
the 49, 183, 184,186-190.
Object phrases 404-420. Questions 122-131, 153,
there is 114.
Obligation 360-369, s. Im- 155.
this 65, 192-194.
perative. quite 241.
Transitive verbs 332, 333;
one {a -one) 199, (prop-
s. also Objects.
word) 233, 234, (indef. rather 241.
Twin words 459-461.
pronoim) 271. Reciprocal pronouns 276.
other 65, 209, 210. Reflexive pronouns 61, 64,
used to 290.
ought 366-368. 273-275.
own 279. Reflexive verbs 330, 331. Verb 82-104.
Relative adverbs 254, 255. Verbal noun 392.
Relative clauses 245-258. Volition 354-359.
Participle 389-391.
Relative pronouns 65, 245,
Participle phrase 421, 422,
257-259. 124-129:
s. also Object phrase. what (interr.) (re-
Passive 99, 336-340.
Reported speech 130, 131, lative) 245, 247.
306-309.
Past tense, s. Preterit. whatever 258.
Perfect 87, 287-289.
Request 372. which (interr.) 127, 128: (re-
Permission 352, 415.
Rhythm 25.
lative) 245, 251.
Personal pronouns 58, 61 to whichever 258.
63, 266-281. Sentence structure 163-171. who 65; (interr.) 127, 128;
Pluperfect 88, 291. Separation of syllables 48. (relative) 245, 251.
Plural of nouns 54-56, 174 shall 85, 103, 294-296. whoever 257.
to 180. should 103, 366^368. whole
Possessives 61, 63, 277-281. so 198, 268. will 85, 103, 294-298, 354,
Possibility 347-351. some 199-208. 355.
Post-genitive 265. Spelling 35-46. Word-order 105-119.
Predicate 165-169. Stress 21-24, 26-33. would 356.
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