BEGLA-137

Indira Gandhi
National Open University
LANGUAGE THROUGH
School of Humanities LITERATURE

Block

3
Structure words

Block Introduction
UNIT 9
Structure Words-1
UNIT 10
Structure Words-2 Auxiliaries
UNIT 11
Structure Words in Discourse-1
UNIT 12
Structure Words in Discourse-2

2
 Course Introduction
Language through Literature (BEGLA 137)
(CHOICE BASED CREDIT SYSTEM)
Credit weightage: 6 credits
Language Through Literature which has been adapted from BEGE-101 is aimed at providing
a lucid account of how even the most common elements of language are used dexterously and
aesthetically in literature/oratory to please, to entertain, to persuade, to gratify and to create
aesthetic appeal. As a matter of fact, literature is nothing but a creative and imaginative use of
language. This course will enable you to not only understand the various and dynamic ways
in which writers/orators use language but also comprehend and appreciate literary/rhetorical
pieces better and derive greater pleasure from them. This course will primarily deal with
literal versus metaphorical meaning, literary and rhetorical devices and an understanding of
the development of discourse.
This course seeks to equip you with awareness of some of the important aspects of English
usage through a study of representative samples of writing in English. The course is divided
into 4 blocks of about 4 units each. Block 1 deals with extension of meaning, multiple
meanings and overlap of meaning in the context of language acquisition process through four
units/chapters. Block 2 has four units which deal with confusion of semantic and structural
criteria and escaping wrong analogies including studying literary texts. Block 3 introduces
and takes you to understanding of structure words in all its facets and dimensions including
auxiliaries and structure words in discourse with a purpose to aware of the role of
conjunctions and linking adverbials in combining ideas/events together.
Block 4 aims to clarify certain areas of confusion relating to rhetorical devices with an
emphasis on structure and style including use of repetition and questions. The course does
not include much linguistic theory and deals with the structure of English in a practical way.
The aim is to help the undergraduate student acquire a better understanding of how
language operates and attain a reasonable level of accuracy in the use of the language, both
in speech and in writing.

Follow all the units and enjoy your Course.

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Block 3 Introduction

In continuity with the previous blocks, this block will enable you to not only understand the
various and dynamic ways in which writers/orators use language but also comprehend and
appreciate literary/rhetorical pieces better and derive greater pleasure from them. This block
will primarily deal with literal versus metaphorical meaning, literary and rhetorical devices
and an understanding of the development of discourse.

In the first Unit of this block, the discussion would make you distinguish structure words
from content words (also called lexical words) and describe the special characteristics of
structure words, and distinguish the respective roles of structure words and lexical words in
English.
In Unit 10, you should be able to distinguish between auxiliaries and main verbs and then
primary and modal auxiliaries. After going through the unit, you will be able to distinguish
the various meanings and uses of the different auxiliaries, and also construct complex Verb
phrases using permissible combinations of auxiliaries and main verbs.

In Unit 11 and 12, the aim is to make you aware of the function of some of the structure
words in meaningful discourse. We shall deal mainly with personal, possessive, and
demonstrative pronouns, determiners (including the definite article), and coordinating
conjunctions. We shall also take up some adverbial expressions used for demonstrative
reference or as linking devices.

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UNIT 9 STRUCTURE WORDS-1
Structure

9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Passage for Reading
University Days by James Thurber
9.3 Recognizing Structure Words
9.3.1 Structure Words and Content Words
9.3.2 Lexical Meaning and Structural Meaning
9.3.3 Why Do We Need Structure Words?
9.4 Characteristics of Structure Words in Use
9.4.1 Frequency of Occurrence
9.4.2 Closed Class Membership
9.4.3 Structure Words as Structural Markers
9.4.4 Structure Words Provide the Grammatical Framework of a Sentence
9.5 A Note on 'Some Other Words‟: Determiners
9.6 Let Us Sum Up
9.7 Key Words
Answers

9.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to

• distinguish structure words from content words (also called lexical words),
• describe the special characteristics of structure words, and
• distinguish the respective roles of structure words and lexical words in English.

9.1 INTRODUCTION

In this unit, we shall discuss the structure words of English. In this unit, we shall
define structure words and distinguish them from content words. In the
subsequent units, we shall discuss three important types of structure words of
English: articles, auxiliaries and prepositions.

9.2 PASSAGE FOR READING

Read the following passage carefully. In this passage, James Thurber describes
his 'University Days':
University Days
James Thurber

l) I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could never
pass botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a
week in o laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could
never see through a microscope. I never once saw a cell through a microscope.
This used to enrage my instructor. He would wander around the laboratory
pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the involved
and, so I am told, interesting structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I 5
 would just be standing there. "I can't see anything, "I would say. He would begin
patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he
would always end up in a fury, claiming that I could to see through a microscope
but just pretended that I couldn't. "It takes away from the beauty of flowers
anyway," I used to tell him. "We are not concerned with beauty in this course,"
he would say. "We are concerned solely with what I may call the mechanics of
flars'". "Well," I‟d say, "I can‟t see anything." "Try it just once again," he'd say,
and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now
and again, a nebulous milky substance — a phenomenon of maladjustment. You
were supposed to see vivid, restless clockwork of sharply defined plant cells. "I
see what looks like a lot of milk," I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the
result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly; so, he would readjust
it for me, or rather, for he, And I would look again and see milk.

2) I finally took a deferred pass, as they called it, and waited a year and tried
again. (You had to pass one of the biological sciences or you couldn't
graduate.) The professor had come back from vacation brown as a berry,
bright-eyed, and eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. "Well,"
he said to me, cheerily, when we met in the first laboratory hour of the
semester, "we're going to see cells this time, aren't we?" "Yes, sir," I said.

Students to right of me and to left of me and in front of me were seeing cells;

what's more, they were quietly drawing pictures of them in their note-books.
Of course, I didn3 see anything.

3) "We'll try it," the professor said to me, grimly, "with every adjustment of the
microscope known to man. As God is my witness, I'll arrange this glass so
that you see cells through it or I'll give up teaching. In twenty-two years of
botany, I....” He cut off abruptly for he was beginning to quiver all over, like
Lionel Barry more, and he genuinely fished to hold onto his temper; his
scenes with me had taken a great deal out of him.

4) So we tried it with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only
one of them did I see anything but blackness or the familiar lacteal opacity, and
that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, a variegated constellation of
flecks, specks, and dots. These I hastily drew. The instructor, noting my activity,
came back from an adjoining desk, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in
hope. He looked at my cell drawing. "What's that?" he demanded, with a hint of
squeal in his voice. "That's what I saw," I said. "You didn't, you didn't, you
didn't," he screamed, losing control of his temper instantly, and he bent over and
squinted into the microscope. His head snapped up. "That's your eye!" he
shouted. "You've fixed the lens so that it reflects! You've drawn your eye!"

(Copyright c 1933, 1961 James Thurber. From My Life and Hard

Times, published by Harper & Row)

9.3 RECOGNIZING STRUCTURE WORDS

We have printed some words in the first paragraph of the passage in bold type. If you
examine these words carefully you will find that these words are rather small as
compared to the other words that occur in the passage. For example, in the first two
sentences, the words in bold type are: I, all, the, that, at, my, but, could, this,
because, had, to, a, in, through, at, and. All of them, except one, are one-syllable
words. Some other words are also small but we have not printed them in bold type.
6 Flars/f1a:z/flowers. The writer is trying to imitate the instructor's pronunciation.
Let us divide the words in bold type in the first paragraph into different parts of Structure Words-1
speech. We see that they can be divided into these categories:

Articles: the, a

Pronouns: I, that, my, this, he, me, anything, anybody, it, him, we, what, nothing,
you, himself

Prepositions: at, in, through, around, with, of, to, from, except, like, for

Conjunctions: but, because, and, until, how, that, so, or

Auxiliaries: could, had to, used to, would, were, am, be, can, are, may

Some other words: all, this (when not a pronoun)

Words belonging to these parts of speech are called structure words.

9.3.1 Structure Words and Content Words

You will notice that our list does not contain the names of the more important parts
of speech like noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. These four are the major parts of
speech. Words belonging to these categories are not structure words: they are called
content words or lexical words.

The difference between content words and structure words lies partly in the nature
of their meaning and partly in the characteristics of their use. We shall discuss the
differences in the nature of their meanings first.

9.3.2 Lexical Meaning and Structural Meaning

Let us look at some content words occurring in our passage:

Nouns: university, microscope, structure, fury, phenomenon, etc.

Verbs: pass, enrage, pretend, claim, adjust, etc.

Adjectives: nebulous, milky, vivid, restless, brown, etc.

Adverbs: patiently, always, sharply, cheerily, quietly, etc.

How do the meanings of these content words differ from the meanings of the
structure words which were listed earlier? Look up both kinds of words in a
dictionary. What do you find?

Dictionaries are of various types but you will find that content words are entered in
all dictionaries. The dictionary gives you a description of the meaning in simple
words. For example, one meaning of the noun structure is given as 'the way in which
parts are formed into a whole'. The meanings of some other nouns (e.g., microscope)
may include a picture. Meanings of verbs, adjectives and adverbs are generally given
in the form of simple word-equivalents and definitions. Thus, nebulous is defined as
'not clear', 'cloudy', etc., enrage as 'to make very angry', and so on. This shows that
content words have meanings which can be described, represented by a picture,
carried by synonyms, etc. Such meanings arc called lexical meanings. Nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs have lexical meanings. Respectively, their meanings refer to
objects or things, actions, qualities of objects, and modes and manners of action.
Whenever we want to say something, we use names of objects (nouns), words for
actions (verbs), qualities (adjectives), modes and manners (adverbs), etc. These
words carry the main items of meaning in a sentence. Without them we would not be 7
 able to say anything about any person, thing, action, quality, etc. In other words,
we would not be able to use language at all.

As for structure words, dictionaries do not really give you their meanings; what
they do is to tell you how these words are used For example, here is what the
Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary of Current English has to say about some
of the structure words from our list:

used by a speaker or writer to refer to himself. Cf. me, object form,

and we, us, plural forms.

the 1. used as a less specific form of this, these, that, those applied to
person(s), thing(s), event(s), etc. already referred to or being discussed
......2. used when who or what is referred to is quite obvious. 3. used with
a noun when it stands for something unique... 4..., etc. (Lists 14 uses)

at 1. (place and direction) (a) indicating the place in or near which

something or somebody was, is or will be ...(b) towards; in the direction
of…….(c) indicating an attempt to get or reach something, (d)
indicating distance ..... (e) 2. (time and order) (a) indicating a point
of time...... (b)…… ,and so on.

and ...1. connecting words, clauses, sentences....

can ...1. indicating ability or capacity to do something. 2. is used with verbs

of perception in place of the simple tenses, which are less usual?
Nothing is added to the meaning... 3. is used, colloquial style, to
indicate permission... (4) etc. (lists 9 uses).

Why do dictionaries give 'meanings' for lexical words and 'uses' for structure
words? The reason obviously is that lexical words have 'content', some substance
of meaning which can also be represented in other ways, by other words or by
pictures. Structure words do not have much content; as a result, they cannot
generally be represented by other words. We can use the words 'cloudy' or 'not
clear' for nebulous but we cannot use a for the or at for in, or it for him. This is
because each of these small words, or structure words, has a definite use, or uses,
which cannot be performed by another word. The function of a cannot be
performed by the, the function of could cannot be performed by may, and so on.

9.3.3 Why Do We Need Structure Words?

Why does a language need structure words? Can it not do with content words only?

We can find the answer to this question if we take a normal sentence and remove
all the structure words from it. Let us take these two sentences:

I could never see through a microscope.

I will never see a microscope.

If we remove the structure words from these sentences, we get

never see microscope

from both sentences. In fact, we can think of a number of sentences such that, by
removing the structure words, we will get 'never see microscope‟. For example:

You may never see the microscope.

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She will never see through my microscope. etc.
It is obvious that these sentences all carry different meanings though the content
words are the same in all of them. We can, therefore, say that the meaning of a
sentence does not come from lexical words only: some meaning is also contributed
by structure words. It is true that the meaning of lexical words is important in all the
above sentences: they all talk about microscopes, for example. But the presence of
structure words is also important. For example, it is the presence of the preposition
through which tells us that in one sentence we are talking about seeing through a
microscope, while in another sentence we are talking about seeing a microscope.
Similarly, the presence of could in one sentence and of will in another shows that in
one sentence we are talking about the past, in another about the future. The presence
of the in one sentence and of a in another also makes a difference in meaning {the
microscope vs. a microscope) as we shall see in the next unit.

The kinds of meanings that structure words convey arc clearly different from the
meanings of lexical words. Lexical words denote objects, actions, qualities, etc.;
structure words produce meanings like the time of action, relationships between
objects, definite or indefinite object, etc. However, more important than the kinds of
meaning is the way in which these meanings are conveyed. Lexical words convey
their meanings by themselves, i.e., each lexical word contains its own meaning. (the
meaning of chair, the object, comes from the word chair, the meaning of running, the
action, comes from the word run, and so on.) The meaning of a structure word, on the
other hand, comes from the association of the word with another word, or set of
words. The meanings of the articles a and the, for example, are conveyed to us only
when the article is attached to a noun; the meaning of a pronoun comes to us only
when we know the noun it stands for; the meaning of a preposition comes to us only
when we know the two entities which it relates, and so on. We would not be very
wrong if we said that structure words have no meaning of their own: their meaning
emerges only when they occur in combination with other words, i.e. in a sentence.
This is the reason why some dictionaries do not list structure words, and also the
reason why those dictionaries that do list them describe their uses rather than give
their meanings.

We have thus identified two kinds of meaning: the meaning of lexical words and the
meaning of structure words. We call be former ‟lexical meaning' and the latter
'structural meaning'. The meaning of a sentence is a combination of these two kinds
of meaning.

Check Your Progress 1

1) We have identified all the structure words in the first paragraph of James
Thurber's passage. You do the same for the remaining paragraphs. List the
structure words under these heads: Articles, Pronouns, Auxiliaries, Conjunctions,
Prepositions, others. List each structure word only once.

2) Make five good sentences using all the content words given below in each
sentence. To do so, you will have to use a number of structure words. Use
different structure words for different sentences. You can change the form of the
content words but use each content word only once:
9
 go stand ’street window
watch man people

9.4 CHARACTERISTICS OF STRUCTURE WORDS IN

USE

We have shown how structure words can be distinguished from lexical words on the
basis of meaning. We shall now describe some characteristics of the use of structure
words which also help us to distinguish them from lexical words.

9.4.1 Frequency of Occurrence

If you count the structure words that we have underlined in the first paragraph of
James Thurber's passage, you will find that they constitute nearly half of the total
number of words in the passage. Some of the structure words occur again and again.
For example, the article a occurs 13 times and the 10 times. Similarly, other structure
words like all, this, he, it, etc. also occur repeatedly. If you continue counting these
words in the rest of the passage, you will find that the total occurrences of each
structure words add up to quite a few. No lexical word occurs in the passage as many
times, though some words like microscope, look, etc. do occur again and again. The
higher frequency of structure words becomes more apparent as you increase the size
of the passage. It has been calculated that, on an average, one-third or more of the
words occurring in a text are structure words.

Another characteristic of structure word is that they occur with equal frequency in all
kinds of styles and varieties of English. This characteristic is not found in the use of
content words. The kind of content words that will occur in a particular passage is
determined by various factors, e.g., the subject matter, the choice of style, the level of
education of the person addressed, and so on. Content words that occur in a
discussion on politics are unlikely to occur in a discussion on physics; the content
words that one uses when talking informally to one's friends are different from the
content words that one uses when delivering a formal lecture (even if their meanings
Are similar). Structure words, on the other hand, always remain the same. There are
no substitutes for articles. Pronouns, prepositions, auxiliaries, etc. in English. Hence
their frequency is the same in every style and every use except perhaps in such
specialised cases as the language of telegrams where structure words are often
dropped to save on cost.

9.4.2 Closed Class Membership

As we stated earlier, structure words belong to different parts of speech: some are
articles, some pronouns, some prepositions, some auxiliaries, some conjunctions, and
so on. It is to be noted that each of these categories contains only a few words. There
are two articles, 25-30 pronouns, 60-70 prepositions, 35-40 conjunctions 15-16
10
auxiliaries and a few other words. The total number of structure words in English Structure Words-1
is not more than 200-250. This number is very small when compared to
thousands and thousands of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Why is this
so? Why are there only a few structure words but thousands upon thousands of
lexical words? The answer is very simple. Lexical words denote objects, actions,
qualities, etc. and there are thousands upon thousands of these in the world;
structure words denote relations between these and there are only a few of these
relations. The situation is somewhat similar to arithmetic: there are thousands and
thousands of numbers but only a few relations (or operations, like addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division) that exist between them.

It is this which leads to the open class membership of lexical words and closed class
membership of structure words. New words are added to the class of nouns, verbs,
etc. all the time because new objects are discovered, new kinds of actions, or
combinations of actions, are seen or imagined; new qualities, or combinations of
qualities, are experienced, and so on. However, no new words are added to the class
of pronouns, articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, etc. because the functions these
classes of words perform (e.g., the relations that prepositions show between objects
denoted by nouns) always remain the same or vary only over long periods of time.

We thus notice that the class of structure words consists of a small number of
words which occur very frequently. The class of lexical words, on the other
hand, consists of a very large number of words which occur very infrequently.

9.4.3 Structure Words as Structural Markers

A characteristic of the use of structure words is that they always occur with
content words belonging to the major parts of speech (nouns, verbs, etc.). Just as
content words by themselves cannot form a sentence (remember 'Never see
microscope'!), function words also cannot form a sentence by themselves (can
you imagine a sentence like 'I all the that I my I could'?) Structure words have to
be combined with lexical words to make good sentences. There are certain
definite ways ('rules') in which structure words combine with lexical words. For
example, articles combine only with nouns, auxiliaries combine only with verbs,
prepositions always precede nouns or noun phrases, conjunctions always join
elements of the same type, etc. Because of these definite rules of combination,
we can always use a structure word to tell the part of speech of its accompanying
word. For example, wherever an article occurs we can be sure that the
accompanying word will be a noun, since articles always occur with nouns, never
with verbs, adverbs, etc. Similarly wherever an auxiliary occurs we can be sure
that the accompanying word will be a verb, since auxiliaries occur only with
verbs. In other words, articles are markers of, nouns and auxiliaries are markers
of verbs. All structure words function as markers of some grammatical category
or the other. In this capacity, they are called 'structural markers'.

What is the use of structural markers? How are structure words useful as
structural markers?
A simple example will answer these questions. Look at the following message
received by wire:
Ship sails today
This message contains only lexical words. In telegrams we save money by
omitting the structure words, but this sometimes leads to problems, as in this
case. What does the message mean? It may either mean 'The ship is sailing
today‟ or it may be a command asking the addressee to ship the sails (send sails
by ship) immediately. If the telegram is received by the addressee, who has the
necessary background information, he will have no problem, but if it is received
by a friend or a member of the family who doesn't know the background, he will
not know how to interpret the telegram.
11
 Now suppose we supply the structure words. The telegram will then read either as

The ship sails today

Ship the sails today

The meaning becomes quite clear in either case. What makes this possible? The
structure word the. Whichever word it precedes is marked as the noun {ship or
sails), the rest follows easily.

9.4.4 Structure Words Provide the Grammatical Framework of a

Sentence

Structure words and inflections (endings on words like the present tense ending -s,
the plural -s or -es, the past tense ending -ed, etc.) function as structural markers-
they tell us the grammatical category of the word with which they occur. When we
know the grammatical categories of all the words in a sentence we know its
grammatical structure to a great extent. The grammatical structure of a sentence
contains a number of positions in which content words occur, e.g., the subject
position, the object position, the verb, etc. When the content words are filled in, we
get the full meaning of the sentence. For example, look at the structure.

The is
Verb Object

If we fill in the blanks with content words, we get the sentences

The man is watching a word.

The country is fighting a war etc.

Structure words therefore provide the basic structure, or the grammatical framework
of a sentence. This framework, as we saw earlier, contributes its own meaning,
which is called structural meaning. If we remove the structure words, the structural
meaning is lost. We are only left with some items of lexical meaning with no
structure and no relationship between them. On the other hand, if we remove the
content words, we have only an empty framework, a structure without any substance.

9.5 A NOTE ON 'SOME OTHER WORDS'.

DETERMINERS

In our list of the parts of speech of structure words, we have listed some words
under the title 'some other words'. What words are these?

In James Thurber's passage some words (like all, this, that) occur again and again.
These words do not belong to a single part of speech. Depending on how we use
them they are either pronouns or adjectives. They are pronouns when they stand for
nouns (e.g., this in 'This used to enrage my instructor.'), and adjectives when they
stand before a noun (e.g., this in 'We are not concerned with beauty in this course'.).

Modem grammar tells us that when words like all, this, that, these, those, one, etc.
stand before nouns (i.e. when they function as adjectives), they are markers of nouns.
Hence they are like the articles a, an, the, which are also markers of nouns. Some
pronouns (the possessive pronouns like my, your, his, etc.) also stand before nouns
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 and should also be called noun-markers. Modern grammar puts all noun-markers in Structure Words-1
a single category. The name given to this category is Determiner. Determiners
are the class of structure words which include articles, possessive pronouns,
demonstrative adjectives, numerals, etc., all of which function as noun-markers.
In our next unit we shall discuss one type of determiner words: the articles.

9.6 LET US SUM UP

Let us now sum up our discussion. We have seen that

i) Structure words are words belonging to the categories of articles,

auxiliaries, conjunctions, prepositions and pronouns. Words belonging to
the categories of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are content words.

ii) Content words have lexical meaning, or meaning which can be represented
by other words, pictures, etc.; structure words have uses or functions which
may be described but cannot be performed by other words.

iii) Structure words have a high frequency of occurrence in all styles and
varieties of English; the frequency of content words is much less and
varies according to style, subject matter, etc.

iv) Structure words form classes whose membership is closed. No new

structure words are added to the language.

v) Structure words function as structural markers. Structural markers help us

to recognize the part of speech to which a word in a sentence belongs.
This, in turn, helps us to understand the sentence correctly.

Vi) Structure words provide the grammatical structure of a sentence and

contribute structural meaning; content words fill the structural positions and
contribute lexical meaning.

9.7 KEY WORDS

Structure words: Words belonging to closed classes with a high frequency of

occurrence.

Content words: Words belonging to open classes with a comparatively lower

frequency of occurrence.

Closed class: A class of words that does not admit new members (e.g. articles,
pronouns, prepositions, etc.).

Open class: A class of words that admits new members (e.g., nouns, adjectives,
verbs, etc.).

Structural meaning: The meaning contributed by structure words,

Lexical meaning: The meaning contributed by content (or lexical) words.

Structural marker: A word is said to function as a structural marker when it

helps us identify the grammatical category of another word with which it occurs.
Inflections also function as structural markers. 13
Structure Words
ANSWERS

Check Your Progress

l) Articles: a, the, an

Pronouns: I, it, you, one, his, he, me, we, why they, them, their,
anything, him, my, these, that

Auxiliaries: had to, could, had, are. going to, are, were, did, 'II (shall/will),

Conjunctions: as, and, or, when, so that, for, so

Prepositions: of, from, as, to, in, through, like, onto, with, out of,
but (=except), at

Others: first, this, every, that

2) The five sentences given below are examples. You can construct other
good sentences;

i) The man went to the window and watched the people standing in
the street.
ii) The man stood at the window and watched the people going in the
street.
iii) The people stood and watched the man going out of the window
into the street.
iv) The man went into the street and the people stood and watched
him through the window.
v) The man stood and watched the people going out of the window
into the street.

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Structure Words
UNIT 10 STRUCTURE WORDS- 2 AUXILIARIES
Structure

10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Passage for Reading
10.3 Auxiliaries and Main Verbs
10.4 Primary Auxiliaries: be, have, do
10.5 Modal Auxiliaries and their Meanings
10.6 Types of Complex Verb Phrase
10.7 Auxiliaries as Operators
10.8 Let Us Sum Up
10.9 Key Words
Answers

10.0 OBJECTIVES

After you have studied this unit you should be able to

• distinguish between auxiliaries and main verbs,

• distinguish between primary and modal auxiliaries,
• distinguish the various meanings and uses of the different auxiliaries, and
• construct complex Verb phrases using permissible combinations of auxiliaries and ma

10.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous Unit, we introduced you to structure words. We stated there that 'structure
which have little lexical meaning but which are essential to the meaning of the sentences, s
the meanings of content words and establish relationships between them. We also stated
characteristics of the structure words. We saw that they

i) occur very frequently in all styles and varieties of English,

ii) form small and closed classes of words,
iii) function as structural markers, and
iv) provide the grammatical framework of a sentence and contribute structural
meaning.

We also discussed one type of structure words called the articles. We mentioned that art
structure words called determiners. Determiners were described as noun-marke 'determin
shortened expression for „determiners of nouns‟.

In this unit, we shall discuss a class of words which can be called „determiners of verbs‟ or
term for such words is auxiliaries. It is fortunate that this commonly understood term is a s
use the word 'determined' for noun-determiners
and the word ‟auxiliary‟ for verb- d

Auxiliaries are markers of verbs in the same sense in which determiners are markers
of nouns. Whenever an auxiliary occurs, a main verb is sure to follow. Sometimes the
word will in the sentence 'He will leave tomorrow,' is an auxiliary; it is followed by Structure Words-2
the main verb leave. If I ask someone 'Will you come tomorrow?' and he answers 'I Auxiliaries
will,' there is no main verb in the answer, but we know there is a main verb and it is
come. We know this from the question. We can therefore say that an auxiliary is
always accompanied by a verb just as a determiner is always accompanied by a
noun, and just as we can identify a word as a noun, if a determiner accompanies it,
we can identify a word as a verb if an auxiliary accompanies it. In this sense
determiners are noun-markers and auxiliaries are verb- markers.

Further, just as a structure consisting of one or more than one determiner and a noun
(with or without an adjective in between) is called a noun phrase, a structure
consisting of one or more than one auxiliary and a verb (with or without an adverb in
between) is called a verb phrase. A man and a tall man are noun phrases, is singing
and is always singing are verb phrases.

The words that occur as auxiliaries in English are the following. We place them in
two groups. The reason for putting them in these two groups will become clear later.

Group I BE, HAVE, DO

Group II can, could, may, might, will, would, must, shall, should,
dare, need, ought (to), used (to)

We have put the auxiliaries of Group I in capital letters and those of Group II in
small letters in order to show the following difference between them: the auxiliaries
of Group II are used in the form in which they are given; the auxiliaries of Group I
have a number of different forms. BE has the forms is, am, are, was, were, be, being,
been, HAVE has the forms has, have, had, - DO has the forms do, does, did.

10.2 PASSAGE FOR READING

Before we start a discussion on the auxiliaries, we give you a passage to read in

which some of the auxiliaries to be discussed have been used. As you read the
passage, underline the auxiliaries. You can later check whether you have
underlined the correct words when you come to Check your Progress I. The
passage has been taken from Robert Lynd's essay 'On Being Measured for a Suit
of Clothes.'

From On Being Measured for a Suit of Clothes

Robert Lynd

"YOU ought to have some new clothes. You are getting shabby." Gradually the tone
of command creeps in: "You must have new clothes. Do ask E. V. the name of his
tailor." A week later italics make their appearance: "You must get a new suit." Italics
quickly give way to small capitals: "You MUST get a new suit. Will you go and get
measured this afternoon?" "No, no," I protest, "today is Friday. Nothing would
persuade me to be measured for a new suit on Friday." "Well, then, on Monday."
Luckily, Monday is usually the thirteenth or something equally impossible, and I
have another good argument for postponement. A few days later there is an appeal to
my better nature in the form of an outrageous falsehood: "You know you promised."
This fails, as it deserves to fail, but at last there comes a morning when I find myself
in a comer... "Will you go and get measured today, or shall I call for you in town and
take you" It is tyranny, but I know that I am beaten. "All right, but he's sure to want a
deposit, and I haven't any money." "Give him a cheque." "If I'm so shabby as you say
I am, he'd probably refuse it." "Well, call in at the butcher's and get him to cash a
cheque on your way into town." "I don't know the butcher." "That doesn't matter. He
probably knows you. He must often have seen you passing." "If I'm so shabby as you 16
say I am, he would probably take me for a tramp." "Now you see what comes of
 Structure Words dressing so badly. You're frightened of your own butcher." "No, I'm not. I'm
'frightened of bringing disgrace on all of you by being arrested in a butcher's shop for
trying to get money by false presences." "Oh, well, I‟ll come with you as far as the
butcher's." "Don't know when I'll have time to go to the tailors. I promised to lunch
with Jones today." "I'll ring up Mr. Jones and explain." "Oh, don't trouble. Besides,
I‟m not sure that he didn't say yesterday that he wouldn't be able to come," ..."Good-
bye," I say sullenly, as I put on my coat, for I hate having my day ruined like this;
"What did you say the tailor's name was?" "I think it was Turtle, or Tompkinson, or
Tarbutt, or some name like that. Anyhow, you'll be able to find him quite easily. He's
Alan's tailor." "What's his number?" I ask gloomily, for I know at least the name of
the street. "I don't know his number, but Alan said his shop was at the wrong end of
the street." "Which is the wrong end of the street?" "I don't know. Go and look at it
and see." "But in what way is it the wrong end? Is it wrong morally or architecturally
or socially? Does he mean that it's the end or the cheap end?" "Oh, the cheap, I'm
sure." "Honestly, I think I ought to put off going till we've seen Alan again and got
some information about his tailor."
(From Robert Lynd: The Money Box; published by Methuen & Co.)
In this passage the writer is being told by his wife that he should get a new suit of
clothes. The writer is reluctant and makes many excuses. The dialogue between them
contains a number of auxiliaries. Let us note a few of them:
..... ought to have ..... (I) will come...
.... must have ..... (written 'I'll come')
Do ask ... ..... do (not) know .....
..... must get ..... (written 'don't know')
Will (you) go. .......................................................... (you) will be (able)
..... would persuade ..... (written '..... you'll be')
.... shall (I) call . ...
..... am beaten .....
..... must (often) have seen.....
..... would (probably) take.....
We have quoted the whole verb phrases in which the auxiliaries occur. The
auxiliaries are in bold type. The accompanying words, which are not in bold type
and are not in brackets, are the main verbs.

Check Your Progress 1

1 Go over Robert Lynd's passage once again and check if you have
underlined all (and only) the auxiliaries; then check your answers with
the answers given at the end of the unit.

2 Distinguish Group I and Group II auxiliaries in your answer to Exercise I

above.

17
 Structure Words-2
10.3 AUXILIARIES AND MAIN VERBS

How do you distinguish between an auxiliary and a main verb† First, you may note
that a main verb can occur by itself in some other sentence where no auxiliary occurs
with it. For example, in the first verb phrase we have quoted, ought to have, have is
the main verb, ought (to) the auxiliary. Have can occur as a main verb without an
auxiliary, as in I haven't any money. Similarly, the main verb of the verb phrase
would persuade occurs by itself in the sentence He persuaded me to come. This
shows that a main verb can occur without an auxiliary; an auxiliary, on the other
hand, cannot occur without a main verb (either present or understood). Secondly,
whenever a verb phrase contains more than one verb (remember that auxiliaries am
also verbs), the last verb in the phrase is the main verb; all other verbs are auxiliaries.
Thus, in the verb phrase must (often) have seen the last verb seen is the main verb;
must and have are auxiliary verbs; open is not a verb and therefore does not count.

Why do auxiliaries occur with main verbs sometimes and not at other times? The
answer to this question is as follows:

a) Some auxiliaries occur with main verbs because certain constrictions are not
possible without them. For example, the negative and interrogative forms of
sentences with simple verb phrases always require the use of the auxiliary
DO. The negative form of the sentence She dances well is She doesn’t dance
well’, the interrogative form is Does she dance well?

b) Most auxiliaries occur with main verbs when we wish to express certain
kinds of meanings. Different auxiliaries express different kinds of meanings.
As we shall see in the next section when we do not wish to express these
meanings, we use the simple form of the verb. For example, I have some
new clothes means what it says (that I actually am the owner of some new
clothes); I ought to have some new clothes, on the other hand, means that I
do not actually have new clothes and it is desirable that I should have some.

Check Your Progress 2

State if the verbs in bold type in each of the following sentences are used as
auxiliaries or as main verbs:
i) Do you have many friends in college?

ii) My sister likes to read poetry.

iii) God helps those who help themselves.

iv) You ought to know your religion well.

v) When did India become a Republic?

vi) A snake-bitten patient should not sleep.

vii) I noticed the difference.

18
 viii) It is not correct to say that the poor are getting poorer, though the rich may be
getting richer.

ix) Have you heard about the Ramakrishna Mission?

x) This Mission has its branches in many cities and towns in India and abroad.

10.4 PRIMARY AUXILIARIES: BE, HAVE, DO

In Robert Lynd's passage, you must have noticed that some verbs occur very
frequently both as auxiliaries and as main verbs. These verbs are our Group I verbs:
be, have, do. Note the following examples:

Have as a main verb : You ought to have some new clothes.

Have as an auxiliary : He must have seen you passing.
Be as a main verb : I am shabby.
Be as an auxiliary : I am beaten.
Do as a main verb : Do as you are told! (Not from the passage)
Do as an auxiliary : Do ask EV the name of his tailor.

Be, Have and do are called Primary Verbs. When they occur as Auxiliaries, they are
called Primary Auxiliaries.

Used as a main verb, be does not have any specific meaning: it is used in such
constructions as She is a teacher, She is sad, etc. to relate a noun or adjective occurring in
the predicate with the noun or pronoun in the subject. The main verb has the meaning 'to
own', 'to experience', etc. (as in I have two cars, I have a headache) -, the main verb do
has the meaning 'behave,' 'carry out,' etc. However, when used as auxiliaries, these verbs
do not have any specific meaning of their own; they only help us to form certain types of
verb phrases. Each type of verb phrase as a whole conveys a certain kind of meaning. For
example, the auxiliary be is used with the present participle form of the main verb in the
present or past tense (eg., She is I was singing) to form a verb phrase which carries the
meaning that the action denoted by the main verb is in progress and not yet finished. The
auxiliary be is also used with the past participle form of the verb (as in: He was defeated)
to form the passive verb phrase which is used when we wish to give greater importance to
the action or event (of defeat) than to the performer of the action (namely, the person who
defeated him). The auxiliary occurs with the past participle form of the main verb in the
present or past tense (e.g., She has/had left) to form a verb phrase which carries the
meaning that the action denoted by the main verb has (or had) been completed. The
auxiliary do, as we have already seen, is used in questions and negative sentences and,
like be and have, occurs in several forms (do, does, did) which carry the tense, number,
person etc. of the verb. It also occurs when we wish to emphasize a request, as in Do ask
E. V, the name of his tailor.

We thus see that primary auxiliaries are structure words which have little meaning of
their own but are grammatically very important. Their use is essential for certain
grammatical constructions and for conveying grammatical distinctions of tense,
completion or non-completion of action, number, person, etc.

Check, Your Progress 3

Distinguish the uses of be, have and do as main verbs and auxiliaries in the following
sentences:
19
 That building is a hotel. Structure Words-2
Suchitra is learning French. Auxiliaries
He's so shabby.
He is going to the tailor‟s to get a new suit made.
He hasn't any new clothes.
His old clothes are worn-out.
He has decided to have a new suit.
When do you do your homework?
Did he do you any harm?
Have you had Lunch?
His wife has just had a baby.
The house was being painted.
I'm going now.
Do come again.
What are you doing?

10.5 MODAL AUXILIARIES AND THEIR MEANINGS

The auxiliaries of Group II, on the other hand, do not show distinctions of tense,
number, person, etc. Their forms always remain the same. But each auxiliary in
Group II helps to add some shade or the other of meaning to the sentence. The pairs
can-could, may-might, will-would and shall-should are sometimes said to be present-
past pairs but this is not correct: all it really means is that when the verb in the
principal clause is in the past tense, could, might, would and should are used as the
past tense forms of can, may, would and shall in the subordinate clauses according to
the principle of Sequence of Tenses. But could, might, would and should are used in
many other places without referring to the past at all. They carry certain meanings
which make them different from other auxiliaries.

The meanings of these auxiliaries are of a different type from the meanings of other
words like nouns and verbs. While nouns denote objects, adjectives denote qualities,
verbs denote actions, and so on, these auxiliaries generally show the attitudes or
judgements of the speaker. For example, if the speaker says It may rain tomorrow,
his use of may shows an attitude (or judgement) of possibility, since the sentence
means that 'I think it is possible that it will rain tomorrow.' If he had instead said 'It
will rain tomorrow' the meaning would have been, 'I am certain (or I predict) that it
will rain tomorrow.' The use of will in this sentence shows an attitude of certainty, or
prediction. All the auxiliaries of Group II show such attitudes on the part of the
speaker. These attitudes affect the meaning of the sentence. The sentence does not
say that something is true but only that it may be true, or it must be true, etc. Such
changes in the meaning of the sentences are called modal changes; accordingly, the
auxiliaries which cause these changes are called modal auxiliaries.
Let us now give you some of the meanings of the modal auxiliaries:
Can and Could
Can is used when you wish to say that someone is free and able to do something,
e.g., He can lift 200 lbs. Can is used to express this ability in the present; could is
used when we wish to express this ability in the past, e.g., When I was young I could
run a mile in six minutes. But could expresses only general ability in the past. To
express 'particular ability' in the past (i.e. ability to do something on a particular
occasion) we use be able to, e.g., I was able to score a century in the last match. In
this sentence could cannot be used. Ability in the future is also expressed with be
able to.
Secondly, can is used to express permission in the present and could to express
permission in the past. E.g., You can go now. When I was a child I could sleep late 20
on Sunday mornings.
 Structure Words May and might

May and might also express possibility and permission, but they are different from
can and could. Can expresses theoretical possibility, i.e. its use only tells us that
something can happen, it does not say whether it will actually happen. May expresses
the possibility that it may actually happen. Observe the difference between I can
leave tomorrow (if I want to), and I may leave tomorrow. The second sentence
implies that I may actually not be here tomorrow; the first one doesn't.

May is used for seeking or granting permission in the formal style. May I leave
tomorrow† and You may leave tomorrow are formal substitutes for Can I leave
tomorrow? and You can leave tomorrow.

Might expresses a lesser degree of probability than may. We might win shows a lesser
degree of confidence in our winning than We may win.

Might is used for seeking permission but not for granting it. You can ask 'Might I
come in? showing a greater degree of hesitation and doubt than you would if you
said May I come in?, but the other person cannot say Yes you might-, he must say
Yes, you may.

There is another difference between may and can: may is more common when the
permission is given by the speaker; can, when the permission comes from some rule
or authority. Compare:

You may attend my lectures. ( = I permit you).

You can attend the lectures but can't write the exam. (=Rules permit the
former but not the latter.)

Will and Would, Shall and Should

Statements about the future cannot be true in the same sense as statements about the
past and the present. We can say It is true that he lied or It's true that he is lying, but
we can‟t say it's true that he will lie. Since the event is in the future, we can't be
absolutely sure if it will happen or not. Hence, we prefer to say It is likely or
It is possible or It is certain that he will lie. Hence, our statements about the future
are coloured by our attitudes to a greater degree than our statements about the past or
the present. Will and shall, which are often used when speaking of the future, carry
many modal senses, e.g., prediction, willingness, intention, insistence, order, etc.
Here are some examples:

I will (or shall) come with you as far as the butcher‟s. (willingness)

I will cash a cheque in town. (intention)

You will find him quite easily. (prediction)

Shall is used only with the first person subjects (I, we) to express determination and
intention, or to make a prediction. Its use with second and third person subjects
expresses a decision or determination on the part of the speaker with regard to the
future of someone else:

You shall have whatever you want.

The enemy shall not pass.

21 Will and shall, are also used for making requests, offers, and commands. E.g.,
 Will you go and get measured this afternoon? (request) Structure Words-2
Shall I call for you in town and take you? (offer) Auxiliaries
You shall go today. (order)

Would and should are used as the past forms of will and shall in reported speech,
but they also carry some modal meanings. E.g.,

He said that one day I would regret my actions. (prediction)

He wouldn't tell me the secret. (willingness)
He said he would come again after lunch. (intention)
He would have his own way. (insistence)
He should write to his mother more often. (duty or obligation)
He should be here today. (likelihood)

Would is also used for making polite requests:

Would you please sign here?

Must

Must expresses necessity, obligation, compulsion etc.:

You must have new clothes. (necessity)

I must write to him. (obligation)
You must repay the loan within a year. (obligation or compulsion)

Must is used when necessity or obligation is imposed by the speaker; when

the obligation: is imposed by an outside authority or rule, we use have to:

We have to leave tomorrow. (Such are the orders.)

When must imposes necessity, its opposite is expressed by needn’t:
You must leave tomorrow —> You needn't leave tomorrow.

Ought

Ought (to) also expresses necessity and obligation but the degree of necessity and
obligation is much less than expressed by must and almost the same as expressed by
should. In the passage from Robert Lynd, the writer is first told that he ought to have
some new clothes: this is merely a suggestion expressed with some emphasis on
desirability. When the writer ignores it, he is told 'You must have new clothes,'
which, as Lynd says, has 'the tone of command.' The speaker uses must when he (or
she) is prepared to exert enough force to bring about the desired effect; he uses ought
to when he has no such intention.

Must and ought are also used to express a conclusion, or inference, from experience,
evidence, etch E.g.,

She ought to be there now.

You must be Mr. Yadagiri.

Dare, Need, Used (to)

The meanings of these auxiliaries do not fall strictly in the modal type except, to
some extent, the meaning of need. We shall note below that the four auxiliaries
ought, dare, need and used do not share the other features of modal auxiliaries and
are therefore sometimes said to be marginal (i.e. not central or proper) auxiliaries.

Dare means „to be brave, or rude, enough to‟ as in I dare not go there/He daren’t
come. Need means „to have to‟ as in. We needn't go yet, it's too far, Need you try?
Both these auxiliaries occur only in negative and interrogative sentences.
22
 Used (to) denotes a habit or a state that existed in the past, e.g., I used to visit him
on Saturdays/ I used to be interested in birds. Would is also sometimes used in
this sense. This sense of used must be distinguished from in sense in the sentence
am not used to boiled food, where used is an adjective meaning 'accustomed.‟

Check Your Progress 4

Insert appropriate modal auxiliaries in the blanks. The required meanings are
given in brackets:

I write as soon as I can. (intention)

You ..... do as you are told. (strong obligation: tone of command)
We. ..... go to Nainital next summer. (possibility that the event may
actually happen)
Children ..... be very noisy. (theoretical possibility)
As a child, I. ..... recite the whole of Gita. (general ability in the past)
We ...... know the result in about a week. (prediction)
He ..... be very annoyed with me to write a letter like that. (a necessary
conclusion from evidence)
He was so weak he ...... n't even raise his hand. (general ability in the past)
..... you help me? (willingness)
You ..... consult a specialist if you want to. (permission)
Children ....... obey their parents. (duty and desirability)
He ...... come tomorrow. (weak possibility)
She said she ...... write to me again. (intention)
He ...... smoke heavily. (habit in the past)
He ...... n't come personally. (lack of necessity)
How...... you talk to me like that! (to have courage)
He said that he ...... be late. (weak possibility)
'Might I come in? ' . 'Yes, you ...... ' (granting permission)
'. ..... I order a coffee for you? ' (offer)
'. ..... you mind opening the door?' (polite request)

10.6 TYPES OF COMPLEX VERBPHRASE

We stated above that auxiliaries are used with main verbs and in most cases add
some element of meaning to the sentence. We also stated that more than one auxiliary
may be combined with a main verb to produce a complex verb phrase. The
combination of auxiliaries with main verbs follows certain rules, and you must know
these rules so that you do not produce combinations which are ungrammatical.

We can introduce you to these rules by looking at the different types of verb phrases
that are possible. We shall not be concerned here with simple verb phrases, which
consist of only a main verb, e.g., He probably knows you. There are four basic types
of complex verb phrases. The meanings these types convey are as follows:

Type A:modal + (to) infinitive form: the meaning depends on the modal
auxiliary used.
l. I will ring up.
2. He may come tomorrow.

23
1. I have eaten. Structure Words-2
Auxiliaries
2. He has resigned.

Type C: be + present participle: refers to action in progress, i.e. begun but not
completed.

1. Arun is watching TV.

Type D: be + past participle: produces the passive voice. May be used in the
present or the past tense. The passive voice is used when we wish to give greater
prominence to the action than to the performer of the action.

l. He was placed first.

More complex verb phrase types are produced by combining these four basic types.
For example, we may combine Type A (e.g. will go) with Type B (e.g. Slave + gone)
to produce Type AB (drill have gone). Type AB can be combined with Type C (be +
going) to produce Type ABC (will have been going). Note that in will have been
going, will have is Type A, have been is Type B, and be (en) going is Type C. We
can similarly produce Types BC (has been going), BD (has been told), CD (is being
told) and so on. In producing these complex phrases, you must remember to put Type
A before Type B. Type B, before Type C, and Type C before Type D. We cannot
have a Type CB {is having gone), or a Type DC (is been watching) or similar other
types which violate the A—•B—•C—•D order. Also remember that no type can
occur twice, e.g., Type BB (has had been) is not possible.

If you have followed the complex verb phrase types closely you will now
understand that

a) the verb occurs in the infinitive form after the modals (in Type A) except
with ought and red which take to + infinitive,
b) the verb occurs only in the past participle form after have (in Type B),
c) the verb occurs either in the present participle form (Type C) or in the past participle
form (Type D) after be. Type D is the passive voice; hence the past participle
form occurs only if its active object has already occurred as subject. In all other
cases it is the present participle form which occurs after be.

Check Your Progress 5

1 Identify the type of the complex verb phrase in each of the following
sentences:

You ought to have some new clothes.______________________

He, must have seen you passing.__________________________
I may be arrested for trying to get money by false pretences._____
He has been arrested by the police.
You are getting shabby.
You should be working hard.
He is being called.
He should have been asked to work harder.
He should have been working harder.

2 Put the bracketed verb in the correct form in the following sentences and
identify the verb phrase type:

He is (sing).
Arun may be (expel).
He has (accept) his mistake.
You ought (accept) your mistake. 24
 v) Arun has been (watch) the game for two hours.
Structure Words
vi) This song has already been (sing) twice.
vii) As a young man, I used (walk) seven miles a day.
viii) He should have been (punish) for his carelessness.
ix) I was (lead) to believe that the matter had (be) settled.
x) This programme is (be) watched by millions of people all over the
country.

10.7 AUXILIARIES AS OPERATORS

You have now seen the way auxiliaries combine in a complex verb phrase and
also their meanings. Let us now look at a special feature of auxiliaries which
distinguishes them from main verbs:

The first auxiliary of a complex verb phrase enjoys a special status. This is seen
in the following:

i) In questions of Yes-No type, it is moved in front of the subject of the

sentence.
E.g.

You will go Will you go?

I shall call for you Shall I call for you?
ii) In negative sentences, the negative element not is attached to the first
auxiliary in the abbreviated form n't, e.g., You shouldn‟t have been
working so hard.
iii) Adverbs are always placed after the first auxiliary, e.g., He must often
have seen you passing.
iv) The first auxiliary can stand for the whole predicate in certain cases, e.g.,

Q: Must you leave today? A: Yes, I must (leave today). You ought to be
more careful and so ought your driver (to be more careful).

The special status of the first auxiliary in a complex verb phrase is denoted by calling
it the 'operator'. Be, have and do frequently function as operators; be and have also
occur as non-operators (i.e. as second, third and fourth auxiliaries) in a verb phrase.
Modals, on the other hand, always occur as operators (i.e. as the first auxiliary).

Main verbs never function as operators. E.g., we cannot put them in front of the
subject to form a question: we cannot say Goes he today? To form Yes-No
questions from simple verb phrases, we need to use the auxiliary do. Thus, we
say Does he go today? Similarly, we cannot attach not in the abbreviated form to
simple verb phrases. We cannot say He goesn't today, instead, we again use the
auxiliary do and say He doesn't go today, and so on.

This characteristic of auxiliaries is so important that we can use it to distinguish

auxiliaries from main verb. The best examples of this are the verbs dare and need.
They sometimes occur as main verbs and sometimes as auxiliaries. How do we
distinguish the two occurrences! We use the criteria stated above. For example:

'need’ as main verb

Positive: This needs to be recorded.

Negative: This does not need to be recorded.

Questions: Does it need to be recorded?

'need’ as auxiliary

25
Positive: (Does not occur) Negative: Structure Words-2
This needn't be recorded. Question:
Need it be recorded?

‘dare’ as main verb

Positive: He dared to disagree with me.

Negative: He did not dare to disagree with me.
Question. Did he dare to disagree with me?

'dare' as auxiliary

Positive: (Does not occur)

Negative: He daren't disagree with me.
Question: Dare he disagree with me?

Apart from dare and need, two other modal auxiliaries, used and ought also sometimes
share the features of main verbs. For example, it is more common now to say 'He didn't
use to come regularly‟ and 'Did he use to come regularly† than to say. 'He didn‟t to come
regularly' and 'Used he to come regularly?' The forms 'You didn't ought to have done
that' and 'Did we ought to have done it?‟ are not yet common and therefore should not be
used, but they are beginning to be heard. This was the reason why we said above that
dare, need, ought and used are considered to be marginal auxiliaries. In contrast, the
other modal auxiliaries are said to be full auxiliaries and cannot function as main verbs.

Check Your Progress 6

Give the negative and question forms of the following sentences:

i) You called me.

ii) I can borrow his scooter.

iii) He will agree.

iv) You had a good breakfast.

v) You used to be frightened of him.

vi) You ought to have accepted the offer

vii) He might like it.

26
 viii) Yon wanted me to come.

ix) He is talking sense.

x) Your uncle is waiting to see you.

xi) 1 have kept you waiting.

xii) I foresaw this problem.

xiii) You really think you can treat me as a boy.

xiv) You thought I'd be interested in it.

xv) It could have happened to anyone.

xvi) You must decide now.

10.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have told you the following main things:

i) A complex verb phrase consists of one or more auxiliaries and a main verb.
ii) Auxiliaries are of two types: primary and modal.
iii) The verbs (be, have and do) which occur as primary auxiliaries also occur as
main verbs and it is important to be able to distinguish these uses.
iv) Primary auxiliaries have different forms according to tense, number, person. etc.

v) Modal auxiliaries never change their forms for number and person. Some
modals have forms which are used as past tense equivalents in reported
speech.
vi) Modal auxiliaries convey a special kind of meaning which reflects the
speakers attitudes towards the action described. These attitudes can be of
various kinds e.g.. determination, necessity, possibility, desirability, etc.
vii) There are four basic types of the complex verb phrase. These four types can be
27 combined into more complex verb-phrase types according to some fixed
rules to convey different kinds of meanings.
viii) The first auxiliary of a complex verb phrase functions as operator and has a Structure Words-2
special status. Auxiliaries
ix) Primary auxiliaries occur both as operators and non-operators (except do
which occurs only as an operator): modals only occur as operators. Main
verbs do not occur as operators.
x) Some modal auxiliaries (need, dare, used, ought) also function as main
verbs. When they are main verbs, they cannot function as operators.

10.9 KEY WORDS

Verb-determiner/Verb-marker: Verb-determiners or verb-markers are words

which help us identify verbs. They are commonly known as Auxiliaries.

Auxiliary verbs: A small and closed class of verbs that are used before a main
verb to show tense, voice, mood, etc.

Main verbs: A large and open class of words denoting actions, states, events, etc.

Primary auxiliaries: Be, Have and Do when they occur as auxiliary verbs.

Modal auxiliaries: Can, could, may, might, will, would, must, shall, should, dare,
need, ought (to), used (to. They are used with the main verb to express some special
meanings like possibility, intention, necessity, etc.

Model meaning: The meanings expressed by modal auxiliaries. They generally

reflect the attitude of the speaker towards the action, state, etc. described by the main
verb.

Verb phrase: A phrase consisting or either simply a main verb or one or more than
one auxiliary and a main verb.

Simple verb phrase: A verb phrase which consists only of a main verb.

Complex Verb phrase: A verb phrase consisting of one or more than one auxiliary
and a main verb.

Operator: The first auxiliary of a complex verb phrase.

Marginal auxiliaries: Dare, need, used, and ought are called marginal auxiliaries
since they also share some features of main verb.

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
l ought (to); are (getting); must: Do; must; MUST; will; would; be; will; shall;
am; (he) would; do (n't know); does (n't); must (often) have; would: being;
(I) will; Do (n't); (I) will; (I) will; do (n't); did (n't); would (n't): did;
(you); will; do (n't); do (n't); Does; ought (to); (we) have
2 Group I auxiliaries are printed in bold type in the answers to Exercise I.
The rest are Group II.

Check Your Progress 2

i) do: (Auxiliary); have: MV (Main verb) ii) likes: MV iii) helps: MV; help: MV
iv) ought to: Aux; know: MV v) did: Aux; become: MV vi) should: Aux; sleep: MV 28
Structure Words vii) noticed: MV viii) is: MV; are: Aux; getting: MV; may: Aux; be: Aux; getting:
MV ix) Have: Aux; heard: MV x) has: MV

Check Your Progress 3

i) is: MV ii) is: Aux iii) is: MV iv) is: Aux v) has: MV vi) are: MV vii) has: Aux
2
have: MV viii) do': Aux; do : MV ix) Did: Aux; do: MV x) Have: Aux; had: MV
xi) has: Aux: had; MV xii) was: Aux; being: Aux xiii) am: Aux xiv) Do: Aux
(xv) are: Aux; doing: MV

Check Your Progress 4

i) will/shall ii) must iii) may iv) can v) could vi) will/shall vii) must viii) could
ix) will x) can/may xi) ought to/should xii) may/might xiii) would xiv) used to
(xv) need xvi) dare xvii) might xviii) may xix) shall xx) Would

Check Your Progress 5

I i) Type A ii) Type AB iii) Type AD iv) Type BD v) Type CD vi) Type AC
vii) Type CD viii) Type ABD ix) Type ABC.

2 i) is singing: Type C ii) may be expelled: Type AD iii) has accepted: Type B
iv) ought to accept: Type A v) has‟ been watching: Type BC vi) has been
sung: Type BD vii) used to walk: Type A viii) should have been punished:
Type ABD ix) was led: Type D; had been settled: Type BD x) is being
watched: Type CD

Check Your Progress 6

i) You didn't call me. Did you call me?

ii) I can't borrow his scooter. Can I borrow his scooter?
iii) He won‟t (will not) agree. Will he agree?
iv) You didn't have (or hadn't) a good breakfast. Did you have a good breakfast?
v) You didn't use to be frightened of him. Did you use to be frightened of him?
vi) You ought not to have (or oughtn't to have) accepted the offer. Ought you
to have accepted the offer?
vii) He might not (or mightn't) like it. Might he like it?
viii) You didn't want me to come. Did you want me to come?
ix) He isn't talking sense. Is he talking sense?
x) Your uncle isn't waiting to see you. Is your uncle waiting to see you?
xi) I haven't kept you waiting. Have I kept you waiting?
xii) I didn't foresee this problem. Did I foresee this problem?
xiii) You don't really think ... Do you really think...?
xiv) You didn‟t think .... Did you think ...?
xv) It couldn't have happened to anyone. Could it have happened to anyone?
xvi) You needn‟t decide now. Must you decide now?

29
Structure Words UNIT 11 STRUCTURE WORDS IN DISCOURSE-1
Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 What is Cohesion?
11.3 Definite Reference
11.3.1 Personal Reference
11.3.2 Demonstrative Reference
11.4 Let Us Sum Up
11.5 Key Words
11.6 Suggested Reading
Answers

11.0 OBJECTIVES

The aim of this unit and the next is to make you aware of the function of some of the
structure words in meaningful discourse. We shall deal mainly with personal,
possessive, and demonstrative pronouns, determiners (including the definite article),
and coordinating conjunctions. We shall also take up some adverbial expressions
used for demonstrative reference or as linking devices.

11.1 INTRODUCTION

In Units 11-14, you looked at structure words and their function in a sentence. But
you are aware that we do not communicate in isolated sentences. The sentences that
we speak or write are meaningfully linked to each other. This meaningful unit is
called a discourse. Discourse refers to anything that is spoken or written, of whatever
length, which forms a unified whole. Its form can be that of prose or poetry, a
dialogue or a monologue.

It is obvious that all the words and structures used in a particular text play a role in
creating a meaningful discourse. But there are some words that play a crucial role in
connecting sentences together. These words are some of the structure words that you
have read about in the previous units. This linking of sentences is known as cohesion. In
this unit and the next, we shall study some of the devices that bring about cohesion
and the structure words that are required for it. Given below is a list of cohesive
devices that we are going to discuss and the structure words that operate in them.

i) Definite Reference:

a. Personal reference:
personal pronouns (I, we, you, he, she, it, they), possessive pronouns
(mine, yours, etc.) and the determiners (my, your, etc.)
b. Demonstrative reference: this/that, these/those, used either as
pronouns or as determiners, the article the, and the adverbs here and
there.

ii) Linkage :
a. Coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but, neither .............. nor, etc.
b. Linking adverbials: for, so, yet, however, meanwhile, for example,
etc.

30
 Structure Words in
11.2 WHAT IS COHESION? Discourse-1

Before we consider some of the devices of cohesion, let's think about what cohesion
is. Look at the example below:

I know he said it.

This sentence, you will agree, is perfectly grammatical. It is also perfectly intelligible
in that you can understand what it means. But you know that the sentence is
somehow incomplete and you cannot interpret it because you do not know who he is,
and what he's supposed to have said. However, you are aware that he and it are
meant to be linked with some other statement which has occurred before and which
will indicate to you the identity of he and what was said, i.e. it. In other words, we
have to recover their interpretation elsewhere from the text.

Now look at another example, which is part of an instruction for a recipe.

Boil the potatoes. After that peel them.

It is clear that them in the second sentence refers back to the potatoes in the first
sentence. This cross reference gives cohesion to the two sentences, so that we can
interpret them as part of a discourse. The main thing to notice is that the two items
them and the potatoes refer to the same thing, i.e. they are 'co-referential'.

11.3 DEFINITE REFERENCE

There are certain items in every language which have the property of reference, i.e.
instead of having a meaning of their own, they make a reference to something else for
their interpretation. This 'something else' can be within or outside the text. Look at the
example below:

Upon my arrival on the island, I did all I could to win the friendship of
Taratonga, its unofficial chief. I explained to her the reasons that had brought
me to her little Pacific island...

(From Romain Gary; 'A Craving for Innocence' in Romain Gary's Hissing Tales)

Who does my and her refer to? Obviously they refer to the author, who is not
identified in the text. However, her refers to Taratonga, who is mentioned within the
text. Cohesion lies in continuity of reference within a text, and it is with this that we
are concerned.

We have so far given you examples of reference which go back to the preceding text
for their interpretation. There may be reference items which require the following
text for their interpretation.
Example

The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps
alight—hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. Mary Maloney was
waiting for her husband to come home from work.
(From Lamb to the Slaughter by Robert Dahl. Reader's Digest Collection).

Here you will notice that hers refers to Mary Maloney, which occurs afterwards.
31
 Reference can, therefore, be seen in terms of the following tree diagram :

In this unit, we are mainly concerned with reference within the text. In English, the
structure words that refer to something else in a text are usually personal and
possessive pronouns, and certain determiners. This is sometimes known as
personal reference. Demonstrative reference is conveyed by demonstrative
pronouns, certain determiners including the definite article, and certain adverbs.

11.3.1 Personal Reference

Personal reference involves the use of personal pronouns (I, we, you, he, she, it,
they), possessive pronouns (mine, yours, etc.) and certain determiners (my, your,
etc.). We give you a list of these items:

Number Third
First Second Person
Person Person Specific Generalized
Human Non- Human Human
He, him, it, its
you
1, me, his,
yours
mine, my she, one,
your
her, hers one‟s
Plural we, us you they, them,
yours theirs, their
ours, our
your

There are certain points we need to remember about the use of structure words and
their role in connecting sentences together.

There is a distinction to be made in the interpretation of the first and the second
persons and the third person. The first and the second person forms do not normally
refer to a referent in the text at all. They are generally interpreted by reference to the
context of the situation. However, in direct speech, these items can be interpreted
textually, by referring back to the preceding text or forward to the following text. The
examples given below will make this clear:

'I'm not quite sure where I am', she said to Mrs. Wilkieson, as she lay in bed.
'Do you mind explaining†'

Mrs. Wilkieson explained tactfully.

'Oh yes!' said the Princess. 'I remember. And I had an accident in the
mountains, didn't I? Didn't we meet a man who had gone mad, and who shot
my horse from under me?'

'Yes, you met a man who had gone out of his mind.'

(From 'The Princess' by D. H. Lawrence in The Princess and Other Stories,

Penguin Books)

32
In the first sentence, by referring to the later part of the text it can be inferred that I’m and Structure Words in
I refer to the Princess. Similarly, in the sentence 'Do you mind explaining?', you refers to Discourse-1
Mrs. Wilkieson. In the last sentence, 'Yes, you met a man...' you refers to the Princess.

While in the example given above, the first and the second person pronouns are
interpreted by reference to items contained in the text, in the next two examples, these
pronouns can be interpreted only by reference to the situation and not the text
itself.

Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No you couldn't call her beautiful.
Pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces.... But why be so cruel as to take anyone
to pieces .......................... '
(From Katherine Mansfield: A Cup of Tea)

The ghost that got into our house on the night of November 17, 1915, raised
such a hullabaloo of misunderstandings that I am sorry I didn't just let it keep on
walking, and go to bed .......
(From 'The Night the Ghost Got in' by James Thurber, from Vintage Thurber.
Hamish Hamilton; London.)

Who do you think „you‟ refer to in the two extracts given above? You evidently refer to
the general reader. Z refers to the author or the person in whose words the story is
narrated. In either case, there is no reference within the text, but we can gather the
information about the identity of „you‟ and „Z‟ from the situation. You will discover in
your reading that in general, the absence of any reference in the text for the first person
and the second person pronouns does not lead to any sense of incompleteness. On the
other hand, when the third person is used, it implies the presence of a referent somewhere
in the text. In the absence of such a referent the text would appear incomplete. These are
of course exceptions. For example, even the third person can refer to a person in the
context of the situation. Consider the following conversation:

Question: Oh, he's come, has he?

Answer: Yes, he's waiting inside.

The nature of the reply shows that the identity of he is clear to the person addressed.

In the case of the first person plural we, the identity of the referents may be found in the
text, i.e. it is a cohesive device, or it may be understood from the situation.

He turned to his companions with a cruel smile. 'We have got him,' he said, 'We
have got the rhino.'
(From The Kaziranga Trail by Arup Das. Children's Book Trust, Delhi)

In the example above, we refers to he and his companions in the preceding text.
However, consider a text like the following:

It is an extract from Anne Frank's Diary.

Since Saturday we've changed over, and have lunch at half-past eleven in the
mornings, so we have to last out with one cupful of porridge; this saves us a
meal. Vegetables are still very difficult to obtain: “we had rotten boiled lettuce
this afternoon. Ordinary lettuce, spinach and boiled lettuce, there's nothing else.
With these we eat rotten potatoes, so it's a delicious combination”.

(From The Diary of Anne Frank, translated from the Dutch by B. M. Mooyaert)
33
 There is nothing in the text that will tell you the identity of „we’. However, you can
interpret the identity of „we’ from the context of the situation. Who do you think we
refers to? You must have guessed by now that we refers to Anne Frank and her
family or her companions.

The third person pronoun it differs from all other personal pronouns in that it may
refer not only to a particular person, animal or object, but also to a portion of the
text. Consider the example given below:

‟The Dormouse slowly opened its eyes.' 'I wasn't asleep' he said in a hoarse,
feeble voice, 'I heard every word you fellows were saying.'

'Tell us a story!' said the March Hare. 'Yes, please do!' pleaded Alice. 'And be
quick about if added the Hatter, ‟or you'll be asleep again before it's done.'

(From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Collier

Macmillan Publishers)

The first occurrences of its and if refer to the Dormouse in the preceding part of the
text. But the next occurrence of it refers neither to an animal nor to an object, but to
'telling a story'. This use of it is known as extended reference.

The details given by us about personal pronouns apply equally well to the other two
kinds of personal reference, namely the use of certain determiners (my, your, etc.)
and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, etc.).

Check Your Progress 1

1) Given below is an extract from a short story by R. K. Narayan. Pick out the
structure words used for personal reference and indicate the grammatical
category of each—personal pronoun or determined. Also indicate what each
word refers to. We have analysed part of the extract for you. Analyse the rest
of it in the same way.

One day the good journal announced a special offer of eight thousand rupees.
It excited Rama Rao's vision of a future tenfold. He studied the puzzle. There
were only four doubtful corners in it, and he might have to send in at least
four entries. A large outlay was indicated. ‟You must give me five rupees
this time,' he said to his wife, at which that good lady became speechless. He
had become rather insensitive to such things these days, but even he could
not help feeling the atrocious nature of his demand.
(From 'Out of Business' by R. K. Narayan, in An Astrologer's Day and Other
Stories, Indian Thought Publications).
Glossary
'outlay : expenditure: investment
in'sensitive: unfeeling
a‟trocious : very bad

Structure Word Grammatical Refers to

used for Reference category

1) It (line I) Personal pronoun a special offer

2) He (line 2) Personal pronoun Rama Rao
3) it (line 3) Personal pronoun the puzzle
4) he (1ine3) _
34
 Structure Words in
Discourse-1

2) Read the passage given below carefully. Analyse the words printed in bold
type in the same way as was done in the previous exercise.

Animals talk to each other, of course, there can be no question about that;
but I suppose there are very few people who can understand them. I never
knew but one man who could. I knew he could, however, because he told me
so himself. He was a middle-aged, simple-hearted miner who had lived in a
lonely comer of California among the woods and mountains a good many
years, and had studied the ways of his only neighbors, the beasts and the
birds, until he believed he could accurately translate any remark which they
made. This was Jim Baker. According to Jim Baker, some animals have only
a limited education and use only very simple words and scarcely ever a
comparison or a flowery figure; whereas certain other animals have a large
vocabulary, a fine command of language, and a ready and fluent delivery;
consequently, these latter talk a great deal, they like it, they are conscious of
their talent, and they enjoy 'showing off. (from Mark Twain: 'A Tramp
Abroad'.)

35
 11.3.2 Demonstrative Reference

We often point to things in our environment by using gestures. But we can also point
by using words. Demonstrative reference is essentially a form of verbal pointing. It
involves the use of demonstrative pronouns this/that, these/those, the determiners
this/that, these/those, the, and the adverbs here and there.

Like personal reference, demonstrative reference can be to something within the text,
or to the context of the situation. For example, read the extract given in Exercise 2
(under Check Your Progress I) again. Look at the last sentence carefully. What does
these (a determiner) refer to in 'these latter talk a great deal...'? Obviously, it points to
'certain other animals who have a large vocabulary, a fine command of language,
and a ready and fluent delivery, that is, to something within the text.

Now, look at this short dialogue:

A Put these in the box.

B I will, in a minute.

Here the reference made by the word these (a pronoun) is situational, and relates to
the shared experience of A and B.

There are certain points that you need to remember about the items relating to
demonstrative reference and their role in cohesion. These points are merely
generalizations. In your reading, you are likely to come across other functions of
these items. It may be a good idea to note them down.

 In general, this, these and here imply proximity or closeness to the

speaker; that, these and there imply distance from the speaker. In a
dialogue there is a tendency for the speaker to use this to refer to
something he himself has said, and that to what someone else has said.
This distinction is clearly related to that of 'near the speaker' versus 'not
near'. What is said by the speaker is, textually speaking, near him;
whereas what is said by someone else is not.

Examples

i) A: Conditions are fairly good here. But there's been a great deal
of discontent.
B: This is what I can't understand.

ii) A: The working conditions are fairly good here. But there's a great deal of
discontent.
B: Yes, that’s what I can't understand.

 ‟Closeness' or 'proximity' can also be interpreted in terms of time reference:

that tends to be associated with past time reference and this with time-
reference in the present and the future.

Examples

We went to the movies yesterday evening.

That was our first outing after several months. (reference to the past)

We are going to the movies this evening.

This’ll be our first outing after several months. (reference to the future)

 You know that this and that go with or refer to countable singular or
uncountable nouns; these and those go with or refer to countable
plural nouns.
36
Example
Structure Words in
Discourse-1
"I suppose they are the jurors." She said this last word two or three times over
to herself .........
(From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

What does the determiner this go with? It goes with the countable singular noun
word.

Now look at the next example:

The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand and a
piece of bread-and-butter in the other hand. "I beg pardon, your Majesty," he
began, "for bringing these in; but I hadn't quite finished my tea when I was
sent for."
(From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

The pronoun these in the example above refers to a teacup and a piece of bread-and-
butter.

• The determiners this/that, these/those (e.g. this pen; these boys) may refer to any
class of nouns without any restriction. However, demonstrative pronouns (e.g.,
Where are you taking it away? That’s my pen), while they can refer to non-
human objects without any restriction, are highly restrictive in their reference to
human nouns. They can occur in sentences like the following:

Example 1

'Would you like to meet the artist who made these beautiful portraits? Come
with me. Let me introduce you to him.‟ .......
'This is Mr. Hussain.'

Example 2

Who are these smart-looking people on horse-back'?

Oh, those are the President's guards.

• Demonstrative pronouns, like the personal pronoun it, can refer to an extended
text. As mentioned earlier, an extended reference does not refer merely to
persons or objects in a text, but to identifiable portions of a text. This applies
only to the singular forms this and that.

Example

‟...... “I wish they'd get the trial done," she thought, "and hand round the
refreshments!" But there seemed to be no chance of this, so she began
looking at everything about her to pass away the time.'

As you must have noticed, this here refers not to a particular object, but to the whole
process of completing the trial and handing around the refreshments.

• Demonstrative adverbs here and there, as reference items, behave like this and
that, respectively. Here indicates 'closeness' or proximity to the speaker, while
there indicates distance.

Examples:

There's room next to me. Why don't you sit here? (close to the speaker)
37
Structure Words There‟s no room next to me. But there's an empty seat at the next table. Why don't
you sit there? (farther away from the speaker)

• Both here and there can also refer to an extended text. The reference in this case,
however, is not to a place but means: 'in this matter' /'in that matter'/ 'in saying
so'.

Example

'Of course it would be all the better,' said Alice:

'but it wouldn't be all the better his being punished.'
'You're wrong there, at any rate', said the Queen.

• One of the functions of the definite article the is to signal identity of reference
with something that has gone before. There are a number of similarities and also
some differences between the definite article and the other determiners. The other
determiners contain within themselves some aspect of what they refer to. In the
case of personal reference it is a person, and in the case demonstratives, it is
nearness or distance from the speaker. The definite article the, on the other
hand, has no content. The examples below will make it clear.

Singh was in his middle twenties.

We know that his is singular and masculine; hence in the passage above, it can only
refer to Singh.

Now consider an example of the.

Boil and peel six potatoes. Then cut the potatoes.

The, here, has no content. Its cohesive function is that of signifying that the potatoes
that are to be cut are the six potatoes referred to in the previous sentence.

Sometimes the lexical „item is not repeated, but another word is used instead, which
obviously refers to the same thing.

A dingo is a fine-looking animal. The head is blocky and the jaws powerful.
......The almond eyes are keen.

The head obviously refers to the dingo's head, so do the jaws and the almond eyes.

Like it, this and that, the also often refers to an extended text.

Example

Udai: Where are we likely to spend our winter vacation?

Mother: Well, we thought we'd go to Nainital. There we can go for walks,
take part in winter sports, go rowing on the lake and you can even buy those
furry caps you wanted.

Udai agreed at once. In fact, the prospect seemed quite pleasing.

In the passage above the prospect not only refers to the winter vacation they will
spend in Nainital, but also to all the activities they will have there.

• It is generally believed that the signifies an item in the text that has occurred
before. However, you will find that most instances of the in a text are
contained in the context of the situation, or even refer to a later item in the
text.

38
Example: Structure Words
in Discourse-1
It was easy to see just how jar the buses went. Up to the dirt lane the road
was smooth, its centre black and dully shining.

(From A House for Mr. Biswas, by V. S. Naipaul)

As you must have noticed, the buses, the dirt lane and the road do not refer to
anything that occurs before in the text. They refer to the situation in the outside
world.

Check Your Progress 2

1) What do the words printed in bold type refer to in the passage given
below? Which are the words that refer back to an extended text?

'One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This, of course, Alice could
not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, and very
soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that the
poor little juror (it was Bill, the Lizard) could not make out at all what
had become of it; so, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write
with one finger for the rest of the day; and this was of very little use, as it
left no mark on the slate.'

(From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

2) Given below is an extract from a popular story, with some words missing.
Read it through and try to get the gist of it. Answer the questions given
after the extract. Then try to fil1 in the blanks with words indicating
personal reference and demonstrative reference.

"My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a self-possessed young
lady of 15. In the meantime ....... (i) ....... must put up with ....... (ii) .......

Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something to flatter ......... (iii)
... . niece without unduly discounting ....... (iv) ....... aunt. Privately
........ (v) ........ doubted whether ..... (vi) ........ formal visits on total
strangers would help . ... (vii) ....... nerve cure which ....... (viii) .......
was supposed to be undergoing in (ix) ...... rural retreat.

" . . . (x) ........ '11 give ....... (xi) ....... letters to everyone ....... (xii) . ... ..
know .... . (xiii)...... , "........ (xiv) ...... sister had said, "or else ........ (xv)
.........'11 bury yourself and not speak to a soul, and ....... (xvi) ......... nerves
will be worse than ever from moping."

"Do .. .. (xvii) ... know many people around . .. . (xviii) ?" asked
. (xix) ...... niece when ........ (xx) ...... judged ...... (xxi) ..... had had
sufficient silent communion.

"Hardly a soul," said Framton "...... (xxii) ...... sister visited .......... (xxiii)
.... . four years ago, and ... . (xxiv) ...... gave ...... (xxv) .....letters of
introduction."

"Then ...... (xxvi) .... know practically nothing about ....... (xxvii) .......
aunt?" pursued ....... (xxviii) ........ young lady.

"Only ...... (xxix)......... name and address."

[Extract taken from 'The Open Window' by Saki (H. H. Munro)]

39
Structure Words Read the above extract carefully and answer the following questions. After
you have checked your answers, fill in the blanks in the passage.

1) Who do you think are the speakers?

2) Why has Framton Nuttel come to this rural retreat?

3) Why has Franton Nuttel's sister given him letters of introduction7

11.4 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have discussed the function of structure words in discourse. The
structure words that we have discussed belong to the following grammatical
categories: personal, possessive and demonstrative pronouns, certain determiners,
including the definite articles and demonstrative adverbs. We have tried to show you
the role of such words in cohesion, with an emphasis on personal and demonstrative
reference.

11.5 KEY WORDS

cohesion: sticking together

discourse: anything spoken or written
that forms a meaningful, unified whole.
monologue: a speech by one person
precede: come before
proximity: nearness

11.6 SUGGESTED READING

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1

1. Structure word used for Grammatical Refers to

Reference Category

4) he (1. 3) personal pronoun Rama Rao

5) you (l. 14) personal pronoun Rama Rao's wife
6) me (1. 4) personal pronoun Rama Rao
7) he (1. 4) personal pronoun Rama Rao
8) his (1. 4) determiner Rama Rao's
9) he: (1. 5) personal pronoun Rama Rao
10) he (l. 6) personal pronoun Rama Rao
11) his (1. 6) determiner Rama Rao's
40
 Structure Words
2. Structure word used for Grammatical Refers to in Discourse-1
Reference Category

1) I (1.1) personal pronoun the author

(reference
outside the text)
2) them (1. 2) personal pronoun animals
3) he (1. 3) personal pronoun The man
(a particular
person, Jim Baker)
4) he (1. 3) personal pronoun -do -

5) me (1.3) personal pronoun the author

6) his (1. 6) determiner one man 's

(Jim Baker's)

7) they (1. 7) personal pronoun the beasts and

the birds

8) they (l . 11) personal pronoun these latter

(the animals
with a large
vocabulary,
a fine command of
language and a
ready and fluent
delivery)

9) it (1. 11) personal pronoun talking a great deal

10) they (1. 11) personal pronoun The animals with a

large vocabulary, a
fine command of
language, and a
ready and
fluent delivery.

1 l) their (1. 12) determiner -do -

12) they (1. 12) personal pronoun -do -

Check Your Progress 2

Reference Word Refers to

1) l This (1. 1) the squeaking of extended

a pencil reference

2 it (1.3) the pencil

3 it (1.3) taking the pencil extended

away reference

4 it (1. 4) the pencil

5 it (1.5 ) the pencil

41
 Structure Words 6 this (1. 6) writing with one extended
finger reference

7 it (1. 6) the writing extended

reference

2) 1) a young lady of fifteen and Framton Nuttel.

2) for a nerve cure
3) because otherwise he would not speak to anyone, and his nerves
would be worse than ever from moping.

i) you, ii) me, iii) the, iv) the, v) he, vi) these, vii) the, viii) he, ix) this, x) I,
xi) you, xii) I, xiii) there, xiv) his, xv) you, xvi) your, xvii) you, xviii) here,
xix) the, xx) she, xxi) they, xxii) my, xxiii) here, xxiv) she, xxv) me, xxvi) you,
xxvii) my, xxviii) the, xxix) her.

42
 UNIT 12 STRUCTURE WORDS IN DISCOURSE-2

Structure
1 2.0 Objectives
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Difference between Reference and Linkage as Cohesive Devices
12.3 Additive Relation
12.4 Adversative Relation
12.5 Causal Relation
12.6 Temporal Relation
12.7 Let Us Sum Up
12.8 Key Words
Answers

12.0 OBJECTIVES

The aim of this unit is to make you aware of the role of conjunctions and linking
adverbials in combining ideas/events together into a text.

After you complete this unit, you should be able to

  recognize the functions of these connectives (conjunctions and linking adverbials) in a text, and
 use them in your own writing.

12.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, we discussed the function of structure words such as personal,
possessive, and demonstrative pronouns, certain determiners, and demonstrative adverbs
in bringing about cohesion in a text. The cohesive device we studied was cross-
reference—personal and demonstrative reference.

In this unit we shall look at the role of linking words (also known as Linkages and
Conjunctives) in binding sentences together meaningfully into a text. The connectives
that we shall study are:

I) Coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but

2) Subordinating conjunctions: because, unless, while, though, although, if,

etc.

3) Linking adverbs: yet, moreover, meanwhile, however, furthermore, etc.

12.2 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REFERENCE

AND LINKAGE AS COHESIVE DEVICES

Before we discuss the role of linkage as a cohesive device, let's try to differentiate
between Reference and Linkage.

Reference, as you already know, is a device which indicates that „the same person or
object‟ is being referred to in different parts of a text, i.e. in the preceding or the
43
 Structure Words following text. Reference basically involves either a repeated reference to a person or
object, or a repetition of a meaning (extended reference).

Linkage, on the other hand, is not a device to identify items in the preceding or the
following text. It is primarily a way of signaling how one idea leads on to another.
The words and phrases which have this connecting function are like signposts on a
journey. They generally come at the beginning of a sentence.

We shall consider four types of cohesive relations in which the various connectives
play a role. These include the additive, adversative, causal and temporal relations.
There are other possible categories, but we shall consider only these. Before we
discuss all of them in detail, let's have a quick look at what these terms imply.

Ravi was working very hard as he had to finish his project report.

And he was staying up late in the night every day. (additive)

Yet he never appeared tired (adversative). He, therefore, managed to

complete his project on time (causal).

After he had handed in his project report, he had a good night's sleep.
(temporal).

We are not very concerned if you cannot remember these terms. But, we would like
you to be able to use the various connectives.

Check Your Progress 1

Write another little story of 5 lines, using connectives for all the four cohesive
relations mentioned by us.

12.3 ADDITIVE RELATION

The additive items in English include the following coordinating conjunctions:

and, and also, nor, and .... not, or...either.
They also include linking adverbials such as furthermore, moreover, additionally,
besides, in addition, alternatively, incidentally, similarly, on the other hand, in other
words, for example, etc.

An additive relation gives cohesion to a text, or rather it creates additional text by

giving more information related to the preceding text. It includes devices such as
adding of information, giving alternatives, showing contrast, exemplification,
apposition, etc.
Some of these devices may overlap with other cohesive relations. We shall,
however, not go into the finer details. As we've mentioned earlier, we want you
to concentrate on correct usage.
44
In the examples given below we discuss some of the ways in which cohesion has an Structure Words in
additive relation. Discourse-2

 There is a total, or almost total, shift from one sentence to the next, and
yet the two sentences are definitely part of a text.

Example:

„But she fled upstairs nevertheless, with Sid and Mary at her heels. And her
face grew white, too, and her lips trembled.‟ (From Mark Twain: Tom
Sawyer)

As you must have noticed, the first sentence refers to the activity of going up the
stairs. The second is an emotional response. Yet, the two sentences are linked to each
other by the conjunction and.

• In narrative fiction such a shift often occurs at the boundary of dialogue and
narration. In fact, a conjunction like and serves to link a dialogue/ monologue
with narration. For example :

'Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking
again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!"(Dinah was the cat.) "I
hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah, my dear! I wish you
were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might
catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?"
And here Alice began to get rather sleepy '

• When and is used alone as a cohesive item as distinct from and then, etc., it often has
the sense of „there is something more to be said‟. Look at the example below:

„Till at last it hung there in the sky over the world, blazing down, the size of the
moon, a deep gloomy red. And now there could be only one explanation. The
star was getting bigger because it was getting nearer. And nearer and NEARER
and NEARER‟.

(From: Ted Hughes: The Iron man)

• A slightly different use, and one in which the cohesive and comes closest to its
coordinating function in sentence structure, is that which links the „sentences in a
series‟. We shall give you examples of the use of and within a sentence and in
discourse. Try to notice the difference.

Use of and in sentences:

„In the kitchen they had grits and grease and side meat and coffee for
breakfast.‟

(From: Carson Mc Cullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter)

GLOSSARY:

grits: coarsely ground grains of corn which are eaten as a dish in Southern United
States; coarse oatmeal.

In the distance the houses were the houses in a Victorian print, small and
precisely drawn and quiet; only one child a long way off.
(From: Graham Green: The End of
45
 Both these examples show the repetition of a conjunction in connecting items in a set.
In the first example and links nouns, while in the second example it links adjectives.

As a 'cohesive device' and often links a series of questions. In Alice’s Adventures

in Wonderland, there is an excellent example of this, when Alice questions
Humpty Dumpty about the meaning of Jabberwocky. Given below is an extract
from the conversation.

"I see it now," Alice remarked thoughtfully: "and what are 'toves'?"

"Well, 'toves‟ are something like badgers—they're something like

lizards—and they‟re something like corkscrews."

"They must be very curious-looking creatures."

"They are that," said Humpty Dumpty": "also they make their nests under sun
- dials—also they live on cheese."

"And what's to 'gyre' and to 'gimble'?

"To 'gyre' is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To 'gimble' is to

make holes like a gimlet."

"And 'the wabe' is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?. said

Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.'

(From Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-glass)

Badger: a wild animal which has grey fur and a white head. Badgers live
underground and usually come to feed at night.

'corkscrew: a device used for pulling corks out of bottles.

'curious-looking: unusual to look at.

'run-dial: a device which uses the sun to show you what time it is.

'gyroscope: a device that contains a disc rotating on an axis that can turn freely in
any direction.

'gimlet: a small sharp tool used for making small holes in wood.

• The negative form of the additive relation is expressed simply as nor.

Example:

A: I can't go to the movies tonight.

I have a project report to finish.

B: Nor can I.

Besides nor, there is another expression and . . . not ...either.

Example:

'I couldn't send all the horses, you know, because two of them are wanted in the
game. And I haven‟t sent the two messengers either. They‟re both gone to the
town...' (From Lewis Carroll: Through the looking Glass).
46
 Structure Words
• A number of conjunctive expressions such as further, also, besides in Discourse-2
semantically link sentences together. The meaning they generally have is:
'there is yet another point to be taken in conjunction with the previous one'.
Look at the following, sentences :

My husband says he does not know that girl Further, he denies ever having
seen her or spoken to her.

The food is very good and it's probably something that people won't prepare
at home. Also, it's easy to digest and pleasing to the eye.

I didn't invite your friend Rajiv to the party. Besides, he wouldn‟t have come.

The basic relationship between sentences linked by or is to express an alternative.

This relationship is largely confined to questions, requests, permissions and
predictions.

'Shall we try another figure of the Lobster Quadrille?", the Gryphon went on.
'Or would you like the Mock Turtle to sing you a song?'

(From Lewis Carroll : Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

If or is associated with statements, it often has the sense of 'an alternative suggestion',
'another possible opinion, explanation, etc., in place of the one just given.'

Examples :

'I might stay late at the office tonight, and catch up on my work. Or I might
decide to relax for a change, and go to the movies. '

'Perhaps she missed her flight. Or else she's changed her mind and isn't
coming.‟

The form alternatively is perhaps a more emphatic way of expressing the 'or'
relation. For instance, in the example given below, there are: two questions,
and then the alternative — which makes the (text more forceful.

'Are the Finance Minister's proposals adequate? Is the economy going to

improve? Alternatively, are we heading for another crisis†'

• Under the heading, ADDITIVE we may include a related pattern, that of

semantic similarity. Here the source of cohesion is the comparison of what
is being said with what has gone before. Forms such as similarly, likewise, in
the same way are used by the speaker to assert that a point is being reinforced
or a new one added to the same effect.

'Treating children as responsible citizens brings out the best in them; they
behave as such. In the same way if you treat them as delinquents they will
soon begin to act as delinquents.'

Glossary

de'linquent: a young person repeatedly committing minor crimes.

• Corresponding to the similarity relation is the negative comparison where the

meaning is dissimilarity. This is often expressed by the following phrases :
on the other hand, by contrast, as opposed to this.
47
 Examples:

'In order to buy the flat, I may draw on my savings. On the other hand, I
might approach my parents for a loan.'

'Even the largest of whales, the Blue Whale, with a maximum length of
about 100 feet and a weight of up to 130 tons, can attain 20 knots for
about 10 minutes. By contrast, the common dolphin can keep up a speed
of 20-22 knots for hours.'

• There are other types of relation which can be thought of as sub-

categories of the additive. We give you examples of each:

Afterthought: incidentally, by the way.

Example:

'The airlines charge half-price for students. Incidentally, I'll be flying to

Bombay this time, instead of going by train.'

Appositive relation: that is, I mean, in other words, to put it another way, for
instance, for example.

'Imagine now that we have two identical twins and put them in different
environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the
other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find
differences in intelligence developing ...'

Check Your Progress 2

Given below are extracts from various texts. Fill in the gaps using the following
words: Furthermore, For example, Nor, Or, And.

Extract 1

'Some scientists maintain that the anguish of animals is a regrettable but

necessary price to pay for knowledge which has brought enormous benefits to
mankind ' the discovery of insulin — estimated to have saved the lives of more
than 50 million diabetics — stemmed from animal experiment.....

(From 'Animal Experiments: How Cruel, How Necessary'? Reader's Digest.

January 1981).

Glossary

anguish: great pain and suffering

insulin a substance that most people produce naturally in their body and which
controls the level of sugar in their blood. People with diabetes cannot produce insulin
and have to take regular doses of it. .

Extract 2
Centralized sewage facilities are non-existent in most West African cities. If any
centralized sewage system is to be installed, it will require massive demolition and
replanning of the city as a whole. This could prove politically explosive......, the
financing of waste disposal is not attractive to politicians. A sports stadium is
visible and politically, therefore, more satisfactory.

48
Extract 3 Structure Words
in Discourse-2
'Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!' ....she began thinking over all
the children she knew that were of the same age as herself, to see if she could
have been changed for any of them.

(From Alice in Wonderland)

Extract 4

Perhaps she missed her train ............ she's changed her mind and isn't coming.

Extracts 5
He never forgave his parents for their neglect of him when he was a young child.
There were frequent fits of rage and nightmares, .... could he wholly rid himself of
feelings of guilt for his dreams of revenge on them.

12.4 ADVERSATIVE RELATION

The basic meaning of the adversative relation is 'contrary to expectation'. The

expectation may arise from the content of what has already been said.

For example,

All the steps in the solution are correct. I've rechecked them. Yet the answer
is incorrect.

There may also be contrary expectations in a communicative situation.

Example :

A : Why aren't you ready'? Aren‟t we going to the concert this evening'?

B : But I thought that was tomorrow.

The structural items that are frequently used in an adversative relation are the
following.

yet, but, however, although, nevertheless, still, in spite of this, only, etc.

We have listed some points below about the adversative relationship which we
would like you to be aware of:

• The conjunctive items but, however, though, yet, only, still, nevertheless
are some of the items which signal the unexpected nature of what is
being said in view of what was said before that.

An example with but:

Gabriel tried to cover his agitation by taking part in the dance with great
energy. He avoided her eyes, for he had seen a sour expression on her
face. But when they met in the long chain he was surprised to feel his
hand firmly pressed.

(From: 'The Dead' in James Joyce: The Dubliners)

49
Structure Words A point of difference that you will notice between but and yet is that but contains the
element 'and' as one of its meaning components, whereas yet does not. For this
reason, you will regularly find sentences beginning and yet, but never and but.

Look at the example of a text with and yet.

'The food was objectionable—yet Alvina got fat on it. The air was filthy—
and yet never had her colour been so warm and fresh, her skin so soft.'

(From D. H. Lawrence: The Lost Girl)

An example with however:

"I'll whisper it," said the Messenger, putting his hands to his mouth in the
shape of a trumpet and stooping so as to get close to the King's ear. Alice was
sorry for this, as she wanted to hear the news too. However, instead of
whispering, he simply shouted, at the top of his voice, "They're at it again!"

(From Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass)

An example with though:

"I like the Walrus best," said Alice: "because, you see, he was a little sorry
for the poor oysters."

'He ate more than the Carpenter though,' said Tweedledee.

The word only occurs frequently in the adversative sense in spoken English, always
in the initial position.

Example:

"I wish I could manage to be glad" the Queen said. "Only I never can
remember the rule. You must be very happy, living in this wood, and being
glad whenever you like!"

"Only it is so very lonely here!" Alice said in a melancholy voice; and, at the
thought of her loneliness, two large tears came rolling down her cheeks.

(From Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass)

• Words like but and however also occur in a related though somewhat
different sense, which we might call contrastive.

She's not good-looking. But she's got brains.

Rita has failed. However, she tried her best.

• Expressions such as instead, rather, on the contrary, at least also indicate

contrast. Here again, the adversative relation comes very close to the
negative comparison discussed in the additive type of relation.

On the contrary emphasizes that the opposite is true.

Example:
‟We didn't ask her to leave. On the contrary, we tried to persuade her to stay.'
Instead not only involves a contrast, it also indicates a replacement.

50
 'He doesn't work at all. Instead, he sits and day-dreams'. (contrast) Structure Words in
Discourse-2
'Rohit wanted a tennis-racket for his birthday. His mother bought him a
book instead.' (replacement)

In the sentence above, instead not only has a connective function, but also specifies
the part of the sentence that has been replaced. For example, instead here can be
expanded to instead of a tennis-racket.

You may have noticed that sentences which are linked with on the contrary and
instead show a contrast between two alternative phenomena. However, at least may
show a relationship between two different formulations of the same phenomenon:
For example :
"What a beautiful belt you've got on." Alice suddenly. remarked ............"At
least," she corrected herself on second thoughts, "a beautiful cravat, I should
have said—no, a belt, I mean—I beg your pardon!"
(From Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass)
• Expressions such as in fact, as a matter of fact, actually, to tell Jon) the truth are
often used in a contrastive relationship. The meaning is something like 'as
against what the current state of the communication process would lead us to
expect the fact of the matter is ................. ‟
For example,
"I wasn't called up by the army. Actually, I volunteered.'
'The old belief that the universe never changes is quite wrong. Even before the
invention of the telescope, astronomers noticed that bright stars suddenly appear
in the sky, and then later disappear. These stars were called ‟novae' because they
were thought to be new. In fact, we now know that they are really old stars
which are slowly dying.

Check Your Progress 3

Decide which of the conjunctions and sentence connectives you have studied so far
would be most appropriate in each blank space in the sentences below:
1) Students are very keen to take part in political discussions and participate in
the country's development. ...... in many countries they have become the
most vocal section of society.
2) Society now accepts the social responsibility of the university. .............. some
people still think that students should stand aside from the rest of society.
3) Earlier, a university education led to an overall development of the
individual. ....... now-a-days it is highly specialised.
4) The most common type of ghost is the poltergeist. This is a ghost which does
not in fact appear. .. ... . . it makes noises and throws objects around ......
despite this violent activity, the poltergeists in fact never hurt anyone.

12.5 CAUSAL RELATION

The causal relationship is used to describe the relationship between two or more
events, when one event causes another event to happen. The causal relation is
expressed by words such as so, thus, hence, therefore, consequently, accordingly;
and a number of phrases like as a result (of that), in consequence (of that), because
of that, etc. All these expressions can regularly combine with And. 51
Structure Words It would be a good idea to be aware of certain points regarding the causal
relationship.

• Under the heading of causal relations may be included the specific ones of
result, reason and purpose. The Examples given below illustrate these
specific instances of causal relation.

'They refused to pay a higher rent though the court ordered it. As a result
they were evicted from their flat.' (Result)

'She was a good student, but in her last year at boarding school, as a result of
criticizing her teachers during a debate, she had incurred their wrath.
Consequently, she'd been denied several academic honours she was entitled
to and had been harassed. ' (Result)

(From 'I'll Never Forget your Kindness' in Reader's Digest, March, 1988).

Glossary

incurred: brought upon herself

harassed: troubled

'In the last century, for example, English visitors were amazed at the
beautiful fall colors of poison ivy and took some home. Because it is called
"ivy", they planted it. Soon thereafter a British medical journal reported a
new disease contracted only by women, who did the gardening (Reason)

(From Noel Vietmeyer: Taking the Itch out of Poison Ivy in Span; April,-
1988).

Glossary

fall: American word for autumn.

poison’ivy: Shrub or vine grown in parts of United States of America, which causes
painful spots if brought into contact with a person's skin.

We were planning to go to Ooty for our vacation. But our daughter was not
keeping well. (Reason)

Many people have been enquiring about Indira Gandhi National Open
University. For this purpose, the University has opened an information
centre. (Purpose)

Let us list some of the expressions which serve as linkages for these specific types of
causal relation.

Result: as a result (of this), in consequences (of this), arising out of this.

Reason: for this reason, on account of this, because of this, it follows (from this), on
this basis.

Purpose: for this purpose, with this in mind7v.iew, with this intention, to this end.

You will, perhaps, notice in your reading that while the phrases can be generally
grouped rather distinctly under these three heads, the simpler conjunctives are not so
clearly distinguished.

52
Examples : Structure Words
in Discourse-2
A : Mr. Katyal spends a lot of money buying crayons and colouring-books for his

B: Oh I know why! So he could grow up into an artist too.

(Reason) A : The Head sends a report every month to the Director .
B : So. that's how he knows what's happening in the Department. (Result.)

• Another type of conjunctive relation which is considered under the general

heading of 'causal' is the conditional type. The difference between the two is;
causal means: 'a, therefore b'.
conditional means: 'possibly a, if so, then b'.

A simple form of expression for the conditional relation is the word then.

"And what does it live on?"

"Weak tea with cream in it."
A new difficulty came into A lice's head.
"Supposing it couldn't find any?" she suggested
“Then it would die, of course. "

Other items are in that cases, that being flue cases, in such an. event, if so,

The negative form of the conditional is expressed cohesively by otherwise;

I was not informed. Otherwise I would have taken some action.

The meaning of the sentence above is: 'I f 1 had been informed, I would have taken some
action. Since 1 wasn't, I didn't.'

12.6 TEMPORAL RELATION

In section l6.3 you noticed how two sentences were linked sequentially, where the
second sentence added to the information contained in the first sentence. The linking
word(s) which connected the two sentences entered into an additive relationship.

In this section, we shall again show you the relation between two successive sentences.
But here the relation is in terms of sequence of time. This is known as a temporal relation.
Let's look at some of the ways in which the temporal relation is expressed.

• You probably know that three major divisions of time relationship may be set
up. What are these? And what are the adverbials that signal the relationships?

i) temporal ordering previous to given time-reference: Some of the forms that can
be used to indicate a „previous' time reference are :

We now live in Defence Colony. Previously, we used to live in Pahar Ganj.

The weather cleared just as the party approached the summit. Until then they
could barely sec anything because of the thick fog around them.

53
Structure Words ii) temporal ordering simultaneous with given time-reference.

In the sense of 'simultaneous' we have just) then, at the same time,

simultaneously, meanwhile, off this time, at this point/ moment, by this time.

Several of the conspirators have hem arrested, but their leader is yet to be
Identified. Meanwhile, the police are continuing their investigations.

"... Oh, dear, what nonsense I'm talking!" Just at this moment her head struck
against the roof of the hall, in fact she was now rather more than nine feet
high, and she at once took up the little golden key and hurried off to the
garden door.

(From Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland)

iii) temporal ordering subsequent to given time-reference

Some of the forms that you can use are: {and) then, next, afterwards, after
that, subsequently.

Examples:

i) (Alice) began by taking the little golden key, and unlocking the door that led
into the garden. Then she set to work nibbling at the mushroom till she was
about a foot high: then she walked down the little passage: and then—she
found herself at last in the beautiful garden.

ii) In Europe, bread is usually made in five stages. The first is to make what is
called „dough‟. The yeast is mixed with sugar and water, and after about
fifteen minutes it begins to 'eat' the sugar. Flour, fat and salt are then put
together and the yeast mixture is added. All these ingredients are then pressed
(or 'kneaded') with the hands for about ten minutes until they form a large
ball of dough. After the dough has been made in this way, it is left to 'rise'.
As the yeast continues to eat the sugar it makes the dough increase in size. At
the third stage the risen dough is kneaded again and pushed into the shape the
bread is to be. The dough must then be allowed to rise again, this time for
about one hour. Finally, we come to the stage or baking, which takes about
forty-five minutes in a hot oven.

(Adapted from Keith Johnson: Communicate in Writing)

Glossary

dough/ dau/: a fairly firm mixture of flour, water, and sometimes sugar and fat, which
can be cooked, to make things such as pastry, bread, or

biscuits.

yeast/jr:st/: substance used in brewing beer, and in the making of bread.

You are already aware that there are five stages in the making of bread. What are the
words / phrases in the passage above which link these five stages? These are The
first, After..., At the third stage, then, Finally.

Some of the other conjunctive expressions which mark a series of events / points are
: to begin with, first(ly), second(ly), third(ly), etc. mark particular positions in a
series. Next, then, after this cannot occur initially in a series. Last, lastly, finally, to
conclude can only occur in the final position.

• There are also other expressions which are used to summarize the argument
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that the writer may have used. These often come at the end of the text, and
 may be used to conclude the argument. Expressions such as /o sum up may Structure Words in
conclude a text. However, in short, in a “word, to put it briefly, in all, may Discourse-2
not necessarily come at the end of a text although they often do.

Example
One solution to the dangers of radiation is to protect the spaceship by putting
some kind of shield around it. This was in fact done on the Apollo
spaceships which landed on the moon. But this solution is not possible for
longer journeys—to Mars for example—because the shield would need to be
very large, and could not be carried. Another solution, not in fact possible at
present, would be to surround the spaceship with a magnetic field to deflect
the radiation. In all, we have to conclude that there is at present no complete
solution to the problem of radiation.
(From: Keith Johnson: Communicate in Writing)

Glossary

radi'ation: the sending out of energy, heat, etc., in the form of rays.
shield: protective cover
mag'netic field: an area which functions as a kind of magnet, and has the power to
pull things towards it.
de'flect: turn aside

Check Your Progress 4

Given below are extracts from various texts. Fill in the gaps with the most
appropriate linking words indicating a causal or a temporal relation. The linking
words/phrases are given below. The same word/phrase may be used more than once.
so after secondly
because thirdly otherwise
firstly then just then
Extract I
"Don't think, old man," he said aloud. "Sail on this course and take it when it
comes." But I must think, he thought, it is all I have left.
(From Ernest Hemingway : The Old man and the Sea)

Extract 2
'There was hardly any space for me next to my son. ...I decided to lean back against
the window and sit through the night.'
(From I'II Never Forget Your Kindness, Reader's Digest, March, 1988)

Extract 3

Now almost all societies have marriage, but there are wide variations in marriage
systems. I will give three of the important areas of variation, and some details of each
area. The three areas I shall deal with are: ... the number of mates each marriage partner
may have;..... the locality of the marriage (that is, where do the newly
married partners set up home?); and ...., what arrangements there are for the transfer
of wealth after the marriage. Let me deal with each of these in turn.

(Adapted from J. E. Goldthorpe: An Introduction to Sociology, Cambridge

University Press, 2nd ed. 1974) 55
Structure Words Extract 4

.... permanent dieting is hardly fun, many people prefer a crash diet. This can be not
only harmful to health but also self-defeating: . . just a day or two on a crash diet, the
body decides that famine has struck and defends itself by lowering basal metabolism
— precisely what you don't want.
(From Jeanie Wilson: 'How to Stay Thin After 25, Reader’s Digest, April, 1988)
Extract 5

Don‟t skip breakfast (but make it a healthful, low cholesterol one).....„ you‟re more
likely to overeat later in the day; and you'll have less energy.

(From Jeanie Wilson: 'How to Stay Thin After 25, Reader’s Digest, April, 1988)

Extract 6

"Have some wine," the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. "I don't see any
wine," she remarked,

"There isn't any," said the March Hare.

"...it wasn't very civil of you to offer it," said Alice angrily.
(From Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
Extract 7

"That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer today." ...she
heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off.
(From Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)

12.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have made you aware of the role of conjunctions and linking
adverbials in a connected text. The role that these words play is seen in terms
of 4 types of cohesive relations:

• additive
• adversative
• causal
• temporal
You can now
• recognize the functions of these words and the role they play in
binding a text together.
• use them correctly in your own writing.

12.8 KEY WORDS

'additive relation: giving additional information about the preceding text.

ad'versative appo'sition: contrary to expectation
addition of a word or group of words to another as an explanation
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causal relationship: relationship between cause and effect Structure Words in
con‟junction: a word, or a group of words, that joins other words, clause, etc. Discourse-2
con'trastive: showing a clear difference between two or more things when
you compare them.
co'ordinating con'junctions: conjunctions such as and, but, yet, or, nor, etc. which
join parts of sentences, phrases, etc. which are of equal rank.
se'mantic : relating to the meaning of words and sentences
sub‟ordinating conjunctions: conjunctions such as though, unless, because, etc.
which join a subordinate clause to the main clause, e.g. Though he tried his best, he
couldn't pass the examination.
'subsequent: later, following
'temporal : related to time

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 2

Extract 1 For example

Extract 2 Furthermore
Extract 3 And
Extract 4 Or
Extract S Nor

Check Your Progress 3

1) And/In fact
2) However
3) But
4) Instead, Yet

Check Your Progress 4

Extract 1 because
Extract 2 So
Extract 3 firstly, secondly, thirdly
Extract 4 Because, After
Extract S Otherwise
Extract 6 Then ,
Extract 7 Just then

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 SUGGESTED READING
Dictionaries

Hornby, A.S. (2003) Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, Sixth
Edition, E.L.B.S. and Oxford University Press.

Procter, P. (2004) Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Third

Edition, Longman.

Sinclair, J. (1987) Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary, Collins and

the University of Birmingham.

Greenbaum, S 1996 The Oxford Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Leech, G. and J. Svartvik (2000) A Communicative Grammar of English, E.L.B.S.

and Longman Group.

Murphy, Raymond (1994) Intermediate English Grammar, Fourth Edition.

Cambridge University Press.

Thomson, A. J. and A. V. Martinet (1997) A Practical English Grammar

and Exercises {in three volumes). Third Edition, Oxford University Press.

Hewings, Martin (2004) Advanced English Grammar, Cambridge University Press.

Usage

Swan, M. (1980) Practical English Usage, E.L.B.S. and Oxford University Press.

Hornby, A,S. (1997) The Teaching of structural Words and Sentence Pattern:
Stages 1 & 2, E.L.B.S. and OUP, 8„ impression.

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