Lecture 23. PARTS OF THE SENTENCE.

1.Parts of the sentence

The principal parts of the sentence
2.The subject
Definition
Ways of expressing the subject
It as the subject of the sentence
3.The predicate
Definition
The simple predicate
The predicate expressed by a phraseological unit
The compound predicate
The compound nominal predicate
The predicative
The Objective Predicative
The compound verbal predicate
The compound verbal modal predicate
The compound verbal aspect predicate
Mixed types of predicate
4.Agreement of the predicate with the subject
General notion
Rules of agreement
Agreement of the predicate with the subject expressed by a syntactic word-group
5.The secondary parts of the sentence
6.The object
Definition
Ways of expressing the object
Kinds of objects
The direct object
The indirect object
The complex object
The cognate object
7.The attribute
Definition
Ways of expressing the attribute
The apposition
The close apposition
The loose or detached apposition
8.The adverbial modifier
Definition and classification
Ways of expressing the adverbial modifier
9.Detached (loose) parts of the sentence
Definition
The detached adverbial modifier
The detached attribute
The detached object
10.The independent elements of the sentence
Definition
Parenthesis
11. Sentences with homogeneous parts

PARTS OF THE SENTENCE

In a sentence we distinguish the principal parts, secondary parts and independent
elements. The principal parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate. The secondary parts
are the attribute, the object and the adverbial modifier.
 THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF THE SENTENCE
THE SUBJECT
The subject is the principal part of a two-member sentence which is grammatically
independent of the other parts of the sentence and on which the second principal part (the
predicate) is grammatically dependent, i. e. in most cases it agrees with the subject in number
and person.

The subject can denote a living being, a lifeless thing or an idea.

Ways of expressing the subject.

The subject can be expressed by a single word or a group of words. Thus it can be
expressed by:
1. A noun in the common case.
The sulky waiter brought my tea. (Du Maurier)
Marcellus slowly turned his head. (Douglas)

N o t e. — Occasionally a noun in the possessive case is used as the subject of

the sentence.

Mrs. Gummidge’s was a fretful disposition. (Dickens)

Oh, my dear Richard, Ada’s is a noble heart. (Dickens)

2. A pronoun — personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative, possessive,

interrogative.

After about an hour I heard Montgomery shouting my name. That set me

thinking of my plan of action. (Wells)
All were clad in the same soft, and yet strong silky material. (Wells)
Everyone was silent for a minute. (Wells)
Nothing was said on either side for a minute or two afterwards. (Dickens)
Theirs is not a very comfortable lodging... (Dickens)
Who tore this book? (Twain)

The subject is often expressed by the indefinite pronoun one or the personal pronouns
they, you, we, which refer not to any particular person or persons but to people in general.
These sentences generally correspond to the same kind of sentences in Russian, but
sometimes they are rendered by impersonal sentences, as will be seen in the examples given
below.

Yes, muttered Jon, life’s beastly short. One wants to live forever.
(Galsworthy)
Да, пробормотал Джон, жизнь чертовски коротка. Хочется жить вечно.
A day is like a page in a book, one cannot read it without commas and
periods. (Heym)
День напоминает страницу книги, ее нельзя читать без запятых и точек.
They say he’s clever — they all think they’re clever. (Galsworthy)
Говорят, что он умный — все думают, что они умные.
Howard, you introduce every statement with “they say”. I want to know who
is “they”. (Gow and D’Usseau)
Говард, ты каждое предложение начинаешь с «говорят». Я хочу знать,
кто говорит.
 N o t e. — They is used when the speaker is excluded, one when the speaker is
included.

There are some things you can’t talk to anyone about. (Voynich)
Есть вещи, о которых никому не расскажешь.
It was good to be alive. Say what you like you couldn’t beat it. (Galsworthy)
Хорошо жить на свете. Что ни говори, а этого нельзя отрицать.
Every pleasure is transitory. We can’t eat long. If we indulge in harmless
fluids we get the dropsy, if in exciting liquids we get drunk. When I say “we”,
my dear, I mean mankind in general. (Dickens)
Всякое удовольствие преходяще. Нельзя есть долго. Если мы
злоупотребляем безвредными напитками, мы заболеваем водянкой, если
мы злоупотребляем спиртными напитками, мы пьянеем. Когда я говорю
«мы», мой дорогой, я имею в виду человечество в целом.

3. A substantivized adjective or participle.

The Privileged have seen that charming and instructive sight. (Galsworthy)
The wounded were taken good care of.

1.A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).

Of course, the two were quite unable to do anything. (Wells)

The first and fourth stood beside him in the water. (Wells)

5. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase or construction.

To live is to work.
To be a rich man, Lieutenant, is not always roses and beauty. (Heym)
For him to come was impossible.

6. A gerund, a gerundial phrase or construction.

Lying doesn’t go well with me. (Heym)

Winning the war is what counts. (Heym)
Annette’s being French might upset him a little. (Galsworthy)

7. Any part of speech used as a quotation.

On is a preposition.
No is his usual reply to any request.

8. A group of words which is one part of the sentence, i. e. a syntactically indivisible

group.

Yet at this very time their friend and defender is darkly groping towards the
solution. (Fox)

Here the subject represents one person.

The needle and thread is lost.

 Here the needle and the thread are treated as one thing.
This is not to be confused with homogeneous subjects where two persons or things are
meant and consequently the predicate is in the plural.

Mr. Pickwick alone was silent and reserved. Doubt and distrust were
exhibited in his countenance. (Dickens)

There are other kinds of syntactic units.

There were a number of carved high back chairs. (Dreiser)

There’s a lot of truth in that, of course. (London)

9. A quotation group.

“I shan’t be able to give you very much,” he had said. “Perhaps this what’s-his-name
will provide the cocoa.” (Galsworthy)

N o t e. — There are sentences where the subject is. introduced by the

construction there is, e. g. There is nothing on the table. In this case nothing is
the subject and there is part of the predicate.

It as the subject of the sentence.

When the pronoun it is used as the subject of a sentence it may represent a living being or
a thing: then it is a notional subject. Sometimes, however, it does not represent any living being
or thing and performs a purely grammatical function: then it is a formal subject.
A. When it is a notional subject the pronoun it has the following meanings:
1. It stands for a definite thing or some abstract idea — the personal it.

The door opened. It was opened by a young girl of thirteen or fourteen.

(Dickens)
If this is a liberty, it isn’t going to mean a thing. (Heym)

2. It points out some person or thing expressed by a predicative noun, or it refers to the
thought contained in a preceding statement, thus having a demonstrative meaning — the
demonstrative it.

It is John.
It was a large room with a great window. (Dickens)
Dick came home late, it provoked his father. (Lindsay)

In the last two cases it is close to this and is usually translated into Russian by это.
B. Sometimes the pronoun it is a formal subject, i, e. it does not represent any person or
thing.
Here we must distinguish:
(1) the impersonal it; (2) the introductory or anticipatory it; (3) the emphatic it.
1. The impersonal it is used:
(a) to denote natural phenomena (such as the state of the weather, etc.) or that which
characterizes the environment. In such sentences the predicate is either a simple one, expressed
by a verb denoting the state, of the weather, or a compound nominal one, with an adjective as
predicative.

It often rains in autumn.

 It is cold in winter.
It is stuffy in here.
It is delightfully quiet in the night.

N o t e. — The state of the weather can also be expressed by sentences in

which the subject denoting the state of things is introduced by the construction
there is. In such sentences the noun introduced by the construction there is is
the subject.

There was a heavy frost last night.

There was a fine rain falling over the trees, the flowers, and the people sitting on the
benches in the garden.

(b) to denote time and distance.

It is five minutes past six.

It is morning already.
How far is it from your office to the bank? (Galsworthy)
It is a long way to the station.

N o t e. — Sentences with the impersonal it as subject very often correspond

to Russian impersonal one-member sentences.

It is late. Поздно.
It is freezing. Морозит.
It is cold. Холодно.
It is hot. Жарко.

The following sentences, however, correspond to Russian two-member personal

sentences:

It is raining. Идет дождь.

It is snowing. Идет снег.
It is hailing. Идет град.

2. The introductory or anticipatory it introduces the real subject.

It’s no use disguising facts.

It was curious to observe that child.

N o t e. — Some grammarians treat this it as the real subject and the rest of
the sentence as the predicate.

3. The emphatic it is used for emphasis.

It was Winifred who went up to him. (Galsworthy)

It was he who had brought back George to Amelia. (Thackeray)

THE PREDICATE
 The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence which expresses an action,
state, or quality of the person or thing1 denoted by the subject. It is grammatically dependent
upon the subject.
1
The word thing is used in a broad sense.

N o t e. — This definition does not cover sentences with the formal it as

subject. In these sentences the predicate expresses the state of weather, time,
or distance, and the subject only makes the sentence structurally complete.

As a rule the predicate contains a finite verb which may express tense, mood, voice,
aspect, and sometimes person and number. According to the structure and the meaning of the
predicate we distinguish two main types: the simple predicate arid the compound predicate.

The simple predicate.

The simple predicate is expressed by a finite verb in a simple or a compound tense form.
It generally denotes an action: sometimes, however, it denotes a state which is
represented as an action.

Erik arrived at the lab next morning full of suppressed excitement. (Wilson)
And so, after all, the Padre had been thinking of letting him escape.
(Voynich)
Mr. Rivarez, I have been looking for you everywhere. (Voynich)
When Mary was brought in he gave her the local anaesthesia. (Cronin)

There is a special kind of predicate expressed by a phraseological unit, such as to get rid,
to take care, to pay attention, to lose sight, to have a wash, to give a push, etc.1
1
There is a great difference of opinion as to the nature of this predicate. Most Soviet
grammarians treat it as a subdivision of the simple predicate (Л. П. Винокурова; В. Н.
Жигадло, И. П. Иванова, Л. Л. Иофик; М. А. Ганшина и Н. М. Василевская), because it
expresses one idea and its two components form an indivisible unit.
There is another view according to which it is a subdivision of the compound predicate.
Some English grammarians call it a ‘group-verb predicate’.

When we clear the forests we get rid of such inconveniences. (Heym)

I went to the bathroom and had a good wash for it had been a dusty journey.
(Du Maurier)

The characteristic feature of this predicate is that the first component, i. e. the finite verb,
has lost its concrete meaning to a great extent and forms one unit with the noun, consequently
the noun cannot be treated as an object to the verb. This can also be easily proved by the
impossibility of putting a question to the second component.

Compare:
My friend gave me an interesting book to read.
The man gave a violent start.

Whereas in the first case we can easily put a question to the object (e. g. What did your
friend give you?), in the second case this is impossible.
We shall treat this kind of predicate as a subdivision of the simple predicate. For the sake
of convenience we shall call it a phraseological predicate.
 We distinguish two types of the phraseological predicate.
1. Word combinations of the following type: to have a smoke, to have a swim, to have a
run, to give a laugh, to give a push, to take a look, to make a move, etc. These combinations
consist of a finite verb which has to a great extent lost its concrete meaning and a noun formed
from a verb and mostly used with the indefinite article.
This predicate denotes a momentaneous action. In Russian this shade of meaning is
rendered by different prefixes and suffixes which express, a momentaneous action.

He had a smoke. Он покурил.

He gave a push. Он толкнул.
He gave a start. Он вздрогнул.
He had a wash. Он вымылся, помылся.
He gave a cry Он вскрикнул.

This type of phraseological predicate is characteristic of colloquial speech.

Every now and then she gave a half-glance at the people on the pavement.
(Lindsay)
She gave an unkind throaty laugh. (Lindsay)
Troy said, “First of all, sergeant, have a drink.” (Heym)
He started, made a short run and stopped and looked over his shoulder.
(Dickens)

2. Word combinations of the following type: to get rid, to get hold, to make use, to take
care, to lose sight, to make fun, to pay attention, to make up one’s mind, to change one’s mind, to
take part, etc.
The second component of these combinations is in most cases an abstract noun used
without any article.

That’s more than twenty years ago. She has never made use of her power or
caused me a moment’s uneasiness. (Shaw)
You were making fun of mother just now. (Shaw)
Then he caught his breath, suddenly reminded of something else. (Wescott)
She made a gesture of dismissal and then suddenly changed her mind.
(Wescott)
It is better that you do not know where 1 live. I will get in touch with you.
(Wilson)

The compound predicate.

As can be seen from the term itself the compound predicate consists of two parts: (a) a
finite verb and (b) some other part of speech: a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a verbal (a
participle, a gerund, an infinitive), etc. The second component is the significant part of the
predicate.
The first part expresses the verbal categories of person, number, tense, aspect, mood and
voice; besides it has a certain lexical meaning of its own. The compound predicate may be
nominal or verbal.

The compound nominal predicate.

The compound nominal predicate denotes the state or quality of the person or thing
expressed by the subject (e. g. He is tired, The book is interesting), or the class of persons or
things to which this person or thing belongs (e. g. She is a student).
 The compound nominal predicate consists of a link verb and a predicative (the latter is
also called the nominal part of the predicate).
The link verb (or a verb of incomplete predication) expresses the verbal categories of
person, number, tense, aspect, mood, sometimes voice. All link verbs, as the result of a long
development, have partly lost their original concrete meaning. One link verb has lost its concrete
meaning altogether: this is the verb to be, which can be called a pure link verb as it performs
only a grammatical function and can be linked with a predicative expressed by any part of
speech used in this function.

This is a picture of Leningrad.1

1
In Russian the link verb быть is generally not used in the Present tense: Его сестра
учительница.

Most link verbs to some extent preserve their meaning. The following are the most
common of these link verbs: to appear, to get, to grow, to continue, to feel, to keep, to look, to
turn, to hold, to prove, to turn out, to loom, to rank, to remain, to run, to seem, to smell, to taste,
to fall, to stand, to go, to work.

His wife sighed and remained silent. (London)

Harris grew more cheerful. (Jerome)
At my age I get nervous. (Galsworthy)
He soon fell fast asleep in my arms, sobbing at longer intervals. (Dickens)
The boat seemed stuffy. (Jerome)
She, for her part, felt recessive and thence evasive. (Dreiser)

Many of these verbs can be used both as verbs of complete predication fully preserving
their concrete meaning and as link verbs.

LINK VERBS VERBS OF COMPLETE PREDICATION

to be
The sun was full of promise. (Du No one was there to meet him. (Lindsay)
Maurier)
to grow
But she had grown too proud or too Perhaps I should grow a beard. I look too
passive. (Wescott) young to have been publishing for five years.
(Wilson)
to look
He looked stupid and good-natured He blushed violently and looked away.
and happy. (Greene) (Wilson)
to feel
And yet at moments he felt very He felt great awe and admiration. (Wilson)
close to her. (Lindsay)
to come
The nightmare of my life had come Giles and Beatrice were coming for the
true. (Buck) night but nobody else. (Du Maurier)
to go
Philip Baring stiffened in his chair. Of a misty January morning Soames had
His face went tense. (Wilson) gone there once more. (Galsworthy)

There are some verbs which, though fully preserving their concrete meaning, perform the
function of link verbs: they are used with a predicative and form a compound nominal predicate.
Here belong: to lie, to sit, to die, to marry, to return to leave, to come, to stand, to fall, to go, etc.
 After many adventures I and a little girl lay senseless in the Bad Lands.
(Haggard)
The poor woman sat amazed. (Trollope)
I stood transfixed with awe and joy. (Haggard)

Here the important thing is not that the speaker stood but that he stood transfixed with
awe and joy.

Happily, too, the greater part of the boys came back low-spirited. (Dickens)

Sometimes the predicative does not immediately follow these verbs but is separated from
them by an adverbial.

One evening she came home elated. (0. Henry)

Thus the same verb when used as a link verb may either lose its meaning or fully preserve
it.

Irene’s hair was going gray. (Galsworthy) (link verb)

Tom went home miserable. (Twain) (notional verb performing the function of
a link verb)

According to their meaning link verbs can be divided into two large groups: (1) link verbs
of being and remaining; (2) link verbs of becoming.
The first group comprises such verbs as to be, to remain, to keep, to continue, to look, to
smell, to stand, to sit, to lie, to shine, to seem, to prove, to appear, etc. The latter three verbs have
some modal colouring.

Cotman was a nice-looking fellow, of thirty perhaps... (Maugham)

Do not delay, there is no time. Teacher Williams lies dead, already. (Buck)
The Western powers stood aloof. (Buck)
Idris, aged five, at a litte desk all by himself near the fire, was looking
extraordinarily pleased with life. (Cronin)
He felt exhausted not with physical fatigue, but with the weight of vague
burdens. (Lindsay)
Either course seemed unthinkable, without any connection with himself.
(Lindsay)
The door remained wide open; the voices inside were louder than ever.
(Priestley)
...the dancing continues fast and furious. (Douglas)
That sounds not unsatisfactory. (Wilde)

The second group comprises such verbs as to become, to get, to grow, to come, to go, to
leave, to run, to turn, to make, etc.

Oh, Adolphus Cusins will make a very good husband. (Shaw)

This becomes uninteresting, however, after a time. (Jerome)
How can I get married without my best man? (Lindsay)
And every month of his life he grew handsomer and more interesting.
(Burnett)
The great day dawned misty and overcast. (Du Maurier)
 The predicative.
The predicative is the significant part of the compound nominal predicate. It can be
expressed in different ways:
1. By a noun in the common case, occasionally by a noun in the possessive case.

She is a pretty child. (Galsworthy)

The book is my sister’s.

In Russian the predicative is expressed either by a noun in the nominative case or by a

noun in the instrumental case.

Он учитель.
Он был учителем.

2. By an adjective.

He’s awfully dear and unselfish. (Galsworthy)

Very often the predicative expressed by an adjective in English does not correspond to an
adjective in Russian. It often corresponds to an adverb, serving as an adverbial modifier.
In this connection particular attention should be paid to the following verbs as they are
very often used in everyday English: to look, to feel, to sound, to smell, to taste.

The dinner smells delicious. Обед пахнет восхитительно.

When she got angry, her voice sounded Когда она сердилась, ее голос звучал
shrill. пронзительно.
She looks bad. Она выглядит плохо.
He feels bad. Он чувствует себя плохо.
This orange tastes bitter. Этот апельсин горький.

As is seen from the examples given above all these predicative adjectives (with the
exception of the one that follows the verb to taste) are rendered by adverbs in Russian.
3. By a pronoun — personal, possessive, negative, interrogative, reflexive, indefinite,
defining.

It was he.
The guns were his. (London)
You are nobody. (London)
Why? What is he? (Galsworthy)
But she was herself again, brushing her tears away. (Lindsay)

As a rule the pronoun in the function of a predicative is in the nominative case, but in
Modern English there is a marked tendency to use personal pronouns in the objective case,
especially the personal pronoun I.

It’s me, Matt. (Lindsay)

Someone said, “That’s him!”

4. By a word of the category of state.

He was aware all the time of the stringy tie beneath the mackintosh, and the
 frayed sleeves... (Greene)
But I’m afraid I can’t keep the man. (Galsworthy)

2.By a numeral, cardinal or ordinal.

I’m only 46. (Shaw)

Mr. Snodgrass was the first to break the astonished silence. (Dickens)

3.By a prepositional phrase.

The things were outside her experience. (Wells)

After all, the little chap was on the side of the Capital. (Galsworthy)

7. By an infinitive, infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction.

June’s first thought was to go away. (Galsworthy)

His first act was to bolt the door on the inside. (Dickens)
The best thing is for you to move in with me. (Abrahams)

8. By a gerund, gerundial phrase, or gerundial construction.

My favourite sport is swimming.

The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other
particular sort of manners, but having the same manners for all human souls. (Shaw)
The topic of their conversation was their going on an expedition.

9. By Participle II or very seldom Participle I; the latter is generally adjectivized.

He was surprised at the sound of his own voice. (London)

Here was change, indeed! I fell back astounded in my chair. (Buck)
It is very distressing to me, sir, to give this information. (Dickens)
The moment was soothing to his sore spirit. (Sanborn)

(A detailed treatment of the difference between a compound nominal predicate with a

predicative expressed by Participle II and a simple predicate expressed by a verb in the Passive
Voice is given in Chapter VII, Passive Voice, § 6.)

10. By an adverb.

That was all. It was enough the way she said it. (Sanborn)

The Objective Predicative.

Besides the predicative referring to the subject, another type of predicative referring to
the object can be found in English. It is generally called the Objective Predicative. It expresses
the state or quality of the person or thing denoted by the object and is generally expressed by a
noun, an adjective, a word denoting state, or a prepositional phrase.

He appointed Bush secretary in his stead. (Swift)

Lord and Lady Masham... left him alone with them. (Swift)
In a few minutes I came to myself and he carried me safe to my little nurse.
(Swift)
They painted the door green.
 The Objective Predicative does not form part of the predicate, in this case the predicate is
simple.

The compound verbal predicate.

The compound verbal predicate can be divided into two types according to the meaning
of the finite verb:
(1) the compound verbal modal predicate;
(2) the compound verbal aspect predicate.1
1
It should be borne in mind that by ‘aspect’ we do not mean here the verbal category of
aspect but the lexical meaning of certain verbs as denoting the beginning, the duration and the
cessation of the action.

The compound verbal modal predicate shows whether the action expressed by a non-
finite form of the verb is considered as possible, impossible, obligatory, necessary, desirable, etc.
These shades of meaning are expressed by the first component of the predicate.
The compound verbal modal predicate may consist of the following components:
1. A modal verb and an infinitive.
Here belong the combinations of such verbs as can, may, must, should, would, ought,
dare, need with an infinitive.

You can prove everything and nothing. (London)

His aunt would not give him the photograph. (Hardy)

2. Modal expressions: to be + Infinitive, to have + Infinitive.

The loudspeaker operation was to take place in С. Company’s sector. (Heym)

I have to work for my living. (Jerome)

3. A verb with a modal meaning2 and an infinitive or a gerund. Here belong such verbs as
to hope, to expect, to intend, to attempt, to try, to endeavour, to long, to wish, to want, to desire,
etc.

Verbs with a modal meaning should not be confused with modal verbs as such, which in
2

the English language form a special group of defective verbs (see Chapter VII, Modal Verbs)

He wanted to throw himself into the whirlpool of Paris. (Heym)

We intend going to Switzerland, and climbing Mount Blanc. (Ch. Bronte)
Of course she longs to have a ball in her honour. (Du Maurier)
Certainly I don’t mean to take advantage of my position. (Wilson)
Harris tried to open the tin with a pocket knife and broke the knife and cut
himself badly. (Jerome)

4. Modal expressions and an infinitive.

They are synonymous with modal verbs or verbs with a modal meaning. Here belong the
combinations of such expessions as to be able, to be obliged, to be bound, to be willing, to be
anxious, to be capable, to be going with an infinitive.

Baring had been obliged to forego making friends. (Wilson)

I am going to leave Paris. (Heym)
We are most anxious to cooperate. (Heym)
 5. Verbs and expressions used in the predicate of sentences containing the Subjective
Infinitive Construction (Nominative-with-the-Infinitive Construction).
These words and expressions show the attitude of the speaker towards the person or thing
expressed by the subject.

A ship — the Vestris — is reported to be arriving at Joppa. (Douglas)

Сообщают, что корабль “Вестрис“ должен вскоре прибыть в Яффу.
About 4,000 port workers are believed to be on strike. (Daily Worker)
Предполагается, что бастует около четырех тысяч портовых рабочих.
Naturally all this had some chilling discouraging effect on him, but he
appeared not to hold it against her. (Wescott)
Естественно, что все это расхолаживало и обескураживало его, но он,
по-видимому, на нее за это не сердился.
Never mind who told me. I happen to know his car was seen here yesterday
afternoon. (Du Maurier)
Неважно, кто мне сказал. Просто я знаю, что его машину видели здесь
вчера днем.
Just at this moment you seem to be having difficulty with your left hand.
(Wilson)
Как раз сейчас у вас, кажется, что-то не в порядке с левой рукой.

The compound verbal aspect predicate.

The compound verbal aspect predicate expresses the beginning, repetition, duration, or
cessation of the action expressed by the non-finite form of the verb. It consists of such verbs as
to begin, to start, to commence, to fall, to set about, to go on, to keep on, to proceed, to continue,
to stop, to give up, to finish, to cease, to come and an infinitive or a gerund.
Here also belong would and used + Infinitive, which denote a repeated action in the past.

Elaine, this ill-advised behaviour of yours is beginning to have results.

(Erskine)
That view had come to give him a feeling of ease and happiness. (Lindsay)
His bones ceased to ache. (Lindsay)
She had stopped asking Yates about the time. (Heym)
Meanwhile armored infantry continued to feel its way in a northerly
direction. (Heym)
I kept glancing at her through the rest of the play. (Braine)
I used to write poetry myself when I was his age. (Herbert)
I lived with a man once who used to make me mad that way. He would loll on the sofa
and watch me doing things by the hour. (Jerome)

Mixed types of predicate.

Besides the compound nominal predicate, the compound verbal modal predicate and the
compound verbal aspect predicate, there is a type of predicate in which we have elements of two
types of predicates. Such predicates contain three components.
Thus we have:
1. The compound modal nominal predicate.

The nephew was to be the means of introduction. (Da Maurier)

He greatly longed to be the next heir himself. (De la Roche)
Don’t think I mean to be unkind. (Du Maurier)

2. The compound aspect nominal predicate.

 The grey house had ceased to be a house for family life. (Buck)
It was like coming ashore after a channel crossing I began to feel rather
hungry. (Du Maurier)
I was glad that the doctor had been Chinese, and not American. I continued
to be glad for that. (Buck)

3. The compound modal aspect predicate.

And all the while he felt the presence of Pat and had to keep on resisting the
impulse to turn round. (Lindsay)
Something happened nearly a year ago that altered my whole life. I had to
begin living all over again. (Du Maurier)
He ought to stop doing nothing and criticizing everybody. (Lindsay)

AGREEMENT OF THE PREDICATE WITH THE SUBJECT

In the English language the predicate agrees with the subject in person and number.
Agreement implies that the use of one form necessitates the use of the other, for example:
a singular subject requires a predicate in the singular, a plural subject requires a predicate in the
plural.

The house was alive with soft, quick steps and running voices. (Mansfield)
This evening there was no bright sunset; west and east were one cloud... (Ch.
Bronte)

But in Modern English there is often a conflict between form and meaning; in these cases
the predicate does not agree with the subject.

The Durham family were at breakfast, father, mother and seven children.
(O’Conor)
“Great Expectations” was written by Dickens in 1860.
He further intimated that the United States was so interested in its own
internal affairs that it would not be drawn into the question. (Graves)

In Modern English, with its few inflexions, agreement of the predicate with the subject is
restricted to the present tense apart from the verb to be. The verb to be is an exception because it
agrees with the subject not only in the present but in the past tense as well.

I am serious myself... (Lindsay)

We are men and women who respect ourselves and love our families!
(Burke)
And Joseph was there with me. (Abrahams)
All the blinds were pulled down at the hall and rectory. (Thackeray)

The following rules of agreement of the predicate with the subject should be observed:
1. The predicate is used in the plural when there are two or more homogeneous subjects
connected by the conjunction and or asyndetically.

Her father and mother... were obviously haunted and harassed.

(Galsworthy)
The top of a low black cabinet, the old oak table, the chairs in tawny leather,
 were littered with the children’s toys, books, and garden garments. (Eliot)

If two or more homogeneous subjects are expressed by infinitives the predicate is in the
singular.

To labour in peace, and devote her labour and her life to her poor son,
was all the widow sought. (Dickens)
To leave the quiet court, to gain the Strand, to hail a belated hansom was
the work of a moment. (Thurston)

2. When the predicate-verb precedes a number of subjects it is often in the singular,

especially if the sentence begins with here or there.

And here was a man, was experience and culture. (Galsworthy)

Besides the chair at the writing-table there is an easy-chair at the medicine
table, and a chair at each side of the dressing table. (Shaw)
The wind drove down the rain and everywhere there was standing water and
mud. (Hemingway)

If the subjects are of different number the predicate agrees with the subject that stands
first.

There was much traffic at night and many mules on the roads with boxes of
ammunition on each of their pack saddles. (Hemingway)

3. When two homogeneous subjects in the singular are connected by the conjunctions not
only... but (also), neither... nor, either ... or, or, nor, the predicate is usually in the singular.

There was neither heroic swift defeat nor heroic swift victory. (Wells)
Not only the anchor of hope, but the footing of fortitude was gone at least
for a moment. (Ch. Bronte)

If the subjects are of different person or number, the predicate agrees with the one next to
it.

Neither I nor my sister is to blame.

Neither your sister nor you are to blame.

4. When two subjects in the singular are connected by the conjunction as well as the
predicate is in the singular.

Activity as well as cell structure is an essential condition of life. (Young)

If the subjects are of different person or number, the predicate agrees with the subject that
stands first.

The Volga as well as its affluents is very picturesque.

5. If a subject expressed by a noun is modified by two or more attributes connected by

and, the predicate is in the singular when one person, thing, or idea is meant.

The complete and beautiful quiet was almost the quiet from beyond the
 grave. (Stone)
Here a new social and political consciousness was in the making.
(Abrahams)

If two or more persons, things, or ideas are meant the predicate is in the plural.

Classical and light music have both their admirers.

The red and the white rose are both beautiful.
The red and white roses are both beautiful.

The above examples show that, in this case, the subject expressed by an abstract noun
stands in the singular; with class nouns we either repeat the article and put the noun in the
singular or use the article once and put the noun in the plural.

6. If the subject is expressed by a defining, indefinite, or negative pronoun (each, either,

everybody, everyone, everything, somebody, someone, something, nobody, no one, nothing,
neither, etc.), the predicate is in the singular.

In turn each of these four brothers was very different from the other, yet they,
too, were alike. (Galsworthy)
Everybody was glad to see Martin back. (London)
There was something in her silence which disconcerted him. (Galsworthy)
Nobody was at home — Soames in London, Annette at a garden party. (Galsworthy)
There was nothing to attract attention or excite alarm in this. (Dickens)

7. If the subject is expressed by an interrogative pronoun (who, what) the predicate is

usually in the singular.

“Who is to apply to her for permission?” I asked. (Collins)

Tom called: “Hold! Who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass?”
(Twain)
What was there in him that could make him feel that shameful impulse in
Regan’s office? (Wilson)

If the question refers to more than one person the predicate may be used in the plural.

Who were to be the subjects of their piracies was a matter that did not occur
to him. (Twain)

8. If the subject is expressed by a relative pronoun (who, which, that) the predicate agrees
with its antecedent.

Mrs. Gowan, who was engaged in needlework, put her work aside in a
covered basket, and rose a little hurriedly. (Dickens)
Near them were the old people who were watching the dancing. (Abrahams)
She (Lillian) looked at his handsome face, which was turned to hers, with
childlike simplicity. (Dreiser)
This gentleman told me of two recent events in his life, which were of some
importance and which had not previously reached my ears. (Collins)

9. If the subject is expressed by the emphatic it the predicate is in the singular no matter
what follows.
 Foreigners say that it is only English girls who can thus be trusted to travel
alone... (Ch. Bronte)

10. If the subject is expressed by a noun in the plural which is the title of a book, or the
name of a newspaper or magazine, the predicate is usually in the singular.

“The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club” was written when Dickens
was twenty-four years of age.

11. If the subject is expressed-by a noun in the plural denoting time, measure, or distance,
the predicate is in the singular when the noun represents the amount or mass as a whole.

Four hundred miles was a huge distance when a man was no longer young
and had no means. (Maltz)
Three dollars is the sum laid aside for all other purposes and pleasures.
(Dreiser)
Twenty-one years is a longish time, lad, but memory is longer and deeper
and stronger than time. (Farnol)

12. If the subject is expressed by a collective noun denoting a group or collection of

similar individuals taken as a whole (mankind, humanity, etc,) the predicate-verb is in the
singular.

He consoled himself with the idea that perhaps humanity was better than he
thought. (Dreiser)
“Well, what is mankind, then, Mrs. Jenkins?” I asked her. “Mankind is all of
us,” Mrs. Jenkins said, “you and me and everybody you can think of all over
the world. That is mankind.” (Llewellyn)

If the subject is expressed by a noun of multitude, i. e. a collective noun denoting the

individuals of the group taken separately (people — люди, infantry, cavalry, gentry, clergy,
police, cattle, poultry, jury, etc.) the predicate-verb is as a rule in the plural.

The weather was warm, and the people were sitting at their doors. (Dickens)
“I belong to a church that is older and better than the English Church,” Mr.
Holt said... “in our church the clergy do not marry.” (Thackeray)
The police are all over the place. (Kennedy)
At the present time, too many commercial cattle are bred with no particular
end in view. (Garner)
As experimental animals poultry have their excellent points. (Hagedeorn)

With collective nouns (family, committee, crew, army, board, chorus, government, party,
team, company, band, etc.) as subject the predicate is either in the singular or in the plural; this
depends on what is uppermost in the mind, the idea of oneness or plurality.

...the branch committee was meeting in the room of a textile trade union.
(Lindsay)
...I am glad to tell you, Doctor Manson... that the committee have decided by
a majority to ask you to remain. (Cronin)
The company was then complete, twenty-one in all. (Galsworthy)
“One of them might have slipped into the hall, in the confusion, when the
 dinner company were going away,” says Mr. Franklin. (Collins)
The Board was again full... (Galsworthy)
The board were sitting in solemn conclave, when Mr. Bumble rushed into the
room in great excitement... (Dickens)
Michael followed with the Upshires and Aubrey Green, whom he had
encountered in the hall. The party was complete. (Galsworthy)
The meal over, the party were free to run and play in the meadows. (Ch.
Bronte)
...the band was beginning to play a selection from the music of Grieg.
(Hichens)
When we came to the house we found that the band had arrived and were
standing about in the hall. (Du Maurier)

. The predicate agrees in number with the subject expressed by a syntactic word-group, 1
consisting of two nouns connected by the conjunction and. Here we find agreement according to
the meaning expressed in the word-group.
1
A syntactic word-group is a combination of words forming one part of the sentence.

1. (a) If the word-group consists of two nouns denoting different persons, things, or
notions, the predicate-verb is in the plural.

Andreis and I were alone. (Abrahams)

I knew that matter and spirit were one. (Bennett)

N о t e. — Syntactic word-groups forming one part of the sentence should not

be confused with homogeneous parts of the sentence. A sentence with two
homogeneous subjects can be divided into two sentences with each subject
taken separately, independently of the other.

Kath and Pearl were good-looking girls. (Lindsay)

( = Kath was a good-looking girl; Pearl was a good-looking girl.)

If we have a sentence with the subject expressed by a syntactic word-group,

its elements cannot be used separately without destroying the meaning of the
sentence; only the whole word-group (in the above examples: Andreis and I,
matter and spirit) can serve as the subject in the given sentence.

(b) The predicate-verb is in the singular when the subject is expressed by several nouns
which represent one person or thing, or two persons or things forming a close unit often
corresponding to one notion.

...the wife and mother was asked with affectionate deference before the plan
was made. (Broughton)
A carriage and pair was passing through the lodge gates of Transome court.
(Eliot)
...Chitterlow’s needle and thread in his still unmended trouser leg was
making an annoying ‘little noise on the pavement behind him. (Wells)

2. If the subject is expressed by a word-group consisting of two nouns connected by the

preposition with, or the expression together with, the predicate-verb is in the singular.
It should be noted that these word-groups are very seldom found in English.
 A woman with a child on the third floor is screaming and waving her free
hand frantically. (Dreiser)
An engine with a number of trucks was creeping up spluttering and
snorting, halting and knocking. (Lindsay)

3. If. the subject is expressed by a syntactic word-group the first element of which
denotes an indefinite number or amount, such as a number of..., a variety of..., the majority of...,
a lot of..., plenty of..., a mass of... etc., the predicate may be in the singular or in the plural. In
most cases the form of the predicate depends on the form and meaning of the second element,
which from a semantic point of view is the dominant element of the word-group.

A number of cars were parked on the lot before a two-storey building.

(Maltz)
A number of Connoisseurs were sitting and standing about. (Galsworthy)
There were a number of paper-covered booklets too. (Cronin)
The majority of the old seamen are but little moved by such graven beauty.
(Dreiser)
The vast majority of men and women were not essentially above slavery
even when they had all the guarantees of a constitution formulated to prevent
it. (Dreiser)
“There is a lot of truth in that,” said Jonson cautiously. (Lindsay)
A lot of people are coming. (Hichens)
“There are a lot of things still for you to believe,” says Mr. Eversham,
beaming. (Wells)
The troubles and hardships of war were over, but there were still plenty of
others to be coped with. (Sommerfield)
There were plenty of rooms (at the hotel). (Hemingway)

N o t e. — The nouns number and variety may retain their concrete meaning
(количество, разнообразие) and serve as subject of the sentence. In this case
they are used with the definite article; the of-phrase that follows them is a
separate part of the sentence — an attribute to the subject. The predicate is
naturally in the singular as it agrees with the subject the number, the variety.

They tell me that the number of teachers in town has not increased in years.
(Hughes)
Her acquaintance was fairly large, the number of her intimates was small.
(Swinnerton)

4. If the subject is expressed by the word-group many a... the predicate is in the singular.

The banks of the Avon are beautiful in these parts. Many an artist comes
there. (Thurston)
There is many a slip between the cup and the lip. (proverb)
...hospitality obliges as much as nobleness, and many a sounding lie has
been told in its name. (Broughton)

5. If the subject is expressed by a group of words denoting arithmetic calculations

(addition, subtraction, division) the predicate is usually singular; multiplication presents an
exception as the verb may be in the singular or in the plural.
 Two and two is four.
Six minus four is two.
Twenty divided by five equals four.
Twice two is (are) four.

THE SECONDARY PARTS OF THE SENTENCE

THE OBJECT

The object is a secondary part of the sentence which completes or restricts the meaning
of a verb or sometimes an adjective, a word denoting state, or a noun.

Haviland closed the door. (Wilson)

I was very proud of it. (Braddon)
He had never liked Soames. He now held him responsible for Bosinney’s death.
(Galsworthy)
“You are afraid of dying,” said Bing. (Heym)

§ 23. Ways of expressing the object.

The object is expressed by the following parts of speech:
1. A noun in the common case.

We ought to give him a present, too. (Mansfield)

2. A pronoun (personal in the objective case, possessive, defining, reflexive,

demonstrative, indefinite).

C o k a n e. Our little discussion has given me quite an appetite.

T r e n c h. It has taken mine away. (Shaw)
“I must do my best for her,” thought Jolyon. (Galsworthy)
You ought to know all about statues and things. (Galsworthy)
What will you do with yourself? (Galsworthy)
“Who gave you that?” he asked. (Bennett)
...she’s alone in the world, and she must have someone to take care of her.
(Maugham)

Here we must mention the peculiar use of the pronoun it in the function of an object,
similar to its use in the function of the subject. Sometimes the pronoun it is used as a real
(notional) object.

She pulled out a cigarette and let it dangle between her lips unlighted.
(Wilson)
Она достала сигарету и держала ее во рту, не зажигая.

But sometimes it only introduces a real object expressed by an infinitive or gerundial

phrase or by a subordinate clause. In this case it is a formal introductory object which is not
translated into Russian. The formal it is characteristic of literary style and is mostly used after
certain verbs followed by adjectives (sometimes nouns). Here belong such verbs as to think, to
find, to consider, to make etc.

He found it impossible to utter the next word. (Kahler)

Он почувствовал, что не может произнести больше ни одного слова.
 Не made it a point to save so much every week. (London)
Он поставил себе целью каждую неделю откладывать определенную
сумму.
She made it clear from the beginning that she had come with Bing.
(Sanborn)
Она с самого начала ясно дала понять, что пришла с Бингом.

3. A substantivized adjective or participle.

June Forsyte always championed the unfortunate.

In old times nomadic tribes when moving to another place left the dying
behind.

4. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction.

The sergeant ordered his men to stop.

When he saw someone come toward them, he avoided him neatly. (Sanborn)
The old woman held the child tight and waited for the storm to pass.
(Dickens)

5. A gerund, a gerundial phrase, or a gerundial construction.

Could they prevent flying in war-time? (Galsworthy)

I remember seeing you at the opening of the Transport workers summer club.
(Shaw)
I don’t like him going away with Lord Illingworth. (Wilde)

6. Any part of speech used as a quotation.

Through the door in the hall leading to the basement he called “Hsst!” several
times... (Galsworthy)

7. A prepositional phrase with a noun or a gerund.

Several times he had sought for a suitable opportunity to disclose his

exciting secret. (Bennett)
They all approved of his not being beaten by that cousin of his. (Galsworthy)
Do you object to my going away for a month?
Improving a husband! No. I shall insist upon my husband improving me, or
else we part. (Ch. Bronte)

8. A group of words which is one part of the sentence, i. e. a syntactically indivisible

group.

But it was only Mrs. Bunting who asked for a pinch of salt. (Lindsay)
He found a number of persons in the Morse home. (London)

Kinds of objects.
There are three kinds of objects in English: the direct object, the indirect object, and the
cognate object.

The direct object.

 The direct object is used after transitive verbs with which it is closely connected as it
denotes a person or thing directly affected by the action of the verb. It is used without any
preposition.

Again I moved my head negatively. (Braddon)

If we compare Russian and English we shall see that in English there are more verbs
taking a direct object than in Russian. This is due to the loss of case inflexions in English, the
result of which is that the old Accusative and Dative have assumed the same form.
Thus, if a transitive verb takes only one object expressed by a noun or pronoun without a
preposition, it is always a direct object.

I help my brother in his work.

Consequently very often the indirect object in Russian corresponds to the direct object in
English.

I helped him. Я помогал ему.

I envied him. Я завидовал ему.

It should be kept in mind that sometimes the prepositional object in Russian also
corresponds to the direct object in English.

Он сел на лошадь. Не mounted the horse.

Он играет в шахматы. Не plays chess.

There are a few English verbs which can have two direct objects.

I asked him his name.

Forgive me this question.
She taught them French.

The indirect object.

The indirect object denotes a living being to whom the action of the verb is directed.
There are also cases when it denotes a thing.
There are two types of indirect object:
1. The indirect object of the first type, which expresses the addressee of the action.
It is used with transitive verbs which take a direct object, so it hardly ever stands alone.

She gave him an interesting book to read.

Don’t forget to buy him a toy on his birthday.
He забудьте купить ему игрушку ко дню рождения.

Compare:

“I shall buy him,” said the slave-owner.

«Я его куплю», — сказал рабовладелец.

Thus, when translating into English such Russian sentences as дайте мне, покажите
мне, a direct object must be introduced, otherwise the sentence either has no meaning at all, or
its meaning is changed altogether.
 N o t e. — There are three verbs which may take an indirect object without
any direct object. In this case the indirect object is used with the preposition
to. These verbs are: to read, to write, to sing.

When I was ill she often read to me.

Won’t you sing to me?
Write to me as often as you can.

There is, however, a tendency in Modern English to use no preposition with the verb to
write.

Write me as often as you can.

As a rule the indirect object comes before the direct object. In this case it is used without
a preposition.

Much upset and without hope now she sent Soames the telegram. (Galsworthy)

When the direct object precedes the indirect object, the latter is used chiefly with the
preposition to and sometimes for. These prepositions make the indirect object more prominent.

Farrish was giving an interview to the correspondents. (Heym)

But sometimes we cannot change the order of words at will, namely when the direct
object is a pronoun and the indirect object, a noun. In this case the indirect object follows the
direct object.

I sent him to his mother.

When the direct object is expressed by the pronoun it, it always precedes the indirect
object.

Give it to him.

In colloquial speech, when the indirect object is a pronoun, the preposition to is often not
used: Give it him, b u t: Give it to Mary.
There are a number of verbs after which the indirect object is used with the preposition to
even when it comes before the direct object. These are: to explain, to dictate, to suggest, to
relate, to announce, to ascribe, to attribute, to communicate, to introduce, to submit, to repeat, to
dedicate, to disclose, to interpret, to point out.

Sometimes in the privacy of his bedroom James would reveal to Emily the
real suffering that his son’s misfortune caused him. (Galsworthy)
I shall dictate to you the names of books to be read for your examination.
He is not very bright, I attribute to his diligence the progress he has made in
English in so short a time. The professor explained to us some obscure
passages in Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

This order of words is mostly found when the direct object is modified by an extended
attribute.
2. The indirect object of the second type, which is more frequently used with intransitive
verbs than with transitive ones and which does not always express the addressee of the action.
 An idea had occurred to Soames. (Galsworthy)
My childhood was passed with a grandmother. (Dickens)
I want to thank you for your kindness.

Here lies one of the points of its difference from the indirect object of the first type which
is used with or without a preposition depending upon its place with regard to the direct object.
The indirect object of the second type can be called the prepositional indirect object. So in the
sentence She bought a piece of embroidery for me — for me is an indirect object, whereas in the
sentence She did this piece of embroidery for me — for me is a prepositional indirect object. In
contrast to the indirect object of the first type, which is used only with the preposition to and
seldom for, the use of the prepositional indirect object is not confined to any definite set of
prepositions. Thus it can be used with any preposition.
The prepositional indirect object is used not only with verbs but also with adjectives,
words denoting state, and nouns of verbal origin.

I am uneasy about it.

She was not aware of his being there.
Her behaviour to her friends was irreproachable.

It is difficult sometimes to distinguish between an attribute and a prepositional indirect

object.

Yates’s mind was like a caldron in which boiled the general tension in town,
the expectation of getting to Yasha. (Heym)

The phrase of getting to Yasha can be treated both as an attribute and as a prepositional
indirect object.

The complex object.

The direct and the prepositional indirect object may be simple and complex.
The complex object consists of two components, of which the second stands in predicate
relation to the first. The two components form an indivisible unit and consequently must be
regarded as one part of the sentence. The complex object can be non-prepositional and
prepositional.

I observed Agnes turn pale. (Dickens)

Thus these two waited with impatience for the three years to be over. (Buck)

The first component of the complex object is a noun in the common case or in the
possessive case, a personal pronoun in the-objective case, or a possessive pronoun; the second is
an infinitive, a participle, a gerund, seldom a noun, an adjective, a word denoting state, or a
prepositional phrase.

He hated her to work in the boarding house. (Prichard)

On looking towards her again, I perceived her face clouded with
embarrassment. (E. Bronte)
He could see the man and Great Beaver talking together. (London)
She thinks herself very clever.
As he spoke, he felt himself unusually on edge. (Lindsay)

N o t e. — The group ‘object + objective predicative’ is very close to the

 complex object, but the connection between its two elements is not close
enough to make them one part of the sentence; so while the complex object
can nearly always be extended into an object Clause; the direct object with its
objective predicative cannot.
E.g. He felt himself unusually on edge can be changed into He felt that he was
unusually on edge, but They left him alone cannot be changed in the same
way.

All the predicative constructions when used in the function of an object due to their
structure form a complex object. Thus we have a complex object expressed by a participial
construction, a gerundial construction, an Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction and a for-
to-Infinitive Construction.

Dick found himself walking in the direction of his friend Mike’s place.
(Lindsay)
His new duties had kept him occupied. (Douglas)
My lady assures him of his being worth no complaint from her. (Dickens)
“Well,” said Soames, “I want you to come out to the Stores, with me, and
after that we’ll go to the Park.” (Galsworthy)

The cognate object.

There is a special kind of object in English which has the following peculiarities.
1. It is used with intransitive verbs though it has no preposition.
2. It is expressed by a noun which is either of the same root as the verb or is similar to it
in meaning.
3. It is almost regularly attended by an attribute with which it forms a combination that is
close in meaning to an adverbial modifier: to live a happy life — to live happily.
The cognate object is generally used in such combinations as: to smile a sad smile, to
laugh a bitter laugh, to die a violent death, etc.

But she died a dreadful death, poor soul... (Collins)

Но она погибла ужасной смертью, бедняжка...
That night the roused forces of Good and Evil fought their terrible fight for
her soul... (Collins)
В эту ночь пробудившиеся силы Добра и Зла вели ожесточенную борьбу
за ее душу.
For the next four days he lived a simple and blameless life on thin captain’s
biscuits. (Jerome)
В течение последующих четырех дней он жил простой непорочной
жизнью и питался постными капитанскими сухарями.

THE ATTRIBUTE

The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which qualifies a noun, a pronoun, or
any other part of speech that has a nominal character.
An attribute can be either in pre-position or in post-position to the word it modifies.

What did she do with herself... in that little hole? (Galsworthy)

Under a tree opposite Knightsbridge Barracks... he took out once more the
morocco, case. (Galsworthy)
 As a result of the loss of inflexions, the attribute in English, as distinct from Russian,
does not agree with the word it modifies in number, case, or gender. It may be expressed by
almost any part of speech.

§ 30. Ways of expressing the attribute.

It can be expressed by:
1. An adjective (the most common way of expressing an attribute).

This big girl is very lazy.

I am speaking about the big girl, not the little one.
He seems a very silent, awkward, bashful lad. (Thackeray)
Meanwhile she was the gayest and most admired woman. (Thackeray)

2. A pronoun (possessive, defining, demonstrative, interrogative, relative).

His shrewd, steady eyes had lost none of their clear shining. (Buck)
Each of these ladies held fans in their hands, and each, with some touch of
colour, some emphatic feather or brooch, testified to the solemnity of the
opportunity. (Galsworthy)
I looked at her — at her, and at none other, from that moment. (Collins)
James once went down to see for himself what sort of place this was that they
had come from. (Galsworthy)
In that great London, what time had they to be sentimental? (Galsworthy)

It should be kept in mind that possessive pronouns are often not translated into Russian.
On the other hand when translating from Russian into English one should often insert possessive
pronouns.

He extended his hand to me.

Он протянул мне руку.
«Пойди вымой руки», — сказала мать.
“Go and wash your hands,” said mother.

3. A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).

In his final examinations he won six distinctions... (Aldington)

The second generation of Forsytes felt that he (Bosinney) was not greatly to their credit.
(Galsworthy)

4. A noun:
(a) In the common case. One of the marked features of the English language is the wide
use of nouns in the common case as attributes in pre-position; in Russian nouns are never used as
attributes in pre-position.

I recognized him as Dougal Todd, the village painter and carpenter. (Cronin)
Я узнал Дугала Тодда, местного деревенского маляра и плотника.
Не was pleased that the girl seemed impressed because it showed business
instinct. (Galsworthy)
Он был доволен, что на девушку это произвело впечатление, ибо это
свидетельствовало о том, что у нее есть коммерческая жилка.
He wore a large straw hat.
На нем была большая соломенная шляпа.
 As seen from the above examples the attributive nouns are rendered in Russian either by
nouns in the genitive case used in postposition or by adjectives.
(b) In the genitive case. This kind of attribute is generally used in pre-position.

Her father’s nerves would never stand the disclosure. (Galsworthy)

Нервы ее отца не выдержат этого известия.

However, an attribute expressed by the preposition of a noun in the genitive case is used
in post-position (the so-called Absolute Genitive): this clever joke of mother’s; a book of my
brother’s.

How could he go up to Oxford now, among all those chaps, those splendid
friends of Crum’s? (Galsworthy)

In this case the noun modified is always used either with the indefinite article or with a
demonstrative pronoun. The latter makes it emphatic.
The same construction may be used with possessive pronouns in their absolute form: a
friend of mine; that pretty sister of his.

5. A prepositional phrase.

To think that a man of his abilities would stoop to such a horrible trick as
that! (Dreiser)
And the impressions of six years are not got over in such a space of time.
(Thackeray)

Here it should be mentioned that the treatment of these prepositional phrases in English
syntax is different from their treatment in Russian syntax where most of them are regarded as
prepositional objects.

The letter from her sister reassured her.

Письмо от сестры успокоило ее.

(from her sister is an attribute; от сестры is a prepositional object)

Very often in translating English of-phrases into Russian nouns in the genitive case
without any preposition are used; they are mostly regarded as objects.

the captain of the ship — капитан корабля

(of the ship is an attribute; корабля is an indirect object)

a cup of tea — чашка чая

(of tea is an attribute; чая is an indirect object)

6. An adverb:
(a) In pre-position.
In Russian an attribute cannot be expressed by an adverb in pre-position. Consequently in
translating these sentences into Russian we use adjectives: the then secretary — тогдашний
секретарь.
 In the light of after events one cannot but sympathize with them. (Fox)
В свете последующих событий им нельзя не сочувствовать.

(b) In post-position.

A voice inside said, “Come in.”

Голос из комнаты сказал: «Войдите!»
The room above is large and light.
Комната наверху большая и светлая.
The man there is my brother.
Вон тот человек — мой брат.
Will it be a step on or a step back?
Это будет шаг вперед или шаг назад?

The above examples show that in Russian an adverb can also be used as an attribute in
post-position. However, not every English attributive adverb in post-position can be rendered by
an adverb in Russian.

7. Participles I and II or a participial phrase.

The participle in the function of an attribute can be used in pre-position and in post-
position. In the latter case it is mostly used with accompanying words.

On the opposite side of the road to the site of the destroyed church is a fine
avenue of old trees. (Abrahams)
It looks brighter over there. I think it is only a passing shower. (Du Maurier)
I was dazzled by the snow glittering on the tree tops. (Ch. Bronte)

8. A prepositional phrase or a prepositional construction with a gerund.

Sally hated the idea of borrowing and living on credit. (Prichard)

The thought of having it copied again and again set him to smiling. (Shaw)
The idea of its being barbarous to confine wild animals had probably never
even occurred to his father for instance... (Galsworthy)

(For ways of translating the gerund see Chapter VIII, The Gerund.)

9. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction. The infinitive as an

attribute is always used in post-position.

They must have more companionship, more opportunity to broaden their

life. (Dreiser)
All right, go back to your office, you’ve got work to do. (Heym)
But it was not easy to carry out the resolution never to approach her.
(Hardy)
This is an English article for you to translate into Russian by tomorrow.

10. Quotation groups.

These are generally rendered in Russian by means of the conjunction как будто, точно
and a clause which stands in post-position.

I don’t Jike his “don’t-talk-to-me-or-I’ll-contradict-you” air.

Мне не нравится то, что у него такой вид, как будто он хочет сказать:
 «Не разговаривайте со мной, а то я буду вам перечить».
Не was being the boss again, using the it’s-my-money-now-do-as-you’re-told
voice. (Wilson)
Он теперь снова был хозяином и говорил тоном, в котором слышалось:
«Теперь деньги мои, делайте как вам велят».

An apposition is a special kind of attribute which is expressed by a noun (with or without

accompanying words) which characterizes or explains the word modified by giving the person or
thing another name. There are two kinds of , the close apposition and the loose or detached
apposition.

The close apposition.

A close apposition is not separated by commas and stands in close connection with the
word modified. These word-groups generally consist either of the name of a person and a noun
denoting a title, rank, profession, or the name of a person and a noun denoting relationship, or a
geographical name and some common noun, e. g. Professor Brown, Captain Marryat, Aunt
Polly, President Roosevelt, etc.

Even Aunt Ann was there. (Galsworthy)

Professor Sommerville practised what he preached. (Carter)

In these word-groups the noun modified is the name of a person or a geographical name,
the first component is a common noun in apposition.

N o t e. — In case the common noun is preceded by a possessive or a

demonstrative pronoun, it becomes more important and acquires a stronger
stress. Consequently the relation between the components of the word group
is reversed. The first component is modified by the name of a person or a
geographical name which is an apposition:

That boy Peter has a literary turn of mind. He is sure to become a writer.

Sometimes the apposition consists of the preposition of + noun, e. g. the town of

Daventry, the city of London.1
1
For this treatment of the close apposition see: В. Н. Жигадло, И. П. Иванова, Л. Л,
Иофик, Современный английский язык, М., 1956, стр. 290.

The loose or detached apposition.

A loose apposition is not so closely connected with the noun. It is always separated by
commas and has a stress of its own.

Dr. Winchcliffe, my predecessor, was a classmate of my father’s. (Sanborn)

With her elder and younger sisters she lived now in the house of Timothy, her sixth and
youngest brother, on the Bayswater Road. (Galsworthy)

THE ADVERBIAL MODIFIER

The adverbial modifier is a secondary part of the sentence which modifies a verb, an
adjective or an adverb. According to their meaning we distinguish the following kinds of
adverbial modifiers.
1. The adverbial modifier of time.
We shall try it tomorrow. (Heym)
While dancing, Cowperwood had occasion to look at Aileen often...
(Dreiser)
These preparations happily completed, I bought a house in Covent Garden
Market. (Dickens)
After receiving the cheque back, there seemed to him to be something
wrong somewhere. (Galsworthy)

2. The adverbial modifier of frequency.

Though they had often bothered him he had never bothered them. (London)

3. The adverbial modifier of place and direction.

Gains had spies everywhere. (Douglas)

Among the hills Martin and Ruth sat side by side. (London)

4. The adverbial modifier of manner.

Hendel Hull so obviously adored his wife. (Sanborn)

Their conversations were conducted with icy formality. (Douglas)
Marcellus accepted this information without betraying his amazement.
(Douglas)

5. The adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances.

Then the gun rolled into the old town, clattering over the stones. (Heym)
Now I can go to bed at last without dreading tomorrow. (Shaw)

6. The adverbial modifier of degree and measure.

It is rather good.
It weighs a pound.

7. The adverbial modifier of cause.

The men were weary, having run behind the beasts all day. (Buck)
The doctor said operate, it can’t do any harm but I have great fear of the knife
for my poor boy, his mother having died under it due to negligence.
(Greene)

8. The adverbial modifier of result (consequence).

She is too fond of the child to leave it.

9. The adverbial modifier of condition. (It is very rare both in English and in Russian.)

Mrs. Micawber thought that with large means her husband would have
distinguished himself long ago. (Dickens)
She never would have been able to make a success of the dining-room, but
for the kindness and assistance of the men. (Packard)
 10. The adverbial modifier of comparison.

Like all other Forsytes of a certain age they kept carriages of their own.
(Galsworthy)
Judice is as white as mud. She’s as perfect as sin. (Sanborn)
And then his wife’s face flushed and contracted as though in pain. (Gaskell)
He saw as if visible in the air before him in illuminated figures the whole
sum. (London)
John plays the piano better than Mary.

11. The adverbial modifier of concession. (It is very rare.)

Notwithstanding the success achieved by Napoleon in the initial stage of

the war of 1812 he was finally defeated.
Though frightened he carried it off very well. (Cronin)

12. The adverbial modifier of purpose.

Ham sometimes walked with us to show us the boats and ships. (Dickens)
They opened the way for her to come to him. (Douglas)
They cleared swamp growth for planting. (Eliot)

Ways of expressing the adverbial modifier.

It can be expressed by:
1. An adverb.

Rachel turned instinctively to prevent a possible intruder from entering.

(Bennett)

2. A noun with or without accompanying words.

Next day the morning hours seemed to pass very slowly at Mr. Pellet’s. (E.
Bronte)
They walked miles without finding any habitation.

3. A prepositional phrase.

The red dust spread up and out and over everything. (Wells)
I walked straight up the lane. (Bennett)

4. A noun, pronoun, adjective, infinitive, participle, or prepositional phrase with a

subordinating conjunction.

Mary swims better than her sister.

My sister plays tennis better than I.
If necessary, she must see Mr. Bridgenorth. (Gaskell)
He shrank back, his arms lifted as though to ward off physical violence.
(London)
While waiting for the water to boil, he held his face over the stove.
(London)
Sometimes he (Martin), when with her, noted an unusual brightness in her
eyes. (London)
 5. A participle or a participial phrase.

Having decided to accept his sister’s counsel Marcellus was anxious to

perform his unpleasant duty. (Douglas)
Turning away, she caught sight of the extra special edition of The Signal.
(London)
When questioned, she explained everything very carefully.

6. Absolute constructions.
(a) The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction.

He had wrapped her up with great care, the night being dark and frosty.
(Dickens)
Dehn burst in, the terror of the streets written on his face. (Heym)

(b) The Nominative Absolute construction.

He stopped and turned about, his eyes brightly proud. (Douglas)

(c) The Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction.

He looked at Mr. Micawber attentively, with his whole face breathing short
and quick in every feature. (Dickens)

(d) The Prepositional Absolute construction.

He rushed forward, with fury in his looks, and fire in his eye.

7. A prepositional phrase or construction with a gerund.

His father looked up without speaking. (Lindsay)

Nellman was arrested by the FBI... for “being a member of the Communist
Party”. (Daily Worker)
On her going to his house to thank him, he happened to see her through a
window. (Dickens)
I left the room without anybody noticing it.

8. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction.

They rose to go into the drawing-room. (Galsworthy)

So, on the following evening, we again assembled, to discuss and arrange
our plans. (Jerome)
He put the picture on the table for George to get a better view of it.
(Maugham)

ADDITIONAL REMARKS

It is not always easy to discriminate between different parts of the sentence expressed by
prepositional phrases.
The following parts of the sentence are apt to be confused: (1) a prepositional indirect
object and an adverbial modifier; (2) an attribute and an adverbial modifier.
 1. A prepositional indirect object and an adverbial modifier of place and manner.

Kate removed her eyes from the window and gazed directly at Papa. (Cronin)
Decimus had been born in Rome. (Douglas)

In the first example the prepositional phrase at Papa is a pre; positional indirect object as
the noun denotes a living being.
In the second example the prepositional phrase in Rome is an adverbial modifier as the
noun denotes an inanimate object and the question is: Where had he been born?
When the noun in the prepositional phrase denotes an inanimate object, very often two
ways of analysis are possible.

His wife was sitting before a very little fire. (Galsworthy)

The prepositional phrase before a very little fire can be treated either as an adverbial
modifier or an object.
2. An attribute and an adverbial modifier of place.

I thought you were going to a party at the club. (Douglas)

The party will take place at the club.

In the first example at the club is an attribute as it modifies a noun. It answers the
question: What party?
In the second sentence the same prepositional phrase modifies a verbal group,
consequently it is an adverbial modifier of place.
These examples do not cover all the dubious cases in analysis, they only serve to show
that there are many border-line cases.

DETACHED (LOOSE) PARTS OF THE. SENTENCE

Detached parts of the sentence are those secondary parts which assume a certain
grammatical and semantic independence. This phenomenon is due to their loose connection with
the words they modify.
Loose connection may be due to the position of these words, the way they are expressed,
their meaning, or the speaker’s desire to make them prominent. In spoken language detached
parts of the sentence are marked by intonation, pauses, and special stress; in written language
they are generally separated by commas or dashes. Adverbial modifiers, attributes, and
prepositional indirect objects may stand in loose connection to the word they modify, i. e. they
may be detached (loose) parts of the sentence. The adverbial modifier is more apt to stand in
loose connection than any other part of the sentence.

The detached adverbial modifier.

Any part of speech used in the function of an adverbial modifier may be detached, which
accounts for the comma that separates it from the rest of the sentence.

The Corporal lit a pipe, carefully, because the enemy was close. (Heym)
In her excitement, Maria jammed the bedroom-door together. (London)
One summer, during a brief vacation at Knocke, his visit had come to the
notice of Harrington Brande... (Cronin)

An adverbial modifier expressed by the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction or

any other absolute construction is generally detached.
 The train coming in a minute later, the two brothers parted and entered their
respective compartments. (Galsworthy)
With his face buried in his hands, he did not see her enter. the room.
(Keating)

Of all the kinds of adverbial modifiers that of attendant circumstances is most apt to
become detached.

They drove on, without speaking again, to Stanhope Gate. (Galsworthy)

He came in, with a large parcel under his arm. (Collins)
She had moved through its gaudiness and pettiness and glamour, her head
high and her lashes low, clothed in an immaculate dignity. (Sanborn)
Nicholas lay there, his brow still contracted, filled with perplexity and
confusion. (Cronin)
The kitchen became the sitting room, she and Robert eating their meals
before the warm stove. (Lawrence)

. The detached attribute.

A detached attribute can modify not only a common noun as an ordinary attribute does
but also a proper noun and a pronoun.

The crowd was now in constant uproar, yelling, gesticulating, beseeching

and reviling with Latin intensity. (Cronin)
There was a star-like quality about Judice, radiant and unreachable.
(Sanborn)
It was a wide white building, one storey high. (Sanborn)
Dumb with amazement, Mr. Gradgrind crossed to the spot where his family
was thus disgraced. (Dickens)
Stout, middle-aged, full of energy, she bustled backwards and forwards from
the kitchen to the dining-room. (Prichard)

The detached object.

The prepositional indirect object is often detached.

She does not change — except her hair. (Galsworthy)

A silver tray was brought, with German plums. (Galsworthy)
Huckleberry Finn was there, with his dead cat. (Twain)

THE INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS OFTHE SENTENCE

The independent elements of the sentence are words arid word-groups which are not
grammatically dependent on any part of the sentence.
They are:
1. Interjections, such as ah, oh, hurrah, eh, hallo, goodness gracious, good heavens, etc.

Oh, if I only knew what a dreadful thing it is to be clean, I’d never come. (
Shaw)
“Oh gracious me! that innocent Toots,” returned Susan hysterically. (Dickens)

2. Direct address.
Good morning, sweet child! (Douglas)
 Don’t be tiresome, Marcellus! (Douglas)

3. Parenthesis.
A parenthesis either shows the speaker’s attitude towards the thought expressed in the
sentence or connects a given sentence with another one, or summarizes that which is said in the
sentence. A parenthesis is connected with the rest of the sentence rather semantically than
grammatically. No question can be put to it. Very often it is detached from the rest of the
sentence and consequently it is often separated from it by commas or dashes.

He had probably never occupied a chair with a fuller sense of embarrassment.

(Galsworthy)
To be sure, Morris had treated her badly of late. (Prichard)
Unfortunately, it will be you who will have to explain that to him. (Heym)
But you shouldn’t pay him to-night, anyway, you’re his guest. (Galsworthy)
Besides, you know, I’m a pensioner, anyway. That makes me 65, to begin
with. (Maltz)
Speaking seriously though, Kit... it’s very good and thoughtful, and like you,
to do this. (Dickens)

§ 41. A parenthesis can be expressed by:

1. Modal words, such as indeed, certainly, assuredly, decidedly, in fact, truly,, naturally,
surely, actually, possibly, perhaps, evidently, obviously, maybe.

Evidently, he was not a man, he must be some other kind of animal. (Shaw)
Luckily, poor dear Roger had been spared this dreadful anxiety. (Galsworthy)

2. Adverbs which to a certain extent serve as connectives, such as firstly, secondly,

finally, thus, consequently, then, anyway, moreover, besides, still, yet, nevertheless, otherwise,
notwithstanding, therefore, etc.

He mightn’t like it. Besides, uncle Soames wants to get back, I suppose.
(Galsworthy)
He was losing money. Furthermore, he had sweated to make the truck
comfortable for them. (Maltz)

3. Prepositional phrases, such as in a word, in truth, in my opinion, in short, by the by, on

the one hand, on the contrary, at least, etc.

Everybody has his own problem. Mine is practically worthless, for instance.
(Maltz)
By the way, Harry, I have often meant to ask you: is she your mother’s sister
or your father’s? (Shaw)

4. Infinitive and participial phrases, such as to be sure, to tell the truth, to begin with,
generally speaking, strictly speaking, etc.

Sarah; my dear, comparatively speaking, you’re safe. (Dickens)

To tell you the truth, I don’t want to go there.

SENTENCES WITH HOMOGENEOUS PARTS

 Two or more parts of the sentence having the same function and referring to the same
part of the sentence are called homogeneous parts of the sentence. They are linked either by
means of coordinating conjunctions or asyndetically.
There can be:
1. Two or more homogeneous subjects to one predicate.

From the edge of the bed came a ripple and whisper. (Wells)
To her extreme relief, her father and sisters appeared. (Dashwood)

2. Two or more homogeneous predicates to one subject.

(a) Simple predicates.

That gentleman started, stared, retreated, rubbed his eyes, stared again and finally
shouted: “Stop, stop!” (Dickens)

(b) A compound verbal modal predicate with homogeneous parts within it.

Thousands of sheets must be printed, dried, cut. (Heym)

(c) A compound verbal aspect predicate with homogeneous parts within it.

First he began to understand and then to speak English.

(d) A compound nominal predicate with several predicatives within it.

The sky was clear, remote, and empty. (Wells)

The above mentioned cases do not cover all possible cases of homogeneous predicates.

3. Two or more attributes, objects, or adverbial modifiers to one part of the sentence.

The unlighted, unused room behind the sitting-room seemed to absorb and
even intensify the changing moods of the house. (Bennett) (ATTRIBUTES)
He could imitate other people’s speech, their accent, their mannerisms,
their tone. (Heym) (DIRECT OBJECTS)
He talked of Spain, his sunstroke, Val’s horses, their father’s health.
(Galsworthy) (PREPOSITIONAL INDIRECT OBJECTS)
She extended a slender hand and smiled pleasantly and naturally. (Wells)
(ADVERBIAL MODIFIERS OF MANNER)
But I saw nothing moving, in earth or sky. (Wells) (ADVERBIAL
MODIFIERS OF PLACE)