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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.
§ 7. 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.
The following sentences, however, correspond to Russian two-member personal sentences:
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
§ 8. 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.
§ 9. 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)
§ 10. 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.
C o m p a r e :
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.
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)
§ 11. 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.
§ 12. 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 бытьis 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.
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)
§ 13. 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.
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.
§ 7. 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
§ 8. 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.
§ 9. 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)
§ 10. 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.
C o m p a r e :
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)
§ 11. 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.
§ 12. 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 бытьis 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 Maurier) | No one was there to meet him. (Lindsay) |
| to grow | |
| But she had grown too proud or too passive. (Wescott) | Perhaps I should grow a beard. I look too young to have been publishing for five years. (Wilson) |
| to look | |
| He looked stupid and good-natured and happy. (Greene) | He blushed violently and looked away. (Wilson) |
| to feel | |
| And yet at moments he felt very close to her. (Lindsay) | He felt great awe and admiration. (Wilson) |
| to come | |
| The nightmare of my life had come true. (Buck) | Giles and Beatrice were comingfor the night but nobody else. (Du Maurier) |
| to go | |
| Philip Baring stiffened in his chair. His face went tense. (Wilson) | Of a misty January morning Soames had gone there oncemore. (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)
§ 13. 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 shrill. | Когда она сердилась, ее голос звучал пронзительно. |
| She looks bad. | Она выглядит плохо. |
| He feels bad. | Он чувствует себя плохо. |
| This orange tastes bitter. | Этот апельсин горький. |