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Conjunctions connecting two or more homogeneous subjects

§ 63. A plural verb-predicate is used in the following cases:

 

1. With homogeneous subjects connected by and.

Sun and airare necessary for life.

Tom and Maryare my friends.

The ebb and the flow of the tideare regular.

Note:

 

However, with structures where coordinated nouns refer to one thing or person a singular verb-predicate is used.

Bread and butteris not enough for breakfast. (one object is meant)

Bacon and eggsmakes a traditional English breakfast. (one dish is meant)

The painter and decoratoris here. (one person is meant)

 

If the article is repeated, the reference is to two persons or objects, and a plural verb-predicate is used.

The bread andthe butterare on the table. (two separate object are meant)

The painter andthe decoratorare here. (two persons are meant)

 

Likewise, when a singular noun-subject has two attributes characterizing the same person or non-person connected by and it has a singular verb and the article is not repeated.

A tall and beautiful girlwas waiting in the office.

A black and white kittenwas playing on the hearth rug.

 

But if the attributes characterize different persons or non-persons the verb is in the plural and the article is repeated.

A black and a white kitten were playing on the hearth rug. (A black kitten was playing and a white kitten was playing.)

The yellow and the red car werebadly damaged.

 

However, the article is repeated before each attribute only with countable nouns. Uncountables have no article.

 

In modern hotels hot and cold waterare supplied in every room.

American and Dutch beerare both much lighter than British.

Good and bad tasteare shown by examples.

 

With plural nouns only one article is used.

The Black and Mediterranean Seas never freeze.

 

2. With homogeneous subjects connected by both... and.

Both the bread and the butterare fresh.

Both the teacher and the studentshave come.

§ 64. With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions not only... hut also, either... or, or, neither... nor the verb-predicate agrees with the nearest noun-subject. (This is the so-called “proximity rule”.)

Either my sister or my parentsare at home.

Either my parents or my sisteris at home.

Neither you norI am right.

Neither I nor youare right.

Not only my parents but also my brotherknows about it.

Not only my brother but also my parentsknow about it.

Is Tom or Maryeager to meet you at the station?

§ 65. With homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunctions as well as, rather than, as much as, more than the verb-predicate agrees with the first one.

My parents as well as my sisterare teachers.

My sister as well as my parentsis a teacher.

The manager as well as/rather than/more than/as much as the members of the boardis responsible for the

present situation.

Notional agreement

§ 66. Notional agreement is to be found in the following cases:

 

1. In modern English agreement there may be a conflict between form and meaning. It refers first of all to subjects expressed by nouns of multitude (see § 176, II), which may denote plurality being singular in form. In such cases the principle of grammatical agreement is not observed and there appears the so-callednotional agreement, when the choice of the number is based on the fact whether the group of beings is considered as one whole or, as a collection of individuals taken separately (as discrete ones).

Thus the nouns of multitude (band, board, crew, committee, crowd, company, clergy, cattle, family, gang, group, guard, gentry, infantry, jury, militia, police, poultry, team) may have both a plural verb-predicate and a singular one depending on what is meant - a single undivided body or a group of separate individuals.

A new governmenthas been formed.

The governmenthave asked me to go, so I am leaving now.

It was now nearly eleven о'clock and the congregation were arriving...

The congregationwas small.

Howare your family?

Our familyhas alwaysbeen a very happy one.

The commanding officer does not know where his cavalryis and his cavalryare not completely sure of

their situation.

The crowdwas enormous.

The crowdwere silent.

The policeis already informed.

I don’t know what the policeare doing.

The cattleis in the mountains.

The cattlehave stopped grazing. They know before you hear any sound that planes are approaching.

The jurydecides whether the accused is guilty or not.

While the jurywere out, some of the public went out for a breath of fresh air.

 

2. Subjects expressed by nouns denoting measure, weight, time, etc., have a singular verb-predicate when the statement is made about the whole amount, not about the discrete units.

Ten yearsis a long time.

Another five minutesgoes by.

A million francsis a lot of money.

 

3. Notional agreement is also observed with subjects expressed by word-groups including nouns of quantity: a/the number of..., a/the majority of..., (a) part of..., the bulk of..., a variety of... . These admit of either a singular or a plural verb-predicate.

The number (количество) of pages in this book isn’t large. It was Sunday and a number (многие) of people were walking about. In Elisabeth’s reign the bulk of English vegetable supplies were imported from Holland.

 

4. Subjects expressed by such invariable plural nouns as goods (товар, товары), contents (содержание, содержимое), riches (богатство, богатства), clothes (одежда), wages (зарплата), eaves (карниз крыши) have a plural verb.

 

His wages were only 15 shillings a week.

I asked her what the contents were about.

His clothes were shabby.

The goods were delivered on time.

 

5. Subjects expressed by such invariable singular nouns as hair, money, gate, information (сведения), funeral (похороны), progress (успехи), advice have a singular verb-predicate. These are called “singularia tantum” “всегда единственное число», as they have no plural.

Her hairis beautiful.

The moneyis mine.

The gateis open.

The informationwas unusually interesting.

If the funeralis so detestable to you, you don’t have to go to it.

 

The corresponding Russian nouns used as subjects are either plural invariables (деньги, ворота, похороны) or have both the singular and the plural forms (совет - советы, новость - новости).

 

6. Subjects expressed by invariable nouns ending in -s (“pluralia tantum” «всегда множественное число») and denoting an indivisible notion or thing have a singular verb-predicate : measles (корь), mumps (свинка), billiards, dominoes, linguistics, economics, news, headquarters (штаб), works (завод).

No newsis good news.

The new works thathas been built in our districtis very large.

 

Though nouns in-ics which are names of sciences and other abstract notions have a singular agreement when used in their abstract sense; they may have a plural verb-predicate when denoting qualities, practical applications, different activities, etc. (ethics – “moral rules”, gymnastics – “physical exercises”). Thus these nouns may be followed by either a singular or a plural verb.

 

statistics a branch of science collected numbers, figures representing facts

 

Statisticsis a rather modern branch of mathematics.

These statistics show deaths per 1,000 of population.

Statistics on this subject are available,

 

tactics the art of arranging military forces for battle methods

 

Tacticsis one of the subjects studied in military academies.

Your tacticsare obvious. Please, don’t insult my intelligence.

 

politics a profession political affairs, political ideas

 

Politicsis a risky profession.

Politicshave always interested me.

What are your politics?

 

ceramics the art of making bricks, pots, etc. articles produced in this way

 

Ceramicsis my hobby.

Where he lives isn’t the provinces as far as ceramicsare concerned, it’s the metropolis.

 

7. Subjects expressed by substantivized adjectives denoting groups of people (the blind, the dumb and deaf, the eminent, the mute, the old, the poor, the rich, etc.) always take the plural verb-predicate.

 

He did not look an important personage, but the emminent rarely do.

The object

 

§ 67. The object is a secondary part of the sentence referring to some other part of the sentence and expressed by a verb, an adjective, a stative or, very seldom, an adverb completing, specifying, or restricting its meaning.

 

She has bought a car.

I’m glad to see you.

She was afraid of the dog.

He did it unexpectedly to himself.

Ways of expressing the object

§ 68. The object can be expressed by:

 

1. A noun in the common case or a nominal phrase, a substantivized adjective or participle.

 

I saw the boys two hours ago.

The nurses were clad in grey.

First of all she attended to the wounded.

Greedily he snatched the bread and butter from the plate.

 

2. A noun-pronoun. Personal pronouns are in the objective case, other pronouns are in the common case, or in the only form they have.

 

I don’t know anybody here.

I could not find my own car, but I saw hers round the corner.

He says he did not know that.

 

3. A numeral or a phrase with a numeral.

 

At last he found three of them high up in the hills.

 

4. A gerund or a gerundial phrase.

 

He insists on coming.

A man hates being run after.

 

5. An infinitive or an infinitive phrase.

 

She was glad to be walking with him.

Every day I had to learn how to spell pages of words.

 

6. Various predicative complexes.

 

She felt the child trembling all over.

I want it done at once.

Everything depends on your coming in time.

 

7. A clause (then called an object clause) which makes the whole sentence a complex one.

 

I don’t know what it was.

He thought of what he was to say to all of them.

 

Thus from the point of view of their structure, objects may be simple, phrasal, complex or clausal.*

* Complex objects with verbal and non-verbal second elements (objective predicatives) are treated in detail in § 124-129.

Types of object

§ 69. From the point of view of their value and grammatical peculiarities, four types of objects can be distinguished in English:

 

the direct object, the indirect object, and the cognate object.

1.The direct object is a non-prepositional one that follows transitive verbs, adjectives, or statives and completes their meaning. Semantically it is usually a non-person which is affected by the action of the verb, though it may also be a person or a situation. The situation is expressed by a verbal, a verbal phrase, a complex, or by a clause.

 

I wrote a poem.

You like arguing, don’t you?

Who saw him leave?

I don’t know what it all means.

She was ready to sing.

 

When the direct object is expressed by an infinitive (or an infinitive phrase or a clause) it may be preceded by the formal introductory objectit (see § 78).

 

I find it exciting to watch tennis.

He foundit hard to believe the girl.

2. Theindirect object also follows verbs, adjectives and statives. Unlike the direct object, however, it may be attached to intransitive verbs as well as to transitive ones. Besides, it may also be attached to adverbs, although this is very rare.

From the point of view of their semantics and certain grammatical characteristics indirect objects fall into two types:

 

a) The indirect object of the first type is attached only to ditransitive verbs. It is expressed by a noun or pronoun which as a rule denotes (or, in the case of pronouns, points out) a person who is the addressee or recipient of the action of the verb. So it is convenient to call an object of this typethe indirect recipient object. It is joined to the headword either without a preposition or by the preposition to (occasionally for). The indirect recipient object is generally used with transitive verbs.

 

He gave the kid two dollars.

She did not tell anything to anyone.

Will you bring a cup of coffee for me?

 

b) The indirect object of the second type is attached to verbs, adjectives, statives and sometimes adverbs. It is usually a noun (less often a pronoun) denoting an inanimate object, although it may be a gerund, a gerundial phrase or complex, an infinitive complex or a clause. Its semantics varies, but it never denotes the addressee (recipient) of the action of the governing verb. So it may be called the indirect non-recipient object.The indirect non-recipient object can only be joined to its headword by means of a preposition.

 

One must always hope for the best.

She’s not happy about her new friend.

 

The indirect non-recipient object is used mainly with intransitive verbs. It is usually the only object in a sentence, at least other objects are not obligatory.

3.The cognate object is a non-prepositional object which is attached to otherwise intransitive verbs and is always expressed by nouns derived from, or semantically related to, the root of the governing verb.

 

The child smiled the smile and laughed the laugh of contentment.

They struck him a heavy blow.

4.The retained object. This term is to be applied in case an active construction is transformed into a passive one and the indirect object of the active construction becomes the subject of the passive construction. The second object, the direct one, may be retained in the transformation, though the action of the predicate-verb is no more directed upon it. Therefore it is called aretained object.

 

They gave Mary the first prize ——>     (direct object) Mary was given the first prize     (retained object).

 

§ 70. The direct object is used irrespective of the absence or presence of other objects attached to the same verb.

 

He wrote the article two weeks ago.

Tommie did not know anything about it.

Ned ordered him to start.

 

Some English verbs which take a direct object correspond to Russian verbs followed by an indirect non-recipient object with a preposition. These verbs are:

to address smb to affect smb, smth to answer smth to approach smb, smth to attend smth to enjoy smth to enter smth to follow smb, smth to join smb, smth to mount smth to need smth, smb to play smth to reach smth to watch smb, smth - обращаться к кому-либо - влиятьна кого-либо, что-либо - отвечатьна что-либо - подойти, приблизиться к кому-либо, чему-либо - присутствоватьна чем-либо - получать удовольствиеот чего-либо - входитьво что-либо - следоватьза кем-либо, чем-либо - присоединяться к кому-либо, чему-либо - сесть верхом, взобратьсяна что-либо - нуждаться в чем-либо, ком-либо - игратьна чем-либо,во что-либо - дойти, достатьдо чего-либо - следитьза кем-либо, чем-либо

 

The position of the direct object

§ 71. The most usual position of the direct object is that immediately after the predicate verb it refers to.

 

Then he found her in the hall.

 

The direct object is separated from the predicate verb in the following cases:

 

1. If there is a non-prepositional indirect recipient object to the same verb in the sentence. In this case the direct object follows the indirect one.

 

I never told him anything.

Note:

 

The direct object may come before the non-preposi­tional indirect object if it is the pronoun it, and the indirect object is any other personal pronoun.

I never told it him.

Give it me, will you?

 

2. If the direct object is modified by a phrase or a clause. In this case it may be separated from the verb by a prepositional indirect non-recipient object or an adverbial.

 

Ged had kept for his winter journey the cloak lined with fur.

He took into his hands a small beast.

 

3. If the direct object is expressed by a noun or a pronoun (except a personal pronoun) referring to a phrasal predicate verb consisting of a verbal part and a postposition such as about, back, down, in, off, on, out, over, through, up.

 

He laid down his stick.

Ged took off his cloak that was heavy with water.

 

With most of those verbs, however, the direct object may also precede the adverb.

 

He laid down his stick. = He laid his stick down.

 

If expressed by a personal pronoun, the direct object always precedes the postposition.

 

He laid down his stick. = He laid it down.

§ 72. The direct object comes before the predicate verb it refers to in the following cases:

 

1. In pronominal questions referring to the direct objector to its attribute.

What did they give you?

Whose car was he driving?

Which piece shall I take?

 

2. In certain exclamatory sentences.

 

What a wonderful boat he has built!

 

3. In case it is necessary to connect the idea expressed in this sentence with the preceding one. This makes the object more emphatic.

 

The people of the village gathered in silence to watch his quick hands.

This job too he did well and patiently.

 

4. For the sake of emphasis or contrast.

 

I enjoyed arithmetic, as always. Grammar I could not understand in the least.

The indirect object

 

The indirect recipient object

 

§ 73. As has been mentioned above, the indirect recipient object is used mainly with transitive verbs, which thus take two objects, and are accordingly calledditransitive. Verbs governing the indirect recipient object fall into two classes, which in accordance with their general semantics are calledverbs of benefaction andverbs of inducement.

Verbs of benefaction denote an action that is addressed to a person or is done for that person's sake or benefit.

 

First she gavehim his supper.

I’ve bought a pair of beautiful earrings for you, dear.

 

Verbs of inducеment denote an action which causes a person to do some other action.

 

Ann toldhim to leave her alone.

I begyou to forgive me.

 

§ 74. The indirect recipient object is generally used together with the direct object and precedes it (see the examples above).

If the indirect object is attached to a verb of benefaction, the direct object is usually a noun, a pronoun, or a clause.

 

Bring the man his things.

I told her everything.

They did not show him what it was.

 

Some verbs of benefaction can take an infinitive or a gerund as their direct object.

 

Help me (to) do it.

She promised me to be punctual.

Miss Craggs taught them singing.

 

If the indirect recipient object is attached to a verb of inducement, the direct object can only be an infinitive or an infinitive phrase.

 

She asked him to come to dinner.

 

When attached to verbs of benefaction, the indirect recipient object may sometimes be used alone, that is, without a following direct object. This occurs:

 

a) Where it is attached to the predicate verb in the passive.

At last the check was given her and she left.

 

b) After the verbs to answer, to ask, to envy, to forgive, to help,toteach.

She used to teach me once.

I’ve helped you all my life.

Note:

 

The indirect recipient object may also be used alone after the verbs to read, to explain, to dictate, to spell, to sing, to write, but in the case of the first five it always takes the prepositionto, whereas with to write both forms are possible.

 

Why do you never read to me now?

Will she sing to us tonight?

At first she wrote to him twice a week.

Write me back as soon as you get the cable.

 

When attached to verbs of inducement, the indirect recipient object can never be used alone.

Form and positionof theindirect recipient objects

 

§ 75. As to their form and position the following cases must be distinguished:

 

1. If the indirect recipient object is attached to a verb of inducement, it is always non-prepositional and has a fixed position in the sentence just before the direct object.

 

Mother orderedme to get down.

He urgedher to write a story about it.

 

2. If it is attached to the verbs of benefaction to announce, to ascribe, to attribute, to communicate, to contribute, to dedicate, to dictate, to disclose, to explain, to interpret, to introduce, to open, to point out, to repeat, to submit, to suggest, it is always prepositional and has two possible positions in the sentence, either before the direct object or after it. In both cases it is governed by the preposition to. It usually precedes the direct object if the latter is modified by an attribute.

 

He dictated the letterto his secretary.

Up to her death in 1935 she did not opento me her secret.

Then she explainedto me the cause of her refusal.

 

3. If the indirect recipient object is attached to a verb of benefaction other than those listed above, its form and position vary according to certain rules:

 

a) The indirect recipient object is non-prepositional when it precedes the direct object.

 

She offeredhim a sandwich.

Jane sangme a song.

 

b) The indirect recipient object is prepositional when it follows the direct object. In this case the most frequent preposition is to.

 

She has given some kind of task to each girl.

I’m going to offer something to you.

 

If the indirect recipient object denotes a person for whose benefit the action is done, it has the preposition for.

 

I’ll buy thisfor you.

 

с) The position of the indirect recipient object after the direct object is sometimes obligatory. This is the case either when both objects are personal pronouns, as in:

 

Give him to me.

Send me to them.

 

or when the direct object is a personal pronoun, while the indirect object is a noun, as in

 

Give them to Nanny.

Show it to John.

 

If the direct object is the pronoun it and the indirect recipient object is any other personal pronoun, the indirect recipient object may take the preposition or not.

 

Give it to him = Give it him.

The latter is more colloquial.

§ 76. Sometimes the indirect recipient object may be placed before the predicate verb. This occurs in the following cases:

 

1. In pronominal questions referring to the indirect recipient object or its attribute.

Whom did you show the brooch to?

To whom did you send the parcel?

Which boy has she given the money to?

To which porter did you give your suitcase?

 

As seen from the examples, the preposition to can either retain its position after the direct object or come before the question word. Questions of the first type are characteristic of colloquial style, while those of the second type are formal.

Note:

 

In colloquial speech the nominative case form who often replaces the objective form whom. In this case the preposition can only be placed at the end of the sentence.

Who did you give the money to?

 

2. In attributive clauses.

 

This friend of his whom she had shown the letter to did not appear to know anything.

The man to whom she had given two loaves of bread never came back.

 

3. If the object is to be made more emphatic for the sake of contrast.

To you he’s telling his tales, not to me.

 

The indirect non-recipient object

 

§ 77. The indirect non-recipient object is a prepositional object that follows both transitive and intransitive verbs and completes their meaning, The indirect non-recipient object may be preceded by various prepositions.

 

I thought about it a good deal.

Invention arises from idleness.

How would you deal with the problem?

I could hardly stand on my skates then.

The formal object it

 

§ 78. Some verbs cannot take an infinitive object or a clausal object. In this case the formal objectit precedes the notional object. It is called introductory (or anticipatory)it. The sentence thus has two objects, the formal object it and a notional object, which is an infinitive or a clause. The formal object it may be either a direct object, or an indirect non-recipient object.

 

1. As a direct object it occurs after the verbs to take, to like, to find, to understand, to learn and some others.

 

Is she to takeit that everything is О.К.?

I understandit that you are my wife’s brother.

We foundit difficult to talk to him.

 

2. As an indirect non-recipient object it occurs after certain verbs which take objects with obligatory prepositions: to count (on), to depend (on), to hear (of), to insist (on), to object (to) and some others.

 

He objected toit that they should be taken to the island too.

§ 79. There is another use ofit as о formal object: it can be attached to transitive or intransitive verbs to convey a very vague idea of some kind of an object.

 

I was angry. I made him take the present away. An hour later he returned and we madeit up.

We therefore decided that we would sleep out on fine nights, and hotel it, and inn it, and pub it, when it

was wet.

The cognate object

§ 80. The verbs that most frequently take a cognate object are:

to live (a life), to smile (a smile), to laugh (a laugh), to die (a death), to sigh (a sigh), to sleep (a sleep), to

dream (a dream), to run (a race), to fight (a, fight,, a battle).

 

He died the death of a hero.

Here she stopped and sighed a heavy sigh.

One must live one's own life, you know.

 

The cognate object is always used with words modifying it, never alone:

the death of a hero, a heavy sigh, one’s own life, etc.

 

to die the death of a hero = to die like a hero;

to sigh a heavy sigh = to sigh heavily, etc.

 

Semantically cognate objects characterize the action expressed by the predicate-verb. Nevertheless they are considered to be objects, not adverbial modifiers, because:

 

a) they are expressed by nouns without prepositions, which is not characteristic of adverbials;

 

b) they may occur in the position of the subject of a passiveconstruction.

 

He never doubted that life should be lived as he lived.

Objects to adjectives

§ 81. There are quite a number of adjectives that can take an object, although not quite in the same way as verbs do. In the sentence these adjectives are mainly used as predicatives. The objects they take are of two kinds:

 

1. Direct objects expressed only by infinitives or infinitive phrases. No noun or pronoun is ever possible in this position.

 

Mack was very glad to get home.

Mary was happy to have met us.

 

II. Indirect non-recipient objects governed by various prepositions. These objects are usually expressed by a noun or pronoun, sometimes by a gerund, a gerundial phrase or complex, or by a clause, depending on the combinability of the adjective.

 

Now she was ready for anything.

I was surprised at her being so shy.

She was only half conscious of what was going on.

 

As can be seen from the above examples, structurally objects to adjectives may be of the same types as objects to verbs, that is, simple, phrasal, complex, or clausal.

Objects to statives

§ 82. The statives that can take objects are few in number. The most frequent of them are: afraid, aware, alive, ashamed, ahead, akin. Their objects may be direct infinitive or clausal objects, or an indirect non-recipient object. The latter may be expressed by a noun (pronoun), a gerund, a gerundial phrase or predicative complex,or a clause.

 

She had never been afraid to experiment.

I think he was afraid I shouldn’t rememberhim.

I was afraid of you, my pretty.

I was not aware of your being a scoundrel.

He was fully aware of what he was doing.

Objects to adverbs

§ 83. There are some adverbs which can take objects, but these can only be indirect non-recipient objects.

Fortunately for himself, he could not be present.

 

The attribute

§ 84. The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which characterizes person or non-person expressed by the headword either qualitatively, quantitatively, or from the point of view of situation. Attributes may refer to nouns and other words of nominal nature, such as pronouns gerunds and substitute words, as in:

 

It was a letter from his devoted friend.

I mentioned it to him when he was his usual self.

One day I put the picture up again, the lifesize one.

 

An attribute forms a nominal phrase with its headword.

Ways of expressing attributes

§ 85. An attribute may be expressed by different parts of speech:

 

1. By (a) adjectives or (b) adjectival phrases, which characterize the person or non-person qualitatively or express the speaker’s attitude.

 

a) The sand glittered like fine white sugar in the sun.

 

I’ve never seen a better place.

There is nothing unusual about the letter.

 

Some composite adjectives may be derived fromother parts of speech by means of the participle-forming suffix -ed, as in:

 

It was a low-ceilinged L-shaped room.

They sat on the pine-needled sand.

 

Some adjectives have developed from former participles II, as in;

 

Martin lived with his widowed mother.

He looked for his long-lost friend everywhere.

 

b) In any case it gave no clue to the thought then uppermost in Hercule Poirot’s mind.

 

He stood and raged within himself with sour despair, unable to move or say a word.

 

2. By pronouns or pronominal phrases, which help to identify or define persons or non-persons.

 

The woman by no change of face showed that his words meant anything to her.

Here’s some money for you.

Can you see those children of mine anywhere?

 

3. By numerals, ordinal or cardinal, which state the number or order, or serve to identify persons or non-persons, as in:

 

He arrived just three weeks ago.

Robert has always been the first boy in his class.

Is it part two of the book?

 

4. By (a) nouns in the common case singular or (b) prepositional nominal phrases, which characterize the person or non-person either qualitatively or from the point of view of its locative, temporal, or other features.

The nouns are always premodifying attributes, the prepositional nominal phrases are post modifying:

 

a) It happened on a December evening (декабрьский вечер).

The boy started to eat a ham roll (булочка с ветчиной).

The garden wall was almost ruined (садовая стена).

There was a honeymoon couple among the passengers (пара, проводящая медовый месяц).

 

b) The new secretary, on promotion from the general office, was a widow of fifty.

He was a man of very regular habits.

Anything of interest this morning, Miss Lemon?

 

In some cases the attribute and its headword form a closely connected unit, such as the continent of Europe (Европейский континент), the name of Brighton Kurby (имя Брайтон Кёрби), the village of Crowie (деревня Кроул). Although the prepositional group is a subordinate and characterizing element, modifying the first word, its informative value is much greater than that of the first element.

In structures of this type the semantic roles of the elements may be reversed: the first (subordinating) element becomes a modifying word, the second (subordinated) - the modified one, as in:

 

his carrot of a nose (нос морковкой; не нос, а морковка),

an angel of a girl (не девушка, а ангел),

a hell of a noise (адский шум, шум как в аду),

a jewel of a nature (золотой характер; не характер, а золото).

 

Though logically his carrot of a nose means that the nose is characterized as resembling a carrot, syntactically it is the word carrot that is modified by the of-phrase of a nose, the indefinite article performing its usual classify­ing function. The modified word is not always semantically acceptable as part of the sentence without the of-phrase, which shows the semantic dependence of the modified element on the modifying one. This, together with the fact that logical and syntactic relations are reversed, accounts for the marked stylistic effect of these structures.

 

His left hand was holding a skyscraper of a silver cup.

High above the bank is another eagle’s nest of a castle.

 

Russian phrases of a similar kind - не девка, а огонь; не ребенок, а сущий дьяволенок, unlike the parallel English phrases, are rarely included in extended sentences.

Note:

 

Phrases like sort of tired (I feel sort of tired), kind of tiresome (The situation becomes kind of tiresome), etc., form one syntactic whole and cannot be treated as free syntactic phrases consisting of a headword modified by a prepositional attribute. The first element expresses approximation - a moderate degree of the quality denoted.

 

5. By nouns or pronouns in the genitive case.

 

He caught the sound of the children’s voices.

The ocean’s vastness was so great that it held him spellbound.

Nelson had asked Mary’s father’s consent before proposing.

 

If the headword is omitted (when the sentence is elliptical) the modifying word should still be considered as an attribute.

 

Suppose those postcards are a lunatic’s?

She heard the voice of another man, perhaps it was the water-carrier’s and then a woman’s, shrill and

hysterical.

 

6. By statives, although these are rarely used as attributes. They usually postmodify the headword, though may occur as premodifying.

 

No man alive would ever think of such cruelty.

She gazed at us with an aloof air.

 

7. By (a) participles I and II and (b) participial phrases, characterizing the person or non-person through an action, process, or reaction.

 

a) He made his way down the creaking stairs.

The mild day died in a darkening flush of twilight.

They stood contemplating the suited dummies in the lighted windows of the shop.

They stood at the car being refuelled and watched the meter.

 

b) Captain Nichols dragged Strickland, bleeding from a wound in his arm, into the street.

There was a tiny smile playing about the corners of his mouth.

Vincent glanced over at Christine knitting by the fire.

Beside her stood a straw basket stuffed with many towels and a pair of beach shoes.

 

8. By (a) gerunds, (b) gerundial phrases, or (c) gerundial complexes. Gerunds generally characterize non-persons from the point of view of their function or purpose.

 

a) Back at the hotel he slipped on a white rowing blazer (the blazer which the members of the boat-club

wore).

Her walking shoes were elegant (shoes which she wore when walking).

 

(Compare these with attributes expressed by participle I, in the sentences given above (7), which denote an action, process or reaction sometimes figuratively.)

 

b) He would not run the risk of being too late.

She showed no sign of having ever known me.

The young man had the most irritating habit of joking at the wrong moment.

 

c) The silence was interrupted by the sound of a door being banged.

There is no chance of our seeing him again.

 

9. By (a) infinitives, (b) infinitivel phrases, or (c) complexes, which characterize a person or non-person through some real or hypothetical action in which this person or non-person is or may be involved. Owing to the hypothetical nature of the action, an infinitive as attribute often imparts a modal shade of meaning to the action.

 

a) You are the one to blame (whois to blame).

I haven’t any time to spare (which Icould spare).

 

b) He looked around for a weapon to strike his insulter with.

He was not a man to experiment with acquaintance.

There was nothing in the look of him to show the courage of the man (nothing which could show

courage).

He was the last to tell of this extraordinary raid from the deeper sea (who could tell).

 

c) This is a problem for you to solve. (which you could/must solve).

 

10. By (a) adverbsor (b) adverbial phrases, which characterize a person or non-person through spatial or temporal characteris­tics, or through circumstances or facts concerning this person or non-person.

 

a) No sounds came from the quarters above.

The then Government did not respond to this just claim.

Somebody appeared on the upstairs balcony.

“I see that woman downstairs has a couple of sailors sitting there.”

An immense effort of imagination was needed to link himself now with himself then.

 

The most usual position of such attributes is to follow the headword.

 

b) Most people living in out of the way places expect the latest news from home with impatience.

 

11. By sentences used as a whole (the so-called “quotation nouns”). These are used mainly as hyphenated chains before the headword.

 

She looked at me with a kind of don’t-touch-me-or-I’ll-slap-you air.

It was a ‘You-must-take-us-as-you-find-its’ attitude to things, and it saved me a lot of trouble... In this ‘a-

place-for-everything-and-everything-in-its-place’ kitchen he felt ill at ease.

 

12. By a clause (then called an attributive clause) which makes the whole sentence a complex one.

 

Some called me by the name which no one here knew.

The position of attributes

§ 86. The position of an attribute depends on the following:

1. The morphological nature of the attribute. Adjectives, participles, gerunds, nouns in the common and the possessive cases, pronouns, ordinal numerals, and quotation nouns generally premodify the headword.

 

He was a little man, with a thin voice.

Val had just changed out of riding clothes and was on his way to the party.

The apple trees were in blossom.

It’s not always easy to understand a child’s language.

The third attempt gave no result.

His eyes travelled over the landscape at their feet.

 

Adverbs, statives, cardinal numerals and infinitives are generally postmodifying attributes.

Participles II, statives, and adjectives of verbal origin used as attrib­utes also tend to occupy the position after the headword.

 

The people involved were reported to the police.

When we build cities we think about generations unborn.

 

Adjectives ending in -able, -ible are mostly postpositive as attributes. They often follow a headword preceded by only or a similar word with a limiting meaning.

 

The only personvisible was the policeman (who could be seen).

The only way of escapingimaginable was through the window (which could be imagined).

 

2. Тhe extension of the attribute. Non-detached attributes are postmodifying when expressed by extended phrases or complexes.

The influence of extension can be illustrated by the following pairs of examples:

 

It is a sensible suggestion. He found himself in a difficult situation. It is a suggestion sensible in many ways. He found himself in a situation difficult from his point of view.

 

Here are some more examples:

 

They passed the bodies of British soldiers killed that night.

It was a little log house with whitewashed walls.

He held a letter in his hands, a letter from his mother.

He appeared to be a small man of about fifty.

They chose a way longer than the other.

 

3. The morphological nature of the headword. Such words as demonstrative or indefinite pronouns and numerals cannot have an attribute in preposition.

Those coming first occupied the best seats.

Most of their time animals spend in search ofsomething eatable.

There isnothing interesting in this book.

All present were disgusted by his behaviour.

Note 1:

 

Non-detached postmodifying attributes are foundin traditional phrases borrowed from French or Latin, such as blood royal, time immemorial, the second person plural, heir apparent (heir presumptive). Lords spiritual, Lords temporal.

Note 2:

 

There are cases when the headword is embedded between parts of the attribute, as in:

 

I was told that you were the best man available (the best available man).

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