Sidney Greenbaum

Randolph Quirk
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England
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First published 1990

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Contents
Preface v

1 The English language 1

2 A general framework 11

3 Verbs and auxiliaries 24

4 The semantics of the verb phrase 47

5 Nouns and determiners 70

6 Pronouns 108

7 Adjectives and adverbs 129

8 The semantics and grammar of adverbials 158

9 Prepositions and prepositional phrases 188

10 The simple sentence 204

11 Sentence types and discourse functions 231

12 Pro-forms and ellipsis 247

13 Coordination 262

14 The complex sentence 283

15 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses 304

16 Complementation of verbs and adjectives 336

17 The noun phrase 363

18 Theme, focus, and information processing 394

19 From sentence to text 434

Bibliography 476

Index 485
Preface
Even before my co-author’s sudden death in 1996 during a lecture visit to
Moscow, a start had been made on assembling many important improve¬
ments to our book. These have largely proceeded from experience in
using The Student’s Grammar and its splendid accompanying Wookbook
by Sylvia Chalker (Longman 1992), and it is a pleasurable duty to thank
colleagues throughout the world for their valuable help in sending their
comments and suggestions to the Survey of English Usage at University
College London. Well over two hundred revisions, clarifications, and
expansions have now been incorporated, and I hope that in consequence
this revised version of the Grammar will be of enhanced value to teachers
and their students.

RANDOLPH QUIRK
London
October 1997
 The English language

The use of English

1.1 English is the world’s most widely used language. A distinction is often
made that depends on how the language is learned: as a native language
(or mother tongue), acquired when the speaker is a young child (generally
in the home), or as a foreign language, acquired at some subsequent
period. Overlapping with this distinction is that between its use as a first
language, the primary language of the speaker, and as an additional
language. In some countries (particularly of course where it is the
dominant native language), English is used principally for internal
purposes as an intranational language, for speakers to communicate with
other speakers of the same country; in other countries such as Germany
and Japan, it serves chiefly as an international language, the medium of
communication with speakers from other countries.
But in numerous countries such as India, the Philippines, and Nigeria,
where English is for the most part a foreign language too, it nonetheless
has prominent internal functions within these countries in addition to its
international role. Such domestic use of ‘English as a foreign language’ is
often called ‘English as a second language’.

The meanings of 'grammar5

Syntax and inflections

1.2 We shall be using ‘grammar’ in this book to include both syntax and that
aspect of morphology (the internal structure of words) that deals with
inflections (or accidence). The fact that the past tense of buy is bought
[inflection] and the fact that the interrogative form of He bought it is Did he
buy it? [syntax] are therefore both equally within grammar. Our usage
corresponds to one of the common lay uses of the word in the English-
speaking world. A teacher may comment:
John uses good grammar but his spelling is awful.
The comment shows that spelling is excluded from grammar; and if John
wrote interloper where the context demanded interpreter, the teacher
would say that he had used the wrong word, not that he had made a
 2 The English language

mistake in grammar. But in the education systems of the English-speaking

countries, it is possible also to use the term ‘grammar’ loosely so as to
include both spelling and lexicology.
There is a further use of‘grammar’ that derives from a period in which
the teaching of Latin and Greek was widespread. Since the aspect of Latin
grammar on which teaching has traditionally concentrated is the
paradigms (or model sets) of inflections, it made sense for the learner to
say:
Latin has a good deal of grammar, but English has hardly any.
This meaning of ‘grammar’ has continued to be used by lay native
speakers. In effect, grammar is identified with inflections.

Ryles and the native speaker

1.3 Yet another sense appears in the remark:

French has a well-defined grammar, but in English we’re free to
speak as we like.
Here ‘grammar’ is used as a virtual synonym of ‘syntax’.
Such a comment by a native speaker probably owes a good deal to the
fact that he does not feel the rules of his own language - rules that he has
acquired unconsciously - to be at all constraining; and if ever he happens
to be called on to explain one such rule to a foreigner he has very great
difficulty. By contrast, the grammatical rules he learns for a foreign
language seem much more rigid and they also seem clearer because they
have been actually spelled out to him in the learning process.
But another important point is revealed in this sentence. The distinction
refers to ‘grammar’ not as the observed patterns in the use of French but as
a codification of rules compiled by the French (especially by the Academie
Frangaise) to show the French themselves how their language should be
used. This is grammar as codified by grammarians: the Academy
Grammar. There is no such Academy for the English language and so (our
naive native speaker imagines) the English speaker has more ‘freedom’ in
his usage.

The codification of rules

1.4 The ‘codification’ sense of grammar is readily identified with the specific
compilation of a specific grammarian:

Jespersen wrote a good grammar, and so did Kruisinga.

And this sense naturally leads to the concrete use as in:
Did you bring your grammars?

Naturally, too, the codification may refer to grammar in any of the senses
already mentioned. It will also vary, however, according to the linguistic
 The meanings of ‘grammar’ 3

theory embraced by the authors, their idea of the nature of grammar

rather than their statement of the grammar of a particular language:

Chomsky developed a transformational grammar that differed

considerably from earlier grammars.

Thus, in the framework of formal linguistics, some grammarians speak of

‘the grammar’ as embracing rules not only for syntax but for phonologi¬
cal, lexical, and semantic specification as well

Prescriptive grammar

1.5 Finally we come to the use of ‘grammar’ in statements such as:

It’s bad grammar to end a sentence with a preposition.

Here the term refers to a way of speaking or writing that is to be either
preferred or avoided. Such statements pertain to prescriptive grammar,
a set of regulations that are based on what is evaluated as correct or
incorrect in the standard language. Since we do not have an Academy of
the English Language, there is no one set of regulations that could be
considered ‘authoritative’. Instead, evaluations are made by self-appointed
authorities who, reflecting varying judgments of acceptability and appro¬
priateness, often disagree (though on usually very minor matters).
Authorities on usage, in this restricted sense, primarily deal with
disputed usage, a relatively small number of syntactic and lexical items
that are controversial within the standard language. Their objections may
persuade some to avoid certain usages, at least in their formal writing.
Over the last two centuries prescriptive rules have accumulated into a
general prescriptive tradition for formal writing that is embodied (with
some variation) in school textbooks and student reference handbooks,
and in usage guides for the general public.
As an occasional consequence of prescriptive pressures, some speakers
have mistakenly extended particular prescriptive rules in an attempt to
avoid mistakes. A classic instance of such hypercorrection is the use of
whom as subject, as in the students whom I hope will join us. Others are the
pseudo-subjunctive were as in I wonder if he were here and the use of the
subjective pronoun I in the phrase between you and /.
Our primary concern in this book is to describe the grammar of English.
But we occasionally refer to the prescriptive tradition not only because it
may lead to hypercorrection but also because it may affect attitudes
towards particular uses that may in turn influence the preferences of some
native speakers, at least in formal or more considered styles. It may lead
some, for example, to replace their usual was by subjunctive were in If I
was strong enough, I would help you, or to replace who by whom in the
teacher who I most admired.
 4 The English language

Varieties of English

Types of variation
1.6 There are numerous varieties of English, but we shall recognize in this
book five major types of variation. Any use of the language necessarily
involves variation within all five types, although for purposes of analysis
we may abstract individual varieties:
(a) region
(b) social group
(c) field of discourse
(d) medium
(e) attitude
The first two types of variation relate primarily to the language user.
People use a regional variety because they live in a region or have once
lived in that region. Similarly, people use a social variety because of their
affiliation with a social group. These varieties are relatively permanent for
the language user. At the same time, we should be aware that many people
can communicate in more than one regional or social variety and can
therefore (consciously or unconsciously) switch varieties according to the
situation. And of course people move to other regions or change their
social affiliations, and may then adopt a new regional or social variety.
The last three types of variation relate to language use. People select the
varieties according to the situation and the purpose of the communica¬
tion. The field of discourse relates to the activity in which they are
engaged; the medium may be spoken or written, generally depending on
the proximity of the participants in the communication; and the attitude
expressed through language is conditioned by the relationship of the
participants in the particular situation. A common core is present in all
the varieties so that, however esoteric a variety may be, it has running
through it a set of grammatical and other characteristics that are present
in all the others. It is this fact that justifies the application of the name
‘English’ to all the varieties.

Regional variation
1.7 Varieties according to region have a well-established label both in popular
and technical use: dialects. Geographical dispersion is in fact the classic
basis for linguistic variation, and in the course of time, with poor
communications and relative remoteness, such dispersion results in
dialects becoming so distinct that we regard them as different languages.
This latter stage was long ago reached with the Germanic dialects that are
now Dutch, English, German, Swedish, etc, but it has not been reached
(and may not necessarily ever be reached, given the modern ease and range
of communication) with the dialects of English that have resulted from the
regional separation of communities within the British Isles and (since the
 Varieties of English 5

voyages of exploration and settlement in Shakespeare’s time) elsewhere in

the world.
It is pointless to ask how many dialects of English there are: there are
indefinitely many, depending on how detailed we wish to be in our
observations. But they are of course more obviously numerous in long-
settled Britain than in areas more recently settled by English speakers,
such as North America or, still more recently, Australia and New
Zealand. The degree of generality in our observation depends crucially
upon our standpoint as well as upon our experience. An Englishman will
hear an American Southerner primarily as an American, and only as a
Southerner in addition if further subclassification is called for and if his
experience of American English dialects enables him to make it. To an
American the same speaker will be heard first as a Southerner and then
(subject to similar conditions) as, say, a Virginian, and then perhaps as a
Piedmont Virginian.

Social variation

1.8 Within each of the dialects there is considerable variation in speech

according to education, socioeconomic group, and ethnic group. Some
differences correlate with age and sex. Much (if not most) of the variation
does not involve categorical distinctions; rather it is a matter of the
frequency with which certain linguistic features are found in the groups.
There is an important polarity between uneducated and educated
speech in which the former can be identified with the nonstandard
regional dialect most completely and the latter moves away from regional
usage to a form of English that cuts across regional boundaries. An
outsider (who was not a skilled dialectologist) might not readily find a
New Englander who said see for saw, a Pennsylvanian who said seen, and
a Virginian who said seed. These are forms that tend to be replaced by saw
with schooling, and in speaking to a stranger a dialect speaker would tend
to use ‘school’ forms. On the other hand, there is no simple equation of
regional and uneducated English, Just as educated English I saw cuts
across regional boundaries, so do many features of uneducated use: a
prominent example is the double negative as in I don’t want no cake, which
has been outlawed from all educated English by the prescriptive grammar
tradition for over two hundred years but which continues to thrive as an
emphatic form in uneducated speech wherever English is spoken.
Educated English naturally tends to be given the additional prestige of
government agencies, the professions, the political parties, the press, the
law court, and the pulpit - any institution which must attempt to address
itself to a public beyond the smallest dialectal community. It is codified in
dictionaries, grammars, and guides to usage, and it is taught in the school
system at all levels. It is almost exclusively the language of printed matter.
Because educated English is thus accorded implicit social and political
sanction, it comes to be referred to as standard English, and provided we
 6 The English language

remember that this does not mean an English that has been formally
standardized by official action, as weights and measures are standardized,
the term is useful and appropriate. In contrast with standard English,
forms that are especially associated with uneducated (rather than
dialectal) use are generally called nonstandard.

Standard English

1.9 The degree of acceptance of a single standard of English throughout the

world, across a multiplicity of political and social systems, is a truly
remarkable phenomenon: the more so since the extent of the uniformity
involved has, if anything, increased in the present century. Uniformity is
greatest in orthography, which is from most viewpoints the least
important type of linguistic organization. Although printing houses in all
English-speaking countries retain a tiny element of individual decision
(eg: realize! realise Judgment I judgement), there is basically a single spelling
and punctuation system throughout: with two minor subsystems. The one
is the subsystem with British orientation (used in most English-speaking
countries other than the United States), with distinctive forms in only a
small class of words, colour, centre, levelled, etc. The other is the American
subsystem, with color, center, leveled, etc.
In grammar and vocabulary, standard English presents somewhat less
of a monolithic character, but even so the world-wide agreement is
extraordinary and - as has been suggested earlier - seems actually to be
increasing under the impact of closer world communication and the
spread of identical material and nonmaterial culture. The uniformity is
especially close in neutral or formal styles of written English on subject
matter not of obviously localized interest: in such circumstances one can
frequently go on for page after page without encountering a feature which
would identify the English as belonging to one of the national standards.

National standards of English

British and American English
1.10 What we are calling national standards should be seen as distinct from the
standard English which we have been discussing and which we should
think of as being supranational, embracing what is common to all. Again,
as with orthography, there are two national standards that are over¬
whelmingly predominant both in the number of distinctive usages and in
the degree to which these distinctions are institutionalized: American
English (AmE) and British English <BrE>. Grammatical differences are
few and the most conspicuous are known to many users of both national
standards: the fact that AmE has two past participles for get and BrE only
one, for example, and that in BrE either a singular or a plural verb may be
used with a singular collective noun:

The government <f1S X in favour of economic sanctions,

rare )
 Varieties of English 7

whereas in AmE a singular verb is required here.

Lexical differences are far more numerous, but many of these are
familiar to users of both standards. Recent innovations tend to spread
rapidly from one standard to the other. Thus while radio sets have had
valves in BrE but tubes in AmE, television sets have tubes in both, and
transistors and computer software are likewise used in both standards.
Mass communication neutralizes differences; the pop music culture, in
particular, uses a ‘mid-Atlantic’ dialect that levels differences even in
pronunciation.
The United States and Britain have been separate political entities for
two centuries; for generations, thousands of books have been appearing
annually; there is a long tradition of publishing descriptions of both AmE
and BrE. These are important factors in establishing and institutionaliz¬
ing the two national standards, and in the relative absence of such
conditions other national standards are both less distinct (being more
open to the influence of either AmE or BrE) and less institutionalized.
One attitudinal phenomenon in the United States is of sociolinguistic
interest. In affirming the students’ right to their own varieties of language,
many American educationalists have declared that Standard American
English is a myth, some asserting the independent status (for example) of
Black English. At the same time they have acknowledged the existence of a
written standard dialect, sometimes termed ‘Edited American English’.

Other national standards

1.11 Scots, with ancient national and educational institutions, is perhaps

nearest to the self-confident independence of BrE and AmE, though the
differences in grammar and vocabulary are rather few. On the other hand,
the ‘Lallans’ Scots, which has some currency for literary purposes, has a
highly independent set of lexical, grammatical, phonological, and
orthographical conventions, all of which make it seem more like a
separate language than a regional dialect.
Hiberno-English, or Irish English, may also be considered a national
standard, since it is explicitly regarded as independent of BrE by
educational and broadcasting services. The proximity to Britain and the
pervasive influence of AmE, and similar factors mean, however, that there
is little room for the assertion and development of a separate grammar
and vocabulary.
Canadian English is in a similar position in relation to AmE. Close
economic, social, and intellectual links along a 4,000-mile frontier have
naturally caused the larger community to have an enormous influence on
the smaller, not least in language. Though in many respects Canadian
English follows British rather than United States practice and has a
modest area of independent lexical use, in many other respects it has
approximated to AmE, and in the absence of strong institutionalizing
forces it would continue in this direction. However, counteracting this
tendency in language as in other matters is the tendency for Canadians to
 8 The English language

resist the influence of their powerful neighbour in their assertion of an

independent national identity.
South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand are in a very different
position, remote from the direct day-to-day impact of either BrE or AmE.
While in orthography and grammar the South African English in
educated use is virtually identical with BrE, rather considerable differ¬
ences in vocabulary have developed, largely under the influence of
Afrikaans, one of the country’s other official languages.
New Zealand English is more like BrE than any other non-European
variety, though it has adopted quite a number of words from the
indigenous Maoris and over the past half-century has come under the
powerful influence of Australia and to a considerable extent of the United
States.
Australian English is undoubtedly the dominant form of English in the
Antipodes and by reason of Australia’s increased wealth, population, and
influence in world affairs, this national standard (though still by no means
fully institutionalized) is exerting an influence in the northern hemisphere,
particularly in Britain. Much of what is distinctive in Australian English is
confined to familiar use. This is especially so of grammatical features.
There are other regional or national variants that approximate to the
status of a standard. Beside the widespread Creole in the Caribbean, for
example, it is the view of many that the language of government and other
agencies observes an indigenous standard that can be referred to as
Caribbean English. In addition, some believe there are emerging
standards in countries where English is a ‘second’ language, such as India
and Nigeria.

Pronunciation and standard English

1.12 All the variants of standard English are remarkable primarily in the tiny
extent to which even the most firmly established, BrE and AmE, differ
from each other in vocabulary, grammar, and orthography. Pronunci¬
ation, however, is a special case in that it distinguishes one national
standard from another most immediately and completely and it links in a
most obvious way the national standards to the regional varieties. In BrE,
one type of pronunciation is often seen as having the status of ‘standard’:
it is the accent associated with the older schools and universities of
England, ‘Received Pronunciation’ or ‘RP’. It is nonregional and enjoys
prestige from the social importance of its speakers. Although RP no
longer has the unique authority it had in the first half of the twentieth
century, it remains prominent in teaching the British variety of English
as a foreign language, as can be easily seen from dictionaries and
textbooks intended for countries that teach BrE.

Varieties according to field of discourse

1.13 The field of discourse is the type of activity engaged in through language.
A speaker has a repertoire of varieties according to field and switches to
 Acceptability and frequency 9

the appropriate one as occasion demands. Typically, the switch involves

nothing more than turning to the particular set of lexical items habitually
used for handling the field in question; law, cookery, engineering,
football. As with dialects, there are indefinitely many fields, depending on
how detailed we wish our analysis to be.

Varieties according to medium

1.14 The differences between spoken and written English derive from two
sources. One is situational: since the use of a written medium normally
presupposes the absence of the person(s) addressed, writers must be far
more explicit to ensure that they are understood. The second source of
difference is that many of the devices we use to transmit language by
speech (stress, rhythm, intonation, tempo, for example) are impossible to
represent with the relatively limited repertoire of conventional orthogra¬
phy. In consequence, writers often have to reformulate their sentences to
convey fully and successfully what they want to express within the
orthographic system.

Varieties according to attitude

1.15 Varieties according to attitude are often called ‘stylistic’, but ‘style’ is a
term which is used with several different meanings. We are concerned here
with choice that depends on our attitude to the hearer (or reader), to the
topic, and to the purpose of our communication. We recognize a gradient
in attitude between formal (relatively stiff, cold, polite, impersonal) and
informal (relatively relaxed, warm, casual, friendly). We also acknow¬
ledge that there is a neutral English bearing no obvious attitudinal
colouring and it belongs to the common.core of English (cf 1.6). We shall
for the most part confine ourselves to this three-term distinction, leaving
the neutral variety unmarked.

Acceptability and frequency

1.16 Our approach in this book is to focus on the common core that is shared
by standard BrE and standard AmE. We leave unmarked any features
that the two standard varieties have in common, marking as <BrE> or
<AmE> only the points at which they differ. But usually we find it
necessary to say <esp(ecially) BrE) or <esp(ecially) AmE), for it is rare for
a feature to be found exclusively in one variety. Similarly, we do not mark
features that are neutral with respect to medium and attitude. We
distinguish where necessary spoken and written language, generally using
‘speaker’ and ‘hearer’ as unmarked forms for the participants in an act of
communication, but drawing on the combinations ‘speaker/writer’ and
‘hearer/reader’ when we wish to emphasize that what is said applies across
 10 The English language

the media. We also frequently need to label features according to variation

in attitude, drawing attention to those that are formal or informal.
The metaphor of the common core points to a distinction that applies to
two other aspects of our description of English grammar. We distinguish
between the central and the marginal also for acceptability and frequency.
Acceptability is a concept that does not apply exclusively to grammar.
Native speakers may find a particular sentence unacceptable because (for
example) they consider it logically absurd or because they cannot find a
plausible context for its use or because it sounds clumsy or impolite.
However, we are concerned only with the acceptability of forms or
constructions on the grounds of their morphology or syntax.
In general, our examples are fully acceptable if they are left unmarked.
But we sometimes contrast acceptable and unacceptable examples,
marking the latter by placing an asterisk 4*’ before them. If they are
tending to unacceptability but are not fully unacceptable, we put a query
T before the asterisk. A query alone signifies that native speakers are
unsure about the particular language feature. If native speakers differ in
their reactions, we put the asterisk or query in parentheses.
Assessments by native speakers of relative acceptability largely
correlate with their assessments of relative frequency. We leave unmarked
those features of the language that occur frequently, drawing attention
just to those that occur extremely frequently or only rarely.
In this book we offer a descriptive presentation of English grammar. We
make a direct connection between forms and their meaning, conducting
excursions into lexicology, semantics, and pragmatics where these
impinge closely on our grammatical description.

NOTE The diamond bracket convention applies to stylistic and other variants. Phonetic
symbols used in the book are those of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA);
prosodic symbols are explained in 2.13-15, and abbreviations in the Index.
Among other conventions: parentheses indicate optional items, curved braces free
alternatives, square braces contingent alternatives (eg selection of the top
alternative in one pair requires selection of the top one in the other).

Bibliographical note
On varieties of English, see Bailey and Gorlach (1982); Biber (1988); Hughes and
Trudgill (1979); Kachru (1988); McDavid (1963); Quirk (1988, 1989).
On acceptability and language attitudes, see Bolinger (1980); Greenbaum
(1977, 1985, 1988); Quirk and Stein (1990).
 A genera! framework

The plan of this book

2.1 Grammar is a complex system, the parts of which cannot be properly

explained in abstraction from the whole. In this sense, all parts of a
grammar are mutually defining, and there is no simple linear path we can
take in explaining one part in terms of another. The method of
presentation adopted in this book will be to order the description of
English grammar so that features which are simpler (in the sense that their
explanation presupposes less) come before those which are more complex
(in the sense that their explanation presupposes more).
Our mode of progression will therefore be cyclic, rather than linear. In
this first cycle we present a general framework, along with some major
concepts and categories that are essential for the understanding of
grammar.
The second cycle, Chapters 3-11, is concerned with the basic
constituents which make up the simple sentence. Thus Chapters 3 and 4
present the grammar and semantics of the verb phrase, and Chapters 5
and 6 the basic constituents of the noun phrase, in particular determiners,
nouns, and pronouns. Chapter 7 deals with adjectives and adverbs,
Chapter 8 with adverbials, and Chapter 9 with prepositions and
prepositional phrases. In the light of these detailed studies, Chapters 10
and 11 then explore the simple sentence in all its structural variety.
The third cycle treats matters which involve still more complexity of
syntactic structure. Chapters 12 and 13 move beyond the simple sentence,
dealing with substitution, ellipsis, and coordination: three operations
which may be carried out on simple sentences in order to produce
structures of greater complexity. Chapters 14 and 15 introduce a further
factor of complexity, the subordination of one clause to another, and we
proceed to a more general study of the complex sentence. Chapter 16
follows up Chapters 3 and 4 in giving further attention to the verb phrase,
with special reference to verb classification, together with issues relating to
phrasal and prepositional verbs, and to verb and adjective complemen¬
tation. Similarly, Chapter 17 resumes the topic of Chapters 5 and 6,
exploring the full complexity of the noun phrase in terms of structures
separately examined in earlier chapters. Chapter 18 also involves a
knowledge of the whole grammar as described in preceding chapters, but
this time with a view to showing the various ways in which individual parts
of a sentence can be arranged for focus, emphasis, and the effective
presentation of information. Finally, Chapter 19 considers the ways in
 12 A general framework

which sentence grammar relates to the formation of texts, including those

comprising extended discourse in speech or writing.

NOTE At the end of each chapter, there is a bibliographical note giving guidance on
further reading, especially recent monographs and articles. We assume that the
reader will have access to the major grammarians of the past whose works are not
mentioned in these notes though they are of course listed in the general
Bibliography at the end of the book. These include the compendious works of
Jespersen, Kruisinga and others, as well as bibliographies by Scheurweghs and
Vorlat. To the work of such scholars all subsequent studies are heavily indebted,
not least our own Comprehensive Grammar of 1985 to which the present book is
directly related.

Sentences and clauses

2.2 Let us begin by looking at some examples of sentences, those language

units which we must regard as primary, in comprising a minimum sense of
completeness and unity:

She’s selling her car. [1]

He sounded a bit doubtful. [2]
You should always clean your teeth after meals. [3]

Of course, these cannot mean much to us unless we know who ‘she’ is in [1]
and who ‘he’ is in [2]; we would also want to know in [2] what he seemed
doubtful about. For the place of such sentences in a wider textual context,
we must wait till Chapter 19, but the sense of grammatical completeness in
[1], [2], and [3] is none the less valid.
There are several ways of looking at the constituents of a sentence in
establishing what needs to be present to make a stretch of language a
sentence. The constituents most widely familiar are the subject and the
predicate. If we heard someone say

went off without paying [4]

we would at once wish to ask 4 Who (went off without paying)?’ In [4] we
have a possible predicate but no subject. But equally if we heard someone
say

that elderly man [5]

we would want to ask 4 What about that elderly man?’ sensing that we had
in [5] a possible subject but no predicate. By contrast with [4] and [5], we
have a complete sentence in [6]:

That elderly man went off without paying. [6]

 Sentences and clauses 13

Let us now compare the subject of [1], [2], [3], and [6] (She, He, You, That
elderly man) with the predicates. The latter are not merely longer but
rather obviously more heterogeneous:
’s selling her car
sounded a bit doubtful
should always clean your teeth after meals
went off without paying

As well as seeing that a sentence comprises a subject and a predicate,

therefore, we need to look at the constituents of the predicate itself.

Elements

23 One of the indications that the subject is a clearly identifiable constituent

of a sentence is, as we have seen, a specific question:
Who went off without paying? [1]
That elderly man (went off without paying). [la]
Parts of the predicate can similarly be identified with questions. For
example, the object:

What is she selling? [2]

(She’s selling) her car. [2a]
So too, some adverbials:

When should you always clean your teeth? [3]

(You should always clean your teeth) after meals. [3a]

Subjects, objects, and adverbials will be referred to as elements of sentence

structure. Other elements that we shall distinguish include the complement
as in ‘(He sounded) a bit doubtful’ and of course the verb as in ‘(He)
sounded (a bit doubtful)’, ‘(She)’.? selling (her car)’, ‘(You) should (always)
clean (your teeth after meals)’.
As we shall see, especially in Chapter 10, sentences differ widely as to
which elements and how many elements they include. This is related
primarily to the type of verb element. If the V is intransitive, there need be
no other elements beside S and V:

My watch [S] has disappeared. [V] [4]

If the V is transitive, on the other hand, it is accompanied by an object:
Someone [S] must have taken [V] my watch. [O] [5]
A policeman [S] witnessed [V] the accident. [O] [6]
Transitive verbs can be turned into the passive voice (3.25), with the result
that corresponding to [6] there is a sentence of basically the same mean¬
ing [6'] in which the O of [6] becomes the S:

The accident was witnessed by a policeman. [61

 14 A general framework

For the present, we need mention only one other type of V, the copular
verbs, which require a complement:

He [S] sounded [V] a bit doubtful. [C] [7]

One of my sisters [S] has become [V] a computer expert. [C] [8]
Adverbial elements may be added irrespective of the verb type:
My watch has disappeared from this desk. [A] [4a]
Someone must apparently [A] have taken my watch from this
desk. [A] [5a]
By chance [A] a policeman witnessed the accident. [6a]
He sounded a bit doubtful that night. [A] [7a]
To everyone's delight [A] one of my sisters has quite rapidly [A]
become a computer expert. [8a]

But with some verbs, adverbials are obligatory; for example:

Did you put the watch in this drawer? [9]

2.4 The sentence elements illustrated in 2.3 draw attention to a major issue in
the study of grammar: the distinction between function and form. The
same formal unit my watch has one function in [4] and quite another in [5].
Equally, the same function can obviously be performed by units that are
very different in form. Thus as V we have witnessed in [6], sounded in [7],
has disappeared in [4], and must have taken in [5]. But at least these all
involve verbs (2.10) and we capture what they thus have formally in
common by referring to them as verb phrases whether they comprise one
word such as sounded or several words, as in must have taken.
The realizations of S are still more various: he in [7], someone in [5], my
watch in [4], and one of my sisters in [8]. But all these involve either
pronouns or nouns (2.6) and to capture their formal properties we refer to
them as noun phrases, whether they comprise one word as with he or
several words such as one of my sisters. The function O is again fulfilled by
noun phrases: my watch in [5], the accident in [6].
On the other hand, C is realized by a noun phrase in [8], a computer
expert, but by a different formal structure in [7], a bit doubtful. Forms like
this (a bit doubtful, quite happy, more successful) we shall call adjective
phrases, since they are either adjectives (2.6) or expansions of adjectives.
Most various of all in its formal realizations is the function A. We have
a noun phrase that night in [7a]; adverb phrases, ie adverbs (2.6) or
expansions of adverbs, apparently in [5a] and quite rapidly in [8a]; and we
also have A realized by prepositional phrases, that is, a structure
comprising a preposition (2.6) and a noun phrase:/row this desk in [4a], by
chance in [6a], and to everyone's delight in [8a].

Clauses

2.5 Let us now consider a somewhat longer sentence than those examined in
2.2/:
 Words and word classes 15

My sister [S] is [V] normally [A] a cheerful person, [C] but she
[S] seemed [V] rather unhappy [C] that day. [A] [1]
Here we have two units each with the internal structure that we have been
attributing to sentences. We call these units clauses and we can now see
that the elements discussed in 2.3/should be considered as constituents of
clauses rather than of sentences. In other words, a sentence comprises one
or more clauses, each of which in turn comprises elements.
In [1] the two clauses are as it were on an equal footing and are said to be
coordinated to form the sentence. But a clause may equally be subordinated
within another clause as one of its elements: clearly, the noun phrase as A
in [2] performs the same function as the clause as A in [2a]:
She seemed rather unhappy that day. [2]
She seemed rather unhappy when I was with her. [2a]

We must therefore revise our list of formal realizations of elements as

given in 2.3 since the function A can be performed by clauses as in [2a], and
the functions of O and S can also be performed by clauses as we see by
comparing [3] and [3a], [4] and [4a] respectively:
I suddenly remembered something. [3]
I suddenly remembered that I had an appointment. [3a]
Your failure is most regrettable, [4]
That you failed the exam is most regrettable. [4a]
But as well as constituting whole elements as in [2a], [3a] and [4a], clauses
may constitute only a part of an element, especially as relative clauses in
noun-phrase structure (17.5/f). Compare the noun phrases functioning as
O in [5] and [5a]:
The police questioned every local resident. [5]
The police questioned every person who lived in the
neighbourhood. [5a]
In [5a], the noun phrase as O includes the postmodifying clause:
who [S] lived [V] in the neighbourhood [A]

Words and word classes

2.6 Every constituent of a sentence ultimately consists of words. We have

already (for example in 2.4) referred to these units in terms of the
traditional 'parts of speech’ and it is time now to look at a classification of
words in some detail.
It is useful to consider words as falling into two broad categories, closed
and open. The former comprises, as the term suggests, classes that are
finite (and often small) with a membership that is relatively stable and
 16 A general framework

unchanging in the language: words like this, in, shall. These words play a
major part in English grammar, often corresponding to inflections in
some other languages, and they are sometimes referred to as ‘grammatical
words’, ‘function words’, or ‘structure words’.
By contrast, the open classes of words are constantly changing their
membership as old words drop out of the language and new ones are
coined or adopted to reflect cultural changes in society. These are words
like forest, computer, decorative, and signify; their numbers are vast and
are the subject matter of dictionaries. Appropriately, they are often called
‘lexical words’.
Closed classes:
pronoun, such as she, they, anybody
determiner, such as the, a, that, some
primary verb, such as be
modal verb, such as can, might
preposition, such as in, during, round
conjunction, such as and, or, while, yet
Open classes:
noun, such as hospital, play, orchestra, Millicent
adjective, such as sufficient, happy, changeable, round
full verbs, such as grow, befriend, interrogate, play
adverb, such as sufficiently, really, afterwards, yet

NOTE [a] Other categories of words include numerals, such as three, seventy-six', and
interjections, such as oh, aha.
[b] Even from the few examples given, we see that a word may belong to more than
one class. Thus round is given as both a preposition (as in Drive round the comer)
and an adjective (as in She has a round face)', we could have gone further and listed
it as, for example, a full verb: The car rounded the bend. Moreover, relations across
classes can be seen in the verb befriend (cf the noun friend), the adjective
changeable {cf the verb change), and above all in adverbs in -ly which are
systematically related to adjectives: sufficient ~ sufficiently.

2.7 We assign words to their various classes on grammatical grounds: that is,
according to their properties in entering phrasal and clausal structure. For
example, determiners (5.3ff)Jink up with nouns to form noun phrases as
in a soldier, pronouns can replace noun phrases as in ‘I saw a soldier and I
asked him the time’. But this is not to deny the general validity of
traditional definitions based on meaning: ‘naming things’ is indeed a
semantic property of nouns and many verbs are indeed concerned with
‘doing things’.
In fact it is neither possible nor desirable to separate grammatical from
semantic factors, whether we are considering the status of a word or the
structure of a whole sentence. Let us examine the following examples:

The tiger lives in China, India, and Malaysia. [1]

These tigers are living in a very cramped cage. [2]
A keeper is coming to feed the tiger. [3]
 Sfative and dynamic 17

In [1], the tiger can hardly refer to any particular tiger; the phrase is generic
and illustrates a particular use of the determiner the with a singular noun;
the plural noun phrase the tigers could not be generic. By contrast, these
tigers in [2] and the tiger in [3] must refer to particular tigers and the noun
phrase is specific. But as well as introducing the important distinction
between generic and specific, [1] and [2] illustrate a related distinction that
recurs in the study of grammar. The singular form tiger is unmarked as
compared with the plural form tigers which is marked for plural by the
inflectional ending -s. But in being literally ‘unmarked’ inflectionally, the
singular in [1] is correspondingly ‘unmarked’ semantically: it refers to all
tigers at all times and embraces both male tigers and female tigresses
(tigress being thus a ‘marked’ form).
Moreover the distinction between generic and specific, unmarked and
marked, extends beyond the noun phrase as S. The use in [1] of the
unmarked present tense lives as V (embracing reference to future and past
as well as the literal present) appropriately matches the generic S. Equally
the specific reference of the S in [2] is matched by the verb phrase are living
as V, the progressive aspect (4.Iff) marking the verb in respect of
something specifically in progress at the present time.

Stative and dynamic

2.8 A further and related contrast is illustrated by [1] and [2] in 2.7; this is the
distinction between stative and dynamic. Most verbs in most contexts
relate to action, activity, and to temporary or changeable conditions:

The car struck a lamppost as I was parking it.

What aria did she sing last night?
Verbs whose meaning denotes lack of motion can be equally dynamic in
their grammar:

I was quietly resting after a busy day.

Are you sitting comfortably?

But it is not uncommon to find verbs which may be used either

dynamically or statively. If we say that some specific tigers are living in a
cramped cage, we imply that this is (or ought to be) a temporary condition
and the verb phrase is dynamic in its use. On the other hand, when we say
that the species of animal known as the tiger lives or is found in China, the
generic statement entails that this is not a temporary circumstance and the
verb phrase is stative.
Stative use is not, however, confined to generic statements:

Mrs Frost knew a great deal about economics.

Did you hear the thunder last night?

(Note that it is actually ungrammatical to say ‘Mrs Frost was knowing a

great deal...’.) Nor is the category stative confined to a minority of verb
usages. In contrast to verbs (which are normally dynamic), most nouns
 18 A general framework

and adjectives are stative in that they denote phenomena or qualities that
are regarded for linguistic purposes as stable and indeed for all practical
purposes permanent:

can engineer.
Jack is
\very tall.

(We may note that it would be very odd indeed to add here an adverbial
like this afternoon which would suggest that Jack’s profession or height
applied only to the moment of speaking.) On the other hand, just as some
verbs such as live can be used statively as well as dynamically, so also can
some nouns and adjectives be used dynamically as well as statively:

My little boy seems to like being a nuisance when we have friends to

supper.
Do you really like my poem or are you just being kindl

Pro-forms arid ellipsis

2.9 One fundamental feature of grammar is providing the means of referring

back to an expression without repeating it. This is achieved by means of
pro-forms:

Their beautiful new car was badly damaged when it was struck
by a falling tree. [1]
Jack was born in a British industrial town and Gillian grew up
in an American one. [2]
My parents live in the north of the country and my husband’s
people live there too. [3]
I raised the proposal in the early months of 1988, but no one
was then particularly interested. [4]
She hoped they would play a Mozart quartet and they
will do so. [5]

In [1] we have the pronoun it referring back to the whole noun phrase their
beautiful new car. In [2], the pronoun one refers back to the head part
industrial town of the noun phrase a British (industrial town). In [3] there is
a pro-form for the adverbial of place in the north of the country, while then
in [4] refers comparably to the time adverbial in the early months of 1988.
In [5], the pro-form do so refers to a unit not so far discussed, the
predication (2.10), and thus corresponds to the whole of play a Mozart
quartet.
In some constructions, repetition can be avoided by ellipsis (12.14).
Thus instead of [5], we might have:

She hoped they would play a Mozart quartet and they will.
Again instead of [3], we might have ellipsis of the V and an A in the second
part:
 Operator and predication 19

My parents live in the north of the country and my husband’s people

too.

Note also the ellipted V in

Her daughter is studying physics and her son history.

Some pro-forms can refer forward to what has not been stated rather
than, as in [l]-[5], back to what has been stated. There are, for example,
the wh~items, as in

What was badly damaged? (Their beautiful new car) [la]

Jack was bom in a British whatl (.Industrial town) [2a]
Where do your parents live? {In the north of the country) [3a]
When did you raise the proposal? {In the early months of
1988) [4a]
What did she hope they would do! {Play a Mozart quartet) [5a]
Cf also "Which is their car?’ {That beautiful new one).

NOTE But wh-iterns have a further role in subordinate clauses (14.1) when their reference
may be backward as in [6] or forward as in [7]:

I met her in 1985, when she was still a student. [6]

Please tell me what is worrying you. [7]

Operator and predication

2.10 In 2.2/, we looked at the traditional division of a sentence into subject and
predicate, noting the heterogeneous character of the latter. Bearing in
mind what was said in 2.3 about sentence constituents being identified by
specific questions, it should be noted that no question elicits the predicate
as such. If, however, we see the English sentence as comprising a subject,
an operator, and a predication, we have in this last a constituent that can
indeed be elicited by a question. C/[5a] in 2.9. But the analysis of predicate
as operator plus predication has a much wider relevance than this.
We shall consider the operator in more detail in 3.11, but for the present
we may define it as the first or only auxiliary in the verb phrase realizing
the sentence element V. Note first of all the way in which the operator
permits the coordination (13.17) of two predications:

You should telephone your mother and find out if she,’s recovered
from her cold.
He is either cleaning the car or working in the garden.

Secondly, instead of representing a predication by the do so pro-form (as

in 2.9, [5]), an operator can be used alone, with total ellipsis of the
predication that is to be understood:

and they will.

She hoped that they would play a Mozart quartet
{ but they won’t.
 20 A general framework

The second variant in this example draws attention to a further

characteristic of the operator: it can be followed by the informal
contraction nt (as well as by the full form not).
The position immediately after the operator is in fact crucial in forming
a negation or a question:
(a) Negation is expressed by inserting not (informally nt) after the
operator:
They should have bought a new house.
They should not have bought a new house.
(b) Questions are formed by placing the subject of the sentence after the
operator:
They should have bought a new house.
Should they have bought a new house?
Where the V element in a positive declarative sentence has no operator, a
form of do is introduced as operator in the negative or interrogative
version:
They bought a new house.
They didn't buy a new house.
Did they buy a new house?
Where the V element is realized by a form of be, this functions as itself an
operator:
The sea is very rough.
The sea is not very rough.
Is the sea very rough?

NOTE The verb have can function like be, especially in BrE:

She has the time to spare.

She hasn ’t the time to spare.
Has she the time to spare?

But see further 3.14 Notes [a] and [b].

Assertive and nonassertive

2.11 If we consider the following examples, we see that more can be involved
than what occupies the position after the operator, when we move from a
positive statement as in [1] and [3] to negation or question:

She has finished her thesis already. [1]

She hasn't finished her thesis yet. [2]
The priest gave some money to some of the beggars. [3]
Did the priest give any money to any of the beggars? [4]
In [2], yet corresponds to the occurrence of already in [1], and in [4], any
twice corresponds to the use of some in [3]. We express these differences by
 The primacy of speech 21

saying that the predication in positive statements is ‘assertive territory’

and that the predication in negative sentences and in questions is
‘nonassertive territory’. While most words can be used equally in assertive
and nonassertive predications, some determiners, pronouns, and adverbs
have specifically assertive or nonassertive use. See further, 10.37.

NOTE [a] As well as assertive and nonassertive forms, there are also some negative forms.
Compare

I saw somebodyH [assertive pronoun]

I didn’t see anybody. [nonassertive pronoun]
I saw nobody. [negative pronoun]

[b] Nonassertive territory is not confined to negation and question predications, as

we shall see in 10.37 Note [b]; for example

If you ever want anything, please ask.

She is more intelligent than anyone I know.

The primacy of speech

2.12 All the material in this book is necessarily expressed in the silence of the
printed word. But in 2.1 we referred to ‘discourse in speech or writing’,
and at no point must we forget that language is normally spoken and
heard. Even what we write and read needs to be accompanied by an
imagined realization in terms of pronunciation and such prosodic features
as stress and intonation. The familiar graphic devices of spaces between
words and punctuation marks such as comma, colon, semi-colon, and
period help us to recover from writing how sentences would sound if
spoken, but the correspondence between punctuation and prosody is only
partial. From time to time, we shall need in this book to express examples
with the help of a ‘prosodic transcription’, and we now explain the
transcription system and the phenomena it represents.

Stress, rhythm and intonation

Stress
2.13 The relative prominence of a syllable within a word, or of a word within a
phrase, is indicated by relative stress. In transcription, we mark the
stressed segment by putting in front of it a short raised vertical stroke:
in'dignant
in the 'middle

An exceptionally heavy stress can be shown by a double vertical, and a

lower level of stress (‘secondary stress’) can be marked by a lowered
vertical stroke. For example:
 22 A general framework

It’s absolutely in"credible.

The ability to indicate stress is particularly valuable where it is unusual, as
for example in a contrast:
Well, 'you may think she’s 'happy, but in 'fact she’s 'very "unhappy.
Pronouns are normally unstressed and the speaker here emphasizes you to
indicate the addressee’s isolation in so thinking; likewise, although
prefixes like un- are normally unstressed, here it is emphasized in contrast
with the previous mention of happy.
Rhythm
2.14 English connected speech is characterized by stressed syllables inter¬
spersed by unstressed ones such that, when the speaker is unaffected by
hesitation on the one hand or excitement on the other, the stressed
syllables occur at fairly regular intervals of time. Absolute regularity of
rhythm is avoided for the most part, as oppressively mechanical, but is
often used in children’s verse:

'Hickory ‘dickory 'dock

The 'mouse ran 'up the 'clock.
It is also heard when a speaker is speaking severely or stating a rule:
You should ‘always 'clean your 'teeth 'after 'meals.

But absolute regularity is quite normal as an aid to keeping track of

numbers when we are counting things:
’one 'two 'three 'four . . . 'seven teen 'eighteen 'nineteen 'twenty
(twenty-'one ttwenty-'two . . .

NOTE When not part of a counting series, -teen numbers have the main stress on this
element: She is nine'teen.

Intonation
2.15 Like stress, intonation is a mode of indicating relative prominence, but
with intonation the variable is pitch, the aspect of sound which we perceive
in terms of‘high’ and ‘low’. Intonation is normally realized in tone units
comprising a sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables, with at least
one of the stressed syllables made prominent by pitch. We call such a
syllable the nucleus of the tone unit and we mark it by printing it in small
capitals. The first prominent syllable in a tone unit is called the onset and
where necessary it is marked with a slender long vertical and the end of the
tone unit can be indicated with a thicker vertical:

She’s | selling her car|

Pitch prominence at the nucleus is usually associated with pitch change

and the direction of this can be indicated by the use of accents. The
commonest form of pitch change is a fall, as in:
 Conclusion 23

She’s | selling her car|

But if the speaker were using these words not to make a statement but to
ask a question, the next commonest pitch change would be used, a rise:
She’s | selling her car|
Other nuclear tones to be especially noted are the fall-rise and the
fall-plus-rise:

He | sounded a bit DOUBTful j

It’s |this type that I like)

Conclusion

2.16 The material presented in this chapter constitutes a modest but essential
foundation for studying English grammar as a whole. We have introduced
features and concepts which cut across the individual topics that will now
occupy our attention, chapter by chapter. Thus we have illustrated a
system by which intonation and other prosodic features of speech can be
related to grammar; we have outlined major concepts such as the
distinctions between generic and specific, stative and dynamic, assertive
and nonassertive.
But we have also provided a framework of sentence analysis, within
which the detailed material of individual chapters may be fitted, much as
these must in turn modify and clarify this framework. Thus we have
examined the ‘parts of speech’; the sentence elements such as object and
complement; the segmentation of sentences into subject, operator, and
predication; and some of the chief grammatical processes such as those
relating positive to negative, statement to question.

Bibliographical note
For a fuller treatment of the material here and elsewhere in this book, see Quirk et
al. (1985); c/also Attal (1987).
On the theory of English grammar, see Huddleston (1984); Langacker (1987);
Radford (1988).
On intonation and related features of speech, see Bolinger (1972b); Crystal
(1969).
On syntactic and semantic relations, see Li (1976); Lyons (1977); Matthews
(1981).
 Verbs and auxiliaries

Major verb classes

3.1 The term verb is used in two senses:

1 The verb is one of the elements in clause structure, like the subject and
the object.
2 A verb is a member of a word class, like a noun and an adjective.
The two senses are related in this way: A verb phrase consists of one or
more verbs (sense 2), eg linked, is making, can believe, might be leaving in
the sentences below; the verb phrase operates as the verb (sense 1) in the
clause, eg:

They linked hands. He is making a noise.

I can believe you. She might be leaving soon.

As a word class, verbs can be divided into three major categories,

according to their function within the verb phrase: the open class of full
verbs (or lexical verbs, 3.2#) and the very small closed classes of primary
verbs (3.13#) and modal auxiliary verbs (3.16#). Since the primary
verbs and the modal auxiliary verbs are closed classes, we can list them in
full.

full verbs believe, follow, like, see,...

primary verbs be, have, do
modal auxiliaries can, may, shall, will, must,
could, might, should, would

If there is only one verb in the verb phrase, it is the main verb. If there is
more than one verb, the final one is the main verb, and the one or more
verbs that come before it are auxiliaries. For example, leaving is the main
verb in this sentence, and might and be are auxiliaries:
She might be leaving soon.

Of the three classes of verbs, the full verbs can act only as main verbs, the
modal auxiliaries can act only as auxiliary verbs, and the primary verbs
can act either as main verbs or as auxiliary verbs.

NOTE [a] Some verbs have a status intermediate between that of main verbs and that of
auxiliary verbs, c/3.18.
[b] Notice that in Did they believe you? the verb phrase Did . . . believe is
discontinuous. The verb phrase is similarly discontinuous in sentences such as
They do not believe me and / can perhaps help you.
 Full verbs 25

[c] Sometimes the main verb (and perhaps other words too) is understood from the
context, so that only auxiliaries are present in the verb phrase:

I can’t tell them, but you can. [ie ‘can tell them’]
Your parents may not have suspected anything, but your sister may have, [ie
‘may have suspected something’]

[d] There are also multi-word verbs, which consist of a verb and one or more other
words, eg: turn on, look at, put up with, take place, take advantage of. Cf\6.2ff.

Full verbs

Verb forms
3.2 Regular full verbs, eg: call, have four morphological forms: (1) base
form, (2) -s form, (3) -ing participle, (4) -ed form. Irregular full verbs vary
in this respect; for example, the verb speak has five forms, whereas cut has
only three. Since most verbs have the -edinflection for both the simple past
(They called) and the past participle or passive participle (They have
called; They were called), we extend the term "-ed form’ to cover these two
sets of functions for all verbs.
In some irregular verbs, eg: speak, there are two -ed forms with distinct
syntactic functions: the past -ed form and the -ed participle. In other
irregular verbs, eg: cut, and in all regular verbs, eg: call, the two -ed
syntactic forms are identical.
They spoke to me. They have spoken to me.
She cut herself. She has cut herself.
I called him. I have called him.

NOTE [a] Regular verbs are called such because if we know their base form (ie the
dictionary entry form) we can predict their three other forms (-s, -ing, and -ed) by
rule. The vast majority of English verbs are regular, and new words that are coined
or borrowed from other languages adopt the regular pattern.
[b] The primary verb be (c/3.13) has eight forms.

The functions of verb forms

3.3 The verb forms have different functions in finite and nonfinite verb
phrases (cf 3.19/). The -s form and the past form are always finite,
whereas the -ing participle and the -ed participle are always nonfinite.
The base form (the form which has no inflection) is sometimes finite, and
sometimes nonfinite (see below). In a finite verb phrase (the kind of verb
phrase which normally occurs in simple sentences), only the first verb
word (in bold face below) is finite:
She calls him every day. She has called twice today.
26 Verbs and auxiliaries

and the subsequent verbs, if any, are nonfinite. In a nonfinite verb phrase,
on the other hand, all verbs are nonfinite; eg:

Calling early, she found him at home.

Called early, he ate a quick breakfast.
Having been called early, he felt sleepy all day.

Here are the verb forms with their syntactic functions:

1 The base form (call) is a finite verb in:
(i) the present tense in all persons and numbers except 3rd person
singular (which has the form): I/you/we/they call regularly.
(ii) the imperative: Call at once!
(iii) the present subjunctive: They demanded that she call and see them.
It is a nonfinite verb in:
(i) the bare infinitive: He may call tonight.
(ii) the ^-infinitive: We want her to call
2 The -s form (calls) is a finite verb in the 3rd person singular present
tense: He/She calls every day.
3 The -ing participle (calling) is a nonfinite verb in:
(i) the progressive aspect following be: He’s calling her now.
(ii) -ing participle clauses: Calling early, Ifound her at home.
4 The past form (called) is a finite verb in the past tense: Someone called
yesterday.
5 The -ed participle (called) is a nonfinite verb in:
(i) the perfect aspect following have: He has called twice today.
(ii) the passive voice following be: Her brother is called John.
(iii) -ed participle clauses: Called early, he ate a quick breakfast.

The -ing and -& forms of all verbs

The -ing and -s forms are almost invariably predictable from the base of
both regular and irregular verbs. The -ing inflection is merely added to the
base (but c/3.6):

walk ~ walking push ~ push ing

The -s inflection has three pronunciations:

1 /iz/ after bases ending in voiced or voiceless sibilants, eg:

pass ~ passes budge ~ budges

buzz ~ buzzes push ~ pushes
catch ~ catches camouflage — camouflages

In these cases, the -s form always ends in -es,

2 /z/ after bases ending in other voiced sounds, eg:
call ~ calls flee ~flees try ~ tries

3 /s/ after bases ending in other voiceless sounds, eg:

cut ~ cuts hop ~ hops lock ~ locks

 Full verbs 27

The spelling rules for the -ing and -s forms are detailed in 3.6/f. The rules
for the -s forms are the same as for the regular plural of nouns (cf 5.36).

NOTE [a] Notice the irregular -5 forms of say / sei/ ~ says /sez/, have ~ has, do /du:/ — does
j dAZ / and derivatives of do, eg: outdo / -du:/ ~ outdoes / -dAz/. The -5 form of be is
highly irregular: is.
[b] Syllabic /l/ usually ceases to be syllabic before the -ing inflection, eg:
wriggle ~ wriggling.

The -ed forms of regular verbs

3.5 The -ed forms of regular verbs have three pronunciations:
(a) /id/ after bases ending in /d/ and /t/, eg:
pad~padded /-did/ pat ~patted /-tid/

(b) /d/ after bases ending in voiced sounds other than /d/, including
vowels, eg:

buzz ~ buzzed /-zd/ budge ~ budged j-dzfil

call~ called /-Id/ tow ~ towed /-oud/

(c) /t/ after bases ending in voiceless sounds other than /t/, eg:

pass ~ passed /-st/ pack ~packed /-kt/

The spelling of regular verb inflections

Doubling of consonant before -m# and -ed

3.6 A single consonant letter at the end of the base is doubled before -ing and
-ed when the preceding vowel is stressed and spelled with a single letter:

bar ~1 barring ~ barred oc 'cur ~oc 'curring ~ oc burred

There is normally no doubling when the preceding vowel is unstressed

('enterenterings'entered, ' visit visiting visited) or is written with
two letters (dread~ dreading ~ dreaded).
For some exceptions, see the Notes below.

NOTE [a] BrE breaks the rule by doubling after unstressed syllables ending in -/, -m, and
-/?; doubling is less usual in AmE.

travel ~ travelling, travelled (BrE and AmE)

~ traveling, traveled (AmE only)
program (me) ~ programming, programmed (BrE and AmE)
~ programing, programed (AmE only)
worship ~ worshipping, worshipped (BrE and AmE)
~ worshiping, worshiped (AmE only)

The verbs handicap and kidnap follow the pattern of worship, but most other verbs
ending in -p follow the regular rule in both AmE and BrE, eg: develop, envelop,
gallop, gossip.
 28 Verbs and auxiliaries

[b] In both BrE and AmE the general rule is broken by the doubling of ~g in
humbug ~ humbugging ~ humbugged and of words ending in c (spelled -ck-), eg:
panic ~ panicking ~ panicked.
[c] In certain verbs whose base ends in a vowel followed by -s, there is variation
between -5- and -ss- when the inflection is added:

'bias 'biasing!'biassing 'biased/' biassed

bus 'busing/'bussing bused) bussed
'focus 'focusing ffocussing 'focused! focussed

Deletion of and addition of -e

3.7 If the base ends in an unpronounced -e, this -e is regularly dropped before
the -ing and -ed inflections:

create ~ creating ~ created shave ~ shaving ~ shaved

bake ~ baking ~ baked type ~ typing ~ typed

Verbs with monosyllabic bases in -ye, -oe, and -nge, pronounced /nd3/, are
exceptions to this rule: they do not lose the -e before -ing, but they do lose it
before -ed:

dye ~ dyeing ~ dyed singe ~ singeing ~ singed

hoe ~ hoeing ~ hoed tinge ~ tingeing ~ tinged

The final -e is also lost before -ed by verbs ending in -ie or -ee: tie ~ tied,
die ~ died, agree ~ agreed.
Before the -51 ending, on the other hand, an -e is added after the
following letters, representing sibilant consonants:

-s pass ~ passes -ch watch ~ watches -x coax ~ coaxes

-z buzz ~ buzzes -sh wash ~ washes

NOTE [a] An -e is added after -o in go (~ goes), do (~ does /dAz/), echo (— echoes), veto
vetoes).
[b] The -e is regularly dropped in impinging and infringing.

Treatment of -y
3 .8 In bases ending in a consonant followed by -y, the following changes take
place:
(a) -y changes to -ie- before -s: carry ~ carries, try ~ tries
(b) -y changes to -i- before -ed: carry ~ carried, try ~ tried
The -y remains, however, where it follows a vowel letter: stay ~ stayed,
alloy ~ alloys, etc; or where it precedes -ing: carry ~ carrying,
stay ~ staying.
A different spelling change occurs in verbs whose bases end in -ie: die,
lie, tie, vie. In these cases, the -ie changes to -y- before -ing is added:
die ~ dying, lie ~ lying, tie ~ tying, vie ~ vying.

NOTE Exceptions to these rules are certain verbs Where the y changes to i after -a-: pay
(~paid) and lay {~laid) and their derivatives, eg: repay (~repaid), mislay
(~mislaid). The irregular verb say follows the same pattern (~said).
 Full verbs 29

The morphology of irregular full verbs

3.9 Irregular full verbs differ from regular verbs in that either the past
inflection, or the -ed participle inflection, or both of these, are irregular.
More precisely the major differences are:
(a) Irregular verbs either do not have the regular -ed inflection, or else
have a variant of that inflection in which the /d/ is devoiced to /t/ (eg:
burn ~ burnt, which occurs alongside the regular burned).
(b) Irregular verbs typically, but not invariably, have variation in their
base vowel: choose ~ chose ~ chosen, write ~ wrote ~ written.
(c) Irregular verbs have a varying number of distinct forms. Since the -s
form and the -ing form are predictable for regular and irregular verbs
alike, the only forms that need be listed for irregular verbs are the base
form (V), the past (Y-edt), and the -ed participle (Y-ed2). These are
traditionally known as the principal parts of the verb. Most
irregular verbs have, like regular verbs, only one common form for
the past and the -ed participle; but there is considerable variation in
this respect, as the table shows:
V Y-edt V~ed2
all three forms alike: cut cut cut
Y-ed1~Y-ed2: meet met met
Y = Y-edx: beat beat beaten
Y~Y-ed2: come came come
all three forms different: speak spoke spoken

Irregular verbs in alphabetical order

3.10 Irregular verbs can be classified on the basis of criteria derived from the
variation discussed in 3.9. However, we shall merely list alphabetically the
principal parts (including common variants) of the most common
irregular verbs. The list omits most verbs with a prefix such as out-, over-,
re-, and un- that have otherwise the same parts as the corresponding
unprefixed verbs.

BASE (V) PAST TENSE (Y-edJ -ed participle (Y-ed2

arise arose arisen

awake awoke, awaked awoken, awaked

be was, were been

bear bore borne
beat beat beaten
become became become
begin began begun
bend bent bent
bereave bereft, bereaved bereft, bereaved
beseech besought, beseeched besought, beseeched
beset beset beset
30 Verbs and auxiliaries

BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V ~edx) -ed participle (V-ed2)

bet bet, betted bet, betted

bid bad(e), bid bade, bid, bidden
bind bound bound
bite bit bitten
bleed bled bled
blow blew blown
break broke broken
breed bred bred
bring brought brought
broadcast broadcast broadcast
build built built
burn burnt, burned burnt, burned
burst burst burst
buy bought bought

cast cast cast

catch caught caught
choose chose chosen
cling clung clung
come came come
cost cost cost
creep crept crept
cut cut cut

deal dealt dealt

deepfreeze deepfroze, -freezed deepfrozen, -freezed
dig dug dug
dive dived, <AmE> dove dived
do did done
draw drew drawn
dream dreamt, dreamed dreamt, dreamed
drink drank drunk
drive drove driven

eat ate eaten

fall fell fallen

feed fed fed
feel felt felt
fight fought fought
find found found
flee fled fled
fling flung flung
fly flew flown
 Full verbs 31

BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V-fih,) -ed participle (V-ed2)

forbid forbade, forbad forbidden

forecast forecast forecast
forget forgot forgotten
forgive forgave forgiven
forgo forwent forgone
forsake forsook forsaken
freeze froze frozen

(got |
get got
\gotten <AmE>/
give gave given
go went gone
grind ground ground
grow grew grown

hamstring hamstrung hamstrung

hang hung (see Note) hung
have had had
hear heard heard
heave heaved, hove heaved, hove
hide hid hidden
hit hit hit
hold held held
hurt hurt hurt

keep kept kept

kneel knelt, kneeled knelt, kneeled
knit knitted, knit knitted, knit
know knew known

lead led led

lean leant, leaned leant, leaned
leap leapt, leaped leapt, leaped
learn learnt, learned learnt, learned
leave left left
lend lent lent
let let let
lie lay lain
light lit, lighted lit, lighted
lose lost lost

make made made

mean meant meant
meet met met
miscast miscast miscast
32 Verbs and auxiliaries

BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V-ed^ -ed participle iy~ed2

mislead misled misled

misspell misspelt, misspelled misspelt, misspelled
mistake mistook mistaken
misunderstand misunderstood misunderstood
mow mowed mown, mowed

offset offset offset

put put put

quit quit, quitted quit, quitted

read read read

rend rent rent
rid rid, ridded rid, ridded
ride rode ridden
ring rang rung
rise rose risen
run ran run

saw sawed sawn, sawed

say said said
see saw seen
seek sought sought
sell sold sold
send sent sent
set set set
sew sewed sewn, sewed
shake shook shaken
shear sheared shorn, sheared
shed shed shed
shine shone, shined shone, shined
shoot shot shot
show showed shown
shrink shrank shrunk
shut shut shut
sing sang sung
sink sank sunk
sit sat sat
sleep slept slept
slide slid slid
sling slung slung
slit slit slit
smell smelt, smelled smelt, smelled
 Full verbs 33

BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V~edx) -ed participle (V-ed2

SOW sowed sown, sowed

speak spoke spoken
speed sped, speeded sped, speeded
spell spelt, spelled spelt, spelled
spend spent spent
spill spilt, spilled spilt, spilled
spin spun, span spun
spit spat, spit spat, spit
split split split
spoil spoilt, spoiled spoilt, spoiled
spread spread spread
spring sprang sprung
stand stood stood
steal stole stolen
stick stuck stuck
sting stung stung
stink stank stunk
stride strode stridden, strid, strode
strike struck struck
string strung strung
strive strove, strived striven, strived
swear swore sworn
sweat sweat, sweated sweat, sweated
sweep swept swept
swell swelled swollen, swelled
swim swam swum
swing swung swung

take took taken

teach taught taught
tear tore torn
telecast telecast telecast
tell told told
think thought thought
thrive thrived thrived
throw threw thrown
thrust thrust thrust
tread trod trodden

underbid underbid underbid

undergo underwent undergone
understand understood understood
undertake undertook undertaken
underwrite underwrote underwritten
 34 Verbs and auxiliaries

BASE (V) PAST TENSE (V-edx) -ed participle (V-ed2)

uphold upheld upheld

upset upset upset

wake woke, waked woken, waked

wear wore worn
weave wove woven
wed wedded, wed wedded, wed
weep wept wept
wet wetted, wet wetted, wet
win won won
wind wound wound
withdraw withdrew withdrawn
withhold withheld withheld
withstand withstood withstood
wring wrung wrung
write wrote written

NOTE In BrE the verb fit is regular, but in AmE fit is an alternative to fitted in the past and the -ed
participle. Hang has also the regular form hanged for the past and the -ed participle in the
sense ‘put to death by hanging’.

Primary verbs and modal auxiliaries

Verbs as operators

3.11 Auxiliaries have one important syntactic function in common: they

become the operator when they occur as the first verb of a finite verb
phrase (c/3.19). The main verb be and (sometimes, especially in BrE) the
main verb have are also operators when they are the only verb in the verb
phrase. On the other hand, only the auxiliary do is an operator (as in ‘She
does not know me’), not the main verb do (as in ‘She does a lot of work’).
Operators share the following main characteristics:
(a) To negate a finite clause, we put not immediately after the operator.
Contrast:

She may do it. — She may not do it.

She saw the play. ~ *She saw not the play.

(b) To form an interrogative clause, we put the operator in front of the

subject (subject-operator inversion). Contrast:
He will speak first. — Will he speak first?
He plans to speak first. ~ * Plans he to speak first?

Subject-operator inversion occurs also in sentences with introduc-

tqry negatives or semi-negatives (c/10.35/):
 Primary verbs and modal auxiliaries 35

At no time was the entrance left unguarded.

(c) The operator can carry nuclear stress to mark a finite clause as
positive rather than negative:
Won’t you try again? —Yes, I will try again.
You must speak to the teacher.— I have spoken to him.
The function of this emphatic positive is to deny a negative which has
been stated or implied.
(d) The operator functions in a range of elliptical clauses where the rest of
the predication is omitted {cf 12.20). The clause is understood to
repeat the omitted part.
Won’t you try again? — Yes, I will.
— No, I can’t.

If there is no operator in a corresponding positive declarative sentence,

the dummy (or ‘empty’) operator do is introduced under the above
conditions:
(a) She saw the play. — She did not (or: didn't) see the play.
(b) He plans to speak first. ~ Does he plan to speak first?
(c) You never listen to your mother. — But I do listen to her.
(d) Do you drive a car?—Yes, I do.
No, I don’t.
The use of the operator do is termed dosupport.
The main verbs be and have are operators in these sentences:
I haven't a car. <esp BrE> Is she your sister?

NOTE [a] The enclitic particle n’t can be attached to most operators as a contraction of
the negative word not, eg: isn’t, didn’t, won’t {cf 3.13#). In addition, many
operators have contracted forms:
am^'m; is~*s; are — ’re
be:
have:have~'ve; hash’s; had~'d
modals: wills'll; would~*d
The final /t/ in the negative contraction is commonly not sounded. Notice that the
contraction ’s may represent either is or has, and that the contraction 9d may
represent either had or would.
[b] The contractions mentioned in [a] are simplified forms that are institutionalized
in both speech and writing. They are to be distinguished from cases of
phonological reduction only, eg]kon/ in the pronunciation of can.

Characteristics of modal auxiliaries

3.12 Certain characteristics additional to those listed in 3.11 apply specifically
to modal auxiliaries:
(a) They are followed by the bare infinitive {ie the base form of the verb
alone without a preceding to):
You will ask the questions. They might have stolen it.
 36 Verbs and auxiliaries

(b) They cannot occur in nonfinite functions, ie as infinitives or

participles: may to may, *maying, *mayed. In consequence they
can occur only as the first verb in the verb phrase.
(c) They have no form for the 3rd person singular of the present tense.
Contrast:

You must write. ~ She must write.

You like to write. ~ She likes to write.

(d) Their past forms can be used to refer to present and future time (often
with a tentative meaning):

I think he may/might be outside.

WillI Would you phone him tomorrow?

NOTE The dummy auxiliary do, like the modal auxiliaries, is followed by the bare
infinitive and cannot occur in nonfinite functions. The primary auxiliaries be,
have, and do have an -5 form, but it is irregular (c/3.13ff). For the marginal modal
auxiliaries, see 3.17,

The primary verbs be? have,, arid do

Be

3.13 The verb be is a main verb (with a copular function: cf 10.3) in:
Ann is a happy girl. Is that building a hotel?

But be also has two auxiliary functions: as an aspect auxiliary for the
progressive (4.10#):
Ann is learning Spanish.
The weather has been improving.
and as a passive auxiliary (3.25/):

Ann was awarded a prize.

Our team has never been beaten.

Be is unique in having a full set of both finite and nonfinite forms in

auxiliary function; it is also unique among English verbs in having as
many as eight different forms. In the nonnegative column of Table 3.13 the
unstressed pronunciations (with vowel reduction) are given after the
stressed pronunciation, where they differ.
 The primary verbs be, have, and do 37

Table 3.13 Forms of Be

NONNEGATIVE UNCONTRACTED CONTRACTED

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

base be /bi:/, /bi/

present
1st person am /aem/, /am/ am not, (aren 't)
singular present 'm /m/ ’m

3rd person is jizj is isn’t /'iznt/

singular present 's /z/, Is/ ’5 not

2nd person
present, 1st are ja:r/ are not aren’t /a:rnt/
and 3rd person 're jd/ 're not
plural present

past
1st and 3rd was /woz/, /w(a)z/ was not wasn ’t /'woznt/
person
singular past

2nd person past

1st and 3rd
were /w3:r/, /war/ were not weren’t /w3:rnt/
person plural
past

-ing form being /'biiig/ not being

-ed participle been /bi:n/, /bin/ not been

NOTE [a] A in’t is a nonstandard contraction used commonly (especially in AmE) inplace
of am not, is not, are not, Aas not, and wof. Aren’t is the standard contraction
for am not in questions (especially in BrE): ’t I tall?
[b] There is a rare use of be as a perfect auxiliary with the verb go: The guests are
[also have] gone.

Have

3.14 Have functions both as an auxiliary and as a main verb. As an auxiliary for
perfect aspect (cf 4.8/), have combines with an ~ed participle to form
complex verb phrases:

I have finished. It must have been eaten.

As a main verb, it normally takes a direct object: I have no money. The -ed
participle is not used as an auxiliary.
 38 Verbs and auxiliaries

Table 3.14 Forms of Have

NONNEGATIVE UNCONTRACTED CONTRACTED

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

base have /haev/, /(h)av/ have not

’ve /v/, /{/ *ve not haven’t /'haevrit/

~s form has /haez/, /(h)az/ has not

N not hasn’t /'haezpt/

past had /haed/, /(h)ad/ had not

'd/d/ yd not hadn’t /'haednt/

-ing form having /' haevip/ not having

-ed participle had /haed/, /(h)ad/

NOTE [a] In stative senses (cf 4.10/), have is used (generally in rather formal style) as an
operator, especially in BrE. There is also the informal have got construction, which
is frequently preferred (especially in BrE) as an alternative to stative have. In some
stative senses, we can therefore have three alternatives:
(a) We haven’t any butter. — We have some.
(b) We haven’t got any butter. — We have got (We’ve got) some.
(c) We don’t have any butter. — We do have some.
Of these, (a) is especially BrE (more formal); (b) is especially BrE (informal); (c)
is AmE, and also common now in BrE.
[b] In dynamic senses {cf 4.10/), have normally has DO-support, and have got is not
possible:
A: Does she have coffee with her breakfast?
B: Yes, she does.

Do

3.15 Do, like be and have can be both an auxiliary and a main verb. As an
auxiliary, do has no nonfinite forms, but only present and past forms.

Table 3.15 Forms of Do

NONNEGATIVE UNCONTRACTED CONTRACTED

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

base do /du:/, /do/, /da/ do not don’t /daunt/

s form does /dAz/, /daz/ does not doesn’t /'dAznt/

/z/, M
past did! did/ did not didn’t /'didnt/

-ing form doing /'du:iq/

(main verb only)

-ed participle done /dxn/

(main verb only)
 Modal auxiliaries 39

NOTE [a] As a main verb, do can function as a pro-predicate or pro-predication (cf

12.6ff) referring to some unspecified action or actions, alone or in combination
with so, it, this, that, interrogative what, or an indefinite pronoun:
She didn’t earn as much as she might have done. <esp BrE)
I don’t know what to do, so I did nothing.
A: I’m throwing these books away.
B: Why are you doing that?
A: What have they been doing to the road?
B: Widening it.
[b] The main verb do has a wide range of uses as a general-purpose transitive verb,
especially in informal speech:
Let’s do the dishes. Who does your car?
[c] As shown in Table 3.15, does can be informally pronounced /z/ (When does the
show begin?) or /s/ (What does he want?).

Modal auxiliaries

3,16 The central modal auxiliaries are in Table 3.16, Rare forms are in
parentheses.

Table 3.16 Forms of the modal auxiliary verbs

NONNEGATIVE UNCONTRACTED CONTRACTED

NEGATIVE NEGATIVE

( can /kaen, kan/ cannot, can not can’t /kaint/ <BrE>,

\
L could lkod, kad/ could not
/kxntj <AmE>
couldn’t /'kudnt/

C may /mei/ may not (mayn ’t /memt/)

\might /mait/ might not mightn’t /'maitiit/

C shall IS ad, Ml/ shall not (shan’t /Jamt/ <BrE»

XshouldHud, Md/ should not shouldn’t /'Judi^t/, /'jadiit/

( will /wil/ will not won't /waont/

tr
1 l’n my 71 not

1 ^
( would /wud/
i'd/mi
would not
’d not
wouldn’t /'wudnt/

must /mASt, mast/ must not mustn’t /'mAsnt/

NOTE Mayn't and shan't are virtually nonexistent in AmE, while in BrE shan’t is
becoming rare and mayn't even more so.

EiarginaS modal auxiliaries

3.17 The marginal modal auxiliaries are used to, ought to, dare, and need.
Used to always takes the ^-infinitive and occurs only in the past tense:
 40 Verbs and auxiliaries

She used to attend regularly.

It is used both as an auxiliary and as a main verb with Do-support:

He usednt (or: used not) to smoke. <BrE>
He didn’t use(d) to smoke. <BrE and informal AmE>

The normal interrogative construction is with Do-support, even in BrE:

Did he use to drink? He used to drink, didn yt he?

Ought to normally has the to-infinitive, but the to is optional following

ought in ellipsis:

You oughtn’t to smoke so much.

A: Ought I to stop smoking?
B: Yes, I think you ought (to).

Dare and need can be used either as modal auxiliaries (with bare
infinitive and without the inflected forms) or as main verbs (with to-
infinitive and with inflected -s, -ing, and past forms). The modal
construction is restricted to nonassertive contexts, ie mainly negative and
interrogative sentences, whereas the main verb construction can always be
used, and is in fact more common.

NOTE Blends of the two constructions (modal auxiliary and main verb) are widely
acceptable for dare:

They do not dare ask for me. Do they dare ask for more?

Modal idioms and semi-auxiliaries

3.18 Two other categories of verbs are intermediate between auxiliaries and
main verbs. They express modal or aspectual meaning.
(a) The modal idioms are a combination of auxiliary and infinitive or
adverb. None of them have nonfinite forms and they are therefore
always the first verb in the verb phrase. The most common modal
idioms are had better, would rather, have got to, and be to.
(b) The semi-auxiliaries are a set of verb idioms which are introduced by
one of the primary verbs have and be. They have nonfinite forms and
can therefore occur in combination with preceding auxiliaries.
Indeed, two or more semi-auxiliaries can occur in sequence. Common
semi-auxiliaries include:

be able to be bound to be going to be supposed to

be about to be due to be likely to have to

NOTE Like auxiliaries - in having meanings similar to those for the aspectual and modal
auxiliaries (cf 4.7,4.21) - are the catenatives, such as appear to, happen to, seem to.
Some catenatives are followed by -ing or -ed participles rather than by infinitives:
start (working), go on (talking), keep (on) (smoking), get (trapped).
 The structure of verb phrases 41

The structure of verb phrases

Finite verb phrases

3.19 A finite verb phrase is a verb phrase in which the first or only word is a
finite verb (c/ 3.3), the rest of the verb phrase (if any) consisting of
nonfinite verbs. Finite verb phrases can be distinguished as follows:
(a) Finite verb phrases can occur as the verb phrase of independent
clauses.
(b) Finite verb phrases have tense contrast, ie the distinction between
present and past tenses:

He is a journalist now.
He worked as a travel agent last summer.

(c) There is person concord and number concord between the subject of a
clause and the finite verb phrase. Concord is particularly clear with
the present tense of be:

l am ^ . He/She/It is y .
v >here. ' ' |here-
You are ) We/They are J

But with most full verbs overt concord is restricted to a contrast

between the 3rd person singular present and other persons or plural
number:

He/She/Jim reads t .
I/We/You/They read)the paper CVery m°rnmg'

With modal auxiliaries there is no overt concord at all (c/3.12):

I/You/She/We/They can play the cello.
(d) Finite verb phrases have mood, which indicates the factual, nonfac-
tual, or counterfactual status of the predication. In contrast to the
‘unmarked’ indicative mood, we distinguish the ‘marked’ moods
imperative (used to express commands and other directive speech
acts; cf 11.15 ff), and subjunctive (used to express a wish,
recommendation, etc; c/3.23/).
A clause with a finite verb phrase as its V element is called a ‘finite verb
clause’ or, more tersely, a ‘finite clause’. Similarly, a clause with a
nonfinite verb phrase as its V element is called a ‘nonfinite (verb) clause’
(c/14.3/).

Nonfinite verb phrases

3.20 The infinitive ((to) call), the -ing participle {calling), and the -edparticiple
{called) are the nonfinite forms of the verb. Hence any phrase in which one
of these verb forms is the first or only word (disregarding the infinitive
marker to) is a nonfinite verb phrase. Such phrases do not normally occur
as the verb phrase of an independent clause. Compare:
 42 Verbs and auxiliaries

FINITE VERB PHRASES NONFINITE VERB PHRASES

He smokes. To smoke like that must be
Mary is having a smoke. dangerous.
He must smoke 40 a day. I regret having started to smoke.
You have been smoking all The cigars smoked here tend to be
day. expensive.
That was the last cigarette to have
been smoked by me.

Simple and complex verb phrases

3.21 The finite verb phrase is simple when (without ellipsis) it consists of only
one word. It is complex when it consists of two or more words.
The auxiliaries follow a strict order in the complex verb phrase:
(a) modal, followed by an infinitive:
must go
(b) perfect (the auxiliary have) followed by an ~ed participle:
has examined; must have examined
(c) progressive (the auxiliary be), followed by an -ing participle:
was talking; must have been talking
(d) passive (the auxiliary be), followed by an -ed participle:
was visited; must have been being visited
While the above order is strictly followed, gaps are perfectly normal:
(a) -t-(c): must be going (modal 4-progressive)
(b) + (d): has been examined (perfect + passive)
(a) + (d): may be visited (modal + passive)

Contrasts expressed in the verb phrase

3.22 It may be convenient to list here the contrasts in which the verb phrase
plays an important part.
(a) Tense requires a choice between present and past in the first or only
verb in a finite verb phrase (cf 4.3j/):
She works hard. She worked hard.
(b) Aspect requires a choice between the nonperfect and the perfect and
between the nonprogressive and the progressive (cf 4.Iff):

He writes poems, (simple: nonperfect, nonprogressive)

He has written poems, (perfect, nonprogressive)
He is writing poems, (progressive, nonperfect)
He has been writing poems, (perfect, progressive)

(c) Mood requires a choice between the indicative, imperative, and

subjunctive (cfllASff, 3.23/):

He f^stens \ (indicative)
{.is listening to me.J
 The subjunctive mood 43

Listen to me. (imperative)

I demand that he listen to me. (subjunctive)
(d) Finiteness requires a choice between the finite and nonfinite (3.19/):

She plays tennis.

Playing tennis is good for your health.

The verb element of a finite clause (as in the first sentence) is a finite
verb phrase; the verb element of a nonfinite clause is a nonfinite verb
phrase (eg: Playing in Playing tennis).
(e) Voice involves a contrast between active and passive (c/3.25/):
A doctor will examine the applicants, (active)
The applicants will be examined by a doctor, (passive)
(f) Questions generally require subject-operator inversion (cf 11.3j/; for
an exception, cf 11.10):
I should pay for you. ~ Should I pay for you?
The students objected. ~ Did the students object?
(g) Negation makes use of operators (cf 10.33, but cf 3.23 Note [b]):
I should pay for you. ~I shouldn’t pay for you.
The students objected. ~The students didn’t object.
(h) Emphasis is frequently carried by an operator (cf 3.11):

I should pay.
The students did object.

The subjunctive mood

Forms of the subjunctive

3.23 There are two forms of the subjunctive. They are traditionally called the
present and past subjunctive, although the distinction relates more to
mood than to tense.
The present subjunctive is expressed by the base form of the verb. For
the verb be, the subjunctive form be is distinct from the indicative forms
am, is, and are. For other verbs, the subjunctive is distinctive only in the
3rd person singular:
I insist that we reconsider the Council’s decisions. [1]
[indicative or subjunctive]
I insist that the Council reconsider its decisions. [2]
[subjunctive]
I insist that the Council’s decision(s) be reconsidered. [3]
[subjunctive]
 44 Verbs and auxiliaries

The past subjunctive (or were-subjunctive) survives only in were as a

past form of be. It is distinguishable from the past indicative of be only in
the 1st and 3rd persons singular:

If she was leaving, you would have heard about it.

[indicative]
If she were leaving, you would have heard about it.
[subjunctive]
The indicative was is more common in less formal style.

NOTE [a] Only were is acceptable in as it were (‘so to speak’); were is usual in if I were you.
[b] Negation of the present subjunctive does not require an operator. Hence,
reconsider in [la] is unambiguously subjunctive:

I insist that we not reconsider the Council’s decision. [la]

Uses of the subjunctive

3.24 We distinguish two main uses of the present subjunctive:

(a) The mandative subjunctive is used in a that~c\ause after an
expression of such notions as demand, recommendation, proposal,
intention (eg: We insist, prefer, request; It is necessary, desirable,
imperative; the decision, requirement, resolution). This use is more
characteristic of AmE than BrE, but seems to be increasing in BrE. In
BrE the alternatives are putative should (14.14) and the indicative.

r resign. <esp AmE)

The employees demanded that he < should resign. <esp BrE)
k resigns.
(b) The formulaic (or ‘optative’) subjunctive is used in certain set
expressions:

God save the Queen. Heaven forbid that

Long live the King. Be that as it may, .
Come what may, . . . Suffice it to say that

The past subjunctive is hypothetical in meaning. It is used in

conditional and concessive clauses and in subordinate clauses after wish
and suppose:

If I were a rich man, I would . . .

I wish the journey were over.
Just suppose everyone were to act like you.

Subjunctive were is often replaced in nonformal style by indicative was.

Voice
Active arid passive

3.25 The distinction between active and passive applies only to sentences where
the Verb is transitive. The difference between the active voice and the
 Voice 45

passive voice involves both the verb phrase and the clause as a whole. In
the verb phrase, the passive adds a form of the auxiliary be followed by the
-ed participle of the main verb. For example:
kisses is kissed
has kissed has been kissed
may be kissing may be being kissed
At the clause level, changing from active to passive has the following
results:
(a) The active subject, if retained, becomes the passive agent.
(b) The active object becomes the passive subject.
(c) The preposition by is inserted before the agent.

The butler murdered the detective, [active]

The detective was murdered (by the butler), [passive]
The explanation was followed by an example.

The prepositional phrase (agent st-phrase) of passive sentences is in

most cases an optional element and is commonly omitted.

NOTE [a] Get is frequently used with the passive in informal English: get caught, get
dressed, get run over. It often conveys the connotation that the referent of the
subject has some responsibility for the action. Compare the construction with a
reflexive pronoun: ‘She got herself caught.’
[b] The change to passive is highly restricted if the active object is a clause. It
becomes acceptable when the clause is extraposed and replaced by anticipatory it:

They thought that she was attractive.

It was thought that she was attractive.

[c] Some stative transitive verbs, called ‘middle verbs’, normally occur only in the
active (cf 16.15), eg:

They have a nice house. The auditorium holds 500 people.

He lacks confidence. Will this suit you?

[d] In the ‘statal passive’ the -ed form refers to a state resulting from an action, and
the construction contains a copular verb and a subject complement:

The building is demolished.

Her arm was already broken when I saw her.

A sentence such as Her arm was broken is ambiguous between a dynamic passive
reading (‘Someone broke her arm’) and a statal reading (‘Her arm was in a state of
fracture’).

Uses of the passive

3.26 In sentences where there is a choice between active and passive, the active
is the norm.
Speakers or writers use the passive for the following reasons. In
considering the examples, bear in mind that more than one reason may
apply. Reasons 1-4 illustrate the uses of the passive without the agent 67-
phrase, which is commonly omitted:
46 Verbs and auxiliaries

1 They do not know the identity of the agent of the action.

Many lifeboats were launched from the Titanic only partly filled.
2 They want to avoid identifying the agent because they do not want to
assign or accept responsibility.
My letter has not yet been answered.
A mistake has been made in calculating your change.
3 They feel that there is no reason for mention of the agent because the
identification is unimportant or obvious from the context.

The small thin pieces of metal at the sides are to protect the
appliance during handling and may be discarded.
Nowadays sleeping sickness can usually be cured if it is detected early
enough.

4 In scientific and technical writing, writers often use the passive to avoid
the constant repetition of the subject / or we and to put the emphasis on
processes and experimental procedures. This use of the passive helps to
give the writing the objective tone that the writers wish to convey.

The subject was blindfolded and a pencil was placed in the left hand.
5 To put emphasis on the agent of the action;
6 To avoid what would otherwise be a long active subject;
7 To retain the same subject throughout a long sentence.
The following sentence exemplifies a combination of these last three
reasons for using the passive (cf 18.22):
As a cat moves, it is kept informed of its movements not only by its
eyes, but also by messages from its pads and elsewhere in its skin,
its organs of balance, and its sense organs of joints and muscles.

Bibliographical note

For general treatments of the English verb, see Palmer (1988); Allen (1966); Joos
(1964); Huddleston (1976).
On the passive see Granger (1983); Stein (1979); Svartvik (1966). For studies
relating more particularly to meaning in the verb phrase, consult the Bibliographi¬
cal note to Chapter 4.
 The semantics of the verb phrase

Time, tense, and the verb

4.1 In abstraction from any given language, we can think of time as a line on
which is located, as a continuously moving point, the present moment.
Anything ahead of the present moment is in the future, and anything
behind it is in the past (see Fig 4.1a):

THE PRESENT MOMENT

PAST y FUTURE

[now]

Fig 4.1a

In relating this referential view of time to the meaning of verbs, it is

useful to reformulate it so that on the semantic level of interpretation
something is defined as ‘present’ if it exists at the present moment and may
also exist in the past and in the future. Hence Paris stands on the River
Seine may be correctly said to describe a ‘present’ situation, even though
this situation has existed for many centuries in the past and may well exist
for an indefinitely long period in the future. The same is true for sentences
of more limited time span: John boasts a lot applies to past and present,
and carries the implication that it will apply to an indefinite period in the
future (see Fig 4.1b):

[now]
v
4-
PAST TIME i 1 i FUTURE TIME -^
—■T: r—
[preceding now] [following now]

THE PRESENT TIME

[including now]

Fig 4.1b

tense is a grammatical category that is realized by verb inflection. Since

English has no future inflected form of the verb, the threefold semantic
 48 The semantics of the verb phrase

opposition is reduced to two tenses: the present tense and the past tense,
which typically refer to present and past time respectively.

NOTE Future meaning is conveyed by various means, including the present tense:
Tomorrow is Tuesday. Cf 4A3ff.

Stative and dynamic senses of verbs

4.2 We draw a broad distinction between the stative and dynamic senses in
which verbs are used to refer to situations (c/4.11). Verbs like be, have, and
know have stative senses when they refer to a single unbroken state of
affairs:

I have known the Penfolds all my life.

Verbs like drive, speak, and attack have dynamic senses, as can be seen
when they are used with the present perfect to refer to a sequence of
separate events:

I have driven sports cars for years.

NOTE [a] A verb may shift in sense from one category to another. Have, for example, is
usually stative: She has two sisters. But it has a dynamic sense in We have dinner at
Maxim's quite frequently.
[b] Dynamic verb senses can regularly occur with the imperative and progressive,
but stative verb senses cannot:

Learn how to swim. *Know how to swim.

I am learning to swim. *1 am knowing how to swim.

In general, only dynamic senses follow do in a pseudo-cleft sentence (cf 18.20):

What she did was (to) learn Spanish.

*What she did was (to) know Spanish.

Tense

Simple present tense for present time

4.3 (a) The state present is used with stative verb senses to refer to a single
unbroken state of affairs that has existed in the past, exists now, and is
likely to continue to exist in the future. It includes the Timeless
present’, which refers to ‘eternal truths’ such as Two and three make
five or to less extreme instances of timelessness, such as The British
Isles have a temperate climate. It also includes more restricted time
spans:
Margaret is tall. He does not believe in hard work.
We live near Toronto. This soup tastes delicious.
(b) The habitual present is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to
events that repeatedly occur without limitation on their extension
into the past or future. Like the state present, it includes the ‘timeless
 Tim®, t©n@€, and the verb 49

present’, such as Water boils at 100 °C and The earth moves round the
sun, and more restricted time spans:

We go to Brussels every year. She doesn't smoke.

She makes her own dresses. Bill drinks heavily.

Whereas the state present always refers to soriiething that applies at

the time of speaking or writing, this is very often not so for the
habitual present: We can say Bill drinks heavily when Bill is not
actually drinking.
(c) The instantaneous present is used with dynamic verb senses to refer
to a single event with little or no duration that occurs at the time of
speaking or writing. It is used only in certain restricted situations; for
example, in commentaries and self-commentaries {Black passes the
ball to Fernandez; I enclose a form of application) and with
performative verbs that refer to the speech acts performed by uttering
the sentences (/ apologize for my behaviour; We thank you for your
recent enquiry).

NOTE It is a sign of the habitual present that one can easily add a frequency adverbial (eg:
often, once a day, every year) to specify the frequency of the event.

Simple present tense for past and future

4.4 There are three additional kinds of uses of the simple present that are best
seen as extended interpretations of the basic meanings of 4.3.
(a) The historic present refers to past time, and is characteristic of
popular narrative style. It conveys the dramatic immediacy of an
event happening at the time of narration:

Just as we arrived, up comes Ben and slaps me on the back as if we’re

life-long friends.

It is used as a stylistically marked device in fictional narrative for

imaginary events in the past:

The crowd swarms around the gateway, and seethes with delighted
anticipation; excitement grows, as suddenly their hero makes his
entrance . . .

(b) The simple present is optionally used to refer to the past with verbs of
communication or reception of communication to suggest that the
information communicated is still valid:
Jack tells me that the position is still vacant.
The Bible prohibits the committing of adultery.
I hear that you need an assistant.
I understand that the game has been postponed.
(c) In main clauses, the simple present typically occurs with time-
position adverbials to suggest that a future event is certain to take
place:
 50 The semantics of the verb phrase

The plane leaves for Ankara at eight o’clock tonight.

The use of the simple present for future time is much more common in
subordinate clauses, particularly in conditional and temporal clauses
(c/14.11):

He’ll do it if you pay him.

I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from her.
NOTE Somewhat akin to the other optional uses of the simple present for past time is its
use in reference to writers, composers, etc, and their works (cf 19.13):

Dickens draws his characters from the London underworld of his time.
Beethoven’s Ninth is his best composition.

Simple past tense for past time

4.5 The simple past is used to refer to a situation set at a definite time in the
past.
(a) The event past is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to a single
definite event in the past. The event may take place over an extended
period {The Normans invaded England in 1066) or at a point of time
{The plane left at 9 a.m.).
(b) The habitual past is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to past
events that repeatedly occur: We spent our holidays in Spain when we
were children.
(c) The state past is used with stative verb senses to refer to a single
unbroken state of affairs in the past: I once liked reading novels.
NOTE [a] The habitual and state meanings of the past can be paraphrased by used to.
[b] The definite time may be conveyed by a previous or subsequent time expression
in the linguistic context, for example by a time adverbial such as in 1066. It may
also be presupposed on the basis of knowledge shared by speaker and hearer. For
example, Your brother was at school with me presupposes as common knowledge
that a specific period of time is spent at school.

Special uses of the simple past tense

4.6 There are three special uses of the simple past {cf 4.9 Note):
(a) In indirect speech or indirect thought (c/14.17/), the simple past
in the reporting verb may cause the verb in the subordinate reported
clause to be backshifted into the simple past: She said that she knew
you; I thought you were in Paris.
(b) The attitudinal past is optionally used to refer more tentatively
(and therefore more politely) to a present state of mind: Did you want
to see me now?] 1 wondered whether you are / were free tomorrow
(c/14.18).
(c) The hypothetical past is used in certain subordinate clauses,
especially //clauses, to convey what is contrary to the belief or
expectation of the speaker {cf 14.12):
 Aspect 51

If you knew him, you wouldn’t say that. [i]

If she asked me, I would help her. [2]
I wish I had a memory like yours. [3]
The implication of [1] is that you do not know him, of [2] that she will
not ask me, and of [3] that I do not have such a memory.

Aspect

4.7 aspect is a grammatical category that reflects the way in which the
action of a verb is viewed with respect to time. We recognize two aspects
in English, the perfect and the progressive, which may combine in a
complex verb phrase, and are marked for present or past tense:
present perfect has examined
past perfect had examined

present progressive is examining

past progressive was examining

present perfect progressive has been examining

past perfect progressive had been examining

The present perfect

4.8 The present perfect is used to refer to a situation set at some indefinite time
within a period beginning in the past and leading up to the present.
(a) The state present perfect is used with stative verb senses to refer to
a state that began in the past and extends to the present, and will
perhaps continue in the future:
They have been unhappy for a long time.
We have lived in Amsterdam for five years.
She has owned the house since her father died.
Vve always liked her.

(b) The event present perfect is used with dynamic verb senses to refer
to one or more events that have occurred at some time within a period
leading up to the present. We distinguish two subtypes:
1 The event or events are reported as news; usually they have occurred
shortly before the present time:
The Republicans have won the election.
Yve just got a new job.
There’.? been a serious accident.
 52 The semantics of the verb phrase

2 The event or events occurred at some more remote time in the past,
but the implicit time period that frames the event or events leads up
to the present:

She has given an interview only once in her life (but she may yet give
another interview).
Have you seen the new production of King Lear at the National
Theatre? (You still can do so.)
All our children have had measles (and they are not likely to have it
again).

(c) The habitual present perfect is used with dynamic verb senses to
refer to past events that repeatedly occur up to and including the
present.

The magazine has been published every month (since 1975).

Vve been reading only science fiction (till now).
Socrates has influenced many philosophers (till now).
Unlike the simple past, the present perfect does not normally cooccur
with adverbials that indicate a specific point or period of time in the past.
Contrast:

I saw her a week ago. [simple past]

*1 have seen her a week ago. [present perfect]

NOTE [a] The use of the present perfect for recent events may imply that the result of the
event still applies: He’s broken his arm (‘His arm is broken’); I’ve emptied the basket
(The basket is empty’); The train has arrived on Platform 4 (The train is now on
Platform 4’).
[b] The simple past is often used in place of the present perfect for recent events,
especially in AmE: I just got a new job.
[c] Some adverbials cooccur with the present perfect and not with the simple past.
They include the adverb since {Ihaven’t seen him since); prepositional phrases and
clauses introduced by since (since Monday; since I met you); the phrases till/up to
now and so far. C/8.22 Note [a].
[d] The simple past must be used if the implicit time period does not reach up to the
present moment:

She gave an interview only once in her life. (She can give no more interviews,
since she is dead.)
Did you see the new production of King Lear at the National Theatre? (You
can no longer do so, because the production has closed.)

[e] If will (or shall) is combined with the perfect, the resulting future perfect
conveys the meaning ‘past in future’:

By next week, they will have completed their contract.

A similar meaning may be conveyed with other modals:

By next week, they may have completed their contract. [‘It is possible that
they will have completed . . .’]
 Aspect 53

But the combination with the modal may represent a simple past or a present
perfect:

I may have left the keys at the office, [it is possible that I left/have left. ..’]

The past perfect

4.9 The past perfect (or ‘pluperfect’) refers to a time earlier than another past
time. It may represent the past of the simple past, a time earlier than that
indicated by the simple past:

They had moved into the house before the baby was born. [1]
The simple past can often replace the past perfect in such cases, if the time-
relationship between the two situations is clear:

They moved into the house before the baby was born. [la]
The past perfect may also represent the past of the present perfect:
She had owned the house since her parents died. [2]
Contrast:

She has owned the house since her parents died. [2a]

Whereas [2a] entails that she still owns the house, [2] implies that she does
not own it now.

NOTE The past perfect has special uses analogous to those for the simple past (cf 4.6):
[a] In indirect speech constructions it indicates a backshift into the more remote
past: I told her the parcel had not arrived.
[b] The attitudinal past perfect refers more politely than the simple past to a
present state of mind: / had wondered whether you are I were free now (cf. 14.18).
[c] The hypothetical past perfect is used in certain subordinate clauses,
especially //-clauses, to imply that the situation did not occur (cf 14.12): If I had
been there, it would not have happened.

Progressive aspect

4.10 The progressive (or ‘continuous’) focuses on the situation as being in

progress at a particular time. In consequence, it may imply that the
situation has limited duration, and that it is not necessarily complete.
(a) Generally, verbs with stative senses do not occur in the progressive,
since there is no conception of progression in states of affairs:
*1 am liking your sister.
*He was knowing English.

When verbs that are ordinarily stative occur in the progressive, they
adopt dynamic meanings. They may indicate a type of behaviour with
limited duration:
 54 The semantics of the verb phrase

You are being obstinate.

He was being silly.
Verbs expressing emotion or attitude, which are ordinarily stative,
indicate tentativeness when they occur in the progressive:

I’m hoping to take my exam soon.

I was wondering whether you could help me.

(b) The event progressive is used with dynamic verb senses to refer to an
event that has'duration and is not completed:

I was reading an economics book last night. [1]

One of the boys was drowning, but I dived in and saved him. [2]

The past progressive in [1] suggests that the book was perhaps not
finished. In contrast, the simple past in [la] indicates that I had
finished reading the book:
I read an economics book last night. [la]
The simple past drowned could not replace the past progressive was
drowning in [2], because it would not be compatible with the report
that the boy was saved.
The present progressive is more commonly used'than the simple
present for events in present time, because present events are usually
regarded as having some duration:

What are you doing? I’m writing a letter.

(c) The habitual progressive is used with dynamic verb senses to refer
to events that repeatedly occur, with the implication that they take
place over a limited period of time:
She’s writing some short stories. [3]
He’s teaching in a comprehensive school. [4]

Contrast the nonprogressive in [3a] and [4a]:

She writes short stories. [3a]

He teaches in a comprehensive school. [3b]
The progressive implies temporariness, whereas the nonprogressive
implies permanence (‘She’s a short-story writer’; ‘He’s a teacher in a
comprehensive school’). The normally stative verb have in [5] carries
the implication of temporariness, and the initial time adverbial
reinforces that notion:
At the time she was having singing lessons. [5]

NOTE [a] The progressive also has some special uses:

 Aspect 55

1 To refer to events anticipated in the future, or to events anticipated in the

past (future in the past): The train is leaving at nine (tomorrow) ; They were
getting married the following spring.
2 After will (or shall) to imply that the situation will take place ‘as a matter
of course’ in the future: I’ll be seeing you next week.

[b] Verbs denoting states of bodily sensation may be used more or less
interchangeably in the progressive and the nonprogressive when referring to a
temporary state: My foot hurtsI is hurting, My back aches/is aching; / feeljam
feeling cold.
[c] The habitual progressive is not used to refer to sporadic events (*She’s
sometimes walking to the office); the nonprogressive is required for this purpose
(She sometimes walks to the office). In combination with indefinite frequency
adverbs such as always and continually, the habitual progressive loses its
temporary meaning; it often conveys disapproval: Bill is always working late at the
office. The pejorative sense may also be expressed with the simple present or past in
combination with these adverbs.
[d] The relationship between two simple forms is normally one of time-sequence:
When we arrived, Jan made some fresh coffee (The arrival came before the coffee¬
making). The relationship between progressive and a simple form is normally one
of time-inclusion: When we arrived, Jan was making some coffee (The arrival took
place during the coffee-making).

Verb senses and the progressive

4.11 We have pointed out that verbs with stative senses generally do not occur
in the progressive (cf 4.10). Below we list classes of verbs that typically
occur with stative and dynamic senses, and we give a few examples of each
class. Stance verbs are intermediate between stative and dynamic verbs.
(a) STATIVE
1 States of‘being’ and ‘having’: be, contain, depend, have, resemble.
2 Intellectual states: believe, know, realize, think, understand.
3 States of emotion or attitude: disagree, dislike, like, want, wish.
4 States of perception: feel, hear, see, smell, taste.
5 States of bodily sensation: ache, feel sick, hurt, itch, tickle.
(b) stance: lie, live, sit, stand.
(c) dynamic durative (taking place over a period of time)
1 Activities performed by inanimate forces: (wind) blow, (engine) run,
rain, (watch) work.
2 Activities performed by animate agents: dance, eat, play, sing, work.
3 Processes (denoting change of state taking place over a period):
change, deteriorate, grow, ripen, widen.
4 Accomplishments (activities having a goal or endpoint): finish (the
book), knit (a sweater), read (the paper), write (an essay).
(d) dynamic punctual (with little or no duration)
1 Momentary events and acts: bang, jump, knock, nod, tap. In the
progressive, they indicate the repetition of the event, eg: He was
knocking on the door.
 56 The semantics of the verb phrase

2 Transitional events and acts: arrive, die, drown, land\ leave, stop.
In the progressive, they refer to a period leading up to the change of
state, eg: the train is (now) arriving at Platform 4.

NOTE Stance verbs may be used with either the progressive or the nonprogressive, often
with little to choose between the variants. But sometimes they seem to be used with
the nonprogressive to express a permanent state and with the progressive to
express a temporary state:
James lives in Copenhagen, [permanent residence]
James is living in Copenhagen, [temporary residence]

The perfect progressive

4.12 When the perfect and progressive aspects are combined in the same verb
phrase (eg: has been working), the features of meaning associated with
each aspect are also combined to refer to a temporary situation leading
up to the present when the perfect auxiliary is present tense has or have.
The combination conveys the sense of a situation in progress with
limited duration: Vve been writing a letter to my nephew; It's been snowing
again. We may contrast these with the nonprogressive sense in I’ve written
a letter to my nephew; It’s snowed again.
If the perfect progressive sense is combined with accomplishment
predications or process predications (cf 4.11), then the verb phrase
conveys the possibility of incompleteness:

I’ve been cleaning the windows. [The job may not be finished;
contrast: Tve cleaned the windows.]
The weather has been getting warmer. [It may get warmer still.]
The present perfect progressive may be used with dynamic verb senses
to refer to a temporary habit up to the present. The events occur
repeatedly up to the present and possibly into the future:

Martin has been scoring plenty of goals (this season).

Tve been working on the night shift for several weeks.

The perfect progressive may combine with the past tense and with
modals:

The fire had been raging for over a week. [1]

By Friday, we will have been living here for ten years. [2]

In [1] the temporary event leads up to some point in the past. In [2] the
temporary state is earlier than the time in the future indicated by Friday.
The combination with the past tense or a modal need not presuppose an
 Some means of expressing future time 57

earlier time, and it can therefore be accompanied by an adverbial of time

position (cf 4.8 Note [e]):

I had been talking with him only last Monday.

I must have been talking with him last Monday.

Some means of expressing future time

4.13 In the absence of an inflectional tense, there are several possibilities for
expressing future time in English. Future time is expressed by means of
modal auxiliaries, modal idioms, and semi-auxiliaries (c/3.18), or by the
simple present and progressive forms.

Will/shall + infinitive

4.14 The most common way of expressing futurity is the construction of will or
7/ with the infinitive:

He will be here in half an hour.

Will you need any help?
No doubt 17/ see you next week.

Shall is also sometimes used with the infinitive (especially in Southern

BrE) to indicate futurity with a 1 st person subject:
No doubt I shall see you next week.

Although these constructions are the closest approximations to a

colourless, neutral future, they also cover a range of modal meanings (cf
4.27/).

Be going fo+ infinitive

4.15 The general meaning of the construction of be going to with the infinitive is
‘future fulfilment of the present’. We can further distinguish two specific
meanings. The first, ‘future fulfilment of a present intention’, is chiefly
associated with personal subjects and agentive verbs:
When are you going to get married?
Martha is going to lend us her camera.
I’m going to complain if things don’t improve.

The other meaning, ‘future result of a present cause’, is found with both
personal and nonpersonal subjects:

It's going to rain. She’s going to have a baby.

There’s going to be trouble. You’re going to get soaked.
 58 The semantics of the verb phrase

Present progressive
4.16 The general meaning of the present progressive is ‘future arising from
present arrangement, plan, or programme’:
The orchestra is playing a Mozart symphony after this.
The match is starting at 2.30 (tomorrow).
Ym taking the children to the zoo (next week).

Simple present
4.17 The future use of the simple present is frequent only in subordinate
clauses:
What will you say if I marry the boss?
At this rate, the guests will be drunk before they leave.
In main clauses, the future use represents a marked future of unusual
certainty, attributing to the future the degree of certainty one normally
associates with the present and the past. For example, it is used for
statements about the calendar:
Tomorrow is Thursday. School finishes on 21st March.

Also to describe immutable events:

When is high tide? What time does the match begin?
Like the present progressive, it is used with certain dynamic, transitional
verbs (eg: arrive, come, leave; cf 4.11) to convey the meaning of plan or
programme:
I go/am going on vacation next week.
The plane takes off/is taking off at 20:30 tonight.
It is also used with stative verbs to convey the same meaning, but the
progressive is then not possible:

Ym on vacation next week.

Will I shall+ progressive

4.18 The construction of will/shall with the progressive may indicate a future
period of time within which another situation occurs:
When you reach the end of the bridge, 17/ be waiting there to show
you the way.
Another use denotes ‘future as a matter of course’. (It avoids the
interpretation of volition, intention, promise, etc, to which will, shall, and
be going to are liable.)

We’// be flying at 30,000 feet.

 Some means of expressing future time 59

Spoken by the pilot of an aircraft to the passengers, the statement implies

that 30,000 feet is the normal and expected altitude for the flight. This
implication accounts for the use of the construction to convey greater tact
than the nonprogressive with will!shall:
When will you be paying back the money?

Be (about) to

4.19 Be to + infinitive is used to refer to a future arrangement or plan, a future

requirement, and intention:

Their daughter is to be married soon.

There’.? to be an official enquiry
You are to be back by 10 o’clock. [‘You are required to be . . .’]
If he’s to succeed in his new profession, he must try harder. [‘If he
intends to succeed . . .’]
Be about to + infinitive simply expresses near future:

The train is about to leave.

Ym about to read your essay.

The negative be not about to <esp informal) may be paraphrased ‘have no

intention of’ (She’s not about to complain).

NOTE Futurity is often indicated by modals other than will/shall: The weather may
improve (tomorrow) ; You must have dinner with us (soon). It is also indicated by
semi-auxiliaries such as be sure to, be bound to, be likely to, and by full verbs such as
hope, intend\ plan.

Future time in the past

4.20 Most of the future constructions just discussed can be used in the past
tense to describe something which is in the future when seen from a
viewpoint in the past.
(a) modal verb construction with would (rare; literary narrative style)
The time was not far off when he would regret this decision.
(b) be going to+ infinitive (often with the sense of ‘unfulfilled
intention’)

You were going to give me your address. [\ . . but you didn’t. . .’]
The police were going to charge her, but at last she persuaded them
she was innocent.

(c) past progressive (arrangement predetermined in the past)

I was meeting him in Bordeaux the next day.

(d) BE TO+ infinitive (formal); (i)=‘was destined to’; (ii) =‘arrange¬

ment’
 60 The semantics of the verb phrase

(i) He was eventually to end up in the bankruptcy court.

(ii) The meeting was to be held the following week.

(e) be about ro+infinitive (‘on the point of5; often with the sense of
‘unfulfilled intention’)

He was about to hit me.

Meanings of the medals

4.21 We distinguish two main kinds of meanings for modal auxiliaries:
(a) intrinsic modality (which includes ‘permission’, ‘obligation’, and
‘volition’) involves some intrinsic human control over events;
(b) extrinsic modality (which includes ‘possibility’, ‘necessity’, and
‘prediction’) involves human judgment of what is or is not likely to
happen.
Each of the modals has both intrinsic and extrinsic uses. In some
instances there is an overlap of the two uses; for example, the will in
sentences such as I’ll see you tomorrow then can be said to combine the
meanings of volition and prediction.
Most of the modals can be paired into present and past forms (can/
could, may/might, shalljshould, will/would). From the point of view of
meaning, the past forms are often merely more tentative or more polite
variants of the present forms (cf 4.32).

NOTE Various terms are used for these contrasts in modal meanings. Approximate
synonyms for intrinsic are deontic and root; for extrinsic the common variant is
epistemic.

Can! could

4.22 (a) possibility

Even expert drivers can make mistakes. [‘It is possible for even ...’]
Her performance was the best that could be hoped for.
If it’s raining tomorrow, the sports can take place indoors. [‘It will be
possible for the sports to . . .’]
(b) ability

Can you remember where they live? [‘Are you able to remember...’]
Magda could speak three languages by the age of six.
They say Bill can cook better than his wife.
(c) permission

Can we borrow these books from the library? [‘Are we allowed

to . . .’]
 Meanings of the medals 61

In those days only men could vote in elections.

In this sense, can)could is less formal than may, which has been favoured
by prescriptive tradition.

May/might

4.23 (a) possibility

We may never succeed. [‘It is possible that we’ll never succeed.’]

You may be right. [‘It is possible that you are right.’]
There might be some complaints.

Here may denotes the possibility of a given proposition’s being or

becoming true.
(b) PERMISSION

You may borrow my bicycle if you wish. [‘I permit you to

borrow . . .’]
Visitors may reclaim necessary travel expenses up to a limit of £50.
Might I ask whether you are using the typewriter?

As a permission auxiliary, may is more formal and less common than can,
which (except in fixed phrases such as if I may) can be substituted for it.

NOTE In formal English, may/might is sometimes used in the same possibility sense as
can/could:

During the autumn, many rare birds may be observed on the rocky northern
coasts of the island.

May here is a more formal substitute for can, and the whole sentence could be
paraphrased It is possible to observe . . .

Must

4.24 (a) (logical) necessity

There must be some mistake.

You must be feeling tired.
The Smiths must have a lot of money.

The ‘logical necessity’ meaning of must is parallel to the possibility

meaning of may since it implies that the speaker judges the proposition
expressed by the clause to be necessarily true, or at least to have a high
likelihood of being true. Must in this sense means that the speaker has
drawn a conclusion from things already known or observed. Must
[ = logical necessity] cannot normally be used in interrogative or negative
clauses. Can is generally used in place of must in questions, so that
corresponding to She must be the one you mean is the question Can she be
the one you mean? The negative of can [ = possibility] fills the negative gap,
so that You must be joking [‘It is necessarily the case that you are joking’] is
 62 The semantics of the verb phrase

synonymous with You can’t be serious [‘It is impossible that you are
serious’]. Similarly:

She must be asleep = She can’t be awake.

There is another necessity meaning of must in examples like:

To be healthy, a plant must receive a good supply of both sunshine

and moisture. [Tt is necessary for a plant to . . .’]
(b) OBLIGATION or COMPULSION

You must be back by ten o’clock. [‘You are obliged to be back ..T
require you to be back . . .’]
We must all share our skills and knowledge.
Productivity must be improved, if the nation is to be prosperous.
In these examples, there is the implication, to a greater or lesser extent,
that the speaker is advocating a certain form of behaviour. Thus must,
unlike have (got) to, typically suggests that the speaker is exercising his
authority.

Need, have (got) to

4.25 Need (constructed as an auxiliary cf 3.17) is used (esp in BrE) as the

negative and question form of must in the sense ‘necessary for’:

Need they make all that noise? [ = ‘Do they need/have to make all that
noise?’] <esp BrE)
You needn ’t worry about the test. [ =6You don ’t need/have to worry
about that test’.] <esp BrE)

As the above glosses show, however, it is possible, and indeed, more

common even in BrE, to replace auxiliary need by need to or have to
accompanied by do-support.
Have (got) to can also be substituted for must with little or no difference
of meaning. Compare the following with the parallel sentences in 4.24:
(a) (logical) necessity

There has (got) to be some mistake. <esp AmE)

To be healthy, a plant has (got) to receive a good supply of both
sunshine and moisture.
(b) OBLIGATION or COMPULSION

You have (got) to be back by ten o’clock.

We have all got to share our skills and knowledge.
Productivity will have to be improved, if the nation is to be
prosperous.

Since must has no past tense form and no nonfinite forms, have to is used
in many contexts where must is impossible, eg following a modal verb:
We’ll have to be patient.
 Meanings of the modals 63

Ought to, shoutd

4.26 (a) TENTATIVE INFERENCE

c should ^
The mountains be visible from here.
Xought to)

should ^
These reach maturity after five years.
ought to)

The speaker does not know if his statement is true, but tentatively
concludes that it is true, on the basis of whatever he knows.
(b) OBLIGATION

•xt- (should ^ , .
YOU [ought ,o\d° as he says-

The floor f s^ou^ l be washed at least once a week.

(ought to)

With the perfect aspect, should and ought to typically have the implication
that the recommendation has not been carried out:
should ^ .
met her at the station.
ought 4have

The likely implication is ‘. . . but they didn’t’. In both senses (a) and (b),
should is more frequent than ought to.

NOTE Ought to and synonymous uses of should express the same basic modalities of
‘necessity’ and ‘obligation’ as do must and have {got) to. They contrast with must
and have {got) to in not expressing the speaker’s confidence in the occurrence of the
event or state described. Hence [1] is nonsensical, but [2] is not:

*Sarah^^^j> be home by now, but she isn’t. [1]

Sarah^^^^ be home by now, but she isn’t. [2]

Willi would (111'd)

4.27 (a) PREDICTION

1 The common future predictive sense of will in You will (or You’ll) feel
better after this medicine has been discussed in 4.14 and 4.18. The
corresponding ‘prediction in the past’ sense of would is illustrated by:
I was told I would feel better after this medicine.

2 The present predictive sense of will, which is comparatively rare, is

similar in meaning to must in the ‘logical necessity’ sense:
She will have had her dinner by now.
That7/ be the postman, [on hearing the doorbell ring]
 64 The semantics of the verb phrase

3 The habitual predictive meaning often occurs in conditional sentences:

If litmus paper is dipped in acid, it will turn red.

or in timeless statements of ‘predictability’:

Oil will float on water.

In addition, it occurs in descriptions of personal habits or characteristic
behaviour:
He’// talk for hours, if you let him. [said of a chatterbox]
She’// sit on the floor quietly all day. She’// just play with her toys,
and you wont hear a murmur from her. [of a good baby]
Every morning he would go for a long walk, [ie ‘it was his custom to
go . . .’]
(b) VOLITION
1 intention (often in combination with a sense of prediction)

17/ write as soon as I can.

We won't stay longer than two hours.
The manager said he would phone me after lunch.

2 WILLINGNESS

Willi Would you help me to address these letters?

17/ do it, if you like.
This meaning is common in requests and offers. On the greater politeness
of would, cf 4.32.
3 INSISTENCE
If you 'will go out without your overcoat, what can you expect?
She 'would keep interrupting me.
This somewhat rare use implies wilfulness on the part of the subject
referent. The auxiliary is always stressed, and cannot be contracted to 7/
or ’7. In this case, the past form would expresses past time, rather than
tentativeness or politeness.

Shall

4.28 Shall is in present-day English (especially in AmE) a rather rare auxiliary

and only two uses, both with a 1st person subject, are generally current:
(a) prediction (with 1st person subjects)
Shall is a substitute for the future use of will in formal style:

According to the opinion polls, 1<jw^n eas^Y-

When Jhall} we ^now t^ie resu^s °f the election?

Especially in BrE, prescriptive tradition forbids will as a future auxiliary

 Meanings of the modals 65

with / or we, but this prescription is old-fashioned and is nowadays widely

ignored.
(b) volition (with 1st person subjects)
In the intentional sense, shall is again a formal (and traditionally
prescribed) alternative to will after / or we:

We uPhold the wishes of the people.

In questions containing Shall I\we, shall consults the wishes of the

addressee, and thus moves from a volitional towards an obligational
meaning. It is suitable for making offers:

Shall I/we deliver the goods to your home address? [ = Do you

want me/us to . . .?] [1]

and for making suggestions about shared activities:

What shall we do this evening? Shall we go to the theatre? [2]
It is only in such questions that shall cannot regularly be replaced by will.

The past tense forms of the modals

‘Past time5 in indirect speech
4.29 The past tense modals could, might, would, and should are used quite
regularly as past tense equivalents of can, may, will, and shall in indirect
speech constructions (cf 14.21):

You can/may do as you wish. [ = permission]

~She said we could/might do as we wished.
It may rain later. [ = possibility]
~ We were afraid that it might rain later.
The plan will succeed. [ = prediction]
~I felt sure that the plan would succeed.

Must, together with need (as auxiliary), ought to, and had better, has no
present/past distinction. These verbs are therefore unchanged in indirect
speech constructions, even where they refer to past time.
‘Past time5 in other constructions
4.30 Outside indirect speech contexts, the behaviour of the past tense modal
forms is less predictable. Could and would act as the ‘past time’ equivalents
of can and will; but on the whole, might and should do not act as the ‘past
time’ equivalents of may and shall.
(a) can ~ COULD

There were no rules: we could do just what we wanted.

[ = permission]
In those days, a transatlantic voyage could be dangerous.
[ = possibility]
Few of the tourists could speak English. [= ability]
 66 The semantics of the verb phrase

(b) WILL ~ WOULD

Later, he would learn his error. [ = prediction]

The old lady would sit in front of the television continuously.
[ = habitual prediction]
We tried to borrow a boat, but no one would lend us one.
[ = willingness]
He 'would leave the house in a muddle. [ = insistence]

NOTE Outside indirect speech would is not used in the sense of intention; hence a sentence
such as He would meet me the next day is almost inevitably interpreted as free
indirect speech (cf 14.22).

Hypothetical meaning
4.31 The past tense modals can be used in the hypothetical sense of the past
tense (cf 4.6) in both main and subordinate clauses. Compare:
If United can win this game, they may become league
champions. [1]
If United could win this game, they might become league
champions. [2]

Sentence [2], unlike [1], expresses a hypothetical condition; ie it conveys

the speaker’s expectation that United will not win the game, and therefore
will not become league champions. For past hypothetical meaning (which
normally has a contrary-to-fact interpretation), we have to add the perfect
aspect:
If United could have won that game, they might have become
league champions. [3]
The usual implication of this is that United did not win the game.
Tentativeness or politeness: could, might, would
4.32 (a) TENTATIVE permission (in polite requests):

Could I see your driving licence?

Iwonder if I might borrow some coffee?

(b) tentative volition (in polite requests):

Would you lend me a dollar? [more polite than will]

I’d be grateful if someone would hold the door open.
(c) TENTATIVE POSSIBILITY
1 in expressing a tentative opinion:

There could be something wrong with the light switch.

Of course, I might be wrong.
2 in polite directives and requests:
 Meanings of the modals 67

Could you (please) open the door?

You could answer these letters for me.

‘Mood markers’: would and should

4.33 (a) WOULDjSHOULD AS a marker of hypothetical meaning
Would (and sometimes, with a 1st person subject, should) may express
hypothetical meaning in main clauses (c/14.12):

If you pressed that button, the engine would stop. [1]

If there were an accident, we would!should have to report it. [2]
Although the conditional sentence, as in [1] and [2], is the most typical
context in which hypothetical would!should occurs, there are many other
contexts in which hypothetical would/should is appropriately used:

Yd hate to lose this pen. [3]

It would be impossible to estimate how many crimes went
undetected last year. [4]
Don’t bother to read all these papers. It would take too long. [5]

In such sentences, there is often an implicit if...; for example, [5] could be
expanded: It would take too long if you did (try to read them all).
(b) SHOULD AS A MARKER OF ‘PUTATIVE’ MEANING
In this use should + infinitive is often equivalent to the mandative
subjunctive (cf 3.24). In using should, the speaker entertains, as it were,
some ‘putative’ world, recognizing that it may well exist or come into
existence (c/4.14):

She insisted that we should stay.

It’s unfair that so many people should lose their jobs.
Let me know if you should hear some more news.
Why should anyone object to her enjoying herself?
I can’t think why he should have been so angry.
Putative should is more common in BrE than in AmE.

The modals with the perfect and progressive aspects

4.34 The perfect and progressive aspects are normally excluded when the
modals express ‘ability’ or ‘permission’, and also when shall or will
expresses ‘volition’. These aspects are freely used, however, with extrinsic
modal meanings other than ability; eg:
‘possibility’ He may/might have missed the train.
She can t!couldn’t be swimmmg all day.
‘necessity’ He must have left his umbrella on the bus.
You must be dreammg.
‘prediction’ etc The guests will/would have arrived by that time.
Hussein willjwould still be readmg his paper.
 68 The semantics of the verb phrase

(On the meaning of the perfect aspect after a modal, and in particular the
possibility of paraphrasing it by means of the simple past tense, cf 14.8
Note [e]).
‘Obligation’ can only be expressed with the perfect or progressive when
combined with should or ought to:

‘obligation’ I ought to be working now. [‘. . . but I’m not’]

You should have finished it. . but you haven’t’]
She shouldn't have left him. [‘. . . but she did’]
The combination of both perfect and progressive constructions with the
modals is also possible, subject to the conditions already mentioned:
You must have been dream ing.
She couldn't have been swimming all day.
The guests would have been arriving by now.

Meaning in the nonfinite verb phrase

4.35 Nonfinite verb phrases do not accept modal auxiliaries, but the meanings
of the modals can be expressed through the use of semi-auxiliaries,
such as have to, be (un)able to, be allowed to, be about to:
I am sorry to have to repeat this warning.
Being unable to free himself, he lay beneath the debris until rescued.
The suspects admitted being about to commit a crime.
Many inmates hate not being allowed to leave the premises.
We have seen that the distinction between present and past tense does not
apply to nonfinite verb phrases (c/3.19). Although there are nonfinite
perfect constructions, the meaning conveyed by the perfect in such
constructions is simply time preceding some other time.
The full range of perfect and progressive aspect forms is only possible
within an infinitive phrase:

to be winning his race, [simple progressive]

J to have won his race, [simple perfect]
Sir Topaz appears
j to have been winning his race, [perfect
x progressive]
In an -ing participle phrase in adverbial clauses, the perfect/nonperfect
contrast is sometimes available:

Eating a hearty breakfast, ^ we prepared for our long [1]

Having eaten a hearty breakfast, j journey. [2]

From [1], we understand that the eating and the preparation took place
together, while from [2], we understand that the breakfast preceded the
preparation.
But the progressive/nonprogressive contrast is not normally applicable
here, since -ing participle phrases are incapable of expressing this
 Meaning in the nonfinite verb phrase 69

distinction formally. Moreover, the -ing participle itself is not, in spite of

its appearance, necessarily associated with the progressive:

Being an enemy of the Duke’s, \

Realizing he was in danger, > he left the court immediately. [3]
Having no news of his wife, '
The participles in [3] are stative verbs, normally incompatible with the
progressive.
Nevertheless, there are constructions in which the -ing participle
construction has aspect contrast with the infinitive, and is progressive in
meaning (cf 16.28/):

T c saw ^ , c shoot at him.

1 heard / hem \ shooting at him.

Whereas the infinitive shoot suggests a single shot, the -ing participle
suggests a repetitive action lasting over a period of time, in accordance
with the interpretation of the progressive aspect in finite verb phrases
referring to momentary events. In:

c climb the tower. [4]

I watched them
Xclimbing the tower. [5]
the infinitive climb suggests that they reached the top of the tower, whereas
the participle climbing leaves open the possibility that the action was not
completed.
The -ed participle phrase has no formal contrasts of aspect, and is
therefore the most restricted type of phrase in terms of semantic contrasts.
Here again, however, there is a potential contrast with the passive -ing
participle phrase:

i- ^ (climbed by a student. [6]

I saw the tower , ,u . A . L
Ibeing climbed by a student. |7j
The participle climbed in [6] is the passive counterpart of the infinitive
climb in [4]; it describes the climb as a completed event, whereas being
climbed in [7] describes it as in progress, and as possibly incomplete.
Compare also the perfect passive -ing participle phrase in Having been
reprimanded, / . . .

Bibliographical note
General treatments of the meaning and use of verb constructions: Leech (1987);
Palmer (1988).
On tense and aspect in general, see Lyons (1977, vol. 2); Schopf (1987, 1989).
On the perfective aspect, see McCoard (1978).
On stative, agentive, and other classes of verb meaning, see Bache (1982); Cruse
(1973); Jacobson (1980); Vendler (1957).
On expression of future time, see Wekker (1976).
On modal meanings in general, see Coates (1983); Hermeren (1978); Johannes-
son (1976); Leech and Coates (1980); Lyons (1977, vol. 2); Palmer (1979).
 Nouns and determiners

5.1 Nouns fall into different classes as shown in Fig 5.1.

Concrete eg bun, pig, . . .

Abstract difficulty, remark,.

Concrete butter, go/d, . . .

Abstract music, laziness, . .

Fig 5.1

The distinction between concrete (accessible to the senses, observable,

measurable, etc) and abstract (typically nonobservable and nonmeasur-
able) is important semantically. Of more relevance to grammar, however,
is the distinction between proper and common nouns. Since the former
have unique reference (cf 5.25ff), determiner and number contrast cannot
occur: *the Indonesia, *some Chicagos. Contrast with common nouns the
butter, some difficulties. But among nouns, we have the further distinction
between count (also called ‘countable’) and noncount (also called ‘mass’)
nouns. Like the distinction between proper and common, we have here a
difference that has both semantic and grammatical significance, since
count and noncount nouns permit a different range of determiners. In
Table 5.1, we display the various determiner constraints as they affect the

Table 5.1
PROPER COMMON

COUNT NONCOUNT COUNT or NONCOUNT

(a) Freda *book music brick

(b) *the Freda the book the music the brick
(c) *a Freda a book *a music a brick
(d) *some Freda *some book some music some brick
(e) * Fredas books *musics bricks
 Partitive constructions 71

classes of nouns, the fourth column showing that some common nouns
can be used as both count and noncount. Thus nouns like cake or brick can
refer either to the substance (noncount) or to units made of the substance
(count). The lines (a)-(e) represent different determiner constraints: Can
the singular noun occur (a) without a determiner? (b) with the definite
article? (c) with the indefinite article? (d) with the partitive some, /ssm/?
Can the plural noun occur (e) without a determiner?

NOTE [a] On apparent exceptions like 4 The Chicago of my youth’, see 5.26/.
[b] The absence of article in Hike Freda and Hike music makes the two nouns only
superficially similar; in the former there is no article where in the latter there is zero
article which can contrast with the. Compare

*1 like Freda, but the Freda this evening is boring.

I like music, but the music this evening is boring.

But c/5.22/.

Partitive constructions

5.2 Both count and noncount nouns can enter constructions denoting part of
a whole. Such partitive expressions may relate to (a) quantity or (b)
quality, and in either case the partition may be singular or plural. It thus
affords a means of imposing number on noncount nouns, since the
partition is generally expressed by a count noun of partitive meaning
(such as piece or sort, which can be singular or plural), followed by an
of-phrase.
(a) QUANTITY PARTITION
(i) Of noncount nouns; eg:
a piece of cake two pieces of cake
an item of clothing several items of clothing
These partitives (as also the informal bit) can be used very generally,
but with some nouns specific partitives occur; eg:

a blade of grass
some specks of dust
two slices of meat/bread/cake
(ii) Of plural count nouns; here we tend to have partitives relating to
specific sets of nouns; eg:
 72 Nouns and determiners

a flock of sheep/pigeons a series of concerts/lectures

two flocks of sheep/pigeons two series of concerts/lectures
(iii) Of singular count nouns; eg:

a piece of a leather belt two pieces of a broken cup

a page of a book two acts of a play
(b) quality partition is expressed most commonly with kind and sort;
eg:
r a new kind of several new kinds of
count < computer computer(s)
^ one sort of silk tie two sorts of silk tie(s)

a delicious kind of some delicious kinds of

bread bread
noncount
a fashionable sort of fashionable sorts of
wallpaper wallpaper
Other quality partitives include type, variety, and (especially with
such materials as coffee or tobacco) blend.

NOTE [a] Both quantity and quality partition may be expressed by treating the noun itself
as though it expressed a quantity or quality. Thus a noncount noun can be given
count characteristics and two coffees may in appropriate contexts mean either Two
cups of coffee’ or ‘two types of coffee’.
[b] Quantity partitives may be expressions of precise measure; eg a yard of cloth,
two kilos of potatoes. There can also be fractional partition and this may cooccur
with normal quantity partition, as in ‘He ate a quarter of that {joint of) beef’.
[c] Since there is no necessary connection between countability and referential
meaning, many English nouns can simulate the plural only by partitive
constructions where their translation equivalents in some other languages are
count nouns with singular and plural forms. Eg:

some information ~ some pieces of information

his anger ~his bursts of anger

Determiners

5.3 In actual usage, nouns appear in noun phrases (Chapter 17), and the kind
of reference such a noun phrase has depends on the accompanying
determiner. We distinguish three classes of determiners, set Up on the
basis of their position in the noun phrase in relation to each other:

Central determiners {eg: the, a, this)

Predeterminers {eg: half all, double; as in all the people)
Postdeterminers {eg: seven, many, few; as in the many passengers)
 Determiners 73

Central determiners

the, a, and zero

5.4 The definite and indefinite articles are the commonest central determiners
and, as we saw in 5.1, their distribution is dependent upon the class of the
accompanying noun. Relating definiteness to number, we have the
following system for count and noncount nouns:

COUNT NONCOUNT
( definite the book the music
SINGULAR
1 indefinite a book music
( definite the books
PLURAL
\ indefinite books

Beside the sole definite article the, we thus have two indefinite articles a
and zero, the former occurring with singular count nouns, its zero
analogue with noncount and plural count nouns. Both the and a have
a different form when the following word begins with a vowel, though the
does not display this difference in writing:

the bird [6a] ~ the owl [6i]

a bird [a] ~ an owl [an]

The use of the articles is examined in 5.1 Iff.

NOTE [a] The indefinite article a/an can be regarded as an unstressed numeral one; cfone
or two pounds ~ a pound or two.
[b] With nouns beginning with h, the prevocalic forms are used if this is not
pronounced:

[6i] honour an hour

Thus for those who do not pronounce h before unstressed syllables a difference is
observed between such pairs as 'history and historical:

a history book ~ an historical novel

[c] When the articles are stressed for any reason (as for example in slow speech and
especially in AmE), they are pronounced [6i], [ei], [aen].

5.5 Like the definite article, there are several other determiners that can
cooccur equally with singular count, plural count, and noncount nouns.
(a) The demonstratives this and that (with noncount and singular count
nouns), these and those (with plural count nouns):
I prefer this picture/music to that (picture/music).
These desks are imported but those tables are made locally.

(b) The possessives my, our, your, his, her, its, their:
I admire her house/her books /her taste.
(c) The w/z-determiners which, whose, whichever, whatever, whosever,
whether as relatives, indefinite relatives, or interrogatives:
 74 Nouns and determiners

Please come at noon, by which time I shall be back in my office.

The woman whose book you reviewed is on TV tonight.
They will disapprove of whatever music is played.
Which house do you prefer?
What time is it?

(d) The NEGATIVE DETERMINER no\

He has no carjno childrenjno concentration.

All these determiners (sometimes with a modification of form as in theirs,

none) have a pronominal role as well, and they will be treated in more
detail below (6.16//
Like the indefinite article, there are determiners that cooccur only with
singular count nouns.
(a) The universal determiners every and each.

We need to interview every/each student separately.

(b) The nonassertive DUAL determiner either:

There is no parking permitted on either side of the street.

(c) The negative dual determiner neither.

Parking is permitted on neither side of the street.

5.6 Like the zero article, there are determiners that cooccur only with
noncount nouns and plural count nouns:
(a) The general assertive determiner some [som]:

I would like some bread/som^ rolls, please.

(b) The general nonassertive determiner any:

We haven’t any bread/any rolls left.

(c) The quantitative determiner enough:

We have enough equipment/enough tools for the job.

These determiners will be discussed in more detail when we come to their

pronominal functions (6.25/).

NOTE [a] When stressed in some circumstances, any can occur with singular count nouns,
as in ‘She will consider "any offer - however small’.
[b] A stressed form of some [sAm] is used with the meaning of strong indefiniteness
(‘one unidentified, a certain’) and this has the same distribution potential as items
in 5.4:

You will win some day; some days she feels better; I found some stranger
waiting for me; they are playing some peculiar music that no one has heard
before.
 Determiners 75

Predeterminers
5.7 Predeterminers form a class in generally being mutually exclusive,
preceding those central determiners with which they can cooccur, and in
having to do with quantification. It is useful to distinguish two subsets:
(a) all, both, half
(b) the multipliers

NOTE The items such and what are exceptional in referring to quality rather than
quantity ('what a day we had; I can’t remember such a time’) and this accounts for
combinations like all such.

All, both, half

5.8 These have in common the positive characteristic of being able to occur
before the articles, the demonstratives, and the possessives:

all v r the a
both X these > students
half d v our )

They also have the negative characteristic of not occurring before

determiners that themselves entail quantification: every, each, (n)either,
some, any, no, enough. Beyond these generalizations, their occurrence
needs to be described on an individual basis:

all occurs with plural count nouns and with noncount nouns, as in

all the books all the music

all books all music

both occurs with plural count nouns, as in

both the books both books

half occurs with singular and plural count nouns and with noncount
nouns, as in

half the book(s) half the music

half a book (but *half music)

NOTE [a] As well as being predeterminers, all, both and half can, like demonstratives, be
used pronominally:

All A all
( and^ passed.
Both > the students sat for their exam both,
Half ) ^but half failed.

They can also be followed by an ^/-phrase:

All/Both!Half of the students . . .

Moreover, all and both may appear at the adverbial M position (after the operator:
8.11), as in:
 76 Nouns and determiners

The students {l both, )X sat for the exam.

The students were | sitting for the exam.

[b] Since half may modify a following noun as an ad hoc or institutionalized

compound, we can have pairs such as half an hour and a half hour (where there is
little difference of meaning) or half a bottle of wine (half of the contents) and a half
bottle of wine (a small bottle holding half the contents of an ordinary bottle).
[c] Fractions other than half are usually followed by an o/-phrase and must
normally be preceded by a numeral or the indefinite article. Compare:

She read half the book.

She read (7" X of the book,

f three quarters J

But, especially with time, distance, height, we sometimes find fractions used as
predeterminers:

He was given six months for the work but he finished in two-thirds the time.

5.9 The multipliers have two uses as predeterminers. When the following
determiner is the definite article, demonstrative or possessive, the
multiplier applies to the noun so determined:

twice/double the length (‘a length twice as great’)

three times her salary (‘a salary three times as large’)

When the following determiner is the indefinite article or each or every, the
multiplier applies to a measure (such as frequency) set against the unit
specified by the following noun:

once a day
twice each game
four times every year

NOTE We can compare expressions of costing:

Oil then cost only fifteen dollars a barrel.

Her salary is ten thousand yen a/per month.

Postdeterminers

5.10 Postdeterminers take their place immediately after determiners just as

predeterminers take their place immediately before determiners.
Compare:

Predeterminer: Both the young women were successful.

Postdeterminer: The two young women were successful.

With zero determiner, of course, the distinction is neutralized:

 The articles in specific reference 77

Both young women were successful.

Two young women were successful.

Postdeterminers fall into two classes:

(a) ordinals, such as first, fourth, last, other;
(b) quantifiers, such as seven, ninety, many, few, plenty of* a lot of.
Where they can cooccur, items from (a) usually precede items from (b); for
example:

the first two poems

my last few possessions
her other many accomplishments

Among the (b) items, there are two important distinctions involving few
and little. First, few occurs only with plural count nouns, little only with
noncount nouns. Second, when preceded by a, each has a positive
meaning; without a, each has a negative meaning. Thus:

I play a few games (ie ‘several’).

I play few games {ie ‘hardly any’).
She ate a little bread {ie ‘some’).
She ate little bread {ie ‘hardly any’).

We should note also a contrast involving assertive and nonassertive usage

(2.11). Some items are predominantly assertive (such as plenty of, a few, a
little, a good many), while others are predominantly nonassertive (such as
much, many):

We need plenty of time.

~ We don’t need much time.
She has written a good many poems.
~She hasn’t written many poems.

The articles in specific reference

The definite article

5.11 The article the marks a noun phrase as definite: that is, as referring to
something which can be identified uniquely in the contextual or general
knowledge shared by speaker and hearer. Such shared knowledge is partly
a knowledge of the world and partly a knowledge of English grammar, as
we shall see in 5.12-14.

5.12 Where the use of the depends on shared knowledge of the world, we may
speak of situational reference, and this is of two kinds. We first
distinguish the used in connection with the immediate situation:
 78 Nouns and determiners

Do you see the bird sitting on the lower branch?

Oh dear! The stain hasn’t come out of the carpet.

In such cases, the identity of the particular bird, branch, stain, and carpet
is obvious because they are physically present and visible. But-the
reference might be obvious because the situational reference was in the
minds of speaker and listener:

When the policeman had gone, I remembered that I hadn’t told him
about the damaged window-pane.

Secondly, we have the larger situation, where identification of the

reference depends on assumptions about general knowledge more than on
the specific experience of the particular speaker and listener:

I do most of my travelling by overnight train, and of course in the

dark one has no idea of what the countryside looks like.

So also with reference to the Pope, the President, the government, the
Equator, the stars; and as we see in these examples, the shared assumption
of uniqueness in reference is often matched by use of an initial capital in
writing. Cf 5.25#.

NOTE The same phrase may involve the with immediate or larger situational reference:

Would the children like to go out and play?

When we design schools, do we ask ourselves what the children would like?

As with the latter example, larger situational reference often overlaps with generic
use: cf 5.22#

5.13 Special cases of the larger situation occur with the use of the for sporadic
reference and for reference to the body. In sporadic reference, we promote
to institutional status a phenomenon of common experience. Thus in
contrast to the particular newspaper that a particular individual buys, or
the particular theatre that stands in a particular street, we may use the
paper or the theatre more broadly:

You’ll probably see it in the paper tomorrow.

I like to go to the theatre about once a month.

Cf also:

She’s not on the telephone yet, though she may have one installed
soon.
I won’t come by car; I’ll take the train.
Everyone would sleep better with the windows open.

With reference to parts of the body, the is often used in prepositional

phrases instead of a possessive such as my or her.

I grabbed him by the arm.

She banged herself on the forehead.
 The articles in specific reference 79

He has a fracture of the collarbone.

The child has a pain in the chest.

In medical usage, the can replace a possessive without the body part or
function being in a prepositional phrase; thus (doctor to patient):

How is the chest now? Has the breathing been affected?

5.14 The use of the may be determined by logical and grammatical factors. The
uniqueness of a referent may be recognized not by general knowledge of
the world but be logically imposed by meaning. Nouns premodified by
superlatives, ordinals and similar restrictive items such as sole will thus be
made logically unique:

When is the next flight?

She was the sole survivor.
They judged him to be the most original painter.

Grammatical determination is of two kinds:

(a) Anaphoric reference, where the indicates identity of reference with
that established earlier in the discourse:

Fred bought a radio and a video-recorder, but he returned the radio.

Here the anaphora is ‘direct’; but anaphoric reference may be

‘indirect’, requiring some support from general knowledge:

When she tried to open her front door, she couldn’t get the key into
the lock.

Here the two definite articles are correctly interpreted as grammati¬

cally anaphoric only because we know that a front door has a lock,
and opening one involves using a key.
(b) Cataphoric reference, where the indicates that the identity of the
reference will be established by what follows:

I am trying to find the book that I wanted to show you.

Here, the is only justified by the addressee knowing that the speaker
had planned to show him or her a book. Similarly, in

How did you get the ( = ‘that’) mud on your coat?

there is the presumption that the addressee knows there is mud on the
coat. Contrast:

Do you know that you have | mUC* on your coat?

The indefinite article

5.15 In contrast to the, an indefinite article is used when a reference cannot be

regarded as uniquely identifiable from the shared knowledge of speaker
and addressee:
 80 Nouns and determiners

I am just about to move into an apartment quite near where you live.

Contrast the uniquely identifiable apartment which justifies the cata¬

phoric the in:

I am just about to move into the apartment directly above yours.

The indefinite article is commonly associated with ‘first mention’ of an

item with which anaphoric the would be used in subsequent mention:

Her house was burgled and she lost a camera, a radio, and a purse -
though fortunately the purse contained very little money and the
camera was insured.

NOTE [a] Body parts which are multiple can be individually referred to with the indefinite
article:

Jack has broken a fingerja rib.

but

Jack has bumped his head.

[b] While identical noun phrases with the are taken to be coreferential, this is not
the case when the article is indefinite:

Mary bought the camera from her sister and she has now sold the
camera to me. [1]
Mary bought a camera last week and sold a camera this week. [2]

In [1], only one camera is involved; in [2], the presumption is that reference is made
to two different cameras.
[c] Note also the use of zero with complements of some verbs:

She turned linguist. ~ She became a linguist.

They made him chairman.

The indefinite article and the numeral one

5.16 We often use the indefinite article in ways that reflect its origin as an
unstressed variant of the numeral. In such cases, one could replace ajan
with only a slight implication of greater emphasis:

Our neighbours have two daughters and j* son.

This cost ia X pound/ia

l one J
X hundred/thousand/million
l one ) pounds.

Compare also variant phrases in which one is used when a conjunction

follows:

ca mile or two.
We walked for
\one or two miles.

a foot and a half deep.

The water is
one and a half feet deep.
 The articles in specific reference 81

NOTE In phrases of measure like ‘half an hour’, ‘ten dollars a day’, the numerical
function cannot be fulfilled by one without expansion and recasting: ‘ten dollars
for one day’.

The zero article

Zero article and some I any

5.17 With noncount and plural count nouns, the role of indefinite article is
fulfilled by either zero or (where quantification is to be expressed) some or
its nonassertive (2.11) analogue any.

i-v t i boysenberry looks like?

Do you know what <, , . . t ... 0
Iboysenbernes look like?

She bought her son \an aP^e‘

lsome apples.
I like milk with my coffee.
I would like some milk with my coffee, please.
He hasn’t bought any books for years, whereas she spends half her
salary on books.
She has men as well as women on her staff.

If we inserted some before both men and women in this last sentence, there
would be little difference in meaning. But if we inserted some before one
and not before the other, it would give the impression that this indicated
the minority:

She has men as well as some women on her staff.

But the greater generality of zero as compared with some must not lead us
to confound this general use of zero with the generic use which we shall
consider in 5.22. Compare:

Quantitative: Some coffee will calm this nervousness of yours.

General: Coffee can be bought almost anywhere.
Generic: Coffee is a common stimulant.

Zero article with definite meaning

5.18 Despite its widespread correspondence to the indefinite article, the £ero
article can, conversely, be used in ways that closely resemble the definite
article. This is notably so where a phrase specifies a unique role or task. In
the following examples, the parenthesized the could be present or absent
with very little difference of meaning:

Maureen is {the) captain of netball this year.

As {the) chairman, I must rule you out of order.
The speaker will be Mr Watanabe, {the) author of a recent book on
international affairs and of course {the) presenter ofseveral TV talk
shows.
Although she declined the position of director, she accepted the role
of unofficial adviser.
 82 Nouns and determiners

NOTE [a] We should note also the contrast between restrictive and nonrestrictive
apposition (17.27):

Prime Minister Gandhi — the Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi

[b] In institutional usage, zero replaces the in a way that implies proper-name
status for an item:

Council will consider this in due course ~ The Council will . . .

[c] Articles are usually omitted in headlines (‘Crew deserts ship in harbour’) and on
official forms (‘Please state reason for application and give names of two
supporters’).

5.19 Analogous to the use of the with sporadic reference (5.13), we have zero
with implication of definite rather than indefinite meaning. This is
especially so with idiomatically institutionalized expressions relating to
common experience.
(a) Quasi-locatives (where a particular activity or role in connection with
the location is implied):

town beside The town is very old.

(
be in^ J bed It’s on the bed.
go toj ) church How far is the church?
V prison Don’t stop near the prison.

be at, go home This was the home of a financier.

rsea The sea looks calm.

go to
l college She drove to the college.

Frequently there is a distinction in meaning between zero and the;

thus on stage will usually refer to a play or participant in current
theatrical production, while on the stage refers to literal physical
location or is an idiom denoting the acting profession: ‘She was a
teacher but now she’s on the stage.’ Again, there are distinctions in
meaning between AmE and BrE; thus in school would be used in AmE
for the state of being a school pupil (BrE at school) but in BrE it would
refer merely to being inside the building; in the hospital in AmE is used
of a patient (BrE in hospital) but in BrE denotes physical location,
(b) Transport and communication: when by precedes the mode in
question, zero occurs:

f bicycle beside The bicycle was damaged.

travel a I bus She was on the bus.
come > b y s train Should we take the train?
go ' I car etc
plane

telex
I post <esp BrE) The post/mail is late today.
send it by
| mail <esp AmE) The satellite is a new one.
^ satellite
 The articles in specific reference 83

Cf also: ‘The message came by hand/by special delivery’.

(c) Time expressions: zero is common, especially after the prepositions at,
by, after, before:

at dawn/daybreak/sunset/night
by morning/evening (‘when morning/evening came’)
by day/night (‘during’)
after dark/nightfall
before dawn/dusk

C/ also ‘(They worked) day and night’, ‘It’s almost dawn’, ‘I’ll be
travelling all night/week/month’.
In less stereotyped expressions, the is used, as in ‘The sunrise was
beautiful’, Til rest during the evening’, ‘Can you stay for the night?’
With in, seasons may also have zero, unless a particular one is
meant:

In winter/spring/autumn {but AmE in the fall), I like to have a break

in Switzerland.
This year I am going to Switzerland in the winter/spring/autumn.

(d) Meals', as with seasons, zero is usual unless reference is being made to
a particular one:

What time do you normally have breakfast/lunch/supper?

(The) breakfast/lunch/dinner was served late that day.

(e) Illness: zero is normal, especially where the illness bears a technical
medical name:

She has anaemia/cancer/diabetes/influenza/pneumonia/toothache.

But the is also used for afflictions less technically designated:

She had {the) flu/hiccups/measles/mumps.

Some conditions call for the indefinite article:

a cold {but catch cold), a fever, a headache, a temperature

Fixed phrases

5.20 We noted of several expressions in 5.19 that zero corresponded to a certain

idiomatic fixity as compared with analogous expressions using the. Fixity
is particularly notable with some common prepositional phrases and
complex prepositions (9.3):

on foot, in step, out of step, in turn, by heart, in case of, by reason of,
with intent to

Zero is characteristic of binomial expressions used adverbially :

They walked arm in arm/hand in hand/mile after mile/day in, day

out.
 84 Nouns and determiners

We stood face to face/side by side/back to back.

Cf also inch by inch, eye to eye, turn and turn about, man to man, from
beginning to end, from father to son.

NOTE Not all binomials with zero are adverbials, but when they are not, articles are
usually optional:

I am glad to say that (the) mother and (the) child are both doing well.
The crash resulted in the death of (both) (a) father and (a) son.

Article usage with abstract nouns

5.21 Abstract nouns tend to be count when they refer to unitary phenomena
such as events and noncount when they refer to activities, states, and
qualities.

Typically count: meeting, arrival, discovery

Genuine discoveries are rarer than gradual improvements.
Typically noncount: employment, happiness, sleep, swimming
Sleep is necessary for good health.

But as we saw in 5.1, some nouns can be both noncount and count;
compare:

Every child needs to be treated with kindness.

ca (great) kindness that day.

He did me
\many kindnesses over the years.
revolution
They hoped that|
a revolution )
Xwould improve their conditions.

She is studying European history.

The country has a troubled history.

It will be seen from these examples that the effect of the indefinite article is
partitive and that this can be qualitative {a troubled history) or
quantitative (a great kindness). Cf 5.2. The partitive effect is often
accompanied by modification of the noun:
r sensitivity.
This ten-year-old plays the oboe with < a striking sensitivity.
sensitivity.

NOTE Names of languages usually have zero article:

She speaks Japanese quite fluently.

How do you say this in Italian?

But in some expressions, the can be used:

Beckett’s works in English have often been translated from (the) French.

And the indefinite article can be used for qualitative partition:

She speaks a tolerable French.

 The articles in generic reference 85

The articles in generic reference

5.22 Consider the following sentences:

My neighbour apparently has dogs; I hear them barking at night.

Dogs make admirable companions for children and adults alike.

In the former the reference is specific to particular dogs. In the latter the
reference is generic: the sentence speaks not of particular dogs but of the
whole class of dogs. All three types of article can be used to make a generic
reference: the usually, and a/an always, with singular count nouns; zero
with plural count nouns and with noncount nouns. For example:

The car \
A car > became an increasing necessity of life in the twentieth
Cars 3 century.

Velvet is an excellent material for curtains.

In fact, however, the three article modes are on a very different footing,
with zero by far the most natural way of expressing the generic,
irrespective of the function or position of the noun phrase in sentence
structure:

Research is vital for human progress.

Many professors prefer research to teaching.
Crime is often attributable to drugs.
Horses are still wild animals in some parts of the world.

Exceptionally, some count nouns function as noncount generics in this

way:

Mary is studying dance as well as film.

When man meets woman, a certain tension seems natural.

But more usually when man occurs with zero it is generic for humanity (a
usage resisted on grounds of sexism):

Nuclear warfare would jeopardize the survival of man.

5.23 By contrast, the indefinite article has a distinctly limited role in conveying
generic meaning, since it tends in non-referring use to carry a general
partitive implication (such that a means ‘any’) which may in certain
contexts be merely tantamount to a generic. The limitations on generic
implication can be seen in comparing the following examples:

Tigers run t
, >more gracefully than most animals.
A tiger runs J ° J

Tigers are y u . . .
■* ; . . > becoming extinct.
*A tiger is J °

NOTE The foregoing reflects the strong association of the indefinite article (and zero)
with a descriptive and hence non-referring role in such functions as grammatical
complement:
 86 Nouns and determiners

Paganini was a great violinist.

My daughter is training as a radiologist.
When were you appointed (as) (a) professor?
My book will be on Jung as (a) thinker.

5.24 The definite article with singular nouns conveys a rather formal tone in
generic use:

No one can say with certainty when the wheel was invented.
My work on anatomy is focused on the lung.

But in more general use we find the used with musical instruments and
dances:

Marianne plays the harp, frequently accompanied by her brother on

the piano.
Do you remember when everyone was keen on the rumba?

When the noun is meant, however, to represent a class of human beings by

such a typical specimen, the often sounds inappropriate and artificial:

? As the child grows, there is always a rapid extension of vocabulary.

? The Welshman is a good singer.

With plural nouns, the is used to express generic meaning:

(a) where the referent is a national or ethnic group, as in the Chinese, the
Russians;
(b) in phrases comprising an adjective head with human reference: the
blind, the affluent, the unemployed.
It could be argued, however, that in neither case are the noun phrases so
much generic as collective phrases with unique and specific denotation.

NOTE Nationality names that have distinct singular and plural forms (such as
Frenchman, Frenchmen; German, Germans) are treated differently in respect of
generic and collective statements from those which do not (such as British, Swiss,
Chinese):

The Welsh are fond of singing. [generic]

Welshmen are fond of singing. [generic]
The Welshman is fond of singing. [generic or specific]
The Welshmen are fond of singing. [specific]
*Welsh is are fond of singing.

On nationality names, see further 5.33/

Proper nouns

5.25 Proper nouns are basically names, by which we understand the designa¬
tion of specific people (Gorbachev), places (Tokyo, Park Lane) and
 Proper nouns 87

institutions (The South China Morning Post, Thames Polytechnic). But as

can be seen from these examples, names embrace both single-word nouns
(Tokyo) and quite lengthy phrases, often incorporating a definite article as
part of the name with or without premodifying items (The Hague, The
(New York) Times). Moreover, the concept of name extends to some
markers of time and to seasons that are also festivals (Monday, March,
Easter, Passover, Ramadan).

NOTE Names reflect their uniqueness of reference in writing by our use of initial capitals.
This device enables us, if we so wish, to raise to the uniqueness of proper-noun
status such concepts as Fate and Heaven, including generics such as Nature, Truth,
Man.

Grammatical features

5.26 As we saw in 5.1, proper nouns of their nature exclude such features as
determiner and number contrast. Likewise, the transparent elements of
phrasal names are treated as parts of a unique whole and are
grammatically invariant:

*The Newer York Times

*The thoroughly Asian Wall Street Journal

But there are many apparent exceptions to these restrictions. Since it is

only the referent that is unique, and different referents may share the same
name, the nouns or phrases conveying the name can be used as though
they were common nouns. Thus if we can say

There are several places called Richmond.

we can equally say

There is a Richmond in the south of England and a Richmond in the

north, not to mention a dozen Richmonds outside the British Isles.

So too:

I’m trying to find Philip Johnson in the phone book but unless he’s
one of the several P. Johnsons he’s not in.

The situation is very different with the admission of number and

determination with the names of days, months, and festivals. These derive
their proximity to uniqueness largely in respect of specific instances. Thus
in

She’ll be here on Monday/in October/at Christmas.

the reference in each case is to a particular time of a particular year;

Monday is as uniquely contrasted with Tuesday as Tokyo is with Kyoto.
But we know that there is a Monday every week and a Christmas every
year, that the former is characterized by being (for example) the first
working day of each week and that every Christmas has even more sharply
defined characteristics. In other words, Mondays necessarily have
 88 Nouns and determiners

something in common, whereas the various Richmonds do not. So when

we say

She’s always here on (a) Monday/in October/at Christmas.

the items no longer have specific reference, and the sentence can be
paralleled with

She always spends her Mondays/Octobers/Christmases here.

There are of course no analogies with names of persons, places and

institutions:

* Richmonds are always splendid for a vacation.

5.27 On the other hand, it is not only the fact that several places or people may
bear the same name that permits determination, number contrast or
modification. We have the informal convention that a married couple, Mr
and Mrs Johnson, can be referred to as the Johnsons (a designation that
could also embrace their whole household). Again, we can use a famous
name to mean the type that made it famous; the sentence

There were no Shakespeares in the nineteenth century.

does not mean there were no people called ‘Shakespeare’ but no writers
who towered over contemporaries as William Shakespeare did over his.
Similarly:

Lu Xun is revered as the Chinese Gorki.

Every large city should have a Hyde Park.

Somewhat akin is partitive restrictive modification:

The young Joyce already showed signs of the genius that was to be
fulfilled in Ulysses. (‘Even while he was young, James Joyce ...’)
The Dublin of Joyce is still there for everyone to experience. (‘The
features of Dublin reflected in Joyce’s writing are still there.’)

But there is also nonrestrictive modification, on the one hand colloquial

and stereotyped (as in poor old Mrs Fletcher), on the other formal and
often stylized (as in the fondly remembered John F. Kennedy, visit historic
YORK).

Names with the definite article

5.28 It is not difficult to see why the finds a place in phrases institutionalized as
names. We can imagine a group of musicians deciding to set up a school
where music will be taught: a school of music. They decide to enhance its
attractiveness by locating it in a central position of the city, and they hope
that it will not be merely a central school of music but the only school
meriting this description: the central school of music. It is a short step from
this to the further decision that this should be not just a description but the
 Proper nouns 89

name: The Central School of Music. So too a building in the form of a

pentagon can come to be called the Pentagon, a canal built through the
Panama Isthmus becomes the Panama Canal. When a president or a prime
minister is elected or an earl created, the result is the President (of France),
the Prime Minister (of India), the Earl (of Gwynedd).

NOTE Even where the is always present in continuous text (spoken or written), it has
variable status as part of the name: The Hague at one extreme (and always with
initial capital) to the University of London at the other (where the is never
capitalized and is absent from the university’s letter-head). Cf also (the) Asian
Wall Street Journal. Where a name embodies premodification as distinct from
postmodification (17.2), as in (The) Lord Williams, the is largely confined to
formal and official style.

5.29 It may be convenient to group names with the in classes:

(a) Some titular names of persons and deities:

The Marquis of Salisbury, the King of Sweden, the President of

General Motors, the Reverend John Fox, the Cardinal Archbishop
of Westminster, the Queen, (the) Prince Edward, (the) Archduke
Ferdinand, the God of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, the Buddha.

(b) Geographical names of plural form, notably:

(i) groups of islands, as in the Hebrides, the Bahamas;
(ii) mountain ranges, as in the Himalayas, the Pyrenees.
Note also the Netherlands, the Midlands, the Dardanelles.
(c) Names of rivers, canals, expanses of water, areas of territory:

the (River) Thames, the Rhine, the Potomac (River); the Suez
Canal, the Erie Canal; the Atlantic (Ocean), the Baltic (Sea), the
Bosphorus; the Crimea, the Ruhr, the Sahara (Desert).

Note the absence of the in lake names:

Lake Huron, Derwentwater.

(d) Geographical names of the form the Nx ofN2, as in the Isle of Man, the
Gulf of Mexico, the Cape of Good Hope, the Bay of Naples. (Contrast:
Long Island, Hudson Bay.)
(e) Names of theatres, galleries and major buildings, etc, as in the
Aldwych (Theatre), the Huntington (Library), the Ashmolean
(Museum), the Middlesex (Hospital), the Taj Mahal, the Tate
(Gallery), the Hilton (Hotel).
(f) Names of ships and (less commonly) aircraft, as in the Queen Mary,
the Mayflower, the Spirit of St Louis.
(g) Names of journals, as in The Economist, The Times, The New York
Review of Books. (Contrast: Punch, Time, New Scientist.) If in
discourse the title requires premodification, the article is discarded, as
in ‘Malcolm lent me today’s Times/a recent New York Review of
Books'.
 90 Nouns and determiners

Matties without article

5.30 Whether names have articles (as in 5.28f) or not, they operate without a
determiner contrast, and while it is normal for names to reflect the
uniqueness of their referents by having no article, it must be clearly
understood that ‘No article’ does not mean ‘Zero article’ (cf 5.1 Note).
There are two major classes of names to consider: names of persons and
names ofplaces. On smaller classes, such as the names of months, see 5.25.

Personal names
5.31 These comprise:
(a) Forenames (also called first, given, or Christian names), used alone to
or of family or friends:

It’s good to see you* Frank; how are you?

Unfortunately, Jacqueline was unable to be present.

(b) Family names (surnames), used alone without discourtesy in address

only in certain male circles (for example, in military use) and in 3rd
person discourse for rather formal and distant (for example,
historical) reference:

What time do you have to report, Watkinsonl

The theories of Keynes continue to be influential.

(c) Combinations offorenames and family names, occasionally found in

epistolary address (‘Dear Mildred Carter’) but chiefly used where ‘full
name’ is required in self-introduction or in 3rd person reference:

I am Roger Middleton; the manager is expecting me.

Freda Johnson is writing a book on Wilfred Owen.

(d) Combinations involving a title are bipartite in address but can be

tripartite in 3rd person reference:

You are very welcome, Mrs Johnson/Mrs Green/Mr Parker/Dr

Lowe/Major Fielding/Sir John.
The committee decided to co-opt Mrs (Freda) Johnson/Ms (Jac¬
queline) Green/Mr (DR) Parker/Dr (James F) Lowe/Major
(William) Fielding/Sir John (Needham).

NOTE [a] Favourite animals (especially household pets) are given names, which in the
case of pedigree animals are bestowed and registered with special care. Names of
ships, often connotatively female, are also usually without article; but cf 5.29.
[b] Some terms of close kinship are treated as names in family discourse:
Where’s Grandma/Dadl

Some others are used as titles, as in ‘Where’s Uncle Harry T

 Proper noons 91

Locational names
532 These are used without article and comprise a wide range of designations:
(a) extraterrestrial: Jupiter, Mars (but the moon, the sun);
(b) continents: Asia, (South) America;
(c) countries, provinces, etc: (Great) Britain, Canada, Ontario, (County)
Kerry (but r/ze United Kingdom, (the) Sudan);
(d) lakes: Lafce Michigan, Loch Ness, Ullswater;
(e) mountains: (Mount) Everest, Snowdon;
(f) cities, etc: Forfc, Stratford-upon-Avon (but The Hague, the
iJrozzx);
(g) streets, buildings, etc: Tz/t/z Avenue, Park Lane, Brooklyn Bridge,
Canterbury Cathedral, Scotland Yard, Waterloo Station, Oxford
Street (but £/ze Old Kent Road).
On examples with z/ze, cf 5.28/.

Nouns relating to region and nationality

5.33 Many names of regions and countries yield corresponding adjectives and
noun forms of the following pattern, all reflecting their ‘proper’ affinity by
being written with an initial capital. Thus, related to Russia, we have:
I General adjective:

A new Russian spacecraft has just been launched.

Both the men are Russian.

II Language name:

She reads Russian but she doesn’t speak it very well.

III Singular noun with specific reference:

He is a Russian, I think.

IV Plural noun with specific reference:

There are several Russians among my students.

V Plural nouns used generically:

The Russians are a deeply patriotic people.

Normally, the form of II-V is predictable from I; for example Greece: I

Greek, II Greek, III a Greek, IV Greeks, V the Greeks. In many instances,
of course, there is no language corresponding to form II (‘*She doesn’t
speak European’), but leaving this aside, the following sets are regularly
predictable and behave as illustrated above:

Africa — African America ~ American

Asia ~ Asian Australia ~ Australian

and all other names in -(i)a. So too:

 92 Nouns and determiners

Belgium ~ Belgian Brazil — Brazilian

Europe ~ European Germany ~ German
Hungary ~ Hungarian Italy ~ Italian
Norway — Norwegian Iraq ~ Iraqi
Israel — Israeli Pakistan ~ Pakistani

5.34 But there are name sets in which we encounter irregularities of form or
restrictions in use. Thus where forms I and II (which are always identical)
end in -ese or -ish (-sh, -ch), the same form is used for V (c/7.12) but not
usually for III and IV. Instead we use either form I plus a suitable noun (a
Chinese lady), indicated in Table 5.34 by ‘(N)’, 4(Ns)’, or a distinctive noun
form (ia Spaniard). With many items where form I ends in -ish, forms III
and IV are traditionally -ishman, -ishmen, but the resistance to man as a
human generic causes widespread hesitation to use these forms except of
males. The chief irregular sets are listed in Table 5.34.

Table 5.34

i hi IV V

(and ii where
relevant)

China Chinese a Chinese Chinese the Chinese

(citizen) (people)
Japan Japanese a Japanese (N) Japanese (Ns) the Japanese
Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese (N) Portuguese (Ns) the Portuguese
Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese (N) Vietnamese (Ns) the Vietnamese
Switzerland Swiss a Swiss (N) Swiss (Ns) the Swiss
Britain British a British (N) British (Ns) the British
England English an Englishman Englishmen the English
Ireland Irish an Irishman Irishmen the Irish
Wales Welsh a Welshman Welshmen the Welsh
France French a Frenchman Frenchmen the French
Holland
the Dutch a Dutchman Dutchmen the Dutch
Netherlands
Scotland Scots a Scotsman Scotsmen the Scots
Denmark Danish a Dane Danes the Danish
Sweden Swedish a Swede Swedes the Swedish
Finland Finnish a Finn Finns the Finnish
Poland Polish a Pole Poles the Polish
Spain Spanish a Spaniard Spaniards the Spanish

NOTE [a] For Britain, there is limited currency of Briton(s) as forms III and IV (informally also
Britisher(s), with Brit(s) more informal still).
[b] For Scotland, there are alternatives as follows: form I Scottish, Scotch; form III a Scot, a
Scotchman; form IV Scots, Scotchmen; form V the Scotch. But the use of Scotch(-) is
controversial; Scotch tends to be limited to designating such things as whisky.
 Number 93

[c] Arabic is form II, Arab(s) forms III-V, but the actual locational noun Arabia is now only
rarely used to denote the large area of the Middle East concerned.

Number

5.35 The grammatical category of number, operating for example through

subject-verb concord and pronominal reference, requires that every noun
form be understood grammatically as either singular or plural Singular
relates to the quantity ‘one’ for count nouns, to the unique referent for
most proper nouns (eg: Tokyo), and to undifferentiated mass for
noncount nouns. Plural relates to the quantity ‘two or more’ for count
nouns, to the unique referent for some proper nouns (eg: the Azores), and
to individual operational units that are seen as reflecting plural
composition (eg: binoculars, goods). For example:

Singular: This suit fits me and I’ll buy it.

Nara was full of tourists when I visited it.
The milk is sour and I bought it only yesterday.
Plural: Two/three/several students are hoping you will see them.
The Azores are administered by Portugal but they are
nearly a thousand miles away.
I thought my binoculars were in this drawer but I can’t find
them.

NOTE [a] The distinction between singular and plural is not always clear-cut; for different
reasons, there is vacillation over such words as politics, mumps, data, criteria.
[b] Within ‘plural’, there is evidence in the language for some special provision for
dual number; cf such words as both.

Plural formation

5.36 The vast majority of English nouns are count, with separate singular and
plural forms. The singular is the unmarked form (c/2.7) and as such is the
citation form of the word (for example, in dictionaries). For the most part,
plurals are formed in a regular and predictable way:
(a) in sound:
- add /iz/ if the singular ends with a sibilant, namely:

/$/ as in horse jzj as in prize

/J7 as in blush fa/ as in mirage
fill as in church jd^j as in language

for example: /praiz/~/praiziz/

- add jzj if the singular ends with a vowel or with a voiced consonant
other than a sibilant
 94 Nouns and determiners

for example: /dei/ ~ /deiz/ /bed/ ~ /bedz/

- add /s/ if the singular ends with a voiceless consonant other than a
sibilant

for example: /kat/ ~ /kats/

(b) In spelling:
With the vast majority of nouns, we simply add to the singular; for
example:

horse ~ horses, prize ~ prizes

But, quite apart from the nouns that are fundamentally irregular in
respect of number (531ff), the -s rule requires amplification and
modification for many nouns:
(i) If the singular ends with a sibilant (see (a) above) that is not already
followed by -e, the plural ending is ~es; for example: box ~ boxes,
bush ~ bushes, switch ~ switches; cf language ~ languages.
(ii) If the singular ends with -y, this is replaced by i and the plural ending
is then -ies; for example: spy ~ spies, poppy ~poppies, soliloquy ~ sol¬
iloquies. But -y remains, and the plural ending is -ys, if the singular
ends with a letter having vowel-value as in -ay, -ey, -oy (thus days,
ospreys, boys), or if the item is a proper noun (the two Germanys; cf
5.26).
(iii) If the singular ends with -o, the plural is usually regular (as with
studios, kangaroos, pianos), but with some nouns the plural ending is
-es (as with echoes, embargoes, heroes, potatoes, tomatoes, torpedoes,
vetoes), and in a few cases there is variation, as with buffalo(e)s,
cargo(e)s, halo(e)s, motto(e)s, volcano(e)s.

NOTE [a] Some further spelling points: In a few words requiring -es there is doubling as
with quiz ~ quizzes. With unusual plurals such as numerals or initials, an
apostrophe is sometimes introduced (thus in the 1990s, some PhD’s). In formal
writing, some abbreviations can show plural by doubling: p~pp (‘pages’), c~cc
(‘copies’); with f~ff, the abbreviations are to be understood as ‘the following
numbered unit(s)’, where the unit may be a section, page, chapter, or even volume.
[b] Compound nouns are usually regular in adding - (e)s to the final element (as in
babysitters, grown-ups). But in some cases where the compound has an obvious
head noun, it is to this element that the plural ending is affixed (as in passers-by,
grants-in-aid), and with a few there is variation (as in mouthfuls ~ mouthsful, court
martials~courts martial). With some appositional compounds (of the form XY,
where ‘The X is a 7’) both elements have the plural inflection (woman
doctor~ women doctors).
[c] Where a title applies to more than one succeeding name, it can sometimes be
pluralized, as in Professors Wagner and Watson, Drs Brown, Smith, and Weindling;
but the commonest cannot (Mrs Kramer, Mrs Pugh, and Mrs Hunter), though Mr
can have a plural Messrs /'mesoz/, especially in BrE commercial use (‘the firm of
Messrs Gray and Witherspoon’). Members of the same sex sharing a name can have
the name in the plural: ‘The two Miss Smiths as well as their parents were present at
the ceremony.’
 Number 95

Irregular plural formation

Voicing
537 While in spelling the pair house ~ houses is regular, in pronunciation it is
not, the final voiceless fricative consonant of the singular becoming voiced
in the plural: /haus/ — /hauziz/. Several singulars ending in /{/ and /0/
undergo voicing in this way, the former reflected in spelling, the latter not:
knife ~ knives /naif/ — /naivz/
mouth — mouths /mau0/ ~ /mau5z/

Like knife are calf half leaf life, loaf self shelf thief wife, wolf and a few
others. With some nouns, such as handkerchief hoof and scarf the plural
may involve voicing or be regular (-/fs/); with others, such as belief cliff\
proof the plural is always regular.
Like mouth are bath, oath, path, sheath, truth, wreath, youth, though in
most cases the plural can equally be regular (-/0s/). In other cases, only the
regular plural is found, as with cloth, death, faith, moth, and where there is
a consonant preceding the fricative this is always so (as with birth, length,
etc).

Vowel change
538 In a small number of nouns, there is a change of vowel sound and spelling
(‘mutation plurals’) without an ending:
foot ~ feet goose ~ geese
louse ~ lice man ~ men
mouse ~ mice tooth ~ teeth
woman /'wumon/~ women /'wimin/

NOTE [a] Compounds in unstressed -man such as fireman. Frenchman have plurals that
are often identical in sound since both the -man and -men have schwa.
[b] The plural of child involves both vowel change and an irregular ending, children
/tjildran/. The noun brother, when used in the sense ‘fellow member’, sometimes
has a similar plural formation, brethren /bredrsn/. Cf also, without vowel change,
ox ~ oxen.
Zero plural

Words for some animals

539 The nouns sheep, deer, cod, while being unquestionably count, have no
difference in form between singular and plural:

This sheep has just had a lamb.

These sheep have just had lambs.
Nouns referring to some other animals, birds, and fishes can have zero
plurals, especially when viewed as prey:
They shot two reindeer, though this is strictly forbidden.
The woodcock!pheasant/herringI trout\salmon)'fish are not very plen¬
tiful this year.
 96 Nouns and determiners

Compare:

Aren’t those pheasants beautiful?

NOTE Some of the nouns considered in 5.42/as resistant to number contrast could also
be regarded as having zero plural.

Notrns of quantity
5.40 There is a strong tendency for units of number, of length, of value, and of
weight to have zero plural when premodified by another quantitative
word. For example:
(a) How many people live there? About three dozen/Several hundred/
More than five thousand/Almost four million.
(b) My son is nearly six foot tall.
The tickets cost four pound fifty each.
Three pound/stone of potatoes, please.
But in set (b), zero is much less common than the use of inflected plurals
and in some cases zero is largely dialectal (‘She lives five mile from me’).
Moreover, items in set (a) have normal plural forms when not preceded by
numerals:
Dozens (and dozens) (of people) crowded into the room.
I have no precise idea how many people live there: thousands
certainly, perhaps millions.

Foreign plurals

5.41 Numerous nouns adopted from foreign languages, especially Latin and
Greek, retain the foreign inflection for plural. In some cases there are two
plurals, an English regular form (5.36) being used in non-technical
discourse.
(a) Nouns in -us /os/ with plural -i /ai/:
stimulus focus alumnus bacillus
(b) Nouns in -us /os/ with plural -a /o/ (only in technical use):

corpus ~ corpora genus — genera

(c) Nouns in -a /o/ with plural -ae /i:/ or /ai/:

antenna formula nebula

The plural ending in vertebrae is also pronounced /ei/.
(d) Nouns in -um /om/ with plural -a /o/:
addendum curriculum erratum
ovum stratum
(e) Nouns in -ex, -ix with plural -ices /isiiz/:
appendix index matrix
 Number 97

(f) Nouns in -is /is/ with plural -es /i:z/

analysis basis crisis

hypothesis synopsis thesis
(g) Nouns in -on /an/ with plural -a /a/:
automaton criterion phenomenon

(h) Nouns in -o /au/ with plural -i /i/; a few words in the field of music
retain their Italian plural, especially in specialized discourse:
libretto tempo virtuoso
(i) Nouns from French sometimes retain a French plural in writing, with
the French (ie zero) ending in speech or - more usually - a regular
English one:
bureau — bureaux or bureaus /-au/ or /-auz/
So also plateau, tableau. Some other nouns with no change of spelling in
the plural, have regular English plurals in speech: for example, chassis
/Jasi/, pi /Jasiiz/

NOTE [a] The plural -im is sometimes found in the English use of Hebrew words, as in
kibbutzim.
[b] Most originally foreign nouns take only regular plural endings (museum ~
museums, etc), and in several cases the historically plural ending is reinterpreted as
a singular (agenda, insignia, etc):

This agenda is rather lengthy as I’m afraid most Senate agendas tend to be.

INlouns resistant to number contrast

5.42 Whether or not with inflectional regularity, number essentially involves

the distinction between one and more than one:
This school is . . . These schools are . . .
This woman is . . . Those women are . . .
This sheep is . . . These sheep are . . .
But as we noted in 5.35, there are singular nouns that cannot ordinarily be
plural (eg: meat) and plural nouns that cannot ordinarily be singular (eg:
binoculars). We shall look at such nouns under these two broad heads.

Ordinarily singular
5.43 (a) Proper nouns such as London or Navratilova are plural only in such
circumstances as are described in 5.26/
(b) Noncount nouns such as cheese or solidarity can be plural when used
to indicate partition by quantity or quality (5.2). Abstract nouns in
the plural indicate instances of the phenomenon concerned (as in
‘many injustices') or intensification of the phenomenon (as in T must
 98 Nouns and determiners

express my regrets'). Intensification accounts also for the plural of

some concrete noncount nouns; for example, wood in the sense of
‘forest’:

This is a beautiful little wood.

Their house is in the middle of those extensive woods.
(c) The noun news and certain other items ending in -s:
(i) nouns in -ics such as acoustics, physics
(ii) names of diseases such as mumps, shingles
(iii) words for some games such as billiards, dominoes, fives
But when politics refers to an individual’s views, it is treated as plural
(‘Her politics are becoming more extreme’) and for some speakers
such disease words as mumps can also be plural. Again, when statistics
is used loosely to mean ‘figures’ it can be plural and have a
corresponding singular: ‘There is one surprising statistic in your
report.’
(d) Collective nouns such as committee, council, government, team
(though in BrE these are often treated as plural aggregate nouns: ‘The
committee were unanimous’; cf 5.44).

NOTE Unlike aggregate nouns, collective nouns retain singular determiners even where
plural concord is used: *This committee were unanimous.’

Ordinarily plural
5.44 (a) Binary nouns are those that refer to entities which comprise or are
perceived as comprising two parts: tools and instruments such as
binoculars, forceps, scissors; articles of dress such as jeans, pants,
trousers:

These scissors are too blunt.

Those trousers don’t match your shirt.

Number contrast is usually achieved through quantity partition (5.2)

with a pair of several pairs of. With binary nouns like gloves or socks,
where the two pairs are more obviously separate, the unit is readily
divisible into two singulars.

He was wearing a green sock and a brown sock.

Contrast:

the left leg of your trousers.

There is a stain on
{ (?) your left trouser.
(b) Aggregate nouns are those that refer to entities which comprise or
may be perceived as comprising an indefinite number of parts. These
may be plural in form, as for instance arms (‘weapons’), communica¬
tions (‘means of communication’), data, goods, media, outskirts,
remains, troops, works (‘factory’). With some items there is vacillation
between singular and plural; for example
 Gender 99

This barracks is
j> heavily defended.
These barracks are

The data is/are insufficient.

But many aggregate nouns are not plural in form; thus cattle, clergy,
offspring, people, police, poultry, vermin. Here again there is vacilla¬
tion between singular and plural with some items:
The c/ergy is/are strongly opposed to divorce.
Cf 5.43(d).

NOTE Some nouns could be regarded either as ‘ordinarily plural’ or as having zero plural
(5.39). Thus

She has one offspring!several offspring.

Did he leave offspring'?

f a new series
We are organizing of lectures.
\ three further series

Others have a singular with some shift of meaning. Thus beside ‘She used her
brains in defeating her opponent’, we can have ‘She has a good brain\ meaning
approximately ‘brains of good quality’; beside ‘He didn’t receive his wages last
week’, we can have ‘He has a living wage\ meaning ‘a level of wages that can
support him’.

Gender

5.45 In English, gender is not a feature of nouns themselves (as in such

languages as German or Russian). Rather, it relates directly to the
meanings of nouns, with particular reference to biological sex. Gender
then enters the province of grammar by determining the selection of
reference pronouns: wh-, personal, and reflexive (6.Iff,\ 6.13, 6.17). The
wh- items who and which oblige us to distinguish two broad gender classes,
personal and nonpersonal, the former largely human in reference, the
latter largely nonhuman and including inanimates:

This is the pedestrian who witnessed the accident.

That is the cow which has just had a calf.

Then within the personal gender class, the personal and reflexive
pronouns relate to male and female sex:

chusband; he has hurt himself

Please help my
(wife; she has hurt herself

But the sex-related pronouns can be used of items marked as nonpersonal

by the wh- pronouns, as in
 100 Nouns and determiners

She is the cow which has just had a calf.

She is the ship which was launched last month.

In consequence, we have a rather complex pattern of gender classes, with

some overlapping, as summarized in Fig. 5.2.
GENDER EXAMPLE PRONOUNS
who, he
who,she
who, hejshe
who, he/shelit
which/it
which, it
.who, they
which, he Jit

( who), he
which, shejit
{ (who), she
which, he/she/it
{ who, he/she

which, itfheKshe)
which, it

Nouns with personal reference

5.46 These commonly occur in and female pairs such as father ~ mother,
boy ~ girl, king ~ queen. In some cases, the female member is morphologi¬
cally marked: god~goddess, hero ~ heroine, usher ~ usherette, man~
woman. With widower ~ widow, it is the male that is marked.
But many personal nouns can be regarded as having dual gender, since
they can be male or female in reference as required; for example, friend,
guest, parent, and person. Most of these are nouns of agency such as artist,
cook, doctor, inhabitant, librarian, novelist, professor, singer, speaker,
student, teacher, writer. By contrast, common gender applies to those
nouns like baby, infant, child, which though referring undoubtedly to male
or female human beings make gender so irrelevant that we can use the
neuter pronoun it(s):
The baby lost its parents when it was three weeks old.
The remaining class of person-referring nouns is collective where, like
the common gender nouns, the sex of the persons concerned is irrelevant,
as is shown by our use of it and which:
The committee, which met soon after it was appointed, had difficulty
in agreeing its method of procedure.
 Gender 101

But, especially in BrE, such collectives can take plural concord with the
personal wh-pronoun:

The audience, who were largely students, were soon on their feet as
they cheered the performers.

Further collectives: army, association, class, club, community, company,

council, crew, crowd,family, firm, government, jury,party, team, university.
Some occur with the definite article, for example: the clergy, the
intelligentsia, the public. Some are proper names, for example: the Vatican,
Longman, General Motors, British Gas, Ever ton (football team).

NOTE [a] Nouns morphologically marked for gender often tend to be avoided, especially
where the sex of the referent is irrelevant; in consequence, nouns with dual gender
such as author, chair (person), poet, supervisor, may be preferred to authoress,
chairman, poetess, foreman.
[b] Although unmarked forms have traditionally been expressed as male while
subsuming female ("Man is mortal’, Tf any person is caught stealing from this
store, he will be prosecuted’: cf 6.4), reaction against sexual bias has resulted in
evasions such as:

( doctor ^ C he or she wishes.

A \ parent > may appeal if \
^ singer ' v they wish.

[c] Countries and ships (especially by name) are often treated as female: ‘France is
increasing her exports’, ‘The Lotus sank when she struck a reef’.

Noons referring to animals and inanimates

5.47 Among animals, we must distinguish between what we may call the
familiar and the less familiar. The former embrace the range of animals,
birds, etc, in which human society takes a special interest, and which
significantly impinge on familiar experience (for example, in farming or as
domestic pets). Many of the nouns for these occur in male and female
pairs, as with personal nouns, often with he ~ she as the reference pronoun
though usually with which as the relative:

This is the bull which has a brand mark on his/(its) back.

This is the cow which had her/(its) first calf when she/(it) was
already seven years old.

Other such pairs include ram ~ ewe, stallion ~ mare, hen ~ cock(erel), and
there are some with morphological marking, as in lion ~ lioness, tiger ~
tigress. But frequently, despite such pairs as dog ~ bitch, one of the two is
used with dual gender, or an item outside the pairing (such as sheep, beside
ram ~ ewe) so operates:

This horse is two years old; isn’t she beautiful?

This horse has sired his first foal.

But less familiar animals constitute by far the majority of creatures in the
animate world. Squirrels, ants, starlings, and moths may be fancifully
 102 Nouns and determiners

referred to as he or she, but for the most part they are treated
grammatically as though they were inanimate:
Do you see that spider? It’s hanging from the beam.
Do you see that balloon! It’s hanging from the beam.

Case

5.48 As distinct from pronouns (6.6/), English nouns have only two cases, the
unmarked common case and the marked genitive. The latter is sometimes
called the 'possessive’, by reason of one of the main functions of the case
(as in The child’s coat, The coat belonging to the child’).
The genitive inflection is phonologically identical with the regular
plural inflection (5.36) with a consequent neutralization of the case
distinction in the plural:
The /kau/ was grazing. The /kauz/ were grazing.
One /kauz/ tail was waving. All the /kauz/ tails were waving.

With irregular nouns where no such neutralization can occur, a fourfold

distinction is observed:
The /man/ was watching. The /men/ were watching.
The /manz/ car was locked. The /menz/ cars were locked.

Orthographically a fourfold distinction always obtains, since the

genitive ending is always spelled with an apostrophe: before the ending for
the singular, after it for the plural:

One cow’s tail All the cows’ tails

NOTE [a] Where noun phrases with postmodification do not have the plural inflection at
the end (5.36 Note [b]) there is a distinction between genitive and plural; compare:

The chief of staff ~ The chiets of staff

The chief of staff’s role ~ The chiefs of staff’s role

But where postmodification is less institutionalized, such a ‘group genitive’ -

though common informally - is often avoided in favour of the of-construction
(5.49): The name of the man in the dark suit.’
[b] In being phonologically identical with the plural, the regular genitive plural is
sometimes called the ‘zero genitive’. Such a zero genitive is common with names
that end in /z/, especially if they are foreign names:

Socrates’ /-tiiz/ doctrines

Moses’ /-ziz/ laws

But Dickens’ novels /dikinz/ or /dikinziz/

Note the zero genitive also in some expressions such as for goodness’ sake.
 Case 103

The genitive and the of-construction

5.49 We frequently find a choice between using a premodifying genitive and a

postmodifying prepositional phrase with of; the similarity in meaning and
function has caused the latter to be called by some the ‘q/genitive’. For
example:

cthe island's inhabitants.

There were strong objections from
I the inhabitants of the island.
But although both versions in this instance are equally acceptable, with a
choice determined largely by preferred focus (cfl&.Sff), for the most part
we must select either the genitive or the ^/-construction. For example:

These are father's trousers. *These are the trousers of

father.
Let’s go to the front of the house. *Let’s go to the house's
front.

Genitive meanings

5.50 The meanings expressed by the genitive can conveniently be shown

through paraphrase; at the same time, we can compare the analogous use
of the o/-construction (cf 5,50/).
(a) Possessive genitive:
Mrs Johnson's coat. Mrs Johnson owns this coat.
The ship's funnel. The ship has a funnel.

Cf The funnel of the ship.

(b) Genitive of attribute:

The victim's outstanding courage. The victim was very

courageous.

Cf The outstanding courage of the victim.

(c) Partitive genitive:

The heart's two ventricles. The heart contains two ventricles.

Cf The two ventricles of the heart.

(d) Subjective genitive:

The parents' consent. The parents consented.

Cf The consent of the parents.

(e) Objective genitive:

The prisoner's release. (. . .) released the prisoner.

Cf The release of the prisoner.

(f) Genitive of origin:
 104 Nouns and determiners

Mother's letter. The letter is from Mother.

England's cheeses. The cheeses were produced in England.
Cf The cheeses of England.
(g) Descriptive genitive:

Children's shoes. The shoes are designed for children.

A doctor's degree. The degree is a doctorate.

NOTE The distinction between (a), (b), and (c) is far from clear-cut and much depends on
gender (c/5.51) and on contextual viewpoint. In general, the closer the relation can
be seen to literal possession, the more suitable is the genitive; by contrast,
attribution and partition are usually more appropriately expressed by the of-
construction. Where both genitive and ^/construction are grammatically
possible, the decision often turns on the principle of end-focus or end-weight (18.5
and Note [a]):

My father’s death ~ The death of my father

John’s age — The age of my oldest and dearest friend

Gender and the genitive

5,51 The genitive is not used with all nouns equally but tends to be associated
with those of animate gender, especially with those having personal
reference (5.45/). For example:
The dog's name.
Segovia's most famous pupil.
The student's precious possessions.
The committee's decision.

Geographical names take the genitive inflection, especially when they are
used to imply human collectivity; thus China's policy more plausibly than
China's mountains. So too with other strictly inanimate nouns when used
with special relevance to human activity or concern: The hotel's occupants
rather than The hotel's furniture, The book's true importance rather than
The book's colour.

NOTE [a] The part played by personal gender in admitting the genitive is well illustrated
by the indefinite pronouns:
/the shadow of somebody.
somebody's shadow,
I think I can see down there
the shadow of something.
something's shadow.

[b] In some expressions, the genitive depends less on the noun so inflected than on
the noun following. The items edge and sake are especially notable in this
connection:

He stood at the water’s edge. (Cf also . . . the edge of the water)
She did it for her country’s sake. (Cf also . . . the sake of her country)

With worth, no of- variant is possible:

 We must try to get our money’s worth.

The grammatical status of the genitive

As determiner
5.52 For the most part, genitives function exactly like central definite
determiners and thus preclude the cooccurrence of other determiners.
A new briefcase.
The new briefcase. (*A the new briefcase.)
This new briefcase. (*The this new briefcase.)
Joans new briefcase. (*The Joan’s new briefcase.)
This equally applies when the genitive is a phrase incorporating its own
determiner.

My cousin’s new briefcase. (f My new briefcase.)

My handsome cousin s new briefcase.

In other words, items preceding the genitive relate to the inflected noun,
such that a phrase like

That old gentleman’s son

must be understood as ‘The son of that old gentleman’, and not as ‘That
son of the old gentleman.’
But an exception must be made where the preceding item is a
predeterminer, since this may relate either to the genitive noun as in [1] or
to the noun that follows as in [2].

We attributed both the girls' success to their hard work. [1]

(ie the success of both the girls)
Both the girl's parents were present. [2]
0ie both the parents of the girl)

As modifier
5.53 Where the genitive is used descriptively (5.50(g)), however, it functions
not as a determiner but as a modifier with a classifying role. Determiners
in such noun phrases usually relate not to the genitive but to the noun
following it, as can be plainly seen from the following, where the singular a
could obviously not cooccur with the plural women:

They attend a women's university in Kyoto.

So also, other modifying items in the noun phrase are less likely to relate to
the genitive noun than to the noun that follows it; thus in
She lives in a quaint old shepherd's cottage.

it is probably the cottage that is quaint and old, not the shepherd.
Grammatically, some phrases can be ambiguous, though it would be rare
for the context not to make the meaning clear:
 106 Noons and determiners

Where did you find these children’s clothes?

{Either ‘These children had lost their clothes’; genitive as determiner. Or
‘These clothes were obviously made for children’; genitive as modifier.)

The independent genitive

5.54 It is common to ellipt the noun following the genitive if the reference is
contextually clear. For example:
Jennifer's is the only face.I recognize here.
(ie Jennifer’s face)
He has a devotion to work like his father's.
{ie his father’s devotion to work)

By contrast, with the of-construction, that or those usually replaces the

corresponding item:
The wines of France are more expensive than those of California.
{ie the wines of California)

A special case of the independent genitive occurs when the unexpressed

item refers to homes or businesses:
When I arrived at Fred's, I found I’d come on the wrong day.
My butcher's stays open late on Fridays.
She wouldn’t miss St Martin's on Easter morning.
In most such instances of the ‘local genitive’, one could not specify
uniquely the unexpressed item, and in many cases it would sound artificial
if one attempted a fuller phrase, often because what is meant is more
abstract and general than any specific noun would convey:
I hate going to the dentist's (? surgery, ? place, ? establishment).

NOTE With the names of major firms, what begins as a local genitive develops into a
plural, often so spelled and observing plural concord:

Harrod’s is a vast store.

Harrods are having a sale.

A further development is to drop the ending and to treat the item as a collective {cf
5.46).
The ‘post-genitive’
5.55 Since in its determiner role, the genitive must be definite (5.52), we can be
in some difficulty with a sentence like
George's sister is coming to stay with us.

If it needs to be understood that George has more than one sister, this can
be expressed in one of two ways, each involving a partitive of-
construction:
 One of George's sisters is coming to stay with us.
A sister of George's is coming to stay with us.

It is the latter that is called the ‘post-genitive’ (or ‘double-genitive’).

Bibliographical not©
On noun classes, see Algeo (1973); Allerton (1987); Seppanen (1974).
On reference and determiners, see Auwera (1980); Burton-Roberts (1977);
Declerck (1986); Hawkins (1978); Hewson (1972); Kaluza (1981); Kramsky
(1972); Perlmutter (1970); Takami (1985).
On number, see Hirtle (1982); Juul (1975); Lehrer (1986); Sorensen (1985). On
gender and case, see Dahl (1971); Jahr Sorheim (1980).
 & Pronouns

6.1 As we noted in 2.9, pro-forms play a vital role in grammar (see especially
12.1^). One category of pro-forms is particularly associated with noun
phrases and this is the pronoun. How wide-ranging and heterogeneous
this category is becomes apparent from considering the italicized items in
the following:
As it turned out, somebody offered Elaine a bicycle at a price which
she and her friends knew was well below that of a new one.

But as with pro-forms in general, all these pronouns have one thing in
common: their referential meaning is determined purely by the grammar
of English and the linguistic or situational context in which they occur.
Beyond this, it is necessary to see pronouns as falling into the following
classes and subclasses:
r personal - eg: I, me, they, them
central < reflexive - eg: myself, themselves
^possessive-eg: my/mine, their/theirs

relative - eg: which, that

INTERROGATIVE - eg: who, what
demonstrative — eg: this, those

{ r universal - eg: both, each

positive \ assertive - eg: some, several
^nonassertive-cg: any, either

negative - eg: nobody, neither

Central pronouns

Personal pronouns
6.2 Like all the central pronouns, the personal pronouns display a person
contrast; that is, they have separate 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person forms. In the
3rd person, there is a three-way gender contrast: masculine, feminine, and
nonpersonal. There are also number contrasts (singular, plural) and in the
personal subclass a 1st and 3rd person contrast in case also (subjective,
objective). The system of central pronouns is presented as a whole in Table
6.2.
 Central pronouns 109

NOTE We follow the tradition of applying the term ‘personal pronoun’ only to a subclass
of the central pronouns. What are here termed ‘possessive pronouns’ are often
treated as a third case (genitive) of the primary pronouns; on the paired forms of
possessives (eg: my/mine), see 6.16.

Table 6.2 Central pronouns

PRIMARY REFLEXIVE POSSESSIVE

PERSON NUMBER SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE DETERMINER INDEPENDENT

AND GENDER CASE CASE FUNCTION FUNCTION

f singular I me myself my mine

1st <j
t plural we us ourselves our ours

f singular you you yourself your yours

2nd -j
l plural you you yourselves your yours

/ singular he him himself his his

masculine
singular she her herself her hers
3rd < feminine

j singular
nonpersonal
\ plural
it

they
it

them
itself

themselves
its

their
(its)

theirs

6.3 person distinguishes the speaker or writer (1 st person) from the addressee
(2nd person) and from those persons or things which are neither (3rd
person):

I hope that you will express an opinion on them.

If pronouns of different persons are coordinated, the sequence is treated as

1 st person if it includes I or we, 2nd person if it includes you but not / or we.
Thus:
You and / can go together, can’t we?

You and j* agree with that, don’t youl

If neither 1st nor 2nd person pronouns occur in the coordination, the
sequence is of course 3rd person:

| and |met in Tunis, didn’t they?

The ordering of pronouns in coordination is important from the view¬

point of style and courtesy: the 1st person comes last (especially if it is the
singular) and the 2nd person usually comes first:
 110 Pronouns

You, | and /will still be at work.

rJohnl
Why didn’t they invite you and < mel
^-herl

3rd person coordinates usually have the masculine before the feminine,
the pronoun before the noun phrase:

He and she
were both elected.
She and another student.

6.4 gender enforces a three-way distinction on the 3rd person singular, with
masculine, feminine, and nonpersonal forms (5A5ff):

He has hurt his hand.

She asked herself why she had bought it when its lens was so
obviously scratched.

This causes problems, especially when there is no basis for deciding

between masculine and feminine, either because the gender is unknown or
because it must be inclusive:
Someone is knocking so I’d better go and let h . . ? in.
An ambitious player must discipline h . . ?self.

Traditionally, the masculine can be used as the unmarked form (2.7)

covering male and female reference in such cases, but sensitivity to sexual
bias makes many people prefer a cumbersome coordination:

An ambitious player must discipline himself or herself

More generally, where an informal disregard for strict number concord is

felt tolerable, the gender-neutral plural is used:
Someone has parked their car right under the 'No Parking’ sign.

NOTE The graphic device s/he to embrace he and she is of limited value since there is no
equally convenient objective, possessive, or reflexive form (though full forms are
often used, such as him/her).

6.5 number has to be treated separately for each of the three persons of
pronouns. With the 3rd person, number is closest in value to that with
nouns:
A male officer and a woman officer interrogated the prisoner but the
officers disagreed over procedure.
He and she interrogated the prisoner but they disagreed over
procedure.
With the 2nd person, there is a number contrast only in the reflexive
pronoun. Compare:
 Central pronouns 111

Look at your hand, Jack; you’ve cut yourself.

Keep your voices down, children; you must behave yourselves.
But, while you . .. yourselves is straightforwardly the plural of more than
one addressee, each of which might be addressed as you . . . yourself the
plural with the 1 st person is on quite a different basis. We is not the plural
of I (*‘We, that is, I and I and I are glad to see you’) but a pronoun
meaning / and one or more other people (‘We, that is, Jill and F, ‘We the
undersigned’). See below, 6.10.

NOTE In archaic style, there is a set of singular 2nd person pronouns thou (objective thee),
thy(self), thine, and a special subjective plural form ye.

6.6 case in personal pronouns involves a distinction absent from nouns,

marking broadly the grammatical roles of subject and object. Compare:
The policeman detained this young woman.
He detained her.
The woman resisted the policeman.
She resisted him.

Corresponding to the genitive case in nouns (5.48#), we have in pronouns

the subclass of possessives, treated below in 6.16:
The girTs dog bit an old man’s ankle.
Her dog bit his ankle.

6.7 The choice of subjective and objective forms does not depend solely upon
the strict grammatical distinction between subject and object. Rather,
usage shows that we are concerned more with subject ‘territory’ (the pre¬
verbal part of a clause) in contrast to object ‘territory’ (the post-verbal
part of a clause). In consequence of the latter consideration, it is usual in
informal style to find objective forms selected in such instances as the
following:

His sister is taller than him.

Whoever left the door unlocked, it certainly wasn’t me.

Many people are uncomfortable about such forms, however, especially in

writing, though the subject variants are almost equally objectionable in
seeming unnatural. Where an operator can be added, of course, the
problem of choice satisfactorily disappears:
His sister is taller than he is.
See also 6.11.

NOTE [a] In contrast with except which is always treated as a preposition and therefore
followed by the objective case (‘Nobody except her objected’), there is vacillation
over prepositional but, many people preferring the subjective form if it is in subject
‘territory’. Thus:
 112 Pronouns

Nobody but she objected.

Even in object territory, but can be followed by either form, as with as and than:

Nobody objected but she/her.

[b] The frequency of the coordination you and I seems to have resulted in a
tendency to make it case-invariant, though such examples as the following are felt
to be uneasily hypercorrect:

Let’s you and I go together then.

Between you and /, there was some cheating.

Specific reference
6.8 Central pronouns resemble noun phrases with the in normally having
definite meaning, and they also usually have specific reference. In the case
of 3rd person pronouns, the identity of the reference is typically supplied
by the linguistic context, anaphorically as in [1] or cataphorically as in [2]
(c/5.14):
There is an excellent museum here and everyone should visit it. [1]
When she had examined the patient, the doctor picked
up the telephone. [2]
In [1], it is understood as The museum’; in [2], she is understood as The
doctor’. Cataphoric reference is conditional upon grammatical subordi¬
nation; thus [2] could not be restated as:

*She examined the patient and then the doctor picked up the
telephone.

Anaphoric reference has no such constraint, and [2] could be replaced by:

When the doctor had examined the patient, she picked up the
telephone.

On the other hand, the relative freedom of anaphoric reference can result
in indeterminacy as to identification:

Ms Fairweather asked Janice if she1 could come into her room; she2
seemed to be more upset than she had ever seen her.

English grammar determines only that the italicized items have singular
feminine reference; it does not determine the specific identities. In such a
case, the speaker/writer would have to make sure that the larger context or
the situation left it clear whether, for example, she1 referred to Ms
Fairweather or to Janice and whether she2 had the same reference as she1.
Did Ms Fairweather ask for the interview because Janice seemed upset or
is Janice reflecting that the interview is sought because Ms Fairweather
seemed upset?
 Central pronouns 113

The pronoun it

6.9 Any singular noun phrase that does not determine reference by he or she is
referred to by it; thus collectives, noncount concretes, and abstractions:
The committee met soon after it had been appointed.
He bought some salmon because it was her favourite food.
When you are ready to report it, I would like to know your
assessment of the problem.

Since this last noun phrase is a nominalization (17.23) of a clause (‘You

are assessing the problem’), it is easy to see that it can refer to the content
of whole sentences and sequences of sentences:

I don’t like to say it but I must. You have lost your job because you
didn’t work hard enough. You have only yourself to blame.

Such a cataphoric use of it with sentential reference is analogous to the

extrapositional it (18.23\ff):

It has to be said that you have lost your job because . . .

Analogous too is the anticipatory it in cleft sentences (18.18/):

It was only last week that the death was announced.

In many cases where it seems to be superficially anaphoric, it is to be

explained in terms of this anticipatory use with subsequent ellipsis.
Compare:

I asked where she lived and it turned out to be in my street.

The phone rang and it was the police.

On the other hand, it as a prop (‘dummy’) subject frequently occurs where

no plausible sentential reference can be claimed:

If it stops raining, we can go out for a walk; but we must be home

before it gets dark.

NOTE A prop it is not confined to subject function:

I take it that she has declined the invitation.
He had a hard time of it in the army.

The 1st person plural forms

6.10 The pronoun for the 1st person plural is a device for referring to T and
one or more other people. The latter may be inclusive of the addressee(s):

I’m glad to see you, Marie, and I hope we (ie ‘you and F) can have a
long talk.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope we (ie ‘you and I’) can agree this
evening on a policy for the future.
 114 Pronouns

The latter is akin to the persuasive we associated with sermons and

political speeches as well as with scholarly writing; for example:
We must increase our vigilance if we are not to fall victim to
temptation.
As we saw in Chapter Three, we can trace the origins of human
conflict to . . .
The artificial nature of the inclusiveness in this last example (which really
means ‘As I hope you saw in Chapter Three . . .’) is accentuated in the
rhetorical use of we, where the reference is to a general human collectivity
- possibly in the remote past - and where paraphrase by ‘you and I’ may be
unthinkable:
In the eighteenth century, we had little idea of the effect that
industrial inventions would have.
Artificial inclusiveness of a different kind is found in the informal we used
by doctor to patient:
And how are we (ie ‘you’) feeling today?
The obverse of this occurs in the exclusive use of the 1st person plural
where ‘you’ the addressee is not included:
Ms Rogers and I have finished the report, Minister; shall we (ie ‘she
and F) leave it on your desk?

Related to this is the traditional ‘editorial’ we:

We can now reveal that the visit was cancelled because of threatened
terrorist activity.

NOTE The royal we, now restricted to highly formal material such as charters, can be
regarded as an extreme form of exclusive we.

Modification of pronouns
6.11 There is very limited scope for modification and it largely concerns the
personal pronouns with the objective case (cf 6.7):
(a) Adjectives, chiefly in informal exclamations:
Poor me\ Clever youl Good old him\

(b) Appositive nouns, with plural 1st and 2nd person:

Will you others please wait here?

You nurses have earned the respect of the entire country, and we
politicians must see that you get a proper reward.
Us locals are going to protest, (familiar)

(c) Here and there, with 1st person plural and 2nd person respectively
(the latter tending to sound rude):
 Centra! pronouns 115

Whatever you others do, we here would be willing to leave now.

Could you there collect your passports at the desk?

(d) Prepositional phrases, with 1st person (usually plural) and 2nd
person:

It is very much the concern of in the learned professions.

(e) Emphatic reflexives:

I myself she herself they themselves

(f) Universal pronouns, with plurals:

We all accept responsibility.

You both ^ , ,
, > need help.
They each J ^

(g) Relative clauses, chiefly in formal style:

We who fought for this principle will not lightly abandon it.
He or she who left a case in my office should claim it as soon as
possible.

They that If They who) is rare, those who being preferred.

Generic reference

6.12 In the type of modification illustrated in 6.11(g), most instances have

generic rather than specific reference, as in the proverbial

He (ie ‘Anyone’) who hesitates is lost.

For ordinary purposes, the pronouns we, you, and they have widespread
use as generics; for example:

We live in an age of moral dilemmas. [1]

You can always tell if someone is lying, (informal) [2]
They'll soon find a cure for cancer, (informal) [3]

In each case, the subject could be replaced by the generic one but with
major stylistic and semantic differences. Stylistically, one would be more
formal in each case, but especially so in [3]. Semantically, we retains the
inciusionary warmth of implied 1st person involvement (6.10), you
comparably implies special interest in the addressee, while they detaches
the general observation equally from both the speaker and the addressee.
In consequence, it is especially convenient in relation to regret or
disapproval:

I wonder why they don’t repair the roads more often.

 116 Pronouns

The reflexives
6.13 The reflexive pronouns are always coreferential with a noun or another
pronoun, agreeing with it in gender, number, and person:

Veronica herself saw the accident. [1]

The dog was scratching itself. [2]
He and his wife poured themselves a drink. [3]
The reflexives here are coreferential with Veronica (as appositive subject),
The dog (as object), and He and his wife (as indirect object). By contrast, in

He and his wife poured them a drink. [4]

the indirect object them refers to people other than the subject.
The coreference must be within the clause; thus we have a contrast
between
Penelope begged Jane to look after her. ( = Penelope)
Penelope begged Jane to look after herself. ( = Jane)
But the item determining the reflexive may be absent from the clause in
question; for example, imperative clauses are understood to involve 2nd
person, and nonfinite clauses may reveal the subject in a neighbouring
main clause:
Look at yourself in the mirror!
Freeing itself from the trap, the rat limped away.

NOTE [a] Where a pronoun object is only partially coreferential with the subject, the
reflexive is not used. Thus beside 7 could make myself an omelette’, ‘ We could
make ourselves an omelette’, we have 7 could make us an omelette’.
[b] Appositive use of reflexives is associated with the need for emphasis.

6.14 A few transitive verbs require that subject and object are coreferential:

They pride themselves on their well-kept garden.

The witness was suspected of having perjured himself

So also absent oneself ingratiate oneself behave oneself though with this
last the reflexive can be omitted. With some other verbs, there is a
threefold choice:

She dressed herself with care [1]

She dressed with care. [2] = [1]
She dressed him with care. [3]
So also wash, shave, hide, prepare etc.

6.15 Prepositional complements coreferential with an item in the same clause

take reflexive form where the preposition has a close relationship with the
verb (as in the prepositional verbs look at, look after, listen to: cf\6.5jf).
The same holds in sequences concerned with representation:
 Central pronouns 117

Janet /took a Photo °f \( herself (= Janet)

\told a story about J\ her (f Janet)

But where the prepositional phrase is adverbial (especially relating to

space: cf 8.2, 8.16#), coreference can be expressed without the reflexive:
Fred closed the door behind him.
Fred draped a blanket about him.

In such cases, context alone would show whether him referred to Fred or to
someone else; replacement of him by himself would of course remove any
doubt but this would be unusual unless emphasis were required.

NOTE With some common existential expressions (18.30#), the reflexive is rare or
impossible in the prepositional complement:

She hadn’t any money on her.

I have my wife with me.

On the other hand, there are idiomatic phrases in which the prepositional
complement must be reflexive:

They were beside themselves with rage.

I was sitting by myself.

Contrast:

They were beside me. (‘near’)

I was sitting by her. (‘near’)

The possesslves

6.16 As shown in Table 6.2, most of the possessive pronouns differ in form
according as they function as determiners or as independent items.
Compare:

r Miriam’s i. , (Miriam s.
These are j^ | books. These books are { .
I hers.
That is my bicycle. ~ That bicycle is mine.
Which are their clothes? ~ Which clothes are theirs?
Is this his car? ~ Is this car hisl
but Those are its paw-marks. ~ *?Those paw-marks are its.

When the emphatic (very) own follows, a possessive (the only form of
modification admitted), there is no difference between determiner and
independent function:

That is my own bicycle. — That bicycle is my own.

With this modification, even its can now sometimes assume enough
weight for independent status:

The cat knows that this is The cat knows that this dish is
its (very) own dish. ~ its (very) own.
 118 Pronouns

NOTE Possessives are used with items such as parts of the body without any feeling of
tautology:
She shook her head:
I tried to keep my balance.

Pronouns without a person contrast

Relative pronouns

6.17 Relative pronouns comprise two series:

(1) wh- items: who, whom, whose, which

(2) that and zero, the latter indicated below as ()

Compare:
r which v
I’d like to come and see the house < that > you have for sale.
i o )
In neither series are there distinctions of person or number, but in (1) we
have some distinctions of gender and case. With who and whom the
antecedent must have personal gender (5.45); with which it must have
nonpersonal gender; with whose the antecedent is usually personal but can
also be nonpersonal. Thus:

Are you the doctor who looked after my daughter?

That is the hospital which is to be expanded.

That is the | j* whose phone number I gave you.

While who and whom share gender reference, their difference in form
reflects the case distinction, subjective and objective respectively, within
the relative clause:

rwho greeted me
The man < whom I greeted j> is a neighbour.
Mo whom I spoke
But see 17.8#.
In series (2), that can be used without reference to the gender of the
antecedent or the function within the relative clause, except that it cannot
be preceded by a preposition:

The actor
H that pleased me
that I admired j> is new to London.
The play
that I was attracted to
 Pronouns without a person contrast 119

Zero has a similar range, lacking only the subject function:

The actor u o I admired is new to London.
The play 11 o I was attracted to
A major difference between the two series is that items in (2) can operate
only in restrictive clauses. See 17.8.

Interrogative pronouns

6.18 There are five interrogative pronouns:

who whom whose which what

The first four are identical with series (1) of the relative pronouns (6.17),
but there are notable differences both in their reference and in their
grammar within the clause. Whose as well as who and whom can be used
only with reference to items of personal gender; nor is whose restricted to
determiner function. While whom can function only as the objective case,
who can be both subjective and (especially in speech) objective except after
a preposition. To illustrate these points:

Who owns this house?

Who(m) does this house belong to?
To whom does this house belong? (formal)
Whose is this house?

With which, reference can be both personal and nonpersonal:

When what is used as a pronoun, the questioner assumes that the reference
is nonpersonal:

rjn ris in that box?

What ^ A
Lwere you wearing that day?
But what and which can also be determiners (5.3), and in this function the
noun phrase can be personal or nonpersonal, the difference then being
that which assumes a limited choice of known answers:

What doctor(s) would refuse to see a patient?

Which doctor (s) [of those we are discussing] gave an opinion on this
problem?

As determiner, whose retains its personal reference:

Whose house is this?

NOTE The distinction between who, what, and which is brought out in a set like the
following:
 120 Pronouns

Who is his wife? The novelist Felicity Smith. (cf 5.11)

What is his wife? A novelist, {cf 5.15, 23)
Which is his wife? The woman nearest the door.

Demonstrative pronouns
6.19 The demonstratives have the same formal range and semantic contrast
both as pronouns and as determiners (5.5), this/these suggesting relative
proximity to the speaker, that!those relative remoteness:

this that
We shall (picture) (picture)
| here with over there.
compare these those
(pictures) (pictures)
But while all can be used as determiners irrespective of the gender of the
noun head, as pronouns the reference must be to nouns of nonpersonal
(and usually inanimate) gender:
r this plastic bag. ~ this
In the garden, I noticed \ this kitten. ~ ??/2z\s*
Mto woman. ~*this

An exception is where the demonstrative pronoun is subject of a be-clause

with a noun phrase of specific reference as complement:
That is my kitten.
These are the children I told you about.
Cf also ‘Who is thatT ‘Who is it 7 beside ‘Who are youT ‘Who is sheT
Occasionally too the demonstratives may be used as pronouns with
animate reference where there is ellipsis:
I attended to that patient but not this (one).
As in the example, however, it would be usual to add the pronoun one.
A further partial exception is that those with postmodification (17.2)
can readily have personal reference:
Will those seated in rows 20 to 30 now please board the aircraft.
Success comes to those who have determination.

NOTE Whether as determiners or pronouns, the demonstratives can be modified by

predeterminers {5.Iff):

She painted all (of) those (pictures) last year.

His fee was twenty dollars but now it’s twice that (amount).

6.20 The deictic or ‘pointing’ contrast between this(these and that(those is not
confined to spatial perception. While this morning usually refers to
‘today’, that morning refers to a more distant morning, past or future.
More generally, this/these have more immediate or impending relevance
than that/those:
 Pronouns without a person contrast 121

These figures have just been compiled; those of yours are out of date.

In consequence, this [these tend to be associated with cataphoric reference

(5.14), thatjthose with anaphoric reference:

Watch carefully and I’ll show you: this is how it’s done.
So now you know: that's how it’s done.
This is an announcement: will Mrs Peterson please go to the enquiry
desk.
And that was the six o’clock news.

NOTE Especially in informal usage, a further extension of the polarity tends to equate
this[these with the speaker’s approval, and especially that [those with disapproval:

How can this intelligent girl think of marrying that awful bore?

indefinite pronouns
6.21 Indefinite pronouns are heterogeneous in form and they embrace also a
wide range both of meanings and of grammatical properties. They are
characterized as a whole, however, by having a general and nonspecific
reference which the term ‘indefinite’ seeks to capture. Equally, they are
characterized by having functions directly involved in expressing quantity,
from totality (‘all’) to its converse (‘nothing’). Reference in some cases
invokes gender, such that items in -body are personal, items in -thing
nonpersonal. Quantification in some cases invokes countability and
number, such that each is singular count, both dual count, while some may
be noncount or plural count.
Several of the indefinites can function both as determiners and as
pronouns, as we shall see in what follows.

The universal items

6.22 We may first consider the compound indefinites (everyone, everybody,
everything; no one, nobody, nothing), noting that all except no one are
written as single words. These function only as pronouns, and despite
their entailment of plural meaning they take singular verbs:

The room was full of youngsters and everyone [everybody was

listening intently to the speeches.
I appealed to the whole crowd, but no one/nobody was willing to get
up and speak.

Father was very particular about how his tools were arranged in the
workshop; he knew where everything was supposed to be and he
insisted that nothing was ever to be misplaced.

These and the other universal indefinites are shown together in Table
6.22.
 122 Pronouns

Table 6.22: Universal indefinites

COUNT
NUMBER FUNCTION NONCOUNT
PERSONAL NONPERSONAL

Positive everyone everything

everybody
pronoun
singular each

every
determiner each all

pronoun all/both
plural
determiner all/both

Negative no one nothing

nobody
pronoun
singular none none

pronoun and
‘ neither
determiner

plural pronoun none

singular or determiner no
plural

NOTE [a ] The forms in -one are commoner in written usage than those in -body, but in
speech it is the latter that are more frequent.
[b] The pronouns in -one and -body have a genitive:

Safety is everyone’s responsibility, but in this case the accident seems to have
been nobody’s fault.

[e] Pronunciation obscures the origin of the compound nothing: /nA0ir)/.

[d] Though everywhere and nowhere chiefly function as indefinite adverbials, they
can also be pronouns:

Everywhere is draughty and nowhere is comfortable.

6.23 Two further indefinites are each and none, both able to operate
irrespective of gender with singular reference:

Many members hesitated but although each was pressed to act, none
was in the end willing.
There were several knives in the drawer, but although each was tried
in turn, none was sharp enough to cut through the rope.

Each (but not none) can also function as a determiner, in which role it is
closely paralleled by every:
 Pronouns without a person contrast 123

_ ^candidate will be individually interviewed.

Every)

Where they differ is that each is more targeted on the individual among the
totality, every on the totality itself. In consequence, every is subject to
quantitative modification as in

Almost every candidate was over the age of twenty-five.

By contrast with each, none is not restricted to singular reference, though

plurals like the following are objectionable to some users:

Hundreds were examined but none were acceptable.

With the determiner no which corresponds to none, however, plural is as

universally used as the singular:

No photography is permitted during the ceremony.

There were no passengers on the train.

NOTE The individualizing role of each can be preserved in otherwise plural

environments:

The knives were each tried in turn.

6.24 With all and both, we make plural and dual universal reference:

The factory produces luxury cars and all are for export.
Police interviewed the (two) suspects and both were arrested.

These two items also have a predeterminer function:

All these cars are for export.

Both (the) suspects were arrested.

The converse of all is no(ne) (6.23); that of both is neither, usually with
singular verb concord:

Police interviewed the (two) suspects but neither was arrested.

It has a parallel determiner function:

Neither suspect was arrested.

NOTE As with each (6.23 Note), all and both can appear medially.

The cars were all for export.

The (two) suspects were both arrested.

In this function all is used freely with a noncount reference otherwise largely
confined to its predeterminer function:

The money had all been spent.

All the money had been spent.
 124 Pronouns

Partitive indefinites
6,25 In dealing with the partitives (see Table 6.25), we must make a primary
distinction between (a) those in assertive use, and (b) those in non-assertive
use (2.11):

someone v r u. , .
(a) I can see | . , > climbing that tree.
somebody)
There’s something I want to tell you.
There are nuts here; please have some.
There is wine here; please have some.
All the students speak French and some speak Italian as well.

(b) Did you see j* in the vicinity?

I couldn’t find anything to read.

I’d like nuts, if you have any.
I’d like wine, if you have any.
All the students work hard and I don’t think any will fail.

When used pronominally, some and any usually have clear contextual
reference to a noun phrase. Both occur more freely as determiners:

(a) I would love some nuts and some wine, please.

(b) If you haven’t any nuts, I’ll not have any wine, thank you.

The examples above illustrate the use of these items with personal,
nonpersonal, count, and noncount reference. But it should be further
noted that with any the number distinction is typically blurred:

The woman said she’d seen an animal running for cover, but her
companion said that he hadn’t seen any animal(s) at all.

NOTE [a] On -one and -body, see 6.22 Notes [a] and [b].
[b] Corresponding fairly closely to the negative neither (6.24), there is the
nonassertive either.

The police did not arrest either (suspect).

[c] Beside the partitive some [sam] as determiner, a stressed form [sAm] can be used
with singular count nouns in the sense ‘a certain’ (5.6 Note [b]):

'Some 'man stopped me to ask the way.

[d] Like everywhere, nowhere (6.22 Note [d]), we have somewhere, anywhere; in
AmE also -place.
[e] Assertive forms can be used in nonassertive ‘territory’ when the presupposition
is positive:

Can you see someone in the garden (= There is someone in the garden; can
you see him/her?)
Would you like some wine ( = 1 invite you to have some wine).
 Pronouns without a person contrast 125

Table 6.25: Partitive indefinites

COUNT
NUMBER FUNCTION NONCOUNT
PERSONAL NONPERSONAL

Assertive pronoun someone something

singular somebody
determiner a (an) some

plural pronoun and some

determiner

Nonassertive pronoun anyone anything

anybody
singular

either
determiner any any

plural pronoun and

any
determiner

6.26 The partitives include quantifiers, which may (a) increase or (b) decrease
the implications of some; thus beside ‘There are some who would
disagree5, we have:

(a) There are many who would disagree.

(b) There are a few who would disagree.
Analogously with noncount reference:

rsome.
The bread looked delicious and I ate < a great deal
^a little.

This use of quantifiers is not paralleled exactly in nonassertive contexts,

where the contrast is rather between total and partial exclusion:
There aren’t any who would disagree. ( = No one)
There aren’t many who would disagree. ( = A few)
The wine was inferior and I didn’t drink any. ( = None)
The wine was inferior and I didn’t drink much. ( = A little)
As well as being pronouns, many, a few, a little, and much can be
determiners.

The 0/partitives
6.27 It is typical of the indefinites which have both a pronoun and a determiner
role to fuse these roles in e/expressions where the final part is a personal
pronoun or a noun preceded by a definite determiner; for example:
 126 Pronouns

Some are doing well.

Some students are doing well.
r the students \
Some of <v these students > are doing well.
^-them
them y

Thus, with singular count partition:

each of
one of
any of
(the students)
either of
none of
neither of

With plural count partition:

all of
both of
some of
many of
> (our supporters)
more of
most of
(a) few of
fewer, -est of

With noncount partition:

all of
some of
a great deal of
much of
more of
most of >{Beethovens music)
(a) little of
less of
least of
any of
none of

NOTE Comparative forms can be preceded by items of absolute meaning:

There were a few more of our supporters than I had expected.

She played much less of Beethoven’s music than we had hoped.

6.28 As well as one, the other cardinal numerals are readily used in
of-partitives:
 Pronouns without a person contrast. 127

Three of my friends are coming to dinner.

So too the ordinals, and these can be used with both count and noncount
expressions:

Alone quarter of his books were destroyed in the fire.

She regulates her life carefully, devoting at leastfive-sixths ofherfree
time to practising at the piano.

With half there is considerable freedom in usage; as a predeterminer, it

must itself be without a preceding determiner:

I saw half the jp“fonr,ance'

Iplayers.
In ^/-partitives or otherwise pronominally, it may be determined:

(half
performance.
I saw a half
kone half
j> of the |
players. }
Outside of-partitives, another has only limited use as a pronoun:
There was another of those unexplained fires in the city yesterday.
But cf:
There have been many fires in the city recently;
(another was y . ^ ,
< , > reported yesterday.
(several were J

By contrast, other does not enter into ^/-partitives, but in its plural form is
otherwise common in pronoun usage:

You should treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.

NOTE [a] In association with each and one, other and another function as reciprocal
pronouns. For example:

One student will often help another.

Each of us must support the other.
r , c( each other.
The children were very fond of < ,
( one another.

[b] The pattern (in figures and words) of the cardinal and ordinal numerals is as set
out below. As ordinals, items are usually preceded by the, as fractions by a or one:
‘the fourth of July’, ‘a third of a litre’.

0 nought, zero
1 one 1st first
2 two 2nd second (asfraction, a half)
3 three 3rd third
4 four 4th fourth
5 five 5th fifth
6 six 6th sixth
7 seven 7 th seventh
128 Pronouns

8 eight 8th eighth

9 nine 9th ninth
10 ten 10th tenth
11 eleven 11th eleventh
12 twelve 12th twelfth
13 thirteen 13th thirteenth
14 fourteen 14th fourteenth
15 fifteen 15th fifteenth
16 sixteen 16th sixteenth
17 seventeen 17th seventeenth
18 eighteen 18th eighteenth
19 nineteen 19th nineteenth
20 twenty 20th twentieth
21 twenty-one 21st twenty-first
22 twenty-two 22nd twenty-second
23 twenty-three 23rd twenty-third
24 twenty-four (etc) 24th twenty-fourth (etc)
30 thirty 30th thirtieth
40 forty 40th fortieth
50 fifty 50th fiftieth
60 sixty 60th sixtieth
70 seventy 70th seventieth
80 eighty 80th eightieth
90 ninety 90th ninetieth
100 a/one hundred 100th hundredth
120 a/one hundred and twenty 120th hundred and twentieth
1,000 a/one thousand 1,000th thousandth
1,500 a/one thousand five hundred 1,500th thousand five hundredth
2,000 two thousand (etc) 2,000th two thousandth (etc)
100,000 a/one hundred thousand 100,000th hundred thousandth
1,000,000 a/one million 1,000,000th millionth
1,000,000,000 a/one billion 1,000,000,000th billionth

Bibliographical note
On pronouns in general, see Bolinger (1979); Jackendoff (1968); Stevenson and
Vitkovitch (1986).
On central pronouns, see Helke (1979); Jacobsson (1968); Saha (1987);
Seppanen (1980); Thavenius (1983); on reciprocal pronouns, see Kjellmer (1982);
on indefinite pronouns, see Sahlin (1979); on numerals, see Hurford (1975).
 Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives

Characteristics of the adjective

7.1 Four features are commonly considered to be characteristic of adjectives:

(a) They can freely occur in attributive function, ie they can premodify
a noun, appearing between the determiner (including zero article) and
the head of a noun phrase:

an ugly painting, the round table, dirty linen

(b) They can freely occur in predicative function, ie they can function as
subject complement, as in [1], or as object complement, as in [2], eg:
The painting is ugly. [1]
He thought the painting ugly. [2]

(c) They can be premodified by the intensifier very, eg:

The children are very happy.

(d) They can take comparative and superlative forms. The comparison
may be by means of inflections (-er and ~est), as in [3-4], or by the
addition of the premodifiers more and most (‘periphrastic compari¬
son’), as in [5-6]:

The children are happier now. [3]

They are the happiest people I know. [4]
These students are more intelligent. [5]
They are the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen. [6]

Not all words that are traditionally regarded as adjectives possess all
these four features. The last two features generally coincide for a
particular word and depend on a semantic feature, gradability. The
adjective atomic in atomic scientist, for example, is not gradable and we
therefore do not find *very atomic or *more atomic. Gradability cuts
across word classes. Many adverbs are gradable, and since they also take
premodification by very and comparison, these two features do not
distinguish adjectives from adverbs.
The ability to function attributively and the ability to function
predicatively are central features of adjectives. Adjectives like happy and
infinite, which have both these features, are therefore central adjectives.
Those like utter that can be only attributive and those like afraid that can
be only predicative are peripheral adjectives.
 130 Adjectives and adverbs

NOTE Some suffixes are found only, or typically, with adjectives, eg:

-able: comfortable -al: seasonal

-ful: playful -ic: scientific
-ish: greyish -less: useless
-ous: dangerous -y: dirty

However, many common adjectives have no identifying form, eg: good, hot, little,
young, fat.

The adjective and other word classes

Adjective and adverb homomorphs
7.2 Normally there is a regular difference of form between an adjective and a
corresponding adverb in that the adverb is distinguished by its -ly suffix. In
a rapid car, rapid is an adjective; in He drove rapidly, rapidly is an adverb.
However, there are some words that have the same form, without the -ly
suffix, in adjective and adverb functions, eg:
Bill has a fast car. [adjective]
Bill drove fast, [adverb]
Norma arrived in the late afternoon, [adjective]
Norma arrived late in the afternoon, [adverb]
Sometimes there is also an -ly adverb form but with a different meaning:

Have you seen her lately? [‘recently’]

And sometimes there are two forms: one may be used as either adjective or
adverb and the other is an adverb with an -ly suffix:

Take a deep breath, [adjective]

Breathe inf°rmil> }[adverb]

Finally, there are some words in -ly that can function both as adjectives
and as adverbs, eg:
I caught an early train, [adjective]
We finished early today, [adverb]
That was a kindly gesture, [adjective]
Will you kindly refrain from smoking? [adverb]
They include a set of words denoting time, eg: daily, hourly, monthly,
weekly.

NOTE [a] Where there is variation, some people prefer the -ly form for the adverb
function, particularly in formal style. The adjective form cannot precede the verb:

Ted will pay ^ for his mistake.

 Adjectives 131

Ted will | fewly } pay ^or ^is mi$take.

[b] When we require adverbs corresponding to -ly adjectives such as friendly, lively,
and masterly, we normally use an adjective construction, thereby avoiding the
double suffix -lily:

She received us in a friendly way [not: *She received us friendlily.]

Adjectives and adverbs beginning with a-

7.3 Some words beginning with a- are adjectives and can be used predicatively
with both be and other copular verbs, but the a-adverbs can be used only
with be. The distinction differentiates adjectives from adverbs.

asleep. | [acyectjvesj
J hungry. j J J
The patient was
\ abroad, y r ,
1 there. }[adverbs^

asleep. T |-acyectjvesj
J hungry. ) J J
The patient seemed

Another difference is that a-adjectives refer to temporary states and

cannot be part of the predication after verbs of motion; ^-adverbs, on the
other hand, denote direction after such verbs.

c* asleep j* alert, [adjectives]

Jean went
Xabroad/away. [adverbs]

Common a-adjectives include ablaze, afloat, afraid, alert, alone,

ashamed, asleep, aware, awake.

NOTE [a] Alert and aloof are freely used attributively. Most other ^-adjectives can occur
attributively only when they are modified: a somewhat afraid soldier, the fast-
asleep children, a really alive student (‘lively’).
[b] Some ^-adjectives freely take premodification by very and comparison, eg: very
afraid, more alert. Others do so marginally, eg: asleep and awake.

Adjectives and nouns

7.4 Nouns commonly function as premodifiers of other nouns (cf 17.35):
the bus station, a business friend, student grants

However, they do not share other characteristics of most adjectives:

(a) There is no corresponding predicative function:
the bus station - *The station is bus.
(b) They cannot be modified by very:
*a very bus station
 132 Adjectives and adverbs

(c) They cannot take comparison:

*a busser station
Furthermore, nouns have other features which distinguish them from
adjectives; for example article contrast {the bus/a bus), number contrast
{one busI two buses), genitive inflection {the student’s essays), premodifica¬
tion by an adjective {the young student).
The basically nominal character of a premodifying noun, such as
garden in garden tools, is shown by its correspondence to a prepositional
phrase with the noun as complement: tools for the garden. Compare also:

the city council — the council for the city

a stone wall — a wall (made) of stone
August weather — weather (usual) in August

Such a correspondence is not available for attributive adjectives:

a long poem a thick wall

the urban council hot weather

Some items can be both adjectives and nouns. For example, criminal is
an adjective in that it can be used both attributively {a criminal attack) and
predicatively {The attack seemed criminal to us). On the other hand,
criminal has been converted into a noun in The criminal pleaded guilty and
They are violent criminals. Here are other examples of conversion from
adjective to noun:
ADJECTIVES NOUNS
an annual custom She is hoping to publish an annual
for children.
a black student There was only one black in my class.
a classic book You won’t find many classics in our
library.
intellectual interests She considers herself an intellectual.
a noble family The king greeted his nobles.
a natural skier He’s a natural for the job.
a six-year-old boy Our six-year-old is at school.

NOTE [a] Like adjectives, nouns can function as subject complement after copular verbs,
in particular after be:

That man is a fool.

The noise you heard was thunder.
She became a nurse.

Some nouns can also be used within the subject complement after seem <esp BrE):

He seems a fool. [ = foolish]

Your remark seems (complete) nonsense to me. [ = nonsensical]
My stay there seemed sheer bliss. [ = blissful]
His friend seems very much an Englishman. [ = very English]
 Adjectives 133

Note however the change of premodifier in: very much an Englishman ~ very
English', and the use of the indefinite article (a sure sign of noun status) in a fool and
an Englishman.
[b] Some noun forms can function both attributively and predicatively, in which
case we can perhaps regard them as adjectives. They denote style or material from
which things are made:

that concrete floor ~ That floor is concrete.

Worcester porcelain ~ This porcelain is Worcester.
those apple pies ~ Those pies are apple. <informal)

Adjectives and participles

7.5 There are many adjectives that have the same suffixes as participles in -ing
or -ed(including other forms corresponding to -ed, cf 3.2,3.9f). These are
PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES:

PREDICATIVE USE ATTRIBUTIVE USE

His views were very surprising. ~ his surprising views
The man seemed very offended. ~ the offended man
They include forms in -ed that have no corresponding verbs:
The results were unexpected. ~ the unexpected results
Her children must be downhearted. ~ her downhearted children
All his friends are talented. ~his talented friends
His lung is diseased. ~ his diseased lung
When there are no corresponding verbs (*/o unexpect, *to downheart, *to
talent, *to disease), the forms are obviously not participles.
When there is a corresponding verb, attributively used -ed forms
usually have a passive meaning, eg:

lost property — property that has been lost

NOTE [a] In some cases the -ed participle is not interpreted as passive. The passive
interpretation is excluded if the corresponding verb can be used only
intransitively:

the escaped prisoner [‘the prisoner who has escaped’]

the departed guests [‘the guests who have departed’]

But even in other instances, the participle relates to the intransitive use of the verb;
thus the passive interpretation is impossible in:

a grown person [‘a person who has grown (to maturity)’]

It is unlikely in:

the faded curtains [‘the curtains which have faded’.]

the retired manager [‘the manager who has retired’]

Predicative use occurs only with some of these participial adjectives:

The curtains are faded [‘The curtains have faded’]

Her father is now retired.
 134 Adjectives and adverbs

Her son is grown, [dubious in BrE, but full-grown or grown-up is fully

acceptable]
The guests are departed, (archaic)
[b] Sometimes there is a corresponding verb, but it has a different meaning. We can
therefore have ambiguous sentences where the ambiguity depends on whether the
word is a participle or a participial adjective:
( adjective: She is (very) calculating (but her husband is frank).
1 participle: She is calculating (our salaries). [\.. so don’t disturb her
while she is doing the arithmetic’.]
( adjective: They were (very) relieved (to find her at home).
1 participle: They were relieved (by the next group of sentries).

7.6 Often the difference between the adjective and the participle is not clear-
cut (c/17.30#). The verbal force of the participle is explicit for the -ing
form when a direct object is present. Hence, the following -ing forms are
participles that constitute a verb phrase with the preceding auxiliary:

Her views were alarming her audience.

You are frightening the children.
They are insulting us.
Similarly, the verbal force is explicit for the -ed form when a by-agent
phrase with a personal agent is present, indicating the correspondence to
the active form of the sentence:

The man was offended by the policeman.

He is appreciated by his students.
She was misunderstood by her parents.
For both participle forms, premodification by the intensifier very is an
explicit indication that the forms have achieved adjective status:

Her views were very alarming.

You are very frightening.
The man was very offended.
We might therefore expect that the presence of very together with an
explicit indicator of verbal force would produce an unacceptable sentence.
This is certainly so for the -ing participle form:

*His views were very alarming his audience.

However, with the -edparticiple, there appears to be divided usage, with

increasing acceptance of the cooccurence of very with a by-agent phrase
containing a personal agent:
?The man was very offended by the policeman.

In the absence of any explicit indicator, the status of the participle form is
indeterminate:

The man was offended.

 Adjectives 135

For the -ed form in this example, the participle interpretation focuses on
the process, while the adjective interpretation focuses on the state
resulting from the process. For the -ing form the difference is perhaps
clearer. In the sentence John is insulting, with no object present, the
participle interpretation is implausible because the verb is normally
transitive.

NOTE [a] Generally, -ed participle forms accepting very can retain very when they
cooccur with a 6y-phrase containing a nonpersonal noun phrase that expresses the
notion of cause or reason:

I’m very disturbed by your attitude.

We were very pleased by his behaviour.

[b] The participle sometimes reaches full adjective status when it is compounded
with another element:

It is breaking my heart. ~ It is (very) heart-breaking.

[c ] Like participial adjectives, -ing and -ed participles can be attributive, as the follow¬
ing examples show:

her crying children a married couple

a winning team his published work
boiling water the captured prisoner

Some verbs have different participle forms for verbal and adjectival use:

You have drunk too much. ~ drunk (en) driving/driver

Have you shavedl ~a clean-shaven young man
The shirt has shrunk. ~a shrunken shirt

Note the pronunciation /id/ of the ending -ed in some adjectives, eg: beloved
/bi'lAvid/. Other examples:

crooked dogged jugged learned

naked ragged wicked wretched

The suffix of aged is pronounced as a separate syllable /id/ when the word is
predicative or is attributive of a personal noun (The man is aged; an aged man
‘old’), but not, for example, in an aged wine or a man aged fifty.

Syntactic functions of adjectives

Attributive and predicative

7.7 Adjectives are attributive when they premodify the head of a noun phrase
(17.29):

a small garden popular ballads

They are predicative when they function as subject complement or object

complement (c/10.5):
He seems careless. (Cs)
I find him careless. (C0)
 136 Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives are subject complement not only to noun phrases, but also to
finite clauses and nonfinite clauses:

That you need a car is obvious.

Whether she will resign is uncertain.
To complain may be dangerous.
Playing chess can be enjoyable.

Adjectives can also be object complement to clauses:

T ., rwhat he did ^ r ...

I consider < A , . . . , Uoohsh.
(.taking such risks J

NOTE The adjective functioning as object complement often expresses the result of the
process denoted by the verb:

He pulled his belt tight. [1]

He pushed the window open. [2]
He writes his letters large. [3]

The result can be stated for each sentence by using the verb be:

His belt is tight. [la]

The window is open. [2a]
His letters are large. [3a]

Postpositive
7.8 Adjectives can sometimes be postpositive, ie they can immediately follow
the noun or pronoun they modify. We may thus have three positions of
adjectives:

predicative: This information is useful. [1]

attributive: useful information [2]
postpositive: something useful [3]

A postpositive adjective can usually be regarded as a reduced relative

clause:

something that is useful [3a]

Compound indefinite pronouns and adverbs ending in -body, -one,

-thing, -where can be modified only postpositively:

Anyone (who is) intelligent can do it.

I want to try on something (that is) larger.
We’re not going anywhere very exciting.

Of course, adjectives that can occur only attributively {cfl.Ylffj are

excluded:

^something (which is) main * somebody (who is) mere

NOTE [a] Postposition is obligatory for proper in the meaning ‘as strictly defined’, eg: the
City of London proper.
 Adjectives 137

[b] In several institutionalized expressions (mostly in official designations), the

adjective is postpositive, eg: the president elect, heir apparent, attorney general,
notary public, body politic, proof positive.
[c] Adjectives ending in -able and -ible can be postpositive, as well as attributive,
when they are modified by another adjective in the superlative degree or by certain
other modifiers: the best use possible, the greatest insult imaginable, the only actor
suitable; the adjective phrase Is then discontinuous (cf the best possible use and 7.9).
Some can be postpositive without this constraint, eg: the stars visible, rivers
navigable. These convey the implication that what they are denoting has only a
temporary application. Thus, the stars visible refers to stars that are visible at a
time specified or implied, while the visible stars more aptly refers to a category of
stars that can (at appropriate times) be seen.
Postposition is usual for absent, present, concerned, and involved when they
designate temporary as opposed to permanent attributes:

The soldiers present were his supporters.

[d] Appointed, desired, required, followed, past, and preceding can also be
postpositive as well as attributive, eg: at the time appointed, years past.

Adjectives with complementation

7.9 Adjectives with complementation normally cannot have attributive
position but require postposition. Compare:

a suitable actor but not: *a suitable for the part actor

The complementation can be a prepositional phrase or a /o-infinitive
clause:

I know an actor suitable for the part. [1]

They have a house larger than yours. [2]
The boys easiest to teach were in my class. [3]
Students brave enough to attempt the course deserve to succeed. [4]

If the adjective is alone or merely premodified by an intensifier,

postposition is not normally allowed:

*They have a house (much) larger.

*The soldiers (rather) timid approached their officer.

However, if the noun phrase is generic and indefinite, we can postpone

coordinated adjectives, or adjectives with some clause element added,
though such constructions are formal and rather infrequent:

Soldiers timid or cowardly don’t fight well. [5]

A man usually honest will sometimes cheat. [6]

The more usual constructions are premodification or a relative clause:

Timid or cowardly Soldiers . . . [5a]

A man who is usually honest. . . [6a]

The adjective phrase can be discontinuous (c/7.8 Note [c]): the adjective
is attributive and its complementation is in postposition. Thus, equivalent
to sentences [2] and [3]:
 138 Adjectives and adverbs

They have a larger house than yours. [2a]

The easiest boys to teach were in my class. [3a]

NOTE [a] An adjective modified by enough, too, or so can be separated from its
complementation if the modified adjective is placed before the indefinite (or zero)
article of the noun phrase:

She is brave enough a student to attempt the course. [7]

It was too boring a book to read. [8]
They are so difficult people to please. [9]

But with enough and too, this construction seems to be possible only if the adjective
phrase is part of the subject complement or object complement:

* Brave enough a student to attempt the course deserves to succeed. [7b]

With so, the construction is also possible if the adjective phrase is part of the
subject:

A man so difficult 1 xA , .Al

_ , >to please must be hard to work with.
So difficult a man J

[b] Exceptionally, certain short prepositional phrases may also premodify an

adjective in attributive position:

a by no means irresponsible action

— an action (which is) by no means irresponsible

Adjectives as heads of noun phrases

7.10 Adjectives can function as heads of noun phrases, which (like all noun
phrases) can be subject of the sentence, complement, object, and
prepositional complement. Adjectives as noun-phrase heads, unlike
nouns, do not inflect for number or for the genitive case and they usually
require a definite determiner.
Adjectives are typically used as heads of noun phrases to refer to certain
fairly well-established classes of persons: eg: the brave, the weak, the
maladjusted, the elderly, the underprivileged.
There are three types of adjectives functioning as noun-phrase heads,
and these are exemplified in the following sentences:
(a) The innocent are often deceived by the unscrupulous. (7.11)
(b) The industrious Dutch are admired by their neighbours. (7.12)
(c) She admires the mystical. (7.13)

Type (a): the innocent

7.11 Adjectives which can premodify personal nouns (the young people) can be
noun-phrase heads (the young) with plural and generic reference denoting
classes, categories, or types of people. The adjective can itself be
premodified [3-5] or postmodified [6-7]:
The poor are causing the nation’s leaders great concern. [1]
There is a lack of communication between the young and the old. [2]
The extremely old need a great deal of attention. [3]
 Adjectives 139

The emotionally disturbed and the physically and mentally

handicapped need the aid of society. [4]
The very wise avoid such temptations. [5]
The young in spirit enjoy life. [6]
The old who resist change are brushed aside. [7]

NOTE [a] Modification of the adjective is usually restrictive, eg [5]: the very wise. Inflected
comparison forms of the adjective are also possible (the wiser). Comparative
inflection and adverb modification are indications of the adjective status of these
noun-phrase heads, while modification by adjectives (as in the hungry poor) is
more typical of nouns, and modification by relative clauses is normally an
indication of noun status.
[b] The definite determiner is normally the generic definite article the. Note,
however, the use of the possessive determiner in:

We will nurse your sick, clothe your naked, and feed your hungry.
It is the duty of the Government to care for our poor, our unemployed.

The adjectives can function without a determiner if they are conjoined (cf 5.20):

He is acceptable to both (the) old and (the) young.

Also in some of-constructions:

The number of jobless is rising.

Type (b): the Dutch

7.12 Some adjectives denoting nationalities (cf 5.33/) can be noun-phrase
heads:
The industrious Dutch are admired by their neighbours.
You French and we British ought to be allies.

As with type (a) in 7.11, these noun phrases normally have generic
reference and take plural concord. The adjectives in question are
restricted to words ending in -(i)sh (eg: British, Spanish, Welsh), -ch (eg:
Dutch, French), -ese (eg: Chinese, Japanese), and the adjective Swiss.

NOTE These adjectives can in turn be modified by adjectives, which are normally
nonrestrictive:

the industrious Dutch [‘the Dutch, who are industrious’]

Postmodifying prepositional phrases and relative clauses can be either restrictive

or nonrestrictive (cf 17.3):

The Irish (who live) in America retain sentimental links with Ireland.
The Dutch, for many of whom speaking English is second nature, have
produced many of the greatest grammarians of the English language.

Type (c): the mystical

7.13 Some adjectives can function as noun-phrase heads with abstract
reference. They include, in particular, superlatives, in which case we can
sometimes insert a general noun like thing in its abstract sense:
 140 Adjectives and adverbs

The latest (thing/news) is that he is going to run for re-election.

Unlike types (a) and (b), type (c) adjectives functioning as noun-phrase
heads take singular concord:

They ventured into the unknown, which was . . .

The best is yet to come.

Type (c) is restricted chiefly to certain fixed expressions. Thus, for

example, the supernatural, the exotic, the unreal are more likely to occur
than the lovely, the foreign, the exciting, with abstract, generic reference.

NOTE [a] Some of these adjectives can be modified by adverbs:

The very best is yet to come.

He went from the extremely sublime to the extremely ridiculous.

[b] There are some set expressions in which an adjective with abstract reference is
the complement of a preposition:

He left for good, He enjoyed it to the full,

in public /privatej secret from bad to worse
in short out of the ordinary
on the sly in common

Verbless clauses
7.14 Adjectives can function as the sole realization of a verbless clause (c/14.6,
15.34/) or as the head of an adjective phrase realizing the clause:

The man, quietly assertive, spoke to the assembled workers.

Unhappy with the result, she returned to work.
Glad to accept, the boy nodded his agreement.
Anxious for a quick decision, the chairman called for a vote.
Long and untidy, his hair played in the breeze.

The clause is mobile:

The chairman called for a vote, anxious for a quick decision.

Its implied subject is usually the subject of the sentence (‘The chairman is
anxious for a vote’). However, if the clause contains additional clause
constituents, it can be related to a noun phrase other than the subject:

She glanced with disgust at the cat, now quiet in her daughter's lap.
Sometimes the adjective phrase can be replaced by an adverb phrase
with little change of meaning:

Rather nervous, the man opened the letter.

Rather nervously, the man opened the letter.

In this function, the adverb phrase is like the adjective phrase in referring
to an attribute of the subject (‘The man, who was rather nervous, opened
 Adjectives 141

the letter’), but it normally does so specifically in relation to the

performance of an action.

NOTE The implied subject of the clause can be the whole of the superordinate clause:

Strange, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings.

Most important, his report offered prospects of a great profit.
More remarkable still, he is in charge of the project.

Here too it is possible to substitute an adverb for the adjective with little or no
difference in meaning (cf content disjuncts in 8.42):

Strangely, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings.

Contingent verbless clauses

7.15 One type of verbless clause, which is often introduced by a subordinator,
expresses the circumstance or condition under which what is said in the
superordinate clause applies:

( Whether) right or wrong, he always comes off worst in an argument

because of his inability to speak cogently.
When fit, the Labrador is an excellent retriever.
If wet, these shoes should never be placed too close to the heat.

The contingent clause can also refer to the object of the superordinate
clause, in which case it usually appears in final position:
You must eat it when fresh.

NOTE The clause can also refer to the whole of the superordinate clause (which would be
realized in the subordinate clause by the pro-form it). In such cases the
subordinator cannot be omitted:

When (it is) necessary, he can be taken to the doctor.

You must come as soon as (it is) possible.

Exclamatory adjective clauses

7.16 Adjectives can be exclamations, with or without an initial wh-tlement:

Excellent! (How) wonderful7 (How) good of you!

Such clauses need not be dependent on any previous linguistic context, but
may be a comment on some object or activity in the situational context.

Syntactic subclassification of adjectives

Attributive only
7.17 In general, adjectives that are restricted to attributive position, or that
occur predominantly in attributive position, do not characterize the
referent of the noun directly. For example, old can be either a central
adjective or an adjective restricted to attributive position. In that old man
 142 Adjectives and adverbs

(the opposite of that young man), old is a central adjective, and can thus
also be predicative: That man is old. On the other hand, in the usual sense
of an old friend of mine [‘a friend of old, a long-standing friend’], old is
restricted to attributive position and cannot be related to My friend is old.
In this case, old is the opposite of new [‘recently acquired’]. The person
referred to is not being identified as old; it is his friendship that is old.
When adjectives characterize the referent of the noun directly (that old
man, My friend is old) they are termed inherent, when they do not {an old
friend of mine) they are termed noninherent (c/7.25).

NOTE A few adjectives with strongly emotive value are restricted to attributive position,
though the scope of the adjective clearly extends to the person referred to by the
noun, eg: you poor man, my dear lady, that wretched woman.

Intensifying adjectives
7.18 Some adjectives have a heightening effect on the noun they modify, or the
reverse, a lowering effect. At least three semantic subclasses of intensifying
adjectives can be distinguished:
(a) emphasizers
(b) amplifiers
(c) downtoners
(a) emphasizers have a general heightening effect and are generally
attributive only, eg:
a true scholar plain nonsense
a clear failure the simple truth
pure [‘sheer’] fabrication an outright lie
a real [‘undoubted’] hero sheer arrogance
a certain winner a sure sign
(b) amplifiers scale upwards from an assumed norm, and are central
adjectives if they are inherent and denote a high or extreme degree:

a complete victory —The victory was complete,

great destruction —The destruction was great.

On the other hand, when they are noninherent, amplifiers are attributive
only:

a complete fool/*The fool is complete.

a firm friend / *The friend is firm.
Complete refers to the completeness of the folly, and firm to the firmness of
the friendship (in which sense it is asterisked here).
In addition, amplifiers are only attributive when they are used as
emphasizers, conveying principally emphasis rather than degree. For
example, total in total nonsense is an emphasizer, while in total destruction
it is an amplifier and has a literal application (‘the destruction of
everything’). Hence the contrast:
 Adjectives 143

total nonsense f *The nonsense was total,

total destruction ~ The destruction was total.

Further examples of adjectives as amplifiers that are attributive only:

utter folly the absolute limit
a close friend a complete stranger
an extreme enemy his entire salary
a great supporter a perfect stranger
a strong opponent total irresponsibility

(c) downtoners have a lowering effect, usually scaling downwards

from an assumed norm. They are relatively few (eg: slight in a slight effort,
feeble in a feeble joke) and can be ignored for our present purpose, since
they are generally central adjectives.
Restrictive adjectives
7.19 Restrictive adjectives restrict the reference of the noun exclusively,
particularly, or chiefly. Examples, within noun phrases, include:
a certain person his chief excuse
the principal objection the exact answer
the same student the sole argument
the only occasion the specific point
a particular child the very man

Again, some of these have homonyms. For example, certain in a certain

person is a restrictive (equivalent to 'a particular person’), while in a
certain winner it is an intensifier (equivalent to ‘a sure winner’).

NOTE Notice the use of very as a restrictive adjective:

You are the very man I want.

Adjectives related to adverbs

7.20 Some noninherent adjectives that are only attributive can be related to
adverbs, even though they are not intensifying or restrictive. They include:
my former friend [‘formerly my friend’]
an old friend [‘a friend of old’]
past students [‘students in the past’]
a possible friend [‘possibly a friend’]
the present king [‘the king at present’]
an occasional visitor [‘occasionally a visitor’]

Some adjectives require implications additional to the adverbial:

the late president [‘the person who was formerly the president (but,is
now dead)’]

If the adjectives premodify agentive nouns, the latter also suggest a

relationship to an associated verb:
 144 Adjectives and adverbs

a big eater [‘someone who eats a lot’]

a clever liar [‘someone who lies cleverly’]
a hard worker [‘someone who works hard’]
a heavy smoker [‘someone who smokes heavily’]
a sound sleeper [‘someone who sleeps soundly’]

NOTE The noun can be inanimate:

rapid calculations [‘calculations made rapidly’]

occasional showers [‘showers occurring occasionally’]
a fast car [‘a car that can go fast’]
a fast road [‘a road on which one can drive fast’]

Adjectives related to nouns

7.21 Denominal adjectives (ie adjectives derived from nouns) tend to be
restricted to attributive position:
an atomic scientist [‘a scientist specializing in the theory of atoms’]
a criminal court [‘a court dealing with crime’]
a criminal lawyer [‘a lawyer specializing in cases of crime’]
a polar bear [‘a bear living near the pole’]
a medical school [‘a school for students of medicine’]
musical comedy [‘a comedy accompanied by music’]
a tidal wave [‘a wave produced by the tide’]
Predicative only
7.22 Adjectives that are restricted, or virtually restricted, to predicative
position are most like verbs and adverbs. They tend to refer to a (possibly
temporary) condition rather than to a characteristic. Perhaps the most
common are those referring to the health (or lack of health) of an animate
being:
He felt ill/poorly <both esp BrEj/well/faint/unwell
However, many people use such adjectives as attributives too; for
example:
A well person need see a doctor only for a periodic checkup.
A large group of adjectives that are restricted to predicative position
comprises adjectives which can take complementation (cf \63Sjf):

able {to + infinitive) fond {of)

afraid {that, of, about) glad {that, to)
answerable {to) happy {that, to, with, about)
averse {to, from) loath {to)
aware {of) subject {to)
conscious {that, of) tantamount {to)

Some of these adjectives must take complementation {eg: subject to and

tantamount to), and many normally do.
Many of these adjectives closely resemble verbs semantically:
 Adjectives 145

He is afraid to do it. [‘He fears to do it.’]

They are fond of her. [They like her.’]
That is tantamount to an ultimatum. [That amounts to an
ultimatum.’]

NOTE [a] Sick is the exception among the ‘health’ adjectives in that its attributive use is
very common:

the sick woman [The woman is sick.’]

[b] Some of the adjectives that are restricted to predicative position have
homonyms that can occur both predicatively and attributively, eg:

the conscious patient ~ The patient is conscious. [ = ‘awake’]

Cf: He is conscious of his faults. [ =‘aware’]

Semantic subdassificatiori of adjjectlwes

Stative/dynamic
7.23 Adjectives are characteristically stative. Many adjectives, however, can be
seen as dynamic. In particular, most adjectives that are susceptible to
subjective measurement are capable of being dynamic. Stative and
dynamic adjectives differ syntactically in a number of ways. For example,
a stative adjective such as tall cannot be used with the progressive aspect
or with the imperative:

*He’s being tall *Be tall.

On the other hand, we can use funny as a dynamic adjective:

I didn’t realize he was being funny. Her story was very funny.
Adjectives that can be used dynamically include brave, calm, cheerful,
conceited, cruel, foolish, friendly, funny, good, greedy, helpful, jealous,
naughty, noisy, tidy.

Gradable/nongradable
7.24 Most adjectives are gradable. Gradability is manifested through
comparison:

tall ~ taller ~ tall est

beautiful ~ more beautiful ~most beautiful

It is also manifested through modification by intensifies:

very tall so beautiful extremely useful
Gradability applies to adverbs as well as adjectives (cfl39ff).
All dynamic and most stative adjectives (eg: tall, old) are gradable;
some stative adjectives are not, principally denominal adjectives like
atomic (scientist) and hydrochloric (acid), and adjectives denoting proven¬
ance, eg: British.
 146 Adjectives and adverbs

Inherent/noniinhereiit
7.25 Most adjectives are inherent. For example, the inherent adjective in a
wooden cross applies to the referent of the object directly: a wooden cross
is also a wooden object. On the other hand, in a wooden actor the adjective
is noninherent: a wooden actor is not (presumably) a wooden man. Some
other examples:
INHERENT NONINHERENT
a firm handshake a firm friend
a perfect alibi a perfect stranger
a certain result a certain winner
a true report a true scholar

NOTE Modification of a noun by means of a noninherent adjective can be seen as an

extension of the basic sense of the noun. Thus a firm friend is 4a friend whose
friendship is firm’, and a perfect stranger is ‘a stranger who is perfectly strange’.

Ordering of adjectives in premodsfication

7.26 When two or more adjectives cooccur in attributive position, the order of
the adjectives is to a large extent determined by their semantic properties.
The principles for the order of items in premodification are discussed in
17.41. Here we will only mention the major positional ranges of adjectives
in premodifying position.
In the premodification structure of the noun phrase, adjectives are
placed between the determiners and the head of the noun phrase (c/17.2).
We distinguish four zones:
(I) PRECENTRAL
Here, after the determiners, is where peripheral, nongradable adjectives
are placed, in particular the intensifying adjectives (c/7.18); eg: certain,
definite, sheer, complete, slight.
(II) CENTRAL
This zone is the place of the central adjectives (c/7.1); eg: hungry, ugly,
funny, stupid, silent, rich, empty.
(III) POSTCENTRAL
This zone includes participles, eg: retired, sleeping, and colour adjectives,
eg: red, pink.
(IV) PREHEAD
This zone includes the least adjectival and the most nominal’ items, such
as denominal adjectives (c/ 7.21) denoting nationality, ethnic back¬
ground, eg: Austrian, Midwestern, and denominal adjectives with the
meaning ‘consisting of’, ‘involving’, ‘relating to’, eg: experimental,
statistical, political, statutory. In the prehead zone we also find nouns in
attributive position (c/further 17.35).
On the basis of this classification, we can expect the following order:

I + II certain important people

I Till the same restricted income
 Adverbs 147

I + IV your present annual turnover

II + III a funny red hat
II + IV an enormous tidal wave
1 + II + IV certain rich American producers

Adwerbs

Characteristics of the adverb

7.27 There are two types of syntactic functions that characterize the traditional
adverbs, but an adverb need have only one of these:
(a) clause element adverbial (c/7.31):
He quite forgot about it.

(b) premodifier of adjective and adverb (7.32/):

They are quite

f happily married.

The most conspicuous example of an adverb that functions only as a

modifier of adjectives and adverbs, and not as a clause element, is very.
(For very as an adjective, c/7.19 Note.)
Morphologically, we can distinguish three types of adverb, of which
two are closed classes (simple and compound), and one is an open class
(derivational):
(a) simple adverbs, eg: just, only, well. Many simple adverbs denote
position and direction, eg: back, down, near, out, under.
(b) compound adverbs, eg: somehow, somewhere, therefore.
(c) derivational adverbs. The majority of derivational adverbs have the
suffix by means of which new adverbs are created from adjectives
(including participial adjectives): odd ~ oddly; interesting ~ interest¬
ingly. Other, less common, derivational suffixes are:

-wise: clockwise -ways: sideways

-ward (5): northward(s) -style: cowboy-style
-fashion: schoolboy-fashion

The adverb and other word classes

Conjunct adverb and conjunction
7.28 A few adverbs functioning as conjuncts (c/8.43/r), such as so and yet,
resemble coordinators both in being connectives and in having certain
syntactic features. In particular, these adverbs cannot be transposed with
their clause in front of the preceding clause. Thus, the order of the
following two clauses (with the conjunct adverb so in the second clause) is
fixed:
 148 Adjectives and adverbs

We paid him a very large sum. So he kept quiet about what

he saw. [1]
If we reverse the order of the clauses, the relationship between the two
clauses is changed, and so must now refer to some preceding clause:
So he kept quiet about what he saw. We paid him a very
large sum. [2]
However, the conjunct adverbs differ from coordinators in that they can
be preceded by a coordinator:
We paid him a very large sum, and so he kept quiet about
what he saw. [la]
Reaction signal and initiator
7*29 Certain other items must be positioned initially. They are important
because of their high frequency in spoken English. Some are restricted to
the spoken language. These can be assigned to two small classes:
(i) ‘reaction signals’, eg: no, yes, yeah, yep, m, hm, mhm
(ii) ‘initiators’, eg: well, oh, ah; oh well, well then, why <esp AmE)

Adverb and preposition

730 There are various combinations of verbs plus particles (cf 163ff). Since a
preposition is normally followed by its complement, the particle is an
adverb if the verb is intransitive:

The plane has taken off.

When a noun phrase follows the particle, the latter may still be an adverb.
The particle in the phrasal verb in [1] is an adverb because it can be
transposed to follow the verb, as in [la]:

They turned on the light. [1]

They turned the light on. [la]
In contrast, to in [2] is a preposition, part of the prepositional verb take to,
because its position is fixed, as we see from [2a]:
They took to us. [2]
*They took us to. [2a]

Syntactic functions of adwerbs

Adverb as adverbial
731 adjuncts and subjuncts are relatively integrated within the structure of
the clause (c/8.13, 8.32). Examples of adjuncts:
Slowly they walked back home.
He spoke to me about it briefly.
 Adverbs 149

Examples of subjuncts:

We haven’t yet finished.

Would you kindly wait for me.
By contrast, disjuncts and conjuncts have a more peripheral relation in
the sentence. Semantically, disjuncts (c/8.40) express an evaluation of
what is being said either with respect to the form of the communication or
to its meaning. We identify disjuncts with the speaker’s authority for, or
comment on, the accompanying clause:
Frankly, I’m tired.
Fortunately, no one complained.
They are probably at home.
She wisely didn’t attempt to apologize.
conjuncts (cf 8.43) express the speaker’s assessment of the relation
between two linguistic units, eg:
She has bought a big house, so she must have a lot of money.
We have complained several times about the noise, and yet he does
nothing about it.
All our friends are going to Paris this summer. We, however, are
going to London.
If they open all the windows, then I’m leaving.
I didn’t invite her. She wouldn’t have come, anyway.

Adverb as modifier

Modifier of adjective
7.32 An adverb may premodify an adjective. Most commonly the adverb is an
intensifier or emphasizer (c/8.36/):

extremely dangerous really beautiful

deeply concerned very good
perfectly reasonable just impossible

Some premodifiers are related to adverbs that express such notions as

manner and means but also have some intensifying effect:
easily debatable quietly assertive
openly hostile readily available

Some premodifiers express ‘viewpoint’ (c/8.33):

politically expedient (‘expedient from a political point of view’)
theoretically sound technically possible

NOTE Enough may postmodify an adjective: old enough. Like indeed, it may also postmodify an
adverb, though indeed tends to go with a premodifying very: carefully enough, very easily
indeed.
 150 Adjectives and adverbs

Modifier of adverb and preposition

7.33 An adverb may premodify another adverb:
very heavily surprisingly well
extremely quickly so clearly

Adverbs modifying other adverbs can only be intensifies. On postmodi¬

fying enough and indeed, see 7.32 Note.
A few intensifying adverbs, particularly right and well, premodify
prepositions:
The nail went right through the wall.
He made his application well within the time.
Her parents are dead against the trip, (informal)
Modifier of pronoun, predeterminer, and numeral
7.34 Intensifying adverbs can premodify:
(a) indefinite pronouns {cf 6.2Iff):
Nearly (everybody) came to our party.

(b) predeterminers {cf 5.Iff):

They recovered roughly (half) their equipment.

(c) cardinal numerals {cf 6.28 Note [b]):

Over/under (two hundred) deaths were reported.

(d) ordinals and superlatives (c/7.39) in which case a definite determiner

is obligatory:
We counted approximately (the first) thousand votes.
She gave me almost (the largest) piece of cake.

Modifier of noun phrase

7.35 A few intensifiers may premodify noun phrases and precede the
determiner when they do so. The most common among adverbs are quite
and rather (esp BrE):

We had quite a party.

They were quite some players.
It was rather a mess, (esp BrE)
The predeterminers such and what have a similar function:

He is such a fool. What a mess they made!

A few intensifiers precede the indefinite article when it is equivalent to

the numeral one:

They will stay for about a week.

Nearly a thousand demonstrators attended the meeting.
 Correspondence between adjective and adverb 151

NOTE [a] Kind of and sort of (both informal) usually follow the determiner:

This must be a sort of joke.

Other <?/-phrases precede the determiner:

I had a bit of a shock.

[b] Ever can be an intensifier with interrogative wh-words:

Why ever should she apply for such a post?

7.36 Some time and place adverbs postmodify nouns:

the meeting yesterday her trip abroad

the meal afterwards the way ahead
Others may either premodify or postmodify:

the downstairs hall the hall downstairs

the above quotation the quotation above
A very few may only premodify:

an away game inside information

NOTE Else can postmodify:

[a] compound indefinite pronouns and compound adverbs in -body, -one, -where,
etc:

somebody else, someone else’s, nowhere else, something else

[b] interrogative w/z-pronouns and w/z-adverbs:

who else, what else, how else, when else

[c] singular all, much, a great/good deal, a lot, little:

all else, much else, little else.

Adverb as complement of preposition

7.37 Some place and time adverbs function as complement of a preposition:
over here since recently
near there till then
from abroad from now
from behind for ever

Correspondence between adjective and adverb

7.38 We have earlier observed (7.27) that open-class adverbs are regularly,
though not invariably, derived from adjectives by suffixation. There is
another sense in which adjectives and adverbs are related. A correspon¬
dence often exists between constructions containing adjectives and
 152 Adjectives and adverbs

constructions containing the corresponding adverbs. The simplest illus¬

tration is with adverbs equivalent to prepositional phrases containing a
noun phrase with the corresponding adjective as premodifier:

He liked Mary considerably.

~He liked Mary to a considerable extent.
She explained the process brilliantly.
~She explained the process in a brilliant manner.
He wrote frequently.
~ He wrote on frequent occasions.
Politically, it is a bad decision.
~From the political point of view, it is a bad decision.

Here are some other examples of adjective-adverb correspondences:

a heavy sleeper somebody who sleeps heavily
a former student somebody who was formerly a student
a faithful friend a friend who acts faithfully
a neat typewriter a typewriter that types neatly
his legible writing He writes legibly
a true scholar She is truly a scholar
the main reason It was mainly the reason

Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

7.39 With gradable adjectives and adverbs there are three types of
comparison:
(a) to a higher degree
(b) to the same degree
(c) to a lower degree
The three types of comparison are expressed by these means:
(a) Comparison to a higher degree is expressed by the inflected forms in
-er and -est or their periphrastic equivalents with more and most:

Anna is fc^everef \ than Susan.

imore clever )

Anna is the fc^everest \ student in the class.

I most clever )

(b) Comparison to the same degree is expressed by as (or sometimes

so). . . as:

Anna is as tall as Bill.

Anna is not <as X tall as John,

uo J
 Comparison of adjectives and adverbs 153

(c) Comparison to a lower degree is expressed by less and least:

This problem is less difficult than the previous one.
This is the least difficult problem of all.

For higher degree comparisons, English has a three-term inflectional

contrast between absolute, comparative, and superlative forms for
many adjectives and for a few adverbs. In Table 7.39 the three inflectional
forms are displayed with their periphrastic equivalents.

Table 739 Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

ABSOLUTE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

INFLECTION
adjective high higher highest
adverb soon sooner soonest

PERIPHRASIS
adjective complex more complex most complex
adverb comfortably more comfortably most comfortably

NOTE Comparatives of adjectives and adverbs, whether inflectional or periphrastic, can

be modified by intensifies:

much easier somewhat shorter

much more difficult a lot more inconvenient
very much better a good deal sooner
very much more carefully a great deal more easily

Similarly, superlatives can be modified by intensifies:

the youngest candidate ever

the most remarkable result ever
by far the best solution
the most absurd answer by far

Inflected superlatives can be premodified by very, if a definite determiner is

present: at the very last moment, the very youngest. But neither periphrastic
superlatives nor comparatives can be premodified by very.

7.40 The comparative is generally used to express a comparison between two

persons, two items, or two sets:
Jane is cleverer than her sister.
Jane is cleverer than all the other students in the class.
The superlative is generally used when more than two are involved:

Jane is the cleverest of the three sisters.

Jane is the cleverest of all the students in the class.

With the superlative, Jane is included in the group and compared with the
others.
 154 Adjectives and adverbs

NOTE More and most have other uses in which they are not equivalent to the comparison
inflections. Notice the paraphrases in the following two uses of more:

He is more than happy about it. [‘He is happy about it to a degree that is not
adequately expressed by the word happy']
He is more good than bad. [Tt is more accurate to say that he is good than
that he is bad.’]

She is more keen than wise. [‘She is keen rather than wise.’]

Most may have an intensifying meaning, as in Della is a most efficient publisher.

Comparison of adjectives

Irregular forms of comparison

7.41 A small group of highly frequent adjectives have comparative and
superlative forms with stems which are different from the base:

good ~ better ~best

bad ~ worse ~ worst
c ~further ~furthest
far
\ ~farther ~farthest

NOTE [a] Old is regularly inflected as older ~ oldest. In attributive position, particularly
when referring to the order of birth of members of a family, the irregular forms
elder ~ eldest are normally substituted (especially in BrE):

My elderI older sister is an artist.

His eldest/oldest son is still at school.

However, elder is not a true comparative in that it cannot be followed by than:

My sister is three years ^°^ider } ^an me*

[b] Well [‘in good health’] and ill [‘in bad health’ <esp BrE)] are inflected like good
and bad, respectively, for the comparative: He feels better/worse. He is better can
mean either (a) ‘He is well again’ or (b) ‘He is less ill’.

Regular forms of comparison

7.42 With adjectives taking the regular inflections, certain changes in spelling
or pronunciation may be introduced in the base of the adjective when the
suffixes are added.
(a) A single consonant at the end of the base is doubled before -er and
-est when the preceding vowel is stressed and spelled with a single letter (cf
the spelling of verb forms, 3.6):

big ~ bigger ~ biggest

But contrast:
neat ~ neater ~ neatest
thick ~ thicker ~ thickest
 Comparison of adjectives and adverbs 155

(b) In bases ending in a consonant followed by -y, y changes to -i before

-er and -est:

angry ~ angrier ~ angriest

(c) If the base ends in a mute (unpronounced) -e, this e is dropped before
the inflection:

pure ~ purer ~ purest

The same applies if the base ends in -ee:

free ~freer ~freest /'frinst/

(d) Syllabic ///, as in simple, ceases to be syllabic when inflections are

added.
(e) Even for speakers who do not pronounce final r, the r is pronounced
before the inflection, as in poorer.

NOTE There is a variant spelling in:

cruel / ~ crueller ~ cruellest

\ ~ crueler ~ crudest <esp AmE)

Choice between inflectional and periphrastic comparison

7.43 (a) Monosyllabic adjectives normally form their comparison by
inflection:

low ~ lower ~ lowest

(b) Many disyllabic adjectives can also take inflections, though they
have the alternative of the periphrastic forms:
cpoliter jmore polite.
Her children are
\ (the) politest/ (the) most polite.
Disyllabic adjectives that can most readily take inflected forms are those
ending in an unstressed vowel, syllabic ///, or r, eg\

-y: early, easy, funny, happy, noisy, wealthy, pretty

-ow: mellow, narrow, shallow
-le: able, feeble, gentle, noble, simple

(c) Trisyllabic or longer adjectives can only take periphrastic forms:

beautiful
~ more beautiful [but not: * beaut fuller]
~ the most beautiful [but not: *beautifullest ]

Adjectives with the negative un-prefix, such as unhappy and untidy, are
exceptions:
~ unhappier ~ unhappiest ~ untidier ~ untidiest
 156 Adjectives and adverbs

NOTE [a] Participle forms which are used as adjectives regularly take only periphrastic
forms:
interesting ~ more interesting ~most interesting
wounded ~more wounded ~most wounded
worn ~more worn ~most worn

[b] Most adjectives that are inflected for comparison can also take the periphrastic
forms with more and most. With more, they seem to do so more easily when they
are predicative and are followed by a than-clause:
He is more wealthy than I thought.

Comparison of adverbs

7.44 For a small number of adverbs, the inflected forms used for comparison
are the same as those for adjectives. As with adjectives, there is a small
group with comparatives and superlatives formed from different stems.
The comparative and superlative inflections are identical with those for
the corresponding adjectives good, bad, and far, and the quantifiers much
and little:

badly ~ worse ~ worst

well ~ better ~best
little ~ less {lesser) ~ least
( ~further ~ furthest
far
1 ~farther ~farthest
much ~ more ~ most
Adverbs that are identical in form with adjectives take inflections if the
adjectives do so: fast, hard, late, long, quick. They follow the same spelling
and phonological rules as for adjectives, eg: early ~ earlier ~ earliest:
The unmarked term in measure expressions
7.45 We use the adjective old in measure expressions (x years old) when we
refer to a person’s age, regardless of the age:

Mr Jespersen is 75 years old.

His granddaughter is two years old.
In the scale of measurement, old indicates the upper range {He is old) but it
is also the unmarked term for the whole range, so that She is two years old
is equivalent to Her age is two years. The measure adjectives used in this
way are the following, with the marked term in parentheses:

deep {shallow) high (low) long {short) old {young) tall {short)
thick {thin) wide {narrow)

These unmarked terms are also used in /zow-questions and, again, they
do not assume the upper range. How old is she? is equivalent to What is her
age? Other adjectives are also used in the same way in /zow-questions, eg:
 Comparison of adjectives and adverbs 157

big (small), bright (dim), fat (thin), heavy (light), large (little), strong
(weak).

How heavy is your computer?

How accurate is that clock?

Some adverbs are also used as an unmarked term in /z<?w-questions, eg:

How much does it cost?
How far did you drive today?

NOTE If we use the marked term, as in How young is John?, we are asking a question that
presupposes that the relevant norm is towards the lower end of the scale, ie that
John is young, whereas the unmarked term in How old is John? does not
presuppose that John is old. Notice that neither term is neutral in exclamations:

How young he is! [‘He is extremely young!’]

How old he is! [‘He is extremely old!’]

Bibliographical note
On adjectives and adverbs, see Bolinger (1967a); Vendler (1968); Warren (1984).
On adverbs, see bibliographical note in Chapter 8.
On comparison and intensification, see Bolinger (1967b, 1972a); Bresnan
(1973); Gnutzman et al. (1973); Rusiecki (1985).
 (o)
(0) The semantics and grammar ©f adwerbials

8.1 The adverbial element (A) in clause structure has a wider range of roles
than the other four elements, subject (S), verb (V), object (O), and
complement (C). This is reflected in its having a wider range of meanings,
of forms, of positions, and of grammatical functions; not least, it is
reflected in our ability to include several adverbial elements within a single
sentence. The following example illustrates not only multiple occurrence
but also a variety of meanings, forms, positions, and grammatical
relations:

Next Tuesday [Al], I shall probably [A2] visit her mother in London
[A3] for an hour or so [A4] to see if she's feeling better [A5], unless
she telephones me before that [A6].

Semantic roles

Space

8.2 Adverbials can express five different types of spatial meaning:

(a) Position, as in:

The dog was asleep on the grass.

(b) Direction, as in:

They walked down the hill.

(c) Goal, as in:

She hurried to the station.

(d) Source, as in:

This book cannot be taken from the library.

(e) Distance, as in:

We mustn’t go very much further.

Time

8.3 Adverbials distinguish five types of temporal meaning and there are
analogies both semantic and formal with the spatial meanings of 8.2:
(a) Position, as in:
 Semantic roles 159

She was born in 1980.

(b) Duration offorward span, as in:

I shall be in Chicago until Thursday.

(c) Duration of backward span, as in:

We have been at the airport since midday.

(d) Frequency, as in:

They very seldom went to see their parents.

(e) Relationship between one time and another, as in:

She must still be in her office.

NOTE Duration may indicate a span that does not distinguish between ‘forward’ and
‘backward’; for example:

I forget exactly when I arrived but I am staying here for six months
altogether.

Process

8.4 Here we have four types of meaning:

(a) Manner, as in:

The minister explained his policy very clearly.

(b) Means, as in:

By her insight, she grasped the patient’s real problem.

(c) Instrument, as in:

I have difficulty eating with chopsticks.

(d) Agency, as in:

Penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming.

Respect

8.5 An adverbial can be used to provide a point of reference with respect to

which the clause in question derives its truth value. For example:
She helped him with his research.

In the following, if legally meant lawfully, not illegally’, the adverbial

would be the manner subclass of process (8.4(a)); normally, however, it
would mean ‘on points of law, with respect to law’:
They are advising me legally.
 160 The semantics and grammar of adverbials

Contingency
8.6 Here we have six types of meaning expressed adverbially:
(a) Cause, as in:
She died of cancer.

(b) Reason, as in:

He bought the book through an interest in metaphysics.

(c) Purpose, as in:

He bought the book to study metaphysics.

(d) Result, as in:

He read the book carefully, so he acquired a good knowledge of
metaphysics.

(e) Condition, as in:

If he reads the book carefully, he will acquire a good knowledge of
metaphysics.

(f) Concession, as in:

Though he read the book carefully, he didn’t achieve much
knowledge of metaphysics.

Modality
8.7 The truth value of a sentence can be changed {eg enhanced or diminished)
by the use of adverbials. We distinguish three ways:
(a) Emphasis, as in:
She certainly helped him with his research.
(b) Approximation, as in:
They are probably going to emigrate.

(c) Restriction, as in:

I shall be in Chicago only until Thursday.

Degree
8.8 Like adverbials of modality in changing the truth value of a sentence,
adverbials of degree add a special semantic component, gradability. There
are two types:
(a) Amplification, as in:

He badly needed consolation.

(b) Diminution, as in:

 Semantic roles 161

She helped him a little with his research.

Forma! realization

The A-element can be realized by a wide range of linguistic structures:

An adverb phrase (2.4) with a closed-class (2.6) adverb as head:
(Just) then, the telephone rang.

An adverb phrase with an open-class (2.6) adverb as head:

You should have opened it ((a bit) more) carefully.
A noun phrase (11. Iff):

They had travelled a very long way.

A prepositional phrase (9.1):

Rowena hurried across the field.

A verbless clause (14.3):

When in doubt the answer is ‘no’.

A nonfinite clause (14.3):

She realized, lying there, what she must do.

A finite clause (14.3):

We sent for you because you were absent yesterday.

Some of these realization types occur more frequently than others:

prepositional phrases are very common and nonfinite clauses relatively
rare, for example. Some are particularly associated with specific
meanings, grammatical functions, and adverbial positions: noun phrases
with time adjuncts, for example, and finite clauses with end position.

Position

As compared with other sentence elements (2.3), the A-element can be

placed with relative freedom in several positions in a sentence:

/ By then the book should have been returned to the library.

iM The book by then should have been returned to the library.
M The book should by then have been returned to the library.
mM The book should have by then been returned to the library.
eM The book should have been by then returned to the library.
iE The book should have been returned by then to the library.
E The book should have been returned to the library by then.
As the notation implies, there are three main positions: I(nitial),
M(edial), and E(nd), but there are three subordinate variants of M
(initial, medial, and end) and one of E (initial). / and E are self-
 162 The semantics and grammar of adverbials

explanatory, but the primary M position may need clarification. It is the

position immediately following the operator (2.10) or the copula be:

Timothy has at last finished his thesis.

Timothy is at last a doctor of philosophy.
Where no operator is present, there can be no variants such as eM, and M
is simply the position between the S and the F; it is similarly the position
before F when the S is ellipted:
The play daringly explores a hitherto forbidden subject.
Sharon spoke at this point and strongly supported the motion.
The choice of position for an adverbial is determined by semantic and
grammatical factors as we shall see in the course of this chapter, but also
by the demands of information processing and the principle of end-weight
(18.5 and Note [a]). If no special factors determine otherwise, the
adverbial is placed at E, the position in fact taken in the majority of cases.

NOTE Since the majority of verb phrases combine either the main verb alone or the main
verb preceded by only one auxiliary (the operator), it is natural that the M position
is normally felt to be immediately before the main verb form. This helps to account
for the tendency (despite long-standing disapproval) to place an adverbial
between to and an infinitive (‘the split infinitive’). Compare the similarity between
the following:

Martha always finishes first.

Martha had always finished first.
Martha tried to always finish first.

Grammatical functions

8.12 In terms of their grammatical functions, adverbials fall into four main
categories:
Adjunct
Subjunct
Disjunct
Conjunct
We shall deal with these in turn, along with their respective subcategories.

Adjuncts

8.13 More than other adverbials, adjuncts have grammatical properties

resembling the sentence elements S, C, and O. Like them, adjuncts can be
the focus of a cleft sentence (18.18/):
 Grammatical functions 163

Hilda [S] helped Tony [O] because of his injury [A].

It was Hilda that helped Tony because of his injury.
It was Tony that Hilda helped because of his injury.
It was because of his injury that Hilda helped Tony.
The parallels extend to the potentiality for being the focus of subjuncts
(8.32#):

Only Hilda helped Tony ... [S]

Hilda helped Tony only because of his injury. [A]
to elicitation by question forms:
Who helped Tony? [S]
Who (m) did Hilda help? [O]
Why did Hilda help Tony? [A]

and to alternative interrogation and negation:

Did Hilda help Tony or did Marjorie (help him)? [S]
Did she help him because of his injury or (did she help him)
because she was bored? [A]
Hilda didn’t help Tony but (she helped) Bill. [O]
Hilda didn’t help Tony because of his injury but (she
helped him) because she was bored. [A]
Finally, irrespective of their position (8.11), adjuncts function like other
post-operator elements in coming within the scope of predication ellipsis
or pro-forms (12.20, 12.6^). In consequence, the following sentences are
synonymous:

Grace became a teacher [C] in 1981 [A] and Hamish also became a
teacher [C] in 1981 [A].
In 1987, Grace became a teacher and so also did Hamish.

But while these characteristics hold generally for all adjuncts, there are
three subcategories ranging in ‘centrality’ from the obligatory predication
adjunct (which resembles an object in being both relatively indispensable
and fixed in position) to the sentence adjunct whose position is more
variable and whose presence is always optional:

r obligatory
{predication
^optional

sentence
Predication adjuncts
8.14 As their name implies, the relations of predication adjuncts are not so
much with a whole sentence as with its predication, the post-operator
section (2.10). This is true for both of the following:
 164 The semantics and grammar of adverfoials

She put the letter on the kitchen table. [1]

She found the letter on the kitchen table. [2]

But whereas in [2] the adverbial is optional and its omission leaves an
acceptable sentence (‘She found the letter’), omission is impossible with [1]
(*‘She put the letter’) where the adverbial is thus an obligatory component
of the sentence.
Predication adjuncts are normally placed at E but may be at iE if
another post-verb element is lengthy and complex:

She put on the table a letter she had just received from her lawyer.

In striving for rhetorical effect, such adjuncts can even appear at /; for
example in highlighting a balance or contrast, as in:

From Australia he came and to Australia he has returned.

Sentence adjuncts
8.15 Since we can utter ‘Ralph kissed his mother’ without needing to add an
adjunct, it follows that in each of the following the adjunct is optional:
Ralph kissed his mother on the cheek. [1]
Ralph kissed his mother on the platform. [2]

But only in the second can the adjunct seem equally natural at /:
On the platform, Ralph kissed his mother.

This is a characteristic of the sentence adjunct, demonstrating its relatively

‘peripheral’ relationship to the rest of the sentence as compared with the
relatively ‘central’ relationship of the predication adjunct in [1].
But the difference does not necessarily lie, as in [1] and [2], in the
adjuncts themselves. The same phrase can be used as either predication or
sentence adjunct, according as it pinpoints new information (18.4) in the
predication or provides general background information for the sentence
as a whole:

(I looked everywhere for it and eventually) I found the letter

in the kitchen. [3]
(I had totally forgotten about the matter, but then,
almost by chance,) I found the letterQ in the kitchen. [4]

The contexts supplied show that the adjunct in [3] is predicational while
that in [4] is sentential. The parenthesized comma further suggests the
relatively peripheral relation of the adjunct* which might occupy a
separate tone unit in speech (18.3), as it certainly would if moved from E:

. . . but then, in the kitchen, almost by chance, I found the letter.

NOTE In many cases, it is convenient to see predication adjuncts as ‘object-related’ and

sentence adjuncts as ‘subject-related’. Thus in the following the adjunct would
normally be interpreted as relating to the date of the disaster:
 Grammatical functions 165

We foresaw a disaster in June.

By contrast, the adjunct in the following seems naturally to relate to the subject
and therefore to the time of the foreseeing:

In June, we foresaw a disaster.

The semantic roles of adjuncts

Adjuncts of space
8.16 Spatial adjuncts realize the roles set out in 8.2 chiefly by means of
prepositional phrases since these roles can be clearly and conveniently
specified through the respective prepositional meanings (9.4ff). But noun
phrases can be used as predication adjuncts of distance:

They travelled /a very long way-

(.several miles.

So too adjuncts of direction with the determiners this, that, and which:
He came this way but which direction did he go then?
Clausal realization is common and is convenient in enabling one to
transcend the specifics of location or even semantic role:

She still lives where she was born.

They want to know where we are sending them.
These examples reflect the fact that space adjuncts are elicited (again often
neutralizing semantic role) by the question where:

Where did you stay? (position)

Where are they going? (direction)
Where is the train coming from? (source)

But cf how far as in:

How far did you drive yesterday? (distance)

NOTE [a] The spatial pro-forms here and there have ‘near’ and ‘far’ orientation as with
this and that (6.19).
[b] The position role with respect to persons is often expressed by a wfi/z-phrase:

Where is Mildred? She is (staying) with her brother.

8.17 Direction adjuncts (whether goal or source) can normally be used only
with verbs of motion or with verbs used dynamically so as to allow a literal
or metaphorical motional meaning:

The boy kicked the ball through the open window.

She was speaking into a tiny microphone.
By contrast, position and distance adjuncts can be used freely with verbs
in stative or dynamic use:
166 The semantics and grammar of adverhials

in London.
They live i
20 kilometres from here.

He’s travelling \in Yorkshire at present.

la long way.

With be, we can have position adjuncts:

Charles is on the top floor.

Given that the verb is appropriate, more than one space adjunct can be
used in the same sentence; distance and position as in [1], direction and
position as in [2], distance and direction as in [3]:
They swam a mile [Al] in the open sea [A2]. [1]
He fell into the water [Al] near that rock [A2]. [2]
She walked a few steps [Al] towards him [A2]. [3]

Since space adjuncts (especially of position) can enter a hierarchical

relationship, we can also have two adjuncts even of the same semantic
role:

Many people eat in restaurants [Al] in London [A2].

The order here is essential in order to match the logical relationship, but
since the larger location is relatively peripheral, this referring adjunct (but
not the other) may be at /:

In London, many people eat in restaurants.

Direction adjuncts of goal and source may also be paired, with a choice of
order dependent largely on information processing (\%Aff)\

w r, (from Cairo [Al] to Istanbul [A2].

CW Uo Istanbul [Al] from Cairo [A2].
When adjuncts are coordinated, they must have the same semantic role:

We can meet you in the theatre or at the station.

I drove down Gower Street and into University College.

Irrespective of semantic role, space adjuncts are normally at E, but where

two or more adjuncts are clustered at E, they are ordered as follows:

distance-direction (source, goal) - position

For example:

She walked a few steps [Al] towards him [A2] in the darkened room
[A3].

Adjuncts of position can be more easily moved to /:

On the top of the building, two men were gesticulating wildly.

Some adjuncts, especially if short, can also be at M:

 Grammatical functions 167

You could there catch a train to Manchester.

With be, it is very common for there and here to be at /, with subject-verb
inversion (18.16) unless the subject is a pronoun:

There he was, waiting in the cold.

Here is the book.

In a similar way, predication adjuncts of position and direction can occur

at /:

~ (swooped the hawk,

fit swooped.

In a neighbouring street lived my mother.

In negative sentences, predication adjuncts must be at E:

My mother did not live in a neighbouring street.

But sentence adjuncts can be at /and remain within the scope of negation:
In Delhi, it sometimes did not rain for months on end.

Adjuncts of time
8.19 We tend to use the language of spatial dimensions figuratively when we
refer to time. In consequence, adjuncts of time are predominantly realized
by prepositional phrases, with figurative adaptation of the prepositional
meanings (cf 9.9ff). For example:

The music stopped at midnight.

On the following day, we decided to go out for a picnic.
I completed the painting in two days.

But in addition, a wider range of structures is available for time than for
any other type of adjunct. Noun phrases, as in:
They visit her every month.
Finite verb clauses, as in:

Stay in bed until your temperature comes down.

Nonfinite clauses, as in:

Travelling on the Continent, I miss the English pub.

Verbless clauses, as in:

I go to the theatre as often as possible.

Closed-class adverb phrases, as in:

She (almost) always leaves home before 8 a.m.

Open-class adverb phrases, as in:
 168 The semantics and grammar of adverbials

He spoke to me about it quite recently.

Time-position adjuncts
8.20 Time-position adjuncts can be elicited by the question word when and the
time specified may be narrowly stated or left rather vague:

When did she arrive? / ^ 10*15.

I Some hours ago.

Moreover, the time position itself may be narrow as in [1] or broad as in

[2], irrespective of the specification:

in 1756.
Mozart was born
in the eighteenth century. [1]
in the eighteenth century.
Mozart
in a period of great musical creativity. P]
The general anaphoric pro-form for time-position reference is then and it
is normally associated with the past, especially in contrast to now:
I worked in publishing then, but now I work for an advertising firm.

But then can refer equally to a time in the future:

She will telephone you tomorrow afternoon and hopes that you will
be able to speak to her then.

Nor is now necessarily confined to present-time reference; in the following

example, now means ‘by that time’, ‘then’:
They had been courting for two years and he now felt that she knew
his worst faults.
Like spatial adjuncts of position, time-position adjuncts can be in a
hierarchical relation, usually with the one denoting the longer or
superordinate period coming second:
I’ll see you at nine [Al] on Monday [A2].
The doctor wants to see you again [Al] afterwards [A2].

But this sequence can be readily reversed if end-weight (18.5 Note [a]) or
other communicative requirement is to be served:
I lived theie in the fifties [Al] when my first child was born [A2].

NOTE Out of context, a w/ze/z-clause may be ambiguous:

Tell me when youre ready.

This may be a noun clause as object (‘Let me know the time at which you’ll be
ready") or a time-position adjunct (‘ When you’re ready, let me know’).
 Grammatical functions 169

Adjuncts of duration and span

8.21 Adjuncts may express duration of specific (‘for ten minutes’) or indefinite
(‘for a short time’) length, the durations in question being in the past, the
present, or the future:

She worked in China for several years. [1]

At present his grandchildren are staying with him for a few days. [2]
I intend to go skiing for three weeks. [3]

‘NOW’
h ? V -*
_4_

-
X

a
1
1
11

A
11
f
1

ii
i
i
i i
i
i i
‘Several ‘a few days’ ‘three
years’ weeks’

[1] [2] [3]

Although in [3], we know the precise duration, in none of the sentences [1],
[2], or [3] can we relate the beginning or end of the periods mentioned to
the speaker’s ‘now’. By contrast, adjuncts of forward and backward span
specifically relate duration to such a ‘now’ (or other fixed point of
orientation), though again without necessarily being definite about the
length of the duration itself.
Forward span is particularly associated with till and until:

I shall be in my office until five o'clock.

‘NOW’
_V_
-►!
‘five o’clock’

The beginning of the time span is fixed in relation to the speaker’s

orientation point, but its terminus is as indicated by the adjunct only if the
clause is positive:

He waited until she returned.

‘THEN’ ‘she returned’

V v
 170 The semantics and grammar of adverlbiaSs

By contrast:

He didn’t wait until she returned.

‘THEN’ ‘she returned’

V ? V
-A---wait-► 1

With negative clauses and verbs of momentary meaning, on the other

hand, the span indicated by the adjunct marks the extent of the
nonoccurrence of the momentary action:

He didn’t arrive until she returned.

‘THEN’ ‘she returned’

V V
A
A - -period of nonarrival -- -^
‘he arrived’

Compare also:
I slept till nine o'clock.

‘THEN’
v ‘nine o’clock’

A slept
A

I didn’t sleep till nine o'clock.

‘THEN’ ‘nine o’clock’

V V_i
a-slept-►

8.22 Backward span is particularly associated with since and the perfect aspect:

I have been in my office since nine o'clock.

‘NOW’
V
-
‘nine o’clock’
 Grammatical functions 171

But adjuncts with since must specify a definite starting point; if the span is
more general, for can be used or a noun phrase without for:

I have been in my office (for) several hours.

‘NOW’
V

If the backward span is not to be related to the speaker’s orientation point,

the verb phrase is not in the perfect, and we are now dealing simply with
duration which may be definite or indefinite. For example:
. 1 . (for three years.
She was running her own business < /r ^ . ,
v. (for) quite a long time.

‘NOW’
__V
|-<--y\
‘running her
own business’

Finally, we may note since-clauses according as these clauses do or do

not have verbs in the perfect:
She has become much better off since she has worked with us. [1]
She has become much better off since she worked with us. [2]

In both cases, the period of improvement extends to the present, but

whereas [1] entails that she still works ‘with us’, [2] implies that she does
not. If the verb in the since-clause does not itself involve duration, on the
other hand, the contrast is less absolute:
csince he has joined the army. [3]
He’s been getting bad headaches
X since he joined the army. [4]
While [3] certainly entails that he is still in the army, [4] leaves it open as to
whether or not he is still in the army.

NOTE [a] Span may be specified also by from, up to, over, by, before, and by noun phrases
like this past (month), these last (few days), this next year:

We’ll be here up to midday.

She has worked here only this last week.

The beginning and end of a span can be indicated by the correlatives from . . . to
<(esp BrE), from . . . through <(esp AmE), between . . . and:

The office is closed between one and two o 'clock.

 172 The semantics and grammar of adverbiafs

[h] Especially informally, especially in AmE, and especially where the main clause
refers to the present, backward span can be expressed without the perfect:

Things are much worse since you left.

I never saw you here before.

[c] Adjuncts of duration and span usually answer questions of the form How
long . . . ? or more specifically Till when . . . ? Since when . . . ?

Time-frequency adjuncts
Definite frequency
8.23 It is necessary to distinguish frequency of occasion (‘How many times?’)
from frequency of period within which occasions took place (‘How
often?’). The former are normally predication adjuncts, the latter sentence
adjuncts, and when in a hierarchical relation these are placed in the more
peripheral position:
Veronica came to see me twice, [occasion]
Veronica came to see me daily, [period]
Veronica came to see me twice [o] daily [p].
Each year [p] I have to make a presidential address three times [o].

Indefinite frequency
8.24 Here we must, on both semantic and grammatical grounds, distinguish
four subsets:
(a) . Denoting usual occurrence {normally, generally, ordinarily, etc), as in
Jenny usually goes to bed before midnight.
Since one can speak of something normally not occurring, it is a
characteristic of these adjuncts to be sentential and to be capable of
preceding a clausal negative:
Usually, Jenny doesn’t go to bed before midnight.

(b) Denoting universal frequency {always, continually, permanently, etc),

as in

He has been askingfor you incessantly.

(c) Denoting high frequency {often, time and again, repeatedly, etc), as in

She has had plays broadcast frequently.

(d) Denoting low frequency {occasionally, rarely, seldom, never, etc), as in
I very seldom play golf these days.
If placed at /, some items in (d) can oblige us to invert subject and
operator:

Never have I experienced such rudeness.

 Grammatical functions 173

Unlike the adjuncts in (a) and (b), some of those in (c) and (d) can be used
in antithetic sentence sequences:

Often he takes his medicine, but often he doesn’t.

She occasionally greets me but occasionally she doesn’t.
Items from (a) and other subsets as sentence adjuncts can readily cooccur
with predication adjuncts from (b), (c), or (d):

Generally (a), they are continually (b) complaining.

He {almost) never (d) goes out at night, normally (a).
Sometimes (d), the dog barks repeatedly (c).

Time-relationship adjuncts
8.25 The time adjuncts which express a relationship between two time
positions are of three types:
(a) Typically denoting a temporal sequence, as in
When did you previously go to the dentist?
(b) Typically implying a concessive relation, as in

I don’t understand (even) now.

(c) Typically contrasting one time with another, as in
Maureen should complain about it again.

NOTE But time relationship is often expressed by subjuncts (cf 8.35) such as already, still,
yet.

Positions of time adjuncts

8.26 Although like other adjuncts, time adjuncts are most frequently at E, all
types can readily take the ‘scene-setting’ / position:
In 1982, the economy started to recover.
For many years, no one seemed interested in buying the house.
Normally, late nights have a bad effect on me.
Even after that, he refused to cooperate.

But M is also common for time adjuncts, especially those realized by

adverbs:
She has recently completed a new play.
We may not often get such an opportunity.
Where time adjuncts cooccur in the same sentence, time duration tends
to be most ‘central’, time position most ‘peripheral’, so that if the three
main types all occurred at E they would most likely be ordered as in:

I was there for a short while [dur] every day or so [freq] last year, [pos]
 174 The semantics and grammar of adverhiais

NOTE Placing of a time adjunct is acutely affected if there is a decided orientation

towards either the subject or the object; c/8.15 Note.

Process adjuncts
Manner adjuncts
8.27 Manner adjuncts are chiefly realized by adverb phrases, by /z'A:e-phrases,
^-clauses, and by prepositional or noun phrases involving such nouns as
way and manner, for example:

She looked at him coldly.

He walks like his father.
Please don’t speak in that rude way.
They cook ((in) the) French style.
I wish I could write as you do.

Manner adjuncts are almost always at E, but although thus associated

with the greatest rhetorical weight in a clause, there is no simple
interrogative device for eliciting them.
Adjuncts of means, instrument, and agency
8.28 There are close semantic similarities between means, instrument, and
agent, and there is considerable overlap in realization. The means and the
agent are often expressed with /rephrases, but the latter is grammatically
distinct in correlating with the passive (and hence corresponding to a
transitive clause); for example:

He was killed by a terrorist. (~ A terrorist killed him.)

A means adjunct, on the other hand, can easily occur in a transitive clause:
She influenced me by her example.

Instrument adjuncts differ from both means and agent adjuncts in

generally being realized by wz7/z-phrases:

He was killed with a hunting knife.

But means and instrument adjuncts can share realization with adverbs;
thus means in:

They decided to treat the patient surgically. ( = ‘by means of

surgery’)

Similarly, instrument in:

She examined the specimen microscopically, (where the adverb is

here intended to mean ‘with a microscope’)

NOTE [a] If in the last example, microscopically meant ‘in microscopic detail’, the adjunct
would be one of manner (8.27) and could be gradable, ‘(quite) microscopically’,
[b] Means and instrument adjuncts can be elicited by /zow-questions: ‘How are you
travelling to Hamburg?’ ‘By air/By Lufthansa’.
 Grammatical functions 175

[c] All process adjuncts are normally placed at E, though manner adjuncts can be
at M. Cooccurrence of process adjuncts is by no means unusual; for example:

She was accidentally [manner] struck with a racket [instrument] by her

partner [agent].

Adjuncts of respect
8.29 A wide range of realization is available for adjuncts that express the
respect in which the truth value of a sentence is being claimed. For
example: (legally.
I on legal issues.
A neighbour is advising me <. so far as legal matters are concerned.
1 in respect to law.
\from a legal standpoint.

Respect is a relationship often expressed by subjuncts or disjuncts (8.33,

8.41), but when adjuncts are involved they are usually predicational and
are placed at E.
Adjuncts of contingency
8.30 Contingency relations are commonly expressed by disjuncts (8.41), but
adjuncts are often used for reason and its correlate purpose, both of which
can be elicited by the same question forms, Why ... ? What.. .fori as in:

tt i* j (because he was angry, [reason]

He did it < 7. .. * ; ,
l to relieve his anger, [purpose]

As well as by finite clauses, reason adjuncts are realized by prepositional

phrases and nonfinite clauses; for example:
She made the sacrifice for her son.
There were many deaths from malnutrition.
With him being so angry, I didn’t tell him the worst part.

Purpose adjuncts are realized by nonfinite (infinitive) clauses:

din order) ^
The driver slowed down to avoid an accident.
l (so as) )

In formal style, finite clauses can occur:

Inoculation must be carried out lest the disease spread.
He died (in order) that others might live.
But some forms of finite clause are used more generally:

Turn the gas off in case there's an explosion.

We’d better leave now so we can get home before dark.
When the concessive relation is expressed by an adjunct, this takes the
form of a prepositional phrase:
She gave the lecture despite her illness.
 176 The semantics and grammar of adverbial©

Contingency adjuncts are usually sentential and although normally at

E they are commonly (especially those of purpose and concession) placed
at /.

Relative positions of adjuncts

8.31 Looking now at the whole range of adjunct types (8.16-8.30), we can
consider some general principles of their relative ordering in cooccurence:
(a) the order, especially of sentence adjuncts, can be dictated by such
considerations as what can be taken for granted and what needs to
have most impact (cf ISAff on information processing);
(b) shorter adjuncts tend to precede longer ones.
But subject to (a) and (b), where adjuncts cluster at E, they will tend to
occur in the following sequence:

respect - process - space - time - contingency

It is less usual to find more than one adjunct at /, but any such cluster
would tend to follow a converse order; eg: space (or process) - time.

Subjuncts

8.32 Subjuncts have a subordinate and parenthetic role in comparison with

adjuncts; they lack the grammatical parity with other sentence elements
that we saw as criterial in 8.13. There are two main types, each with
subtypes (Fig 8.32). Those with narrow orientation are chiefly related to
the predication or to a particular part of the predication. Those with wide
orientation relate more to the sentence as a whole, but show their subjunct
character in tending to achieve this through a particular relationship with
one of the clause elements, especially the subject.

viewpoint
wide orientation
courtesy
subject
SUBJUNCT
item
predication
narrow orientation emphasizer
intensifier
focusing

Fig 8.32

Wide orientation

Viewpoint subjuncts
8.33 The subjuncts which express a viewpoint are largely concerned with the
semantic concept of respect, are predominantly expressed by nongradable
(7.1) adverb phrases, and are characteristically placed at /. For example:
 Sufajumcts 177

Architecturally, the plans represent a magnificent conception.

But there can be other forms of realization:

From a personal viewpoint, he is likely to do well in this post.

Looked at politically, the proposal seems dangerous.

Especially in AmE, we find adverbs in -wise:

Weatherwise, the outlook is dismal.

Courtesy subjuncts
834 A small number of adverbs in -Zy, along with please, serve to convey a
formulaic tone of politeness to a sentence. They normally occur at M:
You are cordially invited to take your places.
He asked if I would please read his manuscript.

Courtesy subjuncts obviously involve the semantic category manner but

are quite distinct from manner adjuncts. Contrast:
She kindly [subjunct] offered me her seat.
(‘She was kind enough to offer . . .’)
She offered me her seat kindly [adjunct].
(‘She offered me her seat in a kind manner.’)

NOTE Though thanks (or thank you) communicatively matches please as a response
form, there are few grammatical similarities except that both can occur in
isolation:

‘Would you like a drink?’ ‘Please\

‘Here is your drink.’ ‘Thanks'.

While please usually occurs at M ( = I with the imperative), thanks is at E :

‘(Will you) please have another helping.’

‘I really have had enough, thanks'

Narrow orientation

Item subjuncts
835 The commonest item to be associated with subjuncts is the subject of a
clause, with the subjunct operating in the semantic area of manner but
distinguished from the corresponding manner adjunct by being placed at /
or M:

She has consistently opposed the lawyers’s arguments.

This does not mean that her own arguments have been conducted
consistently but that she has been consistent in always opposing the
lawyer’s.
Many such subjuncts express volition, as in:

Intentionally, they said nothing to him about the fire.

With great reluctance, he rose to speak.
 178 The semantics and grammar of adverbials

Since many predication subjuncts are idiomatically linked with particu¬

lar verbs, they are best treated under phrasal verbs in 16.2^. Here,
however, we should mention the subjuncts associated with the expression
of time. The uses of already, still, and yet as time-relation subjuncts can be
summarized as follows:
Declarative positive:

I | admire him. (but: *1 yet admire him.)

Declarative negative, with subjunct preceding the negative:

I still haven’t spoken to him. (but: *1 already/yet haven’t. . .)

Declarative negative, with subjunct following the negative:
(yet drive.
He can’t
\drive yet.
?He can’t still drive/drive still. (*He can’t already drive.)
Interrogative positive:

Is he already/still/yet here? (all three - esp yet - also at E)

Interrogative negative:

Isn’t he already /still/yet here? (all three - esp yet - also at E)

NOTE [a] Any more and any longer function as nonassertive, and no more and no longer
as negative time-relation subjuncts:

He doesn’t work for us any more/longer.

He no longer works for us.
She said she would see me no more.

[b] Other common time subjuncts are just, (n)ever, the first cooccurring mainly
with the perfect or progressive:

I’ve just finished my supper.

She was just talking to him a moment ago.
rpi (don’t ever 1 A .. .
I hey < > seem to read books.
Inever J

Emphasizers
8.36 Emphasizers are subjuncts expressing (largely at iM or M) the semantic
role of modality with a reinforcing effect on the meaning of a sentence. For
example:

I can’t believe a word he says!

Some emphasizers are characteristic of very informal speech; for example:

 Subjuncts 179

I wish I could darned well find that book.

They told him to get the hell off their land.

Others occur only in certain grammatical environments, notably always

and well with modalized verb phrases:

Even if you didn't know where I was, you could always have
telephoned to ask.
She said that she had no money and that may well be true.

NOTE Emphasizer subjuncts can frequently occur as responses; thus to the question ‘Are
you willing to help?’ we might have
(Yes) certainly.
Sure(ly). (esp AmE)
(Yes) indeed.
Certainly not.

Intensifiers
8.37 The intensifier subjuncts are broadly concerned with the semantic
category of degree, indicating an increase or decrease of the intensity with
which a predication (usually containing an attitudinal verb) is expressed.
They characteristically appear at M.
(a) Increased intensification to various degrees is realized by amplifiers,
as in:

They fully appreciate the problem.

He has completely ignored my question.
She was badly in need of help.
How (very much) they must have suffered!

(b) Decreased intensification to various degrees is realized by downtoners,

as in:

They have practically forced him to resign.

In spite of his manners, I rather like him.
She sort of laughed at the idea, (informal)
I was only joking.
He didn’t in the least enjoy the party.

Especially at the extremes of intensity, subjuncts of (a) and (b) can be

given emphasis by appearing at E:

I understand your attitude totally.

She won’t mind in the slightest.

NOTE [a] Some intensifiers occur only in specific environments; for example, possibly
with can(’t) in nonassertive clauses:
She can’t possibly expect you to wait so long.
 180 The semantics and grammar of adverbsals

[b] As well as relating to attitude, intensifies are used in respect of quantity and
time:

I paid him a great deal for his advice.

She slept a little in the afternoon.

Focusing subjuncts
838 Special attention may be called to a part of a sentence as broad as
predication or as narrow as a constituent within a phrase. There are two
types of focusing subjunct that can so operate; one is restrictive, as in:
I merely wanted to know his name, {ie I didn’t want to know
anything else)
Only her sister visited her in hospital, {ie No one else did so)

The other is additive, as in:

Fred had also invited his mother-in-law. {ie in addition to others)
Even on Sundays, my doctor is willing to come and see me. {ie in
addition to ordinary working days)
With most focusing subjuncts, the usual position is immediately before
the part to be focused, and if that is the whole or part of the predication,
the position is M. As with negation, therefore, there is the possibility of
ambiguity:
rnot a
She had \ only > questioned her patients the previous week.
^also *

Since it is normal to give the prosodic emphasis to the final phrase of a

sentence, this would usually be spoken, read, and understood with the
focus on the time adjunct. But of course in speech, the focus could be
clearly placed on any of the three post-operator constituents.
. . . questioned her patients . . . {ie as opposed to examining them)
. . . questioned her patients . . . {ie as opposed to her colleagues)
. . . questioned her patients the previous week . . . {ie as opposed
to the current week)
In writing, care can be taken to place a focusing subjunct in close
proximity to the part required (and prescriptive tradition urges this
particularly with only). Usually this is before the item {‘only her patients’)
but may be after it (‘the previous week only'), and this is obligatory with
alone and too (‘her patients too') but is disallowed with just and generally
with even (*?‘the previous week even').

NOTE In focusing wh-items, exactly and just are common:

I know exactly where to find him.

Just when did you send in your application?
 DisjuncSs 181

839 Focusing can involve correlative constructions. For example:

I saw her neither that day nor the day after.

They had neither met the author nor (even) read any of his novels.

With either of these items at /, there is subject-operator inversion:

They had neither met the author, nor had they (even) read any of his
novels.
Cf also:

She had both written poems and (also) had some published.
We must ignore not only his manners but (also) the way he is
dressed.

Such correlation is frequently achieved through a construction resem¬

bling a cleft sentence (18.18):

It was not just that she ignored me; it was particularly that she was so
pointedly nice to my wife.

More formally, not only and not merely can be in /-position with
consequent subject-operator inversion:

Not merely have I lent you money; I have (also) helped you get jobs.

DIsjuncts

8.4D Where adjuncts are seen as on a par with such sentence elements as S and
O, while subjuncts are seen as having a lesser role, disjuncts have by
contrast a superior role to sentence elements, being somewhat detached
from and superordinate to the rest of the sentence. There are two broad
types, each with subtypes (see Fig 8.40). First we have the relatively small
class of style disjuncts, conveying the speaker’s comment on the style and
form of what is being said and defining in some way the conditions under
which ‘authority’ is being assumed for the statement. Thus where [1] is
stated as an unsupported fact, [2] is conditioned by a style disjunct:

Mr Forster neglects his children. [1]

From my personal observation, Mr Forster neglects his children. [2]

The second type is the much larger class of content disjuncts, making an
observation on the actual content of an utterance and on its truth
conditions:

To the disgust of his neighbours, Mr Forster neglects his children. [3]

 182 The semantics and grammar of adverbials

modality and manner

style
respect
DISJUNCT
^relating to certainty
content
'-relating to evaluation

Fig 8.40

Although not restricted as to position (and while some, as we shall see, are
often at M), most disjuncts appear at /.

Style disjuncts
8.41 Many style disjuncts can be seen as abbreviated clauses in which the
adverbial would have the role of manner adjunct:

Frankly, I am tired.
(cf: ‘I tell you frankly that I am tired’.)

Sometimes the disjunct has full clausal form:

If I may say so without giving you offence, I think your writing is
rather immature.
More often, a clausal disjunct is nonfinite, as in to be frank, putting it
bluntly, considered candidly.
The semantic roles of disjuncts fall under two main heads:
(a) Manner and modality, thus involving items such as crudely, frankly,
honestly, truthfully:; eg:

(To put it) briefly, there is nothing I can do to help.

You can, in all honesty, expect no further payments.
(b) Respect, thus involving items such as generally, literally, personally,
strictly; eg:

Strictly (in terms of the rules), she should have conceded the point to
her opponent.
I would not, (speaking) personally, have taken offence at the
remark.
From what he said, the other driver was in the wrong.

It will be seen that disjuncts in (b) often constitute ways of guardedly

‘hedging’ the accompanying statement. A particular case of this arises in
metalinguistic comment in which the disjunct draws attention to a point of
terminology:
In a word, he is a traitor, though I would not say that he had literally
betrayed anyone.
 Disjuncfs 183

NOTE [a] When used in questions, disjuncts in (a) may relate to the speaker or to the
addressee:

Privately, was Henry ever in prison?

This can mean either T ask you privately to tell me’ or ‘I ask you to tell me
privately’,
[b] Disjuncts in (b) can be expressed by if-, since- and because-dames, but the latter
must be at E:

He was drunk, because he couldn *t stand.

Content disjuncts
8.42 Comment on the content of an utterance may be of two kinds:
(a) relating to certainty;
(b) relating to evaluation.
Both can be expressed by a wide range of adverb phrases, by prepositional
phrases and - especially those in (a) - by clauses.
(a) Certainty. These disjuncts comment on the truth value of what is
said, firmly endorsing it, expressing doubt, or posing contingencies such
as conditions or reasons. For example, beside the statement The play was
written by Francis Beaumont’, we may have:

r undoubtedly v
The play was < apparently > written by Francis Beaumont.
Vperhaps '

Compare also:

In essence, the judge called her evidence in question.

Since she had no time to have the car fixed, Rachel telephoned for a
taxi.
The proposal would have been accepted if the chairman had put it
more forcibly.

(b) Evaluation. These disjuncts express an attitude to an utterance by

way of evaluation. Some express a judgment on the utterance as a whole,
including its subject:

Wisely, Mrs Jensen consulted her lawyer.

('Mrs Jensen was wise in consulting her lawyer.’)

So also correctly, cunningly, foolishly, justly, rightly, stupidly, etc. Other

evaluation disjuncts carry no implication of comment on the subject:
Naturally, my husband expected me home by then.
(‘It was natural for my husband to expect me back by then’ - not
‘My husband was natural. . .’)

So also curiously, funnily (enough), strangely, unexpectedly, predictably,

understandably, disturbingly, pleasingly, regrettably, fortunately, happily,
luckily, sadly, amusingly, hopefully <esp AmE), significantly. Prepositio-
 184 The semantics and grammar of adverbiaSs

nal phrases and relative clauses (sentential and nominal) involving such
lexical bases are also used:
To my regret, she did not seek nomination.
What is especially fortunate, the child was unhurt.
We were not, which is surprising, invited to meet the new members of
staff.

NOTE [a] The semantic difference between the relationships in (a) and (b) is underlined by
the fact that sentence paraphrases for (a) cannot involve putative should (14.14),
whereas those for (b) always can:
(a) Obviously, the child is recovering.
~‘It is obvious that the child is recovering.’

(b) Fortunately, the child is recovering.

~Tt is fortunate that the child
{should be } recoverin§-’

[b] Just as in to my regret (in contrast to regrettably) it is made explicit as to who

feels the regret, so with some adverbs we may add such a specification with a for-
phrase. For example:

Luckily (for Peter), the doctor arrived speedily.

Conjjursets

8.43 As their name implies, conjuncts serve to conjoin two utterances or parts
of an utterance, and they do so by expressing at the same time the semantic
relationship (eg of time or contingency) obtaining between them. For
example:
The candidate is a fine teacher, a broadcaster of some experience,
and a respected drama critic. All the same, there is a feeling on the
committee that someone younger should be appointed.

The conjunct all the same here connects two separate sentences, indicating
a concessive relation between them: despite the candidate’s high qualifica¬
tions, some members of the committee were not satisfied.
As in this example, conjuncts are usually at /, but their connective role is
often achieved more smoothly when they are placed at M:
The cinema has lost none of its attractions in India and the film
industry has in consequence continued to flourish.
Although some conjuncts (such as the informal though) commonly appear
at E, this position can somewhat obscure the connective role.

NOTE [a] Conjuncts often correspond to adverbials in an otherwise unexpressed clause:

My wife is very busy this evening, and [I tell you something] in addition, she
is not feeling very well.
 Conjuncts 185

[b] As well as connecting utterances, some of the commonest conjuncts such as now
and so have a major role as discourse initiators. Consider the following as the first
words of a street encounter:

So you’re better again, Bill!

Here an extralinguistic situation seems to be conjoined as it were, with an

appropriate linguistic reaction to it: ‘I see you up and about, so I conclude you’ve
recovered from your illness.’
The commonest discourse initiator of all {well) is less easy to account for
plausibly. When used connectively it has a transitional function ('Given that my
previous point is well founded, my next point is . . as in:

I hear you’ve bought a new house; well, when are you moving?

Note the following exchange in Matt Cohen’s novel Flowers of Darkness (1981):

‘Well,’ said Donna.

‘Well,’ Annabelle replied. Well was always Donna’s opening remark,
delivered in a way to make clear that she knew Annabelle was in the midst of
some inadmissible train of thought.

[c] Conjuncts can semantically endorse a connection already expressed by

grammatical subordination; for example:

I see her regularly because she is, by the way, a friend of my brother’s.
The semantics of conjuncts
8.44 We now group some of the commoner conjuncts according to their
semantic roles:
A: LISTING
(i) Enumerative, as in:

In the first place, the economy is recovering, and secondly

unemployment is beginning to decline.

Cf also for one thing (. . .for another thing), next, then (again),
finally, especially in formal and technical use, we find a ... b ... c
. . ., one . . . two . . . three . . .

(ii) Additive, as in:

She has the ability, the experience, and above all the courage to
tackle the problem.

Cf&\$o furthermore, moreover, what is more, similarly, in addition, on

top of that.

B: summative, as in:

He was late for work, he quarrelled with a colleague, and he lost

his wallet; all in all, it was a bad day.

Cf also altogether, overall, therefore, in sum, to sum up.

186 The semantics and grammar of adverhials

C: appositive, as in:
There was one snag; namely, the weather.
Cf also that is (to say), ie, for example, eg, in other words,
specifically.

D: resultive, as in:
I got there very late, so I missed most of the fun.
Cf also therefore, as a result, accordingly, in consequence, of course.

E: inferential, as in:

You haven’t answered my question; in other words, you disap¬

prove of the proposal.
Cf also in that case, so, then, otherwise, else.

F: CONTRASTIVE
(i) Reformulatory and replacive, as in:

She’s asked some of her friends - some of her husband’s friends,

rather.

Cf also (or) better, more accurately, in other words, alias, worse.

(ii) Antithetic, as in:

They had expected to enjoy being in Manila but instead they both
fell ill.
Cf also on the contrary, by contrast, on the other hand, then.

(iii) Concessive, as in:

My age is against me: still, it’s worth a try.

Cf also, however, nevertheless, yet, all the same, of course, that said,
and several informal expressions such as anyhow, anyways <esp
AmE), still and all <esp AmE), only, though.

G: TRANSITIONAL
(i) Discoursal, as in:

Let me introduce you to my sister, and by the way, did I tell you
that I’m moving?

Cf also incidentally, now.

(ii) Temporal, as in:

The ambulance got stuck in rush-hour traffic and in the meantime

the child became delirious.
Cf also meanwhile, originally, subsequently, eventually.
 Conjuncis 187

Cooccurrence and correlation

8.45 Conjuncts from different sets can appear in the same sentence:

So [resultive] I did reasonably well, all in all [summative].

Then [inferential] she’ll get the job nevertheless{concessive]?

Conjuncts from the same set are sometimes used in reinforcement; for
example, the additive items in:

Moreover, he had in addition a qualification in accountancy.

More usually, such reinforcement occurs through conjuncts appearing

along with compatible conjunctions. These may involve coordination (as
with and so, but yet, or rather) or subordination (as with if. . . then,
although . . . still):

Even if you’re taking the car only a short distance, you should
nevertheless have your driving licence with you.

NOTE Correlation often seems excessively heavy and formal, especially perhaps in causal
relationships {because . . . therefore). By contrast, reinforcement where no
subordination is involved often seems over-informal (as in ‘But still, she got the
job, though’) and in some cases it is regarded as objectionably tautologous (as in
the sequence but however).

Bibliographical note

For general studies of adverbials, see Buysschaert (1982); Greenbaum (1969);

Guimier (1988); Huang (1975); Nilsen (1972); with a theoretical emphasis, Bartsch
(1976), Emons (1974); Schreiber (1972); Ungerer (1988).
On particular subsets of English adverbials, see Aarts (1989b); Bolinger (1972);
Dudman (1984); Hartvigson (1969); Heny (1973); Jacobson (1978, 1981); Lee
(1987); Schiffrin (1985); Svartvik (1980).
On adverbial collocations, see Backlund (1970); Crystal (1966); Greenbaum
(1970).
On adverbial positions, see Jacobson (1964, 1975).
On intonational aspects of adverbial usage, see Halliday (1967); Taglicht
(1983).
Other relevant studies include: Anderson (1976); Greenbaum (1973); Halliday
and Hasan (1976); Lakoff (1975); Larson (1985).
 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

9.1 Prepositions are a closed class of items (2.6, but cf 9.3) connecting two
units in a sentence and specifying a relationship between them. For
example:
(I don’t like to) drink out of a cracked cup. [1]
(He was) very grateful for her help. [2]
The elderly man in the raincoat (looks ill.) [3]
In all three, the second unit is the prepositional complement, but in [1] the
link is to a verb phrase, in [2] an adjective phrase, and in [3] a noun phrase.
The sequence of preposition and its complement is known as a
prepositional phrase, and its role may be to act as a postmodifier in noun¬
phrase structure (such that the whole sequence The elderly man in the
raincoat of [3] constitutes a complex noun phrase: XlAJf). But as we have
seen in Chapter 8, prepositional phrases can also function as adverbials,
and the ‘link’ can then be between the prepositional complement and a
whole clause. Compare, for example, the adverbial in [4]:
In a few minutes, we’ll know the result of the blood test. [4]
Prepositions may be simple or complex (9.3), and in either case their
complements are usually noun phrases; but they can also be nonfinite
(-ing) clauses or nominal (wh-) clauses. For example:

near
4- the control tower
on top of

from
{ the financial estimates
scrutinizing the results
in terms of.}■ what you were saying
where she was sitting

NOTE [a] Although also having a nominal function, //zar-clauses and infinitive clauses
cannot be prepositional complements. Compare:

at her angry response.

at hearing her objection.
I was surprised at what she said.
to hear her objection.
that she responded so angrily.

[b] A prepositional complement is ‘object territory’ (6.7) and personal pronouns

are therefore in the objective case:

They moved towards me/us/him/her/them.

 Deferred prepositions 189

After and, however, subjective forms are sometimes found in hypercorrect usage;
cf 6.7 Note [b].

Deferred prepositions

9.2 Though prepositions normally precede their complements, there are

circumstances in which this cannot happen:
(a) Where the subject of a passive construction corresponds to the
prepositional complement in the active analogue; thus
We have paid for the ear.
~ The car has been paid for.

(b) Where the prepositional complement is thematized (18.23// in

sentences with infinitive or -ing clauses; thus

It is unpleasant to work with that man.

~ That man is unpleasant to work with.
It is not worth listening to his advice.
~His advice is not worth listening to.

In addition, there are circumstances where deferment is optional,

depending chiefly on stylistic preference. Where the prepositional
complement is an interrogative pronoun, deferment indeed is normal:

What are you looking atl

Who is she talking about ?

In such cases, the close relation between the verb and the preposition
(16.5/) makes alternative arrangement awkward and rare. Elsewhere,
there can be a choice:

Who did you sell your house tol

To whom did you sell your house? (formal)

A similar choice is more general where the prepositional complement is a

relative pronoun:
The building {that) you’re standing in front of was designed by
Lutyens.
The building in front of which you are standing was designecl by
Lutyens, (formal)

NOTE [a] With some simple prepositions (such as through) and most complex ones (such
as because of in addition to), deferment is virtually disallowed.
[b] Superficially resembling deferred prepositions are prepositional adverbs,
identical in form with the corresponding prepositions except that, unlike them,
they are never unstressed. Compare:
 190 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

Until you recover, you must 'stay in the 'house.

Until you recover, you must 'stay 'in.
I should have parked the car behind the house but I left it in front.

Simple and complex prepositions

93 The commonest prepositions are a small number of monosyllabic items

such as at, for, in, on, to, with, typically unstressed and often with reduced
vowel except when deferred. Compare:
What are you looking at [at]?
I’m looking at [ot] this huge telephone bill.

But in addition there are polysyllabic prepositions, some of them

compounds formed historically from the monosyllabic ones (such as
inside, within) or derived from participles (such as during) or adopted from
other languages (such as despite, except). Thus although prepositions are
a closed class in comparison with truly open classes like nouns, they are
less literally a closed class than determiners or pronouns.
The number of prepositions has been increased partly by using still
more participles (for example, barring, concerning, granted) but chiefly by
combining prepositions with other words to form ‘complex prepositions’.
These are of two main types:
(a) a simple preposition preceded by a participle, adjective, adverb, or
conjunction, as with owing to, devoid of, away from, because of;
(b) a simple preposition followed by a noun and then a further simple
preposition, as with in charge of, by means of, at variance with, in
addition to, as a result of.

NOTE [a] Some prepositions of foreign origin are not thoroughly ‘acclimatized’ in
general use; for example, qua, re, vis-a-vis, a propos.
[b] Items of quasi-preposition status include near (to) which admits comparison
(‘He came and sat nearer the front ’) as well as than and as which can also be - and
for some people can only be - conjunctions:

She is taller than I am. (than as conjunction)

She is taller than I. (than as conjunction with ellipsis: rather formal)
She is taller than me. (than as preposition)

[c] Some complex prepositions ending in of admit alternative genitive

constructions:

for the sake of the family ~ for the family’s sake

on behalf of my friend ~ on my friend’s behalf
 Prepositional meanings 191

Prepositional meanings

9.4 Though the relationship between two linguistic units as mentioned in 9.1
may be wide-ranging in meaning, most of them are either spatial or
figuratively derived from notions of physical space. Consider in as used in
the following examples:
I like being in this room. [1]
She’ll finish the work in the present month. [2]
His life is in danger. [3]
They told me this in all seriousness. [4]
The period of time in [2], the danger in [3], and the seriousness in [4] are to
be understood as having the capacity to envelop in a kind of three-
dimensional space analogous to the physical room in [1]. We must
therefore begin by understanding the ways in which prepositions refer to
some of the basic spatial dimensions, as set out in Fig 9.4. This shows three
different kinds of distinction.

Positive Negative

Destination Position Destination Position

to at (away) from away from

Dimension-
type 0
-® o® © o (point)

on (to) on Off off

Dimension-
type 1 or 2

O. r o (line or
surface)

in (to) in out of out of

Dimension-
o type 2 or 3
r* (area or
* ( volume)
o

Fig 9.4
 192 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

First, the prepositions are contrasted as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ (such

that off, for example, means ‘not on'). Secondly, the prepositions
distinguish between ‘destination’ (movement with respect to an intended
location) and ‘position’ (static location). Thirdly, we have three dimen¬
sion types: one which ignores dimension altogether, treating location as a
point even if in reality it is a continent:
He walked to the lamp-post.
They flew to Australia.
The second dimension type embraces what is in real space either one¬
dimensional or two-dimensional:
She put her toe on the line.
They were alone on the tennis-court.
The third dimension similarly straddles two actual dimensions: two-
dimensional or three-dimensional space:
Some cows were grazing in the field.
My coat is in the wardrobe.

Space
Position and direction
9.5 Between the notions of directional movement and static position there is a
cause-and-effect relation which applies equally to (a) the positive
prepositions and (b) the negative prepositions:
(a) Jack ran to the corner and then stood at the corner.
Put the book on (to) the top shelf and leave it on the top shelf.
She went into her office and stayed in her office.
(b) Mildred moved from Bloomsbury last year and enjoys living away
from the city centre.
Take the typewriter off the table and leave it off the table.
He walked out of the house and stayed out of the house all afternoon.
Where places are regarded as points on a route or as institutions to which
one is attached, dimension-type 0 is invoked:
Does this train stop at Lincoln?
Our daughter is at Oxford studying philosophy.
But where that same place is thought of in terms of residence, dimension-
type 2/3 is appropriate:

I’ve never lived either in Lincoln or in Oxford.

Analogously, if the referent is considered as a surface, dimension-type 1 /2
is appropriate, while if it is considered as necessarily enclosing, then
dimension-type 2/3 comes into play:

They were rowing on

Lake Windermere.
I was swimming in
 Prepositional meanings 193

I’ll lie on the bed for a few minutes.

There was a child asleep in the bed.

NOTE [a] While to usually implies achieving the destination, towards is more neutrally
directional:

She drove to Edinburgh (and arrived at noon).

She drove towards Edinburgh (but that may not be her destination).

[b] Though the relationship ‘X is on Y’ usually involves Y being a horizontal

surface below X, this is by no means necessary:

There are several people on the mountain-side,

. . . pictures . . . wall
. . . flies . . . ceiling
. . . apples . . . tree

Contiguity with a side surface is often expressed by against (‘Who left the ladder
against the fenceT).
[c] The use of at, in, on is often idiomatic; thus on earth but in the world; ‘She is
doing well at school ’ is often preferred in BrE, while \ . . in school ’ is general in
AmE. C/Xwith different determiner constraints: 5.19) ‘on land, at sea, and in the
air’.

Relative position
9.6 Rather than absolute position, many prepositions indicate the position of
something relative to the position of something else:
The police station is opposite my house.
~ My house is opposite the police station.

Some prepositions form antonymic pairs, as indicated in Fig 9.6. A is

above X and B is below X (as X is below A and above B);C is in front of X
and D is behind X (as X is behind C and in front of D).

A
above

C «— X «-► D
in front of behind
below

Fig 9.6 B

Similar to above and below are over and under respectively, though the
latter tend to mean4directly above’ and ‘directly below’. Similar to in front
of and behind are before and after, though the latter tend to imply relative
precedence rather than physical position. Like under are the less common
beneath (somewhat formal) and underneath. With on top of we combine
the sense of 'above’ with abutment.
 194 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

Abutment is also normally implied within, beside, and with:

She left the keys her purse.

By contrast, close to and near (to) generally exclude actual contact; these
prepositions are unique in admitting comparative inflection (7.39):
cclose(r) to
Please move this desk
Xnear(er) (to) } the wall.

With between, we positionally relate two objects or groups of objects,

whereas with among (and amid(st), more formally) we are dealing with a
more general plurality:
There must be space to walk between the chairs and the wall.
I left the letter among my birthday cards.
The converse of between and among is to some extent expressed by around
(esp AmE, round is esp BrE):
There were trees around the house.
~ There was a house among the trees.

NOTE [a] The reciprocal relativity of opposite (to) and facing is reflected in their
frequently having reciprocals (6.28 Note [a]) as their complement:

Let’s sit {°fPp0Site (t0)\each other.

Kjacing )

[b] Especially in BrE, about is used like around:

She put her arms about him.

[c] Most prepositions of relative position can also be used of relative direction and
destination; for example:

The mouse scampered under the bookcase and disappeared.

Passage
9.7 The notion of passage combines position and motion, disregarding
destination:
The referee complained because people were moving behind the
goalposts.
I love walking through woods in spring.
Other prepositions commonly used for passage are by, over, under, across,
an Apast. It is worth noting the parallel between positional on and in on the
one hand and across and through on the other:

_®_ on the grass ..- across the grass

111 I 1 M I 1 . I 1 in the grass 1 I 111 I . [ ^1.1 1 through the grass

 Prepositional meanings 195

Passage and direction are frequently related to conceptual axes, especially

the vertical and horizontal, as shown in Fig 9.7. With (a)round, cm the
other hand, the relation is to a real or fancied point such as a corner or a
centre:

Be careful as you drive round corners.

The children were playing around the park.

But spatial relations are often expressed by orientation to the speaker,

so that ‘He lives down the hilF will relate not only to the vertical axis as in
Fig 9.7 but will imply ‘further down from where I am speaking’ or ‘further
down from the place I am speaking about’. Similarly:

Their house is past the church, (ie ‘beyond the church’ in relation to
the orientation point)
They have gone across the moors. (ie ‘from here’)

Note that the difference between ‘(coming) up the road’ and ‘(going) down
the road’ may have more to do with personal orientation than with relative
elevation. Cf also:

There’s someone walking up and down the drive.

NOTE [a] Just as verbs like come and go strongly imply the personal orientation, so others
are congruent with prepositional meaning, even to the extent of enabling the
preposition to be omitted; for example climb (up), jump (over),flee (from), pass
(by).
[b] Prepositions that can convey motion or direction can be used also to express the
static resultative meaning of having reached the destination:

The horse has successfully jumped across the gap.

[c] Especially when preceded by all and right, prepositions such as over, (a)round,
and through express pervasive meaning:

Crowds were cheering (all) along the route

There were police (right) round the house.
 196 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

Metaphorical extension with spatial prepositions

9.8 With many spatial prepositions, metaphor enables similar but abstract
relations to be expressed. This is particularly striking with time (9.9) but a
wide range of other meanings must also be noted, where the proximity to
literal use can be readily perceived. For example:

in the room : in this book, in some difficulty

out of the bottle out of danger, out of the competition
beneath the branches beneath contempt
under the floorboards under suspicion
up the hill up the social scale
downhill down market
beyond the post office beyond endurance
over the mountain (she is getting) over her illness
when her temperature was over 40 °C
from Boston to Bangor from generation to generation
between the trees between ourselves
through the tunnel through the ordeal

NOTE Some prepositions are used in what would seem a converse relationship:

The cow is in calf, (~?the calf is in the cow’s womb)

The office is, out of envelopes. (~?A11 envelopes seem to be out of the office).

Note also: in jout of luck

Time

Time position
9.9 Three prepositions, at, on, and in, are used in expressions answering the
question ‘When?’ and they reflect a concept of time as analogous to space.
Thus at is used for points of time, where time is conceived as being
‘dimensionless’:

The film will begin at 7.20 p.m.

It is not only instants that can be so considered:

What are you doing at the weekend?

She last saw her parents at Christmas.
Chaucer frequently speaks of books because at that time they were
rare and highly valued.

Where time is regarded as a period, the usual preposition is in, reflecting

analogy with two- or three-dimensional space:

In the evening, I listened to some Beethoven records.

Where did he live in his childhood?
I saw her in March/in 1988/in the following week.

But in expressions referring to days, the preposition is on:

 Prepositional meanings 197

We can come on Monday or on any other day that you may prefer.
The baby was born on July the twelfth.

So too with an interval that is specifically part of a day:

on Sunday afternoon; on Thursday night.

NOTE [a] Reference to night may disregard its ‘dimension’ as in:

I have to sleep in the afternoon because I cannot sleep at night very easily.

But it can also be viewed as a period, with the regular use of in:

We heard her coughing several times in the night.

[b] A phrase like in three days may be used to indicate a duration or a point three
days hence; thus ‘He’ll do it in three days' may mean either ‘He’ll take three days to
do it’ (without commitment to when the three days will be) or ‘He’ll do it three days
from now’ (the converse of ‘He did it three days ago’).

Time duration

9.10 In answer to How long? we have above all phrases with for.

We stayed in a rented cottage for the summer.

The same meaning, with some emphasis on the duration, can be expressed
with throughout and all through. By contrast, during indicates a stretch of
time within which a more specific duration can be indicated:

During the summer, we stayed in a rented cottage for a month.

But with appropriate lexical support in the context, the difference between
during and for (throughout, etc) can be neutralized:

T , , ! , (throughout
Try to stay alert < t . the entire ceremony.
Iduring

Duration expressions with over carry the implication of a period

containing some divisions or ‘fences’. Thus one can stay overnight, over the
weekend, over the Christmas period but hardly *lover the ceremony, *lover
the evening.
Duration can be specified by reference to the beginning and ending:

The office will be open from Monday to Friday.

Whilefrom ...to corresponds to for (‘The office will be open forfive days'),
between . . . and can be used in the more general sense of during:

The office will be open between Monday and Friday. (ie for a period
within the stretch specified’).

NOTE The expression/rora x to y is chiefly BrE and although it normally means that the
periods x and y are both included, there can be uncertainty. The corresponding
AniE expression (from) x through y is inclusive.
 198 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

9.11 Duration specifying only a starting point or a terminal point is expressed

by phrases with by, before, from, after, since, till, until, up to. For example:

She will be here by Friday night.

She will not be here before Friday night.
I worked from eight o'clock (onwards).
I began working (at some time) after eight o'clock.
I have been working since eight o'clock.

He did not set out j* Monday afternoon.

You can stay here till /until/up to lunch time.

Note the contrast in:

We slept until midnight. ( = we stopped sleeping then)

We didn’t sleep until midnight. ( = we started sleeping then)

NOTE With the rather formal pending, the complement usually denotes a period and the
preposition thus roughly corresponds to ‘up to the start of and during (the
period)’:

They should cease action pending negotiations.

But the complement can also refer to a point of time and in such cases the
preposition means ‘until’:

They should cease action pending the court's decision.

The items prior to and in advance of can replace before in formal style.

Cause and purpose

9.12 There is a spectrum of relations extending from cause to purpose. For the
part covering cause, reason, and motive, we have prepositional phrases
with items such as because of, on account of, for, out of:

He lost his job because of his laziness.

She was fined for dangerous driving.
He misdirected the letter out of spite.
They died from exposure.
She can’t turn the heating on for fear of a fire outbreak.
The plane crashed through some navigational error.

But of course the notion of‘motive’ shades into purpose, goal, and target,
for all of which the common preposition is for:

An appeal is being opened for a new hospital.

They are appealing for donations.
We had better set out for home.
She is applying for a better job.
 Prepositional meanings 199

Where the complement is animate, the phrase usually means ‘intended

recipient’:

He built a play-pen for the little girl

By contrast, to is used with the ‘actual recipient’:

She presented a plaque to the retiring supervisor.

With at, the goal or target is usually viewed with hostility; contrast:

He shouted at them, (‘loudly reproved’)

He shouted to them, (‘called’)
The police rushed at the house, (‘charged’)
The police rushed to the house, (‘hurried’)

But with aim, point, and above all smile, the target can be viewed neutrally;
contrast:

She smiled (kindly) at the child.

They laughed (unsympathetically) at the idea.

NOTE [a] The converse of goal is source, expressed usually by from or out of (but c/9.14
Note [c]):

She made it for me ~from a piece ofpigskin.

X lends to Y~ Y borrows from X.

Compare also ‘He comes from America’ ( = ‘He is an American’) in contrast to

‘He has come from America ( = ‘He was in America recently’).

[b] When as is used in the sense ‘in the role of’, the phrase comes close to expressing
reason:

As a subscriber, I ought to have been consulted.

From means to stimulus

9.13 Another spectrum of relations expressed by prepositions covers means,
instrument, agency, and stimulus. The first two respond to the question
‘How?’ with by used for means and with for instrument, as in:

I go to work by car.
Please send this to the Delhi office by telex.
The burglar entered by the back door.
She won the match with her fast service.
He levered it up with a crowbar.

Note the corresponding negative of with:

He managed to open the car without a key.

In contrast to means and instrument, the agent is an animate which

instigates or causes something. It is expressed by the preposition by, the
 200 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

complement of which frequently corresponds to the subject of a transitive

verb:

This picture was painted by Degas.

~ Degas painted this picture.
I was bitten by a neighbour's dog.
~ A neighbour’s dog bit me.

But an agent phrase need not be accompanied by a passive verb phrase:

People thought the play was by Webster.

Stimulus and reaction are expressed chiefly by at:

I’m surprised at her attitude.

In AmE this is general, but in BrE with is preferred if the stimulus is a

person:

They were furious with Paul.

Other stimulus and reaction prepositions include about, in, of and to:

I was pleased about the choice of date.

Are you interested in quantum theory?
I think he’s jealous of her.
To me, her proposal is broadly acceptable.

NOTE With means of transport, on plus article can often be used in place of by plus zero:

I often go to work on the 8.15 train.

The use of on here is shown to be means and not locative, since the latter sense
would require in (9.5).

Accompaniment
9.14 Especially when the complement is animate, with conveys the meaning ‘in
the company of’, without the converse:

I hope you will come to dinner with your husband, (ie ‘accompanied
by’)
I hope you will come to dinner with us. (ie - usually - ‘at our home’)
He is going for a walk with his dog.
For once, Jill went without her husband.

But the complement need not be animate:

What will you drink with your meall

I cannot concentrate without silence.

The accompaniment may therefore become a circumstance and the phrase

connote ‘manner’:
 Prepositional meanings 201

He entered the room with a worried look.

She set off without a care.

NOTE [a] Manner is also expressed with (un)like:

He spoke with a barrister’s skill. (Contrast: ‘He spoke with a barrister’)

Fred, (un)like his brother, is trusted by few. (Contrast: ‘Fred is (un)like his
brother’)

[b] The sense of accompaniment can shade into or even cooccur with opposition:
She was arguing with her brother. (c/‘She and her brother were arguing’)

But there is also a contrast between with and against, for and against:

I would rather have him with me than against me.

Are you the government or against it ?

[c] Expressions of accompaniment are used also for possession, so that there is
some interchange between with (out), of and the genitive:

The pianist has great talent. ~ A pianist with great talent

~ A pianist of great talent
~The pianist’s great talent

Another close tie is with the notion of‘ingredients’, expressed by with and (out)
of'
The sauce was made with fresh cream.
The fence is of wood but the posts are of concrete.

Concession and other relations

9.15 Prepositions expressing concession include in spite of and its more formal
synonym despite, the still more formal notwithstanding, and the somewhat
informal for all, with all:

cin spite of ^ ,
The article is being published {for all } ^ disapproval.

For exception, the chief prepositions are except (for), excepting, with the
exception of, excluding, apart from <esp BrE), aside from <esp AmE), but,
and the rarer save, bar, and barring:

Except for the weather, our stay in Scotland was enjoyable.

Everyone seemed tired but me.

The converse of exception is addition, expressed by besides, as well as, in

addition to; compare:

The orchestra was disappointing (excePt for 1 the soloist.

I as well as )

Negative condition is expressed by but for, as in:

 202 Prepositions and prepositional phrases

But for me, the case would have been lost, (ie ‘If it hadn’t been for
me’)

For the relationship respect, we have the prepositions as for, ay to, about,
the matter of concerning, os regards, wz7/z regard to, and the more
formal wz//z reference to, with respect to, and ra

Now, about your application, are you sure you would like a job of
this kind?
The coat is splendid <25 to r/ze material, but I’m less happy os regards
the cut.

The pair ay to and os for differ in that the latter tends to introduce a topic
transition:

The coat is splendid but a? for the hat I don’t think it suits you.

Many expressions of respect occur in complementation of verbs and

adjectives (Chapter 16):

He told her of his problems but was silent on his failed marriage.
They argued about the children and quarrelled over money.

One aspect of respect is to make explicit a standardly which assessment is

made; for this, several prepositions are in common use:

For a teacher, he seems extraordinarily ignorant.

I’m better at squash than I am as a tennis player.
She is very clever with her hands.

Modification
9.16 Both prepositions and prepositional adverbs (9.2 Note [b]) can be
modified in terms of measure and degree by being accompanied by
intensifies (7.33). For example:

. , cshortly after ten.

She arrived 1 A A , 7 ^
fat ten or shortly after.

He expected to be well ahead of Compton but he finished in fact just

behind.
Please rehang the picture about half a metre further down (the wall).

Though in many cases such modification seems clearly to apply to the

preposition, there are equally cases where it seems to apply to the whole
prepositional phrase:

Should I stand at one side or right in the middle?

Many people are against public ownership completely.
 Modification 203

Bibliographical note
For general and theoretical studies of prepositions, see Bennett (1975); Vester-
gaard (1977). Guimier (1981) provides a valuable bibliography.
On specific issues, see Buyssens (1987); Jacobsson (1977); Jaworska (1986);
Leech (1969); Lindkvist (1976); Quirk (1968, Ch. 14).
 i he simple sentence

Clause structure

Clause types

10.1 A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause, which may be

one of seven types. The types differ according to whether one or more
clause elements (c/2.3) are obligatorily present (c/10.4) in addition to the
S(ubject) and V(erb). The V element in a simple sentence is always a finite
verb phrase (c/3.19).

1. SV The sun (S) is shining (V).

2. SVO That lecture (S) bored (V) me (O).
3. SVC Your dinner (S) seems (V) ready (C).
4. SVA My office (S) is (V) in the next building (A).
5. SVOO I (S) must send (V) my parents (O) an anniversary
card (O).
6. SVOC Most students (S) have found (V) her (O) reasonably
helpful (C).
7. SVOA You (S) can put (V) the dish (O) on the table (A).

Optional adverbials can be added to sentences of any of these types:

Luckily, the sun is already shining. [SV]

Later, you can perhaps put the dish on the table. [SVOA]

Multiple class membership of verbs

10.2 A given verb can belong, in its various senses, to more than one class, and
hence can enter into more than one clause type. The verb get is particularly
versatile, being excluded only from type SV (and even then not
universally; cf Note):

SVO He’ll get a surprise.

SVC He’s getting angry.
SVA He got through the window.
SVOO He got her a splendid present.
SVOC He got his shoes and socks wet.
SVOA He got himself into trouble.

Through the multiple class membership of verbs, ambiguities can arise:

She made a good model. - SVO or SVC

I found her an entertaining partner. - SVOC or SVOO
He is cooking his family dinner. - SVO or SVOO

%
 Syntactic functions o? clause elements 205

The complementation of verbs receives detailed treatment in Chapter 16.

NOTE In informal (especially dialectal) AmE, get is used imperatively as an intransitive verb
( = leave at once’) in type SV: She told him to get.

Verb classes

103 There are three main verb classes, which are exemplified in 10.1:

intransitive verbs are followed by no obligatory element, and

occur in type SV (eg: shine).
transitive verbs are followed by an object, and occur in types SVO
(eg: bore), SVOO (eg: send), SVOC (eg: find), SVO A (eg: put).
copular verbs are followed by a subject complement or an
adverbial, and occur in types SVC (eg: seem), SVA (eg: be).

NOTE The term transitive is applied to all verbs that require an object. Transitive verbs
can be further classified:

monotransitive verbs occur in type SVO.

ditransitive verbs occur in type SVOO.
complex-transitive verbs occur in types SVOC and SVO A.

Complementation

10.4 The elements O, C, and A in the patterns exemplified in 10.1/ are

obligatory elements of clause structure in that they are required for the
complementation of the verb. By that we mean that if we use a particular
verb in the relevant sense, the sentence is incomplete when one of these
elements is omitted: eg: * Your dinner seems (type SVC) and * You can put
the dish (.type SVO A) are unacceptable. In some cases, however, an
element could be considered grammatically optional:

They’re eating. [SV] c/They’re eating lunch. [SVO]

We elected her. [SVO] cf We elected her our delegate. [SVOC]
He’s teaching. [SV] c/He’s teaching chemistry. [SVO]
He’s teaching them chemistry. [SVOO]

We regard the verbs in these sentences as having multiple class

membership (c/10.2), so that eat (for example) can be either transitive or
intransitive.

Syntactic functions of clause elements

Objects and complements

10.5 There are two subcategories each of object and complement. The two
types of object can cooccur:
 206 The simple sentence

Justin poured David some whisky. [1]

In [1] David is the indirect object and some whisky is the direct object.
Whenever there are two objects (in type SVOO) the indirect object
normally comes before the direct object. Although the indirect object is
more central in being closer to the verb, in other respects it is more
peripheral than the direct object: it is more likely to be optional (Justin
poured some whisky), and it can often be paraphrased by a prepositional
phrase functioning as an adverbial (.Justin poured some whisky for David).
The two types of complement occur in different clause patterns. The
subject complement is found in the SVC pattern:

Robert is becoming quite mature. [2]

The object complement, on the other hand, is found in the SVOC pattern:

Doris considers Robert quite mature. [3]

In [2] the subject complement characterizes the subject Robert, whereas in

[3] the object complement characterizes the direct object Robert. In [2] and
[3] the complement is an adjective phrase, but the same distinction applies
where the complement is a noun phrase:

Benjamin is becoming a conscientious student [CJ.

His parents consider Benjamin a conscientious student [C0].

Obligatory adverbials

10.6 Obligatory adverbials typically refer to space. They can be divided into
those occurring in the SVA pattern, in which a location is attributed to the
referent of the subject, and those occurring in the SVOA pattern, in which
a location is attributed to the referent of the direct object. There is a
parallel between obligatory adverbials and complements, which is
demonstrated in the pairs of sentences below:

Daniel stayed very quiet [CJ. [i]

Daniel stayed in bed [AJ. [2]
Linda kept Daniel very quiet [C0]. [3]
Linda kept Daniel in bed [A0]. [4]
In [2] the adverbial is subject-related (like the subject complement in [1]),
and in [4] it is object-related (like the object complement in [3]). The
parallel is further evident in the verb classes, and we therefore call the verb
in both [1] and [2] copular (since it is equivalent in function to the copula
be) and call the verb in both [3] and [4] complex-transitive (cf \6.24ff).

NOTE Space adverbials include not only position (in bed in [2]), but also direction (to bed,
as in John and Linda went to bed). Other meanings conveyed by obligatory
adverbials include metaphorical extensions of space:

The next meeting will be in March.

We kept him off cigarettes.
 Syntactic characterization of clause elements 207

Still others have no connection with spatial meanings:

They treated her kindly.

He is without a job.

Syntactic characterization of clause elements

10.7 The verb is always realized by a verb phrase. It is normally present in all
clauses, including imperative clauses (where the subject is typically
absent). The verb determines what other elements (apart from the subject)
may or must occur m the clause (cf 10.3/).
The subject:
(a) is typically a noun phrase (cf Chapters 5, 6, and 17);
(b) normally occurs before the verb in declarative clauses and after the
operator in yes-no interrogative clauses (cf 113ff);
(c) determines the number and person, where relevant, of the verb
(c/10.19);
(d) in finite clauses requires the subjective form for pronouns that have
distinctive case forms (cf 6.6/).
The object:
(a) is typically a noun phrase;
(b) normally follows the subject and verb (but cf 10.35/ 11.10, 11.20,
18.14/), and if both objects are present, the indirect object normally
comes before the direct object (cf 18.26 Note [b]);
(c) may generally become the subject of the corresponding passive
clause;
(d) in finite clauses requires the objective form for pronouns that have
distinctive case forms.
The complement:
(a) is typically a noun phrase or an adjective phrase;
(b) normally follows the subject and verb if subject complement, and the
direct object if object complement;
(c) relates to the subject if subject complement, or to the direct object if
object complement (cf 10.5);
(d) does not have a corresponding passive subject;
(e) in finite clauses requires the subjective form of pronouns in formal use
(especially in AmE), but otherwise the objective form.
The adverbial (cf Chapter 8):
(a) is normally an adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, or clause, but can
also be a noun phrase;
(b) is typically capable of occurring in more than one position in the
clause, though its mobility depends on the type and form of the
adverbial;
(c) is optional, except for adverbials in the SVA and SVOA clause types.
 208 The simple sentence

NOTE [a] The distinction between obligatory adverbial and complement is not clear-cut
for all prepositional phrases. Some prepositional phrases are semantically similar
to adjective or noun phrases functioning as complement:

They were under suspicion. They were suspects.

Norma was in good health. Norma was healthy.

Unlike obligatory adverbials, they can be used as complementation for copular verbs
other than be, a characteristic of subject complements:

Barbarba appeared out of breath.

That seems of no importance.

We similarly find prepositional phrases functioning as object complement:

I don’t consider myself at risk.

Charles put me at my ease.

Some adverbs can also function as complements:

The performance is over.

I am behind in my rent.
[h] Equally, the distinction between optional adverbial and subject complement is
not clear-cut for adjective and noun phrases. We find instances where the adjective
or noun phrase is optional, unlike clear cases of subject complement:

They married young.

We parted good friends.

Sometimes there is a close connection between the verb and the final element:

The sun shone bright.

The door banged shut.
[c] After some verbs, noun phrases of measure are indeterminate between direct
object and adverbial:

Kathy jumped ten feet.

The book costs ten dollars.

Unlike objects, however, these do not generally permit the passive, and they allow
adverbial questions {How far did Kathy jump?)
[d] middle verbs, a small group of verbs that seem transitive in other respects,
normally occur only in the active:

Fred and Anita have four children.

The coat doesn’t fit me.
Five times six equals thirty.
[e] Prepositional phrases, adverbs, and also clauses that otherwise function as
adverbials may sometimes function as subject:

Slowly is exactly how Jeremy speaks.

Will after the show be soon enough?
Because Sally wants to leave doesn’t mean that we have to. (informal)
 Semantic roles of clause elements 209

Semantic roles of ciayse elements

Participants

10.8 Every clause describes a situation which involves one or more partici¬
pants, ie entities realized by noun phrases. We find two participants in [1]:

Unfortunately, their child broke my window yesterday. [1]

The sentence in [1] contains a verb describing the nature of the action, a
subject denoting an agentive participant (the doer of the action), and a
direct object denoting the affected participant. In addition, it contains an
adverbial evaluating the situation (iunfortunately) and an adverbial
locating the situation in time (yesterday).

Agentiwe, affected, recipient, attribute

10.9 The typical semantic role of a subject in a clause that has a direct object is
that of the agentive participant: that is, the animate participant that
instigates or causes the happening denoted by the verb:

Margaret is mowing the grass.

The typical role of the direct object is that of the affected participant: a
participant (animate or inanimate) which does not cause the happening
denoted by the verb, but is directly involved in some other way:

James sold his digital watch yesterday.

The typical role of the indirect object is that of the recipient

participant: ie of the animate being that is passively involved by the
happening or state:

We paid them the money.

The typical role of a subject complement and an object complement is

that of attribute. We can distinguish two subtypes of role for the
attribute: identification and characterization:
identification:

Kevin is my brother. Sidney is now the Dean.

His response to the reprimand seemed a major reason for his
dismissal.
They named their daughter Edna.

characterization:

Martha was a good student. Daniel remains helpful.

I consider the operation a success.

NOTE [a ] Attributes may be ‘current’, normally with verbs used statively, or ‘resulting’ (ie
from the event described by the verb), with verbs used dynamically (cf 4.2, 4.11):
 210 The simple sentence

CURRENT ATTRIBUTE:
He’s my brother. She remained silent.
He seems unhappy. I want my food hot.
We felt cold. They consider me their closest friend.

RESULTING ATTRIBUTE!
We became restless. They elected him president.
He turned traitor. The heat turned the milk sour.
He felt ill. He drives me mad.

[b] If the verb is be, identification attributes allow reversal of subject and
complement:

Kevin is my brother. My brother is Kevin.

Only characterization attributes can also be realized by adjective phrases.

Subjects
Subject as external causer, instrument, and affected
10,10 The subject sometimes has the role of external causer; that is, it
expresses the unwitting (generally inanimate) cause of an event:

The avalanche destroyed several houses.

The electric shock killed him.

It may also have the role of instrument; that is, the entity (generally
inanimate) which an agent uses to perform an action or instigate a process:

A car knocked them down.

The computer has solved the problem.

With intransitive verbs, the subject also frequently has the affected
role elsewhere typical of the direct object:

Jack fell down (accidentally).

The pencil was lying on the table.

The term ‘affected’ can also be applied to subjects of copular verbs:

The pencil was on the table.

But we can make some further distinctions according to whether the

subject complement as attribute identifies or characterizes (cf 10.9). Thus,
the subject is identified in [1] and characterized in [2]:

Kevin is my brother. [1]

Martha was a good student. [2]

NOTE There is sometimes a regular relation, in terms of clause function, between

transitive verbs expressing causative meaning and corresponding intransitive
verbs or adjectives. In the last group, the company and my dog as object are
affected but as subject are agentive.
 Semantic roles of clause elements 211

(i) svo SV
Tom is cooking the dinner. The dinner is cooking.
Brenda is improving her writing. Her writing is improving.
(i>) SVO SV
The frost has killed the flowers. The flowers have died.
Fred is waving the flag. The flag is waving (in the breeze),
(iii) SVO SVC
They have dimmed the lights. The lights became dim.
The sun (almost) blinded him. He (almost) went blind.
(iv) SVO SV
The sergeant paraded the company. The company paraded.
I am exercising my dog. My dog is exercising.

Recipient and experiencer subjects

10.11 The subject may have a recipient role with verbs such as have, own, possess,
benefit (from), as is indicated by the following relation:

Mr Smith has given his son a radio. [So now his son has a radio.]

The perceptual verbs see and hear require an experiencer subject, in

contrast to look at and listen to, which are agentive. The other perceptual
verbs taste, smell, and feel have both an agentive meaning corresponding
to look at, as in [1], and an experiencer meaning corresponding to see, as in
[2]:
I want you to taste the soup. [1]
I can taste the pepper in my soup. [2]

The soup in [3] has the affected role:

The soup tastes good. [3]

Verbs indicating cognition or emotion may also require an experiencer:

I thought you were mistaken.

I liked the play.

Normally, recipient and experiencer subjects go with verbs used stativeiy.

Positioner subject
10.12 The subject may have the role of positioner with intransitive stance verbs
(cf 4.11) such as sit, stand, lie, live [‘dwell’], stay, remain, and with
transitive verbs related to stance verbs such as carry, hold, keep, wear. The
transitive verbs are causative and the direct objects that follow them have
an affected role. In this positioner role the participant is in control, but the
situation is not resultative in that no change is indicated in the positioner
during the period in which the situation lasts:

/ have lived in London most of my life.

The hijacker was holding a revolver.
They are staying at a motel.
 212 The simple sentence

He kept himself upright.

My friend is sitting in a chair near the door.

Locative? temporal? and eventive subjects

10.13 The subject may have the locative role of designating the place of the
state or action, or the temporal role of designating its time:

Los Angeles is foggy. [‘It’s foggy in Los Angeles.’]

This jar contains coffee. [There’s coffee in this jar.’]
Yesterday was a holiday. [Tt was a holiday yesterday.’]

An important role of the subject is eventive. The noun at the head of

the noun phrase is commonly deverbal (ie derived from a verb) or a
nominalization (cf 17.23):

The match is tomorrow.

The Norman invasion took place in 1066.
The dispute over the inheritance lasted a decade.

Prop it subject
10.14 There are clauses in which no participant is required. In such cases, the
subject function may be assumed by the ‘prop’ word it (cf 6.9), which has
little or no semantic content.
Prop it mainly occurs in clauses signifying (a) time, (b) atmospheric
conditions, and (c) distance:
(a) It’s ten o’clock precisely.
It’s our wedding anniversary next month.
(b) Is it raining?
It’s getting dark.
(c) It’s not very far to York.
It’s just one more stop to Toronto.

Objects
Locative? resultant? and cognate objects
10.15 The direct object may have a locative role with such verbs as walk, swim,
pass, jump, turn, leave, reach, surround, cross, climb:

Joan swam the river. [‘Joan swam across the river.’]

I passed a cyclist. [‘I passed by a cyclist.’]

A resultant (or ‘effected’) object is an object whose referent exists only

by virtue of the activity indicated by the verb:

Baird invented television. They are designing a new car.

With an agentive subject and an affected object, one may always capture
part of the meaning of a clause (eg: X destroyed 7) by saying ‘X did
something to Y’; but this does not apply to a resultant object: Baird
invented television does not imply ‘Baird did something to television’.
 Semantic roles of clause elements 213

Contrast the affected object in I’m digging the ground with the resultant
object in I’m digging a hole.
A cognate object is similar to a resultant object in that it refers to an
event indicated by the verb:

Chris will sing a song for us. She lived a good life.

The noun head is semantically and often morphologically related to the

verb, and its function is merely to repeat, wholly or partially, the meaning
of the verb.

NOTE In one type of resultant object, the activity re-creates the referent:

She acted the part of Ophelia.

They are playing the Egmont Overture.

Eventive object
10.16 A frequent type of object generally takes the form of a deverbal noun
preceded by a common verb of general meaning, such as do, give, have,
make, take. This eventive object (cf 10.13) is semantically an extension of
the verb and bears the major part of the meaning. Compare:

They are arguing, [verb only]

They are having an argument, [verb + eventive object]

Other examples:

I gave them some advice.

Sarah is doing her homework.
The baby’.? having a bath.
We made allowance for his inexperience.
I took a shower earlier.

The construction with the eventive object provides greater weight than
the corresponding SV type, especially if there are no optional adverbials,
and is often preferred to the SV construction in informal English.

Affected Indirect object

10.17 The affected indirect object is the one exception to the normal role of
recipient taken by the indirect object (c/10.9). The affected indirect object
combines with an eventive direct object (cf 10.16), and the most common
verb is give:

I gave Helen a nudge. [T nudged Helen.’]

We gave the baby a bath. [‘We bathed the baby.’]
I should give the car a wash. [T should wash the car.’]
Judith paid me a visit. [‘Judith visited me.’]
Derek owes us a treat. [‘It’s Derek’s turn to treat us.’]

The indirect object has the same role as the affected direct object in the
paraphrases.
 214 The simple sentence

NOTE The object may occasionally be instrumental {cf 10.10):

We employ a computer for our calculations.

She is playing the piano.
He nodded his head.

Summary

10.18 Although the semantic functions of the elements (particularly S and Od)
are quite varied, there are certain clear restrictions, such as that the object
cannot be agentive; a subject (except in the passive) cannot be resultant; an
indirect object normally has only two functions - those of recipient and
affected. The following system of priorities generally obtains:

If there is an agentive, external causer, or positioner, it is S; if not,

If there is an instrument, it is S; if not,
If there is an affected item, it is S; if not,
If there is a temporal, locative, or eventive item, it may be S; if not,
The prop word it is S.

Naturally, the role of the direct or indirect object in an active clause is

assigned to the subject in passive clauses.
The semantic functions of clauses are treated in Chapter 15.

Subi@et-w@rb concord

General rule

10.19 The most important type of concord in English is concord of 3rd person
number between subject and verb. A singular subject requires a singular
verb:

My daughter watches television after supper.

A plural subject requires a plural verb:

My daughters watch television after supper.

The number of a noun phrase depends on the number of its head:

The change in male attitudes is most obvious in industry.

The changes in male attitude are most obvious in industry.

For coordinated noun phrases, see \022ff.

Clauses as subject (cf 15. Iff) count as singular for number concord:
How you got there doesn't concern me; Smoking cigarettes is dangerous to
your health. The same applies to prepositional phrases and adverbs
functioning as subject: In the evenings is best for me; Slowly does it!.
 Subject-verb concord 215

Nominal relative clauses, on the other hand, resemble noun phrases in this
respect (cf 15.7/) and may have plural as well as singular concord: What
was once a palace is now a pile of rubble; What ideas he has are his wife's.

NOTE [a] It is possible to generalize the rule of concord to ‘A subject which is not clearly
semantically plural requires a singular verb’; that is, to treat singular as the
unmarked form, to be used in neutral circumstances, where no positive indication
of plurality is present. This would explain, in addition to clausal subjects, the
tendency in informal speech for is/was to follow the pseudo-subject there in
existential sentences {cf 18.30) such as ?There,s hundreds ofpeople on the waiting
list and in sentences such as ? Where's the scissors?; ?Here’s John and Mary. As
what precedes the subject here is not marked for plural, the singular verb follows
by attraction.
On the other hand, the principle of proximity {cf 10.20) effects a change from
singular to plural more often than the reverse, and this perhaps suggests that we
should regard the plural as the unmarked form.
[b] Apparent exceptions to the concord rule arise with singular nouns ending with
an apparent plural -s {measles, billiards, mathematics, etc, cf 5.43) or conversely
plural nouns lacking the inflection {cattle, people, clergy, etc, cf 5.44):

Measles is sometimes serious.

Our people are complaining.

[c] Plural phrases (including coordinate phrases) count as singular if they are used
as names, titles, quotations, etc:

Crime and Punishment is perhaps the best constructed of Dostoyevsky’s

novels, but The Brothers Karamazov is undoubtedly his masterpiece.
‘Senior citizens’ means, in common parlance, people over sixty.

The titles of some works that are collections of stories, etc, may be counted as
either singular or plural:

The Canterbury Tales < . > in many manuscripts.

V cA L y

Motional concord and proximity

10.20 Two factors sometimes conflict with grammatical concord as described

in 10.19. notional concord is agreement according to the idea of number
rather than the presence of the grammatical marker for that idea. In BrE,
for example, collective nouns such as government are often treated as
plural {cf 10.21): The government have broken all their promises.
The principle of proximity denotes agreement of the verb with a noun
or pronoun that closely precedes it in preference to agreement with the
head of the noun phrase:

INo one except his own supporters agree with him.

One in ten take drugs.

Attraction of number through proximity occurs mainly in unplanned

discourse.
 216 The simple sentence

Collective nouns

10.21 In BrE grammatically singular collective nouns are treated as notionally

plural if the group is considered as a collection of individuals:

The audience were enjoying every minute of it. [1]

England have won the cup. [2]

Singular and plural verbs are more or less interchangeable in the contexts
of [1] and [2], but singular has to be used in sentences like The audience was
enormous, where the group is being considered as a single undivided body.
In AmE grammatically singular collective nouns are generally treated
as singular, especially when they refer to governments and sports teams.

NOTE In both BrE and AmE, plural pronouns are often used to refer to singular
collective nouns even when the verb is singular; for example, they is an alternative
to it in The committee has not yet decided how they should react to the letter.

Coordinated subject

Coordination with and

10.22 When a subject consists of two or more noun phrases (or clauses)
coordinated by and, a distinction has to be made between coordination
and coordinative apposition.
Coordination comprises cases that correspond to fuller coordinate
forms. A plural verb is used even if each conjoin is singular:

Tom and Alice are now ready.

What I say and what I think are my own affair.

Conjoins expressing a mutual relationship, even though they can only

indirectly be treated as reductions of clauses in this way, also take a plural
verb:

Your problem and mine are similar. [‘Your problem is similar to

mine and mine is similar to yours.’]
What I say and do are two different things. [‘What I say is one thing
and what I do is another thing.’]

With the less common coordinative apposition, no reduction is

implied, since each of the units has the same reference. Hence, a singular
verb is required if each noun phrase is singular:

This temple of ugliness and memorial to Victorian bad taste was

erected in the main street of the city.

The two opening noun phrases here both refer to one entity (a statue). The
following example, however, could have either a singular or plural verb,
depending on the meaning:
 Subject-verb concord 217

His brother and the subsequent editor of his

collected papers fwas \ with him at his deathbed.

I were )

Singular was is used if the brother and the editor are the same person, and
plural were if they are two different people.

NOTE [a] A plural verb is required in asyndetic coordination (without a coordinator):

His camera, his radio, his money were confiscated by the customs officials.

[b] Subject noun phrases may be linked by quasi-coordinators, ie prepositions

(such as along with, rather than, and as well as) that are semantically similar to
coordinators. Grammatical concord requires a singular verb if the first noun
phrase is singular:

The captain, as well as the other players, was tired.

[c] If an adverbial is present- in the second noun phrase, the construction is

considered parenthetic, and grammatical concord requires the verb to agree in
number with the first noun phrase:

The ambassador ~ and perhaps his wife too - is likely to be present.

The same grammatical rule applies when the second phrase is negative, whether or
not linked by and\ though here the principle of notional concord reinforces the use
of the singular:

The Prime Minister, (and) not the monarch, decides government policy.

10.23 A singular noncount noun head with coordinate premodifiers may imply
two (or more) separate sentences. It may be followed legitimately by a
plural verb:

American and Dutch beer are (both) much lighter than British beer.
[‘American beer is . . . and Dutch beer is . . .’]

The same phenomenon occurs with nominal relative clauses:

What I say and do are my own affair. [‘What I say is . . . and what I
do is’]

The singular would mean ‘That which I say and do is my own affair’.

NOTE A singular verb is required when the phrases are postmodifying:

Beer from America and the Netherlands is much lighter than British beer.
[‘Beer that comes from America and the Netherlands is . . .’]

Coordination with or and nor

10.24 For subject phrases or clauses that are coordinated with (<either. . .) or and
with neither. . . nor, grammatical concord is clear when the conjoins have
the same number. In [1] the verb is singular and in [2] it is plural:
 218 The simple sentence

Either the Mayor or her deputy is bound to come. [1]

Either the strikers or the bosses have misunderstood the claim. [2]

When conjoins differ in number, recourse is generally made to the

principle of proximity: the number of the second conjoin determines the
number of the verb, as in [3] and [4]:

Either your brakes or your eyesight is at fault. [3]

Either your eyesight or your brakes are at fault. [4]

In less formal usage, phrases coordinated with neither . . . nor are treated
more like and for concord. Thus, [5] is more natural in speech than [6]:

Neither he nor his wife have arrived. [5]

Neither he nor his wife has arrived. [6]

When or is used for coordinative apposition (cf 10.22), grammatical

concord requires the verb to agree in number with the first appositive:

Gobbledygook, or the circumlocutions of bureaucratic language, is

intentionally difficult to understand.
The circumlocutions of bureaucratic language, or gobbledygook,
are intentionally difficult to understand.

Indefinite expressions as subject

10.25 Some indefinite pronouns and determiners have both noncount and count
uses. With noncount nouns (present or implied), the verb is singular:

Some (of the cement) is arriving later today.

So far no money has been spent on repairs.

With plural nouns (present or implied); the verb is plural:

No people of that name live here.

Some (of the books) are being placed on the shelves today.

The pronouns either and neither generally take a singular verb:

rand either t
The two guests have arrived, is welcome.
\but neither /

With none, the plural verb is more frequently used than the singular,
because of notional concord, even without the effect of the proximity
principle:

None (of the books) are being placed on the shelves today.

10.26 The proximity principle may lead to plural concord even with indefinites
such as each, every, everybody, anybody, and nobody (or indefinite phrases
such as every one, any one), which are otherwise unambivalently singular:

Nobody, not even the teachers,

{w }feteni"g
 Subject-verb concord 219

Every member of the vast (was ^ t

crowd of 50,000 people We } pleaSed t0 S6e h,m'

Although these sentences with plural verbs might well be uttered in casual
speech, or inadvertently written down, most people would probably
regard them as ungrammatical, because they flatly contradict grammati¬
cal concord. Other, more acceptable, instances arise with expressions
involving quantity (where the singular would seem pedantic):

A (large) number of people have applied for the job.

The majority agree with me.

NOTE The following illustrates an idiomatic anomaly: there is a discrepancy in number

between the noun and the determiner those, as well as with the verb:

These
of parties are dangerous, {informal)
Those

Rephrasing can avoid the anomaly:

Those kinds of parties are

That kind of party is j* dangerous.
Parties of that kind are

Concord of person

10.27 In addition to number concord, there is concord of person in the present

tense:

I am your friend. [1st person singular concord]

He is your friend.v . ,
TT . y [3rd person singular concord]
He knows you. )

In the past tense, only the verb be has distinctions of person:

I was your friend. ^ ri A 0 , n

TT J r . , > [1st and 3rd person singular concord]
He was your Inend.)

You were my friend. [2nd person]

In a coordinate subject noun phrase where the coordinator is or or nor,

the last noun phrase determines the person of the verb, in accordance with
the principle of proximity:

Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else knows the answer. [1]
(?)Either my wife or I am going. [2]

NOTE [a] Because of the awkwardness of the choice in [1] and especially [2], a speaker
may avoid it by using a modal auxiliary which is invariable for person (eg: Either
my wife or I will be going) or by postposing the last noun phrase (eg: Either my wife
is going or I am).
 220 The simple sentence

[b] In relative clauses and cleft sentences, a relative pronoun subject is usually
followed by a verb in agreement with its antecedent: It is I who am to blame, It is
Kay who is in command, It is they who are complaining. But 3rd person concord
prevails in informal English where the objective case pronoun me is used: It’s me
who’s to blame. Similarly, 3rd personal singular may be used in informal English in
these constructions when the pronoun you has singular reference: It’s you who’s to
blame.

Other types of concord

Subject-complement and object-complement concord

10.28 There is usually concord of number between subject and subject

complement and between direct object and object complement:

My child is an angel. I consider my child an angel.

My children are angels. I consider my children angels.

This type of concord arises naturally from the semantic role of the two
complements (cf 10.9). There are, however, exceptions:

Their principal crop is potatoes.

Good manners are a rarity these days, [also I is]
The younger children are a problem.
The next few bars are pure Tchaikovsky, [also lis]
Dogs are good company.

Pronouns and determiner reference

10.29 The agreement between a pronoun or determiner and its antecedent is

coreference rather than grammatical concord, but it is convenient to treat
the phenomenon here.
A reflexive pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person,
and gender:

He injured himself in both legs.

She's making a sweater for herself
I wrote to them about myself.
Personal pronouns and possessive determiners in the 1st and 3rd
persons agree with their antecedents in number. Those in the 3rd person
singular also agree with their antecedents in gender:

Tom hurt his foot. [1]

Beatrice knows that she is late. [2]
The books were too heavy, so I left them. [3]
 Other types of concord 221

In [1] and [2] the pronoun may of course also refer to somebody other than
the subject.
The relative pronouns who, whom, and which agree with their
antecedent in gender, the first two being personal, and the last
nonpersonal:

Here’s the hammer which I borrowed yesterday.

That’s the man who(m) I saw talking to your parents.

10.30 The pronoun they is commonly used as a 3rd person singular pronoun
that is neutral between masculine and feminine. It is a convenient means
of avoiding the dilemma of whether to use the he or she form. At one time
restricted to informal usage, it is now increasingly accepted even in formal
usage, especially in AmE.
Rather than use he in the unmarked sense or the clumsy he or she, many
prefer to seek gender impartiality by using a plural form where possible in
reference to the indefinite pronouns everyone, everybody, someone,
somebody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody.

Everyone thinks they have the answer. [1]

Has anybody brought their camera? [2]

A similar use of the plural occurs with coordinate subjects referring to

both sexes, as in [3], and with a singular noun phrase subject having a
personal noun of indeterminate gender as head, as in [4]:

Either he or she is going to have to change their attitude. [3]

Every student has to hand in their paper today. [4]

In formal English, the tendency has been to use he as the unmarked form
when the gender is not determined. The formal equivalent of [1], though
increasingly ignored now, is therefore:

Everyone thinks he has the answer. [la]

A more cumbersome alternative is the conjoining of both masculine and

feminine pronouns:

Every student has to hand in his or her paper today. [4a]

The indefinite pronoun one is followed in formal usage by the same

pronoun for subsequent references:

One should choose one’s friends carefully. [5]

But AmE may also use the masculine pronoun:

One should choose his friends carefully. [5a]

NOTE One way of circumventing the gender problem is to make the subject plural:

All students have to hand in their paper today. [4b]

 222 The simple sentence

Similar methods can usually be employed for the indefinite pronouns too:

All of them think they have the answer. [lb]

Have any of you brought your camera? [2a]

For [3] the only alternative in formal English is to rephrase the sentence:

Either he is going to have to change his attitude or she hers. [3a]

For [5a], indefinite one can be replaced with indefinite we, you, or they, as
appropriate:

We should choose our friends carefully. [5b]

Vocatives

1031 A vocative is usually a noun phrase, denoting the one or more persons to
whom the sentence is addressed. It is either a call, drawing the attention
of the person or persons addressed, singling them out from others in
hearing, as in [1], or an address, expressing the speaker’s relationship or
attitude to the person or persons addressed, as in [2] and [3]:

JOHN, DiNner’s ready, [voc SVCJ [1]

And that, my friends, concludes my speech, [voc SVOd] [2]
My back is aching, DOCTor. [SV voc] [3]
Sentences [1-3] show that a vocative may take initial, medial, or final
position in the sentence; in its optionality and freedom of position, it is
more like an adverbial than any other element of clause structure.
Intonationally, the vocative is set off from the rest of the clause either by
constituting a separate tone unit or by forming the tail of a tone unit. The
most characteristic intonations are fall-rise for an initial vocative
functioning as a call, and otherwise rise; and rise for a vocative
functioning as an address.

1032 Vocatives may be:

(a) Names, perhaps with a title: David, Mrs Johnson, Dr Turner, Ginger.
(b) Standard appellatives, usually without modification:
(i) terms for family relationships: mother, father, uncle; or more
familiar forms like mom(my) <AmE>, mum(my) <BrE>;
(ii) title of respect: madam, sir, my Lord, your Honour,
(iii) markers of status (sometimes with initial capital even for those not
so marked here); Mr President, Prime Minister, Father [for priest],
professor, doctor.
(c) General nouns, often used in more specialized senses: brother, buddy
(informal AmE), lady, ladies and gentlemen; man, mate (BrE).
(d) The personal pronoun you ( You, why haven’t you finished yet?) is
 Negation 223

markedly impolite. An indefinite pronoun (as in Get me a pen, somebody)

is abrupt.
(e) Nominal clauses (very occasionally): Whoever said that, (come out
here).
(f) Items from (a), (b), (c), and (d) may be expanded by the addition of
modifiers or appositive elements of various kinds:
(a) my dear Mrs Johnson; young David
(b) my old friend\ you filthy liar
(c) old man, young man; old chap <BrE>
(d) impolite: you over there; you with the red hair:; informal: you boys, you
people, you chaps <esp BrE), you guys <esp AmE).

[Negation

Clause legation

Clause negation through verb negation

10.33 A positive clause can be negated by inserting not between the operator
(cf 3.11) and the predication:

I have finished. I have not finished.

They are ready. They are not ready.

If no operator is present in the positive clause, the dummy operator do is

introduced (but cf 3.23 Note [b]):

She works hard. She does not work hard.

They know you. They do not know you.

Except in formal English, the negator more usually occurs also as an

enclitic (ie attached to the preceding word) in the contracted form n’t:
I haven’t finished They don’t know you.

NOTE There are commonly two possibilities for contraction in negative clauses in
informal English: negator contraction and auxiliary contraction (cf3A3jf):

I haven’t finished. I’ve not finished.

They aren’t ready. They’re not ready.

Syntactic features of clause negation

10.34 Negative clauses differ syntactically from positive clauses:
(i) They can typically be followed by positive tag questions:
They aren’t ready, are they?
[cf: They are ready, aren’t they?]
 224 The simple sentence

(ii) They can be followed by negative tag clauses, with additive

meaning:
They aren’t ready, and neither are you.

(iii) They can be followed by negative agreement responses:

A: He doesn’t know Russian. B: No, he doesn’t.

(iv) They can be followed by nonassertive items {cf 10.37):
He won’t notice any change in you, either.

Other kinds of clause negation

Words negative in form and meaning

10.35 We sometimes have a choice between verb negation and negation of some
other element:
An honest man would not lie. No honest man would lie.
That was not an accident. That was no accident.
He would//7 say a word. He would say not a word.
I wo n’t make that mistake I will never make that mistake
ever again. again.

The scope of negation {cf 10.38) is frequently different. For example.

Many people did not come to the party implies the absence of many people,
whereas Not many people came to the party implies the presence of few
people.
In formal style, the negative element may often be movecTfrom its usual
position to initial position, in which case there is inversion of subject and
operator:

Not a word would he say.

Never will I make that mistake again.

Words negative In meaning but not In form

10.36 Several words are negative in meaning but not in form. They include:

seldom, rarely
scarcely, hardly, barely
little, few (in contrast to the positive a little and a few)

They can effect clause negation, inducing the characteristic syntactic

features of clause negation {cf 10.34):

They scarcely seem to care, do they?

I hardly have any friends, and neither do you.
A: Crime rarely pays. B: No, it doesn’t.
I seldom get any sleep, either.
Few members have ever attended the annual general meeting.

When positioned initially, the adverbs normally cause subject-operator

inversion {cf 10.35):
 Negation 225

Little did I expect such enthusiasm.

Scarcely ever has Britain suffered so much criticism.

Verbs, adjectives, and prepositions with negative meaning may be

followed by nonassertive items (cf 10.37):

He denies I ever told him.

We were unaware of any hostility.
I’m against going out anywhere tonight.

NOTE [a] Only is to some extent negative. When it focuses on a subject noun phrase, the
latter is followed by nonassertive items: Only two of us had any experience in
sailing. And when it focuses on a fronted initial element rather than the subject, it
may occasionally (but need not) take subject-operator inversion: Only on Sundays
do they eat with their children.
[b] Rarely may be positive when placed initially as an adjunct (cf 8.13), in which
case it does not cause subject-operator inversion: Rarely, crime pays well. [‘On
rare occasions, crime pays well.’]

Nonassertive items
10.37 Clause negation is frequently followed (not necessarily directly) by one or
more nonassertive items. The following examples illustrate the range of
these items, which may be determiners, pronouns, or adverbs:

ASSERTIVE NONASSERTIVE
We’ve had some lunch. We haven’t had any lunch.
I was speaking to somebody. I wasn’t speaking to anybody.
They’ll finish it somehow. They won’t finish it at all.
He sometimes visits us. He doesn’t ever visit us.
He’s still at school. He’s not at school any longer.
Her mother’s coming, too. Her mother’s not coming either.
I like her a great deal. I don’t like her much.

In many instances, the negative particle and the nonassertive form can
combine to produce a negative form (not ever ~ never) or can be replaced
by a negative form (not anywhere ~ nowhere).

NOTE [a] The primary difference between some and any (and between the some- and any-
compounds) is that some is generally specific, though unspecified, while any is
nonspecific. That is, some implies an amount or number that may be known to the
speaker. This difference tends to correlate with the difference between positive and
negative contexts:

I have some money on me. [a specific, though unspecified amount of money]

I don’t have any money on me. [an unspecified, and also nonspecific amount
of money]

[b] Nonassertive items appear in other contexts: questions (11.4/); conditional

clauses (15.19 Note [a]); comparative clauses (15.36); putative s/zow/d-clauses
(14.14); restrictive relative clauses within generic noun phrases, which have
conditional meaning {Students who have any complaints should raise their hands, ‘If
students have any complaints . . .’).
 226 The simple sentence

[c] If a clause is negative, nonassertive items that come within the scope of negation
(c/10.38) are used in place of every assertive item that would have occurred in the
corresponding positive clause:

I haven’t ever been on any of the big liners, either.

Not many of the refugees have anywhere to live yet.

[d] Occasionally two negatives occur in the same clause: Nobody has nothing to eat
(‘Everybody has something to eat’), None of us have never told lies (‘All of us.have
told lies at some time’), lean’t not obey her (‘I have to obey her’). The two negatives
cancel each other out, producing positive values; but the sentence remains
negative syntactically, as indicated (for example) by the normal tag question: /
can’t not obey her, can I?
[e] The multiple negatives in nonstandard English are intensifying, and do not
cancel each other out. No one never said nothing about it is equivalent to standard
English No one ever said anything about it.
[f] Some nonassertive expressions are used to give emotive intensification to
negatives; for example, by any means, a bit (informal), in the least, at all; We didn’t
like it in the least. Negative determiners and pronouns are emphasized by at all and
whatever. You have no excuse whatever. Never is repeated for emphasis or
combined with intensifying phrases (such as in all my life)'. I’ll never, never go there
again; I’ve never seen anything like it in all my life. Other emotively coloured
expressions are exemplified in He didn’t give me a thing; I didn’t sleep a wink; We
didn ’t see a soul.

Scope of negation
10.38 A negative item may be said to govern (or determine the occurrence of) a
nonassertive item only if the latter is within the scope of the negative, ie
within the stretch of language over which the negative item has a semantic
influence. The scope of the negation normally extends from the negative
item itself to the end of the clause. There is thus a contrast between these
two sentences:

She definitely didp’t speak to him,.

[‘It’s definite that she didn’t.’]
She didfl’t definitely speak to him,.
[‘It’s not definite that she did.’]

When an adjunct is final, it may or may not lie outside the scope:

I wasp’t listening, all the time.

[ie I listened none of the time.]
I wasp’t listening all the time,.
[ie I listened some of the time.]

If an assertive form is used, it must lie outside the scope:

I didfl’t listen, to some of the speakers.

[ie I listened to some.]
I didn’t listen to any of the speakers,.
[ie I listened to none.]
 Negation 227

The scope can sometimes extend into a subordinate clause: I wouldn ft like
to disturb anyone.

Focus of negation

10.39 We need to identify not only the scope, but also the focus of a negation.
The focus is signalled in speech by the placement of nuclear stress, which
indicates that the contrast of meaning implicit in the negation is located at
that spot while the rest of the clause can be understood in a positive sense.
The focus can precede the negative item, and hence we must allow for
discontinuous scope. Different placements of the focus distinguish the
following sentences. The parts that are not within the scope are
understood positively:

I didfl’t take Joan to swim in the pool today,. - I forgot to do so.

I didp’t take joan, to swim in the pool today. - It was Mary.
I didp’t take Joan to swim, in the pool today. - Just to see it.
I didp’t take Joan to swim in the pool, today. - I took her to the
seaside.
I didp’t take Joan to swim in the pool toDAY,. - It was last week that I
did so.
I didn’t, take Joan to swim in the pool today. - It was my brother
who took her.

Scope must include the focus. One way of signalling the extent of the
scope is by the position of the focus:

I didp’t leave home, because I was afraid of my father. [1]

[ = Because I was afraid of my father, I didn’t leave home.]
I didn’t leave home) because I was afraid of my father, [2]
[ = I left home, but it wasn’t because I was afraid of my father.]

With the intonation given (which is the more common), [1] allots a
separate tone unit to each clause, and so places the because-clause outside
the scope of the negative. (This interpretation can also be singled out by a
comma in writing.) But [2] extends a single tone unit over both, and places
a contrastive fall + rise on father. The effect of this is to place negative
focus on the Z^cawse-clause, so that the main clause is understood
positively.
Intonation may be crucial also in marking whether or not the subject is
the focus of negation in noun phrases containing one of the universal
items all or every:

All the children didn’t sleep,. [‘All the children failed to sleep.’]
ALL the children didn’t sleep,. [‘Not all the children slept.’]

N.QTE In denial sentences the clause negator may have the focus, since the rest of the
clause has already been asserted or implied:
 228 The simple sentence

I did jNOT, offer her some chocolates. [‘It is not true that I offered her some
chocolates.’]

The same effect is achieved by focus on a negative operator:

I pidn’t, offer her some chocolates,

or some other negative word:

I never offered her some chocolates.

Local negation

10.40 Local negation negates a word or phrase, without making the clause
negative (cf 10.34). One common type involves the combination of not
with a morphologically negated gradable adjective or adverb:
She’s a not unintelligent woman. [‘She’s a fairly intelligent woman.’]
I visit them not infrequently. [T visit them rather frequently.’]

The negative particle partly cancels out the negative prefix, as indicated by
the paraphrases.
Other types of local negation are exemplified below:
I saw a not too sympathetic report about you. [‘rather
unsympathetic’]
I saw Dave not long ago. [‘fairly recently’]
We sensed not a little hostility in his manner, [‘quite a lot of hostility’]
She was decorated by none other than the President, [‘by the
President himself’]
If moved to initial position, these do not cause subject-operator inversion
(cf 10.35):

Not long ago I saw David mowing his lawn.

Negation of modal auxiliaries

10.41 The scope of negation may or may not include the meaning of the modal
auxiliaries. We therefore distinguish between auxiliary negation and
main verb negation. The contrast is shown in the two following sentences
with may not, where the paraphrases indicate the scope of negation:
AUXILIARY NEGATION

You piay not smoke in here,. [‘You are not allowed to smoke here.’]

MAIN VERB NEGATION

They may pot like the party{[‘It is possible that they do not like the
party.’]
We give examples below of the modal auxiliaries in their various senses
(cf 4.21ff) according to whether the scope of negation usually includes the
auxiliary or excludes it:
 Negation 229

AUXILIARY NEGATION
may not [ — ‘permission’]

You piay not go swimming,. [‘You are not allowed to . . .’]

cannot, cant [in all senses]

You ,can’t be serious,. [‘It is not possible that . . .’]

You .can’t go swimming,. [‘You are not allowed to . . .’]
He .can’t ride a bicycle,. [‘He is not able to . . .’]
need not, needn’t (both esp BrE)

You peedn’t pay that fine, [‘You are not obliged to . . .’]
It peedn’t always be my fault, [‘It is not necessary that. . .’]
dare not, daren ’t

I .daren’t quarrel with them,. [‘I haven’t got the courage to quarrel
with them.’]
MAIN VERB NEGATION
may not [ = ‘possibility’]

They may pot bother to come if it’s wet,. [‘It is possible that they will
not bother to come . . .’]

shall not, shan’t (all senses; esp BrE; shan’t rare)

Don’t worry. You shap’t lose your reward,. [‘I’ll make sure that you
don’t lose your reward . . .’]
I shap’t know you when you return,. [‘I predict that I will not know
• . -1
must not, mustn’t [‘obligation’]

You mustp’t keep us waiting. [‘It is essential that you don’t keep us
waiting.’]

ought not, oughtn’t [both senses]

You oughtp’t to keep us waiting, [‘obligation.’]

He oughtp’t to be long, [‘tentative inference.’]
The distinction between auxiliary and main verb negation is neutralized
for will in all its senses, as the paraphrases below indicate:

Don’t worry. I won’t interfere. [‘I don’t intend to interfere’; ‘I intend

not to interfere.’]
He won’t do what he’s told. [‘He refuses to do what he’s told’; ‘He
insists on not doing what he’s told.’]
They won’t have arrived yet. [‘It’s not probable that they’ve arrived
yet’; ‘I predict that they haven’t arrived yet.’]
In the necessity sense, the auxiliary negation of must is usually achieved
through can’t; hence, the negation of They must be telling lies is usually
 230 The simple sentence

They cant be telling lies. Needn’t and don’t have to are used for auxiliary
negation in both senses of must:

rdon’t have toT , ,

We < , , > pack till tomorrow.
Ineedn t J
The past tense negative auxiliaries (jmightn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t,
shouldn’t) follow the same negative pattern as their present tense
equivalents.

NOTE [a] Because of the diametric opposition of meaning between ^permission’ and
‘obligation’, an odd-seeming equivalence exists between may not [‘not permitted
to’] and mustn't [‘obliged not to’]:

You mustn’t go swimming today.

[ = You may not go swimming today.]

[b] Very rarely, predication negation occurs in the context of denials and
permission. The scope of negation is different from that normal with the particular
modal auxiliary:

They may 'pot go swimming'. [‘They are allowed not to go swimming.’]

I can, of course, 'pot obey her,1. [‘It’s possible, of course, not to obey her.’]

In such instances of main verb negation, the clause is not negated (c/10.34), and it
is possible to have double negation - auxiliary negation and predication negation:
I cannot, of course, not obey her. (cf 10.37 Note [d]).

Bibliographical mote
On major theoretical discussions, see Lyons (1977); Stockwell et al. (1973).
On syntactic structures and functions, see Ellegard (1978) for frequency data;
Halliday (1967-68); Schopf (1988).
On semantic roles, see Fillmore (1968; 1977b); Halliday (1967-68); Longacre
(1976, Ch. 2); Lyons (1977, Ch. 12); Schlesinger (1979; 1989).
On number concord, see Juul (1975).
On vocatives, see Zwicky (1974).
On negation, see Bolinger (1977, Chs. 2 and 3); Horn (1978a); Jackendoff
(1969); Jespersen (1917); Klima(1964); Stockwell et al. (1973, Ch. 5);Tottie(1977,
1980).
 Sentence types and discourse functions

Introduction

11.1 Simple sentences may be divided into four major syntactic types, whose
use correlates largely with different discourse functions:
(I) declaratives are sentences in which it is normal for the subject to be
present and to precede the verb:

Pauline gave Tom a digital watch for his birthday.

On declaratives without a subject cf 12.16, and on declaratives where the

verb precedes the subject cf 18.16/.
(II) interrogatives are sentences which are formally marked in one of
two ways:
(i) yes-no interrogatives: an operator is placed in front of the subject
(c/11.3#):

Did Pauline give Tom a digital watch for his birthday?

(ii) w/z-interrogatives: an interrogative w/z-element is positioned

initially (c/11.9) and there is generally subject-operator inversion (cf
11.10):

What did Pauline give Tom for his birthday?

(III) imperatives are sentences which normally have no overt gramma¬
tical subject, and whose verb has the base form (cf 11.15/):

Give Tom a digital watch for his birthday.

(IV) exclamatives are sentences which have an initial phrase intro¬
duced by what or how, usually with subject-verb order (cf 11.20):

What a fine watch he received for his birthday!

Associated with these four types are four major classes of discourse
functions:
(a) statements are primarily used to convey information.
(b) questions are primarily used to seek information on a specific point.
(c) directives are primarily used to instruct somebody to do something.
(d) exclamations are primarily used for expressing the extent to which
the speaker is impressed by something.

NOTE [a] Direct association between syntactic type and discourse class is the norm, but
the two do not always match. For example, a declarative question (cf 11.7) is
syntactically a declarative but semantically a question, and a rhetorical question
(c/11.13) is syntactically an interrogative but semantically a statement.
 232 Sentence types and discourse functions

[b] We can make many more refined distinctions in the use of sentences. For
example, It’s going to rain any minute now and I’m sorry about the delay are both
statements, but the first can be used to make a prediction and the second to make
an apology; Could you please make less noise? is a question intended as a request,
whereas Do you want another cup? is a question that may be intended as an offer;
Make your bed at once and Make yourself at home are both directives, but the first
has the force of a command and the second the force of an invitation.

Questions

Major classes

11.2 Questions can be divided into three major classes according to the type of
reply they expect:
1 Those that expect affirmation or negation, as in Have you finished the
book?, are yes-no questions.
2 Those that typically expect a reply from an open range of replies, as in
What is your name? or How old are you?, are WH-questions.
3 Those that expect as the reply one of two or more options presented in
the question, as in Would you like to go for a walk or stay at h6me?, are
alternative questions.

Yes-no questions

Form of yes-no questions

11.3 Yes-no questions are usually formed by placing the operator before the
subject and giving the sentence a rising intonation:
The boat has left. — Has the boat left?
If there is no item in the verb phrase that can function as operator, do is
introduced, as with negation (cf 10.33):

They live in Sydney. — Do they live in Sydney?

Again as with negation, main verb be functions as operator; in RrE main
verb have often acts as operator, but informally have . . . got is more
common:

Patrick was late. —Was Patrick late?

r Does she have a cold? <esp AmE)

She has a cold. —
IHas she (got) a cold? <esp BrE)

NOTE By placing the nuclear stress on a particular part of a yes-no question, we are able
to focus the interrogation on a particular item of information which, unlike the
rest of the sentence, is assumed to be unknown (cf 10.39). Thus the focus falls in
different places in the following otherwise identical questions:
 Questions 233

Was he a famous actor in those days?

[‘I know he was once a famous actor - but was it then or later?’]
Was he a famous actor in those days?
[T know he was an actor in those days - but was he a famous one?’]

Positive yes-no questions

11.4 Like negative statements, yes-no questions may contain nonassertive
items such as any and ever (cf 10.37). The question containing such forms
is generally neutral, with no bias in expectation towards a positive or
negative response.
STATEMENT QUESTION
Someone called last night. Did anyone call last night?
The boat has left already. Has the boat left yeti
But questions may be conducive, ie they may indicate that the speaker
is predisposed to the kind of answer he has wanted or expected. Thus, a
positive question may be presented in a form which is biased towards a
positive answer. It has positive orientation, for example, if it uses assertive
forms rather than the usual nonassertive forms:
Did someone call last night? [Ts it true that someone called last
night?’]
Has the boat left already!

Negative yes-no questions

11.5 Negative questions are always conducive. Negative orientation is found in
questions which contain a negative form of one kind or another:
Don’t you believe me? Have they never invited you home?
Hasn’t he told you what to do? Has nobody called?
Negative orientation is complicated by an element of surprise or disbelief.
The implication is that the speaker had originally hoped for a positive
response, but new evidence now suggests that the response will be
negative. Thus, Hasn't he told you what to do? means ‘Surely he has told
you what to do, hasn’t he? I would have thought that he had told you.’
Here there is a combining of a positive and a negative attitude, which one
may distinguish as the old expectation (positive) and new expectation
(negative). Because the old expectation tends to be identified with the
speaker’s hope or wishes, negatively orientated questions often express
disappointment or annoyance:

Can’t you drive straight? [T’d have thought you’d be able to, but
apparently you can’t.’]
Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? [‘You ought to be, but it appears
you’re not.’]
Hasn’t the boat left yet 1 [‘I’d hoped it would have left by now, but it
seems it hasn’t.’]
 234 Sentence types and discourse functions

If a negative question has assertive items, it is biased towards positive

orientation:

Didn’t someone call last night? [‘I expect that someone did.’]
Hasn’t the boat left already? [‘Surely it has.’]

Such questions are similar in effect to type (i) tag questions (cf 11.6).

NOTE The enclitic negative particle precedes the subject, since it is attached to the
operator, whereas not (used in less informal style) generally follows the subject:

"Didn't they warn you? Did they not warn you?

Some speakers find it acceptable for not to be placed (in rather formal style) in the
same position as the enclitic. This construction is especially likely where the
subject is lengthy:

Does not everything we see testify to the power of Divine Providence?

But in printed texts not may merely represent (misleadingly) the printed equivalent
of the attached enclitic.

Tag questions
11.6 Maximum conduciveness is expressed by a tag question appended to a
statement (in the form of a declarative):
Joan recognized you, didn’t shel [‘Surely Joan recognized you.’]
The boat hasn’t left, has itl [‘Surely the boat hasn’t left.’]
For the most common types of tag question, the tag question is negative if
the statement is positive and vice versa. The tag question has the form of a
yes-no question consisting of merely an operator and a subject pronoun,
the choice of operator and pronoun depending on the statement. The
nuclear tone of the tag occurs on the operator and is either rising or falling.
Below are the four main types of tag questions, which vary according to
whether the statement is positive or negative, and whether the tag
question is rising or falling:
POSITIVE STATEMENT + NEGATIVE TAG
(i) rising tone on tag (iii) falling tone on tag
He likes his job, DOEsn’t he? He likes his job, DOEsn’t he?

NEGATIVE STATEMENT + POSITIVE TAG

(ii) rising tone on tag (iv) falling tone on tag
He doesn’t like his job, does he? He doesn’t like his job, does he?
The meanings of these sentences, like their forms, involve a statement
and a question; each of them, that is, asserts something, then invites the
listener’s response to it. Sentence (i), for example, can be rendered ‘I
assume he likes his job; am I right?’, (ii) means the opposite: ‘I assume he
doesn’t like his job, am I right?’. These sentences have a positive and a
negative orientation respectively. A similar contrast exists between (iii)
and (iv). But it is important, again, to separate two factors: an assumption
 Questions 235

(expressed by the statement) and an expectation (expressed by the

question). On this principle, we may distinguish four types, where 4 + ’
indicates a positive form of the statement or tag and ‘ — ’ a negative form:
statement tag
(i) Positive assumption + neutral expectation + — rising
(ii) Negative assumption + neutral expectation — + rising
(iii) Positive assumption + positive expectation + - falling
(iv) Negative assumption + negative expectation — + falling

The tag with a rising tone invites verification, expecting the hearer to
decide the truth of the proposition in the statement. The tag with the
falling tone, on the other hand, invites confirmation of the statement, and
has the force of an exclamation rather than a genuine question. The truth
of the statement may be self-evident however, and therefore no response is
expected:

I wasn’t born yesterday, was I?

NOTE [a] There is a further, less common, type of tag question in which both statement
and question are positive:

Your car is outsiDE, is it?

You’ve had an Accident, have you?

The tag typically has a rising tone, and the statement is characteristically preceded
by oh or so, indicating the speaker’s arrival at a conclusion by inference, or by
recalling what has already been said. The tone may sometimes be one of sarcastic
suspicion:

So that’s your little, game, is it?

[b] Tag questions can also be appended to imperatives and exclamatives:

Turn on the light, won’t you?

Open the door, can’t you?
Don’t make a noise, will you?
Let’s not discuss it now, shall we?
How thin she is, isn’t she?
What a beautiful painting it is, isn’t it?

[c] Several tag questions are invariant, ie they have the same form whether the
statement or exclamation is positive or negative: isn’t that so?, don’t you think?,
right? (informal), wouldn’t you say?

Declarative questions

11.7 The declarative question has the form of a declarative, except for the final
rising intonation:

You’ve got the TiCKets?

They’ve spoken to the amBASsador, of course?
You realize what the risks are?
Boris will be there, I suppose?
 236 Sentence types and discourse functions

Declarative questions are conducive (cf 11.4), and resemble tag

questions with a rising tone in that they invite the hearer’s verification.
Positive questions have positive orientation and can therefore accept only
assertive items (10.37):
He wants something to eat?
Somebody is with you?
Negative questions have negative orientation, and nonassertive forms
may be used following the negative:
You didn’t get anything to eat?
Nobody ever stays at your place?

Yes-no questions with modal auxiliaries

11.8 The formation of yes-no questions with modal auxiliaries is subject to
certain limitations and shifts of meaning. The modals of permission (may
<esp BrE), and can) and of obligation (must <esp BrE), and have to)
generally involve the speaker’s authority in statements and the hearer’s
authority in questions:

A: ay \ I leave now? [‘Will you permit me .

Can J
B: Yes,you(may). [7 will permit you .
J lean J

Must I ^ 0
A: t~v T A > leave now? [‘Are you telling me to .
Do I have to J

v (must 1
B: Yes, y°u (have to J ’ [7 am telling you to .

The question form anticipates the form appropriate for the answer.
In the possibility sense, can or (more commonly in AmE) could are used
rather than may:

Can
A: they have missed the bus?
Could
may have,
B: Yes,
might have.
The past forms might [permission], would [volition], and could [volition]
are regularly used for politeness in place of the present forms; for example,
Might I call you by your first name?; Would you stand at the back, please?;
Could I see you for a moment?

NOTE [a] Shall [volition] is used <esp in BrE) to involve the hearer’s will in questions:
Shall I switch off the television? As common alternatives we have Should I? or Do
you want me to?
[b] Need (esp in BrE) is used as a nonassertive modal auxiliary with negative
 Questions 237

orientation: Need they leave now?. Common substitutes (esp in AmE) are the
main verb need to and have to: Do they need/have to leave now? On the other hand,
must in the necessity sense has positive orientation: Why must it always rain when
we want to have a picnic?
[c] Dare is occasionally used as a nonassertive modal auxiliary, especially in BrE:
Dare we complain? Common substitutes are the main verb dare and <esp in AmE)
the blend construction with do and the bare infinitive: Do we dare to complain?; Do
we dare complain?

g#/?-questions
Form of wA-question
11.9 ^-questions are formed with the aid of one of the following simple
interrogative words (or wA-words):

who/whom/whose, what, which, when, where, how, why

Unlike yes-no questions, wA-questions generally have falling intonation.

As a rule,
(i) the wA-element (ie the clause element containing the wA-word)
comes first in the sentence,
(ii) the wA-word itself takes first position in the wA-element.
The main exception to the second principle occurs when the wA-word is
within a prepositional complement. Here English provides a choice
between two constructions, one being formal. In formal style, the
preposition precedes the complement, whereas otherwise the complement
comes first and the preposition is deferred to the end of the sentence:

On what did you base your prediction? (formal)

What did you base your prediction onl

We may perhaps express this difference more neatly by saying that non-
formal style generally requires that the wA-word comes first, but formal
style requires that the wA-element as a whole comes first.

Function of wA-element
11.10 The following sentences exemplify the various clause functions in which
the wA-element operates:

Who is coming to the PARty? [wA-element: S] [1]

What did you buy for your sister? [wA-element: Od] [2]
Whose beautiful an tiques are these? [wA-element: CJ [3]
How wide did they make the BOOKcase? [wA-element: C0] [4]
When will you be proMOTed? [wA-element: A] [5]
Where shall I put the GLASses? [wA-element: A] [6]
Why didn’t you tell me? [wA-element: A] [7]
How did you mend it? [wA-element: A] [8]
How much does he care? [wA-element: A] [9]
How long have you been wAuing? [wA-element: A] [10]
How often do you visit New York? [wA-element: A] [11]
 238 Sentence types and discourse functions

We see above that the normal statement order of elements is altered in

w/z-questions not only by the initial placing of the w/z-element, but by the
inversion of subject and operator in all cases except when the w/z-element
is subject, where the rule that the w/z-element takes initial position is given
precedence.
Subject-operator inversion is the same in its application to wh-
questions as in its application to yes-no questions; if there is no operator in
the equivalent statement, do is introduced as operator in the question. The
main verb be and (occasionally, esp in BrE) have act as operator: Where is
she?. What kind of car have they?

NOTE [a] Adjuncts of instrument, reason, and purpose are normally questioned by the
prepositional construction: What shall I mend it with?; What did you do that for?
Although the latter could be replaced by Why did you do that?, it has no alternative
with a proposed preposition: *For what did you do that?', In this respect it is like
informal questions with be followed by a final preposition: What was it in?
[b] Abbreviated questions consisting of a wh-word and a final preposition (which
in this construction regularly bears nuclear stress), eg: What for?. Where from!
to?, What with?. Who with/by?, are as common in informal speech as questions
consisting of the wh-word only: Where?, Why?, Who? There is a common
abbreviated negative question Why not? and an informal abbreviated reason
question <esp in AmE) How come?
[c] Except in formal style, who rather than whom is used as object (Who did you
want?) or complement of preposition (Who did you give it to?).
[d] Many speakers do not accept an indirect object as wh-zlement: IWho(m) did
you give the present? They use the equivalent prepositional phrase instead:
Who(m) did you give the present to? or (in formal style) To whom did you give the
present? Some speakers, however, find the construction acceptable if there is no
ambiguity as to which object is direct and which indirect. (There is ambiguity in
* Who did you show your daughter?)
[e] There can be more than one w/z-element:

Which present did you give to whom?

Who said what to whom?
Who did you see where?

Alternative questions
11.11 There are two types of alternative questions. The first resembles a yes-no
question, and the second a w/z-question:

Would you like CHOcolate, vaNiLla, or STRAwberry (ice¬

cream)? [1]
Which ice-cream would you like? CHOcolate, vaNiLla or
STRAwberry? [2]

The first type differs from a yes-no question only in intonation; instead of
the final rising tone, it contains a separate nucleus for each alternative: a
rise occurs on each item in the list, except the last, on which there is a fall,
indicating that the list is complete. The difference of intonation between
 Questions 239

alternative and yes-na questions is important, in that ignoring it can lead

to misunderstanding - as the contrast between these replies indicates:

alternative: A: Shall we go by bus or train?

B: By bus.
yes-no: A: Shall we go by bus or train?
B: No, let’s take the car.

The second type of alternative question is really a compound of two

separate questions: a w/z-question followed by an elliptical alternative
question. Thus [2] might be taken as a reduced version of:

Which ice-cream would you like? Would you like cHocolate,

vaNiLla, or STRAwberry?

NOTE [a] Any yes-no question can be converted into an alternative question:

are you ready or AREn’t you ready?

are you ready or not?

Since the alternative variant unnecessarily spells out the negative possibility, it
introduces a petulant tone to the question.
[b] Ellipted forms are generally preferred, ie [4] rather than [3):

Did fraly win the World Cup or did BraziL win the World Cup? [3]
Did rraly win the World Cup or BraziL? [4]

The second part can be placed within the first part:

Did ITaly or BraziL win the World Cup?

are you or AREn’t you coming?

Minor types of questions

Exclamatory questions
11.12 The exclamatory question is interrogative in structure, but has the force of
an exclamatory assertion (cf. 11.20). Typically it is a negative yes-no
question with a final falling instead of rising tone:

Hasn’t she grown!

Wasn’t it a marvellous coNcert!

These invite the hearer’s agreement to something on which the speaker has
strong feelings. The meaning, contrary to the appearance of the literal
wording, is vigorously positive.
A positive yes-no question, also with a falling tone, is another (but less
common) way of expressing a strong positive conviction:

'Am 'I HUNGry! 'Did 'he look anNOYED! 'Has 'she grown!

Both operator and subject usually receive emphatic stress. In written

English an exclamation mark is usual at the end of the sentence for both
kinds of exclamatory questions.
 240 Sentence types and discourse functions

Rhetorical questions
11.13 The rhetorical question is interrogative in structure, but has the force of a
strong assertion. The speaker does not expect an answer.
A positive rhetorical yes-no question is like a strong negative assertion,
while a negative question is like a strong positive one.

positive:
Is that a reason for desPAiR? [‘Surely that is not a reason . . .’]
Can anyone doubt the wisdom of this action? [‘Surely no one can
doubt. . .’]
negative:
Isn’t the answer OBvious? [‘Surely the answer is obvious.’]
Haven’t you got anything better to do? [‘Surely you have something
better to do.’]

Unlike exclamatory questions, these rhetorical questions have the

normal rising intonation of a yes-no question, and are distinguished
chiefly by the range of pitch movement.
There are also rhetorical w/z-questions. The positive question is
equivalent to a statement in which the w/z-element is replaced by a negative
element:

Who knows/cares? [‘Nobody knows/cares’ or ‘I don’t know/care.’]

What DiFference does it make? [‘It makes no difference.’]
How should i know? [‘There is no reason why I should know.’]

The less common negative question is equivalent to a statement in which

the wh-element is replaced by a positive element:

Who DOEsn’t know? [‘Everybody knows.’]

How couLDn’t you remember? [‘You certainly should have
remembered.’]

Rhetorical w/z-questions generally have a rise-fall tone, less commonly a

simple falling tone.

Echo questions
11.14 Echo questions repeat part or all of what has been said. Replicatory echo
questions do so as a way of having their content confirmed:

A: The Browns are emigrating. B: Emigrating?

A: He’s a dermatologist. B: what is he?
A: I’ll pay for it. B: You’ll what?
A: Have you ever been to Valladolid?
B: Have I ever been where?
A: She always wears a quizzical expression.
B: She always wears a what expression?
A: She sat there and ratiocinated.
n rl t , fWHAT?
B: She sat there and < , ,0
IwHATed?
 Directives 241

Explicatory echo questions, which are always wA-questions, ask for

clarification. They have a falling tone on the wA-word:

A: Take a look at this! B: Take a look at what?

A: He’s missed the bus again. B: who’s missed the bus?

NOTE [a] The generalized recapitulatory wA-question what did you say? is sometimes
truncated to the monosyllable what? (impolite except among friends), just as the
alternative formula I beg your pardon? can be reduced simply to Pardon? Other
abbreviated requests for repetition are Pardon me? <AmE>, Excuse me? <AmE>,
and Sorry? <BrE>.
[b] What? on its own can also express general incredulity:

A: I paid £1,000 for that picture. B: what? You must be mad.

Directives

Directives without a subject

11.15 Directives typically take the form of an imperative sentence, which differs
from a declarative sentence in that:
(i) it generally has no subject;
(ii) it generally has a verb in the base form.
Otherwise, the clause patterns of imperative sentences show the same
range and ordering of elements as declaratives (cf 10.1); for example;

(S) V: Jump.
(S) VC: Be reasonable.
(S) VOC: Consider yourself lucky.

The imperative verb lacks tense distinction and does not allow modal
auxiliaries.-The progressive form is rare, and the perfect even rarer:

Be listening to this station the same time tomorrow night.

Passives with be occur chiefly in negative directives, where they

generally have the meaning ‘Don’t allow yourself to be . . .’:

Don’t be deceived by his looks.

Don’t be bullied into signing.

They are less common in positive directives: Be guided by what Isay. What
might be analysed as passives occur with get: Get washed; Don’t get
dressed yet.
Imperatives are restricted to verbs used dynamically, hence the
incongruity of *Be old. Many predications that are stative with respect to
disallowing the progressive (cf 4.11) are available with a dynamic
interpretation: Forgive us; Love your enemies; Don’t be a stranger.
 242 Sentence types and discourse functions

Directives with a subject

11.16 The meaning of a directive implies that the omitted subject is the 2nd
person pronoun you. The implication can be demonstrated by the
occurrence of you as subject of a following tag question (Be quiet, will
you?), by the occurrence of only yourself or yourselves as the reflexive
(Behave yourself or Help yourselves), and by the occurrence of only the
emphatic possessive your own (Use your own comb).
There is, however, a type of directive in which the stressed subject you is
added. You may be noncontrastive and admonitory:

'You be Quiet!
'You 'mind your own Business, and 'leave this to me!
'You 'take the book.

It frequently expresses strong irritation or (as in the last example) merely

insistence. On the other hand, noncontrastive you may be persuasive:

I know you can do it if you try hard enough. 'You 'show me what
you can do.

You may also be contrastive in the sense of singling out one person or one
set of persons.

Don’t tell me to be quiet, you be quiet!

Third person subjects are also possible:

Somebody open this door.

Parents with children go to the front.
Nobody move.

NOTE There is blurring of subject and vocative (cf 10.31/) in these commands. But
whereas the subject always precedes the verb, the vocative is an element that can
occur in final and medial, as well as initial, positions in the sentence. Another
difference is that the vocative, when initially placed, has a separate tone unit
(typically fall-rise); the subject merely receives ordinary word stress:

vocative: mary, play on my side.

Play on my side, mary.
subject: 'Mary play on my side.

The distinctness of vocative and imperative subject is confirmed by the possibility

of their cooccurrence: j6hn, 'you listen to me!
Vocative you, as opposed to imperative subject you, is very impolite: you, 'come
HERE.

Directives with lei

11.17 First person imperatives can be formed by preposing the verb let followed
by a notional subject in the objective case:
 Directives 243

Let us work hard. [‘We must work hard.’]

Let me see now. Do I have any money on me? [‘I must consider this
now.’]

The same applies to 3rd person subjects:

Let no one think that a teacher’s life is easy. [‘No one must think. . .’]
Let each man decide for himself. [‘Each man must decide . . .’]

Except for the let me type, these are generally rather archaic and elevated
in tone. A colloquial alternative to let us, however, is the common
abbreviated form let's: Let's have a party.

Negative imperatives

11.18 To negate imperatives, one simply adds an initial Don't or Do not,

replacing assertive by nonassertive items where necessary:

Open the door. Don't open the door.

Get some wine. Don't get any wine.
You open the door. Don’t you open the door.
Someone open the door. Don't anyone open the door.

NOTE Imperatives with let are informally negated with don’t:

Don’t let’s say anything about it. <esp BrE)

Let’s don’t say anything about it. <esp AmE)
Don’t let me disturb you. (esp BrE)
Don’t let anyone fool himself he can get away with it.

Variants occur, especially with let’s, where not is inserted after the pronoun: Let’s
not say anything about it.

Do with positive imperatives

11.19 A positive imperative can be made more persuasive or insistent (esp in

BrE) by adding do (usually with a nuclear tone) before the verb:

do have some more tea. do let’s go for a walk.

This use of do applies only when a subject is absent or when let's is present.

NOTE Do, like don’t and let’s, acts as an introductory imperative marker. When used with
imperatives, do and don ’t are not acting as dummy operators (c/3.11), and so they
can be used with be: Do be quiet; Don’t be silly. (Contrast the unacceptability of
* They do be quiet.) The same applies in the quasi-imperative construction Why
don’t you be more careful?
 244 Sentence types and discourse functions

Eiiclamatiwes

11.20 Exclamatives as a formal category of sentence are restricted to the type of

exclamatory utterance introduced by what or how (cf 11.12). The wh-word
indicates an extreme position on some scale of value, and therefore can
only appear at points where an expression of degree is possible: What as
predeterminer in a noun phrase [1]; and how as intensifier of an adjective
[2] or adverb [3], or as a degree adverbial [4]. The wh-element is fronted,
but in contrast to w/z-questions there is no subject-operator inversion:

What a time we’ve had today! [i]

How delightful her manners are! [2]
How quickly you eat! [3]
How I used to hate geography! [4]

Sometimes, one must infer from the context whether the reference is to
one end of the scale or the other. For example. What a time in [1] could
refer to a very good time or a very bad time.

NOTE [a] When the w/z-element is the complement of a preposition, the preposition is
normally left in final position: What a mess we're in!
[b] Echo exclamations do not have an exclamative structure, but it is convenient to
mention them here. Like the echo question (c/11.14), the echo exclamation repeats
part or all of a preceding utterance. It is characterized by a rise-fall or high-fall
tone:

A: Em going to London for a holiday.

B: To LONdon! That’s not my idea of a rest.
A: Have you been to Paris?
B: Been to PAris! I certainly have.
A: I hear you’re a linguist.
B: I a linguist! (formal)
B: Me a linguist/

Irregular sentences

11.21 irregular sentences do not conform to the regular patterns of clause

structures (cf 10.1) or to the variations of those structures in the major
syntactic classes (cf 11.1). Some types are listed below.
(i) The formulaic (or ‘optative’) subjunctive, one use of the base form
of the verb, survives in a few fossilized expressions. It is combined
with subject-verb inversion (induced by the initial adverb) in, for
example:

Long live the Republic! So help me God.

It is found without inversion in, for example:

 Irregular sentences 245

God save the Queen! God forbid!

A less archaic formula (with subject-verb inversion) for expressing

wishes has may in front:

May the best man win! May you always be happy!

(ii) There are several kinds of irregular w/z-questions, which occur
mainly in conversation, for example:

How about another kiss? What about coming to my place?

How come you’re so late? Why listen to him?
Why all the noise? What if it rains?

(iii) Several kinds of subordinate clauses are used as sentences, generally

with exclamatory force:

That I should live to see such ingratitude!

To think that you might have been killed!
Well, if it isn’t Susan! [Tt is indeed Susan!’]
If only I’d listened to my parents!
(iv) Adverbials may have the force of commands, sometimes in
combination with another element:

Left, right! Everybody inside!

Hands up! On with the show!

(v) Many proverbs have an aphoristic sentence structure, in which two

short constructions are balanced against each other:
The more, the merrier. First come, first served.
Waste not, want not. Out of sight, out of mind.

Block language

11.22 Block language appears (especially in writing) in such functions as labels,

titles, newspaper headlines, headings, notices, and advertisements. Simple
block-language messages often consist of a noun phrase in isolation:

Entrance 50 mph limit

English Department The New York Times
For Sale No dogs without leash
Newspaper headlines commonly contain block language because of
pressure on space, and they are imitated on radio and television news
broadcasts. They can often be analysed in terms of clause structure, but
with the omission of words that may be understood from the context, such
as the finite forms of the verb be and the articles:
OIL SPILL THREAT DECREASING [SV]
PRESIDENT CALLS FOR CALM [SVA]
SHARE PRICES NOW HIGHER [SAC]
 246 Sentence types and discourse functions

Omissions of words that can be inferred from the context occur in other
types of writing:

Wish you were here, [postcard]

MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED CHANGES ACCEPTED [cable]
Refrigerate after opening [label]

NOTE [a] Notices of prohibition often take the form of a noun phrase introduced by No:
No entry; No smoking.
[b] In informal conversation many types of phrases occur as complete utterances:
The things they get up to!; You and your ideas!; Of all the stupid things to say!;
Taxi!; More coffee?; Your name?; No news. In addition there are many formulae
used for stereotyped communication situations; for example: Good morning;
Goodbye; How do you do?; Thanks; Happy Birthday.
[c] Interjections are purely emotive words which do not enter into syntactic
relations. Among the common interjections are Ah, Boo, Oh, Ouch, Sh, Wow.

Bibliographical note

On the pragmatic functions of sentences in utterances see Austin (1962); Cole and
Morgan (1975); Leech (1983); Lyons (1977); Searle (1979).
On questions see Bolinger (1957); Hudson (1975); Pope (1976); Stenstrom
(1984); Stockwell et al. (1973, Ch. 9); on tag questions, Algeo (1990); Bald (1979);
Nasslin (1984); on negative questions, Kontra (1980).
On directives see Bolinger (1967c) and (1977, Chs. 8 and 9); Downes (1977);
Stein (1976); Stockwell et al. (1973, Ch. 10).
 Pro-forms and ellipsis

Motivation for abbreviation

12.1 Pro-forms and ellipsis are syntactic devices for abbreviating constructions
to avoid redundancy. For example, we can avoid the repetition of sing
tonight in [1] by the substitution of the pro-form do so, as in [la], or by
ellipsis (which is indicated by the symbolA), as in [lb]:

She might sing tonight, but I don’t think she will sing
tonight. [1]
She might sing tonight, but I don’t think she will do so. [la]
She might sing tonight, but I don’t think she willA. [lb]

Other things being equal, language users will follow the maxim ‘Reduce as
much as possible’.
The preference for abbreviation is not merely a preference for economy-
Abbreviation can contribute to clarity, since attention is focused on new
information, as in [2]:

A: Have you spoken to Bob?

B: A Not yetA. [2]

Recoverability

12.2 In order that constructions with pro-forms and ellipsis should be

interpreted correctly, the full form must be recoverable. We list below
three types of recoverability, and mention first the most important type
from the grammatical point of view:
(i) textual recoverability: The full form is recoverable from a
neighbouring part of the text.
(ii) situational recoverability: The full form is recoverable from the
extralinguistic situation.
(iii) structural recoverability: The full form is recoverable from
knowledge of grammatical structure.
The use of the pronoun she, for example, presupposes that the speaker
and hearer know the identity of the person to whom the pronoun refers. In
[I] and [2] we can identify the referent from the linguistic context. We
understand she to refer to the same person as does the poor girl:

The poor girl did not complain, although she was badly hurt. [1]
Although she was badly hurt, the poor girl did not complain. [2]
 248 Pro-forms and ellipsis

There are two types of textual recoverability: [1] is an example of the

anaphoric use of the pronoun, where the antecedent (the poor girl)
comes before the pronoun, and [2] is an example of the less common
cataphoric use, where the antecedent follows the pronoun.

Situational recoverability is exemplified in:

Is she badly hurt? [3]

One can imagine someone saying [3] on arriving at the scene of an accident
in which a girl has been struck down by a car. The identity of the person
meant by she is then obvious from the situation.
The third type of recoverability, structural recoverability, is illustrated
by the optional ellipsis of the conjunction that in [4]:

He admits {that) he prefers his mother’s cooking. [4]

Here, contextual information is irrelevant: the optionality of that is purely

a matter of grammatical structure.

Antecedents and the replaced expressions

12.3 Pro-forms and their antecedents may be linked by coreference, a linkage

of ‘cross-reference’ between two expressions that refer to the same thing
or set of things. For example, in [1] George and he will generally be
understood to refer to the same person:

George was the best runner in our school, and so everyone

expected that he would win the prize. [1]

We can also replace the pronoun he by George without changing the

meaning of the sentence.
But the relation between a pro-form and its antecedent is not
necessarily a relation of coreference. For example, in [2] the pronoun one
substitutes for a first prize, as the grammatical and semantic equivalence
. of [2] with [2a] shows:

Fiona got a first prize this year, and I got one last year. [2]
Fiona got a first prize this year, and I got a first prize last
year. [2a]

It is clear, however, that the pronoun one in [2] does not refer to the same
prize as does its antecedent a first prize. Similarly, the two uses of a first
prize are not coreferential in [2a].
The antecedent is not necessarily identical with the expression that is
replaced or ellipted. For example, in [3] the pronoun it refers to an
antecedent clause, but - as [3a] demonstrates - the clause that it replaces is
not identical with the antecedent clause:
 Pro-forms 249

If you don’t study for the examination, you’ll regret it. [3]
If you don’t study for the examination, you’ll regret not
studying for the examination. [3a]

When we refer to a pro-form as replacing a particular syntactic form, we

mean the form for which it substitutes and not necessarily the antecedent.

Pro-forms

Pro-forms for noun phrases and their constituents

12.4 The most obvious pro-forms for noun phrases are the 3rd person
pronouns and determiners:

Cindy was by far the best speaker, and so everyone expected

that she would win the prize. [1]
Ten per cent of insomniacs sleep soundly when they come to
a sleep clinic. [2]
The islanders pay all their lives on insurance policies for
expensive funerals. [3]

Despite the name, almost all pronouns are pro-forms for noun phrases
rather than simply for nouns.
Other items that can be pro-forms for noun phrases include in
particular indefinite pronouns such as any, all, both, each, either, some,
and none. These, however, can also be regarded as elliptical, since they can
be expanded, usually with an o/-phrase:

When the children entered, each (of the children )/( child) was given a
small present.
Some equipment has been damaged, but none (of the equipment) has
been lost.
Both of the engines had been hit, and neither (of the engines)/
(engine) could be relied upon to bring us safely home.
Her cousins go to the same school as she did, and all (of her cousins) /
(her cousins) want to become doctors.
This year we produced more coal, but we sold less (coal).

The demonstratives (cf 6.19/) can be pro-forms for noun phrases and
they can also be regarded as elliptical:

I read his first novel, and that (novel) was boring too.
The paintings of Gauguin’s Tahiti period are more famous than
those (paintings) he painted in France.

The same can be a pro-form for a noun phrase ([4]), but it can also
substitute for a prepositional phrase ([5]) or an adjective phrase ([6] and
 250 Pro-forms and ellipsis

[7]) functioning as a subject or object complement:

A: Can I have a cup of black coffee with sugar, please?
B: Give me the same, please. [4]
Yesterday I felt under the weather and today I feel the same. [5]
The Denison house is small but very comfortable, and ours is
just the same. [6]
I want my steak rare and David wants his the same. [7]
In all its substitute uses (cf 12.8 Note [b]), the same does not imply identity
but similarity with the antecedent.

One as a pro-form

12.5 There are two pro-forms one: one has the plural some, and the other has
the plural ones. Both are always unstressed (and are thereby distinguished
from the numeral one), and both substitute for phrases with count nouns
as heads.
(i) One/some is a substitute for an indefinite noun phrase:
A: Can you give me a few nails? I need one.
B: I’ll get you some soon.
Compare:

I need ia na^' I need

{some nails,
lone. some.

(ii) One and ones are substitutes for a nominal expression, a noun
phrase head with or without one or more modifiers (not the whole
noun phrase):
Have you any knives? I need a sharp one. fl]
I wish I’d bought a few jars of honey. Did you notice the ones
they were selling? [2]
In [1], one substitutes for the noun knife, and in [2] ones substitutes for jars
of honey. One as a pro-form for a nominal expression must have an overt
determiner. The equivalent pro-form for noncount nouns is some:

Shall I pass the butterl Or have you got some already?

Pro-forms for clauses and clause constituents

Pro-form do
12.6 The dummy operator do is a pro-form for the predicate in [1], despite the
structural parallelism with other operators, as in [2], that are followed by
ellipsis of the predication (c/12.14, 12.20 Note [a]):
Martin drives a car, and his sister does, too. [1]
Martin can drive a car, and his sister canA, too. [2]
 Pro-forms 251

In BrE many allow the possibility of adding after the auxiliary or

auxiliaries an optional intransitive main verb do as a pro-form for the
predication (Martin can drive a car, and his sister can do, too). This
happens rarely after the operator do, but is more common after a modal or
after the perfect auxiliary have:
Bob says he is going to join the Labour Party.
It will be interesting to see whether he does (do). <rare>
The Americans are reducing their defence expenditure this year. I
wonder if the Russians will (do) too.
I didn’t touch the television set; but PERcy might have (done).

Do so

12.7 The main verb do combines with so to form a unit do so that functions as a
pro-form for the predicate or predication. The verb in this combination
occurs in both finite and nonfinite forms, and the combination appears in
infinitive and -ing participle clauses as well as in finite clauses. Since the do
so construction is somewhat formal, in informal use the general preference
is for the alternative ellipsis of the predication where possible (cf 12.20),
which is indicated by the parentheses in the examples below:
They planned to reach the top of the mountain, but nobody knows if
they did (so).
You can take the train back to Madrid, but I shouldn’t (do so) until
tomorrow morning.
As no one else has succeeded in solving the mystery, I’ll attempt to
(do so) myself.
As no one else has succeeded in doing so, I’ll attempt to solve the
mystery myself.

NOTE Unlike the intransitive do of 12.6, the do in do so is usually stressed (but the so is
always unstressed).

Do it, do that, do so

12.8 The transitive main verb do also combines with the pronouns it and that to
form a unit that functions as a pro-form for the predicate or predication:

Is Connie still trying to light the stove? She should have done it by
NOW.
Are you trying to light the stove with a match? I wouldn’t do that.

In general, do in these two combinations has dynamic and agentive

reference; ie it refers to an action that is performed or intentionally
initiated by the referent of the subject. It is hence abnormal for do it and do
that to substitute for predicates or predications that are stative or denote
involuntary processes:
 252 Pro-forms and eiSipsis

A: They think he’s mad.

B: *We do it too.
A: He owns a Cadillac.

(that >
B: *Yes, his BROther does TOO.
\ THAT)

With regard to do so, there is divided usage. Some speakers, particularly

in AmE, treat the do in do so as dynamic and agentive, while others accept
do so, at least to some extent, even when the combination is associated
with stative or involuntary process predications:

(?) They think he is mad, and 1 do so too.

(?) Peter likes work, and bob does so too.
A: Bob might have heard the strange noises.
B: (?) He might well have done so.

NOTE [a] Do that gives more prominence to the object that, which often receives nuclear
stress and is treated to some extent as new or contrastive information. The it of do
it, on the other hand, is always unstressed.
[b] Do the same, do likewise, and do similarly are alternatives to do that when a
comparison is involved:

I’ll contribute ten dollars, if you’ll do the same.

They refer to a similar event and not to the identical event referred to by their
antecedent.

Pro-forms for adwerblats

12.9 Here and there can be pro-forms for place adverbials, and then for time
adverbials:

Between London and Oxford there is a famous inn called the George
and Dragon. Here we stopped for lunch.
If you look in the top drawer, you’ll probably find it there.
One morning the captain invited us to the bridge. He told us then
about his secret orders.

There is the unmarked place pro-form, whereas here specifically denotes

closeness to the speaker.
So and thus can be pro-forms for process adverbials (c/8.27/). Both
appear in formal contexts, and otherwise (in) that way or like that are
used:

To the Greeks, Pan was a herdsman, half-man, half-goat, and he is

soI thus represented in their sculpture, (formal)

...; and he is represented way j in their sculpture.

 Pro-forms 253

It is convenient to refer here to the use of so and that as pro-forms for

intensifies of adjectives and adverbs:

Though Bairstow designed the car to exceed 400 miles per hour, few
people believed that it would go so/that fast.
I had a headache and a high temperature, but I’m not feeling so/that
bad today.
So as pro-form for complement
12.10 So can substitute for an adjective phrase or a noun phrase functioning as
complement:
Brett’s work is not yet consistent in style and quality, but will no
doubt become so.
If he’s a criminal, it’s his parents who have made him so.
After he, ellipsis is preferred, or (informally) the substitutes like that or
that way are used:

The plants are healthy enough now?/fc (?so).

but I wonder how long they will<^—6e like that.
^remain so.

After appear and seem, with initial anticipatory it, both so and its
negative equivalent not can be pro-forms for the rto-clause:
Ruth is waiting to hear whether she has been promoted, and it
appears so/not.

NOTE [a] So as pro-form for the subject complement can also be initial:

We hoped that the event would be a success, and so it turned out.

So it appears and so it seems, with initial so, are common expressions of reaction to
previous utterances.
[b] So is a synonym for true, and not a pro-form, after be in examples like That is so;
It may be so; I fear that this is not so.

So and not as pro-forms for object that-clause

12.11 So and its negative equivalent not can be pro-forms for a that-clause
functioning as direct object:
A: Will Oxford win the next boat race?
R Tu (so [ = that Oxford will win . . .]
°^e 1 not [ = that Oxford will not win

This use of not is restricted mainly to verbs of belief or assumption,

whereas the corresponding use of so is frequently found also in some verbs
of saying such as say and tell. Verbs that commonly allow both so and not
include:
 254 Pro-forms and ellipsis

believe guess imagine reckon suspect

expect hope presume suppose think

NOTE [a] With certain verbs (such as say and believe), the pro-clause so occasionally
appears in initial position (c/12.10 Note [a]). Subject-verb inversion is possible if
the subject is not a pronoun:

A: Oxford will win the boat race.

g. most of the sports writers say.

\So say most of the sports writers.

A: Most people are backing the Oxford crew.

B: So I believe.

[b] With verbs taking transferred negation, the use of not {eg I think not) as a pro¬
form is rather formal, and is often replaced by so preceded by negation in the main
clause:

I don’t think so. I don’t suppose so. I don’t believe so.

[c] Unlike so, the pro-form not usually receives nuclear stress:

A: Has the news reached home yet?

g (I’m AFRAID SO.

\l’m afraid not.

So as pro-form for predication

12.12 Initial so can be pro-predication in a construction consisting of so
followed by the subject and the operator {So + S + op):
You asked me to leave, and ‘so I did. [ = indeed I did] [1]
A: It’s starting to snow. B:'So it is!
A: You’ve spilled coffee on your dress. B: Oh dear, 'so I have.

So here is equivalent to the so in do so {cf 12.7):

You asked me to leave, and I did so. [la]

The difference in meaning between [1] and [la] is that [1] introduces an
emphasis that might otherwise be conveyed by indeed or in fact. In replies,
the construction So + S + op expresses surprised confirmation of what the
previous speaker has asserted:
A: It’s past midnight. B: [looks at watch] 'So it is!

Initial so with subject-operator inversion

12.13 A construction superficially similar to that in 12.12 has initial so followed
by subject-operator inversion {So + op + S):
you asked him to leave, and ‘so did i. [ = 1 asked him to leave, too]
The corn is ripening, and 'so are the Apples.
You’ve spilled coffee on the table, and 'so have i.
 Ellipsis 255

In this construction so is not a pro-form at all, but an additive adverb

equivalent in meaning to too or also, and the construction is elliptical. So
here is parallel to the negative adverbs neither and nor, which similarly
take subject-operator inversion:

The corn isn’t ripening, and neither!nor are the apples (ripening).

Ellipsis

The nature of ellipsis

12.14 Ellipsis is grammatical omission. In the strict application of the term,
ellipsis requires verbatim recoverability; that is, the actual word or
words that are implied must be precisely recoverable. We postulate ellipsis
to explain why some normally obligatory element of a grammatical
sentence is missing. For example, the infinitive marker to occurs in [1]
without the infinitive which it normally introduces:

If he works hard, I won’t have to A. [1]

We therefore say that the predication work hard has been ellipted.
Strict ellipsis requires that when we insert the missing words we do not
change the meaning of the original sentence. The subject in [2] is therefore
not elliptical at all:
The poor need more help. [2]
Though the poor refers to people, if we add a word such as people we
change the meaning. The poor people has specific reference to a particular
group of poor people, whereas the poor has generic reference (cf 5.22).
A further requirement for strict ellipsis is that when we insert the
missing words the sentence should remain grammatical. The comparative
construction in [3] is therefore strictly elliptical, as we see from [3a]:

He always wakes up earlier than /. (formal) [3]

He always wakes up earlier than I wake up. [3a]
On the other hand, the construction in [4] is not strictly elliptical, because
when we try to insert wake up the resulting sentence [4a] is ungrammatical.

He always wakes up earlier than me. (informal) [4]

*He always wakes up earlier than me wake up. [4a]
An analogous example involves the dummy operator do. The construc¬
tion with the unstressed dummy operator does in [5] is structurally parallel
to constructions with other operators, such as can in [6]:
she understands the problem better than he does. [5]
she can understand the problem better than he can. [6]
 256 Pro-forms and ellipsis

But whereas we can regard understand the problem as ellipted in [6], it

would not be possible to do so in [5]:

*she understands the problem better than he does understand the

problem.

Positional categories of ellipsis

12.15 We distinguish three categories of ellipsis according to where the ellipsis

occurs within a construction. In initial ellipsis, the initial elements are
ellipted:

(I) hope he’s there.

In medial ellipsis medial elements are ellipted:

Jill owns a Volvo and Fred (owns) a BMW.

And in final ellipsis the final elements are ellipted:

I know that we haven’t yet set the record straight, but we will (set the
record straight).

Recoverability types of ellipsis

Situational ellipsis
12.16 In situational ellipsis, the interpretation may depend on a knowledge of
the extralinguistic context. For example. Get it? in one situation might be
understood to mean the same as Did you get it? (eg: ‘Did you get the
letter?’) and in another situation as Do you get it? (ie: ‘Do you
understand?’). In other cases, the structure will make it clear what has
been omitted, eg it in Looks like rain.
Typically situational ellipsis is initial, especially taking the form of
omission of subject and/or operator; eg: (Do you) Want something? In
such cases, which are restricted to familiar (generally spoken) English, the
ellipted words are those that normally have weak stress and low pitch.
Here are some examples of situational ellipsis, with an indication of
what has been ellipted:
(a) Ellipsis in declarative sentences
(I) Told you so.
(You) Want a drink, do you?
(It) Serves you right.
(I’m) Sorry I couldn’t be there.
(It’s) Good to see you.
(I’ll) See you later.
(It’s a) Pity he won’t help.
(b) Ellipsis in interrogative sentences
(Are you) In trouble?
(Is there) Anybody in?
 Ellipsis 257

(Do you) Want some?

(Have you) Got any money?
(Is) Anything the matter?
(Does) Anybody need a lift?
(Has) Joan finished?
(Is the) Television not working?

NOTE [a] Some other cases are less productive and tend to occur with certain expressions.
For example, the ellipsis of the article alone in (The) Fact is I don’t know what to
do; the ellipsis of the preposition of in (Of) Course he’s there; and ellipsis that
includes the initial syllable of a word in (I am a) ’Fraid I won’t be there.
[b] In many instances of initial ellipsis, the omission may be at least partly due to
subaudibility or some other process of phonological reduction.

Structural ellipsis
12.17 In structural ellipsis, the interpretation depends on knowledge of
grammatical structure, as in the ellipsis of the conjunction that in [1] and
the preposition for in [2]:
I believe (that) you are mistaken. [1]
We’re staying there (for) another three weeks, (informal) [2]
Many examples are confined to written language. They involve the
common omission of determiners, pronouns, operators, and other closed-
class words in block language (cf 11.22) - eg in headlines, book titles,
notices - and in such written varieties as lecture notes, diaries, and
telegrams:
US heading for new slump, [ie; The US is heading for a new slump.]

NOTE There is no clear dividing line between structural ellipsis and some instances of
situational ellipsis given in 12.16, where the structure alone would yield the
interpretation.

Textual ellipsis
Categories of textual ellipsis
12.18 In textual ellipsis, the interpretation depends on what is said or written
in the linguistic context. We distinguish two kinds of ellipsis according to
the relative positions of the ellipsis and its antecedent: anaphoric ellipsis
and cataphoric ellipsis. In anaphoric ellipsis, the interpretation depends
on what comes before:
I’m happy if you are (happy).
In cataphoric ellipsis, on the other hand, the ellipsis depends on what
comes after:
Those who prefer (to stay indoors), can stay indoors.
 258 Pro-forms and ellipsis

It is often necessary to take account of the larger construction in which

the antecedent construction and elliptical construction participate, since
some categories of ellipsis are possible only in certain constructions. We
therefore distinguish between general ellipsis, where the functional
relation between the elliptical and antecedent constructions is irrelevant,
and special ellipsis, where the possibilities of omission are determined by
that relation (eg in coordination). In this chapter we confine ourselves
chiefly to general ellipsis, since special ellipsis is more appropriately
handled in the chapters dealing with coordination (13.17#), nonfinite and
verbless clauses (14.4#), and comparative clauses (15.36#).
General textual ellipsis is typically final and anaphoric. We distinguish
two major categories: elliptical noun phrases and antecedent clauses.

General ellipsis

Elliptical noun phrases

12.19 Except in coordination, elliptical noun phrases result from final ellipsis.
This means that heads and any postmodifiers tend to be ellipted:
My own camera, like Peter's A, is Japanese.
He had to admit that Sarah’s drawings were as good as his own A.
Thefirst expedition to the Antarctic was quickly followed by another
two A.
Tomorrow’s meeting will have to be our first and our last A.
Although Helen is the oldest girl in the class, Julie is the tallest A.
Noun-phrase ellipsis, like clause ellipsis (c/12.20#), involves some degree
of parallelism between the original construction and the elliptical
construction.
The dominance of final ellipsis in noun phrases means that it is possible
to omit postmodifiers alone:

Stan spent part of his winnings, and the rest A he saved.

If you need any of that firewood, I can give you plenty A.

Noun phrases can occur with medial ellipsis if a postmodifier is retained

while the head of the phrase is ellipted:

They claim that Danish butter is the finest fin the world.
That letter was the last A I ever received from her.

In other cases one or more modifiers, as well as the head, may be ellipted:

His recent performance of ‘Macbeth’ is the best A he has ever

done. [1]
That new thick plastic rope that they sell is stronger than any
other A you can get. [2]

NOTE [a] In general ellipsis an elliptical noun phrase must retain more than just the
postmodifiers:
 Ellipsis 259

*Joan prefers the trios of Mozart, while I prefer A of Haydn.

We can make the sentence grammatical by inserting the pro-form those before of
Haydn:

Joan prefers the trios of Mozart, while I prefer those of Haydn A.

Alternatively, we can replace the final prepositional phrase by a genitive:

Joan prefers the trios of Mozart, while I prefer Haydn's A.

[b] The elliptical phrases in [1] and [2] are ambiguous, according to whether the
modifiers are assumed to be ellipted. In [1] it may be the best performance or the
best performance of ‘Macbeth'. The ambiguity is multiple in [2], where any other
you can get may simply be elliptical for any other rope you can get, or the ellipsis
may include also plastic or thick plastic or new thick plastic. To avoid such
ambiguity, one has to repeat the words of the antecedent.

Elliptical clauses

Ellipsis of the predication in finite clauses

12.20 For general ellipsis in the finite clause, as in the noun phrase, the dominant
type is final. Typically, the subject and operator (and perhaps other
auxiliaries) remain, and the predication is ellipted:
I’m happy if you are A. [1]
If I could have bought a ticket, I would have A. [2]
His father was at Oxford when the Prime Minister was A. [3]
Tom will be playing, but I don’t think Martin will (be) A. [4]
I’ll do what I can A. [5]
When Marilyn resigns from the committee, I’m sure that a
number of other people will A. [6]

NOTE [a] If the clause in its unreduced form has no operator, the dummy operator do is
introduced:

I left school when Dennis did. [7]

Did, however, in [7] is a pro-form and there is strictly no ellipsis, since the insertion
of the predication after did would result in an unacceptable sentence:

*1 left school when Dennis did leave school. [7a]

But there are other constructions with the operator do that are elliptical:

I don’t like living in the country. Do you (like living in the country)? [8]
A: Does she like writing for the press?
B: Yes, she does (like writing for the press). [9]

In [9] does is used as an emphatic operator in both the elliptical and the unreduced
constructions.
[b] Unlike adjuncts (8.13) and subjuncts (8.32), disjuncts (8.40) and conjuncts
(8.43) are not carried over to the elliptical clause. We can contrast the adjunct
sometimes with the disjunct wisely:
 260 Pro-forms and ellipsis

A: Has Bob sometimes walked to work?

B: No, but his sister has. [ = has sometimes walked to work]
A: Bob has wisely walked to work.
B: Well, at least he claims he has. [ = has walked to work]

Similarly, a final auxiliary in the elliptical clause excludes other, contrasting

auxiliaries in the antecedent clause:

Not many people could have enjoyed that trip as much as your mother has.
[ = has enjoyed that trip]

Media! ellipsis
12.21 There is genuinely medial ellipsis when a contrasting adverbial occurs in
final position:

There are more hungry people in the world today than there were A
in 1900.

In the next example, only the lexical verb is omitted:

I’ll gladly pay for the hotel, if you will A for the food.
Ellipsis of a clause
12.22 A more thoroughgoing reduction involves ellipsis of the whole clause or
the whole clause except for an introductory word.
A w/z-interrogative clause, whether independent or subordihate, may be
reduced to the w/z-word:

A: We’re bound to win the prize some day.

B: Yes, but when a?
Somebody has hidden my notebook, but I don’t know who/why/
WHERE A.

There is also a reduced negative w/z-question, but this occurs only with
why and with w/z-infinitive clauses:

Why not? I don’t know why not.

I don’t want to accept, but I don’t know how not (to).
A to-infinitive clause may be omitted if it functions as the complemen¬
tation of a verb or adjective (cf Chapter 16). An elliptical ^-infinitive
clause may consist of just the introductory unstressed particle to:

You can borrow my pen, if you want to a. [1]

You will speak to who(m)ever I tell you to A. [2]
Somebody ought to help. Shall I ask peter to A? [3]

In the negative, not is placed before to:

She borrowed my pen, although I told her not to.

To may also be ellipted, and the result is then ellipsis of the whole clause:
 Ellipsis 261

You can borrow my pen, if you want a. [la]

Somebody ought to help. Shall I ask PEter A? [3a]

NOTE The marginal modal auxiliaries ought to and used to, the modal idiom have got to,
and semi-auxiliaries such as be able to, be going to, have to, be supposed to (c/3.1 If)
must retain the to:

We don’t save as much money these days as we used to A.

I won’t disturb you again unless I have to A.
Appended clauses
12.23 One type of special ellipsis is found in appended clauses. An appended
clause is an elliptical clause (usually parenthetical or an afterthought) for
which the whole or part of the preceding or interrupted clause constitutes
the antecedent:

I caught the train - just. [1]

The train arrived - on time for a change. [2]

These presuppose that two separate assertions are being made. For
example, [1] may be viewed as elliptical for [la]:

I caught the train - I just caught the train. [la]

In the examples that follow, only part of the initial clause (the italicized
part) acts as the antecedent:

They are meant to wound, perhaps A to kill.

He is playful, A even mischievous.

On the related construction of appended coordination, cf 13.30.

Bibliographical note
On reduction generally, see Halliday and Hasan (1976).
On pro-forms and substitutes, see Crymes (1968).
On ellipsis, see Greenbaum and Meyer (1982); Gunter (1963).
For further references see the Bibliographical notes for Chapters 13 and 19.
 Coordination

Syndetic, asyndetic, and poiysyndetic coordination

13.1 We distinguish between syndetic (or linked) coordination and asyndetic

(or unlinked) coordination. In syndetic coordination, the more usual
form, the units are linked by a coordinating conjunction (or, more
simply, coordinator) - and, or, but:

Slowly and stealthily, he crept towards his victim. [la]

In asyndetic coordination, coordinators are not present, but could be
inserted:

Slowly, stealthily, he crept towards his victim. [lb]

. When more than two units are linked by and or or, it is usual to insert the
coordinator once only - between the last two units:

The wind roared, the lightning flashed, and the clouds raced
across the sky. . [2a]
In poiysyndetic coordination, however, the coordinator is repeated
between each pair of units:
The wind roared, and the lightning flashed, and the clouds
raced across the sky. [2b]

Coordination and subordination

13.2 Both coordination and subordination involve the linking of units; but in
coordination the units are on the same syntactic level, whereas in
subordination one of the units is a constituent of a superordinate unit. For
example in [1] the two clauses linked by the coordinator but are main
clauses, each of which could be an independent sentence:
They are my neighbours, but I don’t know them well. [1]

In [2] the subordinate where-cl&use is the direct object of the sentence:

I don’t know where they are staying. [2]

Similar semantic relationships may be expressed through coordination
and subordination, as in the concessive relationship expressed by
 Coordinators 263

coordination with but in [3a] and subordination with although in [3b] and
[3c]:
He tried hard, but he failed. [3a]
Although he tried hard, he failed. [3b]
He tried hard, although he failed. [3c]
A third means of expressing this relationship by coordination is through a
conjunct (c/8.43), such as yet:

He tried hard, yet he failed. [3d]

NOTE Despite its appearance, [3d] illustrates asyndetic coordination. We can make the
coordination syndetic by inserting and:

He tried hard, and yet he failed.

Coordinators

Coordinators Identified

13.3 Three conjunctions are clearly coordinators: and, or, but. And and or are
central coordinators, and but differs from them in certain respects. On the
gradient between 'pure’ coordinators and ‘pure’ subordinators arefor and
so that (in the meaning ‘with the result that’).
Coordinators, subordinators, and conjuncts are all linkers. In what
follows, we examine six features that apply to the central coordinators and
and or and note whether they apply also to other linkers. At this stage we
restrict ourselves mainly to connections between clauses.

Syntactic features of coordinators

(a) Clause coordinators are restricted to clause-initial position
13.4 And, or, and but are restricted to initial position in the second clause:

John plays the guitar, and his sister plays the piano.
*John plays the guitar; his sister and plays the piano.

This is generally true of both coordinators and subordinators, but it is not

true of most conjuncts:
John plays the guitar; his sister, moreover, plays the piano.

NOTE There are three subordinators (as, that, and though) which are exceptional in that
they can occur noninitially (cf 15.21 Note [a], 15.26 Note [b]):

Though he is poor, he is happy.

Poor though he is, he is happy.
 264 Coordination

(b) Coordinated clauses are sequentially fixed

13.5 Clauses beginning with and, or, and but are sequentially fixed in relation to
the previous clause, and therefore cannot be transposed without
producing unacceptable sentences, or at least changing the relationship
between the clauses:

They are living in England, or they are spending a vacation there.

*0 they are spending a vacation there, they are living in England.
This is true for coordinators and conjuncts, but not for most subordina¬
tes. Contrast the unacceptability of [la], containing the conjunct
nevertheless, with the acceptability of [lb], containing the subordinator
although:

* Nevertheless John gave it away, Mary wanted it. [la]

Although Mary wanted it, John gave it away. [lb]

In this respect the subordinators for and so that resemble coordinators.

Contrast:

*For he was unhappy, he asked to be transferred.

Because he was unhappy, he asked to be transferred.

NOTE Related to the fixed position of the coordinate clause is the fact that when clauses
are linked by the coordinators and, or, and but (also by for and so that), a pronoun
in the first clause cannot normally have cataphoric (ie forward) reference to a noun
phrase in the second clause. For example, she in [la] does not corefer to my mother:

She felt ill, but my mother said nothing. [la]

On the other hand, a pronoun can (but need not) have cataphoric
reference when it occurs in an initial subordinate clause:
Although she felt ill, my mother said nothing. [lb]

(c) Coordinators are not preceded by a conjunction

13.6 The coordinators and, or, and but and the subordinators for and so that
(‘with the result that’) do not allow another conjunction to precede them.
Other subordinators as well as conjuncts can usually be preceded by
conjunctions {cf 13.8):

He was unhappy about it, and yet he did as he was told.

(d) Coordinators can Sink clause constituents

13.7 And, or, and but may link constituents smaller than a clause, for example
predicates (c/13.19/):

I may see you tomorrow or may phone late in the day.

This feature does not apply to most other linkers:
*He did not want it, for was obstinate.
 Coordinators 265

The exceptions are the conjunct jo/ and (in informal spoken English) the
conjunct so and the time adverb then (‘after that’):
They didn’t like it, yet said nothing.
They were tired, so left early.
They went home, then went straight to bed.

NOTE A subordinator does not allow this feature even when its clause is linked by a
coordinator:

*She didn’t say anything about it because he was new and because looked
unwell. [1]

If the second because of [1] is omitted, there is a regular permissible case of

coordination of predications:

She didn’t say anything about it because he was new and looked unwell.

(e) Coordinators can link'subordinate clauses

13.8 As well as linking two main clauses, and and or can link subordinate
clauses:

He asked to be transferred, t t
. , , (because y he saw no prospect
because he was unhappy and < . . . > r .
I although ) of promotion.

I wonder whether you should go and see her or whether it is better to

write to her.

Such linking is not possible for conjuncts or for the other conjunctions
except but. But, however, is restricted to linking a maximum of two clauses
and even so it can link only certain types of subordinate clauses.

She said that John would take them by car but (that) they might be
late.

(f) Coordinators can link more than two clauses

13.9 And and or can link more than two clauses, and the construction may then
be called one of multiple coordination. All but the final instance of
these two conjunctions can be omitted. Thus:

The battery may be disconnected, the connections may be loose, or

the bulb may be faulty.
is interpreted as:

The battery may be disconnected, or the connection may be loose, or

the bulb may be faulty.

In this respect, and and or differ from subordinators and conjuncts. They
differ even from but, since but semantically speaking can only link two
units at the same level.
 266 Coordination

Coordination of clauses and lesser constituents

13.10 In 13.4-9 we have focused on the linkage of clauses. But an important
distinguishing characteristic of coordinators is that they can also be used
to link elements that are parts of clauses, eg in [1] linked adjectives that are
functioning as subject complement and in [2] linked adjectives that are
functioning as premodifier:
The weather will be cold and cloudy. [1]
The warm but windy weather will continue for several more
days. [2]
In this respect, however, some linking words that are not coordinators
resemble coordinators. Certain concessive subordinators and conjuncts,
in particular, are capable of replacing but in [2] and in similar linkings of
adjectives and other constituents:
Tim’s squat yet ferocious bulldog could be heard growling on the
patio.
I immediately recognized Sarah’s bold if barely legible handwriting.
Martin was inclined to boast about his rich though disreputable
ancestors.
The admiral walked clumsily, yet with dignity.
Similarly, nor (in its capacity as a correlative after neither, cf 13.14) can
link constituents that are less than clauses:
They were neither able nor willing to provide the necessary capital.

In discussing the uses of the central coordinators in 13.11-13 we

generally take our examples from clause coordination, but the same
semantic relations apply to lesser constituents.

The uses of coordinators

The uses of and
13.11 Hm/indicates that there is some relation between the contents of the linked
clauses. The relation can generally be made explicit by the addition of an
adverbial, as indicated in parentheses in the examples:
(a) The event in the second clause is chronologically sequent to that in
the first:
I washed the dishes and (then) I dried them.
(b) The event in the second clause is a consequence or result of the
event in the first:
He heard an explosion and he (therefore) phoned the police.

(c) The second clause introduces a contrast:

Peter is secretive and (in contrast) David is open.

 Coordinators 267

(d) The first clause has concessive force:

She tried hard and (yet) she failed.
(e) The first clause is a condition of the first:

Give me some money and (then) I’ll do the shopping.

(f) The second clause makes a point similar to the first:

A trade agreement should be no problem, and (similarly) a cultural
exchange could be easily arranged.
(g) The second clause is a ‘pure’ addition to the first:

He has long hair and (also) he often wears jeans.

(h) The second clause adds an appended comment on, or explanation
of, the first:

They disliked John - and that’s not surprising in view of his

behaviour.
There’s only one thing to do now - and that’s to apologize.

NOTE The addition meaning is inclusive in Don’t argue and quarrel (equivalent to ‘Don’t
argue or quarrel’), whereas the conditional meaning is exclusive in Don’t drink and
drive (‘If you drink, don’t drive’). Cf 13.12.

The uses of or
13.12 (a) Typically, or is exclusive: it excludes the possibility that the contents
of both clauses are true or are to be fulfilled:

You can sleep on the couch in the lounge or you can go to a hotel.
Even when both alternatives are clearly possible, or is normally
interpreted as exclusive:

You can boil yourself an egg or (else) you can make some
sandwiches.
The exclusive meaning can be strengthened by the conjuncts else or
alternatively.
(b) Sometimes or is inclusive. We can add a third clause that makes this
inclusive meaning explicitly:

You can boil an egg, (or) you can make some sandwiches, or you can
do both.
And can replace or in its inclusive meaning.

(c) The alternative expressed by or may also be a restatement or a

corrective to what is said in the first conjoin:
They are enjoying themselves, or (at least)/(rather) they apPEAR to
be enjoying themselves.
 268 Coordination

(d) In addition to introducing alternatives as indicated above, or may

imply a negative condition. Thus in:
Switch on the radio or we’ll miss the news.

the implication can be paraphrased by the negative conditional clause:

Switch on the radio. If you don’t switch on the radio, we’ll miss the
news.

The conditional use of or is thus the negative analogue of the conditional

use of and (cf 13.11). Unlike and, however, or typically follows a negative
imperative clause:

Don’t be too long, or you’ll miss the bus.

In this case, the most appropriate paraphrase with an if-clause is positive
instead of negative:

If you are too long, you’ll miss the bus.

NOTE [a] In written varieties of the language where precision is required (eg in official
instructions), the third possibility can be explicitly included by the use of both
coordinators (usually written and/or):

If the appliance is defective, write directly to the manufacturer and/or

complain to your local consumer protection service.

[b] Because and and or contrast with one another in meaning, or following a
negative is in.some respects equivalent to and. Thus:

He doesn’t have long hair or wear jeans. [1]

is logically equivalent to 4He doesn't have long hair and He doesn't wear jeans'.
Conversely:

He doesn’t (both) have long hair and wear jeans. [2]

is logically equivalent to ‘either He doesn’t have long hair or He doesn’t wear jeans
(or both)'. The reversal of meaning arises because in [1] and [2], the coordinator is
within the scope of negation (c/10.38).

The uses of but

13.13 But expresses a contrast.
(a) The content of the second clause is unexpected in view of the content of
the first:

John is poor, but he is happy.

In this use, but can be replaced by and yet.

(b) The second clause expresses in positive terms what the negation in the
first clause conveys:

Jane did not waste her time before the exam, but (on the contrary)
studied hard every evening.
I am not objecting to his morals, but (rather) to his manners.
 Correlatives 269

In this use, but can be emphasized by the conjuncts on the contrary or

rather. It normally does not link two clauses, but two lesser constituents.

Gorreiatiwes

Either... or, both . .. and, neither. . . nor

13.14 The three pairs either or, both ... and, and neither ... nor are correlatives.
The first word is an endorsing item and the second is a coordinator.
Either ... or emphasizes the exclusive meaning of or {cf 13.12). The
linked units may be complete clauses or lesser constituents:
Either the room is too small or the piano is too large.
You may either stand up or sit down.
Either Sylvia or her sister will be staying with us.

Both . . . and emphasizes the additive meaning of and {cf 13.11):

David both loves Joan and wants to marry her.

This new machine will both accelerate the copying process and
improve the quality of reproduction.
Both Mary and Peter washed the dishes.
The regulations are both very precise and very detailed.
It also singles out the segregatory meaning of and {cf 13.23/) rather than
the combinatory meaning:

Both David and Joan got divorced, [not from each other]
Neither... nor is the negative counterpart of both ... and. It emphasizes
that the negation applies to both units:

David neither loves Joan, nor wants to marry her.

Mary was neither happy nor sad.
Neither Peter nor his wife wanted the responsibility.

Unlike either ... or, both . . . and and neither . . . nor cannot link com¬
plete clauses:

*Both Mary washed the dishes and Peter dried them.

* Neither Peter wanted the responsibility, nor his wife did.

NOTE [a] When either ... or is within the scope of negation {cf 13.12 Note [b]), it is
equivalent to neither . . . nor, so that these two sentences are similar in meaning:

He hasn 't met either her mother or her father.

He has met neither her mother nor her father.

[b] According to a prescriptive tradition, the use of correlative coordinators is

unacceptable when there are three or more conjoins:
 270 Coordination

?We are both willing, able, and ready to carry out the survey. [1]
?Either the Minister, or the Under-Secretary, or the Permanent
Secretary will attend the meeting. [2]
?Tompkins has neither the personality, nor the energy, nor the
experience to win this election. [3]

[c] Another prescriptive tradition holds that correlatives should introduce parallel
units, ie units of equivalent function. Hence in written English [lb] is preferred to
[la], and [2b] or [2c] to [2a]:

?Evelyn is either stupid or pretends that she is. [la]

Either Evelyn is stupid or she pretends that she is. [lb]
?*I admire both the drawings of Rembrandt and of Rubens. [2a]
I admire both the drawings of Rembrandt and those of Rubens. [2b]
I admire the drawings of both Rembrandt and Rubens. [2c]

Nor and neither as negative adverbs

13.15 Nor and neither, followed by subject-operator inversion, can be used
without being a correlative pair. They generally presuppose that a
previous clause is negative either explicitly, as in [1], or implicitly, as in [2]
and [3]:

He did not receive any assistance from the authorities, neither

did he believe their assurance that action would soon be
taken, {rather formal) [1]
Many people are only dimly aware of the ways in which
the environment can be protected. Nor have governments
made sufficient efforts to educate them, {formal) [2]
All the students were obviously very miserable. Nor were
the teachers satisfied with the conditions at the school.
{formal) [3]
The morphology of nor suggests that it is the equivalent of or plus not, but
in fact both nor and neither are nearer to being the equivalent of and plus
not:

All the students were obviously very miserable. And (also)

the teachers were not satisfied with the conditions at the
school. [3a]

NOTE [a] For many speakers, the adverbs neither and nor can be linked to a preceding
clause by and ox but:

They never forgave

((and)U (neither) \ could he rid himself of the feelings of
him for the insult,
\(but) J \ (nor) / guilt for having spoken that way.

This possibility excludes them from the class of central coordinators (cf 13.6).
[b] There is a mixed construction in which neither and nor behave like additive
adverbs in certain respects, but at the same time they are a correlative pair and
have the segregatory meaning associated with both . . . and (cf 13.14):
 Simple coordination 271

Sam neither has long hair, nor does he wear jeans. [1]
Mary was neither happy, nor was she sad. [2]

Here neither appears medially, and nor appears in initial position followed by
subject-operator inversion, but the units that follow neither and nor are not
parallel, as one would expect them to be in a construction of coordination {cf
13.14) Note [c]). Some writers would therefore recast a sentence such as [1] to
conform with the normal correlative structure:

Sam neither has long hair, nor wears jeans. [la]

Not (only) . .. hut

13.16 The negator notjn t or the combination not/n't only may be correlative
with a following but:
He didn't come to help, but to hinder us. [‘but rather’] [1]
They not only broke into his office and stole his books,
but (they) {also) tore up his manuscripts. [2]
Their status as correlatives is even clearer when the negative particle is
moved out of its normal position to make the two units parallel:
He came not to help, but to hinder us. [la]
Not only did they break into his office and steal his books,
but they also tore up his manuscripts. [2a]
Not Henry, but his wife is the owner. [3]

Where the two units are complete clauses, a more dramatic effect is
achieved by positioning not only initially, with subject-operator inver¬
sion, as in [2a].

Simple coordination

13.17 The usual kind of coordination is simple coordination, in which a single

clause or clause constituent is linked to others that are parallel in meaning,
in function, and (generally) in form. The coordinated units are conjoins,
and the resulting combination is a conjoint.
There are two ways of analysing simple coordination of clause
constituents: (1) We may examine a construction as an elliptical version of
clause coordination, noting what elements are ellipted, or (2) we may
examine the construction in terms of the units themselves, noting what
elements are present. For example, the sentence Sam has trimmed the
hedge and mowed the lawn can be viewed as the coordination of two clauses
in which a subject {Sam) and an operator {has) have been ellipted from the
second clause:
Sam has trimmed the hedge and A mowed the lawn.
 272 Coordination

Or it can be viewed as a single clause containing two coordinated

predications, which together constitute the predication of the clause:
Sam has [[trimmed the hedge] and [mowed the lawn]].

For simple coordination (though less so for other kinds of coordination),

there are advantages in adopting the coordination analysis rather than the
ellipsis analysis.

Types of simple coordination

Coordination of clauses
13.18 Complete independent clauses may be coordinated:

The winter had come at last, and snow lay thick on the ground.
Subordinate finite clauses may be coordinated, so long as they belong to
the same function class:

If you pass the examination and (if) no one else applies, you are
bound to get the job.
[coordinated adverbial clauses]
The Minister believes that the economy is improving and (that)
unemployment will soon decrease.
[coordinated nominal that-clauses]
I didn’t know who she was or what she wanted.
[coordinated nominal wh-clauses]
Someone who knows the area, but whose home is outside it, is more
likely to be a successful representative.
[coordinated relative clauses]

Nonfinite clauses of the same type and also verbless clauses may be
coordinated:

I’ve asked him to come this evening or (to) phone us tomorrow.

[coordinated toinfinitive clauses]
Samantha is fond of working at night and getting up late in the
morning.
[coordinated -ing participle clauses]
All the villagers helped to rebuild the houses damaged by the storm
or washed away by the floods.
[COORDINATED -ED PARTICIPLE CLAUSES]
With George ill and (with) the children at home, Jenny is finding life
very difficult.
[coordinated verbless clauses]

Coordination of predicates and predications

13.19 Coordination of predicates (as in [1-3]) and coordination of predications
(as in [4-8]) are very common:
 Simple coordination 273

Peter ate the fruit and drank the beer. [1]

I send you my very best wishes, and look forward to our next
meeting. [2]
Margaret is ill, but will soon recover. [3]
Most people will have read the book or seen the film. [4]
They should have washed the dishes, dried them, and put them
in the cupboard. [5]
They were married in 1960, but divorced in 1970. [6]
Are you working or on holiday? [7]
Why couldn’t she have finished work late and still be travelling
homel [8]

In both types of coordination the subject is shared. The most reduced

form of the sentence will be preferred, and therefore the predication
coordination of [4] will be preferred over the predicate coordination of
[4a], where the auxiliaries will have are repeated:
Most people will have read the book or will have seen the film. [4a]

Coordination and the scope of adverbials

13.20 Adverbials, as more peripheral elements of the clause, often stand outside
the structure of coordination. We may then say that the conjoins are
within the scope of the adverbials:
Yesterday [the sun was very warm] and [the ice melted]. [1]
Unfortunately, we [missed the train] and [had to wait six
hours]. [2]
The guests were [walking], [talking], and [drinking wine]
in the garden. [3]

In [1] and [2] and in the usual reading of [3], the scope of the adverbial
extends across the remainder of the sentence. The more complex example
of predication coordination in [4] takes place (according to a likely
interpretation) within the scope of three adverbials; one in initial, one in
medial, and one in final position:

In those days they often used to [shoot the birds], [bring them
home], [cook them], and [eat them] on a single day. [4]

Coordination of noun phrases and their constituents

Noun-phrase coordination
13.21 Two or more noun phrases may be conjoined to form a conjoint noun
phrase; for example, the conjoint noun phrases functioning as subject in
[1] and as object in [2]:

Some of the staff and all of the students have voted for these
changes [1]
On this farm, they keep cows, sheep, pigs, and a few chickens. [2]
 274 Coordination

A conjoint noun phrase may contain general ellipsis of the kinds discussed
in 12,19#:

Which do you prefer; the red dress, the green A, or the whiteA?
That must be either John’s responsibility or Bridget’s A.

NOTE [a] It is considered polite to follow the order within a conjoint noun phrase of
placing 2nd person pronouns first, and (more importantly) 1st person pronouns
last: Jill and /; you and Jill; you, Jill and me.
[b] Like other conjoin types, noun phrases may have asyndetic coordination (cf
13.1):

We had no friends, no family, no material resources.

Combinatory and segregatory coordination of noun phrases

13.22 Phrases linked by and may express combinatory or segregatory

meaning. The distinction is clearest with noun phrases. When the
coordination is segregatory, we can paraphrase it by clause coordination:

John and Mary know the answer. [ = John knows the answer, and
Mary knows the answer]

When it is combinatory we cannot do so, because the conjoins function in

combination with respect to the rest of the clause:

John and Mary make a pleasant couple. |# *John makes a pleasant

couple, and Mary makes a pleasant couple]

Many conjoint noun phrases are in fact ambiguous between the two
interpretations:

John and Mary won a prize.

This may mean that they each won a prize or that the prize was awarded to
them jointly.
Further examples of combinatory meaning:

John and Mary played as partners in tennis against Susan and Bill
Peter and Bob separated (from each other).
Paula and her brother look alike.
Mary and Paul are just good friends.
John and Peter have different tastes (from each other).
Mary and Susan are colleagues (of each other).
Law and order is a primary concern of the new administration.

NOTE The distinction between the two meanings applies to plural noun phrases in
general. The combinatory meaning in The three girls look alike contrasts with the
segregatory meaning in The three girls have a cold, and They are married is
ambiguous.
 Simple coordination 275

Indicators of segregatory meaning

13.23 Certain markers explicitly indicate that the coordination is segregatory:

both (. . . and) neither . . . nor respectively (formal)

each respective (formal) apiece (rather rare)

While John and Mary have won a prize is ambiguous, we are left in no
doubt that two prizes were won in:

John and Mary have each won a prize.

John and Mary have won a prize each.
Both John and Mary have won a prize.
John and Mary have both won a prize.

Similarly, whereas John and Mary didn't win a prize is ambiguous, Neither
John nor Mary won a prize is unambiguously segregatory.
The adjective respective premodifies a plural noun phrase to indicate
segregatory interpretation. For example, Jill and Ben visited their
respective uncles can only mean that Jill visited her uncle or uncles and that
Ben visited his uncle or uncles, whereas Jill and Ben visited their uncles is
ambiguous between the respective reading and the reading that they
visited persons who were uncles to both. The related nouns can be in
different clauses or even in different sentences:

Bob and his best friend have had some serious trouble at school
lately. Their respective parents are going to see the principal about
the complaints.

The adverb respectively indicates which constituents go with which in

the two parallel sets of conjoint phrases:

John, Peter, and Robert play football, basketball, and baseball

respectively.
[ = John plays football, Peter plays basketball, and Robert plays
baseball].
Thomas Arnold and his son Matthew were respectively the greatest
educator and the greatest critic of the Victorian age.
[ = Thomas Arnold was the greatest educator of the Victorian age,
and his son Matthew was the greatest critic of the Victorian age.]

NOTE Both, each, respective, and apiece also mark segregatory meaning with plural noun
phrases that are not coordinated: My children have both won a prize; The boys
visited their respective uncles.

Coordination within noun phrases

Coordinated noon heads
13.24 When heads are coordinated, the usual interpretation is that the
determiner, premodifier, and postmodifier apply to each of the conjoins:
 276 Coordination

his wife and child [ = his wife and his child]

old men and women [ — old men and old women]
some cows and pigs from our farm [ — some cows from our farm and
some pigs from our farm]
the boys and girls staying at the hostel [= the boys staying at the
hostel and the girls staying at the hostel)

It is also possible to interpret some of these phrases as coordinated noun

phrases:

old men and women [ = women and old men]

some cows and pigs from our farm [ = pigs from our farm and some
cows]

Coordinated modifiers
13,25 Only the segregatory meaning is ordinarily possible when the coordinated
modifiers denote mutually exclusive properties:

old and new furniture [ = old furniture and new furniture]

workers from France and from Italy [ = workers from France and
workers from Italy]

Exceptions to this are colour adjectives (as in red, white, and blue flags),
which allow the combinatory sense ‘partly one colour, partly another’. On
the other hand, only the combinatory meaning is possible if the head is a
singular count noun:

a dishonest and lazy student [ = a student who is both dishonest and

lazy]
a book on reptiles and amphibians

The same meaning applies when the coordination is asyndetic: a dishonest,

lazy student.
In other instances there may be ambiguity:

old and valuable books [ = books that are old and valuable or old
books and valuable books]
buses for the Houses of Parliament and for Victoria Station [either
the same bus or buses go to both places or a different bus or buses
go to each place]

NOTE [a] The coordination of determiners (eg: these and those chairs; your and my
problems) is comparatively rare, and the synonymous construction with conjoint
noun phrases (eg: these chairs and those; your problems and mine) is preferred.
[b] Cardinal numbers are frequently coordinated with or in an idiomatic
approximative function: one or two guests (‘a small number’), five or six letters
(‘approximately in the range of five and six’), ten or twenty students (‘a number
from ten to twenty’).
[c] The conjoins in a conjoint noun phrase may be words (eg: his wife and child,
where the two nouns share the determiner) or phrases (eg: his wife and his
 Simple coordination 277

child). They may also be the intermediate units called nominal expressions (cf
12.5), eg: eldest child in his wife and eldest child.
[d] The tags and so on, and so forth, and et cetera (Latin — ‘and others’, abbreviated
in writing as etc) are abbreviatory devices which are added to a coordinated list, to
indicate that the list has not been exhaustively given:
He packed his clothes, his books, his papers, etc.

And so on and and so forth (and their combination and so on and so forth) are used
in the same way, but are restricted to informal use, and tend to occur after
coordinated clauses rather than coordinated phrases. A less common phrase of the
same kind is and the like.

Coordination of other constituents

13.26 All the main variations of constructions that we have noted for clauses
and noun phrases are found in the coordination of other constituents.
Examples of the coordination of various constituents are given below:
(a) Verb phrases:

Good cooking can disguise, but cannot improve the quality of the
ingredients.

(b) Main verbs:

Many people might have been killed or injured by the explosion.

(c) Auxiliaries:

The country can and must recover from its present crisis.

(d) Adjective phrases:

The journey was long and extremely arduous.

(e) Adjective heads:

I’m feeling younger and healthier than I felt for years.

(f) Adverbs:

She made the announcement quietly but very confidently.

(g) Prepositional phrases and prepositions:

He spoke for the first motion but against the second motion.
She climbed up and over the wall.

Part of the prepositional complement may be ellipted in the first conjoin

or a subsequent conjoin:

He spoke for the first A but against the second motion, {formal)
He spoke for the first motion but against the second A.

(h) Coordination of subordinators and other clause-introducing words:

I am prepared to meet them when and where they like.

I am determined to find out who or what caused this uproar.
 278 Coordination

The general principle governing coordination is that the conjoins must

belong to the same category in form, function, and meaning. There may,
however, be differences in form:

The enemy attacked quickly and with great force.

You can wash them manually or by using a machine.
They can call this week or whenever you wish.
Dennis was carefree and in good health.

NOTE The order of conjoined words can be influenced by a tendency for the shorter item
to come first. This is particularly noticeable in binomials, ie relatively fixed
conjoint phrases having two members; eg: big and ugly, cup and saucer. One
principle at work here appears to be a principle of rhythmic regularity: eg the
dactylic rhythm of 'ladies and 'gentlemen, and the trochaic rhythm of 'men and
'women, are preferable to the less balanced rhythm of 'gentlemen and 'ladies and
'women and 'men. It has also been argued that semantic factors play a role; eg that
other things being equal, the first position is given to the semantically salient or
culturally dominant member, as in father and son, gold and silver, great and small,
this and that. Phonological constraints have also been suggested: that low vowels
come after high ones; that back vowels come after front ones, etc. Whatever the
constraints may be, they lead to stereotyped coordinations where the conjoins are
in an irreversible order or virtually so; eg: odds and ends, bread and butter, law and
order, by hook or by crook, through thick and thin; knife, fork, and spoon.

Complex coordination

13.27 complex coordination is coordination in which the conjoins are

combinations of units rather than single units. Such coordination usually
requires - and then reinforces - a strong parallelism between the conjoins
and for this reason it tends to be associated with a premeditated, written
style of English, rather than with informal conversation.
In the first type, each conjoin consists of contiguous elements and the
conjoins are combined in final position in the clause. For example:
(a) Indirect object + direct object

We gave William a book on stamps and Mary a book on painting.

(b) Object + object complement

Jack painted the kitchen white and the bathroom blue.

(c) Object + adverbial

You should serve the coffee in a mug and the lemonade in a glass.

The parallelism is weaker when one conjoin contains one or more

adverbials that the other conjoin lacks:
 Complex coordination 279

He wears smart clothes and sometimes a yachting cap at weekends.

Such examples are more likely to occur in informal speech.

13.28 In the second type of complex coordination, the conjoins are not in final
position:

Gregory Peck always was | and always will be | her

favourite Hollywood star \ [1]
Richard admires, but Margaret despises, the ballyhoo of
modern advertising. [2]

The second conjoin is separated by intonation in speech (as in [1]) and by

punctuation in writing (as in [2]).
As in the first type of complex coordination, the parallelism is weaker
when one conjoin contains one or more adverbials that the other conjoin
lacks:

He is, or at least he was, a major composer of modern classical

music. [3]
In these days, few people learn, or indeed see any point in
learning, the languages of Homer and Virgil.
She thought about, but never revisited, the haunts of her
childhood.

Similar structures are also found with subordination:

Richard admires, though Margaret despises, the ballyhoo

of modern advertising. [2a]
He is - even if people don’t think he is - a major composer of
modern classical music.
She reads, though not speaks, several Oriental languages.

NOTE Because of its medial position and its separation by intonation or punctuation, the
second conjoin seems parenthetic.

Gapping

13.29 gapping is a type of complex coordination in which a second or

subsequent conjoin contains a medial ellipsis, so that the elements in these
conjoins are not contiguous. For example:
(a) Subject + object

One girl has written a poem, and the other A a short story.

(b) Subject + adverbial

Smith completed the course in thirty-five minutes, and Johnson A in

thirty-seven.

(c) Subject + complement

 280 Coordination

Jane has looked more healthy, and Maurice A more relaxed, since
their vacation.

NOTE Coordination with gapping is more difficult to understand than coordination

without gapping, and therefore nongapped interpretations are more likely to be
intended where both are possible. For example, the reading of [1] as [la] is more
likely than as [lb]:

Barbara gave Sue a magnolia and Ada a camellia. [1]

[ = Barbara gave Sue a magnolia and Barbara gave Ada a
camellia] [la]
[ = Barbara gave Sue a magnolia and Ada gave Sue a camellia] [lb]

Appended coordination

13.30 appended COORDINATION, which is characteristic of informal speech,

occurs when an elliptical clause (involving one element or contiguous
elements) is appended to a previous clause {cf appended clauses, 12.23):
John writes extremely well - and SALly, too.
My mother plays badminton, and sometimes even tennis.
He got a bike for his birthday, and a book and a pen.
His left hook could fell the champion, and indeed any other boxer in
his class.

NOTE [a] With or and but, appended coordination is also likely to occur in careful speech
and writing:

I am not sure whether jane wrote the letter, or SALly.

PETer plays football, but not j6hn.

[b] The second conjoin may be interpolated as a parenthesis, in which case the
structure is a type of complex coordination {cf 13.28):

John - and Sally, too - writes extremely well.

She can, and probably will, beat the world record.

Pseudo-coordination

13.31 There are several types of pseudo-coordination, mostly found in

informal speech:
(a) The coordination of two verbs that has an idiomatic function similar
to that of a catenative construction (c/3.18 Note):
 Quasi-coordination 281

I’ll try and come tomorrow. [ = try to come]

They’ve gone and upset her again.
They sat and talked about the old times. [ = sat talking]

(b) The coordination of two adjectives of which the first functions as an

intensifier of the second:

This room is nice and warm. [ = comfortably warm]

His speech was nice and short.
It was lovely and cool in there.

Some speakers <esp in AmE) use good in the same way:

The road is good and long.

even where the adjectival form following and is used as an adverb:

I hit him good and hard.
She drove good and fast.

(c) The coordination of identical comparative forms of adjectives,

adverbs, and determiners (usually just two conjoins) that expresses a
continuing increase in degree:

She felt more and more angry. [ = increasingly angry]

The car went slower and slower.

(d) The coordination of two or more identical forms of verbs and

adverbs that expresses continuation or repetition:

He talked and talked and talked. [ = talked for a very long time]
They knocked and knocked. [ = knocked repeatedly]
She talked on and on and on. [ = continuously]

(e) The coordination of two identical nouns to indicate different kinds:

There are teachers and teachers, [roughly: ‘good and bad teachers’]
You can find doctors and doctors, [roughly: ‘good and bad doctors’]
(f) The coordination of three or more identical nouns to indicate a large
number or quantity:

We saw dogs and dogs and dogs all over the place.
There was nothing but rain, rain, rain from one week to the next.

Quasi-coordination

13.32 Most of the quasi-coordinators are related to comparative forms: as

well as, as much as, rather than, more than. They sometimes resemble
coordinators in that they link a variety of constituents:
282 Coordination

She publishes as well as prints her own books.

The speech was addressed to the employers as much as to the strikers.
He is to be pitied rather than disliked.
They may also have a prepositional or subordinating role in that the unit
that they introduce is an adverbial and can be placed in initial or final
position:
As well as printing the books, he publishes them.
I’m going to forget the whole affair, rather than cause trouble.
These quasi-coordinators are not fully coordinative, since in subject
position they normally do not cause plural concord if the first noun phrase
is singular:
John, as much as his brothers, was responsible for the loss.
In this they resemble prepositions such as with, in addition to and after
more than coordinators like and; compare:
John, with his brothers, was responsible for the loss.

Bibliographical note
General studies of coordination include: Dik (1968); Dougherty (1970-71);
Schachter (1977); Stockwell et al. (1973, Ch. 6).
On coordination in relation to subordination and other kinds of connectivity,
see Greenbaum (1969, 1988); Halliday and Hasan (1976); Talmy (1978).
On coordination in relation to ellipsis/reduction, see Greenbaum and Meyer
(1982); Harries-Delisle (1978); Hudson (1976); Meyer (1979); Sanders (1977).
On coordination of noun phrases, see Hudson (1970).
 The complex sentence

Subordinate and superordinate clauses

14.1 A complex sentence is like a simple sentence in that it consists of only one
main clause, but unlike a simple sentence it has one or more subordinate
clauses functioning as an element of the sentence. For example, [1] is a
simple sentence in that the sentence consists of one main clause without
any subordinate clauses:

I reject her conclusions. [1]

On the other hand, [2] is a complex sentence because the main clause
contains a subordinate clause functioning as an adverbial:

Although I admire her reasoning, I reject her conclusions. [2]

The subject (I), verb (reject), and direct object (her conclusions) are
identical in the main clauses (or sentences) in [1] and [2]. The subordinate
clause has its own subject (I), verb (admire), and direct object (her
reasoning). The main clause is superordinate to the subordinate clause
that it contains.
In [3] we have a more complicated example:

He predicted that he would discover the tiny particle

when he conducted his next experiment. [3]

The sentence is a complex sentence consisting of one main clause. The

main clause is superordinate to the subordinate that-clause (which is a
direct object) that continues to the end of the sentence. The that-clause is
in turn superordinate to the subordinate when-clause (which is an
adverbial) that extends from when to the end of the sentence. The
hierarchy of superordination and subordination is displayed in Fig. 14.1.
For certain purposes it is useful to distinguish between a subordinate
clause and the matrix clause. The matrix clause is the superordinate
clause minus its subordinate clause. For example, in [4] the matrix clause is
I'll lend you some money:

I'll lend you some money if you don’t have any money on you. [4]

NOTE Some grammarians use main clause in the sense that we give to matrix clause.
 284 The complex sentence

Fig 14.1 sentence

main/superordinate clause

V O

He predicted

subordinate/superordinate clause

when he conducted his next experiment

Fig 14.1 Superordieate and subordinate clauses

Subordination and coordination

14.2 The device of subordination enables us to construct a multiple hierarchy

of clauses, one within the other, sometimes resulting in extremely involved
sentences. Further complexity and structural variability are provided by
the interrelation of subordination and coordination. Each main clause in
a compound sentence may include one or more subordinate clauses, each
of which may in turn include subordinate clauses. For example, [1]
displays a compound sentence in which two main clauses are coordinated:

I think that your new position demands sensitive judgments

and I would hope that you will mature as the years go by. [1]
 Finite, nonfiniie, and verbiess clauses 285

Each main clause has a subordinate that-clause as direct object. The that-
clause in the second main clause is superordinate to an ^-clause, which
functions as adverbial in the that-clause.
On the other hand, the complex sentence in [2] contains two
subordinate clauses that are coordinated and as a unit function as direct
object of the sentence:

I have heard that you are a car mechanic and that your brother
is a plumber. [2]

NOTE A subordinate clause may function as a constituent of a phrase, for example as a

relative clause acting as a postmodifier in a noun phrase:

The school which my children attend is within walking distance.

The noun phrase is complex, but we do not consider that the sentence is therefore a
complex sentence, since the subordinate clause does not function as a constituent
of the sentence.

Finite, nonfiniie, and verbless clauses

14.3 We recognize three main structural classes of clauses:

finite clause: a clause whose verb element is finite (such as takes, took,
can work, has worked, is writing, was written; cf 3.3, 3.19); eg:

I can’t go out with you because I am studying this evening.

nonfinite clause: a clause whose verb element is nonfinite (such as to

work, having worked, taken; cf 3.3, 3.20).; eg:

Knowing my temper, I didn’t reply.

verbless clause: a clause that does not have a verb element, eg:
Although always helpful, he was not much liked.

We recognize nonfinite and verbless structures as clauses because we

can analyse their internal structure into the same functional elements that
we distinguish in finite clauses. Consider, for example, the analysis of the
nonfinite clause in:

Knowing [V] my temper [Od], I didn’t reply.

The analysis depends on the analogy with the corresponding finite clause:
/ [S] know [V] my temper [Od].

Similarly, the verbless clause although always helpful in:

Although [conj] always [A] helpful [Cs], he was not much liked.
 286 The complex sentence

is analysed as in the corresponding finite clause:

Although [conj] he [S] was [V] always [A] helpful [Cs], he was not much
liked.

NOTE One structural type of clause may be embedded within another:

Too nervous to reply after other speakers had praised her devotion to duty,
Margaret indicated that she would speak later.

The italicized subordinate clause is a verbless clause that contains a subordinate

nonfinite clause (beginning to reply) that in turn contains a subordinate finite
clause (beginning after other speakers).

Moiifsnste clauses

14.4 The classes of nonfinite verb phrase serve to distinguish four structural
subclasses of nonfinite verb clauses:
(i) TO-INFINITIVE
Without subject: The best thing would be to tell everybody.
With subject: The best thing would be for you to tell everybody.
(ii) BARE INFINITIVE
Without subject: All I did was hit him on the head.
With subject: Rather than you do the job, I’d prefer to finish it
myself.
(iii) -ING PARTICIPLE
Without subject: Leaving the room, he tripped over the mat.
With subject: Her aunt having left the room, I asked Ann for some
personal help.
(iv) “ED PARTICIPLE
Without subject: Covered with confusion, they apologized abjectly.
With subject: The discussion completed, the chairman adjourned
the meeting for half an hour.
Subclasses (i) and (iii) are used most frequently, especially (iii) without
subject; subclass (ii) is relatively rare.

NOTE In negative nonfinite clauses, the negative particle is generally positioned before
the verb or the to of the infinitive:

It’s his fault for not doing anything about it.

The wisest policy is (for us) not to interfere.

On the split infinitive, cf 8.11 Note.

14.5 Because nonfinite clauses lack tense markers and modal auxiliaries and
frequently lack a subject and a subordinating conjunction, they are
valuable as a means of syntactic compression. Certain kinds of nonfinite
clause are particularly favoured in written prose, where the writer has the
 Finite, nonfinite, and verbless clauses 287

leisure to revise for compactness. We recover meanings associated with

tense, aspect, and mood from the sentential context. We can also normally
see a correspondence with a finite clause that has a form of the verb be and
a pronoun subject with the same reference as a noun or pronoun in the
same sentence. For the sentences in [1-4], one might make the insertions
shown in parentheses:

When (she was) questioned, she denied being a member of the

group. [1]
(Since/Because/As they were) considered works of art, they
were admitted into the country without customs duties. [2]
(If it is) kept in the refrigerator, the drug should remain
effective for at least three months. [3]
(Since/After he was) allowed unusual privileges, the prisoner
seemed to enjoy his captivity. [4]

On the other hand, [5] shows how the advantage of compactness must be
balanced against the danger of ambiguity; for the absence of a subject
leaves doubt as to which nearby nominal element is notionally the subject:

We met you (when you?/we? were) leaving the room. [5]

With infinitive clauses, a corresponding finite clause also enables one to

identify an understood subject:

I expected to go.~ I expected that I would go.

I expected him to go.~ I expected that he would go.

When no referential link with a nominal can be discovered in the linguistic

context, an indefinite subject may be inferred, or else the T of the speaker:

To be an administrator is to have the worst job in the world. [‘For a

person to be . . ,]
It’s hard work to be a student, [indefinite subject, eg: anyone]
It’s hard work, to be honest. [/ as subject]

NOTE Auxiliary have is sometimes used in ta-infinitive clauses (to have happened) and
-ing participle clauses (having happened) to indicate anteriority in time.

Verbless clauses

14.6 With verbless clauses it is usually possible to postulate a missing form of

the verb be and to recover the subject, when omitted, from the context:

Whether right or wrong, he always comes off worst in argument,

[‘whether he is right or wrong’]
One should avoid taking a trip abroad in August where possible.
[‘where it is possible’]

When a clause has a subject, only the verb has to be recovered:

 288 The complex sentence

Seventy-three people have been drowned in the area, many of them

children, [‘many of them being children’]
There he stood, a tray in each hand, [‘having a tray in each hand’]

The subject is often introduced by with or without (cf 14.8 Note [b]):

With the children at school, we can’t take our vacations when we

want to.
Without you at my side, I am not willing to answer questions.

Since it is usually possible to interpret the clause as having an omitted

form of the verb be, the verbless clause is limited to the two clause-types
SVC and SVA, with or without a subordinator (sub):

I do not wish to describe his assertions, some of them highly offensive.

[S (V) C]
Though somewhat edgy, she said she would stay a little longer, sub
[S (V) C]
Mavis sat in the front seat, her hands in her lap. [S (V) A]
While at college, he was a prominent member of the dramatic
society, sub [(S V) A]

Formal indicators of subordination

14.7 Subordination is generally marked by a signal in the subordinate clause.

The signal may be of various kinds: a subordinating conjunction, a wh~
element, the item that, subject-operator inversion in declarative clauses,
or (negatively) the absence of a finite verb.

NOTE More than one subordination signal may cooccur in the same subordinate clause.
For example, a nonfinite or verbless clause may be introduced by a subordinating
conjunction.

Subordinators
14.8 subordinators (or, more fully, subordinating conjunctions) are the
most important formal device of subordination, particularly for finite
clauses. Like prepositions, which they resemble in having a relating
function, subordinators forming the core of the class consist of a single
word, but there is a large range of multi-word subordinators which
function, to varying degrees, like a single conjunction. In addition, there is
a small class of correlative subordinators, which combine two markers of
subordination, one being a subordinator.

Single-word subordinators

after, although, as, because, before, directly (informal, esp BrE>,/or,

if immediately (informal, esp BrE), lest (esp -AmE>, like
 Formal Indicators of subordination 289

(informal, esp AmE), once, since, that, though, till, unless, until,
w/zo?z, whenever, where, whereas, whereupon, wherever, w/z//o,
wMs/ <esp BrE)

Multi-word subordinates
ending with that:

but that, in that, in order that, insofar that (informal, rare), z'n ?/zo
eveo? that, sove that (literary), such that

ending with optional that:

(a) participle form:

assuming, considering, excepting, granted,

granting, provided, providing, seeing, supposing

(b) others:

except, for all,-,

now, so J

ending with os:

according as, as far as, as long as, as soon as, forasmuch os (formal),
inasmuch as (formal), insofar as, insomuch as (formal)

Others:

os if, as though, in case

Correlative subordinators

os ... so

OS ^

so > ... OS

such )

S° , |. . . that
such)

less y
/ / x > . . . than
more {per))

no sooner than . . . than, when (informal)

barely
hardly 1,. . . when, than, {informal)
scarcely

the ... the

whethery
if \'"or
 290 The complex sentence

NOTE [a] There are also optional conjuncts that endorse the meaning of a subordinator
that introduces the preceding clause:

although
even if
. . yet, nevertheless, etc
(even) though
while

if
once
since [reason]
unless

because 1 . r
, , . > . . . therefore
seeing (that) )

[b] Nonfinite clauses (except bare infinitive clauses) and verbless clauses may have
the subordinators with and without, which are required to introduce the subject:

Without you to consult, I would be completely lost.

With the mortgage paid, they could afford to go abroad for their vacation.
Don’t walk around with your shirt hanging out.
With you as my friend, I don’t need enemies.

Occasionally without is used with -ing clauses when there is no subject:

Without mentioning any names, someone has been gossiping to the boss
about you.

Compare also What with (paying) my mortgage and my taxes, / have no money to
spare for luxuries.
[c] Bare infinitive clauses are limited to the two synonymous subordinators rather
than and sooner than:

He paid the fine rather than appeal to a higher court.

As a subordinator with infinitive clauses, for is restricted to clauses with their own
subject and indeed is often obligatory (cf 15.9):

It would be an absurd idea for them to move to another house at this stage of
their careers.

Marginal subordinators
14.9 There are also three types of borderline cases of multi-word subordina¬
tors: (1) habitual combinations of a subordinator with a preceding or
following adverb (eg: even if if only); (2) temporal noun phrases (eg: the
moment (that), every time (that)), but the following clause is better
analysed as a restrictive relative clause; (3) prepositional phrases ending in
the fact that (eg: because of the fact that, in spite of the fact that), but the
subordinate clause is better analysed as in apposition to the preceding
noun phrase.
 Formal indicators of subordination 291

Other indicators of subordination

14.10 We now turn to other indicators of subordination apart from

subordinators.
(i) H7z-elements are initial markers of subordination in subordinate
interrogative clauses (c/15.4/) and subordinate exclamative clauses
(cf 15.6), in w/z-relative clauses (c/ 15.7/ 15.33, ll.Sff), and in
conditional-concessive clauses (15.22/).
(ii) The relative pronoun that, which can often replace w/z-pronouns, is
a subordination marker in restrictive relative clauses {cf 17.8/).
(iii) Subject-operator inversion is a marker of subordination in certain
clauses, particularly in conditional clauses {cf 15.19 Note [c]). It is
typical of a literary and elevated style. The operators that permit the
inversion are had, were, should, and (less commonly) could and
might:

Were she here, she would support the motion.

Inversion of a different kind - the fronting of the whole or part of the

predication - may occur with the subordinators as, though and that
in concessive and reason clauses {cf 15.21 Note [a], 15.26 Note [b]):

Eloquent though she was, she could not persuade them.

(iv) The absence of a finite verb is itself an indicator of subordination,

since nonfinite and verbless clauses are generally subordinate (but cf
11.21).

NOTE There are three types of subordinate clauses that have no clear indicator of
subordination within them:
(a) Nominal that-clauses allow the omission of that in certain contexts {cf 15.3),
but they may be said to be recognizable as subordinate through the potentiality for
the insertion of that:

I suppose (that) I can use your phone.

(b) Zero relative clauses (c/17.8/) have no overt marker of subordina¬

tion, but they are generally structurally deficient:

I can’t find the note you sent me.

You sent me in this example lacks a direct object, since me is intended as the
indirect object ( = ‘to me’).
(c) Some comment clauses {cf 15.32) have no overt marker of
subordination, but they - like zero relative clauses - generally lack an
obligatory complementation of the verb:

I have no alternative, I suppose.

 292 The complex sentence

The verb phrase in subordinate clauses

The present tense In adverbial and nominal clauses

14.11 The simple present is commonly used in preference to the auxiliary will or
shall in certain types of adverbial clauses to express future meaning:

When she arrives, the band will play the National Anthem.
Even if tomorrow’s match is cancelled, Lancashire will still be at the
top of the league.
While I am away, the children will look after the house.
Whether or not they win this battle, they won’t win the war.
Whatever they say, I won’t pay.
Next time I’ll do as he says.
The harder you exercise, the better you’ll feel.

The subordinators chiefly involved belong to the temporal, conditional,

and conditional-concessive categories.
Nominal that- and wA-clauses tend to contain the simple present when
the matrix clause (as well as the subordinate clause) refers to the future;
but when the matrix clause refers to the present, will is likely to be used in
the subordinate clause. Contrast:

In a few minutes I’ll ask him what he wants tomorrow.

The question is what he will want tomorrow.

However, there are exceptional verb constructions like hope, bet, see (to
it), take care, be careful, and (both in the imperative) suppose and assume,
after which the simple present is often or (for take care and be careful)
regularly used:

I hope that the parcel comes in time, [also will come]

Suppose he loses his way. [also will lose]
Take care that she doesn’t fall.

NOTE Will and won’t occur in adverbial clauses, particularly in //-clauses, in certain uses:
(i) Where the modals have a volitional meaning:

If you7/ help us, we can finish early, [‘are willing to’]

If you wont help us, all our plans will be ruined, [‘refuse to’]

(ii) Where the modals express timeless and habitual prediction:

If drugs will cure him, this drug should do the job.

If sugar will dissolve in a hot liquid, this chemical will do so too.

(iii) Where the modals express the present predictability of the occurrence or
nonoccurrence of a future event:

If you won’t arrive before six, I can’t meet you. [‘If you won’t be
arriving before six’] [1]
 The verb phrase in subordinate clauses 293

If the game wont be finished until ten, I’ll spend the night at your
place. [‘If the game is not going to be finished until ten’] [2]

The matrix clause conveys the consequence of the present predictability. In [1] and
[2] the consequence is a present decision on a future action.

The hypothetical past and hypothetical past perfect

14.12 The verbs in hypothetical conditional clauses are backshifted (cf 14.18),
the past tense form being used for present and future time reference and
the past perfect form for past time reference. When these forms have such
hypothetical implications we term them hypothetical past and hypoth¬
etical past perfect. The general rule for verbs in both clauses of
hypothetical conditions may be expressed as in Table 14.12.

Table 14.12: Verbs in hypothetical conditions

CONDITIONAL CLAUSE MATRIX CLAUSE

Present and HYPOTHETICAL PAST PAST

future MODAL

reference

Past HYPOTHETICAL PAST PAST PERFECT

reference PERFECT MODAL

The modal most commonly used in the matrix clause is would. It is used
to express the hypothetical implication, without necessarily any other
modal implications:

If she <ftriet^
Kwere to try)
Xharder next time, she would pass
. . .
the examination.

[future reference: ‘but I expect she won’t try harder’]

If they were alive, they would be moving around.
[present reference: ‘but I assume they are not alive’]
If they had invited him to the conference, he would have attended.
[past reference: ‘but they didn’t invite him’]

As the bracketed implications indicate, the hypothetical meaning is more

absolute in the past, and amounts to an implied rejection of the condition;
whereas with present and future reference the meaning may be merely one
of negative expectation or assumption, the positive not being ruled out
completely.
Hypothetical past or past perfect are obligatory in certain other
constructions that have hypothetical meaning:
 294 The complex sentence

It’s time you were in bed.

I wish this bus went to the university.
If only I had listened to my parents!

They are optional with other constructions that also have hypothetical
meaning, where the simple present is an alternative:

He acts as if he knew you.

It’s not as though we were poor.
Suppose we told her the truth.
Imagine your child played truant.
I’d rather we had dinner now.

Generally a negative inference can be drawn, which is more strongly

negative with the hypothetical past perfect. Thus If only I had listened to
my parents implies T did not listen to my parents’, and He acts as if he knew
you implies the expectation ‘He doesn’t know you’. In fd rather we had
dinner now, the hypothetical past may express tentative politeness rather
than hypothetical meaning.

NOTE When modal auxiliaries are used in hypothetical conditional clauses they combine
with past and past perfect:

If you could type, you would save a lot of money.

If she would have agreed, I would have married her.

In the matrix clause they replace would, since two modal auxiliaries cannot
cooccur:

If we had enough money, we could buy a computer.

If he had apologized, you should have done so too.

The present and past subjunctive

14.13 The present subjunctive (cf 3.23f) is used in that-clauses (especially in

AmE), even if the matrix verb is past, after verbs, adjectives, or nouns that
express a necessity, plan, or intention for the future:

Congress has voted that the present law be maintained. [1]

We insisted that leave at once. [2]

rshe ^
They expressed the wish that | ^ j accept the award. [3]

It is essential that a meeting be convened this week. [4]

In BrE, putative should {cf 14.14) with infinitive is more common. In both
AmE and (especially) BrE, indicative forms are also often used in this
construction; for example, left in [2] and is in [4].
The past (or were-) subjunctive (cf 3.23f) is used in formal style in
 The verb phrase in subordinate clauses 295

hypothetical conditional clauses and in other constructions with hypothe¬

tical meaning exemplified in 14.12:

I wish she were married.

If only I were not so nervous.
If she were here, she would speak on my behalf.
The stuffed dog barked as if it were a real one.
Suppose he were lost.
Fd rather I were in bed.

In nonformal styles, the hypothetical past {cf 14.12) replaces subjunctive

were. In all the above examples, the hypothetical past would be was.

NOTE [a] The present subjunctive is used very occasionally, and generally in formal style,
in open conditional clauses {cf 15.19) and in concessive clauses {cf 15.21):

Whether she be right or wrong, she will have my unswerving support.

More usually, the simple present indicative is used.

Clauses of concession and purpose may also very occasionally in formal style
contain a present subjunctive (especially in AmE) to express putative meaning {cf
14.14):

Though he be the President himself, he shall hear us. [Though he is . . .’]

Contrast the use of the past subjunctive for hypothetical meaning in Though he
were the President himself, he should hear us, where the implication is that he is not
the President.
The more usual verb forms for the putative meaning in r/zowg/z-clauses are the
simple present indicative or putative should followed by the infinitive. Clauses of
purpose require modal auxiliaries, and therefore only the should-construction is a
possible alternative.
[b] In nonformal styles, the hypothetical past was replaces subjunctive were {eg: I
wish she was not married). The present indicative is a possible alternative after as if
and as though when the reference is to present time {eg: The stuffed dog barks as if it
is a real one) and after imperatives suppose and imagine.

Putative should

14.14 The modal auxiliary should is used extensively (esp in BrE) in ^/-clauses
to convey the notion of a ‘putative’ situation, which is recognized as
possibly existing or coming into existence. Contrast:

I’m surprised that he should feel lonely. [1]

I’m surprised that he feels lonely. [2]

While [1] questions the loneliness, [2] accepts it as true. Here, as often, the
difference is mainly one of nuance, since the factual bias of the matrix
clause overrides the doubt otherwise implicit in the should-comirvLClion.
On the other hand, the nonfactuality is clearer in these examples:

It worries me that their only child should travel alone. [3]

It’s unthinkable that they should ever deny my requests. [4]
 296 The complex sentence

I prefer that she should drive. [5]

I’m anxious that I shouldn't be in the way. [6]
They’ve arranged that I should absent myself for part of
the committee meeting. [7]
I can understand their eagerness that you should be the
main speaker. [8]

The expressions in the matrix clause may convey an emotional reaction

(for example, surprise or worry), as in [1-4], or the notions of necessity,
plan, or intention for the future, as in [5-8]. For [5-8], the present
subjunctive is preferred in AmE (c/14.13).

The perfect with temporal since-cl&uses

14.15 A temporal smcc-clause generally requires the present perfect in the

matrix clause when the whole construction refers to a stretch of time up to
(and potentially including) the present:

I have lost ten pounds since I started swimming. [1]

Since leaving home, Larry has written to his parents just once. [2]
In informal AmE, and increasingly in informal BrE, nonperfect forms are
commonly used in the matrix clauses; for example, lost instead of have lost
in [1], and wrote instead of have written in [2].
When the whole construction refers to a stretch of time up to (and .
potentially including) the present, the verb in the smce-clause may be the
simple past or the present perfect. The simple past is used when the since-
clause refers to a point of time marking the beginning of the situation:
She has been talking since she was one year old.
Since I saw her last, she has dyed her hair.
Derek hasn’t stopped talking since he arrived.

The present perfect is used in both clauses when the since-clause refers to a
period of time lasting to the present:

Max has been tense since he’s been taking drugs.

Since I have been here, I haven’t left my seat.
Since Vve known Caroline, she has been interested in athletics.
I’ve had a dog ever since Vve owned a house.
I’ve gone to concerts ever since Vve lived in Edinburgh.

When the whole period is set in past time, the past perfect or the simple
past is used in both clauses:

Since the country (had) achieved independence, it (had) revised its

constitution twice.

c- * (hadknown} u , rhadbeenT . t.
S'n“heiw }her'sh'{was ^journalist.
 Direct and indirect speech 297

The perfect with other temporal clauses

14.16 When an after-clause or a when-cl&usQ refers to a sequence of two past

events, the verb in the temporal clause may be in the past perfect, though it
is more commonly in the simple past:

,,, A . rafter 4 rreturned ^ r .

We ate our meal < . V we <. , > from the game,
(when J lhad returned J

All four forms of these sentences are acceptable, and mean roughly the
same. The only difference is that when and the simple past (probably the
most popular choice) suggests that the one event follows immediately on
the other in sequence. There may, however, be a contrast when the
subordinator is when if the predication in the when-clause is durative:

They walked out when I X the lecture.

Ihaa given J

The variant with the simple past would normally mean ‘as soon as I
started giving the lecture’ or ‘during the time I was giving the lecture’,
whereas that with the past perfect means .‘after the lecture was over’.
The present perfect is common in temporal and conditional clauses
when the clauses refer to a sequence of future events:
When they’ve scored their next goal, we’ll go home.
As soon as I’ve retired, I’ll buy a cottage in the country.
After they have left, we can smoke.
If I’ve written the paper before Monday, I’ll call you.
In each case, the simple present is an alternative.

NOTE These four sentences seem to be equivalent in meaning:

I saw him before he saw me. [1]

I had seen him before he saw me. [2]
I saw him before he had seen me. [3]
I had seen him before he had seen me. [4]

Sentence [3] appears to be paradoxical in that the second in the succession of

events is marked with the past perfect. One explanation is that the before-clause in
[3], and perhaps also in [4], is nonfactual; ie ‘He did not get a chance to see me’. But
it is also possible that the meaning of the subordinator before has influenced the
use of the past perfect as one of the choices of verb forms, or possibly there is an
analogy with the use of the past perfect in an after-clause.

Direct and Indirect speech

14.17 direct speech purports to give the exact words that someone utters or has
uttered in speech or writing, indirect speech, on the other hand, conveys
 298 The complex sentence

a report of what has been said or written, but does so in the words of a
subsequent reporter. Contrast the direct speech in [1] with two possible
versions in indirect speech as given in [la] and [lb]:

David said to me after the meeting, ‘In my opinion, the

arguments in favour of radical changes in the curriculum
are not convincing.’ [1]
David said to me after the meeting that in his opinion the
arguments in favour of radical changes in the curriculum
were not convincing. [la]
David told me after the meeting that he remained opposed
to any major changes in the curriculum. [lb]

The report may be a representation of mental activity, which by its

nature is unspoken. Thus [2] and [2a] contain direct speech and indirect
speech respectively:

‘Should I tell them now,’ I thought to myself, ‘or should I

wait until they’re in a better mood?’ [2]
He asked himself whether he should, tell them then or wait
until they were in a better mood. [2a]

Direct speech is usually signalled by being enclosed in quotation marks,

as in [1] and [2]. The reporting clause may occur before, within, or after the
direct speech.
When the reporting clause is positioned medially or finally, subject-

I
verb inversion may occur if the verb is in the simple present or simple past:

.John said
he said
‘whether I can borrow your
bicycle’. [3]
said John

r Elizabeth complained.
‘The radio is too loud,’ < she complained. [4]
^ complained Elizabeth.

Inversion is most common when the verb is said, the subject is not a
pronoun, and the reporting clause is medial. It is unusual and archaic or
dialectal, however, when the subject of the reporting clause is a pronoun,
even when the verb is said {eg: said he).

NOTE The structural relationship between the reporting clause and direct speech is
problematic. In [1] the direct speech seems to be a direct object, but in the other
examples above of direct speech - [2], [3], and [4] - the reporting clause seems
subordinate. The direct speech may comprise what would be represented in
writing as a number of sentences.

Backshift in indirect speech

14.18 Several changes are usually made in converting direct speech to indirect
speech. If the time of reporting is expressed as later than the time of the
 Direct and indirect speech 299

utterance, there is generally a change of verb forms. The change is termed

backshift, and the resulting relationship of verb forms in the reporting
and reported clauses is known as the sequence of tenses. Below we
assume an exact correspondence for the reporting of direct and indirect
speech in illustrating the changes.

DIRECT SPEECH BACKSHIFTED IN INDIRECT SPEECH

(i) present past
0>) past past or past perfect
(iii> present perfect ^ past perfect
(iv) past perfect /
Thus, if the present references in the direct speech become past references
in the indirect speech, there is a corresponding shift of verb forms into the
past, or if necessary into the past perfect. The verbs in the indirect speech
are thereby related to the time of the reporting. Examples of each part of
the rule are:

T am being paid by the hour,’ she said.

~ She said she was being paid by the hour.
The exhibition finished last week,’ explained Ann.
~ Ann explained that \ finished \ t
the exhibition i had finished I the precedmg week‘
Tve been waiting over an hour for you,’ she told him.
~ She told him that she had been waiting over an hour for him.
T hadstudiedVvtneh for four years at school before I abandoned the
subject,’ I said.
~ I said that I had studied French for four years at school before I
abandoned the subject.
Backshift is optional when the time-reference of the original utterance is
valid at the time of the reporting:

Their teacher had told them that the earth moves around the sun.
Sam told me last night that he is now an American citizen.
They thought that prison conditions have improved.
I didn’t know that our meeting is next Tuesday.
She said that they are being discriminated against.
The waiter told me that lunch is now being served.

NOTE The reporting verb may be in the present tense for communications in recent past
time:

Joan tells me that she’.? going to the airport in an hour’s time.

She says she was too busy to join us last night.

The present tense is also used for reports attributed to famous works or authors
which have present validity:

The Bible says that adultery is a sin.

Chaucer somewhere writes that love is blind.

Verbs of cognition may also be used in the reporting clause in the present tense:
 300 The complex sentence

I know they don’t care.

Sylvia thinks Paul went to Lancaster last night.

Other changes in indirect speech

14.19 The reference to persons in indirect speech must be appropriate to the
situation at the time of reporting. There may therefore be changes in
pronouns or nouns, as illustrated below:

‘/’ll behave myself,' he promised.

— He promised that he'd behave himself
‘You know my family,’ she said.
— She told him [or Tom, for example] that he knew her family.

Other changes may be necessary to adjust the references to time or

place. For example, yesterday to last Monday, now to then, here to there or
at college.

indirect statements, questions, exclamations, directives

14.20 All the main discourse types may be converted into indirect speech.

INDIRECT STATEMENT: subordinate that-clause

INDIRECT QUESTION: subordinate wh-clause or //-clause
INDIRECT EXCLAMATION: subordinate w/z-clause
INDIRECT DIRECTIVE: subordinate //////-clause or /o-infinitive
clause (without subject)

Our examples have so far been of indirect statements. Here are examples
of the last three categories:

‘Are you ready yet?’ asked Joan, [yes-no question]

— Joan asked (me) whether I was ready yet.
‘When will the plane leave?’ I wondered, [wet-question]
— I wondered when the plane would leave.
‘Are you satisfied or not?’ I asked her. [alternative question]
— I asked her whether or not she was satisfied.
‘What a brave boy you are!’ Margaret told him. [exclamation]
— Margaret told him what a brave boy he was.
‘Tidy up the room at once,’ I said to Tom. [directive]

(tidy <esp AmE) ^ up the room

— I insisted that Tom
\should tidy <esp BrE) J at once.

— I told Tom to tidy up the room.

All the types of changes outlined in 14.18/ apply to questions and

exclamations as well as statements. With directives, there is no tense
backshift in the verb forms exemplified above: mandative subjunctive,
putative should, ///-infinitive.
 Direct and indirect speech 301

The modal auxiliaries in indirect speech

14.21 If there is a change in time-reference, a modal auxiliary is backshifted
from present tense forms to past tense forms even if these do not normally
indicate past time in direct speech:

‘You may be able to answer this question,’ he told her.

~He told her that she might be able to answer that question.
‘I wont pay another penny,’ I said.
~I said that I wouldn’t pay another penny.

If a modal auxiliary in the direct speech is already in the past tense form,
then the same form remains in the indirect speech:

‘You shouldn’t smoke in the bedroom,’ he told them.

~ He told them that they shouldn ’t smoke in the bedroom.
Several modal auxiliaries or marginal modals have only one form: must,
ought to, need, and had better. That form remains in indirect speech:

‘You must be hungry,’ he said.

~He said that they must be hungry.
‘You had better not say anything about this,’ he warned me.
~ He warned me that I had better not say anything about that.
In its obligational sense, however, the past of must may be replaced by had
to in indirect speech:

‘You must be in by ten tonight,’ his parents told him.

~ His parents told him that he *n ^Y ten that night.

Free indirect speech and free direct speech

14.22 free indirect speech is used extensively to report speech or (particularly
in fiction) the stream of thought. It is basically a form of indirect speech,
but (a) the reporting clause is omitted (except when retained as a
parenthetical clause, as in direct speech), and (b) the potentialities of
direct-speech sentence structure are retained (for example, direct
questions and exclamations, vocatives, tag questions, and interjections).
It is therefore only the backshift of the verb, together with equivalent
shifts in personal pronouns, demonstratives, and time and place
references, that signals the fact that the words are being reported, rather
than being in direct speech. The italicized verbs below are backshifted to
the past tense:

So that was their plan, was it? He well knew their tricks, and would
show them a thing or two before he was finished. Thank goodness
he hadbttn alerted, and that there were still a few honest people in
the world!
 302 The complex sentence

free direct speech is also used in fiction writing to represent a person’s

stream of thought. It is basically a form of direct speech, but it is merged
with the narration without any overt indication by a reporting clause of a
switch to speech. It is distinguished from the past time-reference of the
narration by its use of unshifted forms. In the following example the free
direct speech is italicized:
I sat on the grass staring at the passerS-by. Everybody seemed in a
hurry. Why didn’t I stay at home?

Transferred negation

14.23 transferred negation, particularly common in informal style, is the

transfer of the negative from a subordinate clause, where semantically it
belongs, to the matrix clause. I don 7 think it’s a good idea is an example of
transferred negation, since it can be understood as virtually synonymous
with I think it isn 7 a good idea.
The matrix verbs that allow transferred negation convey notions of
opinion (eg: believe, expect, imagine, suppose, think) or perception (eg:
appear, seem, feel as if look as if sound as if). Here are some examples:

I don’t believe I’ve met you before. [T believe I haven’t met you
before’]
She didn’t imagine that we would say anything. [‘She imagined that
we wouldn’t say anything’]
He didn’t expect to win. [‘He expected not to win’]
It doesn’t seem that we can get our money back. [‘It seems that we
can’t get our money back’]
The baby doesn’t appear to be awake. [‘The baby appears not to be
awake’]
It doesn’t look as if it’s going to rain. [‘It looks as if it isn’t going to
rain’]

NOTE When the subject of the main clause is /, the tag question corresponds with the
subordinate clause:

I don’t imagine he cares, does he? [I imagine he doesn’t care, does he?]

Bibliographical note
On the terminology for sentence and clause, see Greenbaum (1988).
On the complex sentence and subordination in general see Nakajima (1982);
Smaby (1974).
On nonfinite and verbless clauses beginning with a subordinator, see Backlund
(1984).
 Transferred negation 303

On the overlap of conjunction and preposition, see Jacobsson (1977); Matthews

(1981, esp pp. 174-81).
On the choice of verb in subordinate clauses, including backshift in indirect
speech, see Palmer (1979, 1988), both passim.
On transferred negation, see Cattell (1973); Horn (1978b).
 Syntactic and semantic fynctions of
subordinate clauses

Syntactic functions of subordinate clauses

15.1 Subordinate clauses may function as subject, object, complement, or
adverbial in a superordinate clause:
Subject: That we need a larger computer has become obvious.
Direct object: He doesn’t know whether to send a gift.
Indirect object: You can tell whoever is waiting that I’ll be back in ten
minutes.
Subject complement: One likely result of the postponement is that
the cost of constructing the college will be very much higher.
Object complement: I know her to be reliable.
Adverbial: When you see them, give them my best wishes.
In addition, subordinate clauses may function within these elements, eg:
Postmodifier in noun phrase: (Few of the immigrants retained) the
customs that they had brought with them.
Prepositional complement: (It depends) on what we decide.
Adjectival complementation: (We are) happy to see you.

NOTE There are constraints on the functioning of clauses as indirect objects or as object
complements. Among the finite clauses, only nominal relative clauses (c/15.7/)
function as indirect object or as object complement.

Functional classes of subordinate clauses

15.2 On the basis of their potential functions, we distinguish four major

categories of subordinate clauses: nominal, adverbial, relative, and
COMPARATIVE.
Like noun phrases nominal clauses (c/1 5.3/0 may function as subject,
object, complement, appositive, and prepositional complement. But the
occurrence of nominal clauses is more limited than that of noun phrases,
because semantically the clauses are normally abstract; ie they refer to
such abstractions as events, facts, and ideas. The one exception is the
nominal relative clause, which may refer to persons and things and may in
fact be alternatively analysed as a noun phrase (cf 15.7). Since indirect
objects normally refer to persons, we can see why only the nominal
relative clause can function as indirect object. Nominal clauses involved in
the complementation of verbs and adjectives are discussed in detail in
Chapter 16.
adverbial clauses {cf 15.13/0 function mainly as adjuncts (8.13) or
 Nominal clauses 305'

disjuncts (8.40). In those functions they are like adverb phrases, but in
their potentiality for greater explicitness, they are more often like
prepositional phrases:

We left after the speeches ended.

We left after the end of the speeches.

relative clauses generally function as restrictive or nonrestrictive

modifiers of noun phrases and are therefore functionally parallel to
attributive adjectives. Compare:

a man who is lonely ~ a lonely man

But they are positioned like postmodifying prepositional phrases:

tourists who come from Italy ~ tourists from Italy

These relative clauses are discussed in Chapter 17. Two types of relative
clauses, however, are treated in this chapter: nominal relative clauses
(15.7/) and sentential relative clauses (15.33)
comparative clauses (c/15.36j/) resemble adjectives and adverbs in
their modifying functions:

She has more patience than you have.

He’s not as clever a man as I thought.
I love you more deeply than I can say.

Semantically, the comparative clauses together with their correlative

element (eg: more, as, -er) are equivalent to degree adverbs.

NOTE Unlike noun phrases, nominal clauses may also function as adjective complemen¬
tation without a preposition (cf 16.39):

I’m not sure that I can remember the exact details.

NosninaS clauses

Ftef-clauses

15.3 Nominal f/z^-clauses may function as:

Subject: That the invading troops have been withdrawn has not
affected our government’s trade sanctions.
Direct object: I noticed that he spoke English with an Australian
accent.
Subject complement: My assumption is that interest rates will soon
fall.
Appositive: Your criticism, that no account has been taken of
psychological factors, is fully justified.
Adjectival complementation: We are glad that you are able to join us
on our wedding anniversary.
 306 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

They may not, however, function as object complement or as prepositio¬

nal complement.
The subject r/zaf-clause is usually extraposed (cf 18.23):
It has not affected our government’s trade sanctions that the
invading troops have been withdrawn.

When the that-c\ause is direct object, complement, or extraposed, the

conjunction that is frequently omitted except in formal use, leaving a zero
that-clause:

It’s a pity you don’t know Russian.

But that cannot be omitted in a subject clause or in a nonrestrictive
appositive clause (cf 17.13 Note), since without the subordinate marker
the clause would be initially misinterpreted as a main clause:

* You don’t know Russian is a pity.

* Your criticism, no account has been taken ofpsychologicalfactors, is
fully justified.

NOTE The zero ?/za/~clause is particularly common when the clause is brief and
uncomplicated. Retention of that is necessary under certain conditions other than
when the clause is an unextraposed subject or a nonrestrictive appositive clause:

(i) To clarify whether an adverbial belongs to the matrix or the that-clause:

They told us once again that the situation was, serious.

They told us that once again the situation was serious.

(ii) To prevent a coordinated //^/-clause from being misinterpreted as a

coordinated main clause:

I realize that I’m in charge and that everybody accepts my leadership.

I realize that I’m in charge, and everybody accepts my leadership.

(iii) When the object //^-clause is fronted (as with an initial subject clause):

That she ever said such a thing I simply don’t believe.

(iv) When a clause or long phrase intervenes between the verb and the
//^-clause:
We decided, in view of his special circumstances, that we would admit him for
a probationary period.

S^interrogative clauses
15.4 Subordinate w/z-interrogative clauses occur in the whole range of
functions available to the nominal that-cl&use and in addition may
function as prepositional complement:
Subject: How the book will sell depends on the reviewers.
Direct object: I can’t imagine what they want with your address.
 Nominal clauses 307

Subject complement: The problem is who will water my plants when I

am away.
Appositive: Your original question, why he did not report it to the
police earlier, has not yet been answered.
Adjectival complementation: Fm not sure which she prefers.
Prepositional complement: They did not consult us on whose names
should be put forward.

These subordinate clauses resemble w/z-questions semantically in that

they leave a gap of unknown information, represented by the w/z-element.
Contrast the known information expressed in the r/za^-clause with the
unknown information in the wh-clause:

I know (that) Caroline will be there.

~ Do you know who will be there?
Fm sure (that) Ted has paid.
~I’m not sure who has paid.

There are also grammatical similarities to independent w/z-questions in

that the w/z-element is placed first. If it is a prepositional phrase, we have
the same choices as for the w/z-element in w/z-questions (cf 11.9):

I asked them on what they based their predictions, (formal)

I asked them what they based their predictions on.
An infinitive w/z-clause (with an obligational sense) can be formed with
all w/z-words, though instances with why are rare:

I don’t know what to say. [\ . . what I should say.’]

You must explain to them how to start the motor. [\ .. how one/they
should start the motor.’]
I never know who to speak to. [\ . . who one/I should speak to.’]
I’m wondering wh&re to put my coat. [‘. . . where I should put my
coat.’]

NOTE [a] Although the subordinate clause usually does not have subject-operator
inversion, such inversion may occur, particularly when the clause functions as
complement and the superordinate verb is a form of the verb be, or when it
functions as appositive:

The problem is who can we get to replace her.

Your original question, why did he not report it to the police earlier, has not
yet been answered.

In literary style, subject-verb inversion occasionally occurs when the w/z-element

is the subject complement or an obligatory adverbial, particularly if the subject is
lengthy:

She told us how strong was her motivation to engage in research.

It took me some time to discover in which village stood the memorial to our
fallen comrades.
 308 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

In addition, subject-operator inversion is common in Irish English and in some

nonstandard dialects:

Whenever I see her, she wants to know when will I be visiting her mother.

[b] Prepositions are optionally omitted before wh-clauses:

We have solved the problem (of) who was at fault.

Yes-no and alternative interrogative clauses

15.5 Subordinate yes-no interrogative clauses (cf 11.3\ff) and subordinate
alternative interrogative clauses {cf 11.11) occur in the whole range of
functions available to subordinate w/z-interrogative clauses, and may
include infinitive clauses. The yes-no clause is introduced by the
subordinators whether or if:
Do you know whether/if the banks are open?
The alternative clauses are formed with the correlatives whether... or or
if. . . or. The subordinator is repeated only if the second unit is a full
clause:
whether
I can’t find out the flight has been deLAYED or
if

whether
j> it has been CANcelled.
if
They didn’t say whether it will rain or be suNny.
I asked them if they wanted meat or fish.
I don’t care if they join us or not.
Repetition is possible for some speakers with ^-infinitive clauses:
He didn’t tell us whether to waitfor him or (whether) to go on without
him.

But the subordinator is not repeated if the second clause is abbreviated by

the omission of the infinitival to:
He didn’t tell us whether to wait for him or go on without him.

NOTE If is more restricted syntactically than whether. For example, it cannot introduce a
subject clause:

Whether she likes the present

is not clear to me.
* If she likes the present

It cannot introduce a to-infinitive clause:

I don’t know whether to see my doctor today.

*1 don’t know if to see my doctor today.

And it cannot be followed directly by or not:

 Nominal clauses 309

He didn’t say whether or not he’ll be staying here.

*He didn’t say if or not he’ll be staying here.

But or not can be postposed:

He didn’t say if he’ll be staying here or not.

Exclamative clauses

15.6 Subordinate exclamative clauses generally function as extraposed subject,

direct object, or prepositional complement:

Extraposed subject: It’s incredible how fast she can run. [‘It’s
incredible that she can run so fast.’]
Direct object: I remember what a good time I had at your party. [1
remember that I had such a good time at your party.’]
Prepositional complement: I read an account of what an impression
you had made. (T read an account that you had made an excellent
{or a terrible) impression.’]

As in independent exclamative clauses (c/11.20), the exclamative element

is formed with what as predeterminer in a noun phrase and how as
intensifier of an adjective, adverb, or clause; the exclamative element is
positioned initially regardless of its normal position in a declarative
clause.

NOTE A subordinate clause may be ambiguous between exclamatory and interrogative

interpretations:
You can’t imagine what difficulties I have with my children.

Exclamatory interpretation: You can’t imagine the great difficulties I have

with my children.
Interrogative interpretation: You can’t imagine the kinds of difficulty I have
with my children.

I told her how late she was.

Exclamatory interpretation: I told her she was very late.

Interrogative interpretation: I told her the extent to which she was late.

Nominal relative clauses

15.7 Nominal relative clauses resemble w/z-interrogative clauses in that they

are also introduced by a wA-element. In some respects they are more like
noun phrases, since they can refer to concrete entities as well as abstract
entities. They can be analysed as noun phrases modified by relative
clauses, except that the w/z-element is merged with its antecedent:
Whoever did that should admit it frankly. [1]
[‘The person who did that. . .’]
I took what they offered me. [2]
 310 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

[\ . . the thing(s) that they offered me.’]

I took what books she gave me. [3]
[\ . . the books that she gave me.’]
Macy’s is where I buy my clothes. [4]
[\ . . the place where I buy my clothes.’]
Like noun phrases, they may display number concord with the verb of the
sentence. Contrast, for example:

Whatever book you see is yours to take.

Whatever books I have in the house are borrowed from the public
library.

The wh-Qlement may be a pronoun, such as whoever in [1] and what in

[2]; a determiner, such as what in [3]; or an adverb, such as where in [4].
Nominal relative clauses have the same range of functions as noun
phrases.

Subject: What I want is a cup of hot cocoa.

Direct object: You should see whoever deals with complaints.
Indirect object: He gave whoever asked for it a copy of his latest
paper.
Subject complement: April is when the lilacs bloom.
Object complement: You can call me what(ever) you like.
Appositive: I’ll pay you the whole debt: What I originally borrowed
and what I owe you in interest.
Prepositional complement: You should vote for which (ever)
candidate you think best.

Like noun phrases, nominal relative clauses require prepositions in

adjective complementation:
He’s aware of what I write.

7b-infinitive clauses may be nominal relative clauses, but they seem to

be restricted to the functions of subject complement and prepositional
complement:

Subject complement: That’s where to go for your next vacation.

[\ . . the place to go . . .’]
Prepositional complement: The book is on how to use a computer.
[\ . . the way to use . . .’]

15.8 The wh-Qlement may express either a specific meaning (where the -ever
suffix is disallowed) or a nonspecific meaning (generally indicated by the
presence of the -ever suffix):
SPECIFIC

I took what was on the kitchen table. [‘. . . that which was on
the kitchen table.’] [i]
 Nominal clauses 311

May is when she takes her last examination. [\ . . the time

when she takes her last examination.’] [2]
NONSPECIFIC

Whoever breaks this law deserves a fine. [‘Anyone who breaks

this law . . .’] [3]
I’ll send whatever is necessary. [\ . . anything that is
necessary.’] [4]

NOTE A subordinate clause may be ambiguous between a nominal relative interpre¬

tation and an interrogative interpretation:
They asked me what I knew.

Relative interpretation: They asked me things that I knew.

Interrogative interpretation: They asked me, ‘What do you know?’

What she wrote was a mystery.

Relative interpretation: She wrote a mystery story.

Interrogative interpretation: I don’t know what she wrote.

ro-infirsitsve clauses

15.9 Nominal ^-infinitive clauses may function as:

Subject: To be neutral in this conflict is out of the question.
Direct object: He likes to relax.
Subject complement: The best excuse is to say that you have an
examination tomorrow morning.
Appositive: Your ambition, to become a farmer, requires the energy
and perseverance that you so obviously have.
Adjectival complementation: I’m very eager to meet her.

Extraposition is usual with subject clauses (cf 18.23):

It is out of the question to be neutral in this conflict.

The presence of a subject in a to-infinitive clause normally requires the

presence of a preceding for. When the subject is a pronoun that
distinguishes subjective and objective cases, it is in the objective case:

For your country to be neutral in this conflict is out of the question.

~ It is out of the question for your country to be neutral in this
conflict.
For us to take part in the discussion would be a conflict of interest.
~It would be a conflict of interest for us to take part in the
discussion.
I’m very eager for them to meet her.

When the clause is a direct object, however, for is generally absent before
the subject:
 312 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

He likes everyone to relax.

The nominal ^-infinitive often indicates that its proposition is a

possibility or a proposal rather than something fulfilled, and it is then
closest semantically to a //^-clause with putative should (c/14.14):
It’s natural for them to be together.
It’s natural that they should be together.

Other types of nominal ^-infinitive clauses are treated elsewhere: wh-

interrogative clauses (15.4), yes-no and alternative interrogative clauses
(15.5), and nominal relative clauses (15.7/).

NOTE Certain verbs of wanting and their antonyms allow an optional for in the object
clause in AmE:

He didn’t like me to be alone at night.

He didn’t like for me to be alone at night. (AmE).

•Ing clauses

15.10 Nominal -ing clauses may function as:

Subject: Watching television keeps them out of mischief.

Direct object: He enjoys playing practical jokes.
Subject complement: Her first job had been selling computers.
Appositive: His current research, investigating attitudes to racial
stereotypes, takes up most of his time.
Adjectival complementation: They are busy preparing a barbecue.
If the -ing clause has a subject, the subject may be in the genitive case or
it may be in the objective case (for those pronouns having an objective
case) or common case (for all other heads of noun phrases):

genitive: I object to his)Jeremy’s receiving an invitation.

objective: I objected to him/Jeremy receiving an invitation.

There is a traditional prescription in favour of the genitive: it is preferred if

the subject is a pronoun, the noun phrase has personal reference, and the
style is formal. The genitive is also preferred if the subject is initial in the
sentence.
My forgetting her name was embarrassing.

On the other hand, the common case is preferred where the subject is a
nonpersonal noun phrase and not a pronoun and the style is not formal:

I don’t know about the weather being so awful in this area.

The genitive is avoided when the noun phrase is lengthy and requires a
group genitive (cf 17.26):
 Nominal clauses 313

Do you remember the students and teachers protesting against the

new rule?

A nominal -ing clause may refer to a fact or an action:

Fact: Your driving a car to New York in your condition disturbs me

greatly.
Action: Your driving a car to New York took longer than I expected.

NOTE [a] The -ing participle in a nominal -ing clause is commonly called a ‘gerund’.
[b] Extraposition is less common with the -ing participle and often seems like an
informal afterthought (cf 18.23):

It was tough answering all the questions.

Bare Infinitive clauses

15.11 The most common functions of the nominal bare infinitive clause are as
subject or subject complement in a pseudo-cleft sentence (or a variant of
it, cf 18.20), where the other subordinate clause has the substitute verb do:
What the plan does is (to) ensure a fair pension for all.
Turn off the tap was all I did.

The to of the infinitive is optional when the clause is subject complement.

NOTE A bare infinitive clause may function as object complement with a relatively few
superordinate verbs (cf 16.28):

They made her pay for the damage.

It may follow prepositions of exception (c/9.15):

She did everything but make her bed.

Verbless clauses

15.12 The nominal verbless clause is a more debatable category than the other
nominal clauses.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, [proverb] [1]

Wall-to-wall carpets in every room is their dream. [2]
Are bicycles wise in heavy traffic? [3]
These may be paraphrased:

To be a friend in need is to be a friend indeed. [la]

Having wall-to-wall carpets in every room is their dream. [2a]
Is it wise to have bicycles in heavy traffic? [3a]

The paraphrases suggest a clausal analysis. Note also the apparent

semantic anomaly of bicycles are wise (implying wise bicycles), and the
singular verb in [2].
 314 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

Adverbial clauses

15.13 In Chapter 8 we distinguish four broad categories of syntactic functions

for adverbials: adjuncts, subjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts. Adverbial
clauses, however, function mainly as adjuncts and disjuncts.
In this chapter we focus on the semantic functions of adverbial clauses.
Semantic analysis of adverbial clauses is complicated by the fact that
many subordinators introduce clauses with different meanings: for
example a since-clause may be temporal or clausal. Furthermore, some
clauses combine meanings; in such cases, we treat the clauses under
sections that deal with what appears to be their primary meaning.

Clauses of time

15.14 Finite adverbial clauses of time are introduced by such subordinators as

after, as, once, since, until, when, while:

Buy your ticket as soon as you reach the station.

My family, once they saw the mood I was in, left me completely alone.
Drop by whenever you get the chance.
We came in just as it started to rain.
Wait untilyoure called.
The -ing clauses are introduced by once, till, until, when, whenever, while,
and <esp BrE) whilst. The -ed and verbless clauses are introduced by as
soon as, once, till, until, when, whenever, while, and <esp BrE) whilst:

Once having made a promise, you should keep it.

The dog stayed at the entrance until told to come in.
Complete your work as soon as possible.
70-infinitive clauses without a subordinator or a subject may have
temporal function, expressing the outcome of the situation:
I rushed to the door, only to discover that it was locked and barred.
I awoke one morning to find the house in an uproar.
With durative verbs in the matrix clause, the construction expresses
duration of time together with outcome:

She lived to be 100. [‘She reached 100 years of age.’]

You’ll live to regret it. [‘You’ll eventually regret it.’]

15.15 An adverbial clause of time relates the time of the situation in its clause to
the time of the situation in the matrix clause. Depending in large part on
the subordinator, the time of the matrix clause may be previous to that of
the adverbial clause (eg until), simultaneous with it (eg while), or
subsequent to it (eg after). The time relationship may also convey
duration (eg as long as), recurrence (eg whenever), and relative proximity
(eg just after).
 Adverbial clauses 315

NOTE [a] The matrix clause with an wwrzY-clause must be durative, the duration lasting to
the time indicated by the until-clause. A negative clause is always durative, even
though the corresponding positive clause is not durative, since the absence of the
event extends throughout the indicated period:

I didn’t start my meal until Adam arrived.

*1 started my meal until Adam arrived.

[b] When the matrix clause is imperative, the sentence with a before-clause may
imply a conditional relationship as well as time:

Go before I call the police. [‘Go! If you don’t go, I’ll call the police.’]

[c] Nonassertive items (cf 10.37) can appear in Z?e/br£-clauses, perhaps because
before-clauses, like conditional clauses (cf 15.18\jf), inherently relate to matters
unfulfilled in respect of the matrix clause:

I spoke to them before I ever heard any gossip about them.

[‘At the time I spoke to them I had not heard any gossip about them’]

[d] The sequential meaning of after, when and whenever may induce an implication
of cause:

He felt better after he had a short nap.

I hit him back when he hit me.
My heart leaps whenever I see you.

[e] When may imply concession as well as time:

They were gossiping, when they should have been working.

[‘. . . whereas they should have been working.’]
She cleans the house by herself, when she could easily have asked her children
to help her.

[f] The meaning of several subordinators that primarily express time, place, or
condition may be neutralized in certain contexts to convey a more abstract notion
of recurrent or habitual contingency: when, whenever, once; where, wherever; if.
The subordinators may then be paraphrased by such prepositional phrases as ‘in
cases when’ or ‘in circumstances where’:

When (ever) \ / there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Where (ver) II children are involved, divorces are
If n particularly unpleasant.
Once ' v known, such facts have been reported.

Clauses of place
15.16 Adverbial clauses of place are introduced mainly by where or wherever.
Where is specific and wherever nonspecific. The clause may indicate
position [1] or direction [2]:
Where the fire had been, we saw nothing but blackened ruins. [1]
They went wherever they could find work.
[To any place where’] [2]
 316 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

Several temporal subordinators may have primarily a place meaning in

descriptions of scenes, when the scenes are described dynamically in terms
of movement from one place to another:

Take the right fork when the road splits into two.
The river continues winding until it reaches a large lake.
The building becomes narrower as it rises higher.
The road stops just after it goes under a bridge.
Once the mountains rise above the snow line, vegetation is sparse.

NOTE [a] Where-clauses may combine the meanings of place and contrast:
Where I saw only wilderness, they saw abundant signs of life.
[b] The archaic forms whence [‘from where’] and whither [‘to where’] are
occasionally found, particularly in religious language.

Clauses of condition, concession, and contrast

15.17 There is considerable overlap in adverbial clauses that express condition,

concession, and contrast (cf 15.15 Note [f]).
The overlap between the three roles is highlighted by the overlapping
use of subordinators: for example, if introduces all three types of clauses
and whereas both contrast and concessive clauses. Furthermore, even if
expresses both the contingent dependence of one situation upon another
and the unexpected nature of this dependence:
Even if they offered to pay, I wouldn’t accept any money from them.

All three types of clauses tend to assume initial position in the

superordinate clause.
Conditional clauses
15.18 In general, conditional clauses convey a direct condition in that the
situation in the matrix clause is directly contingent on the situation in the
conditional clause. For example, in uttering [1] the speaker intends the
hearer to understand that the truth of the prediction ‘she’ll scream’
depends on the fulfilment of the condition of ‘your putting the baby
down’:

If you put the baby down, she’ll scream. [1]

The most common subordinators for conditional clauses are if and

unless, which are also used with nonfinite and verbless clauses. Other
conditional subordinators are restricted to finite clauses (but cf Note [b]
below); for example: given (that) {formal), on condition (that), provided
(that), providing (that), supposing (that). Here are other examples of
conditional clauses:

Unless the strike has been called off, there will be no trains tomorrow.
He doesn’t mind inconveniencing others just so he's comfortable.
{informal)
 Adverbial clauses 317

You may leave the apartment at any time, provided that you give a
month's notice or pay an additional month's rent.
In case you want me, I’ll be in my office till lunchtime.
Given that x—y9 then n(x + a) = n(y + a) must also be true.
<in formal argumentation)
Assuming that the movie starts at eight, shouldn’t we be leaving now?
Unless otherwise instructed, you should leave by the back exit.
Marion wants me to type the letter if possible.
If not, I can discuss the matter with you now.

NOTE [a] Some conditional clauses express an indirect condition, in that the condition
is not related to the situation in the matrix clause. Here are some examples:

His style is florid, if that’s the right word. [1]

If you remember your history lessons, the war was started by the
other side. [2]
If you’re going my way, I need a lift. [3]
She’s far too considerate, if I may say so. [4]

In uttering [4], the speaker does not intend the truth of the assertion ‘She’s far too
considerate’ to be dependent on obtaining permission from the hearer. Rather, the
condition is dependent on the implicit speech act of the utterance: ‘I’m telling you,
if I may, that she’s far too considerate.’ In conventional politeness, the speaker is
making the utterance of the assertion dependent on obtaining permission from the
hearer, though the fulfilment of that condition is conventionally taken for granted,
[b] Nonfinite and verbless clauses with with or without as subordinator may express
a conditional relationship:

Without me to supplement your income, you wouldn’t be able to manage.

With them on our side, we are secure.

Open and hypothetical condition

15.19 A direct condition may be either an open condition or a hypothetical
condition. Open conditions are neutral: they leave unresolved the
question of the fulfilment or nonfulfilment of the condition, and hence
also the truth of the proposition expressed by the matrix clause:

If Colin is in London, he is undoubtedly staying at the Hilton.

The sentence leaves unresolved whether Colin is in London, and hence it

leaves unresolved whether he is staying at the Hilton.
A hypothetical condition, on the other hand, conveys the speaker’s
belief that the condition will not be fulfilled (for future conditions), is not
fulfilled (for present conditions), or was not fulfilled (for past conditions)
and hence the probable or certain falsity of the proposition expressed by
the matrix clause:

If he changed his options, he’d be a more likeable person. [1]

They would be here with us if they had the time. [2]
If you had listened to me, you wouldn’t have made so many
mistakes. [3]
 318 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

The conditional clauses in these sentences convey the following

implications:
He very probably won’t change his opinions. [la]
They presumably don’t have the time. [2a]
You certainly didn’t listen to me. [3a]

For the verb forms in hypothetical conditions, see 14.12/.

NOTE [a] Conditional clauses are like questions in that they are generally either neutral in
their expectations of an answer or biased towards a negative response, and they
therefore tend to admit nonassertive items (cf 10.37):

If you ever touch me again, I’ll scream.

She’s taking a stick with her in case she has any trouble on the way.

[b] Two ways of expressing future hypothetical conditions are occasionally used in
formal contexts. They have overtones of tentativeness:
(i) was to or were to followed by the infinitive (cf subjunctive were, 14.13):

If it ^ W^re j*t0 ra^n’ the ropes would snap. They’re far too tight.

(ii) should followed by the infinitive (cf putative should, 14.14):

If a serious crisis should arise, the public would have to be informed of its full
implications.

[c] Conditional clauses may have subject-operator inversion without a subordina-

tor if the operator is were, should, and (especially) had:

Had I known, I would have written before. [‘If I had known, . . .’]
Were she in charge, she would do things differently.
Should you change your mind, no one would blame you.
Should she be interested. I’ll phone her. [with present subjunctive be; c/14.13
Note [a]]

[d] Infinitive clauses sometimes combine condition with other contingency

relations such as purpose or reason:

You must be strong to lift that weight. [\ .. in order to lift that weight’; \ ..
because you were able to lift that weight’, \ . . if you were able to lift
that weight’]
You’d be a fool not to take the scholarship. [‘if you didn’t. . .’]

[e] If only is an intensified equivalent of if, typically used in hypothetical clauses to

express a wish:

If only you would help me next week, I would not be so nervous.

[f] Given (that) and assuming (that) are used for open conditions which the
speaker assumes were, are, or will be fulfilled, and from which a proposition is
deduced. A clause introduced by granted (that) is also used as a premise for a
deduction, but usually implies a previous statement on which the premise is based.
7/may be used in the same way: If you were there (and you say you were), you must
 Adverbial clauses 319

have seen her. Given (that) and granted (that) tend to be used in formal written
style, particularly in argumentation.
[g] As long as and so long as are less formal than the semantically similar but formal
provided (that) and providing (that). Just so (that) tends to appear in informal
conversation. They all mean ‘if and only if’.
[h] Unless introduces a negative condition; the ww/m-clause is usually roughly
similar to a negative if-clause. With unless there is a greater focus on the condition
as an exception (‘only if... not’). There are therefore contexts in which the unless-
clause cannot occur:

if he doesn't come with us.

I’ll feel much happier
* unless he comes with us.

If you hadn *t studied hard,

you’d have failed the exam.
* Unless you had studied hard,

Rhetorical conditional clauses

15.20 Rhetorical conditional clauses give the appearance of expressing an open
condition, but (like rhetorical questions, cf 11.13) they actually make a
strong assertion. There are two types:
(a) If the proposition in the matrix clause is patently absurd, the
proposition in the conditional clause is shown to be false:
If they're Irish, I’m the Pope. [‘Since I’m obviously not the Pope,
they’re certainly not Irish.’]
If you believe that, you’ll believe anything. [‘You certainly can’t
believe that.’]
(b) If the proposition in the conditional clause (which contains measure
expressions) is patently true, the proposition in the matrix clause is shown
to be true. The if-clause is positioned finally:

He’s ninety if he's a day. [‘If you’ll agree that he’s at least a day old,
perhaps you’ll take my word that he’s ninety.’]
The package weighed ten pounds if it weighed an ounce. [‘The
package certainly weighed ten pounds.’]
Concessive clauses
15.21 Concessive clauses are introduced chiefly by although or its more informal
variant though. Other subordinators include while, whereas (formal), and
even if.

Although he hadjust joined, he was treated exactly like all the others.
No goals were scored, though it was an exciting game.
While I don't want to make a fuss, I feel I must protest at your
interference.
Whereas the amendment is enthusiastically supported by a large
majority in the Senate, its fate is doubtful in the House.

Except for whereas, these subordinators may introduce -ing, -ed, and
verbless clauses, eg: Though well over eighty, she can walkfaster than I can.
 320 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

Concessive clauses indicate that the situation in the matrix clause is

contrary to what one might expect in view of the situation in the
concessive clause. It is often possible to view each situation as unexpected
in the light of the other and therefore to choose which should be made
subordinate:

No goals were scored, although it was an exciting game.

It was an exciting game, although no goals were scored.

NOTE [a] In a rather formal style, the predication in the concessive clause may be fronted
if the subordinator is though and must be if it is as:

Fail though I did, I would not abandon my goal.

Naked as I was, I braved the storm. [‘Even though I was naked, . . .’]

That is also used concessively with obligatory fronting of a subject complement,

normally a noun phrase:

Fool that he was, he managed to evade his pursuers.

Poor that they were, they gave money to charity. <BrE>

C/T5.26 Note [b] for a similar fronting with reason clauses.

[b] Even if combines the concessive force of even with the conditional force of if:

Even if you dislike ancient monuments, Warwick Castle is worth a visit.

The even if clause leaves open whether or not ‘you dislike ancient monuments’ is
true, whereas an even though clause would presuppose that it was true.
If itself may be used concessively, synonymous either with even if or with even
though:

It’s possible, if difficult. [\ . ., even if it may be difficult.’]

Her salary was good, if not up to her expectations. [‘..., even though it was
not up to her expectations.’]

Alternative conditional-concessive clauses

15.22 The correlative sequence whether ... or (whether) combines the
conditional meaning of if with the disjunctive meaning of either . . . or. If
the second unit is a full finite clause, whether may be repeated:

Whether Martin pays for the broken vase or (whether) he replaces it

with a new vase, Fm not inviting him again.
He’s getting married, whether or not he finds a job.
Whether trained or not, Marilyn is doing an excellent job.
Whether right or wrong, your son needs all the support you can give
him.
The concessive meaning comes from the implication that it is unexpected
for the same situation to apply under two contrasting conditions.

NOTE [a] It doesn ’t matter whether and the more informal No matter whether can also
introduce alternative conditional-concessive clauses and universal conditional-
concessive clauses (cf 15.23):
 Adverbial clauses 321

It doesn't matter V whether you want to or not, you will

No matter / have to face the publicity.

[b] The correlative sequence with . . . without is used concessively with verbless
clauses:

With a bank loan or without it,

we’ll buy the house.
With or without a bank loan,

There may be further reductions:

Bank loan or no bank loan,

^ we’ll buy the house.
Bank loan or no,

Universal conditional-concessive clauses

15.23 The universal conditional-concessive clause indicates a free choice from
any number of conditions. It is introduced by the w/z-words that combine
with -ever:

Whatever I say to them, I can’t keep them quiet. [1]

Stand perfectly still, wherever you are.
However much advice you give him, he does exactly what he wants.
Don’t let them in, whoever they are.

The concessive implication in [1] comes through the inference that I can’t
keep them quiet even if I choose to say something to them from any
possible choices.

NOTE The verb be can be omitted from a universal clause if the subject of an SVC clause
is an abstract noun phrase:

Whatever your problems (are/may be), they can’t be worse than mine.
However great the pitfalls (are/may be), we must do our best to succeed.

Clauses of contrast
15.24 Clauses of contrast are introduced by several of the subordinators that
introduce concessive clauses (cf 15.21): whereas, while, and <esp BrE>
whilst. Indeed, there is often a mixture of contrast and concession. The
contrastive meaning may be emphasized by correlative antithetic con-
juncts such as in contrast and by contrast when the contrastive clause is
initial:

Mr Larson teaches physics, while Mr Corby teaches chemistry.

I ignore them, whereas my husband is always worried about what they
think of us.

Clauses of exception

15.25 Clauses of exception are introduced by but that (formal), except

(informal), except that, only (informal), and less frequently excepting
(that), save (rare and formal), and save that (formal):
 322 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

I would pay you now, except that I don't have any money on me.
No memorial remains for the brave who fell on that battlefield, save
that they will leave their image for ever in the hearts and minds of
their grateful countrymen. (formal)
Nothing would satisfy the child but that I place her on my lap.
(formal)
I would’ve asked you, only my mother told me not to. (informal)

Clauses introduced by but that and only must follow the matrix clause.

NOTE The subordinator but without that is used in infinitive clauses, where it is more
common than but that in finite clauses:

Nothing would satisfy the child but for me to place her on my lap.

Reason clauses
15.26 In general, reason clauses convey a direct relationship with the matrix
clause. The relationship may be that of cause and effect (the perception of
an inherent objective connection, as in [1]), reason and consequence (the
speaker’s inference of a connection, as in [2]), motivation and result (the
intention of an animate being that has a subsequent result, as in [3]), or
circumstance and consequence (a combination of reason with a condition
that is assumed to be filled or about to be filled, as in [4]):

He’s thin because he hasn't eaten enough. [1]

She watered the flowers because they were dry. [2]
You’ll help me because you're my friend. [3]
Since the weather has improved, the game will be held as
planned. [4]

Reason clauses are most commonly introduced by the subordinators

because and since. Other subordinators include as, for (somewhat
formal), and (with circumstantial clauses) seeing (that) :

I lent him the money because he needed it.

As Jane was the eldest, she looked after the others.
Since we live near the sea, we often go sailing.
Much has been written about psychic phenomena, for they pose
fascinating problems that have yet to be resolved.
Seeing that it is about to rain, we had better leave now.

A for-clause must be in final position.

NOTE [a] Reason clauses may express an indirect reason. The reason is not related to
the situation in the matrix clause but is a motivation for the implicit speech act of
the utterance:

As you're in charge, where are the files on the new project? [‘As you’re in
charge, I’m asking you . . .?’]
 Adverbial clauses 323

Vanessa is your favourite aunt, because your parents told me so. [‘Since your
parents told me so, I can say that Vanessa is your favourite aunt.’]
As long as you're here, why don’t we discuss our plans?
Since you seem to know them, why don’t you introduce me to them?

[b] When as is a circumstantial subordinator, the predication may optionally be

fronted:

Writing hurriedly as she was, she didn’t notice the spelling errors.
Tired as they were, they stayed up for the late news.

That may be a circumstantial subordinator, when the subject complement is

obligatorily fronted:

Clumsy idiot that he was, Michael completely ruined the dinner.

Cf 15.21 Note [a] for a similar fronting with concessive clauses.

Purpose clauses

15.27 Purpose clauses are usually infinitival, and may be introduced by in order
to {formal) and so as to:

Students should take notes (so as) to make revision easier.

The committee agreed to adjourn (in order) to reconsider the matter
when fuller information became available.
They left the door open (in order) for me to hear the baby.

Finite clauses of purpose are introduced by so that or (less commonly and

more informally) by so, and (more formally) by in order that:

The school closes earlier so (that) the children can get home before
dark.
The jury and the witnesses were removed from the court in order that
they might not hear the arguments of the lawyers on the
prosecution s motion for an adjournment.

These finite clauses, which are putative (cf 15.28), require a modal
auxiliary.

NOTE Negative purpose is expressed in the infinitive clauses by so as not to and in order
not to, and in finite clauses by in order that... not \forfear (that), in case {BrE>, or
lest {archaic and very formal) convey an implied negative purpose:

Turn the volume down so as not to wake the baby.

They left early for fear (that) they would meet him.
They evacuated the building in case the wall collapsed. {BrE>

Result clauses

15.28 Result clauses are introduced by the subordinators so that and so:

We paid him immediately, so (that) he left contented.

I took no notice of him, so (that) he flew into a rage.
 324 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

The same subordinators are used for purpose clauses but, because they are
putative rather than factual, purpose clauses require a modal auxiliary:

We paid him immediately, so (that) he would leave contented.

NOTE The subordinator so is indistinguishable from the conjunct so in asyndetic

coordination, but if and is inserted so is unambiguously the conjunct:

We paid him immediately, and so he left contented.

Clauses of similarity and comparison

15.29 For both similarity clauses and comparison clauses, there is a semantic
blend with manner if the verb is dynamic.
Clauses of similarity are introduced by as and <esp informal AmE) like.
These subordinators are commonly premodified by just and exactly:

Please do (exactly) as I said. [1]

It was (just) like I imagined it would be <esp informal AmE) [2]

Clauses of comparison are introduced by as if, as though, and <esp

informal AmE) like:

She looks as if she’s getting better. [3]

If the comparison is hypothetical (implying lack of reality), a subjunctive

or hypothetical past may be used as an alternative (cf 14.12/):

rl was
She treated me as though < I were > a stranger.
W had been '

The subordinators as, as if and as though can introduce nonfinite and

verbless clauses:

Fill in the application form as instructed.

You should discuss the company with him as though unaware that
you were being considered for a job.

As if and as though may also introduce ru-infinitive clauses:

She winked at me as if to say that I shouldn’t say anything.

NOTE [a] If the ^-clause is placed initially, correlative so introduces the matrix clause in
formal literary style:

(Just) as a moth is attracted by a light, so he was fascinated by her.

The clause then expresses an analogy.

[b] There are prescriptive objections to the use of like as a subordinator. It is more
acceptable when it expresses pure similarity, as in [2], since that is the meaning
expressed by the preposition like, than when it expresses manner or comparison.
Hence like would be less acceptable if it replaced as in [1] or [3].
 Adverbial clauses 325

Clauses of proportion
15.30 Proportional clauses involve a kind of comparison. They express a
proportionality or equivalence of tendency or degree between two
situations. They may be introduced by as, with or without correlative so
(formal), or by the fronted correlative the . . . the followed by compara¬
tive forms:

As he grew disheartened, (so) his work deteriorated.

As the lane got narrower, (so) the overhanging branches made it
more difficult for us to keep sight of our quarry.
The more she thought about it, the less she liked it.

Noncorrelative the is also used in the same sense:

She liked it less, the more she thought about it.

Clauses of preference
15.31 Clauses of preference are usually nonfinite. They may be introduced by
the subordinators rather than and sooner than, with the bare infinitive as
the verb of the clause:

Rather than go there by air, I’d take the slowest train. [T’d prefer to
take the slowest train.’]
They’ll fight to the finish sooner than surrender. [‘They prefer to fight
to the finish.’]

The same subordinators may introduce finite clauses:

Rather than (that) she should miss her train, I’ll get the car over.

Comment clauses
15.32 Comment clauses are parenthetical disjuncts. They may occur initially,
finally, or medially, and thus generally have a separate tone unit:

KiNGston, | as you probably know, \ is the capital of JaMAica |

We distinguish the following types:

(i) like the matrix of a main clause:

There were no other applicants, I believe, for that job.

(ii) an adverbial finite clause (introduced by as):

I’m working the night shift, as you know.

(iii) a nominal relative clause:

What was more upsetting, we lost all our luggage.

(iv) to-infinitive clause as style disjunct:

I’m not sure what to do, to be honest.

 326 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

(v) -ing clause as style disjunct:

I doubt, speaking as a layman, whether television is the right medium

for that story.

(vi) -ed clause as style disjunct:

Stated bluntly, he had no chance of winning.

In each category, there are idiomatic or cliche expressions: you see, as I

say, what’s more to the point, to be fair, generally speaking, put bluntly.
Similarly, in each category there is at least some freedom to coin new
expressions.
Comment clauses, many of which are characteristic of spoken English,
are generally marked prosodically by increased speed and lowered
prominence.

NOTE Type (i) comment clauses, which are the most important, generally contain a
transitive verb or an adjective which elsewhere requires a nominal rto-clause as
complementation. We can therefore see a correspondence between sentences
containing such clauses and sentences containing indirect statements:

There were no other applicants, I believe, for that job.

I believe that there were no other applicants for that job.

Since the that of an object that-clause is normally deletable, only the intonation
(reflected by comma separation in writing) distinguishes an initial comment clause
from an initial matrix clause:

You know, | |I think you’re wrong! T

[ You know is a comment clause]
You know, I (think you’re wrong) J

You (know (that) I think you’re wrong | . [You know is a matrix clause]

Sentential reiatlwe clauses

15.33 Closely related to comment clauses of type (ii) (as you know) and type (iii)
(what’s more surprising) are sentential relative clauses. Unlike
adnominal relative clauses, which have a noun phrase as antecedent, the
sentential relative clause refers back to the predicate or predication of a
clause ([1] and [2]), or to a whole clause or sentence, ([3] and [4]), or even to
a series of sentences ([5]):

They say he plays truant, which he doesn’t. [1]

He walks for an hour each morning, which would bore me. [2]
Things then improved, which surprises me. [3]
Colin married my sister and I married his brother, which
makes Colin and me double in-laws. [4]
 Adverbial clauses 327

- which is how the kangaroo came to have a pouch, [said at the

end of a story] [5]

Sentential relative clauses parallel nonrestrictive postmodifying clauses

in noun phrases (cf 17.11) in that they are separated by intonation or
punctuation from their antecedent. They are commonly introduced by the
relative pronoun which, but which may also be a relative determiner of
abstract nouns, as in [6] and [7]:

The plane may be several hours late, in which case there's no

point in our waiting. [6]
They were under water for several hours, from which
experience they emerged unharmed. [7]

The subject of nonfinite and werbless clauses

15.34 Nonfinite and verbless adverbial clauses that have an overt subject but are
not introduced by a subordinator are absolute clauses, so termed because
they are not explicitly bound to the matrix clause syntactically. Absolute
clauses may be -ing, -ed, or verbless clauses:

No further discussion arising, the meeting was brought to a close.

Lunch finished, the guests retired to the lounge.
Christmas then only days away, the family was pent up with
excitement.

Apart from a few stereotyped phrases (eg: present company excepted,

weather permitting, God willing), absolute clauses are formal and
infrequent.
When a subject is not present in a nonfinite or verbless clause, the
normal attachment rule for identifying the subject is that it is assumed
to be identical in reference to the subject of the superordinate clause:

The oranges, when (they are) ripe, are picked and sorted
mechanically.

The attachment rule is commonly given for participle clauses, but it

applies equally to infinitive and verbless clauses:

Persuaded by our optimism, he gladly contributed time and money to

the scheme. [‘Since he was persuaded . . .’]
Driving home after work, I accidentally went through a red light.
[‘While I was driving home after work . . .’]
Confident of the justice of their cause, they agreed to put their case
before an arbitration panel. [‘Since they were confident. . .’]
To climb the rock face, we had to take various precautions. [‘So that
we could climb . . .’]
 328 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

Sometimes the attachment rule is violated:

?Driving to Chicago that night, a sudden thought struck me. [‘I was
driving’]

The violation is considered to be an error. Such unattached (or dangling)

clauses are totally unacceptable if the sentence provides no means for
identifying the implied subject:

* Reading the evening paper, a dog started barking.

NOTE The attachment rule does not apply, or at least is relaxed, in certain cases:
(a) The clause is a style disjunct, and the / of the speaker is the implied subject:

Putting it mildly, you have caused us some inconvenience.

(b) The implied subject is the whole of the matrix clause:

I’ll help you if necessary. [‘. . . if it is necessary.’]

(c) If the implied subject is an indefinite pronoun or prop it (cf 10.14), the
construction is considered less objectionable:

When dining in the restaurant, a jacket and tie are required. [‘When one
dines . . .’]
Being Christmas, the government offices were closed. [‘Since it was . . .’]

SuppSemerative clauses
15.35 Adverbial participle and verbless clauses without a subordinator are
supplementive clauses: they do not signal specific logical relationships,
but such relationships are generally clear from the context {cf also 7.14).
The formal inexplicitness of supplementive clauses allows considerable
flexibility in what we may wish them to convey. According to context, we
may wish to imply temporal, conditional, causal, concessive, or circum¬
stantial relationships. In short, the supplementive clause implies an
accompanying circumstance to the situation described in the matrix
clause. For the reader or hearer, the actual nature of the accompanying
circumstance has to be inferred from the context:

Reaching the river, we pitched camp for the night. [‘When we

reached the river, . . .’]
Julia, being a nun, spent much of her time in prayer and meditation.
[\ . ., since she was a nun, . . .’]
Aware of the dangers to American citizens during the crisis, she still
insisted on staying with the others.
The sentence is ambiguous, taken out of context, [‘if/when it is . . .’]
Using a sharp axe, Gilbert fought his way into the building. [fcBy
using a sharp axe . . .’]
Marilyn crawled through the narrow tunnel, hands in front.
We spoke face to face.
 Comparative clauses 329

They stood silently, their eyes fixed on the horizon.

Elizabeth dived in head first.
They strolled through the park with their arms intertwined.

Comparative clauses

15.36 In a comparative construction, a proposition expressed in the matrix

clause is compared with a proposition expressed in the subordinate clause.
Words that are repeated in both clauses may be omitted in the subordinate
clause (cf 15.38):

Jane is as healthy as her sister (is). [1]

Jane is healthier than her sister (is). [2]

The comparison is with respect to some standard of comparison: health

in [1] and [2]. The clause element that specifies the standard is the
comparative element (henceforth ‘comp-element5): as healthy in [1] and
healthier in [2]. The basis of comparison (which may be implied from the
context rather than overtly expressed) is Jane’s sister in [1] and [2].
Broadly conceived, comparison includes comparisons of equivalence
(as in [1]) and nonequivalence (as in [2]), and comparisons of
sufficiency and excess (as in [3] and [4]):

Don is sensitive enough to understand your feelings. [3]

Marilyn was too polite to say anything about my clothes. [4]

More narrowly, comparison covers the types exemplified in [1] and [2] or
even just those comparisons - like [2] and [5] - that require a than-clause:

rmore healthy \
Jane is l healthier > than her sister is. [5]
^less healthy J

Comparisons of equivalence, nonequivalence, and excess (cf 15.41) are

nonassertive, as can be seen from the use in them of nonassertive forms:

cu . ras hard as ) , ...

She works < , , > she ever did.
(harder than j

He eats vegetables |aS mu^ as \ any other food

(more than ) ^

We use more and the inflectional variant in -er, the typical comparative
items, to exemplify comparative instructions in the sections that follow.

NOTE The standard of comparison involves a scale without commitment to absolute

values. Hence, [1] and [2] do not presuppose that Jane’s sister is healthy.
 330 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

Clause functions of the comp-element

15.37 The comp-element of a comparative construction can be any of the clause

elements, apart from the verb:
subject:

More people use this brand than (use) any other window-cleaning
fluid.

direct object:

She knows more history than most people (know),

indirect object:

That toy has given more children happiness than any other (toy)
(has).

subject complement:

Lionel is more relaxed than he used to be.

object complement:

She thinks her children more obedient than (they were) last year,

adverbial:

You’ve been working much harder than I (have).

The comp-element may also be a prepositional complement:

She’s applied for more jobs than Joyce (has (applied for)).

The same range is available for the comp-element in comparisons of

equivalence; for example:

As many people use this brand as (use) any other window-cleaning

fluid.

NOTE [a] There is a type of nonclausal comparison in which more ... than, less . .. than,
and as ... as are followed by an explicit standard of comparison:

I weigh more than 200 pounds.

It goes faster than 100 miles per hour.
The strike was nothing less than a national catastrophe.
Our factory consumes as much as 500 tons of solid fuel per week.

Another nonclausal comparison is exemplified by:

I was more angry than frightened.! . T »

* , n * . >[ It is more true to say that I was . . . ]
I was angry more than frightened.)

The inflectional form is not possible:

*1 was angrier than frightened.

[b] When more precedes an adjective in a noun phrase, there may be ambiguity.
For example, more expensive clothes is ambiguous in:
 Comparative clauses 331

Morton has more expensive clothes than I have.

In one interpretation more modifies expensive (‘clothes that are more expensive’);
in the other interpretation more is the determiner for the noun phrase (‘a greater
quantity of expensive clothes’).
[c] The modifying sequences more of a . . . and less of a . . . occur with gradable
singular noun heads:

He’s more of a fool than I thought (he was).

It was less of a success than I imagined (it would be).

Cf the Auw-question, How much of a fool is he? [‘To what extent is he (in your view)
a fool?’]
There are parallel constructions with as much of a ... as and as little ofa ... as:

It was as much/little of a success as I imagined (it would be).

[d] When the contrast involves two points on the same scale, one higher than the
other, the part following than cannot be expanded into a clause. Than is then
functioning as a preposition in a nonclausal comparison:

It’s hotter than just warm. (c/It’s hotter than 90°.)

She’s wiser than merely clever.
We drove farther than (beyond) Chicago.
They fought harder than that.

Another type of nonclausal comparison is expressed by more than'.

I am more than happy to hear that.

She behaved more than fairly to him.

Semantically, more than expresses a higher degree, but it also conveys a comment
on the inadequacy of what is said in the linguistic unit it modifies.
[e] Some people prefer to use so.. .as instead of as ... as when the matrix clause is
negative:

He’s not so naughty as he was.

Ellipsis m comparative clauses

15.38 Ellipsis of a part of the comparative clause is likely to occur when that part
is a repetition of something in the matrix clause. Since it is normal for the
two clauses to be closely parallel both in structure and content, ellipsis is
the rule rather than the exception in comparative constructions. Here is a
set of examples of optional ellipsis and optional substitutions by
pronouns and by pro-predicate or pro-predication:

James and Susan often go to plays but

(i) James enjoys the theatre more than Susan enjoys the theatre.
(ii) James enjoys the theatre more than Susan enjoys it.
(iii) James enjoys the theatre more than Susan does.
(iv) James enjoys the theatre more than Susan.
(v) James enjoys the theatre more.
Ellipsis of the object generally cannot take place unless the main verb too
 332 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate cSauses

is ellipted, as in (iii) and (iv), where there is a choice between the retention
of an operator and its omission:

*James knows more about the theatre than Susan knows.

The comp-element is the hinge between the matrix clause and the
comparative clause. Since the comp-element specifies the standard of
comparison, the same standard cannot be specified again in the
comparative clause:

*Jane is healthier than her sister is healthy.

* James enjoys the theatre more than Susan much enjoys the theatre.

The standards of comparison in the two clauses may, however, be

different.

Mary is cleverer than Jane is pretty.

Ambiguity through ellipsis

15.39 When normal ellipsis is taken to its fullest extent, ambiguity can arise as to
whether a remaining noun phrase is subject or object:

He loves his dog more than his children.

The above example could mean either [1] \ . . than his children love his
dog’ or [2] ‘than he loves his children’. If his children is replaced by a
pronoun, formal English makes the distinction:

He loves his dog more than they. [1]

He loves his dog more than them. [2]

In other styles, however, the objective case them is used for both [ 1 ] and [2].
Since both forms can be criticized (on account of stiffness on the one hand,
and ‘bad grammar’ on the other), and since in any event we cannot be sure
that the objective case in [2] represents choice in formal style and is
therefore unambiguous, it is better to expand the clause (than they do; than
he does them) where there is danger of ambiguity.

Partial contrasts

15.40 If the two clauses in a comparison differed solely in the comp-element (*/
hear it more clearly than I hear it), the comparison would of course be
nonsensical; therefore, a contrast of at least one variable is required
between the two clauses. The contrast may affect only tense or the
addition of a modal auxiliary. In such cases it is normal to omit the rest of
the comparative clause after the auxiliary:

I hear it more clearly than I did. [‘than I used to hear it’]

I get up later than I should, [‘than I should get up’]

If the contrast lies only in tense, it may be expressed in the comparative

clause solely by an adverbial:
 Comparative clauses 333

She’ll enjoy it more than (she enjoyed it) last year.

This provides the basis for the total ellipsis of the subordinate clause in
examples like:

You are slimmer (than you were).

You’re looking better (than you were (looking)).

NOTE [a] There are two other contexts in which the comparative clause is omitted. One is
where there is anaphoric reference to an implied or actual preceding clause or
sentence:

I caught the bus from town: but Harry came home even later, [ie ‘later than I
came home’]

The other is where the reference is to the extralinguistic situation:

You should have come home earlier, [ie ‘earlier than you did’]

[b] The partial contrast may be in a superordinate clause in the matrix clause or the
comparative clause:

She thinks she’s fatter than she (really) is.

He’s a greater painter than people suppose (he is).
She enjoyed it more than I expected (her to (enjoy it)).

Enough and too

15.41 There are comparative constructions that express the contrasting notions
of sufficiency and excess, chiefly with enough and too followed by a to-
infinitive clause. Paraphrase pairs may be constructed with antonymous
items:

rThey’re rich enough to own a car.

\ They’re not too poor to own a car.

(The book is simple enough to understand.

\The book is not too difficult to understand.

If the context allows, the infinitive clause may be omitted.

The negative force of too is shown in the use of nonassertive forms.
Contrast:

She’s old enough to do some work.

She’s too old to do any work.

The infinitive clause may contain an overt subject:

It moves too quickly for most people to see (it).

He was old enough for us to talk to (him) seriously.

As these examples indicate, a direct object or the object of a prepositional

verb may be omitted if it substitutes for the superordinate subject.
When there is no subject in the infinitive clause, it is identified with the
superordinate subject or with an indefinite subject:
 334 Syntactic and semantic functions of subordinate clauses

She writes quickly enough to finish the paper on time, [‘for her to
finish the paper on time’]
He was old enough to talk to him seriously, [‘for others to talk to him
seriously’]

And there may be ambiguity as to which identification to make:

She was too young to date. [\ .. to date others’ or ‘for others to date
her’]

When neither subject nor object is expressed in the infinitive clause,

ambiguity is possible with verbs that may be used transitively:

She is friendly enough }to help {^hers). }

NOTE Enough of a ... and too much of a ... may be constructed with gradable nouns (cf
15.37 Note [c]):

He’s /enougk \0f a coward to do that,

t too much J

Cf also: He was fool enough to go out without a coat.

So . .. (that) and such . . . (that)

15.42 The correlatives so ... (that) and such ... (that) introduce constructions
that combine the notion of sufficiency or excess with that of result. So is an
adverb premodifying an adjective or adverb, and such is a predeterminer.
Paraphrase pairs may be obtained between these constructions when the
that-clause is negative and constructions with too and an infinitive clause:

It’s so good a movie that we mustn’t miss it.

— It’s too good a movie to miss.
It was such a pleasant day that I didn’t want to go to school.
~It was too pleasant a day to go to school.

There may be also similar paraphrases with constructions with enough

when the that-clause is positive:

It flies so fast that it can beat the speed record.

~It flies fast enough to beat the speed record.
I had such a bad headache that I needed two aspirins.
~I had a bad enough headache to need two aspirins.

When so is used alone with a verb and such is used with a noun that is
not premodified, they express a high degree and the construction conveys
the notion of result:

I so enjoyed it that I’m determined to go again. [‘I so much enjoyed

it . . .’]
 Comparative clauses 335

There was such a crowd that we couldn’t see a thing. [‘There was such
a large crowd . . .’]

NOTE [a] The subordinator that may be omitted from the rte-clause. An informal
variant substitutes intensifier that for so and omits the subordinator that:

I was 'that tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

[b] The somewhat formal construction sojsuch ... as with the infinitive is
sometimes used in place of sojsuch with a that-clause:

His temper was so violent as to make even his closest companions fear him.
The brilliance of her satires was such as to make even her victims laugh.

Bibliographical note

On nominal clauses in general, see Huddleston (1971, Chs. 4 and 5); Stockwell et
al. (1973, Ch. 8); Vendler (1968). On ^r-clauses in particular, see Hooper (1975).
On adverbial clauses of time in general, see Edgren (1971).
On adverbial clauses of concession, see Aarts (1988); Altenberg (1986).
On clauses of reason, see Altenberg (1984).
On comment clauses, see Lakoff, G. (1974).
On nonfinite and verbless adverbial clauses introduced by a subordinator, see
Backhand (1984).
On adverbial -ing clauses, see Greenbaum (1973).
On comparative clauses, see especially Huddleston (1971, Ch. 6).
 0) Complementation of verbs and adjectives

Introduction

16.1 In this chapter we examine the complementation of verbs and adjectives,

ie the grammatical patterns that follow a verb or adjective and complete
the specification of a meaning relationship which that word implies. We
begin with multi-word verbs.

Multi-word werbs

16.2 The two main categories of multi-word verbs consist of a lexical verb plus
a particle, a neutral designation for the overlapping categories of adverb
and preposition that are used in such combinations (cf\63ff). In phrasal
verbs the particle is an adverb (eg: drink up, find out) and in prepositional
verbs it is a preposition (eg: dispose of, cope with). In addition, there are
phrasal-prepositional verbs with verbs with two particles, an adverb
followed by a preposition (eg: put up with, cf 16.9), and types of multi¬
verbs that do not consist of lexical verbs followed simply by particles (eg:
cut short, put paid to), cf 16.10.
There is not a sharp boundary between multi-word verbs and free
combinations, where the parts have distinct meanings. Rather, there is a
gradience ranging from idiomatic and syntactically cohesive combi¬
nations to combinations that are loosely connected.

Intransitive phrasal verbs

16.3 One common type of multi-word verb is the intransitive phrasal verb
consisting of a verb plus an adverb particle, as exemplified in:

The plane has just touched down.

He is playing around.
I hope you’ll get by.
How are you getting on!
The plane has now taken off.
Did he catch onl
The prisoner finally broke down.
She turned up unexpectedly.
When will they give ini
 Multi-word verbs 337

The tank blew up.

One of my papers has gone astray.
The two girls have fallen out. [= ‘quarrelled’]

In phrasal verbs like give in [‘surrender’] or blow up [‘explode’], we

cannot predict the meaning of the idiomatic combination from the
meaning of verb and particle in isolation. But in free combinations (eg:
walk past) we can do so. Furthermore, the semantic separability of the
two parts is shown by possible substitutions: for walk in walk past, for
example, we can substitute run, trot, swim, fly, etc; and for past we can
substitute by, in, through, over, etc. In other cases the adverb in a free
combination has an intensifying force (eg: chatter away) or an aspectual
force (eg: drink up).
There are also syntactic signs of cohesion. Normally the particle of a
phrasal verb cannot be separated from the lexical verb (*She turned right
up), but this separation is possible in free combinations (Go straight on).
Similarly, the adverb can be fronted in free combinations (Out came the
sum. Up you come), but not in phrasal verbs (*Up blew the tank; *Out he
passed [‘fainted’]).

Transitive phrasal verbs

16.4 Many phrasal verbs may take a direct object, and are therefore transitive:

We will set up a new unit.

Shall I put away the dishes?
Find out if they are coming.
She’s bringing up two children.
Someone turned on the light.
They have called off the strike.
He can’t live down his past.
I can’t make out what he means.
We pushed home our advantage.
She looked up her friends.
I’ve handed in my resignation.
They may have blown up the bridge.

Some combinations, such as give in and blow up, can be either intransitive
or transitive. In some cases, eg give in, there is a substantial difference in
meaning, whereas in others, eg blow up, there is not.
As with free combinations of the same pattern, the particle can
generally either precede or follow the direct object:

They turned on the light. ~ They turned the light on.

But when the object is a personal pronoun, the particle must usually
follow the object:

*They turned on it. ~ They turned it on.

 338 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

The particle tends to precede the object if the object is long, or if it is

intended that the object should receive end-focus (c/18.2, 18.5).
Like intransitive phrasal verbs, transitive phrasal verbs are dis¬
tinguished semantically from free combinations of verb and adverb.
Contrast the phrasal verb take in in She took in her parents [‘deceived’]
with the free combination in She took in the box [‘brought inside’], where
the two parts preserve their separate meanings.
If the transitive phrasal verb is fully idiomatic, the particle cannot
normally be separated from the lexical verb by anything except the object,
not even by an intensifier such as right. Hence, bring up is a free
combination in She brought the girls right up [‘led them up’ (the stairs,
etc)], since the phrasal verb bring up [‘rear’] does not allow the
interruption.

NOTE [a] Some transitive phrasal verbs do not easily allow the particle to come after the
object, unless the object is a pronoun; eg: IThey had given hope up; IThey laid their
arms down. Conversely, some do not easily allow it to come before the object; for
example, only final position is possible in the idiomatic hyperbolic expressions /
was crying my eyes out; I was sobbing my heart out.
[b] Some phrasal verbs are semi-idiomatic and allow a limited number of
substitutions, eg for Let’s turn on the light:

on.
out.
off.
down,
up.

Similarly, it is possible to insert an intensifier of the particle for at least some of

these phrasal verbs (eg: They turned the music right up).

Type 1 prepositional verbs

16.5 A type I prepositional verb consists of a lexical verb followed by a

preposition with which it is semantically and/or syntactically associated:

Look at these pictures.

I don’t care for Jane’s parties.
We must go into the problem.
Can you cope with the work?
I approve of their action.
His eyes lighted upon the jewel.

The noun phrase following the preposition is a prepositional object, a

term that suggests an analogy with the term direct object. Compare the
‘transitive’ relationship of look at and these pictures in Look at these
pictures with that of examine and these pictures in Examine these pictures.
Similarly, the passive is frequently possible for prepositional verbs, as in:

The picture was looked at by many people.

 Multi-word verbs 339

On the other hand, we can easily insert an adverbial between the lexical
verb and the preposition:

Many people looked disdainfully at the picture.

By contrast, insertion between verb and direct object is usually avoided

unless the direct object is long:

?*Many people examined disdainfully the picture.

We can also isolate the whole prepositional phrase from the verb in other
ways, eg:

On whom did he call? On his mother.

He called on his mother and on his sister.
He called on his mother more often than on his sister.

There are therefore two complementary analyses of a sentence like She

looked after [‘tended’] her son:

analysis 1: S

She looked after her son

ANALYSIS 2: S O

The distinction between prepositional verbs and free combinations

16.6 One criterion for distinguishing prepositional verbs (eg: We called on the
dean) from free combinations of verb plus preposition (eg: We called after
lunch) is the possibility of making the prepositional object the subject of a
corresponding passive clause. In this prepositional passive the prep¬
osition is stranded in its post-verbal position. Contrast:

The dean was called on. * Lunch was called after.

Here are some examples of the prepositional passive:

Though something very different from ordinary forest management

is called for, the trees in the parks do need the forester’s skilled
consideration.
This matter will have to be dealt with immediately.
Other possibilities are talked of by many of our colleagues.
If a woman with a university degree rejects a career for marriage, her
education is not to be thought of as thrown away unless we count
the family arena of no importance.

A second criterion is that w/z-questions eliciting the prepositional object

are formed with the pronouns who(m) and what (as with direct objects)
rather than with adverbial questions:

John called on her. ~ Who(m) did John call on?

John looked for it. ~ What did John look for?
 340 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

Contrast the free combinations in:

John called from the office. ~ Where did John call from?
John called after lunch. ~ When did John call?

NOTE [a] The passive is acceptable in some instances where the preposition introduces a
prepositional phrase of place and is not in idiomatic combination with the verb.
For example:

They must have played on this field last week.

~This field must have been played on last week.
Visitors are not to sit on these Louis XV chairs.
~ These Louis XV chairs are not to be sat on.
Primitive men once lived in these caves.
~These caves were once lived in by primitive men.

The passive is possible in these instances because the prepositional complement is

being treated as an affected participant in the clause (c/10.9/).
[b] Some combinations allow both types of w/z-questions: She died of pneumonia
could be an answer either to How did she die? or (more usually) What did she die of?

The distinction between prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs

16.7 Type I prepositional verbs resemble transitive phrasal verbs superficially,
but the differences are both syntactic and phonological. The contrast is
exemplified for the prepositional verb call on (‘visit’) and the phrasal verb
call up (‘summon’).
(a) The particle of a prepositional verb must precede the prepositional
object (unless the particle is stranded), but the particle of a phrasal
verb can generally precede or follow the direct object:

She called on her friends. She called up her friends.

~ *She calledhcr friends on. ~ She called her friends up.

(b) When the object is a personal pronoun, the pronoun follows the
particle of a prepositional verb but precedes the particle of a phrasal
verb:

She called on them . She called them up.

~ *She called them on. ~ *She called up them.

(c) An adverb (functioning as adjunct) can often be inserted between

verb and particle in prepositional verbs, but not in phrasal verbs:

She called angrily on her friends.

~*She called angrily up her friends.

(d) The particle of a phrasal verb cannot precede a relative pronoun or

w/z-interrogative:

the friends on whom she called

~ On which friends did she call ?
 Multi-word verbs 341

*the friends up whom she called.

~*Up which friends did she calll

(e) The particle of a phrasal verb is normally stressed, and in final

position normally bears the nuclear tone, whereas the particle of a
prepositional verb is normally unstressed and has the Tail’ of the
nuclear tone that falls on the lexical verb:

Which friends did she call on?

— Which friends did she call up?

Type BB prepositional verbs

16.8 Type II prepositional verbs are ditransitive verbs. They are followed by
two noun phrases, normally separated by the preposition: the second
noun phrase is the prepositional object:

He deprived the peasants of their land.

They plied the young man with food.
Please confine your remarks to the matter under discussion.
This clothing will protect you from the worst weather.
Jenny thanked us for the present.
May I remind you of our agreement?
They have provided the child with a good education.

The direct object becomes the subject in the corresponding passive clause:

The gang robbed her of her necklace.

~She was robbed of her necklace (by the gang).

NOTE There are two minor subtypes in which the direct object is part of the idiomatic
combination:
(1) The first is exemplified by make a mess of make allowance for, take care of
pay attention to, take advantage of It allows a second less acceptable passive in
which the prepositional object becomes subject:

A (terrible) mess has been made of the house.

~(?) The house has been made a (terrible) mess of

(2) The second is exemplified by catch sight of keep pace with, give way to, lose
touch with, cross swords with, keep tabs on, give rise to. Only the prepositional
object can become the passive subject, though it is considered somewhat clumsy:

The lifeboat was suddenly caught sight of

Phrasal-prepositional werbs

16.9 phrasal-prepositional verbs have in addition to the lexical verb, both

an adverb and a preposition as particles. Type I phrasal-prepositional
verbs have only a prepositional object:

We are all looking forward to your party on Saturday.

He had to put up with a lot of teasing at school.
 342 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

Why don’t you look in on Mrs Johnson on your way back?

He thinks he can get away with everything.

The prepositional passive is possible, though liable to sound cumbersome.

These examples, however, are normal and acceptable:

These tantrums could not be put up with any longer, [‘tolerated’]

The death penalty has been recently done away with, [‘abolished’]
Such problems must be squarely faced up to. [‘confronted’]
They were looked down on by their neighbours, [‘despised’]

Type II phrasal-prepositional verbs are ditransitive verbs (cf 16.32).

They require two objects, the second of which is the prepositional object:

Don’t take it out on me! [‘vent your anger’]

The manager fobbed me off with a lame excuse. <esp BrE)
We put our success down to hard work, [‘attribute to’]
Til let you in on a secret.

Only the active direct object can be made passive subject with these:

Our success can be put down to hard work.

For both types, the w/z-question eliciting the prepositional object is

formed with the pronouns who(m) and what (cf 16.6):

She looked in on Mrs Johnson on our way back.

~ (Who(m)) did she look in on?
They put their success down to hard work.
~ What did they put their success down to?

Other multi-word verb constructions

16.10 In addition to the types of multi-word verbs discussed in 16.3-9, some

other idiomatic verb constructions may be noted:
(a) VERB-ADJECTIVE COMBINATIONS
These are similar to phrasal verbs. Compare:

Meg put the cloth straight. Meg put the cat out.

The constructions may be copular, eg: break even, plead guilty, lie low. Or
they may be complex-transitive with a direct object following the verb (or
the adjective if the object is long) eg: cut (their trip) short, work (the nail)
loose, rub (herself) dry (cf 16.25 Note [c]). Sometimes the idiom allows
additional elements, such as a modifier of the adjective (cut as short as
possible), an infinitive (play hard to get), or a preposition (ride roughshod
over).
(b) VERB-VERB COMBINATIONS
In these idiomatic constructions the second verb is nonfinite, and may be
either an infinitive:

make do with, make (N) do, let (N) go, let (N) be
 Verb complemenfafion 343

or a participle, with or without a following preposition:

put paid to, get rid of,’ have done with, feave N standing, send N
packing, knock N flying, get going

(c) VERBS WITH TWO PREPOSITIONS

These are a further variant on prepositional verbs:

It developed from a small club into a mass organization in three

years.

Similarly: struggle with N/hr N, compete with N for N, apply to N for N,

talk to N about N. Normally either one or both prepositional phrases can
be omitted.

Verb complementation

intransitive verbs

16.11 Where no complementation occurs, the verb has an intransitive use.

Some verbs are always intransitive:

John has arrived. Your views do not matter.

Others can also be transitive with the same meaning and without a
change in the subject-verb relationship:

He smokes (a pipe). She is reading (a book).

In some cases the intransitive verb acquires a more specific meaning: eg:
John drinks {heavily) [‘drinks alcohol’].
Other intransitive verbs can also be transitive, but the semantic
connection between subject and verb is different:

The car stopped. She stopped the car.

NOTE Intransitive verbs include intransitive phrasal verbs, eg: fall out [‘quarrel’], cf 16.3.

Copular verbs

Subject complement
16.12 A verb has copular complementation when it is followed by a subject
complement or a predication adjunct (cf 8.14) and when this element
cannot be dropped without changing the meaning of the verb. Such verbs
are copular (or linking) verbs, the most common of which is the copula
be.
Copular verbs fall into two main classes, according to whether the
subject complement has the role of current attribute or resulting attribute
(cf 10.9):
 344 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

current: The girl seemed very restless.

resulting: The girl became very restless.

The most common copular verbs are listed below. Those that are used
only with adjective phrases are followed by ‘[A]’:

current copulas: appear, be, feel, look, seem, smell [A], sound,
taste [A]
resulting copulas: become, ge/ [A], go [A], grow [A], prove, Iwr/?

See also 10.7 Note [a].

NOTE [a] After certain copulas {appear, feel, look, seem, sound), both AmE and BrE
prefer an infinitive construction with to be rather than simply a noun phrase:

It appears the only solution. It appears to be the only solution.

There is also a tendency with such copulas, especially in informal AmE, to prefer a
construction in which the verb is followed by like: It seems like the only solution.
[b] Some copulas are severely restricted as to the words that may occur in their
complement. The restriction may be to certain adjectives or to a semantic set of
words. Here are some examples, with typical adjective complements: loom (large),
fall (silent), plead (innocent), rest (assured), run (wild), spring (open). See also
10.7 Note [b].

Complementation by adverbials

16.13 The principal copula that allows an adverbial as complementation is be.

The adverbials are mainly space adjuncts (eg: The kitchen is downstairs)
but time adjuncts are common with an eventive subject (eg: The party will
be at nine) and other types of adjunct are possible too (eg: She is in good
health). Two other copula verbs that occur with space adjuncts (or
adjuncts metaphorically related to these) are get (eg: How did you get
here?) and keep (eg: They kept out of trouble).
With intransitive verbs such as live, come, go, lie, remain, stand, and
stay, the adverbial is not always clearly obligatory. But the positional or
directional meaning of these verbs is completed by the adverbials:

My aunt lives in Toronto.

They are staying nearby.
Come over here.

NOTE [a] The verbs seem, appear, look, sound, feel, smell, and taste may be complemented
by an adverbial clause beginning as if or as though: It seems as if the weather is
improving.
[b] Behave is complemented by a manner adverbial (He behaved badly) and last and
take by a duration adverbial (The course lasted (for) three months).

i/lonotramsitsve verbs

16.14 Monotransitive verbs require a direct object, which may be a noun phrase,
a finite clause, or a nonfinite clause. We include in this category, for our
 Verb complementation 345

present purposes, type I prepositional verbs such as look at (cf 16.5) and
type I phrasal-prepositional verbs such as put up with (cf 16.9).

Noun phrase as direct object

16.15 Direct objects are typically noun phrases that may become the subject of a
corresponding passive clause:

Everybody understood the problem.

~ The problem was understood (by everyone).

Some common examples of the numerous monotransitive verbs that may

be used in the passive: believe, bring, call, close, do, enjoy, feel, find, get,
hear, help, keep, know, lose, love, make, need, receive, remember, see, take,
use, win.
A few stative monotransitive verbs (some in particular senses) normally
do not allow the passive. These middle verbs include have, fit, suit,
resemble, equal, mean (‘Oculist' means ‘eye doctor j, contain, hold (The
hall holds over three hundred people), comprise, lack.

They have a large house. large house is had (by them).

NOTE There are also monotransitive phrasal verbs, eg: bring about, put off (cf 16.4).
These take a direct object and can be used in the passive.

Noun phrase as prepositional object

16.16 The prepositional object of type I prepositional verbs (cf 16.5) and type I
phrasal-prepositional verbs (cf 16.9) resembles the direct object in
accepting the passive (though often with some awkwardness in style) and
in being elicited by a pronoun in questions:

The management paid for his air fares.

~ His air fares were paid for by the management.
~ What did the management pay for?
Your sister has checked up on me.
~ / have been checked up on by your sister.
~ Who(m) has your sister cheeked up on?

NOTE Another indication of the closeness of a prepositional object to a direct object is

that when a prepositional verb is followed by a /te-clause or a m-infinitive clause,
the preposition disappears and the prepositional object merges with the direct
object of the monotransitive pattern:

( on the meeting.
They agreed S (that) they would meet.
to meet each other.

Yet the preposition that is omitted before a that-clause can reappear in the
corresponding passive: That they should meet was agreed (on). This is so even in
extraposition (cf 18.23), where the preposition immediately follows the passive
verb phrase:

It was agreed (on) that they should meet.

 346 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

Complementation by a finite clause

J/mt-dause as object
16.17 The conjunction that in //za/-clauses functioning as object is optional, as in
I hope (that) he arrives soon; but when the clause is made the passive
subject, the conjunction is obligatory (cf 15.3). The normal passive
analogue has it and extraposition, that being again to some extent
optional:

Everybody hoped (that) she would sing.

~That she would sing was hoped by everybody, (stilted)
~ It was hoped by everybody (that) she would sing.

We distinguish four categories of verbs that are complemented by that-

clauses: factual, suasive, emotive, and hypothesis. Most verbs belong
to the first two categories. The four categories are distinguished
semantically, but also by the types of verbs that appear in the //m/-clauses.

Factual verbs
16.18 factual verbs are followed by a that-clause with an indicative verb:

They agreed that she was misled.

There are two subtypes of factual verbs, public verbs consist of speech act
verbs introducing indirect statements; private verbs express intellectual
states and intellectual acts that are not observable.
Examples of public factual verbs: admit, agree, announce, argue, bet,
claim, complain, confess, declare, deny, explain, guarantee, insist, mention,
object, predict, promise, reply, report, say, state, suggest, swear, warn,
write.
Examples of private factual verbs: believe, consider, decide, doubt,
expect, fear, feel, forget, guess, hear, hope, know, notice, presume, realize,
recognize, remember, see, suppose, think, understand.

Suasive verbs
16.19 suasive verbs are followed by a that-clause either with putative should
(preferred in BrE) or with the subjunctive (cf 14.13f). A third possibility, a
that-cl&use with an indicative verb, occurs, though more commonly in
BrE:

rshould leave
People are demanding that he < leave > the company.
^leaves (esp BrE) '

A common alternative to the that-clause for some suasive verbs is an

infinitive clause:

fthe news to be suppressed.

They intended
[that the news (should) be suppressed,
(more formal)
 Verb complementation 347

Examples of suasive verbs: agree, ask, command, decide, demand, insist,

intend, move, order, prefer, propose, recommend, request, suggest, orge.

Emotive and hypothesis verbs

16.20 emotive verbs are followed by a dzor-clause with either the indicative or
putative should:

I regret that she j worries about it.

It surprises me that he Xshould worry about it.

This group of verbs includes annoy, concern, marvel, rejoice, regret,

surprise, wonder, worry.
hypothesis verbs comprise iv/i, suppose (in the imperative), and the
modal idiom would rather or its contraction ’d rather. They are followed
by a dzctf-clause with the hypothetical past or the were-subjunctive.

I wish (that) she ftau^^ us*

lwore here.

Complementation by an extraposed subject */ia*-cIause

16.21 The dzctf-clause in examples like /£ seems fdzay) yow ore mistaken is an
extraposed subject, not an object of the verb. It resembles other that-
clauses in previous sections in that the conjunction is optional and the
clause is obligatory. The verb in the //zor-clause is indicative:

It appears (that) you have lost your temper.

Common verbs in this pattern include seem, appear, and happen, and the
phrasal verbs come about [‘happen’] and mr« owr [‘transpire’].

IT/i-clause as object
16.22 Many of the factual verbs which can take a //^/-clause as object can also
take a wMnterrogative clause (c/15.4).

I don’t bow if we can get there in time.

Have you heard whether she’s coming with us?
I doubt whether the flight has been booked.

The use of the w/z-interrogative clause (which generally implies lack of

knowledge on the part of the speaker) is particularly common where the
superordinate clause is interrogative or negative. But verbs that them¬
selves express uncertainty, such as ask and doubt, occur without this
nonassertive constraint.
Examples of verbs taking the w/z-interrogative clause: ask, care, decide,
depend, doubt, explain, forget, hear, fcnow, mzW, notice, prove, realize,
remember, soy, see, tell, think; wonder.

NOTE The list includes prepositional verbs where the preposition is optionally omitted
before a w/z-clause:
 348 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

I inquired (about) whether the tickets were ready.

I haven’t decided (on) which flight I will take.

Nonfinite clauses as direct object

16.23 We distinguish five types of nonfinite clauses that function as direct object
in monotransitive complementation:
(1) w/z-infinitive clause:

The Curies discovered how to isolate radioactive elements.

(2) subjectless infinitive clause:

Ruth prefers to go by bus.

(3) subjectless -ing participle clause:

They like talking about their work.

(4) to-infinitive clause with subject:

Charles wants you to stand for election.

(5) -ing participle clause with subject (cf 15.10):

I hate them(their gossiping about our colleagues.

When the nonfinite clause has no subject - as in (1), (2), and (3) - its
implied subject is usually identical with that of the superordinate clause.
The status of these clauses as direct object is confirmed when they are
replaced by a coreferential pronoun it or that; for the example sentence in
(1): The Curies discovered that. Another indication of their status is that
they can be made the focus of a pseudo-cleft sentence (cf 18.20): What
Ruth prefers is to go by bus. The passive is usually not admissible (but cf:
How to isolate radioactive elements was discovered by the Curies).
Many monotransitive verbs take more than one type of nonfinite
complementation. Common verbs are listed below for the five types:
(1) decide, discuss, explain, forget, know, learn, remember, say, see, tell,
think.
(2) ask, dislike, forget, hate, help, hope, learn, like, love, need, offer,
prefer, promise, refuse, remember, try, want, wish.
(3) and (5) (cant) bear, dislike, enjoy, forget, hate, (cant) help, like,
love, (not) mind, miss, need, prefer, remember, (cant) stand, start, stop.
(4) (cant) bear, dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish.
Where both infinitive clauses - (2) and (4) - and participle clauses - (3)
and (5) - are admitted, several factors influence the choice. The infinitive is
biased towards potentiality and is therefore favoured in hypothetical and
nonfactual contexts (Wouldyou like to see my stamp collection?), whereas
the participle is favoured in factual contexts (Brian loathed living in the
country). For the three retrospective verbs forget, remember, and regret
this potentiality/performance distinction is extended into the past:
 Verb complementation 349

I remembered to fill out the form. [‘I remembered that I was to fill out
the form and then did so.’]
I remembered filling out the form. [‘I remembered that I had filled
out the form.’]

NOTE [a] Monotransitive prepositional verbs are found in all five types. The preposition
is optionally omitted in (1) and obligatorily omitted in (2), cf 9.1:

(1) I couldn’t decide (on) which bicycle to buy.

(2) She decided to buy a bicycle.
(3) She decided on buying a bicycle.
(4) We longed for the lesson to end.
(5) Don’t count on their helping you.

Phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs are found with types (3) and (5):

(3) She {gofaZund to } driving a bicycle'

(5) 1 {Talk forward to }thdr Sedng US’

[h] For the verbs deserve, need, and require in type (3), the implied object of the
participle is identical with the subject of the superordinate clause: Your shoes need
mending (cf Your shoes need to be mended).

Complex-transitive verbs

16.24 In complex-transitive complementation, the two elements following the

complex-transitive verb have a subject-predicate relationship:

She considered her mother a sensible woman. [1]

She considered her mother to be a sensible woman. [2]

The relationship between the elements her mother and a sensible woman in
[1] and [2] is equivalent to the same elements in the subordinate finite
clause in [3]:

She considered that her mother was a sensible woman. [3]

Yet the passive suggests that the two elements in [ 1 ] and [2] are not a single
constituent, since the first element - as direct object - is separated from the
second element and becomes the passive subject:

Her mother was considered (by her) (to be) a sensible woman.

Direct object and object complement

16.25 In the clausal pattern SVOC (cf 10.1), the object complement is an
adjective phrase or a noun phrase. The attribute role of the object
complement may be current, as in [1] and [2], or resulting, as in [3] and
[4] (c/10.9 Note [a]):
 350 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

The secretary left all the letters unopened. [1]

I have often wished myself a millionaire. [2]
The long walk made us all hungry. [3]
The committee has elected you its chairman. [4]

The direct object can be made the passive subject:

All the letters were left unopened (by the secretary). [la]

Many verbs admit both adjective phrases and noun phrases as object
complements. The most common verbs for this construction are listed
below. Those used only with adjective phrases are followed by ‘[A]’, and
those used only with noun phrases are followed by ‘[N]’:

appoint [N], believe, call, choose [N], consider, declare, elect [N],find,
get [A], like [A], make, name [N], prefer [A], think, want [A],

NOTE [a] For some verbs, the object complement is optional; eg: elect in The committee
has elected you (its chairman).
[b] Prepositional verbs, mainly with the preposition as, take a prepositional object
complement; eg: They described her as a genius; He took me for a fool. Sometimes
the preposition is optional; eg: They elected me (as) their leader. Common
examples of these prepositional verbs follow, with those taking an optional
preposition listed first: choose (as), consider (as), elect (as) [N], make (into) [N];
accept as, define as, intend as [N], mistake for, regard as, see as, take as I for, treat as,
use as.
[c] The SVOC pattern includes a number of verb-adjective collocations; for
example: boil (an egg) hard, buy [N] cheap, freeze [N] hard, paint [N] red/blue ...,
knock (someone) senseless. The adjectives open, loose, free, and clean are
particularly common: push [N] open, shake [N] loose, set [N]free, wipe [N] clean.
[d] The object is generally postposed by extraposition if it is a that-clause, and an
anticipatory it then precedes the object complement:

I think it very odd that nobody is in.

The collocations make sure and make certain are followed by an object that-clause
without anticipatory it:

Please make sure that you enclose your birth certificate.

Direct object and adjunct

16.26 In the SVOA pattern (cf 10.1), the complex-transitive verb is comple¬
mented by a direct object followed by a predication adjunct. The adjuncts
are characteristically prepositional phrases of direction or metaphorical
extensions of the notion of direction:

I slipped the key into the lock.

Take your hands out of your pockets.
May I'see you to your seat ? [‘escort you . . .’]
They talked me into it. [‘persuaded me . . .’]
He stood my argument on its head.
 Verb complementation 351

Space position adjuncts also occur in this construction:

Always keep your eyes on the road when driving.

The attackers caught us off our guard.

The passive of this construction is exemplified for this last sentence:

We were caught olf our guard (by the attackers).

Adjuncts of other semantic types are less common, but they include a
manner adjunct with treat {Her parents treated her badly).

Direct object and to-infinitive clause

16.27 Some of the verbs taking a direct object and to-infinitive clause in
complex-transitive complementation correspond to the factual verbs that
take a ^/-clause with an indicative verb (cf 16.18):

The police reported the traffic to be heavy, (formal)

= The police reported that the traffic was heavy.
John believed the stranger to be a policeman, (formal)
= John believed that the stranger was a policeman.

In such cases, the infinitive clause normally contains a verb used statively,
especially be. The finite clause is preferred in normal usage, but the
infinitive clause provides a convenient passive form:

The traffic was reported to be heavy.

Common factual verbs: believe, consider, expect, feel, find, know, suppose.
Nonfactual verbs include verbs of intention, causation, modality, and
purpose:

They intended Maria to sing an aria.

The meeting elected her to be the next treasurer.
My contract allows me to take one month’s leave.
Our teachers encouraged us to think for ourselves.

Common nonfactual verbs: allow, appoint, cause, compel, condemn, dare,

get, help, intend, mean, permit, require.

NOTE [a] Some verbs in this construction occur only in the passive: rumour, say, see.

The field marshal was said to be planning a new strategy.

Others occur chiefly in the passive: repute, think. The verb get is not found in the
passive.
[b] Examples of multi-word verbs in this pattern are the prepositional verbs count
on, depend on, rely on; the phrasal verb make out; and the phrasal-prepositional
verb keep on at.

Direct object and bare infinitive clause

16.28 Two small groups of verbs take this pattern of complex-transitive
complementation: three causative verbs {have, let, make) and some
 352 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

perceptual verbs of seeing and hearing (feel, hear, notice, observe,

overhear, see, watch). In addition, help and <esp BrE) know may occur
with the bare infinitive or the to-infinitive.

They had me repeat the message.

You shouldn’t let your family interfere with our plans.
We must make the public take notice of us.
Did you notice anyone leave the housel
The crowd saw Gray score two goals.
Sarah helped us (to) edit the script.
I have known John (to) give better speeches than that. <esp BrE)

The passive normally requires a to-infinitive:

John must be made to take notice of us.

NOTE Certain verbs in this pattern do not occur in the passive: feel, have, let, watch.
There is an apparent passive in let fall and let go ( They were let go/fall), but these
are fixed expressions. Only let has a passive of the infinitive clause (They let
themselves be led away). Corresponding passives of the infinitive clause with verbs
of perception require a copula, usually being (The crowd watched two goals being
scored), cf 16.29; see also admits a passive construction formed with the -ed
participle without be (The crowd saw two goals scored, cf 16.30), which is the only
passive if the verb is have (They had the message repeated).

Direct object and -ing participle clause

16.29 Three small groups of verbs take this type of complex-transitive
complementation: perceptual verbs, many of which also occur with the
bare infinitive, cf 16.28 (feel, hear, notice, observe, overhear, perceive, see,
smell, spot, spy, watch), verbs of encounter (catch, discover, find, leave),
and the two causative verbs get and have. See also 4.35.
This complementation pattern differs from the monotransitive pattern
(5) in 16.23 in that the noun phrase following the superordinate verb
cannot take the genitive case (cf 15.10):

I saw him lying on the beach. *1 saw his lying on the beach.

The passive with this pattern is regular:

We could hear the rain splashing on the roof

~ The rain could be heard splashing on the roof.
A teacher caught them smoking in the playground.
~They were caught smoking in the playground (by a teacher).

Direct object and -ed participle clause

16.30 Three small groups of verbs occur with this type of complex-transitive
complementation: perceptual verbs (see, hear, feel, watch), volitional
verbs (like, need\ want), and the two causative verbs get and have:
 Verb complementation 353

Someone must have seen the car stolen.

I want this watch repaired immediately.
She had the car cleaned.

For some verbs there are corresponding constructions with an infinitive

copular verb, generally be: I want this watch to be repaired immediately.
Since the participle clause is passive, the superordinate clause is not
normally in the passive: IThe car must have been seen stolen.

DStransftive verbs

Noun phrases as both indirect and direct object

16.31 Ditransitive complementation in its basic form involves two object noun
phrases: an indirect object, which is normally animate and positioned
first, and a direct object, which is normally inanimate:

He gave the girl a doll

s V o1 od

Most ditransitive verbs can also be monotransitive. The indirect object

can often be omitted: She may give (us) a large donation. With a few verbs
(eg: ask, pay, teach, tell, show) either object can be omitted:

He taught us physics.
— He taught us.
— He taught physics.

Some ditransitive verbs have two passive analogues, which we distinguish

as ‘first’ and ‘second’:

The girl was given a doll. [first passive]

A doll was given the girl. [second passive]

Of these two, the first passive, in which the indirect object becomes
subject, is the more common. The prepositional paraphrase is more usual,
as an alternative, than the second passive: A doll was given to the girl We
list ditransitive verbs in 16.32 together with their prepositional
paraphrases.

Object and prepositional object

16.32 There are numerous ditransitive verbs that take a prepositional object as
the second object (cf 16.8):

We addressed our remarks to the children. [1]

We reminded him of the agreement. [2]

Ditransitive verbs with prepositional objects normally have only the first
passive:

Our remarks were addressed to the children. [la]

He was reminded of the agreement. [2a]
 354 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

Here are examples of ditransitive prepositional verbs:

accuse of introduce to
advise about persuade of
charge with prevent from
compare with protect from
congratulate on punish for
deprive of sentence to
explain to suspect of
inform of thank for
interest in treat to

Some verbs allow more than one preposition. The different possibilities
provide a means of achieving different end-focus (c/18.5):

Sidney provided Justin with a Danish apple pastry.

— Sidney provided a Danish apple pastry for Justin.

Most ditransitive verbs that take two noun phrases as objects can also
be paraphrased with a prepositional object equivalent to the indirect
object:

Robert read me a chapter.

— Robert read a chapter to me.
I gave Justin some of my shirts.
— I gave some of my shirts to Justin.

We list some common ditransitive verbs that allow both possibilities.

Those in list (1) take the preposition to and those in list (2) take the
preposition for.
(1) bring, deny, give, hand, lend, offer, owe, promise, read, send, s/zow,
teac/z, //zrcw
(2) find, make, order, save, spare

NOTE [a] A few ditransitive prepositional verbs (eg: serve, tell) take one of two
prepositions. In one the prepositional object is equivalent to the indirect object, in
the other to the direct object:

Doris told David her version of the events.

— Doris told her version of the events to David.
— Doris told David about her version of the events.

A few other verbs (eg: envy, excuse, forgive) have a prepositional object
(introduced by for) that is equivalent to the direct object:

Matthew envied me my video-recorder.

— Matthew envied me for my video-recorder.

M Ash takes the preposition of to introduce a prepositional object that is

equivalent to the indirect object:

Robert asked Benjamin a favour.

— Robert asked a favour of Benjamin.
 Verb complementation 355

[c] A few ditransitive verbs do not have prepositional paraphrases: allow, charge,
fine, refuse.
[d] See 16.8 Note for idiomatic combinations with prepositional verbs such as
make a mess of and 16.9 for ditransitive phrasal-prepositional verbs.

Indirect object and that-clmse object

16.33 Some ditransitive verbs take as direct object a that-clmse:

Natalie convinced Derek (that) she was right. [1]

Only the first passive is acceptable:

Derek was convinced (by Natalie) (that) she was right. [la]

With some verbs, including convince, the indirect object cannot be

omitted.
If the that-clmse introduces an indirect statement, it contains an
indicative verb:

Ava told Jack that dinner was ready.

If it introduces an indirect directive (cf 14.20), there are several options (cf
16.19): the verb may be indicative or subjunctive, and often contains
putative should or another modal auxiliary:

A dozen students petitioned the college chef that he

provides
provide
j>them with vegetarian meals. <formal>
should provide
might provide

The indirect directive construction is rare and formal in comparison with

the equivalent infinitive construction (cf 16.36): A dozen students
petitioned the college chef to provide them with vegetarian meals.
We list common verbs that take an indirect object and (a) a that-clmse
object as indirect statement: advise, bet, convince, inform, persuade,
promise, remind, show, teach, tell, warn, write; (b) a that-clmse as indirect
directive: ask, beg, command', instruct, order, persuade, tell.

Prepositional object and that-clmse object

16.34 Some ditransitive prepositional verbs take a prepositional object and a
that-clause:

Estelle mentioned (to me) that her daughter was getting married.
Philip recommended (to me) that I buy Harrods malt whisky.

As shown by the parentheses, the prepositional phrase is optional. Some

of the ditransitive verbs listed in 16.33 can be optionally followed by a
preposition:

Jonathan wrote (to) me that he was going to a summer camp this

year.
 356 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

Unlike the verbs in 16.33, ditransitive prepositional verbs allow the

//wtf-clause to become subject of a corresponding passive clause, more
acceptably with extraposition:

That David was innocent has been proved by Jonathan.

~It has been proved (by Jonathan) that David was innocent.

We list examples where (a) the that-clause is an indirect statement, and

(b) it is an indirect directive: (a) admit, announce, complain, confess,
explain, mention, point out, prove, remark, report, say, wr/te (Taj ; (b) ask
(of), propose, recommend, suggest.

Indirect object and wh-clause object

16.35 The second object may be a finite wh-clause:

Martin asked me what time the meeting would end.

Wendy didn’t tell me whether she had phoned earlier.

Besides ask and tell, the verbs used in this construction are those listed in
group (a) in 16.33. A preposition, usually optional, may precede the
wh-clause:

Would you remind me {about) how we start the engine?

Some of the verbs also take a w/z-infinitive clause as second object:

She advised us what to wear for the party.

Prepositional verbs also appear in this pattern:

Could you please suggest to me which museums to visit?

Indirect object and ^-Infinitive clause object

16.36 This pattern is used with verbs that introduce indirect directives. Only the
indirect object can be made subject of the corresponding passive
construction:

I persuaded Mark to see a doctor. [1]

Mark was persuaded to see a doctor. [la]

The subject of the superordinate clause (/in [1]) refers to the speaker of a
speech act, and the indirect object refers to the addressee {Mark in [1]).
The implied subject of the infinitive clause is generally identified with the
indirect object (T persuaded Mark that he should see a doctor’).
Here is a list of common verbs used in this pattern: advise, ask, beg,
command, entreat, forbid, implore, instruct, invite, order, persuade, remind,
request, recommend, teach, tell, urge.

NOTE [a] With some superordinate verbs, the infinitive clause may be replaced in rather
formal style by a r/zar-clause containing a modal or a subjunctive:

I persuaded Mark that he should see a doctor. [lb]

 Verb complementation 357

[b] The verb promise is exceptional in that the implied subject of the infinitive
clause is the superordinate subject: I promised Howard to take two shirts for his
father (T promised Howard that I would take two shirts for his father’).

infinitival complementation: monotransitive, ditransitive,

complex-transitive

We can now distinguish three superficially identical structures that

conform to the pattern N, V N2 to V N3, where N is a noun phrase and V
is a verb phrase. The three structures display three types of complemen¬
tation of the first verb phrase: monotransitive (cf 16.23), ditransitive (cf
16.36), and complex-transitive {cf 16.27).

MONOTRANSITIVE
o
The governors like all parents to visit the school. [1]

DITRANSITIVE

Oi Oh

I persuaded Justin to write an essay. [2]

N2 n3

COMPLEX-TRANSITIVE

O C0

They expected Robert to win the race. [3]

N2 n3

In monotransitive complementation, N2 is within the infinitive clause

and functions as its subject. Accordingly, we find the following features
associated with this type of complementation:
(a) The infinitive clause, including N2, can be replaced by a pronoun:

The governors like all parents to visit the school, and the teachers like
that too.

(b) When preceded by for, the infinitive clause, including N2, can easily
be made the focus of a pseudo-cleft construction:

What the governors like is for all parents to visit the school.

(c) The object of the infinitive clause can be made into its subject if the
clause is turned into the passive:
358 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

The governors like the school to be visited by all parents.

(d) In a reduced construction, infinitival to is obligatorily retained:

The governors like them to.

The governors like them and We like them to are not synonymous.

(e) Existential there can function as subject of the infinitive clause:

We like there to be a full attendance.

In ditransitive complementation, none of the features (a)-(e) apply,

since N2 functions as indirect object within the superordinate clause and is
not a constituent of the infinitive clause:

*1 persuaded that. [2a]

*What I persuaded was for Justin to write an essay. [2b]
*1 persuaded the essay to be written by Justin. [2c]

The infinitive direct object clause can be omitted:

I persuaded Justin. [2d]

On the other hand, the indirect object can be made passive subject of the
superordinate clause:

Justin was persuaded to write an essay. [2e]

Contrast, the unacceptability of:

*All parents were liked to visit the school.

A complex-transitive verb such as expect in They expected Robert to win

the prize displays the same features as a monotransitive verb such as like,
except that (like ditransitive persuade) N2 is an object and can become the
passive subject of the superordinate clause:

Robert was expected to win the prize. [3a]

With expect, though not with all complex-transitive verbs, there are two
other possible passive constructions (the first applicable also to mono-
transitive complementation):

They expected the prize to be won by Robert. [3b]

The prize was expected to be won by Robert. [3c]

In [3c] there are passives in both the superordinate clause and the infinitive
clause.
 Adjective complementation 359

Adjective complementation

Adjective complementation by a prepositional phrase

1638 Like prepositional verbs, adjectives often form a lexical unit with a
following preposition. The lexical bond is strongest with adjectives for
which, in a given sense, the complementation is obligatory; for example,
averse to, bent on, conscious of \ fond of
Below we give some examples of adjectives listed according to the
prepositions that accompany them. They include participial adjectives (cf
7.5). It is often possible for an adjective to take a choice of prepositions, as
in angry about, angry at, and angry with.

about: happy annoyed, reasonable, worried

at: alarmed, clever, good, hopeless
for: grateful, sorry
from: different, distant, distinct, free
of: afraid, fond, full, tired
on/upon: dependent, keen, based, set
to: close, due, grateful, similar, opposed
with: bored, friendly, happy, pleased

Adjective complementation by a finite clause

1639 Like ^/-clauses following a verb (cf \6Alff), r/zaZ-clauses following an

adjective may have an indicative verb, a subjunctive verb, or putative
should (c/14.13/). Three types are distinguished:
(a) The indicative is used with adjectives expressing degrees of certainty
or confidence (eg: aware, certain, confident, sure):

We were confident that Karen was still alive.

(b) The subjunctive or putative should is used with adjectives expressing

volition (eg: anxious, eager, willing):

(be )
I am anxious that he < should be > permitted to resign.

(c) The indicative or putative should is used with emotive adjectives (eg:
angry, annoyed, glad, pleased, surprised). The indicative is chosen when
the that-clause is intended to refer to an event as an established fact. The
following pairs illustrate the choices:

I am sorr ^ou ^ave t0 ^eave so earty-

am sorry ^^at) yOU sjl0uici jtave been (so) inconvenienced.

I am sur ris d /^at) you didn’t call the doctor before.

F \(that) anyone of your intelligence should swallow a
lie like that.
 360 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

In a superficially similar construction, the that-clause is an extraposed

subject. Three types of adjectives and the corresponding verb choices are
again distinguished, matching those given above:
(a) It is true that she is a vegetarian.

(b) It is essential that the ban | (should) be ^ lifted tomorrow.

(c) It is strange that she Should be } S0 ^ate’

We list common examples of each type:
(a) certain, clear, likely, obvious, plain, possible, true, unlikely
(b) essential, important, impossible, necessary
(c) curious, disappointing, fortunate, odd, sad, surprising, unfortunate

NOTE Some adjectives take a w/z-clause (normally with an indicative verb) as

complementation. One type has an experiencer as subject and may be followed by
an optional preposition:

I was doubtful (as to) whether I should stay.

He is careful (about) what he does with his money.

Other examples: careful (about), fussy (about), unclear (about), uncertain (of),
unsure (of).
In the second type the wh-clause is an extraposed subject:

It was unclear what they would do.

It was not obvious how far the modernization would go.

Adjective complementation by a fo-infinitive clause

16.40 We distinguish seven kinds of construction in which an adjective is
followed by a /^-infinitive clause. They are exemplified in the following
sentences, which are superficially alike:
(i) Bob is splendid to wait.
(ii) Bob is slow to react.
(iii) Bob is sorry to hear it.
(iv) Bob is hesitant to agree with you.
(v) Bob is hard to convince.
(vi) The food is ready to eat.
(vii) It is important to be accurate.
In types (i—iv) the subject of the main clause (Bob) is also the subject of the
infinitive clause. We can therefore always have a direct object in the
infinitive clause if its verb is transitive. For example, if we replace
intransitive wait by transitive build in (i), we can have: Bob is splendid to
build this house.
For types (v-vii), on the other hand, the subject of the infinitive is
unspecified, although the context often makes clear which subject is
intended. In these types it is possible to insert a subject preceded by for. eg
in type (vi): The food is ready (for the children) to eat.
Type (i) has an analogue in a construction involving extraposition (cf
 Adjestte complementation 361

18.23): It is splendid of Bob to wait. This type also permits a head noun
between the adjective and the infinitive: Bob must be a splendid craftsman
to have built this house. Adjectives in this type are evaluative of human
behaviour. They include careful, careless, crazy, foolish, mad, nice, silly,
wise, wrong.
In type (ii), the sentence corresponds to one in which the adjective
becomes an adverb, while the infinitive becomes the finite verb:

Bob is slow to react. Bob reacts slowly.

In another analogue, the adjective is followed by in and an -ing participle:

Bob is slow in reacting. Other adjectives in this small group are quick and
prompt.
In type (iii), the head of the adjective phrase is an emotive adjective
(commonly a participial adjective), and the infinitive clause expresses
causation:

I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. [Tm sorry because I have kept
you waiting’]
I was excited to be there. [To be there excited me’]

Other adjectives in this type include afraid, ashamed, disappointed, glad,

happy, interested, relieved, surprised, worried.
In type (iv), the head of the adjective phrase expresses volition or a
modal meaning such as ability or possibility. Adjectives in this type
include able, anxious, certain, eager, inclined, keen, likely, ready, reluctant,
sure, unable, willing. Some of the most common adjectives in this type tend
to link with the preceding copula be to form a semi-auxiliary verb (c/3.18):
be able to, be willing to, be sure to.
In type (v), the subject of the sentence is identified with the unexpressed
object of the infinitive clause, which must therefore have a transitive verb;
hence we could not have *Bob is hard to arrive. There is an analogous
construction in which the adjective is complement to an infinitive clause
acting as subject or extraposed subject (cf 18.23):

To convince Bob is hard. It is hard to convince Bob.

Unless there is ellipsis, we cannot omit the infinitive clause, and so a

sentence like The bread was hard to bake in no way implies The bread was
hard. Like types (vi) and (vii), type (v) permits for + subject to be inserted
at the beginning of the infinitive clause: Those darts are awkward (for a
beginner) to use. Other adjectives in this group include difficult, easy,
impossible, nice {informal), pleasant.
In type (vi) too the subject of the main clause is identified with the object
of the infinitive clause. But unlike type (v), type (vi) has no analogous
construction with an infinitive clause subject:

The food is ready (for you) to eat.

*To eat the food is ready.
 362 Complementation of verbs and adjectives

We can generally omit the infinitive clause (The food is ready), and we can
substitute a passive infinitive clause without change of meaning (The food
is ready to be eaten). Other adjectives in this type include available, free,
soft.
In type (vii) the infinitive clause is an extraposed subject:

To spray the trees every year is essential.

It is essential (for you) to spray the trees every year.

Adjectives in this type express volition, modality, or emotion (cf 16.39).

They include fortunate, important, possible, surprising, wrong.

NOTE [a] Some adjectives belong to types (iv) and (vi) (eg: available, fit, free, ready), so
that a sentence like The lamb is ready to eat is ambiguous: either equivalent to The
lamb is ready to be eaten (type vi) or The lamb is ready to eat something (type iv).
[b] In both type (v) and type (vi), the infinitive clause can end with a stranded
preposition: He is difficult to talk to: The paper is too flimsy to write on.

Adjective com piemen tat ion by an -ing participle clause

16.41 An adjective may take an -ing participle clause as its complementation. In

some cases, a preposition optionally intervenes:

I’m busy (with) getting the house redecorated.

We’re fortunate (in) having Aunt Mary as a baby-sitter.

In other cases the preposition is obligatory:

We are used to not having a car.

I’m hopeless at keeping the garden tidy.
She’s not capable o/looking after herself.

Bibliographical note
On phrasal verbs and other types of multi-word verbs, see Aarts (1989); Akimoto
(1983); Bolinger (1971); Dixon (1982b); Fraser (1976); Lipka (1972); Makkai
(1972); Sroka (1972).
On general aspects of verb classification and complementation, see Allerton
(1982); Andersson (1985); Chomsky (1965, Ch. 2); Fillmore (1968,1977a, 1977b);
Halliday (1967-68); Lyons (1977, Ch. 12).
On verb complementation by finite clauses (especially by that-c\msQs), see
Behre (1955); Kiparsky and Kiparsky (1970).
On verb complementation by nonfinite construction, see Van Ek (1966); Freed
(1979); Mair (1990).
 The noun phrase

17.1 In discussing nouns, determiners, and pronouns in Chapters 5 and 6, we

were of course dealing with the fundamentals of noun-phrase structure.
But we have deferred until this point in the book our consideration of the
noun phrase itself so that other constituents common in noun-phrase
structure (such as adjectives, adverbs, and clauses) had themselves been
individually explored. In other words, just as we have seen in Chapter 14
that the sentence may be indefinitely complex, so may the noun phrase.
This must be so, since sentences themselves can be reshaped so as to come
within noun-phrase structure. For example, the following simple and
complex sentences [la—le] can be re-expressed as one simple sentence [2]
with a very complex noun phrase as subject:

That girl is Angela Hunt. [la]

That girl is tall. [lb]
That girl was standing in the corner. [lc]
You waved to that girl when you entered. [Id]
That girl became angry because you waved to her. [le]
That tall girl standing in the corner who became angry
because you waved to her when you entered is Angela Hunt. [2]

Moreover, working back from [2], we could unhesitatingly reconstruct

any of the sentences [la~Te] and in fact we could not understand the noun¬
phrase subject of [2] unless we recognized its component parts as they are
set out in [1],
Yet [2] has introduced many changes. We have suppressed all or part of
the verbs in [lb] and [lc] (different in tense and aspect); we have put the
complement tall of [lb] before the noun girl; we have replaced that girl of
[le] by who.
The purpose of the present chapter is to state the conditions governing
such changes.

In describing complex noun phrases, we distinguish three components:

(a) The head, around which the other components cluster and which
dictates concord and other kinds of congruence with the rest of the
sentence outside the noun phrase. Thus, we can have [1], [2], and [3]:

That tall girl standing in the corner . . . is . . . [1]

Those tall girls standing in the corner . . . are ... [2]
He addressed that girl standing in the corner. [3]
 364 The noun phrase

(b) The premodification, which comprises all the items placed before the
head - notably, determiners, adjectives, and nouns. Thus:

That tall girl

Some very expensive office furniture

(c) The postmodification, comprising all the items placed after the head -
notably, prepositional phrases, nonfinite clauses, and relative clauses:

The chair by the wall

All the boys playing in the garden
A car which she bought recently

We shall also be concerned in this chapter with apposition, a

construction typically presenting noun phrases of identical reference, as
in:

My dentist, Susan Williams, is heavily overworked, (my dentist is

Susan Williams)
The authorities are worried by the problem of vandalism, (the
problem is vandalism)

Restrictive and nonrestrictive

173 Modification can be restrictive or nonrestrictive. That is, the head can be
viewed as a member of a class which can be linguistically identified only
through the modification that has been supplied (restrictive). Or the head
can be viewed as unique or as a member of a class that has been
independently identified (for example, in a preceding sentence); any
modification given to such a head is additional information which is not
essential for identifying the head, and we call it nonrestrictive.
In example [2] of 17.1, the girl is only identifiable as Angela Hunt
provided we understand that it is the particular girl who is tall, who was
standing in the corner, and who became angry. Such modification is
restrictive. By contrast, consider the following:

Come and meet my famous mother.

Here, the modification famous is understood as nonrestrictive. Again:

Angela Hunt, who is (over there) in the corner, wants to meet you.

This sentence has a nonrestrictive relative clause since Angela Hunt’s

identity is independent of whether or not she is in the corner, though the
information on her present location may be useful enough. In these
examples, the modification is inherently nonrestrictive, since the heads in
 Temporary and permanent 365

question - being treated as unique - will not normally admit restriction.

But any head can be nonrestrictively modified:

The tall girl, who is a chemist, is Angela Hunt.

Here the only information offered to identify the girl as Angela Hunt is the
allusion to her tallness; the mention of her work as a chemist is not offered
as an aid to identification but for additional interest.
Modification at its ‘most restrictive’ tends to come after the head: that
is, our decision to use an item as a premodifier (such as silly in The silly boy
got lost) often reflects our wish that it be taken for granted and not be
interpreted as a specific identifier. Secondly, restrictive modification tends
to be given more prosodic emphasis than the head; nonrestrictive
modification, on the other hand, tends to be unstressed in pre-head
position, while in post-head position, its ‘parenthetic’ relation is endorsed
by being given a separate tone unit (2.15), or - in writing - by being
enclosed by commas.

Temporary and permanent

17.4 There is a second dichotomy that has some affinities with the distinction
between restrictive and nonrestrictive but rather more with the contrast of
nonprogressive and progressive in predication (4.Iff), and generic or
specific reference in determiners (5.11# 5.22#). Modification in noun¬
phrase structure may also be seen as permanent or temporary, such that
items placed in premodification position are given the linguistic status of
permanent or at any rate characteristic features. Although this does not
mean that postmodification position is committed to either temporariness
or permanence, those adjectives which cannot premodify have a notably
temporary reference. Thus The man is ready would be understood as
having reference only to a specific time, and this corresponds to the
nonoccurrence of *The ready man. On this basis, we see that timid and
afraid are contrasted in part according as the first is seen as permanent, the
second as temporary:

A man who is timid ~ A timid man

A man who is afraid — * An afraid man

Just as some modifiers are too much identified with temporary status to
appear in pre-head position, so there can be modification constrained to
pre-head position because it indicates permanent status. Compare
original in the original version and Her work is quite original; in the latter, it
would permit adverbial indication of time span (now, always,...), as well
as use in premodification.
 366 The noun phrase

Postmodification

Explicitness
17.5 As we saw in 17.1, premodification is in general to be interpreted (and
most frequently can only be interpreted) in terms of postmodification and
its greater explicitness. It will therefore be best to begin our detailed study
of noun-phrase structure with the forms of postmodification.
Explicitness in postmodification varies considerably, however. It is
greater in the finite relative clause

The taxi which is waiting outside

than in the non-finite clause

The taxi waiting outside

from which the explicit tense (isl/wasl) has disappeared, though this in
turn is more explicit than

The taxi outside

from which the verb indicating a specific action has also disappeared. We
are able (and usually must be able) to infer such facts as tense from the
sentential context much as we infer the subject of nonfinite adverbial
clauses (15.34):

The taxi waiting outside $now 1S X for me.

Hast night was j

Have you noticed the taxi outside?

Part of the relative clause’s explicitness lies in the specifying power of

the relative pronoun. It is capable (a) of showing agreement with the head,
and (b) of indicating its status as an element in the relative clause
structure.
Agreement is on the basis of a two-term ‘gender’ system, personal and
non-personal (5A5jf)\

Joan, who . . . London, which . . .

The boy/people who . . . The fox/animals which . ..
The human being who ... The human body which...
The fairy who . . . The unicorn which . . .

It will be seen from these examples that ‘personality’ is ascribed basically

to human beings but extends to creatures in the supernatural world
(angels, elves, etc) which are thought of as having human characteristics
such as speech. It does not extend to the body or character, in part or
whole, of a human being, living or dead, when this is considered as
separate from the entire person. Pet animals can be regarded as ‘personal’
(at least by their owners):

Rover, who was barking, frightened the children.

 Postmodificafion 367

On the other hand, human babies can be regarded (though rarely perhaps
by their parents) as not having developed personality:

This is the baby which needs inoculation.

Though ships may take the personal pronoun she (5.46 Note [c]), the
relative pronoun is regularly nonpersonal:

Is she the ship which is due to leave for Panama tomorrow?

It is noteworthy that collective nouns (5.46) are usually treated as personal

when they have plural concord, nonpersonal when they have singular:

rcommittee ^ cwho were ^ r t . .

The {group fiwhich ^{responsible for this decision...

Case in the relative pronoun

17.6 Case is used to indicate the status of the relative pronoun in its clause.
There are two situations to consider. First, if the pronoun is in a genitive
relation to a noun head, the pronoun can have the form whose:

The woman whose daughter you met is Mrs Brown. [1]

(The woman is Mrs Brown; you met her daughter)
The house whose roof was damaged has now been repaired. [2]
(The house has now been repaired, its roof was damaged)

In examples like [2] where the antecedent head is nonpersonal, there is

some tendency to avoid the use of whose (by using, for example, the roof of
which), presumably because many regard it as the genitive only of the
personal who.
Secondly, with a personal antecedent, the relative pronoun can show
the distinction between who and whom, depending on its role as subject of
the relative clause or as object or as prepositional complement:

The girl who spoke to him [3]

The girl to whom he spoke [4]
The girl who(m) he spoke to [5]
The girl who(m) he met [6]

It will be noticed that when the governing preposition precedes its

complement (cf 9.2) as in the rather formal [4], the choice of whom is
obligatory. When it does not, as in the more informal [5], or when the
relative pronoun is the object, as in [6], there is some choice between who
or whom, the latter being preferred in formal written English and by some
speakers, the former being widely current informally.

Relative pronoun and adverbial

17.7 The relative pronoun can be replaced by special adjunct forms for place,
time, and cause:
 368 The noon phrase

That is the place where he was born. [1]

That is the period when he lived here. [2]
That is the reason why he spoke. [3]

There are considerable and complicated restrictions on these adjunct

forms, however. Many speakers find their use along with the correspond¬
ing antecedent somewhat tautologous - especially [3] - and would prefer
the wh-clause without antecedent:

That is where he was born. [la]

That is when he lived here. [2a]
That is why he spoke. [3a]

If how is used, such clauses cannot in any case have an antecedent noun:

That is how he spoke., [4]

Moreover, there are restrictions on the antecedent nouns that can occur in
[1-3]. With [3], reason is virtually alone, and with [1] and [2], it is also the
most general and abstract nouns of place and time that seem to be
preferred. Thus while

The office where he works . . . The day when he was born . . .

are acceptable to most users of English, others would prefer a prep¬

ositional phrase in each case:

at which . . . (formal)
The
which ... at

, ron which . . . (formal)

The
day {which... on

or one of the less explicit forms that we shall now be considering (The
office he works at, The day he was born).

(Restrictive relative clauses

Choice of relative pronoun

17.8 Though most of the examples in 17.5ff have been of restrictive clauses, it is
in the nonrestrictive relative clauses that the most explicit forms of relative
pronoun are typically used. In restrictive clauses, frequent use is made of a
general pronoun that which is independent of the personal or nonpersonal
character of the antecedent and also of the function of the pronoun in the
relative clause:

The boy that is playing the piano . . . (or who) [1]

The table that stands in the corner ... (or which) [2]
The boy that we met ... (or who(m)) [3]
The table that we admire ... (or which) [4]
The boy that the dog barked at. . . (or at whom) [5]
The table that the boy crawled under ... (or under which) [6]
 Postmodification 369

Provided the relative pronoun is not the subject of the relative clause, as
in [1] and [2], a further option exists in relative clause structure of having
no relative pronoun at all: the clause with ‘zero’ (0) relative pronoun. The
examples [3-6] could take this form:

The boy we met. . . (who(m), that)

The table we admire . . . (which, that)
The boy the dog barked at. . . (at whom, who(m)/that... at)
The table the boy crawled under . . . (under which, which/that. . .
under)

Some choice exists in placing a preposition which has a w/z-pronoun as its

complement (17.6); there is no such choice with that and zero, where the
preposition must be postposed.
The choices are summarized in the diagram:

- who
fman-
The ■that remained
Itable-
-which )

who(m)
man that I saw
The
{ table •{ I glanced at
which

Ti f man at whom y Y .
The {table at which }Iglanced

NOTE Choices are not only connected with relative formality. Some prepositions cannot
be postposed (*the meeting that I slept during). Who is often preferred to that when
it is subject and when the antecedent is personal {people who visit me); but that is
preferred to who(m) when it is object, in part perhaps to avoid the who/whom
choice {people that I visit). When the verb in the relative clause is be, the
complement pronoun must be that or zero {John is not the man he was). This
example illustrates one of the most favoured uses of zero: ie when the pronoun is
object or complement, the subject is pronominal, and the relative clause is short.
When the antecedent is long and complex, n7?-pronouns are preferred:

I have interests outside my daily professional work which give me great

pleasure.

17.9 Just as that and zero are available when the relative pronoun is dominated
by a preposition, so they can be used when the relative pronoun is part of a
place, time, or cause adjunct. With place adjuncts, the preposition must
usually be expressed:

This is the garden (that) he sunbathes in.

This is the university (that) she works at.

With the time adjuncts, however, omission of the preposition is usual

whether the pronoun is that or zero:
 370 The noun phrase

This is the time (that) she normally arrives (at).

Monday was the day (that) he left (on).
But when (less frequently and more formally) the pronoun is which, the
preposition must be expressed in these instances and it would be usual to
make it precede the pronoun (cf 17.7):
This is the time at which she normally arrives.
Monday was the day on which he left.
With cause and manner adjuncts, the usual pronoun is that or zero, and
there is no preposition:
This is the reason (that) she came.
This is the way (that) he did it.

NOTH With manner adjuncts, it would not be abnormal to find which with a preposition
in a more formal style:
This is the way in which he did it.

Quantified heads

17.10 Beside the noun phrase the girls that he knew, we may have one in which
the head is made quantitatively indefinite with the predeterminer such, the
relative pronoun that being replaced by as:
Such girls as he knew were at the party.
Compare: As many girls as he knew ... A further connection with
comparative sentences (cf 15.36) can be seen in:

More
than he knew were at the party.
Fewer

[email protected] relative clauses

17.11 The loose nonrestrictive relationship is often semantically indistinguish¬

able from coordination (with or without conjunction) or adverbial
subordination, as we indicate by paraphrases in the examples below. The
repertoire of pronouns is limited to the w/z-items:
who invited him to a party.
Then he met Barbara
•{ and she invited him to a party.
r, who(m) I mentioned the other day.
Here is Ronald Walker
I mentioned him the other day.

c which was enveloped in fog.

He got lost on Snowdon,
\when it was enveloped in fog.

c which he was exploring.

He got lost on Snowdon,
\while he was exploring it.
 Postmodification 371

NOTE As a determiner, which appears in nonrestrictive clauses that are introduced by

adjuncts, but this is largely in formal style:
He emigrated in 1840, at which time there was much hardship and unrest.
Cf also for which purpose, in which city, for which reason, by which device.

Sentential relative clauses

17.12 One type of nonrestrictive clause has as its antecedent not a noun phrase
but a whole clause or sentence or even sequence of sentences. As with the
clauses in 17.11, the relationship frequently resembles coordination, but
these clauses are also very much like disjuncts (cf 8.42, 15.33). For
example:

He admires Mrs Hewitt, which f ftrp?SeS mC'

II find strange.
Cf‘and this surprises me’; ‘to my surprise’.
Quite often, which is used in these clauses as a determiner of factive
nouns which represent the antecedent clause or sentence:

The train may have been held up, in which case we are wasting our
time.

Appositive clauses

17.13 The appositive clause resembles the relative clause in being capable of
introduction by that, and in distinguishing between restrictive and
nonrestrictive. It differs in that the particle that is not an element in the
clause structure (subject, object, etc) as it must be in a relative clause. It
differs also in that the head of the noun phrase must be an abstract noun
such as fact, proposition, reply, remark, answer, and the like. For example:
The belief that no one is infallible is well-founded.
I agree with the old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
As with apposition generally (cf 17.27), we can link the apposed units with
be (where the copula typically has nuclear prominence):

The belief is that no one is infallible. (. . . is . . .)

The old saying is that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Or we may replace deverbal nouns like belief by the corresponding verb

plus object clause: He believes that no one is infallible.
It will be noticed that these restrictive examples have the definite article
before the head noun: this is normal but by no means invariable (except
with a few nouns referring to certainty, especially fact):

A message that he would be late arrived by special delivery.

Plural heads are also rare with appositive postmodification and are
regarded as unacceptable, for example, with belief, fact, possibility.
 372 The noun phrase

NOTE Nonrestrictive appositive clauses can less easily resemble relative clauses since
irrespective of nonrestrictiveness they still involve the particle that, in sharp
contrast with nonrestrictive relative clauses:

This fact, that that is obligatory, should be easy to remember.

Postmodification by nonfinite clauses

-ing participle clauses

17.14

1
Postmodification of the noun phrase is possible with all three of the
nonfinite clause types (14.4), and the correspondence between restrictive
relative and nonfinite clauses will be illustrated. For example:

... ( write

is writing
.
W1 1 be writing^
writes I
) the obituaries is my friend,
wrote I
was writing I
The man writing the obituaries is my friend.
The latter will be interpreted, according to the context, as equivalent to
one or other of the former more explicit versions. So too:
A til c falling from a roof shattered into fragments at his feet, (‘which
fell from a roof’)
At the station you will see a lady carrying a large umbrella. (‘who will
be carrying a large umbrella’)
The student writing on the board when you came in . . . (‘who was
writing . . .’)

But not all -ing forms in nonfinite postmodifiers correspond to progressive

forms in relative clauses. Stative verbs, which cannot have the progressive
in the finite verb phrase, can appear in participial form:
He is talking to a girl resembling Joan, (‘who resembles loan’ not
‘*who is resembling Joan’)
It was a mixture consisting of oil and vinegar, (‘that consisted . . .’)
In all instances, the antecedent head corresponds to the implicit subject of
the nonfinite verb clause; there is no nonfinite postmodifier, therefore,
corresponding directly to the relative clause in:
The obituary that the man is writing will be published tomorrow.

Instead, we must have recourse to the passive: being written by the man
(17.15).
 Postmodification by nonfiniie clauses 373

-ed participle clauses

17.15 Consider now the different versions of the following:

rwill be repaired \
The only car that < is (being) repaired > by that mechanic is mine.
Was (being) repaired *
The only car (being) repaired by that mechanic is mine.
Again, the latter will be interpreted, according to the context, as
equivalent to one of the former. Thus:

repaired next week . . .

being repaired now . . .
The only car by that mechanic
repaired on Tuesdays ...
repaired before he left...
Another example:

Any coins found on this site must be handed to the police.

(That are found ..or, more precisely, That may be found ...’)

The antecedent head is identical with the implicit subject of the -ed
postmodifying clause as it is with the -ing construction, but in this case the
participle concerned is as firmly linked with the passive voice as that in the
-ing construction is linked with the active. Hence, with intransitive verbs,
there is no -ed postmodifier corresponding exactly to a relative clause:

The train which has arrived at platform one is from York.

*The train arrived at platform one is from York.

Infinitive clauses

17.16 The nonfinite clause in

The next train to arrive was from York.

could, in a suitable context, have precisely the same meaning as the

relative clause which arrived. But the subject of an infinitive clause need
not be the antecedent. It may be separately introduced by the /br-device
(15.9) or it may be entirely covert:

The man for John to consult is Wilson.

The man to consult is Wilson.

The latter nonfinite clause could be understood, according to context,

as ‘(The man) that you/he, etc, should consult’ or That everyone should
consult’. Still more elliptically, the infinitive clause may omit also an entire
adjunct phrase, as in:

The time (for you) to arrive is 8 p.m.

A good place (for her) to stay is the White Hart.
 374 The noun phrase

Here a fairly common alternative is to introduce the relative pronoun and

retain the infinitive clause:

• • • at which,t0 arnVe ■ • • lithe subject obligatorily absent)

. . . place at which to stay . . . )
Compare the way in which to do it beside the way to do it.
Finally it should be noted that voice and mood are variable, the latter
covertly:
The time to arrive (= at which you should arrive)
The case to be investigated ( = that will or is to be investigated)
The money to buy food (= with which you (or they etc) may buy)
The procedure to be followed ( = which must or should or will be
followed)

Nonrestrictive postmodification
17.17 Postmodification with nonfinite clauses can also be nonrestrictive:
The apple tree, swaying gently in the breeze, had a good crop of fruit,
(‘which was swaying . . .’)
The substance, discovered almost by accident, has revolutionized
medicine, (‘which was discovered . . .’)
This scholar, to be seen daily in the British Museum, has devoted his
life to the history of science, (‘who can be seen . . .’)
These clauses can be moved to initial position without change of meaning,
but in that case they can no longer be expanded into finite relative clauses.
Indeed, they have an implicit semantic range beyond that of a relative
clause (cf 15.35). Thus the nonfinite clause in this example:
The woman, wearing such dark glasses, obviously could not see
clearly.
could be a reduction of a relative clause ‘who was wearing . . .’ or of a
causal clause ‘because she was wearing...’ or of a temporal clause such as
‘whenever she wore . . .\

NOTE Cf the semantic versatility noted in finite nonrestrictive relative clauses, 17.11.

Appositsve postmodifseatiom
17.18 Appositive postmodification is fairly common by means of infinitive
clauses. A restrictive example:
The appeal to join the movement was well received.
This would correspond to the finite that people should join the movement.
A corresponding nonrestrictive example:
This last appeal, to come and visit him, was never delivered.
 Postmodification by prepositional phrases 375

There are cases of nonfinite postmodification where no corresponding

finite apposition exists:

Any attempt to leave early is against regulations.

(*. . . that one should leave early . . .)
He lost the ability to use his hands.

In all these examples, the construction obliges us to infer the (often

indefinite) subject of the infinitive clause from the context. But a subject
may be explicitly introduced by a prepositional device:
The appeal for Winifred to join . . .
Any attempt by Harold to leave . . .

Postmodificatlon by prepositional phrases

Relation to more explicit modifiers

A prepositional phrase is by far the commonest type of postmodification

in English: it is three or four times more frequent than either finite or
nonfinite clausal postmodification. The full range of prepositions is
involved:

The road to Lincoln Two years before the war

A tree by a stream A man from the electricity board
The house beyond the church This book on grammar
including the complex prepositions (9.3):

Action in case offire Passengers on board the ship

and including those having participial form:
A delay pending further inquiry

Among the prepositions less commonly used in postmodification we

should mention like in the sense ‘resembling’: ‘The man like John is over
there . But it is common and fully acceptable in the sense ‘such as’:
A man like John would never do that.

It is natural to relate such prepositional postmodifications to sentences

or relative clauses with be (‘the man in the corner’ - ‘the man {who) is in
the corner’), though in some instances more seems to be ellipted than the
verb be. For example, we presumably need to regard
The university as a political forum
as related to a somewhat fuller predication:
 376 The noon phrase

The university is (actmS \ as a political forum.

J lregarded J

Again, although there is no problem with

The present/or her birthday cost a great deal. (The present is for her
birthday)
we cannot interpret so straightforwardly
The person for the job is Anita ( = the right person for the job . . .)

So too, it is not through be sentences that we must understand

The man with a red beard The guest with a funny hat

but rather through have sentences (The man has a red beard’): c/9.14
Note [c].

The of“genitl¥@
17.20 It is with have sentences that we must find the most obvious resemblance
when we turn to the commonest prepositional postmodification of all, the
p/phrase:
A man of courage — The man has courage
But, as we saw in 5.50, many relationships find expression through the of-
genitive, and one that deserves brief consideration here is the appositive
relation (17.27) which in fact resembles a be sentence:
The pleasure of your company —Your company is a pleasure

Where the postmodification has an -ing clause, the subject may have to be
inferred from the context or it may be identified with a premodifier or the
head:
The hope of winning a prize ( = X hoped that X would win a prize)
John’s hope of winning a prize (= John hoped that he would . . .)

But a separate subject may be introduced:

John’s hope of Mary(’s) winning a prize ( = John hoped that Mary
would . . .)
On Mary versus Mary’s here, see 15.10. Where the postmodification has a
deverbal noun, a specified ‘subject’ must, of course, be genitive:
Bill’s hope of Sarah’s arrival (= Bill hoped that Sarah would arrive)

[Restricts© arid nomrestrlctsve

17.21 Prepositional phrases may thus be nonappositive or appositive, and in

either function, they can be restrictive or nonrestrictive:
 Posfmodificatson by prepositional phrases 377

This book on grammar (nonappositive, restrictive)

This book, on grammar, (nonappositive, nonrestrictive)
The issue of student grants (appositive, restrictive)
The issue, of student grants, (appositive, nonrestrictive)

But we must mention some limitations. The last example is rare and rather
awkward: nonrestrictive appositives would more usually be without a
preposition, as in

The issue, student grants,

It would thus have the primary form described in 17.27. On the other
hand, if the ambiguous noun phrase

The issueQ of student grantsQ

had its nonappositive meaning (objective of: ‘someone issued student

grants’), nonrestrictive function would be rare and unnatural, plainly
suggesting an awkward afterthought.

Position and varied relationship

17.22 As with nonfinite postmodifiprs when nonrestrictive, so with prepositio¬

nal phrases, the nonrestrictive function merges with adverbial expres¬
sions; compare [1] and [2]:

T. i -it fbehind the fences . ,

The children |on the ^ j jeered at the soldiers. [1]

which means ‘Those children who were . . .’

rrU ,-i , cbehind the fence y .

The children, |Qn ^ bu§ j, jeered at the soldiers. [2]

which means ‘The children, who (by the way) were . . or, on the other
hand, ‘The children, now that they were (safely..It is rather this latter
implication that becomes uppermost if the prepositional phrase is moved
into initial position:

Behind the fence,

On the bus /the ctllldren jeered at the soldiers.

Again, the prepositional phrase in the following is poised between

interpretation as nonrestrictive postmodifier and as adverbial:

Money, in aid of the refugees, was collected from students and staff.
In the former interpretation, the money collected was in aid of the
refugees, whereas in the latter, the act of collecting money was in aid of the
refugees, since in this case the adverbial modifies the whole predication
just as it would in initial position:

In aid of the refugees, money was collected . . .

 378 The noun phrase

Nominalization

17.23 We should not, however, exaggerate the difference between the preposit¬
ional phrase as adverbial and the prepositional phrase as postmodifier.
The second of these should rather be regarded as a special instance of the
first, depending for its interpretation on our ability to relate it to a
sentence in which it is adjunct. In the following, for instance,

(a) A quarrel broke out in the morning over pay.

both the prepositional phrases are introduced as adjuncts. If we wish to
refer again to the quarrel, these adjuncts may now become postmodifiers:

(b) The quarrel in the morning ruined their friendship.

(c) The quarrel over pay was the reason for his resignation.
The relation of postmodifier to adjunct may be even clearer if, instead of
(a), (b), and (c), we take a sentence in which quarrel occurs as a verb:

(d) They quarrelled in the morning over pay.

We can now see that there is a one-for-one correspondence between the
verb quarrelled in (d) and the head of the subject noun phrase quarrel in
(a), (b), and (c); likewise between the adjuncts in (d) and the postmodifiers
in (b),and (c). It is when we have such a correspondence between clause
elements and noun-phrase constituents that we speak of such a noun
phrase as a nominalization. Further examples:
She refused to answer. ~ Her refusal to answer
He writes well. ~ (He is) a good writer
The reviewer severely criticized ~ The reviewer's severe
the book. criticism of the book

NOTE In relation to (d), we might also have in place of (b) and (c) respectively ‘Their
quarrelling in the morning ruined ...’, ‘Their quarrelling over pay was ..On such
-ing clauses, see 15.10; but we recognize a gradience from concrete count nouns in
-ing, through what is traditionally called ‘gerund’, to the purely participial form in
a finite verb phrase:

Some paintings of Brown’s (ie some paintings that Brown owns) [1]
Brown’s paintings of his daughter (ie paintings owned by Brown,
depicting his daughter but painted by someone else) [2]
Brown’s paintings of his daughter (ie they depict his daughter and
were painted by him) P]
The painting of Brown is as skilful as that of Gainsborough.
(ie Brown’s (a) technique of painting or (b) action of painting) [4]
Brown’s deft painting of his daughter is a delight to watch, (ie It is a
delight to watch while Brown deftly paints his daughter) [5]
Brown’s deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch. ( = [4b]
and [5] in meaning) M
I dislike Brown’s painting his daughter, (ie I dislike either (a) the fact
or (b) the way Brown does it) [2]
 Minor types of postmodification 379

I dislike Brown painting his daughter. (= [7a]) [8]

I watched Brown painting his daughter. (ie: either I watched Brown
as he painted or I watched the process of Brown(’s) painting his
daughter) [9]
Brown deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch. (= [4b]
and [5]) [10]
Painting his daughter, Brown noticed that his hand was shaking, [ie
while he was painting) [11]
Brown painting his daughter that day, I decided to go for a walk.
(ie because Brown was painting) [12]
The man painting the girl is Brown, (ie who is painting) [13]
The silently painting man is Brown, (ie who is silently painting) [14]
Brown is painting his daughter. [15]

Minor types of postmocSification

17.24 We come now to some relatively minor types of postmodification. These

are by (a) adverb phrases; (b) postposed adjectives (cf 7.8); and (c)
postposed ‘mode’ qualifiers. For example:
(a) The road back was dense with traffic.
(b) Something strange happened last night.
(c) Lobster Newburg is difficult to prepare.

In (a) we recognize some such phrases as ‘ The road which leads back (to
London)’, from which all but the subject and an important adjunct have
been dropped. Similarly ‘The way (which leads) in (to the auditorium)’,
4The people (who are sitting) just behind.
In (b), we have in fact two subtypes. The first has been illustrated. The
indefinite pronouns such as anybody, someone can be followed but not
preceded by adjective modification. The pronouns concerned are the any-,
some-, no- series (6.21#*) plus one or two others (cf: what else, who next,
etc). But we are not free to postpose with indefinites all modifying items
that can be preposed with ordinary noun heads:

A party official is waiting. but not *Somebody party is

waiting.
Even adjectives need generally to be ‘permanent’ and hence eligible
equally for attributive and predicative use (17.4); thus:

Somebody timid rather than * Somebody afraid

The other subtype in (b) consists chiefly of the sprinkling of noun-plus-

adjective phrases (modelled on French) like blood royal, heir apparent.
These are of little importance in themselves, being infrequently used
(though our ability to form names like Hotel Majestic suggests that they
are more than mere fossils) and it is likely that the native speaker feels
 380 The noun phrase

them to be very similar to compound nouns. Nevertheless, beside this

subtype, there is a similar but much more general phenomenon. When a
head is nonrestrictively modified by a coordinated string of adjectives, it is
common to postpose them:
A man, timid and hesitant, approached the official.

though the potential mobility of the string allows it to be detached from

the noun phrase altogether (cf 17.17). Even a restrictively modifying
adjective can be postposed if it is itself modified (by an adverb capable of
being an adjunct, not by the intensifier very: c/7.9):
A man notoriously timid is unfit for this task, {cf: *A man very timid)

But this is particularly common where the modification is of a ‘temporary’

nature (17.4). Thus beside The finest available car, we have The finest car
(currently) available.
With (c), we again encounter a French model: Lobster Newburg.
Though virtually confined to cuisine, it is moderately productive within
these limits, perhaps especially in AmE. In BrE one finds veal paprika and
many others, but there is some resistance to this type of postposition with
other than French lexical items, as in pate maison, sole bonne femme.
Though technically a prepositional phrase phenomenon, expressions
involving a la clearly belong here. It appears in culinary formations like
chicken a la king, and also (informally or facetiously) to designate style:

Another play a la Beckett has appeared, though I forget who wrote it.

Multiple modification

17.25 (a) A head may have more than one postmodification. Thus
The girl in the corner and The girl talking to Peter

can be brought together as

The girl in the corner (and) talking to Peter

Without conjunction, there would usually be a hierarchy:

{[The girl (in the corner)] talking to Peter}

(b) A modification may be applicable to more than one head. Thus

The girl in the corner and The boy in the corner

can be brought together by multiple-head rules which permit the

determiner to apply to both heads (cf 13.25):
The girl and boy in the corner
 Multiple modification 381

By bringing (a) and (b) together, we can produce complexes such as:
The girl and boy in the corner (and) talking to Peter

(c) The head of a modifying phrase may itself be modified; thus

The girl in the corner and The corner nearest the door
may be brought together as

The girl in the corner nearest the door

By bringing (a), (b), and (c) together, we can form

The girl and boy in the corner nearest the door talking to Peter
But fastidious users of English would prefer to end with a relative clause
here (■. . . who are talking to Peter’), no doubt in response to an instinct
that prompts the introduction of explicitness at a point which is relatively
distant from the head.

Ambiguity and constraints on multiple modification

17.26 Frequently, careful ordering of constituents in a noun phrase is essential

to communicate all (and only) one’s intention. To take an obvious
example, the following pair differ in meaning and are not mere stylistic
variants:

The man in black talking to the girl

The man talking to the girl in black

One of the chief reasons for preferring the of phrase to the -s genitive is to
avoid discontinuity (with unwanted humour); thus:
The ears of the man in the deckchair
and not

*The man’s ears in the deckchair

On the other hand, the group genitive construction enables us to postpose

the 9s inflection and avoid sequential of-phrases:
The man in the deckchair’s ears

Cf also a teacher of music's qualifications, the principal of the college's

appointment, a week or so's rest, an hour and a half's discussion.
A special type of multiple modification that requires careful ordering
occurs when the modifying clause becomes itself embedded in a clause.
Consider the following series:

Jane will write a poem for you.

Tom hopes (that) Jane will write a poem for you.
I will read the poem {which) Tom hopes (that) Jane will writefor you.
 382 The noun phrase

In this last sentence, the relative pronoun (which) is object in the italicized
relative clause. When, however, a relative pronoun is subject, the
conjunction that must be omitted:
A poem will be written for you.
Tom hopes (that) a poem will be written for you.

I will read the poem (which) Tom wm } be written for you.

NOTE Even with simpler examples and the most careful ordering, we may find clarity and
acceptable grammar difficult to attain in multiple modification. Beginning with

He liked the smiles of delight on all the faces.

a noun phrase based on this sentence and having smiles as its head may be
ambiguous in one ordering:

The smiles of delight on all the faces that he liked

(was it the smiles or the faces that he liked?), and grammatically awkward in
another.

Apposition

17.27 Two or more noun phrases are in apposition when they have identity of
reference. The appositives may be juxtaposed as in [1] or separated as in
[2], without formal expression of their relationship; or the apposition may
be indicated by a conjunction as in [3] and [4] or by forms such as that is
and namely as in [5]. Particularly in [4] and [5], we see that apposition often
involves explanatory paraphrase.
A professional singer, someone trained in Paris, had been
engaged for the concert. [1]
His birthday present lay on the table, a book on ethics, the work
of his professor. [2]
My husband, and (my) co-author is dissatisfied with the last
chapter. P]
Linguistics or the study of language attracts many students. [4]
The outcome, that is her re-election, was a complete surprise. [5]
As we have already seen in earlier sections, apposition can also be
expressed by that-clausQS (17.13), by nonfinite clauses (17.18), and by
prepositional phrases (17.20/).
In all the examples [1-5] above, the apposition has been nonrestrictive,
but the relation can also be restrictive (cf 17.3). Compare:
He was examined by James Kelly, a doctor, [nonrestrictive]
He was examined by James Kelly the doctor, [restrictive]
 Premodification 383

Cf also my friend Anna, the year 2000, the verb ‘know. Titles and
designations can be regarded as a special form of restrictive apposition:
Doctor James Kelly, Lake Michigan.

NOTE [a] Appositives need not be noun phrases; compare:

She is than her brother, heavier, that is.
bigger
and lastly, I reject the claim on ethical grounds.
Sixthly
He angered, nay infuriated, his audience.
[b] References to words, books, etc, are often expressed in appositive form: ‘the
word geese', ‘the good ship Venus', ‘the play Romeo and Juliet'. This explains why,
when the generic item is absent, concord is singular: ‘geese is irregular’. ‘Has
Romeo and Juliet ever been filmed?’

Premodlficatlon

Types of premodifying item

17.28 Holding constant a lexical frame (his . . . cottage) and nonrestrictive

function, we have the following range of premodifying items:
(a) ADJECTIVE

I visited his delightful cottage. (His cottage is delightful)

(b) PARTICIPLE

I visited his crumbling cottage. (His cottage is crumbling)

I visited his completed cottage. (His cottage has been completed)
(c) “5 GENITIVE

I visited his fisherman s cottage. {Cf The cottage belonged to a

fisherman)

It should be noticed that if we had used a more normal genitive example

{his uncle’s cottage) we would have changed the relationship of his.

(d) NOUN

I visited his country cottage. (His cottage is in the country)

(e) ADVERBIAL

I visited his far-away cottage. (His cottage is far away)

(f) SENTENCE

(?) I visited his pop-down for-the-weekend cottage. (C/His cottage is

one that he can pop down to for the weekend)
 384 The noun phrase

This last type is largely playful and informal. Somewhat more generally
used are noun phrases which can be interpreted either as having a sentence
as premodifier or as being object (usually of know) in an embedded noun
clause:
He asked I don’t know how many people..

Premodificatlora by adjectives

17.29 A premodifying adjective, especially when it is the first item after the
determiner, can itself be premodified in the same way as it can in
predicative position (7.32):
His really quite unbelievably delightful cottage
Some intensifies tend, however, to be avoided with premodifying
adjectives. Thus the predicative phrase in His cottage which is so beautiful
would seem a little affected in premodification: His so beautiful cottage.
With indefinite determiners, so would be replaced by such (c/7.35):
A cottage which is so beautiful - Such a beautiful cottage

Or else so plus adjective would be placed before the determiner: So

beautiful a cottage.
There is resistance also to transferring clause negation to a structure of
premodification, and this is possible only in limited circumstances
(usually not plus intensifier or negative affix):

every pleasant.
The dinner was not
\ unpleasant.

every pleasant t ..
— The not < \ > dinner,
(.unpleasant j

NOTE On adjectives that cannot be used in premodification, see 7.22. By contrast, there
are premodifying adjectives that cannot be related to clauses with a corresponding
predicative usage: cfl.lljf.

Premodifscalion by participles

-mg participles
17.30 Everything here depends on the potentiality of the participle to indicate a
permanent or characteristic feature. To a lesser extent, gradability
(especially as indicated through intensification by very) is involved.
Consider:
She has a very interesting mind.
Here interesting is fully adjectival (7.5f) despite the direct relation to the
verb interest:
 Premodification 385

Her mind interests me very much.

But an item can be a premodifier and yet disallow very:

A roaring bull (*very roaring)
And the converse can be true:

/reassuring. /reassuring ^
The man was very < shocked. ?He was a < shocked > man.
^surprised. ^surprised '
This last example will illustrate the crucial significance of the ‘perma¬
nence’ characteristic; such participles can freely premodify nouns such as
look, smile:

/■reassuring v
He greeted me with a very < shocked > expression.
^ surprised )
The man himself cannot have shock or surprise attributed permanently to
him, but a particular look can of course be permanently associated with
such a value. So too we may speak of a smilingface rather than of a smiling
person. It is thus necessary to realize that we are not here concerned with
particular participles so much as with their contextual meaning. A
wandering minstrel is one habitually given to wandering, but if we saw a
man wandering down the street, we could not ask:
*Who is the wandering man?

Again, someone who told good stories could be a (very) entertaining

person, but one could not say this of someone who happened, at the
moment of speaking, to be entertaining some friends with a good story.

17.31 The indefinite article favours the habitual or permanent, the definite
article the specific or temporary (cf 17.4). Thus

?The approaching train is from Liverpool.

is strange (especially in RrE) but not

He was frightened by an approaching train.

where we are concerned perhaps with what is characteristic in ‘approach¬

ing trains’. Similarly, IThe barking dog is my neighbour’s, compared with
the quite normal I was wakened by a barking dog. On the other hand, after
an indefinite head has been postmodified by an -ing clause, the -ing
participle can premodify the same head plus definite article:

A proposal offending many members . . . ->The offending

proposal . . .
In addition, the definite article may be used generically (5.24) and hence
evoke the same generality and permanence as the indefinite:
 386 The noun phrase

The beginning student should be given every encouragement.

-ed participles
17.32 Much of what has been said of ing participles applies to -ed participles
also, but there are additional complications. In the first place, an -ed
participle can be active or passive, but as with postmodification (17.15)
the active is rarely used in premodification. Contrast
The immigrant who has arrived with *The arrived
immigrant

The vanished treasure (The treasure which has vanished’) and A retired
teacher are exceptional, but exceptions are somewhat more general when
an active participle is adverbially modified:
The newly-arrived immigrant
Our recently-departed friend
Within the passive, we must distinguish the statal from the actional or true
passive (3.25); a statal example:
Some complicated machinery ~ The machinery is complicated.
(*The machinery was complicated by the designer)
Here belong also born and some uses of hidden, married, troubled,
darkened, etc, but in premodification they must either have ‘permanent’
reference or be adverbially modified: a married man, a newly-born child, a
carefully-hidden spy. The last example illustrates a noteworthy general
contrast between -ing and -ed participles. Beside the similarity in
postmodification between the following:
A spy, carefully hidden in the bushes, v ,
watch on the house.
A spy, carefully hiding in the bushes, J
the latter unlike the former resists premodification:

*A carefully-hiding spy . . .
17.33 Most -ed participles are of the agential type and naturally only a few will
easily admit the permanent reference that will permit premodifying use.
We may contrast:
The wanted man was last seen in Cambridge. (The man goes on
being wanted by the police)
*The found purse was returned to its owner. (The purse was found at
a particular moment)
But a lost purse is grammatical, because although a purse is no longer
regarded as ‘found’ after it has been retrieved, a purse will be regarded as
‘lost’ throughout the period of its disappearance. So too: the defeated
army, a broken vase, a damaged car, its relieved owner. But not: sold car,
*the mentioned article, built house, described robber.
 Premodification 387

But there are exceptions which suggest that the semantic and aspectual
factors are more complicated than here described. For example, although
a sum of money can go on being needed, one does not normally say *the
needed money. Modified by adverbs, of course, the starred examples
become acceptable: a recently (-)sold car, etc.
Finally, some items in -ed are not participles at all but are directly
formed from nouns:

the vaulted roof ’ a fluted pillar, a wooded hillside

But constraints occur (perhaps dictated merely by semantic redundancy),

such that there is no *a powered engine, *<2 haired child, *<2 legged man,
though we have a diesel-powered engine, a red-haired child, a long-legged
man.

Premodification by genitives

17.34 A noun phrase like afisherman’s cottage is ambiguous: the cottage belongs
to a fisherman or belonged to a fisherman (or resembles the cottage of a
fisherman). As distinct from a delightful cottage or a completed cottage,
the determiner need not refer forward to the head: more usually, it refers
only to the genitive. If the latter, then any intermediate modifiers between
the determiner and the genitive must also refer only to the genitive. Thus
These French women’s clothing

where these must predetermine the plural women s and the phrase must
mean The clothing of these French women’ and not The French clothing
of these women’ which would require the order These women s French
clothing. If the former (The clothing of.,.’), then an intermediate modifier
will be interpreted as referring to the head. Thus

This French women’s clothing

would mean This French clothing belonging to (or designed for) women’.
Ambiguous instances are, however, common: an old mans bicycle
(contrast: a man’s old bicycle) could mean The bicycle belonging to an old
man’ or ‘an old bicycle designed for a man’ (or - in principle - even ‘a
bicycle designed for an old man’).

NOTE On genitive modification in general, see 5.49#; on the group genitive, see 17.26.

PremodifacatSon by nouns

n.35 Noun premodifiers are often so closely associated with the head as to be
regarded as compounded with it. In many cases, they appear to be in a
reduced-explicitness relation with prepositional postmodifiers:
The question of partition ~ The partition question
The door of the cupboard ~ The cupboard 'door
A village in Sussex ~ A Sussex 'village
 388 The noun phrase

But not all noun premodifiers have prepositional-phrase analogues:

Bernard Miles was both actor and producer ~ The actor-pro'ducer

Attention must be drawn to two important features in premodification by

nouns:
(1) Plural nouns usually become singular, even those that otherwise
have no singular form (cf 5.44):
The leg of the trousers ~The 'trouser leg
But while singularization is normal it is by no means universal (cf:
the arms race), especially with noun premodification that is not
hardening into a fixed phrase or compound: The committee on
promotions ~ The pro'motions committee.
(2) According to the relationship between the two nouns, the accent will
fall on the premodifier or the head; for example, An iron 'rod but A
'war story. The conditions under which the latter stress pattern is
adopted are by no means wholly clear but they are also connected
with the conventionalizing of a sequence in the direction of
compounding.
A notable constraint against making postmodifying phrases into
premodifying nouns is the relative impermanence of the modification in
question. Thus while The table in the corner will readily yield The corner
table, we cannot do the same with

The girl in the corner (spoke to me) ~ * The corner girl. ..

We must insist again that this is not a property of the lexical item (in this
instance, corner) but of the semantic relation; c/17.4.

Multiple premodification

With single head

17.36 The three types of multiple modification specified in 17.25 apply to
premodification also. More than one premodifier may be related to a
single head, with no grammatical limit on the number:
His brilliant book ~ His last book~ His (. . .) book.
~His last brilliant (. . .) book
This is, however, misleading in giving the impression that the multiple
modifiers constitute an unordered and coordinate string. It usually
follows a recursive process:
His book-+His brilliant book-»His [last (brilliant book)]

We would here mean that, of several brilliant books, we are speaking only
of his last one; by contrast
His book->His last book->His [brilliant (last book)]
 Premodificafion 389

indicates that his last book was brilliant without commitment to whether
any of his others were. In some instances, however, we do indeed have
multiple modifications in which no priority among modifiers need be
assumed; to these we may give separate prosodic emphasis or introduce
commas in writing:

His last brilliant book (‘his last and brilliant book’)

Or we may formally coordinate them. Thus there would be little difference

between

Her forceful, lucid remarks and Her lucid (and) forceful

remarks.
When coordinated modifiers relate to properties that are normally
thought to conflict, the coordinator will probably not be and:

His handsome but scarred face His scarred but handsome face
With multiple head
17.37 Modification may apply to more than one head (cf 13.25):
The new table t ..
The new chairs ) ~The neW table and chairs

The multiple head thus produced can now be subject to recursive or

coordinate modification:

The new table and chairs-> (The beautiful new table and chairs
(The new (but) ugly table and chairs
If we coordinated learned papers and books as in (He wrote) learned
papers and books, we would suggest that learned applies to both papers and
books. If it should not, we can either reorder {books and learned papers) or
introduce separate determiners {some learned papers and some books).
With modified modifier
17.38 We have already seen two types of modification with modified modifier:
His really quite unbelievably delightful cottage (17.29)
These French women s clothing (17.34)

In a third type, the noun premodifier can be itself premodified by either

adjective or a noun and, if the latter, this can in turn be similarly
premodified:

The office furniture smal1 °&ce furniture

(The tax office furniture —
-The property tax office furniture <-
-> The house property tax office furniture

It should be noted, however, that if we were to introduce an adjective in

this last noun phrase, already clumsy and improbable, (i) it would have to
 390 The noun phrase

come immediately after the determiner, and (ii) it would normally be

interpreted as relating directly to the head furniture rather than to house,
the only other possibility:
The {pleasant [<(house property) tax) office] furniture}
This is not to say, however, that obscurity cannot exist or that noun
premodifiers can modify only the next following noun. Consider A new
giant size cardboard detergent carton, where size does not premodify
detergent but where the linear structure is rather:

A <new {(giant size) [cardboard (detergent carton)]})

Other complexities In premodification

17.39 A friendship between a boy and girl becomes A boy and girl friendship. A
committee dealing with appointments and promotions can readily be
described as The appointments and promotions committee, while one whose
business is the allocation of finance can be The allocation of finance
committee.
A noun phrase in which there is noun premodification can be given the
denominal affix which puts it into the ‘consisting of’ class of adjectives
(7.26) while retaining the noun premodifier; hence, from party politics we
have (a) party political (broadcast).
Similarly, a noun phrase having a denominal adjective may itself take a
denominal affix to become a premodifier in a noun phrase. For example,
beside cerebral palsy (= -palsy’ of the cerebrum), we have cerebral palsied
children which has the structure (cf 17.33):

{[(cerebral palsy)ed] children} and not ^[cerebral (palsied

children)]

NOTE Coordination gives rise to numerous difficulties in premodification. Beside the

relatively explicit children with impaired speech, we have the premodified form
speech-impaired children. But since speech and hearing are so often jointly
impaired, we are involved in the need to have a corresponding premodification,
speech(-) and hearing(-) impaired children, clear enough in spoken English but
possibly requiring a clumsy double hyphenation to make it clear in writing.

Relative sequence of premodifiers

Denominal and nominal

17.40 The item that must come next before the head is the type of denominal
adjective often meaning ‘consisting of’, ‘involving’, or ‘relating to’, and
this can be preceded by a wide range of premodifying items:

{extravagant serious
pleasant city
social life a political problem
only mere
London United States
 Premodification 391

Next closest to the head is the noun premodifier, already exemplified

with London, city, and United States in the foregoing examples. When two
nouns premodify, one which corresponds to the head as object to verb will
follow one relating to material or agency;

cdetergent ) c container „ , , c container

a {cardboard A carton ~ a cardboard detergent^ cartQn

rciga'rette ^ r , ^
my \ , > lighter ~ my tgas ciga rette lighter
v gas )

not *my cigarette gas lighter

Classes of adjectives
17.41 Next before a noun modifier, the most important class of items is the
adjective of provenance of style:

a Russian trade delegation Gothic church architecture

and preceding this type is the participle:

a carved Gothic doorway some interlocking Chinese designs

Preceding the participle, we have adjectives of colour:
a black dividing line a green carved idol

These are preceded by adjectives of age, together with the premodifiers

and postmodifiers that these and other freely gradable adjectives may
have:

an old blue dress a really very elderly trained nurse

a very young physics student a large enough lecture room
Next comes the large class that we may call ‘general’, except that between
‘general’ and colour (and usually all other modifiers to the right) comes
the diminutive unstressed use of little. Thus, not *an old little blue
ornament, but:

gracious
typical
beautiful
fold blue ornament
peculiar \little
told carved Gothic doorway
handsome
hideous
splendid

See Fig 17.41 which illustrates the relative positions of items in

premodification.

NOTE There are many qualifications to the foregoing. The ‘general’ adjectives, for
example, are not placed randomly but comprise several subclasses. We would
prefer a small round table to la round small table; several thick even slices to several
 392 The noon phrase

even thick slices; a fierce shaggy dog to a shaggy fierce dog; a tall angry man to an
angry tall man; a brief hostile glance to a hostile brief glance. Evaluative or
subjective adjectives frequently precede those that are relatively objective or
measurable; size often precedes shape; within size, height often precedes girth.
‘General’ adjectives are themselves preceded by semantically weak items like nice,
by non-predicable items like mere, by quantifiers, numerals, determiners, and
associated closed-system items (5.3>ff).

Deter¬ general age colour parti¬ proven¬ noun de nom¬ head

miners ciple ance inal

the hectic social life

the extravagant London social life
a crumbling church tower
a grey crumbling Gothic church tower
some intricate old interlocking Chinese designs
a small green carved jade idol
his heavy new moral responsibil¬
ities

Fig 17.41 Examples of premodification sequence

Diseontinuoys modification

17.42 It is not uncommon for a noun phrase to be interrupted by other items of

clause structure. Note for instance the time adjunct between the head and
postmodifier in the following:
You’ll meet a man tomorrow carrying a heavy parcel.

There are more striking examples:

I had a nice glass of beer but in an ugly glass.

This is not as contradictory as it may seem, since it is only in the second
noun phrase that glass is premodified by an adjective; in the first, it is
better to regard glass of beer as a complex unit modified as a whole but
with glass being less a concrete noun than a unit of measure. So too with a
weak cup of tea, and phrases of the form kindjsort of N which take
premodifiers plainly related to N rather than sort, both in semantics and in
concord:
A big awkward sort of carton
?These big awkward kind of cartons

17.43 Discontinuous modification more aptly applies to examples like the

following (c/7.9):
 Discontinuous modification 393

Comparable facilities to ours

Different production figures from those given earlier

The prepositional phrases here do not directly relate to the head (as they
do in roads to London, people from the village) but to the premodifying
adjective: ‘facilities comparable to ours’, ‘figures different from those’.
Compare also The tall man that I saw with Thefirst man that I saw (= ‘The
man that I saw first’); ‘An attractive scheme financially’ ( = ‘A scheme
which is financially attractive’); cf 7.32.
Most discontinuities, however, are brought about by interpolating a
parenthesis or the finite verb of the sentence (where the noun phrase is
subject) between the head and the postmodifier; and the usual motive is to
correct a structural imbalance (cf 18.21f) as in ‘ The story is told that he was
once a boxer’, or to achieve a more immediate clarity as in:

The woman is by the door, who sold me the TicKets and told me the
play doesn’t begin till three.

Bibliographical note

On postmodification, see Bresnan and Grimshaw (1978); de Haan (1987);

Downing (1978); Elsness (1982); Olofsson (1981); Schachter (1973); Sears (1972);
Young (1980).
On premodification, see Bache (1978); Bolinger(1967a); Johansson (1980); Levi
(1978).
On the relation between modifiers and heads, see Seppanen (1978).
On the genitive and o/-construction, see Dahl (1971), Jahr Sorheim (1980);
Lyons (1986); Wieser (1986).
On nominalization, see Chomsky (1972); Colen (1984); Kjellmer (1980);
Vendler (1968).
On apposition, see Austin (1980); Meyer (1987).
 <41
Theme9 focus, and information
processing

Introduction

18.1 In the processing and receiving of information, whether written or

spoken, lexical choice and grammatical organization have an important
role. Consider these examples:
Will the new law help old people? [1]
The road will ultimately be repaired. [2]
I’ll visit them occasionally. [3]
The honeymoon couple returned to Edinburgh in bright
sunshine today. [4]
In the following variants, the truth value is fundamentally unchanged, but
the presentation is very different:
In your view, will the new law give old people the help they
need? [la]
It will be some time before the road is repaired. [2a]
I don’t think I can do more than pay them an occasional
visit. [3a]
It was bright sunny weather that welcomed the honeymoon
couple back to Edinburgh today. [4a]
It is not merely that the variants are more verbose. In each case, an
introduction has been provided which puts the utterance in a communica¬
tive context, as in [la] and [3a], or which highlights an aspect of the
utterance that is communicatively effective, as in [2a] and the journalistic
[4a]. Moreover, care has been taken in [la], [3a], and [4a] to make the
ending an appropriate climax. Before we consider other modes of
information processing, we must look closely at the vital role of
intonation and other aspects of prosody.

Information and communicative dynamism

18.2 communicative dynamism refers to the variation in communicative value

as between different parts of an utterance. Consider the following as the
answer to the question ‘When shall we know what Mary is going to do?’
The subject, verb, and adjunct in:
 Information and communicative dynamism 395

She will de | cide 'next week |

are uttered with sequentially increasing prominence, with the S conveying

least information, the V rather more, and the A conveying most, namely,
the information sought by the wA-element of the question ‘When (shall we
know what Mary is going to do)?’ A tone unit (2.15) is a stretch of speech
containing one intonation nucleus, and since each such nucleus serves to
highlight a piece of information, it follows that a tone unit is coextensive
with an information unit.
But although an information unit highlights one item, this does not
mean that the rest of the unit is devoid of information. As in the present
example, the ‘communicative dynamism’ can range from very low
(corresponding to weak stress, as with the subject she), through medium
(corresponding to nonnuclear stress, as with the verb phrase, will decide),
to very strong stress (corresponding to intonation nucleus, as with the
adverbial, next week). And, again as in this example, it is common -
though by no means necessary - for the range of such communicative
dynamism to increase from low to high in accordance with the linear
progression of the information unit. To put it another (and better) way, it
is common to process the information in a message so as to achieve a
linear presentation from low to high information value. We shall refer to
this as the principle of end-focus.

Tone units and grammar

18.3 Every sentence has at least one tone/information unit, and it is usual for
such a unit to be coextensive with a grammatical unit. Sometimes this is
the sentence itself, as in the example we have been considering:
She will de | cide 'next week |

But far more commonly, the tone unit corresponds to a grammatical unit
within a sentence. This may be:
(a) An initially placed optional adjunct (c/8.15), other than closed-class
items:

| After my iLLness 111 went to France |

Contrast:

| Then I went to France j

(b) An initially or finally placed disjunct or conjunct (cf 8.40, 43),

especially when realized by a polysyllabic item:
More | over J the | chairman may not be wiLLing |
It was dis | GRACEful j | FRANKly J
(c) An initially placed vocative:

| Doctor | I’m | very ANxious |

 396 Theme, focus, and information processing

Contrast:
I’m | very ANxious ’Doctor [
(d) The subject, if this element is realized by a clause or a long noun
phrase, especially one with postmodification (cfll.Sff):

| What we want f is | plenty of rain |

The | tall 'lady by the door j | spoke to john |

Contrast:
| John 'spoke to the 'tall 'lady by the door |

(e) A fronted object or complement (cf 18.14/):

Her | WRiTing J11 find uninTELligible |

(f) The coordinated clauses in a compound sentence, especially when
the clauses have different subjects:
She | won the race [ and he was de | LiGHTed |
They | walked j they | swam j they | played golf |
Contrast coordinated predicates and predications (cf 13.19):

He | went out and 'slammed the door |

I have | seen them and 'offered my help j

Given and new information

18.4 When we construct a message, it is a courtesy to the receiver, as well as a
convenience for ourselves, to provide the point of the message with
enough context for this point to be both clearly identified and unambi¬
guously understood, as well as being placed in a normal linguistic
framework. To return to the question at the beginning of 18.2:

When shall we know what Mary is going to do?

The answer might have been:

We’ll know next week.

Here the unitalicized portion replicates material from the question; so far
as the receiver is concerned, it is entirely given. But as well as providing
assurance that the answer is indeed attending to the question, it serves as a
convenient introduction to the actual point of the message, the new
information conveyed by next week. Of course, in this instance, the
message would have been adequately comprehensible if it had been
confined to the new information alone:

Next week.
But in 18.2, the answer we considered was:

She will decide next week.

 Theme and focus 397

The italicized portion again presents the main point of the message and
the entirely new information, but the introduction is less obviously and
directly ‘given’. Nonetheless, it serves as the necessary background, and
by contrast with the ‘new’ information, it is relatively ‘given’. The subject
she and the futurity expressed by will are indeed entirely given, and in
replacing we and know by she and decide (with consequently increased
communicative dynamism; c/18.3), we oblige the receiver to infer that if,
as we might expect, we learn of her decision when it is made, the new
information - in the context of this specific given information - constitutes
an adequate answer to the question.

Theme and focus

18.5 There is commonly a one-to-one relation between ‘given’ in contrast to

‘new’ information on the one hand, and ‘theme’ in contrast to ‘focus’ on
the other, theme is the name we give to the initial part of any structure
when we consider it from an informational point of view. When it occurs
in its expected or ‘unmarked’ form (but cf 18.13), its direct relation to
given information can be seen informally as announcing that the starting
point of the message is established and agreed. In this sense, the definite
article is thematic in relation to a noun phrase such as the lecturer in
announcing that the identity has been established; but, comparably, in the
noun phrase the lecturer’s name, it is the genitive premodifier the lecturer’s
that is thematic. More usually, however, we apply the term ‘theme’ to the
first element of a clause, such as the subject in The lecturer’s name wasn’t
announced. Consider now these three examples as ‘messages’ in isolation:

The lecturer
The lecturer’s name
The lecturer’s name wasn’t announced.

We should note a significant prosodic similarity between the unitalicized

theme and the remainder of each structure. The theme’s relative lack of
stress mimes its status as ‘given’ and therefore in no need of emphasis. By
contrast, the italicized portions are given greater prosodic prominence
and it would be on these that the intonation nucleus would be placed if
they were uttered as messages:

(Who led the discussion?) The | LECTurer |

(What did she want to know?) The | lecturer’s name j
(Didn’t she know who was lecturing?) The | lecturer’s 'name wasn’t
anNOUNCED [

In other words, the new information in each case is the ‘focus’ of the
message, and just as we saw in 18.4 that it seemed natural to place the new
information after providing a context of given information, so we can
 398 Theme, focus, and information processing

regard focus (identified prosodically) as most naturally and normally

occurring at the end of the information unit.

NOTE [a] Since the new information often needs to be stated more fully than the given
(that is, with a longer, ‘heavier’ structure), it is not unexpected that an
organization principle which may be called end-weight comes into operation
along with the principle of end-focus. The principle of end-weight can be seen
operating in the following examples:

She visited him that very day.

She visited her best friend that very day.
She visited that very day an elderly and much beloved friend.

In this last example, even had the speaker/writer preferred to put the focus on the
time adjunct and to locate it in the unmarked final position, the weight of the
object noun phrase makes it preferable to have the adjunct at iE (c/8.11). An even
better position might have been /: ‘That very day, she visited . . .’
[b] In contrast to ‘given’ and ‘new’, which are contextually established and to that
extent ‘extralinguistic’, ‘theme’ and ‘focus’ are linguistically defined, in terms of
position and prosody respectively. With ‘theme’ there is an attractive alternative
contrast, ‘rheme’, and the latter term (favoured by some linguists) will be used
from time to time, especially in its adjectival form, ‘rhematic’, since it provides a
convenient way of referring to degrees of communicative dynamism. Some
linguists use the distinction ‘topic’/‘comment’ for our ‘theme’/Tocus’ or ‘theme’/
‘rheme’ (and sometimes for our ‘given7‘new’). Others speak of given information
as ‘old’, ‘shared’, or ‘presupposed’ information.

The relation between tocos and new Information

18.6 New information can be anything from a syllable to a whole clause. If the
nucleus falls on the last stressed syllable of the clause (according to the
unmarked end-focus principle), what is ‘new’ could, for example, be the
entire clause, or the last element (eg complement) of the clause, or the
predication of the clause. In the following sentence, we mark the extent of
the new information for three possible uses of the same sentence:

Whole clause is ‘new’:

NEW
i i

(What’s on today?) We’re going to the RACes. [1]

Predication is ‘new’:
NEW
[-1

(What are we doing today?) We’re going to the RACes. [2]

Final adverbial is ‘new’:
NEW
I I

(Where are we going today?) We’re going to the RACes. [3]

The sentence as heard (and the same would of course apply to writing, cf
18.1) is neutral as to the three possible stretches of new information
 Marked focus 399

indicated by our marking, since the focus is at the same point in each case.
Only the parenthesized questions (more broadly put, our knowledge of
the context) provide the clue as to how much of the information is
assumed as "given’ and how much is thus new.
When the nucleus occurs on a syllable earlier than that predicted by the
principle of end-focus, however, no such openness of interpretation is
possible:

(Have you decided whether you’re going to the races?)

NEW
r-’-1
Yes, we are going to the races. [4]

This is an instance of "marked’ focus, to which we turn in 18.7.

NOTE [a] In conversation, where the sentences [2-4] were replies to the corresponding
questions, it would be common of course for ellipsis (c/I2.16) to permit more or
less only the new information to be uttered; c/18.10. For example, in place of [2],
[3], [4], we could have:

Going to the RACes Pa]

To the RACes [3a]
We ARE [4a]
[b] The contrast in the foillowing is worth remarking:

, , (mis(iz) Martin [5]

Among those preseint were the Mayor and < . \ \ , .
f mis(iz) MARtm [6]
In [6] the Mayor is accompanied by a woman having a different surname from his;
in [5] the woman - his wife or daughter, perhaps - has the same surname as the
Mayor and the speaker implies that the hearer knows already what this is.
[c] In examples like the following (especially with respect to items of personal
wear), the final phrase is normally treated as given, being added only for informal
clarification:

She’s buying a scarf for herself

Contrast:

She’s buying her mother a birthday present but she’s also buying a scarf for
hersELF.

Marked focus

18.7 The principle of end-focus entails that we can confidently predict that a
reader will interpret blue as the focal item in the written sentence:
I am painting my living room blue.

In other words, we are confident that it would be read aloud as:

 400 Theme, focus, and Information processing

I am | painting my 'living room blue j [1]

The sentence has an increasing degree of communicative dynamism from

painting to blue. But as we have just seen in 18.6, all of the information in
this sentence may be new, and when we reflect upon the sentence, we must
realize that in fact no part is necessarily more obvious or predictable than
another. This means that it is perfectly possible to make the sentence
informationally appropriate with the intonation nucleus (and hence the
information focus) elsewhere:
I am | painting my Living room 'blue j [2]
I am j painting my 'living room 'blue [ [3]
I am j PAiNting my 'living room 'blue j [4]
11 am 'painting my 'living room 'blue | [5]
| i am 'painting my 'living room 'blue [ [6]

It is when we move the focus from its predictable position as in [1] to

another position as in [2-6] that we speak of marked focus.
The condition for marked focus arises when special emphasis is
required. Frequently such emphasis is needed for the purposes of contrast
or correction. Thus it would be easy to imagine [2] as following someone
else’s remark:
I am | painting my 'bathroom blue J
or question:

| Are you 'painting your 'kitchen blue |

Equally, [3] might follow on from:

| John is 'painting his 'living room blue |

Again, [4] might follow on from:

I’ve | changed my ‘mind about PAPering J

So too, [5] might be a response to:

| Weren’t you intending to 'paint your 'living room blue \

And [6] might follow on from:

| So 'John is 'painting your 'living room blue |
But contrast, in the sense of replacing one presumed item by another, is
not the only occasion for the special emphasis of marked focus. More
generally, it is a matter of adjusting the focus according to what is
presupposed in a particular context.

NOTE [a] Since in reading we assign end-focus unless the context makes it unambiguously
clear that the focus should be elsewhere, other devices than prosody are usefully
invoked where end-focus would produce a misreading. For example, the cleft-
sentence structure; cf\ 8.1 %ff. But for some instances of marked focus, as in [3], [4],
 Marked focus 401

and [5], considerable reworking is required. Thus in place of [3], we might have a
written version:

The living room I am painting blue is <j^^n°Wn‘ ^ [3]

[b] Examples [3], [5], and [6] above illustrate the fact that, although focus is
normally expected to fall on an open-class lexical item, exceptions can readily be
made where a closed-class item requires special emphasis for contrastive or other
purposes (cf 18.11). Even the articles may be thus focused:

Are you | talking about the ' Mrs1 Reagan j (or only someone else of the same
name)?
A: Did you | see the po'liceman conCERNED [
B: Well 11 saw a po'liceman | [pronounced /ei/]

Compare also:

| you should worry | [-This shouldn’t worry you | ]

| now what does she want |

The feeling of exasperation is expressed with the marked focus and fronted
adverbial more strongly than in the otherwise equivalent:

| What does she want now |

18.8 In certain circumstances, it is quite normal to have the focus on a noun

phrase as subject of a clause, in violation of the end-focus principle. This is
frequently because, with the subject concerned, the predicate is relatively
predictable and thus has lower communicative dynamism. It is significant
that the phenomenon in question is especially associated with intransitives,
where (if English structure permitted it freely) we might expect the element
order VS; cf 18.16. Compare:

The | TELephone’s ’ringing |

The j sun is ’shining J
The | KETtle’s ’boiling |
A | visitor called |
| Has your sister ’come ’home |

Predictability is easy to see with the first two examples, but it is arguable
analogously that, in a domestic context, the most obvious thing to
announce about kettles is that they are boiling; a visitor cannot visit
without ‘calling’ at one’s house; and what more predictable for a caller,
interested in a person, than to ask whether she is at home?
But there are other factors that may lead us to identify by focus a subject
and named individual (John, The President) or else an entity or activity
that has great generality or whose existence is well known (A visitor, The
kettle). Second, the predicate denotes typically a very general or
commonly associated activity (especially one that presents a starkly
positive/negative choice), such as the act of appearing/disappearing; or it
 402 Theme, focus, and information processing

denotes demise or other misfortune, again of a general nature. Some

examples:
ThejpREsident has 'died | contrast: | Someone has died |
My | coat is 'torn | contrast: My | coat is fawn |
The | BAby’s 'crying | contrast: The | baby’s SMiLing|

Emphasis may be given to an initial noun phrase (or indeed to any

nonfinal item) by interposing a parenthesis with its own tone unit:

| This in short j is | why I reFUSED J

The device is comparably valuable in writing, where this conjunct would
be separately punctuated and thus allow This to have more weight than it
otherwise would:
This, in short, is why I refused.

NOTE Although we have associated this phenomenon with noun phrases as subject, it
arises more broadly with noun phrases in construction with succeeding verb
phrases:

| Joan has a plane to 'catch |

We have | various PROBlems to 'solve |

By contrast, where it is less congruent with or less predictably associated with the
noun phrase, it is the verb phrase that might be focused:

. . . texts to compuTerize |

Similarly, within a noun phrase, if the head is more general and carries less
semantic weight and specificity than the premodifier, it is the latter that may
sometimes be focused:

She’s a | BRiLliant 'person |

((contrast: She’s a | brilliant Doctor j)

Again, where the noun-phrase object is of general reference, focus may be moved
forward on to the head of the verb phrase:

You should | always 'try to help a 'guy |

(contrast: You should | always 'try to 'help a poLiCEman [)

Compare also noun phrases of mere expletive or evaluative force:

I’ve been CHEATed by the dirty scoundrel.

18.9 The instances of marked focus in 18.8 involved putting the focus earlier
than where it would occur in unmarked focus. But there are two further
types, (a) and (b), to be considered:
(a) First, the focus can be moved to a point subsequent or immediately
prior to its expected position. This is sometimes because the unmarked
focus is misleading, as it might be in:

| Who’s the Novel by j

 Marked focus 403

If there were any danger that the hearer might take novel as emphatic (for
example in contrast to the review), the question would be put with marked
focus upon the preposition:

| Who’s the 'novel by j

Consider an exchange like the following:

A: So what did you say?
B: There was nothing t6 say.

It may seem vacuous to highlight the mere infinitive marker. But on the
one hand, say is given and would thus be an inappropriate bearer of a
nucleus; on the other hand, there is a positive reason for placing the
nucleus on the only part of this verb phrase which represents the modality.
Some further examples of marked focus:

So we | bought this 'house | (instead of that one)

| Hand your 'ticket in | (youre not allowed to keep it)
(b) Secondly, we can have contrastive focus at precisely the point of
unmarked focus. In speech, such marked focus may be realized with
additional stress or wider range of nucleus (cf 2.15). In writing, the
comparable effect can often be conveyed only by expansion or a rather
elaborate paraphrase, but sometimes typographical devices are invoked,
especially italics. In S H Perelman’s Last Laugh (1981), we find the
following piece of dialogue:

‘Was that how you became a rustler?’

‘A rustler?’ I repeated. ‘Not a rustler, Miss Cronjager- a wrestler.’
The word that requires marked contrastive focus for corrective purposes
comes at the point where unmarked focus would occur. Perelman
presumably expects the italics to represent greater prominence than on the
original nucleus:
Was | that how you became a Rustler |
A | Rustler |. . . | Not a Rustler \. . . a " | WREStler j

NOTE Where marked focus is required on a preposition, it is sometimes possible to

achieve the required meaning with end-focus by using a paraphrase. Thus beside:

. . . apart from his LAziness j

we may have

. . . aPART from his 'laziness j

or:

... his 'laziness aPART |

With the adverbial particle in phrasal verbs, the same result is achieved merely by
movement:
 404 Theme, focus, and information processing

He’s | bringing in the cAses J He’s | bringing the 'cases in |

This helps to explain why such particles are in final position when the object is a
personal pronoun (cf 16.4) or is a noun phrase of very general meaning:

She’s | bringing it/the matter up |

(cf* She’s | bringing 'up the MATter |)

18=10 Just as marked focus frequently involves putting emphasis on an

unexpected part of a phrase, so also it may involve unexpected emphasis
on part of a word or name. Normally we put the main stress on a person’s
family name and not the first name:

Dylan THOMas

But marked focus may reverse this, sometimes in making a correction:

(By the poet Thomas, I meant)

DYLan Thomas - | not Howard Thomas

Conversely, compound nouns with normal first-element stress can switch

to second-element stress with marked focus:

11just 'wanted a 'couple of PiCTure hooks | and he | started 'showing

me some ‘picture books \

So also, in order to make a contrast, two words can be equally given

unusual accentuation:

They fought for DEMocracy but they’ve ended up with AUTocracy.

She suddenly changed the subject from ^Migration to iMmigration.

Focus ©n the operator

18.11 One type of marked focus that deserves separate treatment is focusing on
the operator, which often has the particular function of signalling contrast
between positive and negative meaning:

(A: Why haven’t you had a bath?) B: I | have had a 'bath |

(A: Look for your shoes.) B: I | am looking for them |
She | PROMised | so she | must 'take him 'with her j

When the operator is positive, the meaning is ‘Yes in contrast to No’;

when the operator is negative, the meaning is contrastive in the opposite
direction:

So you | HAVEn’t lost it | [‘You thought you had’]

When the finite verb phrase is in the simple present or past tense, and so
would not otherwise have an auxiliary verb to function as operator, the
‘dummy’ operator do is introduced to bear the nuclear stress (cf 3.11):

So you |did go to the 'concert this 'evening | [ie T thought you might,
but. . .’]
 Marked focus 405

But I | do think you’re a 'good 'cook | [ie \ .. even if you imagine I

don’t’]
With a rise or fall-rise as intonation nucleus, focus on auxiliaries
indicating past or future often draws contrastive attention to the tense or
aspect rather than to the positive/negative polarity:

He | owns - or did own | — a | RoIIs-royce |

We’ve | sold out | but we | will be 'getting 'more j

Similarly, the nucleus on auxiliaries such as may, ought to, and could often
signals a contrast between the supposed real state of affairs, and a state of
affairs thought desirable or likely:
The o|pinion 'polls may be 'right j [ie ‘but I suspect they’re not’]

NOTE In courtesy enquiries about health and wellbeing, where there are in effect no
information-bearing lexical items, focus on the operator carries no special
emphasis:

How | are you 'these 'days j

Well, how | are you 'now, 'Mr 'Brown j

If normally unstressed operators receive stress (especially nuclear stress), the effect
is often to add exclamatory emphasis to the whole sentence:

That will be nice! You do look tired!

Biwsded tocos

18.12 It sometimes happens that we want to put nuclear focus upon two items in
an information unit. An intonation pattern particularly associated with
this in BrE is the fall-plus-rise contour (c/2.15). Compare the following:
He’s | fairly CLEver [ [1]
He’s j FAiRly CLEver | [2]

The implications differ in two ways. Semantically, [1] implies a positive

estimate, though cautiously worded, while [2] is relatively grudging and
disparaging, calling in question the estimate of cleverness. Informatio¬
nally, [1] is compatible with answering a general inquiry about the person
(‘What do you think of Alec?’), while [2] implies that the question of his
cleverness has already been raised (‘Alec is clever, isn’t he?’). Where such
divided focus is realized by fall-plus-rise, therefore, the item carrying the
rise is made subsidiary to the other focused item, accepts that it represents
information that is to some extent ‘given’, but (compatible with the rise)
calls its status in question.
Compare:

| William woRDSworth is my 'favourite poet [

This may be in reply to the question ‘Who is your favourite poet?’ or to a
contrary statement ‘I understand that John Keats is your favourite poet’.
 406 Theme, focus, and information processing

But frequently the second focus conveys little more than courtesy; thus it
is used with final vocatives and formulaic subjuncts (8.34):
| What’s the time, john j At|TENtion, please |

NOTE In contrast to the fall-plus-rise, the rise-plus-fall contour is used to mark a divided
focus where the first of the two focused items is made subsidiary to the second. We
can thus contrast the two types of divided focus:

I went to France in 'nineteen EiGHTy I [3]

I went to France in 'nineteen EiGHTy | [4]

[3] suggests a context in which there is discussion of what I had done in 1980, this
part therefore being relatively given; [4] suggests one in which the discussion
concerns when I went to France, the rise again coinciding with the relatively given,
but this time preceding the relatively new instead of following it.

Marked theme

18.13 The two communicatively significant parts of an information unit, the

theme and the focus, are typically as distinct as they can be: one is the
point of initiation, and the other the point of completion. The theme of an
information unit, coming first, is more often ‘given’ information than any
other part of it. Yet the two can coincide; for instance, when, as marked
focus, the nucleus falls on the subject of a statement:

(Who gave you that magazine?) | bill gave it to me | [1]

This is the extreme form of marked theme, and we can compare [2] which
has an unmarked theme {he) with minimum prosodic prominence:
He | gave me a magaziNE | [2]
Clearly, theme and focus must coincide in one-word utterances,
whether these are questions, responses, or military commands. For
example:

|C0FFee | | THANKS |

Even so, many such short units have an initial portion that can be used as
thematic preparation. A striking instance of this is found in the military
order, ‘Attention!’ The word is typically uttered with considerable drawl
on the first two syllables, and (ignoring the fact that the word ordinarily
has stress on the second syllable) with the final syllable given word stress
and the climactic nuclear focus:

at | ten—tion |
The theme carries considerable prosodic weight when it is an item that is
not (like subject or conjunction, for example) normally at initial position
in a clause (c/8.11). Consider the following exchange:
 Fronting 407

A: Are you | going to in'vite john |

B: Oh | John I’ve al* ready inviTed |

In B’s response, John is a marked theme, and the term will be used for any
such fronted item, whether or not it carries (as such items commonly do) a
marked focus (c/further 18.14).
The value of marked theme in information processing can be seen in
comparing the following, where [3-5] have SVC order but [6] has CSV:
| John is LAZy | (but I think he will help me) [3]
Al [though ‘John is LAZy [ (I think he will help me) [4]
Al [though 'John is LAZy j. . . [5]
| Lazy though John is | . . . [6]

In [3], lazy is new information; there is no assumption on the speaker’s

part that the listener knows. In [4], the fall—rise on lazy also implies that
the information is new; the rise part of the complex nucleus is conditioned
by the dependent status of the clause of which this is the focus. In [5],
however, the simple rise on lazy is compatible both with the dependence of
the clause concerned and the implication that the hearer already shares the
speaker’s view of John. In [6], making lazy a marked theme again implies
the givenness of the information and additionally enables the speaker to
focus upon the operator (cf 18.11) with consequent emphasis on its
positive polarity (c/3.11). A further example: ‘Serious as has become the
food shortage, worse news is to follow’; this embodies inversion of subject
and verb (c/18.16).

NOTE Common short adverbials in initial position are often given some thematic
marking:

| Then he left |

Longer and semantically weightier adverbials at / will be more heavily marked

themes or they may actually carry a nucleus:

| Suddenly he left | | suodenly | he | left |

Note that marked theme can be used to draw attention to contrasting pairs, and
this often involves separate tone units:

| VERdi | is | splendid in his way | but | Mozart’s operas 11 re|gard as 'pure

perFECTion j

Fronting

18.14 Fronting is the term we apply to the achievement of marked theme by

moving into initial position an item which is otherwise unusual there. The
reason for fronting may be to echo thematically what has been
contextually given:
 408 i heme, focus, and information processing

(You should take up swimming for relaxation)

| RelaxAtion you 'call it j

Alternatively, the item fronted may be the one contextually most

demanded:

| wiLson his name is j

An | utter fool she 'made me 'feel |
Fronting is very common both in speech and in conventional written
material, often serving the function of so arranging clause order that end-
focus falls on the most important part of the message as well as providing
direct linkage with what has preceded:
That much the jury had thoroughly appreciated.
Most of these problems a computer could take in its stride.
To this list may be added ten further items of importance.

The determiners that, this, and these in the above examples suggest that
the marked theme in such cases most often expresses given information. It
is common to find -ing participle predications fronted in similar
information-processing circumstances:
Sitting at her desk in deep concentration was my sister Flora. She
looked as though she had spent a sleepless night.
(Cf subject-verb and subject-operator inversion, 18.16/.)

NOTE [a] A fronted item, like a fronted vv/z-element (c/11.9/), is sometimes an element
from a subordinate clause:

Everything - or nearly everything - that the Labour movement exists to stop

the Tories from doing Labour will be asked to support the Cabinet in doing.

The whole of the italicized part of this example is the object of a nonfinite clause,
itself a prepositional object within an infinitive clause within the main clause.
[b] Exceptionally, a part rather than the whole of a clause element may be fronted.
In the following case, a prepositional phrase equivalent to a postmodifier of the
subject complement (but cf 17.22) acts as theme: ‘Of all the early examples of
science fiction, the fantastic stories of Jules Verne are the most remarkable.’

18.15 A more striking type of fronting is found in the heightened language of

rather mannered rhetoric, including the strenuous colourfulness of
journalistic writing. It is frequently employed to point a parallelism
between two parts of a clause or between two related but contrasting pairs
of neighbouring clauses. The fronted parts may be prosodically marked as
marked theme or marked focus, the latter typically with divided focus (cf
18.12), and they may be grammatically any of a wide range of units:

His face not many f a<^m*rec^ \ wEile his character

f were enamoured or, J
 Fronting 409

still fewer could praise. [O]

Traitor he has become and traitor we shall call him. [C]
She might agree under pressure: willingly she never would. [A]
They have promised to finish the work, and finish it
they will. [Predication]

With predications and predication adjuncts in front position, we often

find subject-verb inversion (c/18.16) if the subject is other than a personal
pronoun:

Into the stifling smoke we plunged. [A S V]

Into the stifling smoke plunged the desperate mother. [A V S]

NOTE In examples like the following, common in journalism, the fronting of the
predication seems largely determined by the desire to give end-focus to the subject,
at the same time using (as is normal) the early part of the sentence to ‘set the scene’:

Addressing the demonstration was a quite elderly woman.

Shot by nationalist guerrillas were two entirely innocent tourists.

Even the cleft sentence, itself a grammatical focus device (c/18.18/) can be subject
to fronting:

They hoped that Herbert Frost would be elected and Frost indeed it was that
topped the poll.

Subject-verb inversion

18.16 The clause patterns SVC and SVA (cf 10.1) have their obligatory third
element in large measure because the V is commonly of itself so lacking in
communicative dynamism:

SVC: Her oval face was especially remarkable. [1]

SVC: The sound of the bell grew faint. [2\
SVA : His beloved body lies in a distant grave. [3]
In consequence, where information processing makes it desirable to front
the third element concerned, the result would tend to be bathetic or
misleading if normal SV order were preserved. In consequence, fronting
naturally carries with it the inversion that puts S in final position, and
indeed it is to achieve end-focus on the S that the fronting is generally
undertaken:

CVS: Especially remarkable was her oval face. [la]

CVS: Faint grew the sound of the bell. [2a]
AVS: In a distant grave lies his beloved body. [3a]
These particular examples have a rather mannered tone (poetic in the case
of [2a] and [3a]), but the phenomenon is common enough in ordinary
informal speech:
 410 Theme, focus, and information processing

Here’s the milkman.

And there at last was the book I’d been looking for.
Down came the rain.
In the instances with here/there + be, indeed, it is not simply a matter of
stylistic choice: there is a clear difference of meaning from the alternatives
with SVA order. Although we must distinguish these from existential
there (cf 18.31), there is in fact a close similarity. In contrast to AVS, the
SVA order invites us not merely to put the nuclear focus upon the A but to
see these adjuncts as referring to specific places. Compare:

r Here’s the milkman - he’s come at last.

fThe milkman is here - at the door: shall I get two pints?
r There’s the book I want - I’ve been looking for it all week.
(The book is there - by the typewriter.

NOTE Subject-verb inversion (as distinct from subject-operator inversion; c/18.17) with
fronted object chiefly represents direct speech (including speech that is Thought’)
and usually the subject is not a personal pronoun:

‘Please go away,’ said one child. ‘And don’t come back,’ pleaded another.

This is something of a literary convention, and in ordinary speech, VS would

usually be replaced by SV (c/14.17). More important are CVS, AVS, where the C
or A make comparative reference to something that has preceded:

His answer was a disgrace and equally regrettable was his departure
immediately afterwards.

Subject-operator inversion
18.17 In addition to the inversion in questions, there are four common
circumstances in which the operator precedes the subject.
(a) First, we have elliptical clauses with initial so or the corresponding
negatives neither or nor (c/12.13):
John saw the accident and so did Mary.
\cf. . . and Mary did (so), too]

John didn’t see the accident and j- did Mary.

[cf. . . and Mary didn’t, either]

She was angry and so was I.
He won’t go and neither should you.
But inversion is less common with certain modal auxiliaries (notably may,
might, ought), and alternative substitute expressions with normal order
are preferred:
She might be ill and he might (be) too.
(b) Secondly, we have S-op inversion where a phrase of negative form
or meaning is fronted (cf 10.35/):
 Cleft sentences 411

Least of all is it in our interest to open negotiations now.

At no time must this door be left unlocked.
He refused to apologize. Nor would he offer any explanation.
Scarcely had he started speaking when heckling broke out.
(c/He had scarcely started speaking when heckling broke out.)
(c) Thirdly, we have S-op inversion in comparative clauses when the S is
not a personal pronoun:

Oil costs less than would atomic energy, (cf Oil costs less than it did).
She looks forward, as does her secretary, to the completion of the
building.

(d) Finally, S-op inversion occurs in subordinate clauses of condition

and concession (cf 15.19 Note [c]), especially in rather formal usage:

Were we to withdraw our support, they would be justifiably

indignant.
Should you change your plans, please let me know.
Even had she left a will, it is unlikely that the college would have
benefited.

NOTE If an initial negative item is the vehicle for only a local negation (cf 10.40), no S-op
inversion is possible. Thus, with the sentence adjunct (c/8.15) in:
Not without reason, Charles had flown into a rage.
= ‘He had flown into a rage and it was not without reason’
Contrast, with predication adjunct (c/8.14):
Not without reason had Charles flown into a rage.
= ‘He hadn’t flown into a rage without reason’

Clef® sentences

18.18 In 18.14, we looked at examples of where heightened prominence was

achieved with no other grammatical change involved beyond fronting.
For example:

His callousness I shall ignore. [1]

We now turn to devices for giving prominence by more elaborate

grammatical means, involving the division of the sentence into two
clauses, each with its own verb:

It is his callousness that I shall ignore. [2]

What I shall ignore is his callousness. [3]
The thing I shall ignore is his callousness. [4]
His callousness is something I shall ignore. [5]
 412 Theme, focus, and information processing

By reason of the division, these constructions have been called ‘cleft

sentences’, though we shall distinguish the cleft sentence proper, as in
[2], from the pseudo-cleft sentence represented most typically by [3],
With the subject pronoun it as an empty theme, followed by the verb be,
the cleft sentence readily achieves focus on the final item; in effect, end-
focus within an SVC clause:
It is his CALlousness.

For this reason, while very common in spoken English, the construction is
particularly convenient in writing, since it provides unerring guidance to
the reader in silently assigning appropriate prosody. But the cleft sentence
does not of itself indicate what the appropriate prosody is. Essentially, the
cleft sentence indicates divided focus (cf 18.12), and which of the two
focused items is dominant (ie new) will depend on the context:
A: You should | criticize his CALlousness j
B: | No, it is his CALlousness that I shall ig|NORE |
[callousness given, ignore new]
A: You should ig|nore his disHONesty |
B: | No, it is his CALlousness that I shall igNORE [
[callousness new, ignore given]

NOTE [a] Subject pronouns other than it sometimes occur:

(No,) that was the DOCTor I was speaking to.

Those are my feet you’re treading on.
He was a real GENius that invented this.

In each of these, we could find divided focus (cf 18.12), with a rising tone on
speaking, treading, and this.
[b] We need to remember that, especially in writing, an example like the following
is ambiguous between a cleft sentence and an SVC where C is a postmodified noun
phrase:

It is the dog that scared me.

In the relative-clause version, the S could be replaced by another pronoun (such as

this) and that could be replaced by which. In cleft sentences, such alternatives are
not generally acceptable.

18.19 The flexibility of the cleft-sentence device can be seen in the ease with
which different parts can be highlighted. Consider the sentence:

John wore a white suit at the dance last night.

From this, four cleft sentences can be derived. In the following, we shall
assume that the aim in each case is to make the second focus subsidiary as
relatively ‘given’:
S as focus:
It was | JOHN | wore a'white'suit at the DANCE'last'night |
 Cleft sentences 413

Od as focus:

It was a | white suit (that) 'John 'wore at the dance 'last 'night |

A time as focus:

It was I last NIGHT (that) 'John 'wore a 'white 'suit at the dance [
^-position as foCUS.

It was at the | dance that 'John 'wore a 'white suit 'last 'night j
It was the | dance (that) 'John 'wore a 'white suit at 'last 'night |
(informal)

Two other clause elements can marginally act as the initial focus of a cleft
sentence:
(a) informally Oj (otherwise replaced by a prepositional phrase):
It was me he gave the book to.
It was to me that he gave the book.
(b) C0 as focus: It’s dark green that we’ve painted the kitchen.
There are severe restrictions (except informally in Irish English) on the use
of Cs in this function, especially with the verb be and especially Cs realized
by an adjective phrase:

?It’s very tall you are.

But, without these restrictions, Cs can be generally acceptable:
It was a doctor that he eventually became.

NOTE [a] If the initial focal item is a personal pronoun, it may informally be in the
objective case even though it is in fact a subject (of the Jta-clause) and the usage is
hence widely condemned:

It was ?her that gave the signal.

[h] Though the verb form in the first clause of a cleft sentence is usually simple
present or past, forms with modals are perfectly possible:

It may be his father that you’re thinking of.

It would have been at that time that she went to live near Mannheim.

Where the verb of the second clause is present, that of the first will be present:

It is novels that Miss Williams enjoys reading.

Where the second verb is past, the first can be past:

It was novels that Miss Williams enjoyed as a pastime.

But the first verb may be in the present where the persons concerned are still living
or the objects concerned still familiar in the participants’ experience:

It is these very novels that Miss Williams enjoyed reading as a pastime.

[c] The cleft-sentence structure can be used in questions, exclamations, and

subordinate clauses; we have italicized the first focal item:
 414 Theme, focus, and information processing

Was it for this that we suffered and toiled?

What a glorious bonfire it was you made!

Pseudo-cleft sentences

18.20 The pseudo-cleft sentence is another device whereby, like the cleft
sentence proper, the construction can make explicit the division between
given and new parts of the communication. It is essentially an SVC
sentence with a nominal relative clause as subject or complement (cf
15.7/). It thus differs from the ordinary cleft sentence in being completely
accountable in terms of the categories of main clause and subordinate
clause discussed in Chapter 14. The following are virtually synonymous:

It’s a good rest that you need most.

A good rest is what you need most.
The pseudo-cleft sentence occurs more typically, however, with the wh-
clause as subject, since it can thus present a climax in the complement:

What you need most is a good rest.

Unlike the cleft sentence, it rather freely permits marked focus to fall on
the predication:
What he’s done is (to) spoil the whole thing.
Here we would expect an anticipatory (rising) focus on the do item, the
main focus coming at normal end-focus position. Thus: \ . . done . . .
thing’. When the verb in the w/z-clause has progressive aspect, the
complement matches it with an -ing clause:
What I’m doing is teaching him Japanese.
But in some respects, the pseudo-cleft sentence is more limited than the
cleft sentence proper. It is indeed only with what-clauses that we can make
a direct comparison (or choice) between the two constructions. Clauses
with where and when are sometimes acceptable, but mainly when the wh-
clause is subject complement:
Here is where the accident took place.
(In) Autumn is when the countryside is most beautiful.
Clauses introduced by who, whose, why, and how do not easily enter into
the pseudo-cleft sentence construction at all, and to compensate for these
restrictions, there are numerous ‘paraphrases’ of the pseudo-cleft
construction involving noun phrases of general reference in place of the
wh-item:
 Postponement 415

The person who spoke to you must have been the manager.
Somebody whose writing I admire is Jill.
The way you should go is via Cheltenham.

rthat
The reason we decided to return was he was ill.
\ because (informal)

NOTE The cleft and pseudo-cleft types can cooccur. For example:

What it was you asked for was a ticket to Brighton. Did you mean
Birmingham?

Cf also the following (common informally) from Ivy Compton-Burnett: ‘What

seems to me is, that we ought to be . . . careful’ (Men and Wives).

Postponement

18.21 One important communicative difference between the two types of cleft
construction is that while the cleft sentence with it is often used to put the
main focus near the front of the sentence, the pseudo-cleft is chiefly used to
postpone the focus to end position. In this respect it is often in competition
with the passive. In [1], focus is placed on the noun phrase the
manufacturers by means of the passive, and in [2] by means of a pseudo¬
cleft ‘paraphrase’:
The device was tested by the manufacturers. [1]
The people who tested the device were the manufacturers. [2]
It should be noted that [2] presupposes that the hearer knows that testing
has taken place; with [1] this is not so.
Given the importance of end-focus {cf 18.2), it is not surprising that
English has numerous resources to ensure the distribution of information
according to our wishes. There are, for example, lexical and grammatical
devices which reverse the order of roles:
c An uncle, three cousins, and two brothers benefited from the will.
\The will benefited an uncle, three cousins, and two brothers.
c An unidentified blue liquid was in the bottle.
(The bottle contained an unidentified blue liquid.

c A red sports car was behind the bus.

(.The bus was in front of a red sports car.

NOTE A special case of converseness is the relation of reciprocity expressed by certain

terms such as similar to, different from, near (to), far from, opposite, married to.
 416 Theme, focus, and information processing

where reversing the order of the participants preserves the essential meaning
without any other change in the construction:

My house is opposite the hotel. = The hotel is opposite my house.

A more complex relation of converseness is illustrated by:

The dealer sold the car to my friend.

My friend bought the car from the dealer.

Compare also rent to/rent from, lend (to)[borrow from, give (to)[receive from.

Voice and postponement

18.22 With transitive clauses, the passive voice provides a convenient way of
postponing the agentive subject by turning it into the agent in a passive
construction (cf 3.25). We thus reverse the active order of the agentive and
affected elements (cf 10.9) where the agentive requires end-focus:
A: Who makes these table mats?

B: They are made by my sister-in-law.

A preference for end-focus (in this instance, coinciding with end-weight)

can even override an aversion to passive constructions that are in
themselves rather awkward (cf 16.8 Note):

The regulations were taken advantage ofby all the tramps and down-
and-outs in the country.

A finite clause as subject is also readily avoided by switching from the

active to the passive voice:

( That he was prepared to go to such lengths astonished me.

U was astonished that he was prepared to go to such lengths.

While the V element cannot be focused in the cleft-sentence construction,

such focus can be achieved with a transitive verb by the use of the passive,
provided that the agent can be ignored as given. Compare:

But our | scientists 'finally solved ‘all 'these 'problems j

But | all ‘these 'problems were 'finally solved j

The passive can also ensure a smooth crescendo of communicative

dynamism with ditransitive verbs by making the indirect object thematic.
Compare:

They a|warded Marion the prize |

Marion was a|warded the prize j
 Postponement 417

NOTE The passive of have is rarely used, but when it occurs, the verb has an agentive
meaning usually absent from the active:

I wanted to buy sherry but there was none to be had.

Extraposition of a clausal subject

18.23 Postponement which involves the replacement of the postponed element
by a substitute form is termed extraposition. It operates almost
exclusively on subordinate nominal clauses. The most important type of
extraposition is that of a subject realized by a finite or nonfinite clause.
The subject is moved to the end of the sentence, and the normal subject
position is filled by the anticipatory pronoun it. The resulting sentence
thus contains two subjects, which we may identify as the postponed
subject (the one which is notionally the subject of the sentence) and the
anticipatory subject {it). Thus in place of [1] we have [2]:

To hear him say that surprised me. [1]

It surprised me to hear him say that. [2]

The pattern of [2] is in fact far more usual than that of [1] (cf Note [a]).
Examples in terms of the major clause types (10.1):

Type SVC: It is a pleasure to teach her.

Type SVA: It was on the news that income tax is to be lowered.
Type SV: It doesn’t matter what you do.
Type SVO: It surprised me to hear him say that.
Type SVOC: It makes her happy to see others enjoying themselves.
Type SFpass: It is said that she wanted to go into politics.
Type *SFpassC: It was considered impossible for anyone to escape.

NOTE [a] For certain constructions which have all the appearance of clausal extraposi¬
tion {It seems/appearsjhappened/chanced/etc), the corresponding nonextraposed
version does not occur. For example, there is no sentence *That everything is fine
seems to correspond with It seems that everything is fine, nor do we find *That she
wanted to go into politics is said. In such cases, we may say that the extraposition is
obligatory. With be, this type of extraposition is used for expressions of possibility
and (especially) for reflective questions:

It may be that she no longer trusts you.

Could it be that you left the keys in your office?

Other characteristics of the verbs entering into this category are presented in 18.25.
[b] Unlike finite clauses, 4ng clauses occur very naturally in ordinary subject
position:

Teaching her to drive turned out to be quite enjoyable.

Extraposed -ing clauses are uncommon outside informal speech, and they often
seem to be untidy afterthoughts:

It turned out to be quite enjoyable(,) teaching her to drive.

 418 Theme, focus, and information processing

Extraposition of a clausal object

18.24 When the object is an -ing clause in SVOC and SVOA clause types, it can
undergo extraposition; when it is a /^-infinitive clause or a that-clause, it
must do so:

.You must find it exciting working here.

Cf: You must find working here exciting.
Working here is exciting.
I made it my objective to settle the matter.
Cf *1 made to settle the matter my prime objective.
To settle the matter was my prime objective.
But: I made settling the matter my prime objective.
*1 made it my prime objective settling the matter.

f I owe it to you that the jury acquitted me.

Cf:* I owe that the jury acquitted me to you.
Contrast: I owe my acquittal to you.
SVOA [with corresponding nominalization]
Something put it into his head that she was a spy.
Cf: * Something put that she was a spy into his head.
' Something put the idea ofher being a spy into his head.

The construction type She's a pleasure to teach

18.25 In a sentence of type SVC where the extraposed clause of 18.23 has an
object or prepositional complement, the noun phrase concerned can
sometimes be fronted to become the theme in place of it. For example:

To teach Elizabeth is a pleasure.

~ It is a pleasure to teach Elizabeth, (cf 18.23)
~ Elizabeth is a pleasure to teach.

Compare also:

It’s impossible to deal with Bill.

~Bill is impossible to deal with.
It’s easy/difficult to beat them.
~ They're easy/difficult to beat.
It’s fun (for us) to be with Margaret.
~ Margaret is fun (for us) to be with.

There is a similar construction with be sure, be certain, seem, appear, be

said, be known, etc, except that in these cases the corresponding
construction with anticipatory it requires a that-clause, and it is the subject
of the extraposed clause that is fronted:

It’s certain that we'll forget the address.

~ We're certain to forget the address.
It seems that you've made a mistake.
 Postponement 419

~ You seem to have made a mistake.

It is known that he's a coward.
~He's known to be a coward.

NOTE A combination of the movement explained in 18.23j^permits a valuable range of

sentence forms for adjusting the development of communicative dynamism and
the assignment of end-focus as desired. Thus along with the canonical SVC
sentence:

To pour cream out of this jug is difficult.

we have three further possibilities. First, with ordinary it extraposition:

It is difficult to pour cream out of this jug.

The two other possibilities are:

This | jug is DiFficult to pour cream out of j

| Cream is DiFficult to pour out of this jug [

The former implies difficulties with the jug (perhaps its spout is too narrow); the
latter implies difficulties with cream (perhaps it is too thick).

Postponement of object in SVOC and SVOA clauses

18.26 When the object is a long and complex phrase, final placement for end-
focus or end-weight is possible in SVOC and SVOA clause types. This
does not involve an //-substitution.
(a) Shift from SVOdC0 order to SVC0Od order:

They pronounced guilty every one of the accused.

He had called an idiot the man on whose judgment he now had to rely.
(b) Shift from SVOdA to SVAOd:

I confessed to him all my worse defects.

We heard from his own lips the story of how he had been strandedfor
days without food.
She dragged (right) in(side) the two heavy boxes of chemicals.

NOTE [a]The fact that we are disturbing the normal order in such clauses is indicated by a
tendency to adopt a different intonation pattern. Thus the movement forward of
the C or A is usually accompanied by the assignment to it of a marked (subsidiary)
focus (cf 18.12); compare:

She pulled to 'one side the 'heavy cur tain

She pulled the 'heavy 'curtain to 'one side

[b] In ditransitive complementation (cf\63\ff), the indirect object precedes the

direct object:

| (her'brother) , . ,
She|gave|him jasicnet 'ringf [1]

Thus whether or not the Os is pronominalized, the implication is that it carries less
communicative dynamism (is relatively ‘given’) as compared with the Od. Where
 420 Theme, focus, and information processing

the converse is true, the Oj is replaced by a prepositional phrase and placed after
Od:

She | gave a 'signet ring to her BROTHer | [2]

But there is a third possibility; the prepositional paraphrase of the Oj can itself
precede the Od:

She | gave to her BROTHer a siGnet 'ring [ [3]

The Od in [3] has the same rhematic force as in [1] but the Os has been replaced by a
form that raises its communicative dynamism above that of the Oj in [1] though
still below that of the paraphrase in [2].

Discontinuous noun phrases

18.27 Sometimes to achieve end-focus or end-weight, only part of an element is

postponed. The most commonly affected part is the postmodification of a
noun phrase (c/17.42/), and the units most readily postponed are nominal
(in this case appositive) clauses.
A rumour circulated widely that he was secretly engaged to the
President's daughter. (Cf: ‘A rumour that he was secretly engaged
to the President's daughter circulated widely.’)
However, other postmodifying clauses, and even phrases, can be so
postponed:
The time had come to decorate the house for Christmas.
That loaf was stale that you sold me.
A steering committee had been formed, consisting of Messrs Ogawa,
Schultz, and Robinson.
Discontinuity often results, too, from the postponement of postmodifying
phrases of exception (c/9.15):
All of us were frightened except the captain.
The discontinuous noun phrase can be a complement or object:
What business is it of yoursl (Cf‘It is no business of yours’)
We heard the story from his own lips of how he was strandedfor days
without food.
I met a man this morning carrying an injured child.
But we may speak analogously of internal discontinuities: that is, where
there is movement of parts of a noun phrase to achieve end-focus, without
the intervention of material not forming part of the noun phrase as a
whole. In the nominalizations of [1] below, we see how the parts in
quotation marks corresponding to the original clause elements can be
moved to affect the internal communicative dynamism:

Lovell discovered the new star in 1960. SVGA [1]

Lovell’s discovery of the new star in 1960 . . . ‘SVGA’ [2]
 Postponement 421

The discovery by Lovell in 1960 of the new star . . . 4 VS AO’ [3]

The discovery of the new star in 1960 by Lovell . . . ‘VOAS’ [4]
(?) Lovell’s 1960 new star discovery . . . ‘SAOV’ [5]

NOTE [a] In apposition, the emphatic reflexive pronoun (himself, etc) may vary in
position:

The driver himsELF told me.

~ The driver told me himsELF.
Did you yourSELF paint the portrait?
— Did you paint the portrait yourSELF?

As the emphatic reflexive pronoun frequently bears nuclear stress, the postpone¬
ment is necessary if the sentence is to have end-focus. Such postponement is
possible, however, only if the noun phrase in apposition with the pronoun is the
subject:

/ showed Ian the letter myself

*1 showed Ian the letter himself
(But cf: ‘I showed Ian himself the letter’)

[b] With some other cases of pronominal apposition, we may prefer to postpone
the second element to a position immediately following the operator rather than to
the end of the sentence. This is especially true with all, both, each (cf 6.24). For
example:

The advisers had all been carefully selected.

Other discontinuities

18.28 Some degree of discontinuity is the rule rather than the exception in
sentences containing comparative clauses, though where the comp-
element (cf 15.36/) is a degree adverbial, examples without discontinuity
are fairly easy to find. Compare the following:

He has worked for the handicapped more than any other

politician (has). [1]
He has worked more for the handicapped than any other
politician (has). [la]
She is earning higher wages than (are) average. [2]
She is earning higher-than-average wages. [2a]

Beside a norm with minimum discontinuity as in [3], however, the

correlative item can be moved to final position as in [3a] if this is
informationally desirable.

He is more skilled than his brother (is) in matters of Anance. [3]

He is | more 'skilled in 'matters of FiNance [ than his
| BROTHer (is) \ [3a]

Some adjectives that take complementation (cf 7.9, 16.38#) can

simultaneously function as premodifiers. Compare:
 422 Theme, focus, and information processing

c different from yours.

(a) This result is Xsimilar to hers.
. cdifferent result from yours.
(b) 1S 1S a Xsimilar result to hers.
In cases like (b), discontinuity is felt to be quite normal. So also:

She works in the opposite room to this.

It is a timid dog with strangers.

NOTE [a] Similarity with prepositional phrases postmodifying a head can produce
ambiguity, as in:

They made an embarrassing protest to the authorities.

In such instances, revision is essential to make it clear which of the two possible
meanings is intended:

They made a protest that was embarrassing to the authorities. [1]

[ie Their protest embarrassed the authorities’]
They made a protest to the authorities that was embarrassing. [2]
[ie They protested to the authorities in a way that was
(generally) embarrassing’]

[b] Within adjective complementation and prepositional phrases, discontinuity is

possible, especially by the insertion of degree adverbials:

They were fond to some extent of Brecht’s early work.

It was different in many respects from what she had expected.
He worked hard, without for the most part any reward.

The commonest prepositional phrase discontinuities are of the type:

Which group shall we put him ini

Note also the interruption of a verb phrase by the insertion of adverbials at M;cf
8.11. In writing, it is often convenient to use an adverbial along with the emphatic
operator where prosodic prominence would have sufficed in speech:

They did indeed find a solution. ~ They | FOUND a solution j

Structural compensation
18.29 From the structure of most clauses, we develop the expectation that the V
element will be at a transition point between a thematic low communica¬
tive dynamism and a focal high:
| Jill will de'cide next week [
The | boy 'broke the wiNdow |
My | friend be'came ANgry |
This has the effect of making the simplest realization of the SV clause type
sound oddly incomplete:
| Mary sang | My | friend cooked |
 Existential sentences 423

It is more usual to find such sentences augmented by an adjunct (c/8.13ff):

Mary sang for hours. My friend cooked enthusiastically.
Alternatively, we make intransitive verbs bipartite, an auxiliary serving as
a transition between theme and focus:

| Mary was siNGing [ My | friend would cook [

Such rephrasing is obviously context-dependent; it is not often, for

example, that a verb phrase might equally well be progressive or
nonprogressive. Other means have therefore had to be devised for
‘stretching’ the predicate into a multi-word structure. One of the most
generally serviceable (though it tends to be rather informal in tone) is to
replace the intransitive verb by a transitive one of very general meaning,
and give it as eventive object a nominalization of the intransitive item (cf
10.16, 17.23). The general verbs do, make, give, have, take are widely used
in this construction:

rMy friend cooked.

iMy friend did the cooking.
rHe ate.
IHe had a meal.
rShe replied (briefly).
IShe made a (brief) reply.
rThey strolled.
IThey took a stroll.
rMary shrieked.
IMary gave a shriek.

So also solve ~find a solution; agree ~ reach (or come to) an agreement;
apply ~ submit an application; suggest ~ offer (or make) a suggestion;
permit~grant (or give) permission; attend~pay attention, etc.

Existential sentences

18.30 We have seen in 18.4 that a sentence usually begins with reference to
‘given’ information and proceeds to provide ‘new’ information. But there
are many occasions when we must make statements whose content does
not fall neatly into these two categories:
A | car is 'blocking my way | [1]
| Many 'students are in financial TROUBle j [2]
j Quite a 'few 'species of 'animals are in 'danger of exTiNCtion [ [3]
 424 Theme, focus, and information processing

These sentences may oblige the recipient to interpret a theme as entirely

new and unconnected with anything previously introduced. In such
circumstances, it is convenient to have devices for providing some kind of
dummy theme which will enable the originator to indicate the ‘new’ status
of a whole clause, including its subject. Thus in place of [1], [2], and [3], we
might have:
There is t ra car blocking ^
[la]
I have }{a car blocking }my WAY
There are cniany STudents in financial TROUBle [2a]
We have >< quite a 'few 'species of ANimals in
One finds 2 ^ danger of exTiNCTtion [3a]
In serving to bring the existence of an entire proposition to the attention of
the hearer, the resultant constructions are known as ‘existential
sentences’, by far the commonest being the type introduced by unstressed
there, accompanied by the simple present or past of be.

NOTE [a] Many other constructions than those illustrated above are invoked to serve the
same purpose; for example, it with the proposition as extraposed subject (cf 18.23):

It is a fact that
many students are in financial trouble.
It has to be said that

Alternatively again, the proposition can be made a clausal object:

One finds that "j

We must recognize that z many students are in financial trouble.
I have to say that '

[b] Block language (cf 11.22) often consists of verbless sentences that can be
regarded as existential:

danger!
MEN AT WORK OVERHEAD

Note that there are two types of negative directives and slogans:

No way out —‘There is . . .’

No discrimination = ‘There must be . .

Existential there

Correspondence with basic clause patterns

18.31 There is a regular correspondence between existential sentences with
there + be and clauses of equivalent meaning as specified in terms of the
basic clause patterns (c/10.1), provided that the clause concerned has
an indefinite subject (but c/Note [c]); and
a form of the verb be in its verb phrase.

Allowing for these two requirements, we may relate basic clauses to

existential forms such that [2] corresponds to [1]:
 Existential sentences 425

subject (+ auxiliaries) + be 4- predication [1]

there (+ auxiliaries) + be + subject + predication [2]

The subject of the original clause may be called the ‘notional’ subject of
the there-sentence, so as to distinguish it from there itself, which for most
purposes is the grammatical’ subject (cf 18.32). Examples of the seven
clause types with the existential correspondences are given below:

Type SVC

Something must be wrong.

~ There must be something wrong.

Type SVA

Was anyone in the vicinity?

~Was there anyone in the vicinity?

Type SV

No one was waiting.

~ There was no one waiting.

Type SVO \

Plenty of people are getting promotion.

~ There are plenty of people getting promotion.

Type SVOC

Two bulldozers have been knocking the place flat.

~ There have been two bulldozers knocking the place flat.

Type SVO A

A girl is putting the kettle on.

— There’s a girl putting the kettle on.

Type SVOO

Something is causing my friend distress.

— There’s something causing my friend distress.

Passive versions of the correspondences are also to be noted:

Type SVpass

A whole box was stolen.

— There was a whole box stolen.

Type SVpassC

No children will be left hungry.

— There’ll be no children left hungry.

NOTE [a] The notional subject can be postponed (cf 18.21) if it is required to have focal
prominence:
 426 Theme, focus, and information processing

There was in the vicinity a helpful doctor.

[b] Especially in informal usage, there is an existential sentence with an ~ed clause
following the noun phrase:

There’s a book gone from my desk.

[c] Existential sentences need not have an indefinite noun phrase as ‘notional
subject’. In B’s reply below, a definite noun phrase conveys new information,
providing a specific (and hence definite) instance of something contextually given:

A: Have we any loose cash in the house?

B: Well, there’s the money in the box over there.

The status of existential there as subject

18.32 The there of existential sentences differs from there as an introductory
adverb in lacking stress, in carrying none of the locative meaning of the
place adjunct there, and in behaving in most ways like the subject of the
clause, doubtless reflecting the structural dislocation from the basic clause
types:
(i) It follows the operator in yes-no and tag questions:

Is there any more soup?

There haven’t been any phone calls, have therel

(ii) It can act as subject in infinitive and -ing clauses:

I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings.

He was disappointed at there being so little to do.
There having been trouble over this in the past, I want to treat the
matter cautiously.

NOTE [a] The absence of locative meaning is indicated by the acceptability of existential
sentences where here cooccurs with introductory there:

There’s a screwdriver here.

By contrast, adjunct there with inversion (cf 18.16), as in ‘There’s the girl’, would
be contradictory with an added here:

*There’s the screwdriver here! (But cf\ "there’s the scREwdriver | -1 Right
"HERE | )

[b] Especially informally, there is treated like a singular subject where the
‘notional’ subject is plural:

There’s some letters here for you to read.

[c] Apart from sentences related to basic clause types in the manner described in
18.31, we have to consider various other types of sentence introduced by
existential there. Among them is the ‘bare’ existential (sometimes called
‘ontological’) sentence, which simply postulates the existence of some entity or
entities:
 Existential sentences 427

There was a moment’s silence.

Is there any other business? [as spoken from the chair at the end of a
meeting]

Such sentences are perhaps to be explained as cases in which the final element is
omitted as understood:

There was a moment’s silence (in the room).

Existential sentences with relative clauses

18.33 An additional type of existential sentence consists of there + be + noun

phrase + relative clause, and resembles the cleft sentence (cf 18.18,
example [2]) in its rhetorical motivation. Such sentences can be related to
sentences of orthodox clause types without the two restrictions mentioned
in 18.31; the verb need not be a form of be, and although there must be an
indefinite element, it need not be the subject:

Two students would like to see you.

— There are two students (that/who) would like to see you.

It is interesting that the relative pronoun can be omitted (especially in

informal usage) even when it is subject of the relative clause. This is
something not permissible according to the normal rule for relative clause
formation (c/17.8) and is a sign of the special status within the main clause
of the annex clause here, as in cleft sentences.
As with cleft sentences, too, we can have different tenses in the two parts
of the sentence. Compare:

Some planets were discovered by the ancients.

There are some planets that were discovered by the ancients.

The existential-with-relative construction is particularly common as a

means of emphasizing a negative (cf Notes below):

I can do nothing about it.

— There’s nothing I can do about it.

NOTE [a] We can negate either part or both parts; compare:

There was a student who didn’t pass the exam. [ = one failed]
There wasn’t a student who passed the exam. [ = all failed]
There wasn’t a student who didn’t pass the exam. [ = all passed]

[b] A further common existential sentence pattern, there + be + noun phrase

+ to + infinitive clause, is problematic to the extent that it cannot be directly
related to the basic clause types of 10.1:

There was no one for us to talk to.

There’s (always) plenty of housework to do.

[c] Note also the rather restricted use of -ing clauses (cf 15.10), as in:

There’s no telling what Janet will do next.

 428 Theme, focus, and information processing

Existential sentences with verbs other than he

18.34 The ‘preservative’ role of the existential sentence seems especially clear in
a rather less common, more literary type in which there is followed by a
verb other than be. For example:

There rose in his imagination grand visions of a world empire.

There exist a number of similar medieval crosses in various parts of
the country.
There may come a time when the Western Nations will be less
fortunate.
Not long after this, there occurred quite a sudden shift in public
taste.

This construction, which may be related to other sentence forms by the

simple correspondence S + V ~ there + V + S (where S is usually indefi¬
nite), is equivalent in effect and style to subject-verb inversion after an
initial adverbial (cf 18.16, 18.35). Grammatically, there is a subject (cf
18.32) with operator inversion when the statement pattern is turned into a
question, eg: Will there come a time . . .? Did there occur a shift in public
taste?
The present construction requires that the verb be intransitive and of
fairly general presentative meaning: verbs of motion (arrive, enter, pass,
come, etc), of inception (emerge, spring up, etc), and of stance (live, remain,
stand, lie, etc); but cf 18.35. The normal basic sentence pattern concerned
is SVA:

A shift occurred in public taste.

~ There occurred a shift in public taste.

Existential sentences with initial space adjuncts

18.35 Let us look now at an example that pairs a verb of stance with the usual
existential verb be:

In the garden there • a sundial. [1]

Since the place adverbial, In the garden, provides in itself the condition
enabling us to position the subject after the verb (cf 18.16), there is no
grammatical requirement for there to be present:

In the garden ■ a sundial. [2]

It should be noted that the range of verb-phrase forms with this type of
ordering is considerably wider than was specified in 18.34. Nor need the S
be indefinite. Compare:

Into the back of his stationary car had collided a massive

goods vehicle. [3]
 Existential sentences 429

rJoan x
In the garden lay < his father > (fast asleep). [4]
^ the old lady *

Indeed, the variant with there as in [1] is much less likely in [3] or [4] than in
[2], and this seems to correlate with the less ‘presentative5 verb phrase in [3]
and the definiteness of the noun phrase in [4]. We might summarize the
difference between [1] and [2] by saying that the latter, without there, is
motivated by the wish to achieve end-focus, while the there-construction
as in [1] has the more general ‘presentative5 function; cf 18.34.

The ftaire-existential device

18.36 There is a type of existential sentence in which the thematic position is not
occupied by a mere ‘dummy5 element but by a noun-phrase subject
preceding the verb have (or, esp in BrE, have got). Compare:

Two buttons are missing on my jacket. [1]

~ There are two buttons missing on my jacket. [2]
~ My jacket has two buttons missing. [3]
~I have two buttons missing on my jacket. [4]

We are concerned here with the last two of these examples, and we can see
that the thematic noun phrase can vary sharply in its relation to the rest of
the sentence. Indeed, beyond saying that it has considerable involvement
in the existential proposition, we cannot specify what that involvement
will be. Thus in

The porter has a taxi ready (for you). [5]

there is a strong implication that the subject has an agentive role, whereas
in

You have a taxi ready. [6]

it is just as strongly implied that it has a recipient role. Calling it ‘affected5

seems perhaps to state the involvement with a degree of generality that
satisfactorily accounts for most cases. Compare:

(A valuable watch was stolen (from/belonging to my friend). [7]

l My friend had a valuable watch stolen. [8]

r There are several oak trees in the(ir) garden. [9]

X They have several oak trees in the(ir) garden. [10]

f A brother of mine works in Chicago. [11]

\l have a brother working in Chicago. [12]

Turning from the role to the identity of the thematic element, we see from
the examples throughout this section that it is often provided (if
optionally) in the corresponding nonexistential sentence: jacket in [1] in
relation to [3], my in [1] in relation to [4], you in [5] in relation to [6], my
 430 Theme, focus, and information processing

friend in [7] in relation to [8], their in [9] in relation to [10], and mine in [11]
in relation to [12].

NOTE [a] In /zavc-existentials, the ‘notional’ subject (ie the subject of the corresponding
basic clause type) can freely be definite:

Johns friend is helping him.

John has his friend helping him.

By contrast: ‘There is a friend helping him’ but *‘There is Johns friend helping
him’.
[b] Corresponding to there-sentences of the same character (cf 18.33), the
following illustrate Ziave-sentences containing relative and nonfinite clauses:

(There’s something (that) I’ve been meaning to tell you.

ll’ve something (that) I’ve been meaning to tell you.

jThere is a guest staying with her.

I She has a guest staying with her.
[c] Existential clauses can also be nonfinite or verbless; for example:

There soon being a taxi available,

(His) Soon having a taxi available, ? Dr Lowe caught his train.
With a taxi soon available, J

Emotive emphasis

1837 Apart from the emphasis given by information focusing, the language
provides means of giving a unit purely emotive emphasis. They include
exclamations {cf 11.20), the persuasive do in imperatives {cf 11.19),
interjections {cf 11.22 Note [c]), expletives and intensifies (c/7.18,132jf \
8.35/0, including the general clause emphasizers such as actually, really,
and indeed. Here we mention two particularly common strategies.

(a) Emphatic operators

Consider the difference between pairs like the following:

rl’m | soRry j t
[1]
U|am'sorry| J

rYou | look pale this 'morning | }

[2]
LYou|do 'look 'pale this 'morning| J

f | Mary will be pleased | T

[3]
\ j Mary wiLL be'pleased] j

rl| told you | T

[4]
lI|didTfeLLyou] J
 Reinforcement 431

The second utterance in each case resembles prosodically the operator-

stressed items discussed in 18.11. But as we see with [4], the operators,
though emphasized, need not carry the nuclear force. More importantly,
they are not necessarily contrastive. It is not that any one has implied that
I am not sorry [1] or that Mary won’t be pleased [3]. Rather, the speaker
(in a style that is sometimes felt to be rather gushing and extravagant) is
conveying a personal concern or (as in [4]) even reproach or petulance. It is
in this last connection that the willj would of ‘insistence’ (cf 4.27) is
regularly stressed:

He | would go and make a 'mess of it [

(b) Noncorrelative so and such

In familiar speech of a rather extravagant style, the determiner such and
the adverb so are stressed so as to give exclamatory force to a statement,
question, or directive. In this usage, there is no accompanying correlative
clause or phrase (cf 15.42):

She was | wearing 'such a lovely dress |

I’m | so afraid they’ll get lost |

In consequence, so and such become equivalent to how and what in

exclamations (cf 11.20):

They were so cross! ~ How cross they were!

Reinforcement

18.38 Reinforcement is a feature of colloquial style whereby some item is

repeated for purposes of emphasis, focus, or thematic arrangement. Its
simplest form is merely the reiteration (with heavy stressing) of a word or
phrase:

It’s far, far too expensive.

I agree with every word you’ve said - every single word.

In very loose and informal speech, a reinforcing or recapitulatory

pronoun is sometimes inserted within a clause where it stands ‘proxy’ for
an initial noun phrase:

This man I was telling you about - well, he used to live next door to
me.
The book I lent you - have you read it yet?

These two examples show a complete noun phrase being disjoined from
the grammar of the sentence, its role (as subject and object respectively)
grammatically performed by subsequent pronouns. But in being thus
 432 Theme, focus, and information processing

fronted, as marked themes (c/18.13), the disjoined noun phrases clearly

set out the ‘point of departure’ for the utterance as a whole. This is a device
that may be a convenience alike to hearer (in receiving an early statement
of a complex item) and speaker (in not having to incorporate such an item
in the grammatical organization of his utterance).
In contrast to such fronting of items, an amplificatory phrase may be
informally added after the completion of a clause structure which contains
a coreferential pronoun:

They’re all the same, these politicians.

I wouldn’t trust him for a moment, your brother-in-law.

Such utterances are usually spoken with divided focus (cf 18.12), with a
rise on the ‘tag’ confirming its relatively ‘given’ status:

They’re | all the same, these poliiicians |

The tag can be inserted parenthetically, and need not be final:

He’s got a good future, your brother, if he perseveres.

NOTE [a] An even more informal type of tag comprises a subject and operator:

That was a lark, that was\

He likes a drink now and then, Jim does.
She’s a good player, Ann (is).

In some dialects of English (especially Northern BrE), the operator may precede
the subject:

She’s a good player, is Ann.

[b] Postposed nonfinite clauses, of the kind discussed in 18.24, sometimes closely
resemble amplificatory tags; contrast:

It was tough getting the job finished on time.

[ | tough.time | ]
It was tough, getting beaten in the last match.
[|TOUGH | /.MATCH 11

[c] Expletives (in the broadest sense) provide a common mode of amplification in
extremely informal speech, serving as a rhetorical transition between theme and an
emotionally coloured focus:

II told them to 'darned 'well Listen |

Expletives can also amplify the theme in w/z-questions: ‘How on earth did you lose
it?’

Bibliographical note

On information processing in relation to given and new, see Allerton (1980); Chafe
(1976); Dahl (1974); Halliday (1967-68); Kuno (1976b); Li (1976); Taglicht
(1984).
 Reinforcement 433

On functional sentence perspective, see Danes (1974); Firbas (1986); Kuno

(1972).
On communicative dynamism, see Firbas (1979).
On existential constructions, see Breivik (1983); Erdmann (1976); Jenkins
(1975); Lakoff (1987); Milsark (1979).
On inversion, see Jacobsson (1986); Penhallurick (1984).
On extraposition and other aspects of ordering, see Enkvist (1987); Erdmann
(1981); Hartvigson and Jakobsen (1974); Rudanko (1982).
On grammar and style in relation to prosodic features, see Andre (1974); Bald
(1979); Bolinger (1972b); Brazil (1985); Chafe (1976); Crystal (1969, 1980);
Enkvist (1980); Faber (1987); Halliday (1967).
Other relevant studies include: Biber (1988); Bolinger (1977); Burton-Roberts
(1986a, b); Lakoff (1987); Lyons (1977); Mathesius (1975); Schmerling (1976).
 From sentence t© text

Genera!

19.1 We apply the term ‘text’ to a stretch of language which makes coherent
sense in the context of its use. It may be spoken or written; it may be as
long as a book or as short as a cry for help. Linguistic form is important
but is not of itself sufficient to give a stretch of language the status of a text.
For example, a road-sign reading

Dangerous Corner

is an adequate text though comprising only a short noun phrase. It is

understood as an existential statement (18.30), paraphraseable as
something like There is a dangerous corner near by’, with such block
language features (11.22) as zero article that are expected in notices of this
kind. By contrast, a sign at the roadside with the same grammatical
structure but reading

Critical Remark

is not an adequate text, because although we recognize the structure and

understand the words, the phrase can communicate nothing to us as we
drive by, and is thus meaningless.
In earlier chapters, as is normal in grammars, we have exemplified our
statements by way of printed sentences which have made an implicit
double demand on readers. First, we have assumed that the examples
would be read as if they were heard, mentally given by each reader
appropriate features of stress and intonation. Second, we have assumed
that readers would imagine for each example an appropriate context in
which it could have a plausible textual role.

19.2 In the present chapter, we take the formation of phrases, clauses, and
sentences for granted, and we look at the way they are deployed in the
formation of texts. This is of course far from being a matter of grammar
alone. It is primarily by the choice of vocabulary that language connects
us with the world beyond language, as we saw in comparing the examples
‘Dangerous Corner’ and ‘Critical Remark’ in 19.1. Moreover, lexical
choice is used constantly to shape the internal cohesion of texts. Note the
use of the hypernymically related family, children, parents and fruit, apple,
Granny Smiths in the following:

I like my family to eat lots of fruit, and Granny Smiths are especially
popular because this apple has a juicy crispness much enjoyed by
the children and their parents alike.
 Place and time relators 435

Nonetheless, since this book is devoted to grammar, we must exclude all

aspects of text construction other than grammatical features and their
concomitant prosody and punctuation.
Parts of a text may cohere without formal linkage {asyndetic con¬
nection):

I’m in a state of shock. Jack’s mother has just died.

Alternatively, conjunctions or other formal features may make the

connection explicit:

Jack’s mother has just died and (so) I’m in a state of shock.

Frequently the rheme of a clause (18.4/) is represented in what follows by

a thematic pro-form; an example of such thematic connection:

I’ve just read your new book. If s very interesting.

But pro-forms can also be used to show rhematic connection:

I’ve just read your new book. Have you seen minel

Place and time relators

19.3 Textual structure requires firm orientation in respect to place and time.
Consider the following example:

Years ago, I lived for a time in the Far East, where my father worked
at a naval base. I’ve been back there once to look at our old home
but that was after the base had closed.

B—► C A
▼ v
D

Fig 19.3

In relation to the implicit here and now of the speaker and hearer, the text
refers to one other location in space and two other ‘locations’ in time.
Taking A in Fig 19.3 as ‘here and now’, we are impelled to imagine a
remote place where for some long unspecified span in the past (D), there
had existed a naval base. Within that period, for a shorter but also
unspecified span B, the speaker had lived there. Between A and the end of
D, a time C is mentioned and narratively represented as without duration.
It is noteworthy that the temporal and locational relations are clear
 436 From sentence to text

though no dates or precise places are given: the Tar East’ is far only from
(say) Britain and is east only in relation to somewhere that lies to the west
of it; the time is "long ago’ only in relation to ‘now’ - it was itself ‘now’
when the speaker lived in the Far East.

Place relators
19.4 Certain spatial relations are firmly linked to grammatical expressions
which are heavily exploited in textual structure. Thus an opening question
or statement will normally involve reference to location in space (as well as
in time):

Where are you going tonight? [1]

It’s ages since I was over there. [2]
On Tuesday evening, I was at the front door talking to a caller.
Suddenly we heard a crash and two cars collided just
opposite. We hurried across to see if we could help. One
driver was scrambling out, bleeding profusely, and my visitor
helped him over to the pavement. Then along came some
people, running up the street. I dashed back in and phoned for
help. When I went out again, the other driver was trying to
move her car down the road a little and in to the side. [3]

In all three examples, spatial reference is essential, as well as orientation to

the participants’ here (c/19.3): where in [1] entails a here from which to set
out; over there in [2] entails ‘in contrast to here’. But let us look more
closely at the part played by spatial reference in [3], both in respect to
orientation and to the structure of the narrative.
Even totally out of context, the institutionalized phrase at the front door
would be understood as referring to the main entrance of someone’s
home, whether this was a house or a small apartment. Likewise, just
opposite is at once understood as just opposite to where the speaker and his
visitor were standing. A road is implied by the car crash and in this context
across means ‘across the intervening space (of footpath and street)’. The
back in signifies a return across this intervening space and into the
speaker’s home. The two instances of out are of sharply different
reference: the first refers implicitly to emergence from the car, the second
to re-emergence from the speaker’s home (thus correlating with the earlier
back in). The contrasting phrases up (the street) and down (the road) are
interesting in making spatial reference not necessarily in terms of relative
elevation (though this is not excluded). The immediate contrast is in terms
of orientation again: up indicating an approach towards the speaker (and
his home), down indicating the converse (cf 9.7). The cluster of spatial
references provides a continuous set of coordinates in relation to a base
(the speaker’s home, though this is merely a pragmatic implication) as well
as a coherent account of the movements involved in the narrative.
 Place and time relators 437

NOTE In a text where it was known that a physical slope was involved, up/down (the
street) would be used with respect to this absolute and objective physical feature,
and it would outweigh personal orientation. The latter could then be expressed by
alternative means: ‘She went (away) up the street’; ‘They came down the street’.
Contrast also: ‘They hurried up Fifth Avenue’ (ie away from ‘downtown’
Manhattan); ‘They sauntered down Fifth Avenue’ (ie towards downtown
Manhattan); ‘They walked along Fifth Avenue’ (neutral as to direction).

Ellipses and pro-forms

19.5 Where place relators operate in text structure, ellipsis is often involved (cf
12.19):

He examined the car. The front was slightly damaged. [1]

The building was heavily guarded by police. The windows
ronth q top storey') , ,
tat the top jwere covered with boards. [2]
The ellipted items in [1] and [2] are of the car and of the building
respectively. Often the ellipted items are not in the previous context, but
are understood from the situational context (either accompanying the
communication or established by the communication):

The traffic lights eventually changed. She walked across quickly. [3]

Across here implies the road or some similar noun phrase (c/9.7, 19.4).
A few place adverbs do not involve ellipsis: here, there, elsewhere, the
relative where, and (in formal contexts) hence, thence, hither, and thither.
They are pro-forms:

The school laboratory reeked of ammonia. Here, during the

first week of the term, an unusual experiment had been
conducted. [4]
All my friends have been to Paris at least once. I am going
there next summer for the first time. [5]

Here in [4] is a substitute for in the school laboratory and there in [5] for to
Paris.

NOTE In sentences like Stand there and Here it is, the pro-forms may refer directly to the
situational contexts without any linguistic mention of location, but with
orientation to the speaker:

I’m glad to welcome you here, especially since at the last meeting
I could not be there.

19.6 Place relators often comprise two components. Most commonly these are
a dimension or direction indicator plus a location indicator (c/9.4). The
latter is usually an open-class noun (or proper noun), but its locational use
is often institutionalized, making the whole expression quasi-grammati-
cal. Examples:
 438 From sentence to text

at the window in town

on the ceiling off work
in the air on board
at the seaside on the way

Another common type of pairing is a distance indicator plus a dimension

indicator; for example:

(not) far ^ (in

J out
nearer +
rin
Ito + noun phrase
further 1+ (off higher(er) + up
farther ' away low(er) + down
ffrom fby
close +
Xto + noun phrase

The partially antonymous home and abroad, ashore and on board are
exceptional in combining the dimension and location factors:

After being out for a couple of hours. I’m now j*

home for the evening, [reference to personal residence]. [1]

fliving )
After < being > abroad, I like to <
come ,
my
\be
Agoing J
own country’) for a year or so. [2]

NOTE Locational connections in relation to coherence are not merely a necessary feature
of individual texts. It is customary in newspapers to group the otherwise separate
news-item texts on a regional basis. So too in radio broadcasts, a place relator may
serve to give some kind of coherence to otherwise unrelated stories. For example:

They are worried that another strike could break out in the United States
similar to the one that affected Canada’s economy so seriously two years
ago.
in CANada news is coming in of a plane accident near Toronto. The
aircraft, a privately owned four-seater . . .

The textual justification for in is that a main focus on Canada would be misleading
since Canada is in some sense already ‘given’.

Time relators
19.7 Like space, time has its lexically specific and labelled ‘areas’ and
locations’. Along with open-class nouns, some of them - like places - are
treated as proper nouns: century, decade, year, 1989, January, week, day,
Thursday, evening, etc. Again like units of space, these nouns have an
institutionalized and hence quasi-grammatical use. In addition to being
elements in clause structure, they lend themselves to the connections and
transitions of textual structure:
 Place and time relators 439

I’ve been working on this problem all year and I must find a
solution before January when I’m due to go abroad for a
month or so. [i]
Nouns of more general meaning are still more firmly harnessed for
grammatical use:

I’ve been working a long time. [2]

I’m going abroad for a while. [3]
She hasn’t visited me for ages. [4]

In addition, therefore, to closed-class items like afterwards, we take

account here of numerous open-class words which, though with clear
lexical meaning, are largely used in the constant process of keeping track
of the many and complex references that are necessary for coherent text.
Since time passes irrespective of location (which need not change),
temporal cues to periods, and to references before, after, within, and during
these periods, are more inherently essential than locational cues.
Once a time reference has been established, certain temporal adjectives
and adverbs may order subsequent information in relation to the time
reference.

Temporal ordering
19.8 (i) Temporal ordering previous to a given time reference:

ADJECTIVES

earlier, former, preceding, previous, prior

For example:

He handed in a good essay. His previous essays (ie 'those done

earlier’) were all poor.

ADVERBIALS

already, as yet, before, beforehand, earlier, first, formerly, hitherto

(formal), previously, so far, yet; and phrases with pro-forms:
before that, before this, before now, before then, by now, by then,
until now, until then, up to now, up to then

For example:

I shall explain to you what happened. But first I must give you a cup
of tea.

First is to be interpreted here as 'before I explain to you what happened’.

19.9 (ii) Temporal ordering simultaneous with a given time reference:

ADJECTIVES

coexisting (formal), coinciding (formal), concurrent (formal),

contemporary, contemporaneous (formal), simultaneous
 440 From sentence to text

For example:

The death of the President was reported this afternoon on Cairo

radio. A simultaneous announcement was broadcast from
Baghdad.

Here simultaneous means ‘simultaneous with the report of the death of the
President on Cairo radio’.

ADVERBIALS

at this point, concurrently (formal), contemporaneously (formal),

here, in the interim (formal), meantime, meanwhile, in the
meantime, in the meanwhile, now, presently, simultaneously, then,
throughout, and the relative when

For example: /

Several of the conspirators have been arrested but their leader is as

yet unknown. Meanwhile the police are continuing their investi¬
gation into the political sympathies of the group.

Here meanwhile means ‘from the time of the arrests up to the present’.

NOTE [a] The use of presently for time relationship (ii), with the meaning ‘now’, ‘at
present) is very common in AmE. In BrE, presently is more commonly
synonymous with soon.
[b] An example of here as time indicator:

I’ve now been lecturing for over an hour. I’ll stop here since you all look
tired.

19.10 (iii) Temporal ordering subsequent to a given time reference:

ADJECTIVES

ensuing (formal), following, later, next, subsequent (formal),

succeeding (formal), supervening (formal)

For example:

I left him at 10 p.m. and he was almost asleep. But at some later hour
he must have lit a cigarette.

Here later might mean 11 p.m. but equally 4 a.m., a time otherwise called
‘the early hours of the morning’.

ADVERBIALS

after, afterwards, (all) at once, finally, immediately, last, later, next,

since, subsequently (formal), suddenly, them, and the phrases after
that, after this, on the morrow [‘the day after’]
 Tense, aspect, and narrative structure 441

For example:

The manager went to a board meeting this morning. He was then due
to catch a train to London.

NOTE The ordinals constitute a temporal series of adjectives first, second, third.. . with
next as a substitute for any of the middle terms when moving up the series, and
final or last as a substitute for the term marking the end of the series. There is a
corresponding series of conjuncts with first (also at first and, less commonly,
firstly) as the beginning of the set; secondly, etc; next, then, later, afterwards, as
interchangeable middle terms; and finally, lastly, or eventually as markers of the
end of the set (cf general ordinals, 5.10).

Tense, aspect, and narrative structure

19.11 As a further indication of the importance of time in language, all finite

clauses (and many nonfinite ones) carry a discrete indication of tense and
aspect. Although the contrasts involved are severely limited in compari¬
son with adverbial distinctions, they contribute to the textual cohesion
and progression. Compare the different implications in the second part of
what follows:

She told me all about the operation on her hip.

It seemed to have been a success. [1]
It seems to have been a success. [2]

In [1], in accordance with our expectations with respect to sequence of

tenses and backshift (c/14.18), the past ties the second part to the first, and
thus, like this, derives its authority from the woman concerned: Tt seemed
to her . . .’; that is, ‘She was of the opinion that the operation had been
successful5. The possibility of repudiation is therefore open: ‘Unfortuna¬
tely, this is not so5. In [2], by contrast, the present disjoins the second part
and may imply an orientation to the ‘I5 narrator: Tt seems tome...’, 7am
of the opinion . . .’
Alternation of past and present in this way is a regular mode of
switching reference from the ‘then5 of the narrative reference to the ‘now5
of both the narrator and the hearer or reader (some items like parenthetic
you see being confined to this ‘now5):

As a child, I lived in Singapore. It's very hot there, you know,

and I never owned an overcoat. I remember being puzzled at
picture books showing European children wrapped up in
heavy coats and scarves. I believe I thought it all as exotic as
children here think about spacemen’s clothing, you see. [3]

Consider the instances of past tense in this text: lived, owned, thought. Not
merely are these verbs morphologically identical: the text actually
represents the past as being referentially identical. All the verbs refer back
to a stretch of time during which these things were true. Cf Fig 19.11.
 442 From sentence to text

Then Now
_VA___
lived is
(never) owned know
thought remember, etc

Fig 19.11

19.12 But past tenses need refer neither to the same time nor to stretches of time.
With verbs which connote discrete actions, a narrative string of past tenses
will be interpreted as referring to a sequence of events iconically
represented by the sequence of verbs. Consider for example:

Do you want to hear about my adventures last Thursday? I got

up at six, had some coffee, kissed my wife goodbye, and set off
for Rome. I took a taxi and then the underground, arrived at
Heathrow, started to check in my case, patted my pocket and
found-no ticket, no passport. Picked up my case, caught the
underground, got another taxi, arrived at my front door,
rushed in, and of course gave my poor wife the shock of her
life. [1]

This calls for a very different diagram, as shown in Fig 19.12.

Now
«-Thursday-y-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Do
CD -O 4-h 44 T3 TD T3 "O Ph Ah C
HP S3 you
p cd CD 0 <D <D CD C =3 bfi
CD
on bD
43 O > ti > T3 want
on
^ P
O
bO —► 22
a>
00 ’E
cd
93
on
cd
CD
O
c2 <D
44
cd
O
—►
'§
CD
43
C/5 ... ?
'a.

Fig 19.12

NOTE [a] While a sequence of past tenses implies sequential events if the lexical meaning
of the verb makes this plausible as in [2], a sequence of past verbs with progressive
aspect (cf 4.10) can imply simultaneity, as in [3]:

Rene raged with anger. Janet went out for the evening. [2]
Rene was raging with anger. Janet was going out for the evening. [3]

[b] Use of the past perfect (cf4.9) can enable us to reverse the order of sentences in a
text. Note the way in which Time One’ [Ti] precedes T2 in [4], where T2 precedes
Ti in [5]:
There was a sudden violent noise outside [Ti]. John telephoned the
police [T2]. [4]
 iense, aspect, and narrative structure 443

John telephoned the police [T2]. There had been a sudden violent
noise outside [Ti]. [5]

Note also the use of present perfect with simple present, as illustrated in the latter
part of 19.2.

Tense complexity in narrative

19.13 More usually, however, texts comprise much greater time-reference
complexity than the examples in 19.11/show. They will have a mixture of
state verbs and discrete-action verbs; the narrative will weave backwards
and forwards, with a mixture of tenses and aspects, of finite and nonfinite
clauses, enabling the narrator to depart from the linear sequence of
historical order so as both to vary the presentation and to achieve
different (eg dramatic) effects:

I was reading Chaucer’s Troilus the other night, and it

suddenly occurred to me to wonder what Chaucer /exPects 1

(.expected )

us to make of the fact that Criseyde | ^ been widowed,

whereas Troilus j* never even been in love. Surely

this is significant, yet I had never thought of it before. [1]

Chaucer’s the other

time before night

had never thought was reading

.c
U
Chaucer expects

Fig 19.13a

Here we have the additional complication of a narrative about a narrative

within a narrative (see Fig 19.13a). The account of the narrator’s reading
and reflection is itself of some complexity: within a period in the past, a
durative activity (reading) is represented as being interrupted by a sudden
thought. But the thought had significance not merely at the time of
thinking it nor merely during the rest of the reading period; it is
represented as being permanently significant. The appeal to the hearer
(‘Surely ...’) does not connote that is refers only to the now of the speaker
and hearer; there is no room for some such adverbial as at present:
 444 From sentence to text

*Surely this is at present significant.

The narrator is here using the present tense of timeless reference (cf 4.3). It
is the potentiality for such a use of the present that made us give the two
possibilities, ‘Chaucer expects’ and ‘Chaucer expected’. The latter takes
the historical view: a comment on the poet as he wrote in the fourteenth
century. The former treats the Chaucer canon as timeless, permanently
existing.

The fictional
*Now’
(Troilus, Book I)

Fig 19.13b

An analogous choice exists in referring to the fictional narrative of

Chaucer’s poem. In Fig 19.13b, ‘A’ represents the (unknown) period
during which Criseyde has been a widow before the poem begins; ‘B’
represents the longer period (in effect, Troilus’s whole life) during which
Troilus has never been in love. It will be noticed that in this commentary
we have adopted the ‘timeless’ view of the fiction (‘When the poem begins,
Criseyde has been a widow for some time’). In the original example [1], the
past variant was also given, implying a retelling of the story (‘When
Troilus first saw Criseyde, she had been a widow for some time’).

NOTE Narrative introductions like They tell me that . . .’ ‘I hear/gather/understand

that . . impose no constraints upon the tenses to follow.

Special uses of present and past

19.14 We have seen that the present tense can cooccur in textual structure with
two distinct types of time references: ordinary ‘state present’ and universal
‘state present’ (‘timeless’; cf 4.3):

I think she had undergone an operation before I met her. [1]

Troilus is totally fancy-free until he sees Criseyde. [2]

A third type of present, ‘habitual’ (cf 4.3), is common in ordinary

narrative, and it can readily cooccur with past tenses:

I had forgotten that they dine very early and I arrived at an

awkward moment for both them and me. [3]

But there is a further use of the present tense: the so-called ‘historic
present’ (cf 4.4). As well as occurring in rather mannered and formal prose
 Determiners, pro-forms, and ellipsis 445

of an old-fashioned tone, it is common in colloquial spoken narrative,

especially at points of particular excitement. The time reference is
unequivocally past. For example:

It was on the Merritt Parkway just south of New Haven. I was

driving along, half asleep, my mind miles away, and suddenly
there was a screeching of brakes and I catch sight of a car that
had been overtaking me apparently. Well, he doesn’t. He
pulls in behind me instead, and it’s then that I notice a police
car parked on.the side. [4]

NOTE [a] In nonstandard speech, the reporting verb in narrative is often in the historic
present:

‘Where did you put my coat?’ he says. ‘I never touched it,’ I says. [5]

[b] As well as being able to use the present tense to refer to the past, we can
conversely use the past to refer to a narrator’s ‘now’, exploiting that form of
backshift that is referred to as free direct and indirect speech (cf 14.22). Textual
cohesion and congruity of reference are maintained by careful consistency of tense
and aspect usage, present replaced by past, past by past perfect, even in the
prolonged absence of reminders to the hearer/reader in the form of reporting verbs
(‘He reflected . . .’, ‘She said . . .’). For example:

He was suddenly afraid. What on earth was he to do now? How

could he have been so silly as not to tell Sheila he’d forgotten
his keys? [6]

Determiners, pro-forms, and ellipsis

19.15 Let us consider the following independent sentences:

An argument over unilateral disarmament broke out between

them. [1]
An argument over unilateral disarmament finally put an end
to their friendship. [2]

If we wished to make these sentences into a textual whole, there would be

numerous possibilities, even keeping the first part unchanged:

The
^ ~ . f argument finally put an end to
... between them. < This > , . r . ; 5. [3]
j^Th t J their *riendship.

/The
... between them. \ This . . dispute } finally put... [4]
}{c
I That 1 Controversy

r me wissue x
... between them. < This X matter > finally put... [5]
m hat J '-affair )
. . . between them - an argument that finally put. . . [6]
. . . between them, which finally put. . . [7]
 446 From sentence to text

... between them, and | finally put.. [8]

. . . between them, and it finally put... [9]

. . . between them and finally put an end to their friendship. [10]

All these versions have two things in common. They abbreviate the second
part and they connect it with the first part.
In some ways the most straightforward is [6], where a simple and direct
shortening of the first subject phrase is used appositively; c/17.27. There is
something similar in [3], where reduction retains the original head-word of
the noun-phrase argument, but here the coreference with the preceding
subject is indicated not by apposition but by the anaphoric determiners
the, this, or that; cf 5.3f In [4] and [5] coreference is again carried by deixis,
but in [4] the original noun phrase is not merely abbreviated but its head¬
word is replaced by a semantic paraphrase. In [5], on the other hand, the
head-word is replaced by a quasi-pronominal noun of very general
meaning. In [8], anaphoric deixis again points to the coreference, as in [4]
and [5], but this time with the head-word replaced by zero; the
demonstrative this or that is used pronominally; cf 6.19/ In [9], the vaguest
possible pronoun (it) is used, while in [7] a relative pronoun replaces the
earlier noun-phrase subject (cf 17.11). Finally, in [10], there is total
omission of the second subject (cf 13.19).
All eight of [3-10] provide satisfactory coherence of the two parts. It is
perhaps closest in [10], but only at the cost of muting the separate
significance of the second part - in contrast to [3] and [4], for example,
which insist on our considering the beginning of the argument, on the one
hand, as well as its result on the other hand.

Discourse reference: clausal

19.16 Common signals for sentence or clause reference include:

anaphoric and cataphoric: here, it, this

anaphoric only: that, the foregoing (formal)
cataphoric only: as follows, the following, thus (formal)

Anaphoric examples:

Many years ago their wives quarrelled over some trivial matter,
now long forgotten. But one word led to another and the
quarrel developed into a permanent rupture between them.
That is why the two men never visit each other’s houses. [1]
Some students never improve. They get no advice and therefore
they keep repeating the same mistakes. It is a terrible shame. [2]
Students want to be shown connections between facts instead
of spending their time memorizing dates and formulas.
Reflecting this, the university is moving away from large
survey courses and breaking down academic fences in order
to show subjects relating to one another. [3]
 Determiners, pro-forms, and ellipsis 447

Cataphoric examples:

This should interest you, if you’re still keen on boxing. The

world heavyweight championship is going to be held in
Chicago next June, so you should be able to watch it live. [4]
Here is the news. A diplomat was kidnapped last night in
London . . . [radio announcement] [5]
It never should have happened. He went out and left the
baby unattended. [6]
My arguments are as follows ... [7]

In some instances, we can replace the reference signal by a corresponding

f/z<3/-clause. For example, that in [1] could be said to refer to a that-c\aMSt
which corresponds to the immediately preceding clause:

. . . That the quarrel developed into a permanent rupture

between them is why the two men ... [la]

In [2], on the other hand, it could be said to stand for the whole of the two
preceding sentences. In [5], here could refer forward to a following
discourse of indeterminate length, and this is usual with cataphoric
signals.

NOTE [a] Above and below are used for discourse reference to refer to (written) units of
varying length, but not necessarily to immediately neighbouring parts of the
discourse:

. . . the arguments given below [perhaps referring to several sentences]

... the question mentioned above

The above but not *the below can be used as a noun phrase:

The above illustrates what we mean by . . .

[b] The nonrestrictive relative clause, with a previous clause or sentence as the
antecedent of introductory which (cf 17.12), is sometimes made into a separate
orthographic sentence. Which is then an anaphoric signal equivalent to (and)
that:

She's borrowed a history book. Which suggests her teacher is having some
influence on her.

[c] In some (especially disapproving or ironic) contexts, that can be used

cataphorically:

that’s what I like to see: a chap who enjoys his work.

Otherwise, that is used anaphorically.

[d] In informal spoken English, what can have cataphoric reference when it is the
direct object of know in a question, or guess in a directive, or tell in a statement:

(Do you) Know what?

He won’t pay up.
Guess WHAT.

(I’ll) Tell you what: I’ve forgotten the keys!

 448 From sentence to text

[e] In legal English the said, the (aforementioned, and the aforesaid are used for
anaphoric reference, the last two both as a premodifier (‘the aforementioned
provisions’) and as a noun phrase. In the latter function, they would normally refer
to a previous noun phrase with personal reference.

Formulaic utterance
19.17 While deictic reference and ellipted matter must, from a grammatical
viewpoint, be recoverable (cf 12.2), discourse permits a good deal of
vagueness. This is especially common in informal conversation, not least
in the semi-formulaic responses to expressions of thanks, apology,
inquiry, and the like. Consider how difficult it would be to specify the
precise references or the exact ellipses in the following responses:

A: Thank you very much.

B: Not at all.
Not a bit.
Don’t mention it.
You’re WELcome. <esp AmE)

A: I’m terribly sorry.

B: Not at all. \
Not a bit. > [2]
It’s nothing. '

A: I wonder if you’d mind coming and taking some dictation?

/ Of course.
] Surely. <esp AmE)

Bf OK

R,GHT0}<espBrE>
v WILL DO J
(informal)
, Mrs Stewart. [3]

A: Would you mind my asking if you’ve ever taken drugs,

Mr Hoover?
B: Absolutely not. [4]

A: You wouldn’t know a fortune-teller around here,

I suppose?
} ctry me. [5]
B:
\Try me. [6]
In [5] the implication is that B knows one (Try asking if I know one’); in
[6], B is saying that he himself can tell fortunes. In [4], only the context
could clarify whether B is saying that he ‘absolutely (does) not (mind)’, or
that it is ‘absolutely not’ true that he has taken drugs. In [3], the formulaic
response Will do\ is a conventional way of saying T will do as you request’,
and B has interpreted (correctly, of course) A’s polite inquiry as a request.
In (1] and [2], the reference of it, in Don't mention it, It’s nothing, is
doubtless anaphoric in some way. But in the first line of [7], it is cataphoric
if almost equally vague in its reference; the initial imperative by B is little
 Determiners, pro-forms, and ellipsis 449

naore than an informal attention-requesting signal, a more severe form of

which includes a cataphoric here:

A: By the way, Cynthia. It’s awful of me, I know. But would

you be able to look after my dog while I’m away next
week?
B: (Now look) (Here), this is the third time you’ve left me
with your dog. [7]

Within sentence sequences that are strictly alike from a grammatical point
of view, a discourse pronoun can have sharply different reference:

She hoped he would not mention her unfortunate marriage.

(couRTeous of him. [8]
Tt )
This > would be very ^ couRTeous of him in a way,
That ) ^ of course. [8a]
In [8], the reference is to the predication including the negative (‘His not
mentioning the marriage would be courteous’). In [8a], the reference
excludes the negative (‘His mentioning the marriage would be courteous’).
It is only the pragmatic implications of the hedging adverbial in a way and
the concessive of course that leads us to this interpretation.

NOTE An interesting use of cataphoric it in textual structure is in the cleft sentence device
(c/18.18#):

It was at 9.15 this morning that the government proclaimed a state

of emergency. [9]
It was on their way from the airport that Gillian dropped the
bombshell. In carefully casual tones, she asked him if he would
agree to a divorce. [10]

In [9], it is unlikely that the narrator wishes to highlight the time adjunct: rather,
the textual device is pointing to the climax at the end of the sentence. In [10], the
same applies, but with a double cataphora: the bombshell which ends the first!
sentence is climactically explained in the sentence that follows.

Discourse reference: noun phrases

19.18 Certain determiners are used to signal that a noun phrase is referentially
equivalent to a previous noun phrase (cf 5.4/):

the this-these that-those

Such noun phrases may be discourse abstractions, and the heads may
either be identical as in [1] or nominalizations (17.23) that add lexical
variation as in [2]:

She set up a hypothesis that chemotherapy destroyed the will to

live as well as the unwanted cells. This hypothesis attracted
the attention of . . . [1]
Deconstructionism holds that knowledge about literature is
 450 From sentence to text

strictly unattainable . . . This doctrine is puzzling in several

respects. [2]

It is not always certain, however, when such a reference is to a previous

noun phrase or is a nominalization of a wider, clausally expressed
proposition. The text from which [2] is quoted is a case in point. As
presented in the abbreviated form of [2], doctrine seems to refer back
unambiguously to deconstructionism and be a lexical variant of it. But in
the original, there are several lines where we have indicated the
curtailment, and these include the following:

We must therefore abandon the old-fashioned quest to discover

what a given author was trying to communicate. [2a]

The reference of this doctrine must therefore include, not merely the
specific abstract deconstructionism, but the speculated consequence which
the author went on to state. A fuller version might therefore read:

This doctrine of deconstructionism and the need to abandon the

old-fashioned quest... is puzzling in several respects. [2b]

When such is used, the intention is often to indicate disapproval (which

may be sympathetic):

We visited the Browns yesterday and heard their complaints

about the condition of the house they live in. I never heard
such a sorry tale. [3]
. . . such a rigmarole. [3a]
... of such wretchedness. [3b]

In [3] and [3a], the reference is primarily to the complaints, [3a] lexically
indicating impatience rather than sympathy; in [3b] the reference is rather
to the condition, with an implication of the speaker’s sympathy.

NOTE Use of the former and the latter is largely confined to (rather formal) noun-phrase
reference:

They were full of resentment because no one came to visit them and also
because their roof was leaking. I helped them over the latter [ie about the
roof] and promised to let some friends know about the former [ie the
complaint about neglect].

For broader reference, both phrases might be expanded to include a noun head:

I helped them over the latter issue and promised to let some friends know
about the former problem.

19.19 So and that can have anaphoric reference when they are intensifies
premodifying an adjective (that so used is informal and often criticized):

There were two thousand people in the theatre. I didn’t

 Determiners, pro-forms, and ellipsis 451

expect it to be | full. [1]

I had a terrible headache yesterday and had to take some

aspirins. I’m not feeling | bad today. P]

We took them to a circus, and then to a zoo, and gave them

lots of ice-cream and chocolate. They haven’t had ^ ^

good a time for years. [3]

Such is used more commonly than so or that when (as in [3]) the adjective
accompanies a noun phrase, but such is followed by normal noun-phrase
order:

. . . They haven’t had such a good time for years. [3a]

Note the different implications when this, that, and so are used as
intensifies; this has present orientation, that past orientation (both being
informal), while so is neutral both temporarily and stylistically. Compare:
rthis \
Did you expect <! that >many people?-

Personal pronouns
19.20 As explained in 6.10, we has several possible noun-phrase references. In
discourse, we are concerned chiefly with the ‘inclusive’ we (as in the
present sentence), and with the ‘exclusive’ we as in:

Will you stay here while we go for a policeman? [1]

In formal writing, and frequently indeed in the present book, we

‘inclusive’ and we ‘exclusive’ can cooccur. The former accompanies verbs
implying shared knowledge (understand, see, appreciate, etc), the latter
verbs of communication (say, state, write, etc). It would be possible to use
both in the same sentence, though this would usually be avoided:

We see now why we expressed reservations earlier. [2]

In [2], the second we is exclusive, the first inclusive or even (as often)
indefinite and roughly equivalent to a more formal one or the reader.
The indefinite use of you and the you of direct 2nd person address (cf
6.12) can also cooccur. In [3], the first you is indefinite, the second makes
direct address:

In fourteenth-century England, you had-a very poor chance

of being taught to read, you see. [3]

Unlike the two uses of we, however, you is rather rare in formal writing
and the indefinite use is virtually excluded. The same applies to the
 452 From sentence to text

indefinite use of they; in formal styles, they in [4] would refer only to the
council authorities, where informally it is more plausible with indefinite
reference:

I intend to ask the council authorities why they are digging

up the road again. [4]

In place of the informal indefinite you, there is one, but it can be used only
sparingly without making a piece of writing (or even more so a spoken
utterance) sound intolerably pompous. This is perhaps especially
constraining in BrE, which lacks in general the facility (now in any case
frowned on for social reasons) of replacing one by he in second and
subsequent use:

One cannot control one's temper easily if one is discussing a

matter over which one has feelings of guilt or great personal
involvement. <esp BrE) [5]

NOTE In [5], we could have in AmE: One ...his. ..he ...he... Other indefinite pronouns
such as anyone, everybody can be followed by he in both AmE and BrE, but this is
vulnerable to the objection of seeming to have a male orientation, while the use of
they to refer back to these indefinites is open to the objection of seeming
ungrammatical in the switch from singular to plural. It is therefore largely
confined to spoken (esp informal) usage.

Comparison
19.21 Signals of comparison and contrast play a frequent part in providing
textual coherence. Most can be regarded as involving ellipsis {cfll.lAff).
The most obvious comparison signal is found in adjectives and adverbs,
whether in the inflected forms or in the periphrastic forms with more,
most, as, less, least (c/7.39). If the basis of comparison {cf 15.36) is not
made explicit in the clause, it must be inferred from the previous context:

John took four hours to reach London. Bill, on the other

hand, was driving more slowly. [1]
Mary used to listen to records most of the time. Sally was a
more serious student. [2]
There were ten boys in the group. Bob was by far the best. [3]
Barbara dances beautifully. Jack dances no less well [4]
Gwen always hands in a well-constructed and intelligent paper.
Em afraid Joan doesn’t expend as much effort and time on
her papers. [5]

We can demonstrate the anaphoric reference by supplying the basis of

comparison:

. . . more slowly than John (drove). [la]

... a more serious student than Mary (was). [2a]
. . . the best (of the ten boys) (in the group). [3a]
... no less well than Barbara (dances). [4a]
 The textual role of adverbials 453

... as much effort and time on her papers as Gwen (expends

on her papers). [5a]

So too with expressions of similarity or difference; these may involve the

use of equative and antithetic conjuncts (7/8.44). For example:

Mrs White was the victim of a confidence trick. Bill was

cheated ^differently. |
lin the same way. j [6]
Tom gets ten dollars a week for pocket money. Bob receives
a similar amount. m
Mrs Hayakawa complained that the roof leaked and the
windows fitted badly, so that the place was freezing cold. Her
husband complained likewise. [8]
Jim behaved himself at the party. However, the other boy
had to be sent home. [9]
Fred didn’t like the car. He asked to see a different one. [10]
We can display the basis of similarity or difference:

. . . very differently from the way in which Mrs Whites

was (cheated). > [6a]
. . . in the same way as Mrs White (was (cheated)). '
. . . an amount similar to what Tom receives. [7a]
. . . complained about the same things as Mrs Hayakawa
(complained about). [8a]
. . . the boy other than Jim . . . [9a]
. . . see one different from the car he didn’t like. [10a]

NOTE Expressions involving respective(ly), mutual(ly), converse(ly), opposite (-ly is

rare), etc, effect considerable neatness and economy in discourse:

Brahms and Verdi wrote orchestral and operatic music, respectively.

The chairman and the guest speaker expressed their mutual admiration.
Mary told Harry that she never wanted to see him again. He reciprocated,
but with even greater bitterness.
I thought that Oregon had a greater rainfall than British Columbia, but
Caroline says the opposite.

The textual role ©f adverbials

19.22 InT 9.17 we saw in example [8a] the communicative impact of the inserted
adverbials in a way and of course. While the basic functions of adverbials
are set out in Chapter 8, we need here to emphasize their dual role in
textual structure: interpreting the text to the hearer/reader (eg in
encouraging a particular attitude), and expressing the relevant connection
 454 From sentence to text

between one part of a text and another. The former is achieved primarily
by subjuncts and disjuncts (c/8.32/f, 8.40#), the latter by conjuncts (cf
8.43/). Consider the following:

My dog is fourteen |old and a he is very frisky. [1]

Given the appropriate general knowledge, the choice of months or years

Will determine the aptness of adverbials that might be added at the
insertion sign: of course or naturally on the one hand; yet, still, surprisingly
enough on the other. A further example.

ris an entomologist.
My next-door neighbour ^ is a travelling salesman.
'-works for an oil company.
A He knows more about treating mosquito bites than
anyone I’ve ever met. [2]

The second sentence of [2] might be preceded by Not surprisingly, but this
would seem appropriate only if we knew what an entomologist was, or if
we connected travelling salesmen or oil executives with experience of
mosquito-ridden areas. Preceding the second sentence with All the same or
Nonetheless would obviously have very different implications.
But the postulated insertions in [1] and [2] would serve not only to nudge
the hearer in the direction of adopting a particular attitude or to let the
hearer know something of the speaker’s attitude: they would also indicate
the nature of the connection between the two parts of each text. Without
the adverbials, each text is presented as offering two pieces of information;
in this spirit, the second parts might have read respectively:

. . . and he sleeps in the kitchen. [la]

... He got married last week to a former girlfriend of mine. [2a]

In other words, the connection is thematic only, in the sense of 19.2. With
the adverbials inserted, the second part of each text is shown to be (as the
original versions might chance to be interpreted as being) specifically
related to the preceding rheme, either as a natural consequence or as a
surprising paradox.

NOTE Since of course can hint at incongruity (concession: ‘admittedly’) instead of

expressing congruity, [1] might still be a well-formed text as:

My dog is fourteen years old and of course he is very frisky (still)

(, though I think he’s beginning to show his age). [lb]

This use of of course commonly expresses superficial agreement with what has
preceded, while at the same time hinting at a more fundamental disagreement. For
example:

The treasurer is of course absolutely right to draw attention to the

error in my presentation. On the other hand, I wonder whether he is not
 The feKfuaS role of adverbials 455

using this lapse of mine to prevent discussion of the serious issue

involved. [3]

Other adverbials that can convey such implications include admittedly, certainly,
doubtless, undeniably, undoubtedly. Of these, doubtless is particularly barbed.

19.23 Responses in dialogue often begin with an adverbial which indicates the
direction of transition between what has just been said and what is about
to be said. On transitional conjuncts, c/8.44. For example:

A: That man speaks extremely good English.

B: Yet^ } comes prom a yipa&e Mongolia.

In one sense, the content of B’s response is identical whether it begins as [1]
or [2]. It presents an additional fact about the man, and without the
adverbial, B’s response would have only a thematic link with A’s
statement. With either of the adverbials inserted, however, B is making a
significant comment not merely on the man but on the propensity of
villagers in Mongolia to speak good English. If he begins with Well, he
implies that it is an established fact {Well, of course!) that Mongolian
villages provide excellent bases for learning English. If he begins with Yet,
he implies that the man’s good command of English was despite his
Mongolian upbringing.

NOTE [a] The use of well is itself context-dependent, however. It would be perfectly
plausible to use well in [1] as a very different transition {Well, now!) so as to
connote ‘Well, I’ll tell you something surprising: he actually comes from a village
in Mongolia’. Such an antithetic-concessive transition (c/8.44) is implicit in the
frequent note of reservation struck by the use of well. Consider a converse
exchange of remarks on the same subject:

A: That man is from Mongolia.

B( [2a] Yet5 } he spealcs extremely §00<i English.

Here, both [la] and [2a] would connote ‘Despite that...’. There is in fact no one-
word adverbial to express the relationship of the original [1] at [la]; we would have
to resort to a fully clausal expression, as in:

So that explains why /, ,

Now I understand why / e Sp S‘ * *

[b] Elliptical responses (c/ 19.17) often contain an obligatory connective; for
example (where in [4] intonation enables us to dispense with the use of an
adverbial):

JHave a good weekend!

\How nice to see you again!

fYou too! [3]

1 AND you! [4]
 456 From sentence to text

Adverbials as structural indicators

19.24 Basic relational structures depend rather heavily on adverbial pointers,

especially when any great degree of complexity is involved.

(a) General to particular. Any of the following would usefully assist the
relationship at the insert mark in [1]:

for example thus even indeed

Many of the audience became openly hostile. A My uncle

wrote a letter to the management next day. [1]

(b) Progression: According as the progression is locational, temporal,

or logical, adverbials both help to indicate the direction and mark the
successive stages. For example:

First, boil the rice in well-salted water; drain it immediately.

Next, warm the lightly buttered base of a small pie-dish. You
may now put the rice in the dish. Then add the cheese, tomato,
and onion. The pie is at last ready to be put in the oven. [2]

(c) Compatibility: It is frequently important to mark the match or

mismatch between two parts of a text. Consider the presence or absence of
(for example) so too in [3]:

The ordinary saw is not easy to use. A A plane demands

years of careful practice. [3]

Similarly, a contrastive conjunct (c/8.44) such as on the other hand in the

variant [3a]:

The ordinary saw is not easy to use. A A hammer is

something that any novice can handle. [3a]

19.25 Different discourse strategies will likewise call for different adverbial
indicators. A ‘step’ technique is simplest, following as it does a progressive
relation as in [2], 19.24. With a ‘chain’ mode, however, it is particularly
helpful to point to the existence and direction of transitions in the
structure. Thus (using adverbial linkage more densely than is usual or
desirable):

Hamlet poignantly represents the indecisions that plague us all.

Admittedly, indecision is not the worst of our ills. Indeed, in
some ways decisiveness can be more damaging. At any rate,
many people have come to grief that way ... [1]

In a text of ‘stack’-like structure, the ‘layers’ may call for enumeration

(first, at the outset, fundamentally: secondly, next, . . still more
importantly...), but it is especially desirable to draw the hearer’s attention
to what is to be regarded as the most crucial point: thus, all in all, finally,
last but by no means least (though this alliterative conjunct is too
 Coordination and subordination 457

hackneyed for a resounding climax), in conclusion, and many others.

A ‘balance’ strategy, like the chain, requires adverbial pointers both to
assist the sense of rhetorical balance and to ensure that the author’s
presuppositions match those of the audience. Consider the following:

I am always thrilled at the prospect of having a mid-winter

break in Switzerland. A The weather is often quite warm ... [2]

It might not be at all clear whether the second sentence of [2] contributed
to the pleasure (vision of deckchairs) or was a counterbalancing
unwelcome aspect (poor weather for skiing); in other words, we have left
inadequate indication of compatibility. For the balance strategy, we need
to insert at the marked place some such indicator as granted, admittedly,
true, of course, even so, etc. Most frequently, the balanced movement is
indicated by the items on the one hand, on the other (hand), but there is
usually a goal resembling that of the ‘stack’ and so demanding a final
summative such as all in all (c/8.44).

Coordination and subordination

19.26 In 19.2 we pointed out that two utterances .gave the impression of being
textually related, even when juxtaposed without any formal indicator of
connection. Asyndetic relation of this kind, moreover, raises the
expectation that the second utterance followed the first as an iconic
representation of being sequential in time or consequential in reasoning -
and often both, as in:

He ate too much for dinner. He was ill the next day. [1]

A simple coordination (cf 13.17) of the two not only links them more
firmly (since more formally); it can also enable us to show that a third
utterance in the sequence is less closely linked to the second than the
second is to the first; and, further, that the first and second form a sub¬
unity which as a whole has a relation to the third:

He ate too much for dinner and he was ill the next day. He
decided to be less greedy in future. [2]

But since a result or conclusion seems in some sense more important than
the factors leading to the result or conclusion, it is natural to seek a
linguistic emblem of this hierarchical relation by subordinating one part
to the other instead of coordinating the one with the other:

Because he ate too much for dinner, he was ill the next day. [3]

In [3], we have not merely made the first part of [1] the explicit reason for
the second {Because), we have grammatically expressed the connection by
 458 From sentence to text

making a totally new unit where the second part is the main clause of a
complex sentence in which the original first part is reduced to the role of
adjunct (c/8.13).

19.27 English has four monosyllabic connective items which semantically

belong together as constituting a symmetry of two related subsystems:

and: what precedes is congruent

but\ what precedes is incongruent (cf 13.13)
so: what follows is a consequence
for: what follows is a reason (ie what precedes is a consequence)

For example:

The rain has stopped, and she’s gone for a walk. [1]
The rain hasn’t stopped, but she’s gone for a walk. [2]
The rain has stopped, so she’s gone for a walk. [3]
She’s gone for a walk, for the rain has stopped. [4]

This last is rather unnatural since the conjoins are so short. In any case, the
symmetry is imperfect in several respects. In [1], [2], and [4], we have
conjunctions (cf *and but, *and for); in [3], we have a conjunct (cf: and so).
Moreover, and and but are distributionally distinct, and demanding in
some respects greater structural similarity between the coordinated parts.
Compare:

?*The rain has stopped and let’s go for a walk. [5]

The rain hasn’t stopped but let’s go for a walk. [6]

In this respect, although we normally think of and and but as closely

related converses, the converse of but is in fact so:

The rain has stopped (and) so let’s go for a walk.

Most significantly (from the viewpoint of text cohesion), the symmetry is

imperfect in that for is a much less frequently used connective than the
other three: textual structure is resistant to stating a consequence in
advance of the condition. In the event of this order being desirable, it is
more usual to make the condition structurally subordinate to (rather than
coordinate with) the consequence:

fbeCaUSe } the rain has stopped. m

She s gone for a walk, < since J [7J
Mhe rain having (at last) stopped.

Even so, the prior condition would often be stated first:

Since the rain has stopped, she’s gone for a walk. [8]

Pairs arid triads

19.28 One of the ways in which coordination is exploited in textual structure is
to assist the desire for parallelism and balance. For example:
 Coordination and subordination 459

These terrorists have destroyed their credibility. They resisted

arrest and then they gave themselves up. They went on a
hunger strike and then they started taking food. Some of
them claim that they are all nationalists and some of them
claim that they are all opposed to nationalism. [1]

We note that the last three sentences in [1], each with clauses coordinated
by and, form a triad, a rhetorical pattern that seems to be widely attractive.
Coordination achieves the seemingly impossible task of giving three units
equal status and yet of making the third climactic; for example:

She cleaned the room, (she) made a birthday cake, and (she)
finished preparing a lecture. [2]

But the climax of the third part may express a point which is strongly
counter-consequential and concessive:

She works ten hours a day in the clinic, she spends ages
helping him with his thesis, and he calls her lazy! [3]

The balanced units, whether in pairs or threes, may of course be

coordinated subordinate clauses:

Because you’re tired, because you’re lonely, and because you’re

depressed, I want to insist on your coming to stay with us for
a week or so. [4]

Subordinate coordination, however, is especially associated with alterna¬

tives rather than accretions. For this reason, pairing is very common since
this gives the convenient impression of a total or very general polarization:

He doesn’t know whether his wife is unhappy because the

baby died or whether she’s just no longer in love with him. [5]
When you’re lonely or when you’re unhappy for other
reasons, listening to music can be a great consolation. [6]

Questions too can be linked to form a satisfyingly coherent sequence:

Did he jump or was he pushed? [7]

Will they arrive on time, will they listen carefully, and will
they enjoy our performance? [8]

NOTE [a] Of course, in ordinary unambitious writing and in familiar speech, coordina¬
tion is used without striving for the balanced effects on which we have been
concentrating in this section. But the momentum and implications of sequence,
the relative cohesion of explicit coordination, and the contrasting entailments of
the chief coordinating conjunctions are inherent in even the least self-conscious
discourse.
[b] Informal conversation is characterized by an overtly uncompleted pairing,
especially through unfinished ^-coordinations. These often occur where one
speaker is effectively inviting another participant to speak. It can give a pleasantly
apologetic and self-effacing tone:
 460 From sentence to text

A: My wife’s not been feeling too well. She’s seen the doctor, though,
and he’s told her it’s nothing serious. But (er) [trails off into silence]
B: I’m sorry to hear about this. [9]

A’s speech might equally have ended: ‘But I don’t know ...’ or ‘But don’t let’s talk
about our little problems’ or ‘But how’s the book going?’ These all have in
common: ‘But: let’s change the subject.’
[c] Only and, or, and asyndeton can be used to form triads.

Contrasting coordination and subordination

19.29 In several of the examples provided in 19.28, coordination has been used
along with subordination. This is in fact textually representative.
Although from the viewpoint of grammar these two types of clause
relation are thought of as alternatives, and although coordination is a far
more frequently occurring form of cohesive device, it is normal to find
both types in any text of a few lines (or a few seconds) in extent. It is
particularly rare to find a text with subordination but without coordi¬
nation.
It is the flexible use of both devices that endows a text with variety of
expression on the one hand, and with a well-ordered presentation of
information on the other. The combination also enables one to achieve a
high degree of complexity within a single, unified whole. For example:

Although I know it’s a bit late to call, seeing your light still on
and needing to get your advice if you’d be willing to help me,
I parked the car as soon as I could find a place and ventured
to come straight up without ringing the bell because, believe
me, I didn’t want to add waking your baby to the other
inconveniences I’m causing you. [1]

Taking nonfinite as well as finite clauses into account, there are nearly
twenty clauses in this example, which, without any pretensions to
elegance, is grammatically well formed as well as being textually coherent.
And while it is often thought that a single sentence of such complexity
belongs only to the most formal styles of written English, the example [1 ] is
in fact only slightly edited from the transcribed form of an actual spoken
utterance in informal conversation. Again, it is sometimes put as a
generalization that nonfinite clauses are characteristic of formal texts,
finite clauses of less formal ones. There is some truth in this so far as -ing
adverbial clauses are concerned, especially those with subject, and
especially passive clauses with subject:

The rain having (at last) stopped, she’s gone for a walk. [2]
The play now having been reviewed, no one can ignore it. [3]
Having now seen the play myself‘ I agree that it is rather weak. [4]

Contrast:

Since the rain has stopped, she’s gone for a walk. [2a]
Now that the play has been reviewed, no one can ignore it. [3a]
 Prosody and pynctyafion 461

Now that I have seen the play myself ’ I agree that it is rather
weak. [4a]

But it is not true for nominal ~ing clauses:

Finding you at home is a great surprise. [5]

He didn’t mind waiting for them in the rain. [6]

In fact [5] and [6] are decidedly less formal than:

That I (should) find you at home is a great surprise. [5a]

He didn’t mind that he waited [was waiting, had to wait] for
them in the rain. [6a]

NOTE With to-infinitive clauses, the finite verb correspondences (to the extent that they
exist) are almost always more formal in tone. For example:

To close the doors, just press the green button. [7]

In order that you may close the doors, merely press the green button. [7a]

Again, there are verbless clauses that can occur in the most natural and informal
usage:

When in doubt, you should consult a doctor.

Though decidedly scared, I kept my voice steady.
He hadn’t much money, if any.

Prosody and punctuation

19.30 Consider the written sequence:

I smiled at the supervisor and she greeted me. [1]

It would be possible to utter this with two markedly different prosodic

realizations, reflecting different interpretations and different bases of
linkage:

. . . and she GREETed me [la]

. . . and she greeted me [lb]

In [la], there is lexical contrast between the two parts; a verbal greeting is
indicated: something actually heard in contrast to the silent smile in the
first part of the text. In [lb], greeted is merely a lexical variant of smiled:
the smile was a greeting and there was some kind of greeting in response.
This is prosodically indicated by greeted having no intonational promi¬
nence; it is ‘given’ informationally (cf 18.4), whereas in [la] greeted is
contrastive and ‘new’, as is indicated by the intonational nucleus. In [lb]
what is new is neither the participants nor the verbal action but only the
reciprocation; the roles are reversed and hence the subject and object
pronouns are intonationally highlighted. But the endings of both [la] and
 462 From sentence to text

[lb] are equally dependent in their different ways on the preceding parts to
which they are linked.
While there is a direct relation between speech and writing, as also
(broadly) between prosodic features of speech and the punctuation
devices of writing, the former must be given precedence in each case. In
fact, as we see from [1] above, it is impossible to understand a written text
until we assign to it a prosody - silently or aloud.
Since such prosodic features as stress, rhythm, and intonation have to
do with information processing (cf2.\3ff, 18.3//, it follows that prosody
is a vitally important factor in textual coherence.

The Independence of prosody

19.31 The central place of prosodic features is emphasized throughout this
book, and in the present chapter they are best illustrated along with the
grammatical features they accompany. But we should note that prosodic
variables are to some extent quite independent of the particular words
used - and indeed no actual words need be used.
It is a characteristic of even the most one-sided conversation that the
speaker expects a response, though this may be realized only prosodically,
without institutional ‘words’:

A: So I told him that it was none of his business and that I

would do as I pleased.
B: | m | [l]
A: After all, it’s not as if I still owed him money.
B: | m I P]
A: I repaid him that money I borrowed - well, nearly all of it,
so I’m no longer under any obligation to him.
B: | m | [3]
In [1], B is assuring A with his falling tone (c/2.15) that he follows (and
perhaps agrees with) what A is saying. In [2], however, the rising tone
indicates surprise or a question or some form of challenge; it is apparently
enough to divert A from his thread of discourse to tell B about the loan
repayment. In [3], B’s fall-rise indicates understanding, but with only
qualified assent, and A’s next utterance might well go further into the
morality of the position as he sees it. All three of B’s contributions are
textually important and in some circumstances their absence would bring
the discourse to a halt: A would be puzzled, or he might be offended, at B’s
silence. On the telephone, he would have interrupted himself to ask ‘Are
you still there?’ or ‘Can you hear me all right?’

19.32 Irrespective of response-dependence (and in radio discourse, no response

is usually possible), a speaker prosodically empathizes with the hearer in
numerous ways. Pauses are helpfully introduced after completing a
significant information unit; this indicates the end of what may be called a
prosodic ‘paragraph’, and such a termination will be marked by being
 Prosody and punctuation 463

given a specially long curve to an intonation nucleus (usually a fall). Or a

pause may be introduced immediately before a lexical item which the
speaker feels may be unfamiliar or which he wishes to be heard clearly:

The library has hundreds of extremely valuable books

including several [pause] incuNABula. [1]
By contrast he may tactfully increase the tempo over parts of his discourse
that he expects will be particularly familiar or which he modestly wishes to
be treated as rather unimportant. As with B in [3] of 19.31, a speaker will
use a fall-rise to hint at reservation and uncertainty, so that a contrast
would be heard with the all-embracing summative conjunct (c/8.44) in:

On the whole my childhood was a happy one. [2]

On the whole my childhood was a happy one. [3]

In [2] we have a confident statement, in [3] it is hedged with some doubt. A

rising tone will especially be heard, however, to indicate clearly that
something is to follow: a main clause, a further item in a list, and the like. It
will also be used in direct appeals for the listener’s cooperation and
understanding, in such cases the rise being rather narrow in range and
each appeal having lower prominence than the surrounding text. For
example:

I had no idea where she had gone, you see - and I could
hardly wait there all night, m [4]

One final general point may be made. We saw in 19.31 that prosodic
features could be used without actual words. In a similar way, prosody
enables us to dispense with words that would be necessary for clarity in a
written version of the same text. The two following utterances are
obviously very different:

And so it’s just possible that she’s ill. [5]

And so she may be actually ill. [6]

A single string of fewer words could convey the difference by assigning

different prosody:

And so she may be ill [5a]

And so she may be ill [6a]

Punctuation

The paragraph
19.33 Although in this book we repeatedly emphasize the primacy of speech
over writing, and of prosody over punctuation, we have to recognize that
many types of text take shape first on paper and have their normal
realization in graphic form. Punctuation thus has a greater interest for the
study of texts than for linguistics as a whole, where it can be generally
 464 From sentence to text

looked upon as a rather inadequate substitute for the range of

phonologically realized prosodic features at our disposal.
In considering the grammatical system of English, we think in terms of
such units as sentence, clause, and phrase. From a textual viewpoint,
however, such distinctions are not particularly relevant: the difference
between sentence and clause, for example. What is more significant is that
there are textual units that cannot be recognized at all in grammar, and
only the smallest of them can be recognized prosodically as units. Written
texts may be in volumes, parts, chapters, sections: and few are so short as
not to comprise more than one paragraph (itself a unit only uncertainly
matched in prosodic terms).
A paragraph has on the one hand a relatively strong sense of internal
coherence, and on the other a relatively loose linkage with the textual
material before and after it. Consider the following fragment of text:

. . . and that was how I came to have some weeks observing the
behaviour of their eight-year-old son. He broke eggs on the
carpet. He twisted his kitten’s tail till it mewed in angmsh. He put
garbage in his parents’ bed and burned holes in his sister’s clothes,
(i) He was extraordinarily [adjective], (ii) His parents intended to
send him to a special school . . .

According to the adjective we supply at the bracketed segment, either (i)

or (ii) could be a fitting place to begin a new paragraph.
If the adjective is wicked, naughty, ill-behaved, we might well start a new
paragraph at (ii). The preceding part would have had a stack-like
structure and the sentence 4He was extraordinarily ill-behaved’ would
fittingly round it off with a rather self-evident conclusion.
If, on the other hand, the adjective is intelligent, gifted, musical, or some
other item not suggested by the account of his behaviour, then (i) would be
a fitting - one might say essential - point at which to begin a new
paragraph. This would reveal a totally different aspect of the boy, and the
text might go on to describe the special school at which his intelligence or
other positive gifts could be suitably developed.

The sentence
19.34 In an analogous way, the decision to divide a paragraph into orthographic
sentences depends on how the writer wishes these smaller sections of the
text to be seen in relation to each other: intimately linked as though
naturally indissociable (no punctuation); closely associated but separate
(comma or semicolon, according to degree); relatively separate (pointed
as independent sentences). Compare the different implications of the
following:

I saw Miriam and Walter. [1]

I saw Miriam, and Walter. [2]
I saw Miriam - and Walter! [3]
I saw Miriam. And Walter. [4]
 8 he part played by questions 465

In [1], the normal and expected form, it seems to be suggested that Miriam
and Walter are a couple who regularly appear together. This is not so in
[2-4], where the punctuation may carry various implications according to
the larger context. In [2], the two persons are being listed; in [3], the sight of
Walter in addition to Miriam is given special and dramatic significance; in
[4], Walter seems to be mentioned as an afterthought. But the suggested
motivations for [3] and [4] might be expressed by either of the punctuation
forms according to the taste of the writer or his belief in their
communicative impact on the reader. Since punctuation is subject to fairly
rigorous convention, many writers hesitate to show individuality,
originality, or rhetorical effects by this means. Instead they will select
grammatical constructions and carefully selected lexical items which they
hope may achieve effects that in speech would be without difficulty
indicated by prosodic features. Punctuation choices are made (along with
grammatical and lexical ones) in the hope of providing the reader with the
cues necessary for assigning the prosody that the writer would himself
have used in uttering the text aloud.
But as readers we have an obligation too. In listening to a spoken text,
we automatically respond to the prosodic features that help to mould its
structure. When we read, we have to create those prosodic features from
the visual print. Stumbling as we read is a common experience: the further
context then tells us of an earlier misinterpretation and we have to go back
and reread a portion of the text, redistributing our imagined internal
stresses and nuclei. Sometimes the fault is in the ineptness of the writer,
but often it lies in our lack of sympathetic alertness to the textual structure
in front of us.

The part played by questions

19.35 There is a sense in which it is true to say T can’t tell you anything till you’ve
asked me something’. In other words, what we choose to talk about
depends crucially on what we think our hearer does not know but wants to
know. Even conversations in which a participant keenly wishes to talk and
inform (rather than listen and be informed) will frequently begin with a
question. For example, as a conversation-initial gambit:

Have you heard about Mr Malloy? [1]

The questioner will be alert to the reply in two quite separate respects:
whether his companion has heard about Mr Malloy, and whether he
seems to want to hear. Only if the questioner is satisfied on both counts,
will he launch forth - and even so, without prompting by questions in the
course of his account (‘What was the weather like?’ ‘When did you hear
this?’ ‘Why didn’t Rita Malloy . . .?’), the speaker would soon falter,
 466 From sentence to text

fearing that he has lost his companion’s interest or not knowing which
aspects of the narrative to develop and which to ignore.
In the absence of questions from a companion, a speaker may insert
them for himself and in written materials, the author has no option. The
motive is partly information processing (cf 19.40/), that is, providing a
focus closely similar to that attained by the pseudo-cleft {cf 18.20).
Compare:

What was he doing? He was trying to change a fuse. [2]

What was he doing but trying to change a fuse. [2a]
What he was doing was trying to change a fuse. [2b]

But in part the inserted question is to enliven and dramatize a narrative by

supplying a query which the speaker thinks must be in his companion’s
mind - or which he thinks ought to be:

And that son of hers continues to be a big worry. And how do I

know? She was in tears the other day - with a photo of him in
her hand. She didn’t think I saw the photo but I did. [3]

NOTE [a] A question in discourse is often directed less to the hearer than to the speaker,
though in seeming to reflect the speaker’s self-questioning as to how he should
proceed, it equally directs the hearer’s mind both to this point and to the
tentativeness and spontaneity with which it is being made. For example:

The horses seemed strangely disturbed as we groomed them that

morning. How shall I put it? It was as though they were aware that
Mary and I had quarrelled. [4]

[b] Questions in dialogue may be uttered merely to elicit matter that was
imperfectly heard or understood:

what’s that! T .. _
soRry? )<>nformal>
I beg your PARdon?

Questions as directives

1936 Questions, direct and indirect, have an important role in discourse as

polite equivalents of requests. On entering someone’s room, a visitor will
begin with such a question even if he is a fairly close friend:

Is this an awkward moment to see you about something?

Am I disturbing you?
Got a second? {informal)
I wonder if I could talk to you for a minute.

These opening gambits would preface discourse itself. But question forms
may equally preface physical action by the speaker or seek it from the
hearer:
 The part played by questions 467

Would you mind if I closed the window?

Would you excuse me a moment? I must find a telephone.
Do you think you could lock the door when you leave?
Why don’t you come and have dinner with me tonight?

Unlike questions seeking information, these can be coordinated

(especially in AmE) with statements and combine a request with an
expression of intention:

Why don’t I go on ahead and you (can) come when you’re ready?
Why don’t you get a taxi and I’ll be out in a minute?

In the conventional language of formal meetings, procedure is often

couched in elaborately interrogative structures, each widely recognized as
a formula disguising a statement:

But may we not ask ourselves whether this is an appropriate time to

raise taxes? [ = ‘I am opposed to raising taxes now’]
I wonder if we might now turn to the next item. [ = The present
discussion is closed’]
Am I alone in thinking the motion is out of order?

Rhetorical questions

19.37 The rhetorical question has in common with the formulaic questions
discussed in 19.36 the fact that the answer is a foregone conclusion:

She said she had been too ill to come to work that day, and
certainly she sounded pretty groggy on the phone. Anyway,
who was I to argue? [— T wasn’t in a position to doubt her
word’] [1]
The prisoners were grumbling about their cold cells and poor
food. Who could blame them? [=‘No one could blame
them’] [2]

As we see from these examples, the rhetorical question is by no means

confined to the highly wrought prose of formal speeches of persuasion
that we may think of in connection with ‘rhetoric’. Indeed, the tag
question so common in the most informal speech is strictly similar to the
rhetorical question in its communicative effect, since it essentially seeks
confirmation of what the speaker has explicitly assumed (by the preceding
declarative) to be agreed truth:

It’s a glorious day, isn't it? [3]

loan Sutherland was the best coloratura singer of her
generation, wasn’t shel [4]

Compare:

When have we had a better coloratura singer than Joan

Sutherland? [4a]
 468 From sentence t© tent

NOTE Such a use of tags occurs in very informal speech (especially BrE and chiefly
nonstandard) where the hearer cannot possibly be expected to know the answer or
to take it for granted, but where the speaker seeks by such use of the question form
to imply that the answer ought to be self-evident. These tags have a falling tone on
the operator:

Well, I couldn’t hear the phone, could I? It’s in the next room and the
door was shut. Besides, I was fast asleep, wasn’t I? But I can’t expect
you to think of things from my angle, can I? [5]

Participant involvement

19.38 Whether this is made explicit or not, every text is addressed by someone
(T) to someone else (‘you’). In many cases, the relation of both
participants is quite explicit:

/tell you it’s true! [1]

But equally both can be merely implicit:

Good luck! [= ‘7 wish you good luck’] [2]

In very formal communications, where the precise identity of the

addressee is unknown and where the originator is making the communica¬
tion on behalf of an organization, the participants may be referred to in
the 3rd person:

The management regret(s) any inconvenience to clients during

repair work to the premises. [3]

In a similar tone and often for similar reasons, mention of one or both of
the participants is avoided altogether:

The management regrets any inconvenience during repair

work to the premises. [3a]
Any inconvenience to clients is regretted during . . . [3b]
Any inconvenience is regretted during . . . [3c]

In some texts, both participants are referred to simultaneously by means

of the inclusive we (cf 6.10, 19.20):

So now we know why there was no traffic coming towards us on

this road. Well, since the road is obviously blocked, we" 11
have to turn back and find a side road somewhere. [4]

In much discourse, neither the addressee nor the authority for

information seems necessary:

Julian is going to Detroit next week. In fact, if he likes it and

finds a job, he may decide to stay there. His wife, of course,
comes from that part of Michigan. [5]
 Participant involvement 469

We notice, however, that in the use of the adverbial of course the speaker/
writer is appealing to the addressee’s shared knowledge. Nor would it be
unusual in such a text for the author to make explicit his relation to the
information conveyed:

Julian, I gather, is going to Detroit next week. In fact, if he likes

it and finds a job, he tells me he mav decide . . . [5a]

Even in a signed letter, some amplification of identity may be necessary if

the writer feels it necessary to specify his role:

As a Camden resident and also as a qualified accountant, I

write to inform you of an error in the recently published
expenditure figures of your Council... [6]

On the telephone, identification of both speaker and addressee usually

prefaces discourse:

Hello. Is that Peter? Marjorie here. What? Oh sorry! - Marjorie

Wong, your wife’s assistant. Is Valerie there? [7]
Hello. Am I speaking to the Controller? This is the Works
Department. We are having to cut off your electricity supply
for an hour or so . . . [8]

NOTE The addressee may equally need to have his role specified in the particular context:
you may be friend, wife, mother, doctor, neighbour, according to who is in
communication and on what occasion:

I wonder if I can ask you - as a friend rather than as my doctor - if you

think I ought to give up smoking. I know that you discourage your
children - but is this as a mother or as a doctor or because you know it
affects your husband’s breathing? [9]

Speaker/hearer contact

19.39 But in addition to establishing identity of participants and to indicating

authority for content, textual structure tends to be punctuated by periodic
references to both participants. The hearer is addressed by name, not for
clarity but out of courtesy and friendliness. The speaker may repeatedly
refer to himself, often successfully giving thereby an impression of
courtesy and modesty rather than of egocentricity:

I’d like you to know ... I think ... I hear ... I seem to
remember ... it occurs to me ... I mean ... [1]

A communication from a body or organization may self-refer similarly:

Your union officials suggest... we acknowledge ... we

claim ... we hope ... [2]

Direct allusions and appeals to the addressee are especially characteristic

of speech, informally with interspersed comment clauses, you see, you
know, get it?, do you follow me?, yes?, right?; more formally, as you well
 470 From sentence to text

know, as you may know, if I make myself clear (to you), if you will pardon
the allusion.
Addressee involvement obviously serves two related functions, often
distinguished by intonation. On the one hand, the speaker wants
assurance that the addressee is following the communication in all its
detail and allusion; in this spirit, the involvement is essentially interroga¬
tive (cf 19.35) and the inserted items have a rising nucleus:
I’m writing my own software, you see. [3]

On the other hand, the inserts may be assurances to the addressee that he is
not being underestimated and that it is highly probable that he knows the
facts already. In this case, they have a falling nucleus or are uttered with
low prominence carrying no nucleus at all:

| she has reMARried you know [ [4]

Individuals differ in the extent to which they intersperse terms of

address in discourse. In letters, they are used almost solely in the initial
salutation: Dear Mrs Robinson, Dear Fred; but between intimates, items
like darling commonly accompany sentences throughout, as they would
do in the corresponding speech. Letters to strangers can freely begin Dear
Sir (less freely Dear Madam), and in formal style they may end I remain.
Sir, Yours faithfully. A general letter may begin Gentlemen (rather than
IDepr Gentlemen), or Dear Sirs, or Ladies and Gentlemen.
In speech, it is normal to address a group as Ladies and Gentlemen', a
group of men as Gentlemen (or, in military and analogous usage, as Men,
though this would hardly be text-initial). At a formally constituted
meeting, it is equally normal for individuals to be addressed as Sir, to or
from the chair, less comfortably as Madam. But in chance encounters with
strangers, severe constraints are felt over terms of address, especially in
BrE. A request such as I wonder ifyou could direct me to Pitt Street? would
in AmE (and especially in Southern AmE), be accompanied very widely
by Sir or Ma'am, irrespective of the speaker’s sex or an adult addressee’s
age. In BrE, Sir would be rather rare, and would be used chiefly by
younger men addressing older men; it would almost never be used by
women. Madam, though the only fully acceptable form of address to a
woman, is felt to be inappropriate in most informal circumstances
(though it is used in addressing customers, clients, etc). In general, women
can use neither Sir nor Madam except where the speaker is in a
recognizably serving role, though women students will occasionally
address a male teacher as Sir.

NOTE [a] A younger woman is sometimes addressed by men as Miss, but this is widely
regarded as nonstandard or felt to be demeaning to the person addressed. In
nonstandard use, Lady, Mister, and Missus occur freely in men’s speech; and lady
also has an ironic use which is not uneducated but informal (and addressed to a
woman who is not a stranger):
 Information processing 471

Oh, you can’t use that argument, lady.

Man is also used to acquaintances (esp in AmE), but more familiarly than the
foregoing use of lady.
[b] Just as a speaker involves the addressee with insertions like right?, you know, so
the addressee reassures the speaker with similar short comments: Oh I see. Yes I
know. Right.
[c] The inserts for involvement and authority sometimes occur with prosodic
prominence. There is, for example, a triumphant or retributive you see, as in the
following (uttered with a wide range of pitch, in contrast to that normal in
comment clauses):

So I was right | you "see |

Compare also:

She has reMARried tMr1^ J

U think J

Here, the first variant is little more than a conventional reluctance to seem
dogmatic, but the second is meant to express serious reservations about the truth
of what has preceded. Note also:

He tries, but you know, there are real problems. [ = T scarcely need to
remind you’]

Information processing

19.40 It is appropriate to treat this aspect of grammatical organization last,

since, being more centrally significant than any other, information
processing has already to no small degree been seen as the motivation
behind other specific features of grammar discussed elsewhere. It is
paramount in the use of coordination and subordination (cf \9.26ff), and
it was specifically mentioned in the treatment of questions (cf 19.35).
Consider a sequence like the following:

Our economic troubles continue to resist solution. We have

tried subsidizing our weaker industries. We have experi¬
mented with import controls. We have on occasion resorted
to the drastic device of devaluation. To no avail. How then
are we to proceed? The answer lies in higher productivity and
better products. [1]

The italicized question is pivotal in this text. It contains the conjunct then
with anaphoric reference: the remedies already tried, which have been of
‘no avail’, are put behind us. The question both points forward (and this is
lexically matched by ‘The answer’ which follows) and prepares us for a
climactic alternative strategy. A similar anticipation of the information
focus would have been:
 472 From sentence to text

... To no avail. The way forward is to seek higher ... [la]

The essence of such anticipation is to indicate in general terms what is to

follow (we are going to ‘proceed’, there is a ‘way forward’) and hence both
to prepare the hearer/reader and to arouse his interest. Note the
comparable function of the italicized where-clause in the next example:

Robert Adam was in many respects typical of British architects

of the eighteenth century. Like Inigo Jones and Lord
Burlington, he drew eagerly on the inspiration both of the
Renaissance and of Antiquity. He shared the enthusiasm of
his contemporaries for collecting classical marbles. He was
far from being alone in undertaking venturesome travel in
the Mediterranean and in gazing with wonder at vase
fragments and at sundrenched monuments. He was quintes¬
sential^ a member of the Neo-classical movement. Where he
stands apart is in his refusal to regard Antiquity as inviolable.
It was an inspiration for new work, not a model for imitation. [2]

The major part of the paragraph is illustrative of the claim that Adam was
typical of his time. The writer has one piece of counter-evidence, and he
could have expressed this by the mere use of adversative but:

... a member of the Neo-classical movement. But he refused to

regard . . . [2a]

This would have made the point for an alert reader, though the
exceptional feature would have been expressed rather tamely. The fact
that we had come to an exception could have been more insistently
expressed for the less alert reader by a further alternative:

... a member of the Neo-classical movement. But there is one

respect in which he stands apart: he refused to regard . . . [2b]

The writer, might, however, have arrived at a compromise between [2b]

and [2], as follows:

... a member of the Neo-classical movement. But he stands

apart in his refusal to regard . . . [2c]

NOTE Informationally, [2c] is a subtle improvement over [2b] in seeming to assume (by
the nominalization, his refusal) a significant item of shared knowledge. The writer
credits his reader with being aware that Adam had this degree of creative
independence. In fact, the original version [2] shows the writer going one better
than this. He not merely achieves the objective of warning the reader that we have
come to one respect in which Adam ‘stands apart’; use of the pseudo-cleft (18.20)
enables him also to imply that the reader was well-informed enough to know that
there was such a standing apart (as well as that Adam did not ‘regard Antiquity as
inviolable’), and that in consequence we have now simply arrived at the point of
restating it. In presenting what may well be new information as though it were
given (c/18.4), the writer treats his reader with flattering respect as well as enabling
himself to make the main point with great force and economy.
 Information processing 473

19.41 The highlighting of the main information is associated with intonation

nucleus, but in writing we have to plan carefully if we are to guide our
reader so as to assign the focus in the way we intend.
Imagine an argument conducted by correspondence, where Mrs A has
written to say that she denies any responsibility for a certain problem.
After a week or so, she gets a reply from Mr B:

Let me set out the case as I see it and try to show you that the
problem has something to do with you. [1]

Mrs A will probably read the last phrase as having the normal end-focus
(18.5):

... the | problem has something to do with you | [la]

But Mr B’s words are in fact a paraphrase of a remark in Mrs A’s own
letter: they are ‘given’ information; all that is new is the positive (assertion)
in place of Mrs A’s original negative (denial). Thus B has meant it to be
read as:

... the | problem has something to do with you | [lb]

The required shift away from the normal (but here unwanted) end-focus
could have been achieved in the first place by some such device as
emphatic do or an inserted subjunct (or both), thus drawing attention to
the new polarity:

. . . the problem does (indeed) have something to do with you. [2]

which Mrs A would promptly have read with the required prosody:

... the | problem /^oes inDEED \ jiave something

^DOES * to do with you. I [2a]

Information and sequence

19.42 Much of what we have been saying in this book about the processing of
information concerns sequence. The order of presentation is clearly vital,
whether we are concerned with premodifying adjectives, a group of noun
phrases, a pair of independent clauses, a sequence comprising a matrix
clause and a subordinate clause, or of course the elements within a single
clause. We have choices such as:

ran intricate and arduous task [la]

lan arduous and intricate task [lb]

rthe cold night and the difficult journey [2a]

\the difficult journey and the cold night [2b]

rThey cheered and they sang. [3a]

IThey sang and they cheered. [3b]

rl saw the broken window when I arrived home. [4a]

\When I arrived home, I saw the broken window. [4b]
 474 From sentence to text

Our memories of past crises were being added to our

uncertainties for the future. [5a]
To our uncertainties for the future were being added our
memories of past crises. [5b]

More is involved here than sequence, of course. As well as deciding on a

pair (or longer set) of units, we have to decide on the actual choice of
lexical items. Are they to be near-synonyms or are they to be in sharp
contrast? In either case, should they prosodically resemble each other (eg
by alliterating, having the same number of syllables, the same stress
pattern; eg: arduous and intricate), or should they differ in these respects
(eg: tough and intricate)? Formal similarity often conveys a sense both of
euphony and of a harmony between substance and meaning; formal
dissimilarity, on the other hand, can convey a sense of richness and
variety. Considerations of euphony enter also into the question of
sequencing, but for the most part, both in the selection of items and in
their placement, we are concerned with The right words in the right place’.
Whatever is placed first will seem relatively introductory and ‘scene¬
setting’. Clearly, preparing our hearer or reader for what is to follow is of
the greatest importance if the following part is to have the proper impact.
The converse of this is that whatever is placed last will be expected to be
relatively consequential, of greater importance, and possibly climactic. So
in choosing between [ 1 a] and [lb], our decision may depend on whether we
wish to convey that the task was arduous because it was intricate; intricate
and above all arduous; arduous in being intricate; arduous and further¬
more intricate. In choosing between [3a] and [3b], we may wish to imply
one or other chronological sequence: that they did one thing before the
other. But if the two actions are but different aspects of the same
celebratory behaviour, we have decisions to make on similar principles to
those concerning us in [la] and [lb], [2a] and [2b]. With [4a] and [4b],
however, the order will probably be contextually determined: one or
other, the arrival or the seeing, will be relatively ‘given’ (that is, the hearer/
reader will already have been told or been led to expect that the subject
went home or that a window had been broken), and whichever is in
consequence the relatively ‘new’ item will be placed in final position if a
feeble anticlimactic ‘tail’ is to be avoided. So again with [5a] and [5b]: the
former will be preferred if the preceding part of the text has been dealing
with ‘past crises’ and the intention is to go on to some discussion of the
future; if the converse holds, [5b] will be selected.

NOTE Some matters of sequence are determined by courtesy, convention, or idiom. In

formal circumstances, women are named in address before men, and the speaker is
mentioned last:

Ladies and gentlemen! It gives me great pleasure . . .

Harry and I were dismayed.
 Information processing 475

In 3rd person mention, however, sequence can freely depend upon the speaker’s
decision:

Joan and Peter

will be coming..
Peter and Joan
fboys and girls.
I saw lots of
\girls and boys.

On the other hand, we have a conventional mention of males first in (the) men and
women, he and she, Mr and Mrs (Jones). Numerous other sequences are
idiomatically fixed (as in give and take, pots andpans, knife andfork, (Do you take)
milk and sugar?) Doubtless these have become fixed historically in response to the
operation of prosodic or semantic pressures, but there are also principles like
‘Short before long’ and ‘General setting before specific object’. Cf on binomials,
13.26 Note.

Bibliographical note
For general treatments and theoretical discussion of discourse and textual
structure, see Beaugrande and Dressier (1981); Brown and Yule (1983); Cole and
Morgan (1975); D’Angelo (1975); Dijk (1977, 1987); Grice (1975); Halliday
(1978); Halliday and Hasan (1976); Hoey (1983); Nash (1980); Quirk (1986);
Stubbs (1983); Winter (1982); Winterowd (1975).
On specific aspects of discourse, see Altenberg (1986); Biber (1986, 1988);
Bublitz (1980, 1988); Crystal (1980); Edmondson (1981); Fleischmann (1985);
Motsch (1987); Norrick (1987); Schenkein (1978); Svartvik (1980); Wierzbicka
(1986).
Other relevant studies include: Brazil (1985); Chafe (1976); Condon (1986);
Firbas (1979); Hawkins (1978); Kempson (1977); Li (1976); Mann and Thompson
(1986); Quirk and Stein (1990); Schiffrin (1981); Sinclair (1980); Stenstrom (1984);
Yee (1975).
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index

References are to section numbers and section appended-►clause; coordination

notes (‘n’). apposition 10.22; 17.27
Cross-reference is indicated by an arrow. article
definite 5.11-14,28/
A -► adverbial indefinite 5.15/
a-*article (indefinite) zero 5.17-21
swords 7.3 as 9.3n; 15.29/ 36/; 17.10; 19.21
absolute clause 15.34 aspect 4.7-12; 17.14; 19.11-14
absolute comparison 7.39 assertive and nonassertive forms 2.11; 6.25-28;
abstract adjectival head 7.13 10.37
abstract noun 5.1,21; 17.23 asyndetic coordination 13.1; 19.2,26
accent (prosodic) -►stress attachment rule 15.34
accent (regional) 1.12 attitude-►varieties of English
acceptability 1.16 attitudinal disjunct-►content disjunct
accidence-►inflection attitudinal past 4.6, 9
accusative-►case attraction -►concord
active/passive 3.25/; 18.22 attribute 10.9; 16.12, 25
address-►vocative, attributive -^adjective
adjective 2.6;7.1-26, 32, 38-45; 16.38-41; 17.29 aux-e auxiliary
adjunct 8.13-31; 10.6; 16.13, 26; see also auxiliary 3.11-18; 4 passim; 10.41; 14.21
adverbial
adverb 2.6; 7.2/ 20, 27, 31-40, 44/; 8.10 backshifting 14.18
and other word classes 7.2/ 28-30 backward span-►duration
particle 16.2-4, 7, 9 bare existential 18.32n
phrase 2.4; 8.10, 33 bare infinitive-►infinitive
adverbial 2.3; 8 passim; 10.1-4, 6/; 15.13-35; basis-e comparison
19.22-25 be 3.13; 18.18-20, 30-33
affected role 10.9/ being, verbs of 4.11
agent benefactive-eobject (indirect)
adverbial 8.28 binomials 13.26n
animate/inanimate 9.13 block language 11.22
agentive role 3.25/9.13; 10.9; 18.35 bodily sensation, verbs of 4.11
agreemen t -► concord both 5.8; 6.24
all 5.8; 6.24 BrE-* British English
AmE^American English British English 1.10
American English 1.10 but 9.15; 15.25; see also coordination
amplifier 7.18; 8.37
an ►article (indefinite) C-e complement
analysis, multiple 10.7n; 16.5 calling-evocative
anaphora 5.14; 6.8/ 19; 12.2, 18; 19.16, 19 can 3,1 If, 16; 4.22; 10.41
and^>apposition; concord; coordination Canadian English 1.10
animals-►gender cardinal numerals 6.28n
animate-►agent, gender careful-► formal
antecedent 12.3; see also anaphora, cataphora Caribbean English 1.11
anticipatory subject-►// case 5.48-55; 6.6/
antithetic conjunct 8.44 cataphora 5.14; 6.8/ 19; 12.2, 18; 19.16/
any 5.6; 6.25-27; 10.37 catenative 3.18n
apostrophe-►contraction; genitive causative 10.1 On; 16.27-29
486 Index

cause 8.6; 15.26 context 19.1/

cause and purpose 9.12 contingency 7.15; 8.6; 15.15n
causer, external 10.10 continuous -> aspect
central-► pronoun contraction 3.1 In, 13-16
circumstance 15.26 contrast 844; 15.24; 19.24/
citation 17.26n coordination 13.1-10; 19.26-29
clause 2.4; 10.1-4; 14.1/ coordinator -> conjunction
appended 12.23 copula 10.3; 16.12/
coordinate 13.18 coreference 12.3; 19.15
elements 2.3; 8.1, 13; 10.5-18 correlative 8.45; 13.14/; 14.8; 15.29n, 30, 42
elliptical 12.20-23 could 3.11/ 16; 4.22, 30-32, 34; 1041; 14.21
finite 14.3; 16.17-22, 33-35, 39; 17.5-13 countability 5.1/ 17, 21, 35-44
nonfinite 14.3-5; 15.34/; 16.23, 27-30, 36/ courtesy subjunct 8.34
40/; 17.14-18 current attribute 10.9; 16.12, 25
subordinate 14.1/
verbless 14.3,6; 15.12,34/ dangling participle 15.34
cleft sentence 18.18/ dare 3.17
pseudo- 18.20 dative-+case
closed class 2.6 declarative sentence 11.1
closed condition-^condition deferred preposition 9.2; 11.9; 17.8
code-►operator defining-*restrictive/nonrestrictive meaning
cognate object 10.15 definite-* article
cognition, verbs of 4.11; 10.11; 14,18n; 16.18 degree 8.9
coherence/cohesion 19.2 deictic 6.20
collective noun 5.43-45; 10.21 deletion —>ellipsis
colloquial -^informal demonstrative 5.4; 6.19/ 19.15/ 18
colour adjectives 7.26; 13.26; 17.41 denial 10.39n
combinatory coordination 13.22,25 denominal adjective 7.21, 26; 17.40/
command -> directive deontic 4.21 n
comment 18.5n dependent -> cl ause
comment clause 15.32 descriptive genitive-^case
common case-*case destination-►goal
common gender-> gender determiner 5.3-34; 19.15, 18
communication, verbs of 4.4; 8.41 deverbal noun 17.23
communicative dynamism 18.2 dialect 1.7
comp-element -*comparative clauses dialogue 19.3 If
comparative clauses 15.36-42; 17.10 dimension 9.4
comparison clauses 15.29; 19.21 direct object-►object
comparison of adjective and adverbs 7.39-44 direct speech 14.17-22
compatibility 19.24 direction 8.16-18; 9.5
complement 2.3; 10.5, 10; 16.12, 25 directive 11.1, 15-19; 19.36
prepositional 9.1 discontinuous construction 7.8n, 9; 17.42/
complementation of adjectives 16.38-41 18.27/
complementation of verbs 16.2-37 discourse 8.43/; 11 passim; 19 passim
complex transitive 16.24-30, 37 disjunct 8.40-42; 18.3; 19.22-25
concession 8.6, 30, 44; 9.15; 15.21 distance 8.16-18
concord 5.45; 10.19-28 ditransitive 10.3; 16.31-37
concrete noun 5.1 do 3.15; 11.19; 12.6-8, 12f; 18.37
condition 8.6, 41; 15.17-20 double genitive 5.55
conditional-concessive clause 15.22/ double negative 10.37n, 41 n
conducive question 11.4-7, 12/ downtoner 7.18; 8.37
conjoin(t)->coordination dual gender 5.45/
conjunct 8.43-45; 19.24/ dual number 5.35n; 6.21
conjunction 2.6; 13.1-16; 14.7-9 dummy operator 3.11
content disjunct 8.42 duration 4.10-12; 8.3, 21/ 9. lOf
 Index 487

dynamic 2.8; 4.2, 11; 7.23 goal 8.2, 17/; 9.4/

dynamism, communicative 18.2 gradability 7.1
gradience 10.7n; 13.3
E (position) 8.11 grammar 1.2-5
each 5.5; 6.22-4, 27/ grammatical -* acceptable
echo question 11.14 grammatical words 2.6
-ed participle 3.2/ 9, 20; 14.4; 15.34/; 16.30; group genitive-* genitive
17.15, 32/
effect-*cause habitual 4.3
effected object 10.15 have 3.14; 18.36
either 5.5; 6.25-27; 13.14 Hiberno-English 1.11
element 2.3; 8.1, 13; 10.1,4-7 historic present 4.4; 19.14
ellipsis 12.14-23; 19.5, 15-17 humane gender
emotive adjective 14.14; 16.39/ hypercorrect 1.5
emphasis 18.6-13 hyper nym 19.2
emotive 18.36f hypothetical meaning 3.24; 4.31; 14.12/; 16.20,
emphasizer 7.18; 8.36 23
enclitic 10.33
end-focus 18.5/ /(position) 8.11
end position 8.11 imperative 3.3; 11.1; 15-19
end-weight 18.5n inanimate -» gender
enumerative conjunct 8.44 inclusive we 6.10; 19.20
epistemic 4.21 n indefinite -^article; pronoun
eventive role 10.13, 16 independent -^clause
every 5.5; 6.22/ 25 indicative 3.19
exception 9.15; 15.25 indirect object-* object
exclamation 7.16; 11.1, 12, 20; 15.6 indirect speech 14.17-22
exclusive we 6.10; 19.20 inferential conjunct 8.44
existential 18.30-36 infinitive 3.3, 20/; 8.1 In; 14.4/; 15.9, 11, 34, 41/;
experiencer 10.11 16.23, 27/ 36/; 17.16-18
explicitness 17.5 inflection 3.2, 4-9; 5.48; 6.2/ 6/; 7.1, 39-44
extraposition 18.23/ informal 1.15
extrinsic 4.21 information processing 18 passim; 19.40-42
-ingparticiple 3.3/20; 14.4; 15.34/; 16.23,29,41;
familiar-* informal 17.14, 30/
few 5.10; 6.26/ inherent -* adjective
final position 8.11; 18.2-5 initial position 8.11
finite 3.3, 19; see also clause initiator 7.29
focus 18.5-12 instrumental 8.4, 28; 9.13; 10.10
focusing subjunct 8.,38/ intellectual state-*cognition
for 13.3; see also conjunction, preposition intensification 7.18, 32-35; 8.37; see also
formulaic subjunctive 3.24; 11.21 emphasis
fractions 6.28n intention 4.27
frequency '8.23/ interjection 11.22n
fronting 18.14/ interrogative 11.1; see also pronoun; question
function words 2.6 intonation 2.15; 18.3-14; 19.30-32
future 4.13-20 intransitive 10.3; 16.11
intrinsic 4.21
gapping 13.29 inversion 3.11; 11.3; 10; 18.14-17
gender 5.45^17; 6.4 Irish English 1.11
generic 5.22-24 irregular comparison 7.41, 44
genitive 5.48-55; 6.6, 16; 17.26, 34 irregular plurals 5.37-42
gerund 15.1 On; 17.23n irregular verbs 3.2,9/
get 3.25n; 10.2 it 6.9; 10.14; 18.18,23/; 19.17
given/new 18.4 item subjunct 8.35
488 index

Lallans Scots 1.11 nonfinite 3.3, 19/; 4.35; see also clause
language names 5.33/; 7.12 nonrestrictive-* restrictive
let(’s) 11.17/ nonstandard 1.8
lexical connection 19.2 nor-►concord; coordination
like 15.29 not—* negation
limiting-►restrictive/nonrestrictive meaning noun 2.6; 5.1, 25-55
linking verb-►copula clause -* nominal clause
listing conjunct 8.44 phrase 17 passim; see also nominal expression
little 5.10; 6.26/ -n negation
locative 9.4-7; 10.13, 15 nucleus 2.15
number 3.3, 13; 5.35-44; 6.5; 10.19-26, 28
M (position) 8.11 numeral 6.28n
main -> clause
mandative subjunctive 3.24 O-^ object
manner 8.4, 27; 9.14n; 15.29 object 2.3; 10.3, 5, 7, 9, 15-17; 16.14-20, 22-37
marked/unmarked 2.7; 7.45; 10.l9n objective -►case
mass-> countability obligation 4.21, 24-26, 34
matrix-►clause obligatory element 8.13; 10.1,3-7
may 3.11/ 16; 4.23, 34; 10.41 of and the genitive-►genitive
means 8.4, 28; 9.13 omission-► ellipsis
measure 6.26/; 7.45; 8.16, 21/; 9.10/; 10.7n one 6.12, 22/28; 12.5
medial position 8.11 onset 2.15
medium 1.14 open class 2.6
mental state-►cognition open condition-►condition
metalinguistic comment 8.41 operator 2.10; 3.11
middle verb 10.7n opinion, verbs expressing 14.23
might 3.11/ 16; 4.23, 29, 31/ 34; 10.41; 14.21 optative 3.24; 11.21
modal auxiliary or-►apposition; concord; coordination
modality 4.21; 8.7, 36 order -> extraposition; fronting; inversion;
modification 6.11; 7.7-9, 17-21, 26, 32-36; 9.16; position
17 passim ordinal numerals 6.28n
momentary verbs 4.11, 35 ought 3.17; 4.26, 29, 34; 10.41; 14.21
monotransitive 10.3; 16.14-23
motion 9.7 pairs and triads 13.27n; 19.28
multiple analysis 10.7n; 16.5 paragraph 19.33
multiple modification 17.25/ 36-43 parenthetic 15.32
multiplier 5.9 part of speech-►word class
multi-word verb 16.2-10 participant relations 19.38/
must 3.11/ 16; 4.24/ 26, 29, 34; 10.41; 14.21 participant roles 10.8-18
participial adjective 7.5-6; 17.30-33
names 5.25-34 participle-►-£</ ~ing
narrow orientation subjunct 8.35-39 particle 16.2
necessity 4.21, 24/ 34 partitive 5.2; 6.25-28
need 3.17; 4.25 passage 9.7
negation 2.10; 10.33-41; 11.5, 18; 14.23 passive 3.25/ 18.22
neither 5.5; 6.25-27; 13.14/ past -> tense
new/given 18.4 patient-►affected
New Zealand English 1.11 pendant participle 15.34
nominal expression 12,5; 13.25n; see also noun perception, verbs of 4.11; 16.28/
nominal clause 15.2-12 perfect-►aspect
nominal relative clause 15.7/ performative verbs 4.3
nominalization 17.23 permanent vs temporary 17.4
nominative ->case permission 4.21-23, 29, 32, 34
nonassertive-> assertive person 3.3, 13; 6.3; see also concord; gender
noncount -> countability personal pronoun -►pronoun
 Index 489

phrasal prepositional verb 16.2,9 pseudo-cleft 18.20

phrasal verb 16.2-4, 7, 16 pseudo-coordination 13.31
phrase 2.4 public and private verbs 16.18
pitch 2.15 punctual verbs 4.11
place 7.36; 8.16-18; 9.5/; 15.16; 19.3-6; see also punctuation 19.30, 33f
space purpose 8.6, 30; 9.12; 15.27
place names 5.32-34 putative meaning 15.27f
pluperfect 4.9 putative should 14.14
plural -^number
polysyndetic coordination 13.1 quality/quantity 5.2; 6.25-28
position, meaning 7.36/; 8.16; 9.5/ quasi-coordination 13.32
position of adjectives 7.7-9, 17-22 question 2.10; 11.1-14; 14.20; 15.4/; 16.22;
in sequence 7.26; 17.40/ 19.35-37
position of modifying adverbs 7.32-36
position of adverbials 8.11 reaction signal 7.29; 8.34n, 36n; 19.23, 28
in sequence 8.18, 26, 31 reason 8.6, 30; 9.12; 15.26
positioner subject 10.12 Received Pronunciation 1.12
possessive->• pronoun; genitive recipient role 9.12; 10.9, 11
possibility 4.21-23, 29/ 32, 34 reciprocal pronoun use 6.28n
postdeterminer 5.10 recoverability 12.2, 16-18; 14.5/; 15.34/; 17.14-
postmodification-* modification 16; 19.5, 15/21
postponement 18.21-28 reflexive-* pronoun
predeterminer 5.7-9 regional English 1.7
predicate 2.2; 12.7/ 12, 20; 13.19/ reinforcement 18.38
predication 2.10; 8.14; 12.7/ 12, 20; 13.19/; relative clause 17.1-17
18.15,20 relative pronoun 6.17; 17.5-9
prediction 4.21, 27-30, 34 repetition 13.31; 18.38
preference 15.31 replacive conjunct 8.44
premodification -^modification reported speech 14.17-22
preposition 2.6; 9 passim reporting clause 14.17
prepositional phrase 8.10; 9 passim respect 8.5, 29; 9.15
prepositional verb 16.2, 5-8, 16, 32, 34 restrictive item 7.19; 8.7, 38/
prescriptivism 1.5 restrictive/nonrestrictive meaning 7.17n; 17.3,
present-* tense 5-13
primary verb 3.1, 13-15 result 8.6; 16.28
principal parts of verb 3.9/ resultant role 10.15
private and public verbs 16.18 resulting attribute 10.9; 16.12
process adverbials 8.4, 27/ retrospective verbs 16.23
process verbs 4.11 rheme 18.5n
pro-forms 2.9; 6 passim; 12.1-13; 19.5, 15, 20 rhetorical conditional clause 15.20
progressive -* aspect rhetorical question 11.13; 19.37
pronoun 2.6; 6 passim; 19.15, 20 rhythm 2.14
central 6.2 root modality 4.2In
indefinite 6.21-28 rules of grammar 1.3-5
interrogative 6.18
possessive 6.16 S-* subject
reflexive 6.13-15 scope-^-negation
relative 6.17; 17.5-9 Scots English 1.11
see also demonstrative; determiner segregatory coordination 13.22-25
prop-*/; semi-auxiliary 3.18
proper nouns 5.1, 25-34 sentence 2.2; see also clause
proportional clause 15.30 sentential relative clause 15.33; 17.12
prosody 2.12-15; 18.3-13; 19.30-32,41 sequence -► position
provenance adjectives 7.24 shall 3.11/ 16; 4.28-30, 34; 10.41
proximity-^concord should' 3.11/ 16; 4.26, 29/ 33/; 10.41; 14.14, 21
490 index

similarity clause 15.29 temporary vs permanent 17.4

singular ~* number tense 4.1, 3-6, 13-20, 29-30; 19.11-14; .see also
social variation 1.8 time
so 7.28, 39; 8.44; 12.7-13; 13.7, 25n; 15.27/, 30, text 19.1
37n, 42; 19.19, 27 the^>article (definite)
some 5.6,6.25-27; 10.37 theme 18.5
source 8.2, 16/; 9.4f time 7.36/; 8.3, 19-26, 35; 9.9-11; 10.13; 15.14/;
South African English 1.11 16.13; 19.7-14; see also tense
space 8.2, 16-18; 9.4-7; 10.6, 15; see also place tone unit 2.15; 18.3
span-* duration topic/comment 18.5n
specific reference 5.11-21 transferred negation 14.23
split infinitive 8.1 In transition verbs 4.11
stance verbs 4.11 transitional conjuncts 8.44
Standard English 1.8-12 transitive 10.3; 16.14-37
statal passive 3.25n triads 19.28
state-* aspect; tense
stative 2.8; 4.2, 11; 7.23 unattached participle 15.34
stimulus preposition 9.13 uncountable-*countability
stranding-* deferred universal-*pronoun (indefinite)
stress 2.13 unmarked -* marked
structural compensation 18.29 unreal -* condition
structure words 2.6 used to 3.17
style disjunct 8.40/
suasive verbs 16.19 V -*verb
subject 2.3; 10.7, 9-14 varieties of English 1.6-15
subjective-*case verb 2.6; 3.1-3, 9/ 19-22; 10.2/
subjunct 8.32-39 verbless-^clause
subjunctive 3.23/; 14.13 viewpoint subjunct 8.33
subordination 14.1-10; 19.26-29 vocative 10.31/ 18.3; 19.39
subordinator-*conjunction voice 3.25/ 18.22
substitution -*pro-form volition 4.21, 27-29, 32, 34
such 5.7n; 15.42; 17.10
summative conjunct 8.44 we 6.10; 19.20
superlative 7.39-44 wide orientation subjunct 8.33/
superordinate 14.1 will 3.11/ 16; 4.14, 18, 21, 27, 29/ 32, 34; 10.41
supplementve clause 15.35 word classes 2.6
syndetic coordination 13.1 would 3.11/ 16; 4.21, 27, 29-34; 10.41; 14.21

tag 11.6; 18.38 zero-*article; nominal clause; relative clause

temporal -* time