Ways of expressing the subject.

The subject can be expressed by a single word or a group of words, ^hus it can be expressed by:

 

1. A noun in the common case.

The sulky waiter brought my tea. (Du Maurier)

Marcellus slowly turned his head. (Douglas)

Note. Occasionally a noun in the possessive case is used as the subject of the sentence.

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

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

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

After about an hour I heard Montgomery shouting my name. That set me thinking of my plan of action. (Wells)

All were clad in the same soft, and yet strong silky material. (Wells)

Everyone was silent for a minute. (Wells)

Nothing was said on either side for a minute or two afterwards. (Dickens)

Theirs is not a very comfortable lodging... (Dickens)

Who tore this book? (Twain)

The subject is often expressed by the indefinite pronoun one or the personal pronouns they, you, we, which refer not to any particular person or persons but to people in general.

These sentences generally correspond to the same kind of sentences in Russian, but sometimes they are rendered by impersonal sentences, as will be seen in the examples given below.

Yes, muttered Jon, life's beastly short. One wants to live forever. (Galsworthy) — Да, пробормотал Джон, жизнь чертовски ко­ротка. Хочется жить вечно.

A day is like a page in a book, one cannot read it without commas and periods. (Heym) — День напоминает страницу книги, ее нельзя читать без запятых и точек.

They say he's clever — they all think they're clever. (Galswor­thy) — Говорят, что он умный — все думают, что они умные- Howard, you introduce every statement with "they say". I want to know who is "they". (Gowand D'Usseau) — Говард, ты каждое предложение начинаешь с «говорят». Я хочу знать, что говорит.

 

Note. They is used when the speaker is excluded, one when the speaker is included.

There are some things you can't talk to anyone about. (Voynich) — Есть вещи, о которых никому не расскажешь.

It was good to be alive. Say what you like you couldn't beat it. (Galsworthy) — Хорошо жить на свете. Что ни говори, а этого нельзя отрицать.

Every pleasure is transitory. We can't eat long. If we indulge in harmless fluids we get the dropsy, if in exciting liquids we get drunk. When I say " we ", my dear, I mean mankind in general. (Dickens) — Всякое удовольствие преходяще. Нельзя есть долго. Если мы злоупотребляем безвредными напитками, мы заболеваем водянкой, если мы злоупотребляем спиртными напитками, мы пьянеем. Когда я говорю «мы», мой дорогой, я имею в виду человечество в целом.

3. A substantivized adjective or participle.

The Privileged have seen that charming and instructive sight. (Galsworthy)

The wounded were taken good care of.

4. A numeral (cardinal or ordinal).

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

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

5. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase or construction.

To live is to work.

To be a rich man, Lieutenant, is not always roses and beauty. (Heym)

For him to come was impossible.

6. A gerund, a gerundial phrase or construction.

Lying doesn't go well with me. (Heym)

Winning the war is what counts. (Heym)

Annette's being French might upset him a little. (Galsworthy)

7. Any part of speech used as a quotation.

On is a preposition.

No is his usual reply to any request.

 

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

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

Here the subject represents one person.

The needle and thread is lost.

Here the needle and the thread are treated as one thing.

This is not to be confused with homogeneous subjects where two per­sons or things are meant and consequently the predicate is in the plural.

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

There are other kinds of syntactic units.

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

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

Note. There are sentences where the subject is introduced by the con­struction there is, e. g. There is nothing on the table. In this case nothing is the subject and there is part of the predicate.

9. A quotation group.

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

 

§ 7. It as the subject of the sentence.

When the pronoun it is used as the subject of a sentence it may re­present a living being or a thing: then it is a notional subject. Sometimes, however, it does not represent any living being or thing and performs a purely grammatical function: then it is a formal subject.

A. When it is a notional subject the pronoun it has the following meanings:

1. It stands for a definite thing or some abstract idea — the per­sonal it.

The door opened. It was opened by a young girl of thirteen o^r fourteen. (Dickens)

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

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

It is John.

It was a large room with a great window. (Dickens)

Dick came home late, it provoked his father. (Lindsay)

In the last two cases it is close to this and is usually translated into Russian by это.

В. Sometimes the pronoun it is a formal subject, i. e. it does not represent any person or thing.

Here we must distinguish:

(1) the impersonal it; (2) the introductory or anticipatory it; (3) the emphatic it.

1. The impersonal it is used:

(a) to denote natural phenomena (such as the state of the weather, etc.) or that which characterizes the environment. In such sentences the predicate is either a simple one, expressed by a verb denoting the state of the weather, or a compound nominal one, with an adjective as predicative.

It often rains in autumn.

It is cold in winter.

It is stuffy in here.

Note. The state of the weather can also be expressed by sentences in which the subject denoting the state of things is introduced by the con­struction there is. In such sentences the noun introduced by the construc­tion there is is the subject.

There was a heavy frost last night.

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

(b) to denote time and distance.

It is five minutes past six.

It is morning already.

How far is it from your office to the bank? (Galsworthy)

It is a long way to the station.

Note. Sentences with the impersonal it as subject very often correspond to Russian impersonal one-member sentences.

It is late. — Поздно.

It is freezing. — Морозит.

It is cold. — Холодно.

It is hot. — Жарко.

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

It is raining. — Идет дождь.

It is snowing. — Идет снег.

It is hailing. — Идет град.

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

It's no use disguising facts.

It was curious to observe that child.

Note. Some grammarians treat this it as the real subject and the rest of the sentence as the predicate.

3. The emphatic it is used for emphasis.

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

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

The Predicate

§ 8. The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence which expresses an action, state, or quality of the person or thing¹ denoted by the subject. It is grammatically dependent upon the subject.

Note. This definition does not cover sentences with the formal it 3^s subject. In these sentences the predicate expresses the state of weather, time, or distance, and the subject only makes the sentence structural complete.

The word thing is used in a broad sense.

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

 

The simple predicate.

The simple predicate is expressed by a finite verb in a simple or a compound tense form.

It generally denotes an action: sometimes, however, it denotes a state which is represented as an action.

Erik arrived at the lab next morning full of suppressed excite­ment. (Wilson)

And so, after all, the Padre had been thinking of letting him escape. (Voynich)

Mr. Rivarez, I have been looking for you everywhere. (Voy­nich)

When Mary was brought in he gave her the local anaesthesia. (Cronin)

 

§10. There is a special kind of predicate expressed by a phraseological unit, such as to get rid, to take care, to pay attention, to lose sight, to have a wash, to give a push, etc.¹

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

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

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

^[1] There is a great difference of opinion as to the nature of this predicate, ^ost Russian grammarians treat it as a subdivision of the simple predi­cate (JI. П. Винокурова; В. H. Жигадло, И. П. Иванова, Jl. J1. Иофик;

А. Ганшина и Н. М. Василевская, because it expresses one idea and its ^tvvo components form an indivisible unit.

There is another view according to which it is a subdivision of the compound Predicate. Some English grammarians call it a 'group-verb predicate'.

Compare:

My friend gave me an interesting book to read.

The man gave a violent start.

Whereas in the first case we can easily put a question to the object (e. g. What did yourfriend give you 7), in the second case this is impos­sible.

We shall treat this kind of predicate as a subdivision of the simple predicate. For the sake of convenience we shall call it a phraseological predicate.

We distinguish two types of the phraseological predicate.

1. Word combinations of the following type: to have a smoke, to have a swim, to have a run, to give a laugh, to give a push, to take a look, to make a move, etc. These combinations consist of a finite verb which has to a great extent lost its concrete meaning and a noun formed from a verb and mostly used with the indefinite article.

This predicate denotes a momentaneous action. In Russian this shade of meaning is rendered by different prefixes and suffixes which express a momentaneous action.

He had a smoke. — Он покурил.

He gave a push. — Он толкнул.

He gave a start. — Он вздрогнул.

He had a wash. — Он вымылся, помылся.

He gave a cry. — Он вскрикнул.

This type of phraseological predicate is characteristic of colloquial speech.

Every now and then she gave a half-glance at the people on the pavement. (Lindsay)

She gave an unkind throaty laugh. (Lindsay)

Troy said, "First of all, sergeant, have a drink. " (Heym)

He started, made a short run and stopped and looked over hisshoulder. (Dickens)

2.Word combinations of the following type: to get rid, to get hold, to make use_y to take care, to lose sight, to make fun, to pay attention, to make up one's mind, to change one's mind, to take part, etc.

The second component of these combinations is in most cases an abstract noun used without any article.

That's more than twenty years ago. She has never made use of her power or caused me a moment's uneasiness. (Shaw)

You were making fun of mother just now. (Shaw)

Then he caught his breath, suddenly reminded of something else. (Wescott)

She made a gesture of dismissal and then suddenly changed her mind. (Wescott)

It is better that you do not know where I live. I will get in touch with you. (Wilson)

 

The compound predicate.

As can be seen from the term itself the compound predicate con­sists of two parts: (a) a finite verb and (b) some other part of speech: a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a verbal (a participle, a gerund, an infinitive), etc. The second component is the significant part of the predicate.

The first part expresses the verbal categories of person, number, tense, aspect, mood and voice; besides it has a certain lexical meaning of its own. The compound predicate may be nominal or verbal.