The comparison of adjectives

COMMON COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS:

Adjectives have degrees of comparison: the comparative and the superlative degree. The adjective expressing some quality without comparison is said to be in the positive degree. An equal degree is expressed with the help of the conjunctions: as... as, not as (so)... as in negative sentences.

She is as old as I am. He isn’t as clever as she is.

We use the comparative when comparing one person or thing with another. We use the superlative when comparing one person or thing with more than one.

The comparative and the superlative degrees of comparison are formed in the synthetic, analytic and suppletive ways.

The synthetic degrees of comparison are formed by adding the inflexion –er, -est (fine — finer — finest) to the adjectives having one or two syllables. The more recent trend is: happy — more happy — most happy.

The analytic degrees are formed by means of «more» and «most» (difficult — more difficult — most difficult).

Several adjectives form their degrees of comparison irregularly, in the suppletive way when some other words are used to build up the forms.

Good — better — best, bad — worse — worst, little — less — least, many/much — more — most

Indefinite tenses

The Present Indefinite

Formation. The present Indefinite tense is formed by the Infinitive of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’ for the 1^st person Singular and plural –I go, we go, 2^nd person Singular and plural you go, 3^rd person plural-they go.

+I go to school. affirmative form synthetic way.

Some of the forms of the present indefinite are synthetic (affirmative forms), some – analytic (interrogative and negative forms).

?Do you go to school? Analytic form = auxiliary verb + notional verb

-I do not go school.

The 3^rd person singular form is built from the same stem by means of the inflexion –s, - es: to speak – he speaks.

As can be seen from the above examples, the pronunciation and spelling of the inflection of the 3^rd person singular vary:

1. Verbs ending in vowels and voiced consonants take the inflection –s which pronounced [z]: to see – he sees, to play – he plays, have – has

2. Verb stems ending in sibilants and affricates take either the inflection –s or –es. Both are pronounced [iz]: -es if the final letters of the stem are –s, -sh, -ss, -ch, -tch: to push – he pushes, to box – boxes.

The interrogative form is built by means of the auxiliary verb ‘do,does’ + the infinitive of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’

Where do you go? (Special question) Do you go to school? (general question)

Negative form

I do not go to school. She does not …

The negative form is built by means of the auxiliary verb ‘do,does’ + the negative particle ‘not’+ the infinitive of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’

The Present Indefinite may denote:

1. A permanent action (a fact) She speaks English.

2. The general truth Vegetables grow well in this climate.

3. A repeated, customary action The Browns go to the seaside every summer.

4. A future action if planned beforehand The train leaves at 10 tomorrow.

The Past Indefinite Tense

Formation. The affirmative forms of the past indefinite are synthetic; the interrogative, negative and negative – interrogative forms are analytic.

Affirmative (synthetic) forms are represented by the second of the basic verb forms.

I came home late yesterday. You came. She came We use the same form for all persons.

Interrogative forms are built by means of the auxiliary to do in the past indefinite (did) and the infinitive stem of the notional verb.

Did you come home late yesterday? Yes, I did. Where did you come late yesterday? When did you come home late? Yesterday.

The negative form is built by means of the auxiliary verb ‘to do’ in the past indefinite ‘did’ + the negative particle ‘not’+ the infinitive of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’

I did not come home late yesterday You did not I did not go to school. She did not …

The Past Indefinite Tense of Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs form the Past Indefinite Tense:

1. By changing the root vowel;

e.g. V-1 c o me- V-2 c a me

V2

My mother c a me home late yesterday. +

V1

Did your mother c o me home late yesterday?/?

V1

My mother did not come home late yesterday.-

V1 – Infinitive -неопределенная форма глагола, етістіктің тұйық формасы

V2 - The Past Indefinite Tense-неопределенное прошедшее время – белгісіз өткен шақ

2. By changing the stem; Go –went Be (am, is are) -was,were We went to the library yesterday. Did you go to the library yesterday? We didn’t go to the library yesterday.

Future Simple

Formation. The future indefinite is formed analytically by means of the auxiliary verb shall for the first person singular or plural and will for the second and third person singular or plural and the infinitive of the notional verb without the particle to.

The modern tendency is to use will for all the persons.

i.e. (id est)=that is яғни by means of the auxiliary verbs “shall, will” +the infinitive of the notional verb (without the particle ‘to’).

The paradigm of the verb in the future indefinite tense

Affirmative I shall speak You will speak +(‘ll speak He, she, it will speak We shall speak You will speak

They will speak

Interrogative

Interrogative forms are built by means of the auxiliary shall, will in the present indefinite and the infinitive stem of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’

Shall I speak? Will you speak? Will he,she,it speak Shall we speak?

The negative form is built by means of the auxiliary verbs ‘shall, will’ in the present indefinite + the negative particle ‘not’+ the infinitive of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’

Negative I shall not (shan’t) speak. You will not (won’t) speak We shall not (shan’t) speak.

The Future indefinite is used to denote:

Simple facts in the future.

He will return tomorrow It will be cold in the evening.

A succession of actions in the future.

I’ll go to college in the morning. Then I’ll work in the library.

Habitual actions in the future.

So I’ll see you often in winter. I hope you will write regularly.

Use the indefinite tense forms

1. She (to go) to college in the afternoon.

She goes to college in the afternoon (affirmative, form, synthetic way, 3^rd person sigular)

2. What you (to do) yesterday morning

What did you do yesterday morning? (past indefinite tense, interrogative form, analytic way)

3. He (to play) next week? Yes, he ….

Will he play next week? Yes, he will….(the future indefinite tense, interrogative form, analytic way)

4. I (not to sleep) in the daytime

I do not sleep in the daytime. (the present indefinite tense, negative form, analytic way)

5. Who (to ring) you up an hour ago?

Who rang you up an hour ago? (Past indefinite tense, irregular verb, synthetic way)

The Continuous tenses

The present continuous

The present continuous denotes an action which is in progress at the moment of the speaking.

Formation. The present progressive tense is formed analytically, by means of the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ in the present indefinite tense-am, is are + the participle I of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’.

Paradigm I am + playing. You are +playing. He, she, it is playing. We/you/ they are playing.

In the interrogative the corresponding form of the auxiliary to be is placed before the subject and participle I follows it.

What are you doing now? Are you writing now? Yes, I am. No, I am not. Are you writing or reading now? (Alternative question) Who is writing? I am.

In the negative the negation 'not' is placed after the auxiliary.

I am not listening to you.

Negative-interrogative

A) Am I not speaking? b) Aren’t I speaking?

Is he (she, it) not speaking? Isn’t he speaking?

Are we not speaking?

 

Use

1. To denote continuous actions going on at the moment of speaking.

Look, how happily they are playing.

2. To denote future actions.

With verbs of motion to arrive, to come, to go, to leave, to return, to sail, and some others, usually the actions are only intended or planned. The future time is usually indicated y some adverbials. She is leaving tomorrow.

THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

Formation. The past progressive tense is formed analytically, by means of the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ in the past indefinite tense- was, were + participle I of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’.

I was + playing. You were +playing. He, she, it was playing. We/you/ they were playing.

Use: The past Continuous tense denotes a temporary action taking place at a given/ definite moment in the past.

Adverbials of time: at 5 o’ clock yesterday, whole [houl] morning, from 2to (till) 5 o’clock.

My grandfather was working in the garden the whole morning.

The interrogative form

The interrogative form is built analytically, by means of the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ in the past indefinite tense- was, were + before the subject and participle I of the notional verb without the particle ‘to’.

Where was your grandfather working the whole morning yesterday?

Who was working…?

How long was your grandfather working in the garden?

In the negative the negation 'not' is placed after the auxiliary.

He was not working in. May denote

1. An action performed in the past He met us at the station

2. A succession of past actions He shut the window, switches off the light and went upstarts.

3. A repeated action in the past He made an entry in his diary every night.

The Future continuous

All the forms of the future continuous are analytic. They are formed with the future indefinite of the auxiliary to be (shall be, will be) and participle I of the notional verb.

In the interrogative the corresponding form of the first auxiliary be and participle I follow the subject.

In the negative the corresponding form of the first auxiliary shall, will are used, the second auxiliary be and participle I follow them.

In the negative- interrogative the corresponding negative-interrogative forms of the first auxiliary shall, will are used, the second auxiliary be and participle I follow the subject.