Noun. The category of gender

The category of gender. A classification of nouns, primarily according to sex; and secondarily according to some fancied or imputed quality associated with sex. Unlike the Romance languages, English has three genders for nouns and pronouns: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Generally, the English language uses natural gender rather than grammatical gender — that is, the gender of a word is usually based on its biology.

 

The term “gender” is opposed to the term “sex” (пол). The first term (gender) is a pure grammatical term

which deals with the grammatical expression of grammatical gender, i.e. the expression of masculine, feminine and

neuter genders. The second word (sex) is used as a common word for both male and female. Thus, it is often used to

denote biological notions.

Speaking about the Modern English language we can say that the English nouns do not have a grammatical

category of gender. It is because that the nouns do not have constant grammatical means to express the gender distinctions. Such a grammatical category is found in Russian which is one the most important grammatical

phenomenon in this language “категория рода существительного – это несловоизменительная

синтагматически выявленная морфологическая категория, выражающаяся в способности существительного

в формах единственного числа относиться избирательно к родовым формам согласуемой (в сказуемом -

координируемой) с ним словоформы: письменный стол, большое дерево; Вечер наступил; Девочка гуляла

бы; Окно открыто; Ночь холодная. Морфологическая категория рода выявляется в формах единственного

числа, однако она принадлежит существительному как слову в целом, во всей системе его форм. Категорию

рода образуют три незамкнутых ряда морфологических форм, в каждый такой ряд входят формы разных

слов, объединённых общим для них морфологическим значением рода – мужского, женского или среднего”.

Морфологическое значение рода существительного – это такое значение, которое обуславливает

собою: 1) способность существительных определяться прилагательными со следующими флексиями в

форме именительного падежа единственного числа: - ой, -ий, ый - мужской род (большой стол, синий свет,

добрый человек), -ая, -яя – женский род (большая книга, синяя тетрадь); -ое, -ее – средний род (большое

окно, синее небо)…” (19)

It becomes clear that in Russian we find three grammatical genders -masculine, feminine and neuter as well

as in the personal pronouns in the 3rd person singular – он, она, оно. These pronouns, as a rule, replace nouns in

accordance with their gender. Nouns denoting persons may be either masculine or feminine - according to the sex of

the person usually denoted by them. Nouns denoting inanimate objects may be of masculine, feminine and neuter.

If nouns in the nominative case (им. падеж) singular form have no special ending, and no soft sign

(мягкий знак) at the end, they are included into the masculine gender: дом, семья.

If in the same case and form they have the endings -a or -я (ручка, станция), they are included into the

feminine gender.

If nouns have the endings -o or -e (радио, замечание) they are in neutral gender.

Nouns ending in "ь" (soft sign – мягкий знак) are either masculine (портфель - он) or feminine (тетрадь -

она).

In the English language we do not find such phenomenon. Because of this fact the Russian and the most

other foreign grammarians think that English does not have the grammatical category of gender. “English has no

gender: the nouns of English cannot be classified in terms of agreement with articles, adjectives (or verbs)” (38),

(20)

In old English there were three genders with their own markers. B.A.Ilyish writes the following in this

respect: "Three grammatical categories are represented in the OE nouns, just as in many other Germanic and Indo-

European languages: gender, number and case. Of these three gender is a lexical-grammatical category, that is,

every noun with all its forms belong to gender (masculine, feminine or neuter).

But in Modern English the meaning of gender may be expressed by the help of different other means:

1. gender may be indicated by a change of words that is, by the help of lexic-semantic means: man –

woman, cock (rooster) – hen, bull-cow, Arthur, Ann, Edgar, Helen and so on.

2. gender may be indicated by the addition of a word that is, by syntactic means examples: Grandfather –

grandmother, manservant – maidservant, male cat – female cat or he cat – she cat and so on.

3. gender may be expressed by the use of suffixes, examples, host – hostess (хозяин – хозяйка), hero –

heroine (герой - героиня), tiger – tigress (тигр - тигрица). There are opinions according to which these suffixes are

morphological means, thus they are grammatical means and because of this fact one may consider that English has

the grammatical category of gender. But it can hardly be accepted.

A.I. Smirnitsky (20) gives convincible counter-arguments on this question. Here it is: “Однако на самом

деле и здесь выражение ≪рода≫ относится не к грамматике, а к лексике. Слово actor – ≪мужского рода≫, а

actress – ≪женского рода≫ потому, что это соответствует реальным внеязыковым фактам, а не вследствие

особенностей склонения или каких-либо других формальных грамматических особенностей данных слов.

Слово actress по сравнению с actor обозначает реально иное живое существо женского пола, и соотношение

actor – actress является по существу таким же, как соотношение слов father отец – mother мать … этот

суффикс является не грамматическим, а лексическим, словообразующим. (его можно сопоставить,

например, с уменьшительным суффиксом – у в doggy и т.п.). Следовательно, в соотношении actor – actress

нет ничего противостоящего общим закономерностям выражения ≪родовых≫ различий в системе

английских существительных”

There is a regular correspondence between English nouns and the personal pronouns in the third person

singular he, she, it. But this correspondence is not equal with the one which is found in Russian. In the Russian

language this correspondence is based on both the lexical-semantic and the grammatical aspects but in English it is

based on only the lexical-semantic aspect, that is "he" is usually used to indicate real biological male sex, "she"

indicates real biological female sex and “It” is used to indicate inanimate objects. It is important to remember that

the pronouns he, she, may also be used with regard to inanimate nouns. Such a use of these pronouns is explained by

the cultural and historical backgrounds and it has nothing to do with the grammatical expression of the meaning of

gender. Examples: moon - she, ship - she, love - he and so on.

Summing up the problem of gender in Modern English, it is important to say that:

1. gender is the grammatical distinction between; masculine, feminine and neuter;

2. the lexical - grammatical category of gender existed only in the OE period but in ME (middle English)

3. in Modern English we find only lexical-semantic meanings of gender, that is, the gender distinction is

based on the semantic principle;

4. English has certain lexical and syntactic means to express a real biological sex.

Verb. Notional parts of speech

Verb as a Part of Speech

Words like to read, to live, to go, to jump are called verbs because of their following features.

1. they express the meanings of action and state;

2. they have the grammatical categories of person, number, tense, aspect, voice, mood, order and posteriority

most of which have their own grammatical means;

3. the function of verbs entirely depends on their forms: if they in finite form they fulfill only one function –

predicate. But if they are in non-finite form then they can fulfill any function in the sentence but predicate;

they may be part of the predicate;

4. verbs can combine actually with all the parts of speech, though they do not combine with articles, with

some pronouns. It is important to note that the combinability of verbs mostly depends on the syntactical

function of verbs in speech;

5. verbs have their own stem-building elements. They are:

postfixes: -fy (simplify, magnify, identify…)

-ize (realize, fertilize, standardize…)

-ate (activate, captivate…)

prefixes: re- (rewrite, restart, replant…)

mis- (misuse, misunderstand, misstate…)

un- (uncover, uncouple, uncrown…)

de- (depose, depress, derange…) and so on.

Functional parts of speech

Now, when we have viewed all the notional words we may get down to the study of

structural or functional parts of speech. To this group of words traditionally prepositions,

conjunctions, articles and some auxiliary words are referred. Some scholars include adverbs, linkverbs,

and even modal-verbs (Fries). It is important to consider the conceptions of some prestructural

grammarians.

H. Sweet (42) in the sentence "The earth is round" differs two types of words: full words and form words or

empty words: earth and round are full words while the and is are form words. He states that the and is are "form

words because they are words in form only... they are entirely devoid of meaning". Is does not have a meaning of

its own but is used to connect subject and predicate. Thus though it has no meaning of its own, independent

meaning, it has a definite grammatical function - it is a grammatical form-word. But "the" has not even a

grammatical function and serves only to show that earth is to be taken as terrestrical globe and therefore it is a part

of the word as the derivational prefix un - in unknown. In treating form-words by Sweet one of the most valuable

point is the following his conception. He states that very often a word combines the function of a form - word with

something of the independent meaning of a full word. To this type of words he includes words like become in he

became a prime minister. As full word it has the meaning of “change” and the function of the form - word is. The

above sentence consists of "He changed his condition + he is a prime minister". Now his conception schematically

may be shown as follows:

full words - intermediate stratum - form - word.

Facts like these bear the proof that it is difficult to draw a definite line between full words and form words.

O. Jespersen (33), (34): suggests that adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections should be called

particles. He sees a parallel in the relation between an adverb and a preposition and the relation between intransitive

and a transitive verb. According to his statement there is the same difference between the verbs in He sings, He

plays and He sings a song, He plays the piano. "Yet in spite of these differences in verb no one assigns them to

different part of speech. Therefore why we should assign to different parts of speech words like on and since.

Put your cap on (adv.)

Put your cap on your head (preposition); and

I have not seen her since (adv.)

I have not seen her since I arrived (preposition)

Because of these facts they may be termed by one word, i.e. "Particles".

Simple sentence

Simple sentences are divided into two-member and one-member sentences.A two-member sentence has two members – a subject and a predicate. A two-member sentence may be complete or incomplete. It is complete when it has a subject and a predicate. It is incomplete when one of the principal parts or both of them are missing, but can be easily understood from the context. A one-member sentence is a sentence having only one member which is neither the subject nor the predicate. One-member sentences are generally used in descriptions and in emotional speech.If the main part of a one-member sentence is expressed by a noun, the sentence is called nominal. The noun may be modified by attributes.E.g. Dusk – of a summer night. (Dreiser)Freedom! Bells ringing out, flowers, kisses, wine. (Heym). The main part of a one-member sentence is often expressed by an infinitive.E.g. To die out there – lonely, wanting them, wanting home! (Galsworthy). Simple sentences, both two-member and one-member, can be unextended and extended. A sentence consisting only of the primary or principal parts is called an unextended sentence. An extended sentence is a sentence consisting of the subject, the predicate and one or more secondary parts (objects, attributes, or adverbial modifiers). Examples of simple sentences include the following: 1)Joe waited for the train."Joe" = subject, "waited" = verb. 2) The train was late."The train" = subject, "was" = verb. 3) Mary and Samantha took the bus."Mary and Samantha" = compound subject, "took" = verb. 4) I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station."I" = subject, "looked" = verb

Complex sentence

A complex sentence consists of one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

The first thing we need to do to analyze a complex sentence is to find out the main or principal clause. Study the example sentence given below. Whenever he was asked that question, the old man who lived in that house answered that the earth was flat. The sentence given above consists of four clauses. A sentence that has two finite verbs has two clauses. So, in the example given above the finite verbs are: was asked, lived, answered and was. Analysis. 1. The old man answered. (Main clause) 2. Whenever he was asked that question (Adverb clause of time modifying the verb answered.) 3. Who lived in that house (Adjective clause modifying the noun man.) 4. That the earth was flat (Noun clause which acts as the object of the main verb answered.) Note that an adverb clause of time says when something happens. An adverb clause of place says where something happens. Adverbs usually express ideas such as time, place, manner, frequency etc. A noun clause usually acts as the subject or object of the verb in another clause. In the example given above, the noun clause is the object of the verb in the main clause. I think that he pocketed the mobile phone which was lying on the table. There are three finite verbs: think, pocketed and was lying. Analysis. 1. I think. (Main clause)2. That he pocketed the mobile phone (Noun clause which acts as the object of the verb think. 3. Which was lying on the table. (Adjective clause which modifies the noun mobile phone.)

Compound sentence

A compound sentence is a sentence which consists of two or more clauses coordinated with each other. A clause is part of a sentence which has a subject and a predicate of its own.In a compound sentence the clauses may be connected: (a) syndetically, i.e. by means of coordinating conjunctions (and, or, else, but, etc.) or conjunctive adverbs (otherwise, however, nevertheless, yet, etc.); (b) asyndetically, i.e. without a conjunction or conjunctive adverb. We can distinguish the following types of coordination: 1. Copulative coordination, expressed by the conjunctions ‘and, nor, neither…nor, not only…but (also)’. With the help of these conjunctions the statement expressed in the clause is simply added to that expressed in another. 2. Disjunctive coordination, expressed by the conjunctions ‘or, else, or else, either…or’, and the conjunctive adverb ‘otherwise’. By these a choice is offered between the statements expressed in two clauses. 3.Adversative coordination, expressed by the conjunctions ‘but, while, whereas’ and the conjunctive adverbs ‘nevertheless, still, yet’. These are conjunctions and adverbs connecting two clauses contrasted in meaning. 4. Causative-consecutive coordination, expressed by the conjunctions ‘for, so’ and the conjunctive adverbs ‘therefore, accordingly, consequently, hence’. ‘For’ introduces coordinate clauses explaining the preceding statement. ‘Therefore, so, consequently, hence, accordingly’ introduce coordinate clauses denoting cause, consequence and result.Examples of compound sentences include the following: 1) Joe waited for the train, but the train was late. 2) I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station, but they arrived at the station before noon and left on the bus before I arrived. 3) Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, and they left on the bus before I arrived. 4) Mary and Samantha left on the bus before I arrived, so I did not see them at the bus station.

 

Sentence. General

It is rather difficult to define the sentence as it is connected with many lingual and extra lingual aspects – logical, psychological and philosophical. We will just stick to one of them - according to academician G.Pocheptsov, the sentence is the central syntactic construction used as the minimal communicative unit that has its primary predication, actualises a definite structural scheme and possesses definite intonation characteristics. This definition works only in case we do not take into account the difference between the sentence and the utterance. The distinction between the sentence and the utterance is of fundamental importance because the sentence is an abstract theoretical entity defined within the theory of grammar while the utterance is the actual use of the sentence. In other words, the sentence is a unit of language while the utterance is a unit of speech.

The most essential features of the sentence as a linguistic unit are a) its structural characteristics – subject-predicate relations (primary predication), and b) its semantic characteristics – it refers to some fact in the objective reality. It is represented in the language through a conceptual reality:

conceptual reality proposition

 

objective reality lingual representation objective situation predicative unit

 

We may define the proposition as the main predicative form of thought. Basic predicative meanings of the typical English sentence are expressed by the finite verb that is immediately connected with the subject of the sentence (primary predication).

To sum it up, the sentence is a syntactic level unit, it is a predicative language unit which is a lingual representation of predicative thought (proposition).

 

1. Different approaches to the study of the sentence.

 

a) Principal and secondary parts of the sentence.

b) Immediate constituents of the sentence. IC analysis.

To grasp the real structure of the English sentence, one must understand not only words that occur but also the principles of their arrangement. Each language has its own way of structural grouping. English has dichotomous phrase structure, which means that the phrase in English can always be divided into two elements (constituents) until we get down to the single word. All groups of words are arranged in levels. The name given by linguists to these different levels of relationship is immediate constituents.

Thus, one way of analyzing a sentence is to cut it to its immediate constituents, that is, to single out different levels of meaning:

 

The old man saw a black dog there S

NP VP

Det NP VP D

A N V NP

Det NP

NP VP A N

It is obvious that dividing a sentence into ICs does not provide much information. Nevertheless, it can sometimes prove useful if we want to account for the ambiguity of certain constructions. A classic example is the phrase old men and women which can be interpreted in two different ways. Ambiguity of this kind is referred to as syntactic ambiguity. By providing IC analysis we can make the two meanings clear:

old men and women old men and women

c) Oppositional analysis.

The oppositional method in syntax means correlating different sentence types: they possess common features and differential features. Differential features serve the basis for analysis.

E.g. two member sentence:: one member sentence (John worked:: John! Work! Or: I speak English:: I don’t speak English.

d) Constructional analysis.

According to the constructional approach, not only the subject and the predicate but also all the necessary constituents of primary predication constitute the main parts because they are constructionally significant. Therefore, the secondary parts of the sentence are sometimes as necessary and important as the main ones. If we omit the object and the adverbial modifier in the following sentences they will become grammatically and semantically unmarked: Bill closed the door; She behaved well.

The structural sentence types are formed on the basis of kernels (basic structures). Three main types of propositional kernels may be distinguished: N V, N is A, N is N. However, if we take into account the valent properties of the verbs (their obligatory valency) the group will become larger (8 kernels), e.g. N1 V N2 N3: John gave Ann the book, N1 V N2: I see a house.

The kernel sentences form the basis for syntactic derivation. Syntactic derivation lies in producing more complex sentences

Syntactic processes may be internal and external. Internal syntactic processes involve no changes in the structure of the parts of the sentence. They occur within one and the same part of the sentence (subject, etc.). External syntactic processes are those that cause new relations within a syntactic unit and lead to appearance of a new part of the sentence.

The internal syntactic processes are:

ExpansionCompression

The phone was ringing and ringing They were laughing and singing

ComplicationContamination

(a synt. unit becomes complicated) (two parts of the sentence are joined

I have seen it – I could have seen it together – e.g. double predicate)

The moon rose red

Replacement – the use of the words that have a generalized meaning: one, do, etc, I’d like to take this one.

Representation – a part of the syntactic unit represents the whole syntactic unit: Would you like to come along? I’d love to.

Ellipsis – Where are you going? To the movies.

 

The external syntactic processes are:

Extension - a nice dress – a nice cotton dress.

Ajoinment - the use of specifying words, most often particles: He did it – Only he did it.

Enclosure – inserting modal words and other discourse markers: after all, anyway, naturally, etc.

 

2. The utterance. Informative structure of the utterance.

 

The utterance as opposed to the sentence is the unit of speech. The

main categories of the utterance from the point of view of its informative structure are considered to be the theme and the rheme. They are the main components of the Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) – actual division of the sentence (most language analysts stick to the term “sentence” but actually they mean “utterance”).

In English, there is a “standard” word order of Subject + Verb + Object: The cat ate the rat – here we have a standard structure (N1 + V + N2). However, there are numerous other ways in which the semantic content of the sentence can be expressed:

1. The rat was eaten by the cat.

2. It was the cat that ate the rat.

3. It was the rat that the cat ate.

4. What the cat did was ate the rat.

5. The cat, it ate the rat.

Which of these options is actually selected by the writer or the speaker will depend on the context in which the utterance occurs and the importance of the information. One important consideration is whether the information has already been introduced before or it is assumed to be known to the reader or listener. Such information is referred to as given information or the theme. It contrasts with information which is introduced for the first time and which is known as new information or the rheme.

Informative structure of the utterance is one of the topics that still attract the attention of language analysts nowadays. It is well recognized that the rheme marking devices are:

1. Position in the sentence. As a rule new information in English generally comes last: The cat ate the rat.

2. Intonation.

3. The use of the indefinite article. However, sometimes it is impossible (as in 1): A gentleman is waiting for you.

4. The use of ‘there is’, ‘there are’. There is a cat in the room.

5. The use of special devices, like ‘as for’, ‘but for’, etc.: As for him, I don’t know.

6. Inverted word order: Here comes the sun.

7. The use of emphatic constructions: It was the cat that ate the rat.

However, sometimes the most important information is not expressed formally: The cat ate the rat after all. The rheme here is ‘the rat’. At the same time there is very important information which is hidden or implicit: the cat was not supposed to do it, or – it was hard for the cat to catch the rat, or – the cat is a vegetarian (this hidden information will depend on the context or situation). In other words, we may say that this sentence contains two informative centres, or two rhemes – explicit and implicit.

There are many definitions of the sentence and these definitions differ from each other

because that the scientists approach from different view points to this question. Some of them

consider the sentence from the point view of phonetics, others - from the point of view of

semantics (the meaning of the sentence) and so on. According to the opinion of many grammarians

the definition of the sentence must contain all the peculiar features of the smallest communicative

unit.

Some of the definitions of a sentence are given below.

≪Предложение – минимальная синтаксическая конструкция, используемая в актах речевой

коммуникации, характеризующаяся предикативностью и реализующая определенную структурную схему≫

(14)

“The sentence is the immediate integral unit of speech built up of words according to a definite syntactic

pattern and distinguished by a contextually relevant communicative purpose”

The definitions which are mentioned above prove that B.A. Ilyish is quite right when he writes: “The

notion of sentence has not so far received a satisfactory definition” (15)

“A sentence is a unit of speech whose grammatical structure conforms to the laws of the language and

which serves as the chief means of conveying a thought. A sentence is not only a means of communicating

something about reality but also a means of showing the speaker's attitude to it.

“В отличие от слова или словосочетания, которые выражают лишь различные

понятия, предложения выражают относительно законченные мысли и тем самым

используются как единицы общения между людьми; произнося (или изображая на письме)

предложения, люди что-то сообщают, выясняют, побуждают друг другу к выполнению

действия.

The train moved out of the city.

Are you ready?

Put down the book.

Для того чтобы сообщение о том или ином факте, явлении был полным, законченным, требуется

указать каким образом данный факт, явление, событие и т.д. относится к реальной действительности,

существует ли оно на самом деле или же мыслится как возможное предполагаемое, воображаемое,

необходимое и т.д., т.е. необходимо выразить модальность сообщения. Модальность непременно имеется в

любом предложении≫.

≪Важнейшим средством грамматического оформления предложения является законченность

интонации≫. (15)

Thus, concluding the above mentioned conceptions, we can say that in any act of

communication there are three factors:

1. The act of speech;

2. The speaker;

3. Reality (as viewed by the speaker).

B. Khaimovich and Rogovskaya (22) state that these factors are variable since they change with every act

of speech. They may be viewed from two viewpoints:

1) from the point of view of language are constant because they are found in all acts of

communication;

2) they are variable because they change in every act of speech.

Every act of communication contains the notions of time, person and reality.

The events mentioned in the communications are correlated in time and time correlation is

expressed by certain grammatical and lexical means.

Any act of communication presupposes existence of the speaker and the hearer. The

meaning of person is expressed by the category of person of verbs. They may be expressed

grammatically and lexico-grammatically by words: I, you, he...

Reality is treated differently by the speaker and this attitude of the speaker is expressed by

the category of mood in verbs. They may be expressed grammatically and lexically (may, must,

probably...)

According to the same authors the three relations - to the act of speech, to the speaker and

to reality - can be summarized as the relation to the situation of speech.

The relation of the thought of a sentence to the situation of speech is called predicativity.

Predicativity is the structural meaning of the sentence while intonation is the structural form of it.

Thus, a sentence is a communication unit made up of words /and word-morphemes/ in conformity

with their combinability and structurally united by intonation and predicativity.

Within a sentence the word or combination of words that contains the meanings of

predicativity may be called the predication.

My father used to make nets and sell them.

My mother kept a little day-school for the girls.

Nobody wants a baby to cry.

A hospital Nursery is one of the most beautiful places in the world. You might say, it’s a

room filled with love.

Thus, by sentence we understand the smallest communicative unit, consisting of one or

more syntactically connected words that has primary predication and that has a certain intonation

pattern.

Noun. General

General characteristics.

 

The noun is the central lexical unit of language. It is the main nominative unit of speech. As any other part of speech, the noun can be characterised by three criteria: semantic (the meaning), morphological (the form and grammatical catrgories) and syntactical (functions, distribution).

Semantic features of the noun. The noun possesses the grammatical meaning of thingness, substantiality. According to different principles of classification nouns fall into several subclasses:

1. According to the type of nomination they may be proper and common;

2. According to the form of existence they may be animate and inanimate. Animate nouns in their turn fall into human and non-human.

3. According to their quantitative structure nouns can be countable and uncountable.

This set of subclasses cannot be put together into one table because of the different principles of classification.

Morphological features of the noun. In accordance with the morphological structure of the stems all nouns can be classified into: simple,derived (stem + affix, affix + stem – thingness); compound (stem+ stem – armchair) and composite (the Hague). The noun has morphological categories of number and case. Some scholars admit the existence of the category of gender.

Syntactic features of the noun. The noun can be used un the sentence in all syntacticfunctions but predicate. Speaking about noun combinability, we can say that it can go into right-hand and left-hand connections with practically all parts of speech. That is why practically all parts of speech but the verb can act as noun determiners. However, the most common noun determiners are considered to be articles, pronouns, numerals, adjectives and nouns themselves in the common and genitive case.

 

In most cases in treating parts of speech in English we shall keep to the conception of

scientists that we refer to post-structural tendency. It's because they combine the ideas of

traditional and structural grammarians.

The noun is classified into a separate word - group because:

1. they all have the same lexical - grammatical meaning:

substance / thing

2. according to their form - they've two grammatical categories:

number and case

3. they all have typical stem-building elements:

- er, - ist, - ship, - merit, -hood...

4. typical combinability with other words:

most often left-hand combinability

5. function - the most characteristic feature of nouns is - they can be observed in all syntactic functions

but predicate.

Some words about the distribution of nouns. Because of the fact that nouns express or

denote substance / thing, their distribution is bound with the words which express the quality of

substance, their number, their actions and their relation to the other words /nouns/ in English.

When the quality of nouns are described we make use of adjectives:

big, red apple

energetic crisis

a long, dusty track and others.

When the quantity and order of nouns are described the numerals are to be used:

the six continents

25th anniversary

12 students....

When we denote the action of substances we make use of the verbs:

An apple-tree grows in the garden

Russia assisted India in Mounting Bokaro Steal Plant

When the relation of nouns to other words are described we make wide use of prepositions

a window of the school

to the park

at the construction of the bridge

In all these cases with the exception of verbs the noun is characterized with left-hand

combinability / in overwhelming majority/. So far as to the verbs are concerned they may both

precede and follow them.

Verb. General

Grammatically the verb is the most complex part of speech. First of all it performs the central role in realizing predication - connection between situation in the utterance and reality. That is why the verb is of primary informative significance in an utterance. Besides, the verb possesses quite a lot of grammatical categories. Furthermore, within the class of verb various subclass divisions based on different principles of classification can befound.

Semantic features of the verb. The verb possesses the grammatical meaning of verbiality - the ability to denote a process developing in time. This meaning is inherent not only in the verbs denoting processes, but also in those denoting states, forms of existence, evaluations, etc.

Morphological features of the verb. The verb possesses the following grammatical categories: tense, aspect, voice, mood, person, number, finitude and phase. The common categories for finite and non-finite forms are voice, aspect, phase and finitude. The grammatical categories of the English verb find their expression in synthetical and analytical forms. The formative elements expressing these categories are grammatical affixes, inner inflexion and function words. Some categories have only synthetical forms (person, number), others - only analytical (voice). There are also categories expressed by both synthetical and analytical forms (mood, tense, aspect).

Syntactic features. The most universal syntactic feature of verbs is their ability to be modified by adverbs. The second important syntactic criterion is the ability of the verb to perform the syntactic function of the predicate. However, this criterion is not absolute because only finite forms can perform this function while non-finite forms can be used in any function but predicate. And finally, any verb in the form of the infinitive can be combined with a modal verb.

 

 

Words like to read, to live, to go, to jump are called verbs because of their following features.

1. they express the meanings of action and state;

2. they have the grammatical categories of person, number, tense, aspect, voice, mood, order and posteriority

most of which have their own grammatical means;

3. the function of verbs entirely depends on their forms: if they in finite form they fulfill only one function –

predicate. But if they are in non-finite form then they can fulfill any function in the sentence but predicate;

they may be part of the predicate;

4. verbs can combine actually with all the parts of speech, though they do not combine with articles, with

some pronouns. It is important to note that the combinability of verbs mostly depends on the syntactical

function of verbs in speech;

5. verbs have their own stem-building elements. They are:

postfixes: -fy (simplify, magnify, identify…)

-ize (realize, fertilize, standardize…)

-ate (activate, captivate…)

prefixes: re- (rewrite, restart, replant…)

mis- (misuse, misunderstand, misstate…)

un- (uncover, uncouple, uncrown…)

de- (depose, depress, derange…) and so on.

The Types of Verbs

The classification of verbs can be undertaken from the following points of view:

1) meaning

2) form - formation;

3) function.

I. There are three basic forms of the verb in English: infinitive, past indefinite and PII.

These forms are kept in mind in classifying verbs.

II. There are four types of form-formation:

1. affixation: reads, asked, going...

2. variation of sounds: run – ran, may – might, bring – brought...

3. suppletive ways: be – is – am – are – was; go – went...

4. analytical means: shall come, have asked, is helped...

There are productive and non-productive ways of word-formation in present-day English

verbs.

Affixation is productive, while variation of sounds and suppletion are non-productive.

Parts of the sentence

The parts of the sentences are the basic syntactical units. First and important in the investigation of the structure of the sentence is segmentation that is articulation of the composition of the sentence into constituents.The part of the sentence when it functional syntactical nature doesn't change in all unlimited number of the real sentences differently expressed lexically under conditions of identity of lexemes is sorted as a component of each new sentence with all the new subjects, with their properties, their terms of existencePart of the sentence is a two-sided language mark, which possesses the meaning and the form.Its meaning is syntactic function, that is, that substantial relation, in which given syntactic element is in another structure of some syntactic consecution of elements. The form of the part - is not only syntactically meaningful morphological form of the word, but also characteristics, connected with the belonging of the word to the definite part of speech or to the category of words inside of the part of speech, presence or absence of secondary auxiliary words.