Lecture 8

1. Comment on the grammatical categories of person and number of the

verb. What does their concord imply?
The categories of person and number are closely connected with each other. There is a
concord between the subject of a sentence and its finite verb predicate. That is, the subject
dominates the predicate determining the person and number of the predication, while the
predicate dominates the subject, ascribing to it some action, state or quality (e.g.: Ann plays
the piano every day. We play the piano every day.).

2. What does the general notion of time imply?

TIME, like space, is considered to be a universal form of existing things and phenomena that
are continually changing. We can think of time as a line on which is located, as a
continuously moving point, the present moment, the linguistic content of which is the
moment of speech. Anything ahead of the present moment is in the future, and anything
behind it is in the past.

3. How is the notion of tense defined? Why is the grammatical category of

tense represented in modern English by a binary paradigm?
TENSE (from Lat. tempus) is a grammatical time, which is one of the typical meanings of the
finite verb. The expression or non-expression of grammatical time, together with the
expression or non-expression of grammatical mood, constitutes the basis of the verbal
category of finitude, i.e. the basis for the division of all the forms of the verb into finite and
non-finite. Tense is a grammatical category that is realized with the help of verb inflexion.
Since English has no inflected form of the verb for expressing future time, the threefold
semantic opposition of time is reduced to two tenses: the present tense and the past tense.

4. Discuss the use of simple present tense for present time.

There are three kinds of typical uses of the present simple tense in modern English:
1. The state present is used with stative verbs 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 two make
four or to less extreme instances of timeliness, such as The British Isles have a temperate
climate. It also includes more restricted time:
Margaret is tall. We live near Toronto. This soup tastes delicious.
2. The habitual present is used with dynamic verbs 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 present’, such as The earth moves round the sun or The sun rises in
the East and sets in the West, and more restricted time spans:
We go to Brussels every year. She makes her own dresses. Bill drinks heavily.
If the state present always refers to something that happens at the time of speaking, this is
not often so for the habitual present: We can say Bill drinks heavily when he is not actually
drinking. It is a sign of the habitual present that one can easily add a frequency adverbial
(such as: often, usually, always, every year, etc.) to specify the frequency of the event.
3. The instantaneous present is used with dynamic verbs 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 such
restricted situations as:
a) commentaries like Black passes the ball to Fernandez;
b) self-commentaries like I enclose a form of application;
c) with performative verbs that refer to the speech acts performed by uttering the
sentences:
I apologize for my behaviour; We thank you for your help.

5. Discuss the use of simple present tense for past and future time.
There are three additional kinds of uses of the simple present:
1. The historic present refers to past time, and is characteristic of popular and fictional
narrative style. It conveys the dramatic immediacy of an event happening at the time of
narration(1) or for the imaginary one (2):
(1) Just as we arrived, up comes Ben and slaps me on the back as if we’re life-long friends.
(2) The crowd swarms around the gate way, and seethes with delighted anticipation;
excitement grows, as suddenly their hero makes his entrance…
2. The simple present is optionally used to refer to the past with verbs of communication to
suggest that the information is still valid: Jack tells me that the position is still vacant. I hear
that you need an assistant. The Bible prohibits the committing of adultery.
3. The simple present tense typically occurs in main clauses with time-position adverbials to
suggest that a future event is certain to take place according to the schedule: The plane
leaves for Ankara at eight o’clock tonight.
4. The present simple tense refers to future time in conditional and temporal adverbial
clauses:
He’ll do it if you pay him.
I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from her.

6. Discuss the use of simple past tense.

7. Discuss the main ways of expressing future time in English (5 cases).
There are three special uses of the simple past:
1. In reported (indirect) speech or indirect thought, the simple past in the reporting verb
may cause the verb in the subordinate clause to be backshifted into the simple past:
She said that she knew you.
I thought you were in Paris.
2. The attitudinal past is used to refer more tentatively and therefore more politely to a
present state of mind:
Did you want to see me now? (ეხლაც გნებავთ ჩემი ნახვა?)
3. The hypothetical past is used in conditional and complementive (i.e. object) subordinate
clauses to convey what is contrary to the belief or expectation of the speaker:
If you knew him, you wouldn’t say that. (condition)
I wish I had a memory like yours. (object clause)
The implication of the conditional clause above (If I knew him) is that you do not know him,
and of the object subordinate clause (I had a memory like yours) that I do not have such a
memory.

8. What does the category of aspect imply? Name the main types of aspects
in English and characterize each of them.
Aspect is a grammatical category that adds time meanings to those meanings of the verb expressed
by tense. The category of aspect answers the question: ‘Is the event/state described by the verb
completed or is it continuing?’

There are two aspects in English: perfect and progressive (sometimes known as continuous). The
perfect aspect most often describes events or states taking place during a preceding period of time.
It is formed analytically with the help of the auxiliary have + past participle (participle II) of the main
verb. The progressive or continuous aspect describes an event or state in progress. It is also formed
analytically with the help of the auxiliary be + present participle (participle I) of the main verb.

present perfect has examined

past perfect had examined

present progressive is examining

past progressive was examining

9. Comment on the perfect progressive aspect of the English verb.

Verb phrases can be also marked for both aspects at the same time, which accordingly is known as
perfect progressive aspect. The perfect progressive is a hybrid form when the perfect and
progressive aspects are combined in the same verb phrase to refer to a temporary situation leading
up to the present (e.g. I have been running. - the present perfect continuous form) or to some point
in the past (e.g. The fire had been raging for over a week when the fire-engines arrive. - the past
perfect continuous form).

10. What is the essence of the grammatical category of voice? Comment on

the semantic distinction of voice forms.
Most transitive verbs can occur in two voices: active and passive. The active form of the verb shows
that the action described by the verb is performed by the subject of the sentence, while the passive
form indicates that the action is performed upon the subject:

The butler murdered the detective. (active voice)

The detective was murdered by the butler. (passive voice)

The passive verb forms are less common and used for special discourse functions. Compared to
active voice, passive voice reduces the importance of the agent (i.e. the doer of the action) and
allows the receiver of the action to become the subject of the sentence.

11. What’s the difference between short and long passives? Speak about
functional peculiarities of short passives in modern English.
There are short and long passives. In short passives (also called agentless passives) the agent is not
specified while long passives contain a by-phrase which specifies the agent of the action.

The children were sent to the camp. (Short passive)

The children were sent to the camp by their uncle. (Long passive)

Short passives are about six times as frequent as long passives.

a) When they do not know the identity of the agent of the action:
Many lifeboats were launched from the Titanic only partly filled.
b) When they want to avoid identifying the agent in order not to assign or accept
responsibility:
My letter has not yet been answered.
A mistake has been made in calculating your change.
c) When they feel that there is no reason to mention the agent because the identification is
unimportant or obvious from the context:
He was arrested and sent to prison for stealing a car.
Nowadays cancer can be cured if it is detected early enough.

d) In scientific and technical writing, authors often use the short passive to avoid the constant
repetition of the subject I or we and to put the emphasis on processes and experimental procedures

12. Define the essence of the grammatical category of mood and name its
main types in modern English.
The category of mood is a morphological expression of modality, that is, it marks the modality of
reality or unreality of an action or state as viewed by the speaker. Grammarians differentiate three
moods in modern English: the indicative mood, the imperative mood and the subjunctive mood.
13. Define the essence of the indicative mood.
The indicative mood presents an action as a real fact that happened in the past, is happening now or
will happen in future. That’s why it is called a real mood or a fact mood. The indicative mood is rich
in forms reflecting all grammatical categories of finite verbs (the categories of person and number,
tense, aspect and voice). E.g.: When I got to the station the train had already left.

14. Characterize the imperative mood.

An imperative typically urges the addressee to do or not to do something. It is used to give orders or
requests, and expects some action from the addressee. Given this limited function, most imperative
clauses are characterized by the lack of a subject in the surface structure (which usually implies the
addressee, i.e. the second person), by the use of the infinitive of the verb and the absence of modals
as well as tense and aspect markers:

Get off the table.

Don’t forget to send a wire to Nick.

A special type of imperative, referring to the first or third person both singular and plural, is formed
according to the formula: let smb do or not do smth:

Let’s take a taxi.

Well, let him try this, let’s see what happens.

15. What is the essence of the subjunctive mood?

The subjunctive mood presents an action as unreal or hypothetical. 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.

16. Comment on the forms and functional peculiarities of present

subjunctive.
The form of present subjunctive coincides with the infinitive of the verb. Accordingly, the
subjunctive form be is distinct from the indicative forms am, is, and are (e.g. Be it as you wish.). For
other verbs, present subjunctive is distinctive only in the 3rd person singular as it does not take the
inflection -s. Present subjunctive is used in certain set expressions: God bless you. Long live the King.
God save the Queen, and so on. Negation of the present subjunctive does not require an operator
(i.e. the auxiliary do). For instance: I insist that the Council not reconsider its decision.

17. Comment on the form and functional-semantic peculiarities of past

subjunctive.
The past subjunctive is identical in form with the simple past of the verb. The exception is the verb
be which occurs in the past subjunctive as were with all the persons both in singular and plural.
Because of this, the past subjunctive is sometimes referred to as were-subjunctive. The past
subjunctive is hypothetical in meaning. It is used mostly in conditional clauses and in subordinate
clauses after wish and suppose:

If I were a rich man, I would travel in Africa.

I wish the journey were over.

Just suppose everyone were to act like you

18. Discuss the analytical forms of the subjunctive mood.

There are two analytical forms of the subjunctive mood: a) the form which is homonymous with the
past perfect and which is used in conditional clauses of the third type (also called “unreal for ever
clauses”), expressing the situation unfulfilled in the past and b) the form with the mood auxiliaries
should/would + indefinite or perfect infinitive of the main verb. For instance:

If I had had some money with me I would have bought that beautiful dress.

If I were you I would go to the concert with you.

The owner of the firm demanded that the manager should resign.