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- •§ 2. Verbs can be classified under different heads.
- •§ 3. According to their meaning and function in the sentence English verbs are classified into notional and structural ones.
- •§ 5. The forms that serve to express the above mentioned grammatical categories may be built up in different ways.
- •§ 6. The forms of the verb which are built up with the help of the above described basic forms may be of two different kinds — synthetic or analytical.
- •§ 8. 1) In discussing the use of English finite forms it is neces- sary to understand that in most cases the choice is free: the form is chosen in accordance with the meaning the speaker wishes to
- •The Present Indefinite
- •§ 10. The Present Indefinite is used in the following cases: 1) When it serves to express recurrent (a) or permanent (b) ac- tions in the present.
- •The Present Continuous
- •§ 12. The Present Continuous is used with dynamic verbs in
- •§ 13. As has been said above, the Present Continuous is used with dynamic verbs. However, some stative verbs (see "Verbs", § 2, 2) when they change their meaning can be used in the Continuous form.
- •The Present Perfect
- •§ 16. The Present Perfect falls within the time sphere of the
- •§ 19. In negative sentences the Present Perfect Continuous is not common. Present Perfect II is preferred in this case (for exam- ples see "Verbs", § 16, 2c).
- •§ 20. Present Perfect Continuous I and particularly Present Perfect Continuous II are sometimes found with stative verbs.
- •§ 21. Note the following sentence patterns:
- •§ 23. The Past Indefinite is commonly used to express a past action. It may be found in present-time contexts as well as in past- time contexts.
- •§ 24. For the use of the Past Indefinite in some sentence pat- terns comprising complex sentences with clauses of time intro- duced by as and while see "Verbs", § 28.
- •The Past Continuous
- •§ 28. Note the following sentence patterns in which we find the Past Indefinite and the Past Continuous used in different combinations with each other:
- •The Past Perfect
- •§ 32. Note the following sentence patterns in which the Past Perfect is or may be used:
- •§ 34. The Past Perfect Continuous has two different uses which will be further referred to as Past Perfect Continuous I and Past Perfect Continuous II.
- •§ 36. It is noteworthy that Past Perfect Continuous I and par- ticularly Past Perfect Continuous II may sometimes be found with stative verbs.
- •§ 37. Note some sentence patterns in which the Present Per- fect Continuous or the Past Perfect Continuous is found:
- •§ 41. The Future Continuous is used in the following cases:
- •§ 42. Note the following examples in which the Future Contin- uous is used with stative verbs.
- •The Future Perfect
- •§ 44. The Future Perfect is used to express an action accom- plished before a given future moment which is usually indicated by an adverbial modifier.
- •§ 46. The following is a description of different means of ex- pressing future actions in present-day English:!
- •§ 48. By way of exception to the above rules, dynamic verbs mау occasionally be found in the Future Indefinite to express mere futurity without any additional modal meanings. This use of
- •§ 50. Note the use of the Future Indefinite in the following stereotyped sentences:
- •§ 51. English has some special forms to express future actions if they are viewed from some moment in the past. The most common of these means is the Future-in-the-Past, which, like the Future,
- •§ 52. In addition to the Future-in-the-Past there are other means of expressing future actions from the point of view of the past.
- •§ 54. In certain types of subordinate clauses the tenses are
- •§ 55. The relative use of tenses is mainly observed in subordi- nate object clauses.
- •§ 57. The rules of the sequence of tenses in object clauses are sometimes violated. This occurs in the following cases:
- •§ 58. As has been said, the rules of the sequence of tenses are mainly applied in object clauses. Yet these rules are strictly ob- served in some other cases too:
- •The Active Voice
- •§ 62. The Active Voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject of the sentence is the agent (the doer) of the action expressed by the predicate verb, that it acts.
- •The Passive Voice
- •Types of Passive Constructions
- •§ 65. English is rich in various types of passive constructions: 1) The subject of the passive construction may correspond to
- •§67. The use of the Present and Past Continuous Passive is parallel to the use of the corresponding active forms.
- •§ 68. The passive is not the reverse of the active. The two con- structions are not parallel in their use and serve different purposes.
- •§ 69. It is common knowledge that the passive is extensively used in English. This seems to be due to a number of reasons:
- •§ 70. Generally Mood shows the relation between the action ex- pressed by the predicate verb and reality. This relation is estab- lished by the speaker.
- •§ 71. Actions represented as real facts are expressed by the In- dicative Mood.
- •§ 72. Commands and requests which are problematic actions are expressed by the Imperative Mood.
- •§ 73. Actions represented as unreal are in present-day English expressed by a variety of forms.
- •§ 74. The speaker's attitude towards the action in the sentence may be expressed in different ways:
- •Modal Verbs
- •§75. We find the following modal verbs in English: can, may. Must, ought, shall, should, will, need and dare. Besides, to have
- •§ 77. Can has the following meanings: 1) ability, capability,
- •3) Permission,
- •§ 78. Can and could followed by different forms of the infinitive, are found in special questions where they are used for emotional co- louring (for instance, to express puzzlement, impatience, etc.).
- •It couldn't be true, (less certain)
- •§ 81. Note the following set phrases with can:
- •§ 83. May has the following meanings: 1) supposition implying uncertainty,
- •§ 84. The form might which expresses unreality is not always Parallel to may.
- •§ 85. Notice the following set phrases with may and might:
- •Can and may compared
- •§ 90. Note the following set phrases with must.
- •Must and may Compared
- •§ 91. Must and мaу can be compared in two meanings:
- •§ 92. To have to as a modal verb is not a defective verb and can have all the necessary finite forms as well as the verbals.
- •§ 93. The verb to have to serves to express obligation or neces- sity imposed by circumstances. It is rendered in Russian as прихо- дится, вынужден.
- •§ 95. Note the set phrase had better.
- •§ 96. To be to as a modal verb is used in the present and past tenses.
- •§ 97. To be to as a modal verb has the following meanings:
- •§ 98. Note the following set phrases with the modal verb to be to: What am I to do? (Что мне делать? Как мне быть?) What is to become of me? (Что со мной станется? Что со мной будет?)
- •§ 101. In reported speech (in past-time contexts) must remains unchanged in all of its meanings.
- •§ 102. The modal verb ought to has only one form which is used with reference to the present or future. In reported speech it re- ins unchanged. Ought is always followed by the infinitive with to.
- •§ 103. Ought to has the following meanings: 1) obligation, which in different contexts may acquire addi- tinal shades of meaning, such as advisability and desirability,
- •§ 105. In modern English the modal meaning of obligation in shall is always combined with the function of an auxiliary verb of
- •§ 106. In modern English the modal verb should is used with reference to the present or future. It remains unchanged in re- ported speech.
- •§ 107. Should has the following meanings:
- •§110. All the three verbs serve to express obligation. Must, however, sounds more forceful, peremptory.
- •§111. Must, ought to and should serve to express supposition implying strong probability. Must, however, seems to be in more frequent use than the other two verbs.
- •§ 114. The use of will and would which denotes an actual fact in the past is parallel in the following cases:
- •§ 115. The use of will and would which expresses unreality in the present or serves as a milder or more polite form of will is parallel in the following cases:
- •§ 116. The use of will and would is not parallel in the follow- ing cases:
- •§ 117. Would also occurs in certain subordinate clauses where it is structurally dependent (for a detailed treatment of this case see "Verbs", § 132).
- •§ 118. The modal verb need may be used either as a defective or as a regular verb.
- •§ 119. The modal verb dare may also be used as a regular and as a defective verb.
- •§ 121. The main verbs expressing necessity are: must, to have to, to be to, should and ought to.
- •§ 123. All these forms denoting unreality may be subdivided into two groups according to their meaning.
- •§ 124. The forms described above can be classified in the fol- lowing way:
- •§ 125. To sum up all the forms described above, it is possible to say that unreality is expressed in present-day English by the following means:
- •§ 126. All these means of expressing unreality may have the continuous (a) and passive (b) forms if the lexical meaning of the verb admits of that and when it is required by the situation.
- •§ 127. Before describing the use of the various forms of unre- ality it is necessary to understand the factors which determine their choice.
- •§ 128. In object clauses the use of different forms of the predi- cate depends on the lexical character of the predicate verb in the principal clause.
- •§ 129. However, after certain verbs and expressions we find forms of unreality in object clauses.
- •§ 136. In object clauses introduced by the conjunctions if and whether after expressions of doubt and negative expressions we sometimes find the form were.
- •§ 137. In appositive clauses which are usually introduced by the conjunction that the use of different forms of the predicate depends on the lexical character of the noun they modify.
- •§ 139. The same rules hold good for predicative clauses — gen- erally the Indicative Mood is used in them. E.G. The question is how we are going to find the means to do it.
- •§ 141. Forms expressing unreality are found in clauses of pur- pose, comparison, concession and in both the principal and the subordinate clause of a conditional sentence.
- •§ 142. An adverbial modifier of purpose is usually expressed by an infinitive when the agent of that infinitive is the same as the subject in the sentence.
- •§ 143. A subordinate clause of purpose is found when the sub- ject of this clause is not the same as the subject of the principal clause.
- •§ 144. In clauses of comparison introduced by the conjunctions as if or as though we find the form of the Past Indefinite includ- ing the form were for all the persons or the Past Perfect.
- •§ 145. Complex sentences with a subordinate clause of condi- tion (conditional sentences)1 may be divided into two groups: sen- tences of real condition and sentences of unreal condition.
- •§ 147. Note the following construction which may be used with reference either to the present or to the past.
- •§ 149. Sentences of unreal condition referring to the future may be of four types: l
- •§ 150. The modal verbs can and may can also be found in con- ditional sentences. If they occur in if-clauses referring to the present or future, they have the past form.
- •§ 155. If an action is represented as an actual fact, the Indica- tive Mood is used. But if it is dependent on some implied unreal
- •§ 157. Sometimes the unreal condition is not merely implied but actually expressed in the sentence by means of a special ad- verbial modifier of condition.
- •§ 161. The Subjunctive Mood and the form were may be found in simple sentences. Their use in this case is based on tradition.
- •Verbals (non-finite forms of the verb)
- •§ 163. There are three verbals in English: the infinitive, the ing-form and the participle.
- •§ 164. In order to understand the nature of the verbals, it is necessary to compare them with the finite forms of the verb and bring out points of similarity points of difference between them.
- •The Infinitive and the ing-form
- •§ 165. The infinitive and the ing-form have the same lexical meaning as the finite forms of the corresponding verb.
- •§ 166. The infinitive and the ing-iorm, like the finite forms, are always associated with a subject but the way their subject is expressed differs greatly from that of the finite forms.
- •§ 167. With regard to their meaning and function, the infini- tive and the ing-form, like the finite forms, can be classed into two groups:
- •§ 168. The syntactic functions of the verbals and those of the finite forms do not coincide and therein lies the main difference between them.
- •§ 171. In addition to the above described features which the infinitive and the ing-form have in common, each of the two ver- bals possesses peculiarities of its own.
- •§ 172. The ing-form, in its turn, has peculiarities of its own. Unliке the infinitive, it may, in certain functions, be preceded by a preposition.
- •§ 173. Although the participle has the same lexical meaning as the corresponding verb, it differs considerably from the finite forms as well as from the infinitive and the ing-form.
- •§ 176. The syntactic functions of the participle in the sentence are more restricted than those of the other two verbals. It mainly performs the functions of the adjective.
- •§ 177. The participle, like the other two verbals, is, in some of its functions, lexically and structurally dependent. For example its use is required by the verb to have in the following pattern.
- •The Use of the Infinitive The Infinitive as Subject
- •§ 181. In this function the infinitive is always used with the particle to and usually expresses an action following the action denoted by the predicate verb.
- •§ 182. The infinitive is generally preceded by the particle to in this function and in most cases expresses an action which follows that of the link-verb.
- •The Infinitive as Object
- •§ 189. The infinitive may serve as object in a special sentence pattern with a formal it as subject. It is lexically dependent here as it follows quite definite verbs.
- •§ 191. The infinitive as object of an adjective is sometimes found in a sentence pattern with it as a formal object of some verbs. They are commonly the verbs to feel, to find, to make and to think.
- •§ 196. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of purpose is al- ways used with the particle to.
- •§ 198. The infinitive as adverbial modifier of comparison is
- •§ 201. The infinitive may also serve as adverbial modifier of an adjective. In this case it is always an adverbial modifier of consequence. The infinitive here has the particle to.
- •§ 203. The infinitive in the function of attribute immediately follows its head-noun and is used with the particle to.
- •§ 204. The infinitive in the function of attribute is char- acterized by specific meanings. They are determined by the rela- tion between the head-word and the infinitive. These relations may
- •§ 207. The infinitive is also used as attribute in a sentence pattern with it as a formal object of a verb. It is mainly found af- ter the verbs to find, to make and to think.
- •§ 210. The ing-form as predicative is usually used after the link-verbs to be, to mean and to look and has appositive meaning.
- •§ 215. The ing-form may also serve as a direct object of an ad- jective. It is lexically dependent in this case and found only after two adjectives — busy and worth.
- •§ 216. As a prepositional object of a verb, the ing-form is also lexically dependent. It is found after verbs that take a preposition- al object. These verbs may be divided into three groups:
- •§ 217. The ing-form as a prepositional object is also found af- ter various kinds of adjectives — adjectives proper, predicative
- •§ 220. The ing-form is sometimes found in a sentence pattern with it as a formal object of the verbs to find, to make and to think. The formal it in this case is followed by an adjective.
- •§224. The ing-form may be preceded by the conjunctions while, when, once, if, as though, as if, though, than, as well as and the correlative conjunctions as...As and not so...As.
- •§ 227. The ing-form in the function of attribute is found in different constructions.
- •§ 233. The ing-form as parenthesis tends to become a set phrase.
- •§ 234. The infinitive and the ing-form sometimes have similar functions in the sentence and it is therefore necessary to define the spheres of their application.
- •§ 235. Neither the infinitive nor the ing-form as subject is common in English, so the distinction between them is not very important for practical purposes.
- •§ 237. As an object of a verb, the infinitive and the ing -form are lexically dependent.
- •§ 239. We usually find the infinitive as an object of a verb or adjective in a sentence pattern with it as a formal subject.
- •§ 244. The use of the infinitive and the ing-form in all the oth- er functions is not parallel and so they need not be compared.
- •§ 252. There are two types of attributes expressed by the par- ticiple:
- •§ 253. When the participle immediately precedes its head-noun it is always a single word, not an extended phrase.
- •§ 1. Nouns are names of objects, I.E. Things, human beings, ani- mals, materials and abstract notions (e.G. Table, house, man, girl, dog, lion, snow, sugar, love, beauty).
- •The Gender of Nouns
- •The Number of Nouns
- •§ 5. In writing, the following spelling rules should be observed: The suffix es is added to nouns ending in s, sh, ch, X and z (e.G- glass — glasses, brush — brushes, watch — watches, box — boxes).
- •§ 6. There are a number of nouns in English which form their plural in an irregular way.
- •§ 14. Case is the form of the noun which shows the relation of the noun to other words in the sentence.
- •§ 15. The genitive case is formed by means of the suffix -s or the apostrophe (-') alone.
- •§ 17. A noun in the genitive case generally precedes another noun which is its head-word. This may be called the dependent genitive.
- •§ 19. Sometimes we find the use of -'s and of together. This is called a double genitive.
- •§ 20. A noun in the genitive case may be used without a head- word. This is called the independent genitive.
- •§ 21. Nouns may have different functions in the sentence. They may serve as:
- •1) The subject,
- •4) An objective predicative,
- •8) An apposition,
- •§ 1. The article is a structural word specifying the noun. The absence of the article, which may be called the zero article, also specifies the noun and has significance. J
- •The Indefinite Article
- •§ 4. With uncountable nouns, the indefinite article serves to bring out a special aspect of the notion expressed by the noun. In this case its function may be called aspective.
- •§ 5. When used with countable nouns, either concrete or ab- stract, the definite article has two distinct functions:
- •§6. With uncountable nouns, the function of the definite arti- cle may be called restricting.
- •Absence of the Article (the Zero Article)
- •§ 7. The absence of the article (the zero article) has only one function with common nouns — the nominating function.
- •§ 8. Countable nouns in the singular may be used with the in- definite article in its nominating function and with the definite ar ticle in its individualizing function.
- •§ 10. The use of articles with countable nouns modified by ad- jectives. Attributes expressed by adjectives are usually descrip- tive.
- •§ 12. The use of articles with countable nouns modified by participles. Attributes expressed by participles (see "Verbals''.
- •§ 15. The use of articles with countable nouns modified by clauses. Nouns can be modified by two kinds of clauses — attrib- utive (a) and appositive (b).
- •§ 16. The use of articles with countable nouns modified by nouns in the common case. Attributes expressed by nouns in the common case are usually descriptive.
- •§ 19. There are certain uses of the definite article which are to be regarded as a matter of tradition:
- •He is heir to a rich manufacturer.
- •§ 24. In English there are a number of verbs which in the Ac- tive Voice require the use of nouns as objective predicatives (a) and in the Passive Voice — as subjective predicatives (b).
- •§ 25. The rules given for the use of articles with predicative nouns and nouns in apposition also hold good for nouns intro- duced by as.
- •§ 27. The article is not used with nouns in appositive of-phras- es when the head-noun denotes a title or a post, e.G. They nominated candidates for the post of President and
- •§ 31. The definite article is found within an of-phrase preceded by one, some, any, each, many, most, none, all, several, the first, the last, the rest, the majority.
- •§ 33. Abstract nouns, like concrete nouns, fall into two class- es: countables and uncountables. 1
- •§ 35. As a general rule, uncountable abstract nouns are used without any article.
- •§ 36. The definite article is used with uncountable nouns when they are modified by a limiting attribute, which may be expressed in different ways.
- •§ 40. Sometimes the use of articles with an uncountable ab- stract noun is affected by the syntactic function of the noun.
- •§41. Uncountable concrete nouns (names of materials) are generally used without any article. The absence of the article has nominating force.
- •§ 42. The definite article in its restricting function is used with names of materials if they are restricted in their quantity or by reason of locality.
- •§ 45. To this group of nouns belong: day, night, morning, evening, noon, afternoon, midnight, dawn, twilight, dusk, sun rise, sunset, daytime, nightfall and the like.
- •§ 46. To this group of nouns belong: winter, spring, summer and autumn (AmE: fall). The use of articles with these nouns pre- sents great difficulty because we find a good deal of fluctuation here.
- •§ 47. The group includes the nouns: breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and tea.
- •§ 48. This group includes a considerable number of uncoun table nouns, e.G. Pneumonia, influenza (flu in colloquial English).
- •§ 49. The noun sea is regularly found with the definite article. This may be accounted for by different reasons. In some cases it may be understood as a generic singular.
- •§ 50. There are a number of countable nouns in English, which are often used without any article, as they undergo a change of meaning and become uncountable.
- •§ 52. The noun town in some prepositional phrases may be used without any article when it means the centre or business part of a town, the town one lives in, or the nearest town to a country place-
- •§ 59. The use of articles with proper names seems to be based mainly on tradition.
- •§ 60. Generally no article is used with names of persons.
- •§ 61. However, both the definite and the indefinite articles may be occasionally found with names of persons. The definite article is used:
- •§ 63. Geographic names that generally take no article may be occasionally found with the definite or indefinite articles. This oc- curs in the following cases.
- •The Place of Articles
- •§ 65. The article is generally placed before the noun with which it is associated.
- •§ 66. Yet there arc a few attributes in English which affect the place of the article.
- •It's a quite fundamental disagreement. He's a rather hard man.
- •§ 1. Adjectives are words expressing properties and char- acteristics of objects (e.G. Large, blue, simple, clever, wooden, eco- nomic, progressive, etc.) and, hence, qualifying nouns.
- •Formation of Adjectives
- •§ 2. Many adjectives are formed from other parts of speech by adding different suffixes the most common of which are:
- •§ 5. Note the following set phrases which contain the cora- parative or the superlative degree of an adjective:
- •Substantivization in Adjectives
- •§ 6. Sometimes adjectives become substantivized. In this case they function as nouns in the sentence and are always preceded by
- •Syntactic Functions of Adjectives
- •§ 7. Adjectives may serve in the sentence as: 1) an attribute,
- •§ 9. Adjectives used as close attributes precede the noun they
- •§ 10. Note the place of the indefinite article when an adjective happens to be modified by too, so, as and however.
- •§ 1. Pronouns include a miscellaneous group of words which function in the sentence as noun pronouns or as adjective pronouns.
- •§ 2. We find the following personal pronouns in English:
- •§ 3. In addition to the above structural meanings of the per- sonal pronouns, they have a few other special applications.
- •§ 4. The personal pronouns change for case. There are two cases for personal pronouns — the nominative case and the objective case.
- •§ 5. As has been said, the pronoun it is generally used for con- crete things, abstract notions and animals.
- •§ 6. There are the following possessive pronouns in English:
- •§ 7. The possessive pronouns may also perform noun func- tions. Then they are used in their so-called absolute forms: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs.
- •§ 8. The reflexive pronouns are formed by adding -self (in the plural selves) to the possessive pronouns in the 1st and 2nd persons and to the objective case of the personal pronouns in the 3d person.
- •§ 9. Reflexive pronouns may also be used in a different way: together with the verb they may form set phrases characterized by idiomatic meaning. The reflexive meaning of the self-pronoun
- •Emphatic Pronouns
- •Demonstrative Pronouns
- •§ 12. The pronoun this (these) refers to what is near in space, time or conception (a), that (those) to what is farther off (b).
- •§ 13. That, this are often found as part of set phrases. Here are some of them:
- •§ 14. The demonstrative pronoun such may mean of this or that kind (a) or indicate degree (b). Such is followed by the indefi- nite article before singular countable nouns.
- •§ 20. The pronoun any is also used as an adjective pronoun and as a noun pronoun. In affirmative sentences any means 'it does not matter who, what or which'.
- •§ 21. The pronoun no is negative in meaning and used only as an adjective pronoun. It may mean 'not any' or 'not a'.
- •§ 22. There are the following compound pronouns formed with some-, any- and no-:
- •§ 23. The pronoun one in all of its uses refers exclusively to persons or things that are countable.
- •§ 25. The pronoun all can be used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun.
- •§ 26. The pronoun every is used only as an adjective pronoun. It modifies singular countable nouns when there are more than two objects of the same description.
- •§ 27. There are the following compound pronouns formed with every; everyone — everybody — everything.
- •§ 29. The pronoun other can be used as an adjective pronoun and as a noun pronoun.
- •§ 31. The pronoun both is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective pronoun. It is plural in meaning and applied only to two persons or things.
- •§ 32. The pronouns much and many are used as noun pro- nouns and as adjective pronouns.
- •§ 33, The pronouns little and few are used as noun pronouns and as adjective pronouns.
- •Interrogative Pronouns
- •§ 35. The interrogative pronouns are: who (whom), whose, what, which, how much and how many. They are all used in form- ing questions.
- •§ 37. The pronoun whose is a possessive interrogative pro- noun. It is used as an adjective pronoun, mostly in the function of an attribute, though occasionally it occurs as a predicative too.
- •§ 40. The pronouns how much and how many are used as noun pronouns and as adjective pronouns.
- •§ 43. It is noteworthy that not all the conjunctive pronouns can be used with all kinds of clauses mentioned above. Thus, subject, predicative and object clauses can be introduced by the conjunctive
- •§ 1. Numerals include two classes of words — cardinal and or- dinal numerals.
- •§ 2. Both cardinal and ordinal numerals can have certain func- tions of nouns (a) and of adjectives (b) in the sentence.
- •Classification of Adverbs
- •§ 2. According to their meaning, adverbs fall into the follow- ing groups:
- •§ 4. A considerable number of adverbs are formed from adjec- tives by adding -ly, e.G. Calm, — calmly, slow — slowly, kind — kindly, etc.
- •Degrees of Comparison
- •§ 5. Most adverbs are invariable. But certain adverbs of man- ner change for degrees of comparison. The degrees of comparison of adverbs are formed in the same way as those of adjectives.
- •Syntactic Functions of Adverbs
- •§ 6. Adverbs may modify single words, phrases and sentences. When they modify verbs, they can serve as adverbial modifiers of time, frequency, place, manner and degree.
- •§ 7. There are generally four possible positions for adverbs in the sentence:
- •§ 9. Already is generally found in affirmative sentences, e.G. They've already left. (They've left already.)
- •§ 10. Still may be used in all kinds of sentences with an im- plication of an action (positive or negative) continuing.
- •§ 2. Prepositions may have a lexical meaning of their own.
- •§ 3. The choice of prepositions is determined by different fac- tors. Sometimes it is quite free, I.E. It entirely depends on the meaning the speaker wishes to convey.
- •§ 5. The prepositions of, by and to may become entirely devoid of lexical meaning and serve to express mere grammatical rela- tions. This occurs in the following constructions:
- •§ 1. Conjunctions are structural words that serve to connect words or phrases as well as clauses or sentences (see the examples
- •§ 2. Conjunctions have a lexical meaning of their own.
- •§ 3. According to their role in the sentence, conjunctions fall into two groups: coordinating conjunctions (e.G. Accordingly, and,
- •It was hard to get the story clear from her cousin's answers, nevertheless she found out everything.
- •Interjections
- •§ 1. Interjections are words expressing emotions, such as sur- prise, anger, pleasure, regret, indignation, encouragement, tri- umph, etc. They are used as exclamations.
- •§ 4. Interjections are independent elements which do not per- form any of the syntactic functions in the sentence. They are usu- ally sentence-words themselves and may be used parenthetically.
- •I. The Subject
- •II. The Predicate
- •III. The Predicative
- •VII. The Object
- •VIII. The Adverbial Modifier
- •2) Adverbial modifiers of time,
- •1) Close attributes,
- •X. The Apposition
- •XI. Independent Elements of the Sentence
- •Syntactic Complexes
- •List of irregular verbs
§ 77. Can has the following meanings: 1) ability, capability,
e.g. I can imagine how angry he is. He can read a little French.
This meaning may also be expressed by to be able. The phrase can be used in all tense-forms if necessary.
In the meaning of ability and capability can occurs in all kinds of sentences.
e.g. She can play a few simple tunes on the piano. Can you write with your left hand? I cannot (can't) promise you anything.
In this case can is followed by the simple infinitive (see the ex- amples above) and reference is made to the present. But depending on the context it may also refer to the future.
e.g. We can discuss your paper after lunch.
However, if the time reference is not clear from the context or if it is necessary to stress that the action refers to the future, shall/will be able is used.
e.g. He will be able to write to us from Portugal. I shall be able to earn my own living soon.
The form could may be used in past-time contexts and in this case it is followed by a simple infinitive. It is a form of the Indica- tive Mood here.
e.g. He could read a great deal during the holidays. Could the boy read before he went to school? After what had happened I couldn't trust him.
The form could may also be used in present-time contexts in combination with the simple infinitive to express unreality with reference to the present or future.
e.g. "I don't want my daughter to be a typist." "Why not? She could
be secretary to some interesting man." (могла бы быть) You could articulate more distinctly with that cigarette out of your mouth, (мог бы говорить более отчетливо)
As the form could may be used in two ways (see § 76) it is Usually understood as expressing unreality with reference to the present or future unless there are indications of past time in the sentence or in the context. Thus the sentence She could paint landscapes will be understood as Она могла бы писать пейзажи.
If there is no indication of past time in the context but the speak er wishes to refer the action to the past, was/were able is used in- stead of could to avoid ambiguity.
e.g. She was able to explain the mystery.
In combination with the perfect infinitive could indicates that the action was not carried out in the past.
e.g. She could have explained the mystery. Она могла бы объяс- нить эту тайну, (но не объяснила)
2) possibility due to circumstances,
e.g. You can see the forest through the other window.
We can use either the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous in this sentence.
In this meaning can is found in all kinds of sentences. It is fol- lowed by the simple infinitive and it refers the action to the present or future.
e.g. You can obtain a dog from the Dogs' Home at Battersea. Can we use the indefinite article with this noun? We can't use the indefinite article with this noun.
In past-time contexts the form could is used. It is followed by the simple infinitive in this case.
e.g. You could see the forest through the other window before the new block of houses was erected.
The form could in combination with the simple infinitive may also express unreality with reference to the present or future.
e.g. You could see the house from here if it were not so dark.
In combination with the perfect infinitive, could indicates that the action was not carried out in the past.
e.g. You could have seen the house from there if it had not been so dark.
Note. When could is used with reference to the past it denotes only the ability or possibility of performing an action but not the realization of the action. There fore when a realized or an unrealized action is expressed, could is naturally not used. If an action was carried out in the past, it is expressed with the help of to manage or to succeed (the latter is used in literary style).
e.g. He managed to settle the difficulty. He succeeded in attaining his aim.
If an action was not realized in the past it is expressed with the help of to fail, or to manage and to succeed in the negative form.
e.g. He failed to reach the peak.
He did not manage to settle the difficulty.
Compare with the Russian: Он мог (был способен) переплыть Волгу в юно- сти. — In his youth he could swim across the Volga.
But: Он смог переплыть Волгу а прошлом году. — Не managed to swim across the Volga last year. Also in: Он не мог (ему не удалось) переплыть Волгу в прошлом году. — Не failed (didn't manage) to swim across the Volga last year.
As for to be able, it may, depending on the lexical character of the infinitive or the context, express either the ability or possibility of performing an action or the realization of that action.
e.g. He was able to speak English well. (Он мог/умел хорошо говорить по-англий-
ски.)
Не was able to get the book from the library. (Он смог достать книгу в биб- лиотеке.)
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