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§ 285. The past continuous perfect has much in common with the present continuous perfect, the main difference be­tween them being that of tense.

It presents a past action as preceding a certain situation and viewed in its development.

E. g. I was aware that my railway worker and his wife had been living in Paris at the time of the war. (Bennett).

I took the sculls, I h a d not been pulling for a minute or so when George noticed something black floating on the water. (Jerome).

§ 286. Like the present continuous perfect it may be inclusive if supported by the context or else exclusive as in

By that time I h a d been wo r k i n g for the firm for about a year and they seemed to be quite satisfied, (The Worker).

Here I saw this man whom I had lost sight of some time, for I h a d been travelling in the provinces. (Dickens).

It differs, however, from the present continuous perfect in being used chiefly in narration and in not possessing that peculiar emotional tinge which is sometimes found in the present continuous perfect.

§ 287. The future perfect continuous is actually non­existent.

Voice Grammemes

§ 288. In the system of the English language the active (non-marked) and the passive (marked) members of the voice opposeme are equal in rank, mutually complementing each other. This is not the case in speech where, in conformity with the general tendency, non-marked, i. e. less specific opposeme members usually prevail over marked ones.

According to our statistics based on the analysis of 10,000 objective verbs, both finite and non-finite, the active voice occurs in speech in about 94 per cent and the passive — in 6 per cent of all cases.

§ 289. In Modern English speech the passive voice is mostly used in those cases when the doer of the action is a) unknown, indefinite or b) left unexpressed for some reason, as in: She was much admired. I hate being looked at. He refused to be beaten. In our family his behaviour was not spoken about.

According to Sweet "The passive is a grammatical device of bringing the object into prominence, of getting rid of the necessity of naming the subject".

As proved by the research of some linguists, the so-called two-member passive (passive constructions in which the pro­ducer of the action is not mentioned) is much more common in English speech than the three-member passive (passive constructions including a word indicating the producer of the action). More than 70 per cent of all passive constructions in English speech are two-member ones.

§ 290. As we know, verb grammemes containing the mean­ing of 'active voice', whether actual or oblique, present the action as issuing from the doer, but sometimes they may acquire what can be described as 'passive' meaning.

Cf. to let a house and a house to let (i. e. offered for rent). The book reads well (i. e. is read easily). The surface felt smooth (i. e. when felt, it gave the impression of being smooth). In such cases transitive verbs do not attach an object.

§ 291. It has been noted (§ 208) that 'passive voice' anal­ytical words of the type is filled, was done have homonymous word combinations denoting 'states', not 'actions'. The context often differentiates the homonyms.

a) The presence of adverbial modifiers emphasizes the dynamic meaning of the analytical word, as in Such letters are often written in haste.

b) The syntactical coordination with 'active' verbs often brings the idea of action into prominence.

E. g. He stepped into the coach and was borne away.

c) The presence of the 'by-phrase' strengthens the idea of action, making the passive construction to some degree parallel to the active construction.

E. g. That was d о п e by his elder sister.

d) The continuous aspect is a sure sign of the analytical verb. E. g. This work is being d о n e all over the world.

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