General System of Verbal Functions

 

functions	Infinitive = noun	ing- form
Gerund = noun + verb	Participle I = adjective	Verbal Noun = noun
subject	To skate is pleasant	Reading is my favourite occupation.		Their talking woke me.
predicative	Your duty is to inform me	Her best pleasure is reading.
predicate	I began to translate the text.	He finished reading the book.
object (dir./indir.)	He asked me to help him.	I am fond of reading.		He took part in the sitting.
attribute	He expressed a wish to help me.	There are two ways of solving this problem.	We visited the plant producing cars.
adv. modifier	I went to the station to see him off.	After reading the letter I put it away.	He sat at the table thinking.

Sometimes the infinitive and the ing- formare lexically dependent. For example, the verb to want requires an infinitive as object (e.g. He wanted to see them at once), to avoid requires ing- form(e.g. S he avoided even mentioning their names.), ready and busy require an infin­itive and an ing- form(Cf. He was ready to do any­thing for her. She was busy packing her things.)

 

The infinitive and ing- formare sometimes structurally dependent, i.e. they occur in quite definite sen­tence patterns. For example, the infinitive or the ing- formare found in sentences with it as a formal subject:

§ It was a relief to be in the car again.

§ It's no use going on like that.

The negatives not and never always precede verbals:

§ I had learned a long time ago never to show what I felt.

§ He went on drinking his coffee, not saying anything.

The infinitive may be used without to, and sometimes the use of particle is optional.

Note: the infinitive and particle to may be separated from each other by adverbs never, ever, fully, really, even. This is called a split infinitive:

§ She was the first person to ever understand me.

§ “Granny, why do you have such big ears?” – “ To better hear you with!”

 

If there are two or more infinitives fol­lowing each other, to is usually used only before the first one:

§ She was said to dance and skate very well.

 

Sometimes, however, particle to is repeated for emphasis:

§ The hero wanted to seize her, to drag her with him, to give her a good beating.

 

The infinitive may sometimes be represented by particle to alone, when the infinitive is easily guessed from the context:

§ I don't think we are going to catch any fish.

§ I never expect to.

 

Infinitive may be used as part of a phrase introduced by wh -phrase (what, who, whom, which, when, where, whether, how and how long):

§ I didn't know what to say.

§ I couldn't decide whether to speak or not.

The ing- form(unlike the infinitive) may be preceded by a preposition:

§ You're not really good at deciding things.

§ We were about to be turned out of our flat for not paying the rent.

 

The ing- formmay lose its verbal character and becomes adjectivized, in this case the ing- formloses the idea of action:

§ They found his ideas very upsetting.

§ His rather forbidding figure made him look old. ('суровый, неприступ­ный')

 

Adjectivized (адьективный = прилагательное) ing - forms, like real adjectives, may be preceded by adverbs of degree very, rather, most, quite, how, so, so... as, etc.:

§ She is always so amusing.

§ The results which he obtained proved to be most striking.

Note 1. There are a number of ing - forms thatare used only as ad­jectives:

interesting, charming, exciting, etc.

Note 2. In English there are many nouns in - ing. They may denote concrete things (landing 'лестничная площадка') or abstract notions (beginning 'начало', singing 'пение', reading 'чтение'). These nouns lack properties of the ing- formand may be used with articles, pronouns, such as some, any, a lot of, etc. or may be modified by adjectives:

§ The drums were silent: the singing stopped.

§ I asked if she ever did any real Indian dancing.

 

Nouns in - ing are called verbal nouns (e.g. reading. writing, walking, etc.), but they are not verbals.

Participle

The participle has only one form. The grammatical meaning of the participle is closely connected with the lexical character of the verb. The participle formed from transitive verbs has passive meaning:

§ He had suits, and coats, and shirts made to order. (изготовленных на заказ)

The participle from transitive terminative verbs denotes a state:

§ On arriving at the building, shefound it locked.

 

The participle from transitive durative verbs denote an action simultaneous with predi­cate:

§ Tomwas the happy husband, adoring and adored.

 

Participles formed from intransitive verbs are limited, they denote an ac­tion preceding the predicate:

§ She sat down on a fallen tree to have a short rest.

 

The participle is always associated with a subject. The subject of the participle may be the subject (a) or the object (b):

§ Suddenly touched, she came to the chair and kissed him.(a)

§ He heard his name called. (b)

The participle is used only as a notional verb; it is never used as a structural word. The syntactic functions of the participle in the sentence - the adjective:

§ He stood amazed at the door of the shop.

The negative not is always placed before the participle:

§ Margaret, not convinced, was still arguing about it.

The participle often becomes adjectivized (адьективный = прилагательное):

§ The streets, deserted now, looked frightening (= пустые, без­людные).

 

The adjectivized participle may be preceded by adverbs of degree:

§ Is Mrs White really very excited?

Note 1. Some participlesare used only as adjectives: tired, interested, accustomed, etc.

Note 2. There are a number of adjectives ending in –ed, which are homonymous to participles. They are actually adjectives formed from nouns: stockinged legs, a bearded face, a gifted person, a talented musician, etc.

UNIT 20

VERBALS AS SUBJECT

Infinitive as Subject

 

As subject the infinitive is always used with particle to and usually expresses a si­multaneous or following action:

§ To visit her was all that I desired.

§ To visit her is always a pleasure.

 

The infinitive often has the additional modal meaning of condition in this function and this meaning is supported by Conditional Mood:

§ To take money from him would be like robbing a child (= if you took money from him...).

§ To take him seriously would be absurd (= if you took him se­riously...).

 

Sentences with infinitive as subject have structural peculiarities:

 

a) the infinitive as subject may be used only in declarative - never in interrogative sentences;

b) The infinitive is always placed at the head of the sentence;

c) We generally find the nominal predicate in sentences of this kind:

§ To go with him to picture galleries was a rare treat.

§ Not to go back was awful.

 

ing -form as Subject

The ing-form as subject express­es permanent or recurrent actions simultaneous with the predicate:

§ Looking after one man is really enough.

 

Sentences with the ing-form as subject have certain structural peculiarities:

 

a) ing -form as subject is only in declarative - never in interrogative sentences;

b) ing- formas subject is always placed at the head of the sentence;

c) ing- formas subject is occasionally found in negative sentences beginning with there is:

§ There was no arguing with her about it.

§ Well, there is no avoiding him now.

Infinitive and ing -form as Subject Compared

The difference between the infinitive and the ing -form as subject: the infinitive mostly denotes the following ac­tion, ing -form expresses the simultaneous:

§ To win the world’s greatest cycling event became the ambi­tion of his life.

§ Writing letters is a waste of time.

Neither the infinitive nor the ing - formas subject is common in English, so the distinction between them is not very important.

EXERCISES:

 

Ex. 125. Choose between the infinitive and the ing-form to use it as subject in the following sentences:

1. I did it because... on living in the country would have been too much of a problem. (to go) 2. There was no... how his father would react to the news. (to tell) 3. You know, her... cleverer than her husband was half the trouble. (to be) 4. Not... home, in fact, seemed lately to become the pattern of his life. (to go) 5. I belonged to neither groups, and... was to take sides. (to speak) 6. There is no... how long he would have continued on the sub­ject if his attention had not been distracted by a man who appeared on the deck. (to know) 7. … her upset would have been an understatement, she was beside herself with anger. (to call) 8. There was no... the sound. (to mistake) 9. We were in the offices, and... to his room meant going right through the place. (to get) 10. Just... silent together like that helps. (to be) 11. Just... my trouble would have been in bad taste. (to mention) 12. Let us admit that... with us is the thing that we cannot do without. (to read) 13. … away for a weekend demanded a degree of will and organi­zation. (to get) 14. She felt exhilarated, there was no... it. (to deny) 15. Though it was fine,... outside at a small table, eating, was not a tempting prospect. (to sit)

 

 

UNIT 21

VERBALS AS PREDICATIVE

Infinitive as Predicative

The infinitive with to as predicative always follows the link-verb to be. The infinitive in this function always has appositive meaning, i.e. explains the meaning of the subject:

§ His highest ambition was to write a monumental work.

§ His greatest wish was to tell her everything.

 

After subjects all, the least and the most modified by attributive clause, infinitive with or without to is used:

§ All I want to do is (to) help you.

§ The least we can do is (to) try and understand their idea.

§ All I wanted to do was (to) run away.

 

ing -form as Predicative

The ing- formas predicative is usually used after the link-verbs to be, to mean and to look and has appositive meaning:

§ The important part is helping people.

§ That would mean telling him every­thing about you.

 

The ing- formas predicative may be preceded by like:

§ At the time their quarrel looked like going on for ever.

Note: The ing-form as predicative is sometimes adjectivized.

§ That must be enormously exciting.

Infinitive and ing -form as Predicative Compared

As predicative, the infinitive and the ing -form may both have the same appositive meaning. The difference is determined by tradition — the infinitive is more common, while ing -form is rare:

§ The job of a reporter is to expose and to record.

§ The important part is helping people so that they can live normal lives.

 

Yet the infinitive is used only after the link-verb to be, while the ing -form is found after other link-verbs.

§ That would mean telling him everything.

 

Only ing -form is used after to be like:

§ It is like trying to press the poles of two magnets together - they push away.

 

EXERCISES:

Ex. 126. Choose between the infinitive and the ing-form to use it as predicative in the following sentences.

1. "My job is... everyone alike, and be courteous, even when passengers are not," said the stewardess. (to treat) 2. But the difficulty was... an excuse for absence from home. (to find) 3. The place was cheerful and he felt relaxed. It was like... warm in bed. (to be) 4. My idea was... a fuller explanation of what they plan to discuss. (to demand) 5. All you can do is.... (to obey) 6. His request meant... further than I was prepared to go. (to go) 7. The only thing to do was... who she was. (to explain) 8. He didn't know what to talk to him about. It was like... an unknown brother. (to meet) 9. All he wanted to do was … and …. (to sit, to dream) 10. To love John was like... alive. (to burn) 11. The first objective was... ourselves a suitable house to live in. (to find) 12. "To say that you are a fool is … it very mildly," said Douglas. (to put) 13. All I wanted to do was … formalities short. (to cut) 14. The loss of his job meant... poor again. (to be) 15. The best thing for you to do is... the thought of her out of your mind. (to put) 16. One of the first things he did was... his brother. (to telephone)

UNIT 22

VERBALS AS PREDICATE

Infinitive as Predicate

 

The infinitive as predicate is used only in the following sentence patterns:

1) interrogative (affirmative and negative) sentences begin­ning with why without to:

§ Why lose your temper over a little thing like that?

§ Why not go there right away?

2) exclamatory sentences with or without to:

§ You - a man-of-the-world - (to) suggest this! You know it's impossible.

§ "Try to write," she said. "Me — (to) write! No!" I said with a laugh.

 

ing -form as Predicate

The ing -form as predicate is used in the following sentence patterns:

1) interrogative sentences beginning with what about and how about:

§ What about going to London?

§ How about seeing what they are doing now?

2) exclamatory sentences expressing indignation (негодование):

§ But letting him do it!

 

UNIT 23