Вопрос 2. The English verb. Category of Mood

The category of mood is the most controversial category of the verb. The only points in this sphere which have not been disputed are: 1) there is a category of mood in Modern English; 2) there are at least 57 two moods in English verb, one of which is the indicative. As to the number of the other moods, their meanings and names, opinions today are as far apart as ever. What makes the problem even more difficult is that the category of mood differs in principle from the verbal categories of tense and aspect. While the categories of tense and aspect characterize the action from the point of view of its various inherent properties, the category of mood expresses the outer interpretation of the action as a whole, namely, the speaker’s introduction of this action as actual or imaginary.

The grammatical category of mood makes up a part of a general linguistic category of modality. Verbal mood is regarded as primary modality, while such lexical groups as modal verbs (e. g. can, must should) and modal words (e. g. perhaps, probably) as well as the prosodic feature of intonation are considered to be the means of secondary modality.

The category of mood has been given various definitions. One of them reads: The category of mood expresses the relation of the action to reality as stated by the speaker. In other words, the category of mood expresses the character of connection between the process denoted by the verb and the actual reality, either presenting the process as a fact that really happened, happens or will happen (the indicative mood), or treating it as an imaginary phenomenon, i. e. the subject of a hypothesis, speculation, desire (the imperative mood, the subjunctive mood). This system of three moods is typical of practical grammar courses.

The imperative mood in English is represented by the base form of the verb, or the bare infinitive, e. g. Come! There are also lexicogrammatical forms of the imperative with the verb let, e. g.: Let the children do it; Let’s go and have some coffee. The imperative mood forms are limited in their use to one type of sentences, namely, imperative sentences. Most British and American scholars do not recognize the verbal category of the imperative mood, they prefer to speak about the imperative sentences as a special type of utterances.

The subjunctive mood has its own problems. It can be expressed by both synthetic forms (infinitive, were, the past indefinite) and analytical forms (should/would + infinitive). The latter are not recognized by 58 many British and American scholars because they are homonymous to the word-combinations of modal verbs with the infinitive.

In the sphere of mood, the main division which is generally accepted is the division into the indicative mood and the other (oblique) moods: the imperative, the subjunctive, the suppositional, the conditional, etc. In linguistic literature one can find the number of English moods ranging from two to sixteen. The binary opposition of two moods is typical of structural approach. L. S. Barkhudarov recognizes the indicative mood and the imperative mood in English, while M. Y. Blokh distinguishes between the indicative mood and the subjunctive mood.

The variety of verbal moods is accounted for by the specific situation with this category in English as one and the same form may have two or more different meanings. For example, we should come in the sentence I think we should come here again tomorrow is equivalent to we ought to come, in the sentence If we knew that he wants us we should come to see him denotes a conditional action, in the sentence How queer that we should come at the very moment when you were talking about us denotes a real action. On the other hand, one and the same meaning can be expressed by different forms, e. g. I suggest that we go — I suggest that we should go; I wish they weren’t so noisy — I wish they wouldn’t be so noisy.

The described system of English verbal moods has not been completed in the historical development of the language. On the contrary, it is in the state of making and change, which may be illustrated by the fluctuating use of the auxiliaries should and would. Thus, our task is to register these phenomena, to explain their mechanism, to show the tendencies of usage in terms of systematic context and stylistic preferences.

Вопрос 4. Types of sentences according to a) types of communication b)structure

The sentence is a communicative unit, therefore the primary classification of sentences must be based on the communicative principle. This principle is formulated in traditional grammar as the "purpose of communication". In accord with the purpose of communication three cardinal sentence-types have long been recognised in linguistic tradition: first, the declarative sentence; second, the imperative (inducive) sentence; third, the interrogative sentence. These communicative sentence-types stand in strict opposition to one another. The declarative sentence expresses a statement, either affirmative or negative. The imperative sentence expresses inducement, either affirmative or negative. The interrogative sentence expresses a question, i.e. a request for information wanted by the speaker from the listener.

Simple Sentence

A simple sentence contains one independent clause - Robert doesn’t eat meat.

Compound Sentence -A compound sentence has two independent clauses joined by a linking word (and, but, or, so, yet, however), although each independent clause could be a sentence by itself. f. ex Robert doesn’t eat meat, so Barbara made a special vegetarian dish for him

Complex Sentence -A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. f.ex Robert, a friend I’ve known since high school, doesn’t eat meat.

Compound-Complex Sentence -A compound-complex sentence contains 3 or more clauses: 2 independent and at least 1 dependent clause. f. ex Robert, a friend I’ve known since high school, doesn’t eat meat – so Barbara made a special vegetarian dish for him.