r

3
vu
LONGMA.N GROL'r LIMITED
Longman HOUK, Burnt Mill,
Harlo,", Euu CM20 2] E, England
alld AUoXlal,J e;., ,,,paltlt . rht World
Cl C,E, and J.M, [eker';!e)' 1960
All rq:Il U f'; o of , II i" be
reproduced, slored in II relrieval wsrem. or.
mIll ed" In form 01 by mean...
p1'1010<:0pyin" recordm, . o,r Ol ll er ,:,'
... \llIoul l lle puor permlwon of rile Cop)n,lI r o n -
FirSI p wblisMd 1960
Nt .. ImprtUkHlS / 971: " 197J ( I..i ): ' 976 ;
. /977: /978 ; / 919; " / 980 . " IllS / ..
" / 98J
ISiI!'o 0 S82 S2C042 II

ICOHE NT S I
pllgt
P REF ACE
I S TRODUCT I OS
Chapftr(j) (THE P ART S OF SPEECH I
Classification by Function
Chapter) /THE S plPLE SFSn : Sn ] 8
Subjects and Objects; Enlargements; The Complement ; Word
Order in Simple Sentences; Dec larative Sentences; Questions;
Commands, Requests and I nvitat ions
Cl!apltr QJJ {Nouss (1) K I S DS\ 19
Cou nt able and Uncountable S ouns; Compound S ouns; The
Gramma t ical Function of Nouns
Cluzptn @ IN o u x s ( 2 ) 26
Formation of the Pl ural; I rregular Pl ura ls: Foreign Plurals;
Co ncord: Plurals and Compound :Souns; Form'" of Ad,lre.u;
:Souns wi lh no Pl ural Form; Noons with no Singula r I"urm;
Pl urals with Difterent Meanings "
Chapttr 6J !SOUNS (J) GBD EK I
Masculine a nd Feminine Forms
.'
Printed iJ1 HOffI KOI1 I by
Cornmotr _ aJ rll !rll1ril1l Pmr Ltd
Clulpter(0 , X OUNS Ul CASE t 45
Tile Posh 'live (Genit ive) c.se; Subject ive a nd Objective Genit Ive;
mTi"phc at ute of the The Double Possessive
Ch.2pter {j) -[T HE ARTICLES r 51
The I ndefi nit e Article; The Definite Article; Idiomatic U$C of the
Chapler ) \ D ETERMl s ATl v Esl
Tables of usage; Notes on some Determinativcs
Chapter(iJ (C O}\ P A R I S OS OF AD JECT IVE S] 70
Notes on Comparison; Id iomat ic Constructions; The position of
Adjel;tivcs; Possessive Adject ives: Other t ypes of Adjecti ves
Chapter@; \ VERBS I 143
Regular and Irregular Verbs; Notes and Bxamples: Tr ansitive
and I nt ransit ive Verbs; Causative use of Verbs

po.ge
225
CONTESTS
Chapta@ IV E RBS {51 (
The I mpcra th' e; The Subjunc tive
Chapter @ ) An VE RIl S J 2 51
Classificanou accordi ng to meaning; The Formation of Adverbs;
Ad ver bs and Adjectives with t he same form; Ad verbs with two
forms; Classification accordi ng t o Posi tion; I gversion with
Adverb.,;;; Compartscn: Notes on certain Ad ver bs: quite, already.
still, ago, too. bllt
Chapter rfj) I VER aS (6) Til E 230
The Infinitive; The Particle to wi thout the I nfi niti ve; Functions
o f t he I nfi ni tive; The Spli t I nfinitive: The Participles; Position of
l'drtkiples; Pa rt ici ples wit h the I nfinit ive: Particlpks as A<ljedivc
Clause Equivalents: Participles as Adverb Clause Equi valen ts'
Mis-related Participles; Compound Pa rt iciples; The Genlnd:
Verbs followed by the Gerund; Verbs followed by the Infinitive:
Verbs followed by Ge rund or I nfinitive
S ITlON S A ND D VE R BI AI-\ RTl CI. F. S' 2i7
Prepo si tions and Adverbs; Posi tion of t he Preposition; Illustrations
o f the usage of Prepositions and Adverbial Particles
I
I
I
COI'TNTS
ChapteT@ \PROSOUSS\ 97
Person in Pronouns; Case; Notes on Personal Pronouns; Possessive
Pronouns; The Double Possessive; Demonstrative Pronouns;
Reflexive and Emphasizing Pronouns; I nterrogat ive Pronouns;
Interrogat ives; I diomatic Expressions; Indefinite Pronouns;
Notes on some I ndefi nite Pronouns; Relative Pronouns
puge
Chapler() [ ADJ ECTI VESl 64
The Att ri butive and Predicative use; Adject ives func t ioning as
Nouns; Kouns functioni ng as Adjectives; The Formation of
Adjectives from Nouns; Part iciples used Adjectivally; The Forma-
t ion of t he Negative
,.
Chapler@ I V E RBS (2) 157
The Simple Tenses; The Continuous Tenses; The Perfect Tenses
Chapter(fj}- l VERBS (3) THE SPECIAL F Il\ITES (i U132
Formation Negative; Fcrmattonjof the I nt errogative:
Phrases; ) Short Answers; Elliptical -Sentences; - The
Emphatic Form: Position of Ad verbs; Third Person Singular.
G li K S PKCI AL F It'lTES m}]be, have; causative use of have; have to;
can; could; do; should. would; may . might; must; need, ought; dare;
uud (to)
Chapter w
Chapter w I C O NNECTl V S \ 306
Conjunctions; The and Group; The but Group; The 0' Group:
The so Group; Subordinate Conjunctions
C 3I5
Exclamatory sentences
Chapler @ [ S E NT E NCE S A!'<O CLAUSES I 3 IS
Compound, Double, Multiple Sentences; Complex Sentences
Chapter([1;) I SUBOR D I!'< ... TE CI. ... USES I 32.j-
Adjecti ve.Clauses; Defining and Xon-deftnlng Clauses; Adjective
Clauses Wi th Formal Subject it ; Noun clauses; Ad verb Clauses

PREFACE
"

pagt
CMpiv 1:'": \ ! CO:-: OITIOS Al. 347
"'" Co d " H"pothctKal
o n Conditions; Tenses used In Open n mens: -,..-
C:ditions; Su ppositklns; Conditions cl<pre""ed by I nH'hlon
.,
Chapter V
A BRIEF HI ST ORY OF
THE
E S GLI S H L AS Gl.' AGE
4'1
I NDEX
m
J

IQ, ( 0 ' ":EST ESCE S\
Chaple, & AS ALYS IS _
Chap/er :9 ' D I RECT "s o Is DIRECI SPEEc nl
St atements; Indirect Quest ionS; Ind irect Commands
Chapter ]) I P C:-; CTt) AT I OS l
Chapter @
CluIpter (2} [T u E PROl" C S C1ATI O:- OF E S.G LlS H)
The Sounds of English; Stress; Rhythm; In tona ti on
355
I
Tuts grammar has been prepared with t hree objectives in
view. First , whi le covering in an up-to-date manner t he
ground common to all English grammars, it is designed
particularly to meet the needs of the Jordp l student of
English. So, for example, thc tenses of the verb, t hc use of
prepositions and ' phrasal verbs' , t he art icles, and word order
are dealt with in considerable detail; many examples are
given of t he commonest sentence patterns in English: and
there are tables showing the UJ'.eS of t he determinative words
-all frequent sources of difficulty to t he foreign student .
Secondl y. it is intended to be really comprehensive, in
that it will , as far as possible, provi de an answer to any
grammatical problem t he student of English is likely to en-
counter. Briel accounts of t he hist ory of t he language and
of t he phonetics and intonation of English have been in-
cluded also, since t hese matters-although not st rictl y
'grammar'-are bound to be of interest and import ance to
most students of the language.
Lastly, it is meant to be a p,aclical grammar, one t hat is
suitable both for work in class and for st udents working on
t heir own; so it is provided wit h a very full index and wi th
plenty of exercises.'
Although t his grammar has not been directed at any
particular examination, t he needs of examination candidates
ha ve been bome in mind, and it should give ample materi al
t o prepare students for t he English language papers set in
any of the usual exami nati ons.
Our t hanks are due to H_ W. Acomb, and to
Mr. S. C. White, for their assistance in t he preparat ion
of t he exercise!' and the Key.

C. E. E.
J. E.
' A Key 10 Ihe Exctcisn is I' ubli,h....l u paratcly.

:\Iost of t he earher /{Tammarians, particularly t hose of t he
eighteent h cent ury when t he English language was being
' sys tematized' . held t he view that one of their (uncti ons,
perhaps t heir main funct ion, was to keep t he language 'pure',
t o stamp out errors that .....ere constantly creeping in and to
formul ate rules that would keep t he language on the course
they believed it ought 10 take. The rules wert based on Lat in
syntax, and it was into this Procrustean bed that t he gram-
mari ans t ried to fi t t he English language. largely disregarding
the fact that English was no longer, as it once had been, a
highly inflec ted language. In fact, in t he whole of modem
English t here are really only t wo major inflect ions' and four
or fi ve minor c nest, for t he English language has changed in
the 10500 years that it has been in England from being a
synt hetic to an analytic one in which infl ect ion has been
practicall y entirely replaced by two ot her phenomena:
(J) Struct ural words (like/rom, i n, shall , may , ollghl, ric.), and
(2) Word Order.
The grammarian of to-day no longer believes t hat he should
attempt t he impossible task of 'cont rolling' t he language and
direct ing the course t hat 11(' thinks it ought to lake; he realizes
t hat English is a living language, constantly changing and
developing in accordance not wit h. man's laws but with its
own genius. x or does he th ink t hat the funct ion of a gr ammar
book is t o lay down laws to teach people how t hey ought to
speak and write. His task is simply to state how, so far as he
can judge. certai n people do speak and ...'rite at t he present
time. The grammar 01a language is t he scienti fic record of t he
actual phenomena of that language. writ ten and spoken. So.
in t he present volume we ha ve t ried to present t he facts of
modem English usage so far as we could ascert am t hem; any
I For S UlII ber in 1' 0Uni ...ud Put Tense in Ye' 1.5
For Genit ive of Objeo:.:ti>e for m. of PronQuns. Comp,;ar i50n
Qj some Ad jecti ves, lId Person SingulAr in t he Simple Pr esent Ten...,.
Qj some Yer1.5, and ... lew re me...nt. of t he Suhi"ncl we
,

\
I
I
\
.. .-t COlllprdU"lSlt'l Eugllsh (;",m lll ll
r
' rules' t hat we have given are merely conclusi ons h om
t hese Iacts. II at any t in e a ru,l e docs n?t t he
usage. it is t he rule t hat is and It will t he Job 01
future grammarians t o change It.
EXERCISES
I From your own experience in learning English. try
expl ain how important you consider the study a
grammar to be in learning a foreign language. .
II Do you consider that u.e st udy of grammar . IS
im rant or less important m learning English .an
it ill learning your own nat ive language? Give
reasons for your answer ,
III The I nt roduct ion t o t his book says, on page one;
'English has changed Item a synthetic language to
analytic one' . Compare t his with wha t has
in -our o.... n language and aay whether you .thlll k this
ch1nge has made English easter or more diffi cult for
the foreign student t o learn. . .
1\
' . - does t he abandonment of bel ief In
I n your opml0n. . ' t he
grammatical r ules t end t owards a do;: t.enoTat lon In
style and quality 0 1 a langnag,; as It IS.U&eJ III every- ,
day life)
CHAPT E R O:SF.
( THE PARTS OF SPEECH '
The words that compo!'-t' t ile English lauguago-c-or any oth er
Ianguagc-c-can be classific..1 in var ious :'l lud l time and
effort has been spent in trying t o settle what names should he
given t o t hese cat egor ies. I t seems t o us t hat t here is litt le poi nt
in giving anyt hing but the most general definitions of tile Parts
of Speech, in the first place because it is almost imposs ible t o
give a definition which is exact and comprehensive, or wit h
wh ich every grammari an woul d agree; secondly because it is
hardly necessary. since t he concept ion of ' Noun", ' Verb' , etc. ,
,,; 1\ almost cer tai nly be fam iliar t o t he student in his own
language. It seems t o us more important t hat the st udent
shoul d be given examples of the various Part s of Speech and
should sec, as he will in t he pages th at follow, exactly how
t hese words beh ave. We have t herefore adhered . in the main,
t o the tradit ional! most familiar definitions. Un der t his system
all t he words in t he English language can be grouped. according
t o t he work they do, int o eight daSS('S. TIl("SC are tilt' Parts of

They are:
(!) Words that are the names of things or people or places, e.g.
house. hal, iron, Mary , Russia, London, sweetness, spuch, '"
crOU'd, army .
t hat do this wor k are called C,>;ouss 1
II. Words that can be used instead of nouns. so that we can
re er t o people or t hings without Teall}' nami ng t hem and being
compelled t o repeat t he names too frequent ly, e.g.
I Professor C. C. t hc fu rmer Director of the English Language
Institute of t he Universily of Michigan and per ha ps t he mcee iwno-
clulie of modern gra mmarians, writes;
'On the .... bole, I beueve it wil l be found Ihat most of t he t rad itional
teuns. t hollJb oft en badly na med. correspond t o real /;tcll "",d
dist llletions In the linguistic material . li ma)" rea!OOll&bly be doubled
whether a $.enic=ble grammAr .... hi<;h disf'Cn_ entirely nlt h . uch
ter m. as noun and verb will ever be written.... To my mind it i,not
ao much t he tradi tional t erms t hat are unacceptahl e a.s t he explana
tinns of t hem whic h are normally given:
)
EXEUCI SES
I Use the foll owing words as (a) 110l1 nS, and (b) verbs:
1;"(..> house, iron, crowd. tie, smokt , dreu , ai r. boo:', step.
c- ..;, I ... LP , L,lt:.... ",: .;, LoP
hcrroly - " _ / b,/A.h.1'l
t .
?-:,,:'- J L,....
,

H U. ,TR : L-JU r LC4I- .., - _ _. ,
IUtitS ! 11..t.. p::o r c.k\tl
" \.\ Thr HITls of Spach
" Yl\ \ b'""cmj ful.oI.j - t
/lt llo/ OM A M ,
Words like t hese ar4 n ERJECTfOXS J OJ, ! 'f dowl Wory'y
'1",I I" _ _ow -. ... ...........
.j'" --I(j . I..\ SS I H C \1/ 0 S uvIYxCTl12>--
..,.(1 It is most important to remember that words are classified
int o of speech according 10 tlu-ir runct tcn. that is
ncconlmg to thr work t hat they do and not according to their
form. There are in fact a grsar many words that can be two

t hree or even more parts of speech arrording to the work they
do. Take for example these sentences.
-( I f lie came by a Yery k ISt train.
-
William ran veryl psl,
They are going to 7,:!!/ for t hree days; during that time
t hey won't eat anything.
..(4)- At the end of his three day lfEl he will have a very
light meal.
In (r) f ast is an adjective, in (2) it is nn a,I\ '('rl1, in (3) a verb,
and in (4) a noun.
Or note the differing uses of wal , h in:
fat her gave me a watch for my birrh.lny
I am going to waf,h a football match.
Hex is a geed Tcnfdl dog.
Or of spring in:
The sP,illg of my watch is broken.
The dog tried to spring ever the gate
t Jove flowers.
w ords like drink, look , smoke, J, i, ,( . I,)' are alj-
generall y used as verbs, but . especially in familiar ccnvcrsa-
tion, we put ' hI!l'( a' before t hem ('h:\\"e a drink. look, t ry,
etc.' ), and t hey become nouns. Words like shoulder, head,
Jingtr, eye, elbow. hand, etc.. arc generally nouns: but we can
'shoulder our way' , ' head a football or a procession', 'fillger an
object', 'tye a person' , 'tlb<nc someone else aside' or 'hand him
a cup of tea' . And then these words are all verbs.
4 A Compn Jr. t Jlsivt English Grammar
I , you, tllem, who, that, hi",ul . somtont.
\Mj that do t his are called
, Words that qualify a noun by mak ing its meaning
c earer, fuller, or more exact. Examplt s:
a. bad egg, a biue dress, t he book is nttt'.
Words that do this are ..
There are a number of words of vkribt;; t ypes t hat are
sometimes grouped as adjectives. words, for example, like
4(n). Me. SotlU, tach, no, 111 14(11, etc. These are discussed in the
sect ion Determi natives. (Chapter Ten.)
M1tJwords t hat express t he idea of action or being. t.hat
a t hat a person or t hing is, dots or suffers somet hing.
EX02 mples:
The boys pla),ed foot hall.
He is hungry.
The enemy was dt/ f alld.
Words of this kind are called{YERBS)
G?:\ Words t hat we can add t o a verb to make its meaning
clearer. full er or more exact. Exampu s:
He ran quickly . I saw him )'eslerday .
Words like these
tvnWords that art: used WIth nouns or pronouns (generally,
bu't4t;t always, being placed in front or them] and shew-the
relat ionship between the noun ?r and another word,
often expressing abstract relat ionship of case or of t ime or
place. Examples:
I sent the parcel to him; it went by air mail. The smoke went
up t he chimney, The desk was near t he window.
Words that do work like this
u:II\Words that are used t o join words, phrases or
sentences, Examples:
J ack and Jill; a boy with a dirty lace but a pleasant smile,
He worked hard bu4ust he wanted to succeed.
\ ...'ords like this are(coqusCnOl' s J ! e.tl;,.;
' VIIUWords that express a sudden feeling or emotiorr'
These words do not enter int o the syntact ical construction of
the sentence. Examples: .--
I
I
I
I
I
6 A Compreh," ISiu E"gli 5h (.,"'dmUUl T
II Use the follo'lnng as (a) nouns. and (b) verbs. and
indicat e the change in pronunciation:
objet" preu'lt, rerord, p odwce. confiia, cOM ,"l,
ih5trt , UI"Ud. perott it.
.-\dd to the list of such words.
III Substitut e pronouns fo:r the ncune and noun phrues
underl ined i n the follo....ing sentences. which are
impossi ble or inelegant as the)"
I . John looked a t but Mary was lookinl:
a t )tary in the looking' l;!ass. -
a. If you don' t want the paper. give I t to person
who does .
J . The speaker looked hi s quest ioner in the eye;
t hen the speaker gave his questioner his
answer.
4. Oxford (Oxford is famous lor its university)
is now becoming industrialized.
IV(a) I nsert suitable adjec tives where the d ashes stand:
I. , ...re didn' t see each other agiJ.n for a - t ime.
2. I n spit e of his - strength l,1.e ...as - to
swim across the -- river, as til e current was
t oo - .
J. The car t urned t he corner at -- speed
4. The --cat lay in the -- sunshine.
5. The door is - but t he windows a re-.
I V(b) I nsert suitable adverbs where tile d-ashes stand;
I . I t ....as _ getting da.rk when we began t o
climb t he -- rising incline.
'1. The men were not _ - - a wake.
J. He was -- accused of the crime and -
acquitted.
4. I - have eggs and bacon for breakfast, but
--I take fish.
S' Have you - - been to the Zoo ? Yes, I - go
t here .
\' Name t he parts of speech of t he words underlined in
t he following sentences:
J . It'. hard work, but I know you can work hud.
a. He'."'ikid keen t o get on, bu t now that his-;;;;t
friend"i'Sdead, he is findi ng li'ie"deadl v mono:
t onOU5. MOOotony is nea rly a!wa,' s
J . He struck low. Cli mb hill"h. The ncwers look
nke. Cu t th;5i"K; (!$ t hin.-
r h,' Parts Qj Spud,
\ ' r ).[:lk.., sc.. ut euc es !lsill!> each of t he jul lo\\ ll1 l: words as
h \ " di fierent parts of spcoech (not nc.;o:;,.. <;,;. ri l\ in tbc
same M'nlefl (ei: 3m' $3 , ' what o f l hc\" a re;
A lIglUI (""Glu l); (l /ttTll<ltt ; fllIIwk; ".;...I i.J; ..1Ull f;
f"qU#tU.
[X. ll. - ), Iolrk wllere the falls in each exampte.]
VII Pick ou t t he verbs in th is 1"'''-'l.alle and dassifv t hem
as expressi ng (i) action, (ii) a sla te. .
J oh n was late. He hur ri ed down to breakfast ,
said somet hing t o h is fat her. which t he la tter did
not seem to understand. glanced at the clock. got
even more worned a nd r ushed out of t he I,OUse. He
doubted whether he would ever become manager.
for he had been repr ima nded t oe oft en for not being
punctual.
VI II Pick out four preposi tions and three conjunct ions
from the passage in question VI I.
IX Repla ce t he <lashes by suit able interjec ti ons or ex-
clama ti ons:
(ttl -, I eliel not succeed! (b) _, where ha"e you
been all t ime ? (e). - no, I really could n't! (dl
- t here $ a car coming! (..) --. 1 k'I"II' that wo ukl
ha ppen!
X Arrang:e t he ....ords in the following passage in columns
eccc rd mg to the parh of speech wbich t hey are;
It mus t not be imagined that a walking tour. a;.
some would have us fa.ocy, is merely a bet ter or
....orse way of seeing the count ry. There are man"
ways of seeing landsca pe q uite as good: and none
more vi vid, in spite of canti ng el ile ttantes. t han Irom
a r.ailway t rain. But landsc ape en 3 walk ing tour is
qurt e accessory. He who is ind eed of t he brotherhood
does voyage i n quest of t he pict uresq ue. bu t of
certain Jolly h umours-c-of t he hope and spirit ....ith
which t he march begi ns at morllinl=:, and t he peace
a nd spirit ual repletion of th e e\"ening-'s res t . . . .'
Ro ber t I.ouis St evenson, lVallr ing Tout's.
XI Explain, and ill ustrat e in sentences. two senses i n
winch t he renew1.ng words can be used . Name t he
part of speech of each:
(1) sound. (2) oil. (3) master. (,,) clear . (S) speed.
(6) water. (7) deal. (8) b utter, (9) ring. (10) police .
XU Defi ne t he func tions of the eight parts of speech and
give two examples of each ....'ith words not al ready
used i n chapter I .
7
,
SUBJECT PMEDICATE
,
Va l! Objt(l
,
The boy hit t he dog
The dog bit t he hoy
The gi r l read ... t llO,: books
The books pleased

t he gi rl
.

Whet her a noun IS t hc s ubject or object of a sentence is

shown not by its form but by it s position in t he sent ence.
There arc some verbs t hat do not t ake an objec t eg.
TIle dog r<lll away. The boy cried. The girl l<l /lgJud,
Ver bs t hat do not t ake an object are call1''ll (
Verbs. [See p, 15-1.)
The S i mple S t l1 lUlce 9
The predicat e of a sent ence is what is said about t he subjec t .
Xouns or pronouns t hat are in t he subject are in he !WSil s A, -
t l VE case) .
Some verbs {Transit ive ver bs. see p. 154) express an action
t hat passes over from t he subject t o someone or somet hi ng else,
from t he doe r of t he ac ti on to the receiver of t he act ion. Thus,
for example. in t he ilrst sent ence above, t he adion of hitting
passes on'f_ fro m t he boy t o t he dog; in t he second sentence t he
action of bHmg from t he dog t o t he boy. The receiver of these
acti ons is ca lled t he OflJEC,T. The person or t hing expressed b y
the object st ands in a relat ion to a 'doer ' and an action. TI1('
noun or pronoun that signilics th is is ill t he (llIJEC1'IVI' case.'
So wc coul d divide the sentences above like t his:
\,- .:::.,.. \:. \.;0
Phrases or words other t han <In object may accompany bot h
a t ransit ive or an intransit ive verb in a sentence, These
ti le verb art of various type s, e.g.
-He walked slowly.(f )IA" HiI ]
- The dog jumped 'hrough tilt wil1d01l'. i)'u n l
- They arrived Of! Christ mas day . [j h li)
'@e mee t of case- corrC'lponds to /I dilTereoce of form only in
certain pronou ns """ p- 98).
,.
The boy hi t t he dog.
The dog bit t he boy.
The girl read t he books.
The books pleased the girl .
t here is a person (or t hing) t hat we ar.e
In t he first part d part is what we say about t his
talking The se;:c:the subjlect . Part :I is the predicate.
person or thing, Part . t he word (or group of words)
The subject of a 1$ about which somet hing is said.
denoting t he person or mg r .:-----"\.
fo'
,..-. ...:::. . e"e dea.l t with fully on page' (3
I S
\0 35
8
;.;
I ntene.w I.n 1kIa. .. - - ' - .
(, 01: -fi nite nOIl-1inlte verb'
. 11
L. " , .. ', \.' ,\1,..1),,': k /l.. S ... SIX-tit 'ttNlh,l1(i'I"" """'"
..,
YIU.'WIbt.r ( Vln1 " S / tA yt _
. 'L 1J.<- ... -i-: ;'4-"'J-'1
rUl.1n: r 7 -
f1.....- 1U1. """;'k. f.:'y yYIJ CHAPTER T W O
\ THE SI MPLE SENTE"CEJ
[S UBJ ECTS A:>:D O BI ECTit
--. . " finite
t
\'eili:(and only
A Simple sentence
l
is one t hat co!!!ams,@ --
Qnc It does one of four t hings:
",I) makes a st atement;
.(2) asks a question; .
.(3) gives a corrunand makes a request,
.(-4) makes an exclamat Ion.
E%4",pla:
Mr. Brown teaches this class.
Do you underst and me? (Queshon)
Open t he door. (Command)
, Please hel p me wit h my work. (Request)
". N' " la , . ) . ..J I \ . \...
- " .... 1 How cold it is! (En ma Ion ! J ,-, : , ...... . __ -
..y --. . d usuallv of two parts, t he SI: BJECT
A sentence IS compose I . I t he Icllowi ng sentences:
and the PREDICATE. Take, Of examp e.
The-boy dog. The dog bit the boy. h . I
The girl read t he books. The books pleased t e gtr '.
We can di vide t hem like th is:
r I
I\
\
- I

o- <.oJ ,,.......
I " 't lt ntJ'u-h'('r

j N ..."11 or
-<r) a noun
.(2) a pronoun
00+3) an adject n'c
an adverh
.(S) a gerund 9,
..6) verb I
(infi mt l\'e)
00(7) a pll rase
But ti llS is not t ile case in such eXa.lllpll's as:
is. Tile plant Su ms. The man
Somethi ng must he addf"cf I)('fore t hese 1Jc.<ome illtell isibll' . e.g.
Todar is my bir/krill)'.
TIle plan t d,'nd.
Tilc man b.C'''fl, I'iolo ul)' aJl.!;'y .
The "wcrus my hirt/d ay . Jr,/.J, (/ Ngry arc not objects:
the verbs i s, SUms, brcame are all intransi t i,'c verbs.
words or ph rases arc nee-d('(j t o the ntl'ani ng of
t he verb; t her arc Verbs like is,' SUm,
become are \'crbs of PUEIHC.U IOS. The difference
between complement ana object can be seen in t he follOWing
examples:
TIle little girl smelt the )JOtters [ OJ: / ECT)- The "flowers smell
S'lrul I grow (OBJECT) in my
garden. His ace grew pale (COlf PLE.I IF. l\T) at t hc news.
- A complemen t may be:
" 11 cllrt.:!. in C'l>e>\ i s and ot her verbs 0' i" c" mpl,,!<, .. li "lI cal<.
with ;r, change of mC,1ninli. bel COmplete (.'>ee p. ' 9
1
.'
I These &re called verbs.
0 ' Many ver bs express an Ide
. g 41kin, . All
an extension, e. . . The baby IS ...
h Fishes slt't m. The sun s meso
I
d ' , se Iull v
morta s It. bi t t o express t heir sen .
bs that need an 0 ICC
Even I ithout t he object . e.g.
are mtelligib e WI .
The boy hit. The dog bit. . d ubt about t he act ion
'-- hit and bit leave us In no 0 The veros
involved.
A C(Jmp,d/(1lSit( E'lglish G1(ltllma,
10 . r I ("u RE:\ 5 .
.. train was lat e because oJ t U JCe.:, .
- ,..y r . bed D GRH,
- Ny work is fi nis : le
-J{ . saving up to buy a "" D ' th4 ga,denTIH __o\CEj
lik, a madman (l]i pi;:; E In
- 0IlI Saturday .[l! I'IIE l f t he noun or pronoun
be e largements 0
Similarl y there may n b' t TI1US t he sent ence:
forming t he subject or .t he 0 jec . eks u t t hree met al- t,opped
b
. ht little boy wi th rosy che P before seven 0 clock.
A ng . . t l . on my doorstep
bet tles of milk qure ) . t o its part s) like t his:
uld be analysed (i.e. broken up In ( 0

PREDlC... TE SCil jECT

Objut Enla,gtHl<' nl S ubiea Enlargement
Verb
of Verb li.wd of Object Ulo,d

t hree.met a
k!1JI-
-
bottles a bright put quietly
t opped. 0:
boy
little. with (Malina).
milk on my door- rosy cheeks

step (Pi au)

before d n n
o'clock
(T i",e)
COlot pl.J':)IE:n l ITill::
a intelligibly wi t hout an ob ject
A Comprth tusive English GrtllIlmar
U bi t but still need Mime other word or words t o
t ake an 0 Jee _
complete the predu;ate, e.g.
TIr ,' Simpl,- Selllol( ,' 13
The NEGATIVE f a decl arat ive sentence is expressed mai nly
in '0 ways:
-{I} By inserting not immediately aft er the verb. This
method is UsM only with t he Special Finites (see p. 182). TIle
word order is: """";W " ,' }l1 .-. I .-;...c.J .."
./Il , u...... _ -r "l _ lor
+ VEkB (Special Finite) +.nol. In informal st yle. _ .-J'
not ma), coalesce with t he Special Finite to Icrm one word,
e.g.
He is not (isn' t) my friend.
George cannot (can't) speak Russian.
He will not (won't) come.
The children are not (aren' t) playing in t he field,
The farmer's wife is not (isn' t) feedi ng t he chickens.
4 2) By using 40, did' with Iloi and t he PRESE:!orf
I :"FJ !'i' ITI \' E (wit hout to).
The word order is:
Sl,.: B] liCT + do (does) , did + 110/ + I S FIS ITIVE.
This const ruct ion is used with all verbs except the Special
Finites, e.g.
Brown does not (doesn' t) teach this class .
You do not (don't) come here every day.
They did not (didn' t) go to the theatre.
Up to the seventeenth or eighteent h century all verbs could
form. t heir own negative merely by adding not , e.g.
I like not fair t erms and a vill ai n's mind. .
\fercndllt of Veniu )
I 1maU' noi why I am so sad. (Shakespeare, Merchant oj
Venice)
Ltt not your hearts be t roubled. (Bibk)
Look not upon the wine when it is red. (Bible)
This form may still be found in modem poetry, ego
' Speak not-U' lJisptr not;
Here bloweth thyme and bergamot . '
(Waiter de la The Slmken Garden)
1dQ(dQ4"l) is used lor t he I'resene Ten-e. did for the Put Tense.

this class.
English.
here every day.
to the t heatre.
in t he field.
t heir work.
\ the chickens.
r
Sub;tcl
!otf. Brown
George
You
They
'The children
Tb'Y
The fanner's wife

ICOlB IAS 1>S, R EQUESTS "SO I S\lrrATl O'. s l

In t here is usually no subjec t, Exa"'/'{t s:
Open t he door. Come in. Take t hat des out . Don't he la te.
Don't hring t hat dog in here.
In requests, t oo, t here is often no subject , e.g.
Please lend me your pe ncil . 1'a.'>S t he sugar, please
For requests and invit ations another construction. 11\
question form, is frequently used. This form is felt to be more
polit e or less abrupt. It begi ns wit h wiU, WOllfd, would (do)
} 'Oll mind.
T he S imple Sentence IS
.o(3) By using 'Question Words' : t he intefTogat iYe pronouns,'
interrogat iYe adjec tiH'S,: or interrogati\'c adverbs , II 'IIO?
What.> II' hich.' Whell? Why.' et c. In questi ons of t ype (3) t he
quest ion word always begi ns the question.
If t he interrogative pronoun (or interrogative adjec tive +
noun) is t he subject of t he sentence, t here is no inversion and
t he word order is: J:o; TeRROC... fJ"g (Subject ) + VERB, e_g.
Wilo is your friend ?
Which boy answered t he question?
Whose dog bit t he postman?
\ \110 wrot e Va nity Ftl i, .J
If t he quest ion word is t he objec t or pa rt of t he oLje<t of
t he sentence, or if t he question word is an interrogat ive adverb,
t hen, after t he opening interrogative, the word order is t he
same as for questions of t ypes (I) and (2).
Quest ions of t ype (J) de not admit of an answer ' Yes' Ot
' Nc'. They are said with Falling Tune int onation (see p. .ft.!).
Examples:
What languages can WilHam speak?
Whose car are you driving?
Which quest ion did you answer?
Whar did he say?
wnen are you coming to see us?
\ \11Y did you lock t he door ?

Se<e page ZH See p"ll:e 116. See pages ai, 89, "9-10.
, See alllQ page n (i
IQUESTIONS I ' .
Interrogative sentences can formed in t hree mam
d
_.
wa
d
,,
bi t d -et b i.e by t he wor or er
.(1) By is used only
VEMB + Sl: BJ ECT. n m
with Special Finites,: e.g.
Is he Y2.ur friend?
Will they help us?
R
. ,
Can Gtorge speak ussi anr
Are t he children playing in t he fields?
Has Henrv finished his breakfast yet? .
I finites could
I n elder English, t hat n.ot specta
, f nn t heir by mverston. e.g. , "
a S: H:W agrus lhe devil with t hee about thy soul?' (Shakespeare,
gr::w you so your nether lip?' Othtllo)
' Simon, son of Jonas , I01:est tJwu me . .
. J (d did) and t he infinitive . Th15 form IS
..(2) By usmg 0 ot'S, I S"--ial F inites The word order
used with all ve rbs except t re 1"'-
is: Do (does, did) + SI:Bjf-CT + E, e.g ,
Does Mr. Brown t each t his class.
Do you come here every day?
Did t hey go t o t he theatre? d b 'Yes' or
. f t 'TV" (I) and (2) can be enswere Y
Questlonhs 0 -ith u i...in'" I une intonation (see p. 41 3),
' No' , and t ey aresal \\ 1 ,,", ' p_"
f ' rI' ece questions,..,e page. )6.?-7.
For the .... nrd ordser ,'Jl u5Cd in fa nning perfe<ot t en,eo,
'I nc1 urlinlt Ihe -
t ... .. tinuou' ten_ . ett .
14 A Comprehensivt English Grammar
The auxiliary do is not used with another negative or partly
negative word such as t1ttlfr. hil rdly. sca ruly, e.g.
He never speaks English. She nevu came to party.
He never answered my letter. I hardly knew him.
He scarcely spoke at all. .
. H er did like mathematics.
except lor ICJ!lphasls' bc lC ,g. e:d too in literary style. by the
The neganve may expre . ( "/ d t me
. b' '., He fuiltd t o answer my let t er. She J ill t 0 co
\ICC J'" .".. J '
to the party.

I
I
A Comptnensltt Engli sh Gralll"I<1'
A subj ect, normally l ON, is expressed, The word order is:
wiU (WOlUd , etc.] +Sl:DJECT +1l\ F1SITI VE, c.g.
Will you lend me your pencil . please?
\Vould 'ou come t his wa lease?
Wo d mind passing the pl ease?
Dei you mind not smoki ng, please?
Won' t you come in?
come t o t ea t omorrow?
For word order in exclamatory sentences see pa ges 262, 26-\ ,

EXERCI SES
I What are the various functions of a Simple Sen tence?
Give an exa.mple of each.
II Divide t he 10110\l.-lng sentences Into subject and
predicate in the manlier shown on page 9
(I) lJ,: c bird built a nest . (z) The mowed t he
lawn , (3) The rai n has stopped. {..l The sun ISshinin g.
(5) The gra!>S is growing. (6) The tlowers are opening
their petal s, (7) Open t he door . (8) Who broke the
window? (9) The dog bar ked. (10) Which bby 6rougnt
that dog?
III \ \l1at are t he main of fornli n& t he et
a sentence? Give mree of each method.
IV Make the following sentences e egati ve :
(I) J ohn ls her e. (2) Susan can swim very well, 131 The
bi rds are singing t his rnor ni nt:". (4) Henry will help me
with my work. (5) Mary comes home every week-end,
(6) They go t o Switlerla nd every year. (7) He wal ked
t o school this morning. (S) Richa rd writes to ) Ia rgaret
regularl y. (9) He wrote to her this week. (10)
bakes a ca ke. (II) and Susan bake a cake. (n)
are .a.1(e-.(13) the .10;
(I'-Ine flogs chase rabbits {151"'The dog IS
c asing a r abbit. (16) The dogs ar e cb n ing a rabbit .
(11) That shopkeeper ileUS good cakes. ( IS) That shop-
keeper has good cakes. (19) Mary speaks English well.
(20) Mary can speak English well. (21) )Iary is speak-
ing English now. (n) \Ve rode to school on our
bicycles. (23) Richard the 00& who had t aken
his pencil. (24f I chose t esc cakes or tea , (25JThe
-
TIlt Sim/,I,' S,lIf,'/I,,. 1-;
in. the pond Int night. (20) He found t he
v ,ha I;. {2jJ ro5CS bTew very wet" thts year,
{21! .. The d ue up the (N) ' Ir Brown
rU';6I tefure straight. (JoTlhoe hoy ral;1:: t he bell.
e \'cry earl ' t his I rose at six
' " . 33 out () bed at SIX ", 'doc].. (3 '] The
}y ran as fast as -,
h C' . 0 I saw la t picture
at t e merna. (]6) That baker sold us good ca kes
(37) hen laid an e '" today. (38) :\101.1')' ate
breaJdas qUI(; y. u
rOOk the medici ne. (,.0) t nry tries to
I e essen. (" 11 Hei'l ry is t ryi ng to understand the
essen (p) The boys t.ry to understand t he lessen.
(<43) he bovs were tryln" t o understand the lesson.
.1.1' . mi t rvee 10 a hou sc. f45f)fr.- Slnidi i,
that house no w. (46) Mr. Smith was Ih in,.; in
a cuse last year. (47) t o every dav.
(..S) He wen.t to school t hl.! morning. (..9) The chifdren
sang very well. We sat Oil. these seats Yesterday,
(51) spoke Frenoh when Ill': was ten \"eaTS ld
(5z).lhe ca t sprang on t he rat. (531 Every bo\'
III his place. {5..1 Hen toTe that -.ane ou t of his hook
(55) The sun shon fl Jo: t \' t IS monurur
me t he sec e:: t ( )'r h . . e ll "
I' . 57 e teacher taught t hat r ule
(58) The class und erstood the lesson. (59) The "hi ;
sank 1 11 the grea t storm. (6u) Richard swam
n \ 'CL (61) The boys went to t he pnr tv. (6 z) The tl;;e\:5
stole a ll t he Jewels. .
v \\1t.at arc the t hr ee main .wa ys of forming the interro-
gat rve of a sent ence ? Gl\'C three of eacf
met hod . c I
VI Make the sent ences in Exercise I V intcrrogative.
VII wnte q uest ions ro which the fu:lo\\"i1l" could 1 '
answers: " >t:
I ' m YI':'. he has (3) :io, only for
I ke mon.ths. (-4 ) \ es. we go there every yeaL(5) \ ' e:: 5
him very well. (6) reo. he has a bad accent '
(7). \ ea. I went .t here last :\Iay. (8) Yes, I saw heron t he
ship. (9) She t hat she was coming home next week
(10) Because It IS such a cold day.
VttI Ana lyse t he sentences in t he tnanucr shown
on page 10,
(I ) Ur.lsht yellow daffodils can he seen in the gardens
III spn ng. . .
,
.-l Euglull G,,,mnu'
0 _ dav h ndred thousand
(1) At w emblev last Satur a} a u
apectatoIS exerting fl)Ol bal1 .
(J) All the st udent s in m (:las!> are workin thIS
year in order 0 pass their exammatlO
D.
Pick out the complements in the following sentences .
(1) Nelson was a sailor. (2) he fur fee:1s soft. (3) The
toOm looks clean and tidf' (4) . Ie
the thunder (s That IS b e.
ij1P; easy 'gt out diif1cutt (7) He
t
1BT1!l:at remai k S01Unds stupid to
as W I as a ec"esc
me (9) The man grew weiker gay. IloJ
&eeii wcll..$QIn pnd th?i ave worn m.
(1l)!bey elected him President. I'l) tie caillcd) ire
man a (I)) his whisky neat , 14 M
'tW"m;ttee appointed George capta'n of the team.
(I S) Set t he people free. .
\\n at is the difference between t he complements In
. ,
5enten ces 1-1 0 and t hose In I I-IS
\
,8
I X

C H.H ' T F. R TIIREE
! N O UNS : (I) KI NDS \
:\ noun is t he name of anything: IHdlJ, COUIU,y, (ily, I1ell'y,
Spai n, Paris, happiness, uhilet/ess, "wd, teem, All t hese are
names of people, places or t hings: all are nouns ,
may be classified logically into two main categories:
-( I Concrete nouns are represented by
sue wor s as ma,l , country, Henry , Spai", Paris, crotrd, 114m.
Abstract nouns by such words as happi'lfH, ,,-hi/nUB, brau/.\' .
health,
Concret e may be sub-divided into two categori es,
The names mati, COIIIII ,)", cou l,ly, city can be applied t o an y
man, any country. any cit y; t hey are names that all men,
countries, CIties share in common. They are call ed {:0p'O:"-
jIhrksJBut Ilenry, George T1Iompson ,l Spaiu , Yorkshire, ans
are not na mes t hat can be applied t o any man, any count ry,
any count y, any ci t y. They are names of a part icular man, a
particul ar countr ,a articular count y, a pa r t icular ci ty. They
are called PROPEI<:-; UNS,
Words like scent, stutn.;u, u:hiteness are not qui te like rose,
Sligar, S1l0u0; t hey are names not so much of ' thi ngs' as of
abst ractions . The abstraction may be, as in the examples above,
t he name of a quali ty; or it may be the name of a st at e of
being, like health, pot'my, pleasure, Y014IJt; or it may be t he
name of an activi ty, like laughl er, arrival, perseveratrcr.
Nouns at are the names of qual it ies, st at es or act ivities
are call ed [ISTR.KT
Finally, t iere IS one 0 er t ype of noun. This comprises
words li ke crowd, army , ji", k, class. They are names of a grou p
or collect ion of t hings, of men, women, sheep, students, etc. .
regarded as one whole; so we speak of a crowd. all army
a flock a class, i.e. of one t hing. These words ani c6[[EcTlvf

, co lective noun de notes a group or collection of simi lar
Individuals considered as one complete whole.
I Gtorgt is t he 'Cl"ist iall' or 'fi rst ' name. TlIo... p_lO.. t he ' surname'.
III English the name wmn heforl! t he BUrn"ml!
,..

I Except ions t o Ihili a re I lle compound nOuM n;,,,,U i r an" /;J.<J .

",d U, .
S OUIIS: \1) Ki,uis :;! l
mdefinite art icle (II, lUI), Proper nouns, since t hey are thr
names of a part icular person, place or thins , usually
singular, but t hey are countable and may at ti mes be plur al.
e.g, the Hi", alaj 'as, the Wes' I ndies. the Smiths; or in such a
sentence as. ' There are three Johns [i.e. three boys with t he-
name J ohn)"1n my class.'

One of the chara.cteristics of En41ilOh is t he capacity It he s
for forming compounds. that is. U1'IIts which. though made up
of two or more parts each of which may be used as a separate
word, arc. nevert heless. Iclt to be single terms. The elements
comr',sing a compound may be almost any part of speech.
e.g. ..chool master (noun + noun). quick-silt'cr (adjective +
noun), whiwash (adjecti ve +verb). pickpocktJ (verb +noun).
O1ltrlook (adverb + verb), tralking-sJick (gerund + noun). The
most impol'tant patt ern in compound nouns is SOl,JS + NOON,
or GERUND + :';OUN' . and t he first element only is stressed. \'.&" .
hdirpin. sh{,jJkeepcr, p6stc14rd, lliwspapu . sl;nshi ne. b6xing.
nudch, dining-room, ",iti Plc-paper. etc.
The "vri tten fonn of these compound nouns is somewha t
arbit rary; someti mes they are writ ten as one word, e.g. black-
bird. houu wl! e: somet imes as two words joined by a hyphen,
e.g. gds-works, f i re-engine. ihunder-storm. sia-supmt: or even
occasionally as two separate words. e.g. P6si ojfiu. The GER1.'N'D
+ SOON pattern is always ...vr itt en with a hyphen, e.g. cydi"C-
d ub,
Iris t he single stress' .....hich differentiates Compound nouns
from 'word groups' {i.e. adjective +noun, or noun used ad-
jectivally + noun). In 'word groups' both elements take stress,
e.g. gOld ri lfg. 14dy dOctor. ri ce pUddilfg. st6"t <1"d/I, L6lfdou
poliumlln. Oxford L'nitirsity . II the group is longer than tw,)
words the principle is t he same. each word has stress. c g.
T6ttenham COlift R6ad. L6ndon P4ss( ng(r Trallsporl B6arJ .
This different iation by stress is important , as it may convey :1
difference of meaning. Thus a black bird can apply t o any bird
(e.g. a crow or a raven) is black: a UMkbi rtlis a bird of u
I
Abstract
socxs
I
I
Concrete
I
A Comprehtnsitt Engli sh Grammar
20 be shown diagr ammatically like
The kinds of nouns may
this:
( C OON'TABLE ASiC :\ OONS) - - -
tical distinction may be. made
An important t ble and nouns which are
between nouns which are coun a
uncount able. I -; shup are ' count able' . NoWl;>
NounSlike boys. books. app t . . aur ink are ' uncountable ;
like bread. glass, sand, be counted. they can
they stand for subs
So
tanCe5
f
these words. e.g. glass. PIlP".. stmlt,
only be measured. text and with a dlfferent
,--_ ' count able In one con '
etc can uo: , . mer:
\olj " . ' uncountable In ano ' . ' '
J m", amng, . of lass (Um 014 n1ablt ).
,,! .tit A glass (Countable) 15 at a wall made of slMlt
. rIO You can throw ou
c ) ' "" .:r ,
{Uncountable . ." (C tablt ). There is paper ( Ln-
I have an evening papt r DUn
countablt ) on wall. bl ) oSe t oday. The food is packed
The price of 'In (Ullt ounla e r
in ,inS(Countable). (Um oul'l lablt) . 1 ga\"e the boy
->' The kettle is made of copra
-s "> . f c ,J, pers (Countablt) . t
-"'. ,; ..1", a . " count able or uncountable; mos
, \f ": "..- Common nouns rna} be t om e persnttra nce. trut1l , are
,./ abstract nouns. e.g. helP'bl have a plural torm, and
uncount able.' Only countabee in the singular by the
nly count able nouns can P
o . y,lled I\ouns. .
' Nouns of l hlt kind are son,et, m:':unlable and can be uted In t he
But &Ome .. nount lire
'd ,n opi"iO"u, ,,,.,111,etc
plnral , e g, I

22 A Comprti/rnsit'( rrgiisiJ Grammar

part icul ar species (t urdus merula). ..\ h61 house (= a house
which is liot) is not t he same as a Jujllwll.'t ( = a heated glass
bui lding for plants), nor is a p4ptr blJSkd ( = a basket for paper)
t he same as a papa ( = a basket made of paper). .
The fi rst word, both in word f Oups and compound nouns IS
the ' qualifi er', and a reversal 0 positions may bring about a
complete change of meaning. Thus a race-horse is not t he same
as a as a u nnis.JaU"l , a Grammar School
as a school Kram,,",'. a jlrnnr-glJ.rden as a : (I,den flout' , an e)'t -
glas s as a glass eye, a village-green as a gu m ('ilIag' , kz mp-/n'Z
as an oil-lamp or pipe.tobacco as a lobacco-pipe.
In a number of compound nouns, especially those that. h,ave
been in t he language a long t ime during which t he ongmal
meanings of t heir element s have .become. obscured, t he vowel
in one or other , and even occasionally In both, has become
shortened or otherwise modified, e.g.
bred/ as: {' brekb s t ] (_ break fast); shepherd
(_ sheep herd); /01ehead [' fori d] ( = fore head); cupboiud
['kAbid) ( _ cup board); Sunday ['SAndi] (= sun day);
NeTJItrm (' nju :t n] (..: new town); Portsmouth
( _ port's mouth) ; lxmfire (ori ginally fxme fi re);
poa_,. (' pousbn.n] (_ pest man), etc.

'3
..... as
? ':;,', ..r:, .......y S OIII/S: (1) Kinds 'I
, J ,.pr'.,...., of
..( 71- As of a relati ve proucun, e.g.
The shIp t.hat t ook t he P ilgr im F at hers to '\ mer iO: 3
called the ') Iayflower '. .
E XE HCISES
I Country, t ree, JX'ace,. Sherlock Holmes. f1ocl.;. sht"ep,
")l Rut>e:
ns
, square. patience, beaut y, Bodmi'I, rivalry,
mcc.tmg, crry t raffi c, noisiness, Hyde Park, crowd.
of the a bove words are CUll llJlUn nouns?
Which are abst ract , which colledive?
It 'John, here! Will you come t o t he t heat re ,,' it h
mer 'Covent Garden.' ' What's the
opera? Tosca Who wrote it ?' ' Puccini ' ' What' s
t he of t he t ickets ?' ' Sixt y-t wo pence.' ' Sor ry, I
haven t t he money; I ' ve been bettin.t: too much
recently. I lost a lot on t he Der by.' 'Oh r ou didn' t
back Crepello, then ]" ' No, worse luck!'
Pick out and classify t he nouns ill the above
III of the followinG" nou ns are 'ccunt ables' ;uul
whICh are ' unccuntables'j
do" me.u, ,. WiS4 11Cil', ,AWllde" fisA, cAuse, bll4"i
P4,tJl, t ree, .
I V Fonn abstract nouns from t hese words:
proud, beau t iful, parent , likely, coward, tr ait or.
Infant , sane, courteous. young.
\' (4) What is the correc t eollect ive noun for a number of:
(I) lions. (2) sheep. b) people at a football match, (4)
wolves, (.5). elephants. (6) fi sh. (7) people in church ,
(8) people hstenmg a concert. (9) sai lors on a shi p?
(b) Supply the a ppropnate collecti ve nouns to complete
the following expressions:
a - of stars, a - of oxen. a 01 cards a -
of br igands, a - of t rees, a 01
people, a - of hou nds, a _ 01 lhi ps. a _ of
CUrIOS, a - of books. a _ of aircraft .
VI (expressed h y a bst ract nOllns) dn V<lU
associ ate Wi th t he following ? .
J ob, Quisling, Shylock, Tart utle t;ri ah Heep
Hercules, Xero, Baron Muneha u5en, .
(
1 The antecedent i. Ihe word lor ",-hich Ihe retanve pronoun .tand.
ke p. 3' 4)' -

l Tll, GR..uutA'IlCAL Iruxcrrcxs OF
A noun may be u sed: -:
-{I}- As t he subj ect of a sentence, e g,
The boy opened t he door.
-{2,. As the direct object of a ver b , e,g ,
I saw t he boy,
.(3). As the complement of a verb,
He is a clever boy,
As an indirect object , e.g.
I told the boy a story, I
..(5). In a phrase with a preposit ion, e.g.
I spoke t o the boy. The House of CommQ1ls.
-{6).As a prepositional object , e.g.
Give the money t o your broihn.
24 A Ccmrp,eJrtr/ sit, Ent;l ith Gmmm<lr
\' 11 In each 01the followi ng groups of nouns. pick out t he
one that is different In class from t he others . Give the
reason for your choice:
(a) quietness. country, lake, sun.
(h) crew. team, men, crowd.
It l German)' , Rhine, river. Zugspitlf!.
(d) laughter, gaiety, joy. happiness, mirth, humorist.
VIII I dentify the nouns in the following passage and name
the kind of noun to which each belon gs:
'At length. in 1812. Williams made his on
the t tl.g f! of Ratcliff Highway. those
unparalleled murders which have procured for him
such a brilliant and undying reputation. On which
murders. by the way. I must observe th at in one
respect they have had an ill effect , by making the
connoi!i5eur in murder , 'ery fastidious in hi' taste and
di$$atisfled with anything t hat h as been done sinu,
in that line.'
De Quincey, ' On t he Knocking at t he gate an
Macb, th' .
IX I n the following examples some common nouns are
ur.ed as proper noun. and some. proper noun, are used
as common noun' or adject ives _.Point out t hese word.
(I ) Church and State do not &I...a)"' agree. (2) He was
wearing a t weed ullter, (J) lIa".l" is a t ragedy but
Tu,tlft h Nigh f is a comedy. W Some peopl e prefer
China tea t o I ndian. (5) Paris. fashions are famous

e"oerywhcre.
X Give the collecti ve nouns for:
(11 The group of persons directing t he administrat ion
of a t own. (1) Ships used in time of war (" IIt1l:.J u'O'I'd,
possibl, ). (J I The p card, used m playing Bridge.
(4) Father, mother , son. and daught er. (5) The eleven
players in a game of football.
XI Form abstr ac t nouns from:
__ 11) lI: reat. (ll succeed . III destroy, <-4) profound . (51
.., repel. (6) know. (7) gent le lm'o wcrd, ). (8) social (t it'O
wcrd, ). (9) generou, . (10) liberal (lu'" u'OI"d$).
XII Wh ich of t he followi ng words can be used as ,ount able
and ab o a, uecccneab'e nouns' Explain the ewe
of each one you fi nd ,
(11 sorrow. (2) beauty. (ll ...i ne. (4) tea. (5) bric;k.
(6) pain. (7) wood. (8) paint . (9) ti mber. (10) food.

-
," rmlll: (I) Kinds
Xl it Fc rm compound noun. or ' word jirolllll ' to expre,.,
(I) A knife for cutting I'll.... I I A , .
wine. (ll A bl l per, 2 g au fur holding
I I ' III e or Il. enfety-ruaer ( ,) \ box f
10 dms: matches (5) A desk for wnting at A or
giving neWI and publllhed in Edlnbu; h paper
for pul,lull; corlll out of (8) (J!
ICIUOrs for cutting tinger.n&ilJ, (9) A driver of tu13
In London. (10) A machine for cutting the gran on a
lawn, (I I) A man whoee profenion 1. lending mone
A place wll,ere cotton clot h is made. (I J)
(14) A fish that is gcldeu
(16) A ' II adma.n , w. ogeu coal outoftheground .
, wa m e brick. ( 17) A man who makes
a bnck wall , (18) A room where )"ou have meals
aleep, (20) A room in
In eve.ry cu e lnark which word' are strcsS(. 'II,
XIV E I xp (II) the meaning. of the following words and
u th ey are gi\"en. and then (b) t heir
j eanln, I ' .... th e two word. in each are t ra nsposed
n eac 1ease Illustrate l.ly sent ence' ,
playing-cl.rd . (2) grammar , ,'hool. (J) fl ower-
It) eyeglan. t51village-green. (61 house-dog
.J e pedal. (8) peeker-beck. (9) oil-lamp (IOj
II I Itat lon. (11) tobacco-pipe. (n ) lawn -t enai."
"

,
'7
I
C HAP T ER fOI,;R
\ :SOUKS : ( 2)
There are two grammatical numbers in English. (0;,)
t o denote one, (b) PLURAL to denote more than one.
Only countable nouns can be used in t he plural.
t F ORlJl. ATlOS OF THE P LURAL t
c The plural of almost all nouns is formed by means of a
.r' sibilant suap.:. This suffix is written as -s or -es. It is pronounced
as (51 when added to a word ending in any voiceless consonant
except the. :hissing' sounds [5], Ul . (t D, e.g"-- ----
book - books (buk - buks]
cat - cat s (kat - kats)
It is pronounced [z) when added to a word ending in any voiced
sound except th e consonants [a], (3), (dS], e.g.
dog - dogs [dog - dogz]
bird - birds [ba rd - ba.dz]
day -c-days [dei - deiz)

It is pr onounced l iz] when added to a word ending in t he
sounds [' J. [D. lt D. ['J. [3J . [d3J g.
horse [hers] - horses ['ho:sit] ; rose [rouz] - roses ['ronziz]
judge (d3Ad3] - judges {'d3Ad3iz]; ash [aD - ashes ['afiz].
S aTE: The s of ho14se (haus] is voiced in the plural ('hauzit ).
The unvoiced -th in bdth Iba:El], moutll [mau9], oath [ou9], p"ln
:... , [pa :91. s.atll Ui:9], trutJ. [tnI :6] and )'outh [ju :9] is voiced in
t he plural: [ba :Ol], [mauOz]. (ou" z). (pa :"z]. [Ji :Oz], (t ru :" z]
/...-, and (ju :Oz].
In wri ting, t his sibilant suffix is spelt -s, wit h t he following
exceptions , in which it is wri tten -es.
@ w ords t hat end in t he let ters. -s. -sll . -ch , -s, -z:
glass _ glasses. brush - brushes
church _ churches, box - boxes.
6
Nouns: (2) Sumber
SMoot words t hat end in -0:
negro - negroes, potato - potatoes
hero - heroes, volcano - volcanoes.
But there are exceptions to t his. Thus , though words
th at have been In t he language for a long t ime t end to USC' t he
-es form,
-\II) Those words that are still felt to be ' foreign ' take t he s
form. The principal ones are:
piaftos , photos, 4,Y1lQPISOS. '""l:ftdoS, kilos, PlUmePllos, solos.
-(b) All nouns ending in -opreceded by a " owe) take only t he
-5 form, e.g.
cuckoos, cameos. bdmboos, pqrtfolios, , ,,rios. sJudios, ' aJios,
... _ Th e following changes occur in t he formation of t he plural:
Words end,ing in .y preceded by a consonant letter change
th e -y t o -tes:
lady , ladies: slory, stories: a,my , ",miu:jly, jlies,
Words ending in -y preceded by a vowel letter simply add - S:I
valley , t'll1leys: donkey, donkeys: boy, boys: key, keys.
The ending '[ or -f e in most nouns is changed to -ws . with
a ,of of (I) to lvl . e.g.
leaf, lcuves: wife. u'lIIes; thuf , thieves; loaf, loat'es: 1Ialf , helves,
But t here are many words ending in -f or -f e t ha t simply
add s t o form t heir plural:
roof s, gulf s, cliffs, rerf s, P, oofs, chief s, lloof s, I"rf s, s(//es,
dwarf s, g, ie/s. beliefs .
Some words have both forms:

scarf s, scarves: u'II "'fs, staffs, staves: 1I 00/s, hM 'rs.

., , ,: vJI
I IRREGUL-\R P U ; RALS J r:-.; v
are eight nouns. the plurals, which
form t hen plural by a change of maft;- trU"" (and
1 t bere is a technical tenn in banking. uneece, etc., th.lt b ,.pelt
lKQ1I.n. and not, as one mi;:ht expect, fI'lOtU)' s.
Mutil.t ion (ch.J.n.e 0 1 ve ... el) \\ ;1$ by presence 0 1 ",0 i th",t
once after the fmal conson;uot of tbe stem. ThlU the Pr im;li ve
Germ.noc plural of / 0/ (foot) was /o/i, later /tl and t hen /ttl.
I
-
zb A Comprehc nsiw Ellglish Grammar
compounds of tlUlli . e.g. genlk man, gentlemen);t tooth, teeth;
f oot , feet: mouse, mice; woman, women; goose, geese; louse, lice;
dormouse, dormice. The plural of mOngoose is mOllgooses; dor-
mOflse is a compound of mouse but mongoose is not a compound
of "DOse.
rm;:Some words have ti le same fonn for singular and pl ural:
ur i'lt , deer, fish (but also Julin).
To t hese could he added t he names 01 ot her animals, especially
in a hunt ing context. This applies to
and fish:, e.g.
to hunt elephanl , antelope, etc.: to shoot wild df/ck, grouse,
t o catch $41mon, trOW.
We have. too, the unchanged plural in some words showin$'
number and measurement of weight:
two doun (abbreviation: do%.) eggs; t hree huKd,ed pounds:
four tllOw aml people; t wo cross of pencils; t hree SJre years;
t wo $J(ml of potatoes; four Ju",drtdweight (abbreviat ion:
ern.) of coal; ro,ooo candle-power; 20 horse-power; forty hu.d
of cattle; two}'CAe of oxen. So 2,300,5 01 is ' two milli on, three
Jumdred t housand, five hUPldrtd and one', C
But these words (except gross) t ake -s whenlt'hey have no
numeral in front of them, e.g. dOl".S of of
pounds; S()Tes of t imes; h"ndredweights of Sometimes
either form is possible: ' He .....eighs twelve slones' and ',He
weighs twelve $Jon,' , 'He is six fen tall' and ' He is sixfool tall' ,
The words bdrTacks, species, sen'", U"orks (and com-
pounds like gas-srorks, i ron-u-orks, etc.) are t he same in
singular or plural .
So, too, are some proper nouns that end in a 'hissing' sound:
S uiiss, Chiffeu, J apaff ese, Portl'l'Uese, V ien>It5r.
cW'rhrce words form t heir plural in -en. They are:
d uM - , hildren: 0% - O%t n: broth,r - br"dhrm.
The usual plural of bro/her is, of course, broth, rs. Brethren,
which was t he usual plural unti l t he seventeenth cent ury, is
now used wi th t he meaning ' members of t he same society or
religious order ' ,
But Rrn<t"tlS , ND. ..." .." C"..." be<:a,,"c t hese wor ds "re not COn_
nec t ed with thD ;ntlependen t word .
Historical UCI/Sori for I},('>(' f orms
In Anglo-Saxon t here were five endings to dcucte
plural: -as. -au, - I I . - (I and - 0. In addition, t here were some
"neuter' nouns th at had t he same form for the singular and
plural , and t hat is why, in modern English, t he singular ann
plur:\! of a few words, e.g. shaft and drcr, arc t he same: Bv
about r4O t hese five endings had, with one or two except ions.
been reduced to t wo: -es and -s (both developed from -as). The
word oxt n is one of t hese except ions ; it still keeps t he Anglo-
Saxon -an (later -, PI) ending for t he plural. There used t o be,
almost to modern times, quite a number of plurals ending- 11l
-en: slwen (later shoon) for shot s is used by Shakespeare.
Chaucer' s Prioress had ' eyen (= eyes) grey as glass' , anti t here
were lwusen (",. houses), homl (= hose). pm sen (=
Childfns, bftthren are really doubl e plurals-,' The Old Engh:'.h
plural for Anglo-Saxon did (= chi.ld) was nldTl/: for bTothor I t
was bTotA,.,.. In English, (h,ldTll became chllder (3 (arm
t hat is st ill heard in dialect] and bToth" . became brethe r, Then
to what .....ere already plural words an extra plural enJi ns - ,' II
was added making, child(' TnI , brethrr' n, which develope..1 10
ehi/dr,n, brtthrlll .
( F OREI GS P LUII..U S1
.....ill be made later of t he large number of foreign
words t hat have been absorbed into t he language." Sometimes,
especially in th e technical language of science, these. ha ve ',lot
been t horoughly ' nat uralized' and t hev keep t heir foreign
plural forms . The largest number by far o'f t hese foreign plurals .
are of l a tin or Greek origin, for example: "' (1
Letin: .... _ axes; ': :'1iacillus - bacilli ; u;'cdit;i;- media:
st ratum _ st rata; bacterium - bacteria; locus - loci:
radius _ radii; corrigendu m - ....crrigenda; add.... ndum - a d-
denda; erratum - err ata; larva -c- Iar vae; nebula - nebul ae.
Gruk: analysis - analyses: basis - bases: crisis - cri..,:,,;
hypothesis _ hypot heses; t hesis - theses; phenomenon-
phenomena; criterion - crit eria: oasis - oases.
' So is IIi",. Tile phmal of Old English " . (- <;ow) was a ' nn, lo ' l ;"'"
pleral TV. To this was added another plural form -eu. The n 'Y' NL<. ...-."ne
. t Chapter ) 0.
,
30 A CQmprehrtlsit,t l:."jlglis!I Grammar
The longer t he words have been in t he language, t he more
they tend t o conform t o t he English plural in -s. Some words
are at the half-way st age with two plurals, t he original foreign
one and t he English one. So you will find:
appendix - appendixes, appendices; formul a - formulae.
formul.as; terminus - termini, t erminuses; fungus - fungi .
funguses; retina - ret inae, ret inas; cac tus - cacti, cactuses:
focus - foci, focuses; aquanu;n - aquaria, aquariums :
curriculum - curricula, curriculwns; maximum - maxima .
maximums; memorandum - memoranda, memorandums.
mmunum - mi nima , minimums; sanatorium - sanatoria.
sanat oriums: vo rt ex - vort ices. vort exes; automat on -
automat a. automat ons.
}[05t words taken in fairly recent times from French or
Italian have t heir origina! and also t heir English plural.
Practically all the older words conform to t he Engl ish patt ern.
Recent words with two forms are:
burt-au - bureaux, bureaus; tableau - tableaux, tableaus;
port mant eau - portmanteaux, port manteaus; adieu _
adieux, adieus; t rousseau - t rousseaux, t rousseaus; bandit
- banditti, bandits: libretto - librett i, librettos; soprano -
sopran i, sopranos; virtuoso - virt uosi, virtuosos.
In some cases t he two plurals have different mean ings (see
also page 38): . '
{ S ingular/
{
indexes
index indices
genius {gem"",
genII
die
formul a
{
formulas
formul ae
/ Plural}
(= t ables of cont ents).
(= algebraic al signs).
(.:3 persons of unusual ly great men-
t a! powers).
(= good or evil spiri ts).
(_ metalst ampsformakingmoney).
("'" small cubes of hone or wood
used in games of chance].
(.,. forms of words).
(_ mathemat ical t erms).
N OlI/IS: (:2 ) NUHlb<r 3 1
l s ",gu/.ad JPluml 7
{
mediums (_ c!a.i ming eonununication
medium wi th spiri ts).
media ("" means, agencies).
There are also one or two native English words t hat have
t .....o plurals with different meanings also page 38):
{
brothers
brot her brethren)
{
cloths (differen t pieces or kinds of doth).
doth clothes (art icles of dress).
. { pennies (individ ual wins).
penny IX'nce (collect ive value).
But the word SilP(ll (( (meaning t he small silver coin) forms a
plural s;xpn lu s, c-s - ' Can you give me two sixpences for a
shilling?'
:'Ilany foreign words have now become completely natural-
iz(,.1and always t ake t ile English plural, such as:
bonuscs, cirCI/ S"S, isllrmllscs, Ql/wllmSfs. = p70Sp(C-
tuscs, areas, arenas, ellcy clopadill s, eras, ideas, /'llIIrlC( IlS,
prtlinslIJas, SOnatas, solos, u mbrellas, villas, albllll/s,
chry5allt hctnllms, mustrHlIS. iriscs. demons ,
, COXCOkO)
t17i\ A singular subjec t takes a singular verb, a plural subject
a plural verb, e,g,
The boy is here. The boys are here.
G Difficult ies arise sometimes in the case of Collec tive
Nouns in t he singular. Acollect ive noun was defined as a noun
denoting a group or collection of similar individuals considered
as one complete whole. It is t herefore nat urall y regarded as
being singular and as such takes a singular verb.
Tile foot ball team is playing wdl.
Tile Government htU decided t o lJaS5 t he bill.
That family is a very harry one.
See p.:o.ge , 8.
"", ..i btts is a I_\ li n ,!al i,'c pl ll, .. 1 _ ' 1,,,- ",II' . T he word j. u,,,,\II)'
t o bits (ph",.l b'<$roj .

1 Sft: p.age
._- ---
' 1II IH I\'111 Parutcrs' is one of Ruskin's best known books.
I1illIf tl,l(, second noun is merelr of a phr asc qualifying
thC1frst singular nann, the verb 15 singular, e.g.
The boy wit h his u Og" i s here.
Mr. Smith , accompanied by his wife ami t hree children , has
just arri ved.
subjec ts joi ned by (J ' or neithr r . . . I / O' t ake a
verb, e.g,
A cigar 0' a cigaret t e is very enjoyable.
Neit"" George ,11;>, Henry lUIS come yet.
But by t he 'rule of proximity' , if one subject is si ngular ami
another one is pl ural , t he verb generally agrees with t he nearest
subj ect , e g.
Ei ther t he teacher or t he st udents are to blame (or t he ha.1
result s.
t'cit!tt' r lie nor t hey are wholly right .
@ The disrnbutives! t ake a singular verb and a singular
adjeenve.t e.g.
Every hoy in t he class is present.
Ea.-h of the beys hil Sgained a prize.
Neit her answer is correct.
Everybody is doing his best.
But thi s rule about using a singular possessive adjective with
dist ri but ive adject ives like n'n-yoOl e, tach , etc. , is, especially in
conversat ion, frequently disregarded owing t o t he fact that
there is not in Engl ish a possessive adjective t hat can stand
for both masculine and feminine, singular and plural nouns.
Consequently t he plural tMi, is frequentl y used, e.g.
Elltry01te was talking at t he t op of their voices.
Wh en earh person comes in thry mus t show their t icket .
None may take a si ngular ver b or a plural one, e.g.
' None hut t he brave dtSmies t he fair.' (Dry den)
None of us is perfect .
None or tile children ill his class are bored with the lessen.
I have checked your answers and none of them are correct.
33
32 ..I English Grammar
Out . when the parts or members t hat compose the t hillg
denoted by the collect ive noun are t hought of individually. a
plural verb may be used;
The football team are having baths and are then
back here for tea.
The Government have discussed t he matter for a long time
but t hey have shown no signs of reaching agreement.
The family are vt'ry pleased about t he news of William's
success.
The nouns people, police. public. clergy, c<Jl/le arc always used
with a plural verb, e.g.
The peopleof Norway aTe called Xcrwegians.
The poiiu aTt making enq uiries about the murder.
The p..blic art request ed not t o leave litter in t hese woods
People is often used as t he plu ral of /" 511; it also means
nation, e.g. The French people, the proples of Europe.
t'i'1Th Two or more subjects connected by and tale a plural

The boy and his dog a, e here.
But if the two subject s joined by alld are considered as ant:
t hing, a singular verb is used, e.g.
Brown bread and butter js usually eaten wi th smoked salmon.
Whisky and soda is his favouri te drj.nk.
His courage and endurance t ried t o t he utmost.
The stitching (lnd bindi ng of books is done on t his machine.
The stCu tary and iJCC01mtant of t he Company U"a5 present
(One man doi ng bot h jobs.)
But :
TIle secret ary and (t he) accountant of the Company U'n-,
present . (Two men.)
co, t oo, in such sentences as:
Ten yea rs is a long t ime.
five t housand pounds is a lot of money.
where t he subject , t hough pll;1ral in f.onn, is really singul ar in
meaning (te n years = a P,1Iod of time); 5,000 = a sum of
money) or sentences such as:
\
III Express the following in words i nstead of figures and
expand t he ccntracucee to t heir full forms:
(4) 1}0. (b) 1,300. (el 3,43 .654. (d) 144 (111m f orms
/'<'SsiMe). (e) 150 ewe.
I V Give the p lurals of:
bacillus, L-.:is, radius , hypot hesis. crisl$. oouis, pheno-
me non. fungus, cact us.
V Exp lain the meanings of the singular a nd pl ur al {arms
of t he following wor ds:
air, premise, brace, COmP/l.", frui t , spectacle. d amage,
wit, pain. powder, colour, body, spirit .
VI Make a list of as many nouns as you know which have
t he same form in singul ar and plural .
[ P LURALS AND \
Old compound nouns usually form their plura l as if they
were simple nouns. i.e. t he final clement is made plural:
schoolroom - schoolrooms; a",,,hair - nrtllchairs: llOrseman
_ horselllell; house,,:ije - hOllsr.r il;es: :.:-ash.'r.roman -
tooth-b ush - tooth-brushes,
This is generally the case even .....hen the elements of the _
compound are not themsel ves nouns: , r : . ..::.\.. ",
hamij ul- Jr4ndju1s: bTelJ1ulOttn bTeakdtnrns; drawback - / '
drawbacks; olubTeak - outbTeakt;{!orgrt'",N lot }-j orgct-",e- ../'1
1I 0Is;
or even if the compound consists of twn separa te words:
ticket collector - ticket collectors; boy jriend _ boy jrimds:
. (U' ll(ch walch repairers: girl glll'de - girl gllides:
(,?''.- boy scour-boy scouts: motor show - motor sh01lls ,
: .,7" In the !ollo....'ing , both elements are made plural :
oJ mall servant _ men servllnts: gentleman [armer - gentlemen
'"
jll rmers: woman serv4nt - U'Cmtll men students I ..:. ' \
(etuJu rs/doctors, etc" and womm \ v I
Lord-j l'!il ice -lords j ustices; f!<ftrgnm",-pliJr]- Knights- \. . '
Temp1ars.
In syntactical compounds, especially where the first com-
ponent is a noun qualified by a prepositional phrase, adverb
or adjective. it is the noun which takes the plural form:
&t the plllral of "",ill ""'4>01 iJ Mllill u"'....,.

34 A Comprehensive English Grammar

The word Plumbt, someti mes takes a si ngular verb, some-
t imes a plural one. e.g.
The 'Pl umber of students in the class is small.
But :
:\ number of students a'ere wait ing lor t he lesson to begin.
/i7il1?Je verb agrees wi th the pronoun it in identi fying or
e1'r!t!tiat lc sente nces, e.g.
' Who broke t he window?' 'It U'IU Henry and William.'
It is they who are wrong.
I'iSi\ Thc rclati vc pronoun t akes the same number and person
antecedent , e,g" .
This is one of the best books t hat hal.!l ever been written on
the subj ect.
the 'formal subj ect' IMe is used , the verb agrees with
subject, e.g.
There is a cherry tree in my garde n.
There are cherry tr ees in my earden.
EXERCISES
I Re..-rue the follo wing sentences, putting as ma n)' words
as possible into t he pl ural , and making ;my ot her
necessary a lterations.
(I) A witch used t o be burnt , (2) A match is taken from
a box or torn from a ' book', (3) The lea f whic h the bird
was carryi ng fell on to the roof 01 t he house. (..) The
monkey jumped from rock to rock up above, watching
t he movement of the man in th e valley below. (.5) The
defeat ed army had not even time t o bury the body of
its hero. (6) The chief of the tribe had h is own means of
catching a salmon. (7) cheese co.. ld not be sold , as
a mouse had left a tooth-mar k on i t. (8) Which is the
greater curse in t he :!oliddle East , the fly or the louse?
(9) \ 'VhiIe the negro was voicing his belief. the mulatto
kept banging on the floor with his stall. ( HI) This cri sis
comes in a long
II Give the plurals of the following nouns:
negro. wish. stud io, daily. convoy. reef, wharf, dormouse.
echo, inch, mongoose. dwarl, cal f, bough, fox, yoke.
.\' ouns: (2) 'vfllu ber
35
':'..;..J i r- V
.... o# , . v .' .n
But if these words are used attributively in compound nouns
they are usually made singul ar, e.g. my trouser leg; oat cakes;
a Cil rd table. .. _
@--+ Some plural form but are f?lIowed a sin laD
verb:' ncws;{fnJ1lngs. gall ows; workS, f!iYS ICS; phonellcs, an as
a ni lesoarc"aTTOt:her-SCiences or subjects ending in but
t his m a is \lot fixed. Singular or plural can often be IIseo. e.g.
Poli t ics h.,t'C (/!.!!V always interested me.
) fat ematics i s (are) well t aught at t hat school
-l id .- ...!j .J>"'.... _ S.oo. f Sl-l.1,s ':' >,.4), 6;""
dY"OUjht -"Jy ' - v l.C.
\ WITH N o P LUIl AL )
Many nouns are never used in the plural, e.g. most abst ract
and many material nouns (see p. 2 0).
LN0 l,; NS WITH N o SINGULAR
Some nouns arc Ilcycr used in the singular, e.g. the names of:
DREsD trousers, breeches, knickers, pants,
pyjamas, sorts, dmiicrs, clothes.
TOOLS ANlJ CO:-SISTl l>:C OF TWO P." RTS: cissors,
s rs, piers, meers, s ec nc es, g as es = spec acles) , tongs,
bellou's. The word 'pair ' is generall y used wit h these terms,
e.g. ' a pair of trousers', etc .
AMES OF DISEAS ES OR lumps, measles.
1'0 { . F SOME GAME billiards, cards, bOll'ls, dominoes,
raughts \;o 1..J1 ..
OTHER WORDS' 11IIs, riches, scales (for
werg mg , contens a a O ' etc. , gofngs.iin. gmfry, drrgs,
(,,'::" /'" '@ats: ri!edtlltial.s:;qidinC9 SOIl P-SI!_S, Winnings , Sl1!U i ngs,
sllrroundi ngs, ashes (from t he fl re--;- but cigarette ash). Thou h
t he nouns shaving, savi ng, fJ.l i'lg can be u$cd, t he
plural shavings, savi ngs, filiHgS is much more
cornmon.cc->",,1,..-
, .
A plural verb is used with t he above words. So we say;
My cleaned. Riches do not always bri ng
happiness. Oats are grown in Scotland. Cards are played
every evening etc .
I'LCR.\ L
The two Mrs. Brown; t he two I
Mrs. Browns.
The Misses Brown; the ) fiss
Browns; t he t wo Miss Browns;
Miss Margaret (Brown) and
Miss Lilian Brown.
Messrs. Brown; the Messrs. Brown;
t he two Mr. Br owns: Mr. John
(Brown) and Mr. Henr y Brown ,
The form Messrs, (st anding for
Messieurs, which is never ....-rit -
ten in full in Engllsh) is used I
only in business language, e.g.
Messrs. Brown and Smith Lt d. I
I
I
I
I
I And similarl)': molhu s.I1tJa w, JO>ll-IIt -law,
0"",(}1 eSf .r- .
m", to:,
IYl Af'SYI M ! (3
SINGUL.... R
For a married woman
Mrs. Brown
For an unmarried
woman
Miss Brown
For a ,nail, Indrried
or -u nmarried
Mr. Brown
YI1 (,\ ti. c
c/.t'oH
lIi r "Je.
r1
Ct
3
6
A Compre!lCllsit'( Engli sh Grammar
father-in-l aw _ fathers-in-law. " _ commander-in-chief -
corrunanders-in-chief; men-of-war ; looker- on
-c-lookers-on: passer-by-passers-by; j ustice-cl-the-peace-
_general_governors_general;
/ courts-martial; ??et . , - poets
<--<:,----.,- - 5 ,..., & ..l
aurea e.
But, especially in popular speech, the re is a t endency t o say:
mether-in-laws, court-martiaIs, attOl;..
in-chiefs. poet laureates; and gaodpo
v-J v':'- .e- ne' er-do-wells. [A';' <y ;
l FORMS OF ADDRESS t
The following forms are used:
-
I leum]
!t:
1oUSts
]
f"; r",, ,;d S)
"' ,

39
EXERCI SES
.vOU'IS: (2) Number
I \\'hieh of the alt ernatives in the following sentences
are correct ? Give reasons.
(I ) The committ ee wasjwere of t he opinion t hat the
matt er be dealt ..ith at once.
(2) The crowd behaved iuelfjthem!oelves admirably.
(J) The congregat ion not numerous tonight . but
it /they seemsjseem t o be listening very attentively to
t he sermon.
(4} The staR wasjwere opposed. to any change.
(.5 ) The orchest ra playing tomorrow evening.
(6) The whole herd rushed headlong to its/t heir
de-st ruct i,m.
.,. (I) sufferings.
(2) care, trouble (' to take pains with some
t hing').
{ ,,,emises7= (1) t hings assumed as t rue as basis for an
argument .
(2) buildings.
I quartersI = (1) fourth parts.
(2) lodgings.
I reJUNlJ 7 =z (I ) recurrences ('many happy relu"U' ).
(2) statistical details ('rrlunss of income for
tax purposes').
(I) sights; t hings seen.
(2) glasses to aid sight .
I spirits J - (I) souls .
(2) alcoholic liquors.
(J) mental or moral attit ude (' in high spir.ts').
An interest ing peculi ari ty is t he occasional use of t he plural
form to intensify th e meaning expressed by the singular or to
suggest great quan tit y or extent , e.g.
t he saMs of the desert; t he snOU's andf! osts of t he Antarctic;
the w;;u,.s of the lake; the J;;;;Vms above our heads; a walk
t hrougFi" the U'OOlis; swayed between hopes and fellrs .
- -
1",a,,,,nU
I",in" I, ' J
I" " d. I
I [O.(f sJ
A Ccmlp , rltt ,u ill' Erlg/ish Grammar
-I he news it good. TI\e first innings is finished. An ironworks
il being built .

. ,
The plurals of ecme nouns have two or meamngs, . one
similar to the singular meaning, the other different from It .
/ccoJ CXI15! - (1) hues.
(2) regimental ...
& uS/- (1) instruments for ""'-- :,;I'
(2) inst rummts Ior drawing Circles. U-:: .
.. V i..\; -" ..... ...__....
(1: ) taxes on Imported - .
IjravtJrlsj - (1) game. .
(1:) currents of air.
Ir/D",iIX' / - (I) a game.
(1:) kinds of masks.
=- (1) resul ts.
(2) goods, personal propert y.
=' (1) powen ('the forul of nature' ).
(2) organized bodies of men ('armed 10" " ',
' poHce loren') ,
_ (I) vessels for drinking from.
(2) spectacles: binoculars. Ll ?, ......" .
-. (1) land (usually enclosed) round a house. .
(2) reescns ('l"Otl'tlds for complaint'). t.:l,--" '
, m KJ' OMtldS'). or L/, -,' ......... >/
_ (1 ) signs of t he alph abet . (VI '
(2) epistles.
(}) le arning ('a man of ItUml
_ (1) ways. customs.
(2) behaviour.
,.,. (I) .paces of time. .
I
, j secreearv's record of proceedings at. a
-,
meet ing. e->\ .. ............ t' ..... y
I See rJ'O ] ') and 3 1.
\
I
I
I
I

II

I'
40 A CQmprdunsit'e English Grammar
r
II What is th,2 formff th e following nouns?
- 0 1 Q.nloo!ler"looker-on: tige!:lily ; woman teacher; moth-ball;
majo'-:generaT;madam; manservant; Jnanhofe: man-
ai-arms. J ;" ";, .......A
III What is wrong with t he following sentences. and why?
(1) I have come to perfect my knowledges of English.
(2) Can you give me any informat ions or advices on
t his matter? (3) The news are good this evening. (..) I
opened t he letter and it contained an import ant in-
fonnation. (.5) I went t o my doctor for an advice about
my health, (6) I have several jackets, but only one
trousers, (7) My pyjama is at t he laundry.
I V Each of t hese words can have two different meanings.
Ill ustrate this in sentences,
spirilS; It/ters; customs; f Ol'us; grounds; minutes.
V What are t he plural forms of t he following:?
gentleman, lady-in-wailing, stepson, watchman, trade-
union.
VI How would you describe;
(I) Two men named Smith, (2 ) The two daught ers of
Mr. Jones. (3) The wives of the two men in (I)?
VII Give one word for the following:
(1) The table on which the games of (a) billiards, and
(b) car ds are played . (2) One hal f of a pair of trousers .
(3) The place where t he game of bowls is played, (4)
The board on which t he game oi, draughts is played.
{s} An instrument for weighing groceries, etc.
VIII Complete the following sentences with is, an, was,
wen as appr opriate:
(1) The clergy _ generally dr essed in black, (2)
Greens - a wholesome spring vegetable. (3) Wheat
_ used to make flour. (4) The first innings of the
Test match _ nearly di sastrous for t he English
team, (.5) The Polilies of Aristotle - studied at
Oxford.
IX Comment fully on the meaning and number of the
following words, explaining differences of meaning
between singular and plural forms wher e both exist:
salts, alms, paper, quarter, spectacles, draught, effects,
return, manner, glass, work, pain.
CHAPTEI< FIVE
( 3) GENDEHI
The ,of has nu grallllllatil.:aJ Junction in modern
English. H IS possible, however , t o group words into t hree
cetegones according t o whether t hey can be replaced by th e
pronouns 'he' . 'she' or ' it ' r espect ively, I n all but a few cases
these categories correspond t o t he ideas of 'male' 'female' and
'.inanimate' . Animals are usually referred to by'the pronoun
It, but may also be spoken of as ' he ' or ' she' according to t heir
sex. Thus we have these categories;
O IASCuETs < <j:RDg )/or all words representi ng males, e,g.
boy, king, uncle, prince,
all wor ds representing females. e,g,
. gi rl, queen, aUllt, Prj'l ceSS.
C{ NDERVOr inanimate obj ect s, e.g.
boo , Xouse , pencil, table.
wh i,ch may designate eit her males or females are
sometimes said t o be of GE:'>' DE R, e.g. COl/si n f riend
child, etc, ' ,
I MASCULIXE AND FEMlNI!': E FORMS I
-t-(!)Cenerally , when there is no wish t o make a di sti nction of
sex, ti le form is used . I n ot her cases , however, a _
separat e form wil l be used for the female, This word may:
r('i')1 formed from t he masculine by adding -ess (somet imes
other slight changes):
[A! aSCII/i llel /Feminine7 (M IIsc"I'1/( I i Fem/mile I
poet poetess priest priest ess
author authoress shepherd shepherdess
god goddess Viscount Viscountess
heir heiress actor actress
host ess waiter waitress
O ewess) emperor empress
"

cl.of.,
l ...;, ).; -\1.
-'",; 't", ""
h .. ,J... f.,
. (;' " )
,'. .... .
t .....
a

43
prosecutrix
belle
SultAn"
parent
child
person
monarch , severeign, niter
teacher
ho,,",
sheep
P"
bi rd, fowl
MiUculi"c
prosecutor
beau
Sultan
Ft1I4i"iM
mother .
girl }
daughter
woman
queen
schoolmistress
rna"
ewe
b.... ( (. : J u "!" '/"""'.$ ' V .. ... , (
.( 'U- At1J. n. y rn }( ht"-f
Nowu: (3) Gende'
-_..-
,. 11 $ Sow,;o )'OJ(
EXERCISES
I \\1Iat are tl.\e feminine forms of t he following words ?
J I'; "'0" ": cod; widoUl'r: utf"IOO' ; f or;
v1:ard; amb,Ul ador; tIlM'1"ii .
/.'ascull'flle Feminln, Mauuline.
manservant - maidservant man friend - woman friend
hoy cousin - girl cousin landlord - landlady
boy friend - girl friend he-bear - she-bur
cock sparrow- hen sparrow he-wolf - she-wolf
ptacoc k - peahen he-goat } { she.goat
tomcat-tabby cat billy-goat - !1a!l'1Y' J:;oat
a number of 'foreign feminines' . The most
1S herom, (mascuhne hero). Other examples of foreign
frnumnes are:
Masculi"e Fe".inj",
execut or executrix
dilli.to'
Czar Czari na
(Tsar) (Tsarina)
1..JiV\ Wit h regard to words of common gender , it is interest -
not e that occasionally for living beings .....e have three
....ords, one masculine. one feminine and one common genckr ,
e,g.
MrunJj"e
Iather
}
man
king
schoolmast er
stallion
ram
bo"
eock
-
"

Feminine
negress
t igress
murderess
Duchess
'" yt/ty
6K"
' v.) '" ,Jl
o\ fasculine
A Comprehensive Eflgli sh Grammar
,\[ascuIine Femi"ine ,\fascuIi1u Feminine
giant giantess negro
Prince Princess tiger
Baron Baroness murderer
Count Countess Duke
manager manageress (or
lion lioness Marquess)!
mast er mist ress conductor conductress
The only cases in which the mascul ine is formed from the
feminine seem to be bridegroom
l
(from bride) and trid(Jf&tr (lroTI:
widw ).
a different .....ord:
.\lasculine Feminine
col t =
.n,
boy girl bullock heifer
man woman brother sister
sir madam gentleman} lad
King Queen lord }:
EArl Count ess son daughter
father mother und e aunt
husband wife "} niece
CbiclleIoi) :spinste!)
....... JOare;. ....... nun
tutor
bull cow l'Au ard
1
'A1.klJ.
(coe) [}l en:. ,-uuc.\
L,' U. ..bUCk) tgander) (goose
/ .;., _ . dog- bitch
fram) lc':'e
' ...... :bOar
J
fox V1xen
(1.)U,J:f.... -
.. II In words O(!COlllMON GEND2(f, the dist inction of sex may
be own by fonnmg a compoun word of which one element
denotes the sex, e.g.
I Tho\l gb t hi. end J l.n ..IS it is not a. fem.i.n;ine noun. .
This wu orlgtn&lly .. _ (Old 8'l1llil - man ). Thl.S
word b&me obtolete In Midd le En glish urn"" ....., replaced
by -r _

A Comprcholsire tll:Jlisll Grammar

II Fill in the blanks:
(1) Josephine was a celebrated _ of th e French.
(2) A woman becomes a - - on her wedding-day and
a --t hereafter. (3) \\'hen a woman becomes engaged
her fiance refers t o her as his --. (4) F lorence
Nightingale was th e -- of t he Cr imean w ar.
(5) Sarah Bernhardt was a famous --. (6) The former
Mrs. Simpson is now t he - - of Wi ndsor. (7) The
little piglets wer e suckl ed by the --. (8) Sauc e for
t he g- - issauce for t he (9) Barbara
Hutton became - t o the w ootwcrth millions. (ro)
Sappho was a lyric - .
III I n how many ways can the feminin e 01 English nouns
be fanned?
Give two exampl es of each .
I V Wha t ar e t he genders of the following nouns?
table, draper, ship. baby. sovereign, professor. puppy,
chorus, representative, doctor, t omboy.
V A wedding usually brings together members of several
families; it also causes cert ain changes in relation-
ships. About twenty words can be used to describe
those concerned. How many can you find ?
VI Give live nouns of common gender.
VII Give three nouns with masculine and feminine forms
t hat you can use about:
religion, nobilit y, res taurants, far m animals, l aw.

VII I Give the alternative forms, masculine or feminin e, of:
t omcat. widow, wolf, emperor, bride, marquis.
I
CH APTER SIX
j " OUNS, 111 CASE I
Grammatical case is t he relati on in wh ich one noun or pronoun
s tands t o some ot her word in t he sentence , or the form of t he
nou n or pronoun which shows t hat r elat ion .
In Old Ene lish, nouns had [we cMJCS,
and Dat ive, each genem l1y "(fistmgUlshed
f,y . case endmgs
l
.
I n modem Enf,lish t here is ani one case en m or nouns
GENITIVE). here IS no rsuncucn in
be t ween nouns t hat are in t he nominative case and noun s t hat
are in t he obj ective case, t hough th ere is t his distinction with
some pronouns. (See p. 98.)
( T HE P OSSESSIVE (Gr,: :-: ITIVE) CASE I
linThe possessive Iorm of t he noun (sometimes caned t he
Genitive') is formed as follows:
<!i) For singular nouns, by adding _'S: 1
The boy's book (i.e. the book of the boy) .
Tom' s bouse (i.e. t he house of Tom}.
Ke at s's poems (i.e. t he poems of Keats).
..Wit h some names, chiefly classical ones, ending in -s, we
use only the apost rophe: _
. Hercules' labours; Phoebus' horses; St. Agnes' Eve; Moses '
laws; Sophocles' plays .
So ab o in: for go"gdlless' sake, for cOllSclence' sake,
<til For plural nouns ending in -$ by adding apostrophe only:
The hays' house [i.e. t he house of the boys).
'He soldiers' horses [i.e. the horses of t he soldiers).
For plu.ra l no t ending in -s (a ,'ery limited number)
by adding s, e.g.
1 Th e usual ending for the Old English gen;ti"e singul"r ,,"a\ -es, When,
late r, the . , W;'S omitt ed, it s "bsence "",,s shown an apo;t rophe (').
A CompnholSive Eliglish Grammar
The mm ' s room {i.e. the room of t he men).
The WOllle ll's Societ y [i.e. the Societ y of the women).
The t hildml 's voices (i.e. t he voices of t he children).
Th(3can have th ree
is] with words ending in voiceless consonants (except (s],
m, [tD) e,g. 5" II'tll'5, tat' s, Phil ip's. .
[z] with words ending in vowel sounds or voiced consonants
(except lel. [;)] and [1.1;))) es boy' s, lady 's, Bob's.
liz) with words ending in [5], [a], In, [d:)] , [t fl c.g.
lwtse's , j udges. J ,III/ ('/ S, vi/ths.
t he ' possessor ' is represented by a n umber of
- t he possessive ending is used with t he last one only. e.g.
Crosse & Blackwell's jam; Bryant & ) (ay's matches; J onC5,
t he butcher's, shop; my Iat her -in-law's hcuse; The Pri nce of
Wales's feathers; my lat her and mother's friends.
possessive, or genitive case shows possession,
- ' possession' in its widest sense. Thus t he possessive
form ' John' s father' does not mean -that John ' possesses' his
father. nor does 'Shllkespeare's death' mean t hat Shakespeare
'possessed' death. The Genitive form is used t o indicate not
only possession in t he strict of t he but something,
___ by another noun. which appertains t o t he person.
The possessive form is used chiel1)' wit h t he names' of
human beings and an!IIla;ls. e.g. / oh'!' s j rien.d;
B,o-.rn's (4': the tat's tail: a s",de, s lttb. \ \ it h inanimate t hmgs
we use t he 'of const ruction. Thus we say: ;
' th e window 01 t he room' . not 'the room's window' .
and similarly.
TIle colours of t he flowers; the noise of t he t raffic; t he wall s
of the house; t he foot of t he mountain.
There are-some tions t o thi s rule:
a In the case of nouns denoting measurement , time or
or quanti ty, U :
a w({k's holiday: two days' wages; a J l.1,'S absence: an tiow:s
time; today's post; ),tsle, day's news; a sroue's .tbrow; a hair's
bread th ; a poulld's worth.
-"
(4) Case
@ In .a of tradit ional idiomatic expressions:
his lJI1,ts ;nd; out of ha' ",'s way; to your heart's content '
m my mind s eye; to get one's money's wort h. '
( S UBJ I< CTIVE AN'D OBJECTIVE G El"I TlVE]
@-ID
When
a possessive word qualifies a noun th at has som
of verbal force t hat denotes action). the
of t his n.oun to t he possessive word may be t hat of (a) a verb
to a subject . or (b) a verb to an object . Thus:
'T,hompson's murder' may imply (a) that Thompson com-
or (b) t hat Thompson was murdered.
The s praise' may impl y (a) that the King praised
someone ( was th: King's praise'). or (b) that
praised the Kmg ( He IS always singing the King'
praise I. s
wi!h . the 'of' const ruction when the noun h
verbal association': as a
'! he of his wife' may imply (a) t hat he 10"00 his wife
? ld t hat for love of his wife' ), or (b) t hat nis wife loved
111m ( He was happy in t he love of his ....; fe).
"The punishment .of the teacher' may imply (a) t hat t he
gave punishment . or (b) that t he t eacher received
punishment, I
In t he (a), t he genitive case indica tes t he subject
or doer of the. They are GEStTIVE. In t he
examples (b) It indicat es t he objed or receiver of th e action
They are examples of tile OBJECTI\'E .
. IE .LlIPTIC... L U SE OF Til E l
i-{Vj] The geni tive is frequen tly used 'elli pticall , . " h
a when referring to a business b "ldX , r.e.w It out
, UI mg. etc.
I must go to the bukher's t his mOming (but cher's b t
cher'. shqp.) , = ut -
I bought th is at Harr idge's (slwp).
We visited St . Paul's (Cathedral).
H: was educated a t Merchant Taylors' (5 ho l)
\\ e are'having dinner at my aUllt's

49
EXERCISES
I Express by using t he possessive form;
The ca r of my father . The car of my parents The
hoptrt;y of my son-in-l aw. The to)'$ of t he cbiidren
e reign of William t he Conqueror . The pIa"" of
Sophocles. ;
II Ellpress by means of idioms containing a ........-.ive
case;
(I) In on e yea r from now. I got geed value for the
money I Spent . (J l I live very near here. (.f) I bough t
potatoes to t he value of Jive pe nce. (5) I have enough
",,,?rk here to last me for a week. (6) He ve ry narrowly
missed colliding wi th a nother car.
III Combine by means of a double pos$C5Sive;
play - Shakespeare; friend - J ohn' Iugue _ Bach'
hobby -Cecil; work _ Hugo.' .
IV Comb!ne the following in two ways to result in different
rnealUngs. I n each cue explai n the difference.
A - Cecil Beaton. A judgment _ this
historian. A condemnation - Judge Jeffreys
An OJ110l0n - mj- father.
v I nt rod UCe possessive cases int o each of the following
....here possible, making any necessary
III wording.
( I) That ho use belongs to Ill)' sisters. el) The refectory
t he has a fine vaulted ceiling. (J ) Those
venors le ft t he sate of the field open. (of) This
ue was good value for ten shillings. (5) An une:oc:pected
t urn ,of t he wheel of Fortune made him a rich ma n.
(6) 1St, t hc day of All Saints . is called
NomlS: (4) Case
- A purtrm'l nJ Rembrandt (= one port raying him).
"d
- A PQrtm jt of Rembrandt's (= one paint ed bv him or be.
longing to him).
or between:
- a criticism oj SIul"1l' (= opinion about Shaw).
" d
- a criticism oj Shaw's (= opinions by Shaw).
48 A Comprdullsive Ellglish Gmmmar
The headword is someti mes omitt ed to avoid repet ition:
She put her arm t hr ough her brother' s (arm).
I have read some of Shaw's pl ays, but none of Shakespeare's.
William's is t he only homework t hat is never badly done.
'Whose book is this?' ' It' s J ohn's.'
The ' of' const ruction cannot be used wit h ' classifyi ng
gemtlves', l.e. genitives t hat are completely adjectival , e.g.
He is a shiP'Scarpenter. (SOT: ' the carpent er of a ship' .)
She is a lady ' s maid.
He has a dtcr's degree.
It was a $',," meT' S day.
With proper nouns the geni t ive is perhaps commoner
W oj construct ion; t he latter is used mainly for balance.
So we say:
' Henry's work' but ' the work of Henr y and J ohn'; ' Scot t's
Wawrley' but 'The collected nove l s of Scott',
We should also use the 0/ const ruction in order t o avoid
putting an 's t o a long phrase, e.g.
Richard Cromwell was the son of Oliver Cromwell , t he
Protect or of England. (SOT: 'Oliver Cromwell t he Prot ector
of England's son' .)
This is t he car of t he man we met. (SOT; ' t he ma n we {Uefs
car' .)
[ T HE DoUBLE P OSSESSIVE)
@ An idiomatic const ruc tion of t he language is th e use of
t h'f'nonn and of t oget her.
He is a friend of Henry's. We saw a play of SIUJl.':> 'S. l
This construction is very similar in meaning t o 'one of
Henry's friends' ; 'one of Shaw's plays'.
A difference is t hat a frien d 0/ Hem)" s, a play 0/ Shaw' s,
could be said if Henry had only one friend or if Shaw had
'wri tten only one play. ' One of Henry 's friends' , ' one of Shaw's
plays' , could not be said if t his were t he case .
This const ruct ion is of importance since it enables us t o
ma ke a difference in meaning be tween:
I See a llO p. 109 .
----
I
A Compuhe" siflt Exglisll Gralt/lIlar
' _' in England. (7) He il book
t o me Iast week. (8) The Ca th edral of ,St . 15 the
principal church in Edinburgh. (9) 1 her e a shop
belonging t o Freeman, Ha rdy and Will is. III allnost
every English t OWII . (10) We set out Oil ,our ,Journey on
a cold morning in winter. (t 1) Aft er cllmbmg for t wo
hours we wer e glad to take a rest for .. minut es.
(121 Here are the football results for toda y-.(13) They
ha ve ....orked well a ll day today. (14) A dnve of 5:
miles in a small car is very tiring. ( 15) ,As we flew.so
u
the peaks oj t he Alps were gleammg In the
VI How do you inter pret t he meaning 01 t he possessive
form in th e following sentences ?
(I) President 's proclamation ..net.comed by the
te (1) The President 's assassmauon a
cri!ois_(3) Peter's photograph in the exbtbit acn
W'U much praised. (4) John '. wedding presc:n.u. were
magnificent. (5) The general opinion of t he cnuc IS not
very favourabl e. .
VII I ntroduce a genitive form in the foll OWing where
possible. changing words at be necessary.
(I ) Blenheim Palace is the residence of the ,Dukes
:Marlborough To live abroad IS th e desml b.1S
heart (3) shop of Blackwell. the bookseller , IS In
Broad Street. (4) We bad tea at the of
Fort num &: xr ason. (,5) The crest of t he Prince of \\ ales
is t hree feathers. '
VI II Describe the fonn. of genit ive used in th e following
sentences: ldi ,
( )
Those shoes are my brother '. The 50
h essed (,) Shakespear e I
horses were superbly am. 5 J h .
bi th took place at Stratford-on-Avon. (4) t . 0 1'1 I
u
lf
a well-known College in Oxford. (s) That officer
holds a mas ter's certificate.
f d mother asked a dist inguished musician t o
I X A on d hear her daughter play the piano, which he
come an . I h d ' lshed pl_,-in, tho
eed to do. Wh en t he gir au nmsn ,
convenation t ook place: ,
Do t ell me what you t hink of ffi}" daught er I
exocution.
" USI ClAN' !.fadam 1t hink it would be
D I5't11'OUIS HED . - ,
an excell ent ideal
Comment on this
CII AP T ER SE VE N
' THE ARTICLES 1
Th e words a (an, an d the are gener ally called (!!.!') is
N SITE TIe L !it(TiDEFiSlT ARTICLtJThedennit e
art icle is invariable or gender and number. Th e indefini te
art icle is invariable for gender; it is not used wi th plural nouns.
-.lJLhas t he pronunciati on [a] weak form, lei] st rong for m.
_t.:lJ:1has t he pronunciation [an] weak form; [ze n] strong for m.
The weak forms are almost always used in nonnal s peech.
.ais used before a wor d beginning wi th a consonant sound;
!j:lbefore a word beginning with a vowel sound. Examples:
a day, a boy, a trein , all apple, an open book, all allgry child,
[&ou,' man, '/i.::r('M!' ou,able act, a.!9hti,.
All is used someti i!lcs even before a aspirated '7SJ
when t he stres"S(foes not faU on the first syll able of the word,
e.g. hatet, -an) histon'cal novel. -
\\ e say @EU,opean, J UIlivt,sity . @usef ul book, (y one-eyed
man because the first sound in each of these words is not a
sound but a consonant one.
as ree pronuncra IOns:
--<!!) [&] when followed hy a consonant sou nd, e.g.
t he boy boil ; t he cat [a.. kat ]; t he university
[00 ju .ni' va :sit i].
-(i) [ui] when followed by a VO\\'e1 sound:
t he apple [Oi ' apl]; the ear ia]: t he hei ress [OJ ' earis].
-@[Oi :] when speci all y emphasized. In print it would appear
in it alics, e.g.
I was t old you were Mr. Crosby; are you the Mr. Crosby?
[' ()i: ' mi st a 'krozbi]
He was one of t he first persons, if no t the first person to
drive a car.
' 1 am never at a loss for a wor d ; Pitt is never at a loss for
the -",on]:1
I Said hr Charles James Fox (I H9- 11lo6)' a great orator, about 1Ii.
rival William Pitt (1759-1806), all even greater orator.
"

5'
( T il E ARTICLE]
The indefinite articl e is used only before singular countable
nouns.I
The plural of a book, a year. a dsild, is:
bocks (or some books), ye<1 '" (some }'t.1rs). children (some
children).
(i) The indefi nite article Is u! cd :
the meaning O1It, t any , it doesII 't matter u'hich, e.g.
I have @sister and two brothers. The animals came in two
at@time. in time saves nine' (Proverb). A triangle
has three s1Oes. Please pass
""'(2).10 certain expressions of measurement :
He drove the car at ninety miles@hour. This material is
fu ip@Jyard. Butter is 2op@pound. We have lessons three
He earns ft,ooo@year.
, See a.bo Deterrni nat lves, Chapte r 10.
00 .., ill used ", ben t he nume.-al ill emphasized .
The ,h tuks
..{3}..Before dOlhl lumdml . L. . _II ' 53
. _ .onQU--."" Ulon
There eg.... he 61 h .
field, e- reo cndred sheep were in the
(Note that when these words are in tI b'
plural verb.] ie su l ett, they take a
...(4;-Before singular predicative
'
noun d '
trade, religion. class, etc (In so': ,cnotln
g
a profession,
would not be used bere.] , e anguaCcs the art icle
to be@engineer. Alary' s fat her is.cio
In the You OUGht not to call
made Illm@lord. He was@ :\fuslim not tOO! . !he Kmg
@:onservative or Gl Sociati ,,' a Christian. Is he
sn
"But if t he noun denotes a title or offi '
by one person at a time the indefini,',"h,a', onl y be held
, , ' wuc'ee nct used e g
- The,\ made 111 m King (SOT' ' 4 tf ,_ ') 'I ' " .
Professor of E li ".llI,g ,-. r. Priestley was

rsco. ' arne aptam ot the Victory in
IlJt is not used after the verb t"rn in the meant b .
H - ng teome eg
but he turned Socialist, He
till he len ta _ 0
. _ .
nor after the nouns or tiUe. ego
He gained the rank of Col I H .
Duke. one, e was given the title of
-'5,..l t is used also to refer to a person k I
eg, , ncwn on y as a name,
gMr"J ohnson called to set! you when } 'OU were 0 t
no
i6r-\\lth the meamng sa .
expressions: -...!!!l In proverbs and certain fi xed
@feather flock together {a feather _ the same
" ey were much of a size (= of the same size).
Pr "(llca ti ve nounl I -
II to 6. . ...,u eee., _ t h" comp lement 01 verbs '''ch

,>4 A Comprehensive English

.....
....( 7)o- Before a noun ih apposit ion when the thing or person I,
assumed to be unfaiiUIiar, e.g.
Blake,!IEnglish poet ; Lowton,@small to....-n in Lancasture,
' Lycidas' , @poem by Milton.
-(SrIn exclamatory sentences! introduced by 'What ' , WhCH
the noun is singular and countable: -
Wbat@foolish thing to dol What@ pretty girl! What6 day
The Indefinit e Art icle is not used with uncountable nouns:
Wht2t weather we are having! What good milk this isl
What-care he's taken v' lth t his!
(but notice ' \Vhat@)pity' , though pity is generany an uncounr.
able noun. ] -
In a number of phrases, e.g.
that .. .; I want to keep this@secret;as@rule
to be in(j)hurry; to be in@temper; all of a sudden;
shamt' to do that ; to take(d'Rj interest in; to t ake pri de ll:
to taJi e@dlshfi to; to rriiIe@fool of oneself; to be in .::
position to; to have ttheadacheJ6)painJ!) cold$)cough
toJ:.!ve earache, i!J.flinza); t o hav.
@!lind to; tonavefancy for; t o
t o; at on c1 average;@shor t t ime
",o.
Notice also t he constnl(:tionsJsllch f.'J!/Ulie'Ht,"dIlY'f/.:<llhe' ;
cog. _
I have had such a busy day. There were q'Wiu a lot of peoj
there. MallY a ship has been wrecked there. He is 'lllm .
fool.
and t he +11e.g,
We have not had so good a dar as this lor a long t ime.
EXERCISES
I Put ' a' or 'an' in front of the following word, or
phrues:
qpu-sided affai r; fw,usl tUlJ1; Aisl<!ry 0/
E'1.u,f4d; /lislQri&1J1 SNrwy: eu: Nfli ftu fllUm4l fIIUW, ;
Nfti1alnal areeme,": boUlI,o i ...-boU1t,o Mltl.
I See pal:e 316.
Th e Artid es
I I Read the followinl: aloud:
( I ) The cat. (1:) The 0....1. (3) The heir. (..) The host
(.) The Umted Stat es. (6) The one and only (1)
.the ;)Ir. I used t o kno.... . (8) 'That 's
\\ tlliam :'olorrlS . '\-'hat , till Mr. William Morris ?' (9) The
day was a wonderful day; bu t t he day we ' et
marne<! wlll be lI, e day. (ro) He gets paid by t he
not by t he week. .
III Put into t he singular:
mt n. wOlllen iI.nd ' oo/ s; "lerries: / Ul ;
0/ tlmrs; E,.,optilns. A/ricilns, A mMicans
A.SliInS pOlatoes and olk", .
Itlppopotam.1 In lnttll igtnt students,
IV I nsert the IIlde.lIlltc article in the blank spaces wllere
necessary. Otherwise leave t he space blank :
(I) - geometry set contains - ruler _ pair of
- protrac tor and _ pair of dividers.
(2) HIS father was - la"'1'er and earned 3,000-
year. (3) Go and buy - half -- pound of sugar
(4) One tenth of - thou!Wld is _ hund red, and
- th?
usan
1th ousand, are - million. (.5) What
- nussancet I left - meat on t he table and t he
d.og has eat en it. (6) For breakfas t we have _ por-
ridge, - bacon and or sometime. _ fish
and we end up with _ t out and _ marmalade 0;
- apple. (1) He became - member of Parliament
as - Consen.-attve, but later t urned _ Socialist
and became - Member for Salton. (8) What _
humorous man your. friend is, and what _ fun he is!
(9) Byrd, - Eluabethan musician, wrote many
, motets.
V the in which the indefinite articles are
ueed III the lollowmg sent ences:
(I) 'Shall we give her a book for 'Oh she
already has a book.' (2) We shall be lat e if we don 't
take iI taxi . (3) Some modem planes can fly at over a
t housand miles aOl hour. (ot) A score of people is twent).
people. b ) My brother is stud ying to be .. doctor,
VI Supply the indefinite articles wu" "tpli,,4 in t he
following:
! I ) He used to be - in Africa but now he
I-S - Rector of this parish. (2) '-- man', _ man
for that.' (]) _ Leader of the Opposition he
recei ves ILII official salary. (4) He was so ravenOusly
55

Once upon a t ime t here was /I' littl e boy who lived in e
r ouagc. T h, "oltagt' was ill t bc rountrv and the hoy had
Jived t here all his life.
The indefinite arti cle a here introduces a new t hing or person;
t he definite ar t icle, the denotes a t hing or person al ready
ment ioned.
c:a4) Before a noun whi ch is followed by a defi ni ng prepositional
phrase, e.s-
of Trafalgaa@palace of
with green shutters; Ihe road to London ; @i!) letter from
America;{JU)fourt eent h of April.!
Befor e ordinals in t it les, c.g.
Queen Efizubcth II (Queen
l!)-<6) Before a common noun followt' d by a I' rop" r noun which
identifies it, e,g.
f!M pianet @0 poet B)Ton;@ play ' KinD: Lear ".
-s Nouns expressing t rades or proCessions often follow t he
proper noun; they are preceded by JlJ. e, ego
J a
e
bon,t!!!) butcher: Brown, tfi0 Gene ral Li:u. i..,
lffi)<: ook.
e-Simil arlj- with nouns in a pposi tion:
H01l\c.ffi, apital of It.lly.
Before t he na me of a country t hat IS a union of smaller
e .g.
Kingdom;6hf) u .s s R.
or one t ha t is plu ral in form, e, g.
@ Net herla nds ;@ United States.
and in cases where a common noun which usually accompan ied
tlt :e,eotraphical name has been dropped. c.g.
TJr Sahara (desert) @ Crimea (peninsula).
Before groups of Islands, c.g.
@ West Indics,@dliebriues,mBahamas.
I Note t hat i n writing t he date we omi t Ihe and of, but ill readi ng
that date we generally them in, e ,g., May . j t h ( Tilt fi fteenth of
).by): 2j t h July (Tiot h>,enty_tifth of Jl1ly or July Ihe t we nt y-tifth).
S6 A COlllp,enttlsit" EtlKlIsh
hungry that h , ate three N nclwicht l at --mOll th ful.
(,I of - much"",' mean' t hat t here bUtUt
difference between t wo thinK' , (6) Where t here', -
will th ere', - ..... ..y. (1) What - ....eat her ....e a.re
h.ving and whi t - abonlinah!e climate t hl, II!
(8) Ki", L,a" - play by Shakespeare, is ..monKt he
sreatest of all tragedies. (9) I have - corn on my
but it' , less pai nful t han - toothache. (10) \\ e
haven't - hope of catching t he train now.
\' 11 Exprns t he following by senten, ., cont aining an
indeflni te article:
(l) The animals went in Imo by tu-o. (2) One pound of
meat costs about thirty pence. (3) In one year
a teacher haa holidays t hree rimes. (4)
cal1ed Mr. Rolfe rang up and asked you. ('1
have seen him ",any limu out with hts dog. (6) My
stomach aches. (7) People of 1imilar ta1te1 enjoy one
anot her's company. (S) The pl ay we saw wasn't much
good (9) He asked me " ot to nlrnhOfi 1111 to
tIll . (10) He ftKJlisMy, ( I I ) I .got
t hne goods 'II"'" by bur ing a large quantity,
(n ) They " ..' ,lI11y go to t he but this year t hey
changed their plans Uanll"' anyone. (131 He
t iven the oppo, tunily of t ravelling round t he world,
lucky fellowI (1<4) That book was writte n U",," my
,'IJOldjIJtlltr waf youn, .
' T HE D EFIS ITE ARTICI,F. J
The definite article can be used before or plural
nouns whether countable or uncountable.
The definit e article is used :
@l....(I ) that is to be part icularized by a defining
relat ive clause.' e.g. '
This t hat I premised to lend )'OU,
@-{2) With the mcanfi&;: ' th e cnly one', eA r...-;-,. . a:
@ sun rises in tJre'least and sets inl!iqwest. f!..!g Blble, L!!!)
Lord (== God).
<1-(3) Wit h t he meaning: 'The one we have just spoken about ' ,
c.g,
, FOt' defining a nd non-defininl cJausel , lee pagell )J .f-6.
The Articles
57

59
Tile A,tidts
foBut we USC ill before abst ra(:t nouns t hat are limited or
- qualified, e.g.
pj
h - life we live is bard.
"h freedom of t hl' seas, , , .
- wor k we do. , . "
Before names of materials used in a general sense, cg,
Butter is made from cream, (!' OT: 'I!lf. bu tter' 'tlit
cwarn'.) -
Wheat is grown in Canada.
Before plural nouns used in a general sense, ego
Books a re my best friends.
' JUT:
-
@ books ll lat are on t he t ahle a re mme.
In t he second sentence we arc referring uct t o books In
general but t o some part icul ar books.
rU4) Before names of meals used in a general sense, E' J: .
Come to dinner/lunc h/tett wit h me,

but:
A re you coming to@!ddinner t hat we are havi ng in Loudon
next week?
Before most proper nouns, c g.
I walked ill Hyde Park. (:;OT: ' tlu n...de Park"] Do you
" know ReStnt Street? Luc-ille c- omes from I ran( ('.
11'6) Before Lake, Cape, .lfo/l1ll:
Lake Superior, Loch (= Sco t tish ' Llke ') Lomond Cape
\\'rat h, Cape Cod, Vesuvius
when these words are followed uy@e.g,
Ohe)LakC@ I.ucem e;@ Cape @ Good
Oli ves.
Before t itl es followed by a proper noun, e,g,
Ki ng George; Doct or Livi ngstone; Russell, Lord
Byron; President Linco!n.
'.fa) Wi t h t he names of languages, e.g. She spea ks Spanish.
58 .,1 CQmp, rli<:llsil'l Gra mmar
Before t he names of rivers, chams of mount ains and
A cans, e g. c ":\

(Io.l..... Before t he names of ships , trams and ae roplane" , e.g.
([!JJQut"en Scotsman, m Comet.
@-(Il ) Befo!"e t he.name.s 01ho tels, shops, institutions, ctc. , where
the name IS an Imperso nal one, e.g.
Ritz Il otel.@Army and ::\30\1' Stores, @Midland
Odcon ( me rna. . .
(12) Before a singular countabl e noun t o make a general izat ion
about a species, e.g.
is being replaced by@ trad or. .
@--i I3) Before t he names of musical ins t ruments used In a general
pfays @ piano; Priestley is leami ng@
violin.
Before(Superlati \'eijused attributively, e.g.
This isgJoldest buildi ng in Canterbuf)':
sometimes beforc[supcrlatl\'iJused adverbially, e.g.
Tlike Shakespeare Lut it is modern drama t hat int eres ts me
@ m%t . ' : ",,"
People who IJ 3YC t1JQSe seats in t l.e t heatre Will pare /least .
and as nouns, e g.
This is filiP best I can do,
@most he can get is a fmc of S' . . 1
as nouns denot m a whole cl ass.
(IJW rich (= rich people) should help the poor (_ poor
.
'he Frrnck cook better
$ _ The definit e a r t i cle i s .n..ot use:l :
_ -,tt l nouns used m a gene ral sense, e.g,
Life is very hard for some people. ( SOT; ' the IiIe' .) ,
We will have freedom or deat h. (:;OT: ' the freedom , et<:_)
I See aiM! page 65.
A Comp rChtllSil'e l::",gllSh (.,ralll mar
The Arlicles 61
USE OF (t&)1
is an idiomat ic use of with t he comparative of
adJcctl\'es.
1
1J!! harder you work, .!!!t' more you will be pa id,
more he gets, the more he wants.
I!!e sooner t hat worr is finished, the better.
I hope a lot of people come tOUle party; the more, !!!!
mem er. -

i
\
He showed great bravery fjlu of ...Q.!.nger. Tn place o[ mea t
we are having fish. We are.1!!Jig!!Lo/.land. Arrange t he books
i 'l ord" of size. He is b ofl d reach 0 danger now. Th e car
was damaged1eyond hcp.!..... o repair. ey set off under coocr
.$11 darkness. In r:ase o/. fire ring t he bell. He did it by way of
helping me. As soon as I set f oot on the island he
shake hands with me. She IS going to kee house or. . . . The
ship has set saU. This will easily catth E ve ca me_by landlb
Ka/2Y air. To go on beard ship. . . , To stay at home. . . . To
be out of doers. The men work_b:Y..,!ax. but no! bv nighJ. He is
in debt/in troubk. At daybreakls.!!!!!!t. He dldthe work if!!
l!!!.e, not for money."""the shi p is aJ anchor.

E XERCI SES
I \ Vh ich one of these wo rds, used i,. Q I''',.a/ snu" mus t
be preceded by t he deJi ni te art icle? Why?
",jIll , buuer, c!lUst, eggs. CcU'S, cow.
n I nsert the definite art k.le where ' Ir a U <I ' )':
(1) - boy o\'er t here is - worst in t ht class a t
(2) - Carta .... as signed by __ Kin!!
J ohn III - year 12 1':;. ( )) _ Arl lt is tl,e carne 011
- . el,eventh of - x ovember 1918. (4) _
Armist ice Day IS nowobser ved on -- nearest Sun day
t o - eleventh of - Novemlier , (.:;) _ Treaty
of Vcr.sames laid down - harsh t erms. (6) _ ..__
supervisor Ins pects a ll - work. (7) "\11 _ wor k
and no play makes - J Ac k a dull 00)'. (8)
brother IS a sportsman; he plays __ tennis. _
- cricket a nd - hockey; my sis ter ts a
she plays - harp, - - piano and _
violin. (9) Brown, - - chemist. sells _ pills. {Io\
Have you had -- t ea yet ? Yes. I had it out. and ruv
Iriend paid -- bill. (11) -monkeys are intelheent
animals. hut t hey are not - most i nte!lise;t oi
all - animals. (12) He IS a student of _ arch it ec-
t ure; a' l impor-tant part of h is studies is _ Hi.story
of Archi tecture. (13) - world opinion is a gainst
- aggression, (14) In -- opinion of - Captain
Brown - shortest way to _ Japan would be
through -- Panama Canal. (15) - Information on
this matter is lacking, or at least - information we
are all wanting. (Hi) Which do you prefer. _ Lake
Geneva or - Lake of Const ance? (17) Wil a t is--
difference between - middle age and _
Ages' (L!l ) - - pen is mightier t han -- sword, ( i<))
See ' Adject ives', page 77,

@ '--_-- J2) SOmet imes bel ore predicat ive superlat i\cs, e.g.
The sea is du pest about twe nt y miles lrom t he coas t.
He is happiest when he is working.
Your hel p was most valuable.
(See also Adject ives p. .76.)
@'--"",(13) In vari ous stock phrases:
I
I
A Comp"hetl Sit'l Eliglisll ( ;',I! W Il<l f
--Prince Philip is --Duke of Edinburgh . (20)
Duke of windsor was once -- King of England .
(21 ) --Queen is -queenof --England and also
of o th er courunes in - Commonwealth. (22) Which
IUlguage do y ou speak bet ter, _ German or _
French? (2]) - French language is better knOWD
here than - Russian. (24) I go to _ school every
day except - Su ndays; t hen I go to _ _ church.
(:2 5) --life is ha.rd . espeo;iall y _ life of an altruist.
(26) We read _ papers ever)" day to improve our
English vocabulary. (27) - irregular verbs in-
French la nguage arc very difficult. (28) They always
give -- postman a present at _ Chris t mas time.
(29) -- eldest son of - Edward - - Third was
called - Black Prince. (30) -burglars were sent t o
- gaol for - six months. (31) 1 prefer - going
by - - sea to going in - - train, (32) _ Demesne
Science College teaches - girls how to keep --
house. OJ) Avoid -- short cuts. - longest way
round is often - thor test w;ay home , (J4) Many boy.
leave - school at eighteen to begin - mili t ary
service. (J5) - Oxford St reet is one of - busiest
street s in _ London.
III Use each of these words in t wo sentences, once aitll
and once lVilliout a defin ite ar ticle:
tlaelu,: beth
l:
a/li: p ,ifl(tH; rjeh; Ilj t; "tam; di lllur:
cha,d; glass: iro,,; lill.
I" Explain the sense in which the deiirllte article i5 em-
plcyed in these t hree sentences:
( I) That 's the man you are looking for , (2) The Lord
Chancellor a the principal law offic er of the ccvern-
ment. (]) I met two foreigners yesterday. The one was
here to study English but the other had come t o Eng-
la nd for a holiday.
\' Cbange these sentences into the plur;a!:
(1) The telephone is almost a necessity in the modern
world. (::) The book he bought a t the auction proved to
be a first edition. (J) This boy is going t o school t o-
morrow for t he firs t t ime but his brother has been In
t he sixth form at t he Grammar School for some t ime .
(4) 'The daring young man on t he flying trapeze' (ti/It
of pcplllar SOftG). h ) The ape is the anima! neares t to
man in appearance.
These word. are IOmetimcsf ollouMJ, though ne,-er prece<led by ' t he '
(lee also 8). 1Z3, 128).
The
VI Supply articles where you t hi nk t hey a re required:
(I) This house is lor sate: in fact t hey- have )11St put up
for sal e notic e in window. ( z) 1914 marks end of "I)o.:h.
(3) Xow that he wearslong trousers J ohn ny looks very
much grown- up. (.., He IS channing and 10 is his wrte,
but their daughter is most chaeming , (jl \ " he n I was
fourteen I was sent away to boarding school. School
hall was ve ry ancient but did not provide room for all
boys a ttending school.
VII Explain why t he defin ite art icle is used or omiue<;1 in
t he following :
( I) Faith is t he finest of human qualities. but flu f aitlts
of lite West differ widely from t hose of the East. (I)
Milh is sold by the pint but sugar is sold by weight .
(3) T he Lord :Mayor 's Banquet alwa)'s takes place in
Guildhall. (4) TAe more we are together, the merrier we
shall be. (51 Cider is made from t he juke of (lPp/u .
(6) TJu Easter holidays were very pleasant but a t
WAilsw"tid, we had only two days' break. (7) Til,
Channel Islands are a favour ite relOl t of tourists.
(8) As soon as you hear ,lie rUldl of your exemmaucc,
do send word , (9) Pa tj'lln is a virtue. ( 10) Many
English inns are called lhe King George the Fourth.

Adj ectives 6,

J

C Ii APTE k EI GHT
I.O\ DJ ECTI VES)
The t radit ional de finition of an adj ective is ' a word used t o
describe or give more informat ion about a t a tl.ICt
more tul ly, ' a word that qualifies a noun, adds to Its
but limits its application' , An example will make this latter
definiti on d earer . TIle noun 'house' can be used t o signi fy any
house. 'The big house' tells more about the house but limits t he
appl ication (it rules out all smaU ' Th e big rIetI' house'
tell s st ill more, but narrows t he field sti ll further. The descnp-
t ion ' The bi/:, tin!' , while house' applies to only a very few
houses; it gives t he fullest picture. and t he most limited
applicat ion.
THE AnRIBUTIVE ASD P REOICATlV' U SE Of A DJ ECTIVES
Adjectives can be used in N'O ways: .(1)- attributively,
2)-predicati\ely.
*Adjectives arc used attribut ively when t hey qualify a noun.
e.g.
Henry is an honest, hardworking boy.>
Mr. Brown has just bought a m w, po'U/tTf " l and very
expensive car.
.. ..... djectives are used predicat ively when t hey form t he
t he verb;iO'lliJor ot her verbs of Incomplete predica-
t Ion. So In t he senlenCe:
'That is a ftlU' house'
t he adjective til'll! is used attri butively. In the sentence:
(ihhe obj ect ion could be made t ha t in ,uing sitch a d efini tion ....e a re
,<,nfusing a lilt'''' (which is a !O' ltr4) "iul a til"" . ThllS If " e say that III
l he phrase 'a big house' bIG is a n d ncnbing nou,n lIouse
we have fa.llen i nto ;l.n error In definition. It I S t he tll ' ''G hou oe t hat ,s
big and not t he ,,It'',, 'house'. This U t rue , of ,course . :,ouns a re word.
and words a re merely symbols for t hangs . It I S t he thmg meant b}' .t he
nOllD that u deec nbed . Whenever, t herefore, for the u ke 01 m ln'lt },
" e speak 0 1 adject i"'es docribi ng ' noun,' thu dist inction should bo"
kept in mind .
"
'That house is nnr.'
t he adject ive IUW is used predi catively.
Other examples of the predicative use of aft er
verbs of incomplete predication are:
Richa,rd bo. vcry.!i!E!. . T.he dog hmlgT}' . r thought him
very mlt/flr"t, [ hat boiler makes t he water hot . His
lI S<' ess. Tom has fallen dyed her him
brown .
Sote, t hat in interrogat ive sentences. formed by inversion of
subject and verb. t he predicative adjective comes after t he
subject , e.g.
Is t he house !!!!!} Was the car '!pensive? Isn't ]ar kson
prrt'y? Aren' t t hese peaches dd id ollS.'
Most adject ives can be used attributively 2!'-.Predicatively;
but some, especially th ose t hat begin with can only he
used predicati vely. e.s.
.afraid, alJ'lJke,.E!!!!!!. ,ll'Warr, aline, afloat. ashamed.
,c01Jlent" exemp! . ,mable. --
A few, e,g. for mer. "dter, i'lnt'f, outu can only be used at tn-
butiyely. - - - -
Adject ives, whether predicative or attribut ive. are inva riable
for number, gender, perscn or case.
(A DJ ECTIVES FUXCTION'ING AS
As has been already pointed out (p. 5), many English
words can belong to more than one part of speech , and the
deliberate use of a word t hat is normally one pa rt of speech to
do t he work of a different part of speech is a characteristic
feature of English. ThUS, words t hat are usually adjectives may
function .as nou:ns. In this case t hey are always preceded by
the definite article '!!ld, Ii thev refci r illrann
meaOlng and l ake a plural vert, e.g.
!iigblilldJare taught trades at St . Duns tan's to tit them for
work in th e world.
N.l\-fS(' s ar.e,.!S.uired to loo k the
- -
Fort une favours

( PARTICIPLES USED ADJ ECTIYAU. "J

", Many pa:-ticiples/ present and past . have all t he
of adjectives, thus, t hey.can beused attributive!
or t hey can be modified by adverbs like n r Y
too,. qUIte; t her Conn their comparat ive' bv adding
t heir superlative! by addin g most , e.g. . .. . .
!IetOld, avery THat'book has tasting
Impress,lon on my mmd, . Henry is a mor,e pro"li1ii3 pupil
Richard, ohn IS t he 1II0st all.
He IS a never- at n help in time of flight from
London to ans In a small 'plane was a
partici ples with purel y adject ival characteristics are
sometimes called PARTlCIPULS. Though t hey have exact ly t he
T I The adje,ctive childlike has a fayourable ego 'jnllocent'.
he e <;lllldllh has often the implicat ion '1001ioh' 'I ut il'" t
:,odllJ'.= hk" '"'.l;o<l; majesuc . Godly = d"voted t o GOd' .
s ... n(;>unch-:U All similar uc
ressec rn t -e way- . " ,"
: For see pag"s 236---212.
For Compar arlves ann Superlat ives see pages 70-77.
- ' ,
A dj cctil'CS 67
H Oll 'n A dj ect ive N Ol m Adj ective
st orm st ormy good nature good natured
friend friendly child ch ildlike!
harm harmful god godliket
care careless brute brut al
wood wooden education educational
dan ger dangerous America American
fa me
famous ' .
republic republican
honour honourable Shakespeare Sha kespearian-
trouble t roublesome
.
Edward Edwardiant
quarrel quarrelsome l his tory hist oric( al)
Iceland Icelandic economy economic{al )
at om 'at omic " Turk Turkis h
talent talent ed girl girlish
A COlllpl'C!II;11si,'t ElIgl isli GnmlJllilT
66
Similarly. we can speak of the Ellg!ish. the Irish, the F rench,
the Dutch, et c.,jbut !the plura] noun must be used in: t1leWr.
mans, the Italians, the Americans, the Indi ans, etc.
-OCcasionally t he adO]cc6ve IS used as a noun and t akes the
definite article and a singular verb. In t hese cases i t stands not
for peopl e but for an abst ract qualit y, e.g.
The good in him out weighs the bad.
He th ought th at th e aim of phi losophy was t o discover t he
good, t he beautiful and the true.
' t he long and short of it is .. .': ' for belfer or It'orst ',
,
( NOU:O; s F\!:-; CTlONING AS A Uj ECi I VES )
Words that arc generally nouns can act as adjectives, e.g.
a stone wall , a leather belt , a gold wat ch, a silt,t' wedding, a
TWbY carpet , the [Jniversity football matchJpring onions,
a corner seat (in a railway carriage), a garden table, rubbtr
gloves, a colton frock , lawn t ennis, a London policeman, a
Shakespeare pl ay, r jce pudding, the Loch Ness monster.
@ -These groups. are. disti nguished from compound nouns (sec
p. 21) by the pattern. They have a stress on each word,
e.g. stone wdU as cplll parea with milk-bottle.
Some of the 'material" 'nouns have dnot ber form wflich is
distinctly 'adjecti vaL e.g, '!pooa'- u'ooden; silver - sitvery;
gold _ golden; fl ax -flaxen; brass - brazen, There is a t end-
ency to use the a fi rab;.'..tkanin , e.g.
, , " goJden ham as tfl vc ceo en
brazen Irnpuaence. ernen mes t he -en in as. be meamng
' made of' ., /aJf,OQl ,wercJPllt ap , t!,t:;.0/{e"f$;j.. ocks' :
and a wooden tox . "I ' 1
OF AD]J',;CJ '''.ES FRO. N OUN'S
. In additi on to t he simple procedure just mentioned of using
sameforrn different
being understood from the context ) t here IS another method of
forming adjectives from ot her parts 01 speech. That is by t he
use of a suffix; The principal suffixes used are -y, '*[y , -[ ul, -Jess.
-ee . _ous,'_able, -some, -ie, -ed , -like, -al , -an, -i an, -ical, -ish, e.g.
(0 ' " ,
",
68 A Comprthtl/sit'e Engl ish G'tll>WUIf
same form as participles forming part of a verb, their function
is not th e same.
Note the difference in functi on bet ween:
The hour's delay was most
Is the smoke a1Hlm ng you?
Continuous t ense.)
A singing bird in a cage fills me with anger (Adj ective), TIll'
bird was singing on the tree (Participle), He told an
story (Adjective), Henry was in t he nursery tlml.sHlg t he
children (Ptl 'liciple).
Similarly"'''ith Past Participles:
There were a lot of b, oken bottles on t he road (Adj tctiu).
The glass was broken by t he girl's carelessness (Participle
helping to form Passive Voice). A confused mob stormed t he
Govemment buildings (Adjutive), You have conf used t he
meanings of t he two words. (Participle helping to form
Present Perfect Tense), The tired child fell asleep in her
mother's arms (Adjective), That long walk has tired me
(Ptl, ticiple),
THE FORMATIO:O; OF TilE NEGATIVE OF ADJ ECTIVES
ASD A DVERBS
The negative of adjectives (and adverbs] is frequent ly
formed by the use of prefixes or e.g.
un: unhappy, unfortunate(ly), lUlpleasant (ly); in-: in-
accurate, inartistic, inattentive; im-: impossible, imperfect .
inunodest ; ir-: irresponsible, irregular , irresolute; i l -: illegal ,
illiterate, illegitimate; dis-; disagreeable, disrespectful, dis-
honest ; -ress (to t he stem of adjectives, especiall y adject ives
ending in -ful): helpless, hopeless, useless, valueless.
EXERCISES
I Supply suitable attributive adjectives for t hese nouns:
tranl; cron ing; piani st: fo x; /'f'a}'er;
s.. diuuter;
A .lj (( II.,,"S
II Supply suit able predica t ive adjecti ves :
(I ) His lift! had lett him _, {a} J ames
....as very - of his son 's success , {J} After his friends
had remonstrated with him about his idleness he be-
came much more - . 14l Ifis nrgutnent provedmost
-:. 15) Charles _ t o be off a t t he earliest
possible moment, a nd t o be gr owing more and more
- of delay. (6) We should lJe _ if you would send
us s,'llllpl("S. ( 7) The pu blishers are _ t he success of
the l.oook will be _ and _
III sentences, usi ng t he following words. (tl) as
I,a rt ll:ll'k s. and (/I) as I'a r tid pial ad jcdivC's:
blesud; ' ,uiding:
fi nIS/w i; an noyi"l.
IV Re- writ e .the ,follo....ing passage so t hat t he adjectivt$
used attnbutlVely become predicatt va and vice versa:
The Browns a la zy family bu t they are very kind.
heart ed despite the fact that t hey li ve in d istressing
poverty, so we must feel gTatdul to them a nd en.
courage them t o be more ind ust rious
\ ' Kame t he function 01 the words i n italics in the
following sentences:
( I) He is u:n'tinl a book, bu t th e fi ni shed t ext wlll not
be .readt l or some months. (2) His work showed a
dUlded un prcvement U soon as he ha d really
to st ud y hard , (J) They were Jllst jinishing the race as
we readied t he start ing point . f" l When I have
fr:o
m
work I live .a very life. (5) The
diamonds were tllflnJlt'ng rn the gla re of the Jightsl ike
lwi" JlJi"l stan.
VI What, in y our opin ion, would be th e idea l definition
of an adjective to use in a t extbook o r grammar ?
Support your answer by examples .
VII Which o,t the following ad jecth-es ca n be (Il) only
(b). onl y attributh' ely, (e) either pre,
dicatively or attnbutively ? List them un der t he thr ee
head ings mentioned above a nd t hen construct sen,
t ences to ill ustrate their use:
dyed, astonis hed, former, un...-en, dist urbed, major,
lonely, agog, happy, dutiful.
d. 1 ....ord.s,. .....hen use:d ,I' are pronounced as
lSS)llabtes eldlid; 'blesid), though, ' n the case of ' blessed'
only "hen used altributf'-.:oly. '

CHAPTER S IS E
OF AUj ECTI \ 'ESj
When one thing is or with (or
oth ers) m respect of a cert ain attribute, we use an mflect io
r
called Comparison can expressequa/ity,
or inf eriority; that is to sa)' it can state whether t wo people
th ings possess some quality in t he same degree (tqU<J!ity) or in
different degrees (supmority or inferiority). It can also express
supremacy of one person or th ing in respect of an attribute.
There are t hree degrees of Comparison: POSITIVI::
DEGREE, SUPERLATIVE DEGREE, '
I Posi/it,ej Comparat ive l j' uperlaliveI
old 01 er oldest p " .
hot hot ter hottest l:\
careful more careful most careful
(EiiIMis expressed by th e Posit ive Degree, e.g. .
Harry is as old as William. It is just as /wt today as it. was
yesterday. is as as .
tj, uPtTlorit;} s expressed by t he Comparative Degree, e.g.
c eorge is oldrr than William. It is ItotUr today thi... it was
yesterday. Elizabeth is more care/ Ill tha" !lIargar et .
{Inj eri otl t,\ Jis expressed by using ' less. , . tJUnl'.
Margaret is less car eful than Elizabeth.
It is less hot today than it was yesterday,
but this const ruction is rarely used; it would be far more usual
to say;
Margaret is not so (as) careful as Elizabet h.
I t is not so (as) hot today as i t was yes terday.
It isn't so (as) hot today Q.s it was yesterday,
In affirmative sentences th e construc tion as . . . as is alwavs
used; in negative sentences so . . as is t he normal form, bin
as . .. as is frequently found .
,.
p
CompMis l.1II 0/ A Jj cctit"( s 7I
SlIpremaq is expressed by th e Superlative Degree, e.g.
That was t he happiest day of his life.
He is the oldest man in th e village.
I thi nk ' Hamlet ' is t he most sublime of Shakespeare's plays.
The superlat ive degree often expresses t he same t hing as
the comparati" e but from a different point of view. Thus:
' R)chard is t he tallest of t he t hree brothers and is th eoldlst boy
in the school' is really t he same as; ' Richard is t411tT t han his
two brothers and is oldff than an}' oth er boy in t he school.'
The POSITIVE DEGREE is the simple form of t he adjective, e.g,
clear, hl/PPY , gooJ.
01' DEGREE OF COMI'ARISOS
(frTHE COMPARATIVE DEGREE is formed:
(I) t he positive, e,g.
Positit'e Comparatil'e
clear clearer
sweet sweeter
softer
(2) t he positive, e.g.
Posit ive Camparatit'e
beautiful more beautiful
interesting more interest ing
splendi d more splendid
@ - THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE is fonned:
(I) B adding esl to t he positive, c.g.
on /lve Superlatit,c
clear clearest
sweet sweetest
soft softest
(2) By{J '"u, "' in "'i/3wit h t he positive, e.g.
Positive S"prrl,,/it'e
beautiful most beautiful
interesting most interesti ng
splendid most splendid

I [..l see p-
"""A i5 115ed with u noollntable :;ing Lila r noul\$, ",a..y "jlh counlable
plu ral (lnes. (See abo pages <n-sl
72 A CO Ill/,Tt}u ,uit,( Eng/i sll G rO "llll<ll
:'\ret hod (1) used:
-(a) Wit h monosyllabic adjec tives (except r ighI , ;.mmg. rtal ).
-{b) With disyllabic cdjecrtves tbat end in a vowel sound' or
syllabic .1, e.g. prelly - pnt/ier - prettiest; simple - simpler
- si mpks; narrow - nerrotrer - norrow(sl : or th at have t he
stress on t he last syllable, eg. poiite - politer - politest.
(el Wit h cert ain frequentl y-used disyllabic adject ives t hat
have their stress on t he first syllable: quiel - quieter - quicust:
pItasa'lt -puaso'JUr - pltasontest; handsome - htJ ndsomer-
handsomest ; common - COMmon,r - t ammOllfst; nonow-
narrower - narrowest .

ITH" I
To express superiorit y or inferiority, than with a com-
parative is used. e.g.
George is t aller tha n Henry.
This car is less expensive than t hat one.
Thml is also used after mthtr
2
and soontr, e.g.
lie would rattier (SOOIl (J' ) play thall work.
It is also used, but less frequent ly, after .0'"" and allof"er_e,g.
The result was quit e other than we had expec ted.
Thi s was quite another result than we expec t ed
1The r ille a pl'lies t o a<ljc.:ti ycs 01 more than one sv1!abl e il t he acc en t
i, nn t he syJlahle. .
histOtic<lUr. a "omp",a li ,' ''_ Til" posit ive fOlm ".", '/JIM.
which 1:1 no,, ohl.ole le. It me"" t and ' .;a:.; llsed , ,,'ilh I lli, mea nin!:
Milt on, ' The . ,,1., primrose Ihat forsaken (Lrcidas) and by
Tenny...,,, , ' Men ul ...1 ., and ri per yeau ' .
Cf'Jll p",isOJI 0/ ,-ldj,cl lf 'n 73
or tl.lOgraphic and phonetic points :.11o,uld be noted:
dmg III 0y by :\ OIlSOllallt letter , change
this t o I In C rat l., e and superlative e.g. haPtG-
hapt/&I' - hapl/ih t. ThIS does not happen if t he y is pre -
by a vo\\:e'T, e.g. grff-gl'@r-greytS f;gay _ gaytJ' _
gayesJ.
(j) The final consonant let t er of the word is doubled in t he case
of words of one syll able' cont ai ning one vowel let ter followed
by one letter: big - biggtJ' - biggt st; thi n -
thinlftJ' - (But. notice t here is no doubling in,
for example, thick - thl(ktJ' - thickest because it ends in
teo consonant let ters.]
6> A fi nal mu te -e disappears: ripe - riptr- Tlptst; fi ne-
fi lltJ' -filmt.
(!) An I' which v.: as not soun ded .in t he posit ive, is sounded ill
the comparat ive and superla ti ve: near - nearer _ nee-est .
@The sound [gJ is added alt er rlJl in strOllg - strongel' _
sJI'ongest , and in long and young.
@Syllabic [ljbecomes non-syllabic, e.g. aW, - aW, r _ ablest:
SImple - wlfpler - simplest.

upper
Inner
former
(up)
(i n)
(fore)
Method (2) is used:
(a) Wit h most disyllabic adjec t ives wit h t he accent on t he
first syllabl e. e.g. IlOptfll l - more/",ost IIpp,jl/l; porolfS -
more/most 1'01'0145; f ertil e - JIl OTt /most [crtilc.
(b) With all adjectives of more t han rwc syllables: beall/i/ltl
- II IOI' , /most u/rum gatlt - JJJoJ't!lt1os/ 'JI/I'avagan' .

This method of comparison is used wit h adjectives like

afraid , alit " et c. (see p. 65) t hat are only used predicativel y.
There are a number OfV RRFGI:I.AR CQ)IPAl< lso :-;sl
Positive Comparat ive Superl<!tit'e
good (well) better best
bad (ill ) worse worst
little less (lesser) leas t
near nearer neares t (next)
much (many), more most
far farther (furt her) farthest (furt hest)
lat e later (latt er) latest (last )
old older (elder) oldest [eldest ]
(out) outer (utter) outmost (ut most]
out ermost [ut t ermost]
up permost
inmost, inner most
foremost, fi rst
I'

The more usual const ruc tion would be:

The result was quite different from what we expec ted.
(Different 1M" is sometimes heard but is better avoided]
!\o TES ( 'N TIlE (mIPAIUSO" ,)f A DJ ECTIVES
@ .HIlj or and mllwr are UM' d at t ri butively and 110t pre-
dicatively, e.g.
The major part of his work . This is a minor point .
@ The forrnsgood (uell) , bad (i ll) ,l i ttl e, flwch.jar are not really
corresponding forms to t he superlat ive and comparat ive. They
have a semant ic connection but arc from differen t roots .
Well is generally an adverb (see p. 2i T). It is a predicativc
adjective in such expressions as: I am vcry iull: He looks jfeels
!reU.
1U is an adjective in such expressions as t o beifeel /look/faH
ill: and in ill health /news/ luck (but bud would be more usual).
COn/pnT/son 0/ Adjtf/l'l'ts , 75

The ccmpar anvcs outer upp" ,., , and rh

. I '. ." "" e correspond-
In super anves arc derived from adverbs' i .. " . .
(
d ' " I ' ,,,,., Ie positi ve
or."lS are a \ r-r s. t IC comparat ive and su......rlanv I
adJcct l\ 'f'S. r - e orms are
. The words utter ,." t lllOS/, "({'''nosl are, his toricall y com _
nves and superlatives of OJlt but t heir moder '. pa
h
"
lit tle connection with out. ' n mtanmg as
aJ Lesser is archaic or poetic and is used onl - . (.
plifasl:s: ). m a ew
' to choose t hc of t wo evils' ; Cibber is one of the lesser
poets of t he eighteenth cent ury; t he la ser spot t ed wood-
pecker. ctc., ' th e lesser light to rule t hc night' (Genesis i. 1
6
1, ",
is) N, arrsl
l
refers to dist ance; 11 0;1 t o order,' e.g.
Where is t he nrart sl Post-Offi ce? .. ,_,
The "txt st ation is Oxford Circus. " , ','
Farther generall y rden to dist ance, " -:;
I cannot wal k any [arthe r, ,'"
!olanchest er is /arth" from London t han Oxford is
though i. t can replace / arth" in all contex ts has the
Specl . IZed meaning of ' addit iona l' , e.g. '
I will gtvc you /urth" details later.
1 shall need / llrthrr help with this.
Far/lust and /,lr/htst are interchanseable,
(j) Old,r and oIdrst can be used of people or t h'ings:
Heney is older than David. . '
That is t he oldest house in t he city.
Elder and rldrst can be used of' persons only laUd on! for
of the same famil y. !o[oreo\"Cr t hey {ml" be
a n utively, e.g.r ' . . I
tldlT brother is tl.li ee rears oJdr, than I:Henrv is Da vid's
rr brot her. !ol ary IS my tldrst sist er -
A Comprenmsivt Eflglish Grwlllll<1r
74
I I
76 .4 Ca",prthe,uive English G"' lII m'"
Elders can, however, be used as a noun meaning ' those of an
earlier generat ion' (implying, ' and so, wiser t han we arc' ), e,g.
You should respect your t ldas and betters.
In one phrase 'an tid" st atesman' , i.e. a statesman deservi ng
respect for his age and wisdom, etder is used as an adjective,
Less is used with uncountable nounsJ (Ulerwith countable
ones, e.s.
He has spent less time on his work t han he ought to ha ve
done.
There are jtu'tr boys t han girls in my cl ass.
tti.\ Latter means the second of two and is contrasted with
'f<lfmer' , e.g. He studied French and German; the
language he speaks very well , but t he lallt r one only Im-
perfectly.
Latest means ' the most recent', ' the last up to the present' .
e.g. Have you read J ohn Scribbler's latest book? It was written
in t hr ee weeks and published two days ago.
Last has t he meaning 'final', e.g. The Tempest was probably
the last play t hat Shakespeare wrote.
It also has t he meaning ' previ ous', e.g. I t hink t his recent
book is better t han his last one .'Compare also:
14st week/rear/ mont h/night , etc.
@: Notice that before an attributive in t he
superlative degree, the should be used, e,g. This IS ,tis< best
advice I can give you.
(i"i) most + an adjective may express t he of a
qWJity.in a \'ery high degree, but without thought of a direct
companson:
What you have said is II WM interesting,
When this construct ion is used attributively, the indefi nite
article or no article is used, e.g. '
She is a most beaut Iful girl. That was a most ext raordinary
t hing to say. He wrot e me a mos.t inUres/ing let ter. These
are most deJitiow cakes.
If th e superlati ve without most is used, t hen t he definite
article precedes. t he superlat ive, e.g.
He showed the greatest (the utmost ) patience.
.
Comparison of A dj rd itfS i7
@ When two persons or t hings are compared the com-
parative is generall y used: .
To choose tile lesser of two evils. The greatrr part of t he work.
The lotter half of t he twent iet h century. She is t he older and
the more beaut Iful of t he two sist ers , BUT:
She is t he oldest and t he most beautiflll of t he three sis ters.
English t he superlative is often
Even In li terary English man)' wr iters have disobeyed
this 'rule' , e.g.
-ghe was t he yOlmgrst of t he nco daughters' (jane Austen).
[ I DlO)I:\TIC CossTRuCTloss l
There arc a nu mber of int eresti ng idiomat ic construct ions
with t he compara tive and t he superlative.
TAl sooner t his is done, tne beuer, The more the merrier. The
harder he t ried . tl.e less progress he seemed to ma ke.
If you take a holiday now you will be all the better for it. He
told a lie about it . and that makes his faul t all the worse.
Every day you are getting fNHer and better . He ran / asler and
[auer. His voice. got fUak er and wtaker. The st orm became
more and more violent.
Tf he will help us, so rIl l l Ch the better, If lie doesn' t work, so
lIluch the tl'Orse l or him. He is rather fhe worse for drink.
You will be '10 TilOrS,; for having had the experience. You are
Iione the worse for t he experience; in fact, you arc all tlie
better.
I had brtter
l
go now before it is too late. He u. '"OI4Jd rather
play than work.
H the worst comes to llie worst we can always walk home. lIe
made a living as best he could.
A OJ ECTt n : s SOT AO)f1TTIXG OF Cl,l l1PAIUSOS
There are some adjectives t hat , on accoun t of t heir meaning,
do not reall y admit of comparison at all. c.g.
p'.r/
m
, unique, mat chless. f ull. empty , sqllare, rOllnd , ci rcular,
triangular, woodell . monthly, daily, etc.
':\Iea lling. ' It would be bet ter if I W"" l "OW '

,
Comparison 01 AdjfClit" S -
French m ( ) 19 ,
ha; 11; l Si ) Ir . J ones has 10 alki '\
Evans has t he _ . d a ve t he most? No. Miss . . '
h , an you have the - (,J' Who
as -, , Ir. J ones or l? You have':\1 J' h
_ (6) Is it f ' r. ones as
br: t
m
Yes,
the con t rary, xe, on '
bus stop ? (9) I t i, very _ _ to IS
to learn while Chinese
cons ists of (10) A bicycle t yre
9uestion 01how _ to -- t ube. (11) The
IS _ in men's minds p ( I ) H Peece IS the one t hat
politicians of t he day.' : e IS one of t he - -
v The adjective in bracke t h ..
01 the following sentenc:s t e bepOlII!'J,: of each
I nsert in t he blan k spaces it compa.red Irregul arly.
I I
s appropriate form
r !good well) ' I say, you do look b "
Yes, I ve just retu rned f rown a nd --.
I ' ve ever had: rom t he hol iday
(2) (good or ....ell) ' I say, that stew looks ' , '
It smells _ _ t oo don ' t -. '1es,
some and see If It t astes a/
ou
thmk? Let 's tty
0 ) (bad 01' ill ) 'Corgor"zola ch::- as It smells."
t ast es delicious. ' ' I agree iJ t-Je - hut
_ . I had some on ' .ways IIlakes me
Cha nnel, Wi th crosamg t he
rough, a nd aft er the ml!h.. e results. I t was very
mind accused me of beP person WIth an
I,,) (little) ' Of the two evils I e
h
- for dn nkl'
' I d, ', h' ' e us c ccee t he '
n t , Ink it matters in the ---:-.
alternative you accept : t h . - which
, be tween them.' ,ere IS - t o choose
(5) (lit tle) Noble bir th iii 0 ( " ' i/ ", .
worth. - ccount Ih'a n1solid
(6) (acari Of t he two versi ons I thi k v .
the truth. m ) ours IS -
(7) (nea r) ' Can }'OU dirett roe to t h
' Yes, ' it is just over t be road e -dflOSt -offke? '
baker 's.' ' . ' - - oor to t hat
(8) many) ' Do t he French eat _ bread"
- t ha n we do.' ' Do t hey eat - - -;.
} es: - people have rema rked about it to me'. '
EXERCISES
I Give. with two eKalnples of each, t he methods used in
forming comparatives and superlatives of adJecti},.,s
and say to ....hat class of adjective each method is
applied.
11 (a) Form a comparison 01 equality, a comparison of
sllperiorit y and a compar ison of inleriority from each
of t he following skeleton sentenceS:
( I) George _ industrious - his brot her . (:1)
The window _ narrcwe-r-r- the door. (3) This car
_ fast _ that one. (,,) William" work - good
_ John'S work.
(b) Rewrite t hese sentences so that they express the
same roNning, but use compara ti"'es of superiority
instead 01 compara6ves of inferiority:
(I) A pig is less intelligent a horse. (2) The
Thames is less long than the Severn. (3) :'farlowe is
less well kno.....n t ha n Shakespeue. (4) A lake is usuall y
less rough than a sea (5) After that heavy rain the
grASS is less brown than it was a week ago. (6) Joan
less afraid of wasp" than of spiders.
III Give the comparative and superla tive degrees COfTe
sponding to the following positive degrees: '
long; biUtr; ..ie>lt; ell il; beauti ful; sty, uueJ; jelle,,;
conjlanl; plla5a"l; afflJid ; wi cked; f ood.
1\' Fill in the bla nk spaces ",.jth an ad jective in t he
correct degree:
(1) )IaT)' is 5 ft . 6 in.: J oan IS ft . 8 in. Which is t he
_ 01the twO? {l} John is eighteen yeus old, Arthur
is nmeteen and J ames IS twenty-one- John is the -
and James is t he _ . (3) What was your wont
subject Al school? !ltathematics was my - and
7
8
A Co",prtM'l$ive Erlglish G,am
mar
Hut comparative and superlative forms of some of t hese words,
e.g. 'perfect', 'full', are used because .....e are not considering
t hem in their literal sense, e.g.
'This is a more perfect specimen than t hat one' (we really
mean: ' This is nearer to per fection t han t hat') .
My glass is fuller t han yours.
He sap he has given me fuU details. but I .....ant him to gh'e
me fuller particulars.
80
A Comp,ehmsive EngI.UJI G,a,."na,
(9) (f ar) ' How - is .i t from he:re . t o
' Twenty miles by tram; by road It lS - .
(I O) (fa:r) The good pupil at school should by go
_ i n life than the bad one. Alas, It IS not
alway. so. I ndeed, a cy nic would say that the
most unscrupulcua go _ ,in life.
(11) (late, latter) Jones and Br?wn are two im??rtant
members of the commumty; t he former IS t he
vmage postman and the - the police canstahl: .
(u) nate) Have )' OU seen the - edition of this
dictionary? I t bas oyer a thousand the -
one being numbered I ,On
(13) (old) My ....ife h as all - than
she. The - . Geor ge, lS a bishop.
(14) (out) P lease t ake t he - car e of this bracelet.
(1,5) (out) Don' t talk such - nonsense".
(16) (out) J ourneys into - space Will soon be
possible.
(11) (up) Keep a stiff _ lip in adversity.
(18) (in) The only real h appineu comes from
peace.
\ '1 Couect the following sentences:
(I) The cheetah runs faster than all animals. (:z ) Of all
other animals the cheetah runs t he fa.stest. (3) I lent
you two books the other day. If you h,lIove them,
t ell me which you fi nd the most mt erestmg. (.1
No sooner had he settled down to read when the t e!e-
phone bell rang. Mary is elde r than h,er COUSin.
(6) He paid less for his new house as his old o?e.
(7) London is a bigger city as (8) English
customs are very different than con tmental. (91.
is senior t han his cousin George. (10) That. subject In
the syllabus is minor . (tI) French wine IS
than californian. (n ) He isn't $0 good at English than
he likes to t hink. (I)) first impressions of England
were quite different than I had expect ed.
VII List any adject ives you know which cannot be com-
pared, . hi h
VIII Write sentences to illus tr ate the different senses.
w
IC
the follo.....ing .....ords can express. and explain the
exact meaning of each sentence;
farther, further; latter, later; last. latest ; nearest , next;
less, lesser; foremost. first ; uppermost.
8,
IX Comment on the words in italics in t he following
sentences. correc ting them where necessary and
justi f)'ing your correc tion.
(I ) This is t he tldul church in t he I,, \\'n. Henry IS
my oldest brot her and William is Iny tldrst friend.
13l :My cousi n Harry is eMer than I . (4) I l l' has bee n so
long in polit ics that he is considered as an older
statesman. (5) She has t hree sist ers 01 whom Jane is
the )'ounger, (6) 1 was able t u get jon l1l rr mfun natiun
a bout trains at the railway-st ati on. (7) It is gem'rally
wise to choose t he ltssu of two evils . (6) His sister,
who is his Nixl relat ion, can be descr ibed as his neDrest
of kin .
X Supply t he idiomatic expression cont ai ning compara-
t ives or superlat ives necessary to complete the
following sentences. Each dash represents one word,
I') --haste - speed. (2) lie looks -""'7"""-
for hi" acd d,.:nt . ,(J ) If he won't take advantage of his
oppor tunit ies,. - .- -- -- - fur him. (4) He
conti nued his studies - - - _ _ after
leaving schbor early . (,5) -- - 1 tee of him. -
_ I like him. (sn'u DI (6) With
practice he became - - - at English. (7)
How is the in\'a:id t cxlay ? He is much t he same, -
-- .--. (8) You have to get up earl y
t omorrow, $0 )' OU - - go to bed now. (9) The
noise of the aircraft became -- - - until it
died away completely, (10) If you can come for four
lessons a week instead of t wo, - - -- _ --
( T ill! POSITI OS OF :\Tl]FC'TI"F.5 f
o wh ere adject ives are used attributively they generally
come before the noun they qualify, e.g. a ' brOttfl horse: a !let
day; a new car. But there are occasions. especially in literary
English, when they come afur the noun that they qualify.
These are: -
..(a) when accompanied by a phrase expressing measurement
e.g.
a river t wo hundred miles kmg; a road fi fty feet u'ide; a man
eighty-five rears old; a building ten-storeys Me!l.

-{j ) Adjec tives preceded by /ht may also lollow a proper

noun, e.g.
Alfred the Grt,u. Wi lliam t he SiZe"' . Ivan the Ttrn'btt .
J g) Participles th at are predomi nantly verbal in meaning
fellow th e noun, e.g.
I have answered all the letters reuivtd.
After t he accident t he policeman took t he names of t he
people involvtd.
We went t hr0'!1gh a door opening on t o tile garden.
are pe rhaps .. c1all""', ' who ll; ,', ....hich
, . :.

1 S pp. 9 1-<J.1.
"JIlt POS/tiM oj Adj tctju s 83
" ptnny savtd is a penny gained. (PTot'"b)
!he words mt"tiOll ,'J below... ,
But participles t hat are predominantly adject ival in
meaning pr.ecede the noun. e.g. a broken bottle; a painttd t able;
rr'"jrtg chi ld.
.,
cDAH bo,tJs precede a noun, a possessive adjec t ive. a de-
mQllstratl\'e adjective (or pronoun) and t he definite article,I e.g.
.-4 11 (both) his friend s are gone. All (bo/II) t hese statements
should be quite clear. All (both) t he beys have gone horne.
But the)' Iollcw a personal pronoun, ego
When they saw t he policeman t hey all (bolh) ran awar .
we nlJ (both) hope you will be successful.
tJ.)!1a.lJ
and
double precede the noun when t hey are used in a
sense , e.g.
He drank a 1Jalf bottle of wine. He drank half a bottle of
wine.
He is my half-brot her. He gave halJ-a-crown for a h'llf -crow'!
book,
The stockings were sold at IwlJ price. (= half t ile origin al
price),
He drank a double whisky. I wan t a dOl/bit room.
But luUJ, double (and lwee) are often Icllowed by the defi nite
article or a possessi ve adject ive:
I ?ought t he s.tockings at lIalf tht (Ihid) price (= hal f the
price you mentioned).
That will cost half (doubtt, t uju ) the money,
Hill! his t ime he does no work.
That would cost double (flr; tt) his capital.
.4'.\ When ad/cct ive is by ralll" or quite t hese
sO?1etlmes all ow and someumes precede t he indefi nit e
u hcle Wit hout any difference of meaning.
He ptaycd qllile a good game. He played a quilt good game.
T.hat IS rather a valuable ph-ture. This is a rathrr va luable
pict ure.

82 A Gr" mmar
..{b) when more adjectives than one are used wit h th e noun, e.g.
He is a writer bot h witty and l#ise.
1
The hymnal w e use is ' Hymns ArlCit'lt and Mod",.',
He climbed t he mount ain by a route ,m cJsQrtt d, and

He had a face tMpl and ;.Iorn. but tagtr and rrsoillte.!
"'-:c) when the adjective is followed by a prepositional ph rase,
e.g.
He is a man grady for money.
Alfred was a King anxious lor hi s people's welfar e.
All these are matters u"Orthy of a tt ent ion
...(d) in a few fixed expressions (mainly from Fre nch) such as:
t he Theatre Royal . the Poet Laureatt, the hei r apparent ,
from t ime immemorial, court martial, all th e peopl e prestn t ,
by all means possiblt . let ters pat mI. proof the
Postmast er Gt1W'al, Knight t/'Ta'l' ,
The words next and lasl may follow, t hough t hey
generally precede, e.g. lasl Friday or Friday lasl; next
xtcndey. Monday next .
";e) when used with SOfntt1Jillg (-ont) , etc., anything. n;tryt1Jing,
nllfhing. e.g.
I ' ll t ell you something very important .
That's mJtlling " tV.
He'll provide trtryl1J ing 1ltctssary.
There is somtont hurl, I t hink.

jJO$ SCU It' C A dj ccJit'( $ 8

h
t ai n idi 5
But t ere are cer am I icrnatic pbrases i E .
definite article is used instead of t he m : t he
. possessive adjective e g
I have a eold m the head She was sl ' ' . .
red in the face. She t ook b)' the h
lot
;he leg. He got
him i n the back. an . he ball struck
Occasionally own is used wi th t he - ' . .
usually t o express or imply a cont rast P?sse"Sl\ 'e ad ject ives
, c.!>.
[ have bought my 0Wt1 book. I don't need .
ourn dirty work; don't ask me t o do it for ' } OUf!\ . poJ OII1
called ' E\"(1)' man his OU' n la"1.
er
' . you. Here s a book
(See also Chapter Ten, DcUrllli,lativcs,)
{ OTHER TYPfS OF AOJ ECTIVJ::S i
I"TERROGATI VE, D1STRIB UTI\'E and ! S OEFl SITE di .
generally funct ion also as The' , a may
Chapt er Eleven (ProPlOu,u)' see also C h ) are dealt WI th in
, apt er Ten.
EXERCIS ES
1 (II) For m t he neeanve 01 t h f II .
adding or a pr " e 0 owing adjecti ves bv
.II h..... .. , enx or a suffix: "
PelUant' iJ lte"tive" j . .
.IIOl1est; usefut; , a;ef "l: pll,.e.'p per legal:
human: f ruitf ul; o,rd!,mr
y
: hopeful;
IIutciful. ", re ZI ' OIlS; valuable;
(b) I nser t an adjective into ea h
t radi t ional id iomat ic con c , blank space t o make a
. iparason:
as-as Iron: as --as r !d
u - -a$ a .,-host as ,,0 ; as--as lead'
lord ' as _0_ .: , C--
d
as a :\[ar<:h hare: as - a;
, ...,. JU "e' as
as - - asa hunter as ", -u a new pin'
as -as a - as a car uoad of monken '
I , as -as a dai sy . '
II Complete these sentences b . .
adjecti ve or definit e articl e: y means of a possessive
(I) I live in the coun t ry; h
a stream. ( l ) "[.ove - -' C--hbouse sta nds alone near
h netg ur as thv#-lf "{ )
as a ca r but -3ister hasn' t ( ) ) , _. 3) cbn
b" __brother has a m t . 4 oan has a bicycle
_ houses(6) This is a (5) They sold
If ram, - - engi ne is out
.. 'I \
,
t
, ,

The possessive adjectives change according to the gender

and number of the possessor , and not , as in some other
languages. to t he person or thing possessed. e.g.
The btJy has lost his dog.
The girl has lost her dog.
The boys have lost Iheir dog.
We have lost our dog.
The possessive adj ect ive is used in English where often t he
definite article would be used in some ot her languages , e.g .
Lhave had my hair cut. He hurl his foot .
She has changed ht r mind.
I Some grammarians ea.ll these possessive pronouM, consideri" .
them as geni tive forms 01 the pt'f!lOnal pronoun. We prefer to call them
poss.essive adjectives, and the fotlns ",i." , }'ou rs , .ete, (see. p. 1081
possessive pronouns . " 111_ and Ilty are ..rehalc or poen"al.
P OSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
The possessive adj ectives-with t heir corresponding personal
pronouns arc:
I
Personal
Possessive
Pt1solhll
P QSSH SIV(
I
Pronoun
Adjective
Pronal'"

\
I
my
w,
om
t hou
t thv
l you
your
'"
his
t hey
their
she h"
on.
one'S
;t
its
84 A Co", p, dltlu illt EI.gli sh GMmmar
(5) Enough normally comes before the noun but can come
alter it wi th no difference of meaning, e.g.
We haven' t enough t ime. We haven't ti me mQugh.
It can be used with singular nouns or plural ones, e.g.
We have done en0t4gh work for today.
There are t710ugll chairs to seat everybody.
16
.1 CcmlprehulSltit Eft glish Grallmwr
of d at e. (7) We have passed - ecauunauon.
{oB) She has -- examinat ion. (9) He was
stabbed in - b.'\ck by a ccwardly assailant
(10) The}' were bl ue in _ lacc wi t h cor d . (It) You
can' t t r ust h im; he never keeps - prot-uses .
(12) _wile and I cel ebr at e --silver wedding "exl
month . (13) Do come. and brmg --fr iend wi th you.
(1.4) Farmers like --crops to be gathered in as 500n
as possible in a utumn. ( IS) You must allow t his matter
to take - proper ti me.
II I (a) Use the foll owing part.iciplcs as ad jectives im -
mediat ely preceding a noun :
wi lhct t d; brokt ll; u hislJing: spoknl: /cr ll; fol di ng;
humming: !nil/en: ,hou n; U'll n l.. J,
(b) Use t hese as unmed iatetv followmg a
noun.
l is/fd: I in, a: fprit/ ll !td; ",,,de.- IIIl: olt jlaVOlOrtd:
wnll,n; sunK: ' Inl o; i"G.
I V Compose sent ences wi th 'quito". ' rather', 'hal f'.
' double ' . Use all these words once with t he art icle
(d efinit e or indenni te} before them, and once with it
a fter them.
V (a) sentences using the following adj ecth' e:> as
nOU:'lS singular or pl ural:
E .. ,OpUIH; wid td; Japaut u : ",ait'ldual: nt atJuH.
(Ii) Use t h e followi ng nou ns as a,ljc..:tives :
Il a/hl ' ; gold; L onao; ,iCI ; ""<11: . colloll; lJu 111011<-' /I 1
f..'m'tlrsity: Bunsel s; ga, dell.
VI (a) Form adjectives hom t he followi ng n ouns and use
ea ch of t he ad jectiv6 i n a sentence.
bcal.ty: . ai n; gAos/ ; "," inler: geo..,,/ry; lad); :i4y: man:
Titan; ","'Ol'lla n; a.t: lou; Paris; , eoA SO>l: llad; bolt",}";
spi te: crimI ; sp .,i/; abil ity ; h,ro; ", alia; E li :'lbl/h;
,MId (t wo forms].
(b) Give t he nouns cor responding t o the foll owin g
adjectives;
prowd: .,oni".!; horribll; dr/tlJj"l; IlmpeMfe; UOlll;
j llli; candi d: i .,,' gry; grand.
\"n I nt roduce t he "'-c:.rd 'own' into each of the followi ng
sentences:
(1) I can surely do as I please wi t h my ma ne)". (2) Yo u
must do y our work and not cop)' fr om y our INl ghbollr,
A dj edit'es 8]
(3) She has no se rva nt a nd so she has 10 do all her
(4) Each..guest m ust hi s supply of
d ri nks. hun, (5) f hey don 't pay a ny r euc because
t hey live In t heir house.
v Il I I n \'ent five sentences in each of which there is an
adjecti ve {ot her than a ny i n Ex, \ 1 used as a noun and
three sentences each o f which there is a proper nou n
(other t ha n a ny III Ex. VI used ;u a n adj ective.
IX Complete t he following se nt ences wi th adject i ves formed
fr om t h e nouns in b rac ket s.
(I ) In old, age til e .h a ir often becomes (silver). (l l Th e
col ou r of ripe corn IS (gold). (3) I n Sc andinavia one of ten
sees people whose hair is (fla x). [..) I was app a lled a t
his (brass) i mpud ence. (5) The of rlamOO,' ]e'I was
suspended loy a (s llk) ll 11lad.
X I n E nglish. adj ecti ves used a t tributively usuall y come
before t he no uns t hey q ualify , Const ruct five sentences
exceptions t o this rul e and (or eac h sen tenc e
explai n why t he exception is made.
XI t he sentenc es b}" mser ting t he words
gu'en III brackets In t heir correc t posi tions.
(a) A loaf is better t ha n no bread . (ha l l)
(6) I have t wo sis ters o f whom a re older Ihall I . (bot h)
(t) At t he sales t hlll Ss ca n o ft en be bough t a t price
(h al f) .
(d, 'How many ro ads ar e there t o Rome ? (lea(l mg)
(, l As a result of h is a ccident he is suflering from a leg
(fractured) >
XII Complete t he foll owing sentences by inse rting .in eacf a
word chosen from the followi ng; all t he words can be
used . Wha t d o you notice that is rat her u nusual a bout
t he adj ecti ves used with t hese words?
so.mOnt , somlliody, lIo/ hillg. nobody.
tIll 011, a"ylMlll, a>lyo" e, a' lybody .
( t ) T here is - stran"e i n his bch:i\"iour t odav.
(1) Is. t here - specially i ntc r" t i n;.: III t he paper t hOu
mOtlll nl{ ? (3) X" t here's - - st:nll iul-:. TiterI' 1"--
ver}' Outstanding in English m mv rass (5) _
valuable was taken by t he burgl ars. (6) -well-known
III t he t heat re a tt end ed t hat lin t (7) I ' m sure
- cleve.rer t han he Will get t he p ri ze. (8) th ..re
- speCiall y well d ressed a t the danc e las t nlcht ?
(9) -int ercsted in t he subjec t is in \ited to a tt cnd t he
08 A Comptth<Jlsile Enclish ( ;ra"mMT
lec t ure. (ro) There must be - clever enough to solve
t his problem.
XI II I nsert ' r at her' or 'quite' in the correct position in t hese
sentences.
(I) He can d o difficul t exercises correcny. (:) This a
valuable viol in though it is certainly not a Stradivari us .
(3) They arc not very generous people; in fac t t hey a re
mea n. (4l H e was not cl ever enough to pass hiS exa m.
t hough he wor ked very hard . (5) She is an unhealthy-
looking girl. I don' t t hink . he gets enough exercise. (Uu
both ltIOtds in thi s se"ll""e. )

C U A P TEH r n s
TIYES )
It is convenien t to group under the term 'Determinative, '
certain classes of .words t he usage of wh ich is discussed more
fully elsewhere. 1 hese ar e:
-G
1
.(1 !l"u-:sJa(JI ): the.
\ rCTlVE5 OF one, 1;; 0, three, etc. (all t he cardinal
. HUllI IS; m scrcral , nuv; lilliCh, II/,my, (a) [ac, (' I)
liUle, 110, ellougll, etc.
4 DISTRI RI.'T1VI': .\DJECIIvEsJ rach, every, both, lleilllfr, either.
1l 1t00.\ I IVE All 1Un vl' sl Id ll'ch, uIUl!. xohose.
..{rH: DJ.' 5i k.-\ t1VE.-\ lJIECTl \T s ) lIus, that , O, (S( , flu)se.
.-\ DI ECTIVES:I IIIY . y our, ltis, her, its, Illtir , our.
, TI l E 1"'SSESSIVLL\,>" {'.s. J ohn's,
, ,
lIe man s, lin O( a y s.
Many of t hese words may stand alone as pronouns , or may
qualify nouns. When they qualify nouns, t hey differ from
qualificative adjectives (bi g, bllle, intelligent, etc.) in t wo im-
port ant respects:
5) IVord Order: They are always placed before any qualifying
adjeCtives: ' he red hook, old chai r, my new brown hat .
t:J of t he appropri ate determinatives mus t
always fore a singular countable noun (see p. 20).
An appropriat e dderminat in.' may be used be fore uncountable
and plural coun table nouns, but is not always needed
In tlH' se cases. Except for t he combinations shown below, only
one dl' l crminati vf' call be used lx-Iorc a noun
Det erminative" arc used before':a, singular countable nouns.
":6). plural countable nouns, uncountable nouns. as
In t he follov.ing tables. .
89

Detenninntives 9'
I T .\ Il L B lpL
);ot::- Sl
(see not e ;n 1 . ,

(.-f. dj eclh'c +)
110111I
.
-
(.Yo d.:lennillallt'c )
x- I
all

no
t hree
any
four, ctc.]
what
which
(all)
the
good books
(hath) my
old hats
(all of) YOll r
large white
(bot h of) his
cups
(enough of) her
(few)
sharp pe nciis
(one of) its
(many)
houses
. 1)
(two, three, 0"'
{two." t hree,
cat s
etc. of)
etc.)
import ant
(which of) t heir
letters
(more 01)
whose
cl ever students
(fewer of)
J ohn's
frien ds
(many of)
tile old lady's
(a lot of)
hi s father's
(plent y of)
these

(some of)
those
(none of)
(any of)
(a few)
(a lot)
(how) (many)
fewer
(no}'
(some)! more
(plent y)!
,
I Used oll ly wit l . Itlore .
N ot used wit h ail .

The cumbmatlons WIth ..try are rare.

e
DETERMINATIVES
Example of
(adjecti ve -i-} 1I 0WI
[many)
a (n)
anot her
t he
t hat
t his (one )
some
any
no book
which 'gg
what new hat
my red bicycle
he< word
his
its (one)
your (every}'
0",
t heir
whose
J ohn' s
t he man's
an ol d
lad y' s,
etc.
every
each
either
nei t her
on,
,
90 A CompTchwsf1.,e English GTiI/Il /ll ar
tTABLE A. S IKGU L.... R COU!'>TABLE KotTi'S 1
--i K OT,E] Any word may be used with any other word in an
<l;dJommg from which it is not separated by a horizont al
fine. The words In parentheses can be either used or omitt d
9'
A Comprehensive English Grammar
DttrTtni/l,Jtivts
93
i lh ylt-
G uchJ is used with uncountable (singular) nouns, e.g.
You haven't much t ime if you want t o catch that t rain
He hasn't very milch money.
(" um.\Jis used with plural count able nouns, e.g.
You haven't many minut es t o spare if you want t o catch
t hat t rain.
How many cigaret t es a day do you smoke?

tTABlE(ill (rQ"timU'J) )
DETE RMISATI VES (A(ijectivc +) HOlm
(an}")
[several] fewer
{t wo, three, et c.] mere good books
(far) old hats
I
large wh ite cups
several
sharp pencils
enough
houses
cats
bet h
important let ters
some
clever st udents
two, t hree, etc.
friends
(how) many
la) Iew
a lot of
plenty of
[ Dl. E C .. cus s
. see note at 1 A )

oj (ad! .;.. )
nOlln
(Nodttu millatit't )
all
any
what
which .
enough milk
no time
some money
QIO\\') much cleverness
a lot of hard work
plenty of cold wat er
[a] little
DETERMI S ATI VES
Exa mple's (If (ad;' -i-]
/I 0UII
(no)
(a littl e)
(a l ot ) more
(much )
{some)I
Ie"
(plenty)1
milk
(any)
t ime
(far)
money
(all) (of) t he
cleverness
(enough of) t hat
hard work
(ho....') (much 01) this
cold water
(more of) my
(less of) your
(a Jot of) his
(plenty 01) its
(some of) um
(any of) their
(more of) whose
John's
the old lady's
I Not used with l eu .

95 Determi natives

Few tTasted with many ) is used with plW",,:1count abl.e
cuns: little (as a det erminative and contrasted "nth .m,"h) IS
smgular uncountable nouns. Both and IltJle haYIC
a negative implication.
Fnr has the meaning ' not many' , e.g.
The / ell friends t hat he had are all dead.
Ftw people would agree WIth you.
LitJle has t he mean ing, ' not much ', and t he emphasis is on t he
scantiness, e.g.
The l' ule money t hat he has will har dly keep hi m in food .
The ship.....reeked sailors had no food and /lttle water.
A f (lJJ and a lillle have a positive implicat ion. They mean
'some, t hough not many (much)'. e.g.
' ... ..cll he re conceSlI ive p.
YoU can have as "such wine (as l nimy bottl es of wine) as
yOUwant. .
I know how much money (how many pounds) t hat n ng cost .
e) when t hey qualify the subject of t.he e.g. .
...( Many Englishmen like t o spend th eir spare t ime working m
their gardens.
',\fany hands make l ight work.'. (Prot'a b)
M",lt time would be saved If you planned your work
properly-
...(4) in the case of ",uds, when it st ands alone , i.e. wit h no noun ,
e,g. . . .
M",h depends on what answer t he Prime gIVes to
that question. . . .
J would give ",,,,.11 to know what he 1S t hinking now.
\INCh of what he. says is t rue.
:\/ ueh as' I should like to come, I'm afraid I must refuse.
.(t ) in the case of '"SKI. ,when it is followed by an noun,
oedauv when t he noun is preceded by an adject ive, e.g.
"r-- _
The book is t he fruit of much patient resear ch.
94 A Comp,dunsive English Grammar
. '.fhe only occasion when many is used with a singular noun
IS In t he phrase many a. e.g.
Many a ship has ( = many ships have) been wrecked (.1\
t hose rocks.
Many a man would he glad of your job.
I' ve been t here l lUI II)' a time.
C\tucn1 andl marB are most frequently used in negati ve or
interrogative sen ences. mucAi with singul ar uncountable nouns
many wit h plural nouns. '
I haven' t much time. Did you have muds rain on YOCt
holidays) There's not much sugar in t he sugar bowl.
Do you know many people in London? There ar e not many
mistakes in your exercise.
_ I n colloquial use in affirmative statements they are fre-
quently replaced by a lot of, lets of . a I4rge qtul1Jtity of, plenty
of , a good deal of, e.g.
lie will have a lot of time to spare when he has finished th
book he is working on.
She knows lots of people in London.
He has done a good deal of resea rch on t hat subject.
Note t hat with a lot oj and pknJy of t he verb is singular wi th
uncountable nouns, plural with countable ones, e.g.,
There is plenty of sugar in the sugar bowl.
There are pwuy oj chain for everyone.
usually preferred even in affirmat ive
const racncns:
-(a) in I ndirect Questions int roduced by trhetheT or if:
I doubt whet her there'll be much time for seeing t he sight -,
of London; your train leaves at six o'clock.
I wonder if many people will be at t he part y.
-(b) when preceded by so, too, as, Iww, e.g.
He has so much money and I have so little.
There are too many mistakes in your exercise.
He has drunk too much wine and ough.t not to dr ive his car
home. 1
A Comprtllel,sil'e Englisll Grammar
He has a fetll friends who call to see hi m quite frequently
A ftUJ people would agree with you.
He has a liUle money and can live qui te comfortably Oil It.
The ship....-recked sailors had a liul, wat er.
EXERCI SES
I Use expressions chosen from the follo....-1 "g list to corn.
, plete,these sentences: few, a few, lit/It, a little, tht liule ,
[r] ' Is there a ny tea left in the pet } ' ' Yes, --:
(2) '00 you smoke at all ?' 'Yes, but very - - :
(3) ' 00 you smoke at all?' ' Yes-:
(4) Our driver had had - drinks and wasn' t fit \0
. take the wheel.
(5) Having had - opportunit ies t o practise, I did not
.play the piece as well u I might have done,
(6) Having had - opport unit ies to pr actise, I pla yed
the piece reasonably well,
(7) He is a lonely man, he has - - friends.
(81 I have only - coal in my cel lar beca use t he
coa.! man hu not come,
(9) We mUlt save - - money we have left for our
journey home.
(10) HI': always has - in reserve for
( I I) Can you come to our house this e,-eni ng? I am
inviting _ friends for coffee.
n I n what cases are ... .,,11 or "",uly used affirmativel y?
I llustrat e each par t of your answer by construct ing one
sen tence employing "uu::11 and another employing matry.
CIl,\ PT E R I-: L EV E S ,
( P ERSON I S P KOS o(' XS\
A pronoun is a word instead of a noun.
Pronouns may be classified into t he following kinds :
(I) Personal (2) Possessive (3) Demonstr ative
(,,) Retl exi....e (5) Int errogative (6) Indefi nite
(7) Relat i, 'e (8) Distribut ivc
Pronouns may show number , person , gender and case. TJ1C
table of personal pronouns will illustrate t his.
-(!)( P ERSOS \ 1 P ROXOI ' XS . . . .
li IXCtJt.AR PU'I! Al,
N(l1I1inalive Objectil"- NQII/;1II1t il'r Obj ,-rf;ve
1ST P'RSON I m. w. u,
2!'1D PERSON t hou thee you (ye) you (ye)
3RD PERSON
(.\flUCuline)
{
h.
him}
(Femillille) she he< they them
(Neuter) it it

(IlItIefillit e) 0 0' 00'

I
Speech naturally presupposes two persons: a person who
speaks (the First Persall) and a person spoken to (the Seeolld
Person), So I , Tre, are pronouns of the First l'erson:yolj (thcu,
tAee, y e) are pronouns of the Second Person. Beyond these t W II
persons there is the whole world of people and t hings that may
be spoken about, For all these we use the pronouns of t he
Third Person, he, she, it, Clle, they. .
"
r
OK tUE P ERSO"'I:.'l.L P ROSOl" S q
ti II/s r
I is always wri tten with a capit al letter, but mI, Il"e and
us are not . "
We (us) is not the plural oi l in the same way as boys is the
plural of boy. We means not ' two or more 1's' but ' I and you'
or ' I and he' or ' I and all these other people' .
It is a qmvcnt ion for a newspaper editor or writer of leading
art icles in a newspaper , perhaps from modesty and a desire
not t o sound egot istical or perhaps because he feels that he is
speaking not only for himself but for the whole board of
management of the paper, to use the plural ea (' the Editorial
" .e') when giving his opinions, e.g.
' We believe t hat the Government has made a profound
mistake in imposing this tax.'
I n the same way, formal Royal Proclamations use the ' Royal
In ' . i.e.
' tt'e, George III. King of England .. . .
,
99. ,
PrO/ W Illi S
In 'hh:rary' or lJn lomi.al English, when the pronoun comes
after the verb to be the nominative fonn of the pronoun is
used. e.g. ' " .
I (u(, he, sht , etc.] di d t his.
It ..... as I (ht , she, we, etc.) who did Uris.

In informal, colloqui al English the objective form is frequently

used:
That's her (hi"' , us, etc.). It' s all right ; it' s only "Ie.
But in sentences where the pronO\mis felt to be the subject of
a verb, e.g. ' It was he.who t old me about it', ' It was 1 who did
it', the nominative form;would always be used.
,
I Nomi native
Objeclit,t
X Qminalit,t Obj t clit'e
.-
-
-
1
me
we

u,
I
I"
him
they _ t hem
slw
her
who :,' whom

- r ,
Sl.:BJ l::CT PIU:.DICAtE
-- J'vb ObjfCt
,
,
-
,
H, bit
,
" it
' /I bit -
,
hi m
Sh, read
,
them
,
pleased
,,,
- - -
J: ere one oc.casion when the object ive form of the
pr IS used. this IS when a pronoun is governed bv a
preposition, e.g.
I spoke to hi m.
I had a letter from her.
him and her are in the object ive case governed
re:;pcct n:e1y by the preposit ions to and f rom. '
pronouns, in fact the only il'Qrds in English that
ifferent forms for nominative and object ive case a're six
A Comprd/msit'e En/!. Iish Grammar
c,

GI
<D The pronoun it is generally applied t o t hings and not to
people; but it is olten used t o identi fy an unknown person.
Then, once this has been done, he (she) would be used , e.g.
Someone was moving steal thily about the room; it was a
burglar. As we wa tched, he went t o t he safe and t ried to
open it . '
G) II is used as a ' formal' subject with verbs concerning
weat her condit ions, c.g.
It is raining/snowing/freezing. It is very wa rm/cold/wet.
It was a bill"')' cold night and at t en o'clock it began to
blow a gale.
In yery colloquial us is somet imes used lor lilt ,
especially after an imperative, e.g. Let' s have a (meaning
let me haw a look). Tell us ( = tell sus] .....ha t he said .

Thou, OUt , yt are archaic and are rarely used in modern
English except in poet ry.
tTHIRD Pf!KSOS )
He, 111 m can be used instead of masculine nouns; sire, nu
instead of feminine nouns; it instead of neut er nouns. All t he
others, except tluy and them, are used instead of masculine or
feminine nouns. TIllY, lMm are used instead of mascul ine,
feminine or neuter nouns.
She (ht r) is somet imes used Icr inanimate objec ts, especially
ships, motor-cars. locomot ives, airc raf t , etc.. t o e"press
affection or famil iarity. Countries, and even ci ties, espectallv
in rather formal or rhetorical speech, are someti mes made
feminine:
OF CAR .IOT PETROL STATION: htf up, George.'
That's t he Queen's yach t, Britannia; she's a beautiful shi p.
England has done what she promised t o do.
' Oxford taught me as much l at in and Greek as she could '
(Said by J ohn Ruskin. )
A baby can be referred t o as it- buf preferably not tn t he
hearing of its fond parents.
' 0'

P ' unQUI/ S
and also wit h expressions of t ime and measurement.
It is ha lf past two. .
II is fifteen mi les to l ondon.
'It's a long way to Tipperary,'
and with other impersonal statements, e.g.
II says herr- t hat Sha kespeare's plays .
Bacon, were wntten by
q,;
'/t is used as a formal subJ'ect or obJ-t in t!
t h 1
bi . 0 ser construe,
IOns, e rea su ject or object usually foil .' .
finitive or a subordinate cl ause, e.g. o.... mg as an In-
II is easy to talk , It was qui te plain that he didn't want
'fin'"""'d ., d Iffitoo, k It for. granted that yOIl 'fJ?01 j/d stay wilh us. I
I I cu t to be1l roe that.
It may, in sentences beginning: ' It is' or ' It , ,
the real subject and a relat ive clause, e.g. was . .. precede
was t he training t hat he had as a young man that made
111m such a good engincer.
This construction can be used t o give s........ ial hasi h
real subjec t, e g. emp asts to t e
It was his mot her, not his father, who said that.
(4J It is used idiomatica lly in ot her sentences or h
colJ09uial or slang) where it seems to have \'e!:'
speer c meamng, c.g. -J
t he thieve:> saw t he policeman coming, they rnn for i l .
tne .teacher sees you domg t hat, you 'll catch it
Il an,:: It a ll, we can't wait all day for hi m. .
If you go ca";l pmg you'l l have t o rough it.
I him, I'll have it out with him.
I.lI let him.have hot and strong,
'\ ou are fairly gomg It: vou've eat en
of chocolates. . nearly the whole box
" 'e' ll make a day of it .
) It Can st and for a whole sen tence, e.g,
..have saved life; I shall never forget it. He is trying
wm a scholarship to Oxford: he won 't find i f easy.
.-t COlll prt h(IISi,'( English G",mlll<Jr
'00
Pr onouns
102 A. Comprehensive English GrtlmlJlllr
But this const ruction (it standing for a preceding sentence) i.
not generally used with the verbs know, renumber, tr)', lei!
forget , e.g. '
'We are having a holiday tomorrow.' ' Yes, 1 know:
I know il. )
' You won' t forget to write, will you?' ' Xo. I won't forget.'
I won' t forget il. )
C8
@ So is similarly used t o stand for an affi rmative statement,
especiall y alter certain verbs (say, Ihink , hope, bdiroe, SllPPosc,
expect, hear, tell, i magine,fear, be afrai d). The word so is used
more or less wit h t his function of it, that is to stand for an
affi rmative st atement , e.g.
' Will George pass his examinat ion?' 'I t hink so.'
'Was t his cathedral built in t he fourteenth century?' ' I
lieve soIl have heard soIl was told so.'
'Is he very ill?' 'I'm afraid $0.' (For t his constructi on and
its negat ive, see p. 40I. ) .
He'll pay me the money next month; at least I hope so.
Why do you say so? I told you so.
You thought Henry stole t he money: well, so he did.
'You told me I should go to Oxford to learn. English,'
' And so you shall.'
We have information that the enemy will attack tonight
And if so what are we going t o co?
The negative of t his const ruction can be expressed by two
forms:
(i) I think{believe{suppose/expect{hopel hear lam afraidflJOi:
if not . . .
(iil I don't t hi nkfbelieve/supposefexpc<: t fso.
Not ice that the second construction is not used wit h hellr,
hope, am r;f raid.
@ So is used wit h do to reler to a preceding verb:
I t old him to come and see me the next day, and he did so.
lf you want me to help t hem I will do so,
'03
is used also to represent an adjective or noun with the
to be, to remain , to seem, to make:
He has been very helpful to me in the past and I hope he
will be so (= helpful) in the fut ure.
The country round my house has been unchanged for t went y
years; may it long remain so (= unchanged).
' There is not hing either good or bad but t hinking makes it
so.' (= good or bad)-(Shakespeare, Hamlet.)
He has been a teacher here for five years and I hope he wili
be so (= a teacher here] for many more years.
)Note t he use of so to mean also in such sentences as:
My husband likes French cooking and so do I.
Peter is wor king hard for his examination, and so is James.
(See also p. 185.)
lo:-mI
One is, of course , a numeral. (e.g. There was only one boy
t here, not two), and, like all the-numerals , can be used as a
pronoun, e.g.
One cannot do the work of Iwenty.
One of your brothers came to see me today.
The plural of Olle with this usage is some, e.g.
Singular: Take one of t hese chocolates.
Plural: Take some of these chocolates.
The other uses of one as a pronoun are as follows:
@ used to stand for 'people' or ' lor any person in my
posit ion'. It can be a subject or an object; it has the Possessive
fonn one's and the Reflexive oneself. It is followed bv a t hird
person singular verb. Examples:
One can only do one's best.
One can't be too careful in matters like this.
The South Pole Expedition film gives one a good idea of the
hardships the men endured.
I don't think one should overwork oneself.
It is general ly felt that this use of one t oo often in a sentence
IS stylist ically clumsy, e.g.
Pronouns
.,
A Comprt!u Plsitt English Gr"mnlar
when one is given one's choice of courses of action, any of
which would be t o O1lt'S di sadvantage. one often has a
difficulty in deciding what one ought t o do.
The attempt t o avoid t his awkwardness may. unless care is
taken, lead t o such incorrec t sentences as;
\\1lCn Ollt is given his choic e of courses of action. any of
which woul d be t o his disadvantage. they often have Ji ilj.
cul t y in deciding what they ought to do.
Preferable forms would be:
..(a) When someone is given his choice of course:" of action, anr
of which would be to his disadvantage, he often has diffI_
culty in deciding what he ought t o do.
...(b) \ Vhen you are given your choice of courses of action, ant'
of which would be to your disadvantage, you often have
difficul ty in deciding what you ought t o do.
() It may have a general indefinite meani ng of 'a person' , eg
You are the fi rst olle who has ever explained t his d early,
He is not anI t o be easily fright ened.
" , . TIlen must you speak
Of 0111 who loved not wisely but too well.' (Shakespeare)
EtAS PROl'OI; l' OR ADJE CTIVE l
G) One is used wit h something of its meaning as a numeral whee
contrasted wit h otlu r or another, e.g.
There are t wo choices open t o you . You must take eit her
the one or the othn- , (Pronoun)
The two t wins are so much alike ti l at I can't tell t he ont
from the othn-. (Pronoun)
One eveni ng we went t o t he th eatre, anotlicr evening we went
dancing, (Adjec tive)
G) In t he follo..... ing cases it has ll?st its numerical meaning and
IS used t o express some vague tune:
He always hopes t hat one day he wiJl ....-in a prize, (Adjective)
Otle of th ese days I ' ll go and see him. (Pronoun)
Tmust have met him at one time or another, (Adjective)
GJ Occaslcnalty it has t he ' single' , Wi th this
meaning eme IS always an adjective, e.g.
...,
The one man who coul d ha ve saved t he situation was d..ad.
1'0one woman could run a big house like th at single-handed.
'The "'It t hing t hat could ma ke Charles I dangcrOl 15--WaS a
\iolent deat h.' p Jacaular )
I Tl IE PROI"-\\' ORO all' I
J(.) 1t is very frequent ly what is sornctimcs <,Il k <l a l'rop.
''If,,rd, In some const ruc t ions adject ives (includi ng t he definite
arttclel cannot st and alone and need the prop-word 011( t o
support t hem. Th is prop-word refers t o some pre\10US noun .
If t he prop-word ont were not used, the noun would have to be
repeat ed, and for stylistic reasons we want to avoid t his.
It is only countable nouns that one can replace in t his way.
Examplt s:
Brown 's old car is a good 0' 11' ; it's much better t ha n our
new one.
There was an old man and a young o1le there.
r like a strong cup of t ea bet ter than a weak one.
The plural of on( with thi s usage is ants, e.g.
I prefer red roses t o white " ' / ( 5 (Qll e used in t he plural).
There was a mot her bird in the nest and t here were Iour
young olles.
Ont can be a prop-word wit h t he definite art ide, e,g.
'Whicb girl is Joan Robinson?' ' The one in t he green dress. '
' Which biscuits do you like bes t?' 'The DiltS w-ith chocolate
on t hem,'
One is not generally used ....-ith oirn , e.g.
I can' t write properly with your pen ; I'd rat her use my own. "
(NOT: my own ont ,)
Oll es is never used after a cardinal nu meral, e,g.
You have th ree books; I have only t wo. two orrt s.)
( Orm :R VSES or
He can go or he can st ay: 11'5 all oll e t o me (= it makes no
difference),
He was a man t hat was liked by ont Qnd all (= everybody).

,.
Pronouns
I V (01) Express these statements in another way, by
means of the pronoun 'It', altering t he wording
completely where necessary . In some cases a verb in
brackets given t o help you. .
(I) John, not James, .rang up,- (t) The temperat ure is
below zero, (3) The afternoon was bright and SUnnY.
(4) The journey t o Br igh ton Irom London t akes onf
y
one hour uy t ram. (5) Some part s of Hing Lear arc
ext remely difficul t t o unde rstand , (6) (call) We won' t
do any more wurk toJay. (,) (pig) They were IISC,1 to
lh' ing primit ively and disregardi ng tab'e ma nners
(8) (lord) This cockerel obviousl v cons idered himsel f
supenc r.fo the other inmates of t he hen-bouse and
ac ted accord ingly. ('.I) That he ,,;11 fai l I S clear t o every-
one but 'l,imseif.
, . } 'ry',(0 ot her expressions like ' rough It',
go It , etc. ccnsrstmg of verb a nd ' i t', and use t hem in
,
V Express t bese passive sentences in a different way by
using t he pronouns 'one' . 'we', ' you', or 'they'; .
(I ) It is said he is a very rich man, (t) I am a Lon.
dcner, my dear and EnGlish is spoken there,
of co.urse. Il ) Wbat lall.l: uaJ;e is spoken in :Moscow?
Russian, of cou rse. (,.) If a person takes any given
action, the -ccnsequ ences must be home. t5l' Such
qcesnons rna}' not he asked.
VI \\1Jen can a femi nine pronoun be used to represent an
inanimate t hing? Usc each example you can find in a
se ntence.
VII Constr uct sen tences illus trati ng tile use of 'i t ':
(I.) as a formal subject. [a] ....it h expressions of t ime and
distance. (J) as a siang expression. (4) as a provisional
suuJC(. t . (5) standing for a whole sentence.
'_'s unusual t o hear of women who can
away from a new carl' ..
'Yes. Your mother enjoys a drive, doesn't
- ? would -- care t o bring _ along?:
. 'That 's yery kind - , bu t --::- is celebrating a
birthday part y on Saturday wit h her brother and
..-0:-- always visit each other on their ve
birt hdays , Dear - . _ must be 0lI! Thank __
for the ' of a ride. _ am looking forward
to --, ..
I For which nouns do the pronouns m the following
pasuge stand
a nd ::'0115. Br own were tal king about t hl"io
neighbours. Mr . and Mrs. Smith, and t heir new house
' He mus t be maki ng a good income to be abl e to
live i n a. house like that.' said he, ' to say nothing 01
the car they have. It 's a Rolls.'
'Ob, I don' t think he makes much money, ' sl:e
replied. 'but J fancy she has a private income.'
' I wonder whether t he)' paid for it themselves or
whether her parents gave it to her,' he said.
She answered . ' Yes. they bought it a lter a !uck\'
week ",ith foot ball pools. But u for the car, I u n:t
speak definitely about that , though I t hi nk it is her;
rather tha n h is.'
.'1 know wh ich 01t he t wo I would sooner h ave. ' was
his comment.
II Complet e each of t he following sentences wit h t he
correc t form of the personal pronoun, choosi ng one
of the two in brackets:
( I) This parcel is for George anJ _ (I, me). (t ) h
t hat Mary eve r there? Yes, t hat 's - (her. she),
(]) -- Scots are always making jokes about ocr -
selves (we, us). (4) ) Iy ..... ife and - - have not been well
recent ly (I , me). (5) )[y uncle and aunt love animals.
Between - (they. them) u. ey 0 ,,",'Tl four d OI6 and
two cats. One cat was a present from my wife and - -
(I, me),
III Complete the followmg passage b'y means of personal
pronouns:
'This coming week-end my brother and - intend
to do a little motoring. BetwCfil -- -- have
bought a new Austin. - - 's a lively litt le car
'-- lucky people! I ve alwap wanted a car like
that. St ill, -- suppose - must remember the
Commandment . "- shalt not covet ' ".'
'- are very welcome t o come with --, __WI 1.
ring my brother up and tell -- t here will be t hree
of _ . Jessie and Doris have decided to spend t he
week-end together away from their men-folk, 50--
shall be leaving _ behind.'
'To covet _ to something that to :;mot her pen on
EXERCISES
I
>08 A CQmprehensive E'lglish Grammar Pro /lOI/ It S
""- \ ,1 \ f @ P OSSESSIVE
Possessive adjectives ar e iscussed on pages 14-5. They
can be used only before a noun or t he prop-word one. The
possessive pronoun, however, may st and alone. Here is a
of t he possessive adjectives and t he corresponding possessive
pronouns:
Pou t ssit,t AJj u tit,t Possessive Pronoun
That is my book. That book is mint .
That is y our book. That book is yoms,
Th at is his book. That book is his.
That is 1m book, That book is hu s.
That is ()t., book. That book is ours
That is thti r book. That book is tMlrs.
Hist ory has its lessons and fict ion has its.
VII I Write down all th e coll oquia l expressions y Oll know in
which t he pronou n ' it ' ca n be used i n an indefinit e
sense and explain the meaning of t he express ions ,
I X fa) Give an affirmative answer t o each of t he following
questions using t he constr uction with so.
(I) Ha ve we t ime t o fini sh t his same before goi ng to
(2) The Severn is Engla nd's lungest l iver, is n' t It ?
(3) Will it be fine tomorrow? (4) Will our examination
results come soon' (s) Is his salary 10,000 a year ?
(b) Suppl y a negative reply to eac h of t he following
\lAng th e verb, in brackets. If t wo fanns are possible
give both.
(I) Did t he)' catch t heir t rain yesterday? (be afraid)
('1 ) Shall we risk going out ....-itbcut umbrell as? {thmk)
(3) Very well , I wo n' t forget t o se nd you a card fr om
Puis. (hope) (4) Do you think :Mary will be successful'
(think) IS) A visa is no longer required t o ent er
France, is it ? (believe)
X Comrlete the followi ng sentences wi th ' one' or ' you'
as you think best .
(.j -- t old anot her and $0 the news got around
(z) - can' t make a silk purse oct of a sow's ear .
(3) Did you see that shooting st ar? It is t he t hird _
1 have seen (4) Have rOll heard this - ?
It's a very funny --. (S) ---,.. can always try t o do
a litt le better than - best .
,. ,
I

her . .
01 is t he only garden in t he lane t hat has oak t rees In It .
Ours I ,
ev hoUse IS olde r than,yolITs. .
'Th rook t ile bone from his dog: and gan " It to has.
" ,' I nw books gladly t o my friends and to yvll rs.
lenl , ' h
radar we went in our ear; ..we are In ' .
' \\'jlo strals lily pllrse st eals trash ; t ts something,
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave t o t housands.
(Shakespeare, OtMilo)
'Tht pt on?.!! nGti}is \'ery rarely used , but it could
be used fn such a sentence as :
TIlt cherry tree. its share of colour t o t he garden, and
the Wac tree gn'es lis.
The possessi\ 'e pronouns are used in such phrases. as:
wishes t o you and yours (= your family) from me
. , ., )
and millt (- my farm y .
amI 10 t he conn-ntion:!.1 ending t o let ters:
} ' ours sinr rrrl y; t nr1y 'Iaitbfullv.
f T IIE ' UOl; BU;
n itre is anot her pattern used with the possessive pronouns
i.e. of +possessive pronoun, e.g.
He is a friend of mi nt . (:-OT: ' a friend of me')
It Via." no fault of )'Ollrs t hat we mist ook t he way.
I gne him some plant s of mine in exchange for some of Il is.
For a similar const ruction used wit h a noun in t he possessive
case, see p.'lge 48.
Il lw ,", on ,,'
We have not ed the demonst rat ive adjectives, this, tll<lI and
their plural , these, thost used wit h nouns, e.g,
I want this car, not that car .
U these words arc used wit hout t he noun, they are demon-
pronouns, e.g.

;; ,
I possessive pronouns for the words in
It alics. In (5) a different verb too,
(1) are higher t han th, onts I gai ned (2)
l Ohn s sis ter has an even better post t han the A,
. olds. (3) You have some tine strawberries. T"', ,,"ts
In O1/r g(m u n are not so good. (.f) \\-'hkh cards shall we
use? Thou j'OU ,/>Ossen or IAey "' at, brou J.t
U) The coat she IS n Ol uf""l 10 .ll".. I .
II Replace the words in ital iCs by possessive or demon-
stratrve pronouns.
( I ) I like t his hat better t han tlte hat OlIU /lu,e Th
doC you s" h", is t he dog t hat saved my a
daught er: (3) My mothu '$ iitness was the reason for
n.ot coming. (,d J ohn is older t han James John is
eighteen and J am, s sixteen. /.5) Cuthbert is a Guards
offi cer, and as Gua,d, O'!fiCt'l' he ha!J to mai , .
rt d ' , ln aln n
ce am stan ard of living.
III t he foDCNoi ng, ghing reasons for " our correc-
l OllS: . " .
( I) I going out ..ith my wi fe and a friend of her
(2) ThIS parcel is {rom a friend of my father (3) D'd
you ,t ake book of me} It's strange t he
won eat It I , fond, I see you have no difficulty with
your s. (5) It s t hem who caused all the t rouble (6)
One not do such t hings if you wish to keep ,. 0 r
dignity. II
I V th,: appropriate dernonstratrve pronouns in
e followmg sentences. l;I \ing al ternat ive forms
where possible.
511d1I1S has t he meaning ' for example' , e.g.
11Iey a lot of fruit , such as lemons , etc.
Sf/cit as . withsome part of the verb to be, is sometimes used
with a depreclat.ory" or apologetic implication.
e.g- . , . .:
tie gave me,his hel p, stICh " S (meaning ' but it wasn't
ofrnuchuse ). ..",
I expect.his friends, such es t hey are, \\'-i ll the party.
)f)' services, Stich as they are, 'are at your disposal .
.: , ',"
-
Suc1l is a demonst rative pronoun or a demonst rative ad-
jecti
ve
. It is an ad jective in scntencas like: ,
1haw had SUcll a busy morning.
You shouldn' t say such t hings.
Xote t hat when the indefi nite article is used wit h slleh.
article comes after, not before, sud.
I never saw such wonder[utstaiotd glass as t hat at Chart re s
They are srlch clever people.
Don' t be in sl4l:h a hu rry.
It's difficult t o work indoors on such a lovely day.
It is a pronoun in:
John is t he capt ai n of t he team, and, as mch, must decide
who is t o bat first .
His carelessness is such as t o make it unlikely that he wi !
pass the examination .
SI4l:Ii is life!
1I0 , I COlllprdl,'/uh'l E/lgli sh Gfll lIlll1a r
' H is is what I wa nt you t o do.' ' Well, I
did: Why are you tell ing me all tltis? T hat' s an excellent
idea , T his is where I live. This is my brother ; and tltese are
my t wo sist ers. Are tlwse your .sisters? I believe you: but
there are those who wouldn't. My seat was next t o' that 01
t he Mayor. Compare Chopin' s waltze s with those of t oday,
ThC5t pronouns, besides t aking t he place of a noun, suggest
the idea of a positi on wit h regar d' t o t he speaker , this {thest j
bei ng nearer in space or ti me, that (t1l0s/) being more dist ant ,
e g. J.
There is t his scat here, near me, or t here is t hat one'in t!le
fourth row.. \\'hich will you have . this or thtlt.
J
Thill is what I thought last year, this is what 1 think now.
The (an t ler and the laller may also be regarded as demon-
st ranv e pronouns. (See also p. 7
6
.)
The orch<-st ra played two Beethoven Symphonies, t he Third
and t he Fifth ; t he f ormiT was played magnifi cent ly; the
l"lter was not so well done,
, "".' : .l" J
\ .-.j ". ' .. .\ Pronouns IIJ
/ ' t o case form of t he personal pronouns of the third
persoh. ThE1for ms are:

,
, .' .
'. ":,
r-r
, ,.J
'il " " ..' '.;
"
,
, n.
..
; : {. ; i'
,"
!J:!, :
Singular Plural
, ,
ue -.. ';
I ' I - -

,
"
, rst .personjj
"
myself
I
oursel ves
,
2nd person: J,: , yourself (thyself)
I
yourselves
,
:' 3rd perscn'." himsel f
f
"
r
"
r.]
herself th emselves
, ,
"
.,
itself
'..- .1 , one self , .;
,
' '' ' 1' " ( " "' - "
: "' ,',: These' pronouns have two functions. They can be
'!l' . -{a) Reflexive . -.fb) Emphas izing,
A HEFLEXIVE PRONOUN ind icates t hat t he action expressed
t he p<\Sses rom c subject back again to the subjec t and
not t oanyother person or t hing. I n other words t he person
denot edby the subj ect and the person denoted bv t he object
ate':identical. .Examples:
;'f am' t eacnln g myself Lat in, " c
ffe'sh!:l.\ 'es himself every morning. o, vs ,
Tire visirers helped themselves to the cakes.
Shesew he'rself in t he looking-glass."
One should t ry to see oneself as others see one.
fti s: aplty we can't sec ourselves as others set' us.
There is so.rrtuch noise I can hard ly hear mYSt!fj spe ak .
Make yourselves at home.
'The cl imat e makes t he English so dirty th at t hey have t o
be perpetuall y wash ing themselves'.' .
(Shaw, Arms and the ,'v[0 1l )
'The-reflexive pronou n may have eit her a strong stress or
a weakstress. I t has th e strong stress when a contrast is stated
or implioed"e,g.'.. L.
, She thinks onl y abou t herself, never of ot her people.
Little Alber t said, ' I don't need nurse to wash me; I can
wash mys.elf, now.'
"
,
J ; J
( I V.\ EFLEXI VE A:- D PHO:-OUNS
The' self pronouns' are formed by adding -self (plural -seltles;
t o the possessive ad ject ives of the first and second person, ano
III A ComprchcJl siw E11gl ish (,mm mar
(,) __ are more expensive t han - but they are
worth the extra monev. (2) - is the best way to
Jearn English. (3) Here is 5, but - .is ali I can
for you. (4) The University of Durham IS the oldest m
England after - of Oxford and Cambridge. (5)
'Figaro' and t he 'Barber' contain t he sam.e.characters
bot _ _ is by Mozar t and - by RossIni.
V Ident ify the possessive and demonst rat ive pronouns
in t he following IJassage:
His father and mine have offices in. same
building, Ours is on the first fl oor. but t heirs IS on the
fourth . That is the building. o" er there, an d the
windows just above t he mai n <1oo.r are those of my
father's offi ce but you cannot see hIS bc<.:.ause .they are
at the back. There are two entrances, tbis which IS for
visi tors and that at the side for goods. bnt t hose who
know the building often enter by either.
VI Complet e the following sentences with possessive or
demonstrat ive pronouns.
(I) ' _ were the days' is a popular B. RC. pro-
gramme. (2) \ ....hat with - - and - , I .hav.e been
very busy all day. (3) One idea, of 1.S tha,t
' \ "lhat' s _ is _ and what s - IS own .
(4) 'Here's t o you and - and me and - IS a; good
t oast. (5) That careless driver has had an accident:
_ what I expected t o llappen..
VII Construct sentences using the following words as
(a) pronouns, (b) adjecti ves: his, those, former, that,
such.
VIII Say whether 'such' in the following sentenc es is used
as adjective or pronoun.
(I) Such men are dangerous. (2) Hi s courage is such
t hat he does not know the meaning of fe.a.r. (3) xteoy
spor ts, such as climbing, skiing an.d sailing, call be
practi sed in Switzerland. (4) George ISsuch a thought-
ful person; he is always helpmg people. C..)
areas are generally dirt}', and of such, alas. t here are
many i n England.
114 A Eliglish Grammar
In the foJl owing sentence the reflexive pronouns have a weak
stress:
Little Albert is only four, but he can feed himself, wash
himself and dress himself.
-The reflexive pronoun can be:
-(Ii) a direct object as in most of the examplrs above.
.-(b) an indirect object , e.g.
You have given y ourselves a great deal of work. I told
myself there was not hing to be afraid of. He cooked himself
a good meal. She bought herself a new hat,
-(c) part of the predicat e of the verb to be, in which case it
always has a st rong stress:
If he has a holiday at the seaside he will soon be himself
Ah, that's better. You are y ourself again. '
-(il) used after a preposition, e,g.
She looked at herself in the looking-glass. What have you t o
say for you rsdf? I want a little ti me to myself She loves me
for mysdf, not for my money. He ought to be ashamed of
himself. Speak for yourself. This is str ictly between ourselves,
George is very pleased with himsdf. He works for himself ,
not for an employer.
But if there is no doubt about the identity of the person
denoted by the pronoun, the simple, not t he reflexive form of
the pronoun is used after a preposition, e.g.
He t ook food for the day with him. She shut the door
behind her. \Ve have the whole day before us. He put the
thought from him. They stood on the cliff looking about
them.
The reflexive pronoun is sometimes used instead of the
ordi nary personal pronoun for added clearness of meaning, e.g.
She suspected that they recognized her sister but not herulf.
and sometimes because, perhaps, the <sell' form is vaguely felt
t o be more polite-or perhaps because the speaker is not qui te
sure whether the correct pronoun should be I or me, e.g.
My wife and mysdfwere invited to the party.
There was an invi tation to my wife and myself.
Pronouns I I 5
The -self especially myself , is occasionall y used
where the ordinary personal pronoun would also be possible:
My brother is as old as myself.
That argum.ent is repugnant to a lawyer like myself.
No one realizes that more than myself.
'Cole.rid?e and.my self walked back to Xcthor Stowey that
evening (Hazlllt).
\\:tet her the enemy defeats us or not depends upon ourselves
DId anyone see him besides yourself? .
The : s.clf in the last two examples seems to be em-
phasizing (i.e.... ' depends upon us ourselves' - ' besides you
yourself' ),
fl-' ERBS USED REFLEX IVELY'
A few.verbs are practically always used reflexively:
I -pride always having- a tidy garden,
He availed Jmnself of t he opport unit y to speak to her.
All the students absented [seb'sent id] themsetves from t he
class.
Some are reflexive in certain senses, e,g.
I hope the children will behave themselves,
They acquitted themselves well.
I hope y?U\\'.ill mjoy yourself at the party.
He app:ltd himself to t he task of organizing the finances of
the Company.
The verbs acquit, enjoy, behave and apply can be used non- ..
reflexively:
The judge acquitted the prisoner.
I enjoyed the concert very much
He applied a hot poult ice to the 'sore foot.
The children very well.
Occasionally the reflexive pronoun is used In a reciprocal
sense:
They were busy arguing among themsdt,cs (= with each
other).
I But In the well-known poem of Clough there is the line' 'Sa . n
the struggle nought (Juiltill', where the verb is I'lOt used
--
{Wll ol
Who is used only for persons. It mar be si ngular or plural
and may be used to stand for a mascuhne noun or a femi nine
one. e.g.
'Who spil t ti le ink? ' ' Henry did.'
' W ho can answer t hat questi on?' ' :'Il ary can.'
Who is t hc nominat ive form; t he objective form is ;AIOPl/, eg,
'Who(m ) dill you see?' ' I saw George.'
' To IdIOm did you give the letter ?' (W lw( m) did \ ' OU give the
letter t o') .
(Who", is. t he, Iorrn and is preferred in writing In
con\:ersat lon It IS generally replaced by 11'ho unless it im-
medint clv follows a preposinon]
Who broke that window?
Which do you prefer , dry sherry or sweet sherry?
W hat have you wri tten? .
W hose arc t hese gloves?
Who(m) di d yo u sec
The int errogat ive pron ouns are invariable for gender .md
I'lumber. So t hc answe r t o t he question ' Who broke t h "
d
, be ' H ' (1 ... e ... m-
ow. : c!Iry . I'lSm li nt , Sillgular) or: ' Henry and
p lasm.!'''t, ::'I lary' (Ft llli lli"e, Sing"l",)
or. :'Ira'! and Elizabet h (f .:mUl lPrt Plum'" or' ' H" , d
"
' ( If J ' F . . ' -r v- . enrv all
. ary . '!SCl me, If we say: ' Here are "some
apples; whICh WOW? you lik e?' we may be offeri ng one or more
nne..If we .\\'151. 1 t o t he number of Id'ich clear, t he
[nt errcgat tve adj ective WIth one or olles must he used, e.g.
:Herc are some apples; O'le woul d you like?' (S i llgu/a,)
Here are some apples: u'h,cll " PIes would you like?' (Plla"Z)
)'\ot e d ie interrogat ive can int roduce a direct questi on
or an indirect one:
' What happened after t hat ?' (Direct)
He asked me u:hat had happened after t hat . (/ ndir((t)
' Who is going t o the party?' (Dimt)
He asked me ;rho was goi ng t o the part v. (h rdirt ((l
llO A Eliglish C;r,lIJlIJ lolr
I I HI. exactly t he same
form as t he ref le xi ve pronouns1)ut t heir function is different .
They are always st rongly st ressed and t hey are used for the
sake of emphasis; generally to point out a cont rast such as:
You yourself {i.e. ' you and not anyone else' ) told me t he
story,
The emphasizing pronoun can go, as in the sentence above,
after the word for which it st ands, but it is usually placed at
t he end of t he sentence, e.g:
I saw him do it my self.
The Duke piloted the plane himself.
x ever leave t o oth ers what rou ought t o do )'oll rsdj.
In t hese and similar sentences t he person denoted by t he
subj ect and t he person denoted by t he obj ect arc not identical.
The emphasizing pronouns (but not th e reflexive ones) could
be omi tted without destroying t he sense of t he sentence.
Someti mes emphasizing pronouns have t he meaning 'alone' or
'without help' . in which case th ey generally have b:>' with them:
This is a machine t hat works by itself.
The lit tle girl travelled from l ondon t o Xew York by herst/f.
All can be used with t his const ruction as an intensifying word:
Don't you feel lonely living here all b:>' ! (Jf lfsdP
The meaning 'wi thout hel p' can be suggested wit hout by, e g,
You can't do all t he work >'ctmdf in a garden as big as t his
He tried t o move t he piano into the ot her room himself. bu:
couldn' t manage it.
Finally, we may note examples like:
Shakespeare hi mstlf (= even Shakespeare) never wrote a
better line t han t hat .
It was a port rait t hat Reynolds Itimstlf ( = no less a pa int er
th an Reynolds) might have painted.
0 1:\ TEHROGAT1VE PRO:-; Ot: :-; St
The I nterrogative Pronouns are !i:h" (!i'hom, lrhose), !i'hid:,
uhat , They are used in forming questions and t he)' always
precede t he verb, e.g.
P r 0 1l QUIl $
"7

II :::' :t COlll prrhl ll5ive English GMIIlmaT

Xcte t he difference in construction between t he use of him
and to:JIO{m) as indirect objects. With u:hQ(m) t he prepositi on is
always necessarv, with him it may be omitted. ' To wh om did
they give the pri 'ze? ' or 'Wlio(m) did t hey give t he prize t o?'
'They gave him the prize:
The possessive form is lJ.'hosr, e.g.
Wh ose arc t hese gloves amlwhosl is this umbrella?

" 9
Pronouns
or: .
'lfh4fs he lIIu as a pianist ?' ' Oh, he' s not very good.'
or
'Wllats his wor k li kr?' ' It :s qui te good.'
j WH:\T .... Sll WHICH]
C'lI lcliI
WhIch is used for and ......rsons . I
bi I I - . " ar or 1,1',''1
or 0 jcct . t las 110 possessive case. "'. ,
. . ( WHO .\S ll WlIlU11
. ',here IS a different implication in each of t hese ,
sen cnccs : .,.. wo
(a) would like t o come for a game of footb 11>
(II) IH ICh of ) ' OU . ld lik a .
\\ ou I 'C to come for a s ame of foot ba ll)
In (a) the speaker is ed .
(II) he is only Pdrepar t o t ake all who wish t o come' in
prepare t o t ake a certain number , '
. O.... nRR" ( ; ....
The rnterroganvo di ,
gat ivc pro . a jecuves corresponding' t o the iuterro-
h nouns are whose utuu -h ' I Lik I . .
I CYarc'im'ariable TI ' ,U I C I . Ie aJ adjectives
. ley can be used for persons (masculine
What is used when we make a selection f
. . _.. L. . rom a more or less
unhtrllh:u numcer: UO"fC/l IS used t o present, hoi f
. it durn' " TI hoi c crcc rom a
111m en ...., rc c oice WI th {;'hid, is u .u llv . d
explicit by 'wh ich of ', e.g. " "a rna e more
Whl:ch of. you boys can' t do t his exercise?
IVlltch WIll you have, t ea or coffee?

you taking in your c.'\;amination " 'I'm t a kill'

ng!S , "rench, and German.' .
:n :hic!1 t hem is your best 'English.'
II hat you l ike t o study in next rear's literature
course: A Shakespeare play,'
'very Sood; which would you like?'
may be singular or
no . possessive form
used for tnmgs. It
object. and It has
What is general ly
plural. subject or
Examples:
Whi.lt is t lllS? Whal ate those strange objects)
WI!>ll is his namejao.drcss/tclephone nu mber?
The disti nction between uil o (Icr persons) and U'hat (for t hings)
can be seen clearly in t he sentences:
' Who broke tl e window?' and: ' What br oke t he window?'
' U"/,(i Ul did y lll! sec?' and: 'Whol t did you see!'
Jl'hat can stand for an act ivuy, in 'which case the answer will
be usuatly a verb III t he -Ing Iorru, e.g.
-a-hnt are yuu doing ?' TIO ch-aning car.' "
' Wh"l"s that thill g forr "l t's for punching holes ill paper.'
but the answer ma v contai n another 101 m of t he verb, e.g.
'H"hat have you done?" ' I' ve knocked the vase off the t able.'
What is used also to ask for a person' s profession . etc.. e g
'H"hut is t hat man talking to your lather: ' ' He' s a lawyer fa
garde ner,',) \ temher of Parliament.'
"S at e the dirfer cnce between t his and: 'Who is that man talking
t o your father?' T o such a quest ion the answer would be: 'He
is - '
Bot h forms ale seen in:
J den' t knew u ho or u'h,lt he is ; and I don't care.
"vote, too, the const n tct ion: Wh.It .. - liJu? e.g.
What is I e li ke" To which t he answer might be:
He ra I, rlo. and handsome.'
I
I
,
,
120 A COlllprcholsil'C Gramllwr
or feminine] or Jor t hings, They can he part of t he subject Or
of t he obj ect and can be followed by a singul ar verb or a plur al
0111', E.t ampl rs:
( WHOSE I
WIIOS,:far is that? Whose little boy (t:lhos"lit tle girl ) are you;
11' /' 05<, house did y OIl like?
What places did you see? What class docs Professor Gr e\"
t ake ? II'hat assistants has he ? What man or womuu
could have done more? What work have you done?
In quest ions t hat ask about the nature of a t hing or person
we generally use, ' Wh41 kind of?' ' 1I"hat sort of?' e.g.
Whal ki n.d of chocolat es do you like best ?
tl'hal sorl of a girl is she?
\ wUlCul
H"lii ch boy (girl) has (uhich bop/gi rls/h ave) answered
correctly all th e ques tions?
Which eye was injured, his right or his left ?
Which apples did you grow yourself?
The remark about t he interrogative pronouns u'hat and
uhid. (page IJ 9J applies also t o t hll. corresponding jnt cr-
rogat ive adjectives. e.g.
' What subjec ts are you t aking in your examinati on?'
' English , French and German. '
' What play would you li ke t o st udy next t erm)'
' Which subject is your best one?' ' English.'
'What play would you li ke t o study next t erm?' ' One 0:
Shaw's.' ' Very good; uJ:rch play would you li ke?'
{ EmphM!C Fonns'
Ever is added t o Ii'hat or uho or uhich usuall y t o
more emphaticall y a Ieelmgof surprise, anger, indignation, et c
Who ever can be calling a t t his t ime of nigh t?
Who ever heard of such a silly ide a?

Pronouns
What tfier were you thinking of t o sugges t such a plan?
' He gets up at five o'clock every morning.' 'What tfJer ror ?'
I
word rocr here has a meaning like ' on eart h' , ' in t he
T"
....orld' .
' I EXf' Rl,SSIO;\, s I
Some idiomat ic expressions wit h l..ho, Ii:hicls , u'h;Jt (not
nrcessari1y as interrogat ives) are:
What about a cigaret te/somethi ng t o eat , et c? (= would you
like; shall we have . . .)
Oh! There' s IVlIat'S-his-n4me.} said when you cannot
It's a wMt-do-y ou-taIl. it . remember t he name.
What ",th high prices, high t axat ion and low wages he'<
very badly ofL
It wassodark I couldn't uas uho.
The t .....o twins are so alike I can' t tell whu.h is whi, h (Of
d o is tf'ho).
I don't know anyone at t his part y; you must t ell me lr/,os
....
You' ll fi nd his name in Ir ho's n-'Iso ( = a reference book of
contemporary biography).
He's a clever fellow; he knov..s w/ud'$ what (= what is good,
useful, profitable, et c. from what is not).
EXEUCI SES
I Ident ify the 'sel f' pronouns in the following sent ences
as refl exive or emphasizing.
(I) The Archbishop himself preached t he sermon.
(2) I made this myself but it was you yourself who
gave me th e idea. (l) !>1ake yourself at home and help
yourself to anything you fa ncy. (4) If you want a job
well done. do it yourself. (s) Brown doesn't seem verv
well t hese days" Xo, he has not been himself for sorne
time. (6) The thieves quarrelled among themselves
about t he division of the booty. (7) He's a conc eited
young ma n and t hinks t oo highly of himself. (8) Your
auceess in li fe depends very la rgel y on yourself.
{'J) The ) ti nist ('r himself sig-ned the letter.

v Ii COllst ruct sentences t o illu stra te t he use of em-

pronouns i n t he sense of 'alone' , 'even ' and
'al50 , Where possible. gl" e t wo forms-e-wit h and
without the preposit ion 'by',
vIII Deline the -self p ronouns in t he foll o\\;ng:
( I ) He is himself a good player , but his son even
better when he is really h imself. (z) Sh e made t hat
d reM herself While she wa s living by herself. (3) Wh a t
would you yourself do in such ci rcumstances? (4)
Especia lly if you h ad r-aused t hose circumsta nces
ynurself. (5) The heirs q ua rrelled among t hemselves
a bout t he terms of the will .
I X Supply the interroga tive words necessary from
the wo rds 11:40, 11...11 0111 , ",",ose, ti:IHII, to complete
the followinl: sen tences:
(1)- are you st udying at school? _ is the
quickest ....ay from here to t he Bank ? (3) _ is t he
horse that won the r ace ? (4 ) -- d id vou meet at th e
party last night ? (5) --d o y ou tinl easier t o learn,
Engl ish or German ?
X Ask q uestions t o h ich t he following sta tements are
anSVo'eTl (the key ords in each a nswer a re in it alics.
Only interrogative pronouns or i nterroga tive ad-
t o be used .)
(I ) It was Peter tha t gave t he news . h ) It was Pt tn
they chose . (3) That is Peter ; t he other 00)' is his
brother , (4) It' s a book: on " aflmd 1ai!lory t hat I'm
reading, (5) [ ' m st udying .' I OOn n Languages. (6) ..\1
[ Umversity}. (1) Those gloves belong to me.
(SI This parcel is from Illy aunt. (9) Henry "nd .u"r)'
are Get ting married tomorrow. ( 10) Henry and
are ,ettin, _ rri t d tomorrow. ( II) That 's .\fr.
Sliwlldt,S. (n ) Tha t ' s Ii kttv-bo:r. (131 That ' s post-
rnlill . (14) Ch arles is iJ p OSlotlllll . (15) I ' ll take Iht ytflou'
O1Ie, (16) l t' l Ht nry II l1d .\farY'$ that 's
place tomorrow. (171 He's shorl ll"d Il l bby, 1a1iJi a 5" rrdy
mow$lad e, Ii u:adJle a nd a foul It mpt r. (t S) I like
'Ihrillers' best .
XI Expr ess idiomaticall y by use o f ' wha t ', 'who', or
' whic h' the word s in i talics:
( I ) ShaU IL't hlll'e a game of d ar ts ! (1) Le t 's look in th ..
paper to lind out the fi l",s a nd play s U't mlghl itt
In Lo ndon. (3) father knows II good lhi llg u'hetl h,
1
A Comp rehensive English Grillllmar
II Make a list of English verbs wh ich are always used
reflex ively and construct one sen tence for each Verb
illustrat inl!" it s use.
111 (uj ) Iake sen tences. USillf.: cad , of t hc>c vcr!>s twice,
once in t ra ns it ively a nd once refl exi vely:
was h; shave: dress; move: bell a , 'e; stop.
(b) Form sentences, usinl: these ver bs first non,
reflex ively and t ransitively a nd then reflex ively:
faru::y; a pply; acquit ; enjoy; prove; se ttle; ackno..... _
ledge; make; st rain; call; consider.
1\ Fill in t he blanks with pronouns ending in -sell or
-sl1l:ts , Say wheth er t hey are emphatic or reflexive,
and, in the case of refl exive pronouns, whether t hey
a re direct or indirec t obj ects: -
( I) I shall do the job --. The Headmaster -
will ta ke this part jcular lesson. (3) She stood admiring
_ in fron t 01t he miTror, (4) Wh y don't you go -
b ) They think - clever. (6) Look a fter - , (1) We
gave - - a lot of trouble. (8) The Duke, piloting the
plane _ , took oft amidst lou d cheers. The Duke
took _ oft in hi gh dudgeon, (10) It' s t ime ) UIl got
- a new coat .
" I n the following sentences stat e which -stlf pronout:s
are strongly stressed and which are not:
( I I Ko one WiL$ t here except m)self. George
stopped h imself just in t ime. 0 )George's Wife,wli
nt on
,
b ut he himself stopped a nd stared. (4) The fa u.lt
in oursel ves, not in our stars. (5) He worked himself
to death, (6) He shaves h im.self; he trusts no barber.
( ) He shaves hi msel f at nigh t to save In t he
r:;orning. (8) The Queen herself is not at liberty t o do
that. (9) lS not feeling herself today, I
don' t think she will do herself any good by worrym g.
VI Complete the following sent ences ",; th phrases cons ist-
ing of t li.e preposition ' b y' together with an
pronoun, or with an emphatic pronoun alone _ ", h ac h
ever makes the better sense.
(I ) Poor Timothy looks so lonely, si ttin g a U - 1lI
the com er, (2) Were you q uite - y ou
t ook t his work ? I t is clear t hat you don t he !Ob.
(3) Were you qui te - in the church ? Didn t anyone
come in to list en to you playing? (4) .Did Jamu do
this work _ or di d h i! sister help h Im)
-
Pronoun s
l ZJ

I
124 A English Grammar
stU ONe , (4) Do you know wMch rOfes re sp" .
li lldy pl Qyi >lCJ (,5 ) One of t hese table nap kinS IS Yours
the ' ot her is mi ne; I can nol di sti >lguisA yours fr o';'
InJne.
XII Complete the foll owing sentences with interr oga nv,
pronouns or wi th idiomatic expressions usmg mten o.
gan ve p ronouns.
( I ) __made you t rust h im .....ith all 0 at money?
(2) I ' m absolutely parched. - - - a Pint 01 beer)
(3) I can' t remember wha t you cal l it . It's a - _
_ . You know wbat I mean, don't you ? (,,1 Tho
ot
girl s ar e so much alike that it " bard to
_ . {,51 '- 's - - ' is a reference book contammll;
the names of important people. (6) - - - t he
of tnffic outside and of typewriters in t he office, I can
bard ly hear myself speak. (7) - can possib:y be
knoc ki ng u la te u this?
@lll s DEn SITE
This is a group containing the pronouns:
some (-thing, -body, -01It'I) , any (-thing, -bod)', -one): all , '*'
1IMI<\' , no (-thing, -body , -one), n '"}' (-thin!: , -body, -enf),
anothf ' , mll,h, less, (01) fr.;, (OIl litJ!<!, each, rithr
neither.
Many of these words can also be used adjecti vally as Dete.
rninat tves (see Chapter 10), e.g.
Have you any matches? (Adj ectit'r). h k if. he has JlI;I
(Pr01lovOl). I wish I had some red roses n:US;
try to gro..... some next (Pronoun). 1?e.nohce said:
boys must be in school by 9 o'clock' But all Wei!
not there at nine o'clock (Pronoun). We aU like Thorap
son \'ery much (P1tloun). He t old me a lot of otlur t Jing;
that I can' t remember now (Adj u tire). Which one are yo:
going to choose, that one or the cilia? (P,olwun). At
party rlUh child was given an orange and a bag of
(Adj ective). Each of t hem was also given a present from tbe
Christmas tree (P, onoun).
I Ther e nQl1i tt:erenee in meaning or usage be t ween nobody - " , , ",
la...,body _ 1","1011' ; "nybody _ any01l I; ,,'. rybody _ 1l" ' yOn.

PrOJlCUIl S
0.5 ON SOME OF THE I NOEFIS ITE RONOtll':S
AND ADJECTIVES
' one or the other of two' ; neilher means ' not
an not ,the other' ; it. is rejectiof! of.both of .two, Both
tller and nnth<!r can be distributive adject ives or dist ributi ve
Both are singular in number, e,g.
t'jJM' of these machines is suit able for t ile work you want
done.
!'InlMr of my friends has come yet.
There is a train at 11.30 and one at 12.5: t ithe, train will get
you to in time for t he meeting (Adjtctit'e) , If you
don't want tltht, of those, there is anot her one at 10.30
(Pr01JOVOl ).
I have travelled by the 11.30 train and the 12.5 and neither
train had a restaurant car (Adjt ctive).
I am surprised that n<ith<!r of them had a restaurant
car. (PrOI\CllOl )
EiJhn Call cccasionallj- mean "one and the other of two:' c g.
He came down the road with a girl on either ann.
' On rolw side the river , lie
Long fields of barley and of rye.'-(Tennyson)
8
AUcan be used as pronoun or as adjective in the singular
or the plural. It is used-in the singular:
l1i) as a pronoun with the meaning of n:tr)'thil'lg, e.g.
wh en he saw his troops retreat, t he General cried, ' All is
lost. '
'AU's well that ends well.' ' AUis not gold t hat glitters.'
an adjective with t he meaning, ' the whole of' :
AU the money is spent . AU the world has heard of his name.
He worked hard all the t ime he was here. He spent all last
week in London. .
It is used in the plural as an adjective or as a pronoun, e.g.
All the pupils were present : (Adj ectiu) All are welcome.
116 A Comprehtn5ive Engli sh Grammar
(P ron oun) I don't like to speak before aU these people.
(Adjective ) He has written six novels and all of them are
good. (Pronoun)
When t he subject is a noun, all can precede it or follow it , e,g.
AU t he students agreed that the concert was good.
Th e students all agreed t hat t he concert was good.
If the Subject is a pronoun, all generally follows i t, e.g.
They all (but not' all they') agreed th at the concert was good .
( AU and EVERY I
All often has t he meaning of every. The const ruct ions are:
all +plural verb; every +singular verb, e.g.
That' s the sort of job that{all boys lik.e
every boy likes doing.
Th I
b k {all t he WindOWS} .
e exp 0510n ro e . d In the street.
tverywm ow
All the people were cheering loudly. Et'erybody was cheering
loudly.
The distinction between all and tvery is that in a sentence
li ke, ' All the boys were present' , we consider t he boys in a
mass; in the sentence, 'Every boy was present', we are thinking
of t he many individual boys that make ug the mass.
In addit ion to being a pronoun and an adject ive, (Ill is used
adverbially in such expressions as:
His face was all covered wit h blood. If you can finish t he
work by Wednesday inst ead of Thu rsday, that wi ll be al!
t he bet ter. Did you catch your train all right ? If it is all t he
same t o you, I'd rather go by car than by train.
EACH, EVERY, (-0:<0 10, -IJODY) \
Each and every also express totality and are usually called
DlSTRIBUTIVES. Each can be a pronoun or a determinative
adject ive. Every can only be an adjective; its pronominal t erms
are ewryolle, everybody , everything Each can be used when th e
total number referred to is two or more; every can be used only
when the total number exceeds two.

Pronouns
EACII as a pronoun:
Each must do his best, They each signed t he paper. ""1'
Brown came to the school wit h a bag of apples, and gave t he
boys t wo each. Each of t he boys has done his work.
EACH as an adjective:
Each man must do his best . Each person signed the paper.
He gave each boy t wo apples. Before choosing a pen, she
looked at cach one in turn.
EVERY as an adjective:
Every man must do his best. Every person signed the paper.
He gave every boy two apples. Everyone of t he boys ha s
done his work. ' Every cloud has a silver lining.'
, PHONOMIN,\I. F ORMS OF every l
Everyone knows t hat Rome is t he capital of Italy, He t old
everyone th at he was a lord. Every body was disappointed t ha t
you could not come. Everything he says is true . Evay/hill;':
in the house was destroyed by fire,
Not ice t hat cach, every , everyone, ecerybody, tL,tfythillC take a
SI:-ICVT. ...Uverb.
Observe t he differ ence between ' everyone' [tevriwan], which
can be used only for persons, and ' every one' [revr i 'WAn].
which can be used also to speak of things, e.g. She has kept
every one of my letters.
( EACH and EVERy l
There arc some differences in meaning and usage between
'<fch and every as adjectives. ".
The feeling of ' distribut ion' is stronger in each t han in every.
EVfry tends to gather t he separate items into a whole; (Ilch
focuses attention on t hem individually find so tends to disperse
the unity. This can be seen if we consider the sentences:
I visited him (l'cry day while he was in hospit al.
aIHI: I vi sited him eflch day while he was in hospital.

128 A Comprehensive Ene/ish Grammar

Note. t oo, t he following idiomatic uses of nlery:
The cheaper paper is n'")' bit as good as the dearer one
.. ' tv")' inch a king' (Shakespeare, Kit1k Lt ar). He is tvtr)"
inch a gentleman. You have tvery right to be angry. There
is every reason to think he is speaking the truth.
In none of these could each replace tvt ry. Xor could eMn ~
used in such phrases as:
'every other day' . ' (Very tw o days' . ' (Very no..... and then' .
~ o t e the t.....~ meanings of t he phrase 'every ot her day' , the
difference being indicated by a difference of intonation and
stress, e.g.
(a) ' I go there every other day' [evri Ati;J 'dei] means I go
on alternate days (e.g. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
Sunday).
(b) 'we have a lesson on Monday, but en every other day
[evri ' A ~ ; 1 dei] there are no lessons' , means ' there are no
lessons on all the ot her days' .
( BOTH )
BtHh, like all, as a pronoun or as an adjective, indicat es
totality, but is applied t o only two persons or things. It is
used only before plural nouns, and takes : plural verb.
Both can be a pronoun or a determinative adjective.I
Bolh as a pronoun:
I have two brothers: t hey are both engineers.
I don't know which book is the better; I shall read both. .
: Which of the two girls is he in love wit h?' ' Bothl :
Both as an adjective:
Boln his legs were broken in the accident. There arc house,
on both sides of the street . Bolh (the) men were found guilty.
Both is used adverbially in such a sentence as:
The book is both useful and amusing.
I For t h.e potihoo ollA/.1J as a determlll ative. see p. 53

Pronouns
t SOMEI (-THISG, - nODY, -OSI::I
I Som4has the following uses:
(!) Ai an adjecti ve or a pronoun it is used before, or to
refer to, uncountable nouns and plural nouns, to express an
indefinite quant ity or number. As an adjective, t he weak form
[sam] is generally used; as a pronoun, the strong form (s..un].
Examples:
(A dj tct ille) He wants some money. I have spilt some ink on
the table. There are some co.....s in the field.
(P, onoulI) I hadn't any cigarettes, so I went out to buy
some , If you have no money I will lend you some.
6) As an adjective or a pronoun it is used before, or to
reTer t o, uncountable nouns and plural nouns to suggest
contrast . Both adjective and pronoun are pronounced [sam].
Examples: .
(Adjective) Some people hate cats; others dislike dogs. I
enjoy some music, but much of it bores me.
(Pronosm ) Some of us agree w-ith that statement ; some
disagree. Not all your answers were correct; some were, some
were not. ' Some are born great , some achieve greatness and
some have greatness thrust upon t hem' . (Shakespeare)
tr.. As an adjecti ve onl?: it is used before singular count able
n<rons with themeaning a particular. but unidentified person,
or thing' (often with derogatory meaning). With thi s meaning it
is always pronounced [sam]. Examples:
Some fool had left the lawn-mower on the garden path , and
in the dark I fell over it . He arrived with some old book that
he had picked up at a second-hand book-shop.
Sot>Uthi71l and some ts..un] '[the latter before a numeral) have
t he meaning ' approximately' , e.g.
I 'll whistle the tune for you; it goes somd llinc like t his.
It happened some twenty years ago.
It will t ake some t hree or four t housand pounds to rebuild
the house.

,
Note the difference in meaning between the sentences:
Richard is older t han stmu of the other boys in his class
( = he is not the youngest, but he is not the oldest).
Richard is 01der than any of the other boys in his class
(= he is the oldest),
That fi rm does more business than some of its competitors
(= a number of, but not all).
That firm does more business than any of its competitors

A general rough, and ready, distinct ion between some and all)'
is that some is used in affirmat ive sentences, any in int ern)'
gat ive and negative sentences, e.g.
13
0
A Eng/i sJ, Gra mPPl4r
IASY (-THI NG, -BODY . -oSE) 1
<:D Any, used emphatically, has the general meanin
doesn't matter who, which or what ' , e.g. g, 'it
a.ny day you like. Get me some cigarettes, please; '"
kind ....'111 do. A fly student can answer the question. He ' II)
man who will do anything for money. You must gi\'e
lS l
excuse for not going; any excuse will do. I have any
of ("'" a great many) small plants in my garden; I will giv
you as many as you want . e
@.Any used unemphat ically bas the same meaning as
(1. above); but see below.
Q) A"y can be used with a singular countable or uncOuntablt
noun or a plural one, e.g.
Any sane person would have acted as you did.
Haven't you any work t o do?
Are there a"y cows in the field?
6) .A fl y is used adver bially in such sentences as :
I am sorry to say he isn' t a"y better.
I couldn' t come any sooner.
In spite of your careful explanation, I don' t think he is all )
the wiser. .

' 3'
PrQnC14ns
am looking for some matches (Affi rmative).
k'e yoU a"y matches? {Interrogative].
any matches (Negative).
I re is someone in the room (Affi rmat ive).
a"JO"' e in t he room? (Interrogative),
re isn't a"y01l( in the room (Negative).
Th:re's sDllUthing I want to ask you (Affirmative).
I there anything you want to ask me? (Int errogati ve),
isn't anything I want to ask you (Negative).
gati\'e meaning may be conveyed by words like never,
etc., in which case lJ"y is used, e.g.
ile had any luck.
He worked hard but u:i/hOflt a"y success.
.\.n meaning is sometimes conveyed by a con-
ditional clause, m which case also any IS used, e.g.
If there are lJ " y good apples in the shop, bring me two
pounds. . . .
Moreenr, some as well as IJny can be used m interrogative
sentences; it depends on the reply e.xpected. If. the reply
expected is ' Yes', we tend to use sOllie m the quest ton. e.g.
' Didn't you put some matches in your pocket ?' has the
mtaning: 'I' m almost sure 1 saw you put some matches in
)' QUI" pocket : Or: ' You put some matches in your pocket ,
didn't you?'
The question: ' Are you expecting someone this aftemoon?'
expects the answer ' Yes' , If the ' Ko' were
the question would be: 'Are you expecting anyo"e t his after-
noon? '
similarly:
' Is s(mUD'lt coming this afternoon?' (implication: ' I see tha t
preparations are being made.')
' Have you lost somelhil1g? ' (' You seem to be searching.')
The same conditi ons apply t o the adverbs somc,phae, an)'U'here:
' Have you seen him before (' 'You seem to
recognize him.')
,\ gain, if the question is really a request , an invitation, or a
command in the form of a questi on, some is used, e.g.

tSOME and AOSY 1

PrcnollllS
I
13Z A Co,.,prehm slve English Grammar
Will you ask .scmeone t o carry this bag for me. please?
"fay I give you wme more tea?
Won 't you t ry some of this cake?
Could you let me have some money, father?
(so, S OTHI SG 1'"OBODY, NO O",E, l'W l' E ]
The determinat ive no is only used attributively and has u
" ,
meanmg not any. e.g.
There is no (t here isn't any) salt on t he t able, and no
aren't any) glasses
.... 0 smoking all owed.'
..,,'0has the meaning ' not a' in such sentences as:
He is 110 hero.
,'\' olhi "C can be replaced by 1IOt
l
an)'thi"C; PWbody (or no Olk
by 'lol l aftybody (-one), except .....hen t hey are t he subject of
sentence.
Th ere ..... as nothi ftg (wasn' t anythillg) in t he shop th at I
t o buy,
Can no one (Can' t anyone) answer the question?
There' s nobody (There isn't any body ) in t he room.
N obody and no one are used of persons; none is used of pe rscrs
and t hings. e.g.

S o one came t o the class. There was noOOdy in the room.
I want ed some more coffee but t here was " one lef t .
NOM is a pronoun and is equivalent t o 'not cne'or ' not any' ,e g.
Sene of his pupils failed their exami nation.
' How many fish did you cat ch?' ,V one.'
' Sone so blind as t hose who will not see.' (Proverb)
Nobody, nothing and no one are singul ar in number and.m
used with a singular verb,
None is used wit h a si ngular or with a plural verb, e.g.
None of us is perfect ; we all make mistakes.
' There are nOlle so deaf as those who will not hear.' (Pro;'(Tb;
'owt ....ill generall y be in t he contracte<1 form and attached t o !te
a ppropriat e Spec:i.:1l Finit e. This is t he 11.$....1 " r. c ..
convc.......l ion.
' 33
The singular verb wit h nOll e is considered by some grammarians
to be t he more correct,
None, noJlliflg, nobody , no c"e are frequent ly used in 'short
answers' . e.g.
'How manyof t he exercises did you get right ?'
.""opu:
speaking, t he, notlli"g and no"e
is that m shor t answers not hing might be th e reply t o a
question beginn ing ' What? ' or ' Who? ' whereas ' none' might
be the reply t o one beginning ' How many?' or ' How much )'
The same distinction applies t o tl obody and nOne. e.g. '
' 1V1lat is on th e t able?' ' Notlling:
' Hw maMy books are on the table?'
' Who is in t he dining-room?' ' Nobody (no one).'
' HOII MaftY people are in t he dining-room?' ' .\'()tIe.'
'HOII much pet rol is t here in t he car?' '",,,'011el'
No, sometAi"g. fl othiMg can also be used adverbially, e.g.
He is no better and is st ill very ill.
It is nOfast er t o go th ere by t rain th an by car,
Nosooner had I let t he cat out of t he room t han she want ed
to come in again.
He is somethi"g like what hi s father was at t hat age.
Your work is nothing (isn' t any thi ng) li ke so good. as Henry 's.
It is a peculiarit y of tlOth at it can be used, as in th e above
three with . comparati ve form of an adject ive
not. with t he posruve (except with diiferrnt and cert am
Miiomat lC senses of good) or ....-jth superlative forms
l OTHER,
. 9lher .may be an adject ive or a pronoun . As an adjective it
;s invariable ; as a it is. count able and has t he plur al
arm others. When It IS used Wit h t he indefinit e article (all)
they are written as one word allother. '
The other (singular) means ' t he second of t wo' . ego
He held a sword in one hand and a pist ol in t he othu.
One of my brot hers is named Richard t he other is named
Frederick.
Each other and O7It {"rolher are used after t ransitive verbs to
express reciprocit y, i.e. t hat t he feeling or acti on I!> mutual.
Some grammarians make t he distinction t hat wit h edeh oiN'
t here are two people concerned, e.g.
The two sist ers love each other.
while with 07It arwther t here are more people concerned, e_g_
Li ttle children, love C'Ilt (lrwther.
This usage, however, is frequentl y not observed,
Note t he posit ion of the preposi ti ons when used with each
o/ntr and 07It (llIother.
They gave presents to each other.
They are very fond of one another.
134 A Comprehensive E,,lisn Grammar
wh en we got t o t hat rou ndabout we ought t o have taken
the other road.
The ot.\er(s) means the remaining (ones), e_g.
We got home by 6 o'clock, but the others didn' t get back
until about 8 o'clock.
The otlier guest s t hat we had ex pect ed didn't come.
Othtr(s) may simply mean 'different ' , 'addi tional', ' remaining',
e.g.
There are other ways of doing thi s exercise.
I have no other friend but you.
Some li ke milk chocolate, others prefer plain chocolat e.
AlI other means:
..(I).. ' an addit ional one' , e.g.
Joe is t erribly greedy; his host ess offered hi m another cake
but he t ook one cake, t hen allother and anotker, :Mr . BrO\\TI
al ready has two cars, and now he has bought allot,,"_
di fterent,pne' , es
The point of t his penci l is broken; can you lend me anolha ,
please?
On one day he will say one t hi ng and on allother day some-
t hi ng quit e different ,

' 35
Pronouns
EXERCISES
I F!11 blanJu; with indefinite pronouns.
dlStnbutive pronoun. or adjectives.
(I ) ' h t here - ink in t he po t ?' ' Xo, _ :
(2) Will you have - more tea ? There's plenty in
the pot.
() You don' t want - more cake. do you? I want
t o eave - for tomorrow,
(.) ' Are you doing - t onight ?' ' Xo, _ '.
(j ) Call - tell me the right t ime?
(6) Tell me - you know, and - will be well.
(7) we - know how hard you have wor ked. _
shares your joy at your success.
(8) - - are agreed that t he government has t aken a
bold decision.
(9) ' Who is in the corridor?' ' _ .'
(10) 'How - does that cost ?' ' Very _, only a few
pence. '
(II) Look at my hands; - is on the lable and t he
- - OIl m)' knee.
(n) Now they are - under t he table!
(I )) I have onl y t wo eyes; - are good, but if I had
six, I shoul d need them _ to supeniS<! t hose
chi ldren proper ly.
(14) ' \\'bich ann have I raised?' 'The lef t - .'
(Ij ) 'Which or my hands is in my pocke t ?' ._; t he y
are - on t he table.'
(16) ' \\'bich - do you want ?' '- will do.'
(17) There will be a prize for - of you.
(I S) --sat for the examination, but -- passed it.
(19) One man's meat is - 's poison.
(20) -- must look after lutnself.
(2J) 'Who is going t o t he lecture?' ' X _.'
(n) ' How - went last week?' ' X-!'
(2)) 'Have you - money]" ' Yes. - but not _ .'
II Use t hese words as adj ectives and as pronouns :
each; all ; either; some; anot her ; other (adject ive only);
others (pronoun only).
II I St at e t he part 01speech of the words in
(I) Don't leave all your books on t he fl oor. (2) EI"CTY
dog has his day. (ll Evtry ont of the eggs "as t l'acked.

l EACH OTHER, AS OTHER)

A C(mIpreJunsiw English Grammar
(..) EII,ryon, in that house is mad. (5) Ettry penny
count s; ead should try to con tribut e a t least OJU .
(61 EMil penny on the t able was given by a different
person . (7) Please all join In. (8) All t he gffi t lemen
were in e\'ening dress. (9) He ....as kind boIlI to his
equals and to his inferiors . (10) He was kind to bal h
his father and his mot her. (1I ) He was kind to bolh his
siste rs . (u ) He was both kind and generous. (13) This
may please som" but not all.
IV I nsert ' each' or ' every ' in the blanks, which ever is
more sui table.
(I) I take a lesson - - ot her da y. (2) This method is
- bit as good u the other. C31 On -- occasion he
has been la te. (..I He seizes - opportunity to get
away from the house. (5) - t ime you do that you
will be punished . (6) He shouted her name twice, -
time bangi ng his fist on the table.
V Correct or improve the following sentences:
(I) Which pullover will you have. t he green or the
blue? (2) brother has three children and my siste r
two ones . (3) We see us twice a week. (,d Mary has
any friends but her sister hall nothing. (5) !'\ooe of the
two boys is suitable for this post . (6) Both of these
boys is unsui table for thill post . (7) One of the laws of
Christ ianity ill: 'Love yourselves.'
VI Complet e the following sentences with ind efinite pro-
nouns or adjectives:

(I) I wanted - - of those nice red apples but t he
greengrocer hadn't _ . (2) \ Vi ll you have - suga r
in your tea? Yes, a - please. (3) These shoes ar e
almost worn out. I must buy _ new - - . (..) He is
a most obliging man; _ is t oo much trouble for
him. 1.5) I want two seats for t onight's concert. Have
yo, --? (6) We began our holiday with plenty of
money, but now we have hardl y - - t o get home
with. (7) :S-o member. were a bsent from the mee ting;
_ were present. (8) - of those present agreed
vdth the chairman. (9) There is little money in my
pocket and --In my banking account . (10) _ has
t aken my umbrella.
VII Conltruct sentences t o l1Justrate t he uses of 'all' as a.
pronoun and explain t he sense in which it is used in
tach sentence.
"HI Wbat a re the words opposi te in meaning t o the fol-
lowing:
JOmeone. none, anybod y, neither, each, everythi ng,
littl e, something, nothing, many.
If alternat ive forms are possible ment ion them.
IX Wh ich number (singula r or plural) ma y be used wit h
the followi ng pronouns or aujoctives? sent ences
to illustrate their use:
neither, every, both, nobody. none, another, all ,
some, any.
X Are the words in italics in the following sentences
ad jri"es or pronouns ?
(I) Have you allY pennies in your pocket? I need s_
for the t elephone. (2) ElI#ry child born in England
must be vaccinated. (3) Ead of the first t hree runners
received a prize. (..I I don't like ritller of t hese. Can
you show me some others? (5) Some people are born
clever, but many find study very diffi cul t .
XI Rewr it e the following sent ences so t hat t he same
sense is expressed with the words in italics used as
prceoans.
(I) Almost all boys like sport. (2) Ead guest received
a present . (3) I think the OI11#r books are more inter .
est ing than t hese. (..) E ll"'" road "ill take you to t he
rail....ay station. (5) Nnt1ler hotel had aev rooms
vacant . .
XII Complete t he followin g sentences and justify your
choice of the word s you usc. I f more than one word can
be used, explain in what senses.
(I) Do you t hink the postman has brough t _
letters today? (2) That bicycle must have cost _
about 25. () ) - succeeded, -failed, but _
had worked hard. C.. I Has - lost this purse? Yes.
- hu. but - ca n discover who. lJ}_ his
were broken in the &Cciden t . (6) If you haven't
make razor-blade, _ will do. (7) _ was
debghted Wlth the cruise. (8) What work is he doing l
He never does - . (9) There Is a penny in One of my
handl . Is it in t hi. - or the -I (to) _ knows
the trouble I ' ve t aken over this exercise.
XIII Comment on the use of the words in italicl In the
follOWing sentences;
--

' 39
Pronouns
badly th is season. The team. l1:hQ are just getting their
t ickets, will meet on the platform at 2.30.
Whi ch. is when t.he antecedent is a whole sentence, eg.
He Invited us to dinner, which was very kind of him.
(TII.ul
That is invariable (i.e. it may be nominative or objective
case, singular or plural number) and is used for persons or
things. Wh en used as a relative pronoun t},(l t is always pro-
nounced wit h the weak fonn [&t].
Shakespeare is the greatest poet that England has ever had.
The plays that he wrote han been perfonned in almost every
country in the world.
They live in a house that was built in 1600.
Have you everyt hing that you need?
That (not rrho or which) is used:
I'f'iih ft er an adjective in the superlative (including fi rsJ and
'ti$t ) and after most indefi nite pronouns, e.g.
Yesterday was one of the coUt st days tkat I have ever
known.
His book is the bestthafhas ever been written on that subject ..
and yet you say this is the first time that you have heard of it .
He never says anything that is worth listening to.
'A Uthai glitters is not gold.'
There's not much thai can be done.
!D after the openings ' It is .. .', ' It was . . .', etc., and the
corresponding interrogative forms:
'It's an ill wind that blows nobody good.' (Proverb)
It is the teacher that is import ant, not the kind of school he
teaches in.
Wh at was it that he wanted?
I n which play of Shakespeare's is it that Viola appears?
Was it you that broke the window?
qwwhen the antecedent is both a person and a thing, e.g.
He talked brilliantly of the men and the books thai interested
him,
A CompreMnsive English Grammar
(I) These Impor ted apples are sweet er than SOmf I
have tasted but they are inferior to any grown at
home . (:z) How much money have you in your pocket?
I have hardly any. (3) Let t ers. if any, should be
forwarded at once . (4) Didn't you hope hear
sO"lIl"i", of your f&mily '. plans today? (5) WaI' you
send sonu(l1'I' to repair my wireless
IVI I.I@ELATI VEPROSOUSS]
The Relative Pronouns are who (nominati ve), (ob-
jective), whose (possessive), which, that , what and occasionally
as and buI. They have the same forms for singul ar or plural.
masculine or feminine. .
The relative pronouns WM and which are pronounced a
weaker stress than the interrogative pronouns who, u:lmh.
The following account gi':C5 general for the.use of
relative pronouns. The choice of a relative p.ron?M 'will
be det ermined according to whether t he .adJectIve cJa:use. In
which it appears is defining or non-definmg. (For adject ive
clauses, defining and non-defming, see pp. 324-].)
. ( WHO, WHOY . WHOSE I
Who, ",Mm, wMse are used of persons, e.g.
The man who spoke was my brot her.
He is one of the men whom I feel I can trust.
He is a man Ulhose word is as good as his bond.
Whi<:h as a relat ive pronoun is used only of things or animals.
e.g.
The current, which is very rapid, makes the river dangerous.
The dog which was lost has been found.
But if the animal is named. it is thought of as a ' person' and
the pronoun wll() would be used, e.g. .
Our dog J ock, who had been lost for two days, was found ano
brought home by a policeman.
With collective nouns denoting persons, which is used if the
noun is regarded as singular, who(m) if it is regarded as plural.
e.g.
The London team. which played so well last season, has done
140 A Comprehensive Engl ish Grammar
That cannot be used in non-defining clauses (see P. 326) allll
it cannot be preceded by a preposition, as which or u'hom can
t he preposition must be at the end of the clause, Compare
sent ences:
Here is t he car about u'hich I t old you.
Here is the car that I t old you about .
That can be used as a relative pronoun after the word sail\(:
She wore t he same dress that she wore at Mary's wedding.
but the usual relative pronoun after same, and the one t hat is
always used after stull, is as:
I shall be surprised if he does this in t he same way as I dQ.
She wean t he same kind of clothes as her sister usuall y does
I neve r heard sucll stories as he tells.
' We are such stuff as dreams are made on:
The TtmptSt.)
. IWHAd
What is used when the antecedent is not expressed. It isI
relative pronoun and an antecedent in one word, e.g.
Tell me !l'ha, you want to knew.
Here, whai has th e general meaning of ' the things (anttceJm,
which (, tWive proM' u.)'. _ .
What is also used when the antecedent IS a sentence whid:
Icllcws whai : . '
He is an interesting speaker. and, unat is more import ant.
he knows his subject t horoughly.
WlicMveT, whaievn, w1uJever are compound relative pre-
nouns, e.g.
You can have JIlwUveT you want.
Take whicheveT you like.
She can marry whoever she chooses.
[cOS CORD IS RELATIVE P ROSOl:S5]
The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number
and person but not in case.
Care should be taken WIth such sentences as:
Pronouns 14
1
J-{e waV'ed his hand to Brown, whom he saw buying cigaret tes
in t he shop. (Correct ) AND:
lie waved hi s hand t o Brown, who, he saw, was buying
cigarettes in the shop. (Corred)
In the first sentence whom is the object of satt'_ In t he second
ntence VM is the subject of the verb ' was buying' .
se,Anot her pitfall is t he number of th e verb in relative clauses
when ()JU is used in t he principal clause:
,All the following sentences are correct :
This is one of t be most difficult questions that hat'e been
""<d.
That is one of the books that !rete given t o us for study.
Richard is one of t he boys who always do good work for me,
The ant ecedent in each case is not one but tpUslio'fs , books,
bc7s, respectively.
The relative pronoun should be as close as possible t o its
antecedent. This will avoid 5u,cb absurdities as:
After t he wedding the bride and bridegroom left in a car
for London which bad been given as a present by th e bride's
father.
EXERCISES
I Combine the following pairs of sentences by means 01
relat h-e pronouns (the words in italics in each sen tence
are t o be replaced by t he pronoun).
(I) The gentleman ismy uncl e. You met him yesterda}' .
(2) The gentleman u my uncle. H , impressed ) 0 1,1
when you met him. (3) The gentleman oyer there is
my uncle. H, u ninety yeara old. (..) The gentleman
over there is my uncle. You would do well to humour
hi,". (5) The gentleman oyer there is my uncle. His
face must be familiar to you. (6) The gentleman o....er
there is my uncle. I know you have a great respect for
hi m. (7) The gent leman is my uncle. You were intro-
duced to ohm yesterday. (8) In an effort to improve
discipline, boys are t o be 'diss uaded' from running
along t he cor ridors. Tli is is a step in t he right direc-
t ion. (9) The cowhas disappointed us this year, /1 gave
so much milk last year . ( 10) Our cat, Pet er, didn't eat
his nsh th is morning. He is usually fond of his food.

---- - - - - --"""'" Of'A.lflt >l4l' ) (of .. ;" "I.j .( lot rt) wi ""
'.'
A Comprt Mm iv. Engli:sJs Grammar
II EXPTeN differently, using a r elative pr.onoun. (In-
dications to hel p you are sometimes given 10 brackets.]
(I) This is an excellent film: I like it than any
other I have seen. (Use a auperlative.]
(z) Someone is r inging you up t onigh t . "'ho?
(3) You said something. ' '''baH
(of) Did yow tell me that, or was it someone else. (Was
it -?) .
(s) What you My matters less than how you say It .
(It is not - .J
III Supply the words missing Ircm the followi ng sen.
tecces:
(I ) The crowd. - wu very angry. shou ted down the
aker. (:) The lpectaton, _ " cry numerous,
Dot al l find _tl. (3) The audience, _
most entbusiutic. applauded the $OI015t. (of' Our
viaiton - we were very pleased to see. stayed until
midnight . (5) He is one of the ki ndest men --:- I have
ever met. (6) Everything --he S<I..YS shows hun to be
an intolerant man. (7) There was httle - .- could be
done for the injured man. (8) He systemaueally over-
worked, -- grad uaUy ruined his health. (9)
spoke appreciath-ely of the teachers and the t eaclung
- had helped them. (10) The Tower of London.
- the Crown Jewels are kept , stands on the left
bank of the Thama.
I V State ....ith the rules gO\.e!'oing the agree-
ment of relative pronoun' wi th their antecedents .
V Comment on and. if necessary, correct t he following
sentences:
(I ) That is one of the Ci ty .churches that ....as
secyee by bombing. (2) He 1$ one of t he .... ho
always does ....ell at ecbccl. (3) He took off hIS hat to
the lady whom he passed in. the street. (., He waved
to his COusin whom, he ncnced, was t o meet
him. (5) He is a brilliant soloist and , which 1$ unusual,
he is also a sound orchestra.! player .

CHAPTER TW ELVE
I VERBS]
Though it is possi ble t o have a sentence wit hout a verb (if our
defi nition oC a sentence is wide enough),1 it is true t hat , in the
great majori ty of sentences, t he verb is the word t hat plays
the most important part. It is primarily the 'act ion' word in a
sentence, the term 'action' embracing not only t he meaning
' doing an act ion' but also 'having an act ion done t o a person or
thing' ; nor must it exclude the absenu of action, the idea oC
' being in a st at e oC rest '. This conception is expressed, more or
less in the traditional definitions of a verb:
'A verb ;s a word for sayi ng soffiCt hing about some person
or thing: " .
' . . the part oC bY,which we ou:e able to say what a
person or anunal or thing IS (e.g. 'Jock u a dog., or does (e.g.
' He uralk, and TUII" ) or What is done t o that person or animaJ
or thing (e.g. ' He is bTushed and combed every day').
' . . . the part of speech that predi cat es, assists in predication,
asks a quest ion and expresses a command.'
Verbs have cert ain features that are not shared by ot her
part s of speech: t hey have forms t hat indicate the time of an
act ion [present , past or future); t hey can indicate t he durat ion,
complet eness. or incompleteness of an act ion; t hey can show
whether a person or thmg is doing or recei\i.ng an acti on. and
(an even express, in cert ain cases, t he emoti onal attitude of
t he speaker toward the action. On t he other hand t he}' do not
indicate gender, comparison or case.
! FINITES " !iD I
TIle verb forms that can form the predicate by t hemselves
are f i NITE verbs, the ones that cannot are Sos-nSITEverbs. The
non nl te !!.e t e In mtn- (e.g. to speak, to fllT;te, to beto
ves 0 en,tohave","IUlI, 0 ve been) e restn ICI es
and erun (e.g. ,peaking, writi llg, being an t e t par-
tlcl p e e.g, spoken, !l"TiUlff , been). All other parts 0 tneve.rb
Me --!1..C1!.
Most English verbs have four inflect ional Corms, e.g. walk_
T#alks - walked - walking. Some have five, e.g. give _ gjV('
I See page ) 18
..,

begun
drunk, drunkener
rung
run
shrunk, shrunken- z
","g
sunk, sunkenu
sprung
stunk
swum
[al
began
drank
rang
' an
shrank
...g
...k
sprang
stank
swam
begin
drink
o n(
run
shri nk
sing
sink
spring
stink
swrm
X OTES Al'i D EX.U IPl ES
had drunk a lot of wine. He was d'ull /..'
ra s"runk after being wash d Th 11 i'."
checks of t he man showed how ill he wa:.' e s 7UII...-t ll
Ver bs 145
(bl Verbs t hat end in -ie change this t bef '
/0 die has t he present partici ple dying. 0 -y uerore -lilt:; so
(e), end in y preceded by a consonant change t he
y to l ore -e , e.g. marry - married; try _ t ried.
(d) The final .letter is doubled before -ed and _j
il IS smgle, IS preceded by a single vowel lett:!
and If the verb 1$ monosyllabic or st ressed on t he las t II bl '
e.g-. fi J -:- fitted; con1701_ r:ottf7()lled; stop _
ending I? -J double the final consonant even when t he las t
IS. st ressed" e.g, t7avel - trat'elled; maroa _ mar-
wild, also. kidnap - kidnapped; w()'fslliP _ !J;()'fshipped
(I) The form from to Jingl (= t o bum eli htl ) . . ' .
compare t his with si nging (from the verb to IS slngnng;
(IRRECCLAR VERBS)
The following are t he principal parts f t he i I
arranged according t o th eir meth ods of . e rrregu ar verbs
past part iciple. Where two forms are 'v
nrung
past t ense an.d
is the latt er that is used adject ival ly. gJ. en , one marked - , It
P"Ullt Tense Past Trese Past p , . . I
as a' ICl p e
[., )
144 A Engli sh Grammar
_ gatil - gi ven - gi ving. No verb has mor e t han five eXec
bl (be. am, are, is . was , Wefe, bun, being). Some have
t hree, e.g. put - puts - putting; can has only t wo,
could: and mUS# has no ot her forms. There are I e {und.l,
m n forms the ' "uti s' ; the are e m nJ IV'
(0 esent imp c tense e sunp e ast t ense an
lei ' I lese e o er orms o t ever can
e past participle is used with various parts of t he verb to 6r
t o Icrm t he passive voice, and with t he verb have t o form th
perfect tenses. e
IREGVLAR ASll..1RREGUL.-\R VERBS ]
All English verbs belong t o one of two conjugat ions ; they art
either RECULAR verbs or IRREGULAR
l
verbs. Regular verbs
these that form their past tense and past participle by addiq
.ed t o the present t ense. This ending is pronounced [t] if e,
root of the verb ends in a voiceless consonant sound other tha::
{t} {e.g. /Uk _ asluJ [aiskt ]; fi nish - finished (,finiJt 2; it I
pronounced l id) if it ends wit h [t] or [d] [e.g. u pe" - uPtdli
[ks' pekt id]: intnul- it is pronounced [d] iI
t he root of t he verb ends in a vowel sound or a voiced consonaa
sound other t han \d] e.g.. a1lSlttT-aKStCtTed [ ta rnssd]: cpt.
- t>Pttled (' oup:md .
I rregular verbs form their past tense and past participe
generally by a change of vowel, e.g..cit'e- gave j1y -
jlt:lll _ jltnr1I: eaJ - su - ealen,
Some spelling changes should be noted in th e format ion a
past tense, present participle (and gerund):
(a) Verbs ending in e add d only for their past t ense, el
dance _ danced; love -loved. Th is e is emitted before .j",
in t he present part iciple and gerund, e.g, dan(ing, lovj"g, etc.
I t ba I rregul&t conjugation since 'EngJishcalllll
10 Eng1aDd. The Regukr conj llgilti on has become the invariable lDethll4
of fanning tll a Simple Put a nd Put Pa.rticiple whenever ne....
are called 1nto emteDCe. ' Hiotoric&l ' divide . erbo ,nltl
the categor ies ' Weak ' and 'Strong', " 'hich correspond in t he main 10
tbe categoril!l ' Regular' and 'Irregular ' gh'en her e, btlt t here are
verbe which ar e, .tymologieally, 'Weak' but are not 'Regular ' In I<
milch .. t hey N Y. vo", el cha ngC!ll in for ming t heir Tense a ndf'll:
Partlcipl. (e g. b" y _ />0.., 111: , ,,11 - 10..,111: Iu d - Id.: lIi d, - /s ld-
lIi 4d, .. ), As this i, a purely historical point and of no pract ical
t he for eiRD learner have clanified verbs not a5 ' W.,,, k' a nd
but u ' Regular ' a nd ' Irregular' ,
/langetl refers t o death by hanging. e.g. The man hllllg.;i
I. himself. The murderer was Ita"gtd.
146 If Comprehensive English Grammar
3. The ship has surek wi th aU hands on board. In his gTOUfl lh,
there is a su"ken rose garden.

draw
overdraw
wit hdraw
bereave
bleed
breed
creep
dream
Ieed
f,,1
fl "
k"p
kneel
lead
leap
leave
mean
moot
read
sleep
smell
,poed
spell
sweep
weep
Vtrbs
strid tn is used in certain phrases, e_g. 'collS(:ience-
strickm' . 'poyerty-strickrn. ' terror+s/rickell', 'shicktll wit h
Jisease' ; but 'strmk by light ning', ' t hunderstruck',
J is used with t he fi gurative meaning ' th read (a way)
through' , e.g. He tttllt'rd his way t hrough t he crowd.
4- born The form bor" is used with t he verb to fH in such
sentences as 'Shakespeare tta$ born in St ratford'. It is
always passive. I n all ot her cases borne is used. e.g. He
has bon,e t he pain bravely. The boat was borne out t o sea
by a strong t ide . She has borne t hr ee children.
Presell t Tmse Past Tense Past Participle
[. j [.j
bereaved, bereft bereaved. bereft!
bled bled
bred bred
crept crept
dreamed. dreamt dreamed. dreamt !
fed fed
felt felt
fled fled
kept kept
knelt knelt
led led
leapt [lept] leapt
lett left
meant [ment] meant
met met
read (red] read
slept slept
smelt, smelled smelt, smelled
sped, speeded I sped, speeded
spelled. spel t spelled. spelt
swept swept
wept wept
[u'j [o,j
drew drawn
overdrew overdrawn
withdrew wit hdrawn

[o,j
Past Participle
[Aj
clnng
dug
flnng
hung. hanged
'
slung
slunk
spun
stuck
struck. stricken"
stung
swung
won
wrung
borne. born'
swom
torn
worn
[ou)
broken
chosen
frozen
"stolen
spoken
..... oke , woken
woven, weaved
Plut TlXSe
[Aj
clung
dug
flung
hung. hanged
slung
slunk
spun
st uck
st ruck
stung
>woug
won

[ou)
broke
chose
f"",.
stol e
spoke
woke
wove. weaved!
[o,J
bolO
swore
to"
wore
[:SOTES EX.".\l.PLEs l
b'"
swear
"" wear
break
cboose
treat
,,<a1
speak
wake
weave
cling
. dig
fung
hang
sling
slink
Spin
st ick
strike
sting
.-.ing
wm
wnng
Prese"t Tem'
-

Pasl Participle
Verbs
Pas! Tense
"',
bun t
cast
broadcast
cost
<U,
hit
hurt
let
P"'
rid
"t
shed
shut
slit
split
spread
t hrust
[-end)
bend
lend
rend
send
spend
[ail
bind
fi nd
gri nd
wind [waind]
(no
bet, betted bet
burst burst
cast cast
broadcast , broadcast,
broadcasted broadcasted
cost cost
cut cut
hi t hi t
hurt hurt
let let
put put
rid rid
set set
shed shed
shut shut
slit slit
split split
spread spread
t hrust t hrust
[--e nt] [cent]
bent bent I
lent lent
rent rent
sent sent
spen t spent
[au] [au]
bound bound
found found
ground ground
wound [waund] wound [waund]
\ N OTES AND E XAMPLES)
I . The usual past participle is ben' , e.g. See how the wind has
fwnJ t hat tree . The adject ival use, t oo, is generally boll ,

blew
g>"ow
know
th row
fly
beseech
bnng
buy
fight
,..,k
t hink
catch
teach
drive
ride
(a)rise
shrive
smite
stride
strive
t hrive
....-rite
148 A Comp rehmsive English Grammar
Present T,nse Past Tense Past Participle
[u :J [au]
blew blown
grev-' grown
knew known
threw t hrown
Hew flown
AS D I
I . bereaved ;: 'having lost someone by death' .
bereft _ ' deprived of', e.g. I was so surprised that, tor the
moment I was bereft of speech.
2 . ireamed is preferred in poetry or emoti onal prose. Drear/ I!
is pronounced (dremt].
3. speeded is used with t he meani ng 'went at a !P'eat speed',
e.g. The car speeded along t he road at 80 miles an hour.
Wit h ' up' it has the meaning ' made (aster ' , e.g. Production
has been speeded up by t he introduction of new machmery
PreSt1tt T ,nu Past T,nu Past Participle
[o'l [o'J
besought besought
brought brought
bought bought
fought fought
sought sought
thought t hought
caught caught
taught taught
[ou) [i]
dr ove driven
rode ridden
(a)rose (a)risen
shrove shriven
smote smitten
st rode st ridden
strove striven
t hrove, thrived t hriven, t hrived
wrote written
150 A English Grammar
e,g. a bent pin: a bent old man. But bellded is used in th
phrase 'bended knees' , e.g. He went down on his bfll dt:
knees before t he Emperor.

" t
Verbs
(M isu Il,m t ou.s)
puSlftJ Te1l$e Past Tense Past Partici ple
abide
.bod, abode
(be), am, is
w"
boen
beat beat beaten
budd built built
burn bu rned, burnt burned, burnt -
clot he clot hed, clad' cloth ed, clad
'0'"'
came come
become became become
evercorne overcame overcome
do did done

outdo outdid outdone

dwell dwelt dwelt
" t
.to eaten
faU fell fallen
Iorget forgot forgotten
g, t got got!
go went gone
undergo undergcne
ha ve had h. d
hear heard [ha rd] heard
overhear overheard overheard
.,
f N OTES ASD EXAMPLES]
Mum is t he usual form. But the proverbial ph rase is ' t he
t - biter bit',
bid, There are really two verbs here. Bid, bade, bidden is
1 used in such sentences as, He bade us goodbye. I was
bidden t o t he weddi ng, I bade him go, ....-ith the meaning
say, inti " , command, et c. (But a cust omary phrase is: Do
as you are l>id.) Th e forms bid, bi d, bid are used wit h t he
meaning ' t o make an offer at a sale or auction' , e.g. th e
auct ioneer might say, ' You, sir, bid 50 for t his pict ur e,
but this lady M.s bid 60' ,
bdl, f orbade have alternat ive pronunciat ion [bed]
{f. 'bzdl.
sat
'pat
[-nJ
hewn
mo n
se n
shown
sown
sawn
st rewn
P(lrt iciple
[ou]
wid
told
[il
bitten'
chidden
hidden
[ei]
forsaken
shaken
taken
mist aken
partaken
[il
bidden, bid
forbidden
forgiven
S'!'-en
1. 1

[ou]
wid
t old
[il
bit
chid
hid
[ul
forsook
shock
t ook
mistook
partook
[1'1]
bade, bid
forbade
forgave
ga\'e
[. J
sat
'pat
(.d1
hewed
mowed
sewed
she.....ed
sowed
sawed
strewed
Pa st Tense
sew
show
hew
mow
saw
strew
sit
spit
[I'}
,,11
tell
[ai]
bite
chide
hide
[ei]
forsake
shake
take
mistake
partake
{iJ
bid'
forbid
forgive
gl\'e
[il
PrlSellt Ttnse
F.., bs
152 A Comprehensive English Grllmmar
Present Tlf1st Past Tense Pllst Participk
hold held held
behold behel d beheld, behol den
J
wit hhold wit hheld withheld
knit kn itted, knit knitted, knit
lay laid laid
mislay mislaid mislaid
learn learned, learnt Ieamed.t Iearnt
lie lay lain
light lit, lighted' Iit ,lighted*
load loaded loaded, laden'
lose lost lost
make made made
melt melted melted, molten
U
pay paid paid
rot rotted rotted, rott en"
say said [sed] said
see saw seen
shave shaved shaved, shaven*' o
shear sheared sheared, shorn *n
shine shone shone
shoe shod shod
shoot shot shot '
slide slid slid
spill spilled , spi lt spi lled, spilt*lt
spoil spoiled spoiled, spoil t >
stand stood stood
understand understood understood
withstand withstood wit hst ood
swell swelled swollen, S'welled' J
tread trod t rodden, trod
U
work work ed worked,
\ NOTES AND EXAMPLES)
(!) Cldd is more usual in till! passive, e.g. The poor man was
clad in rags.
153
@The for . t he past participle
goum . Th IS, form IS found In English in t he phrase ' ill-
go/tm gams ,
(j)
Mlu>/dm ha s a qui te different meaning from bthdd. It
means ' obl iged t o' , ' indebted t o' , c.g. r am not asking for
a favour; I don't wish to be beholden t o him lor anything,
IP Kllil has th e meani ng ' joined together' , e.g. ' a udl-J.mit
Co" story' , ' a wt flklll'l body' ,
(f) ltarnt d is used as an adject ive to mean 'of great learning',
e.g. ' a Itll" It,1 man' . It IS then pronounced [, Ia:nid].
G) LighliJ is used (I) when it is adject ival, e,g. a lighled lamp
(2) when the meaning is ' to provide light' , e.g. The moon
lig1ltt d us on our way,
-1' Ifldm is only used adjecti vally meani ng 'burdened (wit h)'
\"Y e.g. He came in laden with parcels, '
emolfm is only used adjectivally, e,g, The mould was fi lled
wit h moUm met al. The word is restricted to substances
t hat arc normally hard: so we can speak of mtJ/ltIl iron,
lead, steel , etc" bu t not of ' molten SIIOW' or ' molten
butter ". In t hese cases mt ltt d woul d be used.
(!) , otli1J is only used adjecti vally, e.g. The wood had rOllt d
away, The trunk of the tree was qu ite ro/len. There were
some rot/en apples on t he floor.
eI have shavt d t wice t oday. lie is clean SJIII;JCII [i.e. he hasn' t
whiskers or a moustache]. "'uP"'f) ';r!
<0 The farmer ha s shmredhis shee p" ' God temrers the wind.
t o the shorn lamb (Protub _ Hut . ,nm IS used as a ....
partici ple with t he meaning ' e nv 0 egoWolscy--was
shorll of his wealth and honours r enrv vur:-
@ For example: ' It' s no use cryi ng over spilt milk' (Prow rb),
<!D swlled is used in the coll oquial expression 'He is suffering
from sw !lt d head' (= He is very conceited}. 5li't /ltd is
also used when t he meaning is ' increased', e.g. The small
ri ver had swelled t o a roaring torrent with th e heavy rains.
My class has swtlltd from IO students t o 30.
@ is used as a past part iciple with t he meaning ' walked
on , e.g. ' ?ofan}' people have /rod t his ancient road' : and as
an adjec t ive in such phr ases as 'a well-trod path' ,
I Transit ivej
T RASStTJVE ASD IsTRASStTIVt: V ERBS
The wai ter , ings t he bell .
The burglar broke t he win-
dow.
Tom opened t he door.
I will go and cha",e my
clothes.
Will you pass t he salt ,
please?
The dri ver sJopped the car
and got out. 11 """hat <LTe the principal parts of t he Icllc....ing verbs:
l a"l , Wolle, mell , st" " , rot , lfti/, bid, bend, lie, lil1lt!
The woodmenfelld t he t ree
{ver b tofeU) .
The will toy t he
foundat ion stone (verb to
lilY)
The fi rm have raiu d hi s
sal ar y {verb 10 mise).
The innkeeper stl food and
drink be fore the t ravel-
Jers (verb to set),
Verbs
(verb to
t he east
Coffee gn)ws in Brazi l.
The book lay on t he t able
(verb to lie)
The sun ris es in
(verb 10 , is,,).
They all sal down
sit ).
' 55
/ l nl1a l'l sitive! { T' ansitit'e J
The class begins at g o'clock, He began his speech wit h a
. . humorous story,
The fire III quic kly. I ha\'e lit t he fire.
( C AUS,\ TIVE U SE OF V ERBS )
With some verbs t he t ransitive use is t he CAl,;SJ. T! \' E funct ion
of the verb.
The boy ran well.
EXERCISES
I Give naming the forms used, of one English
having Iour intlec::tional forms. one of a verb
having five such forms, and all such forms of the verb
'to be' .
She ran t he car into the
garage (= she caused it
to run).
They grow coffee (= cause
it t o grow) in Brazil.
Water boils at 100 C. She boil/d t he water (or tea.
The piece of woodjloattd on He fioaltd his boat on t he
t he ..... ater. lake.
. Someti mes a differen t form of t he verb is used to mark t he
difference bet ween the t ransit ive and the int ransiti ...-efonn, e.g.
lrlt , ansitive
The tree ftll (...-erb to falI) .
In t he sentences: The sun rose. The chi ld cried. A leal fell,
t he actions do not go beyond t he persons or objects per
Iorming t hem. These verbs, as used in these sentences, have
no objects. They are INTRANSITIVE verbs ,
The only object t hat an int ransitive verb can have is a
CQGS ATE OBJECT, i.e. an object already implied more or less in
th e verb itself, e.g.
He lived a happy life. He died a sad deatls . The girl laughed
a merry laugh. She slept a peaceful skep and dreamed a
happy d" am. He sighed a sigh. .
Quite oft en t he same verb may be used transitively or
int ransit ively. e.g.
( I nt, ansitivej ,
The bell ,ings, ,
The window b,oke with t he
frost .
The door optpud.
Things have elsal'lled since
I saw you.
Time PIUUf slowly when
you are alone.
watch has stopped,
An act ion expressed by a verb may pass over from a subject
t o an object . For example, in th e sentence: ' 1hit the ball', t he
action of ' hitt ing' is not confined t o t he doer only, but goes
over from I t o the ball, When the act ion expressed by t he verb
goes froma subject to an object, th at verb iscalled a TRANSt Tt\' E
verb.
154 A English G, a"lma,
@ In''"CliJ is seJdom used in modem English except in such
phrases as 'a UTr""ChI iron gate' , and (as a verb in the past
tense) 'Tnought hav-cc', e-g. The frost 1170ugltt havoc vl.-it h
the fruit blossom.
C IU , P TER T HIRTE E N

... dear should be bctween.' tensc ' and ' ti me' ,
The not ion of t1me-:-of present nrnc, past future tll ue-
is unh'ersal. and IS mdependent of any particular language, or
of language at all.
Tense, on t he other hand, is a linguist ic device, varying from
language t o language. It mea ns t he vcr b-Icrm or forms USl.'<I
to ('xpress certam time relat ions. Thus, one form, e.g, I sPi<lk
indicat es present time, l another form, I spoke indicates past
rime.
l
still anot her fonn I sAaU Spt ak indic ates t he future
tJnle.
l
There are in English only two 'Simple' t enses. i.e. t ense
forms that consist of one word. They are the Simple Present
Tense, e.g. It'dlk , and the Simple Past Tense , e.g. lC.:Uktd. In t he
earliest form of Old English t hese two forms alone had t o serve
for t he expression of all t he various ideas of prese nt, past a nd
future that are now expressed by t he elaborat e system of
tenses t hat has si nce grown up.
TIle other tenses are 'Compound' ones, i .e. t hey consist of two
of mort verb forms, for example:
He is ttluhi"Khis class at present .
We MVe j"iSMd our work.
Verbs (like bt. h.lvt ) which help t o form tenses, moods, etc"
are called AUXIU ARY verbs.
It is very important to not e two poi nt s:
A Present Tense does not necessarily express an action
t:kirig place in t he present t ime. nor does a Past Tense
nessarily express an act ion t aking place in t he past t ime.
In the sent ence:
We feed our ca t on fish.
The verb fe td is in the Present Tense. But t hat sent ence docs
not mean t hat the action of feed ing t akes place only in t he
present. We have fed her for some years in t he past , and shall,
I i. " generaliu tion th. t i. only I'"rtl}' tr ue. The m"tt.n i.
mor t fu ll)" in t he nex t few pages.
."

I X
A Comp1eJrensive English Grammar
11 an)' of them have special forms used in spec-at
senses, give t hose forms and const ruct sent enu:s
illustrat ing t heir use,
Explain fully, giving examj,les, t he t erms ' finite' aCi U
' non-fi nit e' ,
IV Sho..... by examples. one using a regular verb and t he
ot her using an irregular verb, how t he other form$of
a verb can be made from t he three fundament al forms
(principal parts).
V Explain the difference between regular and irregular
verbs in Er,glish and indicate how a regular verb ca:l
be identified.
\ '1 Cons truct five sentences employing verbs which call
be transit ive or intransitive.
St at e the rules for the pronunciation 01 the past
t enses and past participles of regular verbs and grve
examples to illustrate your answer.
Give a list 01aU the verb$; you know of .....hich t he t hree
principal paru are the same.
Correct t he following where necessary:
b.. , ..,d toast , a u4,.,11 man. a sJu4rtd sheep. spi lled
milk. a spqiud child.
X Constru ct for each of the following verbs two sente nces
in one of which the verb is used transit ively and III
the other intransItively:

"'OI/t , walk, talk. clI4 ..ge.

III
V11
VIII
IS8 A C07llp"htflSive English Grammar
we hope, feed her for some years in the future. Thus t he Pru ent
Tense can express actions taking place in t he present, t he past
or the fut ure.
Here are two other sentences:
If I trusted him I would lend him the mone y.
It is time I flIl nt home .
In both these sentences the verbs have a Past Tense form, buj
'if 1trusted him' implies ' i f 1trusted him s ow', i.e. it expresses
a present time. And though U' e", is a Past Tense form, the
of 'going home ' cannot be the past; it must surely be t he future,
f'7ill Time is not the only concept expressed by the tense of
Tense may also indicate the completeness or inccm,
pleteness of an action
1-whether
it is or was st ill continuing
(expressed bya Continuous Tense), whether it took place-",,'it hin
a time that began in t he past but extends t o and includes t r.e
present (expressed by a Perfect Tense), and so on.
On t he opposite page are t he t ense forms (Active) of
verb to speak.
[I}fIHE S I MPLE TENSES )
W E siMt'LE PRESENT TENSEl
The Simple Present Tense is used:

-(a) For a habit ual , permanent or repeated action, e.g.
I ccme to t he class every day.
She speaks French .
He al..... ays slups 'with his windows open.
He smokes t oo much.
..(b) For a gener al statement , or a proverb, where no particular
t ime is thought of, e.g.
The earth moves round t he sun.
Actions speak louder t han words..
The river 'Tweed England and Scotland.
His fami ly come from Wales.
Shakespeare says: ' Neither a borrow er nor a lender be.'
' Aet ion' here. and in simila.r cont exts, ahould be under5tood
include bot h ' ad iv ity' and ' . tat lll 01 being' .
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Verbs: (2) Tense

U
U
=._ =. ..>11

r=

, - ..>II '- .>l "
!
ee , ... " .:.c,,!!.

e :f:El
..
, . =
,

=.>( . _ . - "
'0
. " -,, .>l ,..
-' 1
, ; .. ;
..
l
il]
.:l
- - . j

,.. - .. =
-,'
" ""
-

az ]
"
;> " :- " .t::

> "-
]11,,;;11
"..:::"..:::

,.<; - ,.<; - =
-

>
-e ,.<; 01 ,.<; :- - ..
" ;:l ..:::..::; >. " _.t::'<: >. ; ';i;:.-.
..::; 0


... >..<: ;t ... ... >...:::;t 'S
-
>.,.<; ;t =
, '
,
l: :.o l:<> j
,

e ....
,
-
= '"

=.".. 5", '2

.,.

...... <:> '"
...

... 8.."'''''
-" s, 8..i :r
", :- ..
..
,,-= ".::;
..::;_.t::_ ;:


,... -;a '.
-
" :l "<; "<; >. ;:l -= ,.<; >.


.t:. _ ., >.
.. =: '" ... '"
- ... ... .c: if; ... ... >, -= ;r; ;
ec

u


u
, u _ ='- C-- '-
" "".S
. - <lC " ..>II
__ ,:,I. __ ,:,I. -"
,
-" " ,:,I. " "

..., .- - ."..
"", ,:,1. =._,,
" lr" ll lr
" ,:,I. "" . :;
=" '_,:,1.,..
,
._ " =,:,1. ._ !t' -" "
t ;;; t;;;;;
,
i .,

'0
"",t .,,,,
" 2" Ul
,
'" !<ii e
2_2: -
.:l
_ .... "' t
.. :ii .. :'l
:::; ';: ;: ;; .i:
,
_ .!l<ll >.
.. ... -,. .::;

" "
_ ]!: '" >-
c '" ... '" ;; is <> '" '"
-
,;
-
>. ,.<; ;t -5 _ >-> .c: :r: ;
.x ..:.r..>l
,:,I. 'Il,:,l. <l
...

"
" SI " lot

l5..;:;!t:;;;;;
... '" ",,:,I.
E .IIi ' Ol 8-

.., ;::: .. ;: .:::;
'.
'"
" . ., l5.. ..
- ' ", - oj '"

OJ ]!::;: -= $
:l .. ., t' ? :l :J ., >.
.. 0 '" U .. 0 '" U . ...... '"
... >. .c: if; ':: ... >. .t:. if; '::
-
>' .t:. iJ 'S

"

"


,
"

<
,

"
' 59

160 A Comp, ehellsit'l English G, amma,

..(el In subordinate clauses of Time or Condition expressing .
future action, e.g. q
When you sa (NOT: ....ill see' ) Jack tomorr ow, remember m,
to him. .
Unless he sends t he money before Friday, I shall consa:t
my lawyer.
Don' t write unt il I tell you.
I! you go to the part y you will meet Elizabeth.
-{d) Sometimes in giving t he summary of a story, e.g.
'Bassanic want s to go to Belmont to woo Port ia. He
his friend Antonio, t he merchant of Venice, to lend I:ir:-.
money. Antonio says that he M.sPl 't any at the moment ur. :jJ
his ships come t o port; but Shylock offers to lend him 3.00c
ducats.'
This could. of course, be told in the Simple Past Tense, but
th e Simple Present is felt to be rather more dramatic.
"", ) Sometimes to express a future action about which a
decision has already been taken, e.g.
He sets sail t omorrow for New York, and comes back next
mont h.
My tr ain leaves at 6,3 ,
The Thompsons arrive at 7 o' clock this evening.
We att.uk at dawn.
The ,:erbs used like this are frequently ones expressing com:ng
or gorog.
..lj) In exclamatory sentences:
Here comes the bride! There our t rain! Here they are!
I THE SIMPLE PAST TENslt f
The Simple Past (or Preterite) Tense is used:
-(a) to express an action wholly completed at some point , or
during some period, in tbe past, e.g.
Peter arrived at our house yesterday.
We lived at Bournemout h for six years.
I tl"ent to t he cinema last night .
Vtt bs: (2) T ense 16r
The Simple Past Tense is usual w-it h .....ords or phrases t hat
are t ime indicators , e.g. )' estmJay , last u'Uk, in 1956, or when
the sentence is a question about time, e.g.
When did you go t here? What time was it .....hen you arrived?
-{b) in some conditional sentences, and sentences expressing 1
supposition, e.g.
If Henry worked he would pass t he examinati on.
If I were in your place I should accept his offer:
He act s as if he wanted to make trouble.
I wish I had a garden like yours.
Fred wishes he spoke French as well as you do.
Suppose I asktd you what you w ould like for a birt hday
present .
It's (high) t ime I weill .
I'd rather you told me the t ruth.
It isn' t as if we /mew the people well .
It would be better if you went t here yourself.
Note t hat in all t hese sentences t he Past Tense form indicates
frequently both present time and future time. The Past Tense
form in t hese cases is not used to indicate t ime at all but rat her
suppositions implying non-fulfi lment or desirability, and would
be more correctl y described as t he Past Subj unctive. ' It
indicates t hat the subordinate clause does not express a fact.
This is known as t he MODAL PRETERITE. This modal preterite is
also used in t he principal clause but only with t he preterites of
&all , may and rrill (i.e. clndd, Mighl, rtt>ulJ):

He could tell you a story t hat would make your hair stand
on end.
You might give t he fellow a chance; he's doing his best; he
might tum out a success.
I would ask you to t hink carefully before you speak.
[TilE FUTURE TF.NSJ]
The Future Tense is formed by using the auxiliaries Irill and
shall. The original meaning of will was ' to resolve' ; it denoted
1 Se-e page. 216, u s.
162 A Comprtlunsive EPiglish Grammar
original of shall ' to be Und
neeesstry' : It expressed obligation, compulsion, neeeSSit I
The verbs still retain some remnants of t1
meanmgs. tlt
. One of the main causes of the diffic ult y with shall and '
IS that we use two verbs to express three tllings, viz.
obligation and futurity. Moreover, the dist inction
these th ree concept ions cannot always be clear-cut ;
may be tinged ....-ith volit ion, and voliti on is almost cert a't:;-ty
take effect in the future rat her than at t he present moment.
4
I ' Pure' Future!
To express merely fut urity uncoloured by anyone's indi n
tions or intentions, the norma l usage is shall for t he tirst
singular and plural and wiU for all other perscns.!
In conversation will is generall y shortened to 'U, e.g.
You'U, etc., and the negat ive wiU not to tWP! ' t . The Interre-
gative is made by inversion. e.g. SMU1? IViUt he)"?
-{jumeiii. 'Zis< i::"{{
I shall be twent y-one on ursday.
If we take the II o'clock train we shall be in Oxford at 12-30.
I think it Ulill rain tomorr ow.
Next year Chris t mas Day wi ll be on a Tuesday.
Y ou'll get wet if you go out wit hout an umbrella.
When shall I see you again?
When UIill you be in London again?
It looks as if Henry won't be in time for his train.
In England
l
t he fi rst person interrogative is almost al
w
a)1
Shall It t hough t here ar e one or two exceptions, e.g.
,
, I n U.S.A., and to some degree ill Scot land and Irel and j< u!('.O
lor a.U three persons .
The usage is not the ""me in Scot land, Ireland and U.S.A
person may express determinat ion or
( SHALL I
Verbs: (2) Tense 163
'\"ou'll ne\'er. pass t he (me,aci ng:
'J aI1\ determmed to pass It . or: Don t ) ou t hmk so? )
')fYbrother can't come to play tennis with you this
WiUI do instead?' {i.e. 'Am I an adequate subshtute? )
Sll41
1
/? (shall often has t he mean ing ' Would you like
ee (us) to - ? e.g.
SJJall I open t he window?
Shall l get you a cup of t ea? .
Sllll
U
we all go to t he t heatre tcnight?
ShaUwe begin work now? Let' s begin now, shall we,'
lfiUyou?often has t he meaning 'Are you willing to' or ' Would
you like t o', e.g.
' WiUyou help me to carry this heavy bag, please!'
' Will you han' another cup of tea?'
If the subject of SMU is I (we) joined w!th a noun or pronoun
in the second or third person, we use tnll and not shall. Thus:
'We shaUgo on the four o'clock t rain.'
but :
You and I (Mary and I) will go on the fOllr o'clock t rain.
' OIlier uses oj 'shall' tid 'rrill'!
It often hapJ?:l:os that in addition t o fut urity, some other
feeling, e.g. WIllingness, determination, promise, command,
ete.. colours t he pure futurit y. In t hat case t he usage may be
different from t hat shown in t he table on page 162. Note, fi rst,
the usage wit h shall.
S1t4ll wi th the first
rQOlution,1 e.g.
I sItall do what I like. I S1r4U go t here if I want to.
'We shall defend our island, whatever t he cost may be. We
s1uall tight on t he beaches, we shaU fight on the landing-
grounds, we shall fight in t he fields and in the streets, we
sJsaUtight in t he hills; we shall never surrcnder.' - (Prom a
speech by Winston Churchill, June 1940 . )
1 Will &lso ill uM!d for t hill pl1rpose (we P . 6j l.
.....e shall
you will
they will
I shall
you will
he, she, it will

' 65
' I intend t hat
Verbs: (2) Tense
Shall is also used alt er such const ruct ions as:
, 'It has been decided t hat . . .", e.g.
, . ' ,
I int end th at t his school shall be t he best in the country.
It has been decided t hat he shall be given t ile job.
'We here highly resolve t hat t his nation under God, sh,,1t
have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the
people by t he people, for t he people, shall not perish from
the earth.' (Abraham Lincoln, GdtysburC Address, IS63.)
l WILL I
WiUis used to express willingness , promise or det erminati on
and it is with t his meaning that Irll ....-ith t he first person
most commonly used. Exampks:
All right; 1 UtiU pay you at the rate you ask. (lViUinglUss)
I !#On', forget little Margaret' s birthday. 1 rria send her a
present. (Promiu)
I UtiU make t his radio work even if I have to stay up all
night. (DekrminaJi011)
' WiUyou t ake t his woman t o be your lawful wedded wife?'
' I ll'ill.' Promise)
In the examples where s1tall was used in t he second or t hird
person t o express determination or resolution, note t hat t he
detennination is in t he mind of t he speaker.
'He sJuaU pay you what he owes you,' meaning, ' I (the
speaker) wi ll make him do it.'

But the det eff!lination mar be in the mind not of t he speaker

OOt of the subject of t he sentence. In that case ll'iU not shall
is used. Th e !rill is st rongly st ressed , and
contracted forms I'll , he'U, erc.. are not used . .
We have not ed, in t he examples above, t his usage in t he
fint person, bu t it occurs also wit h t he second and third
person, e.g.
Ceorge Irill go out without his overcoat although it is a
bitterly cold day,
The sentence; ' George shall go without his coat' means: ' I
(':he speaker) am determined t o make George So out wit hout
hIS coat.' The sentence: 'George will go with out his coa t' means

So, t oo, Mark Antony, prophesying over t he body' of

murdered caesar, says in Shakespeare's J ulius Caesar:
' A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all t he parts of Italy;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
1 heir inf ants quartered with the hands of war .'
164 A Comprthmsive Engli sh Grammar
The second person you shaUl and t hird person he, 51u "
sh4lJ denote determination or promise or t hreat On th .
of the speaker. e.g. e
If you work hard you shall have a holiday on SatUt\lo.
(Promise) J
You shall have t he money as soon as I get it . (P70n: i$t' )
If you children won't do as I tell you, you Shall 't go te ,
party. (TJmat) t.:,.
He sMUsuffer for this; he sllall par you what he oWes
(Threat and Detnmil'l4lion)
These people want to buy my house. but they shan' , have
(Dttnmi nati01l) (
The enemy $hdU not pass. (Determination)
The form with shall occurs in literature in
prophetic utterance. The speaker wants to express things
he believes are bound to happen: God, Destiny, Fate bu ..
willed it . Examples occur in, for example, the Bible:
'They sJwll beat t heir swords into ploughshares and t:.c
spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up 5T':rr.
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more "
for t he earth sAaU be full of the knowledge of t he Lord"
t he waters cover t he sea:
1 The seoond Parton singular ' t hou shalt' i. an ar<:haic for'" uJIl
onl y in poetry or older prose, ego. dlall not kiU. Thou , b 'l kl"
thy neig- hbolU' ''' tbyself.
' That t hou ,1Ia11 see the diflerence of our spirits
I pardon thee tby life before thou ask it . '
(Sha kespear e, .'ofercll",,1 01 Ve" iu ).

166 A Comprehensive English Grammar

the speaker's will is of no avail: it is the will of George, the
subject of the sentence, t hat wms the struggle.
Further examples of lhis usage:
Oh, Richard. why will you always do t he opposite of what
I t ell you?
Boys '"ll be boys.
That silly dog l'iU chase meter-cars.
I 've tried t o get my cat to eat that tinned meat, but she
U'On't even look at it .
Peaches won ', ripen outside in the north of England.
(In this last sentence we give t he human attribute of a .....ill to
an inanimate object .)
The t endency to use rnll in the second and third persons is SO
st rong that even where it is the volit ion of the speaker and not
of the subject of the sentence, t here are cases where we use
v i ll, e.g.
You will go at once and pick up all the paper you ha\'c
scattered on the floor.
"All members of t he tearn !#ill be at the st ation at 2.I5
sharp.
No one will leave t he examination room before 1 2 o'clock.
\Ve seem t o use t his form where no t o the command,
or refusal t o obey it, is anticipated.
WiUis also used t o express possibility or assumption, e.g.
That man with the umbrella Trill be the Prime
There are other ways of expressing futurity, e.g. by the use
of the Present Continuous Tense (see P. 169) the Simple
Present Tense (see p. 160) and by going to.
( GOI NG TO1
(to bet(oing to is used to exCress:
\J.!JJ nt ennon:
I am goi", to wri te to Margaret t his evening.
Mr. Brown says he is going to buy a new car next year.
Wh en are they going to pay you t he money t hey owe you?
I know what you are going to say,
Verbs: (2) Tense r67
&VStrong probability:
is going to rain [i.e, I t hink it is very prcbabl I'
It will rain), e lac
I am afraid t hat t he repairs t o our house are "oing "
lot of money. .. cost a
The speaker's cert ai nty:
Look out! That mil k is going to boil over
wife's going to have a baby. '
He's going to regret t he day he ever- wrote t hat let ter
. The to const ruc ! ion cannot be used for pure fu;urrt l'
r.e. futurity not depending on any person's will . I .. .
You cannot say: or In ennon.
I amgoing to be 15 years old in )[ay; or;
Today is the 19t h of October, t omorrow is going t o be t he
aoth.
is not often used when the futuri t y is conti n ent on a
because t hen t he int ent ion of t he person ' g ,
Important , e.g. . ISno onger
If}'OU ever go to France you Tl'iU li ke (not; are ooinC to like)
the food t here. ..
EXERCISES
I twelve t ense forms in t he active vosce of
ng . verbs. Constru, t tweh-e sentencn each em-
ploymg one of these fonns. Use any person singular
or plural. '
II Complete .t he. follOWing senten, cs wlth ' shall' or 'will'
:dexplain, In case, wh} you have chosen one or
e other, and which type of fut ure each exemplifin.
(I) They - not pass. h) I t hink he _ soon arrtve
(J) .You - have a rise in pay next mont h if
IS good. (<I) All members -sign t he book on
the club. (.s) We - leave London on Friday
:t ' goes wel.1. (6) J ohn and I - share t he driving as
d lS a lo.ng ]0u,rney. (7) He - not go out t ill t he
octor glvn him permission, (8) Orangl'S _ not
grow England. (9) We _ ne..er get
to the In time for the train. (10) Will you help
me With this exercise? Certainly 1 _ ,
[IT) frll ECOS-TIS-Va liS T ENSEs
1
]
lim: PRESENT COSTI)'l UOVS lE'>sr\
This t ense is formed by using the Simple Present Tense of
t he verb to be +a present participle, e.g. I am u'ritillg, you
are writing, he is u'riti ng, etc. It is used:
-(a) For an action which began in t he past and " .'ill
in t he future, but which at the moment of speaking I S incom-
plete and is st ill conti nuing, e.g.
The sun is slt ining, the bees are humming, t he birds are
siMging, the fruit is ripns ing, Summer is here. What are you
I am resting in a deck-chair,
Th e continuous tenses &l'1t ..metim. called p.,Of"u ; ," T, ..."s.
168 A CompreMnsive English Grammar
III Show, by constr ucting one sentence for eac h t ype 01
usage, the lenaes in which t he F!estnt , and
(bl the Simple Past tenses are used 11\ English.
IV I n . whose mind is the determinat ion expressed III the
following sentences? Which auxihary-c-tehall' 0' ' '' iIl '_
should be used to complete them?
(I ) He _ never mUT)' my daughter ,( 1) has mad",
up his mind t hat he - - time. (]) T'ell
him t hat I - never speak t o him again, (.-1 He -
make good the da mage caused by his (5)
He _ take unnecessary risks when he I S drl', nK.
V I n which of the following sent ences can the ' going to'
construction correctly replace the fut ure t ense used.
( I) If you go t o England you " ill not ice many dl tter.
ences t rom your o"m count ry. (1) Will you be able to
fi nd your way about in London when you
()) He will take his fina l examination next summ.er.
(. 1 I ex pect I shall teet very much a stranger d unng
my first few weeks in England . (.5) If t he crc:--smg 1S
rough I expect I shan be ill , (6) good h.ohday by
the sea will do you good . (7) I t will not ralll as long
as this wi nd keeps up. (8) This t rain will take me to
Birmingham without stopping. (91 You WQn' t . learn
a foreign language perfectl y unl ess you li ve In the
country where it is spoken. (10) I shall be t wenty-five
next August .
\

V...rt.-s ." (z) Tense 169
fhisfeeling of immediate present is often emphasized by usms
are j ust having breakfast ,
t he action not necessarily be literall y 'cont inuous' at t hr-
irnt of speakmg, e.g.
t f AME:''' (to SCIIOOU I ASTER): ' Is my son worf.,'i'lg hard t his
tenn?'
SCHOOLMASTER: ' Dh , yes, lit'S Iryi"J; his best now.'
t he boy may not be working at t hat pa rt icular moment but
in t he 'general present' he is tryi ng and working.
..(11 ) To express fut uri ty, especially wit h verbs of movement
like 8", come, etc. , e,g.
We ar e g<Hng to Paris on Frida}"; we are !eatoing (rom London
Airport.
John is comi ng here next week and is Sltiying here until
August.
What are you doing ned Saturday?
Wil liam, I have put t he visitors in your room, so you are
sk...ping in t he small bedroom tonight .
j Vtrbs not used i n the COll tilluous Tensel
)Certain verbs (' Verbs of Perception' , e.g. see, hear,Jul, tou ...,
r..tll) are not generally used in the Conti nuous Tenses. Wh en
<me of these verbs is used to express an activity or a state t hat
isstiUcontinuing, the Simrl e Present Tense, not the Present
Continuous Tense, is used, e.g,
I don't su anything t here (:-OT: ' I am net -seeing'). I sa
(- understand) what you mean. Do you luar t hat noise?
I smell something burni ng. I Jed a sharp pain in my chest,
Do you taste (NOT: Are you tasting) the sherry in t his
padding?
. Some of these verbs, however, may be used in t he Con
tlnuous Tense form, when they have special meanings, e,g.
1111111 seeil'!( (= meeting, visit ing) Margar et tomorr ow,
They au sui"C t heir cousin off ( = saying goodbye to) at t he
station.
See also ..., p. s98, 2]9
,

Verbs: (2) Tense 171

\\' e sUrl work at nine o'clock (usual arrangemelll), but for t his
",eek only we are starting at 8,3 . {Temporary arrangmunl j
I this last sent ence, though t he action may be a repeated
nwe want to imply that it is not a regular or permanent
.,..
(ll\f:ihe 'Adverbs of Frequency' l are generally used with the
Present Tense since this tense expresses repeated
tion. But altrays and words of similar meaning can be used
the Continuous Tense when repeated act ion-especiall y
::me acti on that is causing annoyance or irri tat ion-is
indicated, e.g,
}tichard is always trying to borrow money from me.
You lire CMl1itl ually finding fault with me.
Alice is an annoying guest ; she is constantly cClIIplaitl ing that
the house is cold.
'I'm1M ever blowing bubbles.' Hall song.)
Sote that the meaning in t hese sentences is not really ' always'
but rather ' very ett en' .
( THE PAST COSTIS l'OUS TEs sd
This is formed by using u'as (lu re) and the present part iciple.
It is used to express an action that was going on during a
certain time in t he past , c.g
As I was lIlnning to the st ation I met the Browns. They
wre Jrit'i ng horne.
I INS p14yi", t ennis all t his afternoon. What trere you doing?
Q It is often used t o indicate that an action was going on
(hke a 'background') at a time when something else, more
important and more dramat ic (the ' foreground' action)
happened. The new action is. c.xpresscd by t he Simple Past
Tense, e,g.
.-\$ I UOat walking along Piccadilly (" background' action), a
car MOU,utd the pavement {foreground' act ion) and crashed
into a shop.
While the man was looking at t he picture. the thief stoIc his
Watch.
170 .A: Comprehensive English Grammar
I am heari", as well as I used to (= my sense of h '
is not so good as it used to be). tar-
Henry was f etling (... groping) his way along the f
the cliff.
G)There are a number of ot her ver bs which denote , not at
but states of mind, feelings or relationships. These Vt rbs
not generally used in the Conti nuous Tenses. The S
Present Tense used in the following examples could n:;
replaced by a Present Continuous Tense: I
Betty loves swimming, but hates dlving.
John knOUls your brother.
Henry understands Spanish.
I re1fllmber what you told me.
I ru ognize you now; you are Margaret's brother.
I believe you are telling the truth.
The poor dog sums/looks/appears ill.
This box ccmtains/holds tins of fruit .
That house bdmtfs to me.
We 01I1I /posset1 a house in Oxford,
What you are saying mailers a lot to me.
That hat suitslfits you very well.
This applies t o most verbs that irra cduce noun clauses, e.g.
I think that , . , I suppose that .. .
!Present ContinUQNs and Si mpk Present TtI4StI
As was stated before, the Continuous Tense is used for a:
action that is continuing but th at is expected t o end sooner"
later. the is, by its nature, permanent or last ing fori
long t une, .Slmple Pres,ent is used. The following pairs
sentences will Illustrate t his point :
Where 4MS Henry work? (= in his permanent job). \\'ht:t
is he uoorkitlg at present? (= he has made a number
changes; what is his, more or less, temporary job?)
Westminster Bridge crosses the Thames near t he House
of Parliament . (PermalUnJ) Our bus is now crossing the
Thames at \....estrninster Bridge. (Temporary)
EXERCISES
Verbs: (2) T ense J73
My friend wdl be waili"g for me at a irport. I hope
the plane will arrive on time. If it is late he tMll be woll drri llg
what has happened.
It is also used t o indicate future plans t hat have already been
,Iedded on, e,g. .
The Rcbinsons will be sl4ying with us again th is year.
The Fut ure Cont inuous is sometimes used instead of the
Simple Fut ure when t he speaker wishes t o give the impression
of casualness, that t he action will happen by chance and not
by his design,
I sAaJJ be muting her this evening and will give her your
message.
Will y OfI be goill! t o London next week? If so, perhaps you
could buy something for me.
('Will you go , , ,?' might be interpret ed as a req uest.]
I Complete t hese sentences with the Present Cont inuous
form ct .tbe verbs given in brackets. changing t he word
order where necessary.
( I ) I - a holiday today (t ake). (2) He _ his best to
win the prtae t his term (do). (J) They - - from Paris
next 'Monday and -- in Rome on Wednesday (start.
arr ive). (4) What play you - at t he t heatre on
Saturday? (_ ) (5) The house is full, so you - next
door (sleep), (6) I - onhim tomorrow(call), (7) Where
w, - - thls evening? (go), (8) M)' partner _ to see
me t omorrow on business (come). (9) How you __
after your lin t week in London ? (feel), ( I O) We _ as
hard as pD$$ible to inc rease our t urnover (t ry),
II In the following eeet eee es t urn t he verbs in itaUcs intn
the Past Continuous tense and rewrite the sentences
using that form.
(II She &1 way. WO'lted while they a.....$Id themselves. 50<)
nat llrally she passed her examination. (l) If YOIi sfl$yr d
longer YOIi would soon make a lot of friends. (.ll If you
dug t he garden and Mary playrd t ennis all morning,
who cooked t he dinner ? (<I) What did yow say about your
latest girl friend? (5) It rained as Uley preparrd for t he
picnic .
172 A ComprtJt arsivt English Grammar
If. however, you want t o state t hat two actions were !: .
on at the same t ime in the past and it is t he conCUtTl! ncOlfl(
both rather than the striking interest of one that is 0{
indicated. then the Past Continuous is used in both parts
the sentence, e.g. aI
Th e th ieves t ook precautions against surprise; While
1t"J$ IIOTking on the sale. the other U'QS kuping uaU.\one ,
,
. .
po Icemen.
tense occurs in reported speech.! e.g.
He said t hat he U'a.s working a ll day on Sat urday.
She said that Alice Il'QS always complainillg t hat the hOll.!t
was cold.
awIt is used with some condit ional sentences! (af ter Ifl all(!
Wi th supposit ions! (aft er I wish, etc.), e.g.
If your foreign visi tors were staying longer they would SOOn
per fect t heir English.
They wouldn't have spent all t hat money on t he houle
unless they u'ere thinking of Jiving t here t hemselves.
They wish they were coming to England again t his year.
L J There is one fur t her poi nt to be noted. Compare the
'roi"lowing answers t o the question, ' Did you hear about Henry's
new job?':
-<a) Yes, my wife was telling me about it t his mortl ing.
-<b) Yes, my wife toldme about it t his morni ng.
The Past Cont inuous Tense in (. ) suggests: ' I have heard I
littl e about it , but I shoul d like t o hear more.'
The Simple Past Tense in (b) suggests: ' I know, more or less,
all about it; I don't need any further information.'
( THE Fl'-TURE COS TJS l,;Ot.'S TESSE}
The Future Cont inuous Tense is formed by usi ng the Simp:t
Future Tense of be + present participle. It is used t o expres
a future activi ty, begi nning before and finishing after some
given t ime in the future, e.g.
What will you be doillg t his t ime t omorrow?
This t ime tomorrow 1 shdll be flyi"g t o Spain.
S- pal{l:s )61-72. See p,ages 343, 3H-51. 'See page'!> 178, He ,
I
III Turn the verbs in it alics in these sentences into th
Future Continuous tense: e
( I) The will. gi ll' six du.ring the
wint er. (2) My fn end will mttt my train when It arriVe,
at Victoria Station. (3) A week t oday I ' ross the
Atlantic Ocean. (4) I shall oft en think of you when YOu
have left England. b ) We must go home now Or
Mot her wiUfttl anxious about us.
note that t o affirmative dural ion unt il t he present. Il,,'
'ee at Perfect Continuous tense is normally used (u :cept with j Q be)'
page 179, '
Verbs: (2) Tenst 175
I hav' never met your sister. (Up to xow.j
I have studied all t he documents in t his case. (So s ow I am
fuUy infonned on t he matter.)
We havi bought our yearly stock of coal. (So sow our cellar
is full ; NOW we are all right for t he winter.)
[ h' J'iil"" IT","]
...{r) For an action just concluded when t he resulting state is
still present. e.g.
J 'uwe JosJ my pen; I am unable to do my exercises.
He has the door; t here is not hing to prevent you
from gOing out .
This watch was working all right a moment ago but now it
Au stopped.
With acti vities completed in the inunediate pas t , jusJ is etten
used, e.g.
The post has just come.
Sote though j ust. is an adverbial of the present , j us4 now
(- a little time ago) 15 an adverbial of t he past and t he verb
used with it will be a Past Tense. e.g;
The post carne just now.
-1
2
) For duration or of absence of an act ion begun
mthe past and contmumg to the present (and possibly to the
future),l e.g.
I ,uN not t'isited him for ten rears.
I Mve tallght t his class for ten years (and am still teaching it). -
Compare th is with :
I tau,ght th is class for ten rears (but no longer teach it) .
-<J) When th e t ime of the action is indefi ni te, e.g.
I have Set" t his film before.
Compare t his w-ith:
I saw it last January when it was fi rst shown in London.
-h@'fe the t ime is definite.

A Comprehensive English Grammar
' 74
rI II .V,THE PERFECT TESSEs l
The three tenses, Simple Present, Simple Past and the
Future, are .concerned mainly with aspec.t of. time of all
action. But In the Perfect Tenses our mtere:>t IS pnmanly ncr
in t he t ime of the action but in t he fact of Its occurrence and
in its result. Thus in the sentences
Henry 1uu hem to Paris t hree t imes.
I Mtrt motm t he lawn.
!tlary has bought a new dress.
t he attention is direct ed not on t he time in th e past wher,
these actions .....ere done but simply on t he fact t hat Henry's
visits have taken place, t hat the grass is cut and that vnow
has a. new dress. If we wan ted t o direct attention to the tune
of t hose actions we should use a Past Tense and, generally, an
adverbial that indicated definite past time, e.g.
Henry W1U to Paris in 1956, 1957-and 1958.
I mqwJ the lawn this afternoon.
Mary a new dress on Friday.
( Til E PRESENT PE RFECT- TESSE l
The Present perfect Tense is made by using th e Present
Tense of t he verb to haw and a past participle. The interroga-
tive, as with all Perfect Tenses, is fonned by inversion of hat"
and th e subject ; t he negat ive by t he addition of nol, e.g.
- Affi rnMtiw: George has eaten all t he sweets.
_ I nterrogative: Has George eaten all t he sweets?
_ Negative: George h4s not (h4sn' t) eaten all t he sweets.
The Present Perfect Tense, t hough it indicates an action
that took place in t he past , is associated wit h t he presort idea
of NOW, ego
Vn bs: (2) Tense
This t ense is formed RYhatl .. + a pa st part iciple It is used:
...{ I) To speak of an act ion concluded before a cert ain t ime in
the past or before t he ti me of t he occurrence of another act ion
(denoted by t he Simple Past Tense) and yet continuing int o
it, e.g.
Lucille had learned English before she came t o England.
When we got ' t o t he fi eld the football match .had
staru ti.
1didn' t go t o t he cinema because r IlIJd al ready su n t he fi lm.
J ust as Present Perfect is used when t he result ant st ate is
still ' now , so t he Past Perfect Tense would be used to refer , at
a subsequent t ime, t o t his prior action. So t he examples on
page 175 would, in the Pas t Perfect Tense, read:
I had lost my pen and I was unable to do t he exercises.
lie had unlocked the door; t here was nothing to prevent
you from going out.
..(1: ) To express durat ion up t o a certain t ime in t he past , e go
By th e t ime r left ti le school I had tmlght t hat class for ten
years.
oJJ) In ind irect speech! t o express an idea t hat , in dIrect
speech, had been in the Present Perfect Tense, e.g.
Direct He said. ' I have writ ten her a letter.'
IT . He said t hat he had U'rif/m her a letter.
[)ired Mary said. ' J ohn has just set out for t he office.'
said that John had just set out for the office,
Or in th e Simple Past Tense:
'Di rtd: A great battle was fought on t his spot in 1815.
J ired: he guide t old us t hat a great bat tle 1IIJd been j Oft.ght
on t at spot in ISI S (AhI -rW. )OaJt
-<i ) To express a past condi tion or supposi tion with an implied
negati ve,' e,g.
Il I had knOtt'n t hat you wanted t he book, 1 woul d have sent
it. (Implied negative ' but 1 didn't know' .)
I TilE P.\ ST PERFECT j Pl UPERFECT) I
176 A Comprehensive Engli sh Gramt/Ul r
Note th e d ifference in meaning suggest ed by t he foUO
wi
t wo sentences: lit
!iJiFSPiI PERFECTf Have you sun Sir O.1i vier' s{ltt..
duction of TiU4S Andronicus?(The production IS shU runnin,
0 1
> > > ad I
I Tt:s SEj!DiJ you see Sir m er 5pr uc.tiontj
Titus AndrOflitU5! (The production IS no longer tunntng.)
There are some words or phrases or construct ions that
usually associated wi th the Present Perfect Tense. Thus,
verb in sent ences modified. by phrases or clauses kginnite
with si nu is almost always In t he Present Perfect , e,g
He has bttll here since t wo
et c.
They hat'( not visited us sirsce Henrv went t o America.
This tense is usual with already :
I have iJIwuiy explained t hat.
with t he Ad verbs of Frequency: (see pages I SS, 252)
He has oflt 1t lneverJalU!ays, etc. done t hat.
Have ),ou efI" heard of such a thing?
and with t he words: tod4y , Ihis week/ mlJPtth /J'ea' , ett,
up to flOU', up W tJu present , so[er riot y et, latdy" .
The Present Perfec t is used with n '" ft tveT If t hey bIll
the meaning 'at any time up W \\ ith other mea!Ullp
almost an)' t ense can be used .
But t he exclamat ory sentence' Did you eyer hill' of such I
thing!' has the Past Tense.
The Present Perfect t ense is not used with:
ago (I , euived r OUl letter two days ago), then, at Ii""
y esterday, last week/fnQftth/year, etc., irl 1950, at
etc.: with words and phrases like this the Past Tense showe
be used.
. . be sed \lith a
This fIIo,nlr.g, thi s tIll S e1itnlnc. can u . thI
Present Perfect or a Past Tense depending on t he t une
statement is made , e.g. . . , _ thI
I hal'e u:riltm two letters t his mornmg (said during
mor ning], .. . nit
I wrote two letters thi s mormng (said m t he aft ernoc
evening),
This tense is formed by t he Present Perfect of t he verb to be
and t he present participle. It is used to express the durat ion
01 an action up to the present. The tense suggests t hat the
action is still cont inuing at t he moment of speaking. The
action may continue into t he future, e.g.
I have been teaching this class for two years (and am still
teaching it).
He /WS been learn ing English {or six mont hs.
The boy' s hat" been wak hi"t te levi sion since seven o'cl ock.
(... and are still watching now and ....; 11 probably go on
watching for some time).
This tense, and t he other Perfect Cont inuous tenses, are
particular ly associated with the words [or and since (sec pp.
176 and 299).
Verbs: (z) Ttnse 179
It is now 6.30 p.m.; I shall have fi nished my work by S
o'clock.
The taxi u'ill have arrived by the time you fmish dressing.
In another year or so, YOIl !iill have [orgotten all about him.
'2) durat ion up to a time in t he future, e.g.
-'t When I leave t he school next week I shall "at'e tallght t his
class for ten years,
On December r Sth we shall have bun ma rried for 25 years.
Note t hat in t ime clauses beginning U'hrn, et c., the Fut ure
perfect is not used; t he correct tense is t he Present Perfect . e.g.
I will repair your bicycle when I hat" fin ished (SOT: 'shall
h01\'e fi nished' ) this job.
By the time you haw read (NOT: ' shall have read') that book ,
you ....;11 know.all t he answers. . '
I wi ll come WIth you; but walt until I haw u:,ittm (SOT:
'shall have written') t his letter.
-0) possibility or assumption, e.g.
You !riUhave heard, I expect , that Elizabet h is going 10 be
married.
It's five o'clock: the)' trill have arriu d home by now.
I THE PRESENT Pt:lt fECT CO:'l I!;.;uouij
Thi s tense is formed by t he Future Tense of have +a past
participle. It is used to indicate:
"'(I ) an acti on t hat will be completed before a certain time
or another acti on in the future. The state it brings about .."iIl
still exist at that time or at the ti me of t hat action. So the
Future Perfect bears the same relation to a future moment a!
t he Present Perfect bears to a present moment and t he
Perfect to a past moment. This tense is often associated \11th
t he preposition by and the const ruction ' by t he t ime (t hat)'.
Examples:
178 A Comlmhe,uiw E"C1is4 Grammar
If he W llIork_ steadil y he would have passed the
aminatlon (. . . but he didn't work steadily).
If only I /uul known that you want ed to meet him! (... b
I didn't know). li t
....(5) with such verbs as wish, Iwpe, expect, etc ., to
past wish, hope, etc. that was not realized, e.g. I
He wishes now t hat he had taken your advice.
We had expUd you t o stay at least a week.
I had hoped/intendedimtant/to take a good holiday this j"
bl
but I wasn t a e to get away.
-i6) with 'as if. e.g.
He described the scene as vividly as if he Md bun there
Some of t he conj unctions with which t he Past Perfect tense
is oft en associated ar e; belore, uhen, after, InlCe , as soon Gl
untd , e.g. '
He came round t o our house before I hadfi nished my break.
fast.
When/A/tv/th e cheering had died de....'n, the Prime
began his speech.
Ona/As soon as/approval of the plans had been gi vt n, the
work went ahead rapidly..
It was not until I had read your letter that I understood the
t rue st ate of affairs.
{oJ Two wars of using t he exprc$!>ion ' thISa uernccn',
one ernplo)'mr.;- t he Presen t Perfect and one t he
Simple Past tense.
1\. loxplain t he ditler ences of meaning expressed by the
tense of the ver b in t he following pairs of sentences:
( I ) (<1) I have subscr ibed to t his fur several
years ,
(b) I t ook out a subscr spt ion t o t his magazine last
January,
(1) (a) Have you read many books by Dicke ns?
(b) Did you read the leading art icle in T ilt TimlS
yesterday?
\' Insert the correct form of t hc verb to ll'"J [Simple
Pas t tense or Present Perfect t ense) in each of the
following sen tences, and give a reason for your choice.
(I ) I t his book .
(l l I - t his book last week.
0 ) I t his book since you Wefe here.
14} I this book oft en.
(,5) I - this book this morning.
VI List t he various uses of t he Past r'ert ecr tense and
(onstfuct sentences t o exelLlplif)' each of t hem. How
is the t ense formed?
VlI Correct thc followi ng sent ences where necessary. and
give reasons for your corrections,
(I) As soon as I shall have mastered t he Engli sl1
laub uage I shall begm to st udy Spanish. !\ext
J' ebruary we have been married for ten years,
OJ Don't COlli e t o see me again before I shall have
told you t o do so. (4) We have learnt English si nce we
are twelve years old. (5) I asked t hem what they have
been doing since our I,"'t meet ing. (6) I n a few days
we shall have worked for t he firm for t welve months.
( 7) You hear the ne....s of her engagement , I expec t .
(S) It was not till aft er your letter has arrived t hat
I knew of your promotion. (9) They told t he star)' as
i ( i t has happened t o t hem. (10) The}' di ,1 nut wr it e to
us since t hey left England ,
VII I Const ruct sentences illust rat lll,t: the use of t he Present
Perfect Conttnuous, the Past Perfect Continuous and
t he Fut ure Perfect Continuous tenses.
I So A Co".preh(1ls!t'e Ellglish GM.m"ar
THE PAST PERFECT COSTlst:ot'S TEs!'.EI
This is formed by had bun + present participle and is
-(1) To express t he durat ion of an act ion up to a
in the past , e.g.
When I got to the meeting the lect urer had already be
speakillg for half an hour. t,
The telephone had ken ,itlgi"g {or t hree minutes befott
was answered.
..{:z) To express the Present Perfect Conti nuous in rePottt:!
speech, e_g,
I asked her what she had bten doing since she <lTrl ved II
England.
She told me that she hdd been studying English Iiteraturt ,
hUEFy TURE PERFECT CONTISUOUS Tg SSE J
This tense is formed by the Future Tense of hat'{ +
a present part iciple, and is used to express the duration of c.
action up to a certain time in the future. Exaffl/' les:
On April and, l cjjo, we shdll have bUll living in t his hOllle
exactly thirty years.
I n anot her mont h' s t ime, Henry will hat'e bun 'l'Or ki'lg il
the weavewell Woollen Company's office for f l\"e years,
EXERCI SES
I Rewrite the following sentences using the Prescot
Perfect t ense of the verbs and omitting o.r changing
words rendered incorr ect o.r unnecessary by the change
of tense:
(I) I saw him twice la$t week, (1) Did you go to
London aft er our last meeti ng? (3) Do you go t o Pam
oft en? (..) He began t o study English when be .... :u
sixt een, (5) We fin t lived in t his house in 19..9.
II Explain, wit h an example of each, how the Present
Perfect, Past Perfect and Future Perfect tenses are
formed.
III Const ruct sentences t o illust rate t he following:
(..) Adverbs specially asscc tat ed ...i th the Present
Perfect t ense,
rubs: (2) Tense l SI

I
-
CH APTER FOURTEEN
{VE RBS:l<@THE SPECIAL FI:->ITES '(81
There are certain verbs that demand special attent ion. Th
are sometimes called the ' auxiliary' verbs because thev ' h
other verbs to fonn inte rrogat ive, negative and emph
forms of speech to f0':O tenses, mood and voice. There
twelve' of them 1R all. VlZ. be. h"t,t, can, do, shall , u,U
m"5l. tmd.. hJ dart MStd (to). ' . ,
trhe term aUXI ane ' for all these verbs is not quite Canet!
as some 0 t em, e.g. be, have, do, are sometimes the only
in the sentence, e.g. ' Keats was a poet' . ' They have a
house.' ' He did the work well: A bette r tenn is Special Finl
or Anomalow Finites. !l
They have certai n characteristics which the)' , and theyOUlT
possess and which distinguish them from all other verbs.
following are thei r special feat ures:
...(l lI FORloI ATlOS OF THE SEGATIVE I
The negative' of these verbs is formed by placing ..
immediately after them. e.g.

Affi,matit'e Negati t(
He is here. He is ot here.
They can speak English. They cannot speak Englist
They would help us. They would not help us.
The word JWt is generally, in conversation, contracted and
fused with the verb, e.g. He im't here. They can'l speu
English, They tt1Otdd,,'t help us. They didn't answer.
The special fi nites are t he only verbs that t ake the contracted
form of not,
Or t..-enty.four if we reckon twelve ot her derived forms
the imperative) lor tense, nllmber and pe rson, ViI. am, i 5, ar,.....
_ ,,; !I41, 1144: dOll , lI id; 1}w..1d: Tl>l,nUII ; ",,,til; ..,it/ot.
I Except for t he I mperat ive. Only three of these "erbs has e
u
imperat ive form lb" II ,,). The negnuve imperath'e is formed lI1a
110 and 11 01, e.g. Do " 0' {D""' I) b, ...tllpid. D",, ', Ii",.., t oo much to tIt
D",,'I 110 that .
.8,
Verbs: (3) The Sprcial Finites 183
..(2)lf ORMATION OF THE ISTE RROGATlVE I
. t rrogat ive of special finites is made by inversion, i.e.
the verb before its subject:
111 Pu AfJi rtlUAliVI I ,,/(frog,,!iI't
speak English. Can he speak English?
to the party. WiUshteome to the part)' ?
;W "to answer the letter. Ought I to answer the letter?
I"" .
tber verbs use tio (dots. dili) and t he infinit ive, e.g.
.o\l1
0
td.h EJl#lish. Doa he speak English?
to the party. Did she come to the party?
H, .1ffTIItrtd the let ter, Did Iu ,znsu'(J' the let ter?
-o:I QUESTIOS PHRASES '
'(be spe<:ial finites alone have the ability to form 'Question
Pbrase5' , We frequent ly, especially in conversat ion-. one
fA these phrases to a stat ement , t hereby turnmg It mt o a
"""',on, e.g. .
IfI a fiDe day, im'J iN You knew him qui t e well, didn', ycu?
)To an affumati n statement a negative Quest ion Phrase
IS added:
Mr. Brown is a doctor, is,,'t he?
You can speak Spanish, u ,,'t you.'
Your friends will come, U'Oft 't they?
Oro a negative st atement an affirmative Quest ion Phrase
II added, e.g.
Mr, Smith isn't a doctor , is he?
You can' t speak Spanish, c"" you.'
YOIlt Iriends won't come, will tluy?
That job is suitable for Peter, is
Sote that the subject of the Question Phrase must be a pro-
llOun (or tlu, e), e.g.
There's no one in the house. is thrre?
4
The
words IIwl/)' , ulllOfA, $,,,,"1)', etc., !!'-.! of
I ..t ement l . - ,- r.,
e"' ''( :l

,
,.
I
I
I

18.4 A CQ11Iprdtell$ivl English Grammar

(JJIf t he verb in t he stateme nt is a special fini te, a for m of tho._
verb is used in t he Quest ion Phrase, eg. '
They were there, U'rTtll' / tllty.-
He ollght t o know the answer, ollght,,'t he?
You haven', answered the h-t tcr, 11m'!
TI le work ha$ been done, hasn't If.'
[Not e that if t here are two auxili aries in the verb, only t:
fi rst one is used in th e question phrase.]
trJIf t he verb in the st atement is not a special (mit e, do (.h,
'ttid, don't, do<sn't ) is used in t he Question Phrase, e.g.
He speaks Spani sh . doesn't he?
They (Ilmt to t he party. didn't they?
He didn't help t hem, did he?
She dot s" ', t each French, dlUs she?
Note t hat there are two meanings t o some of t hese phra..', <
according to t he t one of voice used.
-(i) If information or confirmation of an op inion is wanttu
the Question Phrase is said wit h a rising intonat ion , e.g.
I t' s raining, ? isn' t it? (Risi Hg Itllanatioll) e a eS4f3- 1'
Your name' s Brown,? fsn t rr r IH anatlon .
(The speaker is not quite sure whether it is raining Of not
whether the man's name is or is not Bro..... n. The answe r m:g! :
be , ' Xo, the ra in has stopped now' . ' Xc, it's Smi th .' )
..(ii) But when th e sentence is t he expression 01 an opinion 01 1
st atement of which no contradiction is expected, the Question
Phrase is said wit h a fall ing intonation, e.g.
It' s a terrible day, '>t isn' t it ? (Falling I nlanatiall)
(It is a cold, foggy day, and you know it. The answer, ':-;.
would somewhat nonplus t he questioner and woul d be ce
sidered rather impolite. )
You are Brown,"" aren't you? (F"lling Intonation)
{You arc pract ically sure he is; you had met him before or tee
told about him.]
In both fonns the only verbs t hat can be used in QuesliC!
Phrases are t he Special Finites,
-
}Oerbs: (J) TIle SptcioJ[ Fi Hitt s
...(4)( snORT ASSWERS I
The special finites are used for 'Short Answers' to avoid
repet it ion of the verb , e.g.
_ QllesliOll : 'Can you speak Russian?'
Full Ansil't'r: 'Yes, I can speak Russian.' ' Xc, I can' t speak
Rnssian.'
_ Sltort A ns".l'tr: ' Yes, I can: 'So, J can't:
These Short Answers may be of seve ral t ypes:
or ' No' answTl e g.
' WiJI he help us?' ' Yes, he will.' ' No, he won't.'
' Could he come t o t he party?' 'Yes, he catdd. ' ' Xc. he couldll't, '
'Dare you go t here alone?' ' Yes, I dare.' ' Sc. J darttl'l.'
' 00 you spea k Spanish?' 'Yes, I do.' ' xe, J don' l.'
'Did you hear me?' 'Yes, J did.' ':So, J didll 'C
.Wr /AlIst6lT to a quesJiOll ull,Oduced by an inJerrogatlt'e,le,g.
'Who was here fi rst, Henry or Richard?' ' 1It ll' Y teas.'.
' \ \110 can ans..wer the quest ion?' ' L call.'
'\Vho doesn' t understand t his?' ' J don't.' 'My f riend doesn't.'
./..c)["short AHSUtTS erprtSSI'ng agrumentJe.g.
'I t hink J ohn is working well.' ' Yes, Itt' is.'
' Mary has done well in her exami nation .' 'Yes, sht has.'
' He' ll pay the money, won't he?' ' Yes, he triU:
..( Short A KSU't'TS ex resSlng uagreemuu, ,g.
' It will take hours t o 0 t 15 war i l won't .'
' That car must have cost a lot 01money.' 'Oh. no, it didn't.'
' He will pay t he money.' ' Of course M won't.'
'Richard works hard.' 'I'm afraid he dot sn't .'
..(e';.{ililditiolls aJ&J TlsfXinu s to senYH"!. )
-(i). wit h so, meaning 'alSo':
' I have written a letter to J ean.' ' So hat'e I .'
'John has given the right answer.' ' And so has,M a,y.'
'Pedro can speak English well and so can Olaf.
J ohn will help and so wiU AtaTgaret.
Henry must come and so must Cha,les.
' Qh, you won't , WOQt you"
If Comprehensive English G" mmlllT
speaks French and so deus A nna
allSW
bo
'ered the question well and so' did Ja'l' .
as m free as Caesar sowe" you' (Shak
Caesar) . espeare.lklilq
,The construction parallel to (i):
,John hasn.t gwen the right answer. Ofdlhi, (PI") has \
speak Russian. S tithu (nar) tan Dial' .
... idn t answer the questions. mitlu, (flOr) did
so, expressing sUrprised agreement .
It s the ryth today; d ' .,
'So I Juzve.' ,an you ve dated letter the 14th '
' That's William coming in at t he gat "S ., . , .
{IN . . 0 I IS .
inmil,he Inversion of subject and verb in (i) and (ii), but nut
-+ (Finall)' .l t here is a construc tion t hat bi
AIlS\Po'er and tJ:l e Question Phrase. It is Shor.
express surprised and t ruculen t di Want to
voice indicates t he feel" H isapproval. The tone of
mg. ere are some examples:
'I've left my book at h " 0 .
' 1 ' orne. h, vou have have vcu"
the money -os, ):ou can' t: can't
' I won't be spoken to like
. th is.'
' I don't like you.' 'Oh, you don't, don't veu"
:Richard tore up hi s book.' ' Oh, he did. did he?' .
Olga hates English coffee.' 'Oh, she does, does she)'
"hh, at for Short Answers of of
specla rutes.
l
This const ruction avoids repetition of t he ver b etc in su.:h
sentences as: ' "
dcesn't jaten to the class. and when he Jon
kdoes come) .is enerall y_late. - --
e speaks Spanish better t han Henry ,an (= can spuk it),
better t han Henry ever Il'iU(_ will speak it ).
rubs: (3) The Spt 6 al Finit es
18
7
fot a swim every day. DoyOIl? ( = go for a swim every
II"
understand a word he says. Can y ou? (= Can you
I nd
erstand
a word he sa}'5:')
onl}' cerbs th at can be used for these elliptical sentences
thespecial finites._
'"
-(6HTlII:: H n 'lIAT IC FORM)
1M Emphat ic form of t he verb is expressed by using one .of
" fmites. There is a strong st ress on t he special finite
t::e arennative emphasis, a strong stress on the tlot (never)
following t he special tinite for negative emphasis.
e,g / Affi rmative Emphasi Sf
sister Il'i l{ be pleased to see you.
We /uJve enjoyed our visit .
you can sing beautif ull y.
I s1IotJd like a holiday in Switzerland.
I enjoy good music.
! .''';t gativI Emphasis/
I did nol take your book.
They will nt1ier agree to t hat .
You ought IJt to do that.
Sometimes we want t o be emphatic t o assert an affirmat ive
when t he listener seems to assume a negative. e.g.
'Why don' t you work hard? ' ' But I dowork hard.'
'Why didn't she give him ' But she did give 'him t he
t he book?' book.'
'Why won' t th ey keep t heir 'But t hey will keep t heir
promise?' promise.'
'Why haven't you t idied ' But I hat'e tidied my room.'
your room?'
The only verbs t hat can take this st ress for affirmative em-
f1hasis ate the special fmites. If an ordinary verb is emphasized
It is the mlaning of t he verb that is being not its
affirmative nature. If. for example. instead of saying: 'But she
,

1
I
188 A Comprehensive Etlglish Gr<l ,nmar
did give him t he book ', you said: ' But she gate h im the t.,
your sente nce would now suggest: "'-'01('
She didn' t und him the book, or uU him the book n
he sfeal it; she Kat'e it to him. ' Or dio:l
-17) ! roSITI9 S OF ADVERBS!
With the special finites cert ain mid-posit ion adverb> d'
t he 'adver bs of frequency ' (alWQy s, o/tel'l , Stml tt inu s .lefty
h ave a different posit ion fr om t he posi t ion t hey etc.).
other ver bs. F or t his , see page 265. WIth
.-(8) ' THIRD PE RSOS SI'lGl'lARJ
One final peculiari ty:
The third pe:son s!ngular of t he Pres:nt. Tense in all I'err.
except t he special fini t es has a characteristic regular endingill
-s added t o the firs t person singular, ego
he speaks, 'Ant es , reads, sings, etc .
Compare t he correspondi ng forms of the special finit es:
he can, shall, will , may, must, is, has. does, ncedt ougr'l
dare,' used t o.
EXERCISES
I Wri te ;a list of all the formseyou know in whic. special
fi nit es used with ' not' are spoken, and sometimes
written, in contract ed form. Give both full form il1ld
contracted form in each case.
II Give exampl es of Special Finites het pmg: (a) t , form
a negati ve, (b) an interrogative, (el a t ense.
III Complete t he following sentences with Question
Phrases:
(I) I t' s a finl;! day - ? (2) You are studying
-1(3) He is a handsome man - - 1 (.il She is very
well-dressed - ? (5) Lucille has a new car _1
(6) My watch is right - - ? (71 You were in E ng tand
last year _? (S) He can speak English _ 1 (91
You could understand me _ _ ? (10) They must do
t he work - ? ( I I) You don' t mind waiting _1
.....nen t he forms _Ils and /J4.u are used , t hese ,erb. ate lid
funct ioning u speci.alfipjles (Me pp_209, Ut).
Verbs: (3) The Spial Fi..ites
( 2) You will write t o me _1 (131 She can come
(14) He gives a Jesson every day--'
(15) You read modern "Titers -? (16) Shaw wrot e
51. Joa. - ? (11) They gave her a clock -)
(18) You went t o the theatre-? ( 191 I wrote to you
_ 1 (20) He speaks English -1 (:H) You are not
coming to the class tomorrow-?(:n) You haven't
finished your work yet - ?(23) The students are not
aU Turkish - 1 (24) He can' t play football well
_? (25) He isn' t a good pl ayer - 1 (26) He
doesn ' t play very well - ? (27) He didn't play ver y
well _ 1 (28) He couldn' t play very well - 1
1
= ::':: (29) He hasn't played very we1l --1(30) That Wa!ln't
your brother who spoke t o me _ 1 u ll You didn't
ha\"Cany letters this morning -1(32) I oughtn' t t o
ask the driver for a t icket - 1 (33) She won't play
tennis tomorrow -1() 4) You won' t forget to send
a Christmas present - - 1 (3S) You didn ' t forget to
lend a Ouistmas present - ? (36) You haven't
forgott en to lend a Christmas present --? (37) They
don' t come here every day - ? (38) They didn' t
come here yesterday - ?
IV !>take the following sentences (II) negative, (b) inter.
rOiative, {,j interrogat ive by adding question phrases
expect ing t he a ns.....er, ' Yes' , (ti) int errogati ve by
adding question phrases expecting the answer , ' Xo'.
(e.g. It r aining. (II) It isn't raining.
(b) Is it raini ng ?
('I I t is r aining. isn't it ?
(lI) It isn' t raining. is it 1)
( I ) These verbs are diffi cult. (t ) My aunt is awake.
(J) You saw George in London. (4) H e ough t to change
his doctor. 151 The students can Italian. (61
Mary spoke Italian well . (7) The policeman will
arrest the t hief. (8) He had onl y an apple and some
chocolate for lunch. (9) George ptays tennis well.
(10) He has a new t ennis racket . ( I I) We shall arrange
a party for our friends. (u ) You can go now. ( I ))
The boys could swim across the Thames. (I..) They
did it easily. ( IS) Your fn end was wrong. (16) You
should polish your shoes every morn ing. ( I 7) He
found a better job. (18) He went for a swim. (19) You
can fi nd your way in t he moonlight . (10) It will be
warm on the beach, (21) He ought to grow a beard.
(H ) You have quite finiShed.

"'0

,
,
,
Verbs: (3) The Speci,1l Fin it, s ] 91
( I) 1 don't like this exercise. (2) Richard has n' t done
his homework, (3) You must n' t open that box. (4)
I ' m very fond of chocolate. (,5) I 'd rather have
chocola tes than ca ke. (6) I hate sausages. (7)
ucee dogs in our house. (8) The st udents want a holi-
day t omorr ow. (9) I thought you would gtve us one.
(10) I told him what you said.
X I nvent quest ions t o which t he following sen tences are
the answers:
(I) But 1 did post your letter. (2) But 1 call walk
fast er. (3) Hut t hey did t elephone t hq morning.
(,, ) But he has finished his exerc ise. (3) Bu t the
,:===;;; dinner i s ready punctuall y,
XI Say t he followi ng sentences. stressing one of the ver bs
in each to make the sentences emphatic:
(1) Ma. rgaret can play t he violin well. (2) Andrew is
a big bey for his age. (3) I shall be glad to be home
again, (4) We were JOlT)' you had to go JO early.
(,5) You will try to come agai n, won't you 1 (6) 1 must
get t his work done before Friday. .
XII \\'rite the following sentences in the emphat ic form
by introducing a Special Finit e into eac h one:
( I) Richard likes cake. (z) He enjoyed t he ones he
ate at t he party, (J) I like t he cakes t hat your mot he r
bakes. (4) We had a good swim t his afternoon, (,5) You
bought a lot of chocola te, (6) Andrew runs fast.
(7) The wi nd blew hard when we were at sea. (8) You
brought a lot of clot hes with you. (9) Henry came here
quickly. (10) Henr y comes here quickly, (I I) Richard
drank a lot of lemonade, (12) The}' took a long time
t o come here. (13) Those shoes I bought wore well.
(14) Ife promised he would wr i te and he wrote. (15) I t
froze hard las t night. (16) You told me t o see the
picture at the cinema a nd I saw it . (17} He asked me
to t each him French and I taught l.im. ( IS) You did
t hese exercises well,
XI II Disagree wi th t he assumpt ions in t he following
sentences:
( I) Why don' t you come by bus? (2) Why hasn't he
wri tten t o his brotherf (3) Why won't he sign the
paper? (4) Why isn't he willing t o come here? (5) Why
aren't you going to the da nce?
XI V Expla in the di fference between:
' But 1 did uril, t o him', and ' Bu t I u.,.olt t o him',
A English Grammar
V G'
Ive the full anSwer and the
&ffi ( (b) negative, to (4)
I ........., he speak Russia ? () "
dinner t omorrow1 ( ) Ou n 2 \ \ ill th ey Corn
Did he lind the I ",!lOwer the
plCtures often ? (6) Did ce n 5 0 )'OU go to th '
(7) Have you spoken to what he
you tomorrow? (9) Will au It1 (8) Shall I
morro,w? ( IO) Didn 't they that the party to.
dine with me this evening? (12) 51rJ Can
o , see us tomOlTaw? (l J) Wh o r ic h you come
ga:1tc ? ( I.,) Can r et ac l es t e Of
mmutes? (I, ) Are the: III fiftee::.
VI Give 5h....... A I.!I evemngl
," . nswers t o the f 11 ' '
Ir,GIlIt:EMNT: 0 oWing expr essi ng
(I) Henry is a very lucky fellow ( , H '
t omon ow, won't he? (J ) L "ll' 2 e II come again
C..' William answered e English well.
(5) Don't YOu think he ought t quest ion correctly.
You said that before So 0 pay the money ? (6)
rain. So _ _ is) --;--. (7) It's begun to
_ . . a wmdow s open. So _
Vn Give Short Answers t o th .
DISI,CRJtUIJtNY: e following exprCS$ing
( I) I t will be two hours before ' 0
hOuse was su rel y buil t be t }' u get t here. (2) That
house before 194
0
(., (3) The)' th t
bon-OWed ( ) y ' e return the book 11
tell me well. (6) Why didn ' t )'0:
with me ? Bu t __ S{7) \ '1l :o:: arc you angry
lot of money, Oh, no, has a
VIII Con - .
s .... II ct sentences tai
fi nites used to a v id con the fOllOWing
Answers: 01 repentton of t he verb in Short
wUl, ' " " do " (
IX '. "" II r" Will ), )"w', """' It, 'o", Td.
(II) To what re:nub cou ld th t il '
appropriate a n""ers a nd expressions
II expreued by each ? ee Ing 0 you t hm:':
(I) Oh, I mustn't m t 'e Jl
wouldn' tlne? ' II I n " (2) Oh, sbe wouldn' t.
did did the 1 ((')) OO. h, you WIll, WIl! you1 (4) 0 11 t hy
, Y,5 , It wu was itl '
Ib) Make responsecll e .' . '
follOwing. xpreu mg l urpnse or anger to the
,
;
- --- ,
192 A Comprehensive English Grammar
(THE SPECIAL FI NITES Em)
rTO IH: ]
The parts of this: verb are: am, is, are, was, were, being, been.
The Present Tense hu the ecntracted (weak) fonns :
I'm (aim], he's (hi:z), she's Ui:z), it's [its) we're [wia]
you're they're J'
The con.tracted negat ive has t wo forms, except for t he fi rst
person Singular:
r ,
I'm not
-
he's (she's. it's) not he (she, it) isn' t
.....e're not
we aren't
you're not you aren't
they're not th ey aren't
The shortened interrogative negative is "rt1!'t yOfl. is., 'J M,
etc.. and for the first person "ren', U (or a',, 't 1)1, e.g.
I'm right . am, ', IJ
..(I) The .to be is used. as an auxiliary verb, with the
present participle t o fonn the Continuous Tenses. e,g.
' He ' She was speaking', and it is used with the past
participle to form t he passive voice, e.g.
He lias asked to sign his name.
You 1m invited to the birthday part y.
Th
7
verb to be. is a verb of INCOMPLETE i.e.
requires else (called t he Complement) to complete
ItS mearung In such sent ences as: ..rr J. ""rr II Tt".it ?o, i
Your u r: ady:. 15 "'1 J" l,U" rraJ, .
In four rrunutes It U>iJl be nine o'clock.
His father was a famous man. 1<.: . ... f.o. ... , ...... ) "'l. "
" 0 .........n,. o' .. ... ,"",<0 ... \ ...I<\. V\ 1
.;u). .IS a full verb, .when it has the general meaning of ' to
exist In such expressions as:
l ID Scot land and Irela.nd A"''' ' n aiJ.
V.,b,,' (3) TIl, 5pl' ,. 1F'-Mil" 11)3
WhAtover i. II rllhto
'I think; thoroforl I a". ,'
Thof1l a" people who try to htlp other"
Th, memory of whit Ikt, IH," and nlVor mort ,,,.U N,
'Can eueh thin,. bf
And ov'rtom, UI like .. IUnlmor', cloud
Without our , peelal wond. rP
l4, A/art of the Vlrb " H followed by an lnflnltlyt with "
" '1M to expl'lll In 1"lftItmmt, I " ,
I .... to haw tn, with UfUY tltl, Afternoon,
Thl wtddinc i. to 1Ike plaee on Sl tUrdl Y,
If wt . " to b- ,t the etltianby nlnl o'clock WI mUlt 10now,
II con.tructlon Impllea futurit)' or, II In the followtnr
IXl mple, Futur, In thl P..
My II, ter &net htl' hUlb&nd come I nd toO UI thll
wHk-end, but they couldn't como, Sho I' to let me know
If they can corne next week, -
Tho I&mI con. tructlon eltpl'ellOo Ileo what t. equiYaltnt
to I command, I -I.
You ." to lOt the hudmu ter in hlll'OOm I t 4 o'clock,
You . " not to loave the bulldlnl without pennlMlon.
..lao p. 101).)
)-Tho CONtNCtlon ' If I (he, Ule,lt) ,"" , , ,'II one 01the few
remalnlnl . ubJunctive lntl:!S!lw in modem EntUeh,1 -
..( 7}-.Somo of the 5poclal Flnit.. art uacd with do,' but the yerb
10 6e tt novor uNCi with 110eM!lpt in the lmp!!ltlve. With the
latiVCI lmperatlvI, 110 mUl tOil uHdl un!o,,----rflIreplaced b)'
J!!' e ovor) , 01
lito tomorrow,
NIlJ" "cru, t or unJu. t ,

Do Inl)' bt ueod with tho .tftrm..tlvG impcfll,tlvo and ulul lI)'

tmpl iea moro omotlon of .ome kind, 0,',
Do be caroful whon )'Ou crOll tho road; thore I. I \ WI )'II lot
of tro. ffic o.t thllt Ipot. (APP,.1I, ", io1l)

1Mo\Obllh OJ! ..li n, ' hi rhOI\ of &nquo,
' s.. pa.. III , B" , A.lIIf , 41,. (tOO pp, Ill', 100, 1111,

194 A Comprehmsive English Grammar

Do be as nice to him as you can; he 's terribl '
rather t han Commanding) ) shy. (Be4i
The usual imperative form is simply ' Be . . . " "c
The verb be is not used in t he Perfect C ti
on muous tellsta.
......,.JI' ( TO HAVE I
The parts are hat, 1IJu had L - . '
r,'H . " . ,,"tlng.
e;' ,n', - / IS used to fonn the Perfect Tenses
I hdlle ami,;,,'ered yo ur question. Has he .
They had" t heard t hat storv beIOr I h IS dill/lle:;
but I didn't. e. cugn t to
When it is used like t hi ..
. 1 fin " 15 as an Auxiliary verb' t I al

rte. I IS .....ays
, Have may also be a 'full' verb i e u '
e sent ence. I n conv Ion and " sed as t he onlY\'erbia
formal style, got IS often added 6 ess frequently, in Tn....
,- ,g. . !
Brown has (got) a dog named Fido
have (got) a new car. .
I Vl (got) a bad cold.
(j.)\ Vhen it is used as a full verb it .
'iiehaves like -a special finite for but not alwaYI,
gheh ative by.inversion and its interro-
aves Iike a special finit.. wh ' , ' d va inS not, J:
(
. th ,r -- ... en I IS enottng _ .
usmg e word possession' in its wid t ) possessse
H es sense , e.g.
0 ....: many brothers and sisters have you (gotp
A tnangle IJ,u three sides. .
You (got) much room here.
H; 1J,u" t a lot of time to spare,
\\ e hat'en', much money, but we do 1"1
II . (g see ue.
.as your SlSter ot) blue eyes or bro....-n eves?'
' f!.rnerican 1l!OL.si4 is t A .
speo; w 6nit e UI these , merlC<Ull would not t reat 1
u )' : - .. or Interrog3.tl
ve
sen te nces. They
"!ow brothers 3.rld si$lers dlJ yow
'\ au IIqro ' '''1'1 m\lC.h room hue
He 11.,.$>1" ...UI. lot 01 t ime t o spare
D.,.J your sister ...11 blue eves Or bro....n ey 1
We 110'0" MU mlKh JQOney 'but we do see
Verbs: (3) The Special Finites 195
t does not fi niter 'hen m.B.!!!ngs
, e.g.
/kIve ("'" receive) a letter h om home this morning?
iii"" /kIve (= eat) any breakfast this morning.
you lJave (= drink) tea or coffee for breakfast ?
1 ;q,a'I have (= find, experience) much difficulty with
t)t81ish grammar ,
pi. )'ou we ( = experience, enjoy) a good t ime at the dance
laSt night ?
fJa these sentences got could not be used with hat'e,
Note these three sentences (all correct),
f{p you a headache? (Special Finite)
Yes, but I IuJdn', one when I came here . (Sped al Finite)
Do you often have headaches? (1IOt Spuial Fi nite)
You don't often have headaches, do you? (riot Special Finite
J,
The eneral rind Ie is thatL'tavilis treated as sial fmite:
a) w en t e possession' is a pennanent thing, e.g. ue eyes,
the three sides of a triangle , et c.
when we are speaking of one particular occasion, e.g. Have
yON a headache now? But when the ' possession' is a recurring
or habitual thing, e.g, Do you often have a headache?' then
Mile is not treated as a special finite, e.g.
Have y ou anyone st aying wit h you at present?
Doyou often have visit ors st aying with you)
ID the past t he Interrogative form 'Did you
bpve , . .' is 0 ten preferred where the above rule would
demand ' Had you , ' "
{Till': CAUSATIVE l 'SE OF 'H,WE]
ISJA construct ion cont aining Mt'e + a past participle is used
show t hat , without doing something ourselves, we cause it
to be done, e.g,
We have just Jwj our house pai nted ( = caused our house
to be painted),
I.lr.ave just had my hair cut ; why don't you hal:( yours done?
wby didn' t you hat'e that suit cleaned?
Did you take the car to the garage t o have it overhauled?
I A Comprehensive English Grammar
Why don't you have.t hese knives sharpened? The w .
Th e trousers of t his suit are too long> I m t
Y
' on t cUt.
shortened. us at'e the
\\'11 d "d ' llI.
/F\ Th Y n t Mve your luggage sent on in ad' -ance?
\.lV 15 a simil ar construction wh .
somethmg, you suffer somethi ere, instead of CQlcsi,,-
I had mg. e.g.
. my pocket picked [i.e, someth ing stolen from "t)
mormng. I this
won't Mt', your house burgled easily if you keep a gOOd
Ralph h4d h' li
I
15 cence endorsed for careless d . .
n most of t hese exam J th . nVlng.
replaced by ga, e.g. pes e causative have could ht
didn't you gel that suit cleaned?
\ 'hy don' t you s your hair cut? .
{HAVE TO (_ MUST)' l
l7.'Uave (got) to is used to .
'i(<<essity, e.g. express compulsion, obligation or
You havl to (you'v t )
living. e go to work hard nowadays to make a
My car wouldn' t start this mommg > and I '-J
the offic e. na ....alk to
We had to (we'd ot t )
examina tion. g 0 answer all the questions in the
The negative of ha t .
necessi ty' is e essed ve 0 , ""th the meaning 'there is 110
(don") have by have not to, haun', got to or do not
have"', gol to go t o school every day
ey don', have to go to school every cia .
got to go to t he dentist this
on t hat't to go to th e dentist this atte >
Th . "moon.
. ere IS perhaps a tendency to h d .
habitual actions and th e ha ,use t e o construction for
particular occasion but t bi .w
b
" t (got) co.lst ruction for one
, 15 15 Y no means always observed.
S allo .....Jt (po208).
' >
Verb!: (3) The Special Fi llite! l rj]
'J1Ie co,n;;truction have not to is not generally used to express
obiblt iOn.
1t4Jl beUer,/uul rtUMr, see pages 11, 228, 23
1
, 395
I CAN ;
fbe verb can is defect ive; it has neither infinitive, past
.-rticiple, -inc forms, nor imperative. Its only other form is
,;p.st tense could. The missing forms are supplied by the
form of to be abU, e.g.
I sJuJll be able to do t he work. (Future)
I been abU to do the work. (Present Perf ret)
I bope to be able to do th e work. (I nfi nitive)
Ij)Can are always. special finites. They are used to
&:preSS ability, power, capaci t y, e.g.
John can speak French well.
Can you swim?
Mary could play th e piano well when she was quite young.
; In colloquial speech can is used to replace th e more formal
...y to express the n egative cannot (can't) is used
toexpress prohi bition , e.g. .
In London buse s you can smoke on the upper deck, but you
call" smoke downstairs.
You can have my seat , I am going now.
Fat her said we c014ld go to t he concert.
&:a" is also used to express a possibility:
Youcan att end an Advanced Class or an Intermediat e Class..
but you Cd1l " attend both as t he)' take place at t he same time.
thCa" is used in quest ions and exclamations to express t he
it possible .. .?' e.g.
C,I1I it be true?
Can he really believe that can deceive us so easil y?
It surely be four o'clock already!
CoWd anyone be such a fool as to believe t hat!
IrXati is also used t o express whatm'ay be possible, or what a
"ling or person is occasionally or generally capable of (usually,
bat not always. something unpleasant), e.g.
Driving on t hese roads can be a very nerve-racking business.
198 A Ct:m1prehensille English G,.amm",
Our house is on the t op of a hill, and in winter toe w
'tin be pretty cold. "l nds
But . for a part icular occasion rather than for a gen
condi tion, may would be used, e,g. croll
Driving on t his frosty road may be danserous today So
carefully. . go
Can previous experience, may merely uncert aint}'.
He is a bad-tempered fellow, but he can be quite charm
when he wishes. mg
@ CannoJ(can't ) is also used to express a virtual impossibil
e.g, It Y,l
Gecrge can' t have (,.., it's practically impossible that he has)
missed th e way. I explained t he route carefull y a nd drellr
him a map.
'verbs of perception' (see pp. 169. 239) t he Cont inuous
'ilnse IS not used: t he use of can gwes an appropriate equivaler,l
to the Contmuow tense, e.g.
Listen! I t hink I can he.z,. (not: am MiUiflg) t he sou nd of the
sea.
I can SHUU (not: am sHUUing) SOmething burning In the
kitchen.
( COOLOr '
tf,JCould, besides being t he Past tense, is also the condit ional
of can , e.g.
If you tried, you could do t hat work.
Could you finish the exercise if you had more t ime?
Even if he had been t here he couldn't have helped you.
6J Could is not always 6quivalent to was able. If t he reference
IS t o something t hat can be done because of knowledge or skill,
eit her (. ould or was able may be used , e.g.
I cOllld (uoas lI ble to) swim when I was only six years old
Richard hurt his foot , and couldn't (ttasn't lI ble to) p!ay
football.
The door was locked, and I couldn't (wasn't able to) open it.
, See also "' ''S/ (p. :<XI),

Ver bs: CJ) The Special Finites 199

if the implicat ion is achievement, that is if t he meaning
age<! t o' , 'succeeded in doing', t hen, ltraJ able and not
is IJ1Sllould normally be used, e.g.
;"JJ 'tVuse he worked hard he was able (_ managed) to pass
Jl<C' .
. examinatIon.
my work early and SO raJ able (= managed) to
J to the concert t his afternoon. .
r' eth ing went wrong with my car when 1
SoJU, ' W"e y ou able to drive (_ did you succeed In driving]
or had you to t ake it to a garage?'
It with the negat ive, either cOllld or be able is possible.
wonder why J ane yet ?'. she U'4$ not
,Me w(couldn't) get (= didn t succeed m getting) away from
the office:
AJ Both can and could are used t o make rather informal
'requests, e.g.
Cll n you change a pound not e lor me, please?
CotJd you t ell me t he right time, please?
In this case, coul!i is felt t o be rath er more pol ite than can .
t.;:l CmJ4 is also used to express a rather e.g.
lJIyes his story could be true, but I hardly think It IS. .
We1i, I c(I14Mdo t he job t oday, but I'd rather put it off un t il
Friday.
I SUlUf ARY OF THE TENSES OF Clln (to be ablt")f
PasJ Pt"Tft"Ct I had been
p,,,,,,,
t o be able
I ftfi nin !!e able
t o have,.:been Future I shall have Pllst
Infi nitive able Perf ect been able
S,mpk I can (I am Condi:;onlll 1 could (I
Prumt able) (Present) should be
Simpk Past I could (1 was abl e)
able) Conditional 1 coul d have
Pruent I have been (Past) (I should have
Petfect able been able)
A CompreMnsilJe English Grammar
Verbs: <.3) TM Spuial FiniUs
EXERCISES
I Invent a series of sentences each one of which ill
trates one of the uses of the verb ' to be', IIs_
II Expl.ain the term ' ve rb of incomplete predicat ion'
and Illustrate your answer by examples. '
III (01) Describe the function_ fuUverb or Special Fi
-of the verb 'bave' in each of the follo"'i ng
(I) I have no dou bt that he is right in his opini on'
(2) How man! have you got for t his exercise;
(3)We ha ven t time t o come to see you this week'
(4) When. do they have lunch ? (5) Has your fian 'c'
met my sISter? C e
(b) Make these sentences int errogative:
(I) Her brother has curly hair. (2) A t riangle has
:::ree.sldes. (3) He had eggs and bacon for breakfast t his
ormng, (4) He had a letter by t he evening post
1,5) They have a lesson every day. (6) He has a. lot of
mon ey. (7) They have a lot of t rouble with t heir Car
(8) Ma rgaret had an enjoyable time at the dance'
(9.1 Susan has a bad cold. (fO) She often has colds
winter.
(e) Ma ke these sent ences negath-e:
I have a dark blue suit . (2) A t riangle has fOt:r
w es_ (3) He had coffee for breakfast tbis morning.
(,,) I had some let re... by the morning pos t (Bf e4
Yl
/
wl
wftA ' some' .) (,5) They have' lunch beiore twelve
o clock. (6) We have a lesson every day. (7) Drown
a lot of money. (8) We hod a very comfortable
lO.urney t o Scotla nd. (9) That count ry has a very good
climat e. (10) I have some cigarettes in my ciga rett e.
case.
After doing these exercises quote t he rule bv
which you ca n decide when 'have' is being used as a
Special Finite.
IV Re"'T.ite t hese sentences using some part of Aalt or
gt t With a past participle, e.g.
The tailor made a new suit for me las t week .
I /tad a new sui t mtuk for me last week.
(I). Someone cleaned my ehces for me. (2) Paint ers
pa.mted my week. (3) One of my teeth was
t aken ou t thIS mornmg. (4) Someone must chop thi '
wood for us . (,5) We must uk someone to mend the car.
(6) Someone picked Henry's pocket at the foot ball
JUAteh. (7) It's time your hair ....as cut . (8) William
broke his leg plal'ing footbal l. (9) This knife "'-on't ' ut;
we must ask someone to sharpen it . {IO) His house
was burgled while he was away on holiday.
V Change the construction of the following sentences in
IWch a way t hat the verb emplOl'ed is .IUll'" in its
,ausat ive form. Alter each sentence give an alternative
form, where possible, using , ei in place of /t at, .
(1) Tom's clothes are all made by a London tailor .
(2) I t old the builder to put a bay window in my study.
(3) Our car needs t horoughly overhauling. (,,)
watc h was stolen yesterday. (,5) Their pia no was t uned
the other day. (6) Why don't you arrange for your
newspa pers t o be delivered regularly1 (7) My dinner
jacket is a little too small for me; I must tell the tailor
to alter it, (8) His t onsi l! were removed when he was a
boy.
VI Construct four sent ences illustrating the use of Aa:t,
kI to express compulsion, obligat ion, necessity and a
l"q,"Ular habit . U5e the ahortened form and give t he
alternath'e form of I" kJ in each case.
VII Complet e the following eenteeees by inserting &a"
or _ ,. as you think is correct .
(I) Motoring in London -- be a great trial of
patience. (2) You - choose either su bjec t in t he
examinat ion but you - not t ake both. (3) He -
know a lot about musical t he-ory but he - - not play
the piano well . (,,) -I give you a hand with that
heavy t runk ? (,5) - you cash t his chequ e for me,
please ?
VIII Supply could or wal (w,'e) able 10 to complete the fol-
lowing. When is it possible to use only was (wert) ableJ
(I) Because he had saved money all his life he --
ret ire early. (2) Despite the period of depression Henry
- make a profit . (3) - [you} get him on the tete-
phone? fil I --see very well when I was young but
my l ight has grown weaker. (,5) They --catch their
train because J ohn drove them to the station. (6) I
-dri"e a car when I was sixt een. (7) The night was
clear and we --see t he st ars . (8) After a lot of hard
.....ork I - - pass t he examinat ion t....o }'ears ago.
(9) The aeroplane was damaged but the pilot --
bring it safely t o land. (10) I - - finish the work by

! SHOULD, WOl' LDI

defecti ve verbs and have neit her infinitives.
gerunds nor imperative. Their uses are deal t with
l thesect ions on the Fut ure Tenses and th e Condit ional. The
of shall is should and of will is wOllld. The dist inct ions
t he differences in usage between shall and will {P, 161
Verbs: (3) The Special Finites 203
f or Quest ion Phrases with all t he verbs that are not
finites. c.g.
underst and me, don't you?
didn' t come here by bus. did you?
) To make t he emphatic form of verbs, e.g.
much money but I do see life.
lie doeS well. .
you did gIve me a fright.
, ) To avoid repetit ion of a verb, especially in Short
, I
e.g.
. 'Vo you underst and th at?' ' Yes, I do.' ' No, I don't.'
I like swImming. so does Peggy.
Richard doesn' t like hard work. neit her does Fred.
Those ..... ishing t o go may do so now.
I help myself to a cake?' ' DQ, by all means.'
They said Henry wouldn't pass his examination. but he did.
(These last two examples illust rate t he emphatic use of do in
addition t o its function of avoiding the repet it ion 01a verb.]
":5) Occasionally with t he imperat ive of verbs. e.g.
Do come and see us soon. Do have some more of t his
pudding. Do stop that noi se.
linen do is used, t he imperative is an urgent request rather
than acommand.
Do not (don't ) is always used to make the negative irn-
e.g.
Do nnl (Don't) do t hat.
DIm', go t ill I t ell you.
202 A Comprehensive English Grammar
ten o'cloc k. (i I) When I was a boy I -- write w'
my left hand as easily as with my right hand. (12) Ith
(you) do things with your left hand as easi ly as
your right hand? (13) After hard fight ing th
sol diers - - drive t he enemy ou t of t he t own . (I e
The firemen - put t he tire out before it destroy'4)
tbe house: (1. 5) After I had studied the lessen I
do t he correctly.
I X I nvent senteJees to illustrate the use of 'can' or 'could'
In the foll owmg senses:
(a) possibility. (b) capabilit y. (el conditional. (d)
request. (e) dou bt ,
X Say t he following in the Future tense, add ir.g
words in bracket s.
(I ) I can speak English (after I have had some
(2) I can play football (when my foot is betteri
(3) Herbert can play foot ball (when his foot is better):
(4) Pierre can speak English .bet t er (aft er he has had
more lessons). (,5) We can do this exercise (now that
we have had it explained). (6) The students can do
this exercise (now that t hey have had it explained).
(7) Jane can cook well (when she has had more
practice). (8.) Robert can't do t his work (until he tries
harder). (<;) I can read a lot of books (when my
holidays come). (10) You can see t he house (whenyou
get to the top of this hill).
GJ
The parts are do, does, did, doing. done.
Do can be a full verb or a special fi nite. It is a full verb in
such sentences as:
He does his work well. He did good work yesterday. What
were you doing t his morning? The holiday did me good.
What does he do for a living? He doesn't do anything.
When do is a full verb it forms its interrogative and negative
with. t he special finite do, as is shown in t he last two examples.
As a special finite do is used:
-(r) To form the negative and interrogative of all verb!
except special finites.!
1 But see ' Special formation of Interrogat he. and ,ectionl
on "',:we, need, d.., _ pagC$ 19.'1 . 2 09, 213.
I I
I said that
1 shall write 1 should write
1 will ..rite 1 would write
He will ....-rite He would write
He shall write He should write
They will write they would write
They shall ....-rite they should write
But note that in indirect speech' a pronoun in first
is generally changed into a pronoun in the third peS?n, In
which case sWl in the di rect speech becomes u'Ould m t he
indirect speech, etc.
_ DIRECT. Henry said, ' I sA.dl write to her:
_ ISDIRECT: Henry said that he U'Oidd write to her.
But not usual ly in the first Person Interr ogative. e.g.
_ DIRECT: SJwll 1 get you a taxi? .
_ 11' DIRECT: He asked whether he slwuld get her a taxi.
Would may indicate habitual action in the past, e.g.
Every day he U'OUld get up at six o'clock gnd light the fire
(see also p. 215).
Besides bein the Past tense or sMUin re rted speech, sJiouL!
,
, Vith a meaning similar to ought WI, e.g. .
You sJunJd do what the teacher tells you. 'People who live
in glass houses shMJd not throw stones.' (PrOllerb)
Why sMul d I pay him?
What's happened to the money? How sJwuld 1 know? .
II J ohn's train is up, to time, he sJumld be here any minute

(JOn occasions where must might seem too peremptory, e.g.
Members who want tickets for the dance slwuld apply before
September ut to.the Secretary, . . '
11To form a substitu(e for the Present Subjunctive (seJ p. 227 )
t;1 ' See page 363. _I t See Iection en oWl ltf-page 111. 4
' 5
204 A Comprthtnsive English Grammar
to 166) apply "When these verbs are put into the past
for indirect speech. e.g.
Past Form
tense
Verbs: (3) TIle Sped al Finites
( "!AV. MIGHT )
May is a defect ive verb, its onl y part being might, used
its Past tense in indirect speech. For other parts, some verb
like aUQW, pn",it, etc. , has to be used, e.g.
I shaU be aUowtd to go to the party.
It is always a special finite.
May (might) is used to express:
(l }{PEJUoI tSSIOS/(asked or given or refused), e.g.
You may go now.
' Ma.y I take this book?' ' No, you may not.'
.May I go to the party? She asked if she might go to the
part y; I told her that of course she might. (Ntgatit'e: I t old
her she miglsJ not .)
If I may say 50. I think you have treated him very badly.
There is a feeling that in making a request. might is rat her
more deferential and court eous t han may , e.g.
MighJ I see you for a few minutes, please?
(:li)4PROHIBITlosl<usuall)' in official not ices) with PUlt, e.g.
Dogs may not be taken into these carriages.
People may not pick Ilcwers in this park.
(J).(POssIBlu r Yl e.g.
The news may be true, of course.
He admit ted that t he news rnighJ be t rue.
You may deserve success, but you cannot command it .
' You nuty lead a horse to the water but you can' t make it
drink.' (Pr(IWTb)
ote that in th is use the negative of may is caPl not (can't) ,
ot may Pl ot.)
as .....ell as may used to express a present or a future
ibility. The use of might in this case suggests rat her more
I rve or doubt on the part of the speaker than may would,
..-
'Joe might pass his exami nat ion.' ' Yes, and pigs might fiy.'
I ' m not very hopeful abou t the plan, but it might be wort h
t rying.

SM pages 3 ~ 1-2.
He saved all the money he could so th at his son might have
a good education.
She was studying English so t hat she might read English
books.
In such sentences can (coull) is frequentl y used instead of may
(might).
-48) May and might ar e also used in clauses of concession.! e.g.
He may be poor but (= t hough he is poor) he is honest.
It may be J une but it's bit terly cold.
Try as he may, he will not pass t he examination.
Try as he might, he could not persuade his friends to go.
-{9) Might (but not may ) is sometimes used to make a sentence
expressing petul ant reproach, e.g.
You might try to be a little more helpful (= ' Please t ry to
.. .' ' I wish you would be .. .')
You might listen when I am talking t o you.
You might have helped me with my work (.. but you
didn't).
He might at least have answered my letter {. . but he
didn' t).
l MUST \
Must is a defective verb having only the one form. It is
always a speci al finite.
(!) In one of its meanings, must has an imperative quality
su estin a conunand or an obli ation. The negative{must 1
9
mus n t ex presses a pro, inon. an o@igation not to a
somethmg, e.g. .
You must wipe your feet before coming into th e house.
The pupils were t old th at t hey musl wri te more neatly.
In England t raffic must keep to t he left.
You mustn 't walk on t he grass.
Cars nlllslll't be parked in front of this house. ')
There is a wonderful production of Hamlet at Her Majest y's
Theatre. You must go and see it. It is somet hing you mustn' t
miss.
206 A Comprehensive English Grammar
...(4) May is used wit h t he Perfect Infiniti ve to express DOUBT at
the present t ime about a possibility in t he past, e,g.
' Henry is late.' 'Yes, he nlay have been detained at the office
or he may have missed hi s usual train .'
Their house may have been sold , but I have not been told
about it.
If might is used with th is const ruction t here is often an
implied negat ive, e.g.
John might have lent you the money if you had asked him
(.. . but you didn't ask him) .
You shouldn't have run across t he TOad without looki ng
round, you might have been knocked down by a car (. . . but
as it happened you were not ).
-{s) JIJay (might) is used in exclamatory sentences to indicate
a WISH, e.g.
Mayall your dreams come true!
,1fay you have a very happy holidayl
He hoped th at we might have a very happy holiday. '
' And may th ere be no moaning of t he bar
When I put out to sea.' (Tennyson, Crossing the Bar)
'And, when he next doth r ide abroad,
,\fay I be t here to sec!' (Cowper, J ohn Gilpin)
In these examples may is a subjunctive equivalent (see p. 227)
-(6) May and might are used in 'that' clauses following verbs
like trust and hope, e.g.
I hope t hat he may get t he job he wants. .
I trust (hope) that you' may fi nd t his plan to your satis-
faction.
He trusted (hoped) t hat we might fi nd the plan to our
satisfaction.
oo{ 7) Afay and might arc used in adverb clauses" of PURPOSE, e.g.
Lift lit tle Harry up so t hat he may see th e procession,
William is working late tonight so t hat he may be able t o
go to t he cricket mat ch t omorr ow.
1 Notice that might must be used in indirect spee<;h int r oduced by
a ver b in t he Past tense. For Ad" er b Clauses see pages 331-44
Verbs: (J) The Special Finites
'7 ,
.
108 ... Co"., ,,4,,,,,'" E",li.1l G,....Hkt,
Ii) In another m.. lmplle. I lork&1 conchliion
'lfron. 10iilihooa:aornetfm;J'tliitlitnli1fii only
' .1. -
If Frod I,tt hut at four o'clock h. ,""", be hom. 1,)y nO'N
You haw workOdhud aU day ; you ..." bO tliia. - .
Geof&O ....,1 be pleaMd that h, hu p, eced hi, examination
)if, ThomplOn wu . rrown man when I wu . boy; h,
bo at I...t
....,t>li"v, rte,ivtd)my I. Htr, olh,rwl.. h,
woulali"i"v,rijilltdbirort now,
I eM heAr th, Drown.' 'phono hln rln, ln; but no ono II
Iml wllrln&, It: thly pun',,', b, at homt ,
131 Whenttno ntiltiVOJff,iOOl',hu thomllnl It ot nICOl_
I thm l, ilOO6f!@'trorr;' "' " """t \lIe , o,r.
M Ull I bo I t the pany by IOvcn o'clock?lio, YOU:fiii1i'll b,
MVtn. '6Ufdon't bi mucl1lifcr. -
YOU tti t worffili tWlnlnc: toinorrow will be lOOn
enough.
Mw' I IJ\IWtr all the qu..Uonl ' No. you ", HIli ', anlw!'
them al l; It will be 1Uft\clmt It you do four of them,
You fUfJfI'J ICI home yet, b\lt I "'.." ,
nJ t he rn...nln 0 ...If. II ee., the
"'diual nrsat ye_ I",," , ..,. , , (Ia' p, z98) :
[ArPIItXATIVIj UFredI,tt hert at four o'clockhe ".,,,' bohome
by now.
U Fred didn't ICIIYOhorountll ft yc o'clockhe CdH"

W F!itiliAtj yV U he laid t hat , he Mid' be mi.taken.
(Nl CATlvl)tl he , aid t hat, he , . ,,' , bo tollina the t rut h,
INUITIlnd N"vl TO)
tiJIflitead of "",., t ht verb .wllf '0 it often UNd, clpoclaUy tor
put Of' futulll or condl tional lintc "..u' hal nofOnT'Ll t o oXJ'lre..
t heaa concepti , t.r,
s. .:.0 '*lM.nd tpp. ' II, to.).
0'T1l... "'Pt1wt u n altcl H pprMHd "fI (r. "'I}.}
Verbs: <.3) The Special Finites 209
rrUl !uJveto be told t he truth.
s!aUhave to hurry if we are going to catch t he twelve
\\t .
'dOCk tram.
0 )#1 (gal>" to go to t he dentist today about my bad toot h.
1.-to,0to the dentist yesterday abou t my bad tooth.
I sMJll MVI to go to t he dentist soon about my bad toot h.
dentist said t hat if my tooth got worse I should have to
"a'''C it out .
tit ,"usl is used to suggest an inference (as in :2 , p. 208) no
BU o1\yrn for must can be used.
must t he feeling of compulsion comes from the speaker ;
'lith have to t he compuls ion is generally from external
e.g.
'lou musJ do what I tell you.
I'mafraid you' ll have to do t his; it's a rule of the College.
passengers must cross t he line by the bridge. (Order by t he
Rail...... y Authorities.)
pwengen lul u to C1'OSS the line by the bridge (t here is no
other way).
For further discussion of haw to see p. 196.
AlIOtller form t hat can be used instead of must is are'{am, is,
-.s, JllUe), etc., to (see p. 193).
\ SEED \
Something has already been said about t he verb m ed in t he
ection on must .
There are two verbs need. One of t hem, which we will call
Iltt , s norma an qm e regular. It has all t he parts of a
nonn verb (need, needs. needed, needi ng) and makes its
aterrcgative and negat ive with do (does, di d). It means, 'to
require' . Examples:
I 'Iud a new sui t.
our all' needed cutting; I am glad you had it cut .
You look tired; you need a rest .
Did you need ail t he food you took for your camp?
Xo, we did,,'t need it all.
I TIle use of P if, common ...-itb the rr-"t t ense of .uw: it if, no t
.. -.I ...ilh other for ms.

\: .'
2 10 A CompreMnsive English Grammar
Need is also used as an auxiliary verb. It is t hen followed
by ie ififinitive with to, e.g.
He doesn't need to work so bard.
You don', need t o answer t hat question.
The Past Tense of AJ is needed to; its negative is[didn'/
need to) :JL
I needed t o get new iVIes for my car , the old ones were badly
worn.
' ( 'didn't need t o t ell him the news, he already knew it .
The Bt is a finit e.. It is defective ,
having orily the one form. rf\e thir person Singular Present
Tense does not t ake -s. Its meaning is t o. 'have t o'. I t
forms its interrogative by inversion and Its negati ve adding
not (t his form is almost always shortened. to needn I). It can
make Questi01?- n.ted IS followed by an
infinitive, t he infinitive IS plain (i.e. without (0).
Examples:
Need he wor k so hard?
Nee d I answer t hat question?
Nee d you go so soon?
He needn't work so hard.
You needn't go yet , need you ? _ .
\
llar it y of this verb as a speciallinite is t hat It IS not
: peeu 1.... . t i , d .nt erroga-
used in affirmative sentences, only III nega tve an I
tive ones. .
In affirmat ive sentences it is replaced by must or equiVa1cnb
like have to, ougJU to, should, e.g.
Need you go yet ? Yes, I must.
You needn't see him, but I must. \
It can howe ver, be used affirmativel y wi th .ad,,:rbs .
'h" d " areel" which have negative Implicat ions.
l l eva, ar...yan J'
e
g
i
hardly (scarcely) need say how much I enjoyed t he holiday.
The Past Tense of need B is need . . . have, e.g..
Need you have scolded him so severely for 1110. bad work; k
had done his best?
Verbs: (3) The Speci al Finites 21I
There is an idiomatic const ruction illustrating both t he verbs
tleed that ought to be not ed:
1
He sent me th e money he owed me, so I didn't need to
write to him for it . (= I didn't write).
He sent me the money he owed me, so I needn't have
written (= I did wr it e).
1
We had plenty of bread, so I didn't need t o buy a loaf
(= I didn't buy one).
We had plent y of bread, so I needn't have bought a loaf
(= I did buy one). .
I
John went to the st ation with the car t o meet Lucille, so
she didn't need t o walk to the house (= she didn' t walk ).
J ohn went t o the station with t he car t o meet Lucille, so
she needn'l have u'alked (= she did wal k).
The form needs in such sentences as:
'Needs must when th e devil drives.' (Prow:rb = We must
follow some certain course when t here is no alternative)
'We needs must love the highest when we see it.' (Tennyson)
is an adverb (= of necessity), not a verb.
( OUGHTI
Ought is a defective verb having onl y t his one form. It is
always a special finite. It is used t o express th e idea of mor al
obligat ion, duty, desi rabili ty. In most cases ollgM to can be
replaced by should; of th e t wo, ought 10 is t he rat her more
emphatic. Note t hat OI jgM is followed by the infinitive with 10;
should is followed by t he infinitive wit hout to, e.g.
They ought to (shollld) pay t he money.
He ought to (should) be ashamed of himself.
You ouglilio (should) come for lessons at least three t imes a
week.
I told him that he ollght to (should) see you.
f:) Ought is also used t o express likelihood or strong probability,
e.g.
If Alice left home at nine o' clock she ought 10 (should) be
here any minu te now.

212 If ComprehetUive Etsglish Grammar

There's a fine sunset; it ought to (sMuld) be a fine day
tomorro......
Considering all the work you have done you oughtn" to
(shouldn't) fail in your examination.
tJ) Ought does not use shall or UJiU for its tense. A future
Idea is indicated by a word 'or phrase denotmg t he future, e.g.
Henry' s team ought to (slwwld) wi n the match tomorro..... .
Your new suit ought to (shotJd) be ready on Tuesday.
You ought to (should) write to her as soon as you can.
express a past obligation that was not fulfi lled
'"fought not) k! have or should (shouldn't) nav( + a past partlclple
is used. e.g.
I ought to (slwsdd) have written that letter yesterday (- but
I didn't).
You ought to ($lwsdJ) have told me about t his earlier (= but
you didn' t ).
(j) Oughl not t o have (should not have) are used to express dis-
approval of something done in the past , e.g.
You ougbt not to have (Slwuldll't have) spent all that money
on such a foolish thing.
What you heard was confidential. You ought not 10 have
(shoWdPl't have) repeated it.
\ D."'RE )
Dare can be a full, normal verb, or can.be a special fi nite.
When dare is a special fmit e it forms Its person singular
without' -s and has all the other characteristics of t he special
fi nites except that :
...{a) The construc tions ' .. . and so - 1', ' neither - I '
(see pp. 135-6) are Dot used with dare, and
.(b) The 'adverbs or Irequency' come at tn it , not before it .
(i) Examt les of dare as ..finite:
Dare you climb that tree?
Dare he go and speak to her?
How dare you say such a thing? , , '
' You darm't climb that tree, dare you? Yes, 1 d<lre.
Verbs: (3) The Special Finites 213
) Rut dare can be conjugated like a normal verb, e.g.
She didn't dare t o say a word, did she?
He doeHI" dare to answer my lette r.
We didn't dare to ask if we could have a holiday. \\
fa when dare is a special finite it is followed by the infi nitive
to. When dare is used as an ordinary verb, it is followed
by to + infini tive.
(.f) There is another, slightly different , meaning of dare, viz.
'1""0challenge', e.g.
I darrJ him to ask the teacher to give us a holiday tomorrow.
He dared me to walk down Piccadilly in my pyjamas.
Do y ou dare me to swim to that rock and back again?
Here, dare has a personal object (Iii"" me, etc.]. It is con-
jugated ..ith do and is followed by an infi nitive with to.
hjJ ust one other expression should be not iced: I dartS4y ,
'i1Iich simply means perhaps, it is probable, e.g.
He is not here yet, but 1 daresay he will come later.
They haven' t widened this road yet , but I daresay they will
some day.
' Do y OIl think Alice will come and see us today?' 'Oh, I
daresay.'
The expression is not generally used with any pronoun except I .
( USED (TO) I
Only one form, t he preterite, exists. This verb is used to
rontrast past and present , t o express something t hat existed
or was done in the past (generally a repeated action), but no
longer exists or is done now, e.g.
That is the house where we used fo live (but we don' t live
there any longer).
He lIsrd 10 smoke fifty cigarettes a day (but he doesn't do
so now).
People used 10 think that the earth was flat ;:o( but they, or at
least most of the m, don't think so now).
Used is a doubtful member of the special fini tes. It is a
special finir( 'n that it forms its interrogat ive by inversion, has

214 A Ctmlp fth<"sive English Cramma,

a cont rac ted not (used"'t) ['j u:snt} in t he negat ive, and can
form Question Ph rases , e.g.
You used t o live in London, used,,, y ou!
He used,,', t o smoke as much as he does now.
' There used to be an old apple tree in th e garden.' ' Oh, used
there?'
Used you t o climb t he old apple t ree in the garden?
You used,, ', t o make t hat mistake.
But the tendency is growing in spoken English t o treat it as
a normal finite and say:
He didn' t us e t o smoke as much as he does now,
' There used to be an old apple t ree in t he garden. ' ' Oh, did
Ihne!'
Did you use t o climb the old apple t ree in t he garden?
You Jid,,', use to make th at mistake.
We st ill feel a lit tle uneasy about using do and di d in t his way,
and in negati ve sentences we often try t o avoid the difficul t y
by using " ever;
You nev" used t o make t hat mistake.
He MVe1' used t o smoke as much, etc.
There is no present form of uHd to, A repea ted action in t he
present is expressed by the Simple Present j cnse.
The verb usedto ('ju :st u) should not be confused with t he verb
use [ju :z], or the past participle of t his verb used [ju :zd], e.g.
I w e the same shaving brush t hat I have usrd for ten years.
I t hink you have used your t ime well while you have been
in England.
Xor should it be confused wi th (fO u$ld to
meaning '(to be) accust omed t o,' e.g.
Adam the gardener works better than I do in th e garden;
he's used to doing hard work. I 'm not used to mu d il'01k, but
I'll get ustd to it in t ime,
Th e cat comes only when I call her ; she's uSi d to me, she's
not used to you.
Th is construction may be followed by th e gerund (see pp.
146--8), e.g.
He is used to gett ing up early.

V..,bs: (J) SPtc;(Jl Finites

21
5
Wollld is sOJ.lleti.mes used as a variant of usrd t o t o express
a repeat ed action III t he pas t (see p. 204), e.g.
The old man trOuld go every day to t he park t o feed the
birds.
- Hut U'Oflld differs Irorn llstd to in that:
6J generally used .....ith a t ime phrase (' evcry day' ,
etc.). Tins IS not necessary with tlsed 10.
t2] willingness or volunt ary action; so it would
mapprcpnate to substi tu te u'ould for ustd to in such sen-
tences as:
When he lived by t he river, he 'lsed to suffer [rom rheuma-
t ism.
EXERCISES
I In what construct ions do used as a Special Ftni te ?
:'>Iake three sentences u'I nl:: do (1I ) a ( li lt verb (b)
a Special Finite. . , .
To the following sentences add expressions with the
verb ' do' indicating emphasis. agreement . or disagree-
ment as you t h ink t he sentence demands. If t wo
expressions can be used, give both.
( I) DQ you like modem music? (2) He alwavs works
very hard..lJl I borrow your dict ionary? '(of ) I was
they would not cat ch their tram. (5) Tom dot'S
not like gettmg up early, .
II Complet e the following sentences with one of t he
following words, as you may t hink is correct : shollld,
may. milM.
(I) There is no point i n asking him fOT information;
bow - - know? (2) Those bringing eggs to t he
harvest festl\'al - lay them in t he font (CJll . rch
No/ jet ). (3) - I borrow your ruler, .plea-se ? (of) You
- go out for a ahort time. but come back soon.
(, ) Colonel. - I speak to you after parade ? (6) His
account of what happened - be t rue but I doubt
it. (7) Persons i n $falu pwp illa,j not play
marbles on the Senate House steps (Ca"l bti d6t
Unl:tt ,sity Rtgulations). (8) He - get the prize"if
he IS very lucky. (9) They - have helped you
if only you had told t hem all t he facts. (10) You
i.e. undergr:a.duatn ,
VII Rewrit e t he following sent ences in such a way t hat
ll ud can take the place of t he existing verb:
( I) I s it absolutely necessary for you t o work late every
night ? (2) Surely we a re not obliged to show our t icket,
again, are we ? (3) I t shouldn't be necessary for us to
p& another medical examination, shou ld it ? (4) I
found I had eno\lgh money after all so it was not
necessary for me to cash a cheque, (5) Are )'OU
compell ed t o go to the station to see him off at
t hree o'clock in the morning? (6) It can hardl)' be
necessary for me to say that I am grateful for you r
kindness? (7) Is it impera t ive for me t o appl y in
person ? Yes, it is . (8) You are not compelled to
answer all his questions . (9) He telephoned t o me this
morning, 50 it was unnecessary for me to go a nd see
him. (10) You have no reason t o be anxious a bout the
time: it is quite early yet.
YI II I n the following sentences explain how the meaning
of (a) differs from tho meaning of (h):
( I) (a) I didn't need t o I'tave the door unlocked, John
had a key.
(h) I need n' t have left t he door unlocked; J ohn
a key.
(2) (<I) 3he(lidn't need t o t ell me the time of the t rain:
I knew it already.
' (b) She needn't have told me the time of the train:
I knew it already.
(3) (a) He didn't need t o take a taxi: it is only five
minu tes' walk t o the house,
(b) He needn ' t have taken a taxi: it is only five
mi nutes' walk t o the house.
I X Rewrit e the following 10 tha t they refer to fJ4s1 time;
( I ) You ought to get here by nine o'clock. (2) I sup-
pose I ough t t o pay the money. (3) How much ti me
should I spend on this exercise? (4) The teacher ought
t o tell you a bout this be lore you (10 the exercise,
(5) You shouldn ' t lea ve my book out in the rain.
(6). He ought not t o speak like that. (7) Why should
I do all t he wor k ? (8) Ought I to wri te out t his
exercise? (9) How much ought I t o give him? (10) The
wireless shouldn' t ma ke that noise.
X Complete t he following sentences wi th ought a nd
describe the sense or/ghl expresses ill each case.
,,6 A Comprehm sive Engl ish Grammar
_ at least have t old me you were going to be
married . (I I) - all your Christmases be white
(Pop ular SO", ). (12) I hope they - find sort of
bouse they a re looking for : (13) I ' m doing t his t onight
10 t hat I - have more time t o spare in t hemoming.
(141 You - at least show appreciation of his
kindne$$. (151 Wha t )''011 propose - be useless but
it', worth trying .
III (0:1) In t he following sentences U$C: t he IIIU lt to form
ins tead of .....51:
(I) We mll .t work hard to learn English. (2) I go
home now. (3) Will iam must go to t he (klltls! to-
morrow,
(h) In the following use the am to fonn:
(II I must see the Headmast er a t t hree o'clock >
(1) We must meet on Saturday. ()) '-l ust I understand
that you are not coming? (4) I told him he must not
make that mistake a.gain. (s) I said, ' You must n' t
do that . '
IV Give the opposites of the (a) U:Ul?lyi ng ' there
is no necessity' , (b) with negative prohibition;
( I) They must come to school t omorro..... (2) I must be
home before ten o'clock. h ) Vou must pay him t oday.
(4) Vou must answer every question on t he paper.
(s) He must go to Brighton next week.
V The verb ",,,,,I can be used to express 'hrious concepts,
e.g. command, logical conclusion. Con-
struct eenteeces to ilIusuate all the possible CortIIS,
including -nega th "a where they can be used, stating
potosible alternative terms wherever you Go.w the.m,
and explaining in each case the exact sense In which
the verb is employed. '
VI (<I) Compl ete these sentences vl"lth 'Question Phrases' ;
( I) You needn' t write to him, - ? (2) He needs a
new overcoat , 13) He needed all the he lp you
could give him, -? (4) You needn'tanswer elver
y
question, - ? I,) HI.S hall" needs cut t ing, -,
(b) Give answers to these quest ions :
( I) you go 10 lOOn? Yes, - . (2) Who needn't
catch the early tuin ? George - , (3) Need we answer
all the question. ? Yes, you - . (4) :Nee<.!- George go
to London tomorrow? No, he - . Xeed George
go t o London tomorrow? Yes, he - .
..
Vnbs: (3) The ."ped al Finites
" 1

C IIA PT E R nFTEEN
( VERBS'I@ VOICE I
If t he person or thing denoted by t he subj ect of a sentence is
llie doer of the action, then that form of t he verb is t he ACTIVE
+oleE, e.g.
The boy kicked th e footbanAActive Voice}}
If t he person or t hing denoted by t he subject of a sentence is
die receiver or sufferer of t he action, t hen t ha t form of t he
verb is t he PASSIVE VOICE, e.g.
The football was kic ked by the boy[(Passive Voiceq
The passive voice is formed by using t he appropriat e tense of
the verb to be +t he past participle of t he verb, e.g. (See
ble on p. 220. )
Note that the passive may have the same Iorm as he +past
iciple (used adjectivally) , e.g.
The tree was upTooted by th e wind . (Passit'e VOice)
The t ree was upTf)ohd when we saw it . (be +Past Participle)
The passive voice is not merely a fonnal vari ant of the
active voice, able to replace it with out any change of meaning;
there is a difference of emphasis. Generally speaking, t he
bj ect of t he sentence is th e main point of interest; t he pa ssive
ice is the grammat ical device t hat gives t he object of a
sitive verb pr ominence by making it t he subj ect . So, when
we want t o place the emphasis on t he performer of the action,
we generally use t he active voice; when we want to place the
phasis on the action, or on the receiver of the action, we use
e passive voice. Thus, in the sent ence:
Albert is cleaning t he car. (Active Voice)
our point of int erest is primarily 'Albert '. The sentence is t he
answer to some quest ion like: 'What is Albert doing?'
In t he sentence:
The car is being cleaned by Albert. (PaSSIve Voice)
the emphasis is now on 'the car' and t he fact t hat it is being
cleaned. This sentence is perhaps the ansv..et to t he question:
..,

2 I 8 A CompTdunsive English Grammar

( I) If he is lucky be - - to pass his examination
easily. (z) You _ to have told me about t his before.
(J) My father "'65 very annoyed and s.i.id we - not
, to have WlUlted our money li.ke that. (-4) If the plane
arrives on time they - to be here in time for dinner.
(.5) The . trong - - to help the weak.
XI Add ' Question Phrases' to each of the following:
( I) You daren't do that, - ? (2) He didn' t dare to
do that, - - ? (3) He won' t dare to do that, - ?
(-4) He dared you to do that, --? (,5) You used to live
there, - ? (6) He useda't to work in London,-?
(7) He never used to spend so much money before he
kne-... Lucille, --? (8) You used to like dancing,
- ? (9) He daren' t say what he thinks, - -? (10)
He didn't dare to $8.y what he thought , -?
XII Change the wording of the following sentences so that
either dan or uu d 10 or iu negative is employed as the
verb:
( I) Have you the courait: to dive from t he top of the
springboard? (2) Howcan you make such an impudent
remark ? (3) They weren' t b...V'C enough to tackle tha t
fi erce dog. were they}{-4l We challenged them to come
and fi ght us. (5) Before they moved t hey came every
day to play bridge. (6) It was his habit to ride in the
Park every day. (7) At one time it was thought that.
the sun went r ound t he earth. (8) Did you not \-isit
my uncle's neuse Irequec tly at one time? (9) They
were not so rich in Y<:J.r. rene hy. (to) In their fat her 's
llfetime t hey were !.r r u ued to dr ink wine with
their meals.
XU'I L plain t he difl' f" rence ill meaning between:
{ ~ } He dared to $"";m scross the river; and:
(t) He dared me to swim across the river.
(d) She dared to uk the teacher fOf a holiday: a l'ld:
(b) She dared me to uk t he teacher for a holiday.
----- - - - -
,
Verbs: (4) Voice 221
' wh et is happening to tile car?' We ar e so little concerned with
filM is cleaning it t hat qui te often we should omi t all reference
to the agent {i,e. the person or thi ng that r.;rforms the action)
and simply say: ' The car is being cleaned. This is particularly
t he case where t he agent is vague or unimportant or unknown.
So the passive voice is often used in English where, for example,
on is used in French or man in German with t he active voice.
Thus:
' lei on parle francais', or:
' llier sprieht man deutsch' , would be in English:
'French } (. ) k h '
' C IS spo en ere.
erman
I n sentences like this. t he agent with by is alwavs omi tt ed:
an d in many other cases, where th e active construction is
changed to the passive, it is better t o omit t he agent . For
example, in t urning t he following sentence from active voice
to passive voice;
People in Brazil speak Port uguese.
t he answer should be:
Port uguese is spoken in Brazil. NOr.
Portuguese is spoken in Brazil by people.
The following examples will illust rate this point further:
I Active7 I PQssit'e7
No one has used that door That door hasn't been used
for twenty years. for twenty years.
Readers must not t ake Books in t he Reference
away books in the Refer- Library must not be
ence Library. taken away.
Someone stole my watch My watch \ \ " ~ s stolen t his
t his morning. mormng.
We use pure butter in t hese Pure butter is used in t hese
cakes. cakes.
They make cotton goods in Cotton goods are made In
Lancashire. Lancashire.
Have you fed t he chickens Have t he cllickens been Ied
yet? yet?
L.
~
"

~
-
-
~
~
-
~
.-
-

A Comprehu lSitt Engli sh Gremmar

.-
- - - -
r u bs: (4) Voice
EXERCISES
10 t he
{passive]
offered a post
tActit!el
The Prime
offe red him a post
in t he Cabinet .
They awarded him
t he Nobel Peace
Prize in 19SI .
I Tum t he following sentences into the passive voice:
(oj
( I) The waitreM brings the coffee. (2) The waitress is
bringing the coffee. ()) The waitr. brought the c?ffee.
(<II The waitreMhas brought the coffee. (5) The wartress
was bringing the coffee. (6) The waitress had brought
the coffee. (7) The ...aitreM will bring the coffee. (8) I
aball bring the coffee. (9) The waitress will have
brought t he coffee. (10) I shall have brought t he coffee.
(.)
(I) I finished my work at ahout five o'clock. (:) We use
your books in our class. (3) They gave him a very..
handsome present when he retired. (..1 We opened t he
bcxea and took out the cigaret tes. (5) Do people speak
English all over the (6) Somebody built .t his
house in 1585. (7) You must answer all the questions
on the paper. (8) They blamed me for something t hat
I hadn't done. (9) They are sending Mr. Brown abroad
on business. (10) People will forget the whole incident
after a few weeks. ( II) He took t hem for a drive in t he
new car. (n) People are talking about him everywhere.
(t )) I told him to write to t hat address. (141 You
plan your work carefully. (151 Someone gave me a pair
of gloves for Chr istmas. ( 16) They told me you had gone

(I ) He was
Cabinet .
(2) A post in the Cabinet was
offered hi m.
(I) He was awarded th e Nobel
Peat e Prize in 1951.
(2) The Nobel Peace Prize was
awarded him in 1951.
Note in t he above examples t he omission of the agent wit h
by. The const ruction by + agent would be unnatu;31 , and
unnecessary in sentences like t hese, where ' doer' eit her
dear from the meaning of t he sentence, or I S not of interest
to us,
222 A Comprehensive E nglish Grammar
Since, in th e change from active to passive voice, t he subj ect
of t he passive construction is fanned by t he object, of t he
acti ve one, only transitive verbs can be used in t he passive
VOice. So verbs of Incomplet e Predication, e.g. su m, be, u come,
etc., can never be used in t he passive; e.g. He beca1ml K i llC
could never have a passive form such as A ki llC was beco1ml by
him. But cert ain intransi tive verbs can be made into transitive
ones by the addition of a preposition. These verbs can be used
in the passive voice, e.g,
His plan tNt laughed aJ by everyone who heard it .
That is a famow bed; it tNt supt in by Queen Elizabe t h I.
The chil dren will be C4red lor while she is away.
I believe the house was deliberately sd fi re to.
Such success was never dreamed of when we first started.
Though all transi tive verbs can, t heoretically, be made
passive, there are cases where, in practice, the passi ve would
not be used; for example:
He had a good breakfast before M Ul C7I t to work
would not be used passively as:
A good brt dfasl uw W by him , .
verbs, such as git'e, tell , show, lend, t. uTite, pay , sell,
h y, brlllg, _ ,t" f adl, p,omiu, UadI , take t wo objects, one
usually standing for a person, t he other for a t hing.I The word
for t he person is the Il"OI RECT OBJ ECT and is the first of the two
objects; the word for t he t hingis the OIRECT OBJ ECT, e.g. He sold
us (indirect ) /lis house [direct], Here, us means ' to us'. His
mother made Tom {indirect] a cake. Here Tom = ' for Tom' .
Further examples:
He told me a story. I shov...ed him my new CaT, He gave me
some good advice. You owe him fifty pence. She taught
him French. They promised Henry a bicycle for his birthday.
If a sentence containing two objects is expressed in the
passive eit her of t hose objects may become t he subject,
t hough It I S perhaps more usual to make t he personal obj ect
th e subject of the passi ve voice. Examples:
The verb m.ay have an indirect object standing fnr a t hing, e.g.
As t he ball came to him he gave if a kick.
Give IAiI ",,,,J,. )our lull attention.
224 A Comprehensive English Grammar
to Paris. (17) I t 's t ime someone to ld him what is wrong;
(18) Tbe)' gave me a tick.et for Xewtown inst ead of for
Newton. (19) They didn't tell me all t he details of the
case. (20) They took him t o hospital in an ambulance.
II Tum the following sent ences into the passive voice:
(1) The English people greatl y love t he Queen. (2) Did
the Customs Officers search your l uggage very carefull y?
(3) "'b en the parade wu over. the commanding officer
dWniNed the (. ) The police denied him entry t o
the countf)'. (5) Somebody has taken all my books.
(6) Scotl and Yard officers are investigating t he crime.
(7) They cannot trace the criminal. (8) They shall
not treat me u if I were a baby. (9) The cound l have
approved the plans for the building but we haven' t
raised the money. (10) The garage mechanic has washed
and greased ycur car.
III I ndicate which word in each of the tone...-ing sent ences
is the direct object and then ...-rite the sentences in the
passive voice. In each sentence t.... o forms are possible.
( I) The managl"f offered him the choice of t ....o posts in
the fum. (:) The school governors gave her a scholarship
10 the University. (J) We e&noot a....ard him good marks
on the work be has done. (4) Their uncle left them all his
property when he died. (5) They gave you the present
that was intended for your father.
I V In the following senteeees put all the finite verbs in the
passive voce:
( I) He promised )"0\1 that they would meet ycu at the
station. (:) Certainly we shall count on you t o devot e
yourself to the work ...e are giving you t o do. (J) It
aston.Qhed us to hear that you had not received our
letter. (4) They had only lived in that house fOI three
weeks when fire destroyed it. 1.51 His failure bitterly
disappointed his parents, especially as they had been
l;OuuWlg on his success.
CH APT E R S IXTE E:.:
IVERBSI@>loOVI
Mood is a grammatica l t erm used t o denote the forms that a
verb t akes to show what wor k it is doing (e.g. expressing a
statement , a command, a wish, etc.], and the manner in which
the action or state is t hought of by the speaker.
Thereare threemoods, I S DleATI\'E:,lllPERATlVE, SI: BJll NCTI\E.
The one that IS by far t he most commonly used is t he Indica;
lirt , This is t he mood used t o make statements and ask
quest ions. All the tenses discussed in pages 157 t o 180 are in
t he Indicative
[ T il E I MPERATIVE Sl ooo]
TI le I mperati ve mood has t he same form, in the second
Person singul ar and plural, as the infinitive without to. In t he
t and t hird persons it is preceded by la and an accusati ve,
e.g. ' Lefs
l
go the the cinema.' ' I can' t see him just now; In him
wait . ' It is used t o give orders or commands or t o make requests,
e.g. 'Opnt your books.' ' D01l't 1'I4ke so much noise.' 'PIUS t he
t . please.' The ' request' may be:
e.g.
'Spar' a penny, si r, for a starving man.'
' HdP! Hdp! I'm drov..ning.'

'To get to the Shakespeare Theatre, tur1l t o the right at t he
river and kup st rai ght on.'
I NVITATI ON: )
'Come inside and meet my wife.'
'Batl' a cigarette.'
(4@SUGGESTIOS:'
' Where ( an I fi nd Smit h?' 'I'm not sure. Try his office
or ring up his house.'
I _ us.
",
5.also Cond itional C4u_. 3i7-S"

'"
Verbs: (5) ,\food
G' SES OF Sl'RJL' NCTI Vd
l1Je Present Subjunctive is used:
to express a wish or a prayer, e.g.
God savc t he Quecn.
lIeaven f orbid t hat . . .
lieaven htlp us,
Bet hat as it may , . .
'ThY Kingdom comc, Thy will be done , . "
wish can also be expressed by may (Past Tense might)
+infi nitivc, e.g.
May you be happy all your life.
They prayed t hat he might soon be well again.
..(2"'after verbs expressing a will or wish for the futu re, and
dter verbs li ke propose, slfggest, etc. This is chiefly in very
lonna! English and especially in legal Engl ish. EXQmpks:
It is our wish t hat he do what he pleases .
She urged t hat he w itt and 4CUpt the post .
I propose that the Secretary's resignation be accepted.
The King ordered t hat th e man be released.
43r occasionally in adverbial clauses of concession or
condition, e.g.
Though t he whole world cOlldtmll him, I will still believe
in him.
This, if the new's be t rue, is a very serious matter.
' Murder , though it Mt't' no tongue, will speak
Wit h most miraculous organ. ' I
In uses (2) and (3) the subjunct ive, is ofte n replaced by
the SUBJ v r; CTI \,E EQUI VAlE:iT should +the infinitive, e.g.
It is our wish t hat he shollld do what he pleases.
Though t he whole worl d should condemn him, I will still
believe in him.
If we should {ail in t his, we are ruined.
I Shakespeare, /l iu ..ld.
TN T1VE of all verbs other t han t he verb
t o be is identical with t e imple Present Tense I ndicat ive,
except that th e third person singular term is the same as in
all t he other persons (i.e. wit hout the -s ending) , The Present
Icrrn of to be is be for all per.;ons.
I If, PAST $ I' BIJ ' :sq JVE) is ident ical with t he Simplf
Past Tense l ndicatrve, except t hat t he verb to be has uere for
a
C
ne rsorrs.
iiEYnI PERFECT Sl' IUp CI IVE\ is ident ical in form with
t he Past Perfect Indicat ive.
The subjunctive forms are used in a small number of con'
st ructi ons; t he construct ions with the Present Subjunct ive
tend t o be rather literary.
226 A Comprehensive English Grammar
.(sr{A CONDITIO:") e.g.
Do t hat again and I'll call a policemanl t
Suppose you had a million pounds, how would you speno:
t he money?
The subj ect (which is always in t he second person) is no:
usually expressed with the imperative. If it is expresseg
(usually in negative sentences), it may be in order t o add
emphasis.
Don't yO" dare t o say I am Dot telling t be truth,
rye been answering questions all day. Don't you start now
If t he subject is put in an affirmative sentence it is usuajt-
t o express cont rast, e.g. .
Y lnl take that piece and I' ll take t his.
You ask the first qu est io? and I' ll ask the next one.
In conversat ion the imperative is often used t o express a
...vi sh, e.g.
Hat'e a good holiday! Enj oy yourself and ,01'1l e back quite
well again.
J r rc- ".
t. ( THE S l' BJU:"CTIVE MOOD1
There are three Subjuncti ve forms of t he ver b: the Presem
Subj unctive, t he Past Subjunct ive and t he Past Perfect Sub.
j nctive.
118 A Comprehensive English Gram.,laY
{USES OF THE P.... ST SUB1U:-ICTl\-e}
The Past Subjunctive is used:
-(I r In conditional clauses implying a negative, or in clauses
in which t he condi t ion is combined with improbabili ty or
unreality. e.s.
If I wtTe you, 1 should accept the offer.
If he were really interested in buying the propert y. he would
have made an offer before now.
What would ),ou say if 1 asked you to join us for a holiday?
After such expre ssions as: ' I wi sh (that) . . .' , ' Suppose
(that) . . .'. ' I had rather (t hat) . . .', 'as if .. .', ' It's (high) time
(that)' .. .'. Examples :
1 wish I were as handsome as he is.
I wish he visited us more often.
Suppose (that) the teacher caught us wast ing time.
I had rather (that) you told him than (that) I did.
He ran as if his life depended on it ,
It is (high) time I went home.
It will be noted that except in the case of to be. verbs in these
expressions could be considered as being in the Simple Past
Tense.
III _ Notice that the PAST is U5uallS' concerned wit h
PRESENT time, e.g. It's a lovely day; I wish I ll'tTe at t he seaside
(NOW) .
To speak of PASTtime the PAST PERFECTSUBJU NCTIVE is used'
e.g. It was a lovely day yesterday; I wish I had bun at t he
seaside then. (See also Conditi onal sent ences, pp. 347- 51.)
EXERCISES
I Xame th e moods of the verbs in the following sentences:
( I) Keep straight on until you come to t he theatre and
then turn left. (2) wesaoutd have gone for a walk t oday
if the weather had been fine. {J) Come and have a drink.
(4) Hea ven help the sailot5 on a night like t his. bl It is
Bllt aJter ' It', t ime that ' .as not .... in Ihe first and third perKI n
singular would be usual. e.e. It , lime that I -' going.
Vn bs: (5) MODd 229
time we left for t he airpor t . (6) Don 't you touch that or
you'll break it . (7) Did you enjoy his this
eveninj;? (8) Have a good time at t he party. (9) II I WeTe
in his place. I should accept their offer. (10) I ,uggC$t
t hat he be nominated u Chairman.
II Writ e five eemences in whic b the ver bs are in the
subjunctive mood.
HI xame t he moods of t he verbs in the follo....ing sentences:
(I ) Let us go to the theat re t his evening. shall we!
(2) What shall we do, supposi ng t here are no seats lelll
(3) It was ordered that no smoking be allowed in the
libra ry. (4) If you did t hat , you would be very sorry
afterwards. (s) Will you have a little more meat, Mr. XI

CH AP T E R S EVESTEEt'
, -J.\;!\ ;..=1) "-.A>3IJ. J\;'\\
( VERBS: ] 6 THE :-;' O:K-FIXITES
The non-finites are the n mve, the Participles and the
Gerund.
( THE I NF ISITIVE(
This is the ' dictionary fonn' of the verb, i.e. the fonn under
which a verb appears in the dictionary. It expresses the notion
of the verb in its general sense, not as it applies to any
particular subject . It is called ' infi nit ive' because its (ann is
not limited (Latin finis = limit ), as a finite verb is, by the
nwnber and person of its subject . There are four fonns of
the Infinitive:
Simple Perf ect
Adit'e (to) write (to) have writt en
Passive (to) be ....-rit t en (to) have been wri t ten

The infinitive is usually, but not alweys . preceded by to, c.g.
He wants to learn English.
' To err is human, to f orgive divine.' (Alexander Pope)
Let me tell you a story.
I saw him take the money.
The infinitive wit hout /0 is somet imes called the ' plain' or
'bare' infinit ive.
{THE PLAI S INFINITIVE r(WITIl OUT USED:
<Uaft er the special finites can (e(mId) , do (did), may (Hlight),
shall (sMuld) , !&iU (trollld) , Must , nttd, Jare, e.g,
He can sped French. Did you hear a noise? I might go.
We shall mut him. I will h<lp you You must come with us.
You needn' t go yet. I daren't leat'e him.
''0
Ver bs: (6) The Non-Finites 2]1
tlitUi I S FI S ITIVE W!Ttl to 1$ l)SEI): )
the special finites ought and used, e.g.
J\rau ought to go. 1 used to lit'e there. _
' rwith do, nud and dare when they are used not .as special
t tes but as fuU verbs, e.g.
' 1did it to please you. You don't need to go yet .
l'I e won' t dare to di sobey his teacher.
..with.be and have .....hen they used to express commands,
()lTIpul slOn, etc.. e.g. .
c you are to go to the Headmaster's room at once.
I have to be in my office by 9 o'c lock.
(Jafter the Verbs of Perception: g e, hear, f!!l, etc, (see also
169), and after and W, e s.
She saw him take t he money.:
J heard her play the piano.
He felt his blood run cold and his flesh crup.
The t eacher made him tnite out the exercise again.
Don't make me laugh.
I "till let you use my bicycle.
Let's all go to the cinema.
-But if these verbs are used in the passive voice, the infi nitive
We5 to, e.g.
He was heard to cry.
They had been made to trork.
He was seen 10 take t he money,
The verb help sometimes, and generally in American English,
is followed by the infinitive without to, e.g.
He helped me (to) compose the letter.
Will you help me (to) clean the car?
(jhJter b4d be/{ff , !uEL (U'OlIld) rallt.a, had (WOll/1i) SOO'l(r ,
"'fJ hardly , cannot fmt, e.g.
You had better leU him t he truth. 1 had (would) rat her not
see him. I' d sooner take a taxi t han walk. I need hardly tat
you how serious the matter is. 1 cannot but (- cannot do
anything except) agrte to his terms.
t NFI NITI \ ' F. WITH tdls USED in all other eases.

232 A Comprehensit'e English Grammur

TilE PARTICLE !lWWlTHOllT TItE INFINIT VE
There are occasions when the particle to is used wit hout the
infiniti ve verb. This const ruction (omission of the infi nitive
verb) occurs when the so refers to a ver b that has previously
been used and that , if expressed, would be an infinitive Wi th
to, e.g.
I shall go if I want to (go).
He won't work harder than he needs to (work).
He would like to come but he's afraid he won't be "ble to
(come).
If you don' t know the answer, you ought to (know it),
'Will you come to dinner with me?' 'I should love to (come):
OF THE Is FIS lTIVF. \
@ The infinitive can act as a noun. Thus, it may be:
..(ar The SUBJ ECT of a sent ence, e,g.
To act like t hat is childish.
To knt:M all about English is one thing; to k1!1)tlI English is
qui te another.
-{b>- The COMPLEMEST of a verb, e.g,
They are to be married soon.
To live like t his is to enj oy life.
This house is wlet.
How do you t hink I am to answer the letter?
What I like is to swim in the sea and then 10 li e on t he warm
sand.
..(cj. The OBJ ECT of a verb, e.g,
I want to knt:M the answer.
He must learn to wor k hard and to sat'e money.
' Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark: (Frallds
Bacon)
I should like to hat'e bun told the result earlier.
There is a construct ion in which the infi nitive t ogether ith
a noun or pronoun (in the objecti ve case) makes a close group
Verh.s: (6) The N cm-Finites 233
that forms the object of a ver b. This is called the ACC\.:SATt \"l:'
nl FIS lTl VE const ruction. EX{lwPl f s:
A" usative I nfi ni/h'e
He helped
m,
to dig my garden
I made him do
;,
They let u, go
J ohn asked him to write to rou
I wat ched
h"
come into the room
I have never
known him to beha ve so b... dly before
He couldn't bear
h" '0be
unhappy
I
(2,) The infinitive may have an adverbial function, generally
oJ'Purpose or result , e.g.
I went there to see him.
Mary has gone to gel some fruit .
He is working late to trUlke liP lor his absence yest erday.
r have come to learn English.
He was lucky enough to wit, t he prize.
You should cat 10 live, not live [ 0 t al.
Help yourself to the cake; it is t here 10 weaten.
'And fools, who came to scoff, remained 10 pray.'
(Goll;bmit h, Dfurted Village)
Ij) It may have an adjecti val function and qualify a noun
indefinite pronoun, e.g.
That is not t he way to speak t o your uncle. (qualifying way )
Look at the number of shops to let. (qualifying .slwps)
Alexander the Great wept because he had no more worlds
to cOtlqufr. (qual ifying II()rlds)
That was a silly thing [ 0 do,
He wore a pale blue shin and a ti e to match.
He gave me something to eat.
They have not hing to do.
15 there anyone to take care of these children?
The quest ions 10 bc IlIlSWfTcd are on page 40,

:Z j..$ A Compf(hnlsil:l English G,., Wlmar

GJ It is used wit h adjec t i'ves expressing emotion or desire, e.g
I was very glaLi to $( you. .
He is happy /del ighted /content {to be with us.
George was anxiousfeager /to get home.
I am ycry pleased /0 havr bten of help.
It is used also wit h some ot her adjectives, c.g. fit. able etc:
These shoes arc not II I to '/I:ea, .
Tom isn't able to go to t he party.
Richard is sure to comt:; he 'll be t he 6rst Ie come and last
to go away.
Other adj ect ives t ll;,lt ca n t ake this construc tion arc: .
af raid. ready, worthy. easy. hard, certain, lIStless, possible,
right, (" nlaWe, # " Ol1g . etc.
Some adve rbs also take t his const ruction, e.g. f ar, best:
lie knows how far to go.
She explained how best w,cook the meat ,
The infinitive can be used in 'absolute' constructions
as : .
To tell you the truth, I don't know what the .IS.
To hear him talk, you woul d t hink he was a millionair e.
To cut wlong story sheri . . .
To cOll ti nue :rith ",hal I was sayillg. . .
(f) It is used after kfU}:S> and certain other verbs with In-
telrogati \e words (see patterns on pages 3r!J-7, 3g8) . e.g.
I don't know how to tell you.
She knows where tofind t he key. .
You will soon learn when to use that const ruction.
Show him how to do t he exercise.
_ SOTE: The ....erb klWW must have one of t he 1uM,
If tl' hm alt er it when a simple infinitive follows It . Such a
sen tence as:
' He knows t o speak English' is wrong.
Bu t knoll' wit hout one of t hese words is possible with not, e.g.
He knows ot to speak (= t hat he must not speak) when
t he Headmaster is speaking.
Verbs: (6) The .voll -Fillites 235
/7) Jt is sometimes used in exclamat ory sentences, or in sen-
tarces expressing a wish unlikely t o be realized , e.g.
Tothi" k he knew about it all t he t ime!
Oh ! to bt young again .
'Ohl to Le in England
r-; C1W t hat Apri l's t here.' (Browning, Home Thoughts I rolll
Abrtxld)
(TI ll': 'SPLIT IS FIS ITIYE ' \
Some grammarians condemn t he usc of t he ' split infinitive'
t.e. the placing of a word or words between th e to and t he lJerb,
e.g. 'to quickl y agree', ' t o really un derstand' , But th e spli t
infi nitive dates back t o t he t hirt eent h cent ury and can be found
in the work of many famous auth ors.
Fowler says: 'A split infi nit ive, t hough not desirable in itself,
is preferable t o eit her of two t hings, t o real ambiguit y or t o
patent art ificiality.'! He quotes wit h approval:
' Our object is to fu rther cement t rade relat ions .'
'This will t end 10 fi rlllly rslab/ish good relati ons bet.....een
Capital and Labour.'
Jespersen,l following Fowler , adds furt her examples of
,,hich he approves:
He likes to half ckse his eyes.
He was t oo ill to rrally ra" )' out IIi" IIUl )"_
The best guidance, perhaps, is: ' Don't use a spli t infi nit ive
anjess you have a good reason [or doing so.'
EXERCISES
I Pick out the in fi ni t ives and describe t he funct ion 01each
in t he followi ng !Sen tences:
(Jl To complete that book in t hree mon t hs was a grea t
achievement. That seems bard to do but is less
d ifficul t than it loob. (J) Strain every nerve to succeed.
t"l Wh y d id you try t o persuade hi m to come with us)
(5) It is easy t o cnuci ee . (ll}T o climb Everest lICCmc.J an
imposs ible task, Will you teach me t o pJay
(Il l I saw him run t he mil e in (our minutes. (9) The dOl>
wants something to cat . (10) We are t o have a holiday
10104" .. E..glid. VI"; ' . EU,NliAl l t;>f ENgli" C, IiI ,,,,,.,....

I heard him playing t he

'Moonlight Sonata' (= he
was playing. Adive)
,
23
6
A Comp,thtPls it:e English Graln/nar
tomorrow. (11) '\'bat do you think is the r ight t o
do? In) I tremble t o think what your father will say.
(I) The men have come to take down the tree. (14) She
must do as she is told. (r s) He made me tell him the
. .
- 11 ' 61j Construct sentences each containing an
and using one of the following as the finite "orb In each
sentence:
It",m, ". ..st, 1". hop., owgllt. IIta" in/tMd, 4tH', lill"
had null" , do, At/p, nud, nud hardly.
(b) Give ave sent ences each cont aining a Perfect In-
finitive.
HI Complete the following so as to make complete sent ences:
(1) _ if he wishes to.
(1) _ whether I $hall be able t o.
I]) - faster th an he needs t o.
(4) - I 5ha.1I be glad t o.
t S) - you certainly ought t o.
What charact erist ic of t he infinittve do these sentences
illustrate?
IV Construct live sentences. each one, uling one the
follo...ing adject ives plus t he Infi mtlve of a verb.
dijJiewlt, iM/'l'Sribu , urn"t, w"fit, af,aid, SlI,e.
\' Definethe function of the infinit rve in eachof the foliO"' -
ing sentences after you "ave completed t he sentences:
(1) To speak plainly - .
(2) To be brief -.
(3) - just how fast to go. ,
(..l - how to climb the
(,5) Oh to be young - ,
VI Make a sentence, containing what you consider to be a
permissible split infinitive.
( THE P ARTICIPLES I
There are rwo par t iciples, the Pa.rt ici.ple and t he
Past Participle.' The present participle ends m -l'Ig, the past
The teruu 'praent ' and ' past ' here may be lIlisiea.ding. The ' put'
puticipres i.a such phrues as ' a disJioapiJAH Kientist, 'a ..
train', ' t'f>O/ur& EDgiish' do not refer !o an action or
i n t he put: nor doe. presen.t pamciple In a , ....
' an book" lignIfy a ny lime at a ll . I t .llI, howe-.e" con.Vt m cllt
- now t hat the reader haa b'n <wam...J- to ret a, n t he ..sua! ter mlloology.

Verbs: (6) TIle Nun-Fi'ule! 237

participle in -td in t he case of regular verbs. For irregular verbs
pages 145- 153.
The verbs ""'y. $M1I, call, wilJ, must, oug/Ii, ustd (to) have
110 part iciples.
The difference between the present participle const ruct ion
and t he pas t participle one is that t he present part iciple
construction generally has an acti ve meaning, t he past
participle a passive one. Compare:
He found t he fire brmling He round t he house bll1nrd
brightly ( = the lire ....'as down (= t he house was
burning. AClive) burned. P,usive)
I heard the ' Moonlight
Sonat a' pklyed by Myra
Hess (... it was played by.
Pass;vt )
But t his is not invariabl y t he case, The past participle is
ICtive in such examples as: a rrlired teacher ( = a teacher .....ho
retired); t he angel s (:3 t he angels who feU); a
""herd (faded) rose (= a rose t hat has with ered (faded; an
tS:llptd prisoner (= a prisoner who has escaped).
We have already seen one of t he very import ant functions
01 t he present participle; to form, with various parts 01 t he
YUb to bl , th e Continuous Tenses (p. J68), e.g.
He is working in t he gar den: I shall be writing to you. They
have been visiUng t heir uncle.
We have noted also two functions of t he past participle:
(I ) To form, with various parts 01 the verb to have, the
Perfect Tenses (p. 174), e,g,
He has spent all his money , She had studied English before
she came to England. You should have Jjsl(ll(J to me,
(2) To form the passive voice {po 2191, e.g.
The window was broun. The cakes had been t ate,..
\ THE A DJ ECTI VAL USES OF P.U.TICIPl.ES J
But t he participles have another fU!1cti.on. Though t hey
partly verbs, t hey are also part ly ad)e<:tl\'e5 and can function
I ha.ve his U'fitten pre-
mise.
Listen to the singing
birds.
I
,
I 238 .-t Comprehm sit, Engli sh Grammar
as noun qualifiers. As such t hey can be used att ribut ively, or
predicatively, e.g. .
\ PRESEST PARTlCIPLES\(used attributively):
An exciting story, tliSiJppointing news, a good-looking man,
an Impromising
1
start . ' Scrooge! a squeezing, turt1Khing,
grasping, scraping, clutching old sinner: (Dickens).
PAltTlCIPLESHused predicat ive'y):
The story was exciHng. He is very good-looking. The news
is disaptwinting, etc.
' PAST PAItTI CIPU s Hused attri butively):
-
The broken bottles; ti red workers; t he unkn01Ml
I
hero; a
c.:ean-SMlItn man.
\ P.... ST
The bottles were broken; he is CUlJn-shaven; she is tired.
The participles here are in fact exactly like adjectives: they
admit of comparison (most channi ng, more tired) and can be
modi fied by adverbs (very good-looking, rather disappoi nting,
completely clean-shaven).
But many. in fact most, participles are not purely adj ectiva l,
as t he Icllowi ng examples show:
He stood t here llIalcJ.i ng t he men at "'ork. I hope Henry
didn't keep you llIoitift g. George is busy cleaning the car.
His objections, if lisJenea to. would wreck the plan. He wi ll
come if asked.
( THE P OSIT10:- OF PART1CIPLEs i
Like ordinary adject ives, partici ples, if t hey are adjuncts of
a noun, usually precede it ; but . when t he participle forms part
of a phrase or has more of a verbal than an adjectival quality,
it follows the noun. Compare, for example:
The spokNl language The language spoken in England.
The torn sails of t he The ship came into port. its sails
ship. torn by t he gale.
1 the nega.ti,-e form 01 the p=ticiple thollgh ther e is no equi-
,-:alent verb.
Verbs: (6) The Non-Finites 239
The knight still gras ped The knight stood at hay; his
his broken sword. sword brokNl in t he tight was
useless.
Here is a letter U' ritlen by
Charles L
The birds singing in t he t rees
filled t he air wi t h music.
Here are further examples:
Here is a leaflet t ivillg full part iculars of the plnn.
D?you know t he number of girls coming to the party?
\\ III you let me know t he amount of the debts still out-
sJ02 ndi ng?
Do ) ' OU know t he number of books ordelt'd'
I PARTtC1PLES WITH THE I SFIS!TI \:'E I
There is a const ruction wi th t he participle t hat is similar
to t he ' accusative infinitive' const ruct ion used with t he
infi nit ive (see p. 233), The const ruct ion is used aft er verbs
like Set, hear. j ul,1 find, make, uiant, get, li ke, Here are
examples: .
I saw him (accusati ve) runni ng (participle) for t he tr ain.
I could hear the boys playing in t he field.
He was glad to find t he fire burning brightly .
When they came home t hey found t he house burnt down.
He soon made hi s presence j elt and his wishes knourn.
I should like t his matter $tUled immediately.
He ....anted his eggsjritd.
( PARTICI PLES AS ADJECTI VE CLAl: SE EQl:l VALf. :- TS )
The participle phrase is frequent ly t he equivalent of an
adjective clause or of an adverb clause, e.g.
There were a lot of boys in t he field playillg j ootball ( = who
were playing football),
The woman driving tne car (= who was driving t he car)
indicat ed t hat she was going left and t hen t urned right .
I See also p.get 169. 1<)8.

A Comprehensive English Grammar

The ship battered (= which had been batt ered) by the storm
crept into th e harbour.
The escapedconvict (= who had escaped) has been ca ptured.
The concert given (= which was given) Iry the Philharmonic
Orchestra was a great success.
I PARTICIPLES AS ADVERB CLAVSE EQl'lV''' U ;qs'!
Being ( = as/because he was) naturally cautious, he read the
letter twice before saying anythi ng.
Going (= as he went) cautiously into t he dark room, he felt
for th e light switch.
Suing (= because he saw) that it was raining. George put
on his mackintosh.
Born and bred a countryman (= because he was born and
bred a count ryman), he was bewildered bv London.
IMIS-RELATE D PARTICI PLES !
Care should be t aken in us ing this const ruction to make sure
t hat t he participles are correctly related. The word to which
th e partic iple relates should be t he same as t he subject of t he
verb. Thus in t he following sentences t he participles are
corr ectly related:
Walking through the park we saw a lovely show of daffodils.
(Since it was 'we' who wer e ' walking' th e participle is
corr ectl y related.)
Sta ndi ng on the church t ower we could see the whole vill age
below us. (It was 'we' who were ' standing' )
Travel-stained and ti red, the pilgr ims rejoiced to see t he inn.
(It was the 'pilgri ms' who were ' travel-stained and tired' )
Compare those examples wit h the following, in which all
the participles ar e wrongly related:
' Walking through the Park, the daffodils made a lovely
sight.' (It was not th e daffodils who were walking.)
Standing on the church tower. the whole viUagc could be seen.
Elltering t he house, tM door closed with a bang.
1 This construct ion i. lit erary rat her t ha n colloquial.
Verbs: (6) The Non-Finites
Tmvd -stained alld tired, the sight of the inw was very welcome
to the pilgr ims.
Hated (wd pasecutcd by all, the reader feels sympathy for
Shylock
Securely pierced by a toast ing-fork, Elizabeth held a piece of
bread to t he fi ro.
lIowever, there are cases where a participle may be found
unattached and not logicall y related t o the subject of the verb.
This occurs:
a number of expressions so frequently used t hat th ey
are accepted as corr ect, e.g.
Gmcrally speak ing. a footballer of 20 is better t han one of 4 0 .
Talking of football, have you seen t he Italian team play?
Considering the position as a whole, he is better off now than
he was a year ago.
It has cost, roughly speaking, about 500.
Allowing for extras, t he tour will cost 150, I
Strictly speaking, you have no right to be here.
the ABSOLUTE construction, where the
part iciple with a noun or pronoun preceding it and acting as
its subject forms a phrase inde pendent in construction of the
rest of t he sentence. The absolute phrase may be active. in
which case the present participle is used, e.g.
Christmas Day being a holiday , the shops were all closed.
The last train having gone, we had to walk home.
We explored the caves. Peter acting as guide.
Weather permitting, t he cricket match will be played on
Wednesday.
Or it may be passive, in which case the past participle is
used, e.g.
All things considered, I think we ought to award t he job to
Smit h.
Grallled Ihat Ite is not brill iant, he is at least competent and
works hard.
This done, t hey packed up their tools and went home.
Tile absolute const ruction is lit erary rather t han colloquial.
24
2
A Compt ehensivt. English Grall/mar
In conversation t he participle phrase is usually made into an
Adverb Clause, e.g.
As Chris/ mas Day ",as ,z holiday , the shops were ejosed.
When this ",,z s done, they packed up their tools and went
home.
I CONPOIJND PARTICIPLES '
In addition t o the ' Simple' participles already noted, t here
are t hree 'Compound' ones. They are:..( l }-The Present Passive
Participle (formed by beillg +a past participle) e.g. The essays
bti llg ", rittt fl will be sent to the Headmaster.
..(2). The Perfect Participle Active (formed by ha1.1ng + a past
participle) e.g. H ,zmllg ", ritten t he essay , the bey was allowed
to go home.
..(3\.J11e Perfect Participle passive (formed by having betfl +a
past part iciple) e.g. All the essays havi"g bun Itt iUen and
collected, the teacher sent the class home.
Note th at t he perfect participle refers t o an action that took
place btfore the time expressed by the main ..erb.
EXERCISES
I appropr iate part iciples u adjectives to complet e
the following tences:
(1) 1 have just finished .. very - book. t z) Film staB
an usually \.ery - men. (l) She is a most -
woman. (4) The weather during our holiday made a
most _ . tart but grew better by degrees . (:;) The
play last night wu very _ . (6) You must be very
_ a.f ter such a 1000g journey. (7) The writer of that
book wu hitherto quite _ . (8) He has no beard or
maustaehe but is _. (9) The first performance of his
symphony was rath er ---=.. ( IO) A - bot tle in t he
road punctured two of my tyres.
11 Rewrite the follo....ing sentences so that the words in
italics functi on llII adject ives:
(I) There i.s a little difference between English as it is
wr illt,. and as it is spolle... (2) The child was cryi ng
because it had lost five pence. I]) I like meat t o be u'ell-
,ooked. ('II The amount of his fort une is not )et known.
(5) He gave me a contrac t he had signed.
Verbs: (6) The NOll-Finiits
, 243
III Rewrite the following sent .
correctly related. ences so that t he participle
(I ) Selecting Hyde Pa k C
route goes alan K . r as a start ing place. our
ntl t :le Pa\'cm:nt (2) Stepping carelessly
Climbing to t he to' of e us knocked .hlm down. (3)
,.iew to be seen ( tGel t he tower. IS a magnifi cent
him. (5) 4
at
b t he t ri pped
torry for (l) I can t help feeling
qu iet da t h LnS unday, I shall have a
bad by Illness, the
nunciation alwa . sed arnmg nghsh. t he pro-
his dinner, the
a car on frozen roads the brakes should be
gently. app I .....
J\' r_
......mplete the following sentences ....-ith , 011 . I
accepted expressi . . . oqll ia
, ,,_IOI'IS cc ntanung unattached part iciples:
f:!s than men. (2) The holiday
members are ;)3) I t cost 35 (41 Only
ib.e for the d . e cannot hold hIm respons-
. acc. ent .
( THE
gerund is indist inguishable in form from t
but wba/ hereas the participle is a verbal
'0. ' " 1$ a ver noun. '
has most of t he characteristics of a noun . Thus,
1,z )' The subjec t of 3. sentence. e.g,
in, condit ions is a pleasure. The reading of t he
00 p ace In the lawyer's offic e.
T1Je complement of a sentence. e.g.
t hing that int erests her is da"cing Seein
Ut1ng. To keep money th at you have found 15
The obj ect of a sentence, e.g.
I remember sui ng him. She likes dancin You .
CIIfti'lg. Have you finished Il1riti,lg your r hair needs
I
..
244 A Compn:}u"sive English Gra'"rnar
-{ir The object of a preposit ion, e.g.
He began by explaining t he meaning- of certain words. She
is '"ery fond of da'King. I don't like the idea of spending so
much money. Thank you for r elurnil1g the book that I lent
you. He left without saying anything.
. Th.e only part of a verb that can be the object of a preposi.
non isagerund. (The to of t heinfinitive, though originally J.
preposi tion, no longer functions as one.)
Q}But the gerund bas some characteristics of a verb:
..(a).. It can take a direct object , e,g.
His hobby is collectitlg stamps. -Iftding you haS been a great
pleasure. He left without saying anything.
It can be modified by an adverb. e.g.
She likes driving fast. Redi,.g poetry well needs a lot 0:
practice.
Q}The gerund can be a noun modifier, e.g.
A walking-stick, a su'imming-pool, a knilti ng.n<>edl e, n
readi"C-room, UU'i"C-cot ton, a dancing-t eacher.
the difference in meaning between t he participle as a
modifier and the gerund as a modifier. ,
[ PAI<TICI PLE]
a dancing bear (= a a dancing-teacher ("" a t eacher
bear which dances) of dancing)
a IravtlJing circus a t,at'elling-rug
atluping child a sluping-carriage
,unning water a ,"n"ing-track
Points of distinction between t he gerund and t he pcrtlctp'e
are: (r) The participl e, which is partly an adjective can be
into an adjective clause, (2) Both th e ' present
participle and the noun it quali fies take a strong stress, In t he
gerund const ruct ion only t he gerund takes st ress. Note, too,
t he hyphen with the gerund.
4, The .seru nd is modified by a possessive adjecti ve or by tl:e
possessive form of nouns that can take th is fonn.
...1 Verbs: (6) The .Yon- Finites 245
It 's no use (good) yo" r
l
tell ing me not to worry.
lie was chosen because of his /Ki"g a fully qualified engineer.
She was altnoycd a t YOII' saying t hat.
please excuse my inte17upting you.
We are quite used to lVilliam's grumbli ng.
They are looking forwa rd to .l!(lry' s coming.
'Ot is is, perhaps, particularly the case when the gerund is the
subj ect of the sentence, e.g.
Your liting right doesn't necessarily mean my b.-ing wrong.
I am sure lVilliam's sit/iug up so late is had for hi s health.
}rfary' s grumbling annoyed her husband, but her molMr's
coming to stay with th em was the last straw.
..\ nd it is almost always t he case after the verbs, delay . drny ,
tMtpone. e.g.
The firm have drf l 17ed my ' going on holiday until next
mont h,
Don' t delay you, sending in of the application form.
He doesn't deny Itis breaking of t he agreement.
I had to postpone my listening to his plans to a later date,
This const ruction. however . is a literary one rat her t han a
conversa tional one. I n colloquial speech it is fairly common to
hear a personal' pronoun instead of the possessive adjective.
e,g. ' because of him being' ; ' .. . annoyed at you sayi ng';
' excuse me interrupti ng you'; ' .. , used to William
grumbling' ; ' , .. t o ,1[ary comi ng' .
I The poessi"e for m of t he pronoun {e.g. ill u..,.j after i f. NO
lit' (NO food). but wit h a noun the possessive form " 'oul() he ve ry unusual,
ec. IC. no good t he m"" I)lr. S", illlirny lJ.ro/.v./t elhng me not to worry
teer . t he "".... ... Mr. S", illl'" my b,o/l11, ', ).
" e . c . I' ries. Profe5$OT of Engli!Jt at t he University of ;o.!ichigilln,
made an i nto t he use of the genit ive form of nouns . lId
pronouns with gerunds i n current Sta ndani English (American), using
as materi. l cerlain nl", of informal correspondence in t he possession
of the U.S. Government. He writes: ' I t is clear from the e\--idence , ..
Ihat t he lI<C of the gl'llil i\'e furm nf nouns nOI the nor mal
pract ice before ger\lll ds in Standard Englilah. Only oue exam]'le vcc:un",1
III al l our ma.lerial... . I n t he cale of pronouns, however, Ihe situAtion
appeoaTS 10 be different. Fift y-t...-o per cent of the cues in Standard
English have the genitive form of t he pronoun before the
(i.e. the gerund), A,..,.,;c.... ENf/itll G',UNII'.. ' , page 8...

246 A Comprehensive English Grammar

There ar e cases not only in colloquial but in literary English
where the genitive form would neve r be used, e.g.
I don' t like sJrangers i nkrf ering in myaff airs.
I am surprised at $01PW'01Ie so ,;(h luzving difficulty in paying
what he owes you.
He said he was in favour of peopu working shorter hOUTS.
He laughed at my broiMr and "" liking rice pudding.
The law was passed to prevent people btinCinj ured.
There is no need for tJuu being done.
A shortage of steel would involve men bting dismissed.
But it could be used in such a sentence as:
I cannot understand their being forbidden to go to the
meeting,
(VERBS f OLLOWED BY Til E
It is not always easy to decide when t he gerund should be
used after a verb and when t he infi nit ive, but t his is t he
usage:
QJ The 10110wing verbs t ake a gerund after them:
<ld'llise. avoid. consider, delay, deny , detest , dislike, endure,
enj oy, escape, excuse, fancy, finish , f orbid.,! i magine, mind,
miss, postpone, practise, ri sk, stop, suggest , understand.
For example:
I couldn't avoid mUling him.
He enj oys listening to music.
I couldn't ri sk ",iui"g t hat train.
Do you mind passing the salt?
.'-find, with the mean ing 'object to' is general ly used in
interrogative and negative sentences, e.g.
Do you mind answering my question? I don't mi nd working
overtime. '
It can occasionally be used in affirmative sentences when it is
in answer to a question, ' Do you mind . , .?' e.g.
Do you mind my smoking? Yes, I mi"d very much.
I Thill verb un be used also ,,'ith the atcllsative infinite coutruclio n
e,g. He for bade ..., 10 driv, his car.
Va bs: (6) The S OllFilll/(S 247
() gerund is also used al ter nearly all ' phrasal verbs', e.g.
\ ou must on w.0rkillg, He wants to give liPsO/ioki ll g. She
bltrst out cryi ng, IOU must hup 0'1 trying.
OJ It is used too, after t he phrases: it's '10 good, it's ' 10 nse, is
. orth, to bt fond Of, capable of, sick of, look foru'ar" to, c.g.
I t' s "0 lise cry i ng e ver spilt milk.
It a thing is u'Orth doing, it 's worth doil/fwel!.
I' m tirtd of muting the same people day after day.
[ VERBS FOLLOWED BY TilE
The followi ng verbs take t he infi ni tive after t hem:
the special finites,.(brthe following verbs:
decide, dt sire, urdtav014 r, expect, guar,mtu, hope, IIl ran
, (= offer, prttend, promise, ref use, S: :tar, Ij'uicrtake,
ll'ant, WIsh, e.g.
You orlght to go there. He has to Sfl t he dentist tomorrow
You must e"deavOW' to do better. .
I hope you mt'an to do better.
He u'ants to pay a visit to England,
VER BS "OLLOWED DY THE GFRl ' ND OR THF ISFIS lTrVF.
The. following verbs may take t he gerund or t he infinit ive,
sometimes dependi ng on t he meaning to be expressed:
bigin , Cllll't bear, cease, contimle, dread, forget, hate, i ntend,
learn, like, lcve, omit, prefer. regret. remember, need, " tgleei,
start, try, e.g.
teacher said, 'You can btgin u'riti,Ig now' , and t he
chil dren btgan to Jrrite,
I hale lying and chtatillg. I haft to see cruelty and injustice.
The buses have ceased rmming (or: The buses ct, H,'d 10 rim).
! he fi rst sentence in t he .l:J.st example would probably menu
They have ceased running for todav but tbev will "tart
" - , -
&gam tomorrov.: ; t he second. sentence would mean: 'They
'1\'111 not run again for a long time, perhaps never again'
I
248 A CompT(hensit'( English Grammar
With remember, the infinitive is used for a f uture act ion, and
means: ' not forget' . e.g.
Please remember to bring your book tomorrow.
The gerund is used for a past event and means: 'call to mind',
e.g.
I rtmembu hearing Schnabel play the ' Emperor' Concerto
With fo rget , the infinitive is used with the meaning ' fai l to
remember' , e.g.
I 'm afraid he will f orgel to write to me.
Wit h t he gerund it means ' lose the memory 01', e.g.
I shall never f orget suing the Swiss Alps for t he first ti me.
With stop and try also the meaning varies according to whet her
t he infi nit ive or the gerund follows:
He stopped toeat means that he ceased doing something elst
in order to eat.
He stopped eating means that he discontinued eating.
Try with the infinitive has the meaning 'make an attempt'
<s
You must try to be more careful. He will try to meet us a:
seven o' clock.
Try wit h the gerund means 'make an experiment' , e.g.
Have you ever tried cooking meat itt wine instead 'of wat er)
He t, ied gardenitlg, keeping pigs, rearing poultry, but didn t
succeed in any of them.
After the Verbs of Perception, e.g. hear seeJeel (see pp.
16
9,
19B, and 231), watch, notice, etc., eit her the infinitive or the
-ing form can be used, e.g.
1 heard him come in last night .
1 heard him coming in last night .
I saw him work in tile garden yesterday.
1 saw him working in the garden yesterday.
\Vith the infi nitive we are more interested in t he fact of tr./
complet ion of the act ion, ' I heard him come in . . . so 1 know
t hat he did come in. '
' I saw him wor k. so I know that he did work here yCi'
t erday.'
Verb," (6) it v .
te j on-Finites "
V
" h -49
\ I th e -illg form our in ter", . .
t he performing of tbe r ti was In t he cont inuit y or
what a lot of noi se he made!' heard him coming in . .. and
' I ,saw him working in t he d .
interest ed he was in " ' gar en . . . and noticed how
rr.
EXEI{CISE5
T I n t he follOWi n g scntcnrec j .
form IS _ ( en cuccs indicate whether the ' -ml:!'
" s a) part of aCt' "
pa rt ici ple usert adJecth a ll y (c) a Tense, (b) a
(r) was lying dow n because she was tired
age wa s a lYing villa in .
LYlIlg is a cowardly habit,
(2) was dancing on the water
S c a ncmg waves glittered in t he slln .
mne peop le's g:reates t pleasu re is danc;ng
(3) have no money left ; we are far too
TI le. spendin g habi t is very easy t o form
, : fe IS quite pennil ess after all his spending,
II Conan net two sentences ach . ,
t a king a d ir ec t ohJect conrairung a gerund
tuimng a gerun d 'b' Isentences each con,
y a n <I( vcr b
III I n t h e following phrases i I .
gi vi ng a reas on in ryphens where necessary,
( I ) a motori ng coat (2) .
cl lJ)
h t ' <> ' . . c rm )ll1g ('Xpe( htlDn , {8)
I V .u n rng horn. (9) a waIt mg room. ( i o) p la yi ng card s. a
Construct sentences con hi , h
t he verbs in t ho I II n mg t e gerund aft er an" of
. 0 owmg l ist wh 'h 'I' f "
construction: . Ie ,I( mit a this
advise,cfitidse.pos/ponc,
v
Complete t h e following usi
in the part t hat you ad'd: ng a gerrmd or an infirnti \" e
(1) It s hardtv wort h while I )
ul Th " . . . 2 I must remember
I
. e} are quite lllcapabic o f I') I ' ldut
(are ' 5) Let m I 'I ' . . .. \\flU n
; ... \ . e m ow I you decide If ) W .
s. ck a nd ti red of 17) I . ") earl'
expect . (1<) They keep

A Comprehensive EIlf;li sh Grammar

bi f l o) He cUll<1ratulatcd
on .. . (9) She has a ha It 0 . I " (IZ) lie
me on (II ) The company undertakes 1 don' t
promised (13) You regret (I.t-)I 6) Th e
feel ecual t o . . . (I:;) This tlung IS worth " .. I d
-, I ) I hope you don t mill . . .
firm guarantees ... Ii I cuse (20) 1
(18) I must try to st op. .. . (19) P ease ex (22) R'eading
wish .. . (21) T hey t ried t o kec) work isn't
English is eaSier t ha n . . . (23) . f 1" 5) It's no
d b t I I
'") I apologise or . ..
goo u mean . . . , H has started .. .
U
1, 6) My friend want s .. . (27) edt
. I ) I am not use 0 .
1
, 8) H e always avoids . . . 29 f -ard ' 0
I
)
\\'c always look orwa, .
(3) I used, t o .. " 3' (33) She does nothing but .
(32) I prc er .. . 0 . .. . ( Ct ) He kept
(34) You had bettc,"" (35) .. (39) H e
on . .. (37) He can t help . . . (3 ) I t ] H e is very
can't bear .. . (40) began . . . 4
fond of . .. (4z) He won t risk . . .
. b t 'cen '
VI Explain the difference III meaning crw "
'He stopped talking' , and stor;ped t o
'I remember payi "g t he milkman, an
pay t he milkman'.

, .
CIIAPTER EIGHTEEN
Adverbs, like adjectives, are modifiers: generally they
modify or add t o the meaning of verbs, adjectives or other
adverbs, e.g.
(Modifying II verb) He ran quickly. Come here. I went to t he
dentist yesterdoy
(Modif y ing an adjective) It is I'ery hot today. Arc yot! quite
comfortable? His work isn't good m ough Icr a scholarship.
(ModIfying an adt' erb) He plays extremely well. She drives
100 fas t.
They may, occasionally, modify a noun or noun equivalent , e.g.
t he very! t hing I wanted; the above sentences; t he off-side
of t he road; in after years; t he liP train; the linder-secretary
of t he then Prime Minister: Is t hat car rClIlly yours?
Or a phrase, e.g.
I am almost th rough my work; t hey live neilrly on top of the
hi ll; his remarks were not qlli/e to th e point.
Or a whole sentence, e.g.
Fortunately , I remembered in ti me who he was.
I ndeed, I won't do it .
Some adverbs are single, indivisible wor ds (e.g. yet, down,
tllm , too). Others arc obviousl y formed from adjecti ves by the
addit ion of a suffix (e.g. qm'ckly , clearly, spl endidly ); others are
formed from two words (e.g. il11)'7.t'JIUe, sometimes, !tou'n'n) but
have become so fused together t hat the t\\"o parts haw made
a word whose mean ing is different from t he mea nings of t he
individual parts. In some cases t his fusion has not been com-
plete and the two or three individual words, generally con-
taining a preposition and a noun, arc writt en separately, e.g.
' It might he better t o consider t hat these words, t hough genera lly
..dvol b. , arc in th<-se exampl es functioning as adj ect ives, just as in
phra ses like; The ups a nd dQwtls a/life; the ins and Ol, ls of busine!ls. t h e
'adv erbs ' are functioniT,g as nouns.
'"
' 5'
A Comprrhe'15iv( ,tglish Grammar A dverbs
' 53
next uuk, thi s morning, i n [ront, a/ Ihe side, -eith pleasure,
fi rst, till" day al ia tomorrow. 011 the outski rts oj tht city, 110t in the
least, lIS a matter oj [net, These arc adverb phrases.'
THE CLASSIFICATION OF ADYERBS ACCORDI:s"G TO )'I L \ :s" I:>: c
Adverbs can be classified according to thei r meaning, io
according to the way in which they answer questions asking
when, u-here, hQ7l1 an ac t ion was done.
Cf) Adver bs t hat exprt'SS HOW an action was done, e.g.
The little boy behaved badly.
The birds sang swertly.
Every soldier fought bravely and irell,
ar el"n....I: RRs .... .... FR_l
Adverbs of :Manner commonly used arc: acti rety , (/'ly1;o:;
boldly, calmly, cartfully , distim:tly , (llsi/y, eqllilUy, fa st. glad!..
ho- .... intentionally . lafe, promptly, quickly , simp(',
si7luuly, still, sl4JJndy , togethn, WIllingly, u-isely, wrongly, etc
_ Adverbs t hat express an action is or was done are
:\U\loRB }IF
The boy said, ' I will do t he work tomorrotr,
The teacher said, ' You will do it 71(/"".&' .
Call me tarly: I want to see t he sunnse.
wh at's going to happen next
Adverbs of time commonly used are: ajtrr (rmrds) ,
j,nmeJiately , lau(ly), once, pT(sl'l fly , shortly, soon, st ili
today (tcnnO"'llU', unllKh/ ), whe" , yestaday. yet .
-tl ncluded among arlvof' rhs. of ti m... are the ':\dYCTbs of t1;.
cceocv'. e.g. always, p equently . etc. These are word"
th at answer t he: question ' He..... often', They often differ from
adverbs of time in the position t hey occupy in t he sentence."
Here are examples:
He alw:ty s does hi s work ..... ell.
She has nr.'lJ' done t hat before.
I have not been to Paris very often,
You will seldom, in fact hardly ever , hear that said.
He is right.
Ot her adverbs of frequency are : elmti.mally, jrtqllrntly,
generaJJy , ol;(,nionally, m rcly , rrgld, lTly, scarcrly, !l(fTll{y rucr
. Note t hat cvrr is generally accompanied by a "negat lve
modifi er Iikc hardly , scaTuly or not, e.g.
\ Ve llaTJJy ever see you now; you are SC<lTCely crcr a t home.
Don't tv" say t hat aga in.
It is mre ly used alone except in qu estions and condit ional
c1auses,1e.g.
Do you . 1'0 see George now t hat he has left London?
(Qucstioll)
II you ever see George, give him my kind regards (Con-
l ill. oll.11Clause)
1 Adverbs that express """""!;" an action is or was done are
''''-.r-. Examples:
1 shall stand Mrt .
Tile child opened the door or the cage and t he bird flew Ol /t.
I've looked lVlrywhere for my new pen.
The term 'adverb or COV('fi t he wider field of 'motion to'
'motion [rom', ' separati on', etc.. e.g.
Come nrercr Tht'r walked slowly P'Ht fby. The sailors went
eshore. He paced to and Iro all night. She dr ew t he curtains
apart .
Adver bs of place common ly used are: alxr.e, abrcoaJ . across ,
.long. arOlmd, au'ay, back, J Olnl , dou-nstairs, in, nou.-here,
0" , sonltU'htTl , tht re, througll .10gether , 1I1: JfT, up , "pstairs, if hae.
E! There Me et her adverbs that express '1'0 WH."'T r ' or
. 1) v..hat degree' , e g.
Thi s coffee is t'ny bad
It has bee n a lo ng journey hut we arc nearly there 1l 0W.
Are rou 'Jlll!e sure we are on the right road ?
That 's all right .
l-tc spoke French too quickly for me to follow him.
llu.. s e is atsc t he vl"ry colloquial: I' m iJwfully/terr iblYI
j ri.r; lrtj ,d'y I'm late,
1 For Adver b Cla uses pagM 337-31 . Sec pa ge 183.
I For wndiliQnal <;hnses see page H 3, H7-Sf.
' 55 Adverbs
(!)Adv-erbs of manner are frequently formed by adding _ly t to
an adjective. e.g.
I Adi cctl1oe}
She is a quiek worker. She qUi ckly.
He is a C41tful driver. He drives
They are 1IQisy children. They play 1IOIslly .. I
She gave a fJU"ylaugh. She laughed memly ,
He gave af ull explanat ion. He explained t he whole
t hing j uUy .'
Adverbs are not usually formed from t hat end in
-ly that is from such adjectives as mallly,
etc, I nst ead of an adverb. an phrase IS
used, e.g. ' in a silly way', 'in a fatherly manner , etc.
I See page 318. , .
I The .Iv developed h om Old English -l. t (- hke).. 1 I h
t\ ole t he usual c1ll nge of -J t o -i, 'l nd t he Oml$SlOn 0 one - w ell
t he adjective ends in -/I .
Oth er adverbs of affirmat ion t hat are used as abbreviat ed
sentences, are:
absoilltdy, u rlai1lly, decidedly, roidortly,. il,ldced, tll lirrly,
naturaUy , obviollsly, precisely, surdy, u:lllmgly , and t he
adverb hrases very full, of course.
DVERBS OF QUASTITY OitlOVERBS OF .UIOUST AS O S UMBERl
orm anot er group. ere are examples:
Hcnry works very little; not nearly as much as
William has won t he prize Iwice: no one else has won It more
t han tmtt.
The adverbs when and rrhert , which we have al ready noted,
are sometimes used to introduce a clause:
1
. They t hen take
the place of a relative pronoun + a preposrtioa , e.g.
I remember t he day I&he1l ( = on which) you told me y OIl
were going to America. . .
That is t he room V'here (= in which) t he Rembrandt pictur e
is hung.
_ If I&hm and rrnere are used like t his, t hey are I RElATI VE
A'bVUtBSJ !j
irHE FORl lATIOS OF ,
I Some of t hem can be usN .... ith verbs, e go
TJ.e shock nta.ly kill<:d him.
I 9"ilt like hb p;cturt$,
S I1 01 course call alia be a dc t er miU;ltivc (!oCt pages 89-96)
254 A Comprehlllsive English Grammar
These words llrt'hpyfR BS Of pEGREEI Adverbs of degree are
not generally used wit h verbs; t hey are used wit h adjectives
or oth er adverbs! e.g.
very good; quile sure; too quickly; f1 rar/y there; all right
There are many degree adverbs. Some of the most commonl y
used are: absolutely, , omplelely, duply ('I'm duply sorry').
tlistindly ('This work is distinctly better '), enormously , entirely ,
grtatly , et;u4lly, exactly ('exactly r i ght' ), e:rtrt rMly . j ust ('j US!
right'), mudl , partly , perf eu ly (,perf edly correct'), practicaUy ,
rathe,. scarcely. slightly, thOTOlIghly utterly.
The classes given are the most common types of adverbs,
"frut there are also words which, in addition t o expressing th e
idea of time or place. are also used in questions, e.g.
When are you going away? Where are you sending him?
T hese are ' ADVERBij The ot hers are hew?
and I&!ty? e.g,
HOUI did you come here?
Why did you say that?
6 The words Y es, certainly , surely , etc. . are known
AF H)IATIOS t he words perhaps, may be, etc., as (AbVERE5
OF f' ROtlABlllTY and the words 1101 and not, nn,'er as l!hVERB5
..... or obvious reasons. But t hese words arc, espe-
cia y In conversation, reall y abbrevi ated sentences, e.g.
' Do you know ' Yes.' ( = Yes, I know Inm .]
' Is George t her e?' 'No.' ( = Nc, he isn' t here.]
' Wi ll you help me?' 'Certainly .' ( = Yes, I will hel p you.]
' Do you agree?' ' Oh, quite.' (= Oh yes, I agree.)
'Will you do what he wants?' 'Sever/' (= I shall never do
what he wants.)
Xcte t hat both Y es and S o mar be used eith er to agree or
to disagree wit h t he previous speaker ; but Y es can only
accompany an affirmative statement and S o a negat ive one.
'57
[AdverbI
Advt rbs
way
t he
a very P1ear
a clear sunny
! Adj ed ive!
The goods were vcry
elseap.
I went by a direct route.
He is not
rel at ion.
Lewis carrou, .4Iie. TlIrowgll .... ,
She is a very prttty girl.
There is a' short
home t hrough
woods.
It was a fair fight .
I didn' t want to waken
him; he was in a sOlmd
sleep.
It was
day.
I bought them dllap
(or duaply ).
The goods will be scm dirt,t t o
you and not t o our agent.
l'o' OTF. : In ' I will return directly' , t he adverb dir lCtly = ' at once'.
That is a vel)' !lign The birds are flying higll. He was
building. highly praised for his work.
J ames was lute for his He came kite. I have not heard
lesson, from him lafdy. (= for some
t ime.)
The t ime is drawing 'lear for my
visit to France. I "early missed
my train.
That is a prell)' (= fairly) good
picture. The li ttle girl danced
prntil)' ,
The car stopped short only a few
inches from where I st ood. He
will come shortly. (.... in a short
time.]
He was sleeping s(nmJ (or
sC1mdly ), In t he football match
Oxford were soundly (= de-
cisively) beaten by Cambridge.
You must play fair (or fairly),
He was treated qui te fairly , He
did f airly (= moderat ely) well in
his exami nation.
Stand clear of t he doors of t he
train. You must clearly under-
stand th at t his is your last chance.
' I said it w'ry loud and elmr:
I went and shouted in his ear.' I
bright
I shan' t be long.
We didn't walk vcry f ar.
It runs straight for miles.
He spoke knr
l
but dearly.
Very Mrly in his career
Shakespeare wrote Loec
Labour's Lost.
The prisoner got clean away
(= complet ely).
The man was cItan-sha\'en
(= wit hout beard or moui.
t ache).
' Dead Slow' (t raffic notice
The wind is dlad against u,
The ntan was dMd drunk
He didn' t t ry hard nrollgh
The moon shines
brightly),
Have you enough time t o do
t he work?
He went on a umg journey.
Take a cle.. n sheet of paper.
I saw a dead bird in t he
garden.
F requentl y, bot h t he adj ect ive form and t he ' adjective _.
ly' form are used as Adverbs, sometimes, but not always, wil l.
different meanings, e.g.
t.4J)"Ullt't}
There is a bright moon
tonight.
! Adiu tlVe/ [ AJvr:1bj
That is a very f ast t rain. It goes very fast,
He is a /wrd worker. He wor ks hard,
[The adverb hardly, e.g., ' He hardly ever works' gives a ver.
different meaning. )
He has gone to t he Far East .
It is a straight road.
He spokc in a 10'/& voice.
' The early bird catches the
worm, '
{ADVERBS W!II! TWO
The "'Old kndy an adjecti\'e, Dot a D ad\'er b, e.g. ' Helll"}' Vl i l '
great Chanc;eIlO'l" , Cardinal \ \ clsey, wu of u.e. hu mble) ,
his was a butcher.'
256 A COlllpuhinsil'e English Gramm.1f
Cl But there arc other ways of formi ng the adverb; for example
by using the same form as the adject ive.
He is a firm friend of
the family.
I want a sharp pencil .

,
E XERCISES
I Pick out and classi fy the adverbs or adver b phrases in
t he following passage:
\ Ve somet imes go t o a foot ball mat ch (my wife,
bcwever, r ather reluctantly). Last Saturday we saw a
match that we great ly enjoyed. The play was fast and
skilfUl, t he forwards manoeuvred' rapidly and shot
hard a nd straight , the defence tackled resolutely and
the referee cont roll ed the game firmly while, a t tile
sa me time. using his whistle with discretion. Frankly,
I mud. prefer r uguy, hu t I could hardly take J anet to
a r ugb y ma tch; she would never understand t he
ga me. There, in that stadium on Sat urday, she at least
knew when a goal had been sco red, without having to
be t old. She even knows some of the rul es. At one
poi nt I was about to t ell her why a throw- in had to be
taken again when she told me she already knew: the
first throw had not been properly done.
II :\[ention six adver bs in each of the following classes:
Manner, Time, Frequency, Place, Degree.
Then choose one from each class a nd write a sent ence
using it.
I II Complete the followi ng with a n adverb or adverbial
_ . phrase of t he kind indicated in brackets at t he end
of each sen t ence:
(I) He was _ a nxious about t he danger of fir e.
(degree) {2} - I don't agree with your opinions.
(time) (3) These two rou tes arc - hill y. (degree)
(4) \\'1' - go to London t o bear a concert . [tre-
qucncy) (5) She has left her glasses - - . (place) (6)
-is t he shop I was told t o visit( (place) (7) -
we shall go if t he weather is fi ne. (probabilit y) (8) We
"''" -- submit t o the enemy. (negat ion) (9) I'm
, 'Historically, these are gemuve, dative or accusative Q ses of nouns;
III Old Englbh t hese forms were oft en used adve rbially.
AdVeTbs
..(b)-wit h suffix -ways, -mards, -wise:
1
The path was so narrow we had to walk sideurdyS.
He went bdckuJdrdsljorwards /hommards.
He sat with his legs crosswise.
-{c)- wit h t he prefix a-, e.g.:
ashore, 1l/01l , abroad,
widt
very
on the
on t he right
is a good,
Are we
r oad?
I t hink we ar c
,"ong r oad .
He was wearing
tight s'ices.
This
road
He is a slew driver.
A English Gr.wHlla"
IAdjecti veJ IAdver9
It was a close (- air- Keep close to me. 1 he
less) afternoon. ran to twent y closely-wn tten
pages. .
If we stand fi rm, 1 firmly believe
we shall succeed.
Turn sharp right at t he cross-
roads. The teacher spoke s;,. ,p:.
to t he boy.
'Go slow' (traffic notice). Tilt,
hours pass !lowly when you can't
sleep. . .
Hold tight: t he plane :s g0u.'g t.-
dive. The passengers were hghU:
packed in t he train. .
The sleepwalker' s eye'> were WI de
open but he didn' t seem to be
seeing anything. The t wo people
differed tddely in t heir outlook.
It was at t he cross- roads t hat
went u '1Otrg. He was WTO'lg;.
accused of t he crime.
Turn , igllt at the era;, -
road. He was rightly bl amed fer
the accident.
__ verbs like las:' , s1ntll.Ju: , etc. (in such
tastes sour, The smtUS mtd: ! he .l llf J::a.
s
T;
diect ive (SOllr , sweet, sof ll , not an adverb, 1$ II :
}aste, smell, ful, as u sed here , are more or less equ tvalent
t o is, e.g:
T he milk is sour. The fur is soft t o t he t ouch .
There are a lev.' ad,..erbs that h ave been formed from nour
by t he addition of a suffix or a prefix , c.g.
-(a)- with su ffi x -ly :
He comes here daily jwu kly/montlily ,1 etc. .ed
The shed was lifted bodi ly [i.e. in one piece) and ca r r r !-
anot her part 01the garden.
' But m1ybe adject ives u><e<1 a.s ,,,Iverbs,
A English Grammar Adverbs
,6,
T HE OF AUVERBS TO P OSIT ION
--- (jreqru licy ) go to the pict ures ? , (r,ccalior,)
bnt I - (f rt q1lell' .V) go to the theat re. (6) ])0 yOIl
drink ._ - (Jle:;" t;o,,) ollly vcry r-r-'-
(freq uellcy ). (7) Will yOIl be -- (plaH) -- (li me )!
No. _ (degree) a Icw days. (8) I _ ("' ",, " a ) heard
you t ell him he need not do it . (9) 'Wi ll you hel p me? '
- (II ffi rmalioll) - - (affi rmllliou) . (IO) The orator
spoke so - - (>Il llfHler ) t hat he won his audi ence
complet ely over. ( Il ) I arrived at the moment --
(relative) the telephone bell rang. ( 12) Send him t o a.
nursing home - - (re1ali ve) , he will be taken care of.
( : 3) J oh n cam", home -- (degru) t ired after his long
day's work ,
Ther e arc three positions for adverbs in a sentence:
i.e. as the fi rst word in a sentence.
{{JJ Mid-P osit ion, coming bef ore the verb.
.() E nd -Position , i.e. as the last word in a sentence.
( F RONT- P OSITI ON ADVERBS )
6) The following can be used only in this posit ion:
-(a).{ INTEIWOGAtlvE ADVEllBS) How? Whe n? Where? Why? e.g.
Where are you going? Why did you say t hat ? When shall
I see you again?
OF OF l\F.GATlOsl e.g.
Y es, I know him qui te well.
No, t hat is not correct .
) Adver bs wh ich are 'sentence modifiers'! arc generally, but
not quite always, front-position adverbs, c ,g.
Sti ll, in spite of what yOll say, I don't think it is true.
Alt ogether, r don' t t hin k we have done too badly to get 400
for our old car.
Compar e t he following sentences. I n t hose marked A t he
adver bs modi fy ver bs or adjectives in t he usual way. I n those
marked B, they modi fy a sentence. Note how t he meaning of
- determined to finish this exercise t onight.
(degree) (10) He has -- attempted to pass t hat
ex amination. (number)
I V Constr uct pairs of sentences in which t he first of cach
parr uses one of t he following words as an adject ive
and t he second uses one as all adverb:
lat e. IIMr, still, stiff, ellOUrh, wide, high, strair;!ll, fr; r,
direct.
V What arc the ad verbial forms of:
good, bad, lillie, side, back .
VI (a) Form adverbs or adverb equivalents from the
followi n g adj ec tives:
s!<ilful, e 5.1' , f ast, gay, ]1itmlly.
(b) Use all t he following words in sentences as ad-
verbs:
hard, hardly , dead, dml/II)', round. clean, stone, stollily,
ice, i ci ly , direct, directly . easy, f out, dup, low.
VII How many adver bs can you form with other w<Jf<ls
"sing .ways, -wist or -u ra rds as a suffix? Use each in a
sentence.
VIII Construct t en sen tences" each con tai ning one of the
followi ng adver b phr ases and name the class to which
each belongs:
on t op of, at the far end, not in the slightest , hardly
at a ll. a ll ove r the place, during th e week" ve ry late,
rou nd t he corner, wit h pleasure, on t he whole.
IX In which of the following sentences are H,e italicised
words ad ver bs ?
( t ) One lies sof t on a feather he'd. (z) I ncense smells
aromatic. (3) Explorers often have to travel rough.
(.. J The climber fell headlong down the precipice .
(s) ' Untasy lies the head t hat wears a cruwn,' (6) They
st ruggled hard and long to ...,.in the matd,. (7)
unscr upulous ri vals did him a grave wrong. (8) 'Fair
st ood the wind for France.' (9) The door stood half
open, ( ID) Though the current ran f"st the (lridge
stood fas t against it .
X Add adverbs t o t hese sent ences as indicated:
( I) I think it -- (dtg rn) dlsgrac eful. (2) You are
an - (degree) lucky boy. (3) That's (drgrn)
useless, (.. l Th is work is --(rlegrn) good, but nat so
good as what you -- (frequt'lIfY) do. (s) Do )' QU See l'"ge l SI , I Sec example, D 4. 5. 6 on ne xt page.

262 A Comp"nmsit,t English Grammar

t he adverbs in th e A sentences differs from t hat of th e::
counterparts in t he B sentences,
(j) exclamatory sentences' t he adverb used always has front
pcsttton, e.g. . , . ,
AU'llv they went ! Hue he comes! There goes Helen! lioUl well
he sPeaks English! HOtI7 quickly t imc has ,
Not e t hat in these exclamat ory sentences ."':I t h how, t he
other adverb (U'eU, quickly) also has front position.
(i) Some adverbs can be used t he beginning of a sen tence hut
are not confi ned to that pcsmon, e.g.
he sits and thinks, and he just sits'.
Yesterday I went t o a footba.1I match; I am playing
. t . '" I , - going t o t he theatre and tomcrnno I am tennis; om#: .... ..
goi ng swimming.
This could equally well be wri tten: " _
I .....ent t o a foot ball march yesterday: I a m playing tennis
today , etc.

-(I}-An adverb or adverbphrase which does not normally

have front position may have it , l or In t his
case, subj ect anq .'YE.!b may usage is in
many cases literary and emotlOn,al rat her t han colloquial, e,g.
Oft c have I heard it sa id t hat he is not t o be trusted.
Twice wit hin my lifet ime "five world wars takm Pl f/Ct .
an a t im e , IS a boY.'''ave I climbed t hat hill.
. -
a r t he c ur ch was an old ruined cottage.
B hi s side sat f ait/If Ill dog.
er- is t e book t hat y ou wanted.
uc was the W e he told me.
a negative adverb or adn'rb equivalent in front
POSit ion, inversion 01 f> ubject and verb must occur, 1.' g.

0 ircumstanccs U'Cl jfd I agru t o such a proposal .

o tot mtil all attempts a t negotiat ion had failed did the men
Ide to go on st rike.
CS'owtiF"e) else lJ'l"lI you jind so many happy, content ed
I,
tor cntv has lu a fi rst-class brain but he is a lso a tremcn-
ous v lard worker.
soonel)" ad Ihey bun granted one increase of paythan t hey
lSked for a nother.
Adt'Ubs
I X VERSIQN OF S UR [ CT AND VERI! W H "\nvERBS
are a conf>i derable number of adverbs t hat rna" have
"'tront posit ion. Some of t hem are: .
aft erwards, tllm, thae, (lure/ore, anylunu, 'IQUI', so, sOOn, once,
only , (fm)forlunattly , luckily, evidently , perso,Ja/ly, possibly,
suddenly , naJuraJJy , really ,
prrh4ps, sfudy, inded , occasionally, i/cwrdingly, 110"01-
evtr, jirsJ (stcondly, tnirdly, etc.), originally , yd, n .enlualIy;
",.and a large number of adverbial phrases, e.g.
by and by, up to now, lx/ ore then. tmtlJ thtlr, j lls! tMn, just
1IOU', by now, et'ery day, oj C(mrse. Jwu. f ar/long/1I11IdJ/oj u n,
aJjirst /last /prese' lt/least: i n larer 0 11: 1111 at once; so"u
Jay; SOOlilT 01 later, etc.
SQ, you dor.tt believe wha t
I to ld you?
There, de you believe me
now?
Tlwn let us get on wit h t he
work.
You surtly (5u,..ly, you) won't
pay t hat price.
I couldn' t, nallJ rally (Natur-
ally, I couldn' t) , agree 10 a
proposal like that
He is, [ortunately (For/1m-
auiy, he is), married.
B
S OtI7, this is what happened
A
(I l I can' t give you t he
answer notl7.
(2) I didn' t t hink he would
be so silly .
(3) He asked tor th e money
so I pa id him there and
theu,
(6) He is f ortunately mar-
ried.
(4) The cat walked quit e
surdy along t he narrow
wall.
(5) She spoke simply and
,ult urally .
, 65
carefully done.
a very good foot baller.
make that mistake
agai n.
leaving t he house.
wal k.
a/:Z'II)'S
never
just
lle,/rly
Advtr1:'s
arc
can
\1'0.5
should
They
The baby
If,however , t he special (mite is used emphat ically t he frequency
adverbs precede it, e,g.
' Henry's work seems caref ully done. ' 'It "lwlly s is carefully
done.'
'Richard isn' t a very good Iootbullcr Il OW.' 'He 11<!!(1 was a
good Iootbatlcr.'
This t ype of sentence usuall y becomes a 'Short Answer' III
conversat ion, e.g.
' Henry' s wor k seems carefully done to-day.' ' It alway s is.'
'Richard isn't a good toot ba ller.' ' He lIeV(1 eas.'
'Can you get a good lunch on the t rai n?' 'YOI' sometimes cau.'
Other examples of mi d- posi tion use of adverbs:
I accidm tally upset the water jug. He atiually told me it
wasn' t my business. They anxiously await ed t he result The.
soldiers attacked the strong positi on. He definitely
refused/ t o do the job, I deeply regret having spoken. I
di s/inca}' heard him say that .! When the ord er was given t hey
immed t':nc4t 5prang t o their feet. I almost made that same
mist ake again, He just opened the door and wal ked in, He
111m t old me what he wanted. That iI/deed surprised me very
much , He lasl wrote to me a year ago. I 110W come to a very
import ant matter. Having bought t his land , he r.u/ pro-
ceeded to plant it with apple trees. They perhaps disliked
what you said. I rather ho ped that you would come t o live
near us. I reaUy think that you arc expecting t oo much. You
' I heard dislmdly "hat he said' , which i,,,s ,, di fferent
meaning.
But when a special finite is used with the verb, t he adverb
comes between t he special (mite and t he main verb, e.g.
,---
lienry's work IS
Richard
You
1 \\'insron Churchill l{ A F , in !<J-jo.
A COlllprd:olsilt Engiish Csemmar
SeJdOlY\ IS it !"ist to disregard tt.e advice til at he gives.
, "eve, ' II the field of human conflict has so mllCh been OWl'c'.
by so lIlany to so feW.'l
-13;'- I nversion must also occur when only is in fr ont position
and not qualifying the subject, e,g.
( 0 1l0 .\,II('n all attempts at negotiation had tailed, did the lflei l
decide to go on strike.
(o n19 wit h the full agreement c,f cYClyonc CIlII we hope t c

On1) .n north-west Scotland ha!!e I seen such scenery as that
"':4}-When unstressed there is in front position:
There is 110 dlJlfht that t he man i'l gui lt y.
There's !l letter for you on your desk.
( T her c} l<-'Il s afroo/last night, wasn't there?
There is still a lot of work to be done before t he bouse will
be ready for occupation.
There arc mllllY pe<>fJle still with t oo Iowa standard of living,
-(j).. I n some exclamatory sentences introduced by there or
here (see pp. 262, 316):
I heard a knock at the door and there u-as George.
:\PV"RBS\ '
An import ant group of mid-posit ion adverbs arc t he adverbs
of frequency. \\'i tft t hem can be grouped such adverbs 0. 0
almost, 'learly, ouitc, Iul rdly, jllst. Their usual positi on j"
immedlutei y ill frO:lt of t he principal voo:rb, e,g.
-
sleep with my window open.
I
He nccer forget s his wife's birthday.
We ojtm wish that YO\l li ved r.ear us.
1 al most forgot I to tell you t his.
I hardly I know how to thank you.
I He J'lIst , picked I up his hat and walked away.
c _

J
A Comprehmsive English Grammar
once said t hat you had played foot hall for England. He
already knows what I t hink about hi m, I "nearly mi ssed mv
train thi s morning, He quite realizes that you can' t help
everyone.
Ail these adverbs can be used between the auxiliary and th e
main verb, e.g.
I ha ve accidentally upset t he water jug, They are anxiollsly
awaiting t he result, He will definitely refuse t he job, I had
almost made t he same mi stake again, I shall nOTt' come to an
important matter, He has already heard what I t hink about
him. He will fl14 ite realize that you can' t help everyone.
ADVERBS \
(1) The end position is the most nat ural one for adverbs, and
t'he great majority are placed t here. If th ere are several
adverbs, t he order is generally: manner, place, time, e.g.
Harry worked well here yesterday,
The fundament al st ru ct ure of a sentence (statement ) is
SUBJECT + VERB + OBJ ECT + ADVERBIAL, and t he genera l
principle is t hat the object (or complement) should not be
separated from its verb by having an adverb or adverb
phrase interposed, So, if to t he sentence: ' Mary sang that
song: we want to add ' beautifully' , \\OC must say: ' M1ry
sang th at song btaulifvlly: :-;QT: sang bealltifully that

song.
The adverb should be put after the obj ect or complement , e.g.
Henry does his work welJ; Richard generally does his wor k
badly, George works hard, Robert drives fast; Will iam drives
slou'Zy. Peggy played t he accompa.niment t o Mary 's song
p erf ectly ,1 They flew to Paris }'esJerday ; t hey hope t o visit
Lucille tomorrflll'. I like leami ng Engli sh very lIl m h.
1
Have
you been learning English long?
But in a passive COll5truetioD the adverb may come al te r the
auxiliary but belore the main put of the ver b, e. g.
Peggy ' s 1.C(:0mpaoiment was p,r/,dly phayed .
o H. D. Strutfeil4 (Etil iosil LG"P"I ' T' lUhi"I , Vol . II I , Ko. 2)
makes the point , vel'}- appositely, that there is a lot of diflerell<:e
bet ...'" n: ' 1 don ' t like wi ne very much' a.c.d ' I don't like very muo:: h
A Jt'obs
26
7
(j)
Almost th e only adverbs cannot be used in the end
pos;it ion are negunve adverbs hke not, sUl. rcdy, never,
;Iud degree adverbs li ke very , JUu, etc.
;.Im
ost
t he onl y occasion when t his IS not t he case IS m such
sentences as:
Turn Qjf the gas. HeJp me to lift lIPthe table.
which can be used as well as:
'Turn t he gas off.' ' Help me t o lift t he t able tip .'
x ct e t hat if t he object is a pronoun, the adverb must come
;t the end.
Turn it off, NOT; Turn off it.
Li ft it lIP. SOT: Lift up it .
1:1 II a sentence has no direct object , t he adverb generall y
immediat ely after the verb, e.g.
}Ir. Owen died yesterday at th e age of 85
The boys have gone there to play t ennis.
171 If t he object a clause, . t he adverb may be placed before
"tr in order to avoid ambigUIt y. ('.g,
' He t old me y esterday what George said,'
which is not the same as:
' He t old me what George sa id
C1 We have noted t hat adver bs of definite time, e.g, yesterday,
tomorrw 311d like (I n U' edrresJay, next
Chris/mas, in a f (W ' JIl IlIl/ (S, et t .,. come a.t t he end of t h.e
sentence. n ut if we wish t o emphasize the time, t he adverb IS
frequently put at t he ix' ginni ng, eg.
ToddY I tiave worked indoors, but tOrllorrO'lf' I shall have a
day in tIl e ga rden, . .
Va y S()t'llJwe shall set t he result of e;o;amlOatlOn.
Every nolL' then a little boat came mto t he harbour,
@If there nrc two or more atl verhg (or advcrbials] of t ime, the
more detailed cxpression tomes before the more general, e.g.
The next meetins will be on Thtfrsd.1)', -'larch 26th, Io.
. I,! I . I ' par-
wine.' (In til e ln st U"lltcn,c .. " .. , 10 , Is ad veJ ,Ia. an,
tkulatl y ' , I n t he 'coomJ Qne II J' ..J Je<;u\"al ,,,,,1Hlc"m a lar ge
qualll ll y {I Ll

268 A E"l:lish Grammar

6J. An adverb of degree or manner is generally put before
aJjectives, participles and other adverbs, e.g.
li e was ext remely cl ever. Y O\l can' t be 100 careful. He played
tery well. The glass was badly broken. The dangerously
wounded soldier was imnudilltdy hurried to hospi tal. She is
a WIlly well-educated girl. You spoke too soon.
@ But the adve rb t1IQughcomes alter the adjective or participle.
That is good ftlo ugh Icr me.
He ought t o know the way t o Ox ford ; he has gone t here
oft ..n mough.
f<'j ) Some ad verbs, e.g. only, somdimfS. th.en, (t'm , perhaps, can
in various posi tions in the sentence, sometimes ex-
pressing a difference of meaning, e.g.
I am quit e hopeful about t he situation.
I am so"", timl$ quite hopeful about t he si tuation.
I am quite hopeful about t he sit uat ion sometimes,
Thm I went home. I thm went home. I wen t home then,
Perhaps I was mistaken. I was, perhaps, mistaken. I was
mistaken, pcr1wps. .
O1tly goes immediat ely next t o (usually before) t he word it
qualities:
Only J ohn admires his brother. J ohn ollly admires his
brother. J ohn admires only his Lrothe"r. J ohn admires ' his
fI,ll)' brother. (Here, of course, only is an adjec t ive.] j ohn
admires hi s brother only.
This is part icularly important in ....-ritten English. I n spoken
English t here is a t endency t o put only before t he verb
and to make distinc tion of meaning by a vary ing st ress
and int onation. Ot her ad verbs and ndverbiuls that can he used
in fr ont , mi ddle or end posit ions are: (un)fortIl11.atdy, (speeltllly,
possibly. really , certainly, exactly, merely , mostly , simply ,
any/unt', about , /wlI'ti:er, i 'ldud, altogether, 'l ot, no dOlfbl, of
coe-se, al least , at 011('( .
EXERCISES
I P ut t he adverbs in the best poSItion in the se ntence.
making uuy nec essary changes in punctuation IIr word
order:
..----
(I) Charles is working: he bas not recire<1. {yet; lIhll}
Joe works hard: he IS t oo stupid t o p J.S:; h i." e:'1 allli na.
t1011 . (however) (3) what Ch risto pher said was wrong
{nlro get her , yesterday] (4) The whole fntnily a goin.'l"
out. [tomor row] \ \'e !Jll,v(: our dinner at seven o'clock,
(S<'ller.1lJy) (6) \\ e have !lad cur dinner at seven o'clock.
(alw'!)'s) (i) Janwll has lo ts of porrnl cc for breakfast .
(SU11l CtlIDt<ll) is hungr y. (svme ll llle"j (fl)
went III old clot bes: Ioc= was very rich. InctualJ)'1
{wi lOU don't need as much all that. (surely) (JI) He
gees about III ckl cloth es as a rule, bu t I saw him wi th
a brand-nov, coat on. (actuallY;)'l'Sterday) (I I) She's a
pretty prl. (ratl wr) (I.}) It 's a ni ce Jay. (q ui tt'l j q ) We
tl!! went t," town. [last .... eck] i t s) I ""i11 meet vou. (li t
\ ictcrra Station, under .the clock, r.u;t TuClida.y. at 3
p. m .) ( 16 ) He IS becommg a chai n-smok er. jla.;;t ) (171
Wh en they left the fiel d , the team looked beaten. (wel ll
118) Has be done the W( ,rJ,. ? (weill ( 19) liM the wurl<
heel; rluc: el (well) ( 20) He leads mu sic. (easily) (21) I
don t think we have spent t oo long on the journey.
(altogether] (n) The t rain went! (away) ("23) How t1:e
I,olldays have passed I (q uickly) (a..l I walk ji\-e miles
ev-ery mcrnmg. (a lw8)' s) (2S) \ \ -e told them t1ut t he
matter d id not concer n them. (at t uall y)
II sentences nsinG" t he followi ng words as
'!ronl-popit iou' adverbs:
do...-n, however, along, yet, how.
III Hea d al oud and explain the differenc e in meaning
bet ween:
( I) I never did wel l; WeJl I never d id l
:,>Iy l ri end . speaks En!!' lish .... ell: my friett<l speaks
Engl ish. .
01 AltClI;eto,:r, I consider it wrong: I i t
ai tu,c;Hher WIOIl l;.
(4)\ Alice doesnt m uch like milk in her tc<\: doesnt
like much milk in !ler t ea.
(5) Still. I believe hUll to be innocent: I s t..i1I be:ieve
him to be innocent. .
(6) She is ::.. te; she alwavs, la te.
IV Compose sentences witl. each (Jf ( I.e foCowinl:" adverbs
In more than one posit ion:
much; ollly; aII O.f:"'hu; II!tJl; 1i0li."Cj""; 'lever; di st i nctly ;
af t"rli',lhf;: alii; aU'"y ; "[Oliff.

( .-\LP.EADY YET J
Adt'u bs 271
of more ,than one syllable fonn t heir compara-
nve b ) uSing more, their superlati ve by most, e.g.
brightly - more brightly _ rlWst brightly.
few arc irregular, c.g.
u dl -- better - best; little -s- less - f( l sf; "IOre_
mr>st ; badly - !hOrse _ WOI' st.
adverbs do not have degrees of comparison, e.g.
here, thn e, 'IO'It' , then , once, t't,)' , et c.
The of in, Ollt, up (illtltr, ouur, Upp" ) are used
as adjectives e.g.
outer door was wide open but the inner one was locked.
HISroom was on an flpper fl oor of the house. The House of
Lords is kr,cwn as t he Uppv Chamber, the House of
Commons as t he Louer Chamber.
The superlative forms--also used as adjectives-are inl1lOst
(innermost ). outmost (outermosl), IIpperm()st,
( :SOTES 0 :" CERTATS A DVERBS)
[qvlTE]
Qj, i fe has two practically opposite meanings:
The foot ball ground was qui fe ( = completely) full: you
couldn' t get another person in it.
..(2;- As a pi,ani,st Peter is qtlife ( = fairly) good. He is quite a
good pianist but, of course, he is not in the same class
as the great concert pianis ts.
In (I). is a stron.g st ress on quite and on t he following
In (2') there IS a weaker stress on t he adject ive.
is st arti ng 0 11 the
'before now' , ' up t o now' ,

'by this t ime',

Alrt ad,' means
. .'
so Iar , e.g.
I have llirt ady explained this,
Richard has aIrtad)' eaten six cakes and
sevent h.
270 A ComprehemilJe English Grammar
V Correct the following sentences:
(I ) Joseph .peab well Spanish. (2) Always I have
trouble in December. (3) My parents ofte n have told me
this. (4) Let us t omorrow meet at two o'clock outs ide
Madame Tussaud 's. Is) You have enough said for the
moment. (6) They perhaps will not after all go. (7) The
meeting is indefi nitely postponed . (8) I caught t he
sound of his voice distinctly. (9) He knows what already
t he punishment 'will be. (10) They will accept your
. offer tomorrow defi nitely, (n ) When we lifted up it, we
found underneat h the money hidden. (12) He is hardly
never Jate. ( I l) He generally always arrives on t ime.
( I .d They rather somet imes t ake too much t o drink,
l iS) I always nearly go t o London on Saturdays.
(16) She quite never can act well. (17l Almost I had
made the Iallt1e mistake &ain. (18) They have t o quite
realise t hat they can' t do as they like exactly. (19) The
soloist played beaut ifull y that concerto, (20) He needs
badly a holiday. (21) A new cont ingent of ,isitors from
t ime t o time arri ved. (n) We wit! t odav hegin to st udy
t he use of Prepositions in English. (l J ) 'They every now
and then come to stay with us. (231 We on Friday shall
go away for the week-end. (205) The next concer t in
t his series will take place in t he Town Hall on 26th "lay,
Friday. (26) I am quite really certain he has made a
mistake. (l 7) Only once I have done th at.
VI Construct a reply to each of the following remarks, using
an auxiliary verb emphatically and an adverb tlf
frequency,
( I) You 're looking very cheerful this morning. (2) He
should never go out till he has finished his homework .
(ll YOll should drive carefully, (4) They will need
war m cloth ing for winter days. b ) He should not spend
his money so extravagantly.
Or A DVERBS )
Comparison of adverbs is similar t o comparison o f
adject ives.
-( l r Adverbs of one syllable fonn their comparat ive in -tr
and their superlative in est, e.g.
ntar - Mar" - Marest; hard - harder - hardest; soon -
slXJfUr - soonest.
Early and often
l
also follow this pattern.
I O/tna abo "' '''"' and ...ent.
.. '
v." , ,'
27
2
A English Grammar
Y et has more or less the same meanings. 'up to now', 'at thi s
t ' ,
momen . e.g.
He hasn' t fi nished his work yet.
Has the post man come yet?
Have r Oll heard from your brother yel?
The difference bet ween t hem is t hat already is used in
affirmative statements, yet is used in negative and interro-
gative sentences.
But a.l ready ca n be used in interrogative sentences if you
expect an answer, ' Yes' , c.g.
I didn' t ex pect you till four o' clock. I s it lour o'clock
'Wh at! have you f inished your work alreadyl
(Do not confuse already with aU ready , e.g.
We are all ready now for the lesson.)
Bot h already and wi indicate periods of time that began in
the past and extend to t he present. They arc t herefore most
frequently used with a Perfect Tense.
They can also be used with t he Simple Present Tense of the
verb to be, and with t he Continuous Tenses.
I s Henry here yel? (meaning ' Has he " orne yell) , .
You certainly haven' t ti me to change your dress; we arc
late for t he party (Ilready.
When I got t here he W(lS alrwdy speaking.
Th y can be used also wit h t he Past Tense of t hose verbs that
are
e
not generally used in the Continuous forms, kn ou.
unden talld, believe, tMIlk, feel , etc. (See p. 170), e.g.
I already knet/.' that .
l STlLq
Slill has the meaning 'up to the present moment'. e,g.
The money is still here if you want it.
.\re you st ill living in Hampstead)
it is eleven o'clock hut Henry is still hard at work.
Wit h still, a Present Tense, or Continuous
generally he used, not a Past r cnse or Perfect 1 ense.
Adverbs
I n some cases still and)itt may have t he same meaning, e.g.
I have slitl ,I. few more pages to read .
I' ve a few more pages to read vet.
' Isn't Wil1i am here yeO' .
' Is William slifl not here?'
(William is expected , and the speaker is rather surprised and
perhaps annoyed t hat he hasn't arri ved . The surprise and
annoyance are rat her stronger in the second sent ence t han in
t he first .]
But not e t he d ifference in meaning bet ween:
' Is William still here?' and: 'Is Wi lliam here yr/?'
(In t he first sent ence Will iam has been here, but t he speaker
know whether he has gone away or not. I n the second
sentence William is expected hut the speaker doesn't know
whether he has arrived or not. )
Not e that yet al most al ways has an end- position; still
generally, but not always, has a mi d- posi tion. Note t he t wo
posit ions , t oo, in t he foll owing constructions with com-
parati ves:
You must work harrier yd.
You must work siill harder .
\ Ve have exported a lot ofgoods but we must export more
y et.
We have export ed a lot of goods but we must export still
more.
When still is used in questi ons it frequentl y suggests feeling of
some sort , e.g. surprise or annoyance:
are you still working? I thought you had gone home.
Is t hat fellow sliUhere ? I wish he'd go away.
(AGol
The Adverb ago (originally agone, a past participle of an
obsolete verb (lgo = go) is used for measuring a period of ti me
from t he present t o some poin t in the past, e.g.
He was here a few minutes O/go.
They carne to London about three years ago.
t hat with fl;:; n a :-;iml'!(> Past Tense is always used.

Adverbs

.A Comprelunsivl Engl i sh Grammar

\ TOO )
Too has two meanings (I) "" also, in addition, e.g.
Fred is coming to t he part y; won't you come, too?
If you arc taking your suit to be cleaned, will you take minr
,""?
With t his use, too is always in end-position.
(:) (as a degree adverb) -= ' excessive' , ' more t han necessary or
desirable' . In this usage it has something of a negative ira,
plication. e.g. .
The coffee is too hot (. . . so I (1I.O ' t drink it ). This exercise
is too har d (. . . so I can't do it). He ran away too fast (.. . S'J
I couldn 't catch hi m).
This negative implication is frequently expressed as an
infinitive:
The coffee is too hot to drink. This exercise is too har d tode
He ran away too fast to be ca ugltJ.
Too is not , t herefore. a substitute for very.
BUTl
But is an adverb (with t he mea'1ing of 'only') in const ru:
tions such as: He is but a child. There is bid one 'chance Ie:'
We can but try. The adverb phrase all but has t he meamr
' nearly' , e.g. He was all but killed.
EXERCi SES
I Gh'e the comparative and superlative forms of:
qu ietly, badly, hard, little. "''ell. low, backward,
beautifully, in a friendly ma nner.
II Give advcrbs equivalent t o the following phrases:
on board; in the di:rection of home; t owards the shore:
to t he side ; on the shore; on t he water .
[....'. ll. The adverbs ar e not alway s iutercbangcablv
with these phrases .]
I II sentences , using one of the followi n!:
ver bs or adverb ph r35Cli t o mod ify t he who!e of ea, II
sentence:
.:li5
happily, well, . t herefore. fina lly, first. of cou rse
nat urally, admittedly, cert a inl y. serious:y still 0 0
prlllnpi c. ' ,
1\' Complete each of the Iolfcwi ng sentences lry.. addin
",Il c of t he Iollowing adverbs in its correc t poaitiou iO'
t I C sentence:
quite, already, all ready , still, yet ,
(I) ,I am not sure if t hey are coming this evenin
{ z} are ha lf,a n hour late. (J) But there is time
ca tc t he If we hurry. (of) Perhaps the have
bough t thei r tickets. (5) But I don't expect '11
done so, (6) ' Hurry uP, and put tile
\ ---: done so; It s not -- time for tea.'
you fellows commg?' ' Yes. we are --' (8)
1here s plenty of time --, (9) There', - pient y
of lime. (10) I was - t o come when t he telephone
.,(II ) You a re not -,here. are you ? I t hought
you went ho urs ago. (12) \\ hen she arrived I hadn' t
- had breakfast. '
V !n.ea,ch of the followi ng sent ences, say whet her
';lune has t he meaning of ' complet ely' or of fa rl)
( ra t her') . I
(1)I 11is is q uite. diff, cult. (z) Thl' problem is
q Uite. beyond me" (3). '.:01.1 have had quit e enough
(of) I can t q uite make ou t t hi s word. (5) The
de<: orat l?ns a re q ui te attractive, aren't t hey? (6) He ',
not a but he', qu ite rich. (7) The work is
not qu tte as good as I ex pect ed , t hough he's only ten.
VI Complete the following pairs of sentences with words
that. t hough similar, are in one case an adjective and
III t he other an adverb.
(I) (4) He became very deaf in --life.
(h) Coed-bye for the present. I ' ll see you - .
(z) (a) The _- line was complet ely blocked by t he
derail ment.
(b) The path went - a nd - to the bottom of
t he cliff.
(3) (a) At - we saw daylight again.
(h) The _ occupant of t he house was a riuh
and eccent ric old lady.
(a) T here is no wi nd: t he air is very -,
(h) I um -- hopi ng lor be tter luck ne xt year.

A Comprehl flSi lle Gramlllar

(5) (/I) lle 'Was d riving on the -+- side of th e road
when the accident happened.
.. ." "',
tiJ The. rereree blew his whistle beo:ause one of
the players was - side.
vrr (a) Correct the follo....ing
I (x ) I am here alIee.d)' half an h our. (2) J oh n ha.s not
LOndon. (7":0 corrections pcsstbte. What
l!! the'ttlfference In meantngrJ (3) He yet doesn't know
what t o do. (. ) This wort is not still right. (5) Already
I did that work.
(b) What is t he di fference between:
(Jl ' I see bim a](eady'. and ' I have seen him alread y' ,
still ham't done the .....crk', an d 'He hun' t yet
done t he "..brk', (]) ' Is Henry here ,tim' (or ' snll
here"}, and ' Is Henry' here yet] "
.... . '
VI II What are by the following sent-
I i r ..
(l\ ftas h'cstill not t elephoned ? (2) DOn't you yet kn ow
",:h# tense ,t o (3) You can't have fin ished that
alr elldy . . 'They" h av<:! I'l 't done milch work
up ! o She must ha,:e got horne by
At ' tfl'i$ mctnerrt It's quite useless to ask him
for you have got here earlier/
18'1 'The tcatl1et blS afT eady explained this tour tunes.
(9) ri thit oltfbOrestilt monopolizing the conversat ion
at He know any bef!er.
I X Conlrtnll:;t nv-e lleQten(.u in each of which an -dverb
haS DOdeerees of compa.roon is employed.
I ', . 'J ' I" o-
X Rewii te the fol lowing .entew:eY. not u$ing the word
v: 100 b u]; their present meaning:
( J) This mea.t is t.oo tough to eat. (:!l The quest ion is
teo difficult for me to answer . (l) The little boy was t oo
t o UJeak. (4) l am too tired t o ....-ork any tongee.
(5) Th\l ha.'Ye gi ven me too mueh Christmas pudding,
(IS) That :trunk is t'QO heavy for you t o hft . t t ) TillS
piece of chal k 'is t oo- sma!! for me to wrue with.
(8) He reo to believe a st ory 11ke that.
(9) '!t' s nev-er t OO late t o mend.' ' Pt'M'ub) (10) 'Too
manr , <: lp9il ,the br.oth.' W'Ut'nb.)
It I.

C H AP T E R :-<I:->ETI-:E:-'
',\D\' E RB L\ L
PARTI CLES
As is an analytic language. preposi tions pl aya large
part In struct ure are t he cause of man)' difficul ties t o
t he foreign student . guidance can be gi ve n in arw
granunar. book to which preposit ion is t he right one t o use,
for t here ISno reason why one is right in certain contexts
and another cue IS wrong. Idioms-in which prepositions are
peculiarit ies of language whose
rightne ss or wrongne.ss. IS based. on usage. not on logic or
A good WIll hel p, but wide reading
wit h a eye for IdIOm IS t he surest t eacher. we have
t hought It best , t herefore, to give here some general remarks
on, and then to add numerous ex amples of t he
principal ones In sent ences. with notes on t he usage of t hose
t hat may cause difficul ty.
PREPOSI TIONS with nouns (or noun equivalent s)
t o show t he reluti cn lfl winch these nouns stand t o some ot her
word in t he sen tence. Thus in the sen te nce:
The horse is in t he stable,
t he preposi tion ill expresses t he relation between none and
The prepositi on and noun t ogether make a 'case phrase'
withi n t he rest of t he sentence. If case can be shown (as wit h
some pronouns) t he case is al ways objecti ve, e.g. ..
He spoke to m e . This came from him. He wrot e about them .
.Preposi tions may be single words, e.g. Il l . afte,. d01l'JI . since,
etc) or t hey may be rwo or more wordsITgwup pre-
posmons , e g.
, 1 Beware ' he writer u.ys: 'in t he cirC\lmlu ,nces' i, righ' and
."' '''n t he cU"c\lm,tances' IS "TOng bec;au.e ,i.c>o '" in Lati n meant
around ' and ) ' 0 11 are i .. t hing'll tha' are aro\lnd vcu and not Wfldt . t hem'
?r "'h<:> ""'y' ....erse ! .{)fOl' i , more correct d Ian 'a verse 10' bee:ause
de.rlVed .,?"In, _(_ '0 ' urn), and ..
"'rnlng from not t o . The appeal to et)"lnology is fallaclt>\I"
T\lrkey w at not the Ofl l:lnal home of t" ' IrI)'J; and a modern ",'ltdid4tr i.
nut iI man who \\, e.. r. ll. ..hite robe!
27
8
A Comprehensive Engl ish GrillIl mar
He will come i1l5tMJ of me.
The teacher stood in f rO"7lI of t he class.
He said that for the s,Jke of peace and quiet.
Henry sat OIl ,he back of the room.
What did he say U'ilh to my proposals?
It is almost impossible j;ive all t he meanings t hat preposi-
tions help to convev. Origmall y th ey denoted place or direc-
tion, ego
He works aJ th e cotton factory.
The boys ran to school.
.. _ The pri ncipal prepositions used to express I
PL
.-\c1J are:
aboul, oabol.'t, oa cYOSS, against , along, amO"7l g, at, by,
bthifld, belene, belU'alh, beside, between, be)'O"7lJ, doti"11 .jro1ll , HI .
i nside, i nto, near , off, on, over, pa st , round,
towards, u nder, underneath , up, and t he 'group
at the back (front , side, top , bottom) of, at tile begl nnlllg oj,
at the (lid of, away f rom, f ar f rom, i n [ront of, ill the of ,
out of.
Man y of t hese are al so used to express time relations, e.g.
I shall see him a/ four o'clock.

-1f;. _ The principal preposi tions used to help to
abof.t , after. at, by, before, betweell, during, fO.T , from, in, 01:.
si nce, till. through, throughout , /0, at tlu beglnlllllg (tIId) o.
a/ the time of, i n the middle (midst) of, down to, liP to.
General! )" speaking, at"by, on indicate a pO!H of e c;
at si x. o'clock, by t wo 0 clock, on Tuesday, 011 the r yth 0,

The prepositions 4/a, before, b)' , In, sillee, ti ll
a PERIOD of t ime, e.g. 11ft" Easter; before Chnstmas.. 1'1 t he
morningfaft emoon!e\,ening, since five o'clock, u,:[11 seven
o'clock, . .. , . f' ,.
The prepositions for, .luTi ng indicate ova...TlO:-; 0 time, e
He has been working f or t hree hours. He became ill Jllr i , J
t he night . (See also p. :,! QIJ.)
Preposit ions ,wd 'Adverbial P, lTticles' 279
f ..The preposi tions.to, i ll to, so as (0, hel p t o express l' UItI'OS :
t h.cy arc used Wit h an Infinit ive. Purpose is cxpressc by or
Wit h a gerund, e.g.
:\ hammer is used for k nocki,lg in nails.
One of the chief funct ions of t he preposition is to make, wi th
rhe noun or pronoun that follows it , a phrase. This phrase is
usually an adverb equivalen t , e.g.
I looked through the u'illdoU' , (PllIu)
I shall go t here 011 Friday. (Time)
He worked on a farm dllTing tIle holidolYs. (Tim..)
He spoke i n a lfllli t;oiu, (,l1a"'lcr)
or an adjectivc equivalent, qualifying the precedi ng noun, e.g.
The house ... illl the big garden is :o. 1r. Brown's.
That is t he Tower of London.
I received a tet ter from her.
I don't like t he sound of a jtt engine,
are als? a number of words, havi ng t he form of
part iciples, which act as preposit ions. c.g.
She said nothing concerning him.
What did he say Tega,'dillg my proposals?
( P REPOSITlO:-; S AS"D A DVERBs{
As has been emphasized before in t his book, it is a mist ake
aU.empt what is t he part of speech of any word in
Isol ation-. ThIS IS a matter t hat can be decided only by an
exarnma t ron of the work a word is rioing.Consider , for example,
t he following:
(a) The boy came dou'" the tree.
(b) The tree blew dOUln in t he wind.
(a) He put the book on t he table,
(b) Put your coat on.
(a) Henry came four o'clock.
(b) I have explained t hat point befoTe.
(a) :o.l ary is in the garden.
(b) I opened the door, ami t he cat walked in .
\
Obviously t he words italicized in t he sentences marked (ai
are di fferent in function from the corresponding words in th aw
marked (b) . In the first case t hey are prepositions; in the secon.j
t hey are adverbs and form AD\'ERB CO:'>IPLEMENTS.
( P HRASAL VERBS)
Note, t oo, how often words like t hese are at tached t o, and
affect t he meaning of, verbs. Consider, for example, t he
following:
I will put out the ligh t.
This has taken liP a lot of my time.
The boy accident all y knocked 01'(( the ornament.
Tum on the gas.
Take off your hat.
All t hese words (out, up, over. off. 011) are used In front of
nouns or noun equivalents, but t hey could go equally well
elsewhere, c.g.
I will put the light out.
This has taken a lot of my t ime up.
The boy accidentally knocked the ornament over.
Turn t he gas 0 11.
Take your h at off.
They are not showing t he relationshi p between the noun
t hat follows them and any oth er word ip the sentence, they
belong much more closely to the verb. In fact most of these
expressions could be replaced by a single verb of. practically
similar meaning, e.g. ,/ "',
put out - extinguish; take liP - occupy, knock over - upset ;
take off - doff.l
There are a great many of these ' Phrasal Verbs' (i.e. verb +
prepositio n or adverb) and a nwnber of verbs (usually t he
commonest in t he language) may ha ve a dozen or more
differe nt meanings accord ing to the adverbial particle which
acc ompanies t hem, e.g.
put down, pUI back, put f orward, pul in, Pllt i nto, Pllt up, put
off. put on, put upon, put tiP wilh, put about, pili across, Pllt
away, put by , pul [ orth, put out , Pllt rOUlld, put through:
1 doff is rather a rc haic. It is f" rmed fro m do off; the opposit e is do"
(= do {i.e. P" I) on ).
pili togrthcr. "lake after, millie at, make alt'I1Y wit ll. make
for, make fr om, make lip, make off, lIlake off u'ilh, make out ,
1II11k" out of. maliCover, make touards, suakc up fo r, 1//ake ut>
to, etc ,
Some of t he meanings are literal and th e meaning of the
phrase may be gathered from t he individual words that
compose it, e.g.
Put t he book up there.
The icc was broken liP by the ice-plough,
But vcry frequently the meaning is figurative and can only be
learned by treat ing the combination as one uni t, e.g.
Can you Plfl me liP for the night? ( = accommodate)
\ \'e have broken liP for two weeks ( = classes have finished
for a t wo weeks' holiday) .
In some cases t he adverbial particle has become completely
fused with t he verb t o become an inseparable particle. In tha t
ease it precedes it , e.g. oui nmnber, ot'erlook, upset . withsland.
{ TilE P OSTTIOS OF THE PnEPOSITIO:<1J
As we have noted, the preposition usually goes before t he
noun or noun equivalent which it governs , e.g.
He spoke [0 me. The football team is playing al Wembley.
He prevented me fr om speaking.'
(The adverbial particle, as we have seen, can be before the
object or at the end of the sentence}
. But when the word governed by the preposition is an
Int errogat ive, which goes at the beginning of a sentence, the
preposit ion is usually (in conversationa l English always) at t he
end of t he sentence, e.g.
Who(m) did you writ e to?
Wha t are you laughing aU
Wllich class arc you i ll ?
There is still a superst ition among some English people that
a sentence must not end with a preposition. They t hink it i ~
more ' correct' t o say:
1 :\ot e that if any part of the verb i" used a ft er a p reposit ion i t must
1"" l h ~ I;l'lll ll <! , (See also p , 2H, )
280 A Comprehuisive Enghsh Grammar
Prepositions 1I11d ' Adl.'erl!i{/l Particles: ,8,

282 A Comprehwsive English Grammar

' At what are you looking?' t han:
'What arc you looking at?' or:. , h .
'I have a book , n which to write r- tan.
'I have a book to write my notes m. . . . ,
John Dryden' went through hi\
the position of every t 1reviewer condemned our
sent ence. And Fowler says. . . dthat. the first paragraph of
book" out of hand on t he , I
its preface ended in a at writing it is probably
The truth is that, t houg III orm
preferable t o writ e: , OR'
He didn't say to whom he gave t he ' .
That is the book fro m which he got his In,formatlOn . d I . .
li h aking person an ias
this 'rule' is broken by every IS
r
'titer within the last
been ignored by almost every ng 15 Yo
seven centuries."
The preposition must have end p.osition:
t l that, or in clauses
-{I}- I n adjective clauses beginning WI 1
begi nning with u,'hat, e.g. ,
This is the kind of life that' he IS used k d for
It is a t hing th at I have dreamed of wcnce .
There is the book t hat I asked about.
This is what I was looki ng for. _
That is not what he is used to. f . -,
. h ases from which t he preposit ion
But there are one or t .... o p r
cannot be moved, e.g. h.t sav t hat (KaT: whose
I don't know on whose aut on y you. .
authority you say th at on.). .. I at that COl>
He doesn't say by utuu reaSOlllng he ann Ct
elusion. (KOT: what reusonmg ... by.)
'
163 1-1700
" .. <l F G l'" ,,]er. ' . . ..
'The King's EnCllsh by \\, lI,ri,Ju5 "t
' The re is a story that lllS' d w 'tten ' corrected by a nO" .
end_prepositions in a pay e r ,J:t;. marked in red ,
zeal()uS sent tt up ,,'itll wll ich I wi ll not put . l"
a note: Th,s ss the. sort 0 g ",' ' ) .. .j
English : 'which I wlU not put up . It h
u
' Iso i n ".II adject ive c!au,e, '
xcie that t he that Cil n be omltte i
t his-t ype. (See p. 327, Adjecuve Clauses.
Prepositions and 'Adverbial l'OIrl ides'
''(If-' I n t he pa ssive construction, e.g.
Everyt hi ng lie said was Jaugll cd at.
He is a man whose word is relied OJI.
That is a subject that mustn' t be spoken about,
OF THE CSAGE OF
AnVEHBS. ,\XD ADVEHHL\L 1',\I\. TI CI.ES
Th e fol lowing sentences illustra te 0111 tIll' pl'inr ipa l lllf':lllings
of t ho most commonly used prql(Js:t iollS and advcrbi.u
part icles,
( ."'. HOUT I
r want you to tell me about your work. Can you nx-orumcnr ]
a good book II boll/ li fe in t hesixteenth century? r am thi nking
about you all t he time you are away. YOII onght to be certain
about a mat ter before you speak of it. I'I l see YO\l at about six
o' clock. T ha t is al! righ t for you but what IIbout me ? What
about that mOlley you promised me' I've not had it yet. No
matter what we discuss , he knows a ll about it . r wish I were
as sure about nny one thi ng as he i>; abOllt every single th ing.
I go about the country a good rlcal and have seen many
t hings. You will be warm enough if you move about. Don't
rush about_ Go sl owly and quietly. This is not screwed down
flrmly; it moves about when you touch it. I don't know much
Spanish; just enough t o find my way about in Spain. There
are a lot of men without work; t hey just stand about at
street corners. You arc very untidy; you leave all your books
lying abollt instead of putting t hem away, Is :!\f iss Smit h
anyv..-here abOttt? He tried to order rue about , but I soon t old
him he was not my master, There is about fzo difference
bet ween this car and that one. Richarrl plnv-, about in school
instead of working. Th e ship is abort! to leave.
( AHOVE 1
\ Ve flew above the clouds. YOII can just sec our house above
t he trees, Henry's work is well abOl'e t he average. He was

284 A CompreJlellsive English Grammar

above George in the examination list. Brown's business is no-
doing well; he is finding it difficult to keep his he ad aoc:,;
water (= to remain solvent ). \Yilliam is above meannc..
(= he wouldn't ever be mean). There were above 100 peopl e at
t no meeting. I n t he above examples (in the examples a &oi f
you can see the usage of 'above' . That car cost above 2 ,Ofo",
Think about what I have told you; but, abcn'e all, dO:; 't
breathe a word of it to Henry,
[ ACROSS I
The t ree had fallen down Ilcross the railway line. Browr.',
house is just across the road from us. You cross a cheque bv
drawing t wo lines ecrcss it and writing /&Co'; tLl;,
Unl ess there is a boat at the river edge you won' t he aLi,
to get across. I rail across ( = met unexpectedly) our
Smith yest erday.
( AFTER]
I'll see you after dinner. I ran after the boy but couldn't
catch him, They came t o England alter us (= later t han '.':e
did). Li fe is just one trouble after another. He goes on day
afte r day, week af ter week wi t hout any change, You see I va,
right af ter aU (= despite what you said) . I came here at six
o'clock and George came shortl y after that. I'll try to pay y01:
the money the week af ter ne xt. That' s rio lise, I want it the
day lif ter t omorrow at the latest. If my wife goes away I
a week, who's going t o look af ter me and the child ren? L l,' <J. Y'
the work now; we can do it aft er, I came here at six o'cl ocl.
and George came short ly afte r.
He who is not for us is (j{;ainst us. I am t empted to leave nr
work but I'm fighting agllimt t he t emptat ion. It is
the law to leave your car there, He rested hi s bicycl e agal':;
the wall. I'll do what you order me, hut it is agaillst my \ 1: --
Gi)
I shall be at home t . ht '
lives at Torquny in lat you like t o call. He
at nine o'clock 2 B' . r f ?,Oll at school t omorrow
be (I t t he meetin bcgmnmg of ti le story. Will he
",I ma 3 '[I g oDig t. Fhe boys threw a snowball at the
..n. re ang'Y m 1 ,
remar! ": all s lOU1(:{ III tho Iovs.s Hc nrv's
"s were so WItt)' t h .
Look at "0 I " , at everyone laugh ed at t hem
u v - _ ur ) 0 0 ,, 5 ' 't J k '
I/t t he door 1 -f ' ,{ on 00' {II me. You should knock
the progrc: s room, I was surprised at
count ry at pe:c c: Ie good ,'f foot ball. The
rep a pound b t t l c en , now It 15 at war. This was sold lit
my hair cut '(ltUthe a loss profit. I had
stationer's 1/ th . cer - and bought a wrtting-pad at the
'/ e vcry most he 't b
years of aee H.'. , . c e more than eighteen
against ",I !lIS bestjworvr when lighting
- . S. 1011 rrugnt at lcasr ! '
that 'all we r '. '" ra ve sent me word
like t )o tr: ,', comi ng..rhe car went at full speed , I don t
ave Jycar (If nJ") t 1t
now 1 ,, '11 " , ., I ' . any ra te we know the worst
. \ I Ig It VOli one t .
OUght to h .-"J " a tune. not two lit a time. You
('"rill t rc lat est by Friday, At fi rst sigl.t 1 t hought

{ IlESIDE f
Prepositions and ' Adt'erbial Prlrticles'
28
7
WI FE (t o husband trying, clumsi ly, to fasten her dress- t he
sort t hat fastens at the bac k). ' Hurry up: have you never
hooked up a dre ss behi nd before?:
nUSJ.\AS ll: 'No: you never had a dress b,jorr t hat hooked
behind.'

Go and sit beside Richard, The man who spoke was st anding
just beside me. The church at Stratford is beside t he river.
He was beside himself with rage (= almost mad). What y OIl
have said is quite beside the mark /point /qllest ion (= irre-
levant.] .
\ BESJPES }
There are many others besides me who disagree wit h what
you say. He thinks thereas no one besides himse lf to be
considered .
cr
a
TE l
Bat e = ncar by, at t he side of. besides = in addition t o.
\ BELOW \
The temperature today is below f5eezing point. Sign your
name below mine on t his document. In boxing it is a foul t o
hit below t he belt . The cost of t he whole work was belmo 20.
Writ e your name in t he space belou'. From the Empire State
Building ..... c looked at New York be/ow. The sea is very rough
and bre aking over t he deck; I think I' ll go below.
el3ESEATH '
.The daffodils were growing beneath t he trees, He had t wo
pillows beneath his head. We climbed t he hill; t he vall ey
lay beneath.
Clliiil
Beneath is oft en used figurati vely, e.g.
Wh at he said is beneath cont empt. Richard is far beneath
Henry in int elligence. She marri ed rat her beneath her, (= she
married someone of inferior social posttion.]
286 A ComprehOlsive El lglish Gran:mar
you were your broth er. This t rain stops at all stations.
Shakespeare died at the age of fift y-t wo. At first it seemed
very easy but it soon got more difficult. He is at work on a
new book. I shall see you again at Christmas/at Easter. Do
wh at I tell you, at once! We arrived at his house t he next
day.
t NOTES)
<OAt is generally used for small t owns; ill is used for large
cit ies, regions and countries, e.g. He lives ill Londonf..fiddle-
sexIEngland.
I I shall see you on 5th /on Sunday /011 Christ mas
Day /at 3 o' clock, in t he aft ernoon.
Q) Compare: Throw t he ball to J ohn (but not to hit him).
Shout to him (because he is far away),
( BeFORE]
Come and sec me tomorrow any time before five o' clock.
I met Smith yest erday, but I knew hi m long bef ore that.
Before 10nRyou will find this work quite simple. ) lyappoint -
mont is not unt il 10.15; you go in before me. That happened
in 400 B.C, (bef ore Christ ). I have been here bef ore. My family
arc coming here for a holiday, so I C;l.lpC t wo days belorf to
make all arrangements. The Headmaster congratulated til e
hoy before t he whole S(b{Jol.\ VilJiam went and stood bef ore
t he lire. (\
Gii"' DI
The garage is behind the house. He put his hand behi nd his
bac k so t hat I couldn' t sec what was in it. 'Xe\' er say any-
thing behind .a person' s back that yoU wouldn't say t o his
face . He stood just behind me. This t ra in is behilld t ime (= is
lat e), Hi s ideas are all bdlind t he times (= out of date) .
of the wounded soldiers coul dn' t keep up with t he rest 0:
t he men and feU hehind, Richard is a long way bf hind wit h
his work, They are two months behind wit h t he rent . He
looked round the railway carriage before he got out to make
sure he had not left anything behi nd ,
A Comprdlensive English Grammar
{ BI::YO:W)
The woods go for about t wo miles bryond ( = further 01\
t han) t he fi ver. He lives in a small house, about Iour
miles beyol1d Oxford , The explanat ion you give is
beyond me ( = I can' t understand it ). He is living beYOll i
his means (= spend ing more t ha n he earns).
em
Let us have a walk by t he seashore. Come and sit by me:
t here' s plent y of room. You go and sit by t he side of George:
II you put t hose t wo books side by side you ....; 11 see which is
t he bigger. I did t his wor k all by myself. He often goes for
long walks by himself. Alt hough he knows me qui te well l:c
passed me by as if. 1 were a complet e st ranger. These t hings
are made by machinery.! not by hand, I go byhis office evcrv
day. I know him by sight but not t o speak to . By t his t ime
next ) 'car you ought t o ha ve a very good knowledge of
Englis h, This train is late; it ought t o have been in by 11 0 11'
(by t his t ime), By next Friday! I ought to have finished t he
job. the amount by ten and t hen divi de by t hree.
He his living by !>Cll ing mat ches. This li ttle' g;rl i,
afraid-t o cross t he road: t ake her by the hand and see her
across. Did you come by t ra in or by car (by land, by sea or
by air)? I like motoring by day but not particularly by niSl:t
\\11at he said t ook me completely by surprise. By t he way.
don' t forget our meet ing next Wednesday. He is going t o
Brussels by way of Dover and Ostend. Don't judge a man
by his clothes. You won' t do t his all at once; do it lit t le
by lit tle. You must t ry t o learn some of t hese t hings by heart
He landed t he aeroplane all right , bu t It was more b;'\-' goo.!
tuck t han good management . What do you mean b)' t akiuc
my hat? I' m sorry, I t ook it by mistake. He is by far the k -t
t eacher I have ever had. You must begin by learning a ft: \\'
simple ru les-though you'Il probably end by t aking no
notice of any of t hem. That music was composed by R Ct t
hoven. The book I read was ' David Copperfield' , by Charlv-
Prepositions ,1Ild ' Adr'erbi,!l Particles' 289
Dickens. These cigare t tes are sold by weight , 221p an ounce .
Sugar is sold by the, pet rol by t he gallon. He is pa id
b)' the hour, so If rt rams and he can' t work he gets no
money. He won t he race by about t wo yards. The pupils
into t he c_lassroom one by one. I want a piece of paper
3 inches by 5 inches. TIle house was st ruck by light ning.
'Give me t hecup; let go: byheaven I'll have it .' (Shakespeare,
Ham/d )
\ l' on sj
lDBy is generally used for t he agent; with for t he instrument ,
e.g.
The lock was opened by t he t hieves with a skeleton key, The
drawing was done by t he artist with a yery fi ne pen.
oBy expresses the limit of time wit hin which something
is t o be (done).
\ DUT (= exceptl]
Who but Richard would have said such a t hing. I could
answer all t he quest ions bllt one. There was not hing in the
cupboard bllt a few biscuits, Isn't t here anything br4t rolls
and coffee for breakfast? I haven't t old this secret to anyone
but you. Mr. Brown lives in t he next house bllt one t o us.
(
Let us walk dUUl1 th e hill t oget her. The boy fell dou'n t he
stairs and broke his ann. I li ke t o walk doU',; Regent Street
and look at t he shops t here. The sun goes doum in t he west.
The little girl has falien dO'l..-n. Richard wasn't dO'l..""1I for
breakfast this morning unti l t en o'clock. Get dOU11l off t hat
wall; you can jump dOll'n. The plane dropped J Olrrl 5,000 feet
int o t he sea. We all knel t dotl'fl in churc h. I didn' t Ieel very
well so I went to lie d WIJ. r don't like to look dO'..Cl1 from a
great height . Sit dOW'I , t here is plenty of room for every one.
I pushed the cork under the water but it wouldn't stay dOWfl.
The arrangement for sending letters abroad seems t o have
290 A Engli sh G" lmmar
b k aoll'n. His house was burnt doun last night.
was printed upside dou"" . Write these not es do-.'" .:"
P b k A good man, ' trees were cut d OU'11 t o build
your note 00 . 'I f
hi H insul ted me so I knocked hi m JoU'n . 1 s eeve 0
my coatIs too short; I will ask the t ailor to let It d(mm an
inch. Your coat collar is turned up at t he back; shaH I turn
it dou'fl i The wind/firel has died dQ".t7I.
\ DnI.I-':G]
He was Prime Minister during t he 1910-%5 and during
t hat time he had t o deal with many dlfikult problems .
{NOTES} .
e:u [)uri the duration
01'. e.g. sun gives light duri ng the day, the moon dUri ng
the night.
.l." ).." t h course of' ; ' at some point wit hin' . e.g. .
11I thunder several times dur ing the night . He In
t he army du,inK t he war, You will have to do a lot of work
Ju,i"g the holidays.
t:>.. . t used when the idea (I f durat ion is expressed
b*he t hat it governs. In t hat case f a'
must be used, e.g. .
He went t o Americaf or (not du,ing) t.hree During t hat
time he studied American commerw tl practice.
Or more simply, during answers the qu estion, ' When? For
t he question, ' How e.g. ,
'When were you t here?' ' 1>1.101& t he war ,
' How long were you t here?' ' I was there f o, t hree ) ears
[ EXCEPT)
We have lessons every day exerpl Saturday a,nd.
Everyone was present e:fcept Henry and CUt} -
good u cept for t he careless mist akes, He IS a good stu dent
except that he is occasionall y careless.
P,eposit ifms and ' Adre,biITl Particles' 291
G
Th at Company has IO, OUQ men working j c- it. I t is time f or
our lesson t o sta rt . This fresh ai r is very good for you. This
medicine is good f or a cough. Don't wear that suit to work
in t he garden; it is too good f or such dirty work, It 's a good
t hingf or you t hat you live in England: in some count ries you
would have been shot [or saying t hat . I 've no respect at all
/0' him; he is a real good-lor-nothi ng, He doesn't care /0'
working a t all. lie repeated the conversation t hat he had
heard word lor word. The train for Liverpool lean s from
No. 6 platform. I bough t a car f or f lO; it was a real bargain,
You were lucky; I had to pay I5o j l)r mine, I don' t like th is
book th at I Lo rrowed; will y 0 11 please change it /0' another
one. He is always looking for some th ing /0' nothing. I
wouldn' t give away t hat ring for anything in the world, so
once and / or all don' t ask me again. I t hink he is ill; send / or
t he doct or, If you don't see what }'OU want in OIlT window,
ask fo r it . He who is not f vr 115 is against us, I' m all j or
helping people who really nccn it . I have t wo cars, one j l)f
business and aile j or pleasure. He was sent to prison [or
stealing. J ohn got a prize at SC"hoolj,.., English. The accident
happened because I couldn' t see jor t he fog. I'm doing t hi s
l or your sake, not lor my own, He didn 't do t hat /0' fear of
punishment or /0' hope of reward but because he t hought
it was right . William is big for his age. It is w ry warmfo'
t henme of the year (for October). I sha ll stay in London
[or about three weeks.' You can go l or miles and mites in
Scotland and see nothing but heat her-covered hills. He has
worked/ or hours at t hat essay. I t hink th at is enough about
t his reposit ion fo r t he present (for t he t ime bt'ing),

oFor is used when t he durat ion of t ime is measured; si 'lfe
when t he start ing point is given. {See si nce, p. 2l)<).)
Q) In negat ive sentences looking towards t he fut ure lor is
used for a period of t ime, bef ore for a point of t ime, e.g.
He will not be here f or an hou r yet.
He will not be here before seven o'clock.
' 9'
A COfllpft htJlSit,( English Grammar
( t STO )
I have twenty students in my class i_ this roo,ro, is
i n Canada He carri ed a bag in his hand. I don t think there
is ill that idea. Wh at news is there I:" the
this moming? He came on ) (ooday at ten 0 In the
moming.vI read that in a book. You will not easily find
good a workman as Brown; he is one ill 3. t housand, I am I7l
trouble with my teacher over some careless work. There we:c
not many people at the meeting- about ten or In
number I should t hink. I wan t you to arrange these HI order,
putting the largest first . then the oex:_ and so on. He :poke
in a whisper. He is t he best student HI my class. She.1S t he
happiest woman in England. He lives in Lcndon.t I !I\'C at
Watford. I began work here in January in the ,year .194
0.
The bird carried t he worm i 'l its beak. I was n ght JlI the
middl e of t he crowd an d coul d see not hing. front of
me, )'OU will see better t hen: there will be nothing 1'1 the way
Prepositions and ' Adt,tTbial PaT/ jelt s' 293
of your vi ew, I can never talk easily with him; we seem to
have not hing in common. why are you in such a hurry? If
I were ill your place I should wait for a time; it is in your
own interest t o do so. Our preparations had to be made in
secret but they were in time, and we are in readiness now
for whatever happens . We shall do it in some way or other;
I'm not qui te sure how. To be in debt is t o be in danger. I' ll
never see you in want of money while I have any. In time
of war we have to agree to t hings we shou ld refuse ill time
of peace. ' A stitch in t ime saves nine' and ' A bird in t he
hand is worth two in t he hush: (p,Ottubs .) I will give you a
new ha t in place of t he one th at I damaged. I am putting
t he matter in t he hands of my lawyer. Ifl case of fire ring
up Watford 999. He is always in good health and is never in
need of a doct or. You have neve r been i'l love or you
wouldn't speak like t hat. We arc i n sight of land now and
will soon be i 'l port . You arc i n a bad temper t his morning,
ar en' t you ? Tell me in one word (in short ) what you want .
The matter , in itself , is not important; in fact I was going
to t ake no notice of it . hI reply to your letter I beg to inform
you th at in additi on to what he owes you he is also in debt
to me, and in all he owes about 3,000. He walked jnt0
3
t he
room ill which we wer e sitting. He wouldn 't take advice,
and now he has got into difficulties. The tree t runk was sawn
i nto small los s for burning. Turn t his from English into
Spanish. He is always gl,tting into t rouble owing to his care,
lcssncss. he is i ll trouble with his t eacher now. He felt i ll hi s
pocket to see if he had any mOll ey in it . Has t he nine o'clock
t rain come i ll yet ? Go ill don't wait outside. I want to, but
. .
I can't get in. I don' t th ink I'll go to t he cinema: I want to
stay i n and read. Yeau must call ill and see us sometime. Is
Mr. Smi th in? I ' ve given you t he lesson, but it will take some
time for it t o sink ill . A part )' of us are I:oing t o t he the atre;
would you like t o join j".) The maid will take t hese plates
away 1I0 W and bring t he pudding i,1 (bring ;1/ t he pudding).
\ \ 110 t ook the letters i ll t his morning (took in the lett ers)?
Here' s a hammer; will you knock t his nail i/l (knock in th is
nail)? I' ve put tea i n t he teapot ; will you pour ill th e water

( m:r,)
It was just like him to say that . I {i oll' t dancmg ( = ,I
don' t want to dance]. Don't look at me like that. I can t
speak Spanish like (=. as /ou YOUf just
iike mine. There's not hing likeexercise for making }ou ,\ ar m
111is stuff looks like gold; perhaps it is gold!
\ " '.)
:'>lr. Thompson lives n ellT me; his house. is "ttl T ti le.st.ation:
We are "?.2T t hc end of t he story. Don t go away.
somewhere n ea r , Henry is sitti ng the windo'.... lUX! t o
J ohn.
(
{ .
(fj On for the day; at for a point 01 t ime; ill for a pernon of
the day.
AI for a place t hough. of as a point on the map; in. l.or a
pI'aCe thought of as an area. Taus. 111 always for large Cities.
Q) 111 denotes res,t ; in denotes " .
f4) Where referring to umc. III denotes the 01a
w'itflin denotes a t ime less than t he close 01 a period (sec arso
p. 33)
295
I'rt pos/iiolls alld ' Adt'erbial Particles'
GJ
This box is made of wood. shoes are made of It 'at her. His
house was built of brick. lie said he was going t o ma ke a
singer of me, but I t hought he was t rymg to make a (001 of
me as I knew I could never make n success of music. We
can't get everythi ng we want from life; we must just make
the best of it . Go and get me a packet of cigarettes. That is
a very good field of potatoes. Get me a piece of wood, a
pound of nails and a pot of paint . I'll give you hal f of what
I earn, but I don't get a lot of I wish I could give
you t he whole of it. Elizabet h is fond of going t o dances .
Three of t hem attacked me. The children of the poor were
cared for. The writing of t hat book t ook him t en years The
doct or cured me of my illness. The ship was wreeked wit hin
a mile of t he coast. That is a real work of art. He gave me a.
piece of good advice. Parliament consist s of the House of
Commons and t ile House of Lords. It was a story of
advent ure and romance. \ \'hat is the advantage of doing
t his? Whnt is t he cause of r OUT bad tcrnperj He has t ravelled
oyer tile whole (1 England. The ci t}' oj Edinoll f/;h has seen
some strange scenes in its hi st ory and so has the Tower of
London. What did 'froBrown die op Have you heard any-
t hing of Smith lat el y? We often speak of him and think of
him. What do you thi nk of this sonata of Beethoven's? Y OIl
are sure of a good welcome at my house; we are fend oj
visit ors. I sat at the back of t he room, t he important people
sat at t he front (If t he room. His name was at t he t op of t he
honours list; mine was at t he bottom of it . That was because
I played instead of working. I n spite of hi s ill-health johnson
did \ ' (,1)' well. It is very good ofr ou t o take so much trouble.
He is a friend of rrune (ours, yours. J olm's). .
<OFF ]
Wat er was st reaming off t he roof. Kl'CP off the grass. I can't
get thi s ri ng of! my finger. Turn off the ma in road here and
YOU will come t o t he lake. He took his ha t and hi!' coat (ljf.
nn f means 'i mmediatel y belcr e
pr oximit y. Near expresses
or alter' .
294 A CQnrptt!Jensit'e E'lglish Grammar
(pour the wat er in )? I 'm packing my bag, but 1can' t gel all
mv clothes i n. The conductor Oil t he bus helped tilt: old
- H opened the door and let t he dog I'" and then locked hun
UI. e . I' h - e
in. I' ve opened t he bag: put YoU:f stuff "'. , t ere 15 on
t ili ng I hate, it is fill ing 11'1 (or income-tax forms.
The examination is over now; give HI your papers t o Ih.e
exatnmer. The train arrives ill London at 6 o'clock. \\ e
shall ne-..er i n (gi \'c i ll ... surrender). I shall be ready
11'1 nvc minutes
He put the hook C1: tb table and he sat 0" it chair. Tb-r c
were wat er colours OJI the walls of the room. Put the stamp
011 your letterin the rig!: t-hand corner. He carne on Sntutdav. 1
I came 011 the r yth of He had a new hat 011 his head it
new coat oJ; his back, new gloves 0" his hands and a ring ;1
his finger . Vegetarians live ell vcgerablns, fruit and nur
The war w as tougbt on land, 011 sea and in the air. Did '"
. .
come here (,J; loot? No, I came Gil horseback. The t own l:
on the River or; tho lelt hank, There arc shops
hath side s of the street. \';e live OJ; the north side of the cit,
they Jive on the south side I am pla nti ng t!IC apple t rcos
the le ft and t':e pear trees Ull the rigl:t of th e path . \ r :
are your ideas 011 the subject? Could you give us a lit
speech 011 t his subject? They arc at 13lackpool 01/ holid
I went 011 business The house IS 0'1 fire, I think i t was
Is the gas OIl or ofP I picked up the box and t he top fell
There is a little smell m the new d oth but it will soon
off I had a headache this morning but it soon passed off, J:r,
has a very good income, :i: wish I were as well off-thotH'-
I must say I am no t so badl y off as some people. Lorenzo r-
off' with Shylcck's daughter and his money. S11<:dl we set
for our wal k now? I've studied music on and of! [i.e ,.
int er-vals] for about twenr;:' :;'(vol- rS, That ship is t wo or thr
miles off; it won't sec us. It' s time t he ch ildrcn were off t o lx
I ' ll rome t o t he st at ion to.sec you [:0'. His wealt hy aun t ,I,
liked him so she cut him :Jffwith a shilling (i c. left him onl,
shilling in her will). We finished off a yery good dinner wi!
coffee and cigarettes , The judge let t he prisoner off wit h
warning, The gun went off unexpectedly, That fell ow .s
always uff (= he's always t hinking of the effect ;. "
is I wish you would pay big debt. He hd l''-<
IIis wife off wi th her coa t. If you don 't pay t his clcct ricit v
account the company will cut your xnppl y off. Turn that cap
off and swit ch the light oJ!. I t hGught I ( auld get the agree
mon t signed, but the whole is definitel y 'l.U no w
' 97
Prtposit ion.'i nd '.1,h-erbial Particles'
01/ fire Oil purpose, There arc goods Oil sale in a ll t he shop
windows. I thought I would sell my car but OJI second
t hought s I changed my mind. and 011 the whol e I think I was
wise. 0 " the contrary I t hink you were unwise; pnces may
go up, but, on the other hand, they arc muc h more likely
t o go down. On gottine his telegram I set off immediatel y
for London. What I do will depend on the hel p you can give
me. He shot t he bird on the wing (i.e. while it was tIying) ,
0 1/ honour, I did not do it. Have you got your coat 0"
and your hat 01/ ,) Did yon leave the electric light 011 when
you went out of the room? Is there anyt hing good 0 11 at the
cinema tonight? If I've nothing much on (= am not busy).
I 'll guoTime is getting 011; it's gett ing on for eleven o'clock;
we had better go home 110W. ?lty father is getti ng 0 11 in years
( =-" growing old); he's nearly seventy. How are you getting
all (= progressing) with your English ? I don 't like Smith;
I can't get 011 (= have friendly social relations) with him
at all. No. he and I have never got on t oget her. Come on;
let' s get 011 (= continue) with these preposit ions: if you keep
OI l trying, you'll master them. Lookers-on see most of t he
ga me. The rain came 0 1' at about five o'clock ill the after.
noon. He lp me all with my coat. Swi tch t he light on, please,
and then turn the hot water all for my bath. I'll see you
la t er VII: I'm too busy now, You are fur ther on with the
work thrill I had expected. You caITy on (= continue) with
t lu- work wh lll' I have a res t. I had lund} on t he train,
TIle dog jumped ora t he tabl e. Someone left a box in the
garden and I fd l over it in t he dark. The aeroplane Ilew over
t he hon-e. Give me a blue sky O;_'U my head and a green road
\ ,", o, i]
01/ is used for and for particular days or specified
parts 01 days, e.g.
O J) May 1 st : 011 Wednesday; on Christ mas 1);1;-; OJI Saturdav
uncmoon (Compare ill and rd.) .

298 A Comprehensive English Gra mmar

under my feet and I am happy. An we-coat is a garment
that we wear over our ot her clothes. More people have
laughed over and cried Ot'fr t he books of Dickens than of
perhaps any other writer. English is being spoken all ever
t he world. You don' t need t o pay back the money you
borrowed, all at once; the repayment can be spread over a
number of years. Will you look over this exercise (or look
t his exercise olier) that I have done, and sec if it is correct ;
I am sorry I overlooked your letter ( = did not notice it).
There arc Ot'er thirty people in t his room. I don 't want t o
make a decision at once; I will talk it over with my wife. YOt:
came too lat e; the foot ball match is all otter ( = finished).
I t ried to waken the man but he just turned over and went
off to sleep again. He said that he felt so strong he could
push a house ot'er. I know a visit to the dentist is unpleasant ;
but come along, let' s get it Ot'er. If you will come t o our
factory I shall be very glad to show you over it. His work was
done so badly that I told him to do it over again. I have told
you over and otter again not t o make that mistake. I gav"
th e children two apples each and I had t hree left over. 'YOI I
will get [ 50 a year over alld above your usua l salary. lIe IS
Just gett ing over hi s severe illness.
( NOTE )
Over is used with a considerable number of verbs, as an
Inseparable Particle, e.g.
overl ook, caert urn, overfl ow, czereat, orcrload,
ouert uke, etc.
( PAST)
He walked past t he door. The door was open when I walked
post . It is past three o'clock; it is nearly a quart er past , The
situation is past (= beyond) hopeicurdcont rol fbelid .
CRom' D \AROU"O) }
Drake sailed round t he world in The earth mon s
ro-und t he sun. Would you li ke to walk round my garden;
Come into the garden and walk round.
Prepositions and 'Adverbial Particles' 299
( SI !' n :)
He has lived in Eagland sille,;l He came to England in
1949 and has been here ever since, They had waited since
four o'clock: Things have changed very much since the last
t ime I wrot e t o you. The church was destroyed by the
bombing in 1940 but lias since been rebuilt (has been rebu ilt
sillce).
( KOTE)
Si nu is used when a ST.A, RTI " G POI !'T in ' time is given.
Contpare with/or (page 291) which is used when t he Dl'RATl O:-l
of time is measured. Since refers t o the whole period from a
point of t ime ill t he past up t o t he present moment or a given
moment in the past, so it is almost always used with a Perfect
t ense.
( THROUGII l
The ball went through t he window. The river flows through
the t own. We walked thr01lgh t he village. Go Ihrough
(= examine) these papers carefully. I SIIW through (= was
not deceived by) his trick. George has got through (= passed)
his examinati on. He worked all throllgh his holidays. It was
t/iroligh (= owing to) Fred's carelessness t hat the money
was lest. The street is t hronged with people; do you think
we r an get through." The soldiers were surrounded by the
enemy but managed to break through. Your clothes are
wet through with the rain. He got that job through ( = by t he
help of) Ids uncle.
(
Th rough suggests one more dimension t han across, e,g.
He walked across t he fields ami thro.ugh' t he woods.
@
I am going 10 America on Friday. I have already sent my
luggage to t he station. Come on, chi ldren; time 10 go 10 bed
and go to sleep. Does this road go 10 Edi nburgh? That coat
is quite wet; hold it to the fire for a few minu tes. He looks

PrcposifiollS and. "Adce rbiat Partido' 301

tr avels under the name of 1\Ir. Br own, Here is a tr ee that we
can shel ter under, The cost will be 2 or nnder. I n the
st mggle for life t he weakest go under (i.e. Jailor di e). I like
beef ulldrrdone rat her t han overdone. It was very late when
I got .to bed Iasc night nud I feci very much II ndrrslept t his
morn mg.
G3
He ra n quickl y flP t he l adder. They walked up th e hill to
their house. Is t he lift going liPor down? I was up at fi ve
.c'clock th is morning. Wake up; it's seven o'clock and time
to get up. Hang your hat up here. My Iri cnd was very ill;
I sat liP all night wit h him; my brother will stlly up tomorrow
night wi th him, The soldiers blew up the br idge. Hurry liP
or you will be late. Will you break flP th is wood for the fire,
please? You walk far too last; I can' t kup liP wit h you, Th at
stream neve r dries up even in t he middle of summer. I' ve
dropped my hook; will you please pick it up for me' There
arc a lot of weeds in my garden; I 'm going t o pull th em up.
Put your hands up or I shoot! Cover l iP th e food or the dust
will get on it, You go on; I' ll soon catcti YOl4 IfP . Clfl up the
meat for little Marga ret ; she can't usc a knife an d fork very
Well yet. If you can' t do the puzzle at fi rst do n' t git'e it up ;
you will do it in time i f you t ry. You have worked very well
>0 far ; kup it flp, You could sec there was someone a t home ,
the house was all lit up. YOII ought to lodi up t hese jewels in
ast rong room. Some girls take longer to mal" up their mi nds
than to malle liP their face. I can't buy t hat car just yet but
{ l' C'TI'L. TILl-J
He waited till (Irillil) all t he students were quiet before he
began the lesson, I shan't see you now tilt Friday.
l },' OTE]
There is very litt le difference in use between until and l i ll .
To begin 0. sentence, IIntil is more frequent th an l i l! . In shor t
:onversational phrases. till is perhaps more usual.

( XOTEj
Towards expresses, ' in the direction of', but not ' arrival
at' a place. Compare:
He went to London yesterday.
The aeroplane flew towards t he sun,
300 A Comprehmsi1,Jc English Grammar
to me for help. It is now five minutes to six. He read the book
from beginning to end. Will you lend yom book /0 George,
please? Did you send t hat letter to him? I prefer this book
/0 that one. This one is superior 10 t hat. You can' t compare
this to that. He's a very wealthy man; a few hundred pounds
is nothing to him. You must set to work on t hat job as soon
as possible. I offered him money for the use of the bicycle,
but to my surprise he refused it. I s that t ea qui te to YOllr
taste or do you need mOTC sugar ? No more sugar, thank you;
it is exactly to my liking. I lin quite close to the church; in
fact next door /0 i t . A ccording to you there is nothing more t o
he done. Don't tal k all round the question; come /0 the poi nt.
You will soon get used to his way of speaking. Let' s dri nk to
his success.
( v:mERl
Don't stand under (underneath) a tr ee during a thunder-
storm. He doesn't owe very much, it's WIder 10. It is
raining heavily; come under my umbrella. I can't use my
office at present ; it is under repair. You can' t sign th at ; you
arc u nder age (not twent y-one). I did t hat under orders.
r came to Piccadilly Circus by Underground, I have under-
lined all your mistakes. Under (in) the circumst ances I will
not give you any extra work. when Lord X goes abroad he
( TOWARDS]
A plane crossed t he coast flying towards London. I'll pay
you something towards what l owe you. He has never shown
a really friendly spirit towards George. That is the first ste p
towards getting the matter cleared up. It was somewhere
towards fi ve o'clock when he came.
I
I
I
I
Prepositions and 'Adllerbial Parti cles'
3'3
A Convprehensivc English Grammar
I am salling liP for it. He was very and tore liP t he
letter. Tie liP the dog; he might attack Smith's cat. Aft er
di nner Susan washes up (the dishes). John has made tiP a
little song. Who has used liP all my t oot hpast e? Harry's
parents died when he \\ESyoung and hi s aunt brought him lip ,
Ri ng me tip some tomorrow. You have got t he story all
mixed liP. He t ur nedthe box llpside dou:tl. It 's liP to )' ou
(Colloqu ial = It is your duty) t o do your best . What arc yon
up to? (Colloquial = ' What arc you doing?' Usually
the sugges tion that it is something wrcng.] I kTlOW you an,
7Ip to no good. What:s flP? (Colloquial or slaug = ' What' s
the matt er ?') Time' s u], (= You have no more time ncw)
( WJ1" H\
Can -you come and star 7.'illi me for a time, and bring yonr
wife with you? Have you all brought your books with you'
Leave your ha ts and coats with t he attendant. III.' has bee-n
with th at firm for a long t ime now. Compare this cheese lVllh
t hat and you will sec the difference, The box of eggs was
marked 'Wilh Care'. It is with great pleasure that I give yon
the prize. Orders for the new car came in wilh a rush. He wcnr
away with a smile ami a song, The t itl.e came in with gr eat
speed. TVith all his faults he was a kind-hearted fellow, I hope
111.' hasn' t met with an accident . A man with plenty of money
has plenty of friends. He walked along with his hat on tile
back of his head. Sleep wi/II your windows open hut wi lli your
mouth shut. I 've brought my brot her along with me t o help.
lVilh regard to t hat business we spoke about, if you are
going 0 11 It'ilh it I can perhaps help you. Lsce urith my eyes,
hear u:ith my ears and smell willi my nose. Her eyes were
filled witll tears and she was t rembling with cold, I am not
at all satisfied with your work. The cushion is filled widr
feathers. Do you think this red tie goes '/i.'ilh my blue suit :
You are always jinding fault with everything I do. I don' t
agree with you at aUabout that. Romeo was deeply in tooc wltll
Juliet. He has quarrelled wilh George. I don' t know why be
fell out ( = quarr elled] with him but I hope he will soon mall,'
I rimds ."'ilh him again. I have no palience wilh you , you are
so stupid. j le went so fast I couldn' t keep liP li'ilh hi m. How
is he getting 011 wilh t he hook that he is wri ting? What' s t he
matter with you? You don't look very well. It ' s not hing to
do wilh, you what I say. I don't get Otl t'CTy lull U'ith George;
yOU sec, Thave lIothing in common wilh him. If you have any
cabbage plants to spare I could do ti'ith (= could usc) about
fi fty. I'm just using this spade, but you can have it when
I've datu wilh it. I' m not argui ng with you, I'm telling you.
He is content 'Ii.'ith very littl e. In 1066 t he English fought a
great battle wilh tile Normans, I n 1805 England was at
war 1dlh France.
\0 WITIllS )
You must t ry to live withill your income, He lives u nthin
Ir ve miles of London. Shout if you want me; I shall be
urilhit, he ar ing. The house was painted green without and
wi/hi ll. I shall be back again l: ithi'f a year.
\ WITIJOLT)
He always goes abou t Id l1W1I 1 a hat on, That was done
'without my help, 'I>,illlolit my knowledge and ieithont my
consent. I will do th is job for you wilhollt fail (= for certai n)
by tomorrow, You have been warned li mes enthout number
abont the danger and still you don't take any notice. lie is,
u:ithollt exception, the best pupil I have ever had. I can say
t hat !iiilhOIlI fear of contradic tion. You haven' t time to pack
all those clot hes; you will have to go wilhout t hem, Can you
get into the room trithout breaki ng t he lock? 'You can't have
omelettes without breaking eggs.' (Prot'erbia/ saying). I' ve
gone U' itlwll t food for two days now. I've gone irithont rating
for two days now. If we can't afford a new car, we shall
have t o do u'ithotll it. But a car is something I can' t do
tt ithoHt . Of course I know you will work hard; that /!.()es
ld /hoJit s(lyi ng. The}' left t he part y u:ilhoul so muclt "s saying
goodbye.

EXERCISES
1 Use each 01 t11(' following (a) as a preposition, (h) an
adverb:
001:. if!. wp. about, afhr, k j prt , behi nd. (wi r, rOllr:d, siller,
off. Ib ough.
11 Put in the preposit ions or adverbs that have been
omit ted:
t l) The man who spoke was standing - me. (1) There
are others -- me who beheve that. (3) Put the two
books side - side. ("l Everyone was list ening -
Richard. (5) He lined here -- the years and 1941.
(6) Their plans have completely broken - . (7) ,The
soldiers carne in two --t ....o. (8) That book was wntten
-- Dickens. (9) That is a book -- Russia and the
Russian people. (10) I ran -- t he t hief but could n' t
catch him. (I I) He who is not for us is -- us. (12) He
has wr it ten ten bocks and there IS not a singte good one
- them. (13) The mother divided t he apple -- t he
two boys. (I.l) Who is look ing -:-- you? (I S) Jan is. very
good - English. (16) lIe did that - my Wishes.
(17) I bought t hat - the butcher's. (18) He put his
hands - his back. (19) That ought to cost t wo pe nce
0< - - the very most five pence, (20) I hoped it would
be fine but it poured - all afternoon. (1I) :' Iy shoes
are made - -leather ; the box is madto-- iron. (22)- I
can' t get this ri ng - my finger. (2J) He put the book
- the table and sat - a chair. (24) He has 10,000
men working --hi m, (25) What count ry do you come
- ? (26) He walked - the room and sat - hiS
desk, (27) Ishan't beaway long ; I ' ll be back --, a
(28) The ship rocked - - side to side. (29) I don t .h e to
he - debt; that is to be - danger. (Jo) It IS c?ld
_ this room now t hat the fire has gone - . (31) " ,ou
must make the best - it. (32) The petrol is all runmng
- ' turn the tap - , (33) There are houses - both
sides' -- t he street. (l 4) I bought a bicyc,le
(35) You must try to 1000k at it _,my pomt of view.
(j6) I shouldn't be - such a hurry If I were - your
place . (37) A friend - mine went with me t o the
Tower - - London. ( 8) Help me - - my coat.
(39) I went there -- busi ness; I han: to work - my
hying. (...0) -- reply _ your letter - - t he t yt h of
Xovernber, we wish t o state lhat we arc - ne.ed -
a traveller -- t he London distric t If you will come
34
A CompreJutisive Ellglisli Grall/molr
a'id 'Ad" eTbi'l [ Particles' 305
here - -- Saturday the t ath - Apr il we t an I:i\'e yOll
our ideall - t he subject and It will t hen depend _
you whe ther you accept and t ry t o make a success _
It or whether - - t he contrary the whole mat ter 111L1!>t
he considered as dennirelv _. (41) Someone left a box
- the garden and I fell -- It - t he dark. (.p) I
stood - the corner - the road and hundreds __
cars went -. (4) 1 \ \'alk - t he t own - me and
t hen we will come home and sit - - by the fi re. (H ) I
have been - London -the zyt h - J uly. (H I We
went_France-our way --Spain. This coat
is wet. Hold it - t he tire - a few minu tes. (47) That
is t he first step -- gettmg t he matter cleared --:-.
(-fS) I can't use my office - business - present; It
is - repair. (49) I had never had a lesson - English
until I tame - London. (50) That stream never dries
- even -- the middle --summer. (51) Come and
stay -- us - a few days - Christ mas and bri ng
),our wife - you, (51) I did not approve - his
acti on and what he did was done _ my consent.
(53) You don' t need to pay_t he money you borrowed
, II -- once. The repayment can be spread _ a
nn mber _ years. (5... ) Drake sailed - t he world _
the reign - - Queen Elizabeth I, {55} I have been _
Engl and --six mont hs but have had lessons only_
April. (56) The motor boat cut _ t he water -.n
t erri fic speed, (57) 1 live quite close - t he church; In
fact next door - it . (sll) It was oomewhere _ live
o'clock - - the all ernoon when he called __ m,.
(59) -- t he circumstances, I will not give you any
extra work. (60) You could see --a t here wa..
someone - home; t he bouse was all lit -.161) I like
beef -<.lone rather than -<lone. (62) They walked
- t he ne w road, t hen - the hill -- Iny house.
(6)) Orders - t he new car came -- _ a r ush.
(6... 1 He walked --his hat - t he back --his head.
(65) - regard -- t hat business. I don' t want t o do
an)'thinl!" more - it , but I'll keep --touch --you .

CHAPTER
\ CONNECTIVES)
II.>We have noticed in t he previ ous chapter that prepOSItions
help to link a word wi t h other arts of the .but t he
most usual 'conJxsctir( is a CON UNCTION ConlunctlOns arc
used to join wor , p rases or sentences ogether, e g.
Tirr,e and t ide wa it {or no man.
' To be or not to be, that is t he question.'
You or I must tell him th e truth.
She opened t he door and let t he cat in.
He tried hard but he was unsuccessful.
I don't think the price is too high, nor does Henr y.
@ Some conjunctions are used in pairs,
You must either pay the pnce or go without t he goods.
What he said was neither kind nor t rue.
It was not only unkind but also unt rue.
He both reads Russian and speaks
f34;rtions used in pairs are
(j) There are some words such as nroerthe,ess, however, meall -
!t'hile, indeed which join sentences together perhaps rather
more loosely.' e.g.
I don' t know anything against the man; net'ertheless, I don't
trust him. .
I don't see how lie is going t o pay back t he money he has
borrowed: howet'tr!slill , that's his business not mme. ,
I' ll buy a new suit when I get the cheque for the work I did;
meanwhile, I'm afr aid t his old one will have to do a bit
longer . '
I can't buy a new suit till I get a cheque for t he work ; so t)ll S
old one will have to do for a bit longer. d
He'll never be a good violinist : indeed, t he professor tol
him, so.
' Sweet. Nt UJ Engli' h Grammar, call" them 'hall:>njunclions ',
36
These 'halfconjnnc.t ions link t he sentences Iogicauy rat her
than formally , and Just before t he halt-conjunction there is a
hre;lk in the flow of the sentence, indicated in the examples
above by a semi-colon. The 'full conjunct ions' j oin t he t wo
parts more ti ghtly t oget her so that the sentence flows on
wit hout interruption.
@ There are, however, other ways of linking tugether
sentences or parts of sentences:
--( a}- In a few cases the use of th e preposition is very similar t o
that of the conjunction. For example, t here is practically no
difference between t hese two sentences:
At the farm they ga\'e us strawberri es omllots of cream,
At the farm t hey gave us strawberries li'ilh lots of cream.
but a conjunction docs not affect, as a preposition nnes , the
pronoun t hat follows it.
-1
b
}-:\ preposit ional phrase may be used as a conj unct ion,
e.g.
He doesn' t work hard; ill f ue! he's incapable of hard work.
His behaviour hasn't improved: 011 the contrary it has
become worse.
- (c)-It is pos-sible t o have sentences linked only by punctuat ion
marks, commas, semi-colons or colons, (' .g.
I looked round th e room. Jan was working, Pedro was
reading, Hob was sleepi ng. (Commlls)
He doesn't work hard; he 's incapable of hard work, (Semi.
colon )
He kicked open the door, revolver in hand: a dead man lay
on th e floor. (Col O/I )
!.f")Conjunct ions which join together wor ds, phrases or sen-
'ifnees 01 similar functional value as in all t he examples gi\'CII
so f ar] are catlec CO-ORmC'<' .H I:- G c o x Those t hat join
t o ether l'cnt ences 0 thenn unc ttonal value arc called
CON xs (see l'. 320).
, s regards mearung. co-ordinating conjunctions fall into
four rough groups. ..( I)- t he ' and' group; ..(2). the ' but' group;
.(3}- t he ' or' group; -(4}- the 'so' group,

A ComprcJunsive Ellglish Grammar

,""", IlI The ' alld' Grolfpl
Th e conjunctions in t hi s group suggest addition, c.g.
On t he table for t ea there were cakes and biscuits and tarts
and sandwiches. '-
Frequently in sentences of this t ype only t he final and is used.
t he ot hers bei ng replaced by commas, e.g.
On t he table for t ea there were cakes, biscuits, t arts and
sandwich es.
The addition int roduced by and is generally something t hat
would naturall y be rather expected, e,g.
The fur coat was soft and warm.
Th e car is almost new and in excellent condition.
(We should expect a car t hat was almost new to be in good
condition.}
'If< Other connect ives in this group are illustrated in t he
following examples:
The fur coat was bolh soft and warm.
The fur coat was as warm.
The fur coat was soft and also warm.
_,Vot only th e coat soft; it was also warm. '
The car was almost new;
moreover,/agai n, it was in excellent condition.

There is an idiomatic use of t he conjunct ion and connecting
two co-ordinate sentences (one of t hem an imperative) t o
express condition, -(b) purpose, e,g,
-{a) Work hard and. you'Il get your reward (= if you work
. . .)'
' Laugh, and the world laughs with you ;
weep, and you weep alone.'!
Utter one word, and you are a dead ma n!
-(b) Go and ask him what he want s.
Come and help me t o lift th ese boxes.
Write and ask him when he is coming.
1 See page H3. I El l", Wheeler Wi lcox.
Connectives Jog
Xot e, also, the const ruct ion ' try aJIIl . , .' inst ead of 't ry 10'
used in exhortations expressing encouragement. or
IT1 promises. c.g.
' T ry IIlId do this exercise. You must try and visit us in the
spring. Do try and stop coughing I shall fry and meet you
at t he station. I will 'l ry mill lume the work finished by
Wednesday.
Pedants discourage the use of this form and insist 011 sub-
stit ut ing fry 10 . " but it is good colloquial usage and is not
wit hout good literary justificat ion. It is used only wit h the
simple form try , not with any of t he inflected forms.
-(z'{The 'but' GrOl jp!
The connectives in thi s group suggest contrast , t he addition
int roduced by t hem is generally something t hat would hard ly
be expected, e.g.
The car was quite old Iml in excellent condition.
(We should expect the IUW car to be in excellent condition; we
could hardly expect t he sallie of a quite old one. )
The coat was t hin but warm.
.f Other connec ti ves (conjunct ions and prepositional phrases) of
t his type are illustrated III the following examples:
The car was quite old; ycl/slill /howf:'er!nn 'erlhdcss it was in
excellent condition. - - -
In of/despite/notwilhslanding its age , the car was if)
exce lent coi1clffiOn. -
The canvas quite old; despite thai it was in excellent condition.
The subordinating conjunction Ihollgh (i1 /!Jwugh) can express
this same meaning, eg,
Though. the car was quite old , it was in excellent conditi on.
-(3l/Fhe 'or' Grollp!
Th e sense of or when joining words, phrases or sentences is:
-{I) choice (one of two), e.g.
Take this book or that one.
YO\l must work h arder or go int o another class.
' :""or t he in version of subject "nd construction . see p, 186,
ISLBORDI"ATI"G cox JC:\CTlO:\S I
Subordinati ng conjunctions arc used to introduce -{lIf noun
clauses and-{b,. adverb clauses of every kind. Examples:
He said (hal he would help us.
Ask him when he (an come.
You will recognize him whm y Oll see him
He came becallse he was interested in music.
I will come If you want me.
l / you want me, I will come,
T hough he wasn't int erested in music, he came t o the
concert.
(For Adverb and KOIl Il Clnusos sec pl' - JJ3 t o J4J.)
The conjunction does no t necessaril y come between t he
sentences it joins.
-J.. 41/ The 'so' Group]
50 as a conjunction suggests consequence, e.g.
- -
The ram began to fall , so we went home.
He didn' t wor k hard, so he had t o go t o another class.
Other conjunctions in t his group are thac/ore, aceordillgly, thus,
hrnce, consequently, and t he subordinating phrase so that . (Sec
Clauses 01 Purpose. p. 340.) Note that when it introduces a
clause of Purpose rather t han of Consequence, so thai is followed
by may , migitt, shall or should,
Some adverbs funct ion as conjunc tions joining independent
statements, eg.
We worked until six; then we went ho me.
He broke t he rules of t he school; thcrc/ore/so!c01mq1lCntlyl
accordingly he had to kaye.
He is clever: onlv he can't be t rusted.
Someti mcs l]!.' is-pleasant; agi l il1, he ( fin be nry unpl easant.

3" ConnectI ves

You are not to blame; neit her i s hc.!
He is not to blame; neither are you ,I
310 A Comprehmsive English Grammar
an approximat ion, e.g.
The work will cost 15 or 16.
The nearest big t owU'is--.zo or 30 miles from where th ey live .
But or is not used when t he difference is big; we should not
say, for example:
TIle work will cost 15 or 100.
The nearest big town is 5 or 40 miles from where t hey live.
-11 Oth er connectives in this group are illust rated in t he following
examples:
[Eithen my answer@yours is wrong.
You must work harder !. go into another class.
You must work harder, or e s go into anot her class.
You must work harder; turwlse you will be put int o anot her
class .
Neither (. . . 1I 0r) has tile meaning ' not one of two', e.g.
Your answer is not right, ,uithtf' is mine.
Neither your answer 1/Or mine is right.
Anot her pair of correlative conj unctions is 110/ 01dy .. . Iml
also, e.g.
N ot only is your answer wrong bu t mille is also.
He is not only the most intelligent student in the class bul
also t he most hard-working.
Kate t hat eit her . . . Or, witner . . . nor take a singular verb, e.g.
Come and have lunch with me; either Tuesday or Wednesday
is convenient for me.
I'm sorry, neither Tuesday 1lOr Wednesday is convenient
for me,
In these const ructi ons the verb agrees in person with t he
nearest subject, e,g.
Eit her George or I am to blame.
Neit her you nor he is to blame.
As th.is is felt t o be rather awkward, t he construction IS
sometimes changed to:
Eit her George is to blame or I am.
Either I am to blame or George is.
[ Tl IAN, AS AS, suru , AS, lJ u'r !
It is not always easy to decide whether thrnt, as . , . II .',
such . . , as, and 1",/ arc preposit ions (t o be Iollowc...l alwav-,
by t he objecti ve case of the pronoun) or conjunct ions (to l....
followed by eit her the nomi native or the oh j cct j ve 1.';"1""."
according t o t he pronoun's logkal:. t atus as subjec t or objt" l
of t he verb] . There would t hus be hcsiranon ill t he Icllowrnc
sentences:
You are a better player fhall l lt/ Mm.
He is older t ll atl 1" 11<" .
One day you will be ,IS old as I [me.
3'3
Connect ives
I never met Sl/C" a man as Mlhim for hanl 1I"0rlc.
:\0 one saw him but I / me.
There was no one in t he house bid sJu: ,'Jw:,.
Some grammarians and a few, perhaps rather pedantic,
speakers insist that than, as, et c., in t he sentences are
conjunct ions and that t he sentences are elliptical for:
You are a better player than he (is).
One dar you will be as old ITS I (am), ell.' .
But t hough examiners tend t o frown on the usc of t h.ese wor ds
as preposit ions, the usage has no t on ly t he authori t y of the
spoken word but of numerous stand ard authors including
Shakespeare, Swi ft , Pope, Byron and ma ny ot hers. An
interesting point , made by \\1. S. Allen,l if
is fur t her qualified by bolh or all, t he obj ective case IS mvan-
able used, e.g.
He is cleverer than us all.
' A st one is heavy and sand weighty; hut a fool' s wrath is
heavier t hall til,," /mtk' (Bible)
when a rela tive pronoun follows ,tJum (a
rat her than a colloquial usage) the relative IS always III t he
objective case, cg.
He is a man than U"hoffl no one has a better right t o speak
Belial came last; than whom a spiri t more lewd
Fell not from Hea ven. "
(Kate, by t he way, the ambigui ty of: 'She loves him m?re
me' whi ch could mean: ' She loves him more than I do or SJIC
loves him more than she loves me "] ..
GIl
Bul when it has the meaning 'except'. is now usually regarded
, . .
as a prcposmcn. c.g.
Alt of them bill me had been t here before.
There is. howe\"cr ,::\ well-known poem t hat begins:
The boy st ood on t he burning deck
Whence all bllt lie had fled.'
I L i '1HJ: /;"III /illl 5',,,(1.,, . (p o Ij). I r". ",/il' LDd .
I C"lahi'" 'C4 by Felicia Il em:ml,

J.;'hcn he saw me.
..-hiell house it was
:rhosc dog t hat is. {
3I:Z A Comprdlf:llsive EIl gJish Grammar
The most comrncnl v.used subcrdinatmg conjunctions are
that, UMn, lihere, Iihiie, kfore, until, if, after, Sillct,
(a/lthou( h, unless , as . .
In coll oqui al speech t he conjunction that is often omit ted i:.
fact , t he conjunction would be unusual in such sentences as
I wish you had t old me.
I hope he passes his examinations.
It 's high time t hose children were in bed.
I'd sooner/rather/r ou didn't ask me t o speak.
There arc other connectives, whi ch are not conjunct lOll;; ,
t hat are used t o introduce subordinate clauses Thus adjective
clauses are joined to other parts of a complex sen tence lJy
relative pronouns or relative adverbs, e.g.
That' s the book that /which everybody is talking about .
He' s the man u'hom I want t o see.
That 's tl-e house u:here I was born, (Sl'C p, 328. )
In conversation t hese connec tives arc often omitted.
Again, all the interrogative words can be used as connect i\'e,
in indirec t questions, e.g.
{
!i.-hat it is.
c\sk him !i.'hue he ,went
u-JrytJe d id It .
luyw he knows.

Xotc t he changed word order when t hese intcrroga nv.,

sentences are made subordinate. The di rect term: ' what i s 11-
has become ' Ask him what it is ', etc,
3"
A Comprc1! ms ivt English Grammar
'.
EXERCISES
I Construct t en sentences, five cont ai ning co-ordinating
conjunct ions and five containing subordina t ing con-
junctions, using a different conj unction in each sentence.
11 Complete the followi ng sentences by fill ing the blank
spaces with the connective words you consider appro-
priate.
( I) I don' t a!l: ree ..-jth you. --doesmy {2} He
drinks -- b." --wme. (3) Their actlons wer e
_ risky _ pceinvety su icidal. (4) I ' m going out for
a $hort time; _ you can get supper ready. (5)
who are not prepared to study should - change t hei r
ways _ make room for those who .....iII ....or k. (6) She
can' t hope to pass t he exam".in ---:- she' ll
have to wait t ill J une . (7) He 15 very senous ly al l; -
d octors ha ve a lmOl5t given up hope of h is recovery.
(8) The)' go to concerts of music - they
really like it. (9) -1do not like him very much, I can
appreciate his qualities. (10) Fmd :-- t hey are
going t his evening - ask If we may j oin t hem.
III Construct four sentences. t.....o illustr ating t he idiomatic
use of "and' t o express condition and t wo t o dlustrate
its use in expressing purpose.
IV Use each of the followi ng connect ives in a sentence:
( 1) not only .. but also. (2) both . .. and. (3) so. (,,)
still.. (,5) indeed. (6) there fore. (7) unl s. (8) neither . ; .
nor. (9) as . (10) until .
V Expiain, with examples. .the .difference in
between C()o()l"dinatlng conjunctions and subordinating
conjunctions.
C ll A PT F. R T W F. " T Y - OS F.
AND EXCLAMATIO!'\ S
The ISTERJECTI QS is a .....ord or sound used to express some
sudden feeling or emotion. It thus belongs to the oldes t form
of t he spoken language and represents the most primitive type
of utterance. It does not enter int o the grammat ical const ruc-
t ion of t he sentence.
Among t he most usual interjections are: Oil! (expressi ng pain
or All! (surprise or sat isfact ion) , Hello! (greeti ng or
surprise}, lIey! (t o att ract attention), Alas! (a "literary' form
expressing sorrow, disappointment). There are some inter-
jections whose writt en form rather misrepresents t heir spoken
soun d, mainl y because there are no conventional SYmbols
which would represent it. There is, for example, Tui, tll( which
stands for t he sound made by clicki ng t he t ongue against t he
front teeth ; and t he re is Pshaw! an expression of contempt ,
bu t it is difficul t t o say what exclamation in actual use the
spelling is supposed t o represent ; certainly no one sars [PIo :]
or rIo:] except when coming across in print.
The interjection OA! is frequent ly wri tten O! and eit he r
form is correct, but the fonn 0 [without an exclamation mark)
should be used ....i th t he 'Nominative of Address' (t he vocative
case) occurring in oratorical speech, e. g.
'0 all you host of heaven! 0 earth!' (Hamid)
'0 Jul ilL'> Caesar, thou art might y yet.' Uuiills CIICSMr )

(The usual , modern form of t he nominative of address occurs

in such sentences as:
j ohn, I want t o speak t o you.
Ha ve you finished t hat work ye t ,
Here, j oJm and Smit h are not used as subject or obj ect of a
verb but merely t o address or t o attract t he attent ion of t hese
peoplc.]
ocan have occasionall y, in rather rhetorical speech, some.
t hing of a verbal force wit h a meaning someth ing like ' I wish ' ,
e go
,.,
. .
I

316 A Comprehmsive English Grammar
o that I had done what he t old me,
' 0 t hat we now had here
Rut one t en t housand of those men in England
That do no work today.' (Shakespeare, Henry V.)
The dividing line is thi n bet ween interj ections [rcproduc,
tiona of sounds or special words t hat we utter involuntarily
under the stress of some emot ion) and EXCLA;\IATJONS , in
which an ordinary word or group of words are used as inter-
jections. Examples of exclamations are: Good! Bravo! Shamel
Silence! Nonsense' Stop,! I sa)'! Hurrah! Well danel Just my luck'
and a variety of expleti ves ranging from t he mild (and rat her
characteristically feminine) Oh dcarl Goodness! Gracious! Dear
met ) Well I never'! Oh botherl t o the more robust (and masculine)
Good Lord! Bless my soull Nofe ar! and, less soci ably accept able,
Dash! Blast! Damn!- and beyond.
Some of the exclamat ions just ment ioned, e.g. Si lence! Well
done! StoP! etc.. or Goodbye! Farewell! are perhaps elliptical
sent ences equivalent 'to something li ke: ' I want silence' , ' You
have done well ' , etc. Goodbye is an elliptical form of ' God be
with ye': Fareioell an elliptical form of ' May you fare(= go)
well '.
l EXCLJ.:'IATORY SENTEscEsl
There are t wo t ypes of exclamatory sentences whose
sentence structure should be noted:
-{r)-Those beginning HaUl! or What! e.g.
HOlJJ well George writ es! How nice of you t o come and see us!
How cold t his room is! What lovely weather we are having!
What a fool he is! What an awful noise! What rubbish he
writ es! What a shame that you can't come! How old he is!
(Not e the difference bet ween the exclamat ory How old lu is'
and t he int errogat ive Howald is he?)
beginning with an adverb like There, Here, 111, et c"
e.g.
There he is! Here it conics! Off they ircnt l Away you gol
In ) 'OU get!
Sentences like t he last two (in the second person) express a
The accusati" e form of the pronoun is interesting.
I nterj ect ions and Exclamati ons 317
kind .of good humoured less severe and com-
mandmg t han Go away . Get 111.
,Kot e t hat if the subject is a personal pronoun (as in t he
examples above) it comes before t he verb. If the subject is not
a personal pronoun it comes after t he verb, e.g.
There goes the train'! Here comes George! There was a sudden
gust of wind and away wml his hat.! The door burst open
and i ll rushed the crowd!
EXE RCISES
I From t he following list of interjec tions and exclamat ions
choose those you t hink most suitable as comments on the
followi ng sentences;
Goodness me! Bravo! Fancy that ! Well played, Sir!
Splendid!
(l) Do you know it' s nearly midnight? (2) He's just won
1, 0 00 in the foot ball pools. (3) That's game and set,
1 t hink. (4) She's just begun t o learn Russian-s-she'Il be
tackling Chinese next. (5) I managed to catch the post
alter all.
II Complete t he following sentences with 'now', 'what' , or
suitable adverbs:
( r) He slipped on the ladder and - he came. (2) -
went t he thi eves in t he stolen car. (3) -- a pity she's so
deal. (4) Ther e's no t ime t o waste so --you go at once.
(5) - beautiful the view is from your window.

Sentences atld Ctonscs

3' 9
1
CIIAPTER TWESTY-TWO
:" :SD CLAl"SES)
The traditional definition of SIllPLE SE:-'ttSC is: 'a group of
words that ccntams a finite verb an makes complete sense.'
JJut thjs dejmitjQn h:udl>' to cover such
as the f211Q\lJug. which rnaxe sense ,t o the person
who nears t hem but which do not centum a finite verb:
' St op!' 'Goodbye.' 'Thanks.' ' Of course.' ' Nonsense.' ' Wai ter,
another bot t le of wine.' ' Wh at a day!' ' Reall y" "This way,
sir.' 'Oh! these exercises!' ' Hello! ' Less noise t here,' ' Fire!'
Consider, t oo, t he f\Clies to the following questions:
' What time is it ?' ' Three o'clock.'
' Who answered the question?' 'George.'
' Did you know it ?'
' How much butter do you want" . A pOlmJ and a halj.'
'Coffee, sir?' ' Yes: # 1:3$1:.'
'Black or white?' ' lJlouk.'
'I'll sene you the books.'
Grarr..marians sometimes et over t he difficul ty b ' saving-
that these a[c :clliptical ' sentences !.!' IS
out but is 'understOOd' by the speat.er ailJ.!tstener. tlllPSIS 15
acommon fea ture in English, e.g.
Ti le work is done, the books put away (= are put away).
'To err is human, t o forgive divine' (= is divine).
' Th ank you' (= r thank you) .
'First come, first served' (c= The first 10 come will be the first
10 be served).
Your name and address, please (= Give me ...[.
What if I refuse t o answer? What happens if .. . What
wi ll YOU do il . . .]
Anymore lares, pl ease? ( Are tnfft any more fares still to
paid?)
But in many sentences of type it is not possible t o 51J.!
exactly what is 'left out'. In most of these examples, If th
speaker and the hearer (both of whom underst ood exac tly wh
3. 8

was meant ) were asked to supply t he mlssmg words, each

would probably supply different ones.
jcspcrson defines a se ntence thus:
' A sentence is a (relat ive ly] complete and imk-pcuden t
human utterance-the completeness and independence being
shown by its standins alone lit its c3llabili t}' of alene.
{ e. of being utt ered by it self.'!
Ot her grammarians give t hese defi ni tions:
' A sent ence gives expression t o a subject to which t he
speaker wishes to draw the bearer's attenti on, and also to
somet hing wh ich he wishes him t o think with referunco t o t hat
subject ; and t his is equally tr ue whether t he sent ence be
examined from t he psychol ogical or the grammat ical side,
Any ut terance which calls Il l' III the nuud 0 1 t he rec eiver
t hese t wo linked t hings is a sentence (bo th psychological a nd
grammat ica l). whether it consists of one syllablt' or Iifty. And
no ut t era nce, however manv words 01 svllablc-, II cont ai ns, is
a sent ence , unless it docs ca ll lip t hese t'wo li nked t llmg;: ":
' All oral or wri tten communication is made up 01 one or
more unit'>, ear-h of which contains a complete utterance
termed according t o a d..nnl te pattern. Such uni ts are called
sentences. ' I
Sentences may be s nI PLF., CO}IPOl'XD or CO)t PLEX. For
Simple sentences see Chapter Two '
IDOPBLF. OIl SF.STI'.SCES
Two or more sentences may be joi ned by a conj unc t ion (or
conjunctions), e.g.
I am teaching you English and you are li st ening t o me.
Do you understand that or is the point st ill not cl ear?
Bring your book here (md open it at page 4: b"t don' t begin
reading.
Sentences like these arc c a lled or DOUBLE Ml:LTI PLE
sent ences.
1Pllilo, opil)' 0/ GrAmmar.
I 0". L rmg" IIKI , Cr:uu,1l & Curre y.
I A HII " dboolr 0/ E ng/ i tll Grllmmllr, R. W.
wh" wish t o e>;amir.e t he nat ure 01 a sentence mare fully
mar be Int erested t o read Charter 2, ' What is a Sen lence)" in Th
Sr. " . I" " oj li"Kfl,li by C, C. (Longmans).
I n Sentence I t he subordmate clause qualifies t he noun hos.
and is an ADJ ECT IVE CU GS!:: .
320 A Comprehm sive Etiglish Grammar
In compound sentences t he subject or t he auxiliarv verb
or both, may be omitt ed in t he second sentence if t hey 'are
same as t hose in t he first sente nce, e.g.
He is sitting and (he is) listening t o me.
I' must come t omorrow and [you must) bring your book
with you.
( COl IPLE X
Each of t he sent ences in a compound sente nce can stand
independent ly. But t here are some groups of words which,
even t hough they cont ain a fi nite verb, are not 'complet e and
independent human utterances' and cannot stand a lone, for
example:
,"'hich I uant; Ih,l! lie was li,d; whtn he saw a [ oliccman.
These groupsof words,calledsuBORDISATE CLAUSES, do t he work
of adj ecti ves, adverbs or nouns (i.e. t hey can qualify nouns or
verbs or be t he subject or object of a verb) in a larger urut
which is called a COMPLEX SE:>o TIO:>oCE.
A cl ause is a group of words which include a finit e verb, IS
grammatically complet e and self-contained , forms part of a
sentence, but does not by it self make complete sense.
A complex sent ence consists of one or more of t hese sub-
ordinat e clauses and a M.U :S or PIU :>O CI P.-\ L clause.
A principal clause is usually defi ned ' a clause t hat can
stand alone and makes complete sense by it self'. But t his is not
always true (as, for example, in sentence 2 bel ow), It might
be better t o say that t he principal clause is what is left of a
compl ex sentence when all the subordinate clauses have been
t aken away. Examples:
which I want.
t hat he was t ired.
when he saw t he policeman.

P, incipal Clause
[hat is t he house
(2) The man said
{3J The t hid ran away
S'lbordinale Clause
I
Sen/(tlu s 411,[ 3
21
I n Sentence 2 it is t he objec t of t he verb said and is a S OL'S
CLAUSE.
In Sentence J It qua lities t he ver b ' UI I and is all AIHIUUJ
(;lA USE.
clauses of type are joined by and or or,
!he mtroduct 0!1:' conjunction, the subj ect and an auxilia ry
\'frb may be emitted If t he)' are t he same as those in t he fi rst
clause, es.
If he come and seen me 4'ld (it he had) discussed t he
matter .wlt h me, I should have given him my opinion,
If IItJ will t-ome ,111t1 sec 111. ' ur (if he will) write to I1 W. ..
you lmve written your essay and aft er you have
reVIsed It, you may hand it ill ,
EXEHCISES
I Construct examples of ( I) a Simple Sen tence:
(ul tatc ment, (h) <juest iOll , (&) command.
(;I) a Compound Sentence . (J) a Comple x Sent..nee.
II ',\ Simpl.. sentence is a group or words (includinl; a
subject ,111<1 a \'cr h) t ha t makes ccnrple. .. sen-e.'
Comment 011 t his defmttiou.
II I Exptaiu in what sellse=l you could int erpret t he
(,,11" " 1111: and supply t he words !If'': C>o.''3r,,
t u express each Idea fully. .
(I) .(z ). Keep, left . (j) What a bore. (..)
(,5) I \\0 whiskies, p-ease. (6) Oh no! (7) Really)
(1:1) (9) o s . yes ? ( I?) J ust a moment . ( J I ) Full, up'.
(12) :-;0 talklnj{. (13) Seats 1) 1\ top. ( I .. ) Ridiculous
(15) Oh, Illy head!
I V I nvent ' 1" ' '' '''0'' '' to <"1, ,',1, ". t he following mlght he
replies:
( I) Half pas t t wo. (l) bottl':'5' (3) Red, please
(..) On :\Iontlay next . (s) Yes. (6) First please (7) Cp'
stairs. (8) Thkk. please. (9) 15th: ( 10) Of course.
V out .t he differen t clauses (principal and sub-
ordinate) In the follo....-ing sent ences, and say .....hich
ecrt (Adverb, Adjecti ve or Noun) each of the subor-
dinate clauses is:
( I ) c:oat t hat is hanging in t he cupboard is mine.
(2) ThIS IS the route I intend t o take. (3) He slowed

322 A Comprehensive English GralllnlM

d own the car as he approached t he crossroads. (4) The
house where he lives has j ust been repainted. (5) I don't
know where they live. (6) The man I want t o see is not
here this morning. (7) when I went to his st udio he
shOVoed me all the paintings he had done rec en t ly . (8)
we shall go wherever he wishes to take us. (9) Walt
while I get my overcoat. (ro) The station d oses irn-
mediately t he last train bas left . (I I) Tell m e where )' 01,1
are going for you r holiday. (12) The place where we
stayed fOT our holiday was right on the sea coas t. (13) I
don' t know where .."e are goinjl: this year. ( f 4) Come
where we are going for our holiday. ( 1,5) Do )"01,1 k now
wher e Shakespeare was born? (16) That is the house
where Shakespeare was born. (17) I don' t remember
when Tom came t o see me. (18) I t hink it was the day
when we had that heavy t hunderst or m. (19) If t hat ....as
the day, it ca n' t be a year ago. (::0) I'll ask h i ~ jf he
remembers the visit . (:: 1) Tell me who are coming t o
the party. (::::) That' s one of the boys who are coming
t o the part y.
VI Form compound or complex sentences (as indica tetl )
from the following groups of simple sentences. Omit a
word or two where necessary:
( I} The boy closed t he door, He wa lked away. (COIll-
po und)
(::) Richard works badly. He pl ays games well.
(Compound)
(3) The children had finished thei r jessons. They went
home. (Compl ex)
(4) We come t o school on Frida)' . We have a holiday
on Saturday. (Compound)
(5) J ac k went up the hill, J ill went up tlte hill. They
fetched a pail of water. (Compound)
(6) Jack fell down. He broke his crown. J ill came
t umbling after, (Compou nd)
(7) We decided to remain at home. It was foggy.
(Compound)
(8) We decided to remain at home. I t WiL$ foggy .
[Compl ex) .
(9) You said something. I do not underst a nd It .
(Compl ex) . .
( 10) A German is coming t o see me. I made his acquai nt -
ance in Hamburg last year. (Complex)
(II) The students "'ere trapped in a ca ..e. One of t hem
has already been brought out. (Complex)
Sentences and Clauses 323
(12) They could not ded de what to do. They as ked my
advi ce. (Compound)
(13) She spoke French rapid ly. He couldn' t understand
her. (Compl ex)
(14) Any of t hese problems can be solved by ordinary
intelligence and hard work. Xone of t hem are too
difficult for t bat. (Compl ex)
VI I Complete t he following sentences ...-ith main or sub-
ordinate cl auses as may be necessary. Say what kind
of a cl ause it is that you add.
(_) -- t hat I saw yesterday - . (::) The concert
- - wu excellently performed. (J) - ca n't be
undone. (4) Do the work - immediately . (,5) Pupi ls
should obey --. (6) - is q uite obvious. (7) He
didn' t get t he pri ze -. (81 Beca use he didn't get up
early enough -. (9) - where I lost my pen.
(10) - t ha t he knew your sister.

CH.-\l'TER TWE S TY- TU fl E E

CLAUS ES i
@JlAl>j F.CTIVE CLAUSES ]
Adjective clauses (sometimes called 'Attributive' clauses or
Relati...e' clauses) quali fy nouns. The noun qual ifi ed is called
the and t he relative clause normally follows t!;l
antecedent , e.g.
Th at is t he house that l l&ould lilt, to baty .
(Antecedent: ho,lS')
Somet imes t he adjective clause di vides t he main clause, e.g
The house that I wOldd like 10 blly is not for sale.
An adjective clause is generally int roduced by a relative
pronoun (thaJ, which, who, ctc.). For relative pronouns sec
page
-( 1) Ionrx1 ('j V'SEsf
Adject ive clauses arc of two t ypes. Consider t he following
examples:
The st udent who answered the quest ion was John.
Th e book which you lent me was int eresting.
He gave a t ip t o t he porter It'ho carri ed his luggngc.
Thank you for t he hel p that you have given me.
' Th is is t he house thai J ack built'
The Du ke of was one of t he greatest soldier-
that England has ever had.
In all t hese sentences t he adjecti ve clause is a necessary pan
of the idea; if it is left out, th e sent ence does not make complet e
sense. All t hese clauses define the ant ecedent and give it its
definite connot ation; t hey indicate w1lich student out of a
number of st udents, which book out of t housands of boob
which porter out of seve ral porters. etc. So clauses of t his t r Ill:
are call ed DEfl S It<;C clauses.
J"
S lIhQ7di llll /l' Ctauscs
-(:!) ("L\l:SlcS]
I'ow consider t hese sentences:
Bernard Shaw, 1;;/10 wrote St. Jo,m, died in 1950.
father , u'ho had been on a visit to America. arrived at
Southampt on yesterday.
That sciennst , ;1hoSi work is "cry import ant. has been made
a knight.
:'ol iss Smi th . U1z(llOl you met at our house, is going to marry
Abbott.
TIle GoMnt Hi nd, in .,-Iti d, Drake sailed round the world .
was only a small ship.
In all these sentences th e adjective clause could be omi tted
and t he rest of t he sen tence would still make perfect sense.
The adjective clauses here arc a kind of parent hesis , a casual
remark, an aside or an explanation. TIley could he wri t ten
between brackets or dashes. ego
Bernard Shaw (who wrote 51. ) Odll) died in 1950.
:'of y father-who had been on a visi t to America-arrived at
South ampt on yesterd ay.
They do not define t he antecedent. They do not say which
Bernard Shaw among a number of Bernard Shaws, which
fat her among dozens of fat hers. What t hey do is to give
addit ional information about an antec edent whi ch has already
been sufficiently defined. They are therefore called NON-DEFIN-
ING or CLAUSES. This parenthetical const ruction of
non-defining clauses is shown by a comma in wr iting and by a
pause in speaki ng at t he and end of the clause. ..
Commas must not be put round a defining clause.
Compare t he sentences:
(I ) All t he books. Ii'hirh had p'clll'..s i ll them. wen;" sent to
t he little girl.
(She got all the books.] CU .t.:SE.
(2) .-\ 11 the books u l,ich haJ pietu'i s it! tJum were sent t o the
little girl .
(She got only those books which had pic t ures ill them.)
CLAt:SE.
He pllt his proposal to George, who. after making full
enquiries , decided t o accept it .
In t his example who could be replaced by alld he, thus t urning
t he non-defi ning clause into a co-ordi nat e sentence.
Except for t he two types just mentioned (the 'continuative'
and that in which a whole sent ence is t he antecedent), non-
defming clauses are not common in conversational English,
They are more usual in for mal speech and writi ng.
OF THE R ELATI VE iN D EFI SIS G CLA USES
When t he relative pronoun in a defining clause is in the ob-
ject ive case, it is often omi tted, especiallyin spoken English . e.g.
The man (that) you spoke to was my brother.
The book (that) I want is on t he t able.
He is t he kindest man (that) I know.
There's something (t hat) you don' t know,
Clauses like t hese, in which the relative pronouns are omitted,
are sometimes called CLAUSES.
The relat ive pronoun can also be omi tted in a defini ng clause
int roduced by there is (was):
The 9.15 is the fas test train (t hat) there is to Oxford.
1 asked for t he best book (that) there 'was all t he subject,
I n non-defining clauses, li'ho(m), 'Which are never omitt ed, e.g.
:My brother Alfrt...d . uJro is eight een years old, has bought a
new bicycle.
My fat her , whom you met in Paris , is now back in London,
This poem, which a lmost cnrrbody is hy Tennyson.
who, t hat which , t hat
whom, (t hat) which, (t hat )
to whom, (t hat). ,. t o . towhich ,(that) . , . t c
of which , whose

3'7
Til E Us....CF. OF RELATIVE
A DJ ECTI VE CLAUSES
-(l ll ll H 1S I S G I
f UT ploplc
S UMMARY OF
,
, ,
326 A CompreMnJjw English era"",.."
(I) He has a brother. Il'1W is an artist.
(He has only one brother, and lie is all art ist .)
CLAUSE.
(2) He has a brother wlw is 1m artist.
(He mar have several brothers, but one of t hem is an
art ist.) DEFIXTSC CI.Al'SE.
Or compare:
(I ) The work entailed a number of expenses, uihich I had not
allowed[or,
(I didn't expect t here would be any expenses a t an and
so I had n' t allowed any money for expenses.] xox.
DEFJ SIS G CLAUSE.
(z) The work entailed a number of expenses u'hich (tha /)I
I had not allowed f 01.
(I had expected a number of expenses. I had allowed
money for these but t hen some unexpected ones had
turned up.) DEFIS!SG CLAl"SE.
There is a type of non-defining clause which has for it s
antecedent a whole sentence. I n t his case t he introductorv
relative pronoun is always uhich. Extlmple5: .
They have invit ed me to di nner, u'hich is ury killJ of them
He missed t he t rain. which l2,uwy ed him t '''I')' much.
There is a story of a clergyman, who, preferring not t o wear
t he usual clerical dress, said:
'I will wear no clothes which will dis tinguish me from my
fellow-men.'
But wh en his remark was report ed in t he newspapers, a comma
was put in by mist ake , and with its relative clause t hus
changed from a defining one t o a non-defi ning one, t he sentence
then read:
' I will wear no clot hes, which will distinguish me from my
fellow-men .'
Non-defining clauses have also a ' continuati ve' or 'con-
nective' use; t hat is, t hey are almost equivalent t o a compound
sent ence, e.g.
The relati ve prono\ln can he wilh dcrminl( cl"u" " It
cannot be used wit h non..:lefininl( clauses p. 140).
G
A noun in a negative sentence is sOl1ldimes qu.rliucd hy .m
adjective clause introduced by Iml :
There was not a single person there but t hought you were I II
the right. "
There's not a man here hilt wou ld like t o be 10 your place
Here 'but thought' = 'who did not think' ;, and 'but woy,ld
li ke' ' 'who would not like' , The Iml cont radic ts t he negat ive.
This construc tion is not common,

I Expla lll ex actly, g ivi ng an eXalllp!e of cad i, what is

meant by (I) antecedenr (2) con tact clause. (J) de-
fining clause, nOll,detining cl ause,
Ll Pick out tile adjectivc clause ;11 each of the followi ng
sentences and give t ll c antecedent:
(I ) This is the bicycle th a t m y uncl e gave me, (2) Do
you know a nyon e who wants to buy a mot or-bike)
13) Here are the cakes which I bought. (4) The man
was re turning home with t he money, which he had put
in bis pocket, (5) Th e bicycle which my uncle gave me
was a birthday presen t, (6) A motor-bike that won 't
is 11 0 use, (7) T he cakes that I bought have ali been
eatl'n, (8) The money which the man had d rawn from
the bank was in his poc ket book. (9) The hOliSe that
you sec Over there is very old. ( I O) The thief wh o had
lObbed the man was ca ught by the policema n,
EXEHCISES
\ ( ,.<j
Afte r slImc and all clause is usuallv introduced
by as, e,f:'. .
I shall be surprised if he docs th is the same wav <IS I do ,
SJlC wears the Same kind of clothes as her sister wears,
Thave never heard .I' uch stories as he t ells,
""e arc such stuff (/S dreams are made on ' (Shakespeare,
Tile Tempest,)
But, occasionally, thlll call be used af ter S'lnl", e,g,
She wore t il l' S(IIII(' <lrt'% that she wore at ;\Iary's wedding,
ArJjECl lVE (L\USES WITI! F ORMAL SUBjECTI ' IT'
Sometimes a part of a sentence is given front position and is
int roduced by it is (or some other form of th e verb to br:
singular number] and followed by an adjecti ve clau se, c.g.
I! is work t hat we want, not charity,
II h',o Sir ROII'Lmd 1l ill who introduced the I'cuuy pos t in
England,
It (til/not IN you who will have to take the blame for t his.
11 4 ',1.\' only J ohn's hanl work that made succ ess possible,
Things People
tl Comprehensive English Grammar
- {2 ) GO!'i- DT!F!" I Nt; ,
3"
An adjective clause may be introduced b} the words: wheyr ,
whm ll'hv if these words have the meaning ill which, at which,
for which', et c., e.g.
The place where Macbet h met the witches was a desola t e
heath.
I remember t he day whm she first wore that pink dress.
I know the reason why he was so angry
In t he above examples t he adject ive clause is a defming one;
but whm an d uhere can also introduce non-defining
e.g.
\\'e will put off t he picnic unti l next wcnk , when the weather
may be better.
They went t o the Royal Theatr e, uherc t hey saw Ibs en's
' Peer Gynt' .
-
Subject who which
Object whom which
+ Prepositio1l t o whom t o which
Possessive whose of which , whose
--
I R ELATI FS I " TROI Jl' CED av OTHER Wonns ]
[ WUE.'> . \\'lfEIIl'., WllY\
, ,
'"
I page l Or.
III
VI
VII
33
A COlllprehtllsit,( Ellfili sh Grammar
Combine the following pairs of sentences by using
relative pronouns: . .
(1 ) This house is very modern. It has tele\"lslon a nd
an electric washing-machine. .
(2) That man seems very lonely. His wife and family
are away.
(3) Dumas was a famous F rench novel ist . He wrote
The Three Muske/un.
1 t t hi m with
(4) He is a reliable fellow. can rus
anything.
(5) That mountain is difficult to climb. It has many
danuerous slopes ,
o bt l n The)' were
(6) Those IJrize pigeons have een SOl' .
very valuable. .
(7) Our dog Spot is seven years old. He IS a great
favourite with the family. ,
(8) The lec t urer tonight was very mtcresung. He came
from Cambridge. .
(9) Tu'ei/lli .\'ighl is a famous comedy. It was wntten
by Shakespeare. .
(10) This summer has been very warm. That IS very
unusual in this country. _
IV P unctuat e t he following complex sent ences ,
to whether tlle clauses are defi nmg or non-definmg. _
( I ) Many people were injured in t he ca plt: l of Ht'-
tania where 1,000 students t ook part In .a
. 1 . t t ee their new house which I l ike ry
non (2) "en o s II t d must
muc-h ( ) The rubbish which John has co ec e __
be b 'rn{ (4) The river that flows through London ;s
e ou . ( ) Th Thames which flows throug 1
the Thal:nes. 5 , e . _ (6) I do not know the
London IS a beautiful rrv er. . - h t
h
. g (,) He IS gomg to t e go,
town where e IS gom . . m practice
rse where he intends t o put m so e . d
He is going to t he golf course where he practIse
last week. ,
V Combine each of t he following pairs of sen I tenccs
t
bv means of a reln.tive cause, u
one sen ence . ,
contact clauses where possible: , . _ _
. Ti l' He won t like It,
(I) He will have t o get up eat . . I . 't
(2) rve got to cntertam my
d h (3) He went to Ox ford. e re
stan cr., . issue was underwritten by
t here. (4) Ihe of this companv.
X y Z & Co. Lor _"" IS
? ubordi nate Clauses 33
1
(5) The dri ver)has driven a car for twent y years , His
licence has just been endorsed. (6) The worries ' ha ve
aged him. He h as had t hese worr ies. (7) Lewis Ca rr oll
was reall y a mathematician. He wrote Alice in
WOl1lltrfand. (8) The firm have d ispensed with h is
services . He has been employed t here for thir ty years.
(9) The house has two spare bedrooms. we've bought
i t . (10) The rat is in the t rap. It ate the cheese. Mary
bou ght the cheese,
Express d ifferen tl y, by means of relative clauses:
(I) This is a -bock on zoology, there is none better.
(2) The reason for his si lence is not known. (3) I ended
up by making a speech, and I hadnt wa nted t o. (4) My
sister is quite mad t o want t o be an actress, for she has
not t he least talent . (5) Here is a girl with real t a lent
and she reall y ough t t o ha ve gone in for the t heatre.
(6) \V", are livi n!l i n profound ly d ist urbing t imes ,
Complete t he followinll' sent ences by adding the
appropriate relative pronoun a nd, where necessa ry,
commas. If the relative pronoun ca n be omitted from
a ny of the sentences, put it in t he sentences bu t
encl ose it i n brackets ( ). Say if any of t he re lative
clauses are non-defining.
(I) The house - you' re I(){\ki ng for is at t he ot her
end of the street. (2) The bridge _ t h is photo was
taken has since been rebuilt . (3) The ch ild _ parents
died in t he air crash is living with his aunt. (4) The
yach t - you see moored i n t he ha rbour belongs to
an American. (5) The p lace _ you are st a nding was
the site of the old marke t cross. (6) You can telephone
to t he people - you t old me abou t yesterday. (7)
Whats t he ad dress of t he firm _ advertisement we
noticed the other d ay ? (8) There's the bus _ I
generally take to go to the office. (9) The fa mi ly _
I stayed wit h in Rome are coming to England t his
year. (IO) The umbrella - you bor rowed last night
belongs to my brother . (I I ) Did you know t hat the
actor - you saw playing Haml et is now doing
King Lear? (12) William t he Conqueror -was Duke
of Normandy invaded England in 1066. (13) King' s
Coll ege, Cambri dge - is a royal foundati on has a
beautiful chapel. (14) Tenni s _ is the bes t summer
game [ an be pl ayed by t wo or four players. (15) The
9t h Sy mphony - is Beethoven's greatest is very
h ard for the chorus.

II ' lglish Grammar

VI I I Const ruct three sentences cont aining adjec t ive clauses
in whi ch thai must be included and t hree from whic h
it can be omitted .
I X ,Re-write the following sentences so that each contains
a non-deeming relat ive clause;
( I) Sha kespeare was born at Stratford and wrot e
many plays . Liver pool is a busy port cont aining
miles of docks. (3) The Portuguese sa ilor, Magellan
gave his name to the famous st rait s. (",) The paintings
by Vermeer in the Ar t Galler), are insured for a large
amount . (s) This newly-published book was recent ly
summarized in a Sunday paper.
X By in troducing non-defining relatives combine each
of the follo...ing pairs of sentences ioto one sentence:
( I) Toscanini was a world-famous conductor. He often
Vlslted London. (z) The Black Death was a t errible
pes tilence. I t deci mated t he populat ion of some parts
of Engla nd . (3) Some fine stained glass can be seen in
York xnestee. It is in the );orth ol England. (4) The
Bill has been passed through Parliament. During t he
debate t here were three a ll-nigh t sittings . (5) The Fado
is a popular form of song in Port ugal. It is oft en
llosu.lgi<: in character.
XI Const ruct sentences containing relative clauses intro-
duced by the foll o...i ng: .
There (are, was, were), where. when, why.
XII Re-write t he following sentences so that they cont ai n
cl auses int roduced by "but ':
( I) Xcbcdy disagreed witb your proposal. (2) There
was no on e there who didn't support t he action t ake"
bv t he covemment . (31 There was hardly a year went
b)" t ha t dId not bnng him furt her honours. (4) 'There
was no painter of that a!<t' who did not want t o do fur
Siena .... hat t he Florent ine art ists ro ad done lor
Florence.
XII I Complete these sentences by inserting t he corte...t
introductory words:
(I) He had a na tural t hought fulness such --is r arely
seen in one so young. (2) You may do - ever you
li ke, go ever you choose and with ever you
please, (3) I remember t he t ime - you could buy a
a-ce. bar of chocolate for I p. (",) ' Wh at chapter have
you reached ?' ' The one - - the body disappears! '
.<"' lIbOTi! i l /ll l e CI<lUSi'S 333

CLAUSES '
A noun clause is one which does the work of a noun, It
may be
(9tTII" OR/ECT OF A VERB)e.g,
George said (thll t) nf WIlS plfaud to Irdcol1lf our Italian

I know (tlra/) )'011 musl be t ird aft .:r your long j01lf nq.
William dreamed (that) lit u-as fiyi'lg to lite moo'l.
This is the most usual function.
An object clause, i.e. a noun clause that is the object of a
verb mar be:
.,a) 3. statement, direct or indirect , e.g.
He said, ' TIlt Colr u-ill be rt ady tOR! orrw .'
He told me (tnat) tire dtM had bUTI paid.
.,{b) a question, direct or indirect , e.g.
He said. ' Where do y OIl lit,t?'
He asked me whi re [ livrd .
Can ) 'OU tell me WIJil t thf timr is?
XiIi E !iUBJl:.l..l uti A VERB I e.g.
What )" 011 are doTtlg seems very difficult.
That he will rrf use the 0fftT is unlikely.
HOti' th prisoTuT rscaprd is a complete mystery.
' HoUl gluJ 1 am to seeYOll ', were his first words.
' Wily are ) '011 so late )' was his next remark.
A 'subject ' noun clause always precedes it s principal clause.
The verbal predicate of subject clauses is almost always the
verb to be or a verb wi th a similar meaning,
(J;li E OBJECT OF A l' REI'OSIIIOS.) e.g.
He only laughed at whaJ
1
ue said.
They will be very t hankful for whatet'iT )'(.111 call git-'e thelll.
That student always pays attent ion to u-lsatcvcr the is
say ing.
You can have this for If'hut [Paid / or it.
, Kot e that u'h l introduces noun tlauses, not adjectival ones.

334 A CompreMnsit'e English Gram,nar

Q(n lE CO"I PI. E!>l E"' T OF A VERL/ ' e.g.
The fact is thai he d()(sn'I reAII) Iry .
It seems/appears that he has nlt'e' bern paid the monty.
That is not whal 1 want.
" bat surpri sed me was thai he spoke English so lull.
(J}\ IN APPOSITlOl' l TO A NOUN) e,g,
The fact that the p,isonrr was guilty was plain t o everyone.
The news thai U'e tire having a holiday tomorTOtf' is not true.
Th e idea that y ou can do tMs work wilhout tAi nking is quit e
wrong,
(SXUSE P WITH A S UMBEK OF PKEDICATI VE ADJECTIVES) like
certain, glad, sorry , e.g.
I am cert ain that 1 poued the letter.
She is very glad that you are 'f ble to collie.
I am afraid that y ou are , ight ,
He is qui te confident Ihat he will pass the exn nunation,
I am sorry Ihat y ou' brother i s ill .
It is possi ble that 1 l /laY (might) not be able to
It is impossi ble that he sMuld make (sllolJd IUlt'e made) a mis-
take like that .
In the l ast two sentences t he noun is in appositi o!L
t o it. In sent ences li ke this, it is called t he FOKMAL SUBJ ECT; t he
real subject is the noun clause. In t his construction t he Ihal
clause is always in end-position. Note t hat t he auxi liary after
it is possible is mayor might: aft er it is impossible it is slwuIJ.
Noun clauses are usually introduced by that or an interrogati ve
pronoun, adj ective, or adverb, e.g.
He said that he knew you.
what I wanted.
where I was going.
QUESTI ONS: He asked me who I was.
why I had come he re.
how often I had come.
1 Another noun or noun clause t nat is added t o a noun t o explain i:
further is said 10 be in apposition 10 it, e go Priestl ey. IJu Itar M - ,
ex plained the wor k, Adam, 111, ga. d,.,,, , digs in t he garden. Henry YIi I.
lling of England, di ed in
,
S" J,Ordill<lte Clauses 335
Th e tll<l! may be omitted except when the noun clause precede s
th e main verb! c.g.
He said (that) he would come.
I am afraid (Ihat) you are right .
That he doesn ' t want t o see us is qu ite ob\-iolls.
Noun. clauses t hat express a hope or a suggest ion often have
the auxiliary verb may , might or should, e.g.
I hope we may have the pleasure of seeing you aga in.
He hoped t hat t hey might han t he pleasure of seeing her
again.
The teacher suggested t hat each student sholJ d tell a st ory .
.A noun clause may occur in the exclamatory const ruc t lone
WI th words as 0 (meaning ' I wish'), Alas (meaning ' I am
sorry'], cs.
o t hat I could swim like you!
' AlliS, t hat Spring should vanish wit h t he Rosel'
(Omilr Khayydm, t ranslat ed by Fi t lgerald)
I n t he chapt.er Parts of Speech it was emphasized t hat
words are cl assified mt o P,arts of speech according t o t he work
they do and not according t o t heir form. This stipulation
applle.s t o. clauses also. The same clause may be a noun clause,
an adjecti ve clause or an adverb clause, e.g.
(I ) Tell me where y ou went.
(2) I am going t o t he house where yOIl lunt .
(3) I am going where YQlI lunt
I.n Xo. I th e subordinate .is a noun clause, objec t of t he
ver b tell . In No. 2 It IS an adjecti ve clause qualif\' ing t he noun
house, In >10. 3 it is an adverb clause of place. -

I Pick ou t the nou n cl auses in t he following a nd describe
t h e funct ion of each :
( f) That it was done delibera t e!}' is q uit e clear. (2) We
great ly regret t hat we were obliged to refuse your
'II !s not omitt ed "hen t he noun clau,,", is used with a furt her
luoordln.a; e cla,;,'<e t h":t it , Compare ' He said he "'ould come
for dln?er and He !<aId 11<,, 1, , f he cnuld ma. nage u. he would COme for
dinner , See page J f 3.

A ComprthtllSit,t English Grammar

VI Give a full description 01 th e noun clauses in t he
iollowing sentences'

/ .
SlIbordUlittt Clauses
337
( I) Tcll mc which of these patterns you prefer. The"
want to know when we are goinl; t o take our holida):.
(J) She enqUired at t he shop when her costu me would
be ready. (oJ) ' Why did you st ay out so late?' wns t he
mother's firs t quest ion. (5) The Tumour t hat prices will
soon go down 15 unfor tunatel y un t rue. (6) The t rut h IS
he. do:es not hard enoul;h. (7) ' What on earth,' he
said, do you think YOlI are doing?' (8) It is that
I shall KO a....ay for the week-end . (9) That he should
be delibera tely dishonest is unthinkable. (10) As t he
day was fine I proposed that we should So for a picnic,
Turn t he following sentences into indirect speec h in
s uch a ....ay t hat each contains a noun clause:
(I) I have crossed the Channel a bo ut t imes.
(l l They have sold all thcir propert y ill England.
(J) How Ion,:: have you been worki ng in offic e?
(4) Smoking is strictl y forbidden. (5) Don't wai t for me
afte r eight o'clock, (6) Xotice: Ticket -holders are asked
to be in t heir seats by 8.15. (7) Ought I t o go to see him,
I . w<;mdered ?.IS) Shall I ever master English prou un-
n ahon? (9) 1hey hope t o get away cnr ty this evening
(10) Wrl l you j oin me in II dr ink? With great pleasure,
th ank you.
\'II
CillillC>\ DVE HB CI. AUSE S]
Adverb clauses do the work of adverbs. The chief of
adverb clauses are t hose of:
..{ tX i ndicat e ho.to an action is done, c.g.
Henry did t he work as it ought to be done,
When I get the money I shall spend it as J Ukl:.
I sh all do t.he exercises as 1 hQl't bun taught .
He r an as If (thollgh) his lIf e Jeptnded on it.
Clauses of. m an ner are usually i ntroduced by t he
as, as If . as though,l followed bv a past sub-
juncnve, e.g. -
You look as if (= as you wou ld look if) YOIl had seen a ghost ,
But t he introdutin, & tl&uH: i, no true pido 10
In
u
d
of introduced . The u.me word may, lL5 .... ", 'bown e&rlin
, '- ed uce kind. of The true guid e i, I ho "'Ofk t hat Ih;
" UH: IS <I<>mg ,

invitation. (3) Many people are wondering when inter-

pl anetary travel will become possible. (4) Can you
explain to me where he lives? (5) \\'hat you are attemj 't-
ing is really too difficult for you. (6) The hospital will
greatly appr ecia te aU you can do for th e patients.
(7) We .....ere greatly- amused by what you t old us.
(s) It seems that he is not coming t o t he party after all.
(9) The notion th at people can work lC$S and earn more
IS contrary t o reason. (10) I am delighted th at you ha ve
succeeded in getting t he job.
II Complete these sent ences with noun clause objects.
Use the interrogative pronoun or adjecti ve indicated
t o introduce each clau se.
( I) I do not know . , . (what) , (2) I did not know . ..
(how). (3) Nobody underst ands . . . (why). (of) Please
tell me .. . (who). (5) He couldn' t make out . . . (where).
(6) Can you fi nd out ... (when).
(a) Suppl y noun clause subject s to complete the
following sentences:
( I) What is none 01my business.
{2} That is clear t o anyone with a grain of sense.
(3) How is beyond my comprehension.
(4) When , . , depends on tile t ime at her di sposal.
(5) Whether ... is for your husband to decide.
(6) Who . .. is more important t han where it comes
from.
(7) Why , .. heats me!
(S) Where , . , is immaterial, 50 long as it is done.
(b) Re-write t he above sentences, us ing ' It' as t he
formal subject .
Form a noun clause:
(a) I n apposition to the noun 'suggest ion'.
(b) As object of the preposi t ion 'on',
(t) As complement of the verb ' was"
(ti) As complement of t he adjective 'aware' .
\ . What kmd of clauses are the ones in italics ?
(/I) Tell me t be reason why .II, did it .
tbl You can do it .llow yqu lib.
(e) we don't know uMrt wt art goi"g.
(d) The place u:.IItrt u't art goi"i is a long way from any
t own.
I V
III
Subordinate Clauses 339
I shall wait unt il you come back. (NOT: shall come)
He will let you know as soon as he has an y news. will
.
\ \ 'e u-ili sll1d t he money as soon as the goods are dtJivatd.
(SOT: ;t>ill be delivered]
I am going to 'Write to John as soon as I h,li'e a spare moment,
By t he time you Cd back, dinner Itill ready
!<bli p" ,,}
The const ruction ill place cl auses is simil ar to t hat in tune
tlauses. A Future Tense in t he principal cl ause IS generall y
accompanied by a Present Tense in' the place clause,
I will go where you tell me,
'Wh ere your treasure is, th ere tdll your heart be also.'
But oth er sequences of tense are possible according to t he
eeanmg. eg.
I sho{l ",((I him where I nrst f ll tt you.
'hen a place clause is int roduced by 11'11"(";''', the subj unctive
uivalcnt may is sometimes used, ego
I will find her wherever she /li llY be.
Wherever you may go, he will not forget you.
4l 'REAsm....
r
n r.o,.L;'; E J which indicate li'hy an action was
no. These clauses are generally introduced by bCf<1rfSl' . since,
, su ing that, nmc th(lf, c.g.
He sold the car browse it tras too small,
Si llce;" s/su i"g tlllll/lIou' that] yo" U'0I1' 1 help me, J must do
t he job myself.
Clauses beginning wi th 115, since, suirIg that, usually precede
the principal clause; t hose beginn ing with usually come
u t(' r it, e,g.
As my secretary is airay at p,esorl. I have a gr eat many ext ra
let ters to answer,
I ha ve a great many ext ra letters to a.nsv..er ucarlSe m.l-'
se:rtfa,y is aU',",y at present.
t he forme r sentence t he emphasis is t hrown on to t he
principal clause: in the latter it is t hrown on to t he ad verb
ause.
338 A COtJlp,dreHsive E1'1:1ish G, amma,
(PLAcE) which indicate u'ht1e an action was done,
The house stood v he,e the L emdon ,oad lIlu ts the Bnght o>!
roed,
St ay uht1e you a,e!
I .....ill go ;l'ht1nJt1 )'<Iu go.
'Fools rush in uhe,e angels [ear to tTead:
t
Adverb clauses of place are introduced by or whe,ever
-(3l \T1J>1E]which indicate when an act ion wasdone. These
clauses can be int roduced by a number of conJunct IOns , e.g
It'hell, u hile, after , bejoTe, "'llil , since, as, as soon as.
Examples:
When it ra ins, I usually go to t he cmcc by bus.
I learned a lot of French whil.: I was i ' l Paris .
She learned English be/are she canu 10 ".
He kep t on with his work " ntil he had ji fllshed I t.
The thief was arrested as he uas leat1','l: the batik. Z
Alexander Pope {1688- 11141. "" C. ; lieis.....
.AI i. llled .... be n ....e ue t binking 01 t he an
re&loOO , he ver b in an adverb dall!lO begino.n, .... Ith u 1\ genera y I ,
the Continuous 'reese
TESO SF:<; ,' SED IS :\n VF. RB ( LAI;SES a t T n l!:' .... SO P t.ACF
-441 1 ImeI . " ,
In adverb clauses of t ime, a Present Tense m t he pnncrpa.
clause takes a Present Tense in t he time a f' ast Tense
in t he principa l clause takes a Past Tense m t he time clause
Example. :
PRESEST: I like perfect quiet ness when I am wo, kitlg. you
go out, please close t he door. As soon as it is dark, t he light ,
of the t own go on, ,
PAST" He li ked perfec t quietness when he U' IIS workltlg, He
switclud off t he radio as soon as the jazz music started, As he
urent out he slammed th e door.
But a Fut ure Tense in t he principal clause generally takes a
Present Tense in t he time clause, e go
I hid the book 1('5t he shotl/d sec it.
I hid t he book so t hat he should not see it.
When the subject of the subordinate clause of purpose is
the same person or tJling as t he SUbject of t he principa l clause,
purpose is often expressed not by a clause but by the intiniti\'c
with 10, in order 10, or so as 10, e.g.
They arc climbing higher to get (i ll order to gd . so ,1$ to gtt)
a better view.
I will send him our proposals now to gll'f {i n Ordt r 10
him time to consider them.
'I come to bury Caesar not to praiJt hi m.'!
-( 6) l.:OSCESSIOS (meaning ' I concede that . . . ' , 'I grant
that . . .. ese clauses are introduced generally by llwugh.
although, ti!" 1thol/g/., occasionally b y rrenif, whern'tr , U'1lt'ltvtr,
W tvt r (wit h an adj ccti ve), whether . . . or not, no "Inlier
1I'helher . .. or not , e.g.
Though (althOltgh) he tried hard, he was not Successful.
He did well ill his examination, even if he didn't gd a priu .
However hard he fr ies, he never seems able to do the work
satisfactorily.
Wketlur lie works or not , I don't think ho will pass his
examinat ion.
H'halet'er y Oll may S/lY, I still think I did the right thing.
No mailer wllt/htr y ou ague or not, I shall pay him the price
he asks.
Quite often, especially in spoken English, the words, ' I t doesn't
matt er' introduce a concession, e.g.
It dotsn't matter lehal y ou say, I shall go to the dance.
In concessive clauses t hat imply a fact, the verb is in the
talkative mood; but sometimes, in concessive clauses tha t
Ider t o future or present time, the subjunctive mood or a
IIbjuncti"e equivalent is used, e.g.
It would be worth while trying eren thollgh it should 'lot
at once.
'Thollgh y our sins he as scar/ft, the}' shan be white as
snov..' (Bi ble)
A CompreholSlI'( E"glish Crammer
Additional emphasis i.s to t he
when it is preceded by It IS, It was, et c.. an ,
e.g. U h I Id lt
It was (only) lxcausl the car U' as so sma t at re so
. t lwavs be used never as, etc In this const ruction betau$( mus
If t he sentence had read:
-!s tht car U'as so snlall he sold it
t he emphasis on, t he reason for his selling it would not k l \"C
been SO strong.
'5)y t: RPOSEI These clauses are
. "'\ , ,. " and the somewhat archaic lest (m ern. Jor Jta. In or tT .
thai ' so that nat).
Some people eat so that thry may {it'e.
Othe rs seem to live in ori n that they may eat .
He worked hard so that ht might win the PrlU;,.
He took his shoes off so Ihat I shollidn'/ hear HII ,. ,
Ili , t his lest )'011 ShOl.ld make 'l mistake (for
make a mistake/so that you should
not make mist ake).
. . f urpose are introduced by lI!at.
\\ lien affirmati ve clauses 0 p J iu ture t ime and mIght
lIl ay is ge.neral.ly used t: resent those introduced
for past t ime: In negat tv e c 3.uses,. d should for past
by lest ). shalt is used for present t ime an
nme, e.g, h . 1 et a better
They are climbing higher so that t ey ma) g
view. I t h m ".1have nrne
I will send him our proposals now. so t ra e ,_
to consider them before our met"t m
g
.
1
be free to go aW1Y
He is working late so that he " 1,1)
tomorrow. h . ht ! get a better view.
They cl imbed higher so that t ey "ug h h . Ittt ha\'c
I sent him the proposals last week so t at e ill Ig
time to consider them. . hl
l
be free to go ;LW1Y
He worked late last night so that he ''''g
tomorrow.
l<.l be used in. t ead of
1 In the"" sent ences uiII OT C<111 Id be u.al ins tead uf ..,,;hl
, In the"" sentences could or wo..1 COLI .
Subordi'WIe Clallses
J41
Subordi'l<lte Ctal/Sts 343
When all adverb clause of comparison introduced bv ' than
ibnt' , ShOI/ld is often used as an auxi liary, e.g. .
I would rat her lose t he chance of getti ng t his job thaPl that
you should ask your brot her t o recommend me.
S ot hing would please me more OllJPl tllat my daughter shol.ld
maTTY}'our son.
i-(8)Vos PrmriH or( s l' PPOsfTJOs ). which indicate on what
ndit ion tliiilg happens, happened or \\;11 happen. These
uses are Int roduced by t he conjunct ions 'f,' m/t s:s (= if not),
as long as, or that (aft er sl.pposing, prOt'iatd, on
dltlon) e.g.
I shall go if he ask:s me.
I shan' t go unless he asks me.
I shall go, whether he asks ". e or not.
I shall go as long as/prOt1ded tllat /on condition thallI/tasks lilt .
Supposing that lie asks y ou, will you go?
There. is a type of conditi onal clause, used in sentences of a
;JI"overblal nature, where t he condi t ion is expressed in t he fonn
:l a command, e.g.
Give [i.e, if you give) him a1/ illch and he'll take a yard. I
A sk (= if you ask) lII e 11 0 questions and I will tell you no lies.
Spare the rod and spoil the child. (= it you spare t he rod,
you will spoil t he child.]
For furt her treatment of adverbial clauses of condi t ion, see
apter Twenty-four.
;r(9)( RESULT}A clause of simple result is usually introduced
so that, e.g.
I received my wages yest erday, so thaJ I can now pay what
l owe you.
He was speaking very quietly, so thut it was difficult t o hear
what he said.
is const ruc t ion differs from the similar const ruction int ro-
tieing a clause of Purpose, in t hat it is not followed by 'Play,
or sMld.
I The proverbial expression is ' .. and he'l take an Ill'. (An
....u an old meUll.re, in Englalld . , inebet. Or iginally it wu the
8t h of an ann. Compare Ilbo"" t be 'bo.... or bend in t he u m)
'The me.ning roughly, ' Yo\lr eoo.r ning$ " ill be proport ionate t v
your ...."r k' .
342 A Comprehensive English Grammar
Other const ruc t ions with concessive clauses are:
Poor as he was ( = t hough he was poor) he was honest.
MlU1I as J admire hi", as a writer ( = though I admire him a
great deal ) I do not like him as a man .
Try as he will (try as he may) (= th ough he tries hard], he
never seems able t o do t he work satisfact orily.
For all that he seelllS so bad-tempered (_ though he seems so
bad-tempered], I still t hink he has a very kind nature.
There is also a construction-s-especially in conversat ion-s-in
which though comes at t he end of the sentence, e.g.
Henry looks stupid: he knows mathematics , Ihollgh.
This is not a complex sentence so t heft: is not a of
concession in it , but though (= nerertbeless, all the sllme) gives
a concessive meaning t o it.
When t he subject of t he clause of concession and t he
principal clause refer t o the same person, a-phrase wi th thougll
may take t he place of HIe concessive clause, e.g.
Though bea/tn , we were not disgraced.
Though no swimmer, Mary splashed about happily in the sea,
)) cml PAIOSQS Th ese clauses arc introduced by as (pre-
ceded y so, sue I, <:I S in t he principal clause). than (preceded by
a compara tive in t he principal clause), e.g
Th is work is not so (as) easy as yOIl thi1lk.
That quest ion was not such an easy one as [ thought
That question is easier thdn [ Ihollght.
Anot her type of clause has. th,e const ruct ion
'The . . comparat ive ... the . . . comparative, e.g.
The more you work, the mort you earn.'
The more he has, the more he wants.
Tilt sooner you finish your work , the S{lO'tltf you will go home
In some proverbial expressions t his const ruc t ion has become
nry ellipt ical. e.g.
The more. the merrier. The soone r t he better.
si lence -- he began t o play. (6) They promised to .)
wai t - - t he clock st ruc k eight , (7) I gave up s tudying
mathematics - it was too difficult a subject (b: ) It
was only - the t rain was la t e t hat I d id not meet
you. (9) He oft en worked late - - he could earn more
money. (10) I a m posting th is lett er to night -- you
will receive it in t he morning. (I I ) _ she may have
told you. I still think he is not t o be trust ed. (12) The
expense may be justi fiable - it don 5C\"m ex-
cessive. (13) ) {lIch - I enjoy his lect ures his manner.
isms rrrrtate me. ( q l - we we re very tired after t he
Journey. we were in good spirits, (15) The oral examina-
t ion was not $0 great an urdealc-c-c-, r had [eared. ( 161
-- tha t my expenses are paid I shall he wil1 i:ll: t o
attend t he con ference. ( 171 You ca n co un t on him to d o
t he j ob exact ly - you want it <lone. (18) _ the
money does not arrive in time, how will you pay YUlir
landl ady? ( 191 I shall use th is money exact ly -- I
li ke. (20) Those books 'mnl be found _ t he)' are.
Add adver b cla uses to t he following main clauses. as
indicat ed :
( I ) He worked . , . (M au>ltT)
(2) . . . please come a nd call OIl me. (Ti ",e)
(J) ., you ca nnot a fford to slac k. (CarlSt)
(4) You don 't want t o go . ,., do you? (Phl u)
(5) He refused t o have cit-stoves in his house ... (Cai/,'e )
(6) ., ., it is bett er t o have it. just in case. (Col1ct Hion )
(7) . .., your consci ence will leave you no peace.
(Collct.ui onr
(8) . ,." I shall write to him t omorrow. ( PUTPOSt )
(9) , there is no need for rudeness. (Col/ct.ls ioll)
( 10) , you would not be so rude. (Conditio,, )
( I f) I t 's as broad (Co", pa, ison)
( I:!) I t "s not so cold (Co", paTi son)
(13\ There was a storm that night such .. . before nor
... since. (Co", paTi so,,1
(1.4) "[ary is cfcverer .
( rS) The sooner he get s ou t of tha t habit, . , , (C(' m"
pariso,, )
(16) I would rather come a nother day than t ha t
(Coonpariso,,)
(t 7) , he will go ou t tomorrow. (Co" ditio"l
(18) he would go ou t t omorrow. (Condition)
( 19) . . . he would have gone Ollt yesterday . (CondiliOIl)
(lo) You can do what you like .. . (Conditio'l)
34-1 I A CompTthmsllt English Grammer
,\ clause of result associated with degree is introduced ,
so ... tllat, SlIl:J, . that or so . .. as to. e.g. '
He ran so fast thllt I could not catch him.
It was such a warm day 'hat I took off my jacket .
Wou ld you be so kind lIS to carry t his'
EXERCISES
I Pick out the ad verb cl auses in the following senten.e,
and say what type of adver b clause each one is;
(I) When we arrived at the JootLal l field the game
started. (2) Richard le ft dir t)" Ioot ma rks wherever h
went. (3) Kick the ball hard. as Richard did. (4) DCI.:
handle those cups a nd saucers as if they were mace r..:
iron . (5) I am standing where I ca n sec t he game '..
You can't come into this room while we are havffi J; a
lesson. (7) As won as t.he hays ca me in to the room
noise st arted. (8) Use the paint-brush as I showed )"(1"
yesterday. (9) Everywhere I looked t here were dirt y
Iootmarks. (10) Our frtends had arrived when we fM
home ( ul I need hammer and because I
going t o repair the shed, (12) We couldn't. the
match. because the !OK was t oo thick. (r J) We shall
come and see you , if we have a holiday. (1.1)
it was rather foggy, we played the match. (15) \\ c
play the match, even t hough it is rather foggy. (16) \\e
had to cancel tl,e match, because It was so
(17) Mr s . Brown locked the cupw ard. so that Richard
should net take t he cakes. (18) I will tell you the secr et
if you won't tell it to anyone else. (19) II you ..... 1:1tell
me t he secret, I won't tell it to anyone else. (0: 0) Iller
went swimming. although the sea .....as very t ough . (11)
He t old me the: secret so tha t I should help him
(21) Brown locked the cupboanJ. because she di,;n:
want Richard t o take t he cakes.
II Complete the following sentences by put t mg con'
j unct ions in t he vacant spaces and, at the .end of
sent ence. say what kind of ad verb clause IS ernplo) ed
in it ,
( 1) He did his wor k - he t horou ghly w j o:"ed i;.
('J -- I have finished my university st udi es I
spend a year in travelli ng. (3) Put those books
immedi&t1lly-theybelong. (-4) We to?k
_ we were in Swiberland , (51The pianISt wa. ted fo;
III
Subordinate Clal lStS
345

34
6
IV
A Comprehensive English Grm>!mM
Pick ou t t he adverb and adjective clauses in t he
following passage, and classify them:
D. was a t all boy who had outgrown his strength and
lIad no brains. Wh enever he was asked a q ues tion. he
would sa y. ' ET. . -: as he never had t he least idea what
the answer was . One day, during a General Knowledge
lesson, the master had a li t tl e jo ke with him. I n order
that he might give D. an op por tuni ty t o answer at least
one question, he pointed t o him and asked him t o name-
Abraham' s bir th place. Though D., as usual, hadn ' t t he
least idea, he repl ied q uite corr ectl y. ' Ur' , which was
no more t ha n his usual 'Er .. .' ,
Another habit by which D. will be remembered was
h is fond ness for riding hi s bicy cle ui> and down t h e
High Street, where he could he seen by large n umbers
of the school. He would ride a t fantastic speeds, as
though his life were at stake; his sol e object , however,
was t o see how many electric li gh t bulb s he coul d break
through an of elec t ricity from the hub
dynamo. The faster h e rode, the more success he had in
breaking bulbs, No boy I ever knew was q uit e so stupid ,
or , in his way, so memorable, If he were not so stupid,
I' d say h e must now be a raci ng-motor ist ---or an
archaeologist!
V Const r uct ten sentences each conta ining all adverbi a l
clause i nt roduced by a word or express ion from t he
following list, and a t the ensI of eaclcsentence name th l<
kind of adverbial clause it contains:
as, t hough, as soon as , for fear t ha t , however , seeing
that , on condit ion that , in order to, no matter , t he
less ,' .. the less,
C 1C\PTEH
CL AUSE S)
Condit ional clauses are of t
form and meaning of t he \ \' ? kinds, dist ingllisl lcd bv t he
between t hem is impor t ant principal cl ause, The difference
, ( Tvpe I : QpEN Coxo rnoxs \
Type I I S represented by sentences like:
Z s:
Unless the rain SlOps I shall not g f
I! . h 0 or a walk
yOIl are ng t, t hen I am wrong, '
The positions of the clauses b
if-clause is placed first it r tt can e When t he
'_ a lcr more emphat ic
I will help him 1/ he asks me. -
I won't help him u-nless he as ks tile
He wili d o t he work l! (P d d '
the ti" r Ol 'l c Illal lon condition Ihal) he has
".
All these sentences ca nt' . di .
be fulfilled, Thus the rain a It lOl.l that mayor may not
work or li e may not' y s oP. or it may not ; john may
sent ences do not sa; be right or may not . The
realized; t hey do not st ate t: or will not be
will (or will not ) work or thatl;o lC ra(lll WIll stop, t hat J ohn
condit ions in t hese ar:
l
, are ?r arde .no t ) wrong. TIll:'
" open can mons

[ TES SES USED I N OPEN CO" DITlO" S I

Telise itj
illain clause
Present
Future
Present Tense in ',j'
ctaust'
If Y .
I ou arc figh t I am wrong.
f you help me I wi ll help vcu.
m
A great many co b! .
" dt . m mat rons of t enses may be u; d .
con mons, e,g. '- c III open
I
A Compr ehe1ls1u Eflglish G rlllllJlJ()r
I I 'I e pos'i b, I;'.\'
' Th is SCrlterlCC (",nh should ) , ug gests [l rat ler morc ren v ." .
t ll a " thc cue.
us,
If t he train should be late, what will you Future
do?
The form with should (i.c. should + infini tive.wi t h?ut to) ,is
usually used when some course of action is be 1)1
cer tain possible future It. IS thus most tre-
quently employed when the mum clause'is a command or a
quest ion.
Present Perfect T ense in ' If '-cli/llse

m,peIDH\'POTIlETlL\L CO:->DtTIOSS,
The following arc examples of Hypot het ical Conditions;
If Henry lure here, he would know the answer,
If I had the m Ol l e....., I would buy a new car,
'If wishes tI'ere horses , beggars would ride .'
If I If'ere King, you shoul d be Quoon.
III t his t ype of sentence, too. t he clauses may be reversed , e g.
r would buy a new car If I had the money.
sep t ences make a hypothesis which 'may be cont rary to
act or Just somet hing not t hought of as a tact . ' If Henry \\'C1'e
bere , . .' implies t ha t he is not here: 'If I had the moncv'
:mplies t hat I have not t he money. Or t hey may Imply a doubt:
,If J ohn wor ked hard he would pass t he Examination' suggests
, . , but I am douhtful whet her he wi ll work hard .'
sen!ences of Type II (Hypoth etical Condi tio ns) th e past
'cbjunct tve is used in tile 'if ' d ame and "Mild or shm'/d f t hl'
nfillitivc arc used in the main clause. Sentences 01 t lLis kind
aay refer t o present time, past time or futnre time,
)(PUI' SENT T f\\J. j
If H m ry were here, he woul d kn ow th e answer.
If I had the mOll ey , I shoul d buy a new car.
This could be expressed rat her more indircctjv diffidently or
poli t ely with u'ollld: - ,
If you wou ld (It'01//d he so kind as t o/l('oIl1d be kind enough
to) sign t his agreement . I wi ll let you have the money at
once
COllditiUJlIIl Clauses 34()
GOTd The f nt ur e. Tense cannot be used in t he If clause
even when the meanmg IS future , e,g.
J sha ll go for a wa lk If tIll' rain ,i'ilf 5t0[1. (\\ ' IWSG)
I shal l go for a wa lk if t he rain slops. (RI GHT)
If ill is possible in such rases if It is used to express not
future time but willingness, e.g.
If yO'll iritl sign t his agreement , I ii'ill let you han the money
at or n-e.
Tense 11;
.\ [aill c!,ws,'
Future
Present
Tense in
su. clause
Present
Past
Future
I mper ati ve
Imper ati ve
I mperat ive
Impe rat ive
Past
FOlSe i n
\[,1111 clUlI.I,'
Future Perfen
I mperat ive
Past Trnse in ' ij'-clause
If I have made a mistake, I will try' t o
remedy it ,
If you have done your work.you ma ygo to
the cinema.
If I said that, I apologize.
I f I sai d t hat, I was mistaken.
If I made a mistake , I will try to remedy it.
Present Tense in '1/'
clause
If 1 get this right, I shall have answered
every question correctl y.
If what you say is right , t hen what I said
was wrong.
If you meet Henry, tell him I want to sec
him.
If vou should' meet Hcurv, tell him I want

t o sec him.
If th e is very dry, don' t forget t o
water those plants.
If he should come, please give him t his
book.
If you should be passing, do come and see
o
If the grass needed cutting, I would cut it.
If the hat slIi ted me, I would buy it.
Despite the Modal Pret erite t erms were, had , needed, suited,
t hese sent ences express a pRESENT condition (see page 161).
They mean: ' If Henry were here sow .. .' ' I f I had the money
sow . . .' 'If t he grass needed cutting sow .. .', etc.
..(Cl ! FUTURE
The idea of futurity in hypot het ical condi t ions is often
exprescd by t he same const ruc t ion as is used for t he present ,
sometimes with a time adverb or phrase, e.g.
If Richard worked hard next term, he would pass the
examination.
If you went t here , you would see what 1 mean.
But futurity in t he 'if'-c1ause is frequent ly expressed by uere
to +infi nitive, e.g.
What would you say if I were 10 tell. you t hat Mary is going
to be married?
If our t rain e ere to arrive punctuall y, we should have time
to visit your sister.
-(b)( PAST
Here are sentences expressing hypothet ical condi t ions in t he
past time. You will note that in these t here is usually an
impl ied negative,
' If J ohn had worked hard' (in th e PAST) 'he woul d have passed
the examinati on.' (Implied ,Vegalive : . . but he didn't
work hard).
' If you had asked me' (in the l'AST) ' I woul d hll1'( helped you ' ,
[". .. but you didn' t ask roe'}.
'If I had had the money' (some years ago) ' I would have
bought a bigger house' (. .. 'but 1 hadn't the money').
'If the hat had suited me' (when 1 saw it in t he shop yes-
terday) 'I would hat-( bought i t.'
' I should never have done that work, if you had 1101 helped me .'
'If you had n't told me about It, 1 mighl never have gOlle t o
see it.'

ormally $It.Q1<ld is used 0 111 '0
but shQ1</d may be used wi" Y,', t he rat person singula r a nd plur"d '
]P
' n . d ' 0 ler pe rsons t o e . . "
mIse, eteemtuan on, etc] l or whi h hl1/ . xpress spe.:; Ia] Ide as
t he exa mple on page 34g-'If r " C S
Would may be used in any p ere Ki ng, you . It.Q"ld be Queen '
er son, .

35'
Hypo-
Conditional Clauses
\ V,e can sum. .rnarize t he verb f
t h t I C d
'" arms in sent enc es of
e lea on it ion li ke t his: """ v
, I EXPRESSED BY I l-i VERSION )
\ \' hen t he if clause con tain I . .
had or should it ca be S one 0 the auxiliary verbs wen
inversion of by a clause without ' if' by
jec, e.g.
W ere John here now (= if J ohn .
expl ain t he whole mat t were here now) he would
W er.
ere our t rain to arrive p t II
ti me t o visit your sister. IInC ua y at I2-45, we should have
( = i/ you had) asked me, I would have t old you the
I will go, should it be (= if it should b )
, 'J e neceSSll ry.
Verb i ll ' if ' clause
V frb in ,l!lI i 11 cl,lIIse
Pl< ESJ-::-': T
Si mp!: Past Ten se (or
TI)I E
uonld (ShOldd) I +
Subjuncti ve)
Lore infiniti n ',
PAST
Past Perfect Tense
'tI' ollld (sJwlIld) I hm'",
+ past par t iciple.
F L: TURE A; foe Present Time
TIME (oft en
would (should)' +
wi th a t ime
bare infiniti ve.
adverb or ph rase)
OR:
weT(: to +bare infini-
tive
A C01llp1ehmsivt English Grammar
35
A Comprchensi,'c Engli sh Gr<ll!lnti.l r
EXERClSb
1 Complete t he followi ng sent ences with t he corr ect
tense of t he verb in brackets.
(1) If you a re kind t o me 1 - good to you [be}.
(2) If I this ti me I shall have compl et ed t he
examination. (succeed) (3) If you r statenlt:nt is corr ect
wh at he _ me IS Ilntrue . (t ell) (4) If you -
willing t o go, so _ I. (be) (5) I will pay him well if
he __t he work properly . (do) (6) If I rea lly - t hat
I am vcr y sorry. (say) (7) II you - - t h at y uu -
the book by mistake I should h a\'c und erstood , (say,
take) (3) II I d id b ur t his feeli ngs 1 - t o explain to
1,iIn (t ry) (9) If he has lost t h e key h e - - to buv
a not her one. (have} (TO) If you - your h omework
yOIl lIl ay go out . (fin ish) ( I I) I I you - me at the
time I should h ave understood at once. (t ell) (12) I
should alwa}'s h ave done that if t b ev - it at t11e
start , (expl ain) (n) \ \'e _ much ear lier if we had
known t he t imes of the trams , (go ) (14) T hey would
not h ave gone to t hat uotci d t hey - it s pr ices.
[know] ( t 5) l Ic . _ his chi ldren abroad for the
summer if h e _ the money , (send, have) (Th ree
for ms possihl e )
II Expla in full y , \n t h one example of each. the terms
Open Condit ion and Hy poth\:ticai COlt<:htioJ\,
I II Add t o each of t h e following wha t ISnecessary t o make
a complete sentem; e of each one, ,:ont aining a of
condit ion :
(I) If I w\:re Ch a ncell or of t he Exch equer, (2} If he had
t h e choice of a career (3} If I had more t ime t o sp are.
(4) I should like t o go to t he theat re tonight. (5) If be
took more trouble over h is wor k .
I If Compl et e t he foll owing se ntences by pu tt ing t he
b rack eted mfinitives III the correct tense .
(I) You cau go wherev er you (like) , (2) \\'11e1l you
(fin ish) your game, will YOIl please h ave a word wit h
grand ma , (3) You h ad better prep " re for fail ure, in
ord er that yOlJ (not be d isappointed ) lat er. (4) Nothing
is more cond uci ve to u nhappiness t han t h at a man
(fa il) to r ealize himse l f com plet el y. (5) If you ( tl ,row) a
stont: into a tank of water it (si nk). (6) I am going int o
t h e count ry t omon ow j f i t (be) fine. (7) I should go

Conditimlal Clausrs
uno the country ' 353
I omorrow if I (he)
rave gone IIlt<'fnre co t _ you , (8) I should
v I ' 11' un 'y yesterday if it (be) flfle
II ,l u\ ses where it is possible . .
foll owing cond it iona l st . t o dn so, rc-wrtt e t he
are "hy po t hct rcaf' en enccs so fl oat the cond it ions
' .
lee w, ll mel t i f you thruw ( I ) ThIs sheet of
t his today, I shall h ave ke ,' ,:n It , (J) If I fi nish
tan has arrived we can t m} prcrmse . (4) If t he
then, it IS not sonow ,II once (5) If that was so
m his room ' 00' t h' , you found that he was not
, ' ... " e mg was \.
\\'Ill be all r ight if you t a ' vrong. (7) Everything
(8} If he really did do it l i d\ c ,dOl;,e as you were t old ,
t o do With him (9) I f J' on t \\ Ish to ha\'e anythin "
, , ames made ' -"
It was an unintentional a mistake, I am s ur e
nustake when work- one, (10) If James made a
eff t f Illg out hIS probl II
C(; s 0 h is mistake w'U . em, len the
VI l h I soon show t hemselves.
{
nlepast { " .
Yest erd ay t {tn Ihefulure
E I
cc ay t omorrow
sac 1 of the followi n
stands, one of t h e at! scndtences could inc lude. as it
sentenco ! xrvc a verbs o f tim \\'
,en enee. i nclud ing th . e. rr te each
. h e rime-adver b and th .
..ac one with t h Ih , en re-wri te
ki e 0 er two adverb 11
rna mg any cha nges n . . . . s, w ere possible,
exercise has been partl fo help von, the
( I) If t ,. ' ", - y one or t he first sentence
I IS li ne (t oday) I an .
gu ing ou t' or 'sh.:d l ' go o\; t'1o
mg
a lit (or ' shall be
If!t had been fme-yesterd'ay I _ .. .
If It IS fine tomorrow, I _ _ '
(2) It woul d not I a' h .
foggy , ra ve ee so bar! if it h adn ' t been
(3) We should be ve ] ,
If he came I If you would come ,
(5) 'ret me if YOIl very s ur prised,
(6) If your behaviour <10 ' ,
yoursel f wit h IU' not Imj![()\'e, you \\'111 find
VIT s.
Express t he fo llow , - - ,
and add a '0' I lllg as conditions wi t hout usi ng 'It '
nam cause '
( I) If my pareuts we re' only here
( I) If! h ad been war ned -
(3) If : t sh ou ld be
(4) If It were not! t h ' ..
(5) If i t wer t ?r e expense in volved
... e 0 ram .. .

(
,
,'
c
o
d
I
I
I .
,
ClIAPTlH< T\\'E:-': TY-FIVE
I '
\ AX.\ LYSI S
SE:-':TE:\,CEsl
OF
To ana lyse a complex serrtenre, that is to break it up int o it
('ompolwnt parts ,1II d to sl-ow the mut ual rr-lations of t ho-,
pa rts, I'ractic1'ln t he H'cognizing of the various t ypes 0
clauses. Tile number of clauses in a pass01ge for analysis cal
he ascertained by counting the number of Jinite verbs in it
Each clause contains OTIC finite verb. so if we know tile numhc
of tinite verbs we know t he number of clausr.
It is oft en easier t o recognize subordinate clauses t ha n th
principal clause. Th e st udent th erefore may find it a help t
pick out and draw a l ine through all the subordinate clauses
what is left will be t he principal clause. The followi ng example
will show th e usual method of setting out a passage for analySIS
Analyse t he following:
-lI The boy, who was crying as if his heart would break, sa id
when I spoke to him, that he was hungry because he ha
had nothing to eat for two davs
I
ClauS(
Kind of
Funefi on
douse
-
The hoy said
Prtm-ipal
makes a
,
statement
-
who was erving
Adjcctive
'ilJall lics 1my
-
-
as if his heart would break
Adverb
mc difies
(.' fanne r)
''-,IS crylllN I - -
-
-
--
when I asked him
Ad verb
modifies ,
(Time)
silid I
-
- --
- --- -- 1 t hat he was hungry
NOlin
Obj i' U {If
Sdld i
-
/- ---
hc cause Le had had not Jl ing to
..\, herh
ruo di fa-s
,
eat for two days
(Heason)
INIS IlImgry
J
355
I.
A ComprehellSIi-'C E1zglish Grammar
E xpress t hese stntences III another way without usm:;
if: 'time dout worry. p ) If yo.r
{r } II you haven t got id "t ( ) I' Jl hel p you If yo"
nsked him.Tte might coust er rc. 3 b"k ()IIJamb
haven ' t Icund it by t he trrne hI Id
a L
at I t '
, I ' m sure e v;vu
t ook up acung, , Jd not behave '
(5) If he were a u honourable manlhC '-'ou to h i m '1'11 1
1
6) If au see fum r emem ier me . '
thus. y f ' ., ld have gone If we had
you ? (7) Nei t her a us \\()u
kn own how unwelcome we were.
Correct or improve t he followin g sentcTl.ecs: 1' 1 I '
'I I 1<.1 buy a CadLllae. l ,
( 1) If I should be rrc 1. WOll I hall be glad d
it would be fine, I should go lllt: (I'll UC
' dl I . rd some sampics. 4 I "
you kin y orwa d {) "[ot h er would be
glad if you kindl y closed t he (6) Unless he
too hot if y ou '."' ould close get wet. (7) I had
doesn't put on h is raincoat be ed me not to,
done it, if my father had, like t he
(8) If y ou would h ave orea e
h t OO had been arrested. ot era, you, ,

3S,t
VII I
IX
, .
--- - - . ..
I~
-
-
0
~
-

e
-
"
"
~ "
~
~
"

o
~
,
"
,
-
"
,
" "
,
"
ij
~
, , ,
, c
" <
,
<
"0
0
" ,
B "
~
" " "
-a
, -a
]
~
~
~

" "
e , z
a
"
,
Ii
I -
E
,
~
-
,
" "
E -
, ~
-e 0 ~
.:> .,
,
0
"
,
"
,
"
,
~
,
" .
,
, ,
c
;E
-.
0
, '
,
~ ~
,
"e-
c
,

e ,, -
z "2
-
< co
,
' -
,
"
,

,
;,;
,
ii
~ ' -
es
E
,
"
, ,
"
,
" I
~
t-
,
,
-
~ "
~
s
" "
.0: -=
"
,
0
I
0
".
, 0 "
iJ
- -
- 0
/IJlal}'sls uf Sentences
__, , _ , ~ 357
- --, '---;---;- - - ,
Clause
Kind of
Function
I
clause
we should be t empted to fancy
Principa l
makes a
st atement
if it were not for t his perpetual
Adverb modifies
imi tation
(Condit ion)
should be
lempted
t hat children despised us out -
Xoun
object olin
r igh t
f ancy
or only considered us in t he Noun
Obj ect of 10
l i ght of creatures brutally
[ancy
strong and brut ally silly

,
among whom they conde- Adjective
qual ifies
sccnded to dwell in obedience,
(features
like a philosopher
., a bar-
barous court
f
356 A Comprehensi1t English Grammar
-{2rlf it were not for this perpet ual imit ati on, we should be
tempted to fancy that children despised us outright OT
only considered us in the light or creatures brutallv
strong and brut ally silly, among whom t hey cond; .
scended to dwell in obedience, lik e a philosopher at a
barbarous cour t.
If a 'full ' anal ysis is required. t he above t wo passa ges could be
t r-eated like this:
,

359
r What do you understand by:
( I) a complement. (2) an adverbIal adjunct, (3) function,
(4) a dausC'. (5) subjoct. (6) predicate. (7) object.
J I Analyse the full owing passages indicating only the
d a uses, tJWft kind awl t heir function:
( I) The pirates, who had hidden the treasure on the
island, went back again because t ht"y th ough t that
<.: ' ''dd IIOW remove It with salety.
Richard, t hough he had not previously answcrtxl any
q uestions when t he teacher asked him, now said that
he knew the answer to t h is cue because it was i n the
lesson that he had just read.
(J) when the teacher asked whar part of speech a word
was, john said, ' I can tell you t h<;: answer, II y ou will
give me a sentence HI which t he word is used' ,
(I) James controlled 11lmsclf, for he did not want to
betray his surprise, and hrs whole fut ure d epended
"" S' l\XCSS at this illlel' vicw,
(5) The bells, which had been silent for so lo ng, pealed
out to announce that an heir had at la st been born,
((,) Xichcias and lois wife, tholl gh they were hitterl y co ld ,
rCllla incd to cheer with the t housands tha t had
gathered in front of the palace gates.
(7) As dawn a ppr oached , t he sky grew red, t he crowds
became qui etCI-, the Cold was making Itself felt
somcwllat less aCli tely, and an a tmosphere of steady
calm replaced tl le l." xtremes of indifference on the on e
hand and uncontrolled abandon on the other.
{Ii} 'Though fond of many acquaintances , I desire an
llltimacy onl y with a few. The :'Il an i n Bl ack, whom
r have o ft en ml."ntioned, is one whose friendship
I cou ld wish to acquire, bceal,se he possesses my
esteem,'-Oliver Goldsmith, The ,Hall i " Black.
(9) ' Th is authority of t he Knight , tllOugh exerted in that
odd ma nner which aCCompames him in all tbe
circumst ances of hfe, has a very good eff ec t upon t he
parish, who are not polite enough t o see anything
ridiculous in his Addison ,
Sunday." the Country.
(10) Among the many t ributes paid t o him was one wh ich
said his services t o the fr ee worl d had heen incnf,
cul a ble ,
EXEHCISES
of Smfmces
,
"
,
"
,

,

A Engl ish Grammar
( II) ' In spite of however, most of us cannot hel p
believing t ha t t he philosoph ers were n gh t - rigl,t
when they proclaimed. amid a ll t heir differences,
that most of the things we bot her about are n ot
wor th bothering about. It is easier t o believe that
oneself is a foo l than that Socrates was a foot and
yet, if he was not right. he must have been t he
greatest fool who ever lived. The truth is, that every-
body is agreed that such men as Socrates and
Ep ictet us were right in their i ndifference t o external
th ings. '
Rober t Lynd, On not bel1Jg 1I philo50p"er.
(12) Avenge, 0 Lord. thy s taughtcrcd saint s, whose bones
Lie scattered on t he Alpine mountains cold;
Even t hem who kep t thy t ru th so pure of old,
When all our fa t hers worshipped st ocks and stones
Forget not: in t hy book record t heir groans
\Vho were thy sheep, and in t heir ancient fol d
Slain by t he bl oody Piedmontese, t hat ro lled
Mother with infant d own the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled t o the hills, and t hey
To Heaven. Their martyred blood a nd as hes sow
O'er all t he Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple Tyrant: that from t hese may grow
A hundredfold, who, h aving' learn t Thy way,
Early may fly t he Babylonian woe.
Milt on (1608-74), all tile late M ossacre in Plf dlonl ,
_ , CH AP T E R
I D IRECT ANn SP EECH I
In speech we, have t he exa ct words of the speaker, e g ,
I am learnmg J,n indirect or report ed speech
e gtvo the same meanmg but Wit h a di fferent form, so t hat
t he words spoken arc incorporated into t ile st ructure of t he
mai n sentence, e.g.
- Direct : ' J am learning English, '
_ l udlreet : He said t hat he was learning English,
The difference between t he t wo forms is shown by the t ense
of the verb, \\:ith changes in the person of tile pronouns
and possessive adj ect IVes and of certain words t hat denoted
' nearness' in t he direct form. These latter may be replaced by
word,S sugges,ting 'remoteness' (in t imc and place). There are
also In some instances changes in word order.
The verb or verbs t hat were in the present t ense in di rect
are, generall y (but not always} replaced bv correspond-
Ing verbs m the past tense. The changes are: -
G}(ClI A:\'GES 1:-1 VERBS )
Te nse Tfll .l (
-
PHESE:\'T s n lPLE I
T' AST sniP! ,':
I'RESE1'> '1' CO)l;Tl" L'Ous
PAST
PRESE:\'T PERFI:;CT
PAST PERFECT
PAST snll'LE
PAST J'FRFECT
F UTn <E TEl'SE}
UCl;OIJ1CS
shall and wi ll
{Fl!'fl' IlE I:\' THE PAST
and icould
COS J)ITIOX AL
iPE RFECT
CO:\'D1TIO:-lAL

Direct and Indi rect Speak

" 63
0'
-
DI RECT; ' Fools rush in where angels fear t o t read.'
(Alexander Pope)
Pope sai d t h a t fool s rush in wh ere angels f mr t o
tread.
Il !HECT; The sun i. 92 mi llion mil es away.
I
Ill' said th a t t he sun is qz million miles nwav.
The Present Tense may be used a lso wi th a statement ex-
pressing a repeated or habitual act ion, e.g,
DIRECT: I get up at seven o'clock every morning.
I XDlR.ECT: He sa id t hat he gets up at seven o'cl oc k cverv
mornmg.
DI RECT: My wi fe al ways drinks roffee for breakfast.
INDIRECT: He said that his wife always dritlks coffee [0'
breakfast .
0 CHANGES IN PRO!'> OUNS \
The pronouns and possessive adj ectives generally change as
I
foll ows:
DIRECT INDIRECT
b
I , me my, nunc 11e (sh e}, his (her). hers
hi m (her) his
sc
t hey, t hem t heir , t heirs
"
we, us our, ours
d
you your. yours they, t hem their, t heirs
Examples:
DIRECT I NDIRECT
I hring my book every day; He said t hat hl' brought his
t he book on the desk rs book every day; t he book on
/nine. t he desk was his.
d
She said that she hrought 11,'r
book c\'ery day; the hook on
0
the des k was hers.
H
tve bring ow books every They said that Ihey brought
n
day; t he books on the desk their books every dav: the
o 0
are oro-s. book." on the desk were /l1fin.
0 ______ , ____
-

He said thai:
he wrole home every week.
he wenl to his class every day
he was learning English.
he had learned English.
he wOIII,], see her in London.
he had been playing football.
be had written a letter t o his
brctlier.
he could speak German,
he might be able to go,
he didll'/ u rite every wee k.
he did/ j" go to his class every
day.
If he hi/d had his pen, he could
have '(iriltfll t he answers ,
A Comprehensive English Grammar
DIRECT
I ioritc home every week.
I go t o my class every day.
I am learning English.
I ltave learned English.
I shall see her in Lon don ,
r have bun p/ayi'lg foot-
ball.
I urou a letter t o my
brother ,
I can speak German.
I may be able to go.
I don' t write every week .
I d01/' / go to my class every
day.
If I had my pen , I could
u rite the answers.
3b:.:
Examples.'
I n short , in t hc examples so far considered, t he reported ver
goes one step into the pas t . If the verb if! the principal clau
is in the Present Tense, Present Conti nuous Tense, Preset
Perfect Tense or Future Tense, t he verb in t he reporte
sentence will not change, e.g.
DIRECT: 'This work is too difficult. '
IXUIHECT: He SllyS I
He is saying diff 1
(t hat ) t his work is too 1 rcu t .
He has said
He will say
Note that 'inverted commas' (quotation marks) are not use
in indirect speec h.
when the sent ence expresses a fact t hat is supposed t
he universall y true and not meld" applicable to the t ime who
t he st at ement was made, t he Tense may be used i
reported speech, e.g.
1:>IlIRECT
He sa id he would do it there
and then,
George said t hat that w as the
house where Shakespeare had
been born .
Direct ami Indirect Speech
DIRECT
I will do it hac and 1101<" .
/
George said, 'This is the
house where Shakespeare
was born.'
All t he examples given above are of statements; but t he
changes in t ense, pronouns, ct c., not ed when direc t speech
be comes indirect speech apply al so t o quest ions and commands.
But wit h t hese t here are additi onal point s to note. wben a
direct questi on is t u rned into an indirect question:
1. The int er rogat ive construc ti on of ti le d irect question is
replaced by t he stat ement construct ion in t he indi rect ques-
t ion. So do (does, did) of the di rect speech is not used in t he ..
ind irect question.
2. The verb that introduces t he indirect question is asked
(or some simi lar verb, e.g, enquired, wondered, uumtcd to knOll!
according t o the shade of meani ng t o be ex pressed).
3 The connect ive joining t he indirect question t o t he
pri nci pal clause is If or whe/her,l except when t he direct
quest ion had been one heginni ng an interrogative such as
trhor It'hat,) why? ctc., in which case t his interrogative is t he
connect ive . Some exa mples will make t hese points dear, Xot c
part icularly the change of word order from t ile interrogative
const ruct ion to the statement construction.
IINllIHECT \lUESTIO:\ S I
Note t hat if th e principal gon rning t ilt, direct speech
cl ause does not come at th e lwginning of a sen tence , the vcrh
generall y comes before t he subject Compare t he example
gi ven above and t he following two versions:
' Thi s,' .I'llid (;"OYKf , 'is IIll' 11<1\IS(' wlun- Sh:l kl'spt':m'
born '
' This is t he house where Shakespl'are was horn,' said Cco-ge.

He said t hat he had seen t he

boy there, in that room that day,
He sa id he would see those
bovs then. He had spuken t o
the day hefore,
lie said that he would t each
the same lesson the next day
t hat he had t aught two days
before.

that
t hose
t here
then
before
t hat day
t he next day
the previous day: t he day before
becomes
I will t each the same
lesson tomorrow that I
taught t wo days ago.
DIRECT
I saw t he boy here in this
room today .
I will see these boys HOlI-'.
I spoke to them yfsterday .
now
ago
today
tomorrow
yesterday
For example:
ITITM'? THER CII ASGES]
Words denoting 'nea rness' become the corresponding words
denoting remoteness:
this
these
here
364 A Comprehensive English Grammar
But t hese pronou ns and possessive adjectives may vary
according t o circumstance. Common sense will
which pronouns should be used . F or examples consider t he
following situations :
TEACHER: John, you must bring your book t o t he class.
WILLIAM (reporting this to someone else): The teacher t old
John t hat he must bring his book t o the class.
(reminding J ohn of the teacher's orders): The teacher
said that you must bring y our book t o the cl ass. .
J ORS (reporting what t he teacher had sai d): The teacher said
that I must bring my book to the class.
I Ihat in ;lHli rect q"".;\ioll ;; the q ue,; t ioll mar k i, not ",cd
A Comprehensive Ellglis h Cmnunnr
r I wn ex THE VERB rs A SPECIAL FI.'>ITE 1
on CHANGES WHli :-i TilE
V .-
rs :-:OT A SPECIAL FI ;ITq

DIRECT QUESTlO:-> l:->DfRECT QUESTl O:-i
Do you know :'<t r. Brown? He asked if (whet her) I knei..
?lfr. Brown,
Does Pedro speak English? He asked if (whet her) Pedro
spoke Engli sh .
Did you Set! George at t11C He as ked ;J (whet her) I had
football match?
sun George at the foot ball
match .
Did they all do the exercise He asked (wondered) if [whc-
correctly'
t her) they had all done the
exercise correctly.
.
Direct and l ndirrct Spa ch
:1(' . ,
lIL
CHAKGF.S w n zx TI lE DIRECT QUESTl Q)'J
BEG1 :-.' s l
A; IKTERROCATl\'!'
D1RIXT QtTE STl O'(
QUESTl O'(
"'hat is 11" '/lIllie? lI, asked me what tier 1I 11 mr:
WIIS .
\ \llcrc 1/ 1'( yOIl going.-
He as ked me where I i re s
How will she get t here>
gOPlg.
II, wondered how sha would
get t here.
Where does she live?
He asked where she lvord,
Why do they go to Paris so
He asked me wh y they u-ent to
often?
Paris so of ten.
What did she say?
He asked what she hlld said.
\ \ 11Y did you eOlne here?
He asked me why r had w ine
t here.
Where t here IS a mixture of st atement s and quest ions t he
int roducing verb will
\'ary accordingl)' . c.g.
- He said, 'I have left m y watch
at home. Can you
t ell me t he time? '
- I NDIRECT; He said that he had left his wat ch
at borne find
asked me if I could t ell him t he ti me.

( I :-J DIRECT
CO) ! l\IAN fl S l
When a direct command is turned into an indi rect one t he
following wil l be noticed: '
--(a) TIle verb used is not sa)' 1 (wi th to) but one likl' .ord,'1
lelf ,' ask, request , according to the shade of m'eaning
Int ended .
-(h) A Direct Object, representing the person ordered rs
int roduced.
-(c) The imperative form of t he ver b in th e d irect command
becomes t he cor responding infini tive.
I For say a ml /. lI see pa ges 36<)--7
2
,
'"
I'(DIRECT
He asked me if (whether)
Charles was my brother. 1
He asked me if (whether}[ olin
had many fri ends.
He asked me if [whet her]
Henry could speak Spanish.
He asked if (whether) I would
help him.
He asked (enquired) if (whe-
ther) Milry had Spell! all t he
money.
He asked (wondered) if H enry
was really <corking hard.
Ha s J[ary spenl all t he
money?
lias john many friends'
I s Charles your brother?
I s H fIIry I'((IlIy irorking
hard?
DIRECT
Can Henry speak,Span ish?
W ill y ou helP me?
A COlPlprehtnsit'e Englisll I,r,mllar
.An indirect negati ve command is expressed by ask, et c., and
a negative infmiti ve, e.g.
\ ' WHF.T1IF. R and 'IF"]
In indi rect questions t here is not much difference in mcanmg
between iJ'htther and if; usage generally Iavours if whenever
t he distinction in meaning is not important , ego
He asked me If (U' Mther) I had seen the film.

Viral and lndiftct Speecll 309

Whd llt1 usually exp resses a doubt and an alternati ve
ibilitv or a choi ce between two alternatives and so is often
lowed hy t he correlat ive or, ego '
I don' t know U'hetht1 J should go away or stay here,
He asked me whetMr you would rather han' t ea or coffee
for breakfast .
Whtl},er is ofte n followed by or FlOt , e.g.
I don' t know u/u f ll er it is raining or not ,
The al ternative is frequentl y suppressed, c.g.
I am doubtful whether I can find ti me t o sec him (or not) .
The question ichcther (or not) he should be invited is not
for tnt: to decide.
Ask him irhctltcr he's coming on Friday (or not ),
Whether and not If is used:
"I}- when the indirect quest ion precedes the ma in clause, c.g
Ir ht tJu r thi s is true or not , I canno t say.
h}- before an infinitive, e g.
She hasn't deci ded :",'hetha t o sail or fl y 10 America .
When the subordinate clause th at it int roduces is really
J concessive one. (See COSCESSI \'E CL .. rsas (pp. 341-.2) and
COSDITl OS AL nAl'SES (pp. 343 and 34i-SI).)
I SAY a lld lEl. t-I
The", two words often cause difficulty.
\: s,W \
USa)' has t he meani ng ' t o utter', 'to express in words' , c.g.
He always say s what he means. Say you arc sorry lor what
you have J one. What did you say' She says her prayers
every night. Who said t hat ) Shelley said:
'Life, like a dome of many-c oloured glass,
Sta ins t he whitt: radiance of Et cr nit v
) Say is used with direct speech and indirect st atements, e .g.
He said , ' Tile point is quite dear.'
He said that t he point was qui te d ear.

SEG.HI\'E

He asked me (him, her, ct c.]
not to shut the door.
He t old (ordered, etc.) t hem
not to answer all at once.
He told t hem Irot to be lat e t he
next day.
He ordered him to go away.
The officer COtrl nl.JnJtJ t he
soldiers to flu.
told (Qrdeft d, asked, re-
qlltsttd , commanded) me (hi m,
her , us, you, th em) to run
quickly,
He (she, etc.] asked me (him,
her , ctc.) to pl ay t he piano,
He (she, etc.] asked (begged,
entreated, et c.] me (him, her,
et c.) to lJ..ritt t o hi m (her, etc.]
as soon as he (she, etc.)
arri ved.
I SPI RF. CT
DIRECT SI:::GATI\'E

Don't all answer at once.
Don't be late t omorrow.
Don't shut the door.
DIRECT COMMAS I>
Play the piano, please.
Do write to me as soon as
you amve.
Run qu ickly!
Go away!
OFFICER (to solJitts): Pire!
370 A Comprehens ive E'lgli sh Grammar
f D With say it is not necessary t o supply an indirec t objec t ,
that is a word t hat represents the person addressed; but if an
indirect object is given, to must be used, e.g.
He said to me t hat t he point was qui te clear.
<DIn reported speech say is never followed by an infi niti ve,
Compare:
I told the boy to leave.
I said t o the boy thai he must leave,
I TELC \
(i\The original meaning was ' to count' . When Milton in
'L"Aliegro says:
'And every shepherd tells his talc
Under t he hawthorn in the dale.'
he means that the shepherd counts the numbers (Iale originally
meant ' number') of his flock. This meaning of tell sti ll survi ves
in a number of words and phrases; for example. offici al s who
count vot es in the House of Commons and bank offici als who
payout money arc called telleTs. The phrase all told means 'all
counted ', e.g.
There were twenty of us, all told, who went on the excursion.
So, too:

His hard work is beginni ng 10 tell. (= t o count, to have an
effect )
That was a telling argument /a telling hlow. (= one t hat
count ed)
A cl ock tells t he time.
@ But t he more usual meaning now is ' t o narrate ', 'to recount '
'to reveal', ' t o explain' , ' t o order', e.g.
to tell a story; T ell me all you know; I can't tell you how
sorry I am; ' She never told her love' (Shakespeare, T welf th
,'\light) ; to [ell a secret; I can' t [ell how it was done; T told
hi m t o go away.
CS!. T ell is used with indirect speech, for statements and
commands, e.g.
Olaf t old Pedro t hat he had en joyed his stay in E ngland
The t eacher told t he boy t o leave the room at once.
DiT", 1alld Lndi rcct Spurn
:}i" I
I n t hese ca ses tctl __ alway's have two objects: (I) t he
r?on .and (2) t he noun clause or equivalent e.g.
n infinitive. TellIS never used t o in t roduce d irec t speech. -
fP Wit h commands tett is followed by an infi nit ive:
He told the boys to leave ,
a- n-J'-,, - c-L)
11I1fl'Tt'm:.<, lx-twecn t he meanings of M)' and en C HI be SCI 'lI
111 t he Iollowing:
? ' lr as(' [ell me your name, ' ( = I do not know it ,)
Please SII)' your name.' (= I want to hear 11011" it IS pro-
nounccd.)
! U SES OF 'SAY' 1
I am gla d to say t hat he is better. I have not hing further 10
say on t he matter. It is said t hat he is wor th half a milli on
poun ds. He is said t o be wort h half a million pounds. You
must go t here because I SllY so, Suppose I were to lend him.
$(Iy , five pounds. Mr. Brown is out ; I can' t say when he will
be. hac k. He t o himself (= tllOl1ght ) t here was some-
t ln ng What?o you/ What would you say t o (= hOI\"
\I ould you li ke) a dn.nk? \ \ hat I say (= my opinion) is that
women should be paid the same wages as men. Yes, I t hin k
t hat goes unttront. sily ing ( = it's so obvious that it doesn't
need t o t:e stated ). I. sey l Look who' s coming, (I say!' is an
exclamat ion expressmg surprise, sat isfaction, protest, ctc.:
also attract attent ion). The concert t akes place in a
fortn igh t's time, II/ilt is to say on l\lay 15th.
I I lllOMATI C USES OF ' T ELL]
Don't tdl m.e it's fou r o'clock already (= surely it isn't .. ,).
T.lI e. two. chil dren arc so much al ike t hat you can' t l<'il ( =
distinguish] one from t he other; you can' t tt'll which is wh ich
I t' s to lell what t his is made of. He Illay pass his
cxammat ion: you never can lell. Nobo dy can tell what till'
consequences may he. You can't tell from his face what Ill'
In American Englieh, Sa.y! is prefe rred to I ..'yl
I SESTESCI:: PATrt: RS'5 WITII
The sentence patterns wit h sa)' are:
- (I )-say + object (or so) , e.g.
He sai d nothing.
1 say so.
..(2)- SIlY + ' that' clause e,g.
He said t hat he was Brown.
say +to + (pro)noun + ' that ' clause, e g.
He said t o the porter that he was Brown.
l SI::STESCE WITH ' T ELL' j
+indirect objec t + direct object, e,g.
He told me a story.
..( 2}. ItU + direct object + to + (pro)noun, e,g",
He t old a st ory to his children.
ttIl +(pro)noun +infi nif ive, c.s.
1 t old him to go away,
lell + (pro)noun +noun clause . e.g.
He told the porter th at he was :'tIc. Brown.
Tell me what is worrying you.
E XERCISES
1 The following seutences a re III 1Il<IUct: 1 speech
t he direct words of the s peaker. Aud the nece"5al)
punctuation. .
I ) Hen ' said t hat he was goi ng t o London With
r;,!olugaret said t hat t heir t ram w?uld ar nke
i n five min utes. (l} Lil ian sa id that her spo ,e
French well . (4) George said t hat he hoped It t
rain. (5) Richard t old )[3.11' th at he was playing

Direct lind Spa cli 373

}60t ball on Saturday. (6) :'ol y fa ther told me t hat 1
could go t o England for a year . (7) ) lar\' promised
Ellen that she would write t o her e\'en: week. (8}
Ti mothy shou ted t hat he would bnnll: hel p: (9) Richa rd
said t ha t he was SOTf)' he was l at e , ( to) :'olary said that
she would be 18 on t he 15th of )[a)' . ( I II :'o lr s . Green
ukf'd Marga.ret i f she was t ired. ( I Z) George asked i f
t hey had taken his dog J ock lor a wa lk . ( I J) T he
hu nt er asked i f t hey had hea rd the sound of wolves.
I l of ) The li t tle girl asked if the ba by had a name yet.
(15) T he passenger inq uired what t ime t h... trai n for
Lond on left . ( 16) Fred asked William if he had read
T , tasu re I sla nd , (17} T he st ra nger asked the way to
the ra ilway station, ( 18) The lady asked George if he
could swim. (19) Richard a sked his mot her if he might
have another p iece of cake. (2 0 ) J oh n asked Henry if
hi!! exercise was correc t. ( T llis is ambigllQIfS, GIVt two
aOlSfWrs. ) ('l I ) The teach er ordered Hi .:hard t o go
away . (22) :'ol r . Brown asked his Visi tor t o come in. ('lJ)
His mother t old Richard not t o eat all the cake.
(24) The officer com manded the soldiers t o fir e
fz, J The sergeant t old t he sentry t o stay at his JI05t
until h e was relieved. (z6) T he teacher told Tjmothy
t o do t he exercise correct ly or he would have t o
in . (z7) The fa rmer asked t he visitors net t o lean' t he
gate ope n . (z8) Ri cbar ds fa ther t old him not t o climb
that tree i n his new trousers. (29) The teacher t old
Henry to get his work done property o r he would
punish him, (30) He told him t o do some exercises
every d ay if he wa nted to pass his examinati on,
11 \\' 11 <' 11 you cha ng<, sent ences from direct speec h to
indi rect speech, what usu ally hap pens to (a) verbs in
t he Simple Present t ense, (b) ver bs in t he Present
Perfec t t ense, (, ) pronouns a nd possessive adjectives
in t he r st person
111 t he followinl{ from direct speech t o ind irect
speech. ( Bcgill: He {Sht, T1uy, J ohn, Tilt ItQchu, eI C. )
said dud.)
( I} ' I like my dog J oc k .' (z) ' I am going 10 t he p arty
.... rth m y brot her,' OJ ' \ \e have p len t y o f nme t o do
our work' (4) ' George has wr itten me a long letter.'
l;'i) ' W.. are very lirl'1.l. ' (6) 'You "cry nicely,
)largaret ' I;) ' I am giving a prize for the locst home-
work ' (8) ' 1 am Fre nch b ut I h ave learned English at
school.' (9) ' 1 wi ll l ake you to my house , (10) ' You
\" T ur n t he following uaperenves into i lldi red speech:
( I) TE.\CIlER t o HlcH,\ RDl ' \\'rite t hat exercis e out
oarefu lly.' ( a} t o FlnE:<;ll: the wol f.'
(3) OFf ICEk to SOlDI U{S: ' Uring t he gun in t u po sition.'
(4) :'I fary said t o J ohn. ' Open t he box lor me. please.'
(5) :'I[rs. Green said, ' Pl ease slug a t our party. lIIar-
garet.' (6) 'Release the prisoners.' said the offi cer t o
t he sergeant. (7) The captain of t he shipwre<.;ked vessel
said t o the sai lors, ' LowerHie boats at once.' (8)
TEACHER t o GEORGI!: ' Be careful' t hi nk before vou
a nswer. ' (9) 'UCflARn: ' Read my John, and
tell me if it is correc t.' (10) TJo;ACliER: 'Write your na me
at t he top of your pap er and answer fo ur q uestions,'
( n) TRAVELLER t o T" XI DRIVER: ' Vict ori a station as
fas t as you can, I .must catch t h e 12.50 bo at -t rain.'
VI Re-write the following short story in indir ect s peech,
Begin: The writer sa id t ha t _. . (Ca ll t he ant lu and t he
grasshopper she.)
The Ani and Ike Grasshopper
I wi ll te ll yOll the story of the ant and the gr ass-
hopper, It is a cold winter 's day a nd an ant is bringi ng
{Ju t some grams of corn t hat he gat hered in the
summer as he wa nts t o dry t hem. A grassh opper who is
very hungry sees bill and says, 'Give me a few gra ins of
corn; I am dying of h un ger'
'Bu t, ' says t he ant, 'what did you do i n t he s ummer?
Didn't you store up any corn?'
' No,' replies the grasshopper, 'I was t oo busy.'
' What di d you do ?' says t he a nt .
' I sang all day,' answers the grasshopper,
' If you sang all summer, ' says t he an t , 'you can
dance a ll win ter .'
VII Explai n t he uses of t h e ver bs ' sa y ' and ' t ell' in
indirect speech and illustrate your explana t ion wi th
examples .
374 A E1lglish Grammar
ca n come with us if you lik",.' (II} ' I don't like Engli sh
food very much .' (12) 'Thi s time-table IS t oo com-
plicated for me.' (13) ' 1 ha ve t o go t o the
tomorrow,' (14) ' This IS the book we have bee:t locking
for,' (1$) 'He has to catch a n carly c,: er y,
morning.' (16) ' 1 caught sight of John this mornmg.,
(17) ' I must go to t he Post Office before It closes.
(18) ' I sha ll be doing exact ly t he same work next
Mond ay as 1 am doi ng toda y .' (19) ' I wrot e, to t hem
only last week.' (20) ' This book was.le,nt to 111m weeks
ago and he has only j ust rdurned It.
IV T urn t he following q uest ions into indir cc t speec h :
( I) :'fary said, 'Are you h ungry, Margaret? ' (.2)
said, 'What do you wan t , E llen ?' (3) J ohn sa id , Shall
1 close t he window?' (4) 1: EACflER: ' H ave y ou all
understood me ?' (5) }f"RGAIUiT (to HI CHAHD): Whore
are you going for your h olidays?' (6) RICHARD (to
SHOPKEEPER): ' What is t he price of t h at b icycle ] "
(7) George sai d, ' When will y ou get h ac k from London,
John?' (8) George said, 'How long does It take t o
t o Lon don, J ohn? ' (9) Richard said, 'Can Y';lU SWim,
J ohn ?' (10) GEORGE (to TEACHER): 'Shall I finish my
exercise at home?' ( II) I h ave anot l.lCr
ca ke, p lease ?' (12) LILIAN (to EI_l EN): 'Do y ou like
my new hat ?' (13) MOTHER (t,o MARGARET): :Ha ve ):ou
finished y our homework yet? (14) GEORGE: Have you
been using my t ooth -past e, Richard?' 4Is) Mary
' I s your new ba by a boy or a girl, Mrs. Th om pson.
(16) Elizabeth said, 'Did :'Ilargaret Ieed cat befor e
she went out?' (I 7) RICIl-\RD's 'Did you brush
your teeth properly, Hi cha n P ' (18) The hunter
' Do you hear the roar of a lion)' (1-9) The hunter said ,
'Did y ou hea r the roar of a lion)' (zo) ViSITOR (to
' Do you go to school every day? ' (2 1) GEORGE: May
1 borrow your bicycle, John ?' ell) STRA:<;GER to FRED:
'Can you t ell me where :'Ih. Gree n lives" (23 ) ' How are
you going t o do that?' (24) ' Which of the routes t.o
London do yon prefer?' (25) ' Can you tell whICh IS
t he road t o Oxford? ' (26) ' Is rt true that Edwa rd
getung marr ie d ) ' (27) ' Does he play t he piano or t he
violi n ?' (28) ' I cannot fmd my purse. Can you lend me
fift y ( 29) ' How d id rhey Ira,vel back home ?;
(30) ' Did t hey all attend . the . meeuug , last ,llI ?l .t?
(1 ) 'Where does J oe have hIS SUitS made ? (p) \\ hich
110tel i n Edi nbu rgh is considered the best ?'

Direct and Indirect Speech

375
CIIAf' TER TW NT Y- S I::VF. S
, P U:-;CT UATI O:-; \
Punctuation is simply a device for making it easy t o read and
underst and wri tten or printed matter. In speech we can make
pauses between words or phrases we can use gestures, give
emph asis to a word and raise or lower the voice t o hel p
listener to understand our meaning; in writ ing much of that
work is done by punct uation .
Sentences arc separat ed fr om one anoth er, and t he pa rt s of
a sent ence are clearly dist inguished. by means of t he vnrion,
kinds of st ops. Whether you are reading alo ud or silently, your
voice and your eye require fr equent rest s. It is t he funct ion of
punct uation t o indicate where you can make t hese wi thout
injuring t he sense of t he passage.
The proper use of stops, t oo, gives clari t y of meaning to a
passage t hat might be misunderst ood or even not un der st ood
at all. A sentence like t he following, for example, would.
without punctuation , be so ambiguous as t o be pract ically
meaningless:
' Among t he people present at t he t heatre were t he acn cs-
Elizabeth Dixon t he wife of George Grey author of th e p:ay
Harry Forst er th e son of the producer " ir Laurence Richard-
son Charles Ha zlitt t he dramat ic crit ic of t he Daily .\' ,' :' 5
and crit ics of oth er newspapers.'
But when it is punctuated the meaning becomes clear:
' Among the people present at t he th eat re were: t he actr ess.
Elizabet h Dixon, t he wife of George Grey, author of the
play; Harry Forst er , the son of the producer; Sir Laurence
Richard son; Charles Hazlitt , t he dramat ic cri tic of the Ddily
N eus; and critics of ot her newspaper s'
How a comma or t wo can change t he meani ng of a sentence
may be illust ra ted by th e charming (but probablr fictit i(y ,
story of Mrs. Abington, t he act ress who played m t he nret
performance of Sheridan's Sdool for ScandaLI When ,h
1; 71
,,.
l ' IIII( I, ml ' (l l/ J i 7
n-tumed t o her dressing-room after the performance she found
a note from a rival act ress Robinson wf-..iRh vcrv
generously, said: . , .
:\fary Robinson :\Ir". Abingt on is rhe greatest act ress in
London.
:\I rs. ,\ bingt on. equally generous, added two commas and sent
t he note back to :\lis,; Robinson, h now rend:
:\I ary Robinson, says :'>lrs. Abingt on, is t he great est actress
in London
TIll'. pl'i llCipa! stops arc the flllt stup (), .tIll' colon (:), t ill'
L} , ti le comma (,), the question mar k (f ), till' ex-
clnrnation ma rk (IL the dash (-), quomtinn marks (' ') ami
t he apost rophe ('). '
It is virtually impossible t o lav down exact rules for t he usr-
of st ops , for punctuauon j<; near! ", as mu-Ir a matter of t he
author's as is choice of words. and pract ically no t wo
wri ters. given a fairly lengthy t o punctuate, would
use exactly t he same punct uatl ou
Rut t here a number of /!.o"". 11 that can help,
and we may hUl"fly summanze t hem as Ioltow-:
1TH}: n'u STOP I
The fu!l stop is used:
t he end of all sentences exce pt quest ions and ex-
clamations , e.a.
He needs your help. (Sta/ell/tIIt)
Help him. (CoJllmand)
Will you hel p hi m)
H,. ail'd, ' Help! Help! ' (Exdll ",<lt!'(ltl)
as ,:'01..-\ .. :'of aster of Art s),
-. I (= Her .?lfaJei't ys ship .""liam) , U.S.:\
(... Unit ed St ates of A m (' fI('3), t'.g ( = Latin: (umplit:rati:r
= for eX<lUlpl,'), etc, It 110 used ;\ft"f iuifia!s , I, g. , ' . II Brown,
and after cont racted words e.S Xov. (= memo
(= memorundum].
But if Ihe .cont r:tction includes tIll: Jill,,! lct tcr of the word
t he full stop I,. e tten omItted, e,g. Dr, :'orr, Ltd, (has, etc.
>-8
."
A Comprehensive (lramntar
\ THE J
-{I }-- Th e colon is used to separate two sentences of wh,ieh the
second explains more fully t he meaning of fh c fi rst , r.e. It often
means t he same as ' that is t o say' , e g.
Richard's work is unsat isfactory: his answers are t hought .
less, his spelling is careless and ilis writing is bad.
It may also take t he place of a conj unction introducing a
clause of reason, e.g.
Thompson isn't going t o join our finn : wt: couldn' t ortor
him a big enough salary (= because we couldn' t .}
-{2}-To introduce a nu mber of it ems in a list, or to int roduce
a quotation, e.g.
He offered me t he choice of anyone of t hese for a wedding
present: a set of fish knives, a pewter t eapot , an electric
t oaster, a st andard lamp. ,
Shakespeare said: ' Neith er a borrower nor a lender be ,
( THE SEMI-COLO]
The semi-colon is useful when we need a longer pause than
is indicated by a comma, but when we do not want to hreak the
l ine of t hought , as would happen if we used a full st op, It
is used:
-{J}- To sepafate co-ord inate sent ences when a conj unction is
not used, e.g.
' Your appearance .pleased my friend; it delighted me:
1 have watched your behaviour in strange circumstances:
1 have studied how you played and how you bore
losses; lastly, 1 have put you t o t he tes t of a staggermg
announcement , and you received it li ke an invit at ion to
dinner.'- (R L. Stevenson, The Suicide [[HO)
Not e how, in t his example, shorter pauses are sho wn by t he
commas.
-f2}- \Vith words li ke therefore, homver, besides,
al so otherwise and sometimes so. These words Jam sen tence-
but' are stronger th an conjunctions like mtd, and so need a
st ronger punctuation mark, llerc arc some examples:
379
You have done the work well; t herefore 1 WI ll pay you well.
" au must tab> more exercise; otherwise you will get too fat .
Richard didn' t work hard; so he didn't pass his examination.
ITl I l=. .... I
The comma ts t he most frequently used punct uation mark
and lias many uses. Your common sense a nd t he desi re to make
your meaning clear wi ll often tell you where a pause is needed ,
but th e following 'rules' , t hough t hey do not cover all t he
uses, may be hel pful. A comma is generally used:
-( r}---To record a list of things, ctc., e.g.
At the party we had cakes, jellies, ices , biscuits, chocolate,
and lemonade.
t hat t he comma is usually put before (Iud and t he last
it em. Some writers disagree wit h t his.
-\ 2)' To mark off direct speech:
' Tel l me ,' r sa id, ' how yon know all that.'
George replied, ' I heard it a ll the radio.'
-(3). To mark off sen tences or clauses where a pause is needed
in reading. This is a lmost always t he case when an adver b
clause precedes a principal one,
..\!t hough it was foggy, we played t he mat ch.
1 have explained t his work t o Richard, but he st ill docsn'e
understand i t ,
If you will hel p me, 1 will help YOIi.
Wh en an adverb clause follows th e pri ncipal clause, the
omission of t he comma places more emphasis on t he adver b
clause, c.g.
' He came because 1 asked hi m to ' (answering the question
' Why did he come?')
-( .J.rTo murk off words used in addressing' a person (the
Nominat ive of Add ress). c.g.
George, I hope you and :Mary can come t o the party.
r should be very glad, Charles. if you would do t his for me,
I THE l' SE OF CAPITA1.S
ITHE ,\ POSTlW PliE I
( Qt' OT.\ [ 10" ) ).-\RKS I

J8 r
Punauati 011
ITIlE D"''' l1 I
'Compare t hi s with t hc possessive ad jective iI" e.l),
That <l og has hur t '/s foot.
Therc is 110 apostrophe in any of the po'Scssi \c pronouns.
The Apostrophe is used to show-r r j-the possessive case, e.g.
my brother's house, J ohn's wife, t he boy's cap (si ngular, one
boy). the boys' school (plural, for a lot of boys).
-4 2}o- omission of a letter or letters, e.g.
I"I'e (= I have), don't (= do not ). it's) (= it is), o'clock
(= of t he cloc k) .
Quo' at ton vtarks arc used t o enclose direct speech,
I sad, ' 1 have only spoken to him on one occasion.'
l ie shout ed, ' What [Ire you doing lu-re? "
"Llrn ve spoken t o him: r said, ' on only one occas ion.'
Not e t hat tile full stop, exclamat ion mark, t he question mark
and t il comma come ins ide t he quot at ion marks.
Quo lation ma rks may be singl e (' ' ) or double I' ").
TIll' dash is llsl'd to illdicatc-{l }an ;dtr-rthough t-.an emcnda-
t iOII. or ",2" an unexpected turn in a sentence, e,g.
I spoke t o .. know, Harry's wife- and tol d her
what you said.
The info rmation that Fred gives you on every subj ect under
the sun is alwnvs very full and is given wit h an air of
cornpkte con flrlence There rs only one t hing wrong wit h
it - oil is never cor roct .
A capi t al lett er is used:
-tI}o- For t he beg inning of a sentence.
.{2}o- For proper nouns, e.g. J ohn, November . London, etc.,
and for ad jectives formed from proper nouns e.g.
Scotch whisky, t he Fr ench: language, Elizabethan poets.
The Exclamat ion Mark is used after an interjection, an
exclamatory sentence or an expression of great feeling.
' Hello! I didn't expect to sec you.'
' There goes our train"
' Wh at a wonderful day that was"
I Til E l
380 A Comprehcllsive r;r,11I11/l" r
"'(5" To mark off words or plml se"o like hQil'e\.'(r,1 therefore. 'if
course, for i nstance, et c.
YOIl know, of course, t he way to Lewt on: I needn' t, there-
fore, send you a route map.
..(6)oo In descripti ve titl es such as:
Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Brit ain.
I saw Mr. Smith , your teacher, t his morn ing.
To mark off ph rases cont aining a participle when a pause
is requi red in reading:
George, seeing t hat his brot her was hur t, ran t o help hi m.
The comma is not used in English t o separate a defining
relat ive clause! or a noun clause from t he res t of t he sentence.
It must be used before t he relati ve pronoun in a non-dehning
clause.
Here is t he book t hat you want ed. (Defining Clallse)
He asked me whe're I was going, (Nolin Clause)
George, who is in my class, has won a scholarshi p. (;\'011-
defining Clause)
)IARK (
A Question Mark is used after a direct but not
after an indi rect one, e.g.
Direct . I said t o him, ''\\ b en arc you going t o Scotland?
I ndirect, I asked him when he was going t o Scotland ,
1 The COmJI'.a' are not used when }w,,'eut ha., t he mcaning ' t o wha t
<.Iegree' . e.g. However busy he may l>e. hc always manages t o answer
l ett e rs promptly,
See :llso page 325.
3
82
A Comprehensive Etlglish Grammar
A capital letter is used for t he name of God, Christ, Tr inity ,
Bible, etc.. and a pronoun or possessive adjective applying t o
God has a capital lett er , e.g.
They trusted in God t hat lIe would save His people.
For the ch ief words in t itles of people, books, plays
etc., e.g.
Elizabeth the Second , Alfred t he Great, A Midsummer
Night's Dream, A Tale of Two Cities.
",, 4)0 For salutations and forms of address . e g. Oil let ters:
Dr, Mr , Miss, and lor t he greeting and complimentary
close, e.g. Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
..(5" For t he abbreviations of degrees, ti tl es . etc.
(= Member of Parliament), Q.c. (= Queen's Counsel}.
B.sc. ( = Bachelor of Science).
The opening word of d irect speech , e g.
He said, ' what do you want? '
The capital letter is not repeat ed in the second part 01 a
broken quotation, e,g,
' I am wor king hard now' , he said, ' in order t o provide for
myoId age .'
..(7).. For t he first word in each line of poetry:
She lived unknown, and few could know
Wh en Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her gr ave , and Oh,
The difference to me! (WordsU' orth)
but some modern poets disregard this cunvellt ion,
",( 8)-F or the first person singular f (but not for me, Ill)', et c.]
For personification (generally in poe try):
o wi ld West Wind , t hou breath of Au t umn's being.
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? (S helley)
Punciuaiion
The seasons, in ordinary writing, do not have. a capital
lette.l" , nor do the point s of t he compass unless t hey refer t o
gpecific regions or are part of a name, e.g. He came from the
West. They live in Ie Northern Territ ory ,
EXEHCI SES
I Restore the capita! letters and punctuation in the folluw-
Ill!; passages:
(. )
The following was written on the gravestone of an
army mule here lies maggie t he mule who in her time
ki cked a general t wo colonels four majors ten
t wenty-four lieutenants forty sergean ts two hu ndred
and twenty pri vates an d a bomb.
P}
i cant understand it said mr williams oh what cant you
understand said his friend well said mr williams just
look at thIS s uit im wearing t he wool was gro wn in
austral ia the cloth was woven in yorkshire t he buttons
were made in india the suit was made in london and i
bought it in cairo whats so remarkable about that asked
his friend isnt it wonderful said williams ' t aking no
notice of the interruption t hat so many people can make
a living ou t of something i havent paid tor.
(3)
a very agitated woman rang up her doctor and a ser-
vant answered the phone can i speak t o dr russell she
said its urgent im sorry madam t he doc tor is out wi ll
you leave a message oh dear oh dear my ten year old
litt le boy has swallowed a fountain pen when will the
doctor oe In im afraid madam he wont be in for two
hours perhaps t hree hours three hours cri ed the woman
what shall j do in t he meantime im afraid madam yoult
have t o use a pencil,
11 Our pursuer soon came up and joined us with all t he
familiarity of an old acquai ntance my dear charles cried
he shak ing my fr iends hand where have you been hidi ng
t hi s halt a century i had posit ively fancied you were gone
down to <:lIlt ivate mat rimony and your estate in the
cou ntry during the rep ly i had an opportunity of survey-
i:lg t he ap pearance of our new compani on his hat was
I heard t he bird I sing
he can, by analogy. make a number of ot her sentences on t he
same pattern. e.g.
I saw hi s hand shake
made me go
\\ atch hi m swim
I felt his hear t beat rapidly
Did you see him turn pale? -
Si milarly from thc pat t ern:

English he re
his work well
t o t he concer t?
h"d
to Paris for his
holidaj..
English before he
carne here
(E)
b rfl1lit ive
t o speak
Subject 6- Verb
Sllbject & V( rb
He learned
I ex pert t o learn
He li kes t o do
Do you want t o come
he can, by analogy, make:
I intend t o work
He decided t o go
T WES TY- E I GIIT

A generally learns t o use a language t ha t he wants t o
.not by t he abst rac; tions of grammar but mainl y by
pracnce rn t he patterns which are t he li ving su bstance of t he
!anguage. The. mo.st impor t ant of t hese are t he V" b patterns,
r.e. t he t hat t he verb can make wi th compl e-
meri ts, objects, gerunds, clauses, etc. So, when t he student has
lear ned one pattern, e.g. the pattern
(A)
+
A CompuJunSit'l Engli sh Grammar
p inched up wit h pecul ia r srnar t ness h is looks were pale
thin and sharp round his neck he wore a broad blac k
ribbon and in his bosom a buckle studded wi t h glass his
coat W,l.S t nmmed with tarnished l wi st he wore by his
side a sword with a bl ac k hil t and h is stockings of
though newly washed ....ere grown yellow by tong service
Oliver Goldsmith. BtQ:u T ibbs. A book of English
F I" .55ay' . en can.
III youre a very small chap said mr tOOtS yes srr im small
enough returned paul t hank you sir for t oots had lift ed
him int o the seat and done it kindly-too whos your ta ilor
inquired t oots after looking at him for some moments
its a woman t hat has made my clothes as yet saul paul
my sisters dressmaker my t ailor s bu rgess and co said
toot s fashionahle hut very dear paul had th e wi t to
shake Ilis head as if he would have said it was easy to see
t hat and indeed he t hought so your fathers very ri d}
15nt he inquired mr t oots r es sir said paul hcs dcmbey
and son and which demandt"d t oot s and son sir
paul.
Dickens, Q'l d S,m.,
I V it is a littl e painful t o picture our heroes at such
moments it is di.,;llraceful to visualize such vi t a) and
important beings submItting to t he finllcring and
fussing of persons .....ho jf they .... i11 forgi ve my saying
so evoke n.. ,ery romant ic nut merely ' 5 it
l.nplcasant to ell' I he m a:i stalltlll'g urcrc turrung
round when told to raising t heir arms like zanies a litt le
higher my lord If you please 49 ' 3 mr burkinshaw
repeats the rnr burkinshaw scribbling in his
not ebook 1I 0t merelv is it humiliat ing t o conceive of a
mere t ailor mak'ing chalk mar ks upon t he backs of
st at esmen rounded with t he wl'i;j:ht of half t he world
nay the impression Cleated is more profound than an y
pain evoked by the pict ure of the magnifi cent in humili a-
tion it is an impression which derives its deep poignancy
from the real izat ion that even the most maj estic among
llS wear t wo buttons on the back of a t ail coat.
Harold Xicolson. ,\tefl's Clc>thu_ A book of English
Essays, Pelican,
'"
3
86
A COltlpTe!l enSll.il': E,lgli,h (;mmlllUl
But, un less he recognizes which verbs can Ill' used in which
patterns, he may be templed, on t he analogy of patt ern (XI
t o sav:
or on the anal ogy of (B) to say;
I enjoy to learn
He can't help t o do
all of which are incorre ct .
&
,
SUBJECT
Sentence l'a!tallS
,
There is
Tilere were
TIlere will he
There arc
There wore
T here IlCN!,;
English here
hi s work well
the hird silUj

I
sing.
roared.
is aching.
is speaking?

th at
t hat both of YOU were .
to e: \\ rong,
o gn'c honest value [or moucv
wha t you thi nk. - '
he was sho rt of monev at
tune. .
I t seems
It pays
It doesn' t mat ter
It (so) happened
Sec pages 1 0 0-1
( P '\ rfEH:->i$' Subject .... V' h '
_.__ . t'l -I- COin ph' mcnt

flies.
In almost ever y case. the constructi on;; illustrated in the
patterns that follow have been not ed and. explamed in earlier
sections of this book; but it may be useful to list here the main
verb patterns that occur in the language so t hat, as verbs are
encountered in the student ' s generallcadir.g, he can note nne
record in which patterns t hey are used,
The following are the principal ver b patterns:!
.,- Verb J
SlIbjul
Time
Birds
The !;on
t oot h
Who

nml'J.E.\ lE :-> T
IS
was
rs
rs
are
rs
He
Nelse-n
This
Seeing
\ \110
Tl!&t
rich .
a
my brother
bel ieving
ron?
-.i what I want
----
SvllJICT & YU -W
1--- -- Two variants of this pattern shoul d be not ed:
{I) When the formal subject there 1S used (see page 31-'
This occurs when the subject of t he verb to is indefinit
There , as used in this const ructi on, is meaningless . The r
subject comes after the verb, e.g.
1 The given her e follows ttmt listed by Dr. IJalmcr in
Gtamm'" English Wo<'ds [t.ongmans. 1931';) , ..\ fuller treat mcr.t
given in A GuirJ$ 10 Pili/ern.' amI Usa&< in EngU,h by A. S. HO" l
{O,U J". 1954 )-
A ComprehulsiL'e English Grammar
Sec pages II , 34, 101, 329, 334

Sentence Patterns
3
89
( PATTERNGJ[SUbj ect & Verb + Adver-b Com plem en t
I
Sl;IlJECT & VFt R ADVERB CO),IPLE),IE:->T
TIley are here.!
He went t o Manchest er.
Go
away!
The glove must be somewhere or other.
He tries hard,
She cried as if her heart would break.
The formal subject there can be used in t his pattern.
r OR),{AL SUBJECT there +
ADVER" CO),I PLEMENT
VERB + SUBJECT
There are fiftee n studen t s in my cl ass.
There's a lot of noise out side.
I'
Is t here any cheese in the larder?
Will there be a fest ival at Edinburgh next rear?
See pages 34. 183, 26.-t .
& Verb +Direct Object I
.
SL'BJECT & V ERB I DIRECT OBJECT
Ho did t he work ,
The postman de livers letters.
Do you kn ow t he answer?
The little boy can dress himself.
H,
said t hat he was going to Gcr many
tomorrow.
See Pescs g, 22, 98, Ir4, 333.
1 I n excl amatory sentences thc adverb comes before the subj ect. (For
exclamat ory sentencc'! see p. 316.)
The formal subject f i l S used also In this I n this case
t he real subject of t he verb is generally an infini tive phrase or
a clause, but ot her subjects are possibl e.
FOR)IAL
CO)IPLE- Sl:I3J ECT
SUBJECT

it + VERB
It is silly
to tal k li ke that,
It would be better to do as he suys ,
It's obvious that you are prejudiced.
It's no use
your saying that you are sorry,
It was a pity
that you didn't think of that
earlier.
Is it a fact
that the Robinsons arc going
to Americ a?
It will be very ruce
when t he good weat her comes
It is for someone as wealt hy as you
to t alk about giving to chari-
ties
It was impossible for two such people t o wor k
t ogethcr happily.
I
-
Sl;BJECT & VERB

What he asked for was out of the questi on.
Are t hese t he shoes t hat vou were
looking for ?
I am in a hurry.
All I want is to help you
The mi lk tastes sour,
These roses smell sweet
The poet Chatterton died young.
Til e children arc runnmg wild
Brown is looking old .
Keep calm!
- -
SUBJECT & VERB DIRECT ODJ ECT .-\m'ERB
Subj ect & Verb + P r epos iti on
: Pr-e posi t ionul Object
11' Se' ltenet PaJt( , ns
39'
,
St ' 1JJECT & tERa
IH RECT OBJI,;CT
.... OVERB COMPLEMEXT
He locked
t he house
up. r
I
,
He gave
He engaged
all his money
away.!
He felled
a gardener
to do rho lIard work.e
He engaged
t he t rces
to let in more light .:
a ga rdener
because Ill' wanted
someone to do t he hard
He treat ed
his wife
work. '
as if she were a dl iJd.1
I
See pages II , 280.
P....TTERI'
Subject & Ve r b -+- Direct Object +Adjecth"c
s t: nJCT & V1iR a
OIRF.CT Oll JETT
.-\DJF:CTl VF.
I will get
t he dinner
ready.
He hel d
th e door
The dye turned
her hair
open.
You have made
t he car
green,
Can you get
t he window
d irty.
He drinks
his Whisky
open?
neat .

A considerable number of b
some of t he commonest are: vcr s can be used in this pattem :
bake, bend wil b k Ii
feat'e, m4k; pack ; a.' t ;'%' cut, em,li , jilJ, grt, hQId.
kap.
S " QIn , I I , p 'n hoset. u'ash, wipe .
ce page J 2 .
Th e di rect ohject a.nd adve rb
-.s. Put on your coat be te\"l' tse..l J!1the",
ho::,.. I\"c,o comple me nt hc . . . PI' aud
Here It an ouJverb clause. (,f (s<"e p, IjJ )

you
mo.
opening the box ,
Fred .
a fine day.
t he result of your
exami nation.
him to invite me t o
the party.!
me to pay t he bill .I
him to do everything
t hat is I
in your cupboard
by registered }XISt ,
in thc larder?
tomorrow.
for hal! a mile.
a ll. I
ofP
foc
on
for

th e shoes
the letter
t he cheese
th is
him
your coat
t he ga s
SUBJ ECT & \'F. RB
The}" wai ted
You can rely
I was longing
I pm
He sent
Have you put
You will want
The dog chased
Put
Tum
I will wai t
She depends
He succeeded
Those t ools belong
Everyone was hoping
Don't worry
ubject & Verb -i- Direct Object + Adver b
a m Ierncne
I The object he re ill t he accusa u ve infinit ive :JJ ).
The direct object a.Dd adve rb can be reversed in
se<:l encel>, e.a- Put on your COOl ! . (See p. ISo I
PREPOSrTIOX..\1. Oil JECr
1- - - - - - -1-- - --1,.
390 A COlli rehensit,( E11{!lis1l Gra mlllit'
tp....TTERS )
SUBJ ECT & VERB
PATTR:-: ().I S ubj ect & Verb + Di r ect Object + 10
_(or __
Sentence
393
PATTER)'.; ,(lO: Subject & Ver b + Direct Obj ect
I !4- Preposition - r- I'rcpos tu ona t ObiectJ
- -- - ._- . -
SUBJECT &
DI RECT
/ I' REPOSI CI I' REFOSITIO:> AL
VERn
OBJECT Tl O:> I OIl J ECT
-
-
I gave
it
to' him.
Please explain
this to me.
They offered
t bc house to n,
They welcomed
hi m
to t hei r horne.
He aires
a lot of
money
to George .
I will do
the work
you.
He bought
some bloH's fo<
I
.'fary.
Please t hank
hi m
fo< me.
Save
some sweets io,
your brother .
Excuse
Ime
io<
intelTuptiug you.
I'll never Ior-
grve :
him
for that.
Tel! m,
about! your work.
I told
them
of' you,
They accused him
of st ealing.
He t hrew
a hook at
5
me .
l ie spends a lot of
money
on
6
cigarettes ,
Compare
your work
with' Henry' s.
I supplied
him with
ruouey.

-- - - - - -
See pages 2 2, 98, II4.
, So ' ;ICof the mo,- !' comm::> n verbs with J'"tlcrn arc,
Ca l '.'''',ttl I".. add, Mu ,g. carry, 'o",parc, d'''.1'. I f d ck , C
iVl
,
ki1tul , J' on. aft". 0"" , fmss, P"'y. T,'ad. u!l , sma'
. lIou', I..l'e, "' M it. , 1"" . lif. !l,ri le,
(t.) wit h j M:b,. illK, ci"'''',e, cooll, do. [tlch, lo"e"v<. '1, I.a,'e. "I""' .
o, d( " play , pTa"" p""'$II , ' (", n, Hl'e, ,nilr,
(t) w,th about: a. k, t o" ; II!I. 'l",sli"", nUl""'/, l<'fl,
w""' , u-t;le.
(<I ) wit'll oj: .. j"form, rr",;",l, lell.
(f) with at: "i.". hurl. poi'II, '11001, Ihrow,
(I) '\lth un: maht. r"d, spmd, "'.1<1(. ,,,i:,'.
' (g) with 1;"'11,: <vmp,,'<'.}iU, ",i:r. "'PI'''
They told him t o be careful.
I want you to be happy.
I He likes his staf to be punctual
This proves me (t o be) ri ght. I
We 0111 t hought him (to be) a weal thy man.
I
r prefer my coffee (t o be) hot.

-
There arc not many verbs t hat a rc \1, \ with t his P
chief ones are:
appoint , baplize, call, choose , christen, crOl l' l' , elect, wlitl,' ,
name, nominate, proclaim,
See page 1 2.
The commonest verbs with t his pattern are.
believe, consider, declare, f ancy, fed , jind, gll ess, i magi ne,
j udge, knoU', like, prefer, prcce, ttl, show, suppose, suspect ,
think , understand, want .
S pages 12 233 eo

.

Subject & Ver b + Di r ect Object + Object
Complement J
.
I
SUBJ ECT & VERB DIRECT OBJ ECT
-
He called his cat
Sally.
They have made Richard
capt ai n of the foot -
I
hall team
The Archbishop
King of Englan d.
crowned Henry
Grandfather has

made
\Vimam his heir.
\ Ve shall name th is ship
Princess Alice.

I
, ,
altern. The
' f or is used only in sentences expressing dura t ion.
395
smg,
join th em?
go nove.
answer that quest ion)
refus e t o go ?
answer tho question .
go.
There are a groat number of verbs with this pattern, SOllie of
the most uspnl arc:
climb, colnc, drirc, r!ro}" f lit!, /Iy , j o!!,,,.., gro,;', jl0llP, nmrch,
1/10; '( ride rise 1'11 11 sink sirim IUllk, !i'eiEll, n-orte , , . . , ,.
Sec page
verh-, {oll ow ing this pat tern aTI: HI" Spr-c-ia l F ini tes can
(dJlIld), do (does, d id). S/III /l In'lt (Iq.uld), !lillY (migh t).
mnst, 1Ie::d. dare and ti le phrases: ha-i better, "'01rld milia.
Sec pages J82 "'15
1 he verbs With t his patto n arc chir-flv:
bid,jeel, have, hear, tmour, l et lIIa ke. need. B, notice, SU , entcti.
Sec pages 21 0 , 225. 2V.
IpATTEH:>@ I
I SUBJECT & vnw I:\Fl '-:IT1\
OE
__
I
I
-
, .. -
-
.
\ r .-\TTEI<C\' &
Ve rb + Dfrect Oblect + Bare
I nft nt t t ve
. .- -
.
- I
SI:J3JECT & VEI Ul
DIRECT
(BARE)

o n J EcT
I made him come.
Ld him speak.
I heard him shunt.
We saw the bov steal the money.
WatclJ rue swim the river.
,
I have never known
I
him come punct ually.
C.C
---- ------ -
. ..
A Comprehensive Engli sh Grammar
. .
SUBJECT & VERB (jor) cmIPLEMEN" T
He wal ked
10< t en miles.
The Hcadmast er spoke 10< an hour.
They argued
10< hours.
We have come a long way_
They wait ed J
10' an hour before gomg
away.
The river rose t en Iect in the night.
The house cost
10,0 00.
That car will last (you) a lifet ime.
PAITERN" $ Subject & Ver b + Indirect Object
1+ Direct Object
SUBJECT & VERB
IN" D1RECT
DIHECT OBJECT
OBJECT
I gave him a lesson.
They sold m,
some bad apples.
He t old m, a li e.
Has he pai d you what he owes you?
He wished
t hem ' A Merry Christ mas' .
Did Richard leave his brother any sweets?
Your help has saved m, a lot of work.
He did m,
a very good t um .
The most usual verbs with t his pat tern arc:
ask, bring, buy, cause, deny, do, envy, fi nd, get, git'e, hand,
leave. Lend, make, order, owe, pass, pay, read, sell, send, show,
spare, tell, throw, wish, wri te.
See pages 22, 98, lI4, lIS, 222.
[SUbj ect & Verb + (fo rp + COlDp le m ent }
{ 394
1 Q.., /ol (wit h the meaning illustrated abo\'e) and be (With t he
m., a ll ill g ' ilhutr.. le<.l ebcve] are the o nly sp<:<:ial finites t ha t take t he
I n finitive wit h p. 131.)
Sentel'lce Pattems
397
txraxno-
SUBJECT & VE RB GATl vF. ISFISITlVt:
WORD
r can' t dec ide where t o go for our holidays.
I've lost my pen-knife,
a nd I can' t t hink where to look for it .
He's very greedy and
never knows when t o stop eati ng.
I'm wondering what to do next .
The usual ver bs t al...ius t his const ruc t ion are:
ask, fOIlSiJ". decide, discouer , (/Il[l/iT., e.tpillill,fillli out,forget ,
guess, k now, leaTII , remember, SU, ' settle, td l (= know).
understand, uonder.
See page 234.
( PATTEI' S p Subject & Verb
+
Direct Object + to
lnfinlrh'e
SCBJECT & VERBIDIRECT OBJ ECT
I

I'll ask him to help us .
They want m,
t o give t hem a lesson.
He t aught his cat t o open t he door.
She likes her guests t o feel at home.
r warned him not t o be late.
He dared m,
to climb t he tree,
Usua l verbs:
advise, allow, ask, c/ln' t bear, beg, Co1 l/Se, choose, dare (= chal-
lenge}, ( "COIITace. expect , fo rce. g(t, hale, hdp. intend, i nvite,
leave, like, lOt'e, lIIeali (= intend). order, permit, p"sllade.
pTtfer. remind, teach, ttll. tempt, llrge, want, uarn, wish.
Sec pages 23I, 233.

A Comprehmsive Englis h Grammar

$ \S bJ & V b + t Infi niti ve}
See pages 210 230 J,P
Some common verbs using this pattern are:
ldgi n, cease, commence, continue, dare, decide, expect, f orgtt ,
have, hnpe, i mend , learn, like, lot'e, mea" , need ( A), Off", ollght ,
pref er. pretend, promise, reJUSt: , remembn, start. swear, try ,
wllnt , tnsh.

.
16:
Subject & Ve rb +Interroil,at h'e Word + to-
Infi ni t ive
-

I S TJ:: HHOo
SUBJECT & VERB
GATIVE
WOII: U
1 ,\; 11 remember how t o do this in future.
He w ill soon fi nd out how t o dri ve t he car.
Do you know
how
to answer t hat ques-
I t ion?
Go and ask how
t o get from t he station
t o our hot el.
I
"
.

,
u oct er
,.
SUBJECT & VERB

I w ant
t o go a..... ay.
He ought !
t o help you.
we have'
t o be home by 10 o'clock.
You are'
t o see t he Headmaster at once.
we must t ry
t o help him,
I don' t l ike
t o ask you.
Did you remember
t o feed t he cat?
I didn't dare
t o ask for a rise in sal ary .
I
S entence PMIc"I S

Iricd , not boiled.

mended
paint ed.
pJ:1Yl'd by t he band.
--,
I'N,;T I'A l< T1U I'LE I
gone.
torn np by their
roots .
!lll/ H'I

my fish
those shoes
th eir h ouse
music
the money
bi g trees
Twant
You should get
Th ey have just had
We heard
\ \lren t lH'y opened
the safe t he}' found
\\'1.' saw
- --- - - - - -
Usual ver bs:
catch, feel, find, hear, imagi ne, kup, leaw , li slen to, look at,
notice, sec, sel, smell, start , li'a/ell.
See pages 237, 239 ,

L '-- _
L'sual verbs:

-
S ubj e ct & Ve rb ..;- Direct Object .... - Pr-esent I
Part iciple I
- -
----- ----I
& VEHll
DIRECT
SUIlJECT
PRESEST PAKI"ICIPLE
OBJ ECT
- . -
He kept
me waiting,
We saw
him pl aying football ,
Tcaught
them stealing apples.
I call smell
somet hing burning.
Our fas t car lef t the others standi)lg.
I

,
I

GERl: :->D
skati ng,
cutting.
wasting my time.
passing the sugar ?
seeing performing animals.
seei ng that film in London?
A ComprehCll si t'e EIl" lish Cmmmer
He loves
Your h air needs
Stop
Would you mind
I can't bear
Do you remember
Sl: BJ ECT & VERB
,
PATTERN S ubject & Verb + Direct
Obj ect +
nterr oga t lve \Vord I- to- Infin it ive
I
I
Sl:UJECT &
I.'\TEH1W -
DIRECT
GATl VE to-I S FI:-> IT IVE
VERB OBJECT
worm
-,
Show h im Low to do the cxer-
I
I

I had to t ell hi m h ow to make a t et e-
phone call.
You must t he children how to behave pro-
i
t each
perly.
Can you ad- mo where t o go for a g-ood
VI'"
meal? I
Don ' t forget where t o turn off t his
,
me
I
t o t ell
main road.
-
Usual verbs:
advise, ask, i nform, remind, ShOll', icach., fell.
See page 234.
1 Subject & Ver b + Gerund I
[eel, gel, 11(1;),'. hear, like, !>I,lke, pYl'ja, S<,,', ;,n'!!, 1,'ish
See p.lges 195--6, 237, 239.
5
SUbject & " erb + so
cotll'inre i n' Ofm . d
'J' , f(llU/ l. Mtls'\' !tach I II
See 'J. , ,. 1,1r'l
- pages 333, 33.f and 369-71, .
24
u:ltlu:e J'(l tfer ns
, ) l Rd 4 0 1
.... H' SUbject & V ' .
erb _ Dlrec
n ll'rro"ath'c Wor d -I- X ' t Obi"CI "':"
I
' o u n Cl au se
Sl'RJI::CT &
IDIRECT Imc.RO_
1
t
\"Efl lJ
OBJ r.CT C.:l.T1n:
sacs CLAUSE
He to!d
J ames why
The
t eacher him
how
he must wor k harder.
I
showed
he should answer the
I'll remind
you
What
quest ion.
Can you tell
I want you t o do.
m,
whose
Will
you
stat ue t hat is?
u,
wJ1Cn
please inform
t he goods we orl!ered
Wll! be despatd ,ed ?
Usual verbs:
A Comp rehul$ive Engli sh Grammar
Usual verbs:
at kl/()U!ledge, admit , arrange, believe, t an' l bear, confess, don't
cere, declare, demand, dmy, exped , explai " , f ear, hear, lI ope,
imagirlt , i nUtld, ktl OU' , netice, propose, " t ommtlld, soy , see,
SMtr, suggt st , suppose, thi"k , undtrsta'ui , li-ondtr.
Set pages 333-5

& Verb + (that ) + Noun
Claus;)
SliBJECT & \ "ERB
(thot) + :;01J:'" CLAl: SE
He sai d
(t hat) t hey would come and see us.
He intended
t hat hi s son should inherit t he business.
I hear
(t hat) you are going t o Ameri ca next
week.
I expect
(that) you are surprised at t he news.

' 0
so
I t hink
He hopes
I am afrai d
SCBJECT oS: vr un t
Freque ntly t he pattern is inycrted c
so I 'Id i,'u ' ! ' . .g.
-=-__ , so oc 11<'",11. d e.
P.... n "El : :-; Bl Subject & V'-'rb +1101
Thewgati \'c canst
- , rucnon has 11 v! Instead f - .
I hO'le not . 0 $0 .
1 He IS afraid 11(>(. etc.
TI,e .. usillS t hese construct ions are:
("c 4 ,.11J l:litt,( hop
The verb _" . '.," e. thi'IN See P:l.I;Cr oc.
I"", not l. t , $t'C can he used ' .
(Al inverted (So I I on ..\" With Pa t tern 2 '
, /(1" , etc .] ...
S u bject & V"b +Dir-ect
Object + (that)
+ Noun Clau se I
SUIl JEC' & VERB
DIRECT
(thai ) + NOUNCLAUSE
OBJECT
I told
him
(th at ) he must work harder.
He warned
u,
(th at) th e road was a bad
one.
That experience hi m
(t hat) honesty is t he best
I
t aught
policy.
I fmally con..- mced
him
(HI at ) he had been mistaken.
A Comprehensive English Gramma r
EXERCISES
s bv adding the words
I Complet e t he following the t ype of pattern
you consider necessary an s a c
used in each sentence:. "f the wind drops.
1' 1 - - may be snow t his evemng I
1' 1 - - is cutting his lawn. l
any matches in your pocket.
(3) - t the parcel by regist ered post,
1.1 - - sen ... t
(5) We imagined - t o be hones.
p tt rns do you associate
II Wi th what t hem can be used
t he f ollowi ng \erbs . t ow of Sentence Pat t er n ?
wit h more than one ype . can
Jell, consider, suspect, choose, deny, rISe, ,
learn, expect . . answer
Conslr ud sentences to illustrate your .
Construct three sentences with each of these pat terns.
III CT OI>JECT + PHE POSI -
( 1) SUBJ ECT AND VERB +OI RE
TION + aDJ ECT.
. , + DIRECT OIlJECT + IIARE
(2) SUBJ E CT AND. \E.R.D, b t hat can be used in t h is
Give SIX ver s
Pattern. + E"E'.
I RECT OBJECT PH
(3) SUBJ ECT + VERIl 7" D, -erbs can be used
PARTICIPLE . ) [ent lOn SIX \
in t his pattern.
_ . . Patterns mentioning all t he con-
I V t he n the following sentences:
st it uent parts use I f II
id s the examinat ion a ter a .
(I) It that he dl. I can 't tell when t o tcle-
{z) Can t you keep qUlCL (d
31
, h r husband .... hen she
hi I) ::ihe r ermn t'( e . t
phone rm. 4 " I ) I should like my h,m c u
want ed t o use the car .. 5 t adilv (7) They
short . (6) Keep your
challenged us t o r un a (9) He does not know
son how to dance Y
t o
remain silent . (10) I
when t o speak and refused t o accept my
offered to help them bu 1/ tennis than watc h It.
offer. ( II) I would rat her f Y. k 1' 31 This watch
f
ted for SIX wee s , .
( I2) The rest ras , . ( \ We ellVY you you r
should last you :diof time on propping
good fortune. (15) c " as es
up the bar at t he Club.

CIIA I'T F Il
Til E PRON UKCL\TI OK OF E ?\GLI SII
There are innuruer.rble diHerent ways of pronounci ng English,
Canada , t he l' ni ted States, South Africa, Australia, New
Zeal and , Scotland, Ireland , Waks-all han their character;
istic pronunciat ion of Engiish and somet imes severa l vari eties
I n England itself t here arc many diffe rent town and count r y
accents ,
The type of pronunci ati on which is de,....-ribcd in t his chapter,
and referred t o in t he hook, is that wh ich is sometimes known
by t he name ' Received Pronu nciat ion' (K P. ), It is t hat used
in ti le E nglisli ' Public Schools' and by H. B, C. announcers. and
consequently by very many well-educat ed Jleople in England,
espec ially i ll t he southern half of England. It is not associat ed
wit h any part icul ar town or region of England. and it is
gcuorallv u nderstood throughout the English- speaking world.
For t hese reasons it is generally considered t o be t he most
sui t abl e pronunciation for foreign st udents of English t o learn.
It will be appreciated t hat in a book it is not possibl e to
d escribe sounds adequat ely- part icularly the vowel sounds.
The student should listen, if possible, t o a good speaker of
E nglish or to grumophono records.'
The distribution of sounds in English is not shown consis-
tently by t he spell ing, so that in writing about pronunci ati on
i t is necessary t o usc a phoneti c alphabet. In t his book a
broad form of til e I nt erna t ional Pl lOnetic Alphabet is used.
In a phonetic transcripti on , t he same letter always represents
t he same sound, or, more exactly, t he S01me pllOncme. Although
t he [I] at t he beginni ng of a word, e,g, lea], is a differen t sound
from the [I] at t he end of a word , e.g. feel , t his difference is
never used in English t o distinguish words: beth [ljs are
membe rs of t Il e same p h01UlJl e, and we can use t he same
symbol for both , noting where ea ch varie ty will occur. On t he
other hand, and Si'lg are recognized as different words in
Engl ish by th e cont rast be tween [n] and (1) J; t hese sounds
t herefore form separate phonemes.
I For EHentilJ1 English gramophone record, [Linguaphonej
'3

I This lOund occur. only in unstreued syllable-;,

,
E\;IIII' l '!rs
pay, cake, face . able, game.
low, no. both , sOJ.p. own.
lit>, by, kind. five, ice.
cow, now, out, round, mout h.
Loy, t o}', noise, oil, coi n. .
beer, ncar , beard, here , ear.
t here, pear, chai r, air, care.
1100r, tore, roar, shore .
10 1lf, moor. cu rious [' kju;Jri;Js)
Pholl l"/!c Sylll ,'>o1
-' r.1) ci
-' l.j) ou
ai
": r6) au
-{I j ) III
-' IS) ia
. (19) ea
.(20) 00
-I"2I ) ua
,
:S)TE. spl'akf'rs of R.P. do not use Diphthong :-: 0 . co.
They use instead vowel XO.,7 [0 :), and p-ronounce [do :],
[t o :], etc.
@kU>O SO>O A:;TJ
Consonants lIlay be classified according t o t he way t he}' arc
l otn1l'd in t he mout h. Ti le Jollowing types arc llist iul;lIisllCd ill
E nglish:
(t) Ptosire, "DIe breath is stopped compl etely III t he mouth
l!;ltltll CII released SUddenly wit h all expl osive sound.
or ' jcdtil:!. The breath is not complet ely stopped but t he
.ll;ll is narrowed in t he mouth so t hat frlo.t um r an be
heard .
6 ,') A Similar t o a plcsive consonant. but the release
o('TJ'; e-l lr IS ess sudden, so t hat it sounds like a pJosive con-
son ant followl,d by J. fricat ive.
.-\ dipht hong (hfiers from a pure \"owe! IJ\ t hat ti le t ongue
and lips. instead of rClIlaiJ,ing in a fixed position, move while
it is being- pronour.ced. I n practice it can he regarded as a
cur,loi ll3. liu ll of t wo vowe! sounds; IJIlt a llil'ht hong can foml
only OPl' syll able or part of a syll ao!e . and t he t ransit ion from
one element to the other is made not bj- an abrupt challge but
by a gradual glide. TIle phonctic symbols represent 'a pproxi-
mat ely t he beginnin;; and t he end of each diph thong.
Exa,nplts
sea, sheep, eat, seat, leave.
sit , li ve, cit y, sing, ink.
set , bed, t en, egg, had.
bad, sa t , apple, man, cat.
bath, cart, heart, fat her, far.
hot, often, dog, long, wash.
saw, sort, caught , law, nor.
good, put, book, full, wood.
bl ue, soup, root, fool , boot.
cut, come, young, mother , gun,
bird, .....ord. earth, fur, hurt.
asleep, father , Saturday,
labour.
lfl.'CK VOWELS I
\ CE S TRAl VOWELS ,
-(10) It,
..(n )
-{u )I
Low -(S) a:
-i6)
..(1) 0 :
-is) u
H igh 4 9) u:
A Comprt!lmsi vl Engli sh Grammar
\ THE SOU:-;DS OF E:-; CLl SII !
<DIVo",", 1
The char acterist ic sound of a vowel is
shape given t o t he interior of t he mbeut,h b}fi ' "d' a""' , Back
. d h t e Vowels may c ass! e .
t o whether the back or part
. ised In English th e bps are generally spread
of t he t ongue IS tal - hi t h t gue is raised t he

for t he bac k vcwets--ebe higher t he t ongue IS TaIS r ' . .
t he lips are rounded. For the Central vowels, t he IpS are In a
neutral posi t ion; t he}' must not be rounded.
We distinguish twelve pure vowel sounds:
IFROST VOWEL")
P1wru1ic Symbol
High ..(1) i:
I
..(2) i
,
Low .(4) a
4
06
A ComprthCIIsiw Ellglish Gralilmar
@ N asal. The breat h is ill t he mouth (as
for t h
4
e jSlOsive consonants) but IS permitted t o come t hrough
t he nose.
6) Like vowel -sounds, but so shor t t hat t hey
form on ly a g1Tde t o the fo\luwing sound, and are t rea t ed as
consonant s. .
In addition there are two English consonant sounds whi ch
cannot be placed in any of t he above categories .
VOICED Al' D VOICEL ESS SOUNDS. Sounds may he produced
wit h vibrat ion of t he vocal chords (voiced sounds) or wit hou t
vibration (voiceless sounds). As a result ar.e many pairs
of consonant s which have t he same formation 11\ t he mouth
but are distinguished by being voiced in one case, voiceless in
t he other.

m
n
J
r
f
w
Voiced
G)[Snu-VOWELS i
Like \'ery short fa]. Lips rounded.
I. lkl.' \"Cry short Iil-
Wider opening than for UJ [::; J; t iP of
t ongue curled bac k, but retracted from
t he t eet h-ridge so that there is li ttl e or
no fri ction. Body of tongue lowered.
b
The PrOl1unciatiOil of English
j "' ICd css I Q)( \'"ASi\ 1.
X ,' Sa.! ope1l 1/1I d
Mout h stopped as for [1'], [IlJ
Mnurh st opped as for [t], [dJ
Mouth stoppell as for (kJ, [gJ
@iOTIl ER r
Tip of tongue t ouching t eet h or teet h,
ridge , sides of t ongue lowered.
As t he body of the t ongue is tree t o take
up many different positions in t he
mouth , it is possible to pronounce as
many varieties of [IJ as t here are vowel
sounds. In. English we. lIlay distinguish
two vanctrcs-c-an [ij-Iike [l]that occurs
at the begi nning of a word or SYllable
(leilf, laugh) and a 'darker' [uJ-like [I)
that occurs fi nally or before a consonant
(feel , milk).
Br:ath only, the mouth ill position t
articulate the foJlowing vowel. a I
Note Oi l [r]. By speakers of RP., this sound is pronounced
o.ll.zy before a sound. It docs therefore not occur in words
like card, u;orth, form [kard. fo:m], in words like father
car, lore pronounced III isolat ion ['fa:oo. nia, t ot], or in t he

z
d-
"
g
b
d
v
e
Voiced
0 (P LOS1VE I
B reath slopp ed by.'
Lower lip against upper lip.
Tongue against t eeth-ri dge.
Back uf t U1l 6tUl: against ruof of mouth
@ F RIC ATI VE
A ir-passage narroweil 'Ili'UII.'
Lower lip and upper t eeth.
Tip of tongue and upper t eet h .
Tip of tongue and t eeth ridge.
Front of t ongue and bac k of teeth-
ridge , wit h wider opening t han lor
[5, z] .
G:>(A FFRl c .... rE .... XTi)
Like rD and [3) but ti p of tongue
t ouching t eet h-ridge t o ' make a com-
plete stop at first.
Like [r] but tip of t ungue touchi ng
teeth-ridge to make a complet e stop at
fi rst . I n [t rl t he [r) also is voiceless, t he
element has more frict iou t han (r]
alone.
s
J
f
e
tJ
'c
P
t
k
Voicd ess
: 'fhe here.u si gn of extra lenl;: th.
. - I n R. \mgdon 5 The GTOlmdu.'ork of Engl ish Sire.. where t he sub' t
IS fully treated . t he t er m 'Kineti c stress' i. used fo; main st ress J"d
the terms 'Full Stat ic stress' and 'Parti al Stattc stress' v a _.; an
" 1 f h h ' . . .. rt us<:ures_
rve Y or t e rgn-pnched and t he lowpi tche<l ' -ariet ies of secon '
stress. ar)
<U [ onSOI/ IIlII>
.. ..
The consonants [IJ. [rn], (nJ and Inl are similarly lengthened
at th e end of a word or before a fi nal voiced consonant.
Thus:
The Pronunciat ion of Ellglish 409
\ \ 11.en a voiceless closes t he syllable, th ese vowels
and arc very ht!le !onger th an ot her vowels in the
same posltl?n. Thus t here 1S htt le difference in the lw gth of
the vowels m th e following pairs of words:
btat [bitt], bit [bit]; f oot [hit], boot [hu:t]: short [jort], shot
[Jot]; bite [baitJ, bllt [b.\ t); reach lrutfl. rich [ritfl.
kilt [kilt ]
hump [hamp]
t hink [Bi lJ k]
wince (wins]
kill [kil:j
hum [l1l,m:]
t hing [Bin:]
win [wiru]
killed [kil :dJI
hummed [ha nud]
things [Bin:z]
wind [winrd]
ISTRESS]
, is prominence to certain syllables by varia-
nons in tile pitch of the voice (mtonation) and by the use of
A syllable may have main stress, in-
dicated m t his section by the sign (') placed before the stressed
syllable; or secondary stress, indicated by (') 0' () done di
het her rt ts Heh-ot
on w let er It IS high -pitched or low-pitched: or it may be
tlnstressed.
a syllable has main.stress,.it carries one of th e rising
or fa llmg tones that character-ize th e intonatio n tunes described
on pp. 41 2-41,'). we quote monosyllabic words in isolation
we .generally give them main st ress and say th em with a
:alhng tOIlC. when \\:e quote words of t wo or more syllables
1I1 t he same way, we gl\'C mam stress (generally with a falling
sentences: ' He was near the door'; 'He tore the pa per' . But
[r] is pronounced in ' Father ate them'; 'far away': 'ncar and
far' ; ' for ever", since in these examples the words are pro-
nounced wit hout a break, and t r.e sound immediately following
t he let ter r is a vowel.
Ii l, omprehenSwt t.ngtish Grammar
Double consonants rarely occur within English words. EW' Jl
when t wo consonan t letters are written (e.g. biller, banner,
follow), only a consonant is pronounced, Doubl e COI\ '
sonants mav. however. occur in compound words or where a
word ending consonant is followed by a word beginning
..... ith a similar consonant. c.g. pm-knife [pen-naif], full lo.ld
[Iul loud], bad dream [bad drirru]. In t hese circumstances a
consonant of double length is pronounced. When two plosive
consonants are brought t ogether in this way, t here is usually
only one explosion, but t he stop is held longer than for a single
consnnant , e.g . bed time, big dog, sit dou-n, u'Jw! time.'
(9 VJtu /s
All the diphthongs, and the vowels containing t he 'lengti:
mark' I :] in t heir phonetic symbol ' (i:, a:, 0: , U:, at} may be
given greater length in certain positions. These are (a) when
t hey are followed by a t'oiud consonant; (b) when they are in
an open syll able at t he end of t he word . (Note t hat these arc
t he only vowel sounds which can occur at the end of a '....ord in a
stressed syllable.)
Thus the vowel in:
bee [bi t] and brad [bi:dj is longer than t he vowel in beat
car [kai], card [kurd] is longer than the vowel in rart [kan].
SII :II [sot]. s!wrd [50:d] ts longer than that ill sought (so:t].
bow [bau]. bOlad [buud] is longer than that in bOllt [baut ].
play [plei], pl'J)!cd [pleid] longer than that in plate [pki (
I The ,"'Owd ra j may abo be leng-then'l<! in the of man"
speakers.
4IO A Coniprehenswe English Grammar
tone) to one of t he syllables. The main stress is Oil the
fi rst syllable in : 'orange, 'custom, 'pict ure, 'yellow. It is Oll
t he second syll able in : in'tend, for'get: ex'plain, a'gain.
When a syllable has secondary stress, it does not carry a
rising or a fa lling tone (except when it forms part of certain
complex t ones) but it is said on a level pitch, which may be
high or low depending on its place in the intonation t une t hat
is being used. The Io'Jowing words have a main stress, a
secondary stress, and one or more unstressed syllables:
'civili'zation, ex' ami'nat ion, 'photo,graph , 'budgerigar .
The principles governing the incidence of st ress in English
words are rat her complex. The following point s. however,
may be of help:
G)I n words of Germanic origin, the main stress is generally
on t he root. The prefixes bc-, foro, a-, are unst ressed. Thus:
be'gin, be'low, tor'get . for'lom, a'stcep, a'cross. a'skcw.
CD In words of Lati n or Greek origin enlling in -sion, -tion,
-iai, -ictal), -ian, -ture, the main stress is generally on t he
sylla ble preceding these f'ndings , If this brings the mai n
st ress later than the second syllable a secondary stress is
placed on one of t he fi rst t wo syllables, Thus: 'vision, pre-
'cision, 'civ il i' zation, po'si tion. ' bene'ficial, i ' niti al, e'Iectric(al),
his' t oric(al), ' phot o'graphic, phy'sician, mu'sician. ad'vcntnre,
en'rapture, ex'ami'nation.
(i)Two-syll able words which may serve as nouns or as verbs
offe'n have t he mai n st ress on t he first syllable when nouns,
and on t he second when verbs, e.g.
Noun: 'produce, 'record, 'export, 'conduct .
Verb: pro' duce. re'cord, ex'port, con'ouct.
Some two-syllable words have both syllables stressed (til e
second wit h main stress, the first with high secondary stress),
When one of t hese syllables occurs next t o anot her stressed
syll able, it frequently loses its stress. Thus we say (in isolat ion):
'un'known ' prin'ccss, 'fif'feen ; but (in cont ext) : ' Princess
'Margaret , t he ' young prin'cess, the 'unknown 'sol dier,
't wo-fi f t een ,
Tilt Pronunciation of English
STRESS SPEECI-I
STHESS)
Ir connected speech, words arc not treated as separate
uni ts thcv form themselves into intonation groups. I n each
inton rtion group generally only one syllabl e, belonging to the
word to which the speaker is giving most prominence, will
have main stress; the other words wi ll have their normal main
stresses weakened t o secondary stresses or will be completely
unstressed. The words which are frequently unst ressed in
spcech ! are the ar t icles, t he personal , possessive and relat ive
proncuns, the parts of the verb "be" , auxiliary verbs immedi-
ately prec eding their main ver- bs, some conjunct ions and
some prepositions (except when final). So we say:
' Wh at are you 'thinki ng a,bout?
He should have ' fi nished it 'earlier.
He 'asked for his ' hat and ' coat.
1
RHYTH
"1
There is a strong t endency in English speech to make the
stressed syll ables occur at approximately regular interval s of
time. Thus the three sentences in each of the following groups,
t hough differing from each other in number of syll ables, t ake
approximately t he same time to say, because t hey have the "
sa me number of stressed syllables:
J, I ' saw t he 'car 'last 'night.
I in'spcct cd t he ' car 'yest erday 'evening.
I should have in'spcctcd the ' vehicle 'yesterday ' en ning.
2. ' Please ' pass 'that 'book
' Kindly 'give me 'that 'book.
'Kindly pre'scot him with the 'other ' book ,
':lbny of these wo rds undergo chan ges i n t heir sounds when un_
stressed. For t he 'w""k Ior ma' sec D. E"gluh Pro"o,,,,,u lg
Dictionnry, "nll II , E. Palm.'r, A Gramm,, ' oj Sp"kcli L"C!i,h, sect ions
' 5 fi.
..(C) 'Why? '\,,"h3t do you 'want? 'How ' are you?
.I
-
- ..

.I
'\\llen you ar,fl ve .

1- .
./
I
./
- .. -
-

TIl<: Pronunciati on Qj Engli sh 4
1
3
As will be seen from the examples, stressed syllables which
precede the syllable wit h main stress (i.e. that on which the fall
occurs) will be high-pitched at the beginning of the sentence,
gradually descendmg as the main stress is approached. Un-
syllables are generall y said on a low tone if at the
beginning of .the sentence, and otherwise on the same pitch
as t he preceding stressed syl lable; syllables following the main
st ress are low-p!tched. Th e Falling Tune is used for: (A)
commands; (B) SImple statements of fact ; (C) quest ions intro-
duced by a "quest ion-word" (i.e. When? Where? Why?
\\-llat ? \ Vl lich? How? Who(m)? \\lJose?) In st atements and
commands it often suggests abruptness and finality.
{Ni si" !! Tl/1teI
-{O) ' ,\ s I had ' just .started . ,. 'On t he .whole . , .


.' .
.,
' remedying it.

1- '\ j- , ...
-(B) 'No, He a'way ' yesterday. He' s
\ 1- ' . \ 1- \
-{A) 'Give it to me. ' Come 'here. 'Please comt' 'here im'rnediately.
5] - ' - , 1.
There is a close association, as we have seen, between stress
and intonation I_the rise and fall in the pitch of the voice
when speaking. I n English, cert ain patterns or tunes of in-
tonat ion tend to be associated with different t ypes of sentence
or utterance. The int onat ion may also indic ate the speaker 's
aUitude t o what he is saying (e.g. degree of excitement ,
interest, sur prise) or t o his listener (o.g apology, sympathy,
impatience),
We can dist inguish three basic intonation tunes:
2
! FaiJi"g Time!
This characteristic of English may be compared to musical
rhythm as represented by bar-lines. There may be any number
",. of notes in a bar of music, but the accented notes (t he first
in each bar) \\;11 fall at regular interval s of time.
I r XTOXATIOX \
_ ..

-{E) . " ,if I re,member . . , ,on the . whcle. . " ,when you ar,ri ve.
-{F) ' Hs ve you 'finished? 'Can you 'fix it for me?
'\\llen did you here?
Fl;Ir fuller t reat ment of intona.tion see: R. Kingdon , .... , Gro""d:rc.1I
of E.., l i d. / ..tortati",, : ..nd fOI rractlce 5<'ntencn, \ \' . S. Allen, Ii!"ir. :
E.., l id, Spud, lnd R. Ki ngdon, E .., l i / .. P,.. : ,iu.
Th e t ...o horizo r.tal lines represent t hc upper and lo.. er of t !':e
speak.i llJ voice, A line is used for a stressed syll able, a dot fur an un
Itreucd syU6ble.

' 1-' .J
' Is it ' true?
I

EXEHCISES
I .\\l lich t ype of English pronunciat ion do you t hi nk it
1:1 best for you t o learn? Give reasons.
II I n each of the following grou ps of words one has a
different .,,"owel (or dipht hong) sound Ircm t he two
others. Pick this word and show t he ditlerence by
uSing phoneti c symbols:
(I ) bread, neck, snake. (2) live, reave, keep, (3) have
men. bad, (of) luck. come, put. (5) all. coa l, Jaw. (6) good:
food, root. (7) cart, bath, bag. (8} cow, 11 0, low, (9) hear,
clear, bear. (to) caught , what, short .
wrue .the folJ owi,ng passage, crossing out t he let ter 'r '
each ti me that it is noll'ronoullced as a consonant erl
It occurred t o me that I had never seen a pair c t men
more fi tt ed for t heir chosen work. They were loyal t o
e.ach other, and if they brought oJ! a success Ior lhe
College, t hey would each attribut e it 10 t he other. llut
most men considered that C. was t he dominating spi n to
I Ie hatl a streak of fierceness, and t he nrill t y which
attract s respect _ amI resent ment-from other men
III
The Prrmrmciation 0
1
ElIgl i sh
'J 4r5
A varianon .of t his tune is used t o give special prominen
t o one word with the implication of cont rast with some othce
word., Then the .fall may be replaced by a rise-Iall. If t:;
prom.ment word IS at end of t he sentence, t he result ing rise.
fall-rise may occur on one word or even on one svllable: it is
t hen shown by the sign ,
/'. - -,- -- - - - - . - .
..(J) "'I don't ,want it. It ' isn't t he "money t hat's im,portant .
. ---/..... ./ ,. - --,..:1. - -"'\.,.
..(1\: ) 1'd idn't ....mean ,that. It 's 'not "'difficult . It 's ' not ""hard.

\-1\
I n this tune, the syllable wit h main stress-c-indicutcd hy t he
sign (.) or (')- will, if it is t he last syllabl e of t he sentence or
group, begin on a low pit ch and rise shar ply. If i t is not t he
last syllable, it will be said on a low pi tch, and t he rise will
be spread over t he following syllables. St ressed and unst res..ed
syll ables preceding t he mai n st ress are t reated as in t he Fall mg
Tune. TIle Ri sing Tunc is used for: (D) subordi nate
and phrases preceding t he main clause and {omling an ill -
tonation group separ at e from it; (E) similar clau.es and pllra.-;es
following the main ctcusc: (F) questions t hat r-an be answer... ,1
by 'Yes' or 'No'. I n statements t he tunc frequent ly suggests
incompleteness. I n qu est ions t he rise is usually carried t o a
higher point t han ill statements.
Fa/li'lg-Risi'lg T Ime
---
- .
-(I ) I' m 'so .sorry. I 'beg your .pardon. " Sorry,
I n t his t une one word may t ake t he fall, and a later one t he
rise , or t he fall -ri se may be concent rated 0;1 one word if it is t bc
last word of t he sent ence ; in t his lat ter case It is shown bv the
sign T his t une is used: (G) for hesit ant or
t hose cont aining an implicat ion, or where tile Falling Tune
would give t he impression of abrupt ness; (H) for polite
req uest s; (I) for apologies
'Sit .dcwn. ' Corne ,1lere , please. 'wait for "me.
-(G) ' Very ,well. 1 'c an' t come to-morrow. "now.
4
16
A Comprchm sit ,c English Grammar
IV Say in which o f the following words t he vowel (or
diphthong} sound wil l be lengt hened Ill' the consona nt
foll ows it :
\Vheat , big:, seed. cloud , clothe>! , rise, shoot .
\' (a) Mark the main stress (a nd , where appropriate,
secondary stress) in the following words:
oper at ive, geographer, begi.n-
fling, incli n'a t ion , develop. eligibility. sympathetic.
iii) The fol lowi ng wonts can be stressed eit her on
[lIst or on t he se cond syllable. Show how the resulting
pa irs d iffer in meaning and pronunciat ion :
refuse, frequ ent , present , rebel , object.
VI (til ),{ark t he main stresses in the following sentences .
(Il) Name. or show, t he Tunes t ha t would
normally be used in speaking them ,
( I) Can you remember the name of the manager?
(2) But whercs the mOlley t hat I left on table?
(3) Don' t be afraid. Come ov er here and SIt
(
\ I don' t thin k you'll manage to Gut It With t hai
4 . ,
knife. Why don'f you borrow mille, ,
(5) Alt hough r should have liked to see her, It was
for me t o go th ere. , .
(6) The big. brown book ,,'ith the leather bmdm!i was
wr itten bv a ter mer Prime Minister.
(7) What I can never understand is h e comes here
a t all. .
(8) He call certainly swim well, but he can' t ride a
bin-cl eo d I .
(9) Wouldn't you like some more 01 these c lClOUS
chocolates?
(!OJ Get out of my sight and never dare to come near
my house ac:ai n!

ClIA l'T EK T lI lHT Y

.\ BRIEF HISTORY OF THE Ei\ GLISH
LANGUAGE
When the Romans came t o Britain, first under Julius Caesar
in 55 B.C. and later under Claudius in A.O.42, t hey found a race
of Celtic people, the Britons, in occupation. These Britons
resisted the Romans fiercely on the shores of south-east
England but they were finally conquered and driven back.
The Romans 'were not the first invaders of t he count ry. The
Brit ons themselves had come as invaders and they had been
preceded by others, but until the coming of the Romans no
written record of these influxes had been made. Gradually the
invader occupied the greater part of the count ry, but soon he
came up against the obstacle that had no doubt hel d up earlier
invaders and was to hold up later ones-t he mountains of
Wares and Scotland. Among t he mountains t he Britons took
refuge and here t he invader was forced t o come to a stop.
During the next {our hundred years, t hough England be-
came a Roman colony, Wales and N.W, Scotland remained
largely uncon quered. The Romans made t heir magnificent
roads int o Wales (Watling Street went from London t o
Anglesey). they built camps at Caernarvon (Segontium) and
at Cacrteon, and great walls to keep back t he Scots. But
outside the camps and beyond the \\'all, t he Roman influence
was hardly felt , the old Celtic language was spoken and Latin
never became a spoken language th ere as it did in England, lit
any rate in the larger towns.
I n .\ .0 . 4IO the Romans left Britain; t heir soldiers were
needed to defend Rome it self against t he Goths. It was then
that t he Angles and Saxons and Jutes came and seized th e
undefended Britain. And t hey came t o st ay. Once more the
Britons of England were driven t o t he mountains of Wales and
Scot land, W. Ireland and the Isle of Man, to Cornwall or
Brittany.
ITHE CELTIC ELEMENT]
Tile l anguage spoken by t hose Brit ons has developed into
Welsh, spoken by t he people of Wales; Gaelic, spo ken in
'"
4l S
part s of t he Highlands of Scotland: Erse. spoccn in I rela nd:
and Breton, spoken in Brittany in France Tb-rc still some
Manx spoken in the Isle of Man, but I t \s dying out; and there
used t o be a Cornish language, but thi s di ...1 out In the eigh-
t ceuth cent ury. \\"elsh and Ersc. Laclic l Irct c n and
t hough t hey come from t he same ancest or , are not of course
t he same language. but a Welshman would probably be under-
st ood (wit h d ifficult y) by a Bret on, and a Manxman might
make something of a speech in Gaehc or Ersc. But if an
Englishman heard a speech in any of these languages he would
not understand a single word of It for the Englis:l that he
speaks comes, not from t he Britons who withst ood the Romans.
but from t he Angles who made Bri tain 'Angle-land': and
English t ook pract ically not hing from the old Celtic language.
The words au, brock (= a badger] , ( = a loaf of
home-made bread) and bin (=- a manger) are probably
sur vivals of Brit ish words. and there have been uuportat ions
into English at a later dat e; tram Welsh: dnlld. fia.wd. E://ll .
bard; from Scotch Gaelic: cairn. clar., plaid . !i'hisk)': and from
I rish: brogue, shamroch, galore. .
But somet hing "f Celtic has been fossilized in numerous
place names . Ten of our rivers still have the beautiful name 01
At' on , from t he Celtic word for rl!'n; and Esk, Ex. Usk, OIlSt .
AiTe are all Ircm t he word l OT 'water', The J)OIl and t he DOll1le
(like t he Vallube
l
) are from anot her old Celtic word fOI u ater
Tees, Trent, lI'ye and Wry are :1.11 names. The
Celtic dIm (= a protected place) can hi: SC":1 in DWldee . DlIl, bar
a nd in t he old name for Edinburgh Dlmcdin; K ill ( = a
church) in Kildare, Kilkenny: --<(mi lle (cwm) (=z a hollow) ir:
IIfracombe. Combe Mart in: caer ('"" a in Ctl!'rlcn...
Carl isle, Cardiff; and -llan (= holy) in Icn L!.:md t!J r)
The names London, DCT.'fT, Y ork, Gtas u> are lll.hh, and
t ill" first patt of Dorchester, (." /olfcecter , .\[ '.v, , . tc
Salisbury, t o which has been added tilt' old l: n,! rsh <
(from th e La t in (astra = 3. ca mp or /.lI<T;h =:'l for t
' THE ELl .,
The story of Enghsh in England, therefore, l oe gins i n : !"I e
half of t he fifth century when t he ill\'3.dcIS tile .-\nbl<
, ..
A Brief History of Ih,: F:1/;1i5h L.lIlg'j,lge .P9
from Schleswig t he Saxons from Holstein. t he [utr-s from
Jutland. T11c lan'tl1ilge t hey al l spoke belonged t o ti ll' t .cnnanic
speech family, This in t urn was separated Into three main
families: c.\ST cnmA"IC, wh ich died (ou t wah Gothic ahollt the
l"ig-i.Ih eentury! "CIRrI! CEIi'l.-\X1C:, wl.i::h <1,' \'P.!op,,,1 into
Swedish, Xcrwcgian, Danish and Icrlnndic; 'l!1l1 Wb l "Eli-
)!t\ XIC, from which are descended Dut ch, Flemish. Friesian
anti English. nut t il,' Germanic al e m("lcl y one
branch of another great family, the Indo-European, wInch
comprises most of the languages of Europe and I nd ia . Th e
parent I ndo-European language began several thousands of
years II C. , probabl y in South Europ.. near t he . \ sia h border.
It sprcarl into Europe and East into i ndia, splitting .. ltd
moc1ifying into vari ous Iorms as it spread and carne into
contact wi th other Jallgnagt's of different origin ,\ 5 a H'Sl,1t of
t ht'sc divisi on, there ;\H' two main of languages ill the
I ndo-Europe an family; there is tilt, western gwu p, cont. uu-
Illg Germanic, Ccit ic , Creek . Latin, and there IS th e Easl.!rn
group ("olltaming Hulto-Slnvonic, Indo-Iranian. Albanian and
Armenian. The chart on page ,12 r will show modern
descendant s of Indo-European and their rulat ionslup to cnch
other.
The_language that these invaders of England spoke was a
west u ennamc member of the I ndo-European languages. We
generally t erm it 'Anglo-Saxon'. TIle Jutes settl ed in Kent ,
Southern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ; the Saxons in the
rest of Southern England sout h ol t he Thames: t he Angles ill
the l.md nmth flf till' Thames. Each {, f t Il<' t hlt (, t ribe-, sp"k..
a dincrent Icnu of their common language, nnd so HI England
(' Brit ain' ha.j now become ' Engl al nnd', ' t he land of the .\n;;lc-s')
th ree d ifferent dialects de veloped-c-or rather four for
very "'0011 two roans grew u p m t he Xcrt h, one spoken nort h
or t he Humber [Xort hurnbria rn, the ot her south, f t he Humber
(:\lerciall ). The dialect of t he Saxons calhx! West Sax(on,
t ha. t of t he Jutes calle,,} KL,r;ti;oh . .-\t It was t he
Xort humbrian with its centre at York that l!t, 'e1opt;'d the
hi gi llst st.tndard of o: u:ture It In in the
eighth cen tury that Caromon. t he tirst gre-at English poet ,
1 II,,: th" (;vt bi,' u f Ih\l e, m"',1 ""LI ,11.. ,1 1500
t he only wr;t;n,ll> tli"l \, e h,n'" , f G,tl"" ;Il" ",.. uf.l !ran<foltl''' '
of t he BillIe m"lc I,,' II; ll (ol' t ' lfi h s \ fJ
A Brie] I l istory of tht Ellglisli Lallg'''lge 421
wr ote his poet ry, and it was int o Xor thumbrian t hat t he
Venerable Bede t ranslated t he gospel of St. J ohn. Then for a
t ime under Alf red t he Great (R.,S-<)OI), who lind his capit al in
Winchester and who encouraged learning in his kingdomami also
was himself a great writer. West Saxon became pre-eminent .
It remained pre-emi nent unt il Edward t he Confessor held his
court not in \Vinchester but in westmtnst ce. Then Lcndcn
became t he capi tal of the count ry; and from ;\Iercian, t he
dialect spoken in Lond on- and at Oxford and Cambridge-
came t he st andard English t hat we speak t oday. But t he
language of England in the t ime of Alfred bears li t tle resem-
blance t o t he language of t oday.
Anglo-Saxon or Old Engtish! was an inflected language, but
not so highl y inflected as Greek. La t in or Gothic. Thu s t here
were five cases of nouns (Sominat ive, Voca t ive, Accusative,
Genitivc, Dat ive ), 'st rong' and ' weak' declensions for ad-
ject ives (each with five cases); t here was a Iull conj uga tion of
verbs-c-complcte with Subj unct ive- and t here was a sys tem
of grammatical gender. So in Old English htlPld wa s feminine,
f ot ( = foot ) was masculine, hut /uafod (= head ) was neuter;
Ii- if ( = wi fe) was neut er, but l..-((mall n [e-e womun] was
masculi ne; (he;: (= day) was masculine but nih! (= night)
was feminine.
Most of t hat has changed. Tn modern English, as you have
seen, grammatical s ender of nouns has completely disappeared,
adjectives no longer ' agree' wi th their nouns in number, ease
and gender , nouns have only two cases, verbs very few terms,
and t he subjunctive has practically disappeared. Most of t hese
changes were caused, or at an)' rate hastened, by the t wo ot her
invasions of England .
I T il E DASISII ELBIE:q l
The firs t of t hese was by t he ' Xorthmen' or Danes. Towards
t he dose of t he eight h cent ury they appeared. fi rst as raiders,
t hen as conquerors and set tle rs. For a time t hey were held at
bay by Alfred and t he count ry was divided, t he nort hern hall
or ' Danelaw' being ruled by t he Danes, t he southern hal f by
1T he h istory of Engl hh it di\'idtd into l'l Old EtlgliJ1I,
from the eadiest "ritten documents t o t he end of I he !OC\"enlh cenlury;
J,f iJdl , E ftgl ..1I, ..eventl, century t o .Hodo.. "I:IiJII, to
prC"'>Cnt dar.
trom
blossom
rai se
1m
bloom.
A Brief History of the English Language 423
Normans. We generally date the Norman-French period in
E nglish history from the invasion by \\'illiam the Conqueror
in 1066, but Norman influence had appeared before then. The
Saxon King Etll elred the Unready (reigned 978-1016) had
married a Norman princess, and his son Edward the Confessor
(r0 42-1066), who reigned after him, had been brought lip in
France, with the result t hat a number of French words had
come into the language before \Villiarn the Conqueror became
King of England.
The Normans were descended from t he same fierce warrior
race of 'Norsemen' as had harried England a century before
t he coming of the Conqueror. I n 912 Rollo the Rover was given
Normandy by the French King Charles the Simple. \ ....ith
amazing vigour t he Normans became one of t he most highly
organized states in t he world. They adopted French as t heir
language, embraced Christ ianit y and became renowned for
their learning, their mi litary prowess and their organizing
ability. Arter defeating the English king, Harold, at Hast ings
in 1066, William t he Conqueror began t o organize England on
the Norman pattern, Many Frenchmen came to England
bringing the ri ch learning and developed civilizati on of
Nor mandy, and putting England in to t he full stream of
European culture and thought. The Normans ruled with a hard
hand, and the defeated Saxons suffered oppressi on and in-
dignities. For t he ne xt three centuries all the Kings of England
spoke French: all t he power in Court and castle and Church
was in the hands of t he Normans, and the Nor mans organized
from above t he lives and activities of the conunon people. The
language they spoke wus French and t hey ne ver dreamed of
doing t heir organizing in any language except French or Latin.
For about t hree hundred years t wo languages were spoken
side by side in England. The 'official ' langnage was French;
Engl ish was spoken only by the 'common' people.
Hober t of Gloucester. writing about 1300, says:
'So, England came int o Norrnundv's hand; awl t he
Normans spoke French just as tlll;y did at homo.', and ha d
t heir childre n taught in the same manner so t hat people of
rank in th is cou nt ry who came of t heir blood all stick to th e
SaHl I' lang\1 age; for if a ma ll knows no French people will
t hmk lit t le of him. But t he lower classes still st ick to
E nglish as t heir own la nguage , I imagine t here is no count ry
III t he world doesn't keep its .o\:'n lang uage except
England. But r t lS wel l known that It is the 1hing r-,
know bot h languages, for the more a man knows the lnor c
he is worth.'
The language of Saxon times was being changed, but it was
in no danger of dying out; and t he changes were all to the
good.
Ulti mat ely Norman and Saxon unit ed t o form one nation
but it had taken more than t hree centuries. The turn ing point
was per/laps marked in 1362 wh en fer the firs t ti me EdwalUII I
opened Parliament in English. At tile same t ime the Statute of
Pleading enacted th at proceedings in law courts should lJC in
English bec ause 'French has become much unknown in th is
realm'. In 1415 t he English ambassa dors who represr:nt ed
Henry V coul d not speak French, and the papNs t hey ha.l to
sign were written in Latin. Henry himself said, accor ding to
Shakespeare, as he t ried to woo Kat herine: ' It is as easy for
me, Kate, t o conquer the Kingdom as to speak so much more
French.'
When finally English emerged as the lalH.;uage of England,
it had been greatl y modi fie d by the vicissit udes t hrongll which
it had gone. The gr adual droppi ng of inflect ional enllings and
the general grammat ical simplification wh ich, we noticed. had
begun in the time of t he Danes, had gone on nnd had been
greatl y accelerat ed by thc collision with French and by the fact '
that English had for three centuries been almos t entirely a
spokm language , no longer restrained and kept from change by
literary model s. The changes were st riking and revolut ionary,
The language had now got rid of grammat ical feat
t hat so far as we can t ell no ot her language in the world has
achieved. Case endings of nouns had been reduced to one, the
Geniti ve or Possessive: preposit ions had taken th e pla ce of
inflectional endi ngs. Plural forms, t hough not mack cntircly
regular, had been made much fewer , verb forms had been
simpli fied, and t he whole langu age had been made much mer e
flexi bl e and expressive.
All t his was more or less the accidental or indirect result of
t he Norman Conquest. What was its more di rect effert ? There
is no doubt t hat it s great est imp act was Oil t he
The language emcrged Wi th its esstntia l st ructure stdl (,cr
manic. But an examinat ion of the vocabula ry 01 modern
A n ' i'l l h s/() r)' tJf lit" I '
'J " , - , .-11'1 'IIII"<! 4'5
E " " <>
.. llfi Ish WI! l show t hat approxim t ,I, ,
III It arc of French or J. /"- 50 po r cent. of the words
adopted between I"50 on!;"ln; and half of the"" were
trcll wnnoll S French 1;00; .,\e'l?rtlwlcss, despire t his
Anglo- S:lXOll for t hou , " .' Englr.h fl.::mam:; fundanH: nt a l1\
., v g I l IS casv Cll OUO"!J to m k '
OIl ordinnrv sll bJ' ects withour .. ' . _ ", a c
L
, . . - , ll slllg a smg c word of Pre ,
a In ongtn. It is practi call ' im ) 0 ' .ible t ' . rene I or
sentence wit hour tFinS I e ro make even a short
, . . " " . vn \\" 0 1"( s.
, . Jhe borrowlIlgs t hrow <In int eresfinr- light 0 11 the <."' .;,' ,1
ustory of t he t imes, " ...
' In it [the English Jall" uaW' ) . . .
or still showi ng the si n:' f - as It II- ere, there l ies fossilized
t he \\"11 0 1(> Of F'ngl lsh 0 t he freshness of the assimila tum
and sociai . ,; - . . cry. external and internal , polit icai
If all other Willers of know] .d . t .
l ost , we could [dmost rc-con t ecge ,I .out the Normans were
t f "s rue t 1e times from 'til .. '
Ion 0 the Jallgua&"c of t oda _ \ \ ' . . un exammn.,
t hat the Norm . , }- : c should know, for example
ans\\ eret lC rulm" Tace for al .t 11 , '
p\ pr essing government C I ci"'" rnos a t 'i e words
French origin I t is t ru,ll:f lit itself) are of
words ki ll{; nIH! Call Ie. thr- Saxon
d
lhrone, CrOWIl , roy al, stafe, '
li k e. count, challcellor mtni.I . ' . ' 11, il r I lI m e l1o,
words arc aJI ..... . '" s or , COlwell and many other such
, . .vor man, . 0 ton nrc such word ,
COlirteous I t P I 'tc . ," . - u t S ;lS IOI/O/I r, "lory
cn,:<'l,"etc.:
( ot h agai n !\or ma . J) F ., - re memc nr
(i n U{e sd _ their ac tivity in bui ldin g-
palt/ce, castle lou'! ; c - . an ,Ire. ltcl"tllfe arch, pillar,
feW/" pn' t:ttl , te., from their Interes t 111 warfare We cot :
d' /',ger,'
were great law zivcrs a d tl I I . ' . ormans
. t' -"! , ".n 101I!!",1 a1i.'itselfisSrandina\1a n ui c
p risoll ' ": Judge, Jury, court, cause, crime, traitor
cri . ' ax, rent, p,op:,t)', inj",y arc all of ' Frend;
of t he century t here was a certain amount
EngJ"sl b of t he SCrlptllrCS and of sermons {rom Lat in int o
oft en] ;,n n:aking these it was
tb an ro llunt round for
, EJlglis;' C. L. Wrenn (:"Ilcthucn).
--
426 A Comprehensive English Cmmma r
of French words connect ed with religion came into the lan.,
guage: religim, service, saVlt)ffr, pr&phd , sai nt , sacn fi ct, mirarle,
preach, PlllY.
The names of nearly all articles of luxury and pleasure arc
Norman: t he simpler things are English. There was the Xorman
castle and city; hut and hamlet , home and house are English.
The Norman had his relations, ancestors and JesCWdlt1lts; but
th e Engl ish words are fathtr and PllQthn, sister, brother, SOli and
dallghter. The Norman had pleasure, comf ort, ease, delight; t he
Englishman had happiness and glaJ,ltSs and work. The names
of great t hings of Nat ure, if not of art. are English: t he SlIt! .
t ile ,noon, t he stars, u inds, morning and n 'ming, t he phJflgh.
the spade, wheat , oats. grass; the Xorman had f retit and jiou:trs,
art, beauty, design . ornament.
The lowly English worker was a sJu)fmaka , shepJu:rd, miller,
fis herma' l, smith or b.lker; the men who came more in cont act
with t he rulers were tailors, barbas. fai'l/as, carpenters, The
Normans used chairs, fablrs andfllrnitll re: t he Englishman had
only the humble stooJ. The Norman ate t he big dinner, [ca st,
supper, at which food could be boiled, f ried, roasted; t he Eng-
lishman had t he simpler breakfast. The whole situation is given
in a "'ery interesting passage in Scott's I vanhoe, where Warnha
points out t o Gurth that t he names of almost a ll t hc animals
while t hey are alive are English, but when the)' arc- prepared
for food t hey are Norman. In oth er words, t he 1400r Saxon had
all the work and trouble of looking aft er t hem while th ey were
alive; but when there was the pleasure of eating them. the
Englishman' s cow, bull or ox became French buf; his shup and
lamb became French mutton, his swme or pig became pork or
h,uon: hi s t o veal, and t he dur (which he woul d be
hanged for killing) went t o Xcrman tables as u nison.
The close relationship both for peace and war th at England
and France have always had from Norman t imes unt il t he
present has resulted in a const ant infl ux of French words into
t he language. In t he t hirteen th century the Universit y of
Paris, t ile most renowned of its time, att racted
scholars and incidentally led t o the founding of O:dord. It IS
int eresting t o note th at at t hat t ime t he pronunciat ion uf t he
French of Paris was differl'lIt from "\ n... FrcII< h.
(Cha ucer 's Prioress, it WIll be remem1J.crl'd. spoke rrell ch
' ufte r til e scole of Stratford-atteRowe. For Frcnssh of Paris
A Britl History vithe E IIghs!; Lung't'j"e ,
wes eo n, "
as 0 li re unknowe' JI So W h . .
both derhN:J t he t wo English
a.t different times, and, as a result h e.r:-
c,
..... ord. but bon'owed
no ns and usually slightly di ne t :l\ mg fhfIcrent ptolluncia_
as 'doublets' . Exarnples arc' Th ey are known
gua rtmue' cattle 'a' h ' LeI, !!Ullrdlrl n;t L:" lrrnnt)'
'
French words that carr ". carl ' .'
full y anglicized both in accent } t hc Jp.nl;Uagc became
import a. t ions sa' h' an pronUnCI:l tlOn. The lat('r
t o aLhievc t his celftury onwards. failed
feat ure of Ol d and orfJorasoll lIlt.o th e languaSC'. :\
was t ha t in words of tb 1(' group generaIiy,
t he first syll able A- d '" loan onhe syllable the accent is on
bo
.... " " c lave t at ace t t i .
rrowiug, from French su } .en ua IOn In early
Courage, t tascm , capf'lill.- hOl: our'!l!totlr.
Irlfatle, " lInage have not vet ac .' d I C?'I':OlSSt1t r.
word" like table, cnrlir ,;'ot
l
qiJIr: t us accent uat ion As aill,
' Ell glb h' that it gives 'us bt'k
1d{
comple t ely
that they have Hot al ways be as tee . 0 t o re3. Ji ze
valet, chef we
\1. 0 1' garage IS In a half-way I ' '\. te
whet he r i t cucht to 1>, pror s ,e are not quite SUI-e
-l I . 0 10UnC('\1 ["ara - 1 r...;)' '_J
\I. let 1(' 1', l ike ' r1 tria"c or mrlrrirlge it h <:>, !',)a ," . or
as 'ga rid3]. Comp":e agai n the
cno. 'e, chapt!, cll,:,isl" chillmey CII tries (,\-here tl Ing:
pronounced [tm with the later ,iltf etta er, re C I ,.;
chiluff.cltr, " lalli/elier, Charlotte where 'cl'P. . .or'j'je},::.tnJ:,,'r
tlc
.
t lle 'g pro cd ' 1-] - '. . ts . ;:'1J1ll artv
ok! af e..Jllld/::e. dates these
pronounced " . ' ng ICl7.t' whereas t he ' g'
Ih.1t . : crnmlllfi n;;e showS'
i ll slfit J rrov llI..". Or compare t he vowel s
audNI , ill<'; .iuty a:11! ddmt: /;,, ,tldy
III almost cvcryccnturj- since XOl'man ti mes French words
<ed t =< lI(hof)1 h'.. - h .,
, , -- <' " . .. 'we _ ll n k Jl <" I; .
. S"oJ.. / ",d " li e There W."l-" '" .
C!la ll<. lr \ l ime. at 111'lJ m l ' n a nr.ef) . , ha ll 3" " old Ul
Lomlpll . C) '''''Ir Strat/. 'n!.le_H.,w (now ...1 Tit.", '
I The {lrs t l<'oT<l of e..cl . . . X
French . ' ;>aIr IS . OIma ::Frelll h, I he sec<lrd i , hl('r
Th e first of Ndl p"i' "f w r Is . I I
1" 1,, oue . " '':In Car y '<J rr"" jn ., : the :l
i
428 A COf1lprehensit'e Ellglish Grammar
have entered the language. In t he sixteenth we took, among
many others: pilot, rtnde=-ti(}Us, t'olley , t'ase, moustache, machine;
in t he seventeenth: repri mand, baUd, burlesque, chllmpagne,
nai've, muslin, soup , croup, quart: in t he eighteenth:
gllillotine, corps, espionage, depot , b'lreall, canteen, rouge,
rissole, brllnette, picnic, police; in t he ni neteenth : barrage,
chassis, parqlld , baton, rosette, profile, suede, cretmlne, restaurant ,
me1ll4, Chaf.jfellr, fiancee, prestige, dibacle; and in th is cent ury
wc cont inue with garage, camollflage, hangar, rwlte,
An interesting effect of the French, particularly t he Norman,
element has been to give t he language a sort of bili ngual
quali t y, wi th two words, one of Sa-xon origin and one of
French origin, to express roughly t he same mean ing. Thus we
havefoe and enemy;1friendship and amity: f rudcm and liberty;
unlikely and improbable; homt:lyand d01lusticattd; happiness and
fel icity ; f atherly and paternal; motherh()Od and maternity : bold
and cOllrageous: love and charity, and a host of ot hers , This
dualit y has been t urned t o gr eat use, for in practically no case
are t here any complete synonyms.t Qui te often t here is a
difference of meaning, almost always t here is a difference of
associ ation or emotional atmosphere; and the Saxon word has
generall y t he deeper emotional content; it is nearer t he nati on's
heart. BraJherly kn'e is deeper than fraternal ailection; love is
st ronger t han chari ty: help expresses deeper need t han aid; a
hearty welcollle is warmer th an a cordial reception;
. There is just one oth er rather interesting. characteristic ot
Old English t hat largely died out wi t h t he coming of t he
Normans: that is its power and ingenuit y in making com-
pounds fr om its nat ive words, Thus Old English had such
words (replaced by t he French word in brackets] as:fore-eldersa
(ancestors); fa i r-Mod (beauty]: uanlwpe (despai r); eanhtilth
(agriculture); gold-hoard (t reasure); book-hoard (library); star-
craft (ast ronomy); learning-knight (disciple); ltech-craft (medi-
cine); and t he t itle of a moral t reatise of about 1340 was The
AYNlbiteof / nwit (The 'again bi te ', i.e. ' remorse' , of 'conscience').
l The firs t wonl.in each pair ;" Saxon, t he second French .
A , )'nOD)'m is re.a11) .. word that has the same mea..ning as another.
It is proba.bl)' true to u)' that no two words in English have ua.ctly
the same meaning Or t he 5OI.me emcncnat connol al wn in " II contexts
The term ' synonr m' is often for a word "ilb .. Ihe same
meaning as a nother one.
I The examples are given in modern spelling.
S' A Bricf Hislory Of the Enelish Lallgrwge
.mee Xcrman times no 0 1 . 129
to Impose all ali en tongue Jnvad('r has come to England
Words has never ceased to flow But t he str eam of
Botll l atin and, t o a lesser .,.
porta.ll t t hou h have been im,
Greek,,, ords have Come in f.- h n
f
Lati n, and even oftenf" r
other la nguage Som L . rene orm or via Frf'nch or
t
f
t he ; nd taken into t he
and. e.g. U'lJte , CliP bllltu che e le;;C peoples came to Ell _
1II 11e, plllm. .:\ few in d .ese, SIlk . copper, slteet ,
were by t he t he Roman OCcupation and
towns, chiefly place names Ii rom Brit ons of tlle
C?mlng of Christian {Latin, C4slra), With t he
SIxt h seventh cent urif'S nom { ome and Ireland in t he

of t hese are not commonly e Norman Conquest, but many
.In _t he English
...nt ltic terms were taken . a of technical or
mdex, simile, P'1I4peT, a applicat ion, I!.g,
A great carne wi th di ocese, t?leranu .
fIfteenth and Si xteent h centun of Learmng in t he
vocabula.ry became potentlalr';Si: a. ,time ' t he whole Lat in
mar Schools ' were schools . , The English 'Gram.
was taugllt. Nor was gramma-, not English
'carne a medillm of internat ' n) a language. It
and in the schools between
'l Jllle their teacher Was wtJ . 00) s spoke Lat m_ a t leas t
SOllie of t heir i:l L
n
,earsh?t. B':IC"on and :S-ewton
Browlle wrote rna ' IJkc :\fil t on and Sir
books to expound but highly Lat ini1.ed
L lTln , and the English Ian S', grammar were wri tten in
pattern of t at in granunar \\ as dl$!Ortcd to lit into t he
ha \-c lasted, but 0 f t he words t hat were adopted
sixteent h cen turv- ip",, 0 em have, for examots in t he
/ellS I -J ' "e", foc us arcn lb . .
. '. comp ex, PNldulllm ' in t! .' , f a, a /1111, "'m ill/ IIII
I
IIlIbl , IIl/llIlal lom extra ,.,', .le el.g ItC('nth cen tu ry n/leler,,'
. ,. , omma t'la d'fi 't . . ,
cen t ury. ego, OpIlS, rc(crendl'''' '' .,1' e C1 : III t he nineteenth
J' , an liS.
430 A Comprthmsil;l t:'lgli sh Gr.lmmar
we have menti oned t hat many Lat in words came t hrough
French. I n the same way most Greek words came through
Lat in into French and English , Most of them were learned,
t echnical or scientific words. At the ti me ot the Revi val u[
Lear ning many of t he new ideas or branches of learning t ba r
the Renaissance brought were expressed by Greek words:
arithnutic. gecmutry, astronomy, grammar, logic, , il rtor;' , pD.-try ,
comedy , Jialogtu, prologue. Of the more general t erms th at
English had gained by the fifteen th century were: Bible,
academy. alom, ty rant , t h,afTt . In t he sixteenth century carne:
althabet, drama, chorus, theory ; the seventeenth century con-
t ributed orchestra. 11IIISlIIlll , hyphCll . clinic. Since then science,
medicine, physics, chemist ry and other sciences and arts have
gone to Greek for their nomenclat ure, coining from Greek
words t hat t he Greeks never knew: dynamo and pS)'fhology ,
zoology and tdephlle, photograph. bicycle, aeroplune, flitrogf ll ,
cosmetic and atltis!ptic.
In addition t here are a gr eat number of words formed from
Greek prefixes t acked on to words of English or other languages
like anti (= against): anti-British, II nt ipodes; hyper (= beyond):
hyper-cri tical. n)'perbole; arch (= chief): a rchbishop; dia
(= through): diameter. diagonal; Jumi (= half): Jumisphere;
homo (_ same): homogenelou s; homonym; mono ( = single]:
monopl ane, monocle. monot onous; p,m ( = all): pcmtoffillne,
p a'l t heist: poly ( = many): polysyllabl e. p oIYb.. ot: pro (= be-
fore): prophet. prologue; pmldo (= false): pSClld'Jnrm; sy"-
sy m (= wit h): sympat hy. S)'1Jthe:sis; ule (= at a dist ance):
tdq:;raph; tri (= t hree): tr ipod, tricy cle. From suffixes . ltkr:
-i sm, we s et Bclshevu-, nsetarianism; from -clcgy , socio!og)'.
radiology and numerous ot hers,
B ORRQw t S G5 FHQ)I O Til ER L.... SGlAGLS
From almost even' count ry in t he world words have come
int o th is language. italy, for 50 long- the centre of European
culture, has given words t o our vccabularv of music and
archi tec ture and poetry: pi,mo, piccolo. sri"
sonata, opera; pll!tfte, cameo, f rI:SCO, lIIi'lialare, studio, lIl odt!.
tista; balco'ly. corridor, parapd. sIIlClO; sonnet , S[IIII:, I , canto
Rut t here have been morc commonplace wor ds. t oe from
Italy: alerm, brigand,florin. pilgri m (all before 15001. !lw! I, 1!.I,
i,,/1II(I:ZII. muslin, dud. milli ner 31ll11ll01lkry.
!
\
432 A Comprehensive English Gr/olmmar
different meaning from the others. Almost any group of
synonyms in the language would illust rate t his; but t o take
one at random, here are thirt y-seven ' synonyms' for t he
general idea of ' thief' : robber. burglar, h014se-breaker, pick-pocket,
cut.purse. shop-lifter. pilfertr. stealer, fi lcher, pllmdt rt r. pillager,
despoiler, higll1ra)'man, f ootpad, bTigalld, bandit. marauder.
depredator, purloi ner, peculator. SlN' ldltr, embezzler. defra uder.
gangster, pirate, blfCCatl((r , sharper. harpy . cracksman , crook,
poacher. kidnlJpper. abductor. plagifl rist, riler. thug. uelshtr.
This borrowing has made English a rich language with a
vocabulary of al ready about half a million words, and growing
daily. It is this wealth of near-synonyms which gives to
English its power to express exact ly the most subtl e shades of
meani ng.
E XERCI SES
I Name i n histori cal order t he languages t h at have left
the deepest mark on English. and ill ustrate by examples
in what sections of the English vocabulary t hei r i n.
f1uence can be most clearly seen.
II How caD you show by exa mples that during one im-
portant period of h istory t here ....ere two languages in
simultaneous use i n England by two di ffere nt soc ia l
classes?

I n \\lIa t ot her langu ages have most ir.f1 \1 enced Enlo: li sh i n

the following fields of h uman activity:
Government, religion, law, music, medicine?
Quote severat examples of these i nfl uences for each of
the above.
I V Describe t he effect on t he English la ngua ge of t he fac t
that English was. for a long period in t he Ages.
a lmO$t exclusively a spo/" .. language.
V Compa re and contras t, so Iar as may be po'Ssible. the
development of the English language with t hat o f j-our
0"'"'11. noting especially any sec ti ons o f vocabulary i n
which y our o.... n language and English have been subjec t
to the same influences.
VI Express your opinion for or against the idea that English
occu pies a unique position among languages i n r espec t
of t he contribut ions made t o it by oth er la nguages and
its consequent r ichness o f voca bulary .
-
TNDEX
I\' ord. d iscuned are t -
_,. " " In 'la/ its; Ihe ....,.
, ,e el pt ' u'" r<,"" ".
J ''-'' U .-q"," of "- !lich i. .. FUI 'm l v
." " ,, \ Un. >._.. , . .'
......n. are In
o
0"