The Compound Verbal Aspect Predicate

It expresses the beginning, duration, or the cessation of an action and consists of such verbs as to start, to begin, to fall, to set about, to go on, to keep on, to proceed, to continue, to stop, to cease, to finish,etc. + infinitive/gerund. Here also belong would and used to + infinitive.

· His bones ceased to ache.

Mixed types of predicate

(containing 3 elements)

1) the compound modal nominal predicate

· Don’t think I mean to be unkind.

2) the compound aspect nominal predicate

· The grey house had ceased to be the house for the family.

3) the compound modal aspect predicate

· He ought to stop doing nothing and criticizing everybody.

 

25А) The predicate as the main means of expressing predication. Types of predicates.

The Predicate is the part of the sentence which expresses a predicative feature attributed to the subject of the sentence. Like the subject, the predicate also carries out a triple function in the sentence: structural, semantic and communicative. Its structural function consists in establishing the syntactic relations with the subject and other parts of the sentence. The semantic function of the predicate finds its expression in attributing certain features to the subject. Its communicative function is manifested in the fact that through the predicate and the expression of predication the sentence becomes a minimal unit of communication. The predicate is 'the structural and semantic centre of the sentence’. In the structure of a simple, two-member sentence the predicate usually carries out the function of the rheme, He disappeared. According to the form of expression predicates are divided into verbal and nominal: The moon rose. The moon was pale. There exists a phraseological predicate (presents a combination of such verbs as have, get, give, take and a verbal noun (give a look, take a bath, have a smoke). From the grammatical point of view the most important characteristic of this type of predicate is not so much its phraseological but its analytical character (all analytical structures are characterized by idiomaticity of their components). The verb expresses the grammatical meaning and the verbal noun expresses a lexical meaning. The two formal types of the predicate correspond to the two main semantic types: process predicate which expresses the action, the state or the existence of the subject and qualification predicate which expresses the quality (property) of the subject. The process predicate can be further subdivided into several types in accordance with the semantic types of verbs: existential (There was a tavern in the town), statal (He slept), locative (The elephant lives in India), relational (He had a small ranch) and actional (The car broke down). The qualification predicate has three subtypes: identifying (So you are the man we have been looking for), classifying (My friend is a student) and characterizing (My wife is a bit of an actress. He was too German).Structurally the predicate may be divided into simple and compound. We said good- bye - a simple verbal predicate; It was a lovely place -simple nominal predicate. The predicate is compounded by the introduction of modal or aspective components. We started saying good-bye - a compound verbal predicate; It must be a lovely place - a compound nominal predicate.

 

The Principal Parts of the Sentence

In a sentence we distinguish the principal parts, the secondary parts and the independent elements. The principal parts of the sentence are the subject and the predicate.

The subject

The subjectis the principal part of a two-member sentence which is grammatically independent of the other parts of the sentence and on which the second principal part (the predicate) is dependent. The subject denotes a living being, a thing or an idea. It can be expressed by:

1) a noun (N) in the common case

· The waiter brought my tea.

Occasionally a N in the possessive case is used as the subject:

· Ada’s is a noble heart.

2) a pronoun – personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative, possessive, interrogative.

· Everyone was silent for a minute.

· Who tore this book?

The subject is often expressed by the indefinite pronoun one or the personal pronouns they, you, we, which refer not to any particular person or thing but to people in general:

· Life is beastly short. One wants to live forever./….Хочется жить вечно.

· They say he’s clever./Говорят, ….

3) A substantivized adjective or participle:

· The wounded were taken good care of.

4) a numeral (cardinal or ordinal):

· The two were quite unable to do anything.

5) an infinitive, an infinitive phrase or construction;

· To live is to work.

6) a gerund, a gerundial phrase or construction:

· Lying doesn’t go well with me.

7) Any part of speech used as quotation:

· On is a preposition.

8) a group of words which is one part of the sentence:

· The needle and thread is lost.

When it is a notional subject the pronoun it has the following meanings:

1) The personal it - It stands for a definite thing or some abstract idea

· The door opened. It was opened by a little girl.

2) the demonstrative it - It points out some person or thing expressed by a predicate, or it refers to the thought contained in the preceding statement

· It is John.

· It was a large room with a great window.

As a formal subject it has the following meanings:

1) the impersonal it is used –

a) to denote natural phenomenon (state of weather, etc.) or that which characterizes the environment:

· It is cold in winter.

The state of weather can be also expressed by meant of there is construction. In such sentences the N introduced by there is is the subject:

· There was a heavy frost last night.

b) to denote time and distance:

· it is 5 minutes past 6.

· It is along way from the station.

2) the introductory/anticipatory itintroduces the real subject:

· It’s no use disguising facts.

3) The emphatic it is used for emphasis:

· It was he who won the race.