гордон Крылова Граммматика

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as a real fact or as something unreal, it may in some functions express certain modal meanings — necessity, possibility, purpose:

e.g. a) necessity — I've got something dreadful to tell you.

b)possibility — I had nobody to talk to.

c)purpose — I'm going'upstairs to pack my things.

The Perfect infinitive, in combination with some modal verbs, may sometimes show that its action was not realized in the past.

e.g. They should have told him about it.

3) Like the finite forms, the infinitive and the ing-form have active and passive forms, e.g. to take — to be taken, taking — being taken.

Like the finite forms, the infinitive and the ing-form can express time, e.g. to take — to have taken, taking — having taken.

Yet, the two verbals differ considerably from finite verbs in this respect. The finite forms generally express time absolutely, i.e. they refer an action to the present, past or future (e.g. He knows English. He knew English. He will know English). The verbals express time relatively, i.e. in relation to the action of the predicate verb in the sentence. The action expressed by the verbals may be simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb (a), may precede (b) or follow it (c).J

e.g. a) He seemed to know all about it.

Roger was at home working on his speech. b) He seemed to have guessed the truth.

Having looked at his watch he closed the book and put it on the shelf.

c) He was ready to assist them.

One afternoon, about half past five, when Thomas was counting on working for an hour or two more, the telephone rang.

Besides, the simple forms of the verbals themselves are capable of expressing all kinds of time relations. The various time relations they express depend on the lexical character of the verb and on the context.

1 It is true that the finite forms may also express time relatively, but that occurs only in certain sentence patterns.

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The infinitive tends to express an action following that of the predicate verb (a), but it may also denote an action simultaneous with it (b). However, the simple form of the infinitive does not often express an action that precedes the action of the predicate verb (c).

e.g. a) He felt a quick impulse to call the boy back.

b)She was admiring his ability to concentrate on any task.

c)Sylvia was glad to run across her old schoolmate.

The ing-form tends to express actions simultaneous with that of the predicate verb (a). But it is also extensively used to express priority (b) and, sometimes, an action following that of the predicate verb (c).

e.g. a) This Saturday afternoon Henry, home from his office, sat at his study table, drawing cats on the blotter, waiting for his wife to come back from a lunch.

b)I remembered hearing my aunt telling me in my childhood that great men never cared for flattery. *

c)She insisted on coming with me but I finally managed to

talk her out of it.

The time relations expressed by the passive forms are the same as those of the corresponding active forms.

On the whole it should be noted that it is the simple form of the verbals that is in extensive use in English. The analytical ingforms are infrequent, but they are commonly used with modal verbs (in some of their meanings).

e.g. He must be happy now. He must be sleeping. He must have misunderstood you. He must have been waiting for you. The experiment must be finished already. The experiment must have been carried out by now.

In other cases the continuous infinitive is generally used only to emphasize the idea of duration, of process and to make the statement more vivid and expressive. A simple infinitive is often possible in the same sentence.

1 Here the action of hearing precedes the action of the predicate verb remembered, so the use of the perfect ing-form is an exception.

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e.g. It was pleasant to be driving the car again.

I'm not a man to be talking of what does not concern me.

It would be possible to use the simple forms to drive and to talk in the above examples.

The perfect infinitive is more or less frequent after verbs of mental perception, the verbs to seem, to happen, to appear and a few others. It shows that the action took place before the action of the predicate verb.

e.g. Their marriage was supposed to have been a very happy one. A sense of timing is one of the things I seem to have learned from Jimmy.

The Perfect Continuous infinitive is mainly found after the same verbs as the Perfect infinitive. It shows that the action of the infinitive began before the time indicated by the finite verb and is still going on.

e.g. She was believed to have been feeling unwell for some time. They seemed to have been getting on a bit better.

The forms of the two verbals are summed up in the following tables:

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§ 166. The infinitive and the ing-form, like the finite forms, are always associated with a subject but the way their subject is expressed differs greatly from that of the finite forms.

Since the finite forms have the function of the predicate in the sentence, their subject is always the grammatical subject of the sentence. But the subject of the verbals may be expressed differently.

In a number of functions the subject of the verbals is the same as the subject of the sentence and, consequently, of the finite* verb.

e.g. He struggled to find the first words of his story.

She wasn't used to being miserable without doing something about it.

But in certain other functions the subject of the verbal is frequently expressed by some secondary parts of the sentence.

e.g. He gave her permission to leave.

Seeing you there, by the door, made me remember what I had to do.

For the most part she was silent, the effort of speaking was too much for her.

Moreover, the subject of the infinitive and the ing-form may be found in a neighbouring clause or even in a different sentence.

e.g. She told him what a wonderful place it was to take her to.

There was a vast useless stretch of time to fill. I occupied my mind with the memories of my childhood.

Starting this relationship seems to me one of the better things you've ever done, however it ends.

"You won't do the same thing again, will you?" "I can't explain, but having done it just once is enough."

In all the above cases the relation between the action of the verbal and its subject becomes clear from the context as the subject is not expressed by any grammatical means.

Occasionally the subject of the verbal is not indicated at all — it is not found either in the sentence itself or in a wider context. In this case it is understood as any or every person or as an indefinite number of unidentified persons.

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e.g. Knowledge is not something to boast about. Writing good prose is not easy.

Finally, a verbal may have a subject of its own, specially expressed in the sentence. The way the subject is expressed is different in this case for the infinitive and for the ing-form.

The subject of the infinitive is expressed by a noun or an indefinite pronoun in the common case or by a personal pronoun in the objective case. It precedes the infinitive and the whole construction is introduced by the preposition for.

e.g. I'm not going to make a spectacle of myself for people to talk about.

For a bachelor to have such well-trained servants was a provocation to the women of the district.

It was rare for him to go out to dinner.

He was too embarrassed for us to ask him about anything.

This kind of construction is called the /or-phrase.

The subject of the ing-form may be expressed in four different ways: by means of a possessive pronoun (a), a personal pronoun in the objective case (b), a noun in the genitive case (c) and a noun or an indefinite pronoun in the common case (d).

e.g. a) I appreciate your coming to my defense.

b)I just couldn't complain about him and be the cause of him losing the job.

c)Do you recall Richard's doing that?

d)She was worried by a stranger staring at her from a dark corner.

The ing-form with its subject is called the ing-complex.

But the four complexes differ with regard to the frequency of their occurrence and their stylistic colouring.

Possessive pronouns are in current use, whereas the use of personal pronouns in the objective case is less frequent and distinctly colloquial. Conversely, we generally find nouns in the common case while nouns in the genitive case are by far less common and mainly typical of literary style.

Note. Note the pattern in which the subject of the ing-form is introduced by there.

e.g. We spoke about there being no one at the moment for him to turn to for help.

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Verbals, like the finite forms, can be used in the active and in the passive. Accordingly, their subject may be either the doer (agent) of the action expressed by the verbal or may undergo this action, be acted upon.

e.g. I have not come here to be insulted but to talk to you as a friend.

I watched her for a little while without being seen. He left us without saying good-bye.

The two different kinds of subject may be called the active subject and the passive subject of the infinitive or of the ingform.

§ 167. With regard to their meaning and function, the infinitive and the ing-form, like the finite forms, can be classed into two groups:

1) They can serve as notional verbs.

e.g. It amused him to tease the girl.

He went downstairs, holding on the banister.

2) They may also serve as structural words. Some of them, mainly the verb to be, may be used as link-verbs.

e.g. He is said to be a good chap.

Tom said something about it being pretty late. The verb to have may be used as a modal verb.

e.g. Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you that.

He looked at his wrist-watch and talked about having to make a few calls before the visitor arrived.

The infinitive and the ing-form may also be used as auxiliary verbs to build up analytical forms, e.g. to be taking, to have taken, to have been taking, etc., having taken, being taken, etc.

Both verbals are widely used as second (or third) components of analytical finite forms.

e.g. She will be there. She is working. She has been reading.

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§ 168. The syntactic functions of the verbals and those of the finite forms do not coincide and therein lies the main difference between them.

The finite forms, as has been said, have one function in the sentence — that of the predicate. The verbals may perform a variety of functions. The most striking feature of the infinitive and the ing-form is that they have functions typical of different parts of speech. Sometimes they have noun functions (e.g. the function of the subject or the object).

e.g. To know all about English is one thing; to know English is

quite another.

Everything you've planned to do is sensible. Reading with us is the thing that we cannot do without. If this is what you intend asking me, stop wasting your time.

The infinitive and the ing-form may also have adjective functions (e.g. the function of an attribute).

e.g. He was not a man to do rash things. Singing people, arm in arm, filled the street.

The two verbals can also perform adverbial functions (e.g. the function of an adverbial modifier of purpose, consequence, time, manner).

e.g. I came here to discuss matters with you.

I had only to hear her voice to know what she felt.

After hesitating a moment or two, Jim knocked on the door. You begin learning a language by listening to the new sounds.

The infinitive and the ing-form may also have purely verbal functions. This occurs in two different cases:

a) In certain sentence patterns they may serve as the predicate of the sentence.

e.g. Why not go with me?

What about having a look at my new house?

b) As is well known, in the absolute majority of English sen tences the predicate is expressed by a finite verb. But the infinitive and the ing-form may serve to express a second action, accom- •" panying the action expressed by the predicate verb.

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e.g. I woke to find Maud cooking a meal (=and found).

He took a seat next to mine, watching my face with close attention (=and watched).

The infinitive and the ing-form may also serve as parenthesis, i.e. have the function performed by attitudinal adverbs.

e.g. To tell the truth, I'm beginning to find her a bore. Frankly speaking, I'm at a loss.

§f 169. In some of their functions the infinitive and the ingform are lexically dependent. That means that their use is required by definite verbs, nouns and adjectives. For example, the verb to want requires an infinitive as object (e.g. He wanted to see them at once.) while to avoid requires an ing-form in this function (e.g. For some time she avoided even mentioning their names.). The same is true of the adjectives ready and busy that require an infinitive and an ing-form respectively. (Cf. He was ready to do anything for her. She was busy packing her things.)

Besides, the infinitive and the ing-form are in some functions also structurally dependent, i.e. they occur in quite definite sentence patterns. For example, the infinitive or the ing-form are found after a number of definite verbs, nouns and adjectives only in sentences with it as a formal subject.

e.g. It was a relief to be in the car again.

"It's no use going on like that," he said in an angry tone.

§ 170. Although the syntactic functions of the infinitive and the ing-form differ from those of the finite forms, the two verbals can be modified by the same secondary parts of the sentence as the predicate verb.

e.g. He told me about it himself.

He wanted to tell me about it himself. He insisted on telling me about it himself. He saw her there alone yesterday.

He wanted to see her there alone yesterday.

He told me about seeing her there alone yesterday.

If a verb requires a prepositional object, the preposition is retained by the verbal when the object happens to be separated from it.

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e.g. We've got a lot to talk about.

I'm not accustomed to being spoken to in that way.

Yet there is a difference between the two verbals and the finite forms. With finite forms, the secondary parts of the sentence usually follow the predicate, but they may also have front position.

e.g. That year winter set in early.

To relieve my feeling, I wrote a letter to Robert.

With the infinitive and the ing-form, the secondary parts are always found in post-position. The verbals may be preceded only by certain adverbs. Yet even instances of this are infrequent.

e.g. Critically to examine newcomers was one of the amusements at the boarding house.

My father was the coach of our swimming team, though his poor health prevented him from ever going into the water.

With finite forms, the negatives not and never normally either follow them or are placed within analytical forms of various kinds of compound predicates.

e.g. He was not there. He has not done it. He should not do it. He did not seem tired.

With verbals, the negatives not and never always precede them, even if they are analytical forms.

e.g. I had learned a long time ago not to show what I felt.

He went on drinking his coffee, not saying anything more. She knew that he had gone never to return. I have kept him out of your life: keep him now out of mine by never mentioning him again.

§ 171. In addition to the above described features which the infinitive and the ing-form have in common, each of the two verbals possesses peculiarities of its own.

The infinitive is generally preceded by the particle to, but in certain functions it is used without it, and in still other functions the use of the particle is optional. The use or the absence of the

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particle will be considered in connection with each of the functions of the infinitive.

Note. The infinitive and the particle to may be separated from each other by the insertion of an adverb between them, such as never, ever, fully, really, even.

This is called a split infinitive.

e.g. She was the first person to ever understand me, Frank.

I'm sorry, I made a mistake. It was a mistake to even try to help you.

However, split infinitives are very rarely found in English.

Jf there are two or more infinitives in the same function following each other, the particle to is usually used before the first one and need not be repeated before the others.

e.g. Amy admired Lilian because she could do a lot of things — she was said, for instance, to dance and skate very well.

Sometimes, however, the particle to is repeated for emphasis, to make the action of each infinitive more prominent.

e.g. The hero, when the heroine hurts his feelings, is said to feel for a moment a wild desire of the caveman, the longing to seize her, to drag her with him, to give her a good beating.

The infinitive may sometimes be represented by the particle to alone. This happens when the infinitive is easily supplied from the previous context.

e.g. Joe said, "I don't think we are going to catch any fish."

"I never expect to," said Lizzy.

She would have listened if I had called her attention to it but I had already decided not to.

Another peculiarity of the infinitive is that it may be used as part of a phrase introduced by the conjunctive pronouns or adverbs what, who, whom, which, when, where, whether, how and how long. As most of them begin with wh-, this kind of infinitive group may be called the wh-phrase ['dAblju 'eitf freiz].

e.g. I didn't know what to say.

I couldn't decide whether to speak or not.

§ 172. The ing-form, in its turn, has peculiarities of its own. Unlike the infinitive, it may, in certain functions, be preceded by a preposition.

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e.g. For anybody as clever as you are, you're not really good at deciding things.

He told me that we were about to be turned out of our flat for not paying the rent.

The ing-form has another peculiarity: it may lose its verbal character and become adjectivized. In this case the mg-form becomes devoid of the idea of action and sometimes its lexical meaning is changed as compared with the meaning of the corresponding verb.

e.g. They found his ideas very upsetting.

His erect, rather forbidding figure made him look old-fashi- oned.

In the second example forbidding means 'суровый, неприступный'; it differs from the meaning of the verb to forbid ('запре-

щать').

Adjectivized ing1-forms, like real adjectives, may be preceded by adverbs of degree, such as very, rather, most, quite, how, so, so ... as, etc.

e.g. She is always so amusing.

The results which he obtained proved to be most striking.

Note 1. There are a number of m#-forms of this kind that are used only as adjectives in present-day English,

e.g. interesting, charming, dashing, etc.

Note 2. In English there are a considerable number of nouns in -ing. They may denote concrete things (e.g. landing 'лестничная площадка') or abstract notions, including actions (e.g. beginning 'начало', singing 'пение', reading 'чтение'). These nouns lack the above described properties of the ing-form and, like any other noun, may be associated with the article, definite or indefinite, with pronouns, such as some, any, a lot of, etc. or may be modified by adjectives.

e.g. The drums were silent: the singing stopped.

"My wife had once a vegetarian bulldog," said Mr Smith with pride. "Of course, it took some training."

I admired the dancer and asked if she ever did any real Indian dancing. "I do a lot of travelling," he said. She had an attack of violent sobbing.

Nouns in -ing denoting actions are called verbal nouns. They should not be confused with the ing-form proper even when they denote actions (e.g. reading, writing, walking, etc.).

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The Participle

§ 173. Although the participle has the same lexical meaning as the corresponding verb, it differs considerably from the finite forms as well as from the infinitive and the ing-form.

As the participle has only one form (see "Verbs", § 5 and Appendix), it does not possess any of the grammatical categories of the infinitive and the ing-form. Nevertheless, this form has its own grammatical meaning.

The grammatical meaning of the participle is closely connected with the lexical character of the verb.

The participle is, in the main, formed from transitive verbs and has passive meaning.

e.g. He had suits, and coats, and shirts made to order.

It was a question put down by one of the correspondents.

When the participle is formed from transitive terminative verbs, it denotes a state resulting from a previously accomplished action. This resultant state is simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb.

e.g. On arriving at the small building on the top of the mountain, she found it locked. Alfred, left alone, stood

motionless for some minutes.

A participle formed from a transitive durative verb denotes an action; it is simultaneous with the action expressed by the predicate verb.

e.g. Tom was the happy husband, adoring and adored.

At last the Colonel, accompanied by his two daughters, made his appearance in the park.

The number of participles formed from intransitive verbs is very limited. They have active meaning and usually denote an action preceding that of the predicate verb.

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

The house was made of unpainted plank, gone grey now.

Sometimes the participle is formed from an intransitive meaning of a polysemantic verb.

e.g. His face was like a withered apple. She looked at the faded photograph.