2. Alive, live, living, lively

Introductory material

Read and translate the following sentences paying special attention to the words in bold type.

I. It took Christopher several seconds to recognize them as Andrew and Cathal and to be certain that they were both alive. 2. What are they dying for? To keep me alive, ain’t it? 3. His mind went kick to that wonderful time of his life sixteen years before this, when Angele was alive. 4. Every time a train went by, the little oil cooker teetered on its rickety table, and Nellie’s mother, who had few subjects of conversation, remarked yet once more that they would all be burned alive one day. 5. The dormitory was alive with sounds: the tread of feet in the corridor, the rumble of men’s voices and laughter, and the distant, repetitious, semi-rhythmic pock tock from the tennis courts. 6. It was a few minutes after ten. The air was still warm and dusty, and the streets were alive with traffic and the passage of pedestrians. 7. A feverish longing for something fresh and alive and warm and untainted by this deadly sense of emptiness was the prime symptom of my condition. 8. To Annixter it was a revelation. Never more alive to his surroundings, never more observant, he suddenly understood. 9. The members of the speech community are keenly alive to what is going on in the world. 10. The words he wrote on the paper were all wooden. Nothing was alive. 11. Dickie was properly alive from Easter to October. The rest of the year he was dormant, waiting like a hibernating animal for the opening of the holiday camp. 12. «Only he must ‘ave a live animal. A cock would do.» «What do you want a live animal for?» 13. Captain Concasseur said, “Philipot was here.» I kept silent, not knowing whether he meant the dead uncle or the live nephew. 14. Nobody has ever seen a live dinosaur, so paleontologists must deduce what they looked like. 15. He thought of all the people Fox had shaken hands with — the President of the United States, the King of Denmark, every living scientist whose name was famous: probably Planck, Rutherford, Einstein. 16. In the shelves, there were only the works of living authors, mostly first editions. 17. Across from me there was a man of about sixty-five, a woman of about forty, and a girl — a living doll — in her early twenties. 18. She had never known that within living memorу. 19. Moses Lockwood was thus deprived of the company of the horses, of which he was not over-fond but which were at least living beings and would hear him if he said a few words. 20. Here, just when I want a good lively saddle horse to get around on, somebody hikes the buckskin out the corral. 21. Standing by the foot of the bed was Olwen, her pale face, ordinarily so pert and lively, now ravaged by weeping. 22. His (Dr. J. Dunwoody’s) contention that there is a connection between lung cancer and cigarette smoking is likely to provide a lively debate. 23. They (her eyes) gave out a lively warm light. 24. Bonneville was very lively at all times. It was a little city of some twenty or thirty thousand inhabitants, where, as yet, the city hall, the high school building, and the opera house were objects of civic pride. 25. She sang these sad Scottish songs in so lively a manner and with such natural cheerfulness they sounded gay. 26. The pain was too lively for quick relief, and he was trying to shout again.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Alive predic. adj. 1. Having life; living, e.g. the greatest man ~; no man ~; any man ~; to be ~. 2. In force, in existence, e.g. old hatired remains ~; to keep smth. ~. 3. Conscious or aware of, fully, susceptible to, e.g. ~ to the beauty of a symphony. 4. Active; brisk; lively, e.g. her eyes are ~. 5. Full of (living or moving things); swarming with, e.g. a lake ~ with boats.

Live adj. 1. Having life; not dead, e.g. ~ fish, ~ cattle. 2. Burning or glowing, e.g. ~ coals. 3_: Unexploded, e.g. a ~ bomb. 4. Charged with electricity, e.g. a ~ wire. 5. Full of energy, activiity, interest, importance, e.g. a ~ question. 6. Not recorded in advance (on tape or records), e.g. // was a ~ broadcaist, not a recording = the-speaker, performer, etc., was at 1the microphone at the time of the broadcast. 7. Actual, nott pretended (joe), e.g. a ~ burglar.

Living adj. 1. Alive;, now existent; contemporary, e.g. no man ~ could do btetter. 2. Strong, active, e.g. a -hope, a ~ force. 3. Truie; lifelike; exact, e.g. He is the -image of his father.

Lively adj. 1. Full off life and spirit; gay and cheerful; vigorous; energetic; animated; vivacious, e.g. as ~ as a kitten. 2. Bright, gay ([of colour), e.g. ~ colours. 3. Moving quickly or causing quick movement (of non-living things), e.g. a ~ boat; a ~ ball. 4. Brisk, e.g. a ~ breeze.

The four adjectives under discussion are sometimes confused because of the identity of the root word and proximity of meaning. All of them are applicable both to living beings and to things.

Alive (живой) and living (живой) are opposed to dead and are applied to organic bodies which have life; they are chiefly distinguishable by the fact that alive follows the noun it modifies either directly or as a predicative adjective while living normally precedes the noun it modifies. Compare: among living men — among men still alive; all living things — all things which are alive.

Alive and living also denote qualities suggestive of life. Alive lays emphasis on abundance of vigour, on capacity for development, or on powers of endurance (существующий, бодрый, живой, энергичный); it may also imply the presence of living beings in great numbers (изобилующий чем-либо). Living usually suggests continued or continuous existence with no diminution of activity, efficacy, or the like (существующий, живой, активный, похожий).

Live is used only attributively. Like alive and living, live (живой) is opposed to dead in the direct meaning. When used figuratively it stresses vitality, modernity, awareness of present conditions, or the state of being at work or in effective action (деятельный, живой, энергичный; действующий, неиспользованный; актуальный, жизненный).

Lively (полный жизни, живой, оживленный, быстрый, яркий, сильный, быстро и легко двигающийся) suggests especially briskness, alertness and energy.