lec_an1_sem2_cerban_2010

ENGLISH MORPHOLOGYTHE NOMINAL PART

MĂDĂLINA CERBAN

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 - The Noun……………………………… 51.1. Formation of Nouns by affixation and compounding 5

1.1.1. Exercises……………………………………… 71.2. The Category of number……………………………. 8 1.2.1. Formation of plural nouns……………………. 8 1.2.2. Countability……………………………………. 10 1.2.3. Uncontable/ no-count …………………………. 11 1.2.3.1. Classification of uncountable/no-count nouns.. 11 1.2.3. Exercises……………………………………….. 141.3. The Category of Case…………………………………. 15 1.3.1. The Nominative case…………………………… 15 1.3.2. The Accusative case…………………………… 15 1.3.3. The Dative case………………………………… 16 1.3.4. The Genitive case……………………………… 17 1.3.5. Exercises……………………………………….. 221.4. The Category of Gender……………………………… 22 1.4.1. Exercises ……………………………………… 25

CHAPTER 2 – The Article……………………………… 272.1. The Definite Article…………………………………… 27 2.1.1. The functions of the Definite Article……………272.2. The Indefinite Article………………………………… 30 2.2.1. The functions of the Indefinite Article…………. 302.3. The Zero Article………………………………………. 32 2.3.1. The functions of the Zero Article……………… 322.4. The Omission of the article…………………………… 353.5. Exercises……………………………………………… 35

CHAPTER 3 – THE ADJECTIVE……………………… 383.1. The form of the adjectives……………………………. 383.2. The functions of the adjectives……………………… 403.3. The degrees of comparison…………………………… 44 3.3.1. The form of the degrees of comparison………… 443.4. Exercises……………………………………………… 51

CHAPTER 4 – THE NUMERAL………………………. 534.1. Definition…………………………………………… 534.2. The Classification of numerals………………………... 534.3. Exercises……………………………………………… 56

CHAPTER 5 – THE PRONOUN……………………….. 585.1. The definition of pronouns…………………………… 585.2. The classification of pronouns…………………………58 5.2.1. Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns……….. 58 5.2.2. Indefinite and negative adjectives and pronouns..60 5.2.3. Possessive adjectives and pronouns……………. 67 5.2.4. Interrogative adjectives and pronouns………….. 68 5.2.5. Adverbial adjectives…………………………… 69

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5.2.6. Relative pronouns……………………………… 70 5.2.7. Personal pronouns……………………………… 72 5.2.8. Reflexive and emphatic pronouns……………… 73 5.2.9. Reciprocal pronouns……………………………. 74

FINAL EXERCISES…………………………………….. 76

REFERENCES…………………………………………… 78

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CHAPTER 1 THE NOUN

Unităţi de învăţare :• Formation of nouns by affixation and compounding• The grammatical category of number• The grammatical category of case• The grammatical category of gender

Obiectivele temei:• înţelegerea modurilor de formare a substantivelor prin afixare şi

compunere• cunoaşterea conceptului de categorie gramaticală a numărului.

Diferenţe între limba română şi engleză• înţelegerea categoriei de caz.• înţelegerea categorie de gen

Timpul alocat temei : 4 ore

1.1. Formation of nouns by affixation and compoundingNouns have characteristics that set them apart from other word

classes or parts of speech. According to the 3 criteria, the most importantcharacteristics of noun are:

1. morphologically , the noun is distinguished from other parts of speechas regards its form and the grammatical categories (of number, case,gender).

2. syntactically, nouns can function as subject, object, predicative,apposition, attribute and adverbial modifier.

3. in point of meaning, the noun denotes objects (beings, things,phenomena, etc).

A definition such as “a noun denotes an object” is correct butincomplete since a noun is also characterized by specific morphological traitsas well as by syntactic functions – hence the necessity to define this part ofspeech from various points of view. In the present course we are going to dealwith the 2 basic morphological characteristics: their form and theirgrammatical categories.

Form: From the point of view of form, nouns can be divided into:1. simple nouns, these nouns formed made up of a one word which cannot be decomposed anymore, e.g. book, clock.2. derivative nouns, nouns formed by means of derivational suffixes(some of the most frequent noun-forming suffixes are :- er (agential suffix): writer, driver, thriller- ness: kindness, happiness – unique nouns denoting abstract nouns- hood: childhood, boyhood, denoting abstract qualities- ing: reading – verbal nouns denoting the action- ion: expectation – or state of the respective verbs- ment: development

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- let: booklet (diminutive suffix)

In the case of a number of verbs, mainly of French origin, we can findboth a noun derived by means of a suffix and a second noun which is the formin –ing used as noun, e.g. from to developa) the development of our economyb) the developing of new technologies is the chief targetThe noun in –ing has more dynamic implications and suggests a continueaction. Compare:

a) dezvoltarea (static)b) procesul de dezvoltare (dinamic)

3. Compound nounsare made of two or more words representing either homogeneous or non-homogeneous parts of speech. The semantic relation between the elements ofthe compound noun is of two types:

a) endocentric, the meaning of the compound analysed can be deducedfrom the meaning of its parts;b) exocentric, the meaning of the compound cannot be deduced from the

meaning of its parts.Compound nouns appear in three forms:

as two separate words as two separate words linked by a hyphene as one word

The three orthographies depend on the extent to which the twocomponents are felt to have lost their original meaning or not. That is whydictionaries sometimes differ with regard to the orthography of compoundnouns are:

a) endocentric:• N + N: post-office, clock-room, classroom (note the threeorthographies). In each case the meaning of the compound is deductible fromthe meaning of its parts.

To understand a compound noun, we determine the meaning of the lastterm (the Head). The preceding term supplying some information about it,classroom means room for classes. Mention should be made that compoundnoun have the principal stress on the first word, e.g. drug store, post office.• V-ING +N: this pattern is also of the endocentric type. In thiscompound the V-ing can be originally:- a gerund: a sleeping car, working conditions- a present participle: used as an adjective which can be expended into arelative (attributive clause: the working class = the class who works.• N+N (derived from verb-er): this pattern is usually of the endocentrictype, e.g. watch-maker, pencil-sharpener• V+N: watch dog, a rattlesnake• ADJ+N: blackboard

b) exocentric:• N + N: ladybird (buburuza), blockhead (netot), butterfly (fluture)• ADJ+N: hotdog, blackleg

4. Nouns formed by means of conversion from other parts of speech.

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a) from adjective: an adjective may function as a noun if it is preceded by thedefinite articlee.g. the good- binele

The supernatural appears in many of Shakespeare’s plays.If the converted adjective refers to people it is plural in meaning and

takes a plural verb (it represents a whole class of themes of multitude) the rich,the selfishe.g. The rich are often selfish.

The sick are well taken care of in our hospitals.

b) from verb in the form of(i). the short infinitive of a simple verb: a trye.g. Let me have a try at it.(ii). the short infinitive of a complex verb. There are 2 different ways in whichthe elements of complex verbs may be combined:- the verb and particle may simple be joined (sometimes written as one wordas hyphenated - a hyphen can meet the nominalized verb and particle):e.g. a breakdown, take off, make-up.- the verb and the particle may be placed in reverse order to form a compoundnoun:e.g. break-out-outbreak; outcome- the past participle:e.g. the injured, the wounded (nouns of multitude)-the ing forme.g. being, reading, building

Sometimes the gerund takes the definite article and it becomes a nounon such cases; it is often followed by the preposition of (the verbal noun) e.g.the swimming

Give examples of noun formation: endocentricversus exocentric.

1.1.1. Exercises:1. Attach the appropriate noun-forming suffix: -dom, -hood, -ship, -ist, -ism, -er, -ful, -ese to each of the following nouns: London, child, Portugal, mouth,brother, friend, Japan, piano, art, hand, behaviour, teenage, star, impression,village, boy, Darwin, owner, spoon, member, cello, king, philosophy.

2. Attach the appropriate noun-forming suffix: -age, -al, -ance/-ence, -ant, -ation, -ee, -er, -ing, -ment to each of the following verbs: develop, use,embody, write, accpt, receive, descend, paint, employ, upheave, marry,produce, arrive, defend, house, describe, clean, form, abolish, train, refuse,happen, enlighten, thrill, inhabit, starve, bathe, cover.

3. Supply a compound nouns in place of the phrase in italics:1. We have bought a new lamp for reading. 2. You must repair the leg of thechair. 3. Put this basket on the table in the kitchen, please. 4. The surface ofthe road is wet. 5. I remember that the cover of the book was red. 6. Here isthe key of the car. 7. He has just repaired the keyboard of the computer. 8. Notall of us agree to the policy of the party. 9. Have you locked the door of thegarage? 10. Margaret was very much interested in what the critic of the film

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was saying. 11. When we got there the door of the cellar was open. 12. Youwill have to replace the handle of the suitcase. 13. There were a lot of peopleat the gate of the factory. 14. I will ring you up from the phone in the office.

4. Translate into English using compound nouns:1. Pantofii tăi de dans sunt foarte frumoşi. 2. Acesta este un vagon denefumători. 3. Gara e la o distanţă de 5 minute de aici. 4. Eram în faţa liceuluicând am văzut curcubeul. 5. Sindicatele au luat atitudine împotriva fumatului.6. Mi-am scos haina de ploaie când am intrat în seră. 7. Camerista a făcut odepresie nervoasă. 8. Redactorul-şef e plecat în călătorie de afaceri. 9.Zborurile de noapte sunt foarte rare. 10. Am observat urme de paşi pe prag.

1.2. The category of numberThe English noun has 2 numbers: singular and plural.The singular is that form of the noun which denotes either one object (a book)or an indivisible whole (money). The plural is that form of the noun whichindicates more than one object (book). When we are talking of the category ofnumber in nouns, there are 2 aspects that should be taken into account:

1.2.1. Formation of the plural numbera) regular plural forms: Nouns generally form their plural in a regularpredictable way by adding –s to the simple form, to the singular form, e.g.books, daysIn adding –s some spelling rules should be observed:- nouns ending in a sibilant sound in the singular (spelt with –s, -ss, -x, -ch, -sh, -zz) add –es, in the plural (pronounced (iz):e.g. class/es, churh/es, box/es, wish/es, watch/esExceptions: when -ch is pronounced (k) epoch/s, stomack/s, monarch/s- nouns ending in –y follwing a consonant form their plural by droppingthe –y and adding –es:e.g. country-countries, duty-duties- nouns ending in –y following a vowel form their plural by adding –se.g. play-plays, boy-boys- twelve nouns ending in -f(e) add –es with -f changing into –v:e.g. calf/ calves, life, knife, half, leaf, loaf, self, shelf, thief, wife, wolf, elfException: roof/s, chief/s, handkerchief/s- nouns ending in –o, add – ese.g. potato/es, tomato/es, hero-/esException: piano/s , soprano/s, radio/s, photo/s, zero/s

b) Irregular plural forms: there are nouns preserved from Old English whichform their plural as they did in Old English by means of internal vowelchanges or mutation, e.g. man/men, woman/women, tooth/teeth, goose/geese,foot/feet, mouse/mice, mouse/lice or by adding –en to the singular , e.g.child/children, ox/oxen, brother/brethren (fellow members of a religioussociety)

c) Foreign plurals: a few nouns of Latin or Greek origin retain their originalplural forms, they form the plural according to the languages, were borrowedfrom:- is > -es:

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e.g. crisis/crises, basis/bases, analysis/analyses, thesis/these,parenthesis/parentheses

- um >-a:e.g. symposium/symposia, stratum/strata, medium/media, erratum/errata- on > -a:e.g. criterion/criteria, phenomenon/phenomena- us >- i:e.g. fungus/fungi, nucleus/nuclei, radius/radii, stimulus/stimuli- a >- ae:e.g. formula/formulae, alga/algae, larva/larvae, vertebra/vertebrae- ex >- ices:e.g. index/indices, appendix/appendices, matrix/matrices

There is tendency for some foreign nouns adopted in English todevelop regular plural forms, without losing the original forms. When bothforms are used the foreign one is more formal, which means that formulaeoccurs in technical and scientific texts while formulas in everyday speech.

There is quite a large number of nouns (not necessarily of Latin origin)which have double plural forms implying changes of meaning:

e.g. SINGULAR PLURALarm (braţ) arms (braţe; arme)cloth (material) clothes (stofe, materiale); clothes (haine)colour (culoare) colours (culori; drapel)glass (sticlă, pahar) glasses (pahare, ochelari)

d) Plural of compound nouns: compound nouns follow some definite rulesof plural formations, depending on the elements that make up of thecompound:- in most compound nouns (N + N), the last element assumes the pluralforme.g. horse-races, grown-ups, postmen- in compounds composed of N + PREPOSITION + N, the first elementassumes the plural forme.g. editor-in-chief/ editors-in-chief, sister-in-law/ sisters-in-law- in compound nouns made up of N+ PARTICLE/PREPOSITION thefirst element assumes the plural formeg. looker/s-on, passer/s-by- in compounds made up of VERB (without nominal ending) +ADVERBIAL PARTICLE the last element assumes the plural forme.g. take-offs, breaks-in- if the word man or woman forms the first part of the compound, bothnouns assume the plural forme.g. man-servant, men-servants, women-doctors- in compounds consisting a N in their structure the last element assumesthe plurale.g. merry-go-round/s, forget-me-nots

How is the plural of regular nouns formed?State the rules of forming the plural of compound nouns.Give 10 examples of foreign plurals.

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1.2.2. CountabilityThe most common manifestation of the category of number is reflected

in the notion of countability with presupposes the possibility of countingobjects. From the point of view of countability, English nouns can be dividedinto 2 classes:

1. countable nouns are those nouns that can be counted, those nounsthat can be distinguished as separate entities. Count nouns have the followingcharacteristics:- they are variable from the point of view of number, they have bothnumbers in the singular and in the plural, eg. student/s, man/men,criterion/criteria- since they can distinguished one entity from others, they can beindividualized by means of determiners who cause quantifiers and/or number;thus they may be preceded by the following determiners:

- in the sg: both art. : a(one), the determinatives, each, every, this/that,no, the numeral one;

- in the plural: the article: the, the determinatives, these/those, once, any,no, many, a few, several, numbers from 2 onwards

- they agree in number both with the verb and with the determiners. Thus, asingular noun requires a singular verb and a singular determiner, while a pluralnoun requires a plural verb and a plural determiner.

Those nouns that meet the 3 conditions mentioned above are countablenouns.

a) individual (common) nouns, eg. student/sSuch nouns have the 3 characteristics mentioned above, eg. This book isinteresting. Those books are interesting. The vast majority of nouns in Englishfollow this pattern.

b) collective nouns are those nouns that semantically collect a number ofsimilar objects (usually of persons) into one group. Such nouns are: army,assembly, audience, board, class, committee, family, flack, government,group, jury, party, staff, team. These nouns are variable in form, meaning thatthey have both numbers singular and plural. In this respect they behave likeindividual nouns proper. A singular noun may take agree with a singular or aplural verb, a family – several families.

- a singular noun takes a singular verb when it refers to the group as awhole as a unit. The noun behaves like an individual noun

e.g. The average family which now consists of 4 members at most, is agreat deal smaller than it used to be.The committee is preparing its support.Our team is in the second division.

Note that in this case the nouns are preferred to by inanimate singular pronounit, which.

- a singular noun may take a plural verb when the speaker or writer isthinking more of the individual members/persons that make up the group (thanof the group itself).

- when such a noun in the singular refers to the separate members of acollectivity, it behaves like a collective noun, as if it were plural, theconsequence being that.

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Although singular in form the noun agrees with a plural verb and italso referred to by the animate plural, pronouns they, who.e.g. My family are being and supportive; they are always ready to help me.

I don’t know any other family who would do so much (the members ofmy family).The team are playing very well, aren’t they?The government are discussing the new development scheme(reference is made to the individuals that make up the act).

c) Some nouns with the same form for the singular and the plural have nospecial form for the category of number: considering that the basic form is thatof the singular, we can say that they receive (unmarked nouns) a zero endingin the plural. In spite of the fact that they are no variable in form, they areconsidered to be countable nouns because they meet the others 2 conditions,verbs and determiners with such nouns are either singular or plural accordingto the meaning expressed by the nouns.

- some nouns ending in –s : means , series, species (also headquarters,works (factory)

e.g. A new means of transport is the hovercraft.The fastest means of transport are not always the most comfortable.This is a rare species.

- some nouns denoting animals (sheep , deer, also aircraft)e.g. There is a stray sheep on the road. There are some stray sheep on theroad.

- some names of nationality : Chinese, Japanese, Swiss.

What are countable nouns? Give examples.

1.2.3. Uncountable /no-count nounsThey are invariable in form, having only one form either singular or

plural. They agree with the verb and determiners only in the singular or onlyin the plural.

1.2.3.1. Classification of uncountable/no-count/ invariable nouns.The nouns generally treated as uncountable nouns in English can be dividedinto the following groups:

a) singular uncountable nounsThey have the following characteristics:

- they are invariable in form having one form : singular (they have no plural)- since they don’t express the opposition between singular and plural theycannot be determined by means of quantifiers or numerals. They cannot beused with the indefinite article a or with the determiners each, many, few,these, those. The only determiners that can be used with uncountable nounsare: the, this / that, some/anywhere, much, a little.- they agree with the verb and the determiners only in the singular. In point ofmeaning the nouns can be divided into:

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(i). mass/material nouns: they denote concrete things looked upon as awhole, as indivisible entities which can not be counted as: bread, butter, chalk,coffee, fish, gold, oil, salt, snow, steel, water, etc.e.g. Water is pleasant to drink when cold,

Steel is much more resistant than copper.He loves to drink wine.Fruit is good to eat. Let’s have some fruit for desert.

Some other uncountable nouns denote a whole composed of various units:equipment, furniture, jewellery, luggage, baggage, money, machinery.e.g. Where is your luggage?

The money is in the wallet.Note: moneys: fonduri monetare, incasari.

(ii). abstract nouns: the class of abstract nouns is more extensive in Englishthan in Romanian,e.g. advice, applause, business, cruelly, evidence, homework, income,information, injustice, knowledge, progress, strength, trouble, thunder (most ofthem are countable in Romanian).e.g. His advice is always good.

He felt his strength was failing. Your information is not reliable. His progress in English is highly satisfactory. Her knowledge of history is poor.

Note: Knowledge may take the indefinite article when is used in a particularsense.e.g. He has a good knowledge of mathematics.

Businesses – intreprindere, localuri sedii de intreprindere

Uncountable nouns (both mass and abstract ones) can be individualized ,quantified by means of:

1. partitive expressions like: a piece of, an item of, a bit of, an act ofe.g. a piece of chalk, a piece/word of advice, an act of cruelty/ injustice, a

piece /stroke of luck2. by referring to a piece / part of a certain shape or to a container

e.g. a loaf of bread, a sheer of paper, a flash of lightning, a bar of soapSome uncountable nouns in –s: news, as well as nouns denoting sciences

in –ics, (physics, linguistics, mathematics, athletics); some diseases (measles,mumps, rickets); some games (billiards, darts, dominoes)e.g. Near is the news /BBC announcement.

Draughts is an easier game than chess.

Some uncountable nouns can become countable ones, and therefore, canbe used in the plural or can be preceded by the indefinite article a (one) whomthey refer to varieties of things or when they denote a particular kind of things.e.g. The steels of this plant are of very good quality.

Many different wines are made in France.Various fruits were on display at the greengrocer’s.

The fishes of the Black Sea are good.

• glass:

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- uncountable (the material). e.g. Windows are made of glass.- countable (the container). e.g. Give me a glass of water.

• Paper:- uncountable (the material). e.g. The box was wrapped in paper.- countable (test). e.g. He has written a good paper.

• Iron:- uncountable (the material). e.g. This tool is made of iron.- countable (tool, implement used for smoothing clothes). e.g. He has got anew iron.

• Youth:- uncountable (the state of being young ). e.g. The enthusiasm of youth.- countable (a young person). e.g. Half a dozen of youths were waiting outside.

b) Plural Invariable Nouns (Pluralia tantum)They are invariable in form, having only one form, that of plural, they

only occur in the plural and are never used at the singular.- they agree with the verb and determiners (the, these/those) only in the plural- in point of meaning, the nouns included in his group refer to...a. summation plural: article of dress or instruments/tools who are composed ofsimilar partse.g. clothes, jeans, pants, tights, trousers, shorts, binoculars, glasses,scales, scissors, tangs.

These trousers are too long for you.Where are the scissors?

The nouns can be individualized/ quantified by means of the partitiveexpression a pair of.Other nouns that only occur in the plural: firewall, goods, dregs, proceedings,wages, annals, outskirts, surroundings. In many cases there are forms without–s, sometimes with a difference of meaning, there are some nouns with havedifference meanings when used in the singular and in the plural as invariables

Nouns in - s have two meanings in the plurale.g. content-contents; compass-compasses; custom-customs; brain-brains;

colour-colours; damage-damages; effect-effects; ground/s

c) Nouns of multitude (unmarked plural, zero plural)There are some nouns who with the verb in the plural although they are

not marked formally for the plural , they have a form in the singulare.g. cattle, people, police, youth, clergy

The cattle are grazing in the field.There are a lot of people in the street.The youth of today do not know what they want.

Note: do not confuse the noun of multitude “people” (=human beings) with thecountable noun a people (=nation) who is regular.There is also a noun of multitude “youth’ (=young people) with countablenoun youth (=young person)

d) substantivized adjective and participle(i) adjective and past participle used with the definite article

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There aren’t very many substantivized adjective of this kind inEnglish, the construction is not productive. Most other adjective can not beused in this way.e.g. we cannot say: the foreign (=the foreign people), but we can say the

happy ( = the happy people), the old, the rich, the poor, the sick, thewounded.The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

(ii). also adjective of nationality ending in –sh, -ch,: the British, the English,the Scotch, The Dutch, the Spanish, the French.e.g. The Scots have the reputation of being thrifty.

What are uncountable nouns? Give examples.

1.2.3. Exercises:1. Form the plural of the following nouns: fellow-citizen, passer-by, man-eater, woman doctor, man-of-war, take-off, footstep, cameraman, sister-in-law, potato, echo, leaf, roof, ski, sky.

2. Supply the plural of the following nouns of Greek and Latin origin: bacillus,addendum, series, datum, crisis, schema, stimulus, criterion, phenomenon.

3. Choose the appropriate form of the verb. Note the difference in meaningwith the nouns that take both a singular and plural predicate:1. His phonetics is/are much better. 2. My trousers is/are flared. 3. The scissorsis/are lost for ever. 4. Statistics show a great interest in ecology. 5. Youthtoday is/are turning from church nowadays. 6. What is/are your politics? 7.The acoustics of the National Theatre is/are excellent. 8. What is/are cattlegood for? 9. Fresh-water fish include/ includes salmon, trout and eel. 10. Thepolice as/ have made no arrest yet. 11. It is generally accepted that bad newsdon’t/ doesn’t make us happy. 12. The class was/were warned not to talkduring the test. 13. Mumps is/are very painful ailment. 14. A number of carswas/ were involved in the accident. 15. The council was/ were unable to agree.16. One of the girls has/have lost her umbrella. 17. Fish and chips is/are a verypopular meal in England. 18. Either the boys or the girl help/helps the woman.19. Advice is/are given on all the technical aspects. 20. The Italian clergy was/were opposed to divorce.

4. Translate into English:1. Casa lor nu este mare, dar împrejurările sunt încântătoare. 2. Casa lor estelângă o intersecţie aglomerată. 3. Ştirile sunt cu adevărat interesante. 4.Secretara ne+a dat procesul+verbal al şedinţei de ieri. 5. Bărbatul pretindeadespăgubiri. 6. Soldaţii au salutat drapelul regimentului. 7. După un zbor detrei ore am ajuns la destinaţie. 8. Biliardul este un joc interesant. 9. Era unspectacol minunat să admiri răsăritul soarelui de pe stânci. 10. Simţeam odurere acută în piept. 11. Avem nevoie de un compass ca să desenăm cercul.12. Asemenea fenomene sunt greu de explicat. 13. Am cumpărat o pungă decartoi de trei kilograme. 14. Ipotezele sale s-au dovedit corecte. 15. Toatecriteriile de evaluare pot fi îndeplinite cu uşurinţă. 16. Sfaturile lui nu suntutile. 17. Am o mulţime de teme de făcut până mâine. 18. Progresele realizate

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de echipă au fost observate de toată lumea. 19. Tocmai am trecut cu bagajeleprin vamă. 20. Ochelarii bunicii au fost sparţi de nepotu său din neatenţie.

1.3. The category of CaseCase is the grammatical category that indicates the relationship

between certain parts of speech (in particular between nouns). Thegrammatical category of case can be marked, in synthetic languages byinflections and in analytical languages by word –order or prepositions.

Old English was characterized by a great number of inflections withthe consequence that there were four cases with distinct endings. In the courseof its historical development, the English noun has lost its former case system.Thus, case which morphologically is a very complex grammatical category inmany European languages such as German, Russian, Romanian and manyother languages, is not very significant for the English noun. Themorphological structure of the noun is uniform irrespective of its relations andfunctions. As a result of the general tendency towards analytical instead ofsynthetic forms, case inflections disappeared. The English noun has, however,the -s ending in the Genitive.

The loss of distinct case forms has been compensated by a stricterword order in the sentence and the use of a large number of prepositions. Thequestion that arises is whether the disappearance of case inflections is generalamong grammarians.

Those who pursue a formal approach restrict of number of Englishcases to two:

- the common case (Nominative, Dative, Accusative) - “unmarked”- the possessive case (Genitive) – “marked in –s”

Those who pursue a functional approach (besides form, the category ofcase implicitly entails context and syntax) consider that there are 3 cases inEnglish:- the Nominative – used for subjects- the Genitive – used to indicate possession (This case in frequently termed“possessive” although the purpose of its meaning is wider than possession (inthe normal sense of the world).- the Objective – Dative and Accusative – used for objects of a verb orpreposition.

1.3.1. The Nominative case is the case of nouns that display thefunction of a Subject, predicative or apposition in the sentence.

1.3.2. The Accusative Case is used with nouns that express thefunction of Direct Object or of adverbial modifier. The old distinctiveinflections for the Accusative case have disappeared, their function beingtaken over by strict word order:e.g. The hunter killed the lion.

The lion killed the hunter.

A noun in the Accusative case is used after:a) transitive verb to denote the objective that undergoes the change. If there isonly one object in the sentence, it gets the position immediately after the verb.e.g. I read a book last night.

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After some ditransitive verbs which may have 2 objects:- the verbs to ask, to envy, to forgive may be followed by 2 objects in theAccusativee.g. The teacher asks the people several questions.

I envy John his garden.

- V+ objective animate + objective inanimate: the verbs to give, to hand, tooffer, to pay, to read, to show, to tell, to throw, to write, to wish are usuallyfollowed by an indirect objective in the Dative and a direct object in theAccusative.e.g. I gave John my book.

b) some intransitive verbs changing them into transitive ones.e.g. some intransitive verbs having the same root as the noun in the

Accusative (a Cognitive Object): to smile a bright smile, to live a badlife, to fight a terrible fight.

c) prepositions: most prepositions in English are followed by (pro)nouns in theAccusative.

1.3.3. The Dative Case is used with nouns that display the function ofIndirect Object. In present day English, the dative is marked either byprepositions (to, sometimes for) or by strict word-order among the nouns ofthe sentence. A noun in the Dative case is used after the following parts ofspeech.a) verbs:- transitive- intransitive- some intransitive verbs followed by an indirect object of person: to happen,to occur, to propose, to submit, to surrender, to yield,e.g. It happened to my brother.

An idea occurred to John.

- some transitive verbs followed by 2 objects (If the indirect object is placedbefore the direct objective, the prepositions to is omitted).e.g. I paid the money to the cashier. I paid the cashier the money. I am writing a letter to my friend. I am writing my friend a letter.

There is a number of verb obligatory followed by the preposition. Inthese cases with the preposition to the indirect object is placed before thedirect object: to address, to announce, to propose, to relate, to repeat.e.g. I introduced him to my mother. I introduced to my mother all myfriends.

- V + DO + (FOR). A direct object and an indirect object preceded by thepreposition FOR: to buy, to allow, to do, to leave, to make, to order, toreserve, to save, to speak (The preposition FOR is omitted if the indirectobject is placed before the direct object)e.g. She brought a present for her mother. / She brought her mother apresent. She made a new dress for her daughter. / She made his daughter anew dress.

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b) some nouns: attitude, cruelty, kindness, help, promise, dutye.g. Her attitude to animals surprised us. He kept his promise to his friend.

c) some adjectives of the same semantic field: cruel, kind, good, polite,helpful, grateful, rudee.g. Don’t be cruel to animals. I am grateful to the friends who help me.

She advised me to be kind to her.

d) Also adjectives involving a comparison: corresponding, equal, equivalent,similar, superior, inferior, prepositional.e.g. The result was not equal to his efforts.

Man is superior to animals.

1.3.4. The Genitive CaseThe noun in the Genitive case expresses the idea of possession and

discharges the syntactic function of an attribute. There are 2 forms ofGenitive:I. The Synthetic Genitive

Form: in English, the genitive is marked by the ending -s preceded by anapostrophe’. In present-day English there are 2 ways of marking the syntheticgenitive in writing:

- the apostrophe + the ending ‘s are added to the singular form of nouns:e.g. the girl’s name

and to unmarked plural noun or irregular in the plural:e.g. the men’s clothing, the children’s toys.

- the apostrophe is added to the plural form of regular nouns (the boys’teacher); to proper names ending in –s (Dickens’ novels).

The Group genitive (Possessive): Compounds as well as noun phrasesdenoting one idea are generally treated as one word and the genitival suffixesare attached to the last elements of the group who may not be known ratherthan to the head.e.g. the queen England’s throne.

The group genitive is not normally acceptable following a clause.e.g. A mum’s son I know has just been arrested.

In a group of words made up of a noun apposition the genitive mark is addedto the apposition.e.g. Have you seen my brother Jimmy’s car?

Two nouns coordinated by and representing the possessors of the same objecttake ’s after the last word.e.g. Tom and Mary’s parents. (Tom and Mary are the possessors of thesame object, are brothers).

If they represent the possessors of different object, each noun receives thesuffix.e.g. Tom’s and Mary’s parents.

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Jason’s and Shakespeare’s plays.

The position of the noun in the Genitive casea) The noun in the genitive – the determiner usually precedes the determined,the noun in the nominative.e.g. This is Mary’s bag.

b) The genitive with ellipsisThe noun in the genitive can appear by itself, the noun modified by the ‘sgenitive may be omitted. This is possible when:- the determined noun has been mentioned previously and the speaker wants toavoid the repetition (if the context makes its identity clear).e.g. This is Tom’s book. Mary’s is on the table.

- the determined noun denotes residence, establishment institutions, buildings,represented by such nouns as shop, office, house, place, cathedral, store.e.g. She went to the chemist’s shop.

I went into a stationer’s shop to buy a postcard. I was at the Brown’syesterday. St Paul’s cathedral is one of the sights.

c) N+N GenitiveThe noun in the syntactic genitive can follow the determiner noun in a DoubleGenitival Construction. The double genitival is a construction which consistsof the two types of genitive: the prepositional Genitive (framed withpreposition of) combined with the syntactic Genitive. The double genitive isused with the following values:(i). a partitive meaninge.g. A cousin of his wife’s (one of his wife’s cousins).

He is a friend of John’s (one of John’s friends).

The determined nouns must have indefinite reference (indefinitearticle), it must be seen as one of an unspecified member of items attributed tothe post-modifier.(ii). The double genitive differs in meaning from the prepositional genitive.- a description of genitive (a description made by some body else aboutgenitive):e.g. A description of Galsworthy’s (one of genitive’s description, adescription made by genitive)

- a description or emotional implication it expresses various shades ofsubjective attitude the speaker’s contempt, arrogance, dislike (The noun isdetermined by the demonstrative).e.g. That child of Ann’s is a nuisance. That remark of John’s wasmisplaced.

The uses of the synthetic genitiveThe synthetic genitive is generally used in the following categories of nouns.a) animate nouns, mainly with nouns denoting living beings:- nouns denoting persons and proper names:e.g. the boy’s book

- collective nouns (who indicate in effect a body of people):

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e.g. The government’s decision; the company’s officials

- indefinite pronouns referring to persons (somebody, nobody, everybody,another, either):e.g. nobody’s fault, everyone’s wish

-large animals:eg. the lion’s mouth.

b) Some clauses of inanimate nouns:- geographical names (names of continents, countries, cities, looked upon in apolitical or economic sense.e.g. Europe’s future; London’s museums

- nouns denoting institutions:e.g. the school’s program.

-natural phenomena:e.g. the sun’s rays, the earth’s atmosphere

- nouns denoting units of time (temporal nouns):e.g. New Year’s Eve, a day’s journey

- nouns denoting distance, measure, value:e.g. a mile’s distance, a pound’s worth of sugar.

- personifications:e.g. Love’s Labour’s Lost; life’s joys.

- set phrases:e.g. in my mind’s eyes, at one’s fingers’ end, the one’s heart’s content

The meanings of the genitive1. possessive: this value, most frequently associated with the syntacticalgenitivee.g. my father’s car = my father has a car.

The boy’s book = the boy has a book.

2. subjective (the determiner is a subject while the determined noun is theobject):e.g. the girl’s story = the girl told a story.

3. objective (the determiner is an object):e.g. the prisoner’s release = release the prisoner.

4. classifying. The previous examples the genitive (the first name) has aparticular meaninge.g. my father’s ca r- my father is a particular individual some genitive

expression have a class meaning.

It is equivalent to relative adjective. The use of the indefinite articlechanges the noun in the genitive into a relative adjective.

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e.g. children’s magazine – a magazine for childrena woman’s college – a college for women.

II Analytical Genitive (The prepositional genitive)In the middle English, the analytic means of expressing the genitive

(the preposition OF +Noun) placed after the determined noun, came tocomplete with the syntactical form, and today the Accusative has replaced thesyntactical genitive in some of its uses.The analytic genitive is used with the following types of nouns:

- inanimate nouns: the title of the book, the roof of the house, the bendof the river, the member of the faculty.

- some geographical names:- in appositions: the city of London, the golf of Mexico.- when the geographical names are looked upon from a partly

geographical point of view: The boundaries of Switzerland are...- animate nouns may take the Analytical Genitive instead of Synthetic

Genitive- for the sake of emphasis (when we went to emphasize the animate

noun the proper names, much as in titles), the focus of informationfalls on the last word: Shakespeare’s plays = The complete works of WShakespeare; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

- When the determiner (the noun in the genitive) is a part of a completenoun phrases, and it is determined in its turn.

- e.g. The name of the man over there, at the table, who came yesterday.

The Synthetic Genitive may follow one another in a sentence if bothpossessors are animate: a syntactic genitive may give another SyntheticGenitivee.g. Mary’s brother’s friend.

My cousin’s wife’s first husband.

But the use of the Synthetic Genitive with both nouns is rarely found inspeech. It is preferred to express to former genitive by a prepositionalconstructions, the latter by the Synthetic Genitive. In some cases there is afunctional similarity between a Synthetic Genitive and an Analytical Genitive(the S.G. and the A.G. are in free variation). Thus, both structures are possiblein: The gravity of the Earth / The Earth’s gravity. The S.G. is used innewspapers headlines, perhaps for reasons of space economy:eg. Fire at U.C.L.A. Institute’s roaf damaged. While the subsequent newsitem begins “The roaf of a science institute on the compres was damaged lastnight”.

III The Implicit genitiveMany of the meaning characteristic of the genitive can sometimes

rendered by word order alone. The I.G. is rendered by the mere juxte-positionof 2 nouns without any formal mark. (without the suffix ‘s or the prepositionof) which might be expressing the relation between them. In this simpleconstruction who is nothing that a compound noun, the first noun assumes adetermining role, it assumes the value of an attribute, thus preceding thedetermined noun.

The I.G. can replace both syntactic genitive and analytic genitive.

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In contemporary English, the I.G. appears chiefly in:- titles – names of organization : UNO (The United Nations organization)- newspaper headlines: This kind of structure is extremely common, because itsaves place:e.g. Death drug research centre spy drama – expressions like these can beunderstood by reading when bookwords. The headline is about a dramaconcerning a spy in a centre for research into a drug that causes death.

I. The I.G. may be often replace a Analytical G. (a postdeterminer) bymeaning of a predeterminer: N1+(OF+N2) = (N2). N1.e.g. a member of the faculty – a faculty member, the Genitive – apostdeterminer is replaced by a predeterminer such as: the bank of the river,the strings of the violin are transformed into I.G: the river bank, violin strings.

As a rule, I.G. issues mostly to describe common, well known kinds ofthings; compounds are widely used, while for concepts which are not so wellknown we use prepositional genitive.Compare: mountains top, a tree top, but the top of a loudspeaker.Sometimes, the different structures express different meanings.Compare:A cup of coffee - A coffee cupA box for matches - A match box

We use the prepositional structure to express possession, to talk abouta container with its contents.e.g. A cup of coffee = a cup containing coffee

A coffee cup = a cup for coffeeA box of matches = a box with matches in itA match box = (perhaps empty)

II. The Implicit Genitive is used instead of the syntactic genitive inexpressions of time and distance.In expression of time or distance beginning with a numeral, the S.G. can beused as an adjective.e.g. a five hours’ talk – a five-hours talk; a ten minutes’ break – a ten-minute break.

a three miles’ distance – a three-mile distance

As a rule the IG is more general than the syntactic genitive (who has amore limited reference). Thus, the syntactic genitive is used when thedeterminer is a particular individual while the IG is used when the determinerusually refers to a whole class:e.g. That car’s engine is making a funny noise. (The SG is used to referto).

A car engine usually lasts for about 80,000 miles.A Sunday’s paper (a paper that comes out on Sunday)Please, put the dog’s food under the table (the determiner dog’s is aparticular individual: the dog’s food is the food that a particular dog isgoing to eat)Dogfood costs merely as much as a steak, the structure in which thenoun is used as adjective: dog refers to a whole class: dog food is foodfor dogs in general.

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How many forms of Genitive are there in English?Can you give examples of Implicit Genitive?Name the differences between the Synthetic and the AnalyticalGenitive

1.3.5. Exercises:1. Join the two nouns in order to form a genitive. Sometimes you have

to use an apostrophe with or without s, sometimes you have to use theanalytical genitive:1. the coat/ Jimmy. 2. the newspaper/ yesterday. 3. the wife/ the man crossinfthe street. 4. the neighbours/ my parents. 5. the roof/ house. 6. the mane/ myfriend. 7. the name/ that river. 8. the dress/ the girl we met yesterday. 9. thepolicy/ government. 10. the marks/ the boy and the girl.

2. Write the following sentences inserting the possessive form of thenoun given in the brackets at the end of each:1. The ….. concert was most amusing (babies). 2. They did not see the ...signal (policeman). 3. She stayed five days on her … farm. (friends) 4. Our …welfare should always come first. (country) 5. The clinic has large stocks of… foods. (babies). 6. The … leg was broken in that accident. (tourist). 7. The… meeting was held in the staff room. (teachers) 8. The … face was met withtears. (baby).

3. Translate into English:1. Casa prietenei lui Nick este foarte frumoasă. 2. Ideile colegului fratelui meusunt interesante. 3. Câteva dintre jucăriile copilului verişoarei mele au fostrecent cumpărate. 4. Caietele colegului lui Dan sunt foarte ordonate. 5.Acestea sunt rezultatele testului de ieri. 6. Din avion am avut o vedere deansamblu a întregului oraş. 7. După o pauză de zece ore ne-am continuatcălătoria. 8. Membrii comitetului se vor întâlni peste trei zile. 9. Sunt sigur cădupă o vacanţă de două săptămâni de vei simţi mai bine. 10. Maşinadirectorului liceului este parcată în faţa şcolii.

4. Translate into English using the two forms of the Dative whereverpossible:

1. I-am trimis fiului meu nişte bani. 2. Tu i-ai dat fetiţei două jucării. 3.Spuneţi-i secretarei numele dumneavoastră. 4. Doctorului i-a prescris un altmedicament pacientului. 5. În fiecare dimineaţă îi spune la revedere buniciisale. 6. Le-a explicat băieţilor regulile noului joc. 7. Părinţii îi cumpără unghiozdan nou surorii mele în fiecare an. 8. I-a scris o scrisoare mamei sale. 9.Vrei să îl prezinţi pe Tom părinţilor tăi_ 10. I-am oferit tânărului absolvent oslujbă foarte bună.

1.4. The category of GenderJespersen defines gender in the following way”by the term gender we

mean any grammatical division (presenting some analogy to the distinctionbetween masculine, feminine and neutral whether that division is) either basedon the natural division into the 2 sexes (M and F) or that between animate andinanimate”.

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Some grammarians make the difference between grammatical genderand natural gender. In most European languages gender, to a large extent, isgrammatical.

The irrelevance (the arbitrary character) of any kind of meaning togender can be illustrated by comparing the genders of some inanimate nounsin several languages. Let us compare the gender of the nouns SUN andMOON in some the Romance languages and German. In the Romancelanguages sun is Masculine and moon is Feminin (R- soare, Fr- soleil, It-sole,Sp-it sol; R- luna, Fr- la luna, It- le luna); but in German, sun is feminine andmoon is masculine (die Sonnes, der Mond).

In English, gender is to a large extend natural in that the connectionbetween the biological category sex and the grammatical category gender isvery close; in so far as sex distinction determine English gender. Thus, nounsdenoting beings (persons, sometime animals) are either masculine or feminine(depending on whether they denote male or female beings) while inanimatenouns are neuter.

In most European languages gender is a grammatical category, beingmarked formally – on the one hand the masculine and feminine nouns havedistinctive endings, on the other hand, articles and adjectives agree with thenoun in gender. Unlike in such languages in English the gender is rarelymarked for formally.The grammatical category of gender is marked in 3 ways in English:

1) Lexically; 2) morphologically; 3) using gender markers.1) Lexically, the masculine and the feminine can be indicated by means

of different words:- For personal nouns: man/woman; boy/girl; brother/sister, etc- For animate nouns (higher animate when sex difference is felt to be

relevant): stallion/mare; cook/hen.2) Morphologically: by means of specific derivational suffix which is added tothe masculine in order to form the feminine.

-ess: prince-princess; host-hostess; actor-actress; duke-duchess-ine: hero-heroine-ette: usher-usherette-ix: administrator-administratrix

These derivational suffixes are not productive, however they are notregular, we can not form teacheress, doctoress on the pattern host /hostess.

The usual derivational suffix applied to animate nouns in –esse.g. Lion/lioness; tiger/tigress

3) A number of nouns denoting a person’s stares, function, profession has asingle form used both for masculine and feminine (the Common Gender or theDual gender):e.g. artist, cook, cousin, doctor, enemy, foreigner, friend, guest, librarian,

neighbour, pupil, speaker, student, teacher, writer, worker.

Take out of the contrast, such nouns can be ambiguous (we do notknow whether they are M and F). The gender of such nouns can be identifiedby means of words that mark gender. (“gender markers”).

a) the gender of such nouns is usually identified in a context by meansof pronouns with refer to nouns and who have different gender forms in the 3-rd person singular (personal and reflexive pronouns, possessive adjective).

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e.g. The teacher asked the pupil a few more questions, the sentence isambiguous to the gender of the 2 nouns, but it can be distinguished ifwe add……. as she wanted to give him a better mark

When such nouns are used generically (neither gender is relevant), aMasculine reference pronoun may be used (another solution would be to usehe or she),e.g. He any student calls, tell him.

With nouns denoting large animals the choice of the pronoun can be amatter of sex (he replaces male animals, she-female animal). When usedgenerically, such nouns denoting large animals are usually consideredmasculine being replaced by the pronoun he.The pronoun it usually replaced small animals and optionally all animals evenwhen sex is known.

A bull-can be he, itA cat- can be he, she, it.

e.g. The horse was restive at first, but the soon be come manageable.

Gender in animals is chiefly observed by people with a special concern(e.g. Fat animals are called she or he when they are thought of as havingpersonality intelligence by their owners, but not always by other people).b) Besides pronouns, disambiguation with respect to gender is also possible byusing some words marking gender (gender markers such as boy/girl,man/woman, male/female.e.g. boy friend/girl – friend, salesman/saleswoman,policeman/policewoman.

This is not very productive because there are many words in which thedistinction do not work.

Others, chairman, for instance, do not change: in Great Britain awoman who presides over a committee is still called a chairman “MadamChairman” although there is a tendency to replace words like this by formslike chairperson.With large animals, he/she, cock/hen can be used as gender workers.e.g. he-goat; she-goat; cock-sparrow/hen-sparrow.

2. The stylistic use of the grammatical category of genderNormally masculine nouns denoting inanimate things, are usually replaced byit.a) Some nouns denoting inanimate things, which are neuter in everydayspeech, are sometimes personified in literature.

The masculine gender is usually ascribed to nouns denoting strength,violence, harshness; e.g. wind, ocean, sun, while the feminine gender isascribed to nouns denoting delicacy, tenderness or less violent forces: nature,liberty, moon.

Let us compare 2 sentences, one from literature when the moon ispersonified and the other in a neutral style.e.g. The moon has risen. How pale and ghostly the roofs looked in hersilvery light!

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The moon has no particular importance, except to the earth which itattends as satellite.

Sometimes, the distinctions depend on the author’s imagination andintention. In other words, English writers are quite free to refer nouns andlifeless things to any gender when personified. An example in point is “TheNightingale and the Rose” where Oscar Wilde makes the Nightingale of thefeminine gender and the Rose tree of the masculine gender.e.g. the rose-three shook his head and said: “My roses are yellow“.

b) In everyday speech, there are a number of derivations from the normativepattern.- nouns such : ship, boat, car often used as feminine (are often referred to asher, she) the speaker conveying the fact he regards them with affection, that heconsiders as close or intimate to him.e.g. The ship struck an iceberg which tore a large hole in her side.

- names of countries when looked upon from the political or economic point ofview.As geographical units, names of countries are treated as nominate:e.g. Looking at the map we see France. It is one of the largest countries inEurope.

As political /economic units, names of countries are often feminine.e.g. France has been able to increase her deports by 10% cent.

- the nouns: baby, infant, child can be neuter and referred to by it:e.g. She began nursing her child again.

Another is not likely to refer to her baby as it, but it would be quitepossible for somebody who is not emotionally connected with the child toreplace such nouns by it.

How is gender marked in English? Giveexamples.

1.4.1. Exercises:1. Form feminine nouns from the following masculine nouns using the

following suffixes: -ess, -ix, -a, -ine.Actor, host, shepherd, administrator, sultan, lion, prior, negro, hero, prince,tiger, heir, waiter.

2. Give the corresponding masculine nouns of the following nouns:queen, woman, daughter, nun, lady, sister, goose, bee, duck, grand-daughter.

3. Give the masculine of: bride, girl-friend, maidservant, femalecandidate, policewoman, lady footballer, woman diplomat, lady speaker,spinster, lady, nurse, female student.

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4. Translate into English:1. Ştiai că premiul a fost din nou cucerit de români? 2. Este cea mai modernăpoetă a noastră. 3. Sora mea a jucat rolul prinţesei. 4. Ambasadoarea a ţinut undiscurs. 5. Este o fată bătrână foarte excentrică. 6. Nu cred că văduva de laparter este acasă. 7. Leoaica pe care ai văzut-o la circ a fost adusă din Africa.8. A venit lăptăreasa azi? 9. Este plăcut când eşti servit de servitoare aşa depoliticoase. 10. Toate miresele sunt frumoase. 11. Prietena fratelui meu arenumai 18 ani. 12. Bunica e mândră de copiii şi nepoţii ei. 13. Este foarte dificilsă ai de-a face cu astfel de paciente. 14. Toţi membrii juriului, atât juraţii, câtşi juratele, au fost de acord asupra verdictului. 15. Contele şi contesele au rangmai mic decât ducele şi ducesa.

REFERENCESBantaş, A. 1978. English and Contrastive Studies, Bucureşti, Tipografia

UniversităţiiBroughton, G. 1990. The Penguin English Grammar A-Z for Advanced

Students, London, Penguin ELTCrystal, David, 1997. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language,

CUPCurme, G., 1966. English Grammar, New York, Barnes and NobleGălăţeanu Fârnoagă, G., Comişel, E., 1992. Gramatica limbii engleze, Ed.

Omegapress, BucureştiLeech, G. and Svartik, I. 1994. A Communicative Grammar of English,

London, Longman HouseLeviţchi, Leon, 1971. Gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti, Ed. Didactică şi

PedagogicăLeviţchi, Leon, 1970. Limba engleză contemporană - Morfologia, Bucureşti,

Ed. Didactică şi PedagogicăMurphy, R., 1992. English in use, ELODNedelcu, C., 2004, English Grammar, Craiova, Editura UniversitariaPalmer F., 1971. Grammar, Penguin BooksPârlog H., 1995. The English Noun Phrase, Timişoara, Hestia Publishing

HouseQuirk, R.S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartik 1976. A Grammar of

Contemporary English, London, LongmanThomson, A.J. and Martinet, A.V. 1960, 1997. A Practical English Grammar,

OUP***, 1996, Oxford English Reference Dictionary, OUP***, 1999. MacMillan, English Dictionary for Advanced Learners

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CHAPTER 2 THE ARTICLE

Unităţi de învăţare :• The Definite article• The Indefinite article• The Zero Article

Obiectivele temei:• înţelegerea modurilor de folosire a articlolul hotărât în limba engleză.

Diferenţe faţă de limba română• înţelegerea modurilor de folosire a articlolul nehotărât în limba

engleză. Diferenţe faţă de limba română• înţelegerea construcţiilor gramaticale în care articolul nu este folosit


This class includes article and other parts of speech that can replace thearticle before a noun, namely the demonstrative, possessive, indefinite,interogative and negative adjective (a/the/this/my/each/what the mostimportant place within the class of determiners. It is used only as a determiner,unlike the other parts of speech which can be used both as determiners(determiner noun and as pronouns (stand for nouns).

As the commonest determiner of the noun, the article is used formarking a definite, indefinite or generic reference to a noun (some articles alsodischarge functions borrowed from other types of determiners to which theyare etymologically or grammatically related. The definite article maydischarge the same function as the demonstrative adjective, the indefinitearticle those of the numeral ONE, the zero article may discharge the functionof indefinite adjectives such as some. From the point of view of function, thereare three articles in English: the definite, the indefinite and the zero articles.

2.1. The Definite ArticleThe definite article developed from the demonstrative this/that. The

definite article has the fuction of a demonstrative in those cases in which it isinterchangeable with a demonstrative determiner, with no change of meaning.Eg. It is just what I want at this time.

Don’t do anything of the /this/that kind.Under the/these circumstances it would be foolish to leave.

The definite article also discharges the function of a demonstrative:e.g. John the Great, Richard the Lion-Hearted

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The definite article is invariable in spelling, but pronounced ătheş infront of words begeinning with a consonant or semivowel and ăthiş beforewords beginning with a vowel sound. ăthiş is pronounced when it is stressed.eg. Jones is the ăthiş specialist in Kindmy trouble.

The definite article can be used with singular and plural nouns.

2.1.1. The functions of the definite article1. Individual, definite/specific/unique reference (it is a deicitic

reference; deictic=pointing to)The function of the definite article is to show that the noun to which it isattached is definite, is known, is particularized in a certain context:

- The preceding context (anaphoric reference)- The following context (cataphoric reference)-

a) The anaphoric reference (anaphora= the use of a word) as a substitutefor a previous word or group of words. The noun to which the definite articleis attached by the speaker as being “known” to the interlocutor, which(generally speaking) presupposes a previous occurrence of the respectivenoun.

(i). The antecedent may be found in the same linguistic context ( in thesame sentence or in a previous sentence).e.g. I brought a book yesterday. The book seems interesting.

The noun to which the definite article is attached is known because ithas been introduced previously.

(ii). The antecedent may be found in the non-linguistic context.The definite article is used with nouns whose reference is understood,

therefore is definite in the situational context (of communication).e.g. a situational context may be: a room. If somebody says: Close thewindow.

although the noun window hasn’t been mentioned previously, it isknown by the speaker and by the interlocutor, therefore it is definite /unique inthe situational context in which the alternance takes place.e.g. In a town: the townhall, the police station are definite, unique withinthe town that the speaker and intelocutor are in.

On a broader plane, in the world, in the universe, we talk of the sun,the moon, the earth as unique elements known as a whole.b) The cataphoric reference: when the definite determination follows the

noun being expressed by a relative clause or a prepositional phrase (againhere the definite article is used on the basis of the linguistic context).

e.g. The book that I brought yesterday seems quite interesting.The book on the table seems quite interesting.

The post determiners (Relative Clauses, Prepositional Phrases) require definitearticles.

2. Non-significant reference with proper namesProper names need no articles as they are definite enough in

themselves, the individualization of the nouns is denoted by themselves. Inother words, having unique or individual reference by themselves, proper

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names are not expected to be used with the definite article, so the presence ofthe definite article is logically superfluous.

This use of the definite article can be explained historically: Propernames were used as adjectives determining a noun:eg. The Atlantic Ocean

Even when the determined noun (the head) was later omitted, but theproper name is still preceded by the definite article, the Atlantic.

The other words, the definite article is used with those geographicalnames which are still felt as adjectives to which the head may be added.The definite article is used with the following classes of proper names:I. geographical names: names of oceans, seas, rivers, mountains ranges,names of countries, (which certain a common noun such as republic, state);names of canals, deserts, gulfs, etc.e.g. The Atlantic (ocean) , The Mediterranean sea, The Danube River, The

USA, The Sahara Desert.

II. names of institutions: hotels, restaurants, threatres, cinema, museum,libraries.e.g. The Ritz Hotel, The Atheneum , The British Museum.

III. names of newspaperse.g. The Times

IV. names of shipse.g The Titanic

V. Proper names are used with the definite article where they are post-modified by an attribute or a clause.e.g. The England of Queen Elizabeth, but Elizabethan England.

I didn’t like The Ophelia in the modern version of the play.The Paris I used to know was more beautiful now than ever.

The plural of Proper name preceded by the definite article denotes awhole family.e.g. The Wilsons are going abroad

3. Generic referencewhen the noun is used in its general sense, as a representative of a class, as awhole. The definite article discharges this use before the singular member ofcountable nouns.e.g. The horse is an useful animal.

Lions are animals of prey.

4. Syntactically, the definite article occurs:- before comparatives and superlatives (adjectives and adverbs)e.g. The richest (people) are not always the happiest.

- before ordinal numeralse.g. the fifth lesson.

The more they argued, the angrier they become.

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- set phrases: in the main, on the one/other hand, to take the trouble, on thewhole, to tell/speech, to be out of question, to be on the safe side, for the timebeing in the long run, by the way.

What are the functions of the DefiniteArticle?

2.2. The Indefinite ArticleDeveloped from the word one, it has 2 forms:- a used before words beginninig with consonnants or semivowels- an used before words beginning with vowel sounds: a man, a university, anegg, an hour.

2.2.1. The functions of the indefinite articleIt is used with singular countable nouns.

1. The Indefinite (anticipatory) epiphonic reference.The typical use of indefinite article is this epiphonic use: a(n)

introduces a new element in the communication when the speaker considersthat noun preceded by the indefinite article is not known to the interlocutor.e.g. I brought a book yesterday.

I saw a lion at the zoo.

Corresponding to indefinite a used with singular countable nouns inthe indefinite determiner, some used with plural nouns.e.g. I brought (some) books yesterday. I saw some lions at the zoo.

In such indefinite use it is possible to skip some but not a. The nounsthat are introduced in the speech by the anticipatory a are later referred to byanaphoric the.

2. The Numeric functionsa) The indefinite article as a weak form of the numeral one is used with

a clear numerical value before countable nouns in the singular indicatingmeasure or a numerical series.e.g. Wait a minute!

She was silent for a (one) moment. A and one are often interchangeable.

b) When used distributively, the indefinite article approaches themeaning of each/every in expressions of price, speed, radio.e.g. It costs a penny a pound.

He works 8 hours a day.His rent is 100 a mouth.

In numeral English, a could be replaced by the prepositions per.e.g. The brewers use barely approximately 100,000 tens per year.

3. The Generic/classifying function

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The indefinite article can be used with countable nouns in the singularto represent a class, of things as a whole (a representative member of a class).This function is usually formal in definitionse.g. A lion is a beast of prey.

or in proverbse.g. A friend is a friend indeed.

When the indefinite article is used generically it may be considered aweaker “any”.

The indefinite use and the generic/classifying use of a(n) may bedistinguished from each other by their different plurals.Indefinite: I saw a lion - singularI saw some lions - pluralGeneric: A lion is a wild animal.Lions are wild animals.

Some is used with the plural corresponding to the indefinite a, but withthe plural of generic a.

4. In certain syntactic constructionsa) the indefinite article occurs with nouns in predicative positions (thepredicate) denoting a profession, job, nationality)e.g. John was/become a teacher.

He is an Englishman.No article is used when the noun designates a unique representative of aprofession.e.g. He was elected president of the trade union.

b) in oppositionse.g. W. Irving, an American prose writer, was born in 1793.

c) after the conjunction as (meaning in the capacity of) .e.g. He worked there for several years as a designer.

He was often ill as a child.

No article is used if the noun designates a unique profession, rank.e.g. As chairman, I insist that nobody speak out of terms.

d) after such, quite, rather, what, too, so, how.e.g. Mary is such a pretty girl! Such a pity!

We had quite a party!He is rather a fool.What a pretty girl Mary is!How perfect a view!She is too kind a girl to refuse!We could not do it in so short time.

How /so + adj + a +noun, usually used in the literary style are replaced incolloquial speech by what and such.e.g. How astonishing a night – What an astonishing night!

So short a time - such a short time.

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e) The determiner phrase many a followed by a singular noun phrase withsingular agreement has plural meaning (it is rather literary in use): Manya+Nsg.+Vsg:e.g. Many a traveller has admired the Danube Delta.

But, the determiner phrase a good/great many is followed by a plural N.P.: Agood great many +Npl+Vpl:e.g. A good(great) many children were going to the demonstration.

f) The indefinite article can be used with a plural construction expressing ameasure and regarded as a single whole, as it can be seen from the form of theverb (in the singular).e.g. We spent a pleasant three days in the country.

The show was performed for another 3 weeks.

5. In set phrasesWe have to bear in mind the big difference to Romanian language. InRomanian most of these set phrases have a article: to be in a hurry, take aseat, at a distance, to be a pity, to be in a rage, all of a sudden, have a mind to,take a funny to.

What are the functions of the IndefiniteArticle?

2.3. The Zero ArticleIt occurs with all the categories of nouns, singular and plural, countable

and uncountable nouns.

2.3.1. The functions of zero article are:1. The generic function/ referenceIt is the typical function of the zero article. The zero article is characteristicallya generic determiner in which function it used before:

a) uncountable nouns – concrete or abstract nounsThe use of the zero article with such nouns viewed in general is in

opposition with the use of the zero article when referring to a concrete/definitenoun grammatically: when the noun is determined, when it is followed by apost-modifier, a relative clause, a prepositional phrase.e.g. Water is necessary to life. (concrete noun)

We have to notice that the use of the zero article before a mass noun:water is viewed in general, as unlimited material.

The water in the jug is not fresh.

We have to notice that the definite article is required because the post-modifying phrase in this jug makes the fact that the water refers to a definitequantity.e.g. Friendship is a noble feeling. (abstract noun)

The friendship between the two writers lasted long.

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We have to notice that the definite article is required because the post-modifing phrase between two writers makes the friendship to have an uniquereference. Other abstract nouns free of articles: nature, society.e.g. We have duties to society as well as to ourselves.

b) countable nouns:(i). countable nouns in the plural: plural nouns preceded by the zero articledenote an indefinite number:e.g. Books are useful to a scholar.

Children like to play.

The some opposition can be established here between the use of thezero article with the use of the definite article: when a post modifierconstruction limits the meaning of the noun to a specify member, the noun ispreceded by the definite article.e.g. The books for this course are available to any library.

(ii). countable nouns in the singular (man/woman)e.g. Nature has been changed by man.

Man is an intelligent being.

When the generic use of the articles proves to be syntactically relevant,the general nouns, the concrete nouns are accompanied by the definite articlewhile abstract nouns have the zero article.

There is a large category of nouns which are used either with thedefinite article or with the zero article depending on whether their meaning –is considered as concrete or abstract (A typical example is school: to go toschool means attend school, while to go to the school means go to the placewhere school building is located).

(iii). with nouns expressing buildings and places such as: college, school,hospital, prison, jail, town, bed, table, the zero article is used when referenceis made to the activity performed, while the definite article is used when theyrefer to the concrete meaning.e.g. I was late going to bed. (go to sleep)

She flung herself down on the bed.

Some opposition can be formed with nouns denoting seasons, names of meals.e.g. I like winter.

Cricket is played in summer.

But where talking about a particular, concrete season, we use thedefinite article (the definite article has a demonstrative value = this/that)e.g. The autumn was cold. (that autumn)

We shall go to the seaside in the summer. (this summer)The first meal of the day is breakfast.

The definite article is used when the reference is made to a particular meal.e.g. The breakfast they offered was very good.

2. Individual, definite (or unique) reference (non-significant reference)

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(i). Proper namesNo article is necessary, the definite article is not used with proper

names, because they are unique names and thus they have unique reference.The zero article is used with:

a) names of people (also when accompanied by a close apposition or by anattribute which expresses an intrinsic quality).e.g. Peter, Dr. Brown, King Lears, Joljon, Poor Tom.

Note 1: But the titles (doctor, etc.) used without proper names are preceded bythe definite article.e.g. The doctor was sent for in the middle in the night.

Note 2: the group Adj+Pr. Name takes the definite article when the adjectiveis defining or contracting.e.g. The brave Admiral Nelson was celebrated by all people.

Nouns denoting members of the family (father, mother, aunt) are usedwith zero article and thus they are treated as proper names. Compare:e.g. Father is out, but mother is in. (the speaker refers to his own mother)But, The father was the completely wrong. (the speaker refers to a strangeperson)

b) geographical names: the zero article is used with names of continents,countries, regions, districts, towns, cities, lakes, peaks.E.g. Europe, Egypt, Moldavia, London, Lake Ontario, Mount EverestExceptions: The Sudan, The Cong, The Hague.

The zero article is also used when the names of continents, countrieshave a geographical or historical attribute (when the adjective is used only fordescribing).e.g. Northern America, Western Europe, ancient Egypt, but, the England ofQueen Victoria (post-modification).

The zero article is also used with names of parks, buildings, streets, inwhich the proper name is followed by a common name.e.g. Hyde Park, Oxford Street.

c) Calendar items: festivals, months and day of the week.e.g. Christmas, Easter, in January, on Monday.

But when the nouns are particularized by an attribute they take the definitearticle.e.g. On the following Monday.

3. The Z.A. in Set Phrases.In parallel/symmetrical constructions: day by day, face to face, from

morning till night, from beginning to end.Other set phrases: take offence, give permission, by hand.

What are the functions of the Zero Article?

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2.4. The Omission/ ellipsis of the articlesThe omission or ellipsis of the article is a stylistically marked form

used in telegrams, journalese (newspaper advertisements and headlines) stagedirections, colloquial language, usually practised for economy of space.e.g. (A) plane crashes on (the) motorway.

George goes (the) table (on the) left.Colloquial language: (It is a ) pity they won’t be there.

(Is the) car still not working.

The omission of the articles is to be clearly distinguished from thezero article.Compare:a) Salt is necessary in cooking.b) Urgent deliver salt to ASTY retailer.

In the first example, we have to do with a special kind ofdetermination- the zero article -with a mass noun for generic reference.

In the second example we have to do with the omission of thedeterminer. The definite article is used with definite, unique reference. Innormal circumstances, without omission, the second sentence (the text of atelegram) would be: it is urgent to deliver the salt to the retailer from ASTY.

In the second example the article can be inserted in the place fromwhich it has been omitted.

State the difference between the Zero Article andthe omission of the article.

2.5. Exercises:1. Insert definite, indefinite and zero articles where necessary in the

following sentences:1. What … man has done, … man can do. 2. He wanted to be … race-horseand win … Derby. 3. … horse has come home. 4. Why not turn … linguist? 5.… books filled shelves. 6. He believes in … woman. 7. He is afraid ofnothing, … man or … beast. 8. More and more girls want to become … NadiaComaneci. 9. He insisted on … nap in … sun. 10. We do not sell … pepperby… weight, we sell it by … box. 11. He was sitting there, … cap in … hand,speaking in … whisper. 12. He is away on … trip to … West Germany, …Netherlands, … United States. 13. He is always in … hurry. 14. Do you thinkour pattern of … life will have changed a lot by … year 2000? 15. He madethem … man and … wife. 16. … plane was on … domestic flight to …Alexandria on … Mediterranean Sea. 17. We have no job for you whether youare … accountant or … builder. 18. They have been … directors of … mine,… father and … son for six years. 19. Johnson, who is … professor ofsociology at … University of Essex, is … member of … executive. 20. In …early society, …women were men’s equal and occupied … leading position in… household and in … society.

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2. Supply the necessary articles in the following sentences:1. Long before … birth of … Cristopher Columbus … people in Europebelieved that … earthly paradise, … land of … plenty, with … perfect climatelay to … west across … Atlantic Ocean. 2. In his letter … Columbus wrote of… Carribean landscape and described … abundance and … fertility of …newly-found islands. 3. In … reply he sent home from … other side of …Atlantic, he wrote “… islands are fertile to … extraordinary degree. There are… trees of … thousand kinds, some in … flower, some with … fruit.” 4. From… West Indies he wrote: “I learnt by … signs that there was … king in …south, who owned many vessels filled with … gold.” 5. When … laterexplorers reached … Andes and found … gold for … taking, it seemed thattheir dreams of … paradise on … earth had at last come true.

3. Translate into English:1. Mi s-a spus că s-a făcut un anunţ special la radio azi dimineaţă. 2. DoctorulTaylor lucrează la un spital londonez lângă teatrul Old Vic. 3. Îi place viaţa,dar nu a avut o viaţă prea interesantă. 4. Ce faceţi voi dacă nu găsiţi banii carevă trebuie? 4. Omenirea a visat întotdeauna la spaţiul cosmic. 5. OrganizaţiaNaţiunilor Unite militează pentru colaborarea între popoare. 6. Călătoreauziua. 7. E professor bun? 8. Vă declar soţ şi soţie. 9. Aseară a avut loc opremieră la Operă. 10. Tare aş vrea să am un tablou de Baba. 11. În drum sprecasă, domnul Ionescu, preşedintele Asociaţiei apicultorilor, va face o escală laOtopeni. 12. Creangă s-a născut la Humuleşti. 13. Nu scrieţi cu stiloul, scrieţicu cerneală. 14. Meseria de olar nu este o raritate în România. 15. N sunt înmăsură să vă spun dacă metodele au fost introduse pe scară largă. 16. Îlconsiderăm sportive bun. 17. De regulă li se spune oamenilor să vizitezeGaleria Tate şi Muzeul Britanic. 18. Dacă va fi numit director, o să încurajezetinerii specialişti. 19. Am sa îţi spun altă dată, acum mă grăbesc. 20. E timpulsă pui capăt acestei situaţii ridicole.

REFERENCESBerry, Roger, 1993. English Guides, Articles, Harper-Collins Publishers,

BirminghamBerry, Roger, Page V, Collins/Cobuild, 1993. Articles, The University of

BirminghamBroughton, G. 1990. The Penguin English Grammar A-Z for Advanced



Omegapress, BucureştiJespersen, O. 1965. Essentials of English Grammar. London, George Allen &

Unwin Ltd.

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Leech, G. and Svartik, I. 1994. A Communicative Grammar of English,London, Longman House

Leviţchi, Leon, 1971. Gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti, Ed. Didactică şiPedagogică

Leviţchi, Leon, 1970. Limba engleză contemporană - Morfologia, Bucureşti,Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică

Leviţchi, Leon. 1968, 1993. Sinonime în gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti,Ed. Ştiinţifică

Murphy, R., 1992. English in use, ELODNedelcu, C., 2004, English Grammar, Craiova, Editura UniversitariaPalmer F., 1971. Grammar, Penguin BooksQuirk, R.S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartik 1976. A Grammar of



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CHAPTER 3 THE ADJECTIVE

Unităţi de învăţare :• The form of the adjective• The functions of adjectives: attributive and predicative• The degrees of comparison

Obiectivele temei:• înţelegerea modurilor de formare a adjectivelor prin afixare şi

compunere• cunoaşterea conceptului de categorie gramaticală a adjectivului.

Diferenţe între limba română şi engleză• însuşirea funcţiilor pe care le poate avea adjectivul în limba engleză• înţelegerea modului de formare a gradelor de comparaţie


The adjective is the part of speech that, just like the noun can be definedfrom the point of view of the 3 criteria (semantic, morphological andsyntactic).

a) From semantic point of view, the adjective denotes some characteristicof an object.

b) From the morphological point of view, the adjective has thegrammatical category of comparison.

c) From the syntactic point of view, the adjective has the syntacticfunction of an attribute, predicative, apposition, complement (inRomanian we call it ‘nume predicativ suplimentar’) in the sentence.

3.1. The form of the adjective1) Apart from those adjectives that have no specific endings (small,

long), some adjectives expressing qualities have several specific endings /suffixes. Those are derived from other parts of speech by means, meaning thatthey can be identified by these suffixes.Derivational suffixes:-ful: useful, handful-ly: friendly, lovely, deadly-ish: childish, greenish-ible/able: valuable, credible-ous: famous, courageous-less: careless, useless-y: rainy, dirty-some: tiresome, troublesome

2) Conversion: The analytical system of Modern English makes itpossible not only for adjectives, but for any part of speech, or even wordcombinations that convey a quality or feature to be used as an attribute in pre-position (before a noun).

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a) nouns: the great bulk of relative adjectives is supplied by converted nounse.g. a brick house – denominal adjective

When a noun (house) is used as adjective before another noun it isalways used in singular, even if its meaning is plurale.g. a horse race - a race of horses.

There are some exceptions: some nouns in –s (sports, customs, clothes)as well as some sg nouns ending in –ics (athletics, economics) are used asadjectives without any change.e.g. a sports car, a clothes shop, a mathematics teacher

They have to be used in the plural become these words have meaningthat are different from the adjectives that end in –ic.Compare: Some converted nouns have corresponding adjectives ending in –enor –y. In each synonymic pair, the converted noun denotes the material a thingis made of while the proper adjective ending in -en/-y has a qualitativemeaning, especially a figurative one.

b)Verbs: the verbal forms used are participle (present or past participle)

(i). The present participle (v-ing form)e.g. an amazing success, a surprising attitude, the coming year, singingbirds.Such -ing forms can be used into Relative/Attribute Clauses:e.g. a success that amazed everyone

(ii). The Past Participle (v-ed forms)e.g. a tired expression, a broken window, the results obtained

A few past participles take the –en suffixes when are used asadjectives, but they take the –ed or the suffix when are used with a verbalfunction (to form perfective tenses: present/past/perfect)The verbs that have two past participle are:e.g. Sink-sunk-sunken; melt-melted/molten

Drink-drunk-drunken; shrink-shrunk-/enswell-swelled-swollen; shave-shaved-shaved

e.g. The storm has sunk the ship - sunken eyesFor a few others, there is no difference between adjectives and the

verbal participle in spelling but there is in pronunciation: in adjectives thesuffix –ed is pronounced [id]e.g. a learned man/I have learned this poem; also an aged women

c) Compound adjectives - are very frequent in contemporary English. Themost frequent patterns in which they occur are:(i). Adj + Past Participle:e.g. hard-boiled egg

(ii). N + Adj.: Most of them are derived from implicit or explicit Relativeclausese.g. ice-cold water - water which are as cold as ice

world-famous sportsman - a sportsman who are famous all over

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(iii). N + Past Participle/Present Participlee.g. a hand-made object - an object which is made by hand

a peace-loving person - a person who love peace

(iv). Numeral + N: The noun in the compound often occurs in the singularform even it is preceded by numerals higher than one:e.g. five pounds - a five pound note; six-pence - a six-penny note

a three-week trip - a trip which lasts three weeks

(v). Adv + Past Participle:e.g. well-bred person, well-meant remark

(vi). Adj + N + -ed: the construction occurs with:- parts of the body: e.g. thin-faced, grey-haired; blue-eyed- also figuratively: e.g. cool-headed; broad-minded- pieces of clothing: e.g. long-sleeved, white-collared- miscellaneous: e.g. thick-leavel, long-shaped

(vii). Adv + Adj.e.g. evergreen plants, wide-open window

(viii). Verb + Noune.g. a telltale signal

(ix). Verb + Verbe.g. a would-be champion

(x). Verb + Adve.g. a runaway criminal

(xi). N + Ne.g. a sound-proof room

(xii). Prepositional groups:e.g. an out-of-the-way an out-of-the-date theory, a do-it-yourself kit; astay-at-home-wife

Enumerate at least 5 ways of forming adjectives (simple andcompound)

3.2. The functions of the adjectivesTwo factors are generally considered to be characteristics of

adjectives: their function and the grammatical category of comparison.

I. The functions of adjectives. The most frequent are attribute orpredicative function in the sentence.

(i). The attributive function

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The adjective discharges the functions of an attribute when it is placedbefore or sometimes immediately after the noun to which it refers.

a) Adjectives in English are usually placed in front of the noun whichthey modify or determine. This position is so relevant for adjective that anyword or group of words placed in the position has the function of an attribute.

When a noun is preceded by 2 or more adjectives, the question of theirrelative position rises. The adjectives in attributive position come in thefollowing order (although no normal nominal group- NP- is likely to have arepresentative in each column):

b) Another position in English is immediately after the noun1. This position belongs chiefly to the literary style.e.g. Once upon a midnight dreary

2. It is also found in some set-phrases of French and Latin origine.g. secretary general, court martial, poet laureate, time immemorial

3. If the adjective is expended (modified, qualified) by a word or phrase;e.g. It was an ugly house - it was a house ugly with decay

a clever boy - a boy clever at games

4. If the adjective is part of an expression of measurement (weight, age)e.g. a wall six feet high, ten years old, two miles long

5. Adjectives ending in -able, -ible are placed after the noun (if this ispreceded by a superlative or by only)e.g. He was driving at the greatest speed possible.

6. After indefinite pronouns ending in -thing/-body/-one.e.g. She brought some thing nice.

He said nothing interesting.

7. A few adjectives are found in both positions with a difference in meaning;e.g. present, proper;

The present membersAfter the introduction we started the meaning proper (itself).

Proper follows the noun when it means itself /themselves; before the noun itmeans real, genuine.

(ii). The predicative functionWhen an adjective is connected with a noun by means of a link verb it

has a predicative function. Some verbs require adjectives instead of adverbs.These verbs are:

- verbs of seeming: to seem, to appear- verbs of becoming: to become- verbs of continuing: to go on, to continue- verbs of physical perception: to feel, to hear, to smell, to tasteWords like nervous, good, perfect do not show how the action is

fulfilled, but how the subject is, having the function of an adjective, not that ofan adverb. The same verbs can be accompanied by adverbs which show ushow the action is fulfilled;

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e.g. She taste the food slowly.He sounded the bell furiously.

Predicative adjectives with complementationWhen used in the predicative function some adjectives can be followed by:a) a prepositional phrase in 2 patterns:- Preposition + NPe.g. I was angry to him/at the delay.

- Preposition + V-inge.g. I was angry at seeing such a great disorder.

b) an infinitival phrase. Some adjectives such as glad, happy, pleased, sory,difficult, hard, certain, likely.e.g. I was very glad to see him.

She is certain to be in.

c) a clausee.g. I was glad that you came.

(iii). Adjectives used attributively and predicativelyIn most cases, an adjective can be used both attributively and predicatively.e.g. This is a good book – the book is good.

However, some adjectives can only occur in one of these 2 positions.

a) Adjectives used only attributively- adjectives ending in -en, derived from nouns (denominal adjective)e.g. a wooden box, a woollen dress.

- adjectives denoting materiale.g. a stone box

These adjectives can’t be used in predicative position.e.g. *The box is wooden.

The corresponding concept is expressed predicatevely by OF + Noune.g. The box is made of wood.

The adjectives in -en only when used figuratively can be used bothattributive and predicative.e.g. Her face turned ashen at the news.

- the adjectives : joint, live, mere, sheer, little, latee.g. sheer luck. We can not say: *Her luck was sheer.

- adjectives referring to time (ending in -ly or converted from nouns)e.g. a daily /morning newspaper

- adjectives ending in -ie (-el) derived from nounse.g. atomic energy, a chemical plant, a lyric poet

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- adjectives denoting cardinal pointse.g. Romania lies in Eastern Europe.

- the adjectives which are past-participlese.g. drunken-man, sunken-eye

- a few adjectives in -er that are not longer recognized as comparatives:former, innere.g. the former manager. We can not say *The manager is former.

b) Adjectives used only predicatively- adjectives derived by means of the prefix -a

When used attributively, some of the above mentioned adjectives are replacedby a synonym.e.g. She is afraid of mice./The frightened child.

He is alone in the house./ A solitary man.

Some of these adjectives may be used attributively when they are preceded byan adverbs.e.g. fully awake person, a very ashamed child

- the adjectives: content, drunk, poorly, ready, well, worthe.g. I am feeling quite content.

c) Adjectives which can be used in both positions: attributively andpredicatively , but with a difference in meaning- glad: is used mainly in a predicative positione.g. I am glad to hear you can come

Attributively, the corresponding concept is expressed by happye.g. She has a happy life.

In attributive position, glad occurs chiefly in phrases: glad news (joyful, togive sb the glad eye)- ill: is used mainly in a predicative positione.g. He has been ill.

It occurs in an attributive position in certain phrases with the meaning of“bad”, “evil”e.g. ill-fame, ill-luck, ill-temper, to have an ill effect on the mind

- sorry: is used chiefly in a predicative positione.g. I fell sorry for you.

Where is used attributively , it means “sad”, “pitiful”, “worthless”e.g. a sorry sight, a sorry excuse

- sick: used attributively means “awful”e.g. a sick man (with his meaning in American English sick is common inpredicative position).

Used predicatively sick means “suffering from nausea”, “vomiting”.

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What are the functions of the adjective?Give at least 5 examples of adjectives whosemeaning changes when used attributively /predicatively.

3.3. The degrees of comparisonComparison refers to the forms assumed by an adjective to show that a

quality may exist in various degrees with two objects or with one and the sameobject at various moments. Comparison applies to all those adjectives whichrefer to values on a scale, to adjectives that are gradable. On the whole,qualitative adjectives of all kinds form degrees of comparison.

Some adjectives can not be compared. Some of them are superlativeintrinsically, expressing a quality in its highest degree even in their basic form:excellent, perfect, superb, extreme, exceptional, exquisite. Some of them aresuperlative etymologically:e.g. maximum, optimum, or comparatives: superior, inferior, major, minor;

others refer to material:e.g. wooden, woollen;

or adjectivized nouns:e.g. iron, glass;

and therefore the possibility for grading them is not normally preceded.A further category is that of adjectives of a rather general nature,

hardly conceivable in comparison with other elements:e.g. chemical, alternative

Like in Romanian, there are three degrees of comparison: positive,comparative and superlative.I. The Positive degreeIt is the basic form of the adjective, it does not imply a comparison withanother quality.II. The Comparative degreeIt expresses the comparison between 2 or more objects enjoying the samequality or between the quality of the same object.III. The Superlative degreeIt shows quality of an object is in the higher degree.

3.3.1. Formation of the degrees of comparisonThere are 2 regular ways of making the category of comparison, and an

irregular one.a) the synthetic (inflectional) comparison: the comparative and superlative areformed by adding the suffix -er or -est to the positive form of the adjective.This type of comparison is used with:- monosyllabic (one-syllable) adjectives;e.g. short/er/est

- some disyllabic (two-syllable) adjectives ending in -y/-ow/-le/-er

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e.g. happy/happier/est; narrow/er/estsimple/er/est; clever/er/est

Exceptions: proper, hostile, fragile, eager take the analyticalcomparison. The suffix -most is found as the superlative sign in a number ofwords, most of which indicate locality, space, position, some are formed withthe comparative: inner most, upper most- other with the positive degree of the adjective or adverb: kindmost, foremost,- others again to nouns: rearmost, his innermost thoughts (wide, furthest)

b) the analytic (periphrastic) comparison: the comparative and superlative areformed by means of the adverb more and the most with:- polysyllabic adjectives;e.g. interesting/more/the most interesting

- adjectives derived from present or past participlee.g. boring/more/the most boring

valued/more/the most valued

- certain adjectives commonly found only in predicative case, such as afraid,alive, alone.

Some monosyllabic adjectives, such as: calm, cross, fit, fond, frank,grave, prompt, right, and some disyllabic adjectives, such as common, eager,pleasant, precise, sincere display both patterns of comparison.

When the comparative expresses a comparison of two qualities in thesame person or thing, the analytic form is commonly used:e.g. She is more kind than intelligent

c) The irregular comparisonThe irregularly compared adjectives are those adjectives whose forms

for comparison are irregular. Some irregularities in the comparative andsuperlative forms are due to the fact that they come from different bases.- good-better-the beste.g. His marks are good, but they were better, last. Men of few words are

the best men.- bad/worse/the worst- little-less/lesser-the least

Little has two meanings.(i). having the meaning of the qualitative adjective “small” used withcountable nouns, little is not normally compared. The possible comparative isyounger, the superlative the youngest.e.g. John is a little boy. He is Mary’s youngest son.

(ii). having the meaning of a quantifier determiner used with material andabstract nouns (uncountable nouns), little has the comparative less, thesuperlative the least.e.g. He gives us a little trouble.

Less money is needed now.

A differentiation has taken place between less and lesser to that less toquality and it is attached to uncountable nouns while lesser refers to value or

46

importance and it is attached to countable nouns. Lesser is more literary and itis used only attributively.e.g He has less time than I have.

Choose the lesser of two evils; to a lesser degree.

- much-many/more/the moste.g. He has much money. His father has more. Their grandfather has themost.

We have many books, but our school library has even more.

Some other adjectives have the comparative and superlative formed bycontraction, vowel change and epesithesis. These adjectives have doubleforms in the comparative and superlative:- far/farther-further/the farthest-the furthest

The forms farther- the farthest are used with reference to distance in space.e.g. The village was farther than we had expected.

Pluto is he fathest planet.

The forms further- the furthest can be used with reference to distancein space.e.g. The isle is a mile further on, but these forms have acquired another

meaning as well: “addition”, “besides”, .e.g I need no further bibliography for my paper.

The forms of superlative the farthermost and the furthermost expressan even higher degree than the corresponding forms farther, furthest, meaning“the most distant”.e.g. Scientific expeditions are studying the furthermost ends of theAntarctic.

- near/nearer/the nearest- nextThe nearest refers to distance, space, “closest” while next refers to time, order,succession, “immediately following”.e.g. The nearest house is 3 miles away.

Next time you see your parents remember me to them.

- late/later-latter/the latest/lastLate and later /the latest are used with the basic meaning of timee.g. Today the evening train is later than usual.

The latest means “the most recent”, “the last up to now”e.g. This is the latest fashion.Latter and last are used with reference to order, sequence. Latter is used:

(i). in the sense of “the second”.e.g. The latter half of January was cold.

(ii). in contrast to former, meaning “the second”.e.g. The Whigs and the Torries are names of political parties in England:

the former is no longer used today, but the latter is still common.

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Last is used as the apposite of “first”.e.g. I spent my last money yesterday.

He was the last person to call.

- old/older-elder/the oldest/the eldestThe regular forms older, the oldest are used to denote age and length of

time; they are used with reference to people and things.e.g. When you get a little older, you’ll understand.

This is the oldest monument in our city.

Elder and the eldest are semantically used only with reference topeople. They are chiefly used with reference to persons connected by kinship(members of the same family). Syntactically, they usually occur attributively(before a noun).e.g. His elder sister is 10 years older than he is.

I have 3 elder brothers.

Elder and the eldest may be used predicatively if they are preceded bya determiner (definite articles, possessive adjectives) .e.g. Here are my children: this is the eldest.

Elder and the eldest are also used when we speak of people higher inrank or of authorities; elder is frequently substantivized.e.g. He is the eldest and most respected member of the collectivity.

The experience of our leaders is of great help to us.

Comparison of compound adjectivesCompound adjectives form the degree of comparison in two ways, dependingon the fusion of the elements.(i). when the first element is an adjective that presents its meaning, this ischanged in the comparative and superlative.e.g. well known/ better known/ the best known

intelligent boy/ more intelligent boy/ the most intelligent boy

(ii). when the two elements make up a whole from the point of view ofmeaning, the comparison is achieved by means of more and the most.e.g. heart broken/ more heart broken/ the most heart broken

The Uses of the ComparativeI. The comparative degreea) Comparison of equalityQuality is expresses by means of an adjective in the positive degree placedbetween the conjunction as … as.e.g. He is as tall as his father.

A great number of idioms are based on comparatives of equality(though the idea of superlative is implied): similarities: as black as pitch, asbusy as a bee, as sweet as honey, sometimes the first conjuction as whichprecedes the adjective may be omitted.e.g. The wall is black as pitch.

b) Comparison of inferiority can be indicated in two ways:

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(i). by means of the adverb less placed before the adjective in the positivedegreee.g. This book is less interesting than that one.Less is generally not used with one-sylalble adjectives.

(ii). by means of the negative form of the comparative of equality not so/as….as is prefered with short adjectives (the construction not as … as is preferedin spoken English).e.g. This book is not so/as interesting as that one.

c) Comparison of superiority is expressed by means of the comparativedegree of the adjective. In constructing a sentence in the comparative ofsuperiority, the basic of comparison can be:- implied by the whole context and then the comparative sentence does notcontain the basic form of the adjectivee.g. the lower classes, the younger generation.

She is much better today.

- made fully explicit, being introduced by means of the conjuction than.e.g. John is more stupid than Bob (is).

He is older than I am.

The pronoun in formal English remains in the nominative case becauseit is still considered to be the subject of the verb, even if the verb is notexpressed; however, in informal English, the pronoun is often into theAccusative Case: than me. When the pronoun is used with a verb, only subjectpronouns are possible.e.g. Lucy made more mistakes than I did.

After a few comparisons taken from Latin: superior, inferior, exterior,posterior, junior, senior, the conjunction than is replaced by the preposition to.e.g. Our team is superior to yours.

When only two things or persons are being compared, the comparative(instead of the superlative) is preceded by the definite article.e.g. His two sons look the same age: which is the older?

I like Betty and Harry, but I think Betty’s the nicer of the two.The comparative of superiority occurs in same special constructions.

(i). gradual increase or continuing change is expressed by two comparatives,joined by means of the conjunction and in the case of monosyllabic adjectivesby repeating the comparative form of the respective adjective, and in the caseof polysyllabic adjectives by repeating more and more.e.g. The house is bigger and bigger.

More and more people are buying cars.

(ii). the emphatic, intensifying force can also be rendered by certain words,used before the comparative such as: much, by far, ever, still, a great deal, notat all.e.g. This book is much better than that one.

Anne is cleverer by far than her brother.It would be a great deal better for us to go there now.Henry is nice, but his brother is even nicer.

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(iii). prepositional or parallel increase is expressed by the comparativepreceded by the in correlation with a similar comparative: The + Adj incomparative form + Subject + Verb +the +Adjective in comparative + Subject+ Verb. The pattern expresses that the degree of one quality or characteristic isdependent upon the degree of another.e.g. The older he gets, the wiser he is.

The better you behave, the more popular you will become.

The verb to be may be absent from the 2 sentences.e.g. The harder the task, the greater satisfaction.

The more hurry, the less speed.

b) The superlative degreeIt shows a quality in its highest degree in comparison with other

objects. It is expressed by means of the superlative degree of the adjective.e.g. The adjective in the superlative is usually preceded by the definitearticle the. The head (the qualified noun) is usually followed by aprepositional phrase (usually introduced by in, sometimes by of) or by aRelative clause.e.g. He is the happiest men in the world.

Roses are the most beautiful of flowers.Of is possible after a superlative without a noun phrase.

(i). The Relative SuperlativeThe definite article in front of the Relative Superlative is sometimes

omitted when the thing spoken of is not compared, but regarded as possessinga certain quality in a very high degree. In other words, it is equivalent toAbsolute Superlative.e.g. The sky was palest blue.

The Relative Superlative may be intensified by very, much, far.e.g. He is much the most imaginative of them all.

The organization was by far the most powerful.This is the very good book.

The Relative Superlative may also be intensified by means ofadjectives such as imaginable, possible, placed after the determiner noun.e.g. I hope you’ll have the finest weather possible.

I have read the worst novel imaginable.

(ii). The Absolute SuperlativeIt shows a quality in its highest degree without a comparison with other

objects. It is usually formed by means of the adverb very placed before theadjective in the positive degree.e.g. I have read a very nice/interesting book.

Numerous adjectives derived from past participles used predicativelyform their Absolute Superlative by means of much or very much. They cannotbe preceded by very alone. Other adverbs that can be used are: greatly, quiteparticularly, deeply.e.g. The financial situation seems to be (very) much improved.

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We are (very) much obliged to you/greatly obliged.I was very much surprised to hear it.

When used attributively, adjectives derived from part participle canform the Absolute Superlative with very, but not all of these adjectives can.e.g. He is a very celebrated actor /a well-known writer.

There was a very surprised look on his face.

Very is not often used with some of the adjectives in predicativeposition beginning with a; thus, instead of very awake we say widely awake,instead of very alone we say very much alone/all alone/very lonely.

Other means of expressing the Absolute Superlative:There are some other adverbs which can fulfill the same function as

very, but implying shades of meaning or stylistic changes they are moreemphatic than very.- the most + the adjective in the positive degree: the most used without anyarticle or with the indefinite article is synonymous with very (it is astrengthened very).e.g. She is most beautiful (means that she is extremely beautiful, and not

that she is more beautiful than all).Everybody was most kind to me.

- much/far + too + the adjective in the positive degreee.g. It is far too difficult.- too is also commonly used (especially in American English) as a synonymof very negative sentences.e.g. I don’t feel too good.

- we can also achieve an intensifying effect by using the adverbs: extremely,mightily, highly, quite remarkable, awfully, terribly, frightfully, dreadfully,utterly + the adjective in the positive degreee.g. His activity is highly satisfactory.

It is awfully kind to you.That’s terribly nice to Ann.I am dreadfully sorry.

- quite + an ungradable adjective which are intrinsically superlativeexpresses the idea of completeness, i.e. full, wrong, right, sure, certain or witha strong adjective such as: perfect, amazing, extraordinary.e.g. You’re quite wrong.

It is quite extraordinary.I can’t understand it al all.

We can also achieve an intensifying effect by repeating attributive adjectivesor degree intensifiers:e.g. an old, old man = a very old man

It is very, very good = extremely good.

State the differences between the regular andirregular comparison of adjectives.Give at least 5 examples of means of expressing theAbsolute Superlative.

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3.4. Exercises:1. Form adjectives from the following nouns:

accident, winter, faith, grace, influence, economy, autumn, occasion, poison,sympathy, comfort, expression, fire, man, charity, method, hero, danger,custom, affection, skill, ocean, suspicion, melody, volcano, fear, person, boy,nature, mania.

2. Put the adjectives in brackets into the correct form:1. Bucharest is (far) from Madrid than from Paris. 2. Geroge is (tall) boy in theclass. 3. Your homework is (bad) than hers. 4. These books are not(expensive) as the other ones. 5. His car is (good) than mine. 6. You have as(many) pencils as me. 7. Peter is (clever) boy in school. 8. Books are … and… nowadays (expensive). 9. She was kind and gave me (far) information. 10.My (old) sister works in one of the (old) schools in town. 11. Lucy and Peterare in theie room: the (fore) is reading, the (late) is watching TV. 12.Yersterday’s weather was (bad) than today’s.

3. Translate into English:1. Am admirat peisajele pitoreşti. 2. Cred că a fost bine intenţionat, dar elimpede ca bună ziua că nu a reuşit să găsească cele mai bune soluţii. 3.Călătoriile în spaţiul cosmic devin din ce în ce mai frecvente. 4. Fiul meu estecu trei ani mai mare decât el. 5. Ultimele ştiri sunt încurajatoare. 6. Acesteaspecte ale problemei sunt mai puţin interesante decât cele precedente. 7. Ţieîţi e şi mai frică decât lor că preţurile or sa devină mai mari. 8. Uitându-mă lacei doi copii, nu îmi vine să cred că primul este la fel de mare ca şi al doilea. 9.Cu cât îmbătrânim, cu atât devenim mai înţelepţi. 10. M-am oprit la poştă şi i-am trimis fostului meu profesor o carte poştală. 11. Era foarte mulţumită căputea să îi ajute pe cei săraci. 12. Erau destui oameni care îl puteau ajuta. 13.Au intrat în clasă doi câte doi. 14. Noi mergem la munte o dată la douăsăptămâni.


UniversităţiiBantaş, A. 1996. Descriptive English Syntax, Iaşi, Institutul EuropeanBroughton, G. 1990. The Penguin English Grammar A-Z for Advanced


CUPGruia, George, 2002. A Concise English Grammar, Ed. Grupus, CraiovaJespersen, O. 1965. Essentials of English Grammar. London, George Allen &

Unwin Ltd.Leech, G. and Svartik, I. 1994. A Communicative Grammar of English,



Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică

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Murphy, R., 1992. English in use, ELODNedelcu, C., 2004, English Grammar, Craiova, Editura UniversitariaPalmer F., 1971. Grammar, Penguin BooksPârlog H., 1982. More on the Superlatives. AUT, XX, pp. 85-88Quirk, R.S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartik 1976. A Grammar of



53

CHAPTER 4 THE NUMERAL

Unităţi de învăţare• Definition of numerals• Classification of numerals

Obiectivele temei• înţelegerea părţii de vorbire a numeralului• formarea capacităţii de a identifica diferitele tipuri de numerale


4.1. DefinitionThe numeral is a word that denotes an abstract number or the abstract

numerical order of objects; it can be a noun, an adjective or a pronoun.

The questions they answer are: how many?; how much?; which?Irrespective of their morphological status, numerals are invariable:

e.g. Ten multiplied by two is twenty. (noun)Ten books are on the desk. (adjective)The first has been the fastest. (pronoun)

4.2. The Classification of numerals:Numerals can be classified according to various criteria:

(i). according to the form:a. simple: one, two, twentyb. compound: sixty fivec. by derivation: thirteen, fourteen and all the ordinal numerals

(ii). according to content:a. cardinal numeralsb. ordinal numeralsc. fractional numeralsd. multiplicative numeralse. distributive numeralsf. adverbial numerals of recurrence

ii.a. Cardinal numerals show the number of objects:one, two, ten, three thousand, seven hundred, two million, four billion

Notes:- numerals hundred, thousand, million, billion do not get a plural suffix whenused with numbers:e.g. 3,000 = three thousand, 4,000,000 = 4 million

However, when we use them to show an indefinite number, they can be usedin plural:e.g. There are thousands and thousands of people on the streets.

There are ten of millions of people in the library.

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- use and before the tens:e.g. 1,124 = one thousand, one hundred and twenty-four

- a comma (,) is used instead of a full stop to separate millions from hundredsof thousands, thousands from hundreds:e.g. 3,125,879

- use a full stop instead of a comma in decimal fractions:e.g. 5.7

- years are read as follows: the first two figures together and the last twotogether:e.g. 1984 = nineteen eighty-four

- the cardinal numeral is also used instead of the ordinal numeral to show thenumber of a house, bus, flat, chapter, section, volume:e.g. chapter 2, flat eleven

- telephone numbers can be read in several ways. They are usually read figureby figure if the figures are different:e.g. 45.25. 35 = forty-five twenty-five thirty-five

If the figures are identical we can use the word double:e.g. 45.22.35 = forty-five double two thirty-five

- the figure zero is used in the following ways:- zero is used to express temperatures, in mathematics- oh is used when reading long numbers- nil is used to express scores in games- love is used to express scores in tennis

- telling the time: the traditional way of telling the time uses prepositions (pastand to) and cardinal numerals for hours and minutes, e.g. it is twenty to five.There is a newer form that has been imposed by international use (flights,trains tec) and which consists of the juxtaposition of two cardinal numbers, thefirst telling the hour and the second telling the minutes, e.g. four twenty (a.m.or p.m.).

ii.b. Ordinal numeralsWhen we want to identify or indicate something by indicating where it comesin a series or sequence, the ordinal numbers are used. They are formed withthe help of the suffix–th added to their equivalents, except the first three numbers which haveirregular forms, and the compound numbers with which only the last figuregets in ordinal form:e.g. the first the second

the third the fourththe fifth etc.

Except the first three ordinal numerals whose form is different, theothers are formed from the cardinal numeral, and all are preceded by the.

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Uses:telling the date: the date may be written in various ways, but it is read as

follows: the + the numeral + of + name of the month and then the year,e.g. June, 4th , 2000 = the fourth of June, two thousand etc.

to show regular intervals, e.g. every third week = o dată la trei săptămâni,twice every second week etc.

ii.c. Fractional numeralsThey express:- common fractions: 2/3 = two thirds; ¼ =one fourth; 4/6 = four sixths; ½

half; 3 ½ = three and a half etc.- decimal fractions: special attention should be paid to the fact that instead

of comma in the European system, a full stop/a period is used in theAnglo-Saxon system, e.g. 5.6; 3.56; 2.8765; 1.2 etc.

ii.d. Multiplicative numeralsShow how many times a quantity or number increasese.g. adjectival use: double - dublu

threefold - întreitfourfold - împătrit

The form is an ordinal numeral + –fold.adverbial use: twice - dublu, îndoit, de două ori

three times, threefold - întreit, de trei orifour times, fourfold - împătrit, de patru oria hundred times - de o sută de ori

ii.e. Distributive numeralsThese numerals show the distribution and grouping of objects: e.g. (one) by one - (unul) câte unul

by twos - câte doiby threes - câte trei

ii.f. Adverbial numeral of recurrenceShows how many times an action is repeated or how many times a quantity ornumber is larger/smaller than another quantity or numbere.g. once - o dată

twice, two times - de două orithree times, thrice - de trei orifour times - de patru orionce and a half - o dată şi jumătatethree times a year - de trei ori pe anmany times - de multe ori

Give at least 5 examples of the differentnumerals mentioned in the unit above.(cardinal, ordinal, etc)

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4.3. Exercises:1. Answer the following questions using the figures given in brackets. Writethe years in letters:1. When did Marconi invent the radio? (1895)2. When was the White House built? (1792)3. When was Australia discovered? (1616)4. When was the typewriter invented? (1829)5. When was the Eiffel Tower built? (1889)6. When were the mountains on the moon discovered? (1609)7. When did Elisabeth II become Queen of England? (1952)8. When was Shakespeare born? (1564)

2. Answer the questions:1. When is the first school-day? 2. When is your birthday? 3. When isChristmas? 4. When is your national holiday? 5. When is the last school-day?6. When is the last day of the year? 7. When is your mother’s birthday? 8.What’s the date today? 9. What’s the date tomorrow? 10. When was Eminescuborn?

3. Translate into English:1. Copiii au intrat în şcoală doi câte doi. 2. Am citit sute de pagini în ultimelesăptămâni. 3. Tocmai am cumpărat două duzini de chibrituri. 4. Cred cămaşina are mai mult de o sută de km. pe oră. 5. Biletul tău de clasa a doua estepentru data de 22 iulie. 6. Un sfert din locuitorii acestui orăşel lucrează înmină. 7. Numai după ce am citit problema de trei ori am înţeles-o. 8. Nuducem la teatru din două în două săptămâni. 9. După strângerea recoltei, anulacesta, ţăranii speră să obţină un câştig întreit. 10. Am întâlnit-o o dată sau dedouă ori, dar nu am discutat cu ea niciodată. 11. Regele Richard III a fost unuldintre mai sângeroşi regi din istoria Angliei. 12. Capitlolul IX mi s-a părut maiinteresant decât capitolul V. 13. Care este răspunsul tău la cea de-a douăzeceaîntrebare? 14. Nouă ori doi fac optsprezece. 15. Trenul va sosi în jurul orei14.20. 16. Invenţia lui a adus un profit înzecit fabricii la care lucrează. 17. Treicincimi plus o cincime fac patru cincimi.





Omegapress, BucureştiGruia, George, 2002. A Concise English Grammar, Ed. Grupus, CraiovaJespersen, O. 1965. Essentials of English Grammar. London, George Allen &

Unwin Ltd.

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Leech, G. and Svartik, I. 1994. A Communicative Grammar of English,London, Longman House

Leviţchi, Leon, 1971. Gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti, Ed. Didactică şiPedagogică

Leviţchi, Leon, 1970. Limba engleză contemporană - Morfologia, Bucureşti,Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică

Nedelcu, C., 2004, English Grammar, Craiova, Editura UniversitariaPalmer F., 1971. Grammar, Penguin BooksQuirk, R.S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartik 1976. A Grammar of



58

CHAPTER 5THE PRONOUN

Unităţi de învăţare• Definition of pronouns• Classification of numerals

Obiectivele temei:• Înţelegerea categoriei de pronume. Diferenţe faţă de adjectivele

pronominale• Folosirea corectă a diferitelor tipuri de pronume.


5.1. The definition of pronounsFor practical reasons adjectives and pronouns of the same kind will be

considered together; the main difference between an adjective and a pronounof the same kind lies in the fact that the adjective goes with the noun/nounequivalent while the corresponding pronoun expresses the same thing and alsoreplaces the noun/noun equivalent, e.g. a demonstrative adjective is a wordthat determines a noun/noun equivalent while a demonstrative pronounexpresses the same meaning as the demonstrative adjective, but unlike thelatter it also replaces the noun/noun equivalent: this book is mine (adjective),this is mine (pronoun).

Adjectives Pronouns

1. Demonstrative Demonstrative2. Indefinite + negative Indefinite + negative3. Possessive Possessive4. Interrogative Interrogative5. Relative whose Relative6. Adverbial ------------7. ------------ Personal8. ------------ Reflexive/emphatic9. ------------ Reciprocal

5.2. The Classification of pronouns5.2.1. Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns

Demonstrative adjectives Pronounsthis/these this/thesethat/those that/thosethe same the sameanother anotherthe other the other(s)other otherssuch such

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This/these, that/those used as adjectives, agree in number with thenouns/noun equivalents they determine and are the only adjectives to do so,e.g. This book is quite interesting.

These children are my nephews.That exhibition closed a month ago.Those pencils are not mine.

When used as pronouns the idea of number is still there, referringeither to one object or to more than one (= plural),e.g. This is my book and that is Ann's.

Those were not here yesterday.These are longer than those (ones).

Those can be followed by a defining/restrictive relative clause (atributivăpropriu-zisă).e.g. Those who were caught in the fire suffered serious wounds.

This/That can replace a previously mentioned noun/phrase or clause, e.g.

e.g. The are cleaning the house. They do this every Saturday.

When there is some idea of comparison or selection, the pronounone/ones is often placed after this/these, that/those, but it is not essentialexcept when these demonstratives are followed by an adjective,e.g. This chair is too low. I'll sit on that (one).

I like this (one) best.but I like this blue one/these blue ones.

In the last example one/ones cannot be left out.

The same can be used with all kinds of nouns, countable or mass, singular orplural when it is used as an adjective.

e.g. The same person(s) I met yesterday gave me the same advice.

As a pronoun the same can represent a previously mentioned noun, phrase orany longer unite.g. The same was said about his parents.

The same here can stand for a word, a sentence or a whole story.

Another is singular in meaning and as an adjective takes a singular noun whileas a pronoun it replaces a singular countable noun,e.g. Give me another book, I don't like this (one).

Another is sometimes opposed to one.e.g. One says “yes”, another says “no”.

Other (an adjective) can take plural countable nouns.e.g. She does not know what to say, other things are important now.

Don't show yourself, other people may come soon.

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The other as an adjective takes singular or plural countable nouns.e.g. One man came yesterday, while the other person has just arrived.

The other(s) as a pronoun can replace any countable noun in the singular or inthe plural.e.g. One said “yes”, the other said “no”.

Such (an adjective and a pronoun) “can be a determiner referring back tosomething that has already been mentioned”; it can take a plural or replace aplural noun,e.g. Such beautiful flowers are very expensive.

Such was the problems they have to solve.

In the singular such is used with the indefinite article:e.g. She is such a nice girl!

Give examples of demonstrativepronouns.

5.2.2. Indefinite and negative adjectives and pronounsMost of them are both adjectives and pronouns and the meaning is the

same in either form, therefore the explanation will be one.

Adjectives Pronouns a) numerical

several severalmany/more/most many/more/most(a) few (a) feweach eachevery/all - /allboth botheither eitherneither neither

b) numerical and quantitativesome someany anyno nonelots of a lotenough enough

c) quantitative(a) little (a) littlemuch/more/most much/more/most

d) only pronounssome/any/no + body/thing/one;the same as above + else

a) numericalSeveral, which can be used as an adjective as well as a pronoun, is notfollowed by ones, unless there is a qualitative adjective after it.

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e.g. Several persons told me the same thing.There are several new ones on the table.

Many/more/most – more and most can be used quite freely, and so can manywith negative verbs.e.g. He didn’t buy many books.

He gets a lot of books, but she doesn't get many.The students made more spelling errors than we expected.

Most people are not familiar with these notions. But many withaffirmative and interrogative verbs has a restricted use, i.e. many is possiblewith affirmative verbs when preceded by a good/a great, or when modified byso/as/too and verye.g. I saw a good many beautiful houses there.

When not modified, many is usually replaced by a lot/lots of (+noun) or by alot/lots (pronouns).e.g. I saw a lot/lots of important people at the meeting.

I expect you saw a lot, too.

Compare the following: He hasn't won many races; but you've won alot/lots of races or You've won a lot/a great many races. The same restrictionsof use are applied to much/more/most, i.e. the quantitative indefinite adjectiveand pronoun that is mentioned under c) above. Examples:

We don't have much coffee.They drink too much.

but He spends a lot/lots of/a great deal of money on hishouse.

compare withHe didn't eat much fruit.She ate a lot/lots of/a great deal of fruit.

or She ate a lot/a great deal.

Little and few (adjectives and pronouns) denote scarcity or lack and havealmost the force of a negativee.g. There was little coffee left.

Little has been said about this urgent matter.Few people knew about his tragedy.

This use of little and few is mainly confined to written English,probably because in conversation little and few might easily be confused witha little and a few. In conversation, therefore, little and few are normallyreplaced by hardly any or a negative verb + much/manye.g. We saw little = We saw hardly anything/We didn't see much;

Tourists come here but few stay overnight = Tourists come here buthardly any stay overnight.

But little and few can be used more freely when they are qualified byso/very/too/extremely/comparatively/relatively etc.e.g. I would like to visit Kenya, a country I know so little about.

They have too many technicians, we have too few.

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There are fewer people living in this building.

Only placed before a few means a small number in the speaker's opinione.g. Only a few students like mathematics.

But quite placed before a few increases the number considerablye.g. I have quite a few books on English morphology. (=quite a lot ofbooks).

A little/little can be adverbs mainly used with verbs:e.g. They talked a little about their holiday abroad.

and with negative adjectives or adverbs:e.g. a little anxious, a little annoyed, a little tired etc.

and with comparative adjectives and adverbs:e.g. The cake should be a little sweeter.

Can’t you drive a little faster?

All /each/every – all means a number of people or things considered as agroup, while each/every means a number of people or things consideredindividually.

“Each is an adjective and a pronoun while every is an adjective only;each can be used of two or more persons or things, and is normally used ofsmall numbers; every is not normally used of small numbers, e.g. Every manhad a weapon = All the men had weapons; Each man had a weapon = thespeaker went to each man in turn and checked that he had a weapon”(Thomson and Martinet 1997: 64).

Each can be followed by of + these/those/nouns/pronouns in the accusativee.g. each of these/the boys/them/us.

Each can be associated with the personal pronoune.g. They each understood the problem.

All as a pronoun can be followed by of + the…/this/these/that/those/possessives/proper nouns in the possessive casee.g. all of the students were there; all of his life he has only…; all of these

were bought…; all of Tom’s boys were…

The preposition of can be omitted in the examples above, but it cannot be leftout in the construction all+ of + personal pronoune.g. all of it; all of us etc.

All of it was broken.All of us were upset.All of them left.

If, for some reason, the preposition of must be left out, all follows the noune.g. I want it all.

They wanted us all.The manager dismissed us all.

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Both (an adjective and a pronoun) means ‘one and the other’ and takesa plural verb, e.g. Both (doors) were open.

Both (parents) agreed with their son’s teacher.

A personal pronoun in the nominative/accusative + both is also possiblee.g. We both knew him or Both of us knew him.

They called us both or They called both of us.

When one of these pronoun + all/both combinations is the subject of acompound tense the auxiliary verb usually precedes all/bothe.g. We are all waiting. and not *We all are waiting.

You must both help me.

Either/neither are both adjectives and pronouns. Either means ‘any one of thetwo’ and takes a singular verbe.g. I have two oranges; you can take either (of them).

Either of you go and buy some bread.

Either + a negative verb can be replaced by neither + a positive verbe.g. I haven’t read either of these (books) = I have read neither of these(books).

When neither is the subject of a verb it cannot be replaced by either + anegative verbe.g. Neither of them knew the way is possible.

Neither means ‘not one and not the other of the two’. It takes a singularverb and can sometimes replace either + a negative verb, except when it is thesubject of a construction (see above).Either/neither can take a prepositional phrase: of + the/these/personalpronoun/possessivese.g. I tried both keys but neither of them worked.

Neither of them knew the way.Neither elevator was working.

Personal pronouns and possessive adjectives associated witheither/neither (singular adjectives or pronouns) used of people shouldtechnically be he/him, she/her, and his/her, but in colloquial English the pluralforms of the personal adjectives or pronouns are generally usede.g. Neither of them were working, were they?

Neither of them had brought their passports, hadn’t they?

Either …..or/ neither……. nor are double conjunctionse.g. Neither her sisters nor her brothers understood him.

They wanted to go either to France or to England.

The double conjunctions must connect identical parts of speech or identicalconstructions (two nouns, two pronouns, two verbal forms etc)

b) Numerical and quantitative adjectives and pronouns

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Some and any are used mainly with plural countable nouns and mass nouns(nişte), e.g. There are some people at the door.

There is some time left.

SOME:Some is used in affirmative structures (=an affirmative verb) while any ismainly used in interrogative and negative structurese.g. Are there any students there?

There aren’t any books on that table.

Some is also used• with singular countable nounse.g. He’s living at some place in Africa.

I’ve read that story in some book or other.

• with singular countable nouns, with a deprecating meaning orimplying the fact that the person or object is unknown to the speakere.g. The little girl was drawing some flower.

There’s some man in the hall.

In spoken English the intonation is enough to make the difference; inwritten English, however, the larger context does the same.

• with singular countable nouns, stressed, in familiar Englishdenoting appreciatione.g. This is some dress!

• with plural countable nouns to contrast with other + noun/otherse.g. Some people learn languages quickly (while others don’t).

Some people like their coffee hot (other people like their coffee cold).

• with countable or mass nouns to mean ‘a considerablequantity/number’ (it is always stressed)e.g. I will be away for some time (fairly long time).

The railway station is at some distance (quite a long way).

• in interrogative constructions in form but which are actuallyinvitations or requestse.g. Will you have some coffee?

Would you buy me some bread?

• in interrogative constructions when they refer to a part of the wholeor of a quantitye.g. Could I take some apples, please?

Do you have some change about you?

• in interrogative sentences if the question does not refer to some(Leviţchi), e.g. Why are there so many people in here?

It is true that some people hate watching TV.

As pronouns some and any follow the same rules as those mentioned abovee.g. Did you buy any stamps? Yes, I bought some/No I did not buy any.

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ANY:As already mentioned, any is used with countable or mass nouns mainly innegative and interrogative constructions, as an equivalent of somee.g. I haven’t seen any books on the table.

There isn’t any coffee left.

Any is also used:

• with hardly/barely/scarcely (which are almost negative)e.g. I have hardly any spare time;

She has hardly any food left.

• with without when without any means with noe.g. She can learn almost any foreign language without any difficulty.

He is able to swim across the lake without any visible effort/with noeffort.

• after if and whether and in expressions of doubte.g. If you need any help, just let me know.

I suppose there isn’t any student in the classroom.

• in affirmative sentencese.g. Any woman can wear Armani’s dresses.

Can I choose a book? Yes, you can have any.

No (an adjective) and none (a pronoun) can be used with an affirmative verb toexpress a negative (as an alternative to any + a negative verb); it can be usedwith countable or mass nounse.g. I have no apples = I don’t have any apples;

I had some last year, but I have none this year.No changes were made in this department.

A lot of/a lot (see above)Enough – is both an adjective and a pronoun on the one hand, and an adverbon the other. As an adjective enough precedes the noun/noun equivalent itdeterminese.g. She has enough money to buy whatever she wants to.

You have enough time to get to the party.

As an adverb enough follows the adjective/adverb/verb it modifiese.g. She is smart enough to become a doctor.

They worked enough.

c) Quantitative adjectives and pronounsFor practical reasons quantitative adjectives and pronouns have been dealtwith in parallel with other adjectives and adverbs, so, see sections for little andmuch/more/most.

d) Pronouns: some, any and no combine with body, thing and one, theresulting compounds being pronouns. These compounds are: somebody,something, someone, anybody, anything, anyone; nobody, nothing, no

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one; as compounds of some, any and no they follow the rules for some, anyand no (see under some, any and no)e.g. Someone called me on the street.

I don’t want to go anywhere.Anyone can tell the truth.

These pronouns can be used in the possessive case.e.g. It is nobody’s business.

Someone’s passport has been stolen;Is this anyone’s seat?I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

These pronouns have a singular meaning and take a singular verb, sopersonal pronouns and possessive adjectives should logically be he/him,she/her etc. However, plural forms are more common:e.g. Has anyone left their luggage on the train?

No one saw Tom go out, didn’t they?

Else can be placed after the pronouns mentioned above as well as aftereveryone, everybody, everything (pronouns also) and after the adverbssomewhere, anywhere, nowhere, everywhere, e.g. somebody else, anybodyelse, somewhere else etc.e.g. I’m afraid I can’t help you; you’ll have to ask someone else.

There isn’t anyone else to ask.

somewhere else etc. - forms can be used in the possessive casee.g. By mistake, I took someone else’s coat;

Was anyone else’s luggage opened?

Give 10 examples of indefinite adjectives andpronouns.

Exercises1. Suply each, every or all:

1. Wages differ with … job. 2. Write down … item you buy and … penny youspend for a week. 3. … women go in for jewels. 4. One of the effects of highereducation should be to develop in … student a greater sense of responsibility.5. … member union sends delegates to the conference. 6. … warmth issentimental. 7. It is not easy to find the right job … time. 8. … man has somesecret in his life. 9. I enjoyed … minute of it. 10. … leaves had fallen.

2. Fill in the blanks with some, any or no:1. … person or other has spotted us. 2. I’ll see you … day next week. 3. …morning sun lasts a whole day. 4. She is forbidden to do … washing. 5. Comeat … time you like. 6. He might make it ambassador to … remote country. 7.… two men are alike. 8. She is … friend of mine. 9. Can you give me …lunch? 10. I have … hesitation in saying that it was worth it. 11. I don’t owe… man a penny. 12. Let’s have … beer and cakes. 13. I’ll abandon … claim.14. Did he have … excuse? 15. That’s a town of … importance.

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3. Supply some, (a) little (a) few, much, many:1. As she was still hungry, she asked for … more ham and eggs. 2. Last year Ispent New Year’s Eve at the seaside; there were … people on the beach. 3.Are there … lions at the Zoo? 4. Did you have … difficulties in translating thistext? 5. The tea is too sour, you have too … lemon in it. 6. There are … lettersfor you today. 7. There are … fine shops on this street. 8. His lectures provide… opportunity for discussion. 9. … of my knowledge was dated. 10. There’svery … accommodation near the colleges.

4. Complete these sentences with (a) little, (a) little of the, (a) few/(a)few of the, much of the, many/ much of the:1. There is too … flour left for the pancakes. 2. He has looked over … letters.3. There are still … people waiting for the doctor. 4. Tractors now do … workformerly done by the farmers. 5. People usually have … money left by the endof the holiday. 6. Mrs. Kean has planted … rose-bushes I have sent her. 7. Ithink we are going to break our journey and stay … days in Paris. 8. May Ihave … jam, please? 9. There were … unoccupied seats when he arrived. 10.… people I stopped had heard of Half Moon Lane.

5.2.3. Possessive adjectives and pronounsForm: Person Adjectives Pronouns I my mine II your yours III his his

her hers its ----

I pl. our ours II pl. your yours III pl. their theirs

Possessive adjectives and pronouns in English have only one form whichrefers to the possessor and not to the thing(s) possessed, and do not agree innumber, gender or case with the object(s) possessede.g. This is my car and the red one is yours.

If you need a car you can use mine.

Own can be used after possessive adjectives to emphasize the idea ofpossessione.g. He couldn’t trust his own friends;

She didn’t want to see me, her own mother!

Parts of one’s body, pieces of clothing or personal belongings are mostfrequently preceded by a possessive adjectivee.g. Put on your coat !

Where are my glasses?He won’t lend me his car!

Give examples of possessivepronouns in sentences of yourown.

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Exercises1. Fill in the blanks with the necessary possessive determinative or the

definite article:1. I was struck with the expression of … face. 2. The waist of the coat wasbelow … hips.3.The dog bit him in … leg. 4. I could not hide … curiosity asto … origin, … life. 5. He struck me on … head. 6. I could hear teeth grindingin … jaws and … faces were so pale that I grew alarmed for … leves. 7. Shekissed the baby on … head.

2. Translate intro English:1. Casa era a lui acum, dar înainte fusese a surorii lui. 2. Cu toate că îşi doriseca toate cărţile să le fie date elevilor lui, sora lui a decisă să le păstreze pentruea. 3. Fratele şi sora soţului meu sunt plecaţi din ţară. 4. A noastră e mai nouădecât a voastră. 5. Credeam că tot ce era a lor era mult mai mult.

5.2.4. Interrogative adjectives and pronounsFor persons: Nominative case: who (pronoun), dative/accusative cases:

whom/who (pronoun), of which whom is the technically correct one, but whois used, especially in spoken English; possessive case: whose (adjective andpronoun); what can also be used for persons and its form is invariable.For things: what (adjective and pronoun) has an invariable form.For persons and things when the choice is restricted: which has an invariableform.

Who, whose, which, what, when used as subjects are usually followed by anaffirmative verbe.g. Who told you this?

Whose words are these?What went wrong?

But with who, whose etc. + be + noun or personal/distributive pronoun, aninterrogative verb is usede.g. Who is he? Whose is that?

What is that noise?

What can also be used in other constructionse.g.- what + action + for? meaning why?e.g. What did you do that for? = Why did you do that? or

What did you go there for?= Why did you go there?

- what + be…..+ like? is a request for description or comment(animate/inanimate)e.g. What was your trip like? (possible answer: It was too long and difficult

to enjoy)What was the weather like? (possible answer: It was cold and windy)What is your friend like? (possible answer: He is nice and friendly)

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- what + do/does/did + they/he/she/it + look like? is a request for descriptiononly e.g. What does she look like? (possible answer: She is tall andslender)

What does it/the car look like? (possible answer: It is brand new and asquick as one could imagine).

- what + be + you/he/she/they? is a question eliciting an answer about one’sprofessione.g. What are you? (possible answer: I am a teacher).

- what (and how) are used in questions about age and measurements, i.e.depth/height/length/width, although in conversation it would be more usual tosay how old/deep/high/ tall/long/wide?

Formal English ConversationWhat age are you? What is your age? How old are you?What height is she? What is his height? How tall is he?What is the weight of the parcel? How heavy is it?

Ever can be placed after who/what (as well as after the adverbs where,why, when, how) although it is not necessary; when added, it emphasizes thespeaker’s surprise/astonishment/anger/irritation/dismay. It has the samemeaning as on earth/in the world and it is not politee.g. Who ever are you? (it expresses the speaker’s irritation, the other person

is probably an intruder);Who ever told you about it? =Who on earth told you about it?

Who ever and what ever (two words) are different from whoever(pronoun only) or whatever (pronoun and adjective); whoever means “theone who”, “he/she who” (whoever, whichever and whatever are relativeadjectives/pronouns, but it seems logical to mention them here as well)e.g. Whoever gains the most points wins the competition.

In order to emphasize the importance of a request or command whatever youdo is often placed before or after ite.g. Whatever you do, don’t mention my name.

Give examples of interrogative adjectivesand pronouns

5.2.5. Adverbial adjectivesThey are hundreds of words that begin in a- that is usually attached to

nouns, adjectives or verbs, e.g. aback, abask, abeam, ablaze, abloom, ablush,aboard, abreast, acock, adrift, afar, afield, afloat, afoot, afore, afresh, agape,agaze, aghast, aglow, agog, aground, ahead, ajar etc.

These words are neither pure adjectives nor pure adverbs since they partlyshow the state of an object and partly its characteristic at a given moment; theyare classed as adjectives, however, because of the following reasons:

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1. ’state’ being a transient quality of something, the general meaning of thesewords falls under the heading of qualitative adjectives;

2. they are morphologically non-flexional; some may combine with moreand the most, e.g. more afraid, more alive etc.;

3. syntactically they combine with other parts of speech, like any otherqualitative adjectives: with adverbs, e.g. he was painfully alive to the greatuniversal things (Jack London); with prepositional combinations, e.g. Hewalked away under a sky of clear steel-blue, alive with stars (Galsworthy);

4. They combine with infinitives, e.g. He is afraid to come back;5. they are usually predicativese.g. They are asleep.

The door was ajar.

Give at least 5 examples of adverbialpronouns in sentences of your own.

5.2.6. Relative pronounsRelative pronouns introduce relative clauses which can be a)

defining/ restrictive relative clauses or b) non-defining/non-restrictiverelative clauses;

a) Defining relative clauses describe the preceding noun in such a way asto distinguish it from the other nouns of the same class. A clause of thiskind is essential to the clear understanding of the noune.g. The man who came yesterday refused to give me his name.The part in parentheses is the relative clause; if we omit it, it is not clear whatman we are talking about.

Relative pronouns used in defining/restrictive relative clauses: for things: N. who/that, D. and Acc. Who(m)/that, G. whose; for things: N., D., Acc. which/that, G. whose/of which

Examples:- for persons, nominative: The man who robbed you has been arrested:

that is a possible alternative after all, everyone, everybody, no one,nobody and those; if in doubt, use who, e.g. Everyone who/that knew himliked him;

- for persons, accusative: the pronoun changes from the formally correct,whom, to the more usual one, who, then to that or it is left out altogether,e.g. The man whom/who/that/-----I saw told me to come back yesterday;

- for persons, genitive: People whose rents have been raised can appeal;

- for things, nominative: This is the picture which/that caused such asensation; that is a possible alternative to which, but when in doubt, usewhich;

- for things, accusative: the pronoun changes from which to that or is leftout completely, e.g. The car which/that/----- I hired broke down;

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- for things, genitive: A house whose walls were made of glass cost afortune;

A defining/restrictive relative clause can be replaced by an infinitive or aparticiple

b) Non-defining/non-restrictive relative clauses are placed after nouns thatare definite already, so they do not define the noun, but merely addsomething to it by giving some more information about it; unlike definingrelative clauses, they are not essential in the sentence and can be omittedwithout causing confusion; the pronouns, however, can never be omitted asthey play an important role in the subordinate clause. This construction isfairly formal and more common in written than in spoken English.

Relative pronouns in non-defining relative clauses: for persons: N. who, D., Acc. who(m), G. whose for things: N.,D., Acc. which, G. whose, of which

Examples:

- for persons, nominative: My friend, who doesn’t like fishing at all, wentfishing yesterday;

- for persons, accusative: Peter, who(m) everyone suspected, turned out tobe innocent; --for persons, genitive: Ann, whose children are at schooltoday, is trying to get a job;

- for objects, nominative: That block, which cost $2 million to build, hasbeen empty for years;

- for objects, accusative: These books, which you can get at any bookshop,will give you all the information you need;

- for objects, genitive: This house, whose windows were all broken, was adepressive sight.

Which can also modify a whole main clause or a longer unit that was reportedbeforee.g. Apart from his talent, he was tall and handsome, which made the jury

select him for the main part in the movie.or ……(a longer unit), which left him poor and broke.

Both in defining and non-defining relative clauses the preposition, ifthere is one, should be kept after the verb it belongs to. The preposition mayprecede the relative pronoun sometimes, but this construction is rather formaland is never used in spoken English, although it may appear in written form:so, it is more usual to say The man I was travelling with was from SanFrancisco than The man with whom I was travelling was from S.F, in whichthe preposition precedes the relative pronoun; the same is true for all instancesof relative pronouns associated with prepositions.

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The importance of commas in relative clausesA defining relative clause is written without commas, while a non-definingrelative one is always put between commas, or comes after a comma, at theend of the sentence. The presence of commas is very important as the meaningchanges when commas are insertede.g. The students who wanted to go on a trip were disappointed when it

started to rain (=not all were disappointed, only those who wanted to goon a trip) andThe students, who wanted to go on a trip, were disappointed (all wantedto go on a trip and all were disappointed).

Give examples of relative pronouns insentences of your own.

5.2.7. Personal pronounsPronouns are words which replace nouns; the personal pronoun has

an anaphoric function, i.e. they replace nouns previously mentioned ornotions the interlocutor(s) is/are already informed about.

The personal pronoun has number (singular and plural), gender (masculineand feminine, and the inanimate it), and case (nominative, anddative/accusative):For the position of the pronoun objects see under noun, the category of thecase.

Synonyms of personal pronouns:- myself can stand for Ie.g. John and myself went on foot.

or after as/than/bute.g. No person has ever been more intolerably tortured than myself.

- we is sometimes used instead of you in the following cases:- when talking down (doctor to patient)

e.g. How are we feeling today?- when talking to children

e.g. Are we hungry?

The pronoun It has been explained under noun, the category of gender; it hasother functions as well:- Demonstrative IT- very much like the demonstrative adjective, when thepronoun could be replaced by a demonstrativee.g. Who is it?

It’s all right.

- Impersonal IT- used with time, weather, distance etc.e.g. It is late.

What time is it?It is 10 miles’ distance away.

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- Introductory-anticipatory IT - it introduces the sentence and anticipatesthe logical subject/object, being itself a formal grammatical subject or object;it also introduces passive constructions (for other introductory functions seeunder adjective of quality), e.g. It is easy to learn English.

It is clear that he won’t do it.- Introductory-emphatic IT- sometimes the speaker feels that it is not strongenough to use only the subject and the predicate, he feels the need toemphasize the subject, e.g. The doctor prescribed the medicine (=Doctorul mi-a prescris medicamentul) is not convincing enough, so the speaker says: Itis/was the doctor who prescribes/prescribed the medicine (=Doctorul e celcare mi-a prescris medicamentul); or It was only yesterday that I found out thetruth; It was the teacher who told me what to do etc.

- An emphatic-predicate IT- when it refers to person/thing/situation which isfinal or ultimate, e.g. This is it! That’s it!

- An empty-meaningless IT- because of the compulsory presence of asubject, e.g. It is Monday; It is raining etc, very much like b), theimpersonal IT.

Make sentences using the different formsof IT.

5.2.8. Reflexive and emphatic pronounsThe form of the reflexive pronoun is the same as the emphatic pronoun,

the two can be distinguished in use.Person/Number Reflexive/Emphatic/Emphasizing pronoun

I singular myselfII singular yourselfIII singular himself herself itselfI plural ourselvesII plural yourselvesIII plural themselves

The indefinite reflexive/emphasizing pronoun is oneself.1) as reflexive pronouns they are used as objects of a verb when the action ofthe verb returns to the doer, i.e. when the subject and the object are the sameperson; the word order is: subject + verb + reflexive pronoune.g. I cut myself. He can’t shave himself.

Reflexive pronouns can be used after verb + prepositione.g. He spoke to himself.

Look after yourself!

The preposition by preceding any of these pronouns changes their meaning toalone, not accompanied or without helpe.g. He was sitting there by himself =he was sitting there alone.

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I did it by myself =I did it without any help.

2) as emphatic pronouns, they have a different place, i.e. subject + emphaticpronoun + verb + object OR subject +verb + object + emphatic pronoune.g. Ann herself opened the door =Ann opened the door herself.

The king himself gave her the medal.

Give examples of reflexive andemphatic pronouns.

5.2.9. Reciprocal pronounsThey are one another and each other; both can be used for two or

more, but each other is preferred when there are no more than twoe.g. Tom and Ann looked at each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can be used in the genitivee.g. The boys whispered in each other’s ears.

It was a general fight, people tearing each other’s clothes.

In contemporary usage each other is frequently preferred over oneanother, even when there are more than two people present.

State the difference between each otherand one another. Give examples.

Translate into English:1. Nu e nici un pic de lapte în casă. 2. Unele cărţi sunt chiar ieftine. 3. Aţi fostobligaţi să închideţi vreun pavilion? 4. Orice colecţie se poate mândri cu acesttablou. 5. A părăsit conferinţa fără nici un motiv. 6. Nu ştiu dacă vreunul dinmusafirii noştri s-a odihnit puţin înainte de masă. 7. Jocul lui nu are nici oîncărcătură emoţională. 8. Nu vrei să te serveşti şi cu prăjitură? 9. Mă îndoiesccă a luat vreo pastilă. 10. Nu mi întâmplă niciodată să trec pe lângă o florăriefără să cumpăr flori. 11. Plouă prea tare ca să plantăm floarea în dimineaţaasta. 12. Toţi banii sunt în monede fără valoare. 13. Amândoi copiii sunt foartepoliticoşi. 14. Fiecare dintre cei trei şoferi este vinovat. 15. Majoritateatimpului se poartă cu mine de parcă aş fi sora lui mai mică. 16. Câteva ziare audat ştirea. 17. Nu prea sunt speranţe să se facă bine. 18. Noi exportăm ocincime din producţia noastră. 19. Nu-i aşa că ţi-am dat bani şi ieri? 20.Fiecare membru al expediţiei s-a odihnit puţin înainte de plecare.

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London, Longman HouseLeviţchi, Leon, 1970. Limba engleză contemporană - Morfologia, Bucureşti,

Ed. Didactică şi PedagogicăLeviţchi, Leon. 1968, 1993. Sinonime în gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti,

Ed. ŞtiinţificăMurphy, R., 1992. English in use, ELODNedelcu, C., 2004, English Grammar, Craiova, Editura UniversitariaPalmer F., 1971. Grammar, Penguin BooksQuirk, R.S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartik 1976. A Grammar of



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FINAL EXERCISES

I. Fill in the blanks with the corresponding articles:It was raining hard, but when I went to get….umbrella, I found that outof….umbrellas, we have at….home, there was no one I could use. I decided totake all…umbrellas to….umbrella-maker.So I took them, left them at….umbrellas-maker’s, saying I would callfor…umbrellas on my…way home in….evening.When I went to dinein….afternoon, it was still raining very hard.

II. Translate into English:1. L-ai cunoscut pe profesorul de engleză al surorii mele?2. Blana de pisică e moale.3. Trebuie să mă tund la coafor.4. Deşi fratele meu este mai în vârstă cu trei ani pare mult mai tânăr.5. Ia-o pe poteca mai îngustă.6. E de departe cel mai bun elev din clasă.7. El e ultimul, dar nu cel din urmă.8. Se simşea din ce în ce mai rău.9. Este adevărat că romanul acesta recent publicat este ultimul dumneavoastrăroman?10. Am nevoie şi de alte amănunte pentru a trage o concluzie.

III. Fill in the balnks with the appropriate pronoun:1. Almost…might have those.2. …will you take, milk or cream?3. I don’t know ….fault it is.4. The boy…you see there is our teacher’s son.5. They were afraid of….6. There is a simple explanation, but it isn’t the onlt…I can give.7. There is…milk in the fridge; I can’t make the cake.8. If you have…to do, at least do not disturb me.9. He tried to save her in spite of…10. Each of them seem to find…’s silence restful.

IV. Use the words in capitals to complete the blanks with the suitable forms:1. The… of your papers took me a long time. CORRECT2. Time and space are….. LIMIT3. I am… about the value of his suggestions. DOUBT4. The witness gave …..opinions about the accident. CONTRADICT5. The… of his actionsis questionable. MORAL6. The police had to make a…entry. FORCE7. This jewel of yours is…you should keep it in a safe. PRICE8. She bases her statement on a false…. SUPPOSE9. This novel is….for his work. REPRESENT10. The….of the task took his several months. ACCOMPLISH

V. Correct the mistakes:1. The man whom I said would be waiting for you had just left.2. The most of the people there were strangers.3. They have agreed to cooperate on numerous matters of mutually interest.4. There was little flour left and she made some pancakes.

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5. Who won the race: Fred or Larry? The second.6. The two friends kept writing to one another all through the holidays.7. The cattle was taken to market.8. A reliable friend should be a honest person.9. As lon you support me, I feel more slef-confident.10. The audience is asked to take its seats.

VI. Translate into English:

Ştefan întinse braşul ca să îl acopere mai bine cu pătura. Antim se suci brusc,apucând cu ambele mâini servieta. “D-ta erai?” întrebă el speriat. Şi îl privicercetător, cu bănuială. Ştefan îi zâmbi şi se ghemui sub pătură. Se simţeaaproape îngheţat. Ar fi vrut să adoarmă din nou şi închise ochii. Dar îiredeschise imediat şi întoarse capul. Antim nu se culcase, îi urmărea atentmişcările. Ochii li se întâlniră o clipă. Stânjenit, Ştefan se întoarse cu faţa laperete.

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REFERENCES

Bantaş, A. 1978. English and Contrastive Studies, Bucureşti, TipografiaUniversităţii

Bantaş, A. 1996. Descriptive English Syntax, Iaşi, Institutul EuropeanBerry, Roger, 1993. English Guides, Articles, Harper-Collins Publishers,

BirminghamBerry, Roger, Page V, Collins/Cobuild, 1993. Articles, The University of

BirminghamBroughton, G. 1990. The Penguin English Grammar A-Z for Advanced







Ed. Didactică şi PedagogicăLeviţchi, Leon. 1968, 1993. Sinonime în gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti,

Ed. ŞtiinţificăMurphy, R., 1992. English in use, ELODNedelcu, C., 2004, English Grammar, Craiova, Editura UniversitariaPalmer F., 1971. Grammar, Penguin BooksPârlog H., 1982. More on the Superlatives. AUT, XX, pp. 85-88Pârlog H., 1995. The English Noun Phrase, Timişoara, Hestia Publishing

HouseQuirk, R.S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartik 1976. A Grammar of



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