tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61781434368176488902024-03-13T02:26:42.907-07:00Prof .Rajappan's English LessonsWORLDWIDE ENGLISH CLASSROOM DEDICATED TO IMPROVING YOUR ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGLISHProf.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-71539077265328460122018-09-01T23:14:00.004-07:002018-09-03T23:01:33.646-07:00HOW ENGLISH BECAME AN APHONETI ((NON-PHONETIC) LANGUAGE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
English spelling is th<span style="color: blue;">e despair of many a foreign learner of English. This is because English is an aphonetic language. In other words there is no one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds they represent.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Old English that is English spoken at the time of King Alfred was a fairly phonetic language. But the Norman Conquest of 1066 marked a turning point in the history of English language. English language was never to be the same again!French replaced Anglo-Saxon words and several Old English words were spelt in the French way! The influence of French is unparalled in the history of any language.Except for a few basic constructions and basic vocabulary English seems like French even at the micro level. The influence of French on English is wider and deeper than acknowledged by historians of English language It would be no exaggeration to say tha<b>t English is French differently pronounced</b>!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">During its transition from Middle English to Modern English words changed their pronunciation, but the spelling has remained the same That is the reason for English being an aphonetic language </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">THANKINGYOU</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">tPFOF V.P.RAJAPPAN</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> AN APPEAL</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">As you know Kerala state was recently devastated by a catastrophic flood . Hundreds of people were killed in the flood and the homesteads of many were washed away.The victims of the flood have to build their lives from the scratch. The government is engaged in the Herculean task of re-building </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> a ravaged state </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">I request my readers to make your contribution to the Chief Minster's Distress Relief Fund PLEASE visit Kerala government's website for guidance in the matter </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">PROF V.P.RAJAPPAN</span><br />
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-14050083961390497282016-10-17T23:29:00.002-07:002016-10-19T02:06:30.204-07:00What is vowel reduction in English speech? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #351c75;">English s<span style="color: blue;">peech in made up of 44 phonemes , of which 12 are pure vowels and 8 are diphthongs . In the word <i>pin</i> the letter i represents a pure vowel and in the word <i>fine </i>the same letter i represents a diphthong . What is a diphthong? It is a combination of two vowel sounds In the word fine i is a combination of two vowels - a+i . </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;">The most frequently heard vowel sound in English speech is the central vowel . You may hear this vowel sound as the initial sound in the word -<i>a.bout </i>. Why is it called the central vowel ? It occupies the central position in the vowel chart . It lies midway between back vowels and front vowels and between open vowels and close vowels . </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">English is a stressed language . The various syllables in an English word receive different degrees of stress . Foreigners who are not accustomed to stress will find it difficult to follow English speech on account of the stress .There is no stress in French such as in English . Foreign learners of French often find it difficult to follow French speech for other reasons . In French words seem to agglutinate . so to speak . and the learners of French will experience considerable difficulty in following french speech . What I mean to say is that each language presents its own difficultis to the non- native learners . </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">According to the principle of<b> vowel reduction</b> all vowels , whether they are pure vowels or diphthongs, are reduced to the<b> central vowel</b> if there is no stress on the syllables involving .the vowel .</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Vowel reduction is the most salient feature of English speech . and this causes a lot of difficulties to the foreign learners of English .Thus in the word<i> tortoise</i> the second syllable - toise carries the diphthong<i> oi </i>, but as there is no stress it is pronounced as the central vowel . </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Thanking you </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"> PROF . V.P.RAJAPPAN </span></div>
Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-46176307200365148962016-10-09T23:21:00.003-07:002016-10-10T01:57:08.988-07:00how did the past tense of verb go become went ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: blue;">In English past tense of wea</span>k ve<span style="color: blue;">rbs is formed by adding -ed to the base -form of the verb and through a process called vowel-change in the case of strong verbs . Students of English are unable to understand how the past tense of the verb <i>go</i> became<i> went . </i>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">The evolution of a language is influenced by the changing speech -rhythm of the native speakers of the language . A language drops certain words and takes a fancy to other words in accordance with this general trend . The Old English word <b>wendan</b> (go) had the past tense form <i>went </i>and English preferred this word as the past tense of go . . This happened during the Middle English period and it has continued to our day! </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">The old word wendan continues as <i>wen</i>d in present -day English in such expressions as <i>to wend one's way . </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Thanking you </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">PROF.V.P.RAJAPPAN </span></div>
Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-5747409191038107112016-09-29T00:25:00.000-07:002016-09-29T00:25:08.253-07:00Why is First Person Singular I always written with a Capital Letter in English ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We may wonder why first person singular is always written with a capital letter in English unlike other important languages like French or German Some people believed that it showed the Englishman's love of self-assertion and self glorification ! But the great savant Otto Jespersen strongly disagrees with this view and he considers it as little short of calumny! . According to him this practice of using capital letter is simply an orthographic habit .<br />
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In Anglo-Saxon<b> ic </b>was the spelling of first person singular . During the 13 th century <b>c</b> got dropped off and<b> i </b>was left alone. The scribes who copied manuscripts used capital letter lest the small letter i should be easily missed by reader of the manuscripts . Thus the convention of using capital letter for I began in the 13th century which has continued to our day !<br />
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William Caxton introduced printing in England in the 15th century and his use of capital letter for first person singular in his books must have made the practice universal .<br />
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Thanking you ,<br />
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PROF.V.P.RAJAPPAN<br />
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-75157430747979152002016-09-25T00:08:00.001-07:002016-09-25T03:23:30.715-07:00Does English have a Future Tense?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>It has been said that English has no future tense</b>. What on earth does it mean? It simply means that English does not have an inflected form of the verb to indicate future tense. In modern languages like French we can see separate forms of verbs to indicate future tense . In French <i>parlerai</i> indicates future tense of the verb <i>parler</i> used with first person singular.There is no such inflection in English for future tense .<br />
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The Anglo-Saxons in their wisdom did not think it necessary to evolve inflected forms to indicate future .After all , future is full of uncertainties and one can look at it in different ways . An inflected form to express such a thing as future seemed untenable to the Anglo-Saxons!Simple present forms of verbs with future time reference were enough to express future . This way of expressing future still continues in English when we express planned future. Example:<span style="color: red;"> The President goes to Britain next year .</span><br />
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It seems that all Germanic people think alike In Modern German,too, simple present is used with future time reference to indicate future tense in the informal style . Modern English has only a made-up future tense will+base form of the main verb . In German ,too,future is expressed with the help of the auxiliary<b> <i>werden </i></b>followed by the infinitive of the main verb . . Look at the following examples<br />
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<b>I will play tennis(English)</b><br />
<b>Ich werde Tennis spielen (German)</b><br />
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This shows that English is basically a Germanic language , though it often seems to shine in borrowed French feathers!<br />
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THANKING YOU<br />
PROF. V.P.RAJAPPAN</div>
Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-80745022799248130802016-09-23T05:21:00.001-07:002016-09-23T05:21:17.777-07:00Why were is used with singular subjects in subjunctive mood ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Question Why do we use w<i>ere</i> with singular subjects in the subjunctive mood?<br />
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Answer The use of<i> were </i>with singularsubjects has puzzled many a foreign learner of English.They may understand the use of past tense was in subjunctive mood because that is the way of the English language !But why were?<br />
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There was a time when two words existed side by side in English - was and were . They were derived from the root word<i> wesan</i> which means<i> to be </i>in Anglo-Saxon.The word<i> was</i> became <i>wer</i>e due to the operation of Verner's Law.<br />
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In course of time<i> were</i> came to be associated with subjunctive mood and <i>was</i> with indicative mood . This practice has survived to our days , at least in formal style!<br />
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In my next blogs I will try to answer some commonly asked questions about the English language. thanking you<br />
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Prof V.P.Rajappan</div>
Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-82622726529302134242013-02-14T00:23:00.002-08:002013-03-22T22:03:42.792-07:00Mystery of the Grammatical Gender <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #20124d;">A student of primitive languages is often baffled when he or she is confronted with the phenomenon of <b>grammatical gender </b>. Why did the ancients ascribe sex to inanimate objects? What made the Anglo-Saxons consider <i>stone </i>as masculine and gift (giefu) as feminine? The purpose of this post is to demystify as far as possible <b>grammatical gender </b>and clarify matters for the benefit of students of primitive and ancient languages .</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;">The practice of using labels like masculine and feminine to designate classes of nouns was started by Panini who wrote<i> Ashtadhyayi </i>2500 years ago . Grammarians since Panini have followed his example, and this has caused a lot of confusion to students . Panini could have used labels like Class<span style="color: black;"> </span>A Nouns and Class B nouns nstead of masculine and feminine . He used the labels masculine and
feminine most probably because . the two lists of nouns were dominated
by nouns with identifiable natural gender Besides, masculine and feminine are the universal criteria of classification . The basis for
classification was , of course, their identical grammatical behaviour ( which may not be noticeable to modern students ) .
You may not fault the ancients with bungling sex anymore! The fault
lies in later grammarians and not the founding fathers of the ancient
languages !</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">How did these nouns which fall under two separate
heads behave in an identical manner ? If you look at the list of Old
English masculine nouns . you won't see anything common which should
make them members of a class . Then how come these disparate nouns
behaved in an identical fashion ? We should credit the ancients with some
reason ! They could not have done anything without valid reason . ,
particularly because they were free from the compulsion of prescriptive
grammar . and prescriptive phonetics . The only compulsion they worked under must have been
<b>clarity and ease of pronunciation .</b> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Why did the primitive people find it expedient to make their nouns terminate in easily articulated vowel sounds like a: , i: and o? Rhyme and rhythm must have fascinated these men in the infancy of their languages . A clue is provided by modern languages like Spanish ( which descended from Latin) and Hindi which descended from Sanskrit, a member of the Indo- European family of languages . </span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;">Look at the following Spanish sentences </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">La puerta está cerrada</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Las puertas están cerradas </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Nobody can read these sentences without being struck by their internal rhyme . This internal rhyme must have ensured greater ease of articulation and better clarity in communication of thoughts . Even a casual listener could get the message right thanks to the internal rhyme . As man's cognitive powers increased his language no longer needed internal rhyme and so it became more and more restricted to the language of poetry . </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"> That <b>grammatical gender</b> makes for
better clarity goes without saying . .As for the ease of pronunciation there is
nothing in the modern survivals of these nouns to suggest that the
nouns belonging to one class made for greater ease of pronunciation than
the other These words have changed so muh from their original forms In some languages like Spanish , Sanskrit and its descendants the change is not so drastic as in the case of English and French . . Besides, Old English and its parent Indo-European had some phonetic
feature or features like voicing, nasalization, aspiration stress etc , which are now lost to us . In short, we do not know for sure how the ancients <i> actually</i> pronounced the words . So we cannot say with any certainty how ease of pronunciation and clarity of expression were achieved in connected speech except in terms of internal rhyme . . We cannot reconstruct the pronunciation of Old English or its ancestor Proto- Germanic with as much certainty as we reconstructed the pronunciation of Elizabethan English . We can only grope in the dark and make intelligent and informed guesses ! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Thank you for visiting</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Prof V.P.Rajappan </span><br />
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-74512098788385536042012-11-20T22:13:00.001-08:002012-12-18T02:28:56.754-08:00Passive Voice and Principle of End-Focus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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English verbs have fixed meanings . Their transitivity or intransitivity is pre-detaermined as a result of this . For example,<i> beat</i> always means <i>to give blows</i> and not <i>to receive blows</i> . In other words , <i>beat</i> is a transitive verb which should have a performer (subject) and a sufferer (object) . In English subject always begins a sentence and object follows the verb . This rigid word-order may sometimes create problems . For example, in a passage about Mahatma Gandhi, sentences are expected to begin with the subject viz. Gandhi . If I were to write a sentence like this in the passage "Godse assassinated Gandhiji on 30 Jan, 1948" , it might sound a bit discordant . But as <i>assassinate</i> is a transitive verb with fixed meaning , I would be forced to begin the sentence with the inappropriate subject .. What is the way out ? The answer is passive construction !</div>
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The English language discovered as long ago as the Anglo-Saxon period that past participle of a verb had the force of an adjective . This led to the emergence of present perfect tense and later to the emergence of several perfect tenses . This characteristic of the past participle was put to excellent use for passive construction towards the end of the Middle English period .</div>
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As the past participle has a dominant adjectival quality ,the object of the transitive verb can be shifted to the subject position ,and the relevant form of <b>be </b>verb made to precede the past participle. . .This is what is happening in the passive construction . The active voice subject can be shown , if necessary, as a prepositional phrase ( by+ agent) at the end of the passive sentence .</div>
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Passive construction gained ground owing to the influence of French during the Middle English period . In French , the past participle behaves exactly like an adjective . It agrees with the subject in number and gender. Hence<i>, be</i> is the regular auxiliary verb before past participle in French in passive construction . English followed the French practice .<br />
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<b>In present-day English, however, passive construction is widely used whenever the subject is not worth mentioning . such as in scientific writing , official documents , law etc There is no need for the past participle to have the quality of an adjective for passive construction in present-day English . . Passive construction is possible even when the past participle has a dominant actional aspect . </b><br />
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The construction get+ past participle did not find favour with English speakers""My car was repainted last year" is better than"My car got repainted last year " , at any rate , in formal English</div>
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Passive construct6ion is preferred when 1) the object is more important than the subject 2 )when the subject is unknown and 3)wnen the subject is too obvious to mention it The subject of an active voice sentence can be retained as a prepositional phrase by+ agent in the passive version . As the agent comes at the end of the sentence , it receives end-focus . T<b>hus passive construction enables us to emphasize the subject of an active sentence by changing it into passive voice .</b></div>
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Examples </div>
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My son painted this picture </div>
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( no emphasis on <i>my son </i>)<br />
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Who painted this picture ? </div>
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This picture was painted by my son </div>
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( focus on <i>my son</i> ) </div>
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N.B Contrastive focus on <i>my son</i> is an alternative way for emphasis . ., but end-focus is generally preferred in English </div>
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Thank you for visiting</div>
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Prof . V.P Rajappan</div>
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-13434803052404156332012-11-20T21:20:00.004-08:002012-11-20T21:20:58.721-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-25821363545659607312012-11-05T02:06:00.001-08:002012-11-24T04:28:02.671-08:00Dative-Shift and Principle of End-Focus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In my previous post I explained the Principle of End-Focus . In this present post I propose to examine <b>Dative- Shift</b> or <b>Dative - Alternation </b>in the light of the Principle of End-Focus . </div>
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What is dative- shift? You know that there are a few verbs which are capable of taking two objects . Such verbs are called ditransitive verbs . The object which is answer to the question <i>what? </i>is the direct object and the object which is answer to the question <i>to whom </i>/ <i>for whom</i> is the indirect object . Look at this example</div>
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I gave her a ring .</div>
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In this sentence<i> a ring</i> is the direct object and <i>her</i> is the indirect object or the personal object . The indirect object always precedes the direct object in this type of construction :</div>
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subject +verb+indirect object+direct object .</div>
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When we view the sentence as an information structure , <i>a ring </i> is the new information and it gets end-focus . <i> Ring</i> is pronounced with tonic accent . Thus <i>ring </i>gets prominence or emphasis by virtue of its final position .</div>
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<b>It follows from this that in a normal English sentence with ditransitive verbs the direct object gets end-focus .</b></div>
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However, it is possible to re-phrase the sentence in such a way that the indirect object moves to the end of the sentence . As the indirect object is still playing the recipient role , it is in the <b>dative case</b> . It is preceded by the preposition <i>to o</i>r for , depending on the verb used .</div>
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1 I bought her a gift.</div>
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I bought a gift<i> for her .</i></div>
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2 She made him tea .</div>
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She made tea <i>for him . </i></div>
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3 I gave her a gift .</div>
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I gave a gift <i>to her </i></div>
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<i>When indirect object is shifted to the end of sentences (as in the examples given above), the focus is on the indirect object as it carries new information . </i></div>
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<i>For whom did you buy a gift? </i></div>
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<i>I bought a gift for <b>her .</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Look at the following examples </b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: #990000;">The whole sentence as new information</span> </b></i></div>
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<i><b>What happened at the party/ </b></i></div>
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<i><b>John gave Jane a gift . </b></i></div>
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<i><b>(Here focus is on </b></i><b>gift</b><i><b> by virtue of its final position)</b></i></div>
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<i><b>To whom did John give the gift? </b></i></div>
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<i><b>John gave the gift </b></i><b>to Jane.</b><i><b> </b></i></div>
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<i><b>Thus it is possible to emphasize the indirect object by placing it at the end of sentences . </b></i></div>
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<i style="color: #990000;"><b>Thank you for visiting!</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Prof .V.P.Rajappan</b></i></div>
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-24731701581009647542012-10-18T23:53:00.002-07:002012-10-19T00:00:34.752-07:00The Principle of End-Focus in English Sentences <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What is the Principle of End-Focus in English sentences? This elusive principle is the despair of most ESL learners of English . Simply put, it denotes the tendency of the English language to reserve to the end of the sentence the most important piece of information . It may sound a bit paradoxical to most ESL learners of English They may wonder how any sentence element can get prominence by being "relegated" to the end ! Last is the least in their way of perceiving things .</div>
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An English sentence conveys a message . A message may comprise an expected or assumed piece of information together with a piece of new information . Surely, the new information should be given some degree of prominence . The best way to ensure this is by putting it to the end of the sentence where the tone-group also ends . The last lexical word in the sentence<span style="color: #20124d;"> </span>which co-extends with the tone-group of the sentence receives the tonic accent .The tonic accent thus highlights the last lexical word . The new information , by being placed at the end of the sentence ,, will receive more prominence than it would in any other position in the sentence .</div>
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Now take a look at the syntax of a typical English sentence :</div>
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As the sentence co-extends withe the tone-group , adverb receives tonic accent . It follows from this that adverb receives prominence in a typical English sentence . as it receives end -focus by virtue of its final position .</div>
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However, the English language has resources which permit it to highlight any sentence element by shifting it to the end where it can receive end- focus . Take thisexample</div>
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There is a temple on top of the hill</div>
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The lexical element <i>hill </i>receive focus by virtue of its final position which coincides with the end of the tone-group . If you wish to highlight t<i>emple</i> you need only to turn around the elements in such a way that <i>temple </i>comes at the end of the sentence .</div>
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What is on top of the hill?</div>
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On top of the hill , there is a temple</div>
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In its new position<i> temple</i> gets end-focus , doesn't it?</div>
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In my next posts I will explain passivization and dative -shift in the light of the Principle of End-Focu.</div>
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Thank you for visiting !</div>
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Prof V.P.Rajappan </div>
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-91255163303620608762012-10-09T03:00:00.001-07:002012-10-11T21:02:35.835-07:00Omission of Auxiliary do in Wh-Questions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The omission of the auxiliary verb<i> do</i> in wh-
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Wh -word + Auxiliary <i>do </i> + subject + main verb++adverbial</div>
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When the wh-word is the object of the verb , <i>do</i> is obligatory .It has been obligatory in Modern English since the 18 th century </div>
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Look at the following sentence:</div>
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You saw <i style="color: #cc0000;">somebody. </i>. </div>
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<i style="color: #cc0000;">Somebody </i>is the object of the verb <i>saw</i>. If we ask a question based on<i> somebody </i>, it would be</div>
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Whom did you see?</div>
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<i>Whom </i>is the object of the verb <i>see</i> and , therefore, <i>did </i>is used as an auxiliary .</div>
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Look at another example :</div>
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You wrote <i style="color: #cc0000;">something </i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Something </span>i</i>s the object of the verb wrote . If we ask a question based on <i>something </i>, it would be </div>
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What did you write ?</div>
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Please remember that the question-words <i>whom , what which </i>and <i>who</i> are interrogative pronouns <b>When they are the subject of the verb, the auxiliary <i>do </i>is not used in questions . </b>Look at this sentence :</div>
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<i style="color: #cc0000;">Somebody</i> called you on the phone ..</div>
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<i style="color: #cc0000;">Somebody</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span>is the subject of the sentence , isn't it ?</div>
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If we ask a question based on <i>somebody </i> it would be </div>
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Who called you on the phone? </div>
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<i>Who</i> is the subject of the verb<i> called </i>and , therefore, <i>do</i> is omitted in the question. </div>
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What frightened you ? </div>
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Here,<i> do</i> is omitted because <i>what </i>is the subject of the verb <i>frightened . </i>Something frightened you and the question is based on <i>something </i>which is the subject of the verb .</div>
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English language omits do- support only when the question word is the
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The question-word itself is the subject , though. in an interrogative form . Subject-operator inversion is an invariable syntactic feature of an English interrogative sentence. But as there is no subject in the body of the question , there is no need to bring in the dummy auxiliary<i> do </i>.for subject-operator inversion . <br />
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Prof . V.P.Rajappan</div>
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-39252452849814343502012-07-19T00:38:00.001-07:002015-02-04T23:27:57.753-08:00Why English doesn't have Future Tense<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It is indeed an intriguing fact that English does not have future tense . The Anglo-Saxons of yore did not bequeath future tense to the English language . While other languages have separate verb-forms to indicate future tense English is left with none !</div>
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We must bear in mind the fact that the early shapers of the English language the Anglo-Saxons , lived in an atmosphere with no constraints like prescriptive grammar . The only thing they cared for as far as their language was concerned was communicative effiency and ease of pronunciation -the two forces that shaped all primitive languages in their infancy . </div>
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If the Anglo-Saxons did not find it necessary to evolve separate verb- forms to indicate future , they must have had reasons to do so . I personally think that the versatility of their present tense verb- form was the reason . This verb-form was capable of being put to diverse applications . It could be used to express actions that occurred in the past , which practice survives today in<i> <b>historical present </b></i>. It could express action in progress .It could express universal truths and habitual actions . Ii could express </div>
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future tense with suitable future time references, a practice that survives , though in a limited way .No woderthe Anglo-Saxons did not see the need for a separate verb-form to express future! </div>
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I wish to conclude this post by expressing the view of the great savant Otto Jespersen that the Anglo-Saxon language (<b>Old English)</b>) had enough internal resources to become a great language in future even if there was no Norman Conquest in 1066!</div>
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Thanking you for visiting </div>
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Prof. V.P.Rafappan</div>
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-86415929985336956802012-05-14T00:43:00.002-07:002012-08-13T03:57:51.472-07:00English Subjunctive Mood--Is the Sun Setting on It ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The term "subjunctive " refers to the form of verb used by a speaker when he says something contrary to fact such as a wish, a possibility, a conjecture, a doubt and so on . Many English learners may not be aware of the existence of `these special verb forms . This is a hang-over from Old English period when subjunctive verb forms were widely used . The AngloSaxons used one set of verb forms for expressing facts and another for expressing wishes , possibilities etc .They even put these forms to creative use as in reported speech when the reporter wanted to distance himself from what he reported.All this changed during the Middle English period . Contact with French semi-auxiliaries led to the emergence of modal auxiliaries in English . The English language refined upon French auxiliaries and put them to several uses . Thus English was no longer in need of special verb forms to express contrary-to -fact situations . The characteristic subjunctive terminations -e and -en dropped out owing to changing stress patterns and thus subjunctive verb forms lost their identity .Scholars like Bradley and Fowler asserted that subjunctive mood would disappear from English sooner or later !</div>
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With the loss of their visual and aural identity and most of their functions being taken over by modal auxiliaries , the English subjunctive mood lost its <i>raison d'être</i> , and it was firmly set on the road to extinction . But the amazing fact is that the subjunctive still survives both in British and American English Let us examine the areas where the subjunctive survives in modern English.</div>
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1 While expressing orders , requests recommendations etc the subjunctive mood , that is , special verb forms as distinct from those in indicative mood , is used in the <i>that</i>-clause in complex sentences .</div>
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Examples:</div>
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a0He demands that everyone <i>obey</i> him</div>
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b) Our teacher recommends that everyone <i>learn </i>French . </div>
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c)I request that she <i>be</i> more kind to the children .</div>
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<b>Note that indicative verb form with -s ending is avoided and this signals subjunctive mood</b></div>
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2 While expressing wishes desires etc subjunctive mood is widely used in English</div>
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a I wish he were my son</div>
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b Would that I were young 1! Note the use of subjunctive verb form <i>were</i> in the place of indicative <i>was</i></div>
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Subjunctive mood is used in set expressions like</div>
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a God save the Queen!</div>
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b God be with nyou!</div>
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c God bless you.</div>
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d So be it .</div>
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e Till death do us part .</div>
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3 In conditional sentences expressing a hypothetical situation subjunctive mood is still used</div>
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a If I were you , I wouldn't do it .</div>
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b If he were rich , she would marry him .</div>
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4 In <b>unreal past </b>(the use of past tense form of verbs for expressing contrary -to- fact situations) the verb form used is really past subjunctive , though it is not distinguishable from past indicative . This is borne out by the use of were( , past subjunctive instead of past indicative <i>was</i> in sentences expressing unreal past .<br />
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If I <i>stole</i> her car , I would be jailed .</div>
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In this sentence stole is really past subjunctive of steal , though it is indistinguishable from past indicative But when it comes to the verb<i> be , were</i> (past subjunctive ) is the preferred form as in "If I were you , I wouldn't do it"</div>
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It is clear that subjunctive mood is in not likely to go from the English language . It has come to stay ,. now overtly , now covertly ; now obviously , now subtly . It seems the sun will never set on it . English is slowly returning to its Germanic ancestry . It is a good sign . It has no need to shine in Gallic feathers anymore! .The loss of subjunctive mood has already taken its toll. English has become poorer for the loss of this mood . Look at the following quotations <br />
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'I f Pope <i>be</i> not a poet , where is poetry to be found ?"Dr. Johnson<br />
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"That we may bring , if need <i>arise</i><br />
no maimed or worthless sacrifice " ( Rudyard Kipling)<br />
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The use of subjunctive in these above quotes speaks for itself . Every user of English must have wished to use a conditional sentence using subjunctive <i>be</i> instead of the indicative <i>is</i> to express a certain shade of meaning .Dr Johnson uses the subjunctive<i> be</i> and the indicative <i>is/are<u> to express different shades of meanin</u>g. </i>But this option is not available in present-day English.A language becomes poor when it becomes incapable of expressing subtle shades of meaning . No wonder , English has ceded its place to French as the most accurate of modern languages ! .<br />
Let us hope that English will not allow the subjunctive mood , or what is left of it , to perish ! <br />
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Prof V. P. Rajappan"</div>
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Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-4045888602010602242011-06-09T22:13:00.000-07:002011-06-19T00:22:45.923-07:00Special Gerund Constructions and Their Grammar<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">There are certain sentence constructions in English which teachers find hard to explain to learners . Constructions like " The Police had a hard time</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> controlling</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> the crowd " do not lend themselves to easy explanation . Teachers often explain them away as<span style="font-weight: bold;"> s</span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">pecial gerund constructions</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">which grammar cannot explain . By the way, the -ing -form in some of these constructions are not really gerunds at all , but they are present participles .( When the -ing -form resembles a noun it is called a gerund .<span style="font-weight: bold;">. Gerunds</span> share the characteristics of a noun .Present participles , on the contrary, have the characteristics of a verb . and they resemble verbs rather than nouns ). </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">How can we explain the sentence construction " The Police had a hard time controlling the crowd" ? It is obvious that the preposition </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">in</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> is omitted in this construction. The English language has been dispensing with prepositions when they serve no useful purpose, or when their meaning is absorbed in the verbs . Gerund form is used after prepositions in English ,and this is continued after the omission of prepositions before verbs . There are a few native speakers of English who omit </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">in</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> after the verb <span style="font-style: italic;">succeed</span> as in the sentence" He succeeded becoming the manager" The following sentences show omission of prepositions: in a similar manner .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She spent the time watching TV( 9omission of </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">by</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> )</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*I had difficulty remembering his e-mail address. (omission of i</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">n</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> )</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*He wasted his time reading cheap magazines .(omission of b</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">y</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> ) </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">In some gerund constructions we can see truncated adverbial clauses , that is , adverbial clauses from which subordinating conjunctions (when, while, as etc ) , subject and auxiliary are omitted , leaving behind the -ing-form of the verb and adverbs Look at the following sentences :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*The poet saw her reaping in the field . *</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*I heard him singing in the garden . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*She caught him stealing her money . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">In each of these sentences the -ing-form is a remnant from an adverbial clause. </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Such elliptic </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">constructions are common when it comes to expressions of frequently encountered real-life</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">situations</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">in all natural languages </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">In a few cases, the gerund construction is a device to fuse together two or more closely related clauses into a single sentence . You may know that to-infinitive is sometimes used to fuse together two or more sequentially related clauses into a single sentence . , e.g.<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> He woke up to see </span><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">his wife missing from his bed</span> . In this sentence three clauses are fused together: He woke up and then he saw that his wife was missing from his bed. The -ing construction does exactly the same job . Example</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">He sat in the shade of a tree , thinking of his future . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">This is the fusion of two clauses , he sat in the shade of a tree and thought of his future </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thank you for visiting !</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*</span>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-33817667244839171822011-01-27T02:53:00.000-08:002011-01-27T21:39:15.259-08:00THAT & WHICH as Pronouns introducing Relative Clauses<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">ESL learners who are not conversant with the intricacies of English speech- rhythm are often confused when it comes to a choice between</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"> that </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">a</span>nd </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">which</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">to introduce relative clauses . They tend to use these pronouns interchangeably ! Are</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> that</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">which </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">really different? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">That</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">as a relative pronoun appeared in English during the Middle English period . This word has phonetic features enabling it to serve as an introducer to defining relative clauses . The defining relative clause and the rest of the sentence belong to the same tone-group . So the glide from the subject Noun Phrase to the relative clause is a smooth one .For example</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">The book that I read yesterday is a novel by R.K.Narayan. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The clause "that I read " is a defining relative clause as it is essential for getting at the meaning of the sentence. . The relative clause defines or limits the antecedent-<span style="font-style: italic;"> book </span>. The pronoun </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">that</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">,by virtue of its phonetic features , ensures a smooth flow from subject NP to the relative clause. No wonder, then, that the English language accepted t</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">hat </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">as a better choice than </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">which</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> for introducing defining relative clauses! </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Which</span> is used for defining relative clauses only in written English of very formal style. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Relative clauses may sometimes introduce parenthetical ideas , that is to say, ideas that are not an essential part of the sentence . That clause may be called a non-defining relative clause . It merely provides additional information . So it has to be signalled in some way . English speakers use a pause to signal this, and the relative clause that follows it belongs to a different intonation group . By virtue of its phonetic features</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> which i</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">s a better choice than </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">that</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> to indicate the break In written English the non-defining relative clause is marked off from the rest of the sentence with commas . Look at this example </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Mobile phones , which are so useful, are often misused by students . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">My car , which I bought a year ago, is running well. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Non-defining relative clauses<span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> seek to </span> squeeze a lot of information in a single sentence . It is more appropriate in formal style English than in conversational English . The sentences given above can be reworded in spoken English as follows :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Mobile phones are misused by students . It is a pity!<span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> They</span> are so useful!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">My car is running well. You know , I bought it a year ago . </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thank you for your visit!</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-27058512103309942342011-01-09T01:29:00.000-08:002011-01-10T21:13:12.284-08:00Subject-Verb Inversion & Subject-operator Inversion--Difference Explained<span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">There are many people who are not aware of the difference between </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">subject-verb inversion and subject-operator inversion</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> .They freely interchange these expression! But the difference between the two is a real one and it is worth maintaining , too. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">I will first explain subject- operator inversion .What is an operator? It is a term used in modern grammar to denote the auxiliary verb , or if there is more than one auxiliary, the first auxiliary verb . Thus in the sentence :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Rama </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">is</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> reading a book .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">is</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> is the operator </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">In the sentence:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">Rama </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">will have been learning</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);"> English for five years by 2012.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">will</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> is the operator as it is the first auxiliary in a row of three auxiliaries .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">The different forms of the lexical verb </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">be</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> like is , are , am ,was, were etc come under the grammatical category of operators . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">The dummy auxiliary</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> do </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">is used as an operator in interrogative and negative sentences when the tense of the verb is simple present tense or simple past tense . </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">What is Subject- Operator Inversion?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">When subject and operator are switched in a sentence , it is called subject-operator inversion . You may have noticed it in interrogative sentences like :</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Do you</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> speak English?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Is he </span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">still sleeping? </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Are you</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> going to bed so early? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">What a convenient method to change statements into questions! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">There is another use of bubject-operator inversion which often puzzles foreign learners of English . This use of inversion is seen when a sentence element , usually an adverb of frequency is fronted . The fronted element carries tonic stress ,and this gives a peculiar rhythmic twist to the sentence . The operator that follows the fronted word ( like often, rarely never , seldom etc) carries very light stress, being an auxiliary verb , and the subject that follows it carries a much higher degree of stress . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Of course , one could give prominence to a frequency adverb by giving it tonic stress in its normal position in the sentence . But then, the coming together of two stressed words would disrupt the smooth flow of the sentence . Fronting , followed by subject-operator inversion solves this problem! Remember, rhythm is the fundamental feature of any natural language and the syntax of Enflish ( the arrangement of sentence elements) is best explained in terms of English speech thythm which is stress- based and not quantity- based as Latin languages . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Look at the following examples </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">He has never come late for work .</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Never has he come late for work </span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">I have often seen him accompanying her to the temple .</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Often have I seen him accompanying her to the temple</span> .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">We rarely see good films these days </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Rarely do we see good films these days .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">What is Subject -Verb Inversion?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Subject - verb inversion happens when the speaker wants to give thematic-fronting to a phrase in the sentence This results in the subject taking a position after the verb . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Examples </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">A<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">n ancient temple stands</span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> on the top of this hill</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">On the top of this hill </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">stands an ancient temple . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">The enemy force marched</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> into the town</span> .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Into the town </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">marched the enemy force . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Remember, the phrase which is given thematic-fronting is often an adverbial realized as a prepositional phrase .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Sentences with the structure subject+ verb+ complement undergo subject- verb inversion when the complement is given thematic-fronting </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Example</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">The ways of God are strange .</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Strange are the ways of God .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">NB:Subject-verb inversion happens not in all cases of thematic- fronting .It is often seen in sentences with the structure SVA and SVC. Thematic- fronting occurs when the speaker fronts a phrase or word that is uppermost in his or her mind .</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Thank you for visiting! </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-72804627864470440432010-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:002010-12-04T21:24:30.517-08:00Relative Pronouns and Relative Adverbs - Difference Explained<span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Look at the following sentences :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">1 The book</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">which</span> I read yesterday</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> is a novel by R.K.Narayan.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">2 The man </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">who</span> helped me most</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> is my teacher.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">3 This is the song </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">which</span> I like most</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">4 This is the house </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">where</span> he lived . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">5 The morning </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">when </span>we arrived at the hote</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">l was a lovely one .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">In these sentences the italicized part is the relative clause . It is called so because it is introduced by a relative pronoun or relative adverb . The words in bold type are either relative pronouns or relative adverbs .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">How will you distinguish relative pronouns from relative adverbs? Well, it is as simple as that! Words like </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">which, who whom </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">that</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> are preceded by nouns , and these nouns are subjects or objects of the verbs in relative clauses . Thus in Sentence No 1 </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> book </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">is the object of the verb </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">read</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">. and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">which </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">is a relative pronoun . It stands for the noun</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> book </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">. and so it is a pronoun . At the same time it relates to the noun</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> book </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">and so it is rightly called a relative pronoun</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Now, have a look at Sentence No 4:The noun </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">house</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> is neither the subject nor the object of the verb</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> lived</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> .It answers the question "at what place?" ansd so the word that follows it , </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">where.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> , is called relative adverb . It modifies the verb</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> lived</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> by stating the place . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">In Sentence No 5 the noun </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">morning </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">answers the question " at what time ? " . It is , therefore, followed by the </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">adverb when</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> which relates to the noun </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">morning </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">The way how and the reason why</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">The relative adverbs in these expressions sound repetitive, don't they? These expressions have practically disappeared from English . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">1This is the</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> way how</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> they treated prisoners. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">2 I don't know the </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">reason why</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> they have denied me a promotion<br />.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> In the following sentences <span style="font-style: italic;">how</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> should be treated as conjunctions ,as they have no antecedents </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">to relate to .</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> 1 This is how they treated prisoners .</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> 2I don't know why they deny me a promotion .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> Relative adverbs like </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">where</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> and</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> when </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">cannot be used as conjunctions because their antecedents keep changing from context to context . and so they have to be stated for clarity . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> In the case of </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">the reason why</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">the way how</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"> their antecedents (reason and way) are fixed and so they got dropped </span>out .<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">THANK YOU FOR VISITING!</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-65194656677141960782010-10-14T23:32:00.000-07:002011-07-22T01:08:19.846-07:00Participial Construction & Absolute Construction : Difference Explained<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Every learner of English ought to know the difference between participial construction and absolute construction . These two constructions are the source of many an error often committed by English - users . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What is participial construction? It is a common type of sentence construction in English . It consists of a participial phrase or clause followed by the main clause. The participle may be present participle ( - ing) or past participle ( -ed or -en) . Look at these sentences :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*Singing loudly , Rama entered the room . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*Being popular , he will win the election hands down . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*Tired from work, Sita went to bed early. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*Having read the book , she returned it to the library. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*Disappointed in love he, decided to commit suicide . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The first part of the sentence is called a participial phrase . The verbs in participial phrases are in the participle forms , present or past, and their subjects (not mentioned) are</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> always </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">the same as the subjects in the main clauses . </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">So , remember that if you put a noun or pronoun other than the real subject( that is, subject of the participial phrase) at the beginning of the main clause , it may result in confusion ! </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Look at this sentence :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Walking in the grass , a snake bit her . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What impression do you get? Was the snake walking? If you re-write the sentence as</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Walking in the grass, she was bitten by a snake </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">the sentence would make sense . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Now, let me discuss</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> Absolute Construction . </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This type of sentence construction makes use of absolute phrases . What is an absolute phrase? Well, it is different from participial phrases in that it explicitly mentions the subject. The subject is never mentioned in participial phrases . For example, "being rich" is a participial phrase , "he being rich" is an absolute phrase . Another difference between participial construction and absolute construction is that the subjects of absolute phrases are </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">always</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> different from those of their main clauses . For this reason the syntactic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause is always a fragile one . Hence the name <span style="font-style: italic;">absolute</span> construction . You know</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> absolute </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">means "independent" or "not related " etc . The absolute phrases serves to give additional details in a hurried manner, so to speak . Nonetheless, there is a strong semantic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause . Look at these sentences :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*The party being over, the guests began to depart . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*Her husband being away, she felt lonely and miserable . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*All government offices will remain closed tomorrow, tomorrow being a holiday . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">*The doctor having arrived, she looked happy and cheerful . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I hope you have understood the difference between absolute construction and participial construction . ,This will help you to avoid errors in future . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">Thank you for visiting! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">I thank the readers for their comments . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">A reader from Korea wants me to comment on the sentence :</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">While Caruso drinking the fresh apple cider, the farmer asked the famous singer his name</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">This sentence is not an example for absolute construction. Nor is it an example for participial construction. The omission of </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">was</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> before</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> drinking </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">is the cause of the error.The omission must have been due to oversight . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Prof. V.P.Rajappan</span><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-21426705956921585122010-07-05T23:35:00.001-07:002010-07-06T06:46:21.781-07:00Adjectives : Degrees of Comparison<span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Adjectives have three degrees of comparison. They are:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">1. positive degree</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">2. comparative degree , and</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">3. superlative degree </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">When an adjective is used without making any comparison , it is said to be in the</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> positive degree</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">* Rama is clever. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">* Sita is pretty. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">In these sentences </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">clever</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">pretty</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> are in the positive degree. No comparison is made in these sentences . But look at the following sentences :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> * Rama is </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">cleverer </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">than his brother</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">* Sita is </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">prettier </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">than her sister. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">In these sentences Rama is compared with his brother and Sita is compared with her sister. So the adjectives are in the</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> comparative degree</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">. The comparative degree of adjectives is followed by the conjunction</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> than</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Please note that</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> than</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> is used as a conjunction in grammatically correct English. However, in conversational English </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">than</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> is often treated as a preposition . When pronouns are used ,the learner should trea</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">t than</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> as a conjunction and use the subject-form of the pronoun. ,<span style="font-style: italic;"> like I, he, she they</span> etc.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">When more than two persons or things are compared , we use the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">superlative degree </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">of adjectives . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">* Rama is the</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> cleveres</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">t boy in the class. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">* Sita is the </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">prettiest</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> girl in the school. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Please note that the definite article</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">precedes an adjective in the superlative degree. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">Formation of Comparative and Superlative Degrees</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">We get comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives by adding -er and -est to their form in the positive degree.Such adjectives are usually monosyllabic or disyllabic words of Anglo-Saxon origin . When the adjectives are polysyllabic words like <span style="font-style: italic;">beautiful, intelligent </span>etc their comparative and superlative degrees are obtained by placing</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> more</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">mos</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">t before them., like <span style="font-style: italic;">more beautiful. most beautiful </span>etc. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Changing the Degrees of Comparison without Changing the Meaning </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Can you change the degree of comparison of an adjective without changing the meaning the sentence? .Yes, you can . Look at the following examples :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">1 Sita is the</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> prettiest</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> girl in the school. (superlative degree)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">2 Sita is prettier than any other girl in the school. . (comparative degree)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">3 No other girl in the school is as pretty as Sita. </span>(positive degree)<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Note the following examples:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">1 Sita is</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> one of the prettiest girls</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> in the school. (superlative degree)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">2 Sita is prettier than most other girls in the school. (comparative degree)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">3 Only very few girls in the school are as pretty as Sita . (positive degree)</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Thank you for your visit! </span><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-61476506003424631302010-05-04T04:54:00.000-07:002010-05-04T05:55:22.199-07:00Reported Speech: Reporting a Question<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">ESL learners often find it difficult to report a question correctly . There are several pitfalls awaiting them when they try to put an interrogative sentence into reported speech . Here are a few sure-fire methods to help you avoid errors . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">1 The first step is to choose a suitable Reporting Verb .The usual reporting verbs are </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">asked</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">inquired </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. Note that these reporting verbs are in the past tense! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">2 A question is reported at a different place and time . It , therefore ,stands to reason that there should be changes in certain items relating to time and place in the original interrogative sentence . This involves a change of tense from present tense to past tense and from past tense to past perfect . As the reporting verb is in the past tense, the person reporting views present things as taking place at a pont of time in the past and past events as taking place at a remoter point of time in the past . The following changes are consistent with the reporter's changed perspective :</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">This becomes that </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">here --------there</span><br />ago---------before <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">these ---------those </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">today---------that day </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">tomorrow---- -following day </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">yesterday------the previous day </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">now-----------then</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">3 please remember that once a question is reported it ceases to be a question ! It is a statement . The peculiar structure of a question is gone . It has the structure of a typical English declarative sentence . The basic structure of a question is :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">auxiliary +subject +verb +object/complement/adverbial</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">What happens when simple present and simple past are used ? They have no auxiliaries . Well, the dummy auxiliaries are used to fill the place of regular auxiliaries . But they are needed only in direct questions . In reported questions they are dispensed with . Examples: </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">" Did John marry Jane? " Sarah asked </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Sarah asked whether John had married Jane . (past tense becomes past perfect)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">"Does she play tennis " The teacher asked her father .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Her teacher asked her father whether she played tennis . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">"Have you had your lunch?", she asked him ,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">She asked him whether he had had his lunch. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">4 When a Wh-question is reported , the conjunction</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> whether</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> is avoided and the reported question begins with the question-word what , how when , where etc . Example:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The teacher, ""Where do you come from? " </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The teacher asked her where she came from. (no conjunction)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">From the examples given it is clear that reported questions have the same structure as statements . </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Thank you for your visit! </span><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);" id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-58391208202293299022010-03-22T04:51:00.000-07:002010-04-17T19:05:38.680-07:00Interrogative Sentences: Asking a Yes/No Question<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">As you know, there are two kinds of questions in English , Yes / No Questions and Information Questions ( Wh- questions) . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Asking a Yes/No question is simple when compared to asking a Wh- question . In this post, I am going to discuss how Yes/No questions are framed in English . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Well, what is a Yes/ No question? It is a question which requires yes or no as answer </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">.The basic structure of all Yes/No questions is the same </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">. It can be expressed as follows: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">auxiliary +subject+ main verb+ (complement)+(object)+(adverbial).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">The items given in round brackets are optional . You need use them only if the context requires them . Their order, however, should not be disturbed! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">I am giving below a few examples of Yes/No questions . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">1 Are you a student?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Aux+subject+complement.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">2 Has she finished her job?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">aux+subject+verb+object</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">3 Have you sent her the e-mail?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">aux+subject+verb+indirect object+ direct object </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">4 Did you see her yesterday? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">dummy aux+subject +verb+object+ adverbial </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">5 Can she speak French? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">modal aux+subject+verb+object</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">6 Shall I help you? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">modal aux +subject+verb+object </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">7 Did you see her off at the airport yesterday? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">dummy aux+subject+verb+object + particle+adverbial of place + adverbial of time </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> 8 Need I accompany her to the airport? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">modal aux+ subject+ verb+object+adverbial </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> 9 Shall I make you some tea ? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">modal aux+ subject +verb+ indirect object+ direct object </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">10 Have you had your lunch? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">aux+ subject+verb+object</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">If you take a closer look at these examples , you will notice the following points:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">1 The auxiliaries are primary auxiliaries like have, be or do , or they may be modal auxiliaries like shall, will, can need etc </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">2 The tense of the questions is determined by the tense of the first auxiliary </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">3 When the question makes use of simple present or simple past tense , the auxiliary is do, does or did . They are called dummy auxiliaries. These tenses have no auxiliaries in their verb- forms . </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">4 When</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> be</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> is the main verb in a question, it does the job of both the auxiliary and the main verb . </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Thank you for your visit! </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> A REQUEST TO READERS</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">As you know, April,2010 is the 42nd death anniversary of the great civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. A fitting memorial for this great lover of non-violence is going to be erected in the national capital, Washington, DC.The organizers are now engaged in the last spurt of their fund-raising campaign.If you want to be a part of this noble venture , please , follow this link : </span><a href="http://mlkmemorialnews.org/" target="_blank">http://mlkmemorialnews.org</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/mlkmemorialnews.org"><br /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Thank you!</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-58461600747517345902010-03-13T04:48:00.000-08:002010-03-13T05:56:15.351-08:00Subjunctive Mood : Frequently Asked Questions<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> 1 </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">What is Subjunctive Mood?</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The word </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">mood </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">has more or less the same meaning in grammar as in common parlance . . In common parlance it refers to one's state of mind . In grammar ,too, it refers to the speaker's state of mind when he makes an utterance . The speaker may say something as a statement of fact ( indicative mood) , as a command or request (imperative mood ) or he may be expressing aa opinion, suggestion, demand, doubt or a wish .(subjunctive mood) . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Look at these sentences :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*He is a student </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* Bring me a glass of beer . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* I wish (that) I were rich . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The first sentence is statement of a fact . and so it is in the indicative mood . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The second sentence is a request or a command , and so it is in the imperative mood .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The third sentence expresses a wish, and so it is in the subjunctive mood . </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">2<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> How do we know that the speaker is using one mood rather than the other? </span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The form of the verb provides the clue! Majority of English sentences are in the indicative mood . The various verb forms we learn are in the indicative mood for that reason . The imperative mood makes use of the base- form of the verb . Subjunctive mood is signalled by the base- form of the verb where we expect some other forms ! Base -form of the verb is used in the<span style="font-style: italic;"> that -clause </span>, no matter whether the verb in the main clause is in the present tense or past tense . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Subjunctive mood is used in the <span style="font-style: italic;">that- clause </span> after words like demand, insist , suggest, recommend , request etc . When the main clause is <span style="font-style: italic;">It is necessary</span> ,<span style="font-style: italic;"> It is important </span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">It is essential </span>etc , it is usual to use subjunctive mood in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">that-clause</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> that follows it . Why?The speaker is expressing a view , and not making statement of a fact in the </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">that-clause. </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Examples:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* He demanded that his salary</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> be</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> raised .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*Our Manager insists that everybody </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">come </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">in time . </span> <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* It is essential that w</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">e work t</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">ogether in unity . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She insists that every student</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> read</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> this book .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Please note that the use of base form of the verb signals that it is not statement of a fact but only somebody's demand , insistence and so on! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">3 <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"> What is the mood of the verb in sentences using as if / as though ? </span></span> <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">After<span style="font-style: italic;"> as if / as though </span>indicative mood is unacceptable .<span style="font-style: italic;"> As if </span>is contraction of " as it would be if it were" Example :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">He talked as if he were<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">drunk</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">This sentence means</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> he talked as he would talk if he were drunk </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The subjunctive verb</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> were</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> (where we expect </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">was </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">) signals that it is not a fact but only an impression that one gets from his way of talking . Other examples :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* He behaves as if he were our boss . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*She looked pale as she saw a ghost . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* He smiled at me as if he</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> had known</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> me for several years! </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Please note that past perfect is used when the action belongs a distinctly earlier time . Another example </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">He ate fast as if he<span style="font-style: italic;"> had not eaten</span> for several days </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">I hope that this lesson has been of help to you </span>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thank you for visiting! </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);" id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-24511069534993205012010-03-04T03:51:00.000-08:002010-03-04T04:41:49.389-08:00Direct Object and Indirect Object: FAQs<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">1</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"> What is an Object?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">English verbs can be classified as transitive verbs and intransitive verbs . A transitive verb is a verb that takes an object . In other words , it can answer the questions </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">whom</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">? or</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> what</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">? An intransitive verb, on the contrary, is incapable of answering these questions . Examples : </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">1 Rama wrote a story . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The verb</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> wrote</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> is transitive because it can answer the question </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">what</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">? What did Rama write? the answer is </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">a story. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">, and it is the object of the verb </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">wrote</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">2 Rama saw his friend. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The verb </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">saw</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> is transitive because it can provide answer to the question </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">whom</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">? Whom did Rama meet? The answer</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> his friend</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> is the object of the verb</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> meet</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">3 Sita went to the temple yesterday . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The verb <span style="font-style: italic;">wen</span>t is incapable of providing answer to the question </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">whom</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">what </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">So it i9s called an intransitive verb . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">2<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">What is Direct Object? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">There are a few verbs in English called</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> ditransitive verbs </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">They are so called because they take two objects . One of these objects provides answers to the question </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">whom </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">? or </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">wha</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">t ? and the other provides answer to the question </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">for whom</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">? or </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">to whom</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">?The commonly used ditransitive verbs are; </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">give , offer, grant , teach, send, bring, make, buy etc </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">1 I bought</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> her </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">a beautiful saree.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">" a beautiful saree" is called the direct object . to distinguish it from</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> her </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">which is called indirect object .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">2 Ramesh gave</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> Sita </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">a lovely birthday present. .</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> Sita</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> is the indirect object and </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">a lovely birthday present</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> is the direct object . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Please note that indirect object is </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">usually </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">a person and both the objects are Noun Phrases . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">3 </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Can we change the positions of direct and indirect objects ? </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">No! English depends on word-order for meaning and , therefore, indirect object must always come</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> before</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> direct object . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However , in order to give end-focus to the indirect object we can shift it to the end of a sentence as a prepositional phrase It is then called an</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> adverbial </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">rather than the indirect object!<br /><br />.Examples: </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">She made him coffee?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">She made coffee</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> for him . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I bought her an apple. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I bought an apple</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> for her .</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">Thank you for visiting! </span><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6178143436817648890.post-81598982697994271532010-02-27T04:39:00.000-08:002010-02-27T06:02:31.396-08:00Adverbs and Adverbials :: Difference Explained<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The term </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">adverb</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> refers to a word class to which words like </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">slowly, here, now</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> etc belong . </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">Adverbials </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">, on the contrary, is a functional label , covering all the syntactic units performing the same function as single-word adverbs , that is, they are units which describe the action denoted by the verb . These syntactic units may be Prepositional Phrases or Noun Phrases. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">An</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> adverbial</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> can describe an action by telling us </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">how, where and when</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> an action is done . Examples </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She sings<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">sweetly</span> </span>. </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">( how)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She has gone</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> there.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> (where) </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">*He is sleeping<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">now(</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> when) </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Instead of using single-word adverbials as in our examples above , we can use Prepositional Phrases and Noun Phrases to describe actions . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She gets up </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">at 6 o' clock </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* He left home</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">in a hurry</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She has gone</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">to the hospital</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">In these examples we have used Prepositional Phrases as advebials . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">In the following examples we are using Noun Phrases as adverbials :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* He worked hard<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">all day </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She came back home home</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> last week</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* They will join us <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">t</span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">omorrow </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* She left for the US </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">t<span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">he day before yesterda</span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">y</span>. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">* They opposed the government proposal </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 102, 0);">tooth and nail. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Please note that the term adverb refers to a word class while adverbial refers to different syntactic units performing a similar function, namely, describing the action performed by the verb.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The basic concept of describing an action is provided by the term a</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">dverb</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> while the different realizations of the concept are provided by the term </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">adverbial</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Thank you for visiting! </span><br /><br /><br /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);" id="refHTML"></div><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Prof.V.P..Rajappanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06756036553048533831noreply@blogger.com25