ESL learners who are not conversant with the intricacies of English speech- rhythm are often confused when it comes to a choice between that and which to introduce relative clauses . They tend to use these pronouns interchangeably ! Are that and which really different?
That 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
The book that I read yesterday is a novel by R.K.Narayan.
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- book . The pronoun that,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 that as a better choice than which for introducing defining relative clauses! Which is used for defining relative clauses only in written English of very formal style.
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 which is a better choice than that 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
Mobile phones , which are so useful, are often misused by students .
My car , which I bought a year ago, is running well.
Non-defining relative clauses seek to 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 :
Mobile phones are misused by students . It is a pity! They are so useful!
My car is running well. You know , I bought it a year ago .
Thank you for your visit!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Subject-Verb Inversion & Subject-operator Inversion--Difference Explained
There are many people who are not aware of the difference between subject-verb inversion and subject-operator inversion .They freely interchange these expression! But the difference between the two is a real one and it is worth maintaining , too.
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 :
Rama is reading a book .
is is the operator
In the sentence:
Rama will have been learning English for five years by 2012.
will is the operator as it is the first auxiliary in a row of three auxiliaries .
The different forms of the lexical verb be like is , are , am ,was, were etc come under the grammatical category of operators .
The dummy auxiliary do is used as an operator in interrogative and negative sentences when the tense of the verb is simple present tense or simple past tense .
What is Subject- Operator Inversion?
When subject and operator are switched in a sentence , it is called subject-operator inversion . You may have noticed it in interrogative sentences like :
Do you speak English?
Is he still sleeping?
Are you going to bed so early?
What a convenient method to change statements into questions!
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 .
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 .
Look at the following examples
He has never come late for work .
Never has he come late for work .
I have often seen him accompanying her to the temple .
Often have I seen him accompanying her to the temple .
We rarely see good films these days
Rarely do we see good films these days .
What is Subject -Verb Inversion?
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 .
Examples
An ancient temple stands on the top of this hill
On the top of this hill stands an ancient temple .
The enemy force marched into the town .
Into the town marched the enemy force .
Remember, the phrase which is given thematic-fronting is often an adverbial realized as a prepositional phrase .
Sentences with the structure subject+ verb+ complement undergo subject- verb inversion when the complement is given thematic-fronting
Example
The ways of God are strange .
Strange are the ways of God .
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 .
Thank you for visiting!
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 :
Rama is reading a book .
is is the operator
In the sentence:
Rama will have been learning English for five years by 2012.
will is the operator as it is the first auxiliary in a row of three auxiliaries .
The different forms of the lexical verb be like is , are , am ,was, were etc come under the grammatical category of operators .
The dummy auxiliary do is used as an operator in interrogative and negative sentences when the tense of the verb is simple present tense or simple past tense .
What is Subject- Operator Inversion?
When subject and operator are switched in a sentence , it is called subject-operator inversion . You may have noticed it in interrogative sentences like :
Do you speak English?
Is he still sleeping?
Are you going to bed so early?
What a convenient method to change statements into questions!
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 .
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 .
Look at the following examples
He has never come late for work .
Never has he come late for work .
I have often seen him accompanying her to the temple .
Often have I seen him accompanying her to the temple .
We rarely see good films these days
Rarely do we see good films these days .
What is Subject -Verb Inversion?
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 .
Examples
An ancient temple stands on the top of this hill
On the top of this hill stands an ancient temple .
The enemy force marched into the town .
Into the town marched the enemy force .
Remember, the phrase which is given thematic-fronting is often an adverbial realized as a prepositional phrase .
Sentences with the structure subject+ verb+ complement undergo subject- verb inversion when the complement is given thematic-fronting
Example
The ways of God are strange .
Strange are the ways of God .
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 .
Thank you for visiting!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Relative Pronouns and Relative Adverbs - Difference Explained
Look at the following sentences :
1 The book which I read yesterday is a novel by R.K.Narayan.
2 The man who helped me most is my teacher.
3 This is the song which I like most.
4 This is the house where he lived .
5 The morning when we arrived at the hotel was a lovely one .
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 .
How will you distinguish relative pronouns from relative adverbs? Well, it is as simple as that! Words like which, who whom and that are preceded by nouns , and these nouns are subjects or objects of the verbs in relative clauses . Thus in Sentence No 1 book is the object of the verb read. and which is a relative pronoun . It stands for the noun book . and so it is a pronoun . At the same time it relates to the noun book and so it is rightly called a relative pronoun
Now, have a look at Sentence No 4:The noun house is neither the subject nor the object of the verb lived .It answers the question "at what place?" ansd so the word that follows it , where. , is called relative adverb . It modifies the verb lived by stating the place .
In Sentence No 5 the noun morning answers the question " at what time ? " . It is , therefore, followed by the adverb when which relates to the noun morning .
The way how and the reason why
The relative adverbs in these expressions sound repetitive, don't they? These expressions have practically disappeared from English .
1This is the way how they treated prisoners.
2 I don't know the reason why they have denied me a promotion
.
In the following sentences how and why should be treated as conjunctions ,as they have no antecedents to relate to .
1 This is how they treated prisoners .
2I don't know why they deny me a promotion .
Relative adverbs like where and when cannot be used as conjunctions because their antecedents keep changing from context to context . and so they have to be stated for clarity .
In the case of the reason why and the way how their antecedents (reason and way) are fixed and so they got dropped out .
THANK YOU FOR VISITING!
1 The book which I read yesterday is a novel by R.K.Narayan.
2 The man who helped me most is my teacher.
3 This is the song which I like most.
4 This is the house where he lived .
5 The morning when we arrived at the hotel was a lovely one .
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 .
How will you distinguish relative pronouns from relative adverbs? Well, it is as simple as that! Words like which, who whom and that are preceded by nouns , and these nouns are subjects or objects of the verbs in relative clauses . Thus in Sentence No 1 book is the object of the verb read. and which is a relative pronoun . It stands for the noun book . and so it is a pronoun . At the same time it relates to the noun book and so it is rightly called a relative pronoun
Now, have a look at Sentence No 4:The noun house is neither the subject nor the object of the verb lived .It answers the question "at what place?" ansd so the word that follows it , where. , is called relative adverb . It modifies the verb lived by stating the place .
In Sentence No 5 the noun morning answers the question " at what time ? " . It is , therefore, followed by the adverb when which relates to the noun morning .
The way how and the reason why
The relative adverbs in these expressions sound repetitive, don't they? These expressions have practically disappeared from English .
1This is the way how they treated prisoners.
2 I don't know the reason why they have denied me a promotion
.
In the following sentences how and why should be treated as conjunctions ,as they have no antecedents to relate to .
1 This is how they treated prisoners .
2I don't know why they deny me a promotion .
Relative adverbs like where and when cannot be used as conjunctions because their antecedents keep changing from context to context . and so they have to be stated for clarity .
In the case of the reason why and the way how their antecedents (reason and way) are fixed and so they got dropped out .
THANK YOU FOR VISITING!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Participial Construction & Absolute Construction : Difference Explained
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 .
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 :
*Singing loudly , Rama entered the room .
*Being popular , he will win the election hands down .
*Tired from work, Sita went to bed early.
*Having read the book , she returned it to the library.
*Disappointed in love he, decided to commit suicide .
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 always the same as the subjects in the main clauses . 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 ! Look at this sentence :
Walking in the grass , a snake bit her .
What impression do you get? Was the snake walking? If you re-write the sentence as
Walking in the grass, she was bitten by a snake
the sentence would make sense .
Now, let me discuss Absolute Construction . 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 always 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 absolute construction . You know absolute 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 :
*The party being over, the guests began to depart .
*Her husband being away, she felt lonely and miserable .
*All government offices will remain closed tomorrow, tomorrow being a holiday .
*The doctor having arrived, she looked happy and cheerful .
I hope you have understood the difference between absolute construction and participial construction . ,This will help you to avoid errors in future . .
Thank you for visiting!
I thank the readers for their comments .
A reader from Korea wants me to comment on the sentence :
While Caruso drinking the fresh apple cider, the farmer asked the famous singer his name
This sentence is not an example for absolute construction. Nor is it an example for participial construction. The omission of was before drinking is the cause of the error.The omission must have been due to oversight .
Prof. V.P.Rajappan
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 :
*Singing loudly , Rama entered the room .
*Being popular , he will win the election hands down .
*Tired from work, Sita went to bed early.
*Having read the book , she returned it to the library.
*Disappointed in love he, decided to commit suicide .
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 always the same as the subjects in the main clauses . 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 ! Look at this sentence :
Walking in the grass , a snake bit her .
What impression do you get? Was the snake walking? If you re-write the sentence as
Walking in the grass, she was bitten by a snake
the sentence would make sense .
Now, let me discuss Absolute Construction . 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 always 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 absolute construction . You know absolute 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 :
*The party being over, the guests began to depart .
*Her husband being away, she felt lonely and miserable .
*All government offices will remain closed tomorrow, tomorrow being a holiday .
*The doctor having arrived, she looked happy and cheerful .
I hope you have understood the difference between absolute construction and participial construction . ,This will help you to avoid errors in future . .
Thank you for visiting!
I thank the readers for their comments .
A reader from Korea wants me to comment on the sentence :
While Caruso drinking the fresh apple cider, the farmer asked the famous singer his name
This sentence is not an example for absolute construction. Nor is it an example for participial construction. The omission of was before drinking is the cause of the error.The omission must have been due to oversight .
Prof. V.P.Rajappan
Monday, July 5, 2010
Adjectives : Degrees of Comparison
Adjectives have three degrees of comparison. They are:
1. positive degree
2. comparative degree , and
3. superlative degree
When an adjective is used without making any comparison , it is said to be in the positive degree
* Rama is clever.
* Sita is pretty.
In these sentences clever and pretty are in the positive degree. No comparison is made in these sentences . But look at the following sentences :
* Rama is cleverer than his brother
* Sita is prettier than her sister.
In these sentences Rama is compared with his brother and Sita is compared with her sister. So the adjectives are in the comparative degree. The comparative degree of adjectives is followed by the conjunction than .
Please note that than is used as a conjunction in grammatically correct English. However, in conversational English than is often treated as a preposition . When pronouns are used ,the learner should treat than as a conjunction and use the subject-form of the pronoun. , like I, he, she they etc.
When more than two persons or things are compared , we use the superlative degree of adjectives .
* Rama is the cleverest boy in the class.
* Sita is the prettiest girl in the school.
Please note that the definite article the precedes an adjective in the superlative degree.
Formation of Comparative and Superlative Degrees
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 beautiful, intelligent etc their comparative and superlative degrees are obtained by placing more and most before them., like more beautiful. most beautiful etc.
Changing the Degrees of Comparison without Changing the Meaning
Can you change the degree of comparison of an adjective without changing the meaning the sentence? .Yes, you can . Look at the following examples :
1 Sita is the prettiest girl in the school. (superlative degree)
2 Sita is prettier than any other girl in the school. . (comparative degree)
3 No other girl in the school is as pretty as Sita. (positive degree)
Note the following examples:
1 Sita is one of the prettiest girls in the school. (superlative degree)
2 Sita is prettier than most other girls in the school. (comparative degree)
3 Only very few girls in the school are as pretty as Sita . (positive degree)
Thank you for your visit!
1. positive degree
2. comparative degree , and
3. superlative degree
When an adjective is used without making any comparison , it is said to be in the positive degree
* Rama is clever.
* Sita is pretty.
In these sentences clever and pretty are in the positive degree. No comparison is made in these sentences . But look at the following sentences :
* Rama is cleverer than his brother
* Sita is prettier than her sister.
In these sentences Rama is compared with his brother and Sita is compared with her sister. So the adjectives are in the comparative degree. The comparative degree of adjectives is followed by the conjunction than .
Please note that than is used as a conjunction in grammatically correct English. However, in conversational English than is often treated as a preposition . When pronouns are used ,the learner should treat than as a conjunction and use the subject-form of the pronoun. , like I, he, she they etc.
When more than two persons or things are compared , we use the superlative degree of adjectives .
* Rama is the cleverest boy in the class.
* Sita is the prettiest girl in the school.
Please note that the definite article the precedes an adjective in the superlative degree.
Formation of Comparative and Superlative Degrees
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 beautiful, intelligent etc their comparative and superlative degrees are obtained by placing more and most before them., like more beautiful. most beautiful etc.
Changing the Degrees of Comparison without Changing the Meaning
Can you change the degree of comparison of an adjective without changing the meaning the sentence? .Yes, you can . Look at the following examples :
1 Sita is the prettiest girl in the school. (superlative degree)
2 Sita is prettier than any other girl in the school. . (comparative degree)
3 No other girl in the school is as pretty as Sita. (positive degree)
Note the following examples:
1 Sita is one of the prettiest girls in the school. (superlative degree)
2 Sita is prettier than most other girls in the school. (comparative degree)
3 Only very few girls in the school are as pretty as Sita . (positive degree)
Thank you for your visit!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Reported Speech: Reporting a Question
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 .
1 The first step is to choose a suitable Reporting Verb .The usual reporting verbs are asked or inquired . Note that these reporting verbs are in the past tense!
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 :
This becomes that
here --------there
ago---------before
these ---------those
today---------that day
tomorrow---- -following day
yesterday------the previous day
now-----------then
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 :
auxiliary +subject +verb +object/complement/adverbial
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:
" Did John marry Jane? " Sarah asked
Sarah asked whether John had married Jane . (past tense becomes past perfect)
"Does she play tennis " The teacher asked her father .
Her teacher asked her father whether she played tennis .
"Have you had your lunch?", she asked him ,
She asked him whether he had had his lunch.
4 When a Wh-question is reported , the conjunction whether is avoided and the reported question begins with the question-word what , how when , where etc . Example:
The teacher, ""Where do you come from? "
The teacher asked her where she came from. (no conjunction)
From the examples given it is clear that reported questions have the same structure as statements .
Thank you for your visit!
1 The first step is to choose a suitable Reporting Verb .The usual reporting verbs are asked or inquired . Note that these reporting verbs are in the past tense!
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 :
This becomes that
here --------there
ago---------before
these ---------those
today---------that day
tomorrow---- -following day
yesterday------the previous day
now-----------then
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 :
auxiliary +subject +verb +object/complement/adverbial
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:
" Did John marry Jane? " Sarah asked
Sarah asked whether John had married Jane . (past tense becomes past perfect)
"Does she play tennis " The teacher asked her father .
Her teacher asked her father whether she played tennis .
"Have you had your lunch?", she asked him ,
She asked him whether he had had his lunch.
4 When a Wh-question is reported , the conjunction whether is avoided and the reported question begins with the question-word what , how when , where etc . Example:
The teacher, ""Where do you come from? "
The teacher asked her where she came from. (no conjunction)
From the examples given it is clear that reported questions have the same structure as statements .
Thank you for your visit!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Interrogative Sentences: Asking a Yes/No Question
As you know, there are two kinds of questions in English , Yes / No Questions and Information Questions ( Wh- questions) .
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 .
Well, what is a Yes/ No question? It is a question which requires yes or no as answer .The basic structure of all Yes/No questions is the same . It can be expressed as follows:
auxiliary +subject+ main verb+ (complement)+(object)+(adverbial).
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!
I am giving below a few examples of Yes/No questions .
1 Are you a student?
Aux+subject+complement.
2 Has she finished her job?
aux+subject+verb+object
3 Have you sent her the e-mail?
aux+subject+verb+indirect object+ direct object
4 Did you see her yesterday?
dummy aux+subject +verb+object+ adverbial
5 Can she speak French?
modal aux+subject+verb+object
6 Shall I help you?
modal aux +subject+verb+object
7 Did you see her off at the airport yesterday?
dummy aux+subject+verb+object + particle+adverbial of place + adverbial of time
8 Need I accompany her to the airport?
modal aux+ subject+ verb+object+adverbial
9 Shall I make you some tea ?
modal aux+ subject +verb+ indirect object+ direct object
10 Have you had your lunch?
aux+ subject+verb+object
If you take a closer look at these examples , you will notice the following points:
1 The auxiliaries are primary auxiliaries like have, be or do , or they may be modal auxiliaries like shall, will, can need etc
2 The tense of the questions is determined by the tense of the first auxiliary
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 .
4 When be is the main verb in a question, it does the job of both the auxiliary and the main verb .
Thank you for your visit!
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A REQUEST TO READERS
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 : http://mlkmemorialnews.org
Thank you!
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 .
Well, what is a Yes/ No question? It is a question which requires yes or no as answer .The basic structure of all Yes/No questions is the same . It can be expressed as follows:
auxiliary +subject+ main verb+ (complement)+(object)+(adverbial).
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!
I am giving below a few examples of Yes/No questions .
1 Are you a student?
Aux+subject+complement.
2 Has she finished her job?
aux+subject+verb+object
3 Have you sent her the e-mail?
aux+subject+verb+indirect object+ direct object
4 Did you see her yesterday?
dummy aux+subject +verb+object+ adverbial
5 Can she speak French?
modal aux+subject+verb+object
6 Shall I help you?
modal aux +subject+verb+object
7 Did you see her off at the airport yesterday?
dummy aux+subject+verb+object + particle+adverbial of place + adverbial of time
8 Need I accompany her to the airport?
modal aux+ subject+ verb+object+adverbial
9 Shall I make you some tea ?
modal aux+ subject +verb+ indirect object+ direct object
10 Have you had your lunch?
aux+ subject+verb+object
If you take a closer look at these examples , you will notice the following points:
1 The auxiliaries are primary auxiliaries like have, be or do , or they may be modal auxiliaries like shall, will, can need etc
2 The tense of the questions is determined by the tense of the first auxiliary
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 .
4 When be is the main verb in a question, it does the job of both the auxiliary and the main verb .
Thank you for your visit!
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A REQUEST TO READERS
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 : http://mlkmemorialnews.org
Thank you!
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