Lecture Six

1. Lecture Six Verb and Verb Phrase (III)

2. Means of Expressing Future Time • English does not have future tense. • In English, future time is expressed by means of modal auxiliaries, by semi-auxiliaries, or by the simple present and present progressive forms.

3. Will/shall do sth. • I don’t think it will rain tomorrow. (prediction) • I shall never talk to hiim again. (intention)

4. Will/shall be doing sth. • I’ll be waiting for you at the station when you arrive. (a durative event) • The train will be leaving at two o’clock. (a colorless future)

5. Will/shall have done sth. • I’ll have finished my work by five this afternoon. • By the end of next month I shall have been working here for 20 years.

6. Be going to do sth. • My grandmother is going to learn to drive. (intention) • It is going to rain. (prediction) • Cf. I’ve set the alarm clock to go off at 5. I’m going to get up there. (premediated intention) • A: I can’t move the cupboard. It’s too heavy. • B: Don’t worry. I’ll help you with it. • Cf. I told you to come earlier. You are going to have ttouble. • The earth will explode in the distant future. • It was going to rain when we left. • We were going to call on you yesterday, but we had visitors oursevles.

7. Present progressive • They are leaving tomorrow morning. • go, come, leave, start, arrive, etc • I’m spending my holidays in Switzerland this year. • We are having a party tonight. • We are going to have a party tonight. • We are going to a concert tonight. • It is going to rain soon. • *It is raining soon.

8. Past progressive • He said they were going on Sunday.

9. Be to do sth. • The mayor is to vist our school tomorrow. • There is to be a police investigation. • You are to finish your homework before you can watch TV. • He said that we were to leave at six. • We were to have left at six but it rained. • They said goodbye, little knowing they were never to meet again.

10. Simple present • If it rains, we will have to stay at home. • Tomorrow is Saturday. • *He comes tomorrow.

11. Simple past • He said he would tell her all about it if he met her.

12. Be about to do sth. • The bus is about to leave. • I was about to leave when she came.

13. Would do sth. • He said he would come back the next day.

14. Would be doing sth. • He never imagined that some day he would be living away from his motherland.

15. Would have done sth. • He said he would have finished his thesis by the end of next month.

16. Would have been doing sth. • She said that by the end of May she would have been studying medicine for three years.

17. Passive voice • Shakespeare wrote the play. (agent) • The play was written by Shakespeare. (recipient)

18. Be-passive • He stole my car last week. • -- My car was stolen last week. • All the six senators have signed the bill. • -- The bill has ben signed (by all the six senators). • They can do this in different ways. • -- This can be done in different ways. • We are going to put off the sports meet until the end of the month. • -- The sports meet is going to be put off until the end of the month. • We have painted the windows white. • -- The windows have been painted white. • They offered him some assistance. • -- He was offered some assistance. • -- Some assistance was offered to him.

19. The story was written by Shakespeare. (to stress the agent or doer) • He arribed at London where he was met by his friend. (to avoid changing the subject midway) • The picture was painted by a very good friend of mine whom I’d like you to meet sometime. (to avoid the subject being top-heavy)

20. Get-passive, • Cf . The children were punished. • The childern got punished. • Can the ship be seen on the horizon? • *Can the ship get seen on the horizon? • I want you to watch carefully how the machine is being operated. • ?I want you to watch carefully how the machine is getting operated. • The play was written by Shakespeare. • *The play got written by Shakespeare. • The book eventually got translated into Chinese.

21. Pseudo-passive • He was completely confused. • She felt annoyed at his negligence at work. • You look tired.

22. Grammatical constraints • I have a lot of friends. • *A lot of friends are had by me. • He lacks sense of humor. • *Sense of humor is lacked by him. • elude, escape, fit, flee, get, have, lack, let, race, resemble, suit, survive, etc • I treated myself a substantial meal at Christmas. • We should help each other. • He said that he was innocent. • I want to talk to your father. • She enjoyed being flattered. • He is gone. • She was born in Shanghai.

23. Semantic constraints • Cf. Few students have read many books in the school. • Many books have been read by few students in the school. • Cf. Every student has read at least one English novel. • One English novel at least has been read by every student. • Cf. You can use the computer now. • The computer can be used now.

24. Stylistic constraints • Passive constructions may be found both in informal English such as everday conversations and in formal English such as legal documents. • The passive voice occurs more frequently in the expository or informative prose such as in newspaper reports, scientific writing and government documents.

25. By-phrase • She was murdered last night. • The house was built ten years ago. • Air attacks were carried out on the town. • The newspaper had been delivered by the dog.

26. Passive voice of phrasal verbs • The children are well looked after. • The conclusion was finally arrived at. • *The station was finally arrived at. • The sports meet is to be put off. • He was looked down upon in the community. • We must pay special attention to the important issue. • -- This important issue must be paid special attention to. • -- Special attention msut be paid to this important issue.

27. Passive voice of non-finite verbs • She expects to be praised. • She expects him to be praised. • He insisted on being respected in the office. • He insisted on his wife being respected in the office. • He forgot to be photographed. • He forgot being photographed.