BEGE

IJNIT -1- AN INTRODUCTION
- -- - A
TO PHONETICS
- --
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
The Production of Speech
A Phonetic Description of Speech Sounds
1 $3.1 Vowels and Consonants
1.3.2 Description of Vowels
1.3.3 Description of Consonants
1.3.4 Broader Classification of Sounds
The Use of Phonetic Symbols
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
1.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall introduce you to the terms 'phonetics' and 'phonology'
and show you how we can give a phonetic description of speech sounds.
Recording
An audio recording accompanies this unit and is available at the study centers
I of the university.
I 1.1 INTRODUCTION
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. Every language uses a limited

number of speech sounds and makes its own selection out of the large number
of difrerent sounds the human vocal orsans can produce. Phonetics is
concerned with the description and classification of these sounds on the basis
of how they are produced by our vocal organs (articulatory phonetics), how
, they are perceived by our hearing mechanism (auditory phonetics), and how
they are transmitted in the air (acoustic phonetics).
Phorrology is concerned with hon a particular language organises its sounds

~ntodistinctke units (called phonemes), ho\v the phonemes are combined into
.sq'llnhles. and how the prosottic features of lengtlz, stress and pitch are
organised into patterns.
The use of spoken language involves a complicated series of operations. The

concept in the speaker's brain is given a linguistic form which is
communicated by the nerves to the speech organs. As a result of the
Phonetics and movements of these organs, disturbances are set up in the air in the form of
Phonology- 1 sound waves, and these sound waves are received by the listener's ears. 'T'he
nerves carry the sensation to the brain, where the sounds are perceived and
their meaning is interpreted.
// Natal Cavity
Fig:1 The Organs 01 Speech
For the production of speech we need a source of energy: fbr thc sounds of'
English and most Indian languages, the air-stream coming out of the lungs
provides this energy.
Figure I shows the various organs of speech. The windpipe carrying the air-
stream from the lungs is known as the trachea. At the top of the trachea is llie
larynx, which contains the vocal cords. l'he vocal cords call be brought
together to close the air passage completely. This is what wc d o when uc
cough, for example; the air from the lungs is first held up and the11suddenl!
released by separating the vocal cords. When we breath out, the vocal cords
are wide apart, the opening between them being called the glottis. If the vocal
cords are held together rather loosely, they vibrate when the air from the lungs
passes between them. This vibration, that is, the closing and opening of the
glottis at a fast rate, produces a musical note called voice. Speech sounds can
be either voiced, when they are loosely held together and vibrate or voiceless.
when they are far apart and do not vibrate. You can fccl t h e differcncc b!
touching the neck near the larynx, while saying Is1 and li.1 alternatel!
/sssszzzzssss./ (We shall use phonetic symbols to represent sounds and pldcc
them between oblique bars.)
he shape o f the mouth cavity depends on the position o f the tongue and the An Introduction to
lips. Phonetics
The rool'of the mouth i s divided into three parts: the teeth ridge, just behind
the upper teeth, the hard palate. and the soft palate.
The soft palate i s normally raised, so that the passage through the nose i s
blocked and the air from the lungs comes out through the mouth (oral
sounds). The soft palate can be lowered so that the air from the lungs can
come out through the nose (nasal consonants). 'The soft palate can also be kept
in a neutral position so that the air from the lungs comes out through both the
oral and the nasal cavities (nasalized sounds).
/ The lips can assume various positions, from being rounded to neutral to
unrounded.
'I'he tongue can be said to have three sections - the part opposite the teeth
ridge i s called the blade and its end i s called the tip. The part opposite the hard
palate i s called the front and that opposite the soft palate is called the back.
'fhe part at the base o f the tongue i s called the root. Various parts o f the
tongue can be raised towards the roof o f the mouth to produce different
sounds.
1.3.1 Vowels and Consonants

We can divide all speech sounds into two broad categories - vowels and
consonants. When we produce a vowel sound, the air from the lungs comes
out freely through the mouth and the vocal cords vibrate to produce voice.
There i s no closure o f the air passage and no narrowing that would cause
I audible friction. A l l other sounds are called consonants.
! 1.3.2 Description of Vowels
i She quality o f vowel depends on the shape o f the mouth cavity, and that
depends on the positions o f the tongue, the lips and the lower jaw. Vowels can
, therefore be described on the basis o f tongue positions and lip positions.
' i) For most vowels either the front, or the back, or the center o f the
tongue i s raised to a certain height. Depending on which part o f the
tongue i s the highest, we can classify vowels as front vowels, back
vowels and central vowels.
Examples
Front vowels: the vowels in the English words sheep, ship,bed, bad.
Back vowels: the vowels in the English words calm, pot, caught, put, boot.
Central vowels: the vowels in the English words cut, bird and father (second
syllable).
ii) Depending on the height to which the tongue i s raised, we can classiq
vowels as close (that is, as near the roof o f the mouth as possible), or
open (that is, as low as possible), or as belonging to one o f the two
intermediate categories - half-close and half-open.
Phonetics and Example
Phonology- 1
Close voweb: the vowels in the English words sheep ur~dboor.
Open vowels: the vowels in the English words caltn undpot.
iii) The lips can assume various positions for the production ol'difTercnt
vowels. They can be spread as for the vowel in tlie English word keep,
neutral as for the vowel in bed, open as for the vnwd in calm. open
rounded ad for the vowel in pot, or close roundeci as for the vowcl in
boot.
1.3.3 Descriptiun of Consonants
When we describe a consonant, we have to indicate.

.1
i) whether the sound is voiced or voiceless, that is. whethcr thc vocal
cords vibrate or not.
Examples
voiced /bd g v z m 1 r l
voiceless: Ip t k f s hl
ii) whether the soft palate is raised or lowered. that is, whcther the air-
stream passes through the mouth only (as for oral sounds like Ip b t d
k g f v s 21 or through the nose only (as for n~asalsounds like /m nl);
iii) the place of articulation, that is, where in the tnouth the closure or
narrowing takes place; and
iv) the manner of articulation, that is, the degree or kind of closure or
narrowing that is assumed in producing the solrnd.
Place of Articulation
We can classify consonants according to the place of articulation as follows:
Bilabial: the closure or narrowing is between the two lips, as for

Ip b m..
Labio-dental: the narrowing is between the lower lip and the upper
teeth, as for If vl.
Dental: the closure or narrowing is between the tip of the
tongue and the upper teeth, as in the English sounds 10.
61 at the beginning of the words thing and ti~c,(hen.
Alveolar: the closure or narrowing is between the blade of the
tongue and the teeth-ridge, as for I t d s z n 11.
Palato-alveolar: the closure or narrowing is between the blade of the
tongue and the teeth-ridge, with the front of the tongue
also raised towards the hard plate, as for ltf, d ~f/. at the
beginning of the English words cheer, jump and short.
Velar: the closure or narrowing is between the back of the
tongue and the soft palate, as for /kg/.
Glottal: the narrowing is between the vocal cords, as tor /h/.
Manner of Articulation: An Introduction to
Phonetics
We can also classiQ consonants according to the manner of articulation as
I
follows:
! Plosive: There is a complete closure of the air passage. The air is
held up and then released with an explosion, as in /p b
t dkgl.
I Affricate: There is complete closure of the air-passage and then
I
I
I the air is released slowly with friction, as for /t[, da/ at
, the beginning of the English words cheer and jump.
I Nasal : There is a complete closure of the air-passage in the
mouth, but the soft palate is lowered to let the air come
out through the nose. Examples: /m nl.
Lateral: There is a closure in the middle but the air is free to
come out along the sides, as for /I/.
Fricative: There is a narrow passage for the air to pass through; so
there is audible friction, as for If v s z h/.
Approximant: There is less narrow opening between articulators, so
that the sounds can pass relatively freely without any
friction, as for example, Iw j/.
1.3.4 Broader classification of sounds

Speech sounds are classified across the vowel-consonant distinction on
account of shared phonetic properties.
Obstruent: In the production of certain consonants involving a narrowing

or closing of the air passage in the oral cavity, the air pressure
before the closure is higher than the air pressure outside the
closure. The manners of articulation involved in the production
of such sounds are plosive, fricative and affricate. These
sounds are called obstruents.
Sonorant: In the production of sounds produced with opener transitions or
with closure in one cavity but free release through another
cavity, the air pressure inside and outside the mouth is the
same. Such sounds are called sonorants. All the vowels and
the remaining classes of consonants, namely, nasals, laterals
and approximants are sonorant sounds.
1.4 THE USE OF PHONETIC SYMBOLS
We shall use the phonetic symbols suggested by the International Phonetic

Association to represent the sound of speech.
Check Your Progress
1. What is phonetics?
Phonetics and What is phonology?
Phonology-l
Give the names of the important organs of speech.
What is the source of energy for most speech sounds?
Distinguish between voiced and voiceless sounds, giving examples.
What is the phonetic difference between vowels and consonants?
How do we classify vowels?

8. Distinguish between oral and nasal sounds, giving examples. An Introduction to
Phonetics
9. How will you describe the consonants in the following English words?
spoken
In/ .................................................................................
aimed
/m/ .................................................................................
/dl .................................................................................
be/ief
/b/ .................................................................................
/I/ ..................................................................................
If/ .................................................................................
10. Give examples from English o f
i) a lateral consonant
ii) a nasal consonant
iii) a voiced alveolar plosive consonant
iv) a voiceless velar plosive consonant
v) a voiced labio-dental fricative consonant
1.5 LETUSSUMLIP
In this unit we have introduced you to the terms 'phonetics' and 'phonology',
and shown you how we can give a phonetic description o f speech sounds -
vowels and consonants.
Phonetics and -- --- .--- - -- -- .. - . ..
Phonologv- I 1.6 KEY WORDS .
The mark ( ' ) indicates that the following syllable is stressed.

'affricate: a consonant sound consisting of plosive followed by a
fricative in the same part of the mouth. Example: /tj/in
church.
'alveolar: a consonant like It1 and /dl made bj pi~ttillgthc tonguc
on or near the teeth-ridge.
bi'labial: a consonant produced with both lips. Examples: /p. b/.
'dental: a sound formed with the tip of the tongue against the
upper front teeth. Example: /8/ in tttink.
'fricative: a consonant made by forcing air out through a narrow
opening. Examples: If, v, s, z/.
'glottis: the space between the vocal cords.
'larynx: the hollow, box-like part at the. upper erid of tlie
windpipe in which 'voice' is produced by the vocal
cords.
'nasal: a speech sound made though the nose, c.g. /m/atid In:.
'obstruent: Plosives, fricatives and affricates.
'palate: the roof of the mouth.
pho'neme: the smallest distinctive unit in a language used to make
a word different from another. Example: /p/ in pcJt and
/b/ in bet represent different phonemes.
pho'netics: the science of speech sounds.
pho'oology: the system of speech sounds in a particular language.
pitch: the degree of highness or lowness of the tnusical note of
the voice.
'plosive: a consonant sound made by stopping tlie air completely
and then letting it out quickly out of thc mouth.
Example:/b/ in bat.
'sonorants: vowels, nasals, laterals, and approximants.
stress: the degree of force put on a part of the word making it
seem stronger than other parts. Example: The second
syllable has the stress in phonetics.
'syllable: a word or part of word which contains a vowel sound or
a consonant acting as a vowel. Example: 'The word
nasal has two syllables.
tra'chea: the windpipe
'velar: a sound made with the back of the tongue touching or
coming near the soft palate. Example: /k, g/.
voice: the musical note produced by the vibration of the vocal
cords.
------.
1.7 SOME USEFUL BOOKS
Bansal R.K. and J.B. Harrison 1983: Spoken English .for India. Second
Edition, Chennai: Orient Longman.
Longman Dictionary of ContemporaryEnglish.
An Introduction to
Ladefoged Peter. 1 974. A Course in Phonetics. New York: '~arcourt,Brace
Phonetics
and Jovanovic.
Oxford Advanced Learner S Dictionary of Current English, Third Edition,
revised.
Sethi, J. and P.V.Dhamija 1999. A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English,
2ndedition, New Delhi, Prentice Hall o f India.
1.8 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress
1. Phonetics is the study o f the sounds o f human speech.
2. Phonology is the study o f the sound system o f a particular language.
We also know how the sounds are organized into distinctive units
called phonemes, how the phonemes are combined into syllables, and
how the features o f length, stress and pitch are organized into patterns.
3. Lungs, trachea, larynx vocal cords, teeth, teeth-ridge, hard palate, soft
palate, nasal cavity, tongue, lips.
4. The air-stream coming out o f the lungs.
5. Sounds in the production o f which the vocal cords vibrate and produce
a musical note are called voiced sounds. Examples: all vowels, the
consonants /b, d, g, v, z, m, n, I/. Sounds in the production o f which the
vocal cords are held apart are voiceless sounds. Examples: the
consonants /p t k f st.
6. In the production o f vowels sounds the air from the lungs comes out in
a continuous stream through the mouth, and the vocal cords vibrate to
produce voice. There i s no closure o f the air-passage in the mouth; nor
any narrowing that would cause audible friction. A l l other sounds are
consonants.
Example: the word sit has a vowel sound in the middle, and two
consonants, one in the beginning and one at the end.
7. (i) According to the part o f the tongue raised
front vowels
back vowels
central vowels
(ii) According to the height to which the tongue i s raised
close
half-close
ha1f-open
open
(iii) According to lip positions
lips spread
lips neutral
lips open
lips open rounded
lips close rounded.
8. Oral sounds are produced with the soft palate raised to shut o f f the
nasal passage.
Examples: / p b t d k g f v s z 11.
Soft palate to let the air pass though the nose. Examples: Im nl.
9. /s/ voiceless, alveolar, fricative
/p/ voiceless, bilabial, plosive
Phonetics and /kJ voiceless, velar, plosive
Phondogy- 1 In/voiced, alveolar, nasal
/mlvoiced, bilabial, nasal
/dl voiced, alveolar, plosive
/b/voiced, bilabial, plosive
111voiced, alveolar, lateral
/E/ voiced, labiodental, fricative
10. i) 111 in lamp, ii) /m/in map, iii) Id/ in day,iv) in cat?v) /v/in very.
UNIT 2 ENGLISH VOWELS - 1
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
The English Vowels
Vowels in British Received Pronunciation
2.3.1 Pure Vowels
2.3.2 Acceptable Indian Variants
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
2.0-OBJECTIVES
- -
In this unit we shall begin our study of English phonology and take up the
vowel system first. We shall describe the 12 pure vowels of British Received
Pronunciation and illustrate their use. After completing this unit you should be
able to
distinguish between the different pure vowel sound in English, and

find out from the dictionary which vowel sounds are to be used in
particular words
Recording
An audio recording based on Units 2-3 is also available at the study centers of
the University.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 1 we gave you a brief introduction to phonetics. We shall now

introduce you to phonology, by which we mean the sound system of a
language. Every language has a number of distinctive sound units called
phonemes, and it is possible to discover them in only one sound. We can say
that the phonemes are the smallest units in a language that can bring
about a difference in meaning. For example, a set of English words like pen,
ten, den, hen, men, wren, when gives us a list of seven distinctive consonant
phonemes /p t d h m r w/.
One or more phonemes form a syllable. Every syllable has a nucleus, that is, a
sound more prominent than the rest, which is usually a vowel or a consonant
used like a.vowel. Every language has its own patterns of syllable structure.
An English syllable has a vowel or a 'syllabic' consonant as the nucleus, and
it may have one or more consonants before and after the nucleus. For
Phonetics and example, the word street / s t r i : t / has the structure CCCVC, where V and C
Phonology-I
represent vowel and consonant elements. In the word cotton / ' kw-tn/, we have
two syllables with the structure CV - CV (- indicates syllable division). V in
the second syllable here is represented by the syllabic consonant In/.l'he mark
/ ' / indicates that the following syllable is stressed.)
Besides phonemes and syllable structure, we also study what are called
prosodic features, which include length, stress and pitch.
2.2 THE ENGLISH VOWELS
In the matter of vowels there are two slightly different systems used in thc
English-speaking world. In some varieties of English the consonant sound /r/
is used only before vowel sounds. (We shall use the ph'onetic symbols to
represent and put them within slanting lines / / to indicate that they represent
the sounds of the language and not the letters of the alphabet.) In this category
we have what is called Received Pronunciation of England. that is. the kind
of pronunciation that is well received or accepted as the standard in England.
It is the form of speech generally used by educated people i n the south of
England. We shall use the abbreviation R.P. to refer to this kind of
pronunciation.
Examples
The sound / r / does not occur in the pronunciation of the following words in
R.P. arm, born, force, serve, modern.
There are other varieties of spoken English in which the sound /r/ occurs in
all positions, that is before vowel sounds, before consonant sounds, and
finally. Most varieties of American and Indian English fall in this category. As
a result of this pattern of the occurrence of 11-1, these varieties can manage
with fewer vowel'sounds than R.P.
Example: shot and short are distinguished by using two different vowel
sounds in R.P., because 11-1 does not occur in short. In /r/-pronouncing
varieties the same vowel can be used in both words and the distinction is made
by the presence of / r / in short.
2.3 VOWELS IN BRITISH RECEIVED

PRONUNCIATION
English, according to British R.P., operates on a system of 20 distinctive

vowel units or phonemes. We can divide them into two broad categories -
pure vowels or monophthongs, that is, vowels that do not change in quality
even when they are made long and diphthongs, that is, vowels in the
production of which there is a glide from one quality to another within the
same syllable.
A list of these 20 vowel phonemes is given below. For each vowel phoneme English Vowels-1
we shall give a phonetic symbol and place it within oblique bars. Among pure
vowels, some are relatively long, and the symbols for them have mark /:/ to
indicate length.
The symbols for diphthongs consist of two letters each, one to indicatefhe
vowel quality at the beginning and the other the vowel quality towards which
the glide takes place. The symbols used for English (R.P.) vowel phonemes
vary from one book to another. In this course we shall use the symbol adopted
by two famous dictionaries that we have recommended for reference. These
are:
1. Longman Dictionay of Contemporary English
2. A.S. Hornby: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current
English, 3rdedition (revised).
Pure Vowels
1 SI. No. I Symbol 1 Key Word I Key Words in Phonetic 1
1 1 I I Transcriotion 1
I
1 /i:/ seat /si:t/
2 /I/ Sit /SI t/
3/el
--
4 I=/ Sat /saet/
5 /a:/ cart /ka:t/
-- - - -- - - -
2.3.1 Pure Vowels

Let's take up the pure vowels first. We shall divide them into three groups -
front vowels, back vowels, and central vowels.
The Front Vowels
The four front vowels in English, according to R.P. are /i:/as in seat, /I/ as
in sit, /el as in set and /se/ as in sat.
as in seal
/i:/
Phonetics and
Phonology-1
This vowel can be described as front, close vowel produced with spread lips..
It can occur at the beginning of a word, in the middle, and at the end.
Examples:
eat /i:t/ Word-initial /i:/

each /i:tS/
seed /si:d/ Word-medial /i:l
seat 1si: t /
bee hi:/ Word-final /i:/
tea /ti:/
This vowels is represented by various spelling in English.
Examples: com'plete, green, beat, chief, seize, ma'chine, key, and 'people.
/I/ as in sit
This is a fiont vowel between close and half-close. It can occur word-initially
and medially, but in the final position it can occur only in an unstressed
syllable.
Examples
inn /~n/ Word-initial /I/

if /~f/
bid h~d/ Word-medial /I/
pitch /p~tS/ Word-final /I/
city / ' s 1 t 11
In British R.P /I/ is a very common vowel in unstressed syllables.
Examples
Stressed: rich, 'system, 'busy, 'build, be'gin, 'city, ' village, 'parties.
Unstressed: 'minute, 'coffee, 'money, 'carriage, 'captain, 'useless, 'wanted,

'James 's, 'foreign.
/el as in set
This is a front vowel between half-close and half-open. It does not occur in
the final position.
Example
egg leg/ Word-initial /el

any /'en11
men /men/ Word-medial /el
ten /ten/
This vowel can be represented by various spelling: English Vowels-l
e.g., set, head, ' any, ' bury, friend, ' leisure, said.
'I'his is a front vowel between open and half-open. It does not occur in the
final position
Example
ant /=nt/ Word-initial I=/

act /=kt/
cat k t / Word-medial /ad
bat /b= t /
It is very important to make a distinction, in your speech, between these four

vowels. Apart from the differences in quality, notice that /i:/ is relatively long
compared to /I/. There are a number of words, in which if we replace /i:/ by
/I/ and keep the other sounds the same, the meaning of the word changes
completely. Similarly, if we replace /I/by /el, or /el by /ae/ in certain words,
the meaning of the word changes. Some examples are give below.
beat / bi:t/ and bi h ~ t / The replacement of /i:/ by

bean /bi:n/ and bin h ~ n / /I/changes the meaning of the words.
deed /di:d/ and did / d ~ d
ease /i:d and is 11d
bit / b ~/ tand bet / bet / The replacement of /I/ by /el changes

bid / b ~ dand
/ bed /bed/ the meanings of the words.
sit /sit/ and set /set/
bed /bed/ and badhaedl The replacements of /el by /ae/ changes

pen /pen/ and pan /paen/ the meanings of the words.
ten /ten/ and tan /tien/
said /sed/ and sad Isaed
In fact there are sets of four words each, which are different only in one
vowel sound. Take the word deed, for example; if we replace the vowels in
this word by the short vowel /I/ and keep the other sounds the same, we get
the word did. Similarly, if we replace /I/by /el we get the new word dead. If
we replace /el by /ae/ we get yet another new word dad. A few such sets of
words are given below.
'Table 1
Words contrasting four front vowels
/i:/,/I/,/el and /ae/

Phonetics and S.No /i:/ /I/ /e/
Phondqy- I
1 seat Sit set
/si:t/ /sI~/ /set/
2 bead bid bed
/bi:d/ /b~d/ /bed/ /baed/
3 I neat I knit I net I
The Back Vowels
The back vowels in R.P. are /a:/, lo/, /a:/, /u/,and /u:/.
/a:/ as in cart
This is a long back vowel produced with the mouth wide open.
Examples:
ask /a:sk/ Word-initial /a:/

aunt /a:nt/
past /pa:st/ Word-med ial /a:/
fast / fa:st/
car ka:/ Word-final /a:/
bar ha:/
(In R.P. /r/ does not occur in the final position, except when a word beginning .
with a vowel follows immediately. This vowel can be represented by various
spelling, e.g., hard, ask, calm, laugh, clerk, heart.)
/D/as in cot
This back vowel is almost open and is produced with the lips sliglitly
rounded. It does not occur in the final position.
Examples
odd / od/ Word-initial /o/

on / on/
not / not/ Word-medial /o/
cot / kut/
This vowel can be represented by various spelling, e.g., want, cough,

know ledge.
/a:/ as in caught, horse, court
This is a back half-open vowel and the lips are rounded.
Examples:
ought /a:t/ Word-initial /a:/

order ra:da/
caught / k ~ : t / Word-medial /a:/ English Vowels-1
taught /ta:t/
saw / s d Word-final ID:/
law /la:/
This vowel can be represented by various spelling, e.g., all, horse, court,
more, bought, door, law, cause, talk, warm, board, caught, broad.
This back vowel is between half-close and close, and is produced with the lips
rounded. It does not occur in the final position. It occurs only in the weakform
of to.
Examples
put /put/ Word-medial /u/

book lbuW
This vowel can be represented by various spelling, e.g., good, woman, bush
/u:/as in fool
'This is a long back, close vowel and is produced with the lips rounded.
Examples:
ooze /u:z/ Word-initial /u:/

boon /bu:n/ Word-medial /u:/
moon /mu:n/
two /tu:/ Word-final /u:/
shoe /Su:l
This vowel can be represented by various spelling e.g., rude, food, move,
group, fruit, shoe, two.
Look at the following tables in which words contrasting the vowels /a:/, 101,
/a:/, and the vowel /ul and /u:l are given.
Table 2
Words contrasting the back vowels
1 a:/, I'D/,and 1 a:/
1 I I cart
/ka:t/ 1 cot
k~t/
12 I card I cod I cord 1
Phonedm and Table 3
PhondogV-l
Words contrasting the back vowels
/u/ and /u:/
S. No. /u/ /u:/

1 pull /pull pool /pu:l/
2 full /ful/ fool /fu:l/
3 hood k u d who'd /hu:d/
The Central Vowels

The central vowels in English (R.P) are /A/, Is:/, and /el.
ld as in cup
This is a central vowel, between open and half-open. It does not occur in the
final position. Examples .
up /~p/ Word-initial /A/
uncle /~rjkl/
cut lkhtl Word-medial /A/
cup /hp/
This vowel can be represented by various spelling, e.g., cup, come, country,
blood, does.
/3:/ as in bird
This is a central vowel between half-close and half-open and occurs only in
stressed syllables. Examples
earn I ' s:n/ Word-initial /3:1

early /s:nl
learn /Is:nl Word-medial /3:/
bird /bs:dl
fur /f3:/ Word-final /3:/
cur k3:l
This vowel can be represented by various spellings, e.g., serve, bird, bum,
word, 'early, 'journey.
/e/ as in the first syllable of the word a'go
This is a central vowel between half-close and half-open. In R.P. it never

occurs in a stressed syllable, but is the most frequently occurring vowel in
unstressed syllables. A few examples of words in which /a/ occurs are given
below:
ago Ia'gaul Word-initial /a/

above /albhv/
purpose / 'ps:pas/ Word-medial /a/
command / keqma:nd/
father / 'fa:bal Word-final /a/
clever / 'kleve/
This vowel can be represented by various spelling, e.g. 'human, 'backward,

'problem, 'liberty, 'terrible, con'dition, 'effort, 'famous, suc'ceed, sur'prise,
'drama, father, 'actor, 'colour, 'thorough, 'nature, 'centre.
Check Your Progress 1

1. Write down the phonetic symbol for the vowel sound represented by
the underlined letter(s) in each of the following words (according to
R.P.). Use your dictionary, if you like.
For example: re 'late - /I/
-
Check your answers with those given by us at the end of the unit. Then say
each word correctly. You can also listen to these words on the audio
recording.
i) took .................................................................
ii) fool ...................................................................
iii) cqm'pare ..................................................................
iv) pg'lice ...............................................................
vi) mse ..................................................................

vii) 'cucum be^ ..................................................................
viii) 'c~lmr ..................................................................
ix) 'c~m
rade ..................................................................
xi) 'common ..................................................................

xii) b m h t ..................................................................
xiii) t w h t ..................................................................
xiv) 'gpper'tunity .....;............................................................
xv) grange ..................................................................
, ...
xvi) pgrpgn'djcglar ..................................................................

xvii) 'music ..................................................................
xviii) cgm'pgte ..................................................................
xix) 'rather ..................................................................
XX) 'party ..................................................................
2. The following pairs of words are distinguished by the vowel sounds in
them. Write down the symbols for the vowels that bring about the
distinction. Check your answers with those given by us at the end of
Phonetics and the unit. After you have checked your answers, say each pair of words,
Phonology- l making a clear distinction between the vowel sounds. You can also
listen to the words on the audio recording.
i) (a) heal (b) hill

i i) (a) lift (b) left
iii) (a) said (b) sad
iv) (a) cap (b) CUP
v) (a) cut (b) cart
vi) (a) bus (b) boss
vii) (a) heart (b) hot
viii) (a) Pot (b) Port
2.3.2 Acceptable Indian Variants
1 The vowels /a:/ and /3:/ do not exist in most varieties of lndian
English. Nor are /A/and /e/ kept distinct. As a result:
i) The distinction between words like cot k ~ t and

/ caught /ka:t/ is not
maintained, the same vowel /PI being used in both. It suggested that,
in words like caught, a longer variety of /u/ may be used to
distinguish them from words like cot.
R.P. Suggested lndian Variants
cot kut/ kut/
caught ka:t/ /ku:t/
ii) The distinction between words like shot /Sut/ and short /Sa:t/, is
made not by using two different vowels, but by using /u/ in both and
retaining the /r/ sound in words like short.
R.P. Acceptable Indian Variants
shot /S ~ t . 1 /Jut/
shortt IS a:t/ /S:urt/
This is quite acceptable so long as /r/ is retained in words like short.

iii) In words like court and force, where R.P. has /a:/, most lndian
speakers used the vowel /o:/(the one they use in words like coat) with
lrl after it. This is quite acceptable.
court /ka:t/ ko:rt/
force Jf a:sl /fo:rs/
iv) The same vowel is used for both /A/ and /el. This does not matter so
long as the correct stress pattern is maintained.
The distinction between words like shut lShtl and shirt IS 3:tl is made E
- Vow&-1
v)
not by using two different vowels but by using /a/ in both and
retaining the /r/ sound in words like shirt.
*
shut /ShV IS et/
shirt IS3:tl /S ertl

1. Listen to the following sentences on the audio recording and then say
them with the correct vowel sounds. The stressed syllables have been
marked for you.
He 'couldn't 'prove it.
He 'acted very 'well.
'Are you the 'captain?
It is 'not 'worth the 'trouble.
His 'honesty has been re'warded.
'What 'courses are you 'studying?
Can you 'come at 'half 'past 'seven?
It's been a :busy 'week for me.
Did she 'marry the 'man she 'loved?
I'm 'sorry I 'can't ac'cept your sugg'estions.
2. Listen to the following dialogue on the audio recording and then read it
aloud with the correct vowel sounds. The stressed syllables been
marked and some sentences have been divided into groups.
Can I 'speak to Mister 'Gopinath, 'please?
1 'think he 'isn't 'in, I'll 'check.
'Hold on a 'minute, 'please. (After a few seconds)
He's 'gone 'outland will be 'back at 'four in the after'noon.
Can you 'take a 'message, 'please?
'Certainly. 'Wait a 'second/till I 'get some 'paper and 'pencil.
'Yes. 'Who's 'calling1 and 'what's the 'message?
My 'name is Ra'mesh, Ra'mesh 'Chandran, from 'K.G. 'F.
'Yes?
'Actually he 'asked me to 'call him this after'noon, in
con'nection with an 'interview.
'Oh! 'Why didn't you 'tell me be'fore? 'I have a 'message for
'you .
A: What 'is it?
B: 'The 'interview's at 'half past 'four to'day. And 'please bring 'all
your cer'tificates with you.
A: 'Thank you.
B: You are most 'welcome.
2.4 LET US SUM UP
Phonology is a study of the sound system of a language. It includes a study of

(i) distinctive sound units in the language, called phonemes, (ii) the way
phonemes combine into syllables, and (iii) prosodic features like length, stress
and pitch.
Phonefics and R. P. has 20 vowel phonemes - 12 pure vowels and 8 diphthongs. In this unit
Phonology-1 we have concentrated on the pure vowels. We have also described the
acceptable Indian variants.
2.5 KEY WORDS
back vowel: a vowel produced by raising the back of the

tongue, e.g., the vowel in too.
diphthong: a vowel sound in which there is glide from one
vowel quality to another within the same
syllable; e.g., the vowel in my. /ma11
front vowel: a vowel produced by raising the front of the
tongue; e.g., the vowel in see.
monophthong: a vowel sound of unchanging quality, e.g., /I i:
u el
Received Pronunciation: the generally accepted standard of pronunciation
in British English.
vowel: a speech sound in which (i) the air from the
lungs comes out without any stoppage, (ii) there
is no narrowing of the air-passage to cause
audible ftiction, and (iii) the vocal cords vibrate
to produce voice.
Balasubramanian, T. (1 98 1, 1987).A Textbook of English Phoneticsfor Indim

Students, Macmillian India Limited.
Bansal, R.K. and J.B. Harrison (1983). Spoken English for Indin. Orient
Longrnan (Second Edition)
CI EFEL. Exercises in Spoken English: Part 3: Vowels, Oxford University
Press, 1 98 1.
2.7 ANSWERS
i)
i i)
iii)
iv)
v)
v i)
vii)
viii)
ix)
x) English Vowels-1
xi)
xii)
xiii)
xiv)
xv)
xvi)
xvii)
xviii)
xix)
2, i)
i i)
iii)
iv)
v)
v i)
vii)
viii)
UNIT 3 ENGLISH VOWELS - 2 --- - -.- --
. . --- .
Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The English Diphthongs
3.2.1 Closing Diphthongs
3.2.2 Centring Diphthongs
3.3 Let Us Sum Up
3.4 Some Useful Moks
3.5 Answers
---- -
3.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall give you some information about the diphthongs that
occur in English (Reoeived Pronunciation). Once you go through this unit
carefully, you should be able to
distinguish between the different diphthongs, and

find out from the dictionary which diphthongs arc used in particular
words.
Recording
An audio recording based on Units 2-3 is sent with this material and is also
available at the Study Centers of the University.
-- . --- - -- -- -
. .. -. --
-. -.- --. -.- -
3.1 INTRODUCTION ------ - -- --- --. -....-. . - .--.--- ..
..-. +
As already pointed out in Unit 2, diphthongs are vowels glides within the
same syllable. British Received Pronunciation has 8 distinct diphthongs, but
most varieties of India English have not more than 6.
-------
3.2 THE ENGLLSH DIPHTHONGS --
The 8 diphthongs in British R.P. are:
Of these the first five are called closing diphthongs because the glide is
towards a closer vowel. The last three are called centring diphthongs, bccause
the glide in them is towards a central vowel.
3.2.1 Closing Diphthongs English Vowels-2
Examples
aim /e~m/ Word-initial Ie11
eight /e~t/
played /pleddl Word-medial Ie11
plate 1ple1t.J
say Ise11 Word-final /e11
M'aY /we11
This diphthong can be represented by various spelling e.g., age, day, pain,
they, break. Most people in lndia use a vowel /e:/ instead of the diphthong
l e d . 'This is quite acceptable so long as /e:/ is made long enough and is
clearly distinguished from /el as in get.
/el as in get and 1011 (or long /e:/) as in gate

Examples
/el /e11
be1 l bail, bale
cell, sell sale
debt date
fel l fail
men main
Example
oats 11- Word-initial 1 9 1

own /_e-yn/
boat &3JJt/ Word-medial I=/
foam Ifeuml
go /g%/ Word-final 1 ~ 3 1
SO /SN/
This diphthong can be represented by various spelling; e.g., home, blow, boat,
Ihotrgh.
Most speakers in lndia use a long monophthong lo:/ instead of the diphthong
leu/. This is quite acceptable.
Example
ice /a~s/
eyes 1a ~ z l
Phonetlcs and bite /ba~t/ Word-medial /a11
Phondogy-1 side /sa~d/
buy ha11 Word-final /a11
CrY /kra~/
This diphthong can be represented by various spelling; e.g., bite, t!pe, die,
high, height, eye, buy.
/au/ as in cow
owl /au I/ Word-initial /au/

out /ad ,
crowd /kraud/ Word-medial /au/
noun /naun/
COW /kau/ Word-final /au/
now /nau/
This diphthong can be represented by the spellings ou (as in house) and ow (as
in cow).
1311 as in boy
Example
oil lo111 Word-initial 131 /

ointment /'ointment/
boil /bo~/ Word-medial lo11
soil /so I/
boy /bo~/ Word-final 131 /
joy /dao~/
The usual spelling for this diphthong are oi (as in boil) and oy (as in boy)
3.2.2 Centring Dlphthongs
/Iel as in here
Examples
ear / ~ e / Word-initial / ~ e /
eerie /'rer~/
fierce / f ~ e1s Word-medial / ~ e /
mereZy 1 'm1e11/
deaddeer / d Ie / Word-final / ~ e /
near / n ~/e
This diphthong can be represented by various spelling; e.g., deer, dear, here, English vowels-2
fierce. In words like period, serious, zero, R.P. has 11aI in the first syllable,
but most Indian speakers use /i:/ instead. This is quite acceptable.
leal as in hair
Examples
aerial 1 'eariall Word-initial leal

uir leal
careful 1 'keafu I Word-medial leal
during I 'dear1q 1
care I kea 1 Word-final leal
I dare 1d e a 1
This diphthong can be represented by various spelling; e.g., air, care, bear,
their.
In words like 'aerial, 'area, 'parents, 'various, R.P. has the diphthong leal - in
the tirst syllable, but most Indian speakers pronounce it as /e:/, instead. This is
, quite acceptable.
Iual as in poor
Examples
during I 'djuerrq I Word-medial /uel

tourist I ' t u a r ~ s 1t
poor I 'pue 1 Word-final /ue/
totrr I 'tue 1
The diphthong /us1 does not occur in the word-initial position. It can be
represented by various spellings: e.g., poor, sure, tour.
In words like during and tour R.P. has the diphthong Iual, but most Indian
speakers use the monophthong /u:/.
Check Your Progress

C
A. Write down the phonetic symbol for the diphthong represented by the
i italicized letter(s) in the following words according to British R.P. You

may, if you wish, consult your dictionary.
Example: re'late Ie11
Check your answers with the ones given at the end of this unit, after you have
completed the exercise. Then say each word correctly. Check your
pronunciation with the recording.
Phonmmcs ond I) em'plg ..................................................................
Phonology- I
2) fierce ..................................................................
3) a'@ ..................................................................
4) 'ancient ..................................................................
5) baerd ..................................................................
6) 'daring ..................................................................
7) 'calculate ..................................................................
12) fight ..................................................................
B. Listen to the following sentences on the audio recording and then say
each one of them with the correct vowel sounds. 'The stressed syttables
have been marked for you. Some of the sentences have been divided
into groups.
1. He 'plays a 'game of 'tennis every 'day.

ii. She's in a 'sorry 'plight, I'm afraid.
iii. The 'seven 'tourists from 'Yemen 1 have 'just ar'rived.
IV. 'Mary's 'always 'late.
v. An 'apple a 'day 1 'keeps the 'doctor a'way.
vi. . I enjoy 'all types of 'music.
vii. Is 'father at 'home?
viii. Wo, / he's gone 'out. I'm afraid.
ix. The 'lion is a 'very 'fierce 'animal.
X. 'Everywhere that 'Mary 'went,/ the 'lamb was 'sure to 'go.
C. Listen to the following dialogue on the audio recording and then say
the dialogue with the correct vowel sound. As in the case of the
sentences given above, the stressed syllables have been marked.
Daddy : Can you 'come here a 'minute, Mary?

Mary : 'Yes, 'dad.
Daddy : I 'want you to 'go the 'postoffice. English Vowels-2
Mary : 'Straighta'way, 'dad. But 'what do you 'want me to 'do there?
Daddy : 'Post a 'letter.
Mary : 'Certainly, 'dad.
Daddy : 'Not so 'fast, my 'dear 'girl. 'Listen 'carefully.
Mary : 'Quickly, 'dad. I've 'lots of 'homework to 'do.
Daddy- : There's 'plenty of 'time I'm 'sure. Get a 'sixty paisa 'stamp, /
'a'ffix it this 'envelope and 'post it. Run a'long now.
Mary : But you 'haven't given me any 'money. 'Nor the 'envelope.
Daddy : 'Here they 'are. 'Hurry, for the 'next 'clearance is in 'five
'minutes from now.
(After a few minutes)
Mary : 'Daddy, I the 'postman was 'just 'clearing the 'mail. I 'gave your
'letter to 'him.
. Daddy : 'That's a 'clever 'girl.
k
3.3 LET US SUM UP
There are eight diphthongs in R.P. Five of them are closing diphthongs and
the others are centring diphthongs. We have recorded them for you both as
single words and in dialogues. Listen carefully and repeat after the teacher.
Balasubramanian, T. (1 981, 1987). A Textbook ofEnglish Phoneticsfor Indian

Students, Macmillian India Limited,
Bansal, R.K. and J.B. Harrison (1983). Spoken English for India, Orient
Longman (Second Edition)
CIEFEL. Exercises in Spoken English: Part 3: Vowels, Oxford University
Press, 1981.
3.5 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress

1) I311 11) Iuel
2) 1101 12) la11
3) /eu/ 13) /31/
4) /e11 14) lax/, /ex/
5) / r e / 15) leu/
6) lee/ 16) leu/, / a r /
7) 1e1/ 17) /au/
8) /e1/ 18) /eu/
9) Iuel, /1e1 19) /ee/
I 0 1e I 1 20) 1191
UNIT 4 ENGLISH CONSONANTS - 1
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
'The English Consonants
4.2.1 The Plosives
4.2.2 The Affricates
4.2.3 The Fricatives
Some Important Contrasts
Let Us Sum U p
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
4.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit and the next we shall we give you some information about the
consonants that occur n English and the phonetic symbols used to represent
them i:: dictionaries. When you have gone through this unit carefully, you
should be able to.
distinguish between the different consonants discussed in this unit, and
use a dictionary to find out which consonants are used in particular
words.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Recording
An audio recording is also available at the Study Centers of the University.
We have already said that consonants differ from vowels. They differ in two
ways:
i) phonetically: in the production of consonants there is either a closure
of the air-passage or a narrowing that would cause audible friction.
(Section 1.3.1)
ii) phonologically: the consonants take the marginal positions in syllable
structure.
4.2 THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS

R. P. has a system of 24 consonant phonemes. These are:
Phonetic Symbol Key words
Pen
back
tea English
Consonants-1
day
key
gate
chair
8. Ida1 jump
9. If1 Jat
10. lv1 van
11. I01 think
12. lbl there
13. Is/ sit
14. /zl zero
15. IS1 ship
memure
hot
map
neat
sing
let
red
yes
wet
We can divide these consonants into phonetic categories on the basis of
i) voiceless/voiced distinction
Voiceless : fp, ~ , kS,, f, 9, s,S, W - 9
Voiced : / b , d , g , d ~ , v , ~ , z , ~ , r n , n , ~ , I , r , j -15
,~/
ii) place of articulation
Bilabial :Ip, bym, wl -4
Labia-dental : /f, vl - 2
Dental : 19, a,/ -2
Alveolar : It, d, s, z, n, 11 -6
Post-alveolar :lr/ -1
Palato-al veolar : Its, d& S, d -4
Palatal : ljl -1
Velar : /k, g, 01 -3
Glottal : /hl -1
iii) manner of articulation
Plosive : /P, b, t, d, k, gl -6
Affricate : It 1, dsl -2
Fricative : If, v, e y b ys, Z, 1, 3, h/ -9
Nasal : /myn, 01 -3
Lateral : Ill -1
Frictionless continuant: /r/ -1
Semi-vowel : lj, wl -2
A chart showing the phonetic classification of .English consonants is given
below:
Phonetics and Table 1
Phono/ogv-1
4.2.1 The Plosives

The consonants Ipl, /b/, It/, Id/, /k/ and /g/ are called plosives, because during
their articulation the nasal passage is closed and the oral passage is also closed
by either the two lips touching each other firmly or by some part of the tongue
touching some part of the roof of the mouth firmly. When the oral blockage is
removed suddenly, the lung-air escapes though the mouth with a slight
explosive noise.
The six plosives from three pairs on the basis of place of articulation: Ip, bl arc
bilabial, It, d/ are alveolar, and /k g/ are velar. Within cncll pair. the tirst
consonant is voiceless and the second is voiced.
Bilabial Plosives Ip bl
/p/ as in pen
Examples
pin
pretened
positive
spoon
repair
upper
CUP
map
soap
The usual spelling for /p/ is p. In words like cupboard I bed/ and reccipt
/ r ~si:t/p is silent.
I
At the beginning of stressed syllables /p/ is pronounced with extra breath force
and sounds like [ph]. (A symbol that represents a particular variety of' a
phoneme is put between square brackets.)
Examples: pen, a ' ppear.
'This feature is called aspiration.
Most Indian speakers do not aspirate /p/ even at the beginning of stressed English
syllables. The result is that it sounds like /b/ to native speakers of English, that Consonants-l
it, those for whom it is the first language, as in U.K., U.S.A., Canada and
Australia. If you wish to aim at an international standard, it is necessary to use
an aspirated /p/ at the beginning of stressed syllables so that a clear distinction
is made between words Iikepack and back, path and bath, pride and bride.
An aspirated /p/ (that is, [ph]) should, however, be distinguished from If/, so
that words like pale and fail, pair and fair, pull and full can be distinguished.
/b/ as in back
Examples
bad
become
beast
submit
remember
rubber
rwb
sob
The spelling for /b/ is the letter b. In words like comb, limb and debt, b is
silent.
Alvelolar Plosives It, dl
For English It dl, the tip of the tongue makes a contact with the teeth-ridge.
Most Indian speakers tend to use a retraced variety, the tongue tip making a
contact at the back of the teeth-ridge, or even farther back. This gives to their
speech a peculiar Indian quality.
Fig. 2 It, d l
/t/ as in tea
Examples
tin
ten
tender
stamp
pretend
canteen
cut
act
relate
The usual spelling for It/ are: t; tt as in battle, ed in the past and past participle
forms of verbs ending in voiceless consonants other than It/ as in talked
/t3:ktJ, laughed /la:ft/, passed /pa:st/.
In words like castle, t is silent.

It/ is aspirated at the beginning of stressed syllables, that is, it sounds like [th].
Examples:
take, attain
Most Indian speakers do not aspirate It/ even in this position. 'The result is that
it sounds like Id/ to native speakers of English. For an internalional standard.
/tJ should be aspirated at the beginning of stressed syllables so that a clear
distinction is made between words like
tear (v.) and dare,
train and drain.
/d/ as in day
Examples
dinner
ak bate
under
wonder
sudden
cod
nod
sad
Velar Plosive Ik, g/
Examples
king /k~g/
canteen /kzn'ti:nl
contain /kan'te~n/
skin /sk~n/ Word-medial /k/ English
Consonants-1
uncle raqkI/
account Ia'kauntl
ask /a:sk/
pick /PI k/ Word-final /k/
back /bak/
/k/ can be represented by various spellings; e.g., king, call, oc'cur, back,
cheque, 'stomach. k is silent in words like know.
/k/ is aspirated at the beginning of stressed syllables, that is, it sounds like
[khl.
Example: cat, oc'cur
Most Indian speakers do not aspirate /k/ even in this position. The result is
that it sounds like /g/ to native speakers of English. For an international
standard /k/ should be aspirated at the beginning of stressed syllables, so that a
clear distinction is made between words like
cot and got, cold and gold.
Examples
gun
govern
game
ago
begin
begger
big
beg
log
/g/ is usually represented by the letter g.
4.2.2 'The Affricates
The English consonants Its/ and Ids/ are called affricates. During their
articulation the oral and nasal passage are closed completely and then the air is
released slowly with friction. Notice that the symbol for an affricate has two
letter, the first to represent the stop element and the second to represent the
fricative. So Its/ can be thought of as a single sound consisting of /tl + 1x1.
The two English affricates are palato-alveolar.
Its1 as in chair
Phonetics and Example
Phonology-I
chain ItSe1n1 Word-initial Its1
check /t S ekl
chalk It S o:kl
butcher /butSa/
treachery Itre S ar11 Word-medial It 11
archer 1a:t S a1
catch katS1
each /i:tJ/ Word-final Its1
patch / p a S1
Its/ can be represented by various spelling; e.g., chair, catch, name, lqi~estion
/dl as in jump
jam
jail
jar
budget
energy
engine
budge
cage
edge
Ids/ can be represented by various spellings; e.g., join, 'gentle. brklge.

su'ggest, 'soldier.
Alveolar (t] and [dl Velar b]and W, when fd-

lowed by an [i] v c r ~ e l
Lablodental [fl and [vl Dental [O] and q A)veolar [s]and [z]
Fig. 3 Some Consonant Places of Articulation

4.2.3 The Fricatives English
Consonants-1
'The English consonants /f/, /v/, 101, /a/, Is/, 121, IS/, /a/ and /h/ are called
fricatives. During the articulation of fricatives, the passage is so narrow that
I
I
the air passes through it with audible friction. The fricatives form pairs on the
basis of the place ofarticulation. If v/ are labiodental, 18 blare dental. /s z/ are
alveolar, IS 51 are palato-alveolar. In each pair the first consonant is voiceless
and second is voiced.
Labio-dental Fricative /f, V/
For If, V/the lower lip is brought very close to the edge of the upper teeth and
I
the air comes out with friction.
If/ as in fat
Example
I .fine
$11
I $r.vr
r8
coffee
ofler
lif.
calf
tough
/f/ can be represented.by various spelling; e.g., face, stag photograph, cough
If/ should be clearly distinguished from aspirated /p/ (that is, [ph] to avoid
confusion between words like : full andpull
/v/ as in van
Example
vice
vine
r
van
ever
1 never
over
live
love
move
Most Indian speakers replace /v/ by a soft frictionless sound /u/, which is
hardly audible to native speakers of English. For international standards the
fricative /v/ should be learnt. It can be produced by adding voice to If/.
Dental Fricatives / 0,6/
For 1 0,6/, the tip of the tongue is brought very near the edge of the upper teeth
and the air comes out with friction. The spelling for these sounds is th.
/ 8 / as in think
Example
think 181qW Word-initial 101
thank 18aeqW
, thick /81W
author /'~:0e/
pathos Pper8:~osl Word-med ial/8/
path /pa:8/
tooth /tu:0/ Word-final 181
both /beue/
Most Indians speakers replace 181by an aspirated voiceless dental plosive th .

n
/Nus In there
this 161d Word-initial 161

then /6ed
though /(leu/
either Pa~(le/ Word-medial 161
neither Pna~del
without /wr8Uaut/
loathe /I e u6/ Word-final ldl
bathe he161
with 1~161
Most Indian speakers replace 161by the voiced dental plosive d ,
n
Alveolar Plosives /s,z/
/sl as in sip
Examples
sin /s~n/ Word-initial Is/

soap /sewp/
slate /sla~t/
ask /a:sW
flask 1fla:skI Word-medial Is/
past /pa: st/
loss /lus/
Is/ can be represented by various spelling; e.g., save, p a s , face, scene, box.
/Z/ as in Zebra English
Consonants-1
Examples
zoo
zinc
zero
razor
easy
lazy
buzz
nose
rose
/z/ can be represented by various spelling, 'easy, 'scissors, zoo, ' puzzle, exact.
The inflectional suffix -s, +s for the plural and possessive forms of nouns and
the simple present third person singular forms of verbs is pronounced /id after
vowels and voiced consonants other than Ids, z, 31 e.g., eyes / a ~ z / ,shows
/Seud,bagsl beegd. It is pronounced 11d after It 1, d3, s, z, 1, 31, e.g., in
'catches, 'passes, 'washes.
Izl should be clearly distinguished from Id31 to avoid confusion between

words like ways and wage, chains and change, 'zealous and 'jealow, 'reason
and 'region.
Palato-alveolar Fricatives IS, a/
111as In ship
Examples
ship 1s IP/ Word-initial IS/
shoe /Su:/
sheep 1s i:p/
cashier Ikte S e l Word-medial 1x1
ocean 1 'eu 1en1
cash /kae 11 Word-final IS1
rush /rh S /
fish If1 S/
111 can be represented by various spelling; e.g., shade, ma'chine, 'sugar,

'nation, conscience, 'special, 'ocean.
1x1 should be clearly distinguished from Is/ to avoid confusion between words
like
shave and save,
she and see,
shine and sign.
Phonetics and /a/ as in 'measure
Phonology-l
leisure /' leal
pleasure /'plega/
occasion Ie'keaanl
barrage /'bsra:a/ Word-final /a/
prestige /pre'sti:a/
/a/ does not begin an English word.

/a/ can be represented by various spelling; e.g., de'cision, 'measure, 'barrage.
/a/ should be clearly distinguished from Ida1 and /z/.
Glottal Fricative
/h/ as in hot
Examples
hit hrtl Word-initial /h/

hut lhhtl
hufi! /h~ntl
behind / b ~ ' h a ~ n d l Word-medial /hl
behave /b~he~v/
ahead Ia'hedl
/h/ does not end an English word.
4.3 SOME IMPORTANT CONTRASTS
It is very important to make the distinctions listed below:
i) If/ and aspirated /p/ [ph]
Examples
If/ [phl
fade paid
fail pale
farm palm
fair pair
feign pain
fig pig
fierce pierce
fine pine
flight plight
foot put
English
ii) IS/ and /z/ Consonants-1
Examples
Is/ /z/
sue ZOO
sink zinc
bus buzz
peace peas
dose doze
niece knees
race rays
seat cheat
seep cheap
seek cheek
sat chat
sill chill
sip chip
iv. 121'and Ida/
Examples
/z/ Ida/
'zealous 'jealous
sees siege
zest jest
'reason 'region
Examples
/S/
p shine sign
she see
shelf self
shell sell
shield sealed
ship sip
short sort
show SO
shun sun
Phondcs and Chwk Your Progress 1
Phonology-1
Write the phonetic symbols for the consonants sounds represented by
the letters in the following words. After you have checked your
answers, say each word correctly. You can also listen to the words on
the audio recording.
I) display .........................................................
2) best .........................................................
3) built .........................................................
5) benefit .........................................................
6) Christmas .........................................................
7) champion ........................................................
8) geometry ........................................................
9) fixed .........................................................
10) victory .........................................................
11) theft .........................................................
12) stand .........................................................
13) possess ........................................................
14) shepherd .........................................................
15) pleasure .........................................................
16) heart .........................................................
17) procedure .........................................................
18) precious .........................................................
19) vote .........................................................
20) mesh .........................................................
Listen to the following sentences on the audio recording and then say
them with the correct vowel and consonants sounds. Be careful about
the aspiration of /p, t, kt and the articulation of Ida, f, v, 8, 6, z, 1, a/.
The stressed syllables have been marked for you
A 'kilo of po'tatoes and a 'tin of 'peas, 'please.

Can you 'take a 'message, 'please?
'Twinkle, 'twinkle 'little 'star,/
How I' wonder 'what you 'are.
'Shakespeare is the 'greatest 'dramatist the 'world has 'ever
produced.
I 'bought a 'new stamp-album for my 'son's birthday.
I've 'lived in 'Delhi for 'eight 'years.
'Pandey is an 'excellent teacher.
Pre'sent your 'case, said the 'judge.
9) 1 'ate a 'couple of 'jam 'sandwiches for 'breakfast. English
10) 'Lions and 'tigers live in 'jungles. Consonants-1
3. Listen to the following dialogue on the audio recording and then read it
aloud yourself. The stressed syllables have been marked for you.
Enquiry Check (at New Delhi Station)
E.C : 'Good 'morning, sir. Can I 'help you?

Man : 'Good 'morning. Can you 'tell me about Kar'nataka Ex'press? 'Is
it running on time?
E.C : I'm afraid we have 'no infor'mation 'yet.
Man : 'What time does it 'usually ar'rive?
E.C : The scheduled time of arrival is 16-30. Wait a minute. That's
the telephone ringing. (After a minute)
Good news, sir. It's arriving on time.
Man : 'Thank you very much.

E.C : You're welcome.
4.4 LET US SUM UP
English, according to British R.P.,has twenty-four distinct consonants sounds

or phonemes. These can be divided into various categories depending upon
how they are articulated.
English has six plosive consonants; they are /p/, /b/, It!, Id/, /k/and /g/.
English has two affricate consonants; these are,Its/ and Ida/.
English has nine fricative consonants; they are /f/, /v/, /el, 161, Is/, /z/,
111, 131
and /h/.
4.5 KEY WORDS
affricate: a consonant sound which is a kind of combination of

plosive and fricative at the same place of articulation.
Its1 and Ida/ are the two affricate consonants in English.
fricative: a consonants produced by forcing air out through a

narrow opening. English has nine fricative consonants:
/f,v,0,6,s,z,S,a,h/.
plosive: a consonant sound made by stopping the air completely

and then releasing it suddenly out of the mouth.
Example: /b/ in butter.
Phonetin and 4.6 SOME USEFUL BOOKS
Phonology-1
Balasubramanian, T. (1 98 1 , 1987). A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian

Students, Macmillan India Limited.
Longman (2nd Edition)
CIEFEL. Exercises in Spoken English: Part 2: Consonants. Oxford University
Press, 1981 .
4.7 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress

UNIT 5
- -
ENGLISH CONSONANTS - 2
Structure
t
1
5.0
5.1
5.2
Objectives
Introduction
The Nasals
5.2.1 Bilabial Nasal
5.2.2 Alveolar Nasal
5.2.3 Velar Nasal
5.3 The Lateral Consonants
5.4 Irl
5.5 The Semi-Vowels
5.5.1 Palatal Semi-vowel
5.5.2 Labio-velar Semi-vowel
5.6 Let Us Sum Up
5.7 Key Words
5.8 Some Useful Books
5.9 Answers
! 5.0 OBJECTIVES
In the previous unit (Unit-4) we discussed three types of English consonants -

the plosives, the affricates and the fricatives. In this unit we shall give you
some information regarding the remaining English consonants and the
phonetic symbols used to represent them in dictionaries. When you have read
this unit carefully, you should be able to
distinguish between the different consonants discussed in this unit, and

use a dictionary to find out which consonants are used in particular
words.
An audio recording is also available at the various Study Centers of the University.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 4 we discussed three types of English consonants - plosives, aftiicates

and fricatives, together called obstruents. These consonants involve some
kind of closure or narrowing of the air-passage, causing difference in the air-
pressure before and after the narrowing.
We shall now take up the other English consonants, generally called

sonorants. These do not involve a closure or narrowing of the air-passage,
and in their production there is no difference in the air-pressure before and
afier the place of articulation.
Phonetics and
Phonology- I
5.2 THE NASALS
The English consonants /m/, In/ and / r ~ / are called nasal because during their
articulation the oralpassage of air is blockedcompletely by either the two lips
making a firm contact with each other (as in the case of /m/)or some part of
the tongue making a firm contact with some part of the roof of the mouth (as
in the case of In/ and /r~/). But the soft palate and the uvula are brought down
from the back wall of the throat and so the nasal passage of air is open. The air
from the lungs comes out through the nasal passage and the nostrils, causing a
continuous flow of the air coming out of the lungs.
5.2.1 Bilabial Nrvsal
/m/ as in map
Examples
mate
might
manage
small
remain
summer
come
palm
same /se~m/
/m/ can be represented by m (as in mad) and mm (as in 'summer).In words li

thumb, b is silent; in world like autumn, n is silent.
5.2.2 Alveolar Nasal
In/as in night
Examples
night
name
nasty
snake
under
running
ban
man
remain
In/ can be represented by n (as in no) or nn (as in 'manner).In words like ki

k is silent. Ir! words like sign, g is silent.
In/ can be syllabic, that is, it can be the nucleus o f {he syllable; e.g., in cotton English
Consonants-2
/ k ~ t n /the second syllable has a syllabic In/; it represents the V (vowel)
element in syllable structure. Some Indian speakers insert a short vowel / e l
before In/ in such words and do not use a syllabic In/.
5.2.3 Velar Nasal
/q/ as in king
Examples
finger I' f ~ r ~ g e /
singer S
/' IJ~/
uncle l'nr~kll
king ~
/JI/ Word-final /IJ/
ring 1r1 g/
YolJng ljnrjl
/rjl does not occur in the word-initial position in English.
/rj/ i s represented by n followed by kl or /g/, as in think, finger. I t i s also

represented by ng in words like sing, 'singer, where lndian speakers generally
use /rjg/.
5.3 THE LATERAL CONSONANTS
'T'he English consonants /I/ i s called an alveolar lateral. During its

articulation, the tip or blade o f the tongue firmly touches the teeth ridge and so
the central oral passage or air is blocked completely. The sides o f the tongue
are lowered, so the lung-air comes out along the sides o f the tongue freely, e.g.
/I/ as in live
Examples
live
love
less
please
bless
pully
call
be1l
sell
/I/ can be represented by Ias in laugh, or 1I as in kill.

I i s silent in words like walk, should, haK calm.
/I/ can be syllabic; e.g., in words like cattle /kztl/ where the second syllable
has a syllabic /I/. Some lndian speakers insert a vowel before /I/ and do not use
a syllabic /I/.
Phoneflcs and
Phonology- 1
/r/ in British R.P. is pronounced in a number of ways, the commonest being a

post-alveolar frictionless continuant used in words like red.
Example
right
rest
wrong
Pray
try
crowd
shrine
three
very
In British R.P. /r/ occurs only before vowels. It does not occur before
consonants. Nor does it occur finally in word, except when a word beginning
with a vowel follows immediately.
Example
far /fa:/ far away f fa:re'we~/

the letter lbrletrl the letter on the desk lbeleter on bedeskl
fear 1f1 a/ fear of ghosts / f ~ a r a vgaustsl
more /ma:/ more and more /ma:r an ma:/
murder /nla:da/ Murder in the Cathedral /ms:der~nzbaOi:drall
Most Indian speakers use /r/ in all position. This is quite acceptable.
5.5 THE SEMI-VOWELS
There are two semi-vowels in English; /j/ as in yes and /w/ as in west.A semi-
vowel is a vowel-glide to more prominent sound in the same syllable.
5.5.1 Palatal Semi-vowel
/j/ as in yes
/j/ is palatal; it is glide from /i:/ to the next vowel, which is syllabic.
Example
Yes /jes/ Word-initial /j/

Yet /jet/
yard /ja:d/
beyond /b~jond/ Word-medial /j/
beauty /bj'u:t~/
duty f dju:t~/
/j/ cannot occur at the end of a word. English
/j/ can be represented by y as in yes. Consonants-2
It occurs with the vowel /u:/ in words like 'union, beauty, due, new, view.
I
i
i
5.5.2 Labio-velar Semi-vowel
/w/ as in west
! /w/ is glide from /u:/ to the next vowel, which is syllabic.
i
Examples
wet /wet/ Word-initial /w/,

wheat /w i :tl
wear /weal
sweet 1swi:t.I Word-medial /wl
swear Isweal
between b1'twi:nl
/w/ does not occur at the end of a word in English. It is represented by w as in

way, wh as in when and u in words like quick, 'language. Indian speakers often
replace /w/ by a soft sound /v/, which they also use for Ivl.
For an international standard it is necessary to make a distinction between /wl

and /vl so that there is no confusion between words like west and vest.
Iwl can be acquired easily be preparing to say /u:l and moving quickly to the
next vowel.
1. Write a phonetic transcription of the following words according to

British R.P, using the symbols as given by us. After you have checked
your answer, say the words correctly according to the transcription.
i) English .................... i i) consonants .........................

iii) objectives ................. iv) cassette .............................
v) introduction .............. vi) nasal .................................
vii) vowels .................... viii) useful ...............................
i x) prevrous.. .................. x) unit ..................................
xi) discussed .................. xii) three .................................
xi i i) information ................ xiv) phonetic .............................
xv> symbols .................... xv i) represent ............................
xvii) distinguish ................. xviii) particukr ............................
xix) accompanies ............... xx) available .............................
,2. Listen to the following sentence on the audio recording. The stressed
syllables have been marked for you. .After listening to the audio
Phonetics and recording, say each sentence aloud, making sure that you articulate the
Phonologv- l various vowels and consonants correctly.
"Three and 'four make 'seven.

'Mary 'had a 'little 'lamb.
Its 'fleece was 'white as 'snow
I 'bought 'three 'bottles of to'mato 'sauce.
'What a mag'nificent 'building!
The 'Taj Ma'hal was 'built by 'Emperor 'Shah Je'han.
The 'heart of 'India is in her 'villages.
There are 'millions of i'l l iterate 'people in the 'world.
Our 'leaders are 'striving 'hard for 'national inte'gration.
Di'wali is a 'festive oc'casion 'all over 'lndia.
It's 'always a 'pleasure to 'meet old 'friends.
My 'uncle's a 'doctor, /and his 'wife an engi'neer.
'Honesty is the 'best 'policy.
3. Listen to the following dialogue on the audio recording and then repeat
it. Make sure that you pronounce the various vowels and consonants
correctly. 'The stressed syllables have been marked for you.
Helllo,'Ram. 'Nice to 'see you again.

He'l lo!
'Lakshmi, /Ram's 'here. Can you 'bring him some 'coffee?
It's 'ages since we 'met 'last 'isn't it?
'Yes. 'Eight 'years. I 'heard you were a'broad.
'That's 'right. 1 was in 'Aden for 'eight 'years.
'Aden? 'Where 'is it?
It's in 'Yemen.
'What were you 'doing 'there?
'Teaching. 'Teaching 'English.
Did you en'joy your 'stay there?
Im'mensely.
'Here 'comes 'Lakshmi with the 'coffee.
'With milk and sugar?
'Yes, 'please. 'Just a 'drop of 'milk/ and 'two 'spoons of 'sugar.
5.6 LET US SUM UP --
In this unit, we learnt about the nasals /m,n, g / , lateral sound /I/ and the semi-
vowels /j/ and /w/. This-completes our description of the consonants of
English. You must listen to the recording to get the correct pronunciation of
English and never hesitate to consult the dictionary for the correct
pronunciation of the words.
5.7 KEY WORDS
Nasal: a sound for which the air comes out through the nose
only; e.g., /m/, n, d.
I Lateral: a sound during the articulation of which the air escapes
only along the sides of the tongue because there is a
total blockage of the central oral passage. Example: /I/.
English
consonants-2
Semi-vowel: A semi-vowel is a vowel-glide to a more prominent

sound in the same syllable. Example: /w,j/.
Balasubramanian, T. (1 98 I, 1987). A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian

Sfudents, Macmi llian India Limited.
Longman (2nd Edition)
CIEFL. Exercises in Spoken English: Part 2: Consonants.
5.9
-- ANSWERS
Check Your Progress
i) '1!lgl1S
! ii) 'kunsanants
iii) ab'djekt~vz
iv) ka 'set
v) ~ntra'd~kjn
vi) 'ne~zalz
vii) 'vaualz
vi i i) 'ju:sful
ix) 'pri:v~as
x) 'ju:nrt
xi) ~ I ' S ~ A S ~
xi i) Bri:
xiii) ' ~ f na ' m e ~ l a n
xiv) fe'netrk
xv) 'srmbalz
xvi) reprfzent
xvii) d~'sti~gw~J
xviii) pa't~kjula
xix) a'k~mpan~z
xx) a've~labl
UNIT 6 WORD STRESS
Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Word Stress
6.3 Primary Stress and Secondary Stress
6.4 How to Mark Stress
6.5 Various Stress Patterns
6.6 Word Stress affected by Suffixes
6.7 Stress Shift according to the Function of Words
6.8 Some Important Rules concerning Word Stress
6,9 Let Us Sum Up
6.10 Key Wards
6.1 1 Same llseful Books
6.12 Answers
OBJECTIVES
In Block 1, Units 2-5, you learnt about the sounds of English -vowels (~nonophtha~lgs
and diphthongs) and eansonants. In this unit we shall take up a very important aspect
of spoken English, called word rtmss. We shall diseuss, with the help of examples,
the various patterns of word stress that we come acrass in English. After completing
this unit you should be able to
perceive which part of an English word af more than one syllable has the stress
when it is pronounced;
find out from a dictianary which syllable of a word is to be stressed; and
say English words with the stress on the right syllable ofthe word.
INTRODUCTION
A word in English may have one or Inore syllables. In each syllable there is ~~suiilly
one sound, usually a vowel, that is more prominent than the rest and takes the central
position. There are words like car, dog, boy, girl, class, etc., which have only one
syllable each. However, there are wards like ar(i,vt,burber, canteen, doclor: cngit~c~.
futher, etc., each of which has two syllables. The word artist, for example, has tlic
syllables /a:/ and / t ~ s1.tthe ward burber has the syllables h a : / and /be/, and so
on. The words character: rktention, engineer, and wonderful, etc., have threc
syllables each: ka/, / r ~ k /h, e / ; / d ~ //ten/,
, /Sen/; /en/. /d31/, / n ~ e /and
:
/whn/, Idel, / f u l l . The wards agriculture, benevolent, candidnrurc.. u'lctutor.shi~~.
etc., have four syllables each. The words ur~i+stically,examinuliun, etc. have f i v e
syllables each.
Phonetics and Phonology-2 A word which has only one syllable is called a Monosyllabic word; a word which
has two syllables is called a Disyllabic word; one with three syllables is called a
Trisyllabic word; and one with more than three syllables is called a Polysyllabic
word.

Indicate the number of syllables in each of the following words, and sliow how you
will divide each word into syllables. Use phonetic transcription and mark syllable
division with a dot at the bottom. The first two have been given as examples.
Word Number of Syllables Syllables Division
1) word I / w-d /
2) structure 2 1strak.t Sel
3) objective ---
4) cassette ------------
5) recording -------
6) introduction
7) primary
8) secondary ----.- ------
9) characteristic ---- ----- -
10) English ------------

Just as al I the beginning consonants of words are treated as parts of a syllable, certain
consonant sequences in English are treated as indivisible by the native speakers
of English when they occur in the middle of a word. These are the sequences SC
(C= any consonant), Cr, Cw, C 1 arid C j. The syllables in these words are divided
with these sequences remaining intact. Thus the words request, betray, secure, and
applause have the following syllables: / r ~ . k w e s t(not
l r~k.west/,1b1.t re11
(not b ~ re^), t 1s1.k j d . and /e.pl:,:zl
6.2 WORDSTRESS
An English word consisting of more than one syllable is said in such a way that one of
its syllables stands aut from, or is more prominent than the other syllable or
syllables in the same word. For example, in the word father(wl1ich has two syllables
/fa:/ and / de/ ) the first syllable /fa:/ is more prominent than the second syllable
/de/. But, in the word cassette (which also has two syllables /ke.set/), the second
syllable /set/ is more prominent than the first. Similarly, when we pronounce the
word gigantic (which has three syllables / d g a ~ . g ~ n . t ~the k /second
) syllable
/ga=n/is more prominent than the tirst and the third syllables. The syllable which
stands out or is more prominent than the others in the same word is called the stressed
syllable or the accented syllable.
The speaker spends more energy while producing the stressed syllable than slhe
does while producing the other syllables in the sanie word. The listener hears the
stressed syllable as being louder tlian tlie other syllables in the same word.
The syllables which are not stressed in a word are called unstressed or weak Ward Stress
syllables.
6.3 PRIMARY STRESS AND SECONDARYSTRESS

I n some words of more than three syllables, there may be two syllables which stand
out from the rest. For example, in the word cigc~rclte(which has three syllables
/sI/. /gal and / r e t / ) , the third syllable / r e t / is more prominent than the first syllable
/sI/, which in tun1 is more prominent than the second syllable /gal. Similarly, in the
\sord exuinination (which has five syllables / ~ g //,z z / , / m ~ //, n e ~ and / / l a n / ) the
second syllable /ZE/ and the fourth syllable / n e ~are / more prominent than the other
syllables. Between them the fourth syllable /ne11 is more prominent than the second
syllable /zE/. In such words, the most prominent ofthe stressed syllables is called the
'main' or 'primary' stress and the other is called 'secondary' stress.
6.4 HOW TO MARK STRESS
I
1
Most modern dictionaries adopt the following method to mark stress. The stressed
syllable is marked with a vertical bar (the mark ' ) above and before the syllable
that is stressed. For example, the word upprove (which has two syllables /a/ and
I / p r u : v / is stressed on the second syllable and it is marked thus:
Given below are some more examples of words with the stressed syllables marked.
balloon / b a l l u : n l (two syllables: second syllable stressed)
camel 1 Ika me11 (two syllables; first syllable stressed)
decent / ' d i : s a n t / (two syllables; first syllable stressed)
enormous /1'n3:rnas/ (three syllables; second syllable stressed)
fearlessly 1 If ~ a l e s l i(three
l syllables; first syllable stressed)
government / ' g a v a n m e n t l (three syllable; first syllable stressed)
nlonotonous / m a 1 n 3 t a n a s /(four syllable; second syllable stressed)
opinion / a 1 p i nj e n l (three syllable; second syllable stressed)
Iftwo syllables stand out froni the rest in a word, one receiving primary stress and
the other secondary stress, the syllable receiving secondary stress is marked with
lie vertical bar below and before the syllable (,) and the syllable receiving primary
stress is ~narkedin the way indicated above. Some examples are given below:
Advurrrageou.~ / , e d v e n i t e r d g a s / (four syllables; the first syllable has
secondary stress and the third syllable has primary stress)
Bifurctrtion / , b a ~ f a l k e ~ l e(four
n / syllables; the first syllable has secondary
stress and the third syllable has primary stress)
C'himpunzec Ifl ~ m p x n ' z i :(three
/ syllables; the first syllable has secondary
Democratic l,demalkrzt~W (four syllables; the first syllable has secondary
I Phonetics and Phonology-2
i 6.5 VARIOUS STRESS PATTERNS
In English, word stress in not fixed to a particular syllable. It is free in the sense that
there are words in which the first syllable is stressed, others in which the second
syllable is stressed, yet others in which the third orthe fourth syllable has the primary
stress.
Some examples of various stress patterns in English are given below. Try to say them
with the stress on the correct syllable. You can listen to them on the audio recording.
Disyllabic words stressed on the FIRST syllable:
1) 'action 2) 'apple
3) 'artist 4) 'atom
5) 'barber f$ 'better
7) 'bottle 8) 'butter
9) 'careful 10) 'centre
I
11) copper 12) 'cotton
13) 'donkey 14) 'dreadful
15) 'empty 16) 'envy
17) 'father 18) 'freedom
19) 'govern 20) 'grateful
DisyIIuQIe w a d s stressed on the SECOND L~ylluble
21) a'bout 22) a'bove
23) a'go 24) at'tend
25) be'fore 26) be'gin
27) behind 28) be'tween
29) can'teen 30) con'tain
31) de'gree 32) de'lay
33) e'vade 34) for'get
35) forlgive 36) fore'see
37) i'dea 38) im'part
39) la'ment 40) ma'chine
lPisylIahlc words stressed an the FIRST syllable
4 1) 'adjective 42) 'advocate
43) 'afterwards 44) 'algebra
45) 'analyse 46) 'appetite
47) 'bachelor 48) 'botany
8
Word Stress
49) 'calculate 50) 'calendar
51 ) 'capital 52) 'chemistry
53) 'cinema 54) 'civilize
Trisyllabic words stressed on the SECOND syllable:
55) a'bundance 56) ac'countant
57) a'coustic 58) ad'jacent
59) ad'vantage 60) af 'fection
61) ag'reement 62) a'partment

63) bar'baric 64) be'ginning
65) con'tainer . 66) col'lector
67) com'mander 68) com'mencement
69) dic'tator 70) di'rection
71 ) di'rector 72) dis'graceful
73) e'normous 74) ex'ception
75) fan'tastic 76) for'mation
77) il'legal 78) in'ducement
79) mis'taken 80) mo'mentous
i
Trisyllabic words taking the primary stress on the THIRD syllable
I
81) 'addres'see 82) 'after'noon
83) ,apprelhend 84) ,cigalrette
85) ,overltake 86) 'refu'gee
87) 'under'stand
Words of more rhun three syllables- various stress patterns
88) lacci'dental 89) ac'celerate
90) laccu'sation 9 1) 'adequacy
92) ,advanltageous 93) ,agiltation
94) al'ternative 95) auIthorittarian
96) au'thority 97) Icalcurlation
98) ,combilnation 99) com'parative -
100) com'petitive 101) Iconfi'dential

103) Icuri'osity
105) ,disalgreement
106) 'dynamism 107) e'lectrocute
108) 'electri@ 109) ,elelvation

~eticsand Pha
1 12) extemplary 1 13) ex'penditure

1 14) ex'tempore 1 15) ,fascilnation
1 16) im'practicable 1 17) 'inde'pendent

1 18) instan'taneous 119) 'insti'tution
120) in'tensity 121) ,libelrality
122) 'mannerism 123) mo'nopoly
124) mo'notonous 125) ,opporltunity
126) prepa'ration 1 27) re,sponsi'bility
1 28) sug'gestible 129) ,terriltorial

A number of English words are given below. Say them yourself and ascertain which
is the stressed syllable in each word. Then mark the stressed syllables by using the
appropriate mark (1 ' / for primary stress and / , / for secondary stress) before the
syllables that are stressed. After you have marked all the words, check your answers
with those provided at the end of this unit and then say the words with the correct
stress patterns. You can also listen to these words on the audio recording.
1) abide 2) across
3) address 4) ancient
5) arrive 6) artery
7) affection 8) atmosphere
9) attempt 10) behave
11) behaviour 12) broadcast
13) bubble 14) bucket
15) chimpanzee 1 6) burglar

17) carbon 18) chapter
19) consolation 20) contain
21) cradle 22) dictator
23) engineer 24) family
25) familiar 26) fraternal
27) gamble 28) gentle
29) hasty 30) hatred
3 1) honour 32) honourable
33) humour 34) humorous
Word Stress
35) jackal 36) kingdom
37) know ledge 38) knowledgeable
39) lethargy 40) lethargic
41) moment 42) momentary
, 43) monotony 44) natural
45) notorious 46) original
47) opportunity 48) prepare
49) preparation 50) relate
51 ) relation 52) relative
1 53) restaurant 54) robust
55) satisfy 56) satisfaction
i
' 57) select 58) selection
i
i 59) table 60) translate
: 6.6 WORD STRESS AFFECTED BY SUFFIXES

The addition of some derivational suff~xesaffects the stress pattern but this is not the
case with all suffixes.
Examples of suffixes which do not affect the stress pattern
1) -able (verb -+ adjective)
ad'vise ad'visable
re'l y re'liable
-able (noun -+ adjective)
'comfort 'comfortable
'honour 'honourable
'knowledge 'knowledgeable
2 -age (noun -+ noun)

'orphan 'orphanage
-age (verb -+ noun)

I 'cover 'coverage
3) -ance, (verb -+ noun)
ap'pear ap'pearance
dis'turb dis'turbance
per' form per'formance
4) -er (noun -+ noun)
com'mand com'mander
re'ceive re'ceiver
(noun -+ noun)
'Londoner
5) -ess (noun -+ noun)
I
'actor actress
'waiter 'waitress
Phonetics and Phonology-2 6) -f~l (noun +adjective)
e'vent e'ventful
-ful (noun +noun)
'pocket 'pocketful
7) -fy (noun + verb)

'terror 'terrifji
8) -ize (noun + verb)

'crystal 'crystallize
'public 'publicize
-ize (adjective + verb)

'final 'finalize
'modern 'modernize
9) -1y (noun + adjective)

'mother 'motherly
'order 'orderly
-IY (adjective + adverb)

'clever 'cleverly
'even 'evenly
'musical 'musically
10) -men? (verb + noun)

ap'point ap'pointment
com'mence com'mencement
,enterltain ,enterltainment
'govern 'government
(adjective + noun)
'bitterness
12) -or (verb + noun )

'conquer 'conqueror
di'rect di'rector
in'vent in'ventor
13) -some (noun +adjective)

'burden 'burdensome
'trouble 'troublesome
14) -ure (verb + noun)

ex'pose' ex'posure
15) -Y (noun +adjective)

'winter 'wintry
Examples of suffixes which affect the stress pattern. These are of two types: those
that attract the main stress on themselves, and those that have the main stress at a
fixed distance from them.
A. Suff~xesthat have the main stress on themselves.
1) -eer
e'lection
'profit
-esque Word Stress
'picture
'statue
Suffixes that have main stress at a fixed distance from them

The main stress is on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix.
-ial
'confidence confi'dential
'essence e'ssential
'industry in'dustrial
'office official
'president ,presildential
-ian
I library
li'brarian
'music mu'sician
pho'netics Iphone'tician
-ic, -ical
a'cademy ,acaldemic
'grammar gram'matical
'patriot ,patrilotic
'sympathy ,sympalthetic
-ion
~P'P~Y lappli'cation
'civilize ,civililzation
'decorate ,decolration
ex'amine exIami1nation
i'magine iImagitnation
op'pose loppotsition
pre' pare ,prepa'ration
-ity
'able a'bility
'curious ,curi40sity
'equal e'qual ity
'generous ,genetrosity
'moral mo'rality
o'riginal o,rigi1nality
'possible ,possilbility
'stupid stu'pidity
ck Your Progress 3
Mark the stressed syllables in the followi~igwords. After you hawre checked
your answers, say each word with the correct stress pattern. You can also listen
to these words on the audio recording.
editorial 2) profession
learner 4) edition
Phonetics and Phonblogy-2 5) ckirify 6) usefulness
7) teacher 8) presentation
9) unreal istic 10) intelligibility
I I) situation 12) educational
13) development 14) activity
1 5) practicality 16) available
17) authentic 18) incorporate
19) unfortunately 20) section
2 Given below are a few words and a few other words which are derived from
them. Mark the stressed syllables in all these words. After you have checked
your answers say each word with the correct stress pattern. You can also listen
to these words on the audio recording.
I) abdomen - abdominal
2) accept acceptance - acceptability
3) accident accidental - accidentally
4) advance advancement
5) advantage advantageous
6) beauty - beautiful - beautifully
7) baptize baptism
8) bounty - bountiful
9) behave behaviour
10) capable capability
11) capital - capitalize
12) confess confession
13) connect connection
14) crucify crucifixion
15) depart departure
16) discipline - disciplinarian
17) disclose - disclosure
18) establish establishment

19) forgive forgiveness
20) honour honourable - honourably
2 1) human - humanity
22) liable liability
23) monotony - monotonous
24) nation national - nationality

Word Stress
I 6.7 STRESS SHIFT ACCORDING TO THE
FUNCTION OF WORDS
I
i 'There are a number of words in English which can be used as nouns or adjectives
and also as verbs. We are specially concerned with a few disyllabic words of this
sort. In the case of some of these disyllabic words, the stress is on the same syllable
whether the word is used as a noun, adjective or verb. On the other hand, there are a
few disyllabic words which take the stress on the first syllable if the words are
used as nouns or adjectives and on the second syllable if they are used as verbs.
Some examples are given of both categories of such words.
I) Disyllabic words which take the stress on the same syllable whethe; used
as nouns/ adjectives or verbs.
1) ad'vance (noun and verb)

2) a'lert (adjective and verb)
3) 'anger (noun and verb)
4) a'ward (noun and verb)
5) bal'loon (noun and verb)
6) 'capture (noun and verb)
7) com'plete (adjective and verb)
8) 'credit (noun and verb)
9) 'darnage (noun and verb)
10) de'bate (noun and verb)
I I) dis'grace (noun and verb)

12) 'honour (noun and verb)
1 3) 'empty (adjective and verb)

14) mis'take (noun and verb)
15) 'order (noun and verb)
II) L)isyllabic words which take the stress on t h e j i s t syllable if used as nouns/
adjectives and on the second syllable fi used as verbs.
Nounladjective Verb
1) 'absent (adjective) ab'sent (verb)
2) 'contract (noun) con'tract (verb)
3) 'convert (noun) con'vert (verb)
4) 'convict (noun) con'vict (verb)
5) 'export (noun) ex'port (verb)
6) 'import (noun) im'port (verb)
7) 'present (noun and adjective) pre'sent (verb)
8) 'record (noun) re'cord (verb)
Phonetics and Phonology-2 Make the stressed syllables in the italicized words in the following sentences.After
you have checked your answers say the sentences with the correct stress patterns.
You can also listen t6 these sentences on the audio recording.
1) How many students are absent today?
2) He absented himself from the meeting.
3) They bartered farm products for machinery.
4) Try to channel your abilities to something useful.
5) Two parties have conibined to form a government.
6) The general commanded his men to attack the city.
7) He seems contentjust to sit in front ofthe television all night.
8) He contented himself with light snacks even though he could have had a fi~ll
meal.
9) I like the style of this book but I don't like the content.
10) Everything in her story is correct to the smallest detail.
11) The export of gold is forbidden.
12) I can forecast that it is going to rain this evening.

13) You've made too many mistakes.
14) 1 cannot permit such cruelty.
15) He's the best writer that the country hasproduced.
16) This case is marked 'Produce of India'.
17) You must record the minutes of the meeting.
18) Keep a record of how much you spend.
19) Don't address me as 'officer'.
20) 1 can't read the address on this letter.
6.8 SOME IMPORTANT RULES CONCERNING

WORD STRESS
Even though what we have said so far in this unit may give you the impression that
word stress in English is something unpredictable and confusing, there are a few
important rules regarding word stress. These rules are given below with a few examples
for each rule.
Rule 1
Words with weak prefixes have the stress on the root and not on the prefix. For
example :
I) a'bout 2) a'far
3) a'loud 4) be'little
5) be'friend
Word Stress
Rule 2
The inflectional suffixes -ed (the one we use to make the past and past participle
forms of verbs), -s, or -es (the one we use to make the plural forms of most nouns
and the simple present third person singular forms of most verbs) and -ing(the suffix
we use to for111the present participle of a verb) do not affect the stress. That is,
words to which these suff~xesare added have the stress on the same syllable after
the suffixes are added as the ones on which the root word has the stress. A few
examples are given for each of the three suffixes.
-ed ab'duct ablducted
con'duct con'ducted
de'duct de'ducted
ef 'fect ef 'fected
'bandage 'bandages
'damage 'damages
di'sease di'seases
'garage 'garages
'manage 'manages
'answer 'answering
'audit 'auditing
bell ieve be'lieving
con'tain con'taining
de'mand de'manding
af 'fect af'fecting
for'bid for'bidding
The derivational sufixes - age, - ance, -en, - er: - ess, - ful, - hood, - ish, - ive,
- le.s..v,- ly, --merit, - ness, -or, and -ship do not change the stress pattern, as shown
above.
Rule 4
Words ending in the suffixes -eer: -ee, and -ese have stress on themselves, as shown
above.
Rule 5
Words ending in the sufix - ion, -ic, ical, -ically, -ial, and -ity have the primary
stress on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix, as shown above.
State the rule to determine the location of the primary stress in each of the following
words:
I) introduction
Phonetics and Phonology-2 2) accompany
..........................................................................................................................
...........................
...............................................................................................
3) university
..........................................................................................................................
4) artistic
..........................................................................................................................
5) journalese
LET US SUM UP
An English word may have one or more syllables. A word consisting of only one
syllable is called a monosyllabic word. Words of two syllables are called disyllabic
words, words of three syllables are called trisyllabic words, and words of more than
three syllables are called polysyllabic words.
An English word of more than one syllable is said in such a way that one of its
syllables stands out from the rest; that is, it is more prominent than the other syllables
in the word. The syllable which stands out and is more prominent than the rest is
called the stressed syllable or the accented syllable.
Sometimes, in words consisting of three or more syllables, two syllables stand out
from the rest. One of them has what we call main or primary stress and the other
has secondary stress.
In English, word stress is not fixed to a particular syllable. 'There are words which are
stressed on the first syllable, others which are stressed on the second syllable and yet
others which have the main stress on the third syllable or the fourth syllable.
When we add a suffix to a word and thus form a new word, some such derived
words take the stress on the same syllable as the root word, while in the case of other
derived words, the stress is on a different syllable.
There are many disyllabic words in English which can be used as nouns or adjectives
and as verbs. In the case of some such words, the stress is on the same syllable
whether the word is used as a noun or adjective or a verb. There are, however, other
disyllabic words which are stressed on the first syllable if they are used as nouns or Word Stress
aqjectives and on the second syllable ifthey are used as verbs.
There are some important rules regarding word stress in English which are listed in
this unit.
6.10 KEY WORDS

- --
Syllable : a word or part of a word which contains a vowel sound

or a consonant acting as a vowel. e.g. button 1'bh.tnl
has two syllables.
Monosyllable : a word which has only one syllable.
Polysyllable : a word which has three or more syllable.
Stress : the degree of force put on a part of a word, making it
seem stronger than other parts.
Primary stress : (also called primary accent): the strongest force given
in speech to part of a compound or a long word (shown
in this unit by the mark / ' I).
Secondary stress : (also called secondary accent) the next to the
strongest force given in speech to part of a compound
or a long word (shown in this unit by the mark/, 1).
: an affix that is placed at the end of a word.
I 6.11 SOME USEFUL BOOKS

Balasubramanian. T ( 198 1 , 1987) A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian
Students, Macmil Ian India Ltd.
Bansal, R.K.and J .B. Harrison (1 983) Spoken English for India, Orient Longman,
t
i 2ndedition.
CIEFL (1 974), Exercises in Spoken English, Part I : Accent, Rhythm and

Intonation.
i 6.12 ANSWERS
1 Check Your Progress 1
Phonetics and Phonology-2 Check Your Progress 2
1) a'bide a'cross
3) ad'dress 'ancient
5) ar'rive 'artery
7) af'fection 'atmosphere
9) at'tempt be'have
1 1) be'haviour 'broadcast
13) 'bubble 'bucket
I burglar
15) ,chimpanlzee
17) 'carbon I chapter
19) ,conso'lation con'tain

2 1) 'cradle dic'tator
Ifamily
23) ,engilneer
25) fa'miliar fra'ternal
27) 'gamble 'gentle
29) 'hasty 'hatred
3 1) 'honour 'honourable
33) 'humour 'humorous
I kingdom
35) ljackal
37) 'knowledge 'knowledgeable
39) 'lethargy le'thargic
4 1) 'moment 'momentary
43) mo'notony 'natural
45) no'torious o'riginal
47) ,oppor'tunity prel pare
49) ,prepalration re'late
5 1) re'lation 'relative
53) 'restaurant ro'bust
55) 'satisfy ,satis'faction
57) se'lect se'lection
59) 'table trans'late
1. 1) ,ediltorial pro'fession
3) 'learner e'dition
Word Stress
5) 'clarify 'usefulness
7) 'teacher ,presen'tation
inItelligi1bility
,edu'cation
13) de'velopment ac'tivity
15) ,practilcality a'vailable
17) au'thentic in'corporate
19) un'fortunately 'section
2. 1) 'abdomen ab'dominal
2) ac'cept ac'ceptance a~~cepta'bility
3) 'accident ,accildental ,accildentally
4) ad'vance ad'vancement
5) ad'vantage ,advanltageous
6) 'beauty 'beautiful
Ibaptism
7) bap'tize
8) 'bounty 'bountiful
9) be'have be'haviour
10) 'capable capa'bil ity
1 1) 'capital capi'talize
12) con'fess con'fession
i
13) con'nect con'nection
I
14) 'crucify ,cruci'fixion
I
15) de'part de'parture
I
i
1 6)
1 7)
'discipline
dis'close
,disciplilnarian
dis'closure
1 1 8) e'stabl is11 e'stablishment
i 19) for'give for'giveness
20) 'honour 'honourable 'honourably
2 1) 'human hu'manity
II
22) 'liable ,lia1bi1ity
23) mo'notony mo'notonous
24) 'nation 'national
Phonetics and Phonology-2 Check Your Progress 4
1 1) 'absent 2) ab'sented
3) 'bartered 4) 'channel
5) com'bined 6) com'manded
7) con'tent 8) con'tented
9) 'content 10) 'detail
1 1) 'export 12) 'forecast
13) mis'takes 14) per'mit
15) pro'duced 16) 'produce
17) re'cord 1 8) 'record
19) ad'dress 20) ad'dress
1) Rule 5:Words ending in the suffix - ion have the primary stress on the syllable
immediately preceding the suffix. (lintro'duction)
2) Rule 1 :Words with weak prefixes have the stress on the root and not on the
prefix. (ac'company)
3) Rule 5:Words ending in the suffix - ity have the primary stress on the syllable
immediately preceding the suffix. (,unilversity)
4) Rule 5:Words ending in the suffix - ic have the primary stress on the syllable
immediately preceding the suffix (ar'tistic)
5) Rule 4:The suffix - ese has stress on itself (journal'ese).

UNIT 7 STRESS AND RHYTHM IN
CONNECTED SPEECH
Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Connected Speech
7.3 Words to be Stressed in Connected Speech
7.4 Content Words and Grammatical Words
7.5 Rhythm
7.6 Weak Forms
7.7 Let Us Sum Up
7.8 Key Words
7.10 Answers
7.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall be discussing stress and rhythm in connected speech. After
completing this unit you should be able to read (or say) sentences with the stress on
the right words. You will also understand and hear how the rhythm of English differs
from the Indian languages and the role of weak forms in contributing to the rhythm of
English.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In unit 6 we discussed word stress and pointed out that in words having more than
one syllable, one of the syllables (sometimes two) had to be stressed. You have to
know which syllable (or syllables) should be stressed in a word. In this unit we shall
study the patterns of stress and rhythm in connected speech.
An audio recording is also availdble at the various Study Centers of the University.
7.2 CONNECTED SPEECH

In Connected Speech we put words together to form phrases and sentences. For
example, 'rice and curd' is a phrase and 'I am a student' is a sentence. When we put
words together to form phrases and sentences in English, how do we say them? Do
we give equal importance to all the words that,form a phrase or a sentence? In other
words, do we stress all the words in a phrase or sentence? No, we don't. In a phrase
or sentence (or in a longer piece of connected speech) we stress some of the words
and leave the others unstressed. For example, in the phrase 'rice and curd' we
stress the words 'rice' and 'curd' and leave the word 'and' unstressed. In the sentence
'I am a student' we stress only the word 'student' and leave the other words unstressed.
The phrase and the sentence given above are reproduced below, this time with the
stressed words marked with the vertical bar.
I Phonetics end Phonology-2 'Rice and 'curd.
I am a 'student.
7.3 WORDS TO BE STRESSED IN CONNECTED

SPEECH
In the two examples given in 7.2 above we stressed certain words and left others
unstressed. Are there any rules regarding which words we should stress in a piece of
connected speech? Yes, these are. In fact, the meaning of the phrase or the sentence
decides this. We stress those words in a phrase or sentence that are important for the
meaning of the phrase or sentence.
7.4 CONTENT WORDS AND GRAMMATICAL

WORDS
We said in 7.3 above that we,stress those words that are important for the meaning.
Let us illustrate this. In the sentence 'I love you' if the speaker wants to tell the
person that he loves only the referred to person as 'you' and no one else, he will
stress the word 'you'. If, on the other hand, the speaker wants to state that he (and
no one else) loves that person, he will stress the word '1 '. Look at the same sentence
repeated twice below.
1 love 'you' (The speaker loves that person 'referred to as 'you' and none else)
'I' love you (The speaker, and none else, loves the person referred to as 'you')
What if the meaning doesn't require any particular words in an utterance to be
stressed? Then the speaker will stress the content words in an utterance and leave
the grammatical words unstressed, e.g. I 'love you. Now what are content and
grammatical words?
Nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, question words and demonstratives
are content words, that is, they have independent meanings of their own, and articles,
pronouns, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions are grammatical
words, that is, their main function is to show the grammatical relations among words.
A few examples are given below, in which only the content words are stressed and
the grammatical words are left unstressed. The stressed words are marked with the
vertical bar.
I 'gave him 'ten 'books.
I 'love my 'friends.
I 'love to 'live in 'Delhi.
There are 'ten 'boys and 'five 'girls in our 'class.
My 'son is a 'good 'driver.
I 'ate some 'rice and 'curd.
We have a Igrey 'cat in our 'house.
'Give me 'six 'eggs, 'please.
In the examples given above, most of the content words are monosyllabic. What
happens when a content word has more than one syllable? If a content word that has
more than one syllable occurs in a piece of connected speech, we stress only that
syllable in it which we stress if we were to say the word by itself. A few examples
are given below in which the content words have more than one syllable each.
The 'coffee was 'excellent. Stress and Rhythm in
Connected Speech
It was an 'excellent a'chievement.
I've made a mis'take
They have de'clared a 'holiday to'day.
Do you re'quire any as'sistance?
I will 'never for'get you.
We 'visited 'London last 'summer.
Is'lam is the re'ligion oflMuslims.
I have an im'portant exami'nation to'morrow.
7.5 RHYTHM
Rhythm refers to the recurrence of an event at regular periods of time. The rhythm
of English speech depends on the stressed syllables occurring at regular intervals of
time. This is easy in a sentence like
'Go and 'post this 'card.
because in this sentence there is one stressed syllable, then one unstressed syllable,
and then one stressed syllable, and so on. Let us take another sentence.
The 'boy you 'met on 'Monday 'came to 'see you.
Once again, in this sentence, stressed syllables occur regularly, one after every weak
syllable, but there is a slight pause after 'Monday'. In the sentence that we use in our
everyday speech, the stressed syllables may not occur so regularly. Take the sentence
tle is a pro'fessor of Mathe'matics at the Uni'versity of 'Delhi.
There are four stressed syllables (which have been marked). There are four unstressed
syllables before the first stressed syllable, four unstressed syllables between the first
and the second stressed syllables, five unstressed syllables between the second and
the third stressed syllables, and three unstressed syllables between the last two stressed
sy Ilables. Given below is another example.
'John's 'friend 'Ram / 'visited him on the o'ccasion of his 'birthday.
In tlie sentence given above, four stressed syllables occur together without any
unstressed syllable between them but there is a slight pause after 'Ram'. Between
the fourth and the fifth stressed syllables, there are six unstressed syllables, and
between the fifth and the sixth stressed syllables, there are three unstressed syllables.
How can we make the stressed syllables occur at regular intervals of time, if they
don't occur regularly in an utterance, as the two sentences given above illustrate?
When there are too many unstressed syllables between two stressed syllables, we
have to say them quickly and use the reduced or weak forms of some of the words.
In weak syllables the vowels generally used are /a/, /I/and /u/.Sometimes we also
leave out certain sounds - don't pronounce them at all.
7.6 WEAK FORMS

Given below is a list ofthe weak forms of some common English words. The strong
form is used when the word is said in isolation or is stressed. In the case of verbs and
prepositions, the strong form is also used when the word comes at the end of the
and Phonology-2
I'ho~~rtics sentence. You can listen to all the examples of weak forms on the audio recording.
Word class Word Strong Weak form Examples of a

form phrase or a sentence with the
weak form
Articles a Ie11 /a/ It's a book.

11ts a'bukl
an /zn/ /an/ He ate an apple.
1hi:'et an'zpll
the 181: 1 I a11 The eighth of June.
(before vowels) /81'e18av 'dgu:n/
/ Ba/ The book's here.
(before consonants) /Ba 'buks ' h a/~
Auxiliary or am /zm/ /m/ I'm going to Delhi.

helping verbs 1a1m ' g a u ~ gt a 'deli1
(and linking I'm a teacher.
or connecting 1a1m e l t i : t!a/
verbs)
are /a:/ /a/ They're going.
/Be1 a ' g a u i ~ l
h i :1 1 b11 That'd be nice
/'aztb~'na~s/
been hi:nl 1b ~ n l I've been here for nine months.
/arv b ~ 'nh ~ faa ' n a ~ mnes
n
can kznl kanl Can 1 go now?
k a n a 1 'gau 'naul
could kud kad Could I borrow your book
k a d a 1 ' b ~ r a uj a 'buW
Auxiliary or do /du:/ /du/ How do I know?

helping verbs (before vowels) I'hau du a 1 'naul
(or linkingor Idel Do they know?
connecting (before consonants) Ida be1 'naul
verbs) Id/ D'you smoke?
/dj u 'smauW
does ldnzl /daz/ Does he know it?
Idaz hi 'nau 1t1
had : /ha& /had Had I known it,
/had a 1 'naun 1t1
has /hcez/ /ha21 Has he come?
/ha2 i:'k~ml
Iazl The bus has gone.
Ida 'bns a z ' g ~ n l
John's come.
I'dgnnz ' k a d Stress and Rhythm in
Connected. Speech
The cook's arrived
/Ba 'kuks a ' r a ~ v d l
have Have they arrived?
/hav Be1 a ' r a ~ v d l
John would have done it.
I'dgnnadav 'dm 1t1
I've visited Paris.
1a1v 'VIZI t ~d ' p ~ r ~ s l
Mary's here.
I'mear~z' h ~ a /
The lock's missing.
/Ba ' l n k s '~ISIQ/
must I must go now.

/a1 mas 'gau 'naul
shall Shall I do it?
/ l a 1 a 1 'du: 1t1'
When shall we meet?
/wen S l WI 'mi:tl
should You should help him.
/ju: Sad 'help id
was Was he there?
Iwaz i 'deal
were Were they here?
/we 801 ' h ~ a l
will I'll do it today.
/a11 'du: ~t t a'de11
would That'd be nice.
/'daet ad b~ ' n a ~ s l
I'd have done it for you.
1a1d av 'dm ~t fa'jul
t
Prepositions at I met him at the Post Office.
1a1'met I m a t 8a
'paust'nf IS/
for I did it for my mother.
/a1 ' d ~ ~t d f a ma1 'mndal
from The letter's from my mother.
/8a ' l e t a z fram ma1 'mhdal
of It's' made of silver
11ts ' m e ~ dav ' s i l v a l
Phonetics and Phonology-2 A glass ofmilk.
/a 'glaes a 'm11W
He went to Arthur's room.
/hi 'went tu 'a:Baz 'ru:ml
He's gone to Rome.
/hz 'gan t a 'raum/
Conjunctions and /md/ /and/ Over and above
(before vowels) /'auvar a n d a'bevl
/an/
(before Butter and jam
consonants) /'bet a r an ' d g d
as /zz/ /az/ As soon as I can.
/ a z 'su:n az a1 'kaen/
but Nothing but the truth
I'M~IIJbat Ba ' t r u e /
than Better late than never.
h a t a ' l e ~ taan ' n e ~ a l
that She said that she'd come.
111 'sed i)at 11d 'kvml
Pronouns he hi:/ h11 He told me.
(after pause or / h r 'tauld mi:/
vowels), /I/ Is he here?
(after consonants) /IZ I ' h ~ a /
her h3: (r)/ /ha(r)/ Her aunt's come.
(possessive) h a r ' a : n t s 'hd
t-ler sister's come.
/ha 'srstaz l k d
/a/ Please ask her.

(object form) /'pli:z ' a s k a/
me Give me a book.
I'grv m I a 'buW
she She wanted to help me.
11 'wvntrd t a ' h e l p m11
US Tell us a story.
/'tel as a 'st~:r11
Let's go now,
/lets 'gau h a u l
We made a mistake.
/WI' m e ~ da m i l s t e l W
You told me a lie.
/ju ' t a u l d m I a 'la11
I Others Sir /s3:/ &a/ Yes'Sir. . Stress and Rhythm in
Connected Speech
/ ' j e s sel
some lsd Isem1 Give me some money.

/'grv mr sem 'mn11
, A very important point to remember is that the weak forms of prepositions and auxiliary
and linking verbs are NOT used when they occur at the end of a sentence. The
sentence
r Where are you from?
cannot end with the weak form / fram / . It has to end with the strong form If r o d
E Similarly, 'Who's coming?'/hu:z h r g / 'I am'/ar &(Note the strong form of
am)
i Check Your Progress 1
Mark the stressed syllables in the following sentences. In some cases you may have
to divide the sentence into groups, Check your answers with those given at the end of
this unit. After you have checked your answers, say the sentences with the correct
stress patterns. You can also listen to these sentences on the audio recording.
I) He's a good painter.
2) She's a nice girl.
' 3) Jack and Jill went to get some water.
4) It's a very beautiful building.
I 5) The Prime Minister of India is quitedynamic.
6) Can I see you at ten?
7) I'm afraid I'm very late today.
8) My father is a retired engineer.

The plane to London is delayed by two hours.
0)
10) Can you get me a cup of tea?
* II) He's extremely honest.
12) Honesty is the best policy.
13) He's a Professor of Physics.

14) Can a cobra swim?
15) My neighbour has an imported car.
16) Have you ever traveled by plane?
17) 1 worked in the States for two years.
18) Jackals are very cunning animals.
19) 1 have a working knowledge of Arabic.
20) It's impossible to please everybody.

Phonetles and Phonology3 21 ) What an enormous man!
22) She has a very pleasant personality,
23) Uncle Robert visited us yesterday.
24) Please bring me a chair.

25) Would you like anything to drink?
7.7 LET US SUM UP

In connected speech we put words together to form phrases and sentences, but we
do not stress all the words. We stress some words in each sentence and leave the
others unstressed.
We stress those words in a sentence that are important for lhe meaning of (he
sentence.
Ifthe meaning of a sentence does not require any words to be specially stressed, then
we stress the condent words and leave the grammatical words.
Content words are nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, question words,
and demonstrative pronouns. Structure words or grammatical words are
articios, prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions.
If a content word has more than one syllable, we stress only one of its syllables, and
it is the syllable which has the stress when the word is said by itself, N
The rhythm of English speech depends on stressed syllables occurring at regular

intervals oftime, whatever be the number of unstressed syllables between two stressed
syllables.
In order to make this happen, we use short or contracted forms of a number of

structure words, and these are called their weak forms.
It is important to use the weak forms in English speech in order to maintain the
rhythm of English.
7.8 KEYWORDS
Content words : those words in a sentence which carry the meaning.
These words are: nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
demonstrative pronouns. These words are generally
stressed in a sentence.
Structure words : These words are also called grammatical words. These
words are normally not stressed in connected speech,
unless the meaning of the sentence in which they occur
requires it. The structure words are: articles, pronouns,
prepositions, auxiliary verbs. and conjunctions.
Weak form : a form of a word used in unstressed positions and having

a weak vowel. e.g. would written as 'd and pronounced
1 d / in I'd like to go now.
Stress and Rhythm in
-- --
Connected Speech
Balasubramanian, T. ( I 98 I, 1987) A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian

,kuden&s,Macmillan lndia Limited.
Bansal, R.K. and J.B.Harrison (1983) Spoken English for India, Orient Longman,
Second Edition.
7.10 ANSWERS
1) He's a 'good 'painter.
2) She's a 'nice 'girl.
3) 'Jack and 'Jill / 'went to 'get some 'water. (division into groups shown by / )
4) It's a 'very 'beautiful 'building.

The 'prime 'Minister of 'India / is 'quite 'dynamic.
Can I 'see you at 'ten?
I'm a'fraid I'm 'very 'late to'day.
My 'father is a re'tired engi'neer.
The lane to 'London / is de'layed by 'two hours.
Can you 'get me a 'cup of 'tea?
He is exltremely 'honest.
He is a pro'fessor of 'Physics.
Can a 'cobra 'swim?
My 'neighbour has an im'ported 'car.
Have you 'ever 'traveled by 'plane?
I 'worked in the 'States for 'two 'years.
'Jackals are 'very 'cunning 'animals.
I have a 'working 'knowledge of 'Arabic.
It's im'possible to 'please 'everybody.
'What an e'norrnous 'man!
She has a 'very 'pleasant perso'nality.
'Uncle 'Robert 'visited us Iyesterday.
'Please 'bring me a 'chair.
Would you 'like 'anything to 'drink?
UNIT 8 INTONATION - 1
Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Saying Short Sentences
8.3 Safing Longer Sentences
8.4 Breath Groups !Sense Groups
8.5 Tone Groups
8.6 Let Us Sum Up
8,7 Answers
8,0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall discuss another aspect of spoken English - how to divide long
utterances into groups. After reading this unit, you should be able to
a read or say sentences with the pauses in the appropriate places;
a decide, before reading a text, where to pause.
8,l INTRODUCTION
In Unit 7 we discussed sentence stress, rhythm, and the weakening of certain words
in connected speech. In this unit we shall discuss the division of longer sentences into
groups.

- - - - -
8,2 SAYING SHORT SENTENCES

Very often the sentences we say are quite short. Let's look at a couple of short
sentences.
1) He's there.
2) My father was a doctor.

Read the two sentencesgiven above several times. You will immediately realize that
you don't pause anywhere in the middle of these two sentences, but run through the
whole of each sentence in one breath. Given below are some more sentences, each
of which can be said without a pause anywhere in the middle. Read them aloud so
that you can see for yourself that there is no need to pause in the middle of such short
utterances.
3) Pune is a beautiful city.
4) Delhi is hot in summer.

5) It's very cold here.
6) 1 want to meet the Director of this Institute. -
Intonation 1
7) Father's gone to Kolkata.

8) It's raining again.
9) 1 want to buy a colour television set.

10) Where do you live?
11) When does the train from Jammu arrive?
12) How are you this morning?

13) Is father at home?
14) Have you seen the Taj Mahal?
15) Isn't there a bus to Bangalore now?

16) Go away.
17) Shutthatdoor.
18) Close the window, please.
19) What a tall building!
20) How wonderful!
SAYING LONGER SENTENCES

Now let's look at some longer sentence. Two sentences are given below:
21) If you work hard, you will pass the examination.
22) Whenever it rains, there is power failure.

Read the two sentences given above (Sentences 21 and 22) aloud, several times if
necessary. You will realize that while reading them aloud, you pause in the middle of
each sentence. The pause can be indicated by the mark /. The same two sentences
are given below once again. This time, the pause is indicated by the mark / .
21a) If you work hard /you will pass the examination.
22a) Whenever it rainstthere is power failure.
Let us look at some more sentences, each of which has one or more than one pause
in the middle, indicated by 1 .
23) 1 went to the market this morning I and bought two kilos of potatoes.
24) On your way to school 1 post this letter I and order the birthday cake.
25) When I was in Mysore recently I I met my old professor of Physics 1 who
invited me to have lunch with him.
26) Some people are born great 1 while others achieve greatness I and yet others
have greatness thrust on them.
27) A: Count from one to six, Mary.
Mary: One 1 two / three / four 1 five / six.
Phonetics and Phonology-2 28) Wherever you go /you should try to be honest.
29) Whenever I get time / I turn the pages ofthe dictionary / and it has stood me in
good stead in my academic life.
30) Though I worked very hard throughout the year / I could not get even the
minimum required for a pass /and this has depressed me quite a lot.
Check Your Progress
Given below are a few sentences. Read each one ofthem aloud and decide whether
it is necessary to have a pause anywhere. If you think you should pause somewhere
in the middle of the sentence, indicate it with the mark (/). You need not mark the
pause at the end of the sentence, because the end of the sentence always has a
pause and it is indicated by the appropriate mark of punctuation. Check your answers
with those given at the end of the unit.
1) As I'm going to Mumbai, I shan't attend office for a week.
2) Lakshmi is very alever, but thoroughly undependable.
3) My uncle went to Chennai last week, where he met his old professor who had
taught him Physics in 1924.
4) Mr. Pandey, our professor of Zoology, will be away for a fortnight.
5) Laugh, and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.
6) Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water.
7) Shakespeare was a famous dramatist who lived in the sixteenth century.
8) You may think you are very famous, but I don't think so.
9) Mr. Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India after his mother was
assassinated.
10) Several universities in India offer distance education programmes these days.
I I) George Bernard Shaw wrote a number of plays.
12) There are twenty vowels in English, which can be divided into twelve pure
vowels and eight diphthongs.
13) Rabindranath Tagore was not only a patriot but also a man of letters, and he
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
14) It's a pity lndiadidn't win any medals in the 1988 Olympics.
15) 1 don't mind a cup of tea, but I'd prefer some coffee.
BREATH GROUPS 1 SENSE GROUPS

The reason why we pause in the middle of long utterances is partly physiological. We
use the air that we breathe out to speak English (and several other languages as
well). This means that we can go on speaking (or reading) only as long as there is
some air left in our lungs. It is necessary, therefore, that we pause frequently during
speakingor reading in order to breathe in more air. For this reason, the small units into
which we divide long utterances are called breath groups.
Surely we can't go on speaking until we are out of breath and then pause in order to
breathe in more air? If we do this, our listeners may not be able to make sense out 01'
what we are saying. Also, if you look at sentences 2 1 to 30 given in 8.3 in this unit, Intonation -l
you will realise that there is a very close link between our division of utterances
during speech and grammatical units. Because of this reason, the smaller units into
which we divide long utterances are also called sense groups.
TONE GROUPS
The smaller units into which we divide utterances are also called tone groups. This
is because each group is said with a particular intonation pattern. We shall discuss the
intonation patterns used in English speech in Units 9 and 10.
When do we pause?
As we saw above, there are places where the pause is unnecessary, for instance in
short sentences. Some other places where you don't pause are the following:
i. in the middle of a phrase, e.g.
a. One of 1the boys of the class ...
b. We have 1 been watching the movie

c. Take1 a deep/ breath, and get up.
ii. after relative pronouns, e.g.,
a. The man who1 won the election
b. This is the time when1 you should be working hard.
I'laces where you pause are the following:
at syntactic boundaries (indicated by punctuation marks in writing), e.g.,
a. If you don't like the proposal1 then say so.
b. John loves kids1 but he's not married.
c. You need one cup of milk/ one cup of sugar1four eggs/. ..
d. All the points1 however1need to be considered.
e. Those who sold quickly/ made a profit
f. Those who sold/ quickly made a profit.
before (but not after) relative and interrogative pronouns, e.g.,
a. The man1 who won the election ...
b. This is the time/ when you should be working hard.
Notice that pausing is crucial in making sense of an utterance. Therefore, you have to
be careful about your pauses. For instance, look at the following two sentences:
The girls1 who are wearing green1 are from Jaipur.
?'he girls who are wearing green1are from Jaipur.
In the first sentence above, all the girls are from Jaipur, they are wearing green. In
the second sentence above, however, only those girls who are wearing green are
from Jaipur.
Phonetics and Phonology-2
LET US SUM LIP
When we speak, if the sentences we use are short, we generally don't pause any-
where in the middle.
On the other hand, ifthe sentences are long, we pause once or more than once in the
middle of each sentence.
L
The smaller bits into which we divide long utteratices are called breath groups or
sense groups or tone groups.
8.7 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress
I) As I'm going to Mumbail I shan't attend office for a week.
2) Lakshmi is very clever 1 but thoroughly undependable.
3) My uncle went to Chennai last week / where he met his old professor / who
had taught him Physics in 1924.
4) Mr. Pandeyl our Professor of Zoology / will be away for a fortnight.
5) Laugh /and the world laughs with you 1 weep / and you weep alone.
6) Jack and Ji I1 / went up a hill / to fetch a pail of water.
7) Shakespeare was a famous dramatist /who lived in the sixteenth century.
8) You may think you are very famous / but I don't think so.
9) Mr. Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India / after his mother was
assassinated.
10) Several universities in India 1offer distance education programmes these days.
I I) George Bernard Shaw 1 wrote a number of plays.
12) There are twenty vowels in English / which can be divided into twelve pure
vowels /and eight diphthongs.
13) Rabindranath Tagore was not only a patriot / but also a man of letters / and he
was awarded the Noble Prize in Literature.
14) It's a pity India didn't win any medals / in the 1988 Olympics.
15) I don't mind a cup of tea / but I'd prefer some coffee.
UNIT 9 INTONATION - 2
Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 introduction
9.2 Choice of Stressed Syllables in an Utterance
1 9.3 Choice of the Nucleus
9.4 Let Us Sum Up
9.5 Answers
9.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall discuss another important aspect ofconnected speech, that is, the
i
location ofthe Nucleus in each tone group. After reading this unit you should be able
to
decide where to place the Nucleus in each tone group, and
read or say each group, with the Nucleus on the correct syllable.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous three units we discussed (a) word-stress (that is, which syllable in a
long word has to be stressed), (b) sentence stress (that is, whicli words in a sentence
have to be stressed), and (c) breath groups, sense groups or tone groups (that is, how
to divide long utterances into smaller units).
In this unit we shall take up the location ofthe nucleus in each tone group.
An audio recording accompanies this unit and is also available at the Study Centres of
the University.
9.2 CHOICE OF STRESSED SYLLABLES IN AN

UTTERANCE
We mentioned in Unit 7 (see 7.3 and 7.4) that in connected speech we stress those
words which are iniportant for the meaning the speaker wants to convey to the
listener. We pointed out that if the meaning does not require any particular word to be
stressed specially, the speaker will stress the content word and leave the grammatical
words unstressed. We also said that if a content word has more than one syllable we
stress only one of its syllables and that it is the syllable which we stress when we say
the word by itself. Let us look at some examples. In the examples given below,
stressed syllables are marked with the vertical bar. The division into tone groups is
indicated by the slanting line 1 .
1) If it 'rains, / I shall 'stay at 'home.
2) 'Content 'words / are 'stressed in an 'utterance.
3) 'When we 'speak, / 'long 'sentences are di'vided into 'smaller 'bits.
4) 'Grammar is a 'branch of Iin'guistics.

Phonetics and Phonology-2 5) Pho'netics 'deals with 'speech.
6) 'Speech sounds are di'vided into 'vowels and 'consonants.
7) The 'Mahabharata / is 'one of the 'greatest 'epics of the 'world.
8) 'once upon a 'time / there was a 'great 'story-teller / who was called ' ~ a n s
'Christian 'Andersen.
'Robert 'Browning was a 'great 'poet.
My 'friend's an 'optimist.
'Shrimati 'Indira 'Gandhi / was ass'assinated in 'nineteen eighty 'four.
The 'Indian 'army / is 'one of the 'best in the 'world.
- 'Students 'ought to be 'discipliried.
The 'Indian 'medium range 'missile 'Agnilwas 'launched in 'May this 'year.
When'ever the 'traffic lights are 'red/ all 'vehicles should 'stop.
I 'went to the U'nited 'States of A'merica / when I was nine'teen, / and 'stayed
there for 'four 'years.
I'm a 'student of 'lndira 'Gandhi National 'Open ~ni'versity.
We've a'chieved a 'number of 'things / in our 'sixty 'years of inde'pendence.
Though ' ~ a visi 'clever, / he is ex'tremely unde'pendable.
The re'sults of the exami'nation / were an'nounced this 'morning, / and our
'school has a'chieved a u'nique di'stinction.
CHOICE OF THE NUCLEUS

In addition to choosing the words to be stressed in an utterance, we have to make
another choice. And that is, out ofthe stressed syllables in each group, which should
be the nucleus? In English it is the stressed syllable of either the most important word
or the last important word in the tone group that is the nucleus. It is on this syllable
that a pitch movement begins. (We shall say more about pitch in Unit 10).
If there is only one stressed syllable in an utterance, it automatically becomes the
nucleus of the utterance. Given below are a few such examples. In each of the
following short utterances there is only one stressed syllable and it is the nucleus of
the utterance. In the following examples, the stressed syllable (which is also the
nucleus of the utterance) has been italicized.
21) I'm a 'boy.
22) He's an 'orphan.
23) It's 'raining.

24) I'm 'busy.
25) He's 'honest.
26) It's a 'pity.
27) I 'think so.
28) He's ar'rived. Intonation - 2
29) 1 'love you.

30) They're 'athletes.
Note that in the sentences given above (Numbers 2 1 to 30) there is only one content
word in each. If it is a monosyllabic word (as in sentences 2 1,27 and 29) the whole
word is the nucleus. If, as in the other sentences, the content word has more than one
syllable, only one syllable has been italicized as the nucleus.
What happens when an utterance has more than one stressed syllable? Which ofthe
inany stressed syllables in an utterance do we make the nucleus? The answer is
simple. In English the nucleus in each tone group is on the stressed syllable ofeither
the most important or the last important word. Let us take an example. The following
sentence (Sentence No.3 1) has thirteen syllables. Let us assume that the speaker
says it as one group and does not want any of the grammatical words to be stressed.
He stresses only the content words. The stressed syllables are marked with the
vertical bar ( ' ).
3 1) 1 'want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.

Now out of five stressed syllables, which one will be the nucleus? The choice of the
nucleus depends upon the meaning the speaker wants to convey to the listener. The
same sentence is given below a number of times, each time with a different nucleus.
The meaning conveyed by the utterance each time is indicated within brackets after
the utterance. The nucleus is italicized each time.
3 1 a) 1 'want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.
(The speaker has made the word 'dog' the nucleus. He wants to make it clear to the
listener that it is the dog which has to be taken out for a walk and not any other
animal.This is done by making the word 'dog' prominent by initiating a pitch movement
on it.)
3 1b) 1 'want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.
(The speaker has made the word 'walk' the nucleus. He wants to tell the listener that
the dog must be made to walk and not to run.)
3 1 c) 1 want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.
(The speaker has made the word 'park' the nucleus.*~e wants to make it clear to the
listener that tlie dog must be taken for a walk to the park and nowhere else.)
Now look at the same sentence, given twice below. On each of the two occasions, a
grammatical word has been chosen as the nucleus and on each occasion the meaning
intended by the speaker is given within brackets at the end of the sentence.
3 Id) I want 'you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.
(The speaker has made the word 'you' the nucleus. He wants to make it clear to the
listener that the listener, and no one else, should take the dog out for a walk.)
3 1e) 'I want you to 'take the 'dog for a 'walk in the 'park.
(The speaker has made the word 'I' the nucleus. He wants to make it clear to the
listener that it is speaker, and no one else, who is giving the instruction.)
If a sentence has more than one stressed syllable and none ofthe words is particularly
important for the meaning, the stressed syllable ofthe last important word will be the
Phonetics and Phonology-2 nucleus. Look at the following examples. In each of them, the stressed syllables have
been marked as usual with the stress mark and the nucleus has been italicized. It is
assumed that in each sentence no word is specially important and so the speaker has
chosen the stressed syllable of the last important word as the nucleus.
32) It's 'raining a'gain.
33) 'Honesty is the 'best 'policy.

34) 'Thank you very 'much.
35) It's a ri'diculous sug'gestion.
36) 'What a 'tall 'man!
37) Can I 'see the 'Principal for a 'minute?
38) It's im'possible to 'please 'everybody.
39) 'John 'Keats was a 'famous 'poet.

40) 'What's your 'father's prolfession?
If a sentence has more than one tone-group, each tone-group will have a nucleus.
Look at the following sentences. Each one of them has more than one tone-group.
The places where the sentences are divided into tone-groups are indicated by the
mark ( / ). The stressed syllables in each tone-groups have been marked ( ) and the
nucleus in each tone-group has been italicized.
41) As 'soon as you 'reach 'London, / 'please 'send me a 'letter.
42) There've been 'hundreds of 'dramatists in 'England, 1 but 'Shakespeare was

the 'greatest of them 'all.
43) What 'ever you 'do, / if you're 'honest in 'what you 'do / you'll 'win the res'pect
and admi'ration of 'all.
44) 'What an e~tra'ordinar~

'piece of 'luck!
I
45) Kalidas and Vallmiki were 'great poets who 'wrote in 'Sanskrit.
46) lfyou 'don't listen to your 'elders, /you'll 'get into 'trouble.
47) I 'love sweets, / but my 'mother doesn't al'low me to 'eat them / because I'm
al'ready Lfat.
48) I was in 'Agra 'last ~e'cember/ and 'saw the 'Taj, 1 which was 'beautiful on a
I
moonlit 'night.
I
49) India is the qargest delmocracyin the 'world.
50) I 'lived in the 'Middle 'East for 'eight 'years / and en'joyed every 'minute of my
'stay there.
Check Your Progress
Given below are a few sentences. Read each one of them aloud and decide whether
it is necessary to have a pause anywhere in the middle. Indicate such pauses with the
mark 1. Indicate the stressed syllables with the mark ( ' ) and underline the nucleus in
each group (where any special meaning is intended, it is indicated within brackets at
the end of the sentence). We have however given the answers in italics.
Check your answers with those given at the end of this unit. Please do it after you Intonation - 2
have completed the task.
1) I must go and meet the Dean tomorrow.
2) Five and three make eight.
3) George is extremely honest in all his dealings, and he is also very clever.
4) lndira Gandhi National Open University has anumber of Study Centres, which
are located in various parts of the country.
5) Each Study Centre has a library.
6) The Principal told me that 1 could apply for admission to the College of
Engineering.
7) 1want to study medicine but my father insists on my becoming an engineer.
8) Students should be free to choose what they like to study.
9) Delhi is extremely hot in summer but is very cold in winter.
10) Bangalore is a beautiful city and there are several lovely gardens in it.
1 1) The girl standing next to Gopal is my sister (not Gopal's sister).
12) 1 hate jam with my bread and butter, but my sister loves it.
13) It's impossible for us to catch the flight today, for we are still ten kilometers
from the airport and one of the tyres of our car has a puncture.
14) It was Abraham Lincoln, the famous President of America, who said that
Democracy is government of the people, for the people, and by the people.
15) Doctor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second President ofthe Republic of
India.
16) Doctor Radhakrishnan succeeded Doctor Rajendra Prasad.
17) Shakespeare wrote a number of plays.
18) It's a remarkable achievement.
19) I'm going to buy a new carpet for our sitting-room.
20) 1 want to by a new television set, but 1 have no money.
LET US SUM UP
Let us sum up what we have said so far.
In an utterance we stress those syllables that are important for the meaning of
the utterance.
If the meaning of an utterance does not require any particular word to be given
special prominence, we stress the content words and leave the grammatical
words unstressed.
In each tone group, out ofthe many stressed syllables, we choose one and make
it the nucleus.
Phonetics and Phonology3 The nucleus is on the stressed syllable of either the most important, or the lust
important word in a tone group.
If there is only one stressed syllable in a short utterance, it automatically becomes
the nucleus of the utterance.
Ifno word is specially important in a tone group, the stressed syllable of the last
important word in it will be the nucleus.
Check Your Progress

(The nucleus in each tone group is printed in Italics)
I) I must 'go and 'meet the 'Dean to'morrow.
2) ' ~ i v eand 'three make 'eight.
3) 'George is ex'tremely 'honest in 'all his 'dealings / and he's 'also very 'clever.
4) 'Indira 'Gandhi National 'Open Uni'versity / has a 'number of 'Study 'Centres,

/ which are lo'cated in 'various 'parts of the 'Country.
5) 'Each 'Study 'Centre has a 'lz%rary.
6) The 'Principal 'told me / that I could ap'ply for ad'mission / to the 'College of
~ngi'neering.
7) 1'want to 'study 'medicine, / but my 'father in'sists on my be'coming an engi'neer.
8) 'Students should be 'free to 'choose / what they 'like to 'study.
9) 'Delhi is extremely 'hot in 'summer 1 but 'is 'very cold in 'winter.
10) Bangalore is a 'beautiful 'city 1and there are 'several 'lovely ' gardens in it.
1 1) The 'girl 'standing 'next to 'Gopal / is 'my 'sister.
12) I 'hate 'jam with my 'bread and 'butter / but my 'sister 'loves it.
13) It's im'possible for us to 'catch the 'flight tolday,/for we are 'still 'ten ki'lometers
from the 'airport / and one of the 'tyres of our 'car / has a 'puncture.
14) It was braha ham '~incoln,/ the 'famous 'President of 'America, / who 'said /
that Delmocracy is 'government 'of the 'people / '$or the 'people, / and 'by the
'people.
15) Doctor 'Sarvepalli 'Radhakrishnan / was the 'second 'President of the Re'public
of 'India.
16) Doctor 'Radhakrishnan suc'ceeded Doctor Ra'jendra ~ra'sad.
17) 'Shakespeare 'wrote a 'number of 'plays.

18) It's a re'markable a'chievement.
19) I'm 'going to 'buy a 'new 'carpet for our 'sitting-room.
20) I 'want to 'buy a 'new 'television 'set / but I 'have no 'money.

- - -
INTONATION - 3
- -
Structure
10.0 Objectives
1 0.1 Introduction
10.2 Tones
1 0.3 The Falling Tone
10.4 The Rising Tone

10.5 The Important Functions of Intonation
10.6 Let Us Sum Up
10.7 Key Words

10.9 Answers
10.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall discuss another important aspect of intonation, namely, the tone
to be used on the nucleus in each tone group. After reading this unit you should be
able to
recognise the tones used by the speaker when yol! hear someone speak English,
and
use appropriate tones when you speak English.
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous two units we discussed (a) how to divide long utterance into smaller
bits called breath groups, sense groups or tone groups; and (b) the location of the
nucleus in each tone group.
Now let's see what important pitch movements or 'tone' begins on the nucleus.
10.2 TONES
Before we speak about nuclear tones, we must say what we mean by pitch. In Unit
I we briefly mentioned the larynx and the vocal cords (See 1.2, specially the note
under Fig. 1). As we said in that unit, the vocal cords can be brought close together or
held wide apart. If we bring them very close to each other and keep them loosely
together, the air that comes from the lungs and passes through the narrow glottis
makes the vocal cords close and open at a very fast rate. This opening and closing of
the vocal cords is called the vibration of the vocal cords. The rate at which the vocal
cords vibrate determines the pitch of our voice. If the vocal cords vibrate rapidly,
our pitch is high. If they vibrate slowing, our pitch is low. By 'pitch' we mean the
degree of 'highness' or 'lowness' of a musical note or of our speaking voice.
Phonetics and Phonology-2 When we speak, we don't always speak on the same pitch, high or low. The changes
in the pitch of our voice when we speak constitute the intonation of a language. In
other words, 'intonation' refers to the pattern of rise and fall in the level (that is, the
'pitch') of the voice. If our pitch starts at a high level and comes down to a lower
level, we are said to use a falling tone. If, on the other hand, our pitch starts at a
lower level and goes on to a higher level, we are said to use a rising tone. The
falling tone and the rising tone are two tones that are basic in spoken English. In the
rest of this unit we shall discuss these two tones in some details.
10.3 THE FALLING TONE

As pointed out in 10.2 above, when we use the falling tone, our pitch starts at a higher
level and comes down to a lower level. In English we begin the tone on the nucleus;
that is how the nucleus gains the most prominence in the tone group. We normally use
the falling tone in
a) statements;
b) questions beginning with interrogative words like what, who, whom, where,
when, which, how, etc.,if these are asked by the speaker in a neutral way;
without showing any feeling or concern;
c) exclamatory sentences; and
d) orders or commands.
We shall give a few examples of each of these four types of sentences. In all the
examples, stressed syllables are marked with the bar [ ' ] if they occur before the
nucleus, the nucleus with the falling tone is marked with [' 1, and stressed syllables,
if any, that occur after the nucleus are marked with the bar [,I below. All stress and
tone marks are placed before the syllables to which they relate.
a) Statements
1) My 'name.is' Ramu.
2) I'm a 'teacher of Mathsmatics.
3) My 'sister has a de'gree in 'science.
4) I 'want to 'buy a 'kilo of to'matoes.
5) The 'train's running' late to'day.

1 can 'speak 'Arabic.
My 'daughter 'goes to a 'good 'school.
I Five times 'five is 'twenty ,five.
My 'sister 'bought a 'television ,set.

'Raju is 'fond of 'music.
My 'father has been ad'mitted to 'hospital.
'Swimming is an 'excellent 'exercise.
The 'regional 'language of Kar'nataka is 'Kannada.
Intonation - 3
IS) My 'uncle's a pro'fessor of 'Chemistry.
16) I've 'never 'seen the 'Taj Ma'hal.
17) 'Delhi is the 'capital of 'lndia.
18) 1 'eat some 'cucumber with 'every 'meal.
19) There are 'over 'twenty 'thousand 'books in our 'library.
20) 'India is the 'largest de'mocracy in the'world.
b) wh-Questions
1) 'Whatisyour'name.?
2) 'Where do you ' live?

3) .'When is your 'birthday?
4) 'Who is the 'author of this 'book?

5) 'How is your 'mother?
6) 'which one is 'yours?
7) 'Why are you 'late evejday?
8) 'Who do you 'live with?
9) 'What have you 'got in your'pocket?

10) 'Where does your 'father'work?
11) 'What do you 'do for a'living?
12) 'When is the 'next bus to 'Lucknow?
13) 'Where did you 'keep the 'book?
14) Whyis'Mary 'absent?
15) 'Where did you 'spend the' Summer?
c) Exclamations
1) 'What a 'beautiful 'building!
2) 'How extra'ordinary !
3) 'How'stupid of me!
4) 'What a 'glorious 'sunrise!
5) 'How pithetic!
6) 'How de' lightfull
7) 'What a 'tall 'tree!
8) 'What a ddlicious ,cake!
9) 'What a re'markable a'chievament!
10) 'What a 'gorgeous 'piece of 'jawellery!
Phonetics and Phonology-2 d) Orders/Commands
1) 'Shut the' door.

2) 'Go dway.
3) 'Go and 'post this 'letter.

4) 'send them $way
5) 'Put these 'dirty 'slippers in the 'bathroom.

6) 'Open the 'window.
7) 'Do this at 'once.
8) Shut 'up.
9) 'Use a 'fountain 'pen.
10.4 THE RISING TONE

As mentioned in 10.2 above, when we use a rising tone, our pitch starts at a lower
level and then goes up to a higher level. In English we begin the tone on the nucleus
and normally use the rising tone in
a) Yes/No questions
b) Wh- questions asked warmly

c) incomplete utterances
d) polite requests.
We shall give a few examples of each of these four types of sentences listed above.
In all the examples, stressed syllables that occur before the nucleus are marked with
the vertical bar [ ' 1, the nucleus since the rising tone is used, is marked [,I and the
stressed syllables that occur after the nucleus are marked [ '1.
a) Yes/No Questions Yes/No question is one which can be answered in 'Yes'

or 'NO'.
1) Is 'father at ,home?
2) Can I 'see the #Dean for a 'minute?
3) Can you 'buy me an ,icecream, ,mummy?
4) Will you 'show me your 'new ,atlas?
5) Can I 'borrow your #record 'player?
6) Can you #drive?
7) Can you ,cook?
8) Would it be 'possible to 'spend the ,night here?
9) Is the 'Ahmedabad Ex'press arlriving on ,time?
10) 'Is there any re, cording to'day?

Wh-questions asked warmly -
Intonation 3
1) 'Whatisyour,father?
2) 'Where do you ,live?
3) 'How is,mother?
4) 'Where did you 'leave your ,book?

5) 'How pld are you?
6) 'Which is,yours?
7) 'When did you ,come?
8) 'Where are you ,going?
9) 'Who did you ,talk to?

Incomplete Utterances
All the examples cited below have two tone groups each. The end of the first
tone-group is marked 1. See how the first of the two tone-groups in each
sentence is said with a rising tone.
1) If you 'go to ,Delhi/ 'please 'meet my 'aunt.
2) 1 'went to the 'market this porningl and 'bought a 'lot of 'vegetables.
3) As 'soon as you 'reach ,London/ 'give this 'letter to the 'High

Cqmmissioner. L'
4) When my 'father ,died, / 1 was 'only 'five years'old.
5) 'If I ,see him/ 1 shall 'give him a 'piece of my 'mind.
6) The 'moment you are ,ready,/ 'please 'phone 'me.
7) 1 'don't mind 'eating ,anywhere,/ pro'vided the 'place is 'clean.
8) Ifyou get 'drenched in the ,rain, / you're 'likely to 'fall 'ill.
9) 1 was 'terribly ,hurt / when my 'father 'called me a 'fool.
10) If at 'all it's possible, / I shall 'meet you at the 'station.
11) 'Indira 'Gandhi 'National 'Open Uni,versity / is the 'first of its 'kind in
'India.
12) You can 'go to the 'Study Centre in your ,region/ and dis'cuss your
I
problems with your 'Counsellor there.
13) If you 'want to ac'quire a 'good pronunci,ation, / you should 'listen to our
'audio tapes.
14) 'Madam ,President/ will in'augurate the 'new 'buildings.

15) ,Laugh / and the 'world 'laughs with you.
16) 'If you are,naughty, / 'daddy will 'punish you.
17) When'ever you are in ,doubt, / 'please con'sult a Igood 'dictionary.
18) As a 'matter of ,fact, / I for'got to 'phone' Meena.

Phonetics and Phonology-2 Be'cause of the 'efforts of the pojice / the 'thieves were 'caught.
19)
20) The 'earlier you f inish, / the 'earlier you can 'go.
d) Polite Requests
1) 'Pass the 2alt.
2) 'Close that ,window.
3) 'Lend me a r5pee.
4) 'Shut the ,door.
5) 'Please 'carry my bag.
6) 'BUY me some ,flowers.
7) 'Bring some ,lunch for me.

8) 'Give me some ,water.
9) 'Felkh me an um,brella.
10) 'Buy me a 'new 'pen, ,daddy.
10.5 TEE IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF

INTONATION
lntonation patterns in English, that is, the tones we use in English speech, have a
very important function. Sometimes we use in the same order, both as a statement
and as a question. For example, the words lookingfor somelhing, can mean a
statement like 'I'm looking for something'. That is, these words can be the answer to
the question 'What are you doing?' At other times, the same words can be used to
mean a question like 'Are you looking for something?' In writing, the difference
between a statement and a question is signalled by the punctuation marks we use, as
the examples given below suggest.
a) Looking for ,something, (Statement)
b) booking for 'something? (Question)
But we can't use marks of punctuation in speech, can we? So when we mean the
words 'Looking for something' as a statement, we use a falling tone; and when we
use the same words to mean a question, we use a rislng tone. These two and a few
similar examples are given below. % indicate the question clearly, we generally use a
'high rising' tone, (marked ' ) that is, the pitch rises from a middle to a high level.
1a) 'Looking for ,something. (Falling tone; statement)
I b) '~ookingFor 'something? (Rising tone; question)
2a) 'Going to Born' bay. (Statement)
2b) 'Going to Bodbay? (Question)
3a) 'Coffee. (Statement)
3b) ' Coffee? (Question)
4a) 'Snake. (Statement)
4b) Snake? (Question; something like was it a snake?) -
lntonation 3
5a) , 'John is a good kctor. (Statement)
5b) 'John is a good 'actor? (Question; did you say so?)
6a) You're a'ttending the 'Conference. (Statement)
6b) You're a'ttending the 'conference? (Question; Are you, really?)

7a) 'Shantaram. (Statement)
7b) '~hantaram?(Question; something like Did you suggest Shantaram?)

lntonation in English has one more important function. The same utterance can be
made to sound friendly, angry, uninterested, bored, etc. by the use of different tones.
Given below are a few sentences.
i) Divide them into tone groups where necessary.
ii) Mark the stressed syllables before the nucleus with a vertical mark ( ' ) above.
iii) Mark the nucleus with the appropriate tone mark, depending upon whether
you choose a falling tone (marked thus: ' )or a rising tone marked thus: ( ,),
iv) Mark the stressed syllables, if any, after the nucleus with a vertical mark ( , )
below.
All the stress and tone marks have to be placed before the syllables to which they
relate. You can also listen to these sentences on the audio recording. After you have
checked your answers, say each sentence aloud with the stress and intonation pattern
marked.
2) When did you arrive from London? (asked warmly)
3) What a wonderful piece of luck!
4) When my father returned from Washington, he brought me a camera.
5) I was late again for class today.
6) Ran~anujanwas a great mathematician.
7) D'you think I can borrow your dictionary?
8) You must be punctual in whatever you do.
9) 1 hate watching television but the members of my family love it.
10) 1 wasted my time when I was young and I'm paying for it now.
1 1) Dr. Rao is an excellent surgeon.
12) If it doesn't rain, I'll take the children to the zoo.
13) If you listen to the BBC, your English will improve.
14) 1 met your teacher this morning and he told me that he wasn't satisfied with
your progress.
Phonetics and Phonology-2 15) You can cheat some people for some time, but not everybody all the time.
Whenever I face a camera I become very nervous.
Will you please shut that door?

A :Raju is pulling my hair, mummy.
B : Stop it, Raju.
Have you read any tales by Tolstoy?
A : Did you break this glass?
B : I didn't. Ravi did.
It's not my fault.
Can you direct me to the bank?
May I sit down?
1 want to complete my work within a year.
Are you going to Mysore this summer?

What if 1 accepted the new job?
I'm planning to move to Hyderabad.
I hate to see crawling insects.
1 wonder how the accident occurred.
I've taught thousands of students, but never have 1 seen one like you.
LET US SUM UP
The pitch of our voice depends upon the rate at which our vocal cords vibrate. If the
vocal cords vibrate rapidly, our pitch is high:. If the vocal cords vibrate slowly, our
pitch is low.
The two basic tones used in English speech are:
a) The falling tone, and
b) The rising tone.
When we use the falling tone, our pitch starts at a higher level and comes down to a
lower level.
When we use the rising tone, our pitch starts at a lower level and goes up to a higher
level.
We normally use the falling tone in
a) statements,
b) wh-questions asked in a neutral way,

C) exclamations, and
d) commands.
We normally use the rising tone in Intonation -3
a) Yes/No questions,
b) Wh-questions asked in a warm and friendly manner.

c) incomplete utterances, and
d) polite requests.
In English, intonation has two functions.
a) It indicates whether an utterance is a statement or a question whenever we

use the same words in the same order.
r
b) It indicates the mood of the speaker.
10.7 KEY WORDS

Falling tone : lfthe pitch.of our voice starts at a higher level and comes down to
a lower level, we are said to use a falling tone.
Pitch : the level (that is, highness or lowness) of a musical note or of our
speaking voice. This is determined by the rate at which the vocal
cords vibrate.
Rising tone : lfour pitch starts at a lower level and goes up to a higher level, we
are said to use a rising tone.

Balasubramanian, T (1 98 1,1987). A Text Book of English Phonetics for Indian
Students, Macmillan India Ltd.
Bansal, R.K. & J.B.Harrison (1983) Spoken English For India, Orient Longman
(Second edition)
Cl EFL 1 974: Exercises In Spoken English: Part 1 : Accent, Rhythm, and Intonation,
..- Oxford University Press.
10.9 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1 .
1) I 'live in'Delhi.
2) 'when did you arr'ive from London?
3) What a 'wonderful 'piece of 'luck!
4) When my 'father re'turned from Washington, / he 'brought me a 'camera.
5) I was 'late igain for ,class tolday.
6) 'Ramanujan was a Igreat mathematician.
7) D'you 'think I can 'borrow your,dictionary?
8) You must be 'punctual in what'ever you 'do.
9) 1 'hate 'watching 'television / but the 'members of my 'family 'love it.

Phonetics and Phonology-2 I 'wasted my 'time when I was young / and I'm 'paying for it 'now.
Dr. 'Rao is an 'excellent 'surgeon.
If it 'doesn't rain, / I'll 'take the 'children to the'zoo.
If you 'listen to the 'BBC, / your 'English will improve.
I 'met your 'teacher this 'morning / and he told me /that he 'wasn't 'satisfied
with your 'progress.
You can 'cheat 'some people for,some time, 1but, 'not 'everybody'all the ,time.
When'evei I 'fhce a ,camera, / 1 be'come very 'nervous.
Will you 'please, 'shut that,door?
A : 'Raju is 'pulling my 'hair, ,mummy.
B :' Stop it, ,Raju.
Have you 'read any 'tales by Tolstoy?
A : Did you break this 'glass?
B : 'I ,didn't.'Ravi did.
~t's' not my 'fault. I
Can you di'rect me to the ,bank?
'May 1 sit down?
1 'want to com'plete my 'work within a'year.
27) Are you Igoing to My'sore this ,summer?
28) 'What if 1 ac'cepted the 'new 'job?

29) I'm 'planning to 'move to' Hyderabad.
30) 1 'hate to see 'crawling'insects.
31 ) 1 'wonder how the 'accident oc 'curred.
32) I've 'taught 'thousands of ,students, but, 'never have I 'seen one like' you.
UNIT 11 WORDS AND THEIR ELEMENTS
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Identifying the Parts of a Word
1 1.2.1 The Criteria
1 1.2.2 Morphemes
11.2.3 Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes
11.2.4 Affixes, Stems and Roots
How are Morphemes Combined into Words?
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
11.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to
identify morphemes,
identify the kinds of information we learn when we learn a word
identify the criteria for defining a word,
analyse the structure of complex and compound words,
identify prefixes, suffixes, roots and stems, and
formulate rules for the combination of morphemes into words on the basis
of some given examples of complex words.
11.1 INTRODUCTION
Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words.
When we think of a human language, we naturally think of words to be the

most fundamental units of phrases, clauses and sentences. Our ability to
understand and analyse words in a language assumes the knowledge about
various properties that words have. When we come across the words read and
reader, for example, we at once feel that these two words are somehow related
and that the meaning of read must also be part of the meaning of reader. We
are not wrong for when we look up a dictionary, we find that a reader is
someone who reads. That read and reader are structurally related is one kind
of information about words. Besides this, let's first find out the kinds of
information we have learnt when we learn a word.
1. Phonetic/phonologicaI information
For every word that we know, we know how it is pronounced; in other words,
every word is associated with a certain sequence of sounds. A dictionary
encodes this information by giving phonetic symbols within slanting brackets
for the pronunciation of a word, e.g. /bet/ shows the pronunciation of the word
bet.
I
~orphology- 2. Morphological Information
Every word that we have learned has its internal structure, i.e.,a word such as
reads is made of read and -s, or a word such as invitation is made of invite
and -ation.
3. Grammatical Information
, Every word fits into a definite slot in the structure of phrases, clauses, and
sentences. We know that my can come before a noun and not before an article,
e.g. This is my bag and not* this is my a bag. We know whether a word is a
noun or adjective or a verb and the structures that they will occur in.
4. Meaning
For every word we know what it means, e.g, we know that polite is a word
used to mean 'well behaved' ,whereas rude is its opposite in meaning.
5. Collocations, Idioms, etc

We know that certain words occur with certain other words and there an
patterns of co-occurrence of words, e.g, we generally say a handsome man but
not a handsome woman. These are called collocations. We also know that
combinations of certain words have a meaning which is not the sum of the
meaning of separate words but a completely new meaning, e.g, an apple of
one's eye does not refer to an apple but to someone very dear.
'\
When we say we know a word, it is implied that we also know all or most of
the above kinds of information about the word. Now the aim of a dictionary is
also to represent or at least try to represent all these kinds of information. For
a language learner, then, a dictionary is a valuable resource of knowledge
pertaining to different aspects of a word. In the course of these units we shall
be referring to the use of a dictionary when we talk about the structure of
words.
As we are concerned with morphology of words, we shall here concentrate on
the inner structure of words. We say that something has structure when we can
divide it into parts and show the relationship between the parts. It is true that
sometimes a word is made up of a single element and cannot be divided into
parts, but many words are there in the following sentence which can be easily
divided into parts:
Whenever she has time, Suman helps her younger brothers with their
homework.
whenever = when + ever

helps = help +s
younger = young+ er
brothers = brother +s
homework = home + work
In the words given above, the structure is quite simple, since each word is
made up of only two parts. But some words can have many more parts. For
example, the following word consists of five parts:
ungentlemanliness: un+gentle+man+li+ness.
How do we decide how many parts a word has? This is one of the important Words ant1 Their
questions of morphology. Other important questions are: Elements
What are the criteria for defining what a word is?

How do the parts combine with each other?
Can they combine in any order, or are there some rules for their
combination?
These are the questions that we shall discuss in the next two sections.
-.
11.2 IDENTIFYING THE PARTSOFA WORD -
11.2.1 The Criteria

We have said above that whenever, helps, younger, etc. have two parts each,
whereas ungentlemanliness has five parts. Wow did we decide this? In other
words, what aie the criteria for dividing a word into parts?
In dividing whenever into two parts, we are guided by the fact that bath whrir
and ever occur independently as words. The same also applies to homework:
home and work both occur independently as words. We can, therefore set this
up as the first criterion: whenever a word is made up of two or more parts
which also occur independently as words, we can divide the word into parts
which are identical with the independently occurring words. Thus nevertheless
and newspaperman are both made up ofthree parts, or elements, etc.
But what about words like helps, younger and brothers? They arc not made LIP
of two independently occurring words, so what is our criterion for dividing
them into two parts?
It seems fairly clear that our criterion for dividing them into two parts is that,
though they do not consist of two independently occurring words, they do
consist of two parts which also occur elsewhere. One part occurs as an
independent word (namely, help-, young-, and brother- respectively), while
the other part occurs in similar words in a fairly regular way. For example, the
-s of helps occurs in words like works, sleeps, hits, kicks, etc.; the -er of
younger occurs in words like older, taller, sweeter, longer, and so on; the-s of
brothers occurs in sisters, fathers or mothers and lovers. Some other
considerations are also relevant.
The first consideration is of the independent occurrence of the parts, i.e.

when we divide a word into parts, the parts must be such that they also occur
elsewhere. In isolating one part of the word, we should not be left with another
part which occurs nowhere except in that word. For example, if we isolate the
part -er in brother, sister, father, mother etc., we are left with the portions
broth- sist- fath- and moth- which do not occur anywhere else (i.e. in any other
words). (It should be noted here that when we speak of words and their parts
we are speaking of their spoken forms only and that we should not be
misguided by their written forms, moth-, for example should not be considered
to be the same as morh, the insect. The two are pronounced quite differently.)
On the other hand, if we isolate the -er of younger, taller, older, etc. as a
separate element, we are left with the elements ,young, tall and old, which
occur not only as independent words but also as parts of other words like
youngest, tallest and oldest. This naturally also means that we can identify -
est as another element occurring in words.
Morphology- I The second consideration is that of meaning. In isolating the element -er in
younger, taller and older, we are guided by the fact that these words share a
common clement of meaning. We can describe this common element of
meaning as the 'comparative' element, the element which is also expressed
with some words by 'more' (as in more beautiful). A similar consideration
guides us in dividing the word brothers into the parts brother- and -s. The
element -s carries the meaning 'plural' or 'more than one', and is to be found
in the plural forms of almost all common nouns.
The third consideration is that of grammatical function. It is not always
possible to distinguish grammatical function from meaning. For example, the
plural number is a grammatical function, but it can also be identified as the
meaning 'more than one'. Some words, however, contain elements which are
easier to describe in grammatical terms than in terms of meaning. For example
-s that occurs in helps in our sentence is easier to describe as the third person
singular number inflection of the verb in the present tense. This -s, therefore,
performs a grammatical function of agreement with the subject which is in the
third person and singular number,
Les us now summarize the criteria we have described for identifiing the parts
that form the structure of a word. They are as follows:
i. If a word is wholly made up of two or more smaller words, each
smaller word constitutes a part (i.e. a structural element) of the word,
e.g., when- ahd -ever in whenever, home- add -work in homework.
ii. A word can be divided into two or more parts if the parts are such that
they also occur in other words, e.g., young- and -er in younger, help-
and -s in helps.
iii. A portion of a word can be recognized as constituting a part (or a
structural element) of the word if it carries a clearly recognizable
element of meaning, e.g., brother- and -s in brothers ( d u d ) , young-
and -er in younger (comparative).
iv. A portion of a word can also be recognized as constituting a part of the
word if it performs a particular grammatical function, e.g., -s in helps,
-ing in working.
We can define a 'structural part' of a word as follows:
A portion of a wotd is called a 'structural part' of the word if it also occurs
independently as a word, or it occurs in a number of words with the same
meaning, and/or performs the same grammatical function in every word in
which it occurs.
11.2.2 Morphemes i
We have so far been using the term 'part', 'structural part', 'element', etc to
refer to the constituents of a word. The technical term for a 'structural part' of
a word is 'morpheme'. A morpheme is defined as 'the smallest meaningful
element of a larlguage', or as 'the smallest unit which is grammatically
significant'. Both these definitions are contained in our definition of 'a
structural part' of a word. The additional point to note is that the morpheme is
the smallest part into which a word can be divided. In other words, a
morpheme has no parts.
There is another sense in which morpheme differs from 'a part of a word' as
we have often referred to 'a part of a word' as being 'a portion of a word' with
certain characteristics. A morpheme does not always refer to a portion of a Words and Their
word, though in most cases it is clearly identifiable as a portion. For example, Elements
we can say, without any hesitation, that brothers consists of two morphemes
brother- and -.r. As a grammatical unit, or as a unit of meaning, however, -s is
not actually a morpheme, though it 'represents' a morpheme. The morpheme
it represents is the grammatical unit 'plural number'. This distinction (between
a morpheme and its representation) is necessary at least for two reasons.
I. We mentioned above that in speaking of words and their parts in the

study of morphology we refer generally to their spoken forms. The
spelling does not always represent the spoken forms accurately. For
example, the plural element -s in brother is pronounced /z/(as in zoo),
but in cats it is pronounced Is/ (as in sit) and in horses it is pronounced
/IZ/. (as in is). Which one of these (/z/, /s/ or I1z.f) shall we say is the
plural morpheme? If we identify a morpheme with a portion of the
word everywhere, we have a problem here. If, however, we regard
plural number as an abstract morpheme and the three forms /z/, Is/ and
IZ/as its representations, the problem disappears. We can represent this
information through the following diagram:
ii. Though in a large number of words a morpheme is represented by a

clearly recognizable portion of the word, this is not always so. For
example, the 'plural number' morpheme is not always represented by -
s or - e s in spelling, or /[z/, /zl or Is/ in pronunciation. Some nouns form
their plural in other ways, e.g., man has the plural men, woman has the
plural women, mouse has the plural mice, and so on. In these plural
forms, there is no clearly recognizable portion 6f the word which can
be said to 'be' the plural morpheme. Yet we know that both men and
boys contain the grammatical element 'plural number'. This
grammatical element, or morpheme, is represented by a change in the
vowel sound of the word.
By regarding the morpheme to be an abstract grammatical unit and by

not identifying it with a portion ofthe word, we are able to say that just
as boys is made up of the two morphemes boy + 'pfdil number',
similarly men is also made up of man + plural number. We can extend
the same treatment to nouns which do not change their form at all in
the plural, e.g., sheep (sing.) > sheep (pi.). We can say that sheep (pl.)
is made up of the two mofiemes sheep + 'plural number', where the
morpheme 'plural numbet' has a zero representation.
For these reasons, we shall henceforth regard morphemes as abstract, and shall
not identify them with portions of a word, even if in most cases they actually
happen to be identical (e.g., the morpheme boy and the portion boy- of boys).
To avoid difficulties in exposition, however, we shall highlight this distinction
(between morphemes and their representations) only in those cases where the
two are not identical. In other cases, we shall still speak of the portions as the
morphemes.
Morphology-I 11.2.3 Free Morphemes and Bound Morphemes
In the examples of wot-ds that we cited above, we came across two types of
morphemes: first, those which can occur by themselves as words, e.g., when-
and -ever in whenever, brother- in brothers, help- in helps, -er in younger, -s
in brothers, etc. Morphemes of the first type, which can occur by themselves
as words are called free morphemes; those of the second type, which cannot
occur by themselves as words but must be bound with a free morpheme, are
called bound morphemes.
Let's capture this information thus:
Words are made up of either a single free morpheme, or a free morpheme and
one or more bound morphemes, or two or more free morphemes (with or
without some bound morphemes), or in some rare cases, of two bound
morphemes. A word made up of a single morpheme (e.g. time, brother, table,
with,etc.) is called a simple word; a word made up of one free morpheme and
one or more bound morphemes is called a complex word, and a word made up
of two or more free morphemes is called a compound word (which we shall
look into in a separate section).
The following diagram will present the above information more clearly:
simple Complex Compound

made up of a single made up of a free morpheme made up of two
free morpheme and one or more bound or more free
morphemes morphemes
Here are some exarpples of complex and compound words:
Simple words- allow, wise, desire, kind, short, accept, work

Complex words disallow, unwise, desirable, kindness, shorten,
unacceptable, works
Compound words : bathroom, homework, red-hot, widespread
11.2.4 Affixes, Stems and Roots
Let us analyze the complex words cited above into their constituent free and
bound morphemes:
disallow dis- bound morpheme
-allow free morpheme
desirable desir(e)- free morpheme
-able bound morpheme
kindness kind- free morpheme
-ness bound morpheme
unacceptable un- bound morpheme
accept- free morpheme
-able bound morpheme
works work- free morpheme Words and Their
-s bound morpheme Elements
We notice that all the words have a free morpheme and one or more than one
bound morpheme. We also notice that the bound morphemes are attached, or
affixed, either to the beginning or to the end of the free morpheme. The bound
morphemes are, therefore, said to function as affixes in the structure of a
word. Affixes in English are of two types: prefixes (those which are attached
to the beginning of the free morpheme, e.g., dis-,im-, un-, etc.) and suffixes
(those which are attached to the end of the free morpheme, e.g., -able, -ness,
-s).
Although we have just said that an affix is attached to a free morpheme, this is
not strictly correct. -Take, for example, the word unacceptable. In
unacceptable, the prefix un- is attached not to the free morpheme accept
(since that would give us unaccept, which is not a word of English), but to the
'word' acceptable, which consists of a free morpheme plus a bound
morpheme. We should not, therefore, say that an affix is always attached to a
free morpheme. Strictly speaking, we also cannot say that affixes are attached
to 'words', since 'word' is a vague term and is used loosely to refer to items
without as well as with affixes. We, therefore, require a term to describe the
'portion' to which an affix is attached. The term is stem. Affixes are attached
to stems. For example, in unacceptable, -accetable is the stem to which the
prefix un- is attached, but accept- is the stem to which suffix -able is attached.
A stem can consist of either a single free morpheme, a free morpheme and one
or more bound morphemes, or two (or more) free morphemes. The stem which
consists of a single free morpheme is also called the root, e.g., in
unacceptable, accept is the root, i.e. the free morpheme from which the word
ttnacceptable grows. If the stem consists of two (or more) free morphemes
(e.g. bathroom-), it is called a compound root.
Root, stem, prefix and suffix are the terms that we have used in describing
the structure of a word, i.e., they are the elements of word-structure.
Morphemes are what make up these elements.
'The following table will show the structure of the word unacceptable:
Prefix Stem Suffix

accept -able
unacceptable

I. Say how many morphemes the following sentence contains.
it's exciting to learn how words are formed, don't you think so?
2. State how many morphemes each of the following wordslphrases has

and which are free and which are bound?
a. decentralized .....................................................................
b. disagreeable ....................................................................
endlessly ..........................................................................
.......................................................................................
friendliest .......................................,.................................
.......................................................................................
marriageable ......................................................................
.......................................................................................
passbooks .........................................................................
points of view ....................................................................

.......................................................................................
teeth ...............................................................................
.......................................................................................
unconditionally ...................................................................
.......................................................................................
undue. ..............................................................................
.......................................................................................
went ................................................................................
workers. ...........................................................................
Try to form as many words as you can from the following free
morphemes. Consult a dictionary for this task.
know, expect, employ, compare, perform
Which of the following words have compound roots?

a. reaction
b. overtaken
c. pickpockets
d. unearthed
e. handfuls
State whether the morphemes represented by the italicized portions in

each pair of words below are the same or different. If different, then
what function do they serve?
a. gently gentlemanly ......................................................
b. mangoes goes ...........................................................
c. higher taller .............................................................
d. sleeps feels .............................................................
e. speaker sweeter ........................................................
Words and Their
11.3 HOW ARE MORPHEMES COMBINED INTO Elements
WORDS?
As stated in Section I I.I. the second important question o f morphology is

how morphemes are combined into words. This is the question we shall
discuss in the present section.
When a word consists o f only one morpheme, or o f two morphemes, the

problem o f combination does not arise. In a two-morpheme word, a free
morpheme is combined either with a bound morpheme (as in brother.^, unwise,
etc.) or with another free morpheme (as in homework, gentieman, etc.),
producing a complex and a compound word respectively. Since there are only
two morphemes, the question o f the order in which they are combined does
not arise. But when a word consists o f three or more morphemes, this question
becomes quite important.
Consider the word unacceptable, which we referred to in Section 11.2.4.

l'here are two ways in which the morphemes can be said to have been
combined in this word, either in Order I, or in Order 2:
Order 1:
1 Root I Prefix / Stem 1 Suftix
1 Acce~t I un- I acce~t 1 1
I - A - . - - I unaccept J
Order 2: !
I Root I Prefix I Stem I Suffix
Accept
acceptable
Which is the correct order and why'?
In Section 1 1.2.4 we suggested that the correct order was Order 2. 'The reason
given was that pretixing un- to the root -accept produced a 'form unaccept,
which does not exist in English. (* indicates an unacceptable form.) Hence,
Order I is wrong. In Order 2, on the other hand, the suffixation o f able to the
root accept- produces the form ncceptable, which exists in English. The prefix
un: is then attached to the stem -ucceptahle to produce unacceptable.
Let 11snow elaborate this point a little more. How can we state the rule that the
prefix un- cannot be attached to nccc>p!but can be attached to -acceptable? 110
we have to list each and every stem to which un- can be prefixed'? That w i l l
make our task very difficult, as a very, very long list w i l l have to be drawn up.
Moreover, such a list w i l l have to be drawn up for every prefix and every
suffix. making our task almost impossible.
Fortunately, this is not necessary. We can state the rule in terms of the part o f
speech o f the stem. We can say that zln- is prefixed to adjectives: this explains
why un- can be prefixed to -accepfahlc but not to --accep!. We can further
strengthen the rule by saying that when un- is prefixed to an adjective, it
produces the negative meaning.
There are some difficulties about this 'rule' which we must point out. First,
zm- cannot be prefixed to all ad-jectives. e.g.. we cannot say *unhent~!ifi~l,
*imlall *un-.~~l~c.et,
etc. Generally. 1111- i s prefixed only to those adjectives
which do not have a separate and independent word denoting the opposite
~orphologv-
I meaning. Words like beauliful, lall, and s~veuldo have independent words
which denote the opposite meaning, namely, ugly, shorl, and hiller. Secondly,
though un- cannot be prefixed to -accepl, there are verbs which take un- as a
prefix, e.g., undress, untie, unlock, etc. However, the meaning of this prefix
tm- is different from the meaning o f the adjective prefix un- : it means
'reversing or undoing an action' and not 'negative or opposite of the meaning
denoted by the stem', which is the meaning o f the negative prefix. We shall,
therefore, treat the two prefixes un- to be different morphemes.
If we now accept the un- of unacceptable as an adjective prefix, we can

identify the structure o f a number o f complex words containing -un, and can
describe the order o f combination o f the morphemes.
Rules o f this kind have been formulated for most prefix and suffix morphelnes
in English. Though these rules are not as thoroughly reliable as rules o f
mathematics, they do provide us some guidance in combining morphemes into
words and. therefore, in identifying the structure o f complex words. The
following are some rules o f this kind:
i. The s i ~ l l i s morpheme -nears is attached to adjective stems and

produces abstract nouns with the meaning 'having the quality denoted
by the ad-jective'; e.g., kindness, happiness.
ii. The prefix morpheme de- i s attached to verb stems and produces the
meaning 'reversing the action denoted by the verb'; e.g., denationalize,
decentralize, etc. -
iii. 'The suffix morpheme -ize i s attached to adjectives and produces the
meaning 'to make (adjective)'; e.g., modernize., nutionalize, etc. It i s
also attached to noilns prodi~cingvarious types o f meaning.
iv. The suffix morpheme -ution i s attached to verbs and produces the
meaning 'the process or state denoted by the verb', e.g., e.~pltrntrlion,
starvation. etc.
v. 'The suffix morpheme -1y is attached to adjectives and produces the
meaning ' in the manner denoted by the adjective', e.g. ctilnily, huppilv,
etc. It may also be attached to nouns and create adjectives, e.g.
co~vardly,manly, etc
Making use o f such rules, we can see how morphemes are combined into
words. For example, they tell us how the mgrphemes are combined in the
complex word denationalization. The structure o f the word is shown in the
following table:
The above table shows how complex words are formed by attaching prefixes
and sut'fixes at different stages. The morphology o f a language consists largely
o f rules o f this kind, which tell us how the morphemes o f the language are
combined to produce complex words.
Check Your Progress 2 Words and l'lieir
Elements
I. Show how the following words are built up step by step. Use a table to
indicate the structure o f the words, as we have done above.
kindness, foolishness, unfriendly, immeasurably
2. Say which o f the following words can take the suffix +r to form
coinparatives (consult a dictionary in case of doubt).
sweet, beautiful, clever, fair, intelligent
3. On the basis o f words like rigidily, legality, sccrrci~i,,crhilily, etc..

formulate a rule for adding the suftix morpheme -it! to free
morphemes.
4. Identify the prefixes in the following words in the table given below
and state their meaning (consult a dictionary when in doubt):
( Word / Prefix ( Meaning --.

I undo II I I
-1
1
destabilize I I
--
5. Identify the sul'fixes in the following words in the table given below
and state their function. Also mention the stems to which the suffixes
are attached along with the part o f speech the stems belong to (consult
a dictionary when in doubt):
----
of the stem
Function of
the suffix i
I critics I I I I
1 develops 1
11.4 LET U S S U M U P
We have made the following major points in this unit.
i. Morphology i s the study ofthe internal structure ol'the word.

ii. 'Two important questions in inorphology are: (a) How do we identify
the parts o f a word? And (b) How do the parts combiiie with each
otherr?
iii. Four major criteria are used for identifying the parts o f a word. They
are:
their occurrence as words independently,
their occurrence in other words,
their occurrence with a clearly recognizable element of'
meaning everywhere, and
their occurrence with the same grammatical function.
iv. A portion of a word which satisfies these criteria is a 'structural part'
of the word.
v. The smallest structural part of a word is called a morpheme.
vi. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of a language which is
grammatically ,significant.
vii. A morpheme is not always identical with a portion of a word.
Sometimes it is represented in other ways like a change in the vowel.
Sometimes it has zero representation.
viii. Morphemes are free or bound.
ix. Complex words are combinations of free and bound morphemes.
X. Compound words are combinations of free morphemes.
xi Bound morphemes occur as affixes: prefixes or suffixes.
xii Affixes are attached to stems: prefixes are attached to the beginning
and suffixes to the end of the stems.
xiii A stem consisting of a single free morpheme is a root.
xiv ~ f f i x e sare attached to stems in a certain order. This order is
determined by certain general rules which are stated in terms of the
part of speech of the stem and the effect on meaning, etc.
xv. The order in which affixes are attached to the stems determines the
internal structure of the word.
11.5 KEY WORDS
Morphology: the study of the internal structure of words.

Structure: the way something is made up of parts and the
relationships between its parts.
Morpheme: the smallest meaningful unit of a language which is
grammatically significant.
Free Morpheme: a morpheme which can occur independently as a word.
Bound Morpheme: a morpheme which cannot occur independently as a word
but must combine with a free morpheme to form a word.
Affix: a bound morpheme which is attached to the beginning or
the end of a stem.
Prefix: a bound morpheme which is attached to the beginning of
a stem.
Suffix:. a bound morpheme which is attached to the end of a stem.
Stem: the element consisting of a free morpheme (and one or
more than one bound morpheme) to which an affix is
added.
Root: the element consisting of a single free morpheme which
cannot be analysed into smaller parts; when an affix is
attached to a root, we refer to it as a stem
Compound Root: the element consisting of two or more free morphemes to
which affixes are added.
Simple Word: a word consisting of a single free morpheme.
Complex Word a word consisting of a free morpheme and one or more Words and Their
bound morphemes. Elements
Compound Word a word consisting of two or more free morphemes.
Akmajian, A., Demers, R.A., and Harnish, R.M. ( 1 984), Linguistics: An

Iniroduction to Language and Conzmunication, (Ch. 3), Cambridge, Mass.:
The MIT Press. I
t
Fromkin, V. and Rodman, R. (1974). An Introduction io Lan uage. (Ch.6).
New York: Holt. Rinehart and Winston.
Gleason, H.A. (1 96 1 ). An Iniroduction to Descriptive Linguistics, (Revised

Edition), (Chs., 5,6,7,8). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Quirk, R. (1 962). The Use of English, (Ch. ll), London, Longman.
11.7 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress I
I. eighteen
3. know: knowledge, knowledgeable, knowing, knowingly,

known, unknown, well- known
expect: expectation, expectant, expected, unexp~cted,
unexpectedly, etc.
employ: employer, employee, employment, unemployment, etc.
compare: comparison, comparable, incomparable, comparative,
comparatively, etc.
perform: performer, performance, etc.
4. b) overtaken (c) pickpockets

Morphology- I 5. a. different: -1y in 'gently' forms an adverb; in 'gentlemanly', it
forms an adjective
b. different: -es in 'mangoes' is plural marker; in 'goes', it is
marker of simple present tense, 3'* person singular
c. same: marker of comparative degree
d, same: marker of simple present tense, 3rdperson singular
e. different: -er in 'speaker' means one who does something; in
'sweeter', it is marker of comparative degree
kind -ness
foolish -ness
- - 1 un- -friendly
measure measure
1 1 1 immeasurable ( -ly 1
2. sweeter, fairer, cleverer
3. Rule for -ity : ity is suffixed to adjectives to produce abstract nouns

with the meaning 'state or quality denoted by the adjective'.
4. 1R:fIx
#?:%hte action
) destabilize de- reversing the action
1 unkind un- negative
I indecent in- negative
I mismanagement ( mis- 1 in a wrong manner
5- ~ W o r d % S speech
f e m of the
/ ~ o f j ~ i o n o f t h e ~
I
I'
stem
careful care noun -ful forms an adjective
kindly kind adjective -1 forms an adverb
national nation noun , -a1 forms an adjective
critics critic noun -S plural marker
develops develop Verb -S
1 ( present tense, 3'" 1
1 1 1 ( person singular
UNIT 12 MORPHOLOGY: SOME MORE BASIC
CONCEPTS
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Different Types of Affixes: Inflectional vs. Derivational
Compounding
Conversion
Morphophonology
Let Us Sum U p
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
12.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Distinguish inflectional affixes from derivational affixes;
Identify compounds;
Recognize cases of conversion; and
Recognize the difference between morpheme, morphs and allomorphs.
12.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 11. we discussed two important questions of.morphology: What are

the criteria for dividing words into their constituent parts, i.e. morphemes, and
what are the rules for combining morphemes into words? In discussing these
questions, we introduced a number of concepts which are basic to
morphology, e.g., morpheme, free morpheme vs. bound morpheme, affix,
stem, root, etc. We applied these concepts when dividing the words into their
parts as well as when telling you how the parts (i.e. morphemes) were
combined into words.
In this unit, we propose to discuss the following topics:
different type of affixes: inflectional vs derivational
compounding
conversion or formation of new words without any change in the shape
of words, and
the relationship between morphemes and their representations in the
spoken form.
12.2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF AFFIXES: INFLECTIONAL

VS. DERIVATIONAL
We will note that affixes can be divided into two basic types: grammatical and
lexical. Grammatical affixes are those affixes which are attached to words in
accordance with the rules of grammar in order to relate them to other words in
the phrase, clause, sentence, etc. For example, a rule of English grammar says
that we cannot simply put two nouns together to create a phrase. Ram hook
does not make a grammatical unit. One way of turning this sequence into a
grammatical unit is to add the suffix - .s to Rum: Ram book is a
grammatically constructed nouns phrase. The 'apostrophe -s', as the suffix is
commonly called, is a grammatical device for relating two nouns in a
relationship which gives the meaning of 'possession'.
A similar statement can be made about verbs with the third person singular
present morpheme, which we described as a grammatical morpheme in Unit
1 1. We can, therefore, classify the possessive 's and the third person singular
present -s as grammatical morphemes, or grammatical affixes. Other
grammatical affixes in English are the plural suffix -s, the past tense -ed
morpheme, the perfect -en or -ed, the continuous -ing, which are all used with
verbs, and the comparative -er and the superlative -est, which are used with
adjectives and adverbs. Grammatical affixes are also called inflectional
aftixes. 'Inflection' is the traditional term for the change in the form of a word
that shows its grammatical function.
All the remaining affixes of English are called lexical affixes. The term
'lexical' comes from the word 'lexis', which means 'vocabulary' or the word-
store of a language. The reason for calling these affixes 'lexical' is that they
help us form new words, or new vocabulary items. By 'new' we do not mean
that they have not been used by anyone else before and that we are the first
ones to coin them, but that when they were first coined by someone, they
simply added that particular affix to an already existing word and got a 'new'
word, i.e., they did not produce an entirely new word. Of course, writers and
speakers sometimes do produce new words in this way which may not have
been used by anyone before, and may not be used very commonly afterwards.
For example, describing a person whose hat had been blown away in the wind,
an author may refer to his 'hatless state', a person asked to name the hour
when he would turn up for an appointment, visit, etc. may say 'Tennish',
meaning 'Around ten o'clock', and so on. It is a characteristic of lexical
affixes that they can be used creatively in this way to form new words. Some
of these new words, when they fulfil a felt need, become permanent additions
to the language.
Notice that in contrast to the words created by the addifion of lexical affixes,
the words formed by the addition of grammatical affixes are not considered
new words. A dictionary, for example, does not list work, works, working,
worked separately: they are all listed under the word work. Similarly, the
singular and plural forms of nouns and the comparative and superlative forms
of adjectives and adverbs are not listed separately. It is assumed that these
forms can be created, whenever required, by applying the appropriate rules of
grammar. The word is the same, but it has different grammatical forms.
Whatever change in meaning is involved can be attributed to the rule of
grammar (e.g., the plural rule produces the meaning 'more than one'). By
contrast, words created by the addition of lexical affixes are listed separately
in a dictionary, since they are treated as separate words. Words with lexical
affixes prcsent LIS with a lexical choice. For example, we can form the words
childish and childlike by adding the lexical affixes -ish and -like respectively
to the root 'child'. Whether we want to use the word childish or childlike in
speaking of someone's appearance, behaviour, etc. depends on whether we
wish to speak disapprovingly or appreciatively of him or her. The difference
in the meaning of childish and childlike, does not come from any grammatical
rule. That i s the reason childish and childlike are listed separately in a Morphology:
Some More Basic
dictionary. We must learn their meanings as we learn the meaning o f child
Concepts
when we learn English.
The point illustrated by this example i s this: lexical affixes do not change the
meaning o f the words in a regular way whereas grammatical affixes do. The
addition o f the plural affix -s to a common noun always adds the same
meaning ('more than one') to the noun, but the addition o f the verb-forming
suffix -ize to adjectives and nouns adds different meanings to different words,
e.g.. moclernix means 'to make modern'. .symbolize means 'to act as a symbol
o f . ho.~pitulizemeans 'to put in a hospital', die.selize means 'to convert to
diesel-engined power', and so on. For this reason, these words must be treated
as different words and listed separately in a dictionary.
'The distinction between grammatical and lexical aftixes i s a basic and an

important one. They are generally known as inflectional and derivational
affixes, respectively. The word ~ierivutionulimplies that the words formed by
the attachment o f lexical affixes are derived from other words, and
derivational affixes are those affixes which help in this derivation. The
following diagram presents this information:
Affixes
'The study o f morphology i s divided into two main branches: the study o f
inflectional affixes is called inflectional morphology and the study o f
derivational aftixes is called derivational morphology.
There are a few other important characteristics o f intlectional and derivational

aftixes in English which may be summarised as follows:
i. Intlectional affixes normally do not change the part o f speech of the

stem. A noun to which a plural affix is added still remains a noun; a
verb to which the past tense affix is added still remains a verb, and so
on.
Derivational affixes may or may not change the part o f speech o f the
stem. Thus child > childish, childlike involves a change in the part o f
speech but obey > di,robey, build > rebuild, etc. do not, Derivatiotial
prefixes, in particular. do not affect the part o f speech o f the stern.
ii. Infle'ctional affixes o f English are all suffixes; derivational aftixes
occur both as prefixes and suffixes.
iii. Inflectional affixes are attached to a stem after all the derivational
affixes have already been attached, and usually only one inflectional
suffix is attached to a word. Therefore, once an intlectional affix has
been attached to a word. no other affix can be added to it. As a result,
the inflectional affix forms the outer layer in the structure o f a word,
while derivational affixes form the inner layers, e.g., in thc word
deatubilized the inflectional affix is the past tense suffix - ed It i s
added last o f all to the verb stem destabilize-, which is buTlt up by the
addition o f the derivational affixes -ize and de- as follows; stable >
stabilize > destabilize.
Morphology- 1 Check Your progress 1
I. The following are pairs of related words. Which of these do you think
will be listed as separate entries in a dictionary? Give reasons.
I. sleep, sleeps
..
11. modem, modernize
iii. boy, boys
iv. beauty,beautify
v. sweet. sweeter
2. Given below in the table are pairs of words derived from the same root
by using different affixes. Fill in the root, the affixes and the meaning
of the words in the relevant columns. Look up the meaning of these
words in your dictionary in case you are not sure.
la.
I b.
2a.
2b.
3a.
3b.
4a.
4b.
5a.
5b.
Each group below contains a root and some affixes. Combine the
morphemes of each group to form a word. Specify the order in which
you attach the affixes. For each affix (prefix and suffix), also specify
whether it is derivational or inflectional. Remember that inflectional
affixes are always the last affixes to be attached. Make all necessary
adjustments in spelling:
-s, obey, dis- ...................
........ ....................................
en-, -ing, code ....................................................................
build, re-, -ing ....................................................................
-ly, friend, -est ...................................................................
host, -es, -ess .....................................................................
-ify, simple, -es ..................................................................
able, dis-, ity, -es ................................................................
-er, cater, -s... .....................................................................
-ize, im-, mortal, -ed .............................................................
respect, -ly, -ful, dis- ............................................................
12.3 COMPOUNDING
One of the criteria for dividing words into their constituent parts that we
described in Unit 1 I was the following:
If a word is wholly made up of two or more parts which also occur Morphology:
independently as words, we can divide the word into parts identical with the Some More Basic
Concepts
independently occurring words.
Consider the following words:
Afternoon, airtight, airworthy, earthquake, pickpocket, turncoat
Each of these words is made up of two morphemes which also occur as words
independently, e.g., after and noon, air and tight, and so on.
Compounding may be said to be a process of forming 'new' roots, since
inflectional and derivational affixes can be attached to the forms resulting
from compounding, e.g., afternoons, airworthiness, etc. To distinguish such
roots from simple roots, we call them compound roots. The complex forms
derived from compound roots by attaching inflectional or derivational affixes
to them are sometimes called compound-complex words.
All the examples of compounds that we have cited above are written as single
words, i.e., without any space between the parts. However, not all compounds
are written as single words: some are written with a hyphen (small dash)
between the parts, and some are written as two words, i.e., with a space
between the parts. For example,
Written with a hyphen : air-conditioning, brother-in-luw, double-
croar, man-eater, mother-tongue.
Written with a space : air raid; bluck market, jancy dress,
ground stafl rock garden
With some compounds, there is a considerable amount of variation and they
may be written without space, with space, and with a hyphen, e.g., birdcage,
bird cage, or birdcage.
In speech, compounds are generally characterized by the fact that the stress is
on the first constituent, i.e., the stressed syllable of the first constituent is
pronounced with greater force than anything else in the compound. As a
result, we can sometimes distinguish a compound from a non-compound by
this feature, e.g., darkroom, with stress on both constituents is a phrase
referring to a room which is dark. However, this feature is not a characteristic
of all compounds, e.g., black murket and,juncy circss are pronounced with the
main stress on the second constituent.
It is thus clear that we cannot identify compounds by the way they are written
or spoken. How then do we know when a word is a compound? This question
is important since a colnpound often consists of 'a noun i- a noun' or 'an
adjective i- a noun', and such combinations can also occur as phrases. We
have just seen the example of a curk room (phrase) vs. u darkroom
(compound), Another example is a grcJcn houae (phrase: a house that is
painted green) and a greenhouse (compound: a glass house for the protection
of plants). Similarly, common man is a phrase, common room is a compound;
hnbv girl is a phrase but baby-sitter is a compound. How do we decide this?
The criterion is simple and it is based on meaning. The meaning of a
compound is not a sum of the meanings of its constituent parts. That is why
the compound durkroom does not simply mean a room which is dark. The
meaning of a compound word is something different from the meaning its
parts make. We express this by saying that its meaning is idiomatic. The
Morphology-1 meaning of darkroom, viz, 'a room for photographic processing' is an
idiomatic meaning, not a literal meaning of its parts. This is what shows that a
compound is a single unit.
The one-word character of compound words is seen specially when affixes are
attached to them. Though the affix is actually attached to only one element
(usually the last one but sometimes also to others, e.g., brothers-in-law), it is
understood as applying to the whole compound. For example, in the word
black marketeer, the suffix -eer is taken to be attached to black market and
not to market only.

1. Consult a dictionary and firrd out the meanings of the following
compounds:
a, bedclothes
b. white paper
c. brain-drain
d. blackbox
e. kill-joy
f. turncoat
2. Show the structure of the following compound-complex words by

separating the compound roots and the affix:
12.4 CONVERSION
In discussing the differences between inflectional and derivational affhes, we

mentioned in Section 12.1 that derivational affixes help us to create 'new'
words. Since these 'new' words can be stems for other affixes (inflectional or
derivational), we can also say that derivational affixes help us produce new
stems, On the other hand, inflectional affixes do not normally produce new
stems, since once an inflectional affix is attached to a stem, no other affix can
be attached to if.
Derivational affixes produce new stems by changing the form of the word. For
example, we produce a new stem from the verb play by attaching -er to it.
Player is a 'new' word and can be a stem, e.g., in the word players.
Sometimes, however, we can change the part of speech of a word without
changing its form. For example, the word carpet is a noun, but it is used as a
verb in the following sentence without any change of form:
How much would it cost to carpet this room?
Verbs like carpet, stone. tahle, etc., can be derived from the corresponding Morphology:
nouns without any affix. 'They are, therefore, said to be cases of derivation by Some More Basic
Concepts
the zcro affix.
How do we know that it is the verb carpet that is derived from the noun carpet
by the zero affix and not the noun carpet that is derived from the verb? In
other words, what are the criteria for treating one of the two words related by
the zero affix to be the source or the base? Three criteria are generally used:
The first criterion is meaning. We generally identify a word as a noun
if it denotes a person or an object: we identify it as a verb if it denotes
action, and so on. In a pair of words related by the zero affix we can
generally tell which meaning is primary and which derived. Carpet,
stone, tahle, etc., are primarily nouns as they denote objects, hence we
regard the verb to be derived. On the other hand. in pairs like attack
(verb) and attack (noun), help (verb) and help (noun), laugh (verb) and
laugh (noun), etc., we can tell that the base is the verb since the words
primarily denote actions.
..
11. The second criterion is form. For example, some suffixes occur
typically with nouns, others with verbs. The suffixes -tion, -ion, -ure
are typically noun endings. Hence when words containing such
endings are used as verbs, we can say that the noun form is basic, the
verb form derived. Consider, for example, the word partition in the
following sentence:
They purtitioned the room and converted the front part into an office.
The prefix re-. on the other hand, is a typical verb prefix. Hence in a
pair containing a noun and a verb with the prefix re- the noun is
considered to be derived from the verb, e.g., recall (noun) and recaN
(verb): re-run (noun) and re-run (verb).
iii. -['hethird criterion is historical. If the criteria of meaning and form do
not help us, we can turn to the history of the language and try to
determine which use came first. For example, the noun worship has
existed in English for about 600 years, but the verb is even older. This
criterion is, however, not very reliable as historical records are not
easily available for all words.
We can present the above information in a diagram form:
Meaning form historical origin

I. The following words can occur both as nouns and verbs. Determine
whether they are cases of conversion from noun to verb, or from verb
to noun:
a. attempt .............................................................................
b. bottle ...............................................................................
Morphology- I c. catalogue..........................................................................
d. floor.. ..........................................................................
e. love.. ...............................................................................
g. puncture ...........................................................................
I. skin ...............................................................................
j. show-off...........................................................................
2. Find out which af the following words can be used as both noun and
verb? Look up thkir meaning in the dictionary. See if the derived word
is used in an idiomatic meaning, different from the primary word.
corner
floor
find
person
read
catch
throw
middle
12.5 MORPHOPHONOLOGY
In Unit 1 1, Section 1 1.2.2, we stated that morphemes were units of grammar

and that they were abstract. This means that morphemes cannot be
pronounced. One reason for considering morphemes to be abstract was that
the same morpheme (p.g., 'plural number') was represented by different
spoken forms ( / IZ 1, J z / or / s I), and we could not identify the 'plural
number' morpheme with any one of these forms.
As we stated in Section 11.2.2, most morphemes are identical with parts of
words. For example, the four morphemes in the word representations are re-.
present-, ation and the plural number. Their spoken forms are sometimes
called morphs to distiqguish them from morphemes. Morphemes are abstract
grammatical or lexical units; morphs are their representations, or realizations,
in the spoken form.
Three of the morphs in the word representations are direct, one-to-one,

representations of the morphemes. These are /re 1 , 1 prlzent / and /elJan 1. The
fourth morph / z 1, however, is only one of the representation of the 'plural
number' morpheme. This morpheme, as stated above, is also represented by
other morphs. For example, in the word hats / hats 1, it is represented by / s / ;
in the word horses /ha::slz 1, it is represented by / IZ 1; in the word menlmenl,
it is represented by the change of the stem-vowel which we represent as the
morph / a > e 1; in the (plural noun sheep, it is represented by the zero morph,
and so on. When diffetent morphs represent the same morpheme, we call them
allomorphs. Thus / 12 1, z / , / s / , /=>el and 'zero' are allomorphs of the
plural morpheme.
Why should different allomorphs represent the same morphemes? Why can't Morphology:
the same morph represent a morpheme everywhere? There are two kinds of Some More Basic
Concepts
reasons for this:
First, there are reasons which have to do with pronunciation. In English, an -s

suffix occurring with words ending in voiceless sounds like / p, t, k, f 1, is
generally pronounced as / s 1. Being a voiceless sound, 1s / is more natural
after voiceless sounds. After voiced sounds like / r~,b, d, v, m, n, I / and the
vowel sounds, the -s suffix is pronounced as / z 1, which is a voiced sound and
more natural after voiced sounds. In other words, the occurrence of the
allomorphs / rz 1, / z 1, and / s / is conditioned by phonological factors, or
factors having to do with pronunciation. They are therefore, said to be
phonologically conditioned allomorphs. Other phonologically conditioned
allomorphs occur in English with the past tense morpheme, the third person
singular present morpheme, the possessive morpheme etc.
The second reason for the occurrence of allomorphs is that, for historical
reasons, some words behave in an irregular way. Thus, while most nouns form
plurals by taking a suffix, some nouns (like man, woman, child, mouse, sheep,
etc.) do it in a different way; while most verbs form past tense by a -d affix,
some verbs (like get, run, sing. weep, etc.) do it by changing the stem-vowel,
and so on. This is a peculiarity of these words and there is no rule which can
tell us why these words behave in this way. Such words give rise to special
allomorphs like the replacive allomorph, in which one or more sounds of the
stem are replaced (e.g. / ze>e / in man > men), and the zero allomorph, in
which the stem remains unchanged, and so on. Allomorphs of these two types
are said to be morphologically conditioned allomorphs. A typical
grammatically conditioned allomorph in French is the use of le (definite
article used before masculine singular nouns), la (definite article used before
feminine singular nouns) and les (definite article used before plural nouns).
(We shall look at these in greater detail in 13.3.4.) The following diagram
summarises the above information:
Phonologically morphologically grammatically

conditioned conditioned conditioned
The study of how morphemes of a language are represented by morphs and

allomorphs is called its morphophonology. The study of the
morphophonology of a language-requiresa knowledge of its phonetics and
phonology, i.e., of its sounds and sound patterns. You are therefore, advised to
master the knowledge of English phonetics and phonology well (see Blocks I -
2) so that you can understand its morphophonology.

I. Identify the morphemes in each of the following words. Then identify
the morph which represents each of the morphemes:
a. bets / bets/
b. pens / pen21
Morphology- l c. books Ibuksl
d. Ram's 1ra:mz I
e. leaves /li:vz,
f. houses Ihauzizl
2. The past tense. morpheme in English has three phonologically
conditioned allomorphs. They are illustrated in the following set of
words. Find out how these words are pronounced and then identify the
allomorphs. Findlly, state the phonological conditioning. Remember
that It/ is a voicelkss sound and /dl a voiced one:
I
!
a. slipped ..............................................................................
b. kicked .............................................................................
c. hissed .............................................................................
d. rubbed ............................................................................
e. plugged ...........................................................................
f. waited ........... .'.................................................................
g. raided .............................................................................
h. dozed ..............................................................................
I
12.6 LET US SUM UP
I n this unit, we have made the following major points:
Affixes are inflectional or derivational.

Inflectional affixks are those affixes which are required to be attached
to words by sbme rule of grammar and which perform some
grammatical function.
iii. Derivational affihes are attached to words to produce 'new' words.
These words add to our lexical choice and are listed separately in the
dictionary.
iv. Inflectional affixes change the meaning of the stem to which they are
attached in a regular way; derivational affixes affect the meaning of
different sets of words in different ways.
Inflectional affixes never change the part of speech of the words to
which they are attached; derivational affixes often do so.
vi. English inflectional affixes are all suffixes.
vii. Inflectional affikes are attached to words after all the derivational
affixes have been attached to them.
VIII.
... Usually, only one infledtional aftix is attached to a word.
ix. Compounding is the process of combining two or more free
morphemes in a single word.
X. When cornpound roots occur with inflectional or derivational affixes in
a word we call it a compound-complex word.
xi. Compounds cannot be always recognized from the way they are
written or pronounced. They can, however. be recognized by their
idiomatic meanings.
xii. 'New' words are also created by changing the part of speech of a word
without adding dn affix to it, or changing its shape in any other way.
Such cases are said to be cases of 'conversion', or cases of derivation Morphology:
by the zero-affix. Some More Basic
Concepts
xiii. The 'base' word in a case of conversion is recognized either by its
pritnary meaning or by its form.
xiv. Morphemes are represented in the spoken form by morphs. When the
addition of a morpheme is represented without any change in the form
of the stem, it is said to be represented by a zero morph.
xv. 'The different morphs representing the same morpheme are said to be
allomorphs. Allomorphs of a morpheme are phonologically,
morphologically, or grammatically conditioned.
xiv. 'The study of how morphemes are represented by morphs and
allomorphs is called morphophonology.
12.7 KEY WORDS
Inflectional Affix: an affix that is attached to a word to perform

some grammatical function in accordance with
some rule of grammar.
Derivational Affix: an affix that is attached to a word to produce a
'new' word, or a new stem.
Compounding: the process of making a 'new' word or root, by
combining two or more free morphemes.
Compound-Complex Word:a word containing a compound root and one or
more affixes.
Conversion: the process of creating a 'new' word by
changing its part of speech without adding any
affix to it or changing its form in any other way.
Morph: the physical spoken form which realizes a
morpheme; it is represented as a phoneme, a
sequence of phoneme;, a change of phonemes,
or as zero.
Allomorph: When two or more morphs represent the same
morpheme, they are said to be allomorphs of the
morpheme.
Replacive Allomorph: When the addition of a morpheme is represented
in a word by the replacement of a morph, it is
called a replacive allomorph.
Zero Allomorph: when the addition of a morpheme to a stem
leads to no change in the form of the stem, the
morpheme is said to be represented by a zero
morph.
Morphophonology : the study of how morphemes are represented by
morphs and allomorphs.
Brown, E.K. and Miller, J.E. (1980). Syntaw: A Linguistic Introduction to

Sentence Structure. (Chapters 6-1 I). London: Hutchinson.
Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1973). A University Grammar of English,
(Appendix I ) . London: Longman.
Radford, A. et al. (1999). Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.
Morphology- l
12.9 ANSWERS
1. Words in pairs (ii) and (iv) will be listed in the dictionary as they are
different words and related through attachment of derivational afiises;
the remaining pairs are related through the attachment of inflectional
affixes.
dis + obey (Deriv.); disobey + s (Infl.)

en + code (Deriv.); encode(e) + ing (Infl.)
re + build (Deriv.); rebuild + ing (Infl.)
friend + ly (Deriv.); friendl(i) + est (Infl.)
host + ess (Deriv.); hostess + es (Infl.)
simple (e) + ify (Deriv.); simplif (i) + cs (Infl.)
able + ity (Deriv.); dis + ability (Deriv.); disabilit(i) + es (Infl.)
cater + er (Deriv.); caterer + s (Infl.)
im + mortal (Deriv.); immartal + ize (Deriv.); imtnortalize + d
(lnfl.)
respect + ful (Deriv.); dis + respectful (Deriv.); disrespectful +
ly (Deriv.)

1. Students are adiised t~ consult a dictionary.

Morphology:
Some More Basic
Concepts
2. Except for d) and h), all can be used as both noun and verb. Look up
the meaning in the dictionary.

1. a. Morphemes: bet, -s.
Morphs : / bet /, / s I.
b. Morphemes: pen, -s
Morphs : / pen 1, / z/
c. Morphemes: book, -s
Morphs: / buk/ , / s /
d. Morphemes: Ram-, possessive morpheme
Morphs ; / ra:m/, / z /
e. Morphemes: leave, -s
Morphs: /li:v/. / z /
f. Morphemes: house, -s
Morphs: /haus/, / iz /
2. The three allomorphs o f the past tense morpheme are It/,/dl, and /!dl.
Phonological conditioning: 'The allomorph It/ occurs after stems ending
in all voiceless sounds cxcept / t /; the allomorph Id/ occurs after stems
ending in all voiced sound except / dl: / ~d/ occurs after stems ending
in / t/ or / dl.
UNIT 13 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
The Major Parts of Speech
Inflectional Morphology of the English Noun
13.3.1 Noun Classes
13.3.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with the Nouns
13.3.3 Morphology of the Proper Noun
13.3.4 Morphology of the Count Noun
13.3.5 Morphology of the Mass Noun
The Inflectional Paradigm of the English Noun
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers

recognize the various inflections that English nouns take;
describe the grammatical categories/subcategories the inflections
represent;
distinguish proper, count and mass nouns in terms of the kind of
inflections they take;
distinguish between regular and irregular nouns;
recognize the various allomorphs of the regular plural and the
possessive morpheme and describe their phonological conditioning;
and
recognize the various ways in which irregular nouns convey the
number and case contrasts.
In Unit 12, Section 12.2, we described morphology as the study of inflectional

and derivational affixes. Inflectional affixes were described as those affixes
which are required to be attached to words by some rules of grammar and
which perform some grammatical function. It was also stated that inflectional
affixes generally add a fixed element of meaning to the meaning of the stem,
and, unlike in the case of derivational affixes, this meaning-element does not
vary from one set of words to another.
In describing the inflectional morphology of English, we shall, therefore, take
the following approach:
i. We shall first divide the words into parts of speech 2.g.. nouns, verb,
etc. Since only words belonging to the major parts of speech (noun,
adjective, verb and adverb) take inflectional morphemes, we shall be
concerned only with words belonging to these categories.
..
11. We shall next describe the various grammatical categories (e.g., case. Inflectional
number, tense, degree, etc.), which are associated with a particular part Morphology of
English-1
of speech. We shall describe the subcategories of each grammatical
category, e.g., the category 'number' has the subcategories 'singular'
and 'plural', 'degree' has the subcategories 'positive', 'comparative' and
'superlative'. and so on.
iii. Thirdly, we shall describe how these subcategories are ekpressed by
means of suffixes in the regular cases belonging to a partitular part of
speech.
iv. Next we shall describe the irregular cases and note how the
gramniatical subcategories are expressed in different ways by different
sets of irregular words. If no general rules can be formulated for them,
we shall si~nplylist the various forms (e.g., with pronouns and the verb
'be').
v. Lastly, we shall present a summary of the complete set of forms which
words belonging to a particular part of speech acquire in order to
express the grammatical contrasts associated with it. For example,
regular count nouns acquire the following four forms (in writing. not in
speech) in order to express the number and case contrasts associated
with nouns: boy, boy's, boys, boy.sl. The forms respectively express
singular number non-possessive case, singular number possessive case,
plural number non-possessive case, and plural number possessive case.
Irregular count nouns, like child, express the same grammatical
contrasts through four forms which are different in speech as well as in
writing: child, child's, children, children's.
The set of different but related forms which express the grammatical
contrasts, associated with a part of speech is called the inflectional
paradigm of that part of speech. The inflectional morphology of a part
of speech is, in fact, a description of its inflectional paradigm. We shall
conclude our description of the inflectional mbrphology of each part of
speech by presenting its inflectional paradigm in the form of a table.
13.2 THE MAJOR PARTS OF SPEECH -
English has four major parts of speech: nouns. verbs. adjectives and
adverbs. Only the words which belong to these categories have inflections.
(Pronouns are treated as a subclass of nouns). How do we identify these? In
fact, one of the major ways in which the part of speech of a word is identified
is by looking at the inflections it takes. For example, a noun takes the plural or
the possessive inflection, a verb takes the tense inflections, and so on. But the
major parts of speech can also be identified in other ways, e.g.. by looking at
the typical positions they occupy in a construction like a phrase or a clause.
Thus, some nouns can be identified by their position after a determiner word
as in the following frame where the blanks can be filled only by common
nouns:
The ...................... worked hard to make his ............................ better.
A more general position for nouns is the blank in the following frame which
can be occupied by all types of nouns as well as pronouns:
...................... is good.
Verbs can be identified by their position after the subject noun phrase, before
the object nouns phrase or before an adverb:
The man .......................... good.
The boy .............................. the apple.
The work ...........................slowly.
Apart from the criterion of position, the major parts of speech can also be
identified by their meanings. Traditional definitions of parts of speech mostly
depend on this criterion. Thus nouns are said to denote persons, things, places,
etc., verbs are said to be 'doing' words, adjectives convey qualities, and
adverbs have meanings which modify the meanings of adjective, verbs and
other adverbs. Though the criterion of meaning by itself is not very helpful,
using it with the position criterion we are able to identify the major parts of
speech in most cases.
The following diagram presents the information mentioned above:

I. Identify the part of speech to which each italicized word in the
following sentences belongs and indicate what helped you in
identifying it: meaning, inflectional affix, orland position:
a. The government ordered the release of all the protesters who had been
arrested.
b. The court gave orders to the police to release the accused.

...............................................................................................................
c. The journey fired him.
...............................................................................................................
d. The old man looked fired after the long walk.
..............................................................................................................
e. The child was sleeping with a smile on her face.
...............................................................................................................
f. Let sleeping dogs lie alone.
......................................................................................................
g. It was a hard decision to make.
.............................................................................................................
He worked hard for this exam. Inflectional
Morphology of
............................................................................................................. English-1
He is more ~ritish'than the ~ritish'.
Put the words in brackets in their correct inflected form so that the
sentence becomes grammatical. Then state the specific grammatical
subcategory or subcategories (e.g., plural number, possessive case,
past tense, comparative degree, etc.) which the inflected form
expresses:
The teacher told the (student) that they were responsible for
maintaining discipline in the class.
My (sister) husband loves potatoes but my sister (hate) them.
I was (read) my lessons when the telephone (ring).
Raghu is the (tall') boy in the class; there is no one (tall2)than him.
All the boys made a request to the Principal that they be allowed to
watch the hockey final on the TV. 'The Principal turned down the (boy)
request.
When we (reach) the station, the train had already (leave).

..........................................................................................................
13.3 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH

NOUN
13.3.1 Noun Classes
In the preceding section, we suggested the following test-frame for identifying

nouns:
..................... is good.
Morphology- I A large variety of words can occupy this position: first, there are names of
persons and places, e-g., Ram, John, Delhi, London, etc. which we call proper
nouns; second, there are names of objects and things e.g., water, milk, tables,
chairs, plm, play, etc., called common nouns, all of which can occur in the
frame if the verb is appropriately changed for subjects in plural; thirdly, there
are words like he, she, it, etc., called pronouns, which can also occupy this
position.
We shall talk about pronouns in a later unit; let us take up nouns first.
Nouns, as we have seen, are divided into two main classes: proper and
common. Common nouns are further divided into two subtypes: count and
mass. Count nouns are those common nouns which denote objects which can
be counted and which can therefore occur with numerals like one (or a), two,
ten, hundred, etc., e.g., chair, table, egg, etc. Mass nouns are nouns which
treat the objects they denote as uncountable and therefore cannot occur with
numerals, e.g., water, milk, peace, advice, etc. The distinction between proper,
count and mass nouns is important for the morphology of these nouns. Let's
show this information through a diagram:
Noun
count ass
(boy, girl, desk, star, film, etc) (water, milk, peace, etc)
13.3.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with the Nouns
The major grammatical categories associated with nouns are number and
case. Some nouns also express gender by taking a suffix (e.g., authoress,
hostess) but they are very few and not frequently used now. So we will not say
that English nouns express gender inflectionally by a grammatical rule.
The grammatical category of number has two subcategories: singular and

plural. The contrast is expressed morphologically and it is the plural
subcategory which requires a change in the form of the noun. The change is
either the addition of a suffix, the replacement of one or.more vowels in the
stem, or both. Sometimes, there is no change in the form of the stem and we
are left to guess from the context whether the singular or the plural is meant.
The grammatical category of case also has two subcategories: po.s.ses.rive and
non-possessive (or common). The traditional three subcategories (nominative,
objective, and possessive) apply only to the subclass of pronouns, since only
pronouns have different forms for the subject (nominative), the object
(objective) and the possessive (e.g., he, him and his). Nouns show only two
forms, if at all: the possessive form (e.g., boy's) and the common or the
uninflected form (e.g., boy). The common case form is used everywhere
except in the possessive relationship: it occurs as subject or object of a verb,
object of a preposition, and so on. There is, therefore, no reason
(morphologically) for dividing it into the nominative and the ob-jective
subcategories.
While the meanings o f the grammatical subcategories singular ('one') and lnflectiot~al
plural ('more than one') number are fairly regular, the same cannot be said Morphology of
English-1
about the meanings o f the grammatical subcategory 'possessive case'. Contrary
to what we may expect, the possessive case does not always express the
relationship o f 'possession': the cases where it does are fairly well known, e.g.,
Rnm!s hook. which means 'the book which Ram possesses'. But the
relationship in the following cases i s more complex and varied as the given
meanings will show:
Ram's murder: the murder o f Ram (= Ram i s murdered)
Ram's murder: the murder which Ram committed
Ram's victory: the victory which Ram won
Ram's failure: the fact that Ram failed
Ram's thoughts: the thoughts that Ram has
We can show the information presented above through a diagram:

Major Grammatical Categories
with nouns
boys boy's, boys' boy, boys
13.3.3 Morphology of the Proper Noun
The grammatical category that i s most commonly associated with the proper
noun i s case. English proper nouns. therefore, generally show only two forms:
the common case form and the possessive case form. The possessive case
form i s the inflected form. Thus the paradigms o f the proper names Ran1 and
India consist o f the forms Ram and ram!^ and ~ n & aand in din!^ respectively.
The pronunciation o f the inflectional suffix follows the same rules as the
pronunciation o f any other - s suffix. These rules are described in detail in
Section 13.3.4 below in the context o f the plural -s suffix with count nouns.
Proper nouns sometimes also take the plural inflection but in such cases they
occur with very specific meanings. For example, they may occur when we
wish to refer to two or more persons with the same name, as in
There are more than 5000 Patels listed in the London telephone
directory.
Sometimes we also use the plural form o f a surname to refer to the family,
e.g.. Khanna.~to refer to the Khanna family. In such cases, they behave like
the plural count nouns.
13.3.4 Morphology of the Count Noun
'The two grammatical categories associated with count nouns in English are
'number' and 'case'. Accordingly, most count nouns adopt different forms to
signify the singular-plural number contrast and' the common-possessive case
contrast. We shall discuss the number-contrast first.
'1 The Number Contrast
As we have already discussed in Unit 12, Section 12.5, most count nouns
express the number-contrast by taking an inflectional suffix (-s or -es) for the
plural, or through some other kind of change in the stem. However, some
nouns can be used in the singular or the plural in the same form. These three
types of count nouns may be respectively labeled as:
a. nouns with the regular plural forms

b. nouns with the irregular plural forms
c. nouns with the zero plural forms
These three types of count nouns should be distinguished from those count
nouns which do not show the singular-plural contrast at all. Nouns of the latter
type may show some of the features of the count nouns (e.g. some of them can
occur with number words, or with adjectives likefew, many, etc.), but they
lack singular equivalents and have, in fact, no number-contrast. Some nouns
of this type are cattle, people, clothes, thanks, etc.
Let us now look at the morphology of the three types of plural nouns listed
above.
a. Regular plurala
The vast majority of English count nouns form their plurals by taking an
inflectional suffix. In writing, this suffix takes the following forms:
I. -s afler most nouns ending in a consonant letter, e.g., hats, boob, etc.,
or in -e, e.g., college.e, horses, etc.
ii. -es, if the noun ends in -s, -2, -x, -ch or -sh, e.g., buses, buzzes, boxes,
clutches, jlashe.~.
iii. -s,ifthenounendsin-o,e.g.,radios,zoas.
Fxceptions: Some nouns take -es, e.g., heroes, tomatoes, ve1oet.s.
iv. -es, accompanied by a change ofy to i in nouns ending in -y, e.g., city
> cities, cry > cries. However, if y is preceded by a vowel, -.y is
retained and simply -s is added, e.g., day > days.
Exceptions: Proper nouns ending in -y, if pluralized, end in -ys, e.g.,
the two Germanys.
In pronunciation, the plurai sufflx takes the following forms:

i. I 1Z I after stems ending in sibilant sounds. Sibilant sounds are those
sounds which produce a hissing noise, e.g. I s /, I z /, I I / , /a/,
/t$/, ./da/. It should be particularly noted that in writing the
noun may end in a silent e; the form of the suffix is decided by the
final sound, not the final letter. Examples: horses, churches, bushes,
sizes.
ii. / z / after stems ending in vowels and in voiced consonants other than
sibilants. Voiced sounds are those sounds in the production of which
the vocal cords vibrate resulting in a kind of musical note (compare,
e.g., / k I, voiceless, with I g /, voiced). All vowels are voiced. The
non-sibilant voiced consonants are I b I, d I, g I, m I, n I, I r] / , I v I, / bl,
I 1 I. Though 1j I, I w 1 and I r/ are also voiced and non-sibilant, we do
not mention them, since no English words end in these sounds
lnflectional
(according to British Received Pronunciation). (Note, again, that we Morphology of
are not concerned with spelling here). Examples: cubs; buds; bugs; English-1
rooms; buns; songs; gloves; lathes; balls.
iii. / s / atter stems ending in voiceless consonants other than sibilants.
i The non-sibilant voiceless consonants in English are / p /,I t / , I k I,/ f 1
and / 9 /. Examples: caps; casts; books; beliefs; months.
These three spoken forms o f the plural suffix are said to be the allomorphs o f
the plural morpheme. These allomorphs are phonologically conditioned, since
their occurrence depends on the nature of the preceding sound (or phoneme).
b. Irregular plurals
Irregular plurals are different from regular plurals in that, given the singular
form; we cannot predict what the plural form will be, as we can do with
I
regular plurals. This is because almost each irregular noun forms its plural in a
different way. Wman, however, discover a few general features in some o f
these nouns. The following classification i s based on these features:
I
i. Change o f vowel in the stem: The following nouns form their plurals
by changing the vowel sound: mun, foot, goose, mouse, tooth and
louse. However, the kind o f change that actually takes place i s
different in most cases. We can represent the types as follows:
man > men

foot > feet
tooth > teeth; goose > geese
mouse > mice; louse > lice
In addition, the noun woman forms its plural by changing both its
vowel sounds: wonian 1 wvman / becomes women / wIntIn /.
Each one o f these five vowel changes may also be called an allomorph
o f the plural morpheme. 'l'hese are not phonologically conditioned,
since their occurrence cannot be predicted from some sound feature o f
the base form. They are known as replucive allomorph,~and are said to
be morphologically conditioned (see 12.5).
ii. Voicing o f the final consonant o f the stem plus the regular suffix. Note
how the following count nouns form their plurals:
knife > knives

thief > thieves
mouth > mouths
path > paths
house > houses
.In these words, the plural is formed by replacing the final voiceless
consonant o f the stem with its voiced counterpart and then adding the
regular suffix allomorphs / z Ior / I Z / according to the regular rule.
How can we represent cases o f this type? The best way seems to be to
say that the stem morpheme has an allomorph which occurs with the
plural morpheme. The plural allomorph o f the stem also does not
depend on any sound feature o f the suffix; hence it i s not a
phonologically conditioned allomorph.
iii. The suffix -en with other changes. 'The -en 1 n 1allomorph of the plural
morpheme occurs only with the noun o.x, the plural form being oxen. It
also occurs with the noun child but involves some other changes too:
the vowel changes from I a1 1 to 1 I 1 and 1 r 1 is added to the stem.
Another word that takes the -en suffix with other changes is brother
when it means 'fellow member of a religious society'. The plural form'
is brethren.
iv. Foreign plurals: A number of nouns that have been borrowed into
English form foreign languages, particularly Latin, sometimes retain
their original plurals. The general tendency, however, is to use the
regular English plural suffix for them too. For example, Latin nouns
ending in -um usually have their plurals ending in-u. This pattern is
retained in some English nouns, e.g., curriculum > cztrricula, but most
other such nouns now generally tend to have the plural in -.v, e.g.,
ulbztm, $rum, museum, premilml, ,vfudjum, ultinrutum, etc. The major
types of foreign plurals retained in English are:
(From Latin): alumnus > alumni, stirnu1ii.s -, ,stimuli. But many
words (e.g., campus, chorus, prospecttrs, etc.) have regular
plurals.
(From Latin): hucterium > bucteriu, erratum > erruta.
(From Greek): basis > bases; crisis > crises: oasis > oases;
thesis > theses
(From Greek): criterion > criteria: phenomenon > phenomena
Wherever these forms occur, they are also considered morphologically
conditioned allomorphs of the plural morpheme.
c. Zero plurals
Nouns which do not change their form for plural are also irregular. The
number of such count nouns in English is quite small. Some examples of this
type are:
i. Names of animals: sheep, deer
..
11. Names of nationalities: Chinese, Japanese: Swiss
iii. Nouns denoting quantities: dozen, hundred, thousand, million
(occasionally also occur in the regular plural form)
As described in Unit 12, Section 12.5, in such cases we speak of the zero
allomorph of the plural morpheme.
The Case Contrast

Count nouns express case-contrast in the same way as do proper nouns. There
are two subcategories, which are expressed: possessive and common. The
possessive is expressed by an -s suffix on the noun while the common case is
uninflected. Though pronouns in tnglish are marked for nominative and
objective case, the form of nouns does not show any change for these cases,
for example, the count noun boy occurs as bo-y both as subject or object of a
verb. Since case refers to the inflection on the noun, and there is no inflection
for either nominative or objective, there is no point in distinguishing these two
cases. But there is an inflection for the possessive case and we must
distinguish it. We do so by writing it with an apostrophe + s and pronouncing
it as a suffix with allomorphs phonologically identical to the allomorphs of the
plural morpheme with the regular nouns, i.e.1 I z 1 after nouns ending in
sibilant sounds (e.g., the Judge's seat; my niece's education, etc.), /idafter non- Inflectionat
Morphology of
sibilant voiced sounds (e.g., the boy's application, the girl's story, the man's English-l
house, etc.), and I s / after non-sibilant voiceless sounds (e.g., the earth!^
surface, a moment's thought, etc.)
The possessive case of singular count nouns is always expressed by using the
suffix -'s with its various allomorphs, i.e., there are no irregular cases as there
are with the plural number.
With plural count nouns, however, there is an irregular class of nouns with
respect to the expression of case. Note the following possessive forms of
plural count nouns:
children > children's men > men's
The irregular plurals (children, men) take the regular possessive suffix -Is
(pronounced / I ;/, 1 z I or / s /). While the regular plurals (boys, cats) take the
'zero' possessive (i.e., the possessive inflection is not pronounced separately;
in writing too only the apostrophe is used: the -s in dropped).
The 'zero' possessive is, however, not confined to the regular plural count
nouns only, as the following example will show:
Socrates' wife: / 'sokrati:~'walf / (proper noun)
It thus seems that the zero possessive is used in order to avoid repetitive or
awkward combinations of sound e.g. +I bsl zl z, I+/gvdnl slz / etc.
From this, it is clear that when we hear / bolz I, the reference may be to boys.
boy's, or to boys'. The three forms, the plural, the singular possessive, and the
- plural possessive, are not distinguished in speaking in the case orcount nouns
which form their plurals regularly.
We may mention here that all count nouns do not take the possessive
inflection freely. It is generally (though not always) the nouns which denote
persons, or animate beings in general, which take the possessive affix. Other
nouns express the relationship by an of: phrase after the noun they modify.
Thus we have
the boy's bicycle but the seat sf this bicycle
the lady's purse but the colour of this purse
and so on.
13.3.5 Morphology of the Mass Noun
Mass nouns (or noncount/uncountable nouns) are nouns which treat the things
they denote as uncountable, i.e., are not differentiated into items which can be
counted. The objects denoted are, therefore, treated as forming a ntass. For
example, when stone refers to the material of which houses, etc, are rnade, it is
a mass noun. The same noun, when referring to pieces which can be counted,
becomes a count noun. Some nouns can thus occur both as count and mass.
I
When they occur as count nouns, they share their morphology with the other
count nouns: when they occur as mass nouns. their morphology is like those
nouns which occur only as mass nouns. Examples of pure mass nouns are
furniture and happiness. It will be a good idea to consult a dictionary when in
doubt. The dictionary makes a distinction between C(ount) and U(ncount)
I nouns and also says when a noun is used only in singular or plural number.
I
Morphology- 1
We have noted that the inflectional categories that are generally associated
with nouns are number and case. Proper nouns inflect generally for
(possessive) case only, while count nouns inflect for both (plural) number and
(possessive) case. Mass nouns inflect for neither number nor case. Since they
denote objects not as differentiated items but as mass, the concept of 'one' vs.
'more than one' does not apply to them. For purposes of agreement with the
verb, they are treated as singular. If we regard the regular plural-suffix -s as
the typical plural marker, they are also singular in form since they lack this
suflix. The important point, however, is that the number contrast is irrelevant
to mass nouns.
This should not be taken to mean that things denoted by mass nouns cannot be
counted at all. That was why we said above that the things denoted by mass
nouns are treuted as uncountable and not that they are uncountable. There are
two ways in which we may sometimes wish to count the things treated as
uncountable: first, we might wish to count the different items which constitute
the undifferentiated mass. We may speak, for example, of items or articles of
firniture, words or pieces of advice, pieces or bit,^ of information, and so on.
We do not add the plural suffix to the noun. Secondly, we may wish to refer to
different 'types' or 'kinds' of the object in question. In such cases, we use the
plural suffix (with allomorphs as in the case of count nouns) with the mass
noun in question, viz. fruit,^, food, efc.
Mass nouns also do not inflect for case; instead they occur in the of-
construction after the noun they modify. For example, we do not say power's
love but rather the love ofpower, we do not say courage!^ man but a man of
courage.
Check Yourr Progress 2
1. Note that many count nouns ending in / f / or 1 8 / do not change the
final consonant to a voiced sound and are quite regular in forming their
glur,als, e.g., chiefi and months, (pronounced / tJi:fs 1, and 1 m ~ n e /,s
re~p~ectively). Add at least two more words to each type.
2. Note: that muttan, being a mass noun, can be used only in the singular,
while cattle, which is a count noun with no number contrast, can be
used only in the plural. In which category will you put a word like
sheep?
3. Distinguish the following in the given list of nouns:.
A Singular noun with number contrast
B Singular noun but without number contrast
C Plural noun with number contrast
D Plural noun but without number contrast
a. COW b. news c. clothes d. people e. thoughts
f. goods g. police h. economics i. women j. cattle
4. Write the inflected forms of the nouns, where applicable: Inflectional
Morphology of
Stem Plural Singular possessive Plural possessive English-1
Girl .............. .............. ..............
Woman .............. .............. ..............
Rarnayan .............. .............. ..............
Courage .............. .............. ..............
Wife .............. .............. ..............
Japan .............. .............. ..............
5. Note that we can say items of information when we want to mention
different pieces of information. Match the following phrases indicating
'pieces' or 'portions' given in column A with the corresponding mass
nouns given in column B:
Column A Column B
Bar of sugar
Cube of glass
Slice of Chocolate
Pane of Butter
Lump of bread
6. Write the plural forms of the following nouns. Say which allomorph of
the plural morpheme (I Iz I, I z I, I s I, some replacive morph, ot the
zero morph) each of the following count nouns takes.
a. analysis ........................................................................................
b, bank .............................................................................................
c. cloud .........................................................................................
d, deer ..............................................................................................
e. foot .............................................................................................
f. garage ..........................................................................................
g. goose ..........................................................................................
h. hypothesis .......................... A .....................................................
13.4 THE INFLECTIONAL PARADIGM OF THE

ENGLISH NOUN
Now that we have described the inflectional morphology of all types of nouns,
we are in a position to display the paradigm of the noun in English. A
paradigm, you will recall, is the complete set of inflectional forms that a word
has. The following table lists all types.
Note also that the inflectional form may vary in writing but not in speech, The
phonological representations -of the various inflectional forms have also been
given so that you can make sure if the spoken forms are the same or different.
The number of inflectional forms for a noun will vary according to whether
you are looking at the written form or the spoken one.
Morphology- 1
Type of Noun Stem Plural Possessive PI u ral+Possessive
Proper Ram - Ram's -
/m:m / / m:mz /
Count boy boys boy's boys'
Regular 1b31/ / b31z/ /bc~lz/ /bc~~z/
Count man men man's men's
Irregular / mien / / men / / mBnz / menz 1
Mass furniture - - -
1 f s:n~t$a /
Mark the following statements True or False:

a. 'The paradigm of a proper noun consists of two forms which are
distinguished in speech as well as writing.
b. The paradigm of a regular count noun consists of two forms. if we
consider only the spoken forms.
c. In writing, the paradigm of the regular count noun distinguishes three
forms.
d. Irregular count nouns are the only type of nouns which distinguish four
fonns in writing as well as speech.
e. The plural, the singular possessive, and the plural possessive forms of
regular count nouns are not distinguished in the spoken form.
-
13.5 LET US S U M UP
We have made the following major points in this unit:

The inflectional morphology of a part of speech is a description of the
regular and irregular ways in which words belonging to it express
certain grammatical contrasts.
ii. The regular way of expressing the grammatical contrasts is by taking
an inflectional suffix,
iii. The addition of an inflectional suffix to a word makes it complex (or
more complex) and its structure can be studied according to rules,
iv. Words which express grammatical contrasts in irregular ways cannot
generally be analysed according to these rules. Where the number of
such cases is large, it is preferable to treat them as morphologically
simple forms and to learn them individually.
The morphology of words belonging to a given part of speech is
studied by (a) describing the various grammatical categories associated
with the part of speech, (b) noting the subcategories, (c) describing
how the contrasts of subcategories are expressed in regular cases, and
(d) describing how the contrasts are expressed in irregular cases.
vi. The complete set of inflectional forms of a word belonging to a
particular part of speech is called its inflectional paradigm,
vii. The major parts of speech are nouns (including pronouns), verbs,
adjectives and adverbs. Only words belonging to these parts of speech
are inflected.
viii. The major parts of speech can be identified by the criteria of position
in a sentence and meaning.
ix. The inilectional morphology of the English noun is studied by sub- Inflectional
Morphology of
classifying the nouns into proper and common. Common nouns are
English-1
further subdivided into count and mass.
X. 'The major grammatical categories associated with nouns are number
(singular and plural) and case (possessive and common).
xi. Proper nouns express only case contrast. The inflectional suffix - 's is
used to express possessive case. Its pronunciation is identical to other -
.v suffixes, e.g.. the plural suffix.
xii. Count nouns express both number and case contrast. The plural
number suffix has three phonologically conditioned allomorphs: 112 /,
/ z / and / s / which are used in the regular cases. Irregular nouns form
their plurals by changing the vowel sound or some other kind of
change in the stem. Some nouns do not change their forms at all. These
are said to be cases of' replacivc and zero allomorphs of the plural
. siii.
morpheme rcspectively.
Count nouns express the case contrast by attaching the -'.v suffix with
the noun in the possessive case. The possessive sufix has
phonologically conditioned allomorphs similar to the plural suffix.
Plural count nouns also inflect for case but they take the zero
allomorph of the possessive morpheme unless the noun is an irregular
plural.
xiv. Mass nouns do not intlect for either number or case.
xv. If we consider the written forms, the inflectional paradigm of the
English noun consists of two forms for proper nouns, four forms for
count nouns. and a single form for mass nouns. If we consider the
spoken forms only, the proper and the regular count nouns have two
forms each. irregular count nouns have four forms, while mass nouns
have a single form.
KEY WORDS
Inflectional Morphology: description of the inflectional affixes and other

changes that occur in words belonging to the
major parts of speech when certain grammatical
contrasts are to be conveyed.
Grammatical Categories: categories like number, case, gender, tense,
degree, etc. which are associated with various
parts of speech. Words belonging to these parts
f of speech acquire different forms to express the
contrasts created by the subcategories of these
grammatical categories.
Regular Cases: words belonging to any part of speech which
express the grammatical contrasts in the regular
way by taking a suffix
Irregular Cases: words belonging to any part of speech which
express the grammatical contrasts in a non-
regular way.
Inflectional Paradigm: the complete set of inflectional forms of a word
belonging to a particular part of speech.
The Major Parts of Speech: nouns (including pronouns), verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs. Only words belonging to these
parts of speech take inflections.
Morphology- l Number Contrast: the contrast between singular ('one') and plural
('more than one') expressed through inflectional
changes in the word.
Case Contrast: the contrast between the various forms that a
noun acquires to express its relationship with
other words in a sentence.
Possessive Case: the case form that a noun acquires to convey
certain kinds of relations (e.g. possession) with
another noun which follows it.
Common Case: the uninllected form of a noun that occurs in all
positions except where the possessive form
occurs.
Proper Noun: a noun which is the name of a person, a place,
etc.
Count Noun: a noun which denotes items which can be
counted. A count noun can therefore be used
with numerals (e.g., one, hyo, ten, etf.).
Mass Noun: a noun which treats the objects it denotes as an
undifferentiated mass which cannot be divided
into countable items.
Bauer, L. (1 988) Introducing Linguistic Morphology, Edinburgh University

Press.
Carstairs-McCarthy, A. (1 992) Current Morphology, Routledge, London
Katam ba, F. ( 1 993) Morphololry, MacM i l Ian, Basingstoke.
Matthews, P. (1 991) Morphology (2" edn.). Cambridge University Press.
Spencer, A. and A. Zwicky (eds.) (1 998) Handbook of Morphology,
Blackwell, Oxford.
Wardaugh, R. (1 998) An Introduction 16 Linguistics, Blackwell, Oxford
13.8 ANSWERS
- -
a. release: noun; position
b. release: verb; position
c. tired: verb; inflectional affix
d. tired: adjective; position
e. sleeping: verb; inflectional suffix and position
f. sleeping: adjective; position
g. hard: adjective; position
h. hard: adverb; position and meaning
i. British1 : adjective; takes comparative marker
British2: noun; position
2. a. student > students (plural number)
b. sister > sister's (possessive case)
hate > hates (third person, singular number, present tense)
Inflectional
c. read > reading (continuous tense) Morphology of
rin > rang (past tense) English-1
d. tall > tallest (superlative degree)
tall2 > taller (comparative degree)
e. boy > boys' (plural number, possessive case)
f. reach > reached (past tense)
leave > left (perfect tense)

I. Cliffs, handkerchiefs, three-fourths, births
2. Neither like mutton nor like cattle, since sheep can be used both in the
singular and in the plural.
3. A. Singular noun with number contrast: a. cow
B. Singular noun but without plural contrast: b. news
h. economics
C. Plural noun with number contrast: e. thoughts i, women
D. Plural noun but without number contrast: c. clothes d. people
f, goods g. police j, cattle
Stem Plural Singular possessive Plural possessive
girl girls girl's girls'
woman women woman's women's
Ramayan - Ramayan's -
courage - - -
wife wives wife's wives'
Japan - Japan's
1 Column A I Column I3 I
I Bar of Chocolate
Ieueub<oL -
Slice of Bread
I Pane of I Glass 1
1 Lumu of I Butter 1
a. unab,res: unaly,ris takes the replacive morph / I>i: /
h. hanks: hank takes the morph / s /
c, clouds: cloud takes the morph / z /
i
!
d.
e.
.f:
g a
deer: deer takes the zero morph
feet:-foot takes the replacive morph / v>i: 1
garuges: garage takes the morph / lz /
geese: goose takes the replacive morph / u: >i: /
h, hypotheses: hypothesis takes the replacive morph / I >i: /
a. True
b. True
c. False
d. True
e. True
ENGLISH -2
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
lnflectional Morphology of the English Pronouns
14.2. I Identifying Pronouns
14.2.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with Pronouns
14.2.3 The Paradigm of Personal Pronouns
lnflectional Morphology of the English Adjective
14.3.1 Identifying Adjectives
14.3.2 Gralnlnatical Categories Associated with Adjectives
14.3.3 The Regular Adjectives
14.3.4 The Irregular Adjectives
14.3.5 The lnflectional Paradigm of the Adjectives
lnflectional Morphology of the English Adverb
14.4.1 ldentifying Adverbs
14.4.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with Adverbs
14.4.3 The Regular and Irregular Adverbs
14.4.4 The Inflectional Paradigm of the Adverbs
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Book
Answers
At the end of this unit you should be able to

identify pronouns, adjectives and adverbs,
recognise the various grammatical categories associated with pronouns
and see how case, person, gender and number contrasts are expressed by
the different pronoun forms.
recognise the grammatical category of degree associated with adjectives
and adverbs and see how words belonging to these parts of speech express
the degree contrasts in regular and irregular ways, and
distinguish, by their function, inflected adjectives and adverbs which are
identical in form.
14.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit, we shall discuss the morphological characteristics of three classes

of words: pronouns. adjectives and adverbs. The morphological characteristics
we shall discuss are only those, which can be characterised as inflectional. As
you will recall from the previous two units, intlections are those changes in
the forms of words, which serve certain grammatical functions when the '
words occur in sentences. We noticed in U n i t 13 for examples, that the
inflections that occur with nouns perform the grammatical functions of
expressing number and case contrasts. When we know the number or case of a Inflectional
particular noun. through the presence or absence of the inflection, we know Morphology
f of English -2
how the noun will relate to other elements of'the sentence.
In discussing the inflectional characteristics of pronouns, adjectives and
, adverbs also we shall once again begin with the grammatical categories
associated with them. We shall then see how the words belonging to these
I
parts of speech express the contrasts between the subcategories of each
category. If these contrasts are expressed in a systematic and rcgular way
through the addition of sul'f'ixes, we shall describe the suflix morphemes and
I
their allomorphs: if they are not expressed systematically throllgh suffixes, but
through solme other irregular changes in the forms of words, we shall just list
the different forms. In every case, we shall end by describing the inflectional
paradigm of the words belonging to each part of speech.
14.2 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY O F THE ENGLISH
I 14.2.1 Identifying Pronouns
In Unit 13, Section 13.2, we stated that pronouns could be identified by their
ability to occur in the following frame:
.............................. i.v good.
But since nouns can also occur in this frame, we must tind some way of
distinguishing pronouns from nouns.
It is, therefore, more accurate to say that pronouns behave like nouns, but are
different from them in certain ways. The number of pronouns in English is
very small, and it is, therefore. possible to treat them as a separate class with
some special characteristics. Unlike the class of nouns, the class of pronouns
is closed, i.e. no new pronouns can be added to-this class. Further, their
functions are largely grammatical: they serve to identify number, person, case,
gender, etc. but beyond that they do not tell us anything about the
1
characteristics of the person, object, etc. they refer to, as, for example, nouns
I do. Hence pronouns are treated as function (or structure) words like articles,
prepositions. etc. Their only additional characteristic is that they behave like
nouns.
14.2.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with Pronouns

'l'he grammatical categories associated with pronouns are case, person, gender
and number. Though we cannot show that all pronouns express the contrasts
between the various subcategories of these grammatical categories by means
of inflectional suffixes, we can show that they nevertheless do express these
contrasts because of the different forms they have. Let's look at the following
diagram:
Pronouns
I
case person gender number

The category of pronouns includes not only personal pronouns like /, he, she,
it, etc. and their other forms but also words like someone, somebody,
everyone, everybocfy, everything, etc. These words do take suffixes. as in
someone's, evetyone!~,etc. But the most important and the most typical
pronouns are the personal pronouns, in which suffixes are not clearly
recognizable. As we shall see below, other pronouns are more like nouns in
their morphology.
Case Contrast
The first grammatical category associated with pronouns is Case. Case has
three subcategories with the personal pronouns: nominative, objective and
possessive. Other pronouns have two subcategories - possessive and
common - like nouns. This means that while personal pronouns have three
different forms for case, nouns and other pronouns have only two.
We saw in Unit 13 that nouns change their forms only when they enter into
relationship with other nouns. Thus Ram changes to ram!^ when it enters into
possessive relationship with another noun book in the phrase ram:^ book. It,
however, does not change its form when it enters into subject relationship with
a verb (as in the sentence Ram speaks English well), or when it enters into
object relationship with a verb (as in / / k n o w Ram welo. However, if we use a
personal pronoun in place of a noun, we find that it changes its form, as in the
sentences:
Subject: He speaks English well. or I speak English well

Object: I know him well. or He knows me well.
Thus the forms he vs. him and I vs. me express the contrast between the
nominative case (when the pronoun is subject) and the objective case (when
the pronoun is object). As for the possessive case both nouns and personal
pronouns take different forms to express the possessive relationship: if Ram
becomes Ram's in the possessive case, he becomes his and I becomes my.
There is, however, one difference. Personal pronouns show a second
possessive form when they occur as complements after the verb in a sentence.
Thus while we say 'This is my bicycle'. When we use the possessive my

before a noun, we say 'This bicycle is mine ' where we use the possessive after
the verb (is). Mine is the second possessive form of my. Other second
possessive forms of personal pronouns are yours, his, hers, etc.
Case contrast in pronouns can thus be shown in a table as follows:
Nominative llwe helthey shelthey YOU it

Objective metus himlthem herlthem
Possessive 1 st mylour hisltheir herltheir yours its
2nd minelours hisltheirs hersltheirs yours its
Person Contrast
The second grammatical category associated with pronouns is Person. Person
has three subcategories as follows:
First Person: Pronouns which refer to the speaker (I, me, etc.)
Second Person: Pronouns which refer to the addressee (you, yours, etc.) Inflectional
Morphology
Third Person: Pronouns which refer to a 'third party' (he,she, it, etc.)
of English -2
'This grammatical category does not apply to nouns at all, since all nouns are
treated as third parties, or as belonging to the third person. But pronouns have
different forms according to person. Once again, a three-way contrast occurs,
e.g.,
First person 1, me, my, mine; we, us, our, ours

Second person you, your, yours
'r hird person he, him, his; she, her, hers; they, them, their, theirs; it, its
Gender Contrast
The third grammatical category associated with pronouns is Gender: Only
pronouns in the third person and singular number show this contrast. Gender
has three subcategories: masculine, feminine and neuter. The forms of the
third person singular pronoun, which express this contrast, are as follows:
Masculine he him his

Feminine she her herlhers
Neuter it it its
'Thc tnasculine and feminine forms are used mainly to refer to human beings,
male and female respectively. Their use is, however, sometimes also extended
to animals and non-living objects. For example, he may be used for a bull or a
lion, she for a cow and a lioness. When referring to inanimate objects, the use
of he or she depends on whether the object is thought of as male or female.
For example, a car and a ship are often thought of endearingly as living and
female and are referred to by she.
It is normally used to refer to non-living objects, but is also used to refer to

animals when they are not treated as familiar (or pet) animals, and to a baby
when its sex is not known or is not relevant.
Number Contrast
Most personal pronouns have singular and plural forms which are unrelated.
The number contrast is found in all cases, persons and genders of pronouns,
but in the second person the contrast is not expressed by different forms and
we have to rely on their clues. We know, for example, that you is singular in
the first sentence below but plural in the second sentence:
You are a teacher and should know how to understand students' problems.
You are all teachers and should know how to understand students' problems.
The number contrast in personal pronouns can be seen in the following table:
First Person Third Person

Nom. 0b.j. Poss. Nom. Obj. Poss.
Singular I me my(mine) helshelit himlherlit his/her(hers)/its
Plural we us our(ours) they them their(theirs)
Morphology-l Since the number contrast is associated with the person contrast, the meaning
of the plural is understood somewhat differently with pronouns than with
nouns. Thus we does not mean 'more than one 1' but 'I plus one or more other
persons'. Similarly, y o u with plural reference normally means 'you (singular)
plus one or more other persons, but not me'. The meaning in the third person is
more regular and contrasts 'more than one' with 'onef.
Pronouns belonging to other categories (interrogative, relative, etc.) do not

have number contrast with the exception of the demonstrative pronouns
this/that, these/those.
14.2.3 The Paradigm of Personal Pronouns

Since pronouns do not express the grammatical contrasts by means of suffixes
but through different forms, there is no distinctcon between regular and
irregular cases: all pronouns are irregular. We can, therefore, go on to list the
complete set of forms of the personal pronouns, presenting it in a form which
will reveal the grammatical contrasts we have described above:

1. Fill in the blanks in each of the following sentences with'the pronoun
whose description is given in brackets.
a. .......... are looking for a taxi. (First person. plural number, nominative
case)
b. "Who is it?" "It's ............. " (First person. singular number, objective
case)
c. This book is ............... (Third person. singular number, masculine
gender, possessive case)
d. ................... was the best. (Second person. singular number, second
possessive case)
e. It was ................... who missed the test. (Third person, feminine
gender, singular number, nominative case)
f. He is more intelligent than .................. (Third person. feminine
gender, singular number, objective case)
2. Give full descriptions of the italicized pronoun(s) in each sentence:

a. Let!s have a look.
b. It was no fault of /heirs.
c. She is as tall as me.
d. 'This is her book.
e. Give it to her.
f. These are oa~rs;yorrrs are on the other table.
Inflectional
14.3 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH Morphology
ADJECTIVE of English -2
14.3.1 Identifying Adjectives

Adjectives are typically identified by their ability to occur in the following
two positions: the position before a noun as in
the ...........................boy
and the position after a verb as in
The boy is ..........................

They are respectively cal led the attributive position and the predicative
position. lVot all adjectives occur in both positions, however. For example, the
adjectives ~vell,ill and afraid do not occur in the attributive position (e.g., *a
well man, *on ill nicln, *an afraid girl), while words like sheer, utter, etc. do
not occur in predicative positions (e.g., *This nonsense is sheerlutter). Words
which can occur in both the positions (e.g., happy, tall, good, etc.) are typical
adjectives and are the largest in number. You should consult a dictionary
when you are not sure whether an ad-iective is used attributively or
predicatively. Look at the following diagram:
Adjectives
c
attributive
before a noun.e.g.
.sl?eernonsense
Classified according to the position
predicative
not followed by a noun,
e.g. she was ill
both
attributive and
predicative, e.g. good
14.3.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with Adjectives

The grammatical category associated with adjectives is that o f degree. This
category has three subcategories: positive, comparative and superlative. A
large number o f ad.jectives express the three-way contrast by taking the
inflectional suffix -er for the comparative degree and the suffix -est for the
superlative degree. For example, the adjective sweet has the three forms sweet,
sweeter, sweetest, which occur in three different grammatical contexts: the
uninflected form sweet is used when no comparison is involved, as in the
sentence
Sugar is sweet.
The comparative fonn sweeter i s used when the comparison involves two
items. as in
Saccharin is sweeter than sugar.
The superlative form sweetest is used when the comparison involves more
than two items:
This is the .yweetest o f all substances.
You must, o f course, be aware that many adjectives do not form their
comparative and superlative degrees, in this way. For example, the
comparative and superlative forms o f the adjective beautiful are not
*beautijiuller and *baautifullest respectively, but more beazrtiful and most
beautvul. In other words, the same meanings which are conveyed by tlie
suftixes -er and est with some adjectives are conveyed by separate words
(niore and most) with other adjectives.
14.3.3 The Regular Adjectives

As stated above, the morphologically regular adjectives form their
co~nparativeand superlative forms by the addition of inflectional suffixes. The
comparative suftix is written as -er and the superlative suffix as -e,st.
As we stated earlier, not all adjectives express comparative and superlative

degrees by means of suffixes; some express them through the use of the
structure words more and most. Some adjectives express the degrees in both
ways. Here is a general guideline for cases of each type:
i. Nearly all one-syllable adjectives have inllectional degree forms, e.g.,
sniullcst.
:.
hot > hotter > hotte.st; big >: bigger biggest; sniall .smaller >
.11..
A large number of two-syllable adjectives frequently take intlectional
suffixes, especially those ending in -/y, e.g., holy > holier > holie.st;
lovely > Io\~!ier > 1ovelie.st; noble > nobler > noblest; hullow ow
,sh/~ll~>!~)crshallcivvr~!.They may, however, also be compared with
triore cind nlost, e.g., marc) holy, most holy, etc. Some two-syllable
adjectives are compared with more and most only. e.g., more conil)lex.
most coml)lex; niore ,fruiffrrl,rnost ,frfvtrilful,etc.
iii. Nearly all adjectives of three or mcrc syllables are compared only with
more and mO,d, e.g., more/nlost beautfil; more/niost s.ociublc~:
more/nio.st rcluctunt.
iv. Ad.jectives with the zm- or in- prefixes and participles used as
adjectives regularly take only more and most for comparison, e.g.,
more/ moost zrnhuppy: more/i?lost incomplete; more/n~o.vtintere.stin~;
more/most interested.
We may note that some ad-jectives cannot be compared at all. Hence they
neither take the inflectional suffixes nor more and most. Some such adjectives
are dead (as in a (lead mou,re), criminal (as in a criminal layver) and niulc (as
in the niale partm~r). Such atjectives are called nan-gradable adjectives,
Only gradable udjectivts can be compared using either the inflections or the
structure words more and moat.
14.3.4 The Irregular Adjectives

There is a small group of adjectives in English which have comparative and
superlative forms quite different from the base form. Though small in number,
these adjectives are used very frequently and the fact that the forms follow no
rules creates no difficulty in learning them. Some of the ad-jectives are listed
below:
Positive Comparative Superlative
better best
Well
Bad worse worst
Far farther farthest Inflectional
Morphology
further furthest of English -2
Little less
lesser
more
I- least
most
Old older oldest

elder eldest
Wherever more than one comparative and superlative forms are available.
their uses are usually distinct. Thus, of the two comparative and superlative
tbrins of,fur. one set CJirrtlter,,Jirrrhe,st)is used only when speaking of places.
direction and distance (e.g. rlic~,jur~hesl house, ,furlher do~cinrhc roaci), while
the other yet (jiirrhcr.,Jirrlhcsl)is used in this sense as well as in other senses
to mean, for example, 'more', 'later'. 'additional', etc (e.g.. no,ftrrlherqueslions,
jirrlker eiiuccr~ion,elc.). Similarly, of the two comparative forms of liule, Ie.s.s
,
is used when speaking of amount (le.ss money), number (1e.a~people), etc.,

while lesser 1s used in the sense of 'less important' as in 'to a lesser extent',
'lesser man than Gandhi'. etc. The uses of oIc~er/olde.~r and elder/elde.sf also
differ in similar ways. Find out the differences from your dictionary.
Another set of irregular adjectives are those which lack the full degree
paradigm but use -nrosr as a suffix to express the superlative degree. Some
adjectives of this type are innerrnosf, uppertnost, fopmost, foremost,
o wtcrtno.~~.
13.3.5 'The Inflectional Paradigm of the Adjectives
'I'hc inflectional paradigm of the English ad-iective is very simple and can be
presented as follows:
- - -
Base Pasitive Cam ~arative Sunerlative

tall tal l taller tallest
lt3:ll li3:ll Pt3: lel I 't3:list I
Cheek Your Progress 2
I. I ~ o kat thc Following tbrms of adjectives and note the change in

spelling wlien the coinparative suffix -t.r and the superlative suflix -
cst arc added to the base form. Formulate the rules for change of'
spelling.
I. happy, happier, happicst
. a
11. gay, gayer, gayest

.111,.. sad. sadder. saddest
2. Separatc the following adjectives into three categories as follows:

-- --
I brave. important, clever. great, untbrtul~ate.low. old. polite, absolute. I
~,~ . .~ . -~ -~ .
I
i wealthy.
.
perfect
- -
I
Category A: Those which are compared in the inflected forms only
Category B: Those which are compared with more and m0.c.tonly
Category C: Those which can be compared in both ways (i.e., they
can be compared in the inflected forms as well as with
Tore and most)
Category D: Those which do not take any comparative or superlative
form
Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the appropriate

(comparative or superlative) form of the irregular adjective given in
brackets at the end:
My brother is seven years.........................than me. (old)
He has two daughters. The .........................one got married this year.
(old)
There is anotherchemist's shop at the .........................end of the street,
(far)
Fix a marker at the .........................possible point from the centre, (far)
The ......................... pressure would suffice to crack the tube. (little)
These customs ;re common in Rajasthan and to a ........................
extent in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. (little)
That was the .........................thing that ever happened to me. (bad)
His intervention only he!ped to make matters .........................(bad)
Who has the .........................money? (much)
14.4 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH

ADVERB
14.4.1 Identifying Adverbs

Adverbs are the most difficult to identify in terms of their positions in a
phrase, clause or sentence. The reason is that the class of adverbs includes a
wide variety of words yhich can occupy very different positions in larger
units. First, there are adverbs which describe the time, place, manner, etc. of
an action or event. They usually occur at the end of a sentence but can also
occur elsewhere, e.g.,
He came yesterday. (time)

He walked out. (place)
He walked slowly. (manner)
Second, there are degree adverbs which modify adjectives and other adverbs
and usually stand before them, e.g.,
The book was ulnpost new. I spoke quite openly.

Thirdly, there are sentence adverbs which apply to the whole clause or .
sentence. Though they usually stand at the beginning or at the end of a
sentence, they can also o~cupyother positions, e.g.,
Probably, his resignation will be accepted.

His resignation will probably be accepted.
Adverbs are, therefore, generally identified by their syntactic and semantic Inflectional
Morphology
functions. Syntactically, they mainly modify verbs, adjectives and other
of English -2
adverbs, as in the following sentences:
He spoke,fa.st. (modifying verb)

It was very dangerous. (modifying adjective)
He spoke extremely fast. (modifying adverb)
Semantically, adverbs are identified as words which indicate time, place,

direction, manner, degree, duration, frequency, purpose, result, means, etc.
'This is the reason for saying that often adverbs in a sentence can be identified
as those words which answer questions like How? (manner), Where? (place),
Where tolfrom? (Direction), When? (time), How long? (duration), How often?
(frequency), To what degree? (degree), etc. Sentence adverbs, however,
cannot be identified by this method. The following diagram shows the
syntactic functions of adverbs:
Adverbs modify
verbs adjectives adverbs sentences
14.4.2 Grammatical Categories Associated with the Adverbs
As with adjectives, the only grammatical category for which adverbs are
intlected is degree. In fact, a large number of words which are said to be
ad.jectives also function as adverbs and inflect for degree in the same way.
Consider the following examples:
Adjective: Did you have to wait a long time?
Adverb: Did you have to wait long?
Adjective: You can expect a longer wait this time.
Adverb: You will have to wait longer this time.
Adjective: This was my longest wait ever.
Adverb: 1 waited longest during my last visit.
Many other adjectives of this type do not change their form for adverb. They
all inflect for degree both as adjectives and adverbs.
This train goes fasler than the others. (Adjective: the faster train)
He worked harder than anyone else. (Adjective: harder work)
They arrived later in the day. (Adjective: in the later part of the day)
There is another group of words of this type which sometimes change their
form for adverb slightly, by taking the -1y suffix. Consider the following
examples,
Adjective: A sharp knife makes a clean cut.

Adverb: The knife cut clean through the ropes.
Adverb: The knife cut cleanly through the ropes.
Adjective: Take a deep breath.
Adverb: Breathe deep.
Adverb: Breathe deeply.
Some other words of this type are direct, .fine.,flat, high, light, sharp, etc. The
interesting thing about them is that when they occur in comparison. the choice
is between the inflected forms of the base and the -Iv form with tnoree or mo.vt.
This knife cuts cleaner than that. This knife cuts more clean1~-than
that.
From these examples, it becomes clear that adverbs are like adjectives and
inflect for degree in the same way. And, in the same way as ad-iectives, they
sometimes compare with the help of the structure words more and nlost.
Note that we have not talked about adverbs of manner which have an -1y suffix
attached to them. Though a few grammarians treat -Iy as an inflectional suftix,
the general opinion is ih favour of calling it a derivational suffix. The reasons
for this become clear if we compare -ly with an intlectional suffix like the past
tense suffix -ed. While the addition of the -ed suffix to the verb is required by
a rule of grammar, there is no such rule which requires the addition of the -1y
suffix. There is no other way of saying.
They arrived yesterday
except by using the past tense inflection of the verb arrive. But we can express
the idea contained in the sentence
She sang beautifully
in another way by saying
She sang in a heaufiful manner.
This shows that adverbs in -ly present us with a lexical choice, or an
alternative form of expression, which is a mark of derivational suffixes.
Further, inflectional suffixes are used when a contrast is to be expressed, e.g.,
between past and present, plural and singular. The -1y adverbs do not express
any contrast.
Lastly, as we have seen, inflectional suffixes do not change the part of speech
of the word to which they are attached. The addition of -ly, on the other hand,
changes the part of speech of the word from adjective to adverb and from
noun to adjective in some cases.
We therefore conclude the only grammatical category associated with adverbs
is degree.
14.4.3 The Regular and Irregular Adverbs
Not all adverbs inflect for degree. The only adverbs which do, barring a
couple of cases, are those which have an identical adjective form. The forms
of the inflection are also identical: -er for the comparative and -esf for the
superlative. Since the same words with the same inflections can occur either
as regular adjectives or as regular adverbs, the important thing is not to
memorize their forms separately but to be able to distinguish them in use. If
the forms are adjectives, they will occur before a noun or after certain verbs,
modifying the noun or saying something about it; if they are adverbs they will
'modify adjectives, verbs and other adverbs, as we saw above.
Exceptions: Two adverbs which do not have identical ad-jective forms but Inflectional
Morphology
inflect for degree are soon and often. They have the comparative and
of English -2
superlative forms .rooner/soone,st and oftener/oftenest, respectively, e.g. He
came sooner than expected; the soonest possible date; you must come oftener.
However, with oJlen, the use of more and most is more common.
Irregular adverbs are also mostly identical with irregular adjectives: the only
difference that is sometimes found is in the positive form. Note that the
positive form corresponding to the adverbs better and best is well and the
positive form corresponding to the adverbs wor.se and worst is hadl-v. Other
irregular adverbs far, little, much) have the same forms as the corresponding
irregular adjectives.
Other adverbs either do not enter into comparison at all (e.g., adverbs of time
and place), or are used with more and most (e.g., manner adverbs ending in -
1~).
14.4.4 The Inflectional Paradigm of the Adverbs

The inflectional paradigm of adverbs is identical with the adjective paradigm,
describcd in the following diagram:
Adverbs
Base Positive Comparative Superlative

soon soon sooner soonest
fast fast faster fastest
I. Distinguish adjectives from adverbs among the italicised words in the

following sentences:
He cut his hair very short.
The eui-ly bird catches the worm.
1 got up early today.
They are demanding longer holidays.
I can't wait much longer.
His hair is very .vhorl.
That is a very hard question to answer.
Think hard about what 1 have said.
Turn right at the next crossing.
Lift your right hand.
2. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the positive form of
the adverb/ adjective italicised elsewhere in the sentence:
a. Thank you, I am quite .................... today. I expect to be even better
tomorrow.
b. 1 know they played very ....................... this year, but they played
ulor.ve last year.
c. If he was ....................... yesterday. he is even ~vorsetoday.
Morphology- 1 d. If this is the bebt score you can get, your best score is not
...................... enough.
e. His condition wentfrom ....................... to worse.
f. Shakespeare knew ....................... Latin and less Greek.
g. ....................... people are killed in accidents everyday but more people
die because of the evils of smoking.
h. I know 1 have caused you .............. trouble already. Do you mind if
I cause a little morh?
3. Fill in the blanks +ith the appropriate form of the italicized adjective
ladverb:
I Positive degree / Comparative 1
Superlative degree I
1 I degree 1 I
iii. She is a--- pai$ter. He is a --- painter. You are the best painter.
1 iv. We are --- plafers. I You are --- players. ( They are the worst I
4. Identify the syntaatic function of the adverbs (given in italics) in the

following sentences by saying which element they modify:
i. This approach, incidentally, has the advantage of being inexpensive.
ii. Frankly, I don't think we should enter into a partnership with him.
iii. Please tell mefra&ly what you think of this proposal.
iv. We have worked extremely hard on this project.
v. The question paper was unreasonably long.
14.5 LET US SUM UP
In this unit, we have discussed the following main points:

i. Case, person; gehder and number are the grammatical categories
associated with English pronouns.
..
I . Each of these grammatical categories has some subcategories:
case has the subcategories: nominative, objective and

possessive;
person has the subcategories: first, second and third;
gender has the subcategories: masculine, feminine and neuter;
number has the subcategories: singular and plural.
iii. Pronouns expres$ the contrasts between these subcategories by
assuming different forms in most cases.
iv. The different fortns of pronouns are not related to each other in a
regular way, e.g., there are no regular suffixes to express the case of
number subcategaries. Hence all pronouns are treated as irregular.
v. Degree is the gratnmatical category associated with adjectives. It has
three subcategorids: positive, comparative and superlative.
vi. The contrast between the three subcategories of degree is expressed in Inflectional
Morphology
two ways: some adjectives express it through inflection; other of English -2
adjectives express it by taking the words more and most.
vii. The regular inflectional forms are -er for the comparative degree and -
e,sf for the superlative degree.
viii. A small number of highly frequent adjectives have irregular degree
forms.
i
I
ix.
x.
Only a few adverbs have inflected forms. The inflections are the same
as for ad-jectives, viz. for the grammatical category of degree.
Most adverbs which inflect for degree are those which have identical
corresponding adjective forms.
xi. l'he inflected forms for adverbs, both regular and irregular, are the
same as for the corresponding adjectives.
xii. The manner suffix -ly is not an inflectional suffix.
xii i. The inflectional paradigms of adjectives and adverbs are identical.
- - - -
i 14.6 KEY WORDS
Pronouns: a group of structure words which behave like nouns

Case: a grammatical category associated with nouns and
pronouns. When associated with pronouns, it has three
subcategories: nominative, objective and possessive.
Nominative Case: the case of a pronoun when it is the subject of a verb
Objective Case: the case of a pronoun when it is the object of a verb or a
preposition
Possessive Case: the case of a pronoun when it occurs as a determiner
before a noun or as complement of averb.
Person: a grammatical category associated with pronouns. It has
three subcategories: first person. second person and
third person.
First Person: pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker or
writer of the message when in the singular, and to the
speakerlwriter plus some others when in the plural.
Second Person: pronouns of the second person refer to the person(s)
addressed.
Third Person: pronouns of the third person refer to third parties not
directly involved in speaking or receiving the message.
Gender: a grammatical category associated with pronouns. It has
three subcategories: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Masculine Gender: Masculine pronouns are those pronouns which are used
to refer to human beings or animals belonging to the
male sex.
Feminine Gender: Pronouns of the feminine gender are used for referring
to human beings or animals of the female sex.
Neuter Gender: Pronouns of the neuter gender are used for referring to
non-living objects.
Number: a grammatical category associated with nouns or
pronouns. It has two subcategories: singular and plural.
Adjectives: Words which function as modifiers of nouns by
occurring before them or occur as complements
saying something about the subject noun.
Adverbs: Words which modify verbs, adjectives and other
adverbs, denote time, place, frequency, etc. of
an action, or apply to whole clauses and
sentences as modifiers.
Degree: A grammatical category associated with
adjectives and a few adverbs which are mostly
identical in form with adjectives. It has three
subcategories: positive, comparative and
superlative.
Regular AdjectivesIAdverbs: AdjectivesJadverbs which form their
comparative and superlative degree forms by
taking the suffixes -er are -esl respectively.
Irregular AdjectivesIAdverbs: AdjectivesJadverbs which form their
comparative and superlative degree forms by
changing their forms in other ways.
Leech; G., Deuchar, M. ar~dHooyenrad, R. (1982) English Grammar for

Today: A New Introduction (Ch. 3). London: Macmillan.
C
Quirk, R. and Greenbaum. S. ( 1 9 n ) A University Grammar qf Engli~h(Chs.
4 and 5). London: Longman.
Roberts, .P.(1954) Understanding Grammar (Chs. 3, 4 and 7). New York:
Harper & Row.
14.8 ANSWERS
I. a. we b. me c. his
d. yours e, she f. her
2. a. us: first person, plural number, objective case

b. their,^: third person, plural number, (second) possessive case
c. she: third person, singular number, feminine gender,
nominative case
me: first person, singular number, objective case
d. her: third person, singular number, feminine gender, possessive
case
e. her: third person, singular number, feminine gender, objective
case
f. ours: first person, plural number, (second) possessive case
your,r: second person, (second) possessive case

1. i. Stems ending in the letter -y change y to i before adding the
suffixes.
.. There is no change when y is preceded by a vowel in the stem. Inflectional
11.
Morphology
iii. The infectional suffix is added on directly and the final of English -2
consonant of the stem is doubled.
2. Category A: great, low, old

Category B: important, unfortunate
Category C: brave, clever, polite, wealthy
Category D: perfect, absolute
3. a. older b. elderlolder c. farther d. farthest e. least

f. lesser g. worst h. worse i. most
1. a. short: adverb b. early: adjective c. early: adverb

d. longer: adjective e, longer; adverb f, short: adjective
g. hard: adjective h. hard: adverb i. right: adverb
j. right: adjective
2. a. well b. badly c. i l l d. good

e. bad f. little g. many h. much
3. i. well, best
.11.. worse, worst
iii. good, better iv. bad, worse
4. i. modifies the whole sentence.

ii. modifies the whole sentence.
iii. modifies the verb tell.
iv. modifies the adverb hard.
v. modifies the adjective long.
ENGLISH - 3
Structure
15.0 Objectives
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Identifying Verbs
15.3 Verb Classes
15.4 Grammatical Categories Associated with the English Verb
15.4.1 Person and Number
15.4.2 Tense
15.4.3 Aspect
15.4.4 Mood
15.4.5 Voice
15.5 Morphology of the Full Verb
15.5.1 The Regular Verbs
15.5.2 The Irregular Verbs
15-53 The Basis for the Regular-Irregular Distinction
15.5.4 Morphophonology
15.6 Morphology of the Modal Verb
15.7 Morphology of the Primary Verb
15.8 The Inflectional Paradigm of the English Verb
15.9 Let Us Sum Up
15.10 Key Words
15.1 1 Some Useful Books
15.12 Answers
identify verbs by their position and inflections,

recognize the three main classes of verbs: full, modal and primary,
recognize the different grammatical categories associated with the
English verb, and
recognize how grammatical contrasts relating to these categories are
expressed by verbs belonging to the three different classes through
inflections.
15.1 INTRODUCTION
The verb is often considered the most important word in a sentence: it has
been called 'the heart of the sentence'. Though occasionally we may use
expressions without any verbs in them (e.g. Good! Sure? Coffee? etc.), we
cannot speak for any length of time without using verbs. In fact, verbs are
considered so essential to sentences that expressions without verbs are
interpreted and understood as shortened versions of sentences with verbs. For
example, if we say 'Good', it is understood as a shortened form of 'It is good'
with the verb is; if we ask 'Coffee?' it is interpreted as 'Do you want coffee?'
with the verb want, and so on.
The importance attached to verbs is quite understandable. It is often the verb Inflectional
Morphology
that decides the structure of the whole sentence. If we choose a transitive verb, o f English3
the sentence will have an object in addition to the verb and, in most cases, a
subject. With some verbs (e.g., give) we may have two objects. If we choose
an intransitive verb we may just have a subject and the verb (e.g., BirdsJly).
With some other verbs, we may compulsorily require an adverb (e.g. He lives
here), and so on. Secondly, the verb is morphologically quite complex. It has
several inflections which express a variety of grammatical contrasts (e.g.,
tense, mood, number, person) and we can communicate various shades of
meaning with their help. No wonder, it is said that if you wish to master the
English language you must master the English verb.
15.2 IDENTIFYING VERBS
Verbs are generally identified with the help of their inflections, but since we
are going to describe their inflections later. we shall not use this criterion. We
shall instead look for some other criteria. Look at the following sentence:
Time flies.
We interpret this to mean 'Time passes quickly', interpreting Time as a noun
andflies as a verb. Now let us look at this sentence with either Please or Let's
at the beginning:
Please time flies.
Let's time flies.
The structure of the sentence has undergone a change: time is now interpreted
as a verb meaning 'record the time taken by the flies (in doing whatever they
are doing)' andflies is a noun referring to the insects.
Hence one criterion of a verb is that it can occur at the beginning of a sentence
after some structure words like Please, Let's or Do.
Another position for a verb is between two nouns or noun phrases. For
example,
Cats love fish.
Students read books.
The leader leads the people, etc.
However, only transitive verbs occur in this position. Intransitive verbs are
generally preceded by a noun or noun phrase and sometimes followed by an
adverb or adverbial, e.g.,
The tree fell.
He went home.
The boy sat on the chair.
A third type of verb, called the linking verb, occurs between nounslnoun
phrases or between a nounlnoun phrase and an adjective or adverb, e.g.,
Radha is a teacher.
She became angry.
Madhav remained in England.
Still .another criterion sometimes used for identifying verbs is the occurrence
of auxiliaries. Auxiliaries are a group of structure words which often combine
Morphology- 1 with verbs to produce verb phrases (e.g., is, are, was, can, could, will, wotlld,
must, etc.,). We shall, however, not use this criterion for two reasons: first,
auxiliaries are also verbs and we must, therefore, have a criterion for
identifying them; second, auxiliaries do not uhvay~.occur with verbs (e.g.. He
came yesterday) and cannot therefore be always helpful in identifying verbs.
I. Identify the verbs in the following sentences. State the criterion used.
You are not free to use inflection as a criterion.
The children enjoyed the film.

Let's make a move.
Please book a table for us.
The stars light our path.
They harbour false hopes.
The light turned red.
Please be ready.
Wildlife activists' free bears.
The anger rose.
They can fruit.
15.3 VERB CLASSES
There are two ways in which a verb can function in an English sentence: either
as the main verb or as an auxiliary verb. A complete English sentence always
has a main verb: it may or may not have an auxiliary. Consider the following
examples:
Ram left yesterday (Main verb: left, no auxiliary)
Sita has left a note for you. (Main verb: left; Auxiliary: has)
In both these sentences, the main verb is left. The first sentence has no
auxiliary; the second has the auxiliary has. A combination of an auxiliary verb
plus a main verb is called a verb phrase.
In a verb phrase, it is the main verb which carries the principal meaning.
Auxiliary verbs express tense, voice, aspect, or mood of the main verb. Thus
in the sentence He is meditating, it is the main verb meditating which
describes the action; the auxiliary i.7 shows that the action is taking place in the
present. A different main verb would describe another action; a different
auxiliary would change the tense, voice, aspect, etc. of the same sentence. The
main verb therefore (generally) represents a lexical choice; the auxiliary
represents a grammatical function.
The verbs of English are divided into three classes according to whether they
function as main verbs, as auxiliaries, or as both. The verbs which function
only as main verbs are called Full Verbs. They are a large and open class:
new verbs are often added to the class. They are listed in the dictionary and
their meanings given. Verbs like eat, come, go, cheat, meditute, laugh, vanish,
etc. are full verbs. The verbs which function only as auxiliaries are called
Modal Verbs (or Modal Auxiliaries). They are very few in number and they
form a closed class: no new modals are possible. Modal verbs do not
contribute any 'lexical' meaning. They usually indicate the speaker's attitude
Inflectional
towards the action described in the sentence. Compare the two sentences, for Morphology
example, of ~ n g ~ i s h - 3
Sriram works hard.
Sriram .should work hard.
The first sentence, which has only a main verb (works) and no modal
auxiliary, merely states a fact. The second sentence, which has the modal
auxiliary .should, expresses the speaker's attitude, viz. that he thinks it is
desirable that Sriram should work hard. Different modal verbs express
different kinds of attitudes, e.g., desirability, necessity, possibility, likelihood,
etc. The modal auxiliaries of English are will, would, shall, should, can, could,
may, might, must, ought, dare, need and used.
The third category of verbs is that of Primary Verbs which can function
either as main verbs or as auxiliaries. There are only three verbs in this
category (be, have, and do), but they are probably the three most important
verbs in English. Each of them has a number of different forms according to
the grammatical contrasts they express, and most of these forms can occur
both as main verbs and as auxiliaries. Thus, for example, BE has the forms is,
was, am, are, being, been, etc. Note how some of these forms occur as main
verbs and as auxiliaries:
Rajni is a teacher. (Main verb)
Ram is learning Sanskrit. (Auxiliary)
I am very happy. (Main verb)
I have been studying. (Auxiliary)
Note that when the primary verb occurs as the main verb, no full verb occurs:
the primary verb itself functions like a full verb. Sometimes, like a full verb, it
also carries lexical meaning. Thus, the primary verbs have and do carry the
meanings 'possess' and 'finished' respectively in the following sentences:
Do you have a car?
Have you done your
homework?
Let's summarize this information in the form of a diagram:
Full or lexical verbs

I
open class
Main vkrbs auxiliary verbs

Each of the three types of verbs we have described above will be discussed
separately below with regard to its morphology.
Identify the verbs in the following sentences and assign them to the classes to
which they belong, viz., full verb, modal verb or primary verb. If you find a
primary verb, state whether it is functioning as the main verb or as an
auxiliary:
Morphology- 1 a. He may come tomorrow.
b. Mrs. Gandhi was Prime Minister of India for seventeen years.
C. The river rose above the danger mark.
d. You ought to apologize.
e. They can fruit.
f. They can can fruit.
g- Have you had lunch?
h. The guards overpowered the robber.
I had had no difficulty in finding your house.
You should have written to your father.
--
15.4 GRAMMATICALCATEGORIES
ASSOCIATED
WITH THE ENGLISH VERB
We shall now describe the grammatical categories which are associated with
the English verb. Each of these categories has two or more subcategories. The
majority of English verbs acquire different forms to show the contrast between
these subcategories.
d4.
1Person and Number
Note the verb forms in the following sentences:
Full verb Primary verb as auxiliary verbs
I work. I am working.
We work. We are working.
You work. You are working.
He works. He is working.
They work. They are working.
Modal verb Primary verbs as maiq verbs

I may go. He is brilliant.
We may go. You are wonderful.
You may go. They are in the library.
He may go. She has a house in Pune.
They may go. They do a variety of activities in school.
In Unit 14, Section 14.2.2, we noted that pronouns change their form for
number and person; now we notice that full verbs and primary verbs also
change their forms for number and person. When the number is singular and
the person is the third person, the full verbs take the -s inflection. The primary
verbs show even greater variation in form: am in first person singular, is1\-n
third person singular and are in rest of the cases. The modal verb, however,
shows no change of form for person and number.
Two things need to be noted about this change in the form of verbs: first, this
change is determined by the number and person of the subject. The verb
simply agrees with the subject in person and number. In the light of this, we
may say that person and number are associated with the agreement between
the subject noun or pronoun and the verb, and not with the nouns/pronouns
and verbs separately. Secondly, full verbs show this change only in the present
tense: in the past tense there is no change, e.g.,
I worked. We worked
You worked.
He worked They worked. Inflectional
Morphology
Primary verbs, however, do show the change in the past tense as well: o f English-3
1 was working. We were working.

You were working.
He was working. They were working.
Modal verbs do not have clear past tense forms. The so-called past tense forms
of some modals (e.g., could, would, might, etc.) also, however, do not change
their forms for number and person (e.g., I/we/you/he/they might go). Look at
the following diagram:
15.4.2 Tense
The grammatical category of tense, as expressed by.inflections of the verbs,

has only two subcategories: past 'and non-past (or common). This means that
with regard to the expression of time, verbs have only two kinds of forms: one
form locates the event, action, etc., denoted by the verb specifically in the past
time: the other form refers to all times except the past (viz. present, future or
all time). You can see this from the following examples:
Full verbs
They arrived last week (Past time)
They arrive tomorrow. (Non-past = future)
He left early today. (Past)
He usually 1eave.r at 6.00 o'clock, (habit: all time)
Primary verbs
India was under British rule till 1947. (Past)
He was writing a letter. (Past)
Honesty is the best policy. (Non-past = all time)
She is coming tomorrow. won-past = future)
Note particularly that the verbs do not have an inflected form to refer
specifically to future time. When we wish to talk of an event in the future, we
generally use the modal auxiliaries will or shall with the base form of the verb
(e.g.. He will do it tomorrow. I .shall try again next week.), or use
constructions like be going to, be about to, etc., or we use the non-past form of
the verb described above. Since there is no verb-form used exclusively for
future reference, future is not regarded as a subcategory of tense in English.
Look at the following diagram:
Past on-past
15.4.3 Aspect
The next grammatical category associated with the verb is aspect. Look at the
Morphology- I Seema is reading a novel.
Seema was reading a novel.
The first of these sentences refers to an activity in the present, the second to an
activity in the past. This is expressed by the use of the appropriate forms of the
primary verb BE as an auxiliary: is in the first sentence, was in the second. But
though the sentences make different time-references, they have one thing in
common: they both speak of the activity as continuing at the time of which the
speaker is speaking (now in the first sentence, yesterda-v, last week. etc. in the
second). Note that in both sentences the main verb has the suffix -ing. It is this
form of the verb which expresses the idea of 'activity in progress' which we
find in both sentences.
In contrast to these, the following sentences express the idea of 'activity

completed'. In the first sentence, the activity has been completed in the
present, in the second some time in the past. The reference to present and past
time is made by the verb forms have and had respectively.
I have written the letter. I hud written the letter (when you came.)
The sense of 'activity completed' comes from the special form of the verb
used: The form is often called the past participle form. It is marked by the
suffix -ed in regular verbs and by the suffix -en or some other feature in
irregular ver8bs.To distinguish this -ed suffix from the past tense -ed suffix, we
shall mark the latter (past) suffix as -ed' and the former (past participle) suffix
as - e d .
The distinction between 'action in progress' and 'action completed', which is
expressed by inflectional changes in the verb, is what we call Aspect in
English. As we have seen, this grammatical category has two subcategories:
the progressive aspect ('action in progress') and the perfective aspect ('action
completed'). Look at the following diagram:
I
action in progress action t!ompleted
15.4.4 Mood
Another grammatical category associated with the verb is Mood.
A verb or verb phrase in English takes different forms depending on what kind
of attitude the speaker is expressing towards what is being said, or towards the
person being addressed. It takes one set of forms if what is being said is
considered to be a fact. For example, the following sentences are all spdken as
statements of fact:
Sheela is a brave girl.
The sun rises in, the east.
Man landed on the moon for the first time in 1969.
The verbs in these sentences are said to be in the Indicative Mood. They take
different forms depending on the person and number of the subject, the tense,
the aspect, etc. that are involved. If, however, the sentence is meant not as a Inflectional
Morphology
statement of a fact but as a command, or a request, telling someone to do of English-3
something, the verb forms used are different. For example,
Jump!
Be prepared.
Tell me the truth.
It is the base form of the verb which is used in this case and there are no
distinctions of tense, aspect, etc. The verb in this use is said to be in the
Imperative Mood and the sentence containing the verb is called an
imperative sentence.
The third subcategory of mood in English is the Subjunctive Mood. Verbs

acquire still different forms when one is expressing a wish, a suggestion, a
demand, a possibility, a doubt, etc. This is most clearly seen in clauses with
third person singular subjects in the non-past tense. In the indicative mood the
verb in such clauses takes the -s suffix (e.g.. He leaves for Delhi today), but in
the subjunctive mood, the base form of the verb is used, e.g.,
1 suggest that he leave today.
We suggest that he leave today.
We demand that he leave at once.
This use of the base form of the verb is called the present subjunctive.
Another subjunctive form of the English verb is the past subjunctive. The
only verb with a past subjunctive is BE, and the form is were, which occurs
with subjects of all persons and numbers. E.g.,
I wish I were rich.
I wish he were here.
In the indicative mood the use of were is limited to subjects in the second
person and the first and third person plural. This agreement rule does not
apply to verbs in the subjunctive mood.
It may be noted that in the informal style the subjunctive were is oAen
replaced by was. Look at the following diagram:
past present
15.4.5 Voice
The final grammatical category associated with verbs is the category of Voice.
The category has two subcategories: Active and Passive. While reporting the
same event we may either use the active voice or the passive voice. In the
active voice, the subject is seen as the 'doer' of the action; in the passive the
action is seen as done to the subject. For example,
The police arrested the thief, (Active)
'The thief wus arrested by the police. (Passive)
Morpholqy- I The passive voice is recognized by the form of the verb phrase. The main verb
is in the past participle (-ed2) form and is preceded by some form of the
primary verb BE as an auxiliary.
We have now described the grammatical categories that are associated with
the verb in English. The verbs assume different forms in order to express the
contrasts related to these categories. We shall now look at these forms. To
make our presentation systematic, we shall look at these forms separately for
the three classes of verbs we have described: full verbs, modal verbs and
primary verbs.
But before we do this, let us check your progress in this section.
State the grammatical category that is involved in the contrast between the
verb forms in each pair of sentences below:
1. a. A girl loves dolls.
b. Girls love dolls.
2. a. 1 go for a walk every evening.

b. Ram goes for a walk every evening.
3. a. Sita is washing clothes.

b. Her friend has already washed her clothes.
4. a. Get ready to leave.

b. He is getting ready to leave.
5. a. The vacation started yesterday.

b. The vacation begins tomorrow.
6. a. Give Santosh the first prize.

b. I propose that Santosh be given the first prize.
......................................................................................
7. a. Santosh was given the first prize.
b. They gave Santosh the first prize.
.....................................................................................
8. a. I am his friend.
b. He is my friend.
.....................................................................................
9. a. When I reached there he had already left.
b. When I reached there he was leaving.
.....................................................................................
10. a; I wish I were rich. ....
b. I dreamed that I was rich.

- -
Inflectional
15.5 MORPHOLOGY OF THE FULL VERB Morphology
On the basis of their inflectional changes, full verbs can be divided into two
types: the Regular Full Verbs and the Irregular Full Verbs.
15.5.1 The Regular Verbs
The regular full verbs have four different morphological forms to express the
grammatical contrasts of person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and voice. The
four forms, along with the contrasts they express, are illustrated below with
the help of the verb help.
i. The base form: help: This form occurs in

a. the indicative mood to express the non-past tensc i l l all persons
and numbers except the third person singular, e.g.,
I/we/you/they help the poor.
b. the imperative mood: Help the poor!
c. the present subjunctive: They demanded that the government
help the vi'ctims.
In these cases the base t'orm occurs by itself as the sole verb, i.e., it
does not have an auxiliary. When a verb form occurs by itself as the
sole verb, its form is said to be finite since it expresses the 'limits' of
person and number and also carries a Tense marker. When a verb form
cannot occur by itself as the sole verb and does not carry a Tense
marker (e.g., * He going/*He gone), it is said to be a non-finite form.
The base form of regular verbs also occurs as a non-finite form with
modal verbs, e.g., He will help/He must help, etc. This is called the
bare infinitive form of the verbs and is contrasted with the to-
infinitive form (as in 'He wants to helpj), another non-finite form.
ii. The -s form: helps. This form occurs as a finite form in the indicative
mood to express the third person, singular number and non-past tense,
e.g., She helps the poor.
iii. The -ing form: helping. This form cannot occur by itself as the main
verb: it must be accompanied by an auxiliary. (Such verb forms are
called non-finite forms.) The auxiliary that occurs with the -ing form
is BE.
When the -ing form occurs with the auxiliary BElas in She is helping
them), it expresses the progressive aspect.
iv. The -ed form: The regular full verb has an -ed form which occurs in
two different functions. In one function it is a finite form, in the other
it is non-finite. Mark the following sentences:
She helped the poor.
She has helped them before.
They were helped by the government.
In the first sentence, the -ed form of help is finite, in the other two it is non-
finite (hence the auxiliaries). The finite form, represented as -edl, expresses
the past tense, while the non-finite form, represented as -ed, expresses the
perfective aspect. We shall see below that some irregular verbs, which have
five forms in all, have a separate suffix (-en) for the non-finite form.
The large majority of full verbs fall in this category: they have four forms but
the -ed form is actually equivalent to two forms: one finite (-ed')and the other
non-finite (-dl.
15.5.2 The Irregular Verbs
The irregular verbs fall into two categories according to the number of forms
they have: those that have five forms and those that have only three. 'Those
that have five forms (e,g., speak, write) distinguish the past (-ed')and the past
participle (-ed 2, forms, e.g.,
base form: speak, write

-s form: speaks, writes
-ing form: speaking, writing
past form: spoke, wrote
past participle form: spoken, written
We can also include in this category the exceptional verb go. Though this verb
also has five forms (go, going, goes, went, gone), it is unique in having a past
form which is quite distinct from the base.
Those verbs that have only three forms do not distinguish the past and the past
participle forms, which are identical with the base form, e.g.,
base form: cut, hit

- s form: cuts, hits
-ing form: cutting, hitting
past form: cut, hit
past participle form: cut, hit
In addition, the base form also occurs as infinitive.
15.5.3 The Basis for the Regular-Irregular Distinction
The four-form verbs (1 5.5.1) are called regular verbs for the following three
reasons:
a. If we know the base form of the regular verb, we can predict all its
other forms.
b. New or coined verbs follow the pattern of these verbs. Consider the
Hindi word gherao which English newspapers in India often use. It has
the forms: gherao, gheraoing, gheraoes, gheraoed.
c. The vast majority of English verbs belong to this class.
In contrast to regular verbs, we cannot predict the forms of the irregular verbs.
Some irregular verbs have five forms, others have only three; with some, the
past and past participle forms are identical with the base form; with others,
they are different; some allow two alternative forms for the past and the
participle; others don't.
Naturally, new or coined verbs do not follow the uncertain pattern of these
verbs. The irregular verbs consequently form a closed class with limited
membership. The number of irregular verbs in English is estimated to be about
250.
15.5.4 Morphophonology Inflectional
Morphology
Regular Verbs of English-3
Morphophonology, as you will recall from Unit 12, Section 1 2.5, is concerned
with the pronunciation of morphemes. In this section, we shall be concerned
with the pronunciation of the inflected forms of the full verbs. This will
include a description of the inflectional morphemes (i.e. suffixes) and the
other types of inflectional changes occurring in irregular full verbs. You will
also find this information in a dictionary
I. The - s form: Like the plural and the possessive suffixes with nouns
(see Section 12.3.4), the -s suffix with verbs has three pronunciations
depending on the final sound of the base:
a. / iz 1, if the final sound of the base is a voiced or a voiceless
sibilant, e.g., miss > misses / 'misiz 1; catch > catches 1'katsiz /;
rise > rises / 'raiziz I. In spelling, the -s form of these verbs
always ends in -es.
b. / z 1, if the final sound of the base is a voiced sound which is
not a sibilant. It may be a vowel or a consonant, e.g., hug >
hugs / h ~ g 1,
z see > sees / si:z/, etc.
c. / s 1, if the final sound of the base is a voiceless sound other
than a sibilant, e.g., sit > sits / sits / help > helps / helps 1, laugh
> laughs / 1a:fs 1.
To use the terminology introduced in Unit 12, the third person singular
non-past morpheme -s has the three allomorphs 1 iz I, / z / and / s 1.
The occurrence of these allomorphs is predictable, as we have seen,
from the form ofthe base.
The spelling rules for verbs in the (b) and (c) category are the same as
those for the regular plural of nouns (13.3.4). For example, the suffix
has the spelling -es after bases ending i n o and a final y changes to -i-
before -es is added.
.11.. The -ing form: The -ing suffix has the pronunciation / ir) / with both
regular and irregular verbs.
In spelling, a silent -e in the final position is often dropped before -ing
is added, e.g., hope > hoping.
A single consonant letter at the end of the base is often doubled when
the preceding vowel is stressed, e.g., 'beg > 'begging, per'mit >
per'mitting.
iii. The -ed' and - e d forms: The -ed' (past) and the - e d (past participle)
forms of regular verbs also have three pronunciations depending on the
nature of the final sound of the base:
a. / id 1, if the base ends in / d / or / t 1, e.g., skid > skidded /
'skidid 1; wait > waited / 'weitid 1.
b. Id/, if the base ends in a voiced sound other than Id/, e.g., hug >
hugged Ih~gdI, judge >judged I d3 ~ d 3 dI.
c. It 1, if the base ends in a voiceless sound other than I t 1, e.g.,
help > helped 1 helpt I; kick > kicked / kikt 1, cash > cashed 1
kaeJt I.
Morphology- I Once again, using the terminology of morphophonology, we may say that the
past and the past participle suffix morphemes with regular verbs both have
three allomorphs each: / .id 1, / d / and I t 1. Their occurrence is predicted
phonologically from the forms of the base.
The spelling rules applicable to the -ed forms are similar to the ones that apply
to -ing forms, e.g., hope>hoped and beg > beg8c.d.
Irregular Verbs
The irregular verbs vary considerably in the way their past and past participle
forms are formed, but their -s forms and -ing forms are formed in the same
way as with regular verbs. Irregular verbs have been divided into nine classes
according to the way they form their past and participle forms. This account is
based on the pronunciation changes that take place in these forms:
i. The class containing words like lean^, burn. snzell, spell, .spill, spoil,
dwell, etc. They have two past and past participle forms: one with a 1-
dlsuffix, the other with a 1-t /suffix, e.g., bum > burned / b3:nd / or
burnt / b3:nt 1; spell > spelled 1 speld / or spelt / spelt 1. The vowel
remains the same in all forms.
.1 .1 . The class containing verbs like bend, build. lend. .send spend etc. The
base form of these verbs ends in the sound Id/ but their past and past
participle forms end in It 1. The vowel remains the same, e-g., bend >
bent, build > built, spend > spent, etc.
iii. The class containing verbs like, bet, cut, hit, put, split, spread, thrust,
etc. Their past and past participle forms are identical with the base
forms.
iv. The class containing verbs like show, sew, swell, etc. The past tense
form is regular but the past participle has two forms, one regular and
.another with the 1-111 suffix allomorph, e.g., show > showed >
showed/shown. There is no change in the vowel.
In all the remaining types the base vowel changes in the past and past
participle forms,with or without some other change.
v. Verbs like win, hang, Jind, hold, etc. in which the past and past
participle forms are identical, e.g., win > won > won; hold > held >
held.
vi. Verbs like begin, drink, ring, sing, swim, etc. in which all the three
forms are different. The base vowel changes in every case, e.g. drink /
drink / > drank I draqk/> drunk / d r ~ q k1.
vii. Verbs like keep, sell, hear, say, etc. The vowel change is accompanied
by a regular suffix (viz. /dl after voiced sound, / t / after voiceless,
etc.). The past and past participle forms are identical, e.g., keep > kept
> kept; sell > sold > sold.
viii. Verbs like break, steal, ride, see, eat. etc. The vowel change is
accompanied by a In/ suffix. In some cases the vowel in the past form
is identical with the vowel in the past participle (e.g., break b>oke >
broken); in others, the vowel in the past participle is identical with the
vowel of the base (e.g., see > saw > seen).
ix. Verbs like bring, leach, cafch, make, etc. The final consonant i s lost Inflectional
Morphology
and replaced by a / t /or a Id/. The vowel changes except in make, e.g.,
of English-3
bring > brought > brought, but make > made > made. The past and the
past participle forms are the same.

1. Supply the missing forms in the blanks:
Base -s form -ing form -ed' form - e d form

Break --------- breaking ---------- broken
Burn burns ------ burned --------

--------- burnt
show ---------- showing ---------- showed
shown
cut cuts --------- ---------- cut
2. Write the -ing form o f the following words and say if all of the verbs
in the sets a) and b) follow their respective rules o f spelling change.
Also state the rules o f the spelling change.
a. cope: write; dye; toe;

...........................................................................
b. stop; beg; put; worship
3. Write the allolnorph o f the appropriate morpheme which occurs in the

spoken form o f the suffix in the following verbs:
a. calls.......... b. hisses ........... c. shocked ...........d. hated ...........

e. bakes ........ f. crushed ......... g. saves ................ h. types ..............
i. coughed ......j. agrees ............
15.6 MORPHOLOGY OF THE MODAL VERB
Not much needs to be said about the morphology o f the modals, since they do
not inflect for any o f the grammatical categories associated with the other
types o f verbs. For example. they do not inflect for number and person. The
third person singular present forms o f the modals are not - s forms, e.g.. He
can/will/must (etc.) go. Though some modals (e.g., would, should, could,
mighf) are sometimes said to be past forms o f other modals (will, shall, can
and niay respectively), these forms are not always used to refer to past time.
For example, the sentences He might leave tomorrow and Would you call
again nexf week? refer to future time though they contain the forms might and
would. Further, modal "erbs have no -ing forms and no -ed' forms; hence they
do not express aspect either. A l l modal verbs are finite verbs which occur
only as auxiliaries and express various kinds o f 'moods'. They have no non-
finite forms (-ing, -ed and infinitive).
Morphologv- I Two points, however, need to be noted about the morphology of the modals.
First, most modals have two forms: a strong form and a weak form. The strong
form occurs when the modal is stressed. or when it occurs at the beginning or
end of an utterance; the weak form occurs in unstressed positions and in the
middle of an utterance. For example, the modals can and could have the
strong forms / k a n / and / kud /and the weak forms / kan / and / kad /
respectively. Secondly, the modals have special negative forms in speech. The
negative word not is abbreviated to /nt/ and combined with different modals in
different ways. While with most modals (would, should, could, might, oughr,
dare, and need) /nt/ is simply added to the base, with others a special
allomorph of the base combines with /nt/. For example, will + not becomes
won't / waunt 1, shall + not becomes shan't //a:nt/, can + not becomes can't
/ka:nt 1, and so on. Look at the diagram:
Modal Verbs
stressed unstressed
Mark the following statements True or False:
a. Modal verbs have two kinds of forms, finite and non-finite.
b. Modal verbs have weak forms which occur in unstressed positions.
c. Modals express aspect.
d. Modal verbs have special negative forms.
e. The special negative forms of all modals consist simply of the modal +
Intl.
15.7 MORPHOLOGY OF THE PRIMARY VERB
The three primary verbs of English are BE, HAVE and DO. They can occur
either as main verbs or as auxiliaries. However, their morphology is the same
in both cases. They inflect for number, person, tense and aspect though not all
inflected forms can occur both as main verbs and auxiliaries. In addition, like
modal verbs, they have special strong vs. weak forms and negative forms with
/nt/.
'The primary verb BE has the largest number of forms. They can be seen in the
table below. Wherever more than one spoken form is given, the first one
shows the strong form, the remaining weak forms:
Non-7nst Past -ing form -dform -

Positive Negative Positive Negative
*.-.-
1st Person am was wasn't
Singular /am/,/ml /w az/ /'waznt/
/wad
I st Person
Plural
2nd Person are aren't were weren'l being been
Singular /a:/ /a/ /a:nt/ Iwa:!, /wal rws:niJ r b i : ; ,/~ /bi:n/, /bin/
2nd Person Inflectional
Plural Morphology
3rd Person of English-3
Plural
3rd Person 1s is17 'I \C(I.S wtrsn'~
singular I . I Is i'i/.ntl /wD.rl. rw~7ntI
IwarJ
All these forms can occur either as main verbs or as auxiliaries. Except being
and been, all the others are finite forms and show the tense, number, person,
etc. o f the verb phrase. For example,
He is very happy. (Full verb: finite form)

He is leaving tomorrow (Auxiliary; tinite)
tle is being difficult. (Full; non-finite)
tle i s being questioned. (Passive auxiliary; non-finite)
'There is also a third non-finite form he which is the infinitive form. It occurs
as a full verb, as in He wanted to he u teacher.
'The primary verb HAVE too has strang and weak forms and negative forms
with /nt/. but it has fewer tbrms than BE. It changes its farms only far the past.
the two participles, and for the third person singular in the non-past. The past
and the past participle forms are alike. 'The base form also occurs as the
infinitive.
The primary verb DO i s also like HAVE in that it has special forms only for
the past, the two participles, and the third person singular in the non-past. But,
unlike HAVE, the past and the past participle forms o f DO are different.
Non-past Past -ingform -ed'form

Ist Person Positi\,e Negative Positive Negative
doing done
/'du:ifl)/ /&n/
3rd Person
Plural
did cfidn '1
/did/ /'didnt/
3rdI'erson does doesn't
Singular. ldhd. IdhznV
Idad
Morphology-I The non-finite forms doing, donc and the infinitive do occur only as main
verbs: the other forms are finite and occur both as main verbs and auxiliaries.

Identify the base form of the primary verbs in the following pairs of sentences
and say whether they have been used as auxiliaries or as main verbs:
a. i. My friend has an excellent collection of stamps.
ii. My friend has just finished writing a novel.
b. i. The leader was prevented from entering the country.
ii. They were very happy to hear the news.
c. i Did you complete your homework last night?
ii. Yes, I did.
d. i. Why is he behaving like this?
ii. He's being deliberately difficult.
e. i . What do you do?
.11.. Do you have a pen?
15.8 THE INFLECTIONAL PARADIGM OF THE

ENGLISH VERB
The morphology of the English verb is so complicated that it is difficult to

present it in a single chart. We have divided the verbs into three major classes:
full verbs, modal verbs and primary verbs, but even within each class all verbs
do not have the same inflectional forms. The following chart summarises the
information:
Type of Base Finite forms Non-finite forms

verb -s form -edl form Infinitive -ing form -ed2 form
Full help helps helped help helping helped
(Regular)
Full break breaks broke break breaking broken
(Irregular) sit sits sat sit sitting sat
cut cuts cut cut cutting cut
have has had have having had
Primary do does did do doing done
be am, is, are, was, were be being been
Modal will, would should, can
may, might, ought, dare,
shall, could, must, need,
used
15.9 LET US SUM UP
We have made the following major points in this Unit:

I English verbs occur either as main verbs or as auxiliaries.
ii. English verbs are divided into three classes: full verbs, modal verbs Inflectional
1
I
and primary verbs. Full verbs occur only as main verbs, modal verbs
occur only as auxiliaries, primary verbs occur both as main verbs and
Morphology
of English3
I as auxiliaries.
iii. The grammatical categories associated with verbs are person and
number, tense, aspect, mood, and voice.
I iv. Person and number contrasts of verbs are dependent on the person and
number contrasts of the subject since the verb agrees in person and
number with the subject.
r v. Tense has two subcategories, past and non-past, which are expressed
inflectionally by verbs.
vi. The category 'aspect' refers to the inflectional expression of whether
the activity denoted by the verb is in progress or has been completed.
'These represent its two subcategories called the progressive and the
I perfective aspect respectively.
I vii. The category 'mood' has the subcategories indicative, imperative and
subjunctive. Verbs assume different forms for expressing these moods.
viii. The category 'voice' has two subcategories: active and passive.
ix. The class of full verbs is divided into regular verbs and irregular verbs
from the viewpoint of their morphology. The morphological pattern
followed by the majority of full verbs is called the regular pattern.
x. The regular pattern consists of four forms: the base form, the - s form,
the -ing form and the -ed form. These forms express various contrasts
of person, number, tense, aspect, mood and voice. The -ed form
performs two distinct functions as a past tense form and as a past
participle (=perfective aspect) form. These two forms are therefore
represented as -ed' and -2.
xi. A verb form which is capable of occurring by itself as the main verb is
called a finite form; a form which cannot occur by itself as main verb
and requires the help of an auxiliary is called a non-finite form.
xii. Irregular full verbs have either five forms or three forms. They are
divided into nine types according to the types of changes that occur in
these forms.
xiii. Modal verbs do not inflect for grammatical contrasts but they have
strong or weak forms and have a special negative form with /nt/. They
have no non-finite forms.
xiv. Each of the primary verbs, BE, HAVE and DO shows a different set of
forms to express grammatical contrasts. They also show strong, weak
and special negative forms. BE is irregular and shows the largest
number of forms.
xv. All English verbs, except modals, show finite and non-finite forms.
15.10 KEY WORDS
Verb: a class of words which are identified by their position in a

sentence or their inflectional characteristics, and express action,
state, etc.
Verb Phrase: the element in the predicate part of a sentence which
consists of a main verb orland one or more than one
auxiliary.
Main Verb: the word in a verb phrase which expresses its principal
meaning, as distinguished from the auxiliary verb which
merely modifies that meaning. The main verb can also
occur alone as the verb element of a sentence and carry
all its indicators of tense, number, person, etc.
Auxiliary Verb: the part of a verb phrase that modifies the meaning of
the main verb by showing such things as tense, aspect,
mood, voice, etc.
Full Verbs: the large and open class of verbs in English which occur
only as main verbs.
Modal Verbs or Modal Auxiliaries: a small and closed class of verbs in
English which occur only as auxiliaries.
Primary Verbs: the verbs BE, HAVE and DO which can occur either as
full verbs or as auxiliaries.
Person and Number: grammatical categories associated with the agreement
between the subject and verb of a sentence.
Tense: expression of time reference by means of verb
inflections. Tense has two subcategories: past and non-
past.
Past Tense: the subcategory of tense that expresses action in past
time.
Non-past Tense: the subcategory of tense that expresses action in
present, future, or in all time. The so-called present
tense forms (e.g. the -s form) are actually non-past
forms.
Aspect: the grammatical category which expresses the way in
which the action described by the verb is seen either as
'continuing' or as 'completed'. It has two subcategories:
progressive ('action continuing') and perfective ('action
completed').
Mood: the grammatical category which reflects the speaker's
attitude towards what is being said or towards the
person being addressed. It has three subcategories:
indicative (statements of fact), imperative (requests and
commands) and subjunctive (wishes, demands, doubts,
etc.)
Voice: the grammatical category which indicates whether the
subject is seen as the 'doer' of the action or as the
'receiver'. The category has two subcategories: active
voice ('subject does the action') and passive voice ('the
action is done to the subject').
Regular Verbs: those full verbs which occur in four forms: the
base form, the -ing form, the -s form and the -ed form.
Irregular Verbs: those full verbs which occur in five or three forms.
They form their past tense forms in ways other than by
the addition of -ed.
Finite Verb: the verb or verb form that expresses person and number
and can occur by itself as the sole verb, e.g., the -.s
form. the -ed' form, the base form in some uses.
Non-finite Verb: the verb form that cannot occur as the sole verb in a 1 nflectional
Morphology
sentence and requires an auxiliary. e.g., the in^ form,
of English3
the -ed2 form.
Strong Form: the pronounced form of a modal or a primary auxiliary
which is used when the auxiliary is stressed or when it
occurs at the beginning or end of an utterance.
Weak Form: the pronounced form of a modal or a primary auxiliary
which is used in other positions.
Present Participle: refers to the -ing form.
Past Participle: refers to the -ed form; also expressed in irregular verbs
with -n or -en suffix.
Bauer, L. ( 1 988) Introducing Linguistic Morpholo~y,Edinburgh University

Press.
Carstairs-McCarthy, A. (1992) Current Morphology, Routledge, London.
Palmer, F,R. (1974). A Lingziistic Study of the English Verb, London:
Longman.
Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1973). A University Grammar of English,
(Ch.3), London: Longman.
15.12 ANSWERS
Criterion
a. enjoyed Position between two noun phrases
b. make Let's
c. book Please
d. light Position between two noun phrases
e. harbour Position between two noun phrases
f. turned Position between a noun phrase and an adjective
g. be (Linking verb)
h. free Please (Linking verb) Position between two noun phrases
I. rose Position after noun phrase (Intransitive verb)
j. can Position between two noun phrases.

may: modal; come: full
was: primary (functions as main verb)
rose: full
ought: modal; (to) apologize: full
can: full
can': modal; can2: full
have: primary (functions as auxiliary)
had: primary (functions as main verb)
overpowered: full
had': primary (functions as auxiliary)
had2: primary (functions as main verb)
should: modal; have: primary (functions as auxiliary)
written: full
Morphologv-l Check Your Progress 3
l.Number 2.Person 3.Aspect 4.Mood 5. Tense

6. Mood 7. Voice 8. Person 9. Aspect 10. Mood

1. Base -s form -ing form -edlform -ed form
break breaks breaking broke broken
burn burns buiming burned burned
burnt . burnt
show shows showing showed showed
shown
cut cuts cutting cut cut
2. a. coping; writing; dyeing; toeing

b. stopping; begging; putting; worshipping
Monosyllabic words ending in -ye and -oe are exceptions to the rule,
which says that in spelling, a silent -e in the final position is often
dropped before -ing.
The form 'worshipping in which the first syllable is stressed is an
exception to the rule, which says that a single consonant letter at the
end of the base is often doubled when the preceding vowel is stressed.

a. False b. True c. False d. True e. False
Check Your. Progress 6

Base form Main verb Auxiliary Verb
a. have I.
.11..
b. be
.11.. I.
c. do i. and ii.
d. be
.11.. I.
, e. do I. ii.
UNIT 16 DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY-1
-
Structure
16.0 Objectives
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Derivational Morphology: Characteristics
16.3 Prefixation: Types of Prefixes
1 6.3.1 Negative Prefixes
16.3.2 Reversative and Privative Prefixes
16.3.3 Pejorative Prefixes
1 6.3.4 Number of Prefixes
16.3.5 Prefixes of Degree, Rank, Size, etc.
16.3.6 Prefixes of Time and Order
16.3.7 Prefixes Showing Location
16.3.8 Prefixes Showing Attitude and Orientation
16.3.9 Prefixes which Change the Part of Speech of the Stem
16.4 Let Us Sum Up
16.5 Key Words
16.7 Answers
16.0 OBJECTIVES
describe the general characteristics of derivational affixes as a class,

explain why derivational affixes are not claspified on the basis of the
part of speech of the stems to which they are attached,
explain why derivational prefixes are classified on the basis of
meaning while derivational suffixes are classified on the basis of
grammar,
recognize the different types of derivational prefixes classified
according to the kind of meaning they contribute. and
distinguish the small class of conversion prefixes
- - -- -.- - - -.----- -- ---

16.1 INTRODUCTION
-. -- .- -
.
..- .
111 12.2. we distinguished derivational morphology from inflectional

~iiorphology. 'The distinction was mainly based on the nature of the affixes
~khichare attached to roots and stems to produce words with complex internal
structure. Affixes which are attached to meaning, or which perform a constant
grammatical function were called inflectional affixes. The study of the rules
according to which they are attached to words, their forms and their meaning,
was called inflectional morphology. In the preceding three units (Block 3:
llriits 13- 15) we studied the inflectional morphology of English. This consisted
of a description of the form and meaning of the inflectional morphemes which
are combined with words belonging to the 'parts of speech' nouns, pronouns,
adjectives. adverbs and verbs. and the rules for their combination. In this and
the following two units we shall discuss the derivational ~norphologyof
English.
16.2 DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY:
CHARACTERISTICS
Derivational morphology was described in 12.2 as the study of derivational

affixes. Derivational affixes were identified as those affixes which are
attached to stems in order to create a 'new' word. By adding derivational
affixes to existing words, the speaker creates for himself a bigger store of
1 words from which he can choose the most appropriate words to express his
1 ideas. We also stated that 'new' words 'created' by the addition of
I derivational affixes are treated as separate words and are listed separately in
) dictionaries. Some other distinguishing characteristics of derivational affixes
/ were also stated. They occur both as prefixes and as suffixes (unlike
1 inflections which occur only as suffixes), they often change the part of speech
I
i of the stem to which they are attached, and they are attached to stems before
i any inflectional suffix is added to them.
When we begin to despribe derivational affixes, we note that they show the
following additional characteristics as compared to inflectional affixes:
Their number is much larger than the number of inflectional affixes, and
1 They cannot be usefully classified on the basis of the part of speech of the
/ word to which they are attached.
: Let us elaborate these points a little:

We saw in the last three units that the inflectional affixes of English are rather
few and they are classified on the basis of the part of speech of the words to
which they are attached. On the other hand, the number of derivational affixes
is very large: despite certain difficulties of counting, one can make a rough
estimate of about 50 prefixes and almost the same number of suffixes.
Further, neither the prefixes nor the suffixes can be usefully classified on the
basis of the part of speech of the stem to which they are attached, i.e., we
cannot point to a group of derivational affixes and say that they are attached
only to nouns, point ta another group and say that they are attached only to
verbs, and so on.
Why should the number of derivational affixes be so large as compared to

inflectional affixes? The reason is quite simple: inflectional affixes perform
grammatical functions of which there are only a few; derivational affixes
express meaning modifications of which there can be many. Sometimes
different affixes are used to express the same modification of meaning. e.g..
the 'negative' or 'opposite' meaning is expressed by the prefixes in-, un-, dis-,
and non-, and so on.
t To come to the second point, why can't the derivational affixes be classified
, on the basis of the part of speech of thz stem? There are two reasons first: not
'
I
all affixes are restricted to one part of speech. Some affixes can be attached to
more than one part of speech. For example, dis-, the negative prefix, can be
attached to adjectives (disloyal), nouns (disorclrr) or verbs (di.vobejl). and so
on. Secondly, unlike inflectional affixes, derivational affixes are never
attached freely to all, br even the ma-jority of words belonging to a part of
speech. For example, though -er is attached only to verbs it cannot be
attached to all the verbs, or even to most of them. We can have duncel:
plqyer, worker, render, runner. writer, etc., but we cannot have *cheater. Derivational
*stealer, *hoper, *expresser, *arranger, etc. Morphology-I
Since derivational affixes are quite a few in number, and since they cannot be
classitied in terms of the part of speech of the stem, how shall we classify
them?
First. we shall distinguish prefixes from suffixes. Afixes which are attached
to the beginning of a stem are called prefixes; those which are attached to the
end of the stern are called suffixes. This distinction was not relevanl to
inflectional affixes because they were all suffixes.
Derivational affixes
Prefixes Suffixes
We shall describe and classify prefixes in a different way from suffixes. This
is becausc prefixes and suftixcs affect the words to which they are attached in
dif'ferent ways. Though both of them modify the meaning of the word.
suftixes also affect the word grammatically while prefixes don't. Baring one
or two cases, prefixes do not change the part of speech of the s t e m to which
they are attached. For example. fair and unfair are both adjectives, obey and
cli.sohev are both verbs, and so on. Suffixes, on the other hand. generally
affect the gramnlatical category of the stem, e.g:, beauty is a noun but
hetrtltiJitlis an adjective; dance is a verb but dancer is a noun, and so on.
fjence, we shall classify prefixes on the basis of the kind of meaning

moditication they make (e.g., negative prefixes, time prefixes, number
prefixes etc.). but we shall classify suffixes on the basis of the grammatical
cftkct they have on the stems.
t
! Check Your Progress 1
I
I 1) The following columns list the differences between intlectional and

derivational affixes. Complete the nlissing information.
- inflectional Affixes Derivational Affixes

i) Create grammatical forms of i) Create 'new7 words and enlarge the
words in accordance with some lexical choices available to the user.
grammatical rules.
ii) Words with inflectional affixes ii)
are regarded as grammatical forms
of the stem word and are not listed
separately in the dictionary.
iii) iii) Affect the meaning of different
sets of stems in different ways.
iv) Never change the part of iv)
speech of the stem.
v) Normally a word can take only v)
one inflectional
--
affix
vi) vi) Derivational affixes may be
followed in a word by more
derivational affixes or by an
inflectional affix.
vii) All inflection aftixes are vii)
suffixes.
viii) viii) The number of derivational
affixes is comparatively
--large.
ix) An inflectional affix is attached ix)
to all, or at least to the vast
majority of words belonging to the
part of speech to which the
affix may be
added to words belonging to different
parts of speech. Hence derivational
aftixes cannot be classified on the
basis of the part of speech of the stem.
2) What reason can you offer for the fact that the following words are not
to be found in English: *stealer, *ungood, *zmheaut~i~l, *untall?
16.3 PREFIXATION: TYPES OFPREFIXES
Observe the prefixes i; the words italicized in the following sentences and
mark the effect they have on the meanings of the words:
a) This picture is complete, but that one is incomplete.
b) I connected the line but he disconnected it again.
c) He maltreated his son, so the son ran away.
d) My friend is bilingual.
From the viewpoint of meaning, the different prefixes in our italicized words
have different kinds of effects on the words to which they are prefixed. Thus
in-(in incomplete) has the effect of negating the meaning of the word: we shall
call such prefixes 'negative prefixes'. Another negative prefix of English is
dis-. However, the dis that occurs in disconnect does not mean 'not to
connect'. Rather 'disconnect' means 'to break' or discontinue the
connection'. Certain prefixes contribute the meaning 'bad', (or badly'), for
example, the prefix mal-in maltreat. Some prefixes convey the idea of
number (e.g. bi-in bilingual which means 'knowing two language'), and so on.
We provide a detailed account of English prefixes in the following sections.
negative reversative pejorative number degree &me location attitude

16.3.1 Negative Prefixes Derivational
Morphology-1
Negative prefixes contribute the meanings 'not', 'dpposite o f , 'lacking in',
etc. They may be attached to adjectives, nouns, verbs, or adverbs. The most
common negative prefixes are un- in-, dis-, a-, and non-. The forms and
meanings o f negative prefixes are listed below:
un-: Occurs typically with adjectives and with verb forms which are used as
adjectives (i.e. present and past participles), e.g., unkind, unending,
unexpecled. It does not even occur with all adjectives. There are two kinds o f
adjectives with which it doesn't occur: first, adjectives like good, strong, tall,
etc. which have other forms to express opposite meanings, and, second,
adjectives which have 'bad' or 'pejorative' meanings, e.g., naughty, wicked,
cruel, etc. The reason sometimes offered for the second class o f adjectives i s
that forms with un-always have a 'bad' sense and therefore cannot be
combined with stems which also have a 'bad' sense, since the combination of
two 'bad' senses will result in a 'good' sense.
in: This prefix morpheme has four allomorphs (see 12. 5 for 'allomorph'):
il: Occurs before stems beginning with I, e.g. illegal, illegible
I ir: Occurs before stems beginning with r ,e.g.. irregular, irreligious
I im:Occurs before stems beginning with p, b, m, e.g., impossible, imbalance,

inim;u-uhlc
1 )/ in: Occul-swith all other stems.
Thih negative prefix occurs mostly with adjectives but also occurs with nouns,
! c.g.. incorrij~lc~[e,ineviluble, (adjectives), inability, inattenlion, injustice
j (nouns). It is a less common prefix than un- and the words with which it
occurs seem to be fixed: no new words take this suffix. The suffix used
with new words is un-. Notice the following pairs where un-is used with the
ad-iectives but in-with the nouns:
[.Inable; inability; unequal; inequality; unjust;!injustice
Some negative words with the in- prefix now have unique meanings, i.e. their
meanings are not equal to the negation o f the meaning o f the stem, since the
stem does not have the corresponding positive meaning, e.g., infirm means
'weak in health' though Jirni i s not used in the context o f health at all.
Similarl~.,infcrnzous does not mean 'not famous' but 'well-known because o f
something bad or evil'. Some other words with the in- prefix have no free
n~orphemeas stem, e.g., inepl, iner! (*ept. *err;).
dis: As a negative prefix. it occurs with adjectives, verbs as well as nouns,

e.g.. clis.c.imilrr,di.vbelieve. di.shelief:disunily.
a: 'l'he meaning o f this pretix contrasts with that o f trn-or in-. Whereas the
latter mean 'not' or 'opposite o f , a- means 'lacking in the feature o f quality'
described by the word to which it i s prefixed. 'Thus, while immoral means
'not moral' or 'contrary to the ideas of morality', amoral means 'having
nothing to do with. or 1-acking in the feature o f morality'.
non-: Has the meaning 'not'. Occurs with adjectives and nouns, e.g., non-
violen[, non-exi,~!en~,
non-cooperation, and non-snioker. The meaning o f non-
differs from that of un- in the following way: non-expresses a two-way
contrast and no degrees of 'more' or 'less'; un-expresses degrees.
16.3.2 Reversative and Privative Prefixes
The following prefixes contribute the meaning 'reverse the action denoted by
the stem' (Reversativk) or 'deprive someone or something of the object
denoted by the stem' (Privative).
un: Combines with verbs and produces the meaning 'reverse the action', e.g.
undo, untie, unpack, unlock, unzip. Also combines with some nouns to form
verbs and produces the meaning 'deprive o f , 'release from', etc., e.g., unseat,
unmask, unearth, unhorse.
de: Combines with verbs and with nouns derived from verbs and produces the
meaning 'reverse the action', e.g., decode, decontrol, denationalize.
Combines with verbs, and with nouns derived from verbs, to produce the
meaning 'deprive o f , e.g., dethrone, deforest, depopulation.
dis: Combines with verbs with the meaning 'reversing the action', e.g.,
di.sconnect, disinfict, disown, etc. Occurs with the sense 'remove, deprive of,
rid o f what is denoted by the noun stem. The resulting word is a verb, e.g.,
disarm, disfigure, etc.
16.3.3 Pejorative ?refixes
Pejorative prefixes are those prefixes which add to the meaning o f the stem
the element 'bad', 'badly', 'wrong', 'wrongly', false', 'imitation', etc. 'The
main pejorative prefixes of English are:
mal: is combined mostly with verbs (e.g., mallreal, ~rialucgtrst),nouns
(maladministrarion, malnutrition), adjectives (malodorou.~,and participles
(malnourished, maladjusted).
mis: is used mainly and frequently with verbs, it conveys thc meaning 'badly,
wrongly, improperly, etc.' as in mislead, mishartdle, etc. Also occurs with
participles (misgwided) and nouns (misfortune, miasrule).
pseudo: is a very productive prefix and can be attached quite freely to nouns
and adjectives to form other nouns and adjectives. Adds the element of
meaning 'false', 'not what it is claimed to be', e.g.. pselrtJo-inlellectual,
pseudo-scientifie.
16.3.4 Number of Prefixes

The following prefixes, attached to nouns and ad-jectives, express various
numbers which are somehow relevant to the meanings of the resulting words.
bi: Expresses the number 'two'. Bi- occurs in words like bicycle, bilingual,
bigamy, elc, while di-occurs mostly in scientific words. e.g., dioxide, diode.
mono- and uni: Express the number 'one', as in monolingzial, monuplune,

unidirectional, unilateral, etc.
semi- and demi: Express the number 'half, as in semi-circle, detni-god, etc.
tri: Expresses the number 'three' as in tricycle, tripod.

poly- and multi: Express the number 'many' as in polyglot ('speaking or Derivational
understanding many languages'), polygan~y('the practice of having more than Morphology-1
one wife'), po!,~anrfqs('the practice of having more than one husband').
po1j)lcchnic ('a college where many technical subjects are taught').
~nultirc~cial.
16.3.5 Prefixes of Degree, Rank, Size, etc.
'l'he following prefixes are attached to nouns. verbs or adjectives and

contribute meanings which have to do with degree, rank, size, etc. in one way
or the other:
arch: Has the meaning 'of the highest rank' as in archbi.shop or archangel.
With most other nouns, it occurs with the meaning 'having the qualities
associated with the type denoted by the noun to the highest degree', e.g.,
orchcne~t~v,arch-villain, etc. In this sense, it generally occurs with nouns of
pe-jorativcmeaning.
co: Occurs with personal nouns or with verbs. The resulting nouns and verbs
generally refer to people sharing things or doing things together, e.g., co-
author, co-operate.
extra: Used with adjectives to form other adjectives with the meaning 'to an
exceptional degree'. or 'having more of a particular quality than usual' e.g.,
ex~rrr-large,extra-long. With some other adjectives, it means 'outside' or
'beyond' as in extra-con.vtilutiona1,extra-marital.
micro: Occurs with nouns which refer to 'very small' versions of certain
things, e.g., microcomputer, microorganism.
mini: Is used to form nouns denoting a smaller or less important version of
something else. e.g., mini-computer, minibus.
out: Is attached to some verbs to form other verbs which mean 'do something
better than another person, thing, etc.', e.g., outrun, outnumber, outgrow.
over: Is used with adjectives or verbs to indicate that a quality exists or an

action is done to too great an extent; shows disapproval, e.g., overripe,
overeat.
sub: Attached to adjectives to produce the meaning 'inferior' e.g., subhuman,

.sub.standard
super: Combines with nouns and adjectives. The resulting words refer to
things that are larger or more powerful than other things of the same kind, e.g.,
superpower, supermarket, superhuman, supersensilive.
under: Added to nouns and produces the meaning 'lower in rank', e.g.,
undersecretary; attached to verbs and participles the meaning it produces is
that the action has been done or the quality exists to an insufficient extent,
e.g., underestimatej undernourished (= 'not sufficiently nourished').
16.3.6 Prefixes of Time and Order
Prefixes of time and order are attached to nouns, verbs and adjectives and
qualify the meanings of these words by putting them in some time or order
context.
ex: Adds the meaning 'former' as in ex-president. Is mostly used with nouns
only.
post: Forms words (nouns ar adjectives) which describe something as taking
place after a particular date or event, e.g.. post-war, post-independence, post-
colonial.
pre: Forms words (nouns or adjectives) which describe something as taking
place before a particular date or event, e.g., pre-war, pre-independence, yre-
colonial.
re: Is added to verbs-and nouns to form other verbs and nouns which refer to
the repetition of an action (e.g., rebuild, re-use) or to the opposite of an action
that has already taken place (e.g., reappear, regain).
16.3.7 Prefixes Showing Location
Historically, like many other prefixes, prefixes which show location are also
derived from prepositions, and their meanings are similar to those of
prepositions showing location. For example, the prefix inter-means 'between',
hence we can either speak bf 'international relations ' or of 'relations between
nations'. With some uses of these prefixes, 'location' has to be understood in
an abstract sense, as is also the case with some locative prepositions. For
example, the noun subcomcious, with the locative prefix sub-, refers to that
part of the mind that is located 'below' the conscious mind in the sense that
we are not aware of it.
fore: Like the preposition before when referring to place, fore-means 'front'
or 'front part o f as in foreurm, foreground, forenarhe. Occurs with nouns.
inter: Occurs with adjectives, verbs and nouns with the meaning 'between',
e.g., international, intermarry, inter-university.
sub: Occurs with adjectives, verbs, and nouns with the meaning 'below' or
'under', as in subnormal, submerge, subsoil.
super: combines with a few nouns and contributes the meaning 'above' as in
superstructure, superscript (='that which is written above something else').
trans: Combines with adjectives or verbs and contributes the meaning

'across', beyond', or 'over', e.g., transcribe (= 'to write across', i.e., to record
in a different set of symbols)
16.3.8 Prefixes Showing Attitude and Orientation
A few prefixes are such that attached to nouns, adjectives and verbs, they
produce words which reflect attitudes, or position with respect to something.
The meanings of these prefixes can also be expressed by prepositions.
Anti: Is added.to. nouns and adjectives and contributes the meaning 'against'
as in antislavery (=against
, slavery).
Counter: Is added to nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs and produces the
meaning 'against', 'in opposition to' 'in the opposite direction', etc. as in
counterattack counteract, counter-clockwise. While anti- suggests only an
attitude o f opposition, counter- suggests action in response to a previous Derivational
action. A counterattack is an attack in response to an attack. Morphology-I
pro: I s added to adjectives and nouns and contributes the meaning 'for', 'in
favour o f , e.g., pro-Indian, pro-student.
16.3.9 Prefixes which Change the Part of Speech bf the Stem

We noted above (16.2) that prefixes normally do not affect the stems
grammatically, i.e., they do not change the part o f speech o f the stem. In a
few cases, however, prefixes do affect the part o f speech o f the stem. Such
prefixes do not carry any specific meanings: their function is mainly a
grammatical one. The number o f such prefixes is quite small and so is the
number o f words to which they are added. Such prefixes are called
conversion prefixes. Here are a few o f them:
(I: This prefix forms adjectives from verbs, e.g., ablaze (from blaze), asleep
(from sleep), atsir (from stir), aglow (from giow). The adjectives thus formed
can only be used in predicative (=after the verb) position. Thus we can say
The house ivav uhlazc. but not *the ablaze house.
be: Forms transitive verbs from adjectives, verbs and nouns, e.g,, becalm,
bemoan, hqfi*iend. In another use, it i s attached to past participles turning
them into u(/jec/h)e,v,c.g., he,~pectacled,hcjeweled, hewigged.
en-or em: Form transitive verbs mainly from nouns, e.g., endanger (==put into
danger), cnlcrlain (=get into a train), enslave (=make into a slave), canpower
(=provide with power), embitter (=make bitter), imperil (=put into peril).
Some other prefixes also have the effect o f changing the part o f speech o f the
. ' stcm. but the number o f words affected is small. e.g.. debark (=disembark),
tar n-sfic%.

I) lderitify the prefix and the type o f meaning it contributes in each o f the
Sollowing words, In the last column write another word containing the
salne prefix with the same meaning. Then consult the dictionary to see
i f the meaning it gives the word confirms the meaning you have given
to it:
Word Affix Type of Affix Your Word

i) amoral ------
ii) anti-social -------
iii) arch-enemy -------
iv) bicycle -------
v) co-pilot -------
vi) denationalize -------
vii) deforest -------
viii) ex- minister -------
ix) forewarn -------
s) inter-state -------
For each word given below,.choose the correct prefix from those given
below to express the kind of meaning indicated:
i)
i i) religious (un-, in-, ir-): negative ...............................
iii)
iv) treat (dis-, pseudo-, mi~-):badly ...............................
v) frost (dis-, non-, de-): remove ............................. --
vi) ~ o fort
m (un-, dis-, non-): lack of
I
...............................
vii) (dis-, non-, un-): negative ...............................
viii) just (in-, un-, non-): negative ...............................
ix) justice (in-, un-, non-): negative ............................. --
x) associate ............................. --
(de-, un-, dis-): reversative
xi) contented (rnal-, mis-, dis-): negative -------------------------------
xi i) independence ( ~ r e -post-,
, ex-): before ----------.....................
xi i i) lateral (poly-, multi-, bi-): having many sides .....................
xiv) coloured (mi~-,mal-, dis-j: lacking in ...............................
Using approptiate prefixes, turn the words in brackets into verbs or

adjectives, as required, which will fill the blanks in the sentences
correctly. Put the words into the required inflected forms:
i) By constantly kicking against water, he managed toy.ats (float)
i i) The house was with lights. (blaze)
iii) He sat all alone, his loss. (moan)
i v) She joined her hands in a most charming 'namaste'. Qewel)
v) People belonging to different races and religions have
Indian culture. (rich)
vi) The crisis has the future of the party. (peril)
vii) The 1986 Act the police to ban political processions in
the country. (power)
viii) When Rajan joined the new school, many boys in his class tried to
him. (friend)
16.4 LET US SUM UP
We have made the following major points in this lesson:
i) Derivational affixes modify the meaning of the words to which they are
attached. Such modifications of meaning can be of Inany types and,
accordingly, the number of derivational affixes is also large when
compared to inflectional affixes.
--
~ i ) Ilerivational affixes cannot be usefully classified on the basis o f the Derivational

part o f speech o f the stem. There are two reasons for this: first. many Vorphology-1
affixes are attached to words belonging to more than one part o f
speech: second, there are no derivational affixes which can be attached
to all the words belonging to a part o f speech.
iii) Derivational affixes are either prefixes or suffixes unlike inflectional
affixes. which are only suffixes.
i ) Prefixes and suffixes affect the words to which they are attached in
different ways. Both affect the meaning o f t h e words, but suffixes also
affect their grammar by changing their part o f speech. Only a few
prefixes affect the grammar o f words in this way.
) It is, therefore, useful to classify prefixes on the basis o f the meanings
they contribute, while suffixes can be classified on the basis of the
grammatical changes they produce.
vi) Prefixes can be classified into eight main groups on the basis o f the
meanings they contribute to the resulting wards. These eight groups
are: negative; reversative and privative; pejorative; number; degree,
size. rank, time and order; location; attitude and orientation.
vii) A ninth group o f prefixes consists o f those few prefixes which change
the part o f speech o f the word they are added to. They are called
conversion prefixes.
-- ---- -
16.5 -KEY WORDS
-- --- - -- -- -- - -- . - -
Negative Prefix: A prefix that contributes the meaning 'not',

'opposite o f , 'lacking in', 'irrelevant to'.
etc.
Reversative Prefix: A prefix that contributes the meaning
'reverse the action' or 'undo the action'
denoted by the stem.
Privative Prefix: A prefix that c~ntributes the meaning
'deprive (someone o f something)'
Pejorative Prefix: A prefix that adds the meaning 'bad'
'badly', 'wrongly', 'false', 'imitation', etc.
to the meaning o f the stem.
Number Prefix: A prefix which contributes the idea o f
number (one, two, three, many, half etc.) to
the meaning o f the stem.
Degree, Rank or Size Prefix: A prefix that contributes the idea o f one
thing being higher or lower than. or equal to,
something else in degree, rank or size.
Time and Order Prefix: A prefix that helps to identify a thing,
action, etc. by relating it to some event or
other action in terms o f time (e.g. before or
after) or order (e.g, following or preceding)
Location Prefix: A prefix that helps to identie a thing by
describing it as being located at, in front of,
below, above (etc.) something else, or
between two or more other things. Location
is sometimes understood in metaphorical
(=abstract) sense.
Attitude or Orientation Prefix: A przfix that helps to identify something by
describing its atti tnde or orientation tobards
something else.
Conversion Prefix: A prefix that changes the part of speech of

the word to which it is attached.
16.6 SOMB: USEFUL BOOKS --
Bauer, L. (1988) Introducing Linguistic Morphologv, Edinburgh Universit)

Press.
Collins COBUI LD English Language Dictionary (1 987). L,ondon: Col lins.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1 978). London: Longman.
Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. ( 1 973). A University Grammar of Eng/i.vh(App.
I). London: Longman.
Wardaugh, R. ( 1 998) An Introduction to linguistic,^, B lackwell, Oxford.
16.7 ANSWERS
Check Your Plrogress 1
separately in the dictionary. from the stem word.

iii) Affect the meaning of the stems iii) Affect the meaning of
in a regular way. sets of stems in different ways.
iv) Never change the part of speech iv) ~ a ~ c h a the
of the stem. the stem.
n ~part
e of speech of
v) Normally a word can take only v) A word may have more than one
one inflectional affix derivational affix.
-I
-
vi) An inflectional affix is the last vi) Derivational affixes may be

affix added to a word. No followed in a word by more
derivational affix can be added after derivational affixes or by an
an inflectional affix has been added. inflectional affix.
I
vii) All inflection affixes are vii) Derivational affixes may be

suffixes. prefixes or suffixes.
affixes is very small. affixes is comparatively large.

ix) An inflectional affix is attached ix) A derivational affix is attached Derivational
to all, or at least to the vast majority only to a selected number of words M orphology-1
of words belonging to the part of belonging to a part of speech, never
speech to which the grammatical to all of them, or even a majority of
rule applies them.
x) A given inflectional affix is x) The same derivational affix may
attached only to words belonging to be added to words belonging to
a particular part of speech. Hence different parts of speech. Hence
inflectional affixes can be classified derivational aff~xes cannot be
on the basis of the part of speech of classified on the basis of the part of
the stem. s~eechof the stem.
2) 'The existence of simple words for conveying the same meanings, viz.
thief for *stealer, bad for *ungood, ugly for *unbeautiful, short for
*untall.
I) The solutions below give only prefix and the type of meaning
contributed by the prefix..
i) amoral: a-; negative, with the meaning 'having nothing to do
with'
ii) anti-social: anti-; attitude
iii) arch-enemy: arch; degree
iv) bicycle: bi-; number
v) co-pilot: co-; rank
vi) denationalize: de-; reversative
vi i) deforest: de-; privative
viii) ex- minister: ex-; time
ix) forewarn: fore-; time
x) inter-state: inter-; location
2) i) un- (ii) ir-
.111)
.. anti- iv) mis- v) de-
vi) dis- vii) un- viii) un- ix) in- x) dis-
xi) dis- xii) pre- xiii) multi- xiv) dis-
3) i) afloat ii) ablaze iii) bemoaning
iv) bejewelled v) enriched. vi) imperilled
vii)empowered/empowers vii i) befriend.
UNIT 17 DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY -2
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Classification of Derivational Suffixes
17.2.1 The Scheme of Classification
17.2.2 Same-sounding Suffixes (or Suffixal Homophones)
Derivational Suffixes of English
1 7.3.1 Noun Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Nouns
17.3.2 Adjective Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Adjectives
17.3.3 Noun/Adjective Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Words which can
Occur as Nouns or Adjectives
17.3.4 Verb Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Verbs
17.3.5 Adverb Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Adverbs
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
17.0 OBJECTIVES

describe how derivational suffixes are classified and how this
classification differs from the classification of derivational prefixes,
identify the maj~orderivational suffixes of English and classify them
according to the scheme of classification,
distinguish suffixal homophones, and
distinguish derivational suffixes from inflectional suffixes where they
happen to be identical in form.
17.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 12 of Block 3 and again in the preceding unit, we distinguished

between two kinds of derivational affixes: prefixes and suffixes. In this unit,
we shall discuss the process of suffixation and the major derivational suffixes
of English.
In the preceding unit (1 6.2) we noted that the role of derivational prefilres was
almost totally confined to the moditication of meaning. while derivational
suflxes, in addition to modifying the meaning of the stem. also brought about
some grammatical change. For example, the addition of the derivational
suffix - e r to the word write changes the meaning of the word to 'one who
writes professionally', or to 'one who has written a particular thing', but it
also changes the verb write into the noun writer. This brings about a
grammatical change; since, as a noun, writer must be used differently from the
verb write. It has even been said that the grammatical change caused by
derivational suffixes is 'more important than the change they cause in meaning
and that, in most cases, the change in meaning can be derived from the
grammatical change. For example, whenever an adjective is changed into an
abstract noun by adding the derivational suffixes -ness or -ity, the meaning Derivational
change that occurs is the addition of the idea 'the quality of being ....' To Morphology-2
illustrate, elaslicily means 'the quality of being elastic', kindness means 'the
quality of being kind', and so on. This change in meaning follows directly as a
result of turning the adjectives elastic and kind into the abstract nouns
elasficify and kindness.
17.2 CLASSIFICATION OF DERIVATIONAL

.- -- -
- --
SUFFIXES
-- pp
17.2.1 The Scheme of Classification

In the preceding unit (16.3), derivational prefixes were classified on the basis
of the kinds of meaning they contributed to the word. Thus we got classes of
prefixes like the negative class, the reversative and privative class, the
pejorative cla5s. etc. We also mentioned there that derivational suffixes could
not be usefully classified in the same way. Three reasons were given for this:
one was that, with suffixes, change of meaning was less important than
grammatical change, and. second, that suffixes did not always change the
meaning in a regular way as most prefixes did. For example, the suffix -able,
which is added to transitive verbs to produce adjectives, mostly creates a kind
of meaning which can be expressed in a passive clause with can be, e.g., the
meaning of eatable can be expressed as '(that which) can be eaten', and so on.
But there are many words with the suffix -able whose meaning cannot be so
expressed e.g., changeable ('likely to change') faihionable ?following the
latest fashion'), washable ('that can be washed without damage'). The third
reason is that suffixes add a variety of different kinds of meanings so that it is
not possible to group them into a few groups like 'time suffixes', 'number
suffixes'. 'place suffixes', etc.
Suffixes are therefore classified on the basis of grammar. Here also we face a
problem. How should we classify them grammatically? Shall we classify the
suffixes on the basis of the part of speech of the stems to which they are
attached, or shall we classify them on the basis of the part of speech of the
words that result from suffixation? For example, shall we call -ness an
adjective suffix because it is attached to adjectives (e.g. kind, happy, mean), or
shall we call it a noun suffix because the resulting words (kindness, happiness,
meanness) are nouns?
The best classification will. of course, be one which gives us both kinds of
information viz., information regarding the part of speech of the stem and the
part of speech of the resulting word. We first classify the suffixes on the basis
of the part of speech of the word that results when they are added to a stem.
In this way, we get the following types of suffixes:
Noun Suffixes: Suffixes that result in nouns.
ii) Adjective Suffixes: Suffixes that result in adjectives.
iii) Noun1 Adjective Suffixes: Result in words which can be used either
as nouns or adjectives.
iv) Verb Suffixes: Suffixes that result in verbs.
v) Adverb Suffixes: Suffixes that result in adverbs.
This step in classification gives us only one kind of information: what kind of
word results from the addition of the given suffix (i.e., to what part of speech
does the resulting word belong?). Now we take the second step in
classification which will tell us the part of speech of the stem to which the
suffix is added. To do this we sub-classify each type above into various
subtypes according to the speech of the stem. Thus supposing we find that the
stems of which (adjective) suffixes are added to derive (adjective) words
belong to two parts of speech: nouns and verbs, i.e. there are some suffixes
(e.g., -less, -ish, -ful) which are attached to noun stems, and there are other
suffixes (-able, -he) which are attached to verb stems. In both cases, the
resulting words are, of course, adjectives. We shall then sub-classi Fy adjective
suffixes into two subtypes: those which are attached to noun stems (to be
called Denominal Adjdctive Suffixes) and those which are attached to verbs
(to be called Deverbal Adjective Suffixes). When this step in classification is
taken, we shall have both kinds of information.
Following the second step, our scheme of classification for derivational
suffixes will appear as follows:
1) Noun Suffixes: Form nouns
I A) Denominal: attached to noun stems
I B) Deadjectival: attached to adjective stems
I C) Deverbal: attached to verb stems
11) Adjective Suffixes: Form adjectives
I1 A) Denominal: attached to noun stems
II B) Deadjectival: attached to adjective stems.
I1 C) Deverbal: attached to verb stems
111) NounIAdjective Suffixes: Form words which can occur either as
nouns or as adjectives
I11 A) Denominal: attached to noun stems
ILI B) Deadjectival: attached to adjective stems.
1V) Verb Suffixes: Form verbs
IV A) Denominal: attached to noun stems
IV B) Deadjectival: attached to adjective stems
V) Adverb Suffixes: Form adverbs
V A) Denominal: attached to noun stems
V B) Deadjectival: attached to adjective stems
This classification provides us with a label, or a description, for every suffix in
English. For example, if we follow this scheme we will label -ness as a
'deadjectival noun suffix' (1 B), or a suffix which forms nouns from
adjectives: the suffix -able will be described as a 'deverbal adjective suffix' (11
C) i.e. a suffix that forms adjectives from verbs, and so on. Some suffixes are
such that they occur in more than one class. For example, the suff~x-ish may
be described either as a 'denominal adjective suff~x'(I1 A), since it forms
adjectives from nouns (e.g., child>childish, fool>foolish), or as 'deadjectival
adjective suffix' (I1 B), since it forms adjectives forms from adjectives (e.g.,
green>greenish, sweePsweetish).
Our description of the English suffixes will follow the scheme of classification
set out above. Therefore study the scheme closely and make sure that you
understand the meaning of all the possible labels like the two we have cited as
examples.
17.2.2 Same-sounding Suffixes (or Suffixal Homophones)
Some derivational suffixes, though they belong to different subtypes, have the
same written and spoken shape. For example, there are two suffixes -erl und
er2, which have different function but the same form, -er' is a 'denominal Derivational
noun suffix' (I A): it forms nouns from other nouns and contributes the Morphology-2
meaning 'having the characteristic described by the stem', 'one who lives in',
etc. e.g., teenager, three-wheeler, villager, -er2 is a 'deverbal noun suffix' (I
C) which forms nouns from verbs and contributes the meaning 'one who does
the activity described by the stem in a professional capacity', e.g., singer,
dancer, teacher Both suffixes are written as -er. Such same-sounding suffixes
are called Suffixal Homophones.
Some derivational suffixes have forms which are identical with the forms of
some inflectional suffixes. For example, we saw in 1.5.1 that the inflectional
suffix which expresses the progressive aspect is -ing, but there is a
derivational suffix -ing which occurs in the word meeting in the following
sentence:
I have to attend three meetings today.
That the - -ing in meetings is a derivational suffix is clear from that the fact that
an inflectional suffix -s is used after it. But in the following sentence, the
suffix -ing in meeting is an inflectional one, since it txpresses the progressive
aspect:
'They are meeting after twenty years.
Another suffix of this kind is -ed, which already occurs in two functions as an
inflectional suffix (-ed' and e d ; see 15.5.1). It also occurs as a derivational
affix forming adjectives from nouns, e.g., tired (as in a tired man), ~ualled(as
in the walled citv), pointed (as in a pointed question). That this is a
derivational suffix can be seen from the fact that the resulting word is an
adjective and can be qualified by adverbs (e.g., a very tired person, a more
pointed que,c.tion). That this is a derivational suffix can be seen from the lact
that the resi~ltingword is an adjective and can be qualified by adverbs (e.g. a
very [ired person, u more pointed question), while the verb pointed in the
following sentence cannot be so qualified:
11 He poirztcd to the road sign.
I ;
It is important that you should be able to distinguish between the bsame'suffix
occurring son~etimesas an inflectional affix and sometimes as a derivational
aftis.
I 1) Give three reasons why derivational suffixes are classified on the basis
of grammar and not on the basis of meaning.
-
What are the two steps in the grammatical classification of derivational

suffixes?
.....................................................................................
....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
Suffixes which are attached to noun stems and produce noun words are
called Denominal Noun Suffixes in our classification, for example,
childhood. What are the following types of suffixes called? Name
them and give an example for each of these.
Suffixes which are attached to noun stems and produce verbs
.....................................................................................
Suffixes which are attached to verb stems and produce nouns
.....................................................................................
iii) Suffixes which are attached to adjective stems and produce verbs
.....................................................................................
Suffixes which are attached to verb stems and produce adjectives
..................................................................................... I
Suffixes which are attached to adjective stems and produce nouns

--------------.----------------------
Suffixes which are attached to noun stems and produce adjectives.
.....................................................................................
The suffix -ness is attached mostly to adjectives and produces nouns,
e.g., sick>sickness. It is therefore a 'deadjectival noun suffix'. What
types of suffixes are the following?
i) -hood: boysboy hood .................................................
i i) -ee: employ>employee .................................................
iii) -age: cover>coverage .................................................
iv) - i t ~ :rapid>rapidly .................................................
v) -1y: friend>friendly .................................................
vi) -able: debate>debatable .................................................
vii) -ize: legal>legalize .................................................
viii) -1y: quiet>quietly .................................................
ix) -merit: arrange>arrangement .......................................... -------
x) +us: virtue>virtuous .................................................
We can identify at least two -er suffixes, two -ing suffixes, two -ed Derivational
suffixes and two -ly suffixes in English. The suffixes may be Morphology-2
inflectional or derivational.
Identify the type of each italicized suffix in the following sentences;

c.g., in (i), -er is an inflectional suffix
i) He is stronger than he looks. ...............................

i i) 'The house is burning.
iii) I-le loves farming.
i v) I had a reserved seat.
v) fie is a very .scholarly person.
vi)
vii) It was a cowurdly act. ...............................
vi i i) He walked slowly into the room. ...............................
ix) Srikant was a neglected child. ...............................
x) The father neglected the child. ...............................
In this section we shall describe the derivational suffixes of English following

the scheme of classification we have set out in 17.1. Only the more important
suffixes will be listed.
17.3.1 Noun Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Nouns
These suffixes form no.uns from other nouns, adjectives and verbs. We have
called them denominal, deadjectival and devertial suffixes, respectively.
I A) Denominal Noun Suffixes (forming nouns from other nouns).

These suffixes are attached to noun stems and form other nouns. We can
divide these suffixes into two types: those which form abstract nouns (I Aa)
and those which form concrete nouns (I Ab.).
I Aa) Forming Abstract Nouns

-age: Attached to different types of nouns, it produces the meaning
'collection' (e.g., bag >baggage), 'state' (bond>bondage), 'fee or charge'
(post>postage), etc.
-dom: 'Territory or domain o f as in kingdom : 'state or condition' as in

stardom, serfdom.
-ery -ry: 'collection', e.g., jewellery, weaponry: 'condition' e.g., slavery
-ful: 'Quantity which fills or would fill', e.g. glassful, handful.

-hood: 'State or time of being.. ..', e.g., boyhood, widowhood.
-ing: 'Collection o f or 'material for', e.g., tubing, shirting; 'activity or
practice of e.g., farming, advertising.
-ism: 'Attitude and behaviour o f as in heroism, fanaticism; 'beliefs, practice
etc. of as in ~induism.'
-ship: 'Position, status or office o f as in membership, ,fellowship,

professorship.
1 Ab) Forming Concrete Nouns
-eer: 'A person who is engaged in doing whatever is suggested by the stem',
e.g., engineer, mountaineer, profiteer.
-er: 'Having the characteristic denoted by the stem', e.g., teenager, three-
wheeler; 'one who engages in the kind of activity denoted by the stem', e-g.,
gardener, jeweller.
-ess: forms female personal nouns from stems denoting a profession, e.g.,
actress, waitress, manageress. Note, however, that we tend to use gender
neutral terms these days e.g. actor for females as well. Also denotes females of
some species, e.g., lionkss, tigress.
-let: 'A small one of the kind', e.g., booklet, droplet, starlet.
-ling: 'A small one of the kind', e.g., duckling, seedling (= 'a young plant');
also occurs with other stems, e.g., weakling, underling.
I B) Deadjectival Noun Suffixes (forming nouns from adjectives)
-dom: See (1 Aa) above. This suff~xalso forms nouns from adjectives, e.g.,
fieedom.
-er: See (1 Ab) above. Also forms nouns from adjectives, e.g.,$ver, sirer.
-hood: See (1 Aa) above. Also forms nouns from adjectives, e.g., falsehood.
-ty: Adds the meaning 'state, quality, condition, etc. o f e.g., regularity, sanity,
technicality.
-ness: A very common suffix, added to every type of adjective. Forms nouns
with the meaning 'state, quality, condition o f e.g., bitterness, darkness,
idleness, usefulness, vagueness.
-th: Occurs in some words usually with a change in the form of the stem, e.g.,
broad>breadth, deep>depth, long>length. The stem remains the same in
warn> warmth. Is not added to any new words.
I C) Deverbal Noun Suffixes (forming nouns from verbs)

These suffixes are attached to verbs to produce nouns. They produce two
types of nouns: abstract and concrete.
I Ca) Forming Abstract Nouns
-age: See (I Aa) above. Attached to some verbs, it produces uncountable
nouns with the meaning 'result o f , 'action o f , etc., e.g., breakage, coverage,
seepage, wastage.
-al: 'action o f , 'result o f , etc., arrival, refusal, survival
-ation: Forms nouns which refer to the state or process denoted by the verb, Derivational
e.g. alteration, e-uploration, starvation. Some nouns thus produced refer to the Morphology-2
product of the action denoted by the verb, e.g., fozmdation, organizaiion. This
suffix frequently occurs with verbs which have been formed by the addition of
verb suffixes like -ifj: -ize and -ate, e-g., just~jkation, nationalization,
meditut ion.
-ment: Forms nouns with the meanings 'the act o f ,,'the result o f , 'the state
o f , etc., e.g., appointment, astonishment, development, equipment.
-use: 'The act or condition o f e.g., ,failure, exposure, closure.
(I Cb) Forming Concrete Nouns

-ant: Forms nouns which refer to persons or things that do the action denoted
by the stem, e.g., contestant, defendant, inhabitant, participant, lubricant.
-ee: Forms nouns referring to a person to whom the action denoted by the stem
verb is done, e.g., employee. payee, trainee, or a person who acts in the way
denoted by the stem verb, e.g., escapee.
-er: Forms nouns which denote a person who does the action denoted by the
stem verb as a profession,(e.g., writer, dancer), or a person who is doing the
action on a particular occasion (e.g., diner, caller), or a thing that is used for
doing the stated action (e.g., accelerator, silencer, screwdriver).
l'he following diagram summarises the above information:
denominal deadjektival deverbal
abstract nouns concrete nouns abstract nouns concrete nouns
17.3.2 Adjective Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Adjectives
I1 A) Denominal Adjective Suffixes (forming ad-jectivesfrom nouns)

-all-ial/-ical: Turn nouns into adjectives with no particular change in meaning,
e.g. accident>accidental. culture>cultural, education>educational. Occur
1-requently with stems already bearing other suffixes, e.g., environmentul. The
spelling -ial generally occurs after stems which end in -or in -t (e.g.,
editor,editorial; president>presidential), -cal occurs with words ending in -
1). which it replaces (e.g., philosophy>philosophical). Another spelling that
cometilnes occurs with bases ending in -t is -ual (e.g., concept>conceptual).
I'he spelling is -ul in other cases.
-ed: Adds the meaning 'having', e.g., bearded + 'having a beard', three-
legge(1, odd -shaped.
-ful: 'fi~llo f , 'having', 'providing', etc. e.g., beautiful, delightful, useful.
/ -ic: 'connected with'. E-g., atomic, heroic, patriotic. When the noun stem
itself ends in -ic, as in music,-a1 is added to form an adjective (musical).
However, some stems ending in -ic (e.g., magic) can be nouns or adjectives.
In such cases, addition of -a1 (magical) gives us another adjective without any
difference in meaning. But when two adjectives are formed from some other
noun stems they may have different meanings, e.g., historic vs. historical,
economic vs. economical.
-ish: 'Having the nature o f , usually pejorative, e.g., childish, foolish,
monkeyish; with names of countries, races, languages 'belonging to', e.g.,
Swedish, Turkish.
-less: 'Lacking' as in childless, homeless; 'free from' as in painless, harmless;
'without ', e.g., hatless.
-ly: 'Having the qualiti& o f as in motherly, womanly, soldierly, etc.
-ous/-ious: 'Having the nature of, or causing' as in ceremoniou.~,dafigerous.
desirous, grievous. The spelling -ious occurs especially when replacing -ion
or -ity in the bases, e.g., ambition>ambitious;capacity>capacious. With some
stems the spelling that occurs is -eous, e.g., courtesy>courteous, pity>
piteous.
-y: 'Full o f , 'covered with' 'tending to', etc., e.g.,$lthy, hairy, sleepy.
11 B) Deadjectival Adjective Suffixes (forming adjectives from other

adjectives)
ish: in words like greenish, yellowish, etc. Its use with numerals with the
meaning 'approximately, as in eightish (=about 8 o'clock), .forlyish (-about
forty years of age) also falls in this category.
I1 C) Deverbal Adjective Suffixes (forming adjectives from verbs)

-able: Forms adjectives from transitive verbs, e.g., attainable, hecrruhle,
controllable, etc. The resulting adjectives can be said to have the meaning 'of
the kind to which the thing described by the verb can be done', but in usage
the adjectives usually display a variety of other meanings. With some verbs, -
able occurs as suffix only if the adjective is negated by a negative prefix, e.g..
we have unbelievable apld unthinkable but believable and thinkuhle are
unusual. -able also ocdurs as -ible and -uble as in visible and soluble,
respectively.
-ant: Meaning 'that which shows the state, condition, etc., described by the
verb stem', e.g., differ >different, depend>dependent, absorb>absorbent,
please>pleasant.
-story: 'Causing the action denoted by the verb stem', e.g., defamutoly,
confirmatory, affirmatoly .
-ful: See (I Aa) and (11, A). With a few words -ful occurs with verbs to form
adjectives, e.g., forgetful, mournful, resenlful.
-be/ ative: Adjectives containing this suffix can be said to have the meaning
'of the kind that does the thing described by the verb', e.g., attractive= 'that
attracts' etc. but many adjectives also display other kinds of meaning, e.g,
creative= 'characterized by creation', possessive= 'having the desire to
possess', digestive: 'helping to digest or related to digestion', etc. Some verbs
take the longer suffix -ative, e.g., talkative, afJirmative.
-less: Is to be found only in a few established words, e.g., countless, tireless. Derivational
Morphology-2
The followi~igdiagram summarizes the information given above:
denominal deadjectival deverbal
17.3.3 NounIAdjective Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Words which can

Occur as Nouns or Adjectives
'The following sut'fixes, attached to nouns or adjectives, produce words which

can be used either as nouns or as adjectives:
-ese: Denotes nationality, language, etc., as in Chinese, Jupanese.
-ian: In.lcIicm, Russian (nationality or language).
-kt: e.g., socialist, loyalist, violinist, pianist.
17.3.4 Verb Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Verbs
IV A) Denominal Verb Suffixes: forming verbs from nouns
-ify/-fy: Produce the meanings 'to endow with', 'to put into', 'to turn into',
etc. as in beuutib, codib. The stem sometimes occurs in a reduced form as in
certib, idenllb, electrib. This suffix also occurs with adjective stems. See
(IV B).
-ize: Occurs with various meanings, e.g., crystallize= 'to cause to form
crystals' epitomize= 'to be an epitome o f , hospitulize= 'to put into hospital
for treatment', terrorize= 'to fill someone with terror'. Also occurs with
adjective stems. See (IV B).
IV B) Deadjectival Verb Suffixes: forming verbs from adjectives

-en: Produces transitive verbs with the meaning 'to make....', e.g., shorten,
~rtiden.and intransitive verbs with the meaning 'to become ....'a s i i i t h e h i t
ripened
-ify: examples: falsify and sim'plify.
-ize: examples: civilize, equalize, modernize, etc.
I
The following diagram describes the subclasses of verb suffixes:
Verb Suffixes
17.3.5 Adverb Suffixes: Suffixes Forming Adverbs
V A) Denominal Adverb Suffixes: forming adverbs froin nouns

-ward/-wards: 'Towards the direction or place denoted by the noun', e.g.,
homeward(s),earlhward (s). This suffix also occurs with some adverb stems,
e.g., upward (F),onlvard 0,
downward 0.
-wise: 'In the position dr direction denoted by the noun stem', e.g. lengthwise,
clockwise, crosswise; 'in connection with what is stated by the stem', e.g.,
education-wise (=insofar as education is concerned).
V B) Deadjectival Adverb Suffix: forming adverbs from adjectives

-1y: A very commonly used suffix. Is freely added to adjectives to produce the
meaning 'in the manner stated by the adjective', e.g., silently (=in a silent
manner), angrily, zunexpectedly, hesitalingly, or the meaning 'in the degree
indicated by the stem', e.g., completely, extremely, highly.
The following diagram describes the types of adverb suffixes:

Adverb Suffixes

I) Find single words with appropriate suffixes (and prefixes where
required) for the following: the part of speech to which the word
belongs is given in brackets.
i) having the qualities of a mother (adjective) ----------------------
ii) the cost of having goods carried from one
place to another (noun) ----------------------
iii) the quality of being kind-hearted (noun) ......................
iv) the action or waste resulting from spoiling (noun) ......................
v) that which cannot be translated (adjective) ......................
vi) to put into liquid form (verb) ......................
vii) which cannot be forgiven (adverb) ----------------------
viii) to make sad (verb) ----------------------
ix) to make legal (verb) ......................
I X) one who absents himself from the
place where he is required to be (noun) ......................
xi) the act of refusing (noun) ----------------------
xii) the act of refuting (noun) ......................
xiii) that which cannot be refuted (adjective) ......................
x i ~ ) diagonally (or in the form of a cross) (adverb) ......................
xv) in a hearty manner (adverb) ----------------------
2) Starting with the root given, go through the steps indicated, adding the Derivational
appropriate derivational affix at each step. Study the example: Morphology2
Example: fortune + adjective + negative +. adverb

fortune + fortunate -+ unfortunate+ unfortunately
Ans. Unfortunately.
3) Analyze the structure of the following words by giving step by step

derivation in the form of a table (one is done for you):
disorderliness, non-perishable, unquestionably, regularization,

irreparable
Use the following format:
'- Word
-
. -
.
Root Prefix
-.-pp--p-p-.-----.---.-.
Stem Suffix ~
disorderliness order order -IY

disorderly
disorderly -ness --
4) In 17.3.2, we pointed out that some nouns form two adjectives, one
with the suffix -ic, the other with the suffik -ical, and that the two
adjectives have different meanings. Given below are six such pairs of
adjectives. Against each pair are given the meanings of the adjectives
in mixed order. Relate each adjective with its col-rect meaning.
Consult a dictionary when in doubt.
i) a) classic: 1) of the highest quality ----------

b) classical: 2) belonging to the tradition of Latin, Greek,
Sanskrit. etc. --------------
ii) a) comical I) intended to make people laugh ----------

b) comic 2) odd, amusing, strange ----------
...
111) a) economic 1 ) pertaining to trade, industry, wealth, etc.----------
b) economical 2) not wasteful ----------
iv) a) electric I) worked by electricity --,--------

b) electrical 2) concerned with electricity ----------
v) a) historical I) important in history ----------

b) historic 2) connected with, or pertaining to history ----------
vi) a) political I) tactful ----------

b) politic 2) concerning politics ----------
17.4 LET US SUM UP
Derivational suffixes change the part of speech of the stems to which

they are attached.
Though derivational suffixes also affect the meanings of the stems, this
grammatical change (i.e., the change in their part of speech) is more
important than the meaning change they cause.
iii) The meaning changes caused by suffixes are not regular and show
i great diversity.
iv) Suffixes are classified on the basis of the grammatical changes they
make.
v) This classification is made in two steps: first, all suffixes are classified
on the basis of the part of speech of the word which results when they
are attached to a stem, (as noun suffixes, verb suff~xes,etc.); second,
each suffix type thus obtained is divided into subtypes on the basis of
the part of spkech of the stem to which the suffix is attached.
Following this scheme of classification each derivational suffix can be
labeled suitably.
vi) Some derivational suff~xeswhich have different grammatical functions
and contribute different meanings have the same spoken form. They
are classed as sufaal homophones.
vii) Some derivational suffixes are identical in form with some inflectional
suffixes.
viii) Derivational suffixes of English can be divided into following classes
according to the part of speech of the words resulting from their
addition: noun suffixes, adjective suffixes, nounladjective suffixes, -
verb suffixes, adverb suffixes.
ix) Noun suffixes can be further subclassified into suffixes which are
attached to noun stems (denominal), to adjective stems (deadjectival)
and to verb stems (deverbal). Similarly, adjective suffixes can be
subclassified into denominal, deadjectival and deverbal, but the verb
and adverb svffixes have only two subtypes: denominal and
deadjectival.
17.5 KEY WORDS
Suffixation: The process by which a bound morpheme is attached to

the end of a stem.
Derivational Suffix: A derivational affix which is attached to the end of a
stem.
Classification of Derivational Suffixes: Putting derivational suffixes into
separate classes according to their grammatical
properties.
Noun Suffix: A derivational suffix which results in a noun when
added to a stem.
Adjective Suffix: A derivational suffix which results in an adjective when
added to a stem.
NounIAdjective Suffix: A derivational suffix which, when added to a stem, Derivational
results in a word which may be used either as a Morphology-2
noun or as an adjective.
Verb Suffix: A derivational affix which, when added to a stem,
results in a verb.
Adverb Suffix: A derivational suffix which, added to a stem, results
in an adverb.
Denominal: Derived from a noun.
Deadjectival: Derived from a noun.
Deverbal: Derived from a verb.
Suffixal Homophones: Two derivational suffixes with different
grammatical functions and different meanings
which are identical in the spoken form.
-
Carstairs-McCarthy. A. (1 992) Current Morphology, Routledge, London.

C'o1lin.v C'ORUILD English Language Diclionary(l987). London: Collins.
Longnian Dictionaty of Cbnlemporary English ( 1978). London: Longman.
Quirk R. and Greenbaum, S. (1 973). A University Grammar ofEnglish (App.
lj. London: Longman.
17.7
-- ANSWERS
---- -
- -- --
I) The three reasons are (i) the grammatical change caused by

derivational suffixes is more important than the meaning change, since
it changes the part of speech of the word, (ii) the meaning changes
caused are irregular, and (iii) the meaning changes caused are too
diverse and cannot be grouped into classes.
2) The first step is the classification of suffixes on the basis ofthe parts of
speech of the words which result from their addition to stems; the
second step is the sub-clssification of these types according to the part
of speech of the stem to which the suffix is attached.
3) i) Denominal verb suffixes; classify

ii) Deverbal noun suffixes; painter
iii) Deadjectival verb suffixes; gladden
iv) Deverbal adjective suffixes; tired
v) Deadjectival noun suffixes; greenery
vi) Denominal adjective suffixes; foolish
-hood: denominal noun suffix

ii) -ee: deverbal noun suffix
iii) -age: deverbal noun suffix
iv) -ity: deadjectival verb suffix
v) -1y: denominal adjective si~flix
vi) -able: deverbai adjective suffix
vii) -ize: deadjectival verb suffix
viii) -1y: deadjectival adverb suffix
ix) -ment: deverbal noun suffix
x) +us: denominal adjective suffix
i) stronger: -er; inflectional suffix

i i) burning: -ing; inl'lectional suffix
iii) farming: -ing; derivational suffix
i v) reserved: -ed; derivatior~alsuffix
v) scholarly: -ly; derivational suffix
vi) painter: -er; derivational suffix
vii) cowardly:-ly; derivational suffix
viii) walked: -ed; inflectional suffix; slowly: -ly; derivational suffix
ix) neglected: -ed; derivational suffix
x) neglected; -ed; inflectional suffix
1) i) motherly ii) cartage i i i) kind-heartedness

iv) spoilage v) untranslatable vi) liquefy
vii) unforgivable viii) sadden ix) legalize
x) absentee xi) refusal xii) refutation
xiii) irrefutable xiv) cross-wise xv) heartily
4) i) a:l,b:2
ii) a: 2, b: 1
iii) a: I , b: 2
iv) a: 1, b: 2
v) a: 2, b: 1
vi) a: 2, b: 1
UNIT 18 DERIVATIONAL MORPIJOLOGY-3
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
The Nature of Conversion
18.2.1 Conversion and Derivation
18.2.2 Conversion and Suffixation
18.2.3 Full and Partial Conversion
1 8.2.4 Conversion with Formal Modification
Types of Conversion: Classification and Description
1 8.3.1 Classification
1 8.3.2 Direction of Conversion
1 8.3.3 Description
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
18.0 OBJECTIVES
Our objective in this unit is to enable you to:
recognize conversion as a process of word formation,

recognize the similarities between conversion and derivation, and
conversion and suffixation,
distinguish full conversion, partial conversion, and conversion with
formal modification,
recognize the direction of conversion, and
classify cases of conversion according to the part of speech of the
resulting word and the base.
18.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 12 (section 12.4), we described conversion as the process by which

'new' words (or stems) are created without the addition of an affix. We cited
examples of words like carpet, stone, table, attack, help, laugh, etc., which
can be used as nouns as well as verbs without any change of form. Rather
than considering them as belonging simultaneously to the two classes of nouns
and verbs, we decided to consider some of them as being basically nouns
which are 'converted' to verbs, and others as basically verbs which are
'converted' to nouns. We then also gave some criteria to decide whether
nouns were basic or verbs were basic.
In this unit, we shall consider conversion in greater detail. We shall be

concerned mainly with the following topics:
i) The nature of conversion: conversion and derivation; conversion and

suftixation; full and partial conversion; conversion with formal
modification
ii) Types of conversion in English: classification and description
18.2 THE NATURE OF CONVERSION
18.2.1 Conversion and Derivation
The first thing to note about conversion is that it is a process of derivation,
though it does not add any derivational affixes. If you go through the list of
characteristics that disiinguish derivational affixes from inflectional affixes
(see 16.2) and examine cases of conversion in their light, you will notice the
obvious similarities:
i) Conversion, like derivation, creates 'new' words and enlarges the
lexical choice of the user. Some new words in English created in this
way are the verbs beggar, people and police in the following
sentences. They have been 'converted' from the corresponding nouns:
The economic policies of the government have beggared the small
farmers.
The island is peopled by pygmies.
The city was policed by the army.
Sometimes, you may find a speaker using totally new nouns as verbs
(e.g., when one speaks about garaging a car).
ii) Such words are treated as independent words and may be listed
separately in dictionaries.
iii) Whenever a word is 'converted' from one part of speech to another, its
meaning undergoes some change, but the change is not regular.
Different cases show different kinds of meaning change. For example,
the verb beggar means something like 'to make into a beggar', but the
verb people means 'toj?fiN with people ' while the verb police means 'to
control a place in the way police do'.
iv) Conversion changes the part of speech of the base. (Since no suffix is
added, it may be more appropriate to speak of a 'base' rather than a
'stem' .)
v) A word with a derivational affix can undergo conversion, e.g., beg
(v.)> beggar(n.)> to beggar (v.).
vi) A word cannot undergo conversion after an inflectional suffix has been
added to it.
These features are sufficient to show the similarity between conversion and
derivation. The only difference between them seems to be that while in
derivation an affix (prefix or suffix) is added to the stem, we may say that
conversion is derivation Nith a 'zero' affix (see 12.5: 'zero allomorph').
18.2.2 Conversion and Suffixation

In the preceding section, we have shown that conversiori is like derivation. In
this section, we will be more specific and will try to show that conversion is
more like derivational suffixation than like derivational prefixation.
In 16.2, we described the differences between derivational prefixes and

suffixes. We found that while the great majority of prefixes did not change the
part of speech of the stem, suffixes invariably did.
In this respect (i.e. in respect to their effect on stems), conversion is like Derivational
Morphology3
suffixation. The term 'conversion' denotes the converting of the base from
one part of speech to another. Thus nouns are changed into verbs and
adjectives, adjectives are changed into nouns and verbs, verbs are changed
into nouns and adjectives, and so on. The consequences of such change are
very important, since the resulting words must be used very differently from
the bases. As compared to this change, the changes in meaning are less
important and can mostly be predicted from the change in grammar. For
example, if a word is changed from verb to noun, we can be confident that the
resulting noun will either denote the state or the activity described by the verb,
or denote the agent, the object, the manner, the place or the instrument of the
action denoted by the verb [see 18.3.3 (]A)]. Conversion is similar to
suffixation in this respect, and conversion cases Should also therefore be
classified on the basis of grammar. The difference, once again, is only that no
suffixes are added in the case of conversion, or, to use our earlier terminology,
it is zero suffix which is added. Accordingly, we may define conversion more
precisely as 'derivation with a zero suflx' (instead of as 'derivations with a
zero affix').
Note, however, that the only place where conversion takes place with the help
of non-zero affix is in the case of 'conversion prefixes' (See 16.3.9). This is a
small group of prefixes which, unlike the majority of prefixes, affect the
grammar of the stem, changing its part of speech. These prefixes behave more
like suffixes and like cases of conversion; this is the reason why we have
called them conversion prefixes.
Hence, we can represent the above information through the following

diagram :
ij
:!
if
1 Addition of zero suffix Addition of non-zero prefixes '$
:!I
j
1 18.2.3 Full and Partial Conversion
Look at the following examples of conversion:
$j
ire
I
He is an intellectual person> He is an intellectual. (Adj.>Noun)
He is progressive in his thinking> He is aprogressive. (Adj.:.Noun)
In both these sentences, an adjective has been converted into a noun.

'Intellectual' and 'progressive' are originally adjectives, which modify nouns
(i.e. describe the qualities of the person, things, etc. denoted by the noun), but
in the latter sentences, they have been turned into nouns. One sign of their use
as nouns is that they have been used with the determiners an and a,
respectively. We can cite other uses of these words to show that they are full
nouns, e.g., they can be inflected for plural number (They are intellectuals/
i
progressives), for possessive case (an intellectual's / a progressive's reaction),
and we can modify them with an adjective, (e.g., a well-known
t intellectual/progressive).
When a word belonging to one part of speech is converted into another word
in such a way that it shows all the characteristics of another part of speech, we
Morphology-2 call it a case of full Conversion. The nouns intellectual and progressive
represent cases of full conversion, since they show all the characteristics of
nouns.
Partial conversion occurs when a word does not show all the characteristics
of the part of speech to which it belongs after conversion. For example, the
words poor and rich, which are originally adjectives, are used as nouns in the
following sentence:
The poor are getting poorer, the rich richer.
'Poor' and 'rich', however, do not show all the characteristics of nouns: first,
they can only be used with the determiner the, which must occur; secondly,
they only have a plural reference and there is no singular form. They are
therefore treated as cases of partial conversion.
In our account of conyersion we shall be concerned only with cases of full

conversion.
18.2.4 Conversion with Formal Modification
In 12.5, we discussed some cases in which the stem assumes a different form
when a suffix is added to it, e.g. the stem /haus/ assumes the form /hauz/
when the plural suffix /iz/ is added to it.
When the noun house is changed to the verb to house, we find the same
change occurring again: the noun house is pronounced / haus/, the verb to
house is pronounced 1 hauz/. If we looked only at the written form, we might
consider it to be a case of full conversion, since there is no change in spelling:
the change of the final sound is not reflected in spelling. However, there are
other words which show the change in pronunciation as well as in spelling,
e.g., advice (n.) and advise (v.), use (n.) and use (v.), belief (n.) and believe
(v.), half(n.) and halve'(v.).
The formal changes (changes in pronunciation and spelling) that these words
show when they change their part of speech are so minor and so regular that
we may include these words also among cases of conversion. Generally, the
change in pronunciation consists in turning the final voiceless consonant into
the corresponding voiced one (/s/>/z/, /f/>/v/, etc. and the change in spelling,
when it occurs, reflects this change. Some other words show different kinds
of changes in the sounds, sometimes accompanied by a change in the position
of the stress. Look at the following example:
conduct (v) kam'd~ktl > conduct (n.)/ ' kundnktl

conflict (v) karl'fl~kt > conflict (n.) /'kun.fl~kt/
All the above cases show the stress on the second syllable in verbs but on the
first syllable in nouns. ,In some cases there is also a change in a vowel sound
(e.g. in conduct, conflict, etc.). There is, however, no addition of a suffix
either in the noun or in the verb. We can therefore treat them as cases of
conversion with modification of form.
Check Your Progress 1 ' Derivational
Morphology3
1) Mark the following statements True or False:
i) Conversion, like derivation, is a process of work-formation.

ii) Conversion does not affect the meaning of the base.
iii) If a derivational affix has been added to a base, it cannot undergo
conversion.
iv) Conversion changes the part of speech of the base.
v) If an inflectional suffix has already been added to a base, it cannot
undergo conversion.
r 2) Consult a dictionary and write the pronunciation of the following

I
words both as verb and noun in phonetic script. Put the stress mark on
the stressed syllable as well.
1 convert, discount, extract, insult, permit, transfer
3) Study how the italicized words are used in the following sentences.
Say,
whether they are cases of conversion or not;
if they are cases of conversion, (a) whether they are cases of 'full
conversion' or 'partial conversion', and (b) whether conversion is
I accompanied by changes in form or not. Consult a dictionary for this
task.
i) He apologized for his late arrival.

....................................................................................
ii) Be careful when you approach the bend on the road.
....................................................................................
iii) He is a criminul.
....................................................................................
iv) It is my wish that you should all stay together.
i
I
....................................................................................
v) The old must help and guide the young.
....................................................................................
vi) He was asked to improve his conduct.
....................................................................................
vii) We tuotored down to Lucknow.
....................................................................................
viii) They parlitioned the room.
....................................................................................
ix) You need a work permit to go to Dubai.
....................................................................................
x) I'll n~ailit to you next week.
18.3 TYPES OF CONVERSION: CLASSIFICATION AND
DESCRIPTION
18.3.1 Classification
In 18.2.2 we stated that conversion, like suffixation, affects the grammar of

the base by changing its part of speech and that, therefore, cases of conversion
should also be classified on the basis of grammar. You will recall (fiom
Section 17.2.1) that we classified cases of suffixation on the basis of the part
of speech of both the word and the stem. In this way, we could divide suffixes
into noun suffixes, verb suffixes, adjective suffixes, etc., and subdivide each
type further into denominal, deverbal, deadjectival, etc. depending on the part
of speech of the stem.
Since there are no suffixes in conversion, how shall we classify cases of

conversion? Obviously, the only way of classifying cases of conversion
grammatically is to note the part of the speech of the base and the part of
speech of the word resulting from conversion. In this way, we will be able to
put cases of conversion into different classes like the following: conversion
from noun to verb; from verb to noun, from adjective to noun, from noun to
adjective, etc.
To make our classification more systematic, however, we shall follow the
two-step pattern of classification that we followed with cases of suffixation.
We shall first divide all cases of conversion according to the part of speech of
the word which results fiom conversion. We shall thus find the following
major types of conversion:
I) Conversion to Noun
11) Conversion to Verb
111) Conversion to Adjective
We shall then take the second step in classification and subdivide each type of
conversion (I, I 1 and 111) according to the part of speech of the base (i.e. the
word which undergoes conversion). Thus, the word which 'is converted to
noun (i.e. the base) may be a verb or it may be an adjective. Following our
terminology, we shall call such cases deverbal nouns and deadjectival nouns
respectively. This second step of classification produces the following
scheme of classification:
I) Conversion to Noun
1 A) from verb base: deverbal
I B) fiom adjective base: deadjectival
I C) from other bases
11) Conversion to Verb
11 A) from noun base: denominal
I1 B) from adjective base: deadjectival
I1 C) from other bases
Il1.A) from noun base: denominal
111 B) from verb base: deverbal
Ill C) from other bases
18.3.2 Direction of Conversion Derivational
Morphology-3
Look at the following examples of conversion:
Re careful when you approach the bend on the road.
1'11 grease the joints after you have cleaned them.
It is not difficult to make out that the italicized words are cases of conversion.
'There are two words bend, one a noun and the other a verb; hence one of them
must be the base and the other a result of conversion. Similarly, there are two
words grease, one a noun and the other a verb. In this case too, one must be
the base and the other a converted form, since they belong to different parts of
speech.
The important question is: How do we decide which one of the two words in
each case is the base and which the converted form? The question is
important since unless we answer it, we cannot classify the cases. For
example, is the noun hend the base, or is it a result of conversion? If it is the
base, the verb bend belongs to type (11. A), i.e. it is a denominal verb; if, on
the other hand, it is the result of conversion, then the verb bend is the base,
and the noun bend belongs to type(I.A.), i.e. it is a deverbal noun.
In section 12.4, we introduced some criteria precisely for deciding this issue.
'The criteria we introduced were the following:
i) The criterion of meaning: We know that nouns are names of objects

and persons and things, that verbs denote actions and that adjectives
denote qualities. Every word belonging to any of these categories can
be identified to some extent with the help of its meaning. The word
may later be converted into another part of speech with a slight change
of meaning. If we can identify the primary meaning of the word, we
can identify it as the base. For example, 'bend' primarily denotes an
action: the meaning of bend in 'bend on the road' is derived from the
verb hend. Hence the verb is the base, and the noun is a result of
conversion. Therefore the noun bend is a deverbal noun. Similarly,
we can identify the verb grease (in the second sentence above) as a
result of conversion from the noun grease, shce the primary meaning
of grease refers to an object. The verb grease is a denominal verb
meaning 'to apply grease'.
ii) The criterion of form: Some words contain prefixes or suffixes which
identify them as belonging to a particular part of speech, e.g., the
prefix re- occurs typically with verbs with the meaning 'to do the thing
denoted by the verb again', e.g., rebuild, reuse, reJll, etc. When some
of these verbs are converted into nouns (e.g., reJll, re-run, etc.), the
verb prefix helps us to identify the verb as the base. Similarly there
are some suffixes which occur only with nouns, e.g., -ion, -tion. When
words containing such sufllxes occur as verbs (e.g., to vacation, to
position, to commission), we can naturally conclude that they have
been converted from nouns. A similar statement can be made about
words containing the adjective suffix-y (as in dirty, jiIthy, watery,
sandy, empty) when some of them are used as verb+;., Don't dirty
the floor).
iii) The criterion of history: As we stated in 12.4, this criterion is

unreliable and we shall therefore not discuss it further.
18.3.3 Description
The criteria of meaning and form enable us to tix the direction of conversion
in most cases. We can, therefore, now oroceed to describe the cases of
conversion in English according to the scheme of classification suggested in
18.3.1.
I) Conversion to 6oun
I A) From Verb Base (Deverbal Nouns)
When verbs are converted into nouns, various kinds of meaning changes take
place. The noun may express any of the following meanings:
a) Agent of the action denoted by the verb, e.g., cheat, rebel, spy (in the
context 'He is a ................'.)
b) Object of the action denoted by the verb, e.g., catch and ,find in the
We went fishing and made a good catch (=amount of something
caught).
That was a real find (=something important that is discovered).
c) A single instance of the event or activity resulting tiom the action
denoted by the verb, e.g., attack, attempt, collap.se, cry, fall, hit, laugh,
look murder, search, etc., as in: They launched an attack, He gave a
laugh etc.
d) Instrument used for the action denoted by the verb e.g., cover, lift,
wrench:
Where is the cover of this computer? (=with which to cover)?
Use the lift (=with which to lift someone or something)
Where is the shoepolish? (=with which to polish shoes)?
e) Feeling, emotion, state of mind, etc. expressed by the action denoted
by the verb, e.g., desire, dislike, doubt, love, need, taste etc.
f) Place of the action denoted by the verb, e.g., dump (where garbage etc.
is dumped), retreat (where one retreats) etc.
I B) From adjective bases (Deadjectival Nouns)

Almost any adjective may take the definite article and function like a plural
noun (e.g. the poor, the rich) but such cases do not show all the properties of
nouns and we have therefore treated them as cases of partial conversion (see
18.2.3).
Some nouns derived from adjectives, however, show all the characteristics of
nouns and therefore are treated as cases of full conversion. They cannot only
be used as subjects, objects, etc., but can also be inflected for number and case
and can be modified by adjectives. There are two main types:
a) Words like criminal, intellectual, natural, noble, progressive etc., as in:

He's a natural for this game. The queen was dethroned by her own
nobles.
b) Words like daily, weekly, monthly, annual, etc. usually when they refer
to newspapers and magazines. These 'nouns' are derived by
shortening an adjective+ noun phrase (e.g., a weekly magazine) and
are therefore sometimes not treated as cases of conversion but as cases
of shortening.
I C) From other Bases Derivational
Morphology3
Nouns are sometimes also derived from particles, auxiliaries, conjunctions,
affixes and whole phrases, e.g.,
Particles: ...the ups and downs of life ...
Auxiliaries: This is a must.
Conjunctions: ...ifs and buts ...
Affixes: Socialism, communism and the other isms of the
modern world.. .
Phrases: a has-been, high-ups, know-how, etc.
11) Conversion to verb
11 A) From Noun Bases (Denominal Verbs)
Verbs which are converted from nouns convey various kinds of meanings
which can be expressed in another way by using the noun. For example, the
verb tofish, which is derived from the noun-fish, conveys the meaning which
can be expressed as to catch fish. Sometimes, meanings of a whole set of
verbs can be expressed in ways which are identical, e.g., the meanings of the
verbs, captczin, father, pilot, tailor, tutor, umpire, etc. can all be expressed as
'to take on the role denoted by the noun', as the following examples will
show:
Who will captain the team?
He tutors the students in Physics and Maths.
He piloted the plane in a most skilful manner.
He umpires all the local matches.
Here are a few other sets of verbs whose meanings can be specified in this
way.
a) Campaign, motion, orbit, parade, queue, etc meaning 'to perform the
action implied in the noun', e.g., We queued up for the medical
examination (=formed a queue). The spaceship orbited the earth
(=moved in an orbit).
b) Boftle, can, catalogue, floor ground, land, list, pocket, table, etc
meaning 'to put, or to be, inlon the place, container, etc. denoted by the
noun', e.g.,
He pocketed all the money (= put in his pocket)

She catalogued the books (= put into the catalogue)
c) Brake, cart, hammer, mirror, nail, screw, x-ray, knife, stone, etc.
meaning 'to perform an action by means of what the noun denotes',
e.g.,
He carted the goods away.
He nailed the notice to the post.
d) Butter, grease, mask, plaster, power, salt, wax, etc. meaning 'to
provide with, apply, etc. the substance denoted by the noun', e.g.,
Let me butter the toast.
She has wuxed the floor.
e) Bud, flower, seed, joke, echo, steam, coin, tunnel, etc meaning 'to
produce or make the thing denoted by the noun', e.g.,
Plants bud in spfing.
They tunneled through the mountain to reach the other side.
There are many other groups of words with meanings like 'to change into the
thing denoted by the noun' (e.g., cash,'cripple, group), 'to remove the object
denoted by the noun from someone or something' (e.g., dust, milk, heel, skin),
'to send by the means of communication denoted by the noun' (e.g., mail,
ship, bicycle, boat, motor), and so on.
I1 B) From Adjective Basles (Deadjectival verbs)
We can distinguish two main types of deadjectival verbs, intransitive and

transitive respectively:
a) Intransitive verbs with the meaning 'to be or become the quality

denoted by the adjective', e.g., bald, dry, empty, narrow, slim, sour.
Examples of their use are:
I am balding (=becoming bald)fast.
The road narrows (-becomes narrow) at that point.
b) Transitive verbs with the meaning 'to cause someone or something to
be or become the quality denoted by the adjective' e.g.,
Do not dirty the floor (=make dirty).
He humbled the enemy (=made him humble).
Other verbs of this type are dry,ji-ee, smooth, still, etc.
I1 C) From Other Bases
A few verbs are also produced by converting adverbs, particles and

interjections, e.g.
a) from adverbs: to nmr, tofurther in the sentences:

As we neared the city, we could see smoke rising.
His aim is tofuither his own interests.
b) from particles: up, 08down, etc. are often used as verbs in informal
speech, e.g.,
He upped and left (= got up suddenly).
The workers downed their tools (=put down).
c) from interjections: Hurrah! Shoo! etc. may sometimes be used as
verbs, e.g., He shooed the dog away.
111 A) From Noun Bases (Denominal Adjectives)
The number of adjectives derived from nouns is rather small. This may be
due to the fact that nouns can often be used in an adjective function while still
remaining nouns. For example, they are often placed before nouns in the
modifLing function (e.i., u brick house, a gold chain); they can also occur
after the verbs like adjectives e.g., It's a beauty instead of It'h beautiful. He's
a fool instead of He 'sfoolbh.
Derivational
111 B) From Verb Bases (Deverbal Adjectives)
Morphology-3
'There are no pure cases of conversion from verb to adjective. In 16.3.9, we
noted cases of 'conversion prefixes' which included the prefix a- in words like
asleep, afloat, aglow, etc. These are commonly regarded as adjectives derived
from verbs.
'The following diagram encapsulates the above information about conversion:
The part of speech resulting fro1n conversion
-/\
from from from from from from tibm from
verb adjective others noun adjective others noun verb
1) What are the two steps in the classification of conversion cases?

Choose the answer which gives the correct steps in the correct order:
i) First step: classification on the basis of meaning

Second step: classification on the basis of grammar
ii) First step: classitication on the basis of grammar
Second step: classification on the basis of meaning
iii) First step: classification on the basis of the part of speech of
the word resulting from conversion
Second step: classification on the basis of the part of speech of the
base
iv) First step: classification on the basis of the part of speech of the
base
Second step: classification on the basis of the part of speech of the
word resulting from conversion
2) Label the following words according to their category of classification.

For example, (i) is a denominal verb:
VERBS: (i) pilot
(i i) crowd
(iii) sour
(iv) blind
NOUNS (v) SPY
(vi) noble
(vii) cry
(viii) daily
3) Indicate the part of'speech of the italicized word in each sentence.

Then indicate the part of speech of the base from which it has been
converted:
i) He elbowed me out of the way.

ii) He was eyeing her with curiosity.
iii) Let her have her say.
i v) You gave me a scare.
v) She won't have ice-cream. She is trying to slim.
v i) 1 slaved through the week to finish the work on time.
vii) Have another try!
viii) When the time came to make the plunge, he shied away.
ix) The DMS has upped the price of milk again.
x> I'm feeling a bit down today.
18.4 LET US SUM UP
i) Conversion is a method of forming new words.

ii) Conversion creates a 'new' word by changing the part of speech of the
word but without adding any suffix to it.
iii) Conversion shows many similarities with derivation and may be
described as a kind of derivation: (a) Both produce 'new' words which
are listed in the dictionary separately from their bases; (b) In both
types, there is some meaning change, but the change is irregular; ( c)
Like most cases of derivation, particularly suffixation, conversion
changes the part of speech of the base;(d) A word which has
undergone conversion is like a word which contains a derivational
affix: both of them can take an additional derivational affix; (e)
Neither conversion nor derivation is possible, if an inflectional suffix
has been added.
iv) Conversion is ,more like suffixation than like prefixation. Like
suffixation, conversion changes the part of speech of the base, but does
not affect its meaning very significantly.
v) Since conversion is similar to derivational suffixation in every respect
except that it does not add a suffix, it has been called 'derivation with a
zero suffix.'
vi) Conversion is of two kinds: full and partial. When a converted word
shows all or most of the properties of the part of speech to which it
belongs, it is said to be a case of full conversion; otherwise it is a case
of partial conversion.
vii) Some cases of conversion undergo modification in pronunciation or
spelling, or both. These are not pure cases of conversion.
viii) Cases of conversion are classified on the basis of grammar. As in the
case of suffixation, a two step classification is used: first, the word is
classified on the basis of the pa? of speech of the word resulting from
conversion and,'second, it is sub-classified on the basis of the part of
speech of the base.
ix) The direction of conversion (i.e. which is the base and which is the
word resulting from conversion )is decided on the basis of two criteria:
the criterion of meaning and the criterion of form.
x) The cases of conversion are divided into three classes according to the
part of speech of the word resulting from conversion viz. Conversion
to noun, conversion to verb, and conversion to adjective. Each class is Derivational
further subdivided into three classes according to the part of speech of Morphology-3
the base. In addition a few conversions ofieach type may be from
some other bases.
18.5 KEY WORDS
Conversion: A process of derivation by which 'new'

words are created without the addition of
an affix.
Base: The word which undergoes conversion.
Direction of Conversion: Deciding which of the two words,
identical in form, is the base and which
the result of conversion, and the parts of
speech to which they respectively belong
Full Conversion: The type of conversion in which the
resulting word shows all or most of the
characteristics of the part of speech to
which it belongs.
Partial Conversion: The type of conversion in which the
resulting word shows only a few
characteristics of the part of speech to
which it belongs.
Conversion with change in form: Cases of conversion in which the base and
the resulting word show some
differences in the pronunciation of
certain sounds, stress, or spelling.
Classification of Conversion Cases: Putting the cases of conversion into
different classes according to the part of
speech of the resulting words and the
base.
Conve~sionto Noun: Where the ,word resulting from
conversion is a noun.
Conversion to VerbIAdjective: Where the word resulting from conversion is
a verblan adjective respectively.
Deadjectival: Derived from an adjective base.
Denominal: Derived from a noun base.
Deverbal: Derived from a verb base.
Collins COBLIILD English Language Dictionary(l987). London: Collins.

Katamba. F. (1993) Morphology, MacMillan, Basingstoke.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1 978). London: Longman.
I
Quirk R. and Greenbaum, S. (1 973). A University Grammar of English (App.

Morphology-2
18.7 ANSWERS

1) i) True ii) False iii) False iv) True v) True
2) Noun Verb
convert /'konvs:tl /kan'vs:t/
discount rd~skaunt/ /d~s'kaunt/
extract /E kstrakd /~ks'trakt/
insult /~ns~lt/ /~n's~lt/
permit l'ps:m~t/ /pam~t/
transfer rtraensf s:/ Itraens'f a /
3) i) arrival: Not a case of conversion

ii) bend: A case of full conversion without change in form
iii) criminal: Like bend
iv) wish: Like bend
v) The old .....the young: Both cases of partial conversion without
change in form
vi) conduct: A case of full conversion with change in form
vii) motored; A case of full conversion without change in form
viii) partitioned: Like motored
ix) permit: conversion with change in form
x) mail: A case of full conversion with change in form.
2) i) pilot denominal verb

ii) crowd denominal verb
iii) sour deadjectival verb
iv) blind deadjectival verb
v) SPY deverbal noun
vi) noble deadjectival noun
vii) cry deverbal noun
viii) daily deadjectival noun
3) i) elbowed verb, from noun base

i i) eyeing verb, from noun base
iii) say noun, from verb base
i v) scare noun, from verb base
v) slim verb, from adjective base
vi) slaved verb, from noun base
vii) try noun, from verb base
viii) plunge noun, from verb base
ix) upped verb, from adverb base
XI down adjective, from adverb base
UNIT 19 WORD COMPOUNDING-1
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Criteria for Defining Compounds
19.2.1 The Grammatical Criterion
1 9.2.2 The Phonological Criterion
19.2.3 The Semantic Criterion
19.2.4 Applying the Criteria
19.2.5 Some Other Consideration
Classification of Compounds
Some Minor Compound Types
19.4.1 The Coordinate (dvandva) Compound
19.4.2 The Combining-form Compound
1 9.4.3 'The Reduplicative Compound
19.4.4 The Phrase Compound
19.4.5 Morphologically Complex Compound
19.4.6 Compounds Involving Morphological Anaphora
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers

distinguish compounding as a process of word-formation distinct from
prefixation, suffixation, etc.
apply the grammatical, phonological and meaning criteria of
compounds in such a way as to
identify compounds and distinguish them from word combinations
which are not compounds,
L distinguish the major compound types: exocentric, endocentric and
appositional. and
classify compounds on a grammatical basis, and recognize the minor
compound types: coordinate combining-form, reduplicative and phrase
compounds, morphologically complex compounds and compounds
involving morphological anaphora.
19.1 INTRODUCTION
In 12.3 we described a compound as a word which ig made up wholly of two

or more parts which can also occur independently as words. Compounding
can accordingly be described as the process by which (usually two but
sometimes more) words are combined to form another word. Therefore, like
derivation, compounding too is a process of word-formation. The words
which result from compounding are 'new' words: not only are they listed
separately in the dictionary, they also take inflectional and derivational
affixes, and have independent meanings. In every respect they behave as
independent words and not merely as combinations of other words. When two
words are combined to,form a compound, they lose their independent entities
and become parts of the new word. The new word functions as a single word,
even if sometimes it is written as two words. The unity of the compound is
also the reason why we cannot speak of *a very blacklist or *a very black
market .Blacklist and black market, being nouns, cannot be modified by the
adverb very, though atheir first element, black, being an adjective, can be
modified by very. We can, on the other hand, speak of a very black sky, or of
a very black cat, which shows that black sky and black cat are not compounds,
but adjective +noun sequences, i.e. noun phrases.
Generally speaking, the part of the speech of the whole compound is the same
as the part of the speech of the rightmost member of the compound, which is
termed the head of the compound. For example, the rightmost member of the
compound high chair is a noun (the noun chair); hence, the whole compound
IS a noun.
19.2 CRITERIA FOR DEFINING COMPOUNDS
We notice that just as there are some adjective + noun combinations which are
compounds and others which are not, there are also some noun + noun
combinations which are compounds and others which are not. How do we
make this out? In other words, what are the criteria for defining compounds?
We stated above that a compound is distinguished from a combination (or a

phrase) by virtue of the fact that it functions as a single word (i.e. as a word
unit as distinguished from a phrase unit). The criteria for colnpounds are all
such that they try to show the 'unitary' character of the compounds and
contrast this 'unitary' character with the non-unitary character of phrases.
These criteria can be divided into three types:
having to do with grammar: the grammatical criterion,
having to do with pronunciation: the phonological criterion,
having to do with meaning: the semantic criterion.
The following diagram presents the above information:

Criteria for defining compounds
Grammatical ~hondlo~ical Semantic
Before we state these criteria, we must make it clear that not all criteria can be
applied to all compounds. Therefore no single criterion is sufficient to
distinguish compounds from phrases. We have to apply all the criteria in
order to identify a set of units, which can be called compounds. However, if
we are asked which criterion is the most widely applicable, and most reliable,
we will point to the criterion of meaning.
19.2.1 The Grammatical Criterion

Since compounds funition like single words, they show the grammatical
characteristics of single words. One such characteristic was mentioned above,
viz. that no part of a compound can be modified separately. Another
characteristic is that compounds cannot be divided by inserting some other Word
Compounding-l
material between the two parts. For example, the compounds high chair and
sweetheart cannot be changed to *higher chair and *sweeter heart by
introducing the comparative degree inflection on the adjectives. This is
because high and sweet do not function as full adjectives in compounds, but
merely as parts of single words.
Phrases, on the other hand, do not share these charhcteristics. Not only can
the words of a phrase be separately modified, but the parts of a phrase can be
separated by intervening material, e.g., higher goals, (a) kinder heart, etc,
which shows that high goals and (a) kind heart are not compounds but
phrases.
19.2.2 The Phonological Criterion

The phonological criterion that sometimes helps us to identify a compound is
the criterion of stress. As we stated in 12.3, compounds are generally
characterized by the stress on the first constituent; phrases, in contrast, have
the stress on both constituents. To recall the examples given in 12.3, the
compound darkroom (meaning a specially prepared room where photographs
are developed) is pronounced /'da:kru:m/ whereas the phrase (a) dark room
(meaning a room which is dark) is pronounced /'da:k'ru:m/. Other examples
of this type are:
I
Compound Phrase
'greenhouse (=a glass house for the kreen 'house (=a house which is
protection of plants) painted green)
'White House (= the official residence 'white 'house (= a house which is
of the U.S. President in Washington) painted white)
L
'bluckboard (=a dark smooth surface, 'black 'board (= a thin flat piece of
usually black or green, used especially cut wood painted black)
in school for writing on)
'bottleneck (=a situation that prevents 'bottle S 'neck (=the neck of a bottle)
smooth progress)
Compounds, however, do not follow this pattern of stress consistently. There

are some compounds which show the stress pattern of phrases, e.g., lfancy
'dress, 'white-'collar, 'White 'Paper, etc. (a 'white-'collar' job means a job
which does not require manual labour; 'White 'Paper refers to an official
report from the Government on a certain subject).
Stress is therefore not a reliable indicator of a compound. There are, however,

certain kinds of compounds (e.g., 'cooking apple; see section 19.3 below),
which a l ~ v a ydisplay
.~ the stress on the first constituent.
19.2.3 The Semantic Criterion
The semantic criterion states that compounds are sing4e units of meaning i.e.
the meaning of a compound cannot be logically derived from the meaning of
its parts separately. In 12.3, we gave examples like greenhouse and darkroom
to illustrate this point. One may, however, point to examples likeflowerpot,
drinking water, armchair, schoolbo~v,etc. and argue that the meanings of these
compounds are not very different from the combined meanings of their parts.
So it is necessary to make the meaning criterion more precise. First of all,
there are a large number of compounds whose meanings have nothing to do
with the meanings of their parts. Their meanings, as we stated in 12.3. are
idiomatic. Darkroom and greenhouse are of this type. Here are some more
examples of this type:
bird-brained stupid; silly (alsofeatherbrained)

blockhead a foolish person (usually male)
butter$ngers: a person who lets things fall or slip through
hisher fingers
highbrow: a person thought to show more than average
interest in art and intellectual matters
hotfoot (verb): to move fast
redcap : (in Britain) a military policeman
Such compounds are called Exocentric or Bahuvrihi compounds. The

meaning of such compounds lies outside the compound itself.
The meaning of compounds likeflowerpot, armchair, schoolboy, etc. does not

lie totally outside the compounds. We can derive some elements of meaning
from the compound itself, For example, an armchair is a type of chair and a
flowerpot is a type of pot. Here are some more examples of this type:
bedroom: a kind of room (for sleeping in)

folk dance: a kind of dance ('danced by common people)
house arrest: a kind of arrest (in which one cannot leave one's own
house)
raincoat: a kind of (light) coat (worn to keep the rain out)
The way meaning relationship is determined is different in different

compounds. In other bords, we must learn the relationship between the
meanings of the elements from a dictionary, just as we learn the meaning of
exocentric compounds from a dictionary. For example, home-sickness is
sicknessfor home and is caused by absence from home, while sea-sickness is
sickness because of the sea and is caused by the motion of the sea. Such
examples show that though we may know the meanings of the parts of a
compound, we cannot derive the meaning of the compound from them: the
meaning of the compound is not just a sum of the meanings of the parts. The
name given to compounds of this type is Endocentric compounds.
A third kind of compound is called an Appositional Compound. This kind

of compound is similar to endocentric compounds in one respect: its meaning
can also be expressed as 'a kind of ...'. For example, a hozrseboat is a kind of
boat, but it is also a kind of house. However, the description by the second
constituent is the preferred one. For example, a houseboat is better described
as 'a kind of a boat'.
19.2.4 Applying the Criteria
Whenever we wish to decide whether a particular item is a compound or not,

we can apply all the three types of criteria and see the result. Sometimes, one
criterion may not apply, but the other criteria should usually be sufficient to
give us an unambiguous answer. For example, if we wish to know whether or
not the following words are compounds, we can proceed in the indicated
manner:
democracy: , Not a compound: it cannot be divided into two independently Word
occurring parts. Compounding-1
toothbrush: Passes grammatical test: e.g., we cannot say *teech-brush or
*milk toothbrush; passes the stress test: 'toothbrush;passes the
meaning test: refers to a special type of brush. Hence a
compound.
19.2.5 Some Other Considerations

In ordinary everyday use of English, speakers often put together two nouns in
such a way that the first noun modities the second. For example, a shed for
bicycles may be called a bicycle shed. Such combinations are normally not
considered compounds. The main reason for not regarding them as
compounds is, however, that they are created to give a concise expression to a
momentarily occurring idea, and have not established themselves as lexical
items in the language.
The spelling of compounds unfortunately does not provide us with a reliable

clue to the status of a lexical item as a phrase 'or a compound. As we
mentioned in 12.3,.compounds may also be written as two words or as
hyphenated words. It is a problem for the language user to decide when a
compound is written as a single word (i.e., as a long word with no spaces
between the individual words), as a hyphenated word, and as a sequence of
words separated by spaces. For instance, bathroom, ape-man, and living room
are all compounds. We have to consult a dictionary to find out about how the
compound words are written. However, it is impossible to distinguish
compounds from phrases on the basis of writing conventions.

Say whether the italicised expression is a compound or a phrase. Do
not be guided by hyphens or spaces between words: consult a
dictionary if necessary:
i She has a strong hold on him.
i i) The northern part of the country is a stronghold of the rebels.
iii) The black box has been found. It will now be possible to find out why
the plane crashed.
i v) The question papers are in the black box.
v) He is suffering from growingpains.
vi) 'Computer Applications' is a growing area of study.
vii) When in England, I once travelled from London to York by coach. It
was a rather slow coach and took nearly 12 hours.
viii) Evan as a child, he was a slowcoach.
ix) The government brought out a White Paper on the Gujarat problem.
x) The teacher insisted that the students should use white paper only.
xi) He was wearing a black shirt with a white collar.
xii) Modem graduates prefer white-collar jobs.
19.3 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUNDS

As with suffixation and conversion, we use a system of double classification
with compounds also. First, all compounds are classified according to the part
of speech to which they belong. This step in classification reveals that the
majority of English compounds belong to the category of nouns. A smaller
number belong to the category of adjectives. The smallest number belongs to
the category of verbs and most of them are formed by a process of word-
formation which is known as back-formation. The first step of classification
thus produces three kinds of compounds:
I) Noun compounds
11) Adjective comp~unds
111) Verb compounds
The second step of sub-classification is based on the parts of speech to which
the constituent elements belong. With this type of sub-classification, we arrive
at the following scheme of classification of compounds:
I) Noun Compounds
I A) Noun + noun, e.g., ice cream, girl-friend, walking stick
I B) Verb + noun, e.g., breakfast, pickpocket
I C) Noun + verb e.g., sunshine, birth control
I D) Adjective + noun, e.g., darkroom, blackboard
I E) Verb + particle, e.g., dropout, fallout
1 F) Particle + verb, e.g., income, outcast
1 G) Particle + noun, e.g., afterthought, overdose
11) Adjective Compounds
I1 A) Noun + adjective, e.g., waterproox tax.flee, man-made
11 B) Adjectivk + adjective, e.g., icy-cold, deaf-mute
I1 C) Adverb + adjective, e.g., over-confident
11 D) Adjective + noun e.g., white-collar
111) Verb Compounds
I11 A) Noun + verb, e.g., brain-wash, bottle-feed
I11 B) Adjective + noun, e.g., blacklist, cold-shoulder
I11 C) Particle + verb, e.g., overflow, underestimate
Ill D) Adjective + verb, e.g., dty-clean, fine-tune
Note the following points about the type of sub-classification we have used in
this scheme:
i) In compounds like sunshine, birth control (Type l.C), we have

described the second constituents as verbs, though they also occur as
nouns. Similarly, in blacklist and cold-shoulder, we have called the
second constituents nouns, though they also occur as verbs. You will
come across mdny such instances in our description of compounds in
the next unit. The problem occurs because of conversion (Unit 18). In
all such cases, our sub-classification takes into account the part of
speech to which the constituent belongs in the associated sentence
which expresses its literal meaning. Thus, while dream in daydream is
taken to be a verb (someone dreams during the day), sleep in
sleepwalk is taken to be a noun (someone walks in sleep).
Compounds like walking stick, writing-table, dancing-girl etc. are

included in noun + noun (I A) type. This is because walking, writing,
dancing are gerunds, or nouns formed from verbs and expressing
actions or states. The meaning of a 'gerund+noun' compound can be
expressed in the same way as the meaning of a 'noun+noun'
compound. A wa(king stick is 'a stick for walking' just as a bath towel
is 'a towel for the bath'.
Compounds like man-made are treated as adjective compounds of the Word
ii) Compounding-1
noun+adjective (I1.A) type. The reason is that in such compounds the
second element is a (past) participle, which is a verb form used as an
adjective. For the same reason, compounds of the type breathtaking,
heart-breaking, God-fearing are also treated as noun + adjective
compounds, while long-awaited, newborn, good-looking, everlasting,
etc. are treated as Type (11. B), adjective + adjective, or as Tjpe (11. C),
adverb + adjective, & the case may be.
You do not have to be unduly worried about the types. What is more
important is that you should be able to understand the processes
involved in the formation of compounds.
1) Identify which of the following compounds are noun, adjective or verb

compounds:
book binding ...............................
downpour l______....--_._-.-------..----
drawback ..~...~~~-......-....-.
---.....
-
earthquake .._.----...__.-....-----.
._l-_.
farfetched -..-.1.---1---..1--__----.-------
heartfelt ---...---------
--.-------.-----
housekeep ----------.-..--------.-.------
killjoy -
1
.- 1
.-
--
--
--
--
-1
..
-.
--
--
--
..
..
outgrow ...............................
proofread ----------.------------.-------
red-hot ...............................
sleeping bag ...............................
stone-cold ...............................
we1I-read --------------.----------------
19.4 SOME MINOR COMPOUND TYPES
In your reading, you will sometimes come across compounds which do not fit
any of the types that we have discussed above. This is likely to happen since
we have included only the major compound types in our scheme of
classification. In this section, we shall give a brief description of some minor
types of compounds so that if you come across any of them in your reading,
you do not feel at a loss.
You may, for example, come across compounds like those italicized in the
i) Ali, the prodlrcer-director of the film, was also present.

ii) 'The ,vocio-economiccauses of the revolution are the most important.
iii) a. They all think her a goody-goody.
b. You must not dilly-dally any further on an important matter
like this.
iv) John's dog-in-the manger attitude did not come as a surprise to those
who knew him.
The compounds in these sentences illustrate six different types of compounds.

They are known as the coordinate compound, the combining-$orm compound,
the reduplicative compound , the phrase compound, morphologically complex
compound and compounds involving morphological anaphora, respectively.
Let us describe the six types which are presented in the following diagram:
coordinate Combining Reduplicative Phrase Complex ~ o r p h o l o ~ i c a l

Form Compound Anaphora
19.4.1 The Coordinate (dvandva) Compound
Compounds of this type are very few and are perhaps the least idiomatic of all
compounds. In a coordinate compound, both constituents are equally
important and no constit~ientalone can give the full description. For example,
aproducer-director is both a producer and a director: he is not just a director,
nor just a producer. Compounds of this type occur more frequently with
proper names, particularly in adjectival function, e.g., a French-German trade
pact. Some other adjectives are also sometimes combined in this way, e.g.,
auditory-visual, deaf-mute, etc.
19.4.2 The Combining-form Compound
In some compounds, one of the elements takes a special form which occurs
only when it is to be combined with another word in a compound. For
example, the word social occurs in the combining form socio-wh'en it is to be
compounded with another word. Other examples are psycho-for
psychological, bio-for biology or biological, astro-for astronomy or
astronomical, Euro-for European (in compounds like psycho-analysis, hio-
physics, astrophysics. Euro-dollar) .
19.4.3 The Reduplicative Compound
The compound goody-goody is a noun which refers to a person who behaves

very well in order to please others but is not really good. The idiomatic
character of the compound is therefore quite clear. What characterizes
compounds like goody-goody and dilly-dally is that they consist of two or
more elements which are either identical or differ only slightly. Such
compounds are used either to imitate sounds (e.g., tick-tock, how-wow), to
suggest alternating movements (e.g., ding-dong, zig-zag, ping-pong), to
suggest indecision (dilly-dally), useless talk (tittle-tattle), nonsense (hocus-
pocus), lack of substance (wishy-washy) etc., or to intensify the meaning of
the word (teeny-weeny 'very small', hush-hush= 'very secret').
19.4.4 The Phrase Compound Word
Compounding-1
Doubt is sometimes expressed whether espressions like 'dog-in-the manger'

should be considered compounds at all. There should be, however, no doubt
about their idiomatic character, e.g., dog-in-the-manger refers not to a dog but
to 'a person who does not wish others to enjoy what he cannot use for his own
enjoyment'. Some other compounds of this type sire father-in-law (son-in-
law, efc.), man in the street, man about town, man-of-war (= a warship), etc.
All of them, and others of this type, must be considered compounds because
of their idiomatic character. The reason for the doubt is that almost any kind
of grammatical structure can turn into a compound of this type, e.g.,
He had a I-don 't-care look on his face.
He made a pain-in-.~tomachgesture.
He gave me a I-wish-1could-do something look, etc.
It is, however, clear that such compounds have no idiomatic character: their
meaning is equal to the meaning of the phrase or clause which has been
turned into a modifier of a noun. Hence, we must make a distinction between
compounds like dog-in-the-manger and non-compounds like pain-in-stomach.
The former are properly called phrase compounds.
19.4.5 Morphologically Complex Compound
There are some compounds that involve combining morphologically complex

words. We can form compounds such as good-looker, odd-seeming, clever-
sounding in which the first word is an adjective and the second word is a
complex word formed by applying a suffix to the verb. We also have
compounds such as wage-earner, cave-a'weller, late-bloomer etc in which the
first word may be a noun or an adverb. The pattern that emerges is that these
co~npoundscan occur in a sentence form when the first word of the
compound can occur to the immediate right of the verb that corresponds to the
second part of the verb. For example, a good-looker is someone who looks
good.
19.4.6 Compounds Involving Morphological Anaphora

Anaphora involves a relation between, for example, a pronoun and an
antecedent noun phrase where the two are understood as being used to
refer to the same thing. In English, many compound words are created by
attaching selfto a noun or adjective where self indicates that the subject and
the object refer to the same entity. For instance, self-admirer means a person
who admires himself. However, selfdoes not directly attach to verbs.
1) Identify the type to which each of the following compounds belongs.

Use the following abbreviations:
C= Coordinate; C-F = Combining-form; R= Reduplicative; P= Phrase
Compounds; M C = Morphologically Complex
ii) fighter-bomber ................................................

iii) forget-me-not ................................................
iv) hotchpotch
v) Jack-in-the box
vi) king-emperor
vii) mumbo-jum bo
viii) photo-electric
ix) Sino-Indian
x) touch-me+not
xi) trend-setter
xi i) rapid1y-rising
LET US SUM UP
,ve made the following major points in this unit:
Compounding is a process of word-formation. In this process two (or
more) independently occurring words are combined to form a single
'new' word.
ii) Both grammatically, as well as in terms of meaning, the 'new' word
functions as a single word and not as a combination of two words,
iii) There are three kinds of criteria for distinguishing compounds from
word-combinatibns (or phrases): grammatical, phonological, and
semantic. Not all the three kinds of criteria may, however, apply to
each case.
iv) There are two grammatical criteria: a) no part of a compound can be
modified by another word separately, and b) nothing can be inserted
between the parts of a compound.
The phonological criterion is the criterion of stress. The vast majority
of compaunds have the stress on the first constituent. In a phrase on
the other hand, both constituents have the stress. Stress is, however,
not a very reliable criterion for defining a compound.
vi) The semiantic criterion states that the meaning of a compound is
idiomatia, i.e. it cannot be logically derived from the meaning of its
parts. The meaning of a phrase, on the other hand, is a combination of
the meanings of its constituent words.
vii) From the vieypoint of meaning, compounds are exocentric,
endocenttic, or appositional. In exocentric compounds, the meaning
lies totally outside the parts. In endocentric compounds some elements
of mean&g come from the meaning of the parts, but the relationship
between khese elements still lies outside the compound. Appositional
compoufids differ from endocentric. compounds in that both
constitueints of the compound can be used to describe the denoted
object.
viii) Though poun + noun combihations occur frequently in the day-to-day
use of English, only those noun combinations are considered
compounds which are well-established and ;how the stress pattern of Word
compounds. Compounding-1
ix) Spelling does not provide a criterion for compounds.
x) Three kinds of compounds are found in English: noun compounds,

adjective compounds, and verb compounds. The vast majority of
English compounds are nouns.
xi) Gerund + noun compound's are treated as noun + noun type, while
noun + participle compounds are treated as noun + adjective type.
xii) There are six minor compound types: coordinate, combining form,
reduplicative, phrase, morphologically complex and involving
morphological anaphora. In a coordinate compound, both its
constituents are equally important; one of the constituents occurs in a
special 'combining' form in combining-form compounds; in
reduplicative compounds, the second constituent either repeats the first
or is only slightly different from it; a phrase compound consists of a
grammatical structure with idiomatic meaning. Morphologically
complex compounds are formed with a noun, adjective or adverb as
the first part and a deverbal constituent (i.e., formed from a verb) as
the second one. Compounds involving morphological anaphora have
selfas the first constituent.
19.6 KEY WORDS
Compounds: A word made up wholly of two or more

parts each of which can occur independently
as a word.
Phrase: A combination of words which is not a
compound (i.e. does not behave as a single
word but as some bigger unit).
The Unitary Character of a Compound: The featutes of a compound which
show that it behaves like a single word.
Compound Stress: 'The stress pattern which occurs in most
compounds (viz. stress on the first
constituent).
The Idiomatic Character of Compounds: Refers to the fact that the meaning
of a compound cannot be derived from the
meaning of its parts.
Exocentric Compounds (or Bahuvrihi Compounds): Compounds whose
meaning has nothing to do with the meaning
of either of its constituents and 'lies totally
'outside'
Endocentric Compounds: Compounds whose meaning does not lie
totally 'outside' the compound, and has
something to do with the meaning of the
parts but cannot be derived totally from
them.
Appositional Compounds: Compounds both of whose constituents can
apply to the object they stand for (as
distinguished from endocentric compounds
where it is usually the second constituent
alone which applies to the object).
Coordinate (or Dvandva): Compounds whose meaning can be
described only by joining the meanings of
the constituents by 'and'.
Combining-form Compounds: Compounds in which one of the constituents
takes a special form, which occurs only
when it is combined with another element in
a compound.
Reduplicative compounds: Compounds in which the two constituents
are identical in form, or differ only slightly.
Phrase Compounds: Compounds consisting of more than two
constituents.
Morphologically complex compounds: Compounds having a deverbal
constituent as the second part.
Compounds involving morphological anaphora: Compounds having selfas
the first member.
Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary (1987). London: Collins.

Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication USA: MIT
Press 1995
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1978). London: Longman.
Matthews, P. (199 1) Morphololy (2" edn.), Cambridge University Press.
Quirk R. and Greenbaum, S. (1973). A University Grammar of English (App.
1). London: Longman.
19.8 ANSWERS
1) i) Phrase ii) Compound iii)Compound iv) Phrase

v) Compound viS Phrase vii) Phrase viii) Compound
ix) Compound x) Phrase xi) Phrase xii) Compound
1) bookbinding: (Noun); downpour: (Noun); drawback: (Noun);

earthquake: (Noun); farfetched: (Adjective); heartfelt: (Adjective);
housekeep: (Verb); killjoy: (Noun); outgrow: (Verb): proofread:
(Verb); red-hot: (Adjective); sleeping bag: (Noun); sleep-walk: (Verb);
stone-cold: (Adjective); well-read: (Adjective)

1) i) C-F ii) C iii) P iv) R V) p
vi) C vii) R viii) C-F ix) C-F X) p
xi) M-C; xii) M-C
UNIT 20 OTHER WORD FORMATION
PROCESSES
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Shortening the Existing Word(s)
20.2.1 Abbreviations
20.2.2 Acronyms
20.2.3 Clippings
20.2.4 Blending
Changing Meaning
20.3.1 Generification
20.3.2 Metaphorical Extension
20.3.3 Broadeningrnarrowing of Meaning
Changing Category
20.4.1 Backformation
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Some Useful Books
Answers
20.0 OBJECTIVES

identify the word formation processes other than those of inflectional and
derivational morphology, conversion and compounding, and
distinguish between the processes according to the criteria of shortening of
words, meaning change, and category change.
20.1 INTRODUCTJON
In the previous unit we discussed the criteria for defining compounds and told
you how to apply the criteria. We also described how compounds are
classified. Using a system of double classification, we arrived at a scheme of
classification which was given in Section 19.3.
According to this scheme, compounds are first classified on the basis of the
part of speech to which they belong. Three classes of compounds are thus
identified: noun compounds (Type I), adjective compounds (Type II), and
verb compounds (Type Ill). Each of these types is then sub-classified on the
basis of the parts of speech to which the constituents of each compound
belong. We also pointed out (19.3) that there were at least two other ways in
which the major types could be sub-classified: on the basis of meaning (as
exocentric, endocentric, appositional, etc.) and on the basis of the grammatical
relations obtaining between the constituents of the compound in a sentence
which expresses its literal meaning.
In this unit, we shall look at some other processes through which new words
are created. As you know, the lexicon (i.e. the store of words) of every
language keeps expanding to enable the language user to express new ideas,
new products, new inventions, and so on..
As the need for expression &velops, new words are either borrowed from
another language or coined or abbreviated in different ways. These processes
are some of the basic and general principles of word formation. In this unit,
we shall briefly talk about the following processes in formation of new words:
processes of abbreviations, acronyms, clippings, and blending,

processes of generification and metaphorical extension, broadening1
narrowing of meaning, and
process of backformation.
20.2 SHORTENING THE EXISTING WORD(S)
There is a tendency in languages to shorten expressions for ease of speaking

and for economy of sppce and this tendency can account for the creation of
new words.
20.2.1 Abbreviation
Many words are formed by abbreviating either a phrase or an existing word,

for example, we use B.A. to refer to Bachelor of Art, M.A. to refer to Master
of Art, and so on. The abbreviations are used as words and the actual phrases
are rarely used in speech or writing. There are also examples of contracted
words in English, for example, can 't for 'cannot', isn 't for 'is not', and so on.
There are also orthographic abbreviations exemplified by Mr. for Mister, Dr.
for doctor, etc. Sometimes, socio-cultural or ideological factors are
responsible for creating new abbreviations to fill a gap in the existing words.
Do you know that the abbreviated term of address, Ms. has come into
existence to correct the gender bias exhibited by English? Now, Ms. is the
counterpart of Mr. in that both the terms denote female as opposed to male
gender without giving additional information about the marital status of a
woman.
20.2.2 Acronyms
You must have come across kords such as radar, AIDS, laser. It may not
always be possible for you to knowlremember that these words are kinds of
abbreviations of 'radio detecting and ranging', 'Acquired Immuno Deficiency
Syndrome', and 'light amplification (by) stimulated emission (of) radiation',
respectively. These words are called acronyms; in other words, acronyms are
formed from the initial sounds or letters of a string of words such as a
scientific expression, a technological device or the name of an organization.
Though initially, these wods are created as acronyms, speakers soon forget
their origins and the acronyms enter a Language as new words.
20.2.3 Clippings
CIipping is another form of reducing the length of an existing word, for

example, pro$ forprofessor, lab for laboratory,fm for facsimile etc. Initially,
this happens in casual speech when a word of more than one syllable is
reduced to a shorter form. Gradually, these shorter forms appear in written
form and exist in their own rlght as words. Sometimes, these shorter forms
may almost replace the original words.
20.2.4 Blending Other Word
Formation
The combining of two separate words to form a single new word is present in Processes
the process of blending. However, blending is typically done by taking the
beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word. Words that
are so created are referred to as blends; for examble, motel is made from
motor and hotel, brunch from breakj4ast and lunch, smog from smoke and fog,
and so on. Blends share with compounds the fact that they involve two lexical
words in the base. Sometimes, acronyms tend to behave like blends when
more than one letter is taken from each of the words, for example, the German
word Gestapo from Geheime Staats Polizei " secret state police".
1) Write the lexical words which have been shortened and joined together
to form the following blends:
i) infomercial ii) edutainment iii) infotainment

iv) cafetorium v) telecast
2) State the process of word formation that is exemplified by the

following words, mentioning the base words'from which these have
been formed:
i) NATO ii) WHO iii) fantabulous

iv) bus v) plane
20.3 CHANGING MEANING
Another process of creating new words is that of changing meaning of the

existing words and creating new uses for the old words. Language is full of
metaphorical expressions which are either modifications or extensions of the
meaning that words have in the literal sense.
20.3.1 Generification
Generification refers to the process of using specific,brand names of products

as names for the products in general. You may know the terms kleenex and
Xerox. Do you know that Kleenex, which was a brand name for facial tissue, is
now used to denote facial tissue in general. Xerox is the name of the
corporation that produces a well-known photocopying machine but now the
term Xerox has lost its brand-specific connotation and is used to describe the
process of photocopying in general (He xeroxed the letter). This process is not
so productive, it must, however, be mentioned.
20.3.2 Metaphorical Extension

When the users of a language do not have words to convey the meaning of
new things which enter the world of their experience, it is not always
necessary that new words are coined all the time. New uses are added to the
existing words, thus enriching the language in its expressive power. For this.
words applicable to one realm of experience are extended to cover different
realms of experience. For example, note the extension of the word ship from
the realm of ocean navigation to space exploration to,refer to space vehicles as
well as to ocean-going vessels. Another interesting case is the metaphorical
extension of words from the physical realm of food and digestion into the
mental realm of ideas and interpersonal exchange of ideas. Consider the
following examples:
1.
.. She bit off more than she could chew.
11. Give me some time to chew on the idea.
iii. Don't ask me to swallow this idea.
You will notice that allqhe underlined words in the above sentences extend the
meaning from a physical realm to that of a mental one.
20.3.3 Broadeningmarrowing of Meaning
Another way in which new uses are added is by broadening the meaning of the
existing words. For example, the slang word cool was originally part of the
professional jargon of jazz musicians, referring to a specific style but it has
become a term of general approval, and may be used for anything conceivable.
Conversely, the meaning of the word can narrow as well. We can think of
meat as a typical example, which originally meant any solid consumable food
but now has a restricted meaning.
We shall not go into such meaning shifts any further; however, it is important
to be aware of such processes as they provide evidence about speakers'
linguistic creativity.
1) Think of any five new uses of existing words which have been added
to English lexicon to express deviceslactionsldata in computer
technology.
b
....................................................................................
20.4 CHANGING CATEGORY
Some new words are formed by changing the category of existing words.
20.4.1 Backformation
Backformation is a very interesting word formation process, which illustrates

the psychological reality of morphological rules. It is a process in which
language users form new words by reversing the word formation process. Lets
illustrate this by looking at the following verb-noun pairs:
Verb Noun
hawk hawker
swindle swindler
sculpt sculptor
burgle burgler
beg ~fXgar
edit editor
We may think that these verb-noun pairs exhibit the relationship that exists Other Word
between write-writer and hunt-hunter or in other words where the nouns are Formation
Processes
derived by attaching the suffix -er/-or to the verb. But the words given in the
table were not formed in this way. The history of these words shows that the
nouns hawker, swindler, sculptor, beggar and editor existed before the
corresponding verbs. The verbs hawk, swindle, sculpt, beg and edit were
formed from the nouns on the pattern of write- writer and hunt-hunter. Each
of the nouns had an agentive meaning of someone who does something and
speakers simply assumed that the sound at the end of each of these words was
the suffix -er/-or. Having made this assumption, speakers then naturally
subtracted the final +r/-or and formed the new verb just as we can arrive at
write by subtracting the suffix-er on writer. In short, backformation is the
process of using a word formation rule to analyse a simple word as if it were a
complex word in order to arrive at a new form.
A large number of verb compounds are also results of backformation. A few

common verb compounds and their noun sources are given below:
(to) babysit <babysitting

(to) bottle-feed<bottle-feeding
(to) brainwash<brainwashing
(to) chain-smoke< chain-smoker
(to) housekeep<housekeeper
(to) sight-seecsightseeing
(to) window-shop< window shopping
It is also interesting to note that the word backformation is also undergoing the
process of backformation. The technical word backformation existed first and
now we hear a new verb backform. It is obvious that speakers analyse the
ending -ation as a suffix which is used to create abstract nouns from verbs
(e.g. to instruct- instruction) and arrive at to backform from backformation.
We can see that backformation seems to be a produciive process; moreover, if

we do not have knowledge of etymology of words, we may not even realize
that some words are cases of backformation.
1) Write the source nouns for the following verbs which exhibit the
process of backformation:
(to) emote, (to) enthuse, (to) donate, (to) opt, (to) televise
2) 'The following compounds are results of backformation: Write the

source compounds for each of them.
(to) bottle-feed, (to) brainwash, (to) gatecrash, (to) glob-trot, (to)

housekeep, (to) sightsee, '(to) sleepwalk, (to) tape-record, (to) fine-
tune, (to) soft-land
....................................................................................
20.5 LET US SUM UP
i) As the need for expression develops, new words are coined in different
ways. These processes are some of the basic and general principles of
word formation and can be classified as the processes of shortening of
words, meaning change and category change.
ii) The process of shortening of words includes the processes of

abbreviations, acronyms, clippings, and blending. Abbreviation is a
very productive process by which new words are formed by
abbreviating existing words, e.g. Dr. for 'doctor'. Acronyms are
formed from the initial sounds or letters of a string of words, for
example, radar, laser, etc. Clipping is a way of reducing the length of
a word, e.g. fax for 'facsimile'. Blending is the process of taking the
beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word, e.g.
smog which is made from 'smoke' and 'fog'.
iii) Another procesg of coining new words is that of changing meaning of

the existing words. Generification refers to the process of using
specific brand names of products as names for the products in general,
e.g. the extension of xerox from the brand name to indicate
photocopying in general. New uses are added to the existing words as
metaphorical extension, to apply words from one realm of experience
to different realms of experience. For example, the word ship is
extended in its use from the realm of ocean navigation to space
exploration. Broadening and narrowing of the meaning of existing
words are another way of creating new words.
iv) Backformation is a very interesting word formation process involving

change of category, which illustrates the psychological reality of
morphological rules. It is a process in which language users form new
words by reversing the word formation process, for example a verb
hawk is formed by deleting the suffix -er from the noun 'hawker'
which came into existence earlier than the verb.
20.6 KEY WORDS
Abbreviation: Shortening either a phrase or word to form a new word

Acronym: Acronyms are formed from the initial sounds or letters of
a string of words such as the name of an organization, a
title or a scientific expression. They are more than just '
abbreviations because they are pronounced as new words.
Blending: Creating new words from parts of two already existing

words, for example motel from 'motor' and 'hotel'.
Generification: Using specific brand names of products to indicate the

product in general, e.g. the extension of xerox to indicate
photocopying in general.
Metaphorical Extension: Adding new uses to the basic meaning of words. Other Word
Formation
Backformation: A process of word-formation in which a new word
Processes
is formed by dropping a suffix, or a supposed
suffix, rather than, as is more usual in English, by
adding a suffix.
pp --
Collins COBII ILD English Language Dictionary ( 1 987). London: Collins.

Lingui.stic.r: An Introduction to Language and Communication USA: MIT
Press 1995
Yule. George: Study of Language
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ( 1978). London: Longman.
Quirk R. and Greenbaum, S. ( 1 973). A Univer.sily Grammar of English (App.
Radford, A. (1 999) et al. Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Spencer, A. and A. Zwicky (eds.) (1998) Handbook of Morphology,
Blackwell, w o r d .
20.8 ANSWERS

1) i) information and commercial
ii) education and entertainment
iii) information and entertainment
iv) cafeteria and auditorium
v) television and broadcast
2) i) acronym; North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
ii) acronym; World Health Organisation
iii) blending; fantastic + fabulous
iv) clipping; omnibus
v)- clipping; aero plane

I) emotion; enthusiasm; donation; option; television
2) bottle-feeding; brainwashing; gatecrasher; globetrotter; housekeeper;
sightseeing; sleepwalking; tape-recording; fine-tuning; soft-landing
UNIT 21 WHAT IS A SENTENCE?
structure
21 .O Objectives
21.1 Introduction
2 1.2 What is a Sentence?
.21.3 Order
2 1.4 Agreement
2 1.5 Types of Sentences
2 1.6 Block Language
21.7 Let Us Sum Up
21.8 Key Words
2 1.9 Suggested Reading
Answer
The purpose of this unit is to introduce you to the major features of a simple
sentence in English. We shall show you that a sentence is not just a group of
words randomly put together but an ordered string in which rules of agreement
govern the relationships among its different constituents, We shall also introduce
you to the di$tnt types of sentences in English. After you have completed the
work on this unit, you should be able to identify the simple sentences you hear or
read everyday. You should also be able to talk about their grammar with
somewhat greater awareness.
21.1 INTRODUCTION
Having dealt with phonetics, phonology, and morphology in Blocks 1-4,we shall
now take up syntax, that is, the structure of sentences in English. To help you get
ready for it we shall ask you to read some excerpts from books and newspapers.
We shall then use these excerpts to illustrate the important features of a simple
sentence.
21.2 WHAT IS A SENTENCE?
Read the following excerpts carefully paying attention to the type of language
used in each. You should notice how a proficient writer's use of language varies
according to who speaks to whom and on what occasion, etc. It also varies
depending on whether it is a dialogue (as in A), a description ( as in B) or any
other type of writing (e.g. newspaper headlines, advertisements, a lecture). In
reading each excerpt ask your self the following questions:
1. What kind of situation is the language being used in? (e.g. a

conversation between a) equals, b) a master and a helperlservant, c)
two friends, d) two strangers
Svntar- I: Sentence 2. Does that situation influence the structure of the sentence (e.g. Does
Structure-I the language used in the sentences of A differ from those of 13, C, or
D? If so, in what ways?)
A. Robert: No eggs! No eggs!! Thousand thunders, man, what do

you mean by-no eggs?
Steward: Sir, it is not my fault. It is the act of God.

Robert: Blasphemy. You tell me there are no eggs. And you
blame your Maker for it.
Steward: Sir, What can I do? I cannot lay eggs.
(G.B. Shaw: Saint Joan)
B. The Babus of Nayanjore were famous landlords. They were

noted for their princely extravagance. They would tear off the
rough border of their Dacca Muslin; it rubbed against their
delicate skin. They would spend thousands of rupees over the
wedding of a Kitten.
(Adapted from R. Tagore: 'The Babus of Nayanjore' in Hungvy

Stones and Other Stories.; Macmillan)
C. What is boredom? It is a state of mental and emotional tension. Is

boredom actually dangerous? Yes. It is dangerous. Men and
women will go to almost any lengths to escape it.
D i) Hope inLanka
ii) Advantage Graf
iii) Ceat Born tough.
iv) Onida.Neighbour's envy. Owner's pride.
v) Good morning.
Now, take a second careful look at all the sentences in the above excerpts. Are they
similar or different from each other? Do you, for example, think all the expressions
listed in D above are sentences? Is 'Yes' in C above a sentence? Is 'No eggs!' a
sentence? If yes, what type of a sentence is it? How will you characterise 'Is
boredom dangerous?' and 'What is boredom?' in C above?
From our school days, we have been told that every sentence will normally
have the following properties:
a) It will consist of a group of words which express a complete

thought.
b) It will have two major constituents, namely, subject gnd
predicate. Subject is closely related to who or what is being
talked about and predicate to the new informalion /hat is givc~n
about the subject.
c) It will start with a capital letter and end with a period (full-
stop), an exclamation mark, or a question mark when it is
written.
A good example is the sentence
1. The Babus of Nayanjore were famous landlords.

It starts with a capital letter and it ends with a full-stop also called What i:i s Sentence?
period. What does it consist o f ?
The Babus o f Nayan.jore
'These four words form the theme or subject matter o f the sentence and so
make up its sub-ject. What about 'were famous landlords'? 'They offer the new
infonnation about the subject that has already been introduced. They are called the
predicate. All the words in this sentence together express a complete thought.
You should similarly be able to identifji many similar sentences in the

above excerpts. Do so now by looking at the sentences found in each
excerpt. Doing so will help you get at the nature o f an English sentence.
Now look again at Sentence I. It consists o f 7 words. Can we arrange

these 7 words in any order than the one given in (I)? Yes, we can. We
can say, 'Were the Babus of Nayaniore famous landlords?' and thus
produce another type o f sentence. But we cannot arrange the words in
any other order. For example,
* Babus o f the Nayanjore.landlords were famous ....... will be both

unacceptable and ungrammatical.
What do we learn from this? First, that another property o f a sentence is that
d) It consists o f an ordered string o f words and not just a group of

words in any order.
We shall talk about word order in English sentences in some detail in 21.3 below.
Now, can we use 'was' instead o f 'were' in Sentence 1 ? The answer is 'no' because
the subject o f a sentence must agree with the verb used in that sentence. That &'wes us
one more property o f a sentence. i.e.,
e) That in an English sentence the form o f the verb depends on

the sub-ject.
We will have more to say about the nature o f subject-verb agreement i n 2 1.4
below.
A sentence is thus i) an ordered string o f words in which ii) the verb agrees
with the subject and iii) which expresses a complete thought. Most of the
sentences in the above excerpts end with a full stop. Some end with an
exclamation mark, and some with a question mark and some even, as in D.
without anything. We shall talk about different types o f sentences in 21.5
below.
Divide the following sentences into Subject and Predicate:
1. His brother grew happier gradually.

2. The Romans made him dictator.
3. 'The boys were waiting for the teacher.
Syntax- I : Sentence 4. The uses o f adversity are sweet.
Structure- I 5. The dwindling oxygen content in the city's air i s a result of rapid
industrialisation.
The train reaahed Ambala at about 9.p.m.
The soft Dacca Muslin rubbed against their delicate skin.
That tall girl is now a student at the University o f Allahabad.
Every feature o f the parent was found in the child.
Mohan searched the room carefully.
It is raining.
It i s your duty to respect your teachers.
Note: Subject (=Whbt/who is being talked about)

Predicate (= the information given about the subject)
........
..................... .....................................
21.3 WORD ORDER IN AN ENGLISH SENTENCE
The order o f words in an English sentence
1. Dacca kuslia stood out for its superb quality.
is, in most cases, fixed. I t does not permit any other acceptable combinatibn.
Ask yourself 'Is the order o f words in my native language equally fixed?' The
answer is likely to be 'no'. In many Indian languages word order is much more
flexible than in English. English too does sometimes shows some flexibility.
For example, consider'tbe following six words:
Suman, Vimla, book, gave, a, yesterday.
and try to construct as many English sentences as possible with them. In

principle you can make 720 different sentences with these words. But how
many o f them will actually be acceptable as English sentences? Perhaps only
the following:
2. Suman gave Vimla a book yesterday.

3. Vimla gave Suman a book yesterday.
4. Yesterday Vimla gave Suman a book.
5. Yesterday Suman gave Vimla a book.
We may in some cases also accept 'Suman yesterday gave Viinla a book' and
'Vimla yesterday gave Suman a book'. Yet the total number o f acceptable
sentences we can produce with these 6 words will not exceed 6 or 7. It is What is a Sentence?
thus clear that English puts severe restrictions on the way in which its words
may be arranged to form sentences. One of the most interesting and
rewarding ways of discovering the rules of sentence formation in a language
is to ask why a particular order is not permissible.
For example:
*gave Suman Vim la a book yesterday.
is ungrammatical. It brings out an important rule of English sentence structure,

namely, an assertive sentence, that is, a statement cannot begin with the verb.
In some other languages including some Indian languages it is normal to begin
a sentence with a verb. Similarly, the fact that in English we cannot say
*Suman gave Vimla book a yesterday.
shows that, in English, the articles (a. an, the) must come before nouns (e.g. a
hook). English sentences generally follow the Subject-Verb-Object order as
in (2) above.
The noun phrases used as the subject and the object have their own internal
order. The articles and adjectives, for example, precede the nouns they go
with (e.g. a new hook). Within the verb phrase, auxiliaries precede the main
verb (e.g. I amfauxiliary verb) running(the main verb). Adverbs too, despite
greater flexibility in their placement as in the case of 'yesterday' in sentences
3-5 above, can appear only at specific places in a sentence. The following
version of (2) is, for example, not acceptable.
*Suman gave Vimla a yesterday book.

Rearrange each of the following word groups in such a way that they make a
sentence. Use appropriate punctuation marks.
1. a noise, make, do, not
......................................................................................
2. are, where, you, going
......................................................................................
3. brave, how, is, she
......................................................................................
4. and milk, butter, cheese, made, from, are
......................................................................................
5. is, he, boy, troublesome, what, a
......................................................................................
6. own, your, mind, business
......................................................................................
7. matter, why, you, are, worried, about, so, this
......................................................................................
8. actually, is, dangerous, boredom
......................................................................................
9. ailments, incidence, insufficient, is, oxygen, the, reason, primary, for, the,
increasing, of, bronchial
10. to, asked, I, been, have, leave

Syntax-I: Sentence 21.4 AGREEMENT
Structure- I --
It is not enough for words to be in a certain order to form a sentence. There are
generally definite rules governing the relationships among different constituents of
a sentence. English has a very simple rule for the 'agreement' that must obtain
between the subject and the verb: a singular subject requires a singular verb and a
plural subject requires a plural verb. Thus
7. The door is open

and
8. The doors are open, are grammatical but

* The door are open.
* The doors is open.
are ungrammatical. Notice that in the case of pronouns, English treats both 'I'
and 'You' as plural for the purpose of agreement. Thus
-
9. I
We
You sleep well
They )
10. He
She sleeps well .Y
It
Did you notice that, in sentence (1) in 21.2, in the case of the noun phrase
'The Babus of Nayanjore' the agreement is with 'Babus' and not with
'Nayanjore? This is because when the subject of a sentence is a nominal group
(also called a 'noun phrase") as in (I)-it is the 'head' noun of the group that
decides the form of the verb. The head noun above is Babus and not Nayanjore
and therefore the form of the verb is decided by it.
In the following examples the 'head' of the subject noun phrase and the verb are
italicized:
1 1. Many pages of the book are missing.

12. The employment of young children is against the law.
Notice, however that the above principle of grammatical agreement i.e. singular
subject, singular verb; plural subject, pIural verb, may sometimes be violated. A
plural verb may be used if the subject is seen to be notionally plural. Collective
nouns, e.g. government,public, audience, etc. are often treated as notionally plural.
You may have often seen sentences like
13. The government are planning to revise their policies.

14. The audience were raising their hands in protest.
It will not be incorrect to use 'is' in (13). Why? Because the choice of the verb
really depends upon how the speaker views the collective noun in question. A
singular verb is in order if the noun is viewed as a single undivided body; a plural
verb will be required if it is viewed as a collection of individuals.
Check Your Progress 3 What i s a Sentence?
(a) Fill in the blanks with suitable forms of the verbs given in the brackets:
The tirst thing I ................(do) on arrival in any country................... (be)

to................(look) for books on its contemporary literature. As soon as
I ..............(reach) Birmingham, I ................(set out) with Professor Knud
Bugge, who................. (teach) comparative religions at a teacher's
institute, to .............(investigate) local bookstores. 1 soon.............
(realise) that I'd have to ....................(count) my pounds while in the U.K.
'Books, like everything else...............(be) murderously expensive. The
slenderest paperback of under 100 pages.............(cost) 5 pounds (roughly
equal to Rs.400).
1 (b) Fill in an appropriate verb in each of the following blanks:
The jury ............... divided in their opinion.

Mohan and Sumit................enjoying themselves.
Slow and steady..............the race.
Either you or he..............telling a lie.
Neither my brother nor I ...............happy-
The behaviour of the children................good
Each of the boys:............... given a prize.
The quality of these mangoes...........not good.
A series of talks.................been arranged at the college.
Mohan, as well as Sumit, .................at fault.
21.5 TYPE OF SENTENCES
What are the different types of sentences you notice in the excerpts in 21.2? First,
there are sentences that assert or declare something. These declarative sentences
can be either positive or negative. When a sentence is used to make a positive
statement, we label it as afirmative. For example,
15. Boredom is a state of mental tension.

16. They make him the editor every year.
J
Secondly, sentences that make negative statements are c lled negative sentences.
Like the affirmative sentences, they too start with a c ital letter and end with a
period. What makes them different is that they have a negative element in them.
For example,
17. It is not my fault.

1 8. The sun does not move round the earth.
The second category of sentences consists of question%They are also called

interrogative sentences.
Questions such as (19) and(20) below are called yes-no questions, because they
may be answered with 'Yes' or 'No'.
19. Is boredom dangerous?

20. Do they make him the editor every year?
Syntax-I: Sentence (Note: Refer back to Blocks 1 and 2 to learn about the intonation pattern that
Structllre-I generally goes with such sentences in spoken English; it is rising intonation)
Questions such as (21) and (22) below are called whquestions or information-
seeking questions. They cannot be answered by saying 'Yes' or 'No'. Like
statements questions also start with a capital letter and end with a question mark.
Whereas Yes-no questions start with some verbal element such as is, am, arc, do,
did,was, were , wh- questions start with a wh-word such as who, who!, where, etc.
2 1. What is boredom?
22. Who has done it?
(Note: Such questions are usually spoken with a falling intonation)
Thirdly, there are sentences which express strong or sudden feelings; they are called
exclamatory sentences. They too start with a capital letter but end with an
exclamation mark. For example,
23. How unbelievably brave the soldier was!

24. What utter nonsense the speaker told the audience!
Fourthly, sentences may also be used to express commands, requests, desires, etc.
Such sentences are called imperative sentences. There are two important facts to
keep in mind about these sentences .One, the subject of such sentences is invariably
'You' which is generally deleted. Two, unlike other sentence types, we can use
only the simple present tense form of the verb in imperative sentences. For
example;
25. Shut the door.

26. Do not make a noise.
A fifth category of sentences is not very productive in contemporary English. It is

called the subjunctive. It may be seen in certain set expressions which use only
the base form of the,verb as in
27. God save the queen!

28. So be it then!
29. Sufice it to say that .....
30. Come what may, T will leave tonight.
The subjunctive with hypothetical meaning may also be seen in suqh sentences as
3 1. If I were rich .......
32. 1 wish I were a king.
Notice that all such sentences use the form were. This is so in spite of the Fact that
the subject is I which normally takes was.
Notice also that like statements, questions can also be positive or negative.
However, positive and negative questions do not contrast in the same way as do
positive and negative statements. The negative statement
33. The lecture didn't start on time.
is the opposite of
34. The lecture started on time.
However, the question corresponding to (34) is not W h a t is a Sentence?
*Started the lecture on time?
It could be
35. Did the lecture start on time?
Notice that (35) is neutral with respect to the answer that could be given: it could
be 'yes' or 'no'. On the other hand, the question corresponding to (33) could also
be
36. Didn't the lecture start on time?
Which may be a way of expressing surprise or annoyance with the expected

answer 'no'.
It must also be clear to you by now that in English the first noun that appears in
the sentence is generally the subject. It is that noun that generally performs the
action denoted by the verb. However, sometimes either because the speaker is not
aware of the person responsible for the action or because helshe wishes to hide
herhis identity, or perhaps helshe wishes to shift the focus of the sentence from
the subject to the object, helshe generally uses what is called the passive sentence.
The sentence
37. The window was broken.
is in the passive voice. We either do not know who broke the window or we wish
to hide the identity of that person. Notice that in the passive voice, in addition to
bringing the object to the subject position, we use the verb be and the past
participle form of the verb break. The rules that govern the use of the English
passive will be discussed in a later unit, where we shall also look at the nature of
the passive voice much more fully..
Rearrange the following words to form sentences. Use capital letters and
punctuation marks at appropriate places. IdentifL the type of each sentence.
I, the, leave, room, once at

......................................................................................
2. a, cold, what, is, it, night
......................................................................................
3. in, holidays, the, go, where, you, did
......................................................................................
4. caught, thief, was, the, not
......................................................................................
5. a, girl, what, stupid, are, you
......................................................................................
6. found liquor, hand-pumps, flowing, police, the, in, Porbandar, out of
......................................................................................
7. Roopa, at, house, murdered, her was, afternoon, this
......................................................................................
8. these, we, pesticides, using, several, are, harmful, days
......................................................................................
Syntax-1: Sentence 9. far, you, walk, can, now
Structure-1 .....................................................................................
10. pretty, -she,in wedding, her how, dress, looks
21.6 BLOCK Y G U A G E -
From the discussion in 21.5, it should be clear that simple sentences can be
classified in terms of the following labels: Declarative, Interrogative,
Imperative, Exclamatory, Subjunctive and Passive. However, a number of
sentences used in the excerpts above raise another point for consideration. The
point is " How, for example, should we label the expressions in excerpt D in
21.2 above? Similarly, how do we classifj, an expression like 'No eggs!' of
A?" A few of them do not have the normal sentential constituents of subject
and predicate and yet each expresses a complete idea which we as readers or
listeners understand in the context. It is clear to us, for example, that in 2 1.2 A
the Steward has earlier said that there are no eggs and Robert is expressing
surprise and annoyance at the Steward's statement. In actual conversation and
in informal writing, we often delete several constituents which may be obvious
from the context.
Greetings like goad morning, goodbye, cheerlo, hello, hi, merry christma~,
happy new year, etc. are formulaic utterances and cannot be analysed
grammatically. They are used and learnt as fixed expressions for designated
occasions.
Many of the expressions included in excerpt I3 above are often seen in

newspaper headlines, labels, advertisements and notices. They also form part
of conversational English. In such cases, language use seem to deviate from
the normal rules of punctuation and sentence structure. Such language is used
for specific communbative purposes and is organised not in terms of subject.
predicate and agreement rules, but in terms of tixed expressions and phrases
which have their importance in specific contexts of language use. Language so
used is called block language. Many grammarians also give such language
use the label Fragments.
21.7 LET US SUM UP
A sentence is an ordered string of words which expresses a complete thought. It

generally consists of a subject and a predicate, and the verb in the predicate a p x s
with the subject. All sentences begin with a capital letter.
A declarative sentencemakes a statement, which can be positive or negative. It ends

with a period (a full stop).
An interrogative sentence contains a question and ends with a question mark. The
questions can be either 9s-no 'type or wh-type.
An exclamatory sentence expresses strong feelings and ends with an exclamation

mark.
An imperative sentence contains a command or a request. It too ends with a What i s a Scntence?
period.
The subjunctive expresses hypothetical meaning and often involves the use of
were. It may also be seen in some set expressions, e.g. Godsave the queen!
Formulaic expressions, e.g. greetings, block language or fragments are used for
specific communicative purposes .
Sentences in the passive voice are often used when we wish to give importance to
the thing done rather than the doer.
21.8 KEY WORDS
sentence: a group of words that makes a statement, question, request, etc. making
complete sense
decalarative: making statements
amrmative: making positive statements
negative: making negative statements
interrogative: asking questions
imperative: expressing commands, mquests, etc.
exclamatory: expressing strong feelings
subjunctive: expressing a condition, hypothesis, etc.
21.9 SUGGESTED READING
Close, R.A. 1975. A Reference Grammarfor Students of English. Longman, pp

1-3 and 35-39.
ejreenbaum, S 1996 The Oxford Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Quirk, R. et al. 1985 A Comprehemive Grammar of English. London:

Longman.
-- --
ANSWERS
---- - -
Check your PE&TLW1
subject Predicate
1. His brother grew happier gradually,
2. 'The Romans made him dictator.
3. ?he boys were waitingfor the teacher.
4. The uses of adversity are sweet. 15
Syntar-I: Sentence 5. The dwindling oygen is a result of rapid industrialization.
Structure-I content in the city's air
6. The train reached Arnbala at about 9 p.m.
7. The soft Dacca Muslin ~ b b e dagainst their delicate skin.
8. That tall girl is now a student at the University of Ynrk
9. Every feature of the parent was found in the child.
10. Mohan searched the room carehlly.
I I. It is raining (see the note below)
12 It is your duty to respect your teachers.
Note on the use of 'It'
Notice the use of 'It' in the excerpts in 21 2.Like any other pronoun, it has been
used to refer to something that has already been mentioned. For example, in C all
the occurrences of it refer to boredom. In B, the it in 'it rubbed against....' refers
to the rough border of the Dacca Muslin. In A, it refers to a state of affairs i.e. the
fact that there are no eggs. Two other uses of of 'it' need attention. One, it is
used to talk about time or weather as in (1I) in Exercise 1. Two, we also use it as
a provisional subject as in (12) in Exercise 1. The real subject in (12) is the
infinitive phrase 'to respect your teachers'. Here, the fbnction of it is simply to
introduce the real subject.

Do not make a noise.
Where are you going?
How brave she is!
Butter and cheese are made from milk.
What a troublesame boy he is!
Mind your own business.
Why are you so worried about this matter?
Boredom is actually dangerous. I Is boredom actually dangerous?
Insufficient oxygen is the primary reason for the increasing
incidence of bronchial ailments.
I have been askdd to leave.
Check Your Prograss3
a) do, is, look, reached, set out, teaches, investigate, realised, count, are,
costs.
b) 1. were 2. ware 3. wins 4. islwas 5. am 6. islwas
7.was 8.is 9. has 10. islwas
Leave the room at once! (Imperative)
What a cold night it is! (Exclamatory)
Where did you go in the holidays? (Interrogative)
The thief was not caught. (Passive, negative)
What a stupid girl you are! (Exclamatory)
The police found liqour flowing out of the hand pumps in Porbandar.
(Afirmative)
Roopa was murdered at her house this afternoon. (Passive, affirmative)
We are using several harmfbl pesticides these days. (Affirmative)
How far can you walk? (Interrogative)
How pretty she looks in her wedding dress! (Exclamatory)
UNIT 22 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
Structure
22.0 Objectives
22.1 Introduction
22.2 Basic Ele~nentsof a Sentence
22.3 Basic Sentence Patterns
22.4 Let Us Sum Up
22.5 Key Words1
22.6 Suggested Reading
Answers
The main aim of this unit is to introduce you to the basic sentence patterns of
English. However. we shall first introduce you to the essential elements (or
constituents) of an English sentence, namely, Subject, Verb, Object, Complement,
and Adverbial. A detailed analysis of these elements of the English sentence will
be done in the units that follow.
After you have completed this unit you should be able to identify the different
constituents of an English sentence - Subject, Verb, Object, Complement and
Adverbial. You should also be able to distinguish clearly between diwct and
indirecl objects, subject and object complement.^, a d subject complemen~sand
direct objecf.~
22.1
---
INTRODUCTION
In Unit 2 I , we tried to show you that a sentence is not just a string of words
which are randomly put together. If it were so, one could pick up the dictionary of
a language, learn the words in it and by putting them to use, start speaking the
language. But languages consist of systematically organised sentences and not just
words strung together at random. In fact there is a limited and definable set of
constituents that combine to make sentences. The set of tules which are used to
combine these constituents is also finite. But the infinite variety of sentences that
proticient users of a language both understand and produce are made possible by
the application of these rules. So an important point to remember at this stage is
that to use a language one makes use of a relatively small number of rules to
produce an unlimited number of sentences or, in speech, what are called
utterances.
22.2 BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE
You have already come across sentences such as the following in Unit 2 1 :
I. Sudhir is now a student at Delhi University.

2. 'Ihe Babus of Nayanjore were famous landlords.
Syntax-I: Sentence 3. Virnla has searched the room carefully.
Structitre- I 4. They made Rahul the captain this year.
5. It rained heavily last night.
6. Neha gave Sanjay a book yesterday.
7. My brother is playing hockey in the playground.
Each ofthese sentences is composed of all or most of the following basic elements:
Subject (S)
Verb (V)
Object (0)
Complement (C)
Advehial (A)
The last four, i.e Verb, Object, Complement and Adverbial. are parls of' the
predicate (P). Sentences are formed by combining S with one or more elemel \is of'
the P. So a normal sentence consists of S+P. Also note. however that in a nonnnl
sentence V is never optional. It is therefore said to be an essential part of every
sentence.
Sentence 4 above has, for example, all the live elcn~cnts.

S V 0 C A
They made Rahul the captain this ycar.
We talked about S and V briefly in Unit 21. But 0, C and A are new elements
that we shall discuss briefly below. A fuller discussion ofthese elements will be
taken up in subsequent units.
Objects:
Among objects we need to distinguish between Direct Objects (DO) and

Indirect Objects (10). In sentence 6 above, a book is the DO and Su17j~1j7the
10. Whatever is directly affected by the verb is called the 110. 'The 10 is
generally the recipient of what is directly affected by the verb. In an English
sentence, the IX) generally follows the 10.
Among complements, we need to distinguish between Subjcct Complements

(SC) and Object Complements (OC). In 1 above, a sludcwt is an SC because it
is directly related to the subject of the sentence, i.e. Sudhir. It is Sudhir who is
a student at Delhi Uni~ersit). In 4, the captain is an OC because it relates
directly to the object of the sentence i.e. Rahul. It is Rahul who is the captain.
It is also important to make sure that you do not confuse an SC and a DO. An
SC simply gives additional information about the subject. A DO on the other
hand is directly affected by the verb. For example in 8 below a doclor is an
SC because it only tells us something new about Nilima, the subject. 'Nilima'
and 'doctor', as you must see, refer to the same person.
8. Nilima is a doctor (S V SC)

9. He became the president (S V SC)
In 9 also, he and the president refer to the same person. The situation is
quite different in 10 and 1 1 below, where the objects a cuke ant1 fhr tloor
are directly influenced by the vcrbs made and opened
10. She made a cake. (S V DO) Basic Sentcnce Patterns
I I. Anju opened the door. (S V DO)
Notice also that Sentences 10 and 1 1 which have the S V DO pattern can be
converted into the passive voice. But Sentences 8 and 9 which have the S V
SC pattern cannot be passivised. Sentences 12 and 13 are the passives for 10
and I I :
12. A cake was made by her.
13. The door was opened by Anju.
Adverbials:
Adverbials (A) elaborate on the action denoted by the verb and generally form
answers to questions beginning with how, when, where, etc. For example, in
the case of Sentence I, the question asked, 'At what university is Sudhir a
student?' would lead to the answer: at 'Delhi University.' Here 'At Delhi
[Jniversity' is an Adverbial of place. Similarly adverbs tell us about the time,
manner, frequency, etc. of the action denoted by the verb. In Sentences 1-7,
MOIV, cvety jlerrr, last night, yeslerday are all adverbials of time; in the
pI(~jgroz~izdis an adverbial of place, and carefully is an adverb of manner; it
shows 'how so~nethingwas done'.
So far we have provided a very elementary discussion of the different
constituents of a sentence. Let us now analyse Sentences 1-7 in terms of the
following elements: S V SC 10 DO OC A. However,
before you look at the analytical table that follows please make sure that you
know well what each symbol (S,V...) stands for.
S V SC 10 DO OC A
Sudhir is a student now at
Delhi
Universitv
'The Babus of were famous
Nayanjore landlords
Vi~nla has the room carehlly.

searched
Thy made Rahul the this year
captain
It rained heavily
last night
Neha gave Sanjay a book yesterday
My brother is playing hockey on the

play
ground
223 BASIC SENTENCE PATI'ERNS
The above analysis of the seven sentences in 22.2 illustrates some of the basic
sentence patterns of English. In its simplest form an English sentence can
I
consist of only a subject and a verb, i.e. the pattern is
Syntax-1: Sentence
Structure- l PatternA). S V
as in the following sentences:
14. Fire (S) bums (V).

15. Birds(S)fly(V).
We may optionally add A (Adverbs) to these sentences as in
16. Fire (S) always (A) bums (V).

17. Birds (S) fly (V) every morning (A).
In fact all the seven sentences in 22.2 will make perfect sense without thc
element A.
One of the most frequently used patterns in English is thc
Pattern B) S V DO (A) (The element A is shown in brackcts to

indicate that it is optional). The pattern is illustrated in sentence 3 in 22.2 above.
Two more examples are:
18. Meera wrote a letter.

19. The good-looking teenager drives a scooter.
Sentence 6 in 22.2 above illustrates the very productive pattern

Pattern C). S V 10 DO (A)
Here are a few more examples.
20. The team (S) gave (V) their coach (10) an expensive parting gift (110).
21. Ravi (S) sent (V) me (10) an unexpectedly rriendly note (IX)).
Sentences 18 and 19 contain only one object each. Each of these sentences can
also have a passive voice form. But there are two objects each in 20 and 2 1 and
each of them may have two passive sentences corresponding to it as follows.
22. An expensive parting gift was given to the coach (by the team).
23. The coach was given an expensive parting gift.
24. An unexpectedly friendly note was sent to me (by Ravi).
25. 1 was sent an unexpectedly friendly note (by Ravi).
Usage Note:
As we saw above verbs like give, send, buy, tell take two objects, namely 10 and
DO. So too do verbs like suggest .
Example: I suggest we discuss the plan thoroughly.

I sugest you leave this plan to Govinda.
However, it is not good English to say:
*I suggested him this idea. Or
*We explained the committee our proposition.
The two ideas may be expressed thus:
1 suggested this idea to him.
We explained our proposition to the committee.
Another frequently used pattern of English, namely Basic Sentence Pattenls
Pattern D) S V sc (A)
is illustrated in Sentence 1 in 22.2 above. It may also be seen in the following
sentences.
26. Rajiv is a well-liked family doctor

27. The sky became dark.
The pattern
Pattern E) S V DO oc (A)
may be seen in Sentence 4 in 22.2 above and also in the following examples.
28. We named our son Mukul.

29. She called me a coward.
Although it is rare to find the same verb flexible enough to be used in all the above
major sentence patterns, it seems possible to illustrate all five patterns above by
using a verb like 'keep'. The following table does that:
Pattern S V SC 10 DO OC (A)
A. Tinned keeps indefinitely.
food
B. Mohan kept do@.
c. Mohan kept US seats.
D. Tinned keeps fresh.

rood
E. Blankets kept US m.
1. Look at the following sentences:

He brought some coffee. S V D O
He brought us some coffee. S V 10 DO
Use the following verbs to make up pairs of sentences similar to the
above:
i) give:..................
.. ......................................
...........................................................................
iii) lend: .....................................................................
...........................................................................
iv) sing: ........................................................................
-
Syntar- 1: Sentence v) ask:........................................................................

Strnctnrucl
...... .......................................................................
Place the follqwing sentences into three groups In each case add one or
more sentences of your own to help you become more fully aware of
the composition of each pattern and the important differences bctwccn
them.
a) S V b) S V SC c) S V DO
i. He became a national herd.

ii. The sun has set.
iii. We paused
iv Neetu can drive a car.
v The total is ninety-seven.
vi Meera's father is a doctor.
vii The men hunted animals.
viii Fire imterrupted the last perfomance.
ix They were flying kites.
x Birds fly.
,
S v
..............................................................................
S v SC
............................................................................. i
s v DO
.............................................................................. I
ldentifLthe patterns in the following sentences:
i) She became blind. .................................................

ii) Roopa became an excellent model. .............................
iii) I gave him all my money. ........................................
iv) That will save us a lot of trouble ...................................
v) We painted the house white. ......................................
vi) He wrote the letter quickly. ........................................
vii) Experience made her confident. .................................
viii) You promised me an ice-cream yesterday ...........................
ix) They will set the prisoners free on the 15th of August. ...........
x) He always brings sweets on Diwali. ..............................
f
It is sometimes possible to use either the S V 10 DO or the S V DO

OC pattern to say much the same thing as may be expressed in the
pattern S V DO, e.g.
i) Her explanation clarified the situation. (S V L)O)
ia) Her explanation made the situation clear. (S V DO OC')
ii) They fed the animals. (S V DO)
ii a) They gave the animals food. (S V 10 DO)
Make up a sentence based on either ia or iia above for each of the
following sentences.
i) They rewarded us ......................................................
ii) The journey tired him ..................................................
iii) Nobody can simylifL his theory....................................... Basic Sentcncc Patterns
iv) His eyes troubled him ...................................................
v) Man has tamed animals................................................
Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (0), Complement (C) and Adverbials (A) are the
basic elements from which d l sentences are made. V is never optional but A may
often be optiond. Objects may be Direct or Indirect. The Direct Object is the one
which is directly affected by the verb. A Subject Complement is directly related
to the Subject and an Object Complement is directly related to the Object. The
five basic patterns are: (A) S V (B) S V DO (C) S V 10 DO (D) S V SC (E) S V
DO OC.
22.5 KEY WORDS
Complement: that which makes something complete
Adverb: a word used to qualifj, a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
Quirk, R,et al. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longman.
ANSWERS
i) He gave a lot of money. He gave me a lot of money

ii) He sold a house. He sold me a house.
iii) He lends money. He always lends me money.
iv) He sang a nice song. He sang me a nice song.
v) May I ask a question? May I ask you a question?
7 S v ...
&. 11, 111, X
S V SC : .I, V, vi...
S V DO : iv, vii, vui, ix
3. i) S V
ii) S V
iii) S V
iv) S V
v) s v
vi) S V
vii) S V
viii) S V
ix) S V
X) S A
Syntau- I: Sentence i) They gave us rewards I
Slructure-I i i) The journey made him tired
iii) Nobody can make his theory simple
iv) His eyes gave him trouble
v) Man has made animals tame.
UNIT 23 THE SLBJECT
23.0 Objectives
23. I Introduction
23.2 The Notional View of 'Subject'
23.3 The Grammatical Aspects of 'Subject'
23.3.1 Subject-Verb Agreement
23.3.2 Question Formation
23.3.3 Passive Voice
23.4 Let Ils Sum Up
23.5 Keywords
Answers
- --
23.0 OBJECTIVES
- - --
The purpose of this unit is to introduce you in some detail to the notion of subject
in English. We will first discuss the traditional view of the notion of subject. We
will try to show you that this view is rather vague and imprecise. It does not help
us to identify the subject of a sentence unambiguously. We will then show that it
is better to define the subject grammatically. In doing so we shall make use of
some very simple grammatical tests which can be used to identify the subject with
greater accuracy.
After you have completed this unit, you should be able to identifjl the subject in
most of the sentences you hear or read everyday. You should also be able to give
syntactic reasons why a particular noun p h w should or should not be considered
the subject.
23.1 INTRODUCTION
In the last two units we introduced you to the major constituents of a sentence.
We noticed that the subject (S) is an obligatory constituent, which means that
every sentence needs a subject. In this unit we shall first look at the notional and
gram~naticalviews about the nature of the subject.
l'he notional view of the subject is based on considerations of meaning. It is also

called the logical view. In this view which has its support mainly in a long
grammatical tradition, one generally asks the question: 'Who are we talking
about?' or 'Who is performing the action' etc.? The typical role associated with
the subject is that of an agent, i.e. doer of the action. Sometimes the subject may
also have the role of an instrument or a recipient. But such notional views force us
to go beyond the structure of the sentence. Things become more and more vague
as we speculate which of the several things mentioned in a sentence may be
important, which one is the instrument and which the recipient. So what we need
to do is to characterise the notion of subject in such a way that there is no need to
go beyond the sentence.
~ v n t a r - I :Sentence There are very simple grammatical tests which can help us to identify the subject
Structure-I
in a sentence. As we noticed above, the verb in a sentence matches in person and
number with the subject of the sentence. That constitutes our first test. But we can
use two additional tests to identify the subject. One, if we change the given
sentence into a question, it is the subject noun phrase that will get switched
around with the auxiliary verb. Secondly, if we change an active sentence with a
transitive verb into a passive (voice) sentence, it is the subject noun phrase which
is taken to the end of the sentence in the shape of the by-phrase. I,et us now
proceed to a filler discussioh of the subject.
23.2 THE NOTIONAL VIEW OF 'SUBJECT'
The notion of subject remains rather ill-defined and vague in spite of the fact that
it has been discussed in great detail by traditional grammarians. The nature of
elements which can finction as subjects of sentences in English (or, for that
matter, in any language) is very large and complex. Also, there are a large number
of grammatical operations which can be understood only in relation to the notion
of subject. Finally, a subject can assume a variety of semantic roles in English,
which also means that it can perform different kinds of meaning-based mles.
Most traditional grammars provide a semantic or notional definition of subject. It

is defined as a set of one or more words in a sentence about which something is
said, or as we noted ih Unit 21 also, as the person responsible for the action
denoted by the verb. It is true that this is the most typical semantic role a subject
may assume in English. We may call this the agentive role. For example, in
1. Mohan closed the door.
the verb close denotes the action of closing and this action is performed by
Mohan, who is the subject in the above sentence and has the agentive role in it .
What does not appear to be captured by such a definition is the fact the subject
performs several other significant roles. Let us look at a few of those.
In the following sentence,
2. Kumudini Lakhia is an imaginative choreographer.
something new is being said about Kumudini Lakhia, who is therefore the subject.
The subject in English may often appear in an instrumental role. We see this
most clearly in the case of natural events not caused by human beings, as in
3. The floods destroyed several villages.

4. The h s t mined the flowers.
With intransitive verbs, the subject may have the role of someone/something
'affected', as in
5. The door opened.

6. She became angry.
Another important role a subject may assume is that of a recipient. particularly

with verbs such as own, possess, benejt, etc. The contrast between a recipient
subject and an agentive subject is best seen in the case of verbs like see and hear The Subject
on the one hand and look at and listen to on the other. For example, in
7. Umesh has seen a good deal-in his long life.

8. We heard someone crying.
IJme,vh and ltJehave a recipient role in 7 and 8. But in 9 and 10
9. Umesh looked at the pictures carefully,

10. We listened to him patiently.
IJn~eshand we have an agentive role.
The subject in English may also perform a locative role, i.e. it may indicate the
placc where the action takes place. For example, in
I I. Shirnla is very cold in winters.
Shimla is the locative subject as it indicates the place where it is cold.
The subject may also have a temporal function, i.e. it may indicate the time of
an action or state, as in
1 2. Last two years were really unlucky for me.
Finally, we often use it (see Unit 21 for the different functions of it as an empty
subject while talking about time, weather, etc.) in the subject position. In such
cases there is no semantic content in the word it. It only acts as a prop, as in
13. It's 8 o'clock.

14. It's hot in here.
Notice also that in many sentences the message may be such that no subject is
required to complete the meaning of the sentence. Such sentences may also be
rendered with it. Sentence 1 1 above may be rewritten as
15. It's very cold in Shimla in winters.
Identify the semantic roles associated with the italicized noun phrases in the
followilgsenb%xs :
Shahana Azmi protested against the murder of Safdar Hashmi.. .........

The heavy rairzr destroyed the crops again this year. .......................
The hunter killed the tiger .....................................................
The gun killed the tiger. .......................................................
This cur seats five people. ......................................................
Yesterduy was a holiday. .....................................................
The key opened the door .........................................................
They shot the soldiers. ..........................................................
He became angry ..........................................................
He possesses a beautiful house.. ................................................
Syntax- I: Sentence 23.3 THE GRAMMATICAL ASPECTS OF 'SUBJECT'
Striicture-1 -- -
. -. -
Though often helpful, notional definitions such as the ones discussed in 23.2
remain vague and imprecise. They are all based on our ability to identify what
is being talking about. And how do we know what the other person is talking
about? For example, in
16. Ravi gave the pen to Kirpal.
is the speaker talking about Ravi, Kirpal, or pen? What is required is some
grammatical rather than purely notional criteria which will help us to identify
the subject unambiguously. One such criterion, as we discussed in Unit 2 1 , is
the agreement that exists between the subject and the verb in a sentence. Rcad
what follows keeping in mind the fact that 'agreement' between the s~~bjectand
the verb is an extremely important part of an acceptable sentence in English.
233.1 Subjed-Verb Agreement
The subject of a sentence is a noun phrase, which controls the way in which
the person and number of the subject will be reflected in the verb. There is no
vagueness about the grammatical test. The noun phrase, which controls the
agreement marked in the verb is the sub-ject of the given sentence. Consider
again the following sentences you have already come across in the last two
units.
17. Sudhir is now a student at Delhi University.

18. The Babus of Nayanjore were famous landlords.
19. Vimla has searched the room carefully.
20. They make him the editor every year!
22. Neha gave Sanjay a book yesterday.
23. My brother is playing hockey in the playground.
In all the above sentences the verb matches the italicized noun phrase in
number. Grammatically, these phrases are the subjects. Sudhir is singular,
therefore the verb (is) must also be singular. But the noun phrase Bnb~rsof'
Nuyanjore with its headword in Babus is plural; therefore we say were, and so
on. We may say that in 17 a student is also singular and is may therefore be in
agreement with it rather than with Sudhir, and similarly that in 18 landlords is
plural like The Babus ofNayanjore. How then do we know that were matches
The Babus and not landlords? You must have noticed one thing in all the
above sentences, i.e. that in each of them the subject noun phrase precedes the
verb. Howeker, in 23:3.2 below we shall provide some more tests which will
help us to identify the subject of a sentence beyond any doubt.
First, let us consider some special cases of subject-verb agreement:
The subject of a sentence may often consist of two or more noun phrases and
in such cases we may have some doubts as to which noun phrase should
control the agreement to be found in the verb. Consider the following
sentences.
24. Anju and Poonrrm are coming home today. The Subject
25. Both his kindness and his sensitivity have been appreciated.
26. YourJiiendSujataalways calls in the morning
27. His marble-tiled house,(and)a memory to his wife, was completed last
year.
38. Either the srudents or the teachers are on strike.
29. Neither he nor his wife haslhave arrived.
Notice the following: And and both are correlative conjunctions; they always
conslitute a plural unit and take the plural verb as in 24 and 25 above. In 24,
we coi~ldsay Anjtr is coming and Poonam is also coming; they are c y i n g
together Notice. however that when the components of the compound noun
phrase refer to the same person or object, the verb is always singular. 26
provides un example of this. Here her friend and Sujata refer to the same
person. Similarly in 27 - it is the same house which is both marble-tiled and a
mernory to the wife of the person being talked about in this sentence. The
vcrbs in both the cases are therefore singular.
Now, what about 28? Let us look at it to see the rule at work:
When two nouns or noun phrases are coordinated by either.....or, the general
rule is that the number of the verb will match the number of the noun closest
to the verb. So in 28, since teachers is plural the plural verb are is used.
30. Either his teachers or your son himself is to be blamed,
though ~cucher,~ is plural, the sinbular is gets used since the noun phrase close to it,
rzcrmely your son, is singular. This principle of the subject-verb agreement being
decided by the noun phrase close to the verb is further illustrated in
31. Either my children or I am going.
Herc the person and number of am matches 1 rather than children.
Sentence 29 above which uses the negative correlative neither.... nor shows that in
this case both singular and plural verbal forms may be equally acceptable. But in
general it is better to maintain the principle of proximity and let the noun closer to the
verb decide the number of the verb; e.g :
32. Neither he nor hischildren have arrived.

33. Neither his children nor his wife has arrived.
though in 33 many proficient users may prefer have.
23.3.2 Question Formation
We can also make use of another test to identi@ the subject of a sentence. The
question forms corresponding to sentences 17-23 above will be
34. Is Sziu'hir now a student......?

35 . Were the Bnbu,~c~Nayunjore.. ......'?
36. t-lasVimlasearched....?
37. Do t h y make him ......?
Syntax-I: Sentence 38. Did it rain .......?
Structure- I 39. Did Neha give........?
40. Is my brother playing......?
What do you think has switched places in the process of forming questions? It is
obviously the subject marked by the italicized portions of sentences 1 7-23. So if
you are ever in doubt about the subject of a sentence, change it into a question.
The part that will get switched around with the auxiliary (or be used as a linking
verb) in this process is the subject of the sentence. In case there is no auxiliary in
the sentence as in 20, 21 and 22 above, introduce do to get the question fonns
37,38 and 39.
There can be yet another test to identify the subject of a sentence and it is the use
of the passive voice. This test can however be applies only if the active sente~~ce
has a transitive verb and an object as in. Why? Because as you will soon find out
only such sentences can have passive forms.
41. He wrote a book.
What is the subject in 41? Let us change it into the passive voice as in
42. A book was written by him;
The noun phrase which is taken to the end of the sentence in the Form of a hv-
phrase is the subject of 41. An important characteristic of the passivc sentence is
that it enables the speaker to focus on the person or things affected rathcr than on
the doer, In a majority of cases the by-phrare that incorporates tho subject can
often be deleted. This is because in life one comes across situations in which thc
doer of an action is either unknown or unimportant or the speaker sees the t ~ c d
to hide the doer's identity. In such situations the natural form to be used is the
passive, In such sentences the person or things affected naturally bccome the
grammatical subject, In
the glarses is the grammatical subject and the doer does not receive any
prominence; he/she/they/is are in fact not mentioned at all.
Sentences 19, 20 and 22 above have transitive verbs. We change them into the
comsponding passive sentences to get
44. The mom has been searched carefully (by Vimla).

45. He is made the editor every year (by them).
46. A book was given ta Sanjay yesterday (by Neha).
and notice that the by-phrases in the brackets above are the same as the subjects
of 19, 20 and 22 respectively. We also notice that the objects in 19, 20 and 22
have become grammatical subjects in 44-46 and control the subject-verb
agreement.
Check Your Progress 2 The Subiect
1. Turn the following sentences into questions and underline the noun phrase
which should be treated as the subject of the sentence:
i) Nanking claimed further gains in China's civil war.
............................................................................
ii) Business and industrial leaders in New York are predicting a
slump in world trade.
...........................................................................
iii) Kolkata is mnning out of atmospheric oxygen.
...........................................................................
iv) A strange invitation tumed up at newspaper ofices in Bombay.
...............................................................................
V) The march of modemisation is taking its toll of Lutyen's Delhi,
...........................................................................
vi) Town planners fear that Delhi may become a slum by the next
century.
...........................................................................
vii) Each of the criminals was tried separately,
...........................................................................
viii) Your blood pressure, as well as your temperature, is up today.

...........................................................................
ix) One of my best friends was killed yesterday.
2. IJx the passive voice test to identi@ the noun phrases which should be
treated as subjects of the following active sentences:
i) "The pol ice caught the thief immediately.

...........................................................................
ii) 'J'he manager of the factory distributed the wages yesterday.
................................................................
iii) Mr. Aiyer, the owner of the restaurant, orpnised a blood donation
camp.
...........................................................................
iv) Many private f i n s supply spurious drugs.
...........................................................................
v) The students took out a procession yesterday.
3. Underline the subject and fill in the blanks:
i) One of my brothers ...........coming to help me.

ii) The attempts on his life ...............
finally ceased,
iii) Neither of your remarks .............particularly polite.
iv) Either your brakes or your eyesight.............. at fault.
v) A play by Utpal Dutt ................... a major cultural event. And,
typically, the doyen of the Bengali theatre world ...............chosen an
unusual subject: Tipu Sultan's links with France. As a self-
avowed Marxist, Butt's views ................ far from
establishmentarian, Butt himself ............... Louis XVI. 'The
costumes ...............designed by Jean Claude Barriera.
vi) The decline in the functioning of our Parlianient.. ................
become a scandal. Our MPs ................. very sensitive if their
conduct ..................... ever commented upon. There is always
the threat that their privileges ..................not to be touched but
one ............. if they even think about .......... own record of
work.
23.4 LET US SUM UP
The subject of a given sentence may be viewed notionall) or grammatically.

Notional definitions tend to be vague and imprecise. Some simple grammatical
tests offer more accurate ways of identifying the subject of n senlence. These
tests include subject-verb agreement, question formation, and passive vcicc.
The subject noun phrase of a sentence will control the number and person of tl~e
verb used in that sentence. If we change the sentence into a qucstion, il is thc
subject noun phrase which will get switched with the auxiliary. In the passive
voice, the subject noun phrase is taken to the object position in the shape of a
by-phrase.
23.5 KEY WORDS
notional: speculative, based on subjective ideas

temporal: existing in time
correlative: having a mutual relation, words like cithci. and or are correlalive
conjunctions
proximity: nearness
Palmer, F. 1971. Grammar. Penguin. pp. 34 -40; 70 - 80.

Close, R. A.. 1975. A Rejkrence Grammarfor Students of Engfish. Longman.
Quirk, R. et al. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporay English. Longman.
ANSWERS
CheckYour Progress 1
1. Agentive 2. Instrumental 3. Agentive 4. Instrumental 5. Locative

6. Temporal 7. Instrumental 8. Agentive 9. Affected 10. Recipient
1. i), Did Nanking claim........?

ii) Are business and industrial leaders, in New York.... I
iii) Is Kolkatta......? The Subject
iv) Did a strange invitation turn up ..............7

v) Is the march of modernisation............ 1
vi) Do town planners fear that..........?

v i i) Was each of the criminals ..............7
v i i i ) I s your bloodpressure, as well as your temperature ................7
ix) s .........
Wasom of nv k . ~ t wkilled.. 7
2. i) The thief was caught immediately by the police.

ii) The wages were distributed yesterday by the manager of the
factory.
iii) A blood donation camp was organised by Mr. Aiyer, the owner
of the restaurant.
iv) Spurious drugs are supplied by manyprivate$rms
v) A procession was taken out by the sttidents yesterday.
3. i) is ii) have iii) is iv) is

v) is, has, are, plays, are. vi) has, are, is, are, wonders, their.
UNIT 24 THE PREDICATE: THE VERB
24.0 Objectives
24.1 Introduction
24.2 Verbal Elements of the Predicate
24.2.1 Tense
24.2.2 Aspect
24.2.3 Modality
24.2.4 Voice
24.2.5 Finite and non-finite verb phrases
24.3 Let Us Sum Up
24.4 Key Words
Answers
24.0 OBJECTIVES ----- - ---- ---.-
In Unit 23 we talked about the nature of the subject. In this and some of the
following units we shall talk about the nature of the predicate of a sentence. This
particular unit is devoted to a discussion of the verbal elements of the pndicate.
We shall try to analyse how the verbal elements of a sentence contain information
about 'tense9, 'aspect9, 'modality9 and 'voice9 of the situation described in that
particular sentence. We shall also examine some of the co~nplexways in which
information about the dimensions of tense, aspect and modality are interwoven in
the verb of a sentence.
After you have worked through this unit, you should be ablc to analyze those
aspects of the verb that tell us about the time at which the situation described in a
given sentence took place, the way it was seen by the speaker, hidher attitude
towards the situation, and the relationship that obtains between the action and thc
actor(s)
24.1 INTRODUCTION
o- --- ----
PI.
As we noticed in Unit 22, the predicate of a sentence consists of the obligatory

element 'verb' and the optional elements 'object', 'comglanentbnd the 'adverbial'.
It is possible to place all these elements of the predicate under the category 'verb
phrase'. One then has to separate the verb from the other elements oi'the predicate,
Here, we shall use the term verb phrase to refer to the verbal element only.
First of all, the verb in a sentence tells us about its tense. i,e, the time at which the
event or situation described in the sentence is to be located. It is by looking ul the
verb that we come to know whether what is described in the sentence took place in
the past, is happening now, or is going to take place at some point of time in the
Puturc. Further, it is the verb which tells us whether the speaker views the siti~ation
she is talking about as already completed, or still in progress. This is the The Predicate:
The Verb
dilnension of a.spect.
We shall see how English has verbal forms that correspond to the present and past
time. English does not have a verbal form that corresponds exclusively to the future
time. Though there are a variety of ways to indicate future time, English has no
future tense in the sense it has the present and the past tenses.
The form of the verb also gives us information about the mood of the speaker, i.e.
it tells us whether the speaker intends his utterance as a statement of fact, or as a
request, command, complaint etc. Thus (ense, uspect and modality are important
dimensions ofthe verb of a sentence.
'The verb also tells us about the relationship between the action and the actor in a
given sentence; this is the dimension of voice. The discussion of active and passive
voice also leads to a distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs. Finally,
we sliall make a distinction between finite and non-finite verb phrases. We shall get
to know that finite verb phrases are verbs that are limited by person and number
agreement between the subject and the verb; they are also marked for tense and
mood. None ofthis applies to non-finite verbs.
24.2 VERBAL ELEMENTS OF THE PREDICATE
As already pointed out, we can analyze sentences in terms of subject and

predicate. In lJnit 2.7, we discussed some of the grammatical properties associated
with the subject of a sentence. In this unit, we talk about the predicate.
A si~nplcscntence consists of a Subject and a Predicate. The Subject consists of a

noun phrase with a noun as its head, and the Predicate must have at least a verb or a
verb phrase with a verb as its head. Often you may come across sentences which have
only one word. In such sentences the subject noun phrase is deleted and is contextually
undelstaod. For example in
1. Listen!
2. Run!
The subiect noun phrase 'You' has been deleted. In an situati~nw h e the
~ speaker is,
far example, annoyed with the listener, hdshe may say 'You listen to me (and stop
bragging ...)
A common sentenceform is the two-wod sentence in which the subject noun phrnse is
by a noun and the verb phrase ofthe predicate by a verb, as in
~~pnsenteci
3, hpM.
4. Time flies.
But most sentences especially in writing have more than two words.
The Predicate of a sentence is best defined negatively. It is what is left of the

sentence alter we remove the subject. As we noted in 22.2, the predicate of a
sentence may consist of the obligatory element verb and one or more sf the
optional elements: ob,ject, complements, and Eidverbials. The most important
element in the Predicate is the verbal group. It c~nsistsof a verb and may
.5'rntcu: I: Sentence optionally be accompanied by other verbal elements. The hcatl of the verbal
Structure- I group (also called the verb phrase) is also called tlie prcdicator. For esatiiplc. in
5. Mohan washed the tar.
Mohan is the subject, and washed the car the predicate. In the predicate. \vc~vltct/is
die veh. It is also the predicator. There are no other verbal elements accotnpwiging
wa~hed.The other element in the above predicate is a noun phrase, the car,which is thc
object of wushed and consists of the prernodifier article and the head noun czu:
The vehal group in the predicate often consists of the Inail) verb plus some ailxiliar?;
verbas in
6. Kripal is writing a novel.
where the main verb write is accompanied by tlie auxiliary is and is in ttic
progressive form.
24.2.1 Tense
What is the nature of information contained in the verbal group (verb phrase) of
a sentence? The dictionary meaning ofthe head verb is of course very important.
It may denote an action as in drink, play, write, etc. or a process as i n grow.
change, melt, etc. or even a state as in dislike, see, understand. clc. BLIIin
addition to its dictionary meaning, the verb in thc predicate contai~isvery
important grammatical information as well.
First, as we noted in Unit 21, it tells us about the person and nuniber ol'the
subject. Do you remember the rule: singular subject. singular verb: plural subiect.
plural verb?
Secondly, the verb of a sentence is marked for tense, i.e. it tells us about thc
location of the event or situation contained in the senlencc in timc. It i s tlic vet-b
(at times along with associated adverbs) which tells us whether the spcahcr is
referring to what is happening now, or what happened vestcrdq: or what ~i,ill
happen tomorrow. Consider the following sentences:
7. The caravan is leaving now.

8. The caravan left yesterday.
9. The caravan will ltave tomorrow.
For the speaker of these sentences, the event contained in 7 is concurrent with the
moment of speaking; it is happening as he/she speaks about it. 'The event
contained in 8 is located dt some point in the past before the moment oj'spcaking,
whereas the event in 9 is located at some point after the moment of speaking. This
information is primarily contained in the verb phrases - is leaving, left and will
leave. You may like to go over the seven sentences in 22.2 and decide about the
location of each in time.
English has two tenses: present and past. It has also got two distinct verbal fontls
(e.g. walk, walked) which correspond to these tenses respectively. The first is the
base form, the second the -ed form.
English does not have a Future tense form as such. Though we ofien use it~illto
indicate future time, it is not always its primary function. In fact. English has a
variety of ways of indicating future time but there is no grammatical form The Predicate:
corresponding essentially to the f h r e tense. The auxiliary will is often used to The Verb
mark the future belongs really to the category of such modal verbs as can, may,
must, etc. Notice that like other modal verbs, and unlike the full verbs that are
capable of indicating present or past time, will does not show any person and
number agreement with the subject.
Contrast 10 and 1 1:
10. I/You/He/We/Tley will leave now.

1 1. Wou/Wemey leave now.
He leaves now.
It is thus clear that will - as seen in I0 above - is not sensitive to changes in the
person and number of the subject, while a full verb leave is. Even the non-modal
auxiliaries such as do, have, be, etc. are sensitive to changes in number, person
and tense. Consider the following table:
Person Number Present Past

I 1 Singular I do.,.. I did ...
I have ..... I had ....
I am.... 1 was...
We I Plural We do .... We did.. ..

We have .... We had
We are.... We were....
You Ii Singular You do.. .. You did ....

Plural You have .... You have ....
You are.. .. You were. ...
1-le 111 Singular He does.. .. He did ....

He has.. .. He had ....
He is .... He was....
They Ill PI ural They do .... They did.. ..

They have.. .. They had.. ..
They are .... They were.. ..
Notice above that the form of the verb be changes according to whether the
utterance is located in the present or the past time, a?d according to whether the
subject is the first, second or third person. In the present tense, we have is with
the third person singular he, are with the second person singular you, and with the
first. second and third person plurals we, you, they, and am with the first person
singular. In the past tense we have was with the first and third person singular,
and were with the second person singular you and -the first, second and third
person plurals we, you, they.
Compare this with the use of will and what do you find? That the use ofwill does
not show similar changes in shape and meaning. Though would does exist, it is
never used to indicate an event-locatedbefore the moment of speaking. Thus 12 is
acceptable but not 13.
S;yntax-1:Sewence 12. He wilYwould arrive tomorrow.
Structure- I * 13. He would arrive yestday.
In what follows we shall first discuss the present tense. This will be followed by
a discussion of the diffaent hnctions of the past tense. Then we shall discuss
some of the ways English uses to indicate future time.
The Prosent Tense

The primary function of the present tense is to locate the situation in the present
time; we use this tense to speak of states and processes which hold at the present
moment, the moment of speaking, though they have their beginning at some
point in the past and may well continue beyond the present moment. Here now
are the main uses ofthe present tense in English:
The simple present (algo called the present indefinite) form is often used to
express general truths which may be considered valid for all times, as in
14. The sun rises in the east every day.
1 5. Wood always floats on water.
The simple present is also used for habitual actions. We use it when we wish to
talk about actions which recur or about states and activities lasting for variable
periods of time. The following examples illustrate this use.
16. 1 wake up at six these days.
17. Politicians always make attractive promises during elections.
We also use the simple pEsent to talk of a past event when we wish to emphasise its
present i m m c e , as in
18. I understand from your letter that you will soon be coming to Delhi.
19. The caretaker's response makes me believe that there are no rooms
available now.
The actions to which the italicized verbs above refer have already taken place at
some point in the past (i.e.. the writing of the letter or the receipt of the response) but
we use the simple present because they are of present interest..
We also use the simple present tense for what is called the historical present, i.e.
to talk vividly about some past event, as in
20. Arjuna asks Lord Krishna to tell him what his duty is.
21. This is the story of a boy who runs away from home.
The simplepresent can also be used to express future time as in:
We leave for Mumbai labr in the day.
We shall say more on this in looking at different ways of referring to future

events.
The Simple Past Tense
The essential meaning associated with the use of the simple past tense forms is
the location of a given situation prior to the present moment.
The simple past tense denotes definite past time. As should be clear from The Predicate:
examples 14-19 above, when we use the simple present tense, the associated The Verb
adverbs used include everyday, always, these days, now etc. When we use the
simple past tense, the associated adverbs include yesterday, last summer, last
year, last night, etc. Thus the tense forms of verbs and the adverbs reinforce each
other's meaning.
The simple past is used when the time of action is detached from the. present
moment, as in
22. They visited Kashmir last year.

23. It rained last night.
A very frequent use of the simple past is to express habitual or regular actions
which are completed in the past and are not associated with the present. For
example.
24. As a child he completed his work in time.

25. 1 met him regularly last year.
The simple past may often be used with descriptive force adding vividness to an
utterance. It has this stylistic effect especially when a sequence of events (rather
than as single event) is expressed, as in
26. In her anger she shouted, she screamed, she cried.

27. Men shouted, women wept.
24.2.2 Aspect
Before we go on to discuss different ways of expressing hture time in English, it

is important to understand the nature of the different aspects indicated by the
verb in an English sentence. Aspect is essentially a matter of how the speaker
views the situation helshe is talking about. Does sheke view it as something
which finished at some point in the past, or as something which has present
relevance, or as something which is still in progress, etc.?
English has two aspectual contrasts, namely, Pe@ctiveNon-pe$ective, and

Progressive/lVon-progressive.The choice of a particular aspect is mainly a matter of
'
how the speaker views a given situation.
The perfective aspect involves the use of h / h a v e in the present tense and had in the
past tense followed by the past participle fom of the main verb (e.g. hashavet done,
gone and had + donelgone). Let us look at each in turn:
The Present Perfect
Contrast the following two sentences:
28. Anju lived in Delhi for ten years.

29. Anju has lived in Delhi for ten years.
In both these sentences, the speaker has located the state of Anju's living at some
point in the past. But whereas in the case of 28 he suggests that her stay in Delhi
has come to a close, in 29 the speaker indicates that she is still living in Delhi.
Syntax-1: Sentence The past non-perfect of 28 involves a period of time in the past that does not
Structure-I include the present. As against that the present perfect in 29 involves a period of
time that is inclusive ofboth past and present.
The present perfect is generally used for an action that started in the past but
whose relevance for the present moment is important, as in
30. 1 am sorry you can't see the minister. He has just arrived from Bombay.
(Here although the arrival took place in the past it is relevant to the present as it
interests the person who wants to see the minister)
Also important in undemtandiig the use of the present perfect is the fact that like the
simple present and past tenses, there is a set of adveirbials typically associated with it.
Advehials such as atpe,sent, ayet,just now, alrea&, since last week, etc. are used
with the present perfect but not with the simple past. For this reason Sentence 3 1 is a
grammatically correct sentence in English ,but not 32.
3 1. At present I have written three chapters.

*32. At present I wrote three chapters.
The Past Perfeet
The use of the past perfect can be said to involve a double dose of pastness: it has
the meaning of past-in-the-past. It is typically associated with an action or a state
completed before a certain time or some other action(s) in the past. For example.
in 33 and 34
33. He had written only one chapter till yesterday.

34. The train had lafi half an hour before I reached the station
The situation described is not simply past in relation to the moment of speaking;
it is past in relation to a specified moment that is already in the past, i.e.
yesterday, or my reaching the station. You will notice that whereas non-perf'ects
involve reference to a single point in time, the perfect aspects involve reference to
more than one point in time. In fact, the multiplicity of time reference points
makes the learning of perfect tenses more difficult.
The Progresiie Aspeat

The progressive or continuous aspect indicates an action in progress as compared
to the occurrence of an action or the existence of a state. It is used when the
speaker views the situation he is talking about as continuous action. This is true
of not only actions taking place in the present but also those taking place in the
past or those likely to take place in the future.
The Present Progmsd~e

It is used for an action in progress at the present moment. The action will have
started at some point in the past and will continue for sometime in the future. It
will be easier to underStand its nature if we contrast it with the simple present as
in
35. Tahira sings well.

36. Tahira is sing& well.
The Predicate:
In 35, we are talking about the competence of Tahira as a singer. She is known to The Verb
be a good singer. In 36, we refer to her act of singing now--the song is in
progress.
The present progressive is also used for vividness of description; the descriptive
force may often be intensified by the use of such adverbs as always, constant&,
perpetual(y, etc. For example,
37. He is always talking nonsense in the class.

38. Manisha is always coming lak to the class.
As we shall see later, the present progressive can also be used to indicate future
time.
The Past Progressive
The most frequent use of the past progressive is to express an action in progress at
a past moment. We may contrast the simple past and the past progressive, as in
39. Tahira sang well.

40. Ttthira was singing well.
Like the present progressive, the past progressive can also be used for vividness of
description, as in
4 1. My father wm always getting into trouble at that time.

42. tle was always going late to school as a child,
' The pmgressive aspect, both in the present and the pest tenses, is used to show the
incompletenessand limited duration of an activity.
For example, in
43. 1 war reding a novel that evening.
there is no suggestion that the reading was completed that evening. In

44. The doctor is typing his own letters these days.
there is a suggestion that the doctor is doing this work for a limited period.
Since the progressive aspect indicates actions in progress, it is natural that it

should be used with dynamic verbs of activity and process. Verbs which describe a
state, c.g. know, see, believe, etc. will normally not be used with the progressive
aspect. We normally don't come across sentences like
* 45. It is belonging to me.
*46. Iamst~ingthebook.
* 47. 1 am knowing the language, or *You must be knowing her.
In English we would normally say the following instead.

48. It belongs to me.
49. I am looking at the book.
50. I am learning the language. or You must know her.
@&ad: Sentence Usage Note:
Strnctu*l
It is important to remember that the verb b o w or love or remember describes a
state. It is a stative verb. It cannot be used with the progressive (ing) aspect. As
opposed to this, the verb learn or look or speak, involves a process. It is a dynamic
verb and can be used with the progressive aspect.
Notice also how dimensions of time and aspect are interwoven in the verbal
elements of a sentence. In 'war reading', war suggests location in the past, and -
ing action in progress. So the sentence shows both time (past) and aspect
(progressive)
The Perfect Progressive Tenses

It is possible to combine progressive with the perfect to get the present and past
perfect progressive tenses. The present perfect progressive tense is used to express
the duration of an action which was started sometime in the past and is still
continuing into the present moment. There is generally also a possibility of the
action continuing in futute.
5 1. 1have been mading this book since morning. It is still not finished,
52. I have been painting my house since yesterday. It is not even half finished.
The past perfect progressive denotes an action started som't:time ago, and lasting
until the past moment with which it is linked. in
53. The bell had been ringing for a good five minutes before the door was
opened.
The opening of the door itself is a moment in the past and the bell had been ringing
before that.
The above discussion shows how aspects of activity (aspect) and aspects of time
(tense) are interwoven in the verbal element of a sentence.
To summarise, we can rewrite the verbal elements of English sentences as

Tense ( / h e + en) (be + ing) Verb
where categories outside the brackets i.e. Tense and Verb are obligatory (- that
which cannot be left out) and the ones inside the brackets are optional. Every
English sentence must have a verb and should be marked for tense. The tense is
attached to the first verbal element in the sentence. We use Ixnye + en in the cast: of
the perfective aspect and be + ing in the case of the progressive aspect. The suffix
-en stands for the past participle form, as in eaten.
Let us take the verb eat in order to illustrate different combinations of the above
rule for representing the verbal elements of English sentences.
Example Tense
Tense + Verb He eats meat. Simple Prcsent
Tense + (have + en) + Verb He has eaten all the mangoes. Present Perfect
Tense + (be + ing) +Verb He is eating his dinner. Present Progressive
Tens&(have+en)+(be+ing)+Verb He has been eating since 8 o'clock Present
Perfect
Progressive
Tense + Verb He ate all the mangoes Simple Past The Predicatc:
'Tense + (have t en) -+.Verb He had eaten his dinner when Past Perfect The Verb
I went to see him.
Tense + (he + ing) + Verb He was eating his dinner when Past Progressive
1 went to see him.
Tenset(have+en)+(he+ing)+verb He had been sitting for half Past Perfect
an hour before 1 arrived Progressive
there.
Note: In each case the first element of the verbal group carries the tense marking.
24.2.3 Modality
Every sentence describes some situation. The tense of the verb in that sentence
tells LISat wliut pint in time that situation should be located. As we said above, the
dimension of aspect tells us how the speaker views the situation. The form of the
verb also tells us whether we should understand the given sentence as a statement
of fact, or as a command, request, or permission. This also points to what is called
the dimension of modality. Contrast 54 and 55.
54. He is a doctor,
55. He may be a doctor.
In the case of 54, we are sure that the person referred to as he is definitely a doctor.
In 55, we lack that knowledge because we are not sure about his profession. He
could be a doctor but we are uncertain. This uncertainty is coded in the verb. What
we are saying in effect is: I am not certain whether he is a doctor but there is a
possibility that he is.
Modal are also used in situations where one wishes to take or give permission, or
when one wishes to indicate someone's ability or inability to do something or also
the possibility/impossibility of something happening. We generally use the modal
auxiliaries -can, ma); will, must, should etc.- to express modality. For example,
can, could, rnw,nligh can all be used to seek permission as in 56.
can
56. Could I smoke in here?
n.iby....
Migh (less used)
The non-modal sentence would be
5 7. 1 smoke/smoked in here.
We often use the same modal verbs to indicate possibility, as in
58. The road could be blocked.

Syntax-I: Sentence Notice that though all the four versions of 58 express possibility, there are in~portant
Structure- 1 differences of meaning. When we say 'The road, can be blocked', we are only hinting,
at the theoretical possibility of its being blocked'. But when we say ' f i e road may be
blocked' we mean that it is possible that the road is actually blocked at this point of
time or wh& the listener gets there. The latter is a case of factual possibility.
We use can and could to indicate ability also, i.e. in the sense of 'able to'. as in
59. I canplay the sitar.
60. I could see him through the window.
We use should and must to indicate obligations and logical necessity. For
example,
6 1. You shouldfoldow his advice.

62. You must tell the truth.
l l e obligation becomes the strongest in the imperative mood as in
63. Tell the truth.
Ways of Expressing Future Time
There is a natural affinity between modality and future time. This may be because
both h r e and modality contain an element of uncertainty. We noticed above that
will does not mark futute time in the same way as the present and past tenses mark
the present and past time. We also said that there is a strong element of' modality in
the use of will. Sentences 64 and 65, for example, have an almost equal element of
uncertainty which sets them apart h m the sentence 'She is in Bombay now' where
the speaker/ writer knows the buth.
64. She may be in Bombay now.

65. She will be in Bombay now.
Very often when will is used to indicate W r e time, advdials reintbrce the
suggestion of future time as in
66. She will be in Bombay next month.
But in addition to will, English has several ways of expressing future time.
Here are a few of these:
We often use the simple present for a planned fbture action, particularly when it
concerns travel arrangements. For example,
67. We leave at seven sharp.

68. He urrives tomorrow.
We can also use the present progressive when the plans arc certain and are
generally in the near future.
69. Vimla is leaving at six tomomw morning.

Obviously we cannot use those verbs which normally do not take the progressive
aspect, i.e. the stative verbs. The verb see is an exception when it means visit, as
in
70. 1 am seeing him tonight. The Predicate:
The Verb
It is also common to use the form going to to indicate premeditated intention of
future action, as in
71. He is going to get married.

72. We are going to sell this house.
It may also be used to indicate 'future of present cause' as in
73. It's going to rain.
Often about to also indicates W r i t y as in
74. He is about to leave.
24.2.4 Voice
Another important dimension along which we can place the verbal elements in an
English sentence is that of voice. In English voice defines the relationship
between the action and the actor. The same set of facts can, for example be
reported in two ways -in the active voice
75. Vim la h a y searched the room.
or in the passive voice as in
76. The room hm been searched (by Vimla).
As you notice, passivization involves a total rearrangement of different parts-the

object noun phrase moves to the subject noun phrase position while the subject
noun phrase moves to the object noun phrase position and is very often preceded
by IT. There are important changes in the verb phrase as well. The passive
sentence above adds a form of the auxiliary be and adds -ed/-en to the main
verb. In a later unit well talk about the passive in greater detail. Here we may
note that voice changes are reflected in the verb.
It should be obvious that only those sentences can be passivised which have
objects. Verbs which can take objects are called transitive verbs. Verbs which do
not require objects are called intransitive. For example, the verbs rain and sleep in

78. 1 slept early last night.
do not require any objects. The verb search in 75 cannot be used without an
object. It is a transitive verb. Some verbs can take two objects. They are called
ditransitive. For example, give in
79. Neha gme Satjay a book yesterday.
243.5 Finite and Non-finite Verb Ph-
'Finite' means limited or bounded. A finite verb phrase in one that is limited by
properties of person, number, tense and mood. The verb phrase is called non-
~ ~ n t a1':r Sentence
- finite when it is not marked for these categories. For example, the infinitive lo
Structure-I go, or the participle form cooking in
80. I want to go.

8 1. He watched mother cooking the dinner.
are non-finite because they do not show any person or number agreement, nor are
they marked for tense or mood. Whether we say He wants/ You w a n m e y
wanted, 'to go' will remain as will 'cooking' in 81. They do not change with
person or time.
A finite verb phrase has tense distinction, i.e. it has the present and past tense
forms as in
82. He works hard.
worked
Secondly, it will show peason and number agreement. If we change he to the-v in
82, works will change to work The shape of the verb be changes according to the
person, as in
1am
83. You an? going.
He is
Thirdly, finite verb phrases are also marked for mood, i.e. they make clear whether
the sentence is an assertion, a request a command, or a wish.
Check Your Pngruss 1
1. Rewrite the following sentences changing the form of the verb according
to the tense indicated in the brackets. When necessaiy, change the adverbs
as well.
i) The party wants a different ally now. (Simple Past)

..............................................................................
ii) We heard a strange story last year. (Present Perfect)
..............................................................................
iii) She hid herself. (Past Progressive)
..............................................................................
iv) He works hard for his examination. (Present Progressive)
..............................................................................
v) The peon rings the bell everyday. (Present Progressive)
..............................................................................
vi) She lives in Delhi. (Present Perfect Progressive)
..............................................................................
vii) He wrote five letters yesterday. (Past Perfect)
..............................................................................
viii) He is playing chess. (Simple Present)
............................................................................
ix) The patiekit died. The doctor arrived only latcr. (Past Pcrfect)
He walked for five hours. Then they found him. (Past Perfect Thr Predicate:
x)
Progressive) Thr Verb
2. In the following sentences, identify (a) the verb phrase: (b) tense and
aspect; c) Modality; (d) Voice and (e) whether the verb is transitive or
intransitive.
i) You have been speaking for a long time.
..............................................................................
ii) You broke your promise.
..............................................................................
iii) Delhites may expect the monsoons next week.
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
iv) One of the suspected killers of the,army Jawan was arrested today.
v) I'he proposed national programme will concentrate on public

education.
vi) The story is about a young couple which surmounts the

mandatory obstacles.
..............................................................................
vii) Application forms can be obtained from the ofice.
..............................................................................
viii) 1 have been working on this novel for the past ten years.
..............................................................................
ix) He is always making trouble for us.
..............................................................................
x) Leave at once.
3. In the following sentences avoid using the modal verbs, e.g. may, cun, etc.
Use the appropriate form of the verb given in brackets. Also find out the
specific function for which the verbal form has been used.
Syntax-I: Sentence Madhu was looking pale today. The moment I (look) at her, I
Structnre-1 (know) that she was ill. But she kept smiling as if nothing
(happen) to her.
..............................................................................
i i) What a huge house it is! 1 (paint) it since morning and it is not
even half finished.
..............................................................................
iii) These days I generally have breakfast at eight because I (wake up)
at seven
i.............................................................................
iv) Sonia is a careless girl. Yesterday she left her bag in the school.
Her mother (get) angry. She asked her why she (leave) the bag in
the school. Sonia felt very sad. She thought if she (pick up) her
bag, she would not have been scolded.
..............................................................................
v) The stranger smiled as if she (see) me before.
vi) Arjun stands on the battlefield and (ask) Lord Krishna to tell him
what his duty is.
..............................................................................
vii) He (go)to Goa last summer.
..............................................................................
viii) The match (start) before we reached the field.
..............................................................................
ix) It (rain) since morning.
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
He (work) in this college for twenty years before he retired.
..............................................................................
4. Give the present perfect and present progressive counterparts of the The Predicate:
The Verb
following sentence and in each case comment on the difference in
meaning.
Sunita reads 'The Times of India'.
Give the present perfect counterpart of the following sentences and in each
case comment on the difference in meaning.
i) Sujata overslept this morning.
...............................................................................
ii) 'The chief minister resigned.
..............................................................................
iii) We found many printing errors in the book.
6. i) What evidence can you provide to show that will is not primarily
a marker of future tense in English?
..............................................................................
ii) What are the different hnctions of the simple present?
..............................................................................
iii) What arethe different functions of the simple past?
Syntax-1: Sentence
Structure-l
.....................................................................:........
iv) What are the basic meanings associated with the perfective and
the progressive aspects?
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
v) What are the different ways of expressing future time in English?
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
vi) List the changes that take place in the verb when we change a
sentence from the active voice to the passive voice?
..............................................................................
...............................................
I I . I I . . . I . I I I I . . I I I . I . I . 1
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
vii) What are the features of a finite verb?
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
--------
24.3 LET US SUM UP
In this unit we have tried to make you see the nature of information contained in
the verb of a sentence. You already know that the verb agrees with the subject
in person and number. We have now seen that it also tells us about the time
where the situation described in a given sentence should be located.
English has two tenses: the present tense to indicate present time, and the past
tense to indicate past time. Though it uses a variety of ways to indicate i'uture
time, it has no grammatical &tun tense, i.e. then are no forms to indicate future
time. The verb of a sentence also contains information about aspccl and
modality. It tells us whether the action described in the sentence is in progress
or not, or in the case of the perfective aspect, whether it involves reference to mom
than one point in time. The signs of the attitude sf the speaker towards the
sitdon shehe is talking about may also be seen in the verb. A finite verb is one which
is marked for person, number, tense and mood.
The Predicate:
24.4 KEY WORDS The Verb
aspect: tlie form a verb takes to indicate whether the action is in progress and
whether it involves reference to more than one point in time.
finite (verb): verb form limited by number, person, tense, or mood, e.g. am, was,
ave are finite verb forms and being and been are non-finite.
mood (in grammar): verb form that shows whether things are regarded as
certain, possible, doubtful, etc.
tense (in grammar): verb form that shows time
transitive verb: a verb that takes an object
24.5 SUGGESTED READINGS
Close, R.A. 1962. EngIkh as a Fornip Lagqp, George Alien & Unwin (Chapters 7
and 8)
Camrie, B. 1 985. Tense. CUP (Chaptm 1 and 2)
W h , G.N. 1971. Meanlng &the English Verb. h g m a n . (Chapten 1 to 5)
W uddlestsn, 8. 1988. Englirh Grrmmm.CUP. (Chapters 3 and 5)
Quirk at al. 1972. A G m m w ofContemprtay EtglIsh. Longman. (Chapter 3)
ANSWERS
----------.- -- --

1. i) The party wanted a different ally then.
i i) We have just heard a strange story.
iii) She was hiding herself
iv) lie is working hard for his examination.
v) The peon is ringing the bell now.
vi) She has been living in b l h i for a long time.
vii) He had written five letters till yesterday.
viii) He plays ches. I
ix) The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
x) He had been walking for five hours before they found him.
have been spaking, ppresent perfect progressive, statement, active,
,intransitive
i i) brska, simple past non-perfect, statement, active, transitive
iii) msy expect, fbture, possibility, active, transitive
iv) was amsted, simple @, statement, passive, transitive
v) will concenhwte, Wure of intention, active, transitive
vi) .stimou~s,simple present for vividness, statement, active, transitive
vi i) can be obtained present, permission, passive, transitive
viii) have been working, present perfect progressive, statement, active,
transitive .
ix) is making, present progressive, statement, active, transitive
Syntar-I: Sentence x) leave, imperative (the imperative verb normally does not show tense,
Structure- I aspect and voice distinctions)
(Note: Verbs like s p 4 comentrcde, work, etc. can be used both
transitively and intransitively.)
looked (simple past for vividness), knew (simple past for time of
action detached from the present). had happened (past perfect for the
past befare a moment in the past)
ii) have been painfing (present perfect progressive to express the
duration of an action which started in the past and is still in
progress)
iii) wake up (simple present to express habitual action)
iv) gor (simple past for past time), had le@ (past perfect for the past
before a point of time in the past) had picked up (past perfect for
an action before a past moment)
had seen (past perfect for an imaginary situation before a past
moment)
vi) asks (simple present for historical present)
vi i) went (simple past for an action detached fiom the present).
viii) had started (past perfect for an action before a past moment).
ix) has been raining (present perfect progressive to express the
duration of an action which started in the past and is still in
progress)
had bean working (past perfect progressive to express an action
started before, and lasting until the past moment with which it is
linked)
4. i) Sunita reads The Times of India',

ii) Sunita has read The........
iii) Sunita is reading The.....
Sentence I suggests that Sunita normally reads The Times of India. It is

her habit. Sentence 2 is about reading the newspaper on a particular day or
morning. The activity started at some point in the past and includes the
present moment. In 3, Sunita is reading the newspaper now. The activity
started at some point in the past and may continue for some time in the
filture.
5. i) Sujata has overslept this morning. (She may still be sleeping.)

iij The chief minister has resigned. (The news has just come in.)
Gi) We have found many printing errors in the book. (It is possible
that we will find more. Or The work done by the editor lacks
quality1
The present perfect is typically associated with recent past. It is most often
used when what we are talking about is of present interest.
6. i) . Refer to Section 24.2.1

ii) Refer to Section 24.2.1
iii) Refer to Section 24.2.1
iv) Refer to Section 24.2.2
v) Refer to Section 24.2.3
vi) Refer to Section 24.2.4
vii) Refer to Section 24.2.5
UNIT 25 OBJECTS AND COMPLEMENTS
Objectives
Introduction
Objects, Complements and Adverbials
Properties of Objects and Complements
Voice
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Suggested Reading
Answers
25.0 OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this unit is to discuss in some detail the properties of objects
and complements. We will show how the nature of objects and complements
differs from that of adverbials. We will also show how grammatical properties
associated with direct objects are not shared by subject complements. The
nature of indirect objects and object complements will also be examined.
Finally, we have a section on how sentences with objects can be changed into
the passive voice.
After you have completed the work on this unit, you should be able to (i)
identify objects and complements in sentences and give reasons for your
choice, and (ii) know how to use the passive voice in appropriate situations.
25.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 22, we noticed that simple sentences consist of five basic elements, viz.
Subject, Verb, Object, Complement and Adverbial. Unit 23 was devoted to a
detailed discussion of the nature of Subject in English. The properties of the
English Verb were discussed in Unit 24. This unit takes up the next two
constituents of a sentence, namely, Object and Complement. The nature of the
Adverbial will be discussed in BIock 6, Unit 26.
As you will see in 25.2, objects and complements behave quite differently from
adverbials. The former are necessary to the structure of a sentence while the
latter are optional. There are rules of.agreement that obtain between subjects
and their complements and between subjects and objects but there are no such
rules to bind adverbials in a sentence. We can easily omit adverbials and still
have sentences that make sense. Though direct objects and subject
complements may sometimes look alike they are very different grammatically.
For example, direct object sentences can be passivised but not the ones that
have subject complements. When we compare direct objects with indirect
objects, we notice that direct objects generally come after indirect objects. The
relationship of object complements to objects is similar to the relationship of
subject complements to subjects.
Syntax-I: Sentence
,
25.2 OBJECTS, COMPLEMENTS AND ADVERBIALS
Structure-1
Tn 22.2, we introduced the concept of direct and indirect objects as well as of

subject and object complements. The nature of objects and complements is
quite different form that of the adverbials. The following grammatical features
differentiate them:
a) Optionality of Adverbials: Objects and Complements may often be

obligatory in a sentence. Adverbials are always optional. Consider the
following sentences :
* I. He bought yesterday.
2. He bought a book.
* 3. They make Rahul every year.
, 4. They make Rahul the captain every year.
Sentences (1) and (3) are ungrammatical because the obligatory elements i.e., the
Direct Object book from (I), and the Object Complement captain from (3) are
missing. The verb buy is transitive and requires an object. It may or may not have
an adverbial. Similarly everyyear is optional in (4)
b) Freedom of Adverbials from Verbs : We are not allowed to use verbs and
objects/complements in whatever combination we like. For example,
corresponding to (2) above, (5) is ungrammatical.
* 5. He ate/hoped/cooked/drank a book.
This means that the selection of a particular type of object or complement depends
on the kind of main verb we wish to use. Eat for example will requirc a word like
chappati and cookzd a word like meal. The selection of adverbials is not
controlled in the same way. For example, we can use a number of adverbials in
the place of every year in (4) above. Look at the options in (6) below.
6. They make Rahul the captain every year

in Murnbai.
Again.
Occasionally.
There are other ways in which verbs control their objects and complements. Verbs
like scatter and disperse demand the use of plural objects (or singular objects
referring to groups) when they are used transitively e.g.
7. The officer dispersed the soldiers.
We cannot use soldier instead of soldiers. Similarly
* 8. The cup contains kindness.

* 9. The tree married a chocolate.
are ungrammatical because contain requires the use of concrete nouns as objects
and many involves two human participants. Some of these restrictions may,
however be often violated in poetry for achieving special effects.
It is thus clear that Objects and Complements differ from Adverbials in that they Objects and
are often obligatory and are controlled by the nature of the verb used in a given Complements
sentence. Ungrammatical sentences result if we drop them or if we use nouns that
are not in consonance with the nature ofthe verb.
The fact that objects and complements are more integral to the structure of a
sentence than adverbials is further demonstrated by rules of concord that obtain
between subjects/objects and their complements and between subjects and objects.
a) Complement agreement in number: The complements of subjects and objects

must agree with them in number. This rule of concord explains the
ul~grammaticallyof (1 0) and (I I) and the grammaticality of (12) and (13)
* 10. Sudhir is students at the university.

* 1 I. Illey elected Rahul captains.
12. Sudhir is a student at the university.
1 3. They elected Rahul captain.
In (10) the subject Sudhir is singular. Therefore its complement i.e. student must
also be singular. In (I I) the object Rahul is singular; therefore its complement
cnptain should also be singular as in (13).
b) Subject-object agreement: When we use reflexive pronouns e.g. himye&

hersselfetc. as objects, they too must agree in number, person and gender with the
subjects they represent. In (14)
14. Mohan hurt himself seriously.

15. She injured herself in the arm.
himselfagrees with Mohan in person, number and gender just as herselfdoes with
,she in (1 5). Reflexive pronouns agree with their antecedents i.e. the noun phrases
for which they may be regarded as substitutes. Compare (14) and (1 5) with
16. Malti hurt her.
where her refers not to Malti but to some other person. Notice that (1 6) can be
passivised but not (14) and (1 5). The passive in (1 7) is acceptable but not in (1 8)
and (19).
17. She was hurt by Mohan.

18. *Himself was hurt by Mohan seriously.
19. *Herself was injured by her in the arm.
Also notice the difference in meaning between
20. Anju saw herself in the mirror
and
21. Anju saw her in the mirror.
In (20) herselfis co-referential with Anju i.e. both refer to the same person, In
(21), her cannot refer to Anju i.e. Anju saw somebody else in the mirror.
Again, we can passivize (21) but not (20).
Syntax-1: Sentence Check Your Progress ,l
Structure-1
The following sentences are ungrammatical. Write down the grammatically
acceptable form for each and explain why you consider the sentence
ungrammatical.
1. He killed last year.

....................................................................................
2. We will make him tomorrow.
....................................................................................
3. They are all well-known painter.
....................................................................................
4. He appointed them lecturer.
...................................................................................
5. Suresh drank a table.
....................................................................................
6. Madhu wrote an apple.
....................................................................................
7. He scattered a coin on the table.
....................................................................................
8. Herself was slapped by Madhu.
....................................................................................
9. Ravi hurt herself in the fight. (Ravi is a male name here.)
.................................................................. k.................
10. They will elect Karan caplain.
-
25.3 PROPERTIES OF OBJECl?SAND COMPLEMENTS
In 22.2, we said that there was no scope for any confusion between direct
objects (DO) and subject complements (SC). Direct objects are elements which
are directly affected by the verb whereas subject complements simply give us
additional information about the subjects. In this section we examine the
differences between these two categories in greater detail.
a) Only NPs can be DOs : The DO slot in a sentence can be filled only by a noun
phrase. The SC slot may, on the other hand, be filled by an NP or an adjective.
Consider the following sentences:
22. He killed the thief.

* 23. He killed tall.
24. She is a genius.
25. She is brilliant.
Objects and
In (24) and (25) a genius and brilliant are SCs : the former is a noun phrase
Complements
but the latter is an adjective. The verb kill requires an object, Sentence (22) is
grammatical because the DO the thief is an NP. If we replace it by an adjective
as in (23), the sentence becomes ungrammatical. Now look at the following two
sentences. In (26)
26. He got restless, (where get has the meaning of become)

27. He got a prize, (where get has the meaning of obtain)
restless is an adjective and is an SC but in (27) aprize is an N P and is a DO.
b) Passivization : As noted earlier in 22.2, sentences with DOs can be

passivised but those with SCs cannot be passivised. Corresponding to (22)
above we can have the passive
28. The thief was killed by him.
but corresponding to (24) and (25) we can never have
+ 29. A genius is been by her.

* 30. Brilliant is been by her.
The complete ungrammaticality of (29) and (30) clearly brings out the
differences between DOs and SCs.
c) Number agreement : an SC must agree in number with the subject of the

sentence in which it appears. The number of a DO is selected independently of
the number of the subject. For example,
31. Chomsky is a great linguist.

+ 32. Chornsky is great linguists.
33. He bought a book.
34. He bought books.
Sentence (32) is ungrammatical because Chomsb is singular and will not

accept an SC that is plural in number. On the other hand, the DOs in (33) and
(34) are not controlled by the number of the subject. They can be singular or
plural.
We now turn to OC and 10. The object complement bears the same
relationship to the direct object as does the subject complement to the subject.
Consider the OCs in the following sentences:
35. They consider Chomsky a genius.

36. They consider Mohan dishonest.
In (35) the NP a genius is the OC and it agrees in number with the DO

C h ~ r n s bLike the SC the OC can also be an adjective, e.g. dishonest in (36).
Finally, when we passivise sentences, we find that like the SC, the OC also
cannot become the subject in the passive. Sentence (37) is not grammatical.
+ 37. A genius is considered Chomsky by them.

Syntw-I: Sentence What are the distinguishing properties of IO? As we noted in 22.2, I 0 appears
Stnicture-l generally when a DO is already present. It is the ditransitive verbs like give,
fo@ve, charge etc. that take two objects. Consider the following sentences:
38. Neha gave Sanjay a book.

39. The watch-maker charged Madhu one hundred and fifty rupees.
Sanjay and Madhu are 10s in the above sentences. We may note that both of
them are NPs. The I 0 slot is typically filled by an NP. The direct object is more
actively involved in the action/ situation denoted by a verb : in (38) it is the book
which is given and in (39) it is one hundred and fifty rupees that the watch-maker
charged. The properties of I 0 are:
a) Relative positions of DO and I 0 : As is clear fiom (38) and (39), DO follows
10. It is possible to have sentences with a DO only but we normally don't get
sentences with only an 10. Also we do not find the order S V DO I 0 , i.e.
sentences like.
40. *Neha gave a book Sanjay.

are ungrammatical. Where a sentence like
4 1. Madhu sent me some flowers.
has both DO and 10, it is possible to drop the I 0 but not the DO. If we drop me
fiom (41), the function of the DO i.e. someflowers remains unchanged. Bu if we
drop the DO to get
42. Madhu sent me.
me becomes the DO of send
b) Passivization: Sentences having two objects can be passivised in two ways.

Corresponding to (38) above we get the passives.
43. A book was given to S4ay by Neha.

44. Sanjay &as given a book by Neha.
In (43) the DO has been moved to the subject position, whereas in (44), the 10
has been moved to that position. Thus I 0 shares with DO the property of
becoming a subject through passivisation.
c) Association with parallel constructions with prepositions: Consider the

45. Neha gave a book to Sanjay. (Compare with 38 above)
46. Madhu sent some flowers for me. (Compare with 41 above)
Notice that it is only the 10 which is moved and plaeed after the preposition. The
DO does not have this property. There is an important difference between 10s and
prepositional phrases like to Sanjay. The 10s can become subjects through
passivisation but prepositional phrases cannot. Therefore the sentences
* 47. To Sanjay was given a book by Neha.

* 48. For me were sent some flowers by Madhu.
are ungrammatical.
check Your P r o g m ~2 Objects llnd
~o;illilernents
I Some of the following sentences contain indirect objects. Identify those
sentences and rewrite them using prepositions.
1) He slept well.
ii) You can build her a good house.
iii) He sent me some flowers.
iv) Sudha ate an apple.
v) The school gave them a holiday.
vi) We must buy her a decent present.
tii) She likes milk.
viii) The police caught him late in the evening.
ix) She lent me a large sum.
S) I made myself a cup of tea
2 Some of the sentences in Exercise 1 above contain only the direct objects.
Change those sentences into the passive voice.
3 ldentifjl the italicized constituents in the following sentences as Direct or

Indirect Objects or as Subject or Object Complements.
i) The policeman sounded the alarm .......................................

ii) She appears to be a decentperson.......................................
iii) They made him their leader. ........................................
iv) He taught himselfFrench. ............................................
v) Roses smell sweet. ...................................................
25.4 VOICE
We have been using the process of passivisation as a test for isolating different
properties of the constituents of a sentence. We will devote this section to an
analysis of the process itself.
It should be clear to you by now that the category of voice helps us to report the
same set of facts in two different ways. Consider sentences (22) and (28) above -
the former is in the active voice while the latter is in the passive voice. We may
ibrmalise the changes as follows:
i! Active: NPi (+ Am) + Verb+ NP2 (= Noun Phrasei+(Optional Auxiliary)+ Verb+

Noun Phrase 2) may be written as
Passive: NP2 (+ Am)+ Be + Verb + en + (by + NPi) (Noun Phrase 2 +(optional

1 auxiliary))+ verb Be+ en+ (optional by +Noun Phrase i)
!
syntax- I: Sentence This means that the process of passivisation involves the following changes:
Structure-l
i) Taking the ~ubjectNP to the end and bringing the object NP to the
subject NP position.
ii) Adding the preposition by before the shifted subject NP; the preposition
by + NP is optional; it can be deleted.
iii) Adding the appropriate form of the auxiliary be and using the past
participle form (the-enled form) of the verb.
Also important here is the fact that only sentences with transitive verbs (which
demand objects) can be passivised. The changes with different verbal forms can be
seen below:
Active Passive
He kills the thief The thief is killed (by him).
He killed the thief. The thief was killed (by him).
He has killed the thief. The thief has been killed (by him).
He i? killing the thief. The thiefis,beingkilled (by him).
He may kill the thief. The thief may be killed (by him).
He may have killed the thief. The thief may have been killed (by him).
t form of the verb be is determined by the properties of the

You will notice t h ~the
verb in the active voice. It retains the form be if there is a modal verb like may,
can, shall, etc., takes the form Been if we have the perfective aspect marker had
have I had +-en in the active voice, being if we have the progressive aspect marker
ing as the active, is if the active is in the present tense, and wus if it is in the past
tense.
The passive voice is used not only as an equivalent to the active for saying
what we wish to say. There are situations in which only the passive voice is
appropriate the same way' as there are situations where the active form is
appropriate .We use the passive when we are either ignorant about the person
responsible for the action we wish to speak about or when we deliberately
wish to hide his or her identity. You must have frequently come across
expressions like 'It is learnt that...', 'It is alleged that.....', 'It is reported that ....'
etc. All these are in the passive voice. In each case the writer wishes to hide (or
is unsure about) the source of his information. In the case of sentences like
'Yesterday an old woman was killed in South Delhi', we use the passive voice
because we do not know (for sure) who killed the woman. Here are some more
examples of how our deficient knowledge precludes the possibility of
mentioning the subject.
49. Mohit was killed in a road accident.
50. His plans were frustrated in one way or another.
5 1. He was tempted to take the bribe.
52. His political understanding has been questioned.
The passive voice is also used to avoid saying 'I, we' etc. to show humility and
modesty. It may be more modest for the painter to say.
53. This painting was completed in 2004.

than
54. I completed this painting in 2004.
If the active sentence has two objects as in Objects and
Complements
55. Madhu lent me twenty rupees.
there is a possibility of having two passive versions as in
56. I was lent twenty rupees by Madhu.

57. Twenty rupees were lent to me by Madhu.
However, very often it is the indirect object which is moved to the subject
position. Sometimes sentences having 'prepositional verbs' as in
58. They looked into the matter carefully.

I
b
I
can also be changed into the passive voice as in
I
I
59. The matter was looked into by them carefully.
Sometimes we can make passive sentences using get instead of the normal he.
For example instead of 49 we can also say
60. Mohit got killed in a road accident.
We generally use get when the subject is not merely a passive participant and
we can associate some amount of intention or responsibility with him or her.
In sentences such as
6 1. He got lost in the crowd.

62. Don't get run over by a bus.
the actors may at least be partly held responsible for the action.
Finally we may note that in addition to the intransitive verbs, there are some
transitive verbs which can also not be passivised. For example, the following
I
sentences will not be found in the passive voice.
63. You lack confidence.

64. This dress fits you well.
65. She resembles her mother.
I
Though the active voice is more frequently used than the passive, in scientific
and informative prose the passive may be used more commonly. This is
i
i because in scientific writing which is non-personal and objective, it is not of
much interest to know who the doer of a given action is/was.
1. Identify the passive verbs in the following texts.
i) Applications are invited from registered handloom weavers for

loan-cum-grant assistance. The assistance is available as 2/3rd
loan and 1/3rd grant. Application forms can be obtained from
the Handloom Department, Delhi. The applications should
reach the Handloom Department before July 30.
SynlPr-I: Sentence ii) Tension gripped the troubleprone localities of the walled city. One
Structure-1 person was stabbed to death and another was seriously injured.
Three persons were arrested.
iii) A multilingual computer called Transcript has been developed by

Applied Electromagnetics Ltd. The Transcript terminal can be
connected to any normal computer. It runs most of the standard
programmes and compilers. The keyboard is arranged according
to ISCII standards. The data which is fed in one language can be
transliterated into other Indian languages. This computer can be
used effectively for preparing notices, electoral rolls, examination
results, etc.
2. Briefly state the possible motivation for deleting the doer of the action in
the following sentences,
i) The delay is regretted.
...........................................................................
ii) This book was written at least fifty years ago.
...........................................................................
iii) An old woman was found dead in her apartment.
...........................................................................
iv) The data was then carefully analysed.
...........................................................................
v) The thief was caught around 1 1 p.m.
3. Fill in the blanks with appropriate forms of the verbs given in brackets.
The heart which ............... (pump) blood for the rest of the
body...............(nourish) by the coronary arteries wid oxygenated blood.
The oxygen..................(utilize) to provide energy to the heart so that its
pumping h c t i o n ................. (maintain). Naturally, the heart n~uscle
and its ability to pump blood to the head, neck etc. ....................
(affect) by any disruption in the coronary blood flow. 'The blood flow in
the arteries.................. (restrict) because of fatty substance and calcium
plaques that .................... (deposit) along the walls of the arteries. This
restriction of blood flow ...................(cause) a pain known as angina
in the chest, neck and arms. Angina ................. (treat) with medication.
In more serious cases, a coronary bypass operation.......... (do).
Objects and
25.5
- LET US SUM UP Complements
In this unit. we have discussed the nature of objects and complements. They are
quite different from adverbials. Adverbials are generally optional to the sentence
structure. Objects and complements are not. The complements of subjects and
objects will show number agreement with them. Objects are selected
independently of such constraints. The nature of the subject complement differs
rrorn that of the direct object in that the former can either be an NP or an
Adjective while the latter can only be an NP. Sentences with direct objects can be
passivised. Certain ditransitive verbs take two objects and in such sentences the
direct object follows the indirect object. Sentences having two objects may have
two passives corresponding to them. The passive should be seen not as a mere
equivalent of the active but as a structure which filfils specific communicative
needs.
25.6 KEY WORDS
reflexive: a word or form showing that the agent's action is upon

himself/herself
antecedent: noun or clause to which a following pronoun refers
ditransitive (verb): which takes two objects
Huddleston, R. 1988.English Grammar: An Outline. CUP. 50-68, 176-80.
Quirk R. et. al . I 972. A Grammar of ContemporaryEnglikh Longman. 37-39,80 1 -

1 T.
ANSWERS
I. The following are possible:
a) He killed her last year.

b) He was killed last year.
In (a) the active voice has been used and the verb kill requires an object. In
(b) the passive voice has been used.
2. We will make him president tomorrow, (make has been used here as a
ditranstitive verb and therefore requires two objects)
3. They are all well-known painters. (The subject complement painter must
agree in number with the subject they)
Syntw-1: Sentence 4. He appointed them lecturers. (The object complement lecturer must agree
Structure-1 in number with the object them.)
5. Suresh drank tea. (The verb drink can take only liquids as its objects.)
6. Madhu wrote a letter. (You can write letters, books. memos etc. not,
apples)
7. He scattered coins on the table. (The verb scatter demands a plural object.)
8. Madhu slapped herself. (Reflexive pronouns cannot become subjects

through passivisation.)
9. Ravi hurt himself in the fight. (Reflexive pronouns must agree in number
and gender with their antecedents.)
10. They will elect Kamn captain. (The object complement cnpiuin must agree
in number with the object.)
Check your Progress 2

i i) You can build a good house for her.
iii) He sent m e flowers for me.
v) The schocrl gave a holiday to them.
vi) We must buy a-decentpresent for her.
ix) She lent alarge sum to me.
x) 1 made a cup of tea for myself.
iv) An apple was eaten by Sudha.
vii) Milk is liked by her.
viii) He was caught late in the evening.
Check your Progress 3
1. i) are invited, can be obtained,

ii) was stabbed, was injured, were arrested
iii) has been developed, can be connected, is arranged, is fed, can be
transliterated, can be used
2. i) The identity of the person making such announce~nentsat

railway s~ationsor airports is not important.
ii) Perhaps the author is not known.
iii) We do not know who killed her.
iv) We may wish to hide the identity of the person responsible for
the analysis of the data.
v) It is generally understood that thieves are caught by the police.
(other explanations are also possible.)
3. pumps, is nourished, is utilized, is maintained, is affected, is restricted

(gets restricted), are deposited (get deposited), causes, is treated, is
done.
UNIT 26 ADVERBIALS
Structure
26.0 Objectives
26.1 introduction
26.2 Defining Adverbs
26.3 Kinds o f Adverbs
26.3.1 Adverbs o f Place
26.3.2 Adverbs o f Time
26.3.3 Adverbs o f Manner
26.4 Let Us Sum Up
26.5 Key Words
26.6 Suggested Readings
Answers
26.0 OBJECTIVES
The purpose o f this unit is to show you how adverbials, in the form o f words,
phrases or clauses, modify the meanings o f verbs, adjebtives, and other
adverbs in sentences. We shall classify adverbials mainly on the basis o f the
different meanings they can add to sentences. We shall also discuss some o f
their syntactic properties.
After you have colnpleted this unit, you should be able to identify adverbials
in different texts and discuss their nature.
26.1 INTRODUCTION
It should be clear from Unit 25 o f Block 5 that adverbials are often not
essential to the structure o f a sentence. I t is not possible to have a sentence
without a verb. and 'subject', 'ob.ject(s)' and 'complements' are also often
essential to. its structure. But sentences w i l l often remain grammatical even if
the adverbials are deleted. Yet i t is the use o f adverbials which really adds
colour to what we say or write. 'They also help us to reflect the subtle shades
o f meaning we wish to convey'.$
I n 26.2, we shall show that the adverbial function o f modifying the meanings
o f verbs, adjectives or other adverbs may be realized by single word adverbs,
phrases. or clauses. We shall also discuss some o f the most frequently used
ways o f forming adverbs from other words. The next section i.e., 26.3 is
devoted to the discussion o f different kinds o f adverbs. We shall find that
adverbs can move around i n a sentence far more freely than any other
category o f words. If we change the place o f the adverb in a given sentence,
Lve often notice very interesting changes in the meaning o f that sentence.
It is extremely difficult to neatly classify the overwhelming variety o f

adverbials i n English. tiowever, the traditional classification in terms o f
l~krce,rtrtmner, relrson, time.. fi-eyuency, and degree appears to be reasonably
satisfactory.
I n our discussion we shall often use the terms 'adverb' and 'adverbial'
interchangeably. Generally, the former refers to single-word adverbs while the
latter also includes phrases and clauses performing adverbial functions.
S'ntnr-I: Sentence
Structure-2
26.2 DEFINING ADVERBS --- .- ---
As we noticed in 25.2, adverbials are not closely bound to the sentence

structure. As compared to ob-jects and complements, they enjoy a certain
amount of freedom and are often optional in the sentence. In fact, both
adjectives and adverbs are used to expand simple sentences. While adjectives
typically modify nouns; adverbs typically modify verbs. But adverbs can also
modify adjectives and other adverbs. As we will see below, they have some
other functions as well. In fact, it is not very easy to define adverbials. Some
grammarians tend to view the 'adverb' as a 'rag bag', the class of words into
which we conveniently put words or phrases which do not seem to belong
elsewhere.
Let us begin by looking at the different functions of adverbials. We can identify at

least the following five:
a) Modifier of a verb, as in
1) Neeti spoke .~c!fily:
b) Modifier of an adjective, as in
2) Meera is remarkably tall.
C) Modifier af another adverb, as in
3) She sang w n well.
d) As a peripheral dependent, as in
4) Frcmkly, Mohan is a liar.
(Note: Here the adverb.fi.anklyappears like a comment on the sentence

and is thus seen as peripheral. A dictionary meaning of the word is
'much less important')
e) As a complement in the verb phrase, as in
5) 'They br~ughther ashore.
The most important function bf adverbs, however is to modify verbs, adjectives

and adverbs.
You may have noticed that the words which perform the adverbial function in
each of the above five sentences are single words. This is not the case always and
the adverbial funCtion may be realized by a Noun Phrase, a Prcpsitional Phrase.
or a Clause. In the following sentences.
I. Noun Phrases and not single-word adverbs are used in Sentences 6 and 7
to indicak the adverbial function:
6) Wemetonlylu.~tweek.
7) She lives next door.
.1 1.. In Sentences 8 and 9 the function is perrormed by Prepositional Phrases:
8) 1 thank you Jor your kin(1nc.v.v.

9) 'Themeetingwillfinishot.vcven.
If you go back to sentences I to 7 in 22.2, you will come across such adverbials
as a/ &lhi Unhivcsit~1,everyyccrr. lust nigh/. in the plu~)grozmnci,etc. We also use
finite and non-finite clauses to serve adverbial hnctions. A finite clause has been Adverbials
used in Sentences 10 and 11:
10) You should stay where it suits you best.

11) Meera was already there when you arrived.
And a non-finite clause is used in Sentences 12 and 13:
12) They are not playing to win now

13) Making a lot of noise, they celebrated their team's victory.
We may also point out here that the same word may often be used both as an
adjective and an adverb. For example, in Sentence 14:
14) It is a daily newspaper.
'daily' is an adjective modifying the meaning of the noun 'newspaper' but in

Sentence 1 5:
15) Newspapers are published daily.
'daily' is an adverb indicating the frequency with which newspapers are

published.
If you carefully examine all the italicized adverbs in sentences 1 to 5 above, you
will realise that a most productive way of forming adverbs in English is simply to
add -ly to the corresponding adjectives. For example, soft is an adjective in
16) I like soft bread.
If we add -1y to so& we get sofily as in 1 above. Similarly, we have carefilly,

recently, frequently, happily, suitably, gently, fiankly, remarkably, etc.
Adjectives, which end in -ic as in scientzjic, normally have -ally added to them to
make adverbs as in scientifcally, characteristically,fantastically, etc. Still another
category of adverbs has a- at the beginning, such as ashore, aside, abreast, afresh,
apart, astray, etc.
It should be clear to you from the above discussion that it is not very easy to
define adverbials. They can be formed in a variety of ways. And a variety of
linguistic constituents may be used as adverbs. They also perform a variety of
firnctions as in 1 to 5 above. Moreover they do not always share the same
grammatical properties. Consider the following:
17) Mohan is very clever.

* 18) Mohan ran away very.
19) Mohan ran away quickly.
*20) Mohan is quickly smart.
Both very and quickly are adverbs but they cannot be used in similar situations.
Whereas 17 and 19 are perfectly grammatical, 18 and 20 are not.
Adverbials do not modify nouns. They are best defined as w~rds,'~hrasesor

clauses, which modify the meanings of verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
S~'ntn.v-1: Sentettcc Check Your Progress 1
Structrrre-2
I) Identify the adverbs in the following sentences and indicate their
function:
i) Never say die ..........................................................
ii) Mr. Singh spoke clearly................................................
iii) Madhu i s extraordinarill bri Iliant.. ....................................
iv) She did it rather well ....................................................
v) Surprisingly, he arrived in time. .......................................
vi) They were talking downstairs.. ........................................
vii) He talked rapidly.. ......................................................
viii) She danced extremely well ........................................
ix) He put all the books aside.. ...........................................
S) We visit Shimla every year. ............................................
xi) I usually get up at six ...................................................
xii) He is willing to play.....................................................
2) Mentify the adverbials in the following text:
A big fire broke out in the early hours o f the morning at a slum colony
in north Kolkata. I t caused massive devastation all around. Five persons
were burnt alive. 'The fire brigade personnel struggled for four hours to
bring the conflagration under control. The fire broke out in the slum at 4
a.m. Twenty fire engines were pressed into service to control the blaze.
.......................................................................................
.......................................................................................
......................................................................................
26.3 KINDS OF ADVERBS

We can classify adverbs on the basis o f their meaning and syntactic function. A
very broad classification is to divide them into two categories. namely, word-
modifjling and sentence-modifying. For example. in 2 above, remarkably
modifies only tall but in 4-frankly modifies the whole sentence. Consider the
following two well-known examples:
21) Hedidnotdiehappily.
22) Happily, he did not die.
The adverb happily has different meanings, positions and functions in the two
sentences. In 21, it modifies only tne verb i.e. die, meaning that the person
concerned did not die in a state o f happiness or he was not happy at the time
of his death. In 22, happily modifies the whole sentence and means
'fortunately'. As will be clear from 5 above, adverbs may fulfill an essential
syntactic function in that the sentence will remain incomplete without them.
23) The bomb exploded here.

24) Your pen is here.
In both 23 and 24, here is an adverb indicating place. Yet it is not essential to
have it in 23 while 24 will be incomplete without it.
Traditionally, adverbs are classified into the following five categories: place, Adverbials
jkquency, and degree. We shall first look at adverbs of placc.
tiine, n~unner,
26.3.1 Adverbs of Place
This category includes words which express not only a fixed place but also
motion and direction. Both these properties are also indicated by
prepositional phrases and clauses. Adverbs of place include words like above,
aboard, ahead, a.shore. aside, astray, behind, between, back, up, down,
overseas, outside, elsewhere, etc. Notice that adverbs indicating
dol~~n.c.tuir.s,
direction can be used only with verbs of motion whereas there is no such
restriction on adverbs indicating only place. For example, in
25) t-le walked towards nze.

26) We jumped over the.fence.
where verbs of motion have been used, the adverbials indicate the direction
of the motion.
Two most commonly used adverbs of place are here and there. Generally,
they indicate a definite place, as in
27) She lives here.

28) We'll stay there for a week.
But they may often be used in more abstract and idiomatic ways, as in
29) There you are (i.e. that's what 1 mean;).

30) Here you are (as in a shop when the shopkeeper gives you
what you want).
31) 1 envy his intellectual power: some day 1 hope I shall get there.
The adverbial function of there must be distinguished from its use as a formal
preliminary sub-jectto introduce a sentence, as in
32) There is a thief in the house. or There's a mosquito there.

(Here only the second 'there' is an adverbial of place.)
Idere arc two more examples of 'there' as a formal preliminary subject:

.-
1 here was a king who wanted to have everything that anyone had.
(Co~mpare:Once upon a time a greedy king wanted everything that anyone

had)
There is a lot more noise in this locality than 1 can tolerate.
26.3.2 Adverbs of Time
From the above examples you may have realised that there is a very close
relationship between adverbials and the time reference indicated by the tense
of the verb in a sentence. Thus. it is grammatical to say
33) He came last week.

Syntax-I: Sentence where the time reference is past, but not
Structure-2
*34) He'll come last week.
where the time reference is future. You say
35) He'll come next week.
where the time reference in both the verb and the adverb is future. Further, it
is only the adverbs which can decide the time reference when the verb forms
are similar. In
36) He is playing now.
the reference is to the present time, whereas in
37) He is playing tomorrow.
the reference is to the future time, though the verbs in the two sentences are
identical.
As already pointed out, time adverbials may consist of single words, phrases,
or clauses.
It seems useful to discuss adverbs of time and frequency together. In fact, we

can divide time adverbs into three categories, namely, those that show the
time when, those that show the duration of an event, and those that bring out
the frequency with which something occurs or occurred etc.. The 'time
when' adverbs generally indicate a point of time and that may serve as a
response to a when question. In
38) Ganguly played well last year.
if we ask 'when did Ganguly play well?', the answer will be last year. Other
adverbs in this category include today, yesterday, again, last night, tonight,
presently, nowadays, next, originally, now, etc. The use of time adverbials
indicating 'duration' is illustrated in
39) I have lived in Delhi for ten years.

40) We worked the whole night.
41) . I have been collecting stamps since my childhood.
42) I have seen her only this morning.
Adverbs of frequency normally serve as a response to a how often question.

Their use is illustrated in
43) We meet twice a week.

44) He generally goes to bed at nine.
45) Mohan is very often in debt.
46) We seldom go to the movies.
In 43, twice a week indicates definite frequency; in 44, generally is

indicative of what happens normally; in 45, very often suggests high
frequency, and seldom in 46 is indicative of very low frequency. Adverbs of
definite frequency include hourly, daily, monthly, yearly, etc.; adverbs of Adverbials
usual occurrence include generally, usually. habitually, commonly. etc.;
adverbs of high frequency include frequently, often, regularly, etc., and
adverbs of low or zero frequency include scarcely, rarely, hardly ever, never,
ctc.
It is important to note that time adverbials appear in a hierarchical

relationship in a sentence. If we have only 'time when' adverbs i n a sentence
then the adverb indicating the largest chunk of time will generally appear at
the end. For example,
47) I met her at six in the morning on Monday.
Monday in this sentence represents the largest unit of time and appears at the
end of the sentence. If all the three types of time adverbials appear in the
same sentence, then the normal order is adverbs of:
duration - frequency - fixed (points of) time
as seen in the following examples:
48) He works regularly in winters. (frequency, when)

49) 1 met her briefly today. (duration, when)
50) 1 meet her briefly every week in summers, (duration,
frequency. when)
26.3.3 Adverbs o f Manner
English has a very rich class of adverbs of manner and it is indeed very
difficult to classify them. Most of the adverbs in this category end in -ly and
add a lot of colour to what is being said. They include adverbs such as
slowly, quickly. loudly, thoroughly, exactly, hardly, almost, nearly, slightly,
simply, purely, completely, actually, really, etc. Most manner adverbials will
constitute an appropriate response to the question how. Consider the following
sentences:
51) She walks quickly.

52) He talks lotidly.
53) Meera goes to school by bus.
t 54) They broke the news to her gradually.
I All the italicized words in the above sentences answer the question how and
!
1
appear at the end of the sentence. What is also important to remember is that
normally an adverb should not be placed between a verb and its direct object. It
is, for example, unacceptable to say
\ L
*55) She spoke slowly English.
i
i However, adverbs of manner can often appear at other places in a sentence and
\
i
by being placed thus achieve a variety of effects. They may often be used to
emphasise the meaning of a word or phrase in a sentence. In such situations they
appear closest to what they emphasise, as in
56) 1 really like him very much.

57) 1 honestly don 't believe you.
58) He actually sat next to his teacher.
'They may also be used to citl~crarnplif~/or tone down the meaning oC a certain
part of a sentence.
Amplifying:
In the following two sentences
59) We complc~rl~~ c~greewith you.

60) I , f i ~ lunderstand
l~~ your problems.
conrplelely aid fi~l!l>maximize or amplify the meanings of agree and zrr~clt.r.s/untl

re.specli~~elv. Other maxim isers include ub.volufe1~:u//er!t?,deeply. intensclv.
violenflv, etc.
Down toning:
' f i 1 r 3 1 7 /onc)t:s' tend to lower the effect or the force of the verb as in
61) [>idyou ask if I still jog? The truth is I can hurd/v wulk.
62) She may purl(y agree with you.
63) 1 nlnto.st resigned from my job.
The downtoners also called mini misers include hi~rclly,hurely, scurccll~urd lillle.
They constitute a category apart and are all negative in meaning. It is therefore not
possible to use a negative with them. We can't. for example, say
*64) 1 cannot hardly walk.
Notice the negative meaning of these adverbs in
65) 1 l?cn.dlvever go out (i.e. I rarely go out).

66) She is harely ten (i.e. she is not yet ten).
Finally, we turn to adverbs of degree. As in the case of adjectives, adverbs also

have comparative and superlative forms. In the case of single syllable adverbs
and a few two-syllable adverbs, the comparative is generally formed by adding -
er and the superlative by adding +st
Ex: fast faster fastest

long longer longest
early earlier earliest
A small number ofadverbs have irregular forms:

Ex: ,well better best
much more most
little less least
Usage Note:
Last and least appear to be the superlative forms of late but are entirely
independent of late as adverbs. Last is like first, second,.... ; it is an ordinal
adverb and latest means 'the most recent'
Ex: This is the lasf issue of the new paper.

The latest in the market is Jay's autobiography.
In the case of polysyllabic words (words with two or more syllables), the Adverbials
comparative and the superlative are generally formed by putting more and most
respectively before the adverb. For example,
67) She walks faster than me.

68) Mecra danced more gracehlly than Sudha.
69) The power cuts in Delhi are most annoyingly frequent.
Now look at the following two sentences:
70) lic was most apologetic.

7 1) Your daughter behaved most graciously at the party.
In 70 nzost has the meaning of 'very'. Other adverbs of degree which may
modify the meanings of adjectives or other adverbs include almost, nearly,
quite, too, etc. For example,
72) It was too hot to work.

73) The box was quite empty.
In 73 quite means 'completely'. But it is important to know that if quile is

used with words or phrases which do not indicate completeness, it has a
wetrkening efict as in
74) He is quite good.
which means 'he is just about OKy.It is less of a praise for him than saying
'he is good'.
As pointed out above, adverbials constitute perhaps the largest and certainly
the most diverse category in English. In addition to the kinds of adverbs
discussed above, there are several minor groups. There is, for example, a small
group of adverbs such as cordially, kindly, etc., which function as markers of
politeness and courtesy. They are used very frequently in different domains of
activity such as
7.5) We cordially invite you to our seminar.

76) Kindly do something about it.
Notice that kindlv is the only adverb which can appear initially in imperative
wntences such as
77) Kindly leave the room.
78) Kindly put it back.
Usage Note:
In formal situations kindly may get used to express annoyance and not serve as
a marker of politeness.
Ex: Kindly leave me alone. 1 have had enough of such false

sympathy.
Visitors are kindly reminded to park their cars outside.
I
I
S-vntar- I : Sentence We finally move on to the category of conjunctive adverbs. 'Iliese advcrbs
.S'tructure-2
perform two functions. Like any other adverbs they modify the meanings of
verbs. However, they also introduce or join clauses and so runc~icwi as
conjunctions. This category includes interrogative, relative. demonstrative and
indefinite adverbs. Interrogative adverbs include all wh- words like who, wlten.
where, why, etc. (they also include how, which does not begin with wh-1. I'or
example,
79) Tell us why you didn't come to the party.

80) How did it happen?
81) WhendidyoutuIktohimlast?
82) 1 asked him where and when the play was likely in start.
The relative use of these wh- words may be seen in
83) Tell us the reason why you left the party.

84) That is how matters stand at present.
85) This is where we live.
The adverb of time then and the adverb of place there may often be used wit!?
a demonstrative force as in
86) Then there is the problem of finance.

87) There now, everything looks fine.
Also notice the demonstrative force of so and thur in
88) He is not so stupid as you think.

89) Was he really that drunk?
Indefinite' adverbs are generally compounds formed with the combination of

indefinite pronouns some, any and interrogative adverbs. 'l'hesc include
wherever, anywhere, anyhow, however. whenever. whenc.oc~wl-,clc. Cucl~
compounds often make the meaning more indefinite as in
90) 1 have left my pen somewhere.

91) At the moment I don't want to go andwhere.
92) 1 don't care for cricket. However, 1 shall watch this one-day
mateh.
I) Change the meaning of each of the follo\cing sentences b j ~novit~g

the
adverbial item.
i) In time we will finish our work. (Hint: Keep in mind the two
meanings of 'in time': 1) not late. 2) after a period o ~ I ~ I YSo
~ ) .
'We will finish the work in time' changes the meaning lo

'before the specified hour'
...........................................................................
ii) They agreed on Monday evening to have a party.
...........................................................................
iii) She made up her mind to resign immediately.
iv) She kept in the ofice all the papers she had found, Adverbials
...........................................................................
v) He quickly decided to go over the programme once more
2) Taking help from the above discussion on different types of adverbials,

comment on the nature of adverbials in the following sentences. You
may find it helpful to consult your dictionary.
i) He has just left.

...........................................................................
ii) He left at 8 p.m.
...........................................................................
iii) 1-le left quickly.
...........................................................................
iv) He left yesterday.
...........................................................................
v) He left when he pleased
...........................................................................
vi) 1-le'll leave tomorrow
...........................................................................
vii) He stood quite still where he was.
...........................................................................
viii) He prayed quietly while the police searched him
...........................................................................
ix) He played extremely well
...........................................................................
N) She asked me when the train was likely to leave
3) Examine the following sentences carefully. Each sentence can have

two meanings depending on where you place the adverbial. Write pairs
of sentences to make the two meanings clear.
i) Does she intend seriously to join the course?

...........................................................................
...........................................................................
ii) We decided deliberately to be late
...........................................................................
iii) The small tent failed completely to save us from the rain
...........................................................................
iv) I do not follow your meaning precisely because you talked at

such length.
v) Meera agreed cheefilly to cooperate with us.

...........................................................................
Syntax-I: Sentence 4) Certain adverbials and parts of adverbials have been deleted from the
Structure-2 following newspaper report. First read the text carefully. Then fill the
blanks while ydu are reading the text for the second time. Several
answers are possible.
New Delhi, December 16: Eighteen persons were hospitalized after

inhaling toxic gas emanating fiom a domestic foundry in the
congested. ........................
locality of north Delhi .......... The gas has not yet been identified.
The victims, barring two, are. ......... The foundry owner, Mr. Suresh
Kumar, forges aluminium ........ located ...................... Last
........after finishing work, he had left waste material ............
container. ................... one of his children poured water into it. It
began emanating fumes........................
26.4 LET US SUM UP
Adverbials are used to modify the meanings of verbs, adjectives and other
adverbs. As compared to other parts of sentences they are more mobile. They
are very often formed by adding -1y or -ally to adjectives. The adverbial function
is realized not only by single word adverbs but also by phrases and clauses.
Adverbials are generally classified in terms of adverbs of place, adverbs of time
and frequency, and adverbs of manner and degree. We noticed that time
adverbials appear in a hierarchical order in a sentence. We also noticed how
adverbs of manner can be used to minimize or maximize the effect of what is
being said. We finally discussed the nature of conjunctive adverbials i.e.
adverbials which serve two functions, namely, join clauses as well as modify the
meanings of verbs.
26.5 KEY WORDS
interlocutor : one who speaks in a dialogue

peripheral : not central
.hierarchical : organized in terms of successively subordinate grades
conjunctive : serving to join
Greenbaum, S (1 996) The Oxford Grammar Oxford University Press

Huddleston, R. 1984. Introduction to the Grammar of English. CUP
Quirk, R. et al. 1985.A Comprehensive Grammar of English. Longman.
Woods, E (1 995) Introducing Granzmar. Penguin.

ANSWERS

1>
i) never modifies the verb 'say'
ii) clearly '7
the verb 'spoke'
iii) extraordinarily '9
the adjective 'brilliant'
iv) rather well O
the verb 'did'
'9
the adverb 'well'
v) surprisingly peripheral, comment on the whole
sentence
vi) downstairs as complement to 'were talking'
vii) rapidly modifies the verb 'talked'
9,
viii) extremely well the verb 'danced'
ix) aside 9%
the verb 'put' as its
complement .,
x) every year modifies the verb 'visit'
xi) usually at six " the verb 'spoke'
9'
xii) to play the verb 'get up'
2) in the early hours of the morning, at a slum colony in north Calcutta,

all round, alive, for four hours, under control, in the slum, at 4 a.m., to
control the blaze.
1) i) We will finish our work in time.

ii) They agreed to have a party on Monday evening.
iii) She immediately made up her mind to resign.
iv) She kept all the papers she had found in the office.
v) He decided to go over the programme quickly once more.
just adds to the meaning of recency included in the use of the

present
perfect 'has left', adverb of time
ii) at 8p. m., adverbial of time
iii) quickly, adverb of manner formed by adding -1y to the adjective
quick
iv) yesterday, adverb of time
v) when he pleased, a finite clause functioning as an adverbial of
time
vi) tomorrow, adverb of time, adding to the meaning of future
indicated by 'will'
vii) where he was, adverbial of place indicated by a clause
viii) quietly, adverb of manner modifying the meaning of 'prayed'
while the police searched him a clause functioning as an adverbial
of time
well, adverb of manner, modifying the verb 'played' extremely,
modifying the adverb 'well'
when, interrogative adverb, conjunctive adverb
3) i) Does she seriously intend to join the course?

Does she intend to seriously join the course?
- ii) We deliberately decided to be late.
We decided to be late deliberately,
Syntax-1: Sentence iii) The small tent completely failed to save us from the rain.
Structure-2 The small tent failed to save us completely from the rain,
iv) I did not precisely follow your meaning because you talked at
such length.
I did not follow your meaning precisely because you talked at
such length.
v) Meera cheerfUlly agreed to cooperate with us.

Meera agreed to cooperate with us cheerhlly.
4) Shastri Nagar, this morning, out of danger, in the foundry, in his house,
night, aside, in a container, This morning, immediately
UNIT 27 NEGATIVES
Structure
27.0 Objectives
27.1 introduction
27.2 J'ypes of Negation
27.3 Explicit Negation Using Not
27.4 Non-verbal Negation
27.5 Ambiguity, Scope and Focus
27.6 Let Us Sum Up
27.7 Kcy Words
27.8 Suggested Readings
Answers
27.0
.--- OBJECTIVES --
The purpose of this unit is to introduce you to the major formal (related to the
form of the word) and semantic (related to the word's meaning(s)) features of
negation in English. We shall briefly discuss different types of negation. You
will bccome familiar with the syntactic properties of those sentences that use not
with their verbs. We shall also introduce you to the various ways of making
negatives without using not. We shall also look at how the negative element in a
sentence negates different parts of the predicate.
27.1
-- INTRODUCTION
The most common way of making a negative in English is to attach not (or in
speech and informal writing the contracted form -n't: e.g., do not, don't) to the
first verbal element of a given sentence. Doing so generally results in producing
the opposite of its positive counterpart. From the point of view of form, an
important point to note is that positive sentences are distinguished from their
negative counterparts in that the negative sentences generally take a positive tag-
question and vice-versa. The appearance of not with the verb generally negates
the whole predicate that follows it. However, sometimes, when the predicate
consists of many constituents, it may not always be clear which specific part of
the predicate is meant to be negated. In such situations, emphasis plays a crucial
role. When the whole predicate is negated; it is called clausal negation but when
only a word or phrase is negated , it is known as sub-clausal negation. In the case
of affixal negation (i.e. when an affix brings about negation) as in unkind,
improper, 'etc. only the word gets negated (e.g. 'Rajan was being very unkind in
his remarks to his subordinate'.). Some other words which are used for negation
and do not involve the verb include never, neither, nor, seldom, barely, etc.
27.2 TYPES OF NEGATION
Negation in English may be classified into three major types. The first can be
called Explicit Negation. In
I) Neha is happy.
2) Neha is not happy. (negation)
Syntax-I: Sentence Here the negation is explicit. Sentence 2 is clearly the opposite of Sentence 1.
Slrrccture-2 This is the most commonly employed way of making negatives. In such cases, an
overt negative element not is typically placed after the first verbal element. The
overt negative element not is often contracted to reflect the patterns of speech in
writing. The letter that is omitted in the process of contraction is represenled by
an apostrophe (') i.e. not is written as -n't and is joined to the preceding word.
For example,
3) She isn't ready yet.
Many other words e.g. is, am, are, will, has, etc. also participate in the
contraction process. Consider
4) We are not ready yet.

5) We aren 't ready yet.
*6) We're'nt ready yet.
(Note: You have also learnt about this fact in the unit on phonology where
the weak forms of such words were discussed).
Notice that only one contraction is allowed in a sentence. We'll discuss
explicit negation in greater detail in a later section.
The second type of negation may be called AfJixul. Consider the following
sentences.
7) Neha is unhappy.
8) Rahul disobeyed my orders.
9) She is insane.
We often use negative prefixes such as un-, non-, in-, irn-, clis-, etc. to indicate
negative meanings.
The third type of negation is called Implicit. In

10) Rita denied the story.
I I) Mohan rejected the offer.
the negation is no longer explicitly marked either in terms of' using not or
using a prefix such as un-,. The negation is implied in the meaning of the verb,
denied in 10 and rejected in 1 I.

I) Identify the types of negation in the following extract consisting of
eight connected sentences:
i) There was an uneasy silence.

...........................................................................
ii) Sudha wished she hadn't left so early.
...........................................................................
iii) She felt like disobeying the leader.
...........................................................................
iv) It was clear to her that the policy of the party was misdirected.
Negatives
V) But she couldn't do much about it.
...........................................................................
vi) She was not a leader.
vii) She had not fasted and she hadn't been to jail.
viii) Yet, she rejected the party proposal.
27.3
- - EXPLICIT NEGATION USING NOT
The negative counterparts ofthe seven sentences in 22.2 (see Block 5, Unit 22)
are given below:
12) Sudhir isn't now a student at Delhi University.

1 3) The Babus of Nayanjore were not famous landlords.
14) Vimla hasn't searched the room carefully.
15) They did not make Rahul the captain for this series.
16) It didn't rain heavily last night.
17) Neha didn't give Sanjay a book yesterday.
18) My brother isn't playing hockey in the playground.
In each of the above sentences not (or the contracted -n't) has been introduced
after the operator i.e. the first verbal element in the sentence.
An important point to note here is this. If, as in the case of sentences 15, 16 and
17 (see sentences 4-6 in 22.2). there is no operator, a dummy do gets
introduced and not is attached to it. Notice also that this operator (do) takes
away the tense from the main verb (i-e.gave becomes did+give.) Note also that
in addition to all the auxiliary verbs, the term operator includes different forms
of the main verbs Bc and Have. For example, in 12 above, is is the main verb
which is a form of Be. It functions as the operator and not is attached to it.
Notice that not has to be inserted immediately after the first verbal element. In
14, the verbal group consists of 'has searched'. We insert not afier 'has' and it
will be ungrammatical to say
* not has searched or
* has searched not. (The right form is has not searched)
How can we distinguish positive and negative sentences syntactically? We

notice that positive sentences can be related by so or too. For example,
corresponding to ( 1 ) above, we may have
19) Neha is happy and so is Nidhi. or

20) Neha is happy, and Nidhi is too.
l'he negative sentences demand the use of neither, nor or either when they
are combined. For example, corresponding to (20) above, we have
21) Neha isn't happy and neither is Nidhi.

22) Neha isn't happy, nor is Nidhi.
23) Neha isn't happy and Nidhi isn't either.
Syntax-I: Sentence The following five sentences in which so or too is used with negative clauses
Structure-2 and neither etc. with positive ones are ungrammatical.
*24) Neha is h p p y and neither is Nidhi.

*25) Neha is happy, nor is Nidhi.
*26) Neha is happy and Nidhi is either.
*27) Neha isn't happy and so is Nidhi.
*28) Neha isn't happy and Nidhi isn't too.
Another important difference in positive and negative sentences may be seen

in the use of tag-questions (see 28.3 in Unit 28). In normal, emotionally
neutral communication, tag-questions are used to elicit information. The
general rule in such normal situations is that positive clauses take negative
tags and vice-versa. For example,
29) Neha is happy, isn't she?

30) Neha isn't happy, is she?
Thus, we may say that positive clauses can be related by the use of so or too,
whereas combining negative clauses demands the use of neither, nor or either.
Further, negative sentences generally take positive tags.
We should aho notice some other structural properties of negative sentences

using not in the case of imperatives and negative questions. Let us begin with
imperatives. As we perhaps know, imperatives like
3 1) Close the door.

32) Go away.
have 'YOU' as their subject. Since there is no operator, we add the dummy do
and attach the negative particle not to it. The subject 'you' does not appear on
the surface even now. The negatives for sentences e.g. (31) and (32) are made
by simply adding don't initially as in
33) Don't close the door.

34) Don't go away.
In the case of negative questions, however the operator is inverted but it takes
with it the subject NP along with the negative element as in
35) Can't you solve this sum?

36) Isn't she ashamed of herself?
Notice that negative questions often involve an element of surprise or disbelief.

In (35), for example, the assumption is that 'you' should be able to solve the
sum and that the speaker is surprised that you can't. Similarly, in (36) the
assumption is that 'she' should be ashamed of herself though she may not be. In
some situations such an utterance may show not just surprise or disbelief but a
degree of annoyance. The speaker in 35 may, for example, be annoyed (with his
sonldaughter/pupil) far his~herfailure to solve the sum though helshe has been
taught how to do so.
Sometimes you may find that not does not appear immediately after the
operator. It may be used with non-finite verbs as in
37) He asked me not to go there. Ncgatives
38) You were justified in not inviting her.
Sometimes nor may also be used to replace a that clause. For example, (40) and
(41) are equally good answers to the question in (39).
39) Can you come tomorrow to the party?

40) I'm afraid that 1 cannot come.
41) I'm afraid not.
We may finally note the use of not in sentences indicating possession through
'have' as in
42) 1 have got a car.

In British English, have in (42) is treated as an operator and the negative is
43) 1 haven't got a car.

In British English 'have' without 'got' is also used but often in more formal
situations:
Ex: We has no objection to what you proposed.

In American English, huve in such sentences is treated as a lexical verb and a
dummy do is introduced as in
44) 1 don't have a car.

[!sage Note: It is important to note, however that a growing number of British
speakers of English now use the American pattern and many American speakers
use sentences such as 'They have a wonderful car' or even 'She's got blond hair'
although they may not use 'got' in questions. The American and British usage
appears to thus to have come closer over the years.
1) Make negatives of the following sentences using not
i) Vinay opened the door.

...........................................................................
ii) You should reply to her letter.
...........................................................................
iii) She is writing a novel these days.
...........................................................................
iv) He works every Sunday.
...........................................................................
v) Subhash became a dentist.
2) Write two negative sentences for each of the following, treating have
as an auxiliary in the first and as a verb like eat, go, etc. in the second:
Syntax- I: Sentence i) Sudha has time.
Structure-2
...........................................................................
ii) He has a cold.
............................................................................
iii) Mohan has a chance of winning this match.
...........................................................................
iv) She had the nerve to insult me.
.............................................................................
v) Neha has the book.
...........................................................................
3) Combine the following sentences using so or neither appropriately:
i) Usha is a famous dancer. Madhu is also a famous dancer.
...........................................................................
ii) Usha is not a famous dancer. Madhu is also not a Palnous
dancer.
4) In the following pairs of sentences, rewrite the second sentence using

the clause that has been replaced by not.
i) Is he going to inform the police? I hope not.
...........................................................................
ii) Will you come to the meeting? I'm afraid not.
...........................................................................
iii) Can she play golf! I'm afraid not.
iv) Will it rain again today? 1 hope not.
v) Will you get here before seven? I'm afraid not.
In addition to the affixal and implicit negation we introduced in 27.2 above,

there are many words which contain a negative elenleiit in their shapc or
meaning and which make sentences negative without involving the verb.
These words include nothing, nobody, no one, nowhere. none, no, never,
neither, nor, few, little, rarely, seldom, barely, hardly. scarcely, etc.
For example, seldom and rarely are adverbs of low frequency meaning 'not
often', as in
45) I seldom go to the movies.

46) She rarely comes here.
You are already familiar with the use of scarcely, hardly (meaning 'almost Negatives
not') and barely (meaning 'only just') as adverbs which function as
downtoners. For example,
47) Anita is barley ten.

48) They hardly ever eat out.
49) I scarcely know her.
Notice that in all these sentences the negative import is carried by the
italicized words only. There is no change in the verb.
Little and few are also adverbs having negative meanings. Little means 'not
much' and few means 'not many'. We may distinguish them here from a little
and a few, which are actually positive in meaning. For example,
50) He has read very few books on Keats.
means that he hasn't read many, whereas
5 1) He has read a few books on Keats.
means that he has read 'some' or a small number. If the speaker says 'He has
read few books on Keats' he means to say 'not many'. Similarly, notice the
contrast between little and a little in the following sentences:
52) She took little butter

53) She took a little butter this time.
The first one (52) says 'not much' whereas the second one points to 'some'.
Words such as nothing, nobody, etc generally have their positive
counterparts. For example,
Positive Negative
anything nothing
anybody nobody
anyone no one
anywhere nowhere
any nonelno
ever never
either neither
This means that sentences having any one of the above negative words will
correspond to a sentence which has the positive counterpart along with verbal
negation. For example,
54) There is nothing to read here.

55) There isn't anything to read here. (And also 'There is
something to read here')
Notice that both (54) and (55) will take the same tag-question 'is there?'.
Similarly, no has the meaning 'not any' etc. as in
56) Rahul had no money.

Syrrtax-I: Sentence and corresponds to
Structure-2
57) Rahul didn't have any money.
It may also often imply the opposite of the following word as in
58) 'He's no friend of mine' which can mean that he is more an

enemy than a friend.
The use of never as an adverb meaning 'at no time' seen in
59) She has never been abroad.
parallels the use of the positive counterpart ever with verbal negation in
60) She hasn't been abroad ever.

Especially in literary prose never is fronted for emphasis as in
61) Never before in my life have I heard such nonsense!
1) Rewrite what you understand to be the meaning of each of the

following sentences. An example is given below:
He has few friends,
means: 'He doesn't have (He hasn't got) many friends.' (negative
meaning)
i) Mohan has little money.

...........................................................................
ii) He is going away for a few days.
...........................................................................
iii) Few people live to be a hundred. rn
...........................................................................
iv) Though I am not very social, I do have a few friends here.
...........................................................................
v) A little more care would have saved him.
2) Use verbal negation to express the meanings of the following

sentences:
i) There was nothing that could save him.

...........................................................................
ii) I will never go to that party.
...........................................................................
iii) There was nobody who arrived on time.
...........................................................................
iv) I've never come across such unpardonable behaviour.
Negatives
27.5 AMBIGUITY, SCOPE AND FOCUS
In the case of sentence (13) above, the negative element not negates the
whole predicate i.e., 'famous land.lords7. This is the normal situation in
English. The general rule is that the scope of negation will extend to the end
of the sentence. However, when there are many constituents in a sentence as
in (12) above, which is
Sudhir isn't now a student at Delhi University.
different meanings may arise because, the sentence may be ambiguous with
respect to the element that is being negated. For example, if the speaker puts
the emphasis on now, it will mean
Sudhir was a student at Delhi University but is no longer a student

there.
If, on the other hand, the emphasis is on a student, (12) will mean
Sudhir is not (no more) a student at Delhi University; however he

may be a teacher there.
And if the emphasis is on Delhi University, the meaning could be
Sudhir is not a student at Delhi University; however, he may be a

student at IGNOU.
This extra emphasis on a particular constituent helps us to focus what we

wish to negate and thereby delimits the scope of negation. It also suggests that
except for the element which receives special emphasis and is therefore
focussed, the rest of the sentence may be treated as positive. For example, in
62) Sudhir didn't support the UPA government.
if the stress is on Sudhir, we could mean that
Someone supported the UPA government but it wasn't Sudhir;

perhaps it was Madhu, Murli or Madho
If it is support that receives emphasis, we could mean
Sudhir may have done something to the UPA government but he didn't
support it.
And if UPA government gets emphasis, we could mean
Sudhir did support some government but it wasn't UPA7s
If there is no indication as to the focus of negation and if there are doubts

whether it will apply to the whole predicate, it generally applies to the last
element in the predicate. For example, if in the case of (14) above, neither
searched nor the room nor carefully receive any extra emphasis, the negation
will automatically apply to care&lly i.e. that the search wasn't careful.
~yntaw-I:Sentence Negation may thus apply to a word, a phrase or a whole clause. We may
Structure-2 distinguish between clausal and sub-clausal negation. The best exalnples of
sub-clausal negation are of course the cases of what was in the beginning
called Affixal negation. The prefixes like un-, in-. dis- etc. as in unkind,
inaccurate, dido-yal etc. apply only to the words kind, nc~.zrrufe,lqyul cic..
From the point of view of meaning, there may not be any perceptible
difference between (63) and (64):
63) He is unhappy.
64) He isn't happy
In terms of form, however the first is a positive sentence having a word with
aff~xalnegation i.e. unhappy: the second is a negative sentence with clausal
negation. Do you remember the tag-question test we introduced above? It
shows that Positive sentences have negative tags and Negative oncs take
positive tags4Sentence (63) is positive and so the tag is negative i.e. 'isn't
he?' Sentence (64) is negative and the tag must therefore be positive i.e. 'is
he?' Similarly, the tag will be positive for
65) He at no time abused his juniors.

but negative for
66) He in no time completed the drawing.

Usage Note: It is important to remember that 'is it' and 'isn't it' are correct tag
questions where the verb used in the sentence is 'is' It is wrong. lio~everto
use it where a verb like 'abused' or 'completed' is the niain verb or the
sentence. For 65) the correct tag question is 'did he?' and lor 66) 'didn't he'?"
Use of the appropriate tag question is an essential part of good use of 111glish.
This point is also discussed under 28.3. You must also have noticed that ( 6 5 )
being a negative sentence has a positive tag that constitutes a case of clausal
negation i.e. no negates the whole predicate. In (66) no negates only fitnc.and
the rest of the clause is positive. This is a case of sub-clausal negation.
1) What are the different negative meanings that may he associated with
the following sentence depending on which part 01' the predicate is
emphasised?
Vipasha didn't read the newspaper yesterday
2) Apply the tag-question test to find out whether tlic negation in the
following sentences is clausal or sub-clausal.
i) Sudha suddenly appeared from nowhere.

...........................................................................
ii) She is very unkind.
...........................................................................
iii) He's not planning to visit us again this sumnier,
.........................................................................
iv) You didn't invite Kahul to your party.
--
27.6 LET US SUM UP Negatives
- ------
In this unit we have examined the form and meaning of negative sentences in
English in some detail. We noticed that adding not to the first verbal element
in a sentence explicitly negates the sentence. It is the most commonly
e~nployedw?y of making negatives. We also noticed that there is a variety of
wags in which you can indicate negation without doing anything to the verb.
l'hese are cases of non-verbal negation. These include words like never, nor,
no. etc. as well as cases of affixal and implicit negation. We made a
distinction hetween clausal and sub-clausal negation. Sentences in which the
whole predicate is negated are cases of clausal negation and will have a
positive tag-question. Sentences with sub-clausal negation will have only
negative tag-questions.
27.7 KEY WORDS
Affix: in English a suffix (e-g. -ly, -able) or a prefix (e.g. un-, in-)
Ambiguous: having more than one meaning
Explicit: clear. definite
Lexical: of the words of a language
Operator (in grammar): member of a small subclass of verbs including be.

have, can, may, do, etc.
r I-luddleston, R. 1 988. English Grammar: An Outline. Cambridge University

Press. (Ch. 10)
r
Lock, G (1995) Functionul English Grammar. Cambridge University Press
Quirk, R. et al. 1985. A Comprehensive Granimar of English. Longtnan
ANSWERS
1) i) uneasy-affixal
ii) hadn't-explicit
, ii i) disobey-affixal
i iv) In isdirected-affixal
i
v) couldn't-explicit
1 vi) not--explicit
vii) hadn't-explicit
Syntax-I: Sentence viii) rejected-implicit
Structure-2
1) Negatives:
i) Vinay didn't open the door.
ii) You shouldn't reply to her letter,
iii) She isn't writing a novel these days,
iv) He doesn't work every Sunday,
v) Subhash didn't become a dentist
2) i) Sudha hasn't (got) time. Sudha doesn't have time,

ii) He hasn't (got) a cold. He doesn't have a cold.
iii) Mohan hasn't a chance of winning this match.
Mohan doesn't have a chance of winning this match.
iv) She hadn't the nerve to insult me.
She didn't have the nerve to insult me.
v) Neha hasn't (got) the book.
Neha doesn't have the book.
3) i) Ushaisafa~usdancerandsoisMadhu.
ii) Usha is not a famous dancer and neitherhor is Madhu.
4) i) I hope he is not.
ii) I'm afraid I will not.
iii) I'm afraid she can't.
iv) 1 hope it won't.
v) I'm afraid I won't.
1) i) Mohan doesn't have much money.

ii) He is going away for some days
iii) Not many people live to be a hundred
iv) 1 do have some friends
v) Some more care would have saved him.
2) i) There wasn't anything that could save him.

ii) I will not go to that party.
iii) There wasn't anybody who arrived on time.
iv) 1 haven't ever heard such nonsense.
1) read - may be she just looked at it; she didn't read it. -Ihc tlcLvs[lnpel.
- she perhaps read something else. not the newspaper yesterday -- she
perhaps read it only today.
2) i) didn't she? Sub-clausal

ii) isn't she? Sub-clausal
iii) is he? clausal
iv) did you? clausal
.- ..- -. -- -
UNIT 28 QUESTIONS
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Types of Questions
Structure of Questions
Functions of Questions
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Suggested Reading
Answers
28.0 OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this unit is to examine the nature of questions in English. We

shall discuss the following issues:
What are the different types of questions? What are the structural properties of
an English sentence? What are its functions?
We shall also examine two other important features of English sentence:
the nature of tag-questions, and

the structural changes that questions undergo in indirect speech.
28.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 27 on negatives, we noticed that the 'operator' is the key element in

making negative sentences. It is the key element in making questions as well.
Both yes-no and wh- questions (see Section 2 8 ~ i n v o l v esubject-operator
inversion. In the case of wh- questions, a wh- word is also added at the
beginning. Questions are used primarily to seek new information or to confirm
our existing beliefs, views or knowledge. They can also be-used to make
requests or give suggestions or issue commands. Tag-questions and indirect
q~~estionsplay a very important role in communication
28.2 TYPES OF QUESTIONS
There are basically two types of questions: open and closed. An open question
is one that allows for many answers. For example, to the question
I) What's it that you're doing?
The listener can reply: I am reading Pride and Prejudice1 The Thakur's well1
Oliver Twist; or even I am just counting the words1 sentences in this page or I
syntar- I: Sentence am doing nothing in particular. The number of possible answers to such a
Structure. question is really open. The number of possible answers is much more limited
in the case of closed questions. There is, for example only one correct answer
to the question.
How many angles does a triangle have?

Three. Some others though possible will be wrong.
Similarly, to the question 'Are you feeling unwell?'
you can normally reply by saying yes or no.
In fact, this is the most common type of closed questions. In this case the
alternatives are limited to two : Yes or no. Such questions are therefore
frequently called yes-no questions.
We cannot answer a question like (1) above by saying yes or no. These
questions demand some new information. Since they generally begin with a
wh- word, they are called wh-questions. Wh- words include who, what, which,
when, where, how, why, whom, and whose. For example,
2) Who broke the glass?

3) When will you return?
4) Where shall we go from here?
5) Why is she always complaining?
6) What did you buy yesterday?
7) How did you repair it?
8) Which/ Whose books have you given her?
Notice that each one of the above questions can be related to a corresponding
statement containing an indefinite expression. e.g. somebody, sometime,
somehow, etc.
Statements 9-1 5 below correspond to the questions in 2-8 above.
9) Someone broke the glass.

10) You will return some time.
11) We'llgosomewherefromhere.
12) She is always complainingfor some reason.
1 3) You bought something yesterday.
14) You repaired it somehow.
15) You have given her some of the Galsworthy books.
The selection of the particular wh- word thus depends upon what the person
who asks the question may not know. For example, in the case of (9) above,
perhaps you know that someone is 'Mohan' but you don't know, say, what he
broke. The question then would be like (6) above, i.e.
16) What did Mohan break?
Consider the sentence below, which you've come across so often in these
units (e.g. in 22.2).
1 7) They made Rahul the captain for this series

It is possible to make a question corresponding to each one of the Questions
constituents italicized in (1 7). If you do not know the people responsible for
making Rahul the captain, you could ask:
1 8) Who made Rahul the captain for the series?
Similarly, we could have the following three questions corresponding to our

ignorance about each of the remaining, three italicized parts in (1 7).
19) Who(m) did they make the captain for this series?
20) For what series did they make Rahul the captain?
21) When did they make Rahul the captain?
It is thus possible to elicit information about the subject, object, complement,

or an adverbial of a sentence, using a wh word.
On the other hand, yes-no questions are generally used only to seek
confirmation (yes) or otherwise (no)for the entire predicate in a sentence.
In Unit 27, we examined the negatives of the sentences given in 22.2. We give
below the yes-no questions for these sentences:
22) Is Sudhir now a student at Delhi University?

23) Were the Babus of Nayanjore famous landlords?
24) Has Vimla searched the room carefully?
25) Did they make Rahul the captain for this series?
26) Did it rain heavily last night?
27) Did Neha give Sanjay a book yesterday?
28) Is my brother playing hockey in the playground?
As in the case of negatives, there is scope for ambiguity here also. If, for
example, you say yes to (22) above, is it a yes to everything included in the
sentence or only to Sudhir or to now or to a student or at Delhi University?
As in the case of negatives, in speech we use extra emphasis to indicate the
specific constituent we wish to focus on. We can also use a pattern with it to
focus a given constituent, as in
29) Is it Sudhir who is now.. ..............

3
30) Is it now that Sudhir is a student....;...........3
3 1) Is it a student that Sudhir is now at ................

3
32) Is it at Delhi University that Sudhir is now.. ..............
3
If the answer to (32) for example is yes, it only means one thing: Sudhir is a
student at Delhi University and nowhere else. One generally keeps questions
short to avoid such ambiguity.
1) Make wh- questions corresponding to the italicized parts in the

i) She met someone.

...........................................................................
ii) You arrived a1 8p.m
Syntax- 1: Sentence iii) Madhu is reading some magazine.
Structure-2 ...........................................................................
iv) Rahul is going somewhere tonight
...........................................................................
v) Rohit is drinking milk
...........................................................................
vi) He repaired it somehow.
...........................................................................
vii) Neha gave me apen
...........................................................................
viii) They sell books.
...........................................................................
ix) We celebrate Holi every year.
...........................................................................
x) She bought a new painting.
...........................................................................
2) Use a structum with it to focus the italicized parts in the following
sentences:
i) Are you buying a new sari?

...........................................................................
ii) Did you sell your TV last year?
...........................................................................
iii) Was he reading this book last night?
...........................................................................
iv) Is my brother playing hockey?
...........................................................................
v) Do all of them in the family play hockey!
...........................................................................
28.3 STRUCTURE OF QUESTIONS
Consider sentences (22) to (38) above. All these are examples of yes-no
questions. How are these questions formed? As in the case of negatives (see
27.3), we need an operator to form questions. Once the operator has been
identified, the simple procedure to form a question is to invert the subject
and the operator of a given sentence. In sentences (22), (23), (24), and (28).
the operators is, were and has were already there. These were inverted with
the subject N P to form questions. For questions in (25), (26) and (27), a
dummy do operator had to be introduced because the corresponding
statements in 22.2 did not have any operators. For example. for a sentence
like
33) He likes apples.
which has no operator but only a full verb (i.e. likes) we need to introduce a
dummy do whether we wish to make a negative as in
34) He doesn't like apples.

or a question as in Questions
35) Does he like apples?
In written English, questions are distinguished by a question-mark (?) at the

end (see 21.5). In speech, on the other hand, a yes-no question is, on most
occasions, indicated by a rising intonation at the end. Yes-no questions thus
involve subject-operator inversion and a rising intonation. Sometimes, in
colloquial speech, a rising intonation may be used without the subject-
operator inversion in a question. In formal writing, such use is very
infrequent, in fact rare. However, a similar effect can, in some situations, be
i achieved by just putting a question mark at the end of a statement as in
36) You are leaving?
As in the case of negatives again, Be and Have may be treated as operators

even when no main verb follows. For example, for a statement such as
37) He has some money.
two question-forms are possible as in
38) Has he (got) some money?

39) Does he have 'some money?
As in the case of negatives, (38) is perhaps more common in Britain and (39)
in America.
Yes-no questions are generally neutral with respect to the answer that may be
I
given in response. The answer to (35) could be yes or no. But a speaker can often
, give a positive or negative orientation to hislher questions, indicating whether
I
shelhe expects a yes or a no. The expected answer to
40) Do you live somewhere near Karol Bagh?
is yes, and the expected answer to

r
I 4 1) Didn't they warn her?
v
may on most occasions be no.
Negative questions are also often used to indicate surprise, disbelief or at times a
reprimand as in
42) Can't you even keep your own room tidy? depending on who
speaks to whom (father to sonldaughter or one friend to another).
1
I A special kind of closed question is the tag-question. We have been using the
tag-question as a syntactic test in our earlier units. Here, we look at its structure
in some detail.
Any type of sentence which is not a question may be accompanied by a tag, i.e.
declaratives, exclamatives, and imperatives may all be accompanied by tags. The
most frequent type of tag reverses the subject-operator order of the main clause
(e.g. He is there, isn't he?). Secondly, it is generally negative if the main clause is
-
Syntax-I: Sentence positive and positive if the main clause is negative.. The tone on the tag operator
Structure-2 could be rising or falling. We thus have the following four possibilities.
TONES
STATEMENT RISING FALLTNG
Positive a) He amved late ,didn't c)Hearrived late,

he? 'didn't he?
Negative b) He didn't arrive late, d) He didn't amve late,
,did he? 'did he?
The structure of the tag, as you can see, is in most cases predictable from the
structure of the statement that precedes it. It is (a) and (b) which are used most
frequently. In (a) the assumption is positive, i.e. 'he actually arrived late' but the
tag is neutral and the response could be yes or no. In (b), the assumption is
negative, i.e. 'he actually didn't arrive late' and the tag is again neutral.
Aliernatives (c) and (d) with falling tones differ from (a) and (b) in that (c) has a
positive expectation (yes) and (d) has a negative expectation (no).
Sometimes we do find tag-questions which don't follow the above rule of

reversing the nature of the statement, i.e. making the tag positive when the
statement is negative and vice-versa. For example,
43) He arrived late, did he?

44) He didn't arrive late, didn't he?
However, the normal tags discussed above are generally used to seek
confirmation or otherwise of what is said in the statement. Tags such as those in
(43) and (44) generally have an emotive meaning. in (43), for example, there is
no doubt that he arrived late and the tag simply indicates strong disapproval of
that act. Tags in (a) - (d) above are emotionally neutral; those in (43) and (44)
are emotionally charged. In fact, (44) will be used very rarely.
Imperatives allow for a much wider range of tags as in

'1
45) Close the door, will you?
can you?
can't you? 1
could you? etc.
Usage Note:
The choice of modals (will, can, can't, could, would etc.) in the case of
imperatives as in (45) above is ofien governed by factors such as relationship(s)
between speakers, the need for and degree of politeness, etc. Generally 'will'
above may suggest authority. At the other end, a request with 'could' is, fo
example, in most cases, much more polite than one with 'can.' Will you pass the
salt, please?' may be less polite than 'Can you....?' and 'Could you...?' may mark
a greater degree of politeness than both. it is important to keep in mind that use of
appropriate forms of politeness is a mark of good English.
The options in the case of exclamatory sentences are, in relative terms, much
more limited. The exclamatory sentences having tags are generally positive
and their tags are negative, as in
How gracefully she walks, doesn't she? Questions
46)
A final word about the special case of questions involving the modal verbs (see
24.2.3) as in
47) May I take this book?
If somebody says:
48) You may take this book.
it means that the speaker has the authority to give permission to the hearer to
take the book.
We now turn to wh- questions. Consider the sentences (2) to (8) above. What
are the structural properties of these sentences? First, in each sentence the
wh- word is placed at the beginning of the question. Secondly, except in the
case of (2), we notice subject-operator inversion in all the questions. In (2), it
is the subject which is being questioned and in such sentences the verb
follows the wh- word and there is no subject-operator inversion. Thus, with
the exception of sentences like (2), all questions, whether yes-no or wh-, are
bound by the phenomenon of subject-operator inversion.
Notice also that different wh- words belong to different parts of speech. Who
as in (2) is a pronoun; when corresponds to an adverbial of time and where to
an adverbial of place (see 3 and 4); why is an adverb of reason; what in (6) is
also a pronoun and differs from who in that it may generally be associated
with 'non-human' agents or objects; how in (7) is an adverb of manner; it
may also be used as an adverb of degree; which in (8) performs the function
of a determiner; it can also be used as a pronoun as in
49) Which is it?
'The typical intonation pattern associated with yes-no or other closed

questions is a 'rising intonation', but it is the 'falling intonation' which is
typically associated with open wh- questions. However, it is not uncommon
to find a rising tone with statements or a falling tone with questions where
the speaker invests what he says with some personal/ addition meaning. For
more on intonation go back to the Block on phonology.
The next important point to consider is 'indirect questions '. When a question
is combined with another (main) clause, it becomes indirect, i.e. it no longer
follows the 'subject-operator inversion' rule. In the following pairs of
sentences,
50) a) 'When will you return?' he asked her.

b) He asked her when she would return.
51) a)'Why is she always complaining?' Madhu asked him.
b) Madhu asked him why she was always complaining.
52) a)He said, 'Has Vimla searched the room carefully?'
b) He asked if Vimla had searched the room carefully.
the verb in (b) remains in its normal position. This is true irrespective of
whether the question is open or closed. However the conversion to indirect
~yntcue-I:Sentence questions does involve other changes. Indirect speech presents the remarks of
Structure-2 the speaker as reported by someone else. The result is that pronouns in the
reported speech are often in the third person and, if the reporting verb is in the
past tense, the verb in the direct speech also changes to past. Notice, for
example, that in 50 (b), in addition to the normal SV order in 'she would
return', will changes to would and you changes to she; similarly in 5 1 (b), is
she changes to she was. Worthy of note is also the fact that in indirect speech,
all pronouns, adjectives and adverbs denoting nearness are usually replaced
by the corresponding words denoting remoteness i.e. this changes to that,
these to those, now to then, here to there, etc.
We may also point out that not all constituents of a sentence will have
corresponding wh-questions. In the case of (17) above, it was possible to have
four wh- questions, (1 8)-(2 I), corresponding to the four underlined parts in (1 7).
But it is not possible to have a wh- question corresponding to the verbal element
make. Thus, the sentence
* What do they Rahul the captain every year?
is ungrammatical in English. Similarly we cannot have a wh- question
corresponding to the empty subject it (see note on p. 12 of Block 5) in
53) It rained heavily last night.
Sentence (54) is therefore ungrammatical.
* 54) What rained heavily last night?
We finally look at the interaction between questions and their negative forms
(see (40) to (42) above). Just as statements can be positive or negative, questions
can also be positive or negative. However, it is important to take note of the fact
that negative questions are not the opposite of positive questions. (56) is the
opposite of (59,
55) You can solve this sum.
56) You cannot solve this sum.
but (58) is not the opposite of (57).
57) Can you solve this sum?
58) Can't you solve this sum?
As discussed in 27.3, in (58) the assumption is that 'you' should be able to solve 'I
the sum and the speaker is surprised that 'you' cannot. The question in (58) in a
sense neutralises the eflect of the negative in (56). The expected answer to (57)
could be yes or no, but the expected answer to (58) is only no or something like
'I'm afraid not'.
I) For each of the following sentences, form two sentences-ne
negative, and the other an interrogative sentence of the yes-no type:
i) We are leaving today.
...........................................................................
ii) They opened the box.
iii) I should bring your dinner.
...........................................................................
iv) I-le generally arrives at 7 p.m.
...........................................................................
v) They appointed him secretary.
..........................................................................
vi) She asked me difficult questions.
...........................................................................
vii) You can find the ideal position for reading.
...........................................................................
viii) We do the wok of prophets without their gifts.
...........................................................................
ix) Every civilization has been haunted by death.
...........................................................................
I have (got) time for you.
2) F.'rom each of the ten sentences above (Exercise 1) one constituent has
been selected as indicated below. Make a wh- question corresponding to
that constituent.
i) today ....................................................................
i i> they .......................................................................
iii) your dinner ..............................................................
i v) at 7 p.m. .................................................................
v) secretary ..................................................................
vi) she ........................................................................
vii) the ideal position for reading.. .........................................
viii) we. .........................................................................
i x) death.. ....................................................................
x) you .........................................................................
Syntar-1: Sentence
Structure-2 3) What will be the emotively neutral tags for the following'?
i) We differ from others in being rational.

..............................................................................
ii) Human life occurs only once.
..............................................................................
iii) He was a little tired.
..............................................................................
iv) He couldn't stop.
..............................................................................
v) Gandhi was the most complete man of his age.
..............................................................................
vi) He can't be suffering from two diseases at once?
4) Rewrite the following dialogue in reported speech:
"Who are you?" said he in a harsh tone; "Where do you conw from?"
"From Bilaspur", I said; "Why do you ask?"
"I am a police oficer and it's my duty to examine strangers. Aren't tliere
many terrorists around"?
"Do I look like a terrorist?" said I.
(Notice that this is a conversation between a policc officer and a
stranger tiom Bilaspur. You have to report it as a third person.)
Why do we ask questions? It should be clear from the foregoing discussion

that we generally ask questions either to seek some new information (ivh~
questions) or to seek confirmation of our views (yes-no questions). However, Questjons
we also use the question forms for other purposes. For example, we may use
the question-form to make a request, e.g.
59) Could you please close the door?

Yes-no questions are frequently used as requests in situations in which an
'imperative' like
60) Close the door. or Close the door, will you? /won't you?
would be considered impolite.
Open wh- questions are also often used to make suggestions. Instead of
saying
6 1) Go and see a doctor.

one may use the question form
62) Why don't you see a doctor? Or How about seeing a doctor?
A negative yes-no question may often be used as an exclamation. In
63) Doesn't she look pretty!

the form is that of a yes-no negative question but no question is really being
asked. The speaker is sure of hislher feelings and is simply inviting the hearer
to agree with him/ her. A question-form like
64) Aren't you clever!

may often be the equivalent of a statement like
65) You are clever. However, in a situation where the person

addressed has said/done something which a normal human
being is not expected to do, it may also express the speaker's
belief that the person addressed is by no means clever. It may
amount to saying that helshe is (has shown himselflherself to
be) stupid.
Similarly an exclamation like
66) How clever you are! is capable of expressing praise but also
criticism.
Question-forms may also be used to make forceful statements, e.g.
67) Is there any reason to doubt himlher ?
meaning that 'there is absolutely no reason to doubt himlher'.
28.5 LET US SUM UP
Both yes-no and w h - questions involve 'subject-operator' inversion. In wh-

questions, a wh- word e.g. who, what, why, etc. appears at the beginning of
the question. Every question (except 'How do you do?' for which the normal
Syntar-l: Sentence
Structure-2
I
1) i) Who did she meet?

ii) When did you amve?
iii) Which magazine is Madhu reading?
iv) Where is Rahul going tonight?
v) What is Rohit drinking?
vi) How did he repair it?
vii) What did Neha give me?
viii) Who sells books?
ix) What do we celebrate every year?
x) What did she buy?
2) i) Is it a new sari that you are buying?

ii) Was it last year that you sold your TV?
iii) Was it this book that he was reading last night?
iv) Is it my brother who is playing hockey?
v) Is it hockey that my family plays?
Cbeck Your Progress 2
1) i) We aren't leaving today.

Are we leaving today?
ii) They didn't open the box. Questions
Did they open the box?
iii) I shouldn't bring your dinner.
Should I bring your dinner?
iv) He generally doesn't arrive at 7 p.m.
Does he generally arrive at 7 p.m.?
v) They didn't appoint him secretary.
Did they appoint him secretary?
vi) She didn't ask me difficult questions.
Did she ask me difficult questions?
vii) You cannot find the ideal position for reading.
Can you find the ideal position for reading?
viii) We don't do the work of prophets without their gifts.
Do we do the work of prophets without their gifts?
ix) Every civilization hasn't been haunted by death.
Has every civilization been haunted by death?
x) I haven't (got) time for you.
Have I (got) time for you?
or
I don't have time for you.
Do I have time for you?
2) i) When are we leaving?

ii) Who opened the box?
iii) What should I bring?
iv) When does he generally arrive?
i) What did they appoint him?
ii) Who asked me difficult questions?
vii) Where can you find?
viii) Who does the work of prophets without their gifts?
ix) What has every civilization been haunted by?
x) Who do I have time for?
3) i) ................. ,don't we?

ii) ................. 'doesn't it?
iii) ................. ,wasn't he?
iv) ................. ,could he?
V) ................. 'wasn't he?
vi) ................. ,can he?
4) The police officer asked the man in a harsh tone who he was and where
he came from.
The stranger replied that he was from Bilaspur. He wanted to know why
the police officer asked that question.
The officer replied that he was a police officer and that it was his duty to
examine strangers. He asked whether there weren't many tetrorists
around.
The stranger asked the police officer if he looked like a terrorist,

UNIT 29 IMPERATIVES AND EXCLAMATIONS
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
lllocutionary Force
Exclamations
Imperatives
Formulaic Utterances and Block Language
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Suggested Reading
Answers
29.0 OBJECTIVES
The purpo,se of this unit is to examine in some detail the syntax and
semantics of imperative and exclamatory sentences. You will notice that
there is no one-to-one correspondence between the grammatical structure of
sentences and the functions they perform. For example, a question may be
used to make a request. We shall. also introduce you briefly to a) what are
called formulaic utterances and b) the language of newspaper headlines and
advertisements.
29.1 INTRODUCTION
As we discussed in 21.5, declarative sentences are used primarily to make

statements, interrogative sentences to ask questions, imperative sentences to
give orders and make requests, and exclamatory sentences to express strong
feelings of joy and sorrow. But as we shall see in 29.2, questions and
statements may often be used to make requests; imperatives, on the other
hand, may be used to express wishes. Exclamatory sentences generally have
how or what in the beginning. They differ from wh- questions in that they do
not have subject-operator inversion. Imperatives have 'you' (often deleted)
as the subject and use only the finite base form of the verb. Formulaic
utterances and block language concentrate on the important content words
and in doing do, often violate the structure of normal English sentences.
29.2 ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE
In Section 21.5 in Block 5, we introduced four major types of sentences,

namely, Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative', and Exclamatory. We also
noted that their main communicative functions are as follows:
i Types of Sentences Primary Communicative Function Imperatives and
Exclamations
Declarative Make statements
Imperative Give commands, directives, etc.
Interrogative Ask questions
Exclamatory Express strong feelings
The communicativefunction that is associated with a given grammatical form is

ojen referred to as its illocutionary force. The illocutionary force that is
I normally associated with positive or negative declarative sentences is to make
positive or negative statements. Similarly the illocutiona~ force of an
interrogative sentence is to ask questions. Yet, as must b clear fiom our
discussion of negatives (Unit 27) and questions (Unit 28), thd!e may not always
be a one-to-one correspondence between grammatical form and its illocutionary
force. Thus questions (interrogative grammatical form) may often be used to
make requests (illocutionary force normally associated with imperatives) as in,
1) Would you please close the door? (= Please close the door)
Similarly declaratives may often be used to make requests, as in
2) You are requested to bring your passport with you. or

Every one of you will bring hidher passport to the office.
On the other hand imperatives, which are usually associated with commands and
requests, may often have the illocutionary force of a wish, as in
3) Have a good day.
4) Get well soon.
A question like
5) What tlie hell are you doing!
has really the force of an exclamation. It expresses the speaker's surprise (often
dislike) for what you are doing.
Thus, the correlation between the dimension of grammatical form (sentence type)
and the dimension of meaning (illocutionary force) is not always one-to-one.
Notice however, that verbs like request, promise, ask, congratulate, etc. are
illocutionary by nature, i.e. they bring about the performance of what they stand
for, as in
6) I promise to return the money on Monday.

7) I congratulate you on your success.
In 6, the 'act of promise' is being actually performed and in 7, the 'act of

congratulating' is simultaneous with the utterance. Notice that such illocutionary
acts have the following grammatical features: The Subject is in the 1st person, the
structure is that of a positive declarative sentence, and the tense is the present.
Since the utterance of such sentences is simultaneous with the performance of
the act denoted by the utterance, such verbs (used with the above-mentioned
grammatical features) are also called performative. However, the use will not be
performative if any one of the above conditions is not met. In
Sjntar-I: Sentence 8) He promises to return the money.
Slruchrre-2 1 promised to return the money.
9)
10) Should I promise to return the money?
the utterance and act are not simultaneous and the use of the verb prortlise is
therefore not performative.

1) Identie the sentence type and the illocutionary force for each of the
i) Turn the lights off.
...........................................................................
ii) Have a good trip.
...........................................................................
iii) Please pass the salt
\~.
...........................................................................
iv) Would you like a cup of tea?
v) Would you mind closing the door?

...........................................................................
. vi) How foolish I've been!
...........................................................................
vii) You are requested to go through the security check.
...........................................................................
viii) Take care.
...........................................................................
ix) Are you coming home late?
2) What are the grammatical properties of sentences such as

i) I promise to return your car.
ii) I ask you to leave the room at once.
- ....... -- ......................
29.3 EXCLAMATIONS ........................... -- ........
The illocutionary force normally associated with exclamatory sentences is one of

colouring the meaning of the utterance with strong emotive and atlitudinal force.
For example,
11) How ugly she looks! Imperatives and
Exclamations
12) What a wonderful dog you have!
In 11, the meaning is not just that she is ugly but also that (on that particular
occasion or in that situation) she looks particularly, unexpectedly ugly almost
implying that on most occasions she or women in general do not look so ugly. In
12, the dog is really an extraordinary dog; dogs may generally be great, but this
one is particularly wonderful. What are the formal properties of exclamatory
sentences? Notice that how and what are used to indicate strong emotions. Only
these two wh- words are used in exclamatory sentences. How generally functions
as an intensifier. Consider the following pairs of sentences:
13) (a) She is fat.

(b) How fat she is!
14) (a)IhatedSanskritatschool.
(b) How I hated Sanskrit at school!
In 13 (a),fat is an adjective which functions as a subject complement (SC). How

in 13 (b), describes the degree of fatness-i.e. functions as an intensifier that
suggests that if fatness were seen on a scale, she would fit 'extremely fat' end. In
14 (b), again, how functions as an adverbial intensifying the meaning of the verb
hate. For the exclamatory use of what, consider the following pairs of sentences:
15) (a) It is utter nonsense.

(b) What utter nonsense it is!
16) (a) She has been waiting a long time.
(b) What a long time she has been waiting!
17) (a) He gave me a nice present.
(b) What a nice present he gave me!
Notice that what in the above sentences functions as a determiner. In 16 (b), it

acts as a modifier of 'a long time' and in 17 (b), it modifies 'a nice present'.
As in the case of questions, how and what appear initially in exclamatory

sentences as well. However, there is one important difference. As you know
from Unit 28, subject-operator inversion is obligatory in the case of questions.
But as is clear from examples 11-17, subject-operator inversion does. not
normally take place in the case of exclamatory sentences. Some ambiguity may
arise when how and what constitute a part of the subject NP as in
18) How much money is needed to finish this job.

19) What innocent people end up in jail.
Sentence 18 may be interpreted as both an exclamation and a question. It could

mean
20) What a lot of money is needed to finish this job! (an exclamatory
sentence)
or it could be a question as in
21) What is the amount of money needed to finish this job?

Syntar-1: Sentence Although 19 can also have two meanings, the possibility of ambiguity is much less
Structure-2 in the case of what. The moment what appears with a, it can only have an
exclamatory meaning as in
22) What a splendid athlete she is!
1) For some of the following sentences, two readings are possible: one as a
question, the other as an exclamation. Explain those readings. For those
that allow only one reading, give reasons why two readings are not
possible. ( No punctuation marks have been used.)
i) How beautiful she is

...........................................................................
...........................................................................
ii) How often have I told you to stop smoking
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
............................................................................
iii) How they cried
...........................................................................
iv) How much money was invested
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
v) What are you doing tonight
...........................................................................
vi) How did you travel
...........................................................................
vii) What a match it was
...........................................................................
viii) What strange women lived here
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
29.4 IMPERATIVES
In our previous units we have on several occasions turned to imperatives to

contrast them with statements, negatives or questions. In this section, we shall
look at the structure and meaning of imperatives in some detail.
The imperatives we most fiequently encounter in day-to-day communication

are of the type
23) Go there.
24) Wash your hands.
We immediately notice that these sentences have a verb in the beginning and
are yet not questions. What about the subject of these sentences? In Unit 21
(see Block 5), we pointed out that you is invariably the subject of such lmperatlves and
imperative sentences but that it is normally deleted. But how do we h o w that Exchmations
there is an underlying you in 23 and 24? Can we produce any syntactic
evidence to prove that there is a you underlying 23 and 24?
25) Mohan wrote it himself.

26) Faiza wrote it herself.
27) They wrote it themselves.
Notice that the 'emphatic' or reflexive pronouns such as himself, herself,

themselves etc. have the same reference as the preceding subject NP. It will be
r ungrammatical to say
*28) ' Faiza wrote it themselves.
because themselves cannot be co-referential with, the singular noun Faiza.

What kind of emphatic pronouns are possible in the case of 23 and 24? The
only possibility is to say
29) Go there yourself.

30) Wash your hands yourself.
The presence of the pronoun yourself subsumes that there is a subject NP you
which has been deleted.
Another piece of evidence can be seen in the use of tag-questions with

imperative sentences. Among other things, tag-questions copy the subject of
the main clause. They can reveal the subject NP even when it is not there.
Though imperatives allow a wide range of tags, the subject NP is always you,
as in
3 1) Go away, will you?

won't you?
can you?
can't you?
r
Secondly, such imperative sentences can have only one form of the verb-a
finite base form. It is not possible to add any markers of tense, aspect, voice or
modality to the imperative verb. Thus if we try to replace 'go there' by
*32) went there.

*33) going there.
*34) islwas sent there.
*35) can go there.
we end up creating ungrammatical (imperative) sentences. 'You went there'

is a statement and not a directive. Since commands often sound rude, we try
to make them polite by using 'please' or, as we noted earlier, by using a
question-form. Thus
36) Please go there.

.Svnter-1: Sentence instead of 23 will be communicatively more effective. Since the verbal forms
.~rructure-2
used in the case bf imperatives and the simple present used for habitual
actions (see 24.2.1 in Block 5) may be identical, ambiguity may sometimes
result. For example,
37) You wake up at six.

may mean
38) You habitually wake up at six.

or
You are ordered to wake up at six (tomorrow).
We can sometimes have a third person subject also. But this usage generally
includes the 2nd person, i.e. the listener.
39) Somebody close the door.
40) . Everybody open hisher (also their) eyes.
(Usage note: The use of 'his' above will be appropriate only if the group1
class addressed consists of only males. If the group consists of both sexes. the
speaker would use hisher eyes. What has also become generally accepted
usage is to say:
Everybody/ everyone close their eyes. or
Will everyone please mind their own business.)
imperatives are thus distinguished from other sentence types in generally
having deleted you as the subject and in having the base form of the verb.
They are also distinguished in consistently using initial tfotr'f to make
negatives. Corresponding to 23 and 24 we have,
4 1) Don't go there.
42) Dorl't wash your hands.
Sometimes we use do to make the imperative particularly persuasive. A
sentence such as
43) Do come to the party.

means that the speaker is insisting that the hearer should come to the party
1) Discuss with examples the syntactic tests you can use to show that
imperative sentences have you as their subject.
2) In addition to having you as their subject, what are the syntactic

properties of imperative sentences? Briefly describe each.
llnperatives and
Exclamations
29.5 FORMULAIC UTTERANCES AND BLOCK

LANGIJAGE
As discussed in Section 2 1.6 in Block 5 not all utterances follow the grammatical
strucli~rctypically associated with different sentence types. In excerpt D in 21.2,
we have several examples of what are understood (and also serve) as complete
sentences hilt violate most rules of sentence structure. For example,
44) Advantage Graf.
raises several obvious questions 'What is the subject of the sentence?' 'What
shall be classified as the predicate? and 'Where is the verb?' Yet in the context
of a tennis match, the above utterance makes perfect sense.
In cveryday use of language what one encounters most frequently are greetings
and farewells and from time to time also toasts, slogans, warnings, and apologies.
Such utterances do not generally conform to the known rules of sentence
struchire. For example, sentences like
45) Good evening. (greeting)

46) So long. (farewell)
47) 'To your health. (toast)
48) Down with Narmada dam. (slogan)
49) Fire! (warning)
50) Pardon. (apology)
cannot be analysed in terms of subject, verb, complements, and adverbs. Similarly

fomlulaic utterances like
5 1) How about tomorrow?
52) Why fret?
53) How about joining us?
are irregular because some of the elements generally found in wh- questions are
absent in them. A normal first-meeting greeting especially with a stranger:
54) How do you do?
does not, as we saw above, have a statement corresponding to it. The normal
response to it is 'How do you do?' Nor can it be interpreted as an indirect
question like
*55) She asked him how he did.
Similarly block language which gets regularly used in newspaper headlines and
advertisements tends to limit itself to only the content words which are of high
information value. Most function words, e.g. prepositions, conjunctions, articles,
etc. are generally deleted. This process serves two important functions for
Syntar-I: Sentence certain well-defined uses of language: one, it introduces an element of 'punch'
Structure-2 (force, directness etc.) in the utterance and two, it also makes it economical to
print. For example, in
56) Ceat. Born tough.
the idea being conveyed is: 'We manufacture Ceat tyres. These tyres are really
very strong. You should buy Ceat tyres only'. But the process of truncation and
focussing leads to the three-word block in 56.
Newspaper headlines generally aim at maintaining a certain marginal sentence

structure. For example,
57) Blast victim dies.
has the structure subject-verb. Similarly the headline
58) PM to meet Baba Amte.
has the structure subjecttverb-direct object. The headline
59) Wheat prices now higher than ever before.
has the structure subject-verb-subject complement. You should find it rewarding

to examine the headlines of your daily newspaper and see how and how far they
correspond to any of the structures we have discussed in the preceding units. You
should often find good examples of such special uses of language.
29.6 LET US SUM UP
In this unit, we introduced the concept of illocutionary force i.e. the dimension of
meaning associated with different grammatical structures. We also showed that
there is no one-to-one correspondence between grammatical structure and
different kinds of illocutionary force. For example, declaratives, imperatives and
interrogatives can all be used to make requests. We also discussed the structure
and meaning of exclamatory and imperative sentences. Exclamatory sentences
'
typically begin with how or what and do not have subject-operator inversion.
Imperative sentences have you as their subject and use the base finite form of the
verb. We also discussed briefly some of the properties of block language and
formulaic greetings.
29.7 KEY WORDS
content words ( in grammar) : words that have independent meaning(s)
function words ( in grammar) : words that express grammatical relationships
emotive : tending to excite (may build hate, love, pleasure, etc.)
formulaic : made up of fixed expressions

illocutionary force (in grammar): communicative function of an utterance Imperatives and
Exclamations
performatives ( in grammar) : verbs in which the utterance is simultaneous with
the action denoted by them.
b 29.8 SUGGESTED READING

i
Huddteston R. 1988. English Grammar: An Outline, CUP.

r
Leech, G and Svartvik J 1994 edition. A Communicative Grammar of English.
Longman
r
Quirk R. et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of English. Longman.
ANSWERS
1> Sentence Type Illocutionary Force

directive, command
i) Imperative
ii) Imperative wish
iii) Imperative request
iv) Interrogative question
v) Interrogative request
vi) Exclamatory strong feeling of regret
vii) Declarative request
viii) Imperative wish, advice
ix) Interrogative question
2) Read 29.2 carefully.
only an exclamatory reading is possible. There's no subject-

operator inversion.
a) I have told you many times ..........(an exclamatory
meaning)
b) How many times have I.. . . ..... .? (as a question)
iii) How they cried! (Exclamatory)
iv) a) What a lot of money was invested!
b) What is the amount of money that was invested?
v> What are you doing tonight?
vi) How did you travel?
vii) What a match it was!
viii) a) What strange women lived here!
b) Who were the strange women that lived here?
1) Read 29.4 carefully.
2) Read 29.4 carehlly
UNIT 30 CLAUSE TYPES AND
SENTENCE TYPES
Structure
30.0 Objectives
30.1 Introduction
30.2 Independent and Dependent Clauses
30.3 Types of Dependent Clauses
30.4 Sentence Types
30.5 Let Us Sum Up
30.6 Answers
30.0 OBJECTIVES
After you have studied this unit, you will have learnt about
the different types of clauses, and
the classification of sentence types on the basis of the clauses they
contain.
30.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 21 of Block 5 we tried to answer the question: 'What is a sentence?,
and defined a sentence as follows:
A sentence 1s an ordered string of words which expresses a complete thought.

It generally consists of a subject and a predicate, and the verb in the predicate
agrees with the subject. Every sentence, when it is written, begins with a
capital letter. '
We also pointed out that a sentence could be a statement, a question, a

command, or an exclamation.
Birds sing. (statement)

Who sang at the concert last night? (wh. question)
Did he sing at the concert? (yeshio question)
Sing us a song. (command or request)
How well she sings! (exclamation)
In U n ~ t22 we described five basic sentence patterns and the elements which
made up these patterns - Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (0), Complement (C).
and Adverbials (A). Objects can be direct (DO) or indirect (I), and
complements Include subject complements (SC) and object complements (OC).
So far in our discuss~onsof sentences we have been looking malnly at what

are known as 'simple' sentences, that is, sentences consisting of just one 'part'
(called a 'clause') and only one 'verb' each. We shall now take up sentences
that can be looked upon as combinations of one or more 'parts' (or 'clauses').
<:ompound and Complex
Sentences 30.2 INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT CLAUSES
.Read the following sentences:
1. She is baking a cake today.
2. The dog came up to me when I whistled.
What is the obvious difference between these two sentences? (1) has a subject
(She) and a predicate (is baking a cake). What about (2)? It consists of two
'distinct parts, each with a subject and a predicate of its own. Each is called a
clause. The obvious difference between the two sentences, then, is that
sentence (2) contains two clauses. It is unlike sentence (I), which has only one
clause.
A clause is a group of words which has a subject and a predicate (with a

finite verb) of its own. In this sense, a 'simple' sentence (one subject and one
predicate) can also be called a clause. The conventional way of looking at a
clause, though, is to treat it as part of a larger sentence.
Read the following sentences. Each of them has more than one clause.
1. I stopped smoking because everybody seemed to dislike it intensely.
2. You had better huny up if you want to catch the 5.30 train.
3. Kindly look through the paper carefully before you sign it, as it will be
produced before the higher authorities.
4. I was hoping that they would accept my suggestions, but for some reason
they turned down all of them and put up their own.
In sentences 1-4 which, as you must have noticed, have more than one clause
each and which therefore are not simple ones (i.e., those with a single clause
structure), two types of clauses can be identified':
i. independent clause (also called 'main clause')
ii. dependent clause (also called 'subordinate clause')
An independent clause constitutes the principal part of the sentence. It is

independent in the literal sense that it does not have to depend on the rest of
the sentence to make a complete statement.
The dog carne rtp to rtle when I whistled.

He is saving now so that he can relax after retirement.
I
The italicized clauses ip the above sentences are independent clauses. Each
consists of a subject ( the dog, he) and a predicate (came up to me, is saving
now), and each expresses a complete idea. Each can stand on its own and
abes not require'any additions to make complete sense.
A dependent clause, on the other hand, is one that cannot stand by itself ; it
depends on the main clause for it to be meaningful. '...when I whistled', or
'...so that he can relax after retirement' are incomplete except when they are
read or heard as parts of the longer sentences. They are both dependent
clauses.
1. Indicate the number of clauses in each of the following sentences.
i. You are an old friend of mine
ii. It is obvious that you are an old friend of mine
Clause Types and
iii. I reached the station when most passengers had occupied their seats
Sentence Types
and the train had started moving
iv. They and their relatives do not get along very well
v. I am not sure what you want or why you come round so often.
2. Identify the 'main' (or independent) clauses in the following sentences:
i. He passed the examination because he worked very hard last year.
..............................................................................................................
ii. If you come to my house, I will show you my new books.
..............................................................................................................
iii. It is said that he who can control himself can control others.
..............................................................................................................
iv. You did it because you had no choice in the matter.
v. Although he is poor and needy, he is scrupulously honest.
3. Now identify a main (independent) clause in each sentence of the following

passage:
"When my mother learned of my father's decision to send me to the
Dadar School, she was appalled. She had never been to Bombay, and to
her it might have been a foreign country. She could not understand the
reason for sending me nine hundred miles away from home to attend
school with orphans and children of the poorest classes. After all, another
year at home could not but help my development. Yet she placed her faith
in my father's superior judgment, and in her quiet way she acquiesced."
4. Rewrite the following sentences using the wordlwords given against each.
Make each sentence a single clause type (a 'simple' sentence) as in the
example:
Exarnple: He is successful because he works very hard. (because of)
He is successful because of (his) hard work.
i. He is well-known bkcause he is very honest. (for)
ii. He was declared not guilty as there wasn't enough evidence against
him. (for lack of)
ii~.He is a true friend. though he has many shortcomings. (in spite of)
iv. The college will remain closed on Tuesday because it is a national

holiday. (on account of)
! v. He showed up when I needed him most. (in my hour of)

1
I ..............................................................................................................
L
Cun~poundPad Complex
Sentences 30.3 TYPES OF DEPENDENT CLAUSES
A dependent clause, as has been pointed out, depends upon the main or
independent clause to form a sentence. Very often it does the work of a noun,
an adjective, or an adverb. Look at the following:
noun She told me a story

She told me what I wanted to hear.
adjective the old man ......

.
the man who is old ..........
adverb He reached late.
He reached when he was not expected.
Notice In the examples above that dependent clauses have taken the place of
single words - nouns, adject~ves,and adverbs. In (1)' the direct object 'a
story', which is a noun phrase, has been replaced by 'what I wanted to hear',
which is a clause functioning as a noun, i.e. as the object of the verb 'told'. In
(2) 'old' has been replaced by 'who is old' - a clause modifying the noun
phrase the 'man', like an adjective. In (3)' the adverb 'late' has been replaced
by a clause 'when he was not expected', functioning as an adverbial.
A dependent clause is sometimes named after the 'part of speech' whose

function it assumes in the sentence. A clause which does the work of a noun
is called a noun clause. The same is true of the other two types also. We can,
therefore, classify dependent clauses as:
1. Noun clauseq
2. Adjective clauses
3. Adverb clauses
A noun clause may occur in a place where a noun can be used. To take three
common ihstances, it can be (a) the subject of a verb, (b) the object of a verb,
and (c) the object of a preposition.
Examples:
1. The report is doubtful.

Whatever he says is doubtful
(subject: replaces the report)
2. He told me .a story.
He told me what I wanted to hear.
(object: replaces a story)
3. I am not interested in your story
I am not interested in what you have just told me.
(object of 'in')
Here are a few more examples for you to study.
We moved the chair to the front.
We moved the chair' to where the teacher wanted it.
She told me about her early resignation.
She told me that she will/would resign her job soon.
A lot depends on the coalition partners' belief in each other.
A lot depends on how far the coalition partners believe in each other.
Clause Types and
An adjective clause (also called 'relative' clause; see Unit 27 in Block 8) is Sentence Types
one which modifies the head of a noun phrase. It is connected with the noun
headword that is modified by a relative pronoun like 'which', 'who', 'that', etc.
(Often conjunctive adverbs - 'when' and 'where' - may also be used in place
of relative pronouns.)
Examples:
1. The man whom you have just met is a neighbour of mine.

2. The girl who was here yesterday is a student of mine.
3. The place where I was born has a different name now.
Note: In each of the above sentences the subject noun phrase including the
relative clause (Ex. The man whom you have just met) can be treated as a
s~ngleunit functioning as the subject of the sentence.
Here are a few more examples for you to study:
The woman who(m) he married becatne a well known dancer.
The tunnel that the train just passed through is a marvel of engineering.
The children whom this orphanage is looking after were picked up from the
streets of the metropolis.
The common functions of an adverb clause are to express relationships such as

place, time, manner, purpose, result, condition, etc. The following are a few
illustrative examples:
1. I will go there.
I will go where you want me to work. (place)
2. He waited all the time.
He waited till he heard the sound o f a n approaching car. (time)
3. She appeared as witness willingly.
She appeared as a witness because she knew the truth. (reason)
4. He acted skilljitlly.
He acted as ij' he knew the truth. (manner)
5. $you come to our house, I shall introduce you to my sister. (condition)
Here are a few more examples for you to study:

Take an umbrella with you in case it rains
It rained so hard that all the streets were jloodeti.
As it was rairling hard in Clzennai, the OD1 had to be abandoned.
To summarise, a.clause is a group of words with a subject and a predicate of

its own. There are two types of clauses -- independent and dependent.
Dependent clauses may be classified as Noun, Adjective, and Adverb clauses,
on the basis of the function that each performs.
1. Pick out dependent clauses from the following paragraph and classify them:
The locality where I wish to stay may not be a well-known one. You
might ask why I should choose to live there at all. Well, I want to live
there because it will be far from the madding crowd, so to say. I prefer a
local~tywhich very few businessmen will want to visit. If it was a popular
place from the businessmen's point of view. ~t wouldn't attract me at all. I
am obviously interested in what no one seems to like very much - a place
Compound and Complex where I can devote my time to reading, writing and meditation. Can any
Sentences
estate agent lead me to what I am looking for?
....................................................................................................
)mplete the following, using clauses as indicated:
I asked him ........................(noun clause)
The story ........................is not convincing. (adjective clause)
I work hard ........................ (adverb clause)
I believe in ........................(noun clause)
......................... he is honest. (adverb clause)
Have vou finished the book ........................ ? (adiective clause)
SENTENC'E TYPES
We can look at sentences in different ways. One way is to classify them
according to function and according to the arrangement of their constituent
elements. In Unit 21 of Block 5 we referred to declaratory, interrogative, I
irnpkFative, and exclarnutoly sentences. They all had different functions and 1
!
different grammatical structures. We can also consider whether a sentence
consists of only one clause or more than one clause; and, if it has more than
one clause, whether the clauses are all independent of each other or any one
ofdthem is a dependent clause.
On this basis we can recognize four types of sentences.

1. A simple sentence
2. A complex sentence
i
3. A compound sentence
4
4. A compound-complex sentence !
A s i mble
~ sentence is on e which conta ins only one subject and one predicate,
such as the following:
I
She likes tea. .
All of us avoid noisy places.
Most of us welcome non-smoking compartments.
Now let's rewrite it as below:

1
iI
She and her sister like tea.
She likes tea as well as coffee.
She and her sister like tea, coffee and milk.
Would you call the above simple sentences? Structurally, the answer is a clear
'yes'. Each sentence has a subject and a predicate. Whether the subject, or
Clause Types and
the predicate, contains one or more than one element is immaterial, so long as Sentence Types
it functions as a single connected group. Here are two more examples:
Ex. Apples have come into the market.
Fresh fruits and vegetables from Baramulla and Oodi have come into all the
supermarkets today.
Another way of describing a simple sentence is to say it is a sentence which

consists of a single independent clause.
My sister is an athlete.
My sister and I are athletes.
Mohan, his sister, and their cousin Meena are at the same school.
A Complex sentence is one which contains one independent clause and one
or more dependent clauses:
Examples:
I. Everybody knows that the earth is round.
2. He is the one who(m) I like most.
3. If we don't rneet tomorrow, we shall postpone our discussion till next
week.
4. Whether the}? choose to stay away or whether a lnajority of thein are
present at the meeting, we shall go ahead with the general elections if the
majorlty favours it.
(Now study Sentence 4 above to know a) the number of clauses in it and b)

the number of dependent clauses in it)
A compound sentence is one which contains two or more independent

clauses joined together by a 'coordinating conjunction' like 'and', 'or', 'but',
etc. Each clause is independent of the other, and makes a complete statement.
E.rarriples:
1. You can go by train or you can take a bus.
2. 1 believe in democracy but I don't believe in a total lack of control.
3. I like poetry, and 1 don't dislike prose,.but I can't appreciate many modem
specimens of either.
4. Some alternative medicines are capable of treating chronic illnesses and
also providing a healthy life style to both young asd old.
A compound-complex sentence is a combination of a compound sentence

and a complex sentence. Such a sentence contains two or more independent
and one or more dependent clauses.
1. I had nothing against him when I met him last, but I have found out since
that ~iiostof what he says is untrue, and he says it so convincingly.
2. He speaks for the proposition when it suits him and where it serves his
personal goals but we cannot trust him to vote for it when it comes to the
crunch.
Cumpoulid and complex Check Your Progress 3
Sentc~lrer
Taking each sentence in the following paragraph, say whether it is a simple, a
complex, a compound, or a compound-complex sentence.
1. The wind and the sun were good fr~endsbut sometimes they quarreled
with each other.
2. Both were strong in their own way, but they always f o q h t about who was
stronger.
3. The sun grew hotter and hotter when he argued, and the wind grew
rougher and wilder when he argued.
4. One day they started quarrelling over the same point again.
5. The point which had been discussed a thousand times already was taken
up again as if it was a new one.
In this unit, we have discussed independent and dependent clauses in sentences,

and how dependent clauses can be classified. We have also presented various
types of sentences to grasp the nature of the clauses they contain.

1. i. 1
2
3
1
3
2. i. He passed the examination
ii. I will show you my new books
v. It is said
vi. You did it
vii. He is scrupulously honest
3. - she was appalled
- she had never been to Bombay
- to her it might have been a foreign country.
- She could not understand
- She placed her faith in my father's superior judgment
- In her own quiet way she acqu~esced.
4. i. He is well-known for his honesty
ii. He was dklared not guilty for lack of enough evidence against him.
iii. He is a true friend in spite of many known shortcomings.
iv. T l e college wili remain closed on Tuesday on account of a national holiday.
v. He showed up in my hour of need.
Check Your Progress 2 Clause Types and
Sentence Types
I 1. where I wish to say (adjective clause)

why I should choose to live there at all. (noun clause, object of 'ask')
because it will be far fiom the madding crowd. (adverb clause, reason)
which very few businessmen will want to visit. (adjective clause)
If it was a popular ....................... point of view. (adverb clause, condition)
what no one seems to like very much. (noun clause, object of 'in')
yrhere I can meditation. (adjective clause)
i
! what I am looking for? (noun clause, object of 'to')
I
i 2. How are a few samples.
1 i. ....................... where he lived.
1 ii. .......................(that you have just told me.
...
m. ....................... because I want to get the first position in the class.
iv. ....................... what you have told me.
v. Although he is poor, .........
vi. (that) I lent you yesterday.
I
1. compound
2. compound-complex
3. compound-complex
4, simple
5. complex
UNIT 31 COMPOUND SENTENCES
'Structure
30.0 Objectives
3 1.1 Introduction
3 1.2 Relationship of Meaning between Coordinate Clauses
3 1.3 Coordinating Conjunctions
3 1.4 Linking of Units Smaller than Clauses
3 1.5 Shortened Forms of Compound Sentences
31.6 Let Us Sum Up
31.7 Answers
With the help of this unit, you will be able to learn about
a coordination as a linking device;
a different coordinators (coordinating conjunctions) used to link clauses a8
well as units smaller than clauses; and
a compound sentences that we come across in speech and writing.
In Unit 30, we referred to sentence types from the point of view of the
number and types of clauses they have. One of the types, we said, was a
compound sentence defined as follows: "A compound sentence in one which
contains two or more independent clauses joined together by a coordinating
conjunction like 'and', 'or', 'but', etc. Each clause is independent of the other
and makes a complete statement."
We shall now refer briefly to two important devices - those of coordination

and subordination - that are used to join clauses of equal rank or different
ranks, although in this unit we shall be mainly concerned with coordination.
Subordination will form the subject matter of units 32 and 33.
As was said above, both coordination and subordination involve the linking of
units. The main difference between the two is that in coordination the units are
of the same level or rank whereas in subordination they occupy different levels.
Indicators of coordination ('and', 'but', 'or' ....) are called coordinating
conjunctions, an! those of subordination (e.g. 'that', ' i f , 'why' ...) are,called
subordinating conjunctions.
Sometimes the order in certain sets of coordinated units can be reversed

without a change of meaning.
Ram teaches at a school and Sita works in a factory.

Sita works in a factory and Ram teaches at a school.
However, such reordering is not possible if a cause-result relationship exists

between the units.
Compound Sentences
He passed away yesterday and they cremated the body on the banks of the
river Yamuna.
* They cremated the body on the banks of the river Yamuna and he passed
away yesterday.
(Note that this sentence is unacceptable though grammatically all right because
it fails to show which action came first and which next)
'Rank' refers to thk status of the clause. Clauses, as we already know, can be
either dependent or independent. An independent clause is a 'free' grammatical
clause and is capable of constituting a simple sentence. A dependent clause is
a 'bound' clause, which can make up a grammatical sentence only in
combination with another clause, which serves as the main or independent
clause.
He is a good man, (Grammatical; independent)

* Because he is a good man. (Dependent clause: cannot stand on its own as a
sentence)
I like him because he is a good man. (A sentence with an independent clause

followed by a dependent clause)
An independent clause may also be negatively defined. Defined thus it is a

clause which is not subordinated to any other clause. Independent clauses are
also coordinated to form compound sentences.
a. It was a clear day.
b. A strong wind was blowing from the east.
It was a clear day and (but) a strong wind was blowing from the east.
a. ' He went to the station.
b. He bought a ticket.
c. He boarded the train.
He went to the station, bought a ticket, and boarded the train.
31.2 RELATIONSHIP OF MEANING BETWEEN

CO-ORDINATE CLAUSES
It is true that every compound sentence is a combination of two or more
clauses of equal rank held together by a coordinator. Yet it is possible to
perceive a relationship of meaning between the coordinated units. Independent
clauses within the same sentence may be related to each other in one of the
following four ways:
i. Harmony or Agreement: Two or more statements that are alike may be
' put
together to form a compound sentence with or without a coordinator.
This may be done by
a. Addition: The coordinators generally used here are 'and', 'moreover',
'besides', etc.
The mob set fire to the building and the firemen spent two hours putting
it out.
You will have to report for duty next Monday; likewise, your colleagues will
also be required to be at work on Monday morning.
Compound a n d Complex The story is uninteresting; besides, it isn't supported by any data or
Sentcnccs
convincing arguments.
b. General statement and explanation: Generally no coordinator is used
in this case. The punctuation mark used is either a colon (:) or a
semicolon (;).
She did her duty: she looked after her neighbours like her own kith and kin.
(Here what follows the colon explains how she did what she did)
You have done the right thing: you have taken action against the inefficient
members of the party.
The house is new; no tenant has ever occupied it to this day.
Note: The explanation may be in the form of one or more specific examples.
Sometimes a single extraordinary deed is enough to make a man great: Gandhiji

achieved greatness through practising non-violence; he stuck to it in every great
movement he initiated.
A great novelist may write only one novel to become immortal: Emily Bronte
did that.
c. Massed detail: This means giving a number of details producing a single
effect.
The old man had a weird appearance; his clothes were tattered; his hands
were coarse; his feet were bare.
I can't trust you; you are always late; you never keep your word; you
don't care about others.
ii. Contrast: Here the most used conjunction is 'but.'
However, conjunctive adverbs like 'yet', 'nevertheless', 'on the contrary'
,may qlso be used.
The search party went round and round in the forest, but no trace of the
missing hunter was found.
The Karnataka police set traps for the forest brigand all across the
territory; nevertheless the brigand evaded arrest for. full two years.
Coordinate clauses are independent of each other, yet there is a
relationship of meaning between them within the sentence.
iii. Alternatlon or Choice: h e conjunctions used for the purpose are 'or',
'nor', 'either - or', etc.
Either I did not make my point clear or you did not pay much attention to
my remarks.
He is not entirely truthful, nor is he particularly friendly.
I should get a better deal this time, or I shall consider myself as someone
born unlucky.
iv. Consequence or Inference: This implies a cause-result relationship
between the two parts of the sentence. The second clause can beldrawn
as a result of the statement made in the first clause. The coordinators
commonly used here are conjunctive adverbs such as 'therefore', 'thus',
'hence', 'consequently', etc.
The job was utterly boring; therefore, I did it half-heartedly.
They had successfully completed the first stage in all its essentials;
consequently, the new CEO had to adopt their plan,
In this section, we have discussed the linking of independent clauses within a Compound Sentences
sentence from the point of view of meaning. The relationship between the two
units may be one of harmony or agreement, contrast, alternation or choice, and
lastly of consequence or inference. We have also provided examples of
coordinators commonly used to indicate any of those relationships.
1. Name the relationship ('agreement', 'contrast', 'choice', or 'consequence')
that exists between the independent clauses in each of the following
sentences.
i. I have already written to him; therefore, I expect a reply soon.
..............................................................................................................
ii. It's a lovely evening; the moon is up; the breeze is blowing.
..............................................................................................................
iii. He worked very hard; nevertheless, he couldn't achieve his purpose.
iv. Write a few sentences and comment on their structure and style of
presentation..
v. You are not permitted to accompany us; besides, you haven't finished
your homework yet.
vi. They hoped to reach here by the morning express; on the contrary,
they arrived by the evening passenger.
vii. He was true to his word; he lent ine two hundred rupees.
viii.He is lazy, yet he gets the highest marks in the group.

..............................................................................................................
ix. You can keep this job or you can look for a new one.
x. This piece of land is fertile; therefore we have paid such a high price
for it.
1. Write five compound sentences using 'and', 'but', 'or', 'therefore', and
'consequently'. Take your cues from the exan~plesgiven in the unit so far.
...................................................................................................................
3. Fill in the blanks with appropriate conjunctions:
i. "Con~e,live with me ....................... be-n~ylove". is the opening line of
a famous poem by Christopher Marlowe.
ii. He could not catch the train, ....................... was he able to go by air.
iii. Either he is gifted .......................he is unbelievably hardworking; it is
difficult to say which it is.
iv. He is poor. .......................he is honest.
v. I have already explained everything; ........................ it is worthwhile
going over some of the points again.
Compound and Complex 1. A few conjunctions have been removed from the following two texts.
Sentences
Name each and put it in at the appropriate place:
i) When I was young, my family had a small farm. At haymaking time
my uncle Hany would sniff the air each. morning - walk around the
fields prodding the grass with a stick - scanning the horizon - the
sky. When the time was right he would sniff, poke, scan - then say,
"It's ready to cut. Let's get started." - at planning time in the Spring,
he would stoop, pick up a handful of earth, smell it, crumble it between
finger - thumb, - say, "have a feel of that then." The. earth is in good
heart; it is time to plant. "He was very rarely wrong. - if you had
asked him how he knew, he would doubtless not have been able to
answer, except in rather unsatisfactory terms, such as "It's obvious,
isn't it?" - "It just feels right, that's all."
ii) 'Almost all the workers expected the video-based English course to be
interesting, enjoyable, - not too long. Forty-five of them wanted the
explanations on the video to be in the mother tongue. They wanted
drama - some forni of entertainment included in the video - wanted
the iangluage to be presented in situations - settings that they were
familiar with - could relate to. The other 10 were not interested -
had no opinion in the matter.'
3 1.3 CO-ORDINATING
-- CONJUNCTIONS
So far, the point has been made that words known as conjunctions often
perform the function of linking simple sentences or clauses to form compound
sentences. We shall now look at the various types of these coordinating
conjunctions. We can tentatively divide them into three categories:
1. conjunctians (also known as 'pure' conjunctions) such as 'and', 'but',
'or', etc.
2. correlated groups such as 'not only - but also', either - or', 'neither -
not', etc.
3. connective adverbs such as 'however', 'yet', etc
Let us now look at the ways in which these coordinating conjunctions are used
in sentences.
And, but, or
Take the sweets and share them out.
He didn't prepare for the examination, hut he passed it with a respectable
percentage.
You can sit with me in this room or you can go for a walk out on the lawn,
Note: Notice that these conjunctions always occur between the elements
which they link.
Not only - but (also), either - or, neither - nor
Not only did he help his neighbours morally, but he also accommodated them
in his house for a month.
Either you have not understood my point, or you don't believe in me.
Neither did I ask him to see me, nor was he looking forward to it. or
I neither asked himlher to see me, nor was I looking forward to it (seeing
himher).
Note: Notice the subject verb inversion with the use of 'not only - but (also)'
and 'neither-nor'. We do, for example say 'He not only helped his neighbours
morally but he also accommodated them in his honse for a month.' But the Compound Sentences
inversion above appears to highlight the actions with somewhat greater force.
So too with 'Neither.. nor' where once again we often say 'I ne~therasked ...
nor...'.
However, so
I have already told you the whole story; however, I am prepared to repeat
parts of it.
I couldn't wait there for ever. so I decided to leave.
Note: The first example can be rewritten as follows:
I have already told you the truth; I am however, prepared to repeat parts of it.
1. Correct the following sentences:
i. He is neither friendly or dependable.
..............................................................................................................
ii. Neither it is possible nor it is desirable.
..............................................................................................................
iii. He both won a scholarship and gold medal.
..............................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
iv. Not only we met him but also his brother.
..............................................................................................................
v. Either it was his good luck or a fluke.
..............................................................................................................
2. Complete the following sentences:
i. I don't hope to do much but
..............................................................................................................
ii. I will try and see you tomorrow, however,
Compound and Complex iii. He is neither a friend
Sentences
..............................................................................................................
iv. It's not only first rate
..............................................................................................................
v. Whether you agree with me or not,
..............................................................................................................
vi. My boss is both
..............................................................................................................
vii. This summer I will visit not only
31.4 LINKING OF UNITS SMALLER THAN

CLAUSES
Coordinating conjunctions connect not only clauses but also elements smaller
than clauses. The point to remember, however, is that they connect sentence
elements.which are usually of the same grammatical class: nouns with nouns,
adjectives with adjectives, adverbs with adverbs, and phrases with phrases.
Look at the following:
Nouns: Jack and Jill went up the hill.

They visited the bookshop and the exhibition.
Verbs: You may accept or reject it.

You can sing and dance and make merry.
Adverbs: He always works slowly but efficiently.

Slowly and silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon.
Prepositional phrases: They went across the road and into the garden.
Look to your right and to your leji before
crossing the street.
Clauses: Who said it or why it was said is not my concern.
Correlative conjunctions such as 'either - or' and 'neither - nor' also perform
the same function. They can be used clause initially or word or phrase-initially.
Examples:
EitFiw he should come here or he should give up the programme.

He is either simple, or.foolish, or both.
He is neither ambitious nor lucky.
1. Rewrite each of the following pairs of sentences as a single sentence. Use
the conjunction given in brackets. Make changes in your sentences,
wherever necessary.
i. He has got a telephone
He has also got a car. (and)
ii. You won't do this. Compound Sentences
You won't do that. (neither-nor)

..............................................................................................................
iii. He forgot my name.
He pretended not to remember. (either - or)
..............................................................................................................
iv. You may choose this course.
You may choose that course. (or)
.
v. I like
music.
My wife also likes music. (both-and)
2. Read the following paragraph and do the tasks given at the end of it.
A knowledge of grammar is necessary for correctness and precision in
writing and speaking. Grammar is difficult and has to be studied as a
whole. Therefore, it does require a concerted effort, which, however, need
not encroach into the time or energy required for business or exercise.
Hours wasted in gossip and entertainment over tea and coffee during one
year will suffice and produce results. As soon as the subject is mastered,
one will surely derive pleasure and profit from it and become a correct
speaker and writer for life.
i. Pick out all the coordinating conjunctions used in the passage.
ii. Give one example each of linked nouns, verbs, prepositional phrases,
and clauses.
31.5 SHORTENED FORMS OF COMPOUND

SENTENCES
Have you noticed that in order to avoid repetition, compound sentences are
often shortened by deleting certain elements?
1. The conjunction itself may be omitted. Here, for example, is the famous
sentence attributed to Julius Caesar.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
In the sentence the conjunction has been replaced by a comma, We would
normally write
I came, I saw atid I conquered.
There can be many more examples of the deletion of the conjunction.
They laughed, they danced, they sang for joy.
She taught, she directed plays, she rose to be the queen of Bharatnatyam.
Compound and Complex 2. When the linked clauses have a common subject, it is generally omitted
Sentences
from all the clauses except the first.
I wrote the letter, sealed it, put it in a special cover, and sent it through a
special messenger.
The hunter picked up the gun and fired at the roaring tiger
My mother-in-law amves tomorrow and plans to spend the rest of her life
with us.
4. When the clauses have a common predicate the verb often appears only in
the first clause.
Some people laughed loudly and others in their sleeves.
As I stood up to speak, one (member of the audience) threw a tomato and
another a rotten egg.
I play chess but my wife doesn't.
31.6 LET US SUM UP

I
I
'In this unit, we have discussed coordination as a linking device to form
compound sentences. We have also discussed the relationship of meaning
between coordinate clauses within a sentence.
And lastly, we have identified some commonly used coordinating conjwictions

which link clauses as well as units smaller than clauses.
We hope you will now be able to recognize a compound sentence in a written

text, and use coordinating conjunctions effectively in your speech and writing.
31.7 ANSWERS
1. i. consequence
d
ii. agreement: general statement and explanation, or massed detail

iii. contrast
iv. agreement: addition
v. agreement: addition
vi. contrast
vii. agreement: general statement and explanation
viii. contrast
ix. choice
,.
x. consequqnce.
2. Try it independently. Make sure that every sentence you write is a
compound sentence consisting of two or more independent clauses.
3. i. and
ii. nor
iii. or
iv. yet
v. however1 nevertheless
4. a. and, and, and, and, And, and, and, But, or
b. and, or, and, and, or, or
Check Your Progress 2 Compound Sentences
1. i. .......................... nor dependable

ii. It is neither possible nor desirable, or
Neither is it possible nor (is it) desirable.
iii. He won both a scholarship and a gold medal.
iv. We met not only him but also his brother.
v. It was either his good luck or a fluke.
(The original sentence can also be treated as correct. Read it as: Either
it was his good luck or (it was) a fluke).
2. i. ..........................I promise to stand by you through thick and thin.
ii. .......................... I may have to change my mind.
...
m. ..........................nor an enemy.
iv. .......................... but also very popular.
v. .......................... I have decided to get on with the project.
vi. .......................... educated and cultured.
vii. .......................... Dehradun but also Mussorie.
1. I. .......................... a telephone and a car.
ii. You'll do neither this nor that.
iii. He either forgot my name or pretended not to remember it.
iv. You may choose this course or that course.
v. Both my wife and I like music.
(Note: It is polite to put the first person slngular 'I' at the end In such
coordinated phrases. We do not normally say I and my wife, I and Joseph
but my wife and I or Joseph and I)
2. i. The coordinating conjunctions are italicized in the following phrases and
clauses :
correctness and precision
writing and speaking;
and has to be studled;
Therefore, lt does require. ................,
I
I the time or energy;
business or exercise;
ii in gossip and entertainment;
1
I tea and coffee;
I1 will suffice and produce results;

pleasure and profit;
and become.. .....;
speaker and writer.
ii. nouns: correctness and precisisn
verbs: will suffice and produce results
prepositional phrases: ...... in gossip and on entertainment.
clauses: Grammar is difficult and has to be studied as a whole.
UNIT 32 COMPLEX SENTENCES-1
Structure
32.0 Objectives
32.1 Introduction
32.2 Subordination as a LinkingDevice
32.3 SubordiniatingConjunctions
32.4 Noun Clauses
32.5 Let Us Sum Up
32.6 Answers
32.0 OBJECTIVES
With the help of this unit, you will be able to learn about
subordination as a linking device;
subordinating conjunctions and their uses; and
one trpe of subordinate clause, namely the noun clause.
32.1 INTRODUCTION
We have already made a distinction between compound and complex
sentences. A compound sentence, we have maintained, represents a linking
together of two or more simple sentences or clauses of equal rank held
together by a coordinating conjunction. A complex sentence, on the other
hand, Is one whlch has one Independent clause and one or more
dependent clauses. In other words, when a clause with a subject and
predicate of its own is 'downgraded' and made to function as a noun, or an
adjective! or an adverb, and is subordinated to another clause (the main clause)
within the sentence, a complex sentence is formed, A complex sentence,
then, contalns clauses of unequal rank and frinctlon.
Remember that a complex sentence has one main clause. The other clauses
are dependent clauses. A dependent clause can be subbrdinated to another
dependent clause so that there is a hierarchy of clauses in the sentence, Let ur
exemplify this hierarchy of clauses, Look at the following:
1. He said that he lived in a far-off place.
In this sentence, 'He said' is the main clause and 'that he lived in a far-off
place' is the dependent clause, It is a fairly elementary example of a complex
rmtence with only two clauses. But look at this one:
2. He said that he lived in a far-off place which was miles away fiom
anywhere.
Here, aftcr the main clause, there are two dependent c l a w r :

i. that he lived in a far-off place
I
ii which war miles away from anywhere

Notice that ii) is a dependent clause and it is subordinated to i) and that
both (i) and (ii)*aresubordinated to 'He said', which is the main clauee.
Complex Sentences-l
Now look at the third example:
3. He said that he lived in a far-off place which was miles away from the
house which I occupied last year.
This sentence has four clauses. Look at the last clause 'which I occupied last
year'. It is a relative clause modifying 'the house'. This and the relative clause
preceding it, 'which was miles away from the house' together modify 'a far-off
place'. Both these clauses are thus subordinated to the clause 'that he lived in
a far-off place', which is a noun clause. All these three clauses as one
connected group are subordinated to the main clause 'He said'. Such a clausal
hierarchy is fairly common in written English. In speech, however,
coordination seems to be a more commonly used linking device.
In this unit, we shall examine some subordinating conjunctions used in complex

sentences as well as one type of dependent clause called the noun clause.
32.2 SUBOJXDINATION AS A LINKING DEVICE

One might ask why simple sentences are linked together at all through
coordination or subordination. One reason is that it is not always possible, nor is
it stylistically desirable, to express one's thoughts only in simple sentences. Such
writing very often fails to create the right impact on the reader. Most languages
provide other sentence types also, and the complexity of inter-related ideas is
best reflected in the complexity of sentence structure. The other important
reason which also falls under the broad category stylistics is that linking up
sentences and clauses helps the writer avoid repetition to a fairly large extent.
It also helps h i d e r to be brief and concise in the expression of hisher ideas
and feelings.
We have seen above how coordination functions as a device for linking

together two or more units of equal status. Subordination should be distinguished
as the linking of two units or elements by means of a subordinating conjunction.
The relationship that holds between such two or more clauses (call them X and
Y, X being the main clause) in a complex sentence is such that Y is like a
constituent or part of X. Very often the dependent clause becomes a substitute
for a noun or an adjective or an adverb, and performs the function of that part
of speech. Thus, subordination may be seen "as the downgrading of a clause to
the status of a sub-clausal unit".
Look at these sentences:

1. I told him what he wanted to know.
2. I told him the truth.
3. I told him that.
In (1) above, 'what he wanted to know' can be seen ,as a clause with a
subject and a predicate and, in functional terms, as the direct object of the verb
'told'. It answers the question that begins in 'what' and can be replaced by the
noun phrase 'the truth' as in (2), or its equivalent pronoun 'that' in (3). To put
is differently, what we saw above is that in complex sentences clauses can be
analysed both in terms of their own constituent parts (i.e., what goes into them)
and also in terms of their overall function in sentence structure - those
functions being subject, object, complement, etc.
The other important thing about subordination is the hierarchy of clauses within
the sentence, which has been briefly discussed in 32.1.
Compound and Complex Check Your Progress 1
Sentences
1. Explain the difference between coordination and subordination.
...................................................................................................................
2. Write 'C' for coordination and 'S' for subordination against each of the
following to indicate which device has been ysed in linking together clauses
in each sentence.
i. I like him and he likes me. ...............................................................
ii. I like him as much as he likes me. .......................................................
iii. I like him because he likes me. ............................................................
iv. I like him but he doesn't like me. .........................................................
v. I don't know if I like him. ....................................................................
3. Identify main and dependent clauses in the following paragraph. Write each
clause separately and say what type it is.
(1) The iecent killing of 13 labourers who were woken up from their sleep
and shot dead is a slur on all of us. (2) We should be ashamed of the fact
that we have not been able to protect those who contribute towards
meeting the state's food requirements. (3) It is our duty, who are in the
majority, to protect the lives of those who are dependent on us.
(Adapted from The Times of India, June 4 , 1990.)
32.3 SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Subordinating conjunctions are formal signals or indicators of subordination of
one clause to another. The indicator is contained in the subordinate rather than
the main clause.
Some commonly used subordinating conjunctions are:

afrer
He reached after the meeting had ended.
The train left cjkr everybody had been given a seat.
Though he is a good man, he is rather selfish.

or
A good man tlzougl~he is, he is rather selfish.
I like her becairsk she likes me.

or
Because she likes me I like her too.
Complex Sentences-1
before
The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
if
If you like, I will accompany you to the market.
or
I will accompany you to the market, if you like.
wlietr
You will know the value of a house when you have had one of your own.
(Notice that in the above sentence 'when' is almost the same as 'once'.)
We can say
You will know the value of a house once you have had one of your own.
that
I know that he is in the wrong.
(Note: It is possible to rewrite this sentence without using 'that1.)
till
I won't leave the house till you come.
unless
You won't be successful unless you work really hard.
wlrere
You can go where you like.
wlrile
I was playing chess while he was cooking.
(Notice that as used above 'while' refers to two actions being performed at the
same time.)
In addition to these, there are some compound subordinators ending with 'that':
in that, so that, etc.
He is unfortunate in that he is often misunderstood.
She came here s o that she could make your acquaintance.
Then, there are some compound subordinators which may or may not take the
final 'that':
provided (that), granting (that), etc,
I will see you at ten o'clock on Monday ptovided (that) it doesn't rain,
Granting (that) you have done your beet, I think you could still do a shade
better.
Apart from the above, the following are some other indicators of subordination
in complex sentences:
Compound and Complex wh- words like 'where', 'when', 'why', 'whether', 'how', etc.
Sc~~tences
Examples:
I shall come when I can wh- words introducing Adverbial clauses.
I live where no one else does.
'that' as a relative pronoun should be distinguished from the subordinating
conjunction 'that'.
The train that I boarded was a special one. (relative pronoun)
He said that it was a special train. (subordinating conjunction)
Subject-verb inversion also functions as a marker of subordination in conditional
clauses where the verb is the auxiliary 'had', or 'should', or the main verb
'were'.
Had I known this, I wouldn't have come.
Were I to know this, I would decline the offer.
Should you ever come to a conclusion, do let me know.
1. Fill in the blanks using ' i f , 'because', 'what', 'so that', and 'when'.
i. He came here .......................he wanted to see me.
ii. I went there ....................... I could meet all the members of his family.,
iii. He asked me ....................... I would help him in his hour of need.
iv. The time ....................... the accident took place is not known.
v. Do you want to hear ....................... he said about you?
2. Rewrite the following sentences using subject-verb inversion in the first
part and the correct form of the verb in the second part. Follow the
example below:
If I had known this, I (not come).
Had 4 known this, I wouldn't have come.
i. If you had done better at the interview, you (get) the job.
..............................................................................................................
ii. If you hadn't reached the station at 9.20, you (miss) even the last train.
..............................................................................................................
iii. If he had been a sensitive person, he (not behave) in this manner.
..............................................................................................................
iv. If I had known it earlier, I (stop) his coming into town.
..............................................................................................................
v. If I had dons my homework properly, I (not regret) attending the
, morning class.
3. Complete each of the following in your own way.
i. Granting that .............................
I think you cbn still improve a lot.
ii. He is a delightful companion except that ............................
'iii. He doesn't make a fuss provided that ............................
4. The following sentences contain certain errors of usage. Correct them.
i. Unless you do not work hard, you won't pass the test.
Complex Sentences-l
ii. Though I am quite handsome, but she refuses to marry me.
..............................................................................................................
iii. Mohan is more industrious but not so intelligent as Ashok.
..............................................................................................................
iv. Take care lest you do not fall.
32.4 NOUN CLAUSES

We have already pointed out in Unit 31 how dependent clauses are classified
and named. We have said that a dependent clause is named after the part of
speech whose function it assumes in sentence structure. Therefore, a clause
that approximates to the function of a noun is called a noun clause.
Let us now examine the occurrence of noun clauses in complex sentences. The
, following are the important uses or functions of a noun clause:
It serves as
1. subject of a verb
Whatever he says can be easily believed.
That light travels at the speed of about 300,000 km, per second is now an
established fact.
2. direct object of a verb
He asked me what my name was.
He gave me whatever was due to me.
Note: A noun clause functioning as the indirect object of a verb is very
uncommon and often awkward.
He gave whoever came to the party whatever was available.
Change it into a simple sentence, and it will read like this:
, He gave every guest a gift.
3. object of a preposition
Your success depends upon whether you have the will to succeed.
*
4. delayed subject with introductory 'it'.
It is true that he is no longer my friend.
It is unlikely that he will trse his influencefor our benefit.
5, as a subject complement
The fact is that he was never fond ofyou.
The marvel is that tnan has got the better of nature.
6 , object complement
I
They made him what he had always wanted to be.
i 7. in apposition to the subject
I The idea that rtfan is a social animal is as old as Socrates.
! The saying that old is gold is not valid in present-day society.
I
8. In apposition to the object
He likes the suggestion that I should stay with hia.
They approve of the idea that we shoulrl forrrr o union.
Compound and Complex 9. object of an infinitive verb
Sentences
He came here to see i f I was all right.
He has the ability to hide what he most truly feels.
1. Complete the following by adding noun clauses:
i. Can you tell me ............................ 7
ii. It is unlikely ............................

iii. Can he deny the fact ............................7
...
m. ........................... will not change my opinion of you.
iv. Do you,know ............................7
2. Replace the' italicized words by noun clauses.
i. He told me an interesting story.
..............................................................................................................
ii. It is m e .
..............................................................................................................
iii. He came here to do something.
..............................................................................................................
iv. The truth is this.
..............................................................................................................
v. He is obliged to me.
..............................................................................................................
3. Complete the following sentences:
i. It is not easy to decide what .................... ...
ii. I cannot explain how ..............................
iii. Can you find out when ..............................?
' iv. I wasn't sure whether ..............................
v. Do you remember where ............................... 7
4. Use 'what you like most' in sentences of your own exemplifying its
function as
i, subject of a verb
..............................................................................................................
ii, object of a verb
..............................................................................................................
iii. object of a preposition
..............................................................................................................
iv, object of an infinitive verb
..............................................................................................................
v, subject complement
32.5 LET US S U M UP
In this unit we have discussed subordination as a device for linking together
dependent and independent clauses in complex sentences. We have also
Complex Sentences-1
presented and exemplified some important subordinating conjunctions. And lastly,
we have talked about important uses of the noun clause.
32.6 ANSWERS
1. They are devices used for linking together units of equal and unequal rank.
Coordination refers to the joining of units of equal rank, whereas
subordination refers to the joining of units of unequal rank. Coordination of
clauses gives us a compound sentence while subordination of one or more
clauses gives us a complex sentence.
2. i. C
ii. S
iii. S
iv. C
v. S
3. i. The recent killing of 13 labourers is a slur on all of us. (Main clause)
who were woken up from their sleep (dependent clause) and (who
were) shot dead (dependent clause)
ii. We should be ashamed of the fact (Main clause)
that we have not been able to protect those (dependent clause) who
contribute ........................... requirements. (dependent clause)
ui. It is our duty to protect the lives (Main clause)
who are in the majority (dependent clause)
of those who are dependent on us (dependent clause)
1. i. because
5 ii. so that
iii. If
iv. when
v. what
2. i. Had you done better ..........................would have got ..........................
ii. Had you not reached ............................would have missed
iii. Had he been ............................ would not have behaved
iv. Had I known ............................ would have stopped ............................

v. Had I done ............................ would not have regretted
I
3. Possible answers. You may think of different ones.
i. you have done better than before,
ii. he is not always truthful.
I iii. he gets what he wants.
i 4. i. delete 'not'
ii. use 'yet' instead of 'but'
Co~npouncland Complex iii. Mohan is more industrious than Ashok, but not so intelligent.
Sel~tences
iv. ............................ you falllyou should fall.
1. i. ............................ why you are always late?
ii. ............................ that he will be found out.
...
m. ............................ that he is in serious trouble?
iv. Whatever you say or do ............................
v. ............................ what has happened?
2. i. ............................ what I wanted to know.
ii. What you have said ............................
...
m. ............................ what he had always wanted to (do).
iv. ............................ that he is good for nothing.
v. ............................ whoever has helped him.
3. i. ............................ one needs to be happy in life.
ii. ............................ the accident took place.
...
m. ............................the meeting is likely to take place?
iv. ............................ I should have gone with him.
v. ............................ you were born?
4. i. ............................ is not easily available.
ii. I don't know ............................
iii. Your selection of a gift will depend upon ............................
iv. It'll be difficult for you to say ............................
v. This is ............................
UNIT 33 COMPLEX SENTENCES-2
Structure
33.0 Objectives
33.1 Introduction
33.2 The Defining Relative Clause
33.3 The Non-defining Relative Clause
33.4 The Sentential Relative Clause
I
33.5 Let Us Sum Up
33.6 Answers
33.0 OBJECTIVES
tI With the help of this unit, you will be able to learn about
I*
b Relative clauses - defining, non-defining, and sentential, and
The relative pronouns used to introduce these clauses in complex sentences.
33.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 30 we classified the dependent clauses occurring in complex sentences
into three categories:
1. Noun clause
2. Adjective clause
3. Adverb clause
l'he point that we have made about these clauses is that each of these clause
types performs the function of the part of speech whose role it takes in
sentence structure. An adjective clause, also known as the relative clause,
functions like an adjective. It modifies a noun or a pronoun, which is called its
untecedent,
1. He owns a big house.
2. He owns a house that is big enough to hold a very large family.
The italicized part in sentence (2) has the same function as the adjective 'big'
in sentence (I), It modifies the noun phrase 'a house', which is its antecedent.
Compare the following sentences:
1. Yesterday I saw a very old man.
2. Yesterday I saw a man who was very old.
OR
1. He told me a funny story
2. He told me a story which was very funny.
(Incportarrt Note: Relative clauses are not just an important part of an English
sentence, they are also known to cause problen~sto even the relatively
advanced student of the language. In this course you will therefore find help
and guidance on their nature and use in more than one unit, We shall discuss
them below but you will also find them discussed as part of the noun phrase in
Unit 37. You may therefore find it helpful to read what follows in this unit and
Compound and complex then go to that unit before reading the unit entitled Complex Sentences 3, i.e.
Sentences
Unit 34. Alternatively, go to Unit 37 now and come back to study what
fo~lows.)
There are two ways in which the italicized part of sentence (2) above in each
pair can be looked at. One is to treat it as a dependent clause in that it
contains the elements of a clause - subject (in our examples the relative
pronouns 'who', 'which', 'that') and a finite verb, and each is subordinated to
the main clause. The other is to treat the dependent clause as an integral part
of the noun phrase, functioning as object of the verb 'owns', 'saw', or 'told'.
We can, for example, analyse one of the sentences like this:
Yesterday I I saw I a man who was very old

adjunct I subject I verb 1 object
Here the object is a noun phrase containing three elements:

i. pre-modifier (a)
ii. head-word (man)
...
m. post-modifier (who was very old)
The post-modifying element happens to be a clause. What this shows is that in

a complex noun phrase the elements that precede the head-word are usually
deteminers and adjectives
a girl
the girl
the pretty girl
and the elements that come after the head-word are prepositional phrases,
participial phrases (sometimes called non-finite clauses), and relative clauses.
the girl in the roorn
'the girl sitting in the room
the girl who was sitting in the room.
For our purposes, in this unit, we shall maintain that in a complex sentence a
dependent clause doing the work of an adjective is a relative clause, and it is
introduced by a relative pronoun, 'that1, 'who', 'which', or a relative adverb,
'when', 'where'. Now let us look at the Relative Clause in two of its forms.
33.2 THE DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

Read the following:
A doctor is a person who cures patients.
The teacher is a person who eclucates boys and girls or rnen and women.
A carpenter is a person who makes furniture.
If the italicized parts of these sentences are omitted, what we learn about a
doctor, a teacher and a carpenter is that each of them is a person. Such a
definition, though grammatically correct, will be found unsatisfactory by all.
Why? Because to say that a doctor is a person or also that a teacher is one
too tells us nothing about what kind of person etc. helshe is It is obviously an
incomplete definition. In order to make our definition of a doctor, a teacher, a
carpenter or any other person who performs a definable set of tasks and
Complex Sentences-2
serves certain specific functions meaningfully, we need to say more about them
than that they are persons. In other words, we should define 'the person' i?
ways that show what he/she does and how it differs from what other persons
do.
Here the word 'person' has been defined in relation to the doctor and thus
distinguished hirnlher from 'teacher' or 'carpenter'. This defining has been
done by the clause 'who cures patients' in our example. It is thus a defining
relative clause modifying the noun phrase 'a person'. The relative clause is an
essential part of all such definitions, and cannot be dropped if the sentence as a
whole is to remain meaningful.
At the same time, you should not get the impression that a defining relative
clause is used only in definitions.
Read the following:

The man who came to my house yesterday evening is a musician.
The book that you lent me is very exciting.
These are not definitions of 'man' and 'book'. The relative clause in each of
these cases provides specific information about its antecedent without which the
sentence will not be quite meaningful.
The man is a musician. (Who?)
The book is very exciting. (Which?)
The two defining relative clauses tell us something more about 'the man' and
the 'book', and thus answer the questions, who? and which? about them.
Thus, the defining relative clause gives specific information about its antecedent.
It is introduced by a relative pronoun - 'that', 'who', or 'which'.
Examples:
The thing that I like most is walking alone in the evening.
The girl who was here a minute ago is a student of mine.
The man who is knocking at the door is a relative of mine.
The book that you gave me yesterday is very interesting.
Of the three 'that' is generally independent of the personal or non-personal

character of the antecedent. In other words it can be used in both cases unlike
who and which. 'Who' is used for persons and 'which' for inanimate objects
or things. 'That' and 'which' are used almost interchangeably to introduce
defining relative clauses. However, the following points should be kept in mind:
'That' is normally preferred to 'which' when the antecedent is

i. an indefinite pronoun:
I promise to do all that I can to help you.
ii. modified by a superlative:
That's the silliest book that was ever published.
...
m. qualified by an ordinal;
Thefirst thing that comes to my mind is how to catch him.
Compound and Complex Now look at the following:
Sentences
The thing (that) I like most is walking alone at night.
The book (that) you gave me is boring.
Notice that the use of the relative pronoun is optional in these sentences. This
is because the relative pronoun can be omitted when it is not the subject of
the relative clause.
Compare these sentences:
1. The man whom I accidentally met yesterday is an old friend.
2. The lady who came to me yesterday is an old friend.
In sentence (1) 'whom' is not the subject of the relative clause. We can
therefore omit it.
The man I accidentally met yesterday is an old friend.
is an acceptable sentence
In sentence (2) 'who' is the subject of the relative clause. If you omit it, and
you will get an ungrammatical sentence:
*The 'man came to me yesterday is an old friend.
1. Define each of the following keeping in mind what was said above.
Wherever possible, attempt an unconventional definition, but use the same
structure as in the example.
a doctor
Or we can also say something like
A doctor is a person who is at his best when the patient is at his worst.
(which defines a truly good doctor).
an ornithologist
...................................................................................................................
a writer
...................................................................................................................
a musician
...................................................................................................................
an actor
.II,III.,.IIIIII..,,,,.,....I..I.II.I,.I.I....II.II......II.4.III....,,.,,...,,.,,,,..,.,.,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
an agnostic
....................................................................................................................
an optimist
...................................................................................................................
a barber
................................................................................................................... Complex Scotcoco-2
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
2. Fill in the blanks using 'who', 'which' or 'that':
i. You are telling me something .........................I can't believe.
ii. Teachers generally like students ......................... are punctual and
hardworking.
ili. The first thing ......................... you should attempt is self-control.
iv. The gentleman ......................... is coming to see us is on a short visit
v. The policy ......................... the government has adopted will surely

create employment.
vi. This is the funniest story ......................... was ever written.
vii. I have a neighbour ......................... is always fighting with her
husband.
viii.The film ......................... I saw last night on TV was a detective one.
- 3. Join each pair- into a single sentence using a relative pronoun in place of
the word italicized.
i. The aunt is my mother's youngest sister. She came to see us last month.
..............................................................................................................
ii. This area doesn't have the kind of house. I want to live in it.
..............................................................................................................
iii. Can I ever ignore a friend?
He has been so kind to me.
..............................................................................................................
iv. Say something.
It would make everyone laugh.
..............................................................................................................
v. That bat will fetch thousands of rupees at the auction.
It was used by the star cricketer.
..............................
vi. Show me a rider.
He has never fallen off his horse.
..............................................................................................................
I
vii. Here is a little something.
I
I
You should accept it as a gift.
I
I ..............................................................................................................
I
I viii. Why do you dislike the man?
I
, He is your only friend.
..............................................................................................................
4. Complete the following by adding suitable relative clauses.
You may or may not use the relative pronoun.
i. Is that all ,,,'
..............................................................................................................
Compound and Complex
Sentences
..............................................................................................................
ii. Do you like the examples
..............................................................................................................
iii. A poet likes anyone
..............................................................................................................
iv. Did you post the letter
..............................................................................................................
v. I have yet to find someone
5. Rewrite each pair as a single sentence, changing the second sentence in

the pair into a ielative clause modifying the italicized noun phrase in the
first sentence.
i. One of the things is to save time.
The computer can do it.
..............................................................................................................
ii. The number of problems is mind-boggling.
One faces the problems these days.
..............................................................................................................
iii. The storm caused plenty of damage.
It swept across Delhi last night.
iv. I happen to know the person.

He is fit for this job.
..............................................................................................................
v. Fundamentalism is an important issue.
It is the primary concern of all political parties these days.
- ~
33.3 THE NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

Read the following sentences:
i. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a lawyer by profession, spent several years in
South Afiica.
ii. My wife, who works in an embassy, speaks Arabic as her first language.
iii. The Delhi Metro, which was opened a couple of years ago, is the capital
city's first network of trains.
C o m p l e x Sentences-2
Notice that even if we omit the relative clauses in each of the above examples,
we shall still be left with complete, meaningful statements.
Mahatma Gandhi spent several years in South Africa.
My wife speaks Arabic as her first language.
The Delhi Metro is the capital city's first network of trains.
What are the relative clauses doing in these examples, if they are not either
defining or specifying their antecedents? The answer is that they are providing
additional information that often makes for a better or fuller definition.
However, unlike defining relative clauses that provide facts without which the
definition/ specification remains incomplete, these clauses can be omitted
without change or loss of essential meaning. Very appropriately, therefore, they
are called non-defining relative clauses.
Notice also that u'sually there is a comma before a non-defining relative clause,
and also at the end of it, if it comes in the middle of the sentence.
In what sense does a non-defining relative clause give additional information

about its antecedent? Look at this sentence again:
My wife, who works in an embassy, speaks Arabic as her first language
Here the clause 'who works in an embassy' does not 'define' the noun 'wife',
because I have only one wife. It only gives additional information about her. So
'who works in an embassy' is a non-defining relative clause. Notice a comma
before and another after the clause.
Compare these two sentences:

i. . I have a brother who lives in Karachi.
ii. I have a brother, who teaches Physics at a college.
The absence of a comma after brother in Sentence (i) implies that I have more
than one brother, and that one of them is being singled out for mention here; it
is the brother who lives in Karachi. (Others live here in India in Delhi or
elsewhere)
A comma after 'brother' in Sentence (ii) implies that I have only one brother.
If you wish to know more about him, I can tell you that he teaches Physics at
a college. Sentence (i) has a defining relative clause, while Sentence (ii) has a
non-defining one.
The choice of a relative pronoun introducing non-defining relative clduses is

restricted practically to 'who' and 'which' as subject:
Here is a letter from Alok, who wants to do a course at IGNOU.
The old man lost his way in Old Delhi, which is known for its blind alleys.
and to 'whom' and 'which' as object of verb o r preposition:

Here is a letter from Alok, whom y'ou have met once.
He lost his way in Old Delhi, which he was visiting for the first time.
We talked above about the possibility of omitting relative pronouns in some

positions in the defining relative clause. What is noteworthy is that
Compound and Complex it is not possible to omit the relative pronoun from non-defining relative
Sentences
clauses.
Here is a letter from Alok, who wants to do a course at IGNOU.
*Here is a letter from Alok, wants to do a course at IGNOU.
Here is a letter from Alok, whom you have met once.
Here is a letter from Alok, you have met once.
1. Join each pair as a singular sentence, changing the second sentence in
each pair into a non-defining relative clause.
i. The late Dom Moraes published his first book of poems at the age of 20.
It is entitled "A Beginning".
..............................................................................................................
ii. His latest book was also a collection of poems entitled "Serendip".
It appeared many years after the first.
..............................................................................................................
iii. Foreign tourists have many complimentary things to say about our
dance and rfiusic. They are interested in cultural programmes.
..............................................................................................................
iv. This year's mango crop has been rather disappointing.

It looked p m i s i n g at the beginning.
..............................................................................................................
v. Doordarshan now has over 300 relay stations.
They form part of the national network.
..............................................................................................................
vi. Some Indian scientists live in foreign countries.
They are very well known for their skill and expertise.
vii. The engineers' strike has now been called off. It disrupted important
work for a number of weeks.
Rewrite the following sentences, adding non-defining relative clauses

relating to the italicized words. Use the clues given in brackets against
each sentence.
Example: My neighbour was once a keen social worker. (retired and
lonely) My neighbour, who is now retired and lonely, was once a keen
social worker.
......................... who now leads a retired and lonely 'life, ........................

Complex Sentences-2
i. My health doesn't permit me to play lawn tennis any more. (indifferent
health)
ii. This year's cyclone damaged property worth crores of rupees. (fierce
and sudden)
..............................................................................................................
iii. Ex-President Naraynan passed away in December 2005.
(great contributions as an outstanding Dalit leader and social reformer)
iv. Trams are still used in Kolkata..

(do no run in Delhi now)
v. Last week's meeting failed to finalise any common plan of action.

(all the political groups attended)
..............................................................................................................
vi. Joseph Conrad wrote all his novels in English. (first language was Polish)
..............................................................................................................
vii. G.B. Shaw died in 1950 (famous Irish playwright)
viii.The Prime Minister held a press conference at the airport. (reporters

besieged him on his return)
..............................................................................................................
3. Complete the following, using non-defining relative clauses:
i. Few people were able to follow the speaker, ........................................
ii. We didn't like his behaviour ..................................................................
iii. Her latest book ...........................is likely to sell very well.
iv. Spring flowers ...........................> are everybody's delight. .
v. His father ........................... has now offered him a partnership.
33.4 THE SENTENTIAL RELATIVE CLAUSE

So far we have made the point that a relative clause, whether defining or non-
defining, can be treated either as a clause or as part of a complex noun
phrase. In both cases it has a noun or a pronoim as its antecedent. We shall
now look at a different type of relative clause which does not have a noun or
pronoun as its antecedent. It is called a sentential relative clause. S w h a
relative clause refers back to a whole clause, a whole sentence, or even to a
whole series of events.
Compound and Complex After that things changed remarkably, which surprised everyone.
Sentences
She likes me but not my friends, which saddens me.
The italicized parts of the sentences above are sentential relative clauses. In
these cases, that which causes surprise or sadness, the antecedent, is the
whole of the event described in the main clause. It is also possible to have a
number of events referred to by a sentential relative clause. We can, for
example retell Kipling's story, 'How the Elephant Got His Trunk' step by step
and at the end wind it up by saying:
'which is how the elephant got his trunk'
'which' here does not refer to a single noun or pronoun, nor to an isolated
event, but to the entire sequence of events narrated in the story which are
seen to have resulted in the elephant getting its trunk.
A sentential relative clause always comes at the end of the sentence or

clause to which it relates. In terms of meaning, it is a comment on what has
preceded it, but structurally it is relative because it is generally introduced by
'which'. It also has, as antecedent, a clause or a group of clauses. A sentential
relative clause is fairly common in both speech and writing. It forms a close
parallel to a coordinate clause that we discussed above. Compare the following
pairs:
i. The administrative officer is not available on the phone, which makes it
very difficult for us to contact him.
He is not available on the phone, and that makes it ...........................
ii. She likes me but not my friends, which saddens me.
She likes me but not my friends, and this ...........................
...
m. Ravi wouldn't lend me the books, which made me very angry.
Ravi wouldn't lend me the books, and that made ...........................
iv. He gave up school, which was a great disappointment to his parents.
He gave up school, and that was ...........................
33.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have discussed relative clauses - defining, non-defining, and
sentential, and have tried to show you how they are used in complex
sentences. If you can now recognize relative clauses in a written text and use
them in your own speech and writing, the purpose of this unit will have been
served.
33.6 ANSWERS
1. Possible answers:
An ornithologist is a person who specializes in the study of birds.
An ornithologist is a person whose ambition in life is to resemble the late

Mr. Salim Ali.
A writer is a person who writes short stories, plays, poems, articles, etc. to Complex sentences-2
make a living.
A rnusician is a person who is trained to sing or to play a musical
instrument.
An actor is a person who is always trying to look and behave like
someone else.
An agnostic is a person who is doubtful about the existence of God.
An optitt~istis a person who always hopes for the better.
A barber is a person who would starve if everybody decided to grow long
hair and a beard.
A true gardener is a person who looks upon plants, trees and flowers as
members of his own family.
2. i. thatlwhich
ii. who
I iii. that
iv. who
v. thatlwhich
vi. that
vii. who
viii. that
3. i. The aunt who came to see us last month is ........................
ii. This area doesn't ........................ that I want to live in.
ui. Can I ........................ who has been .........................7
iv. Say something that would ........................
v. The bat which was used ........................will fetch ........................
vi. Show me a rider who has ........................
vii. Here ........................that you should accept ........................
viii. Why ........................ who is your .........................
7
4. i. ........................ you were expected to do?

u. ........................ that I give to illustrate my points?
...
UI. ........................ who is willing to listen to his poems.
iv. ........................I gave you this morning?

v. ........................who is absolutely at peace with himself.
5. i. One of the things the computer can do is to ........................
ii. The number of problems one faces these days is ........................
ui. The storm that swept ........................ caused ........................
iv. I happen ........................who is ........................
v. Fundamentalism ........................ issue which is ........................
1. i. ........................ his first book of poems, which is entitled A Beginning,
........................
ii. ........................ book, which appeared many years after the first,
........................
...
m. ........................ tourists, who are ........................ programmes, have
many ........................dance and music.
C o ~ l ~ p u u nand
d Cu~nplex iv. ........................ crop, which looked ........................ beginning,
Srlltcllccs
........................disappointing.
v. ........................ relay stations, which form, ........................ national
network.
vi. ........................ scientists, who ........................expertise,
........................countries.
vii. ........................strike, which ........................ weeks, ........................
called off.
2. i. My health, which has lately been indifferent, ........................
ii. ........................cyclone, which was fierce and sudden, ........................
iii. Ex-President Naraynan, who made great contributions as an outstanding
Dalit leader and social reformer, passed away in December 2005.
iv. Trams, which do not run in Delhi now, ........................
v. ........................meeting, which was attended by all the political groups,
........................
vi. Joseph Conrad, who spoke Polish as his first language, ........................
vii. G.B.Shaw, who was a famous Irish playwright, ........................
viii.The Prime Minister, who was besieged by reporters on his return,
3. i. ......................... who spoke very fast.

. ii. .........................which we found rather snobbish.
iii. .........................which is about environment ........................
iv. ......................... which have a beauty of their own, .................... ....
v. ........................, who owns a big business house, ........................
1 UNIT 34 COMPLEX SENTENCES3
' Structure
/
i
34.0 Objectives
; 34.1 Introduction
1
i 34.2 Classification of Adverbial Clauses
34.2.1 T i
i 34.2.2 Place
34.2.3 Purpose and Result
34.2.4 Reason
34.2.5 Condition
34.2.6 Concession and Contrast
34.2.7 Manner
i
34.2.8 Comparison
1
34.3 Let Us Sum Up

34.4 Answers
34.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall discuss another type of subordinate clause - the adverbial
clause. We shall look at different kinds of adverbial clauses primarily from the
point of view of the meaning relationships that they bear in a sentence, i.e.
relationships with regard to time, place, purpose and result, reason, condition,
concession and contrast, and manner and comparison.
After you have read this unit and completed the exercises, you will be able to
understand the various functions of adverbial clauses. You will also be able to
use them correctly in your writing.
34.1 INTRODUCTION
In Units 32 & 33 we discussed noun clauses and adjective clauses. In this unit,
we shall look at adverbial clauses. Before we do so, however it should help
you to be aware of the fact that you have already received some Information
about and practice in the use of English adverbials in Unit. 26.3. To get the
best out of what follows here, you may find it useful to revisit that unit and .
relate what you learnt there to what follows in this part of the unit.
As we said in Unit 30, an adverbial clause broadly fulfils the same function in
a sentence as an adverb or an adverbial phrase. For example, time may be
expressed as follows:
R a v ~left early. (adverb)
Ravi left afier lunch. (prepositional phrase)
Ravi left soon afier he hadfinished his lunch. (adverbial clause)
Again, adverbial clauses, like adverbials in general, are capable of occurring in

the initial, medial, and final positions (altho~~gh
in the medial position they are
rare). In other words, they can either precede or follow the main clause.
Compound and Complex Examples:
Sentences
In the initial poslfion:
Yesterday, I met Adesh. (adverb)
As soon as I entered the room, I saw Adesh. (adverbial clause)
In the final position:

They went out. (adverb)
They went wherever they could find work. (adverbial clause)
In the medial position:

My mother, only after all of us had got back, was able to relax.
34.2 CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

In this unit we have classified adverbial clauses on the basis of the meaning
relationships they bear in a sentence (e.g. time, place, reason, and so on). You
will notice in the course of the unit that some subordinators appear under more
than one category.
34.2.1 Time
Adverbial clauses of time are introduced by subordinators such as ajer, as,
before, immediately, once, since, till, until, when, whenever, while, now
(that), as/so brig as, as soon as. They answer the question when? and can
occur in the front, mid and end positions.
Look at the examples given below:

As he grew older, he became more childlike.
He walked in the park, till it was dark.
He looked after my dog while I was on vacation.
All suggestions, whenever they are received, are dealt with promptly.
Fill in the blanks with the clauses given below:
When I saw you last; once they saw the mood I was in; once you make
a promise; as loqg as he has strength; while I was asleep; as soon as
you reach the station; till he arrived;
1. Buy your ticket ............................

2. ............................you lived in Delhi.
3. - My family, ............................. left me completely alone.
4. ............................. 1 dreamed about you.
5. ............................. you should keep it.
6. She'll continue working ............................
7. We knew that nothing could be done ............................
34.2.2 Place
Adverbial clauses of place are introduced mainly by where or wherever.
These clauses can indicate both position at a place and movement to a place.
Complex Sentences-3
There was a lot of blood where the crash occurred. (position)

The banjaras went wherever they could find work. (to every place where
............................)
You must also note that where refers to a specific place, while wherever
generally refers to a nonspecific one.
, Check Your Progress 2
Make 2 sentences, one each using where and wherever
34.2.3 Purpose and Result

, The subordinators used to indicate purpose include so that, in order that, in
ccue, for fear that.
The subordinators used to indicate result include so/such .................. that

Exainples:
Rita bought a bigger house so that she could have more space for her pet
aniinals (purpose)
We ate so much food that we were unable to stand. (result)
In result clauses, so and that can be separated (so + adjectiveladverb in the

main clause, and that introducing the subordinate clause.)
Example:
It rained so hard yesterday that hundreds of trees were uprooted.
With nouns the pattern is such noun + that.

Example:
It was such a good book that I couldn't put it down.
Combine the following pairs of sentences, using so .............. that or such
.............. that.
1. It was a boring film. I fell asleep in the middle of it.
...................................................................................................................
2. I was very excited about going away. I couldn't sleep.
3. The road is very narrow. It is difficult for two cars to pass each other at
most places in it.
...................................................................................................................
4. Gunella speaks Hindi very well. You would think it was her mother tongue.
...................................................................................................................
5. She's very good singer. Every Director wants her in hisher films.
...................................................................................................................
6 . We had a very good time in Kashmir. We felt sad at leaving the place.
...................................................................................................................
7. He is very poor in biology. He can't do well in medicine.
34.2.4 Reason
The adverbial clause of reason answers the question why? in relation to the
situation described in the main clause. Generally, we use the subordinators
because, as, or since to form adverbial clauses of reason. The clauses with
as and since are usually put at the beginning of a sentence. As you are
already aware, these subordinators also occur with clauses of time. Some
examples of clauses of reason:
1. As he had left no will, there were bound to be lawsuits.
2. Some thirty years ago people were afraid to go to the Andamans because
if had once been a penal settlemenf.
1. Complete the sentences below by adding adverbial clauses of reason. The
first one is done for you.
As we hadn't any money, we couldn't buy anything to eat.
....................................................................................................................
i. ;The flowers are growing so well .............................
ii. ............................. I won't be able to go to office tomorrow.
...
m. ............................. the game will be held as planned.
iv. I was late for class, .............................
v. I'm sure you'll help me .............................
2. Make sentences, using as and since in adverbial clauses of time and reason.
34.2.5 Condition
Adverbial clauses of condition are introduced mainly by the subordinators if
(positive condition) and unless (negative condition)
Other subordinators include provided (that), providing (that), on condition

that, suppose, supposing that, as/so long as
.&amp les:
If I was oflered the job, I think I would take it.

Unless the strike is called off, there will be no buses tomorrow.
Complex Scntcoccr-3
You can buy a Picasso, provided you have the money.
I can lend you the money, on condition that you return it within a month.
The clauses italicized in the above sentences state the condition(s) that must be
fulfilled before the statement in the main clause becomes true. Hence, these
clauses are called conditional clauses.
Conditional clauses are of three main types. Each has different verb patterns to
convey different meanings. For example.
If I go to Mumbai I shall see my brother.
If I do not go to Mumbai now, I cannot see my brother (for another six months).
Here, we are talking about a possible event which will take place in the future,
only if a certain condition is met. However, the condition is open.
The doer has the chance to take advantage of what is available.
Notice that the pattern of the verb forms is:
If + simple present .........................(conditional clause),
......................... simple future (main clause).

(Usage note: We do not normally use the 'I'll' form in the 'if;' clause. On
most occasions we do not, for example, say * 'If I will go to Mumbai .... but
say 'If I go ...'
Take another sentence:
If I had gone to Bombay, I would have seen my brother.
Here, we are talking about an event which did not take place, because a
certain condition was not fulfilled. Unlike what we saw in the earlier sentence,
this one refers to a condition that is not open.
The pattern of the verb forms in it is:
!/' + past perfect (had gone) ......................... (conditional clause),
woukl hove + past participle (main clause).
Now. look at this sentence:
11' 1 had wings, I would fly.

or
Had I (got) wings I would fly.
Here we are talking about an event which can take place only if a certain
condition, which is veiy improbable, is fulfilled. It is generally an unlikely event
that one is talking about because the condition may not be met.
I were a millionaire, I would pay for the education of all these rag pickers.
The pattern of the verb forms in it is:

Compound and Complex If + simple past (conditional clause),
Sentences
would + simple (infinitive) form of verb (main clause).
cheek Your Progress 5
1. Complete the following sentences by inserting the correct verb phrases,
using the verbs given in brackets.
i. Many people would be out of work if that factory ..........................
(close) down.
ii. If I was offered the job, I think I .......................... (take) it.
iii. If she sold her house now, she .......................... (not get) much
money for it.
iv. I.......................... (not buy) that coat if I were you.
v. If Ravi .......................... (miss) the train, he would have been late for
his interview.
vi. I'd have semt you a postcard while I was on holiday if I
.......................... (have) your address.
vii. If I ........................... (have) the money, I would have bought a car
this year.
viii.If you .......................... (not tell) me, I'll be disappointed.
2. Complete the sentences below by adding subordinate clauses to the main
clauses. You may use subordinators if, unless, provided (that). i
I. , we shall have a good crop this year.
ii. You could buy one,
...
111. , they will die.
34.2.6 Concession and Contrast ,
Look at the sentences below:

1. Although it rained u lot, we enjoyed our holiday.
21 Whereas Ra~neshis known to be stupid, his sister is exceptionally bright.
In the sentences above, a strong contrast is expressed between the idea in the
main clause, and the idea in the adverbial clause. In other words, the idea
expressed in the main clause is surprising in the light of the dependent clause.
These clauses are called adverbial clauses of concession or concessive
clauses. The subordinators which introduce these clauses are although,
tltougl~,wltile, wltilst, rvhereas, ever) thougl~,even iJ no matter
Now combine a clause each from A and B to make sentences showing

contrast or concession. The first one is done for you.
Although I had never seen the accused before, I identified him at once on
looking at the police department's sketch.
A B
1. Although I had never seen the 1. I could not get any sleep.
accused before
2. .................... I was really tired, 2. you will enjoy this concert.
3. .....................you dislike music. 3. I found his work impressive.
4. .................... I do not really like 4. I identified him at once on looking
modem art, at the police department's sketch.
C o m p l e x Sentences-3
5. .................... how angry you are, 5. you can't do what you !ike.
6. ....................he was in a 6. ....................many artists die in
no-parking area, poverty and obscurity.
7. He was rich and famous in his 7. he got out and left the car.
lifetime
34.2.7 Manner
Adverbial clauses of manner are introduced by as. us if; (in) tlrr wuy. They
roughly answer the question 'how', 'in what way'?' As a rule these clauses
follow the main clauses, although in a few cases they also precede the main
clauses. Let's look at some examples.
He lived life as orlly Ite could.
As she had wished, her property went to the nation.
He rides a horse as if he were rrtade of wood.
Please read the poem (in) t& way / shall now cier,ionstrate.
Taking your cue from the examples given above, make sentences with as,.ns
if; (in) tlte way.
34.2.8 Comparison
Clauses of comparison compare two or more people, things or happenings, etc.
for equality or inequality. They generally use correlatives (e.g., as rich/ sharp
as), as they need an element that marks comparison in the main clause.
Clauses of comparison follow the main clauses, and the patterns are as follows:
AdjIAdv + er tltan more AdjIAdv than
less AdjIAdv than rnore N than
as AdjIAdv as fewer countable N than
not/so/as AdjIAdv as less uncountable N than
He runs faster than any of us.

I can't count as fast as she can.
She makes more money in a week than I make in a month .
or
She makes more money in a week than I do in a month.
In clauses of comparison, the auxiliary verb from the main clause (or the
appropriate form of do) may either be repeated or left out. It is generally left
out in colloquial speech or informal writing; However, it is often retained in
more formal speech or writing.
Exnmples:
She is taller than her brother (is).

Ravi drove more carefully than Sunita (did).
Fill in the blanks with the following. These items may occur more than once.
more .................. than; fewer .................. than; as .................. as;

faster than; less .................. than.
A computer can work ..................a human being (can). It also makes

.................. mistakes .................. a man (does). But no machine is
.................. ingenious ..................the human brain (is).
A computer has .................. keys .................. a typewriter. But a typewriter
costs .................. money .................. a computer. Working with a computer is
.................. interesting ..................working with a typewriter.
34.3 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have introduced you to adverbial clauses. We have looked at
these clauses mainly from the point of view of the meaning relations that they
bear in a sentence, i.e. with reference to time, place, reason, purpose, and so on.
We give below an overview of the subordinators and the type of adverbial

clause that they introduce.
Subordinators Type of adverb clause
after, as soon as, before, since, Time

when, whenever, while, untilhill
where, wherever Place
so that, in order that, in case Purpose
so that, sblsuch that Result
as, because, since Reason
if, unless Condition
although/though, whereas, while Contrast

even if, no matter
as, as if, (in) the way Manner
I
34.4 ANSWERS
1. ......................... as soon as you reach the station.

2. When I saw you last .........................
3.. .......................... once they saw the mood I was in, .........................
4. While I was asleep, .........................
5. Once you make a promise, .........................
6. .........................as long as he has strength.
7. .........................till he arrived.
Complex Se.tc.cca-3
1. It was such a boring film that I fell asleep .........................

2. 1 was so excited about going away that .........................
3. The road is so narrow that it is .........................
4. She speaks Hindi so well that .........................
5. She is such a good singer that everybody .........................
6. We had such a good time in Kashmir that we felt .........................
7. fIe is so poor in biology that he can't do well in medicine.
1. (Suggested answers)
i. .........................because we water the plants everyday.
ii. Since my child is not well .........................
iii. As the rain has stopped, .........................
iv. .......................... because I was held up in the traffic jam.
v. .......................... as I have done so much for you in the past.
1. i. closed
ii. would take
iii. wouldn't get
iv. wouldn't buy
v. had missed
vi. had
vii. had
viii.don't tell
2. (Some suggestions)
i. If the rains come on time, .........................
ii. .......................... provided you had enough money.
iii. Unless you look after your plants, .........................
2. Even though I was really tired, I could not get any sleep.
3. Even ifyou dislike music, you will enjoy this concert.
4, While/Whilst I do not really like modem art, I found his work impressive.
5 . No matter how angry you are, you can't do what you like.
6 . Though/Although he was in a no-parking area, he got out and left the car.
7. He was rich and famous in his lifetime, whereas many artists die in
poverty and obscurity.
faster than; fewer ......................... than; as ......................... as; more
......................... than; less ......................... than; more ......................... than.
UNIT 35 THE. NOUN PHRASE-1:
THE HEAD: PRE-MODIFICATION
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Nouns
35.2.1 Number
35.22 Gender
352.3 Case
Pre-modification
35.3.1 The Articles
35.32 The Article with Countable Nouns
35.3.3 The Article with Uncountable Noulis
35.3.4 The Article with Proper Nouns
Pronouns
35.4.1 Personal Pronouns
35.4.2 Possessive Pronouns
35.4.3 Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns
35.4.4 Demonstrative pronouns
35.4.5 Indefmite Pronouns
Let Us Sum Up
Suggestions for Further Study
Answers
35.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall begin our description of the noun phrase. We shall discuss the
concept of the head of a noun phrase and how certain modifications can be placed
before it.
After completing the study of this unit, you should be able to recognise and put to
use noun phrases and also to analyse their structure in terms of 'pre-modifier', 'head',
and 'post-modifier'.
35.1 INTRODUCTION
A noun phrase (NP) is a group of words in which the most important (or leading)
word is a noun. In the sentence: The man hit the ball, we have two NPs (the
man, the ball) placed before and after the verb hit. As you can see, the leading
words here are man and ball. The grammatical term for the leading word is 'head'.
An NP, then, is a group of words with a noun as its head.
I
Noun Phrases can be quite complex. Consider the following:
i
i
I all the best students of this school
i Here we have a11 the best preceding the 'head' (=students) and we can call it
syntax-4: a 'pre-head modifier'; of this school follows the head and we can call it a 'post-
The Noun Phrase and the
Verb Phrase head modifier'. Thus ;he broad structure of this NP is:
premodifier + head + postmodifier.
Note, however that both the premodifier groups and the postmodifier groups have
their own internal structure.
The ability to have pre- (or post-) modifiers depends on the head of the NP.
Let us therefore look at what the head of an NP can be. It can be
i. A noun (boy, Ram,....)
ii. A pronoun ('you said it')
iii. An adjective ('the poor are always with us')
iv. A gerund which is also called averbal noun (Ex. Smoking is injurious to health')
It is important to keep in mind that only nouns and common nouns in particular, exhibit
the full range of the complex structure of NPs. But even in cases like
You said it.
John is an Englishman.
You, it and John are NPs. Each of them is a single-word NP with just the head
and no further structure. This shows that an NP can be a single word and not just
a word group.
Check Your Progrecrs 1
1) Pronouns are heads of noun phrases with no further structure. Mention two
properties of nouns generally shared by pronouns.
In sentences like:
The rich should care for the poor
We have said that the adjectives(rich, poor) can be the heads of their respective
noun phrases.
Another way of looking at the above phrases is to see them as having noun
heads which have been deleted. Explain: 1. How? 2. What property should such
a noun have?
3) Indicate the NPs in the following passage. Give the structure of each NP in
terms of: premodi~ier+ head + postmodifier. Remember what an NP can consist
of
No scientist or student of science need ever read an original work of the past.
As a general rule, he does not think of doing so. Rutherford was one of the
greatest of experimental physicists, but no nuclear scientist today would study
his researches of fifty years ago. Their substance has all been infused into the
textbooks.
(C.P. Snow: Public Affairs, Macmillan, 1971, pp. 94-95) The Noun Phrase-1:
The Herd:
................................................................................................................... Pre-modification
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
35.2 NOUNS
You have already learnt in Block 5 that the English noun shows the grammatical
features of number, person, gcnder and case. It is these features that determine its
form in many cases. But even when the form is not affected, other facts of sentence
structure in English depend on these properties of the English noun: e.g. that a plural
noun as subject requires a plural verb; this is so even where the form remains
unchanged.
Examples:
A sheep was chased by a dog.
Some sheep were run over by a truck.

(Note: 'The rule that explains this subject-verb relationship is called subject-verb Concord
or Agreement)
Althoi~ghyou have been introduced to the above features of the English noun in
that block we shall once again examine the behaviour of English nouns in respect
of these grammatical features.
35.2.1 Number
Number Classes
In respect of number English nouns can be grouped as under:
1) Nouns which have different forms for the singular and the plural (e.g, boy-
boys).
2) Nouns which have the same form in both the singular and the plural (e.8. one
sheepltwenty sheep).
3) N o ~ ~which
n s are normally used in the plural only (e.g. gallows, trousers, cattle,
scissors).
4) Nouns which are nor~nallyused in the singular only (e.8. gold, air, courage).
Syntax-4:
Verb Phrase We shall now examine each of these sub-classes in some detail.
1) Nouns that have a singular form and a plural form fall into two groups: (a) those
that have a regular phral form as shown below (Such nouns form the vast majority
of English nouns); (b) those that have irregular plural forms oust a small group).
a) The regular plural is formed by the suffix -s; horse- horses, size
- sizes, boy - boys (on the pronunciation of this suffix, see Section
13.3.4 in Block 3).
i) The plural is spelt -es after nouns ending in a sibilant; e.g. gas-
gases; box-boxes; bush-bushes. But when the noun ends
with a silent e, only s is added: size--sizes.
ii) The y after a consonant sound is changed into ie in the plural
(spy-spies); otherwise y remains unchanged and only s is added
(day--days). y remains unchanged at the end of proper nouns also
(Germany-4ermanys).
b) The following are the chief sub-groups of irregular plurals:
i) Words in which the plural is formed by an internal vowel change.
(e.g., oo is replaced by ee)
tooth-teeth; man-men; foot-feet; mouse-mice.
ii) The plural is formed by adding an en: ox--oxen; child-children.
iii) Cases where the final voiceless consonant of the singular undergoes
voicing; bath-bathstsf; calf-calves/vz/; house-housestziz)
(Note: For a discussion of voicing you can refer back to the units
on phonology)
iv) some foreign plurals:
Some words of Greek and Latin origin retain their original plural
forms: e.g. bacillus-bacilli; stimulus-stimuli; larva-larvae;
criterion-+riteria.
2) Nouns having tlie same form in tlie singular and plural consist, chiefly, of:
a) certain names of animals:
sheep, deer, salmon
b) a few noilns eliding in -s:
headquarters (The headquarters islare.. ..)
Ex.The headquarters of this multinational company is/ are in New York.
gallows (They have erected altwo gallows.)
means: Every mkans has been tried.
Or also: All possible means have been tried.
c) Nunieral nouns like hundred, thousand and million have a plural
form only when not preceded by any modifier.
Thousands of p o p l e attended the car festival
The stranger gave him a packet containing fifty thousand rupees.
The police took {intocustody two hundred agitators.
3) Nouns normally used as plurals only broadly fall into three classes.
a) Nouns referring to objects which consist of two equal parts that are
joined:
-
scissors, shears, glasses (=spectacles), bellows, trousers, pants,
-
pyjamas.
i I got into my trousers before the visitors walked in. The Noun Phrase-I:
The Head:
I Those scissors are no longer functional. Pre-modification
!
b) Some collective nouns:
cattle, people, police
The police are making further enquirie- into the case.
c) Certain nouns ending in -s:
F
amends, bowels, brains, arms (in the sense of weapons), arrears,
earnings, fireworks, goods, lodgings, looks ('appearance'), manners,
b odds, outskirts, pains (to take pains), particulars, premises, regards,
spirits (in high spirits), thanks.
Many thanks.
r His looks deceive everyone who meets him.
The nouns discussed under types I and 2 above all refer to objects
c
which can be (and usually are) counted in daily life: two girls and
three boys; a dozen oranges.
(Note: It is an accident of English that a noun like sheep has the same
form in the singular and the plural. But it is as much a countable noun
as boy or girl: We say twolten boyslsheep.)
As for the nouns under type 3 above, those under (a) are countable,
but even when one specimen is thought of, the construction has to be
in the plural because of the nature of things (bellows, scissors, etc.).
Those i n (b) are also countable but cannot refer to one item (cattle).
But with the nouns in (c) the very notion of countability is
inappropriate. These nouns are uncountable although they end in s and
are treated as plurals.
Example. With the best o f means at his disposal he was unable to get
through the ordinary test.
4) Uncountable nouns generally appear in the singular form and convey no sense
of plurality. They include
a) Proper nouns-both personal names (Henry, Rajesh, Randolph) and
geographic manes (India, Russia, Paris).
b) Abstract nouns: courage, despair, happiness, music;
c) 'mass' nouns: gold, oxygen, furniture, butter, bread;
d) certain nouns ending in s:
names of subjects: economics, mathematics, etc.;
names of diseases: measles, mumps, etc.;
some names of games; bowls, billiards;
and the noun news. (What's the news?)
(Usage note: I11 many Indian languages the word that serves as the equivalent of
news has both singular and plural forms. In Urdu, for example, the singular word
khabur (singular) has the plural form khabrein. In English news is always
~~ncountable). We say 'good news', 'a news report' and 'all the news reports of
the week'. This is also true of several other nor~nallyuncountable nouns as will become
clear in the fuller explanation that follows immediately).
Leaving out the nouns in (d) above which consists of a small, accidental g r o u p
the bulk of the uncountable nouns fall into three well-defined groups-proper nouns,
abstract nouns and niass nouns.
Syntax-4: The notion of counting, as already noted, is quite inappropriate with these nouns.
Verb Phrase Thus the distinction between countable and uncountable nouns can be said to be
based on commonsense but not entirely. It turns out that some nouns which express
an idea countable in other languages are uncountable in English. Among these are:
equipment, luggage, information, news, imagery, scenery, poetry, stationery,
behaviour, homework.
Although the notion of counting is quite inappropriate in the case of these nouns
and they are generally used in the singular form only, the language does allow a
plural construction with some ofthem; also some notion ofcountability (more exactly
measurability) can be imposed on mass nouns with the help of 'partitives' like an
item of, a pinch of, a kilo of:
an item of news, a grain of sandla bucket of sand; a drop of waterl a glass of waterl
some drops of water.
35.2.2 Gender
1) Gender in English is a fairly straightforward matter. Nouns referring to males
are 'masculine'; nouns referring to females are 'feminine'; and other nouns-
those referring to inanimate (= lifeless) objects (book, box, stone,. ..) and objects
whose sex is not a matter of general interest (plant, tree, flower, ...)are 'neuter'.
The gender distinction is of significance primarily for the choice of the referring
pronoun: masculine nouns are referred to in the singular by he; feminine nouns
by she; and neuter nouns by it. The plurals of all the genders have only one
referring pronoun, they.
2) A few nouns referring to persons have paired masculine and feminine forms.
man - woman; boy - girl;
brother sister; father - mother;
bridegroom - bride; host - hostess;
waiter - waitress.
In most cases in English the noun is not marked for the male-female distinction: cook,
doctor, artist, musician, neighbour, parent, teacher, student stand for either a male
or a female (Mr. Chaurasia is a great musician; Mrs. Subhalakshmi, the musician
from Tamil Nadu, represents India's best musical traditions.
Note: The tendency to do away with gender-marked forms is on the rise. Thus author
(unmarked) is replacing authoress. Similarly with poet-poetess; we now use poet
for both man and woman Thus also with chairman, which is being replaced by
chairperson. We say 'He1 she islwas chairperson at the meeting7We often address
this person as chair. Ex: I appealed to the Chair when it became difJicult for
me to make the point.
3) In the case of nouns denoting the higher animals there is usually a marked form
to indicate the female (lioness, bitch, tigress). When this form is chosen,
naturally the referring pronoun will have to be she. Otherwise the unmarked
form can be used indifferently, regardless of the sex of the animal. The referring
pronoun will be it (singular), they (plural).
a. The lion roarcd and its roar woke up the entire neighbourhood.
b. The lioness was found dead; she had eaten the poisoned food.
4) In literary usage nouns denoting inanimate objects may be treated as masculine

or feminine depending on the qualities usually associated with them. Thus the The Noun Phrase-I:
The Head:
sun will be masculine; the moon feminin~. Pre-modification
Collective nouns (army, committee, government, crowd, jury, family, flock,
gang, the public, the intelligentsia, ...)do not distinguish gender. The referring
pronoun can be it or they (The use of a singular or plural pronoun depends
on whether the group is thought of as a whole or attention is drawn to
the members constituting the group).
Example:
a. The government has withdrawn the bill. It hopes there will be a wider
public debate.
b. The government have ordered a judicial enquiry into the scams. They
want to get to the bottom of this malady.
35.2.3 Case
1) English has a fairly rich system of case forms only in respect of pronouns. As
for nouns, they are marked only for the genitive case (also called the possessive
case: The hunter S gun). This is sometimes expressed by saying that English
nouns have only two cases-a common case (boy) and a genitive case (boy's).
2) a) In the singular the genitive is formed by adding an apostrophe and s
(the boy's books), whose pronunciation follows the same rules as for
the plural inflection.
b) In the plural, when the plural noun does not end in a sibilant (or an s),
the genitive is formed by adding 's.
Children's toys, men's wear, women's ,organizations.
c) When the plural noun ends in a sibilant, the genitive is formed by
adding the apostrophe only (in writing).
My clients' interests, the spies' companions, the students' union.
3) The genitive case (formed with 's or just the apostrophe) is referred to as the
's-genitive'. It is usually restricted to nouns referring to persons and higher animals:
Shakespeare's plays; my sister's toys; the lion's mane.
Nouns referring to objects which essentially involve associations of persons (the
army, the town) can also appear in the s-genitive:
a nation's honour; the city's greatness; Mumbai's history; the government's
shortcomings; the State's supremacy.. .
In other cases, especially with nouns referring to inanimate objects, the meaning
of the genitive is expressed through a construction with of -the 'of-adjunct':
The legs of the table (*the table's legs)
The colour of the walls (*the walls' colour)
The point of the nib (*the nib's point)
(Notes 1. As you know the symbol * indicates an unacceptable form)
2. This last remark above has a number of exceptions e.g.
We do say: tomorrow's news; a moment's reflection, at day's end.
at a yard's distance; for conscience' sake; for goodness' sake;
at arm's length; at a stone's throw.
4) I n an expression like my sister's toys the noun in the genitive (sister's) is
followed by the head noun (toys). The genitive is used here attributively and
this use is. bv far. the most frequent use of the genitive.
syntax-4: In certain constructions, however, the noun in the genitive appears without a head.
Verb Phrase
I am dining at my uncle's tonight.
The 'understood head' of the genitive is always a place (e.g. my uncle's = my uncle's
house). The usage is limited to nouns of close family relationship (father, mother,
brother, etc.) However, the construction is also found with names of well-known
shops, professional establishments, etc: a t Greatway's, a t Narula's, a t my dentist's
The head is also left out in constructionswhere it can be recovered (by being mentioned
elsewhere in the sentence).
My house is smaller than my brother's (instead of brother's house)
I have read most of the novels of Dickens and some of Thackeray's (instead of
Thackeray's novels).
Finally, note that in some constructions the genitive may follow the head: e.g a friend
of Mary's. Here the head friend has two modifiers: the article a and the genitive
expressed by the phrase of Mary's. Since we cannot have: a Mary's friend, the
structure becomes a friend of Mary's. Cf. also: a poem of Tagore's, a raincoat
of my brother's, a painting of Hussain's.
1) Nouns ending in -0 form the plurals by just adding'-s: studios, radios. But
there are some cases where the plural has -oes. Give five examples.
...................................................................................................................
2) Compound nouns may in some cases show the plural suffix
i) on the first element (e.g. notaries public)
ii) on the second element (e.g. assistant professors), or
iii) on both (e.g. inen servants).
Arrange the following into the three groups indicated above.
boy friend; air hostess; brother-in-law, spoonful; woman doctor; breakthrough;
grant-in-aid, gentleman player; stand-by; close-up.
...................................................................................................................
3) Give the plurals of the following. In which of these is the final consonant of
the singular form voiced in the plural? (Note: For the second question take help
from the explanation provided under phonology)
%igh, earth, youth, handkerchief, knife, leaf, self, half, cloth, moth, oath, truth,
shelf, thief.
The Noun Phrase-1:
The Head:
Pre-modification
4) Foreign words may have

i) the regular plural (e.g. genius: geniuses),
i the original foreign plural (e.g. bacillus: bacilli) or,
iii) both (syllabus: syllabuses or syllabi).
Classify the following into the three groups as in i) to iii) above:
focus, fungus, bonus, genus, dilemma, era, antenna, terminus, radius, nucleus,
album, forum, analysis, basis, hypothesis, synopsis, museum, medium, criterion,
phenomenon, bureau, apex, index, appendix, electron.
...................................................................................................................
5) The central meaning expressed by the singular-plural contrast is the distinction
between 'one and more than one', a numerical meaning. But consider the
following:
i) Put some coal on the fire.
ii) His hair is turning grey.
iii) We had Puit at breakfast.
iv) The waters of the Nile
v) The sands of the desert
vi) The wines of France
vii) The teas of Assam.
What meanings, do you think, are expressed by the forms of the nouns
italicised in these sentences?
35.3 PRE-MODIFICATION
As already noted in section 35.1 the noun phrase in English can show a fairly complex
structure with both pre-and post-modif cation. For example, in the noun phrase both
the flrst two guests to arrive we have both preceding the; the ordinal first and
tlie cardinal two following the. If we take the article (the), which is a member of
a larger class called determiners (Det.), we can see that the structure of the pre-
modifying phrase above is:
Syntax-4: 1) Pre-Det. + Det. + Post-Det. (both, the and first two come before guests)
Verb Phrase In the post-determiner position (here after the) we generally find ordinals (like
first, second, etc.), cardinals (like one, two, etc.) and adjectives (in that order):
e.g.,
the first two smart girls to turn up
the next three Russian gymnasts to perform
Since every noun phrase need not have both pre-determiners and post-determiners
we will re-write Rule (1) above as Rule (2)
2) (Pre-Det) Det. (Post-Det).= what comes before the determiner, then the
determiner and then what follows the determiner
Now what about determiners? The only determiners we have illustrated till now
have been articles. Other determiners include demonstratives: this book, those
girls; possessives: his father, your neighbour and many so-called indefinite
pronouns: each boy, all men, some books ...
The Articles
English has two articles: a (a is pronounced an before a vowel sound) and the. It
is convenient to speak of a 'zero' article in certain constructions. (Example: He was
admitted to hospital. School changes lives. In both cases the noun(hospita1, school)
occurs without an article.
(Usage Note: There is a difference between British and American use here. In British
English one says:
After the accident Radhika was rushed to hospital.
In American English
After the accident she was rushed to the hospital.
Also note that in British English 'school' is a place where children are taught:
Jane is eleven and she is still at school.
In American English 'school' is also used for a university:
Robert is in the second year at Chicago Medical School.)
While a can be used only with singular nouns, the can be used with either singular
or plural nouns. Also note that in English the articles do not distinguish gender. Their
main function is to help establish the reference of the now phrase. This means that
they help us determine what it is that a particular noun phrase refers to.
The Article with Countable Nouns

A countable noun may refer either (a) to the whole class represented by the noun,
or (b) to one or more specimens of the class.
Examples:
a) Books are expensive
b) I borrowed a book from the library yesterday.
Sentence (a) is a statement about the whole class of books; sentence (b) about one
particular specimen of that class.
Where the reference is to one or more members of a class, we say that the reference
is specific; otherwise the reference is generic, which means that the reference
is to a whole class.
i
r
Consider first some sentences involving noun phrases with a specific reference. The Noun Phrase-1:
The Head:
Pre-modification
A cheetah and a bear escaped from the zoo yesterday. The cheetah has been caught,
but the bear is still missing.
A Cheetah in the first sentence (as also a bear) refers to a particular cheetah.
There were several cheetahs in the zoo and one of them escaped; the reader has
c
no idea which one it was. The use of a makes it one of the cheetahs. But in the
second sentence the cheetah can only refer to the cheetah mentioned earlier. The
reader now knows that it is the cheetah that escaped.
b
From the point of view of the reader (or hearer) of a message, a noun may refer
r to something which helshe can identify (in the context oftlie discourse) or, on occasion,
may not. If slhe cannot, we say that the reference of the noun phrase is indefinite;
if s/he can, the reference is definite.
Q
Summing up: We have now distinguished three types of reference. They may be
set out schematically as follows:
indefinite
NP reference
Specific L definite
Generic
How are these three types of reference achieved in the language? Read on to get
the answer.
Looking back at the examples discussed above you will see that
i) a singular countable noun preceded by alan can have indefinite reference; (A

man was rushing towards us. We do not know which man)
ij) a countable noun preceded by the can have definite reference; (The man was
badly hurt. We now know which man - one who was rushing towards us.)
iii) a plural countable noun with no article (or zero article) has generic reference.
(Books have become expensive= books in general)
Besides these facts of structure, there are certain discourse considerations to be
noted. A singular countable, in its first occurrence, can only have indefinite reference.
Therefore it has to be preceded by d a n . But on its second or subsequent mention
we always use it with the. The result is that the reader (or hearer) will now be
in a position to identify it (as the one mentioned earlier). This makes the reference
with the definite.
These discourse restrictions do not, however apply to the generic reference: a noun
with a generic reference can be introduced at any point in a discourse.
Note also that it is not the case that in every instance a countable noun becomes
definite only after it is first introduced with indefinite reference. Definiteness can
be achieved in the very first instance.
The study of Mathematics is gaining importance.
The banks of the Ganga should be kept clean.

syntax-4: The nouns study aad banks are followed by post-modifying phrases which make
T h e Noun Phrase and the
V e r b Phrase clear the reference of these nouns. Without such post-modification these nouns could
not have been used with the on their very first occurrence.
Another case where a noun phrase can have definite reference on its very first
occurrence is where the reference is clear from the situation in which it occurs.
For example, standing in a room and looking up I can say: The ceiling is damp
(meaning 'the ceiling of the room in which 1 am standing'). Similarly, in a school
a boy may say: The Headmaster is on leave today, meaning 'the Headmaster
of that/ his school'.
The generic referenee was illustrated earlier with the structure 'Zero article +plural
countable' (Ex. Zebras were badly kept in the zoo); also see (a) below. But in fact
the generic reference is possible with other articles also as in (b) and (c) below.
a) Tigers are ferocious animals.
b) tiger is a ferocious animal.
c) The tiger is a ferocious animal.

Both 'a tiger' and 'the tiger' in b) and c) refer to tigers in general and not to a
particular tiger. However, not all countable nouns can enter into all the three
constructions exemplified abo\ie for generic reference, i.e., Zero article+ plural noun;
a + singular noun; the + singular noun.
Look at the following sentences:
a) A boy is mischievous.
b) The boy is mischievous.
c) Boys are mischievous.
a) is ungrammatical and (b) has specific reference: the boy refers to a particular
boy. Only in (c), where the noun phrase has the structure Zero article + plural noun,
do we have generic reference.
We thus learn that the only construction freely available for generic reference with
all count nouns is: Zero article + plural noun. The other two constructions are restricted
to particular classes of nouns.
The Article with Uncountable Nouns
1) Uncountable nouns (mass nouns, abstract nouns) are normally used in the singular
with zero article. The sense is generic.
Water is heavier than air.
Never lose hape.
Beauty is only skin deep.
2) However, when the speaker requires it, helshe can make the sense definite by
using a preceding the and a post-modifying phrase.
The water in this town doesn't agree with me.
Cf. also: the beauty of the snow-covered peaks; the gold I bought in Muscat,
tlie food in this restaurant
3) A niass noun cannot be directly preceded by a. But it can have Indefinite reference
when used with a partitive as in a piece of gold, a grain of sand.
4) Abstract uncountable nouns call be directly preceded by a but in that case they
need to be qualified by an adjective (a rare wisdom, a strange beauty) or
be followed by a post-modifier: a wisdom beyond his years, a courage rarely The Noun Phrase-1:
The Head:
found in one so young. The indefinite article has a classifying function in the Pre-modification
above examples.
5) Some countable nouns can be used in an uncountable sense with no article
preceding them. In addition to the two referred to earlier (school, hospital) these
include:
i) bed, market, jail, church and one or two others.
She went to Church for Sunday morning service.
I generally go to bed rather late.
It is important to know that the nouns hospital, school, bed, etc. in this usage
refer to the activities associated with such places and not to the buildingslobjects
+ themselves. In the latter sense an article will be needed.
There is a cinema theatre right next to the school.
F They are planning an annexe to the hospital
ii) names of meals:
Dinner is at eight.
Can you join us at lunch tomorrow?
The Article with Proper Nouns

1) a) Personal proper nouns normally appear without any article. Here the
reference is not only definite but unique. In formal situations they are
also preceded by the appropriate titles.
Dr. Kalam; President Kennedy; Lord Mountbatten; Bishop Tutu;
Mr.Yadurajan; Professor Quirk.
The article the with the surname in plural indicates the family: the
Kennedys, the Singhs
b) The indifinite article can be used with a personal proper noun in the
sense of 'some person with the name of-whom 1 d o not know':
i A certain Mr. Williams was on the phone.
t
r
c) Personal nouns can be used with a in a classifying sense.
Bernard Shaw fancied himself a latter-day Shakespeare.
Every young cricketer should not imagine himself to be a Gavaskar or
a Lara.
d) Proper nouns can also be used with the definite article the as in:
Ii
Kalidasa is often referred to as the Shakespeare of India.
The proper noun (Shakespeare) is used here as a common noun: the
reference of the phrase is definite.
i 2) Common nouns, especially nouns indicating close fainily relations are used with
no article like proper names.
t
1 Father rang up from the office. .
Mother is out shopping.
Cook let us down on this occasion.
The usage is extended to Doctor, nurse and a few others.
Nurse is more than a doctor to Rajni.
Nouns like Heaven, Hell, Parliament, Congress, Fortune, Fate are also
often used as proper names without any article.
Parlia~nenthas been adjourned sine die.
Syntax-4: Fortune favours the brave.
Verb Phrase Also names of subjects and languages.
Mathematics is the queen of sciences.
Everyone wants to study English.
The same u s a g m f being used without an article as a proper noun-is extended
to the days of thz week, names of months and seasons.
Spring follows winter.
December is a gloomy month.
(Cf. Fagin sat brooding.)
Monday begins the week.
3) Geographical names fall into two groups: (a) those without an article; (b) those
with the.
a) The great majority of names of cities, countries and continents are used
without an article exactly like proper names: England, India, France,
Africa, Berlin, Delhi.
And, as with proper names, some of these are used with their 'titles'.
Mt. Everest; Lake Ontario, Cape Comorin.
Exceptions to the general pattern are: the Hague, the Bahamas, the
Sudan, the Netherlands.
The article in the U.S.A. the U.K. makes sense when we see that
they are only descriptive proper names: the United States of America;
the United Kingdom.
b) Names of mountains, rivers, oceans and seas generally have the: the .
Himalayas, the Alps, the Ganga, the Thames, the Atlantic Ocean,
the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea.
4) Nationality words can be used like other count nouns with a in the singular:
a Russian, a Chinese; or with an appropriate numeral or some when the
reference is to more than one person: an Indian, two Chinese, some Russians.

1) In certain contexts the articles have a meaning of their own. e.g.,
I bouglit a (one) tie and a (one) dozen oranges.
What are the meanings in the following sentences?
i) Apples are selling at Rs. lo/- a kilo.
ii) The tablet has to be taken twice a day after meals.
iii) I'm busy at the moment.
..................................................................................................................
Omission of the article sliould be distinguished from zero article. In Gold is
a precious metal, the subject has zero article (as is the case with uncountable
nouns in general). But in He rose to the rank of Brigadier we have an instance
of the omissian of a (in the prepositional phrase)
Which of these are instances of zero article and which of article omitted?
i) a study of; Nehru as statesman arid thinker
ii) Don't lose heart.
iii) August 1Yh, 2006 The Noun Phrase-]:
The Head:
iv) I came by bus. Pre-modification
v) an essay on Shaw as dramatist and social reformer

vi) to send word
vii) to take offence
viii) to come face to face
ix) under cover of darkness
X) by day.
3) Explain the uselnon-use of the article with the italicised NPs in the following
sentences:
i) Science1 is cumulative and embodies its past.
ii) No scientist2, or student of science need ever read an original work3
of the past 4 .
iii) By the industrial revolution5, I mean the gradual use6 of machines,
the employment of men and women in factories7, the change from a
population mainly of agriculfural labourerss to a population mainly
employed in making things and distributing them.
iv) The growing awareness of our dependence on rain forests is reflected
in a new exhibition at the London Ecology Centre. The exhibitiong is of
paintings by artists who specialize in the s ~ b j e c t ' ~ .
v) A silver of moon" rose over the horiznn12,hardly large enough to make
a path of light even when it sat right down on the waterI3 but there
were other lights in the sky14.
Syntax-4:
4) Fill in the blanks in the following with suitable articles (althelzero)
T l ~ eNoun Phrase and the
Verb Phrase i) ......... (.!.1......... Scientists are now beginning to worry about
..........(.2.)........ contamination of ......L.3.) ............ entire solar system
by ....... . ( . A . ) . ......... debris from ........ .L5 . )......... Earth. .....(..6..)... .........
group of planetary scientists is studying (..7.) .................. ways to
minimise ......(..8.) ............ effects that ...... 4.9.1 ........... spacecraft may
have on .......L.lR.1 ......... future scientific studies of .(..l1.l ...............
objects such as .......(..!2..1......... asteroids and .....(..13.)........... moons.
.........L.1 4.1....... group is headed by Iwan Williams, of Queen
Mary's College, London.
(from New Scientist, London, 18th Aug. 1988, p.25)
ii) ........(.15..)........ people often say that .....L.16.J ........... writer's life is
unimportant, and all that matters is in .....(.!I.)............ books. That is
usually .....(..1.8.). ........... exaggeration. ( .19..X ................. books are
.........L2Q.I....... pointer, but .......(.21..) ......... lives are illuminating, too.
(from New Scientist, London, 18th Aug. 1988, p.25)
iii) I found I couldn't use my key. I just couldn't find myself to put it in
....... X.22.) ......... lock. Instead I just pushed ..(.23..) .............. handle
down and ........ L.2.4.)........ kitchen door opened.
35.4 PRONOUNS
Pronouns can replace noun phrases and not just single nouns. In the sentences: The
brilliant actor came on the stage. He received a thunderous ovation, he refers
not just to actor but the NP: the brilliant actor. (The noun phrase to which the
pronoun refers is called its antecedent.)
Based on their grammatical function pronouns are grouped into the following classes:
personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, compound personal pronouns, demonstrative
pronouns, interrogative pronouns, relative pronouns and indefinite pronouns.
35.4.1 Personal Pronouns

English has three classes of personal pronouns. The term person, which distinguishes
these classes, may be explained as follows:
First Person: the speaker (and others, if any, associated with him): I, we
Second Person: the person(s) spoken to : you (singular) and you (plural)
Third Person: all others: they
(Note: Nouns are always in the third person.)
The first person pronouns show number and case distinctions. They are not marked
for gender, however.
Nominative Objective
Singular I me
Plural we US
First Person Pronouns
There is only one second person pronoun: you. It can be used to refer to one or
more persons (i.e., in English it does not distinguish number), male or female (i.e.,
it does not distinguish gender) and it has the same form in the subject and object
position (i.e., it does not distinguish case).
The third person pronouns are marked for number, distinguish gender in the singular T h e N o u n Phrase-I:
The Head:
form and (except in the neuter gender) are marked for case. Pre-modification
Subject Object
Mas. he him
Singular Fem. she her
Neut. it
Plural they them
Third Person Pronouns
The normal use of the personal pronouns is as indicated by their features given above.
However, note the following special points 01usage:
a) Reference
(We) The editor of a newspaper may use we even when the reference is to
a single person:
We cannot accept the Press Defamation Bill.
An author may use we to include the writer and his reader.
We shall now examine the relation between poverty and population growth.
(You) The second person pronouns (you) may be used by a speakerlwriter when
slhe is talking about herselflhimself, when what is being described can be thought
of as happening to anyone:
My God! Do I know how life is in Ivlumbai! You get up at 6 in the
morning, get ready by 7 and then dash off, to get a foothold on the
suburban train. (Here we can say 'One gets up at ... or One must get
up at ....)
(They) They may be used with a vague reference to people in general:
They say that China and India will become superpowers well before
2050.
(It) Besides its use with nouns referring to inanimate (lifeless) objects and nouns
referring to objects whose sex can be ignored, it can also refer to a word group
in a sentence:
It is surprising that she has offered to resign.
It was not easy to get a taxi.
!
(Note that the word groups referred to by it are italicised above)
L
I t can also function as a 'formal' subject (=an empty, grammatical word filling
the subject positioli):
It was raining. It was very cold.
And as a formal object:
I take it that you are coming.
I would appreciate it if you could send an early reply.
I b) Case: The nominative form is used when thc pronoun is the subject; in the object
position (object of a verblpreposition) the object form is used.
However, in certain constructions (especially in spoken English) the object form
I is used even when the correct form is I.
I
For example we say It's me. (instead of I)

Or That's him. (instead of he)
Syntax-4: 35.4.2 Possessive Pronouns
Verb Phrase
Parallel to the personal pronouns there are two sets of possessive pronouns in English.
Personal Pronouns Possessive Pronouns
A B
I my mine
we our ours
YOU your yours
he his his
she her hers
it its
they their theirs
Possessive Pronouns
Note, however that the forms under A are used only attributively, that is, as pre-
head modifiers of nouns whereas those under B get used as heads only. Ex:. This
is my booWThis book is mine.
The two forms of the possessive pronouns are not synonymous in all contexts. For
example: This is our house merely states a fact but This house is ours often
represents an assertion.
35.4.3 Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns

Correspondingto the pdrsonal pronouns English has a number of forms in -self called
reflexive pronouns.
1 Singular Plural 1
/ First Person myself ourselves
1
Second Person yourself yourselves
Third Persoil himself
herself themselves
itself
Reflexive Pronouns
In a sentence like
John hurt him.
him does not refer to John: it refers to someone other than John.
For co-reference in the same clause between an NP (the antecedent) and a pronoun
we use a reflexive pronoun.
John hurt himself.
Mary blames herself for the accident.

Most men admire themselves. Does every woman admire herself the same way?
A persoilal pronoun can have an antecedent only outside its clause; a reflexive (usually)
only within its own clause.
I
I
I
John told Mary that Bill hated him (=John, not Bill).
John told Mary that Bill hated himself (=Bill, not John).
The Noun Phrase-1:
The Head:
Pre-modification
1iI However, in certain prepositional phrases a pronoun can have an antecedent in the
same clause.
i John saw a snake near him.

L Have you any money on you?
This is also the case when a pronoun is used as a genitive modifier.

John scolded his son.
Mary called up her mother.
*
The forms in -self are also used for emphasis:
I myself did it. (=I and nobody else)
The Prime Minister himself has said ... ( = no less a person than the P~.inieMinister)
The reciprocal pronouns (each otherlone another) express a two-way relation.

This can be between two noun phrases:
Rita and Gopal like each other.
(=Gopal likes Rita and Rita likes Gopal)
.or betweenlamong the members of a group:
The men shot each other.
The speakers praised each other.
35.4.4 Demonstrative Pronouns

The demo~istrativepronouns are: this, plural these, and that, plural those. They
can be used either attributively ( = as determiners) or as heads.
They are also used to point out something not mentioned before. (This is called their
'deictic' use.)
Look at this flower!
Who is that rnan over there?
In this use, this refers to what is near; that to what is far away. But these notions,
'near' and 'far' should be taken in a relative sense: We say, for example,
Look at this star. Isn't it brighter than that one?
Here although both stars are placed far away from the speaker, the one referred
to by that must be farther away from the speaker (or appear to himlher) than the
one referred to by this.
Depending on the context, the demonstratives can also convey elnotio~lalovertones

in their deictic use.
Stop that racket, will you?
Do you expect me to believe this story of yours'?
The demonstrative can also be used to refer to something mentioned before

(= This is called anaphoric use).
Ex. Demand pushes up prices; this is a basic law of economics.
In the anaphoric use the demonstrative may be followed by an of- adjunct:
Syntax-4: My house is next to that ( = the house) of your aunt.
Verb Phrase
Bernard Shaw thought that his plays would compare well with those ( =the plays)
of Shakespeare.
When used as heads, the demonstratives refer to things:
When did you buy this? ( = for example, this watch)
What made him say that?
But in sentences with be they can refer to persons also:
This is my father.
Are these your classmates?
35.4.5 Indefinite Pronouns

Finally, there are indefinite pronouns. The chief among them are: some, any, every,
each, all, both, either, neither, none, one and no. Besides these there are a
few other items, less complex in their usage: many, much, few, a few, little, a little.
With one or two exceptions, all the indefinite pronouns have both an attributive and
a substantive use, that is, they can be used as prehead modifiers of nouns, and also
as 'heads' of noun phrases. Let us briefly look at each in turn.
Some
Attributively some can have these meanings:
i) an unspecified or unknown person or thing:
I must have met her at, some party or other.
I remember reading that poem in some recent anthology.
ii) an unspecified (but small) amount:
Will you have some coffee?
Can you wait for some time?
iii) an indefinite number (not large):
1 was at J N U some years ago.
Some friends of mine are coming for dinner.
iv) As a head it has the meaning of 'a certain number, not all'.
Some voted for the bill but most of the members opposed it.
Some of the goods were damaged.
Some are wise; some otherwise.
Any
The usage of any is best understood in connection with some. While some is generally
found in affirmative sentences (see above), in negative, interrogative and conditional
sentences it is replaced by any. Parallel to the examples with some under (i) above
we can have:
I don't think 1 have met her at any party.

I don't remember reading that poem in any recent anthology.
Questions with some (see the sentence at (ii) above) have a positive suggestion;
with any there is a strong negative meaning:
Is there any coffee left?
(Suggestion: Perhaps there is nothing left.)

In contrast 'Is there some coffee in the flask?' suggests that not all of it may have T h e Noun Phrase-1:
The Head:
got finished. Pre-modification
Did you wait for any time at all?
(Suggestion: Perhaps you did not really wait.)
In conditional sentences any can have a nearly complete negative meaning:
If you have any sense, you will keep away from him. (=implying you may not have
any sense)
Or it may indicate just a possibility:

Let me know if you want any of us to accompany you.
If there is any message, let me know.
In affirmative sentences any is equivalent to a with the added suggestion of: 'doesn't
matter which'.
You can buy stamps at any post office. (= It does not matter which)
They are all priced the same. You can pick any of them.
Every, Each
Every is used only attributively. The meaning may be equivalent to all.
England expects every man and woman to do their duty.
With nouns denoting time or space, every has the sense of recurrence, of something
being repeated:
He would stop every few yards to admire the landscape.
To be taken every three hours (of medicine).
In constructions like the following every has an emphatic meaning.
I have every reason to be satisfied.
We enjoyed every minute of the play.
Every can be used only when there are more than two persons or things; each
can be used with reference to two or more. Apart from this, there is a difference
in meaning which can be brought out by these sentences:
1) Every student will be given a copy of the dictionary.
2) Each student will be given a copy of the dictionary.

Sentence (1) lays more emphasis on the idea that no student will be left out. Sentence
(2) draws attention to the fact that one copy per student will be made available.
In other words, the distributive idea is more prominent with each.
Finally, unlike every, each can be used as a head:
Each of the girls got a prize.

(Usage note: In present-day use when we refer to an expression such as 'each person'
or 'each student' which does not indicate a specific sex (male or female) we generally
use they, them, their:
E.g. Each senior student has been allotted a single room regardless of their age or
sex.
syntax-4: Similarly for every:
Verb Phrase
Ex. Every student in this academy is tested for AIDS during. the first week of their
class.)
Used with countable nouns all means 'without exception':

All books must be returned by l S t h April.
All documents must be submitted in triplicate.
With uncountable.nouns, the sense is equivalent to 'the whole of':
I have spent all r~lymoney.
You are complaining all the time.
As a head, the meaning of all is close to everybody, everything:
All agree that she is brilliant.
All is over.
The difference in meaning between all and the groups with every is this: all refers
to the group as a whole without drawing attention to the members constituting the
group.
Note also: unlike every. all can be followed by a possessive pronoun or a demonstrative:
all his friends, all this time.
Both, Either, Neither

These can only be used when the reference is to two persons or things:
Both (the) candidates were rejected.
We have both been invited.
Note also these parallel constructions: we both = both of us; they both = both of
them.
Either can indicate a ~ossiblechoice between two persons or things:

Either of you can go (but not both).
Either of these volunteers will do.
In this sense either is like any, the only difference being that any is used for more
than two persons or things.
Either can also be used in the sense of both:

There are shops on either side.
Both refers to the group as a whole; either draws attention to the two members
of the group:
Both the candidates were rejected. We didn't like either of them.
In constructions like:
My friend didn't like the movie; I didn't like it either.
either is used adverbially in negative constructions. If the sense is positive, too is
used:
My friend liked the movie; I liked it, too.
Neither is the negative of either. I don't like either of them is the same as I The Noun Phrase-]:
The Head:
like neither of them. Hence it can also be viewed as the negative of both: Pre-modification
Both accounts are false.
Neither account is true.
None
The meaning of a negative sentence with any can be paraphrased by an affirmative
sentence with none.
I don't like any of them.
I like none of them.
Naturally the reference must be to more than two:
None of these books are of any use to me.
I met none of the people I wanted to meet.
None is used only as a head. The verb may be singular or plural depending on the
sense.
None of them is the man I want.
None of them are of any use to me.
While not is a sentence negator, no is used to negate phrases.

There won't be (= will not be) any difficulty.
There will be no difficulty.
There wasn't any disturbance.
There was no disturbance.
This use of no should be distinguished from cases, more or less idiomatic, like the
following: no doubt (=of course), in no time (=quickly), no wonder (it is not surprising
that.. .).
Ex: Ganapati works very hard and very systematically through the year. No wonder
he topped the list.
No is also used in constructions where the meaning is the opposite of what is expressed
by the word following no.
He is no fool. (=He is a very clever fellow.)
Similarly:
Sue is no angel.
John is no saint.
It is no problem ...
One
The usage of one is fairly complex. In many constructions one has a strictly numerical
meaning (= it just stands for one)
You can make one more try.
Pick one at a time.
This meaning can merge with a sense of 'indefiniteness' as in: one evening
(=on a certain evening).
Syntax-4: E.g.. One evening there was a loud explosion.
Verb Phrase The numerical sense may also merge with other meanings as in:
a)
It is the one way (=the only way) to do it.
The unrest is not restricted to any one (= single) student group.
b) One can be substituted for a noun phrase mentioned earlier.

Gandhiji's life was one of (= a life of) great simplicity.
I am looking for a light pullover. Can you show me a good one?
c ) Often (as in the last example) one is preceded by an adjective. In this function
it is called a 'prop-word', as the adjective cannot stand by itself.
E.g..The difference between a good learner and a bad one is that the former
has a clear aim in what helshe does.
The prop-word is also found after a demonstrative (and some other words).
E.g. Few authors are as dull as this one.
d) In all the uses described above one can refer to persons or things. There are
also usages where it refers exclusively to persons, chief among these are cases
where one has a.generic sense, referring to persons in general.
One should know one's limitations.
One has to do one's best.
(Notice that the repeated pronoun is also one; it is not usual to say: *One has
to do his best. The acceptable alternative is One has to do one S. best.
Compound Indefinite Pronouns

The compound indefinite pronouns are:
somebody someone something
anybody anyone anything
everybody everyone everything
nobody no one nothing
The forms with body and thing should be distinguished from cases where some1
anyleverylno function as determiners.
Somebody called.
The police have recovered some bodies from the well.
The distinction between the foriiis with some and the forms with any are the same
as the distinction between some and any noted earlier.
Someone came looking for you.
Did anyone come looking for me?

1) Fill in the blanks with suitable pronouns.
i) First about the scientists' optimism. .............. (1) ..................... is an
accusation which has been made so often that .................................... (2)
.....................
, . has become a platitude. ..................... (3) ..................... has
been made by ..................... (4) ..................... of the acutest non-scientific
minds of the day. But .......................... (5) ..........................depends upon
a confusion between the individual condition of man and ........................
........................(6) ..................... social condition. ..................... T h e Noun Phrase-1:
The Head:
(7) ..........................;. of the scientists I have known will have felt that the Pre-modification
individual condition of ..................... (8) ..................... of us is tragic.
..................... (9) ..................... of us ~n alone.
ii) .......(.!..I ........ has been said of the original lecture that ...... L.2..) ........ is
oblivious of politics.
iii) .......!.?..! ........ is probably too early to speak of a third culture already in
existence.
( 1 )
iv) I do not know the answer. ..................... would be a satisfaction to know
..........X..?.) .....
v) Let me say at once that I have ..........!..!..?.... easy answers at all. If there
L
were ........(.2..I ...... they would have been found by now. The whole problem
is an intractable .......(.1.)........
vi) One looks outside ......(.1.3......... to other lives, to whicll ......!..?..! ........ is
bound by love, affection, loyalty, obligation: ....(3.) .......... of those lives has
the same irremediabls components as .......1.4.)........ own.
vii) The scientific process has two motives: ........(.!..!....... is to i~nderstandthe
natural world, the ......(.2..)........ to c o ~ ~ t r it.
o l ......1.?.) ........ of thcse n~otives
may be dominant in .......L4.I ....... individual scientist; fields of science may
draw ........(..?.)....... original impulse from ...L.6.)........... or the .....4..7..).........
2) Classify the different functions of it in the passages i-iv above.
...................................................................................................................
3) The indefinite pronouns can be classified (in respect of their attributive behaviour)
into these classes:
a) those going with countable nouns only
b) those going with uncountable nouns only
c) those that can be used with countables or uncountables.
Arrange the following into the three classes given above:
each, every, all, both, some, few, a few, much, most, no, little, a little, either,
neither, a lot of, several, many, another.
35.5 LET US SUM UP --- - .-- --

I
NOUNS and PRONOUNS are among the most important elements that function
as HEADS ofNOUN PHRASES. Pronouns differ from nouns in that they can replace
I noun phrases; otherwise a pronoun shows all the characteristic features of nouns:
L
NUMBER, GENDER, PERSON and CASE.
Syntax-4: A noun phrase Can have such SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS as: SUBJECT, OBJECT,
Verb Phrase OBJECT of a PREPOSITION and COMPLEMENT.
The STRUCTURE of a noun phrase can be represented as PREMODIFIER + HEAD

+ POSTMODIFIER. Among Premodifiers are DETERMINERS, which include
ARTICLES, DEMONSTRATIVES, POSSESSIVES and some INDEFINITE
PRONOUNS.
The articles are primarily concerned with establishing the REFERENCE of noun
phrases. The reference of a noun phrase can be SPECIFIC or GENERIC; if specific,
it can be INDEFINITE or DEFINITE.
35.6 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

1) One 'Number' see Quirk et al: A Universiy Grammar ofEnglish 4.31-57.
2) One 'Gender' see Zandvoort: A Handbook of English Grammar sections
364-376.
3) On the use of the articles with names, especially geographical and nationality
names, see Quirk et al. : A University Gramrnar of English 4.27-30.
4) For a fuller discussion see Quirk et.al A Conprehensive English Grammar.
35.7 ANSWERS
1) 30th nouns pronouns share s~iclifcalurcs as number, gender, and case; both
can have such functions as subject, object, complement.
2) The rich people, the poor people. The noun in this case should have an implied
notion of plurality and be human.
3) No scientist: Premodifier + head

student of science: head + postmodifier
an original work of the past: Premodifier + head + postmodifier
a general rule: premodifier + head
he: head
Rutherford: head
one of the greatest of experimental physicists: head (one) + post modifier.
no nuclear scientist: premodifier + head
his researches of fifty years ago: premodifier + head (researches) +
postmodifier
their substance: premodifier + head
the textbooks: premodifier + head
Questions (I)--(4) Check your answers with Quirk, et al. : AUniversity Grammar
of English (henceforth UGE), or consult Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
(OALD) o r Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDCE).
5) (i), (iii) material (ii) collective (iv), (v) great quantity, extent, (vi), (vii) kinds.
Check Your Progress 3 The Noun Phrase-]:
The Head:
Pre-modification
1) (i) per, (ii) every, (iii) this.
2) Omission: (i),.(iii), (v), (ix) and'(x). Zero in the remaining cases.
3) 1) Zero article conveying generic sense
2) as in (1)
3) first mention of a singular countable, indefinite sense with a.
4) definite NF'.
5) NP made definite by the modifier 'industrial'.
6) NP made definite by a postmodifying phrase.
7) zero + plural countable generic sense
8) as in (7)
9) anaphoric the (reference to a noun mentioned earlier)
10)as in (9)
11) a in a classifying function
12-14) NPs made definite situationally.
4) 1) zero 2) the 3) the 4) the
5) zero 6) a 7) zero 8) the
9) zero 10) zero 11) zero 12) zero
13) zero 14) the 15) zero 16) thela
17) the 18) an 19) zero 20) the
21) zero 22) the 23) the 24) the
1) i) (1) it (2) it (3) it (4) some (5) it

(6) one's (7) most (8) all (9) each
ii) (1) it (2) it
iv) (1) it (2) it

V) (1) no (2) any (3) one
vi) (1) oneself (2) one (3) each (4) one's
vii) (1) one (2) other (3) either (4) any (5) their
(6) one (7) other
2) i) All occurrences are anaphoric: they refer to 'scientists' optimism'.

ii) 1) formal subject
2) anaphoric (lecture)
iii) anticipatory, referring to the infinitive 'to speak of a third culture.. ..'
iv) 1) anticipatory
2) anaphoric (answer)
3) Check your answer with the dictionaries mentioned.

UNIT 36 THE NOUN PHRASE-2:
POST-MODIFICATION:
THE RELATIVE CLAUSE
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Relative Clauses and Appositive Clauses
Restrictive and Non-restrictive Relative Clauses
Restrictive Relative Clauses
36.4.1 Structure and Formation
36.42 The Relative Pronoun
36.4.3 Adverbial Relatives
36.4.4 Headless Relative Clauses
36.4.5 Reduced Relative Clauses
Non-restrictive Relative Clauses
Let Us Sum Up
Answers
36.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we shall take up post-modification of the noun head, that is, the modifiers
placed after the head in a noun phrase. We shall begin with the relative clause used
as a post-head modifier, and study the structure of relative clauses and their function.
After completing your study ofthis unit, you should be able to recognise the structure
and function of relative clauses used as post-head modifiers. Note also that since
many parts ofthis unit have received attention earlier, you will find it useful to revisit
those sections before studying what follows.
36.1 INTRODUCTION
As already pointed out (in Section 35.1 of Unit 35) the structure of a Noun Phrase
(NP) can be stated as pre-modifier + head + post-modifier. The postmodification
may be by a relative clause (e.g. the boy who stood on the burning deck) or
by a prepositional phr-se (e.g. the victims of aggression). Often, instead of a full
relative clause we find what might be regarded as reduced relative clause structures
(e.g. the man who is in the garden can be reduced to the man in the garden).
Finally, in the post-modifier position there may be more than one clause or prepositional
phrase.
In this unit we sllall examine postmodification by relative clauses and associated

structures. In Section 36.2 we shall show you how relative clauses are to be
distinguished from certain other clauses that superficially resemble them. In Section
36.3 we shall show you that there are two types of relative clauses, restrictive and
non-restrictive. In Section 36.4, we shall examine how relative clauses are formed.
We shall also examine certain variationson relative clauses. The concluding section
(36.5) analyses non-reztrictive clauses and shows/ some important ways in which
they differ from restrictive relative clauses.
The Noun Phrase-2:
36.2 RELATIVE CLAUSES AND APPOSlTlVE Post-modification:
The Relative Clause
CLAUSES
(Note: The dictionary defines apposition as an arrangement in grammar in which
one simple sentence contains two or more noun phrase.^ /htrf ~1rct u ~ dill /he sutne
way and describe the same thing).
Consider (1) and (2).
(1) the news that you brought
(2) the news that the government has fallen

The two structures look remarkably alike. In both cases the head NP (premodifier
+ head), the news, is modified by a following clause. The clauses, too, seem to
be similar, both introduced by the word that. Nevertheless the two structures are
different. In (1) we have a postmodifying relative clause and in (2) a postmodifying
appositive clause.
That the two clauses are not alike will become apparent on a closer examination.
In (1) we have a transitive verb (brought) but the object is misslng. I-lowcve~;the
word introducing the clause (that) is understood as somehow representing the missing
object. In fact, that is interpreted as meaning 'the news'. This is not the case in
(2). There is nothing missing in the clause; the word introducing the clause (that)
is not interpreted as standing for anything else; in particular, it is not understood as
'the news'.
Further, in (1) the word that can be replaced by a wh-word, which (the news which
you brought). Such a replacement is not possible in (2) (*the news which the
government has fallen).
Finally, in (1 ) there need be no word introducing the clause (the news you brought).
The absence of the 'clause introducer' would make (2) ungrammatical (*the news
the government has fallen).
We see, then, that the two clauses differ in a number of ways. The differences can
be summarized as under:
The clause in (1)
i) has a 'gap', a missing element (the object of the transitive verb brought);
1
ii) the clause introducer (=that) is understood as filling this gap, as representing
the missing element,
iii) which is identified with the noun phrase (=the news) that is modified;
iv) the clause introducer (that) can be replaced by a suitable wh-word, or
v) be entirely left out.

The clause in (2)
i) has no missing element (no gap);
ii) the clause introducqr (that) is not understood as replacing unything in the c l a ~ ~ s e
(for there is nothing missing);
iii) the clause introducer cannot be replaced by a wh-word;
iv) nor can it be left out.

Syntax-4: The clause in (1) is a relative clause; tlle clause in (2) an appositional clause.
Verb Phrase What we here call a Relative Clause is solnetimes called (in certain school grammars)
an Adjective Clause. This is because the clause often 'qualifies' the head noun.
Appositional (or appositive) clauses are also known as 'content' clauses. This is because
they explicate the content/ message of the head NP. Thus in (2) the content1message
of the head NP (the news) is that the government has fallen.
Any noun can be followed by a relative clause but not all nouns admit appositional
clauses. The number of nouns which can be followed by appositional clauses is
extremely limited (e.g., news, report, suggestion, fact, proposal).
1) a) On what grounds will you distinguish a relative clause form an appositive
(= content) clause? I
b) In the following passage distinguish the relative clauses from the appositive
clauses.
The fly in the ointment of Illell who tllrow parties for blondes when their
wives are away, the thing that acts as a skeleton at the feast and induces
goose pimples when the revelry is at its height, is the fact that they can
never wholly dlsmiss the possibility that these wives, though they ought to
be ashamed of themselves for entertaining unworthy suspicions, may have
engaged firms of private detectives to detect them privately and report on
their activities. It was this thought that now came whistling like an east wind
through the mind of the timber wolf, whose name, just to keep the record
straight, was not Griggs or Follanbee but Spenlow (George).
(P.G. Wodehouse: A Few quickones. p.36. Coronet edition, revised and amended, The Noun Phrase-2:
Post-modification:
1978) The Relative Clause
2) a) Give five more examples of nouns -other than the ones given in the
unit-used with appositive clauses.
b) Many of the nouns which take appositive clauses have a parallel construction
where the noun has been replaced by a corresponding verb. In such a case
are the two clauses grammatically the same?
36.3 RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESrI'HIC1'IVE

RELATIVE CLAUSES
Relative clauses can be of two types: restrictive or non-restrictive.
A noun like boy can stand for any of a countless number of boys. But in (3)
3) the boy who stood on the burning deck
the reference is to a particular boy, namely, the one who stood on the burning deck
(of a ship). Thus the clause has the function of limiting the reference of the head
NP (the boy). It is a restrictive clause.
A non-restrictive clause does not limit the reference of the head. It only gives some
additional information about the head.
4) My mother, who lives in Mysore,
By its very nature an NP like my mother can only have a unique refercnce. 'My
mother'can refer to only one person. There is, then, no questio~lof li~nitingits rel'erence.
The relative clause in (4) only gives additional information about my mother.
Syntax-4: Unique noun phrases like thevedas, the Bible can only be followed by non-restrictive
The Noun Pht and the
Verb Phrase clauses. Naturally, proper nouns, too, admit of only non-restrictive clauses.
Dr. Johnson, who was a tremendous conversationalist, dominated any company he

found himself in.
Professor Noam Chomsky, who teachers at MIT, is the most famous linguist and
political activist today.
This does not mean that NPs with common nouns as head cannot be followed by
non-restrictive clauses. Once a noun has been identi tied independently of the following
clause, the clause will be non-restrictive.
The seductive typist, who had a way will1 Ll~emunnger, did not care much for work.
The man, who was obviously in some hurry, did not wait to pick up his bag.
In these cases we take it that the identity of the nouns (typist, man) has been already
established so that the reader knows who it is that is being talked about.
The question, then, of whether a relative clause is restrictive or non-restrictive depends

on whether the specific: reference of the N P head which the clause modifies has
been already established or not.
Since the reference of the head has been independently established in the case of
non-restrictive clauseg, tlie information provided by the clause is of a parenthetical
or additional nature. This is generally reflected in writing by setting off the clause
by commas. No such puncti~ationappears wit11 restrictive clauses.
In view of this typographical convention, (5) i u absurd, and (6) suggests that the
man has more than one wife.
5) my mother who left yesterday for Dcll~i
6) my wife who lives in Bombay.
1) Which of the relative clauses in tlie following sentences are non-restrictive?
i) There are some mental exercises which become effectively impossible
in later life.
ii) Administrators are by temperament active men. Their tendency, which
is strengthened by the nature of their job, is to live in the short-term, to
become masters of the short-term solution.
iii) Most of us are private citizens, who can only do little things.
iv) A short time ago I wrote a novel in which the story hinged on a case
of scientific fraud.
v) The way in which a scientist tries to l ' i ~ ~tlie
d truth imposes on him a
constant moral discipline.
The Noun Phrase-2:
2) In spite of what is said in the unit there are cases where a 'proper' noun is Post-modification:
followed by a restrictive clause. Give an example and explain the construction. The Relative Clause
36.4 RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

36.4.1 Structure and Formation
The structural facts about relative clauses noted in 36.2 become clearer if we assume
that there is a close relation between the missing element in the relative clause (the
'gap'), the element introducing the clause and the head NP ~llodilieclby the clause
(= the 'antecedent' of the clause). Thus in
7) the book ............... I read yesterday
the gap (indicated by a dash) is understood as being fillet1 by which (~.=tlic
clause
introducer) and this in turn is understood as to mean the book.
Consider (8):
8) The book which I read yesterday was very interesting.
Suppose we assume that (8) is in fact made up of two sentences. These two sentences
would be:
9) a. The book was very interesting
b. I read the book yesterday.

When you compare these two sentences with (9) you will notice the following points:
i) both sentences in (9) contain an identical noi~nphrase (tLc hook);
ii) In (8) the second sentence (9b) has become part of tlic first sc~itence(9a): it
is now part of the subject NP of (a): the book which 1 read yesterday;
iii) the identical noun phrase in ( 9 b P t h e book has been replaccd by the wh-word
which;
iv) and this wh-word (which) now appears in the front position, that is, the beginning
of its own clause (now the relative clause);
v) leaving a gap in its original position (i.e., the object of the transitive verb read
is missing)
These facts can be explained by assuming that in the making of every relative clause
there are two 'rules': (1) which replaces an identical noun phrase by a si~itablcwh-
word (We call this rule wh-substitution); (2) which moves the wh-word so substitilted
to the front position of its own clause (We call this rule wll-fronting).
There are some interesting points to note when thc ~.elativizctlN I' (1l111t is, Ihc itlc~itical
noun phrase which i~ndergoeswh-substitution) i.5 in a prepositional phrase. Suppose
we want to combine the sentences.
Syntax-4: 11) the man is here
Verb Phrase
12) we were talking about the man yesterday.
The identical NP in the second sentence is contained is a prepositional phrase (about

the man). After wh-substitution, wh-fronting moves the entire prepositional phrase
and we get
13) The man about whom we were talking yesterday is here.

Or, if only the wh-word is moved:
14) The man who we were talking about yesterday is here.

Notice that when the preposition in also moved the form whom is required. In current
English but especially in speech, whom is not much favoured. So the construction
with the preposition left behind (14) is pref'erred. Eve11more common is theconstruction
where who is also dropped. Ex. The nlan we were talking about yesterday is
here. (The deletion of the relative prollouli is discussed in Section 36.4.2)
36.4.2 The Relative Pronoun

It should be clear by now that the clioice of tlie wh-word (also called relative pronoun)
depends on (i) the antecedent, and (ii) the syntactic function of the 'relativized NP'.
In respect of the antecedent, English makes a distinction between human and non-
human nouns. NPs with human ~ i o u ~as i s heads are referred to by who. Thus the
man, the girl, the boy, the woman will all be replaced by who. NPs with non-
human nouns as heads are referred to by which (the tiger which escaped from
the zoolthe book which you gave me).
As regards the syntactic function of the relativized NP: in subject, an NP with a
h u m ~ nnoun as head is replaced by who: in olject by whom (in grammaticalitycorrect
English). But, as already noted tlic form whom is not in favour. So even in the object
position a relativized NP will appear as who:
15) the girl who you met yesterday.

When the relativized NP is in a prepositional phrase and the preposition is also moved
(along with the wh-word) we ge~ierallyget tlie form whom.
When the relativized NP appears in a genitive modifier position, English makes a
distinction between animate and inanimate nouns.
16) a. the boy whose father was a disti~iguishedscientist
b. the tiger whose forepaw has turned septic
c. the divan one leg of which was broken

The form whose is used i n connection with animate but not inanimate nouns.
To summarize: the choice of wh-words in a relative clause is as follows:
who : with liuma~inouns in subject NPs
whom : with human nouns in object NPs (with reservations)
whose : with anim-te nouns fi~nctioningas genitive modifiers
which : in all other cases

These distinctions, observed in the case of wh-words, do not apply in the case of
that. That can be used with all nouns and in all functions except the genitive.
17) a. the man that set his own house on fire T h e Noun Phrase-2:
Post-modification:
b. the dog that chased the cat T h e Relative C l a u s e
c. the girl that he loves

d. the cat that the dog chased
An important point to note is that the relative pronoun can someti~r~es

he left out
(= 'deleted')
18) the book which you gave me or
the book you gave me
However, this is not always possible. Consider (19)

19) the boy who stood on the burning deck
and notice that the boy stood on the burning deck though a correct utterance does
not convey the same meaning.
Why is it that we can drop the relative pronoun in (18) but not in (19)?
One important difference between (18) and (19) is that in (19) - but not in (1 8)
- the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative clause. We may conclude that
the relative pronoun cannot be dropped when it is the subject of the relative clause.
36.4.3 Adverbial Relatives

English places no restriction on what NP can be relativized. Even NPs appearing
in prepositional phrases with an adverbial function can be relativized.
20) the time at which the plane landed
(cf. The plane landed at that time.)
the college at which I teach
(cf. I teach at that college.)
the day on which we remember our martyrs
(cf. We remember our martyrs on that day.)
In these constructions the preposition + relative pronoun can be replaced by when,

where.
21) the time when the plane landed
the college where I teach
the day when we remember our martyrs
36.4.4 Headless Relative Clauses

The head of arelative clause can often be omitted: the clause will then appear without
an antecedent. A classic example is:
22) who steals my purse steals trash
Notice that who here is understood as he who. Some niore examples:

He eats what she cooks.
(= He eats that which she cooks)
Quality is what counts most.
Syntax-4: (- Q ~ a l i t yis that which counts niost)
Verb Phrase
There are restrictions on this construction. Importantly, instead of the simple forms
(who, which, what...) the emphatic forms (whoever, whichever, whatever...) are
usually found.
23) Whoever told you so misled you.
You can give whatever excuse you like.
We will support whichever party wins the elections.
36.4.5 Reduced Relative Clauses
In the sentence:
24) The man standing in the corner is a vendor of stamps.
the italicized phrase is understood as: thc man who is standing in the corner.
an N P can be interpreted as
What this shows is that a participial phrase ~nodiryi~ig
a relative clause.
the dividend declared last year
(= which was declared last year)
the news reported yesterday
(= which was reported yesterday)
the man distributing sweets
(=who idwas distributing sweets)
A similar interpretatioh in terms of a reduced I-clativcclause is also possible for infinitival

phrases modifying an NP.
A man to watch (= a man who should be watched)
a plan to boost exports (= a plan which is tnearil to boost exports)
a time to dance (= a time whicli is right for us to dance)

1) In standard English the following is ungrammatical. Why?
*The parcel which you sent it was lost in transit.
In the following sentences identify the relative clauses without an expressed

antecedent.
i) Any of us who were working in scicncc before 1933 can remember
what the atmosphere was like.
ii) Scientists have a moral responsibility to say what they know.
iii) He had a proper pride in what lie liaci achieved and a proper rancour
for the way he had been treated.
iv) Social justice is a great value and we shall be judged by how much of
it we can achieve. But we shall also be judged by what we add to the
world's mental life: and that depends on what opportunities we can
make for our gifted.
v) The only thing he was known to grumble about was his pension. The Noun Phrase-2:
Post-modification:
................................................................................................................... The Relative Clause
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
3) Which of the following phrases can be considered 'reduced' versions of relative
clauses?
i) the girl in the front row
ii) the window of the house
iii) the notification by the Ministry
iv) the worker in the garden
v) the voice of authority
vi) the destruction of the city
4) a) With structures interpretable as reduced relative clauses, quite a few

elements may be omitted. Reconstruct the omitted elements in the
following and give the full versions of the modifying clauses:
i) the point to consider
........................................................................................................
ii) the proposal discussed at the last meeting
........................................................................................................
iii) a man to do the job
b) Give five examples each of reduced relative clauses beginning with -ing
and -ed participles.
hyntax-4:
T h e Noun Phrase and the 36.5 NON-RESTRICTIVE
---- - RELATIVE
-- -- CLAUSES
Verb Phrase
In 36.3 restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses were distinguished on semantic
grounds (i.e., those connected with word meaning): the restrictive relative clause
defines the reference ofthe head; the lion-restrictiveclause gives additional information
about the head. In this iection we sliall look at some syntactic differences between
the two types of clauses.
a) the relative pronoun
i) In a non-restrictive clause the wh-word cannot be replaced by that.
the book, which (*that) was widely advertised, was a flop.
ii) The relative word cannot be dropped in non-restrictive clauses:
the man, whom I had earlier met a1 a conl'erence
not
*the man, I had earlier mct nt a conference.....
b) the antecedent
Non-restrictive clauses can have sentential head; i.e. the antecedent of a non-
restrictive clause can be a sentence.
The doctor had advised him rest, which was exactly what he was hoping for.
She seems to admire John, which is what I cannot understand.
c) the structure
Although non-restrictive relative clauses also involve wh-substitution and wh-
fronting, the relation between the relative clause and the head is not the same.
With restrictive clauses there is a relution of subordination; there seems to be
no such relation of subordination in the case of non-restrictive clauses. Often,
there is a relation of co-ordination.
My brother, who is an engineer, lives in Mumbai.
= My brother is an engineer and he lives in Mumbai..
1) Convert the following pairs o f sentcnccs illto structures with a relative clause.-
i) The sun is more than 90 nill lion niiles away. It supports life on the
earth.
ii) The stars shine like glow-worms i n the sky. Actually they are
tcemendously large masses of burning material in a gaseous state.
..............................................................................................................
iii) A cheetah escaped fro111tlie zoo yesterday. It was caught this morning.
iv) I went to a party yesterday. I met a lot of faceless men but some very The Noun Phrase-2:
Post-modification:
charming women. The Relative Clause
v) Harvey discovered the circulation of blood iu lllo body. tic livctl <luring
the time of Elizabeth i.
vi) Some state lotteries have become quite a scandal. Govcrnliient shoi~ld
ban them.
vii) I found a Inan moving suspiciously round my liouoc last lligllt, I llrl~idcd
him aver to the police.
viii) Quite a few people live in glass houses. Still they ilisist an tlirowi~ig
stones.
ix) Dr. Cljandrashekhar proposed the theory of black holes. I-le tsluglit at
the U~dversityof Chicago.
36.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have looked at one type of postmodificatio~iof IIOUII phrases, ~lamely,
postmodifiction by relative clauses. Relative clauses (which slioi~ldbe disti~~yuislied
from appositive clauses) are of two types - restrictive and non-restrictive. Botli
types ofclauses modify a head NP, the antecedent.A restrictive relulive clause dcli~les
or specifies the reference of the head; a non-restrictive relative clause gives additional
informatio~~ about the head. There are also important syntaciic dil'fbrot,ces helwecn
Syntax-4: the two types of clauses: e.g. the non rcstrictivc relntive clause (but not the restrictive)
Verb Phrase can be paraphrased as a coordinntc scntcrlcc.
The structure of the restrictive relative cliluse is best understood if we assume that
the relative clause contains an N P identiclil with the antecedent or head NP. This
identical NP is replaced by a suitable wh-word, which is then moved to the front
of the clause. Wh-substitution and wh-movement are two important operations in
the formation of a restrictive relative clause.
Non-restrictive relative clauses also sl~i~rc l.licsc two operations but there are
differences; e.g. the antecedent may hc t~ sc~ilc~lce. I n that case the clause will
contain not an identical NP but a pronoun referring back to the sentential antecedent.
The wh-word connects the clause with lllc head. 'rl~iswh-word may be a relative
pronoun or a relative adverb. The choicc ol' the wh-word depends on the nature
of the antecedent and the syntactic function of'the relativized NP in its own clause.
With restrictive relative clauses the relalive pronoun can be dropped, under certain
conditions. In some cases even the antecedent niay be missing (Headless Relative
Clauses).Further, the relative clause ~iiuybc '~*cducud'
by leaving out various elements
of the verbal group in the clause. We tlisn have a reduced relative clause.
36.7 ANSWERS
a relative clai~sefrom an appositive
1) a) Tlie following features disti~i~uisl'l
clause:
i) Some constituent of a relative cl~wseis sometimes missing.
ii) This missing co~sstit~~cnt cell hcr rcprescntsd by a suitable wh-word
placed at tlia b e g i ~ i ~ iof i ~ CIHIIH.~~:e.g,
i ~tlic
The TV f i l m which we sow yeslorcluy.
(In the itcrlicized cleuse ul,ovc, tlic object of saw is missing; this
missing object is represented by whlch; this wh-word is at the
beginning of the relative clause.)
iii) The wh-ward call be repltlcctl by that:
The TV film thal we saw ycntcrduy.
iv) or left out:
The TV film we saw yesterday.
The appositive clause sliows nono of these features: e.g.,
Tho suggestion thtit trll school chililrrrr he giver1 free nlesls.
In the italicized clouscr nbovc. no constituent is missing. The initial
word that docs 1101 ntund li-)~'ally clu~iiu~it
ill the clause. Also, this
initial word cannot be rcpluccd by a wh-word or dropped. The
following are ungrammaticul.
* The suggestion wliicli all scliool children be given free meals.
* The suggestion all sclioul cliildreli be given free meals.
b) Relative clauses (with tlieir antecedents) T h e N o u n Phrase-2:
Post-modification:
i) (men) who throw parties for blondes when tlicir wivcs are away. T h e Relative Clausc
ii) (the thing) that acts as a skeleton ... goose piniples wlic~lt l ~ crevelry
is at its height.
iii) (this thought) that now.... wolf
iv) (the timber wolf) whose name .... Spenlow
Appositive clauses
i) (the fact) that they can never .... their activitics
ii) (the po ibility) that these wives .... tlieir activitics
7
Note: The second clause is contained in tlic first.
2) a) rumour, idea, statement, possibility, conviction.
the rumour that the Minister has resigned
the idea that all men are equal
the statement that there is no largest number
the possibility that there will be a Third World War
his conviction that tlie truth will be found out
b) a) the proposal that we adjourn
b) we propose that we adjourn
As can be seen, these two clauses (italicized) are not, tlic saliic gram~ntltically.
I n (a) we liave an appositive clause; i n (b) an oh.jcc~ clau!ic,

1) The relative clauses in (ii) nnd (iii) are no~i-restrictivc.
2) Tlie Raman who(m) we all admire is tlie scientist, not tlie ~~(l~iii~iistri~tc~r.
In this construction attention is drawn to a particular aspect ol'tlic nian. 111effect
this is one way of using a proper ~iounas n colnliioli 11ou11.
1) In a relative clause the iriitial wh-word 'stands for' some ~iiissinycc~nstituent
in the clause. 111the sentence given, the ~nissi~ig
elenlent ('the pnrcel') 1111sbeen
doubly represented: by which and it.
2) i) Tlie following sentences contain relative clauses wil.11 u~icxpresscd
antecedents. (The clauses liave bee11 italicized.)
ii) ....to say wltat tl~eyknow
iii) .,..a proper pride in ivhul Ite hud achiovcd
iv) We sliall also be judged by what MW (~ddlo / I l c ~ ~eot*lrl,k
tnc~t~/trl
lib.
3) i) the girl in tlie front row (=who is in the frotit row)
ii) the worker in tlie garden (= wlio is in tlie garden)
4) a) i) tlie point that we have to consider
ii) tlie proposal which was discussed nt tlie last mccti~~g.
iii) a mall wlio call do the job.
b) Reduced clrmuses with - ing participles
tlie liiali working in tlie garden
the girl sitting in tlie front row
tlie train now steaming into the station
4
Syntax-4: the proposal being considered hy the Committee

V e r b Phrase the dog chasing tlie cat
Reduced clauses wit11 -eel partlciplcs
the matter discussed yesterday
the proposal mooted at the lasl ~ ~ i e e t i ~ i g
the books reviewed in this journal
the announcement made over llic radio
the agitators taken into custody.

1) i) The sun, which i s more tlian 90 millio~imiles away, supports life on the
earth.
ii) The stars, which shine like glow-wornis in tlie sky,..........
iii) The cheetah wliich escaped from tlie zoo ycstel-day.......
iv) 1 went to a party yeslcrtluy. wliore I III~In lot o f faceless men.
v) Harvey, who discovered llic cil.culnlion 111' blood in the body, lived
during the time o f Elizabeth 1.
vi) State lotteries which havc bccome quitc a scandal sl~ouldbe banned by
the government.
vii) Ihanded over to the police u lilrlli lbu~id1novi11ysuspiciously round my
house.
viii) Quite a few people who livc in ylnss houses still insist on throwing
stones
ix) Dr.Chandrasbekhar, who proposed t l ~ ctheory o f black holes, taught at
the University o f Chicago.
UNIT 37 THE NOUN PHRASE^:
POST-MODIFICATION:
THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.,.,
Structure
37.1 Introduction
37.2 The Range of Prepositional Phrase Moditication
37.3 The Preposition in the Prepositional Phrase
37.4 The lnterpretation of Post-modifying Prepositional Phrases
37.5 Multiple Modification
37.6 Let Us Sum Up
37.7 Answers
37.1 -
INTRODUCTION - - --
In Unit 36 you studied one important type of' post-moditicc~tionof Noun I'llrascs,
namely by relative clauses. In this unit we shall study anotlicr Iypc ol'post-~r~iic.lIlicntlo~~
of Noun Phrases, namely by prepositional phrases.
A prepositional phrase is a structure of the typc 'praposilion NIB', wt1cl.e tlie

preposition is the head of the phrase (e.g, on the roof, in the cul)haard, at the
party). We may represent the structure of a prepositional phrase dii~yrnni~i~utically
as in (1).
(1) Prep. phrase
Prep. NP
011 llrc rooi'
Prepositional phrases serve a variety of functions in Englisli. 'l'licy cc111bcr co~r~l,lcnlcnts

to verbs (I agree with you. You can depend on me.), co~nple~iic~it~ to rltljcctives
(I am sorry for you. She la anxious about her mother.), tld,juacts (I mct her
at a party. The train left at 10 p.m.), or postmodifiers of noun pl11-11scs (thc man
with the red beard, a matter of honour), Postmodification of tl ~ i o u ~byi a
prepositional phrase is far more common than by other structures,
In Section 37.2 we shall show you that the full range of preposilionc~lpllrases can
appear in the post-modifying function.In Section 37.3 we sllall oxami~ruwlic~l~tle~ionsliip
there is between the preposition in the prepositio~ialphrase and tlio head of'tlie noilli
phrase. In 37.4 we shall see how the post-modifying prepositional phrase is interpreted
in respect of the noun phrase it modifies. In Section 37.5 we stitill a~lrrlysesonle
complex structures involving more than one post-modifying phrase.
Syntax-4:
The Noun Phrase and the 37.2 THE RANGE OF PREPOSITIONAL-PHRASE
Verb Phrase
MODIFIOATION
Prepositions may be broadly grouped inlo ~ w o classes: simple prepositio~is(in, on,
at, by, with, for, @om?...) and c o ~ ~ r l ~~~r.cl>ositior~s
lcx (oi~lu.v.from,out ox owing to,
due to, in case ox by ttteuns of). I're~ositio~ial pllrases with either o f these can
occur as postmodifiers o f noun plirases. I,el us illustrate this with a few specimen
cases:
2) a) Prepositional phrases with a sir~~ple preposition:
into a dcscc~rtillto tlic volcano

on tlie cotltrpe on thc hill
at the meeting at tllc ~~niversity
nn adventure at ilirw~r
for a gift for Mary
above 11 roof nbove 11s
below I.lic valleys below 11s

behind III~ CRI, OC'IIIII(I 11s
before llrc 011il(Ii1lg I)eli)reyo11

b) Prepositional plirases wit lr co~iiolcxprcpohitions:
measures in vicw ofthe eliicrycllcy
action in the light q/'tliesc ti~vclopmcnts
delays owing to unforescc~icirc~~nlstnnccs
treatment by tneuns c!f'cou~rsclli~rg
a note by way of explanirtion
success by dint of hard work
a home away./i.om lio~iie
progress in spite of illiteracy
(The co~nplexprepositicnls in tlicsc cvn~nlllcvlinvc lrccn italicized. In the first example,

for instnnce, the complex preposilion ih ill vic~rvr!/: 'T'llis has its ow11complement,
the emergency. Tlie entire p~.el,ol;iti~~iill ~,hl*nu~, III vicw of thc emergency, is
a postmodifier o f measures, wliicli is tlie head o f the NP: measures in view of
. ,
& the emergency.)
'Participial' prepositions (e.g. pending, co~~ccrniny,
regarding....) are, perhaps, best
regarded as 'simple' prepositions. As ctun be seen fro111tlie examples below, they
call also occur in post-modijier groups.
3) a delay pending further i ~ i q i ~ i r y
the report concerning yesterdny's i ~ ~ c i t l c ~ i t s
the difficulty regarding tliis proposal
The 'simple' prepositions have both a 'local' and a 'ligurative' or metaphorical meaning.
The local meanings express rclntio~isin spuce mid ti~nc.Tlius movement towards
an objcct is expressed by to (tlc wen( to tllc lotion); movement away from an
object by from (He rcturned fro111thc offlco');position (in space or time) by at
(My lrouse i s s t the irtcrsection of 7"' M I I ~r~ntl
I ~ 10th Cross; the show begins
at 6 p.m.); position in terliis of surj'ace is expressed by on (the tower on the hill),
above (the sky above us), below (the valley I)clow uu); on, above, below express
...
vertical distinctions; horizontally, we Ii~rvebeforc, behind, next to, in respect o f
an object. In respect o f a three-dimen~ionuloljcct a further relation o f in, Into can
he recnuni7ed.
These local meanings can be distinguished from non-local, often figurative or The Noun phrase-3:
Post-modification:
metaphorical meanings. The difference can be seen in paired exa~nplesinvolving The Prepositional Phrase
the two meanings.
4) a) The cheetah is hiding in that cave.
b) I arn in a fix.
a) The cat is on the roof.
b) The house is on fire
a) You can go through the tunnel.
b) I have gone through this book.
a) I was at her place yesterday.
b) He was at a loss for words.
a) The cat fell into the pond.
b) The man jumped into the fray.
The (a) sentences illustrate the local meanings; (b) sentences the fiyurc~tivenieanings.
This distinction - between local meanings and figurative nieunin~s--.- carries over
to prepositional phrases (PPs) used as postmodifiers of nouns. Herc lire so~iicexamples
with PPs used as postmodifiers of noun phrases.
5) a) the dinner at the Taj
b) the point at issue
a) a gift for Mary
b) a Inan for all seasons
a) the house on the hill
b) a house on fire
a) the cat in tho basket
a) a man in a hurry
b) the cobwebs under the roof
c) an officer under suspension
1) Identify the prepositional phrases in the following passage and indic~tctlic li~~iction
of each.
1) PlNNIPEDS - the "fin-footed' seals, sea lio~isrind walruscn .- 1\11
evolved from a common ancestor that returned to tlirt watcr Sro~ntlie
land.
2) Their skeletons, particularly the bonos of tlic Ilil)pern, ~llow1111it~hoy
are much Inore similar to each other tliwn to any tcrrcwlrial nnininl,
implying a unique origin for the entire group.
3) This conclusion will come as no surprise to m ~ l c c i ~~~llylogc~iists,
l~r who
study evolutionary relationships by examining tlic structilru of molecules.
4) As long ago as 1969, Vince Sarich, of tlie Uliivcrsity of Clilirornia at
Berkeley, said that, on the basis of their protein structure, ull pinnipcds
had a single aquatic' ancestor.
5) This conclusion will also not surprise anyone who sirrlply ylnnces at a
seal, a sea lion and a walrus; they do indeed look very nlmilar.
6) However, biologists see things differently.
7) To them, the manifest similarities among thc three main groups of
pinnipeds are the result of convergent evolution.
Syntax-4:
8) That is, because they all live i n the water, they have certain
Verb Phrase resemblances which are solutio~isto ii shared problem - l i f e in the
water - ratlrer that) echues ol' n shari:tl llncestry.
(First appeared in Neiv Scienti.vt. I,onclon. the weekly review of science
and technology, 1 8 August 1988, 1x33)
...................................................................................................................
Fill in the blank6 ir1 the thllowiny 1)ussrlyc wilh suitable prepositio~is.
Tho silence ....... ......
I..I.J llle I'or'ovl wuv rlrorc! oppressive than the heat, and
......... ....
l.2.1 this hour ...,,.,..(,A,)..,,. Ll~cdrry Illere was not even the whine
.......... ...
4.. 4.) insscls. 81ilywlie~lJack I ~ i ~ ~ l sroused e l l ' a gaudy bird 4.3.) .... .........
a primitive nest ........ ......
g.5.) sticks was llic silence shattered and echoes set
.... ........
ringing ,4.7..) a Iiarsli cry llrut seenicd lo come .....
(.A. J........ the abyss
........ .....
L.9.J .... .......
ages. Jack liiniscll' sllr[~~\k ,I.I.Q.) this cry ..L.I;I.) ..........
a hiss o f indrawn breath; and .....
(..\2,),.,....a ~ i i i ~ i ubecame
tc less a hunter than
a furtive thing, ape-like ,..(..II.) .........
ilic tr~~lgle ,.,,.(.!!..\ .......
trees. Than the
trail, the frustration, clai~ilctlhi111ngui~l[ ~ ~ r cIlcl searclied tho ground avidly.
....... ....
c . ~ J . ) the bole o f a vast troc tlint grew pale flowers .......
C.1.6.1 .....
a
grey trunk 11e checked, closed Iiis eyes, and once more drew in the warm air;
and this time his b~eatli caliie slrort, tllc~~o WUH rvrn ii passing pallor ....d. r7..) .......
his face, and then the surge (..ls.j ...... .... blood again. He passed like a shadow
.......
(,.19.) .... ....
the darkness ...,.,.4.2(~,.) the tree tuld crouched, looking down
at the trodden ground .....
(,.2.1..9 .......
lli~ I'ecl,
(from William Golding :l,ord of I:lic IJlies')
37.3 THE PREPOSITION IN THE PREPOSITIONAL

- -
I n examples like the book on thc table ncitlier of the two nouns has any control
over the preposition. A certain type of rol~~lion between the two NPs is expressed
by the preposition and this relation can Ilold bctwec~ially number of different NPs
(the box on the shelf, the flag on the building...). In tlie vast majority o f cases
this is the situation that obtains. The preposition has its ow11meaningand i s independent
o f the NPs it connects.
A second type o f situation obtains in expressio~~slike: in a hurry, in a fix, at issue,

on hand, etc. Here tlie prepositio~lis conlrollt:d by Ihe 11ounin the f o l l o w i ~ ~noun
g
phrase. These are more or less itlio~natic;(lixcd) expressions and they do not allow
for any change (e,g. wc can't saylwritr! *in rr Irrntc: *at debate, *at question).
A third type i s seen in examples like: compliencc with regulations, capacity for
work, an appetite for reading, coegrirlulstionr on your success, etc. Here the
preposition is controlled by the noun prccccling it, i.e. the head o f the whole noun
phrase.
English has a number of nouns, verbs and adjectives wliich are associated with fixed The Noun Phrase-3:
Post-modification:
prepositions. The 'verb + preposition', 'adjective + preposition' or 'nou~i+ preposition' The Prepositional Phrase
in such cases has to be learnt as one unit. Often related words take dill'crent prepositions
dependingon how the word is used, e.g. as noun or adjective (coaficleace in, confident
of; ambitious of, ambition for; affection f o ~ affectionate
, to....).
Thus there are two cases where the choice of a preposition is dependent on a noun
-in idiomatic expressions like in a hurry, on the house, a t issue.. ..and in expression
like compliance with, capacity for, adherence to... In all other cases 1l1c choice
ofthe preposition depends on the intrinsic meaning oftlie preposition and is no1 controlled
by either the head noun or the noun in its own compleriicnl.
I) Frame suitable sentences in wliich the following ~ioilrisare followed by suitable
prepositional phrases.
apology, compensation, comparison, antidote, inccntivc, distrust. proof; limit,
objection, digression, exemption, assuran~z,result, key. attention, aptitude,
candidate, opposition, sequel, reputation, confidence, al lowance. cllargc, exception,
need, concession, match, disgrace, fitness, nlternativc.
37.4 THE INTERPRETATION OF POST-

MODIFYING PREPOSITIONAL PkIItASES - -
In 36.4.5 it was pointed out that in phrases like the man in the garden, the PP
may be viewed as the reduced form of a fuller structure, a relative clause (the
man who is in the garden). Where there is no necessary or inl~et-cntcon~lcclio~l
between the head NP and the PP, this sort of analysis is usi~allypossible (the book
on the table, the cottage on the hill, the lamp post a t the corner, ctc.). 'The
expanded structure usually has tlie verb be (often in the prcscnt lense: is, nnr. arc).
Other cases admit of an interpretation with have as the vcrb ill lhu cxpa~~dccl
s~ructu~-e:
the man with the scar = the man who has a scar. Similarly with: the girl with
the pigtail, a room with Venetian blinds, tlie sailor with I~ow-legs,ctc. I n
these cases there is a more intimate connection between the two NPs (the head
noun of the whole phrase and the noun in the PP).Notice also that the preposition is
with.
Other examples may be interpreted as eqirivalent to a sc~ltc~rcc with be:

democracy as a way of life (=democracy is a way of life). 'l'l~cplirasc is also
interpretable with regard as tlie verb: democracy regarded us II way of life.
Similarly with: education as an instrument of social change, the President as
the First Citizen, Parliament as a forum of the people, Peace as a n interlude
in War.
Syntax-4:
Tbe Noun Phrase and the
Verb Phrase With head nouns of tile type rumour, hope, belief... (i.e., nouns which can take
an appositive clause), the prepositio~ial~nodifieris ~lijturallyinterpreted as an appositive
clause, the subject and verbal clc~llentsdcpe~itlir~g on the rest of the sentence.
The hope of securing the first rank drove .lane to great efforts.
(=The hope that she would/should secure thc lirst rank ....)
The belief in the immortality of the soul
(=the belief that the soul is immortal)
At this point attention sl~ouldalso be drawn to the distinction between interpretation

and grammatical structure. The fact tliot a certain phrase admits ofan interpretation
where it is equivalent to some type of clausc docs not mean that the phrase and
clause are structurally related. The cleilrest cclscs where an actual relation between
an underlying clause and tile prepositio~lalphrase can be assumed are cases where
the phrase is interpretable as a relative clause involving a form of be.
Hence in examples like the destruction of the city, although, depending on the full
context, one may interpret the phrase ns 'the city was destroyed' (or 'was to be
destroyed'), there is really no nectl to asfii~~lle
such li~llerstructures. We may regard
destruction as requiring (to co~iiplcteits meani~ig)an object that is destroyed, an
agent that does the destruction, and also the means by whicli the destruction has
to be brought about. Ciive~itliesc we gct (cis otlc realization) the phrase:
The destruction of the city by the enemy with rockets.
Thus the phrase may be understood as u plrrase without being related to any sentence.
Finally we must mention cases where no seiilence equivalent can possibly exist: the
attention of the members (*the n ~ e ~ r ~ l )have
e r s attention), the turn of the
century, the proof of the pudding, s group of tourists, etc.
In conclusion it must be pointed out thnt wlicro (I sentence equivalent does exist,
the structure with a postmodifyirig PP is a more compact expression.
1) Which ofthe PP modifiers in lhc following have plausible sentence equivalents?

It was the photograph of an elderly mfin in a bathing suit; an elderly man who,
a glance was enough to tell, had bcen overdoi~~g it on the starchy foods since
early childhood; an elderly man so rotund, so obese, so bulging in every direction
that Shakespeare, had he beheld him, would have muttered to himself 'Upon
what meat doth this our Horace feed tf~athe is grown so great?' One wondered
how any bathing suits built by hunia~ihands could contain so stupendous an amount
of uncle without parting at the senins.
(P.G. Wodehouse, A Few Quick Olrr*s.Coronet Books (1978) p.56).
The Noun Phrase-3:
37.5 MULTIPLE MODIFICATION Post-modification:
The Prepositional Phrase
Consider (6)
6) The man in the grey suit smoking a cigar is my unclc.

The italicized structure isamultiply modified (=modified more than once)NP fi~nctioning
as the subject ofthe sentence. The prepositional phrase (in the grey suit) imnlediately
modifies the man; the participial phrase (smoking a cigar) modifies the man in
the grey suit. We can represent the structure as in (7):
the man in the grey suit smoking a cigar
You see, then, that where there is multiple modil'lcation, tlicre is a I!ierarcliy among
these modifiers.
A similar analysis applies, for example, to
8) the destruction of the city by the enemy with rockets.
the destruction of the city by the enemy wi1.h rockets
In these examples the modifiers were progressively 'higher' in rank: In (8) above
(b) modifies 'head NP + (a)'; (c) modifies 'head NP + (a+b)'.
But it is also possible to have phrases where tlie modifiers are in a descending order.
9) The Inan at the bus-stand near the corner.
The meaning of this phrase is 'the Inan is at the bus-staad which is tiear thc corner'.
So the phrase near the corner modifies only tlie bus-stand. Scl~e~nelically (.hismay
be shown as in (10).
Here is a longer phrase of the same type: the hotel near the bus-stand a t the
intersection of 11th Main and 7th Cross in Jayanagar Extension.
Needless to say, different types of structures might occur in the postmodificr position
under multiple modification; in particular, it isquitecorn~nonto find prelwsilional pllrases
and relative clauses (together).
Syntax-4:
Verb Phrase
NP
tlie man
tlie bus-slnnd
NP
the corner
Example:
11) tlie girl i n the front row wliosc father you met yesterday
I n principle there is oo limit to the riu~nhero f n ~ o dfiers,
i but practical considerations
(of clarity, ease ol' understs~iding)i~~ipclse a restriction. Also, unless care in
exercised there can be ambig~~ity, tls ill:
12) the boy with the girl wliose f;ltIier is u fi1111or1sdentist. (is it the boy's or the
girl's father?)
or unintended humour:
13) tlie girl i n the swim-suit that was on display at Jenson's.

In tlie following passages identify cases o1'1ni1ltiplcmodification. Give the structure
i n each case.
1) There i s no built-in progress in the Iiumanist culture. There are changes, but
not progress, no increase o f agreemenl. Ask yourself, was Van Eyek a worse
painter than Cezanne? The answer is, lie was different. Sometimes in the history
ofart, particularly in tlie visual arts, one can identify periods o f what can, without
absurdity, be called lecliriical prc)gress. Hut thcrc i s nothing ultiriiately cumulative
about this passage tlirougli time.
(C.P. Snow. Public Afluirs, Macniillun. 197 1, p.95)
2 ) A devout expression had come irito llie face o f tlie young man in plus fours
who sat with the Oldest Mernber on the terrace overlooki~igtlie ninth green.
3) Among the names on tlie list ol'ca~~didates up lbr election at the Drones Club,
there appeared, proposed by K.1:. Little ilnd seconded by an influential crumpet,
that o f LITTl,E, A L,(~l:I{NON A I JIII< IiY.
The Noun Phrase-3:
3 7 6 LET US SUM UP Post-modification:
Tlre Prepositional Phrase
Prepositional phrases can be complements of verbs and adjectivcs; they cut1 bc ac!iuncts.
They can also be postmodifiers of Noun Phras-s. Practically all the prepositions,
both simple and complex, can be used in this function. As in other caucs. Ihe prcposilion
may have a 'local' or a 'figurative meaning'.
The preposition in a prep.phrase (PP) can have a distinct meaning o f its own and
be independent of both the head noun preceding it and the noun in its co~nplement.
This is so where the prepositio~iis used in its local mealling. In otller r:nscs 1l1e
1 preposition may be controlled by either the nour~ill its conipleme~~t
ill- tlie 111,ccedi1ig
I
head noun. Numerous nouns, verbs and adjectivcs are followcd t y sl~ecific1,1c-j1ositio1is
i only.
The prepositional phrase modifying an NP has often all eili~ivalcnlin the tbnii of
I a relative clause or a sentence usually with bc or have. 13ut in milliy cascs 110 such
expansion is possible.
Noun phrases often show multiple post-modification -there may be rnorc tllan one
PP or clause. In such cases there will be a hierarchical structurc. citliel- esccncling
or descending.
37.7 ANSWERS
Check Your Yrogess 1
1) Prepositional Phrase Fu~~ction
1) form a conimon r~~lcestor
that ... land complement to tlie vcrb cvolvcd
to the water adjunct to the verb rclurncd
from the land adjunct to tlic verb rclurncd
(Note: 'Complements7 complete the meanings of tlie vcrbs will1 wlrich
they occur. 'Adjuncts' are adverbial expressions, usunlly optional)
2) of the flippers post-modifier of tlic NI' thc bones
to each other complement to the u?jectivc similar
to any terrestrial animal co~npleme~it to the adjective similar
for the entire group adjunct modifies the non-finite
VF implying a unique origin
3) to molecular phylogenists coniplement to tlie IIOIJII surj)risc
by ex:utiining ...molecr~les adj1111clthe vc1.b study
of molecules post-modilier of' the NI'
the structurc
4) of the University...at Berkeley postmodifier o f the Nl' Villcc
Sarich
of California postmodifier of tlie NI' thc
University
at Berkeley postmodifier of the NI' the
University of Culili)rni;~
on the basis of their adjunct to the verb stlid
protein structure
of their protein structure complement to the NP the basis
5) at a seal ....walrus co~riplementto the verb glancc
6) To them modifies tlre sentence
Syntax-4:
The Noun Phrase and the 7) among the three main groups postmodifier of the NP the
Verb Phrase n ~ a ~ ~ i f similarities.
est
of pinnipeds pos~~i~odiller of the Nf'
of pinnipeds the I l ~ r e emain groups
of convergent evolution postmodifier of the NP the result
8) in the water adju~~ct to the verb live
to a shared proble~n postmodifier of the NP solutions
in the water postnioditier of the NP life
of a shared ancestry post~nodifierof the NP echoes
(Figures in brackets refer to blanks in llic passage.)
( I ) of (2) at (3) 3f (4) of (5) fi-0111 (0) 01' (7) by (8) out of (9) of (10)
at (1 1) with (12) for (13) among (14) of (15) by (16) on (17) in
(1 8) of (19) under (20) of (2 1 ) at

We make no apology .fi)r this dctnilecl prcsenlrrl ion.
You can claim comperr.sationji)r damilgcs.
There is no comparison betweerr the111.
There is no anitdote to this poison.
A good word acts as an incen/il)c 1 0 hctter pcrfbrmance.
I have an inborn distrast of friendly stsa~igers.
The proof of the pudding is in the ealing.
There are no limits to development.
I have some objectio~lsto your proposal.
This is a long digression fronr the main point.
On certain investments you can claim exc.rr~ptbrrjivlrr income tax.
We are awaiting the result of this expesi~nent.
Hard work is the key lo success.
Pay no altention to him.
He has an aptitude for Maths.
We have put up our cundidute ji)r the oflicc ol' Joint Secretary.
He will brook no opposition to his plans.
What is the sequel to this story'?
He has a reputation,for idleness.
The shareholders expressed their c o t ~ i ~ l c r ~irtc etheir directors.
You have to make allowance for. shortages.
What is the charge against him?
There is an exception to every rule.
We have begun to realize the need lo develop self-sufficiency in defence equipment.
Government has announced new c~oncc:s,sioris10 the hantlicapped.
P.T. Usha is no match for Evelyn Ashfosd.
You are a disgrace to your parents.
'The fitness of the vehicle for high altilutle use Itas not been tested.
There is no alternative to self-sufficiency.
Check Your Progress 3 The Noun Phrase-3:
Post-modification:
(the photograph) of an elderly man (= the photograph was of all elderly man) The Prepositional Phrase
(an elderly man) in a bathing suit (= an elderly man was in a bathing suit)
1) nothing (about this passage (through time))
1 2 21
The PP beginning with about ( I ) .... modifies nothing:
the PP beginning with through (2) modifies passage.
2) the face (of the young man (in plus fours))
I 2 21
The entire phrase (1) modifies face; in plus fours (2) modifies the young man.
3) Among the names (on the list (of candidates (up for election (at tlic Drones
1 2 3 4
Club
4 3 2 1
The bracketed PP marked (1) modifies the names; the PP marked (2). beginning
with of candidates, modifies the list; the PP marked (3), beginning with up
for election, modifies candidates; the PP marked (4) modifies election.
UNIT 38 THE VERB PHRASE-1:
LEXICAL, AUXILIARY AND
PHRASAL VERBS
Structure
38.0 Objective
38.1 Introduction
38.2 Lexical Verbs
38.3 Auxiliary Verbs
38.4 Phrasal Verbs
38.5 Let Us Sum Up
38.7 Answers
38.0 OBJECTIVE
In this unit we shall identify the elements of the verbal group (or verb phrase) and
note their properties.
38.1 INTRODUCTION
The verb can be said to be the most important element of a sentence because the
structure of a sentence depends largely on tlie verb. The difference between the
sentences He laughed1 and He built a house is mainly that the first sentence has
the verb laugh, which needs nothing to complete its meaning, but the second sentence
has build, which requires an object to complete its meaning: what did he build?-
A house. The difference between Inugh clnd built is lexical which means that the
two verbs represent different nieil~iingsor activities.
Now look at the sentence: He is building a house. We have once again the item
build but it is now preceded by is (a I'orm of be). As you can see tlie meanings
of the two sentences.
1) He is building a house.
2) He has built a house.
are not tlie same, though they represent tlie same activity. Here the difference is
a gra~runaticalone, represented by the structureoftlic verbal group in the two sentences.
The difference in the meaning of these two sentences arises from tlie auxiliaries
(is, has) and the forms of the verbs (-ing and -en forms) in them. That they also
have a common shared meaning, is because they share tlie same lexical verb, build.
Thus we can distinguish two ele~iicntsit1 the verbal group; the auxiliary and the
lexical verb.
A special class of lexical verbs is seen in

3) We shall back you up in your elkrts.
Compare it with The Verb Phrase-1:
Lexical, Auxiliary and j
Phrasal Verbs
4) We shall support you in your efforts.
You will notice that the two sentences mean tlie same; the only difference is that
while (4) has the lexical verb support, (3) has the combination back up, which means
much the same as support. Combinations like back up (where the verbal meaning
I
is given by a combination of more than one element) are called phrasal verbs.
This unit is organized as follows: in Section 38.2 we shall take a brief look at lexical
verbs; in 38.3 we shall study the auxiliaries, and in 38.4 look at phrasal verbs.
i
I
1 38.2 -
LEXICAL VERBS
1 Lexical verbs are items like build, write, laugh, sleep, etc. They normally indicate
various types of activities. Averbal group must have a lexici~lvcrh. Williout a lexical
verb no verbal group is possible: cf. the difference between has been and has been
I writinglreadingltalking, etc. Write, read, and talk are lexical verbs. Notice also
that in the verbal group the lexical verb (Also called tlie full verb in school1traditional
grammars) comes last. (Ex. Has written, willlshall have written, has been writing)
Some lexical verbs require nothing more to complete their meanings. 'l'hese are the
intransitive verbs (Ex. cry, laugh, sleep, snore, etc. as in 'They cry, She laughs,
Everyone sleeps but Gopu snores) Other lexical verbs must be followed hy some
noun phrase to co~npletetheir meanings: He wrote a novel. She told us a story.
Write and tell are the transitive verbs. There are literally thousands of transitive
verbs.
Among transitive verbs, some require two noun phrases to complete tlieir nicanings:
Give Mary a book. Usually these verbs have an alternative constructio~iwhere
one of the noun phrases appears as a prepositional phrase (Give a book to Mary).
The preposition may be to or for, depending on the verb. (She made John a cup
of tealshe made a cup of tea for John).
Some other verbs are immediately followed by a prepositional phrase: I agree with
you; You can depend on John; Congratulations on your success.
t
Some of the verbs which are followed by a noun phrase can also be followed by
a clause:
I I know John.
I know that he is coming.
I am expecting Mary.
I expect that Mary will come.

The niost important (at least the most frequent) lexical verb in the language (it is
also an auxiliary, as we shall see) is be with its different fornls - I ~ I P , was, were ....
Strictly speaking be is neither transitive nor intransitive. Unlike illtransitive verbs it
can be followed by a noun phrase but there is a difference. Asentence with a transitive
verb as in
Tagore wrote Gitanjali.
has an alternative construction as in
Gitanjali was written by Tagore.

Syntax-4: (This alternative construction is said to be a passive.) But no passive is possible with
Verb Phrase a sentence containing be.
He is a surgeon.
* A surgeon is been by him.

There are other properties of be which make it quite different from all other verbs.
Similar is the case with have (which is also both a lexical and an auxiliary verb).
Raju has a computer.
* A computer is had by Raju.

The properties distinguished above are properties in respect of what can follow a
verb. As for the verb itself, the lexical verb in English llas six forms. Ex. The six
forms for the verb wait are.
4) 1) Stem wait
2) Stem + s waits
3) Stem + ing waiting
4) Stem + ed waited
5) Stem + en waited
6) To + stem to wait
The stem form is also called 'base' or 'dictionary' form. (It is the form in which
the verb is entered in the dictionary). The stem + s form is the present tense form
(in the third person singular). The stem + ing form is also known as the 'present
participle' form. The stem + ed is the form of the verb in the past tense.(A majority
of the verbs have this form in the past tense.) Hence '-ed' is used as a symbol
for past tense. Actually a few verbs have the base form for the past also (e.g. cut,
put, cost) or show a diffesent pattern of change ( w r i t e w r o t e , go-went, speak-
spoke, etc). The stem + en form is also called the 'past participle' form. (Here
again verbs like cut and put shoiv no change; wait itself shows the same form as
in the past.) But again the majority of verbs do have this form: speak- spoken,
w r i t e w r i t t e n . (On ~ z r bmorpllology, see also Unit 15 in Block 3. The last form
(to + stem) is the infinitival form (You will find Illore on this below). Here again,
sometimes the base form is used Ibr the infinitive. (e.g. We can say either I helped
h e r to wash the clothes1 or without using to: I helped her wash the clothes.
Note, however that this optional use of to is possible with only a few lexical verbs).
Lexical verbs generally but not always have these six forms. However, phrasal verbs
(being a sub-class of lexical verbs) also generally have all the six forms.
Finite and Non-finite

Of the forms of the verb, some are called finite and some non-finite. Finite forms
are those which make predication: that is, a statement about a subject e.g. Wait
here/Time waits for .,one11 waited for you a t the station. The forms waiting,
to wait cannot make predication: to wait for the budwaiting for the bus. These
expressions require so~llcothcr Iinite vcrb to makc predication.
I have to wait for MaryIWe were waiting outside the hall.
Have, were are finite forms and help make the sentences complete in meaning.
Forms which cannot, in themselves, make predication are calletl non-finite forms. The Verb Phrase-1:
Lexical, Auxiliary and
The non-finite forms are: the infinitive (e.g. to wait), the present participle (e.g. waiting) Phrasal Verbs
and the past participle (e.g. waited). Since the past form of wait is the same as
its past participle, we can take a verb like break to see that the past participle is
a non-finite form and cannot make predication.
He broke the chair, but not

*He broken the chair.
The finite form of the verb can make predication because it contains tensc: either
present or past. In contrast the non-finite forms dc not contain tense. (See the example
above.)
Finally, the finite for111shows 'agreement' with the sub-ject. This can be seen in
I am learning French.
We a r e learning Spanish.
He is learning English.
learning (a non-finite form) remains the same in all the three sentences. But the
forms of be are different in each sentence, depending on the subject. Only the forms
am, are, is show 'agreement' with the subject.
The finite form always comes first in the verbal group. The rest ofthe verbal elements,
if any, are all non-finite.
5) He has been working on a research project.
(Has is the only finite verb here: it is the third person singular form in the present
tense of the verb have; been = be + en (past participle); working = work + ing
(present participle); both a r e non-finite forms.

1) In the following passage list all tlie finite lexical verbs.
(1) With some positive action before them, a little of the tension died.
(2) Ralph said no more, did nothing, stood looking down at the ashes around
i
his feet. (3) Jack was loud and active. (4) He gave orders, and, whistled, threw
remarks at the silent Ralph - remarks that did not need an answer, and therefore
could not invite a snub; and still Ralph was silent; (5) No one, not even Jack,
woi~ldask him to move and in the end they had to build the fire three yards
away and in a place not really as convenient. (6) So Ralph asserted his chieftainship
and could not have chosen a better way if he had thought for days. (7) Against
this weapon, so indefinable and so effective, Jack was powerless and raged
witlloi~tknowing why. (8) By the time the pile was built, they were on different
sides of a high barrier.
I (William Golding: Lord of the Flies, reprintcd by permission of Faber and Faber
Ltd .)
I ...................................................................................................................
1 2) Identify and classify all the lexical non-finite verbs in the following passage.
(1) Most astrononlers believe that the galaxies have changed little from the time
I
they were formed, quite soon after the big bang that created the Universe. (2)
Syqtax-4: The amount of matter that formed determined the mass of each galaxy and
V e r b Phrase -barring accidents like a collision with another galaxy-that mass has remained
constant.(3)
3) But now some researchers are beginning to challenge the orthodox view. (4)
There is evidence that a heavy "rain" of gas is falling into many galaxies from
the supposedly empty space around them. (5) This gas apparently condenses
into a large collection of very small stars - little larger than the planet Jupiter
- which vastly outnumber the other stars in the galaxy. (6) The amount of
"intergalactic rainfall" into some galaxies is enough to double their mass during
the time since the big bang.
(First appeared in New Scientist Magazine, London, the weekly review of science
and technology, 12 August 1988. p.48)
38.3 AUXILIARY VERBS

English has only a few auxiliary verbs which may be conveniently grouped into two
classes:
a) Primary auxiliaries: BE, HAVE, DO
b) Modal auxiliaries: can, may, shall, will
could, might, should, would
must, ought to, used to
need, dare
The auxiliaries as a whole have certain properties which distinguish them from lexical
verbs. Questions, negations and emphatic statements can be directly formed with
them, without the use of other verbs. We shall illustrate this with the help of three
verbs be and have (These two verbs share this property of auxiliaries even when
they are used as lexical verbs), and the auxiliary can.
6) BE a) He is a teacher.
He is not a teacher.
Is he ,teacher?
He IS a teacher.
b) He is writing a letter.
He is not writing a latter.
Is he writing a letter?
He IS writing a letter.
. 7) HAS a) He has a Persian carpet.
He hasn't any Persian carpet.
Has he a Persia11 carpet?
He HAS a Persian carpet.
b) He has written to me. The Verb Phrase-1:
He has not written to me. Phrasal Verbs
Has lie written to me?

He HAS written to me.
8) CAN John can speak Italian.
John cannot speak Italian.
Can John speak Italian?
John CAN speak Italian.
Note 1. The negative (not) can be contracted and joined to the auxiliary.
Note 2. Capitalization, e.g. 'lS7, indicates main stress on the auxiliary (which is not
normally stressed) for emphasis.
These co~istructio~is
(questions, negations, emphatic statements) are not possible with
lexical verbs unless the verbal group contains an auxiliary.
He speaks Russian.
*Speaks he Russian?
*He speaks not Russian.
But:
He is learning Russian.
Is he learning Russian?
He is not learning Russian.
He IS learning Russian.
The presence of is (a form of be) in the verbal group thus helps form the required
constructions. When no auxiliary is present, we use do to form these constructions:
Does he speak Russian?
He does not speak Russian.
He DOES speak Russian.
There is one more construction which distinguishes the auxiliaries from the lexical
verbs. It is the 'question tag' which can be directly formed with an auxiliary.
9) He has cone, hasn 't he?
You are leaving tomorrow, aren 't you?
You can fix it, can 't you?
(Note:The question tags have been italicized above. They have already been discussed
in Block 5)
For making question tags lexical verbs need the support of do.
He wrote that letter, didn't he?
She left yesterday, didn't she?
Also, tlie lexical verbs need the auxiliary verbs not merely to form the constructions
indicated above; they need the auxiliaries to form complex tense forms also.
Syntax-4: Only the simple tenses (present, past) can be directly indicated by the lexical verb:
Sarala lives in Delhi. Suresh went to Mumbai. To indicate the progressive and
perfect tenses, the aux~liariesbe and have are needed. Be is needed to form the
progressive (or continuous) tense.
I am writing a novel.
The telephone was ringing all through the night.
Have is needed to form the perfect tenses:

1 have completed my assignment.
I had told John to meet you.
We shall now look a little Inore closely at the various auxiliary verbs.
This verb, the most frequently used verb in the language, has the largest number
of forms. It distinguishes number, person, and tense, and can be used both as a lexical
verb and as an auxiliary.
10) Present Past

Singular Plural Singular Plural
First person am are was were
Second person are are were were
Third person is are was were
The above are the finite forms of be. The verb be has also got three non-finite
forms:
11) to be, being, been
Examples:
a) as lexical To be or not to be, that is the question.
verbs You are being stupid.
Oh, I have been here before.
b) as auxiliary To be born blind is a misfortune.
You are being taken to Delhi.
1 have been cheated.
As already pointed out, be can be used both as an auxiliary and as a lexical verb.
In the sentence:
12) Mary is a nurse.

is (the present, singular, 3rd person form of be) is the only verb. Every sentence
must have a lexical verb. Since is is the only verb in the sentence, it is a lexical
verb. But it behaves like an auxiliary also because unlike lexical verbs, it can directly
enter into the structures for questions, negations, emphasis, and tag questions. (Is
Mary a nurse?Mary is not a nurseMary IS a nurseIMary is a nurse, isn't
she?)
In (12) be is a lexical verb but retains some of the properties of an auxiliary. In
(13) it is used ogly as an auxiliary to help form the present progressive tense form
of write.
13) My friend is writing a novel. (Here writing is the lexical verb)

Have The Verb Phrase-1:
Have, like be, can be both an auxiliary and a full (lexical) verb. In I have a Maruti Phrasal Verbs
Zen, have is used as a lexical verb, but, like an auxiliary it can directly form questions:
Have you a Maruti Zen? negatives: I haven't a Maruti Zen, take the stress
to indicate emphasis I HAVE a Maruti Zen, haven't I? In I have been to many
western countries, have is used only as an auxiliary to form the present perfect
tense form of be.
This double nature of have has resulted in an interesting development (unlike with
be). We can say: Have you a pen? (with have being treated as a lexical verb
which behaves like an auxiliary). But we can also say: Do you have a pen? (with
have being treated only as a lexical verb).
Have distinguishes tense but, except for the 3rd person singular, it shows no number1
person distinctions.
14) Present Past
Singular Plural Singular Plural
First person have have had had
Second person have have had had
Third person has have had had
So there are only three finite forms (have, has, had). The non-finite forms are:
15) infinitive : to have
present participle : having
past participle : had
Examples: a. as lexical verbs
She expects to have the baby next month.
We are having some problems with the new machine.
I have had enough.
b. as auxiliary verbs:
To have worked with her was a valuable experience.
Having resigned the job in a huff, he found himself penniless.
Modal Auxiliaries:
The 'modal' auxiliaries express such meanings as 'possibility', (It may rain),
'permission' (You may go), 'ability' ( I can do it), etc. 'These are 'modal' meanings.
Only three ofthe modal auxiliaries have matching present-past forms: shall--should;
will-would; can--could; may-might. The others have only one form. Even with
shall, will, can, and may the corresponding 'past' forms are not, strictly speaking,
past tense forms. They don't necessarily (or always) indicate a 'past' meaning. The
paired shall-should, may-might, etc. have their own distinctive meanings.
Also, these auxiliaries have no participle forms: *maying, *mighting; *mayen,
*mighten....;nor any infinitive form: *to shall, *to may. I n short, the modal auxiliaries
are always finite. They are verbs with a finitc form only.
Do as an auxiliary should be distinguished from do as a lexical verb. In Johu

A:A &
:
syntax-4: we have only the lexical verb do. This is clear from the fact that when the sentence
Verb Phrase is turned into a question, we get
Did John do it?
The lexical verb do is in its ow11place. The auxiliary do has been brought in to
help form the question. In this do is different from be and have, which have the
properties of both auxiliaries and lexical verbs. For example, given the sentence Mary
is a nurse, we can form the question Is Mary a nurse? by simply moving is to
the front position. No other verb is needed to help form the question. But given the
sentence John did it we can't have *Did John it?
Lexical verbs need an auxiliary to help form structures like questions, negations,
emphatic sentences and question tags. The auxiliary may be a modal, a form of be
or a form of have. When the sentence has none of these, then the auxiliary do
is required.
The auxiliary do has the following forms:

16) present : do
does (third person singular)
past did
As can be seen, only in the third person singular (present tense) is there a form
distinguishing number and person. Otherwise there is just one form for the present
and one for the past. There are no non-finite forms of the auxiliary do.
(The lexical verb do also has the forms: do, does, did; further, it has the non-finite
forms to do (infinitive); doing (present participle), and done (past participle).
Of the four types of auxiliaries distinguished till now, three (Modals, have and be)
can co-occur, in that order:
17) She may have been studying in the library. (Notice the order 'have' followed
by 'may' and then followed by 'been' (a form of be)).
To summarize: the auxiliaries are a special class of verbs which can directly enter
into certain constructioils (questions, negations, emphatic, statements and question
tags). One of them, do, helps form these constructions with the lexical verbs when
there is no other auxiliary present. Further, the auxiliaries be and have help form
the progressive and perfective tense forms of the verbs. The modal auxiliaries are
not needed to form any complex tense forms. They are needed to indicate certain
modal meanings. They have only one form - always finite - unlike the other (=
primary auxiIiaries) which have both finite and non-finite forms.

In the following passage
i) identify and Iist separately all finite and non-finite auxiliaries;
ii) make a list of the finite lexical verbs.

(1) This is the characteristic of science which distinguishes it in kind from the
other way of knowing. (2) No scientist, or student of science, need ever read
an original work of the past. (3) As a general rule, she does not think of doing
so. (4) Rutherford was one of the greatest of experimental physicists, but no
nuclear scientist today would study his researches of fifty years ago. (5) Their The Verb Phrase-1:
substance has all been infused into the common agreement, the textbooks, the Phrasal Verbs
contemporary papers, the living present. (6) This ability to incorporate the past
gives the sharpest diagnostic tool, if one asks whether a body of knowledge
is a science or not. (7) Do present practitioners have to go back to an original
work of the past? (8) Or has it been incorporated? (9) The English definition
of science has always been stricter than that of Wissenschaft or nauk, and
has in effect employed precisely that diagnostic tool. (10) Science is cumulative,
and embodies its past. (1 1 ) The other culture, or tradition, has and must have
a different relation with its own longer and more variegated past. (12) Take
Shakespeare and Tolstoy. (1 3) Anyone partaking of the 'humanist' culture (there
should be a more acceptable term, but it has not yet emerged) has to read their
works as they were written. (14) They have not passed, and cannot pass, into
a general agreement or a collective mind. (15) They cannot, nor can any works
of art, be incorporated into the present as scientific work is bound to be.
(16) Shakespeare and Tolstoy have to be read as the words stand on the page.
(17) And that will be true so long as humall beings read English or Russian.
(C.P. Snow: Public AfSairs, pp. 94-95)
38.4 PHRASAL VERBS

Phrasal verbs are a special class of lexical verbs. While lexical verbs are one-word
items, phrasal verbs are verbs which are made up of more than dne word:
18) Look up the italicized word groups in a dictionary.
Turn off the tap.
Put on your coat.
Call up the man.
The three expressions above are phrasal verbs.
Syntax-4: Phrasal verbs should be distinguished from 'verb + prepositional phrase' structure.
Verb Phrase In I agree with you, the phrase with you is a prepositional phrase and the preposition
(with) is the head of this phrase. The preposition, although selected by the verb agree,
does not belong to it. Tnis can be seen by the fact that the verb and the prepositional
phrase can be separated by, for example, an adverbial: I agree entirely with you.
With a phrasal verb an adverb cannot intervene in this fashion: turn off the t a p
quickly/*turn quickly off the tap.
With a transitive phrasal verb the particle following the verb can normally occur in
two positions:
19) Look up this word.
Look this word up.
That is, the particle can either immediately follow the verb or appear after the object
noun phrase. In the 'vwb + prepositional phrase' structure, however, the preposition,
being the head of its own phrase, has only one position. It must appear immediately
after the verb. ( I agree with your proposal/*I agree your proposal with.)
Although phrasal verbs are usually two-part verbs, it is the first element alone that
shows change in form for tense and agreement: Call him up/We have called him
up, We a r e calling him up etc. This is because the particle in English (as in many
languages) has only one form.
Identify the phrasal verbs in the following set.
find out, catch on, call on, comply with, turn up, take off, make up (a story), part
with, refer to, consent to, put across (an idea).
For each item selected, give one syntactic test to justify your selection.
38.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have identified two elements of the VERBAL GROUP, namely the
AUXILIARY and the I EXICAL VERB. A sub-class of lexical verbs, the PHRASAL
VERB has also been identified. Within the class of auxiliaries we have distinguished
between PRIMARY and MODAL AUXILIARIES.
Lexical Verbs have usually six forms: STEM, STEM + s, STEM + ing, STEM +ed,
STEM + en and to + STEM. Some forms are FINITE; others NON-FINITE. The
non-finite forms are INFINITIVE (to)+ stem), PRESENT PARTICIPLE (stem +
ing), and the PAST PARTICIPLE (stem + en).
The auxiliaries are nteded to form certain constructions: QUESTIONS, NEGATIONS,

EMPHATIC SENTENCES, AND QUESTION TAGS. B E and HAVE are also
needed to form certain COMPLEX TENSE forms (the PROGRESSIVE with BE,
and the PERFECTIVE with HAVE).
The modal auxiliaries do not help form complex tense forms. They are needed to
convey certain meanings called MODAL meanings (e.g. POSSIBILITY,
PERMISSION, ABILITY, etc.)
Among the auxiliaries, BE and HAVE have a dual nature: they are both lexical and The Verb Phrase-I:
auxiliary, although, at certain times they function only as auxiliaries. DO is only an Phrasal Verbs
auxiliary. The lexical do should be distinguished from the auxiliary DO.
Phrasal verbs are generally two-part expressions (VERB + PARTICLE) where the
particle, although separable, is needed to complete the meaning of the verb.

A.S. Hornby. A Guide to Patterns and Usage in English, pages 1-12.
Quirk and Greenbaum. A University Grammar of English (Chapter 3 )
38.7 ANSWERS
I
1) Lexical finite verbs.

(be used as a lexical verb has been included in this list).
Sentence finite lexical verbs
1) died
2) said, did, stood
3 was
4) gave, sang, whistled, threw, was
5 -
I 6) asserted
7) was, raged
8) were
I 2) Sentence lexical non-finite verbs
I
I 1) changed (past participle)

I
formed (past participle)
I 2)
3)
4)
5
6)
remained (past participle)
beginning (present participle)
to challenge (infinitive)
falling (present participle)
-
to double (infinitive)
(be and have as lexical verbs are not included in this list).
i) Sentence Auxiliaries
1) -
2) need (finite)
3) does (finite)
4) would (finite)
5) has (finite)
been (non-finite)
1 6) -
Syntax-4:
The Noun phrase and the do (finite)
Verb Phrase have to (non-finite)
has (finite)
been (non-finite)
has (finite)
has (finite)
must (finite)
should (finite)
has (finite)
has to (finite)
were (finite)
have (finite)
cannot (finite)
cannot (finite)
can (finite)
be (finite)
have to (finite)
will (finite)
) Sentence finite lexical verbs (including be)
. - _- -
.a-
11 is
distinguishes
-
was
gives
asks
is
-
is
embodies
has
take
is
stand
reads
Check Your Progress 3 The Verb Phrase-1:
Lexical, Auxiliary
and
Phrasal Verbs
The phrasal verbs in the list are:
find out, catch on, turn up, take off, make up, put across
Test: 1) In the case of transitive phrasal verbs, the object noun phrase can
come between the verb and the particle : e.g.
find the truth out, take your coat off,
make the story up, put the idea ac;i.oss
2) In the case of intransitive phrasal verbs, an adverbial cannot intervene
between the verb and the participle : e.g.
caught on quickly (but not *caught quickly on).
turned up suddenly (but not *turned suddenly up).
UNIT 39 THE VERB PHRASE-2:
TENSE, ASPECT AND MODALITY
Structure
39.0 Objectives
39.1 Introduction
39.2 Tense
39.2.1 Present
39.2.2 Past
39.2.3 Ways of Indicating Future Events
39.3 Aspect
39.3.1 The Progressive
39.3.2 The Perfect
39.3.3 The Perfect Progressive
39.4 Modality
39.4.1 Can
39.4.2 Co-ald
39.4.3 May
39.4.4 Might
39.4.5 Shall
39.4.6 Should
39.4.7 Wd
39.4.8 Would
39.4.9 Must
39.4.10 Ought to
39.5 Let Us Sum Up
39.7 Answers
39.0 OBJECTIVES - -
In this unit we shall study the meanings expressed by the verbal group in English,
in particular those associated with tense, aspect, and modality.
39.1 INTRODUCTION
(Note: You have already been introduced to tense in English in Unit 24 (especially
24.2.1) You could go back to that discussion before reading what follows.)
Tense should be distinguished from time. Time is a category of the real world; tense,
a category of grammar. Tense refers to the form of the verb. Although tense forms
do refer to time, there is no one-to-one correspondence. The same form may refer
to present time in one context and future time in another context.
English has only two tenses-a form called the present tense and a form called the
past tense. The present tense is the stem form of the verb, except in the third person
singular where the suffix-s is added to the stem. The past tense is formed by adding The Verb Phrase-2:
Tense, Aspect and Modality
-ed to the stem.
The fact that English has only two tenses (present, past) does not mean that English
has no way of indicating future events. All that is meant is that there is no form
of the English verb to express future reference. English uses a variety of devices
to indicate future time.
Besides the two tense forms (the verb is finite in both cases), there are two other
forms-a form in -ing and a form in -en-which are used in conjunction with the
1 auxiliaries be and have: ing with be, en with have. Traditionally these forms are
also labelled as 'tenses'; in H e is writing a litter the verb is said to be in the
present progressive (or continuous) tense, and in H e has written a letter, in the
present perfect tense. In keeping with current linguistic analysis we shall not call
1 them 'tenses' although we shall keep the terms 'progressive' and 'perfective'. These
forms indicate aspect, i.e., the state of the action-whether completed or incomplete
and its significance for the present moment.
This unit is organized as follows: in 39.2 we shall discuss tense, in 39.3 aspect; and
in 39.4 modality (= the meanings expressed by the modals).
39.2 TENSE
39.2.1 Present
The present tense is used to refer to
i) scientific and geographical truths as in:

Water boils at 100° C.
Molecular weight is twice the vapour density.
Fire burns.
The Ganga rises in the Himalayas, flows through the plains of North India and
joins the Bay of Bengal.
ii) facts of personal taste, preference, and attitudta, facts of personal accomplishment:
I love mangoes.
I hate bananas.
I enjoy doing crossword puzzles.
My wife knows German.
Salman Rushdie writes novels.
These days young people prefer pop to classical music.
iii) habitual activities
P 1 get up at 6 in the morning, and go to bed at 10 in the night.
In summer, I frequently visit my mother at Mysore.
b
On Wednesdays and Fridays we have toast, coffee and fruit for breakfast.
iv) actions which are felt as true a t the moment of speaking
a) 1 love/hate you.
I think he is right.
Syntax-4: b) I see what you mean.
Verb Phrase
I believe he has tendered his resignation.
I smell something burning.
I hear a noise outside.
The box contains books.
I own this builiing.
There are also some other contexts for the use of the present tense (on the use
of the present tense to refer to future events, see below) but we need not go into
them here. Reviewing the situations where the present tense is used, you will see
that they all have the following in common: the event, activity, state or situation is
not thought of as coming to an end: either it is something which is necessarily true
(the world being what it is) (or it is true of an individual (or groups of individuals),
being part of hislherJtheir nature.
The examples at (iv) above indicate what is sometimes called the 'actual' present.
Those under (a) a r e statements which, for the speaker, are true a t the moment
of speaking, although there is no guarantee that they will hold good always. (i.e.,
Love may die; what you hate today you may come to like tomorrow; my belief may
turn out to be ill-founded andlor totally wrong) The difference between the examples
under (iv a) and those under (ii) is that the examples under (ii) reflect a more permanent
state. That is not true of the examples under (iv a): they are true at the moment
of speaking with no further commitment.
Tlle examples under (iv b) refer to states, actions and events taking place a t the
moment of speaking. We normally use the progressive form (-ing form) in these
cases:
It is raining.
My sister is playing the veena.
The dog is chasing the cat.
The question that arises is: 'Which verbs, even when they denote an activity 'going
on' at the time of speaking, are not used in the progressive (=ing) form? ' The answer
to this question reqetires particular attention because many users of English
in this country often use those verbs wrongly.
Generally speaking these are verbs which refer to perception-mental or physical;

i.e. verbs like see, hear, feel, smell, taste, believe, think, etc.; or which indicate
a relation: own, contain, consist, etc.
Ex. I hear a strange noise. * I am hearing a strange noise.
You must know John Verghese. * You must be knowing John Verghese.
39.2.2 Past
The past tense indicates an activity that took place in the past. The past time reference
can be made quite clear by suitable adverbials.
I visited my aunt.
I visited her last week.
The A.P. Express from Delhi arrived four hours late yesterday.
The first man landed on the moon more than twenty years ago.
Where the past action extended over a length of time in the past (as, for example,
in the case of habitup' actions), used to is used.
I used to smoke as' a young man. (Implies that I do not do so now) The Verb Phrase-2:
I used to worry a lot in thdse-days.
39.2.3 Ways of Indicating Future Events

English has no future tense form (as already noted) but it has several devices to
indicate future events:
i) with will/shall
We shall meet again next week.

I will tell Mary that you called.
Of the two forms will and shall, will (or the contracted form '11 e.g. I'll see you
later) is the one generally used. In Standard British English, however there is a
preference for the use of shall with first person subjects:
I shall come later.
We shall take it up at the next meeting.
ii) with the simple present

When referring to plans, programmes, schedules, the simple present is commonly
used:
a) The train leaves at 10 in the night.
b) The President arrives next Sunday.

The contexts indicated by these two examples are not identical. With the second
one, the progressive may alternate with the present (The President is arriving
next Sunday. See below for a discussion.) But with the first one the progressive
would not be used, unless, for example, the regular schedule had been upset: The
track has been restored. T h e train is now leaving a t midnight.
With fixed (and often unalterable) schedules, then, the simple present is the normal
form to refer to future events:
When is the solar eclipse?
What time is the meeting?

What day is the 3rd of June?
iii) with the present progressive
I am taking the children to the zoo next Saturday.
My sister is leaving for Mumbai tomorrow.

This context can be characterized as 'future event anticipated in the present.'
Now go back to the example at (ii b) above where we could have either the simple
present or the present progressive. The question is 'Is such an alternation possible
here also?'
Answer: The simple present is correctly used only in respect of future events which
are part of a more complex plan or schedule. We could, for example, continue (ii
b) in this way.
The President arrives next Sunday. He unveils a portrait of Rajaji at the Jubilee Hall
the same afternoon. In the evening he presides over a function at the Sangeet Natak
Academy. Later in the evening he leaves for Chennai.
Syntax-4: With the examples under (iii) no such schedule is suggested or expected. Therefore
Verb Phrase the simple present woxld not be used in these cases. The normal use is with the
-ing form as shown above.
Some other constructions also indicate future events. However, they generally involve
certain modal meanings as well and do not just indicate 'future'.
iv) Be going to + infinitive
This construction expresses a present intention about a future event.
We are going to get married next month.
I'm going to see the Principal about my son's admission.
In other cases it may refer to an action or event likely to take place in the immediate
future:
It is going to rain.
That wall is going to collapse.
v) The verb be may be directly followed by a 'to-infinitive' expressing an arrangement
or command in the future:
Sheila and I are to meet at the Zoo this afternoon.
We are to be married in May.
I am to see the Principal at 3 p.m.
1) a) Fill in the blanks in the following with the correct forms of the verbs
given in brackets.
1) When a pollen grain ..................... (land) on a flower, fertilization
..................... (do) not always follow.
2) No news ..................... (be) good news.
3) Three times ten ..................... (be) thirty.
4) Civility ..................... (cost) nothing. I
5) Research in artificial intelligence really ..................... (begin) over
50 years ago when Alan Turing ..................... (propose) a test for
deciding whether a computer ..................... (be) intellligent.
6) I ..................... (believe) our education system still .....................
(produce) many times more brilliant students than it .....................
(do) five decades ago.
b) What use(s) of the present tense are illustrated in the above examples?
c ) What uses, discussed in the unit, are not exemplified in l(a) above. For
the uses not exemplified, give two examples each of your own.
2) Consider the following: The Verb Phrase-2:
She is charming.
They are zebras.
You are mistaken.
We11 went to a party yesterday.
I was held up at a meeting.
We were held up at a meeting.
We speak Hindi.
He speaks Chinese.
You appear depressed.
She seems to be enjoying herself.
a) What is the correct statement about 'Agreement' in English?
..............................................................................................................
b) Fill in the blanks using the correct forms of the verbs given in brackets.
1) Each of the candidates .................... (be) asked to speak for 5
minutes.
2) Is there life after death? No one ....................
(know) for sure.
3) Neither the Chairman nor the Secretary .................... (be) able to
answer the points raised by the members.
4) Either you or she .................... (be) to blame.
5) The Secretary and Treasurer .................... (be) charged with
embezzlement.
C
3) Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the correct forms of the verbs
in brackets.
He ......!.?.)......... (jump) down from the terrace. The sand .........12.1..... (be)
f thick over his black shoes and the heat G3.1...... (hit) him. He .....(.A& .........
........
....
(become) conscious of the weight of his clothes, LA.) ..........(kick) his shoes
off fiercely and ......(.Q.).....,.(rip).. off each stocking with its elastic garter in
a simple movement. Then he .....(.7.) .......... (leap) back on the terrace,
.......Ill.)....... (pull) off his shirt, and ...... ........ (stand) there among thevstill-
like coconuts with green shadows from the palms and the forest sliding over
his skin. He .....119.)........ (undo) the snakz-clamp of his belt, ...(.I.1.) ... (lug)
r
offhis shorts and pants, and ,.,.(.12.),,., (stand) there naked, looking at the dazzling
beach and the water. (Willim Golding: Lordof the Flies, reproduced by permission
of Faber and Faber Ltd.)
,
4) Fill in the blanks in the following with the correct forms of verbs given in brackets.
In some cases an auxiliary may be needed.
I) If I drop the piece of chalk, it ....................(break).
2) We ....................(go) to a cinema this afternoon.
3) Your train ....................(leave) at 10 p.m.
Syntax-4: 4) I .................... (be) about to drop the letter i n the post box when I
Verb Phrase noticed that it had not been stamped.
5) The teacher said: 'Boys, listen carefully, I .................... (be) going to
tell you a story.
6) All his friends .................... (be) there to greet him when
he .................... (arrive) next Monday.
7) The programme usually .................... (last) for 30 minutes.
39.3 ASPECT
English distinguishes two 'aspects' in the verb phrase, the progressive (expressed
by a form of be followed by a verb in - ing) and the perfective (expressed by
a form of have followed by a verb in - en).
39.3.1 The Progressive

The progressive (or continuous) aspect is found in the following sentences:
The telephone is ringirig.
The boys are playing in the field.
It is raining heavily.
The essential point about the progressive aspect is that it denotes an activity which
is going on at the time of speaking and is viewed as of limited duration: it will come
to an end, sooner or later.
With certain types of activity it is not necessary that the activity should be actually
going on at the time of speaking. I am writing a novel does not mean that I am
doing so at the present moment. Similarly with
I am learning to- play the guitar.
I am practising typewriting.
Here also the essential meaning of the progressive ('limited duration') can be seen.
Quite clearly these activities are not intended to go on for ever.
In some (very limited) contexts the progressive can indicate annoyance, disgust.
You are always complaining.
She is always nagging her husband.
The past progressive is generally used to indicate the attendant context or situation
when some other activity took place.
I was typing a letter when the doorbell rang.
We were trekking up the mountain when a snowstorm suddenly burst upon us.
39.3.2 The Perfect

The most important meaning conveyed by the perfective aspect is that an action
which began in the past has some significance at the moment of speaking. The action
may have been completed or may still be going on.
I have applied for the post of Income Tax Inspector.
(present significance: I am expecting something to happen: I may be called for an
interview.)
I have finished my work.
(Therefore I can now relax.) The Verb Phrase-2:
I have arranged for your stay in Hyderabad House.
(So you don't have to worry about accommodation when you come here.)
Notice that when no present cgnsequence is to be expected from a past action, the
perfect would not be used but the simple past. Supposing that I came to know that
the posts of Income Tax Inspectors had been filled and I was not even called for
the interview, I would then say: I applied for the post but nothing happened.
Even when the past action has got some present significance(as viewed by the speaker),
the present perfect cannot be used with adverbials of de3nite past.
*I have applied for the post. but not * I have applied for the post last Monday. or
* I have seen him yesterday.
Adverbials of definite past can only go with the past tense: i.e. with activities which
are merely mentioned as having taken place in the past, with no suggestion of any
present consequence.
I applied for the post last Monday.
(This could be in answer to a question: When did you apply for the post?)
However, the present perfect can go with time expressions which connect the past
with the present.
I have seen him this weeW morning.
(Since this weeWmorning is not yet over the past event is presented in a present
time frame).
The meaning of the prefect explicated above may be termed 'resultative'.
There are some other meanings associated with the perfect. We shall not describe
them here.. We shall only note one more use of the prefect as in
The clock has just struck twelve.
He has just gone out.
In these cases the present perfect is used to indicate an event which took place
in the immediate past.
The past perfect is much less frequently used than the present perfect.
Supposing two actions took place in the past and the earlier of them has some
significance at the moment of speaking. Then the earlier action is put in the past
perfect.
Ex. When I got to the station at 7 this morning, the train had already left.
As you can see, there are two actions here (my getting to the station, and the departure
of the train), of which the departure of the train took place earlier. If the speaker
is being questioned as to why he did not catch the train, he would answer as indicated
above, putting the departure of the train in the past perfect as that event has some
significance now. It explains why he could not catch the train.
Syntax-4: Some more c.Aalrlplwa.
Verb Phrase
- The culprits had made good their escape by the,time the police reached the
scene.
- When I entered the auditorium, the concert had just/ already begun.
- When I last saw her, Mary had filed divorce proceedings against her husband.
Often the past perfect can be replaced by the simple past if there are other
ways of indicating the sequence of actions in the past:
- The culprits made good their escape before the police arrived on the scene.
39.3.3 The Perfect Progressive

The two aspects, the perfective and the progressive, can be combined in that order.
I have been working on a novel.
If we analyze been as be+en, then we have here have+ea (representing the perfect)
and being (representing the progressive). In traditional terminology the verb (whk)
would be said to be in the present perfect progressive tense. We will say that it
is in the present tense with the verb in the perfect-progressive aspect.
With the present perfect two types of adverbial9 are possible.

I have been working on a novel since May last year,
I have been working on a novel for the last two years.
The phrase with dace indicates the 'point of time' when the activity in question
began; the phrase with for indicates how long the activity has been going on ('period
of time').
Notlce now that it is incorrect to use the non-perfect form when such time
expressions are included.
*I am waiting here since 8 a.m.
*I am waiting here for the last two years.
That is, where an activity in progress is mentioned with an indication of when it

began or how long it has been going on, the perfect form must be used.
The past perfect progressive refers to an activity which had been in progress up
to a certain point of time in the past.
I had been planning to visit Agra for quite some time when sudd&ly this invitation
came from the university.
Finally it must be pointed out that, as we said above, the past perfect is a very infrequent
construction and the pdst perfect progressive even more so.
1) a) Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the correct forms of the
verbs in brackets, and insert auxiliaries as needed.
University officials in the United States are beginning to worry about a
shortage of qualified faculty to fill academic posts. It's a potential crisis
The Verb Phrase-2:
that could shape the contours of American higher education for years Tense. Aspect and Modality
to come.
After enjoying for decades an abundant supply of Ph. Ds, there is now growing
evidence that the talent pool ................. (dry up). At the most prestigious
universities competition for top scholars is still fierce, but other institutions
................. (have) trouble .................(attract) qualified students. Following
World War 11, during the 'golden age' of higher education, campuses
................. (be) built at the rate of one-a-week. Administrators .................
(scramble) to fill new positions and freshly minted Ph.Ds easily .................
(find) jobs. But by mid-1970s, construction ................. (slow), budgets
................. (cut), enrolments .................(peak), and as the number oftenured
faculty .................(grow) employment prospects for young scholars
................. (decline).
Now, the tide .................(turn). Faculty positions, once again, .................
(begin) to open up. In the decade of the 1980s, student enrolment in higher
education ................. (project) to increase-and least 100,000 ageing
professors will, through retirement, ................. (leave) the profession. Donald
Hood, Vice-president for arts and sciences at ColumbiaUniversity .................
(describe) the situation in this way: "We ................. (talk) about the retirement
of an entire generation of scholars."
(The Time Higher Education S~pplemerc~,
June 2,1989. p. 17. 'Ph D drought
dries up talent pool')
b) Are there any places in the above passage where the present perfect
could be used? What difference in meaning would that make?
Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the correct forms of the verbs
in brackets, supplying auxiliaries as needed.
Brazilian officials .................(abort) an international expedition to study the canopy
of the Amazon rain forest from a giant airship. Adrian Bell, a British member
of the expedition who .................just .................(return), said no one was
certain about the reason for the hitch. He thinks that it may ................. (be)
because a Japanese film crew lacked a permit to fly a helicopter in the Amazon.
The government of Brazil ................. now ................. (ask) the members of
the expedition to leave the country and to re-apply from scratch. However, key
members ofthe team ................. now ................. (try) to reorganise the expedition
in French Guiana.
The aim of the expedition was to provide an international team of 60 scientists
from different disciplines (including about 30 from Brazil) with a mobile research
station.
An inflatable raft suspended beneath the airship would give them a unique chance
to studv the canopy of the rain forest.
Syntax-4: After months of negotiations with the Brazilian government, the team .................
Verb Phrase (import) the raft and the airship into Brazil. By the end of August it .................
(secure) scientific and aeronautical permits. A Japanese film company .................
(fund) the expedition in return for exclusive film rights.
But things began to go badly when the Japanese ................. (refuse) a Brazilian
film crew permission to film the expedition. Within days the airship .................
(snag) on bureaucratic red tape, apparently because the Japanese .................
(have) no permit fly their film crew's helicopter.
(First appeared in New Scientist Magazine, London, the weekly review of science
and technology, September 16, 1989.p.26)
3) a ) Fill in the blanks in the following with suitable adverbials:
1) I have seen him .................
2) I saw the movie .................
3) Space exploration has progressed very fast .................
4) It was raining heavily at this time .................
5) He had already left his office .................
b) Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositionslprepositionalphrases:
1) I have been waiting here .................
2) He has been working on that book ................. 2 years.
3) I was in London in 1981. I haven't been there again .................
4) The lecturer went on speaking .................
39.4 MODALITY
In its narrow sense the term 'mood' is used to capture the distinction between.
d) She practises yoga.
e) I suggest that she practise yoga.
In (a) the verb shows agreement with the subject but not the verb practise in (b).
This difference in the form of the verb correlates with another difference: (a) is
a statement of fact; the subordinate clause in (b) is not a statement of fact. In
grammatical terminology sentence (a) is in the indicative mood and the subordinate
clause in sentence (b) in the subjunctive mood.
The subjunctive, as you learnt in Block 5, has a very limited use in current English.
It is seen chiefly in stock expressions such as:
God save the queen!
Be that as it may,
Suffice it to say,
Come what may,
A more frequent use is in that-clauses (as in the (b) example above).

It is necessary that everyone prepare himselflherself.
I thank you for your suggesting that I come over.
Another case where there is no agreement between the subject and the verb and
the distinction corresponds to a distinction between 'fact' and 'non-fact' is in the
use of the past tense as in the following:
The Verb Phrase-2:
I wish I were a millionaire. Tense, Aspect and Modality
If I were you, I should cancel the engagement.
This use of the past tense to express a state of affairs contrary to fact is a more
frequent construction than the subjunctive. Tht past form in these cases is called
a modal preterite. It is especially common after expressions like I wish, as if:
I wish I knew her name.
He acts as if he owned the place.
In current terminology the term modality is used to cover not only the meanings
of the subjunctive and the modal preterite as seen above but all the meanings of
the modal auxiliaries also (with the exception ofthe indication of 'pure' or 'colourless'
future with willlshall).
We have briefly looked at modals above. We shall now list their main meanings with
illustrative examples.
39.4.1 Can
1) Ability
I can swim. (= I know how to)
I can swim across this river. (=physical ability)
2) Permission
Can you spare me a few minutes?
(=Are you willing to ... Asking for permission)
You can turn in your assignment next Monday.
(=You are allowed to ... Giving permissionj
3) Theoretical possibility
Such things can happen.
There can be a drought next year.
T
39.4.2 Could
1) Ability (or its absence) in the past
I'm sony I couldn't meet you yesterday.
I could run a mile as a young man.
2) Conditional ability
I could do it if I tried.
Often the conditioil is not (or cannot be) realized and so the ability expressed
is unreal.
If we had wings, we could fly.
3) Present possibility
r We could do several things-go to a movie, attend a concert, or just sit around
and talk.
b
39.4.3 May
1) Permission
May I come in? (More formal than: Can I come in?)
You inay go now.
Syntax-4: 2) Possibility
Verb Phrase She may arrive bJ the evening train.
It may rain this evening.
39.4.4 Might
1) Possibility
It might rain this evening.
You might win a lottery.
The possibility indicated by might is more remote than that indicated by may.
39.4.5 Shall
1) Used with I and we to express the simple future: e.g.
I shall finish my work by 4 o'clock.
We shall make sure she is taken care of.
2) Used with the second and third persons to express
a) a promise or strong intention, e.g.
She shall be rewarded.
It shall be done as you wish.
b) To show what will certainly be or happen, e.g.
That day shall come.
c) To give a command or say what must be done, e.g.
This taw shall have effect from 1st April.
3) Used in questions or offers, especially with I and we, asking the hearer to decide.
e.g.
'Shall we go?'
'Yes, let's.'
'Shall I get you a chair?'
'Yes, please.'
39.4.6 Should
1) Obligation
You should obey your parents.
We should be considerate towards the disabled.
2) Logical necessity
She should be home by now.
Now that the battery is re-charged, the engine should start firing.
3) Contingent use
I should be delighted to be at the party.
(if I...)
I should have thought... (if...)
10 these structures should appears in the main clause. What is expressed in
fhc main c h s e i s dependent on some condition (usually not fulfilled) given in
1Le ~ ~ i h n r d b a cfhuse.
te
The Verb Phrase-2:
39.4.7 Will Tense, Aspect and Modality
1) in polite requests
Will you have some cake?
Will you (please) come in?
2) willingness (with the first person); .often contracted to '11.
I'll (will) send you the money as soon as I can.
We'll send you the contract in a week's time.
3) insistence (full form only, with stress)
Boys will be boys. (Notice the stress on will)
I 'will not stay here a minute longer.
4) To indicate (i) probability, (ii) certainty, or (iii) habitual activity.
i) That will be the postman.
The meeting will be over by now.
ii) Water will flow from a higher to a lower level.
The tallest building will one day crumble down.
iii) He will sit in a corner and talk for hours.
No matter what the issue, he will get up and make a speech.
39.4.8 Would
1) Willingness1polite request
Would you mind closing the window?
(polite and formal); meaning: 'Are you willing to close the window?'
2) Habitual or characteristic activity
In those days, every morning I would go jogging.
I am not surprised at what he said. That's what he would say.
3) Probability
That would be the courier man.
F She would be around fifty, I thought.
4) In main clauses where the main clause event depends on a condition in a
subordinate clause.
1 He would take to drugs if we did not keep an eye on him.
She would marry him, if he could find a job.
39.4.9 Must
1) Obligation
One must pay one's taxes.
We must respect our traditions.
/ 2, Necessity
I must be back in Delhi next Sunday.
I
You must write to him immediately.
I
In the past tense had to is used:
I had to be back in Delhi by the following Sunday.
Note the following negatives and their different meanings:
I You needn't be back by next Sunday.
Syntax-4: (=You don't have to be back; you are not obliged to be back.)
Verb Phrase
You mustn't be back by Sunday.
(=You should not be back; it is imperative that you don't come back by next
Sunday)
3) Logical necessity
There must be a way out.
That must be the courier man.
39.4.10 Ought to
This expresses the same meaning of obligation/logical necessity as must; only must
is a stronger form.
We ought to leave at once.
A less forceful expression would be:
We had better leave at once.

Explain the meanings of the modals in the following passages.
a) Wooster is very much interested in seeing that Ginger wins the election at Market
Snodsbury.Unfortunately Ginger had a past, duly recorded in the Junior Ganymede
Club book. Wooster is relieved to hear that there is little chance of this book
falling into the hands of Ginger's opponents though the possibility of their coming
to know of the contents can't be ruled out. (Passage A). .. But finally his worst
fears are realized. Aunt Dhalia and he discuss what is to be done. (Passage
B1.1
A) Sipping my whisky and soda, 1 brought the conversation round again to Ginger
and his election, :vhich was naturally the front-page stuff of the day.
'Do you think he has a chance, Jeeves?'
He weighed the question for a moment, as if dubious as to where he would
place his money.
'It is difficult to say, sir. Market Snodsbury, like so many English country towns,
might be described as strait-laced. It sets a high value on respectability.'
'Well, Ginger's respectable enough.'
'True, sir, but, as you are aware, he has had a Past.'
'Not much of one.'
'Sufficient, however, to prejudice the voters, should they learn of it.'
'Which they can't possibly do. I suppose he's in the club book-'
'Eleven pages, sir.'
'-But you assure me that the contents of the club book will never be revealed.'
'Never, sir, Mr Winship has nothing to fear from that quarter.'
His words made me breathe more freely.
'Jeeves,' I said, 'Your words make me breathe more 'freely. As you know, I
am always a bit uneasy about the club book. Kept under lock and key, is it?'
'Not actually undcr lock and key, sir, but it is safely bestowed in the secretary's
1 C .
'Then there's nothing to worry about.' The Verb Phrase-2:
'I would not say that, sir. Mr. Winship must have had companions in his escapades,
and they might inadvertently make some reference to them which would get
into gossip columns in the press and thence into the Market Snodsburyjournals.'
(P.G. Wodehouse: Much Obliged, Jeeves, Century Hutchinson Ltd.)
...................................................................................................................
B) 'This does it!'
'Fairly serious, I agree.'
'Fairly serious! The merest whisper of such goings-on wil I be enough to alienate
every voter in the town. Ginger's done for.'
'You don't think they might excuse him because his blood was young at the
time?'
'Not a hope. They won't be wonying about his ruddy blood. You don't know
what these blighters here are like. Most of them are chapel folk with a moral
code that would have struck Torquemada as too rigid.'
'Torquemada?'
'The Spanish I~lquisitio~l man.'
'Oh, that Torquemada?'
'How many Torquemadas did you think there were?'
J admitted that it was not a common name, and she carried on.
'We must act!'
'But how?'
'Or, rather, you must act. You must go to this man and reason with him.'
I h'med a bit at this. I doubted whether a fel1ow:with Bingley's lust for gold
would listen to reason.
'What shall 1 say?'
'You'll know what to say.'
'Oh, shall I?'
'Appeal to his better instincts.'
Syntax-4: 'He hasn't got any/'
Verb Phrase 'Now don't make aifficulties, Bertie. That's your besetting sin, always arguing.
You want to help Ginger, don't you?'
'Of course I do.'
'Very well, then.'
When an aunt has set her mind on a thing, it's no use trying to put in a nolle
prosequi. I turned to the door.
Half way there a thought occurred to me. I said:
'How abut Jeeves?'
'What about Jeeves?'
'What about him?"
'We ought to spare his feelings as far as possible. I repeatedly warned him
that club book was high-level explosive and ought not to be in existence. What
if it fell into the wrong hands, I said, and he said it couldn't possibly fall into
the wrong hands. And now it has fallen into about the wrongest hands it could
have fallen into. I haven't the heart to say "I told you so" and watch him writhe
with shame and confusion. You see, up till now Jeeves has always been right.
His agony on finding that he has at last made a floater will be frightful. 1shouldn't
wonder if he might not swoon. I can't face him. You'll have to tell him.'
'Yes, I'll do it.'
'I will.'
(P.G. Wodehouse. Much obliged, Jeeves, Century Hutchinson Lted.)
39.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have examined the notions of TENSE, ASPECT and MODALITY
expressed by the verbal group in English. Tense has to do with the form of the verb,
the verbal inflection. In this sense English has only two tenses, the PRESENT and
the PAST. But English has a variety of constructions to indicate future events.
Aspect indicates the state of the action, whether it is completed or is still going on, The Verb Phrase-2:
and in either case whether it has any relevance at the moment of speaking. English
has two aspects-the PERFECT and the PROGRESSIVE. These two can be
combined in that order.
MODALITY refers to the meanings expressed by the MODAL AUXILIARIES:

such meanings as possibility, permission, prohibition, insistence, willingness, etc.

- -
Zandvoort, R.W. A Handbookof English Grammh,.: Chapter Two, expecially, Sections

75-90, on the progressive; Chapter Four on the present and past tenses and the
perfectives; Chapter Five on the auxiliaries (the modal auxiliaries). Note: Zandvoort's
terminology differs slightly from the terminology used here, but this is not a serious
matter.
Consult also Quirk and Greenbaum, A Universiw Grammar of English, Chapter

Three, sections 3.26-3.55.
39.7 ANSWERS
1) a) 1) lands, does
2) is
4) costs
5) began, proposed, is
6) believe, produces, did
b) i) The sentences illustrate the use of the present tense in scientific
truths (1.3) and statements which are believed to be true (by the
speaker) at the moment of speaking ((6): 1 believe...)
ii) The notion 'scientific truth' can be generalized to include statements
of a general nature in other fields also: (4).
iii) 'Whether a computer is intelligent' is a question about a presumed
scientific truth.
Nos. (2) and (3) above are not explicitly mentioned in the unit.
c) Of the uses mentioned in the unit the following have not been illustrated
in Exercise 1 (a) above
i) to express habitual activities:
I usually take a nap in the afternoon:
On Saturday evenings we watch the TV movie.
ii) to express facts of personal taste, preference, etc.
I can't stand bus journeys.
I collect Third World stamps.
2) a) With the exception of be, the English verb shows agreement only in the
present tense with a third person singular subject (We speak Hindi vs.
He speaks Hindi.) In the present tense the verb be shows agreement
with the subject in the first and third persons, as follows: I am/We are;
He is/They are.
Syntax-4: Unlike other verbs, there is agreement in the past tense also, with
Verb Phrase distinct forms for the plural as against the singular subject:
I was1We were
He waslThey were
The distinctioh of number is lost in the second person.
The present and past forms of be here are:
You arelyou were.
b) 1) was 2) knows 3) was 4) is 5) were
3) (Numbers refer to the blanks.)
1) jumped 2) was 3) hit 4) became 5) kicked
6 ) ripped 7) leapt 8) pulled 9) stood 10) undid
I 1) lugged 12) stood
4) (Numbers refer to sentences)
1) will break 2) are going 3) leaves 4) was 5) am
6) will be, arrives 7) lasts.
1) a) (Numbers refer to blanks.)
1) is drying up 2) are having 3) attracting
4) were 5) scrambled 6) found
7) slowed 8) were cut 9) peaked
10) grew I I ) declined 12) is turning
13) are beginning 14) is projected 15) be leaving
16) described 17) are talking.
b) yes; in (12) we could have 'has turned'; also in (13) 'have begun'. The
present perfec; in (12) would suggest a completion of the process (the
change regarding faculty vacancies), while the present progressive
suggests that the change is slowly taking shape. There is no such
change in meaning in (13).
2) (Numbers refer to blanks.)
1) have aborted 2) has returned 3) have been
4) has asked 5) are trying 6) imported
7) had secured 8) is funding 9) refused
10) was snagged 11) had.
3) a) 1) this morning (or some other expression which includes the moment
of speaki~z)
2) yesterday (or some other adverbial of the past)
3) in this decade (see comment at (1))
4) last year (see comment at (2))
5) when I called on him
b) 1) since 9 a.m. (or some other expression indicating when the action
began)
2) for
3) since then
4) from 4 to 6 p.m. (or some other expression of the type from-to)
Check Your P ~ o ~ 3~ s s The Verb Phrase-2:
A) 'dubious as to where he would place his money' : indicating future; also

'willingness',
might be described: possibility
should they learn of it: to express a possibility
Which they can't possibly do: won't be able to
The contents of the club book will never be revealed: prediction
1 would not say that: I am not willing to go so far and say that.
Mr. Winship must have had companions: logical necessity.
...
It is certain that Mr. Winship had some c~mpanions
They might make some reference: possibility. It is possible that ...
would get into gossip columns: future; likelihood
B) will be enough: future
They might excuse him: possibility
They won't be worrying: negative probability
That would have struck: future in the past
I-
We must act.
You must act. immediate necessity
You must go to this man
... would listen to reason; future in the past: willingness
What shall I say? asking about the hearer's intention.
You'll know what to say: future
Oh, shall I? : future
We ought to spare his feelings: It is our duty to ....
ought not to be in existence: prohibition; sliould not have been .....
it couldn't possibly fall into the wrong hands:
absence of possibility; unlikelihood.
r
it could have fallen into: possibility (in the past)
will be frightful : future
I shouldn't wonder: contillgent use in the main clause, that is, contingent on
what is expressed in the dependent clause.
if lie might not swoon: probability
I can't face him: negative ability (be unable to)
You'll have to tell him
Yes, I'll do it
1 future
I will
J

BEGE

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BEGE

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

BEGE

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

IJNIT -1- AN INTRODUCTION

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. Every language uses a limited

Phorrology is concerned with hon a particular language organises its sounds

The use of spoken language involves a complicated series of operations. The

Fig:1 The Organs 01 Speech

1.3.1 Vowels and Consonants

1.3.3 Descriptiun of Consonants

When we describe a consonant, we have to indicate.

We can classify consonants according to the place of articulation as follows:

Bilabial: the closure or narrowing is between the two lips, as for

1.3.4 Broader classification of sounds

Obstruent: In the production of certain consonants involving a narrowing

1.4 THE USE OF PHONETIC SYMBOLS

We shall use the phonetic symbols suggested by the International Phonetic

Check Your Progress

Give the names of the important organs of speech.

What is the source of energy for most speech sounds?

Distinguish between voiced and voiceless sounds, giving examples.

What is the phonetic difference between vowels and consonants?

How do we classify vowels?

10. Give examples from English o f

ii) a nasal consonant

iii) a voiced alveolar plosive consonant

iv) a voiceless velar plosive consonant

v) a voiced labio-dental fricative consonant

The mark ( ' ) indicates that the following syllable is stressed.

distinguish between the different pure vowel sound in English, and

In Unit 1 we gave you a brief introduction to phonetics. We shall now

2.2 THE ENGLISH VOWELS

2.3 VOWELS IN BRITISH RECEIVED

English, according to British R.P., operates on a system of 20 distinctive

2.3.1 Pure Vowels

eat /i:t/ Word-initial /i:/

This vowels is represented by various spelling in English.

inn /~n/ Word-initial /I/

In British R.P /I/ is a very common vowel in unstressed syllables.

Unstressed: 'minute, 'coffee, 'money, 'carriage, 'captain, 'useless, 'wanted,

egg leg/ Word-initial /el

ant /=nt/ Word-initial I=/

It is very important to make a distinction, in your speech, between these four

beat / bi:t/ and bi h ~ t / The replacement of /i:/ by

bit / b ~/ tand bet / bet / The replacement of /I/ by /el changes

bed /bed/ and badhaedl The replacements of /el by /ae/ changes

/i:/,/I/,/el and /ae/

The Back Vowels

ask /a:sk/ Word-initial /a:/

odd / od/ Word-initial /o/

This vowel can be represented by various spelling, e.g., want, cough,

/a:/ as in caught, horse, court

This is a back half-open vowel and the lips are rounded.

ought /a:t/ Word-initial /a:/

put /put/ Word-medial /u/

ooze /u:z/ Word-initial /u:/

1 a:/, I'D/,and 1 a:/

S. No. /u/ /u:/

The Central Vowels

earn I ' s:n/ Word-initial /3:1

/e/ as in the first syllable of the word a'go

This is a central vowel between half-close and half-open. In R.P. it never