Chapter 8

Interjections

Traditional grammarians break words up into eight parts of speech--nouns, pronouns,

verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Although the
nomenclature has been followed in this book, the definitions differ from the definitions offered by
most of the traditional grammarians. The eighth class, interjections, is not even discussed by many
grammarians, and it will be given only a short space here. Jespersen includes it in his fifth, and last,
class—particles, which includes "what are generally called adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions--
coordinating and subordinating--and interjections"(91).

Interjections are characterized by the following:

they express some kind of emotion--anger, pain, surprise, disapproval, disgust, fear,
pleasure, etc.;

they are independent from the rest of the sentence (i.e., they have no grammatical function
in the sentence);

they are invariable (i.e., they don't take inflections);

they are often just sounds that are difficult to express in print (for example, the
suction stops used to express annoyance, impatience, or mild reproof and often
spelled tut-tut or tsk-tsk); and
they sometimes occur as other parts of speech (mercy, baloney, well, my my, ouch,

nonsense, scat, damn, shit, etc.).

In his definition of interjections in English Grammar, George 0. Curme writes, "In

general, interjections belong to the oldest forms of speech and represent the most primitive type
of sentence. Thus they are not words but sentences" (30).

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 Chapter Nine
Verbals

In Chapter Five, verb was defined as "a word that can take the suffix -s to indicate third
person singular present tense and -ing to indicate present participle (continuing action)." All
English verbs except the modal auxiliaries and the verb be fit this definition. We know that
verbs are necessary in the creation of sentences. A sentence must contain, minimally, a subject
and a verb.

The verbs described in Chapter Five are called finite verbs. English also has a category
of non-finite verbs, which share some of the characteristics of finite verbs and some of the
characteristics of other parts of speech. Like finite verbs, non-finite verbs show tense and voice.
When non-finite verbs occur alone in a sentence, they do not have any predicating fimction-(that -
is, they can not function as verbs). Instead, they function as substantives or modifiers. When
they occur in a phrasal unit, the entire phrasal unit functions as a substantive or modifier. Non-
finite verbs also are different from verbs in their formal characteristics. Finite verbs can take the
third-person singular inflection -s, but non-finite verbs can not.

The following list contains one example of each of the different forms that an English
non-finite verb can take:

choosing to choose
having chosen to have chosen
chosen to be choosing
having been choosing to have been choosing
being chosen to be chosen
having been chosen to have been chosen

If we try to make a sentence using one of these foims as the verb, we find that we create
structures that are unacceptable as sentences:

Mary choosing a new dress.

The President having chosen a new Secretary of Defense.
The man chosen for the honor.

If we change the non-finite verb form choosing to the finite verb form chooses or place the
auxiliary is in front of it, we have an acceptable sentence:

Mary chooses a new dress.

Mary is choosing a new dress.

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As we can see then, a finite verb can complete a predication (function as the verb in a sentence); a
non-finite verb can not. Non-finite verbs have traditionally been called verbals, the term which will
be used in this book.

Verbals are fixed verb forms that can not take the suffix -s to indicate third person singular
present tense and that can not complete a predication (i.e., can not function as the verb in a
sentence).

There are three types of verbals in English--participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

Participles

Participles are non-finite verbs used as modifiers. Usually they modify substantives, but
they occasionally modify verbs and adjectives as well:

The clanging bell could be heard throughout the town. (modifies substantive bell)
Sister Mary Frances is known as "the singing nun." (modifies substantive nun)
Her son's baptism is one of her cherished memories. (modifies substantive memories)
He came running. (modifies the verb came)
The child was soaking wet. (modifies adjective wet)
The room was freezing cold. (modifies adjective cold)

When participles occur as modifiers of substantives, they can be placed in all of the same
positions that descriptive adjectives can he placed in.

She picked up the wailing child. (Attributive position—before the noun it modifies)
The old woman, complaining and sighing, refused to leave her home. (Appositive
position—following the noun it modifies)
The boy seemed frightened. (Predicate position—following a linking verb)
He found the task exhilarating. (Objective complement position—following the direct
object)

Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a word is a participle functioning as a subject

complement-adjective or part of a progressive verb. The following sentences appear to be
structurally identical:
Susan's mother is sewing.
The prisoner was yelling.
The actor is perspiring.

Susan's mother is charming.

The prisoner was frightening.
The actor is interesting.
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The first group of sentences conform to Sentence Pattern 1: S Intr V; the participle is part
of a finite verb phrase (is sewing, was yelling, and is perspiring). We can make the verbs in the
first two sentences transitive (S TrV DO): for example, Susan's mother is sewing a new blouse
and The prisoner was yelling threats. And all three of the verbs can take an adverb modifier
(Susan's mother is sewing hurriedly; The prisoner was yelling loudly, and The actor is perspiring
profusely).

In the second group of sentences, a direct object cannot be added to any of the sentences
without changing their meaning. We could say "Susan's mother is charming all the young men,"
but the meaning is very different from that in —SUSall'S mother is charming," In each sentence in the
second group, intensifiers like very, rather, or extremely can be placed before the words
charming frightening, and interesting. Therefore, the -ing words in the second group of
sentences are not part of the finite verb phrase but they are participles. The participles function
in each of the three sentences as subject complement-adjective; all three sentences in the second
group conform to Sentence Pattern 7: S LV SC-adjective.

Like finite verbs, participles show tense (although fewer tenses than the finite verb) and
voice.

Tenses of the Participle

Active Passive

Present breaking being broken

Past broken
Present Perfect having broken having been broken
Present Perfect (progressive) having been breaking

Although the past participle of a regular verb is always identical in form to the past tense
(e.g., treated/treated, finished/finished, and summoned/summoned), the past participle can be
easily recognized by the way that it is used in a sentence. It will always function as a modifier
and not as the verb of the sentence.

He built the stairs out of treated wood. (Participle modifying wood)

Someone treated the wood. (Finite verb functioning as the verb of the sentence)

Gerunds

Gerunds are non-finite verbs that usually function as substantives; however, they
occasionally function as modifiers (much like a noun modifying another noun).
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The following sentences provide examples of gerunds in their typical substantive
function:

Reading is one of his favorite pastimes. (subject)

Sarah prefers skiing. (direct object)
The generals didn't give withdrawing serious consideration. (indirect
object)
His speech impediment is stuttering.. (subject complement-substantive)
The hunter was shot for trespassing. (object of preposition)
His only weakness, gambling, has crippled him financially. (appositive)

Occasionally, gerunds are used as modifiers, much like a noun used to modify another
noun. The gerund-noun combination is similar to a compound noun. They can be contrasted
with participles modifying nouns:

Gerund + noun Participle ± noun

swimming pool swimming duck

spinning wheel spinning top
sleeping porch sleeping child
living quarters living plant
running shoes running deer
waiting room waiting car

The stress pattern is very different in the two phrases swimming pool and swimming duck. The
stress on the first syllable of the gerund is much heavier than the stress on the first syllable of the
participle; this stress pattern is typical of compound nouns. The paraphrase of each construction
is also different. A. swimming pool is a "pool for mrimmin ," and a swimming duck is a "duck
which is swimming.`'

Gerunds occur in two tenses — present and present perfect—and in the active and passive
voice.

Tenses of the Gerund

Active Passive

Present cheating being cheated

Present Perfect having cheated having been cheated
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Some words that started out as gerunds have acquired characteristics associated with
nouns (taking the -s inflection to indicate plurality or being preceded by an article).

This summer, we attended two family gatherings.

We bought several carvings at the tourist shop.
In the summer and fall of 2001, the stock market took a beating.
The child's mother gave him a spanking.

Because these words display the characteristics of nouns rather than verbs, we will
include them in the class of nouns rather than in the class of gerunds.

Infinitives

The infinitive is a non-finite verb that can function as a substantive or as a modifier.

Most of the time, the infinitive appears as the base form of the verb preceded by to (the sign of •
the infinifive). The following sentences show the infinitive with to in some of its substantive and
modifying functions:

"To err is human . ." (Subject)

His purpose was to conquer. (Subject Complement-substantive)
He loves to eat. (Direct Object)
That is definitely the place to go. (Modifies place)
Sylvia always plays to win. (Modifies verb plays)
He is eager to please. (Modifies adjective eager)

The infinitive can occur also without to. When it occurs without to, it is identical to the form of
the verb used in the present tense in all persons and numbers except third person singular.
However, the infinitive without to can be easily distinguished from the finite verb. The infinitive
will always function as a substantive or modifier, never as the verb of a sentence.

I apologize{ ou apologizelW e apologize/They apologize (Finite verb)

He will do anything except apologize. (infinitive functioning as object of
preposition)
He can do all of the domestic chores but cook. (infinitive functioning as
object of preposition)
All he does is gripe. (Infinitive functioning as subject complement-
substantive)
What he should do is confess. (Infinitive functioning as subject
complement-substantive)

The infinitive occurs in two tenses --present and present perfect Transitive infinitives,
like transitive verbs, can be put into the passive voice.