Tài liệu A handbook of english grammar

A HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR SOME OTHER ELBS LOW-PRICED EDITIONS Collins French Gimson Glover Gowers Gowers Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens Herbert Hill Homby Homby Homby and Parnwell Jones (revised by Gimson) Jupp and Milne O'Connor Palmer Quirk Scott, Bowley, Brockett, Brown and Goddard Thomson and Martinet Thomson and Martinet Vallins Vallins Webster Wood Wood A Book of English Idioms English in Tables An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English Build Up Your English The Complete Plain Words Fowler's Modern English Usage The Linguistic Sciences and Language Teaching Longman Oxford University Press Arnold Dent Penguin Oxford University Press Longman The Structure of Technical English A Guide to Correct English Guide to Patterns and Usage in English Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English And English Reader's Dictionary Longman Oxford University Press Oxford University Press Oxford University Press Everyman's English Pronouncing Dictionary English Sentence Structure Better English Pronunciation Dent Oxford University Press A Grammar of English Words The Use of English English Grammar Heinemann Educational Cambridge University Press Longman Longman Heinemann Educational A Practical English Grammar Oxford University Press A Practical English Grammar Combined Exercises, Vols. I & II The Best English Good English: How to Write It Read Well and Remember Current English Usage English Prepositional Idioms Oxford University Press Pan Pan Pan Macmillan Macmillan A HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR R. W. ZANDVOORT Emeritus Professor of English in the University of Groningen with the assistance of J. A. VAN EK Director of the Institute of Applied Linguistics of the University of Utrecht Seventh Edition THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BOOK SOCIETY and LONGMAN GROUP LTD LONGMAN GROUP LIMITED London Associated companies, branches and representatives throughout the world © R. W. Zandvoort 1962, 1965, 1967 © R. W. Zandvoort and J. A. van Ek 197o, 1972, 5975 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner. ISBN o 582 55339 3 First published 1957 Second edition 1962 Third edition 1965 Fourth edition 1967 Fifth edition 197o Sixth edition 1972 Seventh edition 1975 Fifth edition published for E.L.B.S. 1970 Sixth edition published for E.L.B.S. 1972 Seventh edition published for E.L.B.S. 1975 ELBS edition reprinted 1976 PRINTED IN SINGAPORE BY SINGAPORE OFFSET PRINTING CO. (PTE) LTD. PREFACE THIS book was originally designed as a manual of English grammar for Dutch students. As such it ran into six editions in less than twice as many years, and drew a good deal of attention outside the Netherlands. A French version (Grammaire Descriptive de l'Anglais Contemporain) appeared in 1949, and more than one reviewer urged the desirability of a unilingual edition for general use, with the comparisons with and translations into Dutch left out. The author is obliged to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. for enabling him to comply with these flattering suggestions, and to Messrs. J. B. Wolters, the publishers of the English-Dutch edition, for their co-operation. He has availed himself of the opportunity to subject the whole work to a thorough revision, and to introduce a number of additions and textual alterations where these seemed to be called for. As the French title well expresses it, this is a descriptive grammar of contemporary English. It deals with accidence and syntax, leaving aside what belongs rather to idiom and is not amenable to general statement. It likewise eschews historical digressions; contemporary and historical (or, in the terminology of modern linguistics, synchronic and diachronic) grammar are, in the author's opinion, best treated separately. In this, as in other respects, he confesses himself a pupil of Kruisinga, whose Handbook of PresentdayEnglish, despite certain extravagances in its fifth and final edition, is still the most original and stimulating treatment of English syntax. While specific comparisons with Dutch usage have been removed, some of them have been replaced by references to other languages. They may help both British and continental students to realize some of the peculiar features of the English language. Identity is sometimes most clearly brought out by contrast. If I have anywhere erred by generalizing, I shall be glad to have instances pointed out to me. PREFACE Vi As will be seen, this book contains numerous references to other publications. This is done deliberately, to impress upon the student the fact that a handbook is only a point of departure. If it has not roused his curiosity and encouraged him to further research, it has at least partly failed of its purpose. Groningen R. W. ZANDVOORT NOTE ON THE SECOND TO FOURTH EDITIONS THESE editions contain a number of corrections and additions, many of which are due to four important books on modern English that have recently appeared, viz. Present-Day English Syntax, by G. Scheurweghs (London, 1960), The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation, by H. Marchand (Wiesbaden, 1960), Notions Essentielles d' Anglais, by J. Zajicek (Paris, 1965), and A Modern English Grammar, by K. Schibsbye (London, 1965). For other improvements the author is indebted to reviewers of the first edition and to such experts as Dr. J. A. van Ek, Mr. P. A. Erades, Dr. J. Gerritsen, Mr. N. E. Osselton, M.A., Mr. J. Posthumus, Mr. P. M. Vermeer, and Dr. F. T. Wood, by whose articles in periodicals (English Studies, Moderna Sprak) or private communications he has greatly profited. R. W. ZANDVOORT Amersfoort NOTE ON THE FIFTH TO SEVENTH EDITIONS THESE editions have benefited by the active collaboration of Dr. J. A. van Ek, whose assistance will also extend to any future editions. Valuable comments have again been contributed by Dr. J. Gerritsen, Mr. N. E. Osselton, M.A., and Mr. J. Posthumus. R. W. ZANDVOORT Amersfoort CONTENTS Chap. Page Preface v PART I VERBS Introductory 1 Regular Verbs 1-5.1- Irregular Verbs 6-11. - Grouping of Forms and Functions 12. I. Infinitive 4 Plain Infinitive 13-21. - Infinitive with to 22-36. Accusative with Infinitive 37-45. - Nominative with Infinitive 46-52. - For + Acc. with Infinitive 53-60. Anaphoric to 61. II. Gerund and Present Participle 24 General 62-63. - Gerund 64-74. - Present Participle 75-87. - Progressive 88-98. - Verbal Forms in ing not derived from Verb Stems 99. - Gerund or Present Participle ? 100-105. HI. Past Participle - Passive Voice 48 Past Participles 106-116. - Passive Voice 117-125. IV. Present, Past, and Perfect Tenses 58 General 126-127. - Present Tense 128-134. - Past Tense 135-136. - Modal Preterite 137-139. - Perfect Tense 140-142. - Pluperfect 143-146. V. Auxiliaries 64 General 147-148. - Can-May 149-163. - Must-OughtShould 164-168. - Shall-Should 169-178. - WillWould 179-184. - Future Tense 185-193. - To Do 194202. - To Dare and To Need 203-209. - Used (to) 210-213. VI. Mood and Modality . . 86 Subjunctive 214-221. - Modal Preterite 222. - Auxiliaries of Modality 223. - Adverbs of Modality 224. 1Except in the right-hand margin, references, as throughout the book, are to sections. vii viii CONTENTS PART II NOUNS Chap. Page Introductory 90 . . Regular Nouns 225-232. - Irregular Nouns 233-238. - Nouns with only one Number Form 239-244. - Plurals and Genitives of Classical Nouns 245-246. I. Use of the Number Forms . . . . . . . . 97 Class-Nouns 247-248. - Abstract and Material Nouns 249-250. - Nicknames 251. - Names of Seasons etc. 252. - Attributive Nouns 253-258. - Collective Nouns 259-266. - Numeratives 267-268. IL Use of the Genitive 103 . . . . . . . The Genitive Singular 269-292. [General 269. - Attributive Genitive 270-274. - (Semi-)independent Genitive 275-276. - Post-Genitive 277. - Local Genitive 278284. - Specifying Genitive 285. - Classifying Genitive 286. - Specifying and Classifying Genitive Compared 287291. - Relations between Genitive and Headword 292.] - The Genitive Plural 293-299. - Genitive and OfAdjunct 300-317. HI. Use of the Definite Article 117 Uses and Functions of the Definite Article 318-325. Absence of Definite Article 326-339. IV. Use of the Indefinite Article 124 Uses and Functions of the Indefinite Article 340-348, 352-353. - Absence of Indefinite Article 349-351. PART III PRONOUNS I. Personal Pronouns 128 General 354-362. - He She It 363-375. - Gender 376. - Other Uses of It, 377-385. - II. Possessive Pronouns . - . . . . . 138 General 386-394. - Independent Possessives 395-397. - Relations between Possessive Pronoun and Headword 398. - Possessive Pronoun and Of-Adjunct 399-400. Own 401-405. CONTENTS iX Chap. Page III. Compound Personal Pronouns ...... . 144 Forms 406. - Weak-stressed Use 407. - Strong-stressed Use 408-410. - Reciprocal Sense 411. IV. Demonstrative Pronouns . . . . 147 Forms 412. - Deictic and Anaphoric Functions 413-420. - Determinative Function 421-423. - Anaphoric So 424-431. - Such 432-435. V Interrogative Pronouns . . .. .... . 155 Who 436-440. - What 441-445. - Which 446-448. Phrases and Constructions 449. - Who ever, what ever, which ever 450. VI. Relative Pronouns ...... . . . . 160 Who 451-455. - Which 456-461. - Restrictive and Continuative Clauses 462. -, That 463-466. - Absence of Relative Pronoun 467-469. - What 470-472. - Whoever, whichever, whatever 473 474. - VII. Indefinite Pronouns 168 Some and Any 475-483. - Every 483-485. - Each 486. - All 487-490. - Both 491-494. - Either 495497. -Neither 498-499. - None 500-501. - One 502-528. - No 529-536. - Compound Indefinite Pronouns 537543. - (An)other 544-548. - Else 549. - Other Indefinite Pronouns 550. PART IV ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS Introductory 1R7 Adjectives and Nouns 551. - Adjectives and Pronouns 552. - Adjectives and Adverbs 553. - Adverbs as Adjuncts 554. Comparison 188 Comparison by means of suffixes 555-556; Comparison by more and most 557-562; Irregular Comparison 563-566; Compound Adjectives 567; Contrast or Superiority 568; Comparative of Proportion 569; Comparative of Gradation 570; Absolute Superlative 571; Comparative of Infer.urity etc. 572. CONTENTS PART V SENTENCE STRUCTURE Page Chap. I. The Simple Sentence . . . . . . . 195 Definition 573. - One-Word Sentences 574. - Sentences of more than One Word 575. - Two-Nucleus Sentences 576. - Subject and Predicate 577-580. - Predicative Adjectives and Nouns 581-583. - Objects, Direct and Indirect 584-586. -- Prepositional Objects 587. - Adjuncts 588. - Attributive Adjuncts 589. - Appositions 590. Attributive and Predicative Adjectives 591. - Predicative Adjuncts 592. - Adverbial Adjuncts 593-594. - Prepositional Adjuncts 595-597. - Adjuncts and Objects 598. - Declarative Sentences 599-600. - Interrogative Sentences 601-604. - Imperative Sentences 605-606. - Prohibitions 607. - Interjections 608. - Omission of Subject 609. - Free Adjuncts 610-614. - Simple and Compound Sentence 615. II. The Compound Sentence 212 Main Clauses and Sub-Clauses 616-617. - Attributive Clauses 618-627. - Predicative Clauses 628. - Adverbial Clauses 629-643. - Object Clauses 644-648. Content Clauses 649. - Subject Clauses 650-652. - Predicate Clauses 653-654. - Transitional Cases 655. - Appended Questions 656-657. - Appended Statements 657-658. - Coordinate Clauses 659-663, III. Sentence Groups 229 Groups of two Adjoining Sentences 664-668. - Confirmative Questions and Statements 669-670. - Denials 671. - Answers to Verbal Questions 672. -- Predicate applied to another Subject 673. - Two Sentences Combined 674. - Second Sentence introduced by Coordinating Conjunction 675.- Second Sentence introduced by Adverb 676. - Interrupted Sentence 677. IV. Additional Remarks on Conjunctions 234 678-680. PART VI ORDER OF WORDS Order of Words 236 General 681. -' Normal' and `inverted' order 682-683. Sentences beginning with unstressed there 684. - Inverted xi CONTENTS Page Chap. order in Declarative Sentences 685-690. - Interrogative Sentences 691. - Imperative Sentences 692. - Exclamatory Sentences 693. - Place of Objects 694-699. Place of Attributive Adjuncts 700-712.-Place of Piedicative Adjuncts 713. - Place of Adverbial Adjuncts 714-729. - Word-order in Sub-Clauses 730-736. - Order of Clauses 737-741. PART VII CONCORD Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 General 742-743. - Concord of Person 744-746. Concord of Number 747-767. - Concord of Gender 768. - Concord of Tense 769. PART VIII CONVERSION Conversion . . . . . . . ...... 265 General 770-773. - Complete Conversion 774-777. [Verbs as Nouns 774. - Nouns as Verbs 775. - Adjectives as Verbs 776. - Adverbs as Nouns or Verbs 777.] Partial Conversion 778-802. [Adjectives as Nouns 778791. - Nouns as Adjectives 792-800. - Adverbs as Adjectives 801. - Sentences as Nouns or Verbs 802.1 PART IX WORD FORMATION I. Composition 277 Definition 803. - Compound Nouns 804-814. - Compound Adjectives 815-818. - Compound Pronouns 819. - Compound Verbs 820-825. - Other Parts of Speech 826. - Repetition Compounds 827-830. - Hyphens 831. II. Derivation 289 General 832-836. - Prefixes 837-873. - Suffixes 874955. [Nouns 875-910. (Personal and Concrete NonPersonal Nouns 875-885. - Diminutives 886-891. Abstract and Collective Nouns 892-910.) Adjectives 911944. - Verbs 945-948. - Adverbs 949-955.] CONTENTS XII Page Chap. 323 III. Additional Remarks on Word Formation Back-formation 956. — Shortening 957-958. — Portmanteau-words 959. — Words composed of Initials 960. APPENDIX Irregular Verbs To Have To Be Verbal Forms with thou Third Person Singular in (e)th Spelling of Inflected and Derived Forms Pluralia Tantum Classical and other Foreign Plurals Traditional Genitives Weak Forms of Pronouns Objects and Prepositional Adjuncts Mood — Modal — Modality American English Verbal Form in -ing preceded by a- • • 326 333 334 334 335 335 338 339 339 340 341 342 343 344 INDEX Index 345 The phonetic transcription is identical with that used in Daniel Jones's English Pronouncing Dictionary BOOKS REFERRED TO1 W. S. Allen, Living English Structure, London 1947. The American College Dictionary, New York 1947. R. A. Close, English as a Foreign Language, London 1962. W. E. Collinson, Spoken English, Leipzig 1929. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD). J. A. van Ek, Four Complementary Structures of Predication, Groningen 1966. H. W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford 1927 (MEU). C. C. Fries, The Structure of English, New York 1952. A. S. Hornby, A Guide to Patterns and Usage in English, London 1954. 0. Jespersen, A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, Heidelberg/Copenhagen 1909-1949. 0. Jespersen, Essentials of English Grammar, London 1933. D. Jones, An English Pronouncing Dictionary, 13th ed., London 1967 (EPD). H. Koziol, Handbuch der Englischen Wortbildungslehre, Heidelberg 1937. E. Kruisinga, A Handbook of Present-day English, 5th ed., Groningen 1931-2 (Handbooks). - Grammar and Idiom, Groningen 1935. E. Kruisinga and P. A. Erades, An English Grammar, 8th ed., Groningen R. B. Long, The Sentence and its Parts, Chicago 1961. [1953-1960. H. Marchand, The Categories and Types of Present-Day English WordFormation, Wiesbaden 1960. H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 4th ed., New York 1936. C. T. Onions, An Advanced English Syntax, London 1911, new ed., 1971. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED). H. E. Palmer, A Grammar of Spoken English, Cambridge 1924. H. Poutsma, A Grammar of Late Modern English, Groningen, Part I, 2nd ed., 1928 (Grammar2); Part II, 1914-1926. R. Quirk, S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartvik, A Grammar of Contemporary English, London 1972. F. L. Sack, The Structure of English, Cambridge & Berne 1954. G. Scheurweghs, Present-Day English Syntax, London 1959, 2nd ed., 1961. K. Schibsbye, A Modern English Grammar, London 1965, 2nd ed., 1970. B. M. H. Strang, Modern English Structure, London 1962. H. Sweet, A New English Grammar, Part I, Oxford 1900; Part II, Syntax, Oxford 1903. W. F. Twaddell, The English Verb Auxiliaries, Providence, R.I., 1960. A. C. E. Vechtman-Veth, A Syntax of Living English, Utrecht 1928. H. C. Wyld, The Universal Dictionary of the English Language, London 1936. J. Zajicek, Notions Essentielles d' Anglais, Paris 1965. R. W. Zandvoort, Collected Papers, Groningen 1954 and 1970. 1The dates are those of the editions used by the author. PART I VERBS INTRODUCTORY A. REGULAR VERBS 1. An English verb normally has the following forms: a. the stem: play, call, wait, pass; b. the stem + ing: playing, calling, waiting, passing; c. the stem + sibilant-suffix:' plays [pleiz], calls [ko:lz], waits [weits], passes ['pa:siz]. As appears from the examples, [iz] is used after stems ending in a sibilant, [z] in other cases, except after breathed consonants, [s] after breathed consonants, except sibilants. [iz] is spelt es; if the stem ends in e in the spelling (e.g. change), s only is added. [z] and [s] are spelt s. On spellings like cries (stem cry), goes (stem go), see Appendix, p. 336. d. the stem + dental-suffix:2played [pleid], called [ko :1d], waited ['weitid], passed [pa:st]. As appears from the examples, [id] is used after stems ending in [d] or [t], [d] in other cases, except after breathed consonants, [t] after breathed consonants, except [t]. The spelling is ed in all three cases; if the stem ends in e in the spelling (e.g. fade), d only is added. — On spellings like cried (stem cry), admitted (stem admit), see Appendix, p. 336 f. 2. The stem of an English verb is used in the following functions: a. INFINITIVE, often preceded by to3(13 ff.); b. PRESENT TENSE, with the exception of the third person singular (128 ff.); The sibilants (or hissing sounds) are [s], [z], [I] and [3]. adj. & n., (phon.) of certain consonantal sounds formed by placing point of tongue against, or near, the upper teeth; such sounds as [t, d, n, 0, a].' (Wyld, The Universal Dictionary s.v. dental.) 3 When referring to a verb by itself, it is customary to mention the stem preceded by to: To play is a regular verb.' Verbs that are not used as infinitives, however, are indicated by the mere stem: ' What is the past tense of can?' (See 6.) 2 1 2 C. VERBS SUBJUNCTIVE (214 ff.); d. IMPERATIVE (605 if.). 3. The stem + ing is used in the following functions: a. GERUND (62 if.); b. PRESENT (Or IMPERFECT) PARTICIPLE (75 if.). 4. The stem + sibilant-suffix is used as THIRD PERSON SINGULAR of the present tense (128 ff.; also 215 ff.). 5. The stem + dental-suffix is used in the following functions: PAST (Or PERFECT) PARTICIPLE (106 if.); b. PAST TENSE (Or PRETERITE rpretaritp (135 if.). a. B. IRREGULAR VERBS 6. The following verbs have only one of the four forms enumerated in 1, viz. the stem: can, may, must, shall, will. This stem is used in only one of the functions mentioned in 2, viz. the present tense, including, however, the third person singular, which in other verbs is expressed by the stem + sibilant-suffix (4). On must as a preterite, see 165. 7. To dare and to need occur in all four forms, but usually take no sibilant-suffix in the third person singular present tense when used as auxiliaries. To be, to do, and to have have irregular forms in the third person singular present tense: is [iz], does [dAz], and has [hxz], besides being irregular in other respects. 8. 9. Instead of the stem + dental-suffix, a fairly large number of verbs use an irregular form in the function of the past tense or the past participle, or of both. Verbs with an irregular past tense and a regular past participle are rare: crow — crew (usually crowed) — crowed; dare — durst (usually dared) — dared. Verbs with a regular past tense and an irregular past participle are somewhat more numerous (nine in all): hew — hewed — hewn (or hewed); show — showed — shown. Most of these verbs, however, have irregular forms for both functions. 3 10. Verbs with irregular forms for both the past tense and the past participle may be divided into four groups: a. Both the past tense and the past participle are identical with the stem: cut, let, spread. b. Either the past tense or the past participle is identical with the stem: beat — beat — beaten; run — ran — run. c. The past tense and the past participle are identical, but differ from the stem: bend — bent; bleed — bled; seek — sought. d. The past tense and the past participle differ from each other as well as from the stem: begin — began — begun; fall — fell — fallen. 11. Special mention should be made of the forms could, might, should and would, which serve as past tenses to can, may, shall and will (6). They are not used as past participles. On the isolated form ought see 167. INTRODUCTORY For further details of the irregular verbs, and for the conjugation of to have and to be, see Appendix. C. GROUPING OF FORMS AND FUNCTIONS 12. Of the functions of the verb stem enumerated in 2, two, viz. the present tense and the subjunctive, form a group with the third person singular (4) and the preterite (5b): (I) play (the piano) — (I suggest that she)layj(the piano) — (She) plays (the piano) — (I or She) played (the piano). While the subjunctive is invariable (216), the stem as present tense may, in a given context, be replaced by one of the inflected members of the group. The other two functions of the stem, viz. the imperative — Play! — and the infinitive — (Will you) play? (It is your turn to) play — are mutually exclusive, nor can either of them in a given context be replaced by an inflected member of the above group. The infinitive in English may, therefore, be defined as that function of the verb stem which (a) cannot by itself express a command, (b) does not belong to the group of four described above. In anticipation of p. 35, n. 5, it may be said that the infinitive is the use of the verb stem in a non-finite function. CHAPTER ONE INFINITIVE PLAIN INFINITIVE 13. The infinitive may occur either with or without a proclitic' particle.2 This particle is written to, and pronounced [tu] before a vowel, [to], sometimes [tu], before a consonant. The infinitive without to is known as the PLAIN INFINITIVE. 14. The plain infinitive is only used in a verbal, never in a nominal function. In cases where other languages use a plain infinitive as the subject, object or nominal predicate of a sentence, English uses either an infinitive with to or a gerund. ( ,.'N know him is to like him. Do you like swimming? (Cf. 68 ff.) 15. The plain infinitive is used either by itself, or in combination with another verb. The latter use, which is the commonest, will be discussed first. 16. The plain infinitive is used: a. with can/could, may/might, must, shall/should, will/would (cf. 6, 11 & 149 ff.). Tell him he may go home. She should have been more careful. Will you open another window? b. with to dare and to need (cf. 7 and 203 if.), chiefly in negative and interrogative sentences: How dare you come here ? He need not return the letter. 1Troclitic', adj. & noun, is defined by the Concise Oxford Dictionary (abbr. COD) as `(Monosyllable) closely attached in pronunciation to following word & having itself no accent' (the latter with reference to Greek). 2 A particle, acc. to COD, is a 'minor part of speech, esp. short indeclinable one'. (On the term 'part of speech', see 770.) 4