Handout 4a
Lesson 4 / handout 4a - KEY
Revision – miscellaneous issues based on Lesson 3:
- Either your eyesight or your brakes are at fault.
Either your brakes or your eyesight is at fault.
Apply the principle of proximity and fill in the gaps with the appropriate form of the verb be.
When conjoins differ in number, the principle of proximity is applied, i.e. the number of the second conjoin determines the number of the verb.
- His brother and the editor of his papers was / were with him when he died.
When using and, it is necessary to distinguish between coordination and coordinate apposition:
was = brother and editor have the same reference; were = two different people
- emphasizing negation
Rewrite the following sentences with the negative or near-negative word or phrase at the front:
There has never been so much protest against the Bomb. =
Never has there been so much protest against the Bomb.
There has seldom been so much protest against the Bomb.=
Seldom has there been so much protest … .
He little realizes how important this meeting is. =
Little does he realize how important this meeting is.
You must on no account accept any money if he offers it. =
On no account must you accept any money if he offers it.
I only then realized how much I loved him. =
Only then did I realize how much I loved him.
- INVERSION after negative adverbs: this INVERSION has to be done by means of auxiliary verbs (be, do, have, can, must, ….) + S + the rest of the sentence = subject – operator inversion. This kind of inversion, which may be used for particular emphasis, is typical of formal rhetoric and formal writing. It occurs in the following:
1) negative or near-negative adverbs (never, rarely, seldom), or adverbs having a negative effect (little, on no account):
Never / Seldom has there been so much protest against the Bomb.
Little does he realize how important this meeting is.
On no account must you accept any money if he offers it.
2) combinations with only (eg only after, only then):
Only then did I realize how much I loved him.
3) so + adj + (that), such + (that):
So sudden was the attack (that) we had no time to escape.
Such was his strength that he could bend iron bars.
d) scope of negation
What is the scope of negation?
= the stretch of the language over which the negative item has a semantic influence
- it normally extends from the negative item itself to the end of the clause
Explain the difference between:
I definitely don’t know what’s happening. = I am totally ignorant. I don’t have a clue what’s… (Vůbec nevím, absolutně netuším, co se děje.)
I don’t know definitely what’s happening. = I have a sort of rough idea, but I don’t know for sure
(Nevím přesně, nevím jistě, co se děje, ale něco tuším…)
I don’t particularly like oysters. = but I don’t mind them. I don’t like them very much.
(Ústřice nemám zrovna ráda, ale nevadí mi.)
I particularly don’t like oysters. = I really dislike them.
(Obzvláště nerada mám ústřice, opravdu je nemám ráda.)
e) Explain the difference between:
This window won’t open. X This window doesn’t open.
= is meant to be opened but can’t be (refusal) X = is not meant to be opened
f) Transform the following sentences with although using the modal may without changing their meaning:
Although she is a nice girl, she can be very stubborn. =
She may be a nice girl, but she can be very stubborn.
Although he is very rich, I don’t like him at all. =
He may be very rich, but I don’t like him at all.
Although she is very selfish, he still loves her.=
She may be very selfish, but he still loves her.
Although he pretends to be healthy he is actually seriously ill. =
He may pretend to be healthy, but he is actually seriously ill.
- we can use the structure may…but as a substitute for although (concession); may is not being used here to express possibility, but certainty
g) Why is this sentence incorrect:
I would like going to pop concerts when I was a teenager.
- it is not possible to use would with stative verbs to express repeated situations in the past; we have to use used to instead => I used to like going to pop concerts when I was a teenager. (would can be used only for habitual activities, i.e. with dynamic verbs)
h) What do the sentences below express:
He will play his music too loud when I’m trying to work.
He will leave the front door open when he goes out.
= persistent activity or habit, repeated in spite of our dislike or opposition
As soon as he woke up he would get things ready for breakfast.
When I was younger I would spend hours just kicking a ball around the garden.
= past habit or characteristic behaviour
The factory used to be in the city centre.
I used to be a heavy cigarette smoker.
= past states that have changed
John denies breaking my pen. Well, he would!
= his behaviour strikes us as typical, it’s typical of John; stressed, uncontracted would
She won’t tell me. I knew she wouldn’t tell me.
= refusal (in the present = won’t x in the past = wouldn’t)
He won’t be there tomorrow. I knew he wouldn’t be there.
= won’t and wouldn’t as tense auxiliary expressing future
References:
Greenbaum, S. and R. Quirk (1990) A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Harlow: Longman. – chapter 10 (pp 204 – 230)
Gethin, H. (1992) Grammar in Context. Proficiency Level English. Harlow: Longman. – chapter 11B (pp 122 – 126)