The category of voice. The number of voices in Modern English. Types of passive constructions in English. Reasons for the frequent occurrence of the passive voice in English

A gr cat-ry which charact-zes the rel-ns betw the doer & the obj of the act-n expr-ed by the f of the predicate V. The cat of Vc is represented as an opp-n of forms (give-AV & be givenPV). Some f-s of AVce find no parallel in the PV (F. Cont, Pr/P Perf Cont, F.Perf Cont). In some cases cause of the lex-l character of the V the subj of active constr can’t be regarded as the doer of the act: 1) he hurt his leg, he lost his father. We come across some disagreement betw the gr f of theV & its lex m-ng. It turns out that the subj in these s-ces is the sufferer of the act & not the doer. They’r treated as activ constr only due to the f of the V. 2) The concert began, the door opened. The V’s used in the AVce, it denotes an act which goes on in the subj itself. This m-ng of the V is calld middle 3) Jon shaved, the boy washed. The subj of theact is at the same time the objÞ reflective m-ng 4)they kissed. The subj is the obj of the act, but here the references of the subj & obj performing the same act r diff. The form of the subj’s pl. The reciprocal (взаимн)m-me Cat-ry is a unity of f & m-ng. In the majority of cases the subj of the pass (P) constr is the obj of the s-ce. Бархуд-в ®term non-pass to define the m-ng of the AVce. types of passive const-s. 1) the direct P. the subj here is the direct obj in the Aconstr: coal is used for making goods. But there’r restrictnz.

2) the Indirect P. The indirect obj is to become a subj (he was offered a new job. the IP is highly restricted. It’s freely used with the V to give (give an opportunity, a chance) + offer, show, promise. 3) the prep-nal P. A prep-l obj of a V becomes a subj of a P constr. Some restr-ns: this constr is mostly found with Vs of every day use(speak, talk, look, laugh + take care over, lose sight of). But never with Vs which take 2 obj (direct & prep-nal) (explain, dictate, declare, announce, dedicate: the rule was explained to us) 4) The adverbal P. the subj corresponds to the adv.modifier in the A constr. Only 2 s-ces in this type & they’r restr-ed to literary style (the house wasn’t lived in, the bad wasn’t slept in). Why P is so frequent. Using it we have a poss-ty to change the W-order in a s-ce & place the most important info in the end-poss-n (the boy wrote a letter (a new obj), the letta was written by the boy). But in the majority of En s-ces the doer of the act is not mentioned cause the doer is often not known & can’t be stated (the house was broken) (the doer is self-evident)./ He was elected MP – when the by-phr is absent it’s possbl to shift the attention of the listener to oth parts of the s-ce./ The letta was delivered in time. In En the № of Vs which can take a direct obj is very large & the use of the dir pattern is practically unlimited.

11. The category of Aspect. The meaning of common and continuous aspect. Lexical and grammatical expression of aspect in English

Aspect is a grammatical category which characterizes the way in which the action

expressed by the verb is carried out. In Russian- соверш\несовершенный вид

The imperfect aspect expresses actions without indicating a limit beyond which the action

cannot continue.

Я читал.

The perfect aspect denoted actions which are limited in their duration.

Я прочитал.

In Russian aspect is a gr. Category because it has a special meaning and a special form to

express the meaning, we often employ suffixes and prefixes.

Прыгать \ прыгнуть

In English grammarians of the past didn't find aspective distinctions in the English verb.

They rather spoke of the 4 groups of tenses, These classifications are still found in

English. Nevertheless the majority of grammarians believe that English verb has the

category of aspect.

Aspect can be expressed lexically and grammatically.

1. Aspect can be expressed by the lexical character of the verb.

VERBS

Terminative

Durative

Imply a limit beyond which the action cannot go An action can continue indefinitely

To love to catch

To hate to nod

to jump

2.The category of aspect here isn't expressed formally and the meaning becomes clear from the context. It's revealed through the opposition of 2 forms. Common aspect as opposed to continuous aspect.

Grammarians debate the number of aspects and the inventory of aspect forms. In common

linguistics the most common point of view - 2 aspects - progressive and perfective.

Joose: there exists temporary aspect and generic aspect, the form of the continuous aspect

is marked - the discontinuous morpheme to be + ing is employed.

Most grammarians agree that the difference between the continuous and common aspect

form is not temporal.

E.g, He speaks English. He was speaking English.

He is speaking English. He spoke English

Describing the aspective distinction we should mention that the continuous aspect has a specialized meaning. It is used to indicate incomplete actions which are in progress at the moment or at the certain period of time. E.g. He was studying English at 5 o'clock yesterday. The common aspect describes events in a general way.

To prove that the context is of importance we should sum up the basic meanings of the common aspective forms. They may denote:

- momentary actions

E.g. She dropped the plane.

- recurrent actions

E.g. I get up at 7 o'clock.

- Actions occupying a long period of time.

E.g. He studied there for 5 years.

- actions of unlimited duration

E.g. The Earth goes round the sun.

There's no direct correspondence between Russian aspect and the English aspect, the

English common aspect may correspond both to the Russian perfective and imperfective

aspect.

E.g. The girl played the piano well. Девушка хорошо играла на рояле.

The girl played the waltz and everybody applauded her. Девушка сыграла вальс и ей аплодировали.

The English continuous aspect corresponds to the Russian imperfective aspect only.

E.g. When I entered the girl was playing the piano. ...она играла...