2017-11-01
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NOTE: Sentences with the impersonal it as subject very often correspond to Russian impersonal one-member sentences: It is late – Поздно.
The following sentences, however, correspond to Russian two-member personal sentences: It is snowing. – Идет снег.
2) The introductory or anticipatory it introduces the real subject.
It was curious to observe that child.
3) The emphatic it is used for emphasis.
It was he who brought back George to Amelia.
THE PREDICATE
The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence, which expresses an action, state, or quality of the person or thing denoted by the subject. It is grammatically dependent upon the subject.
Note: This definition does not cover sentences with the formal it as the subject. In these sentences the predicate expresses the state of weather, time or distance, and the subject only makes the sentence structurally complete.
As a rule the predicate contains a finite verb form, which may express tense, voice, mood, aspect and sometimes person and number. According to the structure and the meaning of the predicate we distinguish two main types: the simple predicate and the compound predicate.
THE SIMPLE PREDICATE
The simple verbal predicate is expressed by a finite verb in a simple or compound tense form. It generally denotes an action but sometimes it denotes a state, which is represented as an action.
He arrived at the lab next morning full of excitement.
She hates parties.
There is a special kind of predicate expressed by a phraseological unit such as get rid, get hold, take care, take part, take place, make fun, make up one’s mind, change one’s mind, pay attention, lose sight, have a wash, give a push, etc.
When we clear the forests we’ll get rid of such inconveniences.
The characteristic feature of this predicate is that the first component, i.e. the finite verb, has lost its concrete meaning to a great extent and forms one unit with the noun, consequently the noun cannot be treated as an object to the verb. This can also be easily proved by the impossibility of putting a question to the second component.
Compare: My friend gave me an interesting book to read.
The man gave a violent start.
We shall treat this kind of predicate as a subdivision of the simple predicate – a phraseological predicate.
We distinguish 2 types of phraseological predicates:
1) Word combinations of the following type: have a smoke, have a swim, have a run, give a laugh, give a push, take a look, make a move, etc.These combinations consist of a finite verb, which has to a great extent lost its concrete meaning and a noun formed from a verb and mostly used with the indefinite article.
The predicate denotes a momentary action. In Russian this shade of meaning is rendered by different prefixes and suffixes which express a momentary action.
He had a smoke. – Он покурил.
He gave a cry. – Он вскрикнул.
This type of phraseological predicate is characteristic of colloquial speech.
2) Word combinations of the following type: get rid of, get hold, make use, take care, lose sight, make fun, pay attention, make up one’s mind, change one’s mind, take part, etc.
The second component of these combinations is in most cases an abstract noun used without any article.
Then he caught his breath, suddenly reminded of something else.
