AS/EN 2710
Lecture 3 Notes
Fall 2012
I’m going to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.
I’ve got a problem; I gotta do something about it.
Reed-Kellogg Diagrams
The proud city of Coriander repelled the besieging Ostrogoths.
What is the main line? NP + VP (whether s.v.o. or s.v.complement)
1) Hard vertical going through the horizontal dividing NP from VP,
divisions into grammatically separate slots on either side of this
hard divide being marked by verticals that do not pierce the
horizontal. Slots that complement other mainline items marked
with a backslash.
2) If a complement is a prepositional phrase, it sits on a pedestal above
the horizontal.
3) In all other cases, modifiers are added, initially at least, diagonally,
attached to the horizontal line beneath the word they modify—this
includes determiners, which are understood by the diagrammatic
logic as being adjectival in their function.
4) Qualifiers of adjectives and adverbs are placed on diagonal lines
attached to and parallel with the adjective.
5) Direct Objects are placed on the main horizontal line, Indirect
Objects are attached beneath on a diagonal—that diagonal
occupied by the preposition if a preposition is use and blank if the
preposition is not, the object itself, or at least the object’s
headword is place on a horizontal line, parallel to the main line.
Tree diagrams
The proud city of Coriander repelled the besieging Ostrogoths.
1) Leave sentences as they are arranged. S at the top marking the
Sentence.
2) First branch marking subject and predicate NP (subject); VP
(predicate)
3) Second branch breaking the NP and VP into their components,
labelling first by part of speech, then by function as in PrepPh: Advreason. This second branching can have many stages butt it leads finally
to
4) the last branch which labels each word by part of speech
immediately above the word.
Verb forms
amo, amas, amat; amamus, amatis, amant
(present indicative active)
amor, amaris, amatur; amamur, amamini, amantur
(present indicative passive)
The five basic forms of the verb in English
-s form
-ed form
-ing form
-en form
base (present)
3rd-person singular
past
present participle
past participle
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
7 types of Irregular Verbs
www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs/
1) bend, bent, bent (change in consonant in p and pp, the latter two identical)
also, build, have, make, learn, &c.
2) show, showed, shown (p. regular –ed form, pp. –en form often with “e”
elided) also, mow, sew, shear, swell (swollen).
3) say, said, said (change in the vowel or the vowel sound) also hear, lost,
feel, leap, &c
4) speak, spoke, spoken (no –ed form in the pm vowel change; -en form pp)
also blow, hide, see, bite, write, &c
5) hit, hit, hit (all forms identical—some archaic –ed forms) also burst, hurt,
fit, rid, cut, quit, put, &c
6) find, found, found (looks almost exactly like type 3 but does not have a –d
or –t inflection in the simple past—many verbs of this type end in ‘d’ or
‘t’ to start with) also feed, read, bleed, fight, light, hang, &c
7) begin, began, begun (three different forms, neither an –ed, nor an –en
inflection) also drink, sing, shrink, swim, &c.
Base
Past simple
Participle / Gerund
Past Participle
Abide
Alight
Arise
Awake
Be
Bear
Beat
Become
Begin
Behold
Bend
Bet
Bid
Bid
Abode/Abided/Abidden Abides
Alit/Alighted
Alights
Arisen
Arises
Awoken
Awakes
Been
Is
Born/Borne
Bears
Beaten
Beats
Become
Becomes
Begun
Begins
Beheld
Beholds
Bent
Bends
Bet
Bets
Bidden
Bids
Bid
Bids
Abode/Abided
Alit/Alighted
Arose
Awoke
Was/Were
Bore
Beat
Became
Began
Beheld
Bent
Bet
Bade
Bid
3rd Person Sing.
Present
Abiding
Alighting
Arising
Awaking
Being
Bearing
Beating
Becoming
Beginning
Beholding
Bending
Betting
Bidding
Bidding
Usage moment: The worst irregular verbs.
to lie: to be or stay at rest in a horizontal position; to be placed on a
horizontal surface
to lay: to cause to lie down; to place in or bring to a particular position; to
put up to or again; to put forward as reproach or accusation
Present
Lie
Lay
Past
Lay
Laid
Past Part.
Lain
Laid
3rd Sing
Lies
Lays
Pres. Part.
Lying
Laying
Auxilliaries
the basic auxiliaries, be and have
Have takes the –en form, the past participle, and that be takes the -ing for,
the present participle, which is the meaning of their annoying little
formula
(have + -en) (be + -ing) MV
Let’s also note that the have + -en form expressed completedness, even if
that completedness has not yet occurred (hence perfect), while the be +
-ing form expresses on-goingness even if that ongoingness has ended
long since (hence progressive).
Modals
Which affect the “mood” of the verb conveying probability, possibility,
obligation, intention, necessity, &c.
There are 6 primary modal auxiliaries in English four of which have presents
and pasts will/would; shall/should; can/could; may/might, and two that
have no past form must and ought to.
Subjunctive
1) conveys a strong, practically binding, suggestion or recommendation
“While waving his stone-mason’s hammer, he suggested that the
student turn off his cell-phone. Human Relations insisted that the
hammer-wielding professor seek psychiatric help. In the end the
tribunal decreed that the professor make full and appropriate restitution
for smashing the cell-phone.” And
2) expressing a wish or a condition contrary to fact “If I were in Prof. Thor’s
class, I’d turn that thing off. If Prof. Thor weren’t a monster raving
loony, he might almost be amusing.”
What disappears is the –s form for the third person singular and “were”
replaces “was” in past forms of to be.
Suggested verbs that work here: command, demand, ask, require,
recommend, propose, and in the legislatives sense, move—all followed
by a “that” clause employing the base verb form,
Tense and aspect:
two elements of temporality expressed in the form of the verb—as we’ve
observed, in their auxiliary-free state verbs in English have only present
and past tenses. To express any other relation to time than simple
present or simple pastness, we have to expand the verb by growing
words and forms around it.
Hence: T (M) (have + -en) (be + -ing) MV
The roster:
simple present,
past,
present perfect,
present perfect progressive,
future,
future perfect progressive
present progressive,
past progressive,
past perfect,
past perfect progressive,
future perfect.
How the test will be
Students are asked to compose a coherent paragraph (or two, or more)
that features the eighteen required grammatical elements enumerated below.
Students are asked to identify the elements by placing the element’s assigned
number in brackets immediately after its use. The grader will not guess.
Successful use of each element will be valued at 5 marks. Partial grades may be
assigned for inspired guesses but, in general, if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. The final
10 grades are discretionary for the grader and will evaluate the coherence of the
paragraphs as a whole. That is, a series of eighteen unrelated, random sentences
might obtain 90/90 for being wholly correct. It will, however, receive 0/10 for
coherence.
Students will employ:
• two distinct forms, other than the base (including the past participle) of two
of the following irregular verbs (#1-4)
• one instance of each of the following verb tenses/aspects (#5-7)
• one instance a phrasal (multiple-word) auxiliary (# 8)
• two passive constructions one of which must be in a tense other than the
simple present (#9-10)
• two uses of the verb do, once as a modal and once as a pseudo-auxiliary
(#11-12)
• one instance of each of the following moods (# 13-14)
• one instance each of a subject complement and an object complement with
a verb other than to be (#15-16)
• two instances of the mystery element (#17-18). This one will be named on
the actual test but it’s the one thing you could actually prepare in advance.
Autumn begins today. Summer ended yesterday.
I am teaching AS/EN 2710 this term. I teach AS/EN 2710.
I am trying to keep this interesting.
I was trying to make this stuff less dull, but have now given that
up.
Elvis had abandoned all hope of rescue even before he smelt the
python’s breath.
The snake had been fasting contentedly for weeks until the scent of
rank adventurer’s sweat whet his appetite.
Perhaps I will dine tonight, he thought, I will have digested the last
of that capybara before the corpse starts properly to rot.