Grammar for advanced learners: All every whole - Thấm Tâm Vy

Nội dung text: Grammar for advanced learners: All every whole - Thấm Tâm Vy

1. - It was tahing Sally to the party that Mike did => What Mike did was take Sally GRAMMAR FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS (5) - It is totally unscrupulous that they are. => What they are is unscrupulous. 3. We can use this pattern to highlight the action in a sentence. For example, if we want Emphatic Structures and Inverslon to highlight Mike's action of taking Sally to the party: We often emphasise a particular part of a sentence, perhaps to contradict what someone wh-clause + a form of be + emphasised word or phrase else has said or for dramatic effect. ln speech we can do this with stress and intonation alone, but we can also do this by changing the position of elements in a sentence in - What Mike did was take Sally to the party. speech and in writing. ln this unit we look at the ways we can manipulate grammar to emphasise something, by splitting one sentence into two parts (cleft sentences) or by In these sentences what means the thing(s) that. The wh- clause must contain a verb. bringing the element we want to emphasise to the beginning (fronting). to highlight the action we use a form of do in the wh-clause. The highlighted phrase usually contains a bare infinitive (example above) or to + infinitive: CLEFT SENTENCES - What Mike did wos to take Sally to the party. 1. Cleft means divided. In a cleft sentence, information which could be given in one If the highlighted verb is in the continuous or perfect, the form of do matches it: clause is divided into two parts, each with its own verb: - The boys aren't leaving Sandy at home. They are taking him to the match. - Vanessa has made the greatest impact. (normal sentence: single clause, one verb) => What the boys are doing is taking Sandy to the match. - It is Vanessa | who has made the greatest. (cleft sentence: two clauses, two verbs) - Old members are absent but the new members have taken their seats in the assembly. This gives extra emphasis to part of the sentence. We often use this pattern to => What the new members have done is taken their seats in the assembly. emphasise some piece of new information, to give explanations or to make a contrast We can also use ‘wh-cleft’s to highlight a verb complement. For example, if we want with a previous statement (the emphasised information is in bold): to highlight the complement stingy in the sentence ‘Jean and Bob are stingy.’, we can - All of the Redgrave family are gifted actors. But it is Vanessa who made the greatest say: impact in the world of feature films. wh-clause + is + emphasised complement - ‘I remember your uncle taking us to the fair.' 'No, it was my father that took us What Jean and Bob are is stingy. there. We use this pattern most often when we want to express our opinion of something or 2. It cleft sentences have this structure: somebody using an adjective: It + a form of be (+ not and / or adverb) + empasized word / phrase + that / which / - 'Do gou think Jean and Bob are a bit cautious with their money?' who clause - 'Cautious? What they are is downright stingy. It isn't just his outlandish sense of humour that I’m complaining about. 4. We can use wh-clauses with when, where, why and who to highlight a person, a We can use this pattern to emphasise the subject or the object of a simple sentence, or place, a time and a reason, but we usually use an introductory noun phrase (underlined an adverbial phrase, or a prepositional phrase: below). The wh- clause acts like an ordinary relative clause: sentence => Mike took Sally to the party on Saturday. - Who we forgot to invite was Ian. => The one (who) we forgot to invite was Ian. emphasising the subject => It was Mike who took Sally to the party on Saturday. person - The guy who told me about the new club was Zock. emphasising the object = It was Sally (that) Mike took to the party on Saturday. place - The house where I used to live is near here. emphasising the adverbial => It was on Saturday (that) Mike took Sally to the party. time - The day (when) we left wqs the saddest day of my life. emphasising the prepositional phrase => It was to the party (that) Mike took Sally reason - The reason (why) they never told me is they don't trust me. on Saturday. We can emphasise an item (described by a noun phrase or a verb phrase) with the In informal English we can use when and where clauses, but we do not use how or (only / last) thing or all: why. - The thing I most disliked about the movie was the scene in the graveyard. - It was in January when I got the test results. - The only thing we want is a chance to air our grievances. - It's in Green Street market where we'll find the best bargains. - The last thing we did was pack the kettle. - It was greed why he dd it. => It was because of greed that he did it. - All we’re asking for is to be given a chance. - It is using a caleulator how he does it. => It is by using a calculator that he does it. We can also use the (only) thing wilh a negative verb:  We cannot use 'if-clefts' to highlight the action or a verb complement in a sentence. - The thing we won't do is repair goods bought in other shops. We use 'wh-clefts' to do this: - The only thing we didn't find was the key to the cellar. Thẩm Tâm Vy, July 5th, 2019 EMPHATIC STRUCTURES AND INVERSLON
2. 5. We can reverse the order of the parts in wh-cleft. sentences and put the emphasised part at the beginning: 3. We can put known information at the beginning of a sentence by putting adverbial - Taking Sandy to the match is what the boys are doing. phrases describing position or place (e.g. At the back of the house), verbs of position and - Zack was the guy who told me about the new club. movement (e.g. stand, attach, lie) and to + infinitive forms in the front position, with There is a form in spoken English similar to a reversed cleft using this and that: inversion of the subject and verb be. - We have to get off here. =>This is where we have to get off. - At the back of the house was an untidy garden, much of which was taken up by a - Theg told me the same thing. => That's what they told me. large and unkempt lawn. Standing in the corner of the garden was a massively  We only use reversed it-clefts in a formal literary style. We put the emphasised part overgrown silver birch tree which towered over the roof of the garage. Attached to the before it: roof was on unsightly FM aerial. - And thus Cezanne it was that took the first steps on the road to Impressionism. - For years I have been writing to the President in the White House. To meet him is my most fervent wish. FRONTING We can also front an infinitive form when it 'echoes' an earlier verb: 1. In spoken English we sometimes want to make a strong contrast with something in a - He said he would arrive on time. And he did (arrive on time). => And arrive on time previous statement. We can do this with objects and complements by 'fronting' them he did. (moving them to the front of the clause), which makes them more emphatic: We can front verbs and adjectives using as and though: - 'She's such a lovely person; so friendly and reliable.' - Battered though he was, he never lost his will to succeed. [She may be friendly but she isn't reliable.'] => 'Friendly she may be, but reliable she - Try as she might, she simply couldn't open the jam jar. isn't!' We can also front demonstrative pronouns for emphasis: INVERSION - I disagree with that. => That I disagree with. 1. We sometimes put a verb or verb phrase in front of the subject after adverbs of place We can use fronting to help the flow of spoken or written information by putting the (e.g. on, in, here, there, outside, opposite) and adverbs of time (e.g. next, then, first, known information at the beginning of the sentence. now, finally). We can use a form of be or verbs of place and movement (e.g. stand, sit, - The house was large and sprawling, with two wings and a dark attic. Hilary spent lie, come, go, climb, run, sail, fly) before the subject. We often use this pattern to form most of her time in the drawing room or the garden. The attic she rarely visited. a link with the information in the previous sentence, and it is common in formal 2. When we want to start a sentence with known information or we want to make an English: emphatic comparison with information in a previous sentence, we can use a * place adverbs + be or verbs of place/movement comparative or superlative phrase at the beginning. We use a form of the verb be - Here lies the body of our late lamented sovereign. followed by the subject. - On one wall there was a beautiful rambling rose. Opposite stands an ancient oak tree - The first band was dire. Much more exciting was Red Heat, the second group to over a charming wishing well. play * time adverbs + be or verbs of place/movement - Many of the monuments are truly awesome. Best of all is the Colosseum. - For the first hour the teams seemed evenly matched. Then comes the turning point in - The actors were a mixed bunch. Least inspiring of the lot was Pacino. the game as Ed scored. We can use a similar pattern with also and such: - That was the final instalment. Next is the news. - Members of the royal family attended the funeral. Also at the service were several  We don't use inversion if the subject of the clause is a pronoun: ambassadors. - Here comes the bus. - They led a life of abject poverty. Such is the fate of most illegitimate children in this - Here esmes it. => Here it comes. province. We can also use inversion in as and than clauses in formal English: We can emphasise an adjective by using so + adjective + a form of be + subject + a - Mr Slater is expecting a pay rise, as are several other salesmen in the team. that clause: - I'm afraid her proposals are no more feasible than are those James presented. - So intense was the heat (that) the firefighters were unable to enter the building for We also use inversion in certain fixed expressions, often with subjunctives. two hours. - So be it. Long live the king! Thẩm Tâm Vy, July 5th, 2019 EMPHATIC STRUCTURES AND INVERSLON
3. 2. We sometimes put an auxiliary (do, have, shoutd, can, etc.) before the subject in statements; the rest of the verb phrase follows the subject. We use this pattern of inversion for emphasis in the following cases: * after adverbs with'restrictive' (e.g. hardly, scarcely, rarely, little, never) - Little did we realise the true extent of his involvement. negative meaning - Never have I seen such a disturbing sight. - Hardly had I orrived when Suzg collared me. * only + time expression or prepositional phrase - Only later did he manage to get permission. - Only with a great deal of effort was he able to escape. * (in) no way, at no time, - No way am I going to wear that! (informal) * under no circumstances Under no circumstances can refunds be given. * on no account * not + only / time expression/ person or thing - Not only is he late, he hasn't even brought a present. - Not since the sixties has a pop group won such acclaim. - Not a single stone was left unturned in the search. * no sooner than - No sooner had we set out than the skies opened. * clauses beginning with neither or nor - They have no intention of paging and neither hqve we. - We couldn't face the customers and nor could the boss. * clauses beginning with may which describe a strong wish - May he live to regret this decision! * after fronted comparisons, also, such and so - The captain is refusing to play under these conditions and so is the rest of the team. Expressions with no, not, etc. not listed above (e.g. no doubt) cannot be inverted: - No doubt will he give us a key. => No doubt he will give us a key.  We do not invert the subject and auxiliary after only if there is no time expression or prepositional phrase immediately after it: - Only can rnernbers park there. => Only members can park there. => Only on Sundays can members park there. Thẩm Tâm Vy, July 5th, 2019 EMPHATIC STRUCTURES AND INVERSLON