Two-member sentences. Parts of two-member sentences. The main parts. The definition of the main parts

1. Sentences are divided into two main types: two-member sentences and one-member sentences.

2. The usual type of sentence is the two-member sentence which comprises a subject and a predicate

Shewalked fast between the flowers... (Galsworthy)

3. A one-member sentence does not comprise a subject and a predicate, but consists only of one principal part:

Another day of fog. (London.) What a still, hot, perfect day. (Bronte.) THE SUBJECT

1. The subject and the predicate are the two principal parts of a two-member sentence.

The subject is grammatically independent of any other part of the sentence. The second principal part of the sentence — the predicate agrees with the subject in person and number.

2. The subject is expressed by a noun-word denoting the thing (in the widest sense of the word) characterized by the predicate as to its action state or quality:

3. The subject may be expressed by:

a) A noun in the common case:

...the gardens glow with flowers... A little light­house began to shine.

b) A pronoun:

This is the valley of the Blythe. She remained silent for a time.

Two were indeed young, about eleven and ten. The first was a tall lady with dark hair...

d) A substantivized adjective or participle:

The grey of earth and sky had become deeper, more pro­found. The wicked always think other people are as bad as themselves. The besieged passed an anxious night.

e) An infinitive:

To dress in the cold shanty and to wash in icy water was agony..) To prolong doubt was to prolong hope.

f) A gerund:

Walking is a healthy exercise. Watching and ministering Kit was her best care.

g) Any other word when it is substantivized:

And is a conjunction. A is the first letter of the English alphabet.

h) A syntactical word-combination

Twice two is four. How to do this is a difficult question. Here also belong such cases when a noun is connected with

In some cases the passive form is used when the subject of the action is indefinite:

Children must not be allowed always to do what they please.

4. An impersonal sentence is a sentence whose predicate does not refer to any person or thing.

The impersonal it is used in sentences denoting:

a) Natural phenomena:

It was a soft spring night dark and starlit.

Sometimes an impersonal construction is used side by side with! the construction there is

It was still raining...

Some impersonal sentences in English have no corresponding impersonal sentences in Russian.

d) State of things in general:

"It's all over, Mrs. Thingummy!" said the surgeon at last.

N o t e. — In sentences denoting a state of things in general we often find the plurals: things, matters and occasionally affairs which are no more definite than the impersonal it:

How stand matters between you and your brother?

In the days that followed things grew worse.

THE PREDICATE

1. The predicate is the second principal part of the sentence. It serves to assert something about the subject and has definite grammatical structure.

It is characteristic of the English language that the predicate even a nominal one, always comprises a verb in the finite form, denoting the categories of person, mood and tense by means of which predication is expressed: the forms of person connect the predicate with the subject; the mood-forms show in what relation to reality the speaker places the action or state expressed by the predicate; the tense-forms refer it to a definite period of time.

With regard to its meaning the predicate expresses either a) processes developing in time or b) a qualitative characteristic of the subject. Accordingly there are two main types of the predicate: a) verbal and b) nominal.

With regard to its structure the predicate may be simple or compound.

2. A simple predicate is such a predicate, in which both - the primary lexical meaning and the additional-grammatical meanings (person, mood, tense, etc.) are expressed in one word

My mother was sitting by the fire...

3. A compound predicate is such a predicate in which the primary lexical meaning is expressed in one word — a notional word, and the additional grammatical meanings (person, mood, tense, etc.) are expressed in another word — a semi-auxiliary:

"...my father was a fisherman...

4. The meaning of the predicate is closely connected with its form. The verbal predicate is primarily simple, but it may also be compound:

...I cried myself to sleep. My mother immediately began to cry.

A nominal predicate is always compound:

The Dodsons were certainly a hanUbuine family.