Structural classification of the predicate
From the structural point of view the predicate can be either simple or compound.
The simple predicate is usually verbal. It can be represented either by a synthetical form: He writes books. or analytical: He is writing / The letter has been posted.
There is a special kind of simple predicate expressed by a phraseological unit? Such as to get rid, to take care, to pay/ to draw / to attract attention, to lose sight, to have / to take a bath, to have dinner, to give a push, etc. The first component has lost its concrete meaning to a great extent and forms one unit with the noun, consequently the noun can't be treated as an object to the verb. This can be easily proved by the impossibility of putting a question to the second component:
-- My friend gave me an interesting book to read.
– The man gave a violent start.
The compound predicate can be either verbal or nominal.
The compound verbal predicate is of the following types:
· The compound verbal modal:
a) John might have come.
b) The meeting is to take place tomorrow.
c) I'm going to leave France. After modal expressions: to be able, to be obliged, to be bound, to be anxious, to be capable,
d) The ship is reported to arrive at the port at 7p.m.. You seem to be having difficulty with your project. Inside the complex subject constructions.
· The compound verbal phasal, which consists of the phasal verb denoting the beginning , duration, repetition or cessation of the action expressed by an infinitive or a gerund: She began to sing. / He kept interrupting them. / They stopped reading. / He used to smoke a lot two years ago. He gave up smoking.
The compound nominal predicate consists of the link verb and the predicative expressed by a nominal part of speech (a noun, an adjective, an adverb, a numeral, a pronoun, an infinitive, a gerund or participle, a predicative construction)
Among the class of link verbs we may distinguish:
· The verb to be: We are friends. / It is me. / They are the same age. / We are seven. / The night was cold. / Our intention is to help you. / Our aim is mastering grammar. / Our time is up. / The trouble was our not knowing all the details. / The most important thing is for us to reach the place of destination before midnight.
· To get, to become, to appear, to turn, to remain, to stay, to seem, to prove, to turn out, to happen, to continue, to keep, to grow, to go: His face got red. The weather got cold. They got angry./ She became a teacher. / He turned red in the face. / The days have grown shorter. / They remained silent. / They kept silent. / The patient seems better. / She appeared displeased. / She stayed motionless. / He proved to be generous. / She turned out to be his mother. / He happened to be alone. / The meat has gone bad.
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· To look, to sound, to taste, to feel, to smell: You look good (beautiful). / That sounds good! / The milk tastes sour. / The fur feels soft. / The flower smells nice.
· Verbs which have fully preserved their lexical meaning but still serve as link verbs: to lie, to sit, to stand, to die, to marry, to return, to come back, to leave, to fall, to go, to rise:и т.п.: The wounded man lay senseless. / The woman sat amazed. / He stood motionless. / They came back low-spirited. / They went home happy. / The sun rose red./ He married very young./ He died very old. / They left happy.
This sort of predicate is usually called the compound nominal double predicate.
Compound predicates can combine elements of different types. Thus we have:
· The compound modal nominal predicate: Jane must feel better pleased than ever.
· The phasal nominal predicate: He was beginning to look desperate.
· The compound modal phasal predicate: You ought to stop doing that.
Agreement of the predicate with the subject.
The most important type of agreement (concord) in English is that of the subject and the predicate in number and person like in Russian. Compare: Я иду. \ Он идет. \ Они идут. – I am coming. / He is coming. / They are coming.
Still the rules of the subject-predicate agreement have some subtleties which are to be remembered;
1. Two, or more than two, homogeneous subjects connected with the conjunction and agree with the predicate in the plural: Her father and mother were her best friends. / Our orchard and garden were in full blossom.
But if the subjects are expressed by infinitives, the predicate is in the singular: To labour in piece, and devote her labour and her life to her poor son was all the widow sought.
2. The formal subject it, agrees, as a rule, with the singular predicate. But if the subject is expressed by the formal subjects there or here the predicate agrees with thereal subject which is immediately attached to the verb-predicate: There was a man and two women in the room. / There were two women and a man in the room. / And here was a man, was experience and culture.
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3. If two subjects are connected by the complex conjunction: either … or, neither … nor, not only …. but also, the predicate agrees with the subject next to it: Neither you nor I am to blame. / Neither I nor they are obliged to do it. / Not only the furniture, but also all his pictureswere destroyed.
4. If there are two subjects connected by the conjunction as well as, the predicate agrees with the first one: The Volga as well as its effluents is very picturesque. / The students as well as the teacher were present at the meeting. / I as well as they am ready to help.
5. If the subject is extended by another noun with the conjunction ‘with’, the predicate agrees with the first one: A woman with two children has entered the room. / Two small children with their nurse were sitting on the bench near the lake.
6. If the subject is preceded by several adjectives, the predicate is used in the singular in case the adjectives are referred to the same thing: A well-equipped and extensive factory was visited by a foreign delegation yesterday. A quiet and melodious sound was coming from nowhere. But: The oil and the textile industry/industries have exceeded the plan. / Classical and light music have both their admirers. In the last two examples the adjectives denote two different kinds of the subject.
7. If the subject is expressed by an indefinite or negative pronoun, the predicate is in the singular: Each of them was present. / Neither of the students has made a mistake. / Nobody was at home. / Who is ready? / Everybody was glad to see Martin back.
8. The subject represented by a collective noun can agree both either with the predicate in the singular, if the denoted idea is looked upon as a whole unit, or in the plural, if the collective denoted by the noun is looked upon as a group consisting of separate members: My family is small. / The family were sitting round the table. / The committee was made up of 20 people. / The committee were divided in their opinion. / The audience was enormous. / The audience were pleased with her singing. / The crew consists of about 30 sailors. / The crew were all strong muscled young men.
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Still some collective nouns agree only with the predicate in the plural. Such nouns are: people, police, jury, gentry, clergy, cattle, poultry, and others: The weather was warm and the people were sitting at their doors. / The police are all over the place. / Mr. Holt said,” In our church the clergy do not marry.” / The poultry have done much mischief among the flowers in our garden. / His cattle are sleek and well-bred.
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