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T H E V E R B: . Its Grammatical Categories. M O O D Mood is the grammatical category of the verb reflecting the relation of the action denoted by the verb to reality from the speaker’s point of view. There is no unity of opinion concerning the category of mood in English.
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T H E V E R B: Its Grammatical Categories
M O O D Mood is the grammatical category of the verb reflecting the relation of the action denoted by the verb to reality from the speaker’s point of view. There is no unity of opinion concerning the category of mood in English. Thus, A.I.Smirnitsky, O.S.Akhmanova, M.A.Ganshinaand N.M.Vasilevskayafind sixmoods in Modern English: indicative, imperative, subjunctive 1, subjunctive 2, conditional and suppositional. B.A.Ilyish, L.P.Vinokurova, V.N.Zhigadlo, I.P.Ivanova, L.L.Iofik find only threemoods – indicative, imperative and subjunctive. The latter, according to Prof. Ilyish, appears in 2 forms – the conditional and the subjunctive.
L.S.Barkhudarovand D.A.Shteling distinguish only two: the indicative and the subjunctive moods. The latter is subdivided into subjunctive 1 and subjunctive 2. The imperative and the conjunctive are treated as forms outside the category of mood. G.N.Vorontsovadistinguishes four moods in English: 1) indicative, 2) optative, represented in three varieties (imperative, desiderative, subjunctive), 3) speculative, found in 2 varieties (dubitative and irrealis) and 4) presumptive. B.S.Khaimovichand B.I.Rogovskaya consider the indicative, imperative and subjunctive moods.
In general the number of English moods in different theories varies from 2 to 16/17. The only points in the sphere of mood which have not been disputed seem to be these: (a) there is a category of mood in Modern English, (b) there are at least two moods in the modern English verb, one of which is the indicative.
Various definitions have been given of the category of mood. According to Academician V. Vinogradov, mood expresses the relation of the action to reality as stated by the speaker. It should be noted at once that there are other ways of indicating the reality or possibility of an action, besides the verbal category of mood, namely modal verbs (may, can, must, etc.), and modal words (perhaps, probably, etc.).
THE INDICATIVE The use of the indicative mood shows that the speaker represents the action as real. The point is that grammar does not deal with the ultimate truth or untruth of a statement with its predicate verb in the indicative mood. What is essential from the grammatical point of view is the meaning of the category as used by the author of a certain sentence. The sentences David Copperfield married Dora. SoamesForsyte divorced his first wife, Irene. represent "real facts", though we are aware that the men and women mentioned in these sentences never existed "in real life". The cow jumped over the moon.
THE IMPERATIVE The imperative mood in English is represented by one form only: come. It has no person, number, tense or aspect distinctions, and, which is the main thing, it is limited in its use to imperative sentences. Most usually a verb in the imperative has no pronoun acting as subject. However, the pronoun may be used in emotional speech: “You leave me alone!" she cried out loudly. These are essential peculiarities distinguishing the imperative, and they have given rise to doubts as to whether the imperative can be numbered among the moods at all.
THE OBLIQUE MOODS Owing to the difference of approach to moods, grammarians have been vacillating between two extremes 1) 3 moods (indicative, subjunctive and imperative), put forward by many grammarians, and 2) 16 moods, as proposed by M. Deutschbein. Between these extremes there are intermediate views, such as that of Prof. A. Smirnitsky, who proposed a system of 6 moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive I, subjunctive II, suppositional, and conditional), and who was followed in this respect by M.A. Ganshina and N.M. Vasilevskaya.
Mark Foley and Diane Hall call them conditionals and distinguish 4 basic conditional sentence patterns where the choice of tense depends on the time of the condition and how possible or impossible the event is: Zero conditional, First conditional, Second conditional and Third conditional.
Zero conditional describes events possible at any time, but most commonly in the present: • If your dog is depressed, he probably needs more exercise. • Prawns can be very risky to eat if they haven’t been kept at the right temperature. • First conditional is used to describe events possible in the future: • If the museum charges for entry, a lot of people won’t be able to visit it. • If the weather is good tomorrow, we’ll have a picnic. • I’ll call the hotel if you don’t have time.
Second conditional is also known as the unlikely or improbable conditional. It is used to describe actions impossible in the present, and possible, but improbable, in the future: • If you were a bit nicer, he wouldn’t get so cross. • If they wanted to make an offer, she would listen and think it over. • If you could deal with this matter, I’d be very grateful. • Third conditional is also known as the past or impossible conditional. It describes events impossible in the past: • If you had answered the door, she wouldn’t have gone away again. • It might have been easier to break the news if I had known her a bit better.
V.D.Arakinand A.I.Smirnitski distinguish 4 oblique moods: • the Present Subjunctive (Subjunctive I), • the Past Subjunctive (Subjunctive II), • the Suppositional and • the Conditional moods.
In the Present Subjunctive the verb to be has the form be for all the persons singular and plural, which differs from the corresponding forms of the Indicative Mood. In all other verbs the forms of the Present Subjunctive differ from the corresponding forms of the Indicative Mood only in the third person singular, which in the Present Subjunctive has no ending –s. God forbid! Be it so! Yates insisted that one of the doctors come to the phone.Long Live the USSR! May success attend you!
The Past Subjunctive is used to describe unreal facts referring to the present and future (If I came, If I were) and to the past (If I had come, If I had been). It is time he came here. I wish he came here more often. If he came here more often, they would be very happy. They said that they would have been happy if he had come more often.
The Suppositional consists of the verb should + infinitive. It is suggested that he should come. The suggestion that he should come was quite unexpected. If he should come, I shall be very happy. The Conditional mood is an analytical form with the verbs should, would, functioning in the main clause of the conditional sentences. What would you answer if you were asked? It is mainly used in the main clauses of the complex sentences with subordinate clauses of condition and concession. If he came, they would be very happy. They say that if he had come more often they would have been more happy.
V O I C E There are two main views on the definition of the category of voice. This category expresses the relation between the subject and the action. The category of voice expresses the relations between the subject and the object of the action.
The obvious opposition within the category of voice is that between active and passive voices. invites - is invited is inviting - is being invited invited - was invited has invited - has been invited should invite - should be invited The problem of voice is very much connected with the problem of transitive and intransitive verbs, which has been variously treated by different scholars.
The question is whether there are other voices in the English verb, besides active and passive. At various times, the following three voices have been suggested: the reflexive, as in he dressed himself, (возвратный); the reciprocal, as in they greeted each other, (взаимный); the middle voice, as in the door opened (as distinct from I opened the door) (средний).
THE PROBLEM OF A REFLEXIVE VOICE The problem of the reflexive voice is whether the group "verb + self-pronoun" (myself, himself, ourselves, etc.) is the reflexive voice of a verb, that is, whether the self-pronounscanever be auxiliary words serving to derive a voice form of the verb. Different cases may be found here.
On the one hand, in the sentence He hurt himself badly the word himself denotes the object of the action and stands in the same relation to the verb as any other noun or pronoun: he hurt himself badly can be parallel to a sentence like he hurt me badly. On the other hand, in a sentence like He found himself in a dark room things are different: he found himself is not analogous to he found me. It is impossible to say that he performed an action of finding, and the object of that action was himself. Therefore, it is likely to be a part of the predicate.
Since in a number of cases the self-pronoun is not an auxiliary word used to form a verbal voice, it is never an auxiliary. Then we should have to treat such cases as he found himself as phraseological units and refer their peculiarities to the sphere of lexicology rather than of grammar.
THE PROBLEM OF A RECIPROCAL VOICE We greeted each other. They loved each other. They praised one another. The problem is whether the group each other (or one another) make part of an analytical verb form, whether it is an auxiliary element used for forming a special voice of the verb, the reciprocal voice, or always a separate secondary part of the sentence.
The group each other (or one another) is coordinated with a noun or pronoun serving as object to the verb. They kissed each other and the child. The grounds for assuming a special reciprocal voice are weaker than those for assuming a reflexive voice.
THE PROBLEM OF A MIDDLE VOICE This problem arises chiefly in connection with the possible double use of a number of verbs in Modern English. I opened the door . The door opened I burnt the paper. The paper burnt. I boiled the water. The water boiled. We resumed the conference. The conference resumed. We apply the rule to many cases. The rule applies to many cases. The book sells well.
The facts are that in the sentences of the first and the second columns we have verb forms sounding alike but differing from each other in two important points: (1) In the first column the verb denotes an action which is performed by the doer on an object in such a way that a change is brought about in that object, for instance, the door was closed and then I acted in such a way that the door became open; etc. In the second column a process is going on in the subject itself: the door opened as if of its own will, the paper disappeared in flames, etc.
(2) In the first column the verb is followed by a noun, or pronoun, denoting the thing which is subjected to the action denoted by the verb. In the second column the verb is not followed by any noun. In the first column the verb is transitive, in the second column the verb is intransitive.
Two more theoretical interpretations can be possible here. The difference is between the voices, though not expressed by any morphological signs, it lies in meaning and in syntactical construction, thus, the opposition is between the active voice and the middle voice. The verb in both columns is the same and the voice is the same too, since there is no morphological difference between the two columns. (Differences of meaning and of syntactical construction are not a sufficient reason for establishing a difference of voice.) Hence, the category of the active voice should include both the first column and the second column examples, both transitive and intransitive verbs.
