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The subject
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L What is the subject?
The subject is a syntactical position in the sentence. In this position a word, a phrase\ a construction or a clause presents the referent as a bearer (носитель) of a property designated by the predicate. E.g.:
· The boy is ill. (word)
· Ted's cat is ill. (phrase)
· For me to speak to him is a torture. (a construction of secondary predication)
· Who did it is unknown. (a clause)
In inflexional languages the noun in the position of the subject takes the form of the nominative case. E.g. Девочка ушла. In the English language the word order in a sentence is fixed. The fixed position of the subject in an English sentence is that before the predicate.
This position can be occupied by practically any part of speech:
· The boy is here. (noun)
· Red does not match these shoes. (adjective)
· To smoke is bad for health. (infinitive)
· Smoking is bad for health. (gerund)
· Three will do. (numeral)
· They will help. (pronoun)
2. What is the secondary subject?
The secondary subject is found inside a construction of secondary predication. A construction of secondary predication is such a construction which consists of the subject and the predicate, and the predicate is expressed by a NON-FINITE verbal form:
· by the infinitive
· by the gerund
· by participle one
· by participle two
3. What is the COMPLEX SUBJECT?
The complex subject is a construction of secondary predication. It is a PASSIVE TRANSFORM of the complex object (which is also a construction of secondary predication). For example: I saw you entering the bank. ‘you entering the bank’ is the complex OBJECT. It consists of:
- the secondary subject ‘ you ’
- and the secondary predicate ‘ entering the bank ’.
To convert the complex object into the complex subject we must make the predicate of the main clause PASSIVE: You were seen entering the bank. ‘ were seen ’ is the predicate of the whole sentence. ‘ You entering the bank ’ is its subject. It is the COMPLEX subject: it consists of:
the secondary subject ‘ you ’
and the secondary predicate ‘ entering the bank ’.
Thus, we see that the complex subject consists of THE SAME components as the complex object. They are both constructions of secondary predication. It means that they both:
have their own subject (‘ you ’)
have their own predicate (‘ entering the bank ’).
The predicate in constructions of secondary predication is expressed by a NON-FINITE form of the verb:
participle one
participle two
the infinitive
the gerund.
Constructions of secondary predication are also called SEMI-CLAUSES.
Дата публикования: 2015-01-26; Прочитано: 493 | Нарушение авторского права страницы | Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!
