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Open and Closed Word Classes

Some word classes are OPEN, that is, new words can be added to the class as the need arises. The class of nouns, for instance, is potentially infinite, since it is continually being expanded as new scientific discoveries are made, new products are developed, and new ideas are explored. In the late twentieth century, for example, developments in computer technology have given rise to many new nouns:

Internet, website, URL, CD-ROM, email, newsgroup, bitmap, modem,multimedia

New verbs have also been introduced:

download, upload, reboot, right-click, double-click

The adjective and adverb classes can also be expanded by the addition of new words, though less prolifically.

On the other hand, we never invent new prepositions, determiners, or conjunctions. These classes include words like of, the, and but. They are called CLOSED word classes because they are made up of finite sets of words which are never expanded (though their members may change their spelling, for example, over long periods of time). The subclass of pronouns, within the open noun class, is also closed.

Words in an open class are known as open-class items. Words in a closed class are known as closed-class items.

In the pages which follow, we will look in detail at each of the seven major word classes.

 

27.Nouns and noun phrases

We gave a loose definition of what a noun is in an earlier section, but we now need to consider this in more detail taking into account what nouns might look like, what their purpose is, where they occur in sentences and how they interact with other words. The first thing to note is what spaces they can occupy in a sentence - they can take on the role of:

  • the subject of a verb: the camera never lies
  • the object of a verb: the police arrested the criminal
  • the complement: he became a barrister

It is sometimes possible to spot a noun by its ending:

indication, importance, interference, discernment, suitability, fairness, fatherhood

Quite often nouns will occur with other words, or a combination of other words, to make up noun phrases - some possibilities include:

  • with an article: the government, an insect
  • with an adjective: good times, legal wrangle
  • with a preposition: by car, under duress
  • with a quantifier: many dangers, loads of friends
  • with other determiners: your fault, these houses

In some of the examples above, a few of the nouns have an s at the end. Nouns which refer to more than one of that particular thing are called plural nouns; if the noun refers to only one of that thing then it is said to besingular. Examples of plural nouns are: dangers, friends, houses. The usual rule for making plurals is simply to add an s to the noun, but in some cases we need to make other changes first. Look at the following examples:

  • opportunity - opportunities
  • success - successes
  • leaf - leaves
  • dish - dishes
  • lunch - lunches
  • box - boxes

In addition to these minor alterations that need to be made to some nouns to make a plural, some have no obvious plural form, for instance, sheep, deer, fish (fishes?), cattle, vermin and so on, while others are almost always plural: scissors, trousers, shorts, glasses (spectacles), outskirts, headquarters, barracks. There are also other nouns which have irregular plurals, although they are few in number: mice, teeth, geese, children. To make matters even more confusing there are a number of nouns that look plural but are treated as singulars and we can check this claim by looking at the verb agreement:



  • I'm afraid the news is bad.
  • Physics was my best subject at school.
  • Billiards is not as popular as snooker these days.

In each case the verb used is the singular form, so we must conclude that the nouns are singular as opposed to the following where it is clear that nouns are plural:

  • Where are the scissors?
  • My trousers have got a hole in them.
  • My glasses are broken.

As well as these irregularities, there are words of foreign origin, usually Latin or Greek, which seem to retain their original plural endings rather than normalising to the English rules for making plurals. Examples include:

  • datum - data ***
  • syllabus - syllabi
  • medium - media
  • phenomenon - phenomena
  • criterion - criteria
  • paparazzo - paparazzi
  • bureau - bureaux

*** note that although data is the plural of datum, data is also often used as an uncountable/mass noun. For example:

  • The data is available from head office.
  • The data processing department is responsible for the reports.
  • Although you will sometimes see 'The data are (sic) unreliable', it would be very peculiar to read 'They collected sixty data' because although 'data' is plural in origin it is rarely used as a countable.

So far, we have mainly been discussing nouns which can be used in either the singular or the plural form, but how do we categorise the nouns in the following examples? Try to make the bold nouns plural and see what effect it creates.

  • Milk is good for you.
  • Have you got the information I need?
  • Here's the money I borrowed.
  • Could you put some more wood on the fire?
  • It's time to tell the truth.

Making these nouns plural would not leave us with a correctly formed English sentence.

In other words, there are two types of nouns; those nouns that can be either singular or plural nouns calledcountable nouns and those that (in most contexts) can only be singular called uncountable nouns.

From now on we will use C for countable nouns and U for uncountable nouns. As a general rule, those nouns which can either be counted or are separable objects are C (book, chair, tiger, bridge), while those nouns that denote things like abstract ideas, materials, substances, liquids, granular things and so on (imagination, formica, glue, oil, sugar) are U.

It's also important to recognize that classification of some nouns is different in different varieties of English. For example, accommodation in the sense of somewhere to sleep (e.g. hotel accommodation) is always an uncountable noun in British English. But hotel accommodations is perfectly good in North American English. Interestingly, the singular form accommodation is used in a different sense as in:

  • The politicians reached an accommodation so that they could deal with the hurricane emergency together.

Once more we need to keep in mind that there are exceptions to this general rule, for example, beer is a U noun, but we can of course ask for three beers, which is a kind of shorthand for three pints/bottles/glasses of beer. The same can be said for other liquids like tea, coffee, water etc.

English also has a number of nouns which are both C and U depending on the context and the intended meaning; for example, experience, glass.

  • He's had a lot of experience in negotiation.
  • I've had several nasty experiences with dodgy sales people.
  • This ceiling is made of glass.
  • We need four wine glasses.

If we want to talk about a certain number/volume of an uncountable noun, we have to resort to using special descriptive words:

  • a loaf of bread
  • a bar of soap/chocolate
  • an item of news
  • a piece of information
  • an article of clothing
  • a bag/cup/kilo of rice
  • a cup of coffee

One very important and highly productive feature of nouns in English is that they can be put together to form a new phrase without our having to make any structural changes to the grammar of either noun; for example:

tea cup, computer screen, dog kennel, government decision, vacuum cleaner, chalk board, dandruff shampoo, internet facility, garden fence

When two or more nouns combine like this, the first noun is said to modify the second. In a sense, the first noun is playing the role of an adjective, which is what most people have in mind when we think aboutmodification, but nouns can do the job equally well.

It is worth mentioning that not every language has this facility, but native speakers of English are quite happy to invent their own combinations of nouns in order to describe things, events or ideas that they have not come across before; this is particularly true in the workplace where we need constantly to refer to innovations and new concepts.

28. Three classes of verb

English has three kinds of Verbs: transitive, intransitive, and incomplete.

1. Transitive Verbs
A verb is transitive when the action is carried across to a receiver:

The farmer grows potatoes. Elvis sang ballads.

The receiver is called the direct object. It answers the question “What?” or “Whom? after the verb. Grows what? Potatoes. Sang what? Ballads.

2. Intransitive Verbs
A verb is intransitive when the action stays with the verb. It is not carried across to a receiver:

Corn grows. Elvis sang.
Adding a prepositional phrase to modify the verb does not change the fact that the action remains with the subject:
Corn grows in the fields. Elvis sang all over the world.

Both transitive and intransitive verbs are action verbs.

3. Incomplete Verbs
There are three types of incomplete verbs:

i. being verbs – also called linking or copulative verbs
to be, seem, become, taste, smell, sound, feel

TIP: Some of these verbs can also be used transitively. If in doubt, substitute a form of to be for the verb. If the sentence still makes sense, the verb is being used as a copulative verb:

He feels depressed. He is depressed.
He feels the wall. He is the wall.

ii. auxiliary verbs – also called helping verbs
be, have, shall, will, do, and may.
He could have gone earlier.

iii. semi-auxiliary verbs
must, can, ought, dare, need.
You must not go. You dare not go.

29. Multi-word verbs

Multi-word verbs are phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs:

The main category of multi-word verbs consists of :
Phrasal verb prepositional verb phrasal-prepositional verb

Multi-word verbs consist of : lexical verb + adverb
lexical verb + preposition
lexical verb + prepositional adverb
These combinations are considered multi-word verbs only when they behave as a single unit .
The words which follow the lexical verbs are called particles.:
Particles belong to three distinct categories: A Adverbs
B Prepositions
C Prepositions or spatial adverbs (prepositional adverbs)

The most commonly found particles are:
A Prepositions only:
Against, among, as, at, beside, for, from, like, of, onto, upon, with etc.

B Prepositions or spatial adverbs (Prepositional Adverbs)
About, above, across, after, along, around, by, down, in, off, on, out, over, past, round, through, under, up etc.
Prepositions can take on the function of spatial adverbs and when they do they become prepositional adverbs .

C Spatial Adverbs ( not necessarily used with spatial meanings)
Aback, ahead, apart, aside, astray, away, back, home, in front, on top, out, together etc.
The latter are spatial adverbs unless these adverbs like away and on topform part of complex prepositions such as away from, and on top of, in which case they are prepositional adverbs

The main difference between prepositions and spatial adverbs is that:
(i) prepositions require a noun phrase which functions as a prepositional complement.

The cat ran for the mouse.

(ii) adverbs can stand alone.

The cat ran off.
.
Only particles in class B can be either prepositions or spatial adverbs and as spatial adverbs their function is that of a prepositional adverb.
A preposition and a prepositional adverb are identical in form The function of a prepositional adverb is the same as that of a preposition. The only difference is that a prepositional adverb does not have a prepositional complement.
A lorry drove past the house
A lorry drove past.

Thus, a prepositional adverb does not have the same syntactic value of a preposition because it is capable of standing alone without a post-modifier, in other words, without a prepositional complement.

The other day it was raining so we stayed in .

In order to understand the difference between prepositional adverbs and prepositional phrases we must think of the same difference that we find between transitive and intransitive verbs:
We stayed in prepositional adverb
We ate
intransitive verb

We stayed in the house prepositional phrase
We ate breakfast transitive verb

The most commonly used prepositional adverbs related to simple prepositions are:

across about through
behind after without
besides around above
by below along
inside between before
on down beyond
over near in
since opposite off
under past outside
round up throughout

He looked down to hide his feelings.
Don’t worry, you can do without.

The most commonly used prepositional adverbs related to two-word prepositions are:

ahead away overhead
close out
instead back
together east, etc

She was afraid so she moved close to him.

It is difficult to understand whether a verb in English is a phrasal verb or a prepositional verb or a phrasal-prepositional verb.
We will call:
Phrasal verbs Type I verbs
Prepositional verbs Type II verbs
Phrasal-prepositional verbs Type III verbs

These verbs are multi-word verbs which consist of a verb + another word or words. These word(s) can be prepositions and/or adverbs. The word or phrase that is joined with the verb in this construction is called particle.
Type I – phrasal verbs: to look up
to turn down
He looked up the telephone directory to find the address.
They turnedthe offer down because it was not convenient

Type II -: prepositional verbs : to believe in
to look after
I believe in working hard to achieve success.
The old lady looks after her shaggy do g.

Type III Phrasal- prepositional verbs: to get on with
to run out of
John got on with his ex wife after the divorce.
They ran out of petrol in the desert.

You can tell the difference between phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs , and phrasal-prepositional verbs by the position of the particle in the sentence.

Type I.

Phrasal verbs are multi-word verbs made of verb+adverb. They can be :
transitive (direct object)
intransitive ( no direct object)

transitive phrasal verbs are separable.
intransitive phrasal verbs are inseparable

Transitive verbs are separable because the object ( when it is a noun phrase) may be placed between the verb and its particle or it may be placed after the phrasal verb:

I had to put my shopping bag down before opening the door
I had to put down my shopping bag before opening the door

Intransitive verbs are those verbs that can stand alone without an object (noun phrase) . The particle is, therefore, a prepositional adverb:

The girl looked on without saying a word.
The criminal broke down when the photos of his crime were shown to him.

When the object is a pronoun the two parts of the phrasal verb must be separated:

I had to put itdown before opening the door.

Type II.

Prepositional verbs are multi-word verbs made of verb+ preposition. A preposition is always followed by a direct object . Prepositional verbs are inseparable.

She was waiting for her friend to call, but the telephone did not ring.
Many film stars go through hell before achieving success and popularity.

Type III

Phrasal- prepositional verbs are multi-word verbs made of verb+adverb+preposition. Since phrasal- prepositional verbs end with a preposition they always have a direct object. Phrasal-prepositional verbs are inseparable.

She was no longer able to put up with his cruelty so she decided to divorce.
Theyran out of wine during the party so the guests had nothing to drink but wate
r


The differences between prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs are:
1. Position of particle + noun phrase.
(i) The particle of a phrasal verb can stand either before or after the noun phrase that follows the verb.

He let in the dog.
Heletthe dogin.

They turned down the offer.
They turned the offer down.

The particle of a prepositional verb must precede the noun phrase:

She was asking about the lessons.
They were asking for help.

When a noun phrase follows the particle, it may sometimes appear that we have a prepositional phrase with the particle as preposition:

He took in the dog.

However, we understand that the particle is an adverb , not a preposition and consequently the verb is a phrasal verb, not a prepositional verb, by the way the particle is able to shift its position from standing next to the verb to standing next to the noun phrase.

. He took in the dog.
He took the dog in.

We determine the function of a particle by its capacity to move before or after a noun phrase and by its capacity of standing alone when the phrasal verb is intransitive.

Intransitive phrasal verbs:
Among the most common intransitive phrasal verbs we have:

blow over come off come out make off
fall out look up come to fall back
pass away catch on pull up crop up
make up fall through pass out fall off

Everyone thought that she had passed away, but she had only passed out.
I know that something rather fishy has cropped up.

(ii) When the noun phrase is a personal pronoun:
The particle of the phrasal verb stands after the pronoun:

They called up their friends
They called themup.

The particle of the prepositional verb stands before the personal pronoun.

2. Position of the particle + adverb acting as an adjunct:
(i) In prepositional verbs the adverb can often be inserted between the verb and the particle:

The employer called angrily up his employe telling him to go back to work at once.

(ii) In phrasal verbs the adverb acting as adjunct can only come after the particle.
The marriage had fallen through unexpectedly.

3. Position of the particle + relative pronoun.
(i) The particle of a phrasal verb cannot precede a relative pronoun at the beginning of a relative clause.

The woman who(m) the criminal called up, started shaking violently.

(ii) The particle of the prepositional verb can precede a relative pronoun at the beginning of a relative clause.

The house in which we stayed over Easter was very comfortable.

4. Position of the particle + wh-questions:

(i) The particle of the phrasal verb cannot precede the interrogative word in the wh- questions:

Who did you ring up?
Which letter did you send out?

(ii) The particle of the prepositional verbs can precede the interrogative word in the wh-questions:

In which room did you stay at the new hotel?

30.Main verbs and auxiliary verbs

Verbs which have a meaning of their own, agree with the Person and Number of the Subject of a sentence and show the time (tense) at which the activities happen are called MAIN (PRINCIPAL) VERBS. the verb words has, have, am and will are used, they do not express any idea of possession or they do not have meaning of their own.

They merely help to form the TENSES – present perfect, present continuous and simple future of the verb words return, catch, go and teach.

And those verb words which help the other verb words to form tenses (in Active & Passive) are called AUXILIARY (HELPING) VERBS.

There are different kinds of these auxiliary (helping) verbs. Some can be used as main verbs and helping verbs, but some can never be used as main verbs at all. The following notes will help us to understand the several complications involved in making a verb word a sensible VERB in any give sentence.

 

The following are the Auxiliary (helping) Verbs in English:

 

“Be” and its forms — am, is, are, was were, been and being

 

“Have” and its forms — has, had and been

 

“Do” and its forms — does and did

 

with shall, should; will, would; can, could; may, might; must; ought (to); need; dare; used (to).

 

{These verb words and their forms are also called ANOMALOUS VERBS!}

 

Before going any further in this topic, let’s take a quick look at the Anomalous Verbs.

 

Of all the verb words, the above-mentioned verb words are the only verbs that can take a negation (no, never and not) directly and can make a question on their own. The rest of the hundreds of verb words which cannot take a negative directly and which cannot make a question on their own are called NON-ANOMALOUS VERBS.

 

Compare:

 

You are not a teacher. [‘are’ with negative ‘not’ -- correct]

 

You are a teacher.

 

Are you a teacher? [‘are’ used to make a question -- correct]

 

But…

 

He goes not to school. [wrong – ‘goes’ cannot take a negative]

 

He goes to school.

 

Goes he to school? [wrong – ‘goes’ cannot make a question]

 

Because…

 

‘goes’ is a non-anomalous verb, it cannot take a negative directly and cannot make a question on its own. An auxiliary verb form of one of the anomalous verbs must be present depending on the context and tense.

 

Therefore…

 

He does not go to school. [correct]

 

He goes to school.

 

Does he go to school? [correct]

 

KINDS OF AUXILIARY (HELPING) VERBS

 

PRIMARY AUXILIARIES & MODAL AUXILIARIES:

 

Introduction

 

Read these sentences:

 

The cow is grazing.

 

You do not write carefully.

 

He has done something wrong.

 

They had worked for hours before they rested.

 

The verb words is, do, has and had are auxiliary (helping) verbs in these sentences.

 

They just help us to express statements of fact or some physical activities.

 

And those verb words which merely help to express statements of fact are called

 

PRIMARY AUXILIARIES. “Be” and its forms; “do” and its forms and “have” and its forms belong to this group.

 

These Primary Auxiliaries can be used as Main Verbs as well as Helping Verbs.

 

And of all the Verb Words, only the ‘BE’ forms — is, am, are, was and were — can be used with present participle (ing) form!

 

For example,

 

He is going.

 

I am writing.

 

We are playing.

 

She was crying.

 

They were working.

 

But no other verb word can be used with ‘ing’ form directly:

 

I do not playing. [wrong] He has running. [wrong] You have doing. [wrong]

 

Those incorrect verbs can be corrected with the help of one of the ‘BE’ forms – “been”:

 

He has been running. You have been doing… I have been playing. (positive)

 

He has not been running. You have not been doing… I have not been playing. (negative)

 

[‘has been running’ – one verb – three parts: ‘has’ helping verb, ‘been’ helping verb and ‘running’ present participle form of the main verb ‘go’ to show continuous action; this verb is in PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE!]

 

Now read the following sentences:

 

He will come. He can come. He must come.

 

He need not come. He would come He may come.

 

These sentences are not just statements of fact. They are not expressing any physical activities.

 

Though they express actions or events, they exist only as conceptions of the mind — probability, possibility, obligation, wishes, etc. Several factors may prevent these possibilities, wishes, etc. from being fulfilled.

 

Auxiliary verbs which help to express such conceptions of the mind are called MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS. The word ‘Modal’ comes from the word “mood” which is related to the mind!

 

Modal Auxiliary (helping) verbs:

 

Shall, should; will, would; can, could; may, might; must; ought (to); need; dare; (used to)

 

These Modal Auxiliaries have three common characteristics:

 

a) They are never used alone – a Main Verb in its ‘bare-infinitive’ form is either present or understood: {except ‘need’, ‘dare’ and ‘used to’}

 

e.g.

 

He can fly an aeroplane. Will you go there?

 

Must you do it alone? Yes, I must. [= Yes, I must do it alone.]

 

Therefore,

 

I will to school. [wrong – no main verb]

 

I will go to school. [correct – main verb ‘go’ is present]

 

b) These Auxiliaries have a ‘single form’ through out the Present Tense, whatever be the Person and Number of the subject of the sentence:

 

e.g.

 

I can swim. You can swim. She can swim.

 

Compare:

 

The Primary Auxiliaries have different forms depending on the

 

Person and Number of the subject of the sentence:

 

I am swimming. You are swimming. She is swimming.

 

The Finite Forms also have different forms:

 

I swim. You swim. He swims. My friend swims.

 

c) The Modal Auxiliaries do not take the ‘to-infinitive’ or the ‘participle’ – present or past – forms directly:

 

e.g.

 

You shall to go. [wrong]

 

She can gone. [wrong]

 

He may coming here. [wrong]

 

You shall go. [correct]

 

She can go. [correct]

 

He may come here. [correct]

 

As these Modal Auxiliaries do not take the Infinitive forms, except, of course, the Bare-infinitive form, they are sometimes called “Defective Verbs”.

 

The Uses of Modal Auxiliary Verbs:

 

Shall

 

“Shall” with the First Person subject of a sentence expresses ‘simple futurity’; with the Second Person and Third Person, it may express a command, promise, threat, determination, etc.

 

e.g. I shall go at once. [ I – First Person -- simple futurity]

 

You shall go at once. [you – Second Person – a command]

 

He shall be dismissed for negligence of duty. [He – Third Person – a threat]

 

You all shall get some reward if you work hard. [you – Second Person – a promise.]

 

Will

 

“Will” with the Second and Third Person subject of a sentence expresses ‘simple futurity’; with the First Person, it expresses determination, threat, willingness, etc.

 

These two rules are not given much importance these days because we use ’ll, the contracted form of either ‘will’ or ‘shall’.

 

And there is little difference if it is ‘shall’ or ‘will’. For example, “He’ll meet us at the airport.” in this sentence “He’ll” can be ‘He will’ or ‘He shall’.

 

When we actually want to show the difference, we use the word ‘will’ or ‘shall’ in full or rephrase the entire sentence to give us the desired meaning.

 

Should

 

‘Should’ is the Past Tense of “shall” and is used as such in the Indirect (reported) Speech.

 

He said, “I shall do it now.” Direct Speech

 

He said that he should do it then. Indirect Speech

 

‘Should’ expresses duty, obligation, possibility, likelihood or doubt.

 

He should pay the fee in time.

 

We should all work for the common good.

 

You should be more careful.

 

‘Should’ expresses less possibility than ‘shall’.

 

Compare:

 

I shall be happy to meet my boss. [more possibility of being happy]

 

I should be happy to meet my boss. [less possibility of being happy]

 

should is the only Auxiliary that is used after the conjunction “lest”.

 

The police surrounded the house lest the thief should escape.

 

Would

 

‘Would’ is the Past Tense form of ‘will’ and is used as such in Indirect (reported) Speech.

 

She said, “I will do it tomorrow.” Direct Speech

 

She said that she would do it the next day. Indirect Speech

 

‘Would’ expresses willingness or determination.

 

The doctor said that he would visit us. [willingness]

 

She would have her own way. [determination]

 

‘Would’ and ‘would like to’ express a wish.

 

I would like to know what my duty is.

 

‘Would’ is used for asking polite questions.

 

Would you like a cup of coffee?

 

(This is more polite than using ‘will’.)

 

Can

 

“Can” expresses ability.

 

She can play tennis very well.

 

“Can” is also used in the sense of ‘may’ to give permission thought ‘may’ is correct.

 

You can go now.

 

* “Can” is the only verb word which takes ‘not’ without a space in between; for example,

 

I am not done yet. He was not in.

 

But…

 

I cannot do it alone. He cannot come in now.

 

** The learners are advised to keep the distinction (difference)

 

between can and may in respect to giving permission and used only may for asking permission.

 

Could

 

“Could” is the past tense form of ‘can’ and is used as such in Indirect Speech.

 

e.g.

 

She said, “I can play the piano.”

 

She said that she could play the piano.

 

“Could” is used to indicate ability that a person or animal had in the past.

 

In my younger days I could run four miles at a stretch.

 

‘Could’ refers to Past only when the context makes the time clear.

 

In the above example, the phrase ‘In my younger days’ refers to Past time.

 

** Use ‘was/were + able to’ when referring to a purpose achieved in the past with some specific time:

 

Yesterday I could swim across the river. [wrong]

 

Yesterday I was able to swim across the river. [correct]

 

“Could” is used to express possibility, uncertainty or unreal condition.

 

You could do it if you tried hard. (less possibility)

 

“Could” is also used to ask polite questions (almost asking permission politely)

 

Could I have a word with you, Sir?

 

May

 

“May” is used to express permission, possibility, wish, etc.

 

e.g.

 

May I come in, please? (permission)

 

He may be elected chairman of the Party. (possibility)

 

May God bless you! (wish)

 

Compare:

 

The subtle difference between may and can:

 

Servant: “May I leave now, Sir?”

 

Master: “Yes, you may. But you cannot. (go out now; it’s raining)

 

[In the second sentence the master gives permission – almost saying ‘I have no objection if you leave’ but says the servant cannot go out because it is raining – almost saying ‘It is not possible for you to go out’.]

 

Might

 

“Might” is the past tense form of ‘may’ and is used as such in Indirect Speech.

 

e.g.

 

The man said to me, “You may leave now.” Direct Speech

 

The man told me that I might leave then. Indirect Speech

 

“Might” is used to indicate a more doubtful possibility than ‘may’.

 

e.g.

 

I might pass the exam. [more doubtful – 70% doubt]

 

I may pass the exam. [less doubtful – 30% doubt]

 

Must

 

“Must” expresses strong obligation or duty and also necessity, probability or

 

likelihood, strong determination.

 

e.g.

 

We must be loyal to our country. [strong obligation]

 

We must build up a strong army to defend our country. [necessity]

 

We must go to visit our parents, whatever happens.[strong determination]

 

* “Must” remains unchanged (not inflected in form) whatever be its Tense, or the Number and Person of the subject. It can point to the Present or Future.

 

It can refer to the Past only when it is used with the Present Perfect Tense form of the Main Verb.

 

e.g.

 

He must have gone home. (past)

 

He must see the doctor now. (present)

 

He must pay damages if he keeps breaking things. (future)

 

** “Must” is much stronger than ‘should’.

 

Order of intensity:

 

I should do it now. [strong obligation]

 

I ought to do it now. [stronger]

 

I must do it now. [the strongest]

 

Three special functions of MUST:

 

It is essential to know the difference between the “three uses of Must”.

 

“Must” used for the actual present tense in the Direct Speech becomes ‘had to’ in the Indirect Speech:

 

e.g.

 

“I must write to my father,” my friend said to me. [present time – now] Direct

 

My friend told me that he had to write to his father. Indirect

 

“Must” used for the future time in the Direct Speech becomes ‘would have to’ in the Indirect Speech:

 

e.g.

 

“I must leave for Kenya next week,” he said to her. [future] Direct

 

He told her that he would have to leave for Kenya the following week. Indirect

 

“Must”, when expresses a rule that always applies, used in the Direct Speech, remains unchanged in the Indirect Speech:

 

e.g.

 

Grandma said, “Children must obey their parents.” [a rule] Direct

 

Grandma said that children must obey their parents. Indirect (unchanged)

 

Ought to

 

“Ought” differs from other Auxiliaries in being followed by the ‘to-infinitive’.

 

“Ought to” expresses duty, necessity, fitness, moral obligation.

 

e.g.

 

They ought to help their friends. (duty)

 

He ought to be six feet to join the Army. (fitness)

 

Need

 

“Need” is used both as a Main Verb and as an Auxiliary Verb. As a main verb it is used in the sense of ‘require’, in the conception of the mind, of course.

 

e.g.

 

He needs my help.

 

We needed some more money.

 

[used as a finite verb taking ‘s’ to form singular as the subject ‘he’ is singular; taking ‘ed’ to form past tense]

 

He need not ask my permission.

 

[used as a ‘modal auxiliary’, and so, does not take ‘s’ or ‘es’ to change into singular to go with the subject ‘he’, just like other modal auxiliaries]

 

“Need”, when referring to Past time as an auxiliary, is followed by the ‘prefect Infinitive’.

 

e.g.

 

He need not have lost his temper. [but he lost his temper – Past]

 

“Need” as an auxiliary in the negative answer takes ‘not’: ‘No, he need not/needn’t.’, but if the answer is in the positive, we should say: ‘Yes, he must.’

 

The opposite of ‘need not’ in such a context is must, not ‘need’!

 

Dare

 

“Dare” is used both as a Main Verb and as an Auxiliary.

 

As a main verb it is used in the sense of ‘challenge’ or ‘face something or someone boldly’, and it changes its form according to the subject and the tense of the sentence, just as “need” does:

 

e.g.

 

He dares me to a fight.

 

She dared to call him a liar.

 

As an auxiliary, “dare” is unchanged and is commonly used with ‘not’ or in interrogative sentences:

 

e.g.

 

He dare not do this. [he does not have the courage to do such a thing]

 

Dare he say that to the teacher?

 

Compare:

 

‘Dare & Need’

 

 

He needs my help. [‘needs’ – main verb]

 

He does not need my help.

 

[‘does’ – helping verb with negative “not”; ‘need’ – main verb]

 

He need not answer my question.

 

[‘need’ – helping verb with negative “not”; ‘answer’ – main verb – bare infinitive]

 

He does not need to answer my question.

 

[‘does’ – helping verb with negative “not”; ‘need’ – main verb; “to answer” – ‘to-infinitive’]

 

I did not need to buy that book.

 

[‘did’—helping verb with negative “not”; ‘need’ – main verb;‘to buy’ – ‘to-infinitive’]

 

[= It was not necessary for me to buy that book and so I did not buy.]

 

I need not have bought that book.

 

[‘need’ – helping verb with negative “not”; ‘have bought’ -- perfect infinitive]

 

[= It was not necessary for me to buy that book, but I bought it!]

 

Same is the case with “Dare”:

 

He does not dare to speak to me. [‘does’ – helping verb with negative “not”; ‘dare’ – main verb; ‘to speak’ – to-infinitive]

 

He dare not speak to me. [‘dare’ – helping verb with negative “not”; ‘speak’ – main verb – bare infinitive]

 

Used to

 

“Used to” is used to express things that happened regularly in the past but no longer happens now.

 

e.g.

 

I used to live in the country but I moved to the city three years ago.

 

She used to love him a lot in the early days of their marriage.

 

[= but now she does not love him or does not show much love to him]

 

Compare:

 

There is bound to be some confusion while using ‘used to’ and ‘be + used to’

 

Therefore, let’s take a quick look at these expressions:

 

e.g.

 

I used to smoke ten cigarettes a day.

 

[‘used’ – main verb; ‘to smoke’ – to-infinitive]

 

[It was my habit -- I smoked ten cigarettes a day, but now either I gave up smoking or I reduced the number.]

 

I am used to smoking only five cigarettes a day.

 

[‘am used’ – main verb; ‘to smoking’ – ‘ing’ form of ‘smoke’ with “to”]

 

[When I started smoking only five cigarettes a day, I found it very difficult to keep the number under control, now I am satisfied and limit myself to five cigarettes a day; it isn’t as difficult as it was in the beginning.]

 

conclusion:

 

‘used’ + to-infinitive –

 

I used to wake up late but now I wake up early.

 

‘be + used + ‘ing’ form with “to” — I am used to waking up early.

 

[= in the past I found it difficult to wake up early, but now I can wake up early without much difficulty]

 

 


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1840


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