morpheme​ = smallest meaningful unit

e.g.: “cats” ​ - “​cat” = ​free​ morpheme;

​ “​s” = ​bound​ morpheme (nu poate să apară singur).

1. Sentence
2. Clause
3. Phrase
4. Word
5. Morpheme

Types of phrases​:
● NP (noun phrase - it refers to the head - elementul principal)
● VP (verb)
● ADJP
● ADVP
● PREPP

Verb Patterns​:
1. John died. ― ​SV​ (subject + verb)
2. John is reading a book. ― ​SVO​ (subject + verb + object/direct object)
3. Everybody was feeling hungry. ― ​SVC​ (subject + verb + complement)
4. Your boss is on the phone. ― ​SVA​ (adverbial)
5. I wished him a Merry Christmas. ― ​SVOO
6. His behaviour is driving me mad. ― ​SVOC
7. He put the book on the shelf. ― ​SVOA

Verbal Categories.

● TENSE -> Time

● ASPECT
● MOOD -> Proposition
● VOICE
● TRANSITIVITY

A​. TENSE:
- an important grammatical category which correlates with distinctions of time;
- the form taken by a verb to show the time.

English has a ​minimal​ tense system: PAST, NON-PAST.

!​ It doesn’t have a future tense.

B. ​ASPECT​:
- describes the way in which the speaker sees the event;
- describes the quality of an event, while it is observed by the speaker.

● Progressive Aspect: BE / ING

● Perfect Aspect: HAVE / Past Participle
The two aspect constructions may combine and we get four aspectual possibilities:

PROGRESSIVE NON-PROGRESSIVE

PERFECT has been writing has written

NON-PERFECT is writing writes

C. ​MOOD​:
- is a grammatical category which expresses the kind, the type, the degree of reality, of a
proposition, as perceived by the speaker.

D. ​VOICE​:
- is a grammatical category which, in English, provides two different ways (ACTIVE and
PASSIVE) of viewing the action/activity expressed by the verb.

● in the ACTIVE voice, the subject is the “actor”, the “doer”;

● in the PASSIVE voice, the subject is often shown as being acted upon.

E. ​TRANSITIVITY​:

Transitive verb​:
- main verb which requires an object to complete its meaning.
(mono-transitive verbs, complex-transitive verbs)

Intransitive verb​:
- main verb which requires no object to complete its meaning.

EN form​ = a way of referring to the past participle form of the verb.

ED form ​= a way of referring either to the past tense form of any verb or to the past tense and past
participle.

MAIN VERB​:
= a verb which is not an auxiliary; a verb which occurs in any normal sentence.
=​ ​LEXICAL VERB

both main and auxiliary verbs​:

● to be
● to do
● to have

AUXILIARY VERB​:
= a helping verb which cannot occur without a main verb.

In English, the auxiliary verbs are​:

➔ to be
➔ to do
 ➔ to have
➔ modal auxiliaries

LINKING VERB​:
- also known as “cópula”, “copular”, “copulative”;
- the verb “be” is the most known/used;
- it links, connects a Subject to a Subject Complement.
e.g.: John is a teacher. (Subject + Linking Verb + Subject Complement)

- there are other linking verbs in English: look, feel, smell, taste, turn etc.

STATE VERB​:
- a verb whose meaning expresses a state rather than an event;
- like, know, understand, look, want;
- they usually do not occur in the progressive form.

FINITE​ ​VERB​:
- refers to the form of the verb which varies for past and present. (“having tense”)
- both auxiliary and lexical verbs have finite forms.

NON-FINITE VERB​:
- does not vary for present and past;
- there are 3 non-finite forms:
○ the infinitive;
○ EN forms;
○ ING forms.

DUMMY WORD/OPERATOR​:
- it has grammatical position, but no meaning of its own:
e.g.: It’s raining. ―> ​it ​= “empty it”

CLEFT SENTENCE​:
- a construction where the sentence is divided into two clauses.
- S -> C1 + C2

C1​ = it + be + complement (or focus)

C2​ = who, that, which or zero + relative clause.

e.g.: John gave the book to Mary. -> It was John who gave the book to Mary.

(​Pseudo Cleft Sentence: “What you need is a good advice.”)

The Simple Present Tense.

Use of the Simple Present Tense​:

1.​ UNRESTRICTIVE​. (unlimited, free, unbounded.)

e.g.: Our friends live in London.

How many languages do you speak?
Truth is the best policy.
Racism solves no problem.

a. the verbs here are all state verbs.

b. it is so called because there is no limitation on the stretching of the state into the past and future
time.
c. sometimes there are limits, as in: “At present, our friends live in London.”; “These days, truth is
the best policy.”

Subpoints​:
- the so-called “timeless present” or “generic present” expresses
○ general/eternal truths: “Oxygen is a chemical element.”
○ proverbs: “Birds of a feather flock together.”
○ geographical statements: “London stands on the river Thames.”

Usually, state verbs do not collocate/combine with definite time adverbials:

e.g.: I understand your answer ​this week​. ​X

Definite time adverbials imply limited span of time.

State verbs ​do not imply​ limited span of time.

“​Now​, I understand it.”

- “now” is acceptable because it marks the beginning of a new state.

2. ​INSTANTANEOUS.​ (quick, on the spot.)

Used in​:
- sports comments:
e.g.: Hagi passed the ball to Popescu who scores the first goal.
- tricks made by magicians;
- demonstrations (e.g.: recipes)

The verbs are event verbs. The event doesn’t happen exactly when mentioned. The simultaneity is
subjective.

- exclamations:
e.g.: Here comes the train!
- stage directions:
e.g.: “door opens, boy comes in”.
- declarations:
e.g.: I give you my word.
I swear on my honour.
I accept your proposal.

The act of speech and the event are simultaneous, identical.

The verbs are called performative verbs. They usually denote ceremonial or official, legal acts.

A person who demonstrates something to somebody is primarily attending to each step of the process
as unit, as a whole. The progressive form means focus on the demonstrator’s actions rather than on
each step.
In stage directions, the character does not perform the action everyday, but here, again, we have to
focus on the process ​(i’m not sure about this part)​ as a unit, as a whole.

Sports comments: The use of the Simple Present is to make the game seem more dramatical. The
progressive form is used when commentators want to show that the action lasts for a longer period.

3. ​HABITUAL​:

John walks to work.

John has coffee at The Ritz.
John buys his shirts at…
Whenever it rains, John seems…

- resembles the “unrestrictive” use.

1. He begins the letter for half an hour. ​X​ ― the action has to be repetitive.
2. I am taking swimming lessons this summer. ​OK​ ― limited duration
3. I take swimming lessons this summer. ​OK​ ― implies a longer period of time.
4. Whenever I see him, he’s smoking and drinking Coke. ​OK​ ― the notion of “limited duration” is
not characteristic of the habit, but it applies to the individual events of which the habit is
composed.
5. John is playing the piano in the afternoon. ​X​ ― the progressive is incompatible with the idea of
repetition.

With indefinite adverbials, a simple present is required.

6. John is playing the piano in the afternoon this week. ​OK​ ― the limited duration meaning applies
to a period of time, no to the activity.

4. ​HISTORIC​:
- used to refer to an event that took place in the past;
- in this context, past events/happenings are described as if they were taking place at the present
time.
- the present simple is used for the vividness of the narrative (it implies the narrator in the action).
e.g.: Last night, I am in my room…
- another type of historic present occurs with verbs of communication:
e.g.: John tells me that you are getting married.
The CNN news says that President Obama…
- 3rd case:
e.g.: In “Romeo & Juliet”, Shakespeare describes…

5.​ PRESENT SIMPLE FOR FUTURE​:

- the simple present can be used with future meaning and only a limited group of non-stated
verbs occur with this meaning;
- adverbs are necessary;
- the present is assimilated by future tense by means of “will deletion” (“will” is deleted).
e.g: John goes to London tomorrow.
(is derived from “John will go to London tomorrow.)

There are two “will”:

 1. WILL OF VOLITION (which never drops out);
2. WILL OF FUTURE PREDICATION (which can be deleted).
- the future without will is used to describe an action previously arranged by the speaker or is
known by the speaker to be arranged.
- the key idea is: the speaker has control.
- a future without will implies both intention or desire on the speaker’s part; this explains why “will
deletion” is more natural with the first.
- will deletion is more natural in sentences the action of which affect the speaker directly.
- will deletion is natural in sentences in which the future time is not too distant.
- if the speaker knows with certainty that the action will take place in the future, the simple present
is used.
- in cases of supposition, will-marked future is used.

1. When John comes (dependent temporal clause, present tense), I will tell him the truth.
2. If John comes (dependent clause, present tense), I will tell him the truth (independent clause).

- the action mentioned in the two dependent clauses is ​a fact​ taken for granted.
- the simple present tense is used for future only when it represents future as a fact. (future is
assigned the degree of certainty normally accorded to present and past events)

1. We start for London tonight. ― the present plan may not be altered. ― the plan is impersonal, made
collectively.
2. We are starting for London tonight. ― the plan may be altered/changed. ― the arrangement is
assumed to have been made by the speaker.

3. The Sun is rising at 6 o’clock tomorrow. ​X​ ― present progressive implies previously made
arrangements, you can’t arrange the rising of the Sun.
4. We are visiting our friends tomorrow. ​OK​ ― progressive is restricted to verbs that show a conscious
human activity.

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The Simple Present does not imply completion of an activity or event.

An important feature of the Simple Past is completion of an activity/event/action.

Actions/activities/events belong to past time.

e.g.: Hagi played for Barcelona.

The morpheme ​–ED​ shows that the event specified by the verb took place before the moment of
speech.

Meanings of the simple past​:

- the action took place before the present moment
- the action took place at a given time or period of time; there is a denotation of definite past time.
- along the time axis, the simple past is in a relation of exclusion with the present and future.
e.g: He did it next week. He will went to London.

The meaning of completeness has to be understood in relation to the present moment, not to another
past moment.
The morpheme ​–ED​ is in a relation of exclusion with the morpheme ​WILL​ and the morpheme ​–S​.
An event can be described as taking place only at one time, only on one occasion.

Within the period of time that is anterior to the present moment, the meaning of the Simple Past Tense:
- comes into opposition with the present perfect, which shows indefinite occurrence in the past;
- comes into opposition with the meaning of WOULD (which shows repeated occurrences in the
past);
- comes into opposition with the KEPT ON verb –ING, which shows continuous occurrence in the
past.

1. John walked to school. ―​ ​the meaning is indefinite; the event took place in either an indefinite number
of times or on one indefinite occurrence.
2. Did you sleep well? ― the situation shows a definite past moment to which sleeping is related. The
definite moment is​ last night.

Simple past tense shouldn’t be separated by definiteness and indefiniteness.

An action in progress at a certain point in the past is marked by WAS verb –ING.
This marker makes the past definite, that is the event took place on a definite occasion in the past.

The marker WAS –ING is not compatible with adverbials of indefinite time.
This is due to the fact that these adverbials refer to a period of time within which a certain action takes
place and the meaning of the progressive form refers to a time point between the past and present. The
definite character of the occasion does allow indefinite time specifications.

3. John was playing football on Sunday. John was playing football on April 16th .
― the progressive form gets its definiteness by being related to a specific past moment. That is why an
adverbial of definite time is necessary.

4. For a few minutes, John was leaving as we ... ​X​ ― do not use adverbs of durations.
John was leaving the room as we... ​OK​ ― acceptable.

5. Were you being at the concert?

― we may remark the incompatibility between the definite meaning of the indicator WAS –ING and the
lexical meaning of verbs like to be.
― the meaning of progressive verbs is incompatible with state verbs.

6. Yesterday at 11 o’clock, John was often reading a book.

― the marker WAS –ING is not compatible with the concept of repetition.

There is a class of verbs that behave differently according to the type of subject they take.

6. He cut the bread.

He was cutting the bread when we...
The knife cut like razor.
The room faced the sea.
― with this class of verbs, the Romanian imperfect shows something that is characteristic of the subject.

7. The door wouldn’t open.

The engine wouldn’t start.
― in these cases, the equivalent of the Romanian imperfect is would not + verb.

Used to + infinitive can express​:

● discontinued habits:
“I used to smoke 20 cigs a day, but today I smoke...”
● a past routine, but not necessarily discontinued:
“Sometimes, the boys used to help one another, but mostly they worked by themselves.”

We can have:
“Sometimes the boys would help one another”
but we cannot have
“I would smoke 20 cigs a day.”
because ​would cannot replace used to for discontinued habits​.

I had been driving for several hours.

I had been driving since breakfast.
― risk of confusion when translating.

He enjoyed and admired the sonnets of Shakespeare.

He put in the letter and sealed the envelope.

There is a convention of using the Simple Past even when the events are supposed to take place in the
future. That is because we look at the events from an even further point in the future.

There is another convention, namely the use of the Simple Past to refer to Present as in: “Mary says: I
hoped you would help me.” The difference here is that the simple past tense makes the request indirect
and more polite. The simple present seems to be rather demanding.

The progressive aspect. The present progressive. The past progressive.

The keywords associated with the progressive aspect are:

● temporary,
● limited duration,
● incompleteness.

Classes of verbs with the ​Progressive Aspect​:

- momentary verbs: passing activities (hit, jump, kick, knock, etc.);
- event verbs;
- transitional event verbs (arrive, lose, fall, etc.)
- activity verbs (read, write, play, work, etc.)
- process verbs (change, grow, widen, etc.)
- verbs of inert (passive, unresponsive) perception (feel, hear, smell, taste, etc.)
- verbs of inert cognition: (believe, know, understand, imagine, etc.)
- verbs of BEING and HAVING: (be, have, belong to, consist of, etc.)
- verbs of bodily (physical) sensation: (feel, hurt, ache, etc.); can occur with or without the P.A

Problems​:
- verbs of inert perception can show either perception or active perception.
 - verbs of inert cognition can function as activity verbs in some case (“I’m thinking about what I
saw.”)
- verbs of BEING and HAVING can be used in the P.A only with activity meaning. There are
special “x is y” cases (“John is being Hamlet.”; “My wife is having a headache.”; “John is always
losing his cell phone.”)

Uses of the ​Present Progressive​:

event-now-in-progress:
● usually used with activities;
● refers to temporary situations and activities;
● the temporary activity includes the present moment stretching into the past and the future;
● with state verbs, the present progressive acquires side-meanings, like doubt.

habitual use:
● “habit-in-existence-over-a-limited-period”;
● adverbials are necessary ;
● “Trains are arriving late everyday this winter.”

anticipated event use:

● fixed arrangement or plan;
● “We are visiting our parents tomorrow.”

polite use:
● “I am hoping you will give me your aid.”

Uses of the Past Progressive​:

temporal frame use:

● corresponds to event-now-in-progress;
● the point in time is expressed by an adverbial or a simple tense;
● “This time last week, they were writing…”; “When we arrived, she was cooking.”

duration of an event for a limited period of time:

● “While she was working in the garden, her son was…”

habitual use:
● “In those days, we were getting up at 6 a.m.” ― the connotation is that of limited duration;

“anticipated event” use (future in the past):

● “As we were getting back to London the next day, there was no point in…”

polite use:
● same as present progressive.
 THE PRESENT PERFECT.

Present Perfect​:
= past time related to present time, past with present relevance or past involving the present.

There are 4 important, different senses of the present perfect ― one with state verbs and three with
event verbs:

1. state-up-to-the-present​:
“John has lived in London since last June.”; “This room has been empty for years.”
― the verbs used are state verbs;
― the state extends over a period of time that lasts from past up to the present moment;
― the state may extend into the future;
― adverbial of duration are necessary;
― there are cases when the period of time leading up to the present is implied by context (“John has
lived a good life.”);
― predications expressed by state verbs are true all the time in the period expressed by time adverbials.

2. ​habit-up-to-the-present​:
“John has always walked to school.”; “John has played for Manchester United for 5 years/since June.”
― the verbs are event verbs;
― here, we have a repetition of events/activities that are completed;
― the idea of repetition is expressed by the adverbials;
― a habit is a condition, a state that consists of repeated events;

3. ​indefinite past​:
― with event verbs, the present perfect may also refer to some indefinite event in the past;
― “This is one of the most interesting books that I have ever read.”; “I have often met him in London.”;
― by indefiniteness we mean that the number of occurrences is not specified.

(probabil lipsește al 4-lea punct, not sure).

CURS 5 DECEMBRIE ― LIPSĂ

Expressing Future Time.

Future Time in English is expressed by meanings of Modal Auxiliaries, Simple Present, Present
Progressive, Be going to, Be about to.

Scale of certainty:
1. the Simple Present;
2. shall/will + infinitive
shall/will + progressive infinitive
3. Be going to + Present Progressive
A. ​BE GOING TO​:
- the general meaning of “be going to” is future fulfillment of the present.

a) future of present intention

b) future of present cause

Future of present intention:

- expresses the subject’s intention to perform a future action;
- the intention is premeditated (some preparation has been made in advance)
e.g.: I am going to repair (...). They are going to get married.
- is used with human subjects;
- is used with “doing” verbs (which imply the conscious exercise of the mind)

Future of present cause:

e.g.:
Look at the clouds, it is going to rain!
Mary is pregnant, she’s going to have a baby.

- in the two examples, we can see that the factors which give rise to the future even are present;
(what we have here is a ​present cause)
- subjects can be animate or inanimate.
- it refers to a near future.

X​ mistakes:
If you follow my advice, you are not going to regret it.
I am going to be thirty next week.

- the condition shouldn’t be somewhere in the future​ for us to use “be going to”.

B. ​PRESENT PROGRESSIVE:
- this use implies present arrangement;
- the meaning is: a future event, anticipated by a present arrangement, a present plan or a
present programme.
- the element of arrangement implies conscious human subject.
- “be going to” and “present progressive” are interchangeable, but there is a difference: ​the
intention​ (the part of one’s state of mind);
e.g.:
I would like to stay with you, but:
I’m taking my wife out for dinner. ​✓
I am going to take my wife out for dinner. ​X

X​ mistakes:
It is raining tomorrow.
The Sun is rising at 6 o’clock tomorrow.

C. ​THE SIMPLE PRESENT​:

- used for unalterable plans/arrangements.
D. ​SHALL/WILL FUTURE​:
- “shall” and “will” have a double function: modal auxiliaries and auxiliaries of the future;
- the main value of shall-will is ​prediction​ (something which involves the speaker’s attitude);
e.g.: I will be back!
but also ​promise​ and ​proposal​:
e.g.: Shall we go for a walk?
- they express a sort of neutral/colorless future;
- “shall” expresses neutral predictive meaning ​only​ with the first person pronoun:
e.g.: One day, I shall drop dead.
with the 2nd and 3rd persons, shall has a ​modal meaning​;
e.g.: You shall have a car.
- “will” is used with all persons to express future time.

E. ​BE ABOUT TO:

- refers to an immediate future;
- is a near equivalent of “be going to” and “present progressive”.

F. ​FUTURE CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE):

- its main use is to express a future without intention;
- it implies an event that will occur in the normal course of events;
- it is less definite than the present progressive.

e.g.:
I am seeing John tomorrow. ​― planned beforehand.
I’ll be seeing John tomorrow. ― no arrangement. (I will meet John in the normal course of events.)

The train will be arriving at 8 o’clock. ​✓

Label: future-as-a-matter-of-course.

The English Modals:

1. Mood;
2. Modality;
3. Defective;
4. Proposition;
5. Epistemic;
6. Deontic.

MOOD​:
― a grammatical category which expresses the kind (or degree) of reality of a proposition, as perceived
by the speaker.
― in English, mood distinctions are expressed either by the inflection of the verb or by the specialised
lexical items for modals:
 ● the indicative
● the imperative
● the subjunctive

MODALITY:
― is a synonym for mood.
― is the prefered expression of mood distinction by lexical items.

PROPOSITION:
― refers to the unit of meaning which forms the subject matter of a statement.

DEFECTIVE:
― the term “defective” denotes a lexical item which lacks some of the grammatical forms usually
exhibited by members of its class.
e.g.: “must” has no past form, it is defective

EPISTEMIC MODALITY​:
― is the area (field) of mood concerned with knowledge and belief;
― it is concerned with possibility, probability and certainty.

DEONTIC MODALITY:
― is the area of mood concerned with permission, obligation and prohibition.

e.g.: The car ​must​ be ready. ― both epistemic and deontic

The Modals in English are grouped in:

1. Central Modals
2. Marginal Modals

Central Modal Verbs:

● can, could
● may, might
● shall, should
● will, would
● must

Marginal Modal Verbs:

● dare
● need
● ought to

Characteristics:
- followed by short infinitive (bare infinitive);
- modal verbs are not inflected in the 3rd person;
- negative interrogative forms (e.g.: Should I go?)
- they cannot occur in non-finite functions (e.g.: “To err is human.”, you can’t have “To can err is
human.”) or -ing forms.
- modal verbs do not take direct objects:
e.g.: I can’t do it.
 You ​can it​! ​X
- modal verbs do not normally co-occur:
e.g: You must can.
You must may.
You shall can.

He:
1. must​ be there already. ― logical conclusion
2. cannot/couldn’t ​be there already. ― logical conclusion
3. will/would ​be there already. ― belief
4. may/might​ be there already. ― possibility
5. could ​be there already. ― possibility
6. should/ought​ ​to​ be there already. ― probability

He:
1. must​ go immediately. ― obligation
2. needn’t​ go immediately. ― absence of obligation
3. should/ought to​ go immediately. ― advice, recommendation
4. shall ​go immediately. ― promise
5. will​ go immediately. ― willingness
6. may​ go immediately. ― permission
7. can​ go immediately. ― permission/ability

CAN​ - MODAL MEANINGS​:

it is used to show:

1. ​Ability​ (in general):

- that is in a position to perform an activity.

e.g.: I can speak English fluently.

A. I can give you an answer if you want.

B. I can finish it by myself.

- A, B refer to potential performance of the action, the two examples do not refer to an actual
performance of the action;
- if you want to refer to an actual performance of the action use “to be able to”;

e.g.: In the (noon) I was able to give (him) an answer

!!!​ ​may is more formal than ​can

2. ​Permission:
- can is used to give/ask for permission:

You can smoke here. (Rules allow smoking here)

You may smoke here. (I give you permission)
3. ​Possibility:

e.g.: Even teachers can make mistakes. (Not effect, a possibility)

e.g.: They may/might not reach an agreement. (It is possible that they will not reach an agreement)

e.g.: They couldn’t reach an agreement. (It is not possible that they will reach an agreement)

4. ​Strong recommendation:
- this use has impolite or sarcastic overtones: You can (go) and jump in the lake.

5. ​General characteristic:
- this use refers to a quality that may show itself from time to time.
- e.g.: Learning English can be difficult.

6. ​Order/suggestion:
- this use is a polite or democratic imperative;
- e.g. You can do it tomorrow.

MAY:

1. ​Permission:
- given by the speaker
- can and may are used interchangeably (may is more formal)
- we can also use might (more tentative)

2. ​General permission:
- e.g.: Students may visit the museum for… (He said so)

3. ​Authority​:
- almost imperative (so in direct address);
- e.g.: You may sit (3 and 2 ext to 1)

4. ​Possibility​:
- e.g.: Students and teachers may come to a conclusion.
- e.g.: Be careful, the engine of the car may be… (Possibility rather than fact)

5. ​Concessive use:
- usually in everyday speech.
- e.g.: “He may be intelligent, but…”
6. ​Benediction​:
- occurs in exclamative sentences, it is very formal;
- e.g.: “May God grant you happiness.”

​Malediction​ is the opposite.

MUST

1. ​Obligation or compulsion
- imposed by the speaker
- it expresses the authority of the speaker: You must do it right now!
- when external factors are involved use ​have to
- for absence of obligation use ​needn’t

2. ​Prohibition:
- (in negative forms)
- e.g.: You must not open the door.

3. ​Logical conclusion:
- “John has a driving license” -> the logical conclusion is “John must be at least 18 years old”
- “John must be at home” (Cred ca era ceva de genul “nicio concluzie (una anume) nu reiese de
aici”)

4. ​Necessity:
- Any dog must have a master.

5. ​Assumption, weak conclusion​:

- You must be Mr. Johnson. (Not as strong as Logical Conclusion)

SHALL:

1. ​Prediction:
- this use is not very frequent.
- e.g.: We shall never know the truth.

2. ​Promise:
- ​ and 3rd​
with the 2nd​ ​ person.
- e.g.: (He guaranteed that) You shall go to the zoo.

3. ​Willingness:
- on the part of the speaker, the speaker is conferring a favour.
- e.g.: John shall be rewarded.

4. ​Insistence or “strong volition”:

- “You shall do it”, “I insist that” -> it is not very democratic, it has tones of imperiousness.
- “Thou (forma de nominativ) shalt not kill” / Thee (forma de acuzativ)
Should​ is used for: ​advice or recommendation​. “You should write him a letter.”
​expectation or probability​. “John should have passed the exam.” -> Ambiguous,
maybe he did or didn’t pass. (Solved by context)

WILL:

1. ​Prediction:
- is associated with future time reference.
- e.g.: “I will finish it.”

2. ​Intention:
- decision, even promise.
- e.g.: “We will celebrate tonight.”

3. ​Willingness:
- weak volition;
- “Will you open that door for me?”
- (​Would​ is more polite)

4. ​Insistence:
- will​ is always stressed and it is not contracted (short form) to ​‘ll.
- “I will go there, you cannot stop me.”

5. ​Presumption:
- “That will be the postman.”

6. ​Predictability (previsibility):
- “Oil will float on water.”

7. ​Characteristic behaviour
- “A lion will attack a man.”
- “A cat will kill a mouse.”
- “Whenever he has time he will stay in a pub”.
- for progressive, use present simple.

Would/used to​:
- would​ -> is used for past habits, characteristic behaviour. “Sometimes he would write poems.”
- used to ​-> for states, actions. “I used to have…”
- these two cannot be used to say how often something happened.

MARGINAL MODAL VERBS

Ought to:
- past subjunctive of modesty of ​to owe
- “You ought to do it.” (I think you owe the…)

It shows: obligation, advice and recommendation, necessity, probability.

Need
 - both regular and modal verb.
- “You needn’t have done it.” (not necessary but performed)
- “You didn’t need to do it” (not necessary, not performed)

!!​ He must needs go. (Da, așa se scrie.)

Needs, adverb the meaning of which is necessarily. (Needs= Of necessity; necessarily)

Dare
- less modal than the modals mentioned so far;
- both regular and modal, the meaning is “have the courage to”;
- can have a special meaning, “to challenge”.
- “I dared him to ask the question.”

● Ability and potential​: can, could, be able to

● Obligation and necessity​: must, must not, have to
● Absence of obligation​: needn’t, not need to, not have to
● Possibility and permission​: can, could, may, might
● Probability and expectation​: should, ought to
● Prediction​: shall, will
● Logical conclusion​: must, cannot
● Characteristic behaviour​: will
● Belief:​ will

THE ARTICLE

Definite article ​THE:

- weak form: (citiri) the, thi
- strong form: thi

Indefinite article ​A, AN:

- weak form: a, an
- strong form: ei, ai

Zero article -> there is no article

DEFINITE ARTICLE
- is used with singular and plural countable nouns,
- used with uncountable nouns.

Functions:
- it’s derived from demonstrative pronouns,
- it has demonstrative function/deictic: “At the/this/that moment”, “Under the circumstance”

1. The definite article may be used with ​specific reference​.

 - the following noun refers to a specific or particular object or person distinct from other objects or
persons of the same kind.

a) Situational specific reference

b) Linguistic specific reference

- in English we distinguish between situational specific reference and linguistic specific reference:

“Please close the window” This (1) window

“Have you read the article?”

Another type of situational specific reference occurs with:

- unique nouns: (The Sun,The Moon, The Earth, The Universe)
- parts of the body: “He hit me ​in​ my leg.”

2. Anaphoric reference:
- the definite article “the” has backward reference to a noun already mentioned.
- “​An​ old man lived in a small village. One day ​the​ old man…”

Cataphoric reference:
- the reference is forward, shows that the noun is something new.
- “This is ​the​ most interesting book.”

3. ​Generic reference:
- the noun it determines is used in its most general sense
- has a generic function:
-
A) Before a singular countable noun. “The dog cat dragon is my favourite animal.”, “The article is a part
of speech.”
B) Before collective generic nouns: the public, the nobility etc.
C) Before nationality names: the Chinese, the Swiss, the Romanians etc.
D) Before substantivized adjectives denoting abstractions: the sublime, the beautiful etc.

4. ​Distributive function:
- when used with nouns expressing a unit.
- “He is paid by the hour.”
- also used in phrases.
- “On the one hand… on the other hand…”

The definite article is used with nouns that have unique reference with proper nouns.

INDEFINITE ARTICLE:
- is used before singular countable nouns
- it’s also used before nouns that are plural in form but singular meaning “a mean​s​ of…”
- is derived from an Old English numeral adjective

Functions:
A) Numerical function:
- “There is ​a​ boy.”

B) Specific reference:
 - that is, the noun it determines is considered as a single (specimen/one of a) class.
- “Give me a book to read.”

Indefinite article may be also used with ​generic reference

- assigning a person or object to a class and considering it in its most general sense.
- “A horse is an animal”;
- can be used in many phrases (as a rule) “in a rush”;
- can be used with proper names.

THE ZERO ARTICLE:

- cases of ​zero ​determination of a noun should not be mixed up with cases of article omission
where the article is deliberately left out from the noun phrase and can be easily supplied.
- article omission may occur in newspaper articles: “Plane crashes”
- zero article is used with concrete, abstract, uncountable nouns, can be used with plural
countable nouns when they have generic reference: “butter is made of milk”, “John likes music,
wine and games”
- zero article is used with nouns that denote family relations with unique reference: “uncle/mother
is busy”
- zero article is used with subject complement and object complement when they denote a
profession, an office ​that is held by one person only at a time​: “She is secretary of our school”,
“They elected Trump president”, “He turned doctor”.
- zero article is used with appositive nouns denoting title, rank, office: “Mr. John, president of our
association, is late.”
- zero article with names of meals used in general sense: “stay for dinner”, “I usually have lunch
late.”
- zero article with nouns like: bed, church, home, hospital, school, town, work etc.
- if the nouns are used in their concrete meanings, the definite article is used.
- zero article with means of transportation, “by car, train, plane etc.”

“John arrived last night.” (Time relations)

“I’ll go there next week.”
“December is the last month of the year.” (order)

IF CLAUSES

The subjunctive mood:

- a verbal form mood
- is used to express: hypothesis, non-factuality, uncertainty
- usually is in contrast with the indicative mood.

1. Present subjunctive
2. Past subjunctive
3. Past perfect subjunctive

1. Present subjunctive
- is identical in form with the short infinitive
 - ​ person singular which
formally it is exactly as the present tense indicative, except for the 3rd​
does not take “s”
- the verb “be” is always “be”
- may be used reference into: present, past and future

Is used in three ways:

A. ​Mandative subjunctive
- is used in subordinate clauses following an expression of command, suggestion, possibility
- use the verbs: suggest, propose, ask, advice, insist, order

!!!NO “​S​” FOR 3RD​

​ PERSON!!!
“I recommend that he ​write​ ​ and apologise​/​return​ ​ the books.​”
“He requested that he not be disturbed.”
“I suggest that John be made…” (A stormtrooper, he’s already everywhere…)

B. ​Formulaic/optative
- is used mainly in expressions (wish, prayer)
- “God save the Queen”,
- “​God​ bless you”,
- “The Devil take him!”

“may” + infinitive- “May you be happy.”

C.​ Subordinate clauses of condition and concession

● “If that be the case, my answer is…” (Yes?)

● “Come what may, I want to help you!!”
● “Cost what it may, I’ll go there.”
● “Be he who may, he has no rights here.”
● So be it/if need be...

2. ​Past subjunctive
- is identical in form with the past tense indicative (A.K.A. were subjunctive)
- it is used in clauses of hypothetical condition, reference is to present and future “If I were you, I
would go…”
- past subjunctive is also used after “I wish I were…”
- suppose (that John caught us smoking here)

“He looks (as if) he were ill.”

“It’s about time we left.”

3. ​Past perfect subjunctive

- coincides/identical form with the present perfect indicative, reference to past
- “I wish he had been there”
- “If I ​were​ mistaken about it” (brings the reality of the mistake into doubt)
- “If I ​was​ mistaken about it” (the “sp” (IDK what it means) is not questioning the reality of the
mistake)

!!! ​Do not use the verb “to do” in negative statements​!!!
- “It is desirable that he not leave school.”
MAIN CLAUSE (can use any tense required by meaning)

- the “sit” (??? Sorry) in the main clause is conditioned by that of the conditional clause (IF
clause),
- the truth of the statement in the main clause is a consequence of the fulfilment of the condition
in the if clause.

IF CLAUSE (can use any tense required by meaning, except future)

you can use:

- will
- “be willing to”
- should
- if it happens to,
- if by any chance

Type:
0 ​(cause and effect)
1 ​(real or open condition)
2 ​(improbable condition) {past and future}
3 ​(impossible condition)

0
- the tenses in the main and if clauses are the same
- if​ can be replaced by ​whenever
- “If I make a promise, I keep it”
Made kept it

1
- “You ​will​ find the books tomorrow, if you left them there.”
- “He will come if you call him.”
- “Why don’t you buy it if you really like it?”
- “Why didn’t you buy it if you really liked it?”
- “We shall go there if you will buy tickets”
- “Should you need…”
- “… if we should miss the train.”

2 ​(present conditional):
- “He would come, if you called him.”
- (La tipul 2) Will/would
Should/were to
- “We wouldn’t get there in time, if we were to miss the train.”

3 ​(conditional perfect):
- “He would have come, if you had called him.”
Should—were to have
- “We wouldn’t have got there in time, if we were to have missed the train.”
- Mixed types: “If we had taken a map, we would know which way to go.” (type 3 and 2)
Ceva ce am făcut și la început, posibil să ne vină ceva de genul:

Indirect speech:
- “If I came into a fortune, I would give up teaching” -> John said that if he had come… he would
have…
- If I knew the answer, I would tell what to do.” -> John said that if he had known the answer, he
would have told you…

ARTICLES AND PROPER NOUNS

I. Geographical and place names with the DEFINITE ARTICLE:

1. Groups of Islands:
● The British Islands
● The Channel Islands
● The Orkney Islands / The Orkneys

2. Mountain ranges:
● the Alpes
● the Himalayas
● the Rocky Mountains / The Rockies

3. Geographical regions:
● the South of England
● the Midlands

4. Deserts:
● the Sahara Desert (the Sahara)
● the Gobi Desert

5. Rivers; streams; canals:

● the Nile
● The Panama Canal

6. Seas and oceans:

● The Black Sea
● The English Channel

7. Other sea-features:
● The Gulf of Mexico
● The English Channel
 II. Geographical and place names WITHOUT an article.

1. Continents:
● Africa
● Asia
● Europe

- if you add a common noun, we add the definite article (e.g.: The African continent)

2. Countries:
● Italy
● Spain
● Germany

- special snowflakes:
- The United States of America, The United Kingdom (they have a common noun, we have to use
a definite article)
- The Netherlands, The Philippines -> these names are plural, the definite article is necessary

There are two possibilities for some countries:

- Sudan or The Sudan
- Yemen or The Yemen
- Ukraine or The Ukraine
- Ivory Coast or The Ivory Coast
- Argentina or The Argentine
- Cameroon or The Cameroons

The tendency, today, is to use these names without the definite article.

3. Political and administrative regions of countries:

● Kent
● Bavaria

4. Villages, towns and cities:

● London
● Paris
● Rome

the only exception: The Hague

5. Bays:
● San Francisco Bay
● The Bay of Pigs, The Bay of Bengal -> the nouns are separated by “of”, always use the definite
article

6. Lakes:
● Lake Michigan

exceptions:
- The Great Salt Lake
- Lake Geneva or The Lake of Geneva
7. Individual Islands:
● Ireland
● Sicily

exception: The Isle of Man

8. Individual Mountains:
● Everest
● Mont Blanc

exceptions: The Matterhorn, The Jungfrau

III. Names of Buildings and Institutions:

A. usually have the definite article:

1. hotels, pubs, restaurants:

● The Ritz
● The Hilton

exception: Marco’s -> restaurants or pubs whose name are in the possessive form of a person’s name
have no article.

2. cinemas and theatres:

● The Odeon
● The Globe

3. Museums and galleries:

● The British Museum
● The National Gallery

B. usually have no article:

1. airports and stations:

● Heathrow
● Euston

2. schools, colleges, universities:

● Cambridge University

exceptions: The University of Wales, UCLA (when abbreviated, there is no article -> the University of
California at Los Angeles)

in some cases, there are two possibilities: London University and The University of London

3. churches, cathedrals, abbeys:

● Westminster Abbey
● Canterbury Cathedral
exceptions:
- The Dominican Abbey -> abbeys that are named after religious orders take the definite article.
- The Abbey ​of ​Cluny.

IV. Names of Streets and Roads and Squares:

- they tend to have no article: Oxford Street, Broadway

- exceptions: The High Street (you have it in each city), the Mall, the Strand.
- two possibilities: Old Kent Road, The Old Kent Road
- highways: the M6, the A1 -> they tend to have definite article.
- names of foreign streets or squares keep the definite article if there is one in the original
language: La Via Veneto -> The Via Veneto

V. Ships, trains, spacecraft:

1. ships:

well known ships:

● The Titanic
● The Queen Elizabeth

small boats have no article:

● Crusader

2. names of important train services have the definite article:

● The Orient Express

3. spacecraft -> no article:

● Apollo A
● Challenger

VI Sporting Events:

- names of sporting events have the definite article:

● The Olympic Games

● The British Open
● The World Cup

exceptions:
● Wimbledon
● Ascot
● Henley

- names of sporting events which are taken from the place where the event occurs do not take the
definite article
 VII names of festivals:

- names of religious or other festivals have no article:

Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, St. Valentine’s Day etc
- if you select a particular festival, you have to use the definite article:
“I remember the Chrtismas when…”

VIII. Names of musical groups:

the rule is: no rule:

● The Beatles
● The Rolling Stones
● Queen

it all depends on the group.

IX. Names of organisations:

1. important, well-known organisations have definite article:

● The BBC
● The United Nations
● The FBI

2. if an abbreviation is pronounced as a word, there is no article:

● NATO
● UNICEF
● FIFA

3. no article for:
● Sony
● Nissan
● General Motors
● KLM
● IBM

X. Names of newspapers and periodicals:

1. newspapers published in English have the definite article:

● The Sun
● The Times
● The Guardian
● the only exception: Today

2. with foreign newspapers, do not use the def article:

● Le Monde
● Pravda
● Der Spiegel
3. names of magazines and journals have or do not have the definite article:
● The Spectator
● Punch

XI. Names of political institutions:

- names of most political institutions have the definite article: The Senate, The Cabinet, The
Kremlin, The House of Lords etc.
- but​: Parliament, Downing Street, Whitehall.

SEMINAR:

THE NOUN PHRASE

Structure:
1. Head alone -> man, boy
2. determiner + head -> the, my, this boy
3. determiner + modifier + head -> the young man

the class of determiners: articles, wh forms, possessives, demonstratives etc

Predeterminer:
- those words that are used before central determiners;
- e.g.: all my friends
- both, half, double, twice, such etc

Postdeterminer:
- those words that are used after central determiners:
- e.g.: the same story
- same, other, next, last etc

Modifiers:
- a word that affects the meaning of another element in the head;
- e.g.: ​The young​ man -> premodifier, The man ​in the corner​ -> postmodifiers

His (​determiner​) country (​head​).

Byron’s (​premodifiers​) poems (​head​).

the (​determiner​) nature (​head​) [of this (​determiner​) part (​head​) [of Shakespeare’s(​premodifier​)
Sonnet(​head​)] (​postmodifier​)] (​postmodifier​).
Head:
- noun
- pronoun
- adjective

Determiner:
- predeterminer
- central determiner
- postdeterminer

Premodifier:
- adjective
- noun
- non-finite forms

Postmodifier:
- relative clause
- non-finite forms

THE PLURAL OF COMPOUNDS

● trade unions
● forget-me-nots
● spoonfuls
● knock outs

most compounds have a regular plural: “-s”,

especially if there is no noun in the compounds.
e.g.: forget-me-nots
especially with FUL compounds
e.g.: spoonfuls
especially with PHRASAL VERBS used as nouns
e.g.: knock outs

● passers by
● comings in
● maids-of-honor

in some cases, the first element is made plural,

when we have to do with AGENT NOUNS in -ER
e.g.: passers by
we have to do with the -ING verbal noun
e.g.: comings in
we have to do with noun+prep+noun
e.g.: maids-of-honor
 ● women doctors
● men singers
● man eaters

in compounds with “man” and “woman” that show gender distinctions, both elements turn to plural.

● ins-and-outs
● ups-and-downs
● gin-and-tonics

in compounds with “and”, both elements take the plural.

exception​: gin-and-tonics

The Noun Case

Case
- the relation in which a noun stands to some other words.

Genitive
- expresses the idea of possession.

in English, we identify​:
1. Possessive genitive -> "John's car"
2. Genitive of origin (authorship) - > who the author is. "John's essay" (John wrote an essay)
3. Descriptive genitive - > describes the head noun. "Children's toys" (Toys for/of the children)
4. Subjective genitive - > "The doctor's arrival" (The doctor arrived),"The crying of the baby" (The
baby cried)
5. Objective genitive- "The child's education" (Somebody educated the child), "The translocation of
the paragraph" (...), "John's beating" can be both, subjective or objective.
6. Partitive genitive- A loaf/slice, a part of, five of my books
7. Genitive of gradation- The king of kings. The song of songs. The poem of poems.

A. Synthetical​/saxon/inflected / " 's " genitive

B. Analytical​/ prepositional/ "of" genitive
*This teacher will only use the first name.

The Synthetical genitive is used with nouns denoting:

- persons: "The teacher's book"
- names of person: "John's book"
- collective nouns: "The nation's development"
- beings and their names, other than persons: "The cat's tail/ the dog's barking"

* Some passive voice.

“If I come into a fortune, I would give up teaching.”
He said that if he had come into a fortune he would have given up teaching.
“If I knew the answer, I would tell you…”
The teacher said that if he had known the answer, he would have told...
The synthetical genitive is also used with
- nouns denoting measurement in time, space, value (not sure about this one): a week's holiday,
today's newspaper, a 2 mile's walk.
- inanimate nouns that can be referred to as "he" or "she" ex: London's bridges

The synthetical genitive is used frequently with inanimate nouns because of its concision.

Elliptical genitive
- the head noun has been mentioned before

A: Is this your car?

B: No, it's john's. (No need to repeat "car")
- when the head denotes an institution "St. Paul's (Cathedral)
- the head noun can occur in a double genitive, synthetical + elliptical

A description of John. (about him)

A description of John's. (made by him)
A bone of the dog. (a body part)
A bone of the dog's. (belonging to the dog)

B. Analytical genitive
- is characteristic of neuter nouns, both animate and inanimate. "The colour of the dress.", "The
barking of the dog"
- is referred to the synthetical genitive.

With proper and animate nouns that occur in complex noun phrases or coordinate phrases.

The father of John and Mary.

Why (what)? (Because)It is a complex noun phrase.
The pencil of the boy in the corner.
The daughter of the man who...

- use the analytical genitive when you want to emphasize the head noun
- use the analytical genitive with the objective genitive ex: The murder of...

The Adjective

- a part of speech that describes a noun/word.

Central adjective
- has to meet four conditions:

1. Attributely - > it can be used attributively in a noun phrase: "An old man"
2. Predicatively - > it can be used predicatively with a verb: "He is/looks old"
3. Intensifiers -> it can be modified by intensifiers, ex: very, too, extremely etc.
4. Comparative/superlative - > they (adjectives) have comparative/superlative forms, ex: old, older
(comp), oldest (sup)
The adjective's order:

[Subjective adjectives]​ ​A(ge)​ ​C(olour)​ ​O(rigin)​ ​M(aterial) ​P(urpose) ​ [​N(oun)​]

Ex: ​A very beautiful​, ​new​,​ ​blue and white​, ​french​, ​steel and nylon​, ​tennis ​racket.

THE ENGLISH NOUN

General remarks:
● the noun is a part of speech that names things, beings, objects, which can be described by
means of grammatical categories of number, gender and case.
● the origin of the word: Plato -> onoma (name), was translated into latin as “nomen”.
● a noun can function as an Object, as an Attribute, as a Direct Object, as an Indirect Object, as a
Subject Complement (John is a ​doctor​), as an Object Complement (We elected John ​president​.)

Classification of nouns:

1. According to form:
➔ simple: all primary nouns
➔ compound: blackboard, bathroom
➔ phrasal nouns: mother-in-law, Alexander the Great

2. According to particular properties:

➔ common
➔ proper

3. According to how reality is seen:

➔ concrete: table, car, man, boy (material things)
➔ abstract: love, jealousy (things perceived by our mind)

4. According to the idea of number:

➔ semantic criteria: countable, uncountable
➔ formal criteria: invariable (which includes ST and PT), variable (which includes nouns that have
singular form and meaning, and plural form and meaning)

ST = singularia tantum
PT = pluralia tantum

Singularia:
- includes nouns which refer to substances, concepts, notions, which cannot be counted, they
have no plural.
- the agreement with the verb is in the singular.

Pluralia:
- have plural meaning
- the agreement with the verb is in the plural
- summation plurals (nouns that denote objects made of two parts: scissors, shorts, pyjamas) are
included, as well as parts of body, names of nationalities etc.

back to adjectives:
 ● Gradable adjectives;
● Non-Gradable adjectives;

Adjectives are gradable when we can modify them, when they have comparative and superlative forms.
Adjectives are non-gradable when we cannot modify them and they do not have comparative and
superlative forms.

● Attributive adjectives
● Predicative adjectives

Attributive adjectives - they come before a noun and are part of the noun phrase
e.g.: an old man
Predicative adjectives - come after a verb (be, taste, smell, look etc)
e.g.: he looks old

● Adjective order:

the extended guide:

1. articles
2. possessives
3. ordinal numbers
4. cardinal numbers
5. size
6. age
7. shape
8. colour
9. origin
10. material
11. purpose

e.g:

1. the
2. city’s
3. last
4. five
5. large
6. old
7. square
8. black
9. gothic
10. stone

buildings

The comparison of adjectives:

 1. ADJ + ER - comparative -> cleaner, older / ADJ + EST - superlative -> cleanest, oldest
2. ADJ + double consonant + ER/EST -> bigger, biggest, wetter, wettest
3. ADJ - the vowel does not double + ER/EST -> finer, finest, safer, safest
4. ADJ - the “y” becomes “i” + ER/EST -> tidier, tidiest, easier, easiest
5. irregular -> bad, far, good, little
6. more, most -> pleasant, clever, common, gentle, quiet
7. more, most -> fragile, hostile, eager
8. more, most -> afraid, alone, alive, bizarre
9. beneath - nether - nethermost
in - inner - innermost / inmost
out - outer - outermost
eastern - more eastern - easternmost / eastmost
western - more western - westernmost / westmost
10. shy - shyer - shyest
sly - slyer - slyest
spry - spryer - spryest
11. good-looking -> better good-looking, more good-looking
12. ill paid - worse paid - the worst paid
low priced - lower priced - the lowest priced
well known - better known - the best known
intelligent looking - more intelligent looking - most …
grey eyed - greyer eyed - the grayest eyed

compound adjectives - ill, low, intelligent etc. have its own meaning and keep it as distinct from
the other’s element.
13. up-to-date - more - most
narrow-minded - more - most
short-sighted - more - most
old fashioned - more - most

element 1 + element 2 = a unit, a whole;

(obligatoriu more-most, indiferent de forma primului)
14. double faced - more - most
self-conscious - more - most
heartbroken - more - most

element 1 has no degree of comparison -> always more-most

above -> adverb -> above question (attributive adjective)

inside -> inside cover
then -> the then President of…

● as
 ● so
● how
● too
● this
- + ADJ + ART + NOUN:
too polite a person
how good a pianist he is
too expensive a car

!​ whenever we compare 2 things, we should use the comparative: the taller of the two brothers.