Problems of English Grammar Version 6.0 Prof. Dr. Russell Block University of Applied Sciences - München Department 13 - General Studies Summer Semester 2018 © 2018 by Russell Block Um eine gute Note in der Klausur zu erzielen, genügt es nicht, das Buch zu lesen. Sie müssen auch die “Show” sehen! The causes why our English tongue hath not yet been thoroughly perceived are the hope and despair of such as have either thought upon it, and not dealt in it, or that have dealt in it, but not rightly thought upon it. Richard Mulcaster (1582) Contents Part I: Languages and Language Learning ................................... 9 1 Language learning .................................................. 9 1.1 First language – child in appropriate situation . 9 1.2 What children learn............................................ 9 1.2.1 Evidence from errors (9) 1.2.2 Impoverished corpus (9) 1.2.3 Different corpuses – same grammar (10) 1.3 Critical age hypothesis ........................................ 10 1.3.1 Brain damage (10) 1.3.2 Genie (10) 1.3.3 Experience (10) 1.4 Second language learning ..................................... 11 1.4.1 Children – classroom experience ineffective (11) 1.4.2 Adults – No longer able to extract the rules from simple exposure. (11) 1.4.3 First and Second Language Learning - extracting the rules (11) 2 Contrastive Linguistics.............................................. 15 2.1 Basic thesis................................................. 15 2.2 English as a Second Language (ESL) in the USA and in Germany . 15 2.3 The mapping problem......................................... 16 3 Difficulties of English .............................................. 17 3.1 Tense and aspect system....................................... 17 3.2 Complementation system ...................................... 17 Part II: The Theoretical Framework ....................................... 19 framework............................................................. 19 2 What can be a rule of English grammar?................................. 19 2.1 Syntactic rules: - ing-form after a preposition (20) 2.2 Semantically based rules (20) 2.3 Pragmatically based rules (21) 2.4 Conversational implicatures (21) 2.5 Perceptional rules (22) 2.6 Discourse rules (23) 2.7 Historical relicts (23) 3 Transformational rules .............................................. 24 3.1 Phrase order rules............................................ 27 3.2 Function changing transformations - the cycle . 29 3.3 Verb Raising................................................ 31 3.4 The strange case of for ........................................ 32 -4- 3.5 Deletion transformations....................................... 34 3.7 Extraction – WH-Movement ................................... 36 3.8 Syntactic ambiguity .......................................... 38 3.8.1 The line between syntax and pragmatics (39) Close correspondencies ............................................. 40 3.10 Articles (41) 3.11 Problems of determiners - set theory (41) 3.12 Negative polarity (43) 3.13 Negative attraction (45) 3.14 Surface case assignment (47) 3.15 Shadow pronouns (49) 3.16 Promotion and demotion (51) 3.17 Unaccusative and German sich (53) Part III: Aspect and the English Verb System ................................ 56 1 The English tense and aspect system ................................... 56 1.1 English verb morphology (the forms of the English verb) . 56 1.2 Tenses .................................................... 56 1.3 Aspects ................................................... 56 1.3.1 (57) 1.3.2 Continuous form (Delimited) (58) 1.3.3 Perfect form (58) 1.3.3.1 Resultative (58) 1.3.3.2 Anterior (59) 1.3.4 Present perfect continuous (59) 1.4 Additional ways to express aspect................................ 59 2 Simple present vs. present continuous .................................. 60 2.1.1 Restrictions on the continuous (62) 2.1.2 Continuous form and inherent aspect (63) 2.1.3 Timelessness of the present (64) 2.1.4 Historical holdovers (66) 2.2 Simple past and past continuous ................................. 66 2.3 Simple past and present perfect.................................. 69 2.4 Present perfect and present perfect continuous . 74 2.5 Repeated action ............................................. 77 2.5.1 Past perfect (79) 2.5.2 Past perfect continuous (79) 2.5.3 Future perfect and future perfect continuous (79) 3 The future system - pragmatics........................................ 80 3.1 The future indefinite - will vs. the future definite going to + inf. ........ 80 3.2 Will and shall ............................................... 82 3.3 The decided future - be + Vb-ing ................................ 83 3.4 The speculative future - will + be + -ing .......................... 84 3.5 The definite scheduled future - simple present . 84 3.6 The putative scheduled future - be + to + Vb ....................... 85 -5- 3.7 The hypothetical future – would + inf. ............................ 85 3.8 The future perfect............................................ 85 3.9 English and German future ..................................... 86 3.10 Summary of English future forms ................................ 86 4 Indirect Discourse ................................................. 87 4.1 What is Indirect Discourse? .................................... 87 4.2 Indirect Discourse in German ................................... 87 4.3 Indirect Discourse in English ................................... 87 4.4 Future complications ......................................... 88 4.5 Past complications ........................................... 88 4.6 Imperatives................................................. 90 4.7 Epithets (name calling) ........................................ 90 4.8 Yes-no questions ............................................ 91 4.9 Deictic problems............................................. 91 4.10 The sequence of tenses ........................................ 92 5 The conditional ................................................... 93 5.1 Present real conditions ........................................ 93 5.2 Future real conditions......................................... 93 5.3 Past real conditions........................................... 94 5.4 Present unreal conditions ...................................... 94 5.5 Future unreal conditions ....................................... 94 5.5.1 Present/future unreal (95) 5.5.2 Accidental future unreal (95) 5.5.3 Unlikely future unreal (95) 5.6 Past unreal conditions......................................... 95 5.7 Conditional as a substitute for the past subjunctive . 96 6 The Subjunctive ................................................... 97 6.1 Subjunctive verb forms ....................................... 97 6.1.1 Present subjunctive (97) 6.2 Do-support .............................................. 98 6.3 Past subjunctive ............................................. 98 6.4 Optative and ad hortative ...................................... 98 6.4.1 The past subjunctive as optative (99) 6.5 Uses of the present subjunctive . 99 6.5.1 After verbs of requesting, suggesting, insisting and demanding (99) 6.5.2 Subjunctive with necessary conditions (99) 6.5.3 Formal literary uses of the present subjunctive (100) 6.5.3.1 Concessive clauses (100); 6.5.3.2 Negative clauses of intention introduced by lest (100) 6.6 The past subjunctive......................................... 101 6.6.1 Unreal conditions (101) 6.6.2 Hypothetical comparisons (101) 6.7 With the verb seems ........................................ 101 -6- Part IV: The English Complementation System – Complex Sentences: ........... 102 1 Clauses ........................................................ 102 1.1 Form of the verb............................................ 102 1.1.1 Finite clause (102) 1.1.2 Infinitive clauses (102) 1.1.3 Gerund clauses (103) 1.1.4 Participial clauses (103) 1.2 Part of speech.............................................. 103 1.3 Grammatical function ........................................ 104 1.4 Gerunds and abstract nouns ................................... 104 1.5 The Gerund = German zu + inf., dass-clause ...................... 105 1.6 Subject Clauses ............................................ 107 1.7 Object clauses.............................................. 110 1.7.1 Choice of complements (111) 1.7.1.2 Semantic classes (113); 1.7.1.3 Factive predicates (114) 1.8 Objects of a preposition = German da-construction (O.E. inflected infinitive) ........................................................ 115 1.9 Clause prepositions and subordinating conjunctions . 116 1.10 Adverbial clauses ........................................... 118 1.11 The absolute participial construction - German (rare) . 118 1.12 Adverbial adjuncts with prepositions . 119 1.13 Adverbial clauses after verbs of perception . 120 1.14 Clauses with aspectual verbs................................... 122 1.14.1 After verbs of action – starting, stopping, continuing (122) 1.14.2 After verbs of motion and position (124) 1.14.3 After go with verbs of motion (125) 2 Relative Clauses.................................................. 125 2.1 Relative clause – adjective and determiner . 125 2.2 Relative pronouns and relative particles . 126 2.3 Major types of relative clauses . 128 2.4 Defining, restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses . 128 2.4.1 Proper names (130) 2.5 Who, whom, whose, which .................................... 130 2.6 Omission of the relative