Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2015
Language Structure Assignment 3: Key to Seminar
Grammar Tasks
Task 1
a.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Det här /är kanske/är eventuellt/kan vara/ sant. Probability.
Fråga John om han vill hjälpa Kate. Volition.
Får jag låna /din/er/ telefon? Permission.
Om /du/ni/ (händelsevis) skulle vara tillbaka före klockan 9, var snäll(a)
och ring mig. (Low) probability.
/Du/Ni/ kunde (gott) ha sagt att mötet hade blivit inställt. Reprimand.
Presidenten borde vara här vilken minut som helst. Probability.
b.
7)
8)
9)
10)
People should drive more carefully. Should expresses mild obligation (like
Swedish bör/borde).
People would drive more carefully if they realised what harm they could
cause. Would, not should, typically corresponds to Swedish skulle. (See also
UGE 5.4.6, which is part of the reading assignment for Lecture 6, for more
information on conditional constructions.)
When I was a child, we would spend hours climbing the oak tree. Would
expresses the ‘habit’ meaning of will in the past tense.
The angry neighbour insisted that the boy should pay for the damage he
had done. When the main clause has a verb, noun, or adjective expressing
a suggestion, a demand, the importance of something, etc., a following
that-clause can either have the verb in the mandative subjunctive (which is
identical to the infinitive, so no -(e)s is added in the 3rd person singular),
i.e. … that the boy pay for …, or use the should construction, i.e. … that the
boy should pay for …. Neither would nor should is thus necessary here, but
should can be used. (See also UGE 5.6, which is part of the reading
assignment for Lecture 6, for more information on the subjunctive.)
c.
11)
I don’t know this poem by heart. English modal auxiliaries cannot be
main verbs on their own. In order to translate Swedish kan used as a main
verb into English, it is necessary either to use another verb instead of can
or to use can as an auxiliary and insert a new main verb (e.g. Jag kan franska
= I /know/can speak/ French). In (11), the best solution is to use know instead
of can.
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Uppsala University
Department of English
12)
13)
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2015
Stephen has /not been able/been unable/ to find the owner of the
necklace. English modal auxiliaries lack nonfinite forms. In order to
translate a Swedish sentence with a nonfinite form of a modal auxiliary
like kunnat in (12), it is necessary to use a paraphrase such as been able to.
Jane får inte få reda på hur gammal jag är. English must not typically
corresponds to Swedish får inte, not to måste inte.
Task 2
a.
Nonfinite forms are underlined; finite forms appear in italics.
1)
When will you arrive?
2)
My friends have no car now, but they will get one next year.
3)
We would have had a lovely time if someone had not stolen our car.
4)
They must have been watching the game when we rang the doorbell.
b.
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
Driving: present participle/-ing form. Found: past participle.
Tell: infinitive. Coming: present participle/-ing form.
Told: past participle.
Invited: past participle. Invited: past participle.
Flooded: past participle.
Task 3
a.
Primary auxiliaries are underlined; modal auxiliaries appear in italics.
1)
The weather may improve tomorrow.
2)
I didn’t study very hard for the first exam.
3)
Did you buy your new computer before prices were raised last week?
4)
We would have been enjoying a nice meal right now if you hadn’t left your
wallet at home.
Task 4
The correct answer is underlined.
a.
Which statement about English auxiliaries is true?
1)
Modal auxiliaries have only non-finite forms.
2)
Primary auxiliaries have only non-finite forms.
3)
Modal auxiliaries can also be used as main verbs.
4)
Primary auxiliaries can also be used as main verbs.
b.
Which statement about English auxiliaries is true?
1)
The next verb form after a modal auxiliary is always a past participle.
2)
The next verb form after auxiliary be is always a past participle.
3)
The next verb form after a modal auxiliary is always an infinitive.
4)
The next verb form after auxiliary be is always an infinitive.
2
Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2015
Task 5
a.
Since a passive clause must have a subject, and since the passive subject is an
object in the corresponding active clause, only active clauses that contain an
object can be made passive.
1)
Two thugs | threw| Hugh | out of the pub. S|V|Od|A. Hugh was thrown
out of the pub by two thugs.
2)
Somebody | has broken | two windows. S|V|Od. Two windows have
been broken (by somebody). No by-agent is needed because it is not
known who “somebody” is.
3)
She | is | a very nice girl. S|V|Ps. This sentence cannot be rewritten in the
passive since it contains no object.
4)
You | can borrow | books | at the library. S|V|Od|A. Books can be
borrowed at the library (by you). No by-agent is needed because the
active subject you is probably generic (cf. Swedish Man kan låna böcker på
biblioteket vs. Böcker kan lånas på biblioteket).
5)
Two police officers in uniform | were following | the man. S|V|Od. The
man was being followed by two police officers in uniform. Note that all
features of the active verb phrase, e.g. the progressive in (5), must be
preserved in the corresponding passive verb phrase. Were following thus
corresponds to was being followed, not to was followed; the change from were
to was is due to the fact that the active subject two police officers in uniform is
plural while the passive subject the man is singular. (However, see [8] for
an exception to the rule that all features of the active verb phrase are
preserved in the corresponding passive verb phrase: auxiliary do.) The
passive is often a suitable alternative to the active voice when the active
version of the sentence has a long subject like two … uniform; the passive
makes it possible to place this long noun phrase at the end of the clause,
which is often preferred in English.
6)
This sentence cannot be rewritten in the passive since it contains no object.
7)
Alternative 1: I was given a book by Susan when I turned twenty-one.
Alternative 2: A book was given to me by Susan when I turned twentyone. In (7), either the active Oi me or the active Od a book can become the
passive S. In such cases, it is usually the active Oi that becomes the passive
S, though both options are possible as long as both objects are noun
phrases; if the active Od becomes the passive S, the preposition to is often
inserted before the active Oi in the passive clause.
8)
Telephones weren’t used (by them) in the 19th century. No by-agent is
needed because the active subject they is probably generic (cf. Swedish
Man använde inte telefoner på 1800-talet vs. Telefoner användes inte på 1800talet). Note that auxiliary do “disappears” in the passive. This is because
auxiliary do is only used if there is no other auxiliary in the verb phrase;
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Uppsala University
Department of English
b.
A1/T1/HS1 Grammar
Autumn/Fall Term 2015
since a passive verb phrase always contains auxiliary be, there is no longer
any need for auxiliary do.
9)
Sulphur was added to the solution before the experiment (by them). No
by-agent is needed unless it is important to know who added sulphur to
the solution. The passive is often used in scientific contexts when what is
important is what was done rather than who did something.
The passive voice is more suitable than the active voice chiefly when it does not
matter greatly who did something (e.g. they in sentence [8], and often in
scientific writing, as in [9]), when we do not know who did something (e.g.
somebody in sentence [2]), or when we do not want to reveal who did something;
in these cases, no by-agent is used. A passive clause with a by-agent may be
suitable if one wants to move a heavy noun phrase that would otherwise be the
subject to final position in line with the so-called principle of end-weight, as in
(5).
Task 6
1)
2)
I would have died if I had not got out of the car. Modal auxiliaries are
followed by the infinitive form of the next verb in the verb phrase (have in
[1]). Had is either a past-tense form or a past participle, not an infinitive.
She was hurt by his spiteful remark. In English, a form of the auxiliary be
(was in [2]) is used to form passive verb phrases. In Swedish, the auxiliary
bli is often used, but the corresponding verb become cannot be used in
English.
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