EXPRESSIVE UTTERANCES

Whereas a verdictive utterance is about what the addressee has previously done, an expressive utterance springs
from the previous actions—or failure to act—of the speaker, or perhaps the present result of those actions or failures.
Expressive utterances are thus retrospective and speaker-involved.

The most common expressive verbs (in this sense of ‘expressive’) are:

acknowledge, admit, confess, deny, apologize

For examples:

1 I acknowledge that I didn’t do what I should have done.

2 We admit that we were mistaken.

3 I apologize for having disturbed you.

DIRECTIVE UTTERANCES

The speaker tries to get the addressee to perform some act or refrain from performing an act

These kinds of directive utterances: commands, requests, suggestions.

“You must appear in Court at 10 am.”.

“”Smoking is not perrmitted in school”

“I advise you to take my advice”.

COMMISSIVE UTTERANCES

The speaker binds himself to perform (or refrain from doing) some act at a latter time.

Agree, ask, refuse, swear, promise, pledge, threat, vows.

“I promise to be on time” / “I agree to your terms”.

PERFORMATIVE UTTERANCES

Are making things happen just by being uttered. It is valid if spoken by someone whose right to make them is accepted and
circumstances which are accepted as appropriate. Are associated with: bid, marrying, declare a mistrial, etc.

“I pronounce you husband and wife” / “I declare this meeting adjourned” / I sentence you to prison”.
ASSERTIVE UTTERANCES

Are concerned with facts. The function is to tell what the speaker know or believe. The purpose is to inform.

“We declare that most plastic are made from soy beans”

“I voted for Obama in the last election”

“Ploiesti is 60 km from Bucharest”.

VERDICTIVE UTTERANCES

Speech act in which the speaker makes an assessment or judgement about the acts of the addressee: ranking, assessing,
appraising, condoning.

- The action viewed positively: commend, compliment, praise, congratulate, honor, etc.
- The action is beneficial to the speaker: grateful for/to, thankful for, etc.
- The action is viewed negatively: accuse, blame, criticize.

COMPOUND NOUNS

Words can be combined to form compound nouns

First part: type or purpose Second part: what or who Compound noun

police man policeman

boy friend boyfriend

fish tank water tank

dining table dining-table

The elements in a compound noun are very diverse parts of speech

Compound elements Examples

noun + noun bedroom

water tank
motorcycle
printer cartridge

noun + verb rainfall

haircut
train-spotting

noun + adverb hanger-on

passer-by
 Compound elements Examples

verb + noun washing machine

driving licence
swimming pool

verb + adverb lookout

take-off
drawback

adverb + noun onlooker

bystander

DERIVED NOUNS

Changing adjectives and verbs into nouns using certain suffixes - This process is called derivation.

Using derived nouns gives us a different way to express meanings. For example, instead of using two sentences as
in (1), we could use just one sentence as in (2):

 Anna was late. It annoyed me.

 Anna’s lateness annoyed me.

In the first example above, we have the adjective late, while in the second, we have the derived noun lateness, which
allows us to package the information into one sentence.

 Jeff is shy. I didn’t notice this until the party. → I didn’t notice Jeff’s SHYNESS until the party.
 You were generous. I appreciated it. → I appreciated your GENEROSITY.
 The peacekeeping forces withdrew. It led to civil war.
 The withdrawal of the peacekeeping forces led to civil war.
 The judge accepted the bribe. This caused an outrage. → The judge’s ACCEPTANCE of the bribe caused an
outrage.
 He refused the prize. This embarrassed the committee. His REFUSAL embarrassed… .


The English Verb System

English Verbs
Unlike many other widely-spoken Indo-European languages such as Spanish and French, the English verb system is
largely periphrastic. Periphrasis, in contrast to inflection, is "a phrase of two or more words used to express a
grammatical relationship that could otherwise be expressed by the inflection of a single word." All English verb forms
except for the simple present and simple past are periphrastic.
Although some grammars identify anywhere between twelve and sixteen English tenses, the nineteen finite, or
conjugated, verb forms in English express more than just tense. To be more precise, English has:
 Two tenses: present and past
 Four aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, perfect-progressive
 Three moods: indicative, subjunctive, imperative
 Two voices: active and passive
The following sections discuss the tenses, aspects, moods, and voices of the English verb system.

Tense
Tense is the expression of location in time of an action or state. Grammatical tense only roughly relates to time.
English has only two verb tenses: present and past. The general formula for forming the simple present tense in
English is:
The general formula for forming the simple past tense in English is:
The base form of a verb in English is the infinitive without the preposition to functioning as an infinitive marker.
Despite popular belief, English does not have a future tense. Futurity is, instead, expressed through modal verbs,
specifically will and shall. For more information on the English modal system, please read the article English Modal
Verbs.

Aspect
Aspect is the expression of the temporal structure of an action or state. Aspect in English expresses ongoing actions
or states with or without distinct end points. English has four aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect-
progressive.
Although not always identified, the simple aspect is the default aspect of the simple present and simple past tenses.
The simple aspect expresses single actions, habits, and routines. For the formation of the simple present and simple
past verbs, please refer to the charts in the "Tense" section.
The progressive aspect expresses incomplete or ongoing actions or states at a specific time. For example, the use of
the progressive aspect in I am floating the book indicates that I started floating the book in the past and am still floating
the book in the present and presumably the future. The formula for forming the present progressive is [simple present
"to be" + present participle]. The formula for forming the past progressive is [simple past "to be" + present participle].
The perfect aspect expresses the consequences resulting from a previous action or state. For example, the use of the
perfect aspect in I have floated the book focuses on the end result of my floating the book (my having floated the book)
as opposed to the process of floating the book. The formula for forming the present perfect is [simple present "to
have" + past participle]. The formula for forming the past perfect is [simple past "to have" + past participle].
The perfect-progressive aspect expresses incomplete or ongoing actions or states that began in the past and continue to
a specific time. For example, the use of the perfect-progressive aspect in I had been floating the book indicates that I
started floating the book in the past and continued to float the book until a specific point in time at which I stopped
floating the book. The formula for forming the present perfect-progressive is [simple present "to have" + past
participle "to be" + present participle]. The formula for forming the past perfect-progressive is [simple past "to have" +
past participle "to be" + present participle].
Present participles, or -ing forms, are formed by adding the suffix -ing to the base form of a verb. For example, the
present participles of eat and read are eating and reading. Past participles, or -en forms, are formed 1.) identically to the -
ed past tense, 2.) by adding the suffix -en to the base form, or 3.) with a stem change. For example, the past
participles of study, take, and begin are studied, taken, and begun.

Voice
Voice is the expression of relationships between the predicate and nominal functions. English has two voices: active
and passive. In the active voice, the subject performs the action of or acts upon the verb and the direct object
receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the transitive verb. For
example, the sentence I read the book is in the active voice because the subject I performs the action of reading and
the direct object the bookreceives the action of reading. The sentence The book was read [by me], on the other hand, is
in the passive voice because the subject The book receives the action of reading.

Intension and extension

Intension and extension, in logic, correlative words that indicate the reference of a term or concept: “intension”
indicates the internal content of a term or concept that constitutes its formal definition; and “extension” indicates its
range of applicability by naming the particular objects that it denotes. For instance, the intension of “ship” as
a substantive is “vehicle for conveyance on water,” whereas its extension embraces such things as cargo ships,
passenger ships, battleships, and sailing ships. The distinction between intension and extension is not the same as
that between connotation and denotation.
Semantic Field

A semantic field is a set of words (or lexemes) related in meaning. Also known as a word field, lexical field, field of
meaning, and semantic system.

"Let's consider some examples of semantic fields. . . . The field of 'stages of life' is arranged sequentially, though there
is considerable overlap between terms (e.g., child, toddler) as well as some apparent gaps (e.g., there are no simple
terms for the different stages of adulthood). Note that a term such as minor or juvenile belongs to a technical register,
a term such as kid or tot to a colloquial register, and a term such as sexagenarian or octogenarian to a more formal
register. The semantic field of 'water' could be divided into a number of subfields; in addition, there would appear to
be a great deal of overlap between terms such as sound/fjord or cove/harbor/bay."

Generic / Non Generic Noun

Generic nouns are nouns that refer to all members of a class or group. They are often used when making
generalizations or talking about universal truths. Generic nouns can be singular or plural, and be used with or without
articles.

Let’s take, for example, the very simple noun book. When writing a sentence, we might have a certain book in mind.

My book fell in a puddle when I got off the bus.

In this sentence, we’re clearly referring to a specific book, a fact that is particularly conspicuous because we have
used the possessive pronoun my.

I don’t have a book to read at the moment.

While there isn’t a specific book referred to in this sentence, it is clear that the speaker wants to acquire just one book
(at least for now) and has nothing to say that applies to all books. Therefore book is not a generic noun here, but
simply a common noun.

A book is a window into a new world.

In this example, however, “a book” refers not to a single book, but to books in general. Therefore, book is a generic
noun in this sentence.

It’s also possible to use a generic noun with the definite article, although this style is slightly old-fashioned.

The book is the most important human invention in all of history.

You can even make general nouns plural, in which case no definite or indefinite article is needed. We call this
the zero article.

Books are windows into new worlds.

This principle of zero article + plural generic noun can be applied to any generic class of things.

Lions are majestic animals.

Do you think computers have revolutionized our society?

 It is important to recognize whether a generic noun is used as a singular or plural, because it must agree with the
verb that follows. Take the last sentence above, for example, and transform the plural generic noun computers into a
singular generic noun.

Do you think the computer has revolutionized our society?

Since the noun computer is now singular (taking the definite article the) the verb following it is now “has” rather than
“have.”

COUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a singular and a plural form. The singular
form can use the determiner "a" or "an". If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask "How
many?" combined with the plural countable noun.

Singular Plural

one dog two dogs

one horse two horses

one man two men

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas
or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.).
Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.

EXAMPLES: tea, sugar, water, air, rice, knowledge, beauty, anger, fear, love, money, safety, evidence, etc.

We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of an uncountable noun, use a word or expression
like some, a lot of, much, a bit of, a great deal of , or else use an exact measurement like a cup of, a bag of, 1kg of,
1L of, a handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of. If you want to ask about the quantity of an uncountable noun, you
ask "How much?"

TRICKY SPOTS
Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English. They must follow the rules for uncountable
nouns. The most common ones are:
accommodation, advice, baggage, behavior, bread, furniture, information, luggage, news, progress, traffic, travel,
trouble, weather, work

 I would like to give you some advice.

 How much bread should I bring?
 I didn't make much progress today.

Proper / Common Nouns

1. Common noun: I want to be a writer.

Proper noun: Agatha Christie wrote many books.
2. Common noun: I’d like to adopt a cat.
Proper noun: Cleopatra is the cutest kitten ever.

3. Common noun: Would you like a cookie?

Proper noun: I’m craving Oreos.

4. Common noun: Let’s go to the city.

Proper noun: Let’s go to San Francisco.

5. Common noun: My teacher starts work before sunup.

Proper noun: Mr. Bell seems to understand what students need.

6. Common noun: I think that’s a planet, not a star.

Proper noun: I can see Jupiter tonight.

Abstract Nouns

Nouns can be abstract or concrete. Concrete nouns are tangible and you can experience them with your five
senses. Abstract nouns refer to intangible things, like actions,feelings, ideals, concepts and qualities.

Common Abstract Nouns: Beauty, Bravery, Brutality, Anger, wisdom, weakness, anxiety, delight, despair,
friendship, grief, hate, happiness, love, pain, pride, belief, death, chaos, energy, faith, idea, justice, loss,
mercy, peace, reality, service, speed, victory, truth, etc.

Abstract Nouns in Sentences

 The education of children should be our number one priority.

 He was willing to sacrifice his job in order to move to Hawaii.

Abstract Nouns in Quotes

 “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” - Robert Frost

 “I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It
overcomes almost everything, even nature.” - John D. Rockefeller
 “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” - Erich Fromm

FIXED / OPEN COLLOCATIONS

We say that words that occur together frequently “collocate”. Words that don’t collocate almost never occur
together. If we try, they sound unnatural and wrong:

 Time speeds / travels / rides / moves (they do not collocate)

 Time flies / goes by / wears on / passes (they collocate)

Gramatical forms:

 adverb + adjective: I’m hopelessly addicted to coffee.

 adjective + noun: I remember my formative years.

 noun + noun: The government have just unveiled their policy review.

 verb + noun: We will honour our pledge to reduce unemployment.

 dependent preposition: Personally, I think they should be ashamed of themselves.

 part of a longer phrase: It’s always interesting to delve into the past.

Some collocations are fixed phrases which cannot usually be changed.

 I’ll be back in a flash.

 My boss usually arrives at eight o’clock on the dot.

 The children arrived safe and sound.

Some words have a very limited number of collocates. We call these “strong collocations”. They are often
highly idiomatic:

 She’s stark raving mad.

 The outbreak of violence served as a stark reminder of how fragile the peace was.

 He came to the door stark naked.

Other words have a larger number of possible collocates. We call these “weak” collocations. They are more
common than “strong” collocations.

 accumulate / acquire / amass / come into / flaunt your / inherit / wealth

 abandon / be involved in / dabble in / enter / go into / engage in /politics

Some collocations can be changed by using different grammatical forms or adding other words:

 You’re / We’re in danger of pricing yourself / ourselves out of the (property) market.

 She’s been gaining (an awful lot of) weight recently.

However, some collocations cannot make these changes without sounding very unnatural:

 a tidal wave / the wave was tidal

 They agreed unconditionally. / They unconditionally agreed.

Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a phrase that’s made up of a verb and another word or two, usually a preposition but sometimes
an adverb.

The word “come,” on its own, means to move towards something. Together with the preposition “on,” though, the phrase
“come on” becomes a phrase of encouragement.

For example: the phrase “turn off” can be used just like that, or it can be interrupted by stating what you’re turning off.
In other words, you can say “turn off the TV,” but you can also say “turn the TV off.” Both are correct!

Bring

Bring up — To mention something. (Note: The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated.)
“Mark was sick and had to miss the party, so please don’t bring it up, I don’t want him to feel bad for missing it.”
Bring on — To cause something to happen, usually something negative. (The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated by
what’s happening.)
“His lung cancer was brought on by years of smoking.”
Bring it on! — To accept a challenge with confidence.
“You want to have a race? Bring it on! I can beat you!”

Call

Call on — This can mean either to visit someone, or to use someone’s or something’s knowledge.
To visit someone: “I’ll call on you this evening to see how you’re feeling.”
To use someone’s knowledge: “I may need to call on the university’s excellent professors in order to answer your question.”
Call off — To cancel something.
“The picnic was called off because of the rain.”

Come

Come up (with something) — To think of an idea.

“I came up with this idea for a TV show about a woman living with her best friend and daughter. I call it ‘Two and a Half
Women.’”
Come up — To bring up a topic, or when something happens unexpectedly.
To bring up a topic: “I wanted to tell her that I got a new job but the chance never came up.”
Unexpected occurrence: “I was going to meet my friends for dinner, but something came up so I had to cancel.”
Come in — To enter.
“‘Come in, the door is open!’ said the grandmother to the wolf.”
Come across — To meet or find by chance.
“I was cleaning the attic and I came across my high school uniform. Can you believe it still fits?”
Come forward — To volunteer information about something, like a crime.
“The police are encouraging people to come forward with any information about the kidnapped girl.”

Fall

Fall apart — This phrase means “to break into pieces,” but it can be used to talk about things that are not physical, like a
marriage or a person.
“They tried to save their marriage by going to therapy but in the end if fell apart anyway.”
Fall down — To drop to the ground, usually by accident.
“My friend slipped on a banana peel and fell down. I thought that only happened in cartoons!”

ENGLISH IDIOMS

Idiom Meaning Usage

A blessing in disguise a good thing that seemed bad at first as part of a

sentence

A dime a dozen Something common as part of a

sentence

Beat around the bush Avoid saying what you mean, usually as part of a
because it is uncomfortable sentence

Better late than never Better to arrive late than not to come at by itself
all

Bite the bullet To get something over with because it as part of a

is inevitable sentence

Break a leg Good luck by itself

Call it a day Stop working on something as part of a

sentence

Cut somebody some Don't be so critical as part of a

slack sentence

Cutting corners Doing something poorly in order to save as part of a

time or money sentence

Easy does it Slow down by itself

Get out of hand Get out of control as part of a

sentence

Get something out of Do the thing you've been wanting to do as part of a

your system so you can move on sentence

Get your act together Work better or leave by itself

Give someone the Trust what someone says as part of a

benefit of the doubt sentence

Go back to the drawing Start over as part of a

board sentence

Hang in there Don't give up by itself

Idiom Meaning Usage

Hit the sack Go to sleep as part of a

sentence

It's not rocket science It's not complicated by itself

LEXICAL BORROWINGS

In linguistics, borrowing (also known as lexical borrowing) is the process by which a word from
one language is adapted for use in another. The word that is borrowed is called a borrowing,
a borrowed word, or a loanword.

"The vocabulary of English based on exploration and trade [was] often brought to England in spoken
form or in popular printed books and pamphlets. An early example is assassin (eater of hashish),
which appears in English about 1531 as a loanword from Arabic, probably borrowed during the
Crusades. Many of the other words borrowed from eastern countries during the Middle Ages were
the names of products (Arabic lemon, Persian musk, Semitic cinnamon, Chinese silk) and
placenames (like damask, from Damascus). These were the most direct examples of the axiom that a
new referent requires a new word."

Reasons for Language Borrowing

"One language may possess words for which there are no equivalents in the other language. There
may be words for objects, social, political, and cultural institutions and events or abstract concepts
which are not found in the culture of the other language. We can take some examples from the
English language throughout the ages. English has borrowed words for types of houses (e.g. castle,
mansion, teepee, wigwam, igloo, bungalow). It has borrowed words for cultural institutions
(e.g. opera, ballet). It has borrowed words for political concepts (e.g. perestroika, glasnost,
apartheid). It often happens that one culture borrows from the language of another culture words or
phrases to express technological, social or cultural innovations."

Denotation and Connotation Exercise

1. I recognized the familiar smell of my roommate's cooking.

negative connotation: stench
positive connotation: aroma
2. Scrapple is an inexpensive meal.
negative connotation: cheap
positive connotation: thrifty

1. Kevin's interest in model cars has turned into a hobby.

negative connotation: obsession
positive connotation: a vocation
2. Uncle Henry lives in a hut deep in the woods.
negative connotation: shack
positive connotation: cabin
 3. Phileas Fogg was an adventurous traveler.
negative connotation: foolhardy
positive connotation: courageous

1. We stopped for lunch at a diner in West Virginia.

negative connotation: greasy spoon
positive connotation: café or bistro
2. My parents are committed conservationists.
negative connotation: tree huggers
positive connotation: environmentalists

Relative clauses: defining and non-defining

We use defining relative clauses to give essential information about someone or something – information that we

need in order to understand what or who is being referred to. A defining relative clause usually comes immediately

after the noun it describes.

We usually use a relative pronoun (e.g. who, that, which, whose and whom) to introduce a defining relative clause (In
the examples, the relative clause is in bold, and the person or thing being referred to is underlined.):

They’re the people who want to buy our house.

Here are some cells which have been affected.

They should give the money to somebody who they think needs the treatment most.

[talking about an actress]

She’s now playing a woman whose son was killed in the First World War.

Non-defining relative clauses

We use non-defining relative clauses to give extra information about the person or thing. It is not necessary

information. We don’t need it to understand who or what is being referred to.

We always use a relative pronoun (who, which, whose or whom) to introduce a non-defining relative clause (In the
examples, the relative clause is in bold, and the person or thing being referred to is underlined.)

Clare, who I work with, is doing the London marathon this year.

Not: Clare, I work with, is doing the London marathon this year.

Doctors use the testing kit for regular screening for lung and stomach cancers, which account for 70% of cancers

treated in the western world.

Alice, who has worked in Brussels and London ever since leaving Edinburgh, will be starting a teaching course
in the autumn.
Warning:
We don’t use that to introduce a non-defining relative clause:

Allen, who scored three goals in the first game, was the only player to perform well.

Not: Allen, that scored three goals in the first game, was the only player to perform well.

Compare

non-defining defining

His brother, who works at

His brother who works at the
the supermarket, is a friend
supermarket is a friend of mine.
of mine.
He has more than one brother.
He has only one brother, and
The one I’m talking about works
that brother works at the
at the supermarket.
supermarket.

Sometimes defining and non-defining relative clauses can look very similar but have different meanings.