LINGUISTIQUE ANGLAISE SEMESTRE 5

INTRODUCTION – TEXT ON LEONARD COHEN

In English “the” is used in specific situations when everybody knows what I’m talking about (ex.
the British prime minister).

I wasn’t hoping VS I didn’t hope

Call me conservative/old fashion

In poshest Portman Square (snob, borghese) -> not a superlative but an adjective pushed to the
extreme, that’s why the article is absent.

Party : the first meaning is “a party of people” (a group of people), then it became a synonym of
“celebration”.

He’s dapper: è ben vestito

He could wear a suit: advice (potrebbe mettersi un vestito)/He could be wearing a suit (per una
volta si potrebbe anche mettere un vestito).

I reckon = I think

 Inject bleach
 Verbal braud
 Bunker sand trap
 From the very heart of… = origine du mot français “vrai”
 He graduated the lowest in his class
 Bust = esplodere, finire (in questo caso riferito agli stati uniti)
 Gusty winds = venti forti (aggettivo gusty rende numerabile un non numerabile)
 They clusted over law and order = in inglese britannico si fa a liaison
 Spitting image

HAVE/HAVE GOT : What have we got? -> cosa abbiamo trovato/cosa è successo/qu’est-ce qui nous
a tombé dessus? / What do we have? -> domanda retorica, constatazione

Lessivé/crevé = esausto/molto stanco

They’re just getting going = sono appena cominciati/e

I was being punished = mi stavano punendo, frase esplicita/I was punished = sono stato punito

Lothario = Don Juan

  The income was modest; he was living with a woman who had a young child = viveva con
una donna che aveva un bambino (spiega, giustifica la frase prima, il motivo per cui non
aveva soldi);
 He was commuting between Hydra, where he lived with his girlfriend = dove viveva con la
sua ragazza (inciso).

What fuelled his writings = ciò che ha alimentato i suoi scritti (fuel = qualsiasi elemento che genera
energia, gas, benzina, diesel, legno)

A women whose (=le cui, di lei) affection… / a woman whom (=la quale, lei) he dated

LES DÉMONSTRATIFS – THIS & THAT

Le, la, les

Ce, cet, cette, ces -> il y a un rapport de connexion directe avec le co-énonciateur, je prends l’autre
à témoin (vient du latin « montrer le doigt »).

This VS that -> ça dépend de la distance dans l’espace, distance dans l’affectif, distance dans le
temps.

Mind that child -> il y a toujours un « child » dans les parages, n’importe quel. Ce n’est pas
importante la proximité.

-th- : si dà per scontato che l’interlocutore sappia di cosa stiamo parlando (the, there, then, thus,
that, this).

-wh- : ci si aspetta che l’interlocutore ci dia un’informazione (where, when, which).

- What does this word mean?

- Which one?
- That long one -> il bambino indica la parola quindi non ci sono più dubbi su cosa intende,
per questo this è escluso. È evidente che l’uso di this e that non dipende solo dalla
distanza.
- Where’s a dictionary?

It’s one of those days -> oggi è uno di quei giorni in cui tutto va male, so che l’interlocutore sa di
cosa sto parlando.

Language of commercial :

- To remove those pit stains -> I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about
- That special day, that special occasion -> I know in your life you all have special occasions,
special days
Example n. 5 : Those bushy eyebrows -> we consider that everybody knows how Einstein’s
eyebrows looked like.

Example n. 12 : But I’d give you that freedom -> the girl has just said that she wants to preserve
her freedom, he answer he will give her that freedom she was talking about.

Example n. 14 : Those soldiers nearest the train -> quei soldati lì, quelli che si trovano più vicino al
treno (nell’insieme di soldati che si trovano alla stazione ce ne sono alcuni che si trovano più vicino
al treno di altri).

Example n. 6 :

 “Where did you get that bruise?” he said, touching it lightly -> he has his finger on it, that’s
why we use that, and he knows that she knows she has a bruise on her arm.
 That was my dad -> her bruise (that) was his dad’s fault.
 That’s when I got this bruise -> she’s saying indirectly, by using this, that the bruise is the
one on the arm about which he asked before, not the one on the leg.
 What kind of a life was this that Jo had to live? -> indirect free speech, we use “a” because
we’re not even sure that she’s living a real life. We use “this” because we’re choosing that
what she’s living is not a life, personal opinion.

Example n. 23b : je me suis fait insulter par ce cocher ; quel cocher ? -> on traduit par « this », elle
s’est trompé parce que l’interlocuteur ne savait pas de qui elle parlait. Si on traduit par « that » la
phrase n’a plus de sens.

Example n. 9 : there’s this airman who reads and write all the time… -> she’s presenting the man,
it means that probably not everybody knows him. Let him borrow these -> it means she has
selected one book of hers.

Example n. 2 : I think we all have to solve this Proust thing first -> not everybody knows what I’m
talking about, instead I would have used that. I’m expressing my opinion but I’m not sure
everybody has the same opinion as me. This little bugger -> I’ve chosen a specific adjective but
maybe not everybody would have used the same, it’s not something everybody agrees with but
just my opinion of him.

These turkeys won’t be able to prevent Christmas.

He’s one of those man -> everybody knows which type of man I’m talking about

That -> the interlocutor knows about which object/period/person/behaviour I’m talking about and
agrees with me.

Follow that car! : I know he’s seeing the car I’m talking about.
Example n. 11 -> Russia will be the big loser if it does not this old issue and quickly -> the journalist
who’s writing the article says that for him it is an old issue that’s why he’s using “this”.

When you have THIS + NOUN or THIS + ADJ + NOUN -> significa che abbiamo fatto una scelta
non scontata e del tutto personale, quindi anche non condivisibile, fra tante possibilità di nomi e
aggettivi (“this clown, these stupid shoes”).

Examples with THIS :

 27 years of marriage and… this! -> (tv series) we imagine the speaker is doing a specific
gesture to indicate the result of those 27 years of marriage.
 Is this the end for Islamic state? : is everything you’ve been talking about to end? We
presuppose he was saying something right before and know he’s saying that “THIS” (=his
previous speech) is about to end.

Example n. 18 : This tantalizing slice of history… -> the journalist has decided to write his opinion in
the article by adding the adjective “tantalizing”.

Example n. 23a : These bloody foreign girls -> personal opinion again.

Example n. 13 : “This is the beginning of the end” -> the speaker has just changed and he’s
reacting to what people were saying before.

Example n. 15 : To commemorate these dramatic days.

Events covered in that extraordinary week -> we’re commemorating events happened in
Normandy, I think that at this point of the article, after what I’ve just said, everybody agrees that
what happened was extraordinary (it lead to the end of the WW2).

Final example : That’s all -> what we’ve been talking about together has just finished.

Example n. 1 – Shakespeare Richard II

 This royal throne of kings, this earth of majesty, etc -> personal definitions of England
 That England -> the England he’s been talking about in the monologue, it’s still his idea of
England but now everybody knows which is because he has said it before.

Example n. 3 :

 I’m pleased with that name -> the name she’s just mentioned
 This funny little pop-eyed bugger -> personal opinion of him

Example n. 4 : Putting that banana was a mistake -> they all know the subject.

Example n. 7 : That orange-coloured, pulpy Japanese fruit -> the speaker supposes everybody
knows the fruit. I’ve never eaten this before -> this thing you’re talking about which I don’t know
(speaker change).
Example n. 8 : That bike’s not good -> the bike he’s seeing in that moment next to the interlocutor
we suppose. This bike won the prize -> the interlocutor’s personal judgement of his bike.

Example n. 10 : Those funny things that you ride -> I know you know exactly which the subject is.

Example n. 17 : This avowed communist -> personal opinion, personal choice of adjective.

Example n. 19 : Those two bottles (in front of me) -> sottinteso, non le comprare se non conosci il
vino, si prende una certa distanza.

Example n. 21 : This election means goodbye -> they’ve just had election and he’s saying his
opinion about it. This putrid place -> opinion.

Example n. 22 : This entry was made + so when did you make that entry? -> the one you’ve just
mentioned.

Example n. 26 : sul foglio

An uncomfortable dynamic ; Toughest level of lockdown ; Shadow foreign secretary ; Treating

people with contempt

WHEN DO WE USE INFINITIVE (V0)?

 SUJET 1 V1 SUJET 2 V0
 SUJET 1 V1 THAT SUJET 2 V0
 NOM + THAT + SUJET V0
 IT IS + ADJECTIF + SUJET V0

Example n. 1 -> demanding that he go and be… : con verbi imperativi (come esigere, ordinare,
suggerire, richiedere, insistere, ecc.) non si coniuga il verbo seguente, lo si lascia all’infinito

Example n. 2 -> demanded that he be allowed : //

Example n. 3 -> … their impossible demand that he renounce… : verbo imperativo negativo

Example n. 4-8 -> insisting that it belong ; insisting that he carry : I insist that something will
happen or is happening, in this case no conjugations

Example n. 5-6 -> on the condition that she not appear ; on the condition that we not release it

Example 7 -> it’s important that they be free/they not be put

Example 9-10 -> he request that she walk ; the request that Stonehenge be returned ; federal law
requires that this area be vacated/that these seats be available
Example n. 13-14 -> lest it be thought (=affinché non si pensi che …) ; lest we forget (=affinché non
dimentichiamo) ; lest they shaken (=per evitare che/affinché non rallentino)

Yoke = giogo; pantry = dispensa, ripostiglio; outhouse = bagni all’esterno di una volta

EX. Act with propriety (=bienséance) in this cemetery in order that our dead be properly honored

VERBES À PREPOSITION ET VERBES À PARTICULE

VERBES À PREPOSITION

Petits mots qui servent à localiser (from, on, for, to, at, forward, after, back …), derrière la
préposition on va trouver un nom. Le verbe « look » est toujours suivi d’une préposition.

VERBES À PARTICULE

Switch the light on/off or used as a preposition “he put his keys on the table”

Blow out a candle/blow up the car

“UP” is a very difficult preposition, beaucoup d’emplois différents (preposition, particle) :

 He ran up the hill : correva su per la collina

 He ran up the bill : ha aumentato il prezzo del conto

VERBE + PARTICULE :

 Sans complément -> the plane took off at 7, the bomb blew up
 Avec complément -> he switched on the light/he switched the light on -> quel ordre de
mots je dois utiliser? Les deux sont correctes

ABOUT/AROUND

“About” véhicule une idée d’imprécision : ex. I hear you’ve been falling about

Messing about -> fare casino, sprecare il proprio tempo

Around = adverbe (he does nothing but ride around all day) ; round = preposition (Round the
world in 80 days)

AWAY

Away véhicule la notion d’éloignement

He threw his letters away

They talked the afternoon away (=hanno passato tutto il pomeriggio a parlare)

To shrug the problem away (=far sparire/eliminare il problema)

BACK

Back véhicule la réciprocité et le retour -> Ex. Can I have it back? / He looked and her and smiled
so she smiled back.

BY

To be shot by a sniper -> préposition

He walked by without noticing me / To put money by (=économiser) for the summer -> particule

DOWN

He walked down the stairs -> préposition

Sit down/peg your tent down -> particule

To boil down to -> emploi métaphorique, =en clair, pour résumer

IN -> intériorité

We had the garden walled in -> on a fait construire un mur autour du jardin

To took in -> sbagliare

To wave in -> fare segno di entrare

OFF -> éloignement, rupture, absence de contact (électricité)

To take off -> decollare, partire (a seconda della frase)

To trigger off -> provocare, innescare, scatenare

To switch the engines off -> “the engine” est un statut répris.

ON

Put the kettle on -> metti su l’acqua (per il tè)

To giggle on -> continuare a ridere

OUT -> hors de, au dehors

To hand out -> distribuire

To pass out = svanire, to pass away = morire

OVER

Knock me over with a feather -> sconvolgermi

Give up -> rinunciare, smettere, arrendersi / give over -> lascia perdere, smettila
To think over -> pensarci bene (prima di fare qualcosa)

To get it over -> superare (una situazione difficile)

UP

Open up -> apri (la porta, sapendo che l’altro è dietro la porta. Ex. Suona la polizia)

LA PROGRESSION : BE+ING

 When a girl of twenty marries a man of eighty is fairly obvious that she is marrying him for
money.

La première partie de la phrase appartient au domaine du faire (verbe au présent simple).

La progression souligne le prédicat et énonce toute la phrase.

La nominalisation du prédicat est un jugement porté sur une relation binaire.

Le sujet she dans le statut BE+ING est dominé par l’énonciateur (domaine du dire).

BE+ING ne porte pas sur le verbe mais sur la relation toute entière.

 You are always talking about money.

Always perd son statut de régularité et devient un adverbe modale.

Récapitulant

Enoncés BE+ING -> relation binaire -> Nom + outil grammaticale + BE+ING.

Sujet dominé par l’énonciateur (dans une relation binaire) -> domaine du dire.

Enoncés sans BE+ING (ex. présent simple, verbe dynamique ou statique) -> domaine du faire.

PREPOSITIONS & CONSTRUCTIONS RESULTATIVES

Si possono fare con qualsiasi soggetto e qualsiasi verbo.

 He read himself blind -> ha letto fino a diventare cieco

 They shouted themselves hoarse -> hanno gridato fino a perdere la voce (hoarse=rauco).

GROUPE NOMINAL

 He drank his man to the floor -> l’ha fatto bere fino a stenderlo
 He elbowed his way through the bar -> è arrivato al bar strisciando
 He talked to me into buying it -> mi ha convinta a comprarlo
TOO/ALSO

Also -> les deux choses sont sur le même plan. Le sujet a déjà été présenté.

Too -> le sujet apparait pour la première fois, on l’ajoute à une liste.

NEARLY/ALMOST

These words have similar meanings and are frequently used with the following words:

Almost Nearly

certainly (numbers)

all all

every always

entirely every

impossible finished

empty died

 They are used in positive sentences:

She almost/nearly missed her train.

 They can be used before words like all, every and everybody:

Nearly all the students have bikes.

 Nearly is the most common with numbers:

There were nearly 200 people at the meeting.

 They can also be used in negative sentences but it is more common to make a positive
sentence with only just:

We only just got there in time (or : We almost/nearly didn’t get there in time.)

 Almost can be used before words like any, anybody, anything, etc:

I’ll eat almost anything.

 You can also use them before no, nobody, never, etc. but it is much more common to use
hardly or scarcely with any, anybody, ever, etc:

She’s hardly ever in (or: She’s almost never in).

  Almost can be used when you are saying that one thing is similar to another:

The boat looked almost like a toy.

 In British English you can use very and so before nearly:

He was very nearly caught.

It’s great to be almost like a man -> évoquer un contexte.

o The queen almost slept here -> la regina ha quasi dormito qui (ma alla fine è andata
nell’albergo di fronte) -> l’attenzione è su “(slept) here”, si fa una supposizione.
o The queen nearly slept here -> la regina si è quasi addormentata qui -> l’attenzione è sul
verbo “slept”.

Almost -> presupposizione ; nearly -> sottolineare la vicinanza (con un evento)

o I’m not thirteen! I’m nearly sixteen -> voglio sottolineare che sto per compiere 16 anni
perché qualcuno ha sbagliato la mia età.
o I’m almost sixteen -> nessun contesto particolare, sto dicendo che ho quasi 16 anni (ad es.
quando mi chiedono l’età).

Nearly new cars -> approccio positivo

o I’m not nearly ready -> non sono neanche lonatanamente pronto
o I’m not “almost” ready -> riprendo quello che ha appena detto qualcun altro per dire che
non sono pronto come pensa lui (=statut repris).

The nearly impossible question -> la domanda praticamente impossibile, ma non è detto che lo sia
veramente

Legal immigration to the US is almost impossible -> si intuisce l’impossibilità perché si conoscono I
presupposti (ovvero la situazione dell’immigrazione in America)

This tumour is nearly gone -> approccio molto più positivo rispetto ad almost.

The almost nearly perfect people -> quasiment presque parfait

ALMOST

Superlatively cooked, with the centre almost raw -> si spiega cosa vuol dire superlatively cooked, si
riprende quanto detto in precedenza.

Almost at once I fell asleep -> è successo qualcosa che mi ha svegliato nel momento in cui stavo
per addormentarmi (la frase ha senso se messa in contesto, viene preannunciata).

NEARLY
There are nearly 1 million immigrants in NY -> non voglio condizionare il pensiero del lettore
mettendo la frase in un determinato contesto.

They nearly married -> il matrimonio era stato organizzato e poi annullato, con almost avrebbe
significato che pensavano di sposarsi ma alla fine non l’hanno fatto (il primo è un approccio più
positivo del secondo).

EVIDENTLY/OBVIOUSLY

Evidently = according to what people say. Synonym : apparently.

Obviously = 1) used when giving information that you expect other people to know already or
agree with. Synonym : clearly. 2) used to say that a particular situation or fact is easy to see or
understand.

Evidently -> non trasmette niente di particolare sulla mia opinione, è un’evidenza che chiunque
potrebbe rilevare.

Obviously -> è ovvio per me, l’enunciatore, esprimo un’opinione.

o I love coffee, evidently I’m not the only one -> chiunque potrebbe dire la stessa cosa, non è
una mia opinione
o I love coffee, obviously I’m not the only one -> io so che non sono l’unico, constatazione
personale

Selon toute evidence, naturellement : evidently

Manifestement : obviously

TRADUCTION – REVISION ADVERBES

38. My problem has always been talking too fast.

39. Are you still coming next Tuesday?

40. Do you always come on Tuesdays?

41. Weird that she should been up already.

42. You haven’t resigned already, have you? -> brochure blue (tags)

43. For a man of 43 to still live at his parents is quite unexpected.

44. The kid doesn’t feel good. Have you called the doctor yet?

45. She still hasn’t sent me her application.

46. The postman still hasn’t come/The postman still hasn’t been. TOUJOURS PAS = STILL NOT

47. It’s not time to open our presents yet. PAS ENCORE = YET

48. I still don’t know whether she’s coming or not.

49. Don’t worry. There’s time yet.

50. Is it time already? -> il y a déjà un acquis, dans une affirmation on affirme cet acquis, tandis
que quand on pose une question c’est cet acquis qui nous surprend. Effet surprise.

Is it time yet? -> je veux savoir si l’heure attendue est là à proximité.

51. He kept spying on her, lest she be unfaithful to/cheat on him.

52. I nearly beat you this time. Almost!

53. You know, stopping at London or stopping at Paris is almost the same.

54. Mom, are we nearly there?

55. That red is so dark… It’s almost black.

56. I don’t understand it… the box is nearly empty.

57. it was then that she realised that it was almost dark outside.

58. A crocodile and an alligator are almost the same thing, aren’t they?

59. You will soon understand what it is all about.

60. Are you leaving soon?

61. So, I will be seeing you soon, won’t I?

62. You’re back home early tonight, aren’t you?

63. A short time after, he was beating them on their own game.

64. What? Staying here for the holidays, I’d sooner die.

65. Even the neighbour’s son pass, why wouldn’t you?

66. It’s not bad at all.

67. It’s rather cold for September, isn’t it?

68. It’s rather not expensive enough than too expensive in the end.

69. As to Pierre he would rather I stayed a bit longer.

70. It was a very good film.

71. It was very well organised.

72. Peter, you’re the very man I need.

73. I saw her with my very eyes.

74. That’s what I think too.

75. The goal is to eat good and also to spend a good time.

76. I called the police and while I

77. Do you love me too?

78. She stopped at once and he stopped also.

79. Not only are you cheating but you also lie to your teeth.

80. I know they played it in Leicester and also in Bath.

81. You know, also in Germany they sell cheese.

82. In Germany they sell cheese too.

83. He just said he would be a bit late.

84. There’s barely enough money to tie us over till the end of the month.

85. I think he’s just gone out.

87. If only you had known what to say.

88. Only in France will you see such things.

89. Only then did she decide not to answer the phone anymore/Only then did she make up her
mind that she was stopping answering the phone.

91. What came out from the referendum was a yes but bare.

92. She hardly to me.

93. She had hardly left when the phone rang.

94. We don’t really have to go, do we dad?

95. Can you come help me? Well, actually I’m still in bed.

96. I don’t really like tea, actually.

97. Ah, of course you forgot to go and buy the newspaper.

98. When I got home, he had obviously spent the afternoon drinking.
99. We love going to the seaside in August… evidently we’re not the only ones.

100. It was so obvious that I felt embarrassed/ ill at ease/ uneasy/ uncomfortable.

TRADUCTION – REVISION NOMS

IN INGLESE TUTTI I NOMI COLLETTIVI VENGONO TRATTATI COME PLURALI

1. The luggage was x-rayed this morning.

2. She has fairly short hair, but it’s beautiful.
3. Here is the information I read on the notice board.
4. The damage is considerable.
5. Did you buy any fruit?
6. They have about three thousand head of cattle.
7. When the police arrived, they found the body under the dining table.
8. They have received little news from their families so far.
9. What do you want for dessert? A piece of fruit or a slice of cake?
10. Her father is a hairdresser, but not an ordinary one.
11. People say the Welsh/ Welsh people are said to eat a lot of ketchup, but the Americans eat
a lot more.
12. We had great weather over the weekend, too bad you didn’t have time to come and see
us.
13. I have been at university for two years and I wonder what it brings to me.
14. What arrogance and what a woman.
15. We heard laughter in the room next door.
16. Her father, a famous journalist, was a member of the labour party.
17. Tea is said to be unhealthy.
18. Did you see little Sarah a long time ago?
19. I haven’t been to church since the new road was opened. Since + past simple.
20. Where’s the coffee? I just like/love coffee.
21. Have you always been a non-smoker?
22. I have been a vegetarian since I was 16.
23. I love salmon. Do you? Well, my brother caught 3 salmons that weighted more than a kilo
each last year.
24. Which suitcase are my pyjamas in?
25. You’ll need 3 pairs of shorts at least.
26. Your trousers need ironing, don’t they?
27. Math? This is what I have always preferred.
28. I have read that the United States does not agree with us on this point.
29. France have beaten Welsh by 6 points. France (the team) -> PLURAL
30. I don’t know how to do it, my whole family are coming for Christmas.
31. Staff are not very keen on working on a Sunday afternoon.
32. Do you know the story of the two mothers in law who…
33. She has had two boyfriends. Both were goalkeepers.