Грамматика английского языка Морфология. Синтаксис - учебное пособие

Н. А. КОБРИНА, Е. А. КОРНЕЕВА,

М. И. ОССОВСКАЯ, К. А. ГУЗЕЕВА

ГР А ММ А ТИКА А НГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫК А

Морфология. Синтаксис

СОЮЗ

С.-ПЕТЕРБУРГ

1999

ББК 81.2 Англ.

К 85

Н. А. Кобрина, Е. А. Корнеева, М. И. Оссовская, К. А. Гузеева

Пособие представляет собой второе дополненное и переработанное издание ранее изданного курса практической грамматики в двух частях - Морфология (М., Просвещение, 1985) и Синтаксис (М., Просвещение, 1986).

Пособие было допущено Министерством просвещения СССР в качестве учебного пособия для студентов педагогических институтов по специальности №2103 "Иностранные языки".

Рецензенты:

Кафедра грамматики английского языка Минского ГПИИЯ;

профессор М. Я. Блох (МГПИ им. В. И. Ленина)

Авторы уделяют особое внимание тем грамматическим явлениям, которые не имеют аналогов в русском языке.

Новелла Александровна Кобрина, Елена Александровна Корнеева,

Мария Ильинична Оссовская , Ксения Александровна Гузеева

ГРАММАТИКА АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

Морфология. Синтаксис

Учебное пособие

Подписано в печать 25 июля 1999 г. Формат 70х100¹ /16.

Гарнитура «Таймс». Бумага офсетная. Печать офсетная.

Объем: 31,0 печ. л. Тираж 10 000 экз. Заказ № 830.

Издательство «СОЮЗ»

195197, Санкт-Петербург, ул. Васенко, 6.

Отпечатано с готовых диапозитивов

в ГИПК «Лениздат» (типография им. Володарского)

Государственного комитета РФ по печати.

191023, Санкт-Петербург, наб. р. Фонтанки, 59.

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Настоящее пособие дает достаточно полное и систематическое описание строя современного английского языка, подробно излагая разделы грамматики, предусмотренные Программой Министерства просвещения СССР для студентов I-III курсов факультетов и отделений английского языка педагогических институтов. Задача пособия состоит в том, чтобы дать студентам практическое знание грамматического строя английского языка, необходимое для владения языком.

Основной материал учебника излагается с позиций современной английской литературной грамматической нормы, однако фиксируются и американские варианты, а также коллоквиализмы и архаические формы, используемые в поэзии.

Каждой новой теме предпосылаются краткие сведения, дающие общую характеристику описываемого явления.

Пройденный материал рекомендуется закреплять сериями упраж­нений, среди которых значительное место должны занимать упражне­ния коммуникативного типа.

Для удобства пользования весь материал учебника разделен на параграфы, имеющие сквозную нумерацию.

Основной иллюстративный материал почерпнут из англо-амери­канской литературы последних десятилетий.

Пособие было апробировано в течение нескольких лет на ан­глийском отделении факультета иностранных языков РГПУ им. А. И. Герцена.

Авторы

INTRODUCTION

The grammatical system of English, like that of any other language, possesses its own peculiar features.

The English language has comparatively few grammatical inflections. They are the plural and the Genitive case endings of some nouns, the com­parative degree endings of some adjectives and adverbs; personal inflections of verbs are confined to the third person singular and the opposition of the forms was - were. What is most characteristic of these inflections in com­parison with Russian is that they are more unified. Thus the plural ending -s in nouns is used with the majority of count nouns. The few exceptions (such as tooth - teeth, goose - geese, child - children, ox - oxen ) are regarded as obsolete forms.

In the sphere of the verb, however, many complications arise, as there is no such regularity among the past tense and participle II forms. Some of them are formed with the inflection -ed (help - helped – helped ) , others by means of root vowel change (bring - brought - brought, come - came - come ). The latter are considered as irregular verbs.

Alongside synthetic forms, the verb has an elaborate system of analytical forms (most of the tense, aspect and perfect forms, the passive voice forms, most of the subjunctive mood forms). The analytical forms, include an auxiliary verb, as the bearer of the grammatical meaning, and a notional part: has gone, was sent, would like, to be posted, being done, having been done, etc.

Many words are not inflected at all: most adjectives and adverbs, modal words, statives, non-count nouns, conjunctions, prepositions, particles and interjections. Moreover, most words are devoid of any word-forming (derivational) morphemes which would show that they belong to a certain class. This lack of morphological distinctions between the classes accounts for the fact that a great number of words (both notional and functional words) may easily pass from one class to another, their status being determined mainly syntactically, by their function in the sentence. The prevailing role of syntax over morphology is also revealed in the fact that words, phrases and clauses may be used in the same functions.

The order of elements in the English sentence is fixed to a greater degree than in inflected languages (as the Russian language). The order subject - predicate - object is most characteristic of statements, and any modi­fication of it is always justified by either stylistic or communicative conside­rations. Attributes may precede or follow head-word, the first pattern be­ing more usual. The most mobile element in the sentence is the adverbial, but that can be explained by its reference to different parts of the sentence.

A most peculiar feature of English is a special set of words employed as structural substitutes for a certain part of speech: noun substitutes (one, that), the verb substitute (do), the adverbs and adjective substitute (so).

Morphology

PARTS OF SPEECH

§ 1. All the words of the English language are grouped into different types of classes. This classification is based on three main principles:

1) their grammatical meaning;

2) their form and

3) their syntactical characteristics.

By the first we understand the meaning common to all the words of the class, such as thingness for the noun or either process or state for the verb.

By the second we mean the morphological characteristics of the class meant, such as the number of the noun or the voice of the verb.

By the third - the combinability and the syntactical functions of a type of word.

We distinguish between notional and functional parts of speech: the former denoting extralinguistic phenomena such as things, actions, qualities, emotions and the latter - relations and connections between notional words or sentences. Thus there are 9 notional parts of speech and 3 functional ones.

THE VERB

§ 2. Most verbs denote action or state. However, there are some verbs which have other meanings. They are modal verbs, causative verbs, some impersonal verbs, relational and link-verbs . They present a system of finite and non-finite forms, except for modal verbs, which have no non-finite forms.

The verb in its finite forms possesses the morphological categories of person, number, tense, aspect, perfect, voice and mood. Its syntactical function is that of the predicate.

The non-finite forms (or verbals) are four in number, they are: the infinitive, the gerund, participle I and participle II.

Non-finite verb forms possess the verbal categories of perfect, voice and to a certain extent aspect. Owing to the richness of its morphological catego­ries, the flexibility of its syntactical functioning and wide combinability, the verb is of the greatest importance in the structure of the sentence.

The morphological categories of the verb are interrelated, that is every verb form expresses all these categories simultaneously.

Formation of verb categories

§ 3. English morphological categories are formed in two ways, synthetically and analytically.

Synthetic or simple forms are those the formal elements of which are to be found within one word from which they are inseparable. These are the present and the past indefinite affirmative (sing, sings, sang ); the non-perfect common aspect forms of the infinitive, participle I, the gerund, participle II (sing, singing, sung ); the imperative mood (sing! ).

Analytical or compound verb forms consist of at least two verbal elements, an auxiliary verb and a notional verb; the latter is presented by participle I, participle II, or the infinitive.

An auxiliary verb is devoid of its lexical meaning, its role is purely grammatical. It may be finite or non-finite, thus showing whether the whole verb form is finite or non-finite as in:

Jane is singing.

Someone seems to be singing in the next room.

The auxiliary verbs in English are not numerous, they are seven: to do, to be, to have, shall, will, should, would.

The notional verb of a compound verb form is always non-finite, it carries the lexical meaning of the whole verb form.

The analytical verb forms are the forms of the continuous aspect, the perfect forms, the passive forms, the future forms, the future in the past forms, some forms of the subjunctive mood, the interrogative, negative and emphatic forms of the present and past indefinite.

The meaning of the analytical form as a whole is the result of the complete fusion of the auxiliary and the non-finite form.

Morphological composition

§ 4. According to their morphological composition verbs can be divided into simple, derivative, compound and phrasal.

Simple verbs consist of only one root morpheme: to ask, to build, to come.

Derivative verbs are composed of one root morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes and suffixes). The main verbforming suffixes are -ize, -fy, -en, -ate , as in: to criticize, to justify, to blacken, to enumerate.

Compound verbs consist of at least two stems: to overgrow, to undertake .

Phrasal verbs consist of a verbal stem and an adverbial particle, which is sometimes referred to as postposition. The adverbial meaning is evident in phrasal verbs of the type to come in, to look out , whereas it is quite lost in the verbs to give up, to give in, to bring up.

Basic verb forms

§ 5. Among the synthetic verb forms there are those which are used independently and those which are used to build other verb forms. They are four in number:

The infinitive stem and participles I and II are employed to build other verbal forms.

The past indefinite is the only basic form that is not used to build other forms.

Regular and irregular verbs

§ 6. Owing to the historical development of the verb system the English verbs fall into two groups: regular and irregular verbs.

The regular verbs, which go back to the Germanic weak verbs, constitute the largest group. The past indefinite and participle II of these verbs are formed by means of the dental suffix -ed added to the stem of the verb. This is the productive pattern according to which all new verbs form their past indefinite and participle II.

The irregular verbs form their past indefinite and participle II according tо some fixed traditional patterns going back partly to the Germanic strong verbs, partly to the weak verbs, which underwent some changes in the process of history.

The irregular verbs are about 250 in number. They can be arranged according to sound changes.

The list of irregular verbs arranged according to sound changes

Pronunciation rules of the suffix –ed

The suffix -ed is pronounced in three ways:

1) [id] when the verb stem ends in the dental consonants [d] or [t]:

2) [d] when the stem ends in any voiced sound except [d]:

3) [t] when the stem ends in any voiceless sound except [t]:

Spelling rules of the verb forms with the suffix –ed

1) The letter -d is added to stems ending in -e :

2) In all the other cases the letters -ed are added:

The final consonant letter is doubled if it is single and follows a short vowel in a stressed syllable:

The final - l is doubled even in an unstressed syllable (British English):

In some words the final -p is doubled in the same position:

The final -y is changed to -i if it is preceded by a consonant:

Formation of participle I

§ 7. Participle I of both regular and irregular verbs is composed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem of the verb. In writing the following rules of spelling are observed:

1) if the stem ends in a mute -e , the -e is dropped before adding -ing :

skate - skating

2) if the stem ends in a single consonant letter preceded by a short vowel of a stressed syllable, the consonant letter is doubled:

3) if the stem ends in -l after a short vowel of an unstressed syllable, the -l is doubled (in British English):

The same refers to some words ending in -p :

4) verbs ending in -ie drop the final -e and change i into у before taking the suffix -ing :

Note:

The same rules apply to the formation of the gerund.

Semantic classifications of the verb

§ 8. Semantic classifications of the verb may be undertaken from different standpoints.

Grammatically important is the devision of verbs into the following classes:

Actional verbs , which denote actions proper (do, make, go, read, etc.) and statal verbs , which denote state (be, exist, lie, sit, know, etc.) or relations (fit, belong, have, match, cost, etc.). The difference in their categorical meaning affects their morphological paradigm: statal and relational verbs have no passive voice (though some have forms coinciding with the passive voice as in The curtains and the carpet were matched ). Also statal and relational verbs generally are not used in the continuous and perfect continuous tenses. Their occasional use in these tenses is always exceptional and results in the change of meaning.

From the syntactic standpoint verbs may be subdivided into transivite (переходные) and intransitive (непереходные) ones.

Without the object the meaning of the transitive verb is incomplete or entirely different. Transitive verbs may be followed:

a) by one direct object (monotransitive verbs) ;

Jane is helping her sister .

b) by a direct and an indirect objects (ditransitive verbs) ;

Jane gave her sister an apple .

c) by a prepositional object (prepositional transitive verbs) :

Jane looks after her sister .

Intransitive verbs do not require any object for the completion of their meaning:

The sun is rising.

There are many verbs in English that can function as both transitive and intransitive.

Tom is writing a letter. (transitive)

Tom writes clearly. (intransitive)

Who has broken the cup? (transitive)

Glass breaks easily. (intransitive)

Jane stood near the piano. (intransitive)

Jane stood the vase on the piano. (transitive)

The division of verbs into terminative and non-terminative depends on the aspectual characteristic in the lexical meaning of the verb which influences the use of aspect forms.

Terminative verbs (предельные глаголы) besides their specific meaning contain the idea that the action must be fulfilled and come to an end, reaching some point where it has logically to stop. These are such verbs as sit down, come, fall, stop, begin, open, close, shut, die, bring, find, etc.

Non-terminative, or durative verbs(непредельные глаголы) imply that actions or states expressed by these verbs may go on indefinitely without reaching any logically necessary final point. These are such verbs as carry, run, walk, sleep, stand, sit, live, know, suppose, talk, speak, etc.

The end, which is simply an interruption of these actions, may be shown only by means of some adverbial modifier:

He slept till nine in the morning.

The last subclass comprises verbs that can function as both termi­native and non-terminative (verbs of double aspectual meaning ). The difference is clear from the context:

Can you see well? (non-terminative)

I see nothing there. (terminative)

The finite forms of the verb

§ 9. The category of person expresses the relation of the action and its doer to the speaker, showing whether the action is performed by the speaker (the 1st person), someone addressed by the speaker (the 2nd person) or someone/something other than the speaker or the person addressed (the 3rd person).

The category of number shows whether the action is performed by one or more than one persons or non-persons.

For the present indefinite tense* of the verb to be there are three contrasting forms: the 1st person singular, the 3rd person singular and the form for all persons plural: (I) am - (he) is - (we, you, they) are.

* The other term used for indefinite tenses is "simple tenses". Accordingly there are the simple present, "the simple past", "the simple future".

In the past indefinite tense it is only the verb to be that has one of these categories - the category of number, formed by the opposition of the singular and the plural forms: (I, he) was - (we, you, they) were. All the other verbs have the same form for all the persons, both singular and plural.

In the future and future in the past tenses there are two opposing forms: the 1st person singular and plural and the other persons: (I, we) shall go - (he, you, they) will go; (I, we) should come - (he, you, they) would come.

In colloquial style, however, no person distinctions are found either in the future or in the future in the past tenses. The only marker for the future tenses is ‘ll used with all persons, both singular and plural: I'll do it; He'll do it; We'll do it, etc. The marker for the future in the past tenses is ‘d , also used with all persons and numbers: I said I’d come; He said he’d come; We said we’d come, etc. Historically ‘ll is the shortened form of will , ‘d is the shortened form of would.

The categories of person and number, with the same restrictions, as those mentioned above, are naturally found in all analytical forms contain­ing the present indefinite tense of the auxiliaries to be and to have , or the past indefinite tense of the auxiliary to be : (I) am reading - (he) is reading - (we, you, they) are reading; (I) am told - (he) is told - (we, you, they) are told; (he) has come - (I, we, you, they) have come; (he) has been told - (I, we, you, they) have been told; (he) has been reading - (I, we, you, they) have been reading.

A more regular way of expressing the categories of person and number is the use of personal pronouns. They are indispensable when the finite verb forms in the indicative as well as the subjunctive moods have no markers of person or number distinctions.

I stepped aside and they moved away.

They had been walking along, side by side, and she had been talking very earnestly.

If you were his own son, you could have all this.

If she were not a housemaid, she might not feel it so keenly.

The verb is always in the 3rd person singular if the subject of the predicate verb is expressed by a negative or indefinite pronoun, by an infinitive, a gerund or a clause:

Nothing has happened . Somebody has come .

To see him at last was a real pleasure. To shut that lid seems an easy task.

Seeing is believing. Visiting their house again seems out of the question.

What she has told me frightens me*.

* For further details see § on Agreement of the Subject and Predicate.

The category of tense

§ 10. The category of tense in English (as well as in Russian) expresses the relationship between the time of the action and the time of speaking.

The time of speaking is designated as present time and is the starting point for the whole scale of time measuring. The time that follows the time of speaking is designated as future time; the time that precedes the time of speaking is designated as past time. Accordingly there are three tenses in English - the present tense, the future tense and the past tense which refer actions to present, future or past time.

Besides these three tenses there is one more tense in English, the so-called future in the past . The peculiarity of this tense lies in the fact that the future is looked upon not from the point of view of the moment of speaking (the present) but from the point of view of some moment in the past.

Each tense is represented by four verb forms involving such categories as aspect and perfect. Thus there are four present tense forms: the present indefinite, the present continuous, the present perfect, the present perfect continuous; four past tense forms: the past indefinite, the past continuous, the past perfect and the past perfect continuous; four future tense forms: the future indefinite, the future continuous, the future perfect and the future perfect continuous; and four future in the past tense forms: the future in the past indefinite, the future in the past continuous, the future in the past perfect, the future in the past perfect continuous.

The category of aspect

§ 11. In general the category of aspect shows the way or manner in which an action is performed, that is whether the action is perfective (совершенное), imperfective (несовершенное), momentary (мгновенное, однократное), iterative (многократное, повторяющееся), inchoative (зачинательное), durative (продолженное, длительное), etc.

In English the category of aspect is constituted by the opposition of the continuous aspect and the common aspect.

The opposition the continuous aspect <——> the common aspect is actualized in the following contrasting pairs of forms:

The forms in the left-hand column (whether taken in context, or treated by themselves) have a definite meaning: they describe an action as a concrete process going on continuously at a definite moment of time, or characteristic of a definite period of time (hence its name - the continuous aspect). The forms in the right-hand column, if treated by themselves, are devoid of any specific aspectual meaning. They denote the action as such, in a most general way, and can acquire a definite and more specified aspective meaning due to the lexical meaning of the verb and specific elements of the context in which they are used. Thus, for example, the verb form sang , when regarded out of context, has no specific aspectual characteristics, conveying only the idea of the action of singing with reference to the past. However when the same form is used in the context, it acquires the aspectual meaning conferred on it by that context. Compare the following sentences:

When he was young he sang beautifully (пел = умел петь).

He went over to the piano and sang two folk-songs (спел).

He went over to the piano and sang (запел).

While everybody was busy lighting a camp fire, he sang folk-songs (пел).

The fact that these forms may express different aspectual meanings according to the context, accounts for the term - the common aspect.

§ 12. Whereas all verbs can be used in the common aspect, there are certain restrictions as to the use of the continuous aspect. Some verbs do not usually have the forms of the continuous aspect. They are referred to as statal verbs . The most common of them are the following:

1. Relational verbs have, be and some link verbs:

become, remain, appear, seem, sound.

However, both to be and to have can be used in the continuous aspect forms where to be has the meaning to act and to have has a meaning other than to possess .

Other verbs having the same meaning of relation are not used in the continuous aspect forms:

2. Verbs expressing sense perception, that is involuntary reactions of the senses:

to feel (чувствовать),

to hear (слышать),

to see (видеть),

to smell (чувствовать запах),

to taste (чувствовать вкус).

However these verbs as well as other statal verbs may be sometimes used in continuous and perfect continuous forms, especially in informal English.*

* These verbs will be considered in detail in § 22.

3. Verbs expressing emotional state:

to care, to detest, to envy, to fear, to hate, to hope, to like, to love, to prefer, to want, to wish.

4. Verbs expressing mental state:

to assume, to believe, to consider, to doubt, to expect, to find, to forget, to imagine, to know, to mean, to mind, to notice, to perceive, to remember, to suggest, to suppose, to think, to understand.

Note:

Care should be taken to distinguish between some of these verbs denoting a mental state proper and the same verbs used in other meanings. In the latter case continuous aspect forms also occur. Compare, for example, the following pairs of sentences:

I am forgetting things more and more now (beginning to forget).

She is understanding grammar better now (beginning to understand).

Moreover, all the verbs treated in § 12 can occur in the continuous aspect when the ideas they denote are to be emphasized:

Don’t shout, I' am hearing you perfectly well!

Why are you staring into the darkness? What are you seeing there?

Are you still remaining my friend.

You see, she’s knowing too much.

They don’t know that inside I know what they’re like, and that all the time I’m hating them.

The category of perfect

§ 13. The category of perfect is as fundamental to the English verb as the categories of tense and aspect, whereas it is quite alien to the Russian verb.

The category of perfect is constituted by the opposition of the perfect to the non-perfect .

The perfect forms denote action preceding certain moments of time in the present, past or future. The non-perfect forms denote actions belonging to certain moments of time in the present, past or future.

To see the difference between the two categories compare the following pairs of sentences containing non-perfect and perfect forms:

§ 14. The perfect forms belong either to the continuous or to the common aspect and as such they have specific semantic characteristics of either one or of the other. Thus the perfect continuous forms denote continuous actions taking place during a definite period of time preceding the present moment or some moment of time in the past or future. The moment of time in question may be either excluded or included in the period of time of the action, as in the following:

The perfect forms of the common aspect are devoid of any specific aspect characteristics and acquire them only from the lexical meaning of the verb or out of the context in which they are used. Thus terminative verbs in the perfect forms of the common aspect express completeness of the action:

She had shut the window and was going to sleep.

The completed actions expressed by such forms may be momentary or iterative , as in:

Non-terminative verbs may express both completed and incompleted actions:

They may also express iterative or durative actions:

Thus the difference between the perfect and the perfect continuous forms is similar to the difference between the indefinite and the continuous non-perfect forms.

Before passing on to a thorough study of all verb forms in detail it should be clearly understood that every one of them is a bearer of three grammatical categories, those of tense, perfect, and aspect, that is every form shows whether the action refers to the present, the past, the future or the future viewed from the past; whether it belongs to a certain moment of time within each of these time-divisions or precedes that moment, and whether it is treated as continuous or not.

Table I

Tense, aspect and perfect forms of the English verbs

Thus each tense is represented by four verb forms involving such categories as aspect and perfect. There are

four present tense forms:

the present indefinite (the simple present)

the present continuous

the present perfect

the present perfect continuous

four past tense forms:

the past indefinite (the simple past)

the past continuous

the past perfect

the past perfect continuous

four future tense forms:

the future indefinite (the simple future)

the future continuous

the future perfect

the future perfect continuous

four future in-the-past tenses:

the future in-the-past indefinite (the simple future-in-the-past)

the future in-the-past continuous

the future in-the-past perfect

the future in-the-past perfect continuous.

Present tenses

§ 15. All the present tenses (The present indefinite, the present continuous, the present perfect, the present perfect continuous) refer the actions they denote to the present, that is to, the time of speaking. The difference between them lies in the way they express the categories of aspect and perfect.

The present indefinite

(The simple present)

Meaning. The present indefinite refers the action which it denotes to the present time in a broad sense.

It bears no indication as to the manner in which the action is performed, that is whether it is perfective (complete) or imperfective (incomplete), momentary or durative (continuous), iterative or inchoative, etc. Any of these meanings can be imparted to the form by the lexical meaning of the verb or by the context. Neither does it bear any indication as to the precedence of the action it denotes to the moment of speaking.

§ 16. Formation. Some of the forms of the present indefinite are synthetic (affirmative forms), some - analytic (interrogative and negative forms).

Affirmative forms for all persons singular and plural except the 3rd person singular coincide with the infinitive stem: to speak - I speak, you speak, they speak.

The 3rd person singular form is built from the same stem by means of the inflexion -s, -es: to speak [spi:k] - he speaks [spi:ksj; to land [lænd] - he lands [lændz]; to wish [wI∫] - he wishes [´ wI∫Iz].

As can be seen from the above examples, the pronunciation and spelling of the inflection of the 3rd person singular vary:

1. Verb stems ending in vowels and voiced consonants (except voiced sibilants and affricates) take the inflection -s which is pronounced [z]:

The 3rd person singular of the verb to say (says ) is pronounced [sez].

In verb stems ending in the letter у and preceded by a consonant the letter у is replaced by the letters ie :

The verbs to go and to do and their compounds (to forego, to overdo, etc.) take the inflexion [z] spelled as

-es :

to go [gou] - he goes [gouz],

the verb to do (and its compounds) changes its root vowel:

The 3rd person singular of the verb to have is has [hæz].

2. Verb stems ending in voiceless consonants (except voiceless sibilants and affricates) take the inflexion -s pronounced [s ]:

3. Verb stems ending in sibilants and affricates take either the inflexion -s or -es . Both are pronounced [ ɪ z] :

a) -es if the final letters of the stem are -s, -sh, -ss, -x, -z, -zz, -ch, -tch :

b) -s if the final letters of the stem are -se, -ce, -ze, -ge, -dge

(i.e. sibilants and affricates plus the mute e ):

§ 17. Interrogative and negative forms of the present indefinite are analytical and are built by means of the present indefinite of the auxiliary to do and the infinitive of the notional verb.

Besides these there is one more type of forms, namely negative-inter­rogative forms , which has two possible patterns.

The paradigm of the verb in the present indefinite

Negative-interrogative

Note:

The auxiliary to do can occur in the affirmative form as well, if special emphasis is required. In this case the auxiliary is always stressed:

Ask him again, he ‘does know what it was.

She ‘does help me so much!

§ 18. There are some verbs that form their present indefinite in a different way.

These are:

1) The verb to be, which has synthetic forms not only for affirmative, but also for interrogative, negative and negative-interrogative structures. Besides, it distinguishes the category of number and has in the singular the category of person*.

* See the table on p. 339.

2) The verb to have when meaning to possess also builds its interro­gative, negative and negative-interrogative forms synthetically.

When the verb to have has a modal meaning or when it is used as part of a phrase verb it makes its interrogative, negative and negative-interrogative forms in the ordinary way, that is with the auxiliary to do:

When do you have to get up in order to catch the first morning train?

She does not have any lunch at home.

3) All the modal verbs do not take the inflexion -s in the 3rd person singular. They form their interrogative and negative forms without the auxiliary to do.

§ 19. The present indefinite.

1. To state facts in the present.

I live in St.-Petersburg.

Most dogs bark.

It’s a long way to Tipperary.

2. To state general rules or laws of nature , that is to show that something was true in the past, is true in the present, and will be true in the future.

It snows in winter.

Snow melts at 0°C.

Two plus two makes four.

3. To denote habitual actions or everyday activity.

They get up at 8.

On Sundays we stay at home.

Do you often go to the dancing hall?

4. To denote actions and states continuing at the moment of speaking (with statal and relational verbs, verbs of sense and mental perception.)

Who does the car belong to?

I do not see what you are doing.

Now I hear you perfectly well.

I do not understand you at all.

5. To express declarations, announcements, etc. referring to the moment of speaking.

I declare the meeting open.

I agree to your proposal.

I offer you my help.

6. To denote a succession of action going on at the moment of speaking.

Now watch me closely: I take a match, light it, put it into the glass and ... oh, nothing happens !

7. To denote future actions.

a) Mostly with verbs of motion (to go, to come, to start, to leave, to return, to arrive, to sail and some other verbs), usually if the actions denote a settled plan and the future time is indicated:

I go to Moscow next week .

They start on Sunday .

She leaves for England in two months .

What do you do next Sunday ?

b) In adverbial clauses of time and condition after the conjunctions when, till, until, as soon as, as long as, before, after, while, if, unless, in case, on condition that, provided , etc.:

When she comes , ring me up, please.

Do it as soon as you are through with your duties.

I promise not to tell her anything if you help me to get out of here.

However in object clauses introduced by the conjunctions when and if it is the future indefinite that is used to denote future actions:

I don’t know when she will come .

I’m not sure if she will come at all.

8. To denote past actions:

a) in newspaper headlines, in the outlines of novels, plays., films, etc.:

Dog Saves Its Master.

Students Say No to New Weapon.

Then Fleur meets Little Jon. They fall in love with each other.

b) in narratives or stories to express past actions more vividly (the so-called historic present):

It was all so unexpected. You see, I came home late last night, turned on the light and - whom do you think I see ? Jack, old Jack, sleeping in the chair. I give a cry, rush to him and shake him by the shoulder.

9. To denote completed actions with the meaning of the present perfect (with the verbs to forget, to hear,

to be told ).

I forget your telephone number.

I hear you are leaving for England?

I am told she returned from France last week.

The present continuous

§ 20. Meaning. The present continuous* denotes an action which is in progress at the moment of speaking.

* Nowadays it is sometimes called "the present progressive".

§ 21. Formation. All the forms of the present continuous are ana­lytic. They are formed by means of the present indefinite of the auxiliary to be and participle I of the notional verb.

In the interrogative the corresponding form of the auxiliary to be is placed before the subject and participle I follows it.

In the negative the negation ‘not’ is placed after the auxiliary.

The paradigm of the verb in the present continuous

Negative-interrogative

In spoken English contractions are commonly used (I’m, he’s, it’s, we’re, etc.).

A reduced negative for the first person singular is I’m not , but is replaced by aren’t in the negative - interrogative.

§ 22. The present continuous is used with all actional and some statal verbs (with the reservations destribed below):

1. To denote continuous actions going on at the moment of speaking.

Look, how happily they are playing !

Don’t bother him, he’s working .

Listen! The telephone is ringing . Go and answer it.

- Can I see Mary? - You must wait a little while, she is having breakfast.

The present indefinite, not the present continuous, is used to denote actions which though going on at the moment of speaking, are important as simple facts, rather than as actions in progress.

Why don’t you answer?

Why don’t you write? Where is your pen?

Stop talking! Why don’t you listen?

If two simultaneous actions are in progress at the moment of speaking, three variants are possible:

a) one action is expressed by the verb in the present indefinite, the other - by the present continuous:

Do you hear what I am saying !

b) both the actions are expressed by verbs in the present continuous:

Are you listening to what I am saying ?

At home he is always sleeping while I am doing chores.

c) both the actions are expressed by verbs in the present indefinite:

Several students watch carefully while he writes it on the board.

The use of the present indefinite instead of the present continuous is due to the semantic peculiarities of the verb.

The present continuous is not generally used with some verbs - the verbs of sense perception , of mental or emotional state and with relational verbs. Still exceptions may occur with these verbs too.

With the verbs of sense perception the use of the tense form is closely connected with what kind of perception is meant - voluntary (deliberate) or involuntary. In case these verbs denote a voluntary action: to listen (слушать), to look (смотреть) or if they may denote both an involuntary and a voluntary action, such as: to feel (ощупывать), to smell (нюхать), to taste (пробовать на вкус), they can occur in continuous forms.

In the same way verbs of mental and emotional states can acquire a different meaning and occur in the present continuous and other continu­ous forms.

In some cases it is not so much a change of meaning as a change in the quality or intensity of the idea expressed by the verb that makes it possible to use the continuous form.

I am forgetting things more and more now.

She is understanding grammar better now.

Don’t shout, I'm hearing you perfectly well.

What are you seeling there in this complete darkness.

You see, she is knowing too mucht.

All this time I'm hating them.

I am feeling quite all right.

The relational verbs (belong, cost, etc.) are not used in the continu­ous form.

2. To denote actions characteristic of a certain period of present time, the moment of speaking

included. As a rule these actions are temporary.

They are spending their holidays at the sea-side this summer.

Your behaviour is killing your wife.

It is autumn now. The birds are flocking together.

3. To denote (for the sake of emphasis) actions in progress referring to all or any time, the moment of

speaking included . In this case the adverbials ever, for ever, constantly, always are obligatory.

Our solar system together with the Milky Way is constantly moving towards Vega.

The Volga is for ever pouring its waters into the Caspian Sea.

Mankind is always developing its mental faculties.

4. To denote actions characteristic of a certain person within more or less long periods of present time,

the moment of speaking included and provoking certain emotions in the speaker (inpatience,

irritation, disapproval, praise, etc.). Sentences with such forms are always emotionally coloured.

Oh, I have no patience with you. Why are you always losing your things?

Though she is only ten, she is very kind-hearted, she is always pitying everybody.

In such sentences the adverbials always or constantly are also obligatory.

5. To denote future actions.

a) With verbs of motion to arrive, to come, to go, to leave, to return, to sail, to start and some others, usually

the actions are only intended or planned. The future time is usually indicated by some adverbials:

She is leaving tomorrow .

The boat is sailing next week .

He is returning on Monday .

What are you doing tomorrow ?

Though the present continuous of the verb to go + infinitive is commonly used to denote an intention or plan, with some verbs the meaning is that of apprehention or presentiment.

He’s going to get ill.

The flowers are going to wither .

It is going to snow .

He’s going to be hanged.

b) In adverbial clauses of time and condition after the conjunctions when, while, as long as, if, in case,

unless , etc:

I’ll ring you up at 2, while you are having your break.

If he is working when I come, don’t bother him, I’ll wait.

As follows from the items enumerated above, the present continuous cannot occur in the context describing a succession of actions referring to the present. In such cases the present indefinite is used:

He comes up to the piano, opens the lid, and begins to play the first tune.

If several actions in a narrative have the form of the present continuous, it indicates that they are all simultaneous (and usually performed by different persons):

The boys are playing football on the lawn, Nell is reading in her room, and Father is having his rest .

In all its uses the present continuous is rendered in Russian by means of the present tense of the imperfective aspect.

The present perfect

§ 23. Meaning. The present perfect form denotes the action preceding the moment of speaking, though it is connected with it either directly or indirectly, that is: a) it continues up to the moment of speaking or b) takes place within a period of time before and including the moment of speaking, so it is relevant to the moment of speaking through its effect or virtually through its continuation at the moment of speaking. In the first case it is called the exclusive present perfect (the moment of speaking is excluded), in the second - the inclusive present perfect (the moment of speaking is included).

Formation. The present perfect is formed analytically, by means of the auxiliary to have in the present indefinite and participle II of the notional verb.*

* For the rules of the formation of participle II see § 5-6.

In the negative the corresponding negative forms of to have are used, participle II follows them.

The paradigm of the verb in the present perfect

Negative-interrogative

§ 24. In all its uses the present perfect directly or indirectly refers actions to the moment of speaking. This connection with the moment of speaking predetermines its use; the present perfect is found in conversations and communications dealing with the state of things in the present and is never found in narratives referring to the past.

The present perfect is used:

1. When the speaker means that he is interested in the mere fact that the action took place, but not in the time when it took place, nor in the circumstances. The time of the action is either not indicated at all, or is indicated only vaguely, by means of adverbs of indefinite time (yet, already, just, lately, recently, of late, ever, never, always, etc.).

I don’t know what he’s going to do, I haven’t seen him.

Has Mother returned ?

I haven’t read the letter yet.

Why are you so hard on him? What has he done ?

Let’s go, it has already stopped raining .

I’ve never seen him in this play.

2. When the speaker means that, though the action is over, the period of time within which it was performed is not yet over at the moment of speaking (with the words today, this week, this year , etc.).

I’ve seen her today.

She’s returned from England this week.

I’ve had a splitting headache this morning.

If the period of time is over or the action refers to some particular moment of time within that period the past indefinite, not the present perfect is used.

I had a bad headache this morning (said in the afternoon, in the evening, etc.).

She was at my party this month (at the time when the party was given).

In such cases (items 1 and 2) the exclusive present perfect is rendered in Russian by the past tense.

3. The present perfect is also used to denote actions still in progress, (the inclusive present perfect) which began before the moment of speaking and go on up to that moment or into it. In this case either the starting point of the action is specified (by means of the adverb since, a prepositional phrase with since , or an adverbial clause with the conjunction since ), or the period during which it continued (by various adverbs or phrases with for ). It is thus used in the following cases:

a) with statal verbs which do not normally take continuous forms:

We met by chance last year, and I haven’t seen her since.

I’ve been here since 8.

I love you. I’ve loved you ever since we met.

I’ve known you all my life.

I haven’t seen you for ages.

b) with some actional (durative) verbs in which case the present perfect continuous is also possible. The

difference between the two forms lies in the following: in the case of the present perfect the logical stress

is laid rather on the fact than on the process , whereas in the case of the present perfect continuous it is

the process that is important.

I’ve worked here since 1960.

He has played football for five years already.

In such cases the inclusive present perfect is rendered in Russian by the present tense.

4. The present perfect is also used in subordinate adverbial clauses of time and condition introduced by the corresponding conjunctions to denote a future action taking place before a certain moment in the future.

I’ll stay with you until you’ve finished everything.

Wait till I’ve written the notice.

Sometimes adverbials of place and objects expressed by words describ­ing situations may serve in an oblique way as past time markers, connect­ing the activities not only with places and situations, but also with the time when the actions took place, accordingly the past indefinite is used.

Did you meet him in London? (when you were in London)

Did you like his singing? (when he sang)

The same is true of special questions beginning with where :

Where did you see him?

Where did you buy this hat?

Although the time of the actions denoted by the present perfect is not specified, it is generally understood as more or less recent, not long past.

§ 25. The ways of translating the present perfect into Russian vary due to the peculiarities of its time orientation and the vagueness of its aspective meaning. It can therefore be translated into Russian either by the past tense (if it is exclusive present perfect) or by the present tense (if it is inclusive present perfect). The latter applies to statal verbs and some actional durative verbs.

The present perfect continuous

§ 26. Formation. The present perfect continuous is formed analytically by means of the auxiliary to be in the present perfect (have/has been) plus participle I of the notional verb.

In the interrogative the first auxiliary (have/has) comes before the subject, the second auxiliary (been) and participle I follow the subject.

In the negative the corresponding negative forms of the first auxiliary (have) are used, the second auxiliary (been) and participle I follow them.

The paradigm of the verb in the present perfect continuous

Negative-interrogative

The present perfect continuous is used mainly in conversation.

§ 27. The present perfect continuous is used with actional verbs to denote:

1. Actions in progress which begin at a certain moment in the past and continue into the present. In this case either the starting point of the action or the period of time during which it has been in progress is usually specified.

I’ve been writing since morning, and so I’ll soon stop.

They’ve been living here since 1970. Now they are going to move to N.

It has been raining ever since midnight, and it is still drizzling.

She’s a fourth year student, so she’s been learning English for at least 3 years already.

All these forms denoting actions continuing into the present (the so-called present perfect continuous inclusive) are translated into Russian by the present tense, imperfective (in the sentences above: пишу, живут, дождь идет, учит).

2. Actions in progress which begin in the past and continue up to the moment of speaking or till just before it. It is the present perfect continuous exclusive.

Oh, here you are at last! I’ve been waiting for you all day!

It has been snowing since morning, but now it has stopped.

You look so sad. Have you been crying ?

It has been raining for at least two hours, but now the wind has driven the clouds away.

3. Actions in progress that both begin and end at some indeterminate time before the moment of speaking, though connected with it through their importance for the present.

My brother has been using my bicycle and has got the tyre punctured.

I have been thinking over your offer, but still can’t tell you anything definite.

I hear she has been calling on you again?

The forms denoting actions that are over by the moment of speaking (the so-called present perfect continuous exclusive) are translated into Russian by means of the past tense, imperfective (in the sentences in items 2 and 3 they are: ждал, снег шел, плакала, дождь шел, катался, обдумывал, приходила).

4. Future actions in progress before a certain moment in the future (in subordinate adverbial clauses of time and condition).

He will get accustomed to the surroundings after he has been staying here for a week or two.

§ 28. As is seen from above, the present perfect continuous cannot be used to denote a succession of actions and therefore cannot be used to describe the development of events. If two actions denoted by the present perfect continuous happen to come together it only means that they are simultaneous and are usually performed by two different persons:

I have been living here for two months while they have been travell­ing all over Europe. Now they are coming back, and I’ll soon move back to my own place.

Past tenses

§ 29. All the past tenses (the past indefinite, the past continuous, the past perfect, the past perfect continuous) refer the actions they denote to the past. The difference between them lies in the way they represent the I categories of aspect and perfect.

Owing to their past time reference all of them are used both in the written language in narrative and description, and in conversation, especially the past indefinite.

The past indefinite

(The simple past)

§ 30. Formation. The affirmative forms of the past indefinite are synthetic, the interrogative, negative and negative-interrogative forms are analytic.

Affirmative (synthetic) forms are represented by the second of the basic verb forms.

Interrogative forms are built by means of the auxiliary to do in the past indefinite (did ), which is placed before the subject, and the infinitive stem of the notional verb, which follows the subject.

Negative forms are built by means of the negative form of the auxiliary, which has two varieties: a) didn’t (used in the spoken language) and b) did not (used in the written language) and the infinitive of the notional verb that follows it.

The paradigm of the verb in the past indefinite

Negative-interrogative

The auxiliary did also occurs in affirmative forms in cases when the speaker wishes to emphasize his statement, as in:

But I assure you, he did tell me of it himself.

Actually, I did see him once last week.

There are a few verbs which form their past indefinite differently from the way described above. These are:

The verb to be , which has synthetic forms not only in the affirmative, but also in the interrogative, negative and negative-interrogative. It also distinguishes the category of number. The interrogative is formed by placing the verb before the subject.

The verb to have , which also has synthetic forms for all structures.

When having meanings other than ‘possess’ or when used as part of a phrasal verb (to have a look), to have forms its interrogative and negative in the ordinary way with the auxiliary to do.

§ 31. The past indefinite refers actions to past time quite cut off from the present, that is, these actions are in no way connected with the present).* The past indefinite can therefore be used only in contexts relating to the past. The past reference of the context can be shown:

* This is very important for distinguishing the situations in which either only the past indefinite or only the present perfect are to be used.

a) by various adverbials of time pointing to the past, for example, yesterday, the day before yesterday, last (that) Saturday (Sunday) , etc., last (that) week (month, year), an hour ago (and other adverbials with ago), in 1970, on the 1st of September , and many others denoting certain moments and periods of time already past.

He left yesterday.

They married in 1975.

She returned two hours ago .

I saw them last Monday.

That night nobody slept.

b) by some other past actions (denoted by the verb in the past indefinite or past continuous).

He came when I was already at home.

They started when the sun was rising.

Thus the very fact that the past indefinite is used in a narrative or in a single sentence is generally an indication that some past time not connected with the present is referred to.

§ 32. The past indefinite is the verb form most frequently used; its range of application is immense, especially in all kinds of narratives.

The past indefinite is used:

1. To state simple facts in the past.

The house stood on the hill.

She was beautiful .

I did not know who the man was .

I did not hear your question.

I did not see you at the theatre.

What did you say ?

The past indefinite , never the present perfect, is used in questions beginning with when , even though no indication of past time is made, because when implies a certain moment in the past. The answer can be either in the past indefinite or in the present perfect, depending on the situation: When did you see him? - I saw him two days ago. - I have just seen him.

Likewise, the past indefinite , not the present perfect, is used in ques­tions beginning with where because in such questions the reference to some past moment is implied: Where did you buy that hat? The implication is: when you were at the place where the action was performed.

2. To denote habitual actions in the past.

All summer I got up at 7.

On Sunday evening he took her to the pictures.

He usually took the first morning train.

Note:

Besides the past indefinite there are other ways of expressing habitual actions in the past:

a) by means of the form used to + infinitive :

Some years ago he used to call on me, now he never does.

The negative construction of used to is formed in one of two ways: didn’t used to and didn’t use to .

She didn’t use to knit in the evenings.

The interrogative construction is: did (he) used to ? or did (he) use to...?

Did she used to write her articles at night?

Did he use to do it?

b) The other way to express habitual actions is by means of the verb would + infinitive stem . But unlike used

to , would always conveys an additional modal colouring of will, insistance, perseverance.

This used to be my mother’s room, and I would sit there for hours.

3. To denote a succession of past actions.

He got up, put on his hat, and left.

The car stopped , the door opened , and a very pretty girl got out of it.

4. To denote actions in progress at a certain moment in the past, with verbs that cannot be used in

continuous forms.

He was not listening but still heard what they were speaking about.

At that time he was on the watch.

5. To denote future actions in subordinate adverbial clauses of time and condition depending on

principal clauses with the predicate verb in a past tense.

She said she would come when the film was over.

She said she would do it if nothing unexpected happened.

§ 33. The ways of rendering the past indefinite in Russian are varied, owing to its aspective vagueness. Depending on the lexical meaning of the verb and on the context, it can be translated by Russian verbs in the past tense of both perfective and imperfective aspects with all possible shades of their meanings.

The past continuous

§ 34. Formation. The past continuous is formed analytically by the auxiliary verb to be in the past indefinite and participle I of the notional verb.

In the interrogative the auxiliary is placed before the subject and par­ticiple I follows the subject.

In the negative the corresponding negative forms of to be are em­ployed, and participle I follows them.

The paradigm of the verb in the past continuous

Negative-interrogative

§ 35. The past continuous is used mostly in narrative although it may occur in conversation as well.

The past continuous is used with all actional verbs and some statal verbs:

1. To denote a continuous action in progress at a certain moment in the past.

At 10 it was still raining.

When I called him up, he was still having breakfast.

The fire began at midnight when everybody was sleeping.

At that time she was already packing up.

In these examples the moment of time is specified directly, by means of adverbials of time or indirectly by some other past action mentioned in the same sentence. The moment of time at which the action is in progress can also be shown by the previous context, or understood from the situation:

He did not answer. His lips were trembling.

I stood motionless, as if glued to the ground. The enormous black bull was galloping towards me at full

speed.

I told him that Ralph was staying at the Three Boars.

2. To denote a continuous action in progress during a certain period of time in the past, marked by adverbials - prepositional phrases (from ... till, from ... to) or adverbs (all day long, the whole night, etc.)

We were quarrelling all day long yesterday.

She says she was washing from six till eight.

When actional durative verbs take the form of the past continuous the actions thus described do not actually differ from those in the form of the past indefinite, as both denote continuous actions in progress at some moment of time in the past:

When I saw him, he was standing by the door.

When I saw him he stood by the door.

Both examples may refer to the same situation. The difference between the two is that the past indefinite lays stress on the fact , while the past continuous emphasizes the process , thus presenting the action more vividly.

However in a complex sentence with a subordinate adverbial clause of time if the predicate verbs both in the principal and in the subordinate clauses express simultaneous continuous actions in progress it is usual (though not obligatory) to use the past indefinite in both the clauses:

While I ate and drank , I looked up the register.

She looked all the while at him as she spoke in her slow, deep voice.

But, the past continuous is rather frequent in adverbial clauses, introduced by the conjunction while, as, when, as long as, etc.:

While they were talking , the boy waited outside.

As he was climbing up , he all the while looked at the birds soaring high above him.

When I was working there, I played in the local jazz band.

She stayed in the car while I was talking to the nurse.

Sometimes the past continuous is found in the principal clause, while the past indefinite is in the subordinate:

They were talking inside while he stood watching the path.

The verbs to stand, to sit, to lie expressing actions in progress at a certain moment, or during a certain period of time in the past are commonly used in the past indefinite, if they are followed by participle I.

They stood by the door, talking loudly.

They sat beside their lorry, drinking soda water and eating sardines from a tin.

He lay in bed trying to forget what had happened.

However, the past continuous is also possible.

She was standing, staring at the open letter in her hand.

3. The past continuous is sometimes used to denote actions characteristic of certain persons in the past. In such sentences the adverbials always and constantly are generally included.

She had rather poor health and was constantly complaining of headaches.

As I remember her she was always fussing over something.

He seemed very absent-minded, he was constantly loosing things.

4. To denote future actions viewed from the past, with verbs of motion (to arrive, to come, to go, to leave, to return , etc.), usually if the action is planned or expected. In this case adverbials of future time are generally used, or the future reference of the verb is clear from the context or situation:

She said she was leaving in a week.

Then I understood that they were not returning either that year or the next.

The ship was sailing in a few hours.

If no future reference of the action is evident, it implies that though the action was planned, it was not and will not be carried out:

“Listen”, I said. “I’ve brought a little cousin of mine along. Joanna was coming up too but was prevented.”

I said quickly: “She was coming to tea yesterday afternoon.” (was due to come, but did not).

§ 36. As follows from the meaning of the past continuous and from its uses described above, it cannot denote a succession of past actions. Two or more verbs having the form of the past continuous, whether used in the same or in adjoining sentences, always denote simultaneous actions performed by different persons or non-persons:

Nash made periodic appearances in the town but what he was doing and what traps the police were setting , I had no idea.

It was a glorious day. The sun was shining high in the sky. There was no wind. The larks were singing in the blue depth. Only far away, over the horizon, soft milky clouds were moving placidly towards the east.

In all its uses the past continuous is translated into Russian by means of the past tense of the imperfective aspect.

The past perfect

§ 37. Formation. The past perfect is formed analytically by the auxil­iary to have in the past indefinite and participle II of the notional verb. The interrogative and negative forms and built in the way usual for all analytic forms.

The paradigm of the verb in the past perfect

§ 38. In all its uses the past perfect denotes actions the beginning of which (always) and the end (usually) precede a certain moment of time in the past. The prepast period of time to which the actions in the past perfect refer is unlimited, that is, they may take place either immediately before some moment in the past or in the very remote past.

This tense is used with both actional and statal verbs. Its sphere of application is mainly that of narratives, though it is also used in conversation.

The past perfect is used:

1. To denote an action of which both the beginning and the end precede some moment of time in the past. This moment can be specified by an adverbial of time, or by another action, or else by the situation.

What should be borne in mind is that the use of the past perfect form is in itself a sufficient indication of the precedence of the denoted action to some moment in the past which therefore need not be specified.

He had finished his work by then.

I knew him a little: we had met in Rome a year before.

She felt wretched. She had not slept for two nights.

I opened the window. The rain had stopped , but the sharp east wind was still blowing.

After everybody had left , she rushed to her room and began packing hurriedly.

2. To denote an action in progress which began before a certain moment of time in the past and went on up to that moment and sometimes into it. In such cases either the starting point of the action is specified (by means of the adverb since , a prepositional phrase with since or an adverbial clause introduced by the conjunction since ), or the period during which the action was in progress (by various adverbials):

a) with statal verbs, which do not normally allow of continuous forms:

He had been away for some months before his first letter came.

They had thought it over and over again since that dinner.

I could not believe the rumour. I had known him for a good many years.

b) with some actional durative verbs (in the similar way as with the past perfect continuous).

When we first met she had lived in the country for two years and was quite happy.

And thus he had sat in his chair till the clock in the hall chimed midnight.

Since her mother's death she had slept in the comer room.

In this case the past perfect continuous can also be used, though with a slight difference of meaning: while the past perfect lays the stress on the mere fact that the action took place, the past perfect continuous accentuates the duration of the action.

3. To denote a succession of past actions belonging to the time preceding the narrative as a whole, thus describing a succession of events in the prepast time.

I gave a slight shiver. In front of me was a neat square of grass and a path and the low gate. Someone had opened the gate, had walked very correctly and quietly up to the house, and had pushed a letter through the letter-box.

§ 39. The ways of rendering the past perfect in Russian are varied, owing to its aspective meaning of the verb or the context. It can be translated by Russian verbs in the past tense of both perfective and imperfective aspects with all possible shades of their meaning. These are mostly supported by lexical means:

The past perfect continuous

§ 40. Formation. The past perfect continuous is formed analytically by means of the auxiliary to be in the past perfect (had been) and participle 1 of the notional verb.

In the interrogative the first auxiliary (had ) comes before the subject, and the second auxiliary (been ) and participle I follow the subject.

In the negative the corresponding negative forms of the first auxiliary (had ) are used, the second auxiliary (been ) and participle I follow the negation.

In the negative-interrogative the corresponding negative-interrogative forms of the first auxiliary are used first, the second auxiliary and participle I follow the subject.

The paradigm of the verb in the past perfect continuous