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A challenge for you! Can you create a story from the ingredients below?. Does this make it easier?. IA901 2012 Session Six From words to phrases. Modal verb experiment.
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A challenge for you! Can you create a story from the ingredients below?
1. They occupy the first place in a complex verb phrase.2. They do not co-occur.3. They are used as operators in the formation of questions and negatives. Defining modal verbs
will 60% modal 40% not sure had better 60% modal 40% not modal dare 20% modal 40% not modal 40% not sure need 20% modal 40% not modal 40% not sure
will 60% modal 40% not sure will A: These bags are heavy. B: I’ll help you. A: It’s hot in here. B: I’ll open the window. A: We’re going to D’s party at the weekend. B: Ooh, I’ll come too! How about you, C? C: Nah, it’ll be rubbish. A: But look at invitation. It’s going to be really posh. A: Who’s that at the door? B: Don’t worry, it’ll be the postman. A: I preferred the old postman. He would always stop for a chat when he saw me.
The difference between MUST and HAVE TO Which suggestion do you prefer? • "Must" is more subjective when indicating obligations and necessity, while "have to " is more objective which indicates being forced by the external conditions. • Must has no tense. 2. When you say you must do something, you mean you feel you have the obligation to do, while have to means you are not willing to do but have no choice. • Must expresses stronger sense than have to. Have to sounds suggesting. • Must sounds more strong, more insistent than have to.
strength You really should give up smoking. It’s going to kill you eventually. You have to see the new Bond film, it’s amazing! I must try to leave work earlier. You may be right about Melody’s soup being fantastic, but I’m only interested in cake.
Can grammar help? • Freedom of Information requests must be in writing. • Legally, children must start formal education no later than thebeginning of the school term following their fifth birthday. • These questions are not meant to alarm you. We have to ask these questions to ensure that anyone who does visit the website for advice on what could be a life-threatening condition is given the right advice immediately. MUST = IT IS NECESSARY TO… HAVE TO = IT IS NECESSARY TO…
Can grammar help? Discriminatory questions, eg questions in relation to childcare arrangements, future plans for a family and trade union duties must not be asked. IT IS NECESSARY NOT TO… You don’t have to give up alcohol completely to be emotionally healthy, but avoid drinking more than the recommended limit. You don't have to interrupt your labour to go into hospital IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO…
Can grammar help? • You really must try harder. • You must plan carefully before you start writing your essay. • You mustn’t write an introduction before you know how your essay will end. • Youhave to submit your essay online. • We have to deduct points from your overall score if you submit your essay late. MUST = FROM MY PRESENT POINT OF VIEW, I SAY IT IS NECESSARY TO… HAVE TO = IT IS NECESSARY TO…
not modal You had to fasten your seatbelt? You must have fastened it? You should have fastened it? modal
The difference between DIDN’T NEED TO and NEEDN’T HAVE… She didn’t need to bring her umbrella. or She needn’t have brought her umbrella.
The difference between DIDN’T NEED TO and NEEDN’T HAVE… Which suggestion do you prefer? • I don't know. • Expressing the tense, maybe. • The difference is based on the following content of the sentence. For example: 1) You didn't need to buy the book. You can borrow it from the library or I can lend you one. 2) You needn't have bought the book, but you bought one! • You needn‘t have means you don't have to do but you did. You didn't need to means you needn't to do, here need is not used as a modal verb. • Didn't need to is not modal and you needn't have IS. The non-modal meaning is factual; the modal meaning is an interpretation made from the present perspective. Perhaps you only realise now that it wasn’t necessary.
The difference between USED TO and WOULD when referring to the past… He used to sit and stare at goats. or He would sit and stare at goats.
The difference between USED TO and WOULD when referring to the past… Which suggestion do you prefer? • I don't know. • They both show an action happened in the past. • WOULD can be used when it refers to any repeated action in the past. For example, "He drank a lot last night and would go to the toilet many times." USED TO is modified past habits that continued for a long time. For instance, "He used to jog in the morning everyday in those five years.“ • It's the past form of WILL, where WILL is expressing certainty about an action based on "the normal state of affairs". So just as I might say "my Brazilian relatives will be having lunch now" (because it's normal for them to have lunch at this time) I can refer to typical past actions with "my Grandfather would often fall asleep with a lit cigarette in his hand". "Used to" would express something very similar here, but only because "fall asleep" has a dynamic meaning. By definition, a state cannot be something that happens in the normal course of events, since states are beyond the realm of events, so “I used to live in London” does not have the same meaning as “I would live in London”.
The difference between COULD and WAS ABLE TO… The third sheep couldn’t swim / The third sheep wasn’t able to swim to safety. The sheep could swim to safety. or The sheep were able to swim to safety.
The difference between COULD and WAS ABLE TO… Which suggestion do you prefer? • Really? • I am not sure about this one. But in my opinion, in the latter situation, "be able to" suggests a kind of struggle to achieve the goal while "could" suggests a kind of possibility. Why not look up the dictionary or google it on the net? • COULD refers to general, not specific ability in the past (like “can” in the present ). BE ABLE TO is not modal, and so can express more specific facts. I either managed it or I didn't. Picasso famously claimed that when he was a child, he could paint like Raphael. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he did paint like Raphael. “I was able to finish the assignment on time” suggests that I did indeed finish it. • “May be it's because of the verb "finish" it's a verb with a conclusion. so......I don't know. • Finish" is an accomplishment word. "I was able to ~" shows that the person finished the essay, but "I could finish ~" expresses a certain possibility that the person might not finished the essay.
Descriptions of LEXICAL ASPECT suggest that we cannot ignore vocabulary when we discuss grammar. Descriptions of MOOD suggest that grammar can help us to understand subtle differences between vocabulary items. CONTEXT is ALWAYS vitally important. Emerging themes
Most traditional grammar lessons involve patterns of the verb phrase, loosely “the tenses”. Traditionally, little or no attention has been paid to the grammar of the noun phrase. However, examination of naturally occurring (non-narrative) texts show that one of the defining features of such texts is the preponderance of complex noun-phrases: (Lewis, 2000 p146) Recent technological developments in the management of financially sensitive information have demonstrated the importance of finding ways of controlling the means of access to such information. Knowledge of data management is essential for graduates of any discipline who hope to work in those areas of the economy which currently have the greatest chance of growth during the first half of the next decade.
Most traditional grammar lessons involve patterns of the verb phrase, loosely “the tenses”. Traditionally, little or no attention has been paid to the grammar of the noun phrase. However, examination of naturally occurring (non-narrative) texts show that one of the defining features of such texts is the preponderance of complex noun-phrases: (Lewis, 2000 p146) Recent technological developments in the management of financially sensitive information have demonstrated the importance of finding ways of controlling the means of access to such information. Knowledge of data management is essential for graduates of any discipline who hope to work in those areas of the economy which currently have the greatest chance of growth during the first half of the next decade.
What might a learner needs to know about a NOUN in order to use it successfully? (note the use of “might”!) • Did you mention any of the following? • how do we spell it? • how do we pronounce it? • is it a proper noun or a common noun? • is it masculine or feminine? • what is its possessive form? • is it countable or uncountable? • singular / plural forms (is it regular?) • is it a collective noun? • is it a frequently used noun? • is it formal or informal? • does it have positive or negative connotations? • what other words does it collocate with? • Have we missed anything?
Countability Students are often introduced to a word like COFFEE as an uncountable noun (or mass or non-count noun). How, then, can we explain the fact that in an English-speaking environment, students may well find themselves invited for “a coffee”? Which of the following options do you consider to be the most satisfactory explanation: • It’s ellipsis. People mean “a cup of coffee”, but they sometimes just don’t say “a cup of”. • All nouns can be either countable or uncountable. • Homonymy! The countable form of coffee is one noun, and the uncountable form is another. They’re two different words. • It’s not useful to think about countable and uncountable nouns. It’s much better to think about countable and uncountable contexts. • A product that you can buy in a shop is always countable. The ingredients are uncountable. • It’s too difficult to explain. • Feel free to suggest other options!
INDIVIDUATION “The distinctive conceptual properties of an individual unit are that it has clear boundaries and that no part of the unit equals the whole” (Yule, 1998)
“…it has clear boundaries and…no part of the unit equals the whole”
INDIVIDUATION :“the key to the use of the indefinite article in English” (Yule, 1998)
