Theoretical English Grammar. Part 2. Syntax. Бочарова М.В. - 11 стр.

                 1. Personal S                             2. Impersonal S
– names objects of reality � has reference – does not name objects of real-
in objective reality                               ity � has no reference in reality
– is expressed by notional nominal words
with a definite lexical meaning                    – is expressed by only 1 form –
– has more or less definite individual se-         ‘dummy’ it
mantics:
 1a. Definite 1b. General 1c. Indefinite – a purely structural element
  Personal S      Personal S         Personal S    necessary to make a correct Eng-
– statements      – general statements about lish sentence
about definite            typified situations
objects of       – expressed by indefinite pro- – semantically empty, no lexical
reality                        nouns:              meaning
                 one, you         they
NB: demon- – universal            – clichés
strative it      truths
NB: Antici-
patory it


3. Interrogative S (what, who) is specific (1) semantically (asks for info,
doesn’t give any), (2) structurally (word order, no auxiliary).


4. Negative S. is specific grammatically (only 1 negation in the sentence).
– A modern semantic approach:
o semantic roles of the nouns in the position of the Subject, i.e. info about the
participants and components of the real situation:
– Agentive S. names the active doer / source of the action,
– Patient names the passive participant of the action affected by it,
– Temporal S. indicates time,
                                              11