Основы теории английского языка. Листунова Е.И. - 110 стр.

      a) The modal nominal predicate:
      «It must be getting late,» he said, «what’s the time?» (Gordon).
It must seem very funny to you (Galsworthy). That must have been a
pleasant experience (Voynich). Surely I ought to have been aware of
that simple fact... (Gissing). «You needn’t be afraid,» he answered
smiling (Voynich).
      b) The aspective nominal predicate:
      ...The apple-trees were stri pped of fruit and their leaves begin-
ning to go yellow and fall (Galsworthy). I began to be afraid you
would never come back again (Austen). It was just beginning to be
daylight... (Hemingway). ...She began to grow impatient (Hardy).

                           The Double Predicate
      In the sentence The moon rose red we have on the one hand a verbal
predicate expressed by the verb rose — a verb of full meaning which
denotes a certain process performed by the subject; on the other hand we
have the adjective red which qualifies the subject in the same way as a
predicative qualifies the subject in a nominal predicate: The moon was red.
      Thus in the sentence The moon rose red we have a special type of
predicate which presents a crossing of two predicates — a verbal predi-
cate and a nominal predicate: The moon rose red = The moon was red
when it rose.
      Such a predicate may be called the double predicate. The verb
rose performs here the role of a link-verb connecting the subject moon
with the predicative red.
      Thus we see that the function of connecting the subject with the
predicative may be performed not only by a verb which has lost its
lexical meaning but also by a verb of full meaning.
      But performing the function of a link-verb, a verb of full meaning
may easily undergo a weakening of its lexical meaning and may even-
tually become a mere link-verb. This weakening of meaning takes place
when our attention is concentrated on the predicative which puts the
verb, so to say, in the shade.
      There are different gradations in the weakening of lexical mean-
ing which verbs undergo when used as link-verbs.
      In some cases the verb has its full lexical meaning and our
attention is equally divided between the verb and the predicative. In
such a case we have a double predicate: She went away quite a child; she
returned a grown-up woman. In other cases the verb weakens its meaning

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