UNIT 3:MORE REFERRERS
Introduction
In this unit, the inclusive referrers are explained. Quantifiers, Describers and Classifiers are dealt with as premodifiers in the structure of the noun group. More details about postmodifiers accompany the description. The process of nominalization is shown to enable students to vary sentence structure, practise word economy as well as conciseness in the use of the language especially in writing.
Inclusives
Inclusives are used to refer to a complete group of things.
Some positive inclusives are : both, each, every, all, and either.
Note the difference in the structures in the use of the following inclusives:
Each bear is different in its behaviour.
Each of the bears is different in its behaviour.
Every child likes to play with toys.
Every one of the children is given a toy.
All pails are made of plastic these days.
All of the pails are made of plastic these days.
Quantifiers
These are words like many, much, a lot of, several, some, any, a few and little which give the meaning of an inexact amount.
Problems in the use of quantifiers for ESL students
- The co-occurrence of referrers and quantifiers
*a.Their much help is appreciated
b.Their many lecturers is an asset in the institution.
While it is possible to add a quantifier for sentence b, it is not possible to combine a referrer and a quantifier for a.
- The matching of an appropriate quantifier with the mass noun
The following sentences have problems.
*a.Several beautiful sceneries were shown in the film.
*b.Many intelligence is needed to qualify for the top post.
*c.Much stories are told to the playgroup children.
*d.Few money was earned from the auction.
Correction:
a.Many beautiful sceneries were shown in the film.
b.Much intelligence is needed to qualify for the top post.
c.Many stories are told to the playgroup children.
d.Little money was earned from the auction.
Thus in the use of quantifiers, the following principles must be borne in mind. Count nouns may go with certain quantifiers and mass nouns may be accompanied by its own list of quantifiers and finally, some quantifiers may be used for either mass nouns or count nouns. The categories are summarized below:
Count Nouns / Mass Nouns / Mass noun and count nounMany, few, a few,
several, fewer, fewest / much, a little, little / some, a lot of , less, least
In the use of some and any as quantifiers, meaning is also determined by stress. Depending on whether the word is stressed or unstressed, the quantifier may act like a definite or indefinite referrer. Refer to the examples in the Text (p. 46)
Exact quantifiers are those that are specific in terms of number such as one, five hundred,a thousand and so forth.
______
Task 1(15 minutes)
Complete the following sentences with suitable quantifiers, inexact and exact. Use a variety of them.
I found (1)______kittens in the alley behind my house. (2) ______of the kittens were black while the others were white. I decided to send them to the SPCA, but before that I tried feeding them with (3)______milk as they looked hungry. However, (4)_____ of it was spilled as I did not know how to feed them properly. The one that drank the (5)______milk did not make it to the SPCA. It was just too weak.
When I arrived at the SPCA, the animals there were making (6) ______noise. I waited for (7) ______minutes before I could see the lady in charge. When she was able to see me, she did not waste (8)______time. Soon the kittens were put into a cage and the (9) ______attention I gave to them was about all that I could do for them. (10)______weeks later I dropped by again and found (11)______kittens had been adopted while just one was left behind.
Suggested Answers
1.Five2.some3.a little4.much
5.least6.a lot of7.a few8.much
9.little10.Many11. four
______
Partitives
Partitives are used to show units of mass nouns, for example, a piece of bread, a lump ofsugar, a drop of perfume. In other words, a partitive allows a mass noun to be counted. The structure is similar to that of a noun group where there is a premodifier, a head noun and a postmodifier. However, the head noun in a partitive is the unit.
Examples
Premodifier Head Postmodifier
A wad of money
Some drops of rain
Three pieces of chalk
______
Task 2 (10 minutes)
Complete the sentences with suitable partitives.
- Do you take two or three ____ of sugar for your coffee?
- A few _____ of vanilla essence would enhance the taste to the cake.
- Do get me two _____ of soap from the shop when you go there.
- The cat drinks a ______of milk everyday.
- He has used many ______of paper for his composition.
- The company ordered ten _____ of wine for the office dinner.
- He put three _____ of chicken on each plate for dinner.
- Sarah developed her story from a _____ of his imagination.
- A _____ of black pepper is added to the steak just before it is served.
- For dessert, he had three ______of ice-cream.
Answers
1.cubes2.drops3.bars4. dish
5.sheets6.bottles7.pieces8. figment
9.dash10.scoops
______
Describers
A describer reveals the quality of the noun or an attitude towards the noun used.
Examples
A slender girl
A boyish look
That useless boy
An ugly scene
These describers can be modified by adverbs.
Examples
An extremely slender girl
A very boyish look
That reallyuseless boy
A tastelessugly scene
Use of participles as describers
To form describers we may add -ing or -ed to verbs. These words are referred to as participles. For example, an enlightening talk, a hesitating smile, an enlarged heart, a broaden outlook
As pointed out in the Text, (p. 48-49) problems may arise from the use of the incorrect form of the participles. What is the difference between the sentences below?
1.An increased workload added to his stress.
2.An increasing workload added to his stress.
In Sentence 1 the idea is that the workload is already increased while in Sentence 2 the emphasis is on the continued action of increasing.
______
Task 3(15 minutes)
A.Form participles from the given verbs.
B.Construct your own sentences to show the context of use for each pair of the words formed.
depresswitherriseburnmelt
Suggested Answers
The depressing news about retrenchment worries him a great deal.
The depressed Mr Lee, after his retrenchment, became a recluse.
Mee Yoke threw the withered flowers into the recycle bin.
As the weather was hot, the withering plants were crying out for water.
The daily rising temperature indicated the coming of a drought season.
The risen dough can only be used after an hour.
The burnt caramel was difficult to scrub off.
What is that burning smell coming from the kitchen?
He quickly put the melting ice cream into the freezer.
He threw away the melted ice cream as it had turned into water.
______
Order of describers
The order of describers is often not arbitrary. The usual order is as follows:
attitude age size shape colour
That uglyancient-looking largeroundyellow clock
An interesting old narrow tunnel
The tall thin pale-looking girl
While there is no explicit rule to say that we cannot pile up adjectives as in the first example, it is however very unlikely for us to use so many adjectives all at one go. We normally would not use more than three in a sentence. We can always construct another sentence to describe the chosen noun group further.
Example
That ugly ancient-looking yellow clock has been stored away for years.
It is also large and round, taking up a lot of storage space.
Go through Task 3b (p. 49) in the Text to identify the order of describers. ( 10 minutes)
______
Classifiers
Adjectives, nouns or participles may be used as classifiers such as urban development,city dweller, losing game.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between classifiers and describers as similar word forms are used. The test is to see if an adverb can be use to modify the noun group. If we can, then it is a describer.
Example
The monsoon season cannot be modified by an adverb
The tall glass can be modified the very tall glass.
Tall is a describer while monsoon is a classifier.
Go through Task 3c (p. 50) in the Text to see the distinction
between classifiers and describers. ( 15 minutes)
Some words are confusing for use as describers or classifiers. In the case of classifiers, some combinations are acceptable as shown in Task 3d while some would sound rather odd.
A case in point is the following group of words. How do you use them in the formation of noun groups?
- economy
- economical
- economic
The word economy can be used as a mass noun on its own
The economy of Malaysia is well regulated.
It may be used as a classifier ( modifying drive ):
The economy drive brought about results that were encouraging.
Economic used as a describer (to describe condition)
The economic conditions are not as rosy as last year's.
Economical used as an describer ( as a complement)
We were told that we have to be more economical if we do not want to face difficulties later on.
______
Postmodifiers
Premodifiers are words that come before the head noun such as the mob, that car, these books while postmodifiers are words that follow the head nouns to give specific meaning. The post modifiers may be in the form finite clauses, infinite clauses or prepositional phrases as shown in the examples below.
Examples:
The mob that gathered at the hall was restless. ( finite clause)
That car, being newly painted ,was parked in the garage. ( infinite clause)
These books in the bookshelf are priceless. (prepositional phrase)
More Examples:
- The man whom you saw last night is my uncle.
- He found his friend waiting at the bus stop.
- The prisoner, sentenced for life, broke down in tears.
- Use the umbrella in the corner.
Are you able to identify the variety of structures of the postmodifiers in the above sentences?
Answers:
- The man whom you saw last night is my uncle. ( finite clause)
- He found his friend waiting at the bus stop. ( infinite clause)
- The prisoner, sentenced for life, broke down in tears. ( infinite clause)
- Use the umbrella in the corner.(prepositional phrase)
NOTE: Always remember that there must be a finite verb in a finite clause.
Problems in the use of modifiers for ESL students
1. Correct placement for modifiers
If a group of words is functioning as a modifier of the noun, it should be placed right after it or as close to it as possible. For example, the following sentences would have different meanings depending on which is the head noun that is being modified.
- The table was placed next to the sofa which was newly bought.
- The table which was newly bought was placed next to the sofa.
The above sentences although conveying different meaning are grammatically correct either way but in the following pair, only the first sentence is acceptable.
- The vegetables packed for export will remain fresh for days.
* The vegetables will remain fresh for days packed for export.
2.Using the correct relative pronoun
In the construction of a finite clause that acts as a postmodifier , there is a choice of relative pronouns depending on the noun that is referred to and the manner ofembedding. For 'human' nouns such as man, woman, child, we may use that, who and whose, and whom.
For animals and non-human things, the choice is that and which.
Examples
The man who visited me last night was my uncle.
The man that robbed the bank was caught.
The man whose bag was stolen lodged a report at the police station.
The man whom you saw last night was my uncle.
The paper which he took from me cost me RM 5.00 a piece.
The paper that he used was bought from the supermarket.
The cat which ate the mice belonged to my neighbour.
Problems arising in the use of who and whom and the zero relative pronoun.
These days whom is very often substituted by who especially in informal speech. However, in writing, the correct choice is often emphasised. As students of the language, it would be necessary to know the distinction. Basically it has to do withhow the embedded structures come about. Examine the steps involved in the transformation. Since we are talking about finite clauses being used as modifiers, we have to start with two sentences.
Sentence 1.The man is my uncle.
Sentence 2You saw my uncle last night.
Assuming that you wish to embed Sentence 2 into Sentence 1.
Examine the structure of Sentence 2:
Subject Verb groupObjectAdjunct
You saw my uncle last night
Thus when the head noun is the object in the base sentence, whom is used.
The man whom you saw last night was my uncle.
Now, examine the next pair of sentences:
1.The man was my uncle.
2.He visited me last night.
The embedded sentence is Sentence 2.
The structure of the embedded sentence is as follows :
SubjectVerb groupObjectAdjunct
He visited me last night.
Thus when the relative pronoun refers to a noun that is used as the subject of a sentence then who is used.
The man who visited me last night was my uncle.
The use of the zero relative pronoun
In English we are allowed to omit the use of the relative pronoun in certain constructions.
For example in the sentence :
- The house we bought was a real bargain.
We have choose to omit that . If we put it back, the sentence will read as follows:
- The house that we bought was a real bargain.
However, we cannot omit the relative pronoun in the following sentence:
- He lives in the house that belongs to his grandmother
and have a sentence such as . :
- He lives in the house belongs to his grandmother.
In the use of the zero relative clause, just as in the use of who and whom, there are constraints. Optional replacement by the zero relative pronoun is possible when the head noun is in an object position. Look at the structures involved in the construction.
- The house we bought was a real bargain.
Subject Verb group Complement
The house was a real bargain.
Subject Verb Group Object
We bought the house.
- He lives in the house that belongs to his grandmother.
Subject Verb group Adjunct ( the house is the object in the prepositional
phrase)
He lives in the house.
SubjectVerb groupAdjunct
The house belongs to his grandmother.
______
Task 4(10 minutes)
Some of the sentences contain errors. Correct them.
- That cat who fur is black is called Bella.
- The carpet who is Persian is very colourful.
- My brother which is six foot tall has difficulties buying shoes.
- Do you recognise Alan whom you met three years ago?
- Please tell Kee Jun whom live down the road to come here immediately.
- I am surprised the grade you got is so low.
- The room is on the top floor belongs to my sister. .
- Why don't you try the cheese we bought from the United States?
- I like the sweater that you bought from the boutique.
- The land lady who you lived with as a student is now retired.
Answers
1.That cat whose fur is black is called Bella.
2.The carpet which is Persian is very colourful.
3.My brother who is six foot tall has difficulties buying shoes.
5.Please tell Kee Jun who lives down the road to come here immediately.
7.The room that is on the top floor belongs to my sister. .
10.The land lady whom you lived with as a student is now retired.
Go through Task 3e in the Text to see how relative nouns are used.
(10 minutes)
______
Problems using relative pronouns
1.when a preposition is used together with a relative pronoun
Often, problems arise when relative pronouns are accompanied by prepositions such as:.
- He lives in a house in which there is a secret tunnel.
- He had to repaired the car of which the tyres were also changed.
These variations come about because of the indication of possession. Not inserting the preposition will cause the sentence to be ungrammatical.
Going back to the base sentences:
He lives in a house.
The house has a secret tunnel.
He lives in a house in which there is a secret tunnel.
He had to repaired the car.
The car has tyres.
The tyres were also changed.
He had to repair the car of which the tyres were also changed.
2.Using the relative pronoun and the noun together as in:
*I saw a movie which I had read about it.
The sentence should be:
I saw a movie which I had read about.
______
Process of nominalization
The process of nominalization allow us to repackage our thoughts whereby the noun groups can be formed by changing verbs into nouns such as:
allowallowance
shipshipment
knowknowledge
rejectrejection
produceproduction
Can you think of more words that can undergo such a process? Try doing it with the following words: Check your answers with a dictionary.
Verb / NounLink
Pave
Inform
Represent
Nominate
Construct
Relate
Participate
Accompany
Repeat
Season
Build
The nominalised noun groups allow the representation of the processes depicted usually by the verb groups.
Another process of nominalization is to change adjectives into nominal groups, for example:
The girl who is young the young girl
Functions of nominalization
As said in the Text (p. 60-61), there are reasons why nominalization is used. They serve the following functions:
1. They offer the potential of conciseness
- They allow us to start a sentence more easily
- They aid scientific writing in categorising, labeling and describing
______
Task 5(15 minutes)
Rewrite the underlined parts in the passage below by using nominalization so that reading is aided. You may need to change the exiting structure slightly to accommodate the nominalization.