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单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,A New English Grammar,Coursebook,英语语法,November,2010,Lecture 28 Existential Sentences,Teaching Aims:,1.To know some basic concepts about existential sentence and can use it correctly.,2.To understand and master the structural properties of existential sentence.,3.To develop their abilities of using Non-finite existential clauses.,Teaching Contents:,1.the general pattern of an existential sentence:,There+be+NP+locative/temporal adverbial,2.Notional subject,3.Predicator in existential sentence,4.Non-finite existential clauses,Key Points:,1.Predicator in existential sentence,2.Notional subject,3.Non-finite existential clauses,1.Structural properties of existential sentences,The existential sentence generally begins with an unstressed there as formal subject followed by a form of the verb be or other verb that is related to the notion of existence.Thus,the general pattern of an existential sentence is as follows:,There+be+NP+locative/temporal adverbial,Introductory,there,functions as formal subject not only in statements but also in questions,where the formal subject and operator are inverted.,In informal style,introductory,there,often determines subject verb concord in an existential sentence,that is,the form of the verb is by the non-plural form of the introductory word.,Introductory,there,is different from a fronted adverb there in that it is unstressed and meaningless,while the initial adverb there is stressed and acts as an adverbial of place.,1)Introductory there,The notional subject,which is actually the focus of information,is usually a noun phrase with indefinite specific reference.The determiners commonly occurring in this kind of noun phrase include the indefinite article,the zero article,and other indefinite determiners such as some,any,no,several,many,much,more,(a)few,(a)little,less,another,a lot of,plenty of,a number of,enough,as well as the cardinal numerals.,2)Notional subject,The notional subject can also be realized by,some-,any-,no-,compounds,such as,something,nothing,anyone,etc.,Just as the notional subject of existential sentence is commonly an indefinite noun phrase,so any statement with an indefinite noun phrase as subject and a verb phrase containing the verb be can generally be transformed into an existential sentence,e.g.,Plenty of people are getting promotion.,=There are plenty of people getting promotion.,3)Predicator in existential sentence,The predicator or predicate verb of an existential sentence is commonly a form of the verb be,finite or non-finite,simple or perfective.The predicator may also be realized by modal+be/have been or semi-auxiliary+be,e.g.:,There can be very little doubt about his guilt.,There cant have been much traffic so late at night.,There appears to be no doubt about it.,Apart from the verb be,there are at least three classes of semantically related verbs.These include verbs of existence and position,such as exist,live,stand,lie;verbs of motion,such as,come,go,walk,;and verbs of emergence or development,such as,appear,arise,emerge,develop,happen,occur,etc,e.g.:,There arose in his imagination visions of a world empire.,Long,long ago,there lived six blind men in India.,Behind the village,there flows/lies a murmuring stream.,2.Non-finite existential clauses,A non-finite existential clause is one whose predicator is a non-finite verb phrase.There are two types of non-finite existential clauses:,There to be/(to have been)+NP+locative/temporal adverbial,There being/having been+NP+locative/temporal adverbial,These forms can be used:,1)As prepositional complementation,Both forms can be used as prepositional complementation.If the preposition is,for,it usually takes the there to be form as complementation.With other prepositions,the complementation usually takes the there being form,e.g.:,They planned for there to be another meeting.,John was relying on there being another opportunity.,2)As object,This applies more often than not to the there to be form.There are only a limited number of verbs that can take a there to be form as object.These verbs include,expect,mean,intend,want,like,prefer,hate,etc,e.g.,Members like there to be plenty of choice.,3)As subject and adverbial,As subject,the there being form is commonly used,e.g.,There being a bus stop so near the house is a great advantage.,When the there to be form is used as subject,it is introduced by,for,e.g.:,It was unusual for there to be so few people in the streets.,The there being form can also act as adverbial,e.g.:,There having been no rain,the ground was dry.,
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