UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA SIBIU FACULTATEA DE LITERE I ARTE MASTER : TEORIA I PRACTICA TRADUCERII I A INTERPRETRII.

LIMBA ENGLEZ

THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE AGREEMENT IN ENGLISH AND ROMANIAN

MASTERAND : BARBU IOANA ROXANA

THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE AGREEMENT

In many languages (e.g. Romanian, French) certain predicates (i.e. the past participles of passive predicates or the predicative adjectives of nominal predicates) have to suit the subject in gender or case or both : ,,Primul candidat s-a prezentat ceva mai trziu. ,,Cele mai interesante cri erau expuse in vitrin. In English the problem of concordance is limited only to the agreement in person and, especially in number.

Agreement in person

Naturally enough, the person of the finite verb corresponds to that indicated by the subject. There are a few cases, however, which may give rise to some doubt : one of the difficulties is related to the subject denoting different persons and coordinated by either... or, neither... nor, not only...but also, as well as, no less than, like, without : I, as well as he,...am (?) / is (?) / are (?) He, no less than we... is (?) / are (?) The rule of proximity may be applied here, the predicate being made to agree with the subject that is closest to it : Either you or I was to go there. Neither you nor I am to blame. But some grammars hold such constructions to be clumsy and advise us either to repeat the verb ( Either you were to go there or I was / Neither I am to blame nor

you are ) and so the constructions become explicit, or to use a verbal form without person distinctions ( Either you or I had to go there / Neither I nor you ought to be blamed/should be blamed ). It is to be noted that in the above cases the predicate remains in the singular ( because of the conjunctions or prepositions coordinating the subjects). On the other hand, Neither you nor I are to blame is an increasingly frequent occurence. Subjects denoting different persons and coordinated by the conjunction and, take a plural verb but it is suggested to apply a rule of precedence of the first person over the second and of the latter over the third. Helen and I (=we) have known each other for years ( considered first person plural). Helen and you (=you two) are very much alike ( considered to be the second person plural). Helen and Mary (=they) have grown up together ( naturally the third person plural).

Agreement in number

This is what makes up the bulk, the essence and the difficulty of the agreement/concord of subject and predicate in English. As one usually realizes, the problem of agreement/concord in number between subject and predicate is far more complicated in English than in Romanian; there are many rules and some exceptions, there are several types of agreement in number between the predicate and the subject either for whole categories of subjects or for isolated cases. The main differences between English and Romanian in this respect are closely bound up with the great differences between two languages in point of classification of nouns in terms of the idea of number. It is common knowledge that the various categories established in this involve certain peculiarities as to their determinatives and agreement.

Other sources of differences are provided by the use of pronouns ( especially indefinite) and by the various categories of subjects ( simple, compound, co-ordinated and complex). There is therefore a great diversity of cases, more or less limited in applicability, which make classification and systematization rather difficult. Moreover, in some of the cases, usage is not perfectly crystallized, it differs from one speaker to another, from one writer to another, and indications given by grammarians vary accordingly. Though some of the difficulties are to be found in Romanian too, in the latter language the problem is far less complicated. Given these inconsistencies, the conclusion is that the evolution is under way in the situation of number and agreement. The evolution is more clearly perceptible in connection with collective nouns which are used more and more often with a plural verb, but it is also to be noticed in connection with other categories of subjects. In Romanian, while a noun in singular or plural form has the agreement in number with the determinatives, modifiers and the verbal predicate which accompany it ( Dou exemplare lipsesc), in English these type of agreements are not always correct, and to understand this, we must think at the invariable character of most of determinatives and modifiers : this man ( acest om) / this woman (aceast femeie); two maps (dou hri) / two children (doi copii); a good piece of advice (un sfat bun) / three good pieces of advice (trei sfaturi bune) etc. But the great differences appear with the agreement or better said, with the disagreement which sometimes takes the singular or plural form of the English noun or uses a distinct number of the determinative and the verb : these (pl.) people (sing.) (acesti oameni) ; Mathematics is a science (Matematica este o stiin) ; My family are in Bucharest (Familia mea e in Bucureti). The Individual Nouns Proper agree in number with the determinatives which have singular and plural forms, but also with the verbal predicate : this boy (baiatul acesta), these boys (baieii acetia). E.g. The novelist was born in London. (Romancierul s-a nascut la Londra) Where are the manuscripts? (Unde sunt manuscrisele?)

From this agreement we notice that there are no differences between the Romanian individual nouns and the English individual nouns proper. The Defective-Individual Nouns agree in number with the verbal predicate. There are defective-individual nouns which have: only plural form : a pair of compasses (un compas), glasses (ochelari), binoculars (binoclu) ; E.g. That pair of compasses is on the table. Could you tell me if my binoculars are in good alignment? only singular form : advice (sfat, sfaturi), a piece of advice (un sfat), two pieces of advice ( doua sfaturi). E.g. Advice is never useless. (Un sfat nu e niciodata de prisos) The Proper-Noun Equivalents are similar to proper nouns because they are names,but only because the name coincides with the designation of the object. They cannot be used in general or in the plural form : the sun (soarele), the earth (pamntul), the world (lumea), the prezent (prezentul), hell (iadul). The agreement with the determinatives and the verbal predicate is made in number ( the singular form ) : E.g. The sun is shining. The Nouns of Material are those nouns which designate materials, substance, objects that cannot be counted but can be considered quantitative. They have only the singular form : sugar (zahr), snow (zapad), meat (carne). When generally taken, they are followed by the zero article in comparison with the Romanian language, where these are accompanied by the definite article : Sugar is sweet (Zahrul e dulce). The agreement with the determinatives and the verbal predicate is in number :

E.g. There is not much water left (Nu a (mai) rmas mult ap). Yet, there are nouns of material which can be used in the plural form: in order to emphasize the quantity : waters (ape), sands (nisipuri); as varieties of the respective material : steels (oeluri), salts (sruri). Here, the agreement with the determinatives and the verbal predicate is also in number ( the plural forms). The Unique Abstract Nouns and Abstractions in the singular form agree in number with the determinatives and the verbal predicate : E.g. Theory without practice is useless, practice without theory is blind. (Roger Bacon) (Teoria fr practic este nefolositoare, practica fr teorie este oarb). The plural which designate sciences, illnesses and games agree in the singular with the verbal predicate : E.g. Cybernetics is a new science. (Cibernetica e o stiin nou) Measles is catching. (Pojarul este molipsitor) The Collective Nouns Proper, although they have a singular form, they express the idea of plural : family (familie), crew (echipaj), audience (public), the speaker having the tendency to emphasize not the notion, but its elements which it consists of. The consequence of this, is that the verbal predicate is used in plural, despite the singular form of the noun. This is an unknown situation in Romanian language : E.g. Where are his family? (Unde e familia lui-Unde sunt ai lui?) Mankind have not forgotten the horrors of World War II. (Omenirea nu a uitat/Oamenii nu au uitat ororile celui de-al doilea razboi mondial.) The Nouns of Multitude are actually a variety of the collective proper nouns, but they are used with the verbal predicate and the determinatives only in the

plural, and, on the other hand, they can be followed by numerals : people (mulime/lume/oameni), cattle (vite) : E.g. : Are there many people at the entrance to the museum? (E mult lume/Sunt muli oameni la intrarea in muzeu?) The cattle have been watered. (Vitele au fost adpate). The Proper Nouns agree in number with the verbal predicate. The proper nouns as names of countries in the plural as The United States or The Netherlands, most of the times agree with the verb in the singular.

The Individual Nouns in the singular conditioned by the archaic adjective many a (muli, multe) have the verb in the singular : E.g. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen... (Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country-Churchyard) (Nenumrate flori se nasc spre a se-mbujora nevzute...) Two nouns in the singular connected by either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also.... as well as, no less than or like, are usually followed by a verb in the singular : E.g. : Neither Galsworthy nor Hardy has an easy style. (Nici Galsworthy, nici Hardy nu au un stil uor). The verb in the singular is required by the adjectives each, every, either, neither and by the pronouns each, each one, either, neither, somebody, everybody, nobody etc. : E.g. : Is everybody present? (E toat lumea prezent?) Neither method is good. (Niciuna din (cele dou) metode nu e bun).

Nobody was aware of it. (Nimeni nu-i ddea seama de asta). Either is available. (Fiecare (din cei doi) e disponibil. but : Either are available. (Amndoi sunt disponibili) None requires the verb - in the singular when it means in Romanian : niciunul, niciuna niciun om, nicio persoan, nimeni; - in the plural when it means : niciunii, niciunele, nimeni. E.g. : None (of the newspapers) has appeared today. (Azi nu a aprut niciunul/niciun ziar) None knows the weight of anothers burthen. (Prov.) (Nimeni nu tie ct de greu atrn povara altuia) None have been so useful as they. (Nimeni nu a fost mai util dect ei). WHO agrees with the singular or the plural according to the speakers intentions : E.g. : Who is he? (Cine este el?) Who are they? (Cine sunt ei?) The man who is... (Omul care este...) Those who are... (Cei care sunt...) The Co-ordinated Subjects require the verb in the plural; but, after here and there as introductory elements in the sentence, when two or more subjects are connected by coordination and the first one is in the singular, the verb is also in the singular : E.g. There was much surprise and indignation when they heard that

Paul had lied. ( Mare le-a fost uimirea i indignarea cnd au auzit c Paul min ise) After co-ordinated infinitives the verb is usually in the singular : E.g. : To work in the field and to compose songs while following the plough was Robert Burns man delight. (S munceasc pe cmp i s compun cntece n timp ce urma plugul era cea mai mare desftare a lui Robert Burns.) The Compund Subjects require the verb in the singular : E.g. : A great poet and revolutionist was lost when Shelley died. (Moartea lui Shelley a nsemnat pierderea unui mare poet i revolu ionist).

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Banta Andrei, Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Editura Didactic i Pedagogic, 1962, vol. II. Levichi Leon, Gramatica limbii engleze. Ed. A 2-a, Bucureti, Editura Didactic, 1961. Levichi Leon i Preda Ioan, Gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureti, Editura tiinific, 1967.