In the process of learning English, many encounter certain difficulties. This is due to the fact that in the Russian language there are often no grammatical phenomena inherent in a foreign language. In the English example, the indefinite article, auxiliary verbs, Complex Object, the rule of one negation in a sentence, 26 categories of tenses, passive voice, compound subject, etc.
Complicated addition. Formula of Education and Use
This grammatical phenomenon is a construction consisting of a noun in the general case (or pronoun in the object) and an indefinite form of the verb. This language complex is translated into Russian by the subordinate clause, in which the noun is the subject, and the infinitive is the predicate:
- My mother would like me to enter the Institute. - My mother would like me to go to college.
This design has no analogues in Russian. Nevertheless, many Russian schoolchildren easily master this grammatical phenomenon. And the design is actually convenient and compact in terms of language form.
Complex Object. Verbs
A complex English addition is used with such verb groups.
- Verbs expressing desire and need - to want (to want), to wish (to wish, to dream), to desire (to wish, to dream), would like (would like). For instance:
- My wife wishes me to get a promotion. - My wife dreams of me getting a promotion.
- My mum desires us to go to the sea as quickly as possible. - My mother really wants us all to go to sea together as soon as possible.
- Verbs expressing awareness, knowledge - to think, to know, to report. For instance:
- He thought me to have given back this thing. - He thought I returned this thing.
- Mike knows me to be a lazy bone. “Mike knows I'm a bummer.”
- Verbs expressing expectation - to believe, to expect, to suppose. For instance:
- I expected her to have had the better results. “I expected her to have better results.”
- John always believed his wife to be the fairest woman in the world. “John has always believed that his wife is the most honest woman in the world.”
- Do you suppose her to have solved the problems? “Do you think she solved all the problems?”
- Verbs expressing an order, coercion - to order. For example:
- The doctor ordered me to take a pill twice a day. “The doctor ordered me to take the pill twice a day.”
Examples of using a particleless construction to
In the case of using the phenomenon The Complex Object with perception verbs (to see - to watch, to hear - to hear, to notice - to notice, to watch - to observe, to observe - to investigate), the particle to drops:
- I see her go out. “I saw her leave the house.”
I see her going out - I saw her leaving the house.
In the last example, the verb is used in the form of gerund, which gives the sentence a different meaning. If in the first case a person observed a simultaneous action (left the house), then in the second example a process is indicated, expressed using a verb with the ending -ing.
For a better understanding, it is best to compare the following pairs of examples:
- I noticed her enter the room. - I noticed how she entered the room.
I noticed her entering the room. - I noticed how she entered the room. - He heard Fred go upstairs. - He heard Fred climb the stairs.
He heard Fred going upstairs. - He heard Fred climb the stairs.
Thus, with the help of a complex addition, both an instantaneous action and a specific process can be expressed. Often when translating into Russian, this connection is barely perceptible.
If the verbs to see, to hear are used in the meaning "understand", then in this case there is no need to use the Complex Object. The rule of using a complex supplement does not apply in this case. An example needs to be translated using a subordinate clause.
- I saw that she had a desire to go away. - I realized that she wants to leave.
Using a complex complement with the verbs to cause, to make, to let
It is also necessary to remember a number of verbs denoting a ban or permission ( to let - to allow, to make - to force, to have - to dispose, to cause - to cause, force), with which the Complex Object is used without the particle to:
- In my childhood my mum never let me walk until I did my homework. - As a child, my mother never allowed me to go for a walk until I did my homework.
- Don't make me do these terrible things! “Don't make me do these terrible things!”
- You cause her think as you do! “You are imposing your opinion on her!” (You make her think the same way you do).
Complex addition and time category
In the Complex Object construct, the infinitive can be used in various kinds of temporary forms, for example:
- Active voice When I was little, my mum never let me go alone. - When I was little, my mother did not let me alone.
- Passive voice. My father would like me to be taken in the region football team. - My dad wants me to be accepted into the regional football team. I have never known my sister have been punished. “I never saw my sister being punished.”
- Perfect forms. Only my friend knew me to have flunked. “Only my friend knew that I failed the exam.”
- Forms Continuous. Ann watched the old lady walking around the house. - Anne watched the old woman walk around the house. I heard Alice speaking in a whisper. “I heard Alice talking to someone in a whisper.”
Perfect forms of complex additions: when to use?
The times of the Perfect group are one of the greatest difficulties for Russian students. The confused "present + past = completed" system is not at all beneficial to those who study English: for some, it is so difficult and incomprehensible that it is easier for them to drop out of school than to move into the thick wilderness of grammar. And if we are talking about a complex of perfect times and complex additions, you should not postpone the study of this phenomenon in a long box. In fact, everything is very simple. In sentences of this type, the perfect expresses the action that occurred before the event in the main sentence, for example:
- Alice expected me to have found a job. “Alice expected me to find a job.”
The translation of this sentence takes into account the perfection (an action that happened earlier than the main one), expressed by the formula: to have + Ved / 3 (a verb ending with -ed if it belongs to the group of regular verbs, or in 3 form if it is from the category of irregular ones) .
Special Use Cases
This design expresses an action performed at the request of another person.
- Bill wants to have his hair cut. - Bill wants a haircut. (In other words, at his request, the hairdresser will perform this procedure.)
- Nick is going to have his car repaired. - Nick is about to fix the car. (That is, he will be repaired in a car service center.)
- Nina has her grandmother taken care of while she works. - Nina's grandmother is looked after while she works.
- We want to have our furniture cleaned because it has become shabby.- We want us to clean the furniture because it is completely rubbed.
- I had my sweater knitted yesterday. - I knitted a sweater yesterday. (That is, it was made at the request of the girl herself.)
- Mary wanted to have her dress made of wool. “Mary wants her dress to be made of wool.”
Complicated addition. Skill Training Exercises
To develop the ability to correctly use Complex Object, the exercises below are performed after studying the previous examples.
- Translate into Russian.
I have never heard him speak French.
She wants him to marry her.
Did you expect me to have gone?
Marry had her baby looked after when she was ill.
I knew her to have graduated from the most prestigious University of our region.
- Expand the brackets using the studied construction (Complex Object grammar rule).
Everybody considered (he, die).
Milly has never desired (her daughter, become) an actress.
She watched (he, water) the flowers.
- Translate into English.
Everyone heard her cursing with her husband.
Mike thought I was already at home.
Mom often makes me do my homework.
Did you really expect him to leave her?
The doctor does not allow me to violate bed rest.
To develop the skill of using Complex Object, the sentences and the above examples must be carefully worked out.
Complex subject
In English, there is another design similar to a complex add-on - Complex Subject. The syntactic phenomenon is a complex of the subject, expressed by a noun or pronoun, and the infinitive.
- This old man was said to be seriously ill. - They say that this old man is seriously ill.
As you can see from the example, the noun is connected to the infinitive with an additional link in the form of a verb in the passive voice. This part of the syntax can be expressed as follows:
- to be supposed to - suggest that;
- to be heard to - hear that;
- to be believed to - believe that;
- to be known to - it is known that;
- to be announced to - announce that;
- to be expected - expect to be.
Note : the conjugated verb to be changes according to the time category of the sentence and the number of the noun.
Examples:
- He is known as a world-famous dancer. - It is known that he is a world famous dancer.
- Ann was believed to pass English exams. “They thought Anna would pass the English exam.”
- The President is expected to make some political changes. “The president is expected to make some policy changes.”
- The Apocalypses was supposed to have been in 2012 according to Maya Calendar. - It was assumed that the end of the world would come in 2012 in accordance with the Mayan calendar.
- Mary is heard to get married. “They heard that Mary was getting married.”
Complex Subject and Temporal Forms
Complex Subject can use any of the forms of the infinitive, including active or passive voice, perfect forms or long-acting forms.
- The dog is said to be found in the forest. - They said that the dog was found in the forest.
- Boys were announced to have won the sport competition.- They announced that the guys won the sports competition.
- She was supposed to have left the country. - They suggested that she left the country.
- The book was known to have been published several times. - It is known that the book was reprinted several times.
Compound active lien
In addition to the above constructions used in Passive Voice, Complex Subject can be used with the verbs to seem, to appear, to turn out, to happen in the form of Active Voice:
- This man seems to be a stealer. “This man seems to be a thief.”
- Ann didn't seem to have realized anything. “Mary didn't seem to understand anything.”
- Did he happen to meet you? “Did he happen to have met you before?”
- This pompous woman appeared to be very conversable. - It turned out that this artsy woman is very sociable.
- John appeared to have left for Moscow the day before. - It turned out that John left for Moscow yesterday.
- The test turned out to be difficult for each person of my group. - It turned out that the control was difficult for each of my group.
To fully understand the rules for using Complex Subject, you must familiarize yourself with the constructions to be sure to and to be likely to.
- Dad is sure to repair the bike. “Dad will fix the bike.”
- Ann is likely to miss the train. “Anya will probably be late for the train.”
How to Learn Complex Subject
As with the Complex Object, the exercises for practicing the false subject are developed in a sequence from training to productive (i.e., translation).
- Translate from English into Russian (translate from English into Russian):
Don't try to argue with him: he supposed to know everything.
The book is considered to have been lost. Fortunately, I found it.
Don't criticize my appearance! I'm believed to become a model!
- Arrange the sentence and translate into Russian (arrange the words in the sentence in the correct order and translate).
The girl, won, considered, is, in, competition, the.
Sure, Dad, to repair, is the bike.
You, did, he, to, happen, meet?
- Translate from Russian into English (translate from Russian into English).
Mary seemed to be in love.
It became known that Bart disappeared last night.
Mom will definitely help you with the lessons.
The baby is expected to be born in winter.
He expects me to give in.
You have a sloppy hairstyle. You need a haircut.
Complex Object - a feature of colloquial speech
Starting to learn a language in order to use it for everyday communication, many believe that knowledge of grammatical fundamentals is completely useless. But possession of lexical units is not yet the ability to speak. Rather, such a person performs the function of a "walking dictionary", at the right time finding a translation of the token. Communication in English is the ability to connect your thoughts together and express them in a foreign language. And just grammar is the very link that allows you to correctly and logically express your ideas. This applies to both small footnote rules and entire grammar systems. In this case, the need to study such phenomena as a complex complement and subject is self-evident. These grammatical forms are used both in newspaper periodicals, literary publications, and in colloquial speech. This is especially true for the use of Complex Object in English. The conciseness and brevity of its form allows you to express the idea most accurately and clearly for the recipient (the one who listens to the speaker). Complex Object is actively used in texts of foreign songs, films, broadcasts, etc.
Is complex subject and passive voice the same thing?
Those who are more or less familiar with the grammar of the English language, were able to catch the similarity of these two constructions. Indeed, for the formation of the complex subject form, excellent knowledge of the liability formation algorithm is necessary. Passive Voice is a grammatical phenomenon by which they indicate the impact on the subject in the sentence, for example:
- The house is fired. - The house is on fire.
As can be seen from this proposal, the home is exposed to fire. This is the passive voice. In this grammatical phenomenon, animate nouns can also act as a subject, for example:
- The girl is punished. - The girl was punished.
The form of the passive voice coincides with the "frame" of the complex subject:
- The girl is said to quit the country. - They say that the girl left the country.
Attention ! Passive voice and complex subject coincide only in external form! Translation of these designs will be different!
Then why is this comparison necessary? This is necessary for Complex Subject to actively absorb in speech. Knowing the basics of the formation of a liability, you can easily create forms of a complex subject in oral speech without resorting to a pen and a piece of paper.
Thus, Complex Subject, Complex Object are such linguistic phenomena that are not inherent in the Russian language. It seems that the many nuances and foreignness of the design complicate the process of mastering the rule. In fact, there is nothing complicated. The main thing is to work out primary skills by completing training exercises, and then proceed to the direct use of these complexes in speech.