Specific English

IX. Переведите следующие предложения, обращая внимание на значение глагола to be с различными постпозитивами.

1. «Is Alec around?» I asked. 2. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. 3. His mother was still up of course, waiting for him. 4. It is up to the President to undo the 14 years of a disastrous policy. 5. I’ve only been out two days. 6. She found that someone was up before her. 7. «Where’s Mrs Linsell?» asked Mrs Hamlyn. «Oh, I don’t know. She’s about somewhere.» 8. His bag would be pretty heavy sometimes by the time he was through. 9. You’re up early too. 10. I’ll go and see if she’s in. 11. There were people who cared for him and people who didn’t, and those who didn’t hated him and were out to get him. 12. «The same person,«General Peckem replied with a definite trace of alarm. «Now he’s after me.» 13. Chief White Halfoot was out to revenge himself upon the white man. 14. What are you up to, Collin? 15. The remedy you suggest is evidently worth trying, and it is up to you to apply it. 16. No one seemed to have heard the sound of the shot. The neighbours must be out. 17. Judge: «Have you ever been up before me?» Accused: «I don’t know. What time do you get up?» 18. He was over in England on a visit. He remembered the fight because she had talked about it so much. It was six rounds. He was almost out in the fourth. The poor Indian is only out to earn a little money, the same as me. 21. How do you suppose I managed when you were away? 22. Once again I am back in my home town. 23. I was through the war. 24. «Go on,«he growled. «Give me all my faults when you’re about it. Suspicious! Jealous! You’ve been at me before!» 25. They told us the roof was down – that you wouldn’t – wouldn’t come out. 26. Con half-said they’d be round for tea. 27. Do you expect to be away long? 28. We were out for a few moments only, to take a walk around the block.

X. Прочитайте следующий рассказ-шутку. Обратите внимание на употребление постпозитивов.

What a Language!

«What a language English is!» a Frenchman exclaimed in despair. «I once called on an English friend and the maid who came to the door said, ’He’s not up yet. Come back in half an hour.’"

«When I came again, she was setting the table for breakfast and said, ’He’s not down yet.’"

«I asked: ’If he’s not up and he’s not down, where is he?’"«She said, ’He’s still in bed. When I say ’He’s not up’, I mean he has not yet got up; when I say, ’He’s not down’, I mean he has not yet come downstairs!’»

2. Глагол to have

Глагол to have, как и to be, шире по значению, чем русский глагол иметь. В нем, как и в глаголе to be, заложена потенциальная возможность действия.

Магу has a pencil in her hand. (наряду с: Mary is holding a pencil in her hand.) Мэри держит в руке карандаш.

The city has 100,000 inhabitants. Население города составляет 100 000 человек.

В такого рода предложениях при наличии подлежащего – действующего лица возможна и конструкция с there is.

There is a pencil in her hand.

We haven’t any coffee in the house. = There isn’t any coffee in the house.

Однако глагол to have может употребляться не только с подлежащим, выраженным существительным, обозначающим лицо (как, казалось бы, предполагает само значение глагола – значение обладания), но может использоваться и применительно к предметам. В таких случаях его значение тождественно значению конструкции there is, и они взаимозаменяемы. Например:

Some houses had quite wide grass round them. = There was quite wide grass round some houses.

Jack’s eager conspirator voice seemed very close to his ear, and it had a kind of caress, a sort of embrace. =… there was a kind of caress, a sort of embrace in Jack’s voice.

Аналогично глаголу to be, хотя и реже, в качестве глагола-связки в составном сказуемом употребляется и глагол to have. Это имеет место в таких сочетаниях с существительными (часто отглагольными), как to have dinner обедать, to have a talk поговорить, to have a quarrel поссориться, to have a rest отдыхать, to have a walk прогуляться, to have a smoke покурить, to have a good time хорошо провести время и т. д. Глагол to have теряет при этом свое основное значение и служит только указателем на разовое пользование чем-то, совершение некоего ограниченного действия.