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132
Dare
§ 164. The modal verb dare may be defective or regular.
As a defective verb dare has two forms: dare for the present tense and dared for the past tense. It is used
chiefly in interrogative and negative sentences. It has the meaning - to have the courage or independence to do
something, to venture.
How dare he speak to you like that? (I wonder at such impudence.)
How dare you sneak into my room like this?
He daren’t write anything in case it isn't good (he hasn’t got the courage).
Dare you ask him? (Are you brave enough to ask him?)
That’s as much as I dare spend on it.
As a regular verb dare has a limited paradigm of finite forms and no verbals. It may have two meanings:
1. To venture, to have the courage or impudence (like the defective dare). In this sense it is used mainly
in negative statements.
He didn’t dare to stop me (he didn’t have the courage).
She doesn’t dare to answer.
Don’t you dare to touch me.
2. To challenge, to defy.
I dared him to jump (I challenged him to do it).
I dare you to say this straight to her face. - Попробуй, скажи ей это прямо в лицо.
Note the following combinations with the modal verb dare.
I dare say — I suppose, no doubt.
I dare say you are right. - Очень возможно, что вы правы.
I dare say he will come later. - Полагаю (пожалуй), он придет позже.
THE NOUN
§ 165. The noun denotes thingness in a general sense. Thus nouns name things (book, table), living beings
(man, tiger), places (valley, London, England), materials (iron, oil), processes (life, laughter), states (sleep,
consciousness), abstract notions (socialism, joy) and qualities (kindness, courage).
Semantic characteristics
§ 166. Semantically all nouns fall into proper nouns and common nouns.
§ 167. Proper nouns are geographical names (New York, the Thames, Asia, the Alps), names of individual
(unique) persons (John, Byron, Brown), names of the months and the days of the week (January, Sunday),
names of planets (the Moon, the Sun, the Earth), names of ships, hotels, clubs (Shepherd's Hotel), of buildings,
streets, parks, bridges (Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Regent Street, Charing Cross Road, Piccadilly
Circus, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Waterloo Bridge), of institutions, organizations, magazines and
newspapers (the United Nations, the New Times, the Guardian). They are written with capitals.
§ 168. Common nouns can be classified into nouns denoting objects that can be counted and those that
cannot. So there are count and non-count and collective common nouns. The former are inflected for number,
whereas the latter are not. Further distinction is into concrete nouns, abstract nouns and nouns of material.
Semantic classification of English nouns is shown in the following scheme: