 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
267
He was too weak to stand.
Everybody has come.
e) When an adverbial influences the meaning of a verb form .
I am going to the library to-morrow, (‘am going’ denotes intention, not an action).
f) When its absence changes the measing of the rest of the sentence.
Can you speak English without making mistakes?
I’ve never been there since my childhood.
Non-obligatory adverbials are those which are not necessary for the structure of the sentence. They neither
influence the meaning of the verb form, nor change the structure or the meaning of the rest of the sentence, no
matter how important they are from the communicative viewpoint.
She left the room without saying a word.
Before speaking he pressed the bell at his side.
Detached adverbial modifiers
§ 96. Detached adverbials being more loosely related to the modified parts of the sentence than non-
detached adverbials are never obligatory. They are separated from the rest of the sentence by intonation in
speaking and by commas in writing. Detachment of adverbials may be caused by various factors, the most
important of which are their meaning, the form of expression, their extension, their position in the sentence, or
the speaker’s desire for emphasis. Owing to their structure and meaning, absolute constructions are nearly
always detached:
Wesley saw the boat, its decks deserted.
Participial phrases as adverbials also tend to be detached.
She then returned to her place, not having spoken another word.
Adverbials are detached when they are placed m an unusual position, as in the following examples:
Like him, she saw danger in it.
Randall, for all his tiresomeness and badness, had always been her Randall.
Any adverbial may be detached if the speaker wishes to emphasize its meaning.
“He was her father,” said Frances Wilmot, gravely.
Ways of expressing adverbial modifiers
§ 97. Adverbials are grouped according to their structure (ways of expression) and their meaning. There is
no one-to-one correspondence between these two groupings, though we may observe certain tendencies in the
ways of expressing this or that kind of adverbial modifier.
An adverbial modifier may be expressed by:
1. An adverb (sometimes preceded by a preposition).
Jane sings beautifully.
George is always busy.