Lecture 2

Business Grammar

Noun Cases
Nominative case of the subject and subject complement Accusative case of Direct Object; prepositional object Genitive s Genitive for persons: My boss personal secretary is absent today. Tess dress is made out of silk. - of Genitive for objects and things The agenda of todays meeting is very busy. AT the end of a meeting, the minutes are circulated among meeting attendees. Combined genitive forms: Philippe is an old business partner of my fathers. Dative case of Indirect Object On March 8, men give flowers to women in the post-Communist countries. On March 8, men give women flowers for the International womens day. Vocative case of appellation

Word order
(Adverbial of Time +) Subject (+ Adverbial of Time) + Verb/Predicate + Direct Object + Indirect Object + Adverbial of Manner + Adverbial of Place + Adverbial of Time Directorul adjunct vorbeste la telefon in biroul lui foarte tare, 4-5 ore pe zi. The Assistant Manager speaks very loudly on the phone, in his office, for 4-5 hours a day. In fiecare dimineata isi ia cafeaua in bucatarie repede, in picioare, de la 7.10 la 7.15, si apoi pleaca la birou. Every morning she takes her coffee standing, very quickly, from 7.10 to 7.15, and then she leaves for the office.

Agreement of Subject and Predicate

Subject agrees with Predicate in number e.g. Many workers have signed a petition to go on strike. Paul has been appointed as Marketing Manager for Vitivissa. If the subject is made up of two nouns that are coordinated, the predicate is in the plural Toothpaste and washing powder are the best selling products if P&G. Both the branch in Stockholm and the branch in Copenhagen are reporting an increase in sales.

 If the two nouns that make up the subject are disjunctive, in the singular, the agreement is in the singular Either my secretary or the receptionist is going to get back to you by phone. If the subject is expressed by a collective noun, the agreement can be either in the singular or in the plural, depending on whether the collective noun is considered as a whole or as each and every member of the collective My favourite football team has played well this season. The Board are still debating whether to enter the Asian market this year or not.

Determiners
Articles Demonstrative adjectives Possessive adjectives Quantifiers. Numerals Indefinite adjectives Interrogative and relative adjectives

Articles
The article shows whether the noun that it accompanies is already known to the speaker or not. If the noun has already been introduced, i.e. it is known, the noun is used with the definite article. If the noun is just being introduced, it is used with the indefinite article e.g. This is a new development project. The project is estimated to start in the early 2011, with money from the World Bank.

The definite article

Used with singular and plural, countable and uncountable nouns also used when the noun it accompanies is further determined by appositions: E.g.The money that I receive from my parents is not enough to spend a cool night in a club. is used to form the superlative degree of adjectives: E.g. This is the best holiday Ive ever had. Is used to form ordinal numerals E.g. The second time I met him, he had already risen to a middle management position. When followed by adjectives, it turns them into nouns: E.g. The rich do not always understand the social problems of the poor.

 Used with proper names of: - mountains: The Carpathians, the Alps, the Rockies - Oceans: The Atlantic, the Pacific Rivers: the Danube, the Amazon, the Nile Seas: The Black Sea, the Mediterranean Institutions: The British Museum, The Field, the Art Institute Newspapers and magazines: The Financial Times, The Times Cardinal points: the South, the East, the West

Other idiomatic uses: - play the guitar/the violin/the piano - sell by the pound/by the kilo/by the pair - pay by the week/by the hour - beat about the bush, break the ice, take the trouble, be on the way, be on the run, tell the time - on the one hand, on the other hand, on the whole, on the left, on the right, on the contrary

Indefinite article
- used with singular, countable nouns Introduces a new notion: This is a magic tool. Used with titles, jobs, nationalities E.g. He was a distinguished lord. My sister is a doctor. His partner is an Englishman.

Idiomatic uses
A good many/a great many workers were going on strike. Many a student is not a big fan of grammar. A bit of, a lot of, In exclamations: What an idea! Such a nice fellow! What a pity! Phrases: have a bite, have a good time, take a fancy to, not to care a straw/fig, catch a cold, have a look/go/try, for a change, for a while, as a reward, at a distance, in a loud/low voice, in a hurry, to have a head for, to make a fortune, to take a seat, go for a walk/ride

Zero article
Absence of a marked article with abstract nouns, nouns in the plural, mass nouns: E.g. Wisdom comes with experience. Gold is rare nowadays. Birds of a feather flock together. We study Economics. Man is mortal. Days of the week, months, continents, countries (But : the United Kindom, the United States of America, the Netherlands), cities (but: The Hague)

Idiomatic uses
At noon, by chance, by mistake, for fun, for good, under discussion, at ease, at random, in case, in town, at hand, at first sight, by train, by heart, in honour of, by word of mouth, on condition that, to strike oil, to lose face In parallel constructions: from day to day, from hand to mouth, from time to time, from top to bottom, through thick and thin, hand in hand, by hook or by crook,

Demonstrative Adjectives
Proximity: this, these Distance: that, those E.g. This initiative has increased our revenue by 25 %. FYI, these employees deserve a higher salary. On that particular day, all our activities were out of sync. Under those circumstances, we had to sell the company asap.

Possessive adjectives
1st person my (sg) our (pl) 2nd person your 3rd person his (sg, masc), her (sg, fem) its (sg, neutral) their (pl) e.g. My co-workers are all cool guys. Her stiff appearance did not help her integrate in our team.

Quantifiers
Countable nouns: many, (a) few Uncountable nouns: much, (a) little A few vs few : positive vs negative value e.g. I have a few friends (i.e. not many but enough). I have few friends ( I wish I had more) She gave me a little money (i.e. not much but enough). I have little money ( I wish I had more).

Numerals
Cardinal one, two, three, thirteen BE milliard AE billion Ordinal the first, the second/third/ fourth/ fifth, sixth, ninth, twelfth, thirtieth, etc Ratios 1/3 a third; 2/3 two thirds; 2/4 two quarters/fourths; 3/5 three fifths Percentages 20% - twenty per cent; 37 % - thirty seven per cent Distributive numerals: every other day; every three hours, every four years, etc..

Indefinite Adjectives
Some - + countable and uncountable nouns, in affirmative sentences I need some advice. I have some nice friends in the Caribbean Islands. No - + countable and uncountable nouns, in affirmative sentences I have no furniture in my office yet. We have no modern tools in our mini-plant. Any - countable and uncountable nouns, in negative and interrogative sentences Do you have any news from your brother in Italy? We havent got any bad reviews for our article. Either + countable nouns; one irrespective which, of two e.g. We have two expansion options: either option has advantages and disadvantages. Both - + countable nouns e.g. We plan to open subsidiaries in China and India. Both countries have a tremendous development potential. Neither - + countable nouns; negative (none of two) Neither Democratic candidate knows for sure that he or she will be nominated. No - + countable and uncountable nouns; negative; e.g. No rule applies here. We have received no news about the missing files.

Interrogative and relative pronouns and adjectives

Which, who, that, whom, whose e.g. Which ethnic group do you belong to? The video-projector which lies in that corner has been procured via a project. The woman who sits opposite the Dean is his wife. That amount that he owes me is quite significant. The person whom I spoke to seemed nice. Whose idea was this?