Collins Cobuild English Grammar (172 page)

Ow
! That hurt.
‘Margaret Ravenscroft may have been responsible for the fire.’ – ‘
Good heavens
!’ said Dr Willoughby.
‘She died last autumn.’ – ‘
Oh dear
, I’m so sorry.’

Some exclamations are used only to show reactions. Here is a list of some common ones:

aha

blast

blimey

bother

bravo

crikey

damn

eek

good gracious

good grief

good heavens

good lord

goodness me

golly

gosh

hallelujah

honestly

hurray

oh

oh dear

ooh

oops

ouch

ow

really

sheesh

ugh

well I never

what

whoops

wow

yippee

you’re joking

yuk

other clause elements

9.93
    Other clause elements or clauses can be used in exclamations.

Noun phrases are sometimes used to show your reaction to something. Some nouns, for example
rubbish
and
nonsense
, can be used on their own to express strong disagreement.

‘No-one would want to go out with me.’ – ‘
Nonsense
. You’re a very attractive man.’

Predeterminers, especially
what
, are often used before the noun.

What a pleasant surprise!
Such an intelligent family!
Quite a show!

Qualitative adjectives are sometimes used on their own, or with
how
in front of them, usually to show a positive reaction to a statement.

‘I’ve arranged a surprise party for him.’ – ‘
Lovely
.’
Oh! Look!
How sweet
!

A prepositional phrase with
of
can be used to specify a person, and a
to
-infinitive clause to refer to the action.

How nice of you to come!
How nice to see you.

Sentences with
how
and an adjective or adverb, or
what
and a noun phrase, can also be used as exclamations. The adjective, adverb, or noun phrase comes before the subject.

How nice you look!
How cleverly you hid your feelings!
What an idiot I am.
What negative thoughts we’re having.

How
can be placed at the beginning of an ordinary sentence to show the intensity of a feeling or action.

How I hate posters.
How he talked!

questions that do not expect an answer

9.94
    People often use questions as a way of making a comment or exclamation. They do not expect an answer. Questions like this are called
rhetorical questions
.

You can use a negative
yes/no
-question, if you want to encourage other people to agree with you.

Oh Andy, isn’t she lovely?
Wouldn’t it be awful with no Christmas!

In informal English, you can use a positive question.

‘How much?’ – ‘A hundred million.’ – ‘
Are you crazy
?’
Have you no shame
!

Wh
-questions, especially ones containing modals, are also used.

How on earth should I know?
Why must she be so nasty to me?
Why bother?

See
Chapter 5
for more information about
questions
.

Addressing people

9.95
    When you are talking to people, you can address them using their first name or, more formally, by using a title followed by their surname like
Mr Jones
or
Mrs Matthews
. Sometimes, the way you address people shows your feelings towards them or your relationship to them. For example, you might address them using a word like
darling
or
idiot
. Words used like this are called
vocatives
.

position

9.96
    The names you use for addressing people are often placed at the end of a sentence or clause. In writing, they are usually preceded by a comma.

Where are you staying,
Mr Swallow
?
That’s lovely,
darling
.

You can put them at the beginning of a sentence in order to attract someone’s attention before speaking to them.

John
, how long have you been at the university?
Dad
, why have you got that suit on?

titles

9.97
    When you address someone in a fairly formal way, you use their
title
and surname. Information about titles is given in
1.55
to
1.57
.

Goodbye,
Dr Kirk
.
Thank you,
Mr Jones
.
How old are you,
Miss Flewin
?

Titles indicating a special qualification, rank, or job can be used on their own.

What’s wrong,
Doctor
?
Well,
professor
?

BE CAREFUL

9.98
     The titles
Mr
,
Mrs
,
Miss
, and
Ms
are generally used only with a surname. To address people formally without their surname,
sir
and
madam
(usually contracted to
ma’am
in American English) are used, especially by employees to customers or clients, and, in American English, to address a person whose name you do not know and who appears to be older than you.

Good afternoon,
sir
. How can I help you?
Would you like to see the dessert menu,
madam
?
Can I help you with something,
ma’am
? (American)

other ways of addressing people

9.99
    You can use noun phrases to show your opinion of someone. Those that show dislike or contempt are often used with
you
in front of them.

No,
you fool
, the other way.
Shut your big mouth,
you stupid idiot
.

Ways of addressing people that show affection are usually used by themselves, but
my
is sometimes used in more old-fashioned or humorous contexts.

Goodbye,
darling
.
We’ve got to go,
my dear
.

Nouns that refer to family or social relationships can be used for addressing people.

Someone’s got to do it,
mum
.
Sorry,
Grandma
.
She’ll be all right,
mate
.
Trust me,
kid
.

Forms of address are occasionally used in the plural.

Sit down,
children
.
Stop her,
you fools
!

Note that
ladies
,
gentlemen
, and
children
are only used in the plural.

Ladies
and
gentlemen
, thank you for coming.

10      Making a text hold together

10.1
     When you speak or write, you very often want to make some connection with other things that you are saying or writing. There are several ways of using language to hold your whole message together and to give it meaning.

The most common way of doing this is by referring back to something that has already been mentioned. The different ways of
referring back
are explained in paragraphs
10.2
to
10.39
.

There are also a few ways of
referring forward
to what you are about to say. These are explained in paragraphs
10.40
to
10.47
.

Another way of making connections between what you have just said and what you are going to say is by using
sentence connectors
. These are explained in paragraphs
10.48
to
10.59
.

People often avoid repeating words when they are referring back. This is explained in paragraphs
10.60
to
10.81
.

Referring back

10.2
     When you speak or write, you very often refer back to something that has already been mentioned or make a connection with it.

pronouns

10.3
     One common way of referring back to something is to use a
personal pronoun
such as
she
,
it
, or
them
, or a
possessive pronoun
such as
mine
or
hers
.