لخّصلي

A popular interpretation of this passage is to see it as a text with 'no verbs'.Later in the passage, from sentence (4), part of the Predicator element is offered, but signif- icantly, one key element is omitted.In the opening sentences, the Predicator element has been ellipsed completely, and this takes with it all sense of verbal process.A more rigorous stylistic description would therefore stipulate that the passage displays a restricted verbal development in its main clauses.

A popular interpretation of this passage is to see it as a text with ‘no verbs’. This is
not strictly accurate, however, because only in the first three sentences and in part
of sentence (5) have verbs been excised completely. In any case, there are plenty of
verbs in the numerous subordinate clauses in the passage. A more rigorous stylistic
description would therefore stipulate that the passage displays a restricted verbal
development in its main clauses. In the opening sentences, the Predicator element
has been ellipsed completely, and this takes with it all sense of verbal process. Later
in the passage, from sentence (4), part of the Predicator element is offered, but signif-
icantly, one key element is omitted. This element, known as the finite, is often
expressed by auxiliary verbs and it serves to provide, among other things, tense,
polarity and grammatical agreement with the Subject. By offering only the main
verbal component in ‘lying’, ‘creeping’ and ‘pinching’, Dickens effectively splits the
Predicator in two so that we get a sense of ongoing process, but no indication of tense.