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phraseological unit without destroying its sense ( as it has been
explained above).
The second type of restriction is the restriction in introducing
any additional components into the structure of a phraseological
unit.
The third type of structural restrictions in phraseological
units is grammatical invariability. A typical mistake with students
of English is to use the plural form of fault in the phraseological
unit to find fault придираться with somebody (e. g. The teacher
always found f a u l t s with the boy). Though the plural form in
this context is logically well-founded, it is a mistake in terms of
the grammatical invariability of phraseological units. A similar
typical mistake often occurs in the unit from head to foot с головы
до пят (e. g. From head to foot he was immaculately dressed).
Proverbs are different from those phraseological units. The
first distinctive feature is the obvious structural dissimilarity.
Phraseological units are a kind of ready-made blocks which fit into
the structure of a sentence performing a certain syntactical
function, more or less as words do (e.g. a) George liked her for she
never put on airs (predicate). b) Big bugs"шишка" like him care
nothing about small fry like ourselves, (a) subject). Proverbs, if
viewed in their structural aspect, are sentences, and so cannot be
used in the way in which phraseological units are used.
In the semantic aspect, proverbs sum up the collective
experience of the community. They moralize (Hell is paved with
good intentions), give advice (Don't judge a tree by its bark), give
warning (// you sing before breakfast, you will cry before night),
admonish (Liars should have good memories), criticize (Everyone
calls his own geese swans). No phraseological unit ever does any
of these things. They do not stand for whole statements as
proverbs do but for a single concept. Their function in speech is
purely nominative (i. e. they denote an object, an act, etc.). The
function of proverbs in speech, though, is communicative (i. e.
they impart certain information). The question of whether or not

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