VERBS

DEFINITION A verb (from the Latin verbum) is the part of speech that in syntax conveys an action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), an occurrence (happen, become), or a state of being (be, exist, stand). A. CLASSES Two main classes of verbs: (1) large open class of lexical verbs - also known as main verbs or full verbs - verbs that aren't dependent on other verbs (2) the small closed class of auxiliary verbs - also called helping verbs The two subtypes of auxiliaries are the primary auxiliaries (be, have, and do), which can also act as lexical verbs, and the modal auxiliaries (can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would).

B. TRANSITIVE cf. INTRANSITIVE VERBS Transitive Verb - a verb that takes an object Many verbs have both a transitive and an intransitive function, depending on how they are used. The verb break, for instance, sometimes takes a direct object ("Rihanna breaks my heart") and sometimes does not ("When I hear your name, my heart breaks"). Sub-Types of Transtitive Verbs: Monotransitive verbs have only a direct object Ditransitive verbs have a direct object and an indirect or benefactive object Complex-transitive verbs have a direct object and an object attribute. . . . monotransitive: He bought a book. ditransitive: He gave her the book. complex-transitive: She found the book interesting. (Marjolyn Verspoor and Kim Sauter, English Sentence Analysis. John Benjamins, 2000) Examples "I know the muffin man." (Lord Farquaad, Shrek, 2001) "We lost a daughter but gained a meathead." (Archie Bunker in All in the Family, 1971)
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"Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory." (George Santayana, The Life of Reason) "I punched Mickey Mantle in the mouth." (Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld) Lay and Lie "There have been some difficulties with grammar since I last wrote. Lay is a transitive verb (I lay down a case of claret every month; she laid the table), lie an intransitive one (he lies over there; she lay in bed until noon). Do not confuse them." (Simon Heffer, "Style Notes 28: February 12, 2010." The Daily Telegraph)

Intransitive - a verb that does not take a direct object or complement (A word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence). Examples "Autos honked. Trees rustled." (Langston Hughes, The Ways of White Folks) "Sometimes imagination pounces; mostly it sleeps soundly in the corner, purring." (Leslie Grimutter) "My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk." (John Keats, "Ode to a Nightingale") "Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity." (Jean de la Bruyere) "Some verbs are complete in themselves and do not require any further elements to make their meaning complete: although there may be further elements in the sentence, these are not essential. This is called intransitive complementation. It involves verbs such as: appear, arrive, begin, break, come, cough, decrease, die, disappear, drown, fall, go, happen, increase, laugh, lie (tell an untruth), matter, rain, rise, sneeze, snow, stop, swim, wait, work." (Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy, Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)

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C. VERBALS - the form of a verb that functions as another part of speech. - three types of verbals: participles gerunds infinitives

Infinitive - usually preceded by the particle to - function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." (Mark Twain) "Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." (Will Rogers) "Until the advent of television emptied the movie theaters, it was from a weekly visit to the cinema that you learned (or tried to learn) how to walk, to smoke, to kiss, to fight, to grieve." (Susan Sontag, "The Decay of Cinema," (1996) "A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized." (Fred Allen) "To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life." (W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You, 1940) "No one wants to hear from my armpits." (Bart Simpson, The Simpsons) "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society." (President Theodore Roosevelt) "An enormous relief had come upon us now that the job was done. One felt an impulse to sing, to break into a run, to snigger." (George Orwell, "A Hanging," 1931)

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"One of the troubles with infinitives is the 7-10 split. It drives perfectionists mad. Most often, however, a split infinitive results in a slightly awkward sentence . . .. The advice most of the time is to avoid the split, but don't stay up nights worrying about it." (Val Dummond, Grammar for Grownups, HarperCollins, 1993) "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." (President Franklin Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933) "It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." (Woody Allen) "It's always easier to learn something than to use what you've learned." (Chaim Potok, The Promise) "I intend to live forever. So far, so good." (Steven Wright) "We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses")

Participle - functions as an adjective Present participles end in -ing (carrying, sharing, tapping). Past participles of regular verbs end in -ed (carried, shared, tapped).

"As modifiers of nouns, present and past participles of verbs function very much likeadjectives. Indeed, they are sometimes regarded as adjectives when they modify nouns. A present participle attributes a quality of action to the noun, which is viewed as undertaking the action, as retreating of legs in [109]. A past participle views the noun as having undergone the action expressed by the participle, as prefabricated of buildings in [110]. [109] . . . the cripple's envy at his straight, retreating legs [110] various prefabricated buildings Thus, the present is an 'active' participle and the past is a 'passive' participle." (Howard Jackson, Grammar and Meaning. Longman, 1990) "When the participle is a single word--the verb with no complements or modifiers--it usually occupies the adjective slot in preheadword position: Our snoring visitor kept the household awake. The barking dog next door drives us crazy.
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". . . While the single-word participle generally fills the preheadword adjective slot, it too can sometimes open the sentence--and with considerable drama: Exasperated, she made the decision to leave immediately. Outraged, the entire committee resigned. You'll notice that both of these openers are past participles, rather than the -ing present participle form; they are, in fact, the passive voice." (Martha Kolln, Rhetorical Grammar. Pearson, 2007) Examples of Present Participles "God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." (Voltaire) "Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing." (Robert Benchley) "The ducks come on swift, silent wings, gliding through the treetops as if guided by radar,twisting, turning, never touching a twig in that thick growth of trees that surrounded the lake." (Jack Denton Scott, "The Wondrous Wood Duck")

Examples of Past Participles "One January day, thirty years ago, the little town of Hanover, anchored on a windy Nebraska tableland, was trying not to be blown away. (Willa Cather, O Pioneers!) "The Bible's Jezebel came to an ugly end. Thrown from a balcony, trampled by horses, anddevoured by dogs, the middle-aged queen has had few good days since." (Review of Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bibles Harlot Queen by Lesley Hazleton. The Week, Nov. 29, 2007) "I believe in broken, fractured, complicated narratives, but I believe in narratives as a vehicle for truth, not simply as a form of entertainment." (Stephen Greenblatt)

Gerund - ends in -ing and functions as a noun.

Examples and Observations: "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." (William A. Ward) "Shooting paintballs is not an art form." (Bart Simpson, The Simpsons) "Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it." (Langston Hughes)
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"Because they are nounlike, we can think of gerunds as names. But rather than naming persons, places, things, events, and the like, as nouns generally do, gerunds, because they are verbs in form, name activities or behaviors or states of mind or states of being." (Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn & Bacon, 1998) "All talk of winning the people by appealing to their intelligence, of conquering them by impeccable syllogism, is so much moonshine." (H. L. Mencken) "Eighty percent of success is showing up." (Woody Allen) Gerunds and Verbal Nouns "A gerund is derived from a verb by adding the suffix -ing. The result is still a verb, and it exhibits ordinary verbal properties, such as taking objects and adverbs. Example: In football, deliberately tripping an opponent is a foul. Here the verb trip occurs in its gerund formtripping, but this tripping is still a verb: it takes the adverb deliberately and the object an opponent. However, the entire phrase deliberately tripping an opponent, because of the gerund within it, now functions as a noun phrase, in this case as the subject of the sentence. So, a gerund is still a verb, but the phrase built around it is nominal, not verbal. "Very different is a verbal noun constructed with -ing. Though derived from a verb, a verbal noun is strictly a noun, and it exhibits nominal properties . . .." (R.L. Trask, Mind the Gaffe! Harper, 2006)

Gerunds and Present Participles "Present participles and gerunds look similar as words, and they also look similar as phrases. Again, it is the -ing verbal form that causes this problem. To clearly distinguish these, we need to consider their grammatical functions. A present participle functions as anon-finite form of a verb phrase, after verbs of motion and position; it can be an adverb complement after these verbs; it can qualify/modify as an adjective does. In contrast, gerunds like nouns have naming roles and can occupy the place of nouns in many of their grammatical functions. Unlike nouns, they do not name persons, places, things, or events; they name actions, states, and behaviors." (Bernard O'Dwyer, Modern English Structures: Form, Function, And Position, 2nd ed. Broadview, 2006)

D. TENSE AND ASPECT Aspect is the verb form that indicates the time at which an event or state of affairs is perceived as taking place. The two aspects in English are perfect and progressive. Tense is the time of a verb's action or state of being, such as present or past.

Aspect The verb form that indicates completion, duration, or repetition of an action. The two aspects in English are
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1) perfect and 2) progressive

Examples and Observations: Perfect Aspect, Present Tense: "History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created." (William Morris) Perfect Aspect, Past Tense: "At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice." (Maya Angelou) Progressive Aspect, Present Tense: "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." (Bill Cosby) Progressive Aspect, Past Tense: "I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything." (Steven Wright) "The perfect aspect most often describes events or states taking place during a preceding time. The progressive aspect describes an event or state of affairs in progress or continuing. Perfect and progressive aspect can be combined with either present or past tense. . . . "Verb phrases can be marked for both aspects (perfect and progressive) at the same time: present perfect progressive: God knows how long I've been doing it. Have I been talking out loud? past perfect progressive: He had been keeping it in a safety deposit box at the Bank of America. For months she had been waiting for that particular corner location. The perfect progressive aspect is rare, occurring usually in the past tense in fiction. It combines the meaning of the perfect and the progressive, referring to a past situation or activity that was in progress for a period of time." (Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Geoffrey Leech, Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 2002)

Tense - time of a verb's action or state of being, such as past, present, or future.

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In English, there are three basic tenses: present, past, and future. Each has a perfect form, indicating completed action; each has a progressive form, indicating ongoing action; and each has a perfect progressive form, indicating ongoing action that will be completed at some definite time. Here is a list of examples of these tenses and their definitions: Simple Forms Present take/s Past took Progressive Forms am/is/are taking was/were taking Perfect Forms have/has taken had taken Perfect Progressive Forms have/has been taking had been taking

Future will/shall take will be taking

will have taken will have been taking

Simple Forms Present Tense Present tense expresses an unchanging, repeated, or reoccurring action or situation that exists only now. It can also represent a widespread truth. Example The mountains are tall and white. Every year, the school council elects new members. Pb is the chemical symbol for lead. Meaning Unchanging action Recurring action Widespread truth

Past Tense Past tense expresses an action or situation that was started and finished in the past. Most past tense verbs end in -ed. The irregular verbs have special past tense forms which must be memorized. Example W.W.II ended in 1945. Ernest Hemmingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea." Form Regular -ed past Irregular form

Future Tense
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Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future. This tense is formed by using will/shall with the simple form of the verb. The speaker of the House will finish her term in May of 1998. The future tense can also be expressed by using am, is, or are with going to. The surgeon is going to perform the first bypass in Minnesota. We can also use the present tense form with an adverb or adverbial phrase to show future time. The president speaks tomorrow. (Tomorrow is a future time adverb.)

Progressive Forms Present Progressive Tense Present progressive tense describes an ongoing action that is happening at the same time the statement is written. This tense is formed by using am/is/are with the verb form ending in -ing. The sociologist is examining the effects that racial discrimination has on society. Past Progressive Tense Past progressive tense describes a past action which was happening when another action occurred. This tense is formed by using was/were with the verb form ending in -ing. The explorer was explaining the lastest discovery in Egypt when protests began on the streets. Future Progressive Tense Future progressive tense describes an ongoing or continuous action that will take place in the future. This tense is formed by using will be or shall be with the verb form ending in -ing. Dr. Jones will be presenting ongoing research on sexist language next week.

Perfect Forms Present Perfect Tense Present perfect tense describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continues in the present.This tense is formed by using has/have with the past participle of the verb. Most past participles end in-ed. Irregular verbs have special past participles that must be memorized. Example Meaning The researchers have traveled to many countries in At an indefinite order to collect more significant data. time Women have voted in presidential elections since Continues in the
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1921.

present

Past Perfect Tense Past perfect tense describes an action that took place in the past before another past action. This tense is formed by usinghad with the past participle of the verb. By the time the troops arrived, the war had ended. Future Perfect Tense Future perfect tense describes an action that will occur in the future before some other action. This tense is formed by using will have with the past participle of the verb. By the time the troops arrive, the combat group will have spent several weeks waiting.

Perfect Progressive Forms Present Perfect Progressive Present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began in the past, continues in the present, and may continue into the future. This tense is formed by using has/have been and the present participle of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing). The CEO has been considering a transfer to the state of Texas where profits would be larger. Past Perfect Progressive Past perfect progressive tense describes a past, ongoing action that was completed before some other past action. This tense is formed by using had been and the present perfect of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing). Before the budget cuts, the students had been participating in many extracurricular activities. Future Perfect Progressive Future perfect progressive tense describes a future, ongoing action that will occur before some specified future time. This tense is formed by using will have been and the present participle of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing). By the year 2020, linguists will have been studying and defining the Indo-European language family for more than 200 years.

E. VOICE A verb may be in the active or passive voice.

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Active Form In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active. [Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action] Examples:

Passive Form In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action. [Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action] Examples:

Active / Passive Overview Active Simple Present Present Continuous Simple Past Once a week, Tom cleans the house. Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. Sam repaired the car. Passive Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom. Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah. The car was repaired by Sam.

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Past Continuous Present Perfect Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect

The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. Many tourists have visited that castle. Recently, John has been doing the work. George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license. Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris. Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM. Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes. They will have completed the project before the deadline. They are going to have completed the project before the deadline. The famous artist will have been paintingthe mural for over six months by the time it is finished. The famous artist is going to have

The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. That castle has been visited by many tourists. Recently, the work has been being done by John. Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license. The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris. The work will be finished by 5:00 PM. A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight. At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John. At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John. The project will have been completed before the deadline. The project is going to have been completedbefore the deadline. The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished. The mural is going to have been

Past Perfect Continuous Simple Future

WILL

Simple Future
BE GOING TO

Future Continuous
WILL

Future Continuous
BE GOING TO

Future Perfect
WILL

Future Perfect
BE GOING TO

Future Perfect Continuous

WILL

Future Perfect

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Continuous
BE GOING TO

been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished. Jerry used to pay the bills. My mother would always make the pies. I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM. I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.

being paintedby the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished. The bills used to be paid by Jerry. The pies would always be made by my mother. I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM. I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

Used to Would Always Future in the Past WOULD Future in the Past WAS GOING
TO

F. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD A verb mood typically used independent clauses to express a wish, an emotion, a possibility, a judgment, an opinion, a necessity, or an action that is unlikely to occur or did not occur. It sometimes is referred to as the conjunctive mood, as it usually follows a subordinate conjunction. Use The Subjunctive is used to emphasize urgency or importance. It is used after certain expressions (see below). Examples: I suggest that he study. Is it essential that we be there? Don recommended that you join the committee. Notice The Subjunctive is only noticeable in certain forms and tenses. In the examples below, the Subjunctive is not noticeable in the you-form of the verb, but it is noticeable in the he-form of the verb. Examples: You try to study often. YOU-FORM OF "TRY" It is important that you try to study often. SUBJUNCTIVE FORM OF "TRY" LOOKS THE SAME. He tries to study often. HE-FORM OF "TRY" It is important that he try to study often. SUBJUNCTIVE FORM OF "TRY" IS NOTICEABLE HERE.

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Verbs Followed by the Subjunctive The Subjunctive is used after the following verbs: to advise (that) to ask (that) to command (that) to demand (that) to desire (that) to insist (that) to propose (that) to recommend (that) to request (that) to suggest (that) to urge (that) Examples: Dr. Smith asked that Mark submit his research paper before the end of the month. Donna requested Frank come to the party. The teacher insists that her students be on time. Expressions Followed by the Subjunctive The Subjunctive is used after the following expressions: It is best (that) It is crucial (that) It is desirable (that) It is essential (that) It is imperative (that) It is important (that) It is recommended (that) It is urgent (that) It is vital (that) It is a good idea (that) It is a bad idea (that) Examples: It is crucial that you be there before Tom arrives. It is important she attend the meeting. It is recommended that he take a gallon of water with him if he wants to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Negative, Continuous and Passive Forms of Subjunctive The Subjunctive can be used in negative, continuous and passive forms. Negative Examples: The boss insisted that Sam not be at the meeting. The company asked that employees not accept personal phone calls during business hours. I suggest that you not take the job without renegotiating the salary. Passive Examples: Jake recommended that Susan be hired immediately. Christine demanded that I be allowed to take part in the negotiations. We suggested that you be admitted to the organization.
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Continuous Examples: It is important that you be standing there when he gets off the plane. It is crucial that a car be waiting for the boss when the meeting is over. I propose that we all be waiting in Tim's apartment when he gets home. Should as Subjunctive After many of the above expressions, the word "should" is sometimes used to express the idea of subjunctiveness. This form is used more frequently in British English and is most common after the verbs "suggest," "recommend" and "insist." Examples: The doctor recommended that she should see a specialist about the problem. Professor William suggested that Wilma should study harder for the final exam.

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