From Teflpedia
A single-word verb (SWV) is a verb consisting of a single word, i.e. not a multi-word verb, so it doesn’t have a dependent preposition and doesn’t have a dependent adverb.
Single word verbs often have multi-word verbs with corresponding meanings. If they do, the single-word verb tends to have a more formal register, so used more frequently in formal writing than in speech, and tends to have French or Latin etymology. Multi-word verbs tend to have a more informal register and tend to have Germanic etymology. As a result of their Franco-Latin origins, SWVs often have cognates in French and other romance languages. EFL learners, particularly with romance L1s, may overuse SWVs in informal speech.
Difference Between Single-Word Verbs and Phrasal Verbs
Single-word verb in a sentence:
- Example: Mythologies show that native people consider their natural environment an important part of their lives.
Phrasal verb in a sentence:
- Example: Mythologies point out that native people consider their natural environment an important part of their lives. (The sentence is less concise and less formal because of the use of the phrasal verb.)
How to Form Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are formed with a verb plus a preposition or adverb and function as a single unit. They can be either transitive or intransitive and either idiomatic or non-idiomatic. One test you can use to determine if you are using an idiomatic or non-idiomatic phrasal verb is to see if you can move the preposition to the start of a sentence and form a grammatical and logical question. If the resulting question is grammatical and logical, you have a non-idiomatic phrasal verb. Here’s an example of a phrasal verb that is non-idiomatic adhering to the movement test because moving the preposition creates a grammatically and logically correct question:
- It might make them think about using a lot of water.
- About what might people think?
Here’s an example of an idiomatic phrasal verb that violates the movement test because it transforms into an ungrammatical and illogical question:
- I took out an unnecessary and confusing sentence.
- *Out what did I take?
What follows are general rules for using phrasal verbs; however, check a more comprehensive guide for any exceptions.
| Idiomatic | Non-idiomatic | |
|---|---|---|
| Can be transitive |
Yes Example: I think that the new one is better because I took out an unnecessary and confusing sentence. |
Yes Example: The governor is using these water restrictions to make people and their communities think about how much they are going to have to pay if they pass the water limit. |
| Can be intransitive |
Yes Example: I grew up learning history from giant, old textbooks from high school that often only shared the American perspective of how the United States came to be. |
No |
| Can be separated by an object |
Only transitive forms Example: I think that the new one is better because I took an unnecessary and confusing sentence out. |
No |
| Can be separated by an adverb | No |
Yes Example: The governor is using these water restrictions to make people and their communities think twice about how much they are going to have to pay if they pass the water limit. |
Sometimes you can use a preposition after a phrasal verb. These constructions are always transitive. Keep in mind that the second preposition is a separate unit from the preposition/adverb attached to the phrasal verb.
- Example: After my teacher found out about his sneaky behavior, he came to check and used a pen to mark “COPIED” on the paper. (In this sentence, “about” is a preposition that is not part of the phrasal verb).
A phrasal verb is simply two words that together form a single verb.
As for formality, while it may often be true that phrasal verbs sound a bit more informal than a synonymous verb that is a single word, I don’t think that’s always the case, for a couple reasons. Sometimes, even in formal settings, the most natural way to say something is by using a phrasal verb. Moreover, some other verbs can be used informally, or as slang, meaning those verbs would sound more informal than a phrasal verb. Therefore, I don’t think there’s any reason to steer clear of all phrasal verbs in formal writing.
For example, the phrasal verb get up can mean get out of bed after waking up, as in:
I like to get up before 6 o’clock on weekdays, so I can leave the house before rush hour.
If you’re trying to avoid get up just because it’s a phrasal verb, your available synonyms are slim. One thesaurus I checked offered rise, arise, stir and rouse, but I don’t think any of those would be better options, even in a formal document.
A similar example would be make up, which NOAD defines as «be reconciled after a quarrel.» The thesaurus offers plenty of examples, but many of them are figurative, or multi-word idioms:
be friends again, bury the hatchet, declare a truce, make peace, forgive and forget, shake hands, reconciled, settle one’s differences, mend fences, reconcile
As for an example when a single verb would be more informal than a phrasal one, suppose I told you,
I want to go out driving so I can show off my new car.
I could replace the phrasal verb with the single word floss, but that wouldn’t make the sentence more formal. (In fact, it would make the sentence more informal; I could find this definition of floss only in the Urban Dictionary, which specializes in slang.)
I suppose we can often make something sound a little more formal by replacing a phrasal verb with a single verb (for example, I think, «I don’t know if I’ll ever return to France» may sound a little more formal than, «I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to France»). Still, that’s not always the case; it depends on the verbs in question.
As a footnote, if phrasal verbs were good enough for the eloquent Churchill, they are good enough for me.
This article is about the part of speech. For the physical activity program, see VERB (program). For English usage of verbs, see English verbs. For the radio programme, see The Verb.
A verb (from Latin verbum ‘word’) is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), an occurrence (happen, become), or a state of being (be, exist, stand). In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive. In many languages, verbs are inflected (modified in form) to encode tense, aspect, mood, and voice. A verb may also agree with the person, gender or number of some of its arguments, such as its subject, or object. Verbs have tenses: present, to indicate that an action is being carried out; past, to indicate that an action has been done; future, to indicate that an action will be done.
For some examples:
- I washed the car yesterday.
- The dog ate my homework.
- John studies English and French.
- Lucy enjoys listening to music.
- Barack Obama became the President of the United States in 2009. (occurrence)
- Mike Trout is a center fielder. (state of being)
Agreement
In languages where the verb is inflected, it often agrees with its primary argument (the subject) in person, number or gender. With the exception of the verb to be, English shows distinctive agreements only in the third person singular, present tense form of verbs, which are marked by adding «-s» ( walks) or «-es» (fishes). The rest of the persons are not distinguished in the verb (I walk, you walk, they walk, etc.).
Latin and the Romance languages inflect verbs for tense–aspect–mood (abbreviated ‘TAM’), and they agree in person and number (but not in gender, as for example in Polish) with the subject. Japanese, like many languages with SOV word order, inflects verbs for tense-aspect-mood, as well as other categories such as negation, but shows absolutely no agreement with the subject—it is a strictly dependent-marking language. On the other hand, Basque, Georgian, and some other languages, have polypersonal agreement: the verb agrees with the subject, the direct object, and even the secondary object if present, a greater degree of head-marking than is found in most European languages.
Types
Verbs vary by type, and each type is determined by the kinds of words that accompany it and the relationship those words have with the verb itself. Classified by the number of their valency arguments, usually four basic types are distinguished: intransitives, transitives, ditransitives and double transitive verbs. Some verbs have special grammatical uses and hence complements, such as copular verbs (i.e., be); the verb do used for do-support in questioning and negation; and tense or aspect auxiliaries, e.g., be, have or can. In addition, verbs can be non-finite (not inflected for person, number, tense, etc.), such special forms as infinitives, participles or gerunds.[1]
Intransitive verbs
An intransitive verb is one that does not have a direct object. Intransitive verbs may be followed by an adverb (a word that addresses how, where, when, and how often) or end a sentence. For example: «The woman spoke softly.» «The athlete ran faster than the official.» «The boy wept.»
Transitive verbs
A transitive verb is followed by a noun or noun phrase. These noun phrases are not called predicate nouns, but are instead called direct objects because they refer to the object that is being acted upon. For example: «My friend read the newspaper.» «The teenager earned a speeding ticket.»
A way to identify a transitive verb is to invert the sentence, making it passive. For example: «The newspaper was read by my friend.» «A speeding ticket was earned by the teenager.»
Ditransitive verbs
Ditransitive verbs (sometimes called Vg verbs after the verb give) precede either two noun phrases or a noun phrase and then a prepositional phrase often led by to or for. For example: «The players gave their teammates high fives.» «The players gave high fives to their teammates.»
When two noun phrases follow a transitive verb, the first is an indirect object, that which is receiving something, and the second is a direct object, that being acted upon. Indirect objects can be noun phrases or prepositional phrases.[2]
Double transitive verbs
Double transitive verbs (sometimes called Vc verbs after the verb consider) are followed by a noun phrase that serves as a direct object and then a second noun phrase, adjective, or infinitive phrase. The second element (noun phrase, adjective, or infinitive) is called a complement, which completes a clause that would not otherwise have the same meaning. For example: «The young couple considers the neighbors wealthy people.» «Some students perceive adults quite inaccurately.» «Sarah deemed her project to be the hardest she has ever completed.»
Copular verbs
Copular verbs (a.k.a. linking verbs) include be, seem, become, appear, look, and remain. For example: «Her daughter was a writing tutor.» «The singers were very nervous.» «His mother looked worried.» «Josh remained a reliable friend.» These verbs precede nouns or adjectives in a sentence, which become predicate nouns and predicate adjectives.[3] Copulae are thought to ‘link’ the predicate adjective or noun to the subject. They can also be followed by an adverb of place, which is sometimes referred to as a predicate adverb. For example: «My house is down the street.»
The main copular verb be is manifested in eight forms be, is, am, are, was, were, been, and being in English.
Valency
The number of arguments that a verb takes is called its valency or valence. Verbs can be classified according to their valency:
- Avalent (valency = 0): the verb has neither a subject nor an object. Zero valency does not occur in English; in some languages such as Mandarin Chinese, weather verbs like snow(s) take no subject or object.
- Intransitive (valency = 1, monovalent): the verb only has a subject. For example: «he runs», «it falls».
- Transitive (valency = 2, divalent): the verb has a subject and a direct object. For example: «she eats fish», «we hunt nothing».
- Ditransitive (valency = 3, trivalent): the verb has a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object. For example: «He gives her a flower» or «She gave John the watch.»
- A few English verbs, particularly those concerned with financial transactions, take four arguments, as in «Pat1 sold Chris2 a lawnmower3 for $204» or «Chris1 paid Pat2 $203 for a lawnmower4«.[4]
Impersonal and objective verbs
Weather verbs often appear to be impersonal (subjectless, or avalent) in null-subject languages like Spanish, where the verb llueve means «It rains». In English, French and German, they require a dummy pronoun and therefore formally have a valency of 1. However, as verbs in Spanish incorporate the subject as a TAM suffix, Spanish is not actually a null-subject language, unlike Mandarin (see above). Such verbs in Spanish also have a valency of 1.
Intransitive and transitive verbs are the most common, but the impersonal and objective verbs are somewhat different from the norm. In the objective, the verb takes an object but no subject; the nonreferent subject in some uses may be marked in the verb by an incorporated dummy pronoun similar to that used with the English weather verbs. Impersonal verbs in null subject languages take neither subject nor object, as is true of other verbs, but again the verb may show incorporated dummy pronouns despite the lack of subject and object phrases.
Valency marking
Verbs are often flexible with regard to valency. In non-valency marking languages such as English, a transitive verb can often drop its object and become intransitive; or an intransitive verb can take an object and become transitive. For example, in English the verb move has no grammatical object in he moves (though in this case, the subject itself may be an implied object, also expressible explicitly as in he moves himself); but in he moves the car, the subject and object are distinct and the verb has a different valency. Some verbs in English, however, have historically derived forms that show change of valency in some causative verbs, such as fall-fell-fallen:fell-felled-felled; rise-rose-risen:raise-raised-raised; cost-cost-cost:cost-costed-costed.
In valency marking languages, valency change is shown by inflecting the verb in order to change the valency. In Kalaw Lagaw Ya of Australia, for example, verbs distinguish valency by argument agreement suffixes and TAM endings:
- Nui mangema «He arrived earlier today» (mangema today past singular subject active intransitive perfective)
- Palai mangemanu «They [dual] arrived earlier today»
- Thana mangemainu «They [plural] arrived earlier today»
Verb structure: manga-i-[number]-TAM «arrive+active+singular/dual/plural+TAM»
- Nuidh wapi manganu «He took the fish [to that place] earlier today» (manganu today past singular object attainative transitive perfective)
- Nuidh wapi mangamanu «He took the two fish [to that place] earlier today»
- Nuidh wapi mangamainu «He took the [three or more] fish [to that place] earlier today»
Verb structure: manga-Ø-[number]-TAM «arrive+attainative+singular/dual/plural+TAM»
The verb stem manga- ‘to take/come/arrive’ at the destination takes the active suffix -i (> mangai-) in the intransitive form, and as a transitive verb the stem is not suffixed. The TAM ending -nu is the general today past attainative perfective, found with all numbers in the perfective except the singular active, where -ma is found.
Tense, aspect, and modality
A single-word verb in Spanish contains information about time (past, present, future), person and number. The process of grammatically modifying a verb to express this information is called conjugation.
Depending on the language, verbs may express grammatical tense, aspect, or modality.
Tense
Grammatical tense[5][6][7] is the use of auxiliary verbs or inflections to convey whether the action or state is before, simultaneous with, or after some reference point. The reference point could be the time of utterance, in which case the verb expresses absolute tense, or it could be a past, present, or future time of reference previously established in the sentence, in which case the verb expresses relative tense.
Aspect
Aspect[6][8] expresses how the action or state occurs through time. Important examples include:
- perfective aspect, in which the action is viewed in its entirety through completion (as in «I saw the car»)
- imperfective aspect, in which the action is viewed as ongoing; in some languages a verb could express imperfective aspect more narrowly as:
- habitual aspect, in which the action occurs repeatedly (as in «I used to go there every day»), or
- continuous aspect, in which the action occurs without pause; continuous aspect can be further subdivided into
- stative aspect, in which the situation is a fixed, unevolving state (as in «I know French»), and
- progressive aspect, in which the situation continuously evolves (as in «I am running»)
- perfect, which combines elements of both aspect and tense and in which both a prior event and the state resulting from it are expressed (as in «he has gone there», i.e. «he went there and he is still there»)
- discontinuous past, which combines elements of a past event and the implication that the state resulting from it was later reversed (as in «he did go there» or «he has been there», i.e. «he went there but has now come back»)[9]
Aspect can either be lexical, in which case the aspect is embedded in the verb’s meaning (as in «the sun shines,» where «shines» is lexically stative), or it can be grammatically expressed, as in «I am running.»
Mood and modality
Modality[10] expresses the speaker’s attitude toward the action or state given by the verb, especially with regard to degree of necessity, obligation, or permission («You must go», «You should go», «You may go»), determination or willingness («I will do this no matter what»), degree of probability («It must be raining by now», «It may be raining», «It might be raining»), or ability («I can speak French»). All languages can express modality with adverbs, but some also use verbal forms as in the given examples. If the verbal expression of modality involves the use of an auxiliary verb, that auxiliary is called a modal verb. If the verbal expression of modality involves inflection, we have the special case of mood; moods include the indicative (as in «I am there»), the subjunctive (as in «I wish I were there»), and the imperative («Be there!»).
Voice
The voice[11] of a verb expresses whether the subject of the verb is performing the action of the verb or whether the action is being performed on the subject. The two most common voices are the active voice (as in «I saw the car») and the passive voice (as in «The car was seen by me» or simply «The car was seen»).
Non-finite forms
Most languages have a number of verbal nouns that describe the action of the verb.
In the Indo-European languages, verbal adjectives are generally called participles. English has an active participle, also called a present participle; and a passive participle, also called a past participle. The active participle of break is breaking, and the passive participle is broken. Other languages have attributive verb forms with tense and aspect. This is especially common among verb-final languages, where attributive verb phrases act as relative clauses.
See also
- Linguistics
Verbs in various languages
- Adyghe verbs
- Arabic verbs
- Ancient Greek verbs
- Basque verbs
- Bulgarian verbs
- Chinese verbs
- English verbs
- Finnish verb conjugation
- French verbs
- German verbs
- Germanic verbs
- Hebrew verb conjugation
- Hungarian verbs
- Ilokano verbs
- Irish verbs
- Italian verbs
- Japanese godan and ichidan verbs
- Japanese verb conjugations
- Korean verbs
- Latin verbs
- Persian verbs
- Portuguese verb conjugation
- Proto-Indo-European verb
- Romance verbs
- Romanian verbs
- Sanskrit verbs
- Sesotho verbs
- Slovene verbs
- Spanish verbs
- Tigrinya verbs
Grammar
- Auxiliary verb
- Grammar
- Grammatical aspect
- Grammatical mood
- Grammatical tense
- Grammatical voice
- Performative utterance
- Phrasal verb
- Phrase structure rules
- Sentence (linguistics)
- Syntax
- Tense–aspect–mood
- Transitivity (grammatical category)
- Verb argument
- Verb framing
- Verbification
- Verb phrase
Other
- Le Train de Nulle Part: A 233-page book without a single verb.
References
- ^ Morenberg 2010, pp. 6–14
- ^ Morenberg 2010, pp. 9–10
- ^ Morenberg 2010, p. 7
- ^ Jackendoff 2002, p. 135.
- ^ Comrie, Bernard, Tense, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985.
- ^ a b Östen Dahl, Tense and Aspect Systems, Blackwell, 1985.
- ^ Fleischman, Suzanne, The Future in Thought and Action, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1982.
- ^ Comrie, Bernard, Aspect, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976.
- ^ Plungian, Vladimir A. & Johan van der Auwera (2006), «Towards a typology of discontinuous past marking». Sprachtypol. Univ. Forsch. (STUF), Berlin 59, 4, 317–349.
- ^ Palmer, F. R., Mood and Modality, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001.
- ^ Klaiman, M. H., Grammatical Voice (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics), Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991.
- Goldenberg, Gideon «On Verbal Structure and the Hebrew Verb», in: idem, Studies in Semitic Linguistics, Jerusalem: Magnes Press 1998, pp. 148–196 [English translation; originally published in Hebrew in 1985].
- Jackendoff, R. (2002). Foundations of Language. Oxford University Press.
- Morenberg, Max (2010). Doing Grammar (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1997-3288-3.
External links
Look up verb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- www.verbix.com Verbs and verb conjugation in many languages.
- conjugation.com English Verb Conjugation.
- Italian Verbs Coniugator and Analyzer Conjugation and Analysis of Regular and Irregular Verbs, and also of Neologisms, like googlare for to google.
- El verbo en español Downloadable handbook to learn the Spanish verb paradigm in an easy ruled-based method. It also supplies the guidelines to know whenever a Spanish verb is regular or irregular
What is a verb?
Verbs are the action words in a sentence that describe what the subject is doing. Along with nouns, verbs are the main part of a sentence or phrase, telling a story about what is taking place. In fact, without a verb, full thoughts can’t be properly conveyed, and even the simplest sentences, such as Maria sings, have one. Actually, a verb can be a sentence by itself, with the subject, in most case you, implied, such as, Sing! and Drive!
When learning the rules of grammar, schoolchildren are often taught that verbs are ‘doing’ words, meaning they signify the part of the sentence which explains the action taking place: He ran away, she eats chocolate cake on Sundays, the horses gallop across the fields. Ran, eats and gallop are the ‘action’ parts of those sentences, thus they are the verbs. However, it can be confusing because not all verbs are easily identifiable as action: I know your name, Jack thought about it, we considered several applications. These are non-action verbs, i.e. those that describe a state of being, emotion, possession, sense or opinion. Other non-action verbs include include love, agree, feel, am, and have.
How to Recognize a Verb
As you can see from the examples above, one clue to help you recognize a verb is its location compared to the subject. Verbs almost always come after a noun or pronoun. These nouns and pronouns are referred to as the subject. The verb thought comes after the noun Jack, so the action Jack (subject) was taking was thinking (verb).
- Mark eats his dinner quickly.
- We went to the market.
- You write neatly in your notebook.
- They thought about all the prizes in the competition.
Here are some other ways to recognize verbs in a sentence:
- If you’re not sure if a word is a verb, ask yourself, “Can I do ______?”
Can I think, wonder, walk, yawn? Yes, so these are verbs.
- You can also ask, ”What is happening?”
In the sentence Mark eats his dinner quickly, what is happening? Eating is happening, so eating is the verb.
In the sentence They thought about all the prizes what is happening? Thought (thinking) is happening, so thought is the verb.
Physical Verbs – Definition and Examples
Physical verbs are action verbs. They describe specific physical actions. If you can create a motion with your body or use a tool to complete an action, the word you use to describe it is most likely a physical verb. For example, Joe sat in his chair, the dog breathes quickly after she chases her ball, and should we vote in the election? Even when the action isn’t very active, if the action is done by the body or a tool, consider it a physical verb.
Physical Verb Examples
The physical verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
- Let’s run to the corner and back.
- I hear the train coming.
- Call me when you’re finished with class.
Mental Verbs – Definition and Examples
Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering, understanding, thinking, or planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive state.
Mental Verb – Definition and Examples
Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering, understanding, thinking, or planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive state.
Mental Verb Examples
The mental verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
- I know the answer.
- She recognized me from across the room.
- Do you believe everything people tell you?
States of Being Verbs – Definition and Examples
Also known as linking verbs, state of being verbs describe conditions or situations that exist. State of being verbs are inactive since no action is being performed. These verbs, forms of to be, such as am, is, are, are usually complemented by adjectives.
States of Being Verb Examples
The state of being verbs in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
- I am a student.
- We are circus performers.
- Please is quiet.
Types of Verbs
There are many types of verbs. In addition to the main categories of physical verbs, mental verbs, and state of being verbs, there are several other types of verbs. In fact, there are more than ten different types of verbs that are grouped together by function.
List of all Verb Types
Action Verbs
Action verbs express specific actions and are used any time you want to show action or discuss someone doing something. It’s important to remember that the action does not have to be physical.
Action verb examples:
- Run
- Dance
- Slide
- Jump
- Think
- Do
- Go
- Stand
- Smile
- Listen.
The action verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
I run faster than David.
He does it well.
She thinks about poetry all day long
Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities that relate or affect someone or something else. These other things are generally direct objects, nouns or pronouns that are affected by the verb, though some verbs can also take an indirect object, such as show, take, and make. In a sentence with a transitive verb, someone or something receives the action of the verb.
Transitive verb examples:
- Love
- Respect
- Tolerate
- Believe
- Maintain.
The transitive verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
Gary ate the cookies.
The transitive verb is ate, Gary is the subject, because it is Gary who is doing the eating, and the cookies are the direct object, because it is the cookies that are being eaten. Other examples:
He kicked John.
John punches him.
They sold the tickets.
Examples of verbs used with both direct and indirect objects:
They sell him the tickets.
In this sentence, the tickets are the direct object while him is the indirect object.
Mary baked her mother a pie.
In this sentence, a pie is the direct object while her mother is the indirect object.
Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. They are different from transitive verbs because there is no direct object following an intransitive verb.
Intransitive verb examples:
- Walk
- Laugh
- Cough
- Play
- Run
The intransitive verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
We travelled to London.
The intransitive verb is travelled, the subject is we, because we are doing the travelling, but London is not a direct object because London is not receiving the action of the verb. Other examples:
I sneeze in the morning.
He arrived with moments to spare.
Kathryn sat away from the others.
John eats before leaving for school.
The last example shows that the verb eats can be both transitive and intransitive depending on whether there is a direct object or not. If the sentence read: John eats the cookies before leaving for school, eats would be transitive as there is a direct object – the cookies.
By the way, some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive. These verbs include: start, leave, change, live, stop.
Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs and are used together with a main verb to show the verb’s tense or to form a question or negative. Common examples of auxiliary verbs include have, might, will. These auxiliary verbs give some context to the main verb, for example, letting the reader know when the action took place.
Auxiliary verb examples:
- Would
- Should
- Do
- Can
- Did
- Could
- May
The auxiliary verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
I will go home after football practice.
The auxiliary verb will is telling us that the action of the main verb go is going to take place in the future – after football practice has ended. If the auxiliary verb will was removed, we get the sentence:
I go home after football practice.
In this case, there is no definite time frame for the action. The sentence suggests that going home after football practice is just something the subject I generally does. Other examples:
I may dance with you later.
We did consider Bryan’s feelings.
Jenny has spoken her final words.
In addition, we can sometimes use the auxiliary very before the pronoun to make a question:
Might you dance with me later?
Did we consider Bryan’s feelings?
Has Jenny spoken her final words?
Also, auxiliary verbs are used to help form negative statements, with the use of words like not and never. These will usually split the auxiliary and main verbs:
I may never dance with you again.
We did not consider Bryan’s feelings.
Jenny has not spoken her final words.
Stative Verbs
Stative verbs can be recognized because they express a state rather than an action. They typically relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and measurements. The best way to think about stative verbs is that they are verbs that describe things that are not actions. The stative verbs are all expressing a state: A state of doubting, a state of believing, a state of wanting. These states of being are often temporary.
The stative verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
The doctor disagrees with your analysis.
Disagree is a stative verb here, as it describes the doctor’s state of being – disagreement.
John doubts the doctor’s opinion.
I believe the doctor is right.
She wanted another opinion.
Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are used to express abilities, possibilities, permissions, and obligations.
Modal verb examples:
- Can
- Must
- May
- Should
- Would
The modal verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
He can shoot a three-point shot easily.
The auxiliary verb can is expressing an ability, suggesting that shooting a three-point shot is a skill the subject possesses.
Please note that in the case of should and must in the examples below, the modal verbs are expressing obligations, whereas would and may are expressing possibilities.
I should go home.
You must not delay.
Sally would not recommend the sushi.
David may be late.
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs aren’t single words; instead, they are combinations of words that are used together to take on a different meaning to that of the original verb. There are many examples of phrasal verbs, some of which have colloquial meanings, such as make up, hand in, bring up, point out, look forward to. Each time the verb takes the extra word(s) it takes on a new meaning. For example, make without the up expresses that something is being created, whereas with make up, the suggestion is that there are some lies or a fantastical element to the story and make out can mean either to grasp or see something difficult, or to kiss passionately.
Phrasal verb examples:
- Run out
- Go all out
- Make out
- Hand out
- Bring out
- Face up
- Think through
The phrasal verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
Mary looked forward to her high school reunion.
The verb looked has taken on forward to to become a phrasal verb meaning to be excited about or eagerly await something.
He brought up the same points again and again.
Leroy handed in the wallet to the police.
I make up stories all the time.
She pointed out Donald’s mistake.
Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs are those that don’t take on the regular spelling patterns of past simple and past participle verbs. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of irregular verbs in the English language. But don’t worry, while many are used often, the majority are not in common usage – or if they are, you will use them so often you will learn them quickly. Some of the most common irregular verbs include: say, make, go, take, come, know and see.
Irregular verb examples:
- Eat
- Think
- Bring
- Hold
- Bear
- Buy
- Lay
- Catch
- Drive
- Paid
- Feel
- Redo
The irregular verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
I take my time when I go to the shops (present tense)
I took my time when I went to the shops (past tense)
Julie makes cake for the classroom (present tense)
Julie made a cake for the classroom (past tense)
She sees a silhouette shaped like a man in the window (present tense)
She saw a silhouette shaped like a man in the window (past tense)
We come to Aunt Jane’s for Thanksgiving each year (present tense)
We came to Aunt Jane’s for Thanksgiving each year (past tense).
You should also remember that auxiliary verbs ‘do’ and ‘have’ are also irregular verbs:
I do agree.
He does it often.
We have done our homework early.
They do their homework on Fridays.
I have a suspicion about Fran
Fran has a devious look.
We have no money left.
They have had a cough twice this winter.
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#1
(1) A predicate may be just a single word: the verb. In this first example, the verb laughed is the predicate of the sentence:
Felix laughed.
(2) A predicate may be a word group made up of a main verb and any helping verbs. In the next example, will sing is the predicate:
Winnie will sing.
grammar.about.com
Why is it «the verb» in the point (1), but «a main verb» in the point (2)? What’s the difference
I think «the verb» refers to all verbs in general, but why doesn’t (2) refer to the idea of the «main verb» in the same way?
Thank you.
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#2
A predicate may be just a single word: the verb. In this first example, the verb laughed is the predicate of the sentence:
Felix laughed.
It’s «the verb» because it’s the only one in the sentence. It’s not a reference to «all verbs in general».
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#3
I have a question: the main verb is supposed to be only one, too, but it takes «a«. So, could «A predicate may be just a single word: a verb» work, too?
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#4
I have a question: the main verb is supposed to be only one, too, but it takes «a«. So, could «A predicate may be just a single word: a verb» work, too?
![:confused:]( "Confused :confused:")
That’s how I’d have said it.
I’ll go so far as to say that their phrasing is actually incorrect, since there may still be more than one verb in a sentence even if its predicate is a single word. (For example, «Who dares, wins«: the subject is a relative clause.)
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#5
That’s how I’d have said it.
I’ll go so far as to say that their phrasing is actually incorrect, since there may still be more than one verb in a sentence even if its predicate is a single word. (For example, «Who dares, wins«: the subject is a relative clause.)
But why do you say it’s incorrect? As I understand, they use «the verb» in (1) not because of one verb in a sentence, but because of
the predicate
being a single verb… In «Who dares, wins» it’s the verb «wins»…
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#6
But why do you say it’s incorrect? As I understand, they use «the verb» in (1) not because of one verb in a sentence, but because of
the predicate
being a single verb… In «Who dares, wins» it’s the verb «wins»…
No. The phrasing «the verb» here does imply (incorrectly) that there can only be one verb in the sentence.
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#7
No. The phrasing «the verb» here does imply (incorrectly) that there can only be one verb in the sentence.
Maybe I misunderstand you, but imagine the original phrase with your example:
(1) A predicate may be just a single word: the verb. In this first example, the verb laughed is the predicate of the sentence:
Who dares, wins
Would it be impossible?
If it should be «a verb» because more than one verb can be in a sentence, then «a main verb» in the second phrase implies that there can be more than one main verb in a sentence and it’s correct — do I correctly understand you?
Last edited: Mar 13, 2014
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
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A single verb is a verb that agrees with a single noun. Verbs
need to agree with their nouns. Single-word verbs are verbs that
are not compound verbs.
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
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