traditionally: verbs are doing words

1
what is a verb?

• traditionally verbs are doing words

updated verbs are words that name ways of doing,
sensing, saying and being
2
kinds of verb

• full
• primary
• auxiliary
• modal

may be main verb
3
kinds of verb

• full verb the lexical verb
• primary auxiliary verbs be, have, do
• modal auxiliary verbs express ability,
  possibility or obligation, e.g. can, might, must

The children played happily
The children were enjoying themselves
The children must hurry home
4
WARNING be, have and do may also be used as
the FULL verb
The children were late
they had their dinner,
then they did their teeth
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full verb
names ways of doing, sensing, saying and being
e.g.

• doing She opened the door
• sensing They saw the accident.
• saying He asked a question
• being The child was hungry

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some verbs of
sensing
cognition
e.g. believe, know, think,
reaction
e.g. like, love, hate, fear, admire
perception
e.g. hear, feel, see, notice, smell
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some verbs of
saying
stating
e.g. say, tell, talk, assert
enquiring
e.g. ask, question,
commanding
e.g. order, instruct
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some verbs of
doing

• doing

acting e.g. throw, walk, cook
happening e.g. fall,
behaving e.g. smile, sleep, yawn
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some verbs of
being

describing e.g. is, feel, seem
possessing e.g. have, own, belong,
identifying e.g. represent, mean,
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full verb

• may be regular or irregular in form
• regular verbs have 4 different forms

• the base form (also called the infinitive) e.g.
  jump
• the -s form - jumps
• the -ing form - jumping
• the -ed form jumped (past tense or past
  participle)

11
irregular
verb forms

• irregular verbs have a different form for the
  past tense and the past participle

base -s -ing -ed past past participle
jump jumps jumping jumped jumped
speak speaks speaking spoke spoken
take takes taking took taken
swim swims swimming swam swum
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primary auxiliaries
be, have, do
when used as auxiliaries, be, have or do are
followed by a full verb, e.g. He is running
fast. She has forgotten her books. Please do sit
down.
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primary auxiliaries
When used as full verbs be, have or do occur
alone, e.g. He is a fast runner. She has her own
books I do my homework regularly.
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forms of be, have and do
base -s -s -s -ing -ed past -ed past -ed participle
have has has has having had had had
do does does does doing did did done
be am is are being was were been
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modal auxiliaries

• central can, could may, might will, would
• shall, should must
• marginal need dare ought to
• central modals cannot be used as full verbs
• marginal modals can.

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modal auxiliaries
possibility obligation/ necessity permission volition/ prediction ability
of certainty is required to is allowed to is willing to is able to
must must can/could shall/should can/could
may/might should may/might will/would
could
need to
ought to
have to
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using modals

• modals can be used in combination with different
  sentence forms to express different degrees of
  politeness in getting people to do things

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sentence forms and functions

• imperative Open the door
• declarative Ill open the door
• interrogative Shall I open the door?

command
exhortative
statement
assertive
question
consultative
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using modals

• When used with an interrogative form,
• the modals express politeness in getting people
  to do things,
• e.g. Could you help me (please)?
• less polite You must help me (declarative form).
• least polite Help me! (imperative form)

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Ways of getting people to do things
exhortative (imperative) Do it least polite
assertive (declarative) You could do it You will do it You must do it less polite
consultative (interrogative) Could you do it? Will you do it? Shouldnt you do it? most polite
(possibility) (inclination) (obligation)
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using modals

• Q When can the modals of obligation be used
  without giving offense?
• A i) when giving advice, e.g.
• You should see a doctor about that
• fever.
• ii) when offering your services, e.g.
• You must have some tea.

22
using modals

• modals of possibility are also used to express
  how certain we when we assert some state of
  affairs.

may/might/could express tentativeness e.g. She
might be hungry.
must expresses certainty e.g She must be hungry.
23
auxiliaries and full verbs

• whenever a negative is present in a sentence it
  is closely coupled with the auxiliary verb so
  that when the negative is contracted it becomes
  fused with the auxiliary, e.g.
• The boy could not work hard
• The boy couldnt work hard
• He has been ill, hasnt he?

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auxiliaries and full verbs

• the auxiliary is portable
• it moves to the front of the sentence in order to
  make a question, e.g.
• The boy could work hard
• Could the boy work hard?
• Couldnt he work harder?
• the main verb is not portable

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the participle and the gerund

• a present participle and a gerund have the same
  form -ing. The ing form functions in a sentence
  in a number of ways
• in the same way that a noun does, i.e.
• as subject of the verb e.g. Reading bores him.
• object of the verb, e.g. His hobby is swimming.
• after a preposition, e.g. He is good at running
• as a classifier in a noun phrase, e.g. a walking
  stick.
• It is often called gerund when functioning in
  these ways.

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the infinitive
to see Its nice to see you
the bare infinitive (i.e. without to) e.g.
go What I did yesterday was go to the movies.

• the negative infinitive, e.g.
• not to go We decided not to go to the movies

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common errors with verbs

• agreement of subject and verb, e.g.
• They was early ?
• They were early ?
• leaving out the direct object of a transitive
  verb, e.g.
• This is to inform that.. This is to inform you
  that
• We enjoyed very much. We enjoyed it very much

28
useful references
A Students Grammar Greenbaum Quirk
pp.25-69 Rediscover Grammar by David Crystal
London Longman. (nd.) pp.52-65
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just joking

• can, cant could, couldnt
• A My father lift a pig with one hand. your
  father do that?
• B Im not sure. Where do you get a pig with
  one hand?

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re-order the words in brackets to complete the
joke

• A Can I have a pair of crocodile shoes please?
• B Sure. (size take crocodile what your does)

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• A Waiter, can you get me some undercooked
  potatoes, some cold beans and a cold fried egg
  covered in fat?
• B Im sorry, sir but we couldnt give you
  anything like that.
• A Why not? (me gave what yesterday thats you)