VERBS

Verbs have traditionally been defined as "action" words or "doing" words. The verb in the
following sentence is rides:
Paul rides a bicycle
Here, the verb rides certainly denotes an action which Paul performs - the action of riding
a bicycle. However, there are many verbs which do not denote an action at all. or
e!ample, in Paul seems unhappy, we cannot say that the verb seems denotes an action.
"e would hardly say that Paul is performing any action when he seems unhappy. #o the
notion of verbs as "action" words is somewhat limited.
"e can achieve a more robust definition of verbs by loo$ing first at their formal features.

The Base Form
Here are some e!amples of verbs in sentences:
%&' #he travels to wor$ by train
%(' )avid sings in the choir
%*' "e walked five miles to a garage
%+' , cooked a meal for the family
-otice that in %&' and %(', the verbs have an -s ending, while in %*' and %+', they have an
-ed ending. These endings are $nown as ,-./0T,1-#, and they are added to the 23#/
145 of the verb. ,n %&', for instance, the -s inflection is added to the base form travel.
0ertain endings are characteristic of the base forms of verbs:


Ending Base Form
-ate concentrate, demonstrate, illustrate
-ify clarify, dignify, magnify
-ise/-ize baptize, conceptualize, realise


Past and Present Forms
"hen we refer to a verb in general terms, we usually cite its base form, as in "the verb
travel", "the verb sing". "e then add inflections to the base form as re6uired.


Base Form + Inflection
%&' #he travel + s to wor$ by train
%(' )avid sing + s in the choir
%*' "e walk + ed five miles to a garage
%+' , cook + ed a meal for the whole family

These inflections indicate T/-#/. The -s inflection indicates the P4/#/-T T/-#/, and
the -ed inflection indicates the P3#T T/-#/.
Verb endings also indicate P/4#1-. 4ecall that when we loo$ed at nouns and pronouns,
we saw that there are three persons, each with a singular and a plural form. These are
shown in the table below.


Person Singular Plural
1st Person I we
2nd person you you
3rd Person he/she/John/the dog they/the dogs

,n sentence %&', She travels to work by train, we have a third person singular pronoun she,
and the present tense ending -s. However, if we replace she with a plural pronoun, then
the verb will change:
%&' #he travels to wor$ by train
%&a' They travel to wor$ by train
The verb travel in %&a' is still in the present tense, but it has changed because the pronoun
in front of it has changed. This correspondence between the pronoun 7or noun8 and the
verb is called 394//5/-T or 01-014). 3greement applies only to verbs in the present
tense. ,n the past tense, there is no distinction between verb forms: she travelled/they
travelled



,dentify all the verbs in the following e!tract.
0lic$ on the words that you thin$ are verbs: they will appear in the bo! below. You don't
hae to t!pe an!thing but you can clic$ in the bo! to edit your answers if you need to.

Her pace slowed and an ache spread from
between her shoulders. Vapours swirled and
ban$ed: the light of on-coming headlights
drained out of the car. %...' #odium street
lamps burned phosphorescent holes in the
fog, but as she turned off 5ain #treet to the
cottage she noticed the one which illuminated
the alley was out.
%"(-;(;-<ff'

=our
answers
were:
slo"ed#
spread#
s"irled#
$an%ed
#
drained
# #
$urned#
turned
off# #
noticed
#
illumin
ated#
"as
&eie"
There are ten verbs in this e!tract, and they have been highlighted below:
Her pace slowed and an ache spread from between her shoulders. Vapours
swirled and ban$ed: the light of on-coming headlights drained out of the
car. %...' #odium street lamps burned phosphorescent holes in the fog, but as she
turned off 5ain #treet to the cottage she noticed the one which illuminated
the alley was out.
3ll the verbs have the past tense form. 5ost of them form the past tense by
adding -ed to the base form. However, the past tense forms spread 7base
form spread8 and was 7base form be8 are irregular in this respect.
The ,-,-,T,V/ form of a verb is the form which follows to:


to ask
to believe
to cry
to go
to protect
to sing
to talk
to wish

This form is indistinguishable from the base form. ,ndeed, many people cite this form
when they identify a verb, as in "This is the verb to be", although to is not part of the
verb.
,nfinitives with to are referred to specifically as T1-,-,-,T,V/#, in order to distinguish
them from 234/ ,-,-,T,V/#, in which to is absent:


To'infinitie Bare infinitie
Help me to open the gate Help me open the gate


(ore )er$ Forms* -ing and -ed
#o far we have loo$ed at three verb forms: the present form, the past form, and the
infinitive>base form. Verbs have two further forms which we will loo$ at now.
%&' The old lady is writing a play
%(' The film was produced in Hollywood
The verb form writing in %&' is $nown as the -ing form, or the -I!" P34T,0,P./ form. ,n
%(', the verb form produced is called the -ed form, or -#$ P34T,0,P./ form.
5any so-called -ed participle forms do not end in -ed at all:
The film was written by ?ohn 2rown
The film was bought by a 2ritish company
The film was made in Hollywood
3ll of these forms are called -ed participle forms, despite their various endings. The
term "-ed participle form" is simply a cover term for all of these forms.
The -ed participle form should not be confused with the -ed inflection which is used to
indicate the past tense of many verbs.
"e have now loo$ed at all five verb forms. 2y way of summary, let us bring them
together and see how they loo$ for different verbs. or convenience, we will illustrate
only the third person singular forms 7the forms which agree with he/she/it8 of each verb.
-otice that some verbs have irregular past forms and -ed forms.


Base+Infinitie
Form
Present Tense
Form
Past Tense
Form
'ing Form 'ed Form
cook he cooks he cooked
he is
cooking
he has
cooked
walk he walks he walked
he is
walking
he has
walked
take he takes he took he is taking he has taken
bring he brings he brought
he is
bringing
he has
brought
be he is he was he is being he has been



3 verb has been highlighted in each of the following sentences. ,ndicate the form of the
verb by selecting one of the choices given.
1, -e pla!s the piano in a .a//
clu$
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
2, 0aid is singing in the
sho"er again
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
3, -e "as told not to laugh at
policemen
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
1, -is arm s"elled up after the
accident
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
2, The population has
increased $! 34 since 1567
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
Your ans"ers "ere*
</TR< TD>
1, -e pla!s the piano in a
.a// clu$
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
2, 0aid is singing in the
sho"er again
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
3, -e "as told not to laugh
at policemen
Present
Past
Infinitie
-ed
-ing
1, -is arm s"elled up after
the accident
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
2, The population has
increased $! 34 since
1567
Present
Past
,nfinitive
-ed
-ing
&eie"
The correct answers are:
&. plays -- present tense form.
(. singing -- -ing form
*. laugh -- infinitive form. 5ore precisely, it is a to-infinitive
+. swelled -- past tense form
<. increased -- -ed form
=ou should distinguish carefully between the past form in 7+8 and the -ed
form in 7<8. ,n these e!amples, both forms end in -ed, but notice that they
are not interchangeable:
The population has increased... -- -ed form
@The population has swelled... -- past form
"e can only replace the -ed form with another -ed form. ,n the case of the
verb swell, this is swollen:
The population has swollen...
Finite and 8onfinite )er$s
Verbs which have the past or the present form are called ,-,T/ verbs. Verbs in any other
form 7infinitive, -ing, or -ed8 are called -1-,-,T/ verbs. This means that verbs with tense
are finite, and verbs without tense are nonfinite. The distinction between finite and nonfinite
verbs is a very important one in grammar, since it affects how verbs behave in sentences.
Here are some e!amples of each type:


Tense
Finite or
8onfinite9
)avid plays the piano Present inite
5y sister spoke rench on holiday Past inite
,t too$ courage to continue after the
accident
-1-/ -- the verb has the
infinitive form
-onfinite
%eaving home can be very traumatic
-1-/ -- the verb has the
-ing form
-onfinite
.eave immediately when you are
asked to do so
-1-/ -- the verb has the
-ed form
-onfinite



,n each of the following sentences, indicate whether the highlighted verb is finite or
nonfinite.

1, Paul runs to "or% eer! da!
inite
-onfinite
2, The! hae run a"a! together
inite
-onfinite
3, Tim gae Paul a menacing loo%
inite
-onfinite
1, :atie "as "atching T) "hen the
phone rang
inite
-onfinite
2, ;e found him smo%ing $ehind the
shed
inite
-onfinite
Your ans"ers "ere*
</TR< TD>
1, Paul runs to "or% eer!
da!
Finite
-onfinite
2, The! hae run a"a!
together
inite
8onfinite
3, Tim gae Paul a menacing
loo%
Finite
-onfinite
1, :atie "as "atching T)
"hen the phone rang
inite
8onfinite
2, ;e found him smo%ing
$ehind the shed
inite
8onfinite
&eie"
inite verbs e!hibit tense, so they have the past form or
the present form. ,n 7&8, runs has the present tense
form, while in 7*8, gave has the past tense form.
The other verbs in this e!ercise do not e!hibit tense, so
they are nonfinite: run in 7(8 is an -ed form of, while
watching 7+8 and smoking 7<8 are -ing forms.
<u=iliar! )er$s
V/42#
,n the e!amples of -ing and -ed forms which we loo$ed at, you may
have noticed that in each case two verbs appeared:

%&' The old lady is writing a play
%(' The film was produced in Hollywood
&riting and produced each has another verb before it. These other
verbs 7is and was8 are $nown as 3AB,.,34= V/42#, while writing
and produced are $nown as 53,- V/42# or ./B,03. V/42#. ,n
fact, all the verbs we have loo$ed at on the previous pages have been
main verbs.
3u!iliary verbs are sometimes called H/.P,-9 V/42#. This is
because they may be said to "help" the main verb which comes after
them. or e!ample, in 'he old lady is writing a play, the au!iliary is
helps the main verb writing by specifying that the action it denotes is
still in progress.

<u=iliar! )er$ T!pes
,n this section we will give a brief account of of each type of au!iliary
verb in /nglish. There are five types in total:


Passie be This is used to form passive
constructions, eg.
'he film was produced in (ollywood
,t has a corresponding present form:
'he film is produced in (ollywood

"e will return to passives later, when
we loo$ at voice.
Progressie
be
3s the name suggests, the
progressive e!presses action in
progress:
The old lady is writing a play
,t also has a past form:
The old lady was writing a play
Perfectie
have
The perfective au!iliary e!presses an
action accomplished in the past but
retaining current relevance:
#he has bro$en her leg
70ompare: She broke her leg8

Together with the progressive
au!iliary, the perfective au!iliary
encodes aspect, which we will loo$ at
later.
(odal
can/could
may/might
shall/should
will/would
must
5odals e!press permission, ability,
obligation, or prediction:
=ou can have a sweet if you li$e
He may arrive early
Paul will be a footballer some day
, really should leave now
0umm! Do This subclass contains only the verb
do. ,t is used to form 6uestions:
$o you like cheese)
to form negative statements:
I do not like cheese
and in giving orders:
$o not eat the cheese
inally, dummy do can be used for
emphasis:
I do like cheese

3n important difference between au!iliary verbs and main verbs is that
au!iliaries never occur alone in a sentence. or instance, we cannot
remove the main verb from a sentence, leaving only the au!iliary:


, would like a new Cob D@, would a new Cob
=ou should buy a new car D@=ou should a new car
#he must be craEy D@#he must craEy

3u!iliaries always occur with a main verb. 1n the other hand, main
verbs can occur without an au!iliary.

, like my new Cob
, bought a new car
#he sings li$e a bird
,n some sentences, it may appear that an au!iliary does occur alone.
This is especially true in responses to 6uestions:

Q. 0an you singF
A, =es, , can
Here the au!iliary can does not really occur without a main verb, since
the main verb -- sing -- is in the 6uestion. The response is understood
to mean:

=es, , can sing
This is $nown as ellipsis -- the main verb has been ellipted from the
response.
3u!iliaries often appear in a shortened or contracted form, especially
in informal conte!ts. or instance, au!iliary have is often shortened to
*ve:

, have won the lottery D,*ve won the lottery
These shortened forms are called enclitic forms. #ometimes different
au!iliaries have the same enclitic forms, so you should distinguish
carefully between them:

,*d li$e a new Cob 7 G modal au!iliary would8
"e*d already spent the money by then 7 G perfective au!iliary had8
He*s been in there for ages 7 G perfective au!iliary has8
#he*s eating her lunch 7 G progressive au!iliary is8
The following e!ercise concentrates on three of the most important
au!iliaries -- be, have, and do.


,s the highlighted verb a main verb or an au!iliary verbF
1, I "ill hae the soup
5ain Verb
3u!iliary Verb
2, Police are inestigating the
incident
5ain Verb
3u!iliary Verb
3, It is er! peaceful here
5ain Verb
3u!iliary Verb
1, ;here does !our $rother
"or%9
5ain Verb
3u!iliary Verb
2, The! hae decided to adertise
!our .o$
5ain Verb
3u!iliary Verb
3, -e does his home"or% on the
"a! to school
5ain Verb
3u!iliary Verb
Your ans"ers "ere*
</TR< TD>
1, I "ill hae the soup
(ain )er$
3u!iliary Verb
2, Police are inestigating the
incident
5ain Verb
<u=iliar! )er$
3, It is er! peaceful here
(ain )er$
3u!iliary Verb
1, ;here does !our $rother
"or%9
5ain Verb
<u=iliar! )er$
2, The! hae decided to
adertise !our .o$
5ain Verb
<u=iliar! )er$
3, -e does his home"or% on
the "a! to school
(ain )er$
3u!iliary Verb
&eie"
3u!iliary verbs always occur with a main verb, but main
verbs can occur alone. #o the main verbs in this
e!ercise are in 7&8, 7*8, and 7H8. ,n 7&8, the main verb
have has the modal au!iliary will before it. ,n 7*8, the
main verb is occurs without any au!iliary - it is a simple
present tense verb, third person singular. ,n 7H8, does is
a main verb, without any au!iliary.
The other highlighted verbs are au!iliaries. ,n 7(8, the
progressive au!iliary are comes before the main verb
investigating
,n 7+8, does is the present tense form, third person
singular, of the dummy au!iliary do. Here it is used to
form a 6uestion, and the main verb is work
,n 7<8, have is the perfective au!iliary, and the main verb
is decided
This e!ercise shows that the verbs be, have, and do
can be both au!iliaries and main verbs. ,t is easy to
distinguish between the two uses if you apply a
replacement test. or e!ample, in (e does his
homework we can replace the main verb does with
other main verbs:
He does his homewor$... DHe writes/scribbles/loses his
homewor$...
2ut this does not wor$ if the verb weIre replacing is an
au!iliary:
"here does your brother wor$F D@"here
writes/scribbles/loses your brother wor$
-ow try the same test with the following pair:
(ain )er$* , will hae the soup
<u=iliar! )er$* They hae decided to advertise...
The 8I>E Properties of <u=iliaries
V/42#
P39/ <>J
The so-called -,0/ properties of au!iliaries serve to distinguish them from main verbs.
-,0/ is an acronym for:


-egation
3u!iliaries ta$e not or n*t to form the negative, eg. cannot, don*t,
wouldn*t
,nversion
3u!iliaries invert with what precedes them when we form
6uestions:
%, will' see you soon D%&ill ,' see you soonF
0ode
3u!iliaries may occur "stranded" where a main verb has been
omitted:
?ohn never sings, but 5ary does
/mphasis
3u!iliaries can be used for emphasis:
, do li$e cheese

5ain verbs do not e!hibit these properties. or instance, when we form a 6uestion using a
main verb, we cannot invert:

%?ohn sings' in the choir D@%Sings ?ohn' in the choirF
,nstead, we have to use the au!iliary verb do:

%?ohn sings' in the choir D%$oes ?ohn sing' in the choirF


Semi'au=iliaries
3mong the au!iliary verbs, we distinguish a large number of multi-word verbs, which are
called #/5,-3AB,.,34,/#. These are two-or three-word combinations, and they include
the following:


get to seem to be about to
happen to
have to
mean to
tend to
turn out to
used to
be going to
be likely to
be supposed
to

.i$e other au!iliaries, the semi-au!iliaries occur before main verbs:

The film is about to start
,*m going to interview the .ord 5ayor
, have to leave early today
=ou are supposed to sign both forms
, used to live in that house
#ome of these combinations may, of course, occur in other conte!ts in which they are not
semi-au!iliaries. or e!ample:

,Im going to .ondon
Here, the combination is not a semi-au!iliary, since it does not occur with a main verb. ,n
this sentence, going is a main verb. -otice that it could be replaced by another main verb
such as travel 7I*m travelling to %ondon8. The word *m is the contracted form of am, the
progressive au!iliary, and to, as weIll see later, is a preposition.
Tense and <spect
T/-#/ refers to the absolute location of an event or action in time, either the present or
the past. ,t is mar$ed by an inflection of the verb:
)avid walks to school 7present tense8
)avid walked to school 7past tense8
4eference to other times -- the future, for instance -- can be made in a number of ways,
by using the modal au!iliary will, or the semi-au!iliary be going to:
)avid will walk to school tomorrow
)avid is going to walk to school tomorrow.
#ince the e!pression of future time does not involve any inflecton of the verb, we do not
refer to a "future tense". #trictly spea$ing, there are only two tenses in /nglish: present
and past.
3#P/0T refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect to time, rather than
to its actual location in time. "e can illustrate this using the following e!amples:
%&' )avid fell in love on his eighteenth birthday
%(' )avid has fallen in love
%*' )avid is falling in love
,n %&', the verb fell tells us that )avid fell in love in the past, and specifically on his
eighteenth birthday. This is a simple past tense verb.
,n %(' also, the action too$ place in the past, but it is implied that it too$ place 6uite
recently. urthermore, it is implied that is still relevant at the time of spea$ing -- )avid has
fallen in love, and thatIs why heIs behaving strangely. ,t is worth noting that we cannot say
@$avid has fallen in love on his eighteenth birthday. The au!iliary has here encodes what
is $nown as P/4/0T,V/ 3#P/0T, and the au!iliary itself is $nown as the P/4/0T,V/
3AB,.,34=.
,n %*', the action of falling in love is still in progress -- )avid is falling in love at the time of
spea$ing. or this reason, we call it P4194/##,V/ 3#P/0T, and the au!iliary is called
the P4194/##,V/ 3AB,.,34=.
3spect always includes tense. ,n %(' and %*' above, the aspectual au!iliaries are in the
present tense, but they could also be in the past tense:
)avid had fallen in love -- Perfective 3spect, Past Tense
)avid was falling in love -- Progressive 3spect, Past Tense
The perfective au!iliary is always followed by a main verb in the -ed form, while the
progressive au!iliary is followed by a main verb in the -ing form. "e e!emplify these
points in the table below:


Perfectie <spect Progressie <spect
Present Tense has fallen is falling
Past Tense had fallen was falling

"hile aspect always includes tense, tense can occur without aspect 7)avid falls in love,
)avid fell in love8.

/ach of the following sentences e!hibits aspect. ,s it perfective aspect or progressive
aspectF
1, 0aid has $ought a ne" house
Perfective
Progressive
2, I thin% "e hae seen this film
alread!
Perfective
Progressive
3, The "hole class is going to the
theatre tonight
Perfective
Progressive
1, ?ohn's left his coat in the car
Perfective
Progressive
2, Susan's leaing toda!
Perfective
Progressive
Your ans"ers "ere*
</TR< TD>
1, 0aid has $ought a ne"
house
Perfectie
Progressive
2, I thin% "e hae seen this film
alread!
Perfectie
Progressive
3, The "hole class is going to
the theatre tonight
Perfective
Progressie
1, ?ohn's left his coat in the car
Perfectie
Progressive
2, Susan's leaing toda!
Perfective
Progressie
&eie"
Perfective aspect is formed using the perfective au!iliary have and a main
verb with -ed form.
Progressive aspect is formed using the progressive au!iliary be and a main
verb with -ing form.
#entence 7&8 e!hibits perfective aspect -- has is the third person singular
7present tense8 form of the perfective have, and the main verb bought is the
-ed form of the verb buy. #imilarly, in 7(8, the au!iliary is the perfective
au!iliary have 7first person plural, present tense8, and the main verb seen is
the -ed form of the verb see.
,n 7*8, is is the progressive au!iliary, present tense form. ,t is followed by the
-ing form of the verb go. #o this is progressive aspect.
#entences 7+8 and 7<8 are a bit more difficult, because the au!iliaries have
enclitic 7contracted8 forms, which happen to be the same. ,n both sentences,
the au!iliary has the form *s. 2ut they are not the same au!iliary. The*s form in
7+8 is the enclitic form of has -- 7John has left his coat in the car8. This is the
perfective au!iliary, and it is followed by the -ed form of the verb leave. #o this
is an e!ample of perfective aspect.
,n 7<8 the au!iliary *s is the enclitic form of is 7Susan is leaving today8. This is
the progressive au!iliary, and it is followed by the -ing form of the verb leave.
#o this is progressive aspect.
)oice
There are two voices in /nglish, the active voice and the passive
voice:


<ctie )oice Passie )oice
%&' Paul congratulated )avid %(' )avid was congratulated by Paul

Passive constructions are formed using the P3##,V/ 3AB,.,34= be,
and the main verb has an -ed inflection. ,n active constructions, there
is no passive au!iliary, though other au!iliaries may occur:
Paul is congratulating )avid
Paul will congratulate )avid
Paul has congratulated )avid
3ll of these e!amples are active constructions, since they contain no
passive au!iliary. -otice that in the first e!ample 7Paul is
congratulating $avid8, the au!iliary is the progressive au!iliary, not the
passive au!iliary. "e $now this because the main verb congratulate
has an -ing inflection, not an -ed inflection.
,n the passive construction in %(', we refer to Paul as the 39/-T. This
is the one who performs the action of congratulating )avid.
#ometimes no agent is specified:
)avid was congratulated
"e refer to this as an 39/-T./## P3##,V/
3re the following constructions active or passiveF
1, ?ane decided to cancel the
part!
3ctive
Passive
2, The lecturer "as impressed $!
!our essa!
3ctive
Passive
3, Your horse is "al%ing on our
la"n
3ctive
Passive
1, The top floor "as destro!ed
3ctive
Passive
2, The pills should $e ta%en t"ice
a da!
3ctive
Passive
Your ans"ers "ere*
</TR< TD>
1, ?ane decided to cancel the
part!
<ctie
Passive
2, The lecturer "as impressed
$! !our essa!
3ctive
Passie
3, Your horse is "al%ing on our
la"n
<ctie
Passive
1, The top floor "as destro!ed
3ctive
Passie
2, The pills should $e ta%en
t"ice a da!
3ctive
Passie
&eie"
,n a passive construction, a form of the passive au!iliary be is used, and the main verb has
an -ed inflection.
The active constructions are 7&8 and 7*8. #entence 7&8 contains no au!iliary, so it must be
active. #entence 7*8 does contain an au!iliary, but it is a progesssive au!iliary, and the
main verb has an -ing inflection.
3ll the other constructions are passives. ,n 7(8, the passive au!iliary is was, and the main
verb, impressed, has an -ed inflection. The agent is specified -- it is your essay 7cf. the
active version: your essay impressed the lecturer8
#entence 7+8 contains a passive au!iliary was and a main verb with the -ed inflection.
inally, in 7<8, the passive au!iliary is be -otice that it co-occurs here with the modal
au!iliary should 'aken is the -ed form of the verb take.
2oth 7+8 and 7<8 are agentless passives, though we can easily posit an agent in both
cases:
+a. The top floor was destroyed by fire 7cf. the active +ire destroyed the top floor8
<a. The pills should be ta$en twice a day by the patient 7cf. the active 'he patient should
take the pills twice a day8