7. The Verbal Group— Talking about Events 1. EXPRESSING EVENTS The Verbal Group is the grammatical unit by means of which we express our perception of events. In fact, the term “EVENT” covers all types of processes: events, actions, states and acts of consciousness ‘A Verbal Group is the expansion of a verb and it consists of a sequence of words that functions as Finite (temporal or modal operator) plus Predicator or as Predictor alone if there is no Finite element, and as Process in transitive structures (Someone has been eating my apple): VG VG You must be joking. Answer the question! ¥ . ‘ Finite Predicator [Auxiliary + Event] Predicator [Event] In one-word, VGs such as “took” in “He took the book” the Finite and the Event are fused and are realized by one lexical item. In longer word strings like “couldn't have been going to be being eaten,” the Finite is realized by an operator followed by five auxiliaries: (a) took Finite/Event (b) couldn't _have been goingto ___be, being eaton Finite | Auxiliary, [ Auxiliary; [Auxiliary | Ausiliary, | Auxiliary, [Event] The auxiliaries contribute to the meanings expressed by the perfect, progressive and passive combinations, operating not in isolation but each overlapping with the next. The following classes of verbs realize the elements of the VG: (@) _ lexical verbs: wait, come, rain, take, cat, etc. (b) primary auxiliaries: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been, have, has, had, having. do, does did; (© modal auxiliaries: _ shall. should, will, would, can, could. may, might, must, ought; @)__ semi-modals need, dare (modals in certain uses): (@) __ lexical auxiliaries: (i) be able to, be about to, be apt to, be bound to, be due to. be going to, be liable to, be likely to, be certain to, be sure to, be meant to, be to, be unlikely to, be supposed to; have to, have got to; )) had better, would rather, would sooner, With (i) the structure is BE + lexical item + V— ‘o- infinitive: e.g. The train is due to arrive at any moment. They are likely to win the match. With (i) the structure is Have /have got + V — to- infinitive: eg. There has to be a way out. I’ve got to finish this essay by five o’elock. With (ii) the structure is Modal idiom + V- infinitive e.g. You had better come now. I would rather go there at once. He would sooner buy that new ear. 4The primary and modal auxiliaries carry grammatical meaning (tense, aspect, modality, person, number) rather than lexical meaning. On the other hand, the main verbal element of the VG expresses both lexical and grammatical meaning. The primary auxiliaries be, have, do can function both as auxiliary and main elements of the VG (except doing and done). The syntactic function that determines the type of meaning expressed, grammatical or lexical: ‘Auxiliary element Main element Elections are to take place this fall. Elections are near. We did not do anything about it. Mary did everything, We have had nothing to eat. We had nothing to eat ‘The lexical ausiliary have to can also function both as auxiliary (Have you to work on Sundays?) and as a main verb taking the do-support (Do you have to work on Sundays?), the latter form being now increasingly frequent. Have got + to-infinitive functions only as an auxiliary (Have you got to work on Sundays?) 2. BASIC STRUCTURES OF THE VERBAL GROUP VG structures can be simple, consisting of one element only (runs, ate), or extended, consisting of one or more auxiliaries + a main verb (may have been running). Up to four ries can oceur, or even five (like in the example above) if a lexical auxiliary is included. gs expressed by auxiliaries are: modal, perfect, progressive and passive ‘The mea 2.1 Simple structures A simple VG structure if formed of a single element, usually the lexical clement, realized by a finite (present and past indicative) or non-finite form (imperative, infinitive, present and past participle) of a lexical verb. eg. finite forms The boys play ball in the park The boy plays ball in the park The boys played ball in the park. Play ball! They decided to play ball in the afternoon, Playing ball makes them happy. ‘Though initially aecepted, the proposal was reiterated. 2.2 Extended structures An extended VG structure is formed of a lexical verb (head) preceded by up to four auxiliaries (even five if the lexical auxiliary is included) in a fixed order in accordance with their grammatical meaning. The features of grammatical meaning expressed in an extended VG include: tense (present, past), finiteness (finite, non-finite), anteriority (perfect), aspect (progressive, non-progressive), modality (prediction, possibility, probability, volition, obligation, necessity, advisability, ability, permission), polarity (positive, negative), emphasis, (Contrastive, non-contrastive). We distinguish the following patterns: (a) Structures with one auxiliary: 0 v ‘This one auxiliary is necessarily the Operator. Features Realizations Example 1. modal modal aux. +V-inf — must play 2. perfect have +V-en has played 3. progressive be. + V-ing is playing 654. passive be + V-en 5. lexico-modal —_lexival aux.+ V-inf (b) Structures with two auxiliaries: 0 xv is played is about to play These structures ocour widely in both spoken and written English 6. modal + perfect 7. modal + lexico-modal 8. modal + progressive 9. modal + pass 10. perfect + lexico-modal 11, perfect + progressive 12. perfect + passive 13. lexico-modal + progressive 14, lexico-modal + passive must have played must be about to play must be playing e must be played has been about to play has been playing has been played about to be playing about to be played a (©) Structures with three auxiliaries: 0x x v 15. modal + perfect + lexico-modal 16. modal + perfect + progressive 17. modal + perfect + passive 18, modal + progressive + passive 19, modal + lexico-modal + progressive 20, modal + lexico-modal + passive 21. perfect + progressive + passive 22. perfect + lexico-modal + progressive 23. perfect + lexico-modal + passive 24. lexico-modal + progressive + passive @) Structures with four aw must have been about to play must have been playing must have been played must be being played must be about to be playing must be about to be played has been being played has been about to be playing has been about to be played is about to be being played iaries: 0X xxv 25. modal + perfect ~ lexico-modal + progress. must have been about to be playing 26. modal + perfect + lexico-modal + passive 27. perfect + lex.-mod, + progress. + passive 28. modal + perfect + progressive + passive must have been about to be played has been about to be being played must have been being played (© Structures with five auxiliaries: 0 xxx xv ‘There is only one meaningful structure possible with this combination of grammatical elements and semantic features. 29. modal + perfect + lex.-mod. + progressive. + passive @® Extended non-fi Non-finite VGs do not posse following combinations are possible: ite structures, Infinitive structures to have played to have been about to play to have been playing to have been played to be about to play must have been about to be being played the full set of sequences displayed by the finite VGs. The Participle structures having played having been about to play having been playing having been played being about to play 6635. tobe about to be playing being about to be playing 36. to be about to be played being about to be played 37. tobe playing (being playing) to be being played (*being being played) 39. tobe played being played 40. tohave been about to be played having been about to be played % Sequences of 1wo V-ing forms do not generally oceur, not because they are ungrammatial, but because they have not yet attained full currency’ and accepiatil Obviously, in practice, some of the longer combinations (with four or five auxiliaries) are rather uncommon, but language makes them possible and puts them at the Speaker’s disposal when they are needed. They occur more frequently in speech than in writing, as spoken language, following spontaneous thought, creates such strings of complex VGs. Written English, being more precise and denser from the lexical point of view, resorts to structures of relatively low grammatical complexity. 3. ORGANIZATION OF THE VERBAL GROUP. From the constructional point of view, we distinguish four main types of Verbal Groups: discontinuous VGs, VGs with recursive elements, conjoined VGs, and phased VGs. 3.1 Discontinuous Verbal Groups are those, in which the sequence of the constitutive elements is interrupted by other clause elements such as Subject, Adjunct and intensifiers, be they positive, interrogative or negative clauses: eg. Did he go there? He never went to parties. You can hardly expect them to go there. (semi-negative) We have really enjoyed ourselves there, 3.2 Verbal Groups with recursive elements are those in which two or more units of the same class are related to each other by coordination or by dependency’ (@) Elements related by coordination: modal aux You can and piust do your duty as a citizen primary aux, We are or at least were thinking of moving to Cluj Texival aux. T had better and, in Fact, would rather come back tomorrow. verb + predication You should stay and find out what he meant by that. (b) Elements related by dependency: initial finite aux. + succession of non-finite aux. forms (an overlapping rel dependency) = one complex Verbal Group eg. The train was due to have arrived two hours ago. He would have to have driven very fast to get to the airport in time. n of 3.3 Conjoined Verbal Groups are Verbal Groups linked by coordination, Such a Verbal Group complex is made up of two semantically related events or happenings, with the help of a linking word (and, or, bu), without a linking item (asyndetically) or by a combination of the two: e.g. She washed and fed the baby. Our last secretary left, disappeared without saying a word, The novelist was Born, lived and died in Bucharest. 3.4 Phased Verbal Groups are VG complexes realized by two VGs in a dependeney relation, the second dependent on the first. The primary VG (finite or non-finite) is a catenative, 67governing the secondary VG, which is always non-finite. We distinguish four categories of verbs that can function as the primary group: (a)followed by a fo-infinitive: appear to, chance to, come to, fail to, get to, happen to, help to, hesitate to, manage to, regret to, prove to, seem to, tend to, try to, tum out to, venture to; (b) followed by an —ing: keep (on), go on, carry on; (¢) followed by a fo-infinitive or an ~ing: begin, start, cease, stop: (@) followed by a past participle (passive construction): get. e.g. He failed to get there in time. He kept turning the pages He began to read / reading the book. He got killed by a car. ‘These Verbal Group complexes are called ‘phased’ because the process is interpreted as being realized by a single Subject in two phases. Notionally we distinguish the following types of phases, some verbs admitting the perfective — imperfective contrast +_the phase of initiation Perfective Imperfective It began fo snow. Itbegan snowing. He started io read. He started reading. 1 got to know him well ‘Come on, get moving! the phase of continuatio = Wihiy does she keep on complaining? Pete went on 10 ‘alk about his project He went on rafking for hours about his project It continued 0 rain for a week. It continued raining for a week. i He'll never stop missing his wie. = Camry on working, please! + _ the phase of termination Thave ceased to mind the harsh climate, Thave ceased minding the constant noise, = He will end up resigning. = Have you finished writing the essay” = Can't you stop making such a noise? the phase of appearing or becoming real eg. It suddenly seemed to get darker. ‘The book proved to be quite unsuitable for a child of his age. ‘The new neighbors turned out 10 be reliable folks. His health appears to be improving. ‘the phase of attempting or not attempting, succeeding, failing For this, we use the verbs iry, attempt, manage, be able, fail, neglect, omit, learn, which are followed by the £o-infinitive form of the subordinate verb: eg. He tried to study for the next seminar, Pete managed to find that book. 1 attempted to explain but they wouldn’t listen. «the phase of manner and attitude It is expressed with the help of a series of verbs that describe the manner in which the action is performed or the attitude of mind towards performing it: regret, venture, hesitate, hasten, pretend, decline, bother + to-infinitive. An exception is bother, which can reflect the perfective — imperfective contrast. 68e.g. He ventured to ask a question. Pete hesitated to ask that question, have never declined going there. Why bother trying to remember everything. + the phase of modality Be apt to, be liable to (expressing usualness), be supposed to (obligation), be bound to, be certain / sure to (certainty) are catenative verbs that “modalize” the action denoted by the second verb eg. She happened to see that accident. He fends to he nervous whenever someone argues with him. He was supposed to write that essay for the next seminar 4, MULTLWORD VERBS are lexical verbs followed by one or two particles which are considered to be part of the verb and which are often equivalent to one lexical item. They can be grouped into four main classes: phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, phrasal — prepositional verbs and prepositional verbs with two Complements. 4.1 Phrasal verbs arc combinations of a lexical verb + adverbial particle (come to, go off. die covay, get back, break down, get on, cte) which can be transitive or intransitive, With the transitive ones, the particle may precede the Object (end-focus on the Object) or follow the Object (end-focus on the particle): eg. They called off the meeting. They called the meeting off: (transitive) The music died away. The bomb failed to go off. (intransitive) 4.2 Prepositional verbs are combinations of a lexical verb + preposition with which it is semantically associated (look into, call for, come by, make for, run aerass, see to, ete). The following NG together with the preposition constitute the Prepositional Object of the single verb. Prepositional Verbs have the following characteristics: + can be replaced by a verb used transitively: 10 study the matter + look into the matter + questions can be formed eliciting the Prepositional Object by means of who(m) or wh Who did you run across? + many clauses can be passivized: The matter is being looked into, * Prepositional Object can be conjoined: He looked into the fraud and also into the murder case. + many prepositional verbs admit an adverb between Verb and Prepositional Object: They are looking carefully into the matter. Here are a few clues that help us distinguish a phrasal verb from a prepositional verb: (@) With prepositional verbs, prepositions cannot be placed after the Object, unless they are stranded: eg. He broke with his g |-riend. vs, He broke the party up. (b) Pronouns follow prepositions and precede the adverbial particle of a phrasal verb: eg. He broke with her. vs. He broke it up. (© Phrasal verbs do not admit adverbs between the verb and the particle: eg. He broke completely with her. vs. *He broke completely up the party. (@) The particle of the phrasal verb cannot precede the IVH-interrogative or relative pronoun: eg. With whom did he break? vs. *Up what did he break? ‘The gitl with whom he broke. vs. *The party up which he broke. 69(©) Some Verb + Particle combinations can function both as phrasal and prepositional verbs, but with different meanings (turn on, get over, come across, ete.: Prepositional Verb Phrasal Verb Pete's former friends turned on him. _ | He turned on the light 4.3 Phrasal — prepositional verbs are characteristic of informal English and consist of a lexical verb + two particles (adverbial + prepositional) such as: go in for, look forward to, do anvay with, ete. e.g. The shop assistant says that they have run out of that item. We are all looking forward to seeing you. 4.4 Prepositional verbs with two Objects are verbs followed by two Nominal Groups (Object of the verb + Object of the preposition): e.g. I reminded him of the book. They talked me into accepting the job. 5, IDIOMATICITY Not all Verb + particle combinations display the same degree of semanti idiomaticity. For practical purposes, three categories have been recognized: no semi-idiomatic and fully idiomatic combinations. sohesiveness and iomat 5.1 Non-idiomatic combinations are those in which the lexical verb and the adverbial particle preserve their own meaning. The particle indicates the direotion of the movement, whereas the lexical verb indicates the manner in which the movement occurs: e.g. instead of go out the movement may be specified more exactly by: walk out, run out, creep out, rush out, ete. (physical and directional movement) 5 idiomatic verb + adverb co ‘The lexical verb preserves its meaning and the particle functions as an intensifier or as a marker of perfectivity (in the sense of completion) like in use vs. use up, eat vs. eat up: eg. I've eaten some bread. (some is left) vs, I’ve eaten up the bread. (nothing is Teft) Here are some examples of such semividiomatic verbs: cut up (cut into pieces), tear up (tear into pieces), throw away (discard), lock up (lock everything), cut aff (be discontinued), wash out (disappear by washing), speak out (speak forcefully), find out (discover), die away (gradually disappear), die down (come to an end), die off/ out (dic one after another until few or none are left). 5.3 Fully idiomatic combinations are those in which the me: deduced from the parts: e.g. Many smaller businesses have been taken over by larger ones. (gain control of) It's difficult to get out of a bad habit. (drop, lose) g of the whole cannot be Idiomatic combinations are metaphorical extensions of meaning. They consist mostly of commen verbs (go, come, get) of general reference and easily adaptable to different contests followed by a small number of adverbial particles (off, up, out, down, away, eto). ‘They can be made to mean almost everything, depending on the contest in which they are used. ©.g, to put up used in various contexts: ‘The boys have put up the tent, (crect) They are putting up a new block of flats. (build) They’ve put the bus fares up. (raise) I can put two of you up for a 70couple of nights. (provide bed for) 'The others will have to put up at a hotel. (lodge) The project has been approved. but someone will have to put up the necessary funds, (provide) Our neighbors have put their house up for sale. (announce, offer) (See Downing and Locke, 1992:339) It is not an easy task at all to detect and establish boundaries between what is idiomatio and what is not, Nevertheless, the following syntactic tests can help us distinguish multi-word verbs (idioms) from verbs followed by Prepositional Groups as Adjunet or Predicator Complement * The Nominal Group Object (of phrasal and prepositional verbs) can in many cases become Subject in a passive clause, while the NG part of an Adjunet ot Cp. eg. The matter was looked into. The dog was run over by a car. [Not acceptable = The cave was looked into, (from: They looked into the cave.)] + The Prepositional Object is clicited by what, or who(m), while the Adjunct is clicited by when, where, how. c.g. Who will you call on? (Iwill call on John.) vs. When will you call? (I will call on Monday.) What did they look into? (They looked into the matter.) vs. Where did they look? (They looked into the cave.) «With idiomatic multi-words fronting of the particle + complement is not possible. eg. *Om John I'll call. vs. On Monday V'll call * Out of gas we ran, vs. Out af the pub they ran ‘Nevertheless, with intransitive phrasal verbs belonging to the non-idiomatic combinations of the type get up, go off, fronting of the adverb and the following Prepositional Group is possible: eg. Away to the south they flew. Up you get! Down to the bottom it fell HIGHLIGHTS = Verbal Groups refer to actions, events and states, and are simple or extended. + Experiential structure of the Verbal Group consists of Finite + Event + optional auxiliaries + Finite expresses fense, modality, person and number. Itis realized by primary, modal and lexical auxiliaries, as Well as by full lexical verbs. "Event expresses lexical meaning. "Optional Auxiliary contributes to the meanings expressed by the progressive, the perfect sense and the passive * Non-finite Verb Groups can express perfect, progressive, and passive meanings, but not tense and modality. "= Multi-word verbs are Phrasal Verbs, Prepositional Verbs, Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs and Prepositional Verbs with two Complements 1good for you, isn’t it? We...have finished exams by the second week in July. At what time....the concert... start? Don’t you think we... inquire at the information desk? This kind of cotton....shrink in the wash. 1...say something tactless, but I stopped myself in time, The storms are so severe in this part of the World that basements...flooded after ten minutes’ rain, Do you feel really you....work in the library on a day What....we...do if all the trains are eancelled? What he said to be taken seriously? ike this? 2.) Give the syntactic structure of the Verbal Groups in the sentences below and say what features they contai Someone should be telling the present administration about Kenya. ‘Our population has been greatly increased, It was realized that modern medicine was cutting back the death rate dramatically. (Our exports were eaming less in real terms than they had been earning a decade ago. Many developing countries are gradually shifting their economic policies towards free enterprise. We feel that the country has not yet been able to achieve its potential, but that potential should at least be receiving recognition. 3.) Complete the blanks using the suggested verbs in_any combination of modal, perfect, progressive, passive that seems appropriate. The outside of the house hasn't been painted for several years, and the paint is peeling off in places. I think it ... (repaint). The garden is in rather a mess, too. First impressions are important, so it seems to me that the hedges and the grass ... (trim) and flower-beds ... (tidy up). Inside the house, there’s too much clutter everywhere. Just look at the hall. Hats and coats, school-bags and the dog’s basket. The whole place ... (look) a good deal more spacious if we even ... (put away) all this stuff! And you can’t even open a cupboard without everything ... (fall out), The cupboards would look a lot larger if everything....(hang) or (stack away) out of sight, The bedrooms are not too bad, although they... (not decorate) in years cither. At least they ... (not usc) as a dumping ground for cast-off clothes and hobbies. I can’t say the same for the garage. It ... (clear out) years ago. As it is, it... (take) days to get rid of all this stuff. That is, if we ... (allow) to do so. You know how children refuse to let you throw away any of their possessions. What ... (worry) me for some time is the kitchen. It has no sparkle. Not surprising, really, considering the number of meals that ... (have to, prepare) there over the years. Never mind. The most we ean do is give the whole place a coat of paint. We ... (can, involve) in refurnishing the kitchen, We would lose more than we'd gain, 7