Verb Phrases (VP)

Word Classes and Phrases

 Which one is VP?
1. I’m Dilan.
2. We are all happy.
3. My Grammar lecturer smiled.
4. They went to the floating market.
5. That little kid threw a weird toy.
6. John parks his bike in his rent room.
 VP is the underlined.
1. I’m Dilan.
2. We are all happy.
3. My Grammar lecturer smiled.
4. They went to the floating market.
5. That little kid threw a weird toy.
6. John parks his bike in his rent room.
What’s wrong with these?
1. My Grammar lecturer extremely
cool.
2. My Grammar lecturer there.
3. My Grammar lecturer in my
heart.
4. My Grammar lecturer us.
5. My Grammar lecturer my man.
6. My Grammar lecturer incredibly
well.
What makes all the sentences bad
is there is NO VERB PHRASE in
each sentence.
What do these have in
common?
1. I’m Dilan.
2. We are all happy.
3. My Grammar lecturer smiled.
4. They went to the floating market.
5. That little kid threw a weird toy.
6. Syifa parks her motorcycle in her rent room.

Each sentence has a

VERB PHRASE.
 What is a Verb Phrase?
• A VP is a phrase whose head is a verb (or
must contain at least one verb) and may
include an object, a complement or a modifier.
– You smiled. [VP with only one verb]
– You are smiling. [VP with two verbs: one auxiliary
and one main verb)
– You are smiling at me. [VP with a modifier: “at me”]
– You like me. [VP with an object: “me”]
– You are a student. [VP with a complement: “a
student”]
 1 Intransitive Verbs
1. You are smiling.
2. You smiled.
3. *You lecturer smiled a happy face.
4. My baby is crying.
5. *My baby is crying the bedroom.

Intransitive: VP contains no object

Sentence 3 and 5 are not grammatical because an intransitive verb
appears with an object
Task 1: Which sentence contains an
intransitive VP?
Example:
It is raining.
Sample answer: It is raining. [intransitive VP]
1. Water evaporates when it is hot.
2. Since when have you grown a moustache?
3. She’s been painting all day.
4. Because Tom was sick, he vomited up his
breakfast.
5. I wonder when we will all come back to
campus.
 2 Transitive Verbs
1. *He created yesterday.
2. He created a smart pen yesterday.
3. *The detective examined here.
4. The detective examined an old case here.
5. *Persib defeated.
6. Persib defeated Manchester United.

Transitive: VP contains a verb and an object-

NP
Sentence 1, 3 and 5 are not grammatical because a
Task 2: Fix the sentences
below.

Example:
He created yesterday.
Sample answer: He created a smart radio yesterday.
1. The detective examined here.
2. We enjoyed at home.
3. Persib defeated.
4. The neighbor bought from the new store.
5. The customer ordered online.
 3 Linking Verbs
1. You are a student.
2. Ujang is very friendly. Linking verbs
3. Persib became invincible. pattern like “to
4. That dog smells bad. be”/copula
verbs
5. I feel at ease.
6. The company grows poorer.

Linking: VP contains a verb and an

complement (not an object)
Task 3: Complete the sentences below.

1. The martabak tastes delicious.

2. The police appeared ….
3. Their family seems ….
4. Our country was ….
5. You and I are ….
6. That stranger looks ….
7. This course is ….
 4 Ditransitive VP

1. Ujang passed Iteung the salt.

2. Ujang passed the salt to Iteung.
3. Anthony gave me a gift.
4. Anthony gave a gift to me.
5. Who taught you Sundanese?

Ditransitive: A VP takes a direct object and an

indirect object
 VP with object and
5
complement
1. He walked Mary to the corner.
2. The dog chased the man down the street.

3. She drove her friend to the mall.

4. Ujang put the satay on the grill.

Pattern 5: A VP can consist of a verb and an

object NP plus a complement PP
SOUVENIR: Underline the VP and
identify its type.
1. We laughed.
2. They rented a big room.
3. The band left at night.
4. My lecturer just returned from Australia.
5. The students feel anxious.
6. Last night show was disastrous.
7. I sent food packages to the poor.
8. The stock market fell hard.