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1 SEd-Eng 01 NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022

 CHAPTER 3
MORE ON VERBS

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
LESSON 4: 1. explain how auxiliary verbs figure in the structure
of VP
AUXILIARY VPs 2. analyze the various forms and the ordering of
lexical and auxiliary verbs

CONTENT: AUXILIARY VPs

 Every full (non-elliptical) VP includes a lexical verb and it may contain one or more auxiliary verbs.
Fill is used as example of a regular lexical verb and write as example of an irregular lexical verb. These
are in italics in [2]–[5]. The auxiliary verbs are in bold.
[1a] Daisy fills/filled the pool. [1b] Max writes/wrote nothing.
[2a] Daisy will/ would fill the pool. [2b] Max can/could write nothing.
[3a] Daisy has/had filled the pool. [3b] Max has/had written nothing.
[4a] Daisy is/was filling the pool. [4b] Max is/was writing nothing.
[5a] The pool is/was filled. [5b] Nothing is/was written.
 These examples show that, in a sequence of verbs, (a) it is always just the first verb – whether
lexical or auxiliary that displays the tense distinction between present and past; (b)auxiliary
verbs (if present) always precede the lexical verb, and (c) the form of a verb is determined
by the verb that precedes it.
 Verb forms that are tensed are traditionally called finite verb forms. All other verb forms are
non-finite (not tensed). Every sentence must contain a finite verb. In the absence of any auxiliary,
it is the lexical verb that is tensed (finite).
 There are many irregular lexical verbs in English. The more common verbs tend to be irregular.
 The two most important differences between lexical and auxiliary verbs are these:
a. In questions, auxiliary verbs can move in front of the subject NP. A lexical verb
cannot.
b. The negative particle (not or n’t) can attach to an auxiliary verb but never to a lexical
verb.
 lexical verb can take a direct object NP – a drink – so it’s transitive. By contrast, auxiliary verbs
never take an NP complement (they are always followed by other verbs).
 Another distinction between auxiliary and lexical verbs: when a verb follows a lexical verb,
it can be introduced by the infinitive particle to but not when it follows an auxiliary verb.
 Modal auxiliary verbs (‘modals’, for short) are special – quite different from other verbs, both
lexical and auxiliary. modals are always tensed (finite). They do not have untensed (non-
finite) forms. This distinguishes modals from the primary auxiliaries (do, have and be) and from
lexical verbs.
 A further peculiarity of modals is that they never show subject-verb agreement. They
don’t change their form in the present tense – not even with a third- person singular subject
NP (so we have She can go, not *She cans go).
 Auxiliary have is described as the ‘perfect’ auxiliary. Perfect have is always followed by another verb.
The perfect auxiliary have provides a way of referring to past time independently of past tense.
Perfect have in the present tense allows us to refer to a present state of affairs resulting from a
past event, as in He has gone. Contrast this with He went – simple past tense – which refers just
to a past event. With perfect have in the past tense (as in had written), we have a reference to a

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 period of time that was past at a past point in time – the ‘past in the past’. The verb that follows
perfect have always appears in its (non-finite) perfect participle form. This applies whether the
following verb is lexical or another auxiliary.
 Progressive be demands that the following verb has the (non finite) -ING form. PROG will
only have the tense feature if it’s the first verb in the sequence.
Where auxiliaries fit in the structure of VP
 Complements of the lexical verb (V) form a VP constituent with that lexical V. This is the
case whether or not there happen to be auxiliaries in the sentence. In the following examples,
I’ve bracketed the VP formed by the transitive verb study and its direct object NP the
menu:
[1] Monsieur Blanc will VP[study the menu]
[2] Monsieur Blanc has VP[studied the menu].
[3] Monsieur Blanc is VP[studying the menu].
What [1]–[3] show is that auxiliary verbs are necessarily followed by VPs. In fact – and here’s the
point – auxiliaries are verbs that take VP complements; they demand a following VP.

NAME: Jovie Magno Vista

Submission: 11:59PM of November 25, 2022

TASK 1. For each of the italicised forms of the verb be in the following
sentences, say whether it is an instance of the lexical (copula) verb, the progressive
auxiliary, or the passive auxiliary.
(1) His behaviour may be peculiar. Ans: Lexical
(2) It was becoming noticeable. Ans: Lexical
(3) He was overheard by Polonius. Ans:Lexical
(4) It was unexpected. Ans: Lexical
(5) Hamlet was being offensive. Ans: Progressive auxiliray
(6) Ophelia was being driven mad. Ans: Progressive auxiliary
(7) He had been going mad. Ans: Passive auxiliary
(8) He could have been her husband. Ans: Passive auxiliary
(9) The play was unnerving. Ans: Lexical
(10) The play was unnerving the king. Ans: Lexical
(11) The wine was drunk by Hamlet. Ans: Lexical
(12) Hamlet was drunk by midnight. Ans: Lexical
(13) Yorick had been buried for years. Ans: Passive auxiliary
(14) Hamlet was buried the next day. Ans: Lexical

Task 1

(1)His behaviour may be peculiar. Ans: Lexical

(2)It was becoming noticeable. Ans: Lexical
(3) He was overheard by Polonius. Ans:Lexical
(4) It was unexpected. Ans: Lexical

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 (5) Hamlet was being offensive. Ans: Progressive auxiliray
(6) Ophelia was being driven mad. Ans: Progressive auxiliary
(7) He had been going mad. Ans: Passive auxiliary
(8) He could have been her husband. Ans: Passive auxiliary
(9) The play was unnerving. Ans: Lexical
(10) The play was unnerving the king. Ans: Lexical
(11) The wine was drunk by Hamlet. Ans: Lexical
(12) Hamlet was drunk by midnight. Ans: Lexical
(13) Yorick had been buried for years. Ans: Passive auxiliary
(14) Hamlet was buried the next day. Ans: Lexical

TASK 2. In the following passage, identify one example of each of the

auxiliary phrases listed below:
This book is about human language. Unlike most books with
“language” in the title, it will not chide you about proper usage … For
I will be writing not about the English language or any other
language, but about something much more basic: the instinct to
learn, speak, and understand language. For the first time in history
there is something to write about it. Some thirty-five years ago a new
science was born. Now called “cognitive science” … the science of
language, in particular, has seen spectacular advances in the years
since. There are many phenomena of language that we are coming to
understand nearly as well as we understand how a camera works or
what the spleen is for. (From Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct)
1. present modal progressive:
2. present perfect:
3. past passive:
4. present progressive

Task 2:

1. present modal progressive: I will be writing.

2. present perfect: There is something to write about it.
3. past passive: new science was born
4. present progressive: that we are coming to understand

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 TASK 3. A. Describe the verb group of the following sentences. B. Draw
the trees.
Example: She had been visiting her sister Pearl's family in San Jose,
California.
Answer: past perfect progressive of visit
1. Having younger brothers has been a positive experience for her two
older sons.
2. I was being unrealistic.
3. I have been having a good deal of difficulty getting into my trousers
lately.
4. I should have been eating enough protein.
5. You will be paying off this debt over 30 years.
6. You could have been playing college football.
7. I might have overlooked it, too.
8. You must be earning a certain minimum amount.
9. The competition should have been postponed.
10. A traveling edition of the exhibition is being arranged by WARP.

Task 3.
1. Having younger brothers has been a positive experience for her
two older sons. Ans: present perfect of had been

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 2. I was being unrealistic. Ans: Past perfect progressive of am being.

3. I have been having a good deal of difficulty getting my trousers

lately. Ans: present perfect progressive of had have

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 4. I should have been eating enough protein. Ans: present perfect
progressive of have eaten

5. You will be paying off this debt over 30 years. Ans: present perfect
progressive of will paid

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 6. You could have been playing college football. Ans: future perfect
progressive of you could have played

7. I might overlook it, too. Ans: Ans: Future perfect of might

overlooked

8. You
must be
earning
a certain

minimum point. Ans: future perfect progressive of must earn

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 9. The competition should have been postponed. Ans: present
perfect tense of should be postponed

10. A travelling edition of the exhibition is being arranged by

WARP.

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TASK 4. What is exactly is wrong with each of the
following? Explain briefly but clearly.
1. *Emily can may have thrown away those pork pies.
2. *She is having questioned their freshness.
3. *She didn’t went to another shop.
4. *Complained she to the manager?
5. *Would she be treated her complaint politely?
6. *Be she never going there again?
7. *She is persuasive and getting her money back

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 Task 4

1. The modal can is not use appropriately in the sentence.

2. is having is a progressive auxiliary and is not appropriate in the
sentence.
3. when using the auxiliary verb did, it should follow the original
form of verb, it must “go” not “went”.
4. the structure of the sentence is wrong. It should be, “she
complained to the manager.”
5. the lexical “be” in the sentence is grammatically incorrect.
6. the lexical “be” is grammatically incorrect. It should be, “Is
she never going there again?”
7. “The progressive verb and the conjunction “and” are
grammatically incorrect, it should be, “she is persuasive to get
her money back.”

TASK 5. Draw trees for the following sentences:

1. The gardener must trim the rose bushes today.
2. This should be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
3. I am removing the shovel from the shed.
4. The travelers have returned from their vacation.
5. Springfield would have built a police station with the federal grant.
6. Stringrays could have been cruising near the beach.
7. She seem to have given financial assistance to an important French art
dealer.
8. The senator should not have forgotten the concerns of her
constituents.
9. Tokyo has not loosened trade restrictions.
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10.They love to play golf, but I do not.
Task 5.
1. The gardener must trim the rose bushes today.

2. This should be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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 3. I am removing the shovel from the shed.

4. The travelers have returned from their vacation.

5. Springfield would have built a police station with the federal grant.

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 6. Stringrays could have been cruising near the beach.

7. She seems to have given financial assistance to an important

French art dealer.

8. The senator should have not forgotten the concerns of her

constituents.

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 9. Tokyo has not loosened trade restrictions.

10. They love to play golf, but I do not.

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Task 6. Contrastive Analysis (A research paper).
Compare and contrast the verbs according to words and phrasal
categories, types of verbs and syntactic features of English and your first
language (Hiliigaynon, Ilocano, Tagalog, Maguindanaon, etc.). Cite
references

1. Hiligaynon
 in Hiligaynon, follow a V-S-O pattern. For example. The
sentence is, “She writes a letter.” In Hiligaynon, it could be
translated as, “nagasulat siya sang tula.” The word
“nagasulat” is the verb of the sentence. It means, “writing”.
The “siya” is the subject and “sang tula” is a phrase that is
the object of the sentence.
2. Tagalog
 If in English, we follow the S-V-O pattern and in Hiligaynon,
we follow the V-S-0, in Tagalog, we follow the two. Take a
look in our example, “She writes a poem.” If we are going to
translate it in Tagalog, it could be, “Siya ay sumulat ng tula.
“Siya” is the subject, “ay” is not verb here nor a linking verb
but the word “sumulat” is the verb and “ng tula” is the
object. This follows the S-V-O pattern. If we are goint to
translate it using V-S-O, it could be this way, “Sumulat siya
ng tula.” We can notice in the sentence that the word “ay” is
omitted. “Sumulat” is the verb, “siya” is the noun or the
subject and “ng tula” is the object.

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