THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

Verbs denote actions, states, events, chracteristics of the subject (in the case of the nominal
predicate)

There are various types of verbs according to the criteria used in classifying them:
1. regular vs irregular verbs
2. finite vs. non-finite verbs
3. affirmative vs. negative verbs
4. transitive vs. intransitive vs. ditransitive verbs
5. simple vs. compound vs. complex/ phrasal vs. prepositional verbs
6. main/lexical/ notional/full-meaning verbs vs. auxiliary vs. semiauxiliary verbs
7. action vs. state verbs
8. durative vs non-durative (time-point) verbs
9. verbs of mental activity, verbs of perception, verbs of feelings and emotions, verbs
of likes and dislikes

1. REGULAR VS IRREGULAR VERBS

1.1 regular verbs - v1 ( v2, v3 - ed)
v1 (the short/ long infinitive) - v2 (the past tense simple) - v3 (the past participle)
1.2 irregular verbs - (v2 and v3 do not end in -ed)

2. FINITE VS. NON – FINITE VERBS

2.1. finite verbs have a finite/ definite/ specific form according to person and number. These
forms correspond to the Indicative, Conditional, Subjunctive and Imperative moods.
2.2. non-finite verbs (indefinite/ non – specific) imply no distinction in terms of person and
number. These forms correspond to the Infinitive, Gerund and Participle moods.

3. AFFIRMATIVE (e.g. go) vs. NEGATIVE verbs - the negation ’not’ is added to the
corresponding auxiliary (e.g. does not/ doesn't go)

4. TRANSITIVITY
4.1. transitive verbs - require a direct object /Acc. ( e.g. I read a book yesterday)
4.2. intransitive verbs - do not require a direct object; they will combine with an indirect or
prepositional object
e.g. I turned around and left.
4.3. ditransitive verbs (vs. monotransitive): imply the presence of two objects
e.g. I gave him my telephone number.
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

5. FORMAL CLASSIFICATION (FORM/ STRUCTURE OF THE VERB)

5.1. simple verbs - go, read, play
5.2. compound verbs - withdraw
5.3. complex/phrasal verbs (verb + adverbial particle - which changes the basic
meaning of the verb): to look after smb., to blow up, etc.
* double-particled verbs (verb + adverbial parti cle + preposition) e.g. to come up with, to
look uo to smb. to look down on smb, to put up with smb.
5.4 prepositional verbs (verbs + obligatory prepositions): to think about smth./ smb.
to translate from/ into, worry about, etc.

6. FUNCTIONAL + SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS

6.1. main/ lexical/ notional/ full-meaning verbs may form the predicate alone; they have a
meaning of their own (action/state expressed)
6.2 auxiliary verbs (additional elements, helping words, tools used to form various tenses)
- they do not have a meaning of their own (they are empty carriers)
- they provide all the information about verb categories- voice, mood, tense, aspect, person
and number).
e.g. DO, BE, HAVE, WILL, WOULD (for future-in-the past tenses, for the tenses of the
conditional), SHOULD (auxiliary for the Subjunctive)

6.2.1. DO - aux. for Present Simple (DO/ DOES) and Past Simple (DID)

6.2.2. BE - an auxiliary used as a mark of the continuous/progressive aspect in English (it is

used with all the tenses in the continuous aspect)
The formula for continuous tenses  aux. BE + v-ing (the Present Participle of the main verb)
Present T. C. ( am/ is/ are + v-ing)
Past T. C. ( was/ were + v-ing)
Future T C (will be + v-ing)
Present Conditional T. C. (would be + v-ing)
Present Infinitive C. (to be + v-ing)

6.2.2. TYPES OF ACTIONS EXPRESSED BY THE CONTINOUS ASPECT IN ENGLISH

a. action in full progress/ full development and incomplete at a given time (which may change
according to the time reference). Actions in full progress are also durative but the progress is
more relevant than duration, which is implicit)
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

e.g. He is talking on the phone (now). (action in progress (AiP) now- at the moment
of speaking)
He was talking on the phone this time yesterday. (AiP at a given moment in the
past)
He will be talking on the phone this time tomorrow morning. (AiP at a given
moment in the future)
He would be talking on the phone right now. (wish for an A to be in P at present)
He must be talking on the phone, and that is why he cannot hear you calling
him. (probability for an A to be in P at present/at the moment of speaking)

b) durative actions (the progress of the action is implicit, but not the more relevant aspect)
e.g. He was reading the whole day yesterday. (a past completed action but which
was durative and in progress for the whole past completed interval time)
I have been reading for two hours till now. (an action which started two hours
ago and which has been in progress and durative until now)

c) temporary (limited in time) actions/ situations/ behavoiur  a special situation, or an

exception from routine
e.g. He is being so silly (only) these days. (temporary behaviour - he is not usually
like that)
(I live in New Zeeland, but) I am living in Romania (only) this month.
(temporary situation/ temporary residence)
I was working in a supermarket (only) that year because I needed more money.
(temporary situation/ job  limited in a past completed interval of time).

d) repeated actions/situations with adverbs of frequency and indefinite time (always,

usually, often, sometimes, rarely/ seldom, never) + modality (a certain attitude on the part of
the speaker)
e.g. He always helps his friends. (repeated action + neutrality)
He is always helping his friends. (repeated action + a certain attitude on the
part of the speaker – admiration)

6.2.3. HAVE is a mark of the perfect aspect in English (is used with all the tenses in the perfect
aspect) perfect  past
The formula for perfect tenses  aux. HAVE + V3
- Present Perfect S T: have/ has + V3
- Past Perfect S T: had + V3
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

- Future Perfect S T: will have + V3

- Perfect Conditional S: would have + V3
- Perfect Gerund: having + V3
- Perfect Infinitive S: (to) have + V3

TYPES OF ACTIONS EXPRESSED BY THE PERFECT ASPECT IN ENGLISH

The tenses used in the perfect aspect make reference to a past situation or event 
completed

NB: AUX. BE + AUX. HAVE  PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSES (meanings of the continuous
and perfect aspects)
Present Perfect C: have /has + be3 + v-ing (the Present Participle of the main verb)
Past Perfect C: had + be3 + v-ing
Future Perfect C: will have + be3+ v-ing
Perfect Conditional C: would have + be3 + v-ing
Perfect Infinitive C: (to) have + be3 + v-ing

e.g. He may have been sleeping for two hours before the phone rang.

6.2.4 WILL is a mark of all future tenses

6.2.5 WOULD is a mark of future tenses viewed from the past (future- in the past tenses) and
of the two tenses of the Conditional Mood.

6.3. Semi-auxiliary verbs have a formal value (they make up the predicate together with
another word) and a meaning of their own which is added to the meaning(s) of the other
elements making up the predicate.

6.3.1. Modal auxiliairies: can, could, may, might, must, have to, be to, be about to, shall,
should, will, would, need, would rather, etc.
e.g. He may be at home./ He may be watching TV in his room. / He may have bought
this book./ They may have been running all the way here.

6.3.2. Copulative/ link verbs: to be, to seem , to appear, to look, to feel, to taste, to sound, to
smell, to turn, to turn out, to prove, to go, etc. – they form the nominal predicate together
with a predicative (which may be expressed by different parts of speech and which will give
indications about the subject of the sentence)
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

e.g He seems so kind hearted.

They turned out our enemies.
She went mad when she saw the mess in her kids’ room.

7. ACTION VS. STATE VERBS

7.1. Action verbs express actions (which are dynamic)  are likely to be used in the
continuous aspect to express actions in progress, incomplete and durative.
e.g. They were walking in the park when we met. (an action which was in progress and
incomplete in the past  when we met)
NB: action verbs may be used in the simple aspect if there is no interest in the progress, the
incompleteness or the durative nature of the action
e.g. He walks in the park at weekends (repeated action)
He walked in the park last night. (past completed action – no interest in the duration)
He was walking in the park last night. ( past completed action – DURATION is pointed
out)

7.2. State verbs are used to express states of affairs /situations (which static)  are likely to
be used in the simple aspect
e.g. He is at home/ tired. (this is the present state of affairs – this is the situation
now/ at present)
Newspapers say that he was killed brutally. (this is the present state of affairs
- say - state verb) BUT
I do not understand what he is saying (an action happening now – say is an
action verb)

NB: TO LIVE/ TO STAY - used in the simple aspect to express permanent situations
TO WORK
TO FEEL - used in the continuous aspect to express temporary situations
(limited in time and linked to a special situation)

e.g. Where do you live/ work? (asking about permanent residence/ job)
Where are you living/ working? (asking about temporary residence/ job – in a special
sitiuation)
How do you feel? (asking about one’s permanent /general state)
How are you feeling? (asking about one’s temporary state – after sugery or after an
ilness )
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

8. DURATIVE VS. NON-DURATIVE/ TIME POINT VERBS

8.1. Durative verbs express durative actions (e.g. to sleep, to talk, to walk, to rest, to watch
TV, to listen, to gaze, to stare, etc.) – are likely to be used in the continuous aspect to express
durative actions.
e.g. He has been resting for hours today. (duration is emphasized)
BUT He rests for half an hour every day. (repeated action with no interest in
duration)
8.2 Non –durative/ time point verbs express non-durative actions (e.g. to stop, to start, to
begin, to finish, to end, to turn around, to glance, etc. ) . They are likely to be used in the simple
aspect.
e.g. He started talking soon after the conference began. (non –durative action)
BUT When I got home it was starting to rain. (changing situation in the past which
implied more stages to be covered constantly)

9. VERBS OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, VERBS OF PERCEPTION, VERBS OF FEELINGS AND

EMOTIONS, VERBS OF LIKES AND DISLIKES.

9.1. VERBS OF MENTAL ACTIVITY

- to think, to believe, to consider, to expect, to guess, to feel (to think), to imagine – always
used in the simple aspect when expressing opinion
e.g. I think/ beleive/ consider/feel /expect (that) he is not telling me the thruth. (my
opinion is that)
- to understand, to know, to forget, to remeber, to see (to understand) – always used in the
simple aspect because they express states of affairs
e.g I understand now his reasons for hiding the truth.
NB to think = to reflect, to meditate
to expect = to (a)wait are used in the continuous aspect (they are no
longer verbs of opinion  they are action verbs)

Don’t disturb him! He is thinking about a possible soliution to this unexpected problem.
He is not at home. He is expecting his cousin at the station.

9.2. VERBS OF PERCEPTION

- to see used in the simple aspect when expressing the physical ability of seeing
to hear or hearing
e.g. Do/ Can you see that lovely house close to the museum?(now)
Do/Can you hear that song on the radio?(now) It is my favourite song.
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

NB to see and to hear are used in the continuous aspect with a change of meaning
e.g. Jane is seeing Tom and that is why they are always together. (to date)
I am seeing the manager of that multinational tonight. (to meet)
They are seeing their mother to the airport later this afternoon. (to accompany)
He is seeing enemies all around him. (to imagine)
Judge Thomson is hearing the two witness today. (to give an audition)

- to feel
to smell + adjective  always used in the simple aspect to express a permanent
to taste characteristic of the subject
(to sound)
e.g. This coffee tastes bitter. PASSIVALS
Those roses smelt great.  constructions active in form but passive in meaning
That silk dress felt so comfortable. (the coffee is tasted/ the roses are smelt/
the silk is felt by smb.)

NB to feel, to smell and to taste are used in the continuous aspect to express voluntary actions
in progress
e.g. Jane is in the kitchen. She is tasting the soup to see if it needs more salt.

There is another type of PASSIVALS

to read PASSIVALS
to wash + adverb  constructions active in form but passive in meaning
to iron
to sell
e.g. This dress irons well. I am loving it. (the dress is ironed by smb.)

9.3 VERBS OF FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS

- to want, to wish, to hope, to prefer, to enjoy, etc. – used in the simple aspect
e.g. I hope he is safe.
I enjoy watching comedies. (present/ genetral state)

BUT I drink coffee in the morning, but I am preferring black tea these days. (temporary
preference)
He doesn’t like parties, but he is enjoying this one very much. (temporary situation)
I am hoping he is joyning us for the party. (more expressive and emphatic)
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

9.4. VERBS OF LIKES AND DISLIKES

- to like, to dislike, to love, to hate, etc. – used in the simple aspect – to express states (+
neutrality)

She loves that boy. (simply stating a fact/ a situation – no emotional involvement)
BUT She is loving that boy. (to be crazy about smb) – more emphatic and more expressive

VERB CATEGORIES
1. VOICE
1.1. Active – the subject is active – the subject performs the actions which is underatken by
the object
e.g. Tom read two books last month.
1.2. Passive – the subject is passive – the grammatical subject is not the doer of the action 
the grammatical subject undertakes the action performed by the AGENT (is the logical subject
of the sentence.
e.g. Two books were read by Tom last month.
NB: There is no reflexive voice in English because the verb does not have a specific. The idea
of reflexivity (the action is performed and undertaken by the subject) is visible in the reflexive
pronoun:
e.g. John cut (active) himself when he was shaving.

1. MOOD
FINITE
The indicative is the mood of REALITY (used to express real actions/ situations)
The Conditional is used to express WISHES (possible in the present and impossible in the past
 REGRET)
The Subjnctive is the mood of HYPOTHESIS/ IMAGINARY actions or situations (contrary to
REALITY)
The Imperative is used to express ORDERS, COMMANDS, REQUESTS, etc.

NON-FINITE: The Infinitive

The Gerund
The Participle

2. TENSE (the grammar notion) always to be understood in relation to TIME (physics notion)
The Indicative
PRESENT T S and C
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

PRESENT PERFECT T S and C

PAST T S and C
PAST PERFECT T S and C
FUTURE T S and C
FUTURE PERFECT T S and C
FUTURE IN THE PAST T S and C
FUTURE PERFECT IN THE PAST T S and C

The Conditional
PRESENT Conditional T S and C
PAST/ PERFECT Conditional T S and C

The Subjunctive
PRESENT SubjunctiveT S and C
Synthetic: S: v1 and C: be v-ing
Analytical: S: should +v1 and C: should be v+ing

PAST SubjunctiveT S: v2 and C: were/ was + v-ing

PERFECT Subjunctive T S: had + V3 and C: had + be3+ v-ing

The Imperative
Affirmative: Work!
Negative: Don’t work!

The Infinitive
PRESENT Infinitive T S: (to) v1 and C: (to) be v- ing (working)
PERFECT Infinitive T S: (to) have + v3 (worked) C: (to) have + be3+ v-ing (working)

The Gerund
PRESENT Gerund v-ing
PERFECT Gerund having + v3

The Participle
PRESENT Participle - v-ing (used with all the tenses in the continuous aspect)
PAST Participle – V3

3. ASPECT
 THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE VERB

3.1. SIMPLE/ INDEFINITE

3.2. CONTINUOUS/PROGRESSIVE
3.3. PERFECT/ PERFECTIVE
3.4 FREQUENTATIVE (the frequentative past - used to and the frequentative would)

4. PERSON – verbs have forms for 3 persons ( I, II, III)

5. NUMBER – verbs have forms for 2 numbers (singular and plural)