LESSON 10

1. Verb phrase: is formed around one finite verb which acts as the
head of the verb phrase.
- May include auxiliary verb and adverbs which come before the
head AND/OR noun phrases, clauses and adverbial elements
which follow the head.
- VERBS: content words which can be broken down into the
smaller subclasses of auxiliary verbs and full verbs.

2. Verb formation:
A. Back-formation: forms new verbs by shortening a longer form of a
word.
(E.g. burglar – burgle)
B. Derivation: creates a verb by adding affixes to root.
(E.g. darken – to darken)

- 18.7 She had almost beheaded him.

“To behead” is a derivative verb (be + head). Prefix –be has a privative
sense (“to deprive of” it also conveys other meanings: become, befriend,
bewitch…

C. Onomatopoeia: forms new verbs based on phonetic resemblance to

actual sounds. (E.g. to buzz)

-18.5 She had been about to smash.

This process is also termed “echoism”. Onomatopoeic words vary greatly

from one language to another (achis, etchi, atchoo)

Other verbs: to sniff, to crash, to pop, to sizzle…

-18.6 The bullets had whistled around him.

Many verbs denoting sounds can be used as verbs of movement: The car
roared down the hill.

Combine the meaning of the movement and the meaning of the sound –
“To rattle”: short, sharp sounds.
 D. Functional shift: occurs when another part of speech if used as a verb
(E.g. a tailor – to tailor)

-18.8 He watered the plants

Water is a noun. All verbs formed by functional shift are regular: the past
participle and past simple is formed by adding –ed.

To house, to elbow, to email…

-18.9 She always tut-tutted.

We can create new verbs also from adjectives (to dirty, to shy)

“Tut-tut” derives from the interjection “tut” which is used to express

impatience, disapproval or vexation.

3. English verbs forms are categorized into one of three moods:

a) The indicative is the default mood for verb forms. It includes all
of the moods.

b) The imperative is used for command forms. It form is identical to

a BARE INFINITIVE with no explicit subject both in affirmative
and negative sentences (E.g. Don’t listen to a word she says)
By adding the auxiliary verb “do” to an imperative, syntactic
emphasis is created (E.g. Do come and see me when you can)
The construction (let’s) is unique in that it follows the imperative
form (an infinitive with no specific subject) but includes the
speaker (E.g. Let’s talk about it)

c) The subjunctive appears in verbal subordination which in many

cases expresses hypothetical situations or wises. It forms coincide
with the indicative but are ignored. English often prefers to use
modal auxiliaries or infinitive phrases rather than the subjunctive.

4. Functional classes of full verbs:

A. Copular verbs join the subject to another noun phrase (predicative
noun) or an adjective (predicative adjective)
Most common –be but there are others: get, become and the verb of
senses (look, seem, feel and sound)
 B. Intransitive verbs are pure action verbs which do not take a direct
object. Some intransitive verbs can become transitive by means of a
cognate object.

-18. 10 He would die a violent death

“Die” is an intransitive verb but can be used transitively with the noun
“death” as an object. This object is known as “cognate object/accusative”
and it is etymologically related to the verb which governs it.

Other verbs: “to run” (to run a good race) “to live” (to live a wonderful life)

-20. 4 Say and tell

“Say” must be used without a following indirect object (She said that Bill
was ill) and “tell” if followed by two objects (She told me that Bill was ill).

If we want to mention the indirect object after “say” we must use the
preposition “to” (She say to me).

“Tell”: tell + object+ to-infinitive (She told me to keep an eye on the

children NOT She said me to keep an eye on the children). However, there
are few set expressions (He told a story OR He’s telling jokes) in which
“tell” can be used without an indirect object.

C. Ergative verbs may function as intransitive or transitive with no

change in form.

-18.14 At that moment, the cottage door opened.

“Open, close, break, start, wash, sell” when are used intransitively the
subject is the same as the object of their transitive use (The door opened/
He opened the door)

D. Transitive verbs are followed by a direct object. A few need a

prepositional direct object (She looked at him). Others take an object
complement after the direct object (They elected him president the
day he joined / He made us happy)

-18.17 Kate’s eye made him weak and helpless

Noun phrases or adjectives that function as complements of a direct object
are normally called “object complements”. These complements give
information about the state or condition of the direct object: e.g. Don’t call
me a fool; e.g. They considered him a fraud; e.g. Don’t prove me wrong;
e.g. She drives me crazy.

The object complement always follows the direct object: “Hizo felices a
sus padres” – “He made his parents unhappy”

E. Ditransitive verbs: they are followed by both an indirect object and

a direct object (e.g. He gave her a note or She bought her aunt a
present)

-18.16 Verbs like “report”, “give” and “offer” are ditransitive verbs. The
order of the direct and the indirect can be reversed, and we can say either
“give your parents a present” “give a present to your parents”.

However, “report”, “explain” and “describe” only allow for the rigid direct-
indirect object, as in “Harry reported everything to the police” (not *Harry
reported the police everything” “She explained the problem to me” (not
*She explained me the problem. (describe es igual)

-20.2 The verb “ask” can be used as a transitive verb (sometimes with an
implicit direct object) and as a ditransitive verb.

(a) ask (somebody) (something): “He asked me the time”, “I asked them
why they were angry”, “Don’t ask silly questions”

(b) ask (somebody) about something: “I asked (him) about his children”

(c) ask (somebody) to do something: “They will ask you to fill in a form; I
asked to go out”

(d) ask (somebody) + for something: “The man asked me for a cigarette”,
“How much are you asking for this bike?”

In most ditransitive verbs, the indirect object may alternately be expressed

through a prepositional phrase following the direct object (e.g. He gave a
note to her), but some verbs require only one of the ditransitive structures:

S Dtrv IO DO or S Dtrv DO + a prepositional indirect object

They are nearly all of Anglo-Saxon origin, monosyllabic, and non-regular.

 5. The regular verb has predictable conjugations. Since almost all
English verbs have predictable conjugations in the present simple
and the present participle, the term “regular” focuses on the past
simple and the past participle.

-18.1 As Harry opened the gate

“Opened” is an example of a regular verb in its past tense. The –ed ending
in this example is pronounced as /d/ because the base form of the verb ends
in a voiced consonant.

The –ed ending is pronounced as /d/ when the base form of the verb ends in
a vowel or voiced consonant other than /d/ (“played”, “pleased”), as /t/
after a voiceless consonant other than /t/ and /d/ (“locked”) and as /id/ when
the base ends in /t/ or /d/ (“wanted”, “traded”)

a. The past simple and the past participle of the regular verb have a
shared form. An –ed is added to the root of the verb. There are a few
spelling conventions involved in the addition of this ending to the
root of the verb.

-20.9 When we add –ed or –ing to a dysillabic verb ending in a single

consonant, that consonant is doubled if the preceding, single vowel letter is
stressed.

Control – controlled / Refer – referred // Listen – listening / Differ –

differed

In British English, a single final “l” is always doubled, even if the

preceding, single letter vowel is unstressed: travelled – travelling / model –
modelled / modeling (in American English it would be the opposite)

6. Non-regular verbs, also known as irregular verbs, do not follow the

predictable conjugations of the regular verb. Also in many cases the
past simple and the past participle do not share forms. There are five
different families of non-regular verbs.

a. Vowel gradation verbs are the largest family of non-regular verbs.

They form the past simple through vowel gradation or ablaut. The
past participle form of these verbs is highly unpredictable and must
be memorized (e.g. drink – drank – drunk )
b. Quasi-regular verbs generally follow the pattern of the consonantal
suffix /d/ or /t/ of the regular verb but do not spell the past suffix
with an –ed. These verbs have no vowel gradation, but they do have
a shared form in the past simple and the past participle (e.g. pay –
paid - paid)

c. Mixed verbs have both vowel gradation and the addition of the
consonantal suffix /t/ or /d/. They also have a shared form in the past
simple and the past participle (e.g. tell – told – told)

d. Flat verbs, all of which end with /t/ or /d/, have no variation in the
conjugation. The infinitive, the past simple, and the past participle
share the same form. Context is important in distinguishing the
conjugation of these verbs (e.g. hit – hit – hit )(e.g. let – let – let)
(e.g. spread – spread – spread)

e. Anomalous verb do not fit into any of the patterns discussed above
(e.g. be, go, can, shall, etc). Some of them function as auxiliaries and
therefore have no past participle; of the ones that do have past
participles, none has a shared form between the past simple and past
participle.

7. Phrasal verbs are verbal constructions combining a verb and a

prepositional or an adverbial particle.

-18.14 Slowly putting down the bottle

As the meaning of the phrasal verb “put down” can be inferred from that
of the verb and the adverbial particle, this verb may be said to be
“transparent”. The meaning of the verbal construction can be deduced
from the meaning of its individual parts.

Others are “opaque”, since their meaning is not deducible from the
meaning of the parts, “look after” and “give in”. They require
memorization.

“Put down” is one of those transitive verbs in which the adverb may
precede or follow the noun, we can say either “He put the bottle down”
or “He put down the bottle”. But the position of the object depends on a
number of factors. Rules:

(a) if the object is a noun phrase, it must be placed between the verb and
the adverb (e.g. He took it back)

(b) if the object is a noun phrase, it can go before or after the adverb
(e.g. He took his words back/ He took back his words)

(c) if the object contains a clause, it must be placed after the adverb (e.g.
He took back what he said about my wife)

Although no hard and fast rules can be given, most transitive phrasal
verbs with up, down, in, out, on, off, away and back are SEPARABLE.

BUT some verbs you may expect to function with prepositions do not.

-23.2 A man entered the court

“Enter” and “approach” are transitive, and the place entered or

approached is the direct object, as in “A man approached the entrance”
or “Someone entered the house without permission”.

Of course, the opposite may happen, and a verb with no preposition in

Spanish may require one in English: aprobar – approve of

Opaque phrasal verbs tend to be idiomatic.

-20.14

Perception verbs like hear, see, smell, taste, are not normally used in
progressive tenses. They combine with the modals “can” and “could” in
order to express a progressive meaning: “I could hear it from my bed”
NOT “*I was hearing it from my bed”. “Can you see that tree?” NOT
“*Are you seeing that tree?”

The verbs listen and look may be used in progressive tenses: “He was
listening to a radio program”.

a. Separable phrasal verbs are those in which the adverbial particle

can be separated from the verb by the direct object (e.g. She looked
up the word in a dictionary = She looked the word up in a
 dictionary) Note that when the direct object is a personal pronoun, it
always goes between the verb and the particle (e.g. *She looked up it
– She looked it up)

b. Inseparable phrasal verbs are those in which the particle cannot be

separated from the verb (*They called a meeting for – They called
for a meeting)

8. The full verb in interrogative constructions undergoes a process of

inversion in which the a verb comes before the subject of the clause.
The verb “be” is the only verb which does not require an auxiliary
verb to create inversion.
The same process of inversion occurs when restrictive adverbials are
placed in initial position and with non-if conditionals.
Question tags are reduced clauses added to the end of the statements.

- 18.11 Only when he was dead would Kate be

Normal word order of statements is SUBJECT + VERB (+OBJECT).

However, there are several structures which cause the inversion of
Subject and Verb. In formal writing, a number of adverbial
expressions may be placed at the beginning of the sentence for
emphasis and require the interrogative form of the verb.

i.e. AUXILIARY/BE/HAVE + SUBJECT+ MAIN VERB

These adverbial expressions are usually of a negative or restrictive

nature. (e.g. little does he know…, not only did he arrive late…,
never have I seen…)

- 18.12 Who besides her wanted him dead?

Most wh-questions require an auxiliary verb because the wh-word

does not function as subject: e.g. Who did you want to see?
However, if the interrogative pronoun (who, what or which) is the
subject, no auxiliary is added: Who wanted him dead?/ Who brought
it here? These are subject questions

- 18.14 Verbs such as open, close, break, start, wash and sell can be
used intransitively so the subject is the same as the object of their
 transitive use: e.g. The door opened/ He opened the door – The
glass broke / Someone broke the glass. They are called ergative.

- 20.15 Not only did I enjoy my stay

Word order is much more rigid in English than in Spanish. When

there is a negative or restrictive adverbial at the beginning of the
sentence, the order is:
AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + FULL VERB
This is found in non-if conditional sentences: e.g. Had I know he
was here, I wouldn’t have come.
Had I chosen a different job, my auntie would not feel so proud of
me – If I had chosen a different job…