Classification of verbs in English

Práctica Gramatical
Unit 1
Prof. M. Belén Oliva
There are two major types of verbs
in English

 Full or lexical verbs

 Auxiliary verbs (primary & secondary)

Primary Auxiliary Verbs

 BE am - is - are - am not - are not - aren’t - ain’t*- isn’t

was – were - was not - were not - wasn’t – weren’t.
being - been
 HAVE have - has – have not – has not – hasn’t – haven’t
had – had not - hadn’t.
having - had
 DO do not - don’t - does – does not - doesn’t – did – didn’t -
doing – done

*Non-standard for all persons. Also haven’t / hasn´t.

Modal verbs are defective verbs
because:

 They do not take inflections to show agreement

or tense.

 They do not have non-finite forms i.e they are

always finite. (They are also called anomalous
finites)
Modal Auxiliary Verbs

 MAY (MAY NOT/MAYN’T) – MIGHT (MIGHT NOT/MIGHTN’T)

 CAN – COULD
 SHALL (SHAN’T)– SHOULD
 WILL (WON’T) –WOULD
 MUST
 NEED (NEEDN’T)
 DARE (DAREN’T)
Auxiliary verbs are used in:

 Questions
 Negative Statements
 Short Replies
 Emphatic constructions
 Substitution
 Tag questions
 The formation of tenses
 The passive voice
Primary Auxiliary Verbs as Lexical
Verbs

 BE is a lexical verb when it functions as a

copular verb.
*(There be.: Lexical verb meaning “exist”)
 HAVE is a lexical verb when it means possess,
have got or obtain.Also eat, enjoy, drink.
 DO is a lexical verb when it means perform,
carry out and activity or task.
 Example:
The case must have been given special attention
after the criminals were found guilty. This is
unbelievable!
 Circle all the verbal forms you find and
classify them into auxiliary or lexical verbs.

 Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853, the son of a vicar.

He was a deeply religious man who had worked as a lay
preacher in England and among Belgian miners. He had
been deeply impressed by the art of Millet and its social
message, and decided to become a painter himself. A
younger brother, Theo, who worked in an art-dealer’s shop,
introduced him to Impressionist painters. This brother was
a remarkable man. Though he was poor himself, he always
gave ungrudgingly to the older Vincent and even financed
his journey to Arles in southern France.
Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853, the son of a vicar. He
was a deeply religious man who had worked as a lay preacher
in England and among Belgian miners. He had been deeply
impressed by the art of Millet and its social message, and
decided to become a painter himself. A younger brother, Theo,
who worked in an art-dealer’s shop, introduced him to
Impressionist painters. This brother was a remarkable man.
FINITE AND NON-FINITE FORMS
OF THE ENGLISH VERB
 Finite Forms

 The Base

 The 3rd Person Singular

 The Past Form

The base form

 Indicative Mood: Simple present tense (all

persons except 3rd person singular)

 Imperative Mood: Used with all persons.

 Subjunctive Mood: Used with ALL persons

(including 3rd person singular)
 Non- Finite Forms

 The Infinitive

 The -ing Form

– The Gerund
– The Present Participle

 The Past Participle or –ed Form

The Infinitive can be:

 A “to” infinitive

 A bare infinitive

 A perfect infinitive
The “ing” form can be :
GERUND
 When it is a gerund, it
has nominal function*.
 In other words it’s a
noun equivalent.
*Cf. Walking stick and running
water.
PRESENT PARTICIPLE
 When it is a participle, it
can have adverbial or
adjectival function.
 It can be part of a finite
verb phrase when it is
used in progressive
tenses.
Classify the ing forms into ger /
pres participles

 Going to school I saw my former boyfriend.

 She is a walking dictionary.
 Singing relaxes me.
 We are studying lexical vs auxiliary verbs now.
 It is scorching hot!!
 I love watching dvds.
 Where are my training shoes?
The “ed” or Past Participle

 Like the Present Participle it can have either

adjectival or adverbial function.

 It can be part of a finite verb phrase when it is

used in perfect tenses or in passive voice
constructions.
Examples

 My mom hasn’t seen anything strange yet!

 The teacher must have a problem with my
written production and not with my oral
production.
 Blown by the wind, my hat started flying like an
airplane.
 Underline and classify all the verb forms
into finite or non-finite (indicate type)

 Vincent hoped that if he could work there undisturbed for a number

of years he might be able one day to sell his pictures and repay his
generous brother. In his self-chosen solitude in Arles, Vincent set
down all his ideas and hopes in his letters to Theo, which read like a
continuous diary. These letters, by a humble and almost self-taught
artist who had no idea of the fame he was to achieve, are among the
most moving and exciting in all literature. In them we can feel the
artist’s sense of mission, his struggle and triumphs, his desperate
loneliness and longing for companionship, and we become aware of
the immense strain under which he worked with feverish energy.
Vincent hoped that if he could work there undisturbed for a
number of years he might be able one day to sell his pictures and
(to) repay his generous brother. In his self-chosen solitude in
Arles, Vincent set down all his ideas and hopes in his letters to
Theo, which read like a continuous diary.
Summary
 Lexical vs. auxiliary verbs
 Primary or secondary aux.

 Finite vs. non-finite verbs

– Finite: base, 3rd ps sing and past forms
– Non-finite: infinitive (bare, to & perfect)
ing forms (ger & pres participle)
past participle