See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/328202529

THE VERB AND THE VERB PHRASE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

Book · August 2001

CITATION READS
1 12,042

1 author:

Floriana Popescu
Universitatea Dunarea de Jos Galati
62 PUBLICATIONS 45 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Floriana Popescu on 10 October 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 FLORIANA POPESCU

THE VERB AND THE VERB

PHRASE

IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

Editura Fundației Universitare “DUNĂREA DE JOS”

GALAȚI
2001
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

SCOPUL ŞI OBIECTIVELE VOLUMULUI

► Prezentul volum este conceput ca un studiu monografic dedicat

verbului precum şi celor mai importante elemente de la nivelul
propoziţiei şi al frazei, care participă la alcătuirea unui mesaj complet,
corect şi nuanţat (ca, de exemplu, adverbul).

► Lucrarea se adresează, în general, acelor studenţi care doresc să-şi

îmbunătăţească volumul de cunoştinţe vizând capitolul verbului şi, în
particular, studenţilor anului II de studiu, care studiază în cadrul
sistemului de învăţământ deschis şi la distanţă.

►Structura volumului este reprezentată de şase capitole ce urmăresc

alcătuirea unei imagini cât mai clare şi mai bine definite privind
gramatica şi semantica verbului aşa cum se prezintă această parte de
vorbire în limba engleză contemporană. Fiecare capitol se încheie cu un
set de întrebări al căror răspuns se estimează a fi cunoscut după
parcurgerea respectivului capitol. În cazul în care veţi constata că nu
sunteţi în măsură să răspundeţi la una (sau mai multe) dintre întrebări,
sunteţi invitat(ă) să reluaţi lectura capitolului respectiv pentru aflarea
răspunsului corect.
The verb and the verb phrase in contemporary English.

CONTENTS

General on the English verb 6

0. A notional interpretation of the English verb 6
0.1. Meanings of “grammar” 7
0.2. Lexical categories 9
0.3. Grammatical categories 9
0.4. Grammatical categories of the English verb 9

1. The verb as a lexical class 12

1.0. Introducing the verb 12
1.1. Defining the verb 12
1.2. Verb classification criteria 14
1.2.1. A lexicological criterion 14
1.2.2. A formal classification 15
1.2.3. A functional classification 15
1.2.3.1. Full verbs 15
1.2.3.2. Auxiliary verbs 16
1.2.3.2.1. Primary auxiliaries 17
1.2.3.2.1.1. Be 17
1.2.3.2.1.2. Have 18
1.2.3.2.1.3 Do 19
1.2.3.3. Modal auxiliaries 20
1.2.3.3.1. Central modals 21
1.2.3.3.1.1. Shall 21
1.2.3.3.1.2. Should 22
1.2.3.3.1.3. Will 22
1.2.3.3.1.4. Would 23
1.2.3.3.1. Marginal modals 24
1.2.3.3.1.1. Ought to 24
1.2.3.3.1.2. Used to 25
1.2.3.3.1.3. Need 25
1.2.3.3.1.4. Dare 26
1.2.3.4. Link verbs 27
1.2.3.5. Catenatives 28

1
The verb and the verb phrase in contemporary English.

1.2.4. The criterion of structure 29

1.2.4.1. ‘Single-word’ verbs 29
1.2.4.2. ‘Multi-word’ verbs 29
1.2.5. The criterion of distribution 32
1.2.6. A semantic classification 34

2. The structure of the verb phrase 38

2.0. Defining the verb phrase 38
2.1. Finite verb phrases 38
2.1.1. Characteristics of finite verb phrases 38
2.1.2. A classification of finite verb phrases 39
2.2. Non-finite verb phrases 39
2.2.1. Characteristics of non-finite verb phrases 39
2.2.2. Classification of non-finite verb phrases 40

3. The semantics of the verb phrase. 42

3.1. Temporality 42
3.1.2. Time 42
3.1.2.1. Physical time 43
3.1.2.1.1. Social time 43
3.1.2..1.2. Personal time 43
3.1.2.2. Chronological time 44
3.1.2.2.1. Objective chronological time 44
3.1.2.2.2. Subjective chronological time 45
3.1.2.3. Linguistic time 45
3.1.2.3.1. Internal time 45
3.1.2.3.2. External time 46
3.1.3. Tense – fundamental features and functions 46
3.1.3.1. Tense as a deictic category 47
3.1.3.2. Temporal representations 47
3.1.3.2.1. A physical representation 47
3.1.3.2.2. A psycholinguistic representation 48
3.1.3.2.3 A notional / functional representation 49
3.1.3.2.4. A logical representation 49
3.1.3.2.5. A vectorial representation 53
3.1.4. Temporal divisions and the time axes 57
3.1.5. The English tense system. 57
3.2. Aspectuality, aktionsart and aspect 61

2
The verb and the verb phrase in contemporary English.

3.2.0. Defining aspectuality, aktionsart and aspect 61

3.2.1. Aspect as a non-deictic category 63
3.2.2. The semantic features of aspect 64
3.2.2.1. Temporal features of aspect 66
3.2.2.2. Aspectual properties 66
3.2.3. The interrelationship between tense and aspect 68
3.2.4. The tempo-aspectual system of the English language 71
3.3. Modality 75
3.3.0. Definitions of modality 75
3.3.1. Concepts of modality 75
3.3.2. Ways of expressing modality 77
3.3.3. Types of modality 78
3.3.3.1. Epistemic modality 79
3.3.3.2. Deontic modality 80
3.3.3.3. Dynamic modality 80
3.3.4. Grammatical features of modal verbs 82
3.3.4.1. Morphologic features of modal verbs 82
3.3.4.2. Syntactic features of modal verbs 83
3.3.5. Uses and meanings of the pure modals 85
3.4. Unreality 90
3.4.0. Defining unreality 90
3.4.1. The subjunctive mood 93
3.4.1.1. The present subjunctive 93
3.4.1.2. The past subjunctive 94
3.4.1.3. The analytical subjunctive 95
3.4.2. The conditional mood 98
3.4.3. Verb forms in conditional clauses 98
3.4.4. Tense combinations and the conditional clauses 100
3.4.5. ‘If only’ clauses 102
3.4.6. Omission of conditional conjunctions 103
3.4.7. ‘Disguised’ conditional causes 103
3.5. Agentivity 106
3.5.1. Defining agentivity and voice 106
3.5.2. Active and passive 107
3.5.3. Active and passive correspondence 108
3.5.4. The passive auxiliaries 109
3.5.5. Agentivity and restrictions 109
3.5.6. Types of passive constructions 111

3
The verb and the verb phrase in contemporary English.

3.5.7. Causative constructions 112

3.5.8. Pseudo-passives (passivals) 113

4. The non-finites 117

4.0. General on the non-finites 117
4.1. The infinitive 117
4.1.1. Types of infinitive 118
4.1.2. Uses of the infinitive 119
4.1.3. Syntactic functions of the infinitive 120
4.1.4. Patterns with the infinitive 121
4.2. The gerund 123
4.2.1. Verb-like features 124
4.2.2. Noun-like features 124
4.2.3. Uses of the gerund 125
4.2.4. Syntactic functions of the gerund 126
4.3. The participle 127
4.3.1. Verb-like features 127
4.3.2. Adjective-like features 128
4.3.3. Uses of the present participle 128
4.3.4. Past participles 129
4.3.4.1. Verb-like features 129
4.3.4.2. Adjective-like features 130
4.3.5. Participial constructions 131

5. Adverbs and adverbial phrases 135

5.0. Defining the adverb 135
5.1. Classification criteria 135
5.1.1. A structural classification of adverbs 135
5.1.2. A semantic classification of adverbs 136
5.2. The adverbial phrase 137
5.2.1. The structure of adverbial phrases 137
5.2.2. A semantic classification of adverbial phrases 138
5.2.3. The head of adverbial phrases 140
5.2.4. Set phrases as adverbial phrase elements 141
5.2.5. Submodification of adverbial phrases 142
5.3. Syntactic features of adverbial phrases 142

4
The verb and the verb phrase in contemporary English.

6. Prepositions and prepositional phrases 143

6.0. Defining the preposition 143
6.1. Classification criteria 143
6.1.1. An etymologic classification of prepositions 143
6.1.2. A structural classification of prepositions 144
6.1.3. A semantic classification of prepositions 144
6.2. Semantic features of prepositions 146
6.2.1. Polysemy 147
6.2.2. Partial synonymy 147
6.3. The prepositional phrase 148
6.3.1. Grammatical features of prepositional phrases 149
6.4. The structure of prepositional phrases 149
6.4.1. The head of prepositional phrases 150
6.4.2. The modifier of prepositional phrases 151

Annex 153
Bibliography 156

5
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

GENERAL ON THE ENGLISH VERB

0. A Notional Interpretation of the English Verb
This volume is intended for those students who are either
majoring or minoring in English and who take an interest not only in a
better understanding of the verb system but also in getting a feeling of
independence when they have to face an examination dealing with
contemporary English. That is why the traditional chapters of the
English verb will always start with a notionally-oriented background.
For a simple illustration it will be said that moods will be subsumed to
modality and tenses to temporality. From this foregoing it is obvious
that this volume is meant as an attempt to answer the questions in the
questionnaire concluding this chapter, as a first goal. It is also meant to
provide some instruments which will become useful in the approach to
the verb and its system. When learners have to deal with a subject as
grammar, they have to consider two major requirements: on the one
hand they are supposed to have acquired an impressive quantity of a
very accurate type of information (as accurate and exact as
mathematics, I should say, at least in some of the cases), and, on the
other hand, they will have to be able to make a fairly good description
of the items they studied and which represent the further examination
topics.
Such an approach is intended as an example of how grammatical
issues should be described (on the basis of a largely accepted
terminology) and as a monographic study of the verb and of the verb
phrase in English. Only in those instances where the equivalence with
the elements of the verb in Romanian were rather difficult translations
were offered to ease the learner’s understanding of the phenomenon in
question. This sample of grammatical interpretation is traditional in
content and fairly modernistic in terminology. Tradition has always
contributed to a clear and readily understandable characterization of
fairly complicated linguistic phenomena and it has always proved its
practicality and easiness in the acquisition of a foreign language.
Formally, the volume consists of this introduction and two major
divisions - the morphology and the semantics of the English verb. To
create a complete picture of the verb system the present study also
outlines the contributions of the prepositions and of the adverb(ial)s to
the whole meaning of this fundamental lexical class of the English
grammar.

6
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

0.1. Meanings of “grammar”

Language has been studied along the centuries from a large
number of points of view, most frequently by philosophers, by
traditional grammarians and by literary critics. All of them based their
approaches on grammar (Allerton 1979:2).
With the passing of time the term grammar has acquired a
multitude of meanings and some of them were very different from what
is known today.
If to many users ‘grammar’ has very concretely meant ‘a special
kind of book’, to some grammarians the term had a purely abstract
meaning. Thus, Nelson Francis accepted grammar to have two different
meanings. First, he considered it to be “the set of formal patterns in
which the words of the language are arranged in order to convey larger
meanings”. Secondly, he considered grammar to be “the branch of
linguistic science which is concerned with the description, analysis and
formalization of formal language patterns”.
To some other grammarians the term had both an abstract and a
concrete meaning. This is the case of Stuart Mill to whom ‘grammar’
had both a concrete and an abstract meaning standing for ‘the most
elementary part of logic.’ According to the same author ‘grammar’ “is
the beginning of the analysis of the thinking process. The principles of
rules and grammar are the means by which the forms of language are
made to correspond with the universal forms of thought. The
distinctions between the various parts of speech, between the cases of
nouns, the moods and tenses of verbs, the functions of particles, are
distinctions in thought not merely in words” (Rectorial Address at St.
Andrews, 1867, apud Jespersen 1965:47). Making use of the syntagm
‘universal forms of thought’ he also had in mind the abstract meaning
of grammar, even if he did not specifically use abstract notions.
Unlike most of his predecessors, Noam Chomsky assigned three
different meanings to the term grammar. He considered grammar to be
(1) “the internalized linguistic competence of the ordinary speaker, i.e.
his capacity to use language correctly and creatively by recourse to
linguistic operations – construction and semantic interpretation of an
infinite number of grammatically correct sentences including sentences
which are totally new to him; the interpretation of sentences which are
semantically ambiguous, the postulation of certain relations among
sentences (paraphrases, transformations, etc.). In such a perspective
grammar is a built-in mechanism which does not represent the native
speaker’s conscious knowledge of how language operates. On the
observation of linguistic performance data, i.e. the language facts, the
native speaker is exposed to, it is, possible to construct an explicit

7
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

theory of linguistic competence, i.e. a theory which represents the

explicit model of linguistic competence.
Noam Chomsky thought that grammar is (2) the study that
permits us to understand the operation of the mechanism that enables
the native speaker of a language to produce a theoretically infinite
number of utterances. The same term is also used by Chomsky (3) with
reference to correctness and appropriateness of the use of language
which is now generally called ‘usage’. 1
Abstractly, ‘grammar’ is a branch of linguistics which operates
with a complex and sometimes overlapping and consequently,
confusing terminology. It primarily consists of morphology, the
division whose fundamental working unit is the morpheme and of
syntax which interprets the relationships characterizing the elements of
a sentence. The terminology on the topics in focus has a confusing
character as various terms have been used to denominate the same
grammatical reality which is based on three primary levels: form,
substance and context. ‘Substance’ is represented by the material of
language [‘phonic’ (audible noises) or ‘graphic’(visible marks)]. ‘Form’
is the organization of substance into meaningful events (Halliday 1961:
243). ‘Context’ is the term explaining the relation of the form to non-
linguistic features of the situations in which language operates and to
which the extratextual features should be added.
This course will consider grammar as a unitary linguistic
science consisting of two main directions: description and presentation.
M.A.K. Halliday states that the two terms are interrelated and
somewhat interdependable as they both share the same theoretical
background. Highly personal in character a ‘presentation is the way the
linguist expounds the description, varies with purpose, and relative
merit is judged by reference to the specific purpose intended’ (Halliday
1961:246).
‘Description’ also has a particular individualizing character, but
it considerably relies on the theory of grammar in any particular case
and on a specific metalanguage. This course is focused on grammar as
having not only a theoretical character but also consisting of a summum
of descriptive, prescriptive and practical components. Its main purpose
is that of providing for background knowledge and for skillfulness in
both the description and the presentation of the elements the grammar
of the English language is based on.

1
For a complete inventory of the meanings assigned to the term grammar you are
invited to read Frank Palmer’s Grammar (Penguin Books, 1971), chapter Grammar
and Grammars, pp. 11-13

8
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

0.2. Lexical Categories

The syntagm ’lexical categories’ was introduced by Chomsky
(1965) to replace the old-fashioned ‘part of speech’, which is still active
in the Romanian approaches to grammar.
The ‘lexical classes’ or ‘categories’ and ‘part of speech’ are
intended to designate elements of the same grammatical set (noun,
verb, adjective, preposition, etc.), but the terms themselves are
associated with the theoretical frames in which they are used. The
number of the parts of speech or lexical categories / classes varies with
the authors tackling them.
In what follows the syntagm ‘lexical classes’ will be adopted
since the interpretation of the verb will always start from the form of
the simplest lexical unit whose syntactic and contextual meanings will
be infered. The continually changing terminology was apparently
enriched in 1990 by a new syntagm to replace ‘lexical class’, namely
‘word class’ (Broughton 1990: 309), which, in fact, is a good example
for the ‘retro’ tendency manifested in 1990s (since the same formula
was used by Jespersen as early as 1924).

0.3. Grammatical Categories.

The theoretical components mentioned above are generically
termed ‘grammatical categories’ and have also been given several
different meanings.
Thus, (1) to some grammarians a ‘grammatical category’
designated ‘a class or group of items which fulfil the same or similar
functions in a particular language’, such as case, tense, person, aspect,
mood, determination, gradability. Other linguists call (2) ‘grammatical
categories’ those related groups of words usually known in traditional
grammars as parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. (3)
In transformational generative grammar a ‘grammatical category’ is a
concept such as sentence, a noun phrase, etc. (4) Halliday, in turn,
enumerates four fundamental categories in the theory of grammar:
‘unit’, ‘structure’, ‘class’, and ‘system’.
For the descriptions to follow, the value assigned to the syntagm
‘grammatical category’ will be the one under (1), and special mention
will be made on general and specific grammatical categories.

0.4. Grammatical Categories of the English Verb

Out of the above exemplified grammatical categories, some
cover several parts of speech, or lexical classes, while some others
belong exclusively to one part of speech.

9
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

Thus, tense, aspect, mood and voice are grammatical categories

featuring the verbs in the English language. Tense is the grammatical
category by means of which actions, events, states, processes - or, to
use a comprehensive wording, the ‘types of situations’ - are
chronologically ordered (Comrie 1976, 1985, Lyons 1977).
Part of the language universals, aspect is that grammatical category
which, in spite of its characterizing the human thinking, is not to be
found in all natural languages. It expresses the way a speaker deals with
the situation described by a verb as being either in progress or
completed, durative or momentary, habitual or semelfactive. It may
equally suggest the speaker’s viewpoint characterizing the type of
situation as perfective or imperfective.
Mood is usually reserved for inflexional categories that exhibit
modality – the subjunctive or the optative, etc. as opposed to the
indicative. Zandvoort (1962:64, 86 – 9) uses ‘mood’ to distinguish
between the subjunctive and the indicative but a greater number of
grammarians accept the imperative and the subjunctive as opposed to
the indicative.
Voice is the grammatical category which expresses the relationship
existing between the subject/the doer of an action and the action
expressed by the predicate. It makes it possible for the language user to
view the action of a sentence in either way, without any change in the
facts reported.
Universal grammars accept among their concepts the four
grammatical categories of the verb, but the Romanian verb fully
displays only three of these categories: mood, voice and tense. It is
worthwhile mentioning that different interpretations have been given to
the category of aspect; they will be envisaged in the division dedicated
to aspectuality.

Summary.The basic aim of this introductory section was that of

making some clear-cut distinctions concerning both the terms to be
used in the book and the concepts the students of the English language
have to become familiar with in order to produce reliable presentations
of any grammatical item.
‘Grammar’ is a complex term which, to a learner of English will
mean both the description and the presentation of the morphological
characteristics, uses and meanings of the components which stand for
the verb and the verb phrase. The verb phrase is characterized by four
grammatical categories and its meaning may be further completed by
elements which are parts of other sentences-compound or complex-
such as prepositions and adverbs, to mention only two lexical classes.

10
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Introduction

The four grammatical categories in focus were tense, aspect,

mood and voice which were only defined as they will be further
developed in the next chapters; in fact, at least one division will be
dedicated to each of them within the larger chapter dealing with the
semantics of the English verb.
These four categories are active in many other natural languages,
most of them having an Indo-European origin. That is why some of the
presentations will describe the points of contact between English and
Romanian and will also refer to the possibilities of the two languages to
cover the linguistic gaps with means peculiar to each of the languages
in focus.
Conclusions. This first section creates the metalinguistic
background which will enable students to understand and further be
capable to make the others understand and use the verb forms correctly.
The presentation begins with some possible interpretations of the
terms ‘grammar’, ‘category’ and ‘grammatical category’. The
fundamental concepts in the grammar of the verb are ‘tense’, ‘time’,
‘aspect’, mood’, and ‘voice’, which together with the verb
complemetation system, or the verb constellation stand for the ‘brick
and mortar’ of the English language.

QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Give a possible definition of the term and the concept of ‘grammar’.
2. How does Chomsky define ‘grammar’?
3. Which are the divisions of a traditional grammar?
4. Can you exemplify several types of grammar?
5. Define the notions of ‘category’ and ‘grammatical category’.
6. Give examples of grammatical categories you learned when you
studied the Noun Phrase.
7. What is the difference between a lexical class and a word class?
8. How many lexical classes do you know?
9. Enumerate all the grammatical categories of the English verb you
know. Are there any categories peculiar to the verb exclusively?
10. To what extent do the grammatical categories of the English verb
correspond to those of the Romanian verb?

11
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

CHAPTER 1.

THE VERB AS A LEXICAL CLASS

1.0. Introducing the Verb
Various tendencies have been recorded concerning the most
accurate classification of the branches of general linguistics. The
distinctions and the borderlines are sometimes so fuzzy that it is very
difficult to both state and be unanimously accepted by the great majority
of the linguists where one field stops and the other one begins. A huge
amount of terminology has been accumulated in all these fields and,
consequently, based on the same reality students have to face and get
familiar with a considerable set of metalanguage.
What follows is an attempt to simplify and clarify things, if verbs
are considered one of the most important parts of speech. Many metaphors
to emphasize their role have been produced along the years. Some say that
the verb should be looked upon as ‘the backbone’ of the English language,
while the rest of the parts of speech stand for its ‘ribs’. I should consider
verbs to be the ‘bricks’ of the language and the other lexical classes to be
its ‘mortar’.
This attitude explains the structure of this chapter which consists of
two major directions:
(a) a modest inquiry regarding the types of definitions provided for
the English verb,
(b) the criteria according to which verbs are more easily described
in terms of common features (be they formal or semantic).

1.1. Defining the Verb

The definitions given to the verb as a lexical class vary both from
one school of grammar to another and, very often from one linguist to
another. Starting from didactical purposes if some definitions given to the
verb are interpreted in point of the criterion they are based on, one could
distinguish the ontology, the form or the function to have been used as
primary criteria. Each of them may stand by itself to constitute the basis of
the definition or one of the three may combine with another one.
To make a good approach to the English verb some words on the
definitions assigned to this lexical class should be considered.
Grammarians very often say that “it is practically impossible to give the

12
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

exact and exhaustive definitions of the parts of speech” (Jespersen 1966:

66).
In an attempt to exemplify several types of definitions, we shall
begin with a special version provided by Jespersen (1966: 67), who does
not explicitly define verbs, but exemplifies them using the terms ‘activity’,
‘state’ and ‘process’:
[I] go, take, fight, surprise, eat, breathe, speak, walk, clean, play,
call
([I am in] activity)
[I] sleep, remain, wait, live, suffer
([I am in] a state)
[I] become, grow, lose, die, dry, rise, turn
([I am in] a process)

This stage of non-formulating a definition was not a common

practice either at the beginning of the 20th century or even much earlier.
Palmer (1971:59) critically quotes Nesfield’s definition of the verb which
is ‘even worse [than that of the noun] because it is utterly uninformative ‘A
verb is a word used for saying something about something else’ . 1
Considering simplicity as a feature of the definitions given to the
English verb, we shall quote Alexander’s version (1988: 159) ‘A verb is a
word (run) or a phrase (run out of) which expresses the existence of a state
(love, seem) or the doing of an action (take, play)’. This is a late 20th
century example of how simply a verb could be defined.
Nevertheless, there also exist complex definitions to combine two criteria,
which is the case of the following one which is based on a contrast
between the noun group and the verb group: ‘a clause which is used to
make a statement contains a noun group, which refers to the person or
thing that you are talking about, and a verb group, which indicates what
sort of action, process, or state you are talking about.’ (CollinsCobuild
1994: 137)
Schibsbye (1970: 1) defined the English verb taking into
consideration the function and the content of the verb. In his system of
reference the verb is functionally defined as ‘the sentence forming element
of a word-group’. Semantically, a definition of the verb in terms of its
content ‘is the most comprehensive, but also the vaguest’. Generally, verbs
may express an activity (and in this case their denominator is the auxiliary

1
J.C. Nesfield’s “Manual of English Grammar and Composition” was published in 1898.
13
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

DO), a state (and in this case their denominator is the auxiliary BE), and a
change (and in this case their denominator is the auxiliary GET),
Therefore, defining the English verb is a task to be fulfilled in strict
dependence with the target learners. More superficial approaches will
impose more superficial definitions while more complex readers will need
more comprehensive and accurate definition.
The definition we suggest is not difficult at all and it also contains
the key words to be found in most of the previous versions: the verb is the
lexical class which includes words expressing actions, events, states, and
processes.
To classify the verbs of the English language is a very difficult task
since the literature in the field offers a wide veriety of criteria used with
such an end. Nevertheless, most of them show some overlappings, viz.
basic forms, composition, content, predication, etc. Obviously, this
presentation will also consider these criteria and, possibly, some others,
and will follow the same linguistic description proceeding from form to
content.

1.2. Verb Classification Criteria

As mentioned in the preceding paragraph the classification of the
verbs in English may prove difficult in that there may be numerous criteria
to consider. This presentation does not intend to join together all the
possible criteria according to which verbs may be classified with a view to
a certain purpose.
1.2.1. A Lexicological Criterion
Lexicologically classified, the verbs of the English language may
be the result of derivation carried out either by means of prefixes or
suffixes or by means of the double adding of the two lexical morphemes
resulting in parasynthetic formations. Most frequently used verb forming
suffixes are those of O.E., Latin or Greek origin. The prefixes of O.E.
origin include fore- (foresee, forego), out- (outlive, outnumber), and un-
(uncover, undo), while those of Latin origin could be exemplified by ante-
(antedate), con- (concentrate) or col- (collaborate, collocate). The verb
forming prefixes of Greek origin are usually exemplified by anti-
(anticipate) and en- (enlarge, enrich, encourage).
The most frequently used verb forming suffixes are –en
(strengthen, shorten), -ify (purify, humidify), -ise / -ize (oxidize, vaporize,
civilise, modernise. organise).

14
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

The combination of the above mentioned affixes may act so as to

produce parasynthetic formations, such as simple  simplify, oversimplify.
Since English is known to be a very flexible language, this
flexibility may account for the use of various parts of speech as verbs.
Thus, as a result of conversion not only nouns may be used as verbs (hand
– to hand, face – to face, paper – to paper, iron – to iron) but adjectives
and adverbs, too (for instance, black – to black and slow – to slow, out – to
out, respectively) .
A very small number of verbs result from back-formation, where
nouns are reduced to verbs, as in the following examples baby-sitter  to
baby-sit, blood-transfusion  to blood-transfuse, or electrocution - to
electrocute.
Very frequently used in pop music, especially American pop music,
are the contracted forms of verbs, such as ain’t (isn’t or hasn’t), lemme
(let me), wanna (want to), gimme (give me).
In terms of their grammatical regimen verbs can be subclassified
formally and functionally.
1.2.2. A Formal Classification
Formally, the English verbs are regular (i.e. they form the past
tense, the past participle and the indefinite participle according to several
spelling and pronunciation rules) or irregular (where such rules are not
applicable). The spelling rules for the basic forms of the regular verbs are
included in the great majority of the volumes dedicated to the English verb
and that is why we encourage the possible readers of this volume to look
for further information in more popular grammars.

1.2.3. A Functional Classification

Functionally, the English verbs fall into two large categories: the
notionals and the auxiliaries or semi-auxiliaries.
1.2.3.1. Full verbs
The English verbs have been defined considering their form and
function. Thus, verbs may have a full meaning and play the key role to the
whole sentence, which is the case with the lexical, main, principal or full
verbs.
Very numerous, they represent the larger group of verbs in English
and they were denominated differently by the authors dealing with them.
These notional, main, lexical or principal verbs (or full verbs) have an
independent meaning and function in the sentence. They are used to form

15
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

the simple verbal predicate and express an action, a state, an event of or

about the person or the thing denoted by the subject.
Palmer (1979:24) asserts that ‘both modals and main verbs are
basically verbs and both can, in theory, share the same grammatical
features’. Nevertheless, things are different with the two groups of verbs.
The main verbs are thoroughly described in various books of grammar and
because of this reason they will not be insisted on in this presentation. The
aim of this volume is that of spotlighting those features or details not very
frequently considered in the specialized literature.
1.2.3.2. Auxiliary verbs
They may be used in different positions, as marks of grammatical
categories, as link verbs, as modals or as parts of compound predicates.
As marks of grammatical categories they will help the speaker
chronologically order the events (s)he is talking about, to describe the
phase of a process or activity or even a state, to underline who is doing
something for someone else, to ask questions or to give negative answers.
When they play the part of link verbs they are followed by a
predicative to make up the nominal predicate. Out of these link verbs
mention shall be made only of: to be, to become, to get, to remain, to
appear, and to grow. The link verbs may be interpreted as a syntactical
category by means of which the subject is connected with the predicative.
They may be considered a morphological category similar to but not
identical with that of the auxiliary verbs. Unlike auxiliaries, the link verbs
actually represent the tense and they preserve some of their lexical value.
A special category of verbs which partially play the part of an
auxiliary are the catenative verbs and they will be described in the last
section dedicated to the auxiliary verbs.
AUXILIARITY is a grammatical function which affects the verb
phrase in various ways. It is expressed by the ‘auxiliary’ or ‘helping’ verbs.
This group of verbs is subdivided by most of the grammarians into
‘primary auxiliaries’ (BE, HAVE, DO) and ‘modal auxiliaries’ (CAN,
MAY, WILL, SHALL, COULD, MIGHT, SHOULD, WOULD and
MUST). Despite this classification the auxiliary verbs share one common
syntactic feature: they may act as operators when holding the first position
within a verbal phrase. Thus, no matter whether expressed by primary or
secondary or modal auxiliaries, operators will help building the
interrogative and negative verb forms, as below:
Is she working on our project or on her paper?
Have they been building houses or blocks of flats?

16
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

They won’t do that job.

She cannot play computer games.
Does she not know the answer?
Had they not finished that job before noon?

Auxiliarity may join together up to four components, as

exemplified by Quirk et al. (1985:120, figure 3.21):
He might have been being questioned by the police
Verb phrase
Subject aux.1 aux2 aux3 aux4 main verb by-phrase

1.2.3.2.1. Primary Auxiliaries

The auxiliaries very few in number, have no lexical meaning, they
are simply instruments by means of which grammatical or stylistic shades
of meaning or are implied. They build up the analytical forms of the
English verb. They may be the marks of grammatical specifications, such
as: tense (perfect tenses), aspect (the progressive), tempo-aspectuality
(perfective and imperfective progressivity), mood (subjunctive, conditional
and imperative), voice (active, passive or causative patterns) and verbal
forms (interrogative, negative and interrogative negative).
The auxiliary carrying out a stylistic function is TO DO, when it is
emphatically used. Even if these primary auxiliaries are mainly described
for their use as labels for the grammatical categories of tense, aspect and
voice, they also behave as full meaing verbs.

1.2.3.2.1.1. BE
This is the first of a long list of verbs which may carry different
meanings and may play different roles. It is intended to facilitate the
understanding of the flexibility which characterizes the English language.
As a full verb BE expresses existence, and displays a copular
function:
Jimmy is in his room.
That is the Empire State Building.
Mary is a beautiful girl.
As an auxiliary it can occur in two different patterns:
► with the present participle of the full verbs to express
aspectuality, i.e. progressivity or perfective progressivity:
Miriam is learning Arabian.
17
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

Her behaviour has been improving lately.

► or to express agentivity, with a main verb in the past participle:
Madonna has been awarded lots and lots of prizes.
Unlike the rest of the auxiliaries BE has a very high frequency of
occurrence due to its flexibility in being both a mark of aspectual forms as
well as an auxiliary for passive constructions.

1.2.3.2.1.2. HAVE
This is another example of verb which may have two different
functions in the grammar of the English language, acting either as a main /
full verb or as an auxiliary. This brief presentation will distinguish within
its full meaning verb a stative and a dynamic meaning:
► statively used it expresses possession and may be replaced by
the verbs to own and to possess or by the informal construction to
have got:
They have (got)/possess an impressive house.
He does not have (own/possess) a ship but a fleet.
I have (got) a splitting headache.
She has three sisters.
► the dynamic meanings of the verb to HAVE subsume the senses
of the verbs to receive, to take, to experience and of many other
verbs which may result from the combination have + eventive
object as in to have a shower / dream / walk / talk / chat, etc..
Dynamically used the verb to HAVE normally expresses the
interrogative and the negative with the help of the verb to DO:
Does she have eggs with her breakfast?
Did you have a good time on your holidays?
With the same meaning, the verb may be followed by an object and
a past participle in order to express the fact that the grammatical subject of
a sentence causes someone else to carry out an action for him / her.
The causal meaning of the verb to have is obvious in a context as:

They had their house redecorated last year.

⇩ ⇩ ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
subject ‘causal object past participle time adverbial
have’

Quirk et al. (1985:132) include this pattern among the uses of the
verb to HAVE as a main verb.
18
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

As an auxiliary the verb to HAVE is the mark of perfectivity

(either simply used or in combination with progressivity or modality):
She has just finished the translation.
They had already translated the poem when the teacher
entered the classroom.
He will have been working in this shop for two years by the
end of this month.
You must have been working very hard for the last eight
hours since you look exhausted.
She may have said the truth but I doubt it..

1.2.3.2.1.3. DO
This is the last verb of the current section to exemplify the double
status of some verbs, that of auxiliaries and full meaning/ lexical verbs. As
a main verb DO may be used
► transitively
She has done her homework and now she will go out for a
walk.
► intransitively, as a verbal predicate:
“What have you been doing lately?”
“Nothing of importance, I’m afraid.”
► as a pro-predication:
I cannot work as hard as I did when I was younger.
Like the verb to HAVE, DO may acquire various meanings
depending on the object following it:
The children will have to do the dishes: Mary will wash and
Fred will dry them.
Ben has always done my old alarm clock. (to repair)
Bernadette has done really good essays this term. (to write)
Have you done the silver, Maureen? (to polish)
Betsy, do these potatoes, will you? (to peel or to cook)
As an auxiliary, DO is the mark of the interrogative and in
association with the negation not, the mark of the negative. Thus, with its
auxiliary role it is used in:
► yes/no – questions:
Do they work hard?
► special questions (in the present or past tense simple):
How did they start their business?

19
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

When do they usually meet to discuss the further steps of

their business?
► in negotiations (in the present or past tense simple):
They don’t earn as much as they dreamt they would.
You didn’t meet John yesterday.
► in question tags (when the verb in the assertive is in the present
or past tense simple):
They know the poem, don’t they?
Thomas does not understand Italian, does he?
He stole his parents’ savings, didn’t he?
► in reduced clauses where DO is the dummy operator preceding
the ellipsis of a predication:
Emily runs faster than I do.
I did not watch TV but my sister did.
► unlike the other verbs DO is used emphatically (when the verb
to be emphasized is in the present or past tense simple):
In emphatic positive constructions:
I do love my children.
Miriam did say she would help you, didn’t she?
► in ‘persuasive’ imperative:
Do come and have a coffee with us tomorrow!
“May I use your phone?”
“Yes, by all means, do”.
This very concise presentation of the dual character of some verbs
should be well remembered. It particularizes one feature of the English
verbs which arises from their flexibility in usage and which will be
mentioned again in the case of other verbs (catenatives or marginal
modals).

1.2.3.3. MODAL AUXILIARIES

The last group of verbs is represented by the modals or semi-
auxiliaries (the pseudo-auxiliaries, or the quasi-auxiliaries) which have no
independent meaning and consequently no independent function in the
sentence.
They are used as part of a (verbal or nominal) predicate. The main
lexical meaning is comprised in the second element of the predicate which
is expressed by a noun, an adjective or verbal. Syntactically, they are used

20
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

in a finite form and express the predicative categories of person, and the
rest of them already mentioned in the foregoing.
As part of compound predicates these auxiliaries may equally
accompany verbal and nominal predicates:
They can go immediately. (Compound verbal predicate)
They must be being working very hard at this time of the
day. (Compound verbal predicate)
They may be happy with their daughter’s success.
(Compound nominal predicate)
Quirk et al. (1985:135) present two categories of modal auxiliaries
– the central and the marginal modals.

1.2.3.3.1. The central modals include can, could, may, might,

shall, should, will, would and must, and the marginal modals are dare,
need, ought to and used to. This section will deal with those verbs which
have a double character in that they may be used either as auxiliaries or as
modals. The second part of the subdivision will tackle the marginal modals,
the central ones remaining to be described in the subchapter dedicated to
modality. The verbs which may display the two functions are shall and
should, on the one hand and will and would, on the other.

1.2.3.3.1.1. SHALL
Shall will behave as an auxiliary in declarative sentences, in
combination with the first person subject (both in the singular and in the
plural) to express futurity related to a present reference:
I / we shall go on a packing tour on 1 of July.
As a modal, shall is used in:
► interrogative sentences to express an offer (the sentence should
have a first person subject):
Shall I make you a coffee?
Shall we help you with your luggage?
► affirmative sentences to express determination on the part of the
speaker (the sentence should have a second or third person subject):
You shall spend the evening all by yourself!
► a threat:
You shall be punished unless you do your job in due time!
► a promise:
You shall get what you deserve!

21
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

1.2.3.3.1.2. SHOULD
This is considered an auxiliary by those authors who admit the
existence of the conditional mood in English. According to them,
SHOULD combines with a first person subject and the bare infinitive of a
main verb to suggest condition either seen from a present or from a past
perspective.
The combination I / we + should + present infinitive suggests
present conditional:
I should go to the theatre on condition we went Dutch.
Aş merge cu tine la teatru cu condiţia ca fiecare să-şi
plătească biletul.
The pattern I / we + should + have + past participle will suggest
the idea of past conditional:
I should have gone to the theatre on condition we had gone
Dutch.
Should is also considered as an auxiliary to express (perfect)
futurity related to a past reference:
I/we admitted I/we should go on a packing tour the next
week.
I promised I should have copied the text in less than an
hour.
As a modal verb, SHOULD is used in combination with a second or third
person subject to suggest:
► advice:
You should work harder if you want to get a scholarship.
►reproach:
She should have worked much harder to get the scholarship.
They shouldn’t spend so much much money on drinks.
They shouldn’t have been so rude to our friends.
►hypothesis, when used in a subordinate conditional clause:
If you should find my dictionary, please send it back to me
as soon as possible.
Should you meet Loraine give her my best regards.

1.2.3.3.1.3. WILL
This verb behaves as an auxiliary in declarative sentences having a
second or third person subject to suggest (perfect) futurity related to
present reference:
You / She / They will go on a packing tour next month.

22
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

You / She / They will have made up their minds by this time
tomorrow.
As a modal WILL is used:
► to express a request (in interrogative sentences):
Will you help me with these letters? (friendly tone)
Help me with these letters, will you? (a slightly authoritative
tone )
► to express refusal (in negative assertions):
I won’t do this job. (I am not willing to do this job)
The locksmith has repaired the lock but the box won’t open.
As these final examples show it, the modal value of will is active
both with animate and inanimate subjects.
►to express persistence or insistence on the part of the sentence
subject ( with conditional clauses):
If she will go hiking all by herself, it’s her choice.
If you will argue with everybody around, you will end up
without having any friend!

1.2.3.3.1.4. WOULD
This is another example of verb displaying a double function:
As an auxiliary it is always preceded by a second or third person subject
(singular or plural) and followed by an infinitive to suggest condition:
► the pattern You /she/ they + would + infinitive suggests
a) a present conditional (in subordinate clauses expressing a
condition):
She would join him to the theatre on condition they went
Dutch.
b) simple futurity related to a past reference:
They told us they would set out on a cruise on the
Mediterranean next year.
► the pattern you / she / they + would + have + past participle
suggests:
a) a past conditional:
She would have accepted his invitation on condition they
had gone Dutch.
b) perfect futurity related to a past reference:
The children promised their parents they would have done
their homework before 5 p.m.
As a modal WOULD is used to express:

23
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

►a highly polite request (in conditional clauses):

If you would sign in here, you would get your order before
the weekend.
►refusal (in a ‘past tense’ context)
The mechanic repaired the engine thoroughly but still it
wouldn’t start.
► (emphatically) the idea of volition:
“If I had Byron’s genius, and health and liberty, I would
make the next three centuries recollect me”. (Carlyle)
Would you agree to meeting our manager tomorrow?

1.2.3.3.2. MARGINAL MODALS

The group of marginal modals describes those modals which have
the enclitic particle ‘to’ in their best known pattern, i.e. ought to and used
to, on the one hand, and two verbs which overlap meanings and uses of full
verbs in some contexts and modals in other contexts.
1.2.3.3.2.1. OUGHT TO
This verb form displays the morpho-syntactic characteristics of modals:
► it shows no third person inflection:
She ought to stop smoking.
► it forms the interrogative and the negative according to the
central modals:
She oughtn’t to smoke after such a disease.
Ought you to study so hard?
N.B. OUGHT TO also forms the interrogative and the negative
with the help of the DO auxiliary, but these patterns are considered
dialectal usage:
What did we ought to have done with that old car?
They didn’t ought to do that sort of thing.
Semantically, OUGHT TO expresses:
►’tentative inference’(on the basis of his /her previous knowledge
the speaker tentatively concludes that the proposition (s)he utters is
true):
The Omu peak ought to be visible from here.
► obligation (implying the speaker’s authority; nevertheless the
speaker is not convinced that his/her recommendations will be
turned into reality) :
She ought to strictly follow the doctor’s recommendations.

24
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

N.B. When followed by have + past participle the implicature is

that the recommendation has not been turned into reality:
She ought to have followed the doctor’s recommendations (
but she didn’t).

1.2.3.3.2.2. USED TO
This modal verb is used in order to express frequency in the past
which characterizes either a state or a habit that existed in the past, or even
a process, event or activity. This particular meaning – frequency in the past
– may be conveyed by the modal ‘would’ but ‘used to’ is more frequently
employed since it is distributed both with processes or eventys and with
states while would suggests the idea of volition or willingness regarding
the development of the dynamic verbs and it never appears with state
verbs:
She used to be talking about her boyfriend for hours.
She would be talking about her boyfriend for hours.
They used to attend the meetings regularly.
They would attend the meetings regularly.
She used to be very happy / talkative / judgemental.
* She would be very happy / talkative / judgemental.
(ungrammatical)
USED TO may lead to difficulty in understanding it because of its
resemblance with the main verb to use, which is always transitively used:
They use tiles for their house roof..
We do not use a laser printer with this old fashioned
computer.
While the full verb forms the interrogative and the negative with the
DO operator, the modal USED TO expresses the two forms both with the
DO auxiliary in its past form and according to the modal verbs pattern:
She used not to smoke when she was a student. (BrE)
She didn’t use to smoke when she was a student. (BrE)
She didn’t used to smoke when she was a student. (AmE)

1.2.3.3.2.3. NEED
The verbs need and dare which display the characteristics of full
verbs and of modal verbs. Both of them are used with a modal meaning
mainly in interrogative and negative sentences:
Need / Dare she say anything else?

25
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

Need I wake up so early tomorrow? (used when a negative

answer is expected)
Dare they contradict their parents?
Needn’t he take the money?
He daren’t take the money.

NEED is used in a negative context in order to express:

► lack of necessity or obligation (when followed by a present
infinitive):
I need hardly tell you how miserable I felt on that occasion.
She needn’t work so hard to earn her daily bread as she is
the wife of a succesful businessman.
You needn’t copy all those poems you can have them
photocopied.
► the uselessness of an action which was nevertheless carried out:
She needn’t have bought any bread because we still have
some biscuits.
N.B. When an unnecessary situation was NOT carried out the
pattern to be used consists of didn’t + have + to + infinitive :
We didn’t have to water the flowers in the garden this
evening because it had rained in the afternoon.
► obligation in interrogative sentences:
Need you leave the house right now?
N.B. in such a question need is replaceable with MUST but it will
never be replaced when following wh-words with an interrogative
meaning:
* Where need you meet Mary? (ungrammatical)
Where must you meet Mary?

1.2.3.3.2.4. DARE
The modal meaning of this verb may roughly be paraphrased as
(don’t / didn’t) have (or summon up) the courage to, be courageous / bold
enough to. Its most frequently used modal meaning is with the set phrase ‘I
dare say’ which seems to occur with two different spellings and senses:
► “I dare say” may suggest certainty, lack of doubt or even
supposition:
I dare say they will be meeting us at the station.
(Presupun, probabil, desigur, nu ma indoiesc …)
I dare say she did her best.

26
The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

(Presupun, probabil, desigur, nu ma indoiesc …)

► “I daresay” suggests the speaker’s willingness in accepting a
truth:
Traveller: But the bracelet was given to me, I didn’t buy it.
Customs Officer: I daresay you didn’t, but you will have to
pay duty on it all the same. (Bîră 1979:204)
( Ofiţerul de la punctul de control: Sunt de acord, vă
înţeleg… )
As main verbs both NEED and DARE share two common features:
► they take a direct object:
You need a special diet to lose weight and look younger and
healthier again.
They have dared him to drink vodka and that is why he
feels sick.
► they use the DO operator for interrogatives and negatives:
Do you need his money or do you need him?
I don’t need his money, I have told you several times before.
What did they dare him to do?
They didn’t dare him to play poker but to spend the night in
a sexy club.

1.2.3.4. LINK VERBS

The link or linking verbs are those verbs which link together the
subject and the complement of one sentence to expres qualities or features
regarding the subject.
They may be used to convey two different meanings: to indicate a
state or a result. The former group of link verbs represents the current
linking verbs whose purpose is that of indicating a state and they include
to appear (happy), to lie (scattered), to remain (uncertain, perplexed, a
bachelor), to seem (restless, a mindful person, an efficient secretary,
successful businessman), to stay (young), to smell (sweet), to sound
(surprised), to taste (bitter).
‘Why, indeed, he does seem to have had some filial scruples
on that head, as you will hear.’ (J. Austen, 1970: 97)
The latter group of linking verbs, the resulting linking verbs
indicate that the role of the verb complement is a result of the event or
process described in the verb. This group includes examples as to grow
(tired), to fall (sick), to run (wild), to turn (sour), to become (old-
fashioned), to get (nervous).

27
 The Verb and the Verb Phrase in Contemporary English. Chapter 1.

1.2.3.5. CATENATIVES
They represent a special group of verbs which also have a dual
character sharing the position of auxiliaries but the morpho-syntactical
patterns of the main verbs. Some grammarians include among the
catenatives to appear, to carry (on), to come, to fail, to get, to happen, to
manage, to seem, to start out, to tend, to turn out and to keep (on). As
catenatives their main feature is that they are always followed by the
infinitive.
“Your brother wishes to marry my daughter, and I wish to
find out what sort of a young man he is. A good way to do
so seemed to be to come amd ask you, which I have
proceeded to do.” (H.James. – W.S. 69-70)
Used as catenatives to carry on, to go on, to keep (on) and to start
out may be followed by the present participle (in progressive constructions)
or by the past participle (in passive constructions):
The gardener started out / kept (on) / went on working in the
garden.
Our team got beaten by the visitors. (Quirk et al. 1985: 147)

For didactic purposes we shall have to consider that the auxiliaries

represent a special class of verbs whose main purpose is that of helping the
full meaning verbs to express tenses, aspectual meanings, agentivity, as
well as interrogative and negative patterns.
To simplify things, the auxiliaries may be further subclassified into:
► primary auxiliaries (BE, HAVE, DO) which are marks of
progressivity, perfectivity, i.e. of tempo-aspectuality, and
interrogation and negation constructing patterns;
► secondary (modal) auxiliaries which are, in turn, grouped into:
- central modals (those modals which share a set of
morpho-syntactic features) ;
- marginal modals (which share only some of the
generally acknowledged morpho-syntactic features of
the modals)

In spite of various particular features they still share one common

trait – they behave as operators (to switch their position with the subject to
build the interrogative or to accept the enclitic negation NOT to build the
negative).

28

View publication stats