Verb Flashcards
Verb classes are…
Main Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs
What is a verb?
The action words of sentences.
They signify an action or state of being.
They allow us to request, command, prompt and cue.
Main verbs
Describe an action or a state of being. Main verb can stand alone.
Ex: walk, is, have, eat
Auxiliary (helping) verbs
Used with a main verb. Auxiliary cannot stand alone.
Provide clarifying information related to the main verb
- Person
-Tense
- Mood
What are some common auxiliary verbs?
- Be
- am, is , was, were
- Have
- have, had, has
- Do
- do, does, did
Modal Auxiliary Verbs
They cannot stand alone.
Modal= mood
They provide information about certainty, intention, command, and emphasis.
What is catenatives?
Refer to as a one-word semiauxiliaries.
Informal variation of other modal verbs:
- Have to -> hafta
- Want to -> wanna
- Got to -> gotta
Catenatives should be recognized as an early-developing linguistic structure, rather than a later developing structure.
The verb “be”
- “Be” forms: am, is, are, was, were, being, and been
- All these “Be” forms, beside being and been, may serve as an auxiliary or copula (main verb).
- Copula refers to the verb “be”
- Known as linking verbs (verbs that link two complements)
- There are other verbs that link two complements (ex:appear, feel and become)
- can stand alone
What makes a copula sentence uncontractible?
1) Tense
- He was working {NOT : He’s working}
(Loses tense information provided)
2) Other reason for uncontractible forms include that the contraction cannot be pronounced without dropping the syllable
- The dog is barking {NOT: The dog’s barking)
3) Contracted form cannot be used with an elliptical utterance
- Q: Who would like to go to the store?
- A: I would {NOT: I’d}
What two general classes that verb can divided into?
transitive and intransitive verbs
Transitive Verbs
Required an object. It means that the action or state of a subject carries over to an object.
Ex: Jonathan kicked the ball (Kicked is transitive, and thus required an object)
Intransitive verbs
They may stand alone by themselves without needing an object. No action or state is carried over from the a verb to an object.
Ex: He sleeps.
Verb Forms
- Complex class of words
- They have a critical role in sentences
- They provide information about time (He walks, He walked, He will walk), intention (He may walk, He might walk, He must walk)and number (He is walking, They are walking) by using inflections.
Number (verb)
- Verb reflect the number of the subject noun or pronoun
Ex: Jeremy sleeps.
Jeremy and Jessica sleep.
Person (verb)
Reflecting who or what in completing the action or state of being.
Ex: He is working.
They are working.
