VERBS Flashcards
What is a verb?
A verb is a word that signifies an action, condition/state of being, or process.
What are the two basic types of verbs in the English language?
- Lexical Verbs
- Auxiliary Verbs
What are lexical verbs?
Verbs that convey the full meaning in a sentence and can stand alone.
What are auxiliary verbs?
Helping verbs that derive their content from lexical verbs and cannot stand alone.
Name the primary auxiliary verbs.
- Be (is, are, was, were, been)
- Have (has, had)
- Do (does, did)
What are modal auxiliary verbs used for?
To indicate modalities such as ability, likelihood, permission, obligation, request, capacity, and suggestion.
List the modal auxiliary verbs in the English language.
- can
- could
- may
- might
- must
- ought
- shall
- should
- will
- would
What is a regular verb?
A verb that forms its tenses by adding the suffixes -d or -ed.
What is an irregular verb?
A verb that has a different set of rules for conjugation and is unpredictable in its inflections.
What defines transitive verbs?
Verbs that transfer the action of the subject to an object.
What are monotransitive verbs?
Transitive verbs that take on a single object.
What are ditransitive verbs?
Transitive verbs that take on two objects or an object and an indirect object.
Define intransitive verbs.
Verbs that do not take on any objects but can be followed by an adverb.
What are linking verbs?
Verbs that connect the subject to its predicate noun or adjective.
What are finite verbs?
Verbs that are limited to number and person inflections in conjugation.
What are non-finite verbs?
Verbs that have no restrictions to person and number, are not marked for tense, and can only function in dependent clauses.
What are the three forms of non-finite verbs?
- Infinitives
- Participials
- Gerunds
What does aspect in verbs indicate?
It states if the action expressed by the verb has been completed or is incomplete/ongoing.
What are the two types of tenses in English based on descriptive linguistics?
- The Simple Present Tense
- The Simple Past Tense
What is the simple present tense used for?
To describe actions, states, or events happening during the discussion.
What is the simple past tense used for?
To describe an action that has happened before the present.
Define tense.
The grammatical concept that indicates the time of action or event.
What does the simple or zero aspect state?
That an action or state of being occurs without relating to the flow of time.
What is the progressive aspect?
It shows that the action expressed by the verb is ongoing/incomplete.
What is the perfect aspect?
It views the action as having been completed before another point in time.
What is the perfect-progressive aspect?
It combines ongoing action that has been completed up to a certain point in time.
What does voice in verbs indicate?
Whether the subject is the doer or the receiver of the action.
What are the three moods in the English language?
- Indicative mood
- Imperative mood
- Subjunctive mood
What is concord/agreement in verbs?
Modification of verbs to agree with their subjects in terms of person and number.
What is concord in grammar?
The way a word has a form appropriate to the number or gender of the noun or pronoun it relates to
It is a fundamental aspect of grammatical agreement in sentences.
What does grammatical concord ensure?
Agreement between the verb and its subject in terms of number and person
This means that singular subjects must have singular verbs, and plural subjects must have plural verbs.
Provide an example of singular subject-verb agreement.
The dog barks
‘The dog’ is a singular subject and ‘barks’ is the singular verb.
Provide an example of plural subject-verb agreement.
The dogs bark
‘The dogs’ is a plural subject and ‘bark’ is the plural verb.
Fill in the blank: If the subject of a sentence is plural, the verb must be _______.
plural
Fill in the blank: The word concord comes from the _______ word for agreement.
Latin
What are the two absolutely necessary parts of speech in a sentence?
The verb and the subject
These are essential for constructing meaningful sentences in English.
What is subject-verb concord?
When the subject of a sentence and the verb of a sentence agree
This means singular subjects require singular verbs, and plural subjects require plural verbs.
True or False: Concord is only about the relationship between adjectives and nouns.
False
Concord primarily concerns the relationship between subjects and verbs.
What happens if there is a lack of concord in a sentence?
The sentence won’t sound right
Grammatical concord is essential for clarity and understanding in communication.
Provide an example of a singular subject with a singular verb.
The page is torn
‘The page’ is singular and ‘is’ is the singular verb.
Provide an example of a plural subject with a plural verb.
The pages are torn
‘The pages’ is plural and ‘are’ is the plural verb.
