Curs 1 pp Definition, forms, classification.pdf

7/25/2019 Curs 1 pp Definition, forms, classification.pdf

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copyright H.Parlog, L. Frentiu

THE ENGLISH VERB


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1. DEFINITION1.1. If form is taken as the basis for the definition of the verb, then thedifference in the expression of the present and the past or the inflection -sin the third person singular present and the inflection ed or a root vowel

change in the past might seem applicable criteria in defining the class:love vs. loved

write vs. wrote

love vs.he loves

Criticism:

-ed. and -s are not endings characteristic of the verb only-ed (-d), may also be added to nouns or noun phrases to form adjectives (e.g.

fair-haired, gifted)

-s may be added to nouns to form the plural (e.g. bird vs. birds)

- the use of this criterion would leave out words like cut, cost, put, which havethe same form for present and past, or must, ought to, which are notinflected in the third person singular of the present tense and have no formfor the past tense.


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1.2. Such words will be easily recognized as

belonging to the class of verbs if their function in thesentence is considered: I must go. Must we go?

I shall go, Shall we go?

Did you cut it ? is parallel toDid you like it ?

- the verb could be defined as the sentence formingelement.

Criticism:- if the combination water boils is a completesentence, boiling wateror to boil waterare not

- only our intuition tells us that boils, boiling, and toboil are closely related and are different forms of thesame word.


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1.3. Consequently, grammar books find itpreferable to define the class of the verb bymeaning or content, although such a

definition is not complete either.Thus the verb is said to be the part of speechdenoting actions (write, run, answer, make,

build), some state or condition (sleep, remain,lie, stand, live), existence (be, exist), theappearance of a characteristic (blossom,

wither, die, rise) the modification of anattitude or characteristic (awake, harden), anattitude (please, scorn, doubt, respect) etc.


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2. VERB FORMS

2.1. Thefinite forms have tense distinctions to express grammatical timerelations

have mood, which indicates the speaker's attitudetowards the action

can indicate the duration, completeness orincompleteness of an action

can show whether a person or thing is doing orreceiving an action

can form the predicate of a sentence by themselves

there is person and number agreement between thesubject and the finite verb, which, with most lexicalverbs, is restricted to a contrast between third and non-third person singular present.


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2.2. Thenon-finite forms of the verb are: theinfinitive, the participle, and the gerund

have aspect and voice distinctions

may enter into predicate relations with a noun, thus

forming syntactic units resembling clauses(actually called "non-finite clauses" by several

grammars)

do not have the categories of mood, tense, numberand person.


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3. CLASSIFICATION OFVERBS

3.1. Thebasic forms of the verb3.2. Tebehaviour of the verb in the

sentence

3.3 Theability of the verb to occur in the

progressive aspect

3.4. Verbcomplementation


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3.1 The classification of verbs

according to their basic forms

thebase form (often referred to as theinfinitivebut which also functions as

present indicative, with the exception of the

third person singular, as imperative, and aspresent subjunctive)

thepast tense (or preterite)

thepast participle

the indefinite participle


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3.1.1. Regular verbs

Verbs ending in -ed in the past tense andpast participle are called regular verbs (e.g.

ask, asked, asked, asking; finish, finished,

finished, finishing)

The regular verb class includes the vast

majority of English verbs. If one knows thebasic form of such a verb, one can predict

what its other three forms are


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3.1.1.1. The pronunciation of regularverb inflection -ed

The inflexion -ed, characteristic of the past tense and the past participleof regular verbs, has three phonetic realizations:

a) [d], after voiced consonants other than [d] and after vowels:play, played, played [p l e i d]

move, moved, moved[m u: v d]

judge, judged, judged[ddd]

b) [t], after voiceless consonants, other than [t]stop, stopped, stopped[s t o p t]

push, pushed, pushed [p u t]

c) [id], after the alveolar plosives [t] , [d]rot, rotted, rotted, [r o t i d]

bud, budded, budded[bdid]


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3.1.1.2. The spelling of past tense, indefinite

participle and past participle forms of regular verbs.

a) The final consonant of the base form is doubled before -ed. if the preceding vowel is stressedand spelled with a single letter:

bar, barred, barred, barring

beg, begged, begged, beggingchat, chatted, chatted, chatting

clap, clapped, clapped, clapping

rub, rubbed, rubbed, rubbing

Certain consonants are doubled also after single unstressed vowels orc is doubled by a k:humbug, humbugged, humbugged, humbugging

traffic, trafficked, trafficked, trafficking

picnic, picnicked, picnicked, picnicking

In British English, but not in American English, there are many other verbs whose final consonantis doubled after single unstressed vowels as well:

signal, signalled, signalled, signalling

travel, travelled, travelled, travelling

cancel, cancelled, cancelled, cancelling

program(me), programmed, programmed, programmingkidnap, kidnapped, kidnapped, kidnapping

worship, worshipped, worshipped, worshipping

(Most verbs ending inp observe, however, the main rule: develop, developed; gossip, gossiped).


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b) Verbs ending in -y preceded by a consonant change -y intoi; howevery remains unchanged in front ofing:

study, studied, studied, studying

cry, cried, cried, crying

But :play, played, played, playing

employ, employed, employed, employing

c) The final -e of the base form is usually droppedbeforeedand -ing:

shave, shaved, shaved, shaving

breathe, breathed, breathed, breathingagree, agreed, agreed, but: agreeing

decree, decreed, decreed but: decreeing


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3. 1.2. Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs have noedinflection in thepast tense and the past participle : generally

they are formed by a change of vowel

(gradation or "ablaut) drive, drove, driven


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the same form for the base form, the past tense and

the past participleput, put, put

cost, cost, cost

hit, hit, hit

the same form for the past tense and the pastparticiple onlydig, dug, dug

the same base form and past participlecome, came, comerun, ran, run

keep their root vowel unchanged, adding a -t in theirpast tense and past participle

burn, burnt, burnt

changing a final -d of the basic form into tbuild built, built


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3.1.2.1. Verbs having two forms forthe past participle

a) A number of verbs have two past participle forms, of which one with the ending

-en. In many cases, theen forms have only an adjectival function:drink, drank, drunk / drunken

load, loaded, loaded / laden

melt, melted, melted / molten

rot, rotted, rotted / rotten

shrink, shrank, shrunk / shrunken

sink, sank, sunk / sunkenshave, shaved, shaved / shaven

The drunken man collapsed. He had drunk a lot.

One of the trees has rotted. It is a rotten egg.

Your gums have shrunk since you had your teeth extracted.

His shrunken cheeks showed how ill he was.The old mans eyes have sunk. The old man has sunken eyes.

He has shaved off his beard. He is clean shaven.


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b) A number of verbs have two participle forms, of which one isregular and one ends inn.Nearly always, as an attributiveadjective, the n participle is used. In the verbal function bothforms are found:

hew, hewed, hewed / hewn

mow, mowed, mowed / mownsaw, sawed, sawed / sawn

shear, sheared, sheared / shorn

sew, sewed, sewed / sewn

show, showed, showed / shown

sow, sowed, sowed / sownstrew, strewed, strewed / strewn

Hewn timber is in high demand. They have hewed / hewn severalbranches.

I like the smell of new-mown hay. The lawn was mown / mowed

yesterday.This is sown grass. This plot has been sown.

This is hand-sewn. She has sewn /sewed a button on.

You look like a shorn lamb. We have shorn / sheared the sheep.


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c) Some past participles have only a very restricted use:bend, bent, bent / bended only in on bended knees

bind, bound, bound / bounden only in my bounden

duty

bite, bit, bit / bitten in the biter bit (the biter bitten)

break, broke, broken / broke inIm broke.

bear bore, born / borne born is used in the passive

voice in connection with birth.

He was born in Bucharest.

In all the other cases borne is used:

She has borne him four children.

He has borne the situation courageously.


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3.1.2.2. Verbs having double forms for both the

past tense and the past participle

For certain verbs, the regular -edform is especially characteristic for

American English, while the irregular form for British English:bet, bet/betted

burn, burnt/burned

dwell, dwelt/dwelled

kneel, knelt/kneeled

leap, leapt/leapedlearn learnt/learned

smell, smelt/smelled

spell, spelt/spelled

spill, spilt/spilled

spoil, spoilt/spoiled

strive, strove/ strived striven/strived

thrive, throve/thrived, thriven/thrived

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Curs 1 pp Definition, forms, classification.pdf

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