Higher national diploma

in English

Language Structure Usage and Linguistics

SRI LANKA INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATIONBATTICALOA

Verb Phrase1st Year

2nd Semester

Group no-05

Group Members

1. S.Mohanaraj

2. S.Mathusoothanan

3. L.Kupenigah

4. E.Tishany

5. D.Darani

6. K.Sritharani

7. S.Parivampikai

8. Shifana Arafath

9. H.Fathima Safa Lecturer: Mr.Uthayakumar

Includes

What is the verb phrase

Classification of verb phrase

What is mood

What is aspect

Summary

Verb Phrase

The verb phrase (VP) in English has a

noticeably different structure, since the

information it carries about mood, tense,

modality, aspect, and voice is quite

different from the information carried by

a noun phrase.

The verb phrase has two functional parts.

Cont..

The auxiliary, a grammatical

morpheme carrying information about

mood, tense, modality, and voice.

The main verb, a lexical morpheme

carrying its lexical information and,

usually, an inflection.

Mood

verb phrases have mood, which indicates

the speaker's attitude to the predication.

Indicative mood is used to state a fact or

ask a question:

* Lisa can do that. * Can Lisa do that?

Imperative mood is used to issue a

command or make a request:

* Be here at seven o'clock

Subjunctive mood is used to express

doubt, wish, belief, or improbability:

* I wish I had something to eat

Cont..

Verb phrase

Auxiliary

Main verb Support

auxiliary

Passive

Progressive

Perfect

Modal

What is aspect?

Aspect is another type of inflection that adds some

extra meaning to the verb phrase.

English has four aspects:

simple

progressive

perfect

perfect progressive

We will now examine how each works.

The simple

The simple aspect is unmarked. That means

that no auxilaries or word endings

(suffixes) are needed to express this

aspect.

Present tense simple aspect:

My family eats a lot of lentils.

The idea conveyed is that this is a usual or habitual activity.

cont..

Past tense simple aspect:

My Labrador retriever chased a rabbit yesterday.

The idea conveyed is the idea that this chasing happened and is now over and done with.

The progressive

The progressive is formed with a form of the

verb “be” used as an auxiliary and the

lexical verb in the form of the -ing

participle.

Present tense progressive aspect:

My family is eating some lentils.

The idea conveyed is that this action is happening right now.

Cont..

Past tense progressive aspect:

My Labrador retriever was chasing a rabbit yesterday when he ran into the train.

The idea conveyed is that the chasing was ongoing when some other activity (the running into the train) interrupted this chasing.

The perfect

The perfect is formed with a form of the verb “have” used as an auxiliary and the use of the past participle for the lexical verb.

Present tense perfect aspect:

My family has eaten a lot of lentils since we became vegans.

The idea conveyed is that this is an activity that started in the past (at the point we became vegans) and continues as a habitual activity.

Cont..

Past tense perfect aspect:

My Labrador retriever had chased a rabbit down a hole before I could stop him.

The idea conveyed is that this chasing happened before some other thing in the past (the attempt at stopping him) happened.

The perfect progressive

The perfect progressive is formed with a

form of the verb “have” used as an

auxiliary, followed by the past participle of

“be” -- been -- (that’s the perfect part),

followed by the lexical verb in the -ing

participle form (that’s the progressive

part).

Cont..

Present tense perfect progressive

aspect.

Waiter! My family has been eating

lentils for the last twenty minutes and

we’re ready for the second course now

please!

The idea conveyed is that the activity

started in the past and continues

through the present -- right now.

Cont..

Past tense perfect progressive

aspect.

My Labrador retriever had been

chasing a rabbit when suddenly he

ran into a porcupine.

The idea conveyed is that the activity of

chasing started before the second activity

running into the porcupine and was

interrupted by the second activity.

Future perfect

Formed will have/shall +past participle

of main verb.

For examples

By the age of six average child will

have completed the basic American

Education and be ready to enter

school.

Cont..

There future perfect is formed with will

followed by have and the past participle.

I will have finished grading the papers

at 4.00pm.

Cont..

However the future perfect can also be used

to express state, that will have endured for a

period of time as measured action future

date.

This coming January we will have been

married for 30 days .

Cont..

As with past perfect sentence with future

perfect often have a main clause and

surbodinate clause.

In these sentences , the future action is

completed prior to another action in a

surbodinate clause introduced by before

by the time

Cont..

The verb in this surbodinate may be in

the present perfect.

He will have finished grading all of his

papers by the time you have eaten

your lunch

Passive voice

What is the definition of passive?

The voice used to indicate that the grammatical

subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of

the action denoted by the verb.

Linguistics the grammatical relation (active or passive)

of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that

the verb denotes.

How to form passive voice

Someone cleans the streets every day

The Streets are cleaned every day

Coloumbus discovered America in 1492

America was discovered by coloumbus in 1492

Cont..

Jack will buy a new computer

A new computer will be bought by Jack

Example of passive sentences

We are going to watch a movie tonight.

A movie is going to be watched by us tonight

Mom read the novel in one day

The novel was read by mom in one day

I will clean the house every Saturday

The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday

Summary….

The simple predicate ,or verb ,may

consist of two or more words. These

words are called the verb phrase.

A verb phrase is made up of a main

verb and one or more helping verbs.

A main verb can study by itself as the

simple predicate of a sentence.

Ex: I am learning about life in India.

They are in hostel.

Cont..

Underline the main verb

1) The young boys were called

apprentices.

2) He was playing cricket.

3) They have bought a car.

4) A farm boy would help his father with

the chores.

Cont..

Make the sentence to each main

verb

1) Play

2) Read

3) Took

4) Cooking

5) Written

Any

questions ?