Verbs

PPT
*Note Taking Guide Available
 Verb Definition

• A verb is a word that:

• expresses action
• makes a statement
• links relationships.
Finite Verbs
 Finite Verbs
• A finite verb is considered
TRANSITIVE or INTRANSITIVE
depending upon its relationship
with some other words in the
sentence.
Transitive Verbs
 Transitive Verbs
• A transitive verb has two characteristics.
• First, it is an ACTION VERB, expressing a
DOABLE activity like kick, want, paint,
write, eat, clean, etc.
• Second, it must have a DIRECT OBJECT,
something or someone who RECEIVES
the action of the verb.
 Transitive Verbs
• Look at these sentences:
He met her yesterday.
She wrote a story last year.
Rust destroys iron.
• In these sentences, the verbs are the words met, wrote and destroys.
• In each sentence, you ask the question, “______ WHOM/WHAT?'
• You will get the answers as follows:
– sentence 1 — question: met whom?
• answer: her
– sentence 2 — question: wrote what?
• answer: story
– sentence 3 — question: destroys what?
• answer: iron
• (note that we use whom in the questions for human beings and what for
things and also for animals.)
• The words her, story and iron in the sentences above are called OBJECTS in
grammar.
• A transitive verb is, therefore, a verb which has an object.
 What is an Object?
• An object, we may say, is the AIM or
PURPOSE or DESTINATION or TARGET
of a verb's action.
• In our three example-sentences, the verbs
met, wrote and destroys have the words
her, story and iron as their TARGETS.
• These targets are called OBJECTS.
– With a transitive verb, we can EXPECT
these objects.
Why Are They Called “Transitive”?

• We call these verbs

'transitive' because
these verbs have the
property of
TRANSITIVITY
Why Are They Called “Transitive”?
What is transitivity?
• To transit means to pass through.
• Each of the verbs met, wrote and destroys in our
examples has its action CONVEYED (CARRIED)
to the object.
• We might also say that the action begins with the
subject (he, she, rust in our sentences) and
PASSES THROUGH the verb to the direct object.
• This property of the verb is transitivity. Hence we
call these verbs transitive.
Understanding these verbs in this way helps us to
remember what they are.
 List of Transitive Verbs
• Here's a list of transitive verbs.
eat, drink, read, write, play, see, hear,
answer, find, love, like, understand,
catch, bring, sing, meet, give, take, get,
forget, buy, sell, pay, help.
 Examples
• (a) The teacher answered the question.
– Trans Verb = answered Object = question

• (b) My friend bought a house.

– Trans Verb = bought Object = house

• (c) The children found the money.

– Trans Verb = found Object = money

• (d) Most Indians love cricket.

– Trans Verb = love Object = cricket

• (e) The Robinsons like football.

– Trans Verb = like Object = football
 Examples
• Sylvia kicked Juan under the table.
– Kicked = transitive verb; Juan = direct object.
• Joshua wants a smile from Leah, his
beautiful but serious lab partner.
– Wants = transitive verb; smile = direct object.
• Cory painted the canvas in Jackson Pollock
fashion, dribbling bright colors from a
heavily soaked brush.
– Painted = transitive verb; canvas = direct
object.
 Examples
• Alisha wrote a love poem on a restaurant
napkin.
– Wrote = transitive verb; poem = direct object.
• Antonio eats lima beans drenched in brown
gravy.
– Eats = transitive verb; lima beans = direct
object.
• Pinky the poodle cleans the dirty supper
dishes with his tongue before Grandma
loads the "prewashed" items into
dishwasher.
– Cleans, loads = transitive verbs; dishes,
items = direct objects.
Intransitive Verbs
 Intransitive Verbs
• Important Note:
When no DIRECT OBJECT
follows an action verb, the
verb is INTRANSITIVE.
 Intransitive Verbs
• An intransitive verb has two
characteristics.
• First, LIKE a transitive verb, it is an
ACTION VERB, expressing a DOABLE
activity like arrive, go, lie, sneeze, sit, die,
etc.
• Second, UNLIKE a transitive verb, it will
NOT have a direct object receiving the
action.
 Intransitive Verbs

• Here are some examples:

• walk, jump, sleep, sit, lie,
stand, weep, kneel, fall, fly,
flow, remain, die, belong, wait,
come, go.
 Intransitive Verbs
• Here are some example sentences.
– (a) We walk to the railway station.
– (b) The children jump with joy.
– (c) Babies sleep for many hours.
– (d) My brother stood there.
– (e) Jesus wept.
 Examples
• Identify the Intransitive Verb:
• Huffing and puffing, we arrived at the
classroom door with only seven seconds
to spare.
– Arrived = intransitive verb.
• James went to the campus cafe for a
steaming bowl of squid eyeball stew.
– Went = intransitive verb.
 Examples
• To escape the midday sun, the cats lie in the shade
under our cars.
• Lie = intransitive verb.
• Around fresh ground pepper, Sheryl sneezes with
violence.
• Sneezes = intransitive verb.
• In the evenings, Glenda sits on the front porch to
admire her immaculate lawn.
• Sits = intransitive verb.
• Flipped on its back, the beetle that Clara soaked with
insecticide dies under the refrigerator.
• Dies = intransitive verb.
 Exceptions: Intransitive
Verbs
• You will often find TRANSITIVE
verbs used INTRANSITIVELY,
i.e. without an object.
– They are eating.
– We play in the evening.
– I understand.
 Exceptions: Intransitive
Verbs
• At rare times intransitive verbs are used
transitively.
• How did you cover all that distance? We
walked it.
– ('walked' has the object 'it' in this sentence)
• I cannot stand such nonsense.
– ('stand' has the object 'nonsense' in this sentence)
 Exceptions: Can Be
Used As Both
• Realize that many verbs can be
both transitive and intransitive.
• An action verb with a direct object
is transitive while an action verb
with no direct object is
intransitive.
 Exceptions: Can Be
Used As Both
• Some verbs, such as arrive, go, lie,
sneeze, sit, and die, are always
intransitive; it is IMPOSSIBLE for a direct
object to follow.
• Other action verbs, however, CAN be
transitive or intransitive, depending on what
follows in the sentence.
 Exceptions: Can Be
Used As Both
• Because of blood sugar problems, Rosa always
eats before leaving for school.
• Eats = intransitive verb.
• If there is no leftover pizza, Rosa usually eats
whole-grain cereal.
• Eats = transitive verb; cereal = direct object.
• During cross-country practice, Damien runs over
hills, through fields, across the river, and along the
highway.
• Runs = intransitive verb.
• In the spring, Damien will run his first marathon.
• Will run = transitive verb; marathon = direct object.
 Note:
Besides transitive and
intransitive verbs, we have
LINKING VERBS in the
finite verbs family.
 Verbals
A verbal is the form of a verb
used as a noun, adjective or
adverb.
 Verbals
• Verbals is another name for NON-
FINITE verbs.
• The important questions are...
– What are non-finite verbs?
– Why are they called verbals?
– What are the things to learn about
them?
 Non-finites
• Simply put, non-finite verbs are
verbs which are NOT finite verbs.
• Looks very simple, but it's not
entirely so.
• The basic points of difference
between finites and non-finites are
as follows:
 Difference Between Finites
and Non-finites #1

• A non-finite verb DOES NOT change

according to its SUBJECT, as a finite verb
does.
• Example: He likes to drive. They like to drive.
• The non-finite verb to drive remains constant,
while the finite verb like/likes changes
according to the subject he/they.
 Difference Between Finites
and Non-finites #2
• Non-finite verbs are not affected by
TENSE CHANGES, finite verbs are...
• Example:
– They like to drive. They liked to drive.
• The finite verb shows two DIFFERENT forms
like or liked for the simple present and simple
past tenses respectively.
• For the non-finite verb to drive, tense is
IRRELEVANT.
 Why Are Non-finites
Called Verbals?
• We often call the different types of non-finite verbs a "VERBAL
SOMETHING," depending on the non-verblike work they do.
• So the word 'verbal' becomes a kind of GENERIC (common)
name for them.
• There are three types of VERBALS/Non-finite verbs:
– The Gerund is known as a verbal noun.
– the Participle is often called a verbal adjective.
– The Infinitive does the work of a noun, or an adjective, or an adverb
(adjective modifier, purpose modifier, etc).
• We usually don't call the infinitive a verbal noun or a verbal adjective,
only because we don't want to CONFUSE it with the gerund or the
participle.
Infinitives
 Infinitives
• Infinitives are one of the three groups
of non-finite verbs (also called
verbals)
• We shall look at this particular type of
verb from three angles:
1. How it looks (its form or morphology)
2. What work it does in a sentence (its function or syntax)
3. Its meaning (or semantics)
How Can You Recognize an Infinitive?
• Its form is usually as follows:
– to eat, to drink, to play, to be, etc.
• with a 'TO' before it.

• In some cases the word 'to' is dropped.

• We speak of such a verb (with the word 'to'
dropped) as a BARE INFINITIVE.
• The bare infinitive is the STANDARD
FORM of an English verb.
 What work does it do?
• According to function, that is, the work it does
in a sentence (syntax), it may be both a
NOUN and a VERB
• Here is an example:
– I like to finish the work quickly.
• In this sentence the infinitive to finish does
the following jobs:
– It is the object of the finite verb like—therefore to finish is
similar to a NOUN (because being an object is a noun's job).
– The phrase to finish has its own object, work—so to finish is
a VERB (since verbs have objects).
 Example Cont.
• The adverb quickly modifies (i.e. tells us
something more about) to finish.
– Since the phrase to finish is modifiable by an
adverb, it must be a VERB.
• We can say that the infinitive, though born in
the verb family, does not limit itself to being a
verb.
• It often behaves like a noun when it goes
around socializing in the world of
sentences!
 Also…
• In some cases...
• It behaves even as an ADJECTIVE, as in the following
sentence.
– That was a game to watch!
• In this sentence, to watch tells us something more about the quality of
the game (a noun). Describing a noun is the work of an adjective.
• Sometimes it can behave like an ADVERB. The sentence
below illustrates this.
– Her voice is pleasant to hear.
• The phrase to hear tells us something more about the quality of being
pleasant.
• The word pleasant is an adjective, and words that tell us more about an
adjective are traditionally called adverbs.
The Infinitive and Meaning
• If we take the meaning, (semantics) then
the infinitive could be viewed as a pure,
unadulterated form of a VERB.
• This pure meaning we modify, change, or
mutate, by imposing on it such things as
tense, modality, voice, etc.
• The infinitive in itself (semantically) is a
pure ACTION WORD (to do, to write, etc) or
a word denoting EXISTENCE (to be)
Gerund
 Gerund
• A gerund is a non-finite verb and is
often referred to as a VERBAL
NOUN.
• There are three kinds of non-finite
verbs:
1. Gerund
2. Infinitive
3. Participle
 Gerund
• To understand the gerund, we shall look at
its...
• MORPHOLOGY—i.e. the shape of the
gerund-word
• SYNTAX—i.e. its function in a sentence
• SEMANTICS—i.e. its meaning.
 Gerund
• It has an "-ing" ending.
• Please note that all verbs ending in “-ing"
are NOT gerunds.
• PRESENT PARTICIPLES also have the
same form.
• It is easy therefore to CONFUSE a
gerund with a present participle.
• This is why we need to look at the
WORK it does in a sentence.
 The Syntax of the Gerund
• The gerund does the work of a NOUN in a sentence.
• This means, it can be any one of the following:
• The SUBJECT of a verb, as in the sentence...
– Swimming is good exercise.
• The word swimming is the subject of the verb is.
• The OBJECT of a finite verb, as in...
– You enjoy learning a new language.
• The word learning is the object of the finite verb enjoy.
• The OBJECT of a non-finite verb...
– She intends to begin writing the story soon.
• The word writing is the object of to begin, an infinitive (i.e. a non-
finite verb).
The Syntax of the Gerund
• The object of a preposition...
– He is interested in joining the group.
• The word joining is the object of the preposition in.
• The indirect object of a verb...
– She gave reading great importance in her life.
• The word reading is the indirect object of the verb gave.
• All these functions which the gerund is shown
doing are usually those of a NOUN.
• Depending on the function, the grammatical
case of the gerund will be nominative or
accusative or genitive, etc.
 The Semantics of the Gerund.
• You know that the NOUN is a name.
• The gerund is also a name.
• It is the name of an activity.
In so far as it is an activity, it is a verb.
In so far as it is a name, it is a noun.
• Here are two examples:
• walking stick—the word walking looks like an adjective describing
stick...but it is not—
• walking stick is not a stick which walks. It is a compressed form of
stick for walking. So walking is the object of the preposition for. So
walking is a gerund.
• reading room—the phrase does not mean that the room reads. It
is a compression of a room for (the purpose of) reading. So
reading is a gerund.
Participles
 Participle
• a participle is a word that shares some
characteristics of both VERBS and
ADJECTIVES
• It can be used in compound verb
tenses or voices, or as a modifier.
• A phrase composed of a participle and
other words is a PARTICIPIAL
PHRASE.
 Participles
• Look at these two sentences:
– The stranger ignored the barking dogs.
– I saw a boy riding a bicycle.
• In sentence 1, the word barking...
– is formed from the verb 'bark' and it also
denotes an action; therefore it is a VERB
– describes the noun 'dogs' and therefore it is
like an ADJECTIVE.
 Participles
• In sentence 2, the whole phrase riding a
bicycle... acts like an ADJECTIVE.
– It describes the noun 'boy'.
• The whole phrase is called a PARTICIPIAL
PHRASE and the word 'riding' is called its HEAD...
– and as the head it is mainly responsible for the
adjectival function.
• The word 'riding' also acts like a VERB, because it
has 'bicycle' as its OBJECT.
• Also remember that the phrase 'riding a bicycle' is
an action-based description of the boy.
 Participles
• A participle is a verbal ADJECTIVE.
• It is by birth a verb, but mostly serves nouns
and pronouns as an ADJECTIVE does.
• They are of three types:
– the PRESENT Participle
– the PAST Participle
– the PERFECT Participle.
 Present Participles
• This NON-FINITE verb can be recognized
from its -ING ending
– (e.g. eating, playing, singing, studying,
sleeping).
• However, this fact alone is not enough to
recognize it for sure, because the
GERUND also has the same ending.
 Present Participles
• A present participle does the work of an
ADJECTIVE, but a gerund does the work of
a NOUN.
• Though both have the same form, they are
different in the JOBS they do (i.e. in their
function).
 Present Participle
• These two examples will make this point clear…
– I enjoy singing.
• 'singing' is the object of the verb 'enjoy'—being an object of a
verb is the mark of a noun—therefore, 'singing' is a GERUND.
– She is a singing girl.
• 'singing' describes the noun 'girl'—describing a noun is the
function of an adjective—therefore 'singing' is a PARTICIPLE.
• So if you want to recognize a present participle you
need to take into consideration not only its form but also
its USE in sentences.
 Past Participle

• All past participles DO NOT

have one type of form.
• So they are harder to recognize.
 Past Participle
• Here are some ways to help you recognize
them...
– They often have one of these endings: -ed, -d, -t,
-en, -n
• (as in: developed, hoped, burnt, fallen, grown).
– Sometimes they are formed by making an INTERNAL
CHANGE in the basic form of the verb
• e.g. sung from sing, won from win, bound from bind, met
from meet).
– A third way of forming the past participle is by NOT
CHANGING the form of the verb at all
• (as in verbs: put, cut, set).
 Perfect Participle
• The form of this particular non-finite verb
depends on that of the PREVIOUS one, i.e.
the PAST PARTICIPLE.
• The form is: the word 'HAVING' + the past
participle. (e.g. having sung, having won,
having met, having rested, having seen, etc).
 Any…

QUESTIONS?