The Form and Structure of the English Verb

1. The form of the verb element is determined by various grammatical conditions.

A. NUMBER – (i.e - The verbal element must agree with the singular-plural distinctions
made in the noun in the subject position)
Examples - ( I am , we are ; she is, they are; she was, they were, etc.)

B. PERSON -(i.e - The verbal element must agree with the person distinctions (1st , 2nd , 3rd)
person made in the noun in the subject position)
Examples - ( I am , you are, she is, we are, they are ; I was, you were, she was,..)

C. POLARITY – (The structure of verbal element is dependent on whether a clause is

positive or negative)
Examples -
POSITIVE - He went to sleep
NEGATIVE – He didn’t go to sleep

D. VOICE - (The structure of verbal element is dependent on the voice of the clause)
Examples
ACTIVE - Snow White ate the apple
PASSIVE – The apple was eaten by Snow White.

E. EMPHASIS (Emphasis can influence the structure of the verbal element)

Examples
NON-CONTRASTIVE – He doesn’t have a car,
CONTRASTIVE- He does not have a car

F. TENSE - (The two English tenses, past and non-past/present, affect the form of the
verbal element)
Examples
PRESENT : She walks home from school / She usually eats her dinner at 7 pm.
PAST: She walked home from school / she ate her dinner at 7pm that evening.

G. FINITE-NESS - (The form of the verbal element is affected by whether the verb is
limited by reference to a definite frame of time)
Examples
FINITE: Garfield loves pizza.
NON-FINITE: Garfield loves eating.

H. ASPECT - (The Situation- ie. action, event or state - which a verb describes has its
own temporal dimension and how we see this time is called its aspect. The aspect of the
verbal element affects its form)
Examples
PERFECTIVE (anteriority) : Garfield has eaten the pizza that Jon ordered
PROGRESSIVE (in progress) : Garfield is eating the pizza

I. MODALITY- (The form of the verbal element is influenced by the use of modals which
reflect our attitude to the message. We can express such things as prediction, possibility,
probability, volition, obligation, necessity, advisability, ability, permission, etc. through
modals)
Examples
I think it’ll rain this afternoon (prediction)
You must be very good in maths if you got a Grade A in your test! (necessity)
You may go now. (permission)

J. MOOD (sometimes MODE) : (Mood describes the speaker's relation to reality or intent
in speaking and this can influence the form of the verbal element.
Examples
INDICATIVE (correlates with giving or receiving facts and opinions):
Garfield is always hungry (declarative clause)
Is Garfield always hungry? (interrogative clause)
IMPERATIVE : (correlates with expressing commands, direct requests, prohibitions)
Shut that door!
SUBJUNCTIVE: (indicating a hypothetical state, a state contrary to reality, such as a wish,
a desire, or an imaginary situation)
Any human being, be it president or common criminal, has a right to live.

2. CONSTITUENTS OF THE VERB GROUP :

a. Lexical Verbs,
b. Auxiliaries

A) FORMS OF LEXICAL VERBS

1. base prepare make put write

2. -s prepares makes puts writes
3. -ing participle preparing making putting writing
4. past prepared made put wrote
5. -ed /en participle prepared made put written

B) FORMS OF AUXILIARIES in Canonical Clauses (aka the “simple sentence” in traditional

grammar)
(extracted from David Crystal, Rediscover Grammar, Pearson, 2004)

Main verb plus upto FOUR auxiliaries

AUXILIARY VERBS MAIN VERB

eat/eats/ate
is /was eating
has/had eaten
Has/had been eating
Might/ may have been eating
 Might/may have been being eaten

(The structure is rare)

NOTE : The special status of the FIRST AUX, i.e. The OPERATOR, in Question and
negative forms)

C) The Structure of ther VERB Phrase in simple declarative sentences (Canonical

Clauses(from : Explaining English Grammar, George Yule OUP, 1998)

It can also be represented as :

Tense – (Modal) (Perfect) (Progressive) (Passive)

Verb

Past - (WILL) (HAVE+ -EN) (BE+-ING) (BE+ -EN)

VERB
Present
1. The left to right order of components is fixed
2. Each component influences the form of the component to its right.

“There is a very regular pattern in the organization of all these elements used to create English verb
forms. We can treat this underlying pattern, shown in the box below as the basic structure of main
verbs found in the majority of English sentences. The forms in brackets are optional and, unlike
the other required elements, are not used in every sentence.” (from : Explaining English Grammar,
George Yule OUP, 1998)