Lecture 5

Verb, as the central part of speech. Its different classifications.

Grammatically verbs are the most complex and central part of speech. The centrality of the
verb implies the essential role they play in the expression of predicativity of the sentence. Besides
this, the finite verb, being the centre of predication, determines with its semantics the structural
configuration of the sentence. The centrality of the verb is also conditioned by the complex system
of its grammatical categories and various classifications according to their functional, semantic,
structural and valency characteristics.

1. Functional classification of verbs

According to their functions, verbs are divided into three major categories or classes: lexical or
full verbs, primary verbs and auxiliary modal verbs (Biber et al. 2003; Greenbaum & Quirk 1991).
1. The grammatical categorical meaning of lexical or full verbs is to denote action, process
or state dynamically, developing in time. The full verbs are only used as main verbs because of their
lexical meanings (e.g.: Every morning he goes to the office and comes back at eight). They belong to
an open class of words since the English language is always adding new verbs to denote new concepts.
E.g.: to download, to upload, to e-mail, etc.
2. There are only three primary verbs in Modern English: BE, HAVE and DO. These verbs
form a separate class because they can be used either as main verbs or as auxiliary verbs. Primary
verbs can act as main verbs when they realize their own lexical meaning.
a) BE denotes existence in general or existence in some location: Once there was a man
who had five sons; He is at home.
b) HAVE denotes possession or owning something: He has a big family – a wife and six
children. Nick has a new car.
c) DO denotes acting or performing something: They did everything to save the child.
When the primary verbs lose their lexical meaning they are used as auxiliaries:
a) The auxiliary BE is used to form the progressive/continuous aspect (He is having lunch;
Ben is writing a letter.) and the passive voice (Football is watched by millions of people).
b) The auxiliary HAVE is used to form the perfect and perfect progressive aspects:
I have just come home. It has been raining since morning.
c) The auxiliary DO is used to form negative statements and questions, and this is known
as “DO insertion”. For instance: Where do you live? He does not speak French at all.
3. Modal verbs (can, may, must, could, might, ought, have to, be to, be able to, shall, will,
should, would, need, etc.) are used only as auxiliary verbs to express ability (უნარი), possibility
(შესაძლებლობა), obligation (მოვალეობა), necessity (აუცილებლობა), volition (ნებელობა) or
prediction (წინასწარგანჭვრეტა, პროგნოზირება) of the action, process or state which is denoted
by the main verb. For instance, in the sentence – People thought he might have been joking. – the
modal might expresses possibility, while in the sentence – He would probably come. – the modal
would already expresses prediction of the action, denoted by the main verb.
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 2. Morphological classification of verbs

Verbs traditionally fall into two sets of morphological classes: 1) regular and irregular verbs,
and 2) finite and non-finite verbs.
1. The main principle of the morphological classification of verbs into regular and irregular is
the way how they form simple past and past participle forms. Regular verbs form past simple and
past participle by adding the inflectional suffix –ed (play - played - played), while irregular verbs
form them individually (give – gave - given).
2. The second morphological classification of verbs is based on the discrimination between
their finite and non-finite forms. They differ both in the number of their grammatical categories and
their syntactical functions.
There are three non-finite forms of the verb in English: the infinitive, the participle and the
gerund. The participle has two forms: present participle (participle I), which is formed with the help
of the inflectional suffix –ing (dancing, singing, etc.), and past participle (participle II) with the
inflectional suffix –ed for regular verbs and other means of word-forming for irregular verbs
(danced, brought, taken, etc.).

Finite forms are distinguished from the non-finites as follows:

1. Finite verbs can occur only INDEPENDENTLY as a simple predicate without copular
(link) verbs or modal auxiliaries (e.g. Nick speaks five languages.), while non-finite verb forms can
function as part of a complex verbal predicate ( Nick can speak five languages). They can also
perform other syntactic functions in a sentence. The most common functions of non-finite forms are
the following:
 Nick can speak five languages. (infinitive as part of a compound modal verbal predicate.)
 Dancing is my favorite pastime. (gerund as a subject)
 I like dancing. (gerund as a direct object)
 He sat on the sofa reading a book. (participle I as an adverbial modifier of attending
circumstances)
 He saw a dancing girl. (participle I as an attribute)
 There was a broken vase in the box. (participle II as an attribute)
2. Finite verbs have TENSE distinction (i.e. between present and past tenses: She works hard.
She worked hard.) while non-finite verb forms don’t have tense distinction, that is, they don’t have
the grammatical category of tense.
3. Finite verbs have grammatical categories of PERSON and NUMBER while non-finite verbs
don’t have any of them. There is a person and number concord between the subject of a clause and
its simple verbal predicate (e.g.: Nick swims well. he can swim well.)
4. Finite verbs have different forms to mark the grammatical category of MOOD, which
requires a choice between the indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood, while non-finite verb
forms are devoid of this grammatical category.
5. Both, finite and non-finite verbs have different grammatical forms for ASPECT distinction,
that is, distinction between the non-perfect and the perfect forms, on the one hand, and between
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the non-progressive/non-continuous and progressive/continuous forms, on the other. You can
compare these forms:
Finite verb forms:
• He writes poems. (non-perfect, non-progressive).
• He has written poems. (perfect: auxiliary have + participle II)
• He is writing poems. (progressive: auxiliary be + participle I)
• He has been writing poems. (perfect-progressive)

Non-finite verb forms (modal auxiliary must + bare infinitive):

• He must write poems. (bare infinitive, simple, non-perfect, non-progressive)
• He must have written poems. (bare infinitive, perfect, non-progressive)
• He must be writing poems. (bare infinitive, progressive, non-perfect)
• He must have been writing poems. (bare infinitive, perfect, progressive)
6. Both, finite and non-finite verbs (except the gerund) have different grammatical forms for
VOICE DISTINCTION. The active form of the verb shows that the action denoted by it is performed
by the subject of the sentence, while the passive form indicates that the action is performed upon
the subject. For instance:
He writes poems (active)
Poems must be written by him (passive)
He has written poems (active)
Poems must have been written by him (passive), etc.
Due to the above-mentioned grammatical categories of tense, person, number, aspect, voice
and mood, finite verbs are capable to perform independently syntactic function of a simple predicate
in a sentence, whereas the number of these categories being restricted to aspect and voice, non-
finite verb forms are devoid of this feature.

3. Structural classification of verbs

According to their structure, English verbs are divided into simple (i.e. root) verbs, derived
verbs, compound (composite) verbs and phrasal verbs.
1. Simple or root verbs consist of a content morpheme that cannot be subdivided any further
into smaller parts. Such verbs are not numerous. For instance: ask, go, play, take, tell,
declare, etc.
2. Derived verbs fall into four subclasses according to their word-building peculiarities:
a) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of conversion, i.e., zero-suffixation. The
most common type of conversion is “noun – verb” conversion, such as: a cloud – to
cloud; a house – to house; a park – to park, an iron – to iron, a book – to book, etc.
b) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of vowel interchange:
food – to feed; blood – to bleed; drop – to drip, etc.
c) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of replacing the stress:
'import – to im'port , 'transport – to trans'port; ′import – to im′port,
etc.
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 d) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of affixation (a root morpheme + prefix or
suffix). They represent the most common type of derivation. There are many deriva-
tional prefixes used to form new verbs in English:
re-: rebuild, rename, etc.
dis-: disarm, dislike, etc.
over-: overeat, overtire, etc.
un-: unload, unfold, etc.
mis-: misinform, misunderstand, etc.
out-: outbid, outdo, etc.
However, there are only a few derivational suffixes (realize, stabilize, lengthen, moisten,
activate, regulate, beautify, notify, etc.).
3. Compound (composite) verbs consist of two or more roots: blackmail, broadcast,
whitewash, etc.
4. Phrasal verbs are represented by two specific types:
a) the first is a combination of the head verb have, give and take (occasionally some
others) and a noun. Such phrasal verbs have ordinary simple verbal equivalents: to
have a smoke = to smoke; to give a smile = to smile; to take a stroll = to stroll;
b) The second is a combination of a head-verb with a preposition which determines the
semantics of the phrase. For instance: look at, look after, look for, look through, look
up, look out, etc.

4. Semantic classification of lexical verbs

American and British linguists differentiate seven semantic classes of English lexical verbs:
activity verbs, communication verbs, mental verbs, causative verbs, verbs of occurrence, verbs of
existence or relationship, and verbs of aspect (Biber et al. 2003; Greenbaum & Quirk 1995).
1. Activity verbs (მოქმედების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) usually refer to an action
performed intentionally by an agent or ‘doer’. Thus, in the following example, the subject performs
the action which is underlined: He bought biscuits and condensed milk.
According to Biber, Conrad and Leech (2003), there are twenty most commonly used activity
verbs in conversation, fiction, newspaper writing and academic prose. They are: bring, get, make,
play, take, buy, give, meet, put, try, come, go, move, run, use, follow, leave, pay, show, work.
2. Communication verbs (კომუნიკაციური აქტივობების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) form a
subclass of activity verbs that involve communication activities, particularly verbs describing
speaking and writing. For instance: You said you didn’t have it.
Corpus based grammar points out twelve most commonly used ‘communication’ verbs: ask,
talk, call, say, tell, claim, speak, shout, thank, describe, suggest, write and offer.
3. Mental verbs (გონებრივი მდგომარეობის და აქტივობების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები)
denote mental states and activities. Mental verbs express a wide range of meanings such as:
 mental states or processes (think, know, believe)
 attitudes or desires (love, want, wish, need)

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  perceptions (feel, see, touch, taste, smell)
 emotional attitudes (hate, like, love, etc.)
There are twenty most frequently used ‘mental’ verbs: believe, hear, feel, love, think, listen, read,
consider, remember, expect, see, understand, know, mean, want, like, find, need, suppose, wonder.
4. Causative verbs (კაუზატიური ზმნები), such as allow, let, enable, require, cause, force
and help indicate that some person or thing helps bring about a new state of affairs. These verbs
often occur with a derived noun as the direct object (i.e. complement), which reports the action or
event that was facilitated as in the examples below where such an object is underlined:
a) This information enables the formulation of precise questions.
b) Still other rules cause the deletion of elements from the structure.
5. Verbs of occurrence (მოვლენებისა და ხდომილების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) report
events that occur without an actor. Seven verbs of occurrence are especially common in English:
become, grow, change, happen, develop, occur, die.
The lights have changed.
This incident occurred many years ago.
6. Verbs of existence or relationship (ეგზისტენციური და ლოგიკური ურთიერთო–
ბების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) report a state of existence or a logical relationship that exists between
entities. Some of the most common existence verbs are copular verbs: be, seem, appear, go, grow,
look, feel, sound, smell, taste, remain, keep, turn, get, become, prove, exist, etc.
Witnesses said he appeared happy and relaxed.
It was growing dark when we set out.
7. Verbs of aspect (ასპექტური ზმნები) characterize the stage of progress of an event or
activity. These verbs usually occur with a non-finite complement clause following the verb. Some
common aspect verbs are: begin, start, commence, continue, proceed, keep, go on, stop, give up, etc.
He couldn’t stop talking about me.
Tears started to trickle down his cheeks.

5. Valency patterns

The finite verb, being the centre of predication, organizes the sentence structure. In other
words, the main verb, with its semantics, determines the configuration of other elements that are
required in the sentence. This combining power of the verb is called VALENCY. British and
American grammarians differentiate five major valency patterns of the verb in Modern English:
intransitive, mono-transitive, ditransitive, complex transitive and copular patterns (Biber et al.
2003: 119-123):
1. Intransitive pattern (S + V) is a combination of a subject and an intransitive verb (ქვემდე-
ბარის და გარდაუვალი ზმნის კომბინაცია). For instance: More people came. He sleeps badly.
2. Monotransitive pattern (S + V + DO) represents a subject-verb combination with a single
direct object (i.e. complement). Cf.: She was carrying a heavy bag. Tom has built a new house.
(გარდამავალი, ერთდამატებიანი მოდელი).

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 3. Ditransitive [dai'trænzitiv] pattern (S + V + IO + DO) represents a subject-verb combination
with two object phrases: an indirect object followed by a direct object. For instance: His father gave
him the money. They called him Johnny. (გარდამავალი, ორდამატებიანი მოდელი).
4. Complex transitive patterns (რთული გარდამავალი მოდელები) are represented by two
types in which a transitive verb occurs with a direct object followed either by an adjective (e.g.: The
boy made his mother angry.) or by an obligatory adverbial (e.g.: He put the book on the table.).
5. Copular pattern (S + Copula + P) represents a combination of a subject and a copular verb
followed by a predicative which is expressed by a noun, adjective, adverb or prepositional phrase.
For instance: She was a school teacher then. (predicative expressed by a noun)
Carrie felt a little less bold. (predicative expressed by an adjective)
She felt well. (predicative expressed by an adverb)

Study Questions:

1. What does the centrality of the verb imply?

2. How are verbs differentiated functionally?
3. Characterize lexical (full) verbs.
4. Name and characterize English primary verbs.
5. Name and characterize functionally modal verbs.
6. How are verbs classified morphologically?
7. Discuss the main principle of the differentiation of verbs into regular and irregular classes?
8. Name and comment on the non-finite forms of the verb.
9. How do finite forms of the verb differ functionally from the non-finite verb forms?
10. Name the structural classes of verbs. Give examples.
11. Describe the main types of derived verbs in modern English.
12. Describe the main types of phrasal verbs in modern English.
13. Name and characterize semantic classes of full verbs (7 classes).
14. What does the valency of verbs imply? Name the major valency patterns of verbs in English
grammar.