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Verb
Verb is a word class which, in association with a subject, affirms, negates or questions a situation. The situation may be:
Meaning[edit | edit source]
Prototypical verbs express actions, but in slightly more detail they may express:
- state; (stative verbs: be, seem);
- process, (process verbs: change, develop);
- event (eventive verbs: explode, sneeze);
- action (action verbs: run, write).[1]
Form[edit | edit source]
Verb class membership[edit | edit source]
Verb class membership is quite straightforward.
Verb classes[edit | edit source]
There are two main types of verb; auxiliary verbs and lexical verbs. Auxiliary verbs (or helping verbs) can be further classified into primary auxiliary verbs, and modal verbs.
Verb formation[edit | edit source]
Lexical verbs are an open class, and so verbs may be formed through verb formation. This is typically done through suffixation of verb suffixes.
Verb forms[edit | edit source]
There are several verb forms. Verbs may be have finiteness (finite verbs) or lack finiteness (non-finite verbs); finite verbs have a subject, whereas non-finite verbs don't. Non-finite verb forms can be split into participles and infinitives.
Grammatical properties[edit | edit source]
All finite verbs have a tense (either present tense or past tense) and grammatical number.
Pedagogy[edit | edit source]
Verbs are “doing words.”
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- Chapter 3 in A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Lyons, John(1977) Semantics, Cambridge: CUP