VERBS

A verb is the most important part of sentence It asserts something about the subject of a

sentence It indicates actions or states of being It has a subject, tense, number, mood and

voice They can be transitive or intransitive

FINITE VERBS

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE Transitive verbs have an object Intransitive verbs do not have an object

I smoked a cigarette I smoked heavily when I was a teenager I wrote a letter to my mother I wrote untidily

FINITE VERBS

Tense

Present – I work Future – I will work Past – I worked

FINITE VERBS

ASPECT Continuous – ING

Present – I am workingFuture – I will be workingPast – I was working

FINITE VERBS

ASPECT Perfect (past)

Present – I have workedFuture – I will have workedPast – I had worked

FINITE VERBS

MOOD This indicates more exactly the sense of the verb

– the state of mind of the speakerThe Indicative – facts and questionsThe Imperative – a command or polite/strong requestThe Subjunctive – used to express doubt or

uncertainty or when something is impossible, imaginary, improbable or when expressing a wish

FINITE VERBS

INDICATIVE MOOD The dog has fleas Did she take her medicine I am so hungry This is the most exciting lesson that I have had

today. Was that the bell?

FINITE VERBS

IMPERATIVE MOOD Sit down immediately! Do come and join us; be sure to bring your own

wine. You must be home by midnight Learn this work if you want to do well in the

exams.

FINITE VERBS

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

If I were to win the lotto, I would retire Heaven preserve us! (Note: this is expressing a

wish rather than a command) If you were to learn hard, you would do well.

FINITE VERBS

VOICE

The voice of the verb indicates whether the action is being performed by the subject, or whether the subject has the action done to it by someone or something else.

The two voices are Active and Passive

FINITE VERBS

ACTIVE VOICE – who/what is performing the action is as important as the action. Tim killed the chicken hawk The sun shone in my eyes The Matrics are speaking to the Grade Eights

during assembly today Mary sold her car to her brother

FINITE VERBS

PASSIVE VOICE – more significant is the action that is felt/done by someone/thing else Who is doing it is relatively unimportant and who is responsible is not always stated It is felt that you should work hard It has been decided that you will stay in for break You have been seen by the policemen

VERBS

Three forms: Finite Non Finite Auxiliary

FINITE VERBS

They have a subject whether implied or present (You) Stand when a teacher enters the room Dracula bites his victims on the neck Students love grammar (You) Write this down in your books

NON FINITE VERBS

Verbal forms that do not have subject, number and tense are non-finite verbs.

There are three kinds Infinitives – to + verb Gerunds – verb + ing Participles

present – verb + ingPast – verb + ed

NON FINITE VERBS

INFINITIVES I want to walk alone She likes to sleep in the afternoon To dream is to be conscious “To be or not to be: that is the question” I love to sing in the shower Mary wanted to do well in the test.

NON FINITE VERBS

INFINITIVES FACTS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THEM

They can’t be splitThey behave as part verb and part noun

NON FINITE VERBS

GERUNDS These forms behave like nouns and verbs

Running is fun when you’re fit.The singing of the choir was glorious. I enjoyed the swimming we watched at Newlands last

night.Her spelling was extremely poor until she began to

read.

NON FINITE VERBS

Participles These forms behave like verbs and adjectives They generally indicate the aspect of a verb (i.e.

completeness or incompleteness of an action) Present participles usually end in –ing Past participles usually end in -ed

NON FINITE VERBS

Present Participles – part verb/part adjective I am singing in the choir this year She was sleeping during the lesson when the

principal walked into the classroom The crying child aroused much sympathy from

all those who heard her. A bubbling brook is a pleasant sound to listen to.

AUXILIARY VERBS

Lend a helping hand: together with a non-finite part of the verb form a finite verb Some auxiliary verbs show us the tense (time)

and the aspect (simple, continuous/progressive and perfect/past) of the verb

Some are used to express shades of meaning rather than tense – these are called modal auxiliary verbs

AUXILIARY VERBS

Tense and Aspect It is raining (present continuous) It has rained (present perfect) I am going to town this afternoon (present

continuous) Mary is playing the piano (present continuous)

AUXILIARY VERBS

MODALS can, could, will, would, shall, should, may,

might, must, ought I must have your autograph, Mr PresidentMay I have your autograph, Mr PresidentYou will do as you’re told, you naughty childYou could do as you’re told, you naughty child

AUXILIARY VERBS

TESTS FOR AUXILIARY VERBS QUESTION TEST – if forming a question, an

auxiliary verb will always start the sentenceMary can do the waltzCan Mary do the waltz? I should learn this work.Should I learn this work?

AUXILIARY VERBS

NEGATION TEST While it is unusual to put the word “not”

immediately after a finite verb, one usually puts the word not after an auxiliary verb I can eat my supper I cannot eat my supper I will work hard I will not work hard