Chapter 3: Expanding Verb Phrases Instructor: Lubna Bahammma Badriyyah AL-Shareef

The Main Verb Is the verb phrase constituent that contains the verb along with the elements that mark the categories “tense”, “modality”, and “aspect” that indicate the STATUS of the verb.

Tense, Modality, and Aspect  Are joined together under one category called “tense” in some books.  Are separate but closely related grammatical concepts.  They differ from each other in both form and meaning.  They may overlap with real-world time but aren’t always the same thing.  It is easier to view the status of the main verb as composed of three concepts rather than one.

Tense, Modality, and Aspect occur as distinct forms  They are marked in three different ways.  For Example: The past tense of PLAY is showed by the –ed ending in played. The condition or modality (or mood) of it is shown by the word MIGHT in might play or by WILL in will play. The perfective aspect is expressed by the word HAS in the phrase has played. The progressive aspect is indicated by the word IS and the –ing ending in the phrase is playing.

Again: The Main Verb Is the verb along with the forms that show its tense, modality, and aspect (the might or will, has, and is in the example above) which are called its AUXILIARY ELEMENTS.

1. Tense  Tense determines the physical form of a verb.  Tense is the only one of the three main verb concepts that must occur in the verb phrase predicate of a sentence.  English verbs exhibit only two tense forms: PAST and PRESENT (in terms of grammatical concept tense that changes the form of the verb, not of real-world time).  They can easily be referred to as Form 1 and Form 2 to eliminate confusion.

How related is Tense to real time?  The past tense form clearly relates to past time, but the present tense form does not necessarily mean the action of the verb is taking place at the present time, perhaps it is a common practice, or something that is habitually done. Examples of how the present tense does not have to relate to present time:

What did your neighbor do last night? My neighbor walked her dog. What does your neighbor do for exercise? My neighbor walks her dog.  She is not walking her dog at the present time; nonetheless, she walks her dog habitually, it is a routine. In early comic books, Superman defeats villain after villain. But in a recent book-length comic, a villain kills Superman.  Here, the present tense form is used to mean a past time idea. When does your plane leave? My plane leaves in three hours.  In this case, it is used to indicate future time.

How do we indicate tense on a tree diagram? The status of the main verb (MV), Past/present, is noted after the colon, MV: Past MV: Pres. This status will be expanded as we go on this lesson.

Example 1: S VP: Pred NP: Subj MV: Past NP: DObj PosPron N VTPosPron N Myneighbor Walked her dog

Example 2 S VP: Pred NP: Subj MV: Pres. NP: DObj Adv: Adv-frequ N VT N Supermandefeats Lex Luther again and again

Definition of a Sentence  Because tense is necessary for a verb phrase to be a predicate, we can expand our previous definition of a sentence.  It is not simply a noun phrase subject plus a verb phrase; it is a noun phrase subject plus a verb phrase that contains tense.  If there is no tense, there is no predicate, and therefore there is no sentence.  A verb that has tense is said to be FINITE  A verb that is not in a tense form is called an INFINITIVE, also BASE FORM.

2. Modality/Mood  Mood denotes the purpose of a sentence.  The mood of a sentence is related to its form.  Notions about purpose – To make statements: Huda was born in (Indicative-the normal unmarked mood- you don’t have to mention it) To ask questions: When was Huda born? (Interrogative mood) To issue commands/orders: Close the door behind you. (Imperative mood) To indicate possibility or eventuality: Saudi women can hold high positions in the government. (Conditional mood)  These are called MOOD, or MODALITY.

How to Construct the Conditional Mood:  We make sentences conditional by the use of MODAL AUXILIARIES or MODALS, also called HELPING VERBS.  The most common modal auxiliaries are: Base/Present FormPast Form CanCould ShallShould WillWould MayMight Must [Notice that they exhibit tense]

 Phrases like ought to, used to, dare to, seem to, need to, happen to, want to, and have to can also act as modals, they are sometimes called SEMIMODALS.  Modals and Semimodals always occur at the beginning of the main verb constituent and they show tense (past/present). Nada might come to the party tonight. This sentence is in the past conditional mood. (use “has to” in a sentence- present conditional)

Example 1: S VP: Pred NP: SubjMV: Past Cond. N Aux NP: DObj VT M Adj N Photography might promote visual awareness

Example 2: S NP: Subj VP: Pred NPMV: Pres Cond NP: DObj ArtPossPronN M VT Art N The president’s speech has to reassure the people

The Conditional Mood indicates Possibility:  The meaning of the conditional mood is always concerned with possibility (and related notions of certainty, obligation, desire, necessity, promise, permission, and even threat).  Because they are related to possibility, these conditional concepts are concerned with events in the future.  Since the concepts expressed by the conditional mood overlap with real-world concept of futurity, modals are sometimes said to express futurity. Mohammed Abdu will perform in Riyadh. (vague promise) Mohammed Abdu will perform in Riyadh during Al- Janadriah next year. (expresses future time together with an adverb of time)

 The verb following a modal auxiliary is always in its infinite/infinitive form.  Tense changes the form of only one word in a main verb: the first word.  The idea that there are only two tense forms in English is not new.  The key word is form; tense in English is a form as well as an idea.  Speakers of English can indicate future time easily by making the main verb conditional and by adding an adverb of time to the sentence. The Cooking magazine will publish chocolate cake recipes next month.

 Aspect indicates that the action of the verb is either completed or continuing.  It occurs in two varieties: Perfect or progressive. 3. Aspect

A. Perfect Aspect  It indicates that the action of the verb is completed.  It is shown by the auxiliary HAVE followed by a PAST PARTICIPLE (had/have + PP). Had + PP is past perfect Have + PP is present perfect  While both version of perfect aspect related to completed action, the “past” and “present” designations refer only to the tense form of the aux. HAVE.

The Past Participle  The word past in past participle does not refer to time.  It refers only to a verb’s form, as past does in past tense.  A past participle is the form of a verb that can follow HAVE.  It is the word that fills the blank after have/has/had.  The past participle of a regular verb is the same as the past tense form, e.g. traveled, predicted.  The past participle of an irregular verb varies with the verb, e.g. driven, written, drunk, sung, become.

Example 1: S VP: Pred NP: SubjMV: PastPerfNP: DObj Art NAux VTPossPron NP The studentHAVE PP her N had done homework

Example 2: S VP: Pred NP: SubjMV: PresePerfAdv: Adv-manner Art NAux VIhard The studentsHAVE PP have studied

 It refers to continuing action.  It is composed of a form of BE used as an auxiliary, followed by a PRESENT PARTICIPLE (is/are/was/were + – ing). Is/are + – ing is present progressive. Was/were + – ing is past progressive.  The “past” and “present” designations refer only to the tense form of the aux. BE. B. Progressive Aspect

The Present Participle:  The present participle is always the –ing form of the verb; no exceptions.  Not every word ending in –ing is a present participle.  Which if the following in the past participle? Julia Roberts was charming to the reporters. Julia Roberts was charming her audience.  Which one means it is a characteristic of Julia Roberts? What does that tell you about the ing form?  Which one means that she was entertaining them?

Example 1: S NP: SubjVP: Pred NMV: Past ProgPrepPh: Adv-place HudaBE VIPrepNP was working atN Aramco

Example 2: S NP: SubjVP: Pred NMV: PresProgNP: DObj MariamBE VTArtN is writing anEssay

The PRINCIPAL PARTS of Verbs  These are the five forms of every verb: (elicit examples) 1. infinitive (or base): used after modals, no tense is shown; it is the same as present tense for a plural subject: Rats like cheese. 2. Present tense: every verb (regular/irregular) takes a singular third person subject (he/she/it/Fahad) ends in –s or –es. 3. Past tense: Regular verbs take –d/ –ed. 4. Present participle: – ing form for all verbs (regular/irregular). 5. Past participle: the same as the past tense for regular verbs, and the form that fills the blank after HAVE.

Irregular Verbs  A verb that either does not form its past tense with –d or –ed or that has a past participle that is not the same as its past tense is called IRREGULAR.  There only about one hundred irregular verbs in English, e.g. Choosechosechosen Drivedrovedriven Fight foughtfought Swimswamswum Sitsatsat

Tense, Mood, and Aspect Together  Tense is shown by the verb itself or by either the modal (conditional mood), Have (perfect aspect), or BE (progressive aspect).  Tense must occur only once for a sentence to be a sentence, remember?  Remember that tense changes the form of the first word of the main verb.  Other words in the main verb will take one or another non-finite form: infinitive, past participle, or present participle.  Conditional mood, perfect aspect, and progressive aspect can occur separately or in various combinations with one another.

Status of a Verb  When you analyze the main verb constituent, you’re always looking for: The forms (the principal parts) of the individual words. How the words combine with one another to create the status of the main verb (tense/mood/aspect).  Only the first word in the main verb is in past or present tense form.

The Main Verb Constituents:  These constituents occur in the order: Tense + modality + perfective aspect + progressive aspect  You begin describing the status of a verb by tense first (based on the tense form of the first word of the main verb), then perfect aspect (if any) + the progressive (if any) + modality (if there is a modal, or the mood is imperative/interrogative- indicative is unmarked).  Tense becomes part of the verb or the modal/aux.  The Schematic of the possible combinations: Tense + (Modal) + (Perfect) + (Progressive) + Verb

What is the status of the verb? TThe candidate’s staff should have been planning more than one campaign strategy. Past perfect progressive conditional status PPrincess Diana has become a tragic figure. Present perfect status MMick Jagger has been dabbling in real estate for years. Present perfect progressive status Can you try drawing the tree diagrams for these sentences?

MV: PresPerfProg Aux HaveBE VI PresPPPresPart hasbeendabbling

The Main Verb May be Expanded  The following schematics indicate how the main verb may be expanded in eight ways: 1. Tense + Verb 2. Tense + Modal + Verb 3. Tense + Perfect + Verb 4. Tense + Progressive + Verb 5. Tense + Modal + Perfect + Verb 6. Tense + Modal + Progressive + Verb 7. Tense + Perfect + Progressive + Verb 8. Tense + Modal + Perfect + Progressive + Verb

Exercises Pp Possible Questions:  Identify the main verbs in the sentences (underline).  Make the main verbs of the following sentences into the forms indicated in parenthesis.  Identify the status of the main verbs and analyze sentences in tree diagrams; label the other constituents in the sentences (Structure: Function). e.g. Thomas Alan has become a music icon since the nineties.