Thinking about inflections How to find verb inflections (Part of Dick Hudson's web tutorial on Word Grammar)web tutorial

Finding verbs Verbs are most easily defined by their inflection: –If its lexeme can have a tense (past or present), it’s a verb. So it’s a verb if –it is itself past or present –OR if its lexeme could be past or present.

… if it is itself past or present (1) He stood on the table. stood must be a verb because it is past –Evidence: you can make it present, without changing anything else. –Try it! (2) What’s the matter? ’s must be a verb because it’s present –Evidence: you can make it past.

… or if its lexeme could be past or present (3) He was standing on the table. standing must be a verb because –its lexeme is STAND –STAND can be past or present (as in (1)). (4) He’s been very naughty. been must be a verb because –its lexeme is BE –BE can be past or present (as in (2)).

Finding finite verbs Reminder: A finite verb is one which itself: EITHER has a tense, –i.e. it is either present or past (run/runs, ran) –and could change tense without changing the rest of the sentence OR is imperative –i.e. it’s a command, invitation, etc. (Run!) –its realized by the bare stem –(typically) its subject is ‘understood’ as you.

Why finiteness is important A finite verb may be the only verb in a sentence. A non-finite verb must be ‘supported’ by other verbs in the sentence. –i.e. it’s always ‘subordinate’ or ‘dependent’ (5) She is watching TV. is is finite, and needs no support. –e.g. Yes, she is. watching is non-finite, supported by is. –but not: *Yes, she watching.

Finite or non-finite? The first verb in a sentence is typically finite, and later ones are often non-finite. (6) She has been trying to understand. But a verb ending in {ing} is always non- finite. (7) Understanding grammar may be hard.

Classifying finite verbs Remember: finite verbs are: – either tensed (e.g. They run. He runs. He ran.) ending possible to show tense next to a ‘subject’ noun –or imperative (e.g. Run!) no ending no ‘subject’ noun –‘IMperative’ is abbreviated to ‘m’

Classifying tensed verbs Remember: Tensed verbs are by default ‘present’ (e.g. run, are). –abbreviated as ‘t’ for ‘Tensed’. But exceptionally they may be: –either ‘past’ (e.g. ran, was/were): ‘a’ –or ‘singular’ (e.g. runs, is): ‘s’ (8) Remember you said you think he likes you. V,m V,a V,t V,s

Classifying non-finite verbs Remember: Non-finite verbs are always supported by some other word. –which is often relevant to the classification Perfect (e.g. has been): ‘f’ –always supported by HAVE. Infinitive (e.g. I want to be; I may be): ‘n’ –morphology: always the bare stem –often supported by to –or by a verb such as MAY or MUST

More non-finite verbs (9) I must admit I have tried to simplify. V,n V,f V,n Gerunds (e.g. by working): ‘g’ –morphology: always contain {ing} –supported like a noun Participles (e.g. people applying/selected): ‘p’ –supported like an adjective

Participles, active or passive Participles are verbs ‘used like adjectives’. By default, they: –contain {ing} –have their lexeme’s usual syntax. But exceptionally, they are passive: ‘e’ –morphology: always the same as perfect, e.g. written –syntax: the normal ‘object’ is used as ‘subject’ possibly with the normal ‘subject’ after by: (10) essays written by students studying grammar V,e V,p

Verb abbreviations summarised Mnemonic: Many students fear English participles (8) Remember you said you think he likes you. V,m V,a V,t V,s (11) I must admit I have simplified by using examples.. V,n V,f V,g … containing few words and specially written. V,p V,e

Conclusions Spotting inflections is complicated –you have to think about syntax as well as morphology –you have to think about the lexeme as well as the form. But it gets easier with practice!