IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
The English Verb
Can you identify the verbs in extracts 1-6 below?
1.
Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper 1.
2.
I just text her five minutes ago2.
3.
Our father, which art in heaven…3
4.
Prodromou argues very persuasively that core chunks such as sort of and you know membership
speakers within cultural communities and project a ‘deep commonality’ amongst interlocutors
which the learner or even the highly successful non-native user may not wish to claim nor has any
reason to claim4.
5.
Closed like confessionals they thread loud noons of cities 5
6.
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe6
Consider the following examples taken from writing produced by ESL learners. How would you describe the
underlined errors? How would explain the problem to the student?
7. In fact, in my childhood, I enjoyed such trips to the full because I could experience various things
I could not do in daily life such as long driving, getting on bullet trains, and seeing scenes I have
never seen.
8. For example, in Japan family structure has changed dramatically for 25 years.
9. This problem is existed for many years.
10. Something strange was happened before I could open to door.
Finally, how would you explain the difference in meaning between the following two sentences?
11. I have lived in Essex for 2 months.
I have been living Essex for 2 months.
1
An English proverb
from a text message my mother sent me!
3
from “The Lord’s Prayer”
4
from O’Keefe et al (2007) p.76
5
from “Ambulances” by Philip Larkin
6
from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
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2
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Tense and Aspect
Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE?
1. There are only two tenses in English.
2. “Present continuous” is not the name of a tense.
3. In English, there is no relationship between time and tense.
In relation to statements 1 and 3, consider the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Melody makes the best soup in the world.
Term ends on the 14th of December.
Christie’s train leaves at 4.30.
Would you mind if I opened the window?
Have you been beyond the fifth floor in the paternoster lift?
Definitions of TENSE:
Briefly, tense is the representation in grammar of the distinction that we make between past, present
and future in our view of time. In English we encode the distinction between present and past tense in
different forms of verbs. (Jackson, 1990)
To the linguist tense is a technical term. It means that there is a morphological change in the base form
of the verb. A verb form which is made with an auxiliary is not, in this technical meaning, a “tense”.
(Lewis, 1986)
Definitions of ASPECT:
Aspect, typically, expresses whether actions or events are finished or unfinished, temporary or
protracted. (Parrot, 2010)
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Aspect indicates the speaker’s perspective on time as indicated in a verb phrase, particularly whether an
action is treated as finished or is still in progress or still relevant to the moment of speaking. English has
two aspects: perfect and progressive (sometimes known as continuous). (Carter and McCarthy, 2006)
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Time-line drawings
(Thornbury, 1997)
How would you physically depict the tense and aspect combinations in the sentences below?
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
I swear it wasn’t me.
I’ve seen him already.
I’m going to see him tomorrow.
I saw him yesterday.
I’d seen him before.
I was going to see him in the afternoon.
I’ll see him tomorrow.
I’ll have seen him before Saturday.
I’ll be going to see him when I get to London.
3
It’s raining.
It was raining.
I propose a toast.
I live in Oxford.
Wood floats on water.
I play tennis most weekends.
I’m taking the car every day this week.
I lived in Cambridge for 4 years.
I was living in Cambridge for 4 years.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Lexical Aspect / Semantic Classes of Verbs
STATES
Quality
Colchester is a quiet town.
Spiders have eight legs.
This soup tastes of garlic.
Temporary state
She was silent when I asked her to marry me.
I had confidence in my ability until this exercise began.
Stance
Who is sitting next to Korina?
We all live in Essex.
Private state:
Intellectual
I know that you are bored.
I think this is too easy.
Emotion / attitude
I don’t like The Spice Girls.
I sympathise with you.
I love McDonalds.
Perception
Can you hear someone snoring?
I can taste garlic in the soup.
I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.
Can you smell gas?
Bodily sensation
My head hurts.
I ache all over.
It hurts me to laugh.
adapted from Jackson (1990)
But what about the following?
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Can you taste this soup for me? Is it too salty?
Look at that cloud!
Why doesn’t anybody listen to me?
I’m loving it
This exercise began slowly.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
NON-STATE
EVENTS
ACTIONS
“Events refer to things that happen. There is no
stated human or other animate instigator or agent
for an event: they simply occur”.
“Actions do not just happen. Actions are usually
performed by human, or at least animate, agents
or instigators. They are normally the result of the
exercise of a will or intention on the part of the
agent”
Goings-on
Activity
Process
Accomplishment
Momentary event
Momentary act
Transitional event
Transitional act
How might you classify each of the following sentences using the terms above?
a) Buses don’t usually run on time in the UK.
i)
Kumiko began her essay in October.
b) The steering wheel hit his chest.
j)
Yifan has already finished her essay.
c) My phone isn’t working.
k) A bomb exploded in the town centre.
d) Wakana kicked the poor innocent kitten.
l)
e) Surprisingly, the bus arrived on time.
m) Students are protesting again.
f)
n) Mark is making dinner for his lovely wife
British food.
h) Cissy sings like a female Frank Sinatra.
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tonight.
o) Zoe grabbed the money and ran.
p) The price of petrol has increased again.
5
g) Evangelia has discovered the truth about
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The weather improved.
The days are getting shorter.
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
EVENTS
DURATIVE
PUNCTUAL
NON-CONCLUSIVE
goings-on
momentary event
CONCLUSIVE
process
transitional event
DURATIVE
PUNCTUAL
NON-CONCLUSIVE
activity
momentary act
CONCLUSIVE
accomplishment
transitional act
ACTIONS
Explain why the statements in the right-hand column are strange:
The bus is arriving
*The bus is arrived.
The bus has arrived
*The bus has been arriving.
I’ve cut my finger.
I’ve been cutting my finger.
Can this help us to explain any of the problems we’ve noted previously?
a) I’ve lived in Colchester for 2 years.
I’ve been living in Colchester for 2 years.
b) They’ve painted their house.
They’ve been painting their house.
Should the distinctions be the same? Compare:
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Norman has written only one novel since 1998.
Norman has owned only one car since 1998.
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IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Yule’s Breakdown of Lexical Aspect
STATIVE
DYNAMIC
PUNCTUAL
DURATIVE
Cognition
Relations
Acts
Activities
believe
hate
know
like
understand
want
be
belong
contain
have
own
resemble
hit
jump
kick
stab
strike
throw
eat
run
swim
walk
work
write
Processes
become
change
flow
grow
harden
learn
From Yule (1998 : 64)
Lexical and Grammatical Aspect
LEXICAL ASPECT
stative or dynamic
punctual or durative
GRAMMATICAL ASPECT
progressive : viewed from the inside, in progress
perfect : view from the outside, in retrospect
Lexical aspect
Implicated meaning
perfect +
dynamic =
completed activity,
retrospectively viewed
perfect +
stative =
pre-existing state,
retrospectively viewed
progressive +
dynamic =
ongoing activity,
internally viewed
progressive +
stative =
temporary state, internally
viewed
From Yule (1998 : 67)
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Grammatical aspect
7
Combining lexical and grammatical aspect
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Modal Verbs
There is no doubt that the overall picture of the modals is extremely “messy” and untidy and that the
most the linguist can do is to impose some order, point some regularities, correspondences,
parallelisms…This subject is not one that lends itself to any simple explanation.
(Palmer, 1979.cited in Lewis, 1986, p.99)
Is this true of your experience, either as a teacher or as a learner (or both)? Can you give examples of
any difficulties you have experienced?
Definitions
Modal verbs belong to the larger category of auxiliary verbs, i.e. we don’t use them on their own; we
have to use them in conjunction with another (main) verb. They are thus sometimes also called ‘modal
auxiliaries’. (Parrot, 2010)
Modality refers to a speaker’s or a writer’s attitude towards, or point of view about, a state of the world.
It is centrally concerned with the expression of certainty, volition, possibility and obligation. Core modal
verbs (can, could, may, might, will, shall, would, should, must) and semi-modals (dare, need, ought to,
used to) are the principal way in which modal meanings are expressed. (Carter and McCarthy, 2006)
Types of modals?
Pure modals
can
could
may
might
must
shall
should
will
would
Marginal modals
dare
need
ought to
Semimodals
be going to
be supposed to
had better
had best
have got to
have to
(Cowan, 2008, p.295)
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Do you find these categories useful?
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
3 Perspectives on modals
Cowan (2008):
-
Responsible for the categories on the previous page.
Identifies 27 different functions for the pure modals alone!
Jackson (1990):
-
Divides all modal verbs into categories of NECESSSITY and POSSIBILITY. Within the
category of POSSIBILITY, ability, permission, and volition are subcategories that apply
when an “agentive participant” is referred to
Lewis (1986):
-
-
can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must – revealing as a “closed group”
(not abnormalities). A parallel with a closed group such as pronouns is considered
relevant.
Omission from this list of HAVE TO and OUGHT TO is significant. For Lewis, the reasons
why they are not modal verbs is illuminating
“Essentially grounded in the moment of speaking – based on an assessment ‘in the
present circumstances’”
Express the speaker’s judgement about the non-factual, non-temporal elements in an
action.
Does any of this help us to explain:
a) The difference between “must” and “have to”?
b) The difference between “You didn’t need to” and “You needn’t have”?
c) Why “would” can have the same meaning as “used to” (but not always)?
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d) Why “I could swim when I was five” and “I was able to swim when I was five” have the same
meaning, but “I was able to finish my essay before the deadline” and “I could finish my essay
before the deadline” have different meanings?
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
References and further reading
Biber, D. et al. 1999 Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman
Biber, D. et al. 2002 Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman
Carter, R. and McCarthy, M. 2006 Cambridge Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press
Cowan, R. 2008 The Teacher’s Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press
Culpeper, J. et al (eds) 2009 English Language: Description, Variation and Context. Palgrave Macmillan
Jackson, H. 1990 Grammar and Meaning : A Semantic Approach to English Grammar, Longman
Larsen-Freeman, D. 2003 Teaching Language : From Grammar to Grammaring, Heinle
Lewis, M. 1986 The English Verb, Thomson Heinle
Odlin, T. (ed) 1994 Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar, Cambridge University Press
O’Keefe, A. et al. 2007, From Corpus to Classroom, Cambridge University Press
Parrot, M. 2010 Grammar for English Language Teachers (2nd edn) Cambridge University Press
Thornbury, S. 1997 About Language, Cambridge University Press
Willis, D. 2003 Rules, Patterns and Words, Cambridge University Press
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Yule, G. 1998 Explaining English Grammar, Oxford University Press
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Appendix 1 : Frequency
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from Biber et al (2002), pp.105-110
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Some introductory tasks
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
Appendix 2: ‘Grammatical behaviour’ of subdivisions of verbs
Perfect?
Progressive
Passive?
Colchester has
been a quiet
town.
*This soup is
tasting of garlic.
*Eight legs are
had by spiders
She has been
silent since I
proposed.
*I was having
confidence in my
ability.
*Confidence was
had by me.
Who has sat next
to Korina?
We are all living
in Essex.
*Essex is lived in
by us.
*I have thought
that this is too
easy.
*I am knowing
that you are
bored.
It is thought…
I don’t like The
Spice Girls.
I sympathise with
you.
I love McDonalds.
Can you hear
someone
snoring?
I can taste garlic
in the soup.
Can you smell
gas?
I have always
sympathised with
you.
*I am not liking
The Spice Girls.
The Spice Girls
are not liked by
all of us.
I’ve never seen
anything so
beautiful.
*Are you smelling
gas?
Garlic can be
tasted in the
soup.
My head hurts.
I ache all over.
It hurts me to
laugh!
*I have ached all
over.
My head is
hurting.
*be ached
Quality
Colchester is a
quiet town.
Spiders have
eight legs.
This soup tastes
of garlic.
Temporary state
She was silent
when I asked her
to marry me.
I had confidence
in my ability until
this exercise
began.
Stance
Who is sitting
next to Korina?
We all live in
Essex.
Private
Intellectual I know that you
state:
are bored.
I think this is too
easy.
Emotion /
attitude
Perception
Bodily
sensation
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It is known…
12
Example
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SUBCLASS OF STATE
IA902 Practical Description of English : Session 5
APPENDIX 3 : EXAMPLES OF EVENTS AND ACTIONS KEY
EVENTS:
“Events refer to things that happen. There is no
stated human or other animate instigator or agent
for an event: they simply occur”.
ACTIONS:
“Actions do not just happen. Actions are usually
performed by human, or at least animate, agents
or instigators. They are normally the result of the
exercise of a will or intention on the part of the
agent”
Goings-on
Buses don’t usually run on time in the UK.
My phone isn’t working.
Activity
Cissy sings like a female Frank Sinatra.
Students are protesting again.
Process
The weather improved.
The days are getting shorter.
Accomplishment
Evangelia has discovered the truth about
British food.
Mark is making dinner for his lovely wife
tonight.
Momentary event
The steering wheel hit his chest.
A bomb exploded in the town centre.
Momentary act
Wakana kicked the poor innocent kitten.
Zoe grabbed the money and ran.
Transitional event
Surprisingly, the bus arrived on time.
The price of petrol has increased again.
Transitional act
Kumiko began her essay in October.
Yifan has already finished her essay.
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(Jackson, 1990)