Unit 2 – Presentation 1
• What is a Verb?
The most interesting word of the sentence. It can show action,
imply different ways of doing things, add verve to speech or
writing, denote states or occurrences, be static, link or
separate sentences, etc.
• What does ‘Verb’ mean?
Coming from Latin ‘verbum’, meaning ‘word’, which in turn
comes from Greek rhema<rhesis (speech), it means: sth said.
How many forms does the English Verb
have?
The
Infinitive
• Full (with to)
• Bare (without to)
• Bare infinitive + ing
The
Gerund
• Present (Bare infinitive + ing)
rd Column
•
Past
(Bare
infinitive
+
ed
OR
3
The
of Irregular Verbs)
Participle
Why do we need different verb
forms and how do we use them?
Infinitives
Participles
All 3 Verb Forms
1) form the grammatical
tenses
2) link sentences together
shorten speech to stop
us using subordinate
clauses all the time
Main OR Finite Verbs
Κύρια Ή Κλιτά Ρήματα= are the backbone of the
sentence and are limited by number, person,
voice, mood and tense.
e.g. come, belong, appear, etc
Auxiliary OR Helping Verbs
Δευτερεύοντα Ή Βοηθητικά Ρήματα= are the
aids of Main verbs in forming the tenses, thus
producing verbal phrases.
They are: BE, HAVE, DO.
Modal Verbs
Βοηθητικά/ Εγκλιτικά Ρήματα= further aids of both Main and
Auxiliary ones but also responsible for changing Moods within a
sentence.
e.g. COMPARE: Strange as it sounds, I’ll look into it AND
Strange as it may sound, I’ll look into it.
They are:
will/ would
must
shall/ should
(need)
can/ could
(dare)
may/ might
(ought to)
Transitive Verbs
Μεταβατικά Ρήματα= are those that take an
object. Usually action verbs, where the effect of
that action is passed on to the object after
them.
e.g. They systematically neglect their duties.
Intransitive Verbs
Αμετάβατα Ρήματα= are those that do not take an object. Usually
verbs of motion, position or state but there could be others.
e.g. “Are you coming?” – “No, thanks, I’m staying”.
Note: Sometimes, verbs can be both transitive and intransitive
e.g. burn: The troops burnt the compound before deserting it
BUT The compound burnt down in seconds.
Some intransitive verbs can have transitive uses
e.g. leak: The water pipes are leaking again
BUT He has been leaking information to the enemy.
Double-Object Verbs
Δίπτωτα Ρήματα= are the transitive verbs that take two
objects, usu. a thing and a person.
Usually found in two possible constructions:
Verb + sth + to/ for + sb
e.g. They sent the goods to us
OR Verb + sb + sth
e.g. They sent us the goods.
Number
• In English, a verb’s number is made obvious
only by the person preceding it and, on
occasion, by the ending of either the verb
itself, or its auxiliary.
e.g. I go – we go, he goes – they go, does he
go – do we go.
Person
A verb’s person is very important & must appear before it! By
‘person’, or subject, in grammar we mean:
i) any proper or common noun,
e.g. Mount Everest is the top of the Himalayas.
ii) a pronoun,
e.g. It used to be considered the highest of summits.
iii) a gerund,
e.g. Getting there was strenuous as well as risky.
iv) a noun clause, or
e.g. What climbers were really after was the adventure.
v) a noun phrase in the nominative case.
e.g. The fact that most died getting there only added to the
excitement.
Voice
• The voice a verb is in shifts the focus of the sentence.
• Two main voices in English:
Active & Passive.
•
An active sentence focuses on the subject (who/ what does sth)
e.g. The robber closed the circuit.
• whereas a passive one focuses on the object and the action
itself.
e.g. The circuit was closed (by the robber) .
• There is also a kind of Middle voice.
e.g. The circuit closed (by itself).
How else can you form the Middle Voice?
By using the Reflexive (-self) Pronouns
What do you know about the Moods?
See Unit 10
And about the Tenses?
See the next Unit (No. 3)
An Irregular-Verbs List for Advanced
Students
• You have been learning Irregular Verbs for as long as you
have been studying English. Do you know what the three
Columns do?
This is where we
get the Present &
Past Simple from
by adding a
Personal Pronoun
in front and/ or a
suffix/ ending at
the end.
This is the form we
use in the
affirmative to talk
about past time.
This is what we use
with the Auxiliary
“Have” (in various
forms) to form the
Perfect tenses OR
with the Auxiliary
“Be” (in various
forms) to form the
Passive tenses.
INFINITIVE
PAST
PARTICIPLE
Double Participle Verbs
Ρήματα με δύο τύπους μετοχής= the verbs that have two
participles:
 one that forms the perfect and passive tenses,
e.g. The great man was struck down with a single blow
and
 one that is only used as an adjective, predicate or suffix in
compound adjectives.
e.g. The war-stricken country could only take so much!
The most common Double Participle Verbs are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
from work: wrought (instead of worked)
from drink: drunken (instead of drunk)
from load: laden (instead of loaded)
from get: gotten (instead of got)
from rot: rotten (instead of rotted)
from knit: knit (instead of knitted)
from sink: sunken (instead of sunk)
from shave: shaven (instead of shaved)
from shrink: shrunken [instead of shrunk]
from strike: stricken (instead of struck)
from clothe: clad (instead of clothed)
from light: lighted (instead of lit)
from swell: swollen (instead of the less common swelled)
Spelling Considerations 1
• PRESENT SIMPLE – 3RD PERSON SINGULAR
 Rule: verb + s
e.g.
reads
Exception 1: verb in –ss, -ch, -sh, -x, -o + es e.g.
kisses
Exception 2: verb in consonant + y + ies
e.g.
cries
read + s
kiss + es
cry + ies
Pronunciation Considerations 1
-s
/z/
Rule
/s/
/iz/
Verb’s last sound Verb’s last sound
s, ss, sh, ch, dʒ, x
p, k, f, t
Spelling Considerations 2
• PAST SIMPLE & PAST PARTICIPLE (REGULAR VERBS)
 Rule: verb + ed
e.g. work + ed
worked
Exception 1: verb in –e + d
e.g. live + d
lived
Exception 2: verb in consonant + y + ied e.g. cry + ied
cried
Exception 3: verb in one stressed vowel + one consonant = double
consonant + ed
e.g. prefer + r + ed
preferred
*British final –l always doubles
Pronunciation Considerations 2
-ed
/d/
/t/
/id/
Rule
Verb’s last sound
p, k, f, s
Verb’s last sound
t, d
Spelling Considerations 3
• GERUND & PRESENT PARTICIPLE –ing FORM
 Rule: verb + ing
e.g. work + ing
working
Exception 1: verb in e + ing e.g. live + ing
living
Exception 2: verb in one stressed vowel + one consonant =
double consonant + ing
e.g. prefer + r + ing
preferring
*British final –l always doubles
Exception 3: verb in ie + y + ing
e.g. lie + y + ing
lying