25/2/2016 UEfAP Verbs UEfAP Verbs Grammar in EAP Verbs and Verbal Groups Introduction Verbal Group A verbal group is typically a group with a verb as its Head. That verb is likely to be modified either before the verb (premodification) with auxiliary verbs or after the verb (postmodification or qualification) or both. An example is "has been eaten" Verb Verbs are words like "eat", "singing" &"listened". They are defined partly by their form and partly by their position or function Verbs usually change their form that is they inflect. A typical verb such as "eat" has five main forms: "eat", "eats", "eating", "ate" & "eaten". Theses form as often referred to as "base", "s", "ing", "ed", "en". Irregular verbs may have fewer forms. For example "walk" has only four forms: "walk", "walks", "walked", "walking" With regard to their position, they often fit in the following patterns: "The boy the fish", "He carefully". "She intelligent" Their main function is Head of a verbal group. There are two main types of verb: lexical verbs and auxiliary verbs Finite or nonfinite verb A finite verb and hence a finite clause is a verb that is marked for either tense or modality.If the verbform is not marked for either tense or modality, then the verb is nonfinite. The nonfinite verb forms are: infinitive be, eat, lock, go to + infinitive to go, to have, to study, the ing participle (present participle) being, eating, looking the en partciple (past participle) been, eaten, locked Tense Tense is an inflection of the verb that relates to time. English has two tenses: present (study) and past (studied). According to Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad & Finegan (1999, p. 456) verbs in the present tense account for 70% of verb use in academic texts and verbs in the past tense for 15% of verb use in academic texts. It is therefore important to learn them from an early stage http://www.uefap.net/grammar/grammarineapverbs 1/3 25/2/2016 UEfAP Verbs Modal Verbs A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb. Its function is to modulate the meaning of the verb. They have grammatical functions, helping to form complex verbal groups. Examples are “can”, “may”, might”, “must”. According to Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad & Finegan (1999, p. 456) modal verbs account for 15% of verb use in academic texts. It is therefore important to learn them from an early stage Passive Voice A passive clause has the basic form “The distribution was studied.” It includes a passive verb According to Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad & Finegan (1999, p. 477) verbs in their simple form account for 25% of verb use in academic texts. The short passive (without “by …” ) is much more common than the long passive with “by …”). It is therefore important to learn passive forms from an early stage. Some verbs in academic texts occur mostly in the passive form Perfective Aspect Aspect refers to the way an action denoted by a verb should be viewed with respect to time Perfective aspect is realised by “have” + past participle of a verb. According to Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad & Finegan (1999, p. 461) verbs in their simple form account for 94% of verb use in academic texts; perfective aspect for 6% The perefective aspect, however, is commonly used in citations when making general statement about previous research, espcecially when lists of studies are cited For example: Previous studies on the workstudy balance of parttime business students (Campbell, 2004; Guthrie, Logan, & Tuomy, 2003; Smith, 1999) have concluded that most students prioritise work over study On a short course, it might not seem to be an efficient use of time to concentrate on these forms Progressive Aspect Aspect refers to the way an action denoted by a verb should be viewed with respect to time Perfective aspect is realised by “have” + past participle of a verb. Progressive aspect is realised by “be” + present participle of a verb. According to Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad & Finegan (1999, p. 461) verbs in their simple form account for 94% of verb use in academic texts; progressive aspect for 2%. On a short course, it would not seem to be an efficient use of time to concentrate on these forms. Ergative Verbs An ergative verb is a verb that can be either transitive or intransitive. However, when it is intransitive, its subject corresponds to its direct object when transitive. This is particularly important when the passive is used. An example is "increase". It is possible to write: Inflation was increased http://www.uefap.net/grammar/grammarineapverbs 2/3 25/2/2016 UEfAP Verbs Inflation increased Students often write "Inflation was increased." when it would be more appropriate to write: "Inflation increased." These verbs are very common in academic language and other examples are: "accelerate, begin, bend, boil, break, broaden, bruise, burn, burst, change, close, combine, connect, cool, condense, crack, decrease, deflate, develop, diminish, disperse, drop, dry, end, enrol, evaporate, expand, finish, float, flood, fracture, freeze, grow, harden, ignite, improve, increase, industrialise, inflate, join, lengthen, lock, loosen, lower, melt, mend, merge, move, multiply, open, plunge, reload, reunite, revolve, rewind, rock, roll, run, scatter, separate, shake, shut, spill, spin, split, stand, start, stiffen, stop, strengthen, stretch, swing, tear, terminate, tighten, toughen, transfer, turn, twist, vaporise, weaken." See Also: http://www.uefap.net/grammar/grammarineapverbs 3/3