The verb is the most important part of speech. It carries the information in a sentence, thereby making the sentence meaningful. The verb usually tells the action, activity, event, state or condition expressed in the sentence. Take a look at the following:
James works very hard.
The Olympics is held every leap year.
He is terminally ill.
She is quite attractive.
The verbs in the examples above make the sentences
complete and meaningful. A verb can occur alone in a sentence or it can take on
other verbs in a helping capacity e.g.
He plays beautifully.
He is playing beautifully
He can play beautifully.
He has been playing beautifully.
The main verb in the example above is ‘play’ and a main verb comes preceded
by the helping verb in a verb phrase. The verb can appear alone in a one-word
sentence and still be meaningful.
Examples:
Fly!
Run!
Come!
Go!
Types of Verb
Verbs are broadly classified into two, namely: lexical
and auxiliary.
Lexical verb
Lexical verb is a one-word verb that can stand
alone and give the complete information. It is also called the main verb when
used together with the auxiliary verb.
Examples:
Roland killed the goat.
Roland must have killed the goat.
Lexical Verb can also be categorized under
different names based on certain peculiarities.
Finite and non –finite verbs.
A finite verb is a word that limits the action reported
to a particular number or person. It usually agrees with the subject of the
sentence e.g.
Singular subject with singular verb
Bimbo likes fish
My mother has a big house
Plural subject with plural verb:
Students play a lot.
The finite verb also shows the time i.e. tense of
an action or event e.g.
She works hard for the money present tense
She loves him so much. “
She worked hard for the money past tense
She loved him very much “
Non – finite
Unlike the finite, the non-finite is not limited
in form.Verbs found under the non-finite include the:
Infinitives: to eat, to dance, to play etc;
Verb with –ing ending: eating, dancing, playing etc.
Some verb. With –ed or-en ending: fried, eaten,
beaten.
These verbs do not show tense.
Morgan likes to dance [the verb “likes sows tense, but “to dance” es used as object]
Smoking is dangerous to health. [‘smoking’is used as a noun, while ‘is’ shows tense]
The fried fish was tasty [‘fried’is used here as an adjective
modifying fish, while ‘was’ shows tense]
Non-finites do not show an agreement with the
subject of the sentence:
She cherishes playing with boys.
He plays to win.
In the examples above only the verbs ‘cherishes’ and “plays” show relationship with the
subjects.
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Other variants of the lexical verb are the
transitive and intransitive verbs. The transitive verbs are verbs which
compulsorily require objects to make the sentence complete. The intransitive
verbs do not require object, but may optionally take them.
Transitive verbs
Examples:
Messi kicked the ball.
Sandra wrote the song.
Nuru slaughtered the goat.
He gave what he promised.
Intransitive verbs
Examples:
The children are playing.
The man died.
Dupe is eating (a fish).
Albert passed (his papers).
Auxiliary verbs
The auxiliary is also known as the helping verb,
because they occur in a helping position to the main verb.
Example:
John has eaten.
The auxiliary verb also gives certain information
which the main verb alone cannot give, e.g.
John might have eaten
With the addition of the auxiliaries “might” and “have” the sentence above shows that it
cannot really be ascertained if truly “John”
has eaten.
Auxiliaries have two sub-classes:
Primary Auxiliaries
and Modal Auxiliaries.
Primary auxiliaries
There are three of them:
Have (have, has, had)
Be (am, is, are, was, were, been)
Do (do, does, did)
Uses:
(Be) I am writing, (Auxiliary to “writing”)
She is dancing.
(Auxiliary to “dancing”)
We were singing
joyfully. (Auxiliary to “singing”)
(Do) James does not eat dog. (Auxiliary to “eat”)
He did not read the book (auxiliary to “read”)
(Have) I have written two books. (Auxiliary
to “writing”)
She has taken her drugs. (Auxiliary to “taken”)
*The primary auxiliary verbs can also be used
as main verb and are so referred to as the “Anomalous finite verbs”.
This is because they can relate object to
subject by showing person and tense. They do not show any action.
Examples:
I have a car
We are students of that school.
Stephen does his assignments promptly.
She had a sore throat.
They were unhappy at his response.
Mike did his work alone.
*They can also be used to switch places with
the subject of the sentence to form questions.
Examples:
He has eaten.
Has he eaten?
She speaks English fluently.
Does she speak English fluently?
You were there.
Were you there?
*They are also used for tag questions.
Examples:
You know Sylvester. Don’t you?
You have been there. Haven’t you?
She is wicked. Isn’t she?
It must be noted that in a tag-question only
the auxiliary present in the sentence is used. Where there is more than one,
the first is used. If it is positive in the sentence, it is changed to negative
in the tag and if it is negative it is changed to positive.
The Modal Auxiliary Verb
The modal auxiliaries help to convey
conditions such as ability, willingness, permission, obligation etc, they
include the following:
Can, could, may, might, shall, will, should,
would, ought to, and must.
Uses:
Will / Shall
They are used to express events in the
future. Shall is used only for the first person singular and plural.
Examples:
I shall be there in the morning.
We shall arrive tomorrow.
You will meet him at the bus stop.
They will come with the child.
He will pay for the food.
Shall: Is also used in affirmative
statements, e.g.
He does not want me to tell David, but I
certainly shall.
Will: Can also be used to show willingness and consent. E.g.
I will do it.
We will pay them in their own coins.
Should / Ought to
‘Should’ and ‘ought to’ can be used interchangeably.
Uses:
It is used to show future in the past or a
conditional statement.
Examples:
I told her that l should be back next day.
She should have succeeded if she had listened
to advice.
*To express obligation and conditional duty.
Examples:
You should be more careful.
She ought to show more decency
We ought to eat the food.
He should attend the meeting to honor his
father.
*Should: can also be used to show prohibition.
Examples:
I asked the chief whether the boy should go
He should not do things like that.
*It is also used to express probability or
expectation.
Examples:
She should be there by now.
He should graduate without tears.
Can / Could
It is used to show ability in the present or In
the past (could)
Examples:
She can climb any mountain
She could climb any mountain when she was
young.
*It could also be used to express permission.
Examples:
You can go now.
She could bring her along.
*Polite conversation.
Examples:
Can I use your bucket?
Could you help me with this?
*To express possibility
Examples:
He left last year; he can be anywhere now.
We could do it, if we give it a try.
May / Might
To express permission ( formally ).
Examples:
You may leave my office.
They asked if they might go for a swim.
May we set out early?
Do you think we might start early?
*To express possibility or probability.
Examples:
This drug might cure your ailment.
You may walk again.
Her illness might have been cured.
Would
To express future in the past:
Examples:
I wondered whether it would be ready
She asked Tim if she would go.
*In hypothetical situations
Examples:
If l were you, l would slap him.
We would have come, if the car had been okay.
*In polite requests.
Examples:
Would you come with me, please?
I would appreciate your help
*Used in the negative to indicate refusal.
Examples:
He would not (wouldn’t) help the boys,
This window wouldn’t open.
*To indicate that something is natural.
Examples:
That is what you would say.
It is expected that rain would fall heavily
in June.
Must
To indicate obligation in the present or
past.
Examples:
You must do as you are told.
Tina must mend his ways to avoid getting into
trouble constantly.
I must go to the bank if I don’t want to starve this weekend.
She said she must have a new hat.
*To express strong probability.
Examples:
You must be joking
This must be the boy that stole the book.
You must be really tired after your long
walk.
*To express what is desirable.
Examples:
We must see what can be done.
Regular and Irregular Verbs
The term Regular verb is a result of the different verb forms
in English language. Most English verbs have five forms. These forms are: the
past the participle and the –ing (progressive) forms.
Most verbs in English language have five forms, only the verb
Be has eight forms.
Examples:
Be
1. Simple
form . be
2. Infinitive
form . . to be
3. First
person singular (present), am (I am)
4. Second
person singular (present), First,
second and third person plural are (we
are. You are, they are)
5. –S
(third person singular) is (He is, she
is)
6. Past
(second person singular, first and third person plural) were (we were, they
were)
7. Past
(first and third person singular)was (I was, He was)
8. –ing
(Progressive) form being
Regular verbs are those
verbs that form the past and participle forms by adding (-ed) to the simple
form. The irregular verbs have other ways of forming their past and participle
forms. See the following Tables.
Regular verbs
V to- -s -ed -ing
Ask to ask asks asked
asking
Look to look looks looked looking
Close to close closes closed closing
Believe to believe believes believed believing
Carry to carry carries carried carrying
Kill to kill kills killed killing
Kick to kick kicks kicked kicking
Play to play plays played playing
Preach to preach preaches preached preaching
Talk to talk talks talked talking
The above table shows a collection of verbs that have
same forms for the past and participle.
They are regular verbs.
Irregular verbs
V to- -s -ed -ed -ing
Begin to begin begins began begun beginning
Break to break breaks broke
broken breaking
Choose to choose chooses chose chosen choosing
Eat to eat eats ate eaten eating
The examples above with many others like them form
their past and participle forms differently from the use of the (-ed). They are
regarded as irregular verbs.
Tenses
Tense is function of the verb and it primarily relates
the action to time.
This is indicated when there is a change in the form
of the verb, and it should be noted, that tense does not exactly mean time.
From the stand point of the utterance, tense is either Present or Past. Although we talk of tenses in
terms of present, past, future, continuous etc., there are just two tenses in
English language.
Examples:
Daisy looks really cool today Present
I eat Rice regularly. “
She ignored him at the party. Past
He dribbled her expertly. “
All other “types” of tenses are mere aspects of the present or the past. The convention of the language even makes provision for action (which is time after the immediate) because it is hypothetical and dependent on other factors, natural and artificial, which we have no power over.
The future tense
is nothing more than a projection into future, using the variables
available to us in the immediate to do this. Take a look at these:
His family arrives from their holiday next week.
The meeting takes place tomorrow.
I shall leave this shore on Thursday.
We will be moving soon.
A careful look at all these sentences will reveal that though they talk about the future, they are
reported with the present tense. So what we have is reportage of events yet to take place with the present and other aspects of the present tense. We shall now examine the different tenses and their various functions.
Present Tense
The present tense is used in reference to time now or
the immediate. There are other forms or manifestations of present tense, as
will be evident in the foregoing.
Simple Present
A tense is said to be simple present when the verb
that indicates the tense is just one.
Examples:
I like food a lot.
Alex is my friend.
Angela talks fast.
Uses:
The simple present tense is used
a.
For
habitual activities: e.g.
He drinks a bottle of beer daily.
My wife cooks a good pot of soup.
Ben smokes a lot.
b.
To express universal
truths: e.g.
Mt. Everest is the highest in the world.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Women carry babies in their wombs before birth.
Mt. Everest is the highest in the world.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Women carry babies in their wombs before birth.
c. For events in the future
that are certain:
The game kicks off tomorrow.
The wedding comes up next weekend.
4. To express action in the
present:
He nods his head in time to the beat.
The food is hot.
e.
For commentaries and pronouncement:
I declare the games open.
The chairman takes his time to pontificate
his speech with loud gestures.
He takes the bottle to the fridge, opens the door, clears the lower rung and places the bottle there.
He takes the bottle to the fridge, opens the door, clears the lower rung and places the bottle there.
f.
To express fixed action:
We pray at 10p.m
I teach the class twice a week.
Past Tense
The simple past refers to
one verb element that relates time to action. The uses are as follows:
a.
To express events that took place before the time of
speaking:
I went home early yesterday.
She slapped him at the party.
Wale ate a bowl of beans.
b.
To express hypothetical:
I would go, if I were you.
In the same circumstance, she would do it.
c.
To communicate
Polite requests and conversations:
Should I wait for you?
Did you ask for the key?
Could you lend me your pen?
The Future Tense
The future tense is based
on present circumstances and plans for the projected events. The change in the
form of verb to express the present and the past is not present in the future.
However, there are a number of ways to express the future tense.
a. The simple present:
The plane
departs by 8pm tonight.
The new
Rector resumes tomorrow.
b. The present progressive
aspect (-ing):
She is
coming back tonight.
We are
looking forward to your visit.
c. The modal auxiliary
verbs will/shall:
We shall
leave New York next month.
You will
feel better, if you take this drug.
d. Will and shall with the
present progressive aspect –ing.
I will be
going home soon.
We shall
be relocating to London next year.
e. By using ‘going’ and ‘to be’ infinitive.
We are going
to be late for the service.
It is
going to be windy tomorrow.
f.
By using about to infinitive.
I am
about to finish the task.
They are
about to leave.
Tense Aspects
The Progressive Aspect (-ing)
This is also known as the
continuous tense. This is used with the present tense and the past tense to
express progression in the action or event.
Example
The boy
is dancing. Present
Tense
He was
coughing in the night. Past Tense
The progressive aspect
limits the action to a period or duration.
She eats a lot of mangoes. (Fixed action/activity)
She is eating a bunch of bananas. (Action ends after the period).
The Perfective Aspect
The perfective aspect is
both present and past. The present prefect expresses an event in the past with
a present relevance. This is achieved by combining the auxiliary ‘have’ with the participle of the verb.
Example:
I have
washed my face.
The bin
has been emptied
In the past perfect, the
past of the auxiliary have (had) is combined with the participle.
Example:
I had
washed my face.
The bin
had been emptied.
The
Progressive and Perfective aspects in combination are found in the verb phrase.
Examples:
The
man has been waiting for you.
He
should have been rewarded for his honesty.
I
have been dancing on my seat.
She
would have enjoyed meeting you.
In any of
these combinations, the first verb is responsible for the tense. When the
perfective and progressive aspects are present in a combination, the perfective
aspect must precede the progressive.
Examples:
She has been singing a
lullaby.
*Has is present and comes before the progressive ‘singing’.
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