A verb phrase consists of a main verb alone, or a main verb plus any
modal and/or auxiliary verbs. The main verb always comes last in the verb
phrase:
A simple verb phrase consists of a main verb. The verb in a simple verb
phrase shows the type of clause (e.g. declarative, imperative):
Your camera takes fantastic pictures. (present simple, declarative clause)
Dress smartly. Arrive on time. (imperative clauses)
A complex verb phrase may include one modal verb and one or more
auxiliary verbs before the main verb. A modal verb always comes before any
auxiliary verbs:
Auxiliary verbs give different types of meanings to a verb phrase.
|
meaning
|
auxiliary verb (+ form of main verb)
|
example
|
|
|
continuous
|
be + -ing form
|
I was
thinking about you all day.
|
|
|
perfect
|
have + -ed form
|
The girls have all gone out
together.
|
|
|
passive
|
be + -ed form
|
Val’s car was
stolen from outside her house.
|
|
|
interrogative
|
do +
subject + base form
|
Do they sell newspapers
in your local shop?
|
|
|
negative
|
do + not + base
form
|
It didn’t
last very long.
|
|
|
emphatic
|
do (stressed)
+ base form
|
It does annoy me
when they make so much noise.
|
The continuous, perfect and passive meanings of auxiliary verbs may be
combined in a verb phrase, and auxiliary verbs may combine with modal verbs.
The order of the different types (and meanings) of verbs in the verb
phrase is shown in the table as 1–5, from left to right.
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
|
subject
|
modal verb
|
perfecthave
|
continuousbe
|
passivebe
|
main verb
|
|
must be followed by base form
|
must be followed by -edform
|
must be followed by -ingform
|
must be followed by -edform
|
||
|
Prices
|
rose.
|
||||
|
She
|
will
|
understand.
|
|||
|
The builders
|
had
|
arrived.
|
|||
|
The show
|
is
|
starting.
|
|||
|
Four people
|
were
|
arrested.
|
|||
|
Seats
|
cannot
|
be
|
reserved.
|
||
|
The printer
|
should
|
be
|
working.
|
||
|
He
|
must
|
have
|
forgotten.
|
||
|
Temperatures
|
have
|
been
|
rising.
|
||
|
William
|
has
|
been
|
promoted.
|
||
|
You
|
could
|
have
|
been
|
killed!
|
A combination of all the auxiliary meanings plus a modal verb is possible
but is very rare:
She may have been being interviewed for a job. Perhaps that’s
why she was there.(modal may +
perfect have + passive been + continuous being +
main verbinterviewed)
The first verb in a complex verb phrase indicates the time somebody did
something and matches the person and number of the subject, except when it is a
modal verb.
|
time
|
person
|
number
|
|
|
He has lost
his keys.
|
present
|
third
|
singular
|
|
We were taken
to a big room.
|
past
|
first
|
plural
|
|
I was hoping
to see Professor Jones.
|
past
|
first
|
singular
|
|
I could meet
you next week.
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
Tense
tense (noun): a
verb-based method used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or
completeness, of an action or state in relation to the time of speaking. ORIGIN
Latin tempus "time"
The
concept of tense in English is a method that we use to refer to time - past,
present and future. Many languages use tense to talk about time. Other
languages have no concept of tense at all, but of course they can still talk
about time, using different methods.
So,
we talk about time in English with tense. But, and this is a very
big but:
- we can
also talk about time without using tense (for example, going to is a
special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
- one tense
does not always talk about one time (for example, we can use the present
tense, or even the past tense, to talk about the future - see tense and timefor more
about this)
We
cannot talk of tenses without considering two components of many English
tenses:time and aspect. In simple terms...
Time expresses:
- past - before
now
- present - now,
or any time that includes now
- future - after
now
Aspect can
be:
- progressive - uncompleted
action
- perfective - completed
action or state
The
following table shows how these components work together to create some basic
tenses.
|
|
time
|
|||
|
past
|
present
|
future
|
||
|
simple (no aspect)
|
sang
|
sings
|
will sing
|
|
|
aspect
|
progressive
|
was singing
|
is singing
|
will be singing
|
|
perfective
|
had sung
|
has sung
|
will have sung
|
|
(Some
say that simple tenses have "simple aspect", but strictly speaking
simple tenses are simply unmarked for aspect.)
The
progressive aspect produces progressive or "continuous" tenses: past
continuous, present continuous, future continuous.
The
perfective aspect produces perfect tenses: past perfect, present
perfect, future perfect.
And
the two aspects can be combined to produce perfect continuous tenses: past
perfect continuous, present perfect continuous, future perfect continuous.
The
above is a summary of the concept of tense in English. There are other factors,
including voice and mood, that allow us to create more than the twelve tenses
referred to on this page. We deal with those under the English tense system and tenses.
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