Verbs , Grammar American & British [ 10 ]

10 - ] Grammar American & British .

Chapter Ten .

Verbs .

 A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement .

A verb is a word for saying something about some person or thing or the part of speech by which we are able to say what a person or animal or thing is or what is done to that person or animal or thing . It is the part of speech that predicates , assists in predication , asks a question and expresses a command .

Verbs have certain features that are not shared by other parts of speech ; they have forms that indicate the time of an action ( present , past or future ) ; they can indicate the duration , completeness or incompleteness of an action ; they can show whether a person or thing is doing or receiving an action , and can even express , in certain cases , the emotional attitudes of the speaker toward the action .On the other hand they do not indicate gender , comparison or case .

Finites And Non-Finites .

Finite Verbs

They are the verb forms that can form the predicate by themselves .

Non-Finite Verbs

They are the verbs that cannot form the predicate by themselves . The non-finites are the infinitives , the present participles and gerunds , and the past participles . All other parts of the verb are finites .

The Verb Forms .

Most English verbs have four inflectional forms ( e.g. walk- - walks – walked – walking ) . Some have five ( e.g.  give – gives – gave – given – giving ) .

No verb has more than five forms except ‘to be’(be – am – is – are – was – were – been – being) .

Some have only three ( put – puts – putting ) ; and some have only two ( modals ) [ can / could , may / might , shall /should , will /would ) ; and must has no other forms .

There are three fundamental forms of the verb + ing form [ the present participle ] . They are the infinitive , the past and the past participle . From these the other forms [ tenses ] of the verb can be made .

Regular And Irregular Verbs .

 All English verbs belong to one of two conjugations , they are either ‘regular’ verbs or ‘irregular’ verbs . Regular verbs are those that form their past and past participle by adding ‘-d’ or ‘-ed’ .

Examples

 Infinitive                                  Past                    Past Participle                    Present Participle

jump                                         jumped                jumped                                 jumping

divide                                        divided                divided                                  dividing

play                                           played                 played                                    playing

share                                         shared                 shared                                    sharing

Irregular verbs form their past and past participle generally by a change of vowel .

infinitive	simple past	past participle
be	was/were	been
bear	bore	borne/born
beat	beat	beaten
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
behold	beheld	beheld , beholden
bend	bent , bended	bent
bereave	bereaved , bereft	bereaved , bereft
bet*	bet , betted	bet
bid	bid, bade	bid, bidden
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
build	built	built
burn***	burnt	burnt
burst	burst	burst
bust*	bust	bust
buy	bought	bought
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
cut	cut	cut
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
dive	dived/dove	dived
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream***	dreamt, dreamed	dreamt , dreamed
drink	drank	drunk ,drunken
drive	drove	driven
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbid	forbade, forbad	forbidden
forecast*	forecast	forecast
forget	forgot	forgotten
forsake	forsook	forsaken
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	got, gotten
give	gave	given
grind	ground	ground
go	went	gone
grow	grew	grown
hang	hung , hanged	hung , hanged
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
knit	knitted , knit	knitted , knit
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
learn***	learnt , learned	learnt , learned
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie**	lay	lain
light*	lit , lighted	lit , lighted
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
prove*	proved	proven
put	put	put
quit*	quit	quit
read	read	read
rid	rid	rid
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
rot	rotted	rotted , rotten
run	ran	run
saw***	sawed	sawed/sawn
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
set	set	set
sew*	sewed	sewn
shake	shook	shaken
shear*	sheared	shorn
shed	shed	shed
shine	shone	shone
shoot	shot	shot
show*	showed	shown
shrink	shrank	shrunk , shrunken
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk ,sunken
sit	sat	sat
slay	slew	slain
sleep	slept	slept
slide	slid	slid
sling	slung	slung
slink	slunk	slunk
slit	slit	slit
smell	smelt ,smelled	smelt ,smelled
sow	sowed	sown
speak	spoke	spoken
speed*	sped	sped
spell	spelled , spelt	spelled , spelt
spend	spent	spent
spill	spilled , spilt	spilled , spilt
spin	spun	spun
spit	spat, spit	spat, spit
split	split	split
spread	spread	spread
spring	sprang	sprung
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank, stunk	stunk
stride	strode	stridden
strike	struck	struck ,stricken
string	strung	strung
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
sweep	swept	swept
swell*	swelled	swollen
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
thrive*	throve	thrived
throw	threw	thrown
thrust	thrust	thrust
tread	trod	trodden, trod
understand	understood	understood
wake*	woke	woken
wear	wore	worn
weave	wove , weaved	woven
weep	wept	wept
wet*	wet	wet
win	won	won
wind	wound	wound
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written

* regular form (+ -ed) also possible

The trend, in English, and especially in American English, is to standardize the irregular verbs. We do not foresee all the irregular verbs ever being standardized, but some of the more minor variations in less commonly used words will probably disappear in the next generation or two.

The following English irregular verbs are often used in the standard past and participle forms (-ed).

dwell

lean

smell

spell

spill

spoil

Note: The words can, may and must are Modals.

** The verb lie in the meaning of not to tell the truth is a regular verb.

*** The following verbs use the standard past and participle forms (-ed) in American English.

burn

dream

learn

saw

1. all 3 forms are similar

infinitive	simple past	past participle
bet*	bet	bet
burst	burst	burst
cost	cost	cost
cut	cut	cut
hit	hit	hit
hurt	hurt	hurt
let	let	let
put	put	put
read	read	read
set	set	set
shut	shut	shut

2. infinitive and Simple Past are similar

infinitive          simple past      past participle

beat     beat     beaten

3. infinitive and past participle are similar

infinitive          simple past      past participle

come    came    come

run      ran      run

become became become

4. simple past and past participle are similar

infinitive	simple past	past participle
bring	brought	brought
build	built	built
buy	bought	bought
catch	caught	caught
deal	dealt	dealt
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
get	got	got
hang	hung	hung
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hold	held	held
keep	kept	kept
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
light*	lit	lit
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
say	said	said
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
shine	shone	shone
shoot	shot	shot
sit	sat	sat
sleep	slept	slept
slide	slid	slid
spend	spent	spent
stand	stood	stood
stick	stuck	stuck
sweep	swept	swept
swing	swung	swung
teach	taught	taught
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
understand	understood	understood
win	won	won

Notes On Verbs Conjugations .

Some spelling changes should be noted in the formation of past tense , and present participle ( and gerund ) concerning regular verbs :

1- ] Verbs ending in ‘e’ add ‘d’ only for their past tense .

This ‘e’ is omitted before ‘-ing’ in the present participle and gerund .

Examples

dance ,danced , dancing /love , loved , loving / share , shared , sharing / divide , divided , dividing

2- ] Verbs that end in ‘-ie’ change this to ‘-y’ before adding ‘-ing’ .

Examples

die , dying / tie , tying

3- ] Verbs that end in ‘y’ preceded by a consonant change the ‘y’ to ‘I’ before adding ‘-ed’ .

Examples

carry , carried  / marry , married / try , tried / dry , dried / cry , cried

4- ] The final consonant letter is doubled before  ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’ if the consonant is single , is preceded by a single vowel letter , and if the verb is monosyllabic or stressed on the last syllable .

Examples

fit , fitted /kidnap , kidnapped / worship , worshipped / stop , stopped .

5- ] Verbs ending in ‘-l’ double the final consonant even when the last syllable is not stressed . In American English this rule is not always kept .

Examples

control , controlled / travel , travelled [ Am E , traveled ] / marvel , marvelled [ Am E , marveled ]

6- ] The form from ‘to singe’ ( = to burn slightly ) is singeing .

Irregular Verbs .

1- ] ‘Drank’ is the past tense and past participle of ‘drink’ , but drunken is an adjective .

Example

The drunken man had drunk a lot of wine .

2- ]’Shrunk’ is the past participle of ‘shrink’ , but ‘shrunken’ is an adjective .

Example

The shrunken cheeks of the man showed how ill he was .

3- ] ‘Sunk’ is the past tense and the past participle of ‘sink’ , but ‘sunken’ is an adjective .

Example

In his grounds there is a sunken rose garden .

4- ] The verb ‘hang’ has two conjugations in the past tense and the past participle ; regular ‘hanged’ and it refers to death by hanging , and ‘hung’ and it means ‘put on a wall , ceiling ,etc.

Examples

The man hanged himself .

The murderer was hanged .

The picture is hung on the wall .

5- ] ‘Stricken’ is used in certain phrases and struck is the past tense and past participle of ‘strike’.

Examples

‘conscience-stricken’ , ‘poverty-stricken’ , ‘terror-stricken’ , ‘stricken with disease’.

‘struck by lightning’ , ‘thunderstruck’ . 

6- ] ‘Weaved’ and ‘wove’ are the past tense of ‘weave’ . ‘Weaved’ is used with the figurative meaning ‘thread a way through’.

Example

He weaved his way through the crowd .

7- ] ‘Bear’ has two past participles ; ‘born’ with verb ‘to be’  to mean come to life’ and it is always passive . In all other cases ‘borne’ is used .

Examples

Shakespeare was born in Stratford .

He has borne the pain bravely .

The boat was borne out to sea by a strong tide .

She has borne three children .

 8- ] ‘Bereave’ has two conjugations in the past simple tense and the past participle ; ‘bereaved’ regular and it means as an adjective ‘having lost someone by death’ , and ‘bereft’ irregular and means as an adjective ‘deprived of [ a power , or quality ]’ , ‘bereft of hope’ , ‘bereft of reason’   .

Examples

The accident bereaved him of his wife and children .

I was so surprised that , for the moment I was bereft of speech .

9-] ‘Dreamed’ the regular conjugation of ‘dream’ in the past tense and the past participle is preferred in poetry or emotional prose .

10- ] ‘Speeded’ is used with the meaning ‘went at a great speed’. With ‘up’ it has the meaning ‘made faster’ .

Examples

The car speeded along the road at 80 miles an hour .

Production has been speeded up by the introduction of new machinery .

11- ]The past tense and the usual past participle and the adjectival use generally too of  ‘bend’ is ‘bent’ . But bended is used in the phrase ‘bended knees’ .

Examples

See how the wind has bent that tree .

‘ a bent pin’ , ‘a bent old man’

He went down on his bended knees before the Emperor .

12- ] As for ‘bid’ , there are really two verbs ; ‘bid , bade , bidden’ with the meaning ‘say’ , ‘invite’ ,

‘command’ , etc. , and ‘bid , bid , bid’ with the meaning ‘to make an offer at a sale or auction’ .

Examples

He bade us goodbye .

I was bidden to the wedding .

I bade him go .

The auctioneer might say , ‘You , sir , bid $ 500 for this picture , but this lady has bid $ 600 . 

13- ] ‘Clad’ as an adjective of the verb ‘clothe , clothed’ is more usual in the passive .

Example

The poor man was clad in rags.

14- ] ‘Gotten’ is the customary American usage for the past participle of ‘get’ . This form is found in English in the phrase ‘ill-gotten gains’ .

Examples

They have gotten valuable prizes .

He was tried for the ill-gotten gains .

15- ] ‘Beholden’ as a past participle of ‘behold’ has a quite different meaning from ‘beheld’ . It means ‘obliged to’ , ‘indebted to’ .

Example

I am not asking for a favor ; I don’t wish to be beholden to him for anything .

16- ]’knit’ the past tense and the past participle of ‘knit’ is used with compound adjectives with the meaning ‘joined together’ .

Examples

‘a well-knit story’ / ‘a well-knit body’

She knitted a pair of socks .

It is a well-knit story .

17- ] ‘Learned’  is used as an adjective to mean ‘of great learning’ .

Example

He is a well-learned scientist .

18- ] The past tense and the past participle of ‘light’ is ‘lit’ and ‘lighted’ . 1-]  ‘Lighted’ is used especially as an attributive adjective and to mean ‘to provide light’

Examples

We spent the night in the light of a lighted candle [ lighted lamp ] .

He lit the candle .

The candles were lit .

Nowadays , houses are mostly lit by electricity .

Let’s light a fire in the living-room tonight .

Light the torch – I can’t see the path .

This wood is so damp it won’t light .

The moon lighted us on our way .

 19- ] ‘Laden’ from ‘load’ is only used adjectivally meaning ‘burdened with’

Example

He came in laden with parcels .

20- ] ‘Molten’ from ‘melt’ is only used adjectivally . The word is restricted to substances that are normally hard ; so we can speak of ‘molten iron , lead , steel , etc.’ , but not ‘molten snow’ or ‘molten butter’. In this case ‘melted’ is used .

Examples

The mould was filled with molten metal .

The melted snow flooded the valley .

He added the melted butter to the recipe .

21- ] ‘Rotten’ is only used adjectivally not as past participle of ‘rot’ .

Examples

The wood had rooted away .

The trunk of the tree was quite rotten .

There were some rotten apples on the floor .

The wood was so rotten , you could put your finger through it .

He was thrown into prison and left to rot .

Oil and grease will rot the rubber of your tires .

Too much sugar will rot your teeth away .

22- ] ‘Shaven’ is used as an adjective . The past tense and the past participle of ‘shave’ is ‘shaved’ .

Examples

I have shaved twice this week .

He is clean shaven [ he hasn’t whiskers or a moustache ]

23- ] ‘Shorn’ is used as an adjective , and a participle with the meaning ‘deprived of’ .

Examples

The farmer sheared his sheep .

The room looked bare , shorn of its rich furnishings .

The deposed king was shorn of his former power .

God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb . [ Proverb ]

24- ] ‘Spilt’ is used an adjective .

Example

It’s no use crying over spilt milk . [ Proverb ]

She wiped the spilt ink .

25- ] ‘Swelled’ is used colloquially to mean ‘very excited’ .’Swelled’ is also used when the meaning is ‘increased’ or ‘become larger’ .

Examples

Wood often swells when wet .

My eyes swelled with tears .

His face was swollen [up] with toothache .

He was limping because of a swollen ankle .

The group of onlookers soon swelled to [in] a crowd .

The murmur swelled into a roar .

The river was swollen with flood water .  

He is suffering from swelled head . [ colloquial expression ]

The small river had swelled to a roaring torrent with the heavy rains .

My class has swelled from 10 to 30 students .

26- ] ‘Trod’ is used as a past participle with the meaning ‘walked on’ ; and with compound adjectives .

Examples

Many people have trod this ancient road .

It is a well-trod path .

27 - ]’Wrought’ as an adjective of ‘work’ is seldom used in modern English except in some phrases and as ( a verb in the past tense ) .

Examples

The palace has a wrought iron gate .

The frost wrought havoc with the fruit blossom .

Action Verbs .

An action verb tells what someone or something does . Action verbs can express action that is either physical or mental .

Examples

The chorus sang the new song . [ physical action ]

The chorus liked the new song . [ mental action ]

Transitive And Intransitive Verbs .

1- ]A transitive verb is followed by a word or words that answer the question ‘what ?’ or ‘whom ?’ . The word or words that answer the question ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ after a transitive verb are called direct object .When the action expressed by the verb goes from a subject to an object , that verb is called a transitive verb .

Example

She spoke the words of the challenge . [ The words answer the question ‘spoke what ?’ ]

2- ]An intransitive verb is not followed by a word that answers the question ‘what?’ or ‘whom ?’ . When the action does not go beyond the person or persons or the object or objects performing it , the verb is ‘intransitive verb’ .

Example

She spoke clearly . [ The word tells ‘how ?’ ]

A tree grows . [ Not followed by a word or words . The meaning is complete . ]

The only object that an intransitive verb can have is a ‘cognate object’ [ i.e. an object already implied  more or less in the verb itself ] .

Examples

He lived a happy life .

He dies a sad death .

The girl laughed a merry laugh .

She slept a peaceful sleep and dreamed a happy dream .

He sighed a sigh .

3- ] Quite often the same verb may be used transitively or intransitively .

Examples

Intransitive                                                                       Transitive

The bell rings                                                                    The waiter rings the bell .

The window broke with the frost .                                  The burglar broke the window .

The door opened .                                                             The boy opened the door .

Things have changed since I saw you .                            I will go and change my clothes .

Time passes slowly when you are alone .                         Will you pass the salt , please ?

My watch has stopped .                                                     The driver stopped the car and got out .

The class begins at 9 o’clock .                                            He began his speech with a humorous story .

The fire lit quickly .                                                            I have lit the fire .

Practice .

Transitive And Intransitive Verbs .

Write each verb . Identify it by writing transitive or intransitive . If it is transitive , write the word or words that answer the questions ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ .

1-] Hazem takes criticism very well .

2- ] Butterflies and hummingbirds prefer certain plants .

3- ] Mohamad worked diligently on his term paper .

4- ] A person gains respect more by actions than by words .

5- ] Everyone doubts himself or herself from time to time .

6- ] The sun sets early in the winter .

7- ] The water table rises after a drenching rain .

8- ] We finally settled on a price for the computer .

9- ] Zedan speaks four languages fluently .

10- ] History repeats itself .

Causative Use Of Verb .

1- ] With some verbs the transitive use is the ‘causative’ function of the verb .

Examples

Intransitive                                                                    Causative Use Of The Transitive Verb .

The boy ran well .                                        She ran the car into the garage . [ = she caused it to run ] .

Coffee grows in Brazil .                               They grow coffee in Brazil . [ = cause it to grow ] .

Water boils at 100 °C .                                 She boiled water for tea .

The piece of wood floated on the water .   He floated his boat on the lake .

2- ] Sometimes a different form of the verb is used to mark the difference between the transitive and the intransitive form .

Examples

Intransitive                                                             Transitive

The tree fell . ( past tense of verb ‘fall’ )          The woodmen felled the tree . [ past of verb ‘fell’ ]

the book lay on the table .   ( verb ‘lie )            The mayor will lay the foundation stone . ( verb ‘lay’ )

The sun rises in the east . ( verb ‘rise’ )            The firm have raised his salary . ( verb ‘raise’ )

They all sat down . ( verb ‘sit )                           The innkeeper set food and drink . ( verb ‘set’ )

Exercise .

Transitive And Intransitive Verbs .

Construct for each of the following verbs two sentences in one of which the verb is used transitively and in the other intransitively .

1- ] sing 2- ] move 3- ] walk 4- ] taste 5- ] change