Major Functions of Verbs and Verb Phrases

Of the twelve possible functions, verbs and verb phrases perform six major
functions: four verbal, one adjectival, and one adverbial. The six major functions
are: Verb phrase head, Predicate, Noun phrase modifier, Adjective phrase
complement, Verb phrase complement, Adverbial
Verb Phrase Head
Verbs first function as the heads of verb phrases. The following italicized verbs
are examples of heads of verb phrases:
read
eat the cookies
to study
listen to the music
wake up
Verbs always function as the heads of verb phrases.
Nominal Functions of Verbs and Verb Phrases
Verbs and verb phrases also perform six nominal functions. Nominal functions
are functions prototypically performed by nouns and noun phrases. The six
nominal functions of verbs and verb phrases are:
Subject, Subject complement, Direct object, Object complement, Indirect object
Prepositional complement
The Copulative Predication
A. Copulative Predication is characterized by the following features:
it is a discontinuous, binary structure made up of two constituents:
- The Copula - a meaningless or quasi-meaningless intransitive V, like BE and
other Copula-like Vs
which carries out the formal tasks of predication
- The Predicative - realized by an adjectival or nominal phrase which conveys
the meaning of the
predicate, thus performing the lexical tasks of predication
Consider: The show was quite successful.
The show was a great success.
The Predicative may be realized by one of the following Phrases:
Adjectival Phrase (AP)
Noun Phrase (NP) simple/non-clausal constituents
Prepositional Phrase (PP)
Complementizer Phrase (CP) clausal constituents (finite or non-finite)
Examples:
a) This teacher is absent-minded. - AP
b) This teacher is the Head of the English Department. - NP
c) This teacher is in need of money. - PP
d) The problem is that this teacher has not attended refreshment courses. - CP
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Transitive Predications
All transitives share the feature [ NP]. This NP occupies the Complement
position, being governed by the transitive V. The V governor assigns Accusative
case to its governee. The lexical entry of a transitive V also includes information
about the selectional restrictions imposed by the respective item, e.g. Vs like cut
and slice select [-animate], [-abstract] NPs as DOs, while know and believe
select [-animate], [+ abstract] NPs as DOs. The inherent semantic features of
each transitive are also specified in the lexical entry (e.g. [+causative], [+/state] etc.). Features like [+Object Deletion] or [+Passivization] indicate the
transformational behaviour of each item. The lexical entry also includes the
theta-grid associated with the respectivet V. Most transitives take an Agent as
external argument and a Patient/Theme as internal argument.
Causative Verbs (periphrastic, lexical, morphological)
They are transitive verbs inherently marked by [+causative] or intransitive ones
recategorized as transitives and occurring contextually as causatives. These Vs
express either mere causation of an event (cause, make, get), or an event in
which causation is implied, e.g. teach (cause smb to learn), cool (cause sth to
become cool), persuade (cause smb to believe). All causative constructions are
transitive, owing to the fact that causation always implies two roles: a causer
and an affected or effected entity. Causatives can be classified into:
Complement clauses
Complement clauses are a type of dependent clause used to complete the
meaning relationship of an associated verb or adjective in a higher clause. For
example, the that-clause in I thought that it looked good. ( c o ~ v t ) is a
complement clause to the verb thought, specifying the content of the speaker's
thinking. The verb thought, which we refer to as the main clause verb, is said to
control the that complement clause.
Complement clauses are also sometimes called nominal clauses because they
typically occupy a noun phrase slot as subject, object, or predicative. For
example, the that-clause in the following sentence functions as the direct object
of the verb said: I said that I wasn't perfect.
Complement clauses can also be controlled by an adjectival predicate rather than
a lexical verb in the main clause. The that-clause in the following sentence is
complement to the adjectival predicate careful:
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I've gotta be careful that I don't sound too pompous.

Infinitive clauses
Infinitival complement clauses serve a wide range of functions: in addition to
reporting speech and cognitive states, they are commonly used to report
intentions, desires, efforts, perceptual states, and various other general actions.
Similar to that-clauses, infinitive clauses can occur in either post-predicate or
subject position, and in a variety of other structures, although they are by far
most common in the post-predicate position.

Ing-complement clauses
Like that-complement clauses and infinitive complement clauses, ingcomplement clauses serve a wide range of functions. They are used most
commonly in conjunction with an aspectual verb in the main clause (e.g. begin,
start, stop), but
they are also used to report speech acts, cognitive states, perceptions, emotions,
and various other actions.
Although they are most common by far in post-predicate position, ingclauses
can also occur in subject and subject predicative positions.
Subject: My having had what I describe as a mental image of Charlotte Street
was necessitated by one or another of certain neural events.
Subject predicative: The movement's greatest hour was fighting against an
attack on the mwement.
In post-predicate position, ing-complement clauses can be controlled by either a
verb or adjectival predicate in the main clause.
There are three types of conditional statement in English:
1. The open conditional statement.
2. The hypothetical conditional statement.
3. The unfulfilled hypothetical statement.
Type 1. The open conditional statement :
This usually refers to a future event which is conditional on another future
event.
The verb of the main clause is in the future tense with "will" (or sometimes
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anothermodal).
The verb of the conditional clause is in the simple present tense.

If you eat too much, you'll get fatter.

You'll get fatter if you eat too much.

Type 2. The open hypothetical conditional statement:

This refers to a possible future situation which depends on on another possible
future situation. The verb of the main clause uses the present conditional tense
(would + infinitive, or could +infinitive);
The verb of the conditional clause normally uses the present subjunctive or
preterite (these two tenses are identical except with to be). Occasionally, the
conditional aspect of the statement can be emphasised by using the form were +
to + infinitive.

1A If you ate too much, you'd (you would) get fatter.

1B You'd get fatter if you ate too much.

type 3. The unfulfilled hypothesis

This refers to a situation which an event might have taken place, but did not,
because a condition was not fulfilled.
The verb of the main clause goes in the past conditional (would have + past
participle).
The verb of the conditional clause goes in the past perfect (had + past
participle).
Examples:

If you had eaten too much, you'd (you would) have got fatter.
You'd have got fatter if you'd eaten too much.
"Unless" means the same as "if ... not", and has a negative value. It is frequently
(but not only) used in conditional statements where the verb of the main clause
is also in the negative.
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You wouldn't have fallen over unless there'd been a banana skin on the
ground.

The Structure of a Sentence

Remember that every clause is, in a sense, a miniature sentence. A simple
sentences contains only a single clause, while a compound sentence, a complex
sentence, or a compound-complex sentence contains at least two clauses.
The Simple Sentence
The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains only one
clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word:
Run!
Usually, however, the sentence has a subject as well as a predicateand both the
subject and the predicate may have modifiers. All of the following are simple
sentences, because each contains only one clause:
Melt!
Ice melts.
The ice melts quickly.
The Compound Sentence
A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses(or simple
sentences) joined by co-ordinating conjunctions like "and," "but," and "or":
Simple
Canada is a rich country.
Simple
Still, it has many poor people.
Compound
Canada is a rich country, but still it has many poor people.
Special Cases of Compound Sentences
There are two special types of compound sentences which you might want to
note. First, rather than joining two simple sentences together, a co-ordinating
conjunction sometimes joins two complex sentences, or one simple sentence and
one complex sentence. In this case, the sentence is called a compound-complex
sentence:
The Complex Sentence
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause. Unlike a compound sentence, however, a complex sentence contains
clauses which are not equal. Consider the following examples:
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Simple
My friend invited me to a party. I do not want to go.
Compound
My friend invited me to a party, but I do not want to go.
Complex
Although my friend invited me to a party, I do not want to go.
Coordination and Subordination are ways of combining words, phrases,
and clauses into more complex forms. The discussion below examines
coordination and subordination of clauses.
COORDINATION uses coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs (with
appropriate punctuation), or punctuation to combine short independent clauses
into a single sentence. Coordination implies the balance of elements that are of
equal semantic value in the sentence.
Example:
The football game has been postponed. We'll have to do something else.
SUBORDINATION uses subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns to
transform independent clauses (main clauses or ideas) into dependent clauses
(subordinate clauses or ideas). Subordinate clauses are subordinate to (and thus
hold less semantic value than) the independent clause(s) to which they are
linked.
Example:
The football game has been postponed. We'll have to do something else.
The Conjunction
In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated CONJ or CNJ) is a part of speech that
connects two words, sentences, phrases or clauses together. A discourse
connective is a conjunction joining sentences.
Coordinating conjunctions, also called coordinators, are conjunctions that join,
or coordinate, two or more items (such as words, main clauses, or sentences) of
equal syntactic importance.
Here are some examples of coordinating conjunctions in English and what they
do: for presents a reason ("He is gambling with his health, for he has been
smoking far too long.").and presents non-contrasting item(s) or idea(s) ("They
gamble, and they smoke.").nor presents a non-contrasting negative idea ("They
do not gamble nor do they smoke.").but presents a contrast or exception ("They
gamble, but they don't smoke.").or presents an alternative item or idea ("Every
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day they gamble or they smoke."). yet presents a contrast or exception ("They
gamble, yet they don't smoke.").so presents a consequence ("He gambled well
last night so he smoked a cigar to celebrate.").
Correlative conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of
equal weight in a sentence. There are six different pairs of correlative
conjunctions:
either...or
not only...but (also)
neither...nor (or increasingly neither...or)
both...and
whether...or
just as...so
Examples:
You either do your work or prepare for a trip to the office.
Not only is he handsome, but he is also brilliant.
Neither the basketball team nor the football team is doing well.
Both the cross country team and the swimming team are doing well.
Whether you stay or you go, it's your decision.
Just as many Australians love cricket, so many Canadians love ice hockey.
Subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions, also called subordinators, are conjunctions that
conjoin an independent clause and a dependent clause.
The most common subordinating conjunctions in the English language
include after, although, as, as far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, as
though, because, before, if, in order that, since, so, so that, than, though, unless,
until, when, whenever, where, where as, wherever, and while.
Complementizers can be considered to be special subordinating conjunctions
that introduce complement clauses (e.g., "I wonder whether he'll be late. I
hope that he'll be on time"). Some subordinating conjunctions (until and while),
when used to introduce a phrase instead of a full clause, become prepositions
with identical meanings.

Preposition
A word (one of the parts of speech and a member of a closed word class) that
shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a
sentence. See the lists of simple prepositions and deverbal prepositions below.
The combination of a preposition and a noun phrase is called a prepositional
phrase. A word group (such as in front of or on top of) that functions like a
simple, one-word preposition is called a complex preposition.
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Prepositions convey the following relationships: agency (by); comparison (like,

as . . . as); direction (to, toward, through); place (at, by, on); possession (of);
purpose (for); source (from, out of); and time (at, before, on).

General and specific determiners

Determiners are words which come at the beginning of the noun phrase.
They tell us whether the noun phrase is specific or general.
Determiners are either specific or general
The specific determiners are:
the definite article: the
possessives: my, your, his, her, its; our, their, whose
demonstratives: this, that, these, those
interrogatives: which
We use a specific determiner when we believe the listener/reader
knows exactly what we are referring to:
Can you pass me the salt please?
Look at those lovely flowers.
Thank you very much for your letter.
Whose coat is this?
The general determiners are:
a; an; any; another; other; what
When we are talking about things in general and the listener/reader
does not know exactly what we are referring to, we can use a uncount noun or
a plural noun with no determiner:
Milk is very good for you. (= uncount noun)
Health and education are very important. (= 2 uncount nouns)
Girls normally do better in school than boys. (= plural nouns with no
determiner)
or you can use a singular noun with the indefinite article a or an:
A woman was lifted to safety by a helicopter.
A man climbing nearby saw the accident.
We use the general determiner any with a singular noun or an uncount noun
when we are talking about all of those people or things:

Its very easy. Any child can do it. (= All children can do it)
With a full licence you are allowed to drive any car.
I like beef, lamb, pork - any meat.
We use the general determiner another to talk about an additional person or
thing:
Would you like another glass of wine?
The plural form of another is other:
I spoke to John, Helen and a few other friends.
modal verbs
The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will and would.
We use modal verbs to show if we believe something is certain, probable or
possible (or not). We also use modals to do things like talking about ability,
asking permission making requests and offers, and so on.
passivization
The transformation of a sentence from an active form to a passive form.
Through the process of passivization, the direct object of an activedeclarative
sentence can become the subject of a passive sentence.

Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is the verb form used to express a command, a wish, a
suggestion or a condition that is contrary to fact. A verb in the subjunctive mood
may have a different form to one with the same subject which is not in the
subjunctive mood.
Examples:
I was in your position two years ago. (not in the subjunctive mood)
If I were in your position, I would do the same. (subjunctive mood)
The following verbs often attract the subjunctive mood: ask, command, demand,
insist, order, recommend, suggest and wish.
The conditional mood

The conditional mood involves statements in which the results or outcome are
contingent (depend) on a given situation or condition, including, like the
subjunctive, hypothetical situations. The certainty of the outcome can vary from
absolutely certain (not always considered the "true" conditional) through
generally, potentially, and rarely certain to contrary to fact (the unreal
conditional). For example:
If you take LSD you start to hallucinate. (Certain)
When I feed my dog, he usually bites me. (Generally certain)
If he were to arrive right now, we might have a chance to see him.
(Hypothetical/uncertain).
If I made lots of money, I would invest in gold (Contrary to fact).

The Adverb
Definition:
The part of speech (or word class) that is primarily used to modify
averb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs can also modifyprepositional
phrases, subordinate clauses, and completesentences.
Positions of an Adverb:
An adverb that modifies an adjective ("quite sad") or another adverb
("very carelessly") appears immediately in front of the word it modifies. An
adverb that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: it may appear before or
after the verb it modifies ("softly sang" or "sang softly"), or it may appear at the
beginning of the sentence ("Softly she sang to the baby"). The position of the
adverb may have an effect on the meaning of the sentence.
Functions of an Adverb:
Adverbs typically add information about time (rarely, frequently,
tomorrow), manner (slowly, quickly, willingly), or place (here, there,
everywhere) in addition to a wide range of other meanings.

The comparative and superlative inflections, -er and -est, combine

with adverbs as well as with adjectives, although in a much more limited way.
The comparative form of -ly adverbs, usually formed by adding more rather
than -er, is fairly common. The superlative degree-most suddenly, most favorably--is rare enough in both speech and writing to
have impact when used; it invariably calls attention to itself, and in most cases
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will have the main focus and main stress of the sentence: The committee
was most favorably impressed with the proposal.
Defining and Non-defining relative clauses
A defining relative clause tells which noun we are talking about:
I like the woman who lives next door.
(If I don't say 'who lives next door', then we don't know which woman I mean).
A non-defining relative clause gives us extra information about something. We
don't need this information to understand the sentence.
I live in London, which has some fantastic parks.
(Everybody knows where London is, so 'which has some fantastic parks' is extra
information).

Nonfinite verbs
A nonfinite verb is a verb that does not function as the predicate verb in a
clause. While some nonfinite verbs take the form of past or present participles,
they are generally not inflectedthat is, they dont have mood, tense, number,
aspect, gender, or person.
The opposite of a nonfinite verb is a finite verb, which does serve as a predicate
verbfor example, the verbs in She walks, He sings, and I went.
There are three main types of nonfinite verbs: gerunds, infinitives,
and participles.
Gerunds
A gerund is an -ing verb that functions as a nounfor example:
Are you into reading?
Sailing is my favorite sport.
When the same words are used as adjectives, they are participles.

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Infinitives
Infinitives are noninflected verbs that are often preceded by to. They may
function as adverbs:
I struggle to understand.
They may function as nouns:
To read is good for the mind.
And they may function as adjectives:
I dont have time to eat.
Participles
Participles are -ed and -ing verbs that function as adjectivesfor example:
The sleeping cat is brown.
The freshly picked tomatoes look delicious.
I am going to the store.
The kids were dropped off at school.

The noun
A noun names a person, place, thing, idea, action, or anything else that can be
named.
Properties of nouns
Nouns have four main properties:

Case: A nouns case signals its relationship to other elements in

the sentence. The three cases are nominative, objective, and possessive. In
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English, nominative and objective nouns are the same, while possessives
usually use an apostrophe (for plural) or s (for singular).

Gender: In English, most nouns dont have genders. The exceptions are
those that denote specifically male or female people or animalsfor
example, queen, boyfriend, rooster, actress, ewe.

Number: Nouns are either singular or plural. Mass nouns can only be
singular.

Person: Person relates to whether an individual is speaking (first-person

e.g., We the people), spoken to (second-persone.g., You
are people), or spoken of (third-persone.g., Those people). This
property doesnt change the form of the noun.
The Pronoun
A pronoun substitutes for an implied noun or an antecedentthat is,
anoun, noun phrase, clause, or other pronoun that has come before.
Personal pronouns are pronouns that stand in for previously named or implied
people, things, or groups. All personal pronouns in English are listed below.
The possessive pronouns in English are his, her, its, my, our, their, and your.
Theyre usually used as adjectives that qualify nounsfor example, the
pronouns in my window, your fish, and its engine.
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that follows its antecedent within the same
clause. The main ones in English are himself, herself, oneself, myself, yourself,
itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. A reflexive pronoun is usually
the object of an action a thing or person performs upon itself, himself, or herself.
Intensive pronouns are pronouns that give emphasis to their antecedents. They
take the same form as reflexive pronounsi.e., himself, herself, myself, etc.
but they function differently. Reflexive pronouns usually act as objects of
reflexive verbs, while intensive pronouns merely give emphasis.
A demonstrative pronoun points directly to an antecedent that is obvious or
immediately apparent. In English, the most common ones are this, that, those,
and these. This and these refer to objects that are close by,
while that and those refer to things that are comparatively further away.
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun whose referent is unspecifiedfor
example:
Someone sent me a letter.
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An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun that asks a question. The three

interrogative pronouns in English are who, what, and which. Their
corresponding non-question forms are relative pronouns.
A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause (i.e., a dependent clause that
modifies a noun or noun phrase). In English, the main relative pronouns
are who, which, what, and that.For example, the relative pronoun (bold) in each
of these sentences introduces a relative clause (underlined):
The man who came over had a funny smell.

The subject
In English grammar, a subject is one of the two main parts of a sentence. (The
other main part is the predicate.)
The subject is sometimes called the naming part of a sentence orclause. The
subject usually appears before the predicate to show (a) what the sentence is
about, or (b) who or what performs the action.
As show below, the subject is commonly a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.
Types of Subjects
A subject may be one word or several words.
(1) The subject may be just a single word: a noun or a pronoun. In this first
example, the proper nounFelix is the subject of the sentence:
Felix laughed.
In the next example, the personal pronoun he is the subject:
He laughed.
(2) The subject may be a noun phrase--that is, a word group made up of
a head noun and anymodifiers, determiners (such as the, a, her),
and/orcomplements. In this example, the subject is The first person in line:
The first person in line spoke to the television reporter.
(3) Two (or more) nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases may be linked by and to
make acompound subject. In this example, the compound subject is Winnie and
her sister:
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Winnie and her sister will sing at the recital this evening.

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