English Syntax

Week 5: Verb Phrase

Tristy Kartika Fi’aunillah, M.A.

 Simple VS Complex Verb Phrase

Simple VP Complex VP
• Consists of one word/main verb • Consists of 2-5 words
• The verb in a simple verb phrase shows the • May include one modal verb and one or more
type of clause (e.g. declarative, imperative) auxiliary verbs before the main verb

e.g: e.g:
- She goes to school. - She should have been taken to school.
- Go to school.

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 Lexical VS Auxiliary Verb

Lexical Verb (Main Verb) Auxiliary Verb (Helping Verb)

• It has the most ‘meaning’ • Auxiliary verbs → the verbs in front of the
• It may occur in several forms, e.g.: write(s), lexical verb that help indicating the process of
wrote, written, writing, and (to) write. the lexical verb
e.g.: • Auxiliary verbs express tenses, aspect,
- She goes to school. modality, voice, emphasis, etc.
- Go to school. • e.g:
- I do the laundry be (is, am, are, was, have been, etc)
modals (will , may, can, would, might, could, etc)
do (do, did, don’t, didn’t, etc)

e.g:
- She must go to school.
- I don’t read the magazine.
- I do like you so much.
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 Auxiliary Verbs in Verb Phrases

Meaning Auxiliary Verb (in Declarative pattern) Example

She will go to school later.
modality S + modal + V1 base form
He could make me a pancake

continuous S + be + V-ing I was thinking about you all day.

perfect S + have/has + V3 The girls have all gone out together.

Val’s car was stolen from outside her

passive S + be + V3
house.

interrogative do/does + S + V1 base form ? Did they sell newspapers yesterday?

negative S + do/does + not + V1 base form He didn’t go anywhere.

It does annoy me when they make so
emphatic do (stressed) + V1 base form
much noise.
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 Finite VS Non-Finite Verbs

➢ Finite Verb/Tensed Verb

- The first verb in a complete English clause is either in the present tense
or the past tense, and is called the tensed verb or the finite verb.

e.g.:
Ahmad is happy today. He is smiling widely. We ask him why he is happy but he
doesn’t answer. Apparently, he won a ticket to Dubai last night.

Gerunds
➢ Non-Finite Verb Infinitives
Participles

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1) Gerunds: nouns in form of V-ing
I love running. Running is good for your health.

2) Plain/Bare Infinitives: without “to”

- After would rather or had better
- After modals (except modal+to, such as be able to, need to, ought to)
- After do
- After certain verbs such as causative verbs (have, let, make), hear, help, watch.
e.g.:
I would rather watch a movie than a cartoon. She didn’t like the coffee I made.
We sshould buy a nice present for her. He lets his sister build her own house.

3) To Infinitives: with “to”

e.g.:
I need to go to a hospital. She promised to buy me a bike.
We agree to bring him to a hospital. I failed to get an A in English Syntax.

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 Present Participles: end with V-ing
4) Participles
Past Participles: end with V3

Participles can either function as:

- adjectives (e.g. cooking oil)
- follow a finite verb to help with tenses (e.g. John was cooking dinner.)

e.g.:
Let’s fix the broken window.
We were watching a movie when dad came home.