Alimo Uirissone Manuel

Aminodine juma
Domingos Victor Zacarias
Ernesto Sebastião Buraimo
Izaque Atibo Jaime

VERB AND VERB PHRASE

Universidade Rovuma
Nampula
2023

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 Alimo Uirissone Manuel
Aminodine juma
Domingos Victor Zacarias
Ernesto Sebastião Buraimo
Izaque Atibo Jaime

VERB AND VERB PHRASE

Essay presented to the faculty of arts and social

sciences, department of sciences and language
communication. English course year two in partial
fulfilment of the subject: Syntax I. Under
orientation of Erasmo Tocota M.A.

Universidade Rovuma
Nampula

2
 2023
Content
Introduction....................................................................................................................2

The Verb and verb phrase (VP).....................................................................................3

The verb and verb group................................................................................................3

Concept of Verb.............................................................................................................3

Verb phrase....................................................................................................................4

Types of Verb Phrase.....................................................................................................5

Finite Verb Phrase.........................................................................................................5

Non-finite Verb Phrase..................................................................................................5

The complement of the verb group................................................................................6

The subcategories of the verb phrase.............................................................................6

Transitive or Monotransitive verb group (vgrp)............................................................6

1.1.2 Intransitive verb group..........................................................................................8

1.1.3. Ditransitive verb group........................................................................................9

1.1.4. Intensive verb group..........................................................................................10

1.1.5. Complex transitive vgrp.....................................................................................12

1.1.6 Prepositional verb phrase....................................................................................14

Conclusion...................................................................................................................16

References...................................................................................................................17

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Introduction
In this study of language structure, we're going to explore verbs. These words are at the
core of how we communicate. They help us talk about actions, events, and states.
Whether a sentence is simple or complex, verbs are crucial for giving it meaning and
structure. Understanding verbs is not just important for grammar; it is essential for clear
communication.
As we dig into verbs, we will see that they come in different types and have various
functions in sentences. We will also focus on their sub-categories such as (transitive,
intransitive, ditransitive, intensive, complex transitive, prepositional verb phrase), the
comprehension of verbs transcends mere grammatical significance; it forms an
indispensable facet of effective communication.

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The Verb and verb phrase (VP)

The verb and verb group

Verbs in English can be distinguished by the kinds of marking they can take and by
what they can co-occur with. English verbs all function inside verb phrases (VPs). The
one constituent that a Verb Phrase (VP) must contain is a verb (V). VPs are centred on
V.

Concept of Verb
The term 'verb' originally comes from 'were', a proto-Indo European word which
means a 'word'. It comes to English through the Latin word 'Verbum' and the old French
word 'Verbe'.
Verbs are words that express action or a state of being. A verb is a doing word that
shows an action, an event, or a state. A sentence may have either a main verb or a
helping verb, or both. In other words, a verb is a word that informs about an action, an
existence of something or an occurrence (Idioms 2021).
According to Palmer (1965), a verb or a verb phrase is so central to the structure of the
sentence that 'no syntactic analysis can proceed without a careful consideration of it.
Verbs are the hearts of English sentences (Learn English 2021).
For instance:
Jacob walks in the morning. (A usual action)
Anna is a good girl. (A state of being)
She teaches English lessons. (A usual action)

He drives to school every day. (habitual actions)

Verbs are related to a lot of other factors, like the subject, person, number, tense,
mood, voice, etc. Verbs are an important part of the English language (Dictionary
2020).
Simply put, a verb can be defined as a word that expresses an action or a state of being.
Most verbs provide key information about the subject of a sentence and are central to
the sentence's predicate. Whether a verb is literally performing the action in the
sentence or merely linking the subject to the rest of the information, they're always
"doing" something. Verbs are the busybodies of sentences that serve to bring the entire
thought to completion.

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According to Huddleston (1988) the term 'verb' can be applied to a grammatically
distinct word class in a language having the following properties:
a) It contains amongst its most central members the morphologically simplest words
denoting actions, processes or events;
b) Members of the class carry inflections of tense, aspect and mood if the language has
these as inflectional categories.
Verbs

LEXICAL AUXILIARY

IRREGULAR REGULAR PRIMARY MODAL

Verb phrase
A verb phrase is a group of words with the main verb (main verb) and auxiliaries as the
central element (head). According to Carnie (2006, p. 70) "Minimally a VP consists of a
single verb". This means that the minimum verb phrase consists of one verb element or
can be formed according to the pattern of VP → V.
1 He should wait before he can practice driving.
2 You must wash your clothes now.
3 These shoes may be worth thousands of meticais.
4 James might eat the lunch.

The verb phrase is defined in a different way in the generative grammar framework. In
this framework, a verb phrase is a syntactic unit that corresponds to the entire predicate.
In addition to the verb, this includes auxiliaries, objects, object complements, and
other constituents apart from the subject.

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Types of Verb Phrase

Finite Verb Phrase

Finite verb phrase is a form of a verb that shows agreement with a subject and is
marked for tense (Nordquist, 2019). A finite verb phrase is the form to which a number
and a person belong.
In other words, those with an inflected number and person. The verbs were originally
said to be finite if their form limited the possible person and number of the subject. The
Dictionary (2021) stated that a finite verb is the main verb in a sentence. It’s the root
word that drives the rest of the sentence.
In a verb phrase, the finite form of the verb shows a tense distinction between "past"
and "present," and it is associated with person: first, second, and third person, as well as
number: singular or plural. This function is performed by the operator (the first
auxiliary in verb phrases).
For instance:
1 He was walking quickly to the bank.
2 The graduate is writing a CV.
3 Those employees are not trying very hard.

Non-finite Verb Phrase

A nonfinite verb phrase is a type of verb that does not distinguish between number,
person, or tense and cannot normally stand alone as the main verb in a sentence
(Nordquist, 2019). A nonfinite verb is a verb that is not finite. Nonfinite verbs cannot
perform action as the root of an independent clause. Most nonfinite verbs found in
English are infinitives, participles, or gerunds (Wikipedia 2018).
We decided to travel to Mozambique Island. (Infinitive with to)
1 Dancing make him feel alive. (Gerund)
2 We enjoy dancing at parties. (Gerund)
3 They noticed that the cake was eaten. (Participle)
Syntactically, Lexical verbs are the ones that belong to the indefinitely large general
vocabulary of the language (e.g. run, eat, seem, explain, recycle, shatter, prepare, and
depend). Auxiliary verbs, by contrast, are a special and very restricted set of verbs. The
clear ones are: be, have, and do (which can also be lexical) and can/could, will/would,
shall/should, may/might, must, and need.

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A full VP must contain a lexical verb and it may contain auxiliary verbs. In the
following, the lexical verbs are in bold and the auxiliary verbs are in italics.
1. Uirrissone plays the piano;
2. Moreira played the piano;
3. Victor preparers his lecture.

The complement of the verb group

According to Crystal (2008:92), the term complement is used to refer to a major
constituent of sentence or clause structure, traditionally associated with ‘completing’
the action specified by the verb.
Example: Phil dreads [affectionate cats].

The subcategories of the verb phrase

Roberts (2011:70), states that there are further sub-categories discussed in verb phrases
rather than those above, this work also deals with six sub-categories of lexical verbs:
 TRANSITIVE;
 INTRANSITIVE;
 DITRANSITIVE,
 INTENSIVE;
 COMPLEX TRANSITIVE;
 PREPOSITIONAL.

Transitive or Monotransitive verb group (vgrp)

A Transitive verb is one which requires a single Noun Phrase to complement it. Of the
verbs considered above, then, dread, make, spot, throw, and inspect are transitive verbs.
Cobuild, (1990:23) stresses that transitive verb is a verb which needs an object.
Transitive verb is a verb used to talk about an action or event; it is followed by an
object.

SUBJECT-V-DIRECT OBJECT
(S) (dO)

Examples:
1. She bought a new car.
2. They ate the delicious cake.
3. We cleaned the entire house.
4. She read an interesting book.

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5. They painted the fence white.
The NP that COMPLEMENTS a transitive verb is said to function (more specifically)
as its DIRECT OBJECT. So, in She bought a new car, the NP within the VP (a new car)
is complementing the transitive verb bought as its direct object.

Phrase markers for transitive verb group:

 She bought a new car.
S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Trans] NP
She

bought a new car

 They ate the delicious cake.

NP VP

Vgrp
[Trans] NP
They

ate a delicious cake

 We cleaned the entire house.

NP VP

Vgrp
[Trans] NP
We

cleaned the entire house

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1.1.2 Intransitive verb group
An intransitive verb is one that does not require any further constituent as a sister in the
VP. ‘INtransitive’ means ‘has (and needs) no complement’. Disappear, die, laugh,
vegetate… (and play on one interpretation) are intransitive verbs. Since an intransitive
verb requires no further element to form a complete predicate, an intransitive verb
counts as a complete VP in its own right.
According to Cobuild (1990:20), intransitive verb is a verb which is used to talk about
an action or event that only involves the subject and so does not have an object.

SUBJECT-V
(S)

For instance:
1. My condition deteriorated.
2. Bob coughed.
3. He is dead.
4. We laughed.
5. They disappeared
Phrase markers for intransitive verb group:
 My condition deteriorated.
S

NP VP
[Intrans]

My condition deteriorated
 Bob coughed.
S

NP VP
[Intrans]
Bob
coughed

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1.1.3. Ditransitive verb group

Ditransitive verbs require TWO NPs as complements:

SUBJECT-V-INDIRECT OBJECT- DIRECT OBJECT
S (IO) (dO)
Or
SUBJECT-V-DIRECT OBJECT- INDIRECT OBJECT
(S) (dO) (iO)

For example:
1. They sent me an invitation to the party.
2. He brought his friends some snacks for the movie night.
3. We lent our neighbours a hand when they were moving.
4. They offered her a job at the company.
5. She showed the tourists the famous landmarks.
6. William gave the bleach to Gorneril.
The first complement (the NP in bold) functions, more specifically, as the INDIRECT
OBJECT of the ditransitive verb. Indirect objects are usually the recipients or
beneficiaries of the action. The second complement NP (in italics) functions as the
direct object – it has the same function as the NP that complements a transitive verb.

Phrase marker for ditransitive verb group:

 She showed the tourists the famous landmarks.

NP VP

Vgrp NP NP
She [Ditrans]
the tourists
showed
the famous landmarks

 They sent me an invitation to the party

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 S

NP VP

Vgrp NP PP
They [Ditrans]
me an invitation to the party
Sent
The PP corresponding to an indirect object NP has a special status. With transitive
verbs, when a PP follows the direct object NP, it is not part of the complementation of
the verb but is an optional modifier. As mentioned, indirect objects can take the form
of either an NP or a PP containing to or for. So PPs that correspond to indirect objects
are part of the complementation of ditransitive verbs
 William gave the bleach to Gorneril.
S

NP VP

Vgrp NP PP
William [Ditrans]
the bleach
gave to Gorneril

1.1.4. Intensive verb group

Intensive verb is used to describe the subject. Intensive verb is the verb which has
subject complement and the complement refers to the subject (Quirk, 1973:14).

SUBJECT – V – SUBJECT-PREDICATIVE
(S) (sP)

For example:
1. She is happy. (AP)
2. Mário is a doctor. (NP)
3. Jorge and Maria are in the park. (PP)
4. She became a famous singer. (NP)

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5. He seems tired. (AP)
6. His voice sounds familiar. (NP)

Phrase marker for intensive verb group

 She is happy.
S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Intens] AP
She

is
happy

Intensive verbs require a single complement, which can take the form of an Adjective
Phrase, a Noun Phrase or a Prepositional Phrase. The most obvious and commonly
used intensive verb is “BE”. As the central example of the intensive sub-category of
verb, be is called “the copula”.
Mário is a doctor.
S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Intens] NP
Mário

is a doctor

 Jorge and Maria are in the park.

S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Intens] PP
Jorge and Maria

are in the park

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The complement of an intensive verb functions (more specifically) as a predicative.
Other intensive verbs – i.e. other verbs taking a predicative as complement – are:
become, seem, appear, turn, remain, look, taste, feel, smell, sound. When a verb is
complemented just by an AP, you can be sure you are dealing with an intensive verb.
 He seems tired.
S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Intens] AP
He

seems tired

 She became a famous singer.

S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Intens] AP
She

became a famous singer

1.1.5. Complex transitive vgrp

Complex transitive verbs take two complements: a direct object (NP) and an object-
predicative. The object-predicative in the complex transitive verb group can take the
form of Adjective phrase (AP), Noun phrase (NP) and Prepositional phrase.
SUBJECT – V – DIRECT OBJECT – OBJECT-PREDICATIVE
(S) (dO) (oP)

Examples with the direct object in italics and the predicative in bold:
1 She found the cake delicious. (AP)
2 He considered his answer incorrect. (AP)
3 They painted the room a bright blue. (NP)

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4 I named my dog Max. (NP)
5 She declared the painting a masterpiece in the art world. (PP)
6 They elected him president of the club. (PP)
Everything I said about predicatives above goes for the predicative in a complex VP,
but with one big difference. The difference is that the predicative in a complex
transitive VP characterises (attributes a property to) the direct object, not the
subject, hence the name ‘object-predicative’.
Phrase marker for Complex transitive vgrp
She found the cake delicious. (AP)
S

NP VP

Vgrp NP AP
She [COMPLEX]
the cake
found delicious

 I named my dog Max.

S

NP VP

Vgrp NP NP
I [COMPLEX]
my dog
named Max

They elected him president of the club. (PP)

S

NP VP

Vgrp NP PP

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 They [COMPLEX]
him president
elected of the club
They painted the room a bright blue.

NP VP

Vgrp NP NP
They [COMPLEX]
the room
painted a bright blue

1.1.6 Prepositional verb phrase

A prepositional verb phrase, also known as a phrasal preposition or a prepositional
phrase, is a grammatical construction in English syntax that consists of a verb,
followed by one or more prepositions and their associated objects.
Prepositional verbs are called ‘prepositional’ because they can only be complemented
by a PP. In this, they contrast with [intens] verbs, which can be complemented by NP,
AP or PP.
SUBJECT – V – PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT
(S) (PC)

For instance:
1 Ernesto had insisted on the scorpion.
2 They stood on her tiptoes.
S

NP VP

Vgrp
[Prep] PP
Ernesto

had insisted on her tiptoes

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 S

NP VP

Vgrp PP
Ernesto
[PP]
Stood on her tiptoes
I shall call the PP that complements a [prepositional] verb, a prepositional complement.
There are, then, three kinds of VP consisting of [V + PP]:
(a) V [intens] + PP. The PP is a complement (subject predicative);
(b) V [prep] + PP. The PP is a complement (prepositional complement);
(c) V [intrans] + PP. The PP is an optional modifier.

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Conclusion
Verbs are the lifeblood of language, enabling us to articulate actions, events, and states
in our daily communication. They provide the structure upon which sentences are built,
giving meaning and coherence to our expressions. As we have explored the multifaceted
nature of verbs, we have come to appreciate that they are not uniform but encompass
various sub-categories, each with its own distinctive role in sentence construction.

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References

Carnie, Andrew (2006). Syntax: A Generative Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell

Crystal, D. (2008). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Dictionary (2020). What Is a Verb? Definition and Types Dictionary (2021). Gerund
Examples, Meaning and Use in Sentences. Retrieved from:
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/gerund-examples.html

Huddleston, Rodney. 1984. Introduction to Grammar of English. Cambridge University

Press.

Nordquist, R. (2019). Finite Verb Definition and Examples.

Palmer, F.R. 1975. Semantic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Quirk, Randolph., S. Greenbaum, G.g. Leech and J. Svartvik. 1973. University

Grammar of English. London : Longman Group Limited.

Roberts, Noel Burton. 2011. An Introduction to English Syntax. 3rd Edition. UK:
Pearson Education Limited.

Wikipedia (2018). non-finite verb. Available at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonfinite_verb

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