English majors and minors, year III, autumn semester 2009-2010

Lecture 8. Verbs III

Primary verbs
Be
1 Main verb be
As a main verb, be - the copula - is the most important copular verb in
English. It links the subject noun phrase with a subject predicative (1) or an
obligatory adverbial (2):
1 Radio waves are useful.
2 She was in Olie's room a lot.

2 Auxiliary verb be
As an auxiliary verb, be has two distinct grammatical functions:
 progressive aspect (be + ing-participle):
The last light was fading by the time he entered the town.
 passive voice (be + ed-participle):
This system of intergovernmental transfers is called fiscal federalism.
These two auxiliary uses of be can occur together in the same clause (the
progressive passive:
A mutual investment fund for Eastern Europe is being launched today with
the backing of Continental Grain.

Have
1 Main verb have
Because have is a primary verb, we have not covered its use under our earlier
discussion of lexical verbs. However, as a transitive main verb, have is as common
as the most common lexical verbs in English. Have is most common in conversation
and least common in academic prose. Within academic prose, though, have is more
common than any lexical verb.
Similar to get, the main verb have can be used with many different meanings. For
example:
 showing physical possession:
One in three of these families has two cars.
 telling family connections:
Her story was this: she had a husband and child.

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 describing eating or drinking:
The kids had 'superhero sundaes' which turned out to be merely ice cream.
 showing where something exists (similar to an existential there construction):
But it really would be nice to have a young person about the house again.
<compare existential there: It would be nice if there was a young person about
the house.>
 linking a person to an abstract quality:
I hope she has fun.
Her visitor had a strong pungent odor of a winter's day.
 linking an inanimate subject to an abstract quality:
Stylistics can have other goals than this.
In these extensions soil science will always have a major role.
 showing that someone causes something to be done:
Maybe you should have it dyed black as well.
In addition, the verb have occurs as part of the semi-modal have to (meaning
must):
I’ll have to blank it out.
Finally, have occurs in a number of idiomatic multi-word phrases, such as
have a look:
I'll have a look.

2 Auxiliary verb have

As an auxiliary verb, have is the marker of perfect aspect. Past tense had marks
past perfect, and present has/have marks present perfect:

Twenty years before, Charlie had passed a whole day from rising to retiring
without a drink.
No one has ever seen anything like that before.

Do

1 Main verb do
As a main verb in transitive constructions, do has an activity meaning. It can
take a direct object:
In that moment Franklin Field did a wonderful thing.
or an indirect object + direct object:

Will you do me a favor?

However, do more commonly combines with a noun phrase to form relatively
fixed, idiomatic expressions such as do the job, do the dishes, do time (meaning 'go to
prison), do some work, do the wash, do your hair. For example:

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 It does the job. It's not a bad little thing.
Well we'd better do some work you know.
I'm used to it. I do the dishes every day.
In these expressions, do has little lexical content. It refers to the performance
of an activity that is relevant to the object noun phrase, but it does not specify that
activity.

A Main verb do as a transitive pro-verb

Do also commonly functions as a pro-verb, substituting for a lexical verb. Pro-
verb do is especially common in conversation. It often combines with it, this/that, or so,
to form a transitive pro-verb construction:
I didn't do it.
Well that's why he did it.
That really hurts my ears when you do that.
The Englishman, half asleep, had broken Lazzaro's right arm and knocked him
unconscious. The Englishman who had done this was helping to carry Lazzaro
in now. <done this = broken his right arm and knocked him unconscious>
'The Chancellor has had to face very difficult economic circumstances both
abroad, which affects us, and at home,' he said. 'He has done so with great
courage.' <done so = faced very difficult economic circumstances>
Notice that expressions like do this and do so can substitute for a large number
of words.

B Main verb do as an intransitive pro-verb

In British English conversation after an auxiliary verb, do as an intransitive pro-
verb provides an alternative to ellipsis:
A: No, no signs of him resigning.
B: Well they kicked him out.
A: They should have done, but they won’t. <done = kicked him out>
However, it is more common for speakers to use ellipsis rather than do (i.e. they
should have rather than they should have done).

2 Auxiliary verb do

A Do-support in negatives and interrogatives

Do functions as an auxiliary verb when lexical main verbs are made negative or
used in interrogatives. For example:

negative: He doesn't smoke or drink.

yes/no interrogative: Do you like scallops?
wh-interrogative: So what did you bring for us this time?

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 This use of do is known as do-support, because do is added merely to support the
construction of the negative or interrogative. The do does not contribute any
independent meaning. In these constructions, present or past tense is marked on the
verb do, not on the main verb. Thus compare:

negative clause__________________ positive clause________

/ didn't realize it was from smoking. I realized it was from smoking.

interrogative clause declarative

Did you see Andy today? You saw Andy today.

B Emphatic do
Emphatic do occurs as an auxiliary verb in a clause that is not negated and is
not a question. It is used to emphasize that the meaning of the main verb (or the rest
of the clause) is positive, in contrast with what one might expect. In speech,
emphatic do is usually stressed. It most commonly occurs in conversation and fiction.
1 I did have a protractor, but it broke.
2 I really did go to see him.
3 But in the final hour he did deliver the goods.
4 Gascoigne, though, does have a problem - his Lazio team is not a good
side.
Emphatic do cannot be combined with another auxiliary. For example, it is
ungrammatical to say *It does might help.
Emphatic do usually marks a state of affairs that contrasts with an expected state
of affairs. The contrast is sometimes explicitly marked by connectives such as but,
however, nevertheless, though, and although, as in 3 and 4 above and the following:
Nevertheless, great changes do occur and have been well documented.
A special use of emphatic do is in commands (or suggestions/invitations that
use the imperative form). Although this use sounds conversational, it occurs more
commonly in fictional dialog than in actual conversation:
Oh do shut up!
Do come and see me some time.
Do get on with your work, Beth.
I do beg you to consider seriously the points I've put to you.
Normally the copula be behaves like an auxiliary, and therefore does not take
emphatic do in declarative clauses: *They do be. . . With imperative clauses,
however, do + be is possible:
'Do be sensible, Charles,' whispered Fiona.

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C Auxiliary do as a pro-verb
Like main verb do, auxiliary do can act as a pro-verb, standing in for the whole
verb phrase + complement. It is used in both positive and negative clauses:
A: He doesn't even know you.
B: He does! <does = does know me>
I think his mom wants him to come back but his dad doesn't. <doesn't = doesn't
want him to come back>
In these examples, do can be considered a stranded operator. That is, do, as
the empty auxiliary, is left 'stranded' without the main verb which normally follows
an auxiliary. The rest of the clause, as with other auxiliaries, is missing through ellipsis.

D Auxiliary do in question tags

Do functions as an auxiliary in question tags:
But Fanny looked after you, didn't she?
This delay solves nothing, does it?
This construction is obviously related to do-support (as in A above): it occurs
where the preceding main verb (underlined above) has no auxiliary.

Conclusions

 The three primary verbs—be, have, and do—can serve as both main verbs and
auxiliary verbs. They differ, however, in their specific main and auxiliary functions.
 Be:
oAs copula (a main verb), be is the most common copular verb in English.
oAs an auxiliary verb, be marks progressive aspect and passive voice.
 Have:
oAs a main verb, have is one of the most common lexical verbs in English.
oIt has a particularly wide range of meanings.
oAs an auxiliary, have marks perfect aspect.
 Do:
o As a main verb, do is a general transitive verb of action (e.g. do some work)
o It often combines with a noun phrase to form idiomatic expressions (e.g. do
the dishes).
o As a main verb, do can also function as a transitive pro-verb (do it, do that)
or an intransitive pro-verb (e.g. I must have done.)
o As an auxiliary verb, do is used in the do-support construction for forming
negation and questions (e.g. Didn't you know?).
o Auxiliary do is also used for emphatic meaning (e.g. Oh do shut up!).

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 Copular verbs

The copula be, and other copular verbs

Copular verbs are used to associate an attribute with the subject of the
clause. The attribute is usually expressed by the subject predicative following the
verb. For example, in the clause:

You're very stupid.

you is the subject, and the phrase very stupid is the subject predicative that
specifies the attribute that is associated with the subject. The copula be
(contracted as 're) links this attribute to the subject.
Many copular verbs are also used to locate the subject of the clause in time or
space. Times and places are expressed by an obligatory adverbial of position,
duration, or direction that occurs after the copula. For example:
I was in the kitchen
Several verbs—like go, grow, and come—can function as either a copular verb
or a transitive/intransitive verb, depending on the context:

 copular verb:
It makes your teeth and your bones grow strong and healthy.
It's beginning to go bad for you.
Your prophecy of last night has come true.
 transitive verb:
So you said she started to grow sesame herbs.
 intransitive verb:
It was when Jack and I went to Mexico.
He came from the far north.
There are many verbs that can function as copular verbs. They fall into two
main categories: current copular verbs and result copular verbs.

A Current copular verbs

Current copular verbs have two subclasses. The first subclass identifies attributes
that are in a continuing state of existence. This includes: be, seem, appear, keep, remain,
stay. The other subclass reports sensory perceptions. This includes: look, feel, sound,
smell, taste.
 state-of-existence:
We are all human.
I may have appeared a little short with my daughter that morning.
David seemed quite satisfied with the performance of Barnie.

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 sensory perception:
I really do look awful.
Ooh that feels good.
They just sound really bad when they're recorded on.

B Result copular verbs

Result copular verbs identify an attribute that is the result of a process of change:
She'll end up pregnant.
His breathing became less frantic.
My heart grew sick and I couldn't eat.
Other result copular verbs include: become, get, go, grow, prove, come, turn, turn
out, end up, wind up.

Functions of copular verbs

Copular verbs differ in their meanings and in the complements that they take.
Overall, most copular verbs occur with an adjective phrase as the subject
predicative, but some verbs are also strongly associated with other structures, such as
a noun phrase or complement clause. Some verbs are limited to one type of complement,
while others occur with many. In the following subsections, we review the associations
between the most common copular verbs and their complements, and discuss how
these associations reflect the differences in meaning and function of the verbs.

1 Current copular verbs: state of existence

A Be
The copula be is by far the most common verb in English. Surprisingly, the
copula be differs from most lexical verbs because it is much more frequent in academic
prose than in conversation, newspapers, or fiction. Be also occurs with a wide range of
complements.
Unlike most copular verbs, be occurs most commonly with a noun phrase as
subject predicative. In these structures, the noun phrase following be has two common
functions: to characterize the subject noun phrase in some way, or to identify the
subject noun phrase:
 characterizing:
Oh, my dad was a great guy, too.
Tomorrow could be a sunny day.
 identifying:
That's our back yard.
The kernel is the part of the plant of greatest value.

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 Adjective phrases are also very common as subject predicatives of be. The most
common of these predicative adjectives express stance. In conversation, these are
mostly general evaluative terms, such as right, good, sure, nice, and funny. In most cases,
these adjectives occur without complements after them:
That wasn't very nice.
It was funny though.
In contrast, academic prose uses a larger range of predicative adjectives that
express more specific evaluations, such as important, possible, necessary, difficult, and
useful. In most cases, these adjectives occur with a complement clause or
prepositional phrase. The predicative adjective expresses an evaluation that
applies to the following clause or phrase:
It is also important to gain the cooperation of workshop participants.
It is possible to have more than one major hypothesis.
Prepositional phrases are much less common as complements of be. They are
used for two functions:
 as a subject predicative describing a characteristic of the subject:
The town was in a festival mood.
The resistive voltage drop is in phase with the current.
 as an adverbial expressing position or direction:
I wish you were at the shack with me last night.
The houses are in a conservation area.
Finally, be sometimes occurs with a complement clause as subject
predicative:
The capital is to be provided by the French government.
But the danger was that the pound would fall further than planned.

B Other state-of-existence copular verbs

The table below summarizes the patterns of use for five other state-of-existence
copular verbs. These verbs are all relatively common but far less common than be.
Seem and appear have a variety of functions, while remain, keep, and stay all mark the
continuation of a state.

State-of-existence copular verbs (in addition to be)

verb frequency most common examples

complements
seem most common to-complement clause This seemed to work.
copular verb other
than be
adjectives, especially Sometimes it seemed
conveying attitudes, impossible that he should

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 surprise and possibility in fail.
fiction
He seemed surprised by that.
adjectives of likelihood in It seems likely that practical
academic prose, with work has helped to develop
extraposed that-clauses these skills in some students.
It seems clear that more
meals will be cooked over
charcoal in the future.
noun phrase as subject Fijisankei, itself privately
predicative, especially with owned and independent,
perceptions that are not seems the ideal partner.
necessarily accurate
Now he seemed in control.
prepositional phrase
Most of the time he seems
expressing an attribute of
like such a normal guy.
the subject
appear less common than to-complement clause The inheritance of leaf angle
seem appears to be polygenic.
adjectives of likelihood in
academic prose and news There was never a moment
when it appeared likely that
we could get them.
The courts have appeared
willing to go beyond the
rules of neutral justice.
remain most common of adjectives, often reporting Next Friday's date for the final
the three absence of change remains unchanged.
continuation
typical adjectives:
verbs; particularly
unchanged, constant,
common in The opening of the oviduct
intact, motionless,
academic prose remains intact.
immobile, low, high,
and news
open, closed,
controversial, uncertain,
unknown, obscure
keep less common than typical adjectives: alive, It's funny how he manages to
remain awake, quiet, silent, keep awake.
secret, busy, fit, close,
warm
He was just trying to keep
subject of keep is usually
warm.
an animate being
stay least common of typical adjectives: awake, I mean, if you stay sober.
the three dry, sober, alive, clear,
continuation verbs loyal, healthy
Meanwhile, Millie's mistress
subject of stay is usually
stayed loyal to her husband's
human
ambitions.

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 2 Current copular verbs: sensory perceptions

The patterns of use for sensory copular verbs are summarized in the table
below.
Sensory copular verbs—look, feel, sound, smell, taste—occur with adjectival
complements to report positive or negative evaluations. For example:
Do I look nice?
The food smelt good to her.

Sensory copular verbs

verb frequency most common examples

complements
look very common in often evaluates Oh he does look sad, doesn't
fiction; relatively physical he?
common in appearance
Quite frankly she looked
conversation
common adjectives: awful, terrible.
different, happy, lovely,
You look lovely.
pale, puzzled, sad, small,
surprised, terrible, tired,
well, young
feel very common in reports an assessment of It'll make you feel better.
fiction; physical or mental state of
My hands feel cold.
moderately being
common in news I always feel guilty passing
common adjectives:
and conversation Mike's house.
ashamed, bad, better, cold,
good, guilty, sick, sure,
tired, uncomfortable, uneasy
sound most common in literal use: evaluations of She doesn't sound angry
fiction and sound perceptions anymore.
conversation
common adjectives: good, He looked and sounded
nice, silly, stupid, awful.
interesting, awful, angry,
sad, strange
Oh how nice. That sounds
additional use: reactions to
good to me.
ideas/suggestions
I know it sounds stupid, but
I wanted to go.
smell generally rare reports evaluations of It smells funny in here.
smell perceptions
common adjectives: awful,
bad, funny, musty, odd,
rotten, terrible, delicious,
fresh, good, lovely, nice
reports evaluations of taste They just taste awful.
rare; occasional
occurrences in perceptions
conversation and common adjectives: awful,
taste fiction horrible, nice, wonderful

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 Here, the copular verb identifies the sense (e.g. sight, hearing), while the
predicative adjective reports the evaluation. The general evaluating adjectives nice,
good, and bad occur commonly as subject predicative with all five sensory copular

3 Result copular verbs

The verbs become, get, go, grow, prove, come, turn, turn out, end up, and wind up
are all used to describe a process of change. However, despite this general similarity,
these verbs differ greatly in their specific meanings, collocational preferences, and
register distributions.

A Become
The result copular verb become is especially common in academic prose and
fiction. It is used to describe the process involved in changing from one state to another.
In academic prose, it often refers to an impersonal process of moving from a state of
ignorance or disbelief to one of knowledge or belief (i.e. without mentioning individual
people who experience the change). The adjectives clear and apparent are most
common with this function, but there are a number of other adjectives that occur with
become, including difficult, evident, important, possible.
In the joint-stock company, the social character of production has become
apparent.
It soon becomes clear that there is much more to comprehension than
vocabulary.
Performance and functionality only become important with Release 3.
In fiction, become usually refers to a specific person. It describes a change in that
person's state of awareness or state of being:
Raymond soon became aware that his strategy and hard work was paying
dividends.
It all became clear to me when I reached street level.
I became silent, overwhelmed suddenly by the great gulf between us.

B Get
The result copular verb get is usually used to describe a person changing to a
new state. Get is very common, especially in conversation and fiction, and it has many
uses, describing both physical and mental changes. The adjectives ready and
worse are the most common subject predicatives with get, but a number of other
adjectives recur: angry, bigger, better, bored, cold, dressed (up), drunk, lost, mad, mixed
(up), old, older, pissed (off), sick, tired, upset, wet. Many of these mark some affective or
attitudinal stance. For example:
Well he's only gonna get worse.
And if she doesn't win, she either gets upset and cries or gets angry.

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 And people get pissed off, don't they? <note: pissed off is slang and may be
offensive to some people>

C Go
The copular verb go is usually used to describe a change towards an
undesirable state, especially in conversation and fiction. Go describes changes
experienced by humans and other natural processes. The adjectives crazy, mad,
and wrong are the most common complements of go, but several other adjectives
recur: bad, cold, deaf, funny, limp, quiet, red, wild.
You can't go wrong with that, can you?
Yeah I know. I would go mad.
Mama will go crazy.

D Less common result copular verbs

Although become, get, and go are the most common result copular verbs, several
others deserve mention. These verbs and their functions are summarized in the table below.

verb frequency most common examples

complements
come generally rare, usually describes a It literally is a dream come
occurs mainly in change to a better true.
fiction and news condition
Slowly his face came alive
recurring adjectives: alive, and he grinned.
awake, clean, loose,
short, true, unstuck
grow primarily used in describes gradual change We should grow old here
fiction together.
often makes an implicit
comparison with an The wind dropped and it
earlier state through use suddenly grew cold.
of comparative adjective
The girl's deep black eyes
as complement
grew darker.
recurring adjectives:
She continued to lose weight
angry, big, bright, cold,
and grow weaker.
dark, hot, large, old,
pale, tall, tired, warm,
weak, bigger, darker,
larger, louder, older,
shorter, smaller,
stronger, warmer,
weaker, worse
prove used primarily in reports an assessment Looking for tourist highlights
academic prose and in Montepulciano can prove
recurring adjectives:
news difficult.
costly, decisive, difficult,
fatal, necessary, popular, He was confident the units
possible, successful, would prove popular with
suitable, useful, wrong travellers.
Yet it has proved necessary

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 to attempt this task.
turn occasionally used turn + adjective describes The canals in the suburbs
in fiction; rare in change in appearance; appear to turn black.
other registers typically refers to color
She had turned pale and her
changes
voice shook
recurring adjectives:
black, brown, (bright)
red, white, pale
turnout generally rare emphasizes the end-point A lot of times they turned
of a process with simple out wrong.
positive or negative
The marriage will turn out all
evaluation recurring
right.
adjectives: good, nasty,
nice, (all) right, wrong
end up generally rare describe an unintended Danny ended up in tears and
and negative event or state I ended up really angry.
wind up
He says Marilyn ended up
pregnant after her affair with
President Kennedy.
And the young bucks who
tore the place apart
invariably wound up dead.

Conclusions

 Copular verbs are used to express a relationship between the subject of the
clause and an attribute.
 Copular verbs usually take an obligatory subject predicative.
 Some copular verbs can also occur with an obligatory adverbial.
 Many different verbs can function as copulas. These verbs can be grouped into
two major categories: current copular verbs and result copular verbs.
o Current copular verbs express states of existence or sensory perceptions (e.g. be,
feel).
o Result copular verbs express the result of a process of change (e.g. become, turn
out).
 The copular verbs differ in their meanings and in the complements that they can
take.
 There are highly systematic patterns of use associated with copular verbs +
complements.

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