Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

suffix

verbs

suffix

verbs

-ate

hyphenate, chlorinate

-ify

beautify, identify

-en

widen, sadden

-ize, -ise

realize, industrialise

-iate

differentiate, appreciate

Conversion

Verbs may be formed by conversion from other word classes. Examples include:

● verbs related to nouns:

to 

corner a thief

to 

hand something to someone

to 

position a table

● verbs related to adjectives:

to 

calm someone

to 

empty one’s glass

to 

humble oneself

Verbs which have the same form as other word classes are recognised as verbs by

their syntactic functioning in context:

What 

sort of camera have you got?

(noun)

Can you 

sort the potatoes into large ones and small ones?

(verb)

It’s a 

narrow, twisty road.

(adjective)

That would 

narrow our options considerably.

(verb)

Did you go 

up the tower?

(preposition)

They’re going to 

up the wages of all the part-timers.

(verb)

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Introduction to word classes and phrase classes | 301

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Prefixes

Prefixes are also used with verbs to create new verbs. The most common prefixes

used with verbs are: un-, out-, over-, under-:

verbs

new verbs with prefixes

verbs

new verbs with prefixes

pack, lock

unpack, unlock 

eat, charge

overeat, overcharge

live, do

outlive, outdo

estimate

underestimate

Regular and irregular

Verbs are either regular or irregular. The regular form simply adds inflections to

the base form without internal change. Verb inflections indicate number

agreement and whether the form shows tense (present or past) or not:

base form

cough

present form

cough

-s 

form

cough

s

-ing 

form

cough

ing

past form

cough

ed

-ed 

participle

cough

ed

Only the verb be has separate inflectional forms for all of the different categories

of form:

base form

be

present form

am, are

-s 

form

is

-ing 

form

being

past form

was, were

-ed 

participle

been

Irregular verbs have a variety of types of ending and internal change applied to 

the base form. There are approximately two hundred and fifty irregular verbs in

English. Almost all irregular verbs are irregular only in terms of their past form

and -ed form. For example:

base form

speak

present form

speak

-s 

form

speak

s

-ing 

form

speak

ing

past form

sp

oke

-ed 

participle

sp

oken

Û

529 Appendix: Irregular verbs

302 | Introduction to word classes and phrase classes

Cambridge Grammar of English

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Multi-word verbs

Multi-word verbs are verbs which consist of more than one word. The most

common type of multi-word verb comprises a verb followed by one or more

particles (usually prepositions or adverbs or both) which combine with the verb to

form a single syntactic and semantic unit. In all respects multi-word verbs behave

in the same way as single-word verbs and are lexical verbs in their own right.

Examples of multi-word verbs are: give in, look after, look up to, put up with,

catch up on

. 

Û

235 Multi-word verbs

Verbs: types

158b

There are three main grammatical classes of verb: lexical, auxiliary and modal. 

Lexical verbs are the biggest class and include most verbs. Lexical verbs denote

types of action, state or event (e.g. walk, shine, think, drive, feel, shout, buy, fall).

They are an open class, and new verbs are frequently created.

Auxiliary verbs are a closed class consisting of be, do and have. Auxiliary verbs

add information to the lexical verb, indicating clause type (e.g. interrogative,

negative), aspect (progressive and/or perfect) and passive voice. Be, do and have

can also be used as lexical verbs.

Modal verbs are a closed class consisting of core modal verbs (can, could, shall,

should

, will, would, must, might, may), semi-modal verbs (dare, need, ought to,

used to

) and modal expressions (be able to, have (got) to). Modal verbs add

information to the lexical verb, mainly concerning degrees of certainty and

necessity. Modal verbs do not inflect for tense, person or number, and only display

historical remnants of tense contrasts, such as can–could, will–would.