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

Particles 235b

Phrasal verbs 235c

Transitive phrasal verbs 235d

Intransitive phrasal verbs 235e

Prepositional verbs 235f

Phrasal-prepositional verbs 235g

---

| 419

Types of verb

INTRODUCTION

227

There are three basic types of verb in English: lexical verbs, auxiliary verbs and

modal verbs.

Lexical verbs

Lexical verbs can stand alone. Lexical verbs have meanings denoting actions,

events and states, and belong to an open class (i.e. new verbs are frequently

created):

They 

laughed.

It 

rained all night.

We had to 

catch a bus.

Some lexical verbs such as appear, be, become, feel, get, look, remain, seem, smell,

sound

, taste, which are followed by predicative complements, are called copular

verbs:

He

’s a teacher.

That 

smells good.

Û

288 Copular complementation

Auxiliary verbs

The auxiliary verbs are be, do and have. Auxiliary verbs add extra information to

the lexical verb. 

● Auxiliary be is used to indicate progressive aspect (

Û 

224

) and passive voice

(

Û 

478

). 

● Auxiliary do is used in the creation of interrogative, negative and emphatic

structures. 

● Auxiliary have is used to indicate perfect aspect (

Û 

225

). 

Auxiliary verbs are usually followed by a lexical verb, but they may occur without

a lexical verb in reduced clauses (i.e. clauses with ellipsis). They may also occur in

clauses where do substitutes for a lexical verb:

A: Are you hoping to get it finished today?

B: Yes, we are.

(ellipsis: Yes, we are hoping to get it finished today.)

A: Will you ring the electrician?

B: I already have done.

(do as substitute verb: I already have rung the electrician.)

---

Be

, do and have can be used as auxiliary verbs or as lexical verbs. In these

examples of be, do and have as auxiliary verbs, the lexical verbs are in green:

He 

was

working

over there.

What 

do they 

call

them?

Have you 

been

home?

I

’ve been

asked

that question a number of times.

Examples of be, do and have as lexical verbs:

That 

was a good meal.

(also referred to as copular be)

He would need to 

do his exams before he went.

Can I 

have a receipt for it?

Modal verbs

Modal verbs belong to a closed class of verbs whose core members are can, could,

may

, might, shall, should, will, would and must, along with semi-modals such as

dare

, need, ought to and used to. Modal verbs generally encode meanings

connected with degrees of certainty and degrees of necessity:

We 

could go up and get one.

A: I’m sure one day you’ll go back to teaching.

B: I might.

We 

ought to do something about that missing roof-tile.

Modal verbs are usually followed by a lexical verb, but they may occur without a

lexical verb in clauses with ellipsis. They may also occur in clauses where do

substitutes for a lexical verb:

A: I’ll give her a ring.

B: Yes, you must.

(ellipsis: Yes, you must give her a ring.)

A: You know the Philips?

B: Well I should do.

(do as substitute verb: Well I should know them.)