Microsoft Word Theoretical Course of English Grammar

2.
 
Semantic classification of lexical (full) verbs 
Linguists differentiate seven semantic classes of full verbs (Biber et al. 2003: 106-114). 
They are: activity verbs, communication verbs, mental verbs, causative verbs, verbs of occur-
rence, verbs of existence or relationship, and verbs of aspect. 

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Theoretical Course of English Grammar 
Script by prof. 
Nino Kirvalidze
33
1.
Activity verbs usually refer to an action performed intentionally by an agent or ‘doer’. 
Thus, in the following example, the subject (underlined below) performs the action:
He bought 
biscuits and condensed milk.
The twenty most commonly used activity verbs in conversation, fiction, newspaper writ-
ing and academic prose are: 
bring, get, make, play, take, buy, give, meet, put, try, come, go, 
move, run, use, follow, leave, pay, show, work.
2.
Communication verbs form a special subclass of activity verbs that involve communi-
cation activities, particularly verbs describing speech and writing: 
You said you didn’t have it.
The twelve most commonly used ‘communication’ verbs are: 
ask, offer, talk, call, say, tell 
claim, speak, shout, thank, describe, suggest, write. 
3.
Mental verbs refer to mental states and activities. Mental verbs express a wide range of 
meanings such as: 

mental states or processes (e.g. 
think, know
) 

emotions, attitudes, or desires (e.g. 
love, want
) 

perceptions (e.g. 
see, touch, taste
) 

emotional attitudes (
hate, like, love
, etc.) 
The twenty most common ‘mental’ verbs are: 
believe, find, listen, read, think, consider, 
hear, love, remember, understand, expect, know, mean, see, want, feel, like, need, suppose, 
wonder.
They decided to watch TV. 
Somehow I doubt it. 
He remembered all our names.
4.
Causative verbs, such as 
allow, let, enable, require, cause, force
and 
help
indicate that 
some person or things help to bring about a new state of affairs. These verbs often occur with a 
derived noun as the direct object, which reports the action or event that was facilitated (in the 
examples below the direct object is underlined). For instance: 
This information enables the formulation of precise questions. 
Still other rules cause the deletion of elements from the structure. 

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Theoretical Course of English Grammar 
Script by prof.