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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.)
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