Anca Cehan 1

English majors, year II

Lecture 9. 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 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.

• 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.>

Anca Cehan 2

• 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:

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.

Anca Cehan 3

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?

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.

Anca Cehan 4

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 dialogue 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.

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.

Anca Cehan 5

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: o As copula (a main verb), be is the most common copular verb in English. o As an auxiliary verb, be marks progressive aspect and passive voice.

• Have: o As a main verb, have is one of the most common lexical verbs in English. o It has a particularly wide range of meanings. o As 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!).

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.

Anca Cehan 6

• 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.

• 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

Anca Cehan 7

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. 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.

Anca Cehan 8

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

verb frequency most common complements

examples

seem most common copular verb other than be

to-complement clause This seemed to work.

adjectives, especially conveying attitudes, surprise and possibility in fiction

Sometimes it seemed impossible that he should fail. He seemed surprised by that.

adjectives of likelihood in academic prose, with extraposed that-clauses

It seems likely that practical work has helped to develop these skills in some students. It seems clear that more meals will be cooked over charcoal in the future.

noun phrase as subject predicative, especially with perceptions that are not necessarily accurate prepositional phrase expressing an attribute of the subject

Fijisankei, itself privately owned and independent, seems the ideal partner. Now he seemed in control. Most of the time he seems like such a normal guy.

appear less common than seem

to-complement clause adjectives of likelihood in academic prose and news

The inheritance of leaf angle appears to be polygenic. 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 the three continuation verbs; particularly common in academic prose and news

adjectives, often reporting absence of change typical adjectives: unchanged, constant, intact, motionless, immobile, low, high, open, closed, controversial, uncertain, unknown, obscure

Next Friday's date for the final remains unchanged. The opening of the oviduct remains intact.

keep

less common than remain

typical adjectives: alive, awake, quiet, silent, secret, busy, fit, close, warm subject of keep is usually an animate being

It's funny how he manages to keep awake. He was just trying to keep warm.

stay

least common of the three continuation verbs

typical adjectives: awake, dry, sober, alive, clear, loyal, healthy subject of stay is usually human

I mean, if you stay sober. Meanwhile, Millie's mistress stayed loyal to her husband's ambitions.

Anca Cehan 9

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 complements

examples

look

very common in fiction; relatively common in conversation

often evaluates physical appearance

common adjectives: awful, different, happy, lovely, pale, puzzled, sad, small, surprised, terrible, tired, well, young

Oh he does look sad, doesn't he?

Quite frankly she looked terrible. You look lovely.

feel

very common in fiction; moderately common in news and conversation

reports an assessment of physical or mental state of being

common adjectives: ashamed, bad, better, cold, good, guilty, sick, sure, tired, uncomfortable, uneasy

It'll make you feel better.

My hands feel cold.

I always feel guilty passing Mike's house.

sound

most common in fiction and conversation

literal use: evaluations of sound perceptions

common adjectives: good, nice, silly, stupid, interesting, awful, angry, sad, strange

additional use: reactions to ideas/suggestions

She doesn't sound angry anymore.

He looked and sounded awful.

Oh how nice. That sounds good to me.

I know it sounds stupid, but I wanted to go.

smell

generally rare reports evaluations of smell perceptions

common adjectives: awful, bad, funny, musty, odd, rotten, terrible, delicious, fresh, good, lovely, nice

It smells funny in here.

taste rare; occasional occurrences in conversation and fiction

reports evaluations of taste perceptions

common adjectives: awful, horrible, nice, wonderful

They just taste awful.

Anca Cehan 10

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. 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?

Anca Cehan 11

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 complements

examples

come generally rare, occurs mainly in fiction and news

usually describes a change to a better condition recurring adjectives: alive, awake, clean, loose, short, true, unstuck

It literally is a dream come true. Slowly his face came alive and he grinned.

grow primarily used in fiction

describes gradual change often makes an implicit comparison with an earlier state through use of comparative adjective as complement recurring adjectives: angry, big, bright, cold, dark, hot, large, old, pale, tall, tired, warm, weak, bigger, darker, larger, louder, older, shorter, smaller, stronger, warmer, weaker, worse

We should grow old here together. The wind dropped and it suddenly grew cold. The girl's deep black eyes grew darker. She continued to lose weight and grow weaker.

prove used primarily in academic prose and news

reports an assessment recurring adjectives: costly, decisive, difficult, fatal, necessary, popular, possible, successful, suitable, useful, wrong

Looking for tourist highlights in Montepulciano can prove difficult. He was confident the units would prove popular with travellers. Yet it has proved necessary to attempt this task.

turn occasionally used in fiction; rare in other registers

turn + adjective describes change in appearance; typically refers to color changes recurring adjectives: black, brown, (bright) red, white, pale

The canals in the suburbs appear to turn black. She had turned pale and her voice shook

turn out generally rare emphasizes the end-point of a process with simple positive or negative evaluation recurring adjectives: good, nasty, nice, (all) right, wrong

A lot of times they turned out wrong. The marriage will turn out all right.

end up and wind up

generally rare describe an unintended negative event or state

Danny ended up in tears and I ended up really angry. He says Marilyn ended up pregnant after her affair with President Kennedy.

Anca Cehan 12

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. Bibliography:

Biber D., Conrad S., Leech G. (2002) Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman Downing A (2006) English Grammar. A University Course, Routledge Greenbaum S., Quirk R. (1990) A Student’s Grammar of the English Language, Longman Huddleston R., Pullum G., et al. (2002) The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, CUP Leech G. (1989) An A – Z of English Grammar and Usage, Nelson Quirk, R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Svartvik J. (1972) A Grammar of Contemporary English, Longman Celce-Murcia M., Larsen-Freeman D. (1999) The Grammar Book, Heinle and Heinle Vereş G., Cehan A., Andriescu I. (1998) A Dictionary of English Grammar, Polirom

Exam questions:

1. What can the copula be link? Exemplify each structure with a sentence of your own.

2. What are the functions of the auxiliary verb be? Exemplify each structure with a sentence of your own.

3. Can the verb be have two auxiliary uses in the same clause? If so, give an example of your own.

4. Exemplify the use of the main verb have with the meaning of physical possession.

5. Exemplify the use of the main verb have showing family connections. 6. Exemplify the use of the main verb have describing eating and drinking. 7. Exemplify the use of the main verb have in an existential construction. 8. Exemplify the use of the main verb have linking a person to an abstract quality. 9. Exemplify the use of the main verb have linking an inanimate subject to an

abstract quality. 10. Exemplify the use of the main verb have with a causative meaning. 11. Exemplify the use of the main verb have in an idiom.

Anca Cehan 13

12. What does the auxiliary verb have mark? Give your own examples. 13. What meaning does the verb do have as a main verb? Is it transitive or

intransitive? Give examples of your own. 14. Give an example sentence in which the main verb do is used in an idiomatic

expression. 15. Give an example sentence in which the main verb do functions as a pro-

verb. 16. When does the verb do function as an auxiliary? Explain and give four

examples. 17. In four sentences of your own, illustrate the use of the auxiliary verb do as

“do-support”. 18. Can the auxiliary verb do occur in statements (sentences are neither

negative or interrogative)? If so, give two example sentences. 19. Explain why this sentence is incorrect: “*It does could happen.” 20. Can emphatic do be used in commands? If so, give an example of your

own. 21. Is the sequence do + be possible? If so, give an example sentence of your

own. 22. Can the auxiliary vebr do function as a pro-verb? If so give two examples of

your own. 23. Give two example sentences in which the verb do substitutes for a) a lexical

verb, and b) for a verb phrase + complement construction. 24. In a sentence of your own, illustrate the use of the auxiliary verb do in a

question tag. 25. In a sentence of your own, use a current copular verb which denotes a

state-of-existence (except be). 26. In a sentence of your own, use a current copular verb which denotes

sensory perception. 27. In a sentence of your own, use a result copular verb. 28. In a sentence of your own, use the verb be as a current copular verb

followed by a characterizing noun phrase as subject predicative. 29. In a sentence of your own, use the verb be as a current copular verb

followed by an identifying noun phrase as subject predicative. 30. In a sentence of your own, use the verb be as a current copular verb

followed by a predicative adjective expressing stance. 31. In a sentence of your own, use the verb be as a current copular verb

followed by a complement clause as subject predicative. 32. In a sentence of your own, use the verb be as a current copular verb

followed by a prepositional phrase as subject predicative. 33. In a sentence of your own, use the verb be as a current copular verb

followed by a prepositional phrase as an adverbial. 34. In a sentence of your own, use the verb seem as a state-of-existence

copular verb followed by a complement clause. 35. In a sentence of your own, use the verb seem as a state-of-existence

copular verb followed by an adjective as subject predicative. 36. In a sentence of your own, use the verb seem as a state-of-existence

copular verb followed by a noun phrase as subject predicative.

Anca Cehan 14

37. In a sentence of your own, use the verb seem as a state-of-existence copular verb followed by a prepositional phrase as subject predicative.

38. In a sentence of your own, use the appear se as a state-of-existence copular verb followed by a complement clause.

39. In a sentence of your own, use the verb appear as a state-of-existence copular verb followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

40. In a sentence of your own, use the sensory copular verb look followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

41. In a sentence of your own, use the sensory copular verb feel followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

42. In a sentence of your own, use the sensory copular verb sound followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

43. In a sentence of your own, use the sensory copular verb taste followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

44. In a sentence of your own, use the sensory copular verb smell followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

45. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb become followed by an adjective as subject predicative.

46. What does the copular verb become refer to? Explain and give examples. 47. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb get followed by an

adjective as subject predicative. 48. What does the copular verb get refer to? 49. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb go followed by an

adjective as subject predicative. 50. What does the copular verb go refer to? 51. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb come. 52. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb grow. 53. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb prove. 54. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb turn. 55. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb turn out. 56. In a sentence of your own, use the result copular verb end up.