A verb phrase consists of a main verb , which may be preceded
by one or more auxiliary verbs :
Auxiliary 1 Auxiliary 2 Auxiliary 3 Main Verb
may have been stolen
The ordering of auxiliary verbs
When two or more auxiliary verbs occur in a verb phrase, they observe the following relative order:
Modal – Perfective – Progressive – Passive
However, it is very unusual to find all four of the auxiliary verb types in the same verb phrase. Usually, a maximum of two or three
auxiliaries will co-occur, as in the following examples:
Modal – Passive:
The seat can be lowered.
Progressive – Passive:
This lecture is being recorded.
Perfective – Progressive:
She has been collecting books for years.
Perfective – Passive:
The deficit has been reduced.
Modal – Perfective – Passive:
The concert should have been cancelled.
Tense
There are two tenses in English, the present tense and the past tense. In regular verbs, the present tense is indicated by the -s form of the verb, when the subject is third-person singular:
3rd-person singular: he walks
she walks
it/David/the man walks
For all other subjects, the base form of the verb is used:
1st-person singular: I walk
2nd-person singular: you walk
1st-person plural: we walk
2nd-person plural: you walk
3rd-person plural: they walk
The past tense is indicated by an -ed verb ending, regardless of the
subject:
1st-person singular: I walked
2nd-person singular: you walked
3rd-person singular: he/she/it/David/the man walked
1st-person plural: we walked
2nd-person plural: you walked
3rd-person plural: they walked
In these examples, only a main verb is present, so this verb carries the tense marker. When an auxiliary verb is present, the tense is
indicated by the first (or only) auxiliary verb, and not by the main verb:
Present tense: The chairman is speaking.
Past tense: The chairman was speaking.
Present tense: The ambassador has done his duty.
Past tense: The ambassador had done his duty.
Present tense: A new script is being written.
Past tense: A new script was being written.
Expressing future time
As we saw in English has two tenses, the present tense and the
past tense. The -s ending indicates present tense and the -ed ending indicates past tense. However, there is no ending to indicate the future, so it would be incorrect to speak of a ‘future tense’ in English. In fact, future time is very often expressed by using the present tense form of a verb:
Peter arrives next Friday.
Your flight leaves in ten minutes.
David graduates in September.
There are several other ways to express future time in English:
1 Modal auxiliary will :
Peter will arrive next Friday.
Your flight will leave in ten minutes.
David will graduate in September.
The contracted form ’ll is often used informally:
I ’ll see you later.
2 Semi-auxiliary be going to (present tense):
Peter is going to arrive next Friday.
Your flight is going to leave in ten minutes.
David is going to graduate in September.
3 Progressive auxiliary be (present tense) + ing verb :
Peter is arriving next Friday.
Your flight is leaving in ten minutes.
David is graduating in September.
Finite and non-finite verb phrases
Verb phrases are either finite or non-finite. A verb phrase is finite if the first (or only) verb exhibits tense (past or present). The following examples illustrate finite verb phrases. The finite (‘tensed’) verbs are in italics.
Simon leaves work at five.
Simon left early yesterday.
Simon has left.
Simon had left when I arrived.
Simon has been leaving early every day.
Notice that when two or more verbs occur in a finite verb phrase (e.g. has left, has been leaving), only the first verb indicates the tense.All the other verbs have non-finite forms. The non-finite verb forms are:
1 The base form, often introduced by to (to leave)
2 The -ed form (left)
3 The -ing form (leaving)
If the first (or only) verb in a verb phrase has one of these forms, thenthe verb phrase is non-finite:
To leave now would be such a pity.
Leaving home can be very traumatic.
Left to himself, Paul copes quite well.
Having left school at 15, David spent years without a job.
In a non-finite verb phrase, all the verbs have a non-finite form. The distinction between finite and non-finite verb phrases is important in th
classification of clauses .
Aspect
Tense refers to the absolute location of an event in time –either
past or present. Aspect refers to how an event is to be viewed
with respect to time. We can illustrate this using the following examples:
[1] David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday.
[2] David has fallen in love.
[3] David is falling in love.
In [1], the verb fell tells us that David fell in love in the past, and specifically on his eighteenth birthday. This is a past-tense verb.
In [2] also, the action took place in the past, but it is implied that it
took place quite recently. It is further implied that David’s falling in love
is still relevant at the time of speaking – David has fallen in love, and that’s why he’s behaving so strangely now.
The auxiliary has in [2] is the perfective auxiliary , and it
expresses perfective aspect in the verb phrase has fallen.
In [3], the action of falling in love is still in progress – David is falling in love at the time of speaking. For this reason, it is called progressive aspect. Progressive aspect is expressed by using the progressive auxiliary be.
Aspect always includes tense. In [2] and [3] above, the verb phrases are in the present tense, but they could also be in the past tense:
Perfective aspect, past tense : David had fallen in love.
Progressive aspect, past tense : David was falling in love.
Mood
Mood refers to distinctions in the form of a verb phrase that express the
speaker’s attitude towards what is said. There are three moods: indicative,
imperative and subjunctive.
1 Indicative mood is the most common mood in declarative,
interrogative and exclamative sentences :
Paul enrolled in a music class
Does Amy like her new school?
What a big house you have!
2 The imperative is used in issuing orders:
Move over.
Stop that at once.
3 Subjunctive mood is used when we refer to a non-factual or
hypothetical situation:
If I were you, I would accept the offer.
If Mr Heseltine were Prime Minister, what would he do?
This is called the were-subjunctive because the verb phrase
consists solely of were.
The mandative subjunctive is used after a small number of verbs,
including ask, decide, insist, recommend, suggest, when these verbs are followed by that:
The committee insisted that she resign immediately.
The lawyer asked that he be given more time to prepare.
The mandative subjunctive is also used after the following
adjectives:
crucial, essential, imperative, important, necessary, vital:
It is important that every room be ventilated.
It is vital that prisoners be supervised at all times.
The use of the subjunctive is much more common in American English
than in British English. In British English, the indicative mood is often preferred:
If I was you, I would accept the offer.
It is vital that prisoners are supervised at all times.
The subjunctive survives in a number of formulaic expressions:
as it were
be that as it may
far be it from me
if need be
God be praised
long live the Queen
wish you were here
by one or more auxiliary verbs :
Auxiliary 1 Auxiliary 2 Auxiliary 3 Main Verb
may have been stolen
The ordering of auxiliary verbs
When two or more auxiliary verbs occur in a verb phrase, they observe the following relative order:
Modal – Perfective – Progressive – Passive
However, it is very unusual to find all four of the auxiliary verb types in the same verb phrase. Usually, a maximum of two or three
auxiliaries will co-occur, as in the following examples:
Modal – Passive:
The seat can be lowered.
Progressive – Passive:
This lecture is being recorded.
Perfective – Progressive:
She has been collecting books for years.
Perfective – Passive:
The deficit has been reduced.
Modal – Perfective – Passive:
The concert should have been cancelled.
Tense
There are two tenses in English, the present tense and the past tense. In regular verbs, the present tense is indicated by the -s form of the verb, when the subject is third-person singular:
3rd-person singular: he walks
she walks
it/David/the man walks
For all other subjects, the base form of the verb is used:
1st-person singular: I walk
2nd-person singular: you walk
1st-person plural: we walk
2nd-person plural: you walk
3rd-person plural: they walk
The past tense is indicated by an -ed verb ending, regardless of the
subject:
1st-person singular: I walked
2nd-person singular: you walked
3rd-person singular: he/she/it/David/the man walked
1st-person plural: we walked
2nd-person plural: you walked
3rd-person plural: they walked
In these examples, only a main verb is present, so this verb carries the tense marker. When an auxiliary verb is present, the tense is
indicated by the first (or only) auxiliary verb, and not by the main verb:
Present tense: The chairman is speaking.
Past tense: The chairman was speaking.
Present tense: The ambassador has done his duty.
Past tense: The ambassador had done his duty.
Present tense: A new script is being written.
Past tense: A new script was being written.
Expressing future time
As we saw in English has two tenses, the present tense and the
past tense. The -s ending indicates present tense and the -ed ending indicates past tense. However, there is no ending to indicate the future, so it would be incorrect to speak of a ‘future tense’ in English. In fact, future time is very often expressed by using the present tense form of a verb:
Peter arrives next Friday.
Your flight leaves in ten minutes.
David graduates in September.
There are several other ways to express future time in English:
1 Modal auxiliary will :
Peter will arrive next Friday.
Your flight will leave in ten minutes.
David will graduate in September.
The contracted form ’ll is often used informally:
I ’ll see you later.
2 Semi-auxiliary be going to (present tense):
Peter is going to arrive next Friday.
Your flight is going to leave in ten minutes.
David is going to graduate in September.
3 Progressive auxiliary be (present tense) + ing verb :
Peter is arriving next Friday.
Your flight is leaving in ten minutes.
David is graduating in September.
Finite and non-finite verb phrases
Verb phrases are either finite or non-finite. A verb phrase is finite if the first (or only) verb exhibits tense (past or present). The following examples illustrate finite verb phrases. The finite (‘tensed’) verbs are in italics.
Simon leaves work at five.
Simon left early yesterday.
Simon has left.
Simon had left when I arrived.
Simon has been leaving early every day.
Notice that when two or more verbs occur in a finite verb phrase (e.g. has left, has been leaving), only the first verb indicates the tense.All the other verbs have non-finite forms. The non-finite verb forms are:
1 The base form, often introduced by to (to leave)
2 The -ed form (left)
3 The -ing form (leaving)
If the first (or only) verb in a verb phrase has one of these forms, thenthe verb phrase is non-finite:
To leave now would be such a pity.
Leaving home can be very traumatic.
Left to himself, Paul copes quite well.
Having left school at 15, David spent years without a job.
In a non-finite verb phrase, all the verbs have a non-finite form. The distinction between finite and non-finite verb phrases is important in th
classification of clauses .
Aspect
Tense refers to the absolute location of an event in time –either
past or present. Aspect refers to how an event is to be viewed
with respect to time. We can illustrate this using the following examples:
[1] David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday.
[2] David has fallen in love.
[3] David is falling in love.
In [1], the verb fell tells us that David fell in love in the past, and specifically on his eighteenth birthday. This is a past-tense verb.
In [2] also, the action took place in the past, but it is implied that it
took place quite recently. It is further implied that David’s falling in love
is still relevant at the time of speaking – David has fallen in love, and that’s why he’s behaving so strangely now.
The auxiliary has in [2] is the perfective auxiliary , and it
expresses perfective aspect in the verb phrase has fallen.
In [3], the action of falling in love is still in progress – David is falling in love at the time of speaking. For this reason, it is called progressive aspect. Progressive aspect is expressed by using the progressive auxiliary be.
Aspect always includes tense. In [2] and [3] above, the verb phrases are in the present tense, but they could also be in the past tense:
Perfective aspect, past tense : David had fallen in love.
Progressive aspect, past tense : David was falling in love.
Mood
Mood refers to distinctions in the form of a verb phrase that express the
speaker’s attitude towards what is said. There are three moods: indicative,
imperative and subjunctive.
1 Indicative mood is the most common mood in declarative,
interrogative and exclamative sentences :
Paul enrolled in a music class
Does Amy like her new school?
What a big house you have!
2 The imperative is used in issuing orders:
Move over.
Stop that at once.
3 Subjunctive mood is used when we refer to a non-factual or
hypothetical situation:
If I were you, I would accept the offer.
If Mr Heseltine were Prime Minister, what would he do?
This is called the were-subjunctive because the verb phrase
consists solely of were.
The mandative subjunctive is used after a small number of verbs,
including ask, decide, insist, recommend, suggest, when these verbs are followed by that:
The committee insisted that she resign immediately.
The lawyer asked that he be given more time to prepare.
The mandative subjunctive is also used after the following
adjectives:
crucial, essential, imperative, important, necessary, vital:
It is important that every room be ventilated.
It is vital that prisoners be supervised at all times.
The use of the subjunctive is much more common in American English
than in British English. In British English, the indicative mood is often preferred:
If I was you, I would accept the offer.
It is vital that prisoners are supervised at all times.
The subjunctive survives in a number of formulaic expressions:
as it were
be that as it may
far be it from me
if need be
God be praised
long live the Queen
wish you were here
