TEMA 3 The verb part one - full verbs and verbs in auxiliary function

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AULA 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS DE 
LÍNGUA INGLESA – ESTUDOS 
GRAMATICAIS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Prof. Leonardo Felipe Salmoria 
 
 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
The verb part one: full verbs and verbs in auxiliary function 
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify the different functions 
of Auxiliary and Modal verbs, Primary verbs when compared to main verbs. You 
will also understand the purpose of Stative verbs, and the structure of Regular 
and irregular verbs, and you will also get familiar with usual Phrasal verbs. 
THEME 1 – PRIMARY VERBS 
Also known as ‘helping’ verbs, the Auxiliary verbs are a verbal class which 
purpose is to assist a main verb. According to Quirk (et.al., 2005), even though 
they have different functions in the verb phrase, auxiliaries share the important 
function of behaving as operators when they occur as first verbs in yes-no 
questions. For example, the classic Culture Club’s hit “Do you really want to hurt 
me”: 
[1] “Do you really want to make me cry?” 
In [1] ‘do’ changes its original meaning to behave as an auxiliary to the main 
verb ‘want’. In the following sections you will observe the usage of the three primary 
verbs: Be, Have and Do. These verbs are also used in the Perfect aspect, and you 
will learn more about it in the upcoming lessons. 
1.1 Be 
Note that all the Primary verbs also behave as Main verbs. ‘Be’ as a main 
verb refers to the very existence of something or someone, as in the enigmatic 
utterance of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”: 
[2] “To be or not to be: that is the question…” 
The question that stirs around philosophy since forever is not relevant to 
this lesson, so let’s move to the auxiliary functions of ‘be’, for it has two 
distinguished functions: As an aspect auxiliary, and as a passive auxiliary. 
As an aspect auxiliary, the verb ‘be’ precedes a progressive form, like in the 
chapter XII of Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre”, in which Miss Eyre finally meets the 
mysterious Mr. Rochester: 
 
 
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[3] “The din was in the causeway: a horse was coming;” 
As a passive auxiliary, the verb ‘be’ precedes a past participle, in the same 
chapter of Brontë’s gothic novel, we can find an example: 
[4] “to let my heart be heaved by the exultant movement which, (…)” 
The verb ‘be’ is a rare case in which it possesses eight different forms, all 
used in auxiliary: ‘be’, ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’, ‘was’, ‘were’, ‘being’, and ‘been’. 
1.2 Have 
As a main verb, and stative by nature, ‘have’ expresses three possibilities: 
• Possession: I haven’t (got) any butter. 
• Relationship: I have (got) three sisters. 
• Health: I have (got) a big headache. 
‘Have’ is also known as a ‘delexical’ verb, for it is used in different contexts 
to express other things, such as food and drink, or talking, washing, etc., and in 
such cases, its original meaning as a main verb is removed and replaced into the 
noun. Let’s take the timeless song “Something stupid”, originally performed by 
Frank Sinatra, as an example: 
[5] “Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place and have a drink or 
two.” 
It is not, though, a case of possession, nor relationship, but simply the act 
of drinking a beverage at some bar. 
As an auxiliary, it works for the Perfect aspect. As in the classic song by 
Creedence Clearwater Revival: 
[6] “Have you ever seen the rain coming down on a sunny day?” 
The 1971 single presents a full example of the Present Perfect, with ‘have’ 
as an auxiliary of the main verb ‘see’ in the past participle form. 
1.3 Do 
As a main verb, ‘do’ refers to the action of performing something in order to 
get it finished or complete. It is also used as a pro-predication with a pronoun object 
to refer to some unspecified action, especially in the participle form: 
 
 
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[7] “What have I done? It’s too late for that.” 
In the stretch [7] of the song “Chocolate”, by the Irish band Snow Patrol, the 
lead singer, Gary Lightbody, means to reflect about his life achievements, or the 
lack of it, at some breaking point in his life, being thus immensely subjective, and 
therefore hard to specify. 
As an auxiliary, ‘do’, as mentioned previously, is used in interrogative 
sentences, as you can see in [1], and also in negative sentences, like in John 
Grant’s song “You don’t have to”: 
[8] “You don’t have to say things that you don’t mean.” 
The contracted form of the negative ‘do’ + ‘not’ is usual in spoken language, 
and here it means the singer is setting his ex-lover’s duties as a boyfriend free. 
THEME 2 – THE MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS 
The modal auxiliaries are so called, according to Quirk et.al (2005), 
“because of their contribution of meaning in the area known as modality.” It 
includes concepts such as permission, obligation, volition, possibility, and 
necessity. 
2.1 Modals of ability and possibility 
The modal ‘can/could’, meaning Ability, is restricted only to present and 
past, or imaginary past situations, and are generally paraphrased by the 
construction ‘be able to’, which can be flexed and used in different tenses and more 
complex sentences. 
[9] “I can’t play the piano, but I can play the flute.” 
[10] “By the age of ten, he could speak only two languages.” 
[11] “As soon as I finish my course, I’ll be able to speak three languages.” 
The example [11] refers to a future ability, which is impossible to be used 
with the modal ‘can’, for it is only used in present tense. 
When it comes to Possibility, ‘can/could’ are also used in interrogative and 
negative sentences: 
[12] “It can’t be true!” 
[13] “The event couldn’t be carried on due to weather conditions.” 
 
 
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[14] “How could you know it was an error?” 
Still in the realm of Possibility, we have the modals ‘may/might’, which 
usage differs from ‘can/could’ in a particular aspect: They can be paraphrased by 
the adverbs perhaps or possibly: 
[15] “If you go now, you may never come back.” 
In spoken language, ‘can/could’ and ‘may/might’ are exchangeable in 
meaning, however the latter tends to be used in a more formal context. Which 
leads to their other usage: Permission. In these cases, politeness takes over: 
[16] “Visitors may leave as they please.” 
[17] “May I take a picture?” 
Due to its high range of formality, ‘may/might’ as permission, is less usual, 
and restricted to specific contexts. 
2.2 Modals of obligation and necessity 
‘Must’ meaning necessity refers to a logical thought, or assumption: 
[18] “They must be rich; look at their new car.” 
The conclusion in [18] was drawn by the speaker’s thorough observation. 
‘Must’ as necessity cannot be used in negative or interrogative sentences, in these 
cases, you should use ‘can’: 
[19] “It must be a practical joke.” 
[19a] “It can’t be serious.” 
Both [19] and [19a] share the same meaning, though negation and 
affirmation differ in rules. When it comes to Obligation, ‘must’ is then used to 
express the authority of the speaker over the subject: 
[20] “You all must return before lunchtime.” 
When the sentence is in first person, the authority is thus self-imposed, as 
a sharp sense of duty: 
[21] “I must recover all the lost items.” 
As an expression of authority, ‘must’ as obligation is commonly used by 
governments and local authorities for law and regulations, or simply no-signs. 
 
 
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‘Have (got) to’ is not a modal, it is known as a quasi-modal, and share the 
same sense of obligation, though with some differences: 
[20a] “You all have got to return before lunchtime.” 
In [20a], the authority is less severe, here the speaker is more empathetic 
than in [20]. 
[21a] “I have got to recover all the lost items.” 
In [21] the self-imposed obligation, the sense of duty, is internal, 
nevertheless [21a] the obligation is, in fact, external. 
Different from ‘must’, ‘should’ meaning obligation, the speaker is less certain 
that the demand will be carriedout: 
[20b] “You should all return before lunchtime.” 
The modals mentioned in this section have peculiar meanings and deserve 
closer attention when used, especially in formal circumstances. 
THEME 3 – PHRASAL VERBS 
Basically, a phrasal verb is a conjunction of a verb and a particle, most 
commonly a preposition or an adverb, and together, this particle changes the 
original meaning of the verb. According to Swan (2005), phrasal verbs are 
grammatical structures which are informally used, and therefore widely spread, like 
‘get up’ instead of ‘rise’. 
Rita Heyworth’s biggest success film “Gilda”, 1946, features one of the most 
famous songs concerning American so-called history, in this case the 1871 Great 
Chicago Fire: 
[21] “But here's the real low-down: put the blame on Mame, boys.” 
Rumours has it that the blame for the fire was allegedly placed over a cow’s 
shoulder, that’s why the verb ‘put’ remains in its original meaning. However, John 
Grant’s song “Geraldine” builds up a phrasal verb with ‘put’ + two particles: 
[22] “Geraldine, please tell me that you didn't have to put up with this…” 
The phrasal verb ‘put up with’ means to suffer something unpleasant without 
complaining. Note that ‘put up’ is another phrasal verb, which meaning depends 
on a large range of different contexts, and that is why it can be challenging to 
decipher when it means to provide food to someone, or to build up a camping tent. 
 
 
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As you could verify, Phrasal verbs do not maintain their verb meaning when 
combined with other particles. For that reason, it is necessary to spot the difference 
between Phrasal verbs and Transitive adjectives (FRODESEN; EYRING, 
2000). Patrick Wolf’s hit “Bermondsey Street” is more than just the name of a 
famous London boulevard, it addresses homophobia, and it is also a good example 
of Transitive adjectives: 
[23] “And I'm so proud of you, but now you must too.” 
In the song, love inspires pride, and unlike phrasal verbs, the transitive 
adjective ‘proud of’ does not change the original meaning of ‘pride’. The following 
sections will provide you with different types of Phrasal verbs: Separable, non-
separable, and with two particles. 
3.1 Separable 
Some phrasal verbs can be separated, the verb and their preposition, 
according to the sentence order, to emphasise a specific information, or to make it 
clearer. Let’s take ‘call off’ as an example: 
[24] “He called off the meeting after the discussion heated on.” 
[24a] “He called the meeting off as the discussion heated on.” 
When something is ‘called off’, it means that it was cancelled, or ordered to 
be stopped. In [24a] the phrasal verb was separated because of the personal 
pronoun ‘it’, referring to ‘the meeting’, in order to emphasise the meeting, not the 
cancelling. 
3.2 Non-separable 
Even with personal pronouns, some phrasal verbs cannot be separated 
because they do not have any object. Let’s take the phrasal verb ‘get over’ from 
The Villager’s song “Courage”: 
[25] “I took a little time to get over this.” 
In [25], to ‘get over’ something or someone means to recover from a bad 
experience. However, if we deliberately change Conor O’Brien’s lyrics, we change 
its meaning as well: 
[25a] “I took a little time to get this over.” 
 
 
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When you ‘get’ something ‘over’, it means you have to do something that is 
usually necessary but unpleasant all the way to the end. ‘Get over’, differently from 
‘call off’, does not need an object, once you can just get over, you do not need the 
information of what situation was got over. 
3.3 With two particles 
As it was verified in [22], some phrasal verbs may have two particles, and 
they are non-separable for they are also intransitive. 
[26] “After a while, our brains get rid of unnecessary information.” 
To ‘get rid of’ something means to remove or become free of something you 
do not want or wish anymore. 
To help you identify the semantic possibilities of Phrasal Verbs, either 
separable or non-separable, observe the following chart: 
Chart 1 – Common phrasal verbs and their meaning 
PHRASAL VERB MEANING 
back [x] up to support or defend someone 
come around to change one’s opinion or see a new point of view 
dive into to eagerly begin a pursuit or activity 
fill [x] up to put into a container as much as it can contain 
get along with to be on harmonious terms with someone 
get by to survive or manage at a minimum level 
keep [x] up to continue doing something 
let [x] down to disappoint someone 
look after to take care of someone or something 
look up to to admire or idolize someone 
take after to resemble someone, especially kids and their parents 
turn [x] down to reject or say no to someone 
Source: Leonardo Felipe Salmoria. 
The phrasal verbs with the mark [x] mean they can be separated, according 
to their transitivity. Of course, there are several other examples, and you can look 
 
 
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up for their meaning in reliable dictionaries. You will learn more about the 
transitivity of verbs in upcoming lessons. 
THEME 4 – STATIVE VERBS 
In the realm of verbs, many aspects deserve consideration, however, we 
are going to focus on a specific aspect, the statives, due to its usage in more 
complex inflexions, like the continuous aspect. You can learn more about it in the 
upcoming lessons. 
4.1 The different states 
As you might already know, verbs refer to actions. Stative verbs are a 
select group of verbs which refers to states instead of actions, and they are often 
related to thoughts and opinions, feelings and emotions, senses and perceptions, 
and possession and measurement. 
Since they refer to a state, they cannot be used alongside a continuous 
form. In the 2006 Arctic Monkey’s hit “I bet you look good on a dance floor” we can 
make a grammar experiment: 
[27] “I don't know if you're looking for romance or…” 
The verb ‘know’ is stative, not an action, so it cannot happen along a specific 
period of time, so if we try the continuous here, it will not make sense: 
[27a] “I’m not knowing if you're looking for romance or…” 
The experiment in [27a] is considered agrammatical because the 
knowledge they refer to is a state, a thought, not an action. Of course, the form 
‘knowing’ does exist according to morphology rules, but the context changes its 
meaning, becoming then an action, as you can see in the following section. 
4.2 The exception of the rule 
Some stative verbs can also be used to describe an action, depending on 
the context. Let’s take a closer look at how the stative verb ‘see’ behaves: 
[28] “No, I’m no longer single, I'm seeing someone.” 
 
 
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As one of the five senses, ‘see’ is not a dynamic verb, because it happens 
in an instant only, so, according to semantics, [28] gives the idea of a relationship, 
happening for a period of time, that maybe will end up in marriage, or not. 
Considering the lesson about mistakes, errors, and misconceptions, the 
stative verb ‘understand’ deserves more attention. As in Portuguese it is 
considered an epistemic verb, it is therefore a stative. However, the rules for the 
continuous do not apply in Portuguese: 
[29] “Eu não estou entendendo”. 
The same construction, even considering a context of usage that would be 
a rule breaker, it is not usual, due to its meaning: 
[29a] “I’m not understanding.” 
Considering the meaning in [29]: when something is spoken and makes no 
sense, such utterance occurs naturally, and it refers to a momentary action, not a 
state, or opinion. However, in English it is a momentary state, which needs to be 
cleared: 
[29b] “I don’t understand.” 
In order to use the continuous, we use the verb ‘get’, when it is necessary: 
[29c] “I’m not getting.” 
So, once more, the comparative grammar was brought up to cease any 
misconceptions towards grammar rules. 
THEME 5 – REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS 
As we have already seen, Verbs are dividedinto three classes, being 
Primary and Auxiliary, and now more closely the Full verbs. Apart from 
classifications such as dynamic or stative verbs, or transitivity, its regularity is the 
focus of the following sections. 
Concerning the morphology of full verbs, just like the regular ones, the 
irregular verbs maintain the -s and -ing forms in the present and the continuous, 
however, when it comes to past inflection, it changes the pattern -ed to a big range 
of different forms, or even none at all (Quirk et.al., 2005). 
 
 
 
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5.1 Regular verbs 
Some verbs known as regular have about five different forms, and when 
they are inflected, they keep their base form. Let`s take the verbs ‘Paint’ and ‘Love’: 
Chart 2 – Regular verbs 
INFLECTION REGULAR VERBS 
BASE FORM Paint Love 
-S FORM Paints Loves 
-ING PARTICIPLE Painting Loving 
PAST FORM Painted Loved 
-ED PARTICIPLE Painted Loved 
Source: Leonardo Felipe Salmoria. 
The pattern is easy to follow, once you have a base form it is predictable 
how the inflection will occur. The same process happens to foreign or borrowed 
words, like ‘xerox’: xeroxes, xeroxing, xeroxed, etc. 
5.2 Irregular verbs 
The irregular verbs rules change a little bit, like the pattern -ed keeps in 
some verbs, but the voicing changes, like ‘burn’ becoming ‘burnt’ - some dialects 
allow the form ‘burned’ -, or even more complex situations like ‘build’ becoming 
‘built’, the pronunciation changes a little from ‘d’ to ‘t’, a slightest difference, but it 
does matter. 
The most peculiar difference is the way it is pronounced, like the nasalised 
‘mown’ becoming ‘mowed’ from the base form ‘mow’, or some other variants, like 
‘mean’ becoming ‘meant’, and ‘read’ becoming 'read’, the latter no difference in 
spelling, only pronunciation. 
[30] “You're a little late, I'm already torn.” 
The irregular verb ‘tear’ in the past participle form in the song “Torn” by 
Natalie Imbruglia, in the stretch [30] behaves as an adjective and presents the 
nasalisation in sound as it is flexed. 
There is also the peculiar case of the irregular verbs in which no change in 
spelling or pronunciation ever occur, like ‘bet’, ‘cut’ and ‘split’. However, there’s a 
 
 
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group of irregular verbs in which a change in the base vowel occur, like ‘bleed’ 
becoming ‘bled’, or ‘sting’ becoming 'stung’. 
And of course, there is the group in which there are changes of the base 
vowel in the past tense and the past participle, like ‘begin’ becoming past ‘began’ 
to past participle ‘begun’. 
[31] “From this moment life has begun.” 
In Shania Twain’s classic hit “From this moment on” in [31], the past 
participle form of ‘begin’ is an element of the Present perfect construction with the 
auxiliary verb ‘have’, and it expresses the beginning of something that will be 
lasting and enduring. 
The following chart will illustrate the processes described so far: 
Chart 3 – Irregular verbs 
BASE VERB PAST TENSE PAST PARTICIPLE 
Burn Burnt (also ‘burned’) Burnt (also ‘burned’) 
Build Built Built 
Mow Mowed Mown, mowed 
Mean Meant Meant 
Read Read Read 
Bet Bet Bet 
Cut Cut Cut 
Split Split Split 
Bleed Bled Bled 
Sting Stung Stung 
Begin Began Begun 
Sing Sang Sung 
Swim Swam Swum 
Run Ran Run 
Come Came Come 
Source: Leonardo Felipe Salmoria. 
 
 
 
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REFERENCES 
BRITISH COUNCIL. Learning English: Grammar reference, 2023. Retrieved 
from: <https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar>, on 30 Aug 2023. 
COLLINS COBUILD. English Grammar. 1st edition. Suffolk, Great Britain: William 
Collins Sons & Co Ltd, 1990. 
FRODESEN, J.; EYRING, J. Grammar dimensions: Form, meaning, and use. 4th 
edition. Thomson Heinle: Boston, MA, 2000. 
LONGMAN. Longman dictionary of contemporary English. Essex, England: 
Longman Group UK limited, 1990. 
QUIRK, R. et al. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. 20th 
edition. Essex, England: Longman Group Limited, 2005. 
SCHENDL, H. Historical linguistics. 1st edition. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford 
University Press, 2001. 
SWAN, M. Grammar. 1th edition. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 
2005.