4Particularities of the verb

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Particularities of the verb
You will gain an understanding of the particularities of verbs in English, how they come to be and how they
function.
Professor Fabiana Ferreira
1. Itens iniciais
Purpose
It is essential to understand the particularities of the verbs in the English language and that is the purpose of
this Unit. We are going to focus on delexical verbs, causative, and confusing verbs, by focusing on their
meaning, use and form. This Unit aims at improving how we see and use the language.
Goals
To identify what characterizes delexical verbs.
To analyse the meaning, use and form of causative verbs.
To recognize problems learners may face with confusing verbs and false cognates.
Warm up
There are some verbs in the English language that are used in extremely specific ways. Sometimes, they may
cause confusion for the EFL student, especially if students are stuck with the idea of translating utterances
word for word. This is what we call the particularities of the verb in English, and we are going to focus on them
in this Unit.
We are first going to focus on delexical verbs, what they mean, how they are used and their forms in the
language. They are specific verbs that present characteristics that are different from common verbs, and we
are going to direct our attention to each one of them. 
Our next topic will be causative verbs, which can be confusing for EFL learners since they also cannot be
translated into Portuguese. The way they are used in L2 (second language) does not exist in L1 (first
language), so, it is important that we comprehend their meanings, use and form to understand certain
utterances and the versatility of the English language. Since it uses these particularities to say things in more
concise ways than we do in Portuguese, for instance. 
We are going to finish by analysing confusing verbs: there are many verbs that confuse the EFL learner; we
call them false cognates, or false friends. However, these are not the only verbs that can puzzle the L2 learner:
there are verbs that even native speakers of English have problems with, and we will also address some of
them here. 
We expect to bring light to the subject and the particularities of these verbs in a way to clarify difficulties and
misunderstandings. This Unit is devised to aid in the productive developments of learners of the English
language by bringing out a better understanding and production of L2 in its oral and written forms so that
learners get closer to being proficient English language users.
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1. Delexical verbs: meaning, use and form
Meaning
The first thing you are probably asking yourself is: what are delexical verbs? That is what we are going to try
to help you understand and use. It is not complex at all: these verbs have no meaning by themselves, what
happens is that their meaning is given depending on the noun that follows them, that is, their meaning is
changed according to the noun to which they are connected. Still in doubt? Let us develop this a bit further!
The main delexical verbs are:
Have
Take
Do
Make
Give
Go
But then you are probably thinking “I know what these verbs mean”. How come are they defined by nouns? Let
us have a look at the way we use the first verb on the list: have.
I have a car.
I had a nice drink.
She’s having lunch.
Let’s have a chat.
I’ll call you after I have a shower (British usage).
Time to have a break.
They had a serious quarrel over that message.
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But then you are probably thinking.
As you can see, we used the verb “to have” in every sentence and, in each one, it meant something different. If
the EFL learner gets stuck with the idea that “to have” means ter, they will only be able to understand the first
and, maybe, the last sentence. 
It is important to understand that the noun will 
define the verb, which means that when you
read the sentence “She’s having lunch”, the verb
“to have” is being used here to create the action
of eating. It is quite common for some EFL
learners to have problems here, since they will
try to say something like ter almoço and they
will find it strange and seemingly incoherent.
That is why it is important to understand how
the verb works according to the noun it is linked
to, and that is why it is essential to understand
and accept – some people have a tendency to
argue with the facts of the English grammar – 
delexical verbs, which will help you understand and use these verbs correctly and proficiently.
Let us consider the other verbs and examples:
 
I’m going to take a shower (American usage).
Take your sister to school.
Take care of your sister.
The first example means tomar banho – the American usage. The British say, “have a shower” –, whilst in the
second utterance, the verb means levar. The last sentence brings an expression “take care of”, meaning 
cuidar. What about the other verbs? Let us see them as we move on to the usage of delexical verbs.
Use
How do we use these delexical verbs? Let us consider the ones we have not mentioned yet, such as “to do”.
Literally translated as fazer, the verb does not necessarily mean that in an utterance, since it is a delexical
verb as well. It can be used with -ing nouns that are connected to the idea of housework, such as:
 
She’s the one who does the cooking in the house.
I’m doing the washing; you’ll do the drying.
It can be used when connected with work:
 
He does a few jobs here and there.
You have to do the work yourself. Don’t count on other people.
And it can also be used when the action is clear due to the noun, for example:
 
I will do my hair to go to the wedding (meaning brush your hair in a unique way).
Have you done the dishes? (meaning “wash the dishes”).
Sometimes, it will depend on the context. Imagine you have a problem with your car, and someone asks you:
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Have you done the car? (that can mean “fix”, “mend”, “put gas”, depending on the context).
What about the verb “to make”? It can be used for talking and sounds or plans, as seen below:
 
It was not nice of you to make that comment (talk and sound).
Let’s make the arrangements for the picnic (plans).
How about the use of the verb “to give”? It can be used when concerning noises, facial expressions, hitting, 
affectionate actions and talking, as in the examples below:
 
The baby gave a cry (noise).
Come on. Give me a smile (facial expression).
She gave them a punch for touching her (hitting).
I gave my mother a kiss and left (affectionate actions).
He gave me some advice on how to deal with the situation (talking).
Finally, the verb “to go” can be used with -ing verbs for common activities usually that have something to do
with moving:
 
We love to go hiking.
Let’s go jogging in the morning.
I’d love to go swimming in the lake.
You can do the same by using “go for”. The sentences above would then be slightly altered to:
 
We love to go for a hike.
Let’s go for a jog in the morning.
I’d love to go for a swim in the lake.
Form
In this video, you will learn about delexical verbs, their varied meanings, and how to use them effectively in
terms of form and fluency.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
We have already understood that delexical verbs have little meaning on their own. They also indicate that
someone performs an action, they do not affect or create anything. 
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Woman had a shower.
If you consider a sentence such as “she had a
shower”, you will actually see that the verb
“had” does not mean much if not followed by
the noun “shower”. It is this last word that really
gives meaning to the sentence. If you put
together a delexical verb and a noun group, you
will end up with a delexical structure, such as
the ones we have seen in the examples above.
The proper use of these delexical structures
contributes to a better impression of a language
user’s fluency, meaning that the understandingof their form is essential. Let us analyse it!
Sometimes a common verb can have the same idea as the delexical structure, only having the form changed.
Exemplo
The verb “to look” and the delexical structure “to have a look”. If you are using the verb, as in the
sentence “She’s looking around the house”, it means that you are focusing on the action, whereas if you
say something such as “Let’s have a look at the website”, it seems as if you are focusing more on the
event than on the action. 
Another form that is interesting and might change the idea of the situation is when some verbs that have a
similar meaning as the delexical verb are used and sound as if the event took longer, for example: “She giggled
after the joke” and “She gave a giggle after the joke”. The first utterance sounds as if the “laughter” was a
longer event than the second utterance.
Also, a good reason to use the delexical form of the verb is that you can add details to the noun by using
adjectives instead of adverbs, which makes the sentence sound more natural. For example, you can say: “She
glanced quickly at the clock”, which sounds more formal, or you can say “She gave a quick glance at the
clock”, sounding more native-like.
You can also add more than one adjective, as in “She gave a quick furtive glance at the clock”, instead of “She
glanced quickly and furtively at the clock”, which is the reason why sometimes EFL learners “sound like a
grammar book” when they speak English, making choices that are grammatically accurate but not necessarily
so commonly used. We will get to that discussion in the sub-sections to come.
EFL difficulties
This is an important topic concerning delexical verbs, since EFL learners usually present problems
understanding and, as mentioned before, accepting them as possible parts of the language.
Most of the times, Brazilian Portuguese speakers will avoid using delexical verbs and will prefer using a verb
that is more like L1. For example, it is very common for these learners to produce a sentence such as the one
below:
“I think Brazil is progressing this year. One example is I visited the cinema last weekend and I arrived
there and there was a big line of people to see Brazilian films”.
Grammatically, there is nothing wrong with the utterance at all. However, these are the kind of structures that
make native speakers say that “you speak English well, but it sounds as if it was coming out of a book”. Native
speakers do not use verbs this way, they will resort to using delexical verbs in a much more frequent way. That
being said, the utterance above might come out as: 
“I think Brazil is making progress this year. One example is I went to the cinema last weekend, and I got
there and there was a big line of people to see Brazilian films.”
Another example of problems that EFL learners face concerning delexical verbs is the verb to get. I believe
everyone who has taught English to Brazilian Portuguese speakers has been asked about this specific verb
and realized how horrified learners get by the many different meanings and forms it can be used.
They will usually ask you what the verb means on its own and get frustrated when they see the many
possibilities depending on the noun or preposition that follows it, and, as teachers, we cannot deny the
difficulty, especially as we see the student look the verb up in the dictionary and find pages and pages of
different meanings.
It is important that the learner be presented with the use of the different collocations and meanings this
delexical verb can have by doing activities and exercises.
EFL difficulties
In this video, you will learn about the unique challenges EFL learners face in achieving native-like proficiency
exemplified by common difficulties with the verb “to get”.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
Teaching delexical verbs
There is a lot of work to be done by the teacher to help EFL learners understand and use delexical verbs and
the collocations they might create. Let us focus on the verb “to get”: first, it is a clever idea to elicit from
learners all the possible collocations with this verb that they may think of. Depending on the number of
students you have in a classroom, you will end up with a long list of possibilities, so, just get to it and work the
collocations the learners themselves have brought up before presenting new expressions they will have to
deal with.
You can ease the learning of delexical verbs and the collocations and expressions when they are presented by
doing group activities in which learners work with the verbs you have provided them with. You can work with a
fill in the gap activity – being very careful if the sentences to be completed are properly contextualized,
otherwise, completion becomes almost impossible. For example, have a look at the activity bellow: 
Complete the sentences using the following words: married – worse – home – up.
a) She got ________ last month and she wore the most beautiful wedding dress I’ve ever seen.
b) Call me when you get ________.
c) Get _________! You’re late for school.
d) I thought I would feel better today, but my headache just got __________.
As you can see, the sentences have to be quite long so this way the context can be provided, and the learner
will be able to understand which word they have to use and how they affect the verb.
Using small texts in which delexical verbs appear being used in expressions and collocations and asking the
learner to try and find those verbs is also a good idea. They find the expressions, circle them and try to explain
their meaning to a partner or to the class.
It is interesting to understand how delexical verbs are seen by grammarians. Parrot (2000, p. 144) calls them 
“empty verbs”, since they do not have a meaning on their own, their meaning is granted by the word that
follows them. “To get” can mean a few different things by itself – understand, arrive, etc. –, but when followed
by certain nouns, it is the noun that defines the whole meaning.
Teaching delexical verbs
In this video, you will learn about the concept of delexical verbs, their significance in language learning and
effective methods to teach these verb forms with clarity and precision.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
Learning Check
Question 1
According to what we have seen about delexical verbs, how can we best define them?
A
They have little meaning on their own.
B
They are complete in meaning and form.
C
They do not depend on the noun that follows.
D
They are verbs that cannot be used in the simple past.
E
Their meaning depends on the tense.
A alternativa A está correta.
Delexical verbs are also called "empty verbs" because they have little meaning on their own; they are not
complete in meaning and form without the noun that follows them; also, it does not depend on the tense,
and they can be used in the simple past.
Questão 2
Considering the EFL learner, why is it difficult for them to use delexical verbs?
A
They use delexical verbs without major problems.
B
Because delexical verbs are not used by native speakers.
C
Because it is hard to understand all the possibilities delexical verbs present.
D
Because they do not want to use delexical verbs.
E
Because the spelling is similar to L1.
A alternativa C está correta.
EFL learners have difficulties using delexical verbs because of the number of possibilities they present,
which depends on the noun that follows the verb. These verbs are very much used by native speakers and
EFL learners avoid using them and prefer using verbs that are more similar to the ones that exist in L1;
delexical verbs are very different from their correspondent in L1, especially in terms of spelling.
Cleaned jacket.
2. Causative verbs: meaning, use and form
What is a causative verb?
Well, they are verbs that demonstrate that they cause something else to happen, or that the action was not
performed by the speaker, as it happenswith the verb “to have”. Either they instructed someone to do it, paid
them, asked them, or even persuaded them to do so.
Imagine one had a British teacher and had to learn it the hard way. It may have been hard, at least firstly, but
the learner never forgot when to use causative verbs properly.
What happened was: João, our fictitious character, was still a teenage student and met his teacher at the
library. Her hair was cut, so João said: “Ms. Jones, you cut your hair!”; to what she answered: “Yes, I had my
hair cut.” As João thought about it in his young mind, he realized that his teacher corrected him because she
was not the one who cut her hair herself. She went somewhere else and probably paid someone to cut it for
her. This was the way João learned how to use causative verbs.
Three of the most common causative verbs in English are:
 
Make
Have
Get
Each of them has a different meaning when used in the causative form.
Following the example given by my teacher, you
can think of possibilities such as: “He had his
jacket cleaned”, meaning that the person did
not clean the jacket himself, but probably paid
and persuaded someone else to do it for him.
This is a form of verb that we do not use in
Brazilian Portuguese, it does not exist in L1 for
EFL learners. 
We do not specify, if we are not the ones to do
it, that we did not do it ourselves, but that idea
is implied. You can ask a friend: “Cortou o
cabelo?”; to what they’ll answer: “Cortei!”. However, since it is not a habit, at least in the big cities of Brazil,
that we cut our hair ourselves, the question asked has the idea that we know someone else did it, which is
implied. We only specify it by asking who cut it if we are interested in knowing the person who did it. 
Using causative verbs correctly
We use the causative verb when we talk about something that we did not do ourselves, such as the way we
use it with the verb “to have”. However, there are other causative verbs that are called causative because they 
cause something. These are the causative verbs:
Let
Allow, permit
I don’t let my children watch violent movies.
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Man washing a car.
Make
Force or require someone to take action
After he broke the neighbour’s window, his parents made him pay for it.
Have
Give someone responsibility to do something
I had my mother feed the cats (specify the agent – active voice); I had the cats fed (who did it is not
mentioned because it is unimportant, and it implies that the speaker was not the one to perform the
action).
Get
Convince someone to do something
I got Daniel to do my homework; I got my homework done (omitting the agent).
Help
To aid someone in doing something
I helped him (to) write the essay.
It is important to get the words in the correct order, especially with the verbs that can be used in the passive. 
For example: “I had John wash my car”, when
omitting the agent, it needs a little attention on
the verb. You must be careful to use: “I had my
car washed”, instead of “I have washed my car.”
The last sentence shows the present perfect
and the verb “to have” is an auxiliary, therefore,
it is not being causative and indicating that
someone did it for you. 
This means you have to be careful when
omitting the agent of a causative sentence in
order not to sound as if you are using the
Present Perfect. If the sentence had been in the
past (I had my car washed), not being able to
use the correct order of the verb might lead you to the use of past perfect (I had washed my car).
That can also be valid for the verb “to get”, only it means more than paying someone to do it for you, but it
sounds more like convincing someone to do it for you. For example: “I’ll get Mary to fix the car” or “I’ll get the
car fixed”. The same way, you have to be careful about using this sentence in the passive, in order to omit the
agent, and not have a badly structured sentence – such as “I’ll get fixed the car”.
Causative verbs
In this video, you will learn about the intricacies of causative verbs, their common uses and relevance in
English, and understand the critical role of word order in their application.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
How are they formed?
How are causative verbs structured? Well, first of all they are formed by – let us start by focusing on the verb
“to have” as a causative verb: “have + object + past participle”, indicating a passive meaning, as the form it is
used is “to have something done”. So, as well as having a different meaning, its form will require the passive
voice. However, the causative “to have” can also be used in the active voice, such as “I will have John fix the
car for me”, which means the agent is important here. 
On the other hand, this is not the form it is used with all causative verbs. The causative verbs “let, make and
help” can only be used in the active voice, but they do follow the idea of “causing” something to happen. For
example: 
I let my kids stay up until 10 p.m.
She made John clean the mess he made.
John helped me do my homework.
You can also use the causative “to have” in the passive voice to express unpleasant experiences, such as:
He had his phone stolen last night.
In informal conversations, “get” can be used instead of “have”, as in:
I need to get my hair done to go to the wedding.
Causative verbs can also be used with -ing, as in: 
It’s worth having your car repaired.
Now, let us have a look at the difficulties causative verbs can present to users, especially EFL learners.
How are they formed?
In this video, you will learn about the causative verb structure, its use in active and passive voice, special
considerations with the verb “to get”, and the application of unique forms for different experiences.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
Causative verbs and difficulties
The difficulties presented by EFL learners have a lot more to do with the causative verbs have and get. Let us
have a look at the others and then get back to the harder ones in a while. 
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First, we will analyse how EFL learners consider “make”, “help” and “let”. Considering the latter, learners of
English as a Second Language in Brazil have no problem using “let” as allowing or giving permission for
someone to do something, for example: 
My father does not let me drive his car.
Meaning they have no permission to drive their father’s car, learners will easily translate it as Meu pai não me
deixa dirigir seu carro.
When using help, the learner also has no problem understanding the idea of aiding someone in doing
something, for example:
He helped me win the race.
Which means that I received the help he gave us to win the race. Also, “make” with the idea of forcing
someone do something is understood without problems by learners, as in:
My mother made me do the dishes.
With the idea that you did not want to do it, but your mother forced you to.
However, when it comes down to have and get, it may be harder to grasp. First of all, when you use “get”, you
are focusing on the fact that you are encouraging someone to do something; then, when you use “have”, you
are focusing on asking, instructing and requesting someone to do something.
Besides that, there are the different uses. Considering their definition when being used in a causative mode, it
is easy to understand “She had her brother wash her car” or “she got her brother to wash the car”. The
meaning is only different if we consider how they are used in their causative form. However, when we omit the
agent and sentences become as such:
She had her car washed (have + object + past participle).
She got her car washed (get + object + past participle).
These two last utterances mean that you convince or instruct someone to do something, but the agent is not
important. This way, this structure is very much used when in the passive voice, meaning that you do not do it
yourself.
In Brazilian Portuguese, speakers are used to saying things such as:“Consertou o carro?”, as if the person had
the knowledge to do it themselves and fixed the car. In English, if you are not the one who did it, you might say
“Did you have/get your car fixed?” (using “have” or “get” depending on your intention), meaning that you know
the person did not do it themselves, but you are interested if the action was done, not in who did it.
Teaching the causative form
As we have seen above, EFL learners have no problem with the verbs make, help, and let. However, they might
have problems with have and get, especially in their passive voice. Our advice would be to first present these
two verbs in their active form and explain their meaning, for example: 
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I’ll have Jay pick up my stuff at your place (giving the responsibility to Jay).
She’ll have Mary take the cats to the vet.
He’ll get his parents to pay for the damage (convincing, persuading someone to do something).
I’ll get the maid to set up the table.
These examples above, since they present the listener with an agent, are more easily understood by EFL
learners who have Brazilian Portuguese as their L1. However, they do not have the passive form of this in L1
and they might find it more difficult to understand, but even more, to start using it without L1 interference, like
what happened to João and his English teacher. Do you remember our fictitious character from the beginning?
For Ms. Jones, as a native speaker, she felt the need of using the causative form (“I had my hair cut”) because,
English being her first language, it did not sound right not to imply, by using the proper structure to do so, that
she had not done it herself. She, however, omitted the subject. Who cut her hair? Well, this information was not
mentioned.
It is actually hard for Brazilian Portuguese speakers to understand the omission of the agent as a way to
emphasize that the action was not performed by the speaker. For example:
I had my hair cut.
She had the grass trimmed.
He got the house cleaned.
She got dinner cooked.
In the sentences above, EFL learners who let L1 interfere with the understanding of L2 will have problems
because they will think of something like Eu tive meu cabelo cortado, and that will not make sense to them. It
is important, then, to have them practice the structure as much as possible. Drills and repetitions can be
effective; for example, you may ask the learner to switch the sentences from active to passive, by mentioning
or omitting the subject, or to omit the agent when practicing the causative form.
Teaching the causative form
In this video, you will learn how to teach the causative form, delving into verbs like “let”, “help”, and “make”, the
distinctions between “have” and “get”, as well as effective practice and drills.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
Learning Check
Question 1
Considering the use and form of causative verbs, which ones can be used in the passive voice?
A
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Make and let.
B
Have and get.
C
Help and make.
D
Have and let.
E
Get and make.
A alternativa B está correta.
The only causative verbs that can be used in the active or passive voice are have and get. The other verbs
(let, make and help) can only be used in the active voice, which means that the agent should always be
present when these verbs are used.
Question 2
Considering Brazilian Portuguese speakers, what can be a problem for them to understand the passive use of
the causative form?
A
They do not know how to use passive voice in L1.
B
They do not have the passive voice in L1.
C
EFL learners only understand utterances in the passive voice.
D
They are influenced by the tense of the verbs, which makes it harder for them to understand causative in the
passive.
E
They can be influenced by L1 and not understand the statement.
A alternativa E está correta.
EFL learners, especially Brazilian Portuguese speakers, have the passive voice in L1. However, even though
they might know how to use it in L1, it is not used like that in causative form (with the verbs "have" and
"get"). That means they can be influenced by L1 and not understand the utterance. They understand the
passive voice, as well as the active voice and it is not the tense of the verb that may confuse them, but the
omission of the agent meaning that something was not performed by the speaker.
3. Confusing verbs
Confusing verbs and difficulties
The first thing you must be asking yourself is: what are confusing verbs? Well, it might seem strange, but they
exist. They may be a simple verb that you usually do not see any problems with, or even what became famous
as “false friends”, which we would grammatically call “false cognates”. False cognates are usually not a
problem to native speakers, but other confusing verbs may be difficult even for them. 
Now you must be thinking what verbs those are. Let us begin by discussing confusing verbs and why they can
be difficult for both EFL learners and, some of them, for native speakers:
 
Lie
Lay
Borrow
Lend
Know
Waste
Spend
Rise
Raise
These are verbs that can be difficult for EFL learners – some of them for native speakers as well – to fully
grasp. The verb to lie, specifically, can be a hard verb for many people, because it can have two meanings: 
To recline or to rest.
Not to tell the truth.
When used as in the first one, you can say “The cat lies in the morning sun”, which seems simple. However,
when you use this verb in the past, it turns into something that might confuse the speaker: “The cat lay in bed
with me all night”. As you can see, it can be confused with the verb to lay, which has three meanings: 
To put.
Place.
Set down.
As in “He lays his keys on the table every night” and, in the past, it will be “He laid his keys on the counter last
night”. When the verb “to lie” means “not telling the truth, its past is “He lied to me about the letter”. As you can
see, these two first verbs can be quite confusing to deal with. 
Problems with confusing verbs
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Woman loading a lot of Christmas presents into the car.
Considering the other verbs we mentioned above that can be confusing verbs, we will try to enlighten you on
some of them in order to help you use them well and understand why they can be a problem. Let us first talk
about the verb to know.
The problem this verb may present will be felt more deeply by EFL learners, since it can have two meanings:
To be familiar with someone, for example “I would love you to know my parents”.
To understand a fact or truth, for example “I know what you are thinking about”.
Now, let us check the uses of another set of confusing verbs:
Borrow
Lend
They can be a problem to EFL learners, since to borrow means “to take a loan”, whilst to lend means “to give a
loan”. Leaners tend to mix these two up when they ask for something, as in: “Can I borrow your pen?” –
meaning someone else will give it to you as a loan – and “Can you lend me your pen?” – as you can see, the
agent is different because they will be giving the loan. 
Another set of verbs that may cause confusion is: 
Waste
Spend
The first one, waste, means that you failed to use something valuable in an effective way, for example “You are
wasting your time playing video games all day” or “Don’t waste any more money on cigarettes!”. 
On the other hand, spend, means “to pay out”
or “to pass time”, as in “I spent a lot of money
on Christmas presents” (this utterance is
different from the use of “waste” because the
latter gives the idea of not being able to use it
properly, while the last sentence does not bring
this idea). Also, you can say “I spent my
summer holiday at the Bahamas”, meaning “to
pass time”.
Now, let us turn our attention to other verbs:
Rise
Raise
The first verb, rise, means either to get up, or to go up. Therefore, it can be used as in “It’s six o’clock. Rise and
shine!” or “Gas price has risen again”. While the second verb,raise, means “to make higher”, that signifies that
the first verb “something” will go up, and in the second one, “someone” will make “something” go up, as in
“The government will not stop raising the gas price”. In this case, the government is the causer for this
increase in the price. 
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Confusing verbs and difficulties
In this video, you will learn about commonly confusing verbs, exploring distinctions and the multifaceted
meanings of these verbs.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
False cognates
False cognates are, as we mentioned before, also called “false friends”. That is because they have their
spelling similar to a word in Brazilian Portuguese but mean something completely different. That can be a
problem to Brazilian Portuguese speakers who may misunderstand the meaning of the utterance the verb is
inserted in. Some of the most common false cognates that cause problems to the Brazilian EFL learner are:
Push
Empurrar.
Cigar
Charuto.
Engaged
Noivo.
Parents
Pais.
Actually
Na verdade.
Fabric
Tecido.
Prejudice
Preconceito.
Signs on doors: one says “push”, the other says “pull”.
Service
Atendimento.
These are only some that may cause problems, since Brazilian speakers who do not know them as false
cognates will usually translate those words as – respectively: puxar, cigarro, engajado, parentes, atualmente, 
fábrica, prejuízo e serviço. 
Because they have their origin in Latin, it is
adamant that they are taught to EFL learners to
have them aware of their true meaning and
make them able to properly use them. 
Knowing them will also help you not to commit
embarrassing mistakes, such as pulling a door
instead of pushing it (pull – puxar/push – 
empurrar), call your parentes your “parents”, or
saying that your car was “prejudiced” in the
accident (prejudiced – preconceituoso).
False cognates exist in many other languages,
such as Spanish and Italian. Most of the times
students are presented with a list of those verbs and their meaning. However, we are not sure that would be
the most appropriate way to teach those verbs.
False cognates
In this video, you will learn about false cognates, their origins, the common misunderstandings they cause,
and how to teach them effectively and avoid embarrassing mistakes.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
Brazilian Portuguese speakers and confusing verbs
As we have already mentioned, confusing verbs and false cognates can be hard for the EFL learner of English,
but our focus is the Brazilian Portuguese speaker. For them, there are many words that can cause
misunderstandings in the interaction and, some of them, have been presented here.
It is usually a problem to have Brazilian speakers accept those verbs, since most people think that learning a
second language can be easy because they think the structure of another language is the same as L1.
Therefore, lots of translations are misleading and wrong.
Comentário
My personal experience with this concept was the one I had with a student who believed that learning
English meant translating word from word with the aid of a dictionary, and they just wanted me to teach
them the correct pronunciation. As much as I told them that English has a different structure from
Portuguese, they were so used to translating everything that most of their written productions were
incomprehensible. To some extent, I understood that, if I translated every word, as they did, I was able to
understand their point of view. However, that is neither desired nor appropriate, since their production of
the language was not only totally influenced by L1 but also incomprehensible by native speakers. 
Brazilian Portuguese speakers do not usually dedicate the correct amount of time to acquire a second
language, complaining about having to memorize irregular verbs and false cognates and confusing verbs.
However, it is of extreme importance that both irregular verbs – which are not the focus of this study – and
confusing verbs be addressed in a natural way, without allowing the learner to think they can just take those
topics for granted. For a good, valid interaction in English to happen, those topics must be clear in the EFL
learner’s mind in order to avoid misunderstanding and also improve their English.
Teaching false cognates and confusing verbs
Since understanding false cognates and confusing verbs seems to be of adamant importance to better
develop the comprehension of the English language, it is essential that the teacher be aware and prepared to
analyse these verbs along with the learners. As mentioned before, learners usually are given a list of those
verbs to memorize, something most of them are not willing to do. To help you make your work better as a
teacher when faced with this topic, here are a few suggestions.
One of the problems of teaching vocabulary is that usually the exercises a teacher finds for their students –
yes, because, most of the times, teachers do not have time to prepare exercises so they download ready ones
from the internet – is that it is usually “fill in the blanks” activities with sentences that are out of context.
Considering pragmatics and what EFL learners will have to face in the future, we believe teaching vocabulary
out of context can make it more difficult for students to use it naturally in their everyday speech. Mind you, it
does not mean it “fill in the blanks” exercises are of no use, but when in context, verbs and expressions are
much easier to understand.
A nice way to do this is to use texts that they have to read and complete with the correct confusing verb or
false cognate. Another interesting and entertaining way to work with these confusing verbs and analysing
them with students are memes, such as the ones below: 
Taking advantage of the fact that memes are extremely popular among people of all ages, especially in Brazil
where everything becomes a meme, it is amusing to the learner to see those verbs while checking memes and
realize that they might be confusing even to native speakers. 
Teaching false cognates and confusing verbs
In this video, you will learn about the challenges Brazilian Portuguese speakers face with false cognates and
confusing verbs, misconceptions in language structure, and the use of memes for learning.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para assistir ao vídeo.
Learning Check
Question 1
According to the concept of false cognates, why are they difficult for Brazilian Portuguese speakers?
A
They come from the Greek.
B
Because they are very different from L1.
C
Because they are rarely used.
D
Because they have similar spelling to the word in L1, but very different meaning.
E
Because they cannot be taught.
A alternativa D está correta.
False cognates do not have their origin in Greek, but in Latin, they have similar spelling to words in L1 and
are much used. They can be taught by memorization or exercises, but it is difficult for Brazilian Portuguese
speakers to understand them because, although their spelling is similar to L1, their meaning is totally
different.
Question 2
According to the use of confusing verbs, why is it important to know them?
A
Because they help people understand the context of a text.
B
So as not to use the wrong word and be misunderstood.
C
In order to understand L1 better.
D
Because they have different spelling from L1.
E
Because they affect grammar.
A alternativa B está correta.
It is important to know confusing verbs in order not to use them in the wrong way and be misunderstood.
They help you understanding a text, but also any utterance. They will not help you learn L1 better, what
happens is the interference of L1. Their spelling is very similar to L1, and they do not affect grammar.
4. Conclusão
Considerações finais
Well, we have come to the final stage of this study. We discussed delexical verbs, causative verbs, and
confusing verbs. As a summary, we realized thatdelexical verbs, also called empty verbs, have little meaning
on their own and depend on a complement, a noun or preposition that follows it. One of the biggest examples
of this is the verb “to get”, which can have many meanings depending on what follows. We emphasized the
importance of comprehending these verbs and suggested some ways you can make the teaching of the topic
easier, bearing in mind that you must have a noticeably clear idea of how those verbs work.
We moved on to causative verbs and how they are used. The concept is that these verbs cause something to
happen, however, the passive voice of the causative verbs “to have” and “to get” can be quite difficult for EFL
learners. They mean that it was not the person who caused the action to happen, but another agent that is
omitted in the passive voice of these verbs when being used as causative. We mentioned how hard it is for
Brazilian Portuguese speakers to understand this structure since we do not have it in L1.
At last, we got to confusing verbs and false cognates, also hard for EFL learners and not only Brazilian
Portuguese learners of EFL, but also to other nationalities. They can be confusing for many reasons: how they
are used in the past, verbs that have the same meaning in the dictionary but are used in different ways. False
cognates are the ones that have similar spelling to L1, have their origin in Latin but, even though the spelling is
similar to L1, the meaning is totally different. Memorization of those verbs is what usually causes a problem to
learners, but we have suggested a few ways that the topic can be addressed to make it easier and more fun to
collaborate with them.
We hope this Unit has been clear to you and that it allows you now to understand better the different
particularities of the verbs in the English language and, maybe, help you a bit more if you are already teaching.
Podcast
Let’s recap the nuances of delexical, causative, and confusing verbs in English, especially for EFL
learners. Unpack challenges, insights, and tips for effective teaching.
Conteúdo interativo
Acesse a versão digital para ouvir o áudio.
Go Further
To consider the teaching of particularities of the verb, read A concise grammar for English language teachers,
written by Tony Penston and published by TP Publications in 2005. 
References
COBUILD, C. English usage. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 1992.
 
GINGER SOFTWARE. Confusing verbs. Accessed: October 5, 2023.
 
PARROT, M. Grammar for English language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
	Particularities of the verb
	1. Itens iniciais
	Purpose
	Goals
	Warm up
	1. Delexical verbs: meaning, use and form
	Meaning
	Have
	Take
	Do
	Make
	Give
	Go
	Use
	Form
	Conteúdo interativo
	Exemplo
	EFL difficulties
	EFL difficulties
	Conteúdo interativo
	Teaching delexical verbs
	Teaching delexical verbs
	Conteúdo interativo
	Learning Check
	Question 1
	2. Causative verbs: meaning, use and form
	What is a causative verb?
	Using causative verbs correctly
	Let
	Make
	Have
	Get
	Help
	Causative verbs
	Conteúdo interativo
	How are they formed?
	How are they formed?
	Conteúdo interativo
	Causative verbs and difficulties
	Teaching the causative form
	Teaching the causative form
	Conteúdo interativo
	Learning Check
	Question 1
	Question 2
	3. Confusing verbs
	Confusing verbs and difficulties
	Problems with confusing verbs
	Confusing verbs and difficulties
	Conteúdo interativo
	False cognates
	Push
	Cigar
	Engaged
	Parents
	Actually
	Fabric
	Prejudice
	Service
	False cognates
	Conteúdo interativo
	Brazilian Portuguese speakers and confusing verbs
	Comentário
	Teaching false cognates and confusing verbs
	Teaching false cognates and confusing verbs
	Conteúdo interativo
	Learning Check
	Question 1
	Question 2
	4. Conclusão
	Considerações finais
	Podcast
	Conteúdo interativo
	Go Further
	References