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Case № 24
Formulation of the case-task:
The Verb as the main part of speech of the language. Morphological and
syntactic
characteristics of verbs.
I. Try to find out the solutions of the following problems and make use of the
tables,
schemes, diagrams etc. if possible.
1) Give a full description of verb and its morphological and syntactic
characteristics.
2) Speak about notional and functional verbs:
3) Give some information of grammatical categories of verbs. Give examples.
II A) Find and match the words from the sentences and define grammatical
categories:1) My sister’s children like to spend time in my home.
2) I returned her book to the library.
3) You must stop playing computer games.
4) They are cleaning the house after a big party.
Number Case Person Tense

Singular Prular Objective Subjective possessive 1st 2nd 3rd past present
(object) (subject)

III. Give a full characteristic of the verbs used in the given sentence from the
point of meaning (notional, functional, transitive, intransitive), form (tense
forms), structure
(simple, derived, compound) and functions (in the sentence):
Then he (Tom) gave a low distinct whistle. It was answered from under the bluff.
(Twain)
ОТВЕТЫ:
1) Give a full description of verb and its morphological and syntactic
characteristics.
Grammatically verbs are the most complex part of speech. This is due to the
central role they play in expression of predicativity of the sentence, establishing
the relationship between the target situation or event named in the utterance and
the reality.
The features of the verb:
1) the categorial meaning of process (presented in the two upper series of
forms, respectively, as finite process and non-finite process);
2) the forms of the verbal categories of person, number, tense, aspect, voice,
mood; the opposition non-finite forms: of the finite and
3) the function of the finite predicate for the finite verb: the mixed verbal -
other than verbal functions for the finite verb.
According to their functions, verbs can be divided into three major categories or
classes:
 lexical or full verbs,
 primary verbs and
 auxiliary modal verbs. non

The grammatical categorical meaning of lexical or full verbs is to denote action,

process or state dynamically, i.e. developing in time.
The full verbs are only used as main verbs because of their lexical meanings.
E.g.: Every morning he goes to the office and comes back at eight.
This class of verbs is an open class, which means that the English language is
always adding new lexical verbs. E.g.: to download, to e-mail, etc.
There are only three primary verbs: be, have and do, the most common verbs
in English. They form a separate class because they can be used either as main
verbs or as auxiliary verbs. Primary verbs can act as main verbs when they realize
their lexical meaning of existence, possession or performing something: e.g. He
was in the hotel with his family. He has a big family - a wife and six children. They
did everything to save the child.
Special attention should be paid to the primary verb be. Opinions differ
concerning its functional status. British and American scholars consider that, when
be is used as a linking verb (e.g.: He is angry; She is a dancer, etc.) it functions as a
main verb, while Russian linguists refer to such use of be as the "pure link-verb"
connecting the subject with its nominal predicative (Blokh 1983: 91)
Modal verbs (can, may, must, could, might, have to, be able to, have to, shall,
will, should, would, need, etc.) are used only as auxiliary verbs to express ability,
possibility, obligation, necessity, volition or prediction of the action, process or
state which is denoted by the main verb. E. g. People thought he might have been
joking.(possibility) He would probably go there. (volition/prediction).
Verbs are characterized by specific forms of word-building. The verb stems
may be simple, derived, composite and phrasal.
Accordingly verbs are divided into two large groups: regular and irregular
verbs. Regular verbs form past simple and past participle by adding the inflectional
suffix -ed, while Irregular verbs form these forms individually.

Morphological features of the verb. The verb possesses the following grammatical
categories:

 tense,
 aspect,
 voice,
 mood,
 person,
 number,
 finitude
 phase.

The common categories for finite and non-finite forms are voice, aspect, phase
and finitude. The grammatical categories of the English verb find their expression
in synthetical and analytical forms. The formative elements expressing these
categories are grammatical affixes, inner inflexion and function words. Some
categories have only synthetical forms (person, number), others - only analytical
(voice). There are also categories expressed by both synthetical and analytical
forms (mood, tense, aspect).
Syntactic features. The most universal syntactic feature of verbs is their ability to
be modified by adverbs. The second important syntactic criterion is the ability of
the verb to perform the syntactic function of the predicate. However, this criterion
is not absolute because only finite forms can perform this function while non-finite
forms can be used in any function but predicate. And finally, any verb in the form
of the infinitive can be combined with a modal verb.
 2) Speak about notional and functional verbs:
The classification of verbs can be undertaken from the following points of view:
1) meaning
2) form - formation;
3) function.
Notional and functional verbs
According to their meaning verbs fall under two groups: notional and functional.
Notional verbs have full lexical meaning of their own. The majority of verbs fall
under this group: e.g.: to work, to build, to lie, to love, etc.
Functional verbs differ from notional ones of lacking lexical meaning of their own.
They cannot be used independently in the sentence; they are used to furnish certain
parts of sentence (very often they are used with predicates).
Functional verbs are subdivided into three: link verbs, modal verbs, auxiliary
verbs.
Link verbs connect the nominative part of the predicate (the predicative) with the
subject.
Specifying link verbs specify the connections between the subject and its property,
cf.: He was pale. – He grew pale. The specification of the connections may be
either “perceptional”, e.g.: to seem, to look, to feel, etc., or “factual”, e.g.: to grow,
to become, to get, etc. The functional link verbs should be distinguished from
homonymous notional verbs, e.g.: to grow can be a notional verb or a specifying
link verb, cf.: The child grew quickly. – He grew pale.
Modal verbs are small group of verbs which usually express the modal meaning,
the speaker’s attitude to the action, expressed by the notional verb in the sentence.
They lack some grammatical forms like infinitive form, grammatical categories
and so on. Thus, they do not have all the categories of verbs. They may express
mood and tense since they function as parts of predicates. They lack the non-finite
forms.
Besides in present-day English there is another group of verbs which are called
auxiliaries.
3)Different Categories of Verbs
Verbs can be divided into different categories according to their behaviour when
used in a context. Let us look at the categories explained below.
Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs
 As you can see, verbs are used to denote actions, and they can be used in
different forms to indicate when the subject in a sentence is carrying out an action.
A regular verb can be conjugated to show if the action takes place in the past or if
the action is taking place continuously.
In most cases, the past form of the verb is formed by adding an ‘ed’ to the
root verb for regular verbs. On the other hand, there are other verbs that do not
follow this rule. They are called irregular verbs. These verbs have their own unique
forms. If you are wondering how to learn these irregular verbs, read the article on
irregular verbs to find out how.
Have a look at the examples given below.
* Dileep searched for his white shirt in his cupboard, but he did not find it. (Root
verb – search)

Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs

Transitive and intransitive forms of verbs are used to denote how a verb acts when
used with a direct object and an indirect object. Let us look at a few examples.
* Vincent gave a box of chocolates to his brother. (Indirect object – his brother,
Direct object – a box of chocolates)
* Garry passed the water bottle to Kevin, who was sitting in the first row. (Indirect
object – Kevin, Direct object – the water bottle)
* The little girl ran around the park for two hours.
Verbs that take a direct object alone are called transitive verbs, and those verbs that
do not take either a direct object or an indirect object are called intransitive verbs.
There is yet another category of verbs that take both the direct object and the
indirect object, and they are called ditransitive verbs.
 II A) Find and match the words from the sentences and define grammatical
categories:
1) My sister’s children like to spend time in my home.
2) I returned her book to the library.
3) You must stop playing computer games.
4) They are cleaning the house after a big party.
Number Case Person Tense

Singular Prular Objec- Subjec- Posses 1st 2nd 3rd past present
tive tive -
(object) (subject sive
)

My Children Home Childre My M You sister’s I like

Sister’s Like book n Sister’ y mus Childre returne You
Home Compute library Like s I t n d must
I r games compute I her like playing
Returne They r games You her They
d Are house must book Are
Her party They They cleanin
Book g
Library
You
Must
Playing
House
party

1) *My sister’s children like to spend time in my home.*

- *My*: singular, possessive, 1st person, present
- *sister’s*: singular, possessive, 3rd person, present
- *children*: plural, subjective, 3rd person, present
- *like*: plural, subjective, 3rd person, present
- *home*: singular, objective, present

2) *I returned her book to the library.*

 - *I*: singular, subjective, 1st person, past
- *returned*: singular, past
- *her*: singular, possessive, 3rd person, present
- *book*: singular, objective, present
- *library*: singular, objective, present

3) *You must stop playing computer games.*

- *You*: singular/plural, subjective, 2nd person, present
- *must*: singular/plural, subjective, 2nd person, present
- *playing*: gerund (verbal noun), present
- *computer games*: plural, objective, present

4) *They are cleaning the house after a big party.*

- *They*: plural, subjective, 3rd person, present
- *are*: plural, present
- *cleaning*: present participle (verb form used in present continuous tense),
present
- *house*: singular, objective, present
- *party*: singular, objective, present

III. Give a full characteristic of the verbs used in the given sentence from the
point of meaning (notional, functional, transitive, intransitive), form (tense
forms), structure
(simple, derived, compound) and functions (in the sentence):
Then he (Tom) gave a low distinct whistle. It was answered from under the bluff.
(Twain)
Let's break down the verbs in the given sentences: "Then he (Tom) gave a
low distinct whistle. It was answered from under the bluff." We'll analyze their
characteristics from various perspectives: meaning (notional, functional, transitive,
intransitive), form (tense forms), structure (simple, derived, compound), and
functions in the sentence.
Sentence 1: "Then he (Tom) gave a low distinct whistle."
1. *Gave*:
- *Meaning*:
- *Notional*: Yes. It conveys the action of giving, which is a concrete action
performed by the subject.
- *Functional*: Main verb of the sentence.
- *Transitivity*:
- *Transitive*: Yes. "Gave" requires a direct object to complete its meaning. In
this case, "a low distinct whistle" is the direct object.
- *Form*:
- *Tense*: Past simple tense, indicating an action completed in the past.
- *Structure*:
- *Simple*: The verb "gave" is a simple verb.
- *Function in the Sentence*:
- Predicate verb, expressing the main action performed by the subject "he
(Tom)."

Sentence 2: "It was answered from under the bluff."

1. *Was answered*:
- *Meaning*:
- *Notional*: Yes. It conveys the action of answering, which is an action
occurring in response to something.
- *Functional*: Main verb of the sentence.
- *Transitivity*:
- *Transitive*: Yes. However, in this sentence, it is used in the passive voice,
which means the object (the whistle) is implied but not directly stated.
- *Form*:
- *Tense*: Past simple tense, passive voice, indicating an action completed in
the past and focusing on the action's recipient rather than the doer.
- *Structure*:
 - *Compound*: "Was answered" consists of the auxiliary verb "was" and the
past participle "answered," forming the passive voice.
- *Function in the Sentence*:
- Predicate verb, expressing the main action that happened to the subject "It"
(referring to the whistle).
Summary of Verb Characteristics:
1. *Gave*:
- *Notional*: Yes
- *Functional*: Main verb
- *Transitive*: Yes
- *Form*: Past simple tense
- *Structure*: Simple
- *Function*: Predicate verb

2. *Was answered*:
- *Notional*: Yes
- *Functional*: Main verb
- *Transitive*: Yes (used passively)
- *Form*: Past simple tense (passive voice)
- *Structure*: Compound
- *Function*: Predicate verb

These verbs, "gave" and "was answered," provide the actions around which the
sentences revolve, with "gave" directly describing Tom's action and "was
answered" describing the response