Term 1 Lecture 8

The Verb Phrase &

Other Phrases
The importance of verb phrase

• Verbs provide the focal point of a clause. The main verb in a clause
determines the cause-effect relations of the other clause elements.

• We could probably survive without verb phrases, but life would be

an awful lot harder, certainly involving a lot more effort, sweat and
frustration.

• In other words, verb phrases make communication much easier

particularly when we are trying to communicate ideas to people
who do not share our context.
• Look at the following two examples:

– A) Death of a teenage passenger in a pickup truck – off the

road by another pickup in a case of road rage.

– B) A teenage passenger in a pickup truck was killed when it

was forced off the road by another pickup in a case of road
rage.
Which one, A or B, is
more comprehensible?

• Example B is more comprehensible because the verb

phrases (i.e. was killed, was forced off) establish a
better cause-effect relation which helps make the
connection between the events and people involved.
Traditional grammar vs.
functional grammar From our Lecture 1

• Traditional grammar and functional grammar

are able to explain in what ways and to what
extent verbs provide the focal point of the
clause.
Traditional grammar approach to verbs
• Main verbs play a central role in clauses.

• They usually occur in the middle of a clause, and they are

the most important element in the clause because they
determine the other clause elements.

• In other words, verbs carry the of clauses.

– A clause is of the ‘intransitive’ valency because the verb is an

intransitive verb.
• E.g. I went. / *I went the house.

– A clause is of the ‘ditransitive’ valency because the verb is a

ditransitive verb.
• E.g. I could give him a message.
Functional grammar approach to verbs

• Look at the following sentence:

Tom killed the man with a gun

Participant process participant circumstance

• The functional unit ‘process’ is realized by the verb ‘killed’.

• Adopting the functional analysis of grammar, processes can be

represented through verb phrases.

• Our interest is focused on the kinds of process that are going on in a

text. In other words, these processes construe the ‘doing’, ‘thinking’,
‘saying’ and ‘relational’ experiences of people and other entities in
the text. All these processes are realized by the verb phrase.
Semantic categories of verbs
• Based on Halliday’s
functional approach
to grammar, the
four processes (i.e.
doing, thinking,
saying and Remember me
from last week?
relational) are
realized by seven
semantic categories
of verbs.
Functional processes Semantic categories of verbs
Material/doing Activity verbs (catch, play, run, do, write)
processes

Mental/thinking Mental verbs (think, believe, hate, see)

processes

Verbal Communication verbs (tell, ask, state)

processes

Relational Causative verbs (cause, enable, allow)

processes Occurrence verbs (become, change, die)
Existence/Relationship verbs (seem,
include)
Aspectual verbs (begin , continue, keep)
Activity verbs
• Activity verbs usually refer to a
volitional/deliberate activity –
that is, an action performed
intentionally by an agent or ‘doer’.

• Examples:

– Then you should move any

obstacles.
– He bought biscuits and condensed
milk.
– In many of these jobs, women are
working with women only.
• Many commonly use verbs are activity verbs.

• The 20 most common, in conversation, fiction,

newspaper writing, and academic prose are:

bring, buy, come, follow, get, give, go, leave, make,

meet, move, pay, play, put, run, show, take, try, use,
work
• Activity verbs can be either transitive (S+V+DO)
or intransitive (S+V).

• Example (transitive):

– Well give it to the dogs, they’ll eat it.

• Example (intransitive):

– They ran on rubbery legs through an open gate.

 Mental verbs

• Mental verbs refer to mental states and activities.

• Examples:

– I think it was Freddie.

– I wanted very much to give him the cake.

• Mental verbs do not involve physical action and express a wide

range of meanings:

– Mental states and processes (e.g. think, know)

– Emotions, attitudes, or desires (e.g. love, want)
– Perceptions (e.g. see, taste)
– The receiving of communication (e.g. read, hear)
• The 20 most common mental verbs in
conversation, fiction, newspaper
writing, and academic prose are:

believe, consider, expect, feel, find, hear, know,

like, listen, love, mean, need, read, remember,
see, suppose, think, understand, want, wonder
Communication verbs

• Communication verbs can be thought of as a special

subcategory of activity verbs that involve communication
activities, particularly verbs describing speech and writing.

• Examples:

– You said you didn’t have it.

– ‘Stop that’, he shouted.
– The organizer asked me if I wanted to see how the money was
spent.
– Too many students write far too little about their research
methods.
• The 12 most common communication verbs
are:

ask, call, claim, describe, offer, say, speak,

suggest, talk, tell, thank, write
Causative verbs

• Causative verbs indicate that some person or

thing helps bring about a new state of affairs.

• There are only a few common causative verbs:

• allow, help, let, require, cause, enable

• Causative verbs are followed by either a direct
object or a complement clause.

• Examples ([direct object])

– Still other rules cause [the deletion of elements from

the structure].
– This information enables [the formulation of precise
questions].

• Examples ([complement clause])

– What caused [you to be ill]?
– The law enables [the volume of a gas to be calculated].
Occurrence verbs
• Verbs of occurrence report events
that occur without an actor.

• Often the subjects of these verbs

are affected by the event that is
described by the verb.

• Examples (subjects are bracketed):

– [The lights] changed.

– [Resistant organisms] may develop in
the alimentary canal.
– [The term ‘verb’] has occurred many
times in this lecture.
• Seven verbs of occurrence are especially
common:

• become, change, develop, die, grow, happen,

occur
Existence/Relationship verbs
• Verbs of existence or relationship
report a state of existence or a logical
relationship that exists between
entities. https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxyZD0w2p85u

• Some of the most common existence

verbs are copular verbs.

• Examples:

– Witnesses said he appeared happy and

relaxed.
– All these uses seem natural and
serviceable.
• Verbs which report a state of existence:

– I go and stay with them.

– These varying conditions may exist in close
proximity.

• Verbs which report a state of relationship:

– The exercise will include random stop checks

by police.
– They contained large quantities of nitrogen.
• Some common existence/relationship verbs
are:

appear, contain, exist, include, indicate, involve, live,

look, represent, seem, stand, stay
Aspectual verbs

• Aspectual verbs characterize the stage of progress of

an event or activity.

• These verbs usually occur with a complement clause

following the verb.

• Examples (complement clauses are in brackets)

– She kept [running out of the room].

– He couldn’t stop [talking about me].
– Tears started [to trickle down his cheeks].
• Some common aspectual verbs are:

begin, continue, keep, start, stop

Structure of the verb phrase

• The verb phrase may consist of two major

elements:

• 1) lexical verbs; and

• 2) auxiliary verbs.
Lexical verbs

• The lexical verb is the central verbal element that

expresses the process.

• The lexical verb of each of the following sentences is

underlined:

– They meant it as a compliment.

– They did mean it as a compliment.
– They might have meant it as a compliment.

• It can be seen that the lexical verb is the last element

of the verb phrase and expresses some kind of process.
Auxiliary verbs
• There are two types of auxiliary verbs:

• 1) temporal auxiliary/finite; and

• 2) modal auxiliary/finite.
Temporal auxiliary verbs
• The temporal auxiliary verb often helps to anchor the
verb phrase in terms of:

– 1) tense (present, past);

– 2) person (I, you, he, she, it, we, they); and
– 3) number (singular, plural)

• Examples:

– I don’t think he is bad. (present, first person, singular)

– You didn’t know anything about the protest. (past, second
person, singular)
– He doesn’t want to be invited (present, third person,
singular)
Modal auxiliary verbs

• There are two types of modal verbs:

– Central modals:
can, could, may, might, must, should, will, would,
shall

– Semi-modals:
had better, have to, have got to, ought to, be
supposed to, be going to, used to, etc.
Three functions of modals
(time, modality, degree of certainty)
• 1) The central modals can be used to
make time distinctions, even though
they are not marked for tense in the
same way the lexical verbs are (e.g.
wants, wanted, eats, ate).

• For example, the modals ‘will’ and ‘shall’

can be used to refer to future time (i.e.
‘future’ in English is NOT a tense but is
marked by modals).
• There will be no outcry from the
protestors.
• We shall deal with the political dilemma
as soon as possible.
• The following table shows how central modals
are used to mark time distinctions:
Central modals referring to Corresponding central modals
present and future time referring to past time

can could
may might
shall should
will would
• 2) Central modals and semi-modals are
grouped into three categories based on their
meaning (modality):

Name category Modals

permission, ability can, could, may, might

obligation, necessity must, should, had better,

have got to, need to, ought
to, be supposed to

volition, prediction will, would, shall, be going to

• 3) There is also a cline of degree of certainty
for modals:

low median high

can, may, will, would, must, ought to,

might… should… have to…
Verb phrase complex

• Question: Can a verb phrase

have more than one lexical verb?

• Let’s take a look at the

following examples:

– The Toyota driver kept going.

– The art critics started calling
Monet an Impressionist.
• Analysis:

• In these examples, ‘started’ and ‘kept’

further specify and elaborate ‘calling’ and
‘going’ respectively. Therefore, ‘kept going’
and ‘started calling’ are treated as, for
each of which, one single verb.

• It can be seen from the above examples

that in order to expand or further specify
the nature of the process, additional
lexical verbs can be used in a verb phrase.

• The additional lexical verbs have the

function of specifying, elaborating or
modulating the nature of the process and
are referred to as ‘controlling verbs’.
• Look at the following examples:

– The critics ended up calling Monet an Impressionist.

– The critics regretted calling Monet an Impressionist.
– The critics insisted on calling Monet an Impressionist.
– The critics tend to call Monet an Impressionist.

• There are instances in which multiple controlling

verbs are used:

– The driver tried to keep going.

– The driver managed to keep going.
Identifying multiple lexical verbs
• It is important to be aware of complex
verb phrases with multiple lexical
verbs

→ Are the lexical verbs

representing different processes
or just one single process?

• The is to identify instances

where the additional lexical verbs (e.g.
try, mange, end up, etc.) would make
no sense in isolation – they take on a
meaning only in combination with the
lexical verb and any auxiliary.
• Example:

– I kept laughing for ten minutes.

• ‘Kept’ modulates the process of ‘laughing’. So

‘kept’ is not separate from ‘laughing’ and
‘kept laughing’ constitutes one single process.
• Task: In the sentences below, determine whether
the verb phrases constitute a single process or
two processes.

– 1. I kept watching the film

– 2. I started watching the film
– 3. I went to find my sister
– 4. I managed to find my sister
– 5. I stayed up to see the film
– 6. I remembered to see the film
– 7. I tried to find my sister
1. I kept watching the film 1. One process

2. I started watching the film 2. One process

3. I went || to find my sister 3. Two processes

4. I managed to find my sister 4. One process

5. I stayed up || to see the film 5. Two processes

6. I remembered to see the film 6. One process

7. I tried to find my sister 7. One process

40
Discontinuous verb phrases
• The components of a verb phrase may be separated by
a participant.

• Look at the following examples:

– The new law caused taxes to increase.

– His comments made us laugh.
– My parents allowed the children to stay up late.

• These are examples of discontinuous verb phrases

which can still comprise only ONE single process.
• Discontinuous verb phrases are typical for lexical
verbs of causative and enablement functions.

• Examples (causative function):

– Inflation is causing residential property prices to rise.

– The clown made us laugh.

• Example (enablement):

– The teacher allowed the kids to enter the room.

The didactic approach to
multi-word verbs
• Adopting a didactic approach, multi-word verbs
fall into three different categories:

– 1) Phrasal verbs = verb + adverbial particle Verb + Particle

Constructions
(e.g. carry out, find out, pick up) (VPC) (VPC)

– 2) Prepositional verbs = verb + preposition Verb + Preposition

Constructions
(e.g. look at, talk about, listen to) (VPP) (VPP)

– 3) Phrasal-prepositional verbs = verb + adverbial

particle + preposition
(e.g. put up with, look forward to)
Characteristics of phrasal verbs

• There are two major categories of phrasal

verbs:

• 1) intransitive; and

• 2) transitive.
• Intransitive phrasal verbs:

– Come on, tell me more about Nick.

– Hold on, what are you doing there?

– I just broke down in tears when I saw the letter.

• Transitive phrasal verbs:

– Did you point out the faults

on it then?

– I ventured to bring up the

subject of the future.

– I want to find out the relative

sizes of the most common
dinosaurs.
• Transitive phrasal verbs are normally separable
(i.e. the adverbial particle can be placed after the
direct object). When the direct object is a
pronoun, it is usually placed before the adverbial
particle.

– I tried to keep up the conversation.

• → I tried to keep the conversation up.

• → I tried to keep it up.

– The temptation is to play up the sensational aspects

of the story.

• → The temptation is to play the sensational aspects of the

story up.
• → then temptation is to play them up.
Characteristics of prepositional verbs

• All prepositional verbs take a prepositional object

(i.e. the noun phrase that occurs after the
preposition).

– E.g. Let’s listen to the song together.

• There are two major structural patterns for

prepositional verbs:
• Pattern 1: with a single prepositional object

NP + V + Prep + NP (prepositional object)

– It just looks like the barrel.

– I’ve never thought about it.

• Pattern 2: with a direct object and a
prepositional object

NP + V + NP (direct object) + Prep + NP

(prepositional object)

– It reminds me of some parts of Boston.

– He said farewell to us.

– But he bases his prediction on first-hand

experience.
• Pattern 2 is also common with passive verbs:

– Active → People falsely accused the media of a lot

of things.
– Passive → The media was falsely accused of a lot
of things.

– Active → Someone based the initiative on a

Scottish scheme.
– Passive → The initiative was based on a Scottish
scheme.
Phrasal-prepositional verbs
• Phrasal-prepositional verbs consist of a lexical verb
combined with an adverbial particle and a preposition.

• A noun phrase serving as the object of the preposition

is an obligatory element of a phrasal-prepositional
verb.

– I’m looking forward to the weekend.

– I can’t put up with such bad temper anymore.
– Do you think we can do away with the examination of this
course?
– Perhaps I can get out of it without having to tell her
anything.
– We have to come up with a proposal as soon as possible.
We will look at Particle Test again
next lecture.
Particle movement test

• The particle movement test can be carried out to

determine if a multi-word verb (MWV) is a
phrasal verb or a prepositional verb.

Condition 1: If the MWV does not have a following

noun phrase, it is an intransitive PV.

– Knowing the shocking news, she cried out.

– He passed out while I was in the room.
– The student finally showed up in class.
Condition 2: If the MWV has a following noun phrase, it
can be either a transitive PV or a PrepV.

• For condition 2:

– if the particle can be moved after the object, the MWV is a

PV;

– if the particle cannot be moved after the object, the MWV

is a PrepV.

– She came back and picked up the notes.

– She came back and picked the notes up → ‘pick up’ is a PV

– Those kids are waiting for the bus.

– *Those kids are waiting the bus for → ‘wait for’ is a PrepV
The next slides are for your
revision.
Adjective phrases

• Adjective phrases have an adjective as the head word.

– really big, most obvious, too cold to go for a swim, happy

to go along, bad enough

• There are two main roles for adjective phrases:

– 1) as describers in a noun phrase

– 2) as a participant in a relational process
As describers in a noun phrase

• Adjective phrases as describers have the

premodifying functions:

– He gave me an electric performance.

– It was a natural way to end the story.

– A rather pot-bellied man came into the store.

– His white shirts were well-washed but never pressed.

 As participant in a relational process

• Revision:

• Relational process is one of the four process

types of verbs (i.e. material process, mental
process, verbal process, relational process).

• Relational processes construe many different

ways of being and having and they relate
participants together.

– She was so small.

– She is a biology teacher.
– He made me sick.
– They have an argument.
• In other words, relational processes set up a
relationship between two participants and
they are typically realized by the verbs ‘to be’
and ‘to have’ and their synonyms (e.g. mean,
become, consist of, be called, etc.).
• The following examples show how the adjective
phrase serves as a participant in a relational
process:

– That’s right.
– He’s totally crazy.
– The radio was so loud.
– Once again the motoring press is euphoric.

• Just as it is possible to premodify the head

adjective, it is also possible to postmodify the
head adjective.

– It’s too hot to handle.

– It’s very close to the bone.
• Question: It seems that the functional unit
‘participant’ is always structurally realized by
noun phrases. Why can an adjective phrase be
regarded as a participant in the relational
process?
Answer:

• Adjective phrases are actually ‘truncated’ noun phrases.

– John is a happy man

→ John is a happy one
→ John is happy

• This also explains examples of an adjective functioning as the head

of a noun phrase.

• In the following examples, the noun phrases are underlined with

the head adjective word bolded:

– Policies like these only support the rich.

– These people may be the real working poor, the elderly, the very
young, the unemployed or the transient.

– The former and the latter are known as the intelligent and the stupid.
Adverb phrases

• Adverb phrases are used in other phrases such

as noun phrases and prepositional phrases.

• Adverb phrases serve four different roles:

• 1) Modify another adverb or adjective:

– Yeah, they are big ones, really big ones.

– I used to call in and see Dad in the office fairly often.

• 2) Express some kind of interpersonal meaning through

stance adverbials:

– There’s three to a bench normally.

– The cockroach is probably the most obnoxious insect known to

man.

– Apparently, he was flying through the air.

• 3) Realize circumstances:

– Its importance is becoming more

fully realized.
– She smiled sweetly.

• 4) Modify prepositions:

– He was immediately behind me.

– She is right after me.