1. Verbs 6: Operators and
Operations
Materials by Liz Siler

2. Negation
• Negation is an important operation that
verbs can undergo.
• Any verb phrase can be made negative.

3. Negation: Examples
• I am teaching. > I am not teaching.
• He is the President. > He is not the
President.
• You will be given a ride. > You will not
be given a ride.
• He likes long boat rides. > He does not
like long boat rides.

4. Operators
• To understand how the operation of
negation works, we first must
understand operators.

5. Locating the Operator
• An operator is a part of a verb
phrase.
• It serves important grammatical
functions by enabling verbs to
perform operations.

6. Operator Examples (1)
• In a verb phrase with more than one
verb (e.g. with an auxiliary) the operator
is the first verb on the left.
– I [can understand] operators.
– I [am teaching] about operators.
– You [have learned] a lot of grammar in just
two weeks.

7. Operator Examples (2)
• In a verb phrase with just one lexical
verb (and no auxiliaries), in which the
lexical verb is formed with a form of TO
BE, the operator is the lexical verb.
– Operators [are] part of the verb phrase.
– I [am] an English teacher.
– Once upon a time, he [was] a social
worker.

8. Operator Examples (3)
• In a verb phrase with just one lexical
verb formed with a verb other than a
form of TO BE, there is no operator.
• The operator is formed by adding a
form of TO DO.
• We will examine this in detail in a
minute.

9. Examples of Operators
• All whales [are] mammals. (only a lexical verb, a form
of BE)
• The whales [are playing] in the shallows. (a verb
phrase with more than one verb)
• The whales [have been playing] for hours. (a verb
phrase with more than one verb)
• Whales [will suckle] their young for years. (a verb
phrase with more than one verb)
• BUT NOT:
• The whales [play] in the sunlight. (only a lexical verb,
not a form of BE >>>no operator)

10. Functions of Operators
• Operators serve important functions in
making negatives and questions, which
are operations.

11. The Basic Negative Rule
• English verb phrases are made
negative by adding the word “not”
AFTER the operator in the verb phrase.
• If there is no operator (as in the case of
a single lexical verb that is not a form of
TO BE), we have to create an operator
using a form of TO DO.

12. Negation: With Operators
• The whale was swimming along. >>
The whale was not swimming along.
• The whale is a blue whale.>> The
whale is not a blue whale.
• The whale has fed its calf. >> The
whale has not fed its calf.

13. Negation: Verb Phrases
without Operators
• The whale matures slowly.
• In this case, there is no operator
because there is just a single lexical
verb that is not a form of BE.

14. Negation: Verb phrases w/o
Operators: Step 1
• AN OPERATOR MUST BE CREATED.
– Create an operator by inserting a form of the verb
“do” in front of the verb.
– The form of “do” must be the same person,
number, and tense as the lexical verb.
– Example:
– That marine biologist studies whales > That
marine biologist does study whales .

15. Negation: Verb Phrases w/o
Operators: Step 2
• Check to be sure that the lexical verb is
in the base form (since the person,
number, tense are only carried on the
first verb in the phrase).
• Example:
– That marine biologist does study whales.
– DOES: 3rd person, singular, present tense
– STUDY: base/simple form

16. Negation: Verb Phrases w/o
Operators: Step 3
• Add the word “not” after the newly
formed operator.
• Example: That marine biologist does
not study whales.

17. Negation: ESL Problem
• The use of operators and negation is
hard for ESL students. Look at these
two common mistakes. What has
happened in the operator/negation
process?
– Christopher doesn’t gets jokes.
– The Palestinian people don’t are happy
with the ceasefire.

18. Solution
• Christopher doesn’t gets jokes.
– (The student has failed to make sure that
the lexical verb is in the simple/base form)
• The Palestinian people don’t are happy
with the ceasefire.
– (The student has created an operator with
“do” when one isn’t needed because the
sentence already had an operator – are)

19. Verb Phrase: Original
Definition
• This is the definition we started with:
– A verb phrase is a group of words that
consists of a lexical verb and all its
auxiliaries if there are any. If there are any
adverbs between the lexical verb and the
auxiliaries, they are part of the verb
phrase.

20. A revised definition
• A verb phrase is a group of words that
consists of a lexical verb and all its auxiliaries
if there are any. If there are any adverbs
between the lexical verb and the auxiliaries,
they are part of the verb phrase. Features of
the negative, including “not” and added in
operators such as forms of “do”, are also part
of the verb phrase.
.