2. Verbs
• Often referred to as ‘doing words’, as many are
actions eg. jump, take, give, throw.
• Other verbs are ‘mental actions’ such as think,
anticipate.
• Others are states of being, eg. seems, appears.
• Most sentences contain verbs and the verb
usually tells you what the subject is doing.
3. Verbs
• ‘To be’ is also a verb, as are its forms: was, were,
are, am, is.
• When a verb is written in that form: to be, to
swim, to run, to think etc, this is called the
infinitive.
4. Verbs
• The main verb in a sentence is a single verb
that expresses the main meaning.
• Auxiliary verbs are ‘helping verbs’ that are
placed in front of main verbs:
• I must have been thinking about something else.
• ‘must have been’ are three auxiliary verbs.
• ‘thinking’ is a main verb.
5. Verbs
• There are two types of auxiliary verbs: primary
and modal.
• Primary verbs are: be, have and do.
• He is running.
• Have you spent all your money?
• I do want to see you.
• I did not go to school yesterday.
• The primary verbs can also act as main verbs.
• He is tall. She has a new car.
6. Verbs
• Modal verbs are only ever used with another
verb.
• They are: can/could, will/would, shall/should,
may/might, must, ought to.
• These verbs can significantly alter the meaning
of something spoken or written.
7. Verbs
• Present tense – I am writing a letter.
• Past tense – I wrote a letter.
• Future tense – formed by the modals will or
shall. I will write a letter.
• Active voice – The customer wrote a letter of
complaint.
• Passive voice – A letter of complaint was
written.
8. Task 1
• Identify the verbs as main or auxiliary verbs in
this:
I have been to the United States three times. I
have a month’s holiday in August and will be
going again, though I may spend some time in
Mexico as well.
9. Task 1
• Identify the verbs as main or auxiliary verbs in
this:
I have been to the United States three times. I
have a month’s holiday in August and will be
going again, though I may spend some time in
Mexico as well.
10. Task 2
• How does the speaker use modal verbs to
influence their audience?
I am addressing you today with our hopes for
tomorrow. We ought to have safer streets. We
should be able to walk around our
neighbourhood after 9 o’clock without being
frightened for our lives. We must have law and
order… and we will!
11. Task 2
• How does the speaker use modal verbs to
influence their audience?
I am addressing you today with our hopes for
tomorrow. We ought to have safer streets. We
should be able to walk around our
neighbourhood after 9 o’clock without being
frightened for our lives. We must have law and
order… and we will!
12. Off course
the golden flood the weightless seat
the cabin song the pitch black
the growing beard the floating crumb
the shining rendezvous the orbit wisecrack
the hot spacesuit the smuggled mouth-organ
the imaginary somersault the visionary sunrise
the turning continents the space debris
the golden lifeline the space walk
the crawling deltas the camera moon
the pitch velvet the rough sleep
the crackling headphone the space silence
the turning earth the lifeline continents
the cabin sunrise the hot flood
the shining spacesuit the growing moon
the crackling somersault the smuggled orbit
the rough moon the visionary rendezvous
the weightless headphone the cabin debris
the floating lifeline the pitch sleep
the crawling camera the turning silence
the space crumb the crackling beard
the orbit mouth-organ the space song
13. Questions
1. Are there any sentences in the poem?
2. What kinds of phrases are used?
3. What can you say about the internal structure of the
phrases?
4. What graphological features do you notice, and how
do they affect the poem?
5. Are there any lexical patterns in the poem (e.g.
repetitions, words that 'go together' or clash with
one another in terms of meaning)?
6. Optional: How do the features we have noticed
help us to interpret the poem?
14. Bleak House
• Highlight all verbs in the text.
• Given that a main verb describes the action of
the subject of a sentence, how many main
verbs are there in the text?
15. Verbs
• Look at these sentences:
Foot passengers jostled one another’s umbrellas and
lost their foothold at street corners.
Foot passengers jostling one another’s umbrellas and
losing their foothold at street corners.
Foot passengers jostling one another’s umbrellas and
losing their foothold at street corners, arrived at
the bank.
The problem with the ‘ing’ form of the verb is that it
could indicate any tense, person or number. You
need an auxiliary verb to define these.
16. Use of modal verbs
• Why might modal verbs be used in the following
text types?
- horoscopes
- weather forecasts
- problem pages
- school notices
- recipes
- legal texts
Write a sample sentence from three of the above
showing how modal verbs could be used.
