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Parts of the Verb

Closely related pages: Listing of irregular and defective verbs. Groups of regular verbs. Verb formations. Verbmaster.

I use the following abbreviations for the person and number:
Person/number First person singluar Third person singluar Second person (singular or plural) First person plural Third person plural
Abbreviation 1S 3S 2 1P 3P
Subject pronoun I he, she, it you we they

Most English verbs have only one change in form for the person/number of their subject: the 3S of the simple non-past.

To illustrate the English verbal system, here are entries for several regular verbs: ride (strong verb), walk (standard weak verb), buy (contracted weak verb). For the uses of these forms, see verb formations.

Root RIDE WALK BUY
Simple non-past non-3S ride walk buy
Simple non-past 3S rides walks buys
Simple past rode walked bought
Perfect/passive participle ridden walked bought
Active participle riding walking buying
Event-noun riding walking buying
Infinitive (to) ride (to) walk (to) buy
Imperative ride walk buy
Subject-noun rider walker buyer

In summary, regular verbs form their parts as follows:
- The simple non-past non-3S, the infinitive and the imperative are all identical to the root. The infinitive is marked with the word to in some situations.
- The simple non-past 3S adds the suffix -es/-s to the root.
- The active participle and the event-noun add the suffix -ing to the root.
- The subject-noun adds the suffix -er/-or/-ar to the root.
- There are spelling rules for these.
- The simple past and perfect/passive participle (past forms) must be learnt for each verb: see groups of regular verbs and irregular and defective verbs. You can use free Verbmaster software to test your knowledge of these verbs.

Simple Non-Past

Simple Non-Past Non-3S: In regular verbs, the simple non-past is identical to the root for all persons except the 3S.

Simple Non-Past 3S: In regular verbs, the 3S is formed by adding the suffix -es/-s to the root (according to spelling rules).

The simple non-past is usually used for present or future actions in a rather general or non-specific sense, rather than for describing a single event at a specific time. To express a single event, it is more usual to use the periphrastic imperfect:

I drink coffee. General state (I have drunk many cups of coffee in the past and I will drink many more in the future): simple non-past.
I am drinking coffee. Single event (I have started but not finished a cup of coffee): imperfect.

She goes to London a lot. General state (she has been to London many times in the past and she will go there many more times in the future): simple non-past.
She is going to London tomorrow. Single event (this will happen once): imperfect.

Simple Past

The form of the simple past must be learnt for each verb: see groups of regular verbs and irregular and defective verbs. In standard weak verbs, it is formed by adding the suffix -ed to the root (according to spelling rules). It may refer to any event in the past.

You can use free Verbmaster software to test your knowledge of English verbs. If you wish, you can set it so that it will test you on the simple past only, or past forms (simple past and perfect/passive participle) only.

Perfect/Passive Participle

The form of the perfect/passive participle must be learnt for each verb. In standard weak verbs, it is formed by adding the suffix -ed to the root (according to spelling rules).

You can use free Verbmaster software to test your knowledge of English verbs. If you wish, you can set it so that it will test you on the simple past only, or past forms (simple past and perfect/passive participle) only.

This participle functions as a perfect participle, used after the auxiliary have to form the perfect active:

I have done it.

It also functions as a passive participle. This is an adjective, and behaves as adjective usually do. It may be attributative to a substantive:

Ordinary attributative adjective: I saw a green bottle.
Attributative passive participle: I saw a broken bottle.

It may be used predicatively with be:

Ordinary predicative adjective: I was happy.
Predicative passive participle: I was watched.

It may be used with get (meaning 'become'):

Ordinary adjective: I got angry.
Passive participle: I got injured.

Like ordinary adjectives, a cause or instrument can be expressed with from or with.

Ordinary adjective: The child's face was red with strawberry jam.
Passive participle: My car was scratched with a key.

But the passive participle can also take an agent or instrument with by, while an ordinary adjective cannot.

Ordinary adjective: error: **The child's face was red by strawberry jam.
Passive participle: My car was scratched by a key.
Passive participle: The thief was arrested by the police.

Active Participle

The active participle is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the root (according to spelling rules). It is an adjective, and behaves as adjective usually do. But unlike ordinary adjectives, it may govern a direct object. It may be used predicatively with be. This forms the imperfect:

Non-past imperfect without direct object: He is sleeping.
Non-past imperfect with direct object: I am roasting a chicken.
Past imperfect without direct object: I was working.
Past imperfect with direct object: You were cleaning the floor.

The active participle may be attributative to a substantive:

Ordinary adjective: I saw a happy child.
Active participle without direct object: I saw a smiling child.
Active participle with direct object: I saw a child chasing a cat.

If a direct object is added, the adjective normally follows the word it qualifies. This also happens with adjectives qualified by prepositional phrases:

Ordinary adjective without prepositional phrase: I saw a wet tree.
Ordinary adjective with prepositional phrase: I saw a tree wet from the rain.
Active participle without prepositional phrase: I saw a flying bird.
Active participle with prepositional phrase: I saw a bird flying in the sky.

Event-Noun

The event-noun is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the root (according to spelling rules). It represents the event, act or state of the verb taking place. It may take a direct object:

Breaking the law is wrong.
I don't like cleaning my kitchen.

But if the event-noun is plural or has an article (a, the, some), a number, or something similar which expresses its amount (eg. much, many, a lot) then it may not have a direct object. Instead, a phrase in of is used:

Verb and object in a transitive sentence: Criminals killed tourists several times.
Event-noun: There were several killings of tourists.

Verb and object in a transitive sentence: The employee handled the customers delicately.
Event-noun: The handling of customers is a delicate business.

Verb and object in a transitive sentence: They gnashed their teeth a lot.
Event-noun: There was much gnashing of teeth.

Less commonly, -'s is used:

Verb and object in a transitive sentence: Someone shot John.
Event-noun: John's shooting came as a shock.

But the agent (expressed as a subject in a normal sentence) may also be expressed with of or 's:

Subject and verb in an intransitive sentence: The Board of Directors met.
Event-noun: There was a meeting of the Board of Directors.

Subject and verb in a transitive sentence: Kafka wrote books.
Event-noun: I have read the writings of Kafka.

So, both the agent (usually the subject) and the patient (usually the object) may be expressed in the same way:

Transitive sentence: The employee handled the customers skillfully.
Event-noun and agent: The handling of the employee was skillful.
Event-noun and patient: The handling of the customers was skillful.

If we include both agent and patient in the sentence, the agent is expressed with 's and the patient with of:

The employee's handling of the customers was skillful.

Infinitive

The infinitive is identical to the root. In some instances it has the word to before it. Like the event-noun, the infinitive with to may represent the event, act or state of the verb taking place.

To break the law is wrong.
I don't like to clean my kitchen.

The accusative plus infinitive formation is used in many subordinate clauses which are governed by other verbs (the subordinate clause takes the place of the direct object). The subject of the subordinate clause is put into the accusative case (the form used for direct objects) and the verb of the subordinate clause is put into the infinitive.

Some verbs govern a subordinate clause whose verb is the infinitive without to:
Main clause relative clause
Subject verb subject verb object
Nominative finite accusative infintive accusative
I saw him take them.
He heard me tell her

With other verbs the subordinate clause has the infinitive with to:
Main clause relative clause
Subject verb subject verb object
Nominative finite accusative infintive accusative
I asked him to leave us.
You want me to help him.


Imperative

The imperative is identical to the root. It is used to for commands and requests. It make have a direct object but usually does not have a subject:

Imperative without object: Stop!
Imperative with direct object: Stop that!

It may also govern a subordinate clause:

Imperative with subordinate clause: Stop doing that!

Subject-Noun

The subject-noun is formed by adding the suffix -er/-or/-ar to the root (according to spelling rules). It expresses the person or thing that does the act of the, and so would be its subject if the verb were finite. Thus is meaning is similar to that of the active participle, with three differences:
- The subject-noun is a substantive while the active participle is an adjective.
- The subject-noun tends to express a more general state, while the active participle tends to express a momentary event. (This is not an absolute rule.)
- The active participle may take a direct object but the subject-noun may not.

Finite verb: John smokes. (general state)
Subject-noun: John is a smoker. (general state)
Active participle: John is smoking. (momentary event)

Instead of a direct object, the subject-noun uses of or 's:

Finite verb and direct object: Mary drove the car.
Subject-noun and of: Mary was the driver of the car.
Subject-noun and 's: Mary was the car's driver.
Active participle and direct object: Mary was driving the car.

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