mr Happy
نقاط : 2703
تاريخ التسجيل : 26/03/2009
 |  موضوع: verbs ...... الأفعال فى الانجليزية  الأربعاء يوليو 29, 2009 8:22 pm | |
|     Verbs
Verbs have traditionally been defined as "action" words or "doing" words. The verb in the following sentence is rides:
Paul rides a bicycle
Here, the verb rides certainly denotes an action which Paul performs - the action of riding a bicycle. However, there are many verbs which do not denote an action at all. For example, in Paul seems unhappy, we cannot say that the verb seems denotes an action. We would hardly say that Paul is performing any action when he seems unhappy. So the notion of verbs as "action" words is somewhat limited.
We can achieve a more robust definition of verbs by looking first at their formal features.
4.1 The Base Form
Here are some examples of verbs in sentences:
[1] She travels to work by train
[2] David sings in the choir
[3] We walked five miles to a garage
[4] I cooked a meal for the family
Notice that in [1] and [2], the verbs have an -s ending, while in [3] and [4], they have an -ed ending. These endings are known as INFLECTIONS, and they are added to the BASE FORM of the verb. In [1], for instance, the -s inflection is added to the base form travel.
Certain endings are characteristic of the base forms of verbs:
Ending Base Form
-ate concentrate, demonstrate, illustrate
-ify clarify, dignify, magnify
-ise/-ize baptize, conceptualize, realise
4.2 Past and Present Forms
When we refer to a verb in general terms, we usually cite its base form, as in "the verb travel", "the verb sing". We then add inflections to the base form as required.
Base Form + Inflection
[1] She travel + s to work by train
[2] David sing + s in the choir
[3] We walk + ed five miles to a garage
[4] I cook + ed a meal for the whole family
These inflections indicate TENSE. The -s inflection indicates the PRESENT TENSE, and the -ed inflection indicates the PAST TENSE.
Verb endings also indicate PERSON. Recall that when we looked at nouns and pronouns, we saw that there are three persons, each with a singular and a plural form. These are shown in the table below.
Person Singular Plural
1st Person I we
2nd person you you
3rd Person he/she/John/the dog they/the dogs
In sentence [1], She travels to work by train, we have a third person singular pronoun she, and the present tense ending -s. However, if we replace she with a plural pronoun, then the verb will change:
[1] She travels to work by train
[1a] They travel to work by train
The verb travel in [1a] is still in the present tense, but it has changed because the pronoun in front of it has changed. This correspondence between the pronoun (or noun) and the verb is called AGREEMENT or CONCORD. Agreement applies only to verbs in the present tense. In the past tense, there is no distinction between verb forms: she travelled/they travelled.
4.3 The Infinitive Form
The INFINITIVE form of a verb is the form which follows to:
to ask
to believe
to cry
to go to protect
to sing
to talk
to wish
This form is indistinguishable from the base form. Indeed, many people cite this form when they identify a verb, as in "This is the verb to be", although to is not part of the verb.
Infinitives with to are referred to specifically as TO-INFINITIVES, in order to distinguish them from BARE INFINITIVES, in which to is absent:
To-infinitive Bare infinitive
Help me to open the gate Help me open the gate
4.4 More Verb Forms: -ing and -ed
So far we have looked at three verb forms: the present form, the past form, and the infinitive/base form. Verbs have two further forms which we will look at now.
[1] The old lady is writing a play
[2] The film was produced in Hollywood
The verb form writing in [1] is known as the -ing form, or the -ING PARTICIPLE form. In [2], the verb form produced is called the -ed form, or -ED PARTICIPLE form.
Many so-called -ed participle forms do not end in -ed at all:
The film was written by John Brown
The film was bought by a British company
The film was made in Hollywood
All of these forms are called -ed participle forms, despite their various endings. The term "-ed participle form" is simply a cover term for all of these forms.
The -ed participle form should not be confused with the -ed inflection which is used to indicate the past tense of many verbs.
We have now looked at all five verb forms. By way of summary, let us bring them together and see how they look for different verbs. For convenience, we will illustrate only the third person singular forms (the forms which agree with he/she/it) of each verb. Notice that some verbs have irregular past forms and -ed forms.
Base/Infinitive Form Present Tense Form Past Tense Form -ing Form -ed Form
cook he cooks he cooked he is cooking he has cooked
walk he walks he walked he is walking he has walked
take he takes he took he is taking he has taken
bring he brings he brought he is bringing he has brought
be he is he was he is being he has been
4.5 Finite and Nonfinite Verbs
Verbs which have the past or the present form are called FINITE verbs. Verbs in any other form (infinitive, -ing, or -ed) are called NONFINITE verbs. This means that verbs with tense are finite, and verbs without tense are nonfinite. The distinction between finite and nonfinite verbs is a very important one in grammar, since it affects how verbs behave in sentences. Here are some examples of each type:
Tense Finite or Nonfinite?
David plays the piano Present Finite
My sister spoke French on holiday Past Finite
It took courage to continue after the accident NONE -- the verb has the infinitive form Nonfinite
Leaving home can be very traumatic NONE -- the verb has the -ing form Nonfinite
Leave immediately when you are asked to do so NONE -- the verb has the -ed form Nonfinite   | |
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Why not
نقاط : 1824
تاريخ التسجيل : 08/06/2009
| | موضوع: رد: verbs ...... الأفعال فى الانجليزية الخميس سبتمبر 10, 2009 6:51 pm | |
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