Today we’ll be talking about the main characteristics of verbs.
Here’s a video version of this article:
There are two main categories of verbs: lexical verbs and auxiliary verbs. The latter are function words and do not carry their own meaning. We use them to make the tense forms for example. The verbs be, have and do are used as auxiliary verbs, but they may also be used as lexical verbs. Look at these two sentences:
She has a dog.
She has bought a dog.
The verb have is used as a lexical verb in the first sentence, where it is a synonym of the verb to possess. In the second sentence the verb have is used as an auxiliary verb.
Today we’ll concentrate on lexical verbs, so the ones that have a meaning of their own.
Let’s have a look at the morphological, syntactic and semantic characteristics of verbs, just like we did with nouns not long ago.
Morphological Characteristics of Verbs
Lexical verbs vary for:
– tense: take – took
– person: take – takes
– aspect: is taking – has taken
– voice: take – is taken
Lexical verbs also differ in structure. Here the division is into:
– simple verbs: go, like, swim
– derived verbs: criticize, deepen, hyphenate
– compound verbs: put on, overtake, come in
Syntactic Characteristics
Lexical verbs can occur as the head of a verb phrase: will be talking to her
Lexical verbs are used as the center of a clause: They locked the door.
Semantic Characteristics
Lexical verbs can denote:
– actions: walk, take, tear up
– processes: weaken, develop, burn
– states: sleep, wait, stand by
– relationships: belong, consist