Study Questions:

1. What does the centrality of the verb imply?

The centrality of the verb implies the essential role it plays in
the sentence . The centrality of the verb is also conditioned by
the complex system of its grammatical categories and various
classifications according to their functional, semantic,
morphological, structural, and valency characteristics.

2. How are verbs differentiated functionally?

According to their functions, verbs can be divided into three major
categories or classes: lexical or full verbs, primary verbs, and
auxiliary modal verbs
3. Characterize lexical (full) verbs.
lexical or full verbs is to denote action, process or state dynamically,
developing in time. The full verbs are only used as main verbs because
of their lexical meanings (e.g.: Every morning he goes to the office and
comes back at eight). They belong to an open class of words since the
English language is always adding new lexical verbs to designate new
concepts. E.g.: to download, to upload, to e-mail,
4. Name and characterize English primary verbs.

There are only three primary verbs in Modern English: BE, HAVE,
and DO. These verbs form a separate class because they can be used
either as main verbs or as auxiliary verbs. Primary verbs can act as
main verbs when they realize their lexical meaning of existence or
location (BE), possession or owning (HAVE), and acting or performing
something (DO)
1. The auxiliary BE is used to form the progressive/continuous
aspect (e.g. He is having lunch; Bess is writing a letter.) and the
passive voice (Football is watched by millions of people).
2. The auxiliary HAVE is used to form the perfect or perfect
progressive aspects:
I have just come home. It has been raining since morning.

3.The auxiliary DO is used to form negative statements and questions.

For instance: Where do you live? He does not speak French at all.

5. Enumerate and characterize functionally modal

verbs.
Modal verbs (can, may, must, could, might, ought, have to, be able
to, shall, will, should, would, need, etc.) are used only as auxiliary
verbs to express ability (უნარი), possibility (შესაძლებ-ლობა),
obligation (მოვალეობა), necessity (აუცილებლობა), volition
(ნებელობა) or prediction (წინასწარგანჭვრეტა, პროგნოზირება) of the
action, process or state which is denoted by the main verb. For
instance, in the sentence – People thought he might have been joking.
– the modal “might” expresses possibility, while in the sentence – He

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 would probably come. – the modal “would” already expresses the
prediction of the action, denoted by the main verb.
6. Enumerate and characterize semantic classes of full
verbs (7 classes).
Activity verbs (მოქმედების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები) usually refer to an action
performed intentionally by an agent or ‘doer’. e.g.He bought biscuits and
condensed milk.
there are twenty most commonly used activity verbs in conversation, fiction,
newspaper writing and academic prose. They are: bring, get, make, play, take,
buy, give, meet, put, try, come, go, move, run, use, follow, leave, pay, show, work.

Communication verbs (კომუნიკაციური აქტივობების აღმნიშვნელი ზმნები)

form a special subclass of activity verbs that involve communication activities,
particularly verbs describing speaking and writing. For instance: You
said you didn’t have it.
There are twelve most commonly used ‘communication’ verbs: ask, talk,
call, say, tell, claim, speak, shout, thank, describe, suggest, write and
offer

Mental verbs designate mental states and activities. Mental verbs express
a wide range of meanings such as:
 mental states or processes (think, know, believe)
 attitudes or desires (love, want, wish, need)
 perceptions (feel, see, touch, taste, smell)
 emotional attitudes (hate, like, love, etc.)
most frequently used ‘mental’ verbs: believe, hear, feel, love, think, listen,
read, consider, remember, expect, see, understand, know, mean, want, like,
find, need, suppose, wonder.

Causative verbs such as allow, let, enable, require, cause, force and help
indicate that some person or thing helps bring about a new state of affairs.
a) This information enables the formulation of precise questions.
b) Still other rules cause the deletion of elements from the structure.
Verbs of occurrence report events that occur without an actor.
Seven verbs of occurrence are especially common in English: become, grow,
change, happen, develop, occur, die.
The lights have changed.
This incident occurred many years ago.
Verbs of existence or relationship report a state of existence or a
logical relationship that exists between entities. Some of the most
common existence verbs are: be, seem, appear, go, grow, look, feel, sound,
smell, taste, remain, keep, turn, get, become, prove, exist, etc.
Witnesses said he appeared happy and relaxed.
It was growing dark when we set out.

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Verbs of aspect (ასპექტური ზმნები) characterize the stage of progress
of an event or activity. Some common aspect verbs are: begin, start,
commence, continue, proceed, keep, go on, stop, give up, etc.
He couldn’t stop talking about me.

7. How are verbs classified morphologically?

1) regular and irregular verbs, and 2) finite and non-finite verbs.

8. What is the main principle of the morphological differentiation of verbs

into regular and irregular classes?

The main principle of the morphological classification of verbs into

regular and irregular is the way they form simple past and past
participle forms. Regular verbs form past simple and past participle by
adding the inflectional suffix –ed, while irregular verbs form them
individually
9. Name and comment on the non-finite forms of the verb

There are three non-finite forms of the verb in English: the infinitive,
the participle, and the gerund. The participle has two forms: present
participle (participle I), which is formed with the help of Sthe
inflectional suffix –ing (dancing, singing, etc.), and past participle
(participle II) with the inflectional suffix –ed for regular verbs and other
means of word-forming for irregular verbs (danced, brought, taken,
etc.). They differ both in the number of their grammatical categories
and their syntactical functions

10. How do finite forms of the verb differ functionally from the non-finite
verb forms?

Finite verbs can occur only INDEPENDENTLY as a simple predicate (e.g.

Nick speaks five languages.), while non-finite verb forms can function
as part of a complex verbal predicate (Nick can speak five languages).
They can also perform other syntactic functions in a sentence. The
most common functions of non-finite forms are the following
 Dancing is my favorite pastime. (gerund as a subject)
 I like dancing. (gerund as a direct object)
 He sat on the sofa reading a book. (participle I as an adverbial modifier of
attending circumstances)
 He saw a dancing girl. (participle I as an attribute)
Finite verbs have TENSE contrast (i.e. the distinction between present
and past tenses: She works hard. She worked hard.) while non-finite
verb forms don’t have tense distinction, in other words, they don’t have
the grammatical category of tense.

Finite verbs have grammatical categories of PERSON and NUMBER while

non-finite verbs don’t have any of these distinctions. Full verbs are
restricted to a contrast between the 3 rd person singular present and
other persons or plural number:
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 finite verbs have different forms to mark the grammatical category of
MOOD, which requires a choice between the indicative, imperative,
and subjunctive mood, while non-finite verb forms are devoid of this
grammatical category
Both, finite and non-finite verbs (except the gerund) have different
grammatical forms for VOICE DISTINCTION. Voice involves a contrast between
active and passive. For instance:
He writes poems (active)
Poems must be written by him (passive)
Both, finite and non-finite verbs have different grammatical forms for ASPECT
distinction. Aspect requires a choice between the non-perfect and the perfect
forms, on the one hand, and between the non-progressive and progressive
(i.e. non-continuous and continuous) forms, on the other. You can compare
these forms:

11. Name the structural classes of verbs. Give examples.

1. Simple or root verbs consist of a content morpheme that cannot be
subdivided any further into smaller parts. Such verbs are not numerous. For
instance: ask, go, play, take, tell, declare, etc.
2. Compound (composite) verbs consist of two or more roots: blackmail,
broadcast, whitewash, etc.

12. Describe the main types of derived verbs in modern

English.
3. Derived verbs fall into four subclasses according to their word-building
peculiarities:
a) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of conversion (zero-
suffixation). The most common type of conversion is “noun – verb”
conversion, such as: a cloud – to cloud; a house – to house; a park – to
park, an iron – to iron, a book – to book, etc.
b) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of vowel interchange: food –
to feed,
blood – to bleed, etc.
c) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of
replacing the stress: 'import – to im'port,
'transport – to trans'port, etc.
d) Derived verbs, which are formed by means of affixation (a root
morpheme + prefix or suffix). There are many derivational prefixes used
to form new verbs in English:
re-: rebuild, rename, etc. dis-: disarm, dislike, etc.
over-: overeat, overtire, etc. un-: unload, unfold, etc.
mis-: misinform, misunderstand, etc. out-: outbid, outdo, etc.
However, there are only a few derivational suffixes (realize, stabilize,
lengthen, moisten, activate, regulate, beautify, notify, etc.).

13. Describe the main types of phrasal in modern English.

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 verbs
Phrasal verbs are represented by two specific types:
1) the first is a combination of the head verb have, give, and take
(occasionally some others) and a noun. Such phrasal verbs have
ordinary simple verbal equivalents. e.g. to have a
smoke = to smoke; to give a smile = to smile; to take a stroll = to
stroll;
to have a look at = to look at, etc.
2) The second is a combination of a head-verb with a preposition
which determines the semantics of the phrase. e.g.look at, look
after, look for, look through, look up, look out, etc.

14. What does the valency of verbs imply? Name the major valency patterns
of verbs in English grammar.
1. Intransitive pattern (S + V) is a combination of a subject and an
intransitive (გარდაუ-ვალი) main verb. For instance: More people came. He
sleeps badly.
2. Monotransitive pattern (S + V + DO) represents a subject-verb combination
with a single direct object (i.e. complement). Cf.: She was carrying a heavy bag.
Tom has built a new house.
3. Ditransitive [dai'trænzitiv] pattern (S + V + IO + DO) represents a subject-
verb combination with two object phrases: an indirect object followed by a direct
object. For instance: His father gave him the money. They called him Johnny.
4. Complex transitive patterns are represented by two types in which a
transitive verb (რთული გარდამავალი მოდელები) occurs with a direct object
followed either by an adjective (as in: The boy made his mother angry.) or by an
obligatory adverbial (as in this example: He put his hand on the child’s shoulder.).
5. Copular pattern (S + Copula + P) represents a combination of a subject
and a copular verb followed by a predicative which is expressed by a noun,
adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase. For instance: She was a
school teacher then. (noun, predicative)
Carrie felt a little less bold. (adjective, predicative)
She felt well. (adverb, predicative)