Verbs - Oxford
Verbs - Oxford
Verbs - Oxford
Verbs
Transitive and intransitive ....................................................................................................................... 6
Intransitive verbs................................................................................................................................. 6
Transitive verbs ................................................................................................................................... 6
Linking verbs ....................................................................................................................................... 6
Mixed .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Some TrVB have an object which itself has a complement ................................................................ 7
Verb + adverbial .................................................................................................................................. 7
Verbs with two objects....................................................................................................................... 7
Vb+Oi+Od – Vb+ Od + to/for + Oi...................................................................................................... 8
Pronouns as the object ................................................................................................................... 8
One object as pronoun (Od) ............................................................................................................ 8
One object as pronoun (Oi) ............................................................................................................. 8
Multi-syllable verbs with two objects – to/for structure .................................................................... 8
Verbs which use ‘for’........................................................................................................................... 8
Verbs which use ‘to’ ............................................................................................................................ 8
Passive verbs (vb with two objects) ........................................................................................................ 9
Active .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Passive ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Person at the beginning (more common) ....................................................................................... 9
Object at the beginning................................................................................................................... 9
Informal ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Auxiliary verbs ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Do ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Be ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Have .................................................................................................................................................. 10
Auxiliary verbs in questions .............................................................................................................. 10
Auxiliary verbs in short responses to yes/no questions.................................................................... 10
Auxiliary verbs in short responses with so/neither .......................................................................... 11
Auxiliary verbs in short responses with echo questions ................................................................... 11
Auxiliary verbs in question tags ........................................................................................................ 11
AuxVB give emphasis to a statement: do.......................................................................................... 11
Stress the AuxVB to express emphasis with tenses and forms that already have an AuxVB ....... 11
Modal verbs as AuxVB....................................................................................................................... 11
Questions .............................................................................................................................................. 11
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If/whether ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Question phrase + question word + to infinitive ........................................................................... 16
Question phrase + object (not I was wondering…) ........................................................................... 16
Asking for an opinion .................................................................................................................... 16
Question tags ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Affirmative statement + affirmative tag ............................................................................................ 17
Present simple....................................................................................................................................... 17
Present continuous ............................................................................................................................... 17
Imperative ............................................................................................................................................. 18
The base form of the verb: Wait for me! ...................................................................................... 18
To form the negative: don’t + base form....................................................................................... 18
Do not + base form in more formal situations: ............................................................................. 18
Do (not) + base form to add emphasis.......................................................................................... 18
Uses of the imperative ...................................................................................................................... 18
Always, never, and don’t ever + imperative ...................................................................................... 18
Subject + imperative ......................................................................................................................... 18
Imperative + question tag ................................................................................................................. 19
Imperative + will/would/could/can you? To make it less abrupt: ................................................. 19
Imperative + can’t you? To express annoyance or impatience ..................................................... 19
Imperative + will you/won’t you? In reminders and warnings ..................................................... 19
Will/Would you…? To make it less direct ...................................................................................... 19
Expressions with the imperative ................................................................................................... 19
The past simple ..................................................................................................................................... 19
Present simple....................................................................................................................................... 20
To form the negative we add -n’t or not. We usually use the full form to give emphasis: ........... 20
Have/has before the question to form a question:....................................................................... 20
It is + time expression ....................................................................................................................... 20
Present perfect continuous ................................................................................................................... 20
Uses of present continuous .............................................................................................................. 21
Past continuous ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Sequence adverbs ............................................................................................................................. 22
‘Used to’ and ‘would’ ............................................................................................................................ 22
Used to .............................................................................................................................................. 22
Would ................................................................................................................................................ 22
Action and state verbs....................................................................................................................... 22
Action verbs tend to be used in the continuous form. ................................................................. 22
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Verbs
It is raining.
He died in 2005.
Transitive verbs
Must have an object:
I made a mistake.
Linking verbs
Linking verbs have a complement:
• Tells us smth about the subject – e.g., what it is, how it feels, what it is like.
• Complement can be an Adj, AdjP, N, NP, a PP, or a clause:
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I feel cold.
Mixed
Some verbs can be of more than one type, depending on how you use them
It drives me mad!
Verb + adverbial
We use adverbials with all the verb types:
• Vb+adv
• Vb+adv+obj/complement
When we use an adverbial, it most commonly goes after the object or complement:
These verbs are generally those which express giving, conveying, or telling something to somebody.
When a verb has two objects, there are usually two possible structures:
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When both objects are a noun or noun phrase, we can generally use either structure.
email sell
offer send
owe show
show teach
pass tell
throw
write
Active
The jury awarded first prize to Katie.
Passive
Person at the beginning (more common)
Katie was awarded the first prize.
Informal
In informal spoken English, when the verb has two pronouns, you may hear the direct pronoun before
the indirect pronoun without to/her:
Anna gave me it
Anna gave it me
Auxiliary verbs
Combine with other verbs to form:
• Tenses
• Questions
• Negatives
• Passives
1. Do
2. Be
3. Have
Do
We most commonly use it to:
• Make questions and negative in the present simple and past simple
I don’t agree.
Be
• Form a continuous tense
• Form the passive
It is snowing.
Have
• To form a perfect tense
• To form a causative statement (when you cause or arrange for something to happen)
Is it raining?
Yes, I am.
Stress the AuxVB to express emphasis with tenses and forms that already have an AuxVB
I am looking forward to the weekend.
Questions
Auxiliaries and modals
AuxVB before the subject
Present and past simple: do
Do you know him?
‘Be’ before the subject for the present and past perfect of ‘be’ as a main verb
Is she OK?
Are you ready?
Question words/phrases
Put question words (what, where, etc) and question phrases (what time, how much, etc.) at
the beginning of a question
Which do you prefer?
Intonation goes up at the end of the question (yes/no – without a question word)
Is this her car?
Is it far to London?
Subject questions
Subject-demanding information – same order as in a statement
The word order is the same as for a sentence
Who last used the computer (Ina last used the computer)
In subject questions, we do not use the auxiliary verb do for the present and past simple tenses:
Negative questions
We make it by adding -n’t to the auxiliary verb. We do not use the full form ‘not’:
Isn’t she here?
As a real question, when you expect or hope the listener will agree
Haven’t we met before? Istanbul, wasn’t it?
Yes/no answers
Didn’t you go away at the weekend? No, we stayed at home. Yes, we went to Brighton.
You haven’t eaten all day. Are you not hungry? No, I’m fine. I’m starving actually.
Is there no sugar?
Making suggestions
Why don’t we?
Echo questions
An echo question is when we ask a question in direct response to something we have just heard. This
is usually to express surprise and/or ask for clarification.
Indirect questions
We use indirect questions to be more tentative.
To sound polite
I was wondering…
Followed by if
Have you any idea where he is?
If/whether
Can you tell me where meeting room number 4 is?
Do you think…
Question tags
Affirmative question tag after a negative statement:
He did not get here until 9:30. I see. He was late, was he?
Present simple
Tip: use it with adverbs (usually, generally, every week, never, once a week)
Present continuous
To say something is in progress not at the moment of speaking. We usually see the situation as
temporary or unfinished.
1. Thing is progress now (e.g. It is raining/She is not wearing her new coat)
2. Things in progress right now, but not at the exact moment (She is having driving lessons. Is
anyone sitting here? Are you reading a good book at the moment?)
3. Changing situations (Your English is getting better. The earth is getting warmer.
Unemployment is increasing.)
4. To show we see something as temporary and possibly short-lived (I’m working at home this
week. I am going to the gym a lot these days. They are redecorating the office this week).
5. Time expressions (now, right now, at the moment, at present, nowadays, etc) – I’m really
enjoying work nowadays/I’m reading a good book at the moment/Can you call back? We’re
having dinner at the moment.
6. Use still to show that the situation continues (We’re still waiting for a taxi. Is it still snowing)
7. Use not anymore o show that the action does not continue (I’m not having guitar lessons
anymore)
8. Rarely do we use verbs describing states in the continuous form (It depends on the weather.
Who owns this house?)
9. To talk about the future
Imperative
The base form of the verb:
Wait for me!
Be careful!
Calm down!
Subject + imperative
Emphasise the role of the person we are addressing:
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Cheer up!
Look out!
Hurry up!
Have fun!
Don’t be silly!
Don’t be nosy!
Present simple
The present participle is the present or have + past participle
To form the negative we add -n’t or not. We usually use the full form to give emphasis:
I have not finished.
It connects the past and the present. We use it in three basic ways:
• A past event or situation that has an impact on the present (My bikes gone. At last, we’ve
finished. Sue’s resigned. Have you heard?)
• We do not say when the event occurred (The plane’s landed)
• Experiences in our lives
• To talk about somebody’s life experience
• To talk about an activity, event that started in the past and continues in the present (I’ve had
this laptop for about a year. I haven’t seen him since the conference. How long have you been
married?)
• This is the first/nth time + perfect: This is the third time I’ve stayed in this hotel. Is this the
first time you’ve been skiing?
They’ve lived in Oxford for 4 years now (They are still living there)
I’ve played the piano since I was a child (I’m still playing it)
It is + time expression
It’s ages since I saw a good movie.
For something which stopped recently but which has an impact on the present (Sorry about the
mess. I’ve been trying to fix my moped – It looks like it’s been raining)
There is sometimes little difference between the present and past continuous, and in some situations
both forms are possible. We tend to favour the present continuous to emphasise the length of a
situation. We use the present perfect simple to express completion (We’ve had 15 meetings this
month). We tend to use the present perfect continuous for something that is new, temporary, or
short-lived.
Past continuous
Was/were + ing form
• Use it to talk about something in progress in the past (e.g. We were having breakfast at 7:30)
• That continues over a period of time in the past (They were waiting for ages. I was working
on the project from May to August.
• Emphasise the continued activity (They were waiting for ages. I was working on the report all
night. We were driving all night.)
• Use past continuous with past simple to emphasise a repeated action (We were having a
walk by the river when it started raining/We were driving along the coast when we suddenly
noticed)
• Use while/when to link actions
• Use it for linking two continuous actions
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Sequence adverbs
To link two past actions (when, after, until, as soon as)
I did not buy my first car until I’d passed my driving test.
Past habits and routines (We used to go skiing every month. Do you do any sports? – No, but I used
to)
Past states (I used to live in Scotland. There used to be a supermarket here. I did not use to like
coffee).
Used to gives more emphasis to a situation that no longer exists (I used to have long hair when I was
in my teens)
Would
We use would with similar meaning to use to used to to talk about past habits and routines:
I’d play computer games all the time. My grandparents used to stay with us every Christmas.
Note: We do not use would to talk about past states (I used to live in Scotland)
Would is rarely used in the negative to talk about past habits and routines.
Use frequency adverbs (rarely, seldom, frequently): I sometimes used to walk to school, but I’d
usually get the bus. My boss would often arrive late for work.) Does your mother work? No, but she
used to.
I don’t mind.
It doesn’t matter.
I don’t agree.
I don’t mind.
Uses of subjunctive
That- clause expressing a formal desire, instruction, request, suggestion:
He was released from prison on condition that he report to the police station twice a week.
He was allowed an extra week’s leave on condition that he finish his report beforehand.
If/whether-beginning clauses
If that be the case, there is little more we can do.
Past subjunctive
Form
Same as the past simple form of the verb.
It’s about time you grew up and started acting your age.
Use the following verbs: arrive, leave, take off, come, go, leave, depart, finish, open, close.
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Present continuous: Things in the future that are already arranged, agreed, or finalised
We use it because we see it as existing now, because we have made an arrangement, a
booking.
• I’m seeing Dan tomorrow night. We’re going to Coco Café.
• Sasha isn’t coming to the meeting.
Let me know the next time you’re working here in New York.
Present perfect to show that one event is completed before the other event
Do borrow the book when I’ve read it.
Two clauses can go in either order. When we begin with the time conjunction, we put a
comma between the clauses.
I’ll call you when I get to the station.
I won’t know where I’m staying until I’ve heard from him.
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Will the person who is late to leave turn off the lights?
You must let me know which train you get. Send me a text when you’re on it.
Be
Be+ to-infitinitive to talk about a formal or officially arranged event
The MP is to hold a press conference tomorrow.
Just about to
Have you sent that email. No, but I’m just about to.
Be bound/certain/sure/likely, etc.+ to-infinitive to talk about what will happen in the future
Jim’s bound to be late – he always is!
Someone’s job
She is a statistician.
Age
I am 31.
Possession
This is our car.
There+be (there is, there aren’t, there were, etc.) to say something that exists or doesn’t exist
There is a train at 3.30.
Gone (the participle of go) = having gone somewhere and still being there
Kara’s been to the supermarket = She went to the supermarket and then returned home.
Have (241)
As an auxiliary verb to form past tenses
Have you seen my keys.
Everyday activities: nap, shower, rest, a walk – Have a little nap after lunch.
Imperative form to wish people a good time: Have a nice day! Have fun! Have a safe trip!
Have a + noun: Have a go/stab at smth. I can’t open the window. Will you have a go? I’ve had a go on
his motorbike this morning. There’s a problem with my computer. Can you have a look at it?
Have + noun to offer something: Have a Coke! Please, have a seat. Have some more cake..
Have got
Possessions and things we own
Have you got your own office at work?
Available
Have you got this dress in a size ten?
You’d got a beard the last time I saw you—You had a beard last time I saw you.
Illness
I’ve got a cold.
Do
Simple tense to form a negative
Do – perform an activity
Are you doing anything tonight?
Nothing to do = be involved with = something to do: This mess has nothing to do with me. The
problem is to with the computer anti-virus
I’m James. How do you do? The response is also how do you do.
Make
To construct, to create
They make the Mini in Oxford. The Mini is made in Oxford.
Produce or prepare
I made dinner last night.