pg.

1 SEd-Eng 01 NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022

 CHAPTER 3
MORE ON VERBS

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
LESSON 4: 1. explain how auxiliary verbs figure in the structure of
VP
AUXILIARY VPs
2. analyze the various forms and the ordering of
lexical and auxiliary verbs

CONTENT: AUXILIARY VPs

❖ Every full (non-elliptical) VP includes a lexical verb and it may contain one or more auxiliary verbs. Fill is
used as example of a regular lexical verb and write as example of an irregular lexical verb. These are in italics in
[2]–[5]. The auxiliary verbs are in bold.
[1a] Daisy fills/filled the pool. [1b] Max writes/wrote nothing.
[2a] Daisy will/ would fill the pool. [2b] Max can/could write nothing.
[3a] Daisy has/had filled the pool. [3b] Max has/had written nothing.
[4a] Daisy is/was filling the pool. [4b] Max is/was writing nothing.
[5a] The pool is/was filled. [5b] Nothing is/was written.
❖ These examples show that, in a sequence of verbs, (a) it is always just the first verb – whether lexical
or auxiliary that displays the tense distinction between present and past; (b)auxiliary verbs (if
present) always precede the lexical verb, and (c) the form of a verb is determined by the verb
that precedes it.
❖ Verb forms that are tensed are traditionally called finite verb forms. All other verb forms are non-
finite (not tensed). Everysentence must contain a finite verb. In the absence of any auxiliary, it is the
lexical verb that is tensed (finite).
❖ There are many irregular lexical verbs in English. The more common verbs tend to be irregular.
❖ The two most important differences between lexical and auxiliary verbs are these:
a. In questions, auxiliary verbs can move in front of the subject NP. A lexical verbcannot.
b. The negative particle (not or n’t) can attach to an auxiliary verb but never to a lexical verb.
❖ lexical verb can take a direct object NP – a drink – so it’s transitive. By contrast, auxiliary verbs never
take an NP complement (they are always followed by other verbs).
❖ Another distinction between auxiliary and lexical verbs: when a verb follows a lexical verb, it
can be introduced by the infinitive particle to but not when it follows an auxiliary verb.
❖ Modal auxiliary verbs (‘modals’, for short) are special – quite different from other verbs, both
lexical and auxiliary. modals are always tensed (finite). They do not have untensed (non-
finite) forms. This distinguishes modals from the primary auxiliaries (do, have and be) and from
lexical verbs.
❖ A further peculiarity of modals is that they never show subject-verb agreement. They don’t
change their form in the present tense – not even with a third- person singular subject NP (so we
have She can go, not *She cans go).
❖ Auxiliary have is described as the ‘perfect’ auxiliary. Perfect have is always followed by another verb. The
perfect auxiliary have provides a way of referring to past time independently of past tense.Perfect have in
the present tense allows us to refer to a present state of affairs resulting from a past event, as in He
has gone. Contrast this with He went – simple past tense – which refers just to a past event. With
perfect have in the past tense (as in had written), we have areference to aperiod of timethat was past at a
past point in time – the ‘past in the past’. The verb that follows perfect have always appears in its (non-
finite) perfect participle form. This applies whether the following verb is lexical or another auxiliary.

pg. 2 SEd-Eng 01 NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022

 ❖ Progressive be demands that the following verb has the (non finite) -ING form. PROG will only
have the tense feature if it’s the first verb in the sequence.
Where auxiliaries fit in the structure of VP
❖ Complements of the lexical verb (V) form a VP constituent with that lexical V. This is the case
whether or not there happen to be auxiliaries in the sentence. In the following examples, I’ve
bracketed the VP formed by the transitive verb study and its direct object NP the menu:
[1] Monsieur Blanc will VP[study the menu]
[2] Monsieur Blanc has VP[studied the menu].
[3] Monsieur Blanc is VP[studying the menu].
What [1]–[3] show is that auxiliary verbs are necessarily followed by VPs. In fact – and here’s the point
– auxiliaries are verbs that take VP complements; they demand a following VP.

NAME:_______________________________________________
Submission: 11:59PM of November 25, 2022

TASK 1. For each of the italicised forms of the verb be in the following
sentences, say whether it is an instance of the lexical (copula) verb, the
progressive auxiliary, or the passive auxiliary.
(1) His behaviour may be peculiar. (2) It was becoming noticeable.
(3) He was overheard by Polonius. (4) It was unexpected.
(5) Hamlet was being offensive. (6) Ophelia was being driven mad.
(7) He had been going mad. (8) He could have been her husband.
(9) The play was unnerving. (10) The play was unnerving the king.
(11) The wine was drunk by Hamlet. (12) Hamlet was drunk by midnight.
(13) Yorick had been buried for years. (14) Hamlet was buried the next day.

TASK 2. In the following passage, identify one example of each of the auxiliary phrases listed
below:
This book is about human language. Unlike most books with “language” in the title, it will
not chide you about proper usage … For I will be writing not about the English language
or any other language, but about something much more basic: the instinct to learn, speak,
and understand language. For the first time in history there is something to write about
it. Some thirty-five years ago a new science was born. Now called “cognitive science” …
the science of language, in particular, has seen spectacular advances in the years since.
There are many phenomena of language that we are coming to understand nearly as well
as we understand how a camera works or what the spleen is for. (From Steven Pinker, The
Language Instinct)
1. present modal progressive ______________________________________
2. present perfect _______________________________________
3. past passive _______________________________________
4. present progressive _______________________________________

pg. 3 SEd-Eng 01 NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022

 TASK 3. A. Describe the verb group of the following sentences. B. Draw
the trees.
Example: She had been visiting her sister Pearl's family in San Jose,
California.
Answer: past perfect progressive of visit
1. Having younger brothers has been a positive experience for her two
older sons.
2. I was being unrealistic.
3. I have been having a good deal of difficulty getting into my trousers
lately.
4. I should have been eating enough protein.
5. You will be paying off this debt over 30 years.
6. You could have been playing college football.
7. I might have overlooked it, too.
8. You must be earning a certain minimum amount.
9. The competition should have been postponed.
10. A traveling edition of the exhibition is being arranged by WARP.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

pg. 4 SEd-Eng 01 NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022

 TASK 5. Draw trees for the following sentences:
1. The gardener must trim the rose bushes today.
2. This should be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
3. I am removing the shovel from the shed.
4. The travelers have returned from their vacation.
5. Springfield would have built a police station with the federal grant.
6. Stringrays could have been cruising near the beach.
7. She seem to have given financial assistance to an important French art
dealer.
8. The senator should not have forgotten the concerns of her
constituents.
9. Tokyo has not loosened trade restrictions.
10.They love to play golf, but I do not.

TASK 6. Contrastive Analysis(A research paper).

Compare and contrast the verbs according to words and phrasal
categories, types of verbs and syntactic features of English and
your first language(Hiliigaynon, Ilocano, Tagalog, Maguindanaon,
etc.). Cite references

pg. 5 SEd-Eng 01 NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022