AULA 4

ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS DE
LÍNGUA INGLESA – ESTUDOS
GRAMATICAIS

Prof. Leonardo Felipe Salmoria

INTRODUCTION

The verb part two - mood, voice, and other patterns

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to understand the different aspects
of the verb; The function of the conditionals in context, the usage of the
apostrophe in the genitive case, what differs the transitive to their counterpart,
the passivity of the voice, and the rules regarding gerunds and infinitives,
considering the -ing form.

THEME 1 – GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

The verb in the -ing form is commonly known as gerund, and it has some
specific functions. Morphologically, this particle changes a verb into different word
classes, like adjectives, or nouns. Let’s take a closer look at the verb ‘Live’:

Chart 1 – Different meanings of the -ing form

Base form Live “I live in the U.K.”

-ing verb Living “I’ve been living in this country my whole life.”
-ing adjective Living “Zombies are nothing but living dead.”
-ing noun Living “What do you do for a living?”
Fonte: Leonardo Felipe Salmoria, 2023

Infinitives may appear with and without the particle ‘to’, and for that reason
some rules will guide you. The following sections will provide you with these rules,
and you will also learn more about gerunds in the continuous tense and perfect
aspect in the upcoming lessons.

1.1 Gerunds

Behaving as a verb, the gerund does not always refer to the continuous
tense. Let’s take the verb ‘be’ in a sentence from Stephen King`s novel “The stand”:
[1] “Being on the street had been a little better, although at that time the
streets had been full of crazy people, sick people, (…)”
In [1], the verb ‘be’ behaves as the subject of the sentence, and for that
reason it is in the gerund form (Frodesen; Eyring, 2000). The most usual rules to
use the gerund are:

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 a) As the subject of the sentence:
[2] “Driving a bus must be very difficult.”
b) After prepositions:
[3] “He is not very good at remembering dates.”
c) After phrasal verbs:
[4] “She gave up trying to understand him.”
d) After some specific verbs, such as ‘admit’, ‘like’, ‘prefer’, etc.:
[5] “I avoid going out on rainy days.”
Note that verbs in the infinitive also behave as the subject of a sentence,
however in these cases, unlike the gerunds, they move to the end of the sentence:
[2a] “It must be very difficult to drive a bus.”
When compared with [2], in [2a] ‘it’ becomes the new subject (Frodesen;
Eyring, 2000), which leads to our very next section.

1.2 Infinitives with and without ‘to’

From a semantic perspective, infinitives are commonly used to explain

things and to talk about purpose (Ducksworth, 2011).
[6] “I went to London to visit the Buckingham Palace.”
In [6] the speaker is explaining the motive for a visit to London. In this case,
the infinitive is used to explain something.
[7] “I’m saving money to buy a new pair of trainers.”
Both [6] and [7], on a basic level, can be regarded as explanations, indeed.
However, there is a difference in meaning concerning the purpose. In [6] it is not
necessary a precise purpose to visit London, it is just a trip. However, in [7] saving
money requires a purpose, because it refers to literally a concrete object, a
purpose; unlike taking a trip, we do not save money just because it is amusing.
There are other rules when it comes to explaining the usage of the
infinitives, and one of them is about adjective complement (Frodesen; Eyring,
2000); some adjectives can be followed by infinitives, like ‘afraid’, ‘happy’, ‘sad’,
‘sorry’, etc.
[8] “We were shocked to hear the news about the war.”
Another rule refers to noun complement, because they explain the nouns
they refer to, and these cases the infinitive can behave as a complement to some
abstract noun, like ‘desire’, ‘need’, ‘request’, etc.
[9] “I don’t understand their plan to colonise that region.”

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 As appalling as modern colonisation might appear, it is used in [9] to refer
to the complement of the abstract noun ‘plan’. Just like gerunds, some specific
verbs can be followed by the infinitive, like ‘agree’, ‘decide’, ‘pretend’, ‘want’, etc.
[10] “I want to know everything about this subject.”
In some specific contexts, the infinitives can be used without the particle ‘to’.
Here are the rules:
a) After most modal and auxiliary verbs:
[11] “I shouldn’t say that I can’t stand it anymore.”
b) After the verbs ‘make’ and ‘let’:
[12] “American Sitcoms always make me laugh.”
There are times when it is possible to use both gerunds or infinitives and
keep equivalent meaning, when them both behave as objects and subjects, like [2]
and [2a]. Some verbs can take either, like ‘start’, ‘begin’, ‘continue’, etc.
[13] “It started to rain.”
[13a] “It started raining.”
Another way to spot the difference in meaning is the relation actual vs.
potential particular action. By using the gerund, we usually describe an actual or
fulfilled action, like [4]. And by using the infinitive, we often describe a potential or
hypothetical event, like in [7] (Frodesen; Eyring, 2000).

THEME 2 – THE VOICE OF A VERB

Voice is a grammatical category that represents the possibilities to observe

the same action from two distinguished perspectives: the active and the passive
agents/subjects (Quirk et.al, 2005).
[14] “The butler killed the old lady.”
[14a] “The old lady was killed (by the butler).”
The agent in [14] is the butler, and we called him the active subject, once
he performed the murder, and the old lady is the active object, once she suffered
the action. On the other hand, the old lady becomes the passive subject in [14a],
and the butler becomes an optional agent by-phrase. The very nature of this
relation will be disclosed in the following sections.

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2.1 The active voice

The agent in a sentence is a person who performs an action and its

consequences, or an event which triggered another event or result. In the active
voice, the focus is the active agent.
[15] “Martin Scorsese directed ‘The killers of the flower moon’.”
The most relevant information in [15] is the name of the director, not the film
itself, as if to emphasise how prolific Scorsese is, which makes him the active agent
of the sentence.
Prepositional verbs generally do not go with the passive voice, only with the
active.
[16] “She looked at the mirror.”
[16a] “The mirror was looked at (by her).”
The problem in [16a] lies on abstract or figurative use, and for that reason
requires some creativity to make sense. But in a logical perspective, cohesion is,
in fact, the main problem with [16a], once the acceptable, in the case of
prepositional verbs, is the active voice.
Another red flag for passive voice is the occurrence of transitive verbs, like
‘lack’, ‘become’, ‘hold’, etc.
[17] “She has a new car.”
The verb ‘have’, here as a main verb, makes it impossible to construct the
same sentence in [17] in a passive voice. You can learn more about transitive
verbs in the upcoming lessons.

2.2 The passive voice

The main difference between active and passive voice is the structure of the
sentence. The passive uses the auxiliary ‘be’, in different forms, followed by the
past participle of the main verb.
[15a] “‘The killers of the flower moon’ was directed by Martin Scorsese.”
The most important element of the sentence is the film, it is the main subject,
not the director, as in [15]. The initial position of the passive subject, the film,
makes it more relevant than the agent.
The passive voice is widely used in journalism for two reasons, being one
due to the rule of the context, when there is a necessity to avoid mentioning the
agent, and the other one, exactly the first one, once the rule protects potential

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responsible ones, especially for wrongdoings or mistakes (Frodesen; Eyring,
2000).
[18] “Thousands of people were forced to leave their houses.”
The incognito agent in [18] is a deliberate deviation and has become a
standard structure in news report and headlines, when it comes to humanitarian
crises or conflicts. This sort of analysis belongs to the realm of Pragmatics, and
you will learn more about it in upcoming lessons.
Some verbs and verb constructions can only use the passive voice, being
‘be born’ a very graphic example:
[19] “I’m a scouser, I was born in Liverpool.”
There is no way to put [19] in the active voice once the agent, their mother,
is naturally too obvious to be mentioned: ‘My mother bore me in Liverpool’. The
same effect occurs with the verb ‘be drowned’, unless the case is not an accident,
but a murder.
When we replace the elements of a sentence to change the voice, not
always the meaning will remain untouched, especially when the elements involve
modal auxiliaries (Quirk et.al, 2005).
[20] “I cannot do it properly.”
[20a] “It cannot be done properly (by me).”
The modal ‘can’ in [20] refers to ability, but in [20a] it refers to possibility, so
there is a change in meaning, for the unfeasibility in [20a] is not restricted to only
one person who is not able to perform it, like in [20], but to a general impossibility
to be performed by anyone else at all.

THEME 3 – THE MOOD OF A VERB

The mood is one of the different aspects of the verb, being the subjunctive,
the indicative, and the imperative its types. The subjunctive mood can be divided
into present and past; the indicative mood is often referred to opinions or intentions;
and the imperative mood conveys commands, orders, and requests (Quirk et.al,
2005).

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3.1 The indicative and the imperative mood

The indicative mood is used to make declarative statements of facts the

speaker assumes as accurate, and it is also used to make questions in form of
statements, and even state a personal opinion as though it was a fact.
[21] “You came all the way here by foot?”
Following the interrogative rule, [21] should start with the auxiliary form ‘do’
in the past tense, however, in this case, the question is also a statement, as if to
answer its very own question, a rhetorical question.
The imperative is generally used to express rules [22], and often goes with
a modal of obligation. It is also used to give instructions and directions [23], and to
give direct explanations [24], like recipes (Ducksworth, 2011).
[22] “Do not enter! Authorised personnel only.”
[23] “Make sure the power is off.”
[24] “Now gently stir the sauce.”
[25] “It’s easy to fit: You remove the lid. Now you take the cartridge out.”
The structure of the imperative is the you form of the present simple [25],
and for the negatives is the do not form + bare infinitive [22].

3.2 The subjunctive mood

According to Quirk et.al, the subjunctive mood is “an optional and

stylistically marked variant of other constructions, but it is not so unimportant as is
sometimes suggested.” (2005, p. 155). The present subjunctive is often used to
express suggestion, request, and advice and goes with that clauses. Some verbs
of advice and urging, like ‘advise’, ‘insist’, ‘recommend’, etc., require subjunctive
verbs in that clauses.
[26] “The judge stipulates that they pay the taxes immediately.”
The past subjunctive describes the result of a particular condition, and it
refers to things one wish were true or had happened.
[27] “If he was taller, he would ride that rollercoaster.”
The subjunctive conditional evokes a variety of possibilities (Von Fintel,
2012). It has different types: The factual conditional, or the zero conditional, which
describes general truths; the future conditional, or first conditional, which refers
to real or possible future situations; and the hypothetical conditional, or the second

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conditional, which imagines present or future situations which are impossible or
unlikely to be true.
The zero conditional: There are two types of zero conditionals, being one in
scientifical conclusions, and the other in habitual events. The form is basically the
same: if + present simple and another present simple, being the latter the
conclusion.
[28] “If you cut your hand, it bleeds.”
[29] “If you are over 60, you don’t have to pay the fee.”
Once [28] lies in the realm of logic, [29] refers to general truth.
The first conditional: It is used to talk about future situations the speaker
believes are real or possible. The form is usually if/when + present simple and then
will + bare infinitive, not necessarily in this order.
[30] “The Spurs will be top of the Premier League if they win.”
[31] “When the rain stops, we’ll go for a walk.”
Some other constructions are also possible with the first conditional, like ‘as
soon as’, ‘in case’ or ‘as long as’, etc., instead of ‘if’.
[32] “I’m leaving London unless I get a well-paid job.”
Even not keeping the same structure as [30], [32] poses the same condition:
the speaker will remain in town, only if they get a good job.
The second conditional: It is used to wonder any present or future situation
that is impossible or unlikely to happen. The structure is usually if + past simple
and then would + bare infinitive.
[33] “She would travel more if she was younger.”
The classic musical film “Fiddler on the roof” presents a famous song
performed by Topol in 1971; featuring the dreams and aspirations of unfortunate
Jewish farmers in 1800 Russia, the song also brings an example of the conditional:
[34] “If I were a wealthy man, I wouldn’t have to work hard.”
The were-subjunctive in [34] deliberately breaks the agreement rule of the
indicative verb ‘be’, however the form ‘was’ is also usual in these constructions
(Quirk et.al, 2005).

THEME 4 – TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE

Rather than merely conveying transition, in a sense of movement, the term

transitive, and its negative form intransitive, is more about implying a relation of
transfer.

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 Considering the syntactic word order SVO, whether the verb is transferring
an object or not, and if they have or have not to, it is all about transitivity. So, to
make sure you will get it, the following sections will provide you with full explanation
about each verb class.

4.1 Transitive verbs

Verbs which are considered transitive are the ones expressing a complete
action and, unlike intransitives, they need a direct object to make complete sense
of the action referred to.
[35] “I brought flowers to you because I love you.”
The verbs ‘bring’ and ‘love’ are transitive and require an object, ‘flowers’ and
‘you’, respectively. Sentences with transitive verbs, differently from intransitives,
can be changed into the passive voice.
[35a] “Flowers were brought to you because you are loved (by me).”
There is a type of verbs called ditransitive, and they are the only type to
use indirect objects as much as direct objects, but not with the same obligation.
The most usual verbs to use indirect objects are ‘ask’, ‘give’, ‘send’, etc.
[35b] “I brought him his favourite flowers.”
The verb ‘bring’ uses the indirect object ‘him’ and the direct object ‘flowers’,
and the same sentence may occur without the indirect object, but with a small
change in meaning; who received the flowers and who loves that species of flowers
is not quite clear, it is thus implied.
[36] “I want him to know what I have done.”
In the stretch [36] from the song “All alright” by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós
the verb ‘want’ is transitive and uses the indirect object ‘him’, being the rest of the
sentence the object. However, within this object, the verb ‘know’ behaves as a
transitive with ‘what I have done’ as its complement. The verb ‘know’ also behaves
as intransitive in different situations, as you can see in the very next section.

4.2 Intransitive verbs

As the SVO order suggests, a subject needs a verb to express an action,

but this action does not always need a complementation, and when that happens,
we call it intransitive. Some types of verbs are considered pure intransitive, where
they do not need any object at all, like ‘arrive’, ‘appear’, ‘die’, ‘fall’, ‘lie’, etc.

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 [37] “A new trend has arrived.”
[38] “I apologise if I digress.”
Some intransitive verbs can behave as one-word sentences in the
imperative mood: ‘run!’, ‘come!’, ‘die!’, ‘go!’. In other cases, there are verbs that
can be transitive, and keep the meaning without altering the subject-verb
relationship. Let’s take Dave Matthews song “Some devil” and the verb ‘drink’:
[39] “Too drunk and still drinking. It’s just the way I feel.”
In this case, it is implicit in the discourse, especially due to the adjective
function of the past participle ‘drunk’, that he is drinking alcohol, and because this
information is not necessary, it is thus considered an intransitive function of the
transitive verb ‘drink’.
Another example we can use to understand this relation, is with the song
“Sitting waiting wishing” by Jack Johnson, where we can scrutinise the transitivity
of the verbs ‘sit’, ‘wait’ and ‘wish’:
[40] “Well, I was sitting, waiting, wishing you believed in superstitions.”
The verbs ‘sit’ and ‘wait’ are intransitive, and we do not need any information
on where, what or how long; however, ‘wish’ is not, and that is why he explains
what he wished for, this is the object function of it. Accordingly, there are times
when ‘wish’ also behaves as an intransitive verb, but in very formal circumstances:
“You may stay, if you wish.”

THEME 5 – OTHER VERB PATTERNS

The verb element in English clause structure occurs in the verb phrase,
which contains one or more verbs. They can be classified in numerous types
according to their function or role in context. In this section you will observe the
diverse patterns of the verb and their function.

5.1 Verb classifications

Verbs generally refer to actions, but some actions belong to specific kinds
of classifications. When referring to actions, per se, the most usual ones are ‘walk’,
‘run’, ‘sleep’, ‘build’, ‘teach’, ‘talk’, ‘read’, ‘write’, etc.
Verbs referring to experiences or feelings do not necessarily involve a
movement, like action verbs, and the most usual ones are ‘love’, ‘believe’, ‘trust’,
‘care’, ‘understand’, ‘loathe’, ‘appreciate’, etc.

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 Some verbs refer to a state or a condition, and are basically all the forms of
the verb ‘to be’, and also ‘have’, ‘seem’, ‘appear’, ‘become’, etc.

5.2 Linking verbs

The function of this type of verbs is basically to connect the subject and the
object, adjectives and prepositional phrases.
[41] “Love is magic, whether you like it or not.”
In the stretch from the song “Love is magic” by John Grant in [41], the linking
verb ‘is’ connects the noun ‘love’ to the adjective ‘magic’. Linking verbs can also
be action verbs, when they convey the sense of movement or activity, like ‘grow’,
‘turn’, ‘act’, etc.
[42] “When everything gets in the way.”
In Harry Styles song “As it was” in [42], the linking verb ‘get’ connects the
prepositional phrase ‘in the way’. Another Harry Styles hit, “Watermelon sugar”
presents an example of the linking verb ‘sound’:
[43] “And it sounds just like a song.”
The pronoun ‘it’ is linked to its complement by the verb ‘sound’, and in this
case, like the other sensory verbs, the complement is predicative: ‘sounds
strange’, ‘looks daft’, ‘tastes funny’, ‘smells bad’, and ‘feels odd’.

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DUCKSWORTH, M. Essential business grammar & practice. 6th ed. Oxford,

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FRODESEN, J.; EYRING, J. Grammar dimensions: Form, meaning, and use. 4th
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LONGMAN dictionary of contemporary English. Essex: Longman Group UK

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QUIRK, R.; GREENBAUM, S.; LEECH, G.; SVARTVIK, J. A comprehensive

grammar of the English language. 20th ed. Essex: Longman Group Limited,
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SCHENDL, H. Historical linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

SWAN, M. Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

VON FINTEL, K. Subjunctive conditionals. In: RUSSELL, G.; FARA, D. G. (ed.).

The Ruthledge companion to philosophy of language. New York: Ruthledge,
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