Verbs and Verb Phrases Debra Myhill VERBS 2

Verbs and Verb Phrases Debra Myhill

VERBS 2

Where are the verbs? Kangaroos are only found in Australia and Papua New Guinea. They are a diverse family, with more than sixty different species, and live in a wide range of habitats from wet rainforests through to dry plains. Kangaroos are marsupials – their young are born undeveloped and then continue to grow in their mothers’ pouches. Their family name ‘macropod’ means ‘big foot’. The biggest of all macropods is the red kangaroo. They live in the hot, dry inland of Australia where food can be scarce and water even more so. From Big Red Kangaroo by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Graham Byrne 3

The verbs Kangaroos are only found in Australia and Papua New Guinea. They are a diverse family, with more than sixty different species, and live in a wide range of habitats from wet rainforests through to dry plains. Kangaroos are marsupials – their young are born undeveloped and then continue to grow in their mothers’ pouches. Their family name ‘macropod’ means ‘big foot’. The biggest of all macropods is the red kangaroo. They live in the hot, dry inland of Australia where food can be scarce and water even more so. 4

Definitions How would you define a verb? 5

The Verb are are be can continue grow is live means are is be grow can continue means 6

The Problem of the ‘Doing’ Word q ‘A verb is a doing word’ – what is the verb in this sentence? q Many verbs in authentic texts are not evidently ‘doing’ words at all: the verbs to be and to have are the most frequent verbs; q Often the word which seems to evoke ‘doing’ in a sentence is not the verb: Ø I love hunting. Ø I saw the dreamcatcher. q To understand clauses, you need to understand the ‘verb’ is often a ‘verb phrase’: ‘I could have danced all night!’ 7

The Verb – a Starting Point The verb - be be am are is was were being been The verb - have has had having q These are very high-frequency verbs in English and are also important building blocks for verb phrases (more later!) q Unlike many other verbs, these words are always verbs – they can’t be nouns or adjectives (except human being) q Encourage KS 1 children to know that these are verbs (and can be very helpful for EAL children. 8

Teacher Knowledge: Lexical Verbs q q Lexical verbs are the verbs teachers are referring to when they talk about a ‘doing’ word, but they often don’t express a lot of doing. It can be helpful to distinguish between action verbs and other verbs to avoid confusion Action verbs (the doing word): These verbs express an action, such as: jump, dance, eat or ache. Other lexical verbs: Eg reporting verbs: whisper, suggest, exclaim or shout. Sensing verbs: believe, know, imagine, enjoy, fear, see or hear. Other verbs: continue, progress, distinguish, develop, organise, lead, or survive. … 9

Lexical Verbs The heat eases with approaching nightfall. It is breakfast time for Red’s mob. Around them, the night orchestra begins. Red rises and leads his mob beyond the shadow line in search of grasses. Red kangaroos are most active at dusk and dawn, although they will graze throughout the night. The grasses are difficult for their stomachs to digest. When they rest, they sometimes regurgitate their food and chew it again. Action Verbs: rises; graze; digest, regurgitate; chew, rest (? ) Other lexical verbs: eases; begins; leads; are; is But notice: will graze – a verb phrase (more later!) From Big Red Kangaroo by Claire 10 Saxby, illustrated by Graham Byrne

VERB PHRASES 11

12

Find the Verbs Five hundred United Nations officials were treated to a dinner of mis-shapen fruit and vegetables last week, in a bid to highlight the global food waste problem. The produce, which had been rejected as imperfect by UK and European supermarkets, was served in the form of a lavish meal to government ministers and officials in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday night. The four-course dinner, consisting of grilled sweet corn tamales, lentil dal with tamarind and tropical tiramisu, was part of a week of the United National Environmental Programme Annual Summit. Asked mid-meal what they thought of the food, the officials all agreed it was delicious. 13

Find the Verbs Five hundred United Nations officials were treated to a dinner of mis-shapen fruit and vegetables last week, in a bid to highlight the global food waste problem. The produce, which had been rejected as imperfect by UK and European supermarkets, was served in the form of a lavish meal to government ministers and officials in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday night. The four-course dinner, consisting of grilled sweet corn tamales, lentil dal with tamarind and tropical tiramisu, was part of a week of the United National Environmental Programme Annual Summit. Asked mid-meal what they thought of the food, the officials all agreed it was delicious. 14

The Verbs in the Text was thought ‘was’ is from the verb ‘be’ agreed highlight consisting There are lots of lexical verbs asked were treated had been rejected was served Sometimes there are two or more verbs one after another: verb phrases 15

Playing with Verbs Taking the verb ‘waste’, in pairs, how many different versions of the verb can you produce, and you can create verb phrases. Use the pronoun she to start all the variations: Eg You waste [too much]. You are wasting [my time] You should have wasted [less] You can think about variation in tense; and variations which use the verbs be and have before the lexical verb; and/or variations which use could, should, will etc. 16

Teacher Knowledge: Verb Phrases It does help you in your work with children if you understand the difference between lexical, auxiliary and modal verbs. This means understanding verb phrases. The underlined words are I dance all verb phrases: including I am dancing when there is only one verb I danced I was dancing I had danced I is a pronoun: it could be I could have danced another pronoun like you or we. Or it could be a noun I might be dancing like Jane or The man I should have been dancing 17

Teacher Knowledge: Lexical Verbs I dance I am dancing I danced I was dancing I had danced I could have danced I might be dancing I should have been dancing The lexical verb: in effect, this is the ‘doing’ verb. It is the main verb in the phrase and the one you’d look up in a dictionary Look at the position of the lexical verb: it is either on its own or last in the verb phrase 18

Teacher Knowledge: Auxiliary Verbs I dance I am dancing I danced I was dancing I had danced I could have danced I might be dancing I should have been dancing The auxiliary verb: It helps to create shades of meaning in the verb phrase and is usually formed with variations of be or have, but sometimes with do or get 19

Teacher Knowledge: Modal Verbs. I dance I am dancing I danced I was dancing I had danced I could have danced I might be dancing I should have been dancing The modal verb: expresses shades of possibility and certainty Modal verbs are also auxiliaries 20

The Verbs in the Text was thought These are all lexical verbs, as there is only one verb agreed highlight consisting asked were treated had been rejected was served The underlined verbs are the lexical verbs – the last one in a verb phrase 21

The Verbs in the Text was thought agreed highlight consisting asked were treated had been rejected was served These three verb phrases all use the verbs be or have as auxiliaries to create the verb phrase. 22