VERBS TENSE VOICE ASPECT AND MODALITY by Don

VERBS: TENSE, VOICE, ASPECT AND MODALITY by Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen 19 1

Active vs. Passive Headlines • American Bomb Kills 10 Iraqi Civilians • Ten Iraqi Civilians Killed by American Bomb • Ten Iraqi Civilians Killed • Ten Iraqi Citizens Are Casualties (Smith & Wilhelm 19) 19 2

Active vs. Passive Headlines • IN A NEW YORK PAPER: – Sox Win Another One! – Sox Trounce Yanks in Extra Innings • IN A BOSTON PAPER: – Yankees Beaten Again – Bronx Bombers Let Another One Slip Away • In discussing these headlines, explain “the curse of the Babe. ” (Smith & Wilhelm 20) 19 3

Subject-Verb Agreement • Smith & Wilhelm suggest that if students want their subjects and verbs to agree, they should: • “cross out all of the words that separate subjects from their predicates and then check that their verb choice was correct. ” • Remember that each, either, everyone, everybody, someone, and somebody are grammatically singular. (Smith & Wilhelm 124 -126) 19 4

Verbs are the boss • In “The chair laughed, ” the verb takes control. – This sentence personifies “chair. ” – It does not depersonify “laughed. ” • Verbs (like the sun in the solar system) control the nouns and prepositional phrases that surround them (their case frames). 19 5

Transitivity • dance • Mary dances beautifully. • slap • Mary slapped John. • be • Obama is President/smart/here. • give • Mary gave John a new car. • elect • The country elected Obama President. 19 6

Irregular Verbs Auxiliary Verbs Bring Buy Dive Be (suppletive) Drive Go Have (suppletive) Cf. wend Do Hang (2) Hit 19 Lie/Lay Rise/Raise Sit/Set Sell Swim (Smith & Wilhelm 250 -269) 7

Irregular-Verb Paradox • Rare verbs tend to become regular. • Therefore, in all languages, the most common verbs tend to be the most irregular. 19 8

Converses Break: John broke the window with a hammer A hammer broke the window The window broke. Buy & Sell Sense Verbs Feel Smell Hear/Sound Look at/Look Taste Rent to & Rent From 19 9

TENSE: Past: -ed Present: -s Future: will or shall ASPECT: Perfect (have + -en) Progressive (be + -ing) VOICE: Passive (be + -en) MODALITY: can will shall may must could would should might 19 10

TENSE: Past: -ed Present: -s Future: will or shall *NOTE: ASPECT: Perfect (have + -en)* Progressive (be + -ing)* Present Participles always end in –ing Past Participles usually end in –ed or –en Gerunds always end in -ing VOICE: Passive (be + -en)* MODALITY: can will shall may must could would should might 19 11

TIME: | TENSE TRUTH: | (MODAL) ASPECT: VOICE: / | (PERFECT) (PROGRESSIVE) (PASSIVE) VERB past present future can could (have + -en) will would shall should may might must (be + -ing) 19 (be + -en) drive 12

can = be able to will = be going to shall = be going to should = be supposed to may = be expected to might = be expected to must = be obligated to 19 13

EXPLAIN THE FOLLOWING IN TERMS OF SOUNDS AND MEANINGS: John supposed that the meeting had begun. John was supposed to do something. I have two wives. I have to leave school early. Alleen has two husbands. Mary has to prepare dinner for her husbands. Mary used all of the medicine. Mary used to be ill. 19 14

The cake was eaten (passive) The cake got eaten (get passive) John doesn’t have a book. (American John hasn’t a book. (British) Does John have a book? (American) Has John a book? (British) John is eating the cake. (progressive) The cake is eaten. (passive) John is an idiot. (main verb: set membership) John has eaten the cake. (perfect) John has a new car. (main verb: possessive) John doesn’t know what to do. (do-support) John does the dishes once a week. (main verb) 19 15

TIME OF SPEAKING: ^ TIME OF EATING: before ) TIME OF ARRIVING: ! 1). I had eaten before you arrived (past perfect). _____)!_____^______ 2). I have eaten. (present perfect) ________)^______ 3). I will have eaten when you arrive (future perfect). ________^______)!_____ 19 16

4). I was eating when you arrived. (past progressive) ------==!===-----^---------5). I am eating. (present progressive) ---------====^=====----6). I will be eating when you arrive (future progressive) ------------^------====!=== 19 17

7). A prisoner ate the cake The cake was eaten by a prisoner. (past passive) 8). Rust corrodes iron. Iron is corroded by rust (present passive) 9). A prisoner will eat the cake. The cake will be eaten by a prisoner. (future passive) 19 18

!EXPLAIN THE TENSE, VOICE AND ASPECT OF THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES! 1). Ryan is driving a taxi. 2). Sally has baked a cake. 3). Jeri had finished her homework before you left for work. 4). Mark will have finished the repairs tomorrow morning. 5). Brenda had been eating cherries all morning. 19 19

!! 6). The new kid was being beaten by some gang members. 7). The presidency will be won by the hardest campaigner. 8). The article is being written by a real sports enthusiast. 9). Mikey has been eating this kind of cereal for years. 19 20

!!!AND NOW FOR THE MOST DIFFICULT SENTENCE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 10). The taxi might have been being driven by a nut. 19 21

References: Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. An Introduction to Language, Seventh Edition. Boston, MA: Thomson/Heinle, 2003. Smith, Michael W. , and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Getting It Right: Fresh Approaches to Teaching Grammar, Usage and Correctness. New York, NY: Scholastic, 2007 19 22