100
A
1
Classes of verbs
There are two classes of verbs in English:
The auxiliary verbs (auxiliaries)’, to be, to have, to do; can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, would; to need, to dan and used.
-~ -ii nrdinarv verbs:
SsrSrss”-’*
; ordinary
E
to work tostng ”>?’<•’ triples like ordinary
^*~***Z^^tt^** ^
sr-«sraaatr*^^
Ordinary verbs
101 Principal parts of the active verb
Affirmative Negative
i-SKSe. -’ift.
,,*- ,Xw•U ’i f\’
Present infinitive
Present continuous infinitive
to work
to be working
nottowork
not to be working
Perfect infinitive
to have worked
not to have worked
Perfect continuous
to have been working
not to nave oeen*wor*uig
infinitive
Present participle
working
not working
and gerund
Perfect participle
having worked
not having worked
and gerund
Put participle
worked
i*-,.”, -” ’T*> *
•*” J^ ’•^’W-
„”>?– * ^ 1^
In regular verbs the simple past and the past partidpie are both formed by adding d or ed to the infinitive. Sometimes the final consonant of the infinitive has to be doubled, e.g. slip, slipped (see spelling rules’, 355). For irregular verbs, see 364.
10 Introduction to verbs
The present participle and gerund are always regular and are formed by adding ing to the infinitive. The rule concerning the doubling of the final consonant of the infinitive before adding ing applies here also (see spelling rules. 355).
10 Introduction to verbs
103 Negatives of tenses
102 Active tenses
A Form Present
Past
Future
Present Perfect
simple
continuous
perfect
perfect continuous
simple
continuous
perfect
perfect continuous
simple
continuous
perfect
perfect continuous
conditional
conditional continuous
conditional
conditional continuous
he works (see 172)
he is working (164)
he has worked (182)
he hits been working (190)
he worked (175)
he was working (178)
he had. worked (194)
he had been working (197)
he will work (207)
he will be working (211}
he will have worked (216)
he will have been working (216)
he would work (219)
he would be working (219)
he would have worked (220)
he would have been working
Affirmative contractions
The auxiliaries be, have, will, would are contracted as follows:
am ’m have ’ve will ’II
is ’s has ’s would ’d
are ’re had ’d Note that ’a can be is or has and ’d can be had or would:
He’s going = He is going.
He’s gone = He has gone.
He’d paid – He had paid.
He ’d like a drink » He would like a drink. These contractions are used after pronouns, here, there, some question words (ste 104), and short nouns:
Here’s your pen. The twins ’ve arrived.
7kf iJtf’ti Iff’*** farw*
Affirmative contractions are not used at the end of sentences:
You aren ’t in a hurry but I am. (I’m would not be possible here.)
shall/should, waa and were are not written in a contracted form but are often contracted in speech to /Jl. Jad. w»«/ and /wa(r)/.
Stress
Auxiliaries used to form tenses are norniaCy unstressed. The stress
faOs on the main verb. i-
A The simple present tense: third person singular does not/doesn’t -tinfinitive; other persons do not/don’t + infinitive. The simple past tense negative for all persons is did not/didn ’t + infinitive. Contractions are usual in speech:
He does not/doesn ’t answer letters.
They do not/don’t live here.
I did not/didn’t phone her.
She did not/didn’t wait for me.
The negative of all other tenses is formed by putting not after the auxiliary. Contractions are usual in speech:
Ht has not/hasn’t finished.
He would not/wouldn ’t come.
B Negative contractions
The auxiliaries be, have, will, would, shall, should, do are contracted as follows:
am not ’m not
is not isn’t or ’snot
an not aren’t or ’re not
I’m not going and Tom isn ’t going/Tom’s not going.
We aren ’t going/We ’re not going.
have not and has not contract to haven’t and hasn’t, but in perfect tenses ’ve not and ’s not are also possible:
We haven’t seen him/We ’ve not seen him.
He hasn ’t/He ’s not come yet.
will not contracts to won’t, though ’11 not is also possible, shall not contracts to shan’t:
/ won’t go/I’ll not go till I hear and I shan ’t hear Ml tomorrow. Other verb forms are contracted in the usual’way by adding n’t. Negative contractions can come at the end of a sentence:
I saw it but he didn’t.
C In English a negative sentence can have only one negative expression in it. Two negative expressions give the sentence an affirmative meaning: Nobody did nothing means that everyone did something. So never, no (adjective), none, nobody, no one, nothing, hardly, hardly ntretc.. set ueetf *ttt M nffarxatutt >tn We a* **/:
He didn ’t eat anything or
He ate nothing.
He doesn ’t ever complain or
He never complains.
We haven’t seen anyone or
We have seen no one.
They didn’t speak muck or
They hardly spoke at all/They hardly ever spoke.
10 Introduction to verbs
>4 Interrogative for questions and requests A Simple present tense interrogative: does he/she/it + infinitive; do I/you/we/they + infinitive.
Simple past tense interrogative: did + subject + infinitive. Does Peter enjoy parties? Did he enjoy Ann’s party? In all other tenses the interrogative is formed by putting the subject after the auxiliary:
Have you finished? Are you coming?
B Contractions of auxiliaries used in the interrogative
1 am, is, are, have, had, will and would
After how, what, who, where, why, these can oe contracted as shown in
102 B:
How will/How ’II he get there? What has/What’s happened? is and will can also be contracted after when:
Hfen ts/When’s he coming? will can also be contracted after which:
Which will/Which’ll you haw?
When the verb comes first as in A above, it is not contracted in writing except in negative interrogative forms. But in speech it is usually contracted.
2 shall, should, do and did are not written in contracted form, although do you is sometimes written d’you. In speech shall, should and do you are often contracted to l\\, jad, dju:/.
C The interrogative form is used for questions, but it is not used:
1 When the question is about the identity of the subject:
Who told you? What happened?
2 In indirect speech:
. He said, ’Where does she live?’ = He asked where she lived.
3 If we place before the Question a prefix such as Do you know, Can you tell me. I want to know, I’d like to know, 1 wonder/was wondering, Have you any idea. Do you think:
What time does it start? but Have you any idea what time it starts?
Where does Peter live? but / wonder where Peter lives.
Will I have to pay duty on this? but
Do you think I’ll have/Do you know if I’ll have to pay.duty?
D Requests are usually expressed by the interrogative:
Can/Could you help me? Will/Would you pay at the desk?
Would you like to come this way?
Would you mind moving your car?
But here again, if before the request we put a phrase such as / wonder/was wondering or Do you think, the verb in the request changes from interrogative to affirmative:
Could you give me a hand with this? but
/ wonder/was wondering/wondered if you -could give me a hand or
Do you tkink you could give me a hand? In indirect speech the problem does not arise, as indirect requests are
10
Introduction to verbs
expressed by a verb such as ask with object + infinitive: He asked me to give him a hand.
E The interrogative is used in question tags after a negative verb: You didn ’t see him, did you? (See 110.)
F When, for emphasis, words/phrases such as never, rarely, seldom, only
!’ when, only by, not only, not till are placed first in a sentence the
following main verb is put into the inverted (- interrogative) form: Only when we landed did we see how badly the plane had been damaged. (See 45.)
1105 Negative interrogative
I A This is formed by putting not after the ordinary interrogative:
!Did you not see her? Is he not coming? But this form is almost always contracted: I Didn’t you see her? Isn ’t he coming?
I Note that not is now before the subject.
1am I not? has an irregular contraction: aren’t I? B The negative interrogative is used when the speaker expects or hopes for an affirmative answer: Haven’t you finished yet? Don’t you like my new dress? CHILD: Can 7 / stay up till the end of the programme? I could wait ten minutes. ~ Couldn ’t you wait a little longer?
C The negative interrogative is also used in question tags after an
affirmative sentence: ; You paid him, didn’t you?
She would like to come, wouldn ’t she? (See 110.)
B
I Auxiliary verbs
106 Auxiliaries and modal auxjliai.^
Principal auxiliaries
Modal auxiliaries
Semi-rnodals
to be
can
could
to need
to have
may
might
. to dart
to do
must
hadto
used
ought
shall
should
will
would
Auxiliaries help to form a tense or an expression, hence the name. They combine with present or past participies or with infinitives to form the tenses of ordinary verbs:
/ am coming. He has finished. I didn’t see them.
10 Introduction to verbs ••
They combine with infinitives to indicate permission, possibility, obligation, deduction etc. as will be shown in the following chapters: He can speak French. You may go. We must hurry.
107 Auxiliaries: forms and patterns A be, have and do (the principal auxiliaries)
Infinitive
Present tense
Past tense
Past participle
to be
am, is, art
was
been
to Have
have, has
had
had
to do
do, does
did
done
B
In the negative and interrogative, be and do follow the auxiliary
pattern:
Negative, verb + not:
He isn ’t coming. It did not matter. Interrogative, subject + verb:
Was he waiting? Does she see us? have normally follows the auxiliary pattern:
Has he (got) to go? but sometimes uses do/did forms:
Does he have to go?
be takes the full infinitive:
They are to wait for us at the station. have takes the full infinitive except in two constructions (see 119 A. 120).
do takes the bare infinitive: Did he write? be, have and do, when used as auxiliaries, require a participle or infinitive, though in answers, comments etc. this is often understood but not mentioned:
Have you seen it? – Yes, I have (seen it).
be (see 115), have and do can also be used as ordinary verbs with independent meanings; i.e. have can mean ’possess’ (see 122), do can mean ’perform/occupy oneself etc. (see 126). be or have or do can then be the only verb in a sentence:
He is lazy. He has no job. He does nothing. do is then conjugated with do/did: What do you do in the evenings? and have can be conjugated in either way:
Have you (got) time?/Do you have time?
can, could, may, might, laust, ought, will, would, shall and should (the modal auxiliaries) Modal verbs have no final • in the third person singular: / must, he must I can. he can
C
1
10 Introduction to verbs
They always form their negative and interrogative according to the auxiliary pattern:
will not ought not. . .
laillhe…? ought he…?
They have no proper past tenses; four past forms exist, could, might, should, would, but they have only a restricted use. Modal verbs have no infinitives or participles and therefore cannot be used in the continuous tenses. All modal verbs except ought are followed by the bare infinitive:
You should pay but You ought to pay.
A modal verb always requires an infinitive, though sometimes this is understood but not mentioned:
Can you understand? ~ Yes, I can (understand).
need, dare and used (the semi-modals)
When used as auxiliaries, need and dare can conform to the modal pattern. They then take the bare infinitive: He need not wait.
But they can also use the do/did forms, and then take the fuD infinitive with to:
He doesn’/ dare to interrupt.
They didn’t need to wait. (See 149.)
need and dare can also be used as ordinary verbs, and are then inflected and have the usual participles:
He needs help. They dared me to jump.
used, sometimes referred to as used to, is used only in the past. For its negative and interrogative it usually follows the auxiliary pattern:
/ used not/usedn ’t to go.
But though technically used has no infinitive, the forms didn’t use to and did he/she etc. use to? are quite often heard.
Use of auxiliaries in short answers, agreements etc.
Auxiliaries are extremely important in conversation because in short answers, agreements, disagreements with remarks, additions to remarks etc. we use auxiliaries instead of repeating the original verb.
108 Auxiliaries in short answers
Questions requiring the answer yes or no, i.e. questions such u Do you smoke? or Can you ride a bicycle?, should be answered by yes or no and the auxiliary only. The original subject, if 2 noun, is replaced by a pronoun. Pronoun subjects may change as shown:
II
10 Introduction to verbs
Do you smoke? ~ Yes, I do (not Yes. I smoke).
Is that Ann? ~ Yes, it is/No it isn’t.
Did the tivins go? ~ Yes, they did/No, they didn’t.
Will there be an exam? ~ Yes, there will/No, there won’t. If there is more than one auxiliary in the question, the first should be used in the answer:
Should he have gone? ~ Yes, he should.
Questions with must I/he etc. or need I/he etc. are answered Yes, you/he etc. must or No, you/he etc. needn ’t:
Must I/Need I take all these pills? ~ Yes. you must/No, you
needn’t. (See 147.) An answer with yes or no without the auxiliary would be less polite.
B
D
Agreements and disagreements with remarks
Agreements with affirmative remarks are made with yes/so/of course + + affirmative auxiliary. If there is an auxiliary in the first verb this is repeated. If there is no auxiliary do, does or did is used:
Ht works too hard. ~ Yes, he does.
There may be a strike. ~ Yes, there may.
Living in London will be expensive. ~ (Yes,) of course it will.
That’s Ann! ~ Oh, so it is.
Disagreements with negative remarks are made with yes/oh yes + affirmative auxiliary. The auxiliary is stressed here.
I won’t have to pay. ~ Oh yes, you *witt!
My alarm didn ’t ring! – Oh yes, it (did!
There isn ’t any salt in this. ~ Yes, there ’is.
Bread won’t make me fat. ~ Oh yes, it \will.
Agreements with negative remarks are made with no + negative auxiliary:
It wouldn ’t take long to get there. ~ No, it wouldn ’t.
I hatoen ’t paid you yet. ~ No, you haven’t.
The boys mustn ’t be late.. ~ No, they mustn ’t.
The door can’t have been locked. – No, it can’t.
Disagreements with affirmative remarks are expressed by J
no/oh no + negative auxiliary: jjjji
Ann’U lend it to you. ~ Oh no, she won’t. ^H
Peter gets up too late. ~ No, he doesn’t. jj^l
Then is plenty of time. ~ No, then isn’t. ^1
Prices an coming down. ~ Oh no, they aren’t. \
but can be used when disagreeing with an assumption. The assumption
may be expressed by a question:
Why did you travel first class? -Bull didn’t!
10 In*oduction to verbs
B
-« tiiuudUCDOfl tO
110 Question tags
These are short additions to sentences, asking for agreement or confirmation.
A After negative statements we use the ordinary interrogative: You didn’t set him, did you?
Ann can’t swim, can she?
That isn’t Tom, is it? After affirmative statements we use the negative interrogative:
Peter helped you, didn’t he?
Mary was then, wasn ’t she? Negative verbs in the tags are usually contracted. Irregular: I’m late, aren ’t I? Note that let’s has the tag shall: Let’s go, shall we? The subject of the t?g is always a pronoun.
B Examples of question tags after negative statements:
Petei- dotsn ’t smoke, does he?
Ann isn’t studying music, is she?
Bill didn’t want to go, did he?
James wasn’t driving the car, was he?
You haven’t ridden a horse for a long time, have you?
The twins hadn ’t seen a hovercraft be/on, had they?
They couldn ’t understand him, could they?
There wasn’t enough time, was there?
People shouldn ’t drop litter on pavements, should they? Ann hasn ’t got colour TV, has she?
Note that statements containing words such as neither, no (adjective), none, no one, nobody, nothing, scarcely, barely, hardly, hardly ever, seldom are treated as negative statements and followed by an ordinary interrogative tag:
No salt is allowed, is it? Nothing was said, was it? Peter hardly ever goes to parties, does he?
When the subject of the sentence is anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, none, neither we use the pronoun they as subject of the tag: / don’t suppose anyone will volunteer, will they? No one would object, would they? Neither of them complained, did they? C Question tags after affirmative statements
With the simple present tense we use don’t/doesn’t? in the Ug. With the simple past tense we use didn’t? Edward lives hen, dotsn’t he? You found your passport, didn’t you?
After ail other tenses we just put the auxiliary verb into ’the negative interrogative:
Mary’s coming tomorrow, isn’t she? Peter’s heard the news, hasn’t ht?
10 Introduction to verbs
Remember that’s = is or has, and ’d = had or would:
Peter ’d written be/on you phoned, kadn ’t he.?
Mary’d come if you asked her. wouldn’t she?
You ’d better change your wet shoes, hadn ’t you?
The boys ’d rather go by air, wouldn ’t they? With everybody, everyone, somebody, someone we use the pronoun they:
Everyone warned you, didn’t they?
Someone had recognized him, hadn’t they?
Negative interrogative tags without contractions are possible but the word order is different:
You saw him, did you not? This is a much less usual form.
D Intonation
When question tags are used the speaker doesn’t normally need information but merely expects agreement. These tags are therefore usually said with a falling intonation, as in statements. Sometimes, however, the speaker does want information. He is not quite sure that the statement is true, and wants to be reassured. In this case the question tag is said with a rising intonation and the important word in the first sentence is stressed, usually with a rise of pitch. (See Structure Drills I, 11-13.)
Ill Comment tags
A These are formed with auxiliary verbs, just like question tags, but after an affirmative statement we use an ordinary interrogative tag; after a negative statement we use a negative interrogative tag. A comment tag can be added to an affirmative statement. It then indicates that the speaker notes the fact.
You saw him, did you? = Oh, so you saw him.
You’ve found a job, have you? = Oh, so you’ve found a job. Comment tags can also be spoken in answer to an affirmative or negative statement:
/’;;> living in London now. – Are you?
I did* ’t pay Patu. – Didn ’t you? When u*ed in this way the tag is roughly equivalent to Really! or
Indvd’
B The chief use of these tags is to express the speaker’s reaction to a statement. By the tone of his voice he can indicate that he is interested, not interested, surprised, pleased, delighted, angry, suspicious,
disbelieving etc
The speaker’s feelings can be expressed more forcibly by adding an
auxiliary:
/ borrowed your car. – Oh. you did, did you?
1 didn ’t think you ’d need it. – Oh, you didn ’t, didn ’t you? i.e. before an ordinary interrogative we use an affirmative auxiliary verb, before a negative interrogative we use a negative verb.
114 -^^^^^^^m
10 Introduction to verbs
Again, the meaning depends on the tone of voice used. The speaker may be very angry, even truculent; but the form could also express admiration or amusement.
112 Additions to remarks
A Affirmative additions to affirmative remarks can be made by subject + auxiliary + too/also or by so + auxiliary -t- subject, in that order. If there is an auxiliary in the first remark, it is repeated in the addition:
Bill would enjoy a game and Tom would too/so would Tom. If there is no auxiliary, do/does/did is used in the addition; i.e. instead of saying Bill likes golf and Tom likes golf (too) we can say Bill likes golf and Tom does too/so does Tom. The additions can, of course, be spoken by another person:
The boys cheated! ~ The girls did too’./So did the girls!
I’m having a tooth out tomorrow. ~ So’m I! When both remarks are made by the same person, both subjects are usually stressed. When they are made by different people the second • subject is stressed more strongly than the first.
B Affirmative additions to negative remarks are made with but + subject + auxiliary:
Bill hasn ’t got a licence. ~ But Donald has. Sht doesn’t eat meat but htr husband does. The horse wasn’t hurt but the rider was.
C Negative additions to affirmative remarks are made with but + subject + negative auxiliary:
He likes pop music but I don’t.
You can go but I can’t.
Peter passed the test but Bill didn’t.
D Negative additions to negative remarks are made with neither/nor + auxiliary + subject:
Tom never goes to concerts, neither does his wife.
Ann hasn’t any spare time. – Neither/Nor have I.
I didn’t get muck sltep last night. – Neither/Nor did I. These additions can also be made with subject + negative auxiliary + either:
He didn’/ like the book; I didn’t either.
They don’t mind the noise; we don’t either.
Alternatively, we can use the whole verb + object, if there is one, + either:
I didn’t liiu it either. We don’t mutd it other.