English grammar drills part 18 potx

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8
Basic Verb Forms
This chapter deals with the six basic verb forms that are used as the raw material to make up the
tense system of English. The six basic verb forms are the base, the present tense, the past tense,
the infi nitive, the present participle, and the past participle. The next chapter covers the forma-
tion and meaning of the tenses created from these six verb forms and from the modal auxiliary
verbs.
All verbs (with the important exceptions of be and the modal auxiliary verbs can, may, must,
shall, and will) have all six of the forms mentioned above. The six forms are illustrated below by
the regular verb walk and the irregular verb run:
VERB FORMS
Base Present Past Infi nitive Present Past
form tense tense participle participle
walk walk/walks walked to walk walking walked
run run/runs ran to run running run
We will now look at each of these six forms in detail, seeing how each is formed.
Base form
The base form is the form of the verb that is entered into the dictionary. For example, if you were
to look up ran in the dictionary, it would refer you to the base form run. Since the base form is
identical in nearly all cases to the present tense, it is diffi cult at fi rst to see how one could tell
the base form and present tense apart. Fortunately, there is one verb in which the base form and
present-tense forms are different, the verb be:
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112 Verb Phrases
BE
Person Present-tense form
I am
you (singular) are
he/she/it is
we are

you (plural) are
they are
We can use the fact that the base form of be is different from all its present-tense forms to deter-
mine when base forms are used. There are four places in which the base form is used: (1) to form
infi nitives, (2) after helping verbs when we talk about the future, (3) in imperative sentences
(commands), and (4) as part of the complement of some verbs.
Infi nitives
All infi nitives are formed by putting to in front of the base form. For example:
to have
to go
to talk
to sing
We can show that these verbs are indeed in the base forms by using the verb be. If we substitute
any of the present-tense forms of be, the results are ungrammatical:
to be
X to am
X to are
X to is
Future tenses
The future tense is formed by using a base form after the helping verb will (and other modal aux-
iliary verbs can, may, must, and shall):
will have
can go
must talk
should sing
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Basic Verb Forms 113
We can show that these verbs are in the base forms by again using the verb be. If we substitute
any of the present-tense forms, the results are again ungrammatical:
will be

X will am
X will are
X will is
Imperatives (commands)
Imperative sentences use the base form of the verb. Here are some examples:
Go away!
Oh, stop that!
Answer the question, please.
When we use the verb be, we again see that present-tense forms are ungrammatical when used in
imperatives:
Be careful what you wish for!
X Am careful what you wish for!
X Are careful what you wish for!
X Is careful what you wish for!
Verb complements
Some verbs use base forms as part of their complements. Here are some examples:
We made them walk to school.
I let them fi nish early.
John will have the offi ce send you a copy.
When we use the verb be, we again see that the present-tense forms are ungrammatical:
I made them be quiet.
X I made them am quiet.
X I made them are quiet.
X I made them is quiet.
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114 Verb Phrases
Exercise 8.1
The verbs in the following sentences contain base forms as well as non-base forms. Underline the
base forms and confi rm your answer by substituting the verb be for the base form. You will need
to change the ending of the sentence to be compatible with the meaning of be.

The weather forecast said that it would rain tonight.
The weather forecast said that it would be rainy tonight.
1. Drive carefully when you go home.

2. My grandmother let the kids help with the cooking.

3. We asked them if they wanted to act in the play.

4. The teacher explained what they would do next.

5. Alice wants to arrive on time for the party.

6. Please make as little noise as you can.

7. I thought that the train would arrive late as usual.

8. My dog hates it when I have to go away.

9. Come early if it is at all possible.

10. I love to get invited to these meetings.

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Basic Verb Forms 115
Present tense
With the exception of the verb be (and the modal auxiliary verbs that we will discuss later in this
chapter), the present tense of all verbs is derived directly from the base form.
However, the present tense differs signifi cantly from the base form in that all verbs in the
present tense must enter into a subject-verb agreement relationship with their subjects (some-
thing that base-form verbs can never do). This agreement is most easily seen in the unique use of

the third-person singular -(e)s when the subject noun phrase is a third-person singular pronoun
(he, she, it) or any grammatical structure that can be replaced by a third-person pronoun. Here
are some examples of structures that can be replaced by third-person pronouns:
Single noun
She
Anita is going to fl y to Atlanta next week.
Singular noun phrase
He/She
Any person traveling in the Southeast must eventually fl y through Atlanta.
Gerund phrase
It
Going anywhere in the Southeast requires you to go through Atlanta.
Infi nitive phrase
It
To go anywhere in the Southeast means fl ying through Atlanta.
Noun clause
It
Wherever else you want to fly makes no difference.
Exercise 8.2
Replace incorrect base-form verbs with third-person singular present-tense verbs. Confi rm your
answers by replacing the subject noun phrase with the appropriate third-person pronoun. If the
sentence does not require a third-person singular present-tense verb, write OK.
The traffi c code in this city permit
a left turn on a red light.
The traffic code in this city permits a left turn on a red light.
It permits a left turn on a red light.
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116 Verb Phrases
1. The econ class meet in room 103.

2. Knowing what to do be not the same as actually doing it.

3. My son always want to eat the same thing every day.

4. The train on track 2 only stop at Philadelphia and Washington.

5. What the article said about the economy make a lot of sense to me.

6. My wife commute to the city by train every day.

7. The car that he was asking me about be an old Alfa Romeo.

8. What happened only prove that I was right all along.

9. The entire company shut down between Christmas and New Year’s.

10. The couple in the apartment above me always play their TV too loud.

While it is easy to see that third-person singular verbs enter into subject-verb agreement rela-
tionships with their subjects, we should not forget that all other forms (other than third-person
singular) of the present tense equally enter into subject-verb agreement even though the verb does
not change form. For example, the verbs in the following sentences all enter into a subject-verb
relationship with their subjects:
I refuse to answer the phone. (fi rst-person singular pronoun subject)
The books on the desk have to be returned. (plural noun phrase subject)
They seem upset about something. (third-person plural pronoun subject)
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Basic Verb Forms 117
The third-person singular -(e)s is quite regular in pronunciation (the few irregular forms
are discussed below). It follows the same rules for pronunciation as the plural endings on regular

nouns.
If the base ends in a sibilant sound, the ending is pronounced as a separate syllable /Ez/ rhym-
ing with buzz. Here are examples of the most common sibilant sounds that this rule applies to:
/s/ (sometimes spelled -ce) pass-passes; discuss-discusses; race-races; rinse-rinses
/š/ wish-wishes; rush-rushes; blush-blushes; splash-splashes
/č/ (spelled -ch or -tch) watch-watches; switch-switches; branch-branches
/ǰ/ (spelled -ge or -dge) rage-rages; page-pages; dodge-dodges
/z/ buzz-buzzes; phase-phases; raise-raises; lose-loses; cruise-cruises
If the verb ends in a voiceless consonant sound other than a sibilant, the ending is pronounced
/s/. The voiceless consonants are usually spelled p, t, k, ck, f, gh (if pronounced /f/). Here are some
examples:
back backs
cough coughs
cut cuts
hop hops
walk walks
If the verb ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant sound, the ending is pronounced /z/. For
example:
call calls
come comes
read reads
run runs
row rows
see sees
snow snows
There are a few verbs with irregular third-person singular forms. The most common, of
course, is be, with is as its third-person singular form.
The verb have is also irregular in the third-person singular:
have has
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