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475. English verbs have no changes in form other than those already mentioned.
In some languages, the number of forms is much greater; but in English, all other variations in time, and so on, must be expressed by putting words together into what are called Verb phrases.
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476. Verb phrases are made by using some root infinitive or participle as the complement of another verb.
As, —
| He | will go. They | have waited. She | may write.
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| It | is coming. It | was built.
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476a. A second variety of verb phrase is made by attaching a complement consisting of an adverb.
As, —
| Thieves | broke in. The module | splashed down. She | may write you back.
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[See chapter 19.]
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477. The verbs that are used with infinitives and participles merely to make verb phrases, are called Auxiliary, i.e., helping, verbs.
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478. The Principal Parts of the Auxiliary verbs are, —
| PRESENTTENSE. |
PAST
TENSE. |
PERFECT
PARTICIPLE. |
| shall | should | —— |
| will | would | —— |
| may | might | —— |
| can | could | —— |
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PRESENT
TENSE. |
PAST
TENSE. |
PERFECT
PARTICIPLE. |
| must | —— | —— |
| do | did | done |
| be | was | been |
| have | had | had |
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( a ) The indicative forms used in the solemn or poetic style, with thou as subject, are, —
| PRESENT. |
PAST. |
PRESENT. |
PAST. |
| shalt | shouldst | canst | couldst |
| wilt | wouldst | dost
doest | didst |
| mayest
mayst | mightest | art | wast
wert |
| | | hast | hadst |
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479. When we wish to predict that anything is to happen in time to come, we say, —
| I shall take. He will take.
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using the present tense of “shall” and of “will” to help us in expressing the idea of taking as future
If we take the phrase apart, the real meaning will be, —
| I am obliged to take. He intends taking, or resolves to take;
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for I shall really means I owe, and I will means I resolve.
[The authors mean by “real” and “really” that though the conceptual structure of modern English contains traces of these ideas, they were once historically fully present in the mind.]
The future phrase is normally in the predictive mood.
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480. Future phrases denoting future time are formed with shall or will together with a root infinitive.
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481. The parts of any verb phrase may be separated by other words; as in —
| He will not go. We shall, in all probability, fail.
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| Will she not sing? Shall you and your friends remain?
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482. By carefully choosing between the different uses of shall and will (§ 515), we can make future phrases that will promise, instead of predict.
Such a meaning is called the promissory mood.
Will often also has a volative mood.
| Will you go? i.e., do you want to go? [volative] |
| I will give; i.e., I intend to give. [promissory] |
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483. May, can, and must are used with root infinitives to make what are called Potential phrases, that express what is possible, conditional, or obligatory.
May implies permission, can implies ability or power, must implies obligation or necessity; but, as they often lose their proper meaning and become mere auxiliaries, they have been traditionally thought of as parts of the conjugation of the verb that they help.
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484. The present tense forms may, can, and must generally give a present meaning.
Thus: —
| You may go; i.e., you have permission to go. |
| We can give; i.e., we are able to give. |
| The engine can pull the trailer; i.e., it has the power to pull it. |
| I must go; i.e., I am obliged to go. |
| It must be sold; i.e., the sale of it is necessary. |
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484a. Each use of the potential mood may be called by the name for its meaning.
Thus: —
| May, might for potential or permissive |
| Can, could for potential |
| Might, could for conditional, optative, or subjunctive |
| Should, must for obligative |
| Must for obligative or deontic, i.e. necessary |
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485. May and can sometimes be used in a context of future or subjunctive meaning; as in —
| You may slip; i.e., perhaps you will slip. |
| I will come if I can; i.e., if it be possible. |
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486. The past forms might and could may give past meaning to the phrase;
as in —
| He could not wait; i.e., he was not able to wait; |
Or they may give a subjunctive meaning as of something merely thought of.
Thus: —
| If he were here, he could not wait. |
| He might be useful, though hard to manage. |
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487. Should, the past tense form of “shall,” is often used with a present meaning to denote a duty or obligation; as in —
| You should do as you are asked. |
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488. Potential Phrases denote permission, power, obligation, or necessity, and are formed by using the root infinitive with
may, can, must, might, could, would, or should.
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489. I. Present Perfect.
Whenever we wish to speak of an action as completed at the present time, we say, —
| not “ I buy it today,” but “I have bought it today,”
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using the present tense of the auxiliary have, and the perfect participle of some verb.
So too, —
| The town has grown this year. |
| It has occurred twice this century. |
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490. II. Past Perfect.
In speaking of an action as completed relative to some definite past time, we use the past form had with the perfect participle.
Thus: —
| They had gone before I arrived. |
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491. III. Future Perfect.
If we wish to speak of an action as already finished or completed at some future time, we use the future form with shall or will along with the perfect participle, and say, —
| The sun will have risen before our arrival. |
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492. Verb phrases that denote completed or perfected actions are called Perfect Forms, and combine the perfect participle of any verb with the tenses of have.
This combination of participle and auxiliary is called the Perfect Aspect.
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493. Thus almost any of the forms that we have studied may be made perfect.
For example: —
| Simple Infinitive, (to) do; | Perfect Infinitive, (to) have done. |
| Potential: Present, I may go; | Present Perfect, I may have gone. |
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494. We see than that by inflection and by the use of auxiliaries we can make six forms; namely, —
| Present, | Past, | Future, |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect, | Future Perfect. |
It is very important to understand that only the first two of these, present and past, are tenses.
The future is really various uses of the auxiliaries, will and shall, and the perfect is an Aspect that combines with these other forms.
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497. Instead of the simple present or past “He tries,” “I tried,” or the imperative “Try,” we may say more emphatically, —
| He does try, I did try, Do try; |
using the verb do, and the infinitive “try” as the object of it.
Here do seems to have lost its ordinary meaning, perform, and serves only as an auxiliary to make an Emphatic form of the verb try.
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498. When we ask or deny, as in interrogative or negative sentences, these phrases are almost always used instead of the simple forms.
Thus, we usually say, —
| Does he try? Did I try? He does not try. I did not try. |
| (Not “Tries he?” “Tried I?” “He tried not,” etc.) |
In other words, verb phrases that already have an auxiliary do not as a rule require the use of the emphatic do to form questions or negative sentences.
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499. All the verb forms that we have thus far studied belong to what is called the active voice, — that is, all of them represent what the subject names as acting, rather than acted upon, — and as there is no single word form in English that has a passive meaning, we are forced to use still another variation of verb phrase.
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500. We know that the perfect participle of transitive verbs may always have a passive meaning; as, —
and if we use this participle as an adjective complement with different tenses of the verb be; as in —
| I am driven, It was spoken, You will be hired, |
we form verb phrases which represent what the subject names, not as acting, but as acted upon, and which are therefore called Passive forms of the verb phrase.
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501. Passive Forms of verb phrases are made by using a passive participle with the various forms of be, so as to represent what the subject names as receiving the action.
This combination of participle and auxiliary is called the Passive Voice.
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502. In this way any kind of verb phrases, except the progressive, may be made passive.
Thus: —
| “I may see,” or “I may be seen. |
| “They might have stopped,” or “They might have been stopped. |
And even progressive phrases are sometimes found in the passive form.
As in, —
| The prisoner was being tried for theft. |
| The question is being very thoroughly discussed. |
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503. Active and passive forms, or “voices,” express the same thought when the object of the active form is made the subject of the corresponding passive form.
Thus: —
| He heals the sick. = The sick are healed by him. |
| Metals are expanded by heat. = Heat expands metals. |
( a ) The active form brings the actor into prominence; the passive, the receiver of the action.
The passive form is generally used when the actor can not or need not be named.
As, —
| The watch was stolen. Lost opportunities cannot be regained. |
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504. Not a few intransitive verbs, that, in the active form, are followed by a preposition and its object, are sometimes made passive.
It is therefore possible to treat the verb as being combined with the preposition so as to take a direct object as a complement.
In other words the preposition, as an adverbial modifier, is a part of the verb, and its former object becomes the subject of the passive phrase.
[See § 565, also § 304a.]
Thus: —
| No one had thought of this. This had not been thought of. |
| Our friends laughed at us. We were laughed at by them. |
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506. How to Parse a Verb.
A verb or verb phrase is parsed by telling its 1. tense; 2. mood; (3a. aspect;) (3b. voice;) 4. kind; 5. principal parts; (6. number form, if peculiar;) and 7. subject.
NOTE. — This order of statement though not material is a convenient one, since it presents the facts as they appear in the successive elements of a verb phrase.
We have reduced the authors’ enumeration of tenses from six to two and neutralized their artificial distinction between (2) moods as forms and (3) phrases.
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507. Forms for Parsing.
| 1. [ [ When ] ( my ) ship comes [ in, ] ] I shall be rich. |
| 2. He spoke [ loud ] [ that they might hear him. ] |
| 3. [ [ After ] we had been drifting [ three days ] ] ( a ) sail was seen. |
comes is the present indicative of the complete verb “come, came, come”; s-form with the third singular subject ship.
shall be is the present predictive of the copulative verb “be, was, been”; its subject is I.
spoke is the past indicative of the complete verb “speak, spoke, spoken”; its subject is he.
might hear is the past potential of the transitive verb “hear, heard, heard”; its subject is they.
had been drifting is the past perfect progressive of the complete verb “drift, drifted, drifted”; its subject is we.
was seen is the past passive of the transitive verb “see, saw, seen”; was is the form of be used with the third singular subject sail.
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