Mastering Multi-Word Verbs in English
Multi-Word Verbs
Multi-word verbs are divided into four classes:
Phrasal Verbs
Verbs followed by adverbial particles. Intransitive: Cheer up! Common in conversation and fiction. Most common intransitive phrasal verbs are activity ones used as commands. Declarative clauses: He just sat down and grumbled all the time. Common intransitive combination: come on (exclamation, pre-departure order, or to start). Go on is also very common. Transitive phrasal verbs can have the particle placed after the direct object, especially with pronouns: I had to pick everything up / I had to pick it up.
Prepositional Verbs
Characteristics: Idiomatic meaning, particle movement, and Wh-question formation. Most common: look at, say to. Academic prose often uses prepositional verbs in the passive voice.
Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs
Combine a lexical verb with an adverbial particle and a preposition: look forward to. Some can take two objects: Who put you up to this?
Other Multi-Word Verb Constructions
Include V+PrepP combinations (bear in mind), V+V combinations (make do with), and V+NP combinations (have a look at).
Verb Functions and Classes
Main verbs play a central role in a clause. Auxiliary verbs qualify the meaning of the main verb.
Semantic Categories of Lexical Verbs
Activity verbs: Refer to volitional actions (try, show, pay). Communication verbs: Describe speech and writing (claim, describe, ask). Mental verbs: Refer to mental states (think, know, want). Causative verbs: Indicate that a person or thing brings about a new state (allow, help, let). Verbs of occurrence: Report events without an actor (become, grow, happen). Verbs of existence or relationship: Report a state of existence (contain, exist, live). Verbs of aspect: Characterize the stage of progress (begin, continue, start).
Most Common Lexical Verbs
Say, get, go, come, make, take, know, think, want, means, see.
Lexical Verb Structures and Patterns
Regular verbs have four morphological forms. Irregular verbs have varied patterns for past tense and past participles.
Valency Patterns
The pattern of clause elements: Intransitive (S+V), Monotransitive (S+V+DO), Ditransitive (S+V+IO+DO), Complex transitive (S+V+DO+OP or S+V+DO+A), Copular (S+V+SP or S+V+A).
Primary Verbs
Be: Main verb and auxiliary (progressive and passive). Have: Main verb (possession, eating) and auxiliary (perfect aspect). Do: Main verb (activity) and auxiliary (negatives, interrogatives, emphasis).
Copular Verbs
Associate an attribute with the subject. Current copular: Be, seem, appear, remain. Sensory perceptions: Look, feel, sound, smell, taste. Result copular: Get, become, turn, end up, prove.
Functions of Copular Verbs
Current copular verbs indicate a state of existence or sensory perception. Result copular verbs identify an attribute resulting from change.