Grammar of verbs and related forms

What kind of word is highlighted below?

“We looked down on them as idiots”

Particles, as part of a multiword verb

What kind of word is highlighted below?

“I looked up and smiled at her”

Adverb, because it shows the direction of the action

What kind of word is highlighted below?

“I looked under the table”

Preposition, because it shows where I looked

How to tell if a word is an adverb, preposition or particle?

Ask the following:

• What did they do?

• In which direction?

• Word in question + what?

If neither of the last two answers make sense, it’s a particle. If the first two make sense, but not the last, it’s an adverb. If all make sense, it’s a preposition.

Multiword verb or not?

“She ran off”

No. “Off” is an adverb and does not affect the meaning of “Ran”

Multiword verb or not?

“She walked away”

No. “Away” is an adverb and does not affect the meaning of “Walked”

Multiword verb or not?

“Let’s look at a new topic”

Yes. Some might argue otherwise, but the use of “look” here is not quite literal, as it is closer to “consider”

Name the five characteristics of a “pure” modal verb

Not inflected for 3rd person, are followed by bare infinitive, are negated by “not”, invert with the subject to form a question and have no past form

Name the pure modal verbs

Can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would

When do we use “need” as a modal verb?

When the speaker is in a position of authority and able to give permission or remove obligation

Is “need” a modal verb below?

“You needn’t hand in your homework tomorrow”

Yes

Is “need” a modal verb below?

“I need to explain everything”

No. There is no obligation being removed or permission being give, and it is followed by an infinitive with “to”.

Is “need” a modal verb below?

“Need you make so much noise?”

Yes

Is “dare” a modal verb below?

“How dare you…?”

Yes

Is “dare” a modal verb below?

“I didn’t dare touch anything”

No

When do we not include “to” in “ought to”?

In question tags

What kind of obligation does “must” express?

Internal obligation, imposed by the speaker

What kind of obligation does “have to” express

External obligation, imposed by regulations, convention or an external figure

What does “mustn’t” express?

An obligation to not do something

What does “don’t have to” express?

An absence of obligation

When do we use “could” to refer to past ability?

To refer to general ability (or lack of in negative)

Is “would” modal in the sentence below?

“Would you like something to eat?”

Yes

Is “would” modal in the sentence below?

“I would often go to the park after school”

No. “Would” is never modal when referring to the past.

Is “would” modal in the sentence below?

“I knew he would be late”

No. “Would” is never modal when referring to ‘future in the past’

Is “will” modal in the sentence below?

“I will do it, I promise”

Yes

Is “will” modal in the sentence below?

“The marketing director will be replaced”

Yes

Is “will” modal in the sentence below?

“He will slurp his soup”

Probably not - it shows disapproval and is non-modal. Would is also used for this and is non-modal.

Is “should” modal in the sentence below?

“You should tell her as soon as possible”

Yes

Is “should” modal in the sentence below?

“Should you feel ill, please inform a nurse”

No. There is no connotation of obligation or deduction. It is in a subordinate clause.

Is “should” modal in the sentence below?

“She suggested we should wait a while”

No. There is no connotation of obligation or deduction.

Is “may/might” modal in the sentence below?

“He may be in the pub”

Yes

Is “may/might” modal in the sentence below?

“Whatever you might do, don’t shout!”

No. Might/may are non-modal after “whatever, whenever”, etc.

Name some adjectives which express modality

Possible, probable, necessary, likely

Name some nouns which express modality

Necessity, requirement, obligation, possibility

Name some adverbs which express modality

Possibly, probably, necessarily, maybe, perhaps, definitely, certainly

When do we use the “strong form” of modal verbs?

When they occur without a main verb or we are stressing them for effect

Why is the strong form of “can” used below?

“Yes, I can”

No main verb

Why is the strong form of “can” used below?

“You can’t swim” - “Yes, I can”

“Can” is stressed for effect - to emphasise the truth

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I went to see her”

To explain the reason for doing something

Why is the infinitive used below?

“They called to invite me”

To explain the reason for doing something

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I hope to see you soon”

To express a desire or wish

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I long to travel to Japan”

To express a desire or wish

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I did it to protect our country”

In response to the question “why?”/express a reason for doing something

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I think it might be something to eat”

To explain the purpose or function of something

Why is the infinitive used below?

“It’s something to sit on”

To explain the purpose or function of something

Why is the infinitive not used below?

“It’s a thing for mixing food together”

Because we are defining something’s intrinsic function. The infinitive is still possible but less common.

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I don’t know the way to go”

Because a question word is implied (“where”)

Why is the infinitive used below?

“I don’t know the right person to ask”

Because a question word is implied (“who”)

Why is the possessive used below?

“No one minded the ambassador’s requesting a state reception”

For formality

Why is the -ing form used below?

“Swimming is my favourite hobby”

An activity is the subject of the clause

Why is the -ing form used below?

“The following are forbidden here: smoking, spitting, shouting and fighting”

They are items in a list

Why is the -ing form used below?

“He walked out of the room smiling”

To add extra information to the main clause - a non-finite participle clause

Why is the -ing form used below?

“He made a lot of money playing cards”

To add extra information to the main clause - a non-finite participle clause

Why is the continuous form “reduced” below?

“Please be careful when leaving the train”

For formality

How to spot a gerund?

When the -ing form can be replaced by a pronoun

Verb or not?

“The sheets are covering the bed”

Verb

Verb or not?

“There’s a light covering of snow”

Not. Noun.

Speculation of future intention or fact?

“Running at night can be dangerous”

Statement of fact (hence use of “ing”)

Speculation or fact?

“It can be dangerous to run at night”

Speculation of future intention (hence use of the infinitive)

When there is a difference in meaning between using -ing and the infinitive, what do we use each form to do?

Infinitives look forward, -ing forms look at the present or past

Occasional or regular action?

“I love running in the morning”

Regular action

Occasional or regular action?

“I hate to interrupt you, but…”

Occasional

Why do we say “They don’t allow eating”, but “They didn’t allow us to eat”

An object (us) is specificed

Why is the bare infinitive used below?

“I heard something break”

It is a momentary action

Why is the -ing form used below?

I heard someone screaming

It is an extended action

Why is the bare infinitive used below?

“I saw Oliver perform in that play”

The perfomance has been completed

Why is the -ing form used below?

“I saw the children leaving school”

It describes something that was in progress when you saw it

What does the perfect form emphasise below?

“I seem to have forgotten my wallet”

That one action (forget) happened before this moment

Why are the perfect and continuous aspects used below?

“I can’t remember having seen him there at all”

The perfect aspect emphasises that “see” happened before “remember”

The continuous aspect emphasises that this was a temporary situation (perhaps a meeting or party)

Why is the continuous aspect used below?

“I seem to be getting more headaches recently”

The continuous aspect emphasises that this is a temporary situation

Why is the continuous aspect used below?

“Not understanding is quite normal in the beginning”

The continuous aspect emphasises that this is a temporary situation

When do we use the present simple?

To describe general actions, states and events.
We must have no reason to think of them as in any way temporary or limited in time.

We usually think of this as “repeated events” and “general facts”

What is the “historic present”?

When the present tense is used to describe past actions. Usually a narrative device or in headlines.

What is the effect of the “historic present”?

It creates a feeling of immediacy and drama

Why is the present continuous tense used here?

“Interest rates are falling”

To describe a changing or developing state

Why is the present continuous tense used here?

“He keeps texting me all the time”

To stress the repetitiveness of an action (and perhaps our irritation about it)

Why is the present continuous tense used with a state verb here?

“I am thinking about it” or “Are you wanting to go?”

To stress the temporariness of the state

Why is future simple used below?

“Sometimes, on my day off, I’ll go for a walk, then I’ll come home and eat something. Later I’ll play computer games and listen to music”

To express repeated, typical actions. This is not very correct, but people do it. “Would” is used the same way in the past.

Why is “going to” used below?

“I’m going to spend a few days with my parents”

It’s a planned future event (i.e. intention is premeditated)

Why is “going to” used below?

“It’s going to rain”

It’s a prediction, based on some evidence

Why is present continuous used below?

“I’m not working tomorrow”

It’s a future arrangement

Why can’t we say “It is raining tomorrow”?

Only people can make arrangements

Why might present continuous be used below?

“I’m coming home early tomorrow”

It might be only a plan, not arranged yet, but the speaker might want to avoid saying “going to come”

Why is future simple used below?

“I think I’ll go to the cinema tonight”

It’s an unplanned future event, possibly spontaneous

Why is future simple used below?

“I guarantee he will not buy you a drink”

Future prediction based on characteristic behaviour

Why is future simple used below?

“Manchester United will win the league this year"

A prediction based on faith and lacking evidence

When do we generally used “shall”?

After “I” and “we”, generally for offers and suggestions

Why do we use present simple to refer to schedules, itineraries, travel arrangements, etc.?

We see these events as being factually certain, or regular occurances

Why is the present simple used below?

“I’ll call you as soon as he arrives”

We don’t use future tenses after conjunctions of time, only present tenses

Why is the present simple used below?

“I’ll shoot whoever comes through that door”

We don’t use future tenses after “whoever” or “anyone”, only present tenses. This is true for some other conjunctions as well.

Why is “be + infinitive” used below?

“All staff are to be present at tomorrow’s meeting”

A formal statement of obligation, imposed by an external figure (the boss, for example)

Why is the future continuous used below?

“I’ll be working then”

To refer to something that is predicted to begin before a particular point in the future, and continue through that point, to a (possibly undetermined) second point

Why is the future continuous used below?

“Will you be using your car tomorrow”

It’s a pre-request. This use of future continuous is very neutral and avoids suggesting anything negative.

Why is the future continuous used below?

“I’ll be going there anyway, so I can help”

To reassure someone that we are not putting ourselves (or anyone else) at any inconvenience. This use of future continuous is very neutral and avoids suggesting anything negative.

Why is the future perfect used below?

“She will have finished work by 6pm”

To view things from a particular point in the future as already having been completed or taken place

Why is the future perfect continuous used below?

“She will have been working there for over twenty-five years when she retires”

To view things from a particular point in the future when we are interested in how long they will have been happening by that point

Why might a speaker or writer change their future tenses in a text or utterance?

Just for variety

Why is future simple used below? (Instead of another future tense)

“I am going to Greece tomorrow, which will be a lot of fun”

Because it is a subordinate clause

How is “to be” different from other (non-modal) verbs when forming questions?

We never use “do” (dummy operator), but instead use a question word, or use “be” at the start. We always invert subject and verb.

Why is past simple used below?

“I saw Harry today”

Because although “today” might not be finished, the speaker perceives it as finished (it could be evening, for example)