Versatile Verbs and Adverbs
Verbs
Collocation
Please read my example carefully.
I didn’t realise skiing was that risky.
My verbs phrases are all in the past tense.
(The word that is an adverb qualifying risky.)
Module Two - Verbs
Different types of Verbs –
Action Verbs
Example
1. Despite his heritage, Patrick said he *dances out of tune.
Stative Verbs
2. Leroy *felt I was his type.
Transitive Verbs
3. Solomon *plays + the guitar. [Object]
Intransitive Verbs
4. The government *intervened.
Ambi transitive Verbs
5. Efua cooks
b. Efua cooked + Bitter leaves and fufu.
Event Verbs
6. Mariama gave birth to beautiful children.
7. Linking Verbs
I became exasperated with the doting Poet's texts.
8. Auxiliary Verbs
Can + you + tell me the time please?
Main/Lexical Verbs
9. I had had the flu jab before the GP sent me a reminder.
10. Modal Verbs
Modal verbs an act as auxiliaries or standalone verbs.
May I ask your name?
Of course you may.
List of Stative Verbs
Feel
Hear
Remember
Contain
Look
Belong
Cost
Care for
Desire
Exist
Hope
Imagine
See
Dislike
Adore
Have
Taste
Agree
Believe
Think
Want
Remember
Contain
Look
Belong
Desire
Exist
Hope
Imagine
See
Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliaries identified:
Verbs to be, to do, to have and modals.
1. Modal auxiliaries
2. Aspectual auxiliaries PERFECT Have / Progressive Be
3. Auxiliary be
5. Dummy do
(You’re not required to know these terms, only how to use the auxiliaries.)
Examples -
1. I might + take a holiday this year.
2. I have + read another novel by Chimamanda.
2b. Efua is + getting married.
3. Babatunji was + seen sneaking out of Ayomide’s flat.
4. I do + bake cupcakes occasionally.
Linking Verbs
These verbs are known as Linking Verbs. They assist other word classes which cannot fully convey a meaning, semantically, on their own.
Example:
1. Get well soon. (Verb + adverbial phrase)
2. The potato grew bigger ( verb + adjective)
3. I'm looking to buy a used car.
4. That theory has been proven to be false/
5. Isata became pregnant soon after marriage.
6. He remained seated after the concert ended.
Get
Grow
Look
Prove
Become
Remain
Smell
Sound
Taste
Structure of Tenses
Present Simple
-
I eat breakfast every day (regular activity).
Takes an S in the 3rd person singular.
-
Jeneba eats Cassava leaves every Saturday.
-
The Minister flies often.
Present Continuous -ING (2 verbs)
Please use the verb to be as its auxiliary or helper.
I am eating.
-
Are you eating at the minute?
-
Jeneba is eating breakfast.
-
She is eating breakfast.
All continuous tenses have a main verb ending in – ING.
-
I am + eating Cassava Leaves at the minute. (Ongoing activity)
Present Perfect (phrase containing two verbs)
Notice it uses the verb to have as its auxiliary.
-
I have
-
You have
-
He/She/it has…
All Perfect Tenses use the past participle.
-
I have + eaten breakfast already.
(Action has literally just finished or was completed in the recent past).
Present Perfect Continuous (phrase containing three verbs)
All perfect tenses employ the verb to have as their helper.
-
I have + been + watching Netflix all Summer.
(Action began in the past but is still ongoing)
Simple Future (phrase containing two verbs)
Works with the word, will
All future tenses utilise the auxiliary will.
-
I will + eat Potato leaves tomorrow instead.
(Action will happen once in the future)
Future Perfect (phrase containing three verbs)
-
I will + have + eaten all the chocolate biscuits by Christmas.
(Most non-native English speakers find this tense tricky; consider it a speculative tense).
A. The action hasn’t yet occurred.
B. It will take place in the future.
C. I’m speculating about an incident that may happen depending on other factors.
Future Perfect continuous (phrase containing four verbs)
-
I will + have+ been + cooking Pork chops every Sunday by the end of this month.
(Indicates duration- action started in the past, is going on now and will carry on into the future for a period of time)
Working with Tenses
The twelve basic English Tenses - British derivation.
1. Present Simple
I do Yoga.
I do, do Yoga every Thursday.
2. Present Continuous
I am doing Yoga today.
3. Present Perfect
I have done Salsa too in the past.
4. Present Perfect Continuous
a. I have been doing Yoga since I was 25.
b. John has been listening to loud music all afternoon.
It describes an activity which commenced in the past but is still going on or occurred up to a specified timeframe.
5. Past Simple
I did Salsa in London.
I did do Salsa in London.
6. Past Continuous
I was doing Yoga when my ring doorbell rang.
7. Past Perfect
I had done Salsa for three years before I hurt my ankle.
8. Past Perfect Continuous
I had been doing Salsa for three years by the time I met Johannes.
Sarah had been sitting + in the shade all morning to avoid a sunburn. (Complimenting the verb phrase)
9. Future Simple
I will do Yoga tomorrow morning.
10. Future Continuous
I will be doing Yoga this time on Thursday.
11. Future Perfect
I will have done by the time the soap opera starts tomorrow.
12. Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been doing yoga all my adult life when I turn fifty.
Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs
Transitive means having the ability to transmit a thing, like a conduit; intransitive on the other hand is the opposite. In English grammar transitive verbs cannot stand alone while intransitive verbs can, in a sentence.
We call the words that transitive verbs use objects.
An object may be a noun, a phrase, or a pronoun that refers to the person or thing the verb acts on.
Examples -
-
Brima spat + on the pavement of Sani Abacha Street (verb: spat inflected in past simple tense).
-
Brima spat + out kola nut pieces on the pavement of Sani Abacha Street (to emit something).
-
I gather + that all Bridgette’s co-authoring projects are cancelled
-
I acknowledge + the fact that a fraction of males that follow me on Facebook may have an ulterior motive.
-
I appreciate + your kind gesture. I appreciate X
Collocation
Please read my example carefully.
I didn’t realise skiing was that risky.
My verbs phrases are all in the past tense.
The word that is functioning as an adverb, qualifying risky.
Take Away Point:
Verb phrases are generally in the same tense.
Modal Verbs + If Conditional-
A. If you participate in my page activities + you would get better at English.
B. If Obafemi asked Efua nicely to marry him, she would say yes, I’m sure.
Clause 1 = If Obafemi asked Efua nicely to marry him
Clause 2 = she would say yes, I'm sure.
Tenses = simple past - asked +
Modal Verb = would
Auxiliaries
You don't have to repeat the auxiliary when using 2 verbs in the same Perfect tense.
Example:
1. Mahmood HAS ARRIVED home.
2. Mahmood HAS EATEN all the Chapati.
To
Mahmood HAS ARRIVED home and EATEN all the Chapati.
Subjects and Verbs
Let us define Subjects as:-
•An obligatory part of a clause
•Mostly nouns or pronouns though not always, could be adjective phrases.
•Initial clauses in a sentence
Let’s begin by establishing a rule, Subjects agree with verb in person and number in the third person singular present tense conjugation.
Examples: Single subject + verb agreement
1. Efua watches football with Babatunji.
2. She watches football with Babatunji.
3. It chimes on the hour.
5. Efua likes travelling.
Modal verbs are used to express a possibility or probability.
Might have gone
Might have eaten
May have seen
Could have written
May have meant
Et cetera
Modal verbs express a conditional that : A might have happened if B had occurred or not occurred before.
Example:
I might + have + been + working on a short story when Tauri rang me.
GERUND + INFINITIVE
A gerund is an -ING words functioning as a NOUN. I'm gin gto combine it with the to-infinite form of a verb.
1. Learning + to type is a time consuming process.
2. Hoping + to judge the Writing Competition with Dorcas, Davie is already preparing himself.
3. Struggling + to climb stairs is a feature of old age.
The gerund doesn’t determine the verb tense, instead the whole clause SHOULD BE READ to see when the action occurred.
CONDITIONAL TENSES.
The conditional tense in English is used speculatively or when one wishes something might happen or when one action depends on another happening.
We’re going to be using the conjunction IF and modal verbs:
Would
Could
Should
Might
et cetera
Examples -
1. If I WANT to lose weight I SHOULD eat less.
( If + Simple Present Tense) please scroll down feed for the article on Tenses.
2. If I RELOCATED to Greenbelt, I WOULD have lots of husbands. (An unreal situation so I’m using the past tense of the verb relocate + the modal would + have)
3. If Isata would have stood ( past perfect conditional) for Miss Western Area she MIGHT have won.
(Speculation)
Types of adverbs:
1. Manner
Efua ate the rice dish hurriedly.
2. Place.
Put your suitcase there said the check-in staff at Gatwick Airport.
3. Time
President Tinubu is flying to England next week.
4. Duration
The Poet didn’t hang around long after I didn’t reciprocate his advances.
5. Frequency
Babatunji often goes to church on Sundays.
6. Degree
I really like tinned soup in Winter.
7. Focusing
Mariatu barely speaks Spanish except for a few words.
8. Certainty or obligation
It definitely pays to know how to treat ladies well.
It most probably will rain on election day in November.
9. Viewpoint
Frankly, I think most men in Greenbelt adore ladies.
10. Evaluative
Allegedly, the footballer waved a fist at his wife angrily during their spat.
Changing the position of an adverb might ALTER the meaning of the clause.
Examples -
1. Only Kamanda attended the Zoom session.
2. Kamanda only attended the Zoom session (meaning that was all he did in comparison with other options like maybe reading his poem).
3. Kamanda attended the zoom session only and not the birthday bash.
Adverbs of place usually go at the end of the clause.
Tamba stood here ….
Not
Here Tamba stood.
You may elongate the sentence to:
Tamba stood here for ages waiting for the street hawker.
But in poetry and creative writing you may often see them in the beginning of a sentence:
Inside crying her eyes out was Kadiatu the jilted bride.
Take away points -
Adverbs of viewpoint, degree, focusing adverbs and those that state an obligation may have FIXED positions.
Displacing Adverbs -
1. Unfortunately , I’m not a millionaire.
Or: I’m not a millionaire unfortunately.
Clause = I’m not a millionaire.
2. Can I ring you tomorrow, perhaps? {End position}
Or: Can I perhaps ring you tomorrow? {pre-verb).
3. Jacob ignorantly kissed a she-devil.
Or: Jacob kissed a she-devil (ignorantly).
Placing two or more adverbs/adverb phrase in a sentence in a FIXED position:
Manner
Place
Time
In English we say MPT
Example:
Mahmood’s pupils sang passionately outside in the sunshine, on Saturday
Adverbs of manner, time and place usually come at the end of a clause.
Examples -
Emerson sang passionately.
If you said:
Passionately, Emerson sang, it makes no sense semantically. X
Nor does
Emerson passionately sang, X except you add another clause or phrase.
E.g.
Emerson passionately sang the national anthem in Chichewa.
Had + better is a fixed tense!
Used to indicate present or future conditions.
Examples-
1. The Opposition had better demand more transparency from the Electoral Commission.
2. Mphatso had better be gone by the time Alicia’s mum arrives.
3. You had better attend B. James's book launch in March, if you wish to remain on good terms with her.
Auxiliary Verbs
1. Modal auxiliaries
2. Aspectual auxiliaries PERFECT Have / Progressive Be
3. Auxiliary be
5. Dummy do
*You’re not required to know these terms, only how to use the auxiliaries.
Examples
1. I might + take a holiday this year.
2. I have + read another novel by Chimamanda.
2b. Efua is + getting married.
3. Babatunji was + seen sneaking out of Ayomide’s flat.
4. I do + bake cupcakes occasionally.
Auxiliaries identified:
Verbs to be, to do, to have and modals.
Modals + Perfect Tenses
I + should + have rung you before visiting.
I ought to + have cancelled the meeting.
You may a modal verb with the present perfect tense to talk about past actions.
In Brief-
Perfect Tenses
• Present Perfect e.g. The Chancellor [has] [lost] all chances of being re-elected in June.
Auxiliary from verb to HAVE
Past Participle of Verb
• Past Perfect Tense e.g.
The Chancellor [had] [lost] all chances of being re-elected in June before he roped in the NGC Party.
auxiliary had + participle lost
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
• Jeneba has + been + cooking yams all wrong her whole life.
Verb to have
Verb to be
Plus participle
Past Perfect Continuous
• Jeneba HAD + been + cooking yams wrong all her life.
Conditional Tenses
The politician MIGHT + have + won if he HAD listened to the youths.
(speculative)
The Parliamentary representative COULD + have + lost the last elections if he hadn’t campaigned on green energy.
(a condition)
I MAY + have + sent him a kiss emoji mistakenly.
The Poet MIGHT + have +misread my love heart emoji.
You may recall that adverbs modify, quantify, enumerate, restrict et cetera verbs.
Examples -
Isata HAD [already] kissed Ibrahim before her mum saw their flirty texts.
The adverb = already placed between the AUXILIARY and the PARTICPLE
The writer has + [really] + blown all his credibility with me.
Sheku had + [hungrily] + eaten all the Egusi soup before the fufu was ready.
Modal verbs
These are verbs that indicate likelihood, ability, permission, or obligation.
-
The mosquito should + really have + gone away when Adama shooshed it.
-
He may actually have +not + heard my missed calls.
-
Voters might+ have + already paid their dues by choosing wrongly.
-
Her husband will + not + have +deliberately texted me.
How to use just and already with past tenses
Already = action happened before present period
Just = only recently
Just = precisely/exactly on
Please do not use just and already with the Past Simple to describe an action took place in the recent past.
Examples-
1. Efua already ate X
2. Babatunji just left X
3. Mahmoud already spoke X
Instead, please use perfect or continuous tenses.
4. Efua has already left.
5. Babatunji had just left home when his tyre burst.
6. Ravenous Mahmoud was already eating chicken biriyani at the wedding reception before he realised he hadn’t been invited.
Please place adverb between auxiliary and lexical verb.
Forming Compounds
Sometimes in English we use adverbs, adjectives, nouns, or verbs to form compound phrases.
In a compound phrase all the words work together to contribute to the meaning of the new phrase.
Examples:
1. The under-threat railway was heavily subsidised by the State.
[Meaning the endangered railway]
2. I live in a cul-de-sac.
3. Efua renewed her pay-as-you-go mobile phone contract with the phone company.
Compounds are more common as adjectives.
4. Babatunji is an able-bodied young fellow who should’ve joined the Nigerian army.
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are easy to learn because they all have one thing in common: the ending "self" or "selves." That's because reflexive pronouns show how the actions of an aforementioned, NOUN/PRONOUN affect the noun or pronoun under discussion.
Examples:
1. Sheku spilled his ginger beer.
Sheku spilled his ginger beer on HIMSELF (masculine, singular)
2. Isata’s mum said to Isata, “think about Isata.”
Isata’s mum to her, think about YOURSELF.
3. . One doesn’t always know how falling in love might make ONESELF more vulnerable.
4. The honeybee spun a web around ITSELF (neutral, singular)
5. Greenbelt residents dug a hole for THEMSELVES by voting in the wrong Representative.
6. “Behave YOURSELVES” Tarai admonished his pupils.
Sentences with PRONOUNS
Leticia HERSELF, was the lady who spoke to the women when THEY went to HER house, and SHE even invited THEM in for a cup of tea.
Pronouns Replace Nouns
Example -
Joseph drank Joseph’s Pepper Soup Joseph made while Joseph was relaxing in Joseph’s veranda. X
To
Joseph drank HIS Pepper Soup HE made HIMSELF while HE was sitting in HIS veranda.
ADVERBS
Before we delve into adverbial phrases and clauses let’s define the operative word adverb.
An adverb
qualifies
modifies
quantifies
describes a VERB.
Example -
The politician campaigned INTENSIVELY.
The word intensively is an adverb that describes the manner in which the politician campaigned.
A lot of adverbs end in LY.
An adverbial clause or phrase FUNCTIONS as an adverb. It may NOT necessarily contain an adverb but does its work.
Example 4:
Isata sold mints every day ( adverb = every day as these words/ phrase give more details about how Isata sold mints/ frequency)
Example 5
Isata sold mint’s (every day when she finished school = adverbial clause modifying the verb SOLD / simple past tense)
Some words in English may function as adjectives or adverbs.
1. Ebenezer wakes up early every day (2 words; adverbial phrase modifying the verb phrase 'wakes up').
2. Letting off fireworks is an everyday occurrence in my cul-de-sac! [everyday = one word; an adjective modifying the abstract noun, occurrence.]
Verbs
Action words which are conjugated to show the time an action occurred.
1. Joseph is doing his exercises outside.
2. Joseph WAS doing his exercises outside.
3. Joseph has done his exercises outside for the past week.
4. Joseph had done his exercises outside before the heavens opened.
5. Joseph will be doing his exercises outside from now on.
6. Joseph has been doing his exercises outside since last month.
7. Joseph had been doing his exercises outside for a month before his neighbour built a fence.
8. Joseph will have been doing his exercises outside for a month this February.
9. Joseph would have DONE aerobics by now according to the syllabus.
10. Joseph will do his exercises indoors now as his neighbour has complained.
CONDITIONAL Tenses using the preposition if or the adverb when.
Examples -
If is used to speculate what one might do depending on whether or not a situation occurs in the future. Notice how I’m not sure whether or not the situation might EVEN occur:
1.If Ibrahim Kamara grows his hair, he might look very different.
(Meaning on the off-chance Ibrahim grows his hair his appearance will change.)
2. If Brima meets a Limba woman in England he will probably have kids with her.
(Meaning if there is a slim chance Brima meets a Limba woman, he may very well marry her.)
Notice how the adverb WHEN depicts an actual situation that will take place in the future or has a higher probability of happening.
Examples:
3. When Jermaine realises that his bargain-bought used chair is useless it will be too late.
(Meaning that Yusuf will most likely realise the truth in the future.)
Adverbs
-
Please use adverbs ending in -ly to show the manner in which something occurred:
An driven car
-
To show intensity or degree:
-
rough time
-
To show directions, we borrow words which ordinarily are prepositions:
Efua walked after her appendix operation.
-
To show frequency:
Babatunji goes to church but hangs out in his local pub every Sunday.
-
Adverbs can be instruments:
Efua’s tissue was examined in Abuja Hospital.
-
Location:
Google Earth films .
-
Please use adverbs to express time or duration:
Alemu’s minibus leaves so she misses it.
-
Finally for modality:Babatunji and Efua will tie the knot this year. Their parents will probably have to contribute towards the wedding.
Module 3: Tenses, Punctuation, Words
Combining Tenses
Past Perfect + Past Simple
Example:
1. Alemu had married five husbands + before she turned twenty-eight.
In my above examples the Past Perfect describes an action that occurred prior to another one -in the subordinate clause - taking place.
Main clause =
Alemu had married five husbands….
OXYMORONS
Putting opposites together to form a new phrase is common in the English Language.
Examples-
Morphemes with oxymorons in compound word oxymorons:
-
Bride + groom are two opposite words combined to form bridegroom. Love-hate, is another compound word oxymoron.
-
Adjective +Noun oxymoron: faithful polygamous husband
3. Adverb + adjective oxymorons:
a. Aisha is painfully beautiful.
4. Phrasal Oxymorons:
a. Let's agree to disagree.
b. Turbulent democracy
5. Dead metaphors:
a. He was a damn good singer.
b. Earning money writing books is hardly easy.
6. Doublespeak oxymorons:
a. Voting out the Greenbelt Parliamentary Representative in next elections is a mandatory option.
b. Bankole’s pound sterling was a real counterfeit
Sentences are made up of word classes and end in a punctuation mark.
Types of sentences are:
1. A declarative sentence states something.
Example - The Chancellor is trying to get re-elected in June.2.
2. An interrogative sentence poses a question.
Example- Is the Chancellor trying to get re-elected in June?
3. An imperative sentence emphasizes a fact or lays down the law.
Example- The Parliamentary Representativesaid his constituents must re-elect him in June and no one else!
4. A conditional sentence states what might happen if another action occurs.
Example- If he loses the election, he might learn not to make false promises to residents of Greenbelt.
Subject Verb Agreement
-
Premier League football pulls in under a quarter of a million views each weekend.
-
Many were left trapped in hurricane-affected areas.
-
The variety of medical explanations given for squinting is mind blowing.
-
A variety of medical explanations are given for squinting.
-
A wide range of meanings are possible
-
The full range of their deception was shocking.
-
The news is always depressing
-
The Jury is tied
-
A few options are possible.
-
The option was to go 50-50.
-
What are the options available?
The Apostrophe British Variation
When a noun or pronoun precedes an auxiliary that has been shortened, we employ the apostrophe ‘s where a letter would have been. In other words, we substitute the letter for the punctuation mark.
Examples:
a. Mariatu is cooking rice pap for her guests.
To
b. Mariatu’s cooking rice pap for her guests.
2. The possessive use
The apostrophe is also utilised to denote ownership or possession. Here, we’re going to add as (s) at the end of the NOUN to show possession.
Examples-
c. The boat’s owner anchored it at Goderich.
d. Olatunji’s girlfriend texted him when his wife was at work.
Plural nouns that don’t end in an (s) also take the possessive.
e. The children’s new geography teacher was Zambian.
Plural nouns ending in S
Where we pronounce the S, we add another S to represent the consonantal sound or add an postrophe to the existing S where we don't.
The twin babies’ cries woke up their exhausted mum.
f. Girls’ shoes like designer ones are more expensive.
g. James’s Poetry book is in seven British libraries.
f. Dorcas’s story won the writing competition.
Big organisations nowadays DROP the apostrophe ‘ in their names.
g. Barclays Bank
h. Lloyds Pharmacy
With Methodist Girls’ High School, we say:
Methodist Girls High School instead.
The Past Subjunctive
Take a look at my statements please:-
1. God save the King
2. Heaven forbid
These fossilised or old constructions are in the subjunctive mood.
CONDITIONAL Tenses
First Conditional
-
if/when + present simple >> will + infinitive.
The structure can be used with unless, as long as, as soon as or in case instead of if.
Example-
1. I’ll probably be going round my sister’s this weekend if she invites me over.
Zero Conditional
-
If + present Simple + present simple
If it rains do your laundry outside.
Second Conditional
-
If + past simple >> + would + infinitive.
If the APC campaigned vigorously, they would win
Third Conditional and Unreal/Hypothetical Situations
-
If+ past Simple + modal +present perfect
UNREAL past.
Example -
1. If I were a millionaire, I would’ve married a toyboy.
The Conditional Tense
Which tense would you use to express that an action was dependent on another one?
Example:
If Hassan would +have + delivered on his promises his re-election, chances would + have+ been higher.
Notice how I wish to show how Hassan’s chances of winning were DEPENDENT on another action- fulfilling his promises- which should’ve occurred earlier.
The condition that determines whether Hassan is re-elected or not is the fulfilment of promises made earlier.
This tense is called the Conditional Tense.
It can be affirmative or negative.
Examples-
1. I would +have (shortened to would’ve) + (participle) likedmy Tinder match better if he had (past tense) a full head of hair.
2. Charles would’ve + learned Spanish if he dated Madeline.
3. Charles would not have learned Spanish even if he had dated Madeline as Spanish is hard to pick up.
would + not +have + participle + if conjunctional clause
A conjunction links two phrases or standalone sentences. If is used to express a Condition in the Conditional Tense.
Example:
1. Babatunji might still have been reading my posts without my knowledge if I had not confronted him about it.
Shortened to -
Babatunji might’ve still been reading my posts without my knowledge if I hadn’t confronted him about it.
A clause minus the conjunction if can still express a speculative opinion.
2. It might have rained men in Bo, but Kadiatu would have still remained single.
Might + have + been + lexical verb.
Non-Finite Structures Introduced
In English grammar, a verb phrase may occur in a structure that doesn’t define its time frame. When a verb is used in a group of words that do not specify the time the event occurred, we call those clauses non-finite structures.
Examples:
1. The weather seams....
2. Before leaving for America ....
Now, please reread once I’ve added other clauses.
3. The weathers seems to be going awry. (Infinitive to present participle)
4. Before leaving for America, The President had already assigned power to his deputy. (Past perfect)
The perfect infinitive can refer to something that will happen at a point in the future
Here’re is an example-
1. Aminata hopes to have completed her law degree by 2025.
We use the Perfect Infinitive to refer to things that might have taken place in the past.
Examples-
2. Babatunde claimed to have earned a distinction.
3. I expected to have met the celebrity at his concert.
4. I pretended to have eaten all the shepherd’s pie.
Inflection simply means changing to indicate tense and person.
Please notice the tense and person in my example:
1. Most voters ought + to query how The Chancellor won.
(Infinitive = ought to).
2. Many voters ought to be campaigning to see the data.
(Present continuous).
3. She ought to know better. (Present Simple).
4. Voters ought to have been better educated. (Infinitive + present perfect)
A clause with no Subject?
Yes. A perfect infinitive can be used in a clause with a verb but no Subject. We call it a non-finite clause).
It can refer to events which occurred in the past or to events that might have happened (but actually did not happen):
The Perfect Infinitive is formed using the verb to have plus the -ed form of the verb.
Example:
To have won the contest, good dancing skills were required.
(Meaning competitors needed to have good dancing skills to win)
Non-Finte Clauses and Other Tenses
1. Before leaving from America, Jermaine fed his goldfish. [Past Simple]
2. Before leaving for America, Jermaine will feed his goldfish. [Future Simple]
3. Before leaving for America, Jermaine had fed his goldfish. [Past Perfect]
Let's use a Participle Clause to demonstrate how some verb phrases do not indicate tense or a time frame in which the action/event occurred.
1. Mahmod enjoyed [spending time with friends at the weekend.] = Past simple tense because of the verb phrase- enjoyed.
2. Jermaine enjoys [spending time with friends at the weekend.] = Present Simple Tense because of the verb phrase - enjoys.
3. Isata is going to be [spending time with friends at the weekend.} = Future tense because of the verb phrase - is going to be
* We always refer to parts of sentences as phrases even if they only contain one word*
4. Before leaving for America, Jermaine fed his puppy.
5. Before leaving for America, Jermaine will feed his puppy.
6. Before leaving for America, Jermaine always packs a first aid kit.
(Assuming he goes there often.)
Modal and Semi-Modal Verbs
A semi-modal verb works like a full modal verb but with the following differences:
1. Semi-modal verbs are inflected
2. They work with the verb (do) which is their auxiliary or helping verb.
3. Semi-modal verbs show a necessity; give advice or state an obligation.
Inflection simply means changing to indicate tense and person.
With Present Participles
1. Shutting the bedroom curtains first + Musa kissed his wife passionately on the cheek before making love to her.
Non-finite Clause =
Shutting the bedroom curtains first
No time frame indicated. Time is determined by verb/s in the main clause.
What are non-finite participle clauses?
Answer: A group of words containing a verb and participle, but the verb does not show tense.
Modal Verb- would
Would precedes the verb it modifies.
Example:
I would + sit in the sun for hours when I was a child in Sierra Leone.
Meaning: I used to sit outside in the sun in the past.
You would have (would’ve =shortened form) noticed how versatile the verb would, is in English. It is related to the verb, will, but also accompanies other main verbs as an auxiliary.
Examples:
Past Tense in modal usage
1. Mavuto would hide in his bedroom to listen to rap music.
Meaning he used to hide in there, in the past.
Speculative or conditional usage
1. The Head of State would have to demonstrate to the United States how he won.
Asking Questions with Auxiliaries + Negative Tag Questions
Auxiliaries are inflected to pose questions in English language.
Example:
1. Babatunji cooked rice and Bitter Leaves for his guests, didn’t he?
In the above sentence the auxiliary verb to do is utilised to help a lexical or main verb form a question.
More examples:
2. I circulated the workshop starting date, didn’t I?
3. I presumed I must have tagged the wrong poet, didn’t I? (Lexical verb is presumed not must).
4. That the rain was going to continue was a certainty, wasn’t it?
5. Efua was definitely interested in Babatunji, wasn’t she?
6. The car can self-drive, can’t it?
7. They were planning a holiday to Lilongwe, weren’t they?
8. Alemu works in Blantyre, doesn’t she?
9. Ayodele had already sung the national anthem before the power cut, hadn’t she?
10. This book by Chimamanda is a captivating one, isn’t it?
Modal Verb Would
1. Would you show me the emergency exit please? {Make a request}
2. Would you like Mahmood's number? [Make an offer}
3. If I had the funds, I would go to Jamaica on holiday. [Second conditional}
4. If Mahmod had not parked on double yellow lines, he would not have received a fine from Hounslow Council. {Third conditional}
5. Ebenezer would get up at 9:15 when he was at secondary school but now has to be up by 6am. {Past habitual action}
Asking Questions With Modal Auxiliaries
1. May + I + sit next to you please?
Modal Verb + Subject + Lexical Verb...
2. "Would + you + step into my parlour?" said the spider to the fly.
Modal Auxiliary + Subject + Lexical Verb
3. Shall + we + get the bus instead?
Modal Auxiliary + Subject + Lexical Verb
Have you noticed something unique about modal verbs?
You might have seen they use the word, be or the verb to be in the Passive voice.
1. Mphatso had better be gone before 8pm.
(Passive voice + semi-modal verb).
2. They said, “You had better leave before 8pm, Mphatso”. (Active voice).
Examples -
3. I might be married this time next year. (Future)
4. I would have been married if I wasn’t so picky. (Present Perfect)
5. The school bell will be rung at 07:30am. (Simple future; passive voice)
6. I could be getting a sports car as a birthday present. (Future conditional).
To conclude, modal verbs indicate mood, probability, or condition. They are often used to make polite requests.
Will/would
Can/could
May/might
Shall/should
Target language counterparts
A mismatch of what the speaker intends to say and the actual semantics in the transmission of the message conveyed is discussed by linguists under target language counterparts.
If you were to do a literal translation from some other languages into English, some words may not carry the same meaning you intend to transmit.
Rule
Modal verbs overrule the verb they are helping so the lexical verb stays in the base of infinitive form.
Example:
-
MAY I + infinitive
May I have your phone number please?
-
The politician might not win a second term.
-
Shall we leave at 8pm?
Fixed Tenses:
Should/would/could/might + past particles
Examples:
1. We should +have left at 7pm
2. Brenda might + have spoken to Jennifer about the house party.
Modal verbs plus infinite separated by an OBJECT or Clause)
3. How on earth could + that politician win a second term?
Punctuation
Use a semicolon to introduce two sentences which are about related ideas. A semicolon REPLACES a full stop.
Example- The population in Nigeria is about 218.5 million; Lagos has around 16,536,000 people according to the 2021 census.
Both parts are about the same subject - population
We knew the car had been stolen; there were no suspects, however.
Both parts are about the same subject- a stolen car
TIP
JOINING Clauses
When you use a connecting word such as a conjunction you use a comma in British English.
So, if you omitted a conjunction like And, But, Yet of While- think comma.
For Adverbial Conjunctions or longer words, think- Semicolon instead of a full stop.
Examples- However, Nonetheless, Meanwhile:
We knew the car had been stolen; ----, there were no suspects.
Clause 1: We knew the car had been stolen.
Clause 2: There were no suspects.
We knew the car had been stolen; there were no suspects, however.
I’ve omitted the linking conjunction and REPLACED it with a semicolon.
Listing words and phrases
If you’re listing items and include phrases in academic writing, then you’re going to use both commas and semicolons.
Babatunji and Efua travelled to five cities: Abuja, which is the capital of Nigeria; Enugu, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and eventually Accra the capital city of Ghana.
I’ve used a semicolon ONLY to avoid confusion between the items listed.
The Possessive S Used More Than Once in a Noun Phrase
You may often encounter the possessive S used twice in one noun phrase.
Examples -
-
Efua drove the BMW owned by Babatunji to the house belonging to the father of Efua (Oh, what a mouthful).
TO-
-
Efua drove Babatunji's BMW to her father's house.
2. We took the train to the local station where Mahmoud lives and dined in a restaurant owned by a protégé of Gordon Oliver.
TO-
3. We took the train to Mahmoud’s local station and dined in a restaurant owned by Gordon Oliver’s protégé.
Verbs Sometimes Function As Semi-Modal Verbs + Passive Voice
It is not always possible to use the Passive Voice in English.
1. Isata ought to have done cooking lessons.
Passive Voice - The cooking lessons ought to have been done by now.
2. I had better start cooking my son's dinner.
The Passive form of this statement would sound odd to a native British speaker.
I could rephrase it to-
2b. My son's dinner had better been cooked by now.
3. I used to like vegetarian food.
The Passive Voice won't work here, would it?
4. I do think business courses are useless.
How about with this example? I might have to change the first person subject pronoun. In fact, this is why the Passive Voice is used to distance the speaker from the subject or prevent naming a subject.
4b. Business courses are thought to be useless.
5. Sarah is going to have to learn grammar to write Poetry.
5b. Poetry is going to have to be learnt by Sarah, sounds odd.
6. I dare not tell him what I actually think of his mother.
6b. What I actually think of his mother daren't be told to him.
7. I need to review my spending.
7b. My spending needs to be reviewed.
8. Alemu has got to be able to speak French.
8b. French had better been able to be spoken by Alemu sounds wrong. X
9. Jack is able to walk but simply refuses.
I can't see how the Passive Form woul d be probable here.
What is the infinitive form?
Simply put, it has ‘to’ + the base form of a verb.
-
I want to learn to dance Bhangra.
In the Active voice we can use a verb with or without the ‘to’ preposition.
In English, verbs can also be used in the passive infinitive form.
What does that mean?
Passivation as shown earlier, indicates the object NOW ACTS on the verb. We’ll then have a verb phrase with a past participle + an auxiliary in the passive form.
To-infinitive-
Active Infinitive -
-
Nigerian police are determined to prevent more riots.
Passive Infinitive -
2. Nigerian police are determined more riots will + be + prevented.
Common Misuse of The Stative Verb To Have V Its Use As An Auxiliary or Action Verb.
1. The Stative use
The verb to have can denote a state in which case it never takes the progressive or -ING form.
E.g. I’m having a housing problem ❌
Instead, we say- I have a problem with housing.
2. The confusion arises over its perfectly correct use to denote an action-
E.g. I’m having a party this weekend.
3. Auxiliaries
Has/Have/Had
E.g. I had had the flu jab, before my GP sent me a reminder. = past perfect tense to refer to a one-off historical action.
To recap
Never use -ING to show possession only to describe an action. The auxiliaries are the three words I mentioned above.
