The Big Book of English Verbs

624 Pages·2009·27.749 MB·English

by  Mark Lester, Daniel Franklin, Terry Yokota

THE
BIG BOOK OF

ENGLISH
VERB S
Mark Lester, Ph.D. | Daniel Franklin | Terry Yokota, M.A.
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
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With profound gratitude to our parents,
who taught us language and taught us to love it
Beulah and Roy Lester
Agnes and Clyde Franklin
Ruby and George Yokota
Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States
Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed
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the prior written permission of the publisher.
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Contents
Preface v
The English Verb 1
 Summaries of verb formation, tense usage, complementation, and phrasal verbs
Verb Forms and Tense Usage 1
The Six Basic Verb Forms 1
Base Form 1
Present 2
Past 3
Infinitive 4
Present Participle 4
Past Participle 5
Tense Formation and Usage 5
The Three Simple Tenses 5
The Three Perfect Tenses 7
The Three Progressive Tenses 8
The Intensive Tenses 9
The Passive Voice 9
Guide to Conjugations 10
Guide to Complements and Phrasal Verbs 11
Verb Complements 12
Complement Types 13
Single Grammatical Element Complements 13
Multiple Grammatical Element Complements 14
Phrasal Verbs 14
Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs 15
The Most Common Phrasal Particles 17
Expressions 18
555 Conjugated Verbs 19
 Alphabetically ordered, with complements, phrasal verbs, and expressions
Top 40 Verbs: Full page of examples adjoining select conjugation/complement pages
Irregular Verb Form Index 616
 Index showing the base form of all irregular verb forms in the book
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Preface
The Big Book of English Verbs provides more information on the most important verbs in
the English language than any other book ever written. It contains basic conjugations and
comprehensive usage patterns for 152 irregular verbs (all the irregular verbs that you will
probably encounter), plus 403 of the most commonly used regular verbs: 555 verbs in all,
with more than 14,000 example sentences.
No other book provides these unique features:
A complete listing of the complements for each verb
Verb complements are grammatical structures that verbs use to make correct, mean-
ingful sentences. English has 18 basic complements, plus dozens of combinations of these.
For instance, the verb help, when it means “assist, support,” may use two complements
together: an object and an infinitive. The infinitive, however, must be in its base form, that
is, used without the to that normally accompanies an infinitive.
object  base-form infinitive We helped the staff answer the phones.
Most English learners, even advanced ones, make the mistake of using to with the infini-
tive, because that is the more common complement. The Big Book of English Verbs is the
only book that provides the correct complement in a useful format.
A listing of the important phrasal verb constructions for each verb
Phrasal verbs are idiomatic combinations of verbs plus adverbs or prepositions. For
example, the phrasal verb go off can mean “to explode,” even though nothing in the mean-
ing of go or off would lead you to expect this meaning.
Moreover, there are important grammatical differences between phrasal verbs that
consist of a verb  an adverb (separable phrasal verbs) and those that consist of a verb 
a preposition (inseparable phrasal verbs). If the second element in a phrasal verb is an
adverb, the adverb can (and in some cases must) be placed after the object. If the second
element is a preposition, however, it can never be moved away from the verb. The Big
Book of English Verbs not only gives the meaning of every phrasal verb, but also indicates
which combinations are separable and which are inseparable.
We’ve also included a CD-ROM, which contains self-assessment tests on verb tenses,
verb complements, and phrasal verbs, as well as five sets of exercises featuring verb use
issues that are difficult for English learners.
We are pleased to provide the keys that unlock the English verb system for English
learners worldwide.
Mark Lester
Daniel Franklin
Terry Yokota
v
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The English Verb
VErb FormS and TEnSE uSagE
The Six Basic Verb Forms
Six basic verb forms are used to create the entire tense system of English: base form, pres-
ent, past, infinitive, present participle, and past participle. These forms are illustrated in
the following chart by the regular verb walk and the irregular verb fly.
base form walk fly
present walk | walks fly | flies
past walked flew
infinitive to walk to fly
present participle walking flying
past participle walked flown
See “Guide to Conjugations” on page 10.
Base Form
The base form of a verb is its form in a dictionary entry. For example, if you looked up
sang, the dictionary would refer you to the base form sing.
The base form is also the source (or base) for the present (with a few exceptions),
infinitive, and present participle of the verb, whether the verb is regular or irregular.
The base form is used as a verb in three ways.
(1) It follows certain helping verbs, the most important being the modal auxiliary
verbs, or modals for short: can/could, may/might, will/would, shall/should, and must. (Mo -
dal verbs themselves have no base form, infinitive, present participle, or past participle;
they have only present and past forms.) Note the base form of the verb be in the following
sentences.
I may be a little late.
He will be in New York all week.
You must be more careful.
Other verbs followed by the base form of a verb include dare (with not), need (with not),
and help.
We need not be silent on the issue.
(2) The base form is used in imperatives (commands).
Be good!
Come here, please.
Oh, stop it!
(3) Less commonly, the base form is used as a complement of certain verbs.
object  base-form infinitive We made them be quiet.
My parents helped me be a success.
A base-form infinitive is an infinitive minus the to. If an infinitive including the word to
were substituted for the base-form infinitive in the first example above, the resulting sen-
tence would be ungrammatical.
X We made them to be quiet.
1
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2 VERB FORMS AND TENSE USAGE
Present
With the sole exception of the verb be, the present form of all verbs is derived directly
from the base form. The main difference between the present and base forms is that the
third-person singular present form adds -s or -es to the base form of the verb; all other
present forms are identical to the base form.
The base form of be is different from all of its present tense forms.
singular plural
first person I am we are
second person you are you are
third person he/she/it is they are
Both the pronunciation and the spelling of the third-person singular present ending
are predictable. If the base form ends in a sibilant sound (s, z, x, sh, ch, tch, or j (as in
judge)), the ending is pronounced as a separate syllable rhyming with buzz. The ending is
spelled -es, unless the base form already ends in -e, in which case only -s is added.
third-person singular
base form present form
cross crosses
place places
buzz buzzes
fix fixes
wish wishes
attach attaches
budge budges
If the base form ends in a voiceless consonant sound other than a sibilant, the ending
is pronounced /s/ and is spelled -es. (The voiceless consonants are usually spelled with a
p, t, ck, k, f, or gh (when pronounced /f/).
help helps
collect collects
back backs
park parks
scoff scoffs
laugh laughs
If the base form ends in a voiced consonant other than a sibilant or in a pronounced
vowel (as opposed to a silent final -e), the ending is pronounced /z/ and is spelled -s.
absorb absorbs
forbid forbids
dig digs
love loves
swim swims
join joins
feel feels
pay pays
agree agrees
cry cries
owe owes
argue argues
Note that if the base form ends in -y without a preceding vowel, the -y changes to -ie before
the -s ending (see cry above).
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VERB FORMS AND TENSE USAGE 3
A few verbs have irregular third-person singular present forms.
be is
have has
Two verbs have irregular pronunciations in the third-person singular present form.
do does (rhymes with buzz)
say says (rhymes with fez)
Past
There are two types of past forms: regular and irregular.
Regular verbs form the past tense by adding -ed to the base form (or simply -d if the
base form already ends in -e).
base form regular past form
open opened
need needed
move moved
place placed
The regular past ending has three different, but completely predictable, pronuncia-
tions. If the base form ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound, the -ed is pronounced as a separate syl-
lable rhyming with bud.
past form pronounced
base form as a separate syllable
adopt adopted
vote voted
decide decided
depend depended
If the base form ends in a voiceless consonant sound other than /t/, the -ed is pro-
nounced /t/. The final voiceless consonants are usually spelled with a p, ck, k, s, sh, ch, tch,
x, f, or gh (when pronounced /f/).
base form past form pronounced as /t/
tap tapped
attack attacked
miss missed
wish wished
match matched
mix mixed
cough coughed
Note that if the base form ends in a single consonant preceded by a stressed short vowel,
the consonant is usually doubled to form the past: permit ~ permitted, stop ~ stopped.
If the base form ends in a pronounced vowel or in a voiced consonant sound other
than /d/, the -ed is pronounced /d/. The voiced consonants are usually spelled with a b, g,
z, j, m, n, l, or r.
base form past form pronounced as /d/
tie tied
enjoy enjoyed
judge judged
kill killed
care cared
Note that if the base form ends in -y without a preceding vowel, the -y changes to -ie before
the -d ending (cry ~ cried). Also note the spellings of the past forms of lay and pay: laid and
paid, respectively.
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4 VERB FORMS AND TENSE USAGE
The past forms of irregular verbs reflect older patterns of forming the past tense. These
patterns have merged to such an extent that it is not practical to learn the past forms of
irregular verbs on the basis of their historical patterns. Similarities exist, however, in how
some irregular verbs form the past tense.
vowel change ring rang sing sang
vowel change 1 -d sell sold tell told
no change bet bet put put rid rid
Following are the past forms of the ten most common verbs in English, all irregular.
base form past form
be was | were
have had
do did
say said (rhymes with fed)
make made
go went
take took
come came
see saw
know knew
Infinitive
The infinitive of a verb consists of to 1 its base form. There are no exceptions—even the
verb be is regular: to be.
base form infinitive
walk to walk
fly to fly
be to be
do to do
Infinitives are used as complements of certain verbs.
I would like to meet your friend.
They invited us to stay for dinner.
Present Participle
The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form.
base form present participle
walk walking
fly flying
be being
do doing
Note that if a verb ends in a single consonant preceded by a stressed short vowel, the con-
sonant is usually doubled: bet ~ betting, dig ~ digging, drop ~ dropping, refer ~ referring,
rid ~ ridding. If a verb ends in silent -e, the -e is dropped before the -ing ending: observe ~
observing, rule ~ ruling, write ~ writing.
The present participle is used in two ways. By far the more common is after a form of
the verb be in the progressive tenses.
The kids were walking to the beach.
I am flying to Chicago tomorrow.
Less common is the present participle’s use as a complement of certain verbs.
I hate doing the dishes every night.
I saw Holly talking to Christopher.
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