The Big Book of English Verbs

By Mark Lester, Daniel Franklin and Terry Yokota

All the English verbs you need toknow in one place!

This comprehensiveguide is your one-stop resource for learning English verbs. It includes555 of the highest frequency verbs--unlike Barron’s501, which excludes common verbs such as “answer”and “wash”--with conjugations and sample sentences.The Big Book of English Verbs also has a list of all complementtypes that are used by each verb, as well as all thecommon phrasal verb constructions that the verb canbe used with in a sentence. The CD-ROM containsmore than 200 interactive practice exercises, plus diagnosticand review tests to assess competency.

• Language: English
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Release date: Aug 7, 2009
• ISBN: 9780071602891

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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, meaningful 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.

Most English learners, even advanced ones, make the mistake of using to with the infinitive, 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 meaning 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 download, 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

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, present, 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.

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. (Modal 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.

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 sentence would be ungrammatical.

X We made them to be quiet.

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.

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 j u dg e)), 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

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/).

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.

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).

A few verbs have irregular third-person singular present forms.

Two verbs have irregular pronunciations in the third-person singular present form.

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).

The regular past ending has three different, but completely predictable, pronunciations. If the base form ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound, the -ed is pronounced as a separate syllable rhyming with bud.

PAST FORM PRONOUNCED

If the base form ends in a voiceless consonant sound other than /t/, the -ed is pronounced /t/. The final voiceless consonants are usually spelled with a p, ck, k, s, sh, ch, tch, x, f, or gh (when pronounced /f/).

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.

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.

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.

Following are the past forms of the ten most common verbs in English, all irregular.

Infinitive

The infinitive of a verb consists of to + its base form. There are no exceptions–even the verb be is regular: to be.

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.

Note that if a verb ends in a single consonant preceded by a stressed short vowel, the consonant 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.

Past Participle

There are two types of past participles: regular and irregular.

Regular past participles are formed in exactly the same way as the regular past, that is, by adding -ed to the base form. To distinguish the two forms, remember that the past form can occur by itself, but the past participle almost always occurs after a form of be or have.

Like irregular past forms, irregular past participle forms are unpredictable. There is one generalization, however, we can make about them. In older periods of English, most irregular past participles ended in -en. Today, about one third of irregular past participles still retain this -en ending. Thus, if an irregular verb form has an -en (or -n) ending, we know it is a past participle.

Past participles are used in three ways in English.

(1) They are used in the perfect tenses after the helping verb have.

They have flown in from Pittsburgh for the wedding.

We had walked over to meet some friends.

He will have raised $200.

(2) Past participles are used in passive sentences after the helping verb be.

Motorists are being stopped at the border.

Her play was seen by thousands of people.

(3) Much less common is the past participle’s use as a complement of certain verbs.

We need the car taken to the garage for an oil change.

Tense Formation and Usage

The term tense can have several different meanings, but we use tense to refer to any of the nine different verb constructions that result when the three logical time divisions (present, past, and future) are integrated with the three aspect categories of verbs (simple, perfect, and progressive– simple xhere means that it is not perfect or progressive). These nine tenses are illustrated in the following chart, with first-person singular forms of walk and fly.

The Three Simple Tenses

PRESENT TENSE

The most confusing feature of the present tense for English learners is that the simple present tense does not actually signify present time. Its three main uses are the following:

(1) making factual statements and generalizations, (2) describing habitual actions, and (3) describing predictable future events or actions.

(1) The simple present tense is used to state objective facts that are not restricted by time.

A mile is 5,280 feet.

The Mississippi River drains the center of the North American continent.

Similarly, the simple present tense is used to state facts that are true for the foreseeable future.

We live on Elm Street.

This sentence means, We have not always lived on Elm Street, and at some point in the future, we may move. Nevertheless, it is our current intention to remain living on Elm Street indefinitely. Contrast this sentence with the following one, which uses the present progressive tense.

We are living on Elm Street.

This sentence means, We are only living on Elm Street temporarily, and we expect to move eventually.

The simple present tense is also used to make generalizations that are considered valid for the foreseeable future.

I hate spinach.

Smoking causes cancer.

(2) The simple present tense is used to describe habitual actions.

Bob checks his e-mail first thing in the morning.

This sentence describes what Bob normally does first thing in the morning. It does not mean that Bob is checking his e-mail now, at this very moment. The sentence would still be valid if Bob were on vacation and hadn’t checked his e-mail in a week.

(3) The simple present tense is often used for near-future events or actions that one expects to happen.

Our flight leaves at nine.

I return home on Sunday.

Note that the simple present tense is not used for uncertain future events. For example, it is not used to describe future weather.

X It