Mantex

Tutorials, Study Guides & More

>> Home / How-to / English Language

English Language

free study notes showing example pages from our software program

free study notes showing example pages from our software program

Style – how to understand it

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Style – definition

style Style is a particular set of characteristics in the use of language.

redbtn These characteristics are the result of choices which may be made consciously or unconsciously.

redbtn The results are speech or writing which may be efficient, idiosyncratic, identifiable, or memorable.

Examples

redbtn The following are examples of good style in instructional writing and prose fiction:

Instructional writing
When approaching a roundabout, watch out for traffic already on it. Take special care to look out for cyclists or motorcyclists ahead or to the side. Give way to traffic on your right unless road markings indicate otherwise; but keep moving if the way is clear.

Prose fiction
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

Use

redbtn The term ‘style’ is usually used in a positive sense to praise what are seen as good qualities.

redbtn Even bad style may be identifiable – if it is consistent.

redbtn Good style is often easy to recognise, but quite difficult to analyse.

redbtn It may be used and perceived – unconsciously.

redbtn NB! We all use a variety of language styles every day, especially in speech.

redbtn One very important feature of good style is that it must be entirely appropriate for the task it is performing.

redbtn This means that the author must take into account [even if unconsciously!] audience, form, and function.

redbtn Style might be good, yet hardly noticeable – because it is concentrated on effective communication. This is sometimes known as ‘transparent’ good style.

redbtn The first of the examples above is from The Highway Code.

When approaching a roundabout, watch out for traffic already on it. Take special care to look out for cyclists or motorcyclists ahead or to the side. Give way to traffic on your right unless road markings indicate otherwise; but keep moving if the way is clear.

redbtn This is writing which is makes its points as simply and as clearly as possible. The vocabulary is that of everyday life, and in manner it is speaking to a general reader without trying to make an impression or draw attention to itself in any way.

redbtn This writing is entirely free of literary effects or decoration.

redbtn In most writing however, ‘good style’ is normally associated with verbal inventiveness and clever manipulation of the elements of literary language.

redbtn The second example is from Vladimir Nabokov’s famous novel Lolita:

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

redbtn This is writing which is deliberately setting out to be impressive. It relies very heavily on decoration and ornament.

redbtn In this extract Nabokov uses lots of alliteration – the repetition of the ‘l’ and ‘t’ sounds, metaphor – ‘light’ and ‘fire’ – and onomatopoeia – ‘trip’, ‘tap’ – as well as such fancy wordplay as the orthographic and semantic parallels between ‘life’ and ‘fire’.

redbtn Good style in speech and writing – like that in clothes or other matters involving taste – can go in and out of fashion.

redbtn Style in context. Style, in any kind of speech or writing, is extremely important to the overall function of communication. In most cases, a consistency of features produces what we understand as a pleasing style. That is, the style is appropriate to the context in which it occurs.

redbtn A discordant style is produced by the inclusion of some feature which does not fit with the stylistic context of the piece. In other words, the feature is out of place.

redbtn An example of this might be found in a personal letter which is signed ‘Yours faithfully’ or an aristocratic character in a novel speaking street slang for no good stylistic reason.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Stylistic analysis – how to do it

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Stylistic analysis – definition

stylistic analysis Stylistic analysis in linguistics refers to the identification of patterns of usage in speech and writing.

redbtn Stylistic analysis in literary studies is usually made for the purpose of commenting on quality and meaning in a text.

Examples

redbtn A stylistic analysis of a roadsign which reads NO LEFT TURN might make the following observations.

  • The statement is a command.
  • It is cast in the imperative mode.
  • The statement lacks a subject and a verb.
  • These are implied [THERE IS].
  • The statement is unpunctuated.
  • Capitals have been used for emphasis.
  • Simple vocabulary to suit wide audience.
  • Extreme compression for rapid comprehension.
  • Form entirely suited to audience and function.
Use

redbtn In linguistics the purpose of close analysis is to identify and classify the elements of language being used.

redbtn In literary studies the purpose is usually an adjunct to understanding, exegesis, and interpretation.

redbtn In both cases, an extremely detailed and scrupulous attention is paid to the text.

redbtn This process may now be aided by computer programs which able to analyse texts.

redbtn NB! At this point, the study of language moves into either ‘stylistics’ or ‘literary studies’.

redbtn Stylistic analysis is a normal part of literary studies. It is practised as a part of understanding the possible meanings in a text.

redbtn It is also generally assumed that the process of analysis will reveal the good qualities of the writing.

redbtn Take for example the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Richard III:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

redbtn A stylistic analysis might reveal the following points:

  • the play is written in poetic blank verse
  • that is — unrhymed, iambic pentameters
  • the stresses fall as follows
  • Now /i/s the w/i/nter /o/f our d/i/scont/e/nt
  • [notice that the stress falls on vowel sounds]
  • the first line is built on a metaphor
  • the condition of England is described in terms of the season ‘winter’
  • the term ‘our’ is a form of the royal ‘we’
  • the seasonal metaphor is extended into the second line …
  • … where better conditions become ‘summer’
  • the metaphor is extended even further by the term ‘sun’
  • it is the sun which appears, ‘causing’ the summer
  • but ‘sun’ is here also a pun – on the term ‘son’…
  • … which refers to the son of the King
  • ‘York’ is a metonymic reference to the Duke of York

redbtn In a complete analysis, the significance of these sylistic details would be related to the events of the play itself, and to Shakespeare’s presentation of them.

redbtn In some forms of sylistic analysis, the numerical recurrence of certain stylistic features is used to make judgements about the nature and the quality of the writing.

redbtn However, it is important to recognise that the concept of style is much broader than just the ‘good style’ of literary prose.

redbtn For instance, even casual communication such as a manner of speaking or a personal letter might have an individual style.

redbtn However, to give a detailed account of this style requires the same degree of linguistic analysis as literary texts.

redbtn Stylistic analysis of a non-literary text for instance means studying in detail the features of a passage from such genres as:

Instruction notes for programming your video-recorder
Information a history text book
Persuasion an advertisement or a holiday brochure

redbtn The method of analysis can be seen as looking at the text in great detail, observing what the parts are, and saying what function they perform in the context of the passage.

redbtn It is rather like taking a car-engine to pieces, looking at each component in detail, then observing its function as the whole engine starts working.

redbtn These are features which are likely to occur in a text whose function is to instruct:

imperative or
command		 ‘remove the outer covering’
direct address ‘check voltage system before you install the unit’
numbered points [because sequencing is important in carrying out a procedure]
technical terms
or jargon		 ‘piston’, ‘carburettor’, ‘spark plug’
diagram with
call-out labels		 [an extra level of communication to aid understanding]

redbtn Features are dealt with in three stages, as follows:

identify — describe — explain

redbtn The features chosen from any text will be those which characterise the piece as to its function. They will be used by the analyst to prove the initial statement which is made about the linguistic nature of the text as a whole.

redbtn This method puports to be fairly scientific. A hypothesis is stated and then proved. It is a useful discipline which encourages logical thought and can be transferred to many other areas of academic study.

redbtn This is one reason why the discipline of stylistic analysis is so useful: it can be applied to a variety of subjects.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Symbols – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Symbols – definition

symbols A symbol is an object which stands for something else.

redbtn In language it is a reference in speech or in writing which is made to stand for ideas, feelings, events, or conditions.

redbtn A symbol is usually something tangible or concrete which evokes something abstract.

Examples

redbtn The following are standard symbols in the context of English culture.

  • The rose often stands for love.
  • The colour red stands for passion.
  • The dove stands for peace.
  • The ace of spades stands for death.
  • The cross stands for Christianity.
Use

redbtn All cultures use symbols which are actual, tangible objects — such as the cross in a Christian church, the Union Jack flag in the UK, or the Statue of Liberty in the USA.

redbtn These standard symbols and others more original are evoked by conscious and deliberate use of language by writers, advertisers and speakers.

redbtn NB! Symbols are evoked or depicted by language. The very language which evokes the symbol is itself a code or symbol!

redbtn Symbols in the context of language use are sometimes created by the use of words such as ‘cross’ or ‘rose’ or ‘blood’.

redbtn The rose has been used so often in connection with love that it has become a symbol of it.

redbtn But the human heart is also used as a symbol for love – so there can be more than one symbol for the same thing.

redbtn Fire is often used as a symbol, both for danger and for human passion — so a single word or object can sometimes symbolise more than one thing.

redbtn The moon is sometimes used as a symbol for the female — because both have a ‘monthly cycle’.

redbtn In literature, a writer such as D.H. Lawrence exploits this symbolic connction by using images of the moon to stand for female sexuality.

redbtn Even when the word ‘moon’ itself is not used explicitly in his work, any pale nocturnal light can have the same symbolic effect in suggesting the female and her sexual nature.

redbtn In a novel, poem, short story or play, symbols are often introduced at the beginning and then developed and sustained throughout the work by means of various literary techniques.

redbtn Sometimes a symbol is created only for the duration of the work in which it is used. This is called ‘context-bound’ — because it does not have symbolic value outside the work.

redbtn For instance, the handkerchief in Shakespeare’s Othello is used as the symbol of Othello’s mistrust of Desdemona, his wife. [This is because it has come into the possession of his ‘rival’, Iago.] The material, tangible object stands for the emotion jealousy, bringing it into dramatic relief for the audience.
redbtn A handkerchief could be used as a completely different symbol in another piece of work.

redbtn Symbols are used very commonly in daily life. Many road signs are symbols, as is the traditional red and white pole for a barber’s shop.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Synecdoche – how to understand it

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Synecdoche – definition

synecdoche Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something is substituted for the whole thing.

redbtn The part chosen is usually important or essential, and thus the whole (although implied) is easily recognised or understood.

Examples

In the expression ‘United won the match’, the term ‘United’ stands for ‘Manchester United Football Club’ [or Leeds, or some other team].

In the expression ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ the term ‘bread’ stands for the meals eaten each day.

Use

redbtn Synecdoche [pronounced sin-eck-doh-key, by the way] is part of everyday speech. It is usually used quite unconsciously.

redbtn It is often used in imaginative writing such as fiction and poetry to clarify and enhance an image.

redbtn NB! If you can’t remember the difference between synecdoche and metonymy – don’t worry. You’re not alone.

redbtn In the expression ‘All hands on deck!’, the term ‘hands’ stands for ‘mariners’.

redbtn The term ‘hand’ has been chosen to represent the whole expression ‘able-bodied seaman’ [or in PC (politically correct) terms ‘sea-person’] because that is the most important feature required for work on deck.

redbtn In the expression ‘United won the match’, the term ‘United’ (in the case of Manchester United Football Club) might not appear to be the most important or essential item to represent the whole.

redbtn However, Manchester has two football teams — the other being Manchester City Football Club. A supporter of MUFC would therefore be selecting the one important lingustic feature which distinguished his team from the other fotball club.

redbtn The parts of the name ‘Manchester’ and ‘Football Club’ would be implied by the speaker, and understood by the listener.

redbtn Similarly, a supporter of Manchester City Football Club would say ‘City won the match’.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Synonyms – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Synonyms – definition

synonyms In a very general sense, synonyms are different words which have the same meaning.

Examples
Word Synonym
kingly royal
pavement sidewalk
youth youngster
strong powerful
Use

redbtn Strictly speaking, such words are rarely [if ever] quite identical to each other.

redbtn There are bound to be semantic, stylistic, regional, or other differences between them.

redbtn It is often said that if two words do have exactly the same meaning, one of them is likely to disappear.

redbtn Moreover, two words might be synonymous in one statement, and different in another.

redbtn NB! Synonyms offer us variety in our expression.

redbtn Synonyms are usually referred to by linguists as ‘near synonyms’, because they argue that no two words mean exactly the same. If they did, one would probably disappear from use.

redbtn English is a language which has ‘borrowed’ from many varied sources during the course of its history. This has created a wide and heterogeneous lexicon. For example, terms which were originally French currently coexist with their Anglo-saxon equivalents:

French Anglo-Saxon
petite small
tour trip
chauffeur driver
aperitif drink
promenade front (as in sea-front)
escritoire desk

redbtn The French term usually carries a prestige value over that of the English equivalent, which is often seen as basic and even crass. This is because of the history of French dominance over the English as a result of the Norman Conquest.

redbtn During the period of French rule after 1066, a state of diglossia existed throughout the south of England. Diglossia means that two languages are used by one society, but applied to two discrete functions. French was used for matters of church and state, whereas English was used by the common people for personal and family discourse.

redbtn The legacy of this diglossia is that we have a multitude of synonyms or near-synonyms at our disposal.

redbtn However, it is usually preferable to state the same idea in a variety of styles, rather than to repeat one definitive term for one specific phenomenon.

redbtn In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the king confesses to being a ‘foolish fond old man’. The use of two near synonyms has a poetic and dramatic effect, as one adjective has the effect of intensifying the other.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Syntax – how to understand it

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Syntax – definition

syntax Syntax is the grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence.

redbtn It concerns both word order and agreement in the relationship between words.

redbtn Syntax is primarily concerned with structure of sentences.

Examples

redbtn The following statements follow normal English word order:

The cat sat on the mat.
My old brown leather suitcase.

redbtn The following statements do not follow normal English word order:

The cat on the mat sat.
My brown leather old suitcase.

Use

redbtn Word order is very important in English, because the language is no longer inflected. That is, individual words do not have endings to show which parts of speech they represent.

redbtn Changes to conventional synatx are often used to create dramatic, poetic, or comic effect.

redbtn For instance, poets and song lyricists often change syntactic order to create rhythmic effects:

“I’ll sing to him, each spring to him
And long for the day when I’ll cling to him,
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I.”

[RICHARD ROGERS]

redbtn NB! “To boldly go …” is STAR TREK’s famous syntactic inversion [and split infinitive].

redbtn A normal sentence in English usually contains at least three elements: subject, verb, and object.

Subject Verb Object
The cat eats the goldfish
John likes football
Mary chose the wallpaper

redbtn Every language has rules of syntax, and to the linguist the essential rules are descriptive. They are the rules which underpin the life of the language and which are extremely slow to change.

redbtn These are not to be confused with the presecriptive ‘rules’ of traditional grammar [For instance, ‘Never end a sentence with a preposition’].

redbtn An example of a descriptive rule of English syntax is that in the imperative in English, the verb takes the initial position in the sentence, usually directly before the noun which is the object.

Put those books on the table.
Take the lid off after half an hour.
Remove all packaging before heating the soup.
Isolate the switch in case of fault.

redbtn It is important to make a distinction between grammar and syntax, and to realise that syntax is a component of grammar.

redbtn The term ‘grammar’ refers to the whole structure of the language including the naming of its parts, its rules of tense, and its sound system. It is a comprehensive term.

redbtn Syntax only refers to the relationship between the grammatical components of language in use. In other words it is the nature, quality or type of relationship between terms in any given statement which is the province of syntax.

redbtn The construction of the passive voice is a syntactic issue, as it involves word order. The following statement is in the passive voice:

A woman was run over in central London today by a vehicle travelling at high speed.

redbtn If we transfer this to the active voice, we have:

A vehicle travelling at high speed ran over a woman in central London today.

redbtn The semantic content is similar in the two statements, but the emphasis is changed according to whether it is expressed as active or passive.

redbtn The difference between the two versions is dependent on the positioning of the subject and the object in the sentence. In the passive version, the object takes the initial position. This is a syntactic principle.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Tenses – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Tenses – definition

tenses The term tenses refers to the temporal aspect of verbs in use.

redbtn There are many tenses in English to express past, present, and future.

Examples

PRESENT tense

The child brings joy into their lives.
Paris is the capital of France.
Paul is looking for the cat.

PAST tense

It was a wonderful day for all of us.
Judith had left the key on the table.
Fred had been about to leave when the telephone rang

FUTURE tense

The wedding will be a splendid affair.
I am going to stop smoking.
Stephen goes to college next week.

Use

redbtn All languages have tenses. It is interesting that English is the only modern European language which has no future tense as a designated term.

redbtn The future tense in English is expressed by using other tenses or by the semantic context.

redbtn In the example ‘Stephen goes to college next week’ the term ‘Stephen goes’ is present tense. It is the context in this case – created by the phrase ‘next week’ – which tells us that we are being informed about the future.

redbtn NB! Hold on to your hat! This topic can become quite complex.

redbtn There are many tenses in the English Language. They are all varieties of past, present, and future.

redbtn The following examples have all been placed in a context so that the complexity and the range of English tenses can be appreciated.

redbtn The names for tenses vary from one grammar text book to the next. Don’t worry about the exact name. It is more important to

  • assess whether the statement is in past, present, or future
  • look for any auxiliary verbs (‘to have’ and ‘to be’) used to construct the tense

redbtn Varieties of the past tense

I ran (so that I could be here at this moment)
I have run (all the way here)
I was running (when I fell over a few minutes ago)
I had run (so that I could arrive on time yesterday)
I have been running (and that’s why I’m out of breath now)
I had been running (and that’s why I fell over yesterday)
I used to run (but I have walked for some time now)

redbtn Varieties of the present tense

I run (to work every morining)
I am running (and that’s why I’m out of breath)
I have been running (for fifteen minutes, and I’m still running)

redbtn Varieties of the future tense

I shall run (so that I’ll arrive on time)
I will run (so don’t try to stop me)
I shall be running (to work for the foreeeable future to keep fit)
I shall have run (twelve miles by tomorrow morning)
I shall have been running (to work each morning for two weeks by next Friday)
I run (tomorrow because that’s the day of the race)

redbtn In some instances of these future varieties ‘shall’ and ‘will’ are auxiliaries deriving from the Old English ‘to wish’ or ‘to want’.

redbtn In order to assess whether an action or a state of existence is expressed in the past, present or future tense, it is important to have an idea of a fixed point in time from which the action or state is valued.

redbtn For example ‘I shall have been running’ implies a point in the future from which the past of that time is being viewed.

redbtn “I run into the house and there’s a masked gunman waiting to rob me!” looks like the simple present, but in fact it refers to an event in the past. Technicallly this is known as the vivid present and is mainly used in speech to add a sense of drama to an account of an exciting event.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Text – how to understand it

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Text – definition

text Text literally means ‘a piece of writing’.

redbtn It has now acquired the meaning ‘the object being studied’.

Examples

Charles Dickens’ novel Bleak House is a text.
A letter from the Gas Board is a text.
The caption to a picture is a text.
A painting by Picasso can be a text.

Use

redbtn The term is most used in literary studies, where it was originally used as a synonym for ‘book’.

redbtn But it could just as easily be a poem, a letter, or a diary.

redbtn It is now in general use in other branches of the humanities such as cultural studies and film studies – where its meaning becomes ‘the thing being studied’.

redbtn So — in these other fields it could also be a video film, an advertisement, a painting, or a music score.

redbtn It is used so as to concentrate attention on the object being studied, rather than its author.

redbtn The term ‘text’ is most likely to mean a piece of writing which is the subject of study.

redbtn It is important to remember those elements which are the substance of textual analysis.

redbtn These are all relevant to analysing a text or piece of writing.

audience form function genre
layout subject structure style
syntax tone vocabulary

redbtn The term ‘text’ is used in other areas of enquiry to mean ‘the item being studied’.

redbtn This contemporary usage reflects a concentration on the object of study, rather than on its author.

redbtn This is another point at which the study of language blends into literary studies or ‘critical theory’.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Tone – how to understand it

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Tone – definition

tone To the linguist [or speech therapist] ‘tone’ means the quality of sound produced by the voice in uttering words.

redbtn In a general sense, ‘tone’ is the attitude of the speaker or writer as revealed in the choice of vocabulary or the
intonation of speech.

redbtn This attitude might be immediately apparent — in tone of voice, for instance.

redbtn It might on the other hand be a complex and subtle manner which takes time to establish — in an extended piece of writing, for instance.

Examples

redbtn Written or spoken communication might be described as having a tone which is, for instance:

ironic serious flippant
threatening light-hearted pessimistic
Use

redbtn Tone is used to convey an attitude. This may be done consciously or unconsciously.

redbtn It could be said that there is no such thing as a text or verbal utterance without a tone.

redbtn In most cases, tone is either taken for granted, or perceived unconsciously.

redbtn NB! Tone is sometimes difficult to describe and analyse. It’s a subtle and complex matter.

redbtn Tone, taken at its most literal, is a feature of non-verbal communication. It is the physical level at which the sound of the human voice is transmitted.

redbtn Linguists and speech therapists chart intonation patterns by a system of marks on the page to suggest the rising and falling of the voice tone.

redbtn Intonation is the term by which we refer to the patterns of sound which are evident in every utterance. We sometimes use the term ‘monotone’ to imply an absence of intonation. This usually suggests some negative state of mind on the part of the speaker.

redbtn Every language has its standard set of intonation patterns. These have to be learnt by the non-native speaker as an essential constituent of the transmission of meaning.

redbtn The intonation patterns of a language are the first things a child learns in its progress as a speaker. They are the first elements a child selects from the body of ‘comprehensible imput’ which is necessary to trigger the acquisition process.

redbtn Interestingly, intonation is a difficult hurdle for the second-language learner. It seems that the intonation of one’s own native language becomes deeply internalised, and the ability to hear the intonation of a second language is not as sharp as it is in a young child.

redbtn We can, perhaps, appreciate these difficulties if we take the single word ‘hello’ and consider the variations possible in expressing it to imply an attitude. [This isn’t easy to reproduce on screen, but bear with us.]

‘Hello, hello, hello.’ stereotype policeman
‘Hello?’ ‘Is anyone there?’
‘Hello!’ ‘At last I’ve found it!’
‘Hello!’ ‘Here we go again!’
‘Hello!’ ‘Fancy meeting you.’
and of course…
‘Hello!’ Greeting a friend

redbtn Even a non-verbal utterance such as a cough or a clearing of the throat can be eloquent by means of its tone. An example of this is the cough which says ‘Be careful! People are listening in to what you’re saying’. A slightly different cough acts as a warning not to go any further with an action or an utterance.

redbtn Intonation as part of literary writing is conveyed often by narrative description as in:

‘Oh Jeremy!’ she exclaimed in a shocked tone.

‘Jeremy!’ she screamed, as she saw him leap from the parapet.

redbtn As practised readers, we infer the tone of literary dialogue without the explicit narrative description used in the first example given above. We hear the delivery in our mind’s ‘ear’ as clearly as we hear it in reality when taking part in a dialogue ourselves.

redbtn Tone is perhaps applied more widely in an almost metaphoric sense to convey a whole attitude. For instance we might receive a letter from someone expressing the sentiment that they had trusted us, but felt let down by something we had done. The letter might have an ironic tone, or an angry tone, or an indignant tone.

redbtn Tone in this sense is conveyed by an amalgam of choice of vocabulary and syntax on the part of the writer. For the reader, this selection creates an imaginary audible impression, as the tone is heard in the mind’s ear.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Verbs – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Verbs – definition

verbs A verb expresses an action or a state of being.

redbtn Most statements in speech and writing have a main verb.

Examples

redbtn The following verbs are expressed in their infinitive form:

to sing to eat to run
to travel to be to have
to intend to feel to paint
Use

redbtn Verbs are traditionally expressed along with the appropriate pronouns as follows:

Singular Plural
I run We run
You run You run
He runs They run
She runs —
It runs —

redbtn This is the conjugation of the verb ‘to run’.

redbtn Verbs are expressed in tenses which place the statement in a point in time. Broadly speaking these are are the past, present, and future tense:

PAST I ran [yesterday]
PRESENT I run [today]
FUTURE I shall run [tomorrow]

redbtn The verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ are the most commonly used auxiliary verbs and they work alongside the main verbs in any statement.

redbtn NB! English is the only European language which doesn’t have a future tense. It uses an auxiliary verb (‘shall’) to indicate the future.

redbtn Traditionally, children are taught that verbs are doing words. This is a very simplistic definition, although it is valid for most normal purposes:

John went to the bank.
My mother arrives on Saturday.
Simple Simon met a pieman.

redbtn The verb is a very important part of the sentence. It is a necessary part of every fully expressed predicate – the part of the sentence which normally follows the subject.

redbtn The verb is the grammatical instrument which gives us information about the person or thing which is the subject.

redbtn Consider the following sentence:

Jane grasped the neckace with joy and placed it in the carved wooden box.

redbtn We are given essential information here by means of two verbs – ‘grasped’ and ‘placed’. They express the subject’s physical and psychological attitude, and they also place the action in a temporal context by the fact that they are verbs in the past tense.

redbtn These verbs in this context are lexical items, even though they are also doing essential grammatical work. They are lexical in the sense that they are giving detailed information regarding the actions of the subject.

redbtn In other contexts, the verb does take a more mechanically grammatical role, as in the following sentence:

James is absolutely sure that Alice is the right choice for the executive post..

redbtn Here the verb ‘to be’ is used twice to express the information. The verb’s function here is almost entirely grammatical rather than lexical. The lexical information is given by means of the two adverbs ‘absolutely’ and ‘sure’, the adverbial phrase ‘right choice’, and the phrase ‘executive post’.

redbtn The verb ‘is’ puts the information in the present tense and facilitates the expression of James’ state of mind.

redbtn Advertisers trade on the grammatical dynamism of the verb when space is at a premium. The following slogans all use the verb in a lexical mode, which places the focus on the action.

It’s good to talk British Telecom
Makes the going easy British Rail slogan
Wash and go shampoo ad
Pick up a Penguin chocolate biscuits
The listening bank Midland Bank ad

redbtn Road signs also need to be succinct, so verbs play a crucial part in the best known:

Keep left Stop Give way

redbtn All of these are strong imperatives. The recent ‘Kill your speed’ is not only imperative but emotive by the use of the word ‘kill’, here applied as a metaphor.

redbtn Verbs are employed to critical effect by poets. The following well known extracts show the powerful effect of the lexical verb.

My heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains my sense
As though of hemlock I had drunk one moment past
And Lethewards had sunk.

[John Keats]

redbtn Here ‘aches’ and ‘pains’ both in the present tense are strongly evocative of a listless state of being. The next active verb ‘drunk’ acts as a clear connection between the state of being and the possible cause, at the same time as shifting the action from the present to the hypothetical past. ‘Sunk’ completes the sequence by suggesting physical movement as a result of all the preceding verbal information.

redbtn Verbs can also be transformed into other grammatical functions and in many cases this results in an increased dynamism.

Adverbs ‘Thats nice’ he said mockingly, as she tried her best to pick up the broken vase.
Adjectives The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on.
Nouns He always insisted on doing all his own washing.

redbtn Conversely, other parts of speech can be used as verbs. American English is replete with such usages, some of which have been assimilated into British English.

redbtn Young people now go ‘clubbing’ on Saturday evenings. ‘Parenting’ has now become the term for child-rearing. A recent court case in America revealed that the defendent had been ‘incested’.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2004

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Get in touch

info@mantex.co.uk

Content © Mantex 2016