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The verb
   The verb is perhaps the most important
    part of the sentence. A verb or
    compound verb asserts something
    about the subject of the sentence and
    express actions, events, or states of
    being. The verb or compound verb is
    the critical element of the predicate of a
    sentence.
 In English, the infinitive of a verb is formed
  by adding the word “to.” Examples include:
  to learn, to act, and to be.
 In Spanish,
the infinitive
 of a verb is indicated
 by one of the following
endings:
 –AR, -ER, and -IR.
  Here are some common verbs.
 A single-word verb in
Spanish contains
information about time
(past, present, future),
person and number.
The process of grammatically
modifying a verb
to express this information
is called conjugation.
GRAMMATICAL TENSE:
   Depending on the language, verbs may express grammatical tense,
    aspect, or modality. Grammatical tense is the use of auxiliary verbs or
    inflections.
   perfective aspect, in which the action is viewed in its entirety though
    completion (as in "I saw the car")
   imperfective aspect, in which the action is viewed as ongoing; in some
    languages a verb could express imperfective aspect more narrowly as:
   habitual aspect, in which the action occurs repeatedly (as in "I used to
    go there every day"), or
   continuous aspect, in which the action occurs without pause;
    continuous aspect can be further subdivided into
   stative aspect, in which the situation is a fixed, unevolving state (as in "I
    know French"), and
   progressive aspect, in which the situation continuously evolves (as in "I
    am running")
   perfect, which combines elements of both aspect and tense, and in
    which both a prior event and the state resulting from it are expressed
    (as in "I have studied well")
VALENCY:
    The number of arguments that a verb takes is called its
    valency or valence. Verbs can be classified according to
    their valency:
   Avalent (valency = 0): the verb has neither a subject nor
    an object. Zero valency does not occur in English; in some
    languages such as Mandarin Chinese, weather verbs like
    snow(s) take no subject or object.
   Intransitive (valency = 1, monovalent): the verb only has
    a subject. For example: "he runs", "it falls".
   Transitive (valency = 2, divalent): the verb has a subject
    and a direct object. For example: "she eats fish", "we hunt
    nothing".
   Ditransitive (valency = 3, trivalent): the verb has a
    subject, a direct object, and an indirect object. For
    example: "He gives her a flower."
VERBAL FORMS:
Auxiliary or Helping Verbs
The issues raised by Helping or Auxiliary
Verbs and Modal Auxiliaries are covered
in a separate section. Click here for help
with Auxiliary Verbs and Modal
Auxiliaries.
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and
another word or phrase, usually a
preposition. The resulting combination
creates what amounts to a new verb,
whose meaning can sometimes be
puzzling to non-native speakers.
   Causative Verbs
    Causative verbs designate the action
    necessary to cause another action to
    happen. In "The devil made me do it." the
    verb "made" causes the "do" to happen.
   Factitive Verbs
    Verbs like make, choose, judge, elect, select,
    name. are called factitive verbs. These
    transitive verbs can take two objects, or
    seem to:
    They judged Philbert's dog Best of Show.
    (where "dog" is the direct object and "Best
    of Show" is the second complement).
 Progressive Verbs
  The progressive tenses, which indicate
  something being or happening, are formed with
  the present participle form (ending in -ing)
  along with various auxiliaries. "She is driving.
  She was driving. She will be driving. She has
  been driving. She had been driving. She will
  have been driving”.
 Irregular Verbs
  Most verbs in English form their various tenses
  consistently: add -ed to the base of a verb to
  create the simple past and past participle: he
  walked; he has walked. There are, however, a
  number of so-called irregular verbs,
  (including, unfortunately, some very common
  verbs such as to be and to have) whose various
  forms must be memorized
   Sequence of Tenses
    The relationship between verbs in a main clause and
    verbs in dependent clauses is important. These verb
    tenses don't have to be identical as long as they
    reflect, logically, shifts in time and meaning: "My
    brother had graduated before I started college." "My
    brother will have graduated before I start
VERBAL:
   Verbals are words that seem to carry the idea of action or being
    but do not function as a true verb. The are sometimes called
    "nonfinite" (unfinished or incomplete) verbs. Because time is
    involved with all verb forms, whether finite or nonfinite,
    however, following a logical Tense Sequence is important
   Participle: a verb form acting as an adjective. The running dog
    chased the fluttering moth. A present participle (like running or
    fluttering) describes a present condition; a past participle
    describes something that has happened: "The completely rotted
    tooth finally fell out of his mouth." The distinction can be
    important to the meaning of a sentence.
   Infinitive: the root of a verb plus the word to. To sleep,
    perchance to dream. A present infinitive describes a present
    condition: "I like to sleep." The perfect infinitive describes a
    time earlier than that of the verb: "I would like to have won that
    game." See the section on Sequence below for other forms as
    well.
VERB TO BE:
   The verb “to be” means “Ser” or “Estar”. Its
    meaning depends on the context of the sentence,
    and the way we want to express it all times.
    Then, as will be usual, Here we see a table with
    Positive and negative sentence we are
    studying.

    Then, as will be usual, gives a table
    where conjugation see, in both English
    and Spanish of this verb we are
    studying.
INFINITIVE AND GERUNDS
      AND SEQUENCE:
Although they are not, strictly speaking,
verbs, infinitives and gerunds carry
within them the idea of action.
Combined with auxiliary verb forms,
like verbs, they also express various
shades of time.
ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL
           MEANINGS:
 Although a gerund and an infinitive will often have practically the same
  meaning ("Running in the park after dark can be dangerous" and "To
  run in the park after dark can be dangerous"), there can be a difference
  in meaning. Gerunds are used to describe an "actual, vivid, or fulfilled
  action" whereas infinitives are better used to describe "potential,
  hypothetical, or future events.
 EMOTION Actual Event Potential Event I hated practicing my violin
  while the other kids were playing outside. I prefer to work during the
  day.
 COMPLETION/INCOMPLETION Actual Event Potential Event We
  began working on this project two years ago. We finished working on
  this project a month ago. (Finish always takes a gerund.) We will
  continue to work on this project for the next four months. I wonder
  when we will start to wrap up this project.
 REMEMBERING
  (such as remember, forget, regret) Juanita forgot to do her
  homework. (meaning that Juanita failed to do her homework because
  she didn't remember to do it) Juanita forgot doing her homework.
  (meaning that Juanita did her homework but that she forgot she had
  done so)
The verb

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The verb

  • 2. The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.
  • 3.  In English, the infinitive of a verb is formed by adding the word “to.” Examples include: to learn, to act, and to be.  In Spanish, the infinitive of a verb is indicated by one of the following endings:  –AR, -ER, and -IR. Here are some common verbs.
  • 4.  A single-word verb in Spanish contains information about time (past, present, future), person and number. The process of grammatically modifying a verb to express this information is called conjugation.
  • 5. GRAMMATICAL TENSE:  Depending on the language, verbs may express grammatical tense, aspect, or modality. Grammatical tense is the use of auxiliary verbs or inflections.  perfective aspect, in which the action is viewed in its entirety though completion (as in "I saw the car")  imperfective aspect, in which the action is viewed as ongoing; in some languages a verb could express imperfective aspect more narrowly as:  habitual aspect, in which the action occurs repeatedly (as in "I used to go there every day"), or  continuous aspect, in which the action occurs without pause; continuous aspect can be further subdivided into  stative aspect, in which the situation is a fixed, unevolving state (as in "I know French"), and  progressive aspect, in which the situation continuously evolves (as in "I am running")  perfect, which combines elements of both aspect and tense, and in which both a prior event and the state resulting from it are expressed (as in "I have studied well")
  • 6. VALENCY: The number of arguments that a verb takes is called its valency or valence. Verbs can be classified according to their valency:  Avalent (valency = 0): the verb has neither a subject nor an object. Zero valency does not occur in English; in some languages such as Mandarin Chinese, weather verbs like snow(s) take no subject or object.  Intransitive (valency = 1, monovalent): the verb only has a subject. For example: "he runs", "it falls".  Transitive (valency = 2, divalent): the verb has a subject and a direct object. For example: "she eats fish", "we hunt nothing".  Ditransitive (valency = 3, trivalent): the verb has a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object. For example: "He gives her a flower."
  • 7. VERBAL FORMS: Auxiliary or Helping Verbs The issues raised by Helping or Auxiliary Verbs and Modal Auxiliaries are covered in a separate section. Click here for help with Auxiliary Verbs and Modal Auxiliaries. Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and another word or phrase, usually a preposition. The resulting combination creates what amounts to a new verb, whose meaning can sometimes be puzzling to non-native speakers.
  • 8. Causative Verbs Causative verbs designate the action necessary to cause another action to happen. In "The devil made me do it." the verb "made" causes the "do" to happen.  Factitive Verbs Verbs like make, choose, judge, elect, select, name. are called factitive verbs. These transitive verbs can take two objects, or seem to: They judged Philbert's dog Best of Show. (where "dog" is the direct object and "Best of Show" is the second complement).
  • 9.  Progressive Verbs The progressive tenses, which indicate something being or happening, are formed with the present participle form (ending in -ing) along with various auxiliaries. "She is driving. She was driving. She will be driving. She has been driving. She had been driving. She will have been driving”.  Irregular Verbs Most verbs in English form their various tenses consistently: add -ed to the base of a verb to create the simple past and past participle: he walked; he has walked. There are, however, a number of so-called irregular verbs, (including, unfortunately, some very common verbs such as to be and to have) whose various forms must be memorized
  • 10. Sequence of Tenses The relationship between verbs in a main clause and verbs in dependent clauses is important. These verb tenses don't have to be identical as long as they reflect, logically, shifts in time and meaning: "My brother had graduated before I started college." "My brother will have graduated before I start
  • 11. VERBAL:  Verbals are words that seem to carry the idea of action or being but do not function as a true verb. The are sometimes called "nonfinite" (unfinished or incomplete) verbs. Because time is involved with all verb forms, whether finite or nonfinite, however, following a logical Tense Sequence is important  Participle: a verb form acting as an adjective. The running dog chased the fluttering moth. A present participle (like running or fluttering) describes a present condition; a past participle describes something that has happened: "The completely rotted tooth finally fell out of his mouth." The distinction can be important to the meaning of a sentence.  Infinitive: the root of a verb plus the word to. To sleep, perchance to dream. A present infinitive describes a present condition: "I like to sleep." The perfect infinitive describes a time earlier than that of the verb: "I would like to have won that game." See the section on Sequence below for other forms as well.
  • 12. VERB TO BE:  The verb “to be” means “Ser” or “Estar”. Its meaning depends on the context of the sentence, and the way we want to express it all times. Then, as will be usual, Here we see a table with Positive and negative sentence we are studying. Then, as will be usual, gives a table where conjugation see, in both English and Spanish of this verb we are studying.
  • 13. INFINITIVE AND GERUNDS AND SEQUENCE: Although they are not, strictly speaking, verbs, infinitives and gerunds carry within them the idea of action. Combined with auxiliary verb forms, like verbs, they also express various shades of time.
  • 14. ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL MEANINGS:  Although a gerund and an infinitive will often have practically the same meaning ("Running in the park after dark can be dangerous" and "To run in the park after dark can be dangerous"), there can be a difference in meaning. Gerunds are used to describe an "actual, vivid, or fulfilled action" whereas infinitives are better used to describe "potential, hypothetical, or future events.  EMOTION Actual Event Potential Event I hated practicing my violin while the other kids were playing outside. I prefer to work during the day.  COMPLETION/INCOMPLETION Actual Event Potential Event We began working on this project two years ago. We finished working on this project a month ago. (Finish always takes a gerund.) We will continue to work on this project for the next four months. I wonder when we will start to wrap up this project.  REMEMBERING (such as remember, forget, regret) Juanita forgot to do her homework. (meaning that Juanita failed to do her homework because she didn't remember to do it) Juanita forgot doing her homework. (meaning that Juanita did her homework but that she forgot she had done so)