Grammar in EAP
Verbs and Verbal Groups
Introduction
Verbal Group
A verbal group is typically a group with a verb as its Head. That verb is likely to be modified either before the verb (pre-modification) with auxiliary verbs or after the verb (post-modification or qualification) or both. An example is “has been eaten“.
Verbal Groups can be finite or non-finite. Possible finite verbal groups are – not all are common in EAP:
| Negative ± |
Past ± |
Modal ± |
Phase ± |
Aspect ± |
Voice ± |
Lexical VERB + |
Verbal Group | |
| 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | take | take |
| 1 | + | – | – | – | – | – | take | do not take |
| 2 | – | + | – | – | – | – | take | took |
| 3 | + | + | – | – | – | – | take | did not take |
| 4 | – | – | + | – | – | – | take | will take |
| 5 | + | – | + | – | – | – | take | will not take |
| 6 | – | + | + | – | – | – | take | would take |
| 7 | + | + | + | – | – | – | take | would not take |
| 8 | – | – | – | + | – | – | take | have taken |
| 9 | + | – | – | + | – | – | take | have not taken |
| 10 | – | + | – | + | – | – | take | had taken |
| 11 | + | + | – | + | – | – | take | had not taken |
| 12 | – | – | + | + | – | – | take | will have taken |
| 13 | + | – | + | + | – | – | take | will not have taken |
| 14 | – | + | + | + | – | – | take | would have taken |
| 15 | + | + | + | + | – | – | take | would not have taken |
| 16 | – | – | – | – | + | – | take | is taking |
| 17 | + | – | – | – | + | – | take | is not taking |
| 18 | – | + | – | – | + | – | take | was taking |
| 19 | + | + | – | – | + | – | take | was not taking |
| 20 | – | – | + | – | + | – | take | will be taking |
| 21 | + | – | + | – | + | – | take | will not be taking |
| 22 | – | + | + | – | + | – | take | would be taking |
| 23 | + | + | + | – | + | – | take | would not be taking |
| 24 | – | – | – | + | + | – | take | have been taking |
| 25 | + | – | – | + | + | – | take | have not been taking |
| 26 | – | + | – | + | + | – | take | had been taking |
| 27 | + | + | – | + | + | – | take | had not been taking |
| 28 | – | – | + | + | + | – | take | will have been taking |
| 29 | + | – | + | + | + | – | take | will not have been taking |
| 30 | – | + | + | + | + | – | take | would have been taking |
| 31 | + | + | + | + | + | – | take | would not have been taking |
| 32 | – | – | – | – | – | + | take | is taken |
| 33 | + | – | – | – | – | + | take | is not taken |
| 34 | – | + | – | – | – | + | take | was taken |
| 35 | + | + | – | – | – | + | take | was not taken |
| 36 | – | – | + | – | – | + | take | will be taken |
| 37 | + | – | + | – | – | + | take | will not be taken |
| 38 | – | + | + | – | – | + | take | would be taken |
| 39 | + | + | + | – | – | + | take | would not be taken |
| 40 | – | – | – | + | – | + | take | have been taken |
| 41 | + | – | – | + | – | + | take | have not been taken |
| 42 | – | + | – | + | – | + | take | had been taken |
| 43 | + | + | – | + | – | + | take | had not been taken |
| 44 | – | – | + | + | – | + | take | will have been taken |
| 45 | + | – | + | + | – | + | take | will not have been taken |
| 46 | – | + | + | + | – | + | take | would have been taken |
| 47 | + | + | + | + | – | + | take | would not have been taken |
| 48 | – | – | – | – | + | + | take | is being taken |
| 49 | + | – | – | – | + | + | take | is not being taken |
| 50 | – | + | – | – | + | + | take | was being taken |
| 51 | + | + | – | – | + | + | take | was not being taken |
| 52 | – | – | + | – | + | + | take | will be being taken |
| 53 | + | – | + | – | + | + | take | will not be being taken |
| 54 | – | + | + | – | + | + | take | would be being taken |
| 55 | + | + | + | – | + | + | take | would not be being taken |
| 56 | – | – | – | + | + | + | take | have been being taken |
| 57 | + | – | – | + | + | + | take | have not been being taken |
| 58 | – | + | – | + | + | + | take | had been being taken |
| 59 | + | + | – | + | + | + | take | had not been being taken |
| 60 | – | – | + | + | + | + | take | will have been being taken |
| 61 | + | – | + | + | + | + | take | will not have been being taken |
| 62 | – | + | + | + | + | + | take | would have been being taken |
| 63 | + | + | + | + | + | + | take | would not have been being taken |
± = you have a completely free choice whether or not to choose this
Modal = will, may, can, shall
Modal+ed = would, might, could, should
+en = + past participle (third form)
+ing = + present participle (-ing form)be = be, is, are
be+ed = was, were
be+en = been
be+ing = being
have = have, has
have+ed = had
have+en = had
Exercise
Try this exercise: Verbal Group Exercise
And these exercises: Identifing Verbal Groups: Exercise & Correcting Verbal Group
