MORFOSINTAXIS INGLESA II. TALKING ABOUT EVENTS: THE VERBAL GROUP Experiential tr!"t!re #$ t%e &er'al (r#!p.

S)nta"ti" ele*ent #$ tr!"t!re #$ t%e &er'al (r#!p. Reali ati#n #$ t%e ele*ent . S)nta"ti" $eat!re #$ t%e #perat#r ele*ent. P%ra al an+ prep# iti#nal &er' . 1. 2. Definition: The verbal group refers to actions, events and states. Structure: Finite+event+optional auxiliaries. The Finite expresses tense, modalit , person and number, !hich relate to the verbal process to the "spea#er$no!% and establish the verbal group in relation to the speech exchange. The &vent expresses lexical meaning !hich provides the representational content. Finite and &vent are fused in e.g. runs, asked. The optional auxiliaries contribute to the meanings expressed b the progressive, the perfect and the passive. The Finite is reali'ed b primar auxiliaries, modal auxiliaries and lexical auxiliaries. The &vent is reali'ed b lexical verbs. The first auxiliar , the operator, is distinguished b certain s ntactic features. S ntactic elements of structure of the )erbal *roup: v$$$$$$ !aited. o v$$$$ is !aiting. o x v+have been !aiting. o x x v+!ill have been !aiting. The elements of the )* are realised b the follo!ing classes and forms of verbs: Lexi"al &er' : !ait, come, rain, etc. Pri*ar) a!xiliarie : be, am, is, are, !as, !ere, being, been, have, has, had, having , do, does, did. M#+al a!xiliarie : shall, should, !ill, !ould, can, could, ma , might, must, ought. Se*i,*#+al : need, dare -modals in certain uses.. Lexi"al a!xiliarie : -1. be able to, be about to, be apt to, be bound to, be going to, be liable to, be li#el to, be certain to, be sure to, be to, be unli#el to, be supposed to. -2. have to, have got to. -(. had better, !ould rather, !ould sooner. The primar and modal auxiliaries carr grammatical meaning -tense, aspect, modalit , person, number. rather than lexical meaning. /n the other hand, the main verbal element of the )erbal *roup expresses both lexical and grammatical meaning. The primar auxiliaries be, have, do can function both as auxiliar and main elements of the )* -!ith the exception of doing and done !hich function onl as main elements.. The lexical auxiliar have to can also function both as auxiliar - Have you to work on Saturdays0. and as main verb ta#ing do.support -Do you have to work on Saturdays?., the latter no! increasingl fre1uent. 2. S ntactic features of the operator element: a. 3t can be mar#ed for negation. b. 3t is placed before the Sub4ect in the interrogative. c. 3t can substitute for the 5redicator and part or all of the predicate in a clause. d. 3t can receive tonic stress to emphasise polarit . e. Fre1uenc ad4uncts t picall follo! operators, !hereas the precede lexical verbs. f. The 1uantifiers all/both can follo! operators. g. The operator is the verbal element !hich appears in a tag 1uestion. h. The operator is also the verbal element !hich appears !ith so/too/neither/not...either in positive and negative substitution respectivel .

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6. 7asic structures of the )erbal *roup. )erbal *roup structures can be i*ple or exten+e+. 8p to four auxiliares can occur, or five if a lexical auxiliar is included. The meanings expressed b the auxiliaries are: *#+al- per$e"tpr#(re i&e- pa i&e -in this order.. The longer combinations are more fre1uent in spo#en than in !ritten &nglish.

6.1. Simple structures of the )erbal *roup. Finite $#r* : The drive on the left in the 89. N#n,$inite $#r* : -imperative, to$inf, v$ing, v$ed.: Drive slo!l :, 3t is important to drive !ith care. Driving to !or# this morning, 3 heard the nine o%cloc# ne!s, driven a!a b night, the car !as then abandoned. 6.2. &xtended structures of the )erbal *roup. The features of grammatical meaning !hich can be expressed in an extended )erbal *roup include: Ten e: present, past. Finitene : finite, non$finite. Anteri#rit): perfect. A pe"t: progressive, non$progressive. M#+alit): prediction, possibilit , probabilit , volition, obligation, necessit , advisabilit , abilit , permission. P#larit): positive, negative. E*p%a i : contrastive, non$contrastive. 6.(. Structures !ith one auxiliar : o v The o v structure can express the follo!ing features of grammatical meaning, in addition to the obligator choices of tense, finiteness, polarit and contrastiveness: 1. ;odal 2. 5erfect (. 5rogressive 2. passive 6. lexico$modal modal aux+v$inf have+v$en be+v$ing be+v$en lexical aux+v$inf must drive. have driven is driving is driven is about to drive

are washing: finite, present, positive, non$contrastive, non$modal, +progressive, non$perfect, non$ passive. 6.2. Structures !ith t!o auxiliaries: o x v 1. modal+perfect must have driven 2. modal+lexical$modal must be about to drive (. modal+progressive must be driving 2. modal+passive must be driven 6. perfect+lexical$modal has been about to drive <. perfect+progressive has been driving =. perfect+passive has been driven >. lexico$modal+progressive is about to be driving ?. lexico$modal+passive is about to be driven 6.6. Structures !ith three auxiliaries: o x x v 1. modal+perfect+lexico$modal 2. modal+perfect+progressive (. modal+perfect+passive 2. modal+progressive+passive 6. modal+lex$modal+progressive <. modal+lex$modal+passive =. lex$mod+progressive+passive must have been about to drive must have been driving must have been driven must be being driven must be about to be driving must be about to be driven is about to be being driven

6.<. Structure !ith four auxiliaries: o x x x v 1. modal+perfect+lex$modal+progressive 2. modal+perfect+lex$modal+passive (. perfect+lex$modal+progressive+passive 2. modal+perfect+progressive+passive 6.=. Structures !ith five auxiliaries: o x x x x v must have been about to be driving must have been about to be driven has been about to be being driven must have been being driven

1. modal+perfect+lex$modal+progressive+passive

must have been about to be being driven

6.>. &xtended non$finite structures. @on$finite verbal groups do not possess the full set of se1uences displa ed b finite groups because the do not express the grammatical meanings of tense, mood or modalit . The perfect, progressive and passive meanings can, ho!ever, be expressed in the non$finite )*, giving the follo!ing possible combinations. In$initi&e tr!"t!re 1. to have driven 2. to have been about to drive (. to have been driving 2. to have been driven 6. to be about to drive <. to be about to be driving =. to be about to be driven >. to be driving ?. to be being driven 1B. to be driven 11. to have been about to be driving 12. to be about to be being driven 1(.to have been about to be being driven <. Parti"iple tr!"t!re Aaving driven having been about to drive having been driving having been driven being about to drive being about to be driving being about to be driven -being driving. -being being driven. being driven having been about to be driving -being about to be being driven. having been about to be being driven.

Discontinuous )erbal *roups. The se1uence of elements is often interrupted b other clause elements, such as Sub4ect, Cd4unct and intensifiers. Cs !ell as in interrogative structures, separation of the )* b the Sub4ect is produced in certain t pes of thematisation -Dittle did he realise the harm he had done.. Discontinuit of the )* is also produced b the negative or semi$ negative items -3 !ould never have believed that of him, Eou can hardl expect them to !ait all da .. ;ulti$!ord verbs: p%ra al &er' - prep# iti#nal &er' - p%ra al,prep# iti#nal &er' .

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=.1. P%ra al &er' are combinations of a lexical verb and an adverbial particle - come to, go off, die away, break down.... The ma be intransitive: Stop messing about. e!ll get by somehow, or transitive: "hey broke down the door. Fith a transitive phrasal verb, the particle in most cases ma precede or follo! the /b4ect, if this is realised b a @* !ith a noun as Aead. 3f the /b4ect is a pronoun, the particle is placed after it. 3f the Direct /b4ect is long, it is placed at the end, !here the heav @* receives end$focus. =.2. Prep# iti#nal &er' are combinations of a lexical verb and a preposition !ith !hich it is semanticall associated: look into, call for, deal with... 3n these cases, te @* together !ith the preposition constitute the 5repositional /b4ect -/prep. of the single verb. This suggests a parallel !ith the Direct /b4ect, and it is the anal sis adopted for those verbs !hich can passivise. Crguments !hich support this anal sis include the follo!ing: 1. ;an such combinations can be replaced b a verb used transitivel . 2. Guestions can be formed !ith prepositional verbs eliciting the /prep b means of who#m$/what. (. ;an clauses containing prepositional verbs can be passivised. 2. 5repositional /b4ects can be con4oined. 8nli#e Direct /b4ects, ho!ever, man 5repositional /b4ects admit an adverb bet!een the verb and the /prep. Such instances suggest that the cut$off point is bet!een the verb and the preposition. =.(. .i$$eren"e 'et/een p%ra al &er' an+ prep# iti#nal &er' . 1. C preposition cannot be placed after the /b4ect, !hereas the adverbial particles of phrasal verbs can generall precede or follo! the /b4ect: Ae bro#e !ith his girl$friend HAe bro#e his girlfriend !ith Ae bro#e up the part . Ae bro#e the part up.

2. C pronoun follo!s a preposition but precedes the adverbial particle of a phrasal verb: Ae bro#e !ith her Ae bro#e it up. HAe bro#e her !ith HAe bro#e up it. (. Cn adverb can potenciall be placed bet!een a verb and its follo!ing preposition. 5hrasal verbs do not admit an adverb bet!een the verb and the particle: Ae bro#e completel !ith his girlfriend HAe bro#e completel up the part . 2. C FA$interrogative or relative can often be preceded b the preposition of a prepositional verb but not b the particle of a phrasal verb: Fith !hom did he brea# The girl !ith !hom he bro#e H8p !hat did he brea#0 HThe part up !hich he bro#e.

0.1. P%ra al,prep# iti#nal &er' consist of a lexical verb follo!ed b t!o particles, the first adverbial and the second prepositional: go in for, do away with, look forward to...