Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
..
HCMC, 30/12/2009
ABSTRACT
It is very difficult to understand the structure, sentence, clause or text of any
language without analyzing the components which form them. These components are
very various and complicated. They may be word phrases such as noun phrase, verb
phrase, adverb phrase or adjective phrase... In linguistics, verb phrase is considered a
complicated term, especially in Vietnamese. In fact, many Vietnamese authors of
grammatical books agree that Vietnamese verb phrase is so various in terms of form
and meaning and it is used not only in daily life but also in literature. In different
language, verb phrase has different ways to form. English also has its own ways to form
verb phrases. Therefore, this paper help us have information about verb phrase in
English and Vietnamese in a contrastive view of formation. Furthermore, at the end of
this paper, I will discuss some implications for language teaching. I hope that through
this topic, readers will know the similarities and differences of verb phrase in English
and in Vietnamese.
Definition
Verb phrase is a free word phrase having main- subordinate relation and
containing a verb serve as the central element and many additive elements which
modify the meanings for the central element (the information of Gio trnh ng php
Ting Vit tp II, 80)
Characteristics
auxiliaries
complementation
the formation of English verb phrase is: auxiliary + main verb + complementation
1. Auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are used to encode the following categories within the verb phrase:
*Aspect is expressed by using either the verb be and the present participle for the
progressive aspect or the verb have with a past participle for the perfect aspect.
Formation:
Progress: to be + V_ing
Is/am/are + V_ing
Eg: He is doing his homework now.
I am thinking of you now.
They are swimming now.
Was/were + V_ing
Eg: He was studying philosophy.
They were having their breakfast at 8 oclock yesterday
Will/may/must/can/could/should/would/might + be + V_ing
Eg: Tom must be staying at Thang Long Hotel at the moment.
Tom will be coming back tomorrow.
*Interrogative clauses are using by the auxiliary do/does/did before the subject and a
main verb in the plain form.
Eg: Do you want that house?
Did you meet him yesterday?
*Negation is expressed by using the auxiliary dont/doesnt/didnt and a main verb in
the plain form
Eg: I dont want that house.
I didnt meet him yesterday.
All the auxiliaries I have mentioned can be remembered easily through this table
(hypertextbooks grammar website)
Some Examples of the Verb Phrase in English
FUNCTION Auxiliaries
Main Verb
(a)
do
(b)
can
(c)
may
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
should
be
(j)
might have
been
believe
go
have
has
might have
gone
is
going
been
waiting
been
waiting
are
were
hired
being
hired
trying
being
interviewed
FORM
Modal Perfect Progressive Passive Auxiliary Support Main Verb
2. Main verb
According to the information of the grammarpedia website, the English verb includes
following types:
*Intransitive verb: come, go, move...
Eg: He has just come.
*Complex intransitive verb + complement/ adverb: to be, become...
Eg: They became close friends three years ago.
*Transitive verb + object direct: buy, sell...
Eg: They have just bought a new car.
*Complex transitive verb + object direct +complement/ adverb: paint, vote, appoint,
elect...
Eg: He painted this door blue.
Ms Giang was appointed the manager last week.
*Distransitive verb + object indirect + object direct: give, offer, bring...
Eg: He gave her a red rose on her birthday.
Distransitive verb: gave
Object direct: her
objects
predicative complements
Objects
tells
Od
a cake every birthday.
fifty cents.
the most exaggerated stories about his fishing
everyone
exploits.
Moreover, objects can sometimes be encoded either by noun phrases (like eggs) or by
subordinate clauses (like to play chess)
Predicative complements (PC)
Predicative complements are used to provide additional information about another
entity in the clause and they do not refer to a new entity. Verbs that require predicate
complements are be, feel, seem, appear. There are different kinds of predicative
complements:
Furthermore, we have to pay attention to phrasal verbs which are also considered verb
phrases. Phrasal verbs refer to a number of verbs that include a preposition as a
particle.
Eg: turn the light on/ brighten the room up
3.2 Adjuncts
Adjuncts are adverbs or adverbial phrases and clauses that encode adverbial
meanings. There is quite a wide variety of semantic and syntactic types of structures
that can be used as adjuncts. The following two tables will illustrate these two types:
Semantic types of adjuncts in English:
Adjunct type
Manner
Place
Time
Durations
Frequency
Purpose
Condition
Concession
Example
Debbie and Jude watched the movie reluctantly.
Debbie and Jude watched the movie at the Nova.
Debbie and Jude watched the movie yesterday.
Debbie and Jude watched the movie for ten minutes.
Debbie and Jude watched the movie every week.
Debbie and Jude watched the movie to find out what happened.
Debbie and Jude will watch the movie if they must.
Although they were reluctant, Debbie and Jude watched the movie.
Grammatical
Example
structure
PP
NP
Finite clause
movie.
Debbie and Jude watched the movie to find out what
Non-finite clause
happened.
- Verb phrase with two actions but the second verb is an additive element in sense: n
ng, ng ngi, t nm, cht ng...
Eg: t nm ln gi sch
t is the central element and nm is the additive element
*Group 2: Verbs always go with additive elements
- Verbs with sense of moving: m, dy, ko, n, xung, i, bng....
Eg: Anh ta i ra
i is the central element and ra is the additive element
- Verbs with sense of achieving results: hiu ra, c xong, bay mt, nht ly, thu c,
tm thy...
Eg: N bay mt con g
bay is the central element and mt is the additive element
- Verbs with sense of affecting two objects: cho, tng, biu, ly, mn, vay, cm, xin,
gi...
Eg: My tng Th hai cun truyn
central element: tng
object 1: Th
*Group 4: Verbs with sense of the state or a period of an action: bt u hc, tip tc i,
thi ni, ht chy, ngng hc....
*Group 5: Verbs with sense of mood: lo lng, bn chn, thoi thp, thp thm...
Eg: Ngi m ang lo lng v a con ca mnh
3) Post-additive element
Post-additive element of Vietnamese verb phrase is very complicated in terms of
word, formation and meaning (the information of English verb phrase versus
Vietnamese verb phrase website)
*Words: noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, adverb, number can stand after verb
Eg: n cm (cm is a noun)
i hc (hc is a verb)
i nhanh (nhanh is an adjective)
Ght n (n is a pronoun)
*Formation: a single word, a word phrase or a sentence can stand after a verb
Eg: ni chm (chm is a word)
ni cho vui nh (cho vui nh is a word phrase)
ni chng ta c nhiu tin b (chng ta c nhiu tin b is a sentence)
auxiliary, main verb and complementation. Like English, verb phrases in Vietnamese
also have three elements: pre-additive element, central element and post-additive
element. Within this paper, I would like to discuss the contrast between English and
Vietnamese verb phrases in term of the parallel elements in the two formation of verb
phrases.
- Firstly, I will discuss the contrast between English and Vietnamese first element of verb
phrase. In English, the first element of verb phrase is the auxiliary and in Vietnamese, it
is pre-additive element. The auxiliaries mainly focus on grammar. On the contrary, preadditive elements mainly focus on meanings, just two groups of word belong to
grammar. Therefore, like English, Vietnamese pre-additive elements also have the
same meaning with auxiliary of tense in English:
He will go to school tomorrow.
He still sings
(vn is pre-additive element of verb phrase in Vietnamese, but still is not pre-additive
element of verb phrase in English)
C y thnh thong thm ti.
However, the forms of two structures are different. In English, there is no word between
two objects, but in Vietnamese, we have the word l between the two objects.
I should go to bed.
He is punished
H n tri cy
He hates her
Anh y ght c y
C y rt p
However, there is a difference in the case of an adjective after a verb between English
and Vietnamese verb phrases. In English, adverb always go with verb (except some
verbs: to be, become, feel...), but in Vietnamese, this kind of adverb in English is
considered adjective. For instance, He walks very fast (fast is an adverb) - Anh y i
nhanh (nhanh is an adjective)
Moreover, there is a special thing in Vietnamese verb. The verb is considered postadditive element of verb phrase. English does not have object as a verb.
Ti i hc
I go to school
+ About the form, both English and Vietnamese verb phrases have post-additive
element as a single word, word phrase or a sentence.
We eat apples
Chng ta n to
C y xut hin vi mt b m p
Through a contrastive view of English and Vietnamese verb phrase, I would like
to discuss some implications for language teaching at high school in our country.
- Firstly, most of Vietnamese students have a tendency to translate word by word.
Therefore, they should be teach how to translate Vietnamese verb phrases into English
verb phrases. For example, some students may translate i hc (go to school) into go
study because they think that i and hc are two different verbs. Teachers should give
examples to clarify the structure of Vietnamese verb phrases as well as English verb
phrases.
- Secondly, teachers should use syntactic diagram tree to help students understand the
structure of English verb phrases easily. As a result, they can know what is the main
element or what is modifier, which is very useful for students to make sentences easily
when they write.
- Finally, teachers should remember that verb phrase is very difficult for students at high
school to understand easily, so it is necessary to give students more exercises to
practice. In addition, teachers can introduce verb phrase when teaching verbs in
vocabulary.
In conclusion, verb phrase is a part in the structure of a sentence. It is used in
both daily life and literature. A contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese is
useful because it can help us understand the differences between verb phrase of two
languages. Furthermore, some implications for teaching are discussed so that teachers
can make the teaching easier. I hope that this paper provides useful knowledge as well
as some ideas for teaching English.
REFERENCES CITED
L Cn, Phan Thiu, Dip Quang Ban, Hong Vn Thung. (1983). Gio trnh ng php
Ting vit tp II (93-95). Ho Chi Minh City: Education Publishing House.
L Cn, Phan Thiu, Dip Quang Ban, Hong Vn Thung. (1983). Gio trnh ng php
Ting vit tp II (80). Ho Chi Minh City: Education Publishing House.
English verb phrases versus Vietnamese verb phrases. Dec 20, 2009, from ...
The Verb Phrase. Dec 25, 2009, from
Verb phrases. Dec 15, 2009, from
Trn Vn in. (1998). Vn Phm Ting Anh Thc Hnh. Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City.