尹文

Phrasal Verbs:

Phrasal Verbs consist of a verb and another word or even a phrase, usually a preposition (such a preposition is often called "particle" in phrasal verbs).  Such phrasal verbs may generate meanings that can sometimes be puzzling to non-native speakers.  These phrasal verbs often arise from casual uses of the language and gradually work themselves into the mainstream of English.  They can be both intransitive and transitive.  Examples:

            Her kids were sitting around, doing nothing. (intransitive)
            The witness finally broke down on the stand. (intransitive) 
            Our boss called off the meeting. (transitive) 
            She looked up her old friend. (transitive)

The real problem with phrasal verbs is that their meaning is often, at first glance, obscure, and they can even mean several different things.  For instance, "to make out" could mean "to perceive" or "to see something" or even other things.  "to come out" could have 18 different meanings.

Sometimes verbs can be combined with different prepositions with dizzying effect: stand out, stand up, stand in, stand off, stand by, stand fast, stand down, stand against, stand for.  Do you know all of these?  You can have more, and many more, if you'd like to.  And one more issue: the verb and the word or preposition it connects are not always contiguous.  We say: "Fill out this form", but "Fill it out", or "Fill this out".[1]

In addition, sometimes the verb and a connected word work as a phrasal verb, but some other times, the same verb and the same word just show together and they don't work as a phrasal verb.  When you droved this afternoon, "you turned up the street".  This "turn up" is not a phrasal verb.  But in "your neighbor unexpectedly turned up (appeared) at you party", and "your son turns up his radio", the "turn up" is a phrasal verb.

I know it's difficult, but English is your native tongue.  If you'd be observable and discernable, you will build up your acute feelings on these phrasal verbs before you know it.

Causative Verbs

Such verbs designate the action necessary to cause another action to happen.  Example: "The devil made me do this", in which the verb "make" causes the other verb "do" to happen.  A list of common causative verbs are: let, make, help, allow, have (=make, let, ¹possess), require, motivate, get, convince, hire, assist, encourage, permit/allow, employ, force.  Most of them are followed by an object (noun or pronoun)  and then an infinitive:

            She allowed her dog to go out in the afternoon.
            She hired a carpenter to build a new birdcage. 

However, three and half of these causative verbs are special:  they are followed by an object and then a bare infinitive (without the infinitive lead article "to":  let, make, have, and help

            This female professor had her students work hard.
            She made them read seven long chapters in one week.
            However, she let them have easy time in their final exam.
            She often help them solve academic as well as personal problems.

I said three and half special causative verbs because the verb "help" can be followed by an object and then bare infinitive or followed by an object and then an infinitive with "to":

            She often help them to solve academic as well as personal problems.

Factitive Verbs:

These are transitive verbs, but they are transitive verbs with two objects, not one being the direct and the other indirect, but rather one direct object and the other being the complement of the object.  A simple list of these verbs is:  make, choose, judge, elect, name, etc... 

            They judged my dog the Best of Show (dog is the direct object and Best of Show is the second being complement).
            The faculty of her department elected her the new department Chair (her is the direct object and the new department Chair is the second complement).
           U.S. News and World Report named our college the best in the southeast (college is the direct object and the best in the southeast is the second complement).

Tenses

Tense shows the time of happening for a verb's action or being.  There are three inflected forms by changes in endings of verbs.  The present tense indicates that something is happening or being now.  Examples are:  "She is a student" and "She drives a new car".  The simple past tense indicates that something happened in the past.  Examples are:  "She was a student" and "She drove a new car".  The past participle form is combined with an auxiliary verb (to have) to indicate that something happened in the past prior to another action[2].  Examples are: "She has been a student" and "She has driven a new car."

Unlike most other western languages, English doesn't have inflected forms for the future tense.  Instead, English uses auxiliaries to form future forms.  Examples are: "She will be a student" and "She is going to drive a new car."  English can even create the future by using the present tense, "The bus arrives later this afternoon," or by using the present progressive, "He is relocating to Orlando next month."

Progressive Verbs

The progressive tenses indicate something being or happening and are formed with the present participle (ending in "-ing")[3] along with various auxiliaries.  Examples are:  She is driving.  She was driving.  She will be driving.  She has been driving.  She had been driving. 

Some verbs like the verb "to be" do not normally have progressive forms; and they are called static verbs.  In contrast, those verbs that have their progressive forms are called dynamic verbs.  See the separate note section on "static and dynamic verbs". 

Irregular Verbs

Most verbs in English are regular, i.e., you can add "-ed" to the base of a verb to create the simple past and past participle.  Example are:  "He walked" and "He has walked".  However, there are a number of so-called irregular verbs whose simple past tense and past participle forms must be memorized.  You may want to read my separate note section on irregular verbs to test your skills on English irregular verbs.