Verb Phrase - Academic Mode

Definition of the verb phrase
A verb phrase is a syntactic unit consisting of an auxiliary verb (auxiliary verb) in front of the main verb. It often contains a head verb, additions, objects and modifiers as dependent elements such as, was, was, was, was, had, had, did, did, can, can, could, would, would, should, may, must, could etc. In generative grammar a the verb phrase can only consist of a single verb. However, it usually contains a main verb, an auxiliary verb, optional specifiers, compliments and additional elements. For example: “Tomorrow will be a good day with this current” (The Old Man and the Sea, by Earnest Hemingway). Here, 'is an aid, while' walking 'is the main verb.

Types of Verb Phrases
There are two types of verb phrases:

Finite Verb Phrases
If a sentence contains only one verb phrase, it is a finite verb phrase. The main verb is finite and occurs either in the present or in the past form. For example:

I go to college in the morning.

Non-finite verb phrase
In this type of verb phrase, the main verb is participle, gerund, or infinitive. For example:

She is listening to someone crying for help

Common use of the verb phrase
"It is a verb phrase.

Maria is going to school with me.
" Coming "is a verb phrase." Come "is the main verb, while" is "the helper verb.

Sara might need our help to drive her .
“ I might need ”is a verb phrase.

Her favorite activity is reading about history.
Here "you are reading" is a verb phrase and "about the story" is a compliment from the subject.

He is interested in playing new games.
In this sentence, the verb phrase "is interested" works as a complementary objective phrase "in playing new games".

Examples of verb phrases in literature
Example # 1: A Tale of Two Cities (by Charles Dickens)
"It was established that water should be enclosed in an eternal frost, when light played on its surface, and I was left in ignorance in the shore. My friend is dead, my neighbor is dead, my love, the beloved of my soul, is dead ... "

In this case, the verbal phrases are underlined. Dickens has used three verbal phrases, among which the second verb phrase is a non-finite verb phrase that uses "ing", followed by its object "on its surface".

Example # 2: A portrait of the artist when he was young (by James Joyce)
"I was caught in the whirlwind of striking and, afraid of the bright eyes and muddy boots, he leaned down to look through the legs. The classmates were fighting and moaning and their legs were rubbing, kicking and kicking… It was useless to keep running… ”

Joyce has used four verb phrases in this example. He has added objects and modifiers to the first and third sentences, which give additional information, which makes sentences good predicates.

Example # 3: Heart of Darkness (by Joseph Conrad)
“The day ended in a serenity of stillness and exquisite brilliance. The water seemed peaceful; the sky without a spot ... It was accepted in silence. I was thinking of very old times when the Romans came here nineteen hundred years ago - the other day… ”

This is another good excerpt of verbal phrases. The first verb The phrase “was the end” and the third verb phrase “was the thinking” are not finite verb phrases.

Example 4: Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen)
I cannot entirely agree with you. I'm sorry to hear that. But why didn't you tell me that before? If I had known so much this morning, I would certainly not have called him. “

In this example, subjects and modifiers appear in the phrases. In the first verb phrase, “do” is an auxiliary verb, while “superior” is a main verb. “Sie” is a pronoun that functions as a subject, but is not part of that phrase.

Function
There are several functions that verb phrases perform. They serve as phrase heads, as predicates, modifiers, compliments, and objects. Verb phrases also act as modifiers for noun phrases that contain a word and phrase and describe noun or noun phrase. They also work as adjective phrase complements and verb phrase complements. In traditional grammar, verb phrases function as predicates, giving meaning to sentences. In fact, verb phrases make a sentence semantically clear and understandable for readers.