Verb


 
 

A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action ("bring", "read"), occurrence ("decompose", "glitter"), or a state of being ("exist", "stand"). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (subject, object, etc.).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The number of arguments that a verb takes is called its valency, or valence. According to valency, a verb can be classified as one of:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  • Intransitive (valency = 1): the verb only has a subject. For example: "he runs", "it falls".
  • Transitive (valency = 2): the verb has a subject and a direct object. For example: "she eats fish", "we hunt rabbits".
  • Ditransitive (valency = 3): the verb has a subject, a direct object and an indirect or secondary object. For example: "I gave her a book", "She sent flowers to me".
  • It's possible to have verbs with valency = 0. A few of these appear in Spanish, Portuguese and other null subject languages and may be termed "impersonal verbs". For example: Llueve = "It rains". A similar type of verb, the weather verb, exists in English, but its non-pro-drop nature requires that a dummy pronoun be used.


     

    Part of speech: In grammar, a part of speech or word class is defined as the role that a word (or sometimes a phrase) plays in a sentence. In transformational-generative grammar, parts of speech are known as lexical categories. There are open word classes, which constantly acquire new members, and closed word clas...

    Language: A language is a system of expression and communication. Individual languages use sound, gesture, and other means to express and communicate concepts, emotions, ideas, and thoughts. Expressions of a language are analysable into words, whose meanings are usually conventional. The word "language" is ...

    Tense: In linguistics, the term tense may refer to two unrelated concepts:...

~ Table of Content ~

Introduction
Valency
Copula
Verbal noun and verbal adjective
Agreement
See also
 
FR: Verbe


 

~ Related Subjects ~

Word (2) - Closed word classes (1) - System (1) - Communication (1) - Open word classes (1) - Grammar (1) - Phrase (1) - Transformational-generative grammar (1) - Thought (1) - Idea (1) - Convention (1) - Meaning (1) - Gesture (1) - Sound (1) - Emotion (1) -
 

~ Community ~

History Forum
Come and discuss about History, Civilizations, Historical Events and Figures
History Web-Ring
A community of sites, blogs and forums dedicated to History. Do not hesitate to submit your site.