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  • The Habitual 'be'
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    The Habitual ‘be’

    What is the habitual be? Who uses the habitual be? I began writing this post a few months ago as I investigated verb constructions outside the tense-aspect paradigm of the mythical standard English for the grammar book that I am writing. Writing about a topic helps me with my understanding. Habitual be refers to the […] More

  • Using Verbs and Verb Phrases as Noun Phrase Complements
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    Using Verbs and Verb Phrases as Adjunct Adverbials

    Notional grammars traditionally verbs as “words that denote actions and states of being.” A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any auxiliary verbs, particles, modifiers, complements, and objects. In grammar, an adjunct adverbial is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies or describes an entire clause by providing additional information about time, place, manner, […] More

  • Adjectives Versus Verbs: Participial Adjectives
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    Adjectives Versus Verbs: Participial Adjectives

    As I have written many times before, the line between grammatical forms is blurry at best, especially among lexical categories like adjectives and verbs. Adjectives are “words that describe nouns.” Verbs are “words that denote actions, occurrences, and states.” Participles are nonfinite verbs that share characteristics and functions of verbs, adjectives, and nouns. A present […] More

  • Grammatical Aspect
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    Grammatical Aspect

    Grammatical aspect is the grammaticalized expression of the temporal structure of an action or state. Temporal structure roughly relates to duration. Four grammatical aspects exist in the English language: simple aspect, perfect aspect, progressive aspect, and perfect-progressive aspect. Grammatical Tense Grammatical Aspect in English describes the four grammatical aspects of the English language. Tense and […] More

  • The Appositive in English Grammar
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    The Appositive in English Grammar

    Appositives are words, phrases, and clauses that support another word, phrase, or clause by describing or modifying the other word, phrase, or clause. Although nouns and noun phrases most frequently function as appositive in sentences, three grammatical forms can perform the grammatical function of appositive in the English language. The three grammatical forms that can […] More

  • ESL Recipe Lesson Plan: Practice the Imperative Mood
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    ESL Recipe Lesson Plan: Practice the Imperative Mood

    Many English language learners hope to function fully and completely in the English language. Learning to follow and write recipes is one such function of the language. ESL teachers can use the following lesson plan to teach ESL students about recipes in English as well as to practice the imperative mood. The following sections outline […] More

  • English Auxiliary Verbs
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    English Auxiliary Verbs

    Auxiliary verbs are a subcategory of English verbs that provide additional semantic or syntactic information about the main verb in the verb phrase such as tense, aspect, modality, and voice. The seventeen auxiliary verbs in English grammar are have, be, do, nine modal verbs, and five quasi-modal verbs. Perfect Have The first auxiliary verb in […] More

  • Ambitransitive English Verbs
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    Ambitransitive English Verbs

    Verbs are traditionally defined as “words that describe actions or states of being.” Main or principal English verbs may be either intransitive or transitive. Ambitranitive verbs are English verbs that may be either transitive/ditransitive or intransitive depending on the context. Ambitransitive verbs can occur within passive constructions when transitive or ditransitive. Most English verbs are […] More

  • Attributive Ditransitive English Verbs
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    Attributive Ditransitive English Verbs

    Traditional notional grammars define verbs as “action or state of being words.” Transitive verbs in English grammar are main verbs that take an object. Ditransitive verbs take two objects: (1) a direct object and an indirect object or (2) a direct object and an object complement. Ditransitive verbs that take a direct object and an […] More

  • Ditransitive English Verbs
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    Ditransitive English Verbs

    Verbs have traditionally been defined as “action or state of being words.” Main verbs, or principal verbs, fall into five categories in English grammar. Transitive verbs are English verbs that take an object. Ditransitive verbs take two objects: (1) a direct object and an indirect object or (2) a direct object and an object complement. […] More

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