The semantic verb is also called the lexical or main verb. This term describes an important member of the sentence. Usually it is a predicate that shows the action or state of the subject. Semantic verbs in English can function and play the role of a subject both separately and together with an additional verb. The latter is also called auxiliary. The most famous auxiliary verbs in English are do, to be, have/has.
A bit of theory
The term "auxiliary verb" is very telling, because it is this kind of verb that "helps" the main one. How exactly? It can “support” the main semantic verb in different ways, endowing it with additional characteristics. For example, they can show the time (in order to clarify when the action took place).
With their help it is easy to determine the person and number of the subject, the ability, intention or probability of somethingor. If to be, to do and to have are the most popular auxiliary verbs, and semantic verbs convey a specific action or state. Let's look at the examples below in order to better understand how auxiliary verbs and semantic verbs work together.
I am driving to the beach. - I'm going to the beach
Here, the auxiliary verb am (the form to be for the first number of the singular) informs the reader or listener that the semantic verb in the sentence - in this case driving - is happening at the moment, in the present tense. Among other things, this action is long - perhaps the driver has been driving the car for several hours.
As an auxiliary verb, you can use various forms of the verb to be to explain when driving occurs (for example, was driving - drove a car, will drive - will drive a car, will be driving - will drive a car), and which person performs an action (is driving - he / she / it is driving a car, were driving - they / we were driving a car).
I did empty the trash. - I really took out the trash.
In this sentence, the auxiliary verb did (past tense form to do) emphasizes the semantic verb to empty - “empty” or, in this context, “take out the trash”. Suppose your mother instructed you to take out the trash, and you have already done so, and in order to emphasize the action performed, instead of I emptied the trash, you say I did empty the trash!.
I had seen the movie before. - I'm alreadyseen the movie before.
Here the auxiliary verb had (past tense form of to have) is used to express the past perfect tense. It indicates that one action happened before another time in the past. For example, if someone told you I saw the movie - we can interpret this as "I just finished watching it." If you use the auxiliary and semantic verbs in the form I had seen the movie, this will mean that you went to the cinema until some point in the past.
Linking verbs
As mentioned earlier, semantic verbs do not always express action. Sometimes they simply represent the state of the subject. In these cases, they are referred to as linking verbs because they allow the subject to be linked with information describing its state. Let's look at some examples below:
As a toddler, Susan was adorable. - As a baby, Susan was adorable.
Note that the main verb was expresses not the action performed by Susan, but her state (adorable).
Jennifer is a nurse at the local hospital. - Jennifer is a nurse at a local hospital.
Here the main verb is (the form to be for the third person singular in the simple present tense) connects the subject (Jennifer - Jennifer) with its object (nurse - nurse). So Jennifer is a nurse. We cannot say this sentence grammatically correctly without the link to be. After all, in an English sentence there is a fairly clear word order - the subject, and then the predicate. If the predicate inthere is no sentence, it is replaced by a link.
Because in Russian the linking verb to be is lost in the present tense and not translated due to the grammatical features of the language, take note of the following tip for using the linking verb: it is useful to consider the linking verb as an equal sign. If you can replace the verb with an equals sign, and the general meaning of the sentence does not change, then the semantic verb acts as a linking verb.
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Basic verbs can be transitive or intransitive. The transitional ones are followed by an addition - thus, we get a full-fledged proposal. Intransitive verbs, on the other hand, do not need an object to make sense in a sentence. Intransitive verbs can express an action without a direct object and as a result are able to complete a sentence, but this will not make it sound incomplete. Consider the following examples of sentences using these two kinds of verbs in English.
Transitive verbs
Examples of using transitive verbs in sentences.
- They attended the party
- Jenny fed the cat.
- Fred loves cakes
In all of the above sentences, the transitive verb is followed by an addition: attended (at what?) a party, fed (who?) a cat, loves (what?) cakes.
Intransitive verbs
Examples of using intransitive verbs in sentences.
- The wind blew (the wind blew).
- John laughed.
- The keys disappeared.
Because intransitive verbs are not followed by an object, they often occur at the end of a sentence. However, in many cases, an intransitive verb may be followed by another part of speech, such as a circumstance or a prepositional phrase. Look at the sentences below that illustrate the case described:
The wind blew fiercely. - The wind blew furiously.
Here "violently" is an adverb that describes how hard the wind was blowing. Please note that in adverbs of the English language, the ending -ly is often found.
John laughed for what seemed like an hour. - John seemed to be laughing for an hour.
In this sentence for what seemed like an hour is a prepositional phrase that explains how long John laughed.
The keys disappeared yesterday. - The keys went missing yesterday.
Here the adverb yesterday acts as a circumstance that describes when the keys disappeared, indicating the Present Simple.
Take note
Some semantic verbs can be transitive or intransitive depending on how they are used. Look at the offers below.
- The teenage boy eats voraciously.
- The teenage boy eats five meals a day
In the first sentence, eats acts as an intransitive verb, but is followed by an adverb“insatiable” is a circumstance that describes exactly how a teenager eats.
In the second sentence, eats acts as a transitive verb, as it is followed by the addition "five times a day", which explains how often the teenager eats.
Understanding the different types of main verbs and how they function makes it less difficult to identify them in a sentence.
Regular and irregular verbs
So, we figured out what a semantic verb is. However, it is also important to remember that such verbs can be regular or irregular. The latter are those that, when conjugated in past times, do not follow the standard conjugation pattern and change in a special way. Practice shows that these are the most frequently used verbs in English. Therefore, it is simply necessary for English learners to learn them.
So, we know that regular verbs in the Past Simple take the ending -ed. For example, "to walk": walk → walked. Irregular verbs, in turn, do not obey this rule. For example, "buy": buy → bought. The table of irregular verbs is large enough. Its study begins in elementary school.
