Verb Phrases

 Regular verbs have a past tense and past participle with –ed (worked, played, listened). But many of the most frequent verbs are irregular.

Base form	-ing form	Past tense	Past participle
add	adding	added	added
boil	boiling	boiled	boiled
compare	comparing	compared	compared

Verb phrases

Verb phrases in English have the following forms:

1. a main verb:

Subject	Main verb	Object or adverbial
We	are	here.
I	love	her
Everybody	played	football
We	cried

The verb can be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense (played cried).

2. the auxiliary verb be and a main verb in the –ing form:

Subject	Auxiliary be	-ing form
She	is	watching.
They	were	crying

A verb phrase with be and –ing expresses continuous aspect. A verb with am/is/are expresses present continuous and a verb with was/were expresses past continuous.

3. the auxiliary verb have and a main verb in the past participle form:

Subject	Auxiliary have	Past participle	Object or adverbial
They	have	cried	themselves.
Everybody	has	laughed	loudly
We	had	admitted	the job

A verb phrase with have and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect and a verb with had expresses past perfect.

4. a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main verb:

Subject	Modal verb	Main verb
They	can	come.
She	must	come.

Level: intermediate

5. the auxiliary verbs have and been and a main verb in the –ing form:

Subject	Auxiliary have been	-ing form	Adverbial
Everybody	has been	sleeping	soundly
She	had been	playing

A verb phrase with have been and the -ing form expresses both perfect aspect and continuous aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect continuous and a verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.

6. a modal verb and the auxiliaries be, have and have been:

Subject	Modal	Auxiliary	Verb
We	will	be	listening.
John	might	have	arrived.
Alicia	must	have been	listening.

7. the auxiliary verb be and a main verb in the past participle form:

Subject	Auxiliary be	Past participle	Object or adverbial
English	is	spoken	all over the world.
The doors	have been	cleaned.
Supper	was being	served.
The play	will be	finished	soon.
They	might have been	admitted	to the party.

Level: advanced

We can use the auxiliaries do and did with the infinitive for emphasis:

It was a wonderful day. I did enjoy it.
I do'nt agree with you. I think you are absolutely false.

We can also use do for polite invitations:

Do stay up and see us some time.
There will be lots of animal there. Do like your favourite pet.