Other Verb Structures Get moving!

Let's consider the remaining grammar structures. Just like the 12 main tenses we have looked at, the following structures can be taught using the right activities. Let's have a go.

Modal Verbs:

Modal verbs are used in a variety of ways to enable the speaker to express feelings about, for example, the probability of an event, or the ability of a person to carry out a certain action or the level of an obligation - but seldom the actuality of it happening.

Other uses of modals are to express one's attitude, politeness, or advice; modals are also used for making requests or giving permission.

The verbs in this category, although there are different views on this, are:

can

could

may

might

will

would

must

shall

should

ought to

Modals are complex and challenging for teachers to present and complex and challenging for students to learn, both conceptually and formally.

Modals are a further set of auxiliary verbs and are often called modal auxiliary verbs.

For example:

Can you speak French?

He could speak it well if he studied more.

He will speak German once he feels confident.

He should pass the exam.

You must act quickly.

Can you speak Spanish?

I would buy a ticket if I could afford it.

I ought to visit my Uncle Jim.

We should arrive before noon.

May I come in?

Here's what you need to know about modals:

Modal form - key points:

1. Modals do not change their form at any time. Must remains must however you use it. There is no musted or musting. They have no infinitive or past or present participle. There is no infinitive to canor to must. There are no participles such as canning, musting, canned or musted.

Just plain and simple must, can, should etc. at all times.

2. A modal verb is always the first word in the verb phrase. After a modal verb we put the base form of the verb (i.e. the verb stem - without to).

For example:

It will be windy.

You should look after your money.

You could go on Saturday.

3. Like the other auxiliary verbs (be, have, and do), modal verbs are important in negatives, questions, tags, and so on. A modal verb can have not after it and it comes before the subject in questions.

For example:

Positive: Your room should be tidier.

Negative: Your room shouldn't be untidy.

Question: How should I organise my room?

Question tag: You should tidy it each Saturday, shouldn't you?  I suppose I should.

We do not use do with a modal. NOT: How do I should organise my work?

4. Modal verbs do not take -s in the third person.

For example:

She should be here by now. (no -s)

He must try again. (no -s)

5. Will and would have the written short forms 'll and 'd.

For example:

I'll call her now.

I wouldn't do that.

6. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past tenses or the future tenses.

For example: 

She musted travel there last year. (Incorrect)

She will can travel with us. (Incorrect)

7. We can stress a modal if we want to put emphasis on its meaning.

For example:

You really must be quiet. (Meaning: It is very necessary.)

8. A modal verb does not usually have a tense. It can refer to the present or the future.

For example:

Present: We must act now. The instructions might be in my desk.

Future: We must act soon. The instructions might arrive tomorrow.

For the past we use had to, was able to etc. or we use a modal verb + have:

Past: We had to know then. The instructions might have arrived yesterday.

But in some contexts could, would, should and might are past forms of can, will, shall and may:

I can't remember the password. (present)

I couldn't remember the password. (past)

9. A modal verb can go with the perfect, the continuous, or the passive.

Perfect: I may have told you this before.

Continuous: They may be waiting at the station.

Passive: We may be shown the figures later.

Perfect + continuous: You must have been sleeping.

Perfect + passive: The castle must have been destroyed.

10. We cannot use two modals together. NOT: You will must come soon.

How do you teach Modal Verbs?

Degree of Probability:

In order to successfully teach Modal Verbs you must give each one a function. 

For example, 'can't'/'must'/'may'/'might'/'could' can be used to represent degrees of probability.

Let's explore the word 'guilty' in a courtroom. 

He must be guilty. This sentence gives a sense of certainty, perhaps 95% certain that he is guilty. For example, he was caught with the gun in his hand, he must be guilty.

He might be guilty. This sentence gives us the sense of less certainty, perhaps 60% certain, but not sure.

He may be guilty. This sentence gives us the sense of less certainty, perhaps 60% certain, but not sure.

He could be guilty. This sentence gives us the sense of even less certainty, perhaps 40% certain.

He can't be guilty. This is the opposite of must and it gives a sense of 95% certain that he is not guilty. He had a very strong alibi, he can't be guilty.

Will:

'Will' expresses a future event. It can also be used to express a habit. 

Giving permission and asking for permission:

You can use 'could' and 'may' to ask and give permission. For example: May I use your bathroom? Could I use your bathroom, please?

When you want to offer something to someone:

Would you like tea or coffee?

Ability:

Expressing your ability to do something. For example: I could play golf better if I practised more.

Obligation:

Obligation gives a sense of whether a person has a choice or not. You can use 'must' and its negative form of 'mustn't' to express an obligation.

For example: You must get to the bus station at 3pm or you'll miss the bus. 

Would:

The modal verb 'would' is used to express an imaginary or hypothetical situation that has not happened.

For example: I would like to go on holiday next year to Japan. 

Phrasal Verbs:

We have saved the biggest verb structure challenge for learners till last. Phrasal verbs present learners with a huge challenge as there are thousands of phrasal verbs, all with different meanings.

They are so prevalent in everyday speaking and informal writing that students must learn them and learn how and when to use them, otherwise they will have difficulty in communicating fully.

Phrasal verbs also present a challenge to teachers, who need to decide how best to present these to the students.

What are Phrasal Verbs?

Phrasal verbs are a construction which consists of a verb and a preposition or adverb, or both, e.g.

Hopefully, they'll put us up for the night.

I'll pick up some coffee when I'm out.

If we all chip in, we'll finish it soon.

These items exist in many languages in different shapes and forms although inexperienced teachers of English often give students the impression that they only exist in English.

Many languages have composite verbs with similar constructions acting like phrasal verbs in English.

English language phrasal verbs have increased significantly over the years. They continue to increase. Lots of them can be replaced with other single word verbs, e.g. sort out by resolve, carry on by continue, put up by erect. 

So, why do people use them?  There's something about phrasal verbs that makes a speaker feel happier with them as they are often less formal (but not always) and more colloquial than previously established single words.

Also, they often convey more emotion and promote images more so than single words. 

A definition of a phrasal verb would be something like this: a phrase that consists of a verb with a preposition or adverb or both, the meaning of which is different from the meaning of its separate parts, e.g. pick up, look at

Example 1: the verb to come

This is an everyday common verb that students will learn pretty quickly.  The main meaning they will learn is something to do with moving forwards to something or moving to a particular place:

Come here.

She came to her house.

Now notice that if we add a selection of tiny words to this verb, the meaning we now have bears no relation whatsoever to the meanings of come above.

·I've been looking for this for ages. I've just come across it. (found)

·My bag has come apart. (broken up)

·I think she has come up with a good idea. (thought of)

·I hear you've been chosen. How did that come about? (transpire)

·I had no idea who he was. Then it came back to me. He was my first boyfriend. (remembered)

·He doesn't want to play soccer. I'll talk to him. I'm sure he'll come around. (change his mind)

·What a reaction. He came down on us like a ton of bricks. (scold/punish verbally)

·I think she's about to come down with something. (be ill)

·The police have reported that two witnesses have come forward. (reported in willingly)

·She comes from Seoul. (hails from)

There are more variations.

Thus, the meaning of the phrasal verb come down cannot be construed from joining together the meanings of its separate parts: come and down

Example 2: the verb to look

Let's try another one - the verb look. This verb has several meanings; here are some of them:

• To direct your eyes in order to see: Look! There's grandpa.

• To try to find something or someone:I looked everywhere but I couldn't find her. Perhaps we'll meet again.

• To seem: You look well. You look nice in that dress.

• To show direction: The garden looks south.

• To give a warning or strong reminder: Look where you're going!

This is another example of the dilemma facing students of English. They may come across the verb look early in their learning, probably from their classroom studies: Look at Page 27. There's nothing particularly difficult with that.

However, the more they explore the language, the more they will come across these constructions

  ·look after -  meaning to take care of someone or something

·look ahead - meaning to think about and plan the future

·look at -  meaning to read something quickly and not very thoroughly

·look at - meaning to investigate or think carefully about a problem or situation

·look back -  meaning to think about something that happened in the past

·look down on - meaning to think something or someone is inferior

·look for - meaning try to find something lost or that you need

·look forward to - meaning to feel excited and happy about something that is going to happen

·look into - meaning to examine a problem or situation

There are even more than these.

The Difficulty with Phrasal Verbs:

The learner needs to get to grips with all these subtle meanings. One problem is that there are few, if any, clues as to the meaning of each construction. Some will argue that there are but this can confuse the students further.

For example, let's imagine that we tell students that in gives a clue to the meaning of the phrasal verb, an idea that you're delving inside something or going inside somewhere, e.g. I had a look inthe book, I had a look in the shop.

However, look in is often used for dropping in to see someone, often unplanned, often for a short time, to make sure the person is OK: I looked in on old Mrs Brown. This is a totally different meaning, and proves the point that some clues may be more of a hindrance than a help.

Another problem is that some constructions can be the same but have different meanings:

I looked at your drawing. It seems fine to me.

Oil prices are rising swiftly again. We need to look at that.

Clearly these are different. The first gives the impression of a fairly quick look. The second gives the impression of a longer enquiry/investigation into the effects.

Yet another issue is that learners of English soon find that although English has a wide and varied vocabulary, some constructions just have to be learned:

The curtain went up. The show began!

Even where a curtain in a theatre is opened from the middle to the sides (as can happen in a cinema or school production), we almost always say the curtain went up.

A few people may say the curtain was raised but most would say the curtain went up. We do useraise but this is usually before the actual event:

It was time to raise the curtain. The curtain went up. The show began!

No wonder learners get confused!

We never think of phrasal verbs when we acquire our native language. But, for all L2 learners, these present tough challenges. There's virtually no learning strategy you can present to them so that they learn these.

You need to explain these individually in a meaningful context when they come up in the classroom and encourage them to rote learn other examples as much as possible.

Phrasal verbs can be difficult to understand because they often have meanings that are idiomatic. The meaning cannot be deduced from the elements of the verb.

They can also be difficult to use because of variations in the placement of the particle. In phrasal verbs the particle is the word tagged on to the verb to give the specific meaning of the phrasal verb , e.g. on, back but it has little or no meaning in itself when it is tagged on. It has a grammatical purpose but no meaning.

In some cases the particle can be put in more than one position in the sentence; in other cases the particle usually appears in only one position.

Example

Form 1: You can say: I put my coat on.

Form 2: You can also say: I put on my coat.

Form 1: You can say: She gave it back.

Form 2: But you wouldn't say: She gave back it. This is a non-standard construction. (The fortunate thing is that the learner would likely communicate his meaning but when we focus on form we would say this is an incorrect form.)

And very many phrasal verbs have three components. Such verbs are often particularly difficult to understand because the learner hears a string of words, each of which she knows very well, but which in combination do not make any sense.

Here are some common 3 part phrasal verbs with their meaning and an example:

get up to - What have you been getting up to since we last met? (doing)

go in for - I don't really go in for cooking programmes on the TV. (like)

come out with - Jane's always coming out with outrageous comments.  (saying)

The Characteristics of Phrasal Verbs:

Here's what you need to know:

1. A phrasal verb is a combination of words (a verb + a preposition or verb + adverb) that, when used together, typically take on a different meaning to that of the original verb.

2. They are a very important aspect of everyday English. There are thousands of them.

3. Students need to learn many of them if they wish to communicate successfully.

4. Phrasal verbs are idiomatic, meaning that the meaning of a phrasal verb cannot be determined by combining the meanings of the verb and preposition or adverb but must be learned as a single lexical item.

5. Students need to think of each phrasal verb as a separate verb with a specific meaning.

6. When we use phrasal verbs, we use them like normal verbs in a sentence, regardless whether it's a regular or irregular verb. These are irregular verbs:

Lisa tore up the Valentine Day's card and threw it in the bin.

The bus broke down.

Did you deal with the complaint?

7. Phrasal verbs are confusing. One main verb may have many combinations. Also, one phrasal verb may have more than one meaning.

8. Phrasal verbs tend to be more informal and are used more often in spoken than written English, although they're used frequently in informal written communication like emails to family or friends and on internet blogs.

But note that some will still pop up in formal communications.

9. Phrasal verbs can also be transitive/intransitive and separable and inseparable

Let's examine each of these words:

a) Transitive:

A transitive verb always has an object.

For example: The son fell out with his father.

b) Intransitive:

For example: The machine broke down.

An intransitive verb does not have an object.

c) Separable:

The object is between the verb and the preposition.

For example: I looked the number up in the directory.

d) Inseparable: 

The object is placed after the preposition.

For example: I will look into the matter tomorrow.