verb phrase
- noun
- /vɜrb freɪz/
:
frase verbal
Examples
-
The two-word "verb phrase" is a common type of verb usage that, in writing or speaking, can sometimes be confusing.
Blog text (31) -
" The use of impersonal verb phrases that imply rather than directly express the speaker's own attitude
Academic text (1996) -
Below is a list of common two-word verb phrases (starting with letters A to G), with examples:
Blog text (31) -
It has never occurred to me that the use of a two-word verb phrase can be very confusing and may distort the intended meaning when writing and speaking English.
Blog text (31) -
A verb phrase often includes a verb along with its object and any modifiers, creating the sentence's action.
-
In English grammar, a verb phrase is essential since it expresses what the subject does.
-
To form a complete thought, every sentence needs a verb phrase that defines an action or state.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a group of words consisting of a verb and its complements/modifiers' is directly and transparently composed from 'verb' (a word indicating action/occurrence/state) and 'phrase' (a group of words). This is a standard grammatical compound found across languages (e.g., Spanish/French equivalents), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the term.
Etymology
Verb phrase comes from the simple picture of a main verb (the action word) with a short phrase of helpers that move with it. That image explains why the term means 'a group of words' that shows the action in a sentence.
