Verb Phrase Guide: How to Structure Verb Phrases

A verb phrase consists of a verb plus another word that further illustrates the verb tense, action, and tone. The other word or words tied to a verb in a verb phrase are its dependents, which can be adverbs, prepositional phrases, helping verbs, or other modifiers. Together, this group of words defines the intention and timing of the action of the verb.

In English grammar, common verb phrases consist of a main verb and a helping verb, as in the sentence “She is going to class.” Here, “going” is the main verb while “is” operates as a helping verb to define the tense of the sentence.

Verbs in the past or present tense do not rely on verb phrases. Simple sentences in the present (“He runs.”) or past tense (“They lied.”) only need a subject and verb. Sentences in other tenses or that are more dynamic necessitate a verb phrase, which features different parts of speech or elements, including:

1. 1. Adverbs: Adverbs modify verbs and, when paired with them, create a verb phrase. The use of “reads” and “quickly” create a verb phrase in the sentence, “For a second-grader, he reads quickly.”
2. 2. Prepositional phrases: Prepositional phrases can further qualify the action of a verb, as in “The scared couple hiked the trail in the dark and through the snow.” In this sentence, two prepositional phrases, “in the dark” and “through the snow,” modify the single verb (“hiked”) that belongs to the noun phrase (“the scared couple”).
3. 3. Helping verbs: The structure of verb phrases is often dependent on helping verbs, also called linking verbs or auxiliary verbs. These helping verbs take on different forms of “to have” (“She has eaten.”), “to be” (“They are waiting.”), and “to do” (“She does think flamingos are pretty.”).
4. 4. Modal verbs: Another kind of helping verb, modal verbs dictate conditionality. Words like “ought,” “should,” and “may” are examples of modal auxiliary verbs, as in the sentence “My grandmother ought to take her medicine.”

Verb phrases are common in the English language, and their word order is key to ensuring a sentence is grammatically correct:

1. 1. “He has lived in New York for two years.” This sentence makes use of the present perfect tense, and the word “has” functions as the helping verb to the main verb “lived.” In a statement, a helping verb should always precede the main verb. In interrogative sentences, helping verbs may come before and after the subject, as in, “How long has he lived in New York?”
2. 2. “I might apply to grad school.” The use of “might apply” here exemplifies a modal verb phrase, where words like “might” show possibility.
3. 3. “We will go to America to learn English.” Verbs outside of the past or present tense, as in this sentence’s use of future tense, require an auxiliary verb like “will” to describe the timing of the action.

In traditional grammar, verb phrases demonstrate the verb’s action, while verbal phrases use verbs to become phrases that operate as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Examples of verbal phrases include:

• Gerunds: Consider the example sentence “Dreaming is normal at bedtime.” The word “dreaming” may seem like a verb, but this gerund is a noun and the subject of the sentence; the only verb in the sentence is “is.” Gerund phrases combine other parts of speech, like prepositions, as in the sentence, “Eating in the classroom is rude.”
• Infinitives: Infinitive phrases become the direct object of the verb and, as such, mimic a noun, as in the sentence “After dinner, he needs to get to the train station.” Here, what precedes the comma is a prepositional phrase while “he” is the subject, “needs” the verb, and “to get to the train station” is the infinitive phrase.
• Participle adjectives: Participle adjectives are adjectives formed from verbs, as in the sentence, “He rescued the stranded sailor.” “Stranded” is a past participle, but in this sentence it functions as an adjective. Present participles can also function as verbals, as in the sentence “The losing team has to go home.” “Losing,” a present participle that typically serves as a verb, functions here as an adjective.

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