"She is named after her father." How many verbs are there in this sentence, only one : "is" or is "named' also a verb ?
It is very important to note that VERB is used in two senses:
- The verb is one of the elements in clause structure, like the subject and the object.
- A verb is a member of a word class, like noun and adjective.
The two senses are related in this way: A VERB PHRASE consists of one or more verbs; the verb phrase operates as the verb in the clause.
As a word class, verbs can be categorized according to their function within the verb phrase (VP):
- full verbs or lexical verbs
- primary verbs (either main verb or auxiliary)
- auxiliary verbs
Now let us take a look at your sentence:
She is named after her father.
is named after is the verb (phrase) in this sentence, which is realized by two lexical verbs:
- is (primary verb; passive auxiliary in present tense and singular first person)
- named after (full verb plus prep; prepositional verb in past participle form)
Does this help?