Theodore

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tjgzi

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I am writing a computer program that will describe an English verb. Below is an enumeration of the types of verbs that I have put together. Please indicate any errors, if you will, that my enumeration may have. I derived this enumeration from the verbal use of "be", "have", "hath", "art" etc., and "//" precedes remarks of element. Thank you.

// Regular verbs
Transitive, // Verb can stand alone with out adverb
Intransitive, // Verb requires adverb
Perfect, // Verb may or may not have preceding adverb

// Irregular verbs
Transitive_Irregular, // Verb, Irregular inflections, can stand alone with out adverb
Intransitive_Irregular, // Verb, Irregular inflections, requires adverb
Perfect_Irregular, // Verb, Irregular inflections, may or may not have preceding adverb

// Inflected verbs
// Implication; that "used only in": (1st & 2nd), (1st & 3rd), and (2nd & 3rd) persons WILL NOT OCCUR
Past_Simple_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used only in first person
Past_Simple_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used only in second person
Past_Simple_3rd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used only in third person
Past_Simple, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used in in all persons (-ED)

Past_Participle_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used only in first person
Past_Participle_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used only in second person
Past_Participle_3rd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used only in third person
Past_Participle, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used in in all persons (-ED)

Past_Tense_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used only in first person
Past_Tense_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used only in second person
Past_Tense_3nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used only in third person
Past_Tense, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used in in all persons (-ED)

Present_1st_Person_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used only in first person
Present_2nd_Person_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used only in second person
Present_3rd_Person_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used only in third person (-S)
Present_Tense_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used in in all persons

Present_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, used only in first person
Present_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, used only in second person
Present_3rd_Person, // Inflected Verb, used only in third person
Present_Tense// Inflected Verb, works in all persons (-ING)
 

charliedeut

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// Regular verbs
Transitive, // Verb can stand alone
with out adverb

// Irregular verbs
Transitive_Irregular, // Verb, Irregular inflections, can stand alone
with out adverb


Why is "without" written that way? Is it a programming language must, or is just a mistake? Just curious.
 

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What does "Theodore" have to do with anything?
 

Raymott

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// Inflected verbs
// Implication; that "used only in": (1st & 2nd), (1st & 3rd), and (2nd & 3rd) persons WILL NOT OCCUR
Sorry, I don't understand this.

Past_Simple_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used only in first person
Past_Simple_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used only in second person
Past_Simple_3rd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used only in third person
Past_Simple, // Inflected Verb, Transitive, used in in all persons (-ED)
If you're going to include non-current verb forms like '[thou] art', you need both a singular 2nd person singular 'thou wert' and plural form 'you were'.

Past_Participle_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used only in first person
Past_Participle_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used only in second person
Past_Participle_3rd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used only in third person
Past_Participle, // Inflected Verb, Intransitive, used in in all persons (-ED)
Past participles are always the same for all persons. Isn't this an over-complication? Are you listing the (-ed) verbs in the last line? If so, do the first three relate to the strong past participles?

Past_Tense_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used only in first person
Past_Tense_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used only in second person
Past_Tense_3nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used only in third person
Past_Tense, // Inflected Verb, Perfect, used in in all persons (-ED)

What's the difference between the Past_Simple above and the Past_Tense? Is this the past perfect? In that case, where is the listing for present perfect, and the future 'tenses'?

Present_1st_Person_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used only in first person
Present_2nd_Person_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used only in second person
Present_3rd_Person_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used only in third person (-S)
Present_Tense_Singular, // Inflected Verb, used in in all persons

Present_1st_Person, // Inflected Verb, used only in first person
Present_2nd_Person, // Inflected Verb, used only in second person
Present_3rd_Person, // Inflected Verb, used only in third person
Present_Tense// Inflected Verb, works in all persons (-ING)
The -ing form is 'continuous' or 'progressive'. Couldn't there be confusion between Present_1st_Person_Singular and Present_1st_Person?
Again, the -ing form is always the same.
I guess you have an algorithm that prevents multiple similar categorizations, like listing a verb as both 'Transitive' and 'Transitive_Irregular'. Why not call the regular transitive verbs 'Transitive_Regular'?
I've given you a few suggestions, but they could be all wide of the mark. Your classifications confuse me - it's in neither natural language nor computer code. It's hard to know what assumptions your are going to insert into the final code.
What happens to all the plural verbs - the ones that in modern English all have the same form as First Person Singular? Is this meant to classify all verbs? Too many questions.
Have you written the pseudocode?
 

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// Regular verbs
Transitive, // Verb can stand alone with out adverb
Intransitive, // Verb requires adverb
Perfect, // Verb may or may not have preceding adverb

What's perfect got to do with the other two categories? Perfect is an aspect, and both transitive and intransitive verbs can be used in the perfect aspect. Are you saying that the defining quality of an intransitive verb is that it requires an adverb? If so, where's the adverb here: She smiled? Intransitive verbs don't take an object- adverbs are optional add-ons in many cases (She smiled cheerfully).
 

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I would like to thank all of you for your responses, and I apologize for the vagueness and ignorance on my part forming the question.

What I am attempting to do is to construct a rigid set of rules for classifying verbs and inflections of verbs.
The rules will be set in a table (actually a dictionary), much like a table of irregular verb inflections.
I am looking to define each column of the table; where, each column is a possible (or impossible) form of a verb.
The first column is the verb itself.

Short Example of my original table:

BEAR
Past SimplePast ParticiplePresent 3rd Per. Sing.Present Participle
BOREBORNBEARSBEARING
BORNE

Then came this: BE WAS WERE WAST WERT BEEN IS ART BEING AM ARE
WERT is a 2nd person singular past tense of BE (from Webster's Collegiate Dictionary).
:?: what is past tense (when a verb is both a past simple and past participle)?
I found that my table is sufficient for most verbs, and not even close to being sufficient for others

Therefore, I am trying to create a table that will be sufficient for all verbs. Including columns that may imply improper usage e.g. "You is all that".

Again I apologize for my lack of the English language, I am a computer programmer proficient in mathematical theory. Which is why I am looking for a rigid solution.
 

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"Rigid", "rules" and "English" = three words which should never appear in a sentence together. ;-)

There are lot of variables in the English language. Yes, there are a lot of rules but there also a lot of exceptions and a lot of constructions which, when someone asks "Why?", the answer is "That's just how we say it".
 

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How will it distinguish between bear (animal) and the verb?
 

5jj

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Will it cover spelling, for example:

[FONT=&quot] Spelling of the –s form[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]-e [/FONT][FONT=&quot]is added before –s in verbs ending in a sibilant sound (-s, –ss, -z, -sh, -ch and –x)and in a single –o (but not those ending in –oo): [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] hiss/hisses, buz/buzzes, wash/washes, catch/catches, box/boxes, go/goes [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]but: boo/boos[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Before the –s ending in verbs with word-final single –s, some writers double the final –s of the first form before adding the –e; this is optional:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] gas/gases [/FONT][FONT=&quot]or gasses, focus/focuses or focuses[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With verbs ending in –y following a consonant, we change the –y to –i and add -es, but if the word-final –y follows a vowel/diphthong sound, we simply add –s:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] carry/carries, try/tries [/FONT][FONT=&quot]but: play/plays, employ/employs

?
[/FONT]
 

tjgzi

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The most profound response yet! I feel the tension expressed in your reply every day as I tackle this solution, but I am up to the task.
 

tjgzi

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Part of speech is resolved before this table, a noun such as "bear" is processed as a noun. Nouns are processed as follows: base form has a plural form unless the base form is a plural form (Plural Noun).
 

tjgzi

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Computer memory is so cheep today that the inflected forms are kept in their entirety, or complete spelling. Although ... the input does accept a base form followed by its inflections. Input is subjective to human error, and must be validated before acceptance as a valid human response; Therefore, thank you for the reply, about inflection spelling, which I will incorporate as a validation routine.
 

tjgzi

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Verbs are so complex I am resolved to first solve the problem with inflected forms. I have gone through numerous definitions, but the definition of "Past Simple" on this site is the one that really clued me in. The definition is as follows (with the pertinent information in bold text):

The Past Simple tense, ... in many different ways. The verb form is the same for all persons.

In conclusion, a past tense verb form is comprised of up to three persons, and if the verb form includes all three persons; then, the verb form is called past simple.


Base Form1st Person sing.2nd Person sing.3rd Person sing.Simple
ABASHABASHED
BEWASWEREWAS
WAST
WERT

Furthermore, a present tense verb form is comprised of up to three persons, and if the verb form includes all three persons; then the verb form is called present simple. Note: that I can not find an example of present simple, but that is okay as long as the definition holds true.

Base Form1st Person sing.2nd Person sing.3rd Person sing.Simple
ABASHABASHES
BEAMAREIS
ART
 

tjgzi

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Now on to past and present participles. Unless you can find a fault in last post reasoning. I appreciate all replies.
 

5jj

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Now on to past and present participles. Unless you can find a fault in last post reasoning. I appreciate all replies.
Tigzi, you say that you are an academic and that your native language is English. Do you really think that you need to account for such forms as wast and wert?

Your definitions in post #13 are ... bizarre.
 

Tdol

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Part of speech is resolved before this table, a noun such as "bear" is processed as a noun. Nouns are processed as follows: base form has a plural form unless the base form is a plural form (Plural Noun).

I am a bit unsure as to what the program will do- will it be able to parse text inputted grammatically?

BTW Some nouns don't have a plural, others have a plural form the same as the base form (sheep), while others are only plural (cattle).
 

tjgzi

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Tigzi, you say that you are an academic and that your native language is English. Do you really think that you need to account for such forms as wast and wert?

Your definitions in post #13 are ... bizarre.

I am more likely to be called and insane compulsive ideologue than an academic. I have since changed my profile to make no claim of that title.

Your are correct that such forms (and there are many) as wast and wert are not applicable to the majority of the English speaking world. A computer is so ignorant that it does not know that; Therefore, all known possible forms are included to make it less likely that processing would be confusing to a human user "if" they were to bring the word or words up in conversation.

The definitions are extremely bizarre, and I would not recommend them for regular use or teaching. To complete a smooth transition through logic I must make a leap to a concept to account for nothingness of a concept. I hope I articulated that reason correctly.
 

tjgzi

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I am a bit unsure as to what the program will do- will it be able to parse text inputted grammatically?

BTW Some nouns don't have a plural, others have a plural form the same as the base form (sheep), while others are only plural (cattle).

AI

The plural form of SHEEP is SHEEP, noun has a plural form.
The noun cattle, has no plural because it is a plural noun.
Other than a proper name, I am not aware of a noun (other than a plural noun) with out a plural, could you expand on that please?
 
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5jj

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To complete a smooth transition through logic I must make a leap to a concept to account for nothingness of a concept. I hope I articulated that reason correctly.
Well, the rest of you can make up your own minds. I am not going to waste any more time on this nonsense.
 

MikeNewYork

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AI

The plural form of SHEEP is SHEEP, noun has a plural form.
The noun cattle, has no plural because it is a plural noun.
Other than a proper name, I am not aware of a noun (other than a plural noun) with out a plural, could you expand on that please?

What are the plurals of thermodynamics, impressionism, furniture, calmness, linguistics, luggage, homework, etc.?
 
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