verb help

[jrob]

Hi i am trying to diagram a sentence, i am stuck on the word going..actually are going. The sentence is as follows..Jack and Jill are going to the movies. I understand that J&J are my subjects and movies which are my nouns( which are also plural, abstract, common) and im like so stuck..are going..that is the veb correct..and that would be an action verb..i think and what about the word have...for instance, the sentence is They have a test tomorrow. They is the subject test would be a singular abstract common noun and have...that would be a state of being verb..Im not asking anyone to do this for me, i have tried, but i need to know if i am on the right track, so i can move on to the next step which is making these into complex sent. thank-u eagerly waiting a reply..ps Happy Easter.

 

[Frank Antonson]

"are going" is simply the progressive form of the verb "to go". That sentence would be diagrammed the same as if it said "Jack and Jill go to the movies".

"are" and "going" is a verb phrase acting as the simple predicate.

A warning, though ... you are mixing terms of morphology and syntax. Whether or not a noun is abstract or concrete does not effect its use within syntax.

 

[Buddhaheart]

You may think of the verb “are” in the verb phrase "are going" as an auxiliary (verb) that helps to form the progressive form or continuous tense of the principal verb "to go”.

I would parse the verb “have” in “They have a test tomorrow.” as follows: Transitive (as in kind); strong (verb) (as in conjugation); active (as in voice); indicative (as in mood); present indefinite (as in tense); plural (as in number); third( as in person); agreeing with the subject “they” (as in agreement).

 

[Frank Antonson]

Yes, I would agree with all of that --except that I'm not so sure about the "present indefinite".

I usually don't parse words, though.

 

[Buddhaheart]

The "present indefinite" is an old way of saying “simple present.”

 

[corum]

Hi i am trying to diagram a sentence, i am stuck on the word going..actually are going. The sentence is as follows..Jack and Jill are going to the movies. I understand that J&J are my subjects and movies which are my nouns( which are also plural, abstract, common) and im like so stuck..are going..that is the veb correct..and that would be an action verb..

How would you like to diagram this sentence? Tree-diagram? Traditional-diagram (Reed-Kelllog)? The representations would be different. In traditional grammar, 'are going' is considered the verb of the sentence. In transformational grammar, the operator "are" is on a different node from that which "going" belongs to. "are" is part of the inflectional phrase, "going" is part of the verb phrase.

i think and what about the word have...for instance, the sentence is They have a test tomorrow. They is the subject test would be a singular abstract common noun and have...that would be a state of being verb..Im not asking anyone to do this for me, i have tried, but i need to know if i am on the right track, so i can move on to the next step which is making these into complex sent. thank-u eagerly waiting a reply..ps Happy Easter.

They have a test tomorrow. -- What we have to know about one-place transitive verbs is that they can be passivized.

A test will be had by them tomorrow. :?:
A good time was had by all. :tick: -- idiomatic

I have a pen.
A pen is had by me. :?: :down:

Verbs that are followed by a noun-phrase that resembles a direct object fall into the category of middle verbs if they can't be passivized. With 'have', it seems like we have a middle verb.

Is there anything more I can do for you?

 

[Frank Antonson]

The "present indefinite" is an old way of saying “simple present.”

Okay, I can understand that. Thanks.