Search results for 'tag:Verbs tag:List of verbs' matching tags 'Verbs' and 'List of verbs'

Re: could have done or were able

Velimir — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:21:12 GMT

Thank you very much for your answers Thomas Thompion and CalifJim,

Those ambiguities are exactly the problem for me, specially inÂ regardÂ to expressingÂ "past ability". In many situations I can't easily decide what "could" or "could have" really mean : "able", "possible" or "optional".
I most often understand "could have + verb" as "quite possible action which didn't happen" but sometimes also as denoting "ability to do".Â "Was able to" many times sounds awkward to me as it would be for example in the slightly different sentence from the one Thomas gave in his post :

The fire was raging but luckily I was able to open the door.

I tend to use "could" instead of "was able" in similar situations but in Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage" it's clearly stated : We do not normally use "could" to say that somebody managed to do something on one ocassion, instead we use "was able" , "managed" , "succeeded" etc." . In the next passage Swan gives exceptions to this and gives list of verbs which can be used with "could" to denote ability to do something. Â Those verbs are : "see" , "taste" ,"understand", "feel" , "hear" "smell" and "guess" . He also says that "..we use "could" for "general ability" to say that somebody could do something at any time,whenever he/she wanted. In negative clauses to denote inability i.e "couldn't"+ verb, it can be freely used in this sense.

Â Would you please check the three varieties of the following sentence so I can reduce a bit a confusion about this point. Â For example,not having a can opener, I've just opened a can of tuna fish with a knife and I'm kind of joking with my friend :

I could have opened it with a fork as well.

or

I could open it with a fork as well.

or

I was able to open it with a fork as well.

Thank you very much for your help

Re: to or ing

CalifJim — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:26:40 GMT

Anonymous
Hello, I would like to know if you have any rules to know when to put "to" between two verbs or ing at the end of the second one.

Rules? Not exactly. You are asking about "catenative verbs". The decision between to and ing depends on the first of the two verbs. Some verbs allow either to or ing in the following verb.

Your best bet is to make yourself a list of verbs that are only followed by to, a list of verbs that are only following by an ing form, and a list of verbs that can take either. List only the most common verbs first. Later, as you practice these and get very familiar with them, you can add more verbs to your lists.

For all the gory details about these verb patterns and many others, see http://www.geocities.com/endipatterson/Cat.html

Re: Verb/Noun Stress

CalifJim — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:13:14 GMT

Zajoman
"I object! We shouldn't use that object."

1. Where do I put stress in the verb and where in the noun?
2. Does that generally apply to all verbs and nouns of equal number of syllables?

In these pairs, verbs take the stress on the last syllable; nouns on the first.

See Re: The accent problem of two-syllabled-words for further discussion and a list of verbs.

Re: enjoy

Hoa Thai — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:50:41 GMT

Hi,

'Enjoy' goes with gerunds; 'John enjoys collecting [not to collect] stamps'. Below is a partial list of verbs that go with gerunds only.

"admit, appreciate, avoid, deny, discuss, enjoy, escape, finish, imagine, miss, postpone, practice, quit, recall, resist, risk, suggest, tolerate." - Diana Hacker.

Best wishes,
Hoa Thai

Help: Infinitive or V-ing

Anonymous — Sun, 20 May 2007 03:46:46 GMT

Hello everyone, Would you mind giving me a list of Verbs: Infinitive of V-Ing + the meaning + usage. Some verbs have 2 way, so i really want to know about them. Thank a bunch.

simple vs continuous

Grodada — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:39:19 GMT

One question about the present perfect : where could I find the list of verbs which can be either used in the simple form or in the continuous form in the same contexts?
For example, He has been working here for 10 years and he has worked here for 10 years are both correct while He has been washing his car for two hours could not be replaced by he has washed his car for two hours (the examples were taken from grammar books).
The problem for me has always been to know which verbs could be used both ways (in the contexts with a complement introduced by for or since).

Thanks

Re: Is there an English verbs list?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 04:07:22 GMT

I am also looking for a list of verbs which I can use for my class project in Natural Language Processing. We're analyzing the blogs and trying to identify the summary sentences. Having a list of verbs would be useful for identifying the imperative sentences which are often the summary sentences.

verbs that can be used as a linking verb or an action verb

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:15:18 GMT

I'm having trouble finding a list of verbs that can be both used as a linking verb and an action verb. I can only think of two: SMELL and APPEAR.

Example: She smelled the perfume first before buying it./ She smells nice.

The boy appeared out of nowhere./ He appears to be sad.

Can you guys help me out? thanks a lot.

Re: Verb Noun Verb in sequence?

Vanyatka — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 01:27:33 GMT

Mister Micawber wrote:

'Did you see them go' and 'did you seem them going' are both correct. Some verbs can take the bare infinitive (no 'to') as object, some can take the -ing form as object, some can take either and some can take neither.

MM, thank you for the reply. But the the object of the verb to see is "students". It is the object that is followed by a bare infinitive. The type of the first verb seems to be irrelevant, as I can substitute to see with almost any other verb "Did you hear them go, did you paint them go, did you listen them go, did you guess them go", etc.

The strange thing is that the phrase "He let him do the job" sounds natural. Mb because let is modal? Aha, I see your point now
I need the list of verbs which may take bare infinitife. Thanks very much!

Re: and

J Lewis — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:03:54 GMT

In general in a list, the commas indicate the omission of "and", so that if "and" is present there is no sense in putting a comma. It's now common to put a comma also before the "and" and this even appears in text-books. I'm not sure that it's a question of AmE or BrE; logically I'd say it's incorrect in both. Maybe someone else would like to comment on this.
However, there may be a comma before "and" for other reasons, usually if it is preceded by a parenthesis:
Today we'll be visiting Florence, Siena, which you have already visited, and Volterra.

A digression on the omission of "and": we often see sentences like I eat bread, cheese and drink wine. The word cheese completes list of things that I eat, while drink completes the list of verbs. We therefore have two lists and the correct sentence is
I eat bread and cheese and drink wine.