CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF VERB PHRASE IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

Verb phrase in English and Vietnamese  Verb phrase in English  Verb phrase in Vietnamese... Definition of verb phraseWikipedia 2009 “In linguistics, a verb phrase is a syntactic str

Outline

1 Definition of verb phrase

2 Verb phrase in English and

Vietnamese

 Verb phrase in English

 Verb phrase in Vietnamese

1 Definition of verb phrase

Wikipedia

(2009) “In linguistics, a verb phrase is a syntactic structure composed of the

predicative elements of a sentence and its function is to provide information

about the subject of the sentence In the generative grammar framework, the

verb phrase is a phrase headed by a verb A verb phrase may be constructed from a single verb; often, however, the verb phrase will consist of various

combinations of the main verb and any auxiliary verbs, plus optional specifiers, complements, and adjuncts”

1 Definition of verb phrase

Summary

Verb phrase is a free word phrase having main – subordinate relation and containing

a verb serve as the central element and

many additive elements which modify the

meanings for the central element

2 Verb phrase in English and Vietnamese

2.1 Verb phrase in English

2.1.1.The components of verb phrase

 According to Kies (2009), an English verb phrase

consists of a head verb, its auxiliaries, its complements and other modifiers

Verb phrase = auxiliary + main verb + complement / modifiers

Auxiliary verb

Auxiliary verb Example

Modal verbs (can, may, might, will,

could, would, ought to, need,

should …followed by a base) followed by a base)

- I can do this

Perfect forms of have, followed by

ed participle)

–ed participle) - They have finished their job

Progressive (forms of be, followed

by ing participle) –ed participle) - He is watching TV

Passive (forms of be, followed

by –ed participle)ed participle) - The table is broken

Support auxiliary (forms of do,

followed by a base )

- You don’t want to go

Main verb

Main verb

Transitive verb Intransitive verb

Beare (2009)

Main verb

 Intransitiv

e verb Intransitive verbs are verbs that don t go with ’t go with

any direct objects

Beare (2009)

Post-elements

Types of post-

elements

Examples

book for me

last night

Prepositional phrase They are going to live in

Hai Phong city

her

Phrasal verbs

 V + Adverbs

 Separable

Eg: “to look up”:

(1) He must have looked up the word… (2) He must have looked the word up …

Note:

”Up” can come before or after an object if it is a noun.

“Up” must come after if the object is a pronoun.

Phrasal verbs

Some similar verbs: put down, put on / take off, bring in, break down…

 Eg:

She put down the cup.

Ralph locked up his room.

The mob broke down the doors.

Prepositional verbs

 Inseparable

Eg: “to look after”: She is looking after

her aged mother.

Some similar verbs: to look for, sail

through, come across, pay attention to, take care of…

2 Verb phrase in English and

Vietnamese

2.1 Verb phrase in Vietnamese

Verb phrase in Vietnamese

PRE-ADDITIVE ELEMENTS

Words indicate the time of action or state

từng, đã, vừa, mới, đang, sẽ

Words indicate the frequency

thường, hay, năng, ít, đôi khi, thỉnh

thoảng

Em sẽ kể anh nghe

Chuyện con thuyền và biển

Anh ta thỉnh thoảng ghé qua chỗ tôi.

PRE-ADDITIVE ELEMENTS

Words indicate negation or affirmation

không, chưa, chẳng, chỉ

Words indicate the level

rất, hơi, khi, quá

Em ở đây, đời chẳng còn đáng ngại

Em ở đây, bàn tay tin cậy

Rất đẹp hình anh lúc nắng chiều

Chớ nói cười, hãy lắng nghe xem đã

Cô ấy chỉ xinh thôi

CENTRAL ELEMENT

Verbs that do not stand alone and are usually

followed by other verbs

CENTRAL ELEMENT

Company name

đứng khóc, nằm ngủ, đi học, đi chơi,

ngồi nghe

Anh ta đi chơi phố.

Verb phrase with two actions but

the second verb is an additive

CENTRAL ELEMENT

Company name

đứng khóc, nằm ngủ, đi học, đi chơi,

ngồi nghe

Anh ta đi chơi phố.

Verb phrase with two actions but

the second verb is an additive

CENTRAL ELEMENT

Verbs always go with additive elements

bưng

Eg: Anh ta đi ra

mất, nhặt lấy, thu được, tìm thấy

Eg: Nó để bay mất con gà

mượn, vay, cầm, xin, gửi

Eg: My tặng Thọ hai cuốn truyện

CENTRAL ELEMENT

Verbs always go with additive elements

Verbs with sense of governing two objects and objects’ activities

are actions of order:

bảo, sai, bắt, cho phép, buộc, khiến

Eg: Thầy giáo bảo Nam lên bảng

Verbs with sense of governing an object and connecting with

another object: trộn, pha, nối, chắp, hòa

Eg: Trộn bột với đường

Verbs with sense of governing additive element and having

the structure A is B and meanings of evaluating:

coi, bầu, lấy, xem, cử

Eg: Coi anh là bạn

CENTRAL ELEMENT

bàn qua bàn lại, đi ngược về xuôi, trèo

lên tụt xuống

Verbs with sense of the state or a

tục đi, thôi nói, hết chạy, ngừng học

chồn, thoi thóp, thấp thỏm

Eg: Người mẹ đang lo lắng về đứa con của

mình

3 Implications for

teaching and learning

foreign language

Implications for teaching

E.g Position of auxiliary verbs

 in English question sentences: before subject

 in Vietnamese: at the end of the

sentence such as phải không, đúng

không, chưa, hả, etc

5 Reference