A compound verb predicate is a predicate containing: the auxiliary part, which is played by the auxiliary verb (conjugated form), which expresses the grammatical meaning of the predicate (mood, tense), and the main part is the indefinite form of the verb, which expresses its meaning from the lexical side. So we get the following formula: auxiliary verb + infinitive = GHS.
Conditions for combining a conjugated verb with an infinitive
Since not every combination of conjugated verb and infinitive is expressed by a compound verb predicate, it must fulfill the following two conditions:
- The auxiliary part must be lexically incomplete. This means that without the infinitive, one auxiliary verb is not enough to understand the meaning of the sentence. For example: I wanted to - what to do ?; I'm starting - what to do? There are exceptions: if the verb in the combination “verb + infinitive” is significant, then we are talking about a simple verb predicate, which implies that the infinitive acts as a secondary member of the sentence. For example: "Ruslan came (for what purpose?) To have dinner."
- The action of the infinitive must necessarily be related to the subject, it is also called the subject infinitive. Otherwise, that is, if the action of the infinitive is related to another member of the sentence (meaning that the infinitive is objective), then this infinitive is not part of the predicate, but acts as a secondary member. For comparison: 1) He wants to sing. In this example, a compound verb predicate is expressed by a verb combination - I want to sing. It turns out the following, wants - he will sing - he. 2) I asked him to sing. This sentence contains a simple verb predicate - asked and addition - to sing. That is, he asked - I, and he will sing - he.
Auxiliary. Its meaning
An auxiliary verb can have the following meanings:
- Phase - indicates the beginning, continuation, end of the action. This meaning can be carried by such typical verbs: become, set off, start, continue, stay, finish, stop, quit, stop, and others.
- Modal - means necessity, desirability, predisposition, ability, emotional assessment of action, etc. The following verbs and phraseological units can have this meaning: to be able, want, be able, desire, intend, refuse, try, try, count, manage, manage, try, assume, in a hurry, get used to, be shy, love, endure, hate, fear, be afraid, coward, be ashamed, burn with desire, set a goal, have an intention, have honor, have a habit, make a promise, etc.
Sentences with a compound verb predicate:
- She began to prepare for the move. She continued to prepare for the move. Dmitry quit smoking. They again began to talk about the hardships of modern life.
- He can sing. He wants to sing. He is afraid to sing. He loves to sing. He is ashamed to sing. He expects to sing this song.
Compound verb predicate. Examples of ways to express it
This predicate can be expressed:
- The modal verb is to be able, want, etc.
- The verb that denotes the phase of action is to end, begin, etc.
- The verb that denotes an emotional assessment of an action is fear, love.
Bundles in a compound verb predicate
Earlier, we familiarized ourselves with what meanings the auxiliary part can have, and now we will consider what other connectives in the verb predicate can be:
- Brief adjectives that serve as auxiliary verbs. They are necessarily used with a bunch - the verb to be: They had to turn left after two kilometers.
- Words of condition that have the meaning of possibility, necessity, desirability: We must expand our knowledge. It is necessary to learn the language.
- Words that express an emotional assessment of the action, which is called the infinitive, namely: fun, sad, disgusting, bitter, etc. For example, on summer days it is good to roam the birch grove.
Simple and compound verb predicate. Main difference
Each predicate without fail carries these two loads:
- grammatical, which indicates time, number, mood, gender, face;
- semantic, which calls the action;
But as for the simple predicate, it can easily cope with both loads with the help of one verb. And in the verb predicate, two words share these loads among themselves. For example:
- the verb expressed in one of the moods carries grammatical and semantic meaning: I play;
- the grammatical semantic load is carried by the auxiliary verb - began, and the seminal load is carried by the infinitive - to play.
How to parse the predicate?
First, you must specify the type of predicate you have. And, secondly, to designate the subject infinitive with which its main part is expressed, the meaning of the auxiliary part (modal, phase), the form of the verb with which the auxiliary part is expressed.
Example.
The old woman again started to moan.
Compound verb predicate - started to moan. Moaning is the main part expressed by the subjective infinitive. It started off - the auxiliary part, which has a phase meaning, and also expressed by the verb of the past tense in the indicative mood.
Verbal and nominal predicates. Main difference
Like a compound verb, a nominal predicate contains two components:
- a bunch (a verb in conjugated form) - an auxiliary part, which is designed to express grammatical meaning (mood, tense);
- nominal part (name or adverb) - the main part expressing the lexical meaning.
We give examples with a nominal predicate: she became a doctor, she was a doctor, she was sick, she was sick, she came first.
Having familiarized yourself with the components of a nominal predicate, you can compare them with the components of a verb predicate. So, that is nominal, that the verb predicate contains two components. A common feature is that in both the first and second cases, the auxiliary part of the verb is the conjugated form of the verb. But as for the main part, the infinitive appears in the verb predicate, and in the noun - the noun or adverb.
Complication of a verb predicate
A verb predicate can be complicated by a combination of:
- two verbs;
- verb together with various particles.
Consider examples of complications of a verb predicate. It can occur due to:
- two verbs in the same form, one of which must indicate an action, and the second - the purpose of this action (I’ll go for a walk, I’ll go for a walk, sit down and read);
- repetition of the predicate in order to indicate the duration of the action (walked, walked; swam, swam; write, write);
- repetitions of the predicate, together with which the amplifying particle “so” is used - together they indicate a high degree of the action performed (sang so sang, did so did, said so said);
- combinations of two single-root verbs together with a particle not located between them, which carry the modal meaning of impossibility (I can’t breathe, I can’t wait);
- a combination of the infinitive and the personal form of the same verb, in front of which there should be a “not” particle, necessary for the enhanced negative meaning of the predicate (they don’t explain, they didn’t stupid);
- the connection of the form of the verb "take" with the same form of another verb using conjugations of "and", "yes", "yes and" - in order to indicate any action that is caused by the whim of the subject (took yes and hid, take and write, took Yes, and gone);
- a combination of a turn “only does (do, do, etc.) that” with a verb of the same form, standing after the turn, in order to indicate the intensity of the action (they just do what they draw; they just do what they shout);
- combination of a verb of a personal form or its infinitive with a particle “give (come on)”, necessary to express a motivation or invitation to joint action (let's fight, let's talk);
- the connection of the verb and the particle “know (yourself)” with the purpose of designating an action that takes place despite an obstacle (know yourself chuckles, know yourself chuckles);
- a combination of a verb and a particle of “self”, necessary to express the process that takes place despite the will of a person (spins to himself without closing his eyes).
Atypical cases of constructing a verb predicate
Such a special type of verb predicate can be represented in sentences where the main terms are expressed by indefinite verbs. The auxiliary part of such a predicate is atypical for a compound verb, since it is represented by the conjugated verb "to be" found in compound nominal predicates. If the proposal is made in the present tense, then the “be” link is omitted (you are afraid of wolves - do not go to the forest). Also, in addition to the verb “to be,” the auxiliary part can be represented by the verb “mean” (if you don’t come, it means offending).
In addition, as an auxiliary part of the verb predicate, the conjugated verb “to be” (the zero form in the present tense) and short adjectives “ready”, “obliged”, “glad”, “intent”, “capable”, “should” , also adverbs and nouns bearing modal meaning (was ready to wait).
To summarize
First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between simple and compound verbal predicates. We already know how they differ, so we will give examples of sentences with them to fix the topic “Compound Verb Predicate”.
- We will stay for another week. We stay - a simple predicate.
- I don `t want to offend you. I do not want to offend - a compound predicate.
It is also very easy to distinguish between a compound nominal and a compound verb predicate. Sentences with them have a completely different semantic connotation, as these sentences expressed by various members of the sentence are expressed. To consolidate the material, we give a comparison:
- She must be trained. Must learn - compound verb predicate.
- The weather was bad. It was bad - a nominal predicate.