Verb Structure and Grammatical Functions

Definition and Function of Verbs

The verb is the kind of word that expresses an action, a process, and a state.

Morphological and Syntactic Characteristics

Morphologically, verbs are distinguished because they can be decomposed into a root and a series of endings called morphemes. The root provides the basic meaning of the verb, while the ending provides the grammatical meanings of time (present, past, future) and mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative).

Syntactically, the verb serves as the core of the Verb Phrase (VP) predicate.

Grammatical Accidents of the Verb

Conjugation and Thematic Vowels

Verbs are classified into three different conjugations based on their thematic vowels:

• 1st Conjugation: Ends in the vowel a (e.g., love).
• 2nd Conjugation: Ends in the thematic vowel e (e.g., have).
• 3rd Conjugation: Ends in the thematic vowel i (e.g., exit).

Person, Number, and Time

Person and Number: These indicate, first, whether the subject is the first, second, or third person, and secondly, whether the verb is singular or plural.

Time: This indicates whether the action takes place before, during, or after the time of speech. Broadly speaking, we distinguish between past, present, and future.

Aspect and Verbal Mood

Aspect: This indicates whether the action is completed (perfective aspect) or unfinished (imperfective aspect). Generally, imperfective aspect includes all simple forms of the verb except the simple past tense, while the perfective aspect includes all compound shapes plus the simple past tense.

Mood: This covers the speaker's attitude toward the verbal action:

• Indicative: Used if the action is considered real and objective (e.g., I sing).
• Subjunctive: Used if the action is imagined or expresses feelings and subjectivity (e.g., If I sing).
• Imperative: Used if the action is expressed as an order or a call (e.g., Sing, child).

Voice and Diathesis

Voice or Diathesis expresses the relationship between the process and the subject, distinguishing whether the subject is performing the action. We differentiate between:

• Active Voice: When the subject is the agent of the action (e.g., John spread the word).
• Passive Voice: When the subject is the patient, meaning they experience the action rather than performing it. The passive voice often uses a periphrasis formed by the auxiliary to be + the past participle of the conjugated verb (e.g., The news is broadcast by John).

Formal Classification of Verbs

We can classify verbs according to various formal, syntactic, or semantic criteria. From a formal point of view, we consider the following:

• Regular Verbs: These are verbs where the lexeme remains unchanged throughout all forms of the verb conjugation (e.g., to love: I love, we love, loved).
• Irregular Verbs: These are verbs where the root lexeme or the forms of verbal inflection undergo changes (e.g., to be, to go).
• Defective Verbs: These are used only in certain forms. This occurs with verbs indicating atmospheric phenomena (e.g., rain, snow, hail), or others such as regards or events, which are typically conjugated only in the third person singular. Others, like soler, are only conjugated in the present or imperfect tenses.