Verbs: Types, Conjugation, Tenses and Periphrasis

The Verb

The verb is a kind of word that expresses action (running, jumping), an apparent state, a feeling, or a situation. It functions as the core of the verb phrase.

Lexeme, Inflection, Person and Number

The lexeme (stem) carries the lexical meaning. An inflectional morpheme (ending) indicates tense, person and number. The person indicates who performs the action (the sender of the message). The number indicates whether the action is performed by one person or by more than one.

Tense and Mood

Time (tense) places the action of the verb: present, future, and past. Mood indicates the speaker's attitude to the verbal action: the three main moods are the indicative, the subjunctive and the imperative.

Voice: Active and Passive

Verbal voice can be active or passive. The passive voice is normally formed with the verb to be plus the past participle of the main verb, which is conjugated appropriately.

Impersonal Forms

Impersonal forms include the infinitive, the gerund, and the participle. These forms do not vary for person and can function in different syntactic roles.

Conjugation: Forms and Types

Conjugation of a verb is the ordered set of all forms of the verb. A verb may belong to the first, second, or third conjugation. Simple tenses consist of a single word formed by the lexeme and an ending; compound tenses are formed by an auxiliary verb such as have plus the participle of the main verb.

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs maintain the same lexeme (stem) in all their forms and follow a consistent set of endings. Irregular verbs present changes in the lexeme or in their endings and therefore do not follow the regular conjugation model.

Features: Irregular verbs may vary the lexeme in some forms with respect to the infinitive; their endings do not match the standard conjugation model. For example, some verbs have irregular endings in the future or the imperfect.

Verbal Periphrasis

The verbal periphrasis are constructions formed by two or more verbs that together form a single predicate nucleus: an auxiliary verb plus a main verb in the infinitive, gerund, or participle. These constructions express aspectual, modal or temporal nuances.

Meaning and common types of periphrasis:

• Obligation / necessity: expressions equivalent to "must" or "have to" (e.g., "have to" + infinitive).
• Probability / possibility: constructions that indicate probability or conjecture.
• Near future: constructions like ir + a + infinitive ("going to" + infinitive) to indicate imminent action.
• Progressive / ongoing action: constructions like estar + gerund to indicate development or continuous action.
• Perfect / completed action: constructions with an auxiliary (e.g., have) + past participle to indicate a finished action.

Examples of Periphrasis Components

Typical periphrasis pairings include an auxiliary verb (e.g., have, be, go) plus a non-finite form of the main verb (infinitive, gerund or participle). For example: "ir + a + infinitive" for a near future; "estar + gerund" for progressive aspect; "have + participle" for completed aspect.

Adverb and Adverbial Complements

The adverb is an invariable word class that functions as an adverbial complement. A set of words can act together as an adverbial complement to modify the verb or the clause, providing information about manner, place, time, frequency, degree, etc.