Microsoft Word Glossary March 2011 doc

 
See pie chart. 
 
Verb 
A word used to show an action, state, event or process, e.g. I like cheese; He speaks Italian.
An auxiliary verb is a verb used with other verbs to make questions, negatives, tenses, etc. e.g. be, do, 
have.
 
The base form of a verb is the infinitive form of a verb without ‘to’, e.g. go.  
 
The infinitive form is the base form of a verb with ‘to’. It is used after another verb, after an adjective or 
noun or as the subject or object of a sentence, e.g. 'I want to study.’, ‘It’s difficult to understand.’ 
 
An irregular verb does not follow the same pattern as regular verbs. Each irregular verb has its own way of 
forming the past simple and past participle, e.g. go  went (past simple)  gone (past participle).
 
A modal verb is a verb used with other verbs to show ideas such as ability or obligation or possibility. They 
include can, must, will, should, e.g. I can speak French, but I should study even harder.
 
A multiword verb is made up of a verb and one or more particles (adverbs and/or prepositions). The 
meaning of a multiword verb is not the same as the meaning of the individual verbs and participles that make 
it. One multiword verb may have more than one meaning, e.g. Get your coat on and then we can leave 
(wear), How are you getting on with that job (progressing). See: phrasal verb. 
 
A phrasal verb is a type of multiword verb which is made up of a verb + an adverb particle, e.g. look after – A 
mother looks after her children. See: multiword verb. 
 
A regular verb changes its forms by adding -ed in the past simple and past participle, e.g. walk 

 walked.