Delahunty and Garvey
Exercise
Using the frames [VPwill] and [VPdo], show that recommend,
find, know, assume, and inquire can all be verbs.
It is important to use as many such frames and contexts as possible. The
reason for this is that many of the context words can be ambiguous (e.g., to
may also be a preposition) and they may appear before other parts of speech.
As an example, let us ask whether apply can be a verb.
(2) a. I am applying.
b. I have applied.
c. I will/can/should apply.
d. I want to apply.
These examples show that apply can be a verb. Also, to apply test frames, we
must allow the inflections of the word under scrutiny to vary to fit the specific
test, for instance, the test word in [have____] must be in past participle form,
e.g., have sown. Finally, we must make certain that the test sentences are ap-
propriate. For instance, to can have a directional meaning, as in We drove to
Paris. Confusing the preposition to with the infinitive to will lead to wrong
results. The infinitival to in (2d) has no meaning; it serves only to mark a verb.
(To make matters more complex, there is a third to that indicates purpose, as
in I drove to relieve tension. When it is used in this way, to can be followed by
a verb.)
Exercise
- Create five more frames based on the context items in Analytic Test
6 and apply them to attend, participate, give, conclude to show that
they can be verbs. - Using Analytic Test 6, determine which of the words tall, stretch,
underestimate, replace, and playful can be verbs. - Using the verb frames in the text and those you created yourself,
identify the verbs and non-verbs among the following words: individu-
al, learn, engage, various, actually, accomplish.