1. to be asked

I used to be asked about it every day

[I yus ta bi yask ta bou ti tev ri day (vernacular phonetic)]

[aɪ ju: tu: bi jæsk tæ baʊ ti tev ri deɪ]

2. to have asked

He’s thought to have asked Oswald about it

[hiz thor to wa vask toz wal da bou tit (vernacular phonetic)]

[hɪz θɔ: tə wə væsk tʊz wʊl də bəʊ tit]

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Verb “to be” to introduce nouns

Tom’s an architect

If Tom were an architect, he’d be rich

Tom was an architect before he entered politics

If Tom had been an architect, he wouldn’t have made films

Tom’s been an architect for years

Tom had been an architect before he became a writer

Tom will be an architect when he gets his degree

Tom would be the best architect in the world

Tom will have been an architect for a year by next month

Tom would have been an architect if he hadn’t gone mad

Tom would rather be an actor than an architect

Tom would rather have been an architect than the King

Tom’s going to be an architect one day

Tom was going to be an architect but he gave it up

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So, let’s continue from the last posting! We were talking about that lazy verb…

Repeating the end of the last blog:

The present verb is the same as the infinitive in the present positive with “s” added in the 3^rd person. The auxiliary “do” is the same as the infinitive in the present negative with “s” added in the 3^rd person and the contracted “not” added on. The verb is the bare infinitive (without “to”). The auxiliary “do” takes “did” in the past negative for all persons with contracted “not” added and the bare infinitive added on.

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Well, to come back to that lazy verb…

As we have seen Transitive Verbs have twenty eight forms.

The Full Infinitive

1. 1. to eat ( full infinitive)
2. 2. to be eating (full infinitive continuous)
3. 3. to be eaten (full infinitive passive)
4. 4. to have eaten (full perfect infinitive)
5. 5. to have been eating (full perfect infinitive continuous)
6. 6. to have been eaten (full perfect infinitive passive)

The full infinitive is used in subordinate clauses as a complement of a verb. So, examples:

1. 1. I want to eat it
2. 2. The survivors are rumoured to be eating each other
3. 3. Potatoes are reported to be eaten by billions of people
4. 4. Neanderthal Man is thought to have eaten only fruit
5. 5. A person on a diet is not supposed to have been eating cakes
6. 6. The last dodo is thought to have been eaten by sailors in 1866

Apart from the simple full infinitive, these forms are not very common but are used as a rhetorical tool in exceptional linguistic situations; the grammar is important. The negative and interrogative are made in the subordinate clause, of course.

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I always say the verb in English is the laziest in existence. It hardly does anything. It leaves the hard work to the auxiliaries/modals/tools.

The modals have a wide range of uses and concepts according to context and must be thoroughly drilled. They can be divided into types but I don’t want to go into all that here:

can  may  shall  will  could  might

should  would  must  ought to  used to

need  needn’t  dare  daren’t  had better

tend to(?)  would rather  can’t  couldn’t  have got to

do  does  did

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By Jove! Bob’s had another thought. He’s been mulling over “have” forms.

-The tool “have” and the ubiquitous twist sound like a chapter from Sherlock Holmes.

-The letter “h” is an unhappy one in the English language. It is mal-treated by the less-educated and dropped as in ‘arry and correctly dropped in words such as “hour” and “honour”.

-As everybody should know, “have” to introduce the possessive is one of the most ubiquitous forms in the English language. Unfortunately it is also used to substitute “take”, as in the many compound verbs such as “have a bath” and so on. It is also used in the existential mode as in “China has a Communist government”. (There is a …….)

We use “have” normally to describe:

• pure possession at the present time (I’ve got one somewhere)
• possession for the habitual present (I usually have one)
• existentialism (The city’s got plenty of attractions = There are plenty of …….)
• compound verbs (to have a good time; to have your wits about you)
• phrasal verbs (He’s having you on)
• idiomatic expressions (Have one on the house!)
• auxiliary in perfect tenses (I’ve seen it)

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Conceptual Use of this tool

- Initially the tool (to) be is used:

1. to introduce substantives – It’s a car. He’s the captain.
2. to introduce “permanent” adjectives – They’re tall.
3. to introduce “non-permanent” adjectives – You’re tired.
4. to introduce places – It’s in Spain.

- The above table includes:

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- English is a language of “tools”. Understand these tools and you will learn.

- English is an extraordinarily “economic” language. Understand this fact and you will learn.

The principle tool in English is also one of the smallest: ‘BE’

- It is normally called a verb because it is preceded by another tool – TO – to make an infinitive, but this is really a “red herring”.

- The tool -BE- has a simple conjugation but is the most complex of all the “verbs”.

TO BE CONJUGATION

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