 Welcome to a series of e-lectures where I would like to discuss the formal aspects of those elements that realise the syntactic function verb. In this first e-lecture, we will discuss a number of notions and linguistic aspects that have been used in the context of the present-day English verb. In two follow-up e-lectures, we will take a closer look at the subdivision of auxiliary and lexical verbs as well as at types of lexical verbs. So this e-lecture is devoted to a general definition of the central notions verb, verb phrase and verb group. So let us start with the term verb itself. As a syntactic category, the verb subsumes a number of different types. So we have verbal types such as do, have and be. We have verbs such as could, can and will. We have verbs such as dance, go or verbs plus particles such as try to. Well and these different subcategories of the type verb can be labelled primary auxiliary verbs, secondary auxiliary verbs and lexical verbs. The distinction between these types can be drawn on the basis of morphosyntactic aspects such as specific inflectional properties or causal operations in which they can be involved. And it can be made on the basis of the realisation of specific syntactic context such as negation, inversion etc. Well and then there is the syntactic function verb where the verb is one of the five syntactic functions that is one of the five elements of claw structure. Subject, verb, object, complement and adverbial. Well here are two examples. They called him a fool yesterday. Here, call is the syntactic function verb and in the second sentence should have called is again the syntactic function verb. So the syntactic function can be realised by a single lexical verb or by a single lexical verb plus up to three preceding auxiliary verbs. So we already have seen two interpretations of the term verb, the syntactic category or word class and the syntactic function. Let us now turn our attention to another term, the term verb phrase. Many linguists use the term verb phrase to refer to all those syntactic categories that are component parts of the syntactic function verb. Here are some examples. The verb phrases in these examples are identical with the syntactic function verb. So we have the verb phrase see, the verb phrase might see, the verb phrase might have seen, the verb phrase will have been seeing and this is identical with the syntactic function. A more general view is used in more formal approaches to syntax for example within constituent analysis in the context of generative grammar. Here the verb phrase is a constituent of a sentence that includes the verb itself and all obligatory and optional constituents that are related to the verb. Here is an example. We have the sentence they all see Mary in town and believe it or not the verb phrase is all see Mary in town. The verb phrase contains the verb see and its obligatory complement noun phrase Mary which you can see in the so-called subcategorization frame here which defines the obligatory complements. And it also contains the optional adjunct prepositional phrase in town. And then there is an optional specifier all that is also part of the verb phrase in this interpretation. Using the presentational scheme of X bar syntax. The verb phrase is the mother node of all these adjuncts and complements. By the way the inflectional aspects that in present day English are carried by the auxiliary verbs are not part of such a verb phrase analysis. So we have two interpretations of the term verb phrase. A more or less traditional one and a constituent analysis type of interpretation of the term and that is a problem. So perhaps it should be reasonable to draw the following distinction. In constituent analysis all see Mary in town is the verb phrase. In general we would say see might see might have seen will have been seen is also referred to as the verb phrase. So what we suggest is we will reserve the term verb phrase for constituent analysis. So all see Mary in town would remain the verb phrase. And in order to draw a distinction we will use the term verb group to include all verbal categories or component parts of the syntactic function verb see might see might have seen will have been seen. This distinction is drawn in many grammar books and on the VLC we will strictly adhere to this distinction. Finally there is another term that is used in this context the term predicate. So let's look at it too. As a syntactic function the predicate includes the verb itself. So everything that is contained within the outer brackets is referred to as the predicate. So it includes the verb and the remaining syntactic functions that is called the predicate. And thus such an analysis is not fine tuned enough for a detailed syntactic analysis and will be excluded from further considerations and henceforth. So let us summarize our terminological discussion. In this lecture we are concerned with the formal realization of the syntactic function verb. The term predicate cannot be used in this context because it is too general. The term verb itself is used in several ways. One of them is the syntactic function itself. Since this may include more than one verb than more than the category verb itself we will use the term verb group to capture all verbal elements that can realize this syntactic function verb. Since the term verb phrase is used ambiguously within linguistics the term verb group will be used henceforth in such a traditional analysis. Well and verb groups can be more or less complex. Let's look at them. In its simplest form a verb group exhibits one lexical verb only. Here are two examples. We are happy where R is the lexical verb and I danced all night long where dance is the lexical verb and the lexical verbs are verb groups consisting of one verb. In an extended form a simple verb group contains a lexical verb plus a specific verbal complement. So here we have an example. The plane took off. It took place yesterday. She took advantage of the situation so we may have particles such as off or noun phrases or prepositional phrases as verbal compliments within simple verb groups with complex verbs. If a verb group contains more than one verb the right most element has to be a lexical verb and all the other verbal elements are auxiliary verbs. Here as an example we have a complex verb group with a simple lexical verb. So the verb group is now complex because we have an auxiliary verb has in he has watched the sky and the lexical verb is watched. The sky will have been three auxiliary verbs and then watched as a lexical verb by the astronaut is another example of a complex verb group with a simple lexical verb in it. Like simple verbs complex verbs may occur in complex verb groups in which case they obtain the right most position of the verb group and are preceded by maximally three auxiliary verbs. Here is an example complex verb group with a complex lexical verb. The plane is taking off or is seen take off. It may have taken place. She has been taking advantage of the situation. So these are the possibilities of organizing the verb group in present day English. Having outlined the general structure of the verb group we could now take a closer look at the classification of the types of verbs within the verb group. However, I don't think it is a good idea to do that now. We will postpone that to further e-lectures entitled the verb in present day English part two and the verb in present day English part three. Until then, thanks for your attention and see you again.