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13
Intransitive verbs do not require any object for the completion of their meaning:
The sun is rising.
There are many verbs in English that can function as both transitive and intransitive.
Tom is writing a letter. (transitive)
Tom writes clearly. (intransitive)
Who has broken the cup? (transitive)
Glass breaks easily. (intransitive)
Jane stood near the piano. (intransitive)
Jane stood the vase on the piano. (transitive)
The division of verbs into terminative and non-terminative depends on the aspectual characteristic in the
lexical meaning of the verb which influences the use of aspect forms.
Terminative verbs (предельные глаголы) besides their specific meaning contain the idea that the
action must be fulfilled and come to an end, reaching some point where it has logically to stop. These are such
verbs as sit down, come, fall, stop, begin, open, close, shut, die, bring, find, etc.
Non-terminative, or durative verbs(непредельные глаголы) imply that actions or states
expressed by these verbs may go on indefinitely without reaching any logically necessary final point. These are
such verbs as carry, run, walk, sleep, stand, sit, live, know, suppose, talk, speak, etc.
The end, which is simply an interruption of these actions, may be shown only by means of some adverbial
modifier:
He slept till nine in the morning.
The last subclass comprises verbs that can function as both terminative and non-terminative
(verbs of double aspectual meaning). The difference is clear from the context:
Can you see well? (non-terminative)
I see nothing there. (terminative)
The finite forms of the verb
§ 9. The category of person expresses the relation of the action and its doer to the speaker, showing
whether the action is performed by the speaker (the 1st person), someone addressed by the speaker (the 2nd
person) or someone/something other than the speaker or the person addressed (the 3rd person).
The category of number shows whether the action is performed by one or more than one persons or non-
persons.
For the present indefinite tense* of the verb to be there are three contrasting forms: the 1st person singular,
the 3rd person singular and the form for all persons plural: (I) am - (he) is - (we, you, they) are.
* The other term used for indefinite tenses is "simple tenses". Accordingly there are the simple present, "the
simple past", "the
simple future".
In the past indefinite tense it is only the verb to be that has one of these categories - the category of number,
formed by the opposition of the singular and the plural forms: (I, he) was - (we, you, they) were. All the other
verbs have the same form for all the persons, both singular and plural.
In the future and future in the past tenses there are two opposing forms: the 1st person singular and plural
and the other persons: (I, we) shall go - (he, you, they) will go; (I, we) should come - (he, you, they) would
come.
In colloquial style, however, no person distinctions are found either in the future or in the future in the past
tenses. The only marker for the future tenses is ‘ll used with all persons, both singular and plural: I'll do it; He'll
do it; We'll do it, etc. The marker for the future in the past tenses is ‘d, also used with all persons and numbers:
I said I’d come; He said he’d come; We said we’d come, etc. Historically ‘ll is the shortened form of will, ‘d is
the shortened form of would.