Introduction to the Verbal Group

The following article is compiled from extracts from PETAA book Conversations about Text 1: Teaching Grammar Using Literary Texts, written by Joanne Rossbridge and Kathy Rushton, published in 2010.

Why start with the verb?

Knowledge about verbal groups is both the easiest and best place to start when teaching and developing understandings about grammar. For a start, we will use them in every text, in every clause and in every sentence so any writing depends on the use of verbal groups. The important starting point for most of us is to challenge the young writers' commonsense view that verbs are only action words! Verbal groups can be defined in the following ways (See Derewianka, 1998: 54 - 60):

  • Action verbs (doing)
  • Sensing verbs (thinking and feeling)
  • Saying verbs (saying)
  • Relating verbs (being and having)

There is also still some confusion about different grammars, their terminology and the development of metalanguage, the language to talk about language.

The most simple explanation is to consider all terminology as referring to one of two perspectives on language - function or class. Function refers to how the language is working in context, what it is being used to do and class is just that, the naming of a word or group of words by type. (Love and Rushton, 2000: 11 - 12 )

So to effectively teach about verbal groups, no matter what syllabus document is being followed, we need to understand how they are made up and how they function in a text. 

What do you need to know about the verbal group?

Tense and the auxiliary/helper verbs:

In English, the tense of verbs is formed using the two auxiliary verbs to be and to have. For instance:

I was a good swimmer. (was is a verbal group; it is a relating/being and having verb)

I was swimming during most of my school years. (was swimming is a verbal group; it is material/action; was is the auxiliary/helper verb marking the past tense; swimming is the main verb; - ing also helps to mark the tense as past continuous.)

Regular and irregular verbs:

Regular verbs like the verbs to love and to hate have their past participles agreeing with their past tense forms. Irregular verbs, however, are also common. It is useful to share patterns of both regular and irregular verbs with students, to help them use their own spoken language to write effectively. For instance a student who says 'I done that yesterday,' can use their knowledge of grammar to write, 'I did that yesterday' or 'I have done that.' It is therefore very useful to develop and display a class list of irregular verbs which students can refer to in the editing stage of their writing.

Modality - modal verbs and adverbs:

Also included in the verbal group may be an adverb or modal verb. Adverbs are those words which add more information to the verb and can offer both facts and opinions. Modal verbs and adverbs are used to indicate the degree of: probability - It will probably rain; obligation - You must be on time; certainty - I'm sure this is the best one; or usuality - I often do this. (Derewianka, 1998: 66)

How does knowledge of the verbal group help students to understand and respond to a text?

Knowledge about the verbal group can help to develop comprehension of literary texts as it supports students in understanding how characters feel and think. Verbal groups are part of the important system of 'Affect'. This system incorporates words and phrases which express feelings, (Droga and Humphrey, 2003:65) a language resource which is widely used in literary texts which seeks to persuade, entertain and inform.

When students are supported to learn about grammatical features and at the same time are using their understanding of these features to make meaning from a text they are more likely to retain the knowledge and be able to use it independently in another context. It is therefore vital to use quality children's literature to model the effective use of verbal groups. Students can then be supported through guided writing sessions to see how they can independently use the patterns in their own writing.

Where to next?

Check out PETAA's key grammar textbooks: