Mr. K's Grammar World: be verb

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Monday, September 2, 2013

The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part III - Passive Voice)

I feel sorry for the passive voice. The feeling of many English teachers toward the passive voice is almost racist. (Grammarist?) Unfortunately, parents don’t always understand their own prejudices. There are parents who won’t allow their children to marry the person they love just because they are of a different racial or religious background. A parent might not allow their child to go to a sleepover at their best friend’s house because that friend has two daddies. Fortunately, the children usually see the error of these decisions and grow up to see people just as people and understand how wrong their parents were.

Well, this is the case with the passive voice. For years, English teachers have been telling their students “Don’t use the passive voice. It’s not good.” Well, I’m here to say it loud and say it proud. I LOVE THE PASSIVE VOICE! I don’t care who knows it. (You can read my love letter to the passive voice in another blog entry.) I bring this up because the passive voice is commonly used with causative verbs.

The Causative Passive

In Part I of the Causative Verbs series, I cautioned against overusing causative verbs. They should only be used when the decision maker, the person giving the order or giving permission, is important.

Just as children get more responsibilities and privileges as they grow older, language students can use more “grown-up” patterns in their speech as their English gets more sophisticated. (No parent would allow a three-year-old to run with scissors or wield a sharp knife. Similarly, as a language teacher, I don’t allow students to use certain grammar before they are ready. To my low intermediate students: “Don’t use the past perfect (had done). You’re just going to hurt yourselves.")

So, how do you make the passive voice with causative verbs? Since there are two verbs in all causative statements, there are two ways to make the passive voice. (To see diagrams that illustrate these patterns, click here.) Look at the following causative sentence.

The school allows students to wear shorts and slippers* at school.

Because the word students automatically refers to school and we don’t know exactly who made this rule (and because the word school is being used twice in this sentence) the subject school is unnecessary. To get rid of it, follow the basic rules of passive transformation. Move the object students** to the subject position and change the verb by adding the correct form of the “be” verb and changing the main verb to the past participle, which leaves you with:

Students are allowed to wear shorts and slippers at school.

Notice that nothing has changed in the infinitive phrase. In the immortal words of MC Hammer, “You can’t touch this.” Now, look at a more specific situation.

Mid-Pacific Institute allows students to wear shorts and slippers at school.

Now you have a specific subject, the name of a specific school. Therefore, if you change this to the passive voice, you must keep Mid-Pacific Institute. With causative verbs, you can’t just add a prepositional phrase with by at the end. It really seems weird. (Students are allowed by the school.) My reaction to this statement: "Eeeeewwwww." This brings us to the second passive pattern for causative verbs.

Although students SEEMS to be the object of the causative verb, the object is really the entire infinitive phrase. (For the real grammar geeks out there, go on to Part V for an explanation.) Therefore, students is the subject of the infinitive phrase and to wear is like the main verb. Look at the following examples.

MPI allows students to wear shorts and slippers at school.
MPI allows shorts and slippers to be worn at school.

This time, nothing about the subject and verb of the main clause changes. All the changes happen in the infinitive phrase. The object shorts and slippers becomes the new subject and the infinitive changes to its passive form by adding “be” and changing wear to worn. Notice that students has been eliminated. (If you want to keep students in the sentence, don’t use this pattern.)

There are two causative verbs, however, that can’t (or at least shouldn’t) be used in the passive voice: make and let.

XXX I was made to stay after school. XXX
XXX I was let to go to the movies with my friends. XXX

Again, my reaction to both of these sentences is “Eeeeeeeeewwwwww.” The first sentence, with make, is not horribly terrible and is grammatically correct. It is, however, very formal and probably not a good choice for everyday English. The second one, with let, on the other hand, is just plain awful. Don’t even think about it.

Alas, nothing can ever be this simple in English. There is, of course, an exception to these rules, a third passive voice pattern for the causative verbs have and get.

The first pattern, changing the subject and verb of the main clause, doesn’t work. For example:

I had my son mow the grass.
XXX My son was had to mow the grass. XXX

Not now, not ever is this passive construction acceptable. Don’t even go there. Forget you ever saw this monstrosity of a sentence. So, how do you make the passive structure?

Like Pattern 2, the passive change happens in the bare infinitive phrase, the object of have. Look at these examples.

We had a professional photographer take our family portrait.
We had our family portrait taken (by a professional photographer).

The only real difference between other causative verbs and have and get is that the “be” verb is not used (to be taken) as it would be with the others.

Masa wouldn’t allow people to take his picture.
We had a photographer take lots of pictures at our wedding.

Masa wouldn’t allow his picture to be taken.
We had lots of pictures taken at our wedding.

This can be confusing at first, but with time and practice, it’s not so bad. To help you practice, I have made a series of exercises and posted them on my web site Mr. K’s Grammar World.

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*Slippers, also known as slippahs, is the local way in Hawaii to describe that wonderful footwear that people on the Mainland refer to as flip-flops.

**In reality, the entire infinitive phrase students to wear... is the object and students is really the subject of the infinitive phrase.

(I really appreciate questions, comments and suggestions. Feel free to post them in the Comments section below. However, I don't often see them right away. Instead, you can use the Questions and Comments link below or join my Facebook group Mr. K's Grammar World.)

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The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part IV - Adjectives and Verbs)

As children grow up, they begin to experiment with more and more complex language structures. My four-year-old son’s language development is a great example of the scientific method. He hears new language and forms his own hypotheses. Then he tests these hypotheses by using this new language and finally judges the results by the reactions he gets from the adults around him and modifies his hypotheses when things don't seem right. This process is very logical and research has found a standard order that is more or less followed by all native-speaker children. There’s a reason why Skyler doesn’t use the past perfect. He doesn’t need it yet and won’t for many years.

Similarly, ESL students need to adopt this same approach. There are certain advanced structures that they just don’t need at a basic or intermediate level. Be patient and be satisfied with what you can do rather than worrying about what you can’t do in English.

The following is an explanation of an advanced structure with causative verbs. If you are ready for it and can learn to use it, your English will make a big leap very quickly. If you don’t get it right away, don’t lose any sleep. You will be ready someday.

SVOC Clauses with Make

This structure begins with a basic SVOC clause with the causative verb make.

Remember that a complement is a word that describes another word within the clause. The most common clauses with complements are SVC clauses.

I am sleepy.
I feel sleepy.
I’m getting sleepy.

In all of these sentences, the adjective sleepy is the complement. The complement sleepy describes the feeling of the subject, I. Complements are connected to a clause by a relatively small group of verbs called linking verbs. In the above sentences, am (the “be” verb), feel and get are examples of linking verbs.

A more advance clause with complements is the SVOC clause.

Warm milk makes me sleepy.

In this example, the complement sleepy is describing the feeling of the direct object me. The warm milk is what causes this feeling.

Unlike most causative patterns, the bare infinitive (be or feel) is understood but doesn’t need to be written or said. Very often, the adjective complement in this pattern is in the comparative form (w/ ~er or more).

Lifting weights will make you stronger.
Using English regularly will make you more confident.

The comparative form is used to show that something is increasing. I am already strong, but I want to get stronger. The speaker already has some confidence, but they need more.

Causative Verbs from Adjectives

Students will often spend lots of time, especially in vocabulary classes, studying prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are added at the beginning of words to change or add meaning to the original word. For example, the prefix un~ means not. If something is so amazing it is not believable, you can also say it is unbelievable. The prefix re~ means again. If you made a mistake when you did something the first time, you might have to redo it.

Suffixes, on the other hand, are added to the ends of words and are used to change parts of speech. For example, the suffix ~able means something can be done.

Even though there is a hole in the sleeve, I can still wear this shirt.
Even though there is a hole in the sleeve, the shirt is still wearable.

Both of these sentences mean the same thing, but by adding ~able to the verb wear, the verb becomes and adjective.

Similarly, adjectives can be turned into causative verbs. This change begins with simple SVOC clauses. For example:

I need to make my lunch hot.
I need to heat up my lunch.

I want to make the room cooler.
I want to cool down the room.

In the first examples, a microwave will do the trick. In the second, I need a fan or an air-conditioner. In both of these examples, the advective hot and cool already have causative verb equivalents: heat and cool. (Sometimes you get lucky and both forms are the same.)

In other cases, you have to “make” your own verbs with suffixes. For example:

The construction workers are making the road wider.
The construction workers are widening the road.

Illustrations in books can make explanations clearer.
Illustrations in books can clarify explanations.

You can use your computer to make digital copies of music.
You can use your computer to digitize your music.

These three pairs of examples show the most common suffixes that can be used to make causative verbs from adjectives. Other examples include:

~en -- weaken / strengthen* / worsen
~ify -- beautify / purify / unify
~ize -- modernize / maximize / publicize

(Click here for a more extensive list of causative verbs from adjectives and exercises to help you learn them. If you can think of any that should be added to this list, please email me.)

How to Practice

Like everything else in life, practice makes perfect. To learn to use these causative verbs, I recommend a three-step process. Start by making a simple SVOC clause with the verb make.

Planting flowers will make your garden more beautiful.

Next, change the adjective to its causative verb form. In this example, beautiful becomes beautify. Then, simply replace the verb make with the new verb.

Planting flowers will beautify your garden.

Finally, change this new sentence to the passive voice following the basic rules.

Your garden will be beautified by planting flowers.

Here is another example:

This toothpaste will make your teeth whiter.
This toothpaste will whiten your teeth.
Your teeth will be whitened with this toothpaste.

Twenty-five years of teaching have taught me two things. First, most students are very confused by this at first. Second, if they spend time practicing this three-step transformation exercise, they figure it out fairly quickly. To help you on your way, here are some online exercises.

In the immortal words of Porky Pig: B-dee-b-dee-b-dee-b-dee-b-That’s all folks!

Good luck and happy trails.

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The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part V: Geek Edition)

Where Does the Causative Pattern Come From?

This entry is for the true grammar geeks out there. In fact, I may be the only one who finds this interesting, but here it is anyway.

There is a theory of grammar (not just English grammar) called Transformational Grammar. The simplest way I can describe it is to say that everything comes from a clause. For example, look at the sentence The books sitting on the table are mine. Because there are two verbs, there must be two clauses.

The books are mine.
The books are sitting on the table.

Then, by following the rules of transformation, you make two changes. First, the books is changes to that in order to make an adjective clause.

The books that are sitting on the table are mine.

Next, following the rules of reduction (making the sentence shorter by taking away unnecessary words), the pronoun that and the helping verb are can be eliminated, leaving you with the core sentence.

The books sitting on the table are mine.

You can use the same kind of transformation to explain causative verbs. In the sentence, My wife made me sleep on the couch, there are two clauses buried in the structure.

My wife made me do something.
I slept on the couch.

First, you must plug in the parts of the second clause into the pattern of the first clause. I becomes me, slept becomes sleep because you need a bare infintive in this statement. The rest stays the same.

My wife made me sleep on the couch.

It is important to note that the object of made is not just me. The object is the entire infinitive clause and me is actually the subject sleep.

If you want to add information about why, you can add a third clause.

My wife made me sleep on the couch.
I was snoring loudly.

To connect a reason, you can use the conjunction because.

My wife made me sleep on the couch because I was snoring loudly.

If you want to take the transformation a step further, which may or may not be a good choice. (It’s the writer’s decision) Since snoring can also be a noun, you can use the preposition because of instead of the conjunction. In order to keep the ideas of I and loudly, they must be changed into forms that can connect to a noun. The subject pronoun I becomes the adjective pronoun my and the adverb loudly become the adjective loud.

My wife made me sleep on the couch because of my loud snoring.

Congratulations for making it this far.

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Mystery of the Random “Be” Verb in Japan and Korea

The majority of my career as an ESL teacher has been spent teaching Japanese students. First, I spent twelve and a half years living and teaching in Japan. Then, after moving to Hawaii, I spent ten years teaching in an ESL program that usually had between eighty and ninety percent Japanese students.

For years I couldn’t figure out why the "be" verb would often find it’s way randomly into sentences, like:

I am like sports.

I was played soccer last weekend.

They are study in the library.

Then, as I taught more Korean students in Hawaii, I began to see this mistake in their writing as well. Finally, one day a discussion in class led me to this discovery. The "be" verb is traditionally taught WRONG in Korea and Japan.

I don’t blame the teachers. I have met and worked with many dedicated hard-working Japanese teachers who only want the best for their students. I have also met enough Korean teachers to know that this is true for them as well. The problem is a monolithic education system that prescribes everything from what and how teachers teach to the size of desks and chairs in the classroom.

Although it is less true today than it used to be, when I was in Japan in the late 80s and 90s, it was said that you could go into any fourth grade classroom in Japan and they would be teaching the same lesson in the same way from the same textbook, down to the page. The English problem is exacerbated by the fact that the Japanese Ministry of Education has decided that all English language textbooks for Japanese students must be written by Japanese authors. A book written by a native-speaker cannot be used in a Japanese public school classroom. Furthermore, even the few books that are allowed all refer back to the same Ministry source on what and how to teach. It’s my understanding that this source has not been updated in perhaps 100 years.

Since the Korean education system is so similar to the Japanese education system and since both languages are so similar, my discovery leads me to think the educational root is the same in Korea. The linguistic root is definitely the same.

To understand the root of the problem, you need to understand a little about the two languages. English is an SVO language, meaning the standard clause structure first has a subject, followed by a verb and finally the direct object, if one is needed. Japanese and Korean, on the other hand, are SOV languages, meaning the verb comes last and the direct object goes in the middle. Look at these two sentences, the first in Japanese, the second in Korean.

Watashi wa hon o arimasu.
Na nun chek ul kajida.

If they were transcribed literally into English, without changing word order, they would read:

I book have.

Both languages also have features not found in English. The original Japanese sentences has five parts whereas the English sentence only has three. There are two additional "words" in Japanese. The first is wa, which is called the subject marker. This is how the subject is connected to the sentence. The second is the object marker, which is o. There is a third marker, ga, which is extremely confusing to non-native speakers like me, that can be substituted for either the subject or object marker. Similarly, the Korean subject marker is a variant of nun, depending on the final consonant of the subject, and the object marker is ul.

Here is where the mistake comes from. In both countries, students are taught that the subject markers wa or nun indicate the use of the "be" verb. Therefore, students would translate these sentences as:

I am have a book.

This is completely and totally WRONG. There is absolutely no correlation between wa/ga or nun and the "be" verb in English. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, they have no counterpart in English at all. Therefore, they are untranslatable and should just be ignored for acquisition purposes.

The "be" verb, does, however, have a fairly direct counterpart in both Japanese and Korean: the last word of the sentence.

Take for example the following sentences, first in English, then in Japanese and Korean.

I am cold.
Watashi wa samui desu.
Na nun cha da.

Since the verb is the final word of the sentence in Japanese and Korean, then the "be" verb is indicated by the final word of these sentence, i.e. desu in Japanese and da in Korean.

Although this is not universally taught in Korea and Japan anymore, I still run across enough students who tell me they learned this way to think it still happens often enough to be an ongoing issue.
Any thoughts or comments?

Monday, June 10, 2013

That Crazy Little Thing Called the “Be” Verb (Part II)

The "be" verb is the most irregular verb in the English language, but because it is so commonly used, learners stop making mistakes with subject/verb agreement fairly quickly. What makes the "be" verb so tricky is knowing when to use it and what form you are using.

Be Verb as the Main Verb

Adjective Complements

The first, most common use of the "be" verb is as a main verb. When an action or non-action verb is used as the subject of a clause, the noun that comes after the verb is the direct object, so the most common type of clause is an SVO clause. However, when the "be" verb is the main verb, the word (or phrase) that comes next is called a complement and the clauses are called SVC clauses. In English, there are four kinds of complements that can be connected to the "be" verb.

The most common complement that comes after the "be" verb is an adjective complement. The adjective describes the condition or state of the subject.

The runner is tired. (the tired runner)
The test was difficult. (the difficult test)
Everything is ready.

Noun Complements

The second most common type of complement is a noun complement. This is when a noun describes the subject, often a relationship or a job. The subject and the complement are the same person or thing.

My brother’s name is Justin. (brother’s name = Justin)
Mr. Smith is my math teacher. (Mr. Smith = math teacher)
London is the capital of Great Britain. (London = capital of Great Britain)

One feature of noun complements is that they can switch places with the subject. For example:

Justin is my brother’s name.
My math teacher is Mr. Smith.
The capital of England is London.

To decide which noun should be the subject and which should be the complement, you must decide which piece of information is most important. The most important piece of information should be the complement and the other should be the subject.*

Second language learners often use the "be" verb between two nouns when it shouldn’t be. If you are trying to decide whether to use the "be" verb or not, just ask this simple question. "Are the two nouns the same person or thing?" If the answer is yes, then you can use the ‘be" verb. If the answer is no, then you need something else, very often the verb have. For example.

I ≠ a cold. The cause of the accident = icy roads.
I have a cold. The cause of the accident was icy roads.
I ≠ high school. I = high school student.
I go to high school. I am a high school student.

Adverb and Prepositional Phrase Complements

The final two are less common, but they are regularly used. You can also connect an adverb to a subject with the "be" verb. The adverbial complement usually answers the questions when or where.

The test is tomorrow. (When is the test?)
The children are outside. (Where are the children?)

Finally, the "be" verb can connect a prepositional phrase to the subject. These also usually answer the questions when or where.

Jason is in the library. (Where is Jason?)
The test is on Monday. (When is the test?)

Be Verb as a Helping Verb

The Continuous Tense**

The second use for the ‘be’ verb is as a helping verb. The simplest and most common use is in the continuous tense. To do this, you simply add the gerund form of the main verb to the "be" verb. For example:

The children are playing...
The dog is barking...
We were sleeping...

Again, this is relatively simple, but there are frequent errors. The most common is putting the base form of the verb after the "be" verb rather than the gerund form. For example:

I was eat lunch in the cafeteria.
We aren’t have a pet.

One possible root of this error will be discussed later. To avoid this error, just remember you always need ~ing after the "be" verb.

The Passive Voice***

The final use of the "be" verb is also as a helping verb. It is used in the passive voice and followed by the past participle form of the main verb.

This blog was written...
The game was played...
The tests are taken...

This is it. This is how the "be" verb is used in English. With a little time and practice, the "be" verb isn’t that hard to master. The trick is knowing when to use it.

-- Back to Part I --

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*As a general rule, when organizing information, the least important information should go first and the most important information should go last. This is because you remember best what you hear or read last.

We will have a unit test next Friday.

(The day of the test is the most important.)

Next Friday, we will have a unit test.

(The plan for next Friday is the most important.)

**For more on the continuous tense, you can read this blog post. (I haven’t written the blog yet. Give me a little more time.)

***For more on the passive voice, you can read this blog post.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

That Crazy Little Thing Called the “Be” Verb (Part I)

(I wrote this blog entry almost a year ago, and then life got in the way. I have since left California and moved my family back to Hawaii. Now I'm just a few weeks away from going to Saudi Arabia to start a new job. This is proof of the old saying: "Life is what happens while you are making plans.")

For years in my writing class, I would tell my students two things that they never believed. First, when you know how to do it, writing is easy. Second, after you learn the fundamentals of writing, writing is actually fun. I would also tell them that, while I would never sit down on a Friday night and write and essay for fun, when I need to write something for work, I look forward to it. Well. I was wrong on that one. I actually do sit down on a Friday night and write for fun. It has become a hobby, and with a little luck, maybe a second job someday.

This past year, when I moved to California and began teaching at a new school, has been full of interesting challenges and opportunities to expand as a teacher. But it has also been insanely busy. Therefore, writing for fun had to be sacrificed. I can’t believe it’s been nine months since my last blog posting. However, with summer finally here and a less crazy schedule in the fall*, I can look forward to more time to do the things I love. I will have more time to spend with my family. I will be able to take Skyler to the pool every morning and train our new puppy. I will watch every Yankees game and read, read, read. But what is the one that keeps coming up in my mind? I get to write again.

I have a list of blog topics as long as my arm, but I thought I would relaunch my online ramblings from the beginning. That tiny little word that causes so many gigantic problems for second language learners: the "be" verb.

The "be" verb is one of the most common words in English, and even though it is the most irregular verb in English, most students learn how to use it correctly very quickly.

Forms of the Be Verb
Every verb in English has five forms*: the base form, simple past, past participle, gerund and infinitive. Regular verbs are very simple and although irregular verbs are frustrating, with a little time and effort, they are fairly simple as well.

Regular Irregular

Base study take

Simple Past studied took

Past Participle studied taken

Gerund studying taking

Infinitive to study to take

The only time you have to worry about the subject is with the 3^rd person singular in the simple present tense. If the subject is he, she or it, you need to add ~s to the base form of the verb.

The "be" verb, on the other hand, has three forms in the simple present (am, is and are) and two in the simple past (was and were). Which form you use depends on the subject.

Present Singular Present Plural
1^st person I am We are
2^nd person You are You are
3^rd person He/She/It is They are

Past Singular Past Plural
1^st person I was We were
2^nd person You were You were
3^rd person He/She/It was They were

However, as I said earlier, with a few weeks of solid practice, this becomes very natural.

Questions and Negatives
Now for the good news. The "be" verb is the easiest verb to use in questions and negative statements. To make a negative statement, all you have to do is put not after the verb. All of the negative forms, except I am, have a shorter form, which is called a contraction.

Present Singular Present Plural
1^st person I am not We are not (aren’t)
2^nd person You are not (aren’t) You are not (aren’t)
3^rd person He/She/It is not (isn’t) They are not (aren’t)

Past Singular Past Plural
1^st person I was not (wasn’t) We were not (weren’t)
2^nd person You were not (weren’t) You were not (weren’t)
3^rd person He/She/It was not (wasn’t) They were not (weren’t)

To make a question, all you have to do is switch the subject and the "be" verb. (Put the "be" verb in front of the subject.)

John is here. Is John here?
I am hungry. Are you hungry?
Everything was ready. Was everything ready?
They are playing... Are they playing...?

The only weird thing related to the "be" verb is with imperatives***. For example, if someone were being noisy, you could say to them "Be quiet." However, a negative imperative is made by putting don’t in front of the main verb, like "Don’t drop that!" The correct negative form with the "be" verb is Don’t be...

Don’t be shy.
Don’t be so noisy.

These are the basics of how to use the "be" verb. Now, it is even more important to know WHEN to use the "be" verb.

-- Go on to Part II --

-- Click here for "be" verb exercises online. --

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*I finally have my dream schedule. I am going to be a full-time grammar teacher. While this might be hell for many teachers, it’s heaven for me.

**I would argue that there is a sixth form in English, the present 3^rd person singular, which is formed by adding ~s or ~es to the base form.

***Imperatives are like orders. The subject is always you, so it’s not necessary to say or write. Therefore, the first word of an imperative sentence is the verb.

Stand up!
Open your books.
Don’t do that!