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Re: Derived forms of verbs

No: English verbs are unchanging in that respect. The paradigm for almost all lexical verbs comprises six inflectional forms:

Primary Forms
I took her to school. (preterite)
He takes her to school. (3rd sing present)
They take her to school. (plain present)

Secondary Forms
I need to take her to school. (plain form)
We are taking her to school. (gerund-participle)
They have taken her to school. (past participle)

But they are unchanging according to their transivity:

(1) I teach. (intransitive)
(2) I teach the first year students. (transitive with direct object)
(3) I teach at the local school. (intransitive with adjunct)
(4) I teach the students mathematics. (ditransitive)

Prototypically, a transitive verb has a noun phrase following the verb, as (2), and if the verb is being used ditransitively (object + indirect object), the indirect object (recipient/beneficiary) is positioned immediately after the verb, followed by the direct object, as (4). But there is no change in the form of the verb to mark the contrast in use; as you can see the form of the verb "teach" remains unchanged.

Incidentally, the "to" is not part of the verb; it is a subordinator.


PaulM

Re: Derived forms of verbs

Paul,

This is really helpful. Thank you very much.

// Incidentally, the "to" is not part of the verb; it is a subordinator. //

I agree on this; anyhow, we use an infinitive form of a verb to name it, as stated in GM. That is what made me introduce verbs in such a way.