Using two verbs together to add information about actions
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Overview | page 2 of 7 |
Adding information about an action
The most common way of representing a single action or event is with a single verb:
He stole money from the coin box.
The above clause provides a limited amount of information about an action which was completed at some point in the past. However, the grammar also allows two verbs to be used together, with one verb adding some information about the action:
He began stealing money from the coin box ...
Note that the first verb adds information about the action - in this example it is information related to the "time", ie its starting phase.
The type of structure in which two verbs are used together is referred to in these
files as a double-verb structure 
. In double-verb structures the first verb adds some type of
information about the action or event conveyed by the second verb. Note that the first
verb does not represent the action or event but rather modifies the action or event
expressed in the second verb in some way. In addition, the first verb anchors the action
or event of the second verb in the "here and now", either via a finite (tense)
or a modal auxiliary (can, may, could, etc).
The second verb in a double-verb structure is always non-finite. In other words, it will be in the form of an infinitive (with or without to), or an -ing form. Here is an example of each:
He began to steal from the coin box.
He made her steal, too.
They began stealing together.
Note that in each case, the second verb is dependent on the first for the full meaning.
Introduction
Adding information about an action
