Grammar of Business English (2)

Summary: This post is about how to group verbs into different folders so that it iseasier, if not funnier, for you to learn verbs in English, Business English in special.   In a word, it is also a simplified version of verb groupings from the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (p.361-364).  



Verbs (2): How many verbs are there (Part I)?

There are so many verbs in English and sometimes it makes you confused, right? What are you going to do with the problem? How can you learn Business English faster? How can you speed it up so that you save your time (and money as well)?

Well, one way to do this is to put verbs into folders, just like what you do to the files on your computer. So what are the folders for English verbs? In a way, there are six folders, and for now we’ll talk about the first 3.



Folder 1:

She	runs	a startup in the local area.
He	works	for Apple as a CEO.

The verbs ‘runs’ and ‘works’ indicate some kind of actions that the ‘he’ or ‘she’ does something. So the name of this folder is: ACTION. Other examples include bring, move, take, and buy. 




Folder 2:

The marketing department	suggested	moving the headquarter to China.
We	have discussed	the problem twice this month.
I	am writing	to apply for the post of CEO.

What do the three verbs have in common? They are verbs about your hands and mouths, so they are H&M verbs (Well, nothing to do with any clothes shops). They are verbs of HAND & MOUTH. Other examples are ask, announce, and discuss. 




Folder 3:

I	think	there is something wrong with this proposal.
Our company	has decided	to open a new branch.

So the verbs ‘think’ and ‘decide’ imply no actions at all, and they have nothing to do with your hands and mouths. However, they have something to do with your brain. They are BRAIN verbs. Other examples include: feel (think), guess, doubt, and study.




So, to sum up the three folders are:

Action	e.g. run, open, work
Head & Mouth (H&M)	e.g. ask, annonce, write, discuss, suggest
Brain	e.g. think, decide, feel (think), guess

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