The verboids are the impersonal forms of verbs. They do not respond directly to a subject but require auxiliaries and / or prepositions in order to be used. The verb is a grammatical element that complements and gives reason to auxiliary verbs when they are conjugated to form sentences.
Verboids (except for the participle, which will be discussed later) are completely devoid of the usual features that common verb forms possess. Among these features are: those that account for the number, gender, mode and time.
The etymological origin of “verboid” leads us to understand a little more the reason for its name. For its part, the word "verb", which is the lexeme or root, comes from Latin verbum which means "word" -although other meanings can be found in ancient languages-. The suffix "oide" comes from the Greek eides which means "appearance".
So, a "verb" -etymologically speaking- can be understood as something that resembles a verb but does not fulfill its real functions..
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- They have the quality of being able to exercise the function of nucleus in the predicate of a sentence despite not being formally a verb. For example, in the phrase “Walk to the shore, until the shape of things changes”, the verb “walk” is the core of the predicate, but the verb “change” (infinitive) is also the core of the other predicate
- Apart from being able to exercise the function of nucleus in the sentence, they can perform in the verbal periphrasis. Verbal periphrasis is called a composition of two verb forms: one that fulfills the auxiliary role, which is the one that really is conjugated, plus the verb that remains unchanged.
A clear example is the pluperfect so studied by Andrés Bello. In the sentence "He had eaten", we have the verb "have" as a conjugated auxiliary and the participle verb "eaten" as a complement to the verb to complete the meaning of the sentence.
- They do not have gramemes with a person-number connotation (except for the participle in its adjective function, depending on the noun it is called on to modify). That is to say: they do not respond to the singular or plural; We cannot say: “we had eaten”, “we would have walked” or “they were walking”.
- They have a lexeme and also a derivative morpheme; that is to say: a root and a suffix that assigns them the quality of infinitives ("ar", "er" and "ir"), of participles ("ado", "ada", "gone" and "ida") and / or gerunds ("ando", "endo").
- They do not have grammes with time-mode connotation; that is, they have no connotation of conjugation in the past, present or future on their own. It corresponds to the auxiliary to which they complement denote the time in which the prayer is developed.
The infinitive is considered a verbal derivative. With regard to sentences, it plays the role of noun.
The infinitive is quickly identified by its three possible endings: “ar”, from the first conjugation verbs; "Er", from the second conjugation; and “ir”, from the third conjugation, respectively (sing, run, laugh, to name a few).
The endings "ar", "er" and "ir" are called "simple" forms of the infinitive. The infinitive can also be presented in a compound form; that is: when it serves as an auxiliary (invariable, of course).
This occurs with the verb “haber” together with another verb in participle (ending “ado” or “ido”). For example: "having eaten", "having walked", "having gone".
Due to its quality as a noun, it is normal that we find the infinitive assuming roles of direct object (example: “they want to see it”; in this case “to see it” is the direct object of “they want”) or of subject (example: “to love is painful ”). There are also cases where it allows prepositions (example: “running is good).
When the infinitive is accompanied by prepositions it can fulfill a large number of grammatical functions.
It must be clear that although infinitive verbs can clearly behave as nouns, they cannot be accompanied by the exclusive complements of a verb (understand: number, gender, time, mode).
There are cases of some infinitives that have become "normalized" in the Spanish language and were given the quality of "masculine gender", such as "sunset", "dawn", "duty".
- Subject infinitive: "Eat grapes regularly helps keep blood pressure at good levels ".
- Infinitive direct object: “You don't want to go To classes".
- Infinitive modifier of the name: “I have the impression of to be good ".
- Infinitive modifier of the adjective: “They are difficult cities to live".
Depending on the preposition that is placed, the infinitive acquires different connotations. For example: “por” has a causal value, “a” has an imperative value, “de” has a conditioning value, “al” is temporary, among others..
"Apparently everything is fine".
"You want acquire a new house".
It should be borne in mind that this composition refers to previously.
"I believed having talked clearly with her ".
The gerund is a verb with an adverbial character. To form it, the root of the verb is used plus the endings “ando” (for the first verbal ending, “ar”) or “endo” (for the second and third verbal ending, “er” and “ir”), respectively..
The gerund has the particularity that, when constructed in the past or present, it gives a feeling of “continuity”, since the action it generates never ends, it always “is”. For example: "he is walking".
Among the main uses of the gerund are to be accompanied by the verb "estar" to refer to an activity that is executed simultaneously with another, and to be accompanied by action verbs to achieve transmitting mode.
"Her is walking Y watching the cell phone".
"Her study singing to memorize more easily ".
The participle is a verb that serves as an adjective. It has its origins in the way of conjugation of the past participle of Latin. In the Spanish language, the participle is always presented as a passive voice in the past tense and is used as a complement to achieve the perfect forms of conjugation..
The verb participle, syntactically speaking, also has some properties of adjectives, so it can alter the nouns with which they are related in sentences.
Unlike the infinitive verbs and gerunds, the participle verb has developed grammatical accidents of gender and number, that is: masculine and feminine, plural and singular.
The gender and number qualities of the participle verboid are manifested according to the noun that it is called upon to modify, just as any other adjective would. Some common forms of participle verboids would be: "sung", "sung", "felt", "felt", "loved", "loved", "lived", "lived", among others..
The participle verboids are easily recognized because their roots are accompanied by the morphemes “ad” (for the first verb ending “ar”) and “id” (for the second and third verb endings, “er” and “ir”) , respectively.
Both cases are also accompanied by the morphemes "o" and "a", to denote the male and female genders..
"The crumbling house it saddened me ".
"The truck it was ramshackle".
Full knowledge of verbs allows a broad command of the language, increasing the communicative possibilities of those who study them.
The verb participle, as mentioned above, is the exception to the rule in several respects with respect to the infinitive and the gerund. The participle is the most versatile of the three types of verboids studied.
Verboids are a linguistic resource that requires a careful study for its correct application. They deserve time and dedication and should not be taken lightly if what you want is to fully master the Spanish language.
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