A Simple English Lesson in Theory – Part 2

The second of the ‘Two Keys’ presents a new system of organizing English verbs. Here you will begin to explore this organizational chart or table. Verbs exist in ‘families,’ and the twelve (or 13) tenses of today’s system are reduced to two – the ‘past tense’ and the ‘not-past tense.’ You will learn about ‘surface form’ and ‘underlying form’. You will study the three main ‘word groups.’ Adverbs, and adverbials are explored with transitive, intransitive and ergative structures explained. The concept of ‘dimensions’ is first introduced and then expanded on.