Verb groups

Another way we can control the meaning of a verb is by adding secondary verbs to the verb group.

Here’s a snippet that uses a secondary verb to show inclination (how strongly the speaker feels about doing something).

What makes intend the secondary verb?

This snippet is primarily talking about owning land, so the main verb is to own. The verb intend is telling us about how the speaker is owning that land—that is, that they want to own it (and you also get a sense that they're going to try and make that happen).

We could use a modal verb

Since inclination was one of the modalities we talked about earlier, we could rewrite the snippet using a modal verb:

How are secondary and modal verbs different?

Secondary verbs aren't abstract like modal verbs; they have enough intrinsic meaning that they can be used as main verbs.

You'll notice the modal verb 'will' has a range of possible interpretations. It could mean:

• they want to own their own land
• they are imagining owning their own land
• they're predicting getting to own their own land...

But intend means one thing: they intend to own their own land.

So secondary verbs are useful for tuning the particular shade of meaning for another main verb.

We can also use secondary verbs to capture meanings that aren't covered by our modal verbs.

The first snippet is about the success of the action, and the second pinpoints what phase (where the action is up to) is being talked about. (We talked about this in the section on tense and timing, too.)

So secondary verbs are very versatile.

Let's write some of our examples to test this out. Best way to do this is to read each prompt below, write something without thinking too much, and then go back and examine what you've written—you'll probably have used a secondary verb without even realising it.

Don't get too hung up on the highlighting. If it seems confusing, you might have created a verb group with components that aren't in the highlighter kit. If that's the case, maybe simplify your writing.