Do you know what a compound verb is? This compound verb will provide you with all of the information you need on compound verbs, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 19, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is a compound verb?
According to Thought Co., there are many different types of verbs in the English language:
- Â Catenative Verbs
- Â Auxiliary Verbs (auxiliaries), Helping Verbs, and Lexical Verbs
- Â Copular Verbs
- Â Causative Verbs
- Â Prepositional Verbs
- Â Reporting Verbs
- Â Iterative Verbs
- Â Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs
- Â Dynamic Verbs, Active Verbs, Action Verbs and Stative Verbs
-  Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs
- Â Performative VerbsÂ
- Â Mental-State Verbs
- Â Finite Verbs and Nonfinite Verbs
There are four different types of compound verbs: a prepositional verb, phrasal verb, verbs with auxiliaries, and a compound single-word verb/single verb, according to Your Dictionary. These are sometimes called serial verbs, and can use conjunctions to connect two verbs as well. Sometimes verbs use helping verbs or auxiliary verbs to form a compound. Common helping verbs are have, has, had, am, be, been, is, are, was, or were, and modal verbs include can, could, may, should, and will. Some such compound nouns have a corresponding phrasal verb but some do not. Some of these will use a hyphen or verb phrase, as well as a multi-word verb. Make sure that your syntax is correct when using compound verbs. Avoid the passive voice, and make sure that your subject-verb agreement and pronouns are still correct. Like English prepositions, these can exist in a compound sentence.
 According to Merriam-Webster, this term comes from the 14th century Middle English compouned, the past participle of compounen in folk etymology.
What are examples of compound verbs?
Compound verbs can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or grammatical technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of compound verbs that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these compound verb examples in the following sentences from Your Dictionary and see how many you can identify the compound verb in, like in the first sentence of the following examples!
- Â Most people take down their holiday decorations by January 1.
- Â Jessica babysits Carson and his sister Stella on Saturday nights.
- Â My friends are planning a big surprise party for me.
-  It’s important to check your facts and not become brainwashed by misinformation.
- Â Joe was walking down the street last night.
- Â She looked up the recipe ingredients after being released from jail for a felony.
- Â The airline overbooked our flight, so we received vouchers for the next one.
- Â The success of this campaign relies upon voter turnout.
- Â Mary will take off her makeup before bed.
- Â I cook and clean when I get home from work.
- Â You will be amazing in the role.
- Â We really need to air-condition the house.
- Â They crash landed on the planet.
- Â I need to water-proof my shoes.
- Â The cashier shortchanged me fifty cents.
- Â He was looking for a nice place to camp.
- Â Bre looks up to her older sister.
- Â I had water-proofed the boat, but not well enough.
- Â I really want to test-drive that sports car.
-  Let’s turn off the television after this show.
- Â They gave up the kittens to a good home.
- Â Egg cartons can soundproof a room.
- Â We looked up the price of the residences but found none for sale.
- Â Someone will need to proofread my manuscript.
- Â Jack and Jill are running up the hill.
- Â I should start my homework soon.
- Â Sometimes we second guess the outcome.
- Â Can you throw out the garbage?
- Â The meeting will reconvene in an hour.
- Â Grace threw out her lesson plan on the bass when she learned her replacement was starting the same category.
- Â The children write their name and read the instructions on the worksheet.
- Â Gerald really wants to waterproof the deck this weekend.
- Â The town was destroyed by the tornado.
-  Don’t laugh at my dad’s new haircut.
- Â Can you have someone proofread your essay before turning it in?
- Â John will babysit for us tonight.
- Â We opted for the cheaper room without a view.
- Â Dad will be waiting at the train station.
- Â Why does Timmy always ask for more ice cream?
- Â I believe in respecting our elders.
- Â Try to get along with your brother.
- Â Everything will work out eventually.
- Â Listen to my question before coming up with a response.
- Â John swims and runs for exercise.
- Â The council will meet to discuss the issue tomorrow.
What are other grammar terms?
There are many grammatical devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.Â
- protasis
- stem
- that-clause
- intensifier
- past tense
- combining form (comb. form)
- genitive
- nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- subject
- predicative
- complementary
- construction
- clause
- perfect
- complement
- possessive
- antecedent
- present tense
- dative
- neuter
- direct question
- cognate object
- zero
- noun phrase
- simple
- comparative
- proper noun | proper name
- anticipatory
- pleonasm | pleonastic
- tense
- anaphoric
- direct speech
- absolute (absol.)
- agree | agreement
- common noun
- imperative (imper.)
- count noun
- parenthetical | parenthetically
- modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- conjunction (conj.)
- possessive pronoun
- compound | compounding
- pro-form
- collocation | collocate
- special use
- prepositional object
- infinitive
- collective noun
- noun (n.)
- determiner
- objective
- object | direct object | indirect object
- double object
- passive
- number
- pronoun (pron.)
- gerund
- quasi-
- subordinate clause
- passive infinitive
- dual
- nominative
- adverbial | adverbially
- apposition
- indirect question
- premodify | premodifier
- progressive
- phrase (phr.)
- ellipsis | elliptical
- conditional
- optative
- transitive
- main verb
- adjective
- modify | modifier
- cataphoric
- personal pronoun
- phrasal verb
- indirect passive
- finite
- indefinite
- causative
- similative
- third-person
- to-infinitive
- participial adjective
- declarative
- intransitive
- feminine
- construed (const., constr.)
- preposition (prep.)
- apodosis and protasis
- present participle
- verb (v.)
- first person
- interrogative
- base form
- vocative
- abstract
- indicative
- concrete
- case
- filler
- demonstrative
- definite article
- non-finite
- part of speech
- singular
- superlative
- prefix
- positive
- possessive adjective
- main clause
- postmodify | postmodifier
- plural
- gender
- subjunctive
- unmarked genitive
- accusative
- element
- morpheme
- masculine
- non-referential
- interjection
- prepositional passive
- parasynthetic
- reflexive
- combination
- direct object
- second person
- appositive
- bare infinitive
- predicate
- auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- indirect object
- past participle
- copular verb | copula
- person
- suffix
- participle | past participle | present participle
- subjective
- sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- adverb (adv.)
- verbal noun
- indirect speech
- head
- instrumental
- impersonal (impers.)
- periphrasis | periphrastic
- attributive
- active
- prepositional phrase
- mass noun
- agent noun
- article
- inflection | inflected | inflectional
- relative
- locative
- mood
Overall, the term compound verb can be a prepositional verb, phrasal verb, verbs with auxiliaries, and a compound single-word verb.
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