VERBS / OPERATORS

The number of verbs is limited. The language is intended for quick learning and immediate practical use in commerce and as a step into full English. The subject of verbs in Basic English is often asked. Here is a brief summary of what Ogden said on the subject and the list of verbs organized as the Universal Language Dictionary project saw them.

Ogden states his logic on verbs:
"Too much attention is given to fixed forms of words, certainly the dead weight of unnecessary words, chiefly 'verbs' whose behavior is not regular."
"But the chief reason why it is possible to do so much with the limited word-list is because Basic has been able so completely to do without 'verbs'."

"... some months ago I persuaded the Ministers to study and report upon Basic English. Here you have a plan. There are others but here you have a very carefully wrought plan for an international language capable of a very wide transaction for practical business and interchange of ideas. The whole of it is composed of about 650 nouns and 200 verbs or other parts of speech no more indeed than can be written on one side of a single sheet of paper."
-- 5 September 1943 Winston Churchill

7. Operators and pronouns conjugate in full.
be become cause make do have

The ABC's, lists 15 operators:
be , have , come - go , put - take , give - get , make , keep , let , do , say , see , send , cause and because are occasionally used as operators;
seem was later added.

And 60 other verb forms are, strictly speaking, used only as nouns: instead of "I attempted to come", say, "I made an attempt to come."
act , attack , attempt , awake , base , be a sign of , bite , blow , burn , burst , control , cook , cry out , crush , cry , damage , desire , doubt , drink , fly , fold , give , go , go into , guide , hate , have sex , hear , hope , jump , kick , kiss , laugh , lead , let , love , look for , measure , pull , push , regret , reward , roll , run , see, shake , sleep , slip , smile , sneeze , start , station , stop , support , swim , talk about , taste , touch , walk , wash , whistle .

What Ogden did was this : he selected a minimal set of verbs, come, get, give, go, keep, let, make, put, seem, take; be, do, have; say, see, send; may, will, which could -- in conjunction with other words in Basic -- take the place of all the other verbs in the language.

English Through Pictures, Book II
Every statement or questions in this book has one or more of these sixteen words in it:

be
have
do
seem

come
go
put
take

give
get
keep
let

make
send
see
say

The first of these words, "be", comes into more statements than any other. It goes like this:

	Past	Present	Future
I	was	am	will be
He She } It	was	is	will be
We You } They	were	are	will be

Here are the sixteen words. They go like this :

	Past	Present	Future
I We You They
	had	have	will have
	did	do	will do
	seemed	seem	will seem
	came	come	will come
	went	go	will go
	put	put	will put
	took	take	will take
	gave	give	will give
	got	get	will get
	kept	keep	will keep
	let	let	will let
	made	make	will make
	sent	send	will send
	saw	see	will see
	said	say	will say

I	was	am	will be
We,You,They	were	are	will be

	Past	Present	Future
He She It
	had	has	will have
	did	does	will do
	seemed	seems	will seem
	came	comes	will come
	went	goes	will go
	put	puts	will put
	took	takes	will take
	gave	gives	will give
	got	gets	will get
	kept	keeps	will keep
	let	lets	will let
	made	makes	will make
	sent	sends	will send
	saw	sees	will see
	said	says	will say
	was	is	will be

The Universal Language Dictionary project had a useful arrangement of the rest of the verbs. These add color and complexity, if desired, that allow Basic English seem what we consider normal English with a limited number of words.

VERBS

  be                           become

  cause                      make

  do                           have

  is/are able to ... [aux v pres]

ACTIVITY

  sleep *        awake  [aj]

  bite *                      have sex (with)

  cry out *     cry *

  drink *         jump *

  kick *                      kiss *

  laugh *                    run *

  smile *        sneeze *

  swim *                     taste *

  touch *                   walk *

HIERARCHY

control     *    let

BUSINESS

give                          reward     *

RELIGION, MIND

doubt       *   guide, lead  *

hate         *   hope       *

love          *  act        *

regret      *    look for   *

desire      *

COMMUNICATION

talk about  *  be a sign of


QUANTITY, DEGREE

measure     *

MOTION

come                         come across

go                             go into

slip         *     fly (move thru air)  *

TIME, SEQUENCE

start       *    stop       *

MATTER-Related ACTIONS

blow        *    burn        *

burst       *    crush       *

fold         *

pull               push

shake       *   wash        *

LIGHT

see

SOUND

hear   *         whistle    *

HEAT

attack      *

ASSORTED ABSTRACT

attack      *   make

damage      *  attempt    *

support     *

Starred (*) verb forms are, strictly speaking, used only as nouns:
instead of "I attempted to come", say, "I made an attempt to come."

The Jingulu language (Aborigine) is said to have only three verbs and all other actions are made from a verb and a noun. To sleep is "do a sleep." The Basic person will recognize this technique. What are the three verbs? Two sources have been found which differ a bit: Wiki says do, make, run. While "The Story of Human Language" says : do, go, come. Because do and make are similar, and go and come are opposites with the idea of move, which is similar to run, one may suspect the minimum number of verbs could be reduced to two -- with senses of create and move.

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