Notional grammars traditionally verbs as “words that denote actions and states of being.” A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any auxiliary verbs, particles, modifiers, complements, and objects.
In grammar, a disjunct adverbial is a word or phrase that provides additional information to frame an entire clause. Disjunct adverbials denote the attitude of the speaker toward or judgment of the proposition such as truthfulness of manner of speaking. Verb phrases in the form of infinitives sometimes function as disjunct adverbials in English. Examples of verb phrases as disjunct adverbials include the following:
- To be frank, she is not invited.
- To be direct, you have to leave.
- The soup was rather bland, to be completely honest.
- To be fair, you did crash into the back of their vehicle.
- To be absolutely clear, determiners are not adjectives or pronouns.
Verb Phrase as Disjunct Adverbial
For more information about verbs and verb phrases, see A Form-Function Description of the Grammar of the Modern English Language: Book 1 (Level 7) and A Form-Function Description of the Grammar of the Modern English Language: Book 1 (Level 8) of A Form-Function English Grammar.
References
Brinton, Laurel J. & Donna M. Brinton. 2010. The linguistic structure of Modern English, 2nd edn. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Hopper, Paul J. 1999. A short course in grammar. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Huddleston, Rodney. 1984. Introduction to the grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kosur, Heather Marie. 2021. A Form-Function Description of the Grammar of the Modern English Language: Book 1 (Level 7). Rock Pickle Publishing.
Kosur, Heather Marie. 2021. A Form-Function Description of the Grammar of the Modern English Language: Book 1 (Level 8). Rock Pickle Publishing.
