2.2.1 Verb
Verb is a word or group of words that expresses an action such as eat, an event such as happen, or a state such as exist Hornby, 1995: 1498. Every full
sentence of English must have at least one verb. Verb can be classified into Lexical head verbs- walk, write, play, etc. and auxiliary primary
– do, have be, and modal
– can, may, should, will, etc.. Moreover, verbs can be classified into finite verb has one tense and is limited to the number of persons, e.g. dog runs
and nonfinite verb verb does not have tense and it is not limited to number of persons, e.g. the dog running. Grammatical tense a verb form must be carefully
differential from actual time, for the two are not always identical, e.g. the past tense does not always indicate past time nor does the present tense always indicate
the present time. Observe that sings present time form in he sings every Sunday in our Church denotes a duration of time starting in the past and extending
through the present into the future. Homer, 1950: 116. In English there are five different forms of the verb: The Base, the
–s form, the Past, the –ing Participle, and the
–ed Participle.
2.2.2 Mistake and Error
A mistake refers to a performance error that is either a random guess or ‘slip’, in that it is a failure to utilize a known system correctly. All people make
mistakes, in both native and second language situations. Besides, mistake is a deviation that can be self-corrected and it does not happen repeatedly, if the
deviation is pointed out to the speaker Corder, 1967: 217.
An error refers to a deviation that cannot be self-corrected and it happens repeatedly. Moreover, it is a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a
native speaker, and reflects the competence of the learner. The learners of English, who ask
“Does John can sing?”, reflect a competence level, in which all verbs require a pre-posed do auxiliary for question formation. As such, it is an
error, most likely not a mistake, and an error that revels a portion of the learner’s
competence in the target language Corder, 1967: 217.
2.2.3 Error Analysis
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