However, the structural labelling of the words that make up the verbal group is of limited value, not only because the meaning can be fully represented in terms of grammatical features (of tense, voice, polarity and modality), but also because it is the logical structure that embodies the single most important semantic feature of the English verb, its recursive tense system, and the elements of the logical structure are not in the individual words but certain rather more complex elements.
Sunday, 14 April 2019
Verbal Group: Limitations Of Experiential Labelling
Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 398):