That is, a Verb Phrase (VP) consists of a verb-stem (VBSTEM) plus tense, plus optional infinitive (INF) plus optional aspect (ASP) and optional modal (MODAL) and person-number-gender. If a conditional mode (COND) is chosen, it is attached to tense; negation (NEG) must be attached to infinitive, in which case there is no PNG. When aspect is present, the AVP or past-marked verb stem must be used; aspectual verbs have their own tense markers as well, or modal/negative; PNG is present if modal and negative are not. (Cf. individual sections on these categories for a discussion of the syntax of various categories.)
In general, the order of constituents in a Tamil verb phrase is the opposite of English. Compare:
