Verbs

A verb is a "doing" word. A verb can express:

• A physical action (e.g., to swim, to write, to climb).
• A mental action (e.g., to think, to guess, to consider).
• A state of being (e.g., to be, to exist, to appear). 

Types of Verbs 

Action verb - A verb that expresses an activity that a person or thing can do.
Ex - The bear chased the salmon in the shallow rapids.

Stative Verb - A verb expresses a state rather than an action. A stative verb typically relates to a state of being, a thought, or an emotion.
Ex: I am at home. She believes in fairies. He feels elated.

Transitive Verb - A transitive verb is one that acts on something (i.e., it has a direct object).
For example: I saw the dog. (the dog - direct object); The postman will give Sarah the letter. (the letter - direct object).


Intransitive Verb - An intransitive verb is one that does not act on something (i.e. there is no direct object).
For example: The rain fell. My throat hurts.

Auxiliary Verb - An auxiliary verb (or helping verb) accompanies a main verb to help express tense, voice or mood. The most common auxiliary verbs are be, do, and have (in their various forms).
Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs:
The table has been prepared.(Here, the auxiliary verbs has been help to express voice (in this case, the passive voice).)
If he were to arrive in the next 10 minutes, we would be on schedule.(Here, the auxiliary verbs were and would help to express mood (in this case, the subjunctive mood).)


Modal Verb - A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb used to express ideas such as ability, possibility, permission, and obligation. The modal auxiliary verbs are can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would.
For example:
Lee can eat a lot of pies.(Here, the modal verb can helps to express the idea of ability.)
Lee might eat that pie before he gets home.(Here, the modal verb might helps to express the idea of possibility.)
Lee may eat as many pies as he likes.(Here, the modal verb may helps to express the idea of permission.)
Lee should give you some of that pie given you bought it.(Here, the modal verb should helps to express the idea of obligation.)

Phrasal Verb - A phrasal verb is a verb made up of more than one word (usually two words). A phrasal verb has a main verb and another word (either a preposition or a particle). The phrasal verb usually has a meaning different to the main verb.
For example:

 A burglar will often break a window to break in.(Here, the phrasal verb break in means to enter illegally, which is different to break.)
If you drop the baton the team will drop back to last place.(Here, the phrasal verb drop back means to fall behind, which is different to drop.)

Regular and Irregular Verbs - A regular verb is one that forms its simple past tense and its past participle by adding -ed or -d to the base form of the verb. (Note: There are spelling rules to consider too.)An irregular verb is one that does not conform to this ruling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More on verbs : 

INFINITIVE FORM - When a verb is preceded by the word to, it is said to be in its infinitive form (i.e., its most basic form).

• I have to smoke that! (to smoke - infinitive form of the verb)

SUBJECT OF A VERB - The person or thing performing the action of the verb is said to be the subject of the verb or the subject of the sentence.

• Tony stole the boat. (Tony - subject of the verb to steal)
• The dog is guilty.(The dog - subject of the verb to be)
• Who was that?(Who - subject of the verb to be, i.e., was) 

 

DIRECT OBJECT OF A VERB - Many verbs perform an action on something. This is called the direct object of the verb.

• Terry kissed her hand.(her hand - direct object of the verb to kiss)
• Beverly can eat a whole chicken.(a whole chicken - direct object of the verb to eat) 

INDIRECT OBJECT OF A VERB - Some verbs have two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. The indirect object is the person or thing for whom the action was performed.

• Jamie read the children a story.(a story - direct object; the children - indirect object)
• I will bake him a cake.(a cake - direct object; him - indirect object)
• The postman gives Anne a letter every day.(a letter - direct object; Anne - indirect object) 

  
PASSIVE SENTENCE - The subject of a sentence does not always do the action of the verb. Sometimes, the action is done to the subject. Such sentences are called passive sentences because the subjects are being passive, i.e., not doing anything. 

• Carl was arrested.
(Carl is not doing anything, but he is the subject of the sentence.)
(Note: Carl is the subject of the verb to be, i.e., was.)

Passive verbs always comprise two parts (was arrested in this example). The person doing the action of the verb in a passive sentence is usually shown with the word by.

• Carl was arrested by PC Adams.

Passive verbs are said to be in the passive voice. Passive sentences can be quite useful:

• The carpet was damaged.
(This is a passive sentence. No one is blamed for damaging the carpet.)
• Mark damaged the carpet.
(A passive sentence contrasts with an active sentence (where the subject performs the verb). This example is an active sentence. It tells us that Mark damaged the carpet.)

ACTIVE SENTENCE - Active sentences are the opposite to passive sentences. In an active sentence, the subject of the verb performs the action.

• We damaged the carpet.
(This is an active sentence. We is the subject.
We damaged the carpet.)

• Jamie read a story.
(This is an active sentence. Jamie is the subject.
Jamie read a story.)

 

CONJUGATION OF VERBS - A verb will change its form a little depending on the subject. For example:

• I write.
• He writes.
• The jackal laughs.
• The jackals laugh.

When verbs change in this way, it is known as conjugation. A verb conjugates according to the subject. The subject of a verb can be in one of six forms:

• I
• You
• He / She / It
• We
• You
• They

The first three are the singular forms (known as first person singular, second person singular, and third person singular). The second three are the plural forms (known as first person plural, second person plural and third person plural).

All subjects fit into one of these categories. For example, jackal is like he (i.e., third person singular) and jackals is like they (i.e., third person plural). (This subject rarely causes problems for native English speakers, who conjugate verbs correctly without much thought.)

Interestingly, this is the origin of the insurance term third party (i.e., it's insurance covering actions by "them").

 

PARTICIPLES - Participles are formed from verbs. There are two types: present participles and past participles. Present participles end -ing. Past participles have various endings (e.g., -ed, -en).