Ministry of Higher Education and

Scientific Research
University of Samarra
College of Education
Department of English
4th Grade
Evening Studies
Subject : Grammar

‫اسم الطالب‬
‫محمد مخلف علي‬
‫عنوان التقرير‬
Semantic and Syntactic Types of
Verbs
‫المشرف‬
‫ياسر محمد صالح‬
Introduction
A verb is a doing word that shows an action, an event or a state. A
sentence may have either a main verb, a helping verb or both. In other
words, a verb is a word that informs about an action, an existence of
something or an occurrence. The verb is the main word in a sentence. No
sentence can be completed without a verb.
Classifications of Verbs
Verb in English can be classified into various classes. Each classification
is based on a definite criterion, one of these’ criteria classifies verbs into
semantic and Syntactic.
Semantic Types of Verbs
Verbs can be divided according to the meaning they convey in a
sentence. The grammar-expert's way of saying this is that we can divide
verbs semantically:
 Dynamic Verbs
 Stative Verbs
Dynamic Verbs:
A term used in grammatical classification, referring to one of the two
main aspectual categories of verb use; the other is stative or static. The
distinguishing criteria are mainly syntactic; for example, dynamic verbs
occur in the progressive form (e.g. I’m running, He’s playing) and in the
imperative (e.g. Run!). The semantics of this class covers a wide range,
including activity, process (e.g. change, grow), bodily sensation (e.g.
feel, hurt), etc.
Stative Verbs:
A term used in grammatical classification referring to one of two main
aspectual categories of verb use, the other being dynamic. The
distinguishing criteria for stativity are mainly syntactic; for example,
stative, static or state verbs do not usually occur in a progressive form
(e.g. *I am knowing, *He is concerning), nor in the imperative (e.g.
*know!). On semantic grounds, they can be said to express states of
affairs, rather than actions, i.e. the expression of relational processes (e.g.
be, belong to, involve, seem) or of inactive perceptual or cognitive
processes (e.g. know, mean, realize, suppose).
 Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb expresses an action directed towards a person, place or
thing. The action expressed by a transitive verb passes from the doer or
the subject to the receiver of the action. Words that receive the action of a
transitive verb are called objects. Transitive verbs are sub-divided into
three types:
1. Mono-transitive: referring to a verb which can take a direct object
, as in :
-He saw the dog.
2. Ditransitive : In grammar, a ditransitive verb is a verb, which
takes a subject and two objects (both nouns) which refer to a
theme and a recipient. According to certain linguistics
considerations, these objects may be called direct and indirect, or
primary and secondary. As in :
-She gave me a pencil.
3. Complex Transitive : Complex-transitive verb Another class of
verb is the complex-transitive verb Definition: A verb that
requires both a direct object and another object or an object
complement.as in :
- The judge declared the man guilty on two counts.
Intransitive Verbs
A verb that does not require any object, complement or other element to
complete its meaning. Thus, to complete a sentence, an intransitive verb
can be added to the subject without any further addition: Everyone
laughed. The
snow is falling. But adverbial elements can be freely added after the
intransitive verb: Everyone laughed at the joke. The snow is
falling heavily in the north.