Verbs

Verbs 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").

Verbs Expressing Physical Actions

 She sells pegs and lucky heather.
 The doctor wrote the prescription.
 Alison bought a ticket.

Verbs Expressing Mental Actions

 She considers the job done.
 Peter guessed the right number.
 I thought the same thing.

Verbs Expressing a State of Being (to be)

Here is the verb "to be" in the different tenses:
Verb "to be"
Subject
past tense present tense future tense

I was am will be

You were are will be

He / She / It was is will be

We were are will be

You were are will be

They were are will be

1. “Edwina” is the largest elephant in this area.

2. It was a joke.
3. I am.
The Types of Verbs
Action Verb
An action verb expresses an activity that a person or thing can do. For
example:
 Lee eats cake.

 Lee likes cake.
("To like" is not an activity. It's a state.)

 The bear is hungry.
("To be" is not an activity. It's a state.)

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

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:
 Lee has eaten all the pies.
 The table has been prepared.
 If he were to arrive in the next 10 minutes, we would be on
schedule.
Modal Verb
A modal verb is a type of 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.
 Lee might eat that pie before he gets home.
 Lee may eat as many pies as he likes.
 Lee should give you some of that pie given you bought it.

Phrasal Verb
A phrasal verb is a verb made up of more than one word (usually two
words). The phrasal verb usually has a meaning different to the main verb.
For example:
 A burglar will often break a window to break in.
means "to enter illegally,"

If you drop the baton the team will drop back to last place.
"drop back" means "to fall behind,"

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.
For example:
Regular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle

love loved has loved

hate hated has hated

move moved has moved

An irregular verb is one that does not conform to this ruling. For example:
Irregular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle

tell told has told

bleed bled has bled

Past Tense
Verbs that express actions in the past are said to be in the past tense.
 He talked with more claret than clarity. (Susan Ertz)

 I ran to the lake.

 They were all there.

Present Tense
Verbs that express actions occurring now are said to be in the present
tense.
 John jumps out the window.
 Who is ill?
 He is the kind of a guy who lights up a room just by flicking a
switch.

Future Tense
Verbs that express actions in the future are said to be in the future tense.
These are usually formed by preceding the verb with the word "will."
 I will take the blame.
 They will surrender.

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.
 The dog is guilty.
 Who was that?

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.
 Beverly can eat a whole chicken.
Some verbs cannot have a direct object. These verbs are called intransitive
verbs.
 The rain fell heavily.
(The rain fell, but it did not perform an action on anything. In this
example, the verb "to fall" is an intransitive verb.)

 Jack protested in the street.

(Jack protested, but he did not perform an action on anything. In this
example, the verb "to protest" is an intransitive verb.)

Verbs that can have a direct object (most of them) are called transitive
verbs.
 Barney copied the answer.
(The verb "copied" is a transitive verb. The direct object of the verb
is "the answer.")

 Terry saw a black fin cutting through the water.

(The verb "saw" is a transitive verb. The direct object of the verb is
"a black fin.")

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.
(Here, "a story" is the direct object, and "the children" is the indirect
object.)

 I will bake him a cake.

(Here, "a cake" is the direct object, and "him" is the indirect object.)

 The postman gives Anne a letter every day.

(Here, "a letter" is the direct object, and "Anne" is the 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.")

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 is an example of an active
sentence. It tells us that Mark damaged the carpet.)

Active Sentence
Active sentences contrast with 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.

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). Below is a table showing
some participles:
Verb Present Participle Past Participle

to sing singing sung

to drive driving driven

to go going gone
 to rise rising risen

to watch watching watched

to be being been

Participles are classified as adjectives. (Note: When a verb form (like a

participle) functions as an adjective or a noun, it is known as a verbal.)
Below are some examples of participles being used as adjectives:
 Our business is badly affected by the soaring price of wool.
(The word "soaring" is a present participle. Here, it is being used as
an adjective to describe "price.")

 He is a forgotten hero.
(The word "forgotten" is a past participle. Here, it is being used as an
adjective to describe "hero.")

Why Should I Care about Verbs?

Even though there's a lot of terminology associated with verbs, native
English speakers are really good at using them (e.g., using the right tense,
conjugating verbs correctly). We can handle all this stuff without giving the
grammar a second thought. Nevertheless, the terms covered on this page
will definitely be useful if you decide to learn a foreign language or to teach
English because, if you do, you will encounter all of these terms. Knowing
what they mean in English is a great starting point for learning how these
features are addressed in other languages.

That said, some of the terms covered in this entry do have their own
oddities or traps, and these are covered on their individual pages. At the
"verb" level, there are five good reasons to think more carefully about
verbs.

(Reason 1) Write flowing sentences.

We fill our speech with verbs. For that reason, speech is great. It's clear
and structured naturally. Writing, on the other hand, can be boring,
corporate, predictable, and structured abnormally. These bad traits are
most often caused by an overuse of nouns.

So, a good trick to ensure your writing leans towards verbs and not nouns
is to say your sentence aloud and make that the start point of your
sentence structure. This is a good way to get some verbs into your writing
and to limit yourself to just enough nouns to get the job done.
Natural (Deploying a Good
Unnatural (Overusing Nouns)
Verb)

I was under the mistaken assumption you I mistakenly assumed you had
had made the payment. paid.

They are in agreement that he was in They agree he violated several

violation of several regulations. regulations.

She will be in attendance to present a She will attend to demonstrate

demonstration of how the weather will have how the weather will affect our
an effect on our process. process.
Opting for verbs over nouns will not only make your sentences flow better
but also reduce your word count because you will avoid the articles (e.g.,
"an," "the") and prepositions (e.g., "in," "on") required to make nouns work.

There's another refinement. To optimize your sentence flow and to reduce

your word count even further, opt for action verbs over linking verbs, which
– like nouns – can sound a little stuffy.
Stuffy (Using Linking Verbs) Natural (Using Action Verbs)

This rule is applicable to both teams. This rule applies to both teams.

The treaty is binding for all parties. The treaty binds all parties.

Top Tip

"If your writing reads like writing, then re-write it."

(Reason 2) Ensure your subject and verb

agree in number.
Here is an excellent reason to care about verbs: subject-verb agreement.

"Subject-verb agreement" means using the right version of the verb to

agree with the subject. It just means saying "The cat was hungry" and not
"The cat were hungry." In other words, it's about changing a verb to match
its subject (called "verb conjugation").

Verb conjugation is a simple concept, but there are many traps that cause
writers to match a singular subject with a plural verb or vice versa. When
this mistake occurs, we say there is no subject-verb agreement. A
subject and its verb must agree.

Here are three examples of sentences with no subject-verb agreement.

(The verbs are shown in bold.)
 Either of the buttons work. 
("Works" would be correct because "either" is singular.)
 The agenda are pinned on the wall. 
("Agenda" is now accepted as a singular word, despite deriving from
the plural of "agendum.")
 Jack as well as Jill fall down the hill. 
("Falls" would be correct because "as well as" does not create
a compound subject like "and" does.)
Read more about the traps that cause no subject-verb agreement.

(Reason 3) Avoid common spelling errors

related to verbs.
Here are some common spelling errors caused by failing to spot a verb:
 "Accept" is a verb, but "except" usually isn't.
 "Advise" is verb, but "advice" isn't.
 "Affect" is usually a verb, but "effect" usually isn't .
 "Lose" is usually is verb, but "loose" usually isn't.
 "Marinate" is a verb, but "marinade" isn't.
 "Passed" is a verb, but "past" isn't.
 In British English, "practise" is a verb, but "practice" isn't.
 In British English, "license" is a verb, but "licence" isn't.

(Reason 4) Spot when you've written a

sentence and end it appropriately.
Verbs are important. You can't write a sentence without one. Remember
that a sentence expresses a complete thought and includes a subject that
governs at least one finite verb. It may sound basic, but lots of writers fail to
spot when they've written a sentence. Consequently, they commit the most
common mistake made by otherwise excellent writers: the run-on error.
The most common type of run-on error is writing a sentence, putting a
comma, and then writing another sentence.
 I don't know how to act my age, I've never been this old before. 
 Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective
participation. 
 It was me, I let the dogs out. 
 My house was clean yesterday, I'm sorry you missed it. 
Having written a sentence, writers are drawn to a comma because they've
more to say and feel a period (full stop) is too abrupt a halt. It isn't. A period
is fine. There are other options of course (e.g., a dash, a semicolon,
an ellipsis (three dots), a subordinating conjunction like "because") – you
just can't use a comma.

What's this got to do with verbs? Well, spotting finite verbs and

their subjects is a good start point for dividing your work into proper
sentences. If you look at the wrong examples above, you will find a subject,
a finite verb, and a complete thought either side of the comma, which
means you're looking at two sentences.

(Reason 5) Spot when to use a comma

after a conjunction (e.g., "and").
Of course, it is common for a sentence to consist of more than
one independent clause. (An independent clause is one that can stand
alone as a sentence.) When these "standalone sentences" are joined with
a conjunction (e.g., "and," "but," "or"), it is normal to put a comma before
the conjunction.
 Actors are con men, and con men are actors. (Actor Edward
Burns)
(This sentence comprises two "standalone sentences" (i.e.,
independent clauses). The comma before "and" is correct.)
When a conjunction does not join two independent clauses, it is normal not
to use a comma.
 My grandmother was gruff and looked very fierce. She was quite
small, but she was very wide. (Author Salman Rushdie)
(Here, the words "looked very fierce" is not an independent clause
because there's no subject. However, the words "she was very
wide" is an independent clause. That's why there's no comma before
"and" but one before "but.")
What's this got to do with verbs? Well, spotting finite verbs and their
subjects is a good start point for dividing your work into independent
clauses, and that's key for determining whether to use commas before
conjunctions.