Department of English: 2020-2021

B.Com. III/BBA, H, FB, I/BA (Eco) I/ BCA I/B.Sc. (Bio) & (Ag) I / BA & B.Com. LLB I

Study Material: Main Verb

Identify the difference in italicized words on the basis of their function:

She plays sitar. (The verb ‘plays’ tells what the subject ‘she’ does)

My mother is a teacher. (The verb ‘is’ tells about the state of the subject)

The accident happened at night. (The verb ‘happened’tells about the event)

A verb is a word that tells what the subject does or what state it is in.

Verbs Auxiliary Verb (be- is, am,are,was,were, do- do, does,did, have- has, have,
had )

Main Verb(Action Verb)

Note: Auxiliary are used as main verb as well.

All action verbs are called main verbs: read, dance, fly etc.These have three forms: base form
(simple present),simple past and past participle.

Regular Verbs (By adding d/ ed to the base form) Irregular Verbs (by variety of ways)
Simple Present Simple Past Past Simple Simple Past Past
participle Present participle
Learn Learned(American Learned/Learnt Wear Wore Worn
English)/
Learnt(British
English)
Live Lived Lived Bet Bet Bet
Create Create Created Beat Beat Beaten
Walk Walked Walked Take Took Taken
Call Called Called Sing Sang Sung
Play Played Played Drive Drove Driven
Watch Watched Watched Choose Chose Chosen
(Note: A list of Regular and Irregular Verbs is attached with this study material)

Main Verbs are of two types: Transitive Verbs & Intransitive Verbs

Tansitive Verb Intransitive Verb

Going home, I saw a fatal road Birds fly.
accident.
I went to the airport to receive my My father sings in the concert.
cousin from Bombay.
A verb which requires an object after it to complete its sense is called a Transitive Verb. It takes
a direct object that identifies who or what receives the action of the verb. Indirect object: In the
above examples, the words in bold (saw, receive, improves) are transitive verbs and the words in
italics are the direct objects.
 Department of English: 2020-2021
B.Com. III/BBA, H, FB, I/BA (Eco) I/ BCA I/B.Sc. (Bio) & (Ag) I / BA & B.Com. LLB I

An intransitive verb does not need an object to complete its sense. It expresses a complete sense
by itself.The underlined verbs (fly, sings, improved, burnt, runs) in the above sentences are
intransitive verbs as they do not need any object to complete its sense.