What is Verbs

a word used to describe an

action, state, or occurrence,
and forming the main part of
the predicate of a sentence,
such
ashear,become,happen.

Function of verbs
One

of the most important things

aboutverbsis their relationship to
time.Verbstell if something has
already happened, if it will happen
later, or if it is happening now. For
things happening now, we use
thepresent tenseof a verb; for
something that has already
happened, we use thepast tense;
and for something that will happen
later, we use thefuture tense.

Some examples ofverbs in

each tense
Present

Past

Future

look

looked

will look

move

moved

will move

talk

talked

will talk

Verbslikethoseinthechartabovethatformthepast
tensebyadding-dor-edarecalledregular verbs.Someof
themostcommonverbsarenotregularandthedifferent
formsoftheverbmustbelearned.Some examples of
suchirregular verbsare in the chart below:

Present

Past

Future

see

saw

will see

hear

heard

will hear

speak

spoke

will speak

The charts above show thesimple tensesof theverbs.

There are alsoprogressiveorcontinuousforms which show
that the action takes place over a period of time,
andperfectforms which show completion of the action.
These forms will be discussed more in other lessons, but a
few examples are given in the chart below:
Present Perfect
Present Continuous
is looking
has looked
is speaking
has spoken
is talking
has talked
Simple present tense verbshave a special form for thethird
person singular.Singularmeans oneandpluralmeans
more than one.Personis used here to show who or what
does the action and can have the following forms:
1st personor the self (I, we)
2nd personor the person spoken to (you)
3rd personor a person not present (he, she, it, they)
Thethird person singularforms are represented by the

The chart below shows how thethird

person singular verb form changes:
Singular

Plural

1st Person (I)

see
hear
come

1st Person (we)

see
hear
come

2nd Person
(you)

see
hear
come

2nd Person
(you)

see
hear
come

3rd Person (he,

she, it)

sees
hears
comes

3rd Person
(they)

see
hear
come

Averbmust agree with itssubject.Subject-verb

agreementgenerally means that thethird person singular
verbform must be used with athird person subjectin the
simple present tense.The wordbe the most irregular and
also most commonverbin English has different forms for
each person and even for the simple past tense. The forms
of the wordbeare given in the chart below:

Number
Singular

Plural

Person
1st (I)
2nd (you)
3rd (he, she,
it)
1st (we)
2nd (you)
3rd (they)

Present
am
are

Past
was
were

Future
will be
will be

is

was

will be

are
are
are

were
were
were

will be
will be
will be

Usually asubjectcomes before averband

anobjectmay come after it. Thesubjectis
what does the action of theverband
theobjectis what receives the action. In the
sentenceBob ate a humburger,Bobis
thesubjector the one who did the eating
andthe hamburgeris theobjector what got
eaten. Averbwhich has anobjectis called
atransitive verband some examples
arethrow, buy, hit, love. Averbwhich has

The chart below shows two other verbs

which can also be used asauxiliaries:
Number

Person
1st (I)

Singular

2nd (you)
3rd (he, she,
it)
1st (we)

Plural

2nd (you)
3rd (they)

Present
have
do
have
do
has
does
have
do
have
do
have
do

Past
had
did
had
did
had
did
had
did
had
did
had
did

Thereisatypeofauxiliary verbcalledamodalwhich
changesthemeaningofaverbindifferentways.Words
likecan,should,would,may,
might,andmustaremodals andarecoveredinother
lessons

Types of verbs
Action
Definition
Transitive
Verbs

verbs
Sample
Verbs

Sentence
Examples

Verbs that
are used
together
with a
direct
object. The
object can
be a thing
or a
person.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Owe
Feed
Make
Drive
Lift

1.
Richardow
es Jimmy
some
money.
2.
Hefeedshi
s children
while their
mother is
away.
3.
Shemakes
jewelry to
sell at the

Intransitive
Verbs

Verbs that
dont have a
direct object
for their
meaning to be
communicate
d. In most
cases, they
are followed
by an adverb,
adjective,
verb
complement
or a
preposition.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Die
Arrive
Respond
Wait
Sit
Look

1. His
sisterdiedof
Malaria.
2.
Wearrivedat
school very
late.
3.
Maryrespond
edto all
questions in
the exam.

Auxiliary Verbs & Lexical Verb

SampleVerbs

Sentence
Examples

Verbs that
come before
main verbs in a
verb phrase

1.
2.
3.
4.

Definition
Auxiliary Verbs

Be
Shall
May
Could

1. If all goes
well, I
willbegoing
home today.
2.
Weshallmeet
tomorrow in the
afternoon and
discuss the
matter we left
pending.
3. Wemaygo
shopping
anytime from
now because
the rains have
stopped.

Definition
Lexical
Verb

SampleVer Sentence
bs
Examples
All other
verbs
other than
auxiliary
verbs. It is
a main
verb.

1. Come
2. Rest
3.
Organize
4. Handle

1. He will
becoming
home for
dinner.
2.
Herestedi
n the
shadow
after a
tedious job
in the
garden.
3. Thomas
will
beorganizi
ngthe
group
before he
travels.

Dynamic Verbs & Stative Verbs

Sample Verbs

Sentence
Examples

Dynamic Verbs

A verb basically
used to show a
process, an
action or a
sensation rather
than a state.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Stative Verb

A verb basically 1. Have

used to define a 2. Seem
situation or
3. Know
state.

Definition

Drive
Grow
Throw
Hit
Repair

1.
Hedrivescarefu
lly down the hill.
2. Mathew
isgrowingold.
3. Shethrewa
stone at me
angrily.
1. What do
youhaveto say
about his
behavior
nowadays?
2. Youseemtoo
tired to
continue
working today.
3. Do
youknowanyth
ing about

Finite Verbs & Nonfinite Verbs

Sample Verbs

Sentence
Examples

Finite Verbs

A verb that
agrees with a
given subject in
a sentence. It is
usually marked
for tense.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Appear
Promise
Enjoy
Love
Hate

1.
Heappearssick
.
2.
Janepromisedt
o change her
behavior.
3. Gladys said
that
sheenjoyedlea
rning more
about verbs.

Nonfinite Verb

A verb that has

no distinction in
different tense.
It cannot be
used
unaccompanied
as the main

1. Expand
2. Leave
3. Smile

1. You
canexpandyou
r boundary.
2. We
mayleaveafter
10.00pm.
3. She had a

Definition

Regular Verbs & Irregular Verbs

Sample Verbs

Sentence
Examples

Regular Verbs

A verb whose
past participle
and past tense
is attained by
addingdor
edortfor
some. It is
sometimes
called a weak
verb.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Accept
Arrive
Fence
Deliver

1.
Iacceptedthe
offer.
2. He has
justarrived.
3.
Hefencedthe
area.

Irregular Verb

Also called a
strong verb. It
does not usually
follow the rules
for common
verb forms.
They usually do
not have the
predictable ed
ending.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Get
Go
Say
See
Come
Take
Sleep

1. Hegothis
business
running at the
right time.
2. Wewent(go)
home early.
3.
Theycameby
bus on a
Saturday

Definition

PHRASAL VERBS

The

object may come after the

following phrasal verbs or it may
separate the two parts: You
haveto dothis paint jobover.
You haveto do overthis paint
job. When the object of the
following phrasal verbs is a
pronoun, the two parts of the
phrasal verb must be separated:
You haveto doitover.

Verb

Meaning

Example

explode

The terrorists tried

toblow upthe railroad
station.

bring up

mention a topic

My motherbrought
upthat little matter of
my prison record
again.

bring up

raise children

It isn't easy tobring

upchildren nowadays.

call off

cancel

Theycalled offthis
afternoon's meeting

do over

repeat a job

Dothis
homeworkover.

blow up

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

(Transitive)
With the following phrasal verbs, the lexical part of the
verb (the part of the phrasal verb that carries the "verbmeaning") cannot be separated from the prepositions (or
other parts) that accompany it: "Who willlook aftermy
estate when I'm gone?
The
ask to recite
teachercalled
call on
in class
onstudents in
the back row.
call on (2)

get over

visit

The old minister

continued tocall
onhis sick
parishioners.

recover from
sickness or
disappointment

Igot overthe
flu, but I don't
know if I'll
everget
overmy broken
heart.

Three-Word Phrasal Verbs

(Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, you will find

three parts: "My brotherdropped out ofschool
before he could graduate.

Verb

Meaning

Example

interrupt (a
conversation)

I was talking to
Mom on the phone
when the
operatorbroke in
on our call.

catch up with

keep abreast

After our monthlong trip, it was time

to catch up withthe
neighbors and the
news around town.

check up on

The boys promised

to check up on the
examine, investigate condition of the
summer house from
time to time.

break in on

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

The following phrasal verbs are not followed by an
object: "Once you leave home, you can never
reallygo backagain.
Verb

Meaning

Example

break down

That old Jeep

had a tendency
tobreak
stop functioning
downjust when
I needed it the
most.

catch on

Popular songs
seem tocatch
onin California
become popular
first and then
spread
eastward.