Verbs
Every day that you wake up, you’re doing something. When you’re asleep, you are doing something. When you’re at work, at school, at the shops, or at home, you are doing something.
The words that tell us what someone or something is doing, are called verbs. Verbs are action words. They can be something we physically do, or something we feel or think. Sentences need verbs to be complete sentences, and because of their importance in the language, there are many types of verbs and different rules for them.
This blog looks at verbs in some detail. Keep reading for an explanation of what kinds of verbs we can use, and how to use them!
What is a verb?
Verbs are words that show you that someone or something is performing an action. Sometimes they look like things we do (like play, sing, read, sleep, or breathe) and sometimes they look like things we feel or how we exist (like is, am, are).
Verbs change according to the subject of the sentence (the person performing the action). The verb ‘to be’ shows a state of being, a way of existing, and it changes as follows:
Verbs also change according to the tense of the sentence. For example, ‘I am excited for the game!’ is present tense (talking about now) but it will change for past and future. Here you can see the verb ‘to be’ change for the different tenses in the examples below:
Some verbs act as helping verbs. This means that they help you perform the main verb. Look at the example below:
The boys are playing soccer with their friends.
In the above sentence, we have two verbs: are and playing. Playing is the main verb because it’s the main action that is being done. Are is not the main verb, you cannot be soccer with your friends, you can only play it, therefore are is helping the main verb.
Helping verbs are called Auxiliary Verbs, and they help change the tense of the sentence. In the previous example, are shows us that the tense is present and the -ing at the end of playing shows us it is continuous tense. The boys are playing soccer now.
If we want to change the tense, the auxiliary verb is the one that changes. Let’s have a look:
The boys were playing soccer with their friends. (Past continuous tense)
The boys will be playing soccer with their friends. (Future continuous tense)
Types of Verbs
So, including the helping verbs above, here is a brief summary of the kinds of verbs we can get in the English Language:
Finite Verbs
Non-finite Verbs
Auxiliary Verbs
Linking Verbs
Regular Verbs
Irregular Verbs
Transitive Verbs
Intransitive Verbs
Don’t worry, we’ll be unpacking each of these a little bit for better understanding, so keep an eye out on our Blog for further explanations!
Finite verbs are main verbs that show a subject and a tense (They play soccer every Friday). These can be regular or irregular verbs (She sang a soft lullaby).
Non-finite verbs can be divided into three sub-categories: participles, infinitives and gerunds.
Auxiliary verbs help show the tense of the finite verb, and help the main verb take place.
Linking verbs are similar to auxiliary verbs but instead of helping a main verb, they help by linking the subject of a sentence to the description of the subject (He is the president of South Africa).
Regular verbs are verbs that get ‘d’ or ‘ed’ when they change to past tense (love → loved; hug → hugged)
Irregular verbs are verbs that change without any particular rule when they are made into past simple or past participle form (sing → sang → sung; drink → drank → drunk; sleep → slept → slept)
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs are verbs that deal with direct and indirect objects. An object of a sentence is the thing which is receiving the action (The dog chews the bone → the bone is receiving the action of chewing).
Transitive verbs have a Direct Object (Anne wrote a letter).
Intransitive Verbs do not have a Direct Object, but they may have an Indirect Object (Anne wrote to you).
So, why use verbs?
Because you have to! A sentence is not a sentence if it doesn’t have a verb. See if you can find the verbs (action words) in the following sentence. Let us know your answers!
She plays soccer on Sundays.
They are going to the park.
He has finished his homework.
We were singing along.
I am painting a beautiful picture.
The sun shines brightly.
You will see the stars at night.
The cat is napping.
They have visited that museum.
The birds sing beautifully in the morning.
In summary, verbs play an important role in our sentences, conveying actions, states, and occurrences. To use them well, it's important to find the main verb in a sentence, as it shows the primary action. It’s also a good idea to know how helping verbs work with the main verb. By mastering verbs, you may gain the ability to speak and write dynamic and compelling language!
Happy learning!
