Verbs

State verbs express states or conditions rather than actions.

• I want some chocolate.
• I have a cellphone.
• We own this car.
• He needs more time.

We do not use a state verb in continuous form because it has a sense of continuity.

• ꭗ I am needing a new car. ✓ I need a new car.
• ꭗ You can’t pleasing him. ✓ You can’t please him.
• ꭗ She is seeming nervous. ✓ She seems nervous.
• ꭗ It sounding great! ✓ It sounds great!

Some verbs can be either action verbs or stative verbs.

Think

(believe) I think they will succeed. [stative verb]

(act of thinking) I am thinking about buying a new car. [action verb]

Have

(own) I have a cellphone. [stative verb]

(eat, take) I am having lunch. [action verb]

Taste

(have a flavor) The food tastes good. [stative verb]

(checking its taste, testing] I am tasting the food. [action verb]

a verb that expresses a physical or mental action:

• I walk to work every day.
• He is watching TV.
• You think too much.
• I saw him last night.

We use action verbs in the past, present, or future tense:

• He walked to school. [Past tense]
• He walks to school. [Present tense]
• He will walk to school. [Future tense]

a verb that expresses the main action or the state of being of the subject.

• I don’t like turnips.
• He will come late.
• We can speak English.

Main verbs can stand alone or be used with a helping verb.

She has a car. She has crashed her car.

I speak English. I can speak French.

• I do my homework. [main verb] – I don’t do my homework. [helping verb]
• Daniel is a teacher. [main verb] – He is teaching me English. [helping verb]
• I have a pen. [main verb] – I have broken the pen. [helping verb]

Modal verbs

Modal verbs are helping verbs too, but they follow their own rules and always take the infinitive without “to”.

• ꭗ I can to swim. ✓ I can swim.
• ꭗ Can you swimming? ✓ Can you swim?

Modals are the same for all pronouns.

• ꭗ She cans speak French. ✓ She can speak French.
• ꭗ It mays not work. ✓ It may not work.

To make a question, move the modal before the subject:

• Can you speak English?
• Will you sing us a song?

In negatives, only “cannot” is one word:

• ꭗ I can not speak Japanese. ✓ I cannot speak Japanese.
• ꭗ I willnot wait for you. ✓ I will not wait for you.

They take direct negative forms:

• You cannot park here.
• We will not come to the party.
• ꭗ you don’t should come late.
• ✓ You should not come late.

We do not combine with another modal verb:

• ꭗ I will can to buy a car soon. ✓ I will be able to buy a car soon.
• ꭗ I would must be careful. ✓ I would have to be careful.

ability/inability: can, could

• • • I can speak fluent English.
    • Jim could read Latin when he was 10.

request or offer: can, could, may, would, will

• • • Can I use your phone? [informal]
    • Can I help you? [informal]
    • Could I have the bill, please? [polite]
    • May I have your phone number? [polite]
    • Would you like some cake? [polite]
    • Will you stop here, please?

possibility: can, could, may, might

• • • It can be cold here in the winter.
    • He could arrive anytime now.
    • It may rain tonight.
    • I might be a few minutes late.

permission: may, can, could

• • • May I come in? [polite]
    • Could you wait for me, please? [polite]
    • Can I park here? [informal]
    • You can’t park here. [informal]

obligation: must

• • • You must keep your word.
    • You must obey the orders.

ask/give advice: should, must

• You should see a doctor.
• Should I trust her?
• You must watch this movie. It’s really interesting.

probability: should, must

• The plane should take off anytime soon.
• Jim has been working all day; he must be tired.

expressing certainty: will, must

• I’m sure we will be late.
• Fred got promoted. He must be happy.

expressing willingness or refusal: would

• Who would work in the sun?
• The car wouldn’t start this morning.

• I am eating. [intransitive]
• I am eating lunch. [transitive]
• Daniel is watching. [intransitive]
• Daniel is watching you. [transitive]
• I can run to the store. [intransitive]
• I can run a restaurant. [transitive]

A transitive verb is a verb that transfers the action from the subject to an object and has a direct object.

• I like books.
• He rode the bike.
• A car hit the barrier.

To identify transitive verbs, ask the question “who or what?”; and you’ll get an answer:

• Who likes books? – I like books.
• He rode what? – He rode the bike.
• What hit the barrier? – A car hit the barrier.

• I sent him a letter.
• I sent a letter to him.
• He gave Jane the book.
• He gave the book to Jane.
• She made me some coffee.

• I/He/she[subject]
• sent/gave/made [verb]
• him/Jane/me [indirect object]
• letter/book/coffee [direct object]

Intransitive verbs are verbs that don’t transfer the action to an object, so there is no object in the sentence.

• I am walking.
• The rain is falling.
• He died.

We often use a propositional phrase or an adverbial phrase after an intransitive verb to give us more information about the action.

• She is walking to school.
• Jim is walking fast.
• We arrived at his house.
• He fell into the river.

Note: Intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive voice.

A linking verb is a verb that connects a subject to its complement without expressing an action. It describes the subject using an adjective or a noun.

• The sky is blue.
• He seems drunk.
• The weather became warmer.

We can use linking verbs with helping verbs.

• He will become king.
• This should taste good.
• She may feel guilty.

Linking verbs and action verbs

• I am hungry. [linking verb]
• I eat a sandwich. [action verb]
• He looked lonely. [linking verb]
• He looked at me. [action verb]

A finite verb functions as the main verb in a sentence and changes its form with tense, person, or number.

• I walk home.
• He eats his dinner alone.
• Mangoes are ripe.

verb tense change

• I eat a sandwich every morning. [present]
• We ate dinner at an expensive restaurant. [past]

verb person change

• I walk to school.
• She walks to school.

verb singular/plural change

• He is a teacher.
• They are students.

A nonfinite verb doesn’t change with tense, person, or number and normally can’t stand alone as the main verb in a sentence.

• I hate waiting.
• He hates waiting.

Non-finite verbs do not function as verbs in the sentence; they function as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.

• Swimming is fun.
• He ate his roasted potatoes.
• I am ready to go.

A regular verb has a usual ending in its past and past participle forms.

For verbs that end in “e”, we just add “d” to make them past or past participle.

• arrive: arrived, arrived.
• bake: baked, baked.
• change: changed, changed.
• close: closed, closed.

In verbs that end in “consonant + vowel + consonant” we double the last consonant and add “ed”.

• control: controlled, controlled.
• grab: grabbed, grabbed.
• rub: rubbed, rubbed.
• drag: dragged, dragged.

Foe some verbs that end in “y”, we take out the “y” and add “ied” to make them past or past participle.

• study: studied, studied.
• worry: worried, worried.
• try: tried, tried.

An irregular verb does not follow the -d, -ed, or -ied suffix pattern.

To avoid making mistakes with irregular verbs, we should learn them by heart.