Verbs

Verbs

Stative verb (also called State verb)

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.

  • I am needing a new car. I need a new car.
  • You can’t pleasing him. You can’t please him.
  • She is seeming nervous. She seems nervous.
  • 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]

Action verb (also called Dynamic 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]

Main verb (also called Full verb or Lexical verb)

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.

 

Helping verb (also called Auxiliary verb)

Helping verbs are verbs that help main verbs show their tenses, question forms, negative forms, etc.

auxiliary verbs forms usages examples
do do/does
did
simple tenses I don’t like cigars.
He didn’t come home.
be am/is/are
was/were
continuous tenses They are studying.
I was running.
have have/has
had
perfect tenses You have seen him.
She has eaten.
  • 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”.

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

 

Modals are the same for all pronouns.

  • She cans speak French. She can speak French.
  • 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:

  • I can not speak Japanese. I cannot speak Japanese.
  • 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.
  • you don’t should come late.
  • You should not come late.

 

We do not combine with another modal verb:

  • I will can to buy a car soon. I will be able to buy a car soon.
  • 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.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

  • 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.
A ditransitive verb is a verb that has an indirect object and a direct object.
  • 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.

Linking verb (also called copula)

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]

Finite and non-finite verbs

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.

Regular and irregular verbs

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

Present tense Simple past Past participle
ask asked asked
earn earned earned
allow allowed allowed
collect collected collected
agree agreed agreed
move moved moved
rub rubbed rubbed
study studied studied

 

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.

Present tense Simple past Past participle
go went gone
put put put
send sent sent
think thought thought
drive drove driven
ring rang rung
grow grew grown
tell told told

 

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

Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle
arise arose arisen
awake awoke or awaked awaked or awoken
am, is, are was, were been
bear bore borne or born
beat beat beaten
become became become
begin began begun
bend bent bent
bet bet bet
bid bid bid
bid bade bidden
bind bound bound
bite bit bitten or bit
bleed bled bled
blow blew blown
breed bred bred
break broke broken
breed bred bred
bring brought brought
broadcast broadcast broadcast
build built built
burn burnt/burned burnt/burned
burst burst burst
buy bought bought
can could been able
cast cast cast
catch caught caught
choose chose chosen
cling clung clung
come came come
cost cost cost
creep crept crept
cut cut cut
deal dealt dealt
dig dug dug
dive dived or dove dived
do did done
draw drew drawn
dream dreamed or dreamt dreamed or dreamt
drink drank drunk
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
feed fed fed
feel felt felt
fight fought fought
find found found
flee fled fled
fling flung flung
fly flew flown
forbid forbade or forbad forbidden
forget forgot forgotten or forgot
forgive forgave forgiven
forsake forsook forsaken
freeze froze frozen
get got got or gotten
give gave given
go went gone
grind ground ground
grow grew grown
hang hung hung
have had had
hear heard heard
hide hid hidden
hit hit hit
hold held held
hurt hurt hurt
keep kept kept
kneel knelt knelt
know knew known
lay laid laid
lead led led
lean leant/leaned leant/leaned
leap leaped or leapt leaped or leapt
learn learnt/learned learnt/learned
leave left left
lend lent lent
let let let
lie lay lain
light lighted or lit lighted or lit
lose lost lost
make made made
mean meant meant
meet met met
overtake overtook overtaken
pay paid paid
put put put
prove proved proved or proven
quit quit quit
read read read
rid rid rid
ride rode ridden
ring rang rung
rise rose risen
run ran run
say said said
see saw seen
seek sought sought
sell sold sold
send sent sent
set set set
shake shook shaken
shed shed shed
shine shone shone
shoot shot shot
show showed shown or showed
shrink shrank shrunk
shut shut shut
sing sang sung
sink sank or sunk sunk
sit sat sat
slay slew slain
sleep slept slept
sling slung slung
smell smelt smelt
sneak sneaked or snuck sneaked or snuck
speak spoke spoken
spell spelt/spelled spelt/spelled
spend spent spent
spill spilt/spilled spilt/spilled
spin spun spun
spit spat spat
spread spread spread
spring sprang or sprung sprung
stand stood stood
steal stole stolen
stick stuck stuck
sting stung stung
stink stank or stunk stunk
stride strode stridden
strike struck struck
strive strove striven
swear swore sworn
sweep swept swept
swim swam swum
swing swung swung
take took taken
teach taught taught
tear tore torn
tell told told
think thought thought
throw threw thrown
understand understood understood
wake woke or waked waked or woken
wear wore worn
weave wove or weaved woven or wove
weep wept wept
win won won
wind wound wound
wring wrung wrung
write wrote written

Verbs English Vocabulary

5 comments

  1. Luiz Carlos Junior

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  2. Sonia Almeida

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  3. Judy Almond

    Awesome! I’m an English speaker and that is the best explanation of verbs. Thanks!

  4. Dian Stephen

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  5. Chloe

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    Thank you very much!

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