Verbs

What are verbs ?

A verb is a word or group of words used to express an action, a happening or a state. It is an indispensable part of a sentence or phrase.  Without a verb, a full idea can’t be conveyed.

For example:

Lisa lives in Dubai.

The word “live” is a verb.

Normally, a verb almost always comes after a noun or pronoun, which play the role of the subject. 

Verb class

In English there exist two classes of verbs: Auxiliary verbs, such as verb to be, to have, to do, may (modal auxiliaries), etc. And, ordinary verbs, such as verb to meet, to bring, to write, etc.

Auxiliary or helping verbs 

Auxiliary verbs are used together with a main verb to show the tense of the verb or to form a negative or an interrogative sentence. The common auxiliary verbs are be, have and do.

Examples

He is waiting for you. (used with main verb)

Marry didn’t arrive, yesterday.

He could leave before 9 a.m. ( used with infinitive)

Marry may travel, soon.

Auxiliary verbs

To illustrate, let’ take verb “to be” as example, as auxiliary and ordinary verb .

Be as an auxiliary

The infinitive of the auxiliary verb “be” is “to be”.

The present tense is three forms: am/is/ are.

Singular:      I                            am

                     He, she, it            is

Plural:          We, you, they       are

Examples

I am writing an amazing story!

She is working, now.

They are playing perfectly.

The past tense form is two forms: was/ were.

Singular:              I/he/she/it         was

Plural:                   We/you/they   were

Examples

She was talking to Mrs Smith.

They were fishing in the river.

Be as ordinary:

Generally, “be” shows the existence and the identification of a person or thing.

Examples

Mister Bean is a comedian.

Ali is optimistic.

There are two cats in the garden.

Ordinary verbs

Ordinary verbs refer to the majority of verbs in the English language. Unlike auxiliary verbs, ordinary verbs can stand alone, as the main verb of a sentence. 

To form an interrogative or a negative structure, the main verb needs a helping verb to do so! That verb is called auxiliary verb.

Examples

Gary goes to the cinema every Saturday.

He likes films.

He visited Paris, last year.

To illustrate, let’ take verb “to speak” as example:

Verb to speak in the present simple

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I speak English   You speak English   He/she/it speaks English.   We/you/they speak English.	I do not speak English   You do not speak English   He/she/it does not speak English   We/you/they do not speak English	Do I speak English?   Do you speak English?   Does he/she/it speak English?   Do we/you/they speak English?

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Transitive verbs 

A transitive verb does not have a complete meaning by itself. It needs an object to get a complete meaning.

For example

My friend loves fast food.

The verb “love” requires an object.

To find the object, ask whom/what after the verb.

So,

Question: my friend loves whom/what?

The answer: fast food (object).

Examples

She bought a new car.

He sent an SMS.

She receivedd an SMS.

Intransitive verbs

An intransitive verb has a complete meaning by itself and it doesn’t need an object.

For example

They arrived, yesterday.

He hasn’t come, yet.

She sleeps late.

Regular and irregular  verbs

Regular verbs

Regular verbs form the past simple and past participle by adding -ed to the base form.

For example: verb “to visit”

Present: visit(s)

Past simple: visited

Past participle: visited

Irregular verb

Irregular verbs are the verbs that do not follow normal rules of conjugation, -ed suffix. Some verbs do not change while some others do.

For example, the irregular verb “to cut” keeps its form as it is in the conjugation process:

Present: cut

Past simple: cut

Past participle: cut

The irregular verb “to go” does change:

Present: go

Past: went

Past participle: gone

Common irregular verbs

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle
abide arise awake be bear begin bend bite blow break bring buy catch choose come creep deal dive do draw dream drink drive eat fall feed fight fly forget forgive freeze get give go grow hang hide hurt keep know lay lead learn lie light lose make pay put ride ring rise run see seek sell set shake sing sink sit speak spend steal sting strike swear swim swing take teach tear tell think throw wake wear write	abode arose awoke/awaked was/were bore began bent bit blew broke brought bought caught chose came crept dealt dove did drew dreamed/dreamt drank drove ate fell fed fought flew forgot forgave froze got gave went grew hanged/ hung hid hurt kept knew laid led learned/learnt lay lighted/lit lost made paid put rode rang rose ran saw sought sold set shook sang sank sat spoke spent stole stung struck swore swam swung took taught tore told thought threw waked/woke wore wrote	abode arisen awoken/awaked been borne/born begun bent bitten blown broken brought bought caught chosen come crept dealt driven done drawn dreamed/dreamt drunk driven eaten fallen fed fought flown forgotten forgiven frozen got given gone grown hanged/hung hidden hurt kept known laid led learned/learnt lain lighted/lit lost made paid put ridden rung risen run seen sought sold set shaken sung sunk sat spoken spent stolen stung struck sworn swum swung taken taught torn told thought thrown waked/woken worn written