1. what is a verb? traditionally: verbs are doing words
updated: verbs are words that name ways of doing, sensing, saying and being

2. kinds of verb
full
primary*
auxiliary
modal
*may be main verb

3. kinds of verb full verb = the lexical verb;
primary auxiliary verbs be, have, do;
modal auxiliary verbs express ability, possibility or obligation, e.g. can, might, must
The children played happily
The children were enjoying themselves
The children must hurry home

4. WARNING: used as the FULL verb be, have and do may also be
The children were late;
they had their dinner,
then they did their teeth

5. full verb names ways of doing, sensing, saying and being e.g.
doing She opened the door
sensing They saw the accident.
saying He asked a question
being The child was hungry

6. some verbs of sensing cognition e.g. believe, know, think, reaction
e.g. like, love, hate, fear, admire
perception
e.g. hear, feel, see, notice, smell

7. saying some verbs of stating commanding e.g. say, tell, talk, assert
enquiring
e.g. ask, question,
commanding
e.g. order, instruct

8. some verbs of doing doing acting e.g. throw, walk, cook
happening e.g. fall,
behaving e.g. smile, sleep, yawn

9. some verbs of being describing e.g. is, feel, seem
possessing e.g. have, own, belong,
Obviously, these are full (lexical) verb usages of the above forms
identifying e.g. represent, mean,

10. full verb may be regular or irregular in form
regular verbs have 4 different forms:
the base form (also called the infinitive) e.g. jump
the -s form - jumps
the -ing form - jumping
the -ed form – jumped (past tense or past participle)

11. irregular
verb forms
irregular verbs have a different form for the past tense and the past participle:
base -s
-ing
-ed past
past participle
jump
jumps
jumping
jumped
speak
speaks
speaking
spoke
spoken
take
takes
taking
took
taken
swim
swims
swimming
swam
swum

12. primary auxiliaries
be, have, do
when used as auxiliaries, be, have or do are followed by a full verb, e.g.
He is running fast.
She has forgotten her books.
Please do sit down.

13. primary auxiliaries
When used as full verbs be, have or do occur alone, e.g.
He is a fast runner.
She has her own books
I do my homework regularly.

14. forms of be, have and do base -s -ing -ed past -ed participle have has
having
had do
does
doing
did
done be am is
are
being
was
were
been

15. central modals cannot be used as full verbs;
modal auxiliaries
central can, could; may, might; will, would;
shall, should; must
marginal need; dare; ought to
central modals cannot be used as full verbs;
marginal modals can.

16. modal auxiliaries possibility obligation/ necessity permission
volition/
prediction
ability
° of certainty
is required to
is allowed to
is willing to
is able to
must
can/could
shall/should
may/might
should
will/would
could
need to
ought to
have to

17. using modals
modals can be used in combination with different sentence forms to express different degrees of politeness in getting people to do things

18. sentence forms and functions
imperative Open the door
declarative I’ll open the door
interrogative Shall I open the door?
command
exhortative
statement
assertive
question
consultative

19. using modals When used with an interrogative form,
the modals express politeness in getting people to do things,
e.g. Could you help me (please)?
less polite: You must help me (declarative form).
least polite: Help me! (imperative form)

20. Ways of getting people to do things
exhortative
(imperative)
Do it
least polite
assertive
(declarative)
You could do it
You will do it
You must do it
less polite
consultative
(interrogative)
Could you do it?
Will you do it?
Shouldn’t you do it?
most polite
(possibility)
(inclination)
(obligation)

21. using modals
Q: When can the modals of obligation be used without giving offense?
A: i) when giving advice, e.g.
You should see a doctor about that
fever.
ii) when offering your services, e.g.
You must have some tea.

22. using modals may/might/could express tentativeness
modals of possibility are also used to express how certain we when we assert some state of affairs.
may/might/could express tentativeness
e.g. She might be hungry.
must expresses certainty
e.g She must be hungry.

23. auxiliaries and full verbs
whenever a negative is present in a sentence it is closely coupled with the auxiliary verb so that when the negative is contracted it becomes fused with the auxiliary, e.g.
The boy could not work hard
The boy couldn’t work hard
He has been ill, hasn’t he? 1

24. auxiliaries and full verbs
the auxiliary is portable:
it moves to the front of the sentence in order to make a question, e.g.
The boy could work hard
Could the boy work hard?
Couldn’t he work harder?
the main verb is not portable

25. It is often called gerund when functioning in these ways.
the participle and the gerund
a present participle and a gerund have the same form -ing. The –ing form functions in a sentence in a number of ways:
in the same way that a noun does, i.e.
as subject of the verb e.g. Reading bores him.
object of the verb, e.g. His hobby is swimming.
after a preposition, e.g. He is good at running
as a classifier in a noun phrase, e.g. a walking stick.
It is often called gerund when functioning in these ways.

26. to see: It’s nice to see you
the infinitive
to see: It’s nice to see you
the bare infinitive (i.e. without ‘to’) e.g. go: What I did yesterday was go to the movies.
the negative infinitive, e.g.
not to go: We decided not to go to the movies

27. common errors with verbs
agreement of subject and verb, e.g.
They was early 
They were early 
leaving out the direct object of a transitive verb, e.g.
This is to inform that.. This is to inform you that
We enjoyed very much. We enjoyed it very much

28. useful references A Student’s Grammar… Greenbaum & Quirk pp.25-69
Rediscover Grammar by David Crystal London: Longman. (nd.) pp.52-65

29. just joking can, can’t; could, couldn’t
A: My father …lift a pig with one hand. …your father do that?
B: I’m not sure. Where do you get a pig with one hand?

30. re-order the words in brackets to complete the joke:
A: Can I have a pair of crocodile shoes please?
B: Sure. (size take crocodile what your does)

31. A:. Waiter, can you get me some. undercooked potatoes, some cold beans
A: Waiter, can you get me some undercooked potatoes, some cold beans and a cold fried egg covered in fat?
B: I’m sorry, sir but we couldn’t give you anything like that.
A: Why not? (me gave what yesterday that’s you)