Verb

What is a verb? jump

Verbs A verb is one of the most important parts of the sentence. It tells the subjects actions, events, or state of being. It is always found in the predicate of a sentence.

A verb is a word used to express an action, a condition, or a state of being. The director squished his nose. His noise is big. The director is squishing his nose.

Types of Verbs Verbs ActionLinkingHelping

Action Verbs A verb that shows action is called an action verb. The action verb tells what its subject does. The action can either by physical or mental. Physical Action: The farmer feeds the chickens. Mental Action: He likes the red rooster best.

Linking Verbs A linking verb links its subject to a word in the predicate. Linking verbs express a condition or a state of being. The cow is blue.

Linking Verbs There are nine common linking verbs: am are be being become isseemwas were To remember these linking verbs, use this saying: All boys in school work. am be is seem was are being were become

Helping Verbs A helping verb helps a main verb express action or precise shades of meaning. The combination of one or more helping verbs is called a verb phrase. was using Elmer was using the computer.

23 Helping Verbs may might must be being been am are is was were (main) do does did (main) should could would have had has (main) will can shall

Helping Verbs Other things to keep in mind: Not every sentence will have a helping verb with the main verb. When you see an "ing" verb such as "running", be on the lookout for a helping verb also.

Sometimes there is another word which separates the helping verb from the main verb. One common example is "not.” The boy could not find his socks. The helping verb is could and the main verb is find.

Helping Verbs A sentence may contain up to three helping verbs to the main verb. An example would be: The dog must have been chasing the cat. The helping verbs are: must, have, and been; the main verb is chasing.

Types of verbs according to form

As to form verbs only have four forms. We can say that the verb has three inflectional suffixes (-d, -s, -ing). Vbase or V, which is the base form of the verb, the dictionary form which is used to indicate: The imperative Live now, pay later. The simple present tense of the indicative (except the 3 rd person singular) They live in London. The infinitive because it is accompanying a modal verb They must live happily now. Vs form, which is used to represent the third person singular. He lives in a small apartment.

Ved form which indicates: The regular or irregular simple past tense of all the verbs He lived here last year. The regular or irregular past participle of all verbs He has lived here for a while. Ving form which represents: The present participle He is living here with us. The gerund Living here is good for the health.

Another classification of verb according to form is the division of: Single word verbs Call, sleep, eat, dream Phrasal verbs Call on, eat up, make up The phrasal verbs are classified by most grammarians as separable and non separable. Another subclassification of the phrasal verbs is that of the prepositional verbs, which are those composed of the verb and a preposition. Prepositional verbs: Sleep in, look at

Regular and irregular verbs The regular verbs are those that form their past participle (Ved) by adding the morpheme d. Jump – jumped Look - looked Have – had The irregular verbs are those that do not form their past or past participle with the d morpheme. Sing- sang Be –was/were Write - wrote

Dynamic and stative verbs Dynamic verbs are those that readily accept, because of their meaning, the use of Ving. These verbs denote an actual action or expression or process done by the subject. They mean an action which can be seen or physically felt. Be, drink, smoke, jump Stative verbs are those that cannot be normally used in the continuous form. They are called non-continuous verbs. These verbs refer to the state of the subject or the situation of the subject. They tell us about the state of mind of the subject, or the relation between the subject and the object. Love, look like, remember, seem

Mixed verbs. These verbs have more than one meaning. Some meanings behave like non-continuous verbs (stative verbs), while other meanings behave like continuous verbs (dynamic verbs). To have, to appear, to see, to feel, to look… Examples: I have a dollar now. (I possess a dollar.)  non-continuous verb I am having fun now. (I am experiencing fun now.)  continuous verb Dynamic and stative verbs (cont.)

Subject – Verb Agreement The subject and verb in a clause should always agree in number. Joey walks. (singular subject/singular verb) Joey and Maggie walk. (plural subject/plural verb) She runs. (singular subject/singular verb) They run. (plural subject/plural verb)