Parts of Speech: Verbs

A verb is a word that denotes an action, condition or existence. Run, laugh and write are all examples of verbs. Verbs also express time. For example, “run” indicates the present tense, while “ran” indicates the past tense. English utilizes a variety of verbs.

Verb Types

An action verb tells about an action that someone or something is performing. For example:

The boy kicks the ball.

In this sentence, kicks is the action verb because it tells what the subject, boy, is doing.

There are two types of action verbs: transitive and intransitive.

Transitive action verbs are verbs that direct their action to something else. For example:

The dog eats food.

This verb is transitive because the action, eating, is directed at “food”. The word the verb is acting upon is known as the object of the verb.

Intransitive action verbs are verbs that do not direct their action to something else. For example:

The dog eats.

This sentence does not specify what the dog is eating and therefore the verb has no object, making “eats” an intransitive verb.

Linking verbs are verbs that connect the subject with a word in a different part of the sentence, often at the end. For example:

Mibba is a website.

In this sentence, the verb is connects the subject, Mibba, with the word website.

“Is” is a form of the verb "to be", which tends to be the most common linking verb. However it should be noted that be does not always have to be a linking verb, it can also be used to express existence (for example, "I am.").

Auxiliary Verbs are verbs that are added to other verbs in order to create a verb phrase. Auxiliary verbs are informally known as helping verbs, because they help in adding additional meaning to a verb. For example:

I talk on the phone.

I will talk on the phone.

An auxiliary verb (will) creates the difference in meaning of those two sentences. Auxiliary verbs often modify the time of an action.

Verb Tenses

A tense of a verb is a form that shows a specific time or state of being.

Present

The present simple tense uses verbs to show present actions and conditions, regularly occurring actions and conditions, and constant actions and conditions. Examples include:

Dogs like running.

The audience watches movies.

Proper verb conjugation is necessary to proper English. Regular verbs in the present tense either have no ending or end in a s depending on the subject. For example:

I take

We take

The lizard takes

He takes

Regular verbs conjugated with singular nouns and the pronouns he, she and it, all end in an s.

Regular verbs conjugated with plural nouns and the pronouns we, you, they and I have no ending.

It is important to note that there are many exceptions to English grammar rules. Many are not regular and do not follow this conjugation rule. A dictionary can tell you how a verb should be conjugated if the verb is irregular.

The present progressive tense describes an action that is currently ongoing. For example:

The author is writing the final chapter.

In this sentence, the verb phrase is writing is in the present progressive tense. It indicates that the action is occurring at the same time the statement is spoken or written.

To form a present progressive phrase, a verb with the ending -ing is combined with an auxiliary verb such as am, is or are. For example:

She is driving.

I am driving.

The boys are driving.

Present progressive verbs conjugated with singular nouns and the pronouns he, she and it use the verb is.

Present progressive verbs conjugated with plural nouns and the pronouns we, they, and you use the verb are.

Present progressive verbs conjugated with I use the verb am.

The present perfect tense is used to describe an action that happened at an unknown time in the past, as well as an action that began at an unknown time and continues to exist in the future. For example:

The photographers have seen many great photos.

Women have voted since the 1920s in America.

The first example shows something that happened indefinitely in the past, while the second shows something that happened in the past and continues. The words highlighted are called past participles. Most past participles are formed by adding -ed to the verb stem.This tense often confuses people because it deals with the past, yet is still considered to be a present tense because of the auxiliry verb conjucation.

Present perfect verbs conjugated with singular nouns and the pronouns he, she and it use the verb has combined with a past participle.

Present perfect verbs conjugated with plural nouns and the pronouns we, they, you and I use the verb have combined with a past participle.

It is important to note that there are many exceptions to English grammar rules, particularly concerning past participles. In the example above, seen is an example of a past participle that doesn’t end in -ed.

The present perfect progressive tense is used to describe an action that began in the past, is currently continuing, and may continue into the future. This tense is formed by using has been/have been with the present participle of the verb. For example:

The writer has been writing for some time.

The verb phrase has been is combined with the present participle, writing. Present participles are formed by adding -ing to the regular form of the verb.

Present perfect progressive verbs conjugated with singular nouns and the pronouns he, she and it use the verb phrase has been combined with a present participle.

Present perfect progressive verbs conjugated with plural nouns and the pronouns we, they, you and I use the verb phrase have been combined with a present participle.

Past

The past simple tense describes actions that occurred and finished in the past. For example:

The lady walked on the street.

In this sentence, walked is in the simple past tense. The past tense of all regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -ed.

It is important to note that there are many exceptions to English grammar rules. Some verbs are not regular and do not follow this conjugation rule. For example, saw is the past tense of see. It does not end in -ed.

The past progressive tense describes an action that occurred in the past while at the same time another action was occurring. For example:

The writer was writing when the storm began.

The verb phrase was writing correlates with the time the story began. This tense is usually used to indicate a specific time in the past, and can be used to indicate that an action was incomplete, where as the simple past discusses completed actions.

Past progressive verbs conjugated with singular nouns and the pronouns he, she, I and it use the verb was combined with a present participle.

Past progressive verbs conjugated with plural nouns and the pronouns we, they, and you use the verb were combined with a present participle.

The past perfect tense describes an action in the past that happened before another action in the past. For example:

The food was cold by they time I had remembered to eat it.

In this sentence, the action of remembering occurred after the food was cold, and all actions were in the past.

Past perfect verbs are conjugated by using the verb had with any subject, and the past participle of the verb. Past participles are formed by adding -ed to the end of the verb.

The past perfect progressive tense is used to describe an ongoing action in the past, that was finished before another past action.

Before the thunderstorm, kids had been playing outside.

The past perfect tense is formed by using the verb phrase had been, combined with a present participle of a verb. A present participle is formed by adding -ing to the end of the verb.

Future

The future simple tense describes an action that will occur in the future. For example:

The dog will chew on the shoes.

In this sentence, the verb phrase will chew indicates the action is occuring in the future. The future simple tense is formed by using the verbs will or shall, combined with the regular form of a verb.

The future progressive tense describes an ongoing action that will occur in the future. For example:

The author will be publishing many more books.

Future progressive verbs are formed by using the verb phrase will be or shall be with a present participle. Present participles are formed by adding -ing to a verb.

The future simple tense and future progressive tense convey similar meanings, though the future progressive tense usually implies a sense of immediacy or certainty, where as the simple future is flexible and spontaneous.

The future perfect tense is used to describe an action in the future that will happen before another action in the future. For example:

When the dog does get to his dish, the cat will have eaten his food.

In this sentence, will have eaten is in the future perfect tense because it is a future action that occurred before another future action, the dog getting to his dish.

The future perfect tense is formed by using the verb phrases will have or shall have, combined with a past participle. A past participle is formed by adding -ed to the end of a regular verb.

It is important to note that there are many exceptions to English grammar rules. Some verbs are not regular and do not follow this conjugation rule. Many verbs have irregular past participles.

The future perfect progressive tense is used to describe a continuous future action that will occur before a specified time. For example:

We will have been reading for hours by noon.

In this sentence, the action of reading occurs before noon, and both the action and the time are in the future.

The future perfect progressive tense is formed with the verb phrases will have been and shall have been combined with a present participle. A present participle is formed by adding -ing to the end of a verb.

Voice

The voice of a verb determines whether or not the action of the sentence is being performed by the subject. Only action verbs have a voice in English, linking verbs and auxiliary verbs do not. Two voices exist in English: Passive and Active

A verb is said to be active when its subject performs the action. For example:

The author writes a book.

In this sentence the action of the verb writes is performed by the subject author.

A verb is said to be passive when its action is performed upon the subject. For example:

A book was written by the author.

In this sentence the action of the verb phrase was written is performed on the subject book. To form a passive verb, a form of the verb be is used with a past participle of another verb.

In most creative writing, an active voice is utilized to create interest and be concise. Without a good reason, the subject should be the performer of the action. A passive voice can be used correctly in expository writing as well as to add emphasis to the receiver of an action.

Subject Verb Agreement

In English verbs are conjugated differently based on the number of the subject. There are two typical types of subjects: Singular and Plural. Verbs must agree with their subjects.

Singular Subject

When a verb is acting upon a noun or pronoun that represents one thing, the subject is singular. An example of a singular verb with a singular subject:

The author writes a book.

In this sentence, the subject author is singular. It indicates there is one author. The verb writes agrees with this. You wouldn’t, for example, say “The author write a book” because “write” is a verb that agrees with plural subjects.

Plural Subject

When a verb is acting upon a noun or pronoun that represents two or more things, the subject is plural. An example of a plural verb with a plural subject:

The authors write books.

In this sentence, the subject authors is plural. It indicates there is two or more authors. The verb write agrees with this. You wouldn’t, for example, say “The authors writes a book.” because “writes” is a verb that agrees with singular subjects.

Compound Subjects

When two or more words are joined by “and” or “or” the subject is a compound subject. For example:

Mark and Vanessa plan to adopt children.

In this sentence, both Mark and Vanessa are part of the subject. This is an example of a compound plural subjects. Typically, compound subjects are treated as plural subjects.

Compound subjects that are joined with “or” or “nor” can be either plural or singular. For example:

Mark or Vanessa plans to adopt children.

In this sentence, because or does not include both of them, the subject is treated as singular. Both Mark and Vanessa are singular nouns which is why the subject is treated as singular.

The dogs or the cats eat the food.

In this sentence, dogs and cats are both plural, so they subject is treated as plural even though or does not include both at the same time.

If a compound subject is a mix of plural and singular nouns, the noun closest to the verb determines how the verb will be treated. For example:

The dogs or the boy plays outside.

-or-

The boy or the dogs play outside.

This rule does not apply with "and". Anytime two nouns are connected with "and", the subject will be plural because "and" includes both nouns it connects. For example:

The dogs and the boy play outside.

-or-

The boy and the dogs play outside.

The order of the two nouns is irrelevant because the nouns are joined by "and", meaning the verb must be plural.

Special Cases

Certain types on nouns can be difficult to classify as singular or plural because depending upon the context, they can be both.

Collective nouns can be either singular or plural depending upon how they are used. Examples of collective nouns include furniture, jury and group. If a collective noun is referring to something as a single unit, it is treated as singular. For example:

The jury is old.

Jury is being treated as a singular noun, so it is given a singular verb, is.

The jury is/are not sure what to decide.

In this instance, the word jury could technically be plural or singular (though "the jury are" may sound odd). You can usually avoid akward phrasing by adding in more descriptive nouns.

The members of the jury are not sure what to decide.

Because members is a plural noun, it's easy to decide to use a plural verb.

A linking verb must agree with its subject, in spite of what the other object of the sentence is. For example:

Loud kids are one reason many people choose not to be parents.

In this sentence, the subject kids is plural so the verb must be plural. Even though the object, one reason, is singular, the verb is still plural.

Plural- like Nouns are nouns that appear to be plural because the end in -s, but they should be treated as singular. For example:

Physics is my favorite subject.

That sentence is correct, because “is” is a singular verb to match the singular subject.

Physics are my favorite subject.

That sentence is incorrect, because “are” is a plural verb and physics is not actually plural.

Other articles