Parts of Speech - Verbs

What is a Verb?

Parts of Speech - Verbs

A Verb (v) is a word that shows action, occurrence, or state of being. The Verb describes what the subject (Noun) is doing.

• I run everyday because I love to be in a good shape.
• She works at a factory
• My car needs an oil change.
• The wealthy man bought a mansion.
• He apologized to her many times.

How many types of Verbs and what are they?

There are 11 common types of verbs - some people say they are 7.

The main 7 Types of Verbs:

1- Action Verbs:

Words that describe actions. Action verbs can also be called Dynamic or Physical Verbs.

Action Verbs

Examples of Action Verbs:

work - chase - run - play - help - swim - jump - write - ignore - try

• Please open the door.

• I always laugh when I hear his jokes.

2- Stative Verbs:

Stative or state verbs are words which describe thoughts, emotions, feelings, opinions, senses, possessions, perceptions, measurement,.. .

stative verbs in English

Examples of Stative Verbs:

want - own - have - be - need - love

🔔 Stative verbs are not used in the continuous tense, they are called non-continuous verbs.

• I know her and her family.
• I prefer orange juice to tea.
• She remembered him when she saw his photo in the album.
• This food tastes amazingly well.

🔔 Some verbs can be used as action verbs and stative verbs.

• Be: You are silly. -> Stative verb -> It's your personality to be silly.
• Be: You are being silly. -> Action verb -> You are acting in a silly way now.

3- Transitive verbs:

Verbs followed by "Direct Objects".

• I love you. -> "love" is a "transitive verb" followed by the "direct Object" which is "you".
• The wealthy man bought a Lamborghini. He already has 2 McLarens.

4- Intransitive verbs:

Verbs that are not followed by direct objects.

Intransitive Verbs

🔔 Direct Objects can be only  nouns, pronouns, noun phrases.

🔔 Prepositional phrases, adjectives, adverbs cannot be used as direct objects.

• My family travelled to Paris. -> There's no direct object for the verb "travelled" as no one is receiving the action of the verb.
• I always sneeze in the morning. 
• It's showering tonight.
• The old man is dying.
• Water evaporates when it's hot.
• She slept.
• it snows.
• They run every morning in groups.
• I agree with you.
• The bird suddenly disappeared.
• You are not listening.

5- Linking verbs:

They are a connection between the subject and further information about the subject. Note below:

• Linking verbs do not show action.

        a. He seems tired.
        b. The ckae smells delicious.
        c. He feels cold.

• Linking verbs include Stative verbs as they do NOT show an action.

        a. They are siblings.
        b. The flowers look beautiful.
        c. I feel happy.

• All forms of "Be" are linking verbs.

        a. She is a doctor.
        b. They were excited.
        c. The bool will be interesting.

• Linking verbs have NO direct object. 

        a. He seems tired. (No direct object follows "seems.")
        b. They are students. (No direct object follows "are.")
        c. She became a teacher. (No direct object follows "became.")

• Linking verbs cannot be used alone, and they need a "subject compliment" to complete the meaning.

        a. He seems exhausted. (The subject complement "exhausted" completes the meaning.)
        b. The food smells delicious. (The subject complement "delicious" completes the meaning.)
        c. They are happy. (The subject complement "happy" completes the meaning.)

• Linking verbs cannot be passive.

        a. She is tired. (Linking verb "is" followed by an adjective.)
        b. The coffee smells great. (Linking verb "smells" followed by an adjective.)
        c. They became friends. (Linking verb "became" followed by a noun.)

Examples of Linking verbs:

Be - feel - become - seem - appear - look - grow - get

• She is a great dancer. 
• The mall got crowded in a second.
• That watch looks expensive.
• The soup tastes nice.
• His father was a doctor.
• I feel thirsty.

6- Auxiliary verbs:

        Be - Do - Have

Auxiliary verbs are a subset of verbs used to help form various verb tenses and moods.

• Aux. Verbs help make a questions when they come before the subject.

• Do you speak English?

• Aux. Verbs help form negative statements with the use of words like not and never which comes between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.

• She did consider her son's feelings.
• She didn't like him.

• Aux. Verbs add intensity to the meaning.

• You do behave in front of the teacher.

7- Modal verbs:

will - would - shall - should - may - might - must - can - could - ought to

• Modal Verbs are the second type of Helping Verbs. 
• Modal verbs are a "sub-category of Auxiliary verbs. 
• Modal verbs express possibility, probability, ability, permission, obligation, etc.

• He can run like wind.
• May you lend me your pen please?
• It might rain tonight.
• You must study hard to pass the exam tomorrow.

Other types of verbs:

Now, let's talk about the past to know the difference between regular and irregular verbs

8- Regular verbs:

A verb is considered "regular" if it's past and past participle form ends in -ed, -d, -t .

Examples of regular verbs:

• Base form: jump - Past: jumped - Past Participle: jumped.
• Base form: cry - Past: cried - Past Participle: cried.
• Base form: sleep - Past: slept - Past Participle: slept.
• Base form: try- Past: tried - Past Participle: tried.
• Base form: trip - Past: tripped - Past Participle: tripped.

9- Irregular verbs:

A verb is considered "irregular" if it's past and past participle form DOES NOT end in -ed, -d, -t .

Some examples of common irregular verbs:

arise - be - come - do - eat - fall - get - give - go - have - hear - know - lend - make - run - say - see - take - think - wear - drink - put - cut - catch - drive

• Base form: go- Past: went - Past Participle: gone.
• Base form: take - Past: toke - Past Participle: taken.
• Base form: tell - Past: told - Past Participle: told.
• Base form: cry - Past: cried - Past Participle: cried.
• Base form: know - Past: knew - Past Participle: known.
• Base form: cut- Past: cut - Past Participle: cut.
• Base form: arise- Past: arose - Past Participle: arisen.

10- Phrasal verbs:

Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition and/or an adverb. Phrasal verbs have a different meaning than the words used to form them. So, Phrasal verbs are two or more words that together act as a completely new word, with a meaning separate from the original words

Example on the difference between verbs and phrasal verbs:

• The verb "put": place in a particular position
• Preposition "up": towards a higher position
• Preposition "with": accompanied by

The Phrasal Verb "put up with" has a different meaning: tolerate or endure something

• I can't put up with it any longer. = I cannot endure/stand it.
• She gets up early everyday. = She wakes up.
• He wrote a song to get over his best friend’s death.
• He promised her that he would never let her down.
• Pick up the box. Yes, pick it up.

11- Infinitives:

• An infinitive is the word "to" + "the base form of a verb". 
• This formation (to + infinitive) is called "infinitive phrase".
• The "infinitive phrase" is NOT a verb .
• Infinitives are used as nouns, adjectives or adverbs.
• If the main verb of the sentence is "make", the infinitive comes without "to". 

            My mother makes me to clean my bed everyday.

to read, to run, to jump, to play, to sing, to laugh, to cry, to eat, and to go

• I love to study my lessons on time. ("to study" functions as a noun. Love what? to study.)
• I love to sleep. ("to sleep" functions as a noun. Love what? to sleep.)
• He travelled to recover from his grieves. ("to recover" functions as an adverb. why travelled? to recover.).
• My friend wants a book to read. ("to read" describes the "book", so the infinitive here is "an adjective").

Infinitive Phrase vs Prepositional Phrase:

to + infinitive (base form of the verb) = infinitive phrase.

He likes to swim in the morning.

In this sentence, "to swim" is an infinitive phrase, where "to" is followed by the base form of the verb "swim." It functions as the direct object of the verb "likes."

I want to travel the world.

"To travel" is an infinitive phrase functioning as the direct object of the verb "want."

He needs to finish his homework.

Here, "to finish" is an infinitive phrase that serves as the direct object of the verb "needs."

to + noun/pronoun = prepositional phrase.

She gave the book to Salma.

In this sentence, "to John" is a prepositional phrase. "To" is a preposition, and "John" is the object of the preposition. It indicates the recipient of the book.

They went to the park for a picnic.

"To the park" is a prepositional phrase, where "to" is the preposition, and "the park" is the object of the preposition. It indicates the destination.

I sent an email to my boss.

In this sentence, "to my boss" is a prepositional phrase. "To" is the preposition, and "my boss" is the object of the preposition, indicating the recipient of the email.