What are Verbs in English Grammar?
Verbs are words in English that are used to describe action or state or being in the sentence. Without verbs a sentence is incomplete because verbs shows how an action or thing happens.
In this article, you will learn what the verbs are in English grammar, how to conjugate them in different tense, types of verbs in English, and examples of sentences using verbs.
Verbs describe actions in the sentence and tell us how an action happened. What subject did or what object received. Verbs also show the state of being in the sentence.
Why We Use Verbs?
Verbs are used to show how an action happens in the sentence. It also tells us the state of being in the sentence. verbs are extremely important in English language because without using verbs, our sentence will be incomplete and does not convey anything to readers or listeners. With the help of verbs, we know what subject is doing, what is happening, or what object is receiving.
Why Learning Verbs is Important in English
- Verb are absolutely necessary to make a sentence.
- Without a verb, a sentence is incomplete.
- Every sentence needs at least one verb.
- If there is no verb in the sentence, it is an incomplete sentence.
- Verbs tell us what is going on in the sentence.
Types of Verbs in English
There are different types of verbs used in English. These types are;
- Dynamic (action) verbs
- Stative (state-of-being) verbs
- Verbs that can be dynamic of stative
- Auxiliary (helping) verbs
- Modal Auxiliary verbs
- Phrasal verbs
Verb Categories
Verbs can be categorized into different groups.
- Transitive, intransitive, and ditransitive
- Regular and Irregular Verbs
- Active and Passive Voices
- Linking (Copular) Verbs
Transitive, intransitive, and ditransitive refer to how a verb acts with direct and indirect objects. A direct object is the person of thing that the action happens to, while an indirect object is the person or thing that receives the direct object.
Examples:
- Londor threw the ball to deGram.
Intransitive Verbs
In this example, the subject is Lindor and the verb is threw. The direct object is the ball because that is what was thrown – Lindor did the action to the ball. The indirect object id deGram because he received the direct object, the ball.
Verbs that don’t use either a direct or indirect object are called intransitive. These verbs are complete actions by themselves.
Examples: go, walk, run, talk, sit, sleep, work
Transitive Verbs
Verbs that use a direct object, but not an indirect object, are called transitive. They don’t lawasy need a direct object, but they have the options.
Examples: clean, like, love, dislike, hate, want, learn, deserve, say
Distributive Verbs
Verbs that use both direct and indirect objects are called ditransitive. They don’t always need an indirect object, but they have the option.
Examples: throw, make, buy, sell, read, give, lend, bring
Ambitransitive Verbs
Just as a verb can be either dynamic or stative depending on the meaning, aver can sometimes act transitive while at other times act intransitive. These are know as ambitransitive. For examples, if you ask someone if they’re hungry, they might respond:
- No, I already ate. (intransitive)
- No, I already ate a sandwich. (transitive)
Verb Forms in English
Before we explain how to conjugate verbs in English, you need to understand the different forms a verb takes. This helps immeasurably when you conjugate on your own – you just need to use the right form at the right time. Keep in mind that these forms work mostly for regular verbs; irregular verbs each have their own special forms.
If you want to learn more, we have a more details guide on verb form here.
Forms of verbs
- Root form
- 3rd person singularÂ
- Simple Past
- Present Participle
- Past Participle
Root
The root is the basic form of the verb with no changes. It’s also the simple present tense for everything except the third-person singular.
Third-Person Singular Present
Used with subjects like he, she, the singular they, or it, the third-person singular in the present tense just adds an -s to the end of the root form most of the time.
For verbs that end in a consonant and -y (try, carry), you remove the ye and add -ies (tries, carries). If the verb ends in a vowel and -y (say, buy), you just add an -s like normal (says, buys).
Verbs that end in -ch, -sh, -x, -z, or -s add -es to the end instead of just -s. for example, watch becomes watches and kiss becomes kisses.
How to Conjugate Verbs in English
Using verbs is not easy as just tossing them in a sentence. They need to represent the tense you want, as well as match the subject (subject-verb agreement). This is called verb conjugation, or changing the verb to fit the sentenc.e.
In English, there are four main tense, eachdivided into three time periods, totalling twelve tenses.Â
Main tenses:
- SimpleÂ
- Continuous
- Perfect
- Perfect Continuous
Time periods:
- Present
- Past
- Future
Subject-verb agreement
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How to conjugate simple tenses
How to conjugate continuous tenses
How to conjugate the perfect tenses
How to conjugate perfect continous tenses
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3 Expert Tips for Putting Verbs into Action
- Use verbs instead of other words for more powerful writing
- Use the active voice whenever you canÂ
- Use specific verbs instead of modifying general verbs
Use verbs instead of other words for more powerful writing
Verbs aren’t just necessary for grammar – they’re also the most helpful words for writing. Whether you’re writing a school essay, work email, or social media post, try to use verbs over nouns or adjectives to provide the details.
This may involve rewording some of your sentence, but your changes will improve your writing as a whole. Strong writing uses as few words as possible, so a single verb sound better than a group of words that say the same thing.
- He is a proofreader for work.
- He proofreads for work.
- In the end, we were successful.
- In the end, we succeeded.
Use the active voice whenever you can
Although the passive voice is grammatically correct, the active voice is usually preferred. It follows the same principle mentioned above: Fewer words mean stronger writing. Not only does the active voice sound better, but also it’s easier for you reader to understand because the subject comes first.
Whenever you notice a sentence in the passive voice, see if you can reword it to say the same thing in the active voice.
- The homecoming game was attended by almost every student.
- Almost every student attended the homecoming game.
- It was there that they found the lost ring.
- They found the lost ring there.
Use specific verbs instead of modifying general verbs
Our last tip again follows the principle that fewer words are better. Instead of modifying or describing your verb to get across your meaning, try using another, more specific verb instead.
There are thousands of verbs in the English language; instead of adding words to describe the verb you have, use another more precise verb to take its place.
- Run fast – sprint
- Talk quietly -whisper
- Bump into each other – collide
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