VERBS
How to identify verbs?
1. A verb can make the shortest sentence, for example: "Stop!"
2. Verbs are sometimes described as "action words". For example, words like run, fight, do and work all convey action.
3. They give the idea of existence, of state, of "being". For example, verbs like be, exist, seem and belong all convey state.
4. A verb always has a subject, for example in the sentence "John speaks English", John is the subject and speaks is the verb.
5. Almost all verbs change in form. For example, the verb to work has five forms: to work, work, works, worked, working
Verb Classification
There are two broad verbs classifications:
1. Helping Verbs
Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb.
A. Auxiliary Verbs
Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)
These are the verbs be, do, and have. Note that we can use these three verbs as helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helping verbs. We use them in the following cases:
· be
o to make continuous tenses (I am watching TV.)
o to make the passive (The cookies are eaten by Edo.)
· have
o to make perfect tenses (He has finished his homework.)
· do
o to make negatives (She does not like me anymore.)
o to ask questions (Do you want some tea?)
o to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.)
to stand for a main verb in some constructions:
He speaks faster than she does
B. Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)
We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main verb in some way. A modal helping verb expresses necessity or possibility, and changes the main verb in that sense. These are the modal verbs:
· can, could
· may, might
· will, would,
· shall, should
· must
· ought to
Here are examples using modal verbs:
· They can't speak Chinese.
· Ben may arrive late.
· Would you like a cup of coffee?
· You should see a doctor.
· I really must go now.
C. Semi-modal verbs (3 verbs)
The following verbs are often called "semi-modals" because they they are partly like modal helping verbs and partly like main verbs:
· need
· dare
· used to
2. Main Verbs
The main verbs have meaning on their own. They tell us something and there are thousands of main verbs.
Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".
A. Transitive and intransitive verbs
A transitive verb takes a direct object:
Somebody killed the President.
An intransitive verb does not have a direct object:
He died.
Many verbs, like speak, can be transitive or intransitive.
Look at these examples:
transitive:
· I saw an elephant.
· We are watching TV.
· He speaks English.
intransitive:
· He has arrived.
· John goes to school.
· She speaks fast.
B. Linking verbs
A linking verb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the subject to what is said about the subject. Linking verbs are always intransitive (but not all intransitive verbs are linking verbs).
· Mary is a teacher. (Mary = teacher)
· Tara is beautiful. (Tara = beautiful)
· That sounds interesting. (that = interesting)
· The sky became dark. (the sky > dark)
· The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)
C. Action and stative verbs
Some verbs describe action and can be used with continuous tenses. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a situation). They are called "stative", and cannot normally be used with continuous tenses (though some of them can be used with continuous tenses with a change in meaning).
- dynamic verbs (examples):
· hit, explode, fight, run, go
- stative verbs (examples):
· be
· like, love, prefer, wish
· impress, please, surprise
· hear, see, sound
· belong to, consist of, contain, include, need
· appear, resemble, seem
Take a look at the following table for the sentences with helping verbs and main verbs. Notice that all of these sentences have a main verb. Only some of them have a helping verb.
| | helping verb | | main verb | |
| John | | | likes | coffee. |
| You | | | lied | to me. |
| They | | | are | happy. |
| The children | are | | playing. | |
| We | must | | go | now. |
| I | do | not | want | any. |
Regular and irregular verbs
The only real difference between regular and irregular verbs is that they have different endings for their past tense and past participle forms. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle ending is always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them by heart.
regular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
- look looked looked
- work worked worked
irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
- buy bought bought
- cut cut cut
- do did done
Regular Verbs
English regular verbs change their form very little. The past tense and past participle of regular verbs end in -ed, for example:
work worked worked
But you should note the following points:
1. Some verbs can be both regular and irregular, for example:
Learn learned learned
Learn learnt learnt
2. Some verbs change their meaning depending on whether they are regular or irregular, for example "to hang":
| regular | hang, hanged, hanged | to kill or die, by dropping with a rope around the neck |
| irregular | hang, hung, hung | to fix something (for example, a picture) at the top so that the lower part is free |
3. The present tense of some regular verbs is the same as the past tense of some irregular verbs:
| regular | found, founded, founded |
| irregular | find, found, found |
What is the difference between regular verbs and irregular verbs?
| | Base Form | Past Simple | Past Participle |
| With regular verbs, the rule is simple... |
| The past simple and past participle always end in -ed: | finish | finished | finished |
| stop | stopped | stopped |
| work | worked | worked |
| But with irregular verbs, there is no rule... |
| Sometimes the verb changes completely: | sing | sang | sung |
| Sometimes there is "half" a change: | buy | bought | bought |
| Sometimes there is no change: | cut | cut | cut |
One good way to learn irregular verbs is to try sorting them into groups
Forms of Main Verbs
Main verbs—except the verb "be"—have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. "Be" has 9 forms.
| | | V1 | V2 | V3 | | |
| | infinitive | base | past simple | past participle | present participle | present simple, 3rd person singular |
| regular | (to) work | work | worked | worked | working | works |
| irregular | (to) sing
(to) make
(to) cut | sing
make
cut | sang
made
cut | sung
made
cut | singing
making
cutting | sings
makes
cuts |
| (to) do*
(to) have* | do
have | did
had | done
had | doing
having | does
has |
| infinitive | base | past simple | past participle | present participle | present simple |
| (to) be* | be | was, were | been | being | am, are, is |
In the above examples:
- to cut has 4 forms: to cut, cut, cutting, cuts
- to work has 5 forms: to work, work, worked, working, works
- to sing has 6 forms: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings
- to be has 9 forms: to be, be, was, were, been, being, am, is, are
The infinitive can be with or without to. For example, to sing
Example Sentences
These example sentences use main verbs in different forms.
Infinitive
- I want to work
- He has to sing.
- This exercise is easy to do.
- Let him have one.
- To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Base - Imperative
- Work well!
- Make this.
- Have a nice day.
- Be quiet!
Base - Present simple
(except 3rd person singular)
- I work in London.
- You sing well.
- They have a lot of money.
Base - After modal
auxiliary verbs
- I can work tomorrow.
- You must sing louder.
- They might do it.
You could be right.
Past simple
- I worked yesterday.
- She cut his hair last week.
- They had a good time.
- They were surprised, but I was not.
Past participle
- I have worked here for five years.
- He needs a folder made of plastic.
- It is done like this.
- I have never been so happy.
Present participle
- I am working.
- Singing well is not easy.
- Having finished, he went home.
- You are being silly!
3rd person singular, present simple
- He works in London.
- She sings well.
- She has a lot of money.
- It is Vietnamese.
Forms of Helping Verbs
Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs".
- Primary helping verbs, used mainly to change the tense or voice of the main verb, and in making questions and negatives.
- Modal helping verbs, used to change the "mood" of the main verb.
· Sometimes we make a sentence that has a helpingverb and seems to have no main verb. In fact, the main verb is "understood". Look at the following examples:
- Question: Can you speak English? (The main verb speak is "expressed".)
- Answer: Yes, I can. (The main verb speak is not expressed. It is "understood" from the context. We understand: Yes, I can speak English.
| Helping Verbs |
| Primary | Modal |
| do | (to make simple tenses, and questions and negatives) | can | could |
| be | (to make continuous tenses, and the passive voice) | may | might |
| have | (to make perfect tenses) | will | would |
| | shall | should |
| must | |
| ought (to) |
| "Do", "be" and "have" as helping verbs have exactly the same forms as when they are main verbs (except that as helping verbs they are never used in infinitive forms). | Modal helping verbs are invariable. They always have the same form. |
| Primary helping verbs are followed by the main verb in a particular form: - do + V1 (base verb)
- be + -ing (present participle)
- have + V3 (past participle)
| "Ought" is followed by the main verb in infinitive form. Other modal helping verbs are followed by the main verb in its base form (V1). - ought + to... (infinitive)
- other modals + V1 (base verb)
|
