Verbs – Definition & Types

Verb: A verb is a word or a combination of words that indicate an action or a state of being or condition. A verb is the part of a sentence that tells us what the subject performs. Verbs are the hearts of English sentences.

Examples:

• John Exercises in the morning (A usual action)
• Mary is going to school. (A condition of action)
• Vienna does not like to dance. (A negative action)
• Vishal is a good boy. (A state of being)

Finite verbs: are the actual verbs which are called the roots of sentences. It is a form of a verb that is performed by or refers to a subject and uses one of the twelve forms of tense and changes according to the number/person of the subject.

Example:

• John went to school.
• Mary plays hockey.
• He is playing chess.
• She is the best players.

Non-finite Verbs: are not actual verbs. They do not work as verbs in the sentence rather they work as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Non-finite verbs do not change according to the number/person of the subject because these verbs, also called verbals, do not have any direct relation to the subject. Sometimes they become the subject themselves.

Example:

• John went abroad to play (Infinitives)
• drawing is his only job. (Present participle)
• She has a broken pen. (Past participle)
• sleeping is good for health. (Gerund)

Action verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence performs. Action verbs can make the listener/reader feel emotions, see scenes more vividly and accurately.

Action verbs can be transitive or intransitive.

Transitive verbs: must have a direct object. A transitive verb demands something/someone to be acted upon.

Example:

• I played for India. (The verb ‘play’ demands an object to be played)
• John is reading the novel. (The verb ‘read’ asks the question “what is she reading?” – the answer is the object)

Intransitive verbs: do not act upon anything. They may be followed by an adjective, adverb, preposition, or another part of speech.

Example:

• He smiled. (The verb ‘smile’ cannot have any object since the action of ‘smiling’ does not fall upon anything/anyone)
• I wake up at 6 AM. (No object is needed for this verb)

Linking verb: adds details about the subject of a sentence. In its simplest form, it connects the subject and the complement that is, the words that follow the linking verb. It creates a link between them instead of showing action.

Example:

• he appears ready for the cricket. (he is ready for the game.)
• The ice creams seemed delicious. (The food was delicious.)
• You look happy. (You are happy.)

Auxiliary Verbs:

Auxiliary verbs are also called helping verbs. An auxiliary verb extends the main verb by helping to show time, tense, and possibility. The auxiliary verbs are – be verbs, have, and do.

They are used in the continuous (progressive) and perfect tenses.

Linking verbs work as main verbs in the sentence, but auxiliary verbs help main verbs.

Do is an auxiliary verb that is used to ask questions, to express negation, to provide emphasis, and more.

Example:

• Alex is going to school.
• They are walking in the park.
• I have seen a movie.
• Do you drink tea?
• Don’t waste your time.
• Please, do submit your assignments.

Model verb: is a kind of an auxiliary verb. It assists the main verb to indicate possibility, potentiality, ability, permission, expectation, and obligation. The modal verbs are can, could, must, may, might, ought to, shall, should, will, would.

Example:

• I may want to play to you again.
• They must play the first game to win.
• She should call him.
• I will go there.