Contents

Verbs in English Grammar.........................................................................................................1

Definition of a Verb...................................................................................................................1
General Classification of Verbs according to What They Signify.....................................1
Verbs Referring to Actions.....................................................................................................1
Verbs Referring to Experiences or Feelings......................................................................2
Verbs Referring to a State or Condition..............................................................................2
The Various Types of Verbs with Examples..........................................................................3
Auxiliary Verbs/Helping Verbs...............................................................................................3
Modal Verbs...............................................................................................................................4
Phrasal Verbs............................................................................................................................4
Linking Verbs.............................................................................................................................5
Different Categories of Verbs....................................................................................................6
Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs.......................................................................................6
Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs..............................................................................6

Verbs in English Grammar

In the English language or any language for that matter, verbs happen to be an
essential part of speech, without which it would be impossible to indicate what the
subject is doing. It refers to all actions, including those related to feelings and
emotions. Verbs come in different types and forms so that they can perform
differently in order to provide complete meaning. Before we look into the types of
verbs and the verb forms, let us look at how various dictionaries define the term
‘verb’.

Definition of a Verb
The Oxford Learners’ Dictionary defines a ‘verb’ as “a word or group of words that
express an action (such as eat), an event (such as happen) or a state (such
as exist)”. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a ‘verb’ is defined as “a word or
phrase that describes an action, condition, or experience”. The Collins Dictionary
provides a much more elaborate definition of a verb. According to them, “A verb is a
word such as ‘ sing’, ‘ feel’, or ‘ die’ which is used with a subject to say what
someone or something does or what happens to them, or to give information about
them”.

General Classification of Verbs according to What

They Signify
Before we get into a broad classification, let us first have a look at how verbs can be
classified generally according to what kind of action they signify.

Verbs Referring to Actions

Verbs referring to action (action verbs) are those that involve the movement of one’s
body in one way or the other. Some examples of verbs referring to actions are as
follows:

 Walk
 Run
 Talk
 Sit
 Read
 Write
 Jog
 Cough
 Sleep
 Jump
 Sing
 Drink
 Teach
 Present
 Build
 Break
 Tow
 Toss
 Hug
 Fight

Verbs Referring to Experiences or Feelings

These are verbs that refer to something that you can feel or experience and do not
necessarily involve a movement of any kind. Some examples of verbs referring to
feelings and experiences are as follows:

 Love
  Hate
 Envy
 Believe
 Trust
 Feel
 Entrust
 Experience
 Care
 Cherish
 Sense
 Know
 Recognise
 Understand
 Comprehend
 Like
 Need
 Adore
 Loathe
 Appreciate

Verbs Referring to a State or Condition

These verbs are those that refer to situations or the state of being. All forms of ‘to be’
verbs belong to this category. Some examples of verbs referring to a state or
condition are as follows:

 Am
 Is
 Are
 Was
 Were
 Have
 Has
 Will be
 Appear
 Seem
 Become
 Been
 Being

The Various Types of Verbs with Examples

Verbs can be classified into numerous types according to their function or role in a
sentence or context. Let us look into the various types of verbs and some examples
of each type of verb.

Auxiliary Verbs/Helping Verbs

Auxiliary verbs or helping verbs, as the name suggests, is a verb that is used to help
another verb sound sensible and meaningful. It is used to change the other verb’s
tense, mood or voice. So, every time an auxiliary verb is used, you always have one
more verb, which acts as the main verb in a sentence.

Examples of auxiliary verbs are as follows:

 Am
 Is
 Are
 Was
 Were
 Have
 Has
 Do
 Will
 Can

One point you have to take care of when you use auxiliary verbs is that you should
conjugate the auxiliary verb correctly according to the tense form of a sentence.
Another specific fact about auxiliary verbs is that they can also be used as a main
verb. Also, there are verbs called modal verbs that can be used as a helping verb.

Work out exercises on auxiliary verbs to practise.

Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are those verbs that are used to denote the possibility, probability,
capability or necessity of something happening. Modal verbs, unlike other auxiliary
verbs, cannot be used as a main verb in a sentence.

Examples of modal verbs are as follows:

 Can
 Could
 Will
 Would
 May
  Might
 Should
 Must
 Ought to

Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs include phrases that are formed by combining two or more parts of
speech that performs the same function as a verb in a sentence. In most cases, a
phrasal verb results from a combination of a verb and a preposition.

Some examples of phrasal verbs are as follows:

 Go by
 Lay off
 Log in
 Get off
 Run out
 Go all out
 Think through
 Fed up
 Taken aback
 Act on
 Back away
 Back up
 Look up
 Mix up
 Opt out
 Pop in

Check out the list of phrasal verbs and exercise on phrasal verbs.

Linking Verbs
A linking verb, just like the name suggests, is a type of verb that is used to link the
subjects in a sentence to the other parts of the sentence so that it is meaningful. It
connects the subject to the object, an adjective and even a prepositional phrase. All
‘to be’ forms of verbs and verbs like ‘seem’ and ‘become’ can act as linking verbs.

Have a look at the following examples to understand how verbs perform the role of a
linking verb in sentences.

Example 1: Connecting Nouns to Other Nouns in a Sentence

Danny is my brother.
In the above example, the verb ‘is’ is used to connect the subject ‘Danny’ as the
‘brother’ of the speaker. In this sentence, the words ‘Danny’ and ‘brother’ are used to
refer to the same person.

Example 2: Connecting a Noun to a Prepositional Phrase in a Sentence

The children were in the park.

In Example 2, the verb ‘were’ is used to connect the subject ‘the children’ to the
prepositional phrase ‘in the park’.

Example 3: Connecting a Noun/Subject to an Adjective

Your presentation of the life cycle of the silkworm was excellent.

In the above example, the verb ‘was’ is used to link the subject ‘Your presentation of
the life cycle of a silkworm’ to the adjective ‘excellent’.

Example 4: Connecting the Subject/Noun to the Predicate using Seem/Become

This book on a treasure hunt seems interesting.

In this sentence, the subject ‘This book on a treasure hunt’ is connected to the
adjective ‘interesting’ with the linking verb ‘seem’.

The students became bored after two continuous hours of classes and were not
ready to take another hour of class without a break in between.

In the above sentence, the subject ‘The students’ has been linked to the rest of the
sentence with the linking verb ‘became’.

Different Categories of Verbs

Verbs can be divided into different categories according to their behaviour when
used in a context. Let us look at the categories explained below.

Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs

As you can see, verbs are used to denote actions, and they can be used in different
forms to indicate when the subject in a sentence is carrying out an action. A regular
verb can be conjugated to show if the action takes place in the past or if the action is
taking place continuously.
In most cases, the past form of the verb is formed by adding an ‘ed’ to the root verb
for regular verbs. On the other hand, there are other verbs that do not follow this
rule. They are called irregular verbs. These verbs have their own unique forms. If
you are wondering how to learn these irregular verbs, read the article on irregular
verbs to find out how.

Have a look at the examples given below.

 Dileep searched for his white shirt in his cupboard, but he did not find it. (Root verb –
search)
 Did you find the book you were looking for?

In the above examples, the verb ‘searched’ is the past form of the regular verb
‘search’ by adding an ‘ed’ and the verb form ‘looking’ indicates the continuous form
of the regular verb ‘look’ by adding an ‘ing’ to the end of the root verb.

 Selena read the book on the evolution of life on earth.

 Vineeth found the keys that went missing yesterday.

In the above examples, the verb ‘read’ stays the same in the past form and when
used as a past participle. ‘Found’ is the past form of the root verb ‘find’.

Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs

Transitive and intransitive forms of verbs are used to denote how a verb acts when
used with a direct object and an indirect object. Let us look at a few examples.

 Vincent gave a box of chocolates to his brother. (Indirect object – his brother, Direct
object – a box of chocolates)
 Garry passed the water bottle to Kevin, who was sitting in the first row. (Indirect object –
Kevin, Direct object – the water bottle)
 The little girl ran around the park for two hours.
 Francey walked to school every day.
 My mom cleaned the house today. (Direct object – the house)
 Seena did not like the movie. (Direct object – the movie)

In the above examples, the verbs ‘gave’ and ‘passed’ in the first two sentences are
seen to take a direct object and an indirect object, whereas the verbs ‘ran’ and
‘walked’ take no object at all. In the last two sentences, the verbs ‘cleaned’ and ‘did
not like’ take a direct object and no indirect object.

Verbs that take a direct object alone are called transitive verbs, and those verbs
that do not take either a direct object or an indirect object are called intransitive
verbs. There is yet another category of verbs that take both the direct object and the
indirect object, and they are called ditransitive verbs.