What are Verbs?By

Gita Deonaraine-Sahadeo

Nadalie Juteram-Sewnauth

Karen Catherine Hamilton

What is a verb?

A verb is a word which implies action or the doing of something,

or it may be defined as a word which affirms, commands or asks a question.

There are four types of verbs?

The four types of verbs are:-

• Regular verbs

• Irregular

• Transitive

• Intransitive

Regular verbs

A verb is said to be regular when it forms the past tense by adding 'ed' to the present.

Example of Regular Verbs

• "To roll" is a good example of a regular verb:

roll, rolled, rolled

• Sometimes the last consonant must be doubled before adding the -ed ending. For example:

plan, planned, planned

Irregular Verbs

A verb is said to be irregular when its past tense does not end in 'ed‘.

Example of Irregular Verbs

• break, broke, broken

• cut, cut, cut

• run, ran, run

• meet, met, met

• come, came, come

• repay, repaid, repaid

Transitive Verbs

A transitive verb is one the action of which passes over to or

affects some object.

Example of Transitive Verbs

• "I struck the table." Here the action of striking affected

the object table, hence struck is a transitive verb.

Intransitive Verbs

An intransitive verb is one in which the action remains with the subject.

Example of Intransitive Verbs

• I walk," "I sit" or "I run". Many intransitive verbs, however, can be used

transitively; thus, "I walk the horse;" walk is here transitive.

Verb can be express?

A verb can express:

• A physical action (e.g., to swim, to write, to

climb).

• A mental action (e.g., to think, to guess, to

consider).

• A state of being (e.g., to be, to exist, to appear).

Lots of Verbs Express Physical Actions

Here are some sentences with physical express actions.

• She sells pegs and lucky heather.

(In this example, the word sells is a verb. It expresses the physical activity to sell.)

• The doctor wrote the prescription.

(In this example, the word wrote is a verb. It expresses the physical activity to write.)

• Alison bought a ticket.

(The word bought is a verb. It expresses the physical activity to buy.)

Verbs Express Mental Actions Too

As we covered at the start, verbs do not necessarily express physical actions like the ones above. They can express mental actions too:

Example:

• She considers the job done.

(The word considers is a verb. It expresses the mental activity to consider.)

• Peter guessed the right number.

(The word guessed is a verb. It expresses the mental activity to guess.)

• I thought the same thing.

(The word thought is a verb. It expresses the mental activity to think.)

Verbs Express a State of Being

A small, but extremely important group of verbs do not express any activity at all. The most important verb in this group –arguably of all – is the verb to be. As already mentioned, this is seen in forms like is, are, were, was, will be, etc.

Some examples:

• Edwina is the largest elephant in this area.

(The word is a verb from the verb to be.)

• It was a joke.

(The word was is a verb from the verb to be.)

• I am.

(The word am is a verb from the verb to be.)(Point of interest: I am is the shortest sentence in English.)

Videos to help remember Verbs

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ineCCpqpZrM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MagsCvE99zY

References

• http://www.englishlanguageterminology.org/parts-of-speech/verbs.htm

• http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/verbs.htm