What is a Verb: Definition, List, Forms, Types of Verbs And Example

Verbs: A verb is a word in English that tells us what someone or something is doing or how they feel. It's like an action word or a word that shows a state of being. For example, "run," "eat," and "sleep" are verbs that show actions, while "is," "am," and "were" are verbs that show a state of being. Verbs are really important in making sentences because they help us understand what's happening in the sentence.

Verbs in English

Examples:

• She dances gracefully.
• The cat purrs contentedly.
• They are playing outside.

List of Verbs in English

Verbs Forms

Verb Forms in English

Verbs Refers to Action

Verbs Refers to Experience And Feelings

Verbs Refers to State or Condition

Types of Verb

1. Helping Verbs
2. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
3. Regular Verbs
4. Irregular Verbs
5. Modal Verbs
6. Phrasal Verbs
7. Finite Verbs
8. Non Finite Verbs
9. Linking Verbs
10. Stative Verbs
11. Action Verbs

1. Helping Verbs/Auxiliary Verbs

1. To be: am, is, are, was, were, been, being
2. To have: have, has, had, having
3. To do: do, does, did

• "I am running." (Expresses the present continuous tense)
• "She has eaten." (Indicates the present perfect tense)
• "He did write." (Forms a question in the past tense)

2.Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

1. Transitive Verbs:

• Transitive verbs are verbs that require a direct object to complete their meaning. A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
• In a sentence with a transitive verb, you can ask "what" or "whom" to find the direct object.

2. Intransitive Verbs:

• Intransitive verbs, on the other hand, do not require a direct object to complete their meaning. They stand alone in a sentence and do not transfer the action to an object.
• In a sentence with an intransitive verb, you cannot ask "what" or "whom" to find a direct object.

3. Regular Verb

• Base Form: walk
• Past Simple: walked
• Past Participle: walked
• Present Participle: walking

4. Irregular Verb

• Base Form: go

Past Simple: went

Past Participle: gone

• Base Form: be

Past Simple: was/were

Past Participle: been

• Base Form: have

Past Simple: had

Past Participle: had

5. Modal Verbs

6. Phrasal Verbs

For Examples:

• "Break down" (verb + adverb): To stop functioning properly.
• "Give up" (verb + preposition): To quit or surrender.
• "Take off" (verb + adverb): To become airborne, like a plane, or to remove clothing quickly.
• "Look forward to" (verb + preposition): To anticipate something with pleasure.

7. Finite Verbs

8. Linking Verbs

• To be (am, is, are, was, were, been, being)
• Seem
• Appear
• Become
• Feel
• Look
• Sound
• Smell
• Taste
• Grow

9. Stative Verbs

• Like (expressing a feeling or preference)
• Be (indicating a state of being)
• Know (relating to knowledge or awareness)
• Believe (expressing a belief or opinion)
• Belong (describing possession or membership)

10. Action Verbs

• Run (physical action)
• Dance (physical action)
• Think (mental action)
• Write (physical action)
• Sing (physical action)
• Eat (physical action)
• Jump (physical action)
• Swim (physical action)
• Speak (communication action)
• Create (physical or mental action)

Verb Forms

• Sometimes a verb looks one way when it's happening right now.
• Sometimes it changes a bit when it happened in the past.
• And sometimes it gets a little help to talk about the future.

Root Verb

1. Eat (when you enjoy a meal)
2. Sit (when you take a seat)
3. Stir (mixing things up)
4. Type (like when you're writing or texting)
5. Read (what you do with books)
6. Fry (cooking with hot oil)
7. Tick (like a clock telling time)
8. Shift (when things change or move)
9. Trick (having fun or making magic)
10. Sing (creating beautiful music)

Simple Present – Third Person Singular

• Kenny likes mangoes after every meal. (This means 'he likes mangoes.')
• The cat chases every rat it sees. (That's like saying 'it chases the rat.')

Present Participle

For example:

• Play becomes playing
• Dance becomes dancing
• Write becomes writing

Simple Past

For example:

• The doctor asked me to take tablets for ten days. (The root verb is 'ask')
• Nelson bought the car he checked out last week. (The root verbs are 'buy' and 'check')

Past Participle

For example:

• I have searched the entire loft for that box, but I did not find it. (Here, 'search' is the root verb. 'Have searched' shows the perfect tense, and 'searched' is the past participle.)

Gerunds

For example:

• He is eating an apple. (Here, 'eating' is a gerund that acts like a verb.)
• Joy will be coming home next week. (In this case, 'coming' is a gerund showing an action in the future.)

Infinitives

For example:

• Would you like to have something? (In this sentence, 'to have' is an infinitive functioning as a noun.)