Verbs describe an action or a state of being. It is an essential component of a sentence since it provides the primary indication of what the sentence's subject is doing or going through. They symbolise a variety of acts as well as a state of being, such as existing, feeling, or appearing. Verbs are essential for expressing both static and dynamic parts of sentences, bringing life and movement to language.
Main verbs also known as action verbs, describe the actions of the subject in a sentence such as something that a person, a thing or an animal does. It tells you what the subject is doing. Verbs can be either physical (done with the body) or mental (done using the mind).
Examples:
→ The curious students attentively listened to the teacher's explanation.
→ Samuel is chasing his goal to be a footballer.
→ He explores the mysterious forest with his friends.
→ They realized it was Jack’s mistake.
→ I understand why we failed to crack that problem.
Auxiliary verbs help the main verb. They provide more meaning to the action in the sentence. They aid in altering the sentence's tone or emotion. In addition to the primary verb, helping verbs inform readers about the tense, a negative sentence, or the structure of an inquiry.
Examples:
→ Sam is playing the piano in the school concert.
→ The interviewees have completed their given task.
→ We will go to the stadium to watch a match tomorrow.
→ The people of the town were sleeping when the fire began.
→They are studying for the upcoming science test together.
The linking verb does not describe any action. They connect the subject to additional information about it. These verbs denote that something ‘is’, or the state of being.
Examples:
→ The guy over the street looks content.
→ My sister became a doctor finally after so much hard work.
→ This cuisine smells delicious.
→ The weather seems pleasant to go for a walk.
Stative verbs, such as "know," "feel," and "believe," denote a state or condition that is steady or unlikely to alter.
Stative verbs usually relate to the feelings, ideas, or senses that the sentence's subject is going through. Action verbs and dynamic verbs, such as "run," "find," and "make," characterise the action that the subject is carrying out, and are frequently used in opposition to stative verbs.
Read About Verbs for Class 6: Click here
A transitive verb indicates that the sentence's subject is doing something to the direct object. These are action verbs. It is not possible to classify a verb as transitive if there is no direct object.
Examples:
→ Reading a fascinating novel is her hobby. (read- transitive verb; novel- direct object)
→ To be creative, they paint colourful walls. (paint - transitive verb; walls - direct object)
→ After having such a tireful day, I am craving to eat some delicious sandwiches. (eats - transitive verb; sandwiches - direct object)
→ Tim loves to play some exciting games to have a wonderful evening with her. (play - transitive verb; games- direct object)
→ She writes a heartfelt letter to her husband over the seas. (writes - transitive verb; letter - direct object)
An intransitive verb is an action verb. It does not require an object to complete the meaning of a sentence. These verbs complete the action on their own.
Examples:
→ Students laughed loudly in the classroom during lunch break.
→ Humpty Dumpty jumped over the wall.
→ I saw the amazing Sun set behind the mountains while tracking
→ The flowers bloomed in the garden during spring.
→ The birds chirped happily in their nest.
Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern when they change from the base form to the past tense and past participle.
Following is a list of a few regular verbs:
Base Form |
Past Tense |
Past Participle |
play |
played |
played |
walk |
walked |
walked |
jump |
jumped |
jumped |
talk |
talked |
talked |
smile |
smiled |
smiled |
dance |
danced |
danced |
sing |
sang |
sung |
read |
read |
read |
write |
wrote |
written |
draw |
drew |
drawn |
run |
ran |
run |
help |
helped |
helped |
study |
studied |
studied |
bake |
baked |
baked |
clean |
cleaned |
cleaned |
watch |
watched |
watched |
love |
loved |
loved |
laugh |
laughed |
laughed |
Irregular verbs do not follow the regular pattern of adding "-ed" to form their past tense or past participle. Instead, they change their spelling or pronunciation.
Following are list of a few irregular verbs:
Base Form |
Past Simple |
Past Participle |
be |
was/were |
been |
have |
had |
had |
do |
did |
done |
go |
went |
gone |
eat |
ate |
eaten |
write |
wrote |
written |
see |
saw |
seen |
swim |
swam |
swum |
run |
ran |
run |
break |
broke |
broken |
take |
took |
taken |
speak |
spoke |
spoken |
drive |
drove |
driven |
sing |
sang |
sung |
come |
came |
come |
bring |
brought |
brought |
drink |
drank |
drunk |
fly |
flew |
flown |
know |
knew |
known |
Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary (helping) verbs that express the mood or attitude of the speaker towards the action of the main verb.
Examples:
→ Can: She can solve math problems easily. (ability)
→ May: You may borrow my book for a week if you are interested. (permission)
→ Should: You should do yoga to have a healthy life. (advice or recommendation)
→ Must: He must wear a helmet while riding a bike. (necessity or obligation)
→ Might: She might visit us this weekend to check on us. (possibility)
Phrasal verbs combine with a preposition or adverb to form a phrase that has a different meaning. Following is a list of a few phrasal verbs:
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Examples |
Look after |
take care of |
Can you look after my pet while I'm away? |
Show up |
arrive or appear unexpectedly |
Don't worry, he will show up on time. |
Set up |
arrange or establish |
Let's set up a meeting for next week. |
Pick up |
lift or collect |
Please pick up your toys from the floor. |
Turn off |
switch off |
Don’t forget to turn off the lights before leaving the study room. |
Break up |
end a relationship |
Unfortunately, they decided to break up. |
Bring up |
mention or introduce a topic |
I didn't mean to bring up that sensitive issue. |
Call off |
cancel |
They had to call off the event due to bad weather. |
Give up |
Surrender or stop trying |
Don't give up; you can do it! |
Get along (with) |
have a good relationship with |
I get along well with my colleagues. |
Hold on |
wait or pause |
Hold on a moment; I'll be right back. |
Take off |
remove or leave the ground (for aircraft) |
The plane will take off in ten minutes. |
Put on |
wear or dress in |
She put on her favourite dress for the party. |
Turn up |
increase volume or arrive unexpectedly |
Can you turn up the music a little? |
Run out of |
exhaust the supply of |
We ran out of milk, so I need to buy more. |
1. What do you understand by a verb?
Answer: A verb is a word that describes an action, occurrence or state of being in a sentence.
2. What is the difference between action and linking verbs?
Answer: Action verbs show action while linking verbs connect the subject to a description. For example, "Shelly runs fast" (runs is an action verb) versus "Shelly is fast" (“is” is a linking verb).
3. State the use of verbs in a sentence.
Answer: Verbs are usually used to express actions or states of being in a sentence. They can be used alone or with helping verbs to form different tenses.
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