Verbs
Verbs
Verbs generally express action or a state of being. There
are several classifications for verbs- action verbs,/linking verbs, main
verbs/auxiliary verbs, transitive/intransitive and phrasal verbs.
1. Action verbs show
action.
He runs. He plays. They study.
2. Linking Verbs link the
subject to an adjective.
Ricky Martin is beautiful.
The linking verb is links
the adjective beautiful with the subject Ricky Martin.
1. Main verbs can stand
alone.
2. Auxiliary verbs, also
called helping verbs, serve as support to the main verb.
The most common auxiliary verbs are:
Have, has, had
Do, does, did
Be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been
Should, could, will, would, might, can, may, must, shall,
ought (to)
For example:
For example:
Tai has runeveryday.
Run is an
action verb. The subject can actually "do" it.
Has is the
helping verb. It helps the main verb run to
be present perfect tense.
Verbs can be transitive or intransitive.
- Transitive Verbs require a direct object in order to make sense.
For Example:
Yolanda takes aspirin for her headaches.
Here, takes is a
transitive verb since the sentence Yolanda takes has no meaning without its
direct object aspirin.
- Intransitive Verbs do not need direct objects
to make them meaningful. For Example:
Julio swims.
The verb swim has meaning for the reader without an object.
The verb swim has meaning for the reader without an object.
Caution: A verb can be
either transitive or intransitive depending on its context. For Example:
The cars race. – Here, raceis
intransitive. It does not need an object.
My father races horses. –
Here, races is transitive. It
requires the object horses in
order to make sense.
Verbs can be phrasal.
- Phrasal verbs are made up of a verb and a preposition.
The preposition gives the verb a different meaning than it would have by
itself. For example, the verb look has
a different meaning from the phrasal verb look up (in the dictionary).
Some more examples:
call up, find out, hand in,
make up, put off, turn on, write up
WARNING: The
base form of a verb is called the infinitive. It is to + verb. For example, to
do, to win, to study, etc. Under no circumstance can a verb preceded by to be
considered a verb. Infinitives are
not verbs.
