Verbs

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Verbs

Verbs

7 Lessons

2 hours 20 mins

Free

Introduction to verbs

Verbs are the words in a sentence that indicate an action, a state of being, or possession. Some examples.

action state of being possession
I walk to school. I feel tired. This belongs to me
She runs fast. You look great! He has good ideas.
It rains in Paris. We believe you. She and Tom own a car.
They drink tea. You and he are tall. They had two dogs.

In English, verbs have three general forms: the infinitive form, the base form, and the conjugated form. The infinitive form  is always preceded by the word to. The base form is the same as the infinitive but without to. The base form  is what you look for in the dictionary. The infinitive and base forms are neutral: There is no tense or person inflected in the verb.

infinitive
form		 base
form
to eat eat
to drink drink
to sleep sleep

A conjugated form of a verb indicates when an action takes place (present, past, or future). Sometimes the verb indicates who or what is doing the action though usually English requires a subject in order to determine who or what is doing the action. Here are some examples of conjugated verbs:

She is tired. third person singular of BE – simple present
They went home third person plural of GO – simple past
Tom will call you. modal verb WILL and the verb CALL – future construction

Except for the verb BE and modal verbs, all English verbs have only two conjugations in the simple present and only one in the simple past. The verb BE has three conjugations in the simple present and two in the simple past. Modal verbs are not conjugated. Click on the links above to learn.

Like many languages, English has regular verbs and irregular verbs. An English regular verb is a verb in which the simple past is formed by the addition of the morpheme –ed to the base form of the verb. (There are a few small irregularities concerning this morpheme. To learn more, click on simple past.) A regular verb also means that the past participle form is the same as the simple past form. Here are examples of regular verbs in the base form, the simple past, and the past participle form.

regular verbs
base  form simple past past participle
call called called
belong belonged belonged
anticipate anticipated anticipated

For irregular verbs, the simple past is formed by a change in spelling. The past participle sometimes maintains the same form as the simple past, but not always. Other times, the simple past and the past participle are the same as the base form.

irregular verbs
base  form simple past past participle
see saw seen
think thought thought
cut cut cut

Some verbs are called transitive verbs. These verbs are followed by nouns or pronouns that serve as direct objects in the sentence. In general, English sentence structure follows this pattern: subject + verb + direct object.

subject verb object
I own a car.
She loves Tom.
They plant trees.
The tree has leaves.

These verbs require a direct object. Without a direct object, the sentences are incomplete.

correct incorrect
subject verb object
I own a car. I own.
She loves Tom. She loves.
They plant trees. They plant.
The tree has leaves. The tree has.

Verbs that do not require a direct object are called intransitive verbs. Here are some examples:

subject verb
Birds fly.
Fish swim.
Tom snores.
They agree.

Some verbs in English can be both transitive and intransitive, Here are examples:

intransitive transitive
subject verb object subject verb
They cook dinner. They cook.
Alicia teaches English. Alicia teaches.
I won a toy. I won.

Lessons

  1. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

    Intermediate

    20 mins

    Verbs in English can be divided into two groups: Transitive verbs and Intransitive verbs. What are transitive and intransitive verbs?  While the concepts might sound difficult, they are easier to understand when you think about the verb and whether there is an object receiving the action of the verb. 

  2. Stative and Dynamic Verbs

    Elementary

    20 mins

    Verbs in English can be classified into two categories: stative verbs and dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs (sometimes referred to as "action verbs") usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen

  3. Regular and irregular verbs

    Intermediate

    30 mins

    A regular verb is any verb whose conjugation follows the typical pattern, or one of the typical patterns, of the language to which it belongs. A verb whose conjugation follows a different pattern is called an irregular verb.

  4. Phrasal verbs

    Intermediate

    30 mins

    A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb together with an adverb or a preposition, or both. Typically, their meaning is not obvious from the meanings of the individual words themselves.

  5. Causative Verbs

    Intermediate

    20 mins

    In English grammar, a causative verb is a verb used to indicate that some person or thing makes — or helps to make — something happen. Examples of causative verbs include make, cause, allow, help, have, enable, keep, hold, let, force, and require, which can also be referred to as causal verbs or simply causatives.

  6. Finite and non-finite verbs

    Elementary

    20 mins

    In a sentence, there is normally at least one verb that has both a subject and a tense. When a verb has a subject and a tense, it can be referred to as a finite verb. Some forms of a verb are referred to as non-finite. The present and past participles and the to infinitive are the most common of these.

  7. Types of verbs

    Beginner

    Before you begin the verb tense lessons, it is extremely important to understand that NOT all English verbs are the same. English verbs are divided into three groups: normal verbs, non-continuous verbs, and mixed verbs.
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