VERBS

Verbs have traditionally been defined as words that show action or state of being.

Verbs can also sometimes be recognized by their position in a sentence.

In the following two sentence frames, only a verb can be put into the empty slot.
NOUN __________
(verb)

THERE ________ NOUN

(verb)

Often, prefixes and suffixes (affixes) will signify that a word is a verb. For example,
the suffixes -ify, -ize, -ate, or -en usually signify that a word is a verb, as in typify,
characterize, irrigate,and sweeten. Prefixes such as be-, de-, or en- may signify that a
word is a verb, as in bestow, dethrone, and encourage.
These affixes, often inconsistent from verb to verb, are called derivational affixes.
Added to a word, they either change the word's part of speech
Example:

or change the word's meaning

Example:

The base form of a verb is derived from the verbs infinitive: to + verb

Four suffixes consistently added to a verbs base create all forms of a verb used in all
tenses:

Note:

1. -s

creates 3rd person singular / present tense (He talks.)

2. -ing

creates the present participle / used with be (He is talking.)

3. -ed

creates the simple past (He talked.)

4. -en

creates the past participle / used with have (He has talked.)

The -en verb ending used with a form of to have as an auxiliary is generally
written-ed, as in has talked.

Unlike the derivational affixes, these inflectional suffixes are consistently

used with all verbs, even though their form may look different from verb to
verb.
Because many verbs in English are irregular; as result, their ed and/or en endings
may not follow any obvious pattern.

Examples:

Smith writes short stories at home. (-s ending)

Smith is writing short stories at home. (-ing ending)

(to write)

Smith wrote short stories at home. (-ed ending)

Smith has written short stories at home. (-en ending)

Jones buys a newspaper each day. (-s ending)

Jones is buying a newspaper today. (-ing ending)

(to buy)

Jones bought a newspaper yesterday. (-ed ending)

Jones has bought newspapers every day. (-enending)

(to go)

Students go to the library often. (-s ending)

Students are going to the library often. (-ing ending)

Students went to the library often. (-ed ending)

Students have gone to the library often. (-en ending)

The majority of verbs are regular and consistently use -ed and -en to form their simple
past tense and past participles. (e.g. talked, has talked)

Many verbs are irregular, however, and follow no consistent pattern in creating their ed and/or -en forms. A list of the major irregular verbs is shown below.

Present

Past (-ed form)

Past Participle (-en form)

arise

arose

arisen

ask

asked

asked

attack

attacked

attacked

awaken

awakened OR awoke

awakened

bear

bore

borne/born

begin

began

begun

blow

blew

blown

break

broke

broken

bring

brought

brought

burst

burst

burst

choose

chose

chosen

cling

clung

clung

come

came

come

dive

dived OR dove

dived

do

did

done

drag

dragged

dragged

draw

drew

drawn

drink

drank

drunk

drive

drove

driven

drown

drowned

drowned

eat

ate

eaten

fall

fell

fallen

fly

flew

flown

forgive

forgave

forgiven

freeze

froze

frozen

get

got

got OR gotten

give

gave

given

go

went

gone

grow

grew

grown

hang (things)

hung

hung

hang (people)

hanged

hanged

happen

happened

happened

know

knew

known

lay

laid

laid

lead

led

led

lie

lay

lain

loosen

loosened

loosened

lose

lost

lost

pay

paid

paid

ride

rode

ridden

ring

rang

rung

rise

rose

risen

run

ran

run

see

saw

seen

set

set

set

shake

shook

shaken

shrink

shrank OR shrunk

shrunk OR shrunken

sing

sang

sung

sink

sank OR sunk

sunk

sit

sat

sat

speak

spoke

spoken

spin

spun

spun

spit

spat

spat

spring

sprang OR sprung

sprung

steal

stole

stolen

sting

stung

stung

stink

stank OR stunk

stunk

strive

strove

striven

study

studied

studied

swear

swore

sworn

swim

swam

swum

swing

swung

swung

take

took

taken

tear

tore

torn

throw

threw

thrown

wake

woke OR waked

woken OR waked

wear

wore

worn

weave

wove

woven

wring

wrung

wrung

write

wrote

written

A verb phrase is defined as the main verb together with all its auxiliaries (helping
verbs).
Auxiliary verbs always precede the main verb.
There are two types of auxiliary verbs:
1. Inflected auxiliary verbs:
be

have

do

2. Modal auxiliaries (considered more fully under (auxiliary verbs)

present

past

will

would

shall

should

can

could

may

might

no tense
must

Examples of verb phrases:

He has taken the test.
He is taking the test.
He did take the test.

(auxiliary has + main verb take.)

(auxiliary is + main verb take)
(auxiliary do + main verb take)

He has been taking the

test.

(auxiliaries has been + main verb take)

Verbs may be divided into three types:

A. Action verbs - show an action -- either physical or mental

B. Verbs of being (forms of be - is, are, was, were, has/have/had been, will be) show a state of existence:

C. **Linking verbs - link a subject with its complement

(A subjective complement "completes" / "equals" the subject.)

Linking verbs: appear, taste, smell, feel, look, sound, grow, seem, remain,

become

NOTE: Most linking verbs can also be used as action verbs.

Action verbs may be either transitive or intransitive.

A. A transitive verb is one that is followed by a direct object.
Example:

B. An intransitive verb is one that is NOT followed by a direct object.

Example:

Caution: An intransitive verb may be followed by adjectives, adverbs,

and/or prepositional phrases. As long as the verb is not followed by a
noun or pronoun functioning as the direct object, the verb is intransitive.
Example:

NOTE: Some action verbs may be either transitive or intransitive.

Example: (left)

Another example (read):

Verbs have three moods: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.

A. The indicative mood states a fact, asks a question, or exclaims.

B. The imperative mood gives a command. The subject is always "you" understood.

C. The subjunctive mood occurs in two instances:

1. The sentence indicates a situation contrary to fact.

2. The sentence

shows a wish, desire, or demand

in a nominal clause beginning with that

following verbs such as desire, demand, request, suggest

Grammar Handbook: Regular and Irregular Verbs

Verbs are subdivided into two groups, regular verbs and irregular verbs, on the basis of how
their past tense and past participles are formed. See below for tips on how to distinguish
between them.

Regular Verbs
Most verbs are regular verbs. Regular verbs are those whose past tense and past participles are
formed by adding a -d or an -ed to the end of the verb.
"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
There is no formula to predict how an irregular verb will form its past-tense and past-participle
forms. There are over 250 irregular verbs in English. Although they do not follow a formula,
there are some fairly common irregular forms. Some of these forms are:

break, broke, broken

cut, cut, cut

run, ran, run

meet, met, met

come, came, come

repay, repaid, repaid

swim, swam, swum

be was/were been

Distinguishing Regular and Irregular Verbs

Dictionaries are perhaps the most valuable tool one can use in distinguishing between regular
and irregular verbs. If only one form of the verb is listed, the verb is regular. If the verb is
irregular, the dictionary will list the principal parts of the other forms.