What is A Verb Definition | And Examples

What is A Verb?

What is a verb? A verb is a word or a combination of words that indicates the state of a verb or entity or condition. A verb is part of a sentence, which tells us what the subject performs. Verbs are the heart of English sentences.

Examples:

• Jacob walks in the morning. (A common verb)
• Mike is going to school. (A condition of action)
• Albert does not like to walk. (A negative verb)
• Anna is a good girl. (A condition)
• Verbs related to many more factors such as subject, person, number, tense, voice, etc.

Basic Forms of Verbs

There are six basic forms of verbs. These forms are as follows:

1. Base form: Children play on the field.
2. Infinitive: Tell them not to play
3. Past tense: They played football yesterday.
4. Past participation: I ate a burger.
5. Participants in attendance: I watched him play today.
6. Gerund: Swimming is the best practice.

Different Types of Verbs

• Finite Verbs
• Non-finite Verbs
• Action Verbs
• Linking Verb
• Auxiliary Verbs
• Modal Verbs

Finite Verbs

Limited verbs are actual verbs that say the roots of sentences. It is a form of verb that performs or manages a subject and is used in one of the twelve forms and changes according to the number/ person of the subject.

Example:

• Alex went to school. (Subject-Alex-Performed the verb in the past
• Robert plays hockey.
• He is playing for Australia.
• He is one of the best players. (Here, the verb ‘yes’ directly refers to the subject)

Non-finite Verbs

Non-finite Verbs are not actual verbs. They do not act as verbs in the sentence but they do not act as nouns, adjectives, adjectives etc.- Limited verbs do not change according to the number/ person of the subject because these verbs, also called verbs, have no direct relation to the subject.

• Sometimes they become the subject themselves.

• The forms of verb-non-verb actions are - unique, finesse and partnership (becomes finite verbs when participants take specific verbs)

 

Example:

• Alex went abroad to play (Infinites)
• Playing cricket is his only job. (Participants present)
• I have a broken bat (past perfect)
• Walking is a good habit. (Gerund)

Action Verbs

Action of Verbs indicate that they perform the subject of the sentence Action Verbs can make the listener/ reader feel emotional, make the scenes look clearer and more accurate.

• Action Verbs can be transitive or uninterrupted.

• Transitive verbs must have a direct object. A transitive verb demands to work with something/ someone.

 

Example:

• I drew the car. (The verb ‘paint’ claims to draw an object)
• He is reading the newspaper. (The verb ‘read’ asks “what is he reading?” - the answer is)

Interventional actions do not depend on anything. They can be followed by an adjective, verb adjective, preparation, or another part of speech.

Examples:

• She laughed. (The verb ‘smile’ cannot have any object, since the verb ‘smile’ does not fall on anything/ anyone)
• I wake up at 6 in the morning. (No object required for this action)

Note: {+Subject+ Interactive verb} a is enough to make a complete sentence but {subject+ transitive verb} is not enough because transitive verbs demand direct objects.

Linking Verb

A connecting verb adds detail about the sentence in the sentence. At its maximum, it connects the subject and the complement-the words that follow the linking verb. This creates a link between them instead of showing the verb.

• Often, each side part of the linking verb is equivalent; The supplement gives a new definition or reset to the subject.

• Linking verbs are usually called 'to' verbs which are - am, is, was, was but there are some other verbs that can act as verb connections. 

These actions are:
Law, feel, stay, present, become, feel, smell, sound, increase, look, proof, stay, taste, turn.

Some of the verbs in this list may also be verbs. To determine if they are linking verbs, you should try replacing them with forms of verbs. If the modified sentence refers, that verb is a linking verb.

Example:

• He appeared ready for the game. (He's ready to play.)
• The food looked delicious. (The food was delicious.)
• You look happy. (You're happy.)

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are also called helping actions. An auxiliary verb extends the main verb by helping to show time, duration, probability etc. The auxiliary verbs are-be, stay and do.

• These are used in continuous (progressive) and perfect periods.

• Linking verbs act as the main verb in the sentence but auxiliary verbs help the main verb.

• Tax is a helpful verb that is used to ask questions, to express contempt, to emphasize and much more.

 

Example:

• Alex is going to school.
• They are walking in the park.
• I saw a movie.
• Do you drink tea
• Don't waste your time.
• Please submit your assignment.

Modal Verbs

A model verb is just one kind of auxiliary verb. It helps the main verb to indicate possibilities, possibilities, powers, permissions, expectations and obligations.

Model verbs are, could, must, may, should, should, should, should.

Example:

• I want to talk to you again.
• They must play their best game to win.
• She should call him.
• I'll go there.

Conclusion 

Ready to have a little fun now understand what the action is? Here are some action verbs used to test your knowledge, as well as some helpful verbs to help you or your students put their actions to the point.

If you have any questions after reading the whole article, you can do it. And if you want to know more about the grammar rules, click on the link. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Verbs in English Grammar

What is a verb?

Answer: Verbs can be an essential part of speech, without which it is impossible to indicate what the subject is doing. It refers to all actions related to feelings and emotions. Verbs come in different types and forms so they can function differently to make a complete meaning.

What is a verb phrase?

Answer: A verb phrase is a group of words that function syntactically as a verb and its complement, object, or other modifier. To put it another way, the verb phrase includes the verb as well as other parts of the sentence that work together with the verb to explain what action happened or what state something was in. A verb phrase always includes a verb and can include direct object(s) and indirect object(s). (We'll define these shortly.) Importantly, the verb phrase does not include the subject. In English, a subject and a verb phrase combine to form a complete sentence.

What are the types of verbs?

Answer: Verbs can generally be classified into three main categories that refer to them convince. Just as verbs refer to actions, verbs refer to experiences or feelings and verbs referring to a state or condition. Additionally, it can be classified as supportive verbs (otherwise called helping verbs), modal verbs, phrasal verbs and linking verbs.

How are verbs used?

Answer: In general, we use verbs to tell what a person or thing is doing or to give information about their state of existence. Generally, we use verbs to describe specific physical actions, mental actions, or states of being.

What are the different verb forms in the English language?

Answer: In the English language, there are eight (8) to nine (9) verb forms including the main verb, the third person singular present form of the verb, the present participle, the simple past, the past participle, gerunds, infinitives, active voice, and verbs.