English Grammar/Basic Parts of Speech/Verbs

A verb is a word or group of words expressing an action or a state.

Categories of Verbs

Generally, verbs fall into any of four basic categories, based upon their functions. Many verbs have more than one function and therefore can be considered to fall into more than one category.

1. Action verbs describe physical or mental action.
   • Transitive verbs take a direct and/or indirect object.
   • Intransitive verbs take no object.
     (Note: Passive verbs always are intransitive, but they become transitive when changed to the active mood.)
2. Linking verbs connect the subject of a sentence to its complements: a predicate noun, a predicate pronoun or a predicate adjective. They do not express action and thus may be considered intransitive. They include:
   • The forms of “to be,” (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, become and became.)
   • Various verbs related to the senses (appear, feel, look, smell, sound, taste, etc.)
   • Verbs expressing condition or placement of the subject (become, grow, remain, seem, stay, etc.)
3. Auxiliary verbs are used to inflect various verb tenses, moods, etc. The auxiliary verbs are:
   • The forms of “to be,” (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been.)
   • The forms of “have,” (has, have, had.)
   • The forms of “do,” (do, does, did.)
4. Modal verbs are used to express influence over the subject of the sentence, e.g. duty/obligation, ability/permission, volition, or necessity. The modal verbs are as follows.
   • May, might, and must
   • Can and could
   • Will, would, shall, and should
   • Ought (to), had better and had best
   • Have to and need to
   • Used to
   • Dare

Some verbs can function as either linking or action verbs depending on how they are used.

• The drainage smelled foul. (Linking verb)
• The dog smelled the blooming flowers. (Action verb)

Other verbs can function as either linking or auxiliary verbs, again depending on usage.

• The man in the bow tie was barking mad. (Linking verb)
• The woman was trying to help him anyway. (Auxiliary verb)

Verb Phrases

Verb phrases are formed by the combination of linking or auxiliary/modal verbs with main verbs to complete an idea.

Linking/Auxiliary/Modal Verb	+	Main Verb	=	Verb Phrase
is	+	singing	=	is singing
would have	+	gone	=	would have gone
will have been	+	working	=	will have been working

Principal Parts of Verbs

The principal parts are a verb’s basic forms, from which its other forms can be created by inflection or conjugation. In English, there are three principal parts. These are the simple present indicative, the simple past indicative, and the past perfect indicative.

It is worth noting that lists or recitations of principal parts in English often omit the third principal part’s auxiliary verb, rendering it identically to its grammatically distinct participial form.

There are two kinds of verb in English, regular (or weak) and irregular (or strong). Regular verbs’ second and third principal parts are identical (with the exception that the third principal part takes the auxiliary verb “have”), e.g. play, played, (have) played. Irregular verbs’ second and/or third principal parts contain at least a stem vowel change, e.g. do, did, (have) done.

Regular Verbs

Regular, or weak, verbs form the second principal part by appending -(e)d to the first principal part. (Note that for some verbs, the final consonant is doubled before adding the -ing.) The third principal part is formed by appending -(e)d to the first principal part, combined with use of the auxiliary verb “have.”

The Participle I (more commonly called the “present participle”) is formed by appending -ing to the first principal part. The Participle III (more commonly called the “past participle”) is identical in inflection to the third principal part sans auxiliary verb.

Following is a list of some regular verbs in their different parts.

Simple Present Present Participle	Simple Past	Past Perfect Past Participle
carry carrying	carried	(have) carried carried
cruise cruising	cruised	(have) cruised cruised
dance dancing	danced	(have) danced danced
drop dropping	dropped	(have) dropped dropped
evolve evolving	evolved	(have) evolved evolved
jump jumping	jumped	(have) jumped jumped
picnic picnicking	picnicked	(have) picnicked picnicked
scream screaming	screamed	(have) screamed screamed
work working	worked	(have) worked worked

Irregular Verbs

Irregular, or strong, verbs have different ways of forming their principal parts. They can be described as belonging to one of five classes

Class 1

Class 1 verbs have the same form across all three principal parts.

Simple Present Present Participle	Simple Past	Past Perfect Past Participle
burst bursting	burst	(have) burst burst
cost costing	cost	(have) cost cost
cut cutting	cut	(have) cut cut
hit hitting	hit	(have) hit hit
hurt hurting	hurt	(have) hurt hurt
put putting	put	(have) put put
read reading	read	(have) read read
set setting	set	(have) set set
shut shutting	shut	(have) shut shut

Class 2

Class 2 verbs have a vowel change in the simple past and past perfect tenses. Note that got is both Class 2 and Class 3, taking an optional -en in the third principal part.

Simple Present Present Participle	Simple Past	Past Perfect Past Participle
bring bringing	brought	(have) brought brought
catch catching	caught	(have) caught caught
fight fighting	fought	(have) fought fought
flee fleeing	fled	(have) fled fled
fling flinging	flung	(have) flung flung
get getting	got	(have) got/gotten got/gotten
lead leading	led	(have) led led
lend lending	lent	(have) lent lent
lose losing	lost	(have) lost lost
say saying	said	(have) said said
seek seeking	sought	(have) sought sought
shine shining	shone	(have) shone shone
sit sitting	sat	(have) sat sat
sting stinging	stung	(have) stung stung
swing swinging	swung	(have) swung swung
teach teaching	taught	(have) taught taught
wind winding	wound	(have) wound wound

Class 3

Class 3 verbs take a vowel change in the simple past and form the past perfect by adding an -(e)n to the simple past. Note that bear, bite, and shear do not follow this pattern exactly.

Simple Present Present Participle	Simple Past	Past Perfect Past Participle
bear bearing	bore	(have) borne borne
beat beating	beat	(have) beaten beaten
bite biting	bit	(have) bitten bitten
break breaking	broke	(have) broken broken
choose choosing	chose	(have) chosen chosen
freeze freezing	froze	(have) frozen frozen
shear shearing	sheared	(have) shorn shorn
speak speaking	spoke	(have) spoken spoken
steal stealing	stole	(have) stolen stolen
swear swearing	swore	(have) sworn sworn
tear tearing	tore	(have) torn torn
wear wearing	wore	(have) worn worn

Class 4

Class 4 vowels change i in the present to a in the simple past and u in the past perfect.

Simple Present Present Participle	Simple Past	Past Perfect Past Participle
begin beginning	began	(have) begun begun
drink drinking	drank	(have) drunk drunk
ring ringing	rang	(have) rung rung
shrink shrinking	shrank	(have) shrunk shrunk
sing singing	sang	(have) sung sung
sink sinking	sank	(have) sunk sunk
spring springing	sprang/sprung	(have) sprung sprung
swim swimming	swam	(have) swum swum

Class 5

Class 5 verbs take a vowel change in the simple past but form the past perfect from the present.

Simple Present Present Participle	Simple Past	Past Perfect Past Participle
blow blowing	blew	(have) blown blown
come coming	came	(have) come come
do	did	(have) done done
draw drawing	drew	(have) drawn drawn
drive driving	drove	(have) driven driven
eat eating	ate	(have) eaten eaten
fall falling	fell	(have) fallen fallen
give giving	gave	(have) given given
go going	went	(have) gone gone
grow growing	grew	(have) grown grown
know knowing	knew	(have) known known
ride riding	rode	(have) ridden ridden
rise rising	rose	(have) risen risen
run running	ran	(have) run run
see seeing	saw	(have) seen seen
shake shaking	shook	(have) shaken shaken
slay slaying	slew	(have) slain slain
take taking	took	(have) taken taken
throw throwing	threw	(have) thrown thrown
write writing	wrote	(have) written written

Tenses of Verbs

A verb takes different forms to show when an action occurs. These forms are called tenses. The table below shows the six basic tenses (the three simple tenses and the three perfect tenses) and the special forms of a verb: the six progressive forms and two emphatic forms. Problems in using the tenses are also included. Note: In the formation of the passive voice, only two progressive forms are included.

Simple Tense

Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense encompasses the past, present and future time.
Formation:

Active	Passive
-3rd person singular, present form +-s/-es -other singular/plural forms, use unchanged present form.	-am,is,are + past participle

Uses

1. Expresses present action or condition
2. Expresses regularly occurring action or condition
3. Expresses constant action or condition
4. Expresses introduction to a quotation
5. Expresses past historical action or a piece of literature as if happening now to make description more vivid and realistic
6. Expresses future time when sentence contains adverb or phrase indicating the future
7. Expresses action or condition as in present perfect tense

Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense indicates that an action terminated in the past.
Formation:

Active	Passive
-regular verbs +-d / -ed -irregular verbs, use past form	-was, were + past participle

Uses

1. Expresses action or condition that happened at a definite time in the past
2. Expresses action or condition that began and ended in the past
3. Expresses polite speech

Special Forms of a Verb

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Problems in Using Tenses

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Improper Shifts in Tense and Form The same tense must be express two or more actions that occur in the same time.

• A shift in tense within a sentence or between consecutive sentences must be avoided.

Incorrect: I watched television and my brother plays computer last night.
Correct: I watched television and my brother played computer last night.

• A shift in tense may be necessary to show a logical sequence of actions or the relationship of one action to another. This is considered correct.

Example: The Beatles had performed (past perfect) in small German clubs before they conquered (past) the international scene. By the time our team wins (present) the World Cup, the Ice Age will have returned (future perfect).

Voices of Verbs

The voice of verbs indicates whether its subject is the performer or the receiver of the action the verb expresses.

• Active voice shows that the subject is the doer or performer of the action. It is preferred in writing because it is more forceful and direct than the passive voice.
• Passive voice shows that the subject is the receiver of the action. it is used in the following:
  • to express an action when the doer of the action is unknown.
  • to describe an ongoing experience
  • to avoid giving a direct order or to state a rule.
  • to express action when the doer is not important.

Moods of Verbs

Mood identifies the manner in which a verb expresses an idea.

The Three Moods of Verbs

1. The indicative mood states a fact or asks a question.
2. The subjunctive mood is used to express:
   • a wish or a condition that is contrary to fact.
   • a command or request after the word that.
3. The imperative mood gives a command or makes a request. Verbs in this mood are always in the present tense and second person.

Note: The indicative and subjunctive moods have the same forms except for the following:

• In the third=person singular, the -s is omitted from verbs.
• The form of the verb to be is always be in the present subjunctive mood.
• The form of the verb to be is always were in the past subjunctive mood.

Commonly Confused Verbs

Bring and Take

Base form	Continuous form	Past form	Past participle
Bring	Bringing	brought	brought

Hang

Base form	Continuous form	Past form	Past participle
Hang	Hanging	Hanged/Hung	Hanged/Hung

Learn and Teach

Base form	Continuous form	Past form	Past participle
Learn	Learning	Learned/Learnt	Learned/Learnt
Teach	Teaching	Taught	Taught

Let and Leave

Base form	Continuous form	Past form	Past participle
Let	Letting	Let	Let
Leave	Leaving	Left	Left

Lie, Lay and Lie

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Base form	Continuous form	Past form	Past participle
lie	lying	lied	lied
Lay	Laying	laid	Laid
lie	lying	lay	lain

Rise and Raise

Base form	Continuous from	Past form	Past participle
Rise	Rising	Rose	Risen
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Sit and Set

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