Verbs

A verb is one of the main parts of a sentence or question in English.
In fact, you can't have a sentence or a question without a verb! That's how important it is.
The verb signals an action, an occurrence or a state of being.

Action Verbs are verbs that express action. Ex: run, walk, do, drive.

I'll do my homework when I get home.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Most action verbs are defined as transitive or intransitive. This means that some are used with a direct object (the person or thing that receives the action of the subject) and others don't need a direct object. Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive depending on their meaning.

1. Transitive Verb - Joe will send the price quote as soon as he can.
2. Intransitive Verb - Many of the students are not well. They coughed throughout the lesson.

Auxiliary (or Helping) verbs are used together with a main verb to show the verb's tense or to form a negative or question. The most common auxiliary verbs are have, be, and do.

1. Does Sam write all his own reports?
2. The secretaries haven't written all the letters yet.
3. Terry is writing an e-mail to a client at the moment.

Stative verbs are verbs that express a state rather than an action. They usually relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being and measurements. These verbs are not usually used with ing in progressive (continuous) tenses even though they may take on time expressions such as now and at the moment. We use the simple tenses for them.

1. Paul feels rotten today. He has a bad cold.
2. Do you recognize him? He is a famous rock star.
3. Our client appreciated all the work we did for him.

• Incorrect: I'm smelling your wife's wonderful spaghetti sauce.
• Correct: I smell your wife’s wonderful spaghetti sauce.

However, there are some verbs that look like they should be stative, but may appear in the ing form. These verbs differ in meaning to the stative verbs.

Examples:

see

1. I see Michael, but he can't see me. I’m too far away. (I see him with my eyes.)
2. James is seeing Marsha. They’ve been together for a month. (He's dating her.)

hear

1. I hear music coming from the Smith’s apartment. Someone must be home now. (To experience sound)
2. I'm hearing voices. (I'm imagining it)

have

1. Jeremy has a Mercedes. (He owns it.)
2. Sara is having lunch with her editor. (She's eating lunch)

Modals are verbs that are usually used with another verb to express possibility, necessity, and permission. Ex: can, could, may, might, should, ought to, will, would.

1. I may see you later on today.
2. Should I close the door?

Phrasal verbs are groups of words that are used as verbs and usually made up of a verb and a preposition. Ex. break down, check in, tear up.

Ella tore up the letter after she read it.

Perfect Tenses

The perfect tenses describe actions that have already been completed or that began in the past and are relevant to the present or that will have happened at a particular time in the future. They are also referred to as the perfective aspect.

Irregular verbs are verbs that don't take on the regular –d, -ed, or -ied spelling patterns of the past simple (V2) or past participle (V3). Many of the irregular V2 and V3 forms are the same, such as: cut - cut, had - had, let - let, hurt - hurt, fed- fed, sold-sold

There are many verbs and verb forms that cause problems for native and non-native Englsih speakers alike.

1. Do, Does, Did – The Verb to do
2. Have, Has, Had – The Verb to have
3. Am, Is, Are, Was, Were, Been – The Verb to be

Many verbs sound so similar that it’s easy to get confused between them. Here is a list of some of the most common confusing verb pairs, their meanings and examples of how they should be used in a sentence.

A gerund is a verb in its –ing form that functions as a noun. It can appear at the beginning of a sentence when used as a subject, as an object following the verb, or as an object after a preposition. Ex: swimming, helping, jogging.

1. Jogging is a hobby of mine.
2. Daniel quit smoking a year ago.
3. I look forward to helping you paint the house.

Some verbs may be followed by either a gerund or and infinitive.

A verb that appears with a to before it. An infinitive is usually used as an object following the verb but can also be used at the beginning of a sentence as a subject.
Ex: to buy, to hear, to travel

1. You promised to buy me a diamond ring.
2. To travel around the world requires a lot of time and money.

Some verbs may be followed by either a gerund or and infinitive.

In general we tend to use the active voice. That is when a subject does an action to an object.

1. Somebody stole my laptop. (subject = Somebody / action(verb) = stole / object = my laptop)

The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is.

1. My laptop was stolen. (The object – now the subject = My laptop / action= was stolen)

1. Passive: Napa Valley is known for its excellent wines.
2. Active: [Many people] know Napa Valley for its excellent wines.

1. Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb explosion.
2. Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the bomb explosion.