VERBS

Verbs

A verb is a word used to express an action or a state of being.

Examples

Actions: running, jumping, talking, swimming, laughing, sleeping, winning, reading, etc.

States of being: am, is, are, be, being, been, was, were, etc.

How they look in sentences

Often, two verbs can work together to create a verb phrase.

A verb phrase is a collection of two or more verbs working together.

One of these verbs must be the main verb, and any other verbs working with it must be helping verbs.

I am running in the park. They will be talking to each other later today. Yesterday, I was hoping that the quiz would be easy.

Helping verbs and main verbs

A verb phrase consists of two or more verbs. One must be the main verb, and the rest must be helping verbs.

A helping verb is used to create tenses or modality.

A main verb expresses the action or a state of being.

Common helping verbs

Forms of to be:am is are bebeing been was were

Forms of to do:do does did

Forms of to have:had has have

Other common helping verbs:can could may mightmust shall should willwould

Examples

Highlight the verb phrase in the following sentences. Then, identify the helping verbs (if present) and the main verb in each sentence.

He did play in the game. He did his homework. She is driving to the store. She is the chief engineer. They have several bears at the zoo. They have recently decided to move to New

York.

Classifying verbs

Besides classifying all verbs as being either helping verbs or main verbs, we can also classify verbs two other ways.

Action verbs and non-action verbs Transitive verbs and intransitive verbs

Action and non-action verbs

An action verb is a verb that expresses either physical or mental activity.

Physical activities: laugh, talk, write, run, etc.

Mental activities: wish, trust, dream, think, etc.

Action and non-action verbs

A non-action verb connects the subject of the sentence to a word or word group that identifies or describes the subject.

The eight most common non-action verbs are: am, is, are, be, being, been, was, were

Non-action verbs

Even though the verbs am, is, are, be, being, been, was, and were are common non-action verbs, there are many other words that are commonly used as non-action verbs, such as:

look, smell, sound, taste, feel, appear, remain, seem, etc.

Non-action verbs in sentences Take a look at the following sentences,

and identify the verb in each one. Why must each verb be considered a non-action verb?

The oranges taste delicious. His hair feels soft and smooth. The carpet appears ruined. These shoes seem brand new.

Important note

We can classify every individual verb as an action verb or a non-action verb.

However, if we have a verb phrase, we must classify the entire phrase as being an action verb phrase or a non-action verb phrase.

Important tip

The easiest way to determine if a verb is an action verb of a non-action verb is to follow the following steps.

Find every verb (or verb phrase). Replace the verb (or verb phrase) with a form

of “to be” (am, is, are, be, being, been, was, were).

If the sentence makes sense, then the verb is a non-action verb.

If the sentence does not make sense, the original verb must be an action verb.

Practice

Identify the follow verbs, and classify each verb as an action verb or a non-action verb.

Kyle shared his story with the class. The music sounded loud. Even after the storm, the garden

remained healthy. I sang the song with the rest of the choir. I might be wrong, but he seems angry. The computer crashed at the worst time.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

The last way we can classify verbs is to label them transitive or intransitive.

Just as with action and non-action verbs, if there are two or more verbs working together (as a verb phrase), we will classify the entire phrase as being a transitive verb phrase or an intransitive verb phrase.

Definitions

A transitive verb is a verb that expresses an action directed towards a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.

An intransitive verb expresses an action without the action being passed to a receiver, or it tells something about the subject.

Based off these definitions, what sort of verb can never be transitive?

Determining if a verb is transitive

We know that non-action verbs can never be transitive.

However, just because a verb is an action verb does not mean it has to be transitive.

If we know that a verb is an action verb, we need to perform a quick test to see if it is transitive or not.

Determining if a verb is transitive

Step I: Determine that the verb is an action verb.

Step II:Say the verb and ask “who?” or “what?” right after it.

Example: I made that. Made who? Made what?

Step III: If there is something in the sentence that answers either of those questions, the verb must be transitive.

If there is nothing to answer either question, the verb must be intransitive.

Practice

My brother is a doctor.

I walked my dog around the neighborhood.

I walked around the neighborhood.

I baked them cookies as a thank you for their help.

I told her about the quiz tomorrow.

I left my uniform in my gym locker.

The salad tastes delicious.

More practice

I told everyone about the movie.

My sisters were late for dinner.

They are my teammates, and I will do anything for them.

I wrote to them and expressed my concerns.

After five hours on the road, we finally reached our destination.

That calendar is for last year.

My binder contains everything that I need.