What Is a Verb

What Is a Verb

In Module 1 you learned about nouns, but as you've probably guessed, a sentence needs a lot more to make it interesting. It needs some "pep," something to get it moving—and that's where the verb comes in. You can think of the noun as the driver (called the subject), the verb as the engine (the predicate), and the entire sentence as the car. You need both a driver and an engine in order for the car to go anywhere.

Definition: When most people think about verbs, they think about the first type: action verbs, also called dynamic verbs. This kind of verb tells you what's happening or what someone is doing. Some action verbs describe physical actions, and they are easy to spot because you can observe them with at least one of your five senses. These are words such as jump, sing, and eat. On the other hand, some action verbs are more abstract, and they're easy to miss sometimes because you can't always observe them with your five senses. These are words such as think, learn, and decide. Take a look at the examples below to see how action verbs are used in a sentence.

Physical Actions

The neighbor's cats meow loudly.
You hear the meow and you may see the cat open its mouth to meow.

Trucks speed down the highway.
You can see the truck speeding and probably hear the motor too.

Waves crash on the shore.
You can see and hear the wave and even feel it crash if you're standing close enough.

Abstract Actions

Students learn new material every day.
You can't actually look into someone's brain and see the learning process, but learning is still an action.

I think my shoes are under the bed.
You can't really see the thoughts going through the person's mind, but thinking is still an action. It's what you're doing.

 Linking Verbs

Definition: Unlike action verbs, linking verbs show a relationship between the main noun (also called the subject) and another word that describes that noun. The describing word can be an adjective or another noun. The most common linking verb is to be and its forms am, is, are, was, were, be, being, and been.

My cat is furry.
The verb is links the main noun, cat, with a describing word, furry. Furry is an example of an adjective.

My childhood dog was an Akita.
In this sentence, the verb was links the noun dog to another noun, Akita. The second noun tells us the breed of the dog.

Other common linking verbs include appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, and turn.

If left too long, the milk may turn sour.
I feel refreshed after that nap.

Hint:

 Sometimes you may not be sure whether a verb is a linking verb, but there is an easy way to tell: you can replace any linking verb with a form of to be. If the sentence makes sense and has almost the same meaning, you have a linking verb.

The milk may turn be sour.
I feel am refreshed.
Laurie appears is tired.

You'll learn more about this concept in the

Action vs. Linking Verbs

Can You Tell the Difference Between an Action Verb and a Linking Verb?

The verbs appear, become, feel, get, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, and turn can act either as action verbs or linking verbs. In order to tell the difference, you have to pay attention to how each type of verb is used in a sentence—linking verbs are used for descriptions, whereas action verbs tell you what someone (or something) is doing.

Linking

Kelly grows tired after hours of gardening.
The adjective tired describes Kelly. Kelly is tired after she gardens.

Action

Kelly grows sunflowers in her yard.
This sentence tells us what Kelly is doing—she plants sunflowers and grows them.

Hint:

 Remember, you can replace linking verbs with a form of to be (am, is, are, was, were, etc.) but you can't do the same thing with action verbs.

Kelly grows tired. = Kelly is tired.
Kelly grows sunflowers. ≠ Kelly is sunflowers.

In the second example, replacing grows with is creates a nonsense sentence. The noun sunflowers does not describe Kelly; she's not a sunflower.

Helping Verbs

Definition: All sentences need at least one main verb; however, certain tenses, sentence structures, and ideas require a helping verb (also called an auxiliary verb), which assists the main verb to form a complete thought. Without helping verbs, certain ideas would be impossible to express, and our speech and writing would be dull and incomplete. Remove the helping verb, and you might end up sounding like a caveman (or woman)! Try removing the helping verb from any of the examples in this lesson and you'll get the idea.

Verb Phrases

Helping verbs and main verbs combine to form verb phrases. The main verb is always the last verb in the phrase.

Helping Verb + Main Verb = Verb Phrase

Common Helping Verbs

Below you will learn about the most common helping verbs and how they're used. You'll notice that many helping verbs are used in specific verb tenses. The tense of a verb tells us the time period when an action occurs, such as in the present, past, or future. You'll learn more about this concept in Lesson 8.

To be: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been

• Progressive Tenses
  Earlier, you learned that to be is a linking verb, but in many situations, it's a helping verb. For example, it's used in the progressive tenses, which combine the forms of to be with verbs ending in -ing.

  Present Progressive:
  I am writing this sentence.
  am + writing = verb phrase

  Past Progressive:
  It was raining, so we couldn't play outside.
  was + raining = verb phrase

• Passive Voice
  The verb to be is also used in the passive voice, which combines the forms of to be with verbs ending in -ed or -en. These verbs are called participles.

  Make sure all your assignments are completed by Thursday.
  are + completed = verb phrase

  This sentence was written.
  was + written = verb phrase

  Note:

  Sometimes the participle will have a different ending instead of -ed or -en, but you will learn about this concept in a later lesson.

To have: have, has, had, having

• Perfect Tenses
  The verb to have combines with verbs ending in -ed and -en to form the perfect tenses. (They're not really "perfect" tenses; that's just their name.)

  Present Perfect:
  It has rained so many days in a row that I can't remember the last time the sun was out!
  has + rained = verb phrase

  Past Perfect:
  We didn't realize the pickpocket had stolen our wallets until she was already long gone.
  had + stolen = verb phrase

To do: do, does, did

• Questions
  Unlike to be and to have, to do isn't used as part of any particular verb tense—but it still has several important jobs. One of them is to form questions. You'll notice that in questions, a noun or pronoun splits the verb phrase.

  Do you know what time it is?
  do + know = verb phrase
  you = pronoun

• Negative Statements
  To do also helps to form not statements, which are called negative statements. In this type of sentence, the word not splits the verb phrase.

  I do not know what time it is because I lost my cell phone.
  do + know = verb phrase
  not = adverb

  Hint:

  Remember that don't, doesn't, and didn't are contractions for do not, does not, and did not. The word not, which is an adverb, is not part of the helping verb.

• Emphasis
  Finally, you can use to do as an emphatic verb to help clarify or add intensity to the main verb.

  Yes, I do know your Uncle Joe.

  There may have been confusion about whether you know Uncle Joe or not. The helping verb do is used to make it crystal clear that you know him.

  I did buy milk yesterday.

  Here, to do is in the past tense. The person making the statement is clarifying that he or she already bought milk.

  Note:

  There is no future emphatic because you can't emphasize something that hasn't happened yet.

Modals (also called modal auxiliaries): can, could, may, might, shall, will, would, should, must

These verbs express ability, possibility, permission, intention, obligation, and necessity.

I can play basketball.
I am able to do it.

I could play basketball.
It is a possibility that I will be able to.

I may play basketball.
This can mean two things: either I have permission to play, or it is a possibility that I will play.

I might play basketball.
It is a possibility. You can use might instead of may to suggest that the possibility is more remote or uncertain.

I shall play basketball.
Shall is more common in British English and is used instead of will for the first person (I shall, you will). It is used to express future actions.

I will play basketall.
It is my intention in the future.

I would play basketball.
It is possible that I'll play under certain conditions.

I should play basketball.
I have an obligation to do it.

I must play basketball.
It is a necessity.

Common Challenges with Helping Verbs

Challenge 1: Questions

Watch out for questions. Often, the subject of the question is located between the helping verb and the main verb.

Are you coming to my party?
are + coming = verb phrase
you = pronoun

Do you prefer chocolate cake or white cake?
do + prefer = verb phrase
you = pronoun

Hint:

 Often, if you rearrange all the words in a question to form a declarative sentence, it is easier to find the verb phrase.

Are you coming to my party?
You are coming to my party.

Challenge 2: Adverbs

Sometimes the verb phrase can be interrupted by an adverb. Be careful not to include the adverb in the verb phrase. Only words on the "Approved List of Helping Verbs" can be helping verbs.

You are not coming to my party.
are + coming = verb phrase
not = adverb

I can definitely go to your party.
can + go = verb phrase
definitely = adverb

Approved List of Helping Verbs
to be	to have	to do	Modals
am are is was were be being been	have has had having	do does did	can could may might shall will would should must

Principal Parts of Verbs

Definition: In English there are four principal parts (also called forms) of a verb. These parts are used to form tenses, which tell us when an action occurred. In this lesson you'll learn the fundamentals about the base verb form, the present and past tenses, and present and past participles. For more in depth information on how to use tenses, visit Lesson 8 and Lesson 10.

Principal Parts
Base/Present	Present Participle	Past	Past Participle
walk	walking	walked	walked
dance	dancing	danced	danced
play	playing	played	played

Introduction to the Present and Past Tenses

The base is the most basic (or root) form of a verb, and it plays a very important role in forming the present and past tenses.

Present Tense

The base alone is used for most forms of the present tense, including the first person (I and we), second person (you), and third person plural (they). The only time the base changes is in the third person singular (he, she, it). To form the third person singular, just add the letter -s to the end of the base.

Present Tense
Person and Number	Example
First Person Singular & Plural (I and we)	I practice piano once a week. We practice piano every day.
Second Person Singular & Plural (You can refer to one person or a group of people.)	You practice piano every other day. Do you girls practice piano every day?
Third Person Plural (they)	They practice piano on the weekends.
Third Person Singular (he, she, it)	She/He practices piano for two hours each day.

Past Tense

To form the past tense, take the base form and add -ed. If the base ends in a silent e, just add -d, not -ed. Unlike the present tense, the past tense always uses the same form regardless of person or number.

Past Tense
Base	Example
walk	I/we/you/she/he/they walked 10 miles to the gas station yesterday.
bake (silent -e)	I/we/you/he/she/they baked fifteen dozen cookies last holiday season.

Introduction to Participles

When used as verbs, participles function as part of a verb phrase and must be accompanied by a helping verb. (There are some other ways to use participles, but you will learn about those in a different lesson.)

Participles
Base	Present Participle	Past Participle
walk	walking	walked
bake (silent -e)	baking	baked

Present Participles

To form a present participle, take the base form of the verb and add -ing. If the verb ends in a silent -e, drop the -e and add -ing. Present participles are used in the progressive tenses, which combine a form of to be (am, is, was, etc.) with a present participle.

My sister is walking to school today.
My brother was watching television when I came home.

Past Participles

Past participles are formed the same way as the past tense—by adding -ed to the base (or just -d if the base ends in a silent -e). Past participles are used in the perfect tenses, which combine a form of to have (have, has, had) with a past participle.

They have hiked this trail many times before.
Before leaving, we made sure we had walked the dog.