English Grammar - Verb Types

Verbs. A verb is a word, or group of words, that denote an action, or, being, or, possession. A verb says, what a person or a thing does, is, or, has, or, what happens, or, is done to a person or thing. For example. Ravi plays. Here, the verb, plays, is a doing word, also called an action word. It tells what Ravi does. Ravi plays. He is a good player. Here, the verb, is, is a being word. It tells us about him, being a good player. He has a bat. Here, the verb, has, shows possession. It tells that he, has a bat. The clock ticks. Here, the verb, ticks, tells what happens to the clock. The clock ticks. It was broken by a child. Here, the verb, was broken, shows what is done to a thing. It was broken, by a child. Object of the verb. If a question is framed, using the verb, and the word, what, or whom, the word that answers the question, is the object of the verb. For example. The hunter killed a lion. Killed what? The lion. The lion, is the object of the verb, killed. She helps the poor. Helps whom? The poor. The poor, is the object of the verb, helps. Some verbs like, give, offer, tell, ask, promise, sell, lend, owe, etc., have two objects after them. The first object after the verb, is called indirect object, which indicates the person to whom something is given, or for whom something is done. The next object that follows, is the direct object, which generally indicates something that is given, offered, told, sold, lent, etc. For example. The teacher gave him a book. Him, is the indirect object. Book, is the direct object. Will you do me a favor? Me, is the indirect object. Favor, is the direct object. Verbs. Verbs are a necessary part of any sentence. There are three types of verbs. 1. Action verbs. 2. Linking verbs. 3. Helping verbs. Action verbs. Most action verbs, represent a visible action, one that can be seen with our eyes. For example, play, dance, break, plaque, fly, are action verbs. Identifying such doing words in a sentence, is generally easy. But some action verbs, are more difficult to identify, because the action is far less obvious, as in, depend, understand, consider, require, mean, remember, and suppose. It is helpful to remember that, mental verbs are action verbs too, even though they are less visible than the others. Linking verbs. Unlike the action verb, the linking verb, expresses a state of being, or a condition. Specifically, it links, or connects, a noun with an adjective, a descriptor, or another noun, an identifier, in a sentence. Example. Ram and Shyam, are hardworking students. Here, the noun, students, identifies or renames the compound subjects, Ram and Shyam. Hardworking, is an adjective, describing the noun, students. And the verb, are, links the two components together. Example. Mohan was tired after his basketball game. Here, the adjective, tired, describes the subject, Mohan, and the verb, was, links the two components together. Some common linking verbs. Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been. Some linking verbs, can be tricky to identify, because they appear to be action verbs. Their job in the sentence, is to clarify the condition, or state, of the noun, to which they are connected. The verbs in the list, can act not only as action verbs, but also as linking verbs. Let's take a look at the word, turned, used in two different ways. The giant wheel turned slowly, as it began its initial rotation. Here, the giant wheel performed an action. It turned. You can visualize the huge wheel slowly rotating, with the riders. The word, turned, here, is an action oriented verb. Let's look at another example. One frightened rider turned green, as the ride began to speed up quickly. Here, the word, turned, connects the describing word, or adjective, green, to the subject, rider. In this example, turned, is acting as a linking verb, not an action verb. One easy way to tell, whether a verb is an action verb, or a linking verb, is to replace the verb in question, with a verb form of, be, or, a linking verb like, seen, or, became. If the new sentence still makes sense, then you have a linking verb. If the sentence loses its meaning, then you have an action verb. For instance, The farmer grew several prize winning tomatoes, this season. Let's replace grew, with, is. The farmer is several prize winning tomatoes, this season. Or, let's use the word, seemed. The farmer seemed several prize winning tomatoes, this season. Neither choice works, which means that, grew, is an action verb, not a linking verb, in this sentence. Let's try another example. The soup we had for dinner, tasted delicious. This time, let's replace tasted, with, was. The soup we had for dinner, was delicious. Or, let's use the word, looked. The soup we had for dinner, looked delicious. Both choices make sense, because in this sentence, tasted, is a linking verb, not an action verb. Helping Verbs Some Common Helping Verbs am, is, are, was, were, be, do, does, did, have, had, has, may, might, missed, shall, will, can, should, would, could, ought. Helping Verbs Enhance the main verb's meaning, by providing us with more information about its tense. A main verb, may have as many as three helping verbs, in front of it, in a sentence. Examples. Mohan walked quickly to the bus stop, to avoid being late. Mohan had walked quickly to the bus stop, to avoid being late. Mohan must have walked quickly to the bus stop, to avoid being late. Verb Phrase A main verb, with helping verbs, is called a verb phrase. It is important to remember that, a helping verb need not be right next to the main verb, in the sentence. Example. Mohan must have quickly walked to the bus stop, to avoid being late. If you were asked to identify the verb phrase, you would eliminate the adverb, quickly, and give, must have walked, as the answer. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs A verb, that requires an object to complete its meaning, is called a transitive verb. A transitive verb, transits, or, passes over the action, from the subject to the object. For example. Hema heard a noise. Noise, is the object of the transitive verb, heard. The soldiers fired their guns. Guns, is the object of the transitive verb, fired. A verb, that does not require an object to make sense, is called an intransitive verb. For example. He kneeled to pray. The verb, kneeled, does not have an object. Most verbs can be used, as both transitive, and intransitive verbs. Depending on how these verbs are used, it would be better to say, a verb has been used transitively, or intransitively. Look at the sentences in the table, to understand the concept. Verbs of Incomplete Predication Verbs which require, a word, or words, to complete the predicate, and make sense as a sentence, are called, verbs of incomplete predication. All linking verbs, are verbs of incomplete predication. Some Common Linking Verbs Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, appear, seem, become, look, taste, smell, grow, turn, come, fall, key, sound, etc. For example. The earth is round. Honey tastes sweet. Note. The same verb may be a transitive verb, intransitive verb, or a linking verb, verb of incomplete predication. Can you smell smoke? Smell, is a transitive verb, with smoke, as its object. I have got a cold and I can't smell. Smell, is an intransitive verb. That fish smells bad. Smells, is a linking verb, linking the noun fish, with the adjective bad. Complements Subjective Complements The word, or words, that follow a linking verb, are called, subjective complement of the verb. Subjective complements, are required to complete the predicate, and make the sentence meaningful. Subjective complements, say something about the subject. For example. He is a good runner. Runner, is the complement of the verb, is. The dog looks dangerous. Dangerous, is the complement of the verb, looks. Objective Complements Certain transitive verbs, require, besides their object, some complements to complete their predicate. Such complements, that say something about the object, are called objective complements. For example. The teacher appointed Mohan, monitor. Monitor, is the complement of the object, Mohan. The court declared the man guilty. Guilty, is the complement of the object, man.