Verb is a part of speech that expresses an action or a state of being. A verb may consist of one word, such as send, or a group of words, such as has been sending. Verbs occupy characteristic positions in a sentence. For example, only a verb makes sense in the blank spaces in the following sentences:
She ____ the letter. (sent, began) He ____ my father. (is, answered) Did they ____? (go, begin)
Some words, such as theft and loneliness, express an action or a state of being but are not verbs. These words are nouns. They cannot be used in the verb position of a sentence. In addition, they do not possess other features of verbs called formal characteristics.
Formal characteristics
of verbs can be illustrated by the forms of the verb fall. These forms are fall, falls, fell, fallen, and falling. Fall is the base form, or infinitive, with or without the preceding particle to. Fall is also the form of the first and second person singular and plural, as in I fall, you fall, we fall. Falls is the form of the third person singular, used with a noun or a pronoun subject. Fell is the past tense form. Fallen is the past participle. It is used after an auxiliary verb, such as be and its forms (am, is, are, was, and were). It is used alone when the verb is used as a modifier, as in Fallen leaves covered it. Falling is the present participle, used as a modifier, as in The falling snow blinded him, and after forms of be, as in He was falling.
Auxiliary verbs,
such as do, be, and have, serve a double function. They may be used as independent verbs (He has it. He did his homework) or as auxiliary verbs (She has tried it. She did not finish her report).
Modal verbs,
such as can, may, should, might, and must, do not have the same characteristics as other verbs. They cannot be preceded by to. They cannot follow other verbs (We cannot say She will can do it). They are usually followed by the base form of a verb, as in John can go, but Peter must stay.
Regular and irregular verbs
are classified according to the way they form the past tense and past participle. A verb’s base form, past tense form, and past participle are called its principal parts.
Most English verbs are regular. The past tense form and the past participle of a regular verb are created by adding –ed to the base form, as in happen, happened, happened. The principal parts of all verbs of recent origin are formed by adding –ed to the base form, as in computerize, computerized, computerized.
Irregular verbs change in other ways to form the past tense and past participle. One kind of irregular verb changes in the past tense and then keeps that same form in the past participle. Examples include feed, fed, fed; and win, won, won. Another kind adds an –n or –en to the base form or to the past tense form to make the past participle. Examples include know, knew, known; and speak, spoke, spoken. Other verbs have irregular changes in spelling for each principal part, as in slay, slew, slain. Still others use the same form for all principal parts. They include cost, cut, set, and shut. These verbs are called invariables.
A large group of irregular verbs shows a change of vowel in both the past tense and past participle: begin, began, begun; swim, swam, swum. Through usage, many verbs of this type are gradually changing into regular verbs with –ed endings. For example, the verb strive has the irregular forms strive, strove, striven and also has the regular forms strive, strived, strived.
Transitive and intransitive verbs.
Verbs may be classified as either transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb has an object, as in He found the money. The object of found is money. An intransitive verb has no object, as in She is speaking. Many verbs may be transitive in one sentence and intransitive in another. For example, The chorus sang a popular song (transitive); The chorus sang well (intransitive). Also, The chef is cooking the potatoes (transitive); The potatoes are cooking (intransitive).
Linking, or copulative, verbs
occur in two general structures. In one, the verb is followed by an adjective, as in He is good or It smelled good. Verbs such as seemed, looked, tasted, smelled, became, sounded, turned, and various others can be used as linking verbs. In the other linking-verb structure, a noun following the verb refers to the subject, as in She is my mother; He became mayor; and She seemed an interesting person.
Finite and nonfinite verbs.
A finite verb, together with a subject, can form a grammatically complete sentence: She drives; She is driving. A nonfinite verb, or verbal, is derived from a verb but acts as another part of speech. There are three forms of verbals: gerunds, participles, and infinitives. A gerund is used as a noun: Swimming is fun. Participles serve as adjectives: Susan held the winning ticket. Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. In the sentence To run a mile is difficult, the infinitive to run serves as a noun. In the sentence I have reading to do, the infinitive to do is used as an adjective. In Alice practiced to become a better singer, the infinitive to become serves as an adverb.
Multiple-word verbs.
In English, many verbs have the form of two (or sometimes three) words, of which the first word is a verb and the second word is an adverb (sometimes called a particle). For example, the two-word verb phone up is similar in meaning to the verb telephone: Mary phoned her up and told her the good news and Mary telephoned her and told her the good news.
