VERB
A verb is a word that shows an action or state of being. For example,
She is playing.
They go to school.
She is feeling cold.
Static and action verbs
Verbs can show actions. As well as the state of a person or thing, one more thing that the verb shows is possession.
Let’s see with the help of examples.
She is going to school.
In this example, the word going shows an action, so this is an action verb.
She is feeling cold.
This example shows the feelings of a person, so it is a stative verb. Because the state of someone is shown, not the action
She has a car.
The verb “has” shows possession.
Main verbs and helping verbs
Helping verbs are as follows:
1: Do
2: Be includes these eight verbs: be, is, are, am, was, were, been, and being.
3: Have includes has, have, and had.
Modal verbs are also auxiliary or helping verbs. Modal verbs are as follows:
1: Can
2: Could
3: Would
4: Should
5: May, etc.
Categorization of verbs based on object.
There are two types of verbs based on the object.
1: transitive verb
2: intransitive verb
A transitive verb is related to the word transfer, so the verbs having objects are transitive verbs.
The object is affected by the action of the subject whenever we use transitive verb.
For Example
The cat ate the lizard.
Cat is subject
Ate is a verb.
And
A Lizard is an object.
The lizard (object) is affected by the action (ate) of the cat (subject).
Objects and subjects are always nouns or pronouns.
Intransitive verbs do not have objects; these give us complete sense without an object. For example
Birds fly
In the above example birds (subject) is followed by the verb fly, and the sentence is complete without an object, giving us a complete sense.
A verb could have two objects as well; then the verb is called di transitive verb.
The object could belong to both a verb or a preposition. If the object belongs to a verb, then the sentence is transitive. If the object belongs to preposition, then it’s not. For example
She gave me a car.
Me and the car are objects, so the verb is di transitive verb.
Me and the car are both verb’s objects because they are followed by the verb “gave”.
She gave a car to me.
Car and me are objects, but the car is the object of the verb, and me is the object of the preposition (to) because it is followed by a preposition.
Finite and non-finite verbs
Finite verbs change according to the rules of tenses and based on subject (singular subject or plural subject), whereas non-finite verbs do not change; these remain the same with any tense or any subject.
Examples
She plays football.
They play football.
He played football.
Play is a finite verb because it changes with a singular subject (she) and becomes plays.
With the plural subject (they), play is used, and with the past tense, play becomes played.
Non-finite verbs are three
1: Gerund
2: Infinitive
3: Participle
A gerund is formed by adding ing to the first form of the verb, and it acts as a noun.
V1+ing = gerund (acts as a noun).
Examples
Swimming is his hobby.
Painting is done by her.
Swim+ing= gerund
Swimming and painting in the above examples are acting as nouns and thus are gerunds, not verbs.
Infinitives are made by adding to before the first form of a verb, and these act as nouns.
To walk on the ground is easy.
He loves to paint.
They love to paint.
Is and love are verbs in the sentences above.
To walk and to paint are subject and object, respectively, as they are infinitives acting as nouns.
Non-finite verbs do not follow the rules of tenses and singular plural subjects, but finite verbs do, as shown in the above examples.
The verb (loves) is used with the subject he and with they (love), so it’s the finite verb; to paint remains the same in both examples because to paint is non-finite, and non-finite does not change with the rules of tenses and subject (singular; plural).
Participle
The past participle is the third form of a verb acting as an adjective. For example,
The broken window was repaired by the boy.
Developed countries are helping people.
Broken and developed are the third form of verbs acting as adjectives, so these are past participles.
Was and repaired are verbs in the first example.
Are and helping are verbs in the second example.
The present participle is formed by adding ing to the first form of the verb, and it acts as an adjective.
V1+ing=present participle (acts as an adjective)
Example
She wrote an essay on “the maximizing effect of social media on people”.
They were listening to a thrilling story.
In the above examples, maximizing and thrilling are present participles because they act as adjectives, not verbs.
Look for more easy grammar topics here.
