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English grammar (verbs)

Verbs - Definition

Verbs: they are the action words which talks about the action or the state of any noun or subject. It describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being.
Examples: 
It can declare something - You ran.
Ask a question - Did you run?  
Convey a command - Run faster!
Express a wish - May this good weather last!
A possibility - If you had studied well, you might have passed.


Types of Verbs

Types of Verbs:

Auxiliary Verbs and Lexical Verbs
Dynamic Verbs and Stative Verbs
Finite Verbs and Nonfinite Verbs
Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs
Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs



1)Auxiliary Verbs and Lexical Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs: A verb that determines the mood, tense, or aspect of another verb in a verb phrase. Auxiliary verbs always precede main verbs within a verb phrase. It gives additional meaning to the main or lexical verb following it.

TO BE: IS, AM, ARE, WAS, WERE, BEEN
TO DO: DO, DID, DOES
TO HAVE: HAS, HAD, HAVE
SHALL, WILL, MAY, CAN, SHOULD, COULD, WOULD

Examples:
am leaving
He has done the work.
We will be there in a minute.


Lexical Verbs: A lexical verb is the main verb of the sentence.
A lexical verb does not require an auxiliary verb, but an auxiliary verb exists only to help a lexical verb. It cannot exist alone.

Examples:
If we go to that restaurant, I will want the lobster. "Will" is the auxiliary and "want" is the lexical verb.
Some examples of lexical verbs, which are much more numerous, are: run, think, see, walk, go, pull, make etc. 


2)Dynamic Verbs and Stative Verbs

Dynamic Verbs - A verb used primarily to indicate an action, process, or sensation as opposed to a state. Dynamic verbs are sometimes known as "action verbs." 
Examples: eat, drink, go, type, read, write, listen, speak, watch, say, grow, work, sleep, cook, talk etc. 
  • Joe is chasing the bus.
  • She plays tennis every Friday.
It can be used in the simple and perfect forms (plays, played, has played, had played) as well as the continuous or progressive forms (is playing, was playing, has been playing, had been playing).

Stative Verbs - "Stative" is an adjective which describes something as having a state, or existing. The verb describes a state rather than an action. They can be divided into verbs of perception or cognition (which refer to things in the mind), or verbs of relation (which describe the relationships between things). 
love, hate, like, see, hear, sound, recognize, seem, have (meaning "own"), prefer, doubt, consist of, mean etc.
Examples:
  • hate tea. - perception
  • The box contains 20 boxes of pen. - relation
Do not use these verbs in the continuous (progressive) forms. Since it is a state and not an action, 
always use the simple form. 


3)Finite Verbs and Nonfinite Verbs

Finite Verbs - These are verbs that have a definite relation with the subject or noun. They are usually the main verb of a clause or sentence and can be changed according to the noun. They are used only in present and past tense.
Examples:
  • live in Germay.
  • She walks home.
  • She walked home
  • David plays the piano

Non-Finite Verbs -
These verbs cannot be the main verb of a clause or sentence as they do not talk about the action that is being performed by the subject or noun. They do not indicate any tense, subject, number or gender. In other words, it a verb form which is not acting like a verb.

Examples:
  • I travelled to Germany to improve my German.
  • I hate camping.
  • I want to go there.   

4)Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs - Regular verbs are those whose past tense and past participles are formed by adding a -d or an -ed to the end of the verb. 
Examples:
  • roll, rolled, rolled
  • work, worked, worked
  • found, founded, founded

Irregular Verbs - Verbs that undergo substantial changes when changing forms between tenses are irregular verbs.
Examples:
  • swim, swam, swum
  • break, broke, broken
  • repay, repaid, repaid
  • cut, cut, cut
  • run, ran, run
  • meet, met, met
  • come, came, come
  • be was/were been


5)Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs

Transitive verbs - It is an action verb, that have an object to receive that action.
Example:
  • Tom kicked the ball. (kicked = transitive verb; Tom = direct object)
  • The kids played hide and seek in the park.
Intransitive Verbs - In this case, the verb is not done to someone or something. It only involves the subject. No direct object follows an action verb.
Example:
  • She smiled (smiled - intransitive verb. It has no direct object. You cannot smile something.)
  • Every single person voted.  
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