The Sunday News
MERE mentioning of the word ‘verbs’ implies something pretty obvious. Everybody assumes that they know a lot about verbs.
Ask them to define a verb, almost every on wants to answer that question.
All is well when there is clear understanding of what is at stake.
Why is that everyone knows about the verb? Verbs are the foundation words of sentences. Every sentence must have a verb.
The verb gives the sentence meaning, by saying something about the noun or pronoun that is the subject. We can identify verbs in three ways; by definition, by classification, and by the features that distinguish verbs from other parts of speech.
A verb is defined as a word that shows action or state of being about a noun or pronoun. We travel five kilometres each day. (action).
That game decided the champion. (action). I am down in the dumps today. (state of being). She is ill today. (state of being).
Grouping verbs by classes. Verbs are usually grouped into three main classes; action verbs, being and linking verbs.
These three classes help to identify verbs. Verbs that show physical or mental action are called action verbs. Physical action. James climbed the rope. Meli started the lawnmower. The fans cheered. Mental action — I concentrated on the test.
We hope our team wins. Andrew thought hard.
Linking verbs do not show action. They link a noun or pronoun in the first part of a sentence with a word in the second part of a sentence.
The oranges were delicious. He is an electrician. The sky became cloudy. The water felt cool. Linking verbs include forms of “be” and a few other commonly used verbs. The following verbs are the most commonly used linking verbs.
Some forms of Be: am, has been; is have been; are, had been, was, will be, were, should be, may be, would have been, can be, shall be. Common linking verbs: taste, smell, sound, seem, look, feel, become, stay, grow, appear, remain.
Some words can be either action or linking verbs. You must look at the way the verb is used in the sentence to decide which kind it is. Action: We grew potatoes in our garden. Linking: The children grew tired. Helping verbs help the main verb express an action or state of being.
The plane will arrive on schedule. Our flight had been delayed by one hour. The bicycle chain has become rusty.
Helping verbs include the forms of be and many other commonly used words. Forms of (Be): am, were, is, be, are, been, was. Commonly used helping verbs: has, might, have, must, had, can, do, shall, does, should, did, will, may, would.
Finding verbs by their features – Four features can help identify verbs. A word that is a verb must have at least one of these features, but some verbs will have all four. Verbs have tense.
Tense is the time expressed by a verb. There are two kinds of tenses: simple and perfect. The three simple tenses are present, past, and future. The three perfect tenses are present perfect, past perfect and the future perfect.
They march past the national flag every morning. (present simple). The pathfinders walked across the street. (simple past). Ellen will walk to the movies with us. (simple future) Ryan has walked the dog. (present perfect). The dog knew Mary had walked another dog. (past perfect). He will have walked four kilometres by lunch. (future perfect).
The tense of the verb is formed with one of its three principal parts: present, past, and past participle. The present form is the form of the verb used with to: (to) go, (to) swim, (to) play.
The past form is the one that shows past time: went, swam, played. The past participle form of the verb is the form of the verb used with the helping verb has or have; (has) gone, (has) swum, (has) played.
Here are some examples under the headings present, past and past participle: hope, hoped, hoped. Close, closed, closed. Look, looked, looked. Run, ran, run. See, saw, seen. Verbs have an –ing form.
The –ing form is the verb’s progressive form. The progressive form of the verb uses a form of ‘be’ in the simple tenses. The future tense also uses will or shall.
I am drawing a sketch of my project. (present tense). I was drawing a sketch of my project. (past tense). I will be drawing a sketch of my project. (future tense). Verbs have singular and plural forms.
Whether a verb is singular or plural depends on the subject of the sentence. When the subject is singular, the ending –s or –es is added to the present tense form of the verb.
When the subject is plural, the present tense form is used by itself.
Helping verbs may also be singular or plural.
Shirley plans to study medicine. (singular) The two students plan to study music. (plural).
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