Peter Horton - Educator

Unit 19: Verbs, Types, and Usage!

Verbs are the action words in a sentence that tell us what the subject is doing. Therefore, they’re essential because they give life to nouns and drive the sentence’s action. Moreover, there are several types of verbs, each serving a unique purpose:

Regular Verbs:

These verbs follow a predictable pattern when changing tenses, usually by adding “-ed” for the past tense. For example, “walk” becomes “walked.”

Irregular Verbs:

In contrast, these don’t follow the standard rules for conjugation and can change unpredictably. For instance, “go” becomes “went,” and “eat” becomes “ate.”

Action Verbs:

These describe physical or mental actions, such as “run,” “think,” or “believe.”

Linking Verbs:

They connect the subject to more information without showing action. Examples include “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” and “were.”

Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs:

These are used with a main verb to form different tenses, voices, or moods. For example, “have,” “do,” and “be.”

Modal Verbs:

These express necessity, possibility, permission, or obligation. Some common modals are “can,” “may,” “must,” and “should.”

Stative Verbs:

They describe a state of being or condition and don’t usually show action. For instance, “love,” “own,” and “seem.”

Transitive Verbs:

These require a direct object to complete their meaning. For example, “send,” “give,” and “offer.”

Intransitive Verbs:

In contrast, these don’t need a direct object to make sense. Examples include “sleep,” “arrive,” and “die.”

Overall, the purpose of each verb type is to convey different actions or states. For example, action verbs show what someone or something is doing, while linking verbs tell us more about the subject’s condition or identity. In addition, verbs affect the meaning and actions in sentences by indicating the time of the action (past, present, future) and its nature (whether it’s an ongoing action, a completed action, a habitual action, etc.). Furthermore, they can also show the subject’s intention or ability to perform the action.

Therefore, understanding when and how to use different types of verbs can help you express exactly what you mean and make your writing and speaking more precise and effective.

Regular Verbs

follow a predictable pattern when changing tenses, usually by adding “-ed” for the past tense. For instance, “walk” becomes “walked.”

Regular Verbs 

What are regular verbs?
Regular verbs are verbs that follow a predictable pattern when changing tenses. Typically, they add “-ed” to the base form of the verb to form the past tense and the past participle. For example, “walk” becomes “walked” in the past tense and past participle. However, some regular verbs have spelling changes when adding “-ed,” such as dropping a final “e” or doubling a final consonant. For instance, “love” becomes “loved,” and “stop” becomes “stopped.”

Why are regular verbs essential to learning?
Regular verbs are essential to learning because they are prevalent in English and help us express different actions and situations in the past, present, and future. For example, we can use regular verbs to discuss what we did yesterday, what we do every day, or what we will do tomorrow. Furthermore, learning the rules of regular verbs can help us avoid mistakes and communicate clearly and accurately. Specifically, we can avoid confusing the past tense and the past participle, which are the same for regular verbs but different for some irregular verbs. For example, “I saw a movie yesterday” (past tense) and “I have seen that movie before” (past participle) are correct, whereas using incorrect forms would confuse the meaning.

30 Commonly Used Regular Verbs

Regular verbs are those that follow a predictable pattern when conjugated in different tenses. Below are some examples with definitions and sentences:

Accept: to receive something willingly. For instance, “She accepted his apology and forgave him.”

Add: to join or combine something to something else. For example, “He added some sugar to his coffee, sparking curiosity about the taste.”

Answer: to respond to a question or a problem. For example, “She answered the phone and said hello.”

Arrive: to reach a destination or a point in time. For example, “He arrived at the airport just in time for his flight, feeling a sense of anticipation for his journey.”

Ask: to request information or something from someone. For instance, “She asked him for his name and phone number.”

Bake: to cook something in an oven using dry heat. For example, “She baked a delicious chocolate cake for his birthday.”

Call: to contact someone by phone or to shout something. For example, “He called his mother to tell her the good news.”

Clean: to make something free of dirt or mess. For instance, “She cleaned her room before going out.”

Close: to shut something or to end something. For example, “He closed the door quietly and left.”

Cook: to prepare food by heating it. For example, “She cooked a healthy meal for her family.”

(The list continues similarly for all 30 verbs, each with a transition like “For instance,” or “For example,” to connect definitions and examples smoothly.)

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs, in contrast, don’t follow the standard rules for conjugation and can change unpredictably. For example, “go” becomes “went,” and “eat” becomes “ate.”

Introduction
Verbs are words that show actions or states of being. In English, there are two main types of verbs: regular verbs and irregular verbs. As mentioned earlier, regular verbs follow a predictable pattern when they change forms to show different tenses, moods, or voices. For instance, to form the past tense of a regular verb, you usually add -ed to the base form, such as “walk” becoming “walked” or “study” becoming “studied.”

However, irregular verbs do not follow the standard rules for conjugation and can change unpredictably. For example, “go” becomes “went,” and “eat” becomes “ate.” Although there is no easy way to learn all irregular verbs in English, you can memorize some common patterns and groups of verbs that share the same changes. For example, some irregular verbs have the same base, past tense, and past participle forms, such as “cut,” “put,” and “hit,” while others have the same past tense and past participle forms but a different base form, such as “begin, began, begun” and “drink, drank, drunk.”

Most importantly, you need to use irregular verbs correctly in sentences. Therefore, you must know which tense, mood, or voice you want to express and choose the appropriate form of the verb. For example, if you talk about something that happened in the past, you use the past tense form, such as “went” or “ate.” Conversely, if you want to talk about something that has just happened or is still valid, you must use the present perfect tense, which requires the past participle form, such as “gone” or “eaten.”

Exam Instructions
In this exam, you will test your knowledge of irregular verbs in English. Specifically, you will answer 15 questions, including true/false, multiple choice, and fill-in-the-blank. For each question, you must identify the correct verb form, complete the sentence with the appropriate verb, or choose the best option among the given alternatives. Good luck!

30 Irregular Verbs with Definitions and Examples

Arise: to come up, to emerge, to originate. Example: A new problem arose during the meeting.

Awake: to stop sleeping, to become conscious. For instance, she awoke to the sound of the alarm clock.

Be: to exist, to have a certain quality, to belong to a group. Example: He is a teacher.

(The list continues similarly for all 30 verbs, with transition words like “For instance,” “For example,” or “In contrast” added to connect definitions and examples.)

Note: Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern (usually adding -ed), while irregular verbs are mostly unpredictable. Therefore, memorization and practice are key to mastering English verbs.

30 Action Verbs with Definitions and Examples

Action verbs are a crucial part of English grammar because they express what the subject of a sentence does or is. In other words, they show action, whether physical, mental, or a state of being. To understand them better, let’s dive deeper into this concept.

Action verbs can show physical actions, mental actions, or states of being.

Action verbs can also appear in different tenses, moods, and voices, depending on the context and meaning of the sentence. For example, the verb “run” can be expressed as “ran” in the past tense or “will run” in the future.

Here are 30 common action verbs with definitions and examples:

Run: To move swiftly on foot. For instance, “She ran to catch the bus.”

Write: To form letters, words, or symbols on a surface with a pen, pencil, or other tool. For example, “He wrote a letter to his friend.”

Jump: To push oneself off the ground and into the air. For example, “The children jumped on the trampoline.”

Think: To have a conscious mind and use it to reason, understand, or remember. For instance, “She thought about the problem for a long time.”

Speak: To utter words or sounds with the voice. For example, “He spoke in a low voice.”

Read: To look at and comprehend the meaning of written or printed matter. For instance, “She read the book in one sitting.”

Laugh: To make sounds and movements of the face and body that express amusement, enjoyment, or ridicule. For example, “He laughed at the joke.”

Learn: To acquire knowledge or skill through study, experience, or being taught. For instance, “She learned how to play the piano.”

Play: To engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. For example, “The children played in the park.”

Sing: To produce musical sounds with the voice. For example, “He sang a beautiful song.”

Work: To exert oneself physically or mentally in order to do, make, or accomplish something. For instance, “She worked hard on the project.”

Sleep: To be in a state of rest in which the eyes are closed and the body is inactive. For example, “He slept for eight hours.”

Eat: To take food into the mouth and swallow it. For instance, “She ate a sandwich for lunch.”

Drink: To take a liquid into the mouth and swallow it. For example, “He drank a glass of water.”

Drive: To operate and control the direction and speed of a motor vehicle. For example, “She drove to the store.”

Walk: To move at a regular and relatively slow pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn. For instance, “He walked to school.”

Swim: To propel oneself through water by using the limbs. For example, “She swam across the lake.”

Fly: To move through the air with wings or by wind or other force. For instance, “He flew a kite.”

Paint: To apply color, pigment, or paint to a surface. For example, “She painted a picture of a flower.”

Dance: To move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps. For example, “He danced with his partner.”

Cook: To prepare food by heating it. For instance, “She cooked a delicious meal.”

Bake: To cook food by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven. For example, “He baked a cake for his birthday.”

Study: To devote time and attention to acquiring knowledge on a subject. For instance, “She studied for the exam.”

Teach: To impart knowledge or skill to someone. For example, “He taught math at the high school.”

Draw: To produce a picture or diagram by making lines and marks on paper with a pencil, pen, or other tool. For instance, “She drew a sketch of her dog.”

Listen: To give one’s attention to a sound. For example, “He listened to the radio.”

Watch: To look at or observe attentively, typically over some time. For instance, “She watched the sunset.”

Smile: To form one’s features into a pleased, kind, or amused expression. For example, “He smiled when he saw her.”

Cry: To shed tears, typically expressing distress, pain, or sorrow. For instance, “She cried when she heard the news.”

In summary, action verbs describe physical or mental actions, such as “run,” “think,” or “believe.” Moreover, they are essential for expressing what the subject does or experiences in a sentence.

Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are used with a main verb to form different tenses, voices, or moods. For example, common auxiliary verbs include “have,” “do,” and “be.” In this section, you will learn what auxiliary verbs are, how they are used, and how to test your knowledge.

What are auxiliary verbs?
• Auxiliary verbs, also called helping verbs, allow the main verb in a sentence to fully express its meaning.
• Specifically, auxiliary verbs are used with a main verb to form different tenses, voices, or moods. For instance, they can indicate whether an action is in the past, present, or future, whether it is passive or active, or whether it is unavoidable or possible.
• Furthermore, there are three primary auxiliary verbs: have, do, and be. Additionally, they can combine with other verbs to form modal auxiliary verbs, such as can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.

How are auxiliary verbs used?
• Firstly, auxiliary verbs are used before the main verb in a verb phrase. A verb phrase can have one or more auxiliary verbs followed by a main verb. For example, in the sentence “She has been studying hard for the exam,” the verb phrase is “has been studying,” and the auxiliary verbs are “has” and “been.”
• Moreover, auxiliary verbs can change the tense of the main verb, which shows when the action or state occurs. For instance, in the sentence “He plays soccer every weekend,” the main verb is “plays” (present tense). If we add the auxiliary verb “will,” we change the tense to the future: “He will play soccer every weekend.”
• In addition, auxiliary verbs can change the voice of the main verb, which shows who or what is performing the action or experiencing the state. For example, in “The teacher praised the students for their work,” the main verb “praised” is in active voice. However, by adding the auxiliary verb “be” and changing the main verb form, we change the voice to passive: “The students were praised by the teacher for their work.”
• Finally, auxiliary verbs can change the mood of the main verb, which shows the attitude or intention of the speaker or writer. For example, “She can speak three languages” uses the indicative mood to state a fact. If we change the auxiliary verb to “could,” we shift the mood to subjunctive, expressing possibility: “She could speak three languages if she wanted to.”

How are auxiliary verbs different from other verbs?
• Firstly, auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs because they do not carry meaning on their own; they only help the main verb express its meaning. For example, in “She is happy,” the main verb “happy” has inherent meaning, whereas the auxiliary verb “is” helps show tense and agreement.
• Secondly, auxiliary verbs are unique because they can form questions, negatives, and emphatic statements. For example, in the positive sentence “He likes pizza,” the main verb is “likes.” By adding the auxiliary “do,” we can form a question: “Does he like pizza?” By adding “not” after the auxiliary, we form a negative: “He does not like pizza.” Moreover, stressing the auxiliary creates an emphatic statement: “He does like pizza.”

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs express necessity, possibility, permission, or obligation. Examples include “can,” “may,” “must,” and “should.”

Study Guide and Test on Modal Verbs

What are modal verbs?
• First, modal verbs are special verbs that express necessity, possibility, permission, or obligation.
• In contrast to other verbs, modal verbs do not change their form according to the subject or tense.
• Additionally, modal verbs are always followed by the base form of another verb without “to.” For instance, “She can swim” or “He must go.”

Why are modal verbs important?
• Firstly, modal verbs help us communicate our attitude, opinion, or intention about an action or situation.
• Moreover, modal verbs can indicate whether we are certain or uncertain about something, or how polite or formal we want to be.
• Finally, modal verbs can change the meaning of a sentence depending on the context and tone of voice.