1. Verbs can be classified into several categories including action verbs, stative verbs, transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, linking verbs, helping/auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, regular verbs, irregular verbs, and phrasal verbs.
2. Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern of adding "-ed" in the past tense, while irregular verbs do not follow a predictable pattern.
3. Verbs have different forms including simple, perfect, and progressive that can be combined together.
2. Verbs classification
Verbs can be generally classified into three main
categories with reference to what they signify,
such as
• verbs referring to actions,
• verbs referring to experiences or feelings,
• verbs referring to a state or condition.
3. Furthermore, it can be classified into
Auxiliary verbs (otherwise called helping verbs),
Modal verbs,
Phrasal verbs and
Linking verbs
4. verb
A verb is a single word, or a group of words, that
describe an action or state.
• Subject-verb agreement;
• Recognizing verb tense and verb forms;
• Selecting verb tenses for AcademicWriting and
• Common verb-preposition combinations.
6. Regular verbs in the simple past form
Cheat – Cheated
Dodge – Dodged
Jump – Jumped
Skip – Skipped
Iron – Ironed
Verbs that take the same form as the root verb in the simple past
form of the verb
Read – Read , Cut – Cut,Put – Put,Let – Let,Hit – Hit,Hurt –
Hurt
• Irregular verb forms
Run – Ran ,Sit – Sat,Sing – Sang
Throw –Threw,Fly – Flew,Bring – Brought
Buy – Bought,Think –Though,Ring – Rang
Find – Found,Lose – Lost,Meet – Met
A regular verb is a verb that follows a
predictable pattern when switching
between tenses. In English, you can
usually form the past tense of a
regular verb simply by adding the
suffix “-ed” or “-d” to the end of the
verb.This applies to both the simple
past tense and the past participle.
7. Verbs
classificatio
n
• Main Verbs
• Main verbsare also called "lexicalverbs".
• Main verbshave meaning on theirown (unlike helpingverbs). There are thousandsof mainverbs, and we can classify them in
severalways:
• Transitive and intransitive verbs
• A transitiveverb takes a direct object: Somebody killed the President. An intransitiveverb doesnot have a direct object: He
died. Many verbs,like speak, can be transitiveor intransitive.Look at these examples:
• transitive: I saw an elephant.We are watching TV. He speaks English.
• intransitive: He has arrived. John goes to school. She speaks fast.
• Linking verbs : A linkingverb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links"the subject to what is said about the subject. Usually,
a linkingverb shows equality(=) or a change to a different stateor place (→). Linkingverbsare alwaysintransitive(but not all
intransitiveverbsare linkingverbs).
• Mary is a teacher. (mary= teacher),Tara is beautiful.(tara = beautiful)
• That sounds interesting.(that = interesting),Thesky became dark. (the sky → dark)
• The breadhas gone bad.(bread→ bad)
• Dynamic and stative verbs
• Some verbs describeaction. They are called "dynamic",and can be used with continuous tenses. Otherverbs describestate (non-
action, a situation).They are called "stative",and cannot normallybe used withcontinuous tenses (though some of them can be
used withcontinuous tenses witha change in meaning).
• dynamic verbs (examples):hit, explode,fight, run, go
• stative verbs (examples):be , like, love, prefer, wish, impress,please, surprise,hear, see, sound, belongto, consist of, contain,
include, need, appear, resemble,seem
• Regular and irregularverbs: This is more a questionof vocabularythan of grammar.The only real difference betweenregularand
irregularverbsis that they have different endingsfor their past tense and past participleforms. For regular verbs,the past tense
endingand past participleendingis alwaysthe same: -ed. For irregularverbs, the past tense endingand the past participleendingis
variable,so it is necessary to learnthem by heart.
• regularverbs: base, past tense, past participle, look, looked, looked
• work, worked,worked
• irregularverbs: base, past tense, past participle
• buy, bought, bought
• cut, cut, cut
• do, did,done
• Here are listsof regularverbs and irregularverbs.
• One way to think of regularand irregularverbsis like this: all verbsare irregularand the so-calledregularverbsare simplyone very
• Helping Verbs
• Helping verbsare also called "auxiliaryverbs".
• Helping verbshave no meaning on theirown. They are necessary for the grammaticalstructureof a sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually
use helpingverbswithmain verbs. They "help" the mainverb (which has the real meaning).There are only about 15 helpingverbsin English,and we dividethem
into two basic groups:
• Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)
• These are the verbsbe, do, and have. Note that we can use these three verbsas helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helpingverbs.
We use them in the followingcases:
• be
• to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.)
• to make the passive(Smallfish are eaten by big fish.)
• have
• to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)
• do
• to make negatives(I do not like you.)
• to ask questions(Do you want some coffee?)
• to show emphasis(I do want you to pass your exam.)
• to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He speaks faster than she does.)
• Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)
8. types of
verbs • Verbs are words that express action or state
of being.There are three types of verbs:
• action verbs,
• linking verbs,
• helping verbs.
• ActionVerbs. Action verbs are words that
express action (give, eat, walk, etc.) or
possession (have, own, etc.). Action verbs can
be either transitive or intransitive
9. • There are two main types of verbs used
in the English language: RegularVerbs
and IrregularVerbs.These verbs are not
a different tense, but they are very
important nonetheless.
• There are three basic forms of verb
tenses:
• simple, perfect, and progressive.
• These three forms also work together.
10. Forms of
Verbs
• 1. Action verbs :Action verbs, as their name says, are used to refer to actions. These can refer to physical
actions that are performed with bodies or objects, such as jump, hit, or sing, or mental actions that we use
our brains to perform, such as think, consider, or memorize. Most verbs you will find are action verbs.
• 2. Stative verbs
• 3.Transitive verbs
• 4. Intransitive verbs
• 5. Linking verbs
• 6. Helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs)
• 7. Modal verbs
• 8. Regular verbs
• 9. Irregular verbs
• 10. Phrasal verbs
• 11. Infinitives
11. Types of verbs • Action verbs, as their name says, are used to refer to actions.
• These can refer to physical actions that are performed with bodies or objects, such
as jump, hit, or sing, or mental actions that we use our brains to perform, such
as think, consider, or memorize.
• Most verbs you will find are action verbs.
• List of action verbs
• Run, swim,help,ignore,believe
• Examples of action verbs in a sentence
• Each of these sentences uses action verbs. You’ll see that each verb is referring to a
physical or mental action.
• I work at a factory.
• Cats chase mice.
• We listened to the woman’s amazing story.
• Stative verbs refer to conditions or states of being. we use stative verbs
to describe things like qualities, states of existence, opinions, beliefs, and
emotions.
• When used in a sentence, stative verbs do not refer to actions. It is
important to know that some verbs can be used as either action or
stative verbs depending on their meaning in the sentence.
• List of stative verbs
• Love, want,own,have,resemble
• Get to know the stative verb have even better with this examination
of has vs. have.
• Examples of stative verbs in a sentence
• These sentences all use stative verbs. You’ll notice that none of these
verbs refer to actions.
• The mansion has five bathrooms.
• Allie loves her younger sisters.
• My car needs an oil change.
1.Action verbs.
2.Stative verbs.
3.Transitive verbs.
4. Intransitive verbs.
5. Linking verbs.
6. Helping verbs / Auxiliary verbs
7. Modal verbs.
8.Regular verbs.
9.Irregular verbs
12. Classificati
on of Verbs Regular verbs
• A verb is considereda regularverb if its past tense form and past participle endsin -ed, -d, or the verb is a -t variant verb. For example, the verb look is a regular
verb because both its past tense form and past participleis looked. Sometimes,regularverbsmay slightlychange spelling.For example, the past tense and past
participleof cry is cried.
• List of regular verbs
• jump becomesjumped
• slip becomesslipped
• try becomes tried
• sleep becomesslept
• lend becomes lent
• Examples of regular verbs in a sentence
• Each of the followingsentences use regularverbsin either theirpast tense form or as a past participle.
• He walked two milesto the post office.
• We purchasedall of the suppliesthat we needed for the camping trip.
Irregular verbs
• An irregular verb is a verb whose past tense and past participle
form doesn’t end in -ed, -d, and doesn’t use the –t variant.Often,
the spelling of these verbs changes dramatically or may not even
change at all.
• List of irregular verbs
• be becomes am, is, are, was, were, be, being, and been
• eat becomes ate, eaten
13. Transitive verbs
• A transitive verb is a verb that is
accompanied by a direct object in a
sentence. The direct object is
the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that is
having something done to it by the subject of
the sentence. Both action and stative verbs
can have direct objects, which means they
can both be used as transitive verbs.
• Examples of transitive verbs in a
sentence
• The following sentences all contain examples
of transitive verbs. As you read each one,
consider what the direct object of the
sentence is.
• Leonardo ate a delicious pepperoni pizza.
• The wealthy man bought three paintings.
• She really hates broccoli.
Intransitive verb
• The opposite of a transitive verb is an
intransitive verb. A verb is an intransitive verb if
it is not used with a direct object. Remember,
only nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases can be
direct objects. Prepositional phrases, adjectives,
and adverbs cannot be used as direct objects.
Once again, both action and stative verbs can be
used as intransitive verbs.
• Examples intransitive verbs in a sentence
• Each of these sentences uses intransitive verbs.
Look carefully and you will see that none of
these sentences have direct objects.
• Airplanes fly.
• The children slept while the adults worked.
• The terrified monkeys hid in the trees after they
saw the gigantic hungry snake.
14. .
Linking verbs
• Linking verbs are a special type of stative verb whose
name gives a big clue as to what they do. Linking verbs
are used to link a subject with a subject complement.A
subject complement describes or identifies the subject of
the sentence or clause. Linking verbs can function as
intransitive verbs, which do not take direct objects.
• List of words used as linking verbs
• be
• become
• seem
• appear
• grow
• Examples of linking verbs in a sentence
• In each of the following sentences, linking verbs are used
to link a subject with a subject complement.
• Mike is a great dancer.
• That gold watch looks expensive.
• Suddenly, the mall got really crowded
15. Helping verbs (auxiliary verbs)
• Helping verbs, also called auxiliary verbs, are helpful
verbs that work with other verbs to change the meaning
of a sentence. A helping verb combines with a main verb
in order to accomplish different goals.These include
changing the tense of the verb or altering the mood of a
sentence.
• List of words used as helping verbs
• be
• have
• do
• can
• will
• Examples of helping verbs in a sentence
• Each of the following sentences uses a helping verb.Take
a moment to consider what each sentence is saying and
how a helping verb contributes to the meaning of the
sentence.
• The musician has performed in concerts all over the
world.
• My cat is getting slow in her old age.
• Cheetahs can run incredibly fast.
16. Modal verbs
• Modal verbs are a subgroup of helping verbs that are
used to give a sentence a specific mood. Each modal verb
is used differently, and they can express concepts such as
ability, necessity, possibility, or permission.
• List of verbs used as modal verbs
• can
• may
• might
• must
• would
• Examples of modal verbs in a sentence
• The following sentences all use modal verbs to express a
certain tone.You’ll see that each sentence would have a
different meaning (or wouldn’t make sense) without the
modal verb.
• Once you finish your homework, you may play outside.
• We must carefully add two eggs to the mixing bowl.
• I would go to the movies if I wasn’t busy working.
• Learn about one certain mood that confuses many: the
subjunctive mood.
17. Phrasal
verbs
• Phrasal verbs are combinations of a
verb with prepositions and/or adverbs that have a different
meaning from the individual words used to form them. For
example, the verb shut means “to close,” and the
adverb down means “not up” or “in a descending direction.”
However, the phrasal verb shut down means to stop the
operation of something.
• List of phrasal verbs
• ask for
• put up with
• talk down to
• lock up
• cut across
• Examples of phrasal verbs in a sentence
• The following sentences show how we can use phrasal verbs.
Sometimes, we can separate out the words of a phrasal verb
and the sentence is still grammatically correct.
• The frustrated business owner closed down his store.
• Dave loves to show off his baseball trophies.
• My mother always told me it is a good idea to put some
money away in case of emergencies.
18. Infinitives
• An infinitive of a verb is identical to the base
form of the verb. For example, the infinitive
form of the verb open is open. Typically, we use
infinitives with the word to in order to form
infinitive phrases. Infinitive phrases can be used
for a variety of reasons, such as to act like
nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
• Examples of infinitive phrases in a sentence
• All of the following sentences use infinitive
phrases. In order, the infinitive phrases are
acting as a noun (nominal infinitive), an
adjective (adjectival infinitive), and an adverb
(adverbial infinitive).
• To play guitar in a rock band is my goal.
• If you are looking for the best restaurants in
town, Luis is the person to ask.
• The writing in the letter was too small to see