Lettiere's English on the Web

Updated
March 27, 2012

Notes on Verb

Definition

Verb is a word that names an action, process, or state.


Hints

For example:

walk                 walks, walking
go                    goes, going
think                  thinks, thinking

 

Note: Auxiliary verbs include have, be, do, will, and must.

walk                  will walk
go                      have gone
think                  have thought

When trying to figure out if a word is a verb or not, do the yesterday, right now, and tomorrow test.  Let your natural ability to change tense help you determine if a word is a verb or not.

walk                yesterday I walked, right now I walk, and tomorrow I will walk.
go                    yesterday I went, right now I go, and tomorrow I will go.
think                yesterday I thought, right now I think, and tomorrow I will think.

 

Note: this hint is especially useful when you need to find the main verb in a sentence.

For example:

Mike ponders what he might do now that he was fired.

What is the main verb?

Explanation: the word ponder is the word I need to change tense for the sentence to sound right; therefore, ponder is the sentence’s main verb.


Types of Verbs

Action verb: expresses a physical (e.g., walk) or mental (e.g., think) action.

Linking verb: links the subject to its complement. 
**The most common linking verb is is.   To be can be conjugated into is, was, were, am.  These are all linking verbs.  Other linking verbs are appear, look, sound, taste.

Hint: to test whether a verb is a linking verb or an action verb, replace it with the word is, am, or are.

 

1. The music sounds great.              The music is great.                Sounds = linking verb

2.  The chief sounded the alarm      The chief is the alarm.            Sound = action verb
    

  In sentence 1, replacing sounds with is keeps the same meaning.  In sentence 2, when we replace sounded with is, the meaning changes.


Examples of Identifying Verbs

The cat meowed at the dog.

            The word meow can have –s and –ing put at the end of it: meows and meowing.  I can put an auxiliary (helping) verb before it.  The cat had meowed.  And I can use the tense test: Yesterday, the cat meowed.  Right now, the cat meows.  Tomorrow, the cat will meow.

Mark thought he was going to lose his mind.

            If we run his through our tests, nothing works.  His is not a verb.  His is a pronoun.

 

Please come out and see our show.

            Here we have a slight problem.  Show does pass our tests.  However, it also passes our noun test.  Which one is it?  In this sentence, it is a noun because it is the object of the verb see.


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Please donate to help me keep this site running. You can donate $1, $5, or more. You can use your credit card. You don't have to sign up for PayPal. Any money I get helps me offset the rent on the server.

Thank you.