The majority of the verbs express physical action. These are known as doing words popularly called as action verbs. Some examples are: to run, to swim, to eat, to dance, to eat, to hit, to jump, to sit, etc.
There are three forms of verbs that are used to talk about the past, present and future in the English language. Consider the following sentences:
There are three forms of verbs that are used to talk about the past, present and future in the English language. Consider the following sentences:
- Tom runs fast. (Present)
- Tom ran fast. (Past)
- Tom will run fast. (Future)
There are three forms of the verb "to run", run (present tense), ran (past tense), will run (future tense).
Let's look at some more examples.
Present: study, sing, dance, cook, walk.
Past: studied, sang, danced, cooked, walked.
Future: will study, will sing, will dance, will cook, will walk.
Verbs also express mental action. This simply refers to anything related to the cognitive state of mind. Examples: to think (thought), to consider (considers), to guess (guessed), to surprise, to promise, to love, to hate, to know, to hope, to wish, to forget, to remember, etc.
Consider the following sentences:
- I think I like it.
- Did I surprise you?
- I promise I will work hard.
Verbs also express the state of being. These are the, "to be" verbs. These are mainly is, am, are, was, were. These small sets of verbs do not express physical action at all. These act as linking verbs. Linking verbs connect the subject to other words in the sentence without expressing any action. They are usually, followed by a noun, an adjective or an adverb.
Consider the following sentences:
- I am a teacher.
- She is a beautiful lady.
- I am fully prepared.
These verbs also act as helping verbs, also known as auxiliary verbs. Helping verbs are verbs that cannot function as the main verb, but come before the main verb.
Consider some examples,
- Sarah is eating a pizza.
- Sarah was eating a pizza.
- Sarah will eat pizza.
Below is a table showing the "to be" verbs in different persons and tenses form.
Verbs also express possession, such as " to have" verbs. They are mainly, have, had, has. These can be either used as an action verb or as an auxiliary verb (helping verb). "have" acts as the irregular main verb, with both "had" and "has", serving as inflections. They show possession.
Consider the following sentences:
- I have a bag.
- They had a car.
- Tom has a pen.
The "to have" verbs also act as auxiliary or helping verbs. They come before the main verb.
Consider the following sentences:
- Sarah has eaten a pizza.
- They have written a book.
Below is a table showing the "to have" verbs in different persons and tenses form.
Another form of verbs that we would like to mention here is the, "to do" verbs. These are mainly, "do, did and does". Like the "to have" verbs, these are used both as either an action verb or as an auxiliary verb.
Consider the following sentences,
- He does his taxes on time.
- They do a lot of work.
- She did well.
In the above sentences, the "to do" verbs act as the main irregular verb.
The "to do" verbs also act as auxiliary or helping verbs. They come before the main verb.
Consider the following sentences:
Below is a table showing the "to do" verbs in different persons and tenses form.
Look at the table below:
The above table shows us the linking and helping (auxiliary) verbs.
It is noteworthy to see, that the "to be verbs" act as both, linking and helping (auxiliary) verbs. The "to have" and "to do" verbs act as either action verbs or helping (auxiliary) verbs. The words will, would, shall, should, can, could, may and might, act as only helping (auxiliary) verbs, also known as "true auxiliary".
On the other hand, the sensory words, look, sound, smell, taste, and feel as well as the words grow, prove turn, remain, stay and appear act as either action verbs or linking verbs. The words become and seem, act as only linking verbs, also known as "true linking".