Study Notes: Verbs | American School

1. What is a Verb?

A verb is a word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being.

A verb tells us what a person, animal, place, or thing does, what happens, or what someone or something is.

Examples

Rahul plays cricket.
The baby cries.
Birds fly in the sky.
She is happy.
They have a new car.
We study English.

The words plays, cries, fly, is, have, study are verbs.

2. Importance of Verbs

A verb is one of the most important parts of a sentence.

A verb can show:

An action: run, jump, write, read
A state: be, seem, appear
An occurrence: happen, occur, become
Possession: have, own, possess

Examples

The boy runs fast. — Action
She is tired. — State
An accident happened yesterday. — Occurrence
Rahul has a bicycle. — Possession

3. Main Verb

A main verb is the principal verb in a sentence. It expresses the main action or state.

Examples

She writes a letter.
They play football.
Rahul eats an apple.
We study English.
The baby sleeps peacefully.

The verbs writes, play, eats, study, sleeps are main verbs.

4. Helping Verb

A helping verb helps the main verb express tense, time, possibility, ability, necessity, or other meanings.

Common Helping Verbs

Be:
am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been

Have:
has, have, had

Do:
do, does, did

Modal Helping Verbs

can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to

Examples

She is reading a book.
They are playing cricket.
I have completed my work.
He has finished his homework.
We will visit Delhi.
You can swim.
She should study regularly.

In the sentence:

She is reading a book.

is = Helping Verb
reading = Main Verb

5. Main Verb and Helping Verb Together

Sometimes a sentence contains both a helping verb and a main verb.

Examples

Sentence

Helping Verb

Main Verb

She is singing.

singing

They are playing.

are

playing

He has finished his work.

has

finished

We will go home.

will

I can swim.

can

swim

She was writing a letter.

was

writing

6. Transitive Verb

A transitive verb is a verb that takes an object to complete its meaning.

The action of the verb passes from the subject to an object.

Examples

Rahul kicked the ball.
She opened the door.
Riya bought a book.
The boy ate an apple.
Mother cooked dinner.

We can ask what? or whom? after the verb.

Example

Rahul kicked the ball.

Kicked what?
→ the ball

Therefore, kicked is a transitive verb.

More Examples

She read a book.
Read what? → a book
The teacher praised Rahul.
Praised whom? → Rahul
He washed his car.
Washed what? → his car

7. Intransitive Verb

An intransitive verb does not require an object to complete its meaning.

Examples

The baby cried.
Birds fly.
The boy laughed.
The old man slept.
The sun shines.
The children arrived.

The meaning of these sentences is complete without an object.

Compare

Transitive:
Rahul kicked the ball.

Intransitive:
Rahul slept.

We can ask:

Slept what? ❌

There is no object, so slept is intransitive.

8. Linking Verb

A linking verb connects the subject with a word that describes or identifies the subject.

Common linking verbs include:

am, is, are, was, were, seem, become, appear, feel, look, smell, taste

Examples

She is happy.
Rahul became a doctor.
He looks tired.
The soup tastes delicious.
The flower smells sweet.
The sky appears clear.

In:

She is happy.

“is” connects She with happy.

9. Regular Verbs

A regular verb generally forms its past tense by adding -d or -ed to the base form.

Examples

Present

Past

Past Participle

play

played

walk

walked

clean

cleaned

jump

jumped

work

worked

love

loved

Examples in Sentences

I play cricket.
I played cricket yesterday.
She cleans the room.
She cleaned the room yesterday.

10. Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not form their past tense simply by adding -ed.

Their forms change in different ways.

Common Irregular Verbs

V1 – Present

V2 – Past

V3 – Past Participle

went

gone

come

came

come

eat

ate

eaten

write

wrote

written

speak

spoke

spoken

see

saw

seen

take

took

taken

give

gave

given

drink

drank

drunk

begin

began

begun

break

broke

broken

choose

chose

chosen

drive

drove

driven

sing

sang

sung

swim

swam

swum

Examples

I go to school every day.
I went to school yesterday.
I have gone to school.

11. Verb Forms

The three important forms of verbs are commonly called:

V1 – Base Form

The basic form of the verb.

Examples:

go, eat, write, play, speak

V2 – Past Form

The form generally used for the simple past.

Examples:

went, ate, wrote, played, spoke

V3 – Past Participle

Used with helping verbs such as has, have, had, and in passive constructions.

Examples:

gone, eaten, written, played, spoken

Examples

go – went – gone
eat – ate – eaten
write – wrote – written
speak – spoke – spoken
take – took – taken

12. Verb and Tense

Verbs help us understand when an action happens.

There are three basic times:

Present

I play cricket.
She writes a letter.

Past

I played cricket.
She wrote a letter.

Future

I will play cricket.
She will write a letter.

Thus, verbs change their forms or work with helping verbs to express different tenses.

13. Finite Verb

A finite verb is a verb that changes according to the subject, number, or tense.

Examples

I play cricket.
He plays cricket.
They played cricket yesterday.

Here:

play → plays → played

The form of the verb changes according to the subject or tense.

More Examples

She writes neatly.
They write neatly.
She wrote neatly yesterday.

14. Non-Finite Verb

A non-finite verb does not change according to the subject or tense.

The main types of non-finite verbs are:

Infinitive
Gerund
Participle

15. Infinitive

An infinitive is usually formed with:

to + base form of the verb

Examples

to read
to write
to play
to sing
to study
to dance

Sentences

I want to study.
She likes to dance.
They decided to leave.
He wants to become a doctor.

16. Gerund

A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun.

Examples

Swimming is good exercise.
Reading is my hobby.
Dancing makes her happy.
Playing is enjoyable.

In:

Reading is my hobby.

“Reading” is formed from the verb read, but it functions as a noun. Therefore, it is a gerund.

17. Participle

A participle is a verb form that can function as an adjective or as part of a verb phrase.

Present Participle

Usually ends in -ing.

Examples:

the crying baby
the running boy
the shining stars

Past Participle

Often the V3 form of the verb.

Examples:

a broken chair
a written letter
a fallen leaf
a closed door

18. Action Verbs

An action verb shows what someone or something does.

Examples

run
jump
eat
write
read
sing
dance
swim
speak
laugh

Sentences

The boy runs fast.
She sings beautifully.
They dance well.
Rahul writes neatly.

19. State Verbs

Some verbs describe a state rather than a physical action.

Examples include:

know, believe, understand, like, love, hate, remember, need, want

Examples

I know the answer.
She likes music.
They believe him.
We understand the lesson.
He needs help.

20. Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are helping verbs that express ability, permission, possibility, advice, necessity, or willingness.

Common Modals

can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must

Examples

Can – ability

She can swim.

May – permission/possibility

May I come in?

Should – advice

You should respect your elders.

Must – necessity

We must obey the rules.

Will – future/willingness

I will help you.

21. Subject-Verb Agreement

The verb should agree with its subject in number and person.

Singular Subject

A singular subject generally takes a singular verb in the simple present tense.

He plays cricket.
She writes well.
Rahul goes to school.

Plural Subject

A plural subject generally takes the base form of the verb.

They play cricket.
We write well.
The boys go to school.

Compare

He plays football.
They play football.
She reads books.
They read books.

22. Common Mistakes with Verbs

Incorrect:

He play cricket.

Correct:

He plays cricket.

Incorrect:

They plays cricket.

Correct:

They play cricket.

Incorrect:

She go to school every day.

Correct:

She goes to school every day.

Incorrect:

I has a pen.

Correct:

I have a pen.

Incorrect:

He have completed his work.

Correct:

He has completed his work.

23. Quick Revision

Verb

A word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state.

Main Verb

The principal verb in a sentence.

Helping Verb

A verb that helps the main verb.

Transitive Verb

A verb that takes an object.

Intransitive Verb

A verb that does not require an object.

Linking Verb

A verb that connects the subject with information about the subject.

Regular Verb

A verb that generally forms its past tense using -d/-ed.

Irregular Verb

A verb whose past forms do not follow the regular -ed pattern.

Finite Verb

A verb that changes according to subject or tense.

Non-Finite Verb

A verb form that does not change according to subject or tense.

Infinitive

Usually to + V1.

Gerund

An -ing form functioning as a noun.

Participle

A verb form used as an adjective or as part of a verb phrase.

24. Examples for Practice

Identify the verbs in the following sentences:

The boy runs very fast.
She is reading a novel.
They have completed their homework.
Rahul plays football.
The baby cried loudly.
Birds fly in the sky.
She opened the window.
We will visit the museum.
He can speak English.
The soup tastes delicious.
Reading is a good habit.
The broken chair is outside.
She went to school yesterday.
They are preparing for the examination.
You should respect your teachers.

Remember

A sentence tells us something, and the verb is often the word that tells us what is happening, what someone does, or what someone or something is.