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A verb is a word or more than one word (verb phrase) that is used to express an action or a state of being of the subject. The verb is an essential element in the construction of a sentence as almost every sentence has a verb. Without a verb, a sentence is left incomplete.
Most sentences consist of a noun as the subject and a predicate. The predicate typically includes one or more verbs. The verb follows the subject, to which it must match in number, even if there are words intervening between them. The verb in turn is followed by an object or a complement.
A verb takes the infinitive form which includes the word to (to paint, to walk) or a conjugated regular form (paint/paints, walk/walked) that is used in accordance with a grammatical classification such as person, tense or voice. The conjugated irregular verb form introduces a change in its spelling (go/went/gone), or a change in its ending (hide/hid/hidden). Such modification of a verb to express a different grammatical category is also called inflection.
A verb that is used in a sentence is usually an action verb or a linking verb. An action verb describes the physical or mental action of the subject. A linking verb links the subject to the rest of the sentence that provides information about the subject.
A verb can be just a word.
Examples:
- She greets me.
- They left early.
A verb can be more than one word.
Examples:
- He is washing his car.
- You have broken my window.
An action verb takes an object.
Examples:
- Lee drives a car. (Subject: Lee / Object: car)
- Someone has eaten my pizza. (Subject: someone / Object: pizza)
A verb may not have an object.
Examples:
- The sun shines.
- It is raining.
A verb connects the subject to a complement. The complement or subject complement can be a noun or an adjective.
Examples:
- They are my brothers. (Subject: they / Complement: brothers)
- She is beautiful. (Subject: she / Complement: beautiful)
- Regular verbs are those whose past tense and past participles are formed by adding a -d or an -ed to the end of the verb.
- Irregular verbs are those verbs that do not follow the typical pattern of the regular verb in the formation of the simple past and past participle.
- A transitive verb is an action verb that must have a direct object.
- An intransitive verb is an action that does not have a direct object.
- An auxiliary verb or action verb is used in conjunction with the main verb to form the tenses, moods, and voices.
- Helping verbs are used with main verbs to create the verb tenses
- The main verb expresses the main action or state of being of the subject in the sentence. The main verb is also called the lexical verb.
- Finite verb can be the main verb in a sentence as it has a subject.
- Nonfinite verb does not show tense and it comes in three types: gerund, infinitive, and participle.
