Verbs

What is a Verb?

A verb is a word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being. Every complete sentence must contain a verb — without one, a sentence is a fragment.

Verbs are the engine of a sentence. They tell us what the subject does, experiences, or is.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning
Action verb	A verb showing what the subject does (run, eat, think)
Linking verb	A verb connecting the subject to a description (is, seems, appears)
Auxiliary (helping) verb	A verb that works with the main verb (have, will, can, must)
Transitive verb	A verb that takes a direct object (She kicked the ball.)
Intransitive verb	A verb that does not take a direct object (She slept.)
Regular verb	Forms past tense by adding -ed (walk → walked)
Irregular verb	Forms past tense with a unique change (go → went)
Modal verb	An auxiliary expressing possibility, obligation, or ability (can, must, should, will)

Types of Verbs

Action Verbs

Action verbs describe what a subject does or did: run, think, build, laugh, write, swim, destroy.

• She runs five kilometres every morning.
• He built the bookcase himself.

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs connect the subject to a description (a noun or adjective) rather than showing an action:

be, is, are, was, were, seem, appear, become, feel, look, smell, taste, sound, remain, grow

• She is happy. — links "She" to "happy"
• The soup smells delicious. — links "The soup" to "delicious"
• He became a doctor. — links "He" to "a doctor"

Test: If you can replace the verb with a form of "to be" and it still makes sense, it is a linking verb.

• The soup smells delicious → The soup is delicious — still makes sense → linking verb.

Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs

Auxiliary verbs work alongside a main verb to form tenses, moods, or voices:

have, has, had, will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, must, do, does, did, be, is, are, was, were

• She has finished her work. (present perfect)
• He will arrive tomorrow. (future)
• They were playing when it rained. (past continuous)

Modal verbs are a subset of auxiliaries that express possibility, ability, obligation, or permission:

Modal	Use	Example
can	ability	She can swim.
could	past ability / polite request	Could you help me?
will	future intention	I will call you.
would	conditional / polite	I would like a coffee.
shall	formal future	We shall overcome.
should	advice / expectation	You should rest.
must	strong obligation	You must wear a seatbelt.
may	permission / possibility	You may leave now.
might	weak possibility	It might rain later.

Verb Tenses

Verbs change form to show when an action takes place:

Tense	Form	Example
Simple present	base / base+s	She walks.
Present continuous	is/are + -ing	She is walking.
Present perfect	has/have + past participle	She has walked.
Simple past	-ed / irregular	She walked / She went.
Past continuous	was/were + -ing	She was walking.
Past perfect	had + past participle	She had walked.
Simple future	will + base	She will walk.
Future perfect	will have + past participle	She will have walked.

Regular vs Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs form the simple past and past participle by adding -ed:

• walk → walked → walked
• talk → talked → talked

Irregular verbs change in unique ways that must be memorised:

Base	Past simple	Past participle
go	went	gone
see	saw	seen
run	ran	run
eat	ate	eaten
write	wrote	written
take	took	taken
speak	spoke	spoken
give	gave	given

Subject-Verb Agreement

The verb must agree with its subject in number:

• Singular subject → singular verb: The dog runs.
• Plural subject → plural verb: The dogs run.

In third person singular present tense, add -s or -es:

• She walks. / He watches. / It goes.

Transitive vs Intransitive

Transitive verbs require a direct object (something receiving the action):

• She kicked the ball. (the ball = direct object)
• He wrote a letter.

Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object:

• She slept.
• The sun rose.

Some verbs can be both depending on context:

• She runs every day. (intransitive)
• She runs the department. (transitive)

Active and Passive Voice

In active voice, the subject performs the action:

• The chef cooked the meal.

In passive voice, the subject receives the action (formed with to be + past participle):

• The meal was cooked by the chef.

Use passive voice when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or when you want to focus on the action or object rather than the agent.

Worked Examples

Identify the verb type:

1. The rain hammered the windows. → action verb, transitive
2. She seems exhausted. → linking verb
3. They must have left already. → modal auxiliary (must) + auxiliary (have) + main verb (left)
4. The report was written by the committee. → passive voice

Choose the correct form:

• She ___ (run) every day since January. → has run (present perfect — ongoing action)
• By noon, he ___ (finish) the entire project. → will have finished (future perfect)

Common Mistakes

• Using wrong past tense of irregular verbs: "She goed" — should be "She went".
• Confusing linking and action verbs: "She looks beautiful" (linking) vs "She looks at the painting" (action).
• Missing -s in third person singular: "He run every day" — should be "He runs."
• Confusing past simple and past participle: "She has went" — should be "She has gone."
• Overusing passive voice: Passive is useful but should not replace clear, direct active sentences.

Tips and Tricks

• Learn irregular verbs in triplets (base / past simple / past participle): go / went / gone.
• To check if a verb is linking, substitute "is" or "was" — if it still makes sense, it is linking.
• For modal verbs, remember they are always followed by the base form of the main verb: She must go, not She must goes.
• Reread sentences focusing only on verbs — this is the fastest way to catch agreement errors and tense inconsistencies.