A verb is a word for an action, an occurrence, or a state of being, and every complete sentence needs one. English verbs can be sorted in three ways: by the objects they take (intransitive, transitive, or ditransitive), by their job (main or auxiliary), and by how they form the past (regular or irregular).
This article is part of a series on the parts of speech, or word classes, in English. It looks at one of the most productive and important word classes: verbs. You will learn how to tell verbs apart from other word classes, the difference between main verbs and helping (auxiliary) verbs, regular and irregular verbs, and some other types of verbs in English.
What are verbs?
Verbs are sometimes called "action words", which already gives away their job in a sentence. They are essential: without a verb, you cannot form a complete sentence or a question. The following examples show verbs that express actions and activities, mental states, or states of being:
- Physical actions: to walk, to shout, to exercise, to do, to sit, to give
- Mental states: to know, to understand, to believe, to plan, to feel
- States of being: to be, to have
- Phrasal verbs: to look down, to catch up, to cut off, to hand in
Like nouns, verbs belong to the open word classes. Unlike the closed word classes, an open class keeps growing: new words are made up and added to the language all the time.
Different types of verbs
Verbs can be divided into different types. Each type has its own functions and restrictions, and its own rules for when it can be used. Here are the three main distinctions.
Intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive verbs
This distinction looks at how a verb relates to the words around it, that is, at the number of objects (or "arguments") the verb takes. The examples make this easier to understand.
Intransitive verbs do not need a direct object to express their complete meaning. Take to rise:
- Correct: The sun rose. Nothing has to follow the verb.
- Correct: The sun rose high above the horizon. What follows is a phrase of place, not a direct object.
Transitive verbs need a direct object. Without it, the meaning, or the whole sentence, is incomplete. Take to bring:
- Incorrect: I will bring. The direct object is missing.
- Correct: I will bring the books tomorrow. The direct object is the books.
Ditransitive verbs need not only a direct object but also an indirect object. Take to give:
- Incorrect: Paul gives. Both objects are missing.
- Incorrect: Paul gives Sally. The person who receives something (the indirect object, Sally) is there, but the thing given (the direct object) is missing.
- Correct: Paul gives Sally a bouquet of flowers. The indirect object is Sally, and the direct object is a bouquet of flowers.
Some transitive verbs can take an indirect object as well, but they do not need one to complete their meaning.
Main verbs and auxiliary verbs
Main verbs and auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) differ in their job in the sentence and in the meaning they carry. Main verbs carry the meaning of the sentence. An auxiliary verb adds grammatical meaning: it expresses tense, aspect, emphasis, voice, or modality.
In the following example, would is the auxiliary verb that goes with the main verb like. Here, the auxiliary makes the question polite:
Would you like some sausages?
Regular and irregular verbs
The last distinction is the one between regular and irregular verbs. It is based on how a verb forms its simple past and its past participle.
Regular verbs form the simple past and the past participle with the regular endings -d, -ed, or -ied (as in try, tried). Take to talk:
He talked to the manager afterwards.
Irregular verbs form their simple past and past participle in a different way. Take to go:
She went to the store yesterday.
Some of the best-known irregular verbs are to go, to say, to think, to make, to know, and to come. For many more, see irregular verbs in English.
Subject-verb agreement
In English, a verb follows the rule of subject-verb agreement. Put simply, the verb has a special relationship with its subject, and it changes its form to match the subject. Take to walk:
- Correct: I walk to the store every afternoon.
- Incorrect: He walk alone most of the time.
- Correct: He walks alone most of the time.
In the present tense, this agreement is usually shown with the ending -s or -es after he, she, or it. The main exception is the verb to be, which changes its form in its own way:
- Correct: I am disappointed.
- Incorrect: She am enjoying the rain.
- Correct: She is enjoying the rain.