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Lesson 5 - Verb Funtions

Verbs describe actions or states of being. There are several types of verbs including auxiliary/helping verbs, lexical/main verbs, linking verbs, dynamic/stative verbs, finite/nonfinite verbs, and regular/irregular verbs. Verbs also have characteristics like number, person, voice, mood, and tense which determine their form. In summary, verbs are complex parts of speech that indicate actions, states of being, or relationships and have various forms and functions in language.

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683 views31 pages

Lesson 5 - Verb Funtions

Verbs describe actions or states of being. There are several types of verbs including auxiliary/helping verbs, lexical/main verbs, linking verbs, dynamic/stative verbs, finite/nonfinite verbs, and regular/irregular verbs. Verbs also have characteristics like number, person, voice, mood, and tense which determine their form. In summary, verbs are complex parts of speech that indicate actions, states of being, or relationships and have various forms and functions in language.

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Tess Umali
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Verb, Functions of a

Verb, Characteristics of
Verbs, Kinds of Verbs
A verb is customarily defined as a part of speech (or word class) that
describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being.
Understanding what a verb is can be a bit tricky, though.
 
 
Generally, it makes more sense to define a verb by what it does than by
what it is. Just as the same word can serve as either a noun or a verb
—"rain" or “mall," for example—the same verb can play various roles
depending on how it's used.
10 TYPES OF VERBS
Auxiliary and Lexical Verbs

An auxiliary verb (also known as a helping verb) determines the


mood or tense of another verb in a phrase.

"It will rain tonight,"


In the above sentence, the verb "will" helps the verb "rain" by
explaining that the action will take place in the future.
The primary auxiliaries are the various forms of

be, have, and do.

The modal auxiliaries include

can, could, may, must, should, will, and


would.
A lexical verb (also known as a full or main verb) is any
verb in English that isn't an auxiliary verb: It conveys a real
meaning and doesn't depend on another verb, such as,

"It rained all night."


"Lexical verbs indicate the main action taking place in any
sentence and therefore the intention of the sentence
becomes clear; whereas, auxiliary verbs have a more subtle
function because they often complete a sentence without the
reader being aware how they contribute to [its] structure."
An auxiliary verb determines the mood, tense, voice, or
aspect of another verb in a verb phrase.

Put another way, a helping verb comes before the main


(lexical) verb in a sentence.

Together, they form a verb phrase.


In English, the auxiliary verbs are:

Is, am, are, was, were


Be, being, been
Has, have, had
Do, does, did
Will, shall, should, would
Can, could
May, might, must
Lexical verbs constitute all the rest. Lexical verbs
can be grouped according to four types: transitive
and intransitive, linking, dynamic and static (or
stative), as well as regular and irregular.
LINKING VERBS

A linking verb is an important lexical verb (such as a form of be or


seem) that joins the subject of a sentence to a word or phrase that
tells something about the subject.

“The boss is unhappy."


Note that to be verbs such as is can also serve as auxiliary verbs
depending on how the sentence is constructed.
In the sentence,

"Alice is helping Victor with his


homework,"

is serves as the auxiliary verb because it helps the lexical


verb helping.
The most common linking verb is “to be” such as:
is, are, was or were.

Some other linking verbs are:


appear, feel, remain, sound, become, grow, seem, stay,
continue, look, smell, taste, etc.

He became angry.
She looks beautiful.
He seems unhappy.
Dynamic Verbs and Verbs

A dynamic verb indicates an action, process, or sensation:

"I bought a new guitar."


A stative verb (such as be, have, know, like, own, and
seem) describes a state, situation, or condition:

"Now I own an IPhone."


Finite and Nonfinite Verbs

A finite verb expresses tense and can occur on its own in a main
clause: "She walked to school.“
A nonfinite verb (an infinitive or participle) doesn't show a
distinction in tense and can occur on its own only in a
dependent phrase or clause:

"While walking to school, she spotted a bird."


Regular and Irregular Verbs

A regular verb (also known as a weak verb) forms its past tense
and past participle by adding -d or -ed (or in some cases -t) to the
base form: "We finished the project."
An irregular verb (as a strong verb) doesn't form the past tense by
adding -d or -ed: "Gus ate the wrapper on his
candy bar."
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

A transitive verb is followed by a direct object:


"She sells seashells.“
By contrast, an intransitive verb doesn't take a direct object:
"She sat there quietly."
This distinction is especially tricky because many verbs have both
transitive and intransitive functions.
A verb is a word that says something about a person or a
thing. It indicates an action. It is used to describe such
things as actions, happenings, thoughts, feelings, speech,
and relationships.

I opened the door. (Action)


It started to rain. (Happening)
I expect you know already. (Thought)
‘No’ answered Ali. (Speech)
A verb is a complex part of speech. It has various forms and
functions; verbs in particular forms take on the characteristics of
other parts of speech: we call these forms Verbal, and they can
be turned into nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.

There are various verbal forms: Infinitives, Gerunds, and


Participle.
FUNCTIONS OF VERBS

A verb shows an action (Except the verb to be).


A verb tells us that some act has been carried out by the subject.
Always forms a tense (past – present – future)
A verb form shows the time of action or state (tense).
A verb form shows duration of action (Aspect).
A verb form shows speaker’s attitude (Mood).
Always has a “subject”.
No sentence is considered complete without a verb.

Note:

Sentence cannot be made without a verb.


Verb always comes after the subject in an affirmative
sentence.

Verb is used according to the subject.

If the subject is singular, verb must be singular. If the


subject is plural, verb must also be plural.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VERBS

Verbs are associated with five primary characteristics:

Number,
a Person, Voice, Mood, and Tense.
These determine what form a verb takes and how it is used in a
sentence.
Number

The number of verb shows whether one or more than


one person or thing is being talked about.

He runs.
They run.
Person

Any of the three kinds of personal pronoun.

The first person (I, we) refers to the person(s) speaking;

the second person (you) refers to the person (s) spoken to;

the third person (he, she, it, they) refers to the perspn(s) or
thing(s) spoken about.
Voice

Voice is that form of verb which shows whether its subject acts or is
acted upon.
There are two possible voices: active and passive.
i
Mood

In grammar, mood is a form that indicates a speaker’s attitude.


It is a state of mind.

It is the mental conception of the verb he or she is using.

There are three moods:

indicative, imperative, and subjunctive


Tense

Tense is traditionally used to refer to the way verbs change


their form to express their meaning.

There are three major kinds of tenses:

present, past and future.


a
SOURCE: Pinker, Steven. The Stuff of Thought: Language
as a Window into Human Nature. Penguin Books, 2010.
https://www.thoughtco.com/types-of-verbs-and-
counting-1691288?print

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