verb

Examples of verb in the following topics:

• Introduction to Verbs: Tense, Aspect, and Mood

  • Different tenses take different verb forms, either by changing the word itself or by adding helping verbs.
  • All verbs have both tense and aspect.
  • It is often formed by the verb have combined with a past tense verb.
  • Verb mood is to the "attitude" of the verb.
  • Transitive verb: cut.

• Verbal Aspect: Simple, Progressive, Perfect, and Perfect Progressive

  • They almost always involve some combination of the verb "to be" paired with the main verb ending in -ing.
  • In present progressive, the main verb is paired with the present tense of the verb "to be" (is/are) to show that the action is happening currently.
  • It almost always involves some form of the verb "have" combined with another verb.
  • Use "had" paired with the main verb in simple past tense.
  • It almost always involves a form of the verb "have" and a form of the verb "to be" combined with a verb ending in -ing.

• Subject-Verb Agreement

  • Verbs need to agree with the subject in both person and number.
  • For example, take an irregular verb like "be."
  • This verb is highly irregular, and so it can be trickier to make sure that the subject and verb match in tense and number.
  • "Chagrin" is closer to the verb than "antics," so the verb "causes" takes the singular form.
  • They take a singular verb form.

• Making Subject and Verbs Agree

  • It is important to make sure that verbs agree with their subjects in person and number.
  • Subject-verb agreement assures that verbs match their subjects in case and number.
  • The writer then choses her verb accordingly.
  • "Chagrin" is closer to the verb than "antics," so the verb "causes" takes the singular form.
  • Pare it down to just a subject and verb, and see if that sounds right.

• Verb Tense: Past, Present, and Future

  • The verb contains the action of the sentence.
  • We need verb tenses to talk about time.
  • The verbs is, paint, and hears are in the simple present tense.
  • To show that the action is continuous the verbs reading, running, and working are paired with the appropriate form of the verb to be (am, is, are).
  • This verb tense uses had, paired with a verb, to show that the verb is a completed action.

• Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

  • These sentences will generally follow the pattern of subject–verb–object (or simply subject–verb, for intransitive verbs—i.e., for verbs that don't need an object):
  • In fact, a rule of thumb for recognizing passive voice if you see the construction "was/is [verb]ed by" (for verbs like finished or started) or "was/is [verb]en by" (for verbs like eaten and forgotten).
  • That said, sentences with intransitive verbs—verbs that do not take direct objects—cannot be passivized because there is no object to put before the verb.
  • Intransitive verbs can never be used in passive voice.
  • The verb "to be" often describes what something is rather than what it does.

• Introduction to Inflection

  • Conjugation is the specific type of inflection that has to do with verbs.
  • For example, you change a verb based on who is performing the verb: you would say “You call me,” but “She calls me.”
  • To recap, "conjugation" refers to changing a verb to suit its grammatical context.
  • This can mean changing the verb based on who is performing the verb (e.g., “you read,” but “she reads”) or based on the time the action is occurring, also known as the verb’s “tense” (e.g., “you walk” for the present, and “you walked” for the past).

• Verb Mood: Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative

  • Grammatical mood is a verb feature that allows speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying.
  • You can change tense and aspect of a verb by changing something about the verb itself: For example, to make the verb "enjoy" past tense, you add -ed to the end.
  • You don't change anything about the verb itself.
  • Subjunctive sentences are often of the following form: [Indicative verb phrase setting up a hypothetical scenario such as "I wish," "I believe," "I hope"] + [Subjunctive phrase describing hypothetical scenario].
  • In English, the conditional mood is usually of the form "would" + bare verb with no tense or aspect markers.

• Nouns as Subjects and Objects

  • If it follows the verb, it is the object.
  • Not all verbs require objects.
  • A verb that requires an object is called a transitive verb:
  • A verb that does not require an object is called an intransitive verb:
  • With an intransitive verb, the sentence is complete with the subject and verb alone.

• Adverbs

  • Just as adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
  • You can use prepositional phrases as adverbs if they modify a verb, adjective, or adverb.
  • [The phrase "by its cover" describes the verb "judge."]