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Verbs are words that, in a general sense, express actions, states of being, or occurrences.

Verbs work with subjects to form the basic structure of our sentences. They tell us what a subject does, experiences, or is.

Every sentence must contain at least one verb to be considered grammatically correct. In fact, verbs are unique among parts of speech because they can form complete sentences on their own, as seen in command sentences such as Go! [or] Stop!

Verbs can work alone to carry the main meaning of a sentence (main verbs), or they can work together with helping verbs (auxiliary verbs) to create different tenses and other grammatical constructions.

Verbs also change form through conjugation. The term verb conjugation might sound complicated, but it simply describes how verbs change to fit different situations. When a verb is conjugated, it changes from its base form to show who is doing the action and when (e.g. run > I ran).

This unit will cover all these aspects of verbs. There is a lot to learn about verbs, so it will be our largest unit within our Parts of Speech section. Verbs, as a topic, can at first seem overwhelming. However, we aim to break everything verb-related down into manageable sections.

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The Role of Verbs

At their core, verbs communicate information about subjects, and they do this in three primary ways:

1) To Express Actions

Verbs show us what someone or something does. These actions can be physical movements we observe or mental activities happening inside our minds.

Verbs: Physical & Mental Actions

Type of Action	Definition	Example Sentences
Physical Actions	External actions that are easily observable. (e.g., to run / to play / to talk)	– She runs every morning. – Marcus plays the piano beautifully. – He talks a lot when he’s nervous.
Mental Actions	Internal actions that occur in the mind. (e.g., to think / to want / to remember)	– I think it’s a good idea. – She wants to travel the world. – John always remembers to call his parents on Sundays.

2) To Express States of Being

Some verbs don’t exhibit any action at all. Instead, they describe conditions, feelings, qualities, or states that exist.

For instance:

• Lucas is a happy child.
• They are doctors.
• The soup smells delicious.
• She loves her new puppy.
• The weather seems perfect for a picnic today.
• They appear to be happy in their new home.

3) To Express Occurrences

Verbs also express events that happen or circumstances that arise, often without a particular person or thing making them happen. These occurrences often signify a change or a new condition for the subject.

For example:

• The caterpillar became a butterfly.
• A strange thing happened to me today.
• Over time, our monkey puzzle tree has grown to the same size as the house.
• Halfway through our hike, the weather changed suddenly and we had to quickly take cover from the storm.

Verb Categorisation

We can organise verbs into three main categories based on their grammatical function and purpose within sentences: main verbs, primary auxiliary verbs, and modal auxiliary verbs. Having a good grasp of these categories helps us to better understand how verbs are used and combined to build meaning in our communication.

Main Verbs

Main verbs carry the primary meaning in a sentence. They’re the central action, state, or occurrence that everything else revolves around.

Consider this sentence:

• Our cat always naps on the windowsill.

Here, naps is the main verb, showing what the cat does (action). Without naps, we are left with ‘Our cat always on the windowsill’, which tells us who and where, but doesn’t express any complete thought. This shows us why main verbs are essential: they carry the primary meaning that turns groups of words into complete sentences.

Main verbs can work alone in simple sentences or combine with auxiliary verbs to create more complex structures.

To understand main verbs better, we can look at how they work in different situations and what patterns they follow. Main verbs can be grouped into several categories based on how they connect with other parts of the sentence.

– Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs need a direct object to complete their meaning. The action passes from the subject to something else (the subject is simply the main person, thing, or idea that the sentence is about).

For example:

• The teacher explained the topic clearly.
• Tim bought a new bicycle yesterday.
• The dog chased the tennis ball across the yard.
• All of the students submitted their assignments on time.

* Subjects / Verbs / Objects

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– Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs stand complete on their own. They do not need a direct object because the action doesn’t transfer to anything else.

For instance:

• The baby cries a lot at night.
• This type of bird migrates south each winter.
• Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

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– Regular Verbs

Regular verbs form their past tense by adding -ed, and their past participle (used with helping verbs like have) uses the same -ed form.

For example:

• I walk to school. (present)
• I walked yesterday. (past)
• I have walked there many times. (past participle with have)

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– Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs don’t follow the standard -ed pattern for forming their past tense and past participle.

Instead, they often change unpredictably. Take the verb to sing:

• She sings beautifully. (present)
• She sang last night. (past)
• She has sung at many concerts. (past participle with has)

Notice how sing becomes sang (not singed) in the past tense, and sung (not singed) for the past participle. These forms must be memorised because such verbs do not follow any predictable rule.

Primary Auxiliary Verbs

Primary auxiliaries do the heavy lifting in English grammar. They combine with main verbs to create various tenses and constructions.

The three primary auxiliary verbs are:

• The verb to be
• The verb to do
• The verb to have

Primary auxiliaries each serve specific grammatical purposes. The verb to have creates perfect tenses, the verb to do assists with questions and negatives, and the verb to be forms continuous tenses and passive voice.

– The Verb To Be

One of the primary functions of the verb to be (e.g., am, is, are, was, were) is to create continuous tenses.

For instance:

• I am reading the paper.
• She is studying for her exam.
• They are watching television.
• I was sleeping when you called.
• This time tomorrow, we will be flying to London.

The verb to be is also crucial for creating the passive voice, where we focus on what receives an action rather than who performs it.

For instance:

• The report has been submitted.
• The letter was sent yesterday.
• New employees are trained thoroughly.
• The windows were only cleaned this morning.
• The problem is being solved now.

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– The Verb To Do

The verb to do (e.g., do, does, did) is used to form questions, negatives, and add emphasis.

For instance:

• Do you understand the instructions? (question)
• He didn’t arrive until after midnight. (negative)
• I do appreciate your help with this project. (emphasis)

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– The Verb To Have

The verb to have (e.g., have, has, had) is used to create perfect tenses that connect actions to specific points in time.

For example:

• I have finished my assignment already.
• She had visited Paris twice before moving there.
• We have been waiting for over an hour.

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Modal verbs express ideas like possibility, necessity, permission, or ability. They always work with another verb and never stand alone.

Unlike other verbs, modal verbs typically don’t change form for number, person, tense, mood, or voice.

The main modal verbs include: can/could, will/would, should/must, and may/might.

– Can/Could

Can and could express ability or possibility.

For instance:

• She can speak three languages fluently.
• We could visit the museum tomorrow if it’s open.
• Could you please pass the salt?

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– Will/Would

Will and would indicate future actions or hypothetical situations.

For instance:

• The train will arrive at platform three.
• I would help you if I had more time.
• Would you like to get a cup of coffee?

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– Should/Must

Should and must show obligation, necessity, or strong recommendation.

For instance:

• Students should arrive ten minutes before the exam begins.
• You must show identification to enter the building.
• We should probably leave soon to avoid traffic.

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– May/Might

May and might suggest possibility or permission.

• It may rain later this afternoon.
• May I borrow your pen for a moment?
• The package might arrive by Friday.

Verb Conjugation

Verb conjugation is the process of changing verbs from their base forms into different versions, such as walk → walks / walked / walking / would have walked. These changes help us show specific details about the action or state being described.

In other words, verb conjugation is how we change verbs to show who is doing the action (grammatical person), whether it’s singular or plural (number), when the action happens (tense), the verb’s function or intention in the sentence (mood), and whether the subject performs or receives the action (voice).

Grammatical Person and Number

Verbs can change based on the person and number of their subjects.

For example:

• I am thirty years old. (first person – singular)
• We are thirty years old. (first person – plural)
• You are thirty years old. (second person – singular or plural)
• He/She is thirty years old. (third person – singular)
• They are thirty years old. (third person – plural)

Person tells us who is doing the action (e.g., I, you, he/she, it), while number tells us whether the subject is singular or plural. This requirement for verbs to match their subjects in person and number is called subject–verb agreement.

* Optional Comparative Language Note [Click to Read]

– English vs. Spanish: Subject Pronouns and Conjugation

English doesn’t conjugate/change verbs as much as many other languages, so we almost always need to include a subject pronoun (e.g., I, you, they, we, he/she, it) with our verbs.

For example, if we just say ‘have a car.’, it’s unclear who has the car. We need to add a subject pronoun to make it clear and meaningful: ‘I have a car’.

Without Subject Pronoun (Unclear)		With Subject Pronoun (Clear)
No Subject Pronoun | Verb | Noun – | have | a car.	➝	Subject Pronoun | Verb | Noun I | have | a car.

The subject pronoun I is necessary to make the sentence complete and meaningful – it tells us exactly who has the car.

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Conversely, in other languages like Spanish, verbs change so much that you can often leave out the subject pronoun because the verb form already tells you who’s doing the action.

To better illustrate this point, let’s take a look at the Spanish equivalent of the verb to have (tener) in its conjugated, simple present tense forms.

– Tener: to have

• Yo tengo un carro. (I have a car.) – [first person – singular]
• Tú tienes un carro. (You have a car.) – [second person – singular]
• Ustedes tienen un carro. (You have a car.) – [second person – plural]
• Ellos tienen un carro. (They have a car.) – [third person – plural]
• Nosotros tenemos un carro. (We have a car.) – [first person – plural]
• Él/Ella tiene un carro. (He/She has a car.) – [third person – singular]
  
  * Subject Pronouns / Verbs

Notice how each verb is different for almost every subject pronoun, except for ustedes and ellos, which both use tienen. This means Spanish speakers can simply say ‘Tengo un carro.’ The verb tengo automatically tells us it means I have – no pronoun is needed. The conjugated verb by itself makes it clear who’s doing the action.

This shows how person and number conjugation affects language differently. Spanish has distinct verb forms for each person and number combination, so the verb alone tells us who’s acting. English verbs change very little for person and number, so we need subject pronouns to provide that information.

Tense

Tense tells us when something happens.

For example:

• She plays tennis on weekends. (present simple – regular occurrence)
• She played tennis last Saturday. (past simple)
• She will play tennis next week. (future simple)

Mood

Mood shows the function or intention of a verb in a sentence, whether we’re stating a fact, giving a command, or talking about a hypothetical situation.

For example:

• It’s raining again today. (stating a fact – indicative)
• Pass me the remote, please. (giving a command – imperative)
• If he were here, he’d know what to do. (wish or hypothetical situation – subjunctive)

Voice

Voice shows whether the subject is the doer of the action (active voice) or the receiver of the action (passive voice).

For example:

• The storm damaged several homes.
  > active – the storm does the action
  
  
• Several homes were damaged by the storm.
  > passive – the homes receive the action

We often use passive voice to focus on the action itself or the person/thing affected by it, rather than who performs the action.

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