English Verbs
What is a verb?
An English verb is a word that describes an action, state, or occurrence. In a sentence, it tells what the subject is doing, feeling, experiencing, or being. Verbs play a crucial role in conveying meaning in communication.
I love English.
He is a good man.
They are watching a football match.
My dog waves his tail whenever he sees me.
Types of verbs
There are three main types of verbs:
- Action verbs: These verbs describe physical or mental actions, such as run, jump, write, or think. Action verbs can be transitive, meaning they require a direct object to complete their meaning, or intransitive, meaning they do not require a direct object.
- Linking verbs: These verbs connect the subject of a sentence to additional information, such as be, seem, appear, become, and stay. They usually function to describe the state or condition of the subject, rather than an action.
- Auxiliary verbs: These verbs are used in combination with other verbs to express tense, mood, or voice, such as have, do, will, or be.
Verbs & Tenses
English cares about the time frame in which the action is taking place, which is called tense. To indicate this, the verb transforms into different forms depends on the tense. For example, the verb run becomes ran in the past tense and will run in the future tense.
My brother and I often run around Hoan Kiem lake after work. Yesterday, we ran in two hours. But tomorrow, we will run around a different lake because my brother want to experience a different running path.
Verbs & Subject
In the present tense, verbs can change the form depend on the subject is singular or plural.
The bird (without s) sings beautifully.
The birds (with s) sing beautifully.
I am at home
She/he is at home
They are at home
Verbs and Adverbs
Additionally, verbs can be modified by adverbs, which provide additional information about the verb, such as the manner, time, or place of the action.
She sings beautifully.
I often wake up immediately after my alarm clock rings.
In the above example, the adverb beautifully modifies the verb sings, the adverb immediately modifies the verb wake up