Verbs

We usually think of verbs as ‘doing’ words which most of them are: they tell us about an action as in ‘walked’, ‘ran’, ‘whispered’, ‘helped’. They are an important part of sentences.

Not all verbs ‘do’ something though! ‘to appear’, ‘to seem’, 'to be’ are all verbs but they don’t exactly ‘do’ anything! Watch out for these.

 

 

Finite Verbs

These are verbs which change to show person, tense and number: They run/ she runs; they ran/ they will run. 

 

Non-finite Verbs

These stay the same. They can be past participles:

1.  Stopped by the side of the road was a strange van.

2. There was the car – smashed into pieces.

3. They can be present participles: Walking past the window was a long lost friend. Creeping slowly ….

They can be infinitives:

1. To attend the final was her dearest wish.

2. To boldly go where no one has ever gone before.

 

Verb Phrases

Verb phrases can refer to one main verb (called a lexical verb):

1. I ran home.

2. I saw the rainbow.

3. I helped the old man. 

 

or they can include auxiliary (or helper) verbs:

1. I was going to run home.

2. I might have seen the rainbow.

3. I have helped the old man.

 

Phrasal Verbs

Some verbs are made up of two parts – together they give the meaning. Pack up, get down, go away, look up, bring up, get back are all phrasal verbs – the verb and the adverb belong together.