In the English language

Nayana Wickramasinghe ELTC 2012 +94 71 5852337 nayana@wildworldwatch.com

VERBS
Lexical Auxiliary

Regular

Irregular

Primary

Modal shall will should would can could may might must ought (to)

Intransitive Transitive Ditransitive Intensive

be is am are was were been have has had

Lexical Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs

Verbs like "go", "eat", "think" etc., are lexical verbs. They can be used in a sentence as a full verb. Cows eat grass. Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs. They can occur only before a lexical verb. Cows are eating grass. However, auxiliary verbs like 'are', 'am', 'does' etc too can occur by themselves, without a lexical verb. They are teachers. (In this example, the verb 'are' is not an auxiliary verb, but a full verb. An example of the verb 'BE'

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Lexical verbs can be classified as regular verbs and irregular verbs. A lexical verb has six forms. Six Forms Base Form Infinitive -s Form -ing Form (Present Participle) Past Tense Regular walk to walk walks walking walked Irregular write to write writes writing wrote

Past Participle

walked

written

Intransitive Verbs
sleep, cry, run, work etc. The child is crying. Note that an object or complement cannot be used after 'is crying', only an adverbial can be used. A sentence with an intransitive verb cannot be transformed into Passive Voice.
I slept. I coughed. The glass fell. My cat ran. The sun rose. My girlfriend cried. The president arrived. She went to school. My pet died. Every morning he sneezes. We sat all morning. She waited for me. They live in a tent. It happened suddenly. Birds fly. Hare dwells in holes in the ground.

Transitive Verbs break, push, cut, write etc. The girl broke a cup. Note that 'a cup' is the object, and the sentence would be incomplete without it. There can be only one object after verbs like 'break'. Therefore, they are called monotransitive verbs. A sentence with a transitive verb can be transformed into Passive Voice.

Some Transitive verbs and examples

bring cost give lend offer pass play Please bring me a glass of water. My electricity bill costs a lot of money. Our family gives gifts at New Year. Could you please lend me thousand rupees? My boss offered me a great new job. All the students of ELTC passed the test. Jayantha loves playing the guitar. buy get leave make owe pay promise Do not buy chicken at that restaurant. My children get good grades in school. I leave home at 6:00 in the morning. Did you make coffee this morning? I owe you thousand rupees. Don't forget to pay the phone bill. She promised me she would come to the party. The customs officers refused to let me enter the country. My neighbour showed me her garden yesterday. Travellers take planes or trains to their destinations. The author tells a good story.

read
send sing teach write

They read the newspaper every day.

My girlfriend sends me an e-mail message every day. Madhura sings songs at karaoke every Sunday night. Our parents teach us to be kind. Thennakoon writes short stories about History.

refuse
show take tell

Di-transitive Verbs give, bring, buy, tell etc. My father bought me a present. She gave me a kiss. 'me' is the indirect object and 'a shirt' is the direct object. Two objects in the example cannot be used after a monotransitive verb. 'Ditransitive' means that Two Passive Voice sentences can be derived from a sentence like the above.

Intensive Verbs

BE (am, is, were, etc.), seem, look etc. He is a teacher. He looks sick. The post office is opposite the market. The clause element used after an Intensive Verb is complement or adverbial. The verb BE used as in the example is called "copula". A sentence with an intensive verb cannot be transformed into Passive Voice.

Thats the end! Happy learning!