English Verbs in Use

Sarif Syamsu Rizal

sarif.syamsu.rizal@dsn.dinus.ac.id
English LIterature Study Program
Faculty of Humanities
Universitas Dian Nuswantoro
 The verb is King in English.
 The shortest sentence contains a verb. You can make a one-
word sentence with a verb,
 for example:
 Stop!
 (You cannot make a one-word sentence with any other type of word.)

 Verbs are sometimes described as " action words“ and “

condition(state) words”. This is partly true
 for example:
 She runs away.
 She is beautiful.
 Many verbs give the idea of action, of "doing" something.
 for example, words like
 run, fight, do and work (all convey action.)

 But some verbs do not give the idea of action; they give the
idea of existence, of state, of "being".
 for example, verbs like
 be, exist, seem and belong (all convey state.)
 A verb always has a subject in the sentence.
 John speaks English.
 (= John is the subject and speaks is the verb.)

 In simple terms, we can say that verbs are words that tell us
what a subject does or is; they describe:
 action
 John plays football.
 state
 John is an Englishman.
 There is something very special about verbs in English. Most
other words (adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, etc) do not
change in form (although can have singular and plural
forms).

 But almost all verbs change in form.

 For example, the verb
 work has five forms:
 to work, work, works, worked, working
Classifications of verbs

1. Helping verbs (also called "auxiliary verbs")

These are verbs that have no real meaning. They are
necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence,
but they do not tell us very much alone.
 for example: will, would, may are helping verbs.

2. Main verbs (also called "lexical verbs")

These are verbs that really mean something, they tell us
something.
 for example: love, make, work are main verbs.
3. Transitive verbs can take a direct object
(subject + verb + object).
 He speaks English.
 We are watching TV.
 I saw an elephant.

4. Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object

(subject + verb)
 He has arrived.
 She speaks fast.
 John goes to school.
5. Linking verbs are always intransitive. A linking verb
does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the
subject to what is said about the subject. Usually, a linking
verb shows equality (=) or a change to a different state or
place (>).
 Mary is a teacher. (Mary = teacher)
 Tara is beautiful. (Tara = beautiful)
 That sounds interesting. (that = interesting)
 The sky became dark. (the sky > dark)
 The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)
6. Some verbs describe action. They are called "dynamic",
and can be used with continuous forms.

For example:
 hit, explode, fight, run, go
7. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a situation). They
are called "static", and cannot normally be used with
continuous forms (though some of them can be used with
continuous forms with a change in meaning).
for example:
 be
 like, love, prefer, wish
 impress, please, surprise
 hear, see, sound
 belong to, consist of, contain, include, need
 appear, resemble, seem
8. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past
participle ending is always the same: -ed.

Regular verbs: base, past tense, and past participle

 look, looked, looked
 work, worked, worked

9. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past
participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them
by heart.

Irregular verbs: base, past tense, and past participle

 buy, bought, bought
 cut, cut, cut
 do, did, done
Forms of main verbs
V1 V2 V3

present simple,
Infinitive base past simple past participle present participle
3rd person singular

regular (to) work work worked worked working works

(to) sing sing sang sung singing sings

(to) make make made made making makes
(to) cut cut cut cut cutting cuts

(to) do* do did done doing does

irregular
(to) have* have had had having has

Infinitive base past simple past participle present participle present simple

(to) be* be was, were been being am, are, is

In the above examples:

 cut has 4 forms:

 to cut, cut, cutting, cuts
 work has 5 forms:
 to work, work, worked, working, works
 sing has 6 forms:
 to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings
 be has 9 forms:
 to be, be, was, were, been, being, am, is, are
Forms of helping verbs

There are 2 groups of helping verbs:

1. Tense helping verbs, used to change the “tense” of the

main verb.
2. Modal helping verbs, used to change the "mood" of the
main verb.
Tense in English

 The concept of tense in English is a method that we use to

refer to time - past, present and future. Many languages use
tense to talk about time.
 Other languages have no concept of tense at all, but of course
they can still talk about time, using different methods.
English moods
(imperative, indicative, and subjunctive)

 In a sentence, the grammatical mood conveys the speaker’s

attitude about the state of being of what the sentence describes.
 The indicative mood is used to make factual statements, ask
questions, or express opinions as if they were facts. Any verb tense
may be deployed in the indicative mood.

 I saw something today that really annoyed me. [Vitrearum’s Church Art]
 He lives most of the year in Spain but returns regularly to visit his ailing mother.
[Sydney Morning Herald]
 Vikings will be the new vampires. [Nile Guide]
 Prosecutors have not said whether they will appeal the decision. [NewYork Times]
 A sentence in the imperative mood expresses commands or
requests. It indicates that the speaker desires for the action
expressed in the sentence to take place. In most imperative
sentences, there’s an implied you.

 Sit on the sofa.

 Let me go to bed
 Keep reading.
 The subjunctive mood is complicated. In English, the
subjunctive mood is used to explore conditional or
imaginary situations.

 If I were President, I wouldn’t put up with it. [National Review]

 If I were to embroider a sampler, it would say, “Simple is truly best in
Frytown.” [ZWire]
 I wish I were there to have a drink with you and dish. [Ebar]
 She demanded that he leave the hospital premises … [Salem News]
 I suggest that he implement a budget cut in March. [Daily Gleaner]
 It’s essential that they be heard … [Alternet]
 Tense helping verbs Modal helping verbs
do (to make simple forms) can could
be (to make continuous forms) may might

have (to make perfect forms) will would

shall Should
must
ought (to)
"Do", "be" and "have" as helping verbs have exactly the same forms as
Modal helping verbs are invariable.
when they are main verbs
They always have the same form.
(except that as helping verbs they are never used in infinitive forms).

"Ought" is followed by the main verb in

Tense helping verbs are followed by the main verb in a particular form: infinitive form. Other modal helping
1. do + V1 (base verb) verbs are followed by the main verb in
2. be + -ing (present participle) its base form (V1).
3. have + V3 (past participle) 1. ought + to... (infinitive)
2. other modals + V1 (base verb)

Modal helping verbs cannot also

"Do", "be" and "have" can also function as main verbs.
functions as main verbs
 Sometimes we make a sentence that has a helping verb and
seems to have no main verb. In fact, the main verb is
"understood". Look at the following examples:

 Question: Can you speak English? (The main verb speak is

"expressed".)
 Answer:Yes, I can. (The main verb speak is not expressed. It is
"understood" from the context. We understand:Yes, I can
speak English.
Quiz: Practices and Progresses
1. https://www.englishgrammar.org/verbs-quiz-2/
2. http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/q7m/1.htm
3. https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/355.html
4. https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/verb-tense-
review-quiz
5. https://www.english-4u.de/en/tenses-exercises/to-
be.htm