VERB

BS 1st Semester
Course: Functional English
Lecturer: Rohma Mumtaz Khan
 What Are Verbs?
A verb is a "doing" word. A verb can express:
 A physical action (e.g., to swim, to
write, to climb).
 A mental action (e.g., to think, to
guess, to consider).
 A state of being (e.g., to be, to exist, to
appear).

Verbs Can Express Physical Actions

Here are some sentences with verbs that
express physical actions. (In each example, the
verb is highlighted.)
 She sells trees and heather.
(In this example, the word sells is a verb. It
expresses the physical activity to sell.)
 The doctor wrote the prescription.
(In this example, the word wrote is a verb.
It expresses the physical activity to write.)
 Alison bought a ticket.
(The word bought is a verb. It expresses
the physical activity to buy.)

Verbs Can Express Mental Actions

While many verbs express physical actions
(e.g., to jump, to dance, to sing), verbs can also
express mental actions. For example:
 She considers the job done.
(The word considers is a verb. It expresses
the mental activity to consider.)
 Peter guessed the right number.
(The word guessed is a verb. It expresses
the mental activity to guess.)
 I thought the same thing.
(The word thought is a verb. It expresses
the mental activity to think.)

Verbs Can Express a State of Being

A small but extremely important group of verbs
do not express any activity at all. The most
important verb in this group (arguably of all) is
the verb to be.

Here is the verb to be in the different tenses:

Subject Verb to be
 past present future
tense tense tense
I was am will be
You were are will be
He / She /
was is will be
It
We were are will be
You were are will be
They were are will be

Here are some real examples with the verb to

be:
 Edwina is the largest elephant in this
area.
(The word is is a verb from the verb to be.)
 It was a joke.
(The word was is a verb from the verb to
be.)
 I am.
(The word am is a verb from the verb to
be.)
The Types of Verbs
As we've covered, a verb can be categorized as
a physical verb (e.g., to run), a mental verb
(e.g., to think), or a state-of-being verb (e.g., to
be). However, a verb will often be further
categorized as one of the following:

Action Verb
An action verb expresses an activity that a
person or thing can do. For example:
 Lee eats cake.
(Eating is something Lee can do.)

 The mackrel chased the salmon in the

ocean.
(Chasing is something the bear can do.)

Stative Verb
A stative verb expresses a state rather than an
action. A stative verb typically relates to a state
of being, a thought, or an emotion. For
example:
 I am at home.
 She believes in fairies.
 He feels elated.
Transitive Verb
A transitive verb is one that acts on something
(i.e., it has a direct object). For example:
 I saw the dog.
(Here, the direct object is the dog.)
 Lee ate the pie.
(Here, the direct object is the pie.)
 The postman will give Sarah the letter.
(Here, the direct object is the letter.)
Note: The direct object of a transitive verb can
be found by finding the verb and asking "what?"
For example, "saw what?" (answer: the dog);
"ate what?" (answer: the pie); "will give what?"
(answer: the letter).

 He caught the bus after the party.

Q:Caught what?
A: the bus.
Caught is a transitive verb. The direct
object is a bus.

 He told a joke.
Q: Told what?
A: a joke.
 Told is a transitive verb. The direct object
is a joke. You can tell something. You can
tell a story, a lie, a joke, etc.)

Intransitive Verb
An intransitive verb is one that does not act on
something (i.e., there is no direct object). For
example:
 The rain fell.
 My throat hurts.
 The boy sneezed
 Every single person voted
 He laughed.
(Laughed is an intransitive verb. It has no
direct object.)

Auxiliary Verb
An auxiliary verb (or helping verb) accompanies
a main verb. Here are some examples of
auxiliary verbs:
 Lee has eaten all the pies.
(Here, the auxiliary verb has helps to
express tense.)
 The table has been prepared.

 If he were to arrive in the next 10

minutes, we would be on schedule.

 I have been sitting here since 7 o'clock.

 Sarah was waiting for the shark to
reappear.
 John will have broken the record by
then.
 If he were to arrive in the next 10
minutes, we would still be on track.

Modal Verb
A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb used to
express ideas such as ability, possibility,
permission, and obligation. The modal auxiliary
verbs are can, could, may, might, must, ought
to, shall, should, will, and would. For example:
 Lee can eat a lot of pies.
(Here, the modal verb can helps to
express the idea of ability.)
 Lee might eat that pie before he gets
home.
 (Here, the modal verb might helps to
express the idea of possibility.)
 Lee may eat as many pies as he likes.
(Here, the modal verb may helps to
express the idea of permission.)
 Lee should give you some of that pie
given you bought it.
(Here, the modal verb should helps to
express the idea of obligation.).

Phrasal Verb
A phrasal verb is a verb made up of more than
one word (usually two words). A phrasal verb
has a main verb and another word
(preposition). The phrasal verb usually has a
meaning different to the main verb. For
example:
 A burglar will often break a window
to break in.
(Here, the phrasal verb break in means to
enter illegally, which is different to break.)
 If you're unhappy, please stand up .
 The tree could fall down.
 Do not give in.
 She will show up soon.
 (It means "She will appear soon.")
 She will show up the opposition.
(It means "She will embarrass the
opposition.")

 to catch up
 to blow up
 to break in
 to break down

Regular and Irregular Verbs

A regular verb is one that forms its simple past
tense and its past participle by adding -ed or -
d to the base form of the verb. There are two
types of participles:
 The Present Participle
(Present participles end with -ing.)

 Past a The Past Participle

(Past participles usually end with -ed, -d, 
-en.)
The The Present
The Past Participle
Verb Participle
To bake the baking bread the baked bread
the printing the printed
To print
document document
To lower the lowering prices the lowered prices

Regular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle

love loved has loved
hate hated has hated
move moved has moved

An irregular verb is one that does not confirm to

this ruling. For example: 

Irregular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle

tell told has told
bleed bled has bled

Regular Verb Simple Past Test Past Participle

jump jumped has jumped
Irregular Verb Simple Past Test Past Participle
arise arose arisen

With an irregular verb, the past form and past

participle are often different (but not always).
For example:

Irregular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle

To begin began has begun

To break broke has broken

To buy bought has bought

Now, compare those irregular forms with those

of regular verbs, which just add -ed or -d:

Regular Verb Past Form Past Participle

To cook cooked has cooked

To play played has played

To dance danced has danced

The Most Common Irregular Verbs in

English
Listed below are the most common irregular
verbs in English:

Irregular Verb Past Simple Past Participle

arise arose arisen
be was/were been
beat beat beaten
become became become
bend bent bent
begin began begun
bet bet Bet
bind bound Bound
bite bit Bitten
bleed bled Bled
blow blew Blown
break broke Broken
breed bred Bred
bring brought Brought
build built Built
buy bought Bought
catch caught Caught
choose chose Chosen
come came Come
cost cost Cost
cut cut Cut
deal dealt Dealt
dig dug Dug
do did Done
draw drew Drawn
drink drank Drunk
drive drove Driven
eat ate Eaten
fall fell Fallen
feed fed Fed
feel felt Felt
fight fought Fought
find found Found
fly flew Flown
forbid forbade Forbidden
forget forgot Forgotten
forgive forgave Forgiven
freeze froze Frozen
got ( )
get got
gotten ( )
give gave Given
go went Gone
grow grew Grown
have had Had
hear heard Heard
hide hid Hidden
hit hit Hit
hold held Held
hurt hurt Hurt
keep kept Kept
know knew Known
lay laid Laid
lead led Led
leave left Left
lend lent Lent
let let Let
lie lay Lain
light lit Lit
lose lost Lost
make made Made
mean meant Meant
meet met Met
pay paid Paid
put put Put
quit quit Quit
read read Read
ride rode Ridden
ring rang Rung
rise rose Risen
run ran Run
say said Said
see saw Seen
sell sold Sold
send sent Sent
set set Set
shake shook Shaken
shine shone Shone
shoot shot Shot
show showed Shown
shut shut Shut
sing sang Sung
sink sank Sunk
sit sat Sat
sleep slept Slept
slide slid Slid
speak spoke Spoken
spend spent Spent
spin spun Spun
spread spread Spread
stand stood Stood
steal stole Stolen
stick stuck Stuck
sting stung Stung
strike struck Struck
swear swore Sworn
sweep swept Swept
swim swam Swum
swing swung Swung
take took Taken
teach taught Taught
tear tore Torn
tell told Told
think thought Thought
throw threw Thrown
understand understood Understood
wake woke Woken
wear wore Worn
win won Won
withdraw withdrew Withdrawn
write wrote Written

Verbs with Irregular and Regular

Forms
The following verbs can be regular or irregular:

Verb Past Simple Past Participle

burn burned OR burnt burned OR burnt

dream dreamed OR dreamt dreamed OR dreamt

learn learned OR learnt learned OR learnt

hung hung
hang
also hanged also hanged

smell smelled OR smelt smelled OR smelt

spell spelled OR spelt spelled OR spelt

The second form (e.g. learnt, dreamt) is more

common in British English.

Irregular Verbs That Don't Change

Some irregular verbs do not change their forms
for the simple past tense and the past participle:

Verb Past Simple Past Participle

bet bet Bet
broadcast broadcast Broadcast
cut cut Cut
hit hit Hit
hurt hurt Hurt
let let Let
put put Put
quit quit Quit
read read Read
set set Set
shut shut Shut
spread spread Spread