We use sentences to express ourselves. Those sentences are made up of words. Words are like building blocks. Each of them is different and says something different. Words are put in categories of words, according to what they express. Some of the words are names of objects or persons (Anna, dog, chair), these words belong to a group called nouns. Some of the words are used to describe objects or persons (beautiful, brown, wooden), these words belong to a group of words called adjectives. There is another group of words, that express an action, or a state (go, run, walk, eat, write, stand) and play a key role in the use of language. They are called verbs. Without them, a sentence would be incomplete. In some cases, a single verb can be a sentence. (Run! Sing!).
We use verbs to describe what are we doing, we can show states of being, we can express ability, obligation, possibility, and many more.
Another important thing is that verbs (Verb Tense) can tell us does something already happened (Past Tense), is happening now, at the moment of speaking (Present Tense), or will happen in the future (Future Tense). The correct use of verbs means a lot to us. By understanding what verbs are and with their correct use we can improve our verbal communication, improve our writing skills, and increase our overall expressive language.
There are different types of verbs.
These are the verbs that describe what the subject is doing. Action verbs are all the things that one can with their body, like walk, hop, jump, run, swim, smell, sit, hear, climb, cry, hug, etc.
For example, the words runs, ate, dances in the following sentences are action verbs.
John runs very fast.
Mark ate ice cream.
She dances beautifully.
You can identify the verbs in a sentence by asking, “What did this person, animal or thing do?” In the first sentence, you can see that John is our subject. If we ask, “What does John do?” then we can see that John does something, specifically runs. The sentences above show actions that the person, object, or animal is doing.
These are verbs that link the subject of the sentence to a word or phrase in the predicate that renames or describes the subject.
For example,
John is nice.
Sara feels sad today.
I love my new job.
The flower looks beautiful.
The fireworks are amazing!
In the sentences above, the subjects of the sentences are not necessarily doing anything or performing an action. Instead, the verbs show states of being or emotions.
These are verbs that take an object.
For example, Sharon ate the cookies.
In this sentence, Sharon is the subject, ate is the verb, and cookies is the object.
These are verbs that do not take a direct object.
For example, He laughed loudly.
In this sentence, the verb laughed does not need an object to complete the sentence.
These are verbs that are used together with a main verb to show the verb’s tense or to form a question or negative. They are also known as helping verbs.
For example, I will eat food after bathing.
In this above sentence, the auxiliary verb 'will' tell us that the action of the main verb eat is going to take place in the future – after bathing. If the auxiliary verb will is removed, we still understand the sentence.
List of auxiliary verbs are:
The modal verbs include can, must, may, might, will, would, should.
They are used with other verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so on. Below is a list showing the most useful modal verbs and their most common meanings:
| Modal | Meaning | Example |
| can | to express ability | I can speak a little Russian. |
| can | to request permission | Can I open the window? |
| may | to express the possibility | I may be home late. |
| may | to request permission | May I sit down, please? |
| must | to express obligation | I must go now. |
| must | to express a strong belief | She must be over 90 years old. |
| should | to give advice | You should stop smoking. |
| would | to request or offer | Would you like a cup of tea? |
| would | in if-sentences | If I were you, I would say sorry. |
