What is a verb?

Definition: A word that shows an action, state or an event is called a verb.

It is an essential part of a sentence and is known as the soul of language.

For example:



– They study English grammar. (Action)

– We celebrate independence day. (Event)

– I sleep at night. (State)


Kinds of Verbs

Following are the different types of verbs.
  • Regular Verb
  • Irregular Verb
  • Linking Verb
  • Transitive Verb
  • Intransitive Verb
  • Finite Verb
  • Infinitive Verb
  • REGULAR VERB

A verb that’s past (2nd form) and past participle (3rd form) is made by adding ‘d’ or ‘ed’ is called regular verb. Some regular verb list is given below.
Walk      Walked      Walked
Talk       Talked        Talked
Clean    Cleaned     Cleaned
Choke   Choked      Choked
Grate     Grated       Grated
Book      Booked      Booked
Ban        Banned     Banned
Amuse   Amused       Amused
Answer   Answered   Answered
Accept    Accepted    Accepted


IRREGULAR VERB

If the formation of the verb is otherwise than the regular verb, it is called irregular verb. For example,
Present Past Past Participle
Shut         Shut              Shut
Drink        Drank            Drunk
Break       Broke             Broken
Beat         Beat               Beaten
Become    Became        Become
Bid            Bid                Bid
Drive         Drove           Driven
Has/Have   Had             Had
Know          Knew          Known
Rise            Rose           Risen

LINKING VERB

A verb that acts as a link between two words is called linking verb. It connects or links a subject to a noun or an adjective in the predicate.
Linking verb list:
  • Appear Become Feel
  • Look Taste Turn
  • Sound Seem Grow


For example,
  • He remained silent.
  • The matches are full of sticks.
  • The room is very spacious.
TRANSITIVE VERB

A verb that needs an object to complete itself is called transitive verb. It is called transitive because it passes its action from subject to object.

For example,
  • The boy kicks the football.
  • He loves his mother.

Usually no preposition is used after transitive verb.

Now see another example: The servant cleans the floor.

In this sentence, the action denoted by the verb cleans passes from the doer, the servant, to some object, the floor. Thus the verb ‘cleans’ is called a transitive verb.
INTRANSITIVE VERB

A verb that doesn’t need any object to complete itself is called intransitive verb. It does not pass its action from subject to the object.

For example,
  • The girls sleep.
  • He died in an accident.

Usually prepositions is used after intransitive verb.

Another example: We sleep at night.

In this sentence, the action, sleep, do not pass from the doer, we, to any object. So the verb sleep is called an intransitive verb.
FINITE VERB

Finite verbs mean those verbs which can change their form in accordance with the subject. It defines the time (past or present) and the subject. It tells you who is doing the action and when it is being done.

For example,
  • I eat rice. / He eats rice. / They eat rice.
  • I am a student. / He is a student. / They are students.
INFINITIVE VERB

An infinitive is a verb which has “to” before it. It shows infinite action when is used at the beginning of the sentence.

For example,

  • To see is to believe.
  • To be weak is miserable.
  • Functions of Infinitive Verb

If we look at the function that an infinitive verb does in a sentence, we may consider it to be both a noun and a verb.
The Infinitive as Noun and Verb

Here is an example,

I like to finish the work quickly.

In this sentence, the phrase to finish does the following jobs.
It is the object of the finite verb like – therefore to finish is similar to a noun (because being an object is a noun’s job).

The phrase to finish has its own object, work – so to finish is a verb (since verbs have objects).

The adverb quickly modifies (i.e. tells us something more about) to finish. Since the phrase to finish is modifiable by an adverb, it must be a verb.

We can say that the infinitive, though born in the verb family, does not limit itself to being a verb. It often behaves like a noun when it goes around socializing in the world of sentences.
The Infinitive as Adjective or Adverb

In some cases, it behaves even like an adjective, as in the following sentence.

That was a game to watch!

In this sentence, to watch tells us something more about the quality of the game (a noun). Describing a noun is the work of an adjective.

Sometimes it behaves like an adverb. The sentence below illustrates this.

Her voice is pleasant to hear.

The phrase to hear tells us something more about the quality of being pleasant. The word pleasant is an adjective, and words that tell us more about an adjective (adjective modifiers) are traditionally called adverbs.
SPLIT INFINITIVE

A split infinitive puts an adverb and adverb between the two parts of the full infinitive. “To generously sprinkle” is a split infinitive because “generously” splits the word “to” from the word “sprinkle”.

When we put an adverb between “to” and “verb”, it is called Split Infinitive.

If you want to remember what a split infinitive is, just remember what might be the most famous example: “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” “To boldly go” is a split infinitive. “Boldly” splits “to go.”

However, it is suggested to avoid split infinitive. For example,
  • To quickly leave
  • To always want
  • To easily excel