VERBS

NORZALINA ABDUL RASHID

Types of Verbs
Base & Infinitive
Main & Auxiliary
Primary Auxiliary
Stative & Dynamic
Active & Linking
Transitive & intransitive
Finite & Non-Finite

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 Base & Infinitive

 Base - the unchanged form of the verb

◦ eg. call, paint, glide

 Infinitive - bare infinitive

- to-infinitive

◦ Shall I help you carry the box? (bare infinitive)

◦ They advised us to carry the box. (to-infinitive)

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 Main & Auxiliary
◦ Main verb – is also known as the head verb or lexical verb.
eg. play, talk, help (regular)
sing, build, speak (irregular)

◦ The main verb is sometimes preceded by one or more

auxiliary verb.
eg. can, will, might (modal)
do, have, be (primary)

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◦ It is usually assumed that three auxiliaries is the maximum
in English.

◦ Examples:
◦ I speak English. - no auxiliary

◦ I can speak English. - 1 auxiliary

◦ I have been speaking English for 5 years. - 2 auxiliaries

◦ I will have been speaking English for 5 - 3 auxiliaries

by this time next year.

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 Auxiliary Verbs
◦ Only primary verbs and modal verbs can act as auxiliaries.

Main Verbs Auxiliary Verbs

Primary Modal
run, frighten, jump, hate, love, do can, may, shall, will,
write, look, draw, eat, etc. have could, might, should,
be would, must, ought to,
need, etc.

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 Primary Auxiliary Verbs
◦ Do
◦ It has 5 different forms:
- do, does, did, doing, done
Tense
Present do I do my homework every night.
does She does her washing in the
evenings.
Past did I did offer to give her a lift.
He did come to my house yesterday.
-ing form doing
They were doing their assignments
(present
when I came.
participle)
Past participle done I have done all the exercises in my
book.
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 ◦ Have
◦ It has 4 different forms :
- has, have, had, having

Tense
Present Has She has a new antique cupboard.
have I have hundreds of paperback novels.
Past Had I had coffee and toast for breakfast.
-ing form having
(present They are having a good time in UK.
participle)
Past participle had I (had) had my lunch at the coffee
house.
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◦ Be
◦ It has 8 different forms :
- be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been
Tense
Base form be Please be quiet.
Present am I am hungry.
is She is not happy with her results.
are We are very happy to receive the
news.
Past was I was at the shop when the incident
took place.
were The boys were acting very childish.
-ing form being
(present She is being ridiculous.
participle)
Past participle been His grandmother had been
bedridden
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◦ Auxiliary verbs is also used in the question form.

e.g.
◦ Can he speak French?
◦ Will you come to my house this evening?
◦ Should I wear a dress or a pair of jeans?

* In the question form, auxiliary verbs come before the subject.

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◦ Auxiliary verbs are also used in the form of negatives.

e.g.
◦ I cannot/can’t hear you very well.
◦ They are not/aren’t going away till Friday.
◦ He might not/mightn’t be able to meet you till 5 o’clock.

* In the form of negatives, the auxiliary verbs come before the negative
‘not’.
* The contracted negative forms are mostly found in spoken, informal
English.
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Stative Verbs
◦ Verbs that deal with states (not actions)
◦ This verb is not used in the Continuous Tense in their main
meanings.

e.g. feel, know, own, love, remember, etc.

I am not feeling well (incorrect)
I don’t feel well (correct)

I am loving it (incorrect)
I love it (correct)

* Reference : Collins Cobuild English Grammar (pg. 458)

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Dynamic Verbs
◦ Verbs that deal with actions (not states).
◦ This verb can be used in the Continuous Tense in
their main meanings.

e.g. listen, talk, go, etc.

◦ I am listening to my favourite radio station right now.

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Active & Linking
◦ Active Verbs

e.g.
◦ be (is, are, was, were)
◦ grow, appear, look, sound

◦ She looked up into his eyes.

◦ He grows vegetable in his garden.

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◦ Linking verbs
◦ is also known as copula
◦ describes a state or condition
◦ links a subject to a complement

e.g.
◦ be (is, are, was, were)
◦ grow, appear, look, sound

◦ She looks fabulous.

◦ He sounds happy.
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 Transitive & Intransitive

◦ Transitive verb - a verb which takes an object

e.g.
◦ They saw the accident.
◦ I gave the money to my mother.
◦ I gave my mother the money .

◦ Intransitive verb - a verb which does not take an object

e.g.
◦ The children danced.
◦ They laughed out loud.
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Finite & Non-Finite
◦ A sentence may contain two kinds of verbs, finite and
non-finite.

e.g.
◦ Ali saw the boy stole the money.
◦ He gave me a pen made in Japan.
◦ She cycled away, whistling happily.
◦ John wants me to come early tonight.

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 Finite Verb Non-finite Verb 

1. It has its own subject 1. It does not have a subject.

(Sometimes the subject may be hidden).

 Ali reads a story book every week.  We watched them play chess.
 The children finished the work  They want to go for a picnic this weekend.
yesterday.  She felt the house shaking.
 Close the door! (The subject ‘You’ is  Stunned by the news, she could not sleep
hidden) the whole night.
 
2. It has tenses. 2. It does not have tenses.
 I take my breakfast at seven every day.  She plans to go for a holiday.
 I took my breakfast just now.  We made Ali clean up the mess.
 I have taken my breakfast.  We shall make Ali clean up the mess.
   
3. It includes the auxiliary verbs.   3. It takes one of the following forms: 
 She was sleeping in the class.  Base
 You will be given the money.  To-infinitive
 We shall write to him.  Present participle
 He needn’t pay the bill.  Past participle
 Peter must obey the rules. norzalina abdul rashid 18
 
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