In every language there are these wonderful words we call “verbs”. Verbs are one of the nine parts of speech that exist in the English Language, and one of the four major word classes, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary.
What is a verb?
A verb is a word we use to describe an action.
Verbs are probably the most important part of the English grammar, since most of the sentences we use day by day often carry a verb.
In the previous sentence, if you noticed, there are three words in bold and underlined: those words are verbs. I’m sure you understood that sentence perfectly, but now, what would happen if we took those three verbs away? Let’s see…
“Verbs … probably the most important part of the English grammar, since most of the sentences we … day by day often … a verb.”
Can you understand the new sentence? Me neither.
As you can see, verbs, most of the time, are the focal point of a sentence, since they help us convey a clear meaning of what we want to say.
Within the realm of existing verbs, there are different types that help us understand their use, their meaning, and even their purpose. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Types of verbs
Regular verbs
Walk, share, approve, ask… all these words describe actions that we can do on the daily, but… how do we know they are regular verbs?
At first look there is no telling whether those verbs are regular or irregular, that’s why we need to transform them into their simple past form. Regular verbs don’t change their spelling, we only add -ed or -d at the end, depending on the grammar rule that applies to them. For example:
Irregular verbs
As it happens with regular verbs, there is no way to identify an irregular verb just by looking at its simple form, so we need to transform it into the simple past form. Let’s take a look at the following verbs:
Notice that each verb has its own simple past form, this means that irregular verbs don’t follow grammar rules like the regular ones, and for irregular verbs, there are some that can be transformed into simple past by changing their spelling and others, like the last verb on the table, that keep the spelling but only change the pronunciation.
Action verbs
This type of verbs refer to actions that can be performed physically (with our own bodies) or mentally (with our mind).
Action verbs that can be performed physically usually involve movement, for example:
- Run: Sabrina runs fast.
- Sing: I sing beautifully.
- Dance: Byul dances wonderfully.
Action verbs that can be performed mentally, usually involve cognitive habilities, for example:
- Ignore: María ignores Pedro.
- Think: My brain thinks amazing ideas.
- Listen: Samy listens to the music.
Stative verbs
As opposed to action verbs, stative verbs are used to describe the state of someone or something. We can also use stative verbs to describe opinions, emotions, qualities or characteristics; the most commonly known stative verb is the verb to be.
Some examples of stative verbs in use are:
- Love: I love my family.
- Have: Teachers have a lot of patience.
- Own: Mercedes owns a cat and a dog.
