What is a verb?

1. A Verb says something about a person or thing.
2. Verbs can be illustrated in the following manner:-

                                         Verbs

Lexical Verb                                                   Auxiliary Verb

 Regular Verbs            Irregular verb                     Primary                 Modal

• Intransitive         more >>
• Transitive           more >>
• Ditransitive        more >>
• Intensive

What is a lexical verb?

A lexical verb is a member of the open class of verbs which form the primary verb vocabulary of a language. We drink milk                drink is an LV as it is a full verb in this sentence We are drinking milk      are is an AV as it functions as a helping verb in this sentence They are police               In this sentence are is not an AV. It is a full verb, an example of an LV Mark as AV or LV We are Sri Lankans We are reading books They have called me three times He has something in his pocket It is eating a banana Regular verbs and Irregular verbs English regular verbs change their form very little (unlike irregular verbs). The past tense and past participle of regular verbs end in -ed, for example:         cook, cooked, cooked     walk, walked, walked Note the following points: 1. Some verbs can be both regular and irregular, for example: learn, learned, learned learn, learnt, learnt 2. Some verbs change their meaning depending on whether they are regular or irregular, for example "to hang": regular hang, hanged, hanged to kill or die, by dropping with a rope around the neck irregular hang, hung, hung to fix something (for example, a picture) at the top so that the lower part is free 3. The present tense of some regular verbs is the same as the past tense of some irregular verbs: regular found, founded, founded irregular find, found, found  The lexical verb regular or irregular has five forms. They have been illustrated below with two verbs.           Five forms                                Regular                               Irregular Base form                                work                                   eat -s form                                     works                                 eats -ing form                                  working                              eating -past tense                               worked                               ate -past participle                         worked                               eaten List of Regular Verbs List of Irregular Verbs What is an itransitive verb? An Intransitive Verb is an action verb that does not require an object to complete its meaning. It cannot take a direct object. Examples : -- ( a ) He sleeps ( b ) We go. No object can come after such verbs as " sleep ", " go " etc Some Intransitive Verbs  These verbs do not occur with objects, so they cannot be used in the passive voice. agree............................................................................................................ appear............................................................................................................ arrived............................................................................................................ awake............................................................................................................ become............................................................................................................ belong............................................................................................................ collapse............................................................................................................ collide............................................................................................................ consist of.......................................................................................................... cost............................................................................................................ depend............................................................................................................ die............................................................................................................ disappear............................................................................................................ emerge............................................................................................................ exist............................................................................................................ fall............................................................................................................ go............................................................................................................ happen............................................................................................................ have............................................................................................................ laugh............................................................................................................ lie............................................................................................................ live............................................................................................................ look............................................................................................................ last ............................................................................................................ occur............................................................................................................ remain............................................................................................................ resemble............................................................................................................ rise............................................................................................................ sit............................................................................................................ sleep............................................................................................................ stand............................................................................................................ stay............................................................................................................ swim............................................................................................................ vanish............................................................................................................ wait............................................................................................................ What is a transitive verb? A Transitive  Verb requires an object to complete its meaning. The vast majority of verbs are transitive. Examples : -- a. The hunter killed a bear. b. The scholar learned his lesson. In ( a ) " bear " is the object of " killed ". In ( b ) " lesson " is the object of " learned ". List of Common Transitive Verbs bring Please bring me a glass of water. cost My coat cost a lot of money. give Our family gives gifts at Christmas. lend Could you please lend me five dollars? offer My boss offered me a great new job. pass All the students passed the test. play Jennifer loves playing the piano. read They read the newspaper every day. send My girlfriend sends me an e-mail message every day. sing Muriel sings songs at karaoke every Sunday night. teach Our parents teach us to be kind. write Tommy writes short stories about the South. buy Do not buy hamburgers at that restaurant. get My children get good grades in school. leave I leave home at 8:00 in the morning. make Did you make coffee this morning? owe I owe you ten dollars. pay Don't forget to pay the phone bill. promise She promised me she would come to the party. refuse The customs officers refused to let me enter the country. show My neighbour showed me her garden yesterday. take Travellers take planes or trains to their destinations. tell The author tells a good story. Transitive Verb has two voice : -- a  The Active voice b. The Passive voice  Note : - An Intransitive verb from its nature cannot have voices. What is a ditransitive verb? Definition: A Ditransitive Verb is one that takes both a direct object and an indirect object. Ex:  My father  gave me a shirt..  The shirt is the direct object, what he gave, and me is the indirect object, the person he gave it to. This sentence can also be written  'My father gave a shirt to me.' Some more examples. He gave Abdul hundred rupees. He passed Abdul the ball. I brought him a pen. He told me a story Some Ditransitive Verbs in English All of the verbs below can be used in a ditransitive way, though they can all be used with just one object, and sometimes none. accord..................................................................................................................... afford..................................................................................................................... allocate..................................................................................................................... allow..................................................................................................................... appoint..................................................................................................................... ask..................................................................................................................... assign..................................................................................................................... assure..................................................................................................................... award..................................................................................................................... bake..................................................................................................................... bet..................................................................................................................... bring..................................................................................................................... build..................................................................................................................... buy..................................................................................................................... call..................................................................................................................... catch..................................................................................................................... cause..................................................................................................................... charge..................................................................................................................... cook..................................................................................................................... cost..................................................................................................................... cut..................................................................................................................... deal..................................................................................................................... deliver..................................................................................................................... deny..................................................................................................................... design..................................................................................................................... do..................................................................................................................... draw..................................................................................................................... drop..................................................................................................................... earn..................................................................................................................... feed..................................................................................................................... find..................................................................................................................... fine..................................................................................................................... forgive..................................................................................................................... get..................................................................................................................... give..................................................................................................................... grant..................................................................................................................... guarantee............................................................................................................. hand..................................................................................................................... hunt..................................................................................................................... keep..................................................................................................................... leave..................................................................................................................... lend..................................................................................................................... lose..................................................................................................................... make..................................................................................................................... name..................................................................................................................... offer..................................................................................................................... order..................................................................................................................... overpay................................................................................................................. owe..................................................................................................................... pass..................................................................................................................... pay..................................................................................................................... permit................................................................................................................... play..................................................................................................................... prescribe.............................................................................................................. profit..................................................................................................................... promise................................................................................................................. purchase................................................................................................................ quote..................................................................................................................... read..................................................................................................................... refuse..................................................................................................................... render..................................................................................................................... save..................................................................................................................... sell..................................................................................................................... send..................................................................................................................... serve................................................................................................................... set..................................................................................................................... show..................................................................................................................... spare..................................................................................................................... supply................................................................................................................... take..................................................................................................................... teach..................................................................................................................... tell..................................................................................................................... throw.................................................................................................................. win..................................................................................................................... wish..................................................................................................................... write..................................................................................................................... Make sentences as much as possible using the above ditransitive verbs. What is an intensive verb?

a. Transitive Verbs          more >>

b. Intransitive Verbs        more >>

c. Auxiliary Verbs           more >>

    3. Tense of verbs