1.5: Grammar: What is a Verb?
- Page ID
- 49356
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Why Learn About Verbs?
The verb is the core (center, foundation) for the English sentence. We cannot have a sentence without a verb. When trying to decide if a sentence is complete and correct, we usually look for the verb first.
Verbs are so important, we can even have a sentence that is only one word--the verb!
- Study!
- Eat!
- Help!
Some people say the verb is the part of the sentence that shows action. Do all of these words show action?
- Tornado
- Wave
- Windy
In fact, these words (tornado and wave) are nouns and (windy) an adjective, even though they show activity
Which of these words show action? Which are verbs?
- Show/Laugh
- Think/Understand
All of these words are verbs. Some are about activities (show and laugh) and some are not (think and understand)
What Makes a Word a Verb?
A verb shows tense (time)
- Past--flew
- Present--flies
- Future--will fly
A verb shows aspect
- Simple--flew, flies
- Continuous--is flying, was flying
- Perfect--has flown, had flown
One way to decide if a word is a verb is to look at the changes you can make to the word. Can you add -ed for past tense? Does the word change to show past tense?
Which of these words can show past tense by changing form or adding -ed?
- Tornado
- Windy
- Think
- Understand
- Show
- Laugh
- Wave
- Fly
Answers to the above question:
- Tornado (noun--no change)
- Windy (adjective--no change)
- Think (verb--thought)
- Understand (verb--understood)
- Show (verb--showed)
- Laugh (verb--laughed)
- Wave (noun--no change)
- Fly (verb--flew)
Auxiliaries
Verbs use auxiliaries to make questions and negatives and to show different voices and aspects
The auxiliaries are "be," "do," and "have," plus modals
These auxiliaries can also change tense
- Be, am, is, are, was, were
- Do, does, did
- Have, has, had
We use "do" to make questions and negatives in the simple aspect
- Simple present
- Do you want a souvenir?
- I do not want a souvenir
- Simple past
- Did you visit the art museum?
- I did not visit the art museum
We use "be" to make the continuous aspect
- Present continuous
- She is picnicking at the park
- Are they flying a kite?
- No, they aren't flying a kite
- Past continuous
- We were sunbathing at the beach
Remember, verbs in the continuous aspect always use "be." If you see -ing with "be," it's a gerund
We use "have" to make the perfect aspect
- Present perfect
- Have you visited downtown San Diego?
- That family has immigrated to El Cajon
- Past perfect
- We had already seen the zoo
Now you try...
Now that you know what a verb is, try finding the verb in these sentences...
- The weather today is cool and breezy
- East County, San Diego offers activities like hiking, camping, and mountain-biking
- Last week, we went to the zoo and the park
- Immigrants contribute many cultural benefits to our community
- Julian, CA has a variety of restaurants
Answers to the above question:
- Is
- Offers
- Went
- Contribute
- Has