1.5: Grammar: What is a Verb?

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This lesson is available as slides for classroom presentation.

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