English/Parts of Speech/Verbs
English Wikibook (edit) |
General: Introduction - Grammar |
Parts of speech: Nouns - Verbs - Adjectives - Adverbs - Pronouns - Conjunctions - Prepositions - Interjections |
Parts of the sentence: Subjects - Predicates |
Word functions: Subjects - Predicates - Direct Objects - Indirect Objects - Objects of the Preposition |
Types of sentences: Simple Sentences - Complex Sentences |
Types of Phrases: Adjective - Adverb - Noun |
Types of Clauses: Adjective - Adverb - Noun |
Other English topics: Gerunds - Idiomatic Phrases - Spelling - Vocabulary - Punctuation - Syntax - Appositives - Phonics - Pronunciation |
A verb is the action or status of a sentence. Verbs can be present, past or future tense and can be simple, progressive (also called continuous), or perfect. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb, otherwise it is considered an 'incomplete sentence'.
- For example: Phil is tall.
- "Phil" is the subject of the sentence.
- "is" is the verb of the sentence.
Here are some verbs in the present tense in English:
- (be) I am, You are, He/She/It is, We are, They are
- (do) I do, You do, He/She/It does, We do, They do
- (play) I play, You play, He/She/It plays, We play, They play
- (like) I like, You like, He/She/It likes, We like, They like
- (eat) I eat, You eat, He/She/It eats, We eat, They eat
- (work) I work, You work, He/She/It works, We work, They work
As you see, the present tense of a verb is the same for every person but has an "s" for He, She and It. The verb "to be" is the only verb which changes for I and You.