What Is a Verb? Types, Forms, and Usage Explained Simply
Verbs are the action words in English grammar. They show what someone is doing (run, write, jump), what someone feels (love, believe, think), or simply being (is, are). Verbs are the most essential part of any sentence—even more than nouns!
In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about verbs: their types, forms, how to use them in different tenses, and some expert tips to improve your grammar.
📚 Whether you’re writing, speaking, or preparing for exams, this guide will help you understand verbs clearly and confidently.
What is a verb?
A verb is a word that shows an action, a feeling, or a state of being. In simple words, verbs tell us what someone or something is doing, feeling, or being.
🔹 Examples of Action Verbs:
- Salah ran across the field, kicked the ball, and scored a goal.
These are physical actions you can see.
🔹 Examples of State-of-Being Verbs:
- I am the State. — King Louis XIV
- Common state verbs: be, become, seem, appear, exist
They don’t show an action but describe a condition or identity.
🛠️ What Are Helping (Auxiliary) Verbs?
Some verbs, like has, have, is, was, or do, work together with main verbs to create verb tenses or add meaning.
🔸 Example: * She has been jogging for a month and already feels her stamina increasing.
🔸 Example (Negative): * I don’t feel so good. — Spider-Man
Words like “not” combine with helping verbs to create negative sentences.
📌 Every Sentence Needs a Verb
Without a verb, a sentence isn’t complete.
✅ Correct: He runs fast.
❌ Incorrect: He fast. (missing verb)
Except in commands (like “Go!”), you also need a subject—the person or thing doing the action.
Subjects also affect how we change (or “conjugate”) the verb. For example, we say “I am” but “She is.” You’ll learn more about this in the conjugation section below.
🔹 What Are the Main Types of Verbs?
In English, verbs are mainly divided into two types:
👉 Dynamic (action) verbs – for actions or activities
👉 Stative (state-of-being) verbs – for feelings, thoughts, and conditions
Let’s break them down with examples.
✅ 1. Dynamic Verbs (Action Verbs)
Dynamic verbs describe physical or mental actions. These actions can be seen, heard, or felt, and they usually happen over time.
Examples (Physical actions): * walk, laugh, swim, play, eat, drink, sing, dance, talk, say
Examples (Mental/internal actions): * consider, guess, change, grow, live, endure, succeed, fail
These also include process verbs—verbs that show growth or change.
👉 Tip: Dynamic verbs can be used in continuous tenses (e.g., “She is running.”).
✅ 2. Stative Verbs (State-of-Being Verbs)
Stative verbs show a state, feeling, or opinion rather than an action. They describe conditions that are more permanent or unchanging.
Examples: * want, need, prefer, love, hate, like, dislike, seem, understand, know, believe, involve, realize
👉 Important Rule:
Stative verbs are usually not used in continuous tenses.
✅ Correct: “I like chocolate.”
❌ Incorrect: “I am liking chocolate.”
✅ 3. Verbs That Can Be Both Dynamic and Stative
Some verbs can be both dynamic and stative depending on the context. These often include perception verbs like:
- see
- hear
- feel
- taste
- smell
📌 Examples: Perception Verbs
Stative use (involuntary, permanent state):
- I can’t see without my glasses.
- Cake tastes great.
Dynamic use (voluntary, temporary action):
- I haven’t been seeing well.
- We were tasting cakes for the wedding.
📌 Examples: Think, Have, Be
These are tricky verbs that change meaning based on context.
| Verb | Stative (involuntary) | Dynamic (voluntary) |
|---|---|---|
| think | I think toads are better. | I was thinking about toads. |
| have | I have a dog. | I am having a party. |
| be | He is nice. | He was being nice to get promoted. |
🔹 What Are Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs?
Auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) are used along with main verbs to:
- Show tense (past, present, future)
- Indicate voice (active or passive)
- Express mood (questions, negatives, emphasis)
Auxiliary verbs work with a main verb but are still grammatically important and must be conjugated correctly.
✅ Common Auxiliary Verbs:
- Be (am, is, are, was, were, being, been)
- Have (has, have, had)
- Do (do, does, did)
🔸 Examples:
- I have eaten sushi many times. (Tense: Present Perfect)
- That piece of sushi was eaten by me. (Voice: Passive)
- Did you eat my sushi? (Mood: Question)
🔹 What Are Modal Auxiliary Verbs?
Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary verb that adds meaning about possibility, necessity, ability, or permission.
✅ Common Modal Verbs:
- can, could, may, might, must, should, would, will, shall, ought to
🔸 Examples:
- I could swim across the English Channel, but should I do it?
- She must be the strongest person on the team and might be the strongest in the region.
Modal verbs are not conjugated (no “s” or “-ed”) and are always followed by the base form of the main verb.
🔹 What Are Phrasal Verbs?
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb + a preposition or adverb that together act as a single verb—with a meaning different from the individual words.
✅ Examples with “get”:
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example
get out | exit | When the bus stops, passengers get out on the sidewalk.
get by | survive/manage | After losing his job, he’s getting by on savings.
📌 Conjugation Tip:
Only the main verb in the phrase (like “get”) is conjugated. The preposition stays the same:
- I get up at 6 AM.
- He got up late today.
🔹 Verb Categories
In addition to types like dynamic or stative, verbs also belong to different categories based on how they function in a sentence. Let’s look at the key ones:
✅ 1. Transitive, Intransitive, and Ditransitive Verbs
These categories depend on how verbs interact with objects—the nouns that receive the action.
🔸 Transitive Verbs:
They take a direct object—something that receives the action.
- Example: I like coffee. (Coffee is the direct object.)
🔸 Intransitive Verbs:
They do not take any object. The action stands alone. * Examples: go, walk, sleep, work * Sentence: She slept peacefully.
🔸 Ditransitive Verbs:
They take both a direct and an indirect object. * Example: Lindor threw the ball (direct object) to deGram (indirect object).
✅ Summary Table:
| Verb Type | Needs Direct Object? | Needs Indirect Object? | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intransitive | ❌ | ❌ | She laughed. |
| Transitive | ✅ | ❌ | I cleaned the room. |
| Ditransitive | ✅ | ✅ | He gave her a book. |
🔹 Ambitransitive Verbs:
Some verbs can be used both with and without a direct object depending on the sentence.
- “I already ate.” (intransitive)
- “I already ate a sandwich.” (transitive)
✅ 2. Active vs. Passive Voice
🔸 Active Voice:
The subject does the action.
- Example: Stricklen threw the ball.
🔸 Passive Voice:
The subject receives the action.
- Example: The ball was thrown by Stricklen.
✅ Formula for Passive Voice:
be (conjugated) + past participle
✔️ Use passive voice when the object is more important or the subject is unknown.
✅ 3. Linking Verbs (Copular Verbs)
Linking verbs connect the subject to more information—like a noun, adjective, or phrase. They don’t show action, but rather describe the state or identity of the subject.
🔸 Most Common Linking Verbs:
- be, seem, become
- Also: look, taste, feel (when describing perception)
🔸 Examples:
- Garfield is a cat. (links to a noun)
- Garfield seems tired. (links to an adjective)
- The sauce tastes spicy. (describes perception)
✅ Linking verbs can connect to:
- Nouns (She is a teacher.)
- Adjectives (He looks happy.)
- Prepositional phrases (They are in the kitchen.)
- Infinitive verbs (She seems to understand.)
✅ 4. Regular vs. Irregular Verbs
Verbs change form based on tense, especially the past tense and past participle.
🔸 Regular Verbs:
They follow a standard pattern by adding -ed to the base form.
- walk → walked
- clean → cleaned
🔸 Irregular Verbs:
They do not follow standard rules. Their forms must be memorized.
- go → went → gone
- eat → ate → eaten
- be → was/were → been
📌 Tip: Irregular verbs are common but limited in number. Practice them using verb charts and flashcards.
What Are Verb Forms?
Every English verb has different forms, used depending on tense, subject, and sentence structure. Learning these verb forms makes it easier to conjugate verbs correctly when speaking or writing.
Note: These rules apply mostly to regular verbs. Irregular verbs may have different patterns that need to be memorized.
The 5 Main Verb Forms
| Form | Used For | Example: Dance (regular) | Example: Sing (irregular) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root | Base form, commands, simple present (except he/she/it) | dance | sing |
| 3rd Person Singular | Present tense with he/she/it | dances | sings |
| Simple Past | Completed actions in the past | danced | sang |
| Present Participle | Continuous/progressive tenses | dancing | singing |
| Past Participle | Perfect tenses and passive voice | danced | sung |
🔸 1. Root Form
This is the basic form of the verb with no changes. It’s used:
- With I, you, we, they in present tense: “I walk daily.”
- In commands: “Sing loudly.”
🔸 2. Third-Person Singular (Present)
Used with he, she, it, or singular nouns in the present tense.
📌 Usually, you just add -s to the root form:
- run → runs
- play → plays
Special spelling rules:
* If it ends in consonant + y: change “y” to “ies”
(try → tries, carry → carries)
-
If it ends in vowel + y: just add “s”
(say → says, buy → buys) -
If it ends in -ch, -sh, -x, -z, -s: add -es
(watch → watches, fix → fixes)
🔸 3. Simple Past Tense
Describes an action that already happened.
📌 Regular verbs: add -ed or -d
- dance → danced
- love → loved
⚠️ Irregular verbs don’t follow the rules:
- go → went
- eat → ate
🔸 4. Present Participle (-ing form)
Used in continuous tenses and participial phrases.
📌 Formed by adding -ing to the root:
- play → playing
- write → writing
🔁 If the verb ends in -e, drop the e before adding -ing:
- make → making
- come → coming
🔸 5. Past Participle
Used in:
- Perfect tenses (have eaten, had gone)
- Passive voice (was written)
📌 Regular verbs: same as simple past
- clean → cleaned
📌 Irregular verbs: unique form
- go → gone
- do → done
- sing → sung
✅ Learn irregular verbs by practicing with verb lists and using them in real sentences.