What are prepositions in English Grammar?
What is Verb? 15 types of Verb in English Grammar
What is a Verb?
The verb is a part of speech that tells us about the action or being. It is a very important part of speech.
Types of Verbs in English Grammar
There are many types of verbs in English Grammar. In this article, we talk about 15 types/kinds of verbs.
- Stative Verb
A type of verb that doesn’t express an action, but expresses a state or condition, or situation. Generally, they show emotions, feelings, senses, state of a person, measurements, etc.
Examples of stative verbs:
Pleasure, enjoy, feel, believe, anger, love, despair, etc.
- He feels love for herself.
- John enjoys the parties.
2. Dynamic Verb (Non-stative Verb)
This type of verb is opposite to the static verb and we note movement or motion in this type of verb. So in the sentence, the dynamic verb is used to show action on the part of the subject.
Examples of dynamic verbs:
Walk, listen, perform, record, write, play, cook, eat, etc.
- Salina is playing with their friends.
- Ahmad and Akram go for a walk on the daily basis.
3. Intensive Verb
An intensive verb tells or describes the subject and it has a subject complement (Unlike extensive verbs).
In intensive verbs, the focus is emphasized on a single thing or idea. The entire center of attention is given to a particular thing.
Examples of intensive verbs:
- She seems a nice student. (The focus of this sentence is she.)
- The boys are in the kitchen. (The focus of this sentence is the boys.)
4. Extensive Verb
An extensive verb shows what the subject is doing or the action performed by the subject. They don’t have a subject complement (predicate noun or adjective).
The focus is on a broad area and the extensive verbs take the information away from the subject. The verb extends itself.
Examples of dynamic verbs:
- She runs very fast. (The focus of this sentence is "run", and how she does that).
- Alex paints the car very efficiently. (The focus of this sentence is "paint", and how he does that).
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5. Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are formed by the combination of adverbs and prepositions. The direct object is the necessary part of phrasal verbs because without objects prepositions can’t be used in the sentences.
Although these verbs indicate actions, they’re not usually used in formal writings. These types of verbs are mostly used in spoken language.
Examples of phrasal verbs:
Believe in, take after, look forward, look up, look after, move on, come in, back up, etc.
- Akbar comes up with the best solution.
- Nihar called the meeting off.
- Can you please, fill this form in?
6: Lexical Verbs
Lexical verbs signify the semantic or predicate meanings in a sentence. These are also called main verbs or full verbs. The majority of verbs fall in this category.
Examples of lexical verbs:
- Try, laugh, walk, draw, eat, sleep, enjoy, break, etc.
- Acting, running, eating, maintaining, selling, enjoying, eliminating, destroying, etc.
7: De-lexical Verb
The type of verb which is dependent on a noun or adjective to complete its meaning of an action is called a de-lexical verb. This type of verb does not have its own meaning.
Examples of de-lexical verbs:
- Have, take, give, make, do, go, etc.
8. Linking Verbs
The linking verbs connect the ideas or create links between them and also show the power of action. Unlike action verbs, these verbs are called " states of being verbs".
Examples of linking verbs:
Be forms (ALL): Is, am, are, was, were, be, been, etc.
Perceptual or sensational: Smell, taste, look, feel, sound
Other examples: Stop, stay, fear, grow, prove, think, etc.
9. Auxiliary Verb
An auxiliary verb is used with an action or main verb. Another name for an auxiliary verb is “helping verb”. The name of the auxiliary verb shows that the auxiliary verb helps the action verbs to express their tense, mood, or voice.
Examples of auxiliary verbs:
- Be verbs: Is, am, are, was, were, has, had, will, shall, etc.
- These “be verbs”, show the tense in the sentences.
- They are going to New York. (Present)
- She will cook the dinner before the arrival of guests. (Future)
- They were playing football. (Past)
- Auxiliary verbs help to differentiate between active and passive voice. Below are the examples in which auxiliary verbs are used to express voice.
- He was being ignored by his girlfriend.
Auxiliaries also show the different moods of verbs:
- Did you enjoy the party? (Interrogative mood)
- Are you in hurry? (Interrogative mood)
- Watch it! (Imperative mood)
- Note: Modal verb is also an example of auxiliary verbs.
10. Modal Verbs
Modal is also considered a type of verb. They function as auxiliaries in the sentence. These model verbs include can, could, may, might, shall, should, must, and would.
The main function of model verbs is that they assist the main verb in such a way that they introduce meanings of permission, ability, or possibility in the sentence.
Model verbs in English Grammar:
Can, could, must, shall, should, will, would, may, and, might.
Example of sentences of model verbs:
- Simon must attend lectures to pass the exams. (Necessity)
- The researchers should take precautionary measures. (Advice)
- Students can attend the classes on Teams or Zoom. (Possibility)
- Would you like some help? (Permission)
11: Reflexive Verbs:
We say a verb is reflexive if the subject (doer of an action) of the verb and the direct object(receiver of the action) of the verb are the same. It means that the performer of an action and the receiver of action are the same; In other words, we can say that the subject is doing action on itself/herself/himself.
An important thing that should be kept in mind is that reflexive verbs have no distinctive symbol by which we can sort them and the use of reflexive verbs depends upon the context; like, subject and direct object must be the same and there should be a reflexive pronoun. These are some requirements by which we can say a verb is a reflexive verb.
Examples of reflexive verbs:
- I prepared myself for the competition.
- She taught herself the English language to get a good job.
12. Weak Verbs or Regular Verbs:
Weak verbs form their past form of the verb by retaining the stem verb or stem vowel intact (unchanged). The stem of the past form of a verb doesn’t change when the word is changed from present to past form. The present and past forms of weak verbs seem almost the same.
Examples of weak or regular verbs:
- Join to joined
- Put to putted
- Remember to remembered
- Call to called
- Test to tested
13. Strong verbs or irregular verbs:
This type of verb is opposite to the weak verb type. Commonly, strong verbs change their stem vowel while changing from present to the past or during a change of tense.
Importantly, the stem vowel change when the verb form changes from present to past but the stem vowel of the past verb form remains the same when it changes into the past participle.
Examples of Strong or irregular verbs:
Present Past Past participle
Speak Spoke Spoken
Break Broke Broken
Do did do Done
14. Finite Verb:
The finite verb limits its functions according to the subject. Another name for the finite verb is “tensed verb”.
It can stand alone in the sentence and it is an actual verb in the sentence. The finite verb shows that it follows the subject and verb agreement. It must have a subject and this verb changes concerning the subject, such as the quantity or voice. We denote it as the main verb of the sentence.
Examples of finite verbs:
- He plays football. (In this sentence, the subject is he and the finite verb is "plays".)
- They live in England. ( The subject in this sentence is "they" and the finite verb is "live".)
15. Non-finite Verb:
Non-finite verbs are not actual verbs. They don’t show tense because they are not action verbs.
These verbs are impartial in their nature. Gerunds, participles, and infinitives are classified as non-finite verbs.
Examples of non-finite verbs:
- Gardening is my hobby. (Gerund)
- The handwriting must be cleared to read. (Present participle)
- Handwritten documents are not acceptable. (Past participle)
- They are ready to travel to Alaska. (Infinitive)