Verbs are the most important part of speech for communication. While every part of speech has an important and unique role, a sentence can be stripped down to just one subject (either a noun or a pronoun) and one verb. As verbs are so widely used and necessary for the English language, it is no surprise that they are the most complex part of speech. This is reflected in the definition of a verb.
A verb is an action, occurrance, or state of existence.
Well, yes, that is the simple definition of a verb. Verbs can be classified in two general categories: ACTION VERBS, which show actions (duh) and states of existence. There are two types of verbs that define states of existence: linking verbs and helping verbs. LINKING VERBS (also called copula verbs) show how a subject exists by linking the subject with a prepositional phrase, predicate adjective, or predicate nominative. Essentially, if a verb can be replaced by an = sign, the verb is linking. The most common linking verbs are am, are, is, was, were, and be, though other words (especially those of the senses) can also function as linking verbs.
The other type of state of existence comes in the form of a HELPING VERB, which must be paired to an action verb to either restrict it with conditions, aid in subject/verb inversion, or demonstrate verb aspect. If this sounds complicated, it is, and you can find an entire article on helping verbs at the the link below.
- Betty was happy until Bill ran over her cat.
- Michael is the manager of Taco Pueblo.
- Fall once again turns to winter.
- Rudy smells like a locker room.
- Sally felt bad about her breakup.
The other type of state of existence comes in the form of a HELPING VERB, which must be paired to an action verb to either restrict it with conditions, aid in subject/verb inversion, or demonstrate verb aspect. If this sounds complicated, it is, and you can find an entire article on helping verbs at the the link below.
Verbs can even be more than one word. A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb with an adjective or preposition to create a new verb.
If it seems that verbs are more complicated than they initial seem, they are. Since verbs are the most used part of speech in the English language, they are the most diverse and complex. English grammarians have even created a more exacting definition of what constitutes a verb:
- Don't throw away your shot!
- Go ahead and stand up to them.
- I may just sit around and play video games.
If it seems that verbs are more complicated than they initial seem, they are. Since verbs are the most used part of speech in the English language, they are the most diverse and complex. English grammarians have even created a more exacting definition of what constitutes a verb:
A verb is an act, intentional or stative, that conveys tense, aspect, valency, and mood.
Like I said, verbs are complicated.
So what does all of that mean? Essentially, every verb is intentionally performed (action verbs) or a passive state (linking and helping verbs) and must be able to convey four different pieces of information: tense, which is when an action occurred or when something existed; aspect, which describes how long an action was performed or something existed; valency, which is how many interactive arguments the verb can accept; and mood, which is how the verb directs sentence meaning and actuality.
To clarify further, I'll break down each of these four verb qualities.
So what does all of that mean? Essentially, every verb is intentionally performed (action verbs) or a passive state (linking and helping verbs) and must be able to convey four different pieces of information: tense, which is when an action occurred or when something existed; aspect, which describes how long an action was performed or something existed; valency, which is how many interactive arguments the verb can accept; and mood, which is how the verb directs sentence meaning and actuality.
To clarify further, I'll break down each of these four verb qualities.
TENSE: shows time
Verb tense show when the verb occurred relative to now. There are three general tenses: past, present, and future:
- Past tense shows a previous action that already happened. To show past tense in English, we add the inflection -ed (or just -d if the verb ends in e). These are pure past verbs: walked, massaged, emailed. Some English words with Anglo-Saxon, French, or foreign origins and keep their original past inflections: the words, like ate, ran, broken, rode, and bit, are called irregular verbs. Some past verbs are combined with a form of have to form a past participle, which shows a fully completed action, as in has eaten or have broken (see the section on aspect).
- Present tense shows a current action that is happening right now. The pure present form of a verb is just its base form: boys run, girls skip, dogs swim. Notice that this form is used with all plural subjects: for a singular subject, a plural verb is needed: Dan runs, Katie skips, Rover swims. If the subject or verb is singular, the other must be plural-- this is called subject-verb agreement. Verbs follow the same pluralization rules as noun. To show that an action is continuous and ongoing, the inflection -ing is added to the verb to form a present participle, as in running, skipping, or swimming (see the section on aspect). If the verb ends in e, the e is dropped (actors stare becomes actors staring) while a consonant after a vowel is doubled (actor star becomes actors starring). Note that participles are actually not verbs at all, but verbals, which are discussed here.
- Future tense show an action that is yet to be. While other languages indicate this with a certain inflection or suffix, English shows this through the addition of a helping verbs. Will and shall are the most common future tense indicators and show absolute certainty that the action is going to happen (Dan will run, Katie shall skip). Other helping verbs can also show future tense in certain contexts (Dan might run for office) but do not show future actions in other contexts (Dan could run for office).
ASPECT: shows duration
If tense shows when an action occurred, verb aspect shows how the verb moves through time (duration). Unlike many languages, where verb aspect is determined by an inflection or suffix, aspect in English is accomplished by the addition of helping verbs. Here are the five aspects that occur in English:
- Simple (perfective) aspect describes a single action (I finished my drawing). Most verbs are simple aspect, as this describes verbs that have no associated helping verbs (other than will or shall).
- Progressive aspect describes an action that is continuously unfolding (I am finishing my drawing). To show progressive aspect, one of the six BE verbs (am, are, was, were, is, be) must be added to a present participle
- Perfect aspect describes a prior completed action (I have finished my drawing). To show progressive aspect, had or have must be added to a past tense verb to form a past participle.
- Perfect progressive aspect describes an action that was unfolding but is now completed (I had been finishing my drawing). To show perfect progressive aspect, had been or have been must be added to a present participle.
- Habitual aspect describes an action that used to regularly happen but now doesn't. English only retains two expressions of habitual aspect, used to and going to (I used to love drawing, I'm going to work at Samson's).
VALENCY: shows arguments
Verb valency shows the number of arguments a verb takes, i.e., how many objects the action affects.
- An intransitive verb does not act upon a direct object (e.g., I smell great, Pete was right, Stephanie runs)
- A transitive verb acts upon either one direct objects (I love cookies, Stephanie runs the company) or multiple direct objects (I want cereal and milk)
- A ditransitive verb acts upon both direct objects and indirect objects (I threw Mike a party, Stephanie gave me an order, I brought Kevin and Mandy a wedding gift and cash donation).
- An ergative verb can act upon a single noun transitively if an object or intransitively if a subject (The doorbell rang vs They rang the doorbell).
MOOD: shows meaning
Verb mood indicates tonal meaning. As verbs are needed for every sentence, sentence meaning is intrinsically linked to the verb. Note that verb mood is not the same as sentence purpose, though there is some crossover.
- Indicative mood indicates facts or the state of reality (A car passes by my house; Mike kissed his wife goodbye)
- Imperative mood indicates a command (Don’t push that button; We must stop the mad bomber).
- Conditional mood indicates a state that causes something else to happen (The package might explode early if the button is pushed; Should the captain discover our treachery, we will all suffer).
- Subjunctive mood indicates a hypothetical reality—a wish or dream (I wish that Mr. Coon gave us less homework; If I were a teacher, I would never give homework).
Practical question: What about voice?
Grammarians do not define voice as one of their definitions of a verb, as voice is contextually important to a sentence but is not grammatically important. Essentially, there are two voices: active voice occurs when the subject of a sentence does the action, while passive voice occurs when the subject of the sentence receives the action.
PASSIVE: Megan was devoured by the giant moth creature.
ACTIVE: The giant moth creature devoured Megan.
PASSIVE: The poem "If" was written by Rudyard Kipling in 1895.
ACTIVE: Rudyard Kipling wrote his poem "If" in 1895.
PASSIVE: My homework will be done by me.
ACTIVE: I will do my homework.
Most writing teachers and editors prefer active voice, as it makes sentences shorter and directs attention to the subject better. However, passive voice has its use: writers intentionally use passive voice to keep the performer of the action hidden (a favorite of mystery writers), when the action should be the focus more than the subject, or to avoid using a vague pronoun without an antecedent. The voice rule of thumb is always do what makes the sentence shorter and clearer.
ACTIVE: The mystery killer stabbed Mr. Body in the throat.
PASSIVE: Mr. Body was stabbed in the throat.
ACTIVE: They brew over 1,000 different brands of beer in the Denver area.
PASSIVE: Over 1,000 different brands of beer are brewed in the Denver area.