A verb is a word used for saying something about the action or state of a person or thing.
Verbs are used:
A. To express an action
The prisoner escaped
They ran
B. To express a state
She slept
C. To link the subject with other parts of the sentence
We are happy today
She is writing a letter
Kinds of verb:
There are three main kinds of verb:
1. Transitive verb
A verb is transitive if the action does not stop with the doer, but passes from the doer to an object.
For Example:
The mother loves her children.
He hates bad boys.
They won the match.
They saw a lion.
2. Intransitive verb
A verb is intransitive when the action stops with the doer and does not pass from the doer to an object.
For Example:
He appeared there.
They went to college.
She wept bitterly.
3. Auxiliary verbs or helping verbs
Auxiliary verbs are those verbs which are used to form tense or mood of some other verbs.
For Example:
He is happy today.
They are shouting at us.
This boy is very intelligent.
Some important helping verbs are:
Is, am, are, was, were, has, have, had, having, do, does, did, shall, will, should, may, might, must etc
A helping verb takes a complement or an adjective rather than a verb.
He is happy.
Flowers smell sweet.
Kinds of Auxiliary verbs:
1. Primary Auxiliaries
Be, do and have are called primary auxiliaries and their forms are:
Be: Be, is, am, are, was, were, being, been
Do: Do, does, did, done, doing
Have: Have, has, had, having
Primary auxiliaries change their form according to the number and person of their subject as:
I am writing a letter.
She is writing a letter.
I have two apples.
She has two apples.
2. Modal Auxiliaries
Shall, should, would, could, may, might, used to, dare, need, ought to are called modal auxiliaries. They are called modals because they express the mood or manner of the action denoted by the main verb.
A. Whether the work can be done or not
B. Whether the action should take place or not
C. Whether the action is necessary or not
C. Whether there is hope for the completion of work or not
For Example:
I can buy a car.
She should go there.
He will score a goal.
Difference between primary and modal auxiliaries:
Primary auxiliary changes its form according to the number and person of its subject, while the modal auxiliary remains unchanged.
For Example:
He is washing his car. I am washing my car.
She was writing a letter. We were writing a letter.
I can help you.
She can help you.
He can help me.
They can help us.
Only first form of the main verb is used with modal auxiliary.