English/Parts of Speech/Verbs

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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.

Simple tenses>>