Take down the following note on verbs and do the given exercises.

This is a continuation of Wandana

madam’s note on word classes.
Subject content
Types of verbs ( regular, irregular, transitive, intransitive, stative, dynamic)
 Finite verbs and non-finite verbs
 Structure of verb phrase
 Multi-word verbs

What is a verb?
Definition: A word that shows an action, state or an event is called a verb. It is an essential part of a
sentence and is known as the soul of language.

For example,

 They study English grammar. (Action)

 We celebrate independence day. (Event)

 I sleep at night. (State)

Kinds of Verbs

Following are the different types of verbs.

1. Regular Verbs 2. Irregular Verb 3. Linking Verb 4. Transitive Verb

5. Intransitive Verb 6. Ditransitive 7. Finite Verb 8. Non-finite verb

6. Infinitive Verb

REGULAR VERB

A verb that’s past (2nd form) and past participle (3rd form) is made by adding ‘d’ or ‘ed’ is
called regular verb. Some regular verb list is given below.

Walk Walked Walked

Talk Talked Talked

Clean Cleaned Cleaned

Choke Choked Choked

Grate Grated Grated

IRREGULAR VERB

If the formation of the verb is otherwise than the regular verb, it is called irregular verb. For example,

Present Past Past Participle

Shut Shut Shut

Drink Drank Drunk

Break Broke Broken

Beat Beat Beaten

Rise Rose Risen

LINKING VERB

A verb that acts as a link between two words is called linking verb. It connects or links a subject to a
noun or an adjective in the predicate.
Linking verb list:

Appear Become Feel

Look Taste Turn

Sound Seem Grow

For example,

 He remained silent.

 The matches are full of sticks.

 The room is very spacious.

TRANSITIVE VERB

A verb that needs an object to complete itself is called transitive verb. It is called transitive because it
passes its action from subject to object.

For example,

 The boy kicks the football.

  He loves his mother.

Usually no preposition is used after transitive verb.

Now see another example: The servant cleans the floor.

In this sentence, the action denoted by the verb cleans passes from the doer, the servant, to some
object, the floor. Thus the verb ‘cleans’ is called a transitive verb.

Di- transitive verb

A verb which takes two objects is called a ditransitive verb. It is called ditransitive because it passes its
action from subject to two objects; a direct object and an indirect object.

For example’

Damith gave me some chocolates. ( me- indirect object- answers the question ‘to whom’ , some
chocolates- direct object- answers the question ‘what’

The lecturer gave us many assignments.

Ramani posted him a note.

INTRANSITIVE VERB

A verb that doesn’t need any object to complete itself is called intransitive verb. It does not pass its
action from subject to the object.

For example,

 The girls sleep.

 He died in an accident.

Usually prepositions is used after intransitive verb.

Another example: We sleep at night.

In this sentence, the action, sleep, do not pass from the doer, we, to any object. So the verb sleep is
called an intransitive verb.

FINITE VERB

Finite verbs mean those verbs which can change their form in accordance with the subject. It defines the
time (past or present) and the subject. It tells you who is doing the action and when it is being done.

For example,

 I eat rice. / He eats rice. / They eat rice.

 I am a student. / He is a student. / They are students.

INFINITIVE VERB
An infinitive is a verb which has “to” before it. It shows infinite action when is used at the beginning of
the sentence.

For example,

 To see is to believe.

 To be weak is miserable.

Functions of Infinitive Verb

If we look at the function that an infinitive verb does in a sentence, we may consider it to be both a
noun and a verb.

The Infinitive as Noun and Verb

Here is an example,

I like to finish the work quickly.

In this sentence, the phrase to finish does the following jobs.

 It is the object of the finite verb like – therefore to finish is similar to a noun (because being an
object is a noun’s job).

 The phrase to finish has its own object, work – so to finish is a verb (since verbs have objects).

 The adverb quickly modifies (i.e. tells us something more about) to finish. Since the phrase to
finish is modifiable by an adverb, it must be a verb.

 We can say that the infinitive, though born in the verb family, does not limit itself to being a
verb. It often behaves like a noun when it goes around socializing in the world of sentences.

The Infinitive as Adjective or Adverb

In some cases, it behaves even like an adjective, as in the following sentence.

That was a game to watch!

In this sentence, to watch tells us something more about the quality of the game (a noun). Describing a
noun is the work of an adjective.

Sometimes it behaves like an adverb. The sentence below illustrates this.

Her voice is pleasant to hear.

The phrase to hear tells us something more about the quality of being pleasant. The word pleasant is an
adjective, and words that tell us more about an adjective (adjective modifiers) are traditionally called
adverbs.

SPLIT INFINITIVE

A split infinitive puts an adverb and adverb between the two parts of the full infinitive. “To generously
sprinkle” is a split infinitive because “generously” splits the word “to” from the word “sprinkle”.
When we put an adverb between “to” and “verb”, it is called Split Infinitive.

If you want to remember what a split infinitive is, just remember what might be the most famous
example: “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” “To boldly go” is a split infinitive. “Boldly” splits
“to go.”

However, it is suggested to avoid split infinitive. For example,

 To quickly leave

 To always want

 To easily excel

Stative and Dynamic Verbs

Introduction
Verbs in English can be classified into two categories: stative verbs
and dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs (sometimes referred to as "action verbs")
usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen; stative verbs usually
refer to a state or condition which is not changing or likely to change. The difference
is important, because stative verbs cannot normally be used in the continuous (BE
+ ING) forms. This will explain the differences between the two types of verb, and
give lots of examples of each kind.

Dynamic verbs
There are many types of dynamic verbs, but most of them describe activities or
events which can begin and finish. Here are some examples:

Dynamic
Type Examples
Verb

She plays tennis every Friday.

Play activity
She's playing tennis right now.

The snow melts every spring.

Melt process
The snow is melting right now

When one boxer hits another, brain

damage can result. (This suggests only
momentary ONE punch.)
Hit
action When one boxer is hitting another, brain
damage can result. (This suggests MANY
repeated punches.)
Dynamic verbs, as you can see from the table above, can be used in the simple and
perfect forms (plays, played, has played, had played) as well as the continuous or
progressive forms (is playing, was playing, has been playing, had been playing).

Stative verbs
Stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is quite static or
unchanging. They can be divided into verbs of perception or cognition (which
refer to things in the mind), or verbs of relation (which describe the relationships
between things). Here are some examples:

Stative
Type Examples
Verb

perceptio
hate I hate chocolate.
n

perceptio
believe She believes in UFOs.
n

The box contains 24 cans of

contain relation
soda.

own relation Yong owns three motorbikes.

Note that we CANNOT use these verbs in the continuous (progressive) forms; you
CAN'T say "*Yong is owning three cars." Owning is a state, not an action, so it is
always in the simple form.

Example verbs
Here some common stative and dynamic verbs. The lists may help you to
understand what types of verbs are likely to be stative and what types are
commonly dynamic.

Stati love; hate; like; see; hear; sound; think (meaning "have an
ve opinion"); mind (meaning "care
Verb about"); recognize; seem; have (meaning
s "own"); prefer; doubt; consist of; mean

Dyna
mic eat; drink; go; type; read; write; listen; speak; watch; say;
Verb grow; work; sleep; cook; talk
s
Dynamic verbs, as you can see from the table above, can be used in the simple and
perfect forms (plays, played, has played, had played) as well as the continuous or
progressive forms (is playing, was playing, has been playing, had been playing).

Finite and non-finite verbs

OCTOBER 31, 2016 -

There are mainly two types of verbs in English – finite and non-finite. Finite verbs
change their forms when there is a change in the number or person of the subject.
Finite verbs also have different forms in different tenses.

Non-finite verbs do not change their form when the number or person of the subject
changes. There are mainly three types of non-finite verbs: infinitives, gerunds and
participles.

. Finite and non-finite verbs

Finite verb forms show tense, person and number (I go, she goes, we went, etc.):
She was waiting in the room before he came in.
Does your brother know my brother?
The night before he had to leave, they sat on the small sofa in the living-room and looked at
old family photos.
Aren’t you a bit late?
Non-finite verb forms do not show tense, person or number. Typically they are infinitive forms
with and without to (e.g. to go, go), -ing forms and -ed forms (e.g. going, gone):
She tiptoed round the house so as not to wake anyone.
You need to paint the whole cupboard, starting from the bottom.
[from a biography]
Taken prisoner by the British in December 1776, he was held in New York City for a
year …

Phrasal verbs and multi-word verbs

Multi-word verbs are verbs which consist of a verb and one or two particles or prepositions
(e.g. up, over, in, down). There are three types of multi-word verbs: phrasal verbs, prepositional
verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. Sometimes, the name ‘phrasal verb’ is used to refer to all
three types.

Phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs have two parts: a main verb and an adverb particle.
The most common adverb particles used to form phrasal verbs are around, at, away, down, in,
off, on, out, over, round, up:
bring in go around look up put away take off

Meaning
Phrasal verbs often have meanings which we cannot easily guess from their individual
parts. (The meanings are in brackets.)
The book first came out in 1997. (was published)
The plane took off an hour late. (flew into the air)
The lecture went on till 6.30. (continued)
It’s difficult to make out what she’s saying. (hear/understand)
For a complete list of the most common phrasal verbs, see the Cambridge International
Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

Formality
Phrasal verbs are often, but not always, less formal than a single word with the same
meaning.
Compare
 phrasal verb  more formal single word

 We need to sort the problem out.  We need to solve/resolve the problem.

 The team only had an hour to put the  The team only had an hour
stage up before the concert. to erect/construct the stage before the concert.
Phrasal verbs and objects
Many phrasal verbs take an object. In most cases, the particle may come before or after
the object if the object is not a personal pronoun (me, you, him, us, etc.).
Compare

(p = particle; o = object [underlined])

particle before the object particle after the object

I brought [O]my children [P]up to be

She brought [P]up [O]three kids all alone.
polite.

Do you want me to take [P]off [O]my

Come in. Take [O]your coat [P]off.
shoes?

If the object is a personal pronoun (me, you, him, us, etc.), we always put the pronoun
before the particle:
I’ve made some copies. Would you like me to hand them out?
Not: Would you like me to hand out them?
Oh, I can’t lift you up any more. You’re too big now!
Not: I can’t lift up you any more.
We usually put longer objects (underlined) after the particle:
Many couples do not want to take on the responsibility of bringing up a large family of
three or four children.
We can use some phrasal verbs without an object:

break get move

down back in/out

carry on go off run away

drop off hang on set off

eat out join in wake up

The taxi broke down on the way to the airport and I thought I nearly missed my flight.
We’d better set off before the rush-hour traffic starts.
What time did you wake up this morning?
A good learner’s dictionary will tell you if the phrasal verb needs an object or can be
used without one.

Prepositional verbs
 Prepositional verbs have two parts: a verb and a preposition which cannot be separated from each
other:

 break into (a house)  get over (an illness)  listen to

 cope with (a difficult situation)  get on  look after (a child)

 deal with (a problem)  get off  look at

 depend on  go into  look for

 do without  lead to  look forward to

 Prepositional verbs and objects

 Prepositional verbs always have an object, which comes immediately after the preposition. The
object (underlined) can be a noun phrase, a pronoun or the -ing form of a verb:

 Somebody broke into his car and stole his radio.

 I don’t like this CD. I don’t want to listen to it any more.

 Getting to the final depends on winning the semi-final!

 Some prepositional verbs take a direct object after the verb followed by the prepositional phrase.

 associate …  remind …
with of
 protect … from  rob … of

 provide … with  thank … for

 (do = direct object; po = object of preposition [both underlined])

 Hannah reminds [DO]me of [PO]a girlfriend of mine.

 How can we protect [DO]children from [PO]dangerous material on the Internet?

 I’d like to thank [DO]everyone for [PO]their kindness.

 Prepositional verbs or phrasal verbs?

 Not all phrasal verbs need an object. Prepositional verbs (e.g. listen to, depend on) always have an
object after the preposition:

 I’ve got a great new CD. Shall we listen to it?

 Not: Shall we listen to?

 With phrasal verbs the object can come before or after the particle if the object is not a pronoun.
With prepositional verbs, the object is always immediately after the preposition.(Objects are
underlined.)

 Compare

 Do you always look up every new word in a

dictionary?  Phrasal verb: the object can come before or
 Do you always look every new word up in a after the particle up.
dictionary?

 Prepositional verb: the object is after the

 Could you look after my bag while I go and preposition.
buy the tickets?
 Not: Could you look my bag after …

 Phrasal-prepositional verbs

 Phrasal-prepositional verbs have three parts: a verb, a particle and a preposition. The particle and
the preposition cannot be separated. Many of these verbs are often used in informal contexts, and
their meaning is difficult to guess from their individual parts.

 Verb + particle + preposition

 catch up with  get on with  look out for

 come up
 listen out for  look up to
against

 do away with  look down on  put up with

 look forward  watch out

 face up to
to for

 get away with  look in on 

 Ken’s just chatting to a friend. He’ll catch up with us in a minute. (reach, join)

 Do you get on with your neighbours? (have a good relationship with)

 We look forward to meeting you on the 22nd. (anticipate with pleasure)

 Phrasal-prepositional verbs and objects

 The object (underlined below) always comes immediately after the preposition, and not in any other
position:

 She was a wonderful teacher. We all looked up to her. (respected)

 Not: We all looked her up to. or We all looked up her to.

 Some phrasal-prepositional verbs also take a direct object after the verb as well as an object of the
preposition:

 fix … up  put … down  put … up

with to to

 let … in on  take … out on 

 (do = direct object; po = object of preposition [both underlined])

 She fixed [DO]us up with [PO]a violin teacher. We’re really grateful to her. (fixed us up with =
arranged for us)

 We just put [DO]the accident down to [PO]bad luck; there’s no other reason. (put down to = think
the cause or reason is)
 Verb Types
 Choose the most appropriate answer according to the task in
parentheses.
 1. She…………………………two letters in the morning. (Regular verb)
 read received sent wrote

 2. She ………………………. that poem in her English class. (Irregular
verb)
 heard memorized recited studied

 3. When did you get ……………….. ? (Transitive verb)
 a job back home sick

4. He ………. a small company. (Intransitive verb)

bought owns set up works for
5. She ………………………. . (Phrasal verb)
eats a lot likes to sing looks sad went out
6. He ………………………….. . (Action verb)
appears to be asleep knows them plays very well seemed tired
7. I ……………………………. . (Stative verb)
didn't ask him made some soup think you are wrong will prove it
8. His uncle ……………………………… . (Linking verb)
is reading a book is very tall lives in Moscow works as a clerk
Decide whether the verbs in bold are transitive or intransitive

1. She was crying all day long.

2. We showed her the photo album.

3. The doctor advised me to exercise regularly.

4. It was raining at that time.

5. She laughed at the joke.

6. She gave a cookie to the child.

7. They slept in the street.

8. I ate the cherries.

 9. My father doesn't drink coffee. .

10. He always keeps his money in a wallet.

Identify the finite and non-finite verbs in the following

sentences.
1. I like to play with my puppy.

2. She works hard to pass the test.

3. Smoking is prohibited in the kitchen.

4. He went to the city to find work.

5. The teacher asked the students to submit their assignments before they go home.

6. He wants to launch a business.