CHAPTER THREE: VERBS
DEFINATION
Verbs are actions in sentences.
A verb denotes the action or state of being of the subject in a sentence.
e.g. She dashed into class
S verb (v) (indicates action)
Mary is unwell
S verb - (indicates state of being)
Verbs also carry the tense or the time when a particular action took place or is to take place.
e.g. She went home yesterday
She goes home this evening
Verbs also carry the perfective or the progressive aspect of the action.
e.g. She had eaten the food implies that the action came to completion before
another action in the past happened. This verb is in the perfective aspect.
e.g. 2 She is writing an essay.
The verb in this sentence implies that the action of writing is in progress. The verb therefore carries the
progressive aspect.
There are two main types of verbs:
Lexical and auxiliary verbs
(A) LEXICAL VERBS
These are action words which occur independently and singly in clauses.
e.g. The boy kicked the ball
V
The verb ‘kick’ is independent and may not need another verb.
The boy kicked threw the ball. This is wrong because lexical verbs occur
singly in clauses or sentences.
(i) Verbs will always agree with the subject of the sentence in relation to number
(i.e. singular or plural)
,For example:
Juma goes to school
S. Subject V
The boy goes to school
S. Subject V
The boys go to school
Pl. subject V
A singular subject has a corresponding singular form of a verb.
A plural subject will have a corresponding plural of a verb.
(ii) Verbs will change for tense.
e.g. I see him (simple present)
I saw him (simple past)
Below are the different tenses in English and examples of how two verbs may
change in the respective tenses.
(a) Simple present tense -
He eats rice for supper -
He walks to school
(b) Present continuous: -
He is eating rice for supper -
He is walking to school
(c) Present perfect: -
He has eaten rice for supper -
He has walked to school
(d) Present perfect continuous: -
He has been eating rice for supper -
He has been walking to school
(e) Past simple: -
, He ate rice for supper -
He walked to school
(f) Past continuous -
He was eating rice for supper -
He was waking to school.
(g) Past perfect: -
He had eaten rice for supper -
He had walked to school
(h) Past perfect continuous: -
He had been eating rice for supper -
He had been walking to school
(i) Future Simple: -
He will / shall eat rice for supper -
He will walk to school
(j) Future continuous: -
He will be eating rice for supper -
He will be walking to school
(k) Future perfect: -
He will have eaten rice for supper -
He will have walked to school
(l) Future perfect continuous: -
He will have been eating rice for supper -
He will have been walking to school
Before looking at the way all these tenses and time aspects are derived, let us
first look at the other category of verbs: Auxiliary verbs.
(B) AUXILIARY VERBS
Auxiliary are also called helping verbs. They help carry the tense, the
DEFINATION
Verbs are actions in sentences.
A verb denotes the action or state of being of the subject in a sentence.
e.g. She dashed into class
S verb (v) (indicates action)
Mary is unwell
S verb - (indicates state of being)
Verbs also carry the tense or the time when a particular action took place or is to take place.
e.g. She went home yesterday
She goes home this evening
Verbs also carry the perfective or the progressive aspect of the action.
e.g. She had eaten the food implies that the action came to completion before
another action in the past happened. This verb is in the perfective aspect.
e.g. 2 She is writing an essay.
The verb in this sentence implies that the action of writing is in progress. The verb therefore carries the
progressive aspect.
There are two main types of verbs:
Lexical and auxiliary verbs
(A) LEXICAL VERBS
These are action words which occur independently and singly in clauses.
e.g. The boy kicked the ball
V
The verb ‘kick’ is independent and may not need another verb.
The boy kicked threw the ball. This is wrong because lexical verbs occur
singly in clauses or sentences.
(i) Verbs will always agree with the subject of the sentence in relation to number
(i.e. singular or plural)
,For example:
Juma goes to school
S. Subject V
The boy goes to school
S. Subject V
The boys go to school
Pl. subject V
A singular subject has a corresponding singular form of a verb.
A plural subject will have a corresponding plural of a verb.
(ii) Verbs will change for tense.
e.g. I see him (simple present)
I saw him (simple past)
Below are the different tenses in English and examples of how two verbs may
change in the respective tenses.
(a) Simple present tense -
He eats rice for supper -
He walks to school
(b) Present continuous: -
He is eating rice for supper -
He is walking to school
(c) Present perfect: -
He has eaten rice for supper -
He has walked to school
(d) Present perfect continuous: -
He has been eating rice for supper -
He has been walking to school
(e) Past simple: -
, He ate rice for supper -
He walked to school
(f) Past continuous -
He was eating rice for supper -
He was waking to school.
(g) Past perfect: -
He had eaten rice for supper -
He had walked to school
(h) Past perfect continuous: -
He had been eating rice for supper -
He had been walking to school
(i) Future Simple: -
He will / shall eat rice for supper -
He will walk to school
(j) Future continuous: -
He will be eating rice for supper -
He will be walking to school
(k) Future perfect: -
He will have eaten rice for supper -
He will have walked to school
(l) Future perfect continuous: -
He will have been eating rice for supper -
He will have been walking to school
Before looking at the way all these tenses and time aspects are derived, let us
first look at the other category of verbs: Auxiliary verbs.
(B) AUXILIARY VERBS
Auxiliary are also called helping verbs. They help carry the tense, the
