English Verb

A verb expresses an action or a state of being.

USE 

Verbs are traditionally expressed along with the appropriate 
pronouns as follows: 

----------------------
Singular    Plural
----------------------
I run       We run
You run     You run
He runs     They run
She runs    --
It runs     -- 
----------------------

Verbs are expressed in tenses which place the statement in a 
point in time. Broadly speaking these are are the past, 
present, and future tense: 

---------------------------------------
PAST        I ran          [yesterday]
PRESENT     I run          [today]
FUTURE      I shall run    [tomorrow]
---------------------------------------
 
The verbs 'to be' and 'to have' are the most commonly used 
auxiliary verbs and they work alongside the main verbs in any s
tatement. 

Verbs are doing words. This is a very simple definition, 
although it is valid for most normal purposes:

Tom went to the bank.
My father arrives on Saturday.

The verb is a very important part of the sentence. It is a 
necessary part of every fully expressed predicate - the part 
of the sentence which normally follows the subject. 

The verb is the grammatical instrument which gives us 
information about the person or thing which is the subject. 

Consider the following sentence: 

Jane grasped the neckace with joy and placed it in the carved box. 

We are given essential information here by means of two verbs - 
'grasped' and 'placed'. They express the subject's physical and 
psychological attitude, and they also place the action in a 
temporal context by the fact that they are verbs in the past 
tense. 

These verbs in this context are lexical items, even though they 
are also doing essential grammatical work. They are lexical in the 
sense that they are giving detailed information regarding the 
actions of the subject. 



Some key parts of the Verb

Verb

Words that express action or emotion. Verbs can be conjugated in 
many tenses of past, present, and future. The six forms that 
verbs are conjugated into are first, second, and third person 
singular and plural. Example: 

run, laugh, write, think.

Transitive verbs

Verbs which take direct objects (no prepositions are needed to 
connect verb and object). Example:

He speaks English.  
We understand you.

Intransitive verbs

Verbs which take indirect objects (usually to or for are used 
before the object, but not always; it can be implied). Example:

He gave the book to her.  
Tom brought some candy for us.  
I'm giving my dad some DVDs.

Active voice

When the subject is represented as acting. Example:

The boy loves his mother.

Passive voice

When the subject is acted upon. Example:

The door is opened by Tom.

Indicative mood

Makes a direct statement or declaration, in the form of fact. 
Example: 

The river flows eastward.  
The boy is very tall.  
She will be ready tomorrow.

Imperative mood

Expresses commands, requests, permission and always has the 
subject in the second person (you) which is understood.
Example:

Be quiet. 
Talk to your father. 
Give me the tape.

Subjunctive mood

Indicates doubt, supposition, uncertainty and presumes or imagines 
an action or state. Example: 

If he were here, he would know what to do next.  
It is necessary that you be on time.

Past tense

I cried, was crying, did cry, have cried, had cried.

Present tense

I love, am loving, do love.

Future tense

I will write, will have written.

Auxiliary verbs

The "helper" verbs are used before infinitives (can, may, will, 
should, must, might) or participles (have).  Have is also used in 
the compound tenses (you have seen, they had been.)

Participles

Present and past participles are derived from the verb and act as 
a verb form, adjective or noun.  Present participles are formed by 
adding -ing to the verb, while past participles are formed by 
adding -ed to normal verbs.  Present participles imply a 
continuance of action, state or being. Example: 

She is reading the book.  

Past participles imply the completion of an action, state or being. 
Example:

I have loved.  

Participles can also act as adjectives when placed before nouns.  
Example:

He is a reading man.

Gerunds

Gerunds are also formed by adding -ing to the verb, but they 
function as a verbal noun and are normally preceded by articles or 
demonstratives. Example:

The singing was excellent.

Infinitive

An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb (in 
its simplest "stem" form) and functioning as a noun, adjective, or 
adverb. The term verbal indicates that an infinitive, like the 
other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore 
expresses action or a state of being. However, the infinitive may 
function as a subject, irect object, subject complement, adjective, 
or adverb in a sentence. Although an infinitive is easy to locate 
because of the to + verb form, deciding what function it has in a 
sentence can sometimes be confusing.