There are 3 basic types of verbs:
1.
Action verbs
2.
Linking verbs
3.
Helping verbs
1.
Action verbs (main verbs) – describe actions, activities,
events and happenings
An action verbs can
be transitive or intransitive.
Transitive verbs need a direct object :
The boss dropped the
ball.
The workers picked it up.
Intransitive verbs
do not need a direct object:
Who called? The
temperature fell over night.
To determine if a
verb is transitive, ask yourself Who? Or What? After the verb. If you can find an answer in the sentence,
the verb is transitive.
2.
Linking Verbs – join the subject and the
predicate
- They
do not show the action
- They
help the words at the end of the sentence name or describe the subject
- The
most common linking verbs include: be, feel, grow, smell, seem, remain, appear,
sound, stay, look, taste, turn, become, to be (am, is, are , was, were, am,
being, can be, have been)
The manager was happy about the job change.
He is a good worker.
3.
Helping verbs
- Have
no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of a
sentence but they do not tell us very much
- Are
added to another verb to make the meaning clearer
- We
usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They ‘help’ the main verb
- We
use them in the following cases:
·
Be-
to make continuous tenses and to make the passives
·
Have
– to make perfect tenses
·
Do
– to make negative
-To ask questions
- to show emphasis ( I do
want you to pass the exam )
- to stand for a main verb
in some constructions (He speaks faster than she does)