Understanding Different Types of Verbs in English

Posted on Jan 21, 2025 in Linguistics and Applied Languages

Verb – (Action Word)

A verb shows an action or state of being. A verb shows what someone or something is doing.

Examples: go, speak, run, eat, play, live, walk, have, like, are, is

Example sentences: I like Woodward English. I study their charts and play their games.

Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs always receive a direct object:

  1. Richard annoys his boss so much that he’ll never get a promotion.
    (His boss is the direct object of annoys and a promotion is the direct object of get)
  2. Jenna brings Mrs. Smith lunch every day.
    (Mrs. Smith is the direct object of brings. Jenna is the subject.)

Here’s a list of some common transitive verbs that must be followed by a direct object:

  • Bring, send, owe, contain, buy, show, take, tell, verify, check, get, wash, finalize, annoy, lay, lend, offer, edit, make, phone

Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs do not need a direct object in order to complete their meaning. Many are followed by an adjective, adverb, preposition, or verb complement (gerund or infinitive).

Here is a list of common intransitive verbs:

  • Come, explode, laugh, sit, rise, excel, respond, run, cough, swim, emigrate, smile, act, cry, immigrate, lie, arrive, continue, die, go
  1. If Cathy continues to be late for work, the boss will fire her.
    (Continues is followed by an infinitive (to be), with no direct object.)
  2. The bomb exploded in the city center.
    (Exploded is followed by a preposition of place with no direct object.)

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary (or Helping) verbs are used together with a main verb to show the verb’s tense or to form a negative or question. The most common auxiliary verbs are have, be, and do.

  1. Does Sam write all his own reports?
  2. The secretaries haven’t written all the letters yet.
  3. Terry is writing an e-mail to a client at the moment.

Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, add functional or grammatical meaning to the clauses in which they appear. They perform their functions in several different ways:

  • By expressing tense (providing a time reference, i.e. past, present, or future)
  • Grammatical aspect (expresses how the verb relates to the flow of time)
  • Modality (quantifies verbs)
  • Voice (describes the relationship between the action expressed by the verb and the participants identified by the verb’s subject, object, etc.)
  • Adds emphasis to a sentence

Stative Verbs

What are Stative Verbs?

Stative verbs are verbs that express a state rather than an action. They usually relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and measurements. These verbs are not usually used with -ing in progressive (continuous) tenses even though they may take on time expressions such as now and at the moment. We use the simple tenses for them.

  1. Paul feels rotten today. He has a bad cold.
  2. Do you recognize him? He is a famous rock star.
  3. Our client appreciated all the work we did for him.
  • Adore, agree, appear (seem), appreciate, be (exist), believe, belong to, concern, consist of, contain, cost, deny, depend on, deserve, detest, disagree, dislike, doubt, equal, feel, hate, have (possession), hear, imagine, include, involve, know

Modal Verbs

A modal is a type of auxiliary (helping) verb that is used to express: ability, possibility, permission, or obligation. Modal phrases (or semi-modals) are used to express the same things as modals, but are a combination of auxiliary verbs and the preposition to. The modals and semi-modals in English are:

  1. Can/could/be able to
  2. May/might
  3. Shall/should
  4. Must/have to, will/would