Verb: Definition

Verbs and their properties

Verbs are words like walk, sing, dance, read, sleep and smile. Verbs are distinguished from other parts of speech by a number of properties.

A verb can be marked for tense:

I work (Present tense)/ I worked. (Past tense)
She writes. / She wrote.

A verb can usually be preceded by an auxiliary verb.

• I have written.
• She has come.
• He is singing.
• It is working.
• You are wasting our time.

A verb is the head of a verb phrase.

• I am watching news on TV. (Here the verb watching is the head of the phrase watching news on TV.)
• She wrote letters.

A verb can form a gerund in -ing.

• Trespassing is prohibited.
• Reading is his pastime.

A verb can form a present participle and a past participle.

The present participle ends in -ing; the past participle usually ends in-ed or -en.

• She has been working for hours.
• It has been raining since morning.
• You have drunk too much wine.

Verbs are present in our daily routines, there the importance of its recognition!