Verbs

Verbs are the words that show an action, state of being or occurrence.

Verbs that show some action are called action verbs.

Act, play, write, hit, read, learn, cook, bake, etc. are action verbs.

Types of verbs

There are mainly two types of verbs.
1. Main verb
2. Helping verb

Main verb: The verb that shows the action or state of being of the subject is called the main verb. It is also called the principal verb.

Helping verb: A helping verb is used with a main verb to help express the main verb's tense, mood, or voice.
Examples,
• The teacher is teaching in the class.

• The baby was sleeping.

• The children are playing.

In the above sentences, ‘teaching, sleeping and singing’ are the main verbs and ‘is, was and are’ are the helping verbs.

Exercise

Identify the helping verbs in the following sentences.

1. I am happy because my family got a puppy.
2. Jean was very upset yesterday.
3. I know him because he is a teacher in my school.
4. There were many people in the market.
5. Students are making noise in the class.

Identify the main verbs in the following sentences.

6. The students want their new teacher to teach them.
7. James went to the zoo yesterday.
8. John likes to play with his friends.
9. Sara loves her puppy very much.
10. Jacob opened the refrigerator to get milk.

Answers

1. Am
2. Was
3. S
4. Were
5. Are
6. Want, teach
7. Went
8. Likes, play
9. Loves
10. Opened, get