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English verbs explained are the solid base for speaking and writing English well, especially for non-native speakers.
Many people starting to learn English are quickly moved into the confusing world of verb tenses – like present perfect, past continuous, and others. This is often how learners start, but is it the best way?
Learning verb tenses is highly important. However, jumping into these big ideas without first really understanding verbs themselves is like trying to build a strong house on a weak floor.
Your ESL textbook might not have told you this clearly: the small details about verbs – their different types, how they act, and what they can do actually control how verb tenses work. For example, did you know some verbs, called stative verbs, usually don’t use continuous tenses?
Just memorizing tense rules doesn’t work well if you don’t understand the verbs as these are the ‘engines’ that make your sentences go. This can make learning confusing and make you feel like you’re missing something important.
So, how can you stop being confused and build a really strong base for learning English verbs and, after that, their tenses?
This ultimate guide, English Verbs Explained for Non-Natives, is here to help. We will show you a different way to learn, one that helps you build your skills from the very beginning. In this guide, you will get the important, deep understanding of English verbs as a special and basic group – what kinds there are, what they do, their common forms, and how they are often used.
Learning about verbs first is not just a good idea; it’s what you must do before you can unlock clear, sure, and correct English. Let’s look at everything you need to know to make English verbs your friends in becoming fluent.
If you prefer to listen to the Deep Dive overview of the blog post, you can press play below to listen to the post instead.
Verbs are a Core Part of Speech
English sentence structure isn’t random. In fact, every single word in English can be classified as one of 9 parts of speech. Each part of speech helps comprise the building materials to construct English sentences.
Those materials consist of:
1. Core parts of Speech such as Nouns, Pronouns, and Verbs. Without these parts of speech, you cannot build an English sentence.
2. Modifiers are secondary parts of speech that tell us more about the core parts of speech. These are parts such as determiners, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. They help us add more flavor and detail to the sentence.
3. Connectors are the filament that holds everything together. We can connect and link ideas in a sentence through a combination of punctuation and connectors such as conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and subordinating prepositions.
Alone, each part of speech is isolated and doesn’t contribute much to a sentence. Yet, if you understand the relationships between each part of speech, you learn to build phrases. Those phrases can be joined to create sentences.
English sentence structure is a mixture of both art and science. Browse through all of my blogs on sentence structure and the parts of speech and really master your sentence building skills.
Better yet, why don’t you check out my book, English Grammar Explained, and make a deep study of English sentence building.
The Core Verb Categories: Understanding Different Types of Verbs
Now that you know why verbs are so important, let’s look at the main kinds of verbs you’ll meet in English. Think of these as different players on a team, each with a special job to do in your sentences.
Action Verbs (Dynamic Verbs): Showing What Happens
The first type of verb, and maybe the easiest to understand, is the action verb.
- What are they? Action verbs, also called dynamic verbs, are words that tell you what the subject of a sentence is doing.1 They show an action. This can be an action you can see with your eyes (like jumping or reading), or an action that happens in your mind (like thinking or wanting).
- Examples of Action Verbs:
- Physical actions: run, walk, eat, drink, play, write, open, close, help, listen
- The children play in the park.
- She writes an email to her friend.2
- Mental actions: think, learn, know, understand, believe, want, hope, dream
- I understand the question now.
- He hopes to travel next year.
- Finding Action Verbs: To find an action verb, look at the subject of the sentence (the person or thing doing something) and ask, “What is the subject doing?”
Linking Verbs (State of Being Verbs): Connecting Ideas
Next up are linking verbs. These verbs have a different job than action verbs. They don’t show action; instead, they link or connect the subject to more information about the subject.
- What are they? Linking verbs connect the subject of a sentence to a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective that describes or renames the subject.3 They tell us what the subject is or is like.
- Common Linking Verbs: The most common linking verb is be (and its forms: am, is, are, was, were, been, being). Other common linking verbs include:
- seem, become, appear
- Verbs related to senses: feel, look, taste, smell, sound (when they describe the subject, not an action).4
- Important Tip: Linking verbs are usually followed by an adjective (a word that describes the subject) or a noun (a word that renames the subject).5 They are generally not followed by adverbs that describe an action.
- Correct: The soup tastes delicious. (delicious is an adjective describing soup)6
- Incorrect (usually): The soup tastes deliciously.
- Examples of Linking Verbs:
- She is a talented musician. (connects “She” to “musician”)7
- The weather seems nice today. (connects “weather” to “nice”)
- He became a doctor after many years of study. (connects “He” to “doctor”)
- This blanket feels soft. (connects “blanket” to “soft”)
- Linking Verbs vs. Action Verbs: Sometimes a verb can be a linking verb in one sentence and an action verb in another.8
- Linking: I look tired. (Here, “look” connects “I” to the adjective “tired.”)
Action: I look at the beautiful sunset. (Here, “look” is an action I am doing.) Ask yourself: Is the verb showing an action, or is it connecting the subject to a description or identity?
Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs): Supporting the Main Verb
Now let’s talk about auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs. These are very important verbs that work together with main verbs.
Keyword: auxiliary verb
What are they? Auxiliary verbs “help” the main verb in a sentence.9 They help to:
- Show the tense (when an action happens).
- Form questions.
- Make sentences negative (using “not”).
- Show voice (active or passive – we’ll learn more about this later!).
- Express ideas like possibility or ability (using modal auxiliaries).10
The Main Helpers: Be, Have, Do
- Be (am, is, are, was, were, been, being): Used to form continuous tenses (e.g., She is reading.) and the passive voice (e.g., The book was written by her.).11
- Have (has, have, had): Used to form perfect tenses (e.g., I have finished my work.).
- Do (do, does, did): Used to ask questions (e.g., Do you like pizza?), make negatives (e.g., He does not (doesn’t) understand.), and sometimes for emphasis (e.g., I do want to go!).12
Modal Auxiliary Verbs (Modals): Showing Mood or Attitude
Modals are special auxiliary verbs that add meaning about things like ability, possibility, permission, necessity, or advice.13
Common Modals: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would.14
Examples:
- You can speak English very well. (ability)
- It might rain later. (possibility)
- You should study verbs every day! (advice)
Modals are always followed by the base form of the main verb (e.g., He can go, not He can goes or He can to go).
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs: Do They Need an Object?
Finally, in this section, let’s look at two more important categories: transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. This is about whether a verb needs something to receive its action.
Keyword: transitive verbs
Transitive Verbs: Need an Object
What are they? A transitive verb is an action verb that needs a direct object to complete its meaning.16 The direct object is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
Keyword: direct object
To find the direct object, ask “Whom?” or “What?” after the verb.
Examples:
- The student read the book. (Read what? The book. “The book” is the direct object.)
- She loves her cat. (Loves whom? Her cat. “Her cat” is the direct object.)
- He baked a cake. (Baked what? A cake. “A cake” is the direct object.)
Intransitive Verbs: Don’t Need an Object
What are they? An intransitive verb is an action verb that does not need a direct object to complete its meaning.17 The meaning is complete with just the subject and the verb.
Examples:
- The baby smiled. (The meaning is complete.)
- Birds fly.
- He arrived late. (While “late” gives more information, “arrived” itself doesn’t need an object to make sense.)
Verbs Can Be Both!
Some verbs can be transitive in one sentence and intransitive in another, depending on how they are used.18
Examples:
- Transitive: She sings a beautiful song. (Song is the direct object.)19
- Intransitive: She sings beautifully. (Beautifully tells how she sings, but it’s not an object.)
- Transitive: He eats breakfast every morning. (Breakfast is the direct object.)20
- Intransitive: He eats too quickly.
A Quick Look at Indirect Objects
Keyword: indirect object
Sometimes, a transitive verb can have both a direct object (the “what”) AND an indirect object (the “to whom” or “for whom” the action is done).21
The indirect object usually comes before the direct object.22
Examples:
- She gave her sister (indirect object) a gift (direct object). (To whom did she give a gift? Her sister.)
- He told the children (indirect object) a story (direct object). (To whom did he tell a story? The children.)
- This often happens with verbs of giving, telling, showing, or sending.
Verb Forms: The Essential Building Blocks
Every verb in English can change its form. These different forms are like a verb’s different outfits – it wears them for different jobs and different situations, especially when we talk about when an action happens (verb tenses). Understanding these basic forms is a key step to using verbs correctly.
There are five main forms for most English verbs:
Base Form (or Bare Infinitive)
What is it? The base form is the simplest form of a verb. It’s the form you’ll usually find if you look up a verb in the dictionary. It doesn’t have any endings like “-s,” “-ed,” or “-ing.” It’s also called the “bare infinitive” when it’s used without “to.”
Examples: go, eat, speak, learn, play, work, be, have
When do we use it?
- After modal auxiliary verbs (like can, will, should, must):
- You can learn English.
- She will help you.
- In the simple present tense with I, you, we, they:
- I work here.
- They play football.
- In commands (imperatives):
- Sit down.
Open your book.
Infinitive (with 'to')
What is it? The infinitive form (often just called “the infinitive”) is usually the base form with the word “to” in front of it.23
Examples: to go, to eat, to speak, to learn, to play, to work, to be, to have
When do we use it? Infinitives have many uses. Here are a few common ones:
- To show the purpose of an action:
- He is studying to pass the exam. (Why is he studying? To pass.)
- After certain other verbs:
- I want to learn new things.
- She decided to stay home.
- After some adjectives:
It’s important to practice every day. (We’ll look more at how infinitives are used in sentence patterns in a later section!)
Present Participle (-ing form)
What is it? The present participle is formed by adding “-ing” to the base form of the verb.
Spelling Tips for -ing:
- If the verb ends in “-e,” usually drop the “-e” (e.g., make -> making, write -> writing).
- If a short verb ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant, often double the last consonant (e.g., run -> running, sit -> sitting).24
Examples: going, eating, speaking, learning, playing, working, being, having
When do we use it?
- To make continuous (or progressive) tenses (with auxiliary verb “be”):
- She is watching TV. (Present Progressive)25
- They were playing outside. (Past Progressive)
- As adjectives (words that describe nouns):
- That was an interesting movie.
- Look at the sleeping cat.
- As gerunds (when the -ing verb form acts like a noun):
- Swimming is good exercise. (Swimming is the subject of the sentence)26
- I enjoy reading. (Reading is the object of the verb “enjoy”)27
Past Simple Form
What is it? The past simple form shows an action that happened and finished in the past.
Regular Verbs:
For most verbs, called regular verbs, you make the past simple form by adding “-ed” (or just “-d” if the verb already ends in “-e”) to the base form.28
Examples:
- walk -> walked
- learn -> learned
- play -> played
- like -> liked
- She worked hard yesterday.
Keyword: irregular verbs
Irregular Verbs: Many common verbs in English are irregular.29 This means they do not follow the “-ed” rule. Their past simple forms change in special ways, and you need to learn them one by one.
Examples of Irregular Verbs (Base Form -> Past Simple Form):
- go -> went
- eat -> ate
- see -> saw
- take -> took
- think -> thought
- I went to the shop this morning.
- They ate pizza for dinner.
Learning irregular verbs is very important for speaking correct English!
Past Participle
What is it? The past participle is another important verb form. It’s used with auxiliary verbs to make perfect tenses and the passive voice.
Regular Verbs:
- For regular verbs, the past participle form is the same as the past simple form (add “-ed” or “-d”).
- Examples: walked, learned, played, liked30
- I have walked five miles today. (Present Perfect tense)
- The door was locked. (Passive voice)
Keyword: irregular verbs
Irregular Verbs: For irregular verbs, the past participle form can sometimes be the same as the past simple form (e.g., read -> read -> read; cut -> cut -> cut), but often it’s different. You need to learn these special forms too.
Examples of Irregular Verbs (Base Form -> Past Simple Form -> Past Participle Form):
- go -> went -> gone
- eat -> ate -> eaten
- see -> saw -> seen
- take -> took -> taken
- speak -> spoke -> spoken
Past participles often team up with auxiliary verbs like have, has, had (for perfect tenses) or forms of be (for the passive voice).31
- She has spoken to the manager. (Present Perfect)32
- The window was broken. (Passive voice)
Understanding these five verb forms will really help you when we start looking at verb tenses and other sentence structures in more detail!
Understanding Verb Tenses: Placing Actions and States in Time (Overview)
So far, we’ve learned about the different kinds of verbs and their basic forms. Now, let’s see how these verb forms help us talk about when something happens. This is where verb tenses come in.
What Are Verb Tenses?
Keyword: verb tenses, tenses, grammar
Simple Definition: Verb tenses are changes to a verb (often using its different forms and auxiliary verbs) to show the time of an action or state – whether it’s in the present, past, or future.33 Tenses can also show if an action is finished or still happening (this is sometimes called “aspect”).34
Why are they important? Using the correct verb tense helps you tell a clear story. It lets your listeners or readers know exactly when things happen. If you use the wrong tense, your meaning can become confusing.
Building on What We’ve Learned: Remember how we said that understanding verbs themselves is important before jumping into tenses? Now that you know about action verbs, linking verbs, auxiliary verbs, and different verb forms, understanding tenses will start to make much more sense!
The Main Time Frames: Present, Past, and Future
English usually divides time into three main parts: present, past, and future.35 Let’s look at how we can use verbs to talk about each one. We’ll just look at a couple of simple examples for each time frame here.
1. Present Time
This is about things happening now, or things that are generally true, or habits.
Simple Present Tense: Shows actions that happen regularly, facts, or current states.
- Example: She works at a bank. (This is her regular job.)
- The sun rises in the east. (This is a fact.)
Present Progressive (or Continuous) Tense: Shows actions happening right now, at this moment, or around the current time. (Uses “am/is/are” + verb -ing form).
- Keyword: progressive or continuous
- Example: I am reading a book. (Happening now.)
- They are learning English. (Happening around now, an ongoing process.)
- Past Time
This is about things that already happened and finished.
Simple Past Tense: Shows actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past. (Uses the past simple form of the verb – regular verbs add -ed, irregular verbs change).
- Example: We watched a movie last night.
- He went to London yesterday. (Irregular verb “go”)
Past Progressive (or Continuous) Tense: Shows actions that were happening at a certain time in the past. (Uses “was/were” + verb -ing form).
- Example: She was cooking dinner when I called.
- They were playing football all afternoon yesterday.36
Future Time
Keyword: future tense
This is about things that will happen later, after now.
Simple Future Tense: Shows actions that will happen in the future. (Often uses “will” + base form of the verb).
- Example: I will visit my friend tomorrow.
- They will travel to Poland next year.
Future Progressive (or Continuous) Tense: Shows actions that will be happening at a certain time in the future. (Uses “will be” + verb -ing form).
- Example: This time next week, I will be relaxing on the beach.
- He will be working when you arrive.
A Quick Look at More Advanced Tenses (Perfect and Perfect Progressive)
Besides these simple and progressive forms, English has other tenses that help us show more complex time relationships. These are often called Perfect tenses (like Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect) and Perfect Progressive tenses (like Present Perfect Progressive).
What do they do?
- Perfect tenses are relative in that the action finished or continued in relation to another action or point in time. They often connect two different points in time or show that an action is completed before another time or event.37 For example, the Present Perfect can talk about past actions that have a result in the present (e.g., I have lost my keys – I lost them in the past, and now I can’t find or use them – we express cause on the perfect action).38
- Perfect Progressive tenses usually show an action that was (or will be) happening for a period of time before another point in time.39
Don’t Worry For Now! These tenses can seem a bit tricky at first. The good news is, you don’t need to master them all right away. We are just mentioning them here so you know they exist.
What’s Next? We will cover each of these tenses (Simple, Progressive, Perfect, and Perfect Progressive) in much more detail in separate articles and lessons. For now, the important thing is to understand the basic idea of present, past, and future.
Understanding how verbs change for different tenses is a big step in your English journey. Remember, it all connects back to knowing your verb forms!
Verb Voice: Who is Doing What? (Active vs. Passive)
Another important thing to understand about verbs is something called “voice.” The voice of a verb tells us the relationship between the subject of the sentence and the action of the verb. Does the subject do the action, or does the subject receive the action?
In English, there are two main voices: Active Voice and Passive Voice.40
Active Voice: The Subject Does the Action
Keyword: active
What is it? In the active voice, the subject of the sentence is the one performing or doing the action of the verb.41 This is the most common and usually the most direct way to say something.
Think of it like this: Subject (Doer) ➡️ Verb (Action) ➡️ Object (Receiver, if there is one).
Why use it? Active voice sentences are often clearer, stronger, and more concise (shorter and to the point).42
Examples:
- The cat chased the mouse. (The cat is the subject and it did the chasing.)43
- Maria wrote an excellent essay. (Maria is the subject and she did the writing.)
- The company will launch a new product next year. (The company is the subject and it will do the launching.)
Passive Voice: The Subject Receives the Action
Keyword: passive voice
What is it? In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the one receiving the action of the verb.44 The person or thing doing the action might be mentioned in a phrase starting with “by” (like “by the cat”), or it might not be mentioned at all if it’s unknown or not important.
Think of it like this: Subject (Receiver) ⬅️ Verb (Action is done to it) (optional: by Doer).
How to Form the Passive Voice: You make the passive voice using:
- The correct form of the auxiliary verb “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, been, being)
- PLUS the past participle of the main verb (the -ed form for regular verbs, or the special form for irregular verbs that we learned about earlier).
- Examples of Passive Formation:
- Simple Present Passive: is/are + past participle (e.g., The mouse is chased.)
- Simple Past Passive: was/were + past participle (e.g., The essay was written.)
- Simple Future Passive: will be + past participle (e.g., The product will be launched.)45
- When Do We Use the Passive Voice?
- When the person or thing doing the action (the “doer” or “agent”) is unknown:
- My wallet was stolen. (We don’t know who stole it.)
- When the “doer” is unimportant or obvious:
- The road is being repaired. (It’s not important who is repairing it.)
- When we want to focus more on the receiver of the action, not the doer:
- This beautiful painting was created in the 19th century. (We want to focus on the painting.)
- In more formal or scientific writing:
- The solution was heated to 100 degrees Celsius.
Troublespot Warning: Passive Voice and Confusing Modifiers
While the passive voice is useful, you need to be careful when you start a sentence with a phrase that describes an action or purpose (like a phrase starting with “To…” + verb, called an infinitive phrase), especially if the main part of your sentence uses passive voice.
The Problem: The opening phrase should clearly describe the action or purpose of the main subject of the sentence. In a passive sentence, the subject is the receiver of the action. If your opening phrase describes something the doer (not the receiver) intended, it can get confusing. It might sound like the subject of the passive sentence was trying to do the action in the opening phrase, which is often not logical. This is called a dangling modifier or misplaced modifier.
Example of the Mistake:
- Incorrect: “To improve his English, the grammar book was studied every night.”
- Why it’s confusing: This sentence makes it sound like the grammar book wanted to improve its own English! The phrase “To improve his English” needs to connect to the person doing the studying.
How to Fix It:
Use Active Voice: Often, changing the main part of the sentence to active voice fixes the problem easily because the “doer” becomes the subject.47
- Correct: “To improve his English, he studied the grammar book every night.” (Now “he” is the one improving his English and studying.)
Rephrase the Opening Phrase or the Whole Sentence: Make sure the doer of the action in the opening phrase is clear.
- Correct: “The grammar book was studied every night by the student who wanted to improve his English.” (Clearer, but longer.)
- Or, if using the passive is important: Make sure the introductory phrase correctly refers to the grammatical subject. Sometimes it’s best to avoid starting with such a phrase if it makes the passive voice sentence awkward.
Quick Tip: Always check: Who is doing the action in your opening phrase? Does it match the subject of your main sentence? If not, rewrite it!
Comparing Active and Passive Voice
Let’s look at some sentences in both active and passive voice to see the difference clearly:
Active: The dog bit the mailman.48
- (Focus is on the dog and what it did.)
Passive: The mailman was bitten by the dog.49
- (Focus is on the mailman and what happened to him.)
- Or simply: The mailman was bitten. (If we don’t know it was a dog, or it’s not important.)
Active: Someone cleaned this room yesterday.
Passive: This room was cleaned yesterday.
- (Focus is on the room and the fact that it’s clean now.)
Active: Shakespeare wrote “Hamlet.”50
Passive: “Hamlet” was written by Shakespeare.51
- (If we are talking about the play “Hamlet,” we might use the passive to keep the focus on the play.)
Understanding when and how to use active and passive voice will give you more flexibility in your writing and help you emphasize the right part of your message. For most everyday writing and speaking, the active voice is usually preferred because it’s more direct and energetic!
Common Verb Patterns and Constructions (Introduction)
Verbs are team players! They often like to be followed by other words or specific kinds of verb forms to make full sense. Learning these common verb patterns will help your English sound much more natural and help you understand and build more complex sentences.
Let’s take a quick look at two important types of verb patterns:
A. Verb + Gerund / Verb + Infinitive
Keywords: verb patterns, using gerunds and infinitives
Remember in Section III when we talked about verb forms? Two of those forms, the infinitive (“to” + base verb, like to learn) and the present participle (verb + -ing, like learning), can do special jobs. When the -ing form is used like a noun, it’s called a gerund.
Now, here’s the interesting part: some verbs are usually followed by a gerund, while other verbs are usually followed by an infinitive.
Verbs Often Followed by a Gerund (-ing form):
- After these verbs, the next “action” word often ends in -ing and acts like a noun.
- Common examples of these verbs: enjoy, finish, avoid, suggest, keep (on), mind, practice, quit, stop (meaning to end an activity).
- Sentence Examples:
- I enjoy reading books. (not I enjoy to read)
- She finished writing her email.
- Please avoid making loud noises.
- He keeps on trying even when it’s hard.
Verbs Often Followed by an Infinitive (to + base form):
- After these verbs, the next “action” word is often the infinitive form.
- Common examples of these verbs: want, need, decide, hope, plan, offer, promise, try, learn, agree, ask, expect, seem, manage.
- Sentence Examples:
- They want to visit Poland next year. (not They want visiting)
- I need to buy some milk.
- He decided to study English online.
- We hope to see you soon.
A Little Note: Some verbs can actually be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive (like like, love, hate, prefer, start, begin, continue).52 Sometimes the meaning is very similar (I like swimming / I like to swim), and sometimes it can change a little bit (but don’t worry too much about that for now!).
How to Learn Them: Which pattern a verb uses is something you often need to learn when you learn the verb itself. It’s a good idea to notice these patterns when you read or listen to English, and maybe even keep a list!
Phrasal Verbs: A Quick Look
Keyword: phrasal verb
Another very common, and sometimes tricky, type of verb construction is the phrasal verb.
What are they? A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a small word called a preposition (like in, on, at, up, down, out, off) or an adverb (like up, down, away), or sometimes both!53 This combination creates a new meaning that can be very different from the meaning of the original verb by itself.
Why are they important? Native English speakers use phrasal verbs all the time, especially in conversation.54 So, understanding them is important for fluency.
Why can they be tricky?
- Their meaning is often idiomatic – you can’t always guess the meaning just by looking at the individual words.
- Some phrasal verbs can be separated by an object, while others cannot.55
Common Examples (Verb + Preposition/Adverb = New Meaning):
- look up = find information (e.g., I need to look up this word in the dictionary.)56
- take off = (for an airplane) leave the ground; (for clothes) remove (e.g., The plane will take off soon. Please take off your shoes.)
- give up = stop trying, quit (e.g., Don’t give up on your dreams!)57
- put off = postpone, do something later (e.g., He put off the meeting until next week.)58
- turn on / turn off = start or stop a machine or light (e.g., Please turn on the light.59 Can you turn off the TV?)
Learning Phrasal Verbs: Phrasal verbs are a big topic, and there are thousands of them! Learning them is an ongoing process. The best way is to learn them in context, like short stories or dialogues.
- (We’ll definitely explore phrasal verbs in more detail in another lesson!)
Understanding these common verb patterns – like when to use a gerund or infinitive, and how phrasal verbs work – will make a big difference in how natural and clear your English sounds.
Native 1 Tips for Mastering English Verbs
Understanding all the information about verbs is a great start. But how can you really get good at using them? Here are some special “Native 1 Tips” – practical advice from our years of helping students just like you master English verbs:
1. Always Check Your Subject-Verb Agreement
What it means: In English, the verb must “agree” with its subject. This mostly means if the subject is singular, the verb might have a special form, and if the subject is plural, it might have a different form.
The Big One to Watch: The most common place learners make mistakes is with the simple present tense and the third-person singular subject (he, she, it, or a single noun like “the cat,” “John”). For these subjects, you usually add an “-s” or “-es” to the base form of the verb.
- Example: She walks to work. (NOT She walk to work.)
- It rains a lot here. (NOT It rain a lot here.)
Quick Tip: Always ask yourself: “Who or what is the subject? Is it singular or plural?” Then make sure your verb matches!
2. Learn Verbs with Their Friends (In Context)
Verbs don’t like to be alone! They often have “friends” – other words or patterns that they like to be with.
What to do: When you learn a new verb, don’t just learn its meaning. Also pay attention to:
- The kinds of nouns that often follow it (as objects).
- Example: You make a cake, but you do your homework.
- Any prepositions that often come after it (this is key for phrasal verbs!).
- Example: You listen to music. You wait for the bus.
- Whether it’s usually followed by a gerund (-ing) or an infinitive (to + verb), like we talked about in the last section.
Why it helps: Learning verbs in these common phrases or “collocations” will make your English sound much more natural, and it will be easier to use the verb correctly without thinking too hard.
3. Tackle Irregular Verbs Head-On
Ah, irregular verbs! We talked about these in “Verb Forms.” They are the verbs that don’t follow the normal “-ed” rule for the past simple and past participle (like go -> went -> gone).
Why they matter: They are some of the most common verbs in English, so you can’t avoid them!
Our Advice: Don’t just try to memorize long lists. While lists can help, it’s better to learn them in groups, see them in example sentences, and practice using them.
Your Next Step: For a deep dive into common irregular verbs, how to learn them effectively, and plenty of examples, check out our popular guide and video on Mastering English Irregular Verbs. This resource has already helped many students, and it can help you too!
4. Make Friends with Sentence Diagramming (or "Chunking")
Remember how verbs are the “engines” of your sentences? A great way to really see how the engine works with all the other parts is to use a technique called sentence diagramming (sometimes called “chunking” or phrase mapping).
How it helps with verbs: This method helps you visually break down sentences. You can clearly see the verb, identify its type (action, linking?), find its subject, see if it has objects, and understand how other words and phrases connect to it.
Unlock Clearer Sentences: If you want to learn this powerful technique to improve your understanding of verbs and overall sentence structure, explore our detailed guide on The Art of Sentence Diagramming with the Parts of Speech.
5. Clearly See the Difference: Linking Verbs vs. Action Verbs
We met these two main types of verbs in Section II. It’s super important to know the difference!
- Action verbs show what the subject does.
- Linking verbs connect the subject to a word that describes or identifies the subject (like an adjective or noun).
Why it’s a “troublespot”: A very common mistake for non-native speakers is using an adverb (a word that describes an action, often ending in -ly) after a linking verb, when you should use an adjective (a word that describes a noun).
- Incorrect Example: She feels sadly about the news.
- Correct Example: She feels sad about the news. (Because “feels” here is a linking verb connecting “She” to the adjective “sad,” which describes her state.)
Quick Test: If you can replace the verb with a form of “to be” (am, is, are, was, were) and the sentence still makes sense, it’s probably a linking verb,60 and you need an adjective after it!
- She is sad about the news. (Makes sense! So, “feels” is linking here.)
By keeping these tips in mind and practicing regularly, you’ll find that understanding and using English verbs becomes much easier and more natural.
Conclusion: Verbs – Your Key to Dynamic English Communication
We’ve taken a deep dive into the world of English verbs, and hopefully, you now see them not as tricky enemies, but as powerful tools that can unlock so much of the English language for you! From understanding their core types – action, linking, auxiliary, transitive, and intransitive – to recognizing their different forms and getting a first look at tenses, voice, and common patterns, you’re building a fantastic foundation.
Remember, as we discussed at the beginning, truly understanding verbs first is the secret to making sense of more complex grammar, like verb tenses. These “engines” of your sentences are what give your communication life, clarity, and meaning.
Mastering English verbs is an ongoing journey, not a one-time destination. The key is to keep practicing, keep noticing how verbs work when you read and listen to English, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes – that’s how we learn! The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become.
Ready to take your English learning even further?
What are your biggest challenges with English verbs?
Do you have any “verb villains” you’re battling, or any tips that have helped you?
Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below – we love hearing from our community!
Keep an eye on our blog for more detailed guides!
For starters, if you want to take your understanding of English verbs to the next level, you will enjoy our post on 9 Common Mistakes with Verbs in Parts of Speech. It takes a look at the common but avoidable mistakes non-native speakers make with English verbs.
We’ll soon be exploring topics like Understanding English Verb Tenses In-Depth and A Practical Guide to Phrasal Verbs.
Yet, blogs can be so messy! How about a systematic learning approach to learn and improve your English sentence building grammar?
This blog post touches on one of the 8 parts of connected speech. These are the building blocks, as well as the starting point for my book, English Grammar Explained!
English Grammar Explained
For a complete, step-by-step journey through all aspects of English grammar, packed with clear explanations, practical examples, and exercises designed specifically for non-native speakers, be sure to check out my book: "English Grammar Explained: Your Ultimate Guide to Fluency". It’s designed to give you the foundational knowledge your ESL books might have missed.
Thank you for joining us on this exploration of English verbs. Keep learning, keep practicing, and you’ll see your English skills soar!
Glossary of Verb-Related Terms
Here are simple explanations for some of the important verb terms we used in this guide:
- Verb: A word that shows an action (like run, think) or a state of being (like be, seem).61 Verbs are the “engines” of sentences.62
- Action Verb (or Dynamic Verb): A verb that shows a physical or mental action (e.g., jump, read, understand).
- Linking Verb (or State of Being Verb): A verb that connects the subject of a sentence to a word or phrase that describes or renames it (e.g., is, feel, become). It doesn’t show action.
- Auxiliary Verb (or Helping Verb): A verb that helps the main verb to show tense, ask questions, make negatives, or show voice (e.g., be, do, have, will, can).
- Modal Verb (or Modal Auxiliary): A special type of auxiliary verb that shows ideas like ability (can), possibility (may), permission (can, may), or advice (should).
- Transitive Verb: An action verb that needs a direct object (a noun or pronoun that receives the action) to complete its meaning (e.g., She reads a book).63
- Intransitive Verb: An action verb that does not need a direct object to complete its meaning (e.g., The baby smiled).64
- Direct Object: The noun or pronoun that directly receives the action of a transitive verb. It answers “what?” or “whom?” after the verb.
- Indirect Object: The noun or pronoun that shows “to whom” or “for whom” the action of a transitive verb is done. It usually comes before the direct object (e.g., He told the children a story.).
- Base Form (of a verb): The simplest form of a verb, without any endings (like -s, -ed, -ing) or “to” in front (e.g., work, play, eat).
- Infinitive (form of a verb): Usually “to” + the base form of a verb (e.g., to work, to play, to eat).
- Present Participle (-ing form): The form of a verb made by adding “-ing” to the base form (e.g., working, playing, eating).65 It’s used for continuous tenses, as adjectives, or as gerunds.
- Past Simple Form (of a verb): The form of a verb that shows an action finished in the past. For regular verbs, it usually ends in “-ed” (e.g., worked, played).66 Irregular verbs have special forms (e.g., ate, went).67
- Past Participle (form of a verb): The form of a verb used with auxiliary verbs to make perfect tenses and the passive voice. For regular verbs, it’s the same as the past simple form (e.g., worked, played). Irregular verbs often have special forms (e.g., eaten, gone).68
- Irregular Verb: A verb that does not follow the usual “-ed” rule to make its past simple and past participle forms (e.g., go-went-gone, see-saw-seen).69
- Verb Tense: The way a verb changes to show the time of an action (past, present, or future) and whether it’s ongoing or completed.
- Active Voice: When the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb (e.g., The dog chased the ball.).70
- Passive Voice: When the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb (e.g., The ball was chased by the dog.).71
- Verb Pattern: The common way a verb is followed by other words, like a gerund, an infinitive, or an object.
- Gerund: A verb form ending in “-ing” that is used as a noun (e.g., Swimming is fun.).72
Phrasal Verb: A verb combined with a preposition or adverb (or both) that creates a new meaning different from the original verb (e.g., give up, turn on).73
