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A Summary of the 10 Functions of Nouns

Here they are again—the 10 functions of nouns.1. Subjects of Sentences The professor, John Smith, is the noun expert, so yesterday he gave the class his views on the importance of learning to write papers clearly, his students feverishly taking not...

Nouns - Definition, Overview, and Lists of Examples

WelcomeWhat's a noun?Below you’ll find links to our discussion on nouns. We recommend that you start with the first topic,Nouns - Words That Name. At the bottom of each page, you’ll find links to “Next” and to “Previous.” So start with th...

Group Nouns - Singular or Plural

Committee Do or Committee Does? Finally, some nouns that look singular might be treated as plural. Words such as group, team, majority, and many others are called collective nouns or group nouns.Are these words singular or plural? That is, when you u...

Noun Function 3 - Direct Object of Transitive Verb

In the Grammar.com section on verbs, we’ll discuss transitive verbs, those that can pick up nouns. (Click here for the beginning of that discussion.) The noun it sticks to the sentence is called the direct object.You’ll recall this function fr...

Noun Function 4 - Object of Verbal Phrase

Transitive verbs—those that can directly pick up a noun and stick it to a sentence—can appear as phrases, specifically as infinitive phrases (to win the game) or as present-participial phrases (winning the game). Well, notice that even in phrase ...

Verbs - Definition, Overview, and Lists of Examples

WelcomeBelow you’ll find links to our discussion on the most important word in the English language—verbs. We recommend that you start with the first topic,Verbs - Words that Do or Are. At the bottom of each page, you’ll find links to “Next...

Verbs - Words That Do or Are

In this section, we’ll explore the most important word in the English language: the verb. If you want to develop a powerful writing style, you must learn what verbs do in our language.Why?The most important word in the English language is the verb....

Main Verbs - Four Kinds

We can first divide all main verbs into two broad categories: action verbs and no-action verbs. Thousands reside in the action-verb group, only a handful in the no-action group. Each of these groups further subdivides into two additional groups:Actio...

Action Verbs

When Amber and Igor were grunting all those nouns that named people, animals, and things, they also noticed that people did things: Animals moved around, made noises, and ate stuff; and tangible things could move and affect other things. They noticed...

Transitive Verbs

Verbs with ObjectsAs Amber and Igor became grammatically aware, Amber noticed that action verbs came in two models. One described someone (the subject) doing something (the verb) to someone or something (the direct object). Thus: The spear (subject) ...

Transitive and Intransitive

The trick question we used above to determine whether a verb is transitive will always nail a verb as transitive or intransitive: Can I [verb] somebody or something? If yes, the verb is transitive. If no, the verb is intransitive.Naturally enough, so...

No-Action Verbs

Recall that we’ve divided all verbs into two groups—action verbs and no-action verbs. The action verbs consist of two kinds: transitive and intransitive. Transitive verbs have direct objects. Intransitive verbs don’t.The no-action category also...

Verb "To Be"

To Be or Not To BeThe eBook Developing a Powerful Writing Style thoroughly discusses the problem of overusing the verb to be. We urge you to read it. When you do, notice that the chapter on the verb to be does not contain the verb to be at all in mor...

Linking Verbs

In point of fact, the verb to be is also a linking verb. But I prefer to put be in a category all by itself and then treat linking verbs separately. We learned above that the verb to be can connect a grammatical subject to a noun (predicate noun) (Ma...

Auxiliary Verbs - Called “Helping Verbs”

Some people refer to auxiliary verbs as helping verbs.The main verbs we use in the English language break down into the four major verb types:1. action transitive verbs 2. action intransitive verbs 3. the verb to be 4. linking verbsWhen we conjugate ...

Five Kinds of Verbs - An Overview

F. Scott Fitzgerald is quoted as saying, “All fine prose is based on the verbs carrying the sentence.”Let’s look back and make certain we all understand the five kinds of verbs. Broadly, we have two groups of main verbs, action and no-action, w...

Four Principal Parts or Forms of Verbs

Drink, Drank, Drunk, DrinkingMain verbs appear in four different forms:1. infinitive 2. finite 3. present participle 4. past participleIn Miss Hamrick’s class, we learned the principal parts of verbs, which are similar to my four forms: (1) infini...

Infinitive - The "to" Verb

Academic tomes might go on for pages defining the meaning of the infinitive form of a verb. I, on the other hand, have developed a definition requiring only a single sentence:The infinitive form of a verb is the one you would ordinarily look up in th...

Finite Verb - Tense, Person, Number, Mood

A finite verb is just that: finite. It’s finite in time, as in present, past, future, and other time dimensions.Tense, What Is It?When we talk about time in relation to verbs, in grammarian parlance we are talking about tense. We have six major ten...

Present Participle - The -ing Verb

Every verb in the English language has a present participle, and you form it the same way for every verb: Just add ‑ing. Sometimes you’ll have to drop an ending silent ‑e, as in write and writing. Sometimes you’ll have to double up an ending ...

Past Participle - The -ed Verb

Every verb also has a past-participial form, which, for most verbs, you create by adding ‑ed, ‑d, or ‑t. As with present participles, you’ll sometimes have to double up an ending consonant: The past participle of occur is occurred. Check the...

Past Tense vs. Past Participle

Past Tense vs. Past ParticipleSome people confuse the past tense with the past participle. Usually, they will use the past participle instead of the correct past tense. You will hear some people say I seen it, when they should say I saw it. Or they w...

Irregular Verbs

In the English language, we have fewer than 200 irregular verbs. (A fairly complete list appears in Garner Oxford, pp. 195-97.) Below are some causing the most trouble. Remember, use the past tense for statements showing that something happened in t...

Developing Your Love Affair

Falling in Love with the VerbPowerful words, these verbs. Maybe that’s why Hugo once said, “The word is the verb, and the verb is God.”Verb PowerPretty neat, these verbs. They aren’t content to serve just the verb function in the language, th...

Verb Conjugation

Verb Conjugation in EnglishEvery verb in the English language has two states or dimensions—two realms, if you will. In the infinitive state, the verb reveals only the activity described: to hit or to run. From neither of these do we know who is hit...