Verbs - Definition, Overview, and Lists of Examples

Welcome

Below 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” and to “Previous.” So start with the first topic and then click “Next” to read our entire discussion on verbs.

We have broken some of the longer topics into multiple pages. So watch for references to “Pages 1-2-3” at the bottom of the topic. Click the next page number to continue reading.

Cast of Characters

In these discussions, you'll meet various characters: Miss Hamrick is my eighth-grade English teacher (bless her soul); Amber and Igor are cave-dwelling, primitive ancestors, who, along with Miss Hamrick, invented the English language 6,412 years ago. You'll also meet Damron, the guy in the back of the class with a cafeteria straw and spitwads.

Sources Cited

Click herefor a list of sources cited.  Then hit "back" to return to this page.

Table of Contents

1. Verbs - Words that Do or Are
2. Main Verbs - Four Kinds
3. Action Verbs
4. Transitive Verbs
5. Intransitive Verbs
6. Transitive and Intransitive
7. No-Action Verbs
8. Verb "To Be"
9. Linking Verbs
10. Auxiliary Verbs - Called “Helping Verbs”
11. Five Kinds of Verbs - An Overview
12. Four Principal Parts or Forms of Verbs
13. Infinitive - The “to” Verb
14. Finite Verb - Tense, Person, Number, Mood
15. Present Participle - The -ing Verb
16. Past Participle - The -ed Verb
17. Past Tense vs. Past Participle
18. Irregular Verbs - A List
19. Developing Your Love Affair
20. Verb Conjugation
21. Present Tense of Verbs
22. Past Tense - How to Form
23. Future Tense - How to Form
24. Perfect Tenses - How to Form
25. Conditional Structures of Verbs
26. Six Major Tenses of Verbs
27. Conjugating Regular Verbs
28. Conjugating Irregular Verbs
29. Conjugating the Verb "To Be"
30. Conjugating in the Progressive Aspect
31. Contractions - Use in Formal Writing
32. A Summary of Verbs
33. Verbs - What They Do
34. Verb Function 1 - Conjugated Verb
35. Verb Function 2 - Infinitive Phrase - "To" Phrase
36. Infinitives Showing Tense and Voice
37. Split Infinitives
38. Verb Function 3 - Present-Participial Phrase, -ing Phrase
39. Fused Participle - Noun or Pronoun and ‑ing Phrase
40. Fused Participle - Solutions
41. Verb Function 4 - Past-Participial Phrase, -ed Phrase
42. Verb Function 5 - Participial Adjectives
43. A Final Summary of Verbs

Hard Copy

You may download our entire discussion of the Parts of Speech. Simply download the Grammar eBookUnderstanding the Parts of Speech.