A verb describes what a person or thing does or what happens. For example, verbs describe:

• an action – run, hit, travel
• an event – rain, occur
• a situation – be, seem, have
• a change – become, grow, develop

The basic form of a verb is known as the infinitive. It’s often preceded by the word ‘to’:

Molly decided to follow him.

He began to run back.

Click on the headings below to find out more about verbs:

• Verb tenses
• Regular and irregular verbs
• Subjects and objects
• Transitive and intransitive verbs
• Participles
• Active and passive
• The subjunctive
• Phrasal verbs
• Auxiliary verbs

 

Verb tenses

The tense of a verb tells you when a person did something or when something existed or happened. In English, the main tenses are:

• the present (e.g. I am, she laughs, they love, we begin)
• the past (e.g. I was, she laughed, they loved, we began)
• the future (e.g. I will/shall, she will laugh, they will love, we will/shall begin)

These main tenses can be further subdivided, as follows:

• the present continuous – she is laughing
• the past continuous – she was laughing
• the future continuous – she will be laughing
• the present perfect – she has laughed
• the present perfect continuous – she has been laughing
• the past perfect – she had laughed
• the past perfect continuous – she had been laughing
• the future perfect – she will have laughed
• the future perfect continuous – she will have been laughing

(Note that the continuous is also called the progressive.)

             Different tenses are typically formed either by adding -ed or -ing to the basic form of the verb (known as the ‘stem’), or with the help of other verbs known as auxiliary verbs such as am, was, have, has, had, and will.

Try to DO the following QUIZ ABOUT VERB TENSES to test yourself.

English verb tenses QUIZ 1

English verb tenses QUIZ 2

 

Regular and irregular verbs
Many English verbs are regular, which means that they form their different tenses according to an established pattern. Regular verbs work like this:

verb	3rd person singular present tense	3rd person singular past tense	past participle	present participle
laugh	he/she laughs	he/she laughed	laughed	laughing
love	he/she loves	he/she loved	loved	loving
boo	he/she boos	he/she booed	booed	booing

              In the present tense, the basic form of the verb only changes in the 3^rd person singular. Most verbs just add -s, but some verbs that end with a vowel other than e add -es (e.g. go/goes, veto/vetoes, do/does). If the verb ends in -y, you need to change the y to an i before adding -es (e.g. hurry/hurries, clarify/clarifies).
              If the basic form of the verb ends in a consonant or a vowel other than e, then you add the letters -ed to make the past tense and the past participle, as with laugh or boo. If it ends in e then you just add -d, as with love. If the basic form ends in y, then you change the y to an i before adding -ed (e.g. hurry/hurried, clarify/clarified).
              If the basic form of the verb ends in a consonant or a vowel other than e, then you add the letters -ing to make the present participle, as with laugh or boo. If it ends in e then you drop the e before adding -ing, as with love. Note that if the basic form ends in y there is no need to make any spelling changes: you just add -ing (e.g. hurry/hurrying, clarify/clarifying).

But there are also many irregular verbs that don’t follow the normal rules. Here are some examples:

verb	3rd person singular present tense	3rd person singular past tense	past participle	present participle
take	he/she takes	he/she took	taken	taking
sink	he/she sinks	he/she sank	sunk	sinking
swing	he/she swings	he/she swung	swung	swinging
creep	he/she creeps	he/she crept	crept	creeping
begin	he/she begins	he/she began	begun	beginning
go	he/she goes	he/she went	gone	going
fly	he/she flies	he/she flew	flown	flying

           If you aren’t sure how a verb behaves, it’s best to look it up. All irregular verb forms will be given in full at the main dictionary entry.

 

Subjects and objects

            All verbs have a subject. The subject is generally the person or thing that the sentence is about. It’s often the person or thing that performs the action of the verb in question and it usually (but not always) comes before the verb:

Catherine	followed	Jonathan.
[subject]		[object]
He	was eating a	sandwich.
[subject]		[object]

              In imperative sentences (i.e. ones that express a command), the subject is usually understood without being explicitly stated:

Come here at once!

(i.e. ‘You come here at once!’ – the subject You is understood.)

               Some verbs have an object as well as a subject. The object is the person or thing affected by the verb:

Catherine	followed	Jonathan.
[subject]		[object]
He	was eating a	sandwich.
[subject]		[object]

 

Direct objects and indirect objects

           There are two different types of object: direct objects and indirect objects. A direct object is, as its name suggests, directly affected by the action of the main verb. In the following two sentences, ‘a drink’ and ‘a story’ are direct objects: ‘a drink’ was bought and ‘a story’ was being read.

Jonathan	bought	a drink.
[subject]		[direct object]
He	was reading	a story.
[subject]		[object]

              An indirect object is usually a person or thing that benefits in some way from the action of the main verb. Take a look at the following sentences:

Jonathan	bought	Catherine	a drink.
[subject]		[indirect object]	[direct object]
He	was reading	his daughter	a story.
[subject]		[indirect object]	[direct object]

‘Catherine’ has received a drink, but it is ‘the drink’ that has been bought. ‘His daughter’ is hearing the story, but it’s ‘the story’ that is being read.

 

Transitive and intransitive verbs

A transitive verb is one that is used with an object. In the following sentences, admire and love are transitive verbs:

I admire your courage.

She loves animals.

Some transitive verbs can be used with a direct object and an indirect object:

Liz brought	her	a glass of water.
	[indirect object]	[direct object]
He sent	her	a letter.
	[indirect object]	[direct object]

An intransitive verb is not followed by an object. In the following sentences, cry and talk are intransitive verbs:

The baby was crying.

We talked for hours.

Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive. For example:

The choir sang carols. [transitive]

She left London on June 6. [transitive]

I want to leave early. [intransitive]

 

Participles

A participle is a word formed from a verb, usually by adding -d, -ed, or -ing.
There are two kinds of participle in English, as follows:
The present participle
The present participle ends with -ing, e.g.:

We are going to Italy.

The company is building new headquarters in the UK.

The past participle
The past participle ends with -d or -ed for regular verbs, e.g.:

She had decided to go to Italy.

Fans had camped outside the studio.

and with -t or -en or some other form for irregular ones, e.g.:

New houses are still being built.

The glass is broken.

 

Using participles

Participles are used:

• with auxiliary verbs to make verb tenses such as the present continuous and the past perfect:

We are going to Italy. [present continuous]

She had decided to go to Italy. [past perfect]

• as adjectives, e.g.:

The pavement was covered with broken glass.

He stared at me with bulging eyes.

• as nouns, e.g.:

She was a woman of good breeding.

Len was ordered to cut down on his drinking.

When a present participle is used as a noun, as in the last two examples above, it’s known as a verbal noun or a gerund. Here are two more examples of verbal nouns:

Smoking is strictly forbidden.

Camping attracts people of all ages.

 Active and passive

Depending on the way in which you word a sentence, a verb can be either active or passive.
When the verb is active, the subject of the verb is doing the action, as in this sentence:

France	beat Brazil in the final.
[subject]	[active verb]

When the verb is passive, the subject undergoes the action rather than doing it:

Brazil	were beaten in the final.
[subject]	[passive verb]

Here, the sentence’s point of view has changed, and Brazil has become the subject of the passive verb were beaten.
The passive is formed with the auxiliary verb ‘be’ and the past participle of the main verb.
These two different ways of using verbs are known as voices. In everyday writing, the active voice is much more common than the passive, which tends to be used in formal documents such as official reports or scientific papers.

 

The subjunctive

The usual form of a verb is known as the indicative. The subjunctive is a special form that expresses a wish or possibility instead of a fact (the technical term for forms like this is mood). The subjunctive has a limited role in English compared to other languages such as French or Italian, but it's important to use it properly in formal writing.
Take a look at these two sentences:

It was suggested he wait till the next morning.

They demanded that the prime minister explain who authorized the action.

In these sentences, the verbs wait and explain are in the subjunctive. The ordinary, indicative forms would be waits and explains and it would be grammatically incorrect to use them in these sentences:

✗ It was suggested he waits till the next morning.

✗ They demanded that the prime minister explains who authorized the action.

Here are other typical uses of the subjunctive:

• after if, as if, as though, and unless, in sentences that state a hypothetical condition:

If I were taller, I would have been a model.

• be and were are used at the beginning of sentences or clauses when the subject follows:

Were I to make a list of my favourite films, this would be in second place.

All books, be they fiction or non-fiction, should provide entertainment in some form or other.

• in certain fixed expressions, for example ‘be that as it may’, ‘come what may’, and ‘so be it’.

 

Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb together with an adverb or a preposition, or both. Typically, their meaning is not obvious from the meanings of the individual words themselves. For example:

His car broke down on the motorway

She has always looked down onme

I’ll see to the animals.

Don’t put me off, I’m trying to concentrate.

The report spelled out the need for more staff.

 

Auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs are used to form the various tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. The principal ones are be, do, and have:

She is reading a magazine.

The judge had asked her to speak up.

He did look tired.

There is also a further set of auxiliary verbs known as modal verbs. These combine with other verbs to express necessity, possibility, or ability. The modal auxiliary verbs are must, shall, will, should, would, ought (to), can, could, may, and might. For example:

You must act promptly.

Can you speak French?

I would go if I could afford it.

He said he might reconsider his decision.

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A determiner is a word that introduces a noun, such as a/an, the, every, this, those, or many (as in a cat, the cat, this cat, those cats, every cat, many cats).
The determiner the is known as the definite article and the determiner a (oran) as the indefinite article.

 

Possessive determiners

Words like my, our, your, his, her, its, and their are known as possessive determiners. They come before nouns and indicate ownership of the noun in question, as their name suggests:

My leg hurts.

James sold his business.

Bring your children with you.

Read more…

An exclamation (also called an interjection) is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion, such as surprise, pleasure, or anger. Exclamations often stand on their own, and in writing they are usually followed by an exclamation mark rather than a full stop:

How wonderful!

Ow! That hurt!

Exclamations are also used to express greetings or congratulations:

Hello!

Well done, lads!

Do the quiz to check your understanding know

1. He talks ………………… rubbish!   
   how
   what
   such
   such a
2. …………………. you’ve grown!   
   What
   How
   Such
   Either A or B could be used
3. They are …………………. kind people.   
   so
   such
   very
   Either A or B could be used
4. What a lovely smile …………………!   
   have you
   are you
   you have
   such
5. ……………… foolish she is!   
   So
   Such
   What
   How
6. ……………… a fool you are!   
   How
   What
   What a
   Such
7. She is ………………… nice girl!   
   such
   such a
   what a
   how a
8. ………………… lovely weather!   
   What
   How
   How a
   What
9. ………………… pleasant surprise!   
   How
   What
   What a
   Such
10. …………………… rude guy!   
   What a
   Such
   How
   What
11. …………………… beautifully you sing!   
   How
   So
   What
   Either A or C could be used
12. ………………… cold it is!   
   What
   So
   Such
   How

  

Read more…

A conjunction (also called a connective) is a word such as and, because, but, for, if, or, and when. Conjunctions are used to connect phrases, clauses, and sentences.
There are two main kinds of conjunction.

 

 

 

Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join items that are of equal importance in a sentence:

You can have ice cream or strawberries.

He plays football and cricket.

The weather was cold but clear.

 

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions connect subordinate clauses to the main clause of a sentence:

I waited at home until she arrived.

He went to bed because he was tired.

 

Starting a sentence with a conjunction

You might have been taught that it’s not good English to start a sentence with a conjunction such as and or but. It’s not grammatically incorrect to do so, however, and many respected writers use conjunctions at the start of a sentence to create a dramatic or forceful effect. For example:

What are the government’s chances of winning in court? And what are the consequences?

Beginning a sentence with a conjunction can also be a useful way of conveying surprise:

And are you really going?

But didn’t she tell you?

It’s best not to overdo it, but there is no reason for completely avoiding the use of conjunctions at the start of sentences.

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Adjuncts are adverbials that add more information to a sentence. They can provide additional information about where things happen:

At low tide you can cross the bays on the beach.

When things happen

I cannot sleep at night.

How things happen

I found out how to do this by accident.

Why things happen

No one is turned away because of a lack of means.

The purpose of an action

I still send her a Christmas card each year for old times' sake.

Condition (i.e. if this happens, then that happens.)

Leslie had left no letter for me to read in the event of his death.

Concession (i.e. even if this happens, still that happens.)

Despite all their efforts, the dishwasher is still broken.

Degree (i.e. answering the question ‘how much?’)

I wouldn’t worry at all.

Read more…

A preposition is a word such as after, in, to, on, and with.

Prepositions are usually used in front of nouns or pronouns and they show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. They describe, for example:

• the position of something:

Her bag was under the chair.

The dog crawled between us and lay down at our feet.

His flat was over the shop.

• the time when something happens:

They arrived on Sunday.

The class starts at 9 a.m.

Shortly after their marriage they moved to Colorado.

• the way in which something is done:

We went by train.

They stared at each other without speaking.

Some prepositions are made up of more than one word, for example:

They moved here because of the baby.

We sat next to each other.

The hotel is perched on top of a cliff.

1. How fast did he drive? .............. 301 miles an hour.   
   at
   with
   by
   to
2. ................. the hot weather, he couldn't sleep indoors.   
   for
   Since
   as
   because of
3. I don't get on very well .............. him.   
   to
   from
   with
   by
4. I'm most surprised ........... your behaviour.   
   at
   with
   by
   of
5. The garden is full ................ roses.   
   by
   with
   of
   on


  

Read more…

Pronouns are used in place of a noun that has already been mentioned or that is already known, often to avoid repeating the noun. For example:

Kate was tired so she went to bed.

Michael took the children with him.

Kieran’s face was close to mine.

That is a good idea.

Anything might happen.

 

 

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are used in place of nouns referring to specific people or things, for example I, me, mine, you, yours, his, her, hers, we, they, or them. They can be divided into various different categories according to their role in a sentence, as follows:

• subjective pronouns
• objective pronouns
• possessive pronouns
• reflexive pronouns

 

Subjective pronouns

The personal pronouns I, you, we, he, she, it, we, and they are known as subjective pronouns because they act as the subjects of verbs:

She saw Catherine.

We drove Nick home.

I waved at her.

 

Objective pronouns

The personal pronouns me, you, us, him, her, it, and them are called objective pronouns because they act as the objects of verbs and prepositions:

Catherine saw her.

Nick drove us home.

She waved at me.

Here’s a table setting out the different forms:

	SINGULAR		PLURAL
	subjective	objective	subjective	objective
first person	I	me	we	us
second person	you	you	you	you
third person	he/she/it	him/her/it	they	them

Notice that the personal pronouns you and it stay the same, whether they are being used in the subjective or objective roles.

 

Possessive pronouns

The personal pronouns mine, yours, hers, his, ours, and theirs are known as possessive pronouns: they refer to something owned by the speaker or by someone or something previously mentioned. For example:

That book is mine.

John’s eyes met hers.

Ours is a family farm.

 

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive personal pronouns include myself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. These are used to refer back to the subject of the clause in which they are used:

I fell and hurt myself.

Daisy prepared herself for the journey.

The children had to look after themselves.

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Nouns can be either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns (or count nouns) are those that refer to something that can be counted. They have both singular and plural forms (e.g. cat/cats; woman/women; country/countries). In the singular, they can be preceded by a or an. Most nouns come into this category.
A smaller number of nouns do not typically refer to things that can be counted and so they do not regularly have a plural form: these are known as uncountable nouns (or mass nouns). Examples include: rain, flour, earth, wine, or wood. Uncountable nouns can't be preceded by a or an. Many abstract nouns are typically uncountable, e.g. happiness, truth, darkness, humour.

Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural as well, depending on the meaning or context of the word. Take a look at these sentences:

Would you like some coffee?	uncountable because it's referring to the drink in general
He ordered a coffee.	countable, because it's referring to a cup of coffee
There's no truth in the rumours.	uncountable, because it refers to the quality or state of being true
The fundamental truths about human nature.	countable, because it's referring to facts or beliefs that are true

In the Oxford Dictionary of English, nouns that are chiefly uncountable are described as ‘mass nouns’. This type of noun entry may also include an example sentence showing a countable use of the type described above. For example:

• beer noun [mass noun] an alcoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt flavoured with hops: a pint of beer | [count noun] he ordered a beer.

There are some words that should only be used with countable nouns and some that you should only use with uncountable nouns. Here are the main examples:

word	with countable noun?	with uncountable noun?	examples
few, fewer	✓	✗	fewer students; few cars
little, less, least	✗	✓	less food; little time
many, several	✓	✗	several books; many changes
much	✗	✓	much pleasure; much sleep

You often hear people using less with countable nouns (e.g. ‘there are less cars outside the school gates’). Although it's a common mistake, it is still a mistake and you should try to avoid making it in formal writing or speaking.

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A noun is a word that identifies:

• a person (woman, boy, doctor, neighbour)
• a thing (dog, building, tree, country)
• an idea, quality, or state (truth, danger, birth, happiness).

There are several different types of noun, as follows:

 

 

Common noun

A common noun is a noun that refers to people or things in general, e.g. boy, country, bridge, city, birth, day, happiness.

Proper noun

A proper noun is a name that identifies a particular person, place, or thing, e.g. Steven, Africa, Tower Bridge, London, Monday. In written English, proper nouns begin with capital letters.

Concrete noun

A concrete noun is a noun which refers to people and to things that exist physically and can be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted. Examples include dog, building, tree, rain, beach, tune, Tower Bridge.

Abstract noun
An abstract noun is a noun which refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions - things that cannot be seen or touched and things which have no physical reality, e.g. truth, danger, happiness, time, friendship, humour.

Collective nouns
Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things, e.g. audience, family, government, team, jury. Collective nouns can usually be treated as singular or plural, with either a singular or plural verb. Both the following sentences are grammatically correct:

The whole family was at the table.

The whole family were at the table.

A noun may belong to more than one category. For example, happiness is both a common noun and an abstract noun, while Tower Bridge is both a concrete noun and a proper noun.

You may want to see COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

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An adverb is a word that’s used to give information about a verb, adjective, or other adverb.






When used with a verb, adverbs can give information about:

• how something happens or is done:

She stretched lazily.

He walked slowly.

The town is easily accessible by road.

• where something happens:

I live here.

She’s travelling abroad.

The children tiptoed upstairs.

• when something happens:

They visited us yesterday.

I have to leave soon.

He still lives in London.

Adverbs can make the meaning of a verb, adjective, or other adverb stronger or weaker:

• with a verb:

I almost fell asleep.

He really means it.

• with an adjective:

These schemes are very clever.

This is a slightly better result.

• with another adverb:

They nearly always get home late.

The answer to both questions is really rather simple.

Adverbs are often found between the subject and its verb:

She carefully avoided my eye.

They can also come between an auxiliary verb (such as be or have) and a main verb:

The concert was suddenly cancelled.

Sentence adverbs

Some adverbs refer to a whole statement and not just a part of it. They are called 'sentence adverbs' and they act as a sort of comment, showing the attitude or opinion of the speaker or writer to a particular situation.
Sentence adverbs often stand at the beginning of the sentence. Here are some examples

Clearly, there have been unacceptable delays.

(= It is clear that there have been unacceptable delays)

Sadly, the forests are now under threat.

(= It is sad that the forests are now under threat)

Curiously, he never visited America.

(= It's curious that he never visted America)

The sentence adverbs are used to convey the writer or speaker's opinion that it is clear/sad/curious that something happened or is the case. If you compare the way clearly, sadly, and curiously are used in the next three sentences, you can easily see the difference between the meaning of the sentence adverbs and the 'ordinary' adverbs:

He spoke clearly and with conviction.

(= He spoke in a clear way and with conviction)

She smiled sadly. [adverb]

(= She smiled in a sad way)

He looked at her curiously.

(= He looked at her in a curious/inquisitive way)

 

Hopefully and thankfully as sentence adverbs

Sentence adverbs are well established in English, but there are two – hopefully and thankfully – which have caused a lot of controversy. Here are two sentences in which hopefully and thankfully are being used as sentence adverbs:

Hopefully, the work will be finished within the next two or three weeks.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long.

Many people are convinced that it’s wrong to use hopefully or thankfully in this way. What’s the problem? It lies in the fact that you can't rewrite this type of sentence using the wording 'it is hopeful that' or 'it is thankful that'. If you wanted to rewrite the two previous sentences, you couldn’t say:

It is hopeful that the work will be finished within the next two or three weeks.

It is thankful that we didn’t have to wait long.

You’d need to choose a different wording, for example:

It is to be hoped that the work will be finished within the next two or three weeks.

As luck would have it, we didn’t have to wait long.

This leads people to the conclusion that hopefully and thankfully should not be used as sentence adverbs. In fact, there are no very strong grammatical grounds for criticizing the use of hopefully and thankfully as sentence adverbs: there aren't any rules that ban this sort of development of meaning. And there are other adverbs which behave in the same way but which haven’t attracted the same level of condemnation, e.g. frankly or briefly:

Frankly, I was pleased to leave.

(i.e. to be frank, I was pleased to leave)

Briefly, the plot is as follows.

(i.e. to be brief, the plot is as follows)

Nevertheless, you should be aware that some people strongly object to the use of hopefully and thankfully as sentence adverbs. In view of this, it’s a good idea to be cautious about using them in formal writing such as job applications just in case your reader happens to be one of those people.

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Adjectives are words that describe nouns and pronouns, giving extra information to them. Adjectives answer the questions: What kind? How much? Which one? How many?
For example:

What kind?	red nose	gold ring
How much?	more sugar	little effort
Which one?	second chance	those chocolates
How many?	several chances	six books

There are five kinds of adjectives: Common adjectives, proper adjectives, compound adjective, articles, and indefinite adjectives

1.    Common adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.

strong man

green plant

beautiful view

2.    Properadjectives are formedfrom proper nouns.

California vegetables (from the noun “California”)

Mexicanfood (from the noun “Mexico”)

3.    Compound adjectives are made up of more than one word.

far-off country

teenage person

4.    Articles are a specialtype of adjective. There are three articles:a, an, the.  
- The is called a “definitearticle” because it refers to a specific thing. 

- A and an are called “indefinite articles”because they refer to generalthings. Use a with consonant sounds;use an before vowel sounds. 
5. Indefinite adjective don't specify the specific amount of something.

all	another	any	both
each	either	few	many
more	most	neither	other
several	some

 
Follow these guidelines when you use adjectives:
1. Use an adjective to describe a noun or a pronoun.
Example:  Jane was unwilling to leave the circus
               noun      adj                    adj    noun
2. Use vivid adjectives to make your writing more specific and descritive.
Example: Take a larger slice of the luscious cake
                            adj      noun           ajd         noun
3. Use an adjective after a linking verb. A linking verb connects a subject with a descriptive word. The most common linking verbs are be (is, am, are, was, were and so on), seem, appear, look, feel, smell, sound, taste, become, grow, remain, stay and turn. 
Example: Chicken made this way tastes more delicious ( not deliciously)
  

 

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