ENGLISH’S ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC : VERB

NAMA : KHAFID NURHAMAMI

NIM : 10.11.123

DEPARTMENT : MANAJEMEN INFORMASI

CLASS : WEEKEND

AMIK BINA SRWIJAYA PALEMBANG

T.A. 2010/2011
 VERB
The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb
asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of
being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.

A verb is often defined as a word which shows action or state of being. The verb is the heart of a
sentence - every sentence must have a verb. Recognizing the verb is often the most important
step in understanding the meaning of a sentence. In the sentence The dog bit the man, bit is
the verb and the word which shows the action of the sentence.  In the sentence The man is
sitting on a chair, even though the action doesn't show much activity, sitting is the verb of
the sentence.  In the sentence She is a smart girl, there is no action but a state of being
expressed by the verb is. The word be is different from other verbs in many ways but can still
be thought of as a verb.

Unlike most of the other parts of speech, verbs change their form.  Sometimes endings are
added (learn - learned) and sometimes the word itself becomes different (teach-taught).  The
different forms of verbs show different meanings related to such things as tense (past,
present, future), person (first person, second person, third person), number (singular, plural)
and voice (active, passive). Verbs are also often accompanied by verb-like words called
modals (may, could, should, etc.) and auxiliaries(do, have, will, etc.)  to give them different
meanings.

One of the most important things about verbs is their relationship to time.  Verbs tell if
something has already happened, if it will happen later, or if it is happening now.  For
things happening now, we use the present tense of a verb; for something that has already
happened, we use the past tense; and for something that will happen later, we use the future
tense.  Some examples of verbs  in each tense are in the chart below:
 

Present Past Future

look looked will look
move moved will move
talk talked will talk

Verbs like those in the chart above that form the past tense by adding -d or -ed are called
regular verbs.  Some of the most common verbs are not regular and the different forms of the
verb must be learned.  Some examples of such irregular verbs are in the chart below:
 

Present Past Future

see saw will see
hear heard will hear
speak spoke will speak

The charts above show the simple tenses of the verbs.  There are also progressive or continuous
forms which show that the action takes place over a period of time, and perfect forms which
show completion of the action.  These forms will be discussed more in other lessons, but a
few examples are given in the chart below:
 

Present Continuous Present Perfect

is looking has looked
is speaking has spoken
is talking has talked

Simple present tense verbs have a special form for the third person singular. Singular means
"one" and plural means "more than one."  Person is used here to show who or what does the
action and can have the following forms:

    1st person or the self (I, we)

    2nd person or the person spoken to (you)
    3rd person or a person not present (he, she, it, they)

The third person singular forms are represented by the pronouns he, she, it.  The chart below
shows how the third person singular verb form changes:
 

Singular Plural
see see
1st Person (I) hear 1st Person (we) hear
come come
see see
2nd Person (you) hear 2nd Person (you) hear
come come
sees see
3rd Person (he, she, it) hears 3rd Person (they) hear
comes come

A verb must "agree" with its subject. Subject-verb agreement generally means that  the third
person singular verb form must be used with a third person subject in the simple present tense.
The  word be - the most irregular and also most common verb in English - has different
forms for each person and even for the simple past tense.  The forms of the word be are
given in the chart below:

Number Person Present Past Future

 1st (I) am was will be
Singular 2nd (you) are were will be
3rd (he, she, it) is was will be
1st (we) are were will be
Plural 2nd (you) are were will be
3rd (they) are were will be

Usually a subject comes before a verb and an object may come after it.  The subject is what
does the action of the verb and the object is what receives the action.  In the sentence Bob ate a
humburger, Bob is the subject or the one who did the eating and the hamburger is the object
or what got eaten.  A verb which has an object is called a transitive verb and some examples
are throw, buy, hit, love.  A verb which has no object is called an intransitive verb and some
examples are go, come, walk, listen.

As you can see in the charts above, verbs are often made up of more than one word. The
future forms, for example, use the word will and the perfect forms use the word have.  These
words are called helping or auxiliary verbs.  The word be can serve as an auxiliary and will and
shall are also auxiliary forms. The chart below shows two other verbs which can also be used
as auxiliaries:

Number Person Present Past

have had
1st (I)
do did
have had
Singular 2nd (you)
do did
has had
3rd (he, she, it)
does did
have had
1st (we)
do did
have had
Plural 2nd (you)
do did
have had
3rd (they)
do did

KINDS OF VERBS

ACTION VERBS
Action verbs are verbs that specifically describe what the subject of the sentence is doing. These
types of verbs carry a great deal of information in a sentence and can convey emotion and a sense of
purpose that extends beyond the literal meanings of the words. A sentence like The band appeared
on the scene sounds much more less impressive than the sentence The band erupted onto the
scene. The power of the action verb lies in the meaning and intention that they contain and how
they bring direction and force to the sentence. Understanding the types of action verbs will make
students better writers and communicators.

Types of Action Verbs

Regular Verbs

The following chart shows how the different verb forms for regular verbs:

Base To discover. Present I discover something new every day. Present progressive I am discovering
myself. Present perfect I have discovered a new way. Present perfect progressive I have been
discovering new music. Past I discovered that already. Past progressive I was discovering something
this morning. Past perfect I had discovered that I was lost. Past perfect progressive I had been
discovering an interesting place. Future I will discover that when I get there. Future progressive I am
discovering that tomorrow. Future perfect I will have discovered that by the time I get home. Future
perfect progressive I will have been discovering that for week by the time you arrive.

*The general rule for past tense is that you add –ed to the base of the verb. However, the past tense
verb form becomes more complicated depending on what letter the base of the verb ends with. The
following rules apply to most cases of regular verbs.

When the base form of the verb ends with:

 -e: This is the simplest situation: just add a –d. For example, devise becomes devised.
 -y: When the base form ends in –y, simply change the –y to –ied. For example, fortify
becomes fortified.
 -c: If the base of the verb ends in –c add –ked. For example, panic becomes panicked.
 -p, -g, or -m: When a verb ends in -p, -g, or -m, the consonant is typically doubled. For
example, ram becomes rammed, flip becomes flipped, and rig becomes rigged.
 For verbs that end in a consonant and the final syllable is stressed, the ending consonant is
typically doubled. For example, plan becomes planned.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs don't conform to the above spelling rules and therefore must be learned individually.
The following is an example of an irregular verb:

Irregular Verbs
awake awoke awoken
be was, were been
bear bore born
beat beat beat
become became become
begin began begun
bend bent bent
beset beset beset
bet bet bet
bid bid/bade bid/bidden
bind bound bound
bite bit bitten
bleed bled bled
blow blew blown
break broke broken
breed bred bred
bring brought brought
broadcast broadcast broadcast
build built built
burn burned/burnt burned/burnt
burst burst burst
buy bought bought
cast cast cast
catch caught caught
choose chose chosen
cling clung clung
come came come
cost cost cost
creep crept crept
cut cut cut
deal dealt dealt
dig dug dug
dive dived/dove dived
do did done
draw drew drawn
dream dreamed/dreamt dreamed/dreamt
drive drove driven
drink drank drunk
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
feed fed fed
feel felt felt
fight fought fought
find found found
fit fit fit
flee fled fled
fling flung flung
fly flew flown
forbid forbade forbidden
forget forgot forgotten
forego (forgo) forewent foregone
forgive forgave forgiven
forsake forsook forsaken
freeze froze frozen
get got gotten
give gave given
go went gone
HELPING VERB ('be')
Helping Verbs (also called Auxiliary Verbs) are not always clearly understood.

It is not uncommon among students of English, especially those who began seriously
learning the language late in life, to mistakenly believe that some words are always
auxiliary verbs and others always main verbs.

For instance, in the minds of such students, the verb 'is' in the sentence — 'John is a good
student' is incorrectly branded as an auxiliary verb. They consider all occurrences of 'is' as
auxiliary verbs.

The truth is that the verb 'is' can function as a helping verb in one sentence and as a main
verb in another...

 John is a good student. (is  – is a main verb in this sentence).

 John is reading a book. (is- is a helping verb; and reading is the main verb—both these
verbs together forming a single finite verb phrase).

So then...

What are Helping Verbs?

Helping Verbs are part of finite verb phrases. Finite verb phrases usually have a main part
and a helping part.

Finite verbs are usually phrases (groups of words), except for two instances, when they are
single words.

Do not worry about these two exceptional cases just now. We shall see about them when we
come to verb tenses. In all other instances, a finite verb phrase consists of two or three or
four words.

To satisfy those who are curious, here the are two occurrences of single-word finite verbs:

 the simple present tense active affirmative (e.g. sing/sings); and 

 the simple past tense active affirmative(e.g. sang).

Please ignore these two exceptions right now.

Here are some examples of finite verb phrases in sentences...

 I  write an article every week. 

 Now the article  is written.
 My daughter  has been writing it since last Monday.
 In my wife's opinion, I should have been writing it.

The finite verbs in these sentences can be broken up as follows:

Helping Verb(s) MainVerb

 write

is written

has been writing

should have been writing

From this table we know that write, written and writing are the main verbs. Each of them is
a different form of the verb 'to write.'

All the other verbs in the table are helping verbs.

 Both 'is' and 'been' are forms of the verb 'to be.'
 'has' and 'have' are forms of the verb 'to have.'
 The verb 'should' is called a modal auxiliary (or simply a modal).

You can also notice that in the four sentences above...

 there is no helping verb in the first sentence,

 you find one, two, and three auxiliary verbs inthe second, third and fourth sentences
respectively.

There is a main verb in all the sentences. So, a helping verb requires a main verb to receive
its help. Without a main verb, there can be no helping verb.

How Do Helping Verbs Help?

1. Some helping verbs (called Primary Auxiliaries) help syntactically, i.e. they perform
some grammatical function, such as...
o in forming the passive,
o in expressing the continuity (progressive) aspect,
o in expressing the perfect (completed) aspect,
o in providing a dummy verb where a negative or interrogative sentence is to
be made in particular tenses.

2. Other helping verbs (called Modal Auxiliaries) perform semantic functions. They
add meaning to the meaning of the main verb. What they add are meanings like...
o ability,
o possibility,
o permission,
o command,
o habitual action, etc.

LINKING VERB ('be')

Linking verbs do not express action. Instead, they connect the subject of the verb to
additional information about the subject. Look at the examples below:

1. Keila is a shopaholic.

2. Ising isn't something that Keila can do. Is connects the subject, Keila, to additional
information about her, that she will soon have a huge credit card bill to pay.

3. During the afternoon, my cats are content to nap on the couch.

4. Areing isn't something that cats can do. Are is connecting the subject, cats, to
something said about them, that they enjoy sleeping on the furniture.

5. After drinking the old milk, Bladimiro turned green.

6. Turned connects the subject, Bladimiro, to something said about him, that he was
needing Pepto Bismol.

7. A ten-item quiz seems impossibly long after a night of no studying.

8. Seems connects the subject, a ten-item quiz, with something said about it, that its
difficulty depends on preparation, not length.

9. Irene always feels sleepy after pigging out on pizza from Antonio's.

10. Feels connects the subject, Irene, to her state of being, sleepiness.

The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, is, are, was, were,
has been, are being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. These true linking verbs are
always linking verbs.

Then you have a list of verbs with multiple personalities: appear, feel, grow, look, prove,
remain, smell, sound, taste, and turn. Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs; sometimes
they are action verbs.

How do you tell when they are action verbs and when they are linking verbs?

If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still sounds logical, you have a linking
verb on your hands.

If, after the substitution, the sentence makes no sense, you are dealing with an action verb
instead. Here are some examples:

1. Sylvia tasted the spicy squid eyeball stew.

2. Sylvia is the stew? I don't think so! Tasted, therefore, is an action verb in this
sentence, something Sylvia is doing.

3. The squid eyeball stew tasted good.

4. The stew is good? You bet. Make your own!

 5. I smell the delicious aroma of a mushroom and papaya pizza baking in the oven.

6. I am the aroma? No way! Smell, in this sentence, is an action verb, something I am

doing.

7. The mushroom and papaya pizza smells heavenly.

8. The pizza is heavenly? Definitely! Try a slice!

9. When my dog Oreo felt the wet grass beneath her paws, she bolted up the stairs and
curled up on the couch.

10. Oreo is the wet grass? Of course not! Here, then, felt is an action verb, something
Oreo is doing.

11. My dog Oreo feels depressed after seven straight days of rain.

12. Oreo is depressed? Without a doubt! Oreo hates the wet.

13. This substitution will not work for appear. With appear, you have to analyze the
function of the verb.

14. Swooping out of the clear blue sky, the blue jay appeared on the branch.

15. Appear is something a blue jay can do—especially when food is near.

16. The blue jay appeared happy to see the bird feeder.

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

Transitive Verb

A transitive verb is a type of finite verb. A finite verb is considered transitive or intransitive
depending upon its relationship with some other words in the sentence. Another way of
saying this is that the division into transitive and intransitive is based on syntax.

What is a transitive verb?

Look at these sentences.

1. He met her yesterday.

2. She wrote a story last year.
3. Rust destroys iron.

In these sentences, the verbs are the words met, wrote and destroys.  In each sentence, you ask
the question , 'met whom/what?'  You will get the answers as follows:

 sentence 1 — question: met whom? — answer: her

 sentence 2 — question: wrote what? — answer: story
 sentence 3 — question: destroys what? — answer: iron
(note that we use whom in the questions for human beings and what for things and also for
animals.)

The words her, story and iron in the sentences above are called objects in grammar.

A transitive verb is, therefore, a verb which has an object.

What is an object?

An object, we may say, is the aim or purpose or destination or target of a verb's action. In
our three example-sentences above, the verbs met, wrote and destroys have the words her,
story and iron as their targets. These targets are called objects.  With a transitive verb, we can
expect these objects.

Why do we use the word 'transitive'?

We call these verbs 'transitive' because these verbs have the property of transitivity.

What is transitivity?

To transit means to pass through. Each of the verbs met, wrote and destroys in our examples
has its action conveyed (carried) to the object. We might also say that the action begins with
the subject (he, she, rust in our sentences) and passes through the verb to the object. This
property of the verb is transitivity. Hence we call these verbs transitive.

Understanding these verbs in this way helps us to remember what they are.

Here's a list of transitive verbs.

eat, drink, read, write, play, see, hear, answer, buy, find, love, like, understand, catch, bring,
sing, meet, give, take, get, forget, buy, sell, pay, help.

Here are some of these verbs used in sentences.

Sentence verb object

(a) The teacher answered the question. answered question

(b) My friend bought a house. bought house

(c) The children found the money. found money

(d) Most Indians love cricket. love cricket

(e) Keralites like football. like football

INTRANSITIVE VERB
Simple, I suppose. It is a verb which is not transitive—a verb which does not take an object.
Here are some examples along with some sentences.

walk, jump, sleep, sit, lie, stand, weep, kneel, fall, fly, flow,remain, die, belong, wait, come,
go.

(a)  We walk to the railway station.

(b)  The children jump with joy.
(c)  Babies sleep for many hours.
(d)  My brother stood there.
(e)  Jesus wept.

Some Exceptions
You will often find transitive verbs used intransitively, i.e. without an object.

 They are eating.

 We play in the evening.
 I understand.

At rare times intransitive verbs are used transitively.

 How did you cover all that distance? We walked it. ('walked' has the object 'it' in this
sentence)
 I cannot stand such nonsense. ('stand' has the object 'nonsense' in this sentence)

Besides transitive and intransitive verbs, we have linking verbs in the finite verbs family.

Both transitive and intransitive verbs can be in the past, present or future tense.