Download PDF – Forms of Verbs as Part of Speech

 There are different forms of the verb .

1. Tenses: The different forms of verbs show different meanings with respect to time. Such forms are known as tenses and there are three types of tenses: Present, Past, Future.

2. Auxiliary Verb: They are also called as helping verbs, auxiliary verbs are used to complete the meaning of other primary or “main” verbs in a sentence. The different tense forms of ‘be’, ‘have’ and ‘do’ verbs form the auxiliary verb.

 Examples:

• I am working on the assignment.
• She does not teach anymore.
• Have you seen Gita?
• Maya is singing a song.

3. Modal Verbs: It expresses the possibility, likelihood or a future intention. These are can, could, will, would, shall, should, must, may, and might. They are only followed by a verb in its base form.

Examples:

• May I sit down? (Permission)
• I can study the whole night. (Ability)
• I may be late for the party. (Possibility)

4. Phrasal Verbs: These are the verbs which pair with prepositions to form unique meanings. Most of the meanings are idiomatic expressions.

Examples:

• Ultimately she gave up.
• I have been looking for my spectacles since an hour.
• He has been looking after his neighbour’s pet.

5. Causative Verbs: These are the verbs which are used to indicate that a person or thing is causing another action or an event to happen. They are generally followed by a noun or pronouns and an infinitive verb that is not causative.

Examples:

• She let her hair loose.
• The hearing aid enabled Maya to listen clearly.

Subject-Verb Agreement

For a complete understanding of the Verbs, one needs to get acquainted with the concept of the Subject-Verb Agreement. In any sentence, the use of verb according to the number of subjects or the persons is called verb agreement.

Examples:

• Maya sings a song.

Here Maya is a single person or subject, therefore the singular verb ‘sings’ has to be used.

• The students sing a song.

 Here ‘Students’ is a plural noun, therefore, the plural verb ‘sing’ is used.