A Verb is a word used to tell us something about a person or thing. It is a word that tells us
1) What a person or thing does, e.g. he writes; she eats; it runs.
2) What a person does to something, e.g. The food is eaten by the boy.
3) What ‘is done’ to someone or something, e.g. he is beaten by his father.
4) What a person or something ‘is’ or in what state it exists, e.g. he is clever, he looks unhappy.
The Verb is the most important word in a Sentence. It is the heart and life of a Sentence. We cannot write or speak a Sentence without using a Verb expressed or understood.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
A Transitive Verb takes an Object to complete the sense of the Verb. An Intransitive Verb does not take an Object. An Object may be Direct or Indirect.
To find the Direct Object, we ask the question, “what?” along with the verb and subject in a Sentence.
To find the Indirect Object, we ask the questions, “ to whom?” or “for whom”, e.g.
a) He gave me a pen.(Gave what?”a pen”= Direct Object)(Gave whom?”me”= Direct Object)
b) The tailor made her address.(made what? ’a dress’= Direct Object)(For whom? ’her’= Direct Object)
The Verbs in the following Sentences are Transitive:
a) He plays football (Plays what? Football = object)
b) She reads a book. (reads what? a book = object)
c) Rahim writes letter. (Writes what? A letter = Object)
Auxiliary Verbs
To be
Singular Plural
You am You are
He am They are
She am They are
It is They are
To Have
Singular Plural
You have You have
He has They have
She has They have
It has They have
The Verbs be, have, shall, will, do, may, might, can, and could are known as Auxiliary (helping) Verbs. The word “auxiliary” means helping. An Auxiliary Verb helps another Verb to form one of its parts. The Verb “to be” and the Verb “to have” are two of the most common Verbs in English. The forms of these Verbs can be seen in table above.
The Finite Verb and the Infinitive
The Finite Verb has a Person and a Number, that is, it changes with the Pronoun or Number of the Subject. Note the following:
Singular Plural
1st Person: I go We go
2nd Person: You go You go
3rd Person: He goes You go
She goes They go
It goes They go
Active Voice and Passive voice
We can often say a thing in two different ways:
1) By using a word as the Object of the Verb in a Sentence, e.g Robert eats rice.(Object, Question: Eats what?)
2) By using the same word as the Subject of the Sentence, e.g Rice is eaten by Robert. (Rice = Subject, Question: What is eaten?)
We know that only Transitive Verbs can take an Object. Therefore, only Transitive Verbs can be used in the Passive voice. An In-transitive Verb cannot be turned into the Passive voice because it has no Object.
Look at the following sentences:
a) He saw a cat. (Saw what? A cat = object)
b) She read a book. (Read what? A book=object)
c) You told a lie. (told what? A lie=object)
The Verbs “saw”, “read”, “told”, are Transitive because they are followed by Objects. Such sentences can be changed into the Passive Voice, e.g.
a) A cat was seen by him.
b) A book was read by her.
c) A lie was told by you.
The Subject receives or suffers the action or is the receiver or sufferer of the action, the Verb is in the Passive Voice.
In changing a Verb from the Active Voice to the Passive Voice, the Object of the the Active Verb becomes the subject of the Passive Verb.
Active Passive
1) He plays games. Games are played by him
2) She sings songs. Songs are sung by her.
3) He saw a tiger. A tiger was seen by him.
4) We made a house. A house was made by us.
5) I have a pen. A pen is had by me.
6) He has a knife. A knife is had by him.
7) She has written a letter. A letter has been written by her.
8) They will buy a car. A car will be bought by them.
9) He is reading a book. A book is being read by him.
10) They are playing football. Football is being played by them
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