Can you name types of verbs in English?

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Verbs are words in a sentence that describe the action a subject is engaged in. Combined with nouns, verbs make the main components of a sentence. A sentence that lacks a verb does not convey full thoughts because even simple sentences such as 'He teaches' have a verb. Sometimes, a verb can make a sentence on its own. Examples: Sing! Dance!

In their basicity, verbs are described as doing words. He eats bread every morning, and the dog barks all night. Eats and barks are the 'action' words in the above sentences. However, not all verbs are recognized as action words. Example: I know his age. I thought about his idea. These verbs are referred to as non-action verbs as they describe a state-of-being, possession, emotion or sense.

Broad Verb Categories

Generally, verbs can be classified as physical, mental or state-of-being.

Physical Verbs

These are verbs that describe a physical action. Any body movement or use of a tool is described using physical verbs. Even in instances where the action involved is not very active, it is considered as a physical verb as long as the body or a tool is carrying it out. Examples:

We should eat food before noon.

I hear the rain dropping.

Call me before tomorrow noon.

Mental Verbs

These are verbs that describe a cognitive state such as thinking, understanding, planning and discovering. Examples:

I know her name.

I recognized her from our previous meeting.

You should believe your teacher.

State-of-Being Verbs

These verbs also referred to as linking verbs, describe situations or conditions that exist. Here, no action is happening. These verbs, which include am, are, is, are accompanied by adjectives. Examples:

I am a pianist.

We are students.

Joseph is humble.

Types of Verbs

How many verbs are there in English? Generally, there are about 10 verbs categorized based on functions. These types include:

Action Verbs

These are verbs that describe an action. They are used when you want to describe a work that a subject is doing. Here, the action does not have to be physical. Examples include running, jump, walk, do, stand, write, sing, listen, slap, teach, and address among others.

Transitive Verbs

These verbs are used to describe doable actions that are directed towards someone or something else. These other things can be nouns or pronouns though there are verbs that take on indirect objects such as show, take and make. Intransitive verbs, someone or something receives the verb action. Examples of these verbs include love, belief, maintain, respect, honor, eat and tolerate among others. An example in a sentence: Doris ate the yams. In the above sentence, 'ate' is the verb describing something that happened to the yams. Other illustrations:

He punched the bag.

They sold the lamb.

They sell him the watch.

Mary cooked his mother lunch.

Intransitive Verbs

These verbs are almost like transitive verbs, but there are no direct or indirect objects receiving the action. Examples include walk, laugh, cough, run, skip, play, slap. We traveled to Asia. Here, the subject is 'we,' the verb is 'traveled,' and Asia is not a direct recipient because Asia is not receiving the action. Other illustrations:

He sneezed in the morning.

She sat away from her classmates.

Auxiliary Verbs

These are known as helping verbs. When used together with the main verb, they enhance its function. Helping verbs give context to the main verb usually indicating when the action will take time. Common auxiliary verbs are might, will, could, would, should, can, may, did and do among others. I will run home after school. 'Run' is the main verb, which is enhanced by 'will' as the helping verb. If the helping verb is removed, the sentence will have a different meaning with no indication of time. Other examples in sentences:

I may sing with you tonight.

Kim has spoken her will.

We did consider his proposal.

Stative Verbs

These are verbs that describe a state and not an action. They can express a state of doubt, of believing, of want and much more. Example:

The doctor agrees with your diagnosis.

Hanna doubts her teacher's opinion.

She wanted to hear from you.

Modal Verbs

These are helping verbs that express abilities. They include can, must, should may, would. In the case of would, could and should, the modal verbs express obligations. Examples:

He can shoot from 30 meters away.

You must not wait.

Stephen may not come.

Phrasal verbs

These are combinations of verbs used together to enhance the original verb. They include, make out, run out, hand out, face up, think through, go all out and bring out among others.

She looked forward to her first day in college.

He brought up the same issue again.

I make up stories when teaching.

Irregular Verbs

These are verbs that do not follow the spelling patterns of past simple or past participle verbs. They include saying, go, take, come, know, make, see, etc. Example:

I take my time when I go to shower.

I took my time when I went to shower.

The different verbs in English can be confusing or difficult to understand. Fortunately, by enrolling for English verb help online, you can turn out to be a pro in English.