Verbs express actions, events, or states of being. They form the main part of a predicate and help show what the subject does, experiences, or is.
Start with What Is a Verb? for a clear explanation of verb types, forms, and functions. You can then explore detailed lessons on action, linking, helping, transitive, intransitive, regular, irregular, modal, and other kinds of verbs.
Must and have to often express the same basic idea: something is necessary or required. That is why both You must wear a seat belt and You have to wear a seat belt can be correct. The difference becomes clearer…
The sentences Mia wrote the report and The report was written by Mia describe the same action. The difference is in what each sentence puts first. In the first sentence, Mia performs the action. In the second, the report receives…
May appears in sentences about possibility, permission, wishes, and uncertain situations. You can say It may rain later, May I come in?, or May you have a wonderful year, but the meaning of may is different in each sentence. The…
When you report what someone said, you do not have to rely on say and tell every time. English has reporting verbs that show more precisely what the speaker did. Someone can admit, deny, promise, warn, suggest, explain, or refuse.…
Sometimes one event is already complete before another begins. English can express that relationship compactly with structures such as having finished the report or having missed the train. These are commonly called perfect participles or perfect participial clauses. They are…
Past participles appear in familiar structures such as has written, was repaired, a broken window, and the documents signed yesterday. The same form can help build a verb phrase or add information about a noun, depending on the sentence around…
The -ing form appears throughout English. You see it in is reading, the woman reading by the window, and I heard someone calling my name. The form looks the same, but its role changes with the structure around it. In…
Why can both It may rain tonight and It might rain tonight be correct? The common explanation that may means “more likely” and might means “less likely” sounds simple, but it does not explain how these modal verbs actually work.…
Modal verbs such as can, might, should, and must are easy to recognize, but their meanings are not always as simple as the usual one-word labels suggest. Can does more than show ability, must does more than express obligation, and…
The verb have appears in some of the most common sentence patterns in English. You can have a car, have lunch, have a problem, have your hair cut, or have finished your work. The word looks familiar in each case,…
Infinitives can be confusing because they do not all look alike. To leave is an infinitive, but so is leave after a modal in should leave. You may also come across longer forms such as to be invited and to…
Called and bought can both describe something that happened in the past, but the verbs were formed differently. Call becomes called by following the regular -ed pattern. Buy changes to bought, so it is irregular. That basic difference between regular…