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.
In the sentence Lena opened the parcel, the verb opened connects directly to the parcel. That noun phrase tells you what Lena opened and functions as the direct object. This is a transitive use of the verb. Transitive verbs are…
In The garden looks peaceful, looks connects the garden with a description of it. In Megan became a doctor, became connects Megan with the role a doctor. In both sentences, the verb creates a relationship between the subject and information…
In Mason lifted the box, the verb lifted describes a visible action. In Ella considered the proposal, considered describes a mental process. The two activities are very different, but both present something happening rather than simply describing a state. These…
Seeing can at the beginning of a sentence may look unusual if you are used to statements such as You can help me or Maya can swim. In those sentences, the subject comes first. Questions work differently. When can is…
The -ing form of a verb can do several different jobs in English. In is reading, it appears inside a progressive verb phrase. In the student reading by the window, it helps modify a noun. But in Reading before bed…
Ought to can express advice, what seems right or appropriate, and what is expected to happen. You can say You ought to apologize when recommending an action, but The train ought to arrive soon expresses an expectation instead. The form…
Verbs such as arrive, sneeze, disappear, and occur can be used without a direct object. Other verbs, including change, grow, move, and run, may also appear without an object in some sentences. The list below shows more than 140 English…
Can and could are closely related, but the difference is not simply present versus past. That works in sentences such as I can swim now and I could swim when I was five, but it does not explain Could you…
A transitive verb is used with a direct object, but that does not mean every verb in a transitive verbs list must be transitive in every sentence. English verbs can behave differently depending on how they are used. The list…
Compare these two sentences: The afternoon heat dried the towels. The towels dried on the balcony. The verb dry appears in both, but its pattern changes. In the first sentence, the towels is the direct object, so dried is transitive.…
Choosing between has, have, and had mainly depends on two things: the subject and the verb structure you need. In the simple present, use has with he, she, it, and other third-person singular subjects. Use have with I, you, we,…
Some of the most common English verbs are irregular. Go becomes went and gone, write becomes wrote and written, while cut stays cut in all three forms. An irregular verb does not follow the standard regular pattern for forming its…