Verb Definition

Verb Definition: It’s a very common question what verb is? A verb is a word or group of words that is used in a sentence to indicate that something happens or exists, for example, happen, be, do, etc. In simple terms, a word that describes an action or the occurrence of an event is called a verb. In English Grammar, a verb is a word that we use to refer to actions (what things do) and states of being (how things are). 

For instance, consider a few simple sentences,

“I am reading this article.”  In this sentence, ‘reading’ is a verb describing a usual action. 

“Jacob walks in the morning”. In this sentence, ‘walks’ is a verb describing a usual action

“Stephen is going to school”. In this sentence, ‘going’ is a verb describing a condition of action.

Verb Examples

Verbs are an important part of the English language and is classified under Parts of Speech. Let’s consider some more verb examples in the following table.

SentenceVerb Used
He complained to the police.complained
School offers many opportunities to learn new skills.offers, learn
Amit is jogging regularly to reduce fat.jogging, reduce
His friend was trembling with anger when he lost all his books while travelling to Delhi.trembling, lost, travelling
The radio broadcast last night that it will rain on Monday.broadcast, rain

Verb Examples List

A detailed list of Verb Examples is discussed below. You can learn the verb forms from the table given below to increase your English vocabulary.

Verb Examples
DrinkRead
SingSit
RingCut
ChooseBuy
WriteMark
GainMatch
GrantMove
CoolEnjoy
BelieveExplain
BringOpen
AdmireOrder
FailOffer
BreakDraw
AgreePush
AmazePrefer
AmusePlan
AppearPlay
ArriveThrow
AskRingRepair
BehaveBecome
BorrowFlee
BlameStand
BelongPull
BelieveSave
CallSlow
CoolSneeze
CarrySolve
CauseStart
ClearStop
ClimbDraw
EnjoyPlan
ExplainPlay
HuntBecome
IgnoreFlee
FightImproveSave
ImpressSlow
InviteSneeze
JogSolve
JumpStart
JoinStop
KnockTumble
LastEnjoy
LabelExplain
LearnOpen
LiveOrder
LookOffer
LovePush
PreferProvide

Verb Meaning in Hindi

क्रिया is the Hindi translation of a Verb. A Verb is a part of speech that is been taught in both English & Hindi subjects. The definition or meaning of Verb (क्रिया) is explained as- क्रिया एक शब्द है जिसका प्रयोग कुछ कार्य, भावना या अस्तित्व को व्यक्त करने के लिए किया जाता है. यह हमें एक वाक्य में विषय के बारे में कुछ बताता है | जैसे; सोना, जागना, पढ़ना, घूमना, नाचना, बात करना, समझना, पूछना आदि |

Types of Verb

The are two types of verbs in English Grammar. The classification is as follows.

Verbs1- Auxiliary Verbs
2- Main Verbs

 Sometimes the Auxiliary Verbs are also known as helping verbs. There is a further classification of Auxiliary Verbs and Main Verbs as follows.

Auxiliary Verbs1-Primary
2-Modal
Main Verbs1-Intransitive
2-Transitive

Auxiliary Verb

As told earlier, auxiliary verbs are more commonly known as helping verbs. So as the name suggests, the helping verbs or the auxiliary verbs are used to support the main verb to describe an action. Let’s understand through an example. Consider the following sentence,

“Amit is jogging regularly to reduce fat.”

Here ‘Jogging’ is the main verb that describes the action being done by Amit and “is” is the auxiliary verb. This makes the sentence more apparent by telling that the action is being done in the present time. Suppose the above sentence would have been written like this,

“Amit was jogging regularly to reduce fat.”

Here the main verb (jogging) is the same but the auxiliary verb is changed to “was”. By doing so, it becomes apparent that the action was being done in the past. Now we have a rough idea of how Auxiliary verbs (Helping Verbs) assist the main verb to describe the action more specifically. Let’s discuss the main verbs.

Main Verb

Whenever a sentence describes some action, there has to be a main verb in the sentence. The main verb expresses or describes the principal action being done by the subject. It tells about the basic purpose of the sentence. Let’s understand through some examples. Consider the following sentences,

“He was trembling in the cold weather.”

In this sentence, “trembling” is the main verb. It tells about the main idea and action of the sentence. It tells what action is being done by the subject.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs: The main difference between transitive and intransitive verbs is that with transitive verbs there has to be an object while with intransitive verbs the object is not required. Let’s understand through an example,

“The principal discussed the indiscipline issue with the teachers.”   (Correct)

“The principal discussed with the teachers.”                                    (Incorrect)

In these two sentences, the main verb is “discussed”, which can’t be used without an object. The verb “discuss” requires an object with it. The second sentence seems confusing as it’s not clear what was discussed with the teachers.

Verb Forms

Most of the verbs have three forms. The three verb forms are given below.

1. Present Verb

2. Past Verb

3. Past Participle Verb

For a particular verb, these forms can be the same or different. See the below table

First FormSecond FormThird Form
EatAteEaten
CutCutCut
blowblewBlown
drinkdrankDrunk
ringrangrung
walkwalkedwalked
givegavegiven
treattreatedtreated
fallfellfallen
rideroderidden
dodiddone

Phrasal Verbs

When an adverb or a preposition is combined with a verb then the whole term gives a new meaning. These types of terms are called phrasal verbs. For example,

“Break down – get upset”

Here the verb ‘break’ is combined with the preposition ‘down’. Individually these two terms have different meanings but when these two words are combined together, the whole phrase gives a different meaning.

List of Important Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal VerbMeaningSentence Use
Call AroundCall different peopleThey called around but nobody helped them.
Break intoEnter forciblyThe thief entered into the house.
Check outInvestigateThe officer checks out the crime scene.
Get backReturnWhen are you getting back from the picnic?
Get upGet out of bedWe should get up early in the morning.
Give upStop tryingThe problem was too difficult so I gave up.
Keep oncontinuingKeep on working until you succeed.
Log inSign inPlease log in to your email account.
Look afterTaking care ofHe looks after his parents.
Run outGet consumed allThe ration ran out before the war.
Run awayescapeHis brother ran away when he saw your dog.
Stick to somethingContinue doing somethingStick to your goal if you want to succeed.
Take offRemoveTake off your shoes before entering the hall.
Turn upAppear suddenlyThe lion turned up in our way.
Warm-upPrepare for work-outIt is advisable to warm up before any exercise
Run intoMeet accidentallyI ran into her mother in the market.
Pick outChooseI picked out the white dog for my home.
Look OutBe watchfulLook out for the enemy in the dark.
Look OverExamineLook over the car before buying it.

Verb Forms in English- Click to Reading

Parts of Speech in English Grammar 
PronounAdjective
PrepositionNoun
AdverbConjunction

 

Verb in English: FAQs

Ans. A word that describes an action or the occurrence of an event is called a verb.

Ans. The main verb is of two types, the Transitive verb, and the Intransitive verb.

Ans. There are three forms of a verb, Present form, Past form, and Past Participle form

Ans. If an adverb or a preposition is combined with a verb then the whole term gives a new meaning. These types of terms are called phrasal verbs.

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