Types Of Verbs

Verbs are fundamental components of a sentence structure and therefore the knowledge of different types of verbs is very vital to those who really treasure the essence of proper communication. Verbs describe either the action or the state of affairs in any given sentence. Take for instance the sentence below:

Patrick drinks tea.

In this sentence, ‘drinks’ is a verb which describes what Patrick, the noun does. Different types of verbs can be classified as:

Action verbs

These verbs describes what the noun or the subject does. It is one of the simplest forms in which verbs exist in a sentence. It can always be identified by asking a simple question:

What is the noun or the subject doing?

For example: Martin is eating an apple. A perfect question for this will be, what is Martin doing?

By providing an answer to this question will help to identify the action verb in the sentence which is ‘eating’ for the case of the sentence above.

Further classification of different types of verbs classifies action verbs into two distinctive groups; the transitive verbs and the intransitive verbs.

Transitive verbs

Transitive verbs are action verbs which precisely defines what exactly the action the noun is doing. Example:

Peter is eating an apple.

In this sentence, transitive verb can be identified by posing a simple question such as ‘What is peter eating?’

By answering this question you will be in a position to identify the transitive verb in any given sentence.

Intransitive verbs

These types of verbs do not provide a specific answer of what the action verb is doing. Example:

Peter is eating anything.

Peter is eating right now.

In these two sentences, by posing a question; what is peter doing will not provide any definite answer to the question. This qualifies these types of verbs to be transitive verbs.

Verbs can also be classified as either stative or dynamic verbs.

Stative verbs

These types of verbs describe the state or the situation rather than the action. They tend to highlight the relationship which exist between the verb under question and the subject. Example:

The car requires a new paint.

There is relationship between the car and the paint in the sentence above making ‘requires’ to qualify as a stative verb.

Dynamic verbs

These verbs express the actions or situations in which the noun or the subject is engaged in. Example:

He swims every day.

Here, the dynamic verb is swims. These actions in which the subject is engaged in can be felt or their results can be felt by the subject.

Linking verbs

This is also an important class of verbs which help to connect different parts of speech which include either the adjective or nouns. They majorly provide an additional information in a sentence. Example:

Martin is a stubborn boy.

In this example, ‘is’ is a linking verb. How to identify these types of verbs in a sentence is also very simple. By replacing the verb with are, is or am while still maintaining the sentence’s logic is a convenient way to identify a linking verb.

The significance of a verb in a sentence is one thing that should treated with a lot of caution as any misuse of a verb will automatically lead to conveying a wrong information to the audience.