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LESSON 1:

Verbs
What is a verb?
A verb is one of the main parts of a sentence or question in English. The verb signals an
action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Whether mental, physical, or mechanical,
verbs always express activity.

Physical Verbs – Definition and Examples

Physical verbs are action verbs. They describe specific physical actions. If you can
create a motion with your body or use a tool to complete an action, the word you use to
describe it is most likely a physical verb.

Physical Verb Examples

The physical verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy
identification.

 Let’s run to the corner and back.

 I hear the train coming.
 Call me when you’re finished with class.

Mental Verbs – Definition and Examples

Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering,
understanding, thinking, or planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive
state.

Mental Verb Examples

The mental verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I know the answer.

 She recognized me from across the room.
 Do you believe everything people tell you?

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 States of Being Verbs – Definition and Examples
Also known as linking verbs, state of being verbs describe conditions or situations that
exist. State of being verbs are inactive since no action is being performed. These verbs
are usually complemented by adjectives.

States of Being Verb Examples

The state of being verbs in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I am a student.
 We are circus performers.
 Please is quiet.

Categories of Verbs
Action Verbs
Action verbs express specific actions, and are used any time you want to show
action or discuss someone doing something. Example: walk, run, eat, cry fly

Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. These
verbs always have direct objects, meaning someone or something receives the action of
the verb.

Example: John cooks dinner.

Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. No direct
object follows an intransitive verb.

Example: John cooks.

Auxiliary Verbs
An auxiliary verb is a verb that accompanies another verb. It helps the main verb
in a verb phrase. A verb phrase is a combination of a main verb and one or more
auxiliary verbs.

Example: He can fly a plane. You may tell them now.

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Common Auxiliary Verbs:

a. Forms of be (be, being, been, am, is, are, was, were)

b. Forms of have (has, have, had)

c. Forms of do (does, do, did)

d. Other forms ( can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would)

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs show a relationship between the main noun (also called
the subject) and another word that describes that noun. The describing word can be
an adjective or another noun. The most common linking verb is to be and its
forms am, is, are, was, were, be, being, and been.
My cat is furry.
The verb is links the main noun, cat, with a describing word, furry. Furry is an example
of an adjective.

My childhood dog was an Akita.

In this sentence, the verb was links the noun dog to another noun, Akita. The
second noun tells us the breed of the dog.
Other common linking verbs include appear, become, feel. grow, look, remain,
seem, smell, sound, stay, taste and turn.
If left too long, the milk may turn sour.
I feel refreshed after that nap.

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EXERCISE 1

Identify whether the verb in each sentence is an action verb or non-

action verb.
________________1. Pacquiao fought for the Philippines.
________________2. He inserted the flash drive into our computer.
________________3. Dr. Watson solved the case for him.
________________4. Alf passed the ball to Roland.
________________5. The tourists decided to leave early.
________________6. It walks like a duck.
________________7. The defense lawyer felt the verdict was wrong.
________________8. He believes love potion work.
________________9. Louie hates rock music.
________________10. She remembers her grandchildren well.

EXERCISE 2
Identify whether the action word in the sentence is transitive or
intransitive.

___________________1. The boy fell.

___________________2. His head hit the pavement.
___________________3. His mother rushed to him.
___________________4. His father immediately called an ambulance.
___________________5. They waited for a few minutes.
___________________6. Later, the emergency team came.
___________________7. They administered first aid to the boy.
___________________8. One of them told the parents not to worry.
___________________9. They brought him to the ambulance.

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___________________10. The next minute they were on their way to the hospital.
___________________11. A pediatrician met them at the emergency room.
___________________12. The receiving nurse advised the boy’s parents to stay at the
waiting area.
___________________13. The pediatrician examined the child’s condition.
___________________14. An hour later, she invited the parents to her office.
___________________15. Before the day was over, the family went home very
relieved.

EXERCISE 3
Supply each sentence with the needed auxiliary verb.
1. The President _____________________ declared a state of emergency.
2. A robber _____________________ here a while ago.
3. They _____________________ delivered the books on time.
4. According to the manual, you _____________________ connect first the cables
before turning on the CPU.
5. The missing bodies _____________________ found already.
6. He _____________________ his best to improve his survey ratings.
7. His uncle came home very drunk; he _____________________ drinking all night.
8. Mel was ecstatic when she learned her daughter _____________________
already talk.
9. _____________________ the Supreme Court decided on the case?
10. It _____________________ a tough job being the ombudsman.

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LESSON 2:

Four Principal Parts of Verbs

Every verb has four basic forms, or principal parts. In order to form all the tenses of
each verb, we need to learn these four principal parts of verbs: the present tense, the
present participle, the past tense, and the past participle.

Present Tense
The first of the four principal parts of verbs is the singular verb in its present
tense form, which is used to express present time, something that is true at all times,
and future time:

talk earn wish

move jump learn
adapt elude wave

Present Participle
The second principal part of verbs, the present participle, is used to form
the progressive tenses (continuing action). The present participle is formed by
adding ing to the singular verb. It is preceded by a form of the to be helping verb:

(is) talking (am) earning (are) wishing

(am) moving (is) jumping (is) learning
(is) adapting (are) eluding (was) waving

Past Tense
The third principal part of verbs, used to express past time, is the past tense, which we
form by adding ed to regular verbs. (Irregular verbs have different endings.)

talked earned wished

moved jumped learned
adapted eluded waved

Past Participle
The fourth principal part of verbs, used to form the perfect tenses, is the past
participle. It is preceded by a form of the have helping verb. For regular verbs, the past
and the past participle are the same.

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 PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

ran (have) ran

rang (have) rung

cooked (have) cooked

brought (have) brought

froze (have) frozen

danced (have) danced

flew (have) flown

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EXERCISE 1

Complete the table below.

Present
Present Past Past Participle
Participle

1. Cry
2. pass
3. Occur
4. Appear
5. Like
6. Walk
7. Arrived
8. Enter
9. Decide
10. Land
11. Create
12. Design
13. Type
14. Play
15. Carry

EXERCISE 2

Identify whether the principal part of the verb used in each

sentence is present, present participle, past or past participle.
___________________1. The former President ran for Congress.

___________________2. The convoy passed by the mansion.

___________________3. The VIPs were traveling in their usual black SUVs when the
organizer called up.

___________________4. An advance party has prepared the stage.

___________________5. They checked the covered court for suspicious objects.

___________________6. Information about the day’s miting de avance was

disseminated a week ahead.

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___________________7. Even before sunrise, people were lining up already along the
motorcade route.

___________________8. They want to hear straight from the candidate her plans for
their district.

___________________9. At noontime they were still waiting for her.

___________________10. Already restless, the babies brought along by their mothers

started crying.

___________________11. News began to spread that something bad must have

happened along their way.

___________________12. “We are wasting our time here,” some people began
complaining.

___________________13. A couple of hours later, somebody shouted, “The President

is here!”

___________________14. The presidential car entered the venue.

___________________15. After a short introduction, the president delivered her

campaign speech.

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LESSON 3:

Regular Verbs
Regular verbs form their past and past participle forms by adding –ed.
Examples are given below.

Walk – walked – walked

Dance – danced – danced
Paint – painted – painted
Work – worked – worked

Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs form their past and past participle forms in different ways.

There are mainly three types of irregular verbs.

1. Verbs in which all the three forms are the same (e.g. put – put – put)
2. Verbs in which two of the three forms are the same (e.g. sit – sat – sat)
3. Verbs in which all three forms are different (e.g. drink – drank – drunk)

Some verbs can be both regular and irregular. Examples are:

Burn – burnt – burnt (irregular) Leap – leapt – leapt (irregular)

Burn – burned – burned (regular) Leap – leaped – leaped (regular)

Dream – dreamt – dreamt (irregular) Smell – smelt – smelt (irregular)

Dream – dreamed – dreamed (regular) Smell – smelled – smelled (regular)

Lean – lent – lent (irregular) Spill – spilt – spilt (irregular)

Lean – leaned – leaned (regular) Spill – spilled – spilled (regular)

Learn – learnt – learnt (irregular) Spoil – spoilt – spoilt (irregular)

Learn – learned – learned (regular) Spoil – spoiled – spoiled (regular)

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EXERCISE 1

Directions: Write the past and past participle tense of each irregular verb
listed below.

_________________ ____________________

_________________ _____________________

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EXERCISE 2

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EXERCISE 3

Find the past tense forms of the verbs listed below in the puzzle and circle
them.

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LESSON 4:

Tense is the property of a verb that expresses past, present or future time. For each
tense, there are three singular forms (1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person singular)
and three plural forms (1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person plural)

The Simple Present Tense

The simple present is formed by using the base form of the verb (I write, you sing, they
see) and adding –s to the third person singular (he writes, she sings, it sees). The
simple present tense is not an event in progress at the time of speaking, it rather refers
to something that happens habitually or is always true.

Forming the Simple Present Tense

There are two basic forms for the simple present tense: one which ends with –s
and one which doensn’t.

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