406 / Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
Verbs show some combination of the following characteristics:
- The most important characteristic of verbs is that they change time (or tense).
To find out whether a word can change time, add the word yesterday or tomorrow
to the front of the sentence.
The cyclists were riding for exercise.
Yesterday, the cyclists were riding for exercise. (no change)
Tomorrow, the cyclists will ride for exercise.
Thus, you know the words that changed, were riding, make up the verb. - Because a verb changes time, it has certain characteristic endings: –s, –ed, –en,
–ing. Don’t confuse the –s ending on the verb with the –s ending on nouns. You
add an –s to nouns to make them plural; you add an –s to verbs to make them
singular.
The cyclists (plural noun) ride (plural verb).
The cyclist (singular noun) rides (singular verb). - Because a verb changes time, it may have certain characteristic helping verbs
(or auxiliaries): do, does, did, have, has, had, is, am, are, was, were, be, been,
being, could, would, should, may, might, must, will, shall. The helping verb plus
the main verb make up the complete verb phrase.
He could have been working overtime. - Besides changing time, another characteristic is that most verbs show action.
Action verbs have voice. The subject does something; the verb is said to be in
active voice.
The eagle hooked a fish in its talons.
The subject has something done to it: the verb is said to be in passive voice.
The fish was hooked by the eagle.
Verbs that do not show action are state of being, or linking, verbs. There are two
groups of linking verbs.
- One group of linking verbs, when they are the main verbs, are always linking:
is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being
(If verbs in this group are helping verbs, they are not linking.) - The other group can be linking verbs or action verbs.
seem, appear, remain, become, grow, stay, as well as the verbs of the senses:
look, smell, taste, sound, feel