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Verbs - Definition, Overview, and Lists of Examples

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  Ed Good  —  Grammar Tips
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Welcome

Below you’ll find links to our discussion on the most important word in the English language—verbs. We recommend that you start with the first topic,Verbs - Words that Do or Are. At the bottom of each page, you’ll find links to “Next” and to “Previous.” So start with the first topic and then click “Next” to read our entire discussion on verbs.

We have broken some of the longer topics into multiple pages. So watch for references to “Pages 1-2-3” at the bottom of the topic. Click the next page number to continue reading.

Cast of Characters

In these discussions, you'll meet various characters: Miss Hamrick is my eighth-grade English teacher (bless her soul); Amber and Igor are cave-dwelling, primitive ancestors, who, along with Miss Hamrick, invented the English language 6,412 years ago. You'll also meet Damron, the guy in the back of the class with a cafeteria straw and spitwads.

Sources Cited

Click herefor a list of sources cited.  Then hit "back" to return to this page.

Table of Contents

  1. Verbs - Words that Do or Are
  2. Main Verbs - Four Kinds
  3. Action Verbs
  4. Transitive Verbs
  5. Intransitive Verbs
  6. Transitive and Intransitive
  7. No-Action Verbs
  8. Verb "To Be"
  9. Linking Verbs
  10. Auxiliary Verbs - Called “Helping Verbs”
  11. Five Kinds of Verbs - An Overview
  12. Four Principal Parts or Forms of Verbs
  13. Infinitive - The “to” Verb
  14. Finite Verb - Tense, Person, Number, Mood
  15. Present Participle - The -ing Verb
  16. Past Participle - The -ed Verb
  17. Past Tense vs. Past Participle
  18. Irregular Verbs - A List
  19. Developing Your Love Affair
  20. Verb Conjugation
  21. Present Tense of Verbs
  22. Past Tense - How to Form
  23. Future Tense - How to Form
  24. Perfect Tenses - How to Form
  25. Conditional Structures of Verbs
  26. Six Major Tenses of Verbs
  27. Conjugating Regular Verbs
  28. Conjugating Irregular Verbs
  29. Conjugating the Verb "To Be"
  30. Conjugating in the Progressive Aspect
  31. Contractions - Use in Formal Writing
  32. A Summary of Verbs
  33. Verbs - What They Do
  34. Verb Function 1 - Conjugated Verb
  35. Verb Function 2 - Infinitive Phrase - "To" Phrase
  36. Infinitives Showing Tense and Voice
  37. Split Infinitives
  38. Verb Function 3 - Present-Participial Phrase, -ing Phrase
  39. Fused Participle - Noun or Pronoun and ‑ing Phrase
  40. Fused Participle - Solutions
  41. Verb Function 4 - Past-Participial Phrase, -ed Phrase
  42. Verb Function 5 - Participial Adjectives
  43. A Final Summary of Verbs



Hard Copy

You may download our entire discussion of the Parts of Speech. Simply download the Grammar eBookUnderstanding the Parts of Speech.

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