Grammar Tips & Articles »

Verbs - What They Do

This Grammar.com article is about Verbs - What They Do — enjoy your reading!


52 sec read
1,947 Views
  Ed Good  —  Grammar Tips
Font size:

Shake hands with the most powerful word in the English language: the verb. You learned the basics in our discussion above. Now let’s carefully explore the five functions of verbs, see what they do, and then understand why F. Scott Fitzgerald once said: “All fine prose is based on the verbs carrying the sentence.”

Five Functions of Verbs

Verbs appear in five basic ways in our language, and in those various ways they can perform a wide variety of functions in the English sentence. Here are the five things verbs do in the English language. You must commit them to memory if you’re ever to become a member of The Writers’ Club:

1. Conjugated Verb 2. Infinitive Phrase 3. Present-Participial Phrase 4. Past-Participial Phrase 5. Participial Adjectives

Let’s look closely at these forms and the many functions they perform.

Hard Copy

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

 

Previous: A Summary of Verbs

Next: Verb Function 1 - Conjugated Verb

Rate this article:

Have a discussion about this article with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this article to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Verbs - What They Do." Grammar.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Dec. 2024. <https://www.grammar.com/verbs-what-they-do>.

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web!

    Free Writing Tool:

    Instant
    Grammar Checker

    Improve your grammar, vocabulary, style, and writing — all for FREE!


    Quiz

    Are you a grammar master?

    »
    Choose the sentence with correct use of the imperative sentence:
    A Close the window before you leave.
    B They are closing the window.
    C She is closing the window behind her.
    D He wants to close the window.

    Improve your writing now:

    Download Grammar eBooks

    It’s now more important than ever to develop a powerful writing style. After all, most communication takes place in reports, emails, and instant messages.