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illustrated grammar

Types of verbs

three

There are three types of verb in English.

Examples in red on this page are wrong.

main verbs

Main verbs

These are sometimes called lexical or content verbs.  We will call them main verbs and there are some different types of these.

This is a simple grammar so we will look at the main differences.

cut stand smoke

With or without an object?

transitive or intransitive
He cut my hair
He cut		 She stood a tree
She stood alone in the forest		 He smokes
He smokes a pipe		  

This is very important because languages do things differently.  As you read, think about what happens in your language.
Two sentences here are in red and they are wrong.
He cut my hair
is correct because we have subject (he), the verb (cut) and the object (my hair).  The verb cut always takes an object.
We cannot say
He cut
because we need to know what he cut.  We cannot understand the meaning without an object.
cut is a transitive verb.
She stood
is correct and we only have the subject (she) and the verb (stood).  We also have an adverb (alone) and a prepositional phrase (in the forest) but we can take away the adverb and the prepositional phrase and just say She stood.  It is still correct and we can understand the meaning.
She stood a tree
makes no sense because the verb stand never takes an object.
stand is an intransitive verb.
He smokes
He smokes a pipe
Both of these are correct because the verb smoke can be transitive:
He smokes a pipe
and intransitive:
He smokes
We can understand both sentences and both are correct.
double

verbs with double objects

Some verbs can take two objects.
For example, we can say
    He bought the drinks
and that's a verb with one object (the drinks) but we can also say
    He bought us the drinks
and here we have two objects, the drinks (the direct object) and us (the indirect object).
Other examples of verbs which can or must take two objects include
ask, bring, buy, cook, cost, cut, feed, get, give, lend, make, order, owe, pass, promise, read, sell, send, show, teach, tell, throw, write
For example:
    She asked a question and She asked me a question
    He brought a cup of tea and He brought his wife a cup of tea
    He read a story and He read the child a story
    He wrote a letter and He wrote his mother a letter
In English, the indirect object usually comes first but we can use a preposition to change that:
    He read the child a story = He read a story to the child
    He wrote his mother a letter = He wrote a letter to his mother
This is important because languages are different.  Some language cannot do this.
Can yours?
How does it work in your language?

change

changing the meaning

Some verbs change their meaning when they are used with or without an object.  For example:
    She changed (put on new clothes, intransitive)
    She changed her mind (had a different idea, transitive)
    He ran after the bus (to follow quickly, intransitive)
    He ran the business (to manage, transitive)
    She called at 6 (to visit, intransitive)
    She called me (to telephone, transitive)

!

When you learn a verb in English, you must learn if it takes no object, one object or two objects.  If you don't, you'll make mistakes like these:

    She arrived the hotel
That's wrong because arrive is intransitive in English.  It should be
    She arrived at the hotel
We cannot say:
    It happened the game on Saturday
That's wrong because happen is intransitive in English.  It should be
The game happened on Saturday

short list

a short list

Here's a very short list of some common verbs in English.


usually transitive
(with an object)		 usually intransitive
(with no object)		 transitive and intransitive
(with and without an object)		 can be ditransitive
(with 2 objects)
ask
believe
buy
contact
describe
discuss
enjoy
find
join
like
lose
love
make
need
receive
take
telephone
use
want
watch		 arrive
come
die
disappear
fall
happen
lie
live
rain
snow
wait
work
break
drive
drop
eat
end
enter
finish
fly
leave
manage
call
read
smoke
turn
win
write

These verbs often have a different meaning in the two uses.

 ask
bring
give
hand
lend
offer
owe
pay
promise
send
show
teach
tell

Here's a short summary of this:
lexical verb summary

helping

Auxiliary or helping verbs

Main verbs mean something when they stand alone.  For example, the word stand has a meaning when it is not in a sentence like She stood.
Auxiliary verbs do not have a meaning.  They help other verbs to make a meaning.  For example, can means nothing if we do not know what verb follows it.

There are two types of auxiliary verbs in English.

  1. Primary auxiliary verbs
    These are the verbs be, have, do and get.  They make tenses and aspects with main verbs.  See the section on tense and aspect for more.  Here are examples only:
    1. be:
      1. making progressive or continuous forms: I am walking, I was reading etc.
      2. making passive sentences: It was broken, They will be asked etc.
    2. have:
      1. making perfect tenses: She has arrived, They had left etc.
      2. making causatives: I had my hair cut, She had her money stolen etc.
    3. do:
      1. making questions: Do you need this? Don't you believe me? You paid, didn't you? etc.
      2. making negatives: Don't break it, I didn't know that, She doesn't understand etc.
    4. get:
      1. making causatives: I got my car washed, She got her windows cleaned etc.
      2. making passive sentences: She got promoted, The window got broken in the storm etc.
  2. Modal auxiliary verbs.
    These verbs tell us what the speaker thinks and they mean nothing without a main verb.  For more, see the section on special verbs.  Here are some examples only:
    1. expressing obligation: I must go, You should come on time etc.
    2. expressing certainty: She can't be so stupid!, They must be in London by now etc.
    3. expression advice: You should see a doctor, She ought to write to him etc.
    4. expressing ability: I can help you, They can't speak French etc.
link

Linking verbs

These are sometimes called copular verbs.

These verbs join things together in three ways.

  1. They join the subject to an adjective.
    einstein
    For example:
    He is very intelligent
    She seems nice
    This tastes good
    That sounds terrible
  2. They join the subject to another noun.
    sister
    For example:
    She is her sister
    The man     was the manager
    He became a teacher
  3. They join the subject to a prepositional phrase.
    carpet
    For example:
    The cat was on the carpet
    She     appeared in the garden
    She     was in the house

The most common linking verb is the verb be.  Here are some others:
appear, become, get, grow, fall, feel, look, seem, smell, sound, taste (like)

asking no

Making questions and negative sentences

How we make a question and a negative sentence is different for different types of verbs.

main verbs

Main verbs in simple tenses

With main verbs in simple tenses, we use the verb do to make questions and negative sentences.  Like this:

Tense  Positive sentence Question Negative sentence
Present I know him Do I know him? I don't (do not) know him
You know him Do you know him? You don't (do not) know him
She speaks French Does she speak French? She doesn't (does not) speak French
He knows her Does he know her? He doesn't (does not) know her
The bus stops here Does the bus stop here? The bus doesn't (does not) stop here
We park the car here Do we park the car here? We don't (do not) park the car here
You work in London Do you work in London? You don't (do not) work in London
They travel by train Do they travel by train? They don't (do not) travel by train
Past I knew him Did I know him? I didn't (did not) know him
You knew him Did you know him? You didn't (did not) know him
She spoke French Did she speak French? She didn't (did not) speak French
He knew her Did he know her? He didn't (did not) know her
The bus stopped here Did the bus stop here? The bus didn't (did not) stop here
We parked the car here Did we park the car here? We didn't (did not) park the car here
You worked in London Did you work in London? You didn't (did not) work in London
They travelled by train Did they travel by train? They didn't (did not) travel by train

For the present simple tense the rules are:

  1. To make questions:
    1. Put do or does before the subject
    2. For he, she or it, use does.
    3. For all other forms, use do
  2. To make negatives:
    1. Put don't (do not) or doesn't (does not) between the subject and the verb
    2. For he, she and it, use doesn't (does not)
    3. For all other forms use don't (do not)

For the past simple tense, the rules are:

  1. To make questions:
    1. Put did before the subject
  2. To make negatives:
    1. Put didn't (did not) between the subject and the verb

have as a main verb

Sometimes, the verb have is a main verb meaning own or possess.  When it is a main verb, the verb have works in two ways:

Tense  Positive sentence Question Negative sentence
Like a main verb, for example:
Present I have time Do I have time? I don't (do not) have time
You have a dog Do you have a dog? You don't (do not) have a dog
He has the money her Does he have the money? He doesn't (does not) have the money
You have my address Do you have my address? You don't (do not) have my address
With got, in British English, for example:
Present You have got enough money Have you got enough money? You haven't got enough money
He has got a lot of work Has he got a lot of work? He hasn't got a lot of work
The children have got too many toys Have the children got too many toys? The children haven't got too many toys
You have got three sisters Have you got three sisters? You haven't got three sisters
In the past tense, have works like a main verb, using did to make questions and negatives.

helping

Auxiliary or helping verbs

The verbs have and be

These verbs are irregular and they work like this:

Tense  Positive sentence Question Negative sentence
Present I am coming with you Am I coming with you? I'm not (am not) coming with you
You are going to the cinema Are you going to the cinema? You aren't (are not) going to the cinema
She is speaking French Is she speaking French? She isn't (is not) speaking French
John is talking on the 'phone Is John talking on the 'phone? John isn't (is not) talking on the 'phone
The train is running late Is the train running late? The train isn't (is not) running late
We are cooking dinner Are we cooking dinner? We aren't (are not) cooking dinner
You are smoking a lot Are you smoking a lot? You aren't (are not) smoking a lot
They are coming by car Are they coming by car? They aren't (are not) coming by car
Present perfect I have met him Have I met him? I haven't (have not) met him
You have been to America Have you been to America You haven't (have not) been to America
She has learnt French Has she learnt French? She hasn't (has not) learnt French
He has read the book Has he read the book? He hasn't (has not) read the book
The post has arrived Has the post arrived? The post hasn't (has not) arrived
We have met him Have we met him? We haven't (have not) met him
You have worked in London Have you worked in London? You haven't (have not) worked in London
They have come by train Have they come by train? They haven't (have not) come by train
Past progressive I was coming with you Was I coming with you? I wasn't (was not) coming with you
You were going to the cinema Were you going to the cinema? You weren't (were not) going to the cinema
She was speaking French Was she speaking French? She wasn't (was not) speaking French
John was talking on the 'phone Was John talking on the 'phone? John wasn't (was not) talking on the 'phone
The train was running late Was the train running late? The train wasn't (was not) running late
We were cooking dinner Were we cooking dinner? We weren't (were not) cooking dinner
You were smoking a lot Were you smoking a lot? You weren't (were not) smoking a lot
They were coming by car Were they coming by car? They weren't (were not) coming by car
Past perfect I had met him Had I met him? I hadn't (had not) met him
You had been to America Had you been to America You hadn't (had not) been to America
She had learnt French Had she learnt French? She hadn't (has not) learnt French
He had read the book Had he read the book? He hadn't (had not) read the book
The post had arrived Had the post arrived? The post hadn't (had not) arrived
We had met him Had we met him? We hadn't (had not) met him
You had worked in London Had you worked in London? You hadn't (had not) worked in London
They had come by train Had they come by train? They hadn't (had not) come by train
  1. For both verbs:
    1. We make a question by putting the verbs first (reversing the order of the subject and the verb)
    2. We make negative sentences by adding not or n't after the verbs
  2. For the verb be:
    1. In the present tense, we use:
      am for I
      is for he, she and it
      are for you, we and they
    2. In the past tense, we use:
      was for I, he, she and it
      were for you, we and they
  3. For the verb have:
    1. In the present tense, we use:
      has for he, she and it
      have for all other forms
    2. In the past we use had for all forms

Modal auxiliary verbs

These are verbs like can, must, should, will, ought to etc.

  1. The rule for making questions is:
    1. We put the modal auxiliary verb first (reversing the order of the subject and the verb)
  2. The rule for making negative sentences is:
    1. We put not or n't after the modal auxiliary verbs

For example:

Positive sentence Question Negative sentence
I can go Can I go? I can't (cannot) go
You must leave now Must you leave now? You mustn't (must not) leave
He should write to him Should he write to him? He shouldn't (should not) write to him
You ought to arrive early Ought you to arrive early? You oughtn't to (ought not to) arrive early
The children will have fun Will the children have fun? The children won't (will not) have fun

The negative will not is shortened to won't.

difference

Differences between your language and English

Look again at the way we make questions and negatives sentences in English and think about:

  1. How is my language similar to English?
  2. What are the differences between my language and English?
  3. What do I need to be careful about when making questions and negative sentences in English?

Click here for a test on verb types.