ACTION VERBS

1. Action Verbs
Action Verbs are verbs that express action. Ex: run, walk, do, drive.
I’ll do my homework when I get home.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Most action verbs are defined as transitive or intransitive. This means that
some are used with a direct object (the person or thing that receives the action
of the subject) and others don’t need a direct object. Some verbs can be both
transitive and intransitive depending on their meaning.
1. Transitive Verb – Joe will send the price quote as soon as he can.
2. Intransitive Verb – Many of the students are not well. They coughed
throughout the lesson.
Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs always receive a direct object:
1. Richard annoys his boss so much that he’ll never get a promotion.
(His boss is the direct object of annoys and a promotion is the direct
object of get)
2. Jenna brings Mrs. Smith lunch every day.
(Mrs. Smith is the direct object of brings. Jenna is the subject.
Here’s a list of some common transitive verbs that must be followed by a direct
object:
 bring
 send
 owe
 contain
 buy
 show
 take
 tell
 verify
 check
 get

2.  wash
 finalize
 annoy
 lay
 lend
 offer
 edit
 make
 phone
Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs do not need a direct object in order to complete their
meaning. Many are followed by an adjective, adverb, preposition or verb
complement (gerund or infinitive).
Here is a list of common intransitive verbs:
 come
 explode
 laugh
 sit
 rise
 excel
 respond
 run
 cough
 swim
 emigrate
 smile
 act
 cry
 immigrate
 lie
 arrive
 continue
 die
 go
1. If Cathy continues to be late for work, the boss will fire her.
(Continues is followed by an infinitive (to be), with no direct object.)
2. The bomb exploded in the city center.
(Exploded is followed by a preposition of place with no direct object.)

3. Many verbs can be both transitive and intransitive depending on their
meanings.
Auxiliary (or Helping) Verbs
Auxiliary (or Helping) verbs are used together with a main verb to show the
verb’s tense or to form a negative or question. The most common auxiliary
verbs are have, be, and do.
1. Does Sam write all his own reports?
2. The secretaries haven’t written all the letters yet.
3. Terry is writing an e-mail to a client at the moment.
Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, add functional or grammatical
meaning to the clauses in which they appear. They perform their functions in
several different ways:
 By expressing tense ( providing a time reference, i.e. past, present, or
future)
 Grammatical aspect (expresses how verb relates to the flow of time)
 Modality (quantifies verbs)
 Voice (describes the relationship between the action expressed by the
verb and the participants identified by the verb’s subject, object, etc.)
 Adds emphasis to a sentence
Auxiliary verbs almost always appear together with a main verb, and though
there are only a few of them, they are among the most frequently occurring
verbs in the English language.
Irregular Verbs
What Are Irregular Verbs?
Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t take on the regular –d, -ed, or -ied spelling
patterns of the past simple (V2) or past participle (V3). Many of the irregular V2
and V3 forms are the same, such as: cut – cut, had – had, let – let, hurt – hurt,
fed- fed, sold-sold
A linking verb
Is a verb that connects the subject of a sentence to the complement.
Common linking verbs include: be, am, are, is, was, were,