This document defines and explains different aspects of verbs in English, including: - Verbs express action or state of being. Common helping verbs include do, has, am, and modal verbs. - Verbs have person, number, voice, tense, and mood. They can be active, passive, present, past, future. - Other verbal forms include infinitives, participles, and gerunds. Infinitives can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Participles and gerunds can take verb complements.

1. Verbs

2. Verbs
 words that express action or state of being
 Action
 Brian wept.
 I saw a mighty angel.
 He went and took the scroll.
 State of being
 no one … was able.
 You are worthy.

3. Verbs (2)
 English verbs are often formed by a
combination of one or more “helping verbs” with
a “main verb.”
 The Lion … has conquered.
 You were slaughtered.
 They will reign on earth.
 Helping verbs are an essential part of the
formation of the various voices, tenses, and
aspects of the English verb.

4. Helping Verbs Listed
 Common Helping Verbs:
 Do, does, did
 Has, have, had
 Am, are, is, were, was, be, being, been
 Modal Helping Verbs
 Can, could
 May, might
 Must
 Shall, should, ought [to]
 Will, would

5. Verbs: Person and Number
 1st Person
 Singular: I heal.
 Plural: We heal.
 2nd Person
 Singular: You heal.
 Plural: You (Y’all) heal.
 3rd Person
 Singular: He, she, it heals.
 Plural: They heal.

6. Verbs: Voice
 Active: The subject of the sentence performs
the action of the verb, often upon one or more
objects.
 He went and took the scroll.
 They will reign on earth.
 Passive: The action of the verb is done to the
Subject of the sentence.
 You were slaughtered.
 They were baptized by him in the river Jordan.

7. Verbs: Tense
(all examples are in active voice)
 Present
 Simple: I baptize.
 Progressive: I am baptizing.
 Past
 Simple: I baptized.
 Progressive: I was baptizing.
 Future
 Simple: I will baptize.
 Progressive: I will be baptizing.

8. Verbs: Tenses (2)
 Present Perfect
 Simple: I have baptized.
 Progressive: I have been baptizing.
 Past Perfect (Pluperfect)
 Simple: I had baptized.
 Progressive: I had been baptizing.
 Future Perfect
 Simple: I will have baptized.
 Progressive: I will have been baptizing.

9. Verbs: Tenses (Passive
Examples)
 Present
 Simple: I am baptized.
 Progressive: I am being baptized.
 Past
 Simple: I was baptized.
 Progressive: I was being baptized.
 Future
 Simple: I will be baptized.
 Progressive: I will be being baptized. (Not regularly
used.)

10. Verbs: Tenses (Passive
Examples)
 Present Perfect
 Simple: I have been baptized.
 Progressive: N/A
 Past Perfect (Pluperfect)
 Simple: I had been baptized.
 Progressive: N/A
 Future Perfect
 Simple: I will have been baptized.
 Progressive: N/A

11. Verbs: Moods
 Indicative: Narrating Facts or Purported Facts
 John was baptizing in the Jordan River.
 Imperative: Giving Commands
 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
 Subjunctive: Unreal Situations
 "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who
and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for
she is a sinner." (Luke 7:39 ESV)

12. Verbal Forms
 Infinitives: the bare form of the verb
 Present Active (time contemporary with or subsequent to
main verb): “To heal,” “to save,” “to call”
 Present Passive: “To be healed,” “to be saved,” “to be
called”
 Perfect Active (time prior to main verb): “To have
healed,” “to have loved”
 Perfect Passive: “To have been healed,” “to have been
loved”
 Stative: “To be,” “to have been”

13. Infinitives: Uses
 As a noun:
 Subject of verb: “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
(Phil 1:21 ESV)
 What is?
 Object of verb: “I want to know Christ.” (Phil 3:10
NRSV)
 I want what?

14. Infinitive: Uses (2)
 As an adjective:
 “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive.”
(Heb 11:11 NRSV)
 The infinitive answers the question “what kind of power?”

15. Infinitive: Uses (3)
 As an adverb:
 “Abraham … obeyed when he was called to go out.”
(Heb 11:8 NRSV)
 Supplies more information about the verb “called”
 “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” (Heb
11:16)
 Supplies more information about the adjective “ashamed,”
perhaps giving the “circumstances”

16. Participles
 Active: baptizing
 While baptizing by the river, John was arrested.
 Passive: baptized
 Baptized by John, Peter and Andrew went out to preach.
 Participles can form additional voices and
tenses with helping verbs, e.g.:
 Perfect Active: having baptized
 Having baptized many, John’s reputation spread.
 Perfect Passive: having been baptized
 Having been baptized by John, the tax collectors
repented.

17. Participles: Usage
 Adjectival Participial Clauses: the participles
describes some noun or pronoun
 “I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the
throne a scroll written on the inside and on the
back, sealed with seven seals” (Rev 5:1 NRSV)
 The participle “seated” introduces a clause that
further describes the “one”; the participles “written”
and “sealed” introduce clauses giving additional
information describing the “scroll.”

18. Participles: Usage (2)
 Adverbial Participial Clauses: the participle gives
more information about the action of the main verb
 “These all died in faith, not having received the things
promised, but having seen them and greeted them from
afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and
exiles on the earth.” (Heb 11:13 NRSV)
 “[not] having received” and “having seen … and greeted” and
“having acknowledged” all describe under what circumstances
“these all died.”
 “They were baptized by him in the river
Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matt 3:6 NRSV)
 “Confessing” supplies information about the circumstances
under which the people were being baptized.

19. Gerunds (Participles acting as
Nouns)
 The gerund looks like the present participle in
form: baptizing, seeing, healing
 As a gerund, however, the word acts as a simple
noun, naming the particular action.
 “To me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Phil 1:21
NRSV).
 “Living” and “Dying” are both fulfilling the role of
nouns as subjects of the verb “is.”

20. Verbals and their Complements
 Participles, Infinitives, and Gerunds can take all
the complements that a normal verb can take:
 Adverbs
 Direct Objects
 Indirect Objects
 Adverbial Prepositional Phrases
 Predicate Nominatives