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    Learn English Verbs

    What are verbs in English grammar? Verbs are words that describe an action, state of being or occurrence. Learn English verbs usage and find out verbs types, examples and common mistakes.

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    These lessons are part of the Preply Grammar Reference, crafted by a team of language experts. This comprehensive guide covers essential English grammar topics, offering clear explanations, illustrative examples, and insights into common mistakes. Benefit from the collective expertise of Preply's dedicated professionals, ensuring a valuable resource for learners at every level. Learn more about Preply.

    English Verbs: The Ultimate Guide

    Here are how-to guides for every type of word you'll find when you learn English verbs. Check out the dedicated categories:

    Gerunds act as nouns but are formed with present participle verb forms.

    Infinitives are the basic forms of verbs which include 'to.'

    Phrasal verbs are verb phrases which include a verb and an adverb or preposition.

    Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary verb that give additional information about the main verb.

    In active voice, the subject of a sentence performs the action of the verb. In passive voice, it is acted on by the verb.

    Conditionals describe the probability of one thing happening in relation to another.

    Participle verb forms include '-ed' or '-ing' and function in various ways.

    Stative verbs describe states of being rather than actions.

    Auxiliary verbs help main verbs and may form questions or negatives.

    Subjunctive mood is used to express a wish or to talk about improbable situations.

    Free resources about English Verbs

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    Frequently asked questions

    If you’ve ever wondered how many English verbs exist, you might be surprised to hear that there’s no straightforward answer! The answers vary significantly, so most linguists agree that this question is unanswerable. OED currently contains over 600,000 entries. ​​Some say about one seventh are estimated to be verbs. Using this crude estimate, it would imply that there are about 80,000 accepted verbs in English. Therefore, the answer is somewhere between 25,000 and 100,000 verbs, which is far from specific. The best answer might be to just say, “about 1 out of 7 or about 15% of all words in the English language are English verbs.”
    Conjugated verbs are verbs that have been changed to communicate one or more of the following: person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood or voice. For example, verb conjugation might tell us who is performing an action, how many people are performing the action, when the verb is happening, or whether the action is still happening. Conjugating a verb in English takes it from the infinitive form (“to” + verb) and gives it a subject and a tense. Some verbs are also irregular, which makes their conjugation a bit more complicated. Here are some simple steps to conjugate verbs in English: Determine the correct verb tense. Verbs can occur in the past, present and future. present tense: We work together. past tense: We worked together. future tense: We will work together. Use the right verb aspect. Verb aspect describes the state of action of a verb; in other words, it depicts whether a verb has already happened, is still happening or was happening but now isn’t. simple aspect: The verb represents a fact or routine action. progressive (or continuous) aspect: The action is ongoing. perfect aspect: The action began in the past and may or may not continue in the present. perfect progressive (or continuous) aspect: The action began in the past and was ongoing, but it may or may not be happening at the time the story is told. Examples of these tenses include: simple present tense: I work in a library. present progressive tense: I am working in a library. present perfect tense: I have worked in a library. present perfect progressive: I have been working in a library. simple past tense: I worked in a library. past progressive tense: I was working in a library. past perfect tense: I had worked in a library. past perfect progressive: I had been working in a library. simple future tense: I will work in a library. future progressive tense: I will be working in a library. future perfect tense: I will have worked in a library. future perfect progressive tense: I will have been working in a library. Verb aspects provide more accurate time frames. Check for subject-verb agreement. The next most important verb conjugation rule is making sure that your subject and verb agree in number. These are the main subject-verb agreement rules: ​​If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular too. (E.g., He plays every game.) When using the singular “they,” use plural verb forms. (E.g., The player was happy about their performance. They are currently leading the team.) If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural. (E.g., They play every game.) Note that: When there is one subject and more than one verb, the verbs throughout the sentence must agree with the subject. (E.g., Professional athletes often train for several hours every day and continuously work on advancing their skills.) When the subject of the sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by “and,” use a plural verb. (E.g., The player and the team members meet every day.) Determine whether to use regular or irregular conjugation. Not every verb uses the same conjugation. Regular past tense verbs typically add “-ed” at the end of the verb, but irregular verbs take different forms in this tense. For example: regular verbs: play, played, have played irregular verbs: drink, drank, have drunk Decide on a voice (passive or active). Active and passive are the two grammatical voices in English. Use active voice when you want to have a clear, direct tone and for the reader to focus on the subject of your sentence. In the active voice, the subject acts upon its verb: Miranda performed her theater piece for the judges. Use passive voice when you want your reader to focus on the action being described or the verb’s direct object. Passive voice is often subtler than active voice. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action from the verb: The theater piece was performed by Miranda for the judges. Make the verb match the mood. Each verb has a mood that tells us how the action is viewed or perceived by the speaker. It indicates whether something is a fact, opinion, command, suggestion, request, wish, hypothetical (imaginary) situation, or an uncertain situation. Choose the correct mood between the following: Stative (or indicative) mood: makes a statement (fact or opinion) It is snowing at the moment. (fact) The painting is beautiful. (opinion) Interrogative mood: asks a question Where have you planted the roses? Imperative mood: makes a request or command At five o’clock, do your homework. Conditional mood: makes a statement or request based on a possible event (using an auxiliary verb like “should” or “could”) If you want to pass your driving exam, you should practice driving. Subjunctive mood: makes a statement based on a hypothetical or wishful situation If I were her, I wouldn’t buy that house.
    An irregular verb in English is one that does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form. Irregular verbs contrast with regular verbs, which form the simple past tense and the past participle by adding "-ed" or “-d.”