Verbs
Verbs – A verb is a word that tells something about a person or a doing. In another word, Doing words are known as verbs.
Example :
- Harish laughs.
- The camel is dead.
In the above examples the words in bolds are all verbs. They are conveying that something is being done or has been done to the Nouns associated with them in the sentence.
Classification of Verbs : Verbs can be further classified into different categories.
1. Transitive verbs – The verbs that denote an action which passes over from the doer or subject in the sentence to the object are called transitive verbs.
Example :
- The boy hits the ball
- Rajiv pushed the door.
In the above examples number (i) the action hits passes over from the doer (the boy) to the object (the ball). Thus the verb is a transitive verb. Same is the case with the verb in the second example ie doer Rajiv pushed the door.
2. Intransitive Verbs – The verbs that denote an action which does not pass over from the doer or subject in the sentence to the object are called intransitive verbs.
Example :
- The boy laughs.
- Rajiv sleeps soundly.
In the above examples number (i) the action laughs stops to the doer (the boy) .Thus the verb is an intransitive verb. Same is the case with the verb in the second example i.e doer Rajiv sleeps soundly.
Notes :
1. .In real sense most of the verbs can be used both as Transitive and Intransitive verbs thereby making the distinction a bit vague. Therefore it is prudent to say that a particular verb is used transitively or intransitively rather than that it is Transitive or Intransitive. Following example will make it clear to you.
- The snakes fought the eagles.
- Some snakes fight fiercely.
In the above example verb fight/fought is being used as transitive in the first sentence and as intransitive in the second sentence.
2. Some verbs like come, go, fall, die denotes action which cannot be done to anything else thus they can never be used in transitive form.
- Rakesh fell down.
- Sudha died in an accident.
The verbs given in the above examples cannot be used in intransitive form at all.
Forms of Verbs : There are three forms of verb commonly known as first, second and third form and literally known as Base – Past – Past participle.
E.g Walk – Walked – walked
Sit – Sat – Sat
On the basis of forms, the Verbs can be further classified in two different categories:
1. Regular Verbs – Those verbs that form their past and past participle by adding –ed- are known as regular verbs.
E.g. Laugh – Laughed – Laughed.
2. Irregular Verbs – Those verbs that form their past and past participle by any other way except adding –ed- at the end are known as irregular verbs.
E.g. Be – Was – Been.
