Verbs are words that denote an action. There are two types of verbs – main verbs and helping verbs. Helping verbs are also referred as auxiliary verbs.
The difference between main verbs and helping verbs is that the main verb represents the action done by the subject in the sentence, whereas the helping verb is used along with the main verb to denote the tense of the verb.
Main verbs are further divided into transitive and intransitive verbs. Whereas auxiliary verbs are divided into primary and modal auxiliaries.
Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb is one that acts on something i.e. it has a direct object.
Examples of transitive verbs used in sentences:
1. I stopped the car.
2. Mila is reading a book.
3. He ate an apple.
4. They sold the tickets.
5. John kicked a ball.
Intransitive Verbs
An intransitive verb is one that does not have a direct object. It is not done to someone or something, it only involves the subject.
Examples of intransitive verbs used in sentences:
1. He laughed.
2. My dog died.
3. He ran fast.
4. Priyanka sat away from others.
5. There are butterflies flying all around.
There are four forms of main verbs – present tense (v1), past tense (v2), past participle (v3), and present participle (v4).
| Present tense (v1) | Past tense (v2) | Past participle (v3) | Present participle (v4) |
| begin | began | begun | beginning |
| become | became | become | becoming |
| buy | bought | bought | buying |
| bite | bit | bitten | biting |
| break | broke | broken | breaking |
| blow | blew | blown | blowing |
| build | built | built | building |
| burn | burnt | burnt | burning |
| catch | caught | caught | catching |
| choose | chose | chosen | choosing |
| cost | cost | cost | costing |
| come | came | come | coming |
| creep | crept | crept | creeping |
| cut | cut | cut | cutting |
| drive | drove | driven | driving |
| draw | drew | drawn | drawing |
| deal | dealt | dealt | dealing |
| dig | dug | dug | digging |
| drink | drank | drunk | drinking |
| do | did | done | doing |
| eat | ate | eaten | eating |
| fall | fell | fallen | falling |
| feed | fed | fed | feeding |
| feel | felt | felt | feeling |
| find | found | found | finding |
| freeze | froze | frozen | freezing |
| fly | flew | flown | flying |
| forget | forgot | forgotten | forgetting |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven | forgiving |
| get | got | gotten | getting |
| go | went | gone | going |
| give | gave | given | giving |
| grow | grew | grown | growing |
| hire | hired | hired | hiring |
| hide | hid | hidden | hiding |
| hit | hit | hit | hitting |
| teach | taught | taught | teaching |
| tell | told | told | telling |
| think | thought | thought | thinking |
| take | took | taken | taking |
| throw | threw | thrown | throwing |
| undergo | underwent | undergone | undergoing |
| wash | washed | washed | washing |
| wear | wore | worn | wearing |
| weep | wept | wept | weeping |
| win | won | won | wining |
| write | wrote | written | writing |
| work | worked | worked | working |
| yell | yelled | yelled | yelling |
| hear | heard | heard | hearing |
| hold | held | held | holding |
| know | knew | known | knowing |
| keep | kept | kept | keeping |
| lay | laid | laid | laying |
| play | played | played | playing |
| put | put | put | putting |
| read | read | read | reading |
| run | ran | run | running |
| say | said | said | saying |
| see | saw | seen | seeing |
| seek | sought | sought | seeking |
| send | sent | sent | sending |
| stand | stood | stood | standing |
Primary auxiliaries
Primary auxiliaries are used as helping verbs as well as main verbs.
Examples of primary auxiliaries used in sentences:
1. I am a teacher. (Main verb)
2. I am writing a letter. (Helping verb)
3. She has a car. (Main verb)
4. She has bought a car. (Helping verb)
5. She does her homework regularly. (Main verb)
Modal auxiliaries
Modal auxiliaries are used as helping verbs only and not as main verbs. They are always used along with a main verb. They are used to express certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, ability etc.
| Modal auxiliary | Purpose | Examples |
| Can | Ability in present, request, permission | 1. Nisha can take really good photos. 2. Can you lend me hundred rupees? 3. Of course, you can use my pen. |
| Can’t | Inability, impossibility, hard to believe | 1. I can’t install this game. 2. You can’t be cold – you’re wearing a thick sweater. |
| Could | Ability in past, possibility, polite request, suggestion | 1. Dhanush could read when he was four. 2. I’m not sure we’ll find table – restaurant could be full. 3. Could you come into my office, please? 4. May be you could try a different hairstyle. |
| May | Present or future possibility, formal request, giving/refusing permission | 1. We may get tickets to the concert. 2. May I have a glass of water, please? 3. You may leave early on Friday but you may not come into the office late on Monday. |
| Might | Possibility in past, present or future | 1. The hotel might not have any rooms. 2. She realized the children might get bored. |
| Will | Certainty, prediction, decision, request, promise, offer, willingness, refusal | 1. I’m sure you will enjoy the film. 2. Maria will probably be late. 3. It’s hot! I’ll turn on the air conditioning. 4. Will you make changes to this article, please? 5. I will help you tomorrow. 6. I won’t let you copy my homework again! |
| Would | Polite request, repeated past actions, refusal | 1. Would you prepare the report, please? 2. We would often go to the park in the summer. 3. I was angry with Ravi because he wouldn’t help me. |
| Shall | Polite question, offer | 1. Shall I book an early morning flight for you? |
| Should / Ought to | Obligation, asking or giving advice, polite suggestion, expectation | 1. You should / ought to give Ben the money you borrowed. 2. What should I wear to the party? 3. You shouldn’t spend all day playing video games. 4. The plane should / ought to take off soon. |
| Must | Obligation, necessity, near certainty, strong recommendation or suggestion | 1. We must be at the port by seven or we’ll miss the ferry. 2. You must pay the hotel before you leave. 3. It’s snowing! It must be cold outside. |
| Mustn’t | Prohibition | 1. Students mustn’t take their phones into exam hall. |
| Needn’t | Lack of necessity | 1. We needn’t do any shopping today; we’ve got everything. |
| Able to | Ability, manage to do something in spite difficulty | 1. Will you be able to drive me into town on Saturday? 2. With the help of GPS I was able to find the street easily. |
| Have to | Obligation, necessity | 1. Hotel receptionist has to be polite to guests. 2. Yesterday, Kiran had to get up earlier than usual. |
| Don’t have to | Lack of necessity | 1. Emma doesn’t have to go to school – she’s only three! 2. I’m only going away for two days so I don’t have to take much. |
| Must have | Certainty about past action | 1. My pencil case isn’t in my bag – I must have left it at home. |
| Can’t / couldn’t have | Certain that something did not happen | 1. You can’t / couldn’t have read the whole book in an afternoon – it’s over 600 pages long! |
| Could have | Ability / opportunity to do something but did not do it | 1. I could have gone to the party, but I just didn’t feel like going out. |
| May / might / could have | Guessing about what happened in past | 1. Sania was very quite yesterday. She may / might / could have been worried about something. |
| Should have / ought to have | Advice is not followed, expected has not happened | 1. You should have / ought to have worn glasses on such a sunny day. 2. Holly’s plane is late. It should have / ought to have landed half an hour ago. |
| Would have | Willingness to do something that wasn’t done, action possible but didn’t happen | 1. I would have bought the bracelet but I didn’t have enough money with me. 2. We would have left earlier but didn’t realize the traffic was so bad. |
| Needn’t have | Something was done that wasn’t necessary | 1. The restaurant was empty so we needn’t have booked a table. |