Verbs
A verb is a word that describes an action (to talk), an occurrence (to happen) or a state (to be).
There are three different types of verbs:
- main verbs
- auxiliaries
- modal verbs
This article will be dealing only with main verbs.
Most of all existing verbs belong to the group of main verbs. They are called "main verbs" because they can stand on their own in a sentence. They can be used in all English tenses.
Infinitive
The infinitive is the basic form of every verb. If a verb is in the infinitive, we do not know anything about the tense or number of the verb.
The infinitive of every verb is formed with "to"!
Some examples for main verbs in the infinitive are:
- to walk
- to talk
- to eat
- to sing
- to cry
- to apologise
- to forget
- to cook
Form
When you use a verb in a sentence, you have to consider the following rules:
- The verb has to be in the right tense, for example simple present or simple past.
- You have to find out whether it has to be simple or progressive.
- If it is in simple present, you have to be very careful with the third-person-s.