Verb, Finite & Non-Finite Verbs

Verb

     Verb is a word which shows action or state of something.

Examples. Write, run, eat, drink, catch, clean, speak, laugh, weep, are some verbs

        He is writing a letter.

    In the above example, the verb “write” tells us about the action (writing) of the subject (he). A verb has its subject in sentence and verb tells us what its subject does, did or will do.

Verbs describe action or state. Most verbs describe action, such verbs are called “dynamic verb”, for example write, eat, run, speak. Some verbs describe state of something, such verbs are called “stative verb” and are not usually used in continuous tense for example be, impress, please, surprise, belong to, consist of, resemble, seem

Examples.
            He works in a factory(action)
            I boughta computer. (action)
            John seems happy. (state)
            He resembles his brother (state)

Some verbs can be used as dynamic verb as well as stative verb.
Example.
           She looks very beautiful. (look as stative verb)
           She looked at black board. (look as dynamic verb)

                    Forms of verb according to tense or time of action.

Verb has three forms according to tense.

• Base form           2. Past Simple    4. Past participle

For example, go—went—gone. “Go” is base form, “went” is past simple form, and “gone” is past participle form. These three form may also be named as 1st form, 2nd form and 3rd form of verb, which are denoted by V1, V2 and V3 respectively. “ing” is added to base form verb to make present participle which can be used with auxiliary verb “to be” in continuous tense, for example, go—going, eat—eating, laugh—laughing.

                      Formation of past simple and past participle

On the basis formation of past simple and past participle, verb is divided into

• •Regular verbs
• •Irregular verbs

 

Regular Verbs.

Some verbs form their past simple and past participle form by adding “-ed” to their base form, such verbs are called regular verbs, for example laugh—laughed—laughed, look—looked—looked.
Some examples

Verb	Base form or V1	Past simple or V2	Past participle or V3	Present participle
To advise	advise	advised	advised	Advising
To allow	allow	allowed	allowed	Allowing
To enjoy	enjoy	enjoyed	enjoyed	Enjoying
To rain	rain	rained	rained	Raining
To smile	smile	smiled	smiled	Smiling

 

Irregular Verbs.

Some verbs form their past simple and participle in different ways for example, buy—bought—bought, eat—ate—eaten, such verbs are called irregular verbs. 

Some examples

Verb	Base form or V1	Past simple or V2	Past participle or V3	Present participle
To know	know	knew	known	Knowing
To go	go	went	gone	Going
To drink	drink	drank	drunk	Drinking
To hold	hold	held	held	Holding
To write	wriite	wrote	written	Writing

Some verbs remain same in past simple and past participle.

Some example

Verb	Base form or V1	Past simple or V2	Past participle or V3	Present participle
To cut	cut	cut	cut	Cutting
To shut	shut	shut	shut	Shutting
To spread	spread	spread	spread	Spreading
To put	put	put	put	Putting
To read	read	read	read	reading

Main Verbs and Auxiliary or Helping verbs

A sentence can have both main verb and helping verb (auxiliary verb).

Main verb: A verb which has major meaning in terms of action are called main verb,i.e. write, buy, eat etc. 

Helping verb: A verb which supports the main verb to form the structure of sentence, according a specific tense, is called helping verb or auxiliary verb, i.e. is, am, have, was, had, is, will etc.

Main Verbs and Helping verbs (Axilliary)

A sentence can have both main verb and helping verb (auxiliary verb).

Main verb: A verb which has major meaning in terms of action are called main verb,i.e. write, buy, eat etc. 

Helping verb: A verb which supports the main verb to form the structure of sentence (according to a specific tense) and give us information about the time of action expressed by main verb, is called helping verb or auxiliary verb, i.e. is, am, have, was, had, is, will etc.

Main verb has real meaning and tells more about action while helping verb has no (or little) meaning if it is alone but it adds time information about action if used with main verb to specify the tense or time of the main verb. The examples below will help in better understanding.

   She is eating an apple. (“eat” is main verb while “is” is helping verb)
   She was eating an apple. (“eat” is main verb while “was” is helping verb)

The main verbs in these sentences “eat” convey the information about the action which is done on an apple, while the helping verbs in these sentences "is, and was" tells us the about the time of action by referring to specific tense. In first sentence with helping verb "is" action (eating an apple) is being done right now in the present time while in the second sentence with hepling verb "was" action (eating an apple) was being done in past.

It means the MAIN VERB CONVEYS the meaning of action with a little information about its time, but the HELPING VERB (also called auxilliary Verb) tell us more about the time of action. Helping verbs and main verbs together make a structure of sentence of a specific tense (action and its time)

Use of helping verbs.

There are three primary helping verbs, be, do, and have, which are majorly used in tenses.

• Be (am, is, are). Forms of “be” are used for continuous tenses.

Example. She is laughing. (Present Continuous tense)

• Have (have, has, had). Forms of “have” are used in perfect tense.

Example.
He has completed his work. (Present prefect tense)
He had bought a car. (Past perfect tense)

• Do(do, does, did). Forms of “do” are used in indefinite(simple) tenses i.e. present simple tense or past simple tense.

Example.
They do not play chess. (Present simple tense)
I did not see him. (Past simple)

Modal Verbs (Modal auxiliaries)

Modal verbs are used to express ideas such as ability, possibility, intention or necessity.
Examples.

• Can, could (ability)
• May might (possibility)
• Will, shall, would (intention)
• Should (necessity)
• Must (necessity)
• Ought to

Modal verbs can be used before main verb as helping verbs.
Examples
I can play violin.
It may rain today.
You must learn the test-taking strategies.
I will call you.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Transitive Verbs.

A verb which needs to have object in sentence is called transitive verb.
Transitive verbs should have an object in sentence because without subject it does not covey complete meaning.
Example.
He bought  ______.

There should be some object in this sentence for verb “buy”. Without an object the verb “bought” does not give complete meaning. To make it more meaningful we use some object for verb “bought” i.e book or computer or car. 

He bought a book.
or
He bought a computer.
or
He bought a  computer.

More examples.
John is eating a mango.
He has completedhis work.
I caught a bird in bushes.
She wrote a story.

Intransitive sentence.

A verb which does not need to have object in sentence is called intransitive.
Intransitive verb can give complete meaning with an object in sentence for it.
Example.
He slept.
She is laughing.
It has rained.
He is running.
They arrived.

Finite Verbs

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What is a finite verb?

A finite verb is a form of a verb that has a subject and exhibit tense and number in an independent clause or sentence. Finite verbs are distinguished from non-finite verbs which do not show a distinction in tense and number, and cannot stand alone as the main verb in an independent clause.

Examples

They watched the match. - They is a subject; watched is a finite verb; the match is an object.
They are watching the match. - They is a subject; are is a finite; watching is a non-finite verb (which does not exhibit tense); the match is an object.

Non-Finite Verbs

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What is a non-finite verb?

A non- finite verb is a form of a verb that does not have a subject and and does not exhibit tense and number in an independent clause or sentence. In English, the non-finite verb forms areinfinitives and gerunds and participles. Non-finite verbs are distinguished from finite verbs which show a distinction in tense and number, and may stand alone as the main verb in an independent clause.

Examples

They are writing the letter. - They is a subject; are is a finite; writing is a non-finite verb (which does not exhibit tense nor number); the match is an object.

They wrote the letter . - They is a subject; wrote is a finite verb; the letter is an object.