Tips on Using Verbs

16 TIPS on USING VERBS
Grammar Rules and Tips for using Verbs

What is a Verb?
Verbs are words that describe an action, an occurrence, or a state of
being; mental, physical, or mechanical. Verbs form one of the main parts
of a sentence or question in English.
Function of Verb: It answers the following questions
1. What a person or thing do? She teaches in school. (active)
2. What is done to a person or a thing? The house was cleaned.
(passive)
3. What is the time of action? I am going to Jaipur tomorrow. (future
tense)
4. What a person or thing is? My brother is a doctor. (‘be’ as an
ordinary verb)

Types of Verbs
1. Auxiliary Verb (Be, Have, Do): used together with a main verb to show the
verb’s tense or to form a negative or a question: Does Sam write his own
reports?
2. Modal Verb: Can/Could, Will/ Would, Shall/ Should, May/Might--used to
express ability, possibility, permission or obligation: You can go to school.
3. Transitive Verb: action of verb transits/ passes over to an object: She ate
the fruits. (fruits is ‘direct object’)
4. Intransitive Verb: action of verb does not transit/pass over to an object:
The cat sneezed.
5. Stative Verb: relates to a state of being, a thought, or an emotion but not
an action: He feels elated.
6. Action Verb: expresses physical or mental action: She is walking in the
park. (or) He believes that it can be done.
7. Regular Verb: takes add -ed or -d to the base form of the verb to create the
past forms: (Play-Played)
8. Irregular Verbs don’t take on the regular –d, -ed, or -ied spelling patterns of
the past simple or past participle: (Catch-Caught)

Types of Verbs
9. Phrasal Verb: made with a main verb and another word (either
a preposition or a particle) and forms a meaning different to the main verb:
A burglar will often break a window to break in.
10. Finite Verb: shows tense and are conjugated to agree with the subject: She
was waiting in the room.
11. Non-Finite Verb: do not show tense. They are of three types:
• Participle: usually formed by adding –ing or –ed to a verb. It functions
as an adjective: The singing bird was the main attraction at the event.
• Gerunds: formed by adding –ing to a verb. It functions as a noun:
Smoking is prohibited in the hospital.
• Infinitive: formed by using the word ‘to’ before the verb in its stem
word. It functions as a noun, adjective or adverb: Shalini loves to talk.
12. Link Verb: Some verbs are followed by either a noun or an adjective: He
became angry. (noun + verb + adjective)
13. Causative Verb: used to indicate that some person/thing makes, requires,
forces or helps to make something happen: I made my friend write a letter.

Subject-Verb Agreement: Subjects and verbs
must AGREE with one another in number
(singular or plural).
A singular subject takes a singular verb:
The dog growls when he is angry.
A plural subject takes a plural verb:
The dogs growl when they are angry.
Phrases between the subject and verb not
affect agreement:
The dog, which belongs to my relatives,
usually growls at strangers.
Tip #1: Singular-Plural
In the present tense: Nouns ADD an s to the
singular form; Verbs REMOVE the s from the
singular form.
Singular: The dog chases the cat.
Plural: The dogs chase the cat.
In the simple past tense: The verb remains the
same when without any helping verbs.
Singular: The girl talked to me.
Plural: The girls talked to me.
is-are, was-were, has-have, does-do: When
helping verbs are used with a main verb, there
must be Subject-Verb Agreement:
Singular: The girl has talked to me.
Plural: The girls have talked to me.
Tip #2: Verbs in Tense

As well as, Like, Unlike, Besides, In
addition to, With, Together with, Along
with, And not, Rather than, No less
than, Except, Nothing, No more than:
When these words join two or more
subjects, the verb is used according to
the first subject.
Nothing but prayer is valuable. (here
prayer is in singular number so we use
singular verb ‘is’)
The coach as well as the players was
honored by the government. (the first
subject ‘coach’ is singular so we use
singular verb ‘was’, not ‘were’)
Tip #3: Unlike, Besides,
With, Except
Tip #4: Either-Or,
Neither Nor
Not only-But also, Either-or, Neither-
nor, None-but: When these words join
two or more subjects, the verb is used
according to the nearest subject.
One or two books is are needed.
(nearest subject ‘books’ is in plural so
we use plural verb ‘are’)
None but the students are responsible
for the chaos in the class.
Neither the class teacher nor the
students were present in the assembly.

Each, Every, None, Anyone, Neither,
Either: When these words are used as
pronouns or adjectives, the following verb
should be in the third person singular.
Neither of the two workers have has
come today. (though we are talking about
two workers, we still use ‘has’)
None: when used with uncountable
nouns, verb is singular.
None of the information is correct.
Each: when used after subject, verb is
plural.
They each are obedient.
Each of the students is obedient. (here
‘each’ is an adjective, so singular verb)
Tip #5: Each, Every
Many A/An, More than One: These
expressions should be followed by a
singular noun and singular verb.
Many a candidate has applied for the
job. (the noun ‘candidate’ and the verb
‘has’ is in singular due to use of ‘many a’)
Many candidates have applied for the
job. (noun and verb both plural)
More than one man was absent. (the
noun ‘man’ and the verb ‘was’ is in
singular due to use of ‘more than one’)
More men than one were absent. (in
case of ‘more men than one’, the verb is
plural)
Tip #6: Many A/An,
More than One

Amount, Sum, Quantity, Time, period,
Distance: When these are expressed
using plural nouns, the following verb is
singular.
Two miles are is too far to walk.
Hundred rupees is the entry fee.
(‘hundred rupees’ is considered one
amount of money)
Hundred rupees were scattered on the
floor. (In this sentence, ‘hundred rupees’
is considered to be hundred individual
rupee notes and not a single unit)
Tip #7: Plural Noun (time,
distance, period) Tip #8: Collective Noun
Family, Herd, Choir, Group, Team,
Group, Population: These types of
collective nouns are followed by both
singular and plural verbs, depending on
the intent.
The class is in session. (Here ‘class’ is
referring to the whole group so we
have a singular verb)
The class are taking their tests today.
(The ‘class’ in this sentence is referring
to each member as an individual so it
uses a plural verb)

If two subjects are joined by "and," the
verb is plural:
Bread and butter are sold here.
If the two subjects separated by "and"
refer to the same person or thing, the
verb is singular:
Bread and butter is difficult to earn. (here
‘bread and butter’ is a compound noun)
Rice and fish is my mom's favorite dish.
Tip #9: And
It: When sentence begins with ‘It’, the
verb is according to the subject indicated
by ‘It’)
It is a real challenge to find a good deal
on a car. (‘Finding a good deal’ is the
subject which is singular)
There, Here: When sentences start with
“there” or “here,” the subject will always
be placed after the verb and verb is
conjugated in agreement with the
subject.
There is a problem with the balance.
sheet.
Here are the papers you requested.
Tip #10: It, Here, There

Number of:
The number of musicians signing to record
labels increases each year.
A number of musicians intend to get a
contract deal each year.
Means:
Means are more important than the ends.
A fair means is more important the foul
ones.
Wage:
The wages/wage in IT are/is the highest.
(wage meaning rate of compensation)
The wages of sin is death. (here wage
means recompense or return)
Tip #11: Number Of,
Wages, Means
Plenty of, Rest of, Variety of, A lot of,
fraction of, Per cent of: In these cases we
use singular verb with uncountable nouns
and plural verb with countable nouns .
Plenty of milk is available in the store.
(milk is uncountable so singular verb)
A variety of books are available. (books
are a countable noun, so plural verb)
Per cent/ Percentage:
Twenty per cent of the students have
cleared the exam.
The percentage of the successful
candidate is low. (verb is singular in case
of percentage)
Tip #12: Plenty, Variety,
Lot, Percentage

Subjunctive Mood: used to express things
that are hypothetical, wishful, imaginary, or
factually contradictory.
‘Were’ replaces ‘was’ in sentences that
express a wish or are contrary to fact:
If Ramesh were here, you'd be sorry.
I wish it were Saturday.
As if/As though:
She behaves as if she was were the
landlady.
Tip #13: Subjunctive
Mood
Interrogation: Subject-Verb inversion
happens in questions.
What is the problem?
What are the problems?
Did he come to work on time?
Inversion also happens when the
sentence is introduced by adverb:
So quickly did she finish her assignment
that we were astonished.
Inversion occurs when the verb is meant
to be a wish or prayer:
May you be blessed with a long life.
Tip #14: Subject-Verb
Inversion

Transitive Verb:
•Require an object
•Transfer their action to the object
She wrote a book. (verb ‘write’ transfers
the action to single object ‘a book’)
She offered him (first object) her book.
(second object). (verb ‘offer’ transfers the
action to two objects ‘him’ and ‘her book’)
Intransitive Verb:
•Don’t require an object
They run. ( verb ‘run’ has no object)
She slept. ( verb ‘slept’ has no object)
Tip #15: Transitive,
Intransitive Verbs
Irregular Verbs: Verbs that don’t take on
the regular –d, -ed, or -ied spelling
patterns of the past simple (or past
participle.
Base Simple Past Past Participle
Be Was, Were, Been
Arise Arose Arisen
Begin Began Begun
Irregular verbs where past and past
participle remain the same:
Base Simple Past Past Participle
Bid Bid Bid
Cost Cost Cost
Hit Hit Hit
Tip #16: Irregular Verbs

The percentage of successful candidates are very high.
My mother no less than my father are strict.
Every student and every teacher have participated in the school event.
Three fourths of my salary go to taxes.
Six months are needed to complete the assignment.
Spot the Error

The percentage of successful candidates are very high.
The percentage of successful candidates is very high.
My mother no less than my father are strict.
My mother no less than my father is strict.
Every student and every teacher have participated in the school event.
Every student and every teacher has participated in the school event.
Three fourths of my salary go to taxes.
Three fourths of my salary goes to taxes.
Six months are needed to complete the assignment.
Six months is needed to complete the assignment.
Spot the Error

Thirty five percent of the population are educated.
A lot of my friends lives here.
She requested that he raises his hand.
A bouquet of yellow roses lend color and fragrance to the room.
Either Anita or Ashish are helping today with the arrangements.
Spot the Error

Thirty five percent of the population are educated.
Thirty five percent of the population is educated.
A lot of my friends lives here.
A lot of my friends live here.
She requested that he raises his hand.
She requested that he raise his hand.
A bouquet of yellow roses lend color and fragrance to the room.
A bouquet of yellow roses lends color and fragrance to the room.
Either Anita or Ashish are helping today with the arrangements.
Either Anita or Ashish is helping today with the arrangements.
Spot the Error

A scooter and a car is my means of transportation.
Breaking and entering are against the law.
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl go in the dishwasher.
Five years are the maximum sentence for that offense.
Here is the keys to the first floor room.
Spot the Error

A scooter and a car is my means of transportation.
A scooter and a car are my means of transportation.
Breaking and entering are against the law.
Breaking and entering is against the law.
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl go in the dishwasher.
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes in the dishwasher.
Five years are the maximum sentence for that offense.
Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.
Here is the keys to the first floor room.
Here are the keys to the first floor room.
Spot the Error

I or he are to be rewarded?
They each is honest.
Many an events have taken place in the stadium.
Plenty of information are available on the internet.
At the party, they enjoyed.
Spot the Error

I or he are to be rewarded?
I or he is to be rewarded?
They each is honest.
They each are honest.
Many an events have taken place in the stadium.
Many an event has taken place in the stadium.
Plenty of information are available on the internet.
Plenty of information is available on the internet.
At the party, they enjoyed.
At the party, they enjoyed themselves.
Spot the Error

About Us
LearningPundits helps Job Seekers make great CVs,
master English Grammar and Vocabulary , ace
Aptitude Tests , speak fluently in a Group Discussion
and perform well in Interviews.
We also conduct weekly online contests on
Aptitude and English. Job Seekers can also apply for
jobs on LearningPundits.
You can read more about Tips on Using Verbs.

Tips on Using Verbs

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to Tips on Using Verbs (20)

More from LearningPundits.Com (10)

Recently uploaded (20)

Tips on Using Verbs

Editor's Notes