Verbs

VERBS:

Verbs are the 'doing' or action words. They can be used to express:

the past, e.g. I/he/she was; we/they were

the present, e.g. I am; he/she is; we/they are

or the future, e.g. I/he/she/we/they will be; I am going to be; he/she is going to be; we/they are going to be.

They are essential if a sentence is to make sense and their types/manner of use is quite varied and complex – fortunately their use is not as difficult as their names.

Finite verbs

These are the uses we are already familiar with and are always associated with the past, present or future. For example:

Yesterday I was feeling unwell (past)

Today I am feeling only slightly better (present)

Tomorrow I will go to the doctor (future)

Finite verbs are also classified into transitive and intransitive which depends on linking (transitive) or not linking (intransitive) to an object.

For example:

He cleaned the car (transitive, where 'car' is the object)

She sings well (intransitive, has no object)

Non-finite verbs

Non-finite verbs are classified into three groups: infinitive, present participle and past participle. Again the name types are more complex than their use, for example:

Infinitive is the form of the verb that has the word 'to' in front of it, e.g. to speak, to eat, to write, to sleep, etc. They cannot be used alone in a sentence which must always also include a finite verb to make sense. For example: 'To read a book' is not a complete sentence but 'I decided to read a book' or 'To read a book, is a good way of relaxing' make more sense because 'decided' (past tense) and 'relaxing' (present tense) are finite verbs.

Many academic writers consider it wrong to 'split an infinitive', i.e. to put another word between the 'to' and the verb. For example, 'I need to quickly go to London'. The word 'quickly' splits up the 'to' and the 'go'. It is better to write 'I need to go to London quickly'.

However, today this is more a question of style and as we noted at the start of the grammar section, it is much better to start writing in your own words, than to not write because you are afraid of making grammatical errors. Forget the errors, just write as naturally as you can. The academics will help you correct the errors as you develop, but we cannot correct what’s in your head, you must put it on paper first.

'Present/past participle'

Present participle always ends in 'ing' and can be connected with the verb 'to be' (is, am, was, were, etc.) to make a finite verb, e.g.

I am writing these lecture notes.

James was watching television.

They were going shopping.

"ing" verbs can also be used as a noun. For example,

'watching cricket is boring'.

A past participle verb is typically used with the verb 'to have' (or has/had in the past tense), e.g.

'She had written an essay'.

'She has passed her exam'.

Exercise

Insert the correct form of the verb (i.e. verb plus infinitive or add 'ing') in the following (click text for answer):