By now, you know what a verb is. But do you know what are the different forms of verb? Can you identify them as you speak out in your sentences? Can you give me some examples? Well, let’s find out more about the Forms of Verb.
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Forms of Verb
Like many languages, English has regular verbs and irregular verbs. An English regular verb is a verb in which the simple past is formed by the addition of the morpheme –ed to the base a form of the verb. (There are a few small irregularities concerning this morpheme)
A regular verb also means that the past participle form is the same as the simple past form. Here are examples of regular verbs in the base form, the simple past, and the past participle form:
Regular Verbs
- Base form:
- Call
- Belong
- Anticipate
- Simple past:
- Called
- Belonged
- Anticipated
- Past participle:
- Called
- Belonged
- Anticipated
For irregular verbs, the simple past is formed by a change in spelling. The past participle sometimes maintains the same form as the simple past, but not always. Other times, the simple past and the past participle are the same as the base form.
Irregular Verbs
- Base form:
- See
- Think
- Cut
- Simple past:
- Saw
- Thought
- Cut
- Past participle:
- Seen
- Thought
- Cut
Some verbs are called transitive verbs. These verbs are followed by nouns or pronouns that serve as direct objects in the sentence. In general, English sentence structure follows this pattern: subject + verb + direct object.
Source: Anglomaniacy
Subject-Verb-Object
The following verbs require a direct object. Without a direct object, the sentences are incomplete.
- Incorrect:
I own
She loves
They plant
The tree has - Correct:
I own a car.
She loves Tom.
They plant trees.
The tree has a leaf.
Verbs that do not require a direct object are called intransitive verbs. Here are some examples:
- Subject-Verb
Birds fly.
Fish swim.
Tom snores.
They agree.
Some verbs in English can be both transitive and intransitive, Here are some examples:
- Intransitive: Subject Verb Object
They cook dinner.
Alicia teaches English.
I won a toy. - Transitive: Subject-Verb
They cook.
Alicia teaches.
I won.
Solved Examples for You
Q1. Fill in the blank with the most suitable non-finite verb to complete the sentence:
We are planning _____ him a laptop.
- gifting
- to gift
- to be gifting
- gifts
Sol. The correct answer is the option ”a”. The verbs that do not explain the tense of the sentence and do not agree with the subject are called non-finite verbs. Non-finite verbs are usually infinitives, gerunds, and participles.
- Option A – ‘Gifting’ is the participle form of the verb. However, ‘gifting’ is a finite verb here. The verb in the given sentence is already in the participle form, hence we can’t use another verb in the participle form. Hence, options A is incorrect.
- Option C – ‘To be gifting’ can be used in passive voice. As the sentence is in the active voice, we can’t use ‘to be gifting’ here. Also, it is grammatically incorrect to use. Hence, option C is incorrect.
- Option D – ‘Gifts’ is the third person form of the verb, it is a finite verb here. It is grammatically incorrect to use ‘gifts’. Hence, option D is incorrect.
- Option B – ‘To gift’ is the infinitive verb, which can be used here as it doesn’t explain the tense of the sentence. Hence, option B is the correct answer. ‘We are planning to gift him a laptop.’
