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To go straight to expanded list of verbs, scroll down to the middle of the page for our “huge verbs list”.
What would happen if we didn’t have verbs? Not much at all. Verbs are perhaps the most important part of speech in the English language. You can’t do or be anything unless a verb lets you. Verbs are everywhere, and it’s about time you got to know them with this list of verbs of many types.
Action verbs tell about something a person, animal, force of nature or thing can do or be. Can you cry, march, rinse, or turn? Can the wind blow or a cup fall? Yes, those are all actions. Use this list to think of other action verbs.
| add allow bake bang call chase damage | drop end escape fasten fix gather grab | hang hug imagine itch jog jump kick | knit land lock march mix name notice | obey open pass promise question reach rinse | scatter stay talk turn untie use vanish | visit walk work yawn yell zip zoom |
Verbs also use special rules for telling when something happened – in the past, the present, or the future. Here is a list of examples for each verb tense using the verb break. Try putting other verbs in the place of break.
Present tense – I/you/we/they break, he/she/it breaks
Past Tense – I/you/he/she/it/we/they broke
Future Tense – I/you/he/she/it/we/they will break
Present Perfect Tense – I/you/he/she/it/we/they have broken
Past Perfect Tense – I/you/he/she/it/we/they had broken
Future Perfect Tense – I/you/he/she/it/we/they will have broken
Being Verbs tell about something in a state of being. A noun or pronoun does not always take action. Sometime, it just is. For that purpose, you use a being verb. Here are the being verbs in all the past, present, and future tenses.
Present tense – I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are
Past Tense – I was, you were, he/she/it, was, we were, they were
Future Tense – I will be, you will be, he/she/it will be, we will be, they will be
Present Perfect Tense – I have been, you have been, he/she/it has been, we have been, they have been
Past Perfect Tense -I had been, you had been, he/she/it had been, we had been, they had been
Future Perfect Tense – I will have been, you will have been, he/she/it will have been, we will have been, they will have been
Helping verbs do not stand alone or express action. They are part of verb phrases that “help” the main verb. Helping verbs define the tense (past, present, future) or change the meaning of the main verb. Consider these examples:
Do you need a tissue?
We are helping the third-grade class.
Hank might have been driving the wrong way.
This list has commonly-used helping verbs:
| may might must be | being been am are | is was were do | does did should could | would have had has | will can shall |
Linking verbs do not show action. Instead, they connect nouns and pronouns to other information in the sentence. Here are some examples:
My sister is smart.
The picture appeared blurry.
Your supper smells delicious.
The most common linking verbs are listed here:
| am are are being appear | be become feel get grow | have/has been is lie look might be | might have been prove remain seem sit | smell sound stay taste turn were |
Irregular Verbs are verbs that don’t follow the rules for changing tense. The best way to understand irregular verbs is to practice and memorize them.
Here are some common examples shown in the present/past/past participle:
The dog wants to bite me.
The dog bit me.
The dog has bitten me.
My arm hurts.
I hurt my arm yesterday.
I have hurt my arm before.
bite/bit/bitten
choose/chose/chosen
eat/ate/eaten
fall/fell/fallen
hurt/hurt/hurt
go/went/gone
lay/laid/laid
ring/rang/rung
send/sent/sent
teach/taught/taught
write/wrote/written
Verbs do a lot of work in the English language. Some are busy action verbs; others are modest helping or linking verbs. No matter what kind they are, verbs keep the English language movin’ and shakin’.
List of Verbs
| A
abate
| B
babble
| C
cackle
| D
dab
|
| E
ease
| F
fabricate
| G
gabble
| H
hack
|
| I
idea
| J
jab
| K
keen
| L
label
|
| M
maintain
| N
nag
| O
obey
| P
pace
|
| Q
quack
| R
race rustle
| S
sack
| T
tabulate
|
| U
ululate
| V
vacillate
| W
waddle
| X – Y – Z
x-ray yank zip
|
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