10

10.3 Verbs

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Verb - a word that expresses action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement.

Action Verb - tells what someone or something does.
Transitive - is an action verb that is followed by a word or words that answer the question what? or whom?

Cats see their prey in the dark.

Intransitive - is an action verb that is not followed by a word that answers the question what? or whom?

Cats see well in the dark.

Linking Verb - links, or joins, the subject of a sentence (often a noun or pronoun) with a word or expression that identifies or describes the subject.

I am an athlete. Squash is an indoor sport.

The players are fast. They were hockey fans.

Verb Phrase - may consist of more than one word. The words that accompany the verb are called auxiliary, or helping, verbs. A verb phrase consists of a main verb and its auxiliary, or helping verb.

Be and Have - express time

We are working. We have worked. We had been working.

Others - do not express time

I should be leaving. Could he have finished?

Luisa may already be waiting.