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Javier Pineda and Carmen Weffer

What is a Verb?

Verbs are a necessary component of all sentences. Verbs have two important functions: Some verbs put static objects into motion while other verbs help to clarify the objects in meaningful ways. Look at the examples below:

• My grumpy old English teacher smiled at the plate of cold meatloaf.

My grumpy old English teacher = static object; smiled = verb.

• The daredevil cockroach splashed into Sara's soup.

The daredevil cockroach = static object; splashed = verb.

• Theo's overworked computer exploded in a spray of sparks.

Theo's overworked computer = static object; exploded = verb.

Word Function when you are looking for a Verb

Many words in English have more than one function. Sometimes a word is a subject, sometimes a verb, sometimes a modifier. As a result, you must often analyze the job a word is doing in the sentence. Look at these two examples:

• The Potato chips crunch too loudly to eat during an exam.
• The crunch of the potato chips drew the angry glance of Professor Orsini to our corner of the room.

Crunch is something that we can do. We can crunch cockroaches under our shoes. We can crunch popcorn during a movie. We can crunch numbers for a math class. In the first sentence, then, crunch is what the potato chips do, so we can call it a verb. Even though crunch is often a verb, it can also be a noun. The crunch of the potato chips, for example, is a thing, a sound that we can hear. You therefore need to analyze the function that a word provides in a sentence before you determine what grammatical name to give that word.

Verb Tense and Structure

The tense of a verb indicates the relative time of the action or state of being. Rarely are journalists required to know a verb's tense other than to understand its usage and agreement. In other words, it is less important for the average journalist to know that in the sentence "Bill is running," the verb "is running" is in the present progressive tense than it would be to know that "running" is the main verb and "is" acts as its helper. It is also important to know that the form of the helping verb must agree with the subject. (i.e. "Bill is running" not "Bill are running" or "Bill were running.")

Writers would be wise to recognize that the verb is the force behind the sentence and, therefore, will improve their writing by being able to recognize what the verb is and how it is being used.
The first step in that process is understanding the structure or parts of a verb.

Verbs in the simple past or simple present tense have only a lexical (main) verb:

• The woman ran the marathon.
• He gives his money to charity.
• The kangaroo hopped quickly toward the fence.

Sentences in other tenses have more complicated verb structures:

• Tim was organizing the award dinner last week.
• Every Friday this year, Gloria has taken her dog to obedience training.
• Taking any chance to avoid work, Carton will pretend to be asleep.

In these more complicated tenses, auxiliary (helping) verbs and lexical (main) verbs make up the complete verb.

A LEXICAL VERB is the MAIN verb of the sentence.

Think of the lexical verb as the main action the subject is engaged in.

Consider the following sentence:

Ellen Castro will be attending the movie premiere this evening.

ATTENDING is Ellen Castro's main action. The other parts of the verb (will be) simply help out.

Please note that a lexical verb does not require an auxilary verb, but an auxilary verb exists only to help a lexical verb. It cannot exist alone.

• Susan Raymond rested in the shadow of a canyon oak tree.

Susan's action, which occured in the past, is RESTED. RESTED is the lexical verb and has no auxilary verb.

• Alfred should give his jacket to someone who will wear it.

Alfred's action, which is conditional, is GIVE. GIVE is the lexical verb and SHOULD helps it and is auxilary.

• The barber has been giving that man a haircut every month for 30 years.

The barber's action, which has continued to occur over time, is GIVING. GIVING is the lexical verb. HAS and BEEN help it and are auxilary.

Linking verbs (those indicating a state of being rather than an action) can include lexical and auxilary verbs.

• Danny Lee is not a member of the legal team.

Danny is not engaged in an action. He is simply BEING. The lexical verb IS has no auxilary verb.

• If he pleads guilty, the prosecutors will be surprised.

The prosecutors are not engaged in an action. The complete verb WILL BE links them to their state of being. BE is the lexical verb and WILL helps. It is the auxilary.

• The actress has felt nervous since she was chosen for the part.

The actress is not engaged in an action. The complete verb HAS FELT links her to NERVOUS. FELT is the lexical verb and HAS helps it and is auxilary.

An AUXILIARY VERB is a SUPPLEMENTAL verb that is "helping" the main verb.

• Susan Raymond was resting in the shadow of a canyon oak tree.

While Susan's action is "resting," it is supported by the auxilary verb "was."

• With everything going on, the captain might decide to resign his commission.

The captain's action is "decide" and "might" helps or is auxilary to that action.

• For the past 10 years, President Marcos has given several awards for bravery.

The President's action is "given" and is helped by "has."

COMMON AUXILIARY VERBS:

[In the following examples, the auxiliary verb is bold and the lexical verb is underlined.]

TO BE: is, am, are, was, were, been.

The commission is using stocks to purchase development rights.
The agencies are restricting logging and road building in the forests.
Brill was lagging in the polls behind Richards.
The agencies were completing the inventories.
Moskowitz has been offered a similar project.

TO DO: do, did, does.

• Volunteers do spend their weekends mapping the nation's forests.
• Clinton did agree to ban logging on 40 million acres.
• Time does run out for these wildlands.

TO HAVE: has, had, have.

• Brent has planned this party down to the last detail.
• The governor had exhausted all of the options.
• Someone should have predicted these complications.

SHALL, WILL, MAY, CAN, SHOULD, COULD, WOULD.

• This portion will not be eligible for protection under the 1964 Wilderness Act.
• The Clinton Administration may try to make the most of public support for preserving open space.
• Only Congress can formally protect lands under the Wilderness Act.
• They should limit its real estate holdings.
• Preservation could become one of Clinton's most significant accomplishments.
• The legislation would provide guaranteed funding.

Identifying the various configurations that make up a complete verb helps in understanding the type of verb being used. Once again, this is not because journalists necessarily need to remember the specific type of verb they are using, but because using a verb properly with the correct modifiers strengthens anyone's writing.

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