Verb

CHAPTER 1

Verb

A verb is describe as a word which is used to indicate an action, a state of being of existence or possession.

A verb tells us:

What a person or thing does.

Ex: Uthman writes.

The sun rises.

What is done to a person or thing. 

Ex: He is punished.

The papers are spoiled.

What a person or is or it tells about a state of being or existence.

Ex: she is a teacher.

They are in the house.

It may tell us about possession.

Ex: she has blue eyes.

I have good memory.

Kinds of verb: there are three types of verbs in English, namely. 

Transitive verb

Intransitive verb

Verb of incomplete prediction

1. Transitive verb: A verb which has an object is termed as Transitive verb

Ex: I like uthman.

She speaks English well.

A. TRANSITIVE VERB: TWO OBJECTS

sometimes a Transitive verb contains two objects, namely

 I. Direct Object 2. Indirect Object.

The following verbs can be used with two objects:

Ex: bring, lend, sell, make, give, offer, send, get, hand, pay, show, leave, play, sing,  pass, promise, take.

Note: The indirect object should be placed before the direct object but the direct object, if the above verbs are used with prepositions.

Ex:

• My father bought me a watch

• I gave Amaka a letter

• He handed me the bill

• She lent me her dictionary

• They offered the begged ten naira

• I paid Bayo the amount

• She played me the violin

• I promised her a present

• Caroline showed me the photograph

• I sang him a song

• She made me a dress

• I told Dayo a story

• I sent my brother the message

• He sold me the bike

• I got Amaka a ticket

The above bold words are the indirect object

While the underlines ones are the direct object

Note: this construction is possible after the following verbs.

Ex: find, fry, fetch, boil, book, keep, build, knit, buy, leave, cook, make, bake, order, reserve.

Ex:

• I shall find you a job.
• Am in a fetched me the coat.
• They booked me a ticket.
• My wife boiled me an egg.
• I built her a house.
• Amaka bought me a nice gift.
• Chika cooked them a nice meal.
• IMO baked me a cake.
• I kept Bukola the jewel.
• She knitted her baby a sweater.
• I ordered them coffee.
• My brother reserved me a seat.

Note: the above sentence can be written with preposition

• I shall find you a job for you
• Am in a fetched me the coat for me
• They booked me a ticket for me
• My wife boiled me an egg for me
• I built her a house for her.
• Amaka bought me a nice gift for me.
• Chika cooked them a nice meal to them.
• IMO baked me a cake to me.
• I kept Bukola the jewel for Amaka
• She knitted her baby a sweater to her baby.
• I ordered them coffee for them.
• My brother reserved me a seat for me

Hint: The answer to 'what' or 'whom' is the direct object and the answer to 'to whom' or 'for whom' is the indirect object.

Ex: I shall find you a job. (What will I find you? a job)

(For whom did I find? For you)

2. Intransitive verb: A verb which has no object is known is known as intransitive verb.

Ex:

• I slept very well.
• I walked to the theatre
• The ship sank suddenly.
• He sat in the chair.

B. SAME VERB: TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE USE

The same verb can be used both transitively and intransitively. Hence, it is not easy to decide whether a verb is Transitive and intransitive.

INTRANSITIVE USE

• The man stopped Suddenly.
• They spoke loudly.
• The water is boiling.
• He burnt with insult
• The film begins at 6pm.

TRANSITIVE USE

• He stopped the car.
• She spoke the truth.
• Aminu boiled an egg.
• Haneef burnt his fingers.
• She began her work.

C. INTRANSITIVE VERB: PREPOSITION

Intransitive verb may be turned into transitive verb, if a preposition is used.

Ex:

1. She laughed at him.
2. I looked at the painting.
3. We talked about the film.
4. I have asked for permission.

D. VERB OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION

A verb which requires the use of some other word to complete its meaning is known as verb of incomplete predication.

Ex:

1. He is a teacher.
2. She appears beautiful.
3. My sister looked unhappy.
4. The sky grew cloudy.

Note: The word which is required to complete the meaning of the verb is known as the complement of the verb. If the complement refers to subject, it is subject complement and if the complement refers to object, it is object complement.

The complement of the verb may be a noun pronoun, adjective, gerund, infinitive or a present participle.

Ex: 

• He is a teacher. [Noun]
• It is me. [Pronounce]
•  She appears beautiful. [Adjective]
• The hills appear fascinating. [Present participle]
• I found him writing. [Participle]
• He began to work. [Infinitive]
• She continued working. [Gerund]

E. MORE ABOUT VERBS OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION

1. Verb used with object complements: Some verbs are used only with object complements. They are listed here:

• Make
• Declare
• Call
• Believe
• Feel
• Hail
• Think
• Announce
• Appoint
• Know 
• Consider
• Presume
• Suppose
• Acknowledge
• Elect.
• regard
• Find
• Choose
• Report
• Recognise

Some of these verbs may be used with preposition "as" but in most cases the preposition is omitted.

These type of verbs can be used in passive voice without altering the meaning.

Technically speaking, passive voice is commoner than active voice.

Note: students are advised to study the examples carefully and make their own sentences.

CHAPTER 2

VERB : MOOD

Mood: mood is the mode or method by which a verb is used to express a particular action.

Kinds of Mood: There are three kinds of moods in English, namely: 

Indicative Mood

Imperative Mood

Subjunctive Mood

A. INDICATIVE MOOD

A verb which is used to make a statement of fact, a question or a supposition is known as indicative mood.

1. Statements:

Ex: we practice music daily.

Aristotle is a Greek philosopher.

My sister likes skating.

2. Questions:

Ex: Have you posted the letter?

Are you angry with me?

Do you like me?

3. Supposition:

Ex: If you are a graduate, you shall be given the post.

If it rains, we shall stop the work.

If you ask me, I shall give it to you.

B. IMPERATIVE MOOD

A verb which is used to express a command, an advice or an entreaty is known as an imperative mood.

1. Command:

Ex: Get me a taxi!

Close the door!

Open the window!

2. Advice:

Ex: Be kind to the poor!

Be polite to the strangers.

Try to be honest.

3. An entreaty:

Ex: Could you type this letter?

May I park my car here?

Will you please open the window?

Note: 'Let' is used for advice in first and third person.

Ex: let me help you.

Let us go there.

Let him speak.

Note: The subject 'you' is omitted in imperative mood.

Ex: past tho letter. [you post this letter]

C. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

A verb which is used to express a wish, hope, desire, intention or resolution in noun clause in the present and improbability in the past is known as the subjunctive mood.

FORMS OF THE subjunctive MOOD  

The vetb Be	Other Verbs	The verb Be	Other Verb
i be	i like	i were	i liked
we be	we like	we were	i liked
you be	you like	you were	you liked
they be	they like	they were	they liked

1. The present subjunctive

 

It is used in traditional phrases express in a wish of hope 

• Ex: Long live the queen!
• May God save the country!
• May heaven help you!

In noun clauses expressing desire, intention and resolution. 

Ex: it is suggested that a flyover be built across the railway track.

We recommended that the manager be dismissed from service.

We proposed that a committee be appointed to look into the matter.

2. The past subjective

• After the verb 'wish'
• Ex: she wishes she were a beauty queen.
• We wish we were in Abuja.
• I wish I stayed at home

It is used after 'if' to express improbability or unreality in the present.

• Ex: if we went there, we could see her.
• If I knew English, I could go to America.
• If we had money, we could live in large house.

After 'as if' and 'as though'

• Ex: He orders me as if I were his brother.
• She talks as though she were a queen.
• He speaks as if he were q rich man.

After the phrase 'it is time + subject + past tense' to indicate that it is already late.

• Ex: it is time we were there.
• It is time I were to her.
• It is time they stopped work.

After the phrase 'would rather + subject' to indicate preference.

• Ex: I would rather you applied for the post.
• I would rather you discontinued your studies.
• She would rather he lived with his parents.

CHAPTER 3

STRONG AND WEAK VERBS

Verbs are divided into two classes on the basis of the method by which they form the past tense from the present, namely:

1. Strong verbs
2. Weak Verbs

Strong verbs: Verbs which form their past tense by simply changing the vowel without adding ed, d, or t are called strong verbs.

Ex:

present	past	present	past
Come	came	see	saw
write	wrote	begin	began
speak	spoke	know	knew
go	went	grow	grew
give	gave	drink	drank
arise	arose

2. weak verbs: Verbs which form their past tense by adding ed, d, t to the present are known as weak verbs.

Ex: 

present	past	present	past
walk	walked	laugh	laughed
went	wanted	believe	believed
spend	spent	sell	sold
bring	brought	buy	bought
catch	caught	seek	sought
teach	taught

A. HOW TO FIND OUT WEAK VERBS

1. A verb which has 'd' or 't' in the past is a weak verbs

Ex:

present	past	present	past
believe	believed	sell	sold
burn	burnt	think	thought
flee	fled	catch	caught

2. verbs ending with 'd' whuch turn into 't' are weak verbs.

Ex:

present	past	present	past
bend	bent	build	built
lend	lent	send	sent
send	sent

A verb which has 'd' or 't' which shorten the vowel in the past are weak verbs.

Ex:

present	past	present	past
bleed	bled	breed	bred
feed	fed	lead	led
meet	met	speed	sped
shoot	shot

Verbs having same form for the present and past tense.

Ex:

present	past	present	past
cast	cast	cut	cut
hit	hit	hurt	hurt
let	let	put	put
rid	rid	set	set
shed	shed	shut	shut
thrust	thrust

B. LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS

Present Tense	Past Tansd	Past participle
abide	abode	abode
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awoke	awoken
	awaked	awaked
be	was	been
bear	bore	borne
		born
beat	beat	beat
become	became	become
befall	befall	befallen
beget	begot	begotten
begin	began	begun
behold	behold	beheld
bend	bent	bent
breave	bereaved	bereaved
		bereft
beseech	besought	besought
bet	betted	betted
	bet	bet
bid(command)	bade	bidden
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
build	built	built
burn	burned	burned
	bunrt	bunrt
burst	burst	burst
buy	bought	bought
dere	dared	dared
	durst	durst
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamed	dreamed
	dreamt	dreamt
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
dwell	dwelled	dwelled
	dwelt	dwelt
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbear	forbore	forborne
forbid	forbade	forbidden
forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgave	forgiven
forsake	forsook	forsaken
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	got
gild	gilded	gilded
	gilt	gilt
gird	girded	girded
	girt	girt
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grind	ground	ground
grow	grew	groun
grow	grew	grown
hang	hanged	hanged
	hung	hung
keep	kept	kept
kneel	knelt	knelt
knit	knit	knit
know	knew	know
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
lean	leaned	leaned
	leant	leant
leap	leaped	leaped
	leapt	leapt
learn	learned	learned
	learnt	learnt
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie	lay	lain
light	lighted	lighted
	lit	lit
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
may	might
mean	meant	meant
sew	sewed	sewed
		sewn
shake	shook	sheken
shall	should
shear	sheared	sheared
	shore	shorn
shed	shed	shed
shine	shone	shone
shoe	shoed	shoed
	shod	shod
shoot	shot	shot
show	showed	showed
		shown
shrink	shrank	shrunk
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
sit	sat	sat
slay	slew	slain
sleep	slept	slept
slide	slid	slid
sling	slung	slung
slit	slit	slit
smell	smelled	smelled
	smelt	smelt
smite	smote	smitten
sow	sowed	sowed
		sown
speak	spoke	spoken
speed	speeded	speeded
	sped	sped
spell	spelled	spelled
	spelt	spelt
spend	spent	spent
spill	spilled	spilled
	spilt	spilt
spin	spun	spun
spit	spat	spat
split	split	split
soread	spread	spread
spring	sprang	sprung
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank	stunk
	stunk
strew	strewed	strewed
		strewn
stride	strode	stridden
strike	struck	struck
string	strung	strung
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
sweep	swept	swept
swell	swelled	swelled
		swollen
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
thrive	thrived	thrieve
	throve	thriven
throw	threw	thrown
thrust	thrust	thrust
tread	trod	trodden
		trod
understand	understood	understood
undertake	undertook	undertaken
wake	waked	waked
	woke	woken
wear	wove	woven
weave	woke	woken

C. SOME VERBS HAVE THE SAME FORM IN THE PRESENT, PAST AND PARTICIPLE

Present Tense	Past Tansd	Past participle
bet	bet	bet
bid	bid	bid
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
burst	burst	burst
cast	cast	cast
cost	cost	cost
cut	cut	cut
forecast	forecast	forecast
hit	hit	hit
hurt	hurt	hurt
let	let	let
put	put	put
rid	rid	rid
set	set	set
shed	shed	shed
shut	shut	shut
slit	slit	slit
split	split	split
spread	spread	spread
thrust	thrust	thrust

D. VERBS WITH TWO DIFFERENT PARTICIPLES

There are certain verbs in English which have two different past participles. In such cases one is used as a verb and the other is used as an adjective.

1. bind

bound

bound bounden

Ex: she is never bound by her promise.
it is our bounden duty to help the poor.

2. childe[scold]

chid

chid chidden

Ex: she was chid by her parents.
i connnot see her chidden face.

3. drink

drank

drunk drunken

Ex: i have drunk much water.
i found him in a drunken state.

4. get

got

got gotten

Ex: Aliyu has got distinction in his first degree.
He donated his ill gotten money to the charity home.

5. hide

hid

hid hidden

Ex: He hid the knifz carefully.
I could not make out the hidden meaning of the poem.

6. load

loaded

loaded laden

Ex: He loaded his revolver to kill his wife.
The tree was laden with fruit.

7. shrink

shrank

shrunk shrunken

Ex: My new shirt has shrunk in hot water.
She has a shrunken face.

8. sink

sank

sunk sunken

Ex: The ship has sunk.
They failed to trace out the sunken ship.

9. strike

struck

struck stricken

Ex: She has struck me on the head.
I have sympathy for the hunger stricken

10. melt

melted

melted molten

Ex: The snow has melted.
The molten lava spread in all directions.

11. rot

rotted

rotted rotten

Ex: The apple has rotted.
I dislike eating rotten fruit

12. shave

shaved

shaved shaven

Ex: He had shaved neatly and bathed in cold water.
His shaven face looked charming

13. shear

sheared

sheared shorn

Ex: He has sheared the sheep
The shorn lamb looked pretty.

14. swell

swelled

swelled swollen

Ex: His foot has swelled
It is difficult for her to walk with a swollen feet.

15. thrive

thrived

thrived thriven

Ex: He has thrived on his uncle's prosperity.
The thriven [rich people] do not help the poor.

16. light

lighted

lighted lit

Ex: She has lighted the lamp.
The lit candle shone in the dark.

• AGREEMENT OF THE VERB WITH THE SUBJECT
• Auxiliary Verb