Verb
Combined with its subject, the verb becomes the central element of a sentence or clause.
- A main verb is the head word of a verb phrase – sometimes called a verb chain, e.g. ‘He hit him hard.’
- A lexical verb is the part of the verb chain that suggests the action involved, e.g. He might have hit him.
- A verb that tells of a ‘state of being’ is a copular or stative verb, e.g. is, was, seems, appears, becomes, etc.
Verbs that work along with a subject are called finite (e.g. the girl looked). But verbs do not have to work with a subject within a sentence – these are called a verb’s non-finite forms (e.g. I like to run). Non-finite forms of verbs can act as other parts of speech:
- The infinitive from of the verb (often used with ‘to’), e.g. ‘He used to love me.’
- The -ed participle form (usually ending with the suffix -ed):
‘Only the cooked apples should be used.’
- The -ing participle form:
‘He used cooking apples’ (adjective).
‘The cooking was superb’ (noun).
‘He will be cooking this evening’ (continuous aspect).
