Power Up Your Writing with Strong Verbs

Verbs 101: Types, Tenses, and Usage TipsVerbs are the engine of sentences. They show actions, states, and events — everything that happens or exists in language. This article covers what verbs are, the main types of verbs, a clear guide to English tenses, common usage tips, and exercises to help you practice.

What is a verb?

A verb is a word that expresses an action (run, write), an occurrence (happen, occur), or a state of being (be, seem). In most sentences, the verb is essential: without it, the sentence often lacks a predicate and remains incomplete.

Examples:

She runs every morning.
The concert began at eight.
They are happy.

Main types of verbs

Understanding verb types helps you use them correctly.

Action verbs
- Describe physical or mental actions.
- Examples: jump, think, cook, decide.
Linking (or copular) verbs
- Connect the subject to a subject complement (an adjective or noun that describes or identifies the subject).
- Common linking verbs: be, become, seem, appear, feel, look, taste, smell.
- Example: She became a doctor. The soup smells good.
Auxiliary (helping) verbs
- Combine with main verbs to form tenses, voices, or moods.
- Primary auxiliaries: be, have, do.
- Modal auxiliaries: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must.
- Example: They have finished. She can swim.
Phrasal verbs
- Consist of a verb plus one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs) that change meaning.
- Examples: give up, take off, look after, run into.
- Note: Many phrasal verbs are idiomatic; their meanings often cannot be deduced from the parts.
Transitive vs. intransitive verbs
- Transitive verbs take a direct object: She reads a book.
- Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object: He sleeps.
- Some verbs can be both: She runs a company (transitive). He runs every day (intransitive).
Regular vs. irregular verbs
- Regular verbs form the past tense and past participle with -ed (walk → walked → walked).
- Irregular verbs follow different patterns (go → went → gone, eat → ate → eaten).
- Memorize high-frequency irregulars.

English tense overview

English uses tense to express time and aspect to express the nature of an action (complete, ongoing, habitual). Below are the core tenses with structure, use, and examples.

Present Simple

Structure: base verb (add -s for third person singular)
Use: habitual actions, general truths, scheduled events
Example: She writes daily.

Present Continuous (Progressive)

Structure: am/is/are + present participle (-ing)
Use: ongoing actions at the moment of speaking, temporary situations, planned near-future events
Example: They are studying now.

Present Perfect

Structure: has/have + past participle
Use: actions affecting the present, life experiences, actions completed at an unspecified time
Example: I have visited Paris.

Present Perfect Continuous

Structure: has/have been + present participle
Use: actions that started in the past and continue or have recent effects
Example: She has been working here for five years.

Past Simple

Structure: past form (regular -ed / irregular forms)
Use: completed actions at a specific time in the past
Example: He wrote a letter yesterday.

Past Continuous

Structure: was/were + present participle
Use: ongoing past actions, background events, interrupted actions
Example: I was reading when she called.

Past Perfect

Structure: had + past participle
Use: action completed before another past action
Example: They had left before the rain started.

Past Perfect Continuous

Structure: had been + present participle
Use: duration of an action before another past point
Example: He had been driving for hours when he stopped.

Future Simple (will)

Structure: will + base verb
Use: predictions, spontaneous decisions, promises
Example: I will call you tomorrow.

Future (going to)

Structure: am/is/are going to + base verb
Use: planned actions, predictions with present evidence
Example: It’s going to rain.

Future Continuous

Structure: will be + present participle
Use: actions in progress at a future time
Example: This time next week I will be lying on the beach.

Future Perfect

Structure: will have + past participle
Use: actions completed before a specific future time
Example: By 2026, she will have finished her degree.

Future Perfect Continuous

Structure: will have been + present participle
Use: duration of an action up to a future point
Example: By June they will have been traveling for six months.

Voice: Active vs. Passive

Active voice: subject performs the action. Example: The chef cooked the meal.
Passive voice: subject receives the action. Formed with be + past participle. Example: The meal was cooked by the chef.
Use passive for focus on the action or when the agent is unknown or irrelevant.

Mood: Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive, Conditional

Indicative: states facts or asks questions.
Imperative: gives commands or requests. Example: Close the door.
Subjunctive: expresses wishes, demands, or hypothetical situations (less common in modern English). Example: I suggest that he arrive early.
Conditional: uses modal forms to express hypotheticals (would, could, should). Example: If I had time, I would travel more.

Common usage tips & pitfalls

Subject–verb agreement: match verb forms to singular/plural subjects. Example: She runs; They run.
Tense consistency: avoid shifting tenses unnecessarily within the same timeframe.
Correct use of auxiliaries: do-support in questions and negatives for simple present/past (Do you like it? She didn’t go.).
Distinguish between present perfect and past simple: use present perfect for unspecified time connected to the present; use past simple for finished, specific times.
Beware of verb + gerund vs. verb + infinitive differences (enjoy doing vs. want to do; remember doing vs. remember to do have different meanings).
Phrasal verbs: learn meanings and particle placements (separable vs. inseparable). Example: turn off the light (separable).

Practice activities

Identify verb types: underline verbs in a paragraph and label them (action/linking/auxiliary/phrasal).
Tense conversion: rewrite sentences in a different tense (present simple → past perfect).
Error correction: find and fix subject–verb agreement and tense-shift mistakes.
Phrasal verb matching: match phrasal verbs to their meanings and use each in a sentence.

Quick reference: irregular verb examples

Base	Past	Past Participle
go	went	gone
eat	ate	eaten
see	saw	seen
take	took	taken
write	wrote	written

Final tips for mastering verbs

Read actively: notice verb forms and patterns in texts you enjoy.
Speak and write regularly: active use cements forms faster than passive study.
Use spaced repetition for irregular verbs and common phrasal verbs.
When in doubt, keep sentences simple—clear structure beats complex but incorrect forms.

Exercises, examples, or a focused lesson (e.g., phrasal verbs or perfect tenses) can be added if you’d like.