verb

[ vurb ]

noun

1. any member of a class of words that function as the main elements of predicates, that typically express action, state, or a relation between two things, and that may be inflected for tense, aspect, voice, mood, and to show agreement with their subject or object.

verb

/ vɜːb /

noun

1. (in traditional grammar) any of a large class of words in a language that serve to indicate the occurrence or performance of an action, the existence of a state or condition, etc. In English, such words as run, make, do, and the like are verbs
2. in modern descriptive linguistic analysis
   1. a word or group of words that functions as the predicate of a sentence or introduces the predicate
   2. ( as modifier )

      a verb phrase

verb

1. A word that represents an action or a state of being. Go , strike , travel , and exist are examples of verbs. A verb is the essential part of the predicate of a sentence. The grammatical forms of verbs include number , person , and tense . ( See auxiliary verb , infinitive , intransitive verb , irregular verb , participle , regular verb , and transitive verb .)

Grammar Note

The key word in most sentences, the word that reveals what is happening, is the verb. It can declare something ( You ran ), ask a question ( Did you run? ), convey a command ( Run faster! ), or express a wish ( May this good weather last! ) or a possibility ( If you had run well, you might have won; if you run better tomorrow, you may win ). You cannot have a complete English sentence without at least one verb. Understandably, this multitalented part of speech can be analyzed and categorized in any of several ways. For example, this dictionary distinguishes between a transitive verb, labeled “(used with object),” as in The country fought two wars at the same time, and an intransitive verb, labeled “(used without object),” as in He fought in both of them. As we can see with fight, some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. Another analysis is offered by the grammarians Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik in their renowned A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. They divide verbs into three categories: (1) modal auxiliary verbs, a short list comprising can, may, will, shall, could, might, would, should, and must, all of which are “helping” verbs, as in Congress will vote tomorrow, and (2) primary verbs, the smallest group— be, do, and have —all three of which can be either auxiliaries ( I am leaving for school now; I did finish my homework; I have studied enough ) or main verbs ( I am happy; I did my best; I have a good teacher ), and (3) full verbs, the largest group by far, containing all the rest. A third approach differentiates an action verb from one that is stative. An action verb expresses something you can do ( run, study, sit, want ) or something that can happen ( leak, end, appear, collapse ). In contrast, a stative verb expresses an ongoing state or condition ( I know all the answers; we own our house; they fear failure ). Some verbs, like be, are in both camps: In she is careless, the verb is is stative, describing a permanent trait. In she was being careless in losing those documents, the verb was is an action verb, describing a specific act of carelessness. The same mutability is seen in verbs of the senses ( smell, taste, feel ): Mmm, smell that coffee [action]; the coffee smells wonderful [stative]. We can also distinguish the linking verb (more formally known as a copula ) from verbs that can take an object or be modified by an adverb. Linking verbs identify or describe a subject by connecting it with a noun, an adjective, or a prepositional phrase in a following complement ( she is a doctor; they were delighted; we will be at the party ). Other linking verbs, like feel, appear, smell, taste, look, become, and stay perform the same concatenating function. A number of them happen to be stative, but not all; get and act, for example, are both linking and action verbs ( the weather got warmer yesterday; she acted surprised ). As we can see, a single verb can be categorized in more than one way, depending on which type of analysis we subject it to. And finally, we can look at English verbs in terms of a number of grammatical features that are expressed by changes in their form or changes in the way sentences are constructed. These features are tense ² (such as present and past), voice (active or passive), person (first, second, or third), number (singular or plural), and mood ² (such as indicative and subjunctive)—each defined at its own Dictionary.com entry.

Derived Forms

• ˈverbless, adjective

Other Words From

• verbless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of verb¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verbe, from Latin verbum word

Word History and Origins

Origin of verb¹

C14: from Latin verbum a word

Example Sentences

“If you do campaigning in South Florida and talk about ‘noun, verb socialism’ and ‘noun, verb communism’ that is socially competent.

From Salon

“Text is now a verb. Chats are conducted in silence … Amazon is no longer taken for a river or forest.”

From Los Angeles Times

In all, the Obamas reminded the Democrats and the American people that democracy is both a verb and a noun.

From Salon

I was improvising — I had a lot of fun gibberishing, if there is such a verb.”

From Los Angeles Times

Parisians’ default verb may sometimes seem to be “grogner,” to grumble, but Pulvar thinks most ordinary Parisians are fine with the projects, especially the nonprofit initiatives.

From Los Angeles Times

More About Verb

What is a verb?

A verb is a word that expresses action, state of being, or a relation between two things in a sentence. It acts as the main part of the predicate of a sentence.

A verb says what is happening in a sentence, as in I ran across the street. Every complete English sentence contains a verb.

We categorize verbs in several different ways, such as whether they are used with objects. Transitive verbs are used with objects, as in The man bought eggs. Bought is the verb, and eggs is the object. Intransitive verbs are not followed by objects, as in The children slept.

We can also categorize verbs based on what they express. Action verbs express things you can do or things that can happen, as in The player kicked the ball. Kicking is a thing you can do. Stative verbs express ongoing states, as in The tree is old. Old is a state you can be in.

We also categorize verbs by how they change their form or construction to adjust to a sentence. Verbs have features known as tense, voice, person, number, and mood. Here are some examples of the different features of verbs:

• Past tense: I walked home yesterday.
• Passive voice: The clown was hit by a pie.
• Second person: You are a wonderful musician.
• Plural number: The musicians play many songs.

Imperative mood: Pass the salt, please.

Why is verb important?

The first records of the term verb come from around 1350. It ultimately comes from the Latin noun verbum, meaning “a word.” A verb could be said to be the most important word in a sentence because it tells us what is going on.

A verb can change many of its features to correctly fit into a sentence. The subject of the sentence will determine the number and person of the verb, while the context of the sentence will determine what form the verb should take. Did something happen in the past? If so, you need a past tense verb. Are you giving a command? If you are, you will use a verb in the imperative mood. Students of English learn all the different traits of verbs in order to use them correctly.

Did you know … ?

In informal writing and speech, we sometimes omit the subject in commands. The subject is understood to be you, as in Run! We tend not to do this In formal writing.

What are real-life examples of verb?

The following chart gives more examples of the different forms that verbs can take.

I went to the gym.	Simple past tense of go
The kittens are cute.	Present tense, plural of be
He will be a superstar someday.	Future tense of be
Leave!	Present tense of leave

 

In English, every complete sentence contains a verb.

Why can't Facebook give us a choice of verbs everywhere we find "Like" buttons? It would save a lot of explaining.

— Jim MacMillan (@JimMacMillan) March 3, 2011

New verbs are fun: Do you Mars?

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 8, 2015

What other words are related to verb?

• predicate
• action verb
• stative
• linking verb
• irregular verb

Quiz yourself!

Which of the following words is a verb?

A. the
B. lazy
C. cat
D. sleeps