Verbs: what they are, types and forms

Most English verbs have five forms. Regular verbs add -ed for both the past simple and the past participle. Irregular verbs change in other ways, so you need to learn them.

Be is the exception, with eight forms: be, am, is, are, was, were, been and being.

State verbs describe a situation rather than an activity, so they are not normally used in continuous tenses. Common ones are know, understand, believe, want, need, like, love, prefer, own, belong, seem and mean.

Some verbs are state verbs in one meaning and action verbs in another. "I think it's a good idea" is an opinion, so it stays simple. "I'm thinking about my answer" is a mental activity, so the continuous is fine. Have works the same way: "She has a car" but "She's having lunch".

• Wrong: I am knowing the answer.

  Right: I know the answer.

  Know is a state verb, so it does not take the continuous form.

• Wrong: He go to college every day.

  Right: He goes to college every day.

  A third-person singular subject needs the -s form in the present simple.

• Wrong: She didn't went to the party.

  Right: She didn't go to the party.

  After did or didn't, use the base form. The past is already shown by did.

• Wrong: They was late for the exam.

  Right: They were late for the exam.

  Use were with plural subjects and with you.

Verbs carry much of your grammatical accuracy in IELTS Writing and PTE Write Essay, because tense and agreement errors show up in almost every sentence. In IELTS Writing Task 1, verbs of change such as rise, fall, fluctuate and remain stable do most of the work, so learn their past forms. In Speaking, watch for state verbs in the continuous, such as "I am having two brothers", which is a frequent slip.

Try each one, then open it to check your answer.

1. 1. Find the verb: "The committee approved the new budget."

   approved

   It tells you what the committee did.

2. 2. What is the past participle of write?

   written

   Write is irregular: write, wrote, written.

3. 3. Correct this: "I am wanting a new phone."

   I want a new phone.

   Want is a state verb and stays in the simple form.

4. 4. Is seem in "You seem tired" an action verb or a linking verb?

   A linking verb.

   It joins the subject to a description and shows no action.

5. 5. Complete this: "My brother ___ (live) in Mumbai."

   lives

   A singular subject in the present simple takes the -s form.

• Action verbs
• Auxiliary verbs
• Linking verbs
• Transitive and intransitive verbs
• Irregular verbs
• Tenses
• All grammar lessons
• Everyday English sentences