verbs (ENGLISH LANGUAGE)

Añadido: 2026-05-31

[00:00:08]Good morning.

[00:00:09]And welcome to today's lesson.

[00:00:14]Today, we want to begin our discussion with verbs.

[00:00:20]Verbs.

[00:00:23]As you hear it, I know you'll be thinking that you've been hearing about verbs from primary school.

[00:00:33]Please, I want you to attach all seriousness to this lesson.

[00:00:40]My reason is that this is a foundation to a lot of topics in English language in SHS.

[00:00:53]Once again, I welcome you to this class.

[00:00:57]Thank you.

[00:01:02]So, let us attempt to define verbs.

[00:01:08]Traditionally, we have been defining verbs as doing words or action words.

[00:01:16]So, from primary school, we have been saying that a verb is a doing word or an action word.

[00:01:28]This has been the definition that we have been using all this while.

[00:01:34]We have seen that this definition does not take care of all the types of verbs.

[00:01:44]So, sometimes we could see a verb that is not captured in this definition.

[00:01:52]That is why we are resorting to a modern definition of a verb.

[00:01:58]And we are saying that a verb is any word that can be used to describe an action or a state of being.

[00:02:11]A verb is a word that describes an action or a state of being.

[00:02:21]This definition implies that not every verb describes an action like the traditional definition of verbs.

[00:02:34]So, we have verbs that do not define an action, but rather they represent a state of being.

[00:02:45]How something is.

[00:02:49]Thank you.

[00:02:53]So, let us take time to describe action verbs.

[00:03:00]We have said that a verb may describe an action or a state of being.

[00:03:08]So, action verbs are verbs that describe an action that someone is doing.

[00:03:19]Examples are talk, lift, break, >> [snorts] >> eat, sweep, pray, play, write, and etc. Examples.

[00:03:41]We talked to each other.

[00:03:44]So, talking is an action verb, and we see people performing the action of the verb talk.

[00:03:54]Two, the boy can't lift the load. Lifting is an action verb, and when someone lifts a load, we see the person performing an action.

[00:04:10]Who can eat this food?

[00:04:14]Eat is an action verb because when someone is eating, the person is actually performing a visible action.

[00:04:23]They are sweeping the classroom.

[00:04:27]Sweeping is an action verb, and we see people performing the action of sweep.

[00:04:35]Write your name on the question paper.

[00:04:40]So, write is the action verb, and when someone performs the action of the verb write, we see.

[00:04:55]With the so for my discussion of action verbs, let's continue to state-of-being verbs.

[00:05:04]We call them state- of-being because they do not describe any action, even though they are verbs.

[00:05:15]Being verbs, they only show a state of the subject, but they don't tell the action that a subject is performing like we did in the action verbs.

[00:05:32]Examples are think, >> [snorts] >> love, know, hate, feel, keep, hear, Et cetera.

[00:05:52]Examples.

[00:05:54]Think about what I am saying.

[00:05:58]So, when you say think about what I am saying, the verb we want here is think.

[00:06:05]And when the person who are telling this begins to think about what you are saying, what you don't see any visible action that they are performing. And so, we are saying that think is a verb, but it is a state of being verb.

[00:06:25]Two.

[00:06:26]Mickey loves flowers.

[00:06:30]Mickey loves flowers.

[00:06:34]The state of being verb here is loves.

[00:06:39]Love is the verb, but it does not show any action.

[00:06:45]When someone loves something, they don't perform the action of the verb love.

[00:06:52]Even though they may do one or two things, and we will infer [snorts] or imply from what they are doing that this person loves this thing.

[00:07:05]But the love itself itself does not carry any action. And so, we are saying love, or in this sentence loves, is a state of being verb.

[00:07:19]Three.

[00:07:21]Who knows tomorrow?

[00:07:24]So, the question is, how will you know that someone knows?

[00:07:28]How will you say that someone knows?

[00:07:31]Unless they do something else, and you will infer or imply from what they are doing that they know. But the knowing itself does not carry any action.

[00:07:47]And so, because we don't perform the action of the verb know, we are saying that know is not an action verb, but a state of being verb.

[00:08:00]Four, I hate tribalism.

[00:08:05]The verb here is hate.

[00:08:08]And when someone hates something, it does not show.

[00:08:14]So, hate doesn't come with any action.

[00:08:18]And so, we are saying that hate is a verb, but not an action verb. Rather, it is a state of being verb.

[00:08:30]Five, I can hear you.

[00:08:33]Here is the verb.

[00:08:36]And when you are speaking to someone, and the person can hear you, or the person hears you, how do you tell that they hear you?

[00:08:46]Even though they are hearing, but there is no way to perform an action for you to see that they hear.

[00:08:56]So, we are saying that hear is a verb, but it is not an action verb. Rather, it is a state of being verb.

[00:09:09]Kinds of verbs.

[00:09:13]We want to break down our discussion of verbs into smaller units and make them the meaning clearer.

[00:09:22]So, we are starting with main verb.

[00:09:27]And we are saying that the main verb is a verb that describes the main action in the sentence.

[00:09:41]Then we are saying the main verb can stand alone.

[00:09:46]So, by the first definition, whenever there are two or more verbs, sorry, two or more verbs in a particular sentence, there is always one of them that describes the main action in the sentence.

[00:10:07]Sometimes, there may be one verb that does not describe an action at all and one that describes an action.

[00:10:18]Sometimes, too, there may be two or more action verbs. In that case, there is always one of them that describes the main action in the sentence, and that one is the main verb.

[00:10:33]The main verb can stand alone.

[00:10:37]Meaning, for example, come.

[00:10:41]When I say come, I may not purposely or intentionally bring a subject, but it has an embedded subject like you. Come.

[00:10:54]So, when I look at you and I say come, I am actually making sense.

[00:11:01]And so, the come is a single word, but it can act as a complete sentence on its own.

[00:11:10]If I say eat, especially when we have food in your presence and I say eat, it's one word, but it makes complete sense of a sentence.

[00:11:26]The last one is walk.

[00:11:30]When someone tells you to walk, you understand the person perfectly >> [clears throat] >> as to what they are asking you to do.

[00:11:38]So, we are saying that the above words can act as a complete sentence even when they are alone.

[00:11:48]This is one of the characteristics of a main verb.

[00:11:57]The main verb can also be the only verb in a sentence.

[00:12:04]Going forward, we shall be talking about helping verbs.

[00:12:09]But, we want to mention that sometimes there will be only one verb in a sentence, and that verb could be the main verb.

[00:12:21]Example, our pastor prays to God always.

[00:12:27]The only verb in the sentence is pray.

[00:12:31]Our pastor's pray. So, the only verb is pray.

[00:12:35]And it is an action verb. We see people performing the action of praying, and so it is a main verb.

[00:12:46]Number two, who cleaned the board for us?

[00:12:53]Cleaned is an action verb. We see someone performing the action of the verb clean.

[00:13:02]So, it is a main verb. And we see from the sentence that it is the only verb in the question, who cleaned the board for us?

[00:13:16]Three, Ghanaians voted for peace and prosperity.

[00:13:23]Voted is an action verb. When someone is voting, we can see the action of the verb vote. And so, we say it is a main verb.

[00:13:37]And in that sentence, it is the only verb.

[00:13:44]We all hailed the president's convoy.

[00:13:48]So, the verb here is hailed. It is the main verb, and it is the only verb in the sentence, we all hailed the president's convoy.

[00:14:04]Okay, so the main verb can also be in a sentence with other supporting verbs.

[00:14:14]So, like I said before, there could be two or more verbs in a sentence.

[00:14:22]Even sometimes, there could be two verbs that could pass for main verbs because they are both action verbs, in which case, one of them will be the main verb.

[00:14:37]So, we are saying that a main verb can also be in a sentence with other supporting verbs. Because we mentioned in the previous slide that the main verb can stand alone in the subject can can can be the only verb in the sentence. We still want you to understand that that is not always the case. There could be times where there are other verbs with the main verb in a sentence.

[00:15:06]Example, we have been waiting for a long time.

[00:15:12]In this sentence, have is a verb. Been is a verb, and waiting is a verb.

[00:15:20]The main verb here is waiting.

[00:15:24]And it has other two verbs as supporting verbs.

[00:15:29]Two.

[00:15:30]The business started growing in April.

[00:15:35]So, there are two verbs in this sentence, which are started and growing.

[00:15:43]>> [snorts] >> The main verb is growing because it is the main action in the sentence, and the supporting verb is started.

[00:15:55]Three.

[00:15:56]I will travel to Winneba next week.

[00:16:01]There are two verbs here, will and travel.

[00:16:07]The main verb is travel because it defines the main action in the sentence.

[00:16:15]And it is supported by the action will.

[00:16:23]Auxiliary verbs.

[00:16:26]An auxiliary verb is a verb used to support the main verb in a sentence.

[00:16:36]So, we have mentioned before that the main verb can be in a sentence with other supporting verbs.

[00:16:47]And we are defining an auxiliary verb as a verb that is used to support the main verb in a sentence.

[00:16:56]There are some verbs that have been established as auxiliary verbs because they are mostly used to support the main verb in a sentence.

[00:17:11]Because of the nature of the auxiliary verb, because of how they are mostly used in sentences, they are sometimes referred to as helping verbs.

[00:17:25]Because they have been supporting the main verb, because they have been helping the main verb, we consider them as helping verbs.

[00:17:35]Those helping verbs are basically used to form tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs.

[00:17:46]So, the main verb will be used to form the tense of the Sorry, the auxiliary verb will be used to form the tense of the main verb, the mood of the main verb, or the voice of the main verb.

[00:18:03]Examples of auxiliary verbs include the be verbs.

[00:18:08]There are some verbs that we call them the be forms. is are was, were, am.

[00:18:18]We also have have or has. And we have do.

[00:18:25]These are examples of auxiliary verbs.

[00:18:31]So, let us discuss some of the auxiliary verbs.

[00:18:36]The first one is be.

[00:18:41]You may be surprised, but be is used to form the continuous tense of a verb.

[00:18:50]We have mentioned above that the auxiliary verbs are used to form the tense or the tenses of main verbs in the sentence.

[00:19:03]And when we are forming the continuous tense, we normally use be verbs.

[00:19:13]The be verb has many forms, which include is.

[00:19:23]Were. Where is the past tense of am?

[00:19:28]Then, was.

[00:19:30]Is also the past tense of is and am.

[00:19:34]So, was is also an auxiliary verb.

[00:19:37]And been.

[00:19:43]Here we use the auxiliary verbs in sentences.

[00:19:48]One.

[00:19:50]I am the champion of the day.

[00:19:55]Am is the auxiliary verb.

[00:19:58]And it is the only verb in the sentence.

[00:20:03]So, auxiliary verbs, even though they are mostly used to support the main verb, they can also stand alone in sentences. They can be the only verb in a sentence.

[00:20:18]The police were recruited just last year. The policemen were recruited just last year.

[00:20:27]The main verb in the sentence is recruited.

[00:20:30]The auxiliary verb here is were.

[00:20:34]It is the one that is telling us that even the action of recruit is in the past.

[00:20:41]We are always being monitored.

[00:20:45]We are always being monitored.

[00:20:48]So, we have are and been as the auxiliary verbs, and the main verb is monitored.

[00:21:02]She has been leading the team for years.

[00:21:08]She has been leading the team for years.

[00:21:13]The main verb is leading.

[00:21:17]The auxiliary verbs are has and been.

[00:21:23]Five.

[00:21:25]There is time for everything.

[00:21:29]There is time for everything.

[00:21:35]Is [clears throat] is the only verb in the sentence and it is an auxiliary verb because it is a be form of a verb like the one of the be verbs that we mentioned above. Let me say that in the case of example one and example five where the auxiliary verb is the only verb in the sentence it is still an auxiliary verb.

[00:22:06]Okay. Thank you.

[00:22:09]So, all too soon we've come to the end of today's lesson.

[00:22:14]Thank you for making time to be with us.

[00:22:17]Let us do the few exercises that follow.