What are Main Verbs?

what are verbs

Verb Definition: Amending Principal Verbs in a Sentence

Verbs are the engines of sentences, just like a trainer in the inner engine of an airplane is responsible for the movement of an airplane. They are upholders of truth and establishers of facts, ideas, and actions of whom and what. But within the vast world of verbs lies a special category: inflection. This category of quiet champions is the ones that give the message, either the action or the state of being.

This article shines a light on the main verbs and educates you about their features so that you can locate them and see the key to the construction of sentences with them. By examining how gerunds operate and observing verb examples by way of illustration, you will likely be on the right path to a sentence of strong appeal and precision.

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What is a Verb?

First and foremost, the verb refers to indecency in general so everybody can learn the basics. A verb is a word that describes an action, activity, or situation or tells us about an action, state, or being. This is evidenced by the fact that there are action verbs, the most common type used to describe physical or mental actions. e.g., run, think, dream). The verbs can also show the nouns' state of being (as in the case of infinitives). 

The subject is the main verb in a sentence and is the key verb that says what the important action is or who the subject is. It contributes towards saying whether the sentence is about what a subject does or about the condition of the subject.

By giving an example one could pinpoint where the main verb in the sentence “The cat sleeps on the rug” is: “sleeps.” “It demonstrates how a cat performs the act.” In like manner, in a sentence the painting seems to be old, the verbal conjunction "seems" entails the oldness of the painting.

Main Verbs: What Are Verbs?

Main verbs can function in two ways:

  • Independently: The main verb is, usually, the only one needed to create a complete thought in the simple sentence without any other verbs connected to it. Sentences, such as "She smiles" and "The book is on the shelf," would also be included.
  • With Auxiliary Verbs: Usually, the main verb and the helper verb/auxiliary verb (if there is one) of the sentence work together to represent a tense (past, present, future), a voice (active, passive), or a mood (indicative, imperative, subjunctive). The auxiliary verbs present as “has" "have" "is" "was,” "will" and "can" are added before main verbs as necessary for linguistic information. Examples include the use of the present perfect such as "She has smiled" (present perfect tense) or the future tense like "They will travel soon" (future tense) all of which are main verbs with auxiliary verbs.

Identifying Main Verbs: 

Here are some tips to help you identify the main verbs in sentences. 

  • Look for verb conjugations: They are the ones that bear the conjugation markers that reflect tense and person.
  • Watch out for helping verbs: If there exist any helping verbs, then the principle of order will be followed by them.

Verb Examples to Illuminate Understanding

Let us solidify our grasp of main verbs with some verb examples

  • Simple Sentence: "Birds sing sweetly" (Sweetly is an adverb and serves as a sentence adverbial describing how and represents visceral pleasure caused by birds' singing). (Main verb: sing)
  • Sentence with Auxiliary Verb: "We didn't watch the movie" (Main verb: see, Auxiliary verb: watched).
  • Compound Sentence: "Her legs were pumping as she landed on the other side of the fence" (Two primary verbs: pumped legs and landed).
  • Passive Voice: "The cake was baked by my grandmother" (the main verb: baked, the passive voice formation). 

The Power of Main Verbs

Making a sentence depends on the main verbs; they are the classification of sentences. Conventional aside, knowing their function is very important for creating grammatically correct and well-formed collocations. By using active verbs skillfully in the main clause of your sentence, you establish the correct meaning of the intended sentence.

In conclusion, this article might have taught you what you need to know, but to be fluent you have to test yourself. Classes at 98thPercentile deal with the world of verbs by illuminating main verbs, auxiliary verbs, and tenses of verbs. By using different techniques and helping your understanding, you will know how to use verbs with other words because this, in essence, is one of the foundations of successful writing and communication. Join 98thPercentile's English live online classes and enhance your ability to convey yourself effectively and concisely.

FAQs 

Q1: Could a sentence have more than one verb in the predicate?

Ans: The answer is yes because compound sentences not only must have two or more parts, but also a main verb for each clause.

Q2: Are they the main verbs?

Ans: Absolutely! Verbs, such as "is," "seems, " appears" and " already exist".

Q3: Are main verbs always action verbs?

Ans: No! They can describe states of being too. (e.g. "The house seems haunted.")

Q4: Can a sentence lack a main verb? 

Ans: Yes, but these are usually exclamations ("Wow!") or single-word commands ("Stop!")

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