📖 VERB — The Engine of Every Sentence
The Hook
Strip a sentence of everything — its nouns, adjectives, adverbs — and one thing refuses to die: the verb. "Birds fly." "Time passes." "He is." A sentence can survive without a subject in commands ("*Go!*"), but it can never survive without a verb. That is why examiners at SSC CGL, IBPS PO and State PCS level attack the verb more than any other part of speech — subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and verb form errors together form the backbone of the Error Spotting and Sentence Improvement sections.
Master the verb, and you master the sentence. Master the sentence, and you master the paper.
🎯 Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
- Identify every type of verb — main, auxiliary, modal, finite, non-finite — in any sentence.
- Apply the 12 Golden Rules of subject-verb agreement, including the traps examiners love most.
- Choose the correct verb form after special structures (causatives, subjunctives, "would rather", etc.).
- Spot verb errors in under 15 seconds using the Subject Hunt Method.
- Avoid the classic Hindi-to-English translation errors that cost marks.
1. What Exactly Is a Verb?
A verb is a word that expresses an action (run, write, decide), an occurrence (happen, become), or a state of being (is, seem, remain).
Every complete sentence needs a verb, and every verb needs to answer two questions:
- Who is doing/being it? → decides the *number* (singular/plural)
- When is it happening? → decides the *tense*
> *The committee has submitted its report.*
> (Who? committee — singular → "has"; When? completed now → present perfect)
2. The Verb Family — Know Your Players
(a) Main Verbs vs Auxiliary Verbs
| Type | Job | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Main (Lexical) verb | Carries the real meaning | eat, go, analyse, decide |
| Primary auxiliary | Builds tense/voice/questions | be, have, do |
| Modal auxiliary | Shows mood — ability, duty, possibility | can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, need, dare, used to |
Key exam fact: Modals are always followed by the bare infinitive (V1, without "to").
> ✅ He must go. ❌ He must to go. ❌ He must goes.
Semi-modals — *need* and *dare* — behave as modals only in negatives and questions:
> ✅ He need not come. (modal — no -s, bare infinitive)
> ✅ He needs to come. (main verb — takes -s and "to")
(b) Finite vs Non-Finite Verbs
- Finite verbs change with subject and tense: *She writes. They write.*
- Non-finite verbs never change:
- Infinitive — to + V1: *to err is human*
- Gerund — V1+ing used as a noun: *Swimming is healthy.*
- Participle — present (writing) / past (written): *a written letter*
🧠 Active Recall: In the sentence *"Walking to office daily, he has decided to buy a car,"* identify: (1) the participle, (2) the finite verb, (3) the infinitive. *(Answer: Walking — participle; has decided — finite; to buy — infinitive.)*
(c) Transitive vs Intransitive
- Transitive verbs need an object: *She wrote a letter.* (Wrote *what*?)
- Intransitive verbs need none: *The baby slept.*
⚠️ This distinction decides voice: only transitive verbs can be made passive. *"He was slept"* is impossible.
3. The 12 Golden Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement ⭐
This is the single most-tested verb area. Memorise these twelve.
| # | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two subjects joined by and → plural verb | *Ravi and his friend are here.* |
| 2 | Subjects joined by or / either…or / neither…nor / not only…but also → verb agrees with the nearer subject | *Neither the teacher nor the students were present.* |
| 3 | Intervening phrases (with, along with, together with, as well as, in addition to, accompanied by) do NOT change the subject | *The captain, along with his men, was praised.* |
| 4 | Each, every, everyone, everybody, someone, anyone, nobody, either, neither → singular verb | *Each of the boys has a pen.* |
| 5 | Many a / many an → singular noun + singular verb | *Many a soldier has died for the country.* |
| 6 | Collective nouns (team, jury, committee, family) → singular when acting as one unit; plural when members act separately | *The jury has given its verdict. / The jury are divided in their opinion.* |
| 7 | News, physics, mathematics, politics, measles — plural-looking but singular | *The news is shocking.* |
| 8 | Scissors, trousers, spectacles, wages, premises → plural verb (but "a pair of scissors is") | *These trousers are new.* |
| 9 | A number of → plural; The number of → singular | *A number of students were absent. The number of students is fifty.* |
| 10 | Uncountable nouns (information, furniture, luggage, advice, bread) → always singular | *The furniture in this room is old.* |
| 11 | One of + plural noun + singular verb | *One of my friends has gone abroad.* |
| 12 | Relative pronoun verb agrees with its antecedent | *It is I who am responsible. It is you who are responsible.* |
🧠 Active Recall: Without looking, complete: "Neither the players nor the coach ___ (was/were) happy." "The number of accidents ___ (is/are) rising." *(Answer: was — nearer subject "coach"; is — "the number of".)*
🧠 Mnemonic — "NEARER WINS"
For *or / either…or / neither…nor / not only…but also*, remember: the verb flirts with the NEARER subject. Whoever stands closest to the verb controls it.
4. Special Verb Structures Examiners Love
(a) The Subjunctive — "Were" for Everyone
After *if, wish, as if, as though* expressing something unreal or hypothetical, use were for all persons:
> ✅ If I were a bird, I would fly. ❌ If I was a bird…
> ✅ He talks as if he were a king.
After *It is time / It is high time*, use the past tense (V2):
> ✅ It is high time you started working.
(b) Causative Verbs — have / get / make
> *I had my car repaired.* (have + object + V3)
> *She made him cry.* (make + object + V1 — but passive: *He was made to cry.*)
(c) Verbs Followed by Gerund vs Infinitive — The Killer List
| Gerund only (V+ing) | Infinitive only (to + V1) |
|---|---|
| enjoy, avoid, mind, suggest, finish, admit, deny, consider, practise, keep, postpone, risk | want, wish, hope, decide, promise, agree, refuse, expect, afford, learn, manage, offer |
> ✅ I enjoy reading. ❌ I enjoy to read.
> ✅ He promised to come. ❌ He promised coming.
⚠️ Some verbs take both but change meaning:
- *stop smoking* = quit the habit | *stop to smoke* = pause in order to smoke
- *remember locking* = recall a past act | *remember to lock* = don't forget to do it
🧠 Active Recall: Correct these: (1) "I suggest to go early." (2) "She avoids to meet him." *(Answer: suggest going; avoids meeting.)*
⚠️ EXAMINER'S TRAP BOX
Trap 1 — The Intervening Phrase Ambush.
*The quality of the apples were good.* ❌
Examiners stuff ten words between subject and verb so you match the verb with the nearest noun ("apples"). The real subject is quality → *The quality of the apples was good.* ✅ Defence: hunt the subject first, ignore everything between commas.
Trap 2 — The Sound-Right Error.
*"One of my friend is a doctor."* ❌ — sounds fine in fast reading, but "one of" demands a plural noun: *One of my friends is a doctor.* ✅ Two errors often hide in one phrase: plural noun + singular verb.
Trap 3 — The Modal + Perfect Confusion.
*"He must went yesterday."* ❌ Modals take V1: *must go*. But for a past deduction: *must have gone* (modal + have + V3). Mixing the two patterns is a favourite IBPS/SSC trap.
🔁 LINGUISTIC BRIDGE — Hindi से English
| हम हिंदी से सोचकर कहते हैं ❌ | Correct English ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "What you are doing?" | "What are you doing?" | Questions need inversion: auxiliary before subject |
| "He is having a car." | "He has a car." | Stative verbs (have, know, believe, love) don't take -ing |
| "I am knowing the answer." | "I know the answer." | Same rule — "know" is a state, not an action |
| "He told that…" | "He said that… / He told me that…" | "Tell" needs an object; "say" doesn't |
| "I and Ravi went." | "Ravi and I went." | English politeness: first person comes last |
| "He is more senior than me." | "He is senior to me." | senior/junior/superior/inferior/prefer take "to", not "than" |
5. Stative vs Dynamic Verbs — The Silent Mark-Killer
Stative verbs describe states, not actions, and are never used in continuous tenses:
- Mind: know, believe, understand, think (=opinion), remember, mean
- Emotion: love, hate, like, want, wish, prefer
- Senses: see, hear, smell, taste, feel (involuntary)
- Possession: have, own, belong, possess
- Others: seem, appear (=seem), consist, contain, cost, weigh, measure
> ❌ I am believing you. ✅ I believe you.
> ❌ This book is belonging to me. ✅ This book belongs to me.
⚠️ Nuance trap: Some verbs are stative in one meaning, dynamic in another:
- *I think he is right* (opinion — stative) vs *I am thinking about the problem* (mental activity — dynamic)
- *She has a car* (possession) vs *She is having lunch* (eating)
6. Verb + Preposition Combinations (Fixed Pairs)
These are pure memory items — examiners test them directly:
| Verb + Preposition | Example |
|---|---|
| agree with (person) / to (proposal) | I agree with you; he agreed to the plan |
| consist of / insist on | The team consists of eleven players |
| depend on / rely on | Success depends on effort |
| apologize to (person) for (thing) | He apologized to me for the delay |
| look after / look into / look for | She looks after her parents; police looked into the case |
| differ from / differ with | My answer differs from yours |
| prevent from / prohibit from | He was prevented from leaving |
📊 SUMMARY TABLE — The Whole Chapter on One Screen
| Concept | Core Rule | One-Line Example |
|---|---|---|
| Modal verbs | Modal + bare V1 | He must go |
| Semi-modals (need/dare) | Modal only in negative/question | He need not come |
| Agreement with or/nor | Verb follows nearer subject | Neither he nor they are wrong |
| Intervening phrases | Ignore them; find true subject | The leader, with his followers, was present |
| Many a / Each / Every | Singular verb | Many a flower is wasted |
| A number of / The number of | Plural / Singular | A number were; the number is |
| Subjunctive | "were" for all; past after "It is time" | If I were you |
| Gerund verbs | enjoy, avoid, suggest + V-ing | I avoid arguing |
| Infinitive verbs | decide, promise, refuse + to V1 | He refused to help |
| Stative verbs | No continuous form | I know it (not "am knowing") |
| Causative | have/get + object + V3 | I got the letter typed |
| One of + plural noun | Plural noun, singular verb | One of the boys has come |
🔁 Review After 2 Days
Come back after 48 hours and do this without re-reading:
- Write the 12 Golden Rules from memory — check against the table.
- Correct these five sentences: (a) *The news are good.* (b) *Each of them have come.* (c) *I am having a doubt.* (d) *Neither of the boys were late.* (e) *He suggested me to go.*
- Explain aloud why "The number of girls is increasing" uses "is".
If you score 5/5 on task 2, move to the Practice Sets. If not, re-read Sections 3–5 first.