Verb (क्रिया)
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
- Identify the verb in any sentence.
- Tell main verbs from helping (auxiliary) verbs and modals.
- Use the correct form — base, past, past participle, -ing and -s.
- Make the verb agree with its subject.
- Tell transitive verbs from intransitive verbs.
The Hook: The Engine of the Sentence
A sentence without a verb is like a bus without an engine — it has seats (nouns) and paint (adjectives), but it goes nowhere. "Riya … to school." What did Riya do? *Walked? Ran? Cycled?* The verb tells us the action or the state, and only then does the sentence move.
Why Students Struggle
- They use Hindi word order and forget the helping verb ("She going" instead of "She is going").
- They mix up past and past participle ("I have went").
- They forget the -s for he/she/it in the present tense ("He go to school").
🧠 Active Recall: Find the verb in "The baby slept peacefully." What does it tell us?
Chunk 1: What Is a Verb?
A verb shows an action (run, write, eat) or a state (is, seem, belong).
- Action: *Aman plays cricket.*
- State: *The milk is hot.*
Chunk 2: Main Verbs, Helping Verbs and Modals
| Type | Examples | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Main verb | write, eat, go | She writes letters. |
| Helping verb (be, have, do) | is, are, was, has, did | She is writing. They have gone. |
| Modal | can, could, may, might, must, should, will, would | You must wear a helmet. |
After a modal, always use the base form: *He can swim* (not *swims*).
Chunk 3: The Five Forms of a Verb
| Base | -s form | Past | Past participle | -ing form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| go | goes | went | gone | going |
| write | writes | wrote | written | writing |
| eat | eats | ate | eaten | eating |
| play | plays | played | played | playing |
| begin | begins | began | begun | beginning |
- Regular verbs add -ed (play → played).
- Irregular verbs change in their own way (go → went → gone). Learn them by heart.
- The past participle comes after *has / have / had* and in the passive: *She has written. The letter was written.*
Mnemonic — "Had, Has, Have — Participle Behave": after these three words, use the third form.
🧠 Active Recall: Correct the sentence: "I have went to Delhi."
Chunk 4: Subject–Verb Agreement
- He / She / It / a singular noun + verb with -s in the present: *She reads.*
- I / You / We / They / plural nouns + base form: *They read.*
- Each, every, either, neither, everyone → singular: *Each of the boys has a bag.*
- One of the + plural noun → singular verb: *One of my friends is a doctor.*
- Words like news, mathematics → singular: *The news is good.*
Chunk 5: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
- Transitive verbs need an object: *She bought a pen.* (bought what? a pen)
- Intransitive verbs do not: *The baby slept.*
Ask "what?" or "whom?" after the verb. If there is an answer, the verb is transitive.
🔁 Linguistic Bridge
| In Hindi we say… | Literal English (wrong) | Correct English |
|---|---|---|
| वह स्कूल जा रही है | She going to school. | She is going to school. |
| मैं दिल्ली गया हूँ | I have went to Delhi. | I have gone to Delhi. |
| वह रोज़ पढ़ता है | He read daily. | He reads daily. |
| तुम क्या कर रहे हो? | What you are doing? | What are you doing? |
Summary Table
| Point | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Helping verb with -ing | is/am/are/was/were + -ing | She is reading. |
| Perfect tense | has/have/had + past participle | They have finished. |
| Modal | modal + base form | He can swim. |
| Present, he/she/it | verb + s/es | She watches TV. |
| Each/every/one of | singular verb | Each student has a book. |
📅 Review this chapter after 2 days, then try one practice set with a timer.
⚠️ Caution: Examiner's Trap
- Past vs past participle: "has went", "had ate" — after has/have/had use the third form (gone, eaten).
- Modal + -s: "She can sings" is wrong — after a modal the verb stays in the base form.
- "One of the …": the noun after it is plural, but the verb agrees with "one" — singular.