MME441: Technical Report Writing and Communication

Lecture II: Verb

Verbs are words that represent actions that are external (work, run, fight) and internal (love, think,
understand, consider)

Verbs are absolutely necessary in a sentence. Verbs show what the subject is doing or feeling.

Types of verbs:

Dynamic (action) verbs: these are verbs representing a physical activity, mostly external like Walk, laugh,
run, swim, dance, talk, etc). Some verbs that are internal can also be dynamic such as consider, guess,
change, fail, endure, etc)

Stative (state of being) verbs. These describe state of feeling. Examples want, need, prefer, love, hate,
seem, understand, believe, know, realize, etc.

Some verbs can be dynamic or stative depending on context and include the verb to be, see, hear, taste,
smell, feel. These are perception verbs.

When they are used as involuntary actions, they are stative. Example, I can’t see without my glasses.

When used as a voluntary action, they become dynamic. Example: I haven’t been seeing well since I lost
my glasses

In the stative sense, the perception verbs often takes the simple present tense while in the dynamic
sense, it uses the present continuous.

Auxiliary (helping) verbs

They are used to change another verbs tense, voice or mood. When used, there’s always a main verb.
They include the verb ‘to be’, have and do.

Examples.

I have eaten bread many times today (tense)

The piece of fish was eaten by me (voice)

Did you eat my bread? (Mood)

In all cases, the helping verbs must be properly conjugated

Modal auxiliary verbs

Can, may, could, should, must, ought, might.

They help to show necessity, possibility, or capacity.

Examples:

I could swing across the Niger, but should I do it?

Verb Categories
Transitive, intransitive and ditransitive: these describe how a verb acts with direct and indirect objects.

A direct object is the person or thing the action happened to; while indirect objects is the person or
thing that receives the direct object.

Example.

John threw the ball at James

Verbs that don’t receive direct or indirect objects are called intransitive. The verbs are complete action
by themselves

Examples: go, walk, run, talk, sit, sleep, work.

Verbs that use direct objects but not indirect objects are called transitive: clean, like, love, dislike, hate,
want, learn, say, deserve.

Verbs that use both direct and indirect objects are called ditransitive. Throw, make, buy, sell, read, give,
lend, bring.

Verbs that sometimes act transitive and some other time intransitive are known as ambitransitive.

Example: are you hungry

No, I already are (intransitive)

No, I already ate a sandwich (transitive)

Active and Passive Voice

Active voice: the subject performs the action

Passive Voice: sentence is switched around to make the direct or indirect object the subject. In the
passive voice, the verb is made passive by adding a conjugated form of the verb to be in front of its past
participle.

Example: John threw the ball to James (active)

The ball was thrown to James by John. (Passive)

Linking verbs:

To be, become, seem

Ada is in school

Justice became lazy by over sleeping

Okon looks like a monkey

Monday seems to hate Mondays

Perception verbs are also linking

The sauce tastes spicy

Verbs that use the same rules for conjugation are regular verbs. Verbs that have unique forms and no
pattern are irregular verbs.

Root. 3rd Person. Simple past past participle

Dance. Dances. Danced. Danced

Work. Works worked. Worked

Sing. Sings. Sang. Sung

Wake. wakes. Woke. Woken

1.

Infinitives and gerunds

These are the noun form of verbs

An infinitive adds the preposition to in front of the root verb. Eg l like to swim. To forgive is devine.

A gerund: is formed by adding -ing.

Running is not easy. Studying the cosmos is not the same as understanding the cosmos.

Tenses

Simple. Continuous perfect. Perfect continuous

Present past future

Preposition

Prepositions indicate relationship between other words i a sentence

Prepositions tell where something is or when it happened

Most prepositions have several definitions, so the meanings changes quite a bit in different contexts.

Vampires! Zombies! Werewolves!

Where?

Behind you!

Will they be arriving in three seconds or at midnight?

Types of prepositions

Direction: left, right, north, south

Time: morning, afternoon

Location: in, on, at,

Space: under,