English Verbs

344 Pages·2011·1.48 MB·English

by  Collins Dictionaries

HarperCollins Publishers
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First edition 2011
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EPUB Edition © November 2011 ISBN 978-0-00746196-7
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Editorial staff
American English consultant:
Orin Hargraves Senior editors:
Penny Hands
Kate Woodford Project management:
Lisa Sutherland Contributors:
Sandra Anderson
Jennifer Baird
Katharine Coates For the publisher:
Lucy Cooper
Kerry Ferguson
Elaine Higgleton Computing support:
Thomas Callan
contents
Introduction
Guide to entries
Pronunciation guide
What is a verb?
The verb phrase
Direct and indirect objects
Transitivity
Types of verb
Reflexive verbs
Reciprocal verbs
Linking verbs
Irregular verbs
Auxiliary verbs
Modal verbs
Phrasal verbs
Tense
Introduction to tense
Types of main verb
The forms of main verbs
Tense
Aspect
Continuous and perfect forms
The present simple tense
The present continuous
The present perfect
The present perfect continuous
The past simple tense
The past continuous
The past perfect
The past perfect continuous
Future reference
Voice
Active and passive
Infinitives and the -ing form
The infinitive
The to infinitive
The to infinitive and the -ing form
Word order
Verbs and affirmative, negative, interrogative, and imperative statements
Word order in affirmative statements
Word order in negative statements
The interrogative
WH-words
Sentence tags
The imperative
The subjunctive
Clauses
Verbs and conditional clauses
Verbs and reporting speech
Reported speech
A–Z of important verbs
Key Verbs
be
be able to
be going to
be meant to
be supposed to
can and could
dare and need
do
have
have got to
have to
may and might
must
ought to
shall and will
should
used to
would
would rather
Irregular verbs
Index
introduction
Collins Webster’s Easy Learning English Verbs is designed for anyone who
wants to improve their knowledge of English verbs and the way they
work. Whether you are preparing for exams, need a quick look-up guide
to English verbs, or you simply want to browse, Collins Webster’s Easy
Learning English Verbs offers you the information you require in a clear
and accessible format.
A verb is a word that tells us about an action, an activity, a process, a
state of being, or a state of mind. All grammatically complete sentences
in English contain at least one verb. The form of a verb helps us to
express some important ideas: the time the action is taking place, who
carries it out, how likely it is that it will happen, how many people
perform the action, and so on.
The first section of the book, called “What is a verb?”, tells you more
about tenses, the different grammatical forms of the verb, and how verbs
work in a sentence.
The second section of the book contains dictionary entries of the most
important types of verb. Most verbs in English are main verbs; these
express actions and states. A special type of verb, called an auxiliary
verb, is used in combination with a main verb to express ideas such as
time, certainty, doubt, and completion. Some examples of auxiliary verbs
are be, do, have, can, could, and will. Auxiliary verbs are explained in
detail in the “key entries” in the dictionary section.
Phrasal verbs are also an important feature of English. English speakers
use phrasal verbs in all contexts – not just in informal situations. The
most common phrasal verbs are listed at the end of the entry for the
verb they are related to. For example, the phrasal verbs hang on and hang
up are listed under the entry for hang.
Some of the most useful English verbs are irregular. Irregular verbs are
verbs that do not form the past simple tense and the past participle in
the regular way. The most important irregular verbs are marked with a
star in the dictionary section. There is also a list of the most common
irregular verbs and their inflections on pages 246–247.
All explanations throughout the book are fully illustrated with examples
of natural English taken from the Collins 4-billion-word corpus.
We hope you enjoy finding out more about this important area of the
English language. For more information about Collins dictionaries, visit
us at www.collinslanguage.com.
guide to entries