Action verbs are basically defined as words that denote or signify an action. One will need to become familiar with the nuances in grammar in order to use these verbs properly in day to day life. It will only require a bit of experience in order to figure out how to spell them correctly and use them properly.
Most people define verbs as words that signify or express action. That is the most fundamental description of what verbs are. Ask around and you would probably get this definition a lot of times. However, do take note that not all verbs express action. These other verbs play a different role in a sentence. But most of the time, you’ll be using verbs to denote a state of being, an occurrence, or an action in basic grammar.
Action verbs, as you might have guessed, are the verbs that fall into the basic definition that almost everybody uses. However, there is more to action verbs in order for you to use them well. These kinds of words are pretty dynamic and work different ways in different sentences. It will only take a little work in order for anyone to really use them properly in any sentence.
Regular or Irregular Action Verbs
One of the very first things anyone learning about these verbs is to differentiate between the regular verbs and the irregular verbs. You most probably have been playing around with regular and irregular verbs before when talking to people. You just didn’t pay them much attention since you’ve been using both of these kinds of verbs in your every day life.
Defining Regular Verbs
Simply put, regular verbs are those that usually just remain as they are and just get suffixes added to them in order to denote changes. You won’t have much difficulty spelling regular verbs correctly since all you basically have to figure out are the suffixes you will need to add.
Defining Irregular Verbs
On the other hand, irregular verbs will require some spelling changes in order to denote certain changes. Spelling changes can be as simple as changing one letter. Sometimes spelling changes can become a lot more complicated.
Tracking Tenses
The changes in both the regular and irregular action verbs denote changes in time an action occurs. These changes are called verb tenses. They express when an action was done whether in the past, currently ongoing, or to be done in the future. Or basically past tense, present tense, and future tense. However, do take note that there are other verb tenses other than the three mentioned here.
A Little Demonstration
To demonstrate the difference between irregular and regular verbs, consider the following very simple examples of each kind.
Example of Regular Verb: ‘talk’
Present Tense: talk
Past Tense: talked
Future Tense: will talk
As you might have observed, to denote a past tense or an action done in the past all you needed to add was ‘ed’ to the end of the original word. To denote talking to be done in the future you just added the word ‘will’ before the word ‘talk’.
Example of Irregular Verb: ‘run’
Present Tense: run
Past Tense: ran
Future Tense: will run
This is a very simple example of an irregular verb; for sure there are those that will be a lot more complicated than this one. In this example, to denote running done in the past, you changed the letter ‘u’ to ‘a’. And in order to denote a future action, you added the word ‘will’.
Complicating the Irregular
Unfortunately, the rules on grammar are not specific regarding the spelling changes for each irregular verb out there. This kind of makes things really complicated. What those who are studying the rudiments of English grammar should do is to become familiar with the many different irregular verbs by reading and conversing. As they become more adept in the language they will become more confident in using them in day to day communication.
Other Examples of Irregular Verbs
Other examples of irregular verbs that you may already be familiar with include “teach” which is changed to “taught” to denote a past tense. Another example is the word “sit ” which takes “sat” as the past tense. The word “lie” will become “lay” while the word “drive” is changed to “drove”. There are no hard and fast rules so you will just have to become familiar with them.
Rules on the Regular
Though regular verbs may sound simple enough there are additional rules to follow to denote their tenses. If the base word ends in ‘e’ just add a ‘d’ at the end. If the verb ends in any consonant followed by a ‘y’ change ‘y’ to ‘ied’ as in ‘study’ to ‘studied’.
Another rule is that if the last syllable of the verb is stressed and is made up of a vowel and a consonant then you usually double the consonant and then add ‘ed’. For example, the word ‘plan’ is changed to ‘planned’.
To further burst your bubble, verbs ending in the letters ‘g’, ‘p’, and ‘m’ usually have these letters doubled to denote a change in tense. Examples include ‘gag’ is changed to ‘gagged’, ‘tap’ is changed to ‘tapped’, and the word ‘ram’ is changed to ‘rammed’.
Becoming Familiar with the Action Verbs
There is no substitute for experience when dealing with action verbs in English grammar. Everyone will need to become familiar with these verbs and their tenses in order to get them right. After some practice anyone can become quite comfortable enough to use them in every day language.