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Verbs – Notes and Exercises 1

Name: _______________________________ Form 2C Date: y

Verbs – Lesson 1

“I have a million things to do! First, I have to wash the clothes, …”

Have you ever heard someone say something similar to the above statement? It’s an
exaggeration because first of all, there aren’t a million things we can do (unless we repeat many
of those tasks), and second, we can’t possibly have the time to do it (a whole eleven days isn’t
enough for a million seconds). But the things that we do, do take more time than just a few
seconds to complete (this lesson, for example, took me hours to prepare and check before it
eventually gets posted in Google Classroom). So it’s the things that we do that are called
‘verbs’ and these verbs take many ‘forms.’ These ‘forms’ in turn depend on the tenses used, and
tenses are the most difficult of lessons to learn and master.

Definition from Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verb

What is a verb?

Verbs are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist).
Almost every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is known as its infinitive. The
forms call, love, break, and go are all infinitives.

Almost all verbs have two other important forms called participles. Participles are forms that are
used to create several verb tenses (forms that are used to show when an action happened); they
can also be used as adjectives. The present participle always ends in -ing: calling, loving,
breaking, going. (There is also a kind of noun, called a gerund, that is identical in form to the
present participle form of a verb.) The past participle usually ends in -ed, but many past
participles have irregular endings: called, loved, broken, gone.

The verb's past tense usually has the same -ed form as the past participle. For many verbs,
however, the past tense is irregular. An irregular past tense is not always identical to an irregular
past participle: called, loved, broke, went.

The two main kinds of verbs are transitive verbs and intransitive verbs.

Don’t worry if you can’t comprehend or understand the definition above. In simple terms, verbs
are just words that describe actions or doing things; whether you’re conscious about doing it
(like eat and drink) or not aware of it (like breathing and forgetting). The action may be
happening when you’re asleep (respiring, dreaming, talking in your sleep) and may seem not to
require much effort or energy such as thinking or trying to remember someone. According to
Scientific American, “Although the average adult human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, only
2 percent of total body weight, it demands 20 percent of our resting metabolic rate (RMR)—the
total amount of energy our bodies expend in one very lazy day of no activity.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/

Let’s get back to the lesson. Just how many verbs are there, do you know?
A hundred would be good for a start. Two hundred would be really good. You may come across
four to five hundred in your lifetime. If you remember the adjectives list in an earlier lesson, I
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Verbs – Notes and Exercises 1
revealed to you that I have a list of 4844 adjectives. Well, for verbs I have 3250 of them, and
this list does not include participles and vulgar or inappropriate verbs.

Activity:
Let’s continue by doing an activity. Take out a piece of ruled paper (paper with lines) and get
ready a pen and a watch. Yes, a watch or maybe a clock on the wall will do as well (don’t take
the clock down) because you will need to time yourself in this activity.
You will need to think fast and write fast.
Do this:
In five minutes, write all the verbs that you can think of on the piece of paper you have just
prepared.
When your five minutes is up, count the number of verbs you have written. Write the number
next to your name and date and take a photo of the list you have just created and send it to me
via Google Classroom.

Don’t look at the table listing two hundred common verbs that I have inserted at the bottom of
this page. No cheating, please. You won’t impress anyone that way. Just be honest as honesty
will put you in good stead with whomever you meet and deal with.
Now try to complete the exercise below using some of the verbs that you have learnt so far.
Some questions can have more than one correct answer. You may write one or more answers in
the answer sheet on the next page.

List of verbs that you can choose from to answer Exercise V.1

argue arrange blow brush bathe controls

dance enter fumble go help hover
implore jump knock look mend nail
open paint playing question rendered run
sang sleeping snoring takes talk twist
use vote watch work yank yell

Exercise V.1

1. Lik Yi did not __________________ out of his house during the Movement Control Order.
2. Zhi Meng and Teck Hock like to ___________________ the videos on TikTok.
3. Yee Ung went beyond the call of duty when she __________________ medical treatment
to a Covid-19 patient.
4. Xin Yi likes sitting behind the bus driver so that she can _________________ him where to
stop.
5. Soon Lee saw a helicopter _________________ above the collapsed building.
6. Wei Chin was __________________ during the whole journey home.
7. Ah Hanng, Sze Sing and Chung Yik were __________________ football when the police
arrived to arrest them.
8. Jing Jing and Wan Yin __________________ a song together on the stage.
9. Wong Ken Nee was given some paint and a paint brush to ________________ the wall.
10. Tian Tian usually __________________ over an hour to complete her Maths homework.

You can type your answers here, take a photo and send it back to me using Google Classroom.
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Verbs – Notes and Exercises 1
Name: Date:

Answers for Exercise V.1

10

After answering the exercise, have a look at the table below which lists two hundred common
verbs. How many do you know? Look up their meaning if you don’t know them.