The Timpson Lyceum · Beginning Grammar (2026)

The Verb: Action, Being & State – Lesson 3 (Grammar)

Overview

Lesson 2 established the noun and the two great elements of a sentence, the subject and the predicate. This lesson takes up the word that does the asserting: the verb. A verb is what allows a sentence to claim anything at all — strike it out and what remains is a list of names, not a statement. The lesson classifies verbs twice over, along two independent lines. The first is what the verb expresses: action, being, or state. The second is how the verb completes its meaning: transitive, intransitive, or copulative. These are two different questions asked of the same word, and a verb always has an answer to both. The lesson closes with the handful of verb forms that are most often misused in ordinary speech.

Key Concepts

The verb

• In Fishes swim, the subject is fishes and the predicate is swim. No word such as are appears, and none is needed — one word can express both the copula and the predicate at once, affirming something of the subject directly.
• A verb is a word which can be used to affirm something of the subject. The more familiar definition — a word which expresses action, being, or state — says the same thing from the other side, naming what verbs talk about rather than what they do.
• Every complete sentence must contain a verb. Remove it and the sentence collapses: The dog chases a ball becomes the dog the ball, which asserts nothing. Even an imperative sentence, which may leave its subject unexpressed, must have one — in Pay attention, the subject you is understood, but pay cannot be spared.
• The test: ask whether the word affirms something of the subject. In Horses trot, trot tells what horses do, so it is a verb. In Houses stand, stand asserts the state the houses are in.

First classification — action, being, state

• Action — the subject does something, a deed or a motion. Examples: writes, runs, throws, falls.
• Being — the verb either asserts that the subject exists, or links to what the subject is. In its linking form it is always one of the eight forms of be: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been. Examples: God is (existence), Dinosaurs existed (existence), We are happy (linking).
• State — the verb reports a condition the subject is in. It is neither acting nor merely existing; something more is asserted, but nothing is being done. Examples: sleeps, sits, stands, waits.
• The state class is the subtle one. She dreams invites the reading that dreaming is something she does, but it is a condition she is in, not a deed she performs. Houses stand is the same: standing is the condition of the house.

The objective element

• In Boys study grammar, the word grammar is required to complete the meaning of the predicate study. It tells what the boys study, and without it the assertion is unfinished.
• An objective element is a word or group of words which completes the meaning of a verb. It is commonly called simply the object, and it is distinct from the subject.
• Examples: Columbus discovered America. Fire burns wood. The dog buried a bone. Merchants sell goods.

Second classification — transitive, intransitive, copulative

• Transitive — the verb requires an object to complete its meaning; the object receives the action.
  • Test: ask verb + what? If the answer is an object, the verb is transitive. Columbus discovered what? America.
  • The object need not be written out. The child reads is still transitive: reads what? is answered by an understood object — books, letters, stories. The test is whether some word other than the subject could be supplied there and still make sense.
  • Getting an answer is not by itself enough. The gate remains open answers remains what?, but open is not an object — it describes the gate rather than receiving anything. The answer must be an object, not merely an answer.
• Intransitive — the verb needs no object; the action stops with the subject and nothing receives it.
  • Test: ask verb + what? If there is no answer, the verb is intransitive. Horses run what? Nothing — they simply run.
  • Examples: Horses run. Clarence walks. The engine hummed.
  • A word answering where, when or how is not an object. The children ran home is intransitive: home says where they ran, and The children ran is complete without it.
• Copulative — the verb joins a predicate to the subject and in that way makes an assertion. It links the subject to a word that describes or renames it.
  • Examples: Lambs are playful. Stephen was a martyr. Soup tastes good. She became a teacher. The roses smell sweet.
  • Check: a form of is can usually be substituted and the sense will hold — the roses are sweet.
  • The completing word is a predicate, not an object. In The gate remains open, open is predicated of the gate.
  • Common copulative verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, became, seem, appear, and feel, taste, look, smell, sound when they link. The copula is always a verb.
• The class belongs to the use, not to the word. The same verb shifts with the sentence: She reads books is transitive, She reads well is intransitive. The cook tastes the soup is transitive, The soup tastes salty is copulative.

The three classes at a glance

Analysis

• Divide the subject from the predicate as before. The dividing line falls after the verb — and a copulative verb counts as the verb for this purpose, so the line falls after it and the predicate follows.
• Lambs | are | playful. Stephen | was | a martyr. Dogs | hunt | rabbits.

Common mistakes with verbs

• Use seen and gone only with the helper has, have or had: I have seen it, not I have saw it; I have gone, not I have went.
• Use saw and went alone for simple past time: I saw a dog, not I seen a dog.
• Use did and came, never done and come, for simple past time: He did his work; Father came home.
• When the subject names more than one, use are or were: The horse and the cow are in the stable.
• With the subject you, always use were: You were there, not You was there.

Worked Example

Part (a): name the verb, and say whether it expresses action, being, or state.

1. Birds fly. — fly, action. Flying is a deed the birds perform.
2. The baby sleeps. — sleeps, state. Sleeping is a condition, not something done.
3. God is. — is, being. Bare existence is asserted, with nothing added.
4. Dogs bark loudly. — bark, action. Loudly tells how, and does not affect the class.
5. The old house stands. — stands, state. Standing is the condition the house is in.
6. Dinosaurs existed. — existed, being. Again existence, here in past time.
7. She sings sweetly. — sings, action.
8. The travelers rested. — rested, state. Resting is a condition, however active the travelers had been before it.
9. We are happy. — are, being, in its linking form: it ties happy to we.
10. The soldiers marched. — marched, action.

Part (b): name the verb, and say whether it is transitive, intransitive, or copulative.

1. The soup tastes salty. — tastes, copulative. It links salty to soup; the soup is not tasting anything. Check: the soup is salty.
2. The cook tastes the soup. — tastes, transitive. Tastes what? The soup — an object, which receives the action. The same verb, a different use.
3. Wild geese fly south. — fly, intransitive. South tells where, not what.
4. Time heals all wounds. — heals, transitive. Heals what? All wounds — an object.
5. The old bridge collapsed. — collapsed, intransitive. Nothing is collapsed by the bridge; the action stops with the subject.
6. The witness appeared nervous. — appeared, copulative. Nervous is predicated of the witness. Check: the witness is nervous.
7. The storm damaged the barn. — damaged, transitive. The barn receives the damage.
8. The blanket feels soft. — feels, copulative. Check: the blanket is soft.
9. The dog smells the meat. — smells, transitive. The meat is an object and tells nothing about the dog.
10. The bread smells fresh. — smells, copulative. Fresh describes the bread. The same verb as the previous sentence, classed differently by its use.

Part (c): each sentence has a verb mistake. Give the correct form.

1. I have saw a fine horse today. → seen. After have, use seen.
2. He done his work well yesterday. → did. Simple past takes did.
3. The horse and the cow is in the stable. → are. The subject names more than one.
4. You was there, we know. → were. The subject you always takes were.
5. My father come home last week. → came. Simple past takes came.
6. I seen John at the fair. → saw. No helper is present, so the simple past is required.
7. George has went there several times. → gone. After has, use gone.
8. Weasels was plenty around there. → were. The subject names more than one.

Summary

• A verb is a word which affirms something of the subject; the familiar formula calls it a word expressing action, being, or state.
• Every complete sentence must have a verb, and one word can carry both the copula and the predicate, so no separate linking word is required.
• Verbs are classed twice over: as action, being or state by what they express, and as transitive, intransitive or copulative by how they complete their meaning.
• Ask verb + what? — if the answer is an object, the verb is transitive; if there is no answer, it is intransitive. An answer that describes rather than receives, as open does in The gate remains open, marks a copulative verb instead.
• An objective element is the word or group of words completing a verb's meaning, and it need not be written out: The child reads has an understood object.
• The class belongs to the use rather than the word — She reads books is transitive where She reads well is intransitive.
• Use seen and gone only with has, have or had; use saw, went, did and came alone for simple past time; and use are or were when the subject names more than one, or is you.