What is a verb?

  1. The verb is the word or group of words which expresses the action in the sentence.
  2. Some verbs do not express any action like "to be" "to become" "to exist"
  3. A sentence is not a sentence unless it has a verb.
  4. The verb can show the time of the action by its tense. There are three basic tenses:

The verb in English can very often be a string of words forming a 'verb phrase', as in the following sentences:

  1. Apollo had been guarding the cattle.
  2. The world will remember you, Adonis.
  3. The Greeks had not been fighting very successfully.

N.B. You will see in the last sentence that the word "not" has not been included in the verb phrase.
This is because "not" is an adverb and English very frequently inserts an adverb into a verb phrase.
So, if you are asked to find the verbs in a passage, remember two things:

  1. The verb may be a string of words — i.e. a "verb phrase"
  2. Do not include any adverbs or other parts of speech in the verb phrase.

Read the following passage and extract all the verbs; say what tense each verb is.

Because Persephone had failed to return, Demeter searched everywhere for her. She was distraught and in her grief forgot all about her responsibilities. She noticed a belt which was floating on a lake and recognised it as the one which her daughter had been wearing. Suddenly a nymph emerged from the lake and said to Demeter:
"Hades has taken your daughter. She is now in the Underworld where she reigns as his queen. You will see her again only if she has eaten nothing in Hades' kingdom."

Check your answer here.

The following information is more advanced and you may know some of it but it will be a great help to your work in Latin if you try to learn the grammatical information given below. You should take this knowledge to any language which you are studying; it applies to them all (including English) not just Latin.

THE INFINITIVE MOOD
You will often see the verb with the word "to" in front of it, e.g. "To be or not to be, that is the question."  This particular form of the verb is called the INFINITIVE. It simply states the action but not the tense or the person who is doing it. There were no infinitives in the passage above, but see if you can find the infinitives in the following excerpt. There are six of them.

Persephone longed to see her mother again. She pleaded with Hades to allow her to return to the world above but he refused. Her mother begged Zeus to help her but he said that because she had eaten six pomegranate seeds in the Underworld, it was impossible for him to oppose the will of Fate, so she was condemned to remain there.

Check your answers here.

THE IMPERATIVE MOOD
This is the name given to the form of the verb which we use when giving commands or instructions. In English it is the infinitive without the word "to", e.g. Stop!  Go away!  Listen!
Very often the imperative is written with an exclamation mark.

See how many imperatives you can find in the next excerpt.

Poseidon gathered all the rivers to his palace beneath the sea and told them what they must do. "Use your strength as you have never done before", he ordered. "Flow fuller than you do in the spring time and the melted snow has doubled your power. The rain has already added to your might. You have always been the bringers of life; now be the bringers of death. Break your banks. Run with such strength that nothing can stand in your path."

Check your answers here.

 

THE MODAL VERBS
These three verbs are called modal. They can not exist on their own but need to have another verb with them which is in the infinitive mood (sometimes without the characteristic "to"). Here they are and we shall look at them in a little more detail:

  1. can

  2. must

  3. want

1.  The verb can does not have an infinitive of its own, instead we use the phrase "to be able to"; you know that you cannot say in English "I would love to can play the bagpipes." You must say: "I would love to be able to play the bagpipes."
This verb also has no future tense: you cannot say, "Maybe after a bit of practice, I shall can do this." but instead you must say: "Maybe after a bit of practice I shall be able to do this." The past tense of this verb is "could".
So, this verb only exists in its present and past tenses and is followed by a verb in the infinitive without "to": e.g.

  1. Scientists can explain many things which the Greeks could explain only by means of myths.
  2. Many people nowadays can appreciate what Greek technology could do.

2.  The verb must also does not have an infinitive of its own, instead we use the phrase "to have to". It also has no future tense; you know that you cannot say "I shall must work harder next year"; instead you say :I shall have to work harder next year." This verb does not even have a past tense: you cannot say "I wanted to stay a bit longer but my dad said I musted come home."
So, this verb only exists in the present tense and is followed by a verb in the infinitive without "to": e.g.

  1. "Greeks, you must stand and fight; you can not retreat any further."
  2. We must remember that there are often several different versions of the Greek myths.

3.  The verb want has an infinitive and a full battery of tenses. It is followed by another verb in the infinitive with "to": e.g.

  1. Arachne wanted to challenge Athene.
  2. It never occurred to Persephone that anyone would want to harm her.

Here is a very difficult exercise you might like to try. Read the passage and them extract all the verbs and say what tense each one is or if it is an infinitive or imperative.

After the death of his nephew, Daedalus wanted to flee Athens as soon as possible. He took his son and sailed to the island of Crete where Minos was the king. After he had completed the labyrinth, he realised that Minos would never allow him to leave the island. He said to his young son: "Listen carefully to me, Icarus. We are in danger here; if we could reach the mainland, perhaps we would be safe but Minos controls the whole of Crete and the seas around it. We must escape some other way. I shall make wings for us and we shall fly away from this dreadful place. But watch me carefully and do as I tell you."

To check you answers click here.

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