Exercise on Kinds of Verb

What is a Verb ?

A Verb is a word which says something about a Subject; as,

The boys play football.

KINDS OF VERBS

Read these sentences :

1. The man killed a snake.
2. The boy opened the window.
3. Alice made a doll.

In these sentences, the Verbs alone (printed in thick type) do not make complete sense. Something must be added to each to complete the sense. –

1. What did the man kill ? —A snake.
2. What did the boy open ?—The window.
3. What did Alice make ?—A doll.

The words snake, window, and doll are called the Objects of the Verbs killed, opened, and made.

A Verb which requires an Object after it to complete its sense is called a Transitive Verb.

• Read these sentences :
  • The man died.
  • The girl smiled.
  • The sun shines.

In these sentences, the Verbs, by themselves, make good sense, and do not require Objects after them to make complete sense.

A Verb which does not require an Object to complete its sense, but makes good sense by itself, is called an Intransitive Verb.

• There are some Verbs which can be used both transitively and intransitively :

TRANSITIVE	INTRANSITIVE
The boys fly kites. He runs a hotel. Mr Mody opens the shop at eight. He writes novels. The driver stopped the train. The ox drew the cart. The mouse stole food.	Birds fly in the air. He runs fast. School opens at nine o’clock. He writes legibly. We stopped there a little. He drew near me. The mouse stole into its hole.

Read these sentences :

• A dog is an animal.
• The man seems tired.
• The thief always lives in fear.
• She became sad.

The Verbs (printed in thick type) in these sentences do not make complete sense by themselves. Something is added to each Verb to complete the sense. But these Verbs do not require Objects after them to complete their sense. Therefore, these Verbs are intransitive. But since these Verbs cannot make good sense by themselves, they require other words to complete the sense.

Such Verbs as do not make complete sense but require some word or words after them for this purpose, are called Verbs of Incomplete Predication.

The word or phrase so added is called the Complement.

A Complement is that which completes the Predicate.

The Double Object. Some Transitive Verbs take two objects after them ; one of which is a thing, and the .other some

1. She gave HIM a rupee.
2. I asked HER her name.
3. He taught US English.

These sentences could be written thus :

1. She gave a rupee to HIM.
2. I asked of HER her name.
3. He taught English to US.

We usually call rupee, name, English as Direct Objects, and him, her, us as Indirect Objects.

• A Direct Object is usually the name of some thing.

An Indirect Object is usually the name of some person.

NOTE: The Indirect Object usually comes before the Direct.

Exercise 1: Point out the Transitive and Intransitive Verbs in the following sentences. Name the Object of each Transitive Verb:

1.	He flies his kite.	2. He received a prize.
3.	I met a little cottage girl.	4. The ship sank.
5.	He spoke loudly.	6. The man killed a snake.
7.	John broke the slate.	8. The sun sets at six.
9.	The baby laughs.	10. The girls were singing.
11.	She ran away quickly.	12. Smith struck her.

Exercise 2: Complete the following by supplying suitable Objects:

1. She broke ______.
2. Most boys dislike ______ .
3. He is making________ .
4. The thief stole________ .
5. He bought_______ .
6. The sun gives ________ .
7. A carpenter makes___________ .
8. I wrote______ .
9. He won__________ .
10. He killed _______ .
11. The cat caught________ .
12. Most girls like________ :

Exercise 3: Point out the Direct and Indirect Objects in the following sentences:

1. I forgave him his faults.
2. We gave her a rupee.
3. He taught us English.
4. They gave Mary a Prize
5. She gave me an apple.
6. He told us a story
7. He owed us fifty rupees.
8. Tom lent me ten rupees.

Exercise 4: Say whether the following Verbs are Transitive, Intransitive, or Verbs of Incomplete Predication :

1.	Sheila became sad.	2. The prisoner went mad.
3.	The tree falls.	4. He is guilty.
5.	He spoke the truth.	6. She seems happy.
7.	She is innocent.	8. The sky grew dark.
9.	The wind blows gently.	10. He is a painter.
11.	Robert stole my book.	12. Fire burns brightly.
13.	He broke his leg.	14. They made him king.

Exercise 5: Choose the right verbs from brackets to complete each sentence:

1. The wind (blew, galloped, flew) hard that day.
2. A cork (floats, sails, flows) on water.
3. A river (floats, flows, swims) by our village.
4. The bird has (flown, fled, run) out of the cage.
5. The servant (lay, laid, put) the table for breakfast.
6. The thieves (robbed, stole, won) all the property from the house.
7. Columbus (discovered, invented, explored)
8. The moon (raised, rose, awoke)
9. Cocks (sing, caw, crow) in the morning.
10. They (hanged, hung, swung) the pictures on the wall.

Exercise 6: Pair each Verb with its opposite:

1.	arrived	loved	6.	bought	to blame
2.	remembered	lowered	7.	to appear	to unlock
3.	slept	woke	8.	to loosen	to tighten
4.	raised	forgot	9.	to lock	to vanish
5.	hated	departed	10.	to praise	sold

Exercise 7: Choose Verbs from the box which have the meanings given below:

1. speak or cry out in a loud voice ,,
2. speak or say something using the breath .
3. cry out suddenly and loudly (from pain, anger or surprise)
4. take property from a place unlawfully and often by force
5. take somebody else’s property secretly, without right, unlawfully
6. show regret for doing wrong
7. show the meaning of
8. send goods to another country
9. create or design something (not existing before)
10. bring in goods from a foreign country
11. find out something existing but not yet known
12. examine and argue about a subject

Exercise 8: From the words in brackets choose the one which fits best:

1. The skaters (glided, flew, floated) across the ice.
2. Aeroplanes (buzz, zoom. soar).
3. Beetles (hiss, buzz, drone).
4. Mice (scream, shriek, squeak).
5. Pigs (croak, grunt, chatter).
6. Frogs (bark, croak, grunt).
7. Bears (growl, howl, roar).
8. Snakes (hiss, hum. murmur).
9. Owls (hoot, scream, screech).
10. Sparrows (twitter, chatter, purr).
11. Bulls (bellow, trumpet, snarl).
12. Ducks (quack, cackle, caw).
13. Geese (cackle, quack, crow).
14. Asses (neigh, bray, bleat).
15. Crows (caw, bark, cackle).
16. Sirens (sound, blow, wail).
17. Elephants (bellow, trumpet, roar).
18. Parrots (scream, screech, squeal).
19. Eagles (squqal, sc/eam, screech).
20. Rabbits (squeak, squeal, screech).

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