Verbs are words that describe actions, whether physical or mental.

Every sentence
needs at least one verb. If there’s no verb, it’s an incomplete sentence or a sentence
fragment. Except for imperative sentences (commands), a sentence also needs a
subject, the thing doing the action.
Subjects are important for a verb because they change how it’s conjugated, which we
explain below. This is especially true for the most common verb: be.

Types of verbs
Dynamic (action) verbs
Most verbs describe a physical action or activity, something external that can be seen or
heard. These verbs are formally known as dynamic verbs, but can also be called action
or event verbs.
Examples: walk, laugh, swim, play, eat, drink, sing, dance, talk, say

There are a lot of actions that take place in our minds and feelings, which are not
external. Verbs that describe mental or internal actions are still dynamic verbs, but
they’re not always so obvious. These include “process verbs,” which describe actions of
transition.
Examples: consider, guess, change, grow, live, endure, succeed, fail

Auxiliary (helping) verbs

Auxiliary verbs, or “helping verbs,” are used in English to change another verb’s tense,
voice, or mood. When auxiliary verbs are used, there’s always a main verb that
represents the main action. However, the auxiliary verb must still be conjugated
correctly.

The main auxiliary verbs are be, have, and do. We explain how they’re used specifically
for conjugating below, but here are a few quick examples:
I have eaten sushi many times before. (tense)
That piece of sushi was eaten by me. (voice)
Did you eat my sushi? (mood)
Modal auxiliary verbs
Some auxiliary verbs are added to another verb to show necessity, possibility, or
capability. Like other auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliary verbs are not the main verb, but
they do change its meaning slightly. Some common examples are can, may, could,
should, would, must, ought, and might.
I could swim across the English Channel, but should I do it?
She must be the strongest person on the team and might be the strongest person in the
region.
Phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are phrases that act as individual verbs, often combining two or more
words and changing their meaning. The verb get, for example, becomes many different
phrasal verbs when combined with different prepositions.
When the bus stops, passengers get out on the sidewalk.
After losing his job, he’s getting by on savings.
The important thing to remember about phrasal verbs is that they act as a single verb,
so you can still use them with other verbs and prepositions. However, when you
conjugate a phrasal verb, you only conjugate the part of the phrase that’s actually a
verb, like get.

Transitive, intransitive, and ditransitive

Transitive, intransitive, and ditransitive refer to how a verb acts with direct and indirect
objects. A direct object is the person or thing that the action happens to, while an
indirect object is the person or thing that receives the direct object.
Lindor threw the ball to deGram.
In this example, the subject is Lindor and the verb is threw. The direct object is the ball
because that is what was thrown—Lindor did the action to the ball. The indirect object is
deGram because he received the direct object, the ball.
Verbs that don’t use either a direct or indirect object are called intransitive. These verbs
are complete actions by themselves.
Examples: go, walk, run, talk, sit, sleep, work
Verbs that use a direct object, but not an indirect object, are called transitive. They don’t
always need a direct object, but they have the option.
Examples: clean, like, love, dislike, hate, want, learn, deserve, say
Verbs that use both direct and indirect objects are called ditransitive. They don’t always
need an indirect object, but they have the option.
Examples: throw, make, buy, sell, read, give, lend, bring
Just as a verb can be either dynamic or stative depending on the meaning, a verb can
sometimes act transitive while at other times act intransitive. These are known as ambi-
transitive. For example, if you ask someone if they’re hungry, they might respond:
No, I already ate. (intransitive)
No, I already ate a sandwich. (transitive)

Linking (copular) verbs

A linking verb is any verb, dynamic or stative, that directly connects or “links” the
sentence’s subject to other words in the sentence. For example:
Garfield is a cat.
Here, “Garfield” and “a cat” are the same thing, so “is” acts as a linking verb.
A linking verb—also known as a copula or copular verb in formal linguistics—connects
the subject not just to other nouns and adjectives, but also to prepositional phrases and
other verbs in the infinitive form. Although the verb be is the most-used linking verb in
English, other linking verbs like seem and become are also common.
Garfield is in the kitchen.
Garfield became fat by eating lasagnas.
Garfield seems to hate Mondays.
Likewise, perception verbs are often linking verbs as well, but only when they describe
what is being perceived.
The mild sauce also tastes spicy.
Birds look happy when the sun comes out.
The student felt pride when they used perfect grammar.

Infinitives and gerunds

Do you like to swim? Do you enjoy learning? If you want to use a verb as a noun, you
can turn it into an infinitive or gerund, the noun forms of verbs.
An infinitive adds the preposition to in front of a verb’s root form. Although technically
two words, an infinitive acts as a single word, usually a noun, but sometimes also an
adjective or adverb.
To forgive is divine. (noun)
Bring a snack to eat if you get hungry. (adjective describing “snack”)
Alternatively, you can turn the verb into a gerund by adding -ing, identical to the present
participle. A gerund is strictly used as a noun, and occasionally you can use them to
create gerund phrases, which act as a single unit to modify the gerund.
Running is too difficult.
Studying the cosmos is not the same as understanding the cosmos.
So what’s the difference between infinitives and gerunds? Often, they are
interchangeable—both infinitives and gerunds can act as subjects and direct objects.
Living with a dog changes your outlook on life. (correct)
To live with a dog changes your outlook on life. (also correct)
However, only gerunds can be the object of a preposition.
When I’m not fishing, I’m thinking about fishing.
Moreover, some transitive verbs only use infinitives as a direct object—for example,
want.
I want to break free. (correct)
I want breaking free. (incorrect)
Although there are others, some common verbs use infinitives. They include the
following: choose, decide, hope, plan, prepare, promise, wish.
In general, use the infinitives for situations that are abstract, unreal, or haven’t
happened yet. Use gerunds for situations that are specific, real, or have already
happened.
In the mornings, I really like to exercise. (abstract; infinitive)
This morning, I really liked exercising. (specific; gerund)
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/verbs/#whatisaverb