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Verbs

Verbs are words that point out an action, a state of being, or an occurrence/an event. Using the right verbs to define your actions or state of being is necessary, let’s learn more about them.

“Help me look for my marbles!”- Learn the Phrasal Verb easily

Meaning of the Phrasal Verb and its use


The Phrasal Verb “look for” is one of those idiomatic sayings, the meaning is hard to get upon hearing. But, it simply means to search for something. And so for this blog, we’ll focus on the phrase “Help me look for my marbles!” It’s funny because lost marbles have a double meaning, it could refer to a lost set of small glass spheres used to play a game or losing one’s mind.


As for using “look for” in a sentence, often “look” becomes the Verb. And, the phrase follows normal verb conjugation. To make it past tense, add “ed” to the end of “look,” in the case that “look” follows a pronoun like “we.”

For example, you might say:
“We looked for my marbles.”

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How to use Separable Phrasal Verbs – “Basics”

In general, Phrasal Verbs are a Verb + Preposition combination, like “cheer up.” But, there’s another kind of Phrasal Verb too, the Separable Phrasal Verb. 

Scat Singing Cheers me up

What is Scat Singing, you may ask? In Jazz, an American style of music, Scat Singing is the use of nonsense words like “zippity zippity zippity zam za zim” to make improvised melodies. 

How do nonsense words relate to learning English? In our case, these sounds cheer the Speaker up, which brings us to Phrasal Verbs – “cheer up” is a Phrasal Verb. 

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How to use Separable Phrasal Verbs – “Advanced” with examples

Meaning of Separable Phrasal verbs and how to use it

Phrasal verbs could be separable or inseparable. Phrasal verbs are operable when the verb and the proposition are separated by an object between them. They are: Verb + Object + Preposition

They are based on simple Phrasal Verbs:

Verb + Preposition

An example of a Separable Phrasal Verb is “turn down,” the topic of today’s lesson.

Separable Phrasal Verbs

Turn the volume down

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Modal Verbs of Probability- Meaning, Use, And Practice Exercises.

What are Modal Verbs?

Modal Verbs are Verbs of probability. They express a guess at outcomes. Modal Verbs include:

“must, might, may, could” and “can’t”

Cinderella may find her prince.

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For example: 

“Cinderella may find her prince.” 

Is a guess at the likelihood of Cinderella, the mistreated stepdaughter, meeting and marrying Prince Charming. 

The Modal Verb “may” expresses a greater degree of certainty than “might,” although neither are quantified into exact numbers. 

Alternatively, someone may say:

“Cinderella might find her prince.” 

Or

“Cinderella could find her prince.” 

which expresses little belief in a positive outcome. 

And finally, you may hear someone say:

“Cinderella can’t find her prince.”

This means that there’s no likelihood of her meeting and marrying Prince Charming. 

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Know about Phrasal Verb: Look Ahead

Look ahead to a bright new future 

In general, Phrasal Verbs contain a Verb along with an Adverb or Preposition.

Taking a closer look, in Phrasal Verbs, the Verb acts as the head of the expression. For example: 

“Look ahead”

“Look down”

“Look out” 

all have the Verb “look” as the head of the Phrase. And, the Verb “look” is followed by a Preposition or Adverb. However, almost any Verb may be used to create a Phrasal Verb. 

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Know about Phrasal Verb: Look after

Won’t you look after my pet Boa Constrictor?

A Phrasal Verb, not to be confused with Verb Phrase (as in SVO), is an idiomatic expression. As you may recall, idiomatic expressions are sayings that are understood because of use, rather than diction (dictionary definition).

Phrasal Verbs usually contain a Verb and Adverb or Preposition. For example, “look after,” our phrase of the day contains the Verb “look” and the Adverb “after.”  However, “look down,” another common Phrasal Verb, includes a Verb and a Preposition. 

Common Phrasal Verb expressions include “look down, watch out” and “listen closely.” Each contains two words, a Verb plus another word. 

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Being Verbs there is/are

What do I need to know about the English Adverb there + the being Verbs is and are

Surprisingly, not all modern languages have a present tense Being Verb. For example, Hebrew and Turkish do not; they have other methods of stating that an object or action exists. 

Interestingly, the English language possesses two present tense Being Verbs, “is” and “are.” Both simply mean to be. Despite possessing the same definition, they can’t be used conversely. 

Remember, the Being Verb “Is” is used with all singular Nouns, but “are” is used with plural Nouns. For example, you may encounter a native English speaker saying the sentence below.

There is a black cat over there.

By saying this, the speaker is telling the listener that there is a (singular) black cat nearby. 

Notice that there’s a direct relationship between the Being Verb and the Noun. And so, if the noun is plural, “are” is used. Here’s an example:

There are black cats over there.

By saying this, the speaker is telling the listener that there are black cats nearby. 

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Wish

To wish for something is a strong desire for a specific outcome. 

The word “wish” is a Verb, it’s one of those action words where no physical labor is required to engage in the action, something somewhat abstract. Other abstract Verbs include trust, worry, and forget as well as many other thoughts and feelings. But, “wish” is the most yearning of these Verbs.

Making a wish is common in both the West and East.  For example, you may have encountered a wishing well. A place where tossing a penny into a deep drum of water grants your deepest desire. Or, you may have seen a movie in which the players ask a genie to bring love into their lives. 

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Wish + would

The word “wish” is the desire or hope for something that isn’t easily obtained. It’s a Verb, an abstract Verb, but still a Verb. Often, abstract Verbs are feelings. 

Most of us are familiar with the phrase “wish upon a star”, a cliché used to express hope for the most unlikely of outcomes.  But today, we are discussing the Verb group “wish […] would.” 

You may encounter a Native English speaker saying “I wish you would eat more vegetables.” By saying this, the speaker is expressing a desire for the listener to consume healthier foods. 

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