Verbs are sometimes defined as ‘doing’ words – words that indicate what is being done in a sentence. But this is not always helpful. In the sentence This is hard work, presumably what is being done is work. But work here is a noun, whereas the verb is is.
Without doubt, the best test for a verb is this: does it have forms that indicate whether the action takes place now or at some time in the past? – work/worked; take/took. (But note that some do not actually change their form; for example, spread/spread, hit/hit.)
Most verbs fall into one of three categories. The first two types can exist on their own, and are called ‘main’ or ‘lexical’ verbs.
X . ‘doing’ verbs (in a very wide sense), such as approach, do, go, like, and want. The verb tells you something about the activities of its subject: Fred approached the fierce lion.
X . ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ verbs, which make some kind of equation between the subject and the complement that follows them. In a sense John became manager says ‘John = manager’; You sound bored says ‘You = bored’.
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