1. The Verb is a word which affirms or declares. That of which it affirms something is called its subject; as, Rain falls, Sickness will come.
Here rain and sickness are subjects of the affirmations made.
2. Sometimes the verb asks a question; as, Are you going? Sometimes it takes the form of command; as, Go, Samuel. Sometimes it takes the form of a wish; as, May you excel. Sometimes that of a condition; as, Should he arrive, I will accompany him.
3. Verbs may be variously classified.
(1.) Into Regular and Irregular. The former make their past tense and participle with the ending of ed; the latter, do not; as, "I ascended;" "I saw."
(2.) Into Transitive and Intransitive. The former are not complete in their meaning without the addition of a noun, as the object upon which the action expressed by the verb rests or falls; as, "He has performed his task." Here the sense of the verb performed would be imperfect without task as an object.
But "he walked," is intransitive, as the action is limited to the subject he, and does not terminate on an object.
(3.) Transitive verbs are either in the Active or Passive form.
"He has performed his task," is active; "His task has been per formed," is passive; the object of the verb in the active form of the sentence, being made the subject of the verb in the passive form. In the active form, the subject is represented as acting; in the passive, as acted upon.
Hence, intransitive verbs cannot regularly be used in the pas sive form.
Some intransitive verbs express simply the idea of existence or being; as, I am, he is, we shall be. Thomas is active. Any verb which makes sense with a pronoun after it in the objective form, may be known as being a transitive verb; as, He rewards him.
(4.) Some verbs are used both in a transitive and in an intransitive sense; as, "We returned from the city" (intransitive); "We returned the favor" (transitive).
(5.) Intransitive verbs admit after them, as an object, a noun possessing a meaning like that of the verb; as, "He ran a race;" and such an objective case may be converted into a subjective case with the passive form of the verb; as, "A race was run by him."
These verbs will be referred to again in a future lesson.
(6.) The infinitive mood is sometimes the subject or the object of a verb; as, "To write well is a fine accomplishment." "He has learned to write well."
(7.) Some intransitive verbs are construed passively; as, "He was laughed at," "The business is to be looked after;" "The decision was appealed from;" "He is not to be scoffed at," "These are lessons to be practised on," "Duty was lost sight of," "The money was made use of by the servant."
