Common Verbs In English

When I first started teaching English, my students would ask: “Teacher, how many verbs do I need to learn to speak English fluently?” My answer surprised them: not as many as you think. While English has over a million words, only a few hundred verbs are used regularly in everyday conversation. By mastering 50–100 common verbs and understanding how to conjugate them, you can express nearly any action, state of being, or thought you need to communicate.

This guide focuses on the verbs that actually matter in real English—the ones you hear in conversation, see in films, and need to write effective sentences. I’ve organised them by type (action, linking, modal, phrasal), included conjugation tables, and provided pronunciation notes for each verb family. You’ll also find dialogue samples and a quiz to help you recognise and use these verbs naturally, so they become second nature in both speaking and writing.

What Are Verbs?

A verb is a word that represents an action, occurrence, or state of being. Verbs are the engine of every sentence—without them, you cannot express what something or someone is doing, feeling, or experiencing. English verbs can be external (physical actions like run, jump, eat) or internal (mental or emotional states like think, love, consider). Understanding verb types and their conjugation rules is essential for speaking and writing English accurately.

Definition & Base Form

The base form (also called the infinitive) is the simplest form of a verb—it’s what you see in dictionaries. The base form of “be” is “be”; the base form of “run” is “run.” When you add “to” before the base form, you get the full infinitive: “to be,” “to run,” “to eat.” Understanding base forms makes conjugation much easier.

Example: I want to run in the marathon next spring.

Types of Verbs

Action Verbs

Action verbs describe a physical or mental action. They are the most common verb type and the easiest to understand because they represent concrete movements or activities. Action verbs can be transitive (requiring a direct object) or intransitive (complete on their own).

Key insight: Transitive verbs must have a direct object to make sense; intransitive verbs do not need one. This distinction matters when you’re building sentences and describing actions precisely.

Linking Verbs (Copular Verbs)

Linking verbs connect the subject of a sentence to a noun or adjective that describes it. They do not describe an action but rather a state or condition. The most common linking verb is “be” (am, is, are, was, were), but “seem,” “appear,” “become,” “taste,” “smell,” and “look” also function as linking verbs.

Example: The music sounds beautiful in the concert hall. (Here, “sounds” is a linking verb describing the music’s quality, not the act of producing sound.)

Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs)

Auxiliary verbs work with main verbs to form verb tenses, questions, and negative statements. The most common auxiliaries are “be,” “have,” and “do.” These verbs are crucial for building correct English sentences, especially in past and future tenses.

• am / is / are / was / were
• have / has / had
• do / does / did
• will
• would
• shall
• should

Example 1: I am studying 🔊 🎤 for my exam. (“am” is the auxiliary; “studying” is the main verb.)

Example 2: She has completed 🔊 🎤 the project. (“has” is the auxiliary; “completed” is the main verb.)

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs express ability, possibility, permission, obligation, or necessity. They always accompany a main verb in its base form and do not change with the subject (you don’t say “he cans”; you say “he can”). Modal verbs are essential for expressing nuance in English—the difference between “You can do it” (possibility) and “You must do it” (obligation) is significant.

Key difference: “Can” expresses ability (“I can swim”), while “may” asks or grants permission (“May I swim here?”).

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs combine a main verb with one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs). They form new meanings that cannot be understood from the individual words alone. “Look up” means to search, “bring up” means to raise or educate, and “call off” means to cancel—none of which you’d guess from the words alone.

• Bring up (educate, raise a topic)
• Call off (cancel)
• Come across (find, encounter)
• Look after (care for)
• Put off (postpone)
• Take up (begin a hobby)
• Figure out (solve, understand)
• Give up (quit)

Example: I’ve decided to take up painting as a hobby. (The phrasal verb “take up” means to begin a new activity.)

Verb Conjugation: Present, Past & Beyond

Present Tense

The present tense describes actions happening now or regularly. For most verbs, only the third-person singular changes (adds “-s” or “-es”). The verb “be” is irregular and changes for every person.

Example: He walks to work every day. (The “-s” shows that “he” is the subject.)

Past Tense

The past tense describes actions that have already happened. Regular verbs add “-ed” to the base form. Irregular verbs have unique past tense forms that must be memorised.

Example: She danced beautifully at the wedding. (Regular verb: dance → danced)

Present Participle & Gerunds

The present participle is formed by adding “-ing” to the base form. It’s used for continuous tenses (“I am running”) and can also function as a noun (gerund): “Running is good exercise.”

Example 1: I am reading a fascinating book. (Present participle in continuous tense)

Example 2: Swimming is my favourite summer activity. (Gerund—the “-ing” form acts as a noun)

The 50 Most Common Verbs

These are the verbs you’ll encounter most often in English. Focus on these first; they form the foundation of everyday English conversation and writing.

Example: I take the bus to work every day. (Here, “take” means to use or travel by a specific mode of transport.)

Sample Dialogue: Talking About Daily Routines

Common Mistakes with Verbs

✗ Incorrect: She go to the store every day.

✓ Correct: She goes to the store every day.

Why: With third-person singular subjects (she, he, it), you must add “-s” or “-es” to the base form in the present tense.

✗ Incorrect: I have went to that restaurant before.

✓ Correct: I have been to that restaurant before. / I went to that restaurant.

Why: The auxiliary “have” requires the past participle, not the past tense. For “go,” the past participle is “been” (in this context) or use the simple past “went” alone.

✗ Incorrect: She is understanding the lesson.

✓ Correct: She understands the lesson. (Or: She is trying to understand.)

Why: Stative verbs like “understand,” “know,” “love,” and “believe” are not normally used in continuous tenses because they describe states, not actions in progress.

Irregular Verbs Reference

Irregular verbs are unpredictable and must be memorised. Here are the most common ones:

• Be → Was/Were → Been
• Do → Did → Done
• Go → Went → Gone
• Have → Had → Had
• Get → Got → Got
• Make → Made → Made
• Say → Said → Said
• See → Saw → Seen
• Take → Took → Taken
• Eat → Ate → Eaten
• Come → Came → Come
• Know → Knew → Known

Verb + Prepositions (Common Combinations)

Example: I’ve been looking for that book in every library in town.

Related Articles

• English Tenses Explained — present, past, future, perfect tenses
• ↑ Back to pillar: English Vocabulary Hub

Frequently Asked Questions