Verbs

Question 1

What is a verb?

Answer 1

A verb is a word that indicates the action of a sentence. Action can be a physical activity (e.g., to run, to talk), a mental activity (i.e., to hope, to believe, to imagine, to dream, to think), or a condition (e.g., to be, to have, to seem).

Question 2

Name 2 reasons why verbs are important.

Answer 2

1. Necessary component of a complete sentence.

2. Function of a word in a sentence often depends on its relationship to the verb.

Question 3

Name 3 key facts about the infinitive form of German verbs.

Answer 3

1. The infinitive form of a verb always ends with -n or -en.
2. As in English, a sentence containing a verb in its infinitive form always includes another verb that has been conjugated.
3. The infinitive is the form under which verbs are listed in the dictionary.

Question 4

Why are verbs conjugated?

Answer 4

A verb is conjugated or changes in form to agree with its subject.

Question 5

What are 5 essential attributes of verbs?

Answer 5

1. Tense – the time of the action.
2. Mood – forms of a verb that indicate the attitude of the speaker toward what they are saying, e.g., expressing a fact, giving a command, etc.
3. Voice – the relation between the subject and the action, i.e., active / passive.
4. Participle – can be used to form a participle, i.e., a form of the verb that can work with an auxiliary verb to indicate certain tenses, or as an adjective to describe something.
5. Transitive / Intransitive – depends on whether or not the verb can take a direct object.