A verb is a word that tells what someone does or what happens — it shows an action or a state. For example, in 'The boys are playing football', 'are playing' is the verb.

What is the difference between a main verb and an auxiliary verb?

In a multi-word verb (verb group), the last verb is the main verb and the verb or verbs before it are auxiliary (helping) verbs. In 'They are playing', 'playing' is the main verb and 'are' is the auxiliary verb.

What are the two kinds of auxiliary verbs?

Auxiliary verbs are of two kinds — modal auxiliaries (shall, will, may, can, must, should, would, might, could, need, dare, ought to, used to) and primary auxiliaries (be, have, do).

How are the primary auxiliaries be, have and do used?

A 'be' verb + the -ing form shows the action is in progress, and 'be' + the -en form shows the passive. A 'have' verb + the -en form shows the action is complete. A 'do' verb is used to make negative and interrogative sentences.

What is subject-verb agreement?

The verb of a sentence is decided by its subject. If the subject is 'I' the verb is 'am'; with 'he/she' it is 'is'; with 'we/you/they' it is 'are'. Similarly, 'The cow eats grass' but 'Cows eat grass'.

Grammar Chapter 2: Verbs

Learn and Practise Grammar · Main & Auxiliary Verbs

English Grammar · Odisha Board Class 9 · Notes + Solved Activities + 25 Quiz

📖 Grammar Chapter 2 — Verbs: The verb is the heart of the predicate. This chapter shows that a verb may be one word or many words, how a verb group is made of a main verb and auxiliary (helping) verbs, the modal and primary auxiliaries, and the basics of subject–verb agreement.

A. What is a Verb?

A verb is a word that tells us what someone does or what happens — it shows an action or a state.

I went to a restaurant. It was lunch time. I saw the chairs. I chose the corner table and started reading.

The underlined words above say what someone does or what happens — so they are all verbs.

B. Single-word & Multi-word Verbs

A verb may be a single word or a group of words (a verb group).

Single-word verb: Sheela is a student.
Multi-word verb: She is reading a book. They are playing football. He can lift the box.

Key rule: In a multi-word verb, the last verb is the MAIN verb and the verb(s) before it are AUXILIARY (helping) verbs.

C. Kinds of Verbs — Main & Auxiliary

Verbs are grouped as shown below:

VERB
→ Auxiliary (Modal + Primary) & Main

Type	Examples
Modal auxiliaries	shall, will, may, can, need, dare, must, ought to, used to, should, would, might, could
Primary auxiliaries	be = am / is / are / was / were / be / being / been; have = has / have / had; do = does / do / did
Main verbs	play, study, read, write, sit, run, etc.

How the Primary Auxiliaries are Used

A be verb + the -ing form → the action is in progress. (She is reading.)
A be verb + the -en form → the verb is in the passive. (The essay is written.)
A have verb + the -en form → the action is complete. (He has written the essay.)
A do verb → used to form negative and interrogative sentences. (Do you know? I do not know.)

Modal Auxiliaries — their meanings

Modal auxiliaries usually express meanings like necessity, obligation, advice, permission, certainty and possibility.

Verb Groups with More than One Auxiliary

A multi-word verb can have as many as three auxiliary verbs before the main verb.

She could have been laughing at us. Our classroom will have been cleaned by tomorrow.

Order of auxiliaries: Modal → have → be → main verb. You cannot reverse the order (no ‘been have could’). So AB, AC, BC are possible, but BA, CA, CB are not.

D. Subject–Verb Agreement

The verb of a sentence is decided by its subject. If the subject is ‘I’, the verb is ‘am’ — it cannot be ‘is’ or ‘are’.

Subject	Verb
I	am
We / You / They / The students	are
He / She / Mina / The teacher	is
The cow	eats
Cows	eat

💡 Quick Recap

① A verb shows an action or state. ② In a verb group, the last word = main verb, the rest = auxiliaries. ③ Auxiliaries = Modal (can, must, will…) + Primary (be, have, do). ④ be+ing = progress, be+en = passive, have+en = completion, do = negatives/questions. ⑤ The subject decides the verb.

Solved Textbook Activities (with answers)

1Activity 1 — Make sentences from the table (I / We / You / He / She / It / They / My sister / My sister and I + am / is / are + a student / students / my school bag).

Choose one word from each column so the verb agrees with the subject: 1. I am a student. 2. We are students. 3. You are a student. 4. He is a student. 5. She is a student. 6. It is my school bag. 7. They are students. 8. My sister is a student. 9. My sister and I are students. 10. My sister is a student. (She is carrying my school bag.)

2Activity 2 — Identify auxiliary verbs and main verbs in the dialogue.

(aux = auxiliary verb, mv = main verb) • Maggie came (mv) to say (mv) goodbye. She was (aux) dressed (mv) in black. • Meena: Are (aux) you leaving (mv) today? • Maggie: Yes, today is (mv) the day of my departure. • Meena: How long will (aux) it take (mv) to reach your country? Which part of the country do (aux) you live (mv) in? • Maggie: I do (aux) not know (mv) exactly where I am (aux) posted (mv) until I arrive (mv) there.

3Activity 3 — Make the aux + main verb combinations (A = may write, B = has written, C = is writing, D = is written).

AB = He may have written the essay. (given) AC = He may be writing the essay. BC = He has been writing the essay. AD = The essay may be written. BD = The essay has been written. CD = The essay is being written. ABC = He may have been writing the essay. ABD = The essay may have been written.
Note: combinations keep the order modal → have → be; reverse orders (BA, CA, CB) are not possible.

4Activity 4 — Answer about Anil, Bina and Chinu using the correct auxiliary.

Example: Anil and Chinu run fast but Bina doesn't. 1. Who's got long hair? → Bina has (long hair) but Anil and Chinu haven't. 2. Who plays a musical instrument? → Bina and Chinu play a musical instrument but Anil doesn't. 3. Who swims in the pond? → Anil and Chinu swim but Bina doesn't. 4. Who was born in a city? → Anil and Bina were born in a city but Chinu wasn't. 5. Who rides a bike? → Anil rides a bike but Bina and Chinu don't. 6. Who has many friends? → Bina and Chinu have many friends but Anil doesn't.

5Activity 5 — Complete the Sunil–Leena conversation with the correct auxiliary.

Sunil: I haven't seen Vivek all day. (given) Leena: I haven't either. I don't know where he is. Sunil: Who left this note? Leena: Vivek must have. It's his handwriting. Sunil: But he doesn't say where he's gone. Leena: He would have if he'd wanted us to know where he has gone. Sunil: Do you think he has gone to his grandpa's house? Leena: He might have. Who knows? Sunil: Do you think he'll telephone? Leena: He might. I'm not sure. Sunil: Has he taken his bicycle? Leena: He must have because it is not there. Sunil: He was acting very strangely this morning. Leena: I know he was. We should have asked him why. Sunil: I would have but I didn't have time. Leena: Can't we phone his grandpa? Sunil: We could. But we haven't got his number.