The men are working. The boy has been studying.
In the first sentence it takes two words, _are working_, to make the assertion; in the second, three are required, _has been studying_. These groups of words are called _verb phrases_.
+A verb phrase is a group of words used as a single verb.+
The verb is perhaps the most difficult part of speech to master. It is not hard to find the verb in short sentences, but in longer sentences it is sometimes difficult.
The sun shines. The man walks. The boys strike.
We very easily see that _shine_, _walk_ and _strike_ are the verbs in these sentences. But let us add other words, as for example:
The sun shines brightly. The man walks for his health. The boys strike the dog.
Now we are very apt to confuse the verb with the words which state _how_ and _why_ the action is performed, or the _object_ towards which the action is directed. But in these sentences, _shine_ and _walks_ and _strike_ are still the verbs, just as in the first sentences. The verb asserts the action; the other words merely give additional information about _how_ or _why_ or _upon what_ the action is performed.
+30.+ Another thing which makes it difficult for us to distinguish verbs in English is that the same word may be used both as a noun and as a verb; but always remember that words are separated into classes according to the work which they do. When a word is used as a _name_ it is a _noun_; when it is used as an _asserting_ word it is a _verb_. Note the following sentences:
The _play_ made the child tired. The children _play_ in the yard.
In the first sentence _play_ is a noun, the subject of the verb _made_. In the second sentence _play_ is the verb, telling what the children _do_. Always classify words according to the work which they perform in the sentence. This will help you very much in finding your verb.
+31.+ Then we have some verbs which do not assert action but express rather a connection or relation between the subject and some other word or words. For example:
The dog belongs to the man. The girl is happy.
In these sentences _belongs_ and _is_ are the verbs. _Belongs_ asserts or shows the relation between _the dog_ and _the man_. _Is_ shows the relation between _the girl_ and _happy_. If we simply say _girl_ and _happy_, we do not show any connection between them or make any statement relating the two, but when we say, _The girl is happy_, we are asserting something, and the word _is_ makes the assertion.