# Verbs- really necessary? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275 "2002-04-24T03:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/21 "2002-04-24T21:18:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sturmhauke \* > Furthermore, the word “understandable” (which is used in the OP) is an adjective derived from the verb “understand”. “Understandable” derived from “understand”… or “understand” derived from “understandable”? Certain answer possible? ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/22 "2002-04-24T23:03:18Z")
Yeah, “understand” is a word, while “-able” is a suffix. Suffixes modify words or roots to make new words. And “derived” is a verb. If you really want to answer your own question, try writing a complex thought with no verbs or verb-derived words. Note that Steve here didn’t quite manage. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/23 "2002-04-24T23:07:56Z")
I say verbs are necessary. With out them how can you do anything? We would become motionless blobs of flesh, sitting on a plasitc lawn chair. Drool would ooze forth from our mouths in a never ending stream. ---
**Author:** ![Koffing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@Koffing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koffing)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/24 "2002-04-24T23:41:29Z")
Verb requirement negation. Adjective requirement negation. Noun requirement assertion. Speech difficulty acknowledgement. Speech impossibility negation. ---
**Author:** ![Koffing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@Koffing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koffing)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/25 "2002-04-24T23:47:38Z")
Verbs unnecessary. Example: Omega Supreme. Speech terse. Waste minimal. Efficiency maximized. Badassitude personified. OMEGA SUPREME! Sorry. Flashback. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/26 "2002-04-25T00:16:46Z")
“All nouns can be verbed.” That’s actually one of the more interesting aspects of the English language… a lot of other languages can’t do this. One of the advantages of a weakly-inflected language : ) And any generative grammaticist worth their salt would say that leaving out the verb in an utterance doesn’t mean the verb isn’t there. You just aren’t _saying_ it. -fh ---
**Author:** ![mandielise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@mandielise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandielise)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/27 "2002-04-25T07:08:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\* > > You are writing a literal translation of Russian which has no verb “to be” in the present tense. So in Russian you say “My wrting odd.” > > English, it seems to me, has no future form of “to go.” We use auxilliary verb or words like “He is going to go.” or “I will go tomorrow” or things like that. > > And, of course vowels aren’t needed either. Some languages, I think ancient Hebrew was one, use only consonants with diacritical marks to indicate pronumciation. > > At this rate we’ll make language so simple even I will be able to use it. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![mandielise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@mandielise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandielise)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/28 "2002-04-25T07:10:47Z")
Actually, technically the auxilary “will” forms the future tense of most English verbs much the way the auxilary “to have” in different tenses forms some past . If you ever learned French you might recognize this idea when making the passe compose, or in German the past simple. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/29 "2002-04-25T16:18:24Z")
Caveman talk good! Og the Sorter: Verbs In Bin! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/30 "2002-04-26T21:51:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sturmhauke \* > And “derived” is a verb. No, “derived”, in that context, an adjective. If verb, what subject? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/31 "2002-05-08T06:36:47Z")
My opinion: verbs not as necessary as love. But what about science–and technology? Then–important! The most important of the two, though–unsure. Just kidding :). (_See, I finally used a verb_.) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/32 "2002-05-08T10:44:21Z")
I get my thing in action! (verb!) To be, to sing, to feel, to live! (verb! that’s what’s happenin’) I put my heart in action! (verb!) To run, to go, to get, to give! (verb! you’re what’s happenin’) Hell, are exclamation points necessary?(!) ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/33 "2002-05-08T13:48:15Z")
Complex action easy if single character represent all verb. However, context important. Examples: I # store today. I # you with fist. I angry. You in pain. Language ALLNOUN similar to this. All nouns. # internet for ALLNOUN. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/34 "2002-05-08T16:37:19Z")
People, removing verbs from sentences does not count as trying to speak without verbs. That’s like critiquing spanish because it doesn’t have any English in it. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/35 "2002-05-08T18:56:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\* > No, “derived”, in that context, an adjective. If verb, what subject? \*\* Understandable=subject (is)=implied verb derived=past tense verb from understand=prepostitional phrase describing ‘derived’ Next? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/36 "2002-05-08T18:57:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arken \* > \*\*Complex action easy if single character represent all verb. However, context important. > > Examples: > > I # store today. > > I # you with fist. I angry. You in pain. > > Language ALLNOUN similar to this. All nouns. # internet for ALLNOUN. \*\* represent = verb ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/37 "2002-05-08T19:54:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\* > No, “derived”, in that context, an adjective. If verb, what subject? \*\* Cool! So nouns can be verbed, and verbs can be adjectived! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275/38 "2002-05-08T20:45:23Z")
First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing because verbing weirds language. Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs. – Peter Ellis on alt.fan.pratchett [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbs-really-necessary/105275.md?page=1)