Action and event
What does someone do, or what happens?
Significado
An action or event tells us what someone does or what happens. It may be deliberate, like opening a door, or happen without anyone choosing it, like a glass falling. Languages usually use verbs for this, sometimes with endings or helper words, but some do not mark time or person on the verb. Unlike State and existence, this block centers on something happening rather than something simply being a certain way.
Como identificar
Find the part that says what someone does or what happens, including events with no deliberate doer.
Na tua língua materna
Portuguese normally expresses actions and events with verbs that change form for tense and for the subject. The verb can describe a deliberate action or something that happens without anyone choosing it. In combinations with a helping verb, such as vai chover, the helping verb changes form while the main verb names the event.
O Rafael preparou o almoço.
A sacola rasgou no caminho.
The verb describes an event without naming a doer.
Vai chover à tarde.
Vai helps place the event in the future; chover names the event, and no subject word is needed.
Na tua língua de aprendizagem
English normally uses a verb to express an action or event. The verb form and helper verbs can show its time and whether it is in progress. Events without a deliberate doer also use verbs, such as fall, arrive, or melt.
Ben cooks dinner every evening.
Cooks names a regular action; the -s ending matches Ben.
The snow is melting.
Is melting shows a change in progress, without a deliberate doer.
The bus arrived late.
Arrived names an event and places it in the past.
Learners whose language allows the subject to remain unspoken may leave out the English subject. Learners whose verbs do not change form may miss endings such as -s or -ed.