ABSTRACT
Verbs are the heart of grammar; they pump meaning through the veins of a sentence. Without verbs we would just have an assemblage of items, like an inventory. If you pick up a scrap of paper from the pavement, unfold it and read: eggs, washing-up liquid, carrots, teabags . . . you can only know the meaning (go and get these items from the shop) if you know what shopping lists are. There is no meaning in the list itself. To make meaning, you have to say something about the items. You can make the items as detailed as you like – 14 organic carrots with their leafy tops, a box of at least 80 Earl Grey teabags . . . – but to say something meaningful you need a verb.
