Students in my regular daytime classroom are studying health care this week, so the word "hurt" has come up several times recently.
The verb "hurt" can be transitive or intransitive.
A transitive verb is followed by an object:
- Joe hurt his back. (The word "back" is an object.)
- Rita hurt her finger. (The word "finger" is an object.)
The sentence can end with the verb:
- Joe's back hurts.
- Rita's finger hurts.
- My eyes hurt.
(Notice the difference between the singular and the plural in the present tense?)
You often hear "hurt" in the passive voice: - Joe's back was hurt in an accident.
- Several people were hurt in the fire.
- His feelings were hurt by the girl's rude comments.
- Their chances of getting a loan have been hurt by their poor credit history.
- He hurt his chances of getting the job by arriving at the interview late.
- High oil prices hurt the economy.
- High prices on food hurt consumers.
- A long separation can hurt a relationship.
- It doesn't hurt to practice before a game. In fact, it improves the team's chances of winning.
- My feet hurt right now. (present tense, plural)
- My feet hurt yesterday. (past tense, plural)
- My feet have hurt for the last week. (present perfect tense, plural)
- Her tooth hurts. (present tense, singular)
- Her tooth hurt yesterday. (past tense, singular)
- Her tooth has been hurting for the last week or so.
(present perfect continuous tense, singular)
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