The study develops a theory of verb semantics based on the fact that verbs refer to structured events. Concepts like 'event', 'agent', 'punctuality', etc. used in the semantic representations are substantiated and defined in detail on the basis of philosophical/ontological considerations and insights drawn from cognitive psychology. From there the study proceeds to propose explanations for phenomena encountered in adverbial modification, argument linking, hyponymy and antonymy relations, as well as occurrence restrictions on verbs in certain grammatical categories and on certain verb-accompanying elements.