Lesson: Verbs

Verbs are one of the most important parts of speech because they show what is happening in a sentence. In this lesson, we will learn about verbs, their tenses, types, and how to identify them in different contexts.

What are Verbs?

A verb is a word that tells what someone or something is doing or being. Verbs are also called action words because they often tell us about actions.

  • Examples of verbs: run, jump, swim, read, write

Every sentence needs a verb because it tells us what the subject (the person or thing doing something) is doing.

Identifying Verbs

To find the verb in a sentence, ask yourself: “What is the subject doing?”

  • Example: “She reads a book.” (The verb is reads because it tells what she is doing.)
  • Example: “The dog runs in the park.” (The verb is runs because it tells what the dog is doing.)

Verbs can also tell us about states of being, like in the sentence:

  • Example: “He is tired.” (The verb is is because it tells us the state of being.)

Verb Tenses

Verbs change form to tell us when something is happening. These changes are called tenses.

  1. Present Tense: This tells us something is happening right now.
    • Examples: He plays, She reads, They jump.
  2. Past Tense: This tells us something happened in the past.
    • Examples: He played, She read, They jumped.
  3. Future Tense: This tells us something will happen in the future.
    • Examples: He will play, She will read, They will jump.

Action vs. Linking Verbs

There are two main types of verbs:

  1. Action Verbs: These verbs tell us what action is happening.
    • Examples: run, sing, write
    • Sentence: “The cat jumps on the table.”
  2. Linking Verbs: These verbs connect the subject to information about it, but they don’t show action.
    • Examples: is, are, was, were
    • Sentence: “The sky is blue.” (The verb is links the subject “sky” to the description “blue.”)

Verb Forms

Verbs can change their forms based on tense or who is doing the action. These are some of the forms of verbs:

  1. Base Form: The simplest form of a verb.
    • Examples: play, run, eat
  2. Past Form: Used to talk about actions that happened in the past.
    • Examples: played, ran, ate
  3. Present Participle: Used for continuous actions, usually ends in “-ing.”
    • Examples: playing, running, eating
  4. Past Participle: Often used with helping verbs like “have” or “had.”
    • Examples: played, run, eaten
    • Sentence: “I have eaten lunch.”

Verbs in Context

Verbs can change meaning depending on how they are used in a sentence or in relation to other words. Sometimes, a verb might be followed by an object (something that receives the action), while other times it might stand alone.

  • Example: “He throws the ball.” (The verb throws is followed by the object, “the ball.”)
  • Example: “She sings beautifully.” (The verb sings stands alone.)