Verbs Study Guide
Action Verbs - express a physical or mental action. They tell what the subject has or does.
Physical: She ran home.
Mental: The English teacher fears clowns.
I fed the dogs.
He dreamed of becoming famous.
Being Verbs – describes a state of being but does not refer to action. It describes what a subject is or
feels. Examples include: be, feel, appear, become, and seem.
She looks skinny.
The fur felt soft.
Those onions smell.
Linking Verbs - Links the subject with a word in the predicate. The word in the predicate will describe
or identify the subject.
The meat tastes old.
Her voice sounded amazing.
It seems late.
Common Linking Verbs
appear
feel
remain
smell
be
grow
seem
sound
become
look
stay
taste
Main Verb- expresses action or being (either a being verb or an action verb).
Helping Verb- helps to complete the meaning of the main verb.
Common Helping Verbs
be, am, is, are
have, has, had
can, could
will, would
was, were, been
do does, did
shall, should
may might
Verb Phrase- One or more helping verbs and the main verb makes up the verb phrase
Helping verbs
She will have been running for an hour
Main Verb
**REMEMBER: Some verbs can be either helping verbs or main verbs.
Bob is not tired. (is- main verb)
Bob is running to work. (is- helping verb)
Sometimes other words can interrupt a verb phrase
I have not read my pages yet.
Tenses- use different tenses to show express different times
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Simple Tenses:
Present - For situations that exist now/ repeated actions
Ex: She walks daily.
Past - For situations that occurred in the past
Ex: She walked yesterday.
Present - For situations that will occur in the future
Ex: She will walk later.
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Perfect Tenses:
Present Perfect - For something that took place in the past and may still be going on
Ex: He has rehearsed every day this week.
Past Perfect – For something that took place before something else in the past
Ex: He had practiced before we came
Future Perfect – For something that will take place before something else in the future
Ex: He will have finished when the bell rings.
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Irregular verbs – These require memorization because they do not follow any rules.
Examples of irregular verbs include: burst, be, have, say, think, drink, fall, and lay
Charts of these verbs are on pages 125 -130.
Progressive Forms
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Present progressive – happening at the same time the statement is written
Ex: She is playing now.
Past progressive - a past action which was happening when another action occurred
Ex: She was playing yesterday.
Future progressive – describes an ongoing or continuous action that will take place in the future
Ex: She will be playing tomorrow.
Present Perfect Progressive – describes an action that began in the past, continues in the
present, and may continue in the future
Ex: She has been playing all day
Past Perfect Progressive – describes a past ongoing action that was completed before some
other past action
Ex: She had been playing for an hour when we arrived.
Future Perfect Progressive – describes a future ongoing action that will occur before some
specified future time
Ex: She will have been playing for five hours when we leave.
Transitive Verbs
A verb that directs action toward
Intransitive Verbs
A verb that does not have an object.
someone or something.
There is no “receiver” of the action.
**If you can ask what or whom, then you
** If you can ask how, when, or where,
know it is a transitive verb.
then you know it is an intransitive verb.
Herman and Dave watched the movie.
** Watched what?? The movie. Because you can ask what, watched is a transitive verb.
Sally drove away.
** Drove where?? away. Because you can ask where, drove is an intransitive verb.