THE USE OF VERBS
Created By: Tim Stratton
WHAT IS A VERB?
◦ Is a word (part of speech) that conveys action,
or a state of being.
◦ Verbs are “doing” words that are a necessary
part of any lesson.
◦ We will cover action, linking, and helping verbs.
CLIMB!JUMP!FLIP!/GO!LOOK!SEEM!
ACTION VERBS
Most action verbs represent a visible
action, one that can be seen with our
eyes.
I.E.- waltz, surf, gallop, chop, row, swing, punch, etc.
ACTION VERBS
continued…
Identifying “action verbs,” can be tricky at times…
especially when the action is far less obvious.
It is helpful to remember that mental verbs are action
verbs too, even though they are less visible than others.
◦ I.E.- depend, yearn, foresee, understand, consider, require, mean,
remember, suppose, etc.
LINKING VERBS
Unlike the action verb, the linking verb
expresses a state of being or a condition.
◦ I.E.- Nathan and Sara are hardworking students.
◦ I.E.- Collin was tired after his football game.
LINKING VERBS
continued…
Some linking verbs are tricky to identify as well…Their job in the
sentence is to clarify the condition or state of the noun to which
they “linked”/connected.
The following verbs can act not only as action verbs, but also as
linking verbs:
◦ appear, become, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay,
taste, come, lie, prove, act, turn, fall, get.
LINKING VERBS
continued…
Take a look at the word turned, used two
different ways.
◦ 1-The Ferris wheel turned slowly as it began its
initial rotation.
-Here, the Ferris wheel performed an action: it turned.
LINKING VERBS
continued…
2-One frightened rider turned green as the ride
began to speed up quickly.
◦ Here, the word turned connects the describing word, or
adjective-green- to the subject-rider.
-In this example, turned is acting as a linking verb, not an action
verb.
HELPING VERBS
Helping verbs enhance the main verb’s meaning by
providing us with more information about its tense.
A main verb may have as many as 3 helping verbs in
front of it in a sentence.
◦ I.E.- Martin walked quickly to the bus stop to avoid being late.
◦ I.E.- Martin must have walked quickly to the bus stop to
avoid being late.
HELPING VERBS
continued…
COMMON HELPING VERBS:
◦ am, is, are, was, were, be, do, does, did, have,
had, has, may, might, must, shall, will, can,
should, would, could, ought.
POP QUIZ!!!!!!!!
ACTION VERBS-http://www.quia.com/quiz/799985.html
LINKING VERBS-http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/linking_verbs/quiz522.html
HELPING VERBS-http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/helping_verbs/quiz520.html
IN DEPTH OVERVIEW OF VERBS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EinwzOvNDXQ
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