THE USE OF VERBS
Created By: Tim Stratton
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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…
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Identifying “action verbs,” can be tricky at times…
especially when the action is far less obvious.
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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…
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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!!!!!!!!
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ACTION VERBS-http://www.quia.com/quiz/799985.html
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LINKING VERBS-http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/linking_verbs/quiz522.html
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HELPING VERBS-http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/helping_verbs/quiz520.html
IN DEPTH OVERVIEW OF VERBS
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EinwzOvNDXQ