Verbs
What is a verb?
 A verb is a word that shows the action
or condition of a person, place, or thing.
 There are three main types of verbs:
action, linking, and helping.
Action Verbs
 An action verb tells what the subject does, did, or
will do. The action can be either visible or mental
(either an action or a thought).
Action verbs are also called main verbs.
 Ex: Our class hopes for the best this year.
 Ex: The children play outside after school.
Action Verbs
Identify the action verb in each sentence.
 The crowd cheered at the football game.
 I thanked Mom for taking me to the mall.
 Amanda studied for her math test.
 We gave Mike a surprise birthday party.
 My cousin received an award for his
science project.
Action Verbs
Identify the action verb in each sentence.
 The students wrote letters to their friends.
 Naomi thought about her grandmother.
 Carmen sewed a quilt for her niece.
 Peter forgot his music for the recital.
 The baby learned to crawl across the floor.
Action Verbs: Transitive and
Intransitive
Action verbs that have a direct object are
TRANSITIVE verbs.
Action verbs that do not have a direct
object are INTRANSITIVE verbs.
Transitive Verbs: Direct
Objects and Indirect Objects
TRANSITIVE verbs have direct objects.
Direct objects answer the questions
Who? Or What?
Indirect Objects answer the questions
For Whom? Or to whom?
Direct and Indirect Objects
The following DOs answer the questions
what or whom.
Shelly dropped her books.
The dog ate the hamburgers.
The following IOs answer the questions
for or to whom or for or to what.
James gave Shelly his notes.
Joseph tossed Jill the frisbee.
Linking Verbs
 A linking verb connects the subject of a
sentence to a noun that renames the subject
or to an adjective that describes it. If a verb
can be replaced a form of the verb “seem” or
“seem to be” then it is a linking verb.
 Ex: is, are, were, was, become, appear, am,
look, seem, feel, grow, taste
 Ex: Dogs are popular pets.
 Ex: The fruit tastes delicious.
Linking Verbs
Identify each linking verb.
 An avocado is a fruit.
 The flowers in the garden are beautiful.
 The dance performance was amazing.
 Jake is very handsome.
Linking or Action?
 The hunting dog smelled its prey.
 The hunting dog smelled like a wet foot
after its day in the swamp.
 These frog legs taste like chicken.
 The chef tasted the soup before he
added more paprika.
Linking or Action?
 That new building downtown looks like a
spaceship.
 The doctor looked at the x-ray of my
elbow.
 That boy appears to be having some
difficulty.
 A witch appeared quite suddenly upon
the heath.
Helping Verbs
 Helping verbs help or work with the main
verb to express an action or make a
statement.
Together, they create a verb phrase. Helping
verbs may also be called auxiliary verbs.
Helping Verbs
 Forms of the verb TO BE (am is are
were) are used with the present
participle.

am playing

is watching

are eating

were testing
Helping Verbs
 Forms of the verb TO HAVE (has had
have) are used with the past
participle.

had played

have watched

has broken

had noticed
Other common helping verbs:



to do: did, does, do
should, would, could
might, can, will, must
Verb phrases can contain more than one
helping verb.
will be coming
must have been injured
should have paid
Helping Verbs
The parts of a verb phrase can be
separated from one another by other
verbs.
Did you see the play yet?
We have not seen it yet.
Helping Verbs
Identify the helping and main verbs.
 The band director is planning the fall
musical.
 They have lived next door for ten years.
 I might go to Six Flags tomorrow.
 Their coach is teaching them a new play.
Helping, Action, or Linking
 The ball bounced off the backboard.
 Many gases are colorless and odorless.
 On Thanksgiving, we all enjoy a huge feast.
 Kate is working at a school library.
 The apple pie smells good.
 Arnold will paint the door tomorrow.
 Everyone laughed at the funny movie.
 The king and queen were very nice.
Verb Tense
 The tense of a verb tells when an action
occurs- present, past, or future.
 Present- the action is happening now.
 Past- the action already happened.
 Future- the action is going to happen.
Present:
The action is happening now.
 Ex: Meiko practices the piano.
 Ex: He works at a bookstore.
 Ex: The students walk home from school.
Past:
The action already happened.
 Ex: My brother and I played chess.
 Ex: I gave my dad a tie for his birthday.
 Ex: The garden was planted last spring.
Future:
The action is going to happen.
Future tense verbs always use
“will” or “shall” before the
main verb.
 Ex: Dana will organize a talent show at
her school.
 Ex: Dr. Jones shall turn in the book fair
money.
Principal Parts of Verbs
 The principal parts of verbs are the present,
present participle, past, and past participle.
 For regular verbs, the present participle is
formed by adding ing to the present. It is used
with a form of the helping verb be.
 The past and past participle of regular verbs
are formed by adding ed or d to the present.
The past participle uses a form of have.
Examples of Principle Parts
Present
Present
Participle
Past
Past
Participle
Play
(is, are, am)
playing
played
have, has, had
played
Move
(is, am, are)
moving
moved
have, has, had
moved
Perfect Tenses
 There are three perfect tenses: present perfect,
past perfect, and future perfect.
Perfect tenses are used when there are two
actions depicted in the sentence, one of the
actions happened before the other one.
Form the perfect tenses with the past participle
and the helping verbs have, has, had, or will
have.
Present Perfect
 Present perfect expresses an action
occuring at no definite time in the past.
It also tells about an action that
happened in the past and is still
happening now.
 It is formed with the past participle and
“have” or “has.”


Ted has waited for us often.
He has played in the band for three years.
Past Perfect
 Used to express an action completed in
the past BEFORE another action that
happened in the past. It is formed with
the past participle and “had.”
 After we had waited for an hour, we left.
 We had just arrived when the play
began.
Future Perfect
 Used to express action that will be
completed BEFORE another future
event begins.
 It is formed with the past participle and
“will have” or “shall have.”
 By the time the bus arrives, we will have
waited for an hour.
 Before the movie finally starts, we will
have seen nine commercials.
Perfect Tenses: Play
Present Perfect
have played
has played
Past Perfect
had played
Future Perfect
will have played
shall have played