Verbs
By Ellyn Ball and Lilly Jenkins
Verbs
Who can recall what a verb
does?
Verbs
 Verbs are words that name an action or
describe a state of being. They describe
what is happening in the sentence. Every
complete sentence needs to include at
least one verb.
 Some verbs describe specific actions.
Action Verbs
 An action verb tells what action someone
or something is performing.
 Verbs such as walk, sailed, played,
migrate, raced crossed, learn and arrive
all show some kind of action.
 Examples:
 Father packed our suitcases
 The ship chugged into the harbor.
Transitive Verbs
 A transitive verb is an action verb that
directs action from the performer of the
action toward the receiver of the action.
 The “receiver” of the action is a person
place or thing-that is a noun or pronoun.
 Examples:
 The captain rang the bell.
 The captain sailed the boat.
Intransitive Verbs
 An intransitive verb expresses action or
tells something about the subject of the
sentence but does not direct action toward
another noun or pronoun.
 Examples:
The bell rang for dinner.
The ship sailed out to sea.
Quick Check
 What does an action verb do?
 tells what action someone or something is
performing.
 Name two types of action verbs?
 transitive and intransitive
Visible Action and Mental Action
Visible Action
sail
rip
bring
traveled
Mental Action
swim
migrates
smile
cried
remember
understand
expect
consider
decide
hope
think
forgot
Linking Verbs
 Some verbs do not show action. Instead, they link
two parts of a sentence. These linking verbs thus
show a relationship between words in a sentence.
 A linking verb connects a noun or pronoun with a
word that identifies or describes it.
 Linking verbs act almost like as equal signs.
 Example:
 New York is a city
 Lucy seems unhappy.
 In English, the most common linking verb is be. This
verb has many forms.
Common Linking Verbs
Forms of Be
Am
Are
Is
Was
Were
Am being
Is being
Was being
Were being
Can be
Could be
May be
Might be
Must be
Shall be
Should be
Will be
Would be
Have been
Has been
Had been
Could have been
May have been
Might have been
Must have been
Shall have been
Should have been
Will have been
Would have been
Other Linking Verbs
Other Linking Verbs
Appear
Become
Feel
Grow
look
remain
seem
smell
sound
stay
taste
turn
Other Linking Verbs
 Be is the most commonly used linking verb, but there
some other important linking verbs you should know
(table above).
 Like be, these verbs are often link two parts of a
sentence.
 She later became a citizen.
 The cream tastes sour.
 The food stayed fresh and crisp.
Quick Check
 The most common linking verb is?
 Be
 What does a linking verb do?
 they link two parts of a sentence
 List several other linking verbs besides
forms of be?
Action Verb or Linking Verb
 Many of the twelve verbs (other linking
verbs table) can be used as either
linking verbs or action verbs.
 To test whether a verb is a linking verb
or an action verb, substitute am, are, or
is for the verb. If the sentence with the
new verb still makes sense, then the
original verb is a linking verb.
Examples
Linking
Action
The bread smelled stale
(The bread is stale)
The Dutch bulbs grow tall
(The Dutch bulbs are tall)
Tina felt weak.
(Tina is weak.)
Charles smelled the sea air.
(Charles is the sea air)
Ann grows tulips.
(Ann are tulips)
Tina felt the cloth.
(Tina is the cloth.)
Helping Verbs
 Sometimes a verb in a sentence is just one word.
Often however, a verb will be made up of several
words. This type of verb is called a verb phrase. A
verb phrase can have one, two, or three helping
verbs before the main part of the verb.
 Helping verbs are added before another verb to
make a verb phrase.
 The various forms of be (from above) are often
used as helping verbs in front of other verbs.
Recognizing Helping Verbs
Some Forms of BE used as Helping Verbs
Helping verbs
Main Verb
Am
Has been
Was being
Could have been
Will have been
growing
warned
told
reminded
waiting
Other Helping Verbs
Do
Does
Did
have
has
had
would
shall
should
will
might
must
can
could
may
Helping Verbs
 Words in a verb phrase can sometime be
separated by other words. Very often, words
such as not, certainly and seldom come
between a helping verb and the key part of the
verb.
 Examples:
 Words together: They must have been taken
by taxi to the airport.
 Words separated: Marie has certainly not
contacted us.
Recognizing Helping Verbs
Verb Phrases
Helping Verbs
Main Verbs
Do
Has
Would
Can‘
May
Must have
Should have
remember
written
hope
believe
attempt
thought
grown
Quick Check
 A verb that is made up of several words is
often called a?
 Verb phrase
 Questions?
You Do
On the left side of your interactive
notebook, list one of each kind of
verb learned today (do not use any
examples given today). Make sure
to illustrate and color code.