📚 What is a Verb?
A verb is a word that shows action or a state of being. Verbs are the "doing" or "being" words in a sentence.
- Action: run, jump, think, write, laugh
- Being: is, am, are, was, were, be, been
🎯 Types of Verbs
Action Verbs
Show physical or mental actions
The dog barks loudly.
Sarah thinks about her homework.
They play soccer every Saturday.
Linking Verbs
Connect the subject to information about the subject (often forms of "be")
Common linking verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, seem, appear, feel, look, taste, smell, sound, become, remain
The cake is delicious.
She seems happy today.
The flowers smell wonderful.
Helping Verbs (Auxiliary Verbs)
Help the main verb express tense, mood, or voice
Common helping verbs: can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, have, has, had, do, does, did
I have finished my homework.
She will arrive tomorrow.
They should study for the test.
📝 Verb Forms
Base Form
The basic form of the verb (infinitive without "to")
walk, talk, eat, sleep, study
Present Tense (3rd person singular)
Add -s or -es to the base form
He walks to school.
She watches TV.
Past Tense
Regular verbs add -ed; irregular verbs change form
I walked home yesterday. (regular)
She ate lunch. (irregular: eat → ate)
They went to the park. (irregular: go → went)
Present Participle (-ing form)
Used with helping verbs to show ongoing action
I am walking to school.
They are studying for the test.
Past Participle
Used with "have/has/had" to form perfect tenses
I have walked three miles.
She has written five books.
✏️ Practice Exercise
Identify the verbs and their types. Click to reveal!
1. The students are studying in the library.
are - helping verb
studying - action verb (present participle)
2. The soup tastes delicious.
tastes - linking verb
3. She can swim very fast.
can - helping verb
swim - action verb
4. My brother played basketball yesterday.
played - action verb (past tense)
5. They have been waiting for an hour.
have - helping verb
been - helping verb
waiting - action verb (present participle)
📚 Common Irregular Verbs
- be → was/were → been
- go → went → gone
- do → did → done
- have → had → had
- see → saw → seen
- eat → ate → eaten
- write → wrote → written
- take → took → taken
- come → came → come
- give → gave → given
🎯 Key Takeaways
- Verbs show action or state of being
- Action verbs show what the subject does
- Linking verbs connect the subject to a description
- Helping verbs work with main verbs to show tense and mood
- Regular verbs add -ed for past tense; irregular verbs change in special ways