Verbs Ready, set, action!

There are four main types of verbs…

1. Physical Action Verbs Examples: skate, run, hurl, swerve, lift, cry, leap

2. Mental Action Verbs Examples: daydream, forget, wonder, think, imagine, calculate, remember

3. State of Being Verbs Examples: am eg. I am tired. was eg. I was forgetful. is eg. He is angry. are eg. They are bewildered. were eg. They were embarrassed.

4. Helping (or Auxiliary) Verbs: may might must  be being been am are is was were do does did should could would have had has will can shall Examples: She may volunteer at the tournament. They have been watching a movie all afternoon. I should call her tonight.

Examples in Sentences Underline the helping verbs… We will be going to the movie He would have washed the car. I have been studying. They might play hockey tonight. They might have been ready yesterday. Notice there can be more than one helping verb in a sentence.

Verb Tense A verb can show the time of its action. Present Past Future Eg. study, laugh, enjoy, eat, go Past Eg. studied, laughed, enjoyed, ate, went Future Eg. will study, will laugh, shall enjoy, shall eat, will go

Without verbs, there is no action in the sentence.

One writer’s thoughts on verbs… “If you write you tend to use a lot of them… He ran off. He dashed off. He raced off. He careened away. He jolted away. He hurtled off. …it’s very cool how a single word can increase or decrease intensity.” Which of the above verbs do you find most interesting?

What physical action verbs do you see below What physical action verbs do you see below? What mental action verbs do you see?