“Verbs sizzle, snap, and move. A verb may just be the most crucial word in a sentence. Without verbs, nothing would ever happen – nothing could even exist. A well-chosen verb can enliven student writing more than another other part of speech.” - Jeff Anderson

An action verb tells what action someone or something is performing. EXAMPLES : Father carries the ladder. The ship chugged into the harbor. I believe it will snow. Sandor remembered to bring his puzzle. *Some actions, such as carries or chugged, can be seen. Some actions, such as believe or remembered, cannot be seen.*

An action verb is a transitive if the receiver of the action is named in the sentence. – The receiver of the action verb is called the object of the verb Examples: Pete opened the window with great difficulty. verb object The truck suddenly hit the trashcan. verb object

An action verb is intransitive if there is no receiver of the action named in the sentence. - An intransitive verb does not have an object. Examples: The race began. The bus driver raced through the traffic light. Seventh grade students gathered in the gym. The clock alarm rang at eight o’clock.

Some action verbs can be transitive or intransitive. You need to determine if the verb has an object or not. TRANSITIVE VERB : Kyra painted the front door. INTRANSITIVE VERB : The artist painted in his studio. TRANSITIVE VERB : The captain sailed the ship. INTRANSITIVE VERB : The ship sailed out to sea. TRANSITIVE VERB : The teacher rang the bell. INTRANSITIVE VERB : The bell rang for class to begin.

A linking verb is a verb that connects a subject with a word that describes or identifies it. EXAMPLES : Sheridan was a Union general. subject linking verb predicate nominative The winners were Tony and I. subject linking verb predicate nominative We felt extremely tired after all our running. subject linking verb predicate nominative IDENTIFIES DESCRIBES

The most common linking verb is be. This verb has many forms. FORMS OF BE amcan behas been arecould behave been ismay behad been wasmight becould have been weremust bemay have been am beingshall bemight have been are beingshould bemust have been is beingwill beshall have been was beingwould beshould have been were beingwill have been would have been

Several other verbs also function as linking verbs. They connect the parts of a sentence the same way as the forms of be. EXAMPLE: The chief remained calm during the battle. subject linking verb predicate adjective DESCRIBES OTHER LINKING VERBS appearlooksound becomeremainstay feelseemtaste Growsmellturn

Some verbs can be used either as linking verbs or action verbs. LINKING : The water looked polluted. (Looked links water to polluted.) ACTION : The inspectors looked at the water. (The inspectors performed an action.) LINKING : The people grew unhappy. (Grew links people and unhappy.) ACTION : The people grew poor crops. (The people performed an action.)

Helping verbs are added before another verb to make a verb phrase. EXAMPLES: run might have run had run should have run will have run will be running *Notice how these helping verbs change the meaning of the verb run

Forms of be are often used as helping verbs SOME FORMS OF BE USED AS HELPING VERBS HELPING VERBSMAIN VERBS amgrowing has beenwarned was beingtold will bereminded will have beenwaiting isopening was beingtrained should bewritten had beensent might have beenplayed

Many different verb phrases can be formed using one or more of these helping verbs. These are just a few. HELPING VERBSMAIN VERBSVERB PHRASES dorememberdo remember haswrittenhas written wouldhopewould hope shallseeshall see canbelievecan believe couldfinishcould finish mayattemptmay attempt must havethoughtmust have thought should havegrownshould have grown mightwinmight win willjumpwill jump haveplannedhave planned doeswantdoes want

Sometimes the words in a verb phrase are separated by other words, such as not or certainly. The parts of the verb phrase in certain types of questions could also be separated. Words Separated: She could certainly have come earlier. This has not happened before. Marie has certainly not contacted us. He had carefully kept all the records. Did you ever expect to see an elephant? When will we open our presents? Can they really build their own home? They must not have taken the bus. Would you ever want to go skiing?