1. Verbs They’re what’s happening!

2. Action Verbs An action verb tells what action someone or something is performing. My father carries the ladder. The ship chugged into the harbor. I believe it will snow tonight. Sally remembered to bring her puzzle. Some actions, like carries or chugged can be seen; others, such as believe or remembered cannot.

3. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Action verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. An action verb is transitive if the receiver of the action is named in the sentence. The receiver of the action is called the object of the verb. Peter opened the window with great difficulty. The truck suddenly hit the trashcan.

4. An action verb is intransitive if there is no receiver of the action named in the sentence. Intransitive verbs do not have objects. 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.

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

6. Linking Verbs A linking verb is a verb that connects a subject with a noun, pronoun, or adjective in the predicate that describes or identifies it. Sheridan was a Union general. general is a predicate noun that identifies Sheridan, the subject. The winners were Tony and I. Tony and I are predicate nouns that identify winners, the subject. We felt extremely tired after all our running. tired is a predicate adjective that identifiesWe, the subject.

7. Be 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

8. Other Linking Verbs Several other verbs also work as linking verbs. They connect the parts of a sentence in the same way as the forms of be. The chief remained calm during the battle. calm is a predicate adjective that describes chief, the subject.

9. Other Linking Verbs appearlooksound becomeremainstay feelseemtaste growsmellturn

10. Action Verb or Linking Verb? Some verbs can be used as either linking verbs or action verbs. Linking: The water looked polluted. Action: The inspectors looked at the water. Linking: The people grew unhappy. Action: The people grew corn. To test whether a verb is a linking verb or an action verb, replace the verb with is, am, or are. If the sentence still makes sense, then the verb is a linking verb. The water is polluted. The people are unhappy.

11. Helping Verbs Sometimes a verb in a sentence is just one word. However, a verb can often be made up of several words as well. This is what we call a verb phrase. The verbs that are added before another verb to make a verb phrase are called helping verbs. Run -> had run, will have run, might have run, should have run, will be running

12. Recognizing Helping Verbs The forms of be can be used as helping verbs. am growing has been warned was being told will be reminded will have been waiting is opening was being trained should be written had been sent might have been played

13. However, many other different verbs can also form verb phrases. do remember has written would hope shall see can believe could finish may attempt must have thought should have grown might win will jump have planned does want

14. Sometimes the words of a verb phrase are separated by other words, like not or certainly. 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?