All skills English

Learn Index · Grammar and Conventions Grade 1–2

Verbs

A verb is a word that shows an action or a state of being, like run, think or is.

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What is a verb?

A verb is a word that shows action or being. Every complete sentence needs a verb. Verbs are the engines of sentences: they make things go!

The frog jumps.
Mom is happy.

Without a verb, a sentence is not complete. The frog. What about the frog? The frog jumps into the pond. Now it is complete.

Action verbs

An action verb shows something you can do.

  • Moving: run, hop, swim, climb, dance
  • Saying: talk, shout, whisper, sing, ask
  • Thinking and feeling: think, know, love, wish, remember
  • Doing: eat, write, build, paint, read

Test: can you act it out? If you can, it is probably an action verb. Try jump, wave and sneeze!

Linking verbs

Some verbs do not show action. A linking verb links the subject to a word that tells about it. The most common linking verbs are forms of be:

am, is, are, was, were

  • I am tall.
  • The soup is hot.
  • The kittens are tiny.
  • It was sunny yesterday.

Verbs that match the subject

In the present tense, the verb must match who is doing it.

  • With one person or thing (he, she, it, the dog), add -s: The dog runs.
  • With I, you, we, they or more than one, no -s: The dogs run. I run.
One More than one
The bird sings. The birds sing.
She plays. They play.
He is happy. They are happy.

Verbs and time

Verbs tell us when something happens. This is called tense.

Present tense: now or usually

I walk to school. She reads every night.

Past tense: already happened

Most verbs add -ed:

  • walk → walked
  • play → played
  • jump → jumped

Spelling tips:
– If the verb ends in e, just add -d: bake → baked.
– If it ends with a short vowel and one consonant, double the consonant: hop → hopped, stop → stopped.
– If it ends in a consonant + y, change y to i: cry → cried.

Future tense: will happen later

Use will before the verb:

I will walk to school tomorrow.

The future tense works the same way for everyone. I will play. She will play. They will play. You never add -s after will. You can also talk about the future with going to: We are going to bake a cake.

A time line for one verb

Past Present Future
I jumped. I jump. I will jump.
She painted. She paints. She will paint.
They ate. They eat. They will eat.

Time words in a sentence can help you choose the right tense. Yesterday and last week point to the past. Now and every day point to the present. Tomorrow and next year point to the future.

Irregular verbs

Some verbs do not add -ed. They change in special ways. These are irregular verbs.

Now Past
run ran
eat ate
see saw
go went
come came
sit sat
make made
have had
is was
are were

You learn these by hearing and using them. Say I ran, not I runned.

Finding the verb

Ask: What is happening? What is someone doing? What word changes when I change the time?

Leo kicked the ball across the field. What did Leo do? Kicked.

Try changing the time: Leo kicks the ball. Leo will kick the ball. The word that changes is the verb.

Helping verbs

Sometimes a verb has a helper. A helping verb comes before the main verb.

  • I am reading.
  • They are playing.
  • She was sleeping.
  • We have finished.
  • You can swim.

The main verb shows the action, and the helping verb tells more about when or how. In I am reading, the main verb is reading and the helper is am.

Strong verbs make better writing

Choose exact verbs so readers can picture the action.

  • The girl went to the door. → The girl raced to the door.
  • He said it. → He whispered it.
  • The dog ate the bone. → The dog gobbled the bone.

Common mistakes

  • Wrong past tense. I goed → I went. She bringed → She brought.
  • Not matching. The dogs barks → The dogs bark.
  • Mixing tenses. Yesterday I go to the park → Yesterday I went to the park.
  • Forgetting the verb. Every sentence needs one.

Try it yourself

  1. Find the verb: The baby giggled at the puppy.
  2. Action or linking verb? The cake is chocolate. The cake fell.
  3. Change to past tense: We play outside. She runs fast.
  4. Choose the right verb: The birds (sing / sings) in the tree.
  5. Make it stronger: The car went down the street.

Answers: 1. giggled. 2. linking; action. 3. We played outside. She ran fast. 4. sing. 5. Example: The car zoomed down the street.

Tip for families

Play “Verb charades”: act out a verb while others guess. Then say the verb in the past (“You hopped!”) and future (“You will hop!”). Gently repeat correct irregular forms when your child uses an incorrect one: “Oh, you ran to the slide!”

Quick recap

  • A verb shows action or being.
  • Action verbs show doing; linking verbs like is and are describe.
  • Verbs show time: present, past and future.
  • Most past tense verbs add -ed; irregular verbs change in special ways.
  • Strong verbs make your writing come alive.