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Verbs (Basics) 01
When you say "The squirrel ate the nut" it is the word "ate" that is the verb in the sentence.

Verbs (Basics) 01

Verbs are "doing" or "action" words. For example, walk, run and cycle are verbs.

All sentences need a verb. What is the verb in that sentence? NEED. All sentences NEED a verb. Without a verb, there would not be a sentence. Would this make sense, for example: "All sentences a verb"? Even if we added lots of adjectives and adverbs, we still wouldn't have a sentence: "All truly excellent and marvellous, even brilliant sentences amazingly strong and interesting verb." See? It still doesn't make sense.

Verbs tell us what the subject does or is. Which is the verb in this sentence: "The cow is contented"? "Cow" is a noun. "Contented" is an adjective describing the cow. "The" is a determiner, belonging with the noun. That leaves "is". In fact, it is important to remember that verbs are not just "doing" words, but also "being" words. The verb "to be" is one of the most useful verbs we have. So look out for "am", "are" and "is", too!

You will find verbs everywhere in English writing and speech - they positively jump out at you (that's because they're action words!).

See how well you know basic verbs by playing this quiz on the subject.

1.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
The family entered the museum and looked at the plan.
entered, looked
family, museum
family, plan
museum, plan
Verbs are action words: "entered" and "looked" are actions
2.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
The science museum displayed many exciting exhibits.
displayed
exciting
museum
science
"Displayed" is the verb here
3.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
The family visited the space section first.
family
section
space
visited
"Visited" is the action word here; it is what the family DO
4.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
Old cars and trains filled the next floor of the museum.
cars
filled
floor
trains
Use a variety of verbs to make your writing interesting
5.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
"Eat your lunch now," said the mother.
Eat, said
lunch, mother
your, mother
your, now
Other verbs for "said" include "told", "uttered" and "declared"
6.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
They climbed to the third floor.
climbed
floor
They
third
Other verbs for "climbed" include "ascended" and "clambered"
7.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
The sunlight streamed through the large windows.
large
streamed
sunlight
windows
Other verbs for "streamed" include "poured" and "flooded". Synonyms for verbs are, unsurprisingly, also verbs
8.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
The lifts carried people to the top floor.
carried
floor
lifts
people
Other verbs for "carried" include "transported" and "took"
9.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
The museum closed at five o'clock.
closed
five
museum
o'clock
"Closed" is what the museum DID
10.
Find the verb(s) in the following sentence.
Thunder crashed as they ran home through the rain.
crashed, ran
home, rain
they, the
Thunder, home
"Crashed" and "ran" are both action words, or, in other words, verbs
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What is a verb?

Author:  Sue Daish

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