This list of verbs will help you understand verbs a little better. For a more in-depth look at verbs, see the verb page.
Verbs are words that show action or state of being. There are three major categories of verbs.
1. Helping Verbs (Auxiliary Verbs)
2. Action Verbs
These do just what their name implies. They help the main verb in the sentence by telling us more about its tense and the subtleties of its meaning. The main verb will be either an action verb or a linking verb. You'll find more on those verbs below.
The helping verb(s) and the main verb come together to form a verb phrase. Here is a list of 24 common helping verbs. Use the list of verbs and this lovely song to memorize them. (Listen to me sing the song in the video!)
be | am | is | are |
was | were | been | being |
have | has | had | could |
should | would | may | might |
must | shall | can | will |
do | did | does | having |
clean | cut | drive | eat |
fly | go | live | make |
play | read | run | shower |
sleep | smile | stop | sweep |
swim | think | throw | trip |
walk | wash | work | write |
If you've checked out this site much, you know that I think sentence diagramming rules when it comes to teaching and learning grammar. Sentence diagramming is a way to visually show how all of the words in the sentence are related to each other.
All verbs are diagrammed on a horizontal line after the subject. A vertical line separates the subject from the verb, and the rest of the sentence depends on the type of verb you are diagramming. Let's look at the different kinds of action verbs!
Forms of be | be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being |
Other Linking Verbs | appear, become, feel, grow, look, seem, remain, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn |
You might also enjoy these lessons.
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