Read the following sentences.
1. The Grade 5 students were excited for their field trip.
2. The teachers prepare for this kind of activity.
3. The girls are packing their things for the trip.
4. They feel happy. 5. The parents bought snacks for their
daughters.
As you know, every sentence has two parts, the subject and the predicate.
The key word in the predicate is the verb.
The verb tells what the subject of the sentence is, has, does, or feels. –Burt works at the park.–He trims the trees.–She is a dentist.–He paints the benches.
To find the verb:
Locate the subject. Then ask yourself, “What is it doing?” or “What word links the subject to the rest of the sentence?”
Sentence 1: The dog barked.
Who?
barked (verb)
dog (subject)“What did the dog do?”
Sentence 2:
Jacob beats on his drum all day.
Who?
beats (verb)
Jacob (subject)
“What does Jacob do?”
Sentence 3:
Ms. Clemente is in a rush.
Who?
is (verb)
Ms. Clemente (subject)
“What word links the subject to the rest of the sentence?”
Action verbs describe activity.
single word: sleep, eat, think, love, bring, taught, embarrassed
verb phrase (2-3 words): are sleeping, has eaten, will be bringing, is teaching, have been thinking
coughed
swallowed
awakeran
ride
sang
These are Single-Word Action Verbs:
clap
Can you give your own examples of action verbs?
think
love
Sometimes, verbs are made up of two words.
Two-word verbs are called verb phrases!
Ex. We will go to Japan this April. She is spending some time with
her grandmother.
They are donating their books.
helping verb main verb
They are donating their books.
helping verb main verb
Helping verbs help the main verb Describe an action that happened in the past, is happening in the present, or will happen in the future.
Examples:
They were donating their books when we arrived. (HAPPENED IN THE PAST)
They are donating their books. (PRESENT)
They will be donating their books tomorrow. (FUTURE)
Linking VerbsLinking verbs describe a state of being.They connect a noun or adjective to thesubject of a sentence.
1. Bob was a great baseball coach.2. The dinner looks wonderful.
Other linking verbs that can connect the subject to the other parts of the sentence:
is, are, was, were, has, have, tastes, seems, looks, smells, appears, feels, sounds, etc.
Example: This juice tastes great!
On your own: Identify the verbs in the following sentences. Write only the verbs on your notebooks.
1. Zoe read Natalie’s manuscript in the library.2. Natalie was looking through the glass windows.3. Natalie is an amazing writer!
4. Zoe and Natalie talked about it on the phone.