Verbs
Verbs express actions or states of being.
About this topic
Verbs express actions (run, think) or states of being (is, seems). Every sentence needs one. Action verbs may be transitive (take an object: she kicked the ball) or intransitive (he slept). Linking verbs connect the subject to a description (the soup tastes good). Auxiliary (helping) verbs such as have, be and do combine with main verbs to make tenses, questions and negatives.
Verbs change form to show tense, person and number, and to build participles and gerunds. Regular verbs add -ed for the past (walk, walked), while irregular verbs change in unpredictable ways (go, went, gone; sing, sang, sung). Modal verbs such as can, could, may, might, must, should and will express ability, permission, possibility and obligation.
Worked example: in "The chef was tasting the sauce, and it seemed perfect", was tasting is a verb phrase with an auxiliary, and seemed is a linking verb that connects it with perfect. To find a verb, ask what the subject does or is.
Strong verbs make writing vivid: sprinted, whispered and devoured say more than went, said and ate. A common mistake is confusing the past tense and past participle (I have went should be I have gone), and another is treating a verb like lie and lay as interchangeable. Remember that a group of words without a finite verb is a fragment, not a full sentence.
Key ideas
- Action verbs and linking verbs
- Helping verbs build tenses
- Regular and irregular forms
Quick check
Use cases: where Verbs helps
- Homework: review the key idea behind Verbs before you start a problem set.
- Exam revision: use the quick check to test whether you can recall Verbs without notes.
- Visual learning: play with the interactive lab to see how Verbs changes when you adjust its inputs.
- Teaching a friend: explain Verbs in your own words, then compare your version with the key ideas.
Strong reading and writing are needed in every subject, job and exam.
Frequently asked questions
What is Verbs?
Verbs express actions or states of being.
What will I learn in Verbs?
Action verbs and linking verbs. Helping verbs build tenses. Regular and irregular forms.
Is Verbs part of English?
Yes. It is one of 60 English topics on LearnViz HighSchoolEdu, with 3 key ideas, a live animation and a quick check.
Does the Verbs lab work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. The animation resizes to fit your screen and supports touch, so you can drag, tap and slide with your finger.
How should I study Verbs?
Read the summary and key ideas first, play with the interactive lab to see the idea in motion, then answer the quick check. If you get a question wrong, go back to the key idea it tests.
Do I need an account, and is my progress saved?
No account is needed. Marking a topic as learned is saved in your own browser, so it stays on that device and is not sent to a server.