verb
A2Pronunciation
UK
- /vˈɜːb/
US
- /ˈvɜrb/
Description
- action
- occurrence
- state of being
- doing
Imagine the world as a movie. Nouns are who and what the movie is about—the characters, the places, the things. But what do those nouns do? That's where verbs come in! A verb is a word that describes an action, occurrence, or state of being. Think of it as the engine that drives the story forward.
You run, you eat, and you sleep. Those are all actions. However, verbs can also describe what is—like "She is happy" or "The sky remains blue." Verbs are essential for forming sentences and telling us what is happening (or not happening). Without verbs, everything would just… be.
A verb is one of the most important parts of a sentence. It's the word that tells you what the subject—the noun or pronoun—does or is. It expresses action, occurrence, or state of being.
Think about it like this: if a sentence is a little train, the verb is the engine pulling everything along. In "The dog barked," "barked" is the word that shows the action. In "The sun shone," "shone" tells you what the sun did. In "He is a doctor," the word "is" describes his state of being.
Verbs come in many forms and can change tense to tell us when something happened (past, present, or future): "I walked," "I walk," and "I will walk." They also have different moods that express certainty, possibility, or commands ("He might go," "Go now!").
Verbs can be "action" verbs—like jump, sing, and write—but they can also be "linking" verbs—like be (is, are, was, were), seem, and become—which connect the subject to a description. Sometimes, verbs work with helping verbs (like have, do, and can) to create more complex meanings ("I have eaten," "She can swim").
From the simplest actions to the most complex states of being, verbs are the words that bring language to life and allow us to communicate what is happening in the world around us. They're truly the heart of every sentence!
Examples
- 1
Sentence structure
Every complete sentence needs a verb.
- 2
Grammar example
In “She laughed,” “laughed” is the verb.
- 3
Word order
In English, the verb usually comes before the object.
- 4
Irregular form
“Go” is an irregular verb, so the past form is “went.”
- 5
Verb form
After “can,” use the base form of the verb.
Grammar
the base form
the simplest form, like “go” or “eat”
- 6
Verb patterns
Some verbs are followed by “-ing,” and others are followed by “to” plus another verb.
Pattern
verb + -ing / verb + to + verb, for example “enjoy reading” but “want to leave”
Forms and spellings
2 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- verbnoun
Forms
- verbspluralnoun