Lesson 3 — Activity 3: What Are Verbs?


Verbs express action.
Now let's look at the parts of speech called verbs.

  A verb is:
  •   a word that expresses actions, events, or states of being 

Here are examples of verbs in some of the sentences we looked at earlier to identify nouns and pronouns:
  • The Edmonton Oilers have been in the National Hockey League since 1979.
  • The Calgary Flames used to be based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Here's another example in a new sentence:

  • The hockey player skated hard and fast.
You can see that each of those highlighted words represents an action, an event, or a state of being.
Hockey players skating fast. "Skating" is the action verb.


The cat is pouncing on a different sort of mouse! "Pouncing" is the verb.
Here are some more examples using action verbs:
  • The cat pounced on the mouse.
  • The students rushed from the classroom when the bell rang.
  • The choir sings very beautifully.
Action verbs are usually easier to identify in sentences than verbs that express a state of being. If you think about what is happening or what is going on in the sentence, you can find the verb.



Extra Help: Click here for a list of common verbs. Click here for even more verbs.





Go to the next page to try a Self-check Activity to practise identifying verbs.