Check out the following random words, and tell me what you think of them. What do you think they have in common with each other or do they have nothing in common? Are they just random words someone thought about to place as examples? “Run”, “sing”, “is”, “are”, “swam”, “dance”, “eat”, “cry”. If you think they are merely words that are placed as examples and mean nothing else, I want you to look at it again. If you still insist they are merely random words, then what if there was a sentence that goes along with the following words? Will you still consider them random words that may or may not mean anything. Random words that may sound familiar to you but you may think of them simply as random words or you could even say they may be a part of speech that would often get mixed with Nouns. However, these words do fall under a category of speech.
But before we proceed to that, what do you think is run, sing, is, are, swam, dance, eat and cry. Apart from just other random words that have no sentence structure whatsoever. You can also try this one out to see if you can tell what type of speech this might be. “Mary is singing.” “My mother is cooking.” If you already have a clue as to what this may be about, and your answer is a verb or they are verbs, you are right. The first examples of random words are action words, and the second examples that were made into sentences stated someone doing the action. Verbs. What are verbs? Why are verbs important in a sentence? What do verbs do? Why should we learn about verbs? Teachers and students alike have been asking these kinds of questions throughout the years, and often than not, some of these questions have been answered, while others have not. If you are a student, a teacher or someone who simply wants to know why this category of speech is also necessary to know or to get any information out of it, you should check out 100+ verb examples now.
Let’s begin with a few questions that are easy to answer, and continue with questions that are a challenge but would still be given answers. The most common questions when discussing this category of speech are: What is a verb? What are the kinds of verbs? Why is a verb so important in a sentence? What use do they have? How can they help? Why is the term “is” considered a verb? Why is the term “are” considered a verb? To get the ball rolling, let’s first start by defining the word verb. So we know from common knowledge that a verb is an action word. To completely define this type of speech, a verb is a kind of speech, it is an action word. Verbs also help by linking the action to the person or the object doing the action.
This means that the term “is” is still considered a verb as this is the kind of verb that helps by putting the action and the subject together in the sentence. Verbs like is, are, was and were are what we call linking verbs. They are called linking verbs because this is what we use to link the action word to the subject or to the sentence. It’s main job is to connect or to link to make the sentence sound better and clearer. Most of the time, linking verbs are used in simple sentences. An example for that would be: “John is sleeping.” The linking verb is, links the action verb sleeping to the subject who is John. To better understand what verbs are you may also ask yourself who or what is the action connected to.
What are the kinds of verbs? Let’s have a fun fact here to lighten the mood of learning verbs. Did you know that there are about four kinds of verbs? The four kinds are called linking verbs, the is, are, was, and were verbs. Another is the passive verb, this type of verb is only used when in your sentence, the subject is acting on the verb. What do we mean by this? Give this as an example: “The ball was taken by the boy.” The subject ball in your sentence is acted upon by the verb taken. Another example to make it clearer is: “My sister ate the cake.” So sister is the subject that is being acted on by ate which is the verb in the sentence. The next kind of verb is an intransitive verb. An intransitive verb is a kind of verb that can stand on its own.
An example sentence for this is “He ran away.” The ran in the sentence can be considered as an intransitive verb as if you take out the pronoun he, ran away can still stand on its own and still be understood by all. A transitive verb however is the opposite of an intransitive verb. A transitive verb clause that cannot stand on its own, and must need a subject or a direct object to help it stand. It would need something to help it lean or to make sense. So as a review, an intransitive verb clause is something that can stand alone, while a transitive verb must have something to help it stand alone, or to help make some sense to it. A transitive verb must have at least a noun or a pronoun, or a direct object that would take the action from the verb.
Now that we have even an idea or some knowledge about what verbs are, the kinds of verbs and their functions to your sentences. As well as how verbs are important enough. Let’s move on to how verbs are used or how verbs are going to help in sentence structures. As there are a lot of kinds of verbs, each one has its own function in your sentence. Depending if your sentence is a simple sentence or a complex one. This would also depend on the level of your students when you plan on teaching them the functions of a verb in sentences. So, to keep it going, here are some how’s for you to check out, complete with a few example sentences and their definition.
Linking or helping verbs from the term coining itself link the action to the subject. These verbs are considered helping verbs because when used in simple sentences, they simply help by linking or by pointing out that the subject is doing this or is doing that. To make it even easier, it also helps by answering who is doing the action or what is helping do the action. An example for it would be: “My sister is sleeping.” So for example My sister is sleeping, our linking verb is the word “is” and it’s linking to the verb sleeping which is the “-ing” verb for sleep. The question of who is sleeping would then give you the answer, my sister.
Just as linking verbs help, other types of verbs also help out by pointing out the direct object and who or what the sentence is about. Some types of verbs need an extra helping hand than most, while others do not.
Let’s face it, without verbs, our sentences will not make any more sense. Without verbs, our sentences would be all over the place and we would have to find a way to make them more understandable. This is why verbs are very useful when constructing sentences. It helps by making our sentences easier to decipher and it also makes our sentences sound and look good.
For most, a sentence is simply a sentence. Regardless if they are telling us something or not. But for writers, verbs help as they are the heart and soul of the sentences. Verbs help by giving, linking and stating that this part of the sentence is still connected in some way to the other sentence.
Different verbs with different kinds also show different moods to the sentence. This helps let readers understand how to read the sentence in the correct manner.
In simple definition, a verb is an action word. A term that defines the action in the sentence.
The kinds of verbs are: Intransitive verbs, Transitive verbs, Linking/Helping verbs, and Passive verbs. Intransitive verbs are the verb clauses that can stand alone, while transitive verbs are words or phrases or clauses that need a direct object to help them stand. Linking or helping verbs from the name itself are verbs that help or that link the action to the subject.
So, verbs actually help out by making our sentences sound better in both reading it out loud and when you read it silently. Verbs help by explaining, linking and pinpointing what or who receives the action.
By simply asking a question like who is the action word directed to or what is the action word directed to. You will then know which one is the subject and which one is the verb.
This is the end of the lesson. I hope you have learned everything you need to know about verbs, their purpose, their kinds and how this part of speech also has its important role to play. To summarize everything, a verb is an action word. It answers the question who or what is receiving or getting the action. Verbs help by making our sentences feel complete and easy to understand. Verbs have a different role to play, depending on which type of verb you are using.