Verbs 🏃♂️✨
Verbs are words that tell us:
👉 what someone does 🏃 (doing/action words)
👉 or what someone or something is 💖 (being words)
Name it? Noun! ✋🎈
Swap it? Pronoun! 🔁🏳️🌈
Doing or being? Verb! 🏃♂️💖
Grammar power — observe! 💥
Swap it? Pronoun! 🔁🏳️🌈
Doing or being? Verb! 🏃♂️💖
Grammar power — observe! 💥
Types of Verbs 🌈
💡 Easy trick!❓ Can you see the action? → Doing verb 🏃♂️
❓ Is it telling how someone is or feels? → Being (to be) verb 💖
💡 Note: This table is just to help kids see and understand verbs. They don’t need to memorize all the different types.
| Verb Type | What it tells us/ Jobs 🤔 | Examples ✏️ | Sentence 🧩 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doing Verbs 🏃 (Action words) | shows an action. | run 🏃, jump 🤸, eat 🍎, play ⚽, write ✍️, sing 🎵 | 👉 She runs fast 🏃♀️. 👉 They play football ⚽. 👉 I eat my lunch 🍽️. 👉 We write stories 📖. |
| Being verbs 💭 or "To be" verbs (Feeling or state words) 💖 | tells us how someone is, how they feel, or their state. | am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being |
👉 I am happy 😊. 👉 She is tall 📏. 👉 They are ready 🎒. 👉 He was tired 😴. 👉 We have been busy 🐝. |
| Linking Verbs 🔗 | connects the subject to a description. | become, seem, am, is, (5 senses:) look, feel, smell, sound, taste |
👉 She feels happy 😊. 👉 The cake smells nice 🍰. 👉 The sky looks dark 🌌. 👉 He became a doctor 👨⚕️ → “became” links subject to noun doctor 👉 The story seems boring 📖 → “seems” links subject to adjective boring |
| Helping Verbs 🤝 | helps another verb to show time, completion, continuous action or future. | am, is, are, was, were, has, have, had, will | 👉 She is walking 🚶 to school. "is" helps the main verb "walking"(Time: present continuous tense) 👉 I have finished my work ✅. "have" helps the main verb "finished" (the action is complete) 👉 They will go home 🏠. "will" helps the main verb "go" (future) 👉 They were playing football ⚽. "were" + verb-ing shows (ongoing action in the past) |
| Modal Verbs 🎩 | helping verbs: shows ability, permission, necessity, possibility, or advice. | can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would | 👉 I can swim 🏊♂️ (ability/ can do something) 👉 She could ride a bike 🚲 (past ability / polite possibility) 👉 You may go out 🚪 (permission/ allowed to) 👉 It might rain 🌧️ (possibility / maybe) 👉 You must wear a helmet ⛑️ (rule/ necessity) 👉 We shall start our project 📝 (formal suggestion / future plan) 👉 You should eat vegetables 🥕 (advice/ good idea) 👉 I will help you 🤝 (future action / promise) 👉 He would like some ice cream 🍦 (polite request / imagined situation) 👉 It might rain 🌧️ (possibility/ maybe) |
| Infinitives 🎯 | An infinitive is a verb with to. It tells the action, but not when it happens. 🖼️ Think of an infinitive like a picture of an action. It shows it — but it’s not moving yet! |
to run 🏃, to eat 🍎, to read 📖 | 👉 She likes to read 📚. 👉 He wants to play football ⚽. |
A verb shows action or a state, 🏃♂️💖
What we do, or how we are — great! ✨
Running, jumping, being too,
Verbs tell what’s happening — that’s their job to do! 🎯
What we do, or how we are — great! ✨
Running, jumping, being too,
Verbs tell what’s happening — that’s their job to do! 🎯
Same Word, Different Job! 🤯➡️😊
| Sentence | What is happening? | Job of the word | Why? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The boy is happy. 😊 | It tells us how the boy feels |
happy → Adjective (description) is → Linking verb |
"Happy" describes the boy. You can say very happy. |
| The boy is laughing. 😂 | It tells us what the boy is doing |
laughing → Main verb (action) is → Helping verb |
"Laughing" is an action happening now. You cannot say very laughing. |
| A laughing baby 👶 | It describes the baby | laughing → Adjective | "Laughing" tells us what kind of baby. |
| Laughing is good for you. 🌈 | It names an action like a thing | Laughing → Noun (thing) | The action is treated like a thing we can talk about. |
| She is sleeping. 😴 | It tells us what she is doing |
sleeping → Main verb (action) is → Helping verb |
"Sleeping" shows an action in progress. You can ask: What is she doing? Sleeping answers: “What are they doing?” |
| She is asleep. 🌙 | It tells us her state |
asleep → Adjective (state) is → Linking verb |
Asleep means "not awake". 😴 It tells us the state or condition someone is in. Asleep answers the question: “Are they awake or not?” “Asleep” tells us her condition, not something she is doing. 👉 So, asleep is an adjective, not a verb. |
🧠 Easy rule to remember:
If a word shows what someone is doing → it is a verb 🏃♂️
If it tells what someone is like → it is a describing word 🎨
If a word shows what someone is doing → it is a verb 🏃♂️
If it tells what someone is like → it is a describing word 🎨
🗣️ Grammar Chant:
🏃♂️ Verbs show what we do or can do,
🎨 Adjectives tell what someone or something is like.
✨ Trick: If you can put **very** in front of the word and it makes sense → it’s **not a verb** ❌
✅ If it shows an action happening → it’s a **verb** 💡
🎵 Remember: Actions = verbs, Descriptions = adjectives!
🏃♂️ Verbs show what we do or can do,
🎨 Adjectives tell what someone or something is like.
✨ Trick: If you can put **very** in front of the word and it makes sense → it’s **not a verb** ❌
✅ If it shows an action happening → it’s a **verb** 💡
🎵 Remember: Actions = verbs, Descriptions = adjectives!
Fun Check 🎉
Find the verb:
She jumped over the fence 🧱
👉 jumped
She jumped over the fence 🧱
👉 jumped