Watch: What are verbs?
NARRATOR
Well, what a lovely view! The perfect place to tell you all about verbs.
[CONSTRUCTION WORK NOISES]
NARRATOR
(strained, over construction noise) Oh, I spoke too soon, there’s some building work going on!
(sighs) Where were we? Oh yes…
A verb is a word used to describe an action. That’s doing something.
Or, a verb can be used to describe a state. That’s feeling something.
Or, a verb can be used to describe an occurrence. That’s something happening.
You can’t even have a sentence or question without a verb! That’s how amazingly important verbs are.
The workers are working. Working is a doing word. They work upon this building all day long. Work is also a verb, because it is an occurrence.
Oh dear… what’s this? They can hear something… Hear is also a verb.
[GORILLA ROAR]
NARRATOR
The workers can see a gorilla monster climbing the building!
Yes, that’s correct Gorilla Monster, you climbed the building! You are a clever gorilla monster.
How do you use verbs?
A verb is a word used to describe an action, state or occurrence.
Verbs can be used to describe an action, that’s doing something. For example, like the word ‘jumping’ in this sentence:
The rabbit was jumping in the field.
They can also be used to describe a state of being, that’s feeling something. For example, the word ‘likes’ here:
The monster likes rollercoasters.
Or a verb can be used to describe an occurrence, that’s something happening. For example, the word ‘became’ in this sentence:
The caterpillar became a butterfly.
When writing, make sure every sentence includes a verb.
Activity 1
Activity 2
Resources for teachers
Want an engaging way to help your class get to grips with verbs and verb tenses? Karim and Hacker T-Dog are here to get your pupils up, moving and learning with this video from our Super Movers series.
BBC Teach has thousands of free, curriculum-linked resources to help deliver lessons - all arranged by subject and age group.
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