Action Words — Verbs

Doing Words

A noun names something, but a noun alone cannot tell a whole story. If I only say 'the dog', you still want to know — what about the dog? The moment I add 'runs', the picture comes alive: 'The dog runs.' That little word 'runs' is a verb. Verbs are the engines of our sentences. Some verbs show action you can see, like jump, eat and sing. Other verbs are quieter — they show that something simply is, like am, is and are.

A verb is a word that tells what someone or something does or is.