the concept of verbs signified by woman running
Language Skills

Verbs

Want to improve your understanding of verbs and become a more confident writer? These exercises will help you develop your skills.

Introduction

What is a verb?

Read through the following paragraph and pay close attention to the words in italics because they are verbs.

There is nothing more exciting than sports day in our school. When the umpire blows her whistle and the sprinters dash along the track, everyone claps and cheers until the last runner crosses the finishing line. The shot putters twist and spin before launching the heavy ball into the air. The long jumpers and hurdlers are always incredible. At the end of the competition, the winners collect their medals and enjoy their fantastic success.

Verbs are usually defined as doing words. More precisely, they often describe the action being performed by the noun. For example, in the paragraph you have just read, “dash” describes the movement of the “sprinters”, and “launching” describes the “shot putters” throwing the ball.

Definition of a Verb
Definition of a Verb

The grammatical rules for verbs can be quite detailed and complex. This guide will take you through verb tenses, the importance of subject and verb agreement, and the auxiliary verbs that make up verb phrases. There are suggested answers available at the bottom of the page.

Exercise One

Write out the following paragraph in your notebook and underline all the verbs you can identify. Be careful – this can be very difficult. If you are not too sure about verb phrases, try your best to find the main verbs in the sentences.

My alarm beeped. The anxiety crept in and I crawled back under my duvet to avoid the inevitable. The precious covers were the only thing protecting me from my dismal doom. Although the room was closing in on me, I was determined to stay hidden. My head was spinning. Then came the terrible knock on my door. It opened, slowly and quietly. My mum peeked her head into the room. “Alright, sweetheart, time to get those teeth out.”

Exercise Two

Read the following sentence and then replace the verb “walked” with appropriate alternatives.

She walked to school.

For example, you could write “she skipped to school” in your notebook. Try to write another eight versions of the sentence, but you are only allowed to change the verb. If you are struggling to think of suitable verbs, you could try using a thesaurus, such as thesaurus.com.

Verb Tenses

Although verbs are words which express the action performed by the noun, we can also change the tense of the verb to indicate when the action took place and if the action is finished or still going. For example, “I watched the film” is obviously different from “I am watching the film”.

Exercise Three

In your own words, try to explain the difference between each of the following sentences:

  1. I hate ice cream.
  2. I hated ice cream.
  1. I finished my homework.
  2. I will finish my homework.
  1. Where did the cat go?
  2. Where is the cat going?
  1. She listened to the song on the radio.
  2. She is listening to the song on the radio.

Exercise Four

For this exercise, you need to add in the appropriate past tense form of the verb. Write out each sentence in full.

  1. I (take) __________ an umbrella with me this morning.
  2. Have you (hear) __________ the latest podcast?
  3. The landscape (be) __________ incredibly beautiful.
  4. The football match (be) __________ entertaining.
  5. My sister (go) __________ to the cinema last night.
  6. The train (leave) __________ the station before I (reach) __________ the platform.
  7. We are (move) __________ to a new house next week.
  8. Have you (finish) __________ your homework?
  9. That smell (be) __________ horrible.
  10. The teacher (welcome) __________ the pupils to his classroom.
  11. Our car (break) __________ down so we (walk) __________ home.
  12. I have (write) __________ three essays for English already.
  13. “It (be) __________ time for bed,” her mother (say) __________ .
  14. They (spend) __________ all their money on the first day of the holiday.
  15. Julie (start) __________ her new job this morning.
  16. I (drink) __________ more water to keep hydrated.
  17. It (be) __________ sunny today.
  18. “Hurry up and eat your breakfast!” he (shout) __________ .
  19. (be) __________ this the right way to the park?
  20. Jessica (smile) __________ when she (complete) __________ the English test.

Exercise Five

Unlike some of the other languages you might be studying in school, English does not have a future tense. Instead, we have to rely on auxiliary verbs to indicate the action being performed by the noun is taking place in the future. For example:

  • Our team will win the match at the weekend.
  • I will finish watching the series later.
  • She should be arriving soon.
  • We might go to the restaurant for dinner.
  • I am about to explode with rage.
  • The computer is going to crash at any moment.

Practise using the correct form of the future tense by completing the following sentences in your notebook.

  1. She (get) __________ a gold star for finishing this assignment.
  2. My friend (text) __________ me back later.
  3. There is no way you are (eat) __________ all of that lasagne.
  4. They (go) __________ to the cinema on Saturday night.
  5. The race (start) __________ in five minutes.

Subject / Verb Agreement

In English, verbs sometimes change depending on whether the subject of the verb is singular or plural.

Read the following statements and think about why they are grammatically incorrect:

  • My brothers is going to play rugby.
  • They lives across the street.
  • She want another slice of cake.
  • There are one more example to read in this section.
  • Seventy pounds are a lot of money to pay for that dress.

In the first example, “brothers” is plural but the verb “is” is singular. Similarly, the pronoun “they” is plural, but “lives” is the singular form of the verb. Put simply, the noun and the verb must agree in number. If the noun is plural, the verb describing its action must also be plural.

Of course, things do become more complicated.

In English, verbs are only distinguished singular from plural in the third person so “I live across the street” would be correct. That is why the third example should be “she wants another slice of cake”. “We talk” and “I talk” use the same verb, despite the fact that one is singular while the other is plural.

If you look carefully at the fourth sentence, the noun “example” is singular and needed the singular “is” to have the subject verb agreement. Remember, you are looking for the subject of the sentence and not simply the noun closest to the verb.

Finally, be careful not to confuse collective nouns with plurals. In the example above, “seventy pounds” is considered singular. The following sentences might clarify this particular rule:

  • The class is sitting quietly.
  • Our team is losing.
  • The government is willing to compromise on the issue.

Exercise Six

If you think you are beginning to understand the subject verb agreement rule, try explaining the difference between these two statements:

  • The fish needs more food.
  • The fish need more food.

Exercise Seven

Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject of the sentence.

  1. Mathematics (is / are) my favourite subject.
  2. The door (was / were) closed.
  3. We (is / are) going to the park.
  4. The lion (is / are) roaring.
  5. One of my uncles (live / lives) in Swansea.
  6. I (take / takes) the 4A bus to school.
  7. Who (know / knows) what happens next?
  8. (Is / Are) the microwave working?
  9. Both answers (is / are) wrong.
  10. There (is / are) only one biscuit left.
  11. She (need / needs) a new school blazer.
  12. My mother (make / makes) the nicest spaghetti Bolognese.
  13. My brother and sister (is / are) arguing again.
  14. The cat (was / were) asleep.
  15. The phone (was / were) ringing.
  16. My friend (sit / sits) at the back of the class.
  17. His fingers (was / were) numb from the cold.
  18. The choir (is / are) singing tonight.
  19. “When (is / are) we going home?” she screamed.
  20. Thankfully, this (is / are) the last question.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs support the precise meaning of the main verbs by helping to shape their tense and modality. Some examples might clarify this concept.

  • I walk to school every day.
  • I will walk to school every day.

In the first sentence, “walk” is the simple present tense form of the verb. The auxiliary verb “will” changes the action so we know it will occur sometime in the future. Try to explain the subtle difference between these sentences:

  • I did walk to school every day.
  • I was walking to school every day.
  • I have been walking to school every day.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are a special type of auxiliary verb. They help define the possibility or necessity of the verb. For example:

  • I might walk to school every day.

Here, the modal verb “might” reduces the certainty of the action.

In your own words, try to explain how the modal verb in the following sentences changes the message of the sentence even though the main verb remains the same:

  • I should walk to school every day.
  • I must walk to school every day.
  • I could walk to school every day.
  • I can walk to school every day.

The differences are incredibly subtle, but worth exploring.

Suggested Answers

My alarm beeped. The anxiety crept in and I crawled back under my duvet to avoid the inevitable. The precious covers were the only thing protecting me from my dismal doom. Although the room was closing in on me, I was determined to stay hidden. My head was spinning. Then came the terrible knock on my door. It opened, slowly and quietly. My mum peeked her head into the room. “Alright, sweetheart, time to get those teeth out.”

  1. She walked to school.
  2. She skipped to school.
  3. She trudged to school.
  4. She ran to school.
  5. She dashed to school.
  6. She crawled to school.
  7. She trekked to school.
  8. She marched to school.
  9. She strolled to school.
  10. She stumbled to school.

In the first sentence, the verb “hate” suggests the speaker does not like ice cream. However, in the second sentence, “hated” is the past tense form of the verb so it suggests they did not like ice cream in the past but have, perhaps, grown to like the dessert.

The speaker in the third sentence has no more homework to complete because they “finished” all the tasks. In the fourth sentence, the speaker still has to complete the homework. We know this because the verb phrase “will finish” is in a future tense form.

The cat has gone missing in the fifth sentence, suggested by the use of past tense verb “did”. The use of the simple present verb “is” in the sixth sentence tells the reader the cat is leaving the space now.

Again, the past tense form of listen in the seventh sentence suggests she had already heard the song on the radio, but the use of present continuous form “is listening” tells us she is tuned into the radio at the moment and can hear the song playing.

  1. I took an umbrella with me this morning.
  2. Have you heard the latest podcast?
  3. The landscape is incredibly beautiful.*
  4. The football match was entertaining.*
  5. My sister went to the cinema last night.
  6. The train left the station before I reached the platform.
  7. We are moving to a new house next week.
  8. Have you finished your homework?
  9. That smell is horrible.*
  10. The teacher welcomed the pupils to his classroom.
  11. Our car broke down so we walked home.
  12. I have written three essays for English already.
  13. “It is time for bed,” her mother said.
  14. They spent all their money on the first day of the holiday.
  15. Julie started her new job this morning.
  16. I drank more water to keep hydrated.
  17. It was sunny today.*
  18. “Hurry up and eat your breakfast!” he shouted.
  19. Is this the right way to the park?
  20. Jessica smiled when she completed the English test.

*Please note, both the present or past tense forms of the verb “to be” are appropriate in these sentences so mark your answer correct if you have answered “is” or “was”.

  1. She will get a gold star for finishing this assignment.
  2. My friend will text me back later.
  3. There is no way you are going to eat all of that lasagne.
  4. They are going to the cinema on Saturday night.
  5. The race will start in five minutes.

These are suggested answers and there are other ways the future tense could have been written. It depends on the context of the sentence and the message the speaker wants to convey.

The noun “fish” can be both singular and plural so we need to pay close attention to the verb. In the first sentence, “needs” is the singular form of the verb so there must only be one fish in the tank or bowl. However, in the second sentence, “need” is the plural form of the verb so there must be one than more fish in the water.

  1. Mathematics is my favourite subject.
  2. The door was closed.
  3. We are going to the park.
  4. The lion is roaring.
  5. One of my uncles lives in Swansea.
  6. I take the 4A bus to school.
  7. Who knows what happens next?
  8. Is the microwave working?
  9. Both answers are wrong.
  10. There is only one biscuit left.
  11. She needs a new school blazer.
  12. My mother makes the nicest spaghetti Bolognese.
  13. My brother and sister are arguing again.
  14. The cat was asleep.
  15. The phone was ringing.
  16. My friend sits at the back of the class.
  17. His fingers were numb from the cold.
  18. The choir is singing tonight.
  19. “When are we going home?” she screamed.
  20. Thankfully, this is the last question.

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