Verbs for Kids | What is a verb? | Learn how to identify and use a verb in a sentence.

Verbs for Kids. Today, you are going to get an introduction to verbs. To do that, you're going to do a couple of fun physical activities. If you aren't able to do all the activities, feel free to modify the movements to something that you can do. Push your chair back and make some space. Pause the video if you need a minute to get ready. As soon as you have an area cleared, start the video again. The first thing you're going to do is run in place for 10 seconds. Ready? Go! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Great job! Next, we're going to sing. Yep, that's right. We're going to sing the song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Ready? Go! Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream. Great singing! Next, walk one lap around the room. Depending on the size of the room, you may need more than 10 seconds to do this, but you can pause the video if you need more time. Ready? Go! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Okay, I hope you made it back to the computer. Now, simply sit down in your seat for 5 seconds. That's easy, right? Ready? Begin! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. For the last activity, talk to someone in the room with you. If no one is near you, talk to an imaginary friend or to yourself. We'll set the timer for another 5 seconds. And go! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Nice job! So, what in the world do all those activities have to do with verbs? Great question! Let's find out! Can you name all the actions you just did in the last few minutes? You ran, sang, walked, sat, and talked. Looking at that list, can you guess what type of words those are? Those words are all verbs! Now look at these activities. Swimming, painting, hanging from monkey bars, pulling tug-of-war, throwing, jumping. Someone is actively doing something in each of these images. They are all performing a different action. You've probably done a lot of these actions yourself. All these actions, swimming, painting, hanging, pulling, throwing, and jumping are verbs. All sentences have verbs and subjects. A subject is the part of a sentence that contains a person or a thing which performs an action or verb. Let's look at some example sentences. James runs down the street. In this sentence, James is the subject. He is the person performing the action. Remember that verbs are action words? What action is James performing in this sentence? Or what is the verb in this sentence? James is running, right? So, in this sentence, the word runs is the verb. Let's look at the next sentence. Agatha will be eating ice cream tonight. The subject in this sentence is Agatha. What action will Agatha be doing tonight? Or what is the verb in this sentence? The sentence says that Agatha will be eating ice cream tonight. So, the action Agatha will be performing or the verb in this sentence is eating. This sentence was a bit different. It doesn't say that Agatha is eating the ice cream. It says that she will be eating the ice cream. But in both sentences, eating is still the verb because that is the action word. So, what if the sentence said, Agatha has eaten the ice cream. The word eaten is still a verb because it is still an action word. It would be like saying, Seth ran around the track. Even though ran is a word that means it happened already or in the past. It is still an action word so it is still a verb. Let's look at this sentence. Jasmine texted her friend a message. Can you find the verb in this sentence? It's texted, isn't it? Texted is an action that Jasmine has already performed. Verbs can be written in the past, present, or future. Agatha ate the ice cream means it has already happened. That is the past and ate is the verb. Agatha is eating the ice cream means that it is happening right now. That is the present and eating is the verb. Agatha will eat the ice cream means that she hasn't eaten it yet, but she is going to. That is the future and eat is the verb. Notice that before the word eat in this sentence, the word will helps us know what Agatha is going to do with the ice cream. There are words that can help us find the verb in a sentence. These words are called helping verbs. Helping verbs tell us about past, present, and future actions. The helping words go in front of verbs. Take a look at this sentence. Thomas was standing in the rain. Let's first find the verb. What is the action word in this sentence or what action is Thomas doing in the rain? He's standing, right? Now, let's identify the present or future. The word was tells us that Thomas was standing in the rain, but he's not anymore. If the sentence said Thomas is standing in the rain, the word is would be the helping verb and would help us know that Thomas is standing in the rain right now, which means it's the present. If the sentence said Thomas will be standing in the rain, then our helping verbs will be help us understand that the action is going to happen in the future, which means it hasn't happened yet. Remember that helping verbs show us if the action words or verbs are in the past, present, or future. Easy, right? Helping verbs can also tell us about a state of being. For example, I am tired. I am tall. I was home. Helping verbs can be used alone with action verbs or with other helping verbs. Here is a list of some helping verbs. Am, is, are, was, were, being, does, do, did, has, have, been, can, could, may, might, must, had, will, would, shall, should, ought to, having. And here are some examples of sentences that use helping verbs. Our dog is being good today. Our dog's name is Rocky. Dad said we should call him Sleepy. Agatha will be eating ice cream. Agatha has eaten her ice cream. Agatha is eating her ice cream. Yum! Verbs don't just describe physical actions, they can also show mental actions. Like in this sentence. The teacher is thinking about homework. And in this sentence. The boy listened to his teacher. Who listens to their teacher? I sure do. There are many different verbs in the English language because there are many different actions. Every action that can be explained uses a verb or a helping verb. Remember a verb is an action word. Verbs can tell you what a subject is doing, has done, or will do. Now, every time you perform an action like running, talking, or listening, remember those actions aren't just fun, they're verbs. Thanks for watching. Be sure to subscribe. For more educational resources, click the link below.