What drives a sentence?
Verbs are the engine of every sentence. They show action or help tell us what someone or something is doing. But identifying a verb isn't always as simple as spotting a word that ends in -ed or -ing.
Take these words:
swim
swam
swimming
They're all related to the same base word, swim. In fact, one of them IS the base word. 😉
So they're all verbs...right?
Ummmmm, not necessarily.
It all depends on how they're used in the sentence. That's why learning the parts of speech in context is so important.
In last week's Tuesday Tip, I showed you a simple strategy for identifying nouns. This week, we're going to build on that by connecting the noun to the verb.
Let's look at an example.
John swam in the pool all afternoon.
First, find the noun, the subject of the sentence.
This one is easy. The noun, or subject of the sentence, is John because John is a person. Pool and afternoon are also nouns, but we're going to focus on John right now because he is the subject. He is performing the action in the sentence.
Now ask yourself:
What did John do?
He swam.
That's your verb.
The base word is swim, so you can test it by asking:
Can I swim?
Yes!
That's a great clue that you're looking at an action verb.
So far, so good.
Now let's make the sentence a little more interesting.
John swam in the swimming pool all afternoon.
John is still the noun.
But now we have swam and swimming.
Do we have two verbs?
No.
Ask yourself:
What did John do?
John swam.
That's still the verb.
The word swimming is performing a different job. Instead of showing John's action, it's describing the noun, pool. It tell us which pool. In this sentence, swimming is functioning as an adjective. (The pool isn't swimming. 😉)
Don't worry, we'll talk much more about adjectives soon!
Here's another sentence that often trips students up.
John likes to swim.
Many students choose swim as the verb.
But ask yourself:
What is John doing?
John likes.
The words to swim form an infinitive (to + verb). An infinitive can act as a noun, adjective, or adverb, but it is not the main verb of the sentence.
We'll save infinitives for another Tuesday Tip.
Here's the strategy I want you to remember:
- Find the noun.
- Ask, "What is the noun doing?"
- Check your answer by asking, "Can I _____?"
Those three simple steps will help your child identify verbs with much more confidence.
Trying to identify parts of speech without putting words into sentences is tricky.
People often say, "A table is a noun."
Well...not always.
You can table a conversation for later.
Now it's a verb. 😉
Instead of asking your child whether an isolated word is a noun, verb, or adjective, give them a complete sentence and let them practice using these strategies. Learning grammar isn't about memorizing definitions. It's about understanding how words work together to create meaning.
If you'd like another explanation of verbs, head over to my YouTube channel where I walk through this strategy step by step. You can also download my FREE Writing Ready with Fables: Grammar Edition to practice identifying verbs and other parts of speech in the context of a classic fable.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you next time!