Action Verbs

What are action verbs?

Action verbs help express actions, whether they be physical or mental.

Physical action verbs can indicate movement, such as "run," "throw," or "jump."

Examples of mental/abstract action verbs are "think," "thought," or "learn."

Common structure

In a sentence, you want to find the subject of the sentence: the person or object that is the main focus.

They will typically be performing an action, which will be expressed by an action verb.

Examples:

Tommy ate all the candy. (Tommy is the subject, ate is the action verb)

The bird sings a cheery song every morning. (The bird is the subject, sings is the action verb)

The lightning struck the tree. (The lightning is the subject, struck is the action verb)

Take the quiz!