Welcome back to week 3 of Back to Basics!  Thank you for the great comments on our first two features!

This week is all about the action (and everyone knows action sells)... verbs!

Verbs are words that indicate action or states of being. 

Types of Verbs

• Action Verbs - verbs that show movement or change.
  • Billy jumped onto the wagon.
• Verbs of Being - verbs that express a state, usually a form of "to be"
  • The boy was hungry.
• Linking Verbs - Verbs that connect parts of a sentences and are often hidden forms of "to be".  If you can swap verb without changing meaning, it is a linking verb.
  • The tea tasted sour. = The tea was sour.
• Auxiliary Verbs - Verbs that express more about the main verb by altering the tense, mood, or voice (example: passive vs. active).
  • You can join the team vs. You must join the team.

Transitive vs. Intransitive

Actions verbs that require a direct object to complete its meaning.  Action verbs that do not require a direct object acted upon are intransitive.

• Transitive Verbs
  • push, cuddle, hug, shine
  • Billy hugged Joey.
• Intransitive Verbs
  • gallop, march, limp
  • The horse galloped.
• Some verbs swing both ways depending on the sentence structure:
  • Transitive
    • She opened the window.
    • He closed the lid.
  • Intransitive
    • The window opened.
    • The lid closed.

Forms of Be

• am, being, been, is, are, was, were

• References:
  • Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media
  • Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press