Basic Details
Word: Verb
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A word that shows an action, a state or something that happens, such as run, is or become.
How to Spell Verb
Syllables: verb
Tricky part: The vowel sound is spelt er, not ur or ir, and the word ends in a plain b with no e.
Watch out for: vurb, verbe, varb
Memory tip: Verb rhymes with herb and is spelt the same way, except that v takes the place of h.
Usage Examples
Example 1: In the sentence Dogs bark, the verb is bark.
Example 2: A verb can be a single word, like ran, or a group of words, like has been running.
Example 3: Choose a strong verb like sprinted instead of ran very fast.
Fun Fact
Every complete English sentence needs a verb. Even the single word Go is a full sentence, because the subject you is understood.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. paragragh 2. punctuasion 3. sentance 4. verb
a) a group of words that makes complete sense
b) a section of writing that starts on a new line
c) a word that names an action or a state
d) marks such as commas and full stops
Show answer
c) a word that names an action or a state. Sentence has e before nce, paragraph ends in ph, and punctuation has tion.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Our teacher asked us to circle the vrbe in each line of the poem.
a) brave
b) verb
c) verge
d) herb
Show answer
b) verb. The jumble holds v, r, b and e only, and verb is the one option made of exactly those.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
In the sentence our teacher wrote on the board, the vurb galloped tells us exactly how the horse moved across the field.
a) vurb
b) teacher
c) galloped
d) across
Show answer
a) vurb. The sound in the middle is spelt er, as in herb and term.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word is the verb in The tired dog slept under the tree?
a) slept
b) tree
c) tired
d) dog
Show answer
a) slept
2. Verb comes from the Latin verbum, which means ____.
a) action
b) rule
c) word
d) voice
Show answer
c) word
