Download 1. How to Teach Verbs

How to Teach Verbs
Action Verbs
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Teach that an action verb shows action. It tells what a noun is doing.
Generate lists of action verbs. Scribe for the student if necessary.
Teach that an action verb includes actions that one can do but cannot see such
as dreaming and thinking. If the student is old enough, provide action verbs
that show physical activity as well as mental activity and help the student
determine in which category the action verb belongs.
Give students a list of nouns and ask the student to supply an action verb by
asking what the noun is doing.
Give student a list of action verbs and ask student to supply a noun. Ask who is
running, playing, thinking?
Discuss the need for nouns and action verbs to agree. The boy runs. The boys
run.
Teach that verbs have tense. At this point, present, past, and future tense is
enough to cover.
When asking a student to identify and diagram the parts of speech in a
sentence, remember to only include the parts of speech you have already taught
the student.
Always identify the nouns and verbs in a sentence first.
Linking Verbs
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Linking verbs link the subject with another word in the sentence. The other
word either renames or describes the subject.
Forms of the verb be are the most common linking verbs. In fact, any verb
phrase ending in be or been can be a linking verb. (ie. “can be”, “will be”, “will
have been”)
Forms of the verb be are not always linking verbs. To be a linking verb, a verb
must link the subject with another word that renames or describes the subject.
Some verb forms of be simply make statements. (ie. “She was there.”)
When identifying linking verbs, have the student underline the linking verb or
verb phrase, and then highlight the two words that are being linked. This will
allow the student to see how the words are related to each other.
Other linking verbs: seems, appears, looks, feels
DII December 2011
Helping Verbs
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Helping verbs “help” an action or linking verb.
Helping verbs plus the main verb make up a verb phrase.
Common Helping Verbs are:
be
am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
have
has, have, had
do
do, does, did
others
may, might, must, can, could, shall, should, will, would
Examples of verb phrases that use helping verbs are:
Eva is watching the football game now.
Those seeds can be planted next month.
You should have been warned about the penalty.
Predicate Nouns and Predicate Adjectives
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Teach that predicate adjectives and predicate nouns only follow linking verbs
Teach that linking verbs are verbs of being
Have students memorize the following linking verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be,
being, been
Teach students that a few other verbs can be linking verbs also: seems, appears,
looks, feels, becomes, tastes
Teach that linking verbs link two parts of a sentence
Teach that a predicate noun is a noun that renames the subject
Teach that a predicate adjective can be picked up and placed in front of the subject
to describe it
Give students sentences to analyze and label. Students label the predicate noun by
placing an N for noun under the word and PN above the word for predicate noun.
Students then draw an arrow from the predicate noun to the subject noun it
renames.
Teach students how to diagram a sentence with a predicate noun. Give students
sentences to read, analyze, label and diagram.
Give students sentences to analyze and label. Students label the predicate
adjective by placing adj. under the word and PA above the word for predicate
adjective. Students then draw an arrow from the predicate adjective to the subject
noun it describes
Teach students how to diagram a sentence with a predicate adjective. Give
students sentences to read, analyze, label, and diagram.
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A predicate noun re-names the subject:
That man is my doctor.
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N
A predicate adjective describes the subject:
My dog seems healthy.
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adj.
The Sentence
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Teach that every sentence must contain a noun and a verb. (Start with action
verbs first.)_ The noun is called a subject. The action verb is called a predicate.
The subject answers the question, “Who or what did it?”
The predicate answers the question, “What did he/she/it/they do?”
Teach that every sentence must contain a complete thought consisting of a
subject and a predicate.
Help students to recognize that there may be more than one noun in a sentence,
but not all of them will be the subject (or not all will answer the question, “Who
or what did it?”)
DII December 2011