Every English sentence needs a verb. So, it is important that we know how to use verbs correctly. Learning the different kinds of verbs will help us.
This lesson will cover action verbs.
What are Action Verbs?
Action verbs show an action. They show what the subject is doing in the sentence. Here are some examples of action verbs.
| run | eat | sleep | hit | cut |
| establish | discuss | think | sing | play |
Action verbs change depending on the time are talking about. If we are talking about the past, then we use past tense verbs. If we are talking about the future, then we use future tense verbs.
You can study the verb tenses in detail with our free verb tense lessons.
Here are some example sentences.
- I run every morning. (Present Tense)
- We ate an hour ago. (Past Tense)
- The will discuss it at the meeting. (Future Tense)
- I have played soccer since I was 5 years old. (Present Perfect)
- She had thought about it before she came. (Past Perfect)
- The dog is sleeping. (Present Continuous)
There are more verb tenses, but these are just a few examples to help you get the main idea.
Negative Action Verbs
We use “do not / does not” to make negative sentences in the present tense. We use “did not” to make negative sentences in the past tense. For all the other tenses, we add “not” before the verb.
Here are some example sentences.
- I do not run every morning. (Present Tense)
- We didn’t eat an hour ago. (Past Tense)
- The will not discuss it at the meeting. (Future Tense)
- I have not played soccer since I was 5 years old. (Present Perfect)
- She had not thought about it before she came. (Past Perfect)
- The dog is not sleeping. (Present Continuous)
Notice that after “did not” we use the regular form of the verb. That is because “did” is a past tense verb, so we do not need to change the other verb to the past tense.
Questions with Action Verbs
We can make regular questions or yes/no questions with action verbs.
Yes/No questions look like this.
- Do you exercise regularly?
- Does she work with him?
- Did he go on vacation?
- Will you play soccer with use this weekend?
- Have you been to Tokyo?
- Is he eating now?
- Are you going to visit your family?
Other questions use question words.
- What do you do on the weekend?
- Where does she work?
- What did you eat for breakfast?
- Why will you go there?
- How many countries have you visited in your life?
- When are you going?
- Who is coming?
- What exercise do you like?
Verbs can be difficult because they have different forms depending on the verb tense, and in the present tense they can be different depending on the subject. Also, there are many irregular verbs that you need to remember. If you want to learn and see more about this, then you should study our detailed verb tense lessons.
