Verbs
You learn to find the verb: the word for what someone does or is.
How to do the test
- Ask what is happening in the sentence.
- Change the time, from yesterday to today.
- The word that changes is the verb.
A worked example
Tap the verb. The dog barked loudly.
- A verb tells you what someone or something does or is.
- Change the time of the sentence: barked becomes barks.
- Only a verb can change like that.
- Barked is the verb.
More examples
Tap the verb. We ate lunch outside.
- A verb tells you what someone or something does or is.
- Change the time of the sentence: ate becomes eat.
- Only a verb can change like that.
- Ate is the verb.
Tap the verb. The bell rang at noon.
- A verb tells you what someone or something does or is.
- Change the time of the sentence: rang becomes rings.
- Only a verb can change like that.
- Rang is the verb.
Watch out
You tap the noun that does the action, like dog, instead of the verb barked.
Change the time of the sentence. The dog stays the dog, but barked becomes barks. The word that moves is the verb.
Tips
- The verb is not always an action. Am, is and was show how someone or something is.
Why it works
Every sentence has a verb. A verb is the only word that changes when the time changes, from yesterday to today. That makes the time test a safe way to find it.