Learn what a verb is, see it worked out step by step, try it with hints, then clear 24 exercises and take two printable PDFs home. Suits Grade/Class 1 and 2, Year 2 and 3.
Level 1 is the first step in Verb Valley and it answers one question: which word in this sentence is the verb? Everything else about verbs comes after that. A child who can find the verb can be taught anything that follows, and a child who cannot will struggle with tenses for years. So this page teaches four small tests rather than one big rule. Each test can be run by the child alone, standing up, with no grammar words at all. Between them they cover doing words, the being verbs is, am and are, when a verb takes an s, and how the word yesterday changes a verb into the past. After the four tests come six worked examples, guided practice with hints, three games, ten written practice questions with answers and 24 marked exercises. Two free printables go home at the end.
Four tests, one for each thing you need at this level. Read the green boxes out loud, on your own or with someone.
Stand up. Ready?
Can you jump? Yes! So jump is a verb.
Can you chair? No! You can sit on a chair, but you cannot chair. So chair is not a verb.
That is the whole test. If you can do it, it is a verb. Try it with these: eat, mango, run, blue, clap, table.
Do it standing up. It is funnier that way, and funny things stick in your head.
Now you have a test you can do all by yourself. You do not have to ask anybody.
A few verbs are sneaky. You cannot do them at all.
I am happy. She is my sister. They are in Grade 2.
Nothing is moving. Nobody is doing anything. But is, am and are are still verbs, and they hide in a huge number of sentences. Learn them like a playground chant and you will never get them wrong:
I am.
He is. She is. It is.
You are. We are. They are.
Say it out loud three times. Then say it once a day for a week. It is short, so it sticks.
These three words have a proper name. They are called being verbs. You do not need that name yet. You just need the chant.
Look at these two sentences. Something moved.
One dog barks.
Two dogs bark.
See it? The s hopped. In the first one the s sits on barks. In the second one it hopped over and sat on dogs. The s can sit on the naming word or on the verb, but never on both at the same time.
Try it: One bird flies. Two birds ____ .
Here is the tricky bit. On a naming word, an s means more than one. On a verb, an s means only one. That is why it feels muddled. The hopping picture sorts it out.
One thing to remember. This trick is for sentences that start with a naming word, like dog or bus. It does not work for I, you, we and they. Those four never put an s on the verb.
Say the sentence, then put the word yesterday at the front and listen.
Yesterday I walk to the shop. That sounds wrong.
Yesterday I walked to the shop. That sounds right!
The letters -ed mean it already finished. Walk becomes walked. Play becomes played. Jump becomes jumped.
One warning. If the word already ends in e, it only needs a d. Close becomes closed, not closeed.
Your ears are good at this. If a sentence sounds wrong to you, it usually is wrong. Trust them.
Watch out for a few special words. Go becomes went. Eat becomes ate. Run becomes ran. They do not take -ed at all. You will meet those in Level 2.
| Use | With | Example |
|---|---|---|
| am | I, and only I | I am seven years old. |
| is | he, she, it, one person or thing | My dog is under the table. |
| are | you, we, they, any group | We are ready for school. |
| One doing it | More than one doing it |
|---|---|
| Sara eats a mango. | The children eat mangoes. |
| The bus stops here. | The buses stop here. |
| A bird flies in the sky. | Birds fly in the sky. |
The four tests above are also the first two pages of the free worksheet PDF, with teaching notes, common mistakes and a suggested way to split the sheet across two sittings.
The verb is highlighted, with the reason underneath. Cover the reason and see if you get there first.
Ali runs to school.
Ali is the name, school is the place. Running is the thing being done, so runs is the verb.
Emma paints a picture.
Ask what Emma does. She paints. Picture is the thing she paints, not the action.
The cat sleeps on the mat.
Sleeping is quiet, but it is still something the cat does, so it counts as an action verb.
We are in Grade 1.
Nothing is being done here. Are is a being verb, and it goes with we.
Birds build nests in the tree.
More than one bird is doing it, so the verb has no s. Build, not builds.
Yesterday she closed the door.
Close already ends in e, so the past tense adds only d. Closed, not closeed.
No score here and no pressure. Get it wrong as many times as you like, and press Hint whenever you are stuck.
One word appears. Is it an action word or not? You have 45 seconds. Every 3 correct in a row doubles your points, and a wrong answer costs you 3 seconds.
You get one letter s. Decide which word it hops onto. One dog barks, but two dogs bark, so the s never sits in the same place twice in a row.
Tap the box where the s belongs.
The little block acts out a verb, just like the Do It Test. Watch what it does, then tap the word that matches. Ten rounds.
Press Start and watch closely.
Five parts. Every right answer earns 25 XP, which is simply a points score for this level, and fills the bar above until the badges unlock. A wrong answer costs nothing, so try again.
These are here to be read, printed or worked through on paper. Tap Show the answer to check, and the reason is given every time.
1. Which word is the verb? The dog barks at the gate.
B. barks Dog is the naming word and gate is a thing. Barking is what the dog does, so barks is the verb.
2. Which word is the verb? Sana claps her hands.
B. claps Ask what Sana does. She claps. You can act clapping out, so it passes the Do It Test.
3. Which of these is an action word?
B. swim Can you swim? Yes. Can you pencil? No. Can you red? No. Only swim is something you can do.
4. Which word is NOT a verb? write, dance, mango
C. mango A mango is a fruit, so it names something. You can eat a mango but you cannot mango.
5. I ____ six years old.
B. am Run the chant. Am always goes with I, and only with I.
6. She ____ my sister.
A. is Is goes with he, she and it, and with any one person or thing.
7. We ____ in the park.
C. are Are goes with you, we and they, and with any group.
8. Two birds ____ in the tree.
A. sing There are two birds, so the s has hopped onto birds. It cannot sit on the verb as well.
9. One bird ____ in the tree.
B. sings There is only one bird, so bird has no s. The s hops onto the verb instead.
10. Yesterday we ____ a picture.
B. painted Yesterday is at the front, so it has already finished. Add -ed to paint.
Want more? The 24 marked exercises above give instant feedback, and the free worksheet PDF has 40 questions in six parts with a full answer key.
Think first, then tap to check.
I am the word that shows what you do. Run, jump and eat are all me. What am I?
A verb, also called a doing word or an action word.
I show no action at all, yet I sit in almost every sentence about who somebody is. I have three faces: one for I, one for he and she, and one for we and they. What am I?
A being verb: am, is and are.
Yesterday added two letters to my tail and I became a different word. Play became played and jump became jumped. What did yesterday add?
The letters -ed, which make the simple past tense.
A verb is a doing word. It is the word in a sentence that shows what is happening. In the sentence Ali runs to school, the verb is runs, because running is the action. Words like eat, jump, sleep, write and clap are all verbs. Verbs also include the being verbs is, am and are, which tell you what someone or something is rather than what they do.
Use the Do It Test, and do it standing up. Ask, can you jump? Yes, so jump is a verb. Can you chair? No, you can sit on a chair but you cannot chair, so chair is not a verb. Children remember the rule because the question is funny, and it hands them a test they can run without help. This one test solves most Grade 1 and Grade 2 verb questions on its own.
Yes. They are called being verbs, or linking verbs. They show no action at all, they simply tell you what someone or something is. Use am with I, use is with he, she, it and any single person or thing, and use are with you, we and they and any group.
When one person or one thing is doing it right now, the verb takes an s. Sara eats a mango. The bus stops here. When more than one is doing it, the verb has no s. Birds fly. My friends play football. Children find this easier if they remember that only one of the two words carries the s, either the naming word or the verb, never both.
For most verbs at this level you add -ed. Walk becomes walked, play becomes played, jump becomes jumped. If the verb already ends in e, add only d, so close becomes closed. A few very common verbs change shape completely, such as go becoming went and eat becoming ate. Those irregular verbs are taught in Level 2.
Yes. There are two free PDFs on this page. The main worksheet has a lesson recap, 40 questions in six parts and a full answer key. The flashcard pack has 24 cut out action verb cards for word walls, matching games and acting games. There is no sign up and no fee, and teachers may print class sets.
It matches Grade 1 and Grade 2 in the United States and Canada, Year 2 and Year 3 in the United Kingdom, Class 1 and Class 2 in Pakistan and India, and Foundation to Year 2 in Australia. It also works well as revision for any older child who is still unsure what a verb is.
Numrahedu is an independent educational resource. All explanations, questions, games and worksheets on this page are original work produced by Numrahedu.