Verbs — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which word is a verb?
A) book
B) tall
C) pour
D) soft
Pour names an action — something you do when you tip a cup. Book is a thing, while tall and soft describe how something looks or feels, so they are not verbs.
2. What is the verb in The boy kicks the ball?
A) boy
B) the
C) ball
D) kicks
Kicks is what the boy is doing in the sentence, and the doing word is always the verb. Boy and ball are people or things, and the is a small connecting word.
3. Which word is NOT a verb?
A) stir
B) chop
C) lamp
D) lift
Lamp is a thing you can turn on, so it names an object instead of an action. Stir, chop, and lift are all things you can do, which makes them verbs.
4. Which verb tells about the PAST?
A) claps
B) stirred
C) pours
D) digs
Stirred ends in -ed, which shows the action already happened. Claps, pours, and digs all tell about something happening right now.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. In She tossed the coin, the verb is tossed.
The verb is tossed because that is the action she did with the coin. The -ed ending shows the tossing already happened.
2. When a verb ends in -ing it tells what is happening now.
Adding -ing to a verb, like running or mixing, shows the action is going on right at this moment, so it tells what is happening now.
3. In He lifts the heavy box, the verb is lifts.
Lifts is the action he is doing to the heavy box, and the action word in a sentence is always the verb.
4. The word chopped tells about the past.
Chopped ends in -ed, and that ending tells us the chopping has already finished, so the action belongs to the past.
5. In We mix the paint together, the verb is mix.
Mix is the action being done to the paint in the sentence, so it is the verb that tells what we are doing.