1. Verbs: Action, Linking, Main, and
Helping
Ms. Ghio’s 3rd grade

2. Types of Verbs
• Action verbs
• Linking verbs
• Main verbs
• Helping verbs

3. Action Verbs
• An action verb tells what people or things can
do.
• These are some action verbs:
• play
• write
• scream
• dance
• pick

4. Linking Verbs
• A linking verb connects (links) the subject to
words in the predicate.
• These are some linking verbs:
• am
• is
• was
• were
• seem

5. Verb Phrases: Main Verbs
• A phrase is a group of words.
• A verb phrase is a verb that has more than
one verb in it.
• The Main Verb shows the action.
helping verb + action verb = verb phrase
has + jumped = has jumped
Has jumped is the verb phrase

6. Verb Phrases: Helping Verbs
• Helping verbs show the time of the action.
– Past (was, were, has, have, had), present (am, is, are),
and future (will)
• It comes before the main verb in a verb phrase.
• These are some helping verbs (in a verb phrase):
• have skied
• has jumped
• has made
• have cooked

7. Which type of verb is it?
Which type of verb is in each sentence?
1. The dog has been to the vet.
2. She is a champion.
3. My uncle was a black belt.
4. The boy ran faster than anyone else.
5. We have played soccer for three
years.
6. The race car driver drove slowly.