What Are Verbs?

A verb is a word which tells us what a person or a thing is doing.

• He ran fast.
• The birds flew away.
• John opened the can.

Here the verbs ran, flew and opened tell us what the nouns he, birds and John do. A verb is the most important word in a sentence.

Now read the following sentences.

• She is a good girl.
• There are fifty students in the class.

Here the verbs is and are tell us not about an action, but about a state of being or existence.

Now look at the following sentences.

• They have a house in the city.
• She has two children.

Here the verbs have and has indicate possession.

Thus we find that a verb is a word that tells us about an action, a state of being or existence, or possession.