Spoonful #2: VERBS

Here's a short quiz:

Which of the following must occur in every sentence?

A.) Noun  B.) Verb  C.) Adjective
D.) Adverb  E.) Sugar and spice and everything nice.

The answer is B.) VERB.

Surprisingly, a verb is so powerful, it can even create a one word sentence like these:

Run! Fly! Bark! Yodel! Exclamation points are optional. 

Verbs come in two basic forms.
1) Ready, set, ACTION VERBS: Each of the one word sentences above used strong action verbs. Action verbs make your heart pound and your legs move. Using action verbs makes sentences ACTIVE!

2) To be or not to be: the 8 FORMS OF TO BE are also considered verbs - IS, WAS, ARE, WERE, AM, BE, BEEN, BEING. These are super handy to use in sentences, especially IS, WAS, ARE, and WERE. But beware- they make sentences PASSIVE, the opposite of ACTIVE. For history papers, that's appropriate. But for creative writing (especially picture books), beware of overuse. 

That's a wrap! Thanks for reading "A Spoonful of Grammar." 
​
Laura Fineberg Cooper
​
www.laurafcooper.com
​@spoonfulgrammar

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