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What Are Verbs?

A verb is a "doing" word. A verb can express:

A physical action (e.g., to swim, to write, to climb).
A mental action (e.g., to think, to guess, to consider).
A state of being (e.g., to be, to exist, to appear).

The verbs that express a state of being take a little practice to spot, but, actually, they are the most common. The most common verb is the verb to be. Below is the verb to be in the different tenses:

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Lots of Verbs Express Physical Actions

Here are some sentences with the verbs highlighted. (These verbs express physical actions.)

She sells pegs and lucky heather.
(In this example, the word sells is a verb. It expresses the physical activity to sell.)
The doctor wrote the prescription.
(In this example, the word wrote is a verb. It expresses the physical activity to write.)
Alison bought a ticket.

(The word bought is a verb. It expresses the physical activity to buy.)

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Verbs Express Mental Actions Too

Verbs do not necessarily express physical actions like the ones above. They can express mental actions too:

Example:

She considers the job done.
(The word considers is a verb. It expresses the mental activity to consider.)
Peter guessed the right number.
(The word guessed is a verb. It expresses the mental activity to guess.)
I thought the same thing.

(The word thought is a verb. It expresses the mental activity to think.)

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Verbs Express a State of Being

A small but extremely important group of verbs do not express any activity at all. The most important verb in this group – arguably of all – is the verb to be. As shown in the table above, this is seen in forms like is, are, were, was, will be, etc.

Here are some real examples with the verb to be:

Edwina is the largest elephant in this area.
(The word is is a verb from the verb to be.)
It was a joke.
(The word was is a verb from the verb to be.)
I am.
(The word am is a verb from the verb to be.)

(Point of interest: I am is the shortest sentence in English.)

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The Types of Verbs

As we've covered, a verb can be categorized as a physical verb (e.g., to run), a mental verb (e.g., to think), or a state-of-being verb (e.g., to be). However, a verb will often be further categorized as one of the following:

Action Verb

An action verb expresses an activity that a person or thing can do. For example:

Lee eats cake.
(Eating is something Lee can do.) The bear chased the salmon in the shallow rapids.

(Chasing is something the bear can do.) Compare those verbs with these:

Lee likes cake.
(Liking is not an activity. It's a state.) The bear is hungry.

(Being is not an activity. It's a state.)

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