English:Action, Linking, and Helping Verbs
Action, Linking, and Helping Verbs
Action, Linking, and Helping Verbs
Grade level: Grades 5–6
Verbs are powerful words. They can show what someone or something does, connect a subject to a description, or work with another verb to add meaning. In this aiMOOC, you will learn how to tell action verbs, linking verbs, and helping verbs apart and use them in your own speaking and writing.
Introduction
A verb is a word that plays a central role in the predicate of a sentence. At this level, it is useful to focus on three common jobs that verbs can do. An action verb tells what the subject does. A linking verb connects the subject to a word or phrase that describes or renames it. A helping verb works with a main verb to form a verb phrase.
Watch this short Khan Academy introduction and listen for examples of verbs in sentences.
As you work through the course, remember one important idea: the job of a verb depends on how it is used in a sentence. The same word can do different jobs in different sentences.
The Three Verb Jobs
Action Verbs
An action verb tells what the subject does. The action can be something you can see, such as run, jump, write, or build. It can also be a mental action, such as think, remember, wonder, or decide.
In the sentence The child runs across the grass, the word runs is an action verb. The subject is doing the action.
Try another example: The student reads a book. The verb reads shows an action. If you change the sentence to The student is reading a book, the main action is still reading, but now is works as a helping verb.
Quick check: Ask, “What is the subject doing or thinking?” If the verb answers that question, it is probably an action verb.
Linking Verbs
A linking verb does not show an action performed by the subject. Instead, it connects the subject to a word or phrase that describes or renames the subject. That word or phrase is often called a subject complement.
Look at these sentences:
The sky is blue. The verb is links sky to the description blue.
Jordan became captain. The verb became links Jordan to the new name captain.
The soup smells delicious. The verb smells links soup to the description delicious.
Common linking verbs include forms of be such as am, is, are, was, and were. Other verbs such as seem, become, appear, feel, look, smell, sound, and taste can also work as linking verbs.
The chart below shows the past forms was and were. These words can act as linking verbs, but they can also act as helping verbs when another verb follows.
Watch how Khan Academy explains linking verbs.
Useful test: If the verb connects the subject to a description or new name, it is probably linking. The test is helpful, but the whole sentence still matters.
Helping Verbs
A helping verb, also called an auxiliary verb, works with a main verb. Together, the words form a verb phrase. Helping verbs can show time, possibility, ability, necessity, or emphasis.
In Maya is smiling, is helps the main verb smiling.
In We have finished, have helps the main verb finished.
In They will travel, will helps the main verb travel.
In I can solve it, can helps the main verb solve.
Common helping verbs include forms of be, have, and do. Modal helping verbs include words such as can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.
Watch this Khan Academy explanation of helping verbs.
The timeline below shows that English verb forms can become long combinations. You do not need to memorize the whole chart. Notice instead that several verb forms use more than one verb word. That is where helping verbs become especially useful.
One Word, Different Jobs
Some words can change jobs depending on the sentence. Read each pair and focus on what the verb is doing.
| Sentence | Verb | Job | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mia is calm. | is | Linking | It connects Mia to the description calm. |
| Mia is laughing. | is | Helping | It works with laughing. |
| The chef smells the soup. | smells | Action | The chef performs the action. |
| The soup smells spicy. | smells | Linking | It connects soup to the description spicy. |
| I look at the poster. | look | Action | I perform the action of looking. |
| The poster looks colorful. | looks | Linking | It connects poster to the description colorful. |
This is why you should classify a verb by its job in the sentence, not only by memorizing a list.
A Simple Strategy for Finding the Verb Job
Use this three-step method when you study a sentence.
- Subject: Find who or what the sentence is about.
- Verb phrase: Find the verb word or words connected to the subject.
- Verb classification: Decide whether the verb shows an action, links the subject to a description or name, or helps another verb.
For example, in The birds are flying south, the subject is birds. The verb words are are flying. The word are is helping, and flying is the main action verb.
In The birds are noisy, the subject is still birds, but there is no second verb after are. Here, are links birds to the description noisy.
Why Verb Jobs Matter
Knowing verb jobs helps you understand sentence structure, choose clear words, and edit your own writing. It also helps you see how a small change can change the meaning of a sentence.
Compare The dog looks at the ball with The dog looks excited. In the first sentence, looks shows an action. In the second, looks connects the dog to a description.
Knowing helping verbs also makes it easier to understand questions and negative sentences. In Do you play chess?, do helps the main verb play. In She does not sing, does helps sing.
Interactive Tasks
Quiz: Test Your Knowledge
Which sentence contains an action verb? (The rabbit hops over the log.) (!The rabbit is quiet.) (!The rabbit seems sleepy.) (!The rabbit became calm.)
What is the job of tastes in The lemonade tastes sour? (Linking verb) (!Action verb) (!Helping verb) (!Noun)
What is the job of is in Leo is drawing a map? (Helping verb) (!Action verb) (!Linking verb) (!Adjective)
Which words form the verb phrase in They have finished their project? (have finished) (!their project) (!They have) (!finished their)
What does a linking verb do? (Connects the subject to a description or name) (!Shows only a physical action) (!Replaces every noun in a sentence) (!Tells where an action happens)
Which sentence uses look as an action verb? (I look at the poster.) (!The poster looks bright.) (!The room looks clean.) (!The sky looks gray.)
Which sentence contains a mental action verb? (Nora remembers the song.) (!Nora is cheerful.) (!Nora seems ready.) (!Nora was tired.)
What is the job of became in The leaves became yellow? (Linking verb) (!Helping verb) (!Action verb) (!Pronoun)
What is the job of can in We can solve the puzzle? (Helping verb) (!Linking verb) (!Action verb) (!Adjective)
Which sentence contains both a helping verb and a main action verb? (The birds are flying south.) (!The birds are noisy.) (!The birds seem hungry.) (!The birds became quiet.)
Memory Game
| Action verb | Shows a physical or mental act performed by the subject |
| Linking verb | Connects the subject with a description or new name |
| Helping verb | Joins a main word to show time, possibility, or another shade of meaning |
| Verb phrase | Two or more verb words working together |
| Subject complement | A word or group after a connector that describes or renames the subject |
| Modal | A helper such as can, may, should, or will |
Drag and Drop
| Match the correct terms. | Topic |
|---|---|
| Action meaning | The horse gallops across the field. |
| Linking meaning | The field looks muddy. |
| Helping role | The horse is galloping. |
| Mental action | We remember the route. |
| Verb phrase | will have finished |
Match each label to the example that best shows that verb job or idea.
Crossword Puzzle
| Action | What type of verb shows what a subject does or thinks? |
| Linking | What type of verb connects a subject to a description or new name? |
| Helping | What type of verb works with a main verb? |
| Auxiliary | What is another word for a helping verb? |
| Complement | What word completes the term subject complement? |
| Modal | What kind of helper is a word such as can or should? |
LearningApps
Cloze Text
Open-Ended Tasks
Easy
- Verb Hunt: Choose six sentences from a book or class text, copy them, underline the verbs, and label each as action, linking, or helping.
- Action Photo Captions: Draw or photograph three safe everyday actions and write one clear sentence for each image using an action verb.
- Linking Verb Postcards: Create four small cards that describe a person, place, animal, or object with linking verbs such as is, seems, looks, or becomes.
- Helping Verb Color Code: Write five sentences with verb phrases, then use two different marks or colors to show the helping verb and the main verb.
Standard
- Grammar Interview: Interview a classmate about hobbies, plans, and school routines, then write six answers and identify action, linking, and helping verbs in the responses.
- One-Minute Verb Video: Plan and record a one-minute teaching video that explains the three verb jobs with one original example of each.
- Sentence Switch Lab: Write pairs of sentences in which the same word changes jobs, such as looks as action in one sentence and linking in another, and explain the difference.
- School Verb Walk: Visit a safe school location such as the library, playground, or hallway, collect ten verbs from signs or observations, and sort them by job.
Advanced
- Verb News Report: Write and perform a short news report that deliberately uses at least four action verbs, four linking verbs, and four helping verbs, then annotate your script.
- Grammar Experiment: Start with six simple action sentences, change each into a sentence with a helping verb, and record how the meaning of time, possibility, or ability changes.
- Story Revision Studio: Revise a paragraph from your own writing by replacing vague verbs with more precise action verbs and by checking that linking and helping verbs are used correctly.
- Mini Lesson Design: Create a poster, slide, or short lesson for younger learners that teaches how to tell linking verbs from helping verbs using sentence pairs and a quick practice activity.
Learning Assessment
- Verb Job Reasoning: Classify the verbs in a short paragraph and explain the clue that proves each choice instead of giving labels only.
- Same Word Challenge: Write two sentences using the same verb word in different jobs and explain how the sentence structure changes its role.
- Verb Phrase Builder: Turn three one-word action sentences into verb phrases with suitable helping verbs, then explain what meaning each helper adds.
- Editing for Clarity: Edit a paragraph that contains weak or confusing verb choices and justify at least three changes.
- Sentence Comparison: Compare a linking-verb sentence with an action-verb sentence about the same subject and explain how the information changes.
- Real-World Transfer: Choose a short paragraph from a book, school notice, or age-appropriate article and explain how its verbs help the reader understand actions, descriptions, and time.
Evidence of Learning
- Knowledge of Verbs: You can explain the jobs of action, linking, and helping verbs in your own words.
- Sentence Analysis: You can find a subject, identify the verb or verb phrase, and justify the verb job using evidence from the sentence.
- Accurate Writing: You can create sentences that use each verb type correctly and use helping verbs to build clear verb phrases.
- Learning Products: Your annotated texts, cards, poster, interview notes, video, or mini lesson show that you can apply the ideas in more than one format.
- Transfer of Learning: You can recognize and explain verb jobs in unfamiliar reading, conversation, school signs, and your own revised writing.
OERs on the Topic
The English Wikipedia article below gives a broader overview of English verbs. Some sections go beyond Grades 5–6, so use it as an optional extension when you want to explore more.
Linked Learning Areas
Action, linking, and helping verbs connect to many other grammar skills. Knowing how verbs work helps you study subjects and predicates, build verb phrases, understand sentence structure, and improve writing.