We can define it as, “An action verb is a verb that expresses physical or mental action. The action verb tells us what the subject of our clause or sentence is doing-physically or mentally”.
OR,
“A word belonging to the parts of speech, that is the center of the predicate, which describes an act or activity”.
Explanation
Action verbs are verbs expressing or describing action in the sentence such as run, walk, do, smile, drive, jump, cough, drink, kick, eat, break, cry, think, etc. They are used in the sentence to specifically describe what the subject of the sentence is doing.
It carries important information in a sentence which can convey emotion, sense of purpose, etc. The effect of action verbs lies in their true meaning and intention of expressing action in the sentence. It is very necessary to understand the use of action verbs in the sentence very well to be a good writer and communicator.
Action verbs alone can make one word sentence (such as, Stop!) but nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or any other parts of speech cannot make a one word sentence. Identifying the action verbs in the sentence is really pretty easy. Such as:
Without action verbs, we cannot make a sentence as they are required to show some kind of action like what a person, animal, or object can do. They are named as so according to their purpose in the sentence.
Any word expressing the action of person, animal or object becomes the action verb. Some of the action verbs are:
Accelerate, eat, go, do, jump, dance, accomplish, achieve, acquire, activate, adapt, adjust, administer, advise, allocate, analyze, apply, arrange, assign, attain, change, collect, communicate, construct, deliver, demonstrate, derive, design, develop, educate, effect, estimate, evaluate, examine, exchange, run, walk, smile, cough, drink, kick, break, cry, think, etc.
Following are some examples showing the use of action verbs in the sentence:
Some of the action verbs are used with direct object however some do not need direct object. On the basis of use of action verbs and their meaning in the sentence, action verbs are divided into two types such as:
Transitive Verb
Transitive verbs are those verbs that always need a direct object.
List of Transitive Verbs
Owe, buy, show, tell, check, get, wash, annoy, lay, lend, offer, make, phone, contain, verify, finalize, edit, send, bring, take, etc.
For example:
Intransitive Verb
Intransitive verbs are those verbs that do not need a direct object. Generally, they are followed by adjective, preposition, verb complement or adverb.
List of Intransitive Verbs
Swim, come, go, laugh, sit, rise, excel, run, cough, smile, act, cry, immigrate, lie, continue, die, explode, respond, emigrate, arrive, etc.
For example:
Some of the verbs are used as both transitive and intransitive, depending on their meanings. Such as:
List of Common Action Verbs
Both, transitive and intransitive verbs can be used in any tense. Here are some verbs that can be used as both, transitive and intransitive depending on their meanings:
Write, set, leave, improve, sit, grow, smell, pay, dance, teach, eat, drive, manage, stop, run, burn, check, cost, go, give, sing, paint, climb, study, etc.
Rules/Tips to be Followed while using Action Verbs
Following are some rules and tips which we should remember while using action verbs in the sentence:
Action verbs can be physical or mental actions of the person, thing or object. Action verbs can use present tense, past tense, or future tense. Such as:
Action verbs can also use helping verbs, such as:
1: Action Verb Exercises for you
Action verb exercises given below will help you in analyzing your knowledge about action verb. Just go through all the details given above about the action verb and check your skill by doing following exercises for action verb. We have used action verbs in the following sentences; you need to check your skill by identifying action verbs in each sentence:
Answers: 1 – painting, 2 – gives, 3 – send, 4 – edit, 5 – smells, 6 – costs, 7 – owned, 8 – emigrated, 9 – waiting, 10 – gave, 11 – send, 12 – giggles, 13 – drink, 14 – watched, 15 – climbs, 16 – buzzed, 17 – vomited
2: Action Verb Exercises for You
Here are some more exercises on action verb for you. You need to find out whether given sentences have transitive verb or intransitive verb:
Answers: 1 – transitive, 2 – transitive, 3 – transitive, 4 – transitive, 5 – intransitive, 6 – Intransitive, 7 – Intransitive, 8 – intransitive, 9 – intransitive, 10 – intransitive, 11 – Intransitive, 12 – Transitive, 13 – Transitive, 14 – Intransitive, 15 – Intransitive, 16 – Transitive, 17 – Intransitive, 18 – Transitive, 19 – transitive, 20 – Transitive, 21 – Transitive, 22 – Intransitive, 23 – Transitive, 24 – Intransitive, 25 – Transitive, 26 – Intransitive, 27 – Transitive, 28 – Intransitive, 29 – Transitive, 30 – Intransitive