Verb Basics
A1 · BeginnerVerbsA verb is the action or state word at the heart of every sentence — and in English, it always needs a subject sitting right in front of it.
What you'll learn
- A verb describes an action (run, eat, work) or a state (be, know, seem)
- Every complete English sentence needs a subject + a verb, at minimum
- Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) can never be dropped in English
- Dummy subject it is required for weather, time, and distance, even with no real meaning
What a verb is
A verb is a word that expresses an action (run, eat, write) or a state (be, seem, know). It's the core of a sentence — almost every complete sentence needs one.
Subject + verb: the minimum sentence
A complete English sentence needs at least a subject (who or what) and a verb (what they do or are). Unlike many other languages, English never lets you drop the subject just because the verb already 'shows' who's doing it.
The dummy subject it
English grammar requires a subject even in sentences where there's nothing real to point to — like talking about weather, time, or distance. In these cases, it fills the subject slot without referring to any actual thing.
Real English
Watch out
English never allows a dropped subject — even though the verb form might seem to make the subject obvious.
Weather, time, and distance sentences need the dummy subject it — English sentences can't start with just the verb.
Two verbs describing the same subject need a connector like and — you can't just place them next to each other.
Real life — Checking the weather before leaving
"Should I bring an umbrella?"
"Yeah, it's supposed to rain this afternoon."
"Is it far to the bus stop?"
"No, it's only a five-minute walk."
Practice
Exercise 1 · Find the verb
Which word is the verb? 'The dog runs fast.'
Exercise 2 · Choose the correct sentence
Which is correct?
Exercise 3 · Choose the incomplete sentence
Which sentence is missing its subject?
Exercise 4 · Choose the correct word
Every complete English sentence needs a subject and a ___.
Exercise 5 · Find the verb
Which word is the verb? 'She teaches math.'
Exercise 6 · Fix the mistake
Fix the mistake:
Exercise 7 · Find the verb
Which word is the verb? 'They live in Kyiv.'
Exercise 8 · Complete the sentence
Complete with the correct subject pronoun: ___ works in a bank. (about a woman)
Exercise 9 · Complete the sentence
Complete: ___ is snowing outside. (dummy subject, one word)
Exercise 10 · Build the sentence
Exercise 11 · Choose the correct sentence
Which is correct?
Quick challenge
Five quick questions to check what stuck.
Question 1 / 5
Score: 0/0
Which word is the verb? 'The children play outside.'
You learned
- A verb expresses an action or a state.
- Every complete English sentence needs a subject + a verb.
- Subject pronouns can never be dropped, even when the verb form seems to make it obvious.
- The dummy subject it is required for weather, time, and distance sentences.
Related grammar lessons
Verb Forms
Learn the five basic forms of an English verb — base, -s, -ing, past, and past participle — and how the -ing and past participle forms get reused across many different constructions.
Regular and Irregular Verbs
Learn how regular verbs form the past simple predictably with -ed, why irregular verbs don't follow spelling rules, and why the past form never changes for the subject.
Verb Types
Get an overview of the main categories of English verbs — main verbs, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, and phrasal verbs — and how they work together in a sentence.
Auxiliary Verbs
Go deeper into be, do, and have as auxiliary (helping) verbs — how they build questions, negatives, continuous and perfect tenses, the passive voice, and emphasis — and how to tell an auxiliary use apart from a main-verb use.