Action Verbs for Kids: Common English Verbs with Examples

Practice on screen

Look at the picture or number and choose the right English word. Ten questions each round.

How to teach it

1. 1. Simon says

   Give commands with action verbs: "Simon says jump. Simon says swim." The child acts out each one only when you say Simon says. This is a classic game for a reason, because it gives clear listening practice and plenty of movement in a small space.

2. 2. Action charades

   One person acts out a verb without speaking and the other guesses: "You are eating!" Then say the full sentence together: "I eat." Use the simple verbs first, such as run, jump and sleep, and add harder ones such as climb or catch later.

3. 3. Verb of the day

   Choose one verb each day and use it many times: "Let us jump to the door. Can you jump on one leg?" The child hears the same word in different sentences and begins to use it too. Put the verb on a card that you keep on the table.

4. 4. I can, I cannot

   Make a short list of verbs on paper. For each, the child says "I can" or "I cannot" and acts it out: "I can swim. I can fly" (with a laugh). Funny sentences are easy to remember, and the plain verb after can becomes a habit.

5. 5. Draw and match

   Cut paper into cards. On one set the child draws what the verb means, and on the other set you write the verb. Mix and match them as a memory game. For older children, write a sentence under each picture.

6. 6. Tell a day in verbs

   Ask the child to tell about a normal day using verbs only: wake up, wash, eat, walk, read, play, sleep. Show a picture for each. Next, change to full sentences: "I eat breakfast. I walk to school." This builds the habit of using verbs in order.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the -s with he, she and it

  In the simple present, add -s after he, she and it: "He runs," "She eats," "The dog sleeps." Wrong: "He run." Some verbs add -es: go becomes goes, wash becomes washes, watch becomes watches.

• Adding to or -s after can

  After can, use the plain verb: "I can swim," "She can swim." Wrong: "I can to swim." Wrong: "She can swims." The same rule works for do: "She does not run," not "She does not runs."

• Making irregular past forms regular

  Many common verbs do not take -ed: go goes to went, run to ran, swim to swam, eat to ate, drink to drank, sleep to slept, give to gave, write to wrote, sing to sang, catch to caught, throw to threw. Wrong: "I goed." Right: "I went."

• Spelling the -ing form

  Double the last letter after a short vowel in run, swim and sit: running, swimming, sitting. Drop the e in dance, ride and write: dancing, riding, writing. Verbs such as play and jump just add -ing: playing, jumping.

• Dropping the small word after listen

  Say listen to, not listen alone with a thing: "We listen to the teacher." Wrong: "We listen the teacher." In the same way, you ask a question, you do not make one: "I ask a question."