REIDMOUNT

Saturday School
Intermediate 3
Lesson 7 Name:
______________________________________________________________________

Action Verbs
Action verbs are words that show something is happening or that someone is doing
something in a sentence.

EXAMPLE: Allen went to a new restaurant.

Allen is the subject.
Went to a new restaurant is the predicate.
Allen is also a proper noun.

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Restaurant is a common noun.
Went shows something that Allen did, and action he took, and is a verb.

Write an action verb on each line from the Verb List box below to complete the
story. Some verbs may be used more than once, and some verbs may not be

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used at all.

knocked skinned said sprang told closed stammered go saw felt

reach dashed tripped knew robbed running looked see went gathered
fell arrived waited dusted sputtered kept snapped happens skipped look

Nothing ever _______________ in my town. One day as I ________________ to the

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store, I ____________ two people ________________ out of the bank. Well, I just
______________ they had ___________________ it because they were in such a rush.
I was really angry, because I ___________________ my money in that bank! I
_____________ around for some police officers or a teacher, but didn’t ____________
anyone. I _________________ it was up to me, so I __________________ into action.
As the robbers _________________ right in front of me, I _____________ them, and
they _______________ to the ground. A crowd _________________. I ____________
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like a real hero. Finally, the police ___________________. I _____________ for

applause or wild cheering. The police officers _________________ off the robbers and
helped them get up. The two robbers just ________________ at me, “You should
_______________ to jail, young lady!”
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“W-w-what?” I ___________________.
“We were in a hurry to ____________ the post office before it ________________.
Now it’s too late, and we ________________ our knees when you ______________ us
down!”
Boy was my face red! “Well, you ________________ like robbers,” I _____________ at
the two little old ladies. As I __________________ before, nothing ever ____________
in my town.
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 The Missing Link
Linking Verbs do not show action, but they connect, or link, the subject to a word in the
predicate. Am, is, are, was, and were are common linking verbs and are forms of the
verb to be.
Tip: If you can use one of the above Verbs in a sentence and the sentence makes
complete sense, the verb is a Linking Verb. e.g. The boy looks tired.
The boy is tired.

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“looks” is a Linking Verb. Other Linking Verbs are seem, appear, feel,
disappear.

Note: “looks”, “appear” and “disappear” can also be Action Verbs.

e.g. She looks through the window.

Practice Makes Perfect

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Fill in each blank with a linking verb that makes sense.

1. Although a new puppy may be resistant, it ________ important to train it.

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2. In the past, puppies ______________ trained at home.

3. These days, they _____________ often sent to puppy school.

4. German Shepherds ____________ trained to sniff out illegal drugs and bombs.

5. Other dogs _______________ taught to lead blind people, or to serve as “ears”

for deaf people.

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6. Wally ________ an English Bulldog who flunked out of puppy school.

7. He knows he _____________ a smart dog.

8. If all dogs ________________ as smart, they’d always get their way, just like
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Wally.

9. Wally must think, “I _____ smarter than people, but I don’t want them to know it!”

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A Helping Verb is also called an Auxiliary Verb because it helps parts of Verbs to form
a Complete Verb. When more than one word is used to create the Verb, the group of
words is known as a verb phrase.

Example: I am running fast. “am” is the Helping Verb; “running” is a part of the Verb,
“to run”. The Verb Phrase (and the Complete Verb) is, “am running”.

Some examples of verb phrases are: am yelling, is sleeping, are jumping, was eating
and were riding.
Note: am, is and are show the Present Tense.
was and were show the Past Tense.

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Underline the correct helping verb at the end of each sentence. Write ‘past’ or
‘present’ in the space to tell which tense it is.
Past or Present

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1. Henry _____________ running faster in each race. was were __________

2. We ____________ thinking of having a party. was were __________

3. They ____________ sleeping through the match. was were __________

4. Mom and I __________ playing checkers yesterday. was were __________

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5. They ________ planning to take a biking vacation. was were __________

6. Many people _______ enjoying the beach. was were __________

7. I _______ practising tennis every day. am are __________

8. Even dogs _________ learning to play Frisbee. am are __________

9. How _______ you doing with your stamp collection? is are __________
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10. I ___________ playing baseball all summer. was were __________

Underline the incorrect helping verb to make it correct. Write the correct verb
above the incorrect one.
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1. I is going to be a famous basketball player.

2. We was skiing down the slopes when an avalanche just missed us.

3. You am getting better and better at hockey.

4. They is dancing for the talent show.

5. There is lots of fun things to do in this world!

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 Take Action!
In the following paragraph there are fifty action verbs! Can you find at least forty
of them? When you find one, underline it and write it in the box at the bottom of
the page.

In the morning, Benjamin woke up and jumped out of bed. He landed on his brother,
Timothy, who was asleep on the bottom bunk. Timothy sat up and rubbed his eyes. He
grumbled at Benjamin, and then fell back on his bed. Benjamin looked at Timothy for a
long time. He wanted to see if Timothy was asleep. Then Benjamin ran to the corner

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and grabbed his horn. Benjamin blew into his horn and played some musical notes. He
liked the way his horn sounded, but he heard another sound. He stopped and listened.
A moaning sound came from Timothy. Benjamin did not like that sound. He grabbed
his horn and ran out the door. He sat on the front lawn and played some more music.

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The notes floated in the air. He felt happy until he heard another sound. He stopped
and listened. A groaning sound came from his next door neighbour. Benjamin ran into
his backyard. He played his horn some more. He liked the notes. Then he heard
another sound. It was his mother. She called his name again. He went inside. His
mother took his horn and put it away. Then she put Benjamin back in his bed. She told
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him it was too early to get up. Benjamin’s mother went back to bed, too. Benjamin tried
to imagine the sounds of his horn. Suddenly, he heard another sound. He stopped and
listened. Timothy snored again and again. Benjamin moaned. He stuck his fingers in
his ears, but he still heard Timothy. So he covered his ears with his pillow. Soon he fell
fast asleep.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
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6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

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21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

41. 42. 43. 44. 45.

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Fill in each blank in the conversation below with ONE word only which best
completes the meaning. The first letter of each missing word has been provided
to help you.

An Expedition

A: A group of six Hong Kong climbers who were on a climbing expedition in the
Himalayas have just returned to Hong Kong. I am at the airport, and I hope to
i_____________ the leader of the expedition, Mr. Philip Wong. H__________ he
comes now... Hello Mr. Wong, w__________ home.

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B: Thank you. I’m g__________ to be back in Hong Kong.

A: I must say you look remarkably w_________________ after the expedition.

B: Well, we’re all t_____________, actually. A climbing expedition is an exhausting

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business.

A: How many climbers were t_____________ on the expedition?

B: Six. It was a small party. But six climbers is j____________ about right for a
short expedition.
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A: Do you t___________ the expedition was a success?

B: Yes, definitely, a___________ we didn’t reach the top of the mountain.

A: When did you arrive in Nepal to s_____________ the climb?

B: The team l_____________ Hong Kong on November 3 and we arrived in Nepal

the f_____________ day.
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A: Was it snowing in Nepal?

B: Yes, a little. But despite early snow, the team s__________ up camp on
November 11.

A: What h_______________ next?

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B: The team attempted to climb to the t____________ of the mountain.

A: You said you didn’t reach the top.

B: That’s right. We were u___________ to reach the top because of an avalanche.

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A: Did you have any a_________________?

B: Not really. But w________ the team returned to the base camp, s___________
of the climbers became ill.

A: What was wrong with them?

B: They were suffering f________ severe headaches and sore throats. Something
to do with lack of oxygen, the d____________ said.

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A: Did the team attempt a second climb?

B: No, we couldn’t because of illness and bad w______________.

A: One last q______________, do you have plans for another expedition?

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B: We’ll rest up before deciding that. We don’t want to plan a______________ one
just yet.

Spelling Words
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expedition oxygen suffering headaches
throat climbers avalanche remarkably
exhausting conversation imagination Himalayas
listened floated moaned grumbled
success Benjamin Timothy Nepal
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