An action verb tells what the subject of the sentence is doing. Sometimes the action is very obvious.
Bob drives a truck.
Mom cooks dinner every night.
Sammy runs two miles every day.
Our dog barks whenever a stranger comes to the door.
These verbs show obvious action: drives, cooks, runs, barks
The reader can tell that the subject is doing an action because movement is involved. The subject has to move when the subject cooks, drives, runs, or barks.
Some action verbs don’t really involve movement but are still action verbs. Look at these sentences.
John sat as still as he could.
Jennifer saw a cat in the tree.
Bill stayed home yesterday.
Sarah imagined what it would be like to visit Hawaii.
The verbs in these sentences do not involve a lot of actual action.
When John sat, he wasn’t really moving much.
When Jennifer saw the cat, she really only used her eyes, so there is not much action.
Bill stayed home, which implies that he did not move from the house.
When Sarah imagined, she was using only her brain. There was no outward movement or action.
And yet, each of these verbs is an action verb.
Action verbs show obvious movement by the subject, but action verbs can also show an action that the subject does without actually moving. Any verb that is not an existing verb must be an action verb, no matter how much or little action is being shown.
▶It’s your turn. Which of these sentences has an action verb – the first or the second? John is my brother. John weighs 94 pounds. Did you figure it out? Good for you!