Nouns and verbs — Language, 7–10 years
Find the people, animals and things in a sentence, then spot what they do or what happens.
Who or what, and what happens
A noun names a person, animal, place, or thing, such as “Marta”, “fox”, or “bridge”. A verb tells about an action or a state, such as “runs”, “rests”, or “is”; together they give a sentence a strong centre.
Why find the sentence centre
When reading becomes harder, finding the main noun and verb gives you a route through the sentence. Writers use this pair to show who or what matters and what is happening, instead of leaving the reader with loose details.
Find both parts
Take the sentence “The small bird carries a twig.” Ask “Who or what?”: “bird” is the noun. Ask “What does it do?”: “carries” is the verb; “small” and “twig” add information around this main pair.
A word can change jobs
It is easy to think that every word ending in “-ing” is a noun, or that every short word is a verb. That feels sensible because word shapes give clues, but the sentence decides the job: in “Swimming is tiring”, “swimming” names an activity.
Reading instructions and stories
In a recipe, “mix” and “bake” tell you what to do; in a story, “fox” and “hides” help you track who acts. Spotting nouns and verbs keeps instructions in order and helps you follow a character’s choices.
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