A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being. There are two types of verbs: action and linking.

Action Verbs

Action verbs express actions. They may be mental or physical actions.

Physical actions	Mental actions
dig jump swim eat drink	think remember decide understand predict

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs express a state or a condition. Nothing is happening in the sentence; the linking verb is merely linking together a noun or a pronoun with a condition.

• I am hungry. (“Am” links “I” and “hungry.” “Hungry” is a state; I won’t always be hungry.)
• I remain tired. (“Remain” links “I” and “Tired.” “Tired” is a state; I won’t always be hungry.)

A linking verb simply works like an equals mark.

• I = hungry.
• I = tired.

A good way to test if a verb is a linking verb or not is to replace the verb in question with the appropriate form of “be.” If the sense of the sentence doesn’t change, it’s linking verb; if the sense of the sentence is radically different, it is an action verb.

These two sentences mean the same thing.

• I remain tired. (Replace “remain” with the proper form of “be.”)
• I am tired.

These two sentences don’t mean the same thing.

• I ate a hamburger. (Replace “ate” with the proper form of “be.”)
• I was a hamburger.

The second sentence doesn’t even make sense, so “ate” is an action verb.