Grammar – Grades 6-10

Verbs and Adverbs Worksheets

Printable verbs and adverbs worksheets and lesson plan for grades 6 through 10. Identify action, helping, and linking verbs, and the adverbs that modify them, with structured sentence-level practice and an answer key.

What This Lesson Teaches

Students learn that “part of speech” describes how a word is used in a sentence, not what the word means. The lesson covers verbs and adverbs together because adverbs almost always modify verbs – teaching them in isolation tends to leave students unsure how the two interact in real sentences.

The verb portion explains all three verb types – action, helping, and linking – with simple definitions and concrete examples (run, jump, fly; is, was, were; will, can, has). The adverb portion explains that adverbs typically tell how, when, or where, and shows how they attach to the verb.

What Students Practice

• Identifying verbs and adverbs in real sentences – students underline the verb and highlight the adverb in 12 sample sentences
• Distinguishing the three verb types – action, helping, and linking – in mixed sentences
• Writing original sentences using a target verb plus an adverb that modifies it
• Recognizing adverbs that do not end in -ly (often, very, here, soon)

How Teachers Use This Worksheet

This is a strong stand-alone parts-of-speech lesson for middle school and early high school, and a useful refresher when students start writing longer essays and need to vary their verbs. Most teachers use it after nouns and adjectives have been covered, since the structure mirrors that lesson.

• Pair with the Nouns and Adjectives lesson for a four-day parts-of-speech mini unit
• Use the identification exercise as guided practice; use the sentence-writing exercise as independent or homework practice
• Walk through one or two of the helping-verb examples on the board – helping verbs are the part students most often miss
• Have students color-code their highlights (one color for verbs, one for adverbs) so they can see the verb-adverb pair visually
• Use the answer key for self-check or peer review

Common Student Mistakes to Watch For

• Missing helping verbs – students underline only the main action verb in “had been running” and skip had and been. Reinforce that the full verb phrase is the verb
• Confusing linking verbs with action verbs – is, was, seemed connect the subject to a description rather than show action
• Marking -ly words as adjectives – some students recognize -ly as “modifier” but assume it must be an adjective
• Missing non -ly adverbs like often, very, or soon

Download the Worksheet

Full Members can download the printable PDF worksheet and answer key.

Related Grammar Resources

• Nouns and Adjectives Worksheets – the companion parts-of-speech lesson
• Understanding Verbs Worksheets – more practice on the three verb types
• Verb Tense Worksheets
• Grammar worksheets hub

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