If you're an English Language Learner you already know how difficult learning the English language may be; yes, very difficult at times, so welcome to part three of six in this series. Speaking from experience, we take the steps necessary to improve our communication skills in our writing and speaking, so therefore the focus of this six-part series is centered on the parts of speech. You are highly encouraged to read all six parts for a better understanding of the following six conventional forms of speech:

1. Nouns

2. Pronouns

3. Verbs

4. Adverbs

5. Prepositions

6. Conjunctions

Following are very short summaries of previous parts of this series.

1. Summary of Part 1: Nouns, these are words used to name a person, place or thing. For example: Maria, Minnesota, or tree. You name it as a person, place, or thing and it is a noun.

2. Summary of Part 2: Pronouns, these are words used in the place of a noun. For example: the word she is used in place of Maria, or the word it is used in place of chair.

Alright, are you ready for part three? Here we go, now we are talking about Verbs.

3. Verbs: These are words used to show an action taking place, a state of being, or words that tell you something about the subject, which may be a noun. A Verb may also be described as an act, occurrence, or mode of being and plays a major role in grammatically correct sentences. The most common types of verbs are expressed in the following two forms:

A. Action Verbs

B. Linking Verbs

Note the difference:

A. Action Verbs express action.

B. Linking Verbs connect the subject to the action.

Read the following sentences and see if you can pick out the action and/or linking verbs.

First sentence: The dog chased his tail.

Second sentence: Sarah was feeling happy today.

In the first sentence ask yourself, if a dog chases his tail is he doing something? Yes. Then the word "chases" in the first sentence is the action verb. The focus is on the action.

In the second sentence, ask yourself, what was Sarah doing? She was feeling, so in the second sentence "was" is the linking verb because it links (connects) the subject (Sarah) to the feeling (happy).

By now you may be thinking that you'll never know the difference, but take it from a second and third language learner, it gets easier with practice.

Progress, not perfection is the best way to approach learning the English language in this six-part series. It's in your best interest to keep moving forward to improve in your communications arena.

Here's to your success in writing and speaking!