Did you know?
For every order ProofreadingServices.com processes, we donate one book to a homeless shelter. If you’d like to support our social mission, you can order proofreading, translation, or resume writing.
There are many words in the English language that are both nouns and verbs. Find out from our list what they are. List of words that are objects and action words.
| access | dump | shelter | |
| ache | dust | make | shock |
| act | dye | man | shop |
| address | echo | march | show |
| aim | mark | sign | |
| alert | end | match | signal |
| answer | escape | mate | silence |
| arrest | escort | matter | sin |
| attack | esteem | mean | sip |
| attribute | estimate | measure | skate |
| auction | exchange | milk | sketch |
| back | excuse | mind | ski |
| bail | exhibit | mine | slice |
| balance | experience | miss | slide |
| balloon | eye | mistake | slip |
| ban | face | moor | smell |
| bandage | fall | move | smile |
| bank | favor | mug | smirk |
| bare | fax | nail | smoke |
| bargain | fear | name | snack |
| battle | feel | need | snow |
| beam | fight | nest | sound |
| bear | file | notch | span |
| beat | fill | note | spot |
| bend | film | notice | spray |
| benefit | finish | number | sprout |
| blame | fish | object | squash |
| blast | fix | offer | stain |
| bleach | flap | oil | stamp |
| block | flash | order | stand |
| bloom | float | pack | star |
| blow | flood | pad | start |
| board | floss | paddle | state |
| bomb | flow | paint | steer |
| bother | flower | park | step |
| bounce | fly | part | sting |
| bow | fold | pass | stop |
| box | fool | paste | store |
| bread | force | pat | storm |
| break | form | pause | stress |
| breed | frame | pay | strip |
| broadcast | freeze | pedal | stroke |
| brush | frown | peel | struggle |
| bump | function | pelt | study |
| burn | garden | permit | stuff |
| buy | gaze | phone | stunt |
| cake | gel | photograph | subject |
| call | glue | pick | suit |
| camp | grate | pine | supply |
| care | grease | place | support |
| catch | grill | plan | surf |
| cause | grimace | plane | surprise |
| challenge | grin | plant | suspect |
| change | grip | play | swap |
| chant | guarantee | plow | swing |
| charge | guard | plug | swivel |
| cheat | guess | point | tack |
| check | guide | poke | talk |
| cheer | hammer | pop | taste |
| chip | hand | post | tear |
| claim | handle | practice | tease |
| clip | harm | praise | telephone |
| cloud | harness | present | test |
| clue | hate | proceed | thought |
| coach | head | process | thunder |
| color | heap | produce | tick |
| comb | heat | progress | tie |
| combat | help | project | time |
| comfort | hide | promise | tip |
| conduct | highlight | protest | tire |
| conflict | hike | pull | toast |
| contest | hit | pump | touch |
| contract | hold | punch | tour |
| contrast | hop | push | tow |
| control | hope | question | trace |
| cook | hose | quilt | track |
| coop | hug | quiz | trade |
| copy | humor | race | train |
| cost | hunt | rain | transport |
| count | hurry | raise | trap |
| cover | ice | rant | travel |
| crack | impact | rate | treat |
| crash | inch | reach | trick |
| crate | increase | reason | trim |
| credit | influence | rebel | trust |
| crush | insult | record | tug |
| cure | interest | refill | turn |
| curl | iron | refund | twist |
| curve | itch | reign | type |
| cut | jail | reject | upstage |
| cycle | jam | rent | use |
| dam | joke | repair | vacuum |
| damage | judge | repeat | value |
| dance | jump | reply | visit |
| deal | keep | report | voice |
| decay | kick | request | vote |
| decrease | kiss | rhyme | wake |
| delay | knit | ring | walk |
| delight | knock | riot | waltz |
| demand | knot | risk | watch |
| design | label | rock | water |
| dial | land | roll | wave |
| die | last | row | wear |
| dislike | laugh | ruin | whip |
| display | lead | rule | whisper |
| dive | leap | run | whistle |
| divorce | level | sail | wick |
| dock | license | sand | wink |
| double | lie | saw | wire |
| doubt | lift | scare | wish |
| drain | light | scratch | work |
| draw | limit | screw | worry |
| dream | link | search | wrap |
| dress | load | season | wreck |
| drill | loan | sense | X-ray |
| drink | lock | shampoo | yawn |
| drive | look | shape | yield |
| duck | love | share | zone |
Can a verb also be a noun? The short answer is: yes.
As we know a noun is a word that names things, such as persons, places and things, as well as feelings, ideas and acts. We also know that verbs are action words. We use verbs to describe what nouns do. So how can a verb also be a noun.
Let’s take a look at an example:
The word: play.
I like to play in the park with my friends.
Play is a verb in this sentence.
We’re going to see a play tonight at the theater.
Play is a noun in this sentence.
There are lots of words that can be both a noun and a verb. Here are some:
- Bait
- Love
- Peel
- Bowl
- Exit
- Fly
- Park
- Ship
We’ve created some worksheets in our grade 3 grammar section for students to practice writing sentences with words that are both nouns and verbs.
For further practice, we also have worksheets on identifying nouns, verbs and adjectives in sentences.
Become a Member
This content is available to members only.
Join K5 to save time, skip ads and access more content.
Learn More
LANGUAGE ARTS — Languages
Have You Ever Wondered…
- Can a word be both a noun and a verb?
- What’s the difference between nouns and verbs?
- Can you create your own funny sentences using the same word as a noun and a verb?
Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Celina. Celina Wonders, “Why a word can be verb and noun?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Celina!
Ready for some grammar? What was that? Did we hear a groan from someone out there?
Okay, we know grammar isn’t always the most exciting and fun subject during the school day — recess and lunch take those spots! — but it CAN be fun to play with words from time to time.
When you begin to learn grammar, you probably start with two of the most common parts of speech: nouns and verbs. Getting the hang of the difference between these two parts of speech puts you on the right track to becoming a good writer.
Nouns name things. Many times, you will hear people define nouns as persons, places, or things. But they can also name feelings, ideas, and acts.
Need an example? We just gave you one! Example is a noun. Some of our other favorite nouns are badger, Abraham Lincoln, vampire, Antarctica, couscous, love, indigestion, liberty and painting.
A noun that names one thing is singular. A name that names more than one thing is plural. For more information on singular and plural nouns, all you need to do is ask a moose.
Verbs describe action. We use verbs in sentences to describe what the nouns do. Monkeys peel bananas. Monkeys eat bananas. Monkeys love bananas. Peel, eat and love are all verbs in these sentences.
Hold on! Just a second. Not so fast. Just a couple of paragraphs ago, we said that love was a noun. Then we said love was a verb. Which is it?
Believe it or not, it’s both! Yes, it’s true. A word can be both a noun and a verb. In fact, there are many words that can be used to name a person, place, or thing and also describe an action.
For example, if you’re going fishing, you’ll need bait. Once you find an earthworm, you can use it to bait your hook. If it’s hot while you’re fishing, you might get thirsty for a drink. If you brought drinks in a cooler with you, you can drink the drink that you brought!
There are many, many more examples of words that can be both nouns and verbs. Here are a few that you’re probably familiar with:
- bowl
- exit
- fly
- park
- ship
Standards:
CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.W.3, CCRA.W.4, CCRA.L.1, CCRA.L.2, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5
Wonder What’s Next?
This Wonder of the Day is sure to SPORK your curiosity!
Try It Out
The examples above are just a few of the hundreds of words that can be both nouns and verbs. What others can you think of?
Put on your imagination hats and think of as many words as you can that can be both nouns and verbs. Then write some funny sentences using some of these words in both ways. See if you can make it into a story!
Find a newspaper or magazine article. Underline the nouns and circle the verbs. Review the words you marked and see if any were used as both a noun and a verb.
Explain to an adult or a friend about words that can be used as both nouns and verbs. See if they can come up with sentences of their own.
If you don’t mind, share some of your creative sentences with your Wonder Friends by posting them to Facebook. We can’t wait to read what you come up with!
Did you get it?
Test your knowledge
Wonder Contributors
We’d like to thank:
paris
for contributing questions about today’s Wonder topic!
Keep WONDERing with us!
What are you wondering?
Related Wonders for You to Explore
Asked
2 years, 11 months ago
Viewed
184 times
For instance: One can attend an «auction», or you can «auction» something off.
asked May 11, 2020 at 8:46
1
Such words are called Gerund’s. Gerund is a non-finite verb form used to make a verb phrase that can serve in place of a noun phrase.
A gerund is an instance when a verb is being used in a very particular way – as a noun!
You do this by changing the infinitive form of the verb, and adding “ing” at the end.
Examples
«I enjoy writing – it’s my favourite hobby.”
answered May 11, 2020 at 10:27
1
- Home
- Primary
- Primary School English
- Nouns 11 — Nouns and Verbs
«I got the greatest SCARE of my life when the tiger roared at me.» Is ‘scare’ a noun or a verb?
The different parts of speech are the building blocks of the English language. They constitute thousands of words grouped into each section. Grammar is the rule book of English and its sets out how these words are to be formed and what their structure is. Grammar also sets out the way the words from each part interact with words from other parts. Nouns and verbs are parts of speech which are vital to understanding English.
Nouns are naming words as they name people, places, objects, feelings, animals and ideas. Verbs are action words as they describe some action being performed. Nouns are classified into different types such as single nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns and compound nouns. In the previous quiz we looked at some words which can be used both as nouns and as verbs. In this quiz we continue with our study of using the same word as a noun or a verb.
Look at the following sentence:
«I PADDLE my way to safety with the help of the PADDLE.»
What do you find in this sentence? The word PADDLE appears twice. The first time it appears in the sentence it is used as a verb and the second time as a noun.
There is no restriction on the number of times a word can be used in a sentence. If the sentence demands it you can use the same word as a noun and a verb repeatedly. To check if a word in the sentence is a noun you could try using the words ‘the’, ‘an’ or ‘a’ before the word and see if it still makes sense. If it does, then it is a noun. To check if a word in the sentence is a verb you could try using the words ‘I’, or ‘you’ or any noun before the word and see if it still makes sense. If it does, then it is a verb. This works in the case of the sentence where ‘paddle’ is used.
There are many words in the English language which can be used both as nouns and as verbs, just like ‘paddle’. Take this quiz and see some more examples of words which can be used as either nouns or as verbs.
1.
«The OBJECT he held in hand was huge.» — In this sentence OBJECT is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which OBJECT is a VERB.
The huge object in his hand weighed him down.
I object to the use of the bad word.
What was weighing him down was the object that was huge.
The unidentified object was held in his huge hands.
2.
«The sailor was able to hold up the SAIL despite the storm.» — In this sentence SAIL is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which SAIL is a VERB.
He was able to sail through despite the storm.
The sail on the boat held up despite the storm.
There was a tear on the sail and the boat slowed down.
A bird ripped the sail and damaged it.
3.
«His LAUGH was so shrill that it jarred everybody.» — In this sentence LAUGH is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which LAUGH is a VERB.
Somebody should tell him that his laugh is too shrill.
His shrill laugh jarred everybody.
«You laugh in a shrill manner,» she lamented.
She left him because she could not tolerate his shrill laugh.
4.
«The DAMAGE inflicted on the car was severe.» — In this sentence DAMAGE is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which DAMAGE is a VERB.
The damage to the car was caused by collision with another vehicle.
The insurance agent assessed the damage to the car.
The son was afraid to show the car’s damage to his father.
«How could you damage my new car?» roared the father.
5.
«Bus TRANSPORT in Bangalore is not up to the mark.» — In this sentence TRANSPORT is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which TRANSPORT is a VERB.
In Bangalore it is better to have your own transport.
We use car pooling to transport ourselves from home to office and back.
In Bangalore the bike is a good means of transport.
Public transport in Bangalore is better in your own car.
6.
«I got the greatest SCARE of my life when the tiger roared at me.» — In this sentence SCARE is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which SCARE is a VERB.
People now know what a scare is after seeing the tiger.
The scare the tiger gave to the people was real.
Tigers put a scare in people’s lives.
I scare easily when I see a tiger.
7.
«He could not keep the PROMISE he had given to his mother.» — In this sentence PROMISE is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which PROMISE is a VERB.
My mother was unhappy that I broke the promise I gave her.
The promise I gave my mother was broken.
I promise my mother that I will be a good boy.
I broke the promise I had given my mother.
8.
«My father presented me with an expensive WATCH.» — In this sentence WATCH is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which WATCH is a VERB.
The watch presented by my father was an expensive one.
I did not imagine the watch could be so expensive.
The expensive watch was a good present from my father.
Please watch the presentation ceremony.
9.
«The WHISTLE is an important item for an instructor to have.» — In this sentence WHISTLE is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which WHISTLE is a VERB.
I whistle and the dog comes running.
I was hampered in my training as my whistle was broken.
He asked, «if your whistle is broken how will you train?».
The broken whistle hampered my training.
10.
«The LIGHT was so bright that it hurt my eyes.» — In this sentence LIGHT is a NOUN. Choose the sentence below in which LIGHT is a VERB.
Such a bright light would hurt anyone.
I asked him to light the way with the help of a torch.
The light I shone helped him to cross the dark forest.
Motorists should dim the light when crossing each other in the night.
Great! You’re enjoying learning by quizzing
You’ve had your free 15 questions for today. For unlimited access to all quizzes, games and more, you’ll need to subscribe.
If you wish to subscribe straight away, visit our Join Us page.
Or take a look around the website and start at our Home page. Colin