100 Common English Verbs with Meanings and Examples

Verbs are words that show actions, states, or experiences. They tell us what people do, how they feel, or what happens. In this article, you’ll find 100 common English verbs with meanings and example sentences.

100 Common English Verbs

Here are 100 of the most common verbs in English.

#	Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
1	Add	to put something with something else	Add some milk if the coffee is too strong.
2	Allow	to let someone do something	The school allows students to use laptops in class.
3	Answer	to reply to a question or message	She answered my question clearly.
4	Ask	to request information or help	I asked him for some advice.
5	Be	to exist or have a state or identity	She wants to be a doctor.
6	Become	to begin to be something	The weather became much colder in the evening.
7	Begin	to start	The meeting begins at nine, so try to arrive early.
8	Believe	to think something is true	I believe everything will be fine.
9	Break	to damage something	Be careful not to break the glass.
10	Bring	to take something to a place	Could you bring your passport with you?
11	Build	To construct or assemble	They are building a new school nearby.
12	Buy	to get something by paying for it	I bought a new jacket yesterday.
13	Call	to contact someone by phone	I’ll call you when I get home.
14	Change	to make or become different	We need to change our plans for tomorrow.
15	Choose	to decide which one you want	You can choose any seat you like.
16	Clean	to remove dirt from something	We cleaned the kitchen after dinner.
17	Close	to shut something	Please close the window before you leave.
18	Come	to move towards a place or person	Are you coming to the party tonight?
19	Continue	to keep doing something	She continued working after a short break.
20	Cook	to prepare food with heat	I usually cook dinner at home during the week.
21	Cut	to divide something with a sharp tool	Cut the bread into small pieces.
22	Decide	to make a choice	We decided to stay for another night.
23	Do	to perform an action or task	I need to do some work this evening.
24	Drink	to take liquid into your body	Try to drink plenty of water during the day.
25	Drive	to control a vehicle	She drives to work every morning.
26	Eat	to take food into your body	We ate lunch at a small café.
27	Expect	to think something will happen	We expect the train to arrive on time.
28	Explain	to make something clear	Could you explain this rule again?
29	Fall	to move down suddenly	The book fell off the table.
30	Feel	to experience an emotion or condition	I feel much better after getting some rest.
31	Find	to discover or locate something	I finally found my keys under the sofa.
32	Follow	to go after or obey something	Follow the instructions carefully.
33	Forget	to fail to remember	Don’t forget to bring your umbrella.
34	Get	to receive or obtain something	I got an email from my teacher this morning.
35	Give	to provide something to someone	She gave me some useful advice.
36	Go	to move or travel somewhere	We’re going to the beach this weekend.
37	Grow	to become bigger or develop	The children are growing very quickly.
38	Happen	to take place	What happened at the meeting yesterday?
39	Have	to own or possess something	We have a small garden behind the house.
40	Hear	to notice a sound	I could hear music from the next room.
41	Help	to make something easier for someone	Can you help me carry these boxes?
42	Keep	to continue to have something	Keep the receipt in case you need it later.
43	Know	to have information or understanding	Do you know where Anna lives?
44	Learn	to gain knowledge or a skill	She is learning how to drive.
45	Leave	to go away from a place	We left the restaurant around ten.
46	Let	to allow someone to do something	My parents let me stay out late.
47	Like	to enjoy something	I really like your new haircut.
48	Listen	to pay attention to sound	I often listen to music while I work.
49	Live	to have your home somewhere	They live in a quiet village near Bristol.
50	Look	to direct your eyes at something	Look at this photo from our holiday.
51	Lose	to no longer have something	I always worry that I’ll lose my phone.
52	Love	to like or care about something very much	She loves spending time with her family.
53	Make	to create or produce something	He made dinner for everyone last night.
54	Mean	to have a particular meaning	What does this word mean in English?
55	Meet	to come together with someone	I’m meeting an old friend after work.
56	Move	to change place or position	We moved to a larger flat last year.
57	Need	to require something	I need some time to think about it.
58	Offer	to say you are willing to give or do something	He offered to help me with my bags.
59	Open	to make something not closed	She opened the door and walked inside.
60	Pay	to give money for something	We paid for the tickets online.
61	Plan	to decide what you will do	We’re planning a trip to Italy next summer.
62	Play	to take part in a game or activity	The children were playing in the garden.
63	Put	to place something somewhere	Put your bag on the chair.
64	Read	to understand written words	I’m reading an interesting book at the moment.
65	Remember	to keep something in your mind	I remember meeting her for the first time.
66	Return	to go or come back	We returned home late on Sunday evening.
67	Run	to move quickly on foot	He runs in the park every morning.
68	Say	to express something in words	She said she would call me later.
69	See	to notice something with your eyes	Did you see the rainbow this morning?
70	Sell	to give something for money	They sold their old car last month.
71	Send	to make something go to someone	Please send me the details by email.
72	Show	to let someone see something	Can you show me how this works?
73	Sit	to be in a seated position	We sat outside and talked for a while.
74	Sleep	to rest with your eyes closed	I didn’t sleep very well last night.
75	Speak	to talk or use a language	She speaks English and Spanish fluently.
76	Spend	to use time or money	We spent the afternoon exploring the city.
77	Stand	to be upright on your feet	We had to stand because there were no seats.
78	Start	to begin	The film starts in twenty minutes.
79	Stay	to remain in a place	We stayed at a small hotel near the station.
80	Stop	to end an action or movement	The bus stopped in front of the museum.
81	Study	to learn about a subject	She studies English for an hour every evening.
82	Take	to carry or move something	Take an umbrella because it might rain.
83	Talk	to speak with someone	We talked about our plans for the weekend.
84	Teach	to help someone learn	My father teaches maths at a secondary school.
85	Tell	to give someone information	Please tell me what happened.
86	Think	to use your mind or have an opinion	I think this is the best option.
87	Travel	to go from one place to another	She travels abroad several times a year.
88	Try	to make an effort to do something	I’ll try to finish the report today.
89	Turn	to change direction	Turn left when you reach the traffic lights.
90	Understand	to know what something means	I understand the rule much better now.
91	Use	to do something with an object	You can use my laptop if you need it.
92	Visit	to go somewhere to see someone or something	We visited several museums during our trip.
93	Wait	to stay until something happens	We waited twenty minutes for the bus.
94	Walk	to move on foot	I usually walk home from work.
95	Want	to wish to have or do something	They want to move to a bigger house.
96	Watch	to look at something for some time	We watched a documentary after dinner.
97	Wear	to have clothes or accessories on your body	She was wearing a blue jacket.
98	Win	to succeed in a game or competition	Our team won the match yesterday.
99	Work	to do a job or activity	He works for an international company.
100	Write	to produce written words	Please write your name at the top of the page.