Identify verbs of a sentence

Every complete sentence needs a verb.
A verb names an action the subject performs, like "run" or "congregate", or a state of being, like "is", "are", or "seem".
To find it, first find the subject, then ask what the subject does or is.

A subject can even have two verbs at once, usually joined by "and".
In "Bats are highly mobile and often congregate near roosts", the subject "bats" takes two verbs — "are" (a state of being) and "congregate" (an action).
Both describe the same subject.

Watch out for words that sit between the subject and its verb.
In "The scientists, after months of careful study, finally published their findings", the phrase "after months of careful study" is not the verb; the verb is "published".
Cross out the in-between phrase and the verb stands out.

Finding the verb matters because so many grammar questions depend on it.
You cannot make a verb agree with its subject, or choose its tense, until you have identified which word is the verb.
So this is often the first step.

How many verbs describe the subject in this sentence? "The old clock in the hallway ticks loudly and chimes every hour."
(A) one verb
(B) two verbs
The subject is "clock", and it does two things: it "ticks" and it "chimes", joined by "and".
So (B) is correct: there are two verbs.

What is the verb in this sentence? "The results of the long experiment were quite surprising."
(A) results
(B) were
"Results" is the subject, not the verb, and "of the long experiment" is an in-between phrase.
The verb is "were", a state-of-being verb, so (B) is correct.

What is the main verb in this sentence? "The committee, despite weeks of heated debate, finally approved the new budget."
(A) debate
(B) approved
"Despite weeks of heated debate" is an in-between phrase, so "debate" is not the verb.
The subject "committee" performs the action "approved", so (B) is correct.