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VerbsDefinition of Terms

In Chapter 3 you will learn about parts of speech called VERBS.

An ACTION VERB tell what the subject does, did, or will do.

A LINGKING VERB connects the subject to its description.

A REGULAR VERB adds –d or –ed to form the past tense.

An IRREGULAR VERB does not follow any spelling rules to form the past tense.

The BASE FORM of the verb is the present form of the verbb with no s at the end.

The PRESENT PARTICIPLE is formed by adding –ing to the base form of the verb.

A COMPLETER follows the LINKING VERB to describe the subject.

TENSE is the change of verb form to indicate when the action occurred

PERFECT TENSE are formed by using a form of the auxiliary verb have and the past participle of the main verb.

An AUXILIARY VERB is a helping verb used with the main verb to form a verb pharese.

Lesson 1 Present and Past Tenses : Regular Verbs

Every sentence must have a VERB. Since the subject and the verb are the two

most important parts of sentence, learning to recognie verb is essential to your

progress in becoming a better writer. Let’s review three characteristic of verbs

help to identify them.

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1. The verb tells what the subject does, did, or will do (action), is, was, or will be (linking).Example : Reggie caught the fly ball.

What did Reggie do ? He caught. Therefore, caught is the verb.

2. The verb changes its form to show time ( tense).Example : Reggie catches the fly ball. ( The time is the present).

Reggie caught the fly ball. ( The time is the past). Reggie will catch the fly ball. ( The time is the future).

3. The verb changes its form in the third person singular, present tense to agree with the subject.Example : I catch the fly ball.( First person)

She/ He catches the fly ball. ( third person )There are two kinds of verb : action verbs and lingking verbs.

Action Verbs

Most verbs tell what the subject ( someone or something) does, did, or will do. These verbs are usually easy to identify, especially when the action is a familiar one, such as swim, talk, buy, chew, study, or explode.

Fill in the blanks with verbs that tell what the subject does, did, or will do.Cathy ________ her boy friend on the cheek and ________her father on the back.

In this sentence you might have supplied the following verbs : Cathy kissed, or slapped, or pinched her boyfriend on the cheek and hit, slapped, or paited her father on the back.

Lingking Verbs

There is another group of verbs that you might find more difficult to identify than the action verbs above. These verbs show a relationship between the subject and a completer that follows the subject. The completer usually describes or renames the subject, and the linking verb links the subject to this completer.

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Subject linking Verb CompleterMr. Lopez Is my Spanish teacherHe seems tired.

The linking verb used most frequently is some form of the verb be (am, is,

are, was, were). Some other linking verb are seem, grow, look, sound,

taste, and appear.( See linking verbs in a Chapter 4).

Fill the blanks with verbs that link the subject to descriptive or renaming

words that follow the blank.

The cat _________hungry.

My brother ___________an artist.

Those chocolate chip cookies_________delicious.

In these sentences you could have supplied the following verbs :

The cat looks, or seems, or is hungry.

My brother is, or was, or became an artist.

Those chocolate chip cookies taste, or smell, or are delicious.

EXERCISE 1A

Using the three characteristics of verbs as and the noun test ( Chapter 2),

identify the words below as verbs, nouns, or both. Place checks in the

appropriate colums. Use the dictionary.

V N V N

1. sell ___ ___ 11. Walk ___ ___

2. suppose ___ ___ 12. Choose ___ ___

3. sale ___ ___ 13. Ride ___ ___

4. is ___ ___ 14. Placed ___ ___

5. call ___ ___ 15. Tests ___ ___

6. drink ___ ___ 16. Has ___ ___

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7. weigh ___ ___ 17. Fights ___ ___

8. visited ___ ___ 18. Watch ___ ___

9. praise ___ ___ 19. Hang ___ ___

10. hears ___ ___ 20. Hope ___ ___

Before you go on to Exercise 1B, check your answers with the Answer

Key at the end of Chapter 3. As you work in this book, check your

answers after you complete each exercise.

EXERCISE 1B

Write five senteces of your own. In each sentece use a verb from Exercise

1A. Use a different verb in each sentence. Underline the verb.

Example : Mr. Rico sells real estate in philadelphia.

1. _________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________

4. _________________________________________________________

5. _________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 1C

In the following sentences, underline the verbs and write them on the lines

at the right.

1. The train stops for only a few moments at Oakhurst. __________

The train stopped for only a few moments at Oakhurst __________

2. Gene hurries to get on the train already in motion __________

Gene hurried to get on the train already in motion __________

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3. He trips over a woman’s suitcase in the aisle. __________

He tripped over a woman’s suitcase in the aisle. __________

4. Gene and the woman glare at each other. __________

Gene and the woman glared at each other. __________

5. In his seat at last, he watches the dawn thought the

Smeary windows of the rain. __________

In his seat at last, he watched the dawn thought the

Smeary windows of the rain. __________

The verb in Exercise 1C from the past tense by adding –d or –ed to the

base form. Most verb follow this pattern. These are called REGULAR

VERB.

Verb change their forms to indicate the time the action takes place. We

call this sign of time TENSE. The PRESENT TENSE is used in

commands and suggestions and to indicate habitual action or continuing

ability.

Examples : Command : Deliver this massage immendiately.

Suggestion : Discourage them from coming if you can.

Habitual action : He paints beautifully.

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PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE indicates that something is taking place right now and may continue to occur for a while. The words now and right now often indicate the use of the present progressive tense.

Examples : I am driving carefully

He is cutting the potatoes now

The PAST TENSE is used in sentences about action that happened before the present time. Say “Yesterday” at the beginning of the sentence to remind you to use the past tense.

Example: Yesterday I cut the potatoes for tonight’s dinner.

Model Verb__Walk

Present tense past tensePerson singular plural Person singular plural1st I walk we walk 1st I walked we walked2nd you walk you walk 2nd you walked you walked3rd he walks they walk 3rd he walked they walked

She walks they walk She walked they walked It walks they walk It walked they walked

Answer these questions by looking at the model verb walk in the chart.

1. What the latter do you add to the base form of the verb for the third person

singular, present tense ?

if you answered s, you are correct. Notice that the singular adds an s to the

base form

of the verb, but the plural has no s.

2. What letters do you adds to the base form of the verb to form the past

tense ?

If you answered ed, you are correct. Notice that both singular and plural

add ed to form the past tense.

Here is a chart showing the pattern of the regular verbs in the present and the past tenses.

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EXERCISE 1D

Write a chart of your own like the one above using the verb look

Present tense past tensePerson singular plural Person singular plural1st I _____ we ____ 1st I_____ we _____2nd you ___ you____ 2nd you___ you_____3rd he, She they ___ 3rd he, She they ____

It _____ It_____

EXERCISE 1E

Write five sentences with regular verbs in present tense

1. (attend)

2. (vote)

3. (share)

4. (enjoy)

5. (decide)

Underline each verb in the sentences you have just written. Rewrite each sentence

and change each verb to the past tense

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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EXERCISE 1F

Underline the verb in each of the following sentences. Write the present tense

form of each verb on the line at the right

1. Momoko planned a ski vacation in the mountains .__________

2. She worked extra hours in the evenings and on weekends. __________

3. She saved half of her paycheck every week. __________

4. Momoko opened a special bank account. __________

5. She watched her money grow very slowly. __________

6. She waited for the first heavy snowfall. __________

7. She listened to the weather forecast every day. __________

8. Finally, the weather changed. __________

9. It snowed for three days and nights. __________

10. Momoko removed her money from the bank happily __________

Lesson 2 Present and past tenses : Irregular verbs

Most verbs are irregular verbs. We add –d or –ed them to form the past tense.

Verbs that do not add –d or –ed to form the past tense are called IRREGULAR

VERBS. Use your dictionary to find the past tense of irregular verbs or consult

the chart of irregular verbs that follows.

Here is a chart listing some of the most commonly used irregular verbs.

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EXERCISE 2A

All of verbs in the following sentences are past tense forms of irregular verbs.

Underline each verb. Write the present tense form on the line at the right.

Example : Ricardo and his father rose early. Rise

1. Ricardo and his father drove to the lake cabin together. __________

2. The next morning they awoke to the bright __________

frost on the grass.

3. The sweet smell of coffee came from the kitchen. __________

4. After a breakfast of eggs and bacon, They took a boat __________

Out on the lake.

5. Ricardo held tightly to the fishing pole. __________

6. He threw the line far out into the water. __________

7. Suddenly the rod bent in his hands. __________

8. A large trout hung on his hook. __________

9. He brought the large trout into the boat. __________

10. Ricardo and his father caught several fish that day. __________

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EXERCISE 2B

All of verbs in the following sentences are presen tense forms of irregular verbs.

Underline each verb. Then write the past tense form of each verb on the line at the

right.

Example : The convention begins on Thursday. began

1. Jugglers meet once a year at an international convention. __________

2. They come from all age groups and many occupations. __________

3. Each one gives a demonstration of his or her specialty. __________

4. Everyone makes his or her presentation unique. __________

5. These artists throw just about everything from cigar __________

Boxed to gold lame bean bags up in the air.

6.Some ride unicycles during their performances. __________

7.One man even eats parts of an apple and a cucumber __________

In his act.

8.Jugglers have their names in the Guinness __________

Book of World Records.

9.Rastelli, an Italian juggler, still holds the record: ten __________

Balls or eight plates in motion at once.

10. Amateur or professional, jugglers keep things on the move. __________