Parts of Speech Flashcards
Verbs
Verb is used to express action or state. It tells what is happening. It is the key element in the predicate, one of te two main parts of a sentence. Actions verbs include such words as throw, sail, run, climb, read, give, take, eat, pass, fail, rise, emerge, disappear, open, build, lose, die, and feel. Verbs such as to feel, to seem, and to be, are the most frequently used verbs that express a state. A verb is also termed a simple predicate.
Active-Passive Voice Verbs
Active-passive voice verbs have two voices. In sentences using the active voice (e.g., Bill threw the ball), the subject performs the verb action. In sentences using the passive voice (e.g., The ball was thrown by Bill), the subject is the receiver of the verb action. The active voice is used for most statements and questions. The passive voice is used to emphasize the object.
Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb is any verb that acts of a direct object (e.g., She read the letter. He washed the dishes. He manages a small business. She teaches school.) A transitive verb makes so sense without an object or transitive.
Intransitive Verbs
An intransitive verb is a verb that has no direct object. Although the verb involves an action, the action is not done to anyone or anything else (e.g., He runs every morning. She shopped until she dropped. They danced until dawn.) Many verbs can be transitive or intransitive depending on their use. An intransitive verb is neither a linking verb nor an auxiliary verb.
Linking Verb
A linking verb connects a subject to its predicate without expressing action. Linking verbs describe or rename their subjects. They include the sense verbs (to feel, to look, to taste, to smell), to be, to appear, to become, to seem, and to sound. With the exception of to seem, linking verbs can be transitive or intransitive. The verb to be can be a linking verb or an auxiliary verb (e.g., he is the owner, she seems healthy, it tastes great, the food on the bottom shelf smelled terrible, it sounds interesting).
Auxiliary Verbs
An auxiliary verb accompanies another verb in order to help to express the person, tense, mood, voice, or condition of the latter verb. The verbs to have, to be, to do, will, can, may and shall are commonly used auxiliary verbs. An auxiliary verb is also termed a helping verb.
Infinitive (Verbs)
An infinitive is a verb form that possesses characteristics of both verb and noun is usually preceded by “to” (to start, to leave, to sing). Although the preposition announces the infinitive, it does not form part of the infinitive itself.
Gerund
A gerund is the present participle of a verb that is used as a noun, or rather the verb form that ends in “ing” when used as a noun. Although the gerund is used like a noun, it retains certain characteristics of a verb, such as the ability to take an object (e.g., Preparing lasagna is time consuming or Golfing is his first love). The same word can be used as an adjective (e.g., I spied the running figure), or part of a verb (e.g., She was knitting).
Tense
The form of a verb that denotes the relationship between the action and time is called its tense. The basic tenses (present, past, future) and variations tell if an action is taking place, took place, or will take place, etc. The progressive tenses also denote action either in progress (is walking), in the past (was walking), or in the future (will be walking). The perfect tense is used for action that began in the past and continues in the present (has walked), that was completed in the past (had walked), or that will be completed in the future action (will have walked).
Conjunctions
A conjunction is a word (e.g., as, and, but, or) used to connect words or phrases and, in particular, clauses. Conjunctions are described as coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, or correlative conjunctions.
Coordinating Conjunctions
Words that join like with like, such as a noun with another noun, an adjective with another adjective, an adverb with another adverb, etc. (e.g., a fork and a knife, hot but dry, quickly but quietly, Jack and Jill), or two independent clauses are called coordinating conjunctions. They include and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet.
Subordinating Conjunctions
Words that join subordinate clauses to main clauses are called subordinating conjunctions. They include after, although, as, because, before, even though, if, rather than, since, so that, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whether, whether or not, and while.
Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions used to join alternatives or equal elements. (e.g., either, neither, not only - but also, both, whether or not.)
