TWO: VERBS Flashcards
The verb is meant to express the following seven things:
- Action
- Being
- Condition
- Tense
- Voice
- Person
- Mood
By their spelling what is it that verbs are able to communicate (usually involves more than one word):
- Who is involved in the action.
- Whether that “who” causes or receives the action.
- In a limited way, the attitude of the writer toward the action.
In fact, about the only thing the verb doesn’t do is what?
Indicate the gender of a person involved in the action.
INFLECTION
This is the spelling changes a verb undergoes to indicate verb variants.
What are the three grammatical terms that often involve verbs?
- Number & person
- Number
- person
As it related to verbs what does number refer to?
Number, as it relates to verbs simply refers to “how many.”
When it comes to using verbs as it relates to number - what are the options?
There are only two “number” options: Sing. (one) & Plural (more than one).
What does person refer to?
Person refers to “Who” (we introduced this concept in our discussion on pronouns and POV).
What are the three “persons” & what can they be?
There are three “persons”: first, second, and third, each one of which can be singular or plural.
What are the three groups involving plural and number - when it comes to the simple present tense and familiar verb “be”?
What are the three types of other tenses?
Simple tenses, perfect tenses, and progressive tenses.
What are the two simple tenses?
Simple past tense and simple future tense.
What are the three perfect tenses?
Present, past, and future.
The progressive tense does what?
It described an ongoing action.
What are the three other principle parts of a verb besides present tense?
The three principle parts are the past, the past participle, and the present participle.
What are the four principle parts of tense?
- Present tense
- Past
- Past participle
- Present participle
How is the past and past participle usually formed?
By adding “ed” to the end of a word.
How is the present participle formed?
By adding “ing”
Verbs that have the “ed”/”ing” style of inflection are called what?
regular verbs
Verbs that change their spelling in some other way (other than “ed”/”ing”) are called what?
irregular verbs.
Which tenses fall under which forms?
- Present tense: 1 & 2
- Past: 3
- Past participle: 4,5,6
- Present participle: 7,8,9,10,11, & 12
For #s 1-12 identify what the inflection is for each tense?
The five culprits of subject - verb agreement errors or s-v agr errors include the following:
- indefinite pronoun
- collective noun
- compound subjects
- alternate subjects
- quantities
What is an antecedent?
It is the noun that the pronoun is referring to.
What are the two grammatical rules involving pronouns has to do with what?
It has to do with:
1. Has to do with pronoun-antecedent agreement.
2. Has to do with s-v agreement.
What is the rule involving 1. pronoun-antecedent agreement?
The pronoun must agree in number with its antecedent.
What is the rule involving 2. s-v agr?
The verb must agree in number and person with its subject.
Both of these sentences are examples of what:
They’re both involving the correct use of s-v agr & pronoun-antecedent agreement.
When transitioning from the first to the second sentence - what should be noted about what happens to the noun and verb?
Both the pronoun (his -> their) and the verb (tends -> tend) change when the noun (Bucky -> brothers) changes from singular to plural.
What kind of s-v & pronoun agreement is happening in sentence #1?
“Bucky” is a singular noun and so it takes the singular form of the verb “tends” & the singular pronoun: “his.”
What kind of s-v & pronoun-antecedent agreement is happening in #2?
“Brothers” is a plural noun, taking the plural form of the verb “tend” and the plural pronoun “their.”
The following are examples of what?
- everybody
-everyone
They’re indefinite pronouns.
Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that are what?
These are pronouns where - even no matter how plural they may seem: everybody, everyone - are in fact singular. Therefore, they always take a singular verb.
The following are examples of what?
-team
-band
-committee
They’re examples of collective nouns.
Collective nouns refer to what?
These are nouns that refer to a group of things as a unit (team, band, committee).
With collective nouns what kind of verbs should be used?
It is almost always preferable to use singular forms of the verb for such nouns.
However, what if those within the collection of individuals are acting individually?
Then, the plural must be used.
What is a compound subject and how are they connected?
Compound subjects are two or more nouns or pronouns connected by commas and/or the word “and.”
With compound subjects what kind of verbs should be used?
By definition , such subjects are plural and require plural verbs.
What do alternate subjects involve?
They do involve two or more nouns or pronouns connected by “either/or” or “neither/nor.”
How should the verbs agree with the alternate subjects?
The verb must agree with the nearest alternate subject.
The following is an example of what?
Two plus two is (or are) four.
It is an example of quantities. Using the singular or plural form of the verb:
Two plus two is (or are) four.”
When it comes to quantities - what is this an example of?
Here you go; $15.96 is your change.
This involves quantities. Singular is preferable when dollars and cents are combined into a single amount.
When it comes to quantities what is the rule?
The rule is as follows: When speaking about money and other such quantities, you may use either the singular or the plural form of the verb.
The following is an example of what?
one hundred miles (unit) is the distance we traveled.
It involves quantities in which the subject is a unit, so the verb is singular.
The following is an example of what?
There were a hundred of miles (a number) left to travel.
This involves quantities in which the subject is a number of items, so the verb is plural.
How does the context help you to consider whether to choose a plural or singular verb?
The context of the sentence tells you whether the subject is intended as a unit (sing.) or a number of items (plural).
In an inverted sentence structure what is happening?
The subject is following the verb.
What are these examples of?
They’re inverted sentence structures in which the subject is following the verb.
Why is this sentence a perfect representation of what should be paid attention to when it comes to choosing the correct form of verb?
There were left for Goldilocks only one chair that was too big and one that was too small.
Since this sentence:
There were left for Goldilocks only one chair that was too big and one that was too small.
Contains a compound subject - this should be paid attention to because compound subjects are plural and so that’s why the verb has to be plural: “were.”
We know that a linking verb does what?
We know that a linking verb joins the subject with a word or words that provide additional information about the subject itself.
What is the “subjective complement”?
The “subjective complement” is that which is connected to the linking verb & it gives additional info. about the subject itself.
Frequently, the subjective complement is what when the subject is plural?
Frequently, the “subjective complement” is singular when the subject is plural.
Frequently, the “subjective complement” is what when the subject is singular?
Frequently, the “subjective complement” is plural when the subject is singular.
What is the rule governing linking verbs & the subject?
The linking verb agrees in number with the subject.
When does the subject occur with its corresponding linking verb?
The subject comes before the linking verb.
These sentences are examples of what?
These sentences have interrupting phrases instead of interrupting clauses.
What is the difference between the two interrupting phrases within each of the two sentences?
- Interrupting phrase is: “of those children” & 2. Is an interrupting phrase that is much longer: “of those children who seem afraid” that is occurring at the end of the sentence.
In each sentence with transitive verbs what is the subject and what is the object?’
He hit John on the nose.
Bob ran the copier all day.
He failed the test.
The following are examples of what?
These are sentences with intransitive verbs in which the subject is action upon their self.
In each sentence with intransitive verbs what is the subject?
The snow fell.
The dog barks all night.
He failed
This sentence is an example of what?
This is an intransitive verb & transitive verb both being used.
In this sentence what is the intransitive verb and what is its tense?
The intransitive verb is “had been lying” which is a past perfect progressive tense of “lie.”
In this sentence what is the transitive verb and why is it transitive?
Johnny will sit still if we don’t set the radio near his chair.
The following is an example of what?
This is an imperative verb mood being used.
What is the imperative verb mood trying to do in this sentence?
It is trying to command.
The following is an example of what?
It is an example of the subjective verb mood being used.
By using the subjunctive mood/verb “were” what is the wife communicating to the husband?
By using the subjunctive mood/verb “were,” she is not confessing, but rather inviting her husband to consider a hypothetical question.
The following is an example of what?
The imperative mood being used to give a command or direct someone in the performance of a task.
Between these two sentences - why is active voice better?
Active voice is direct and forceful in the first sentence, but the passive voice in the second sentence is indirect and weak.
