Verbs Flashcards
how is the complete verb of a sentence created through (3)
The complete verb of a sentence is sometimes created through use of a main verb (shows action) and the auxillary (helping) verbs or linking (subject to predicate) verbs that go with it.
what is a present participle?
A present participle is only a part of a verb. It is the part that shows something is continuously happening, and it usually ends in “ing” eg going, thinking, eating.
what is the common error in sentence construction?
A common error in sentence construction is to take a participle form of a verb as the full verb eg Putting it on the desk. Walking all the way.
what must every proper sentence
Every proper sentence must: • Make sense on its own • Have a capital letter • Have a full stop • Have a subject • Have a FULL verb
what does a sentence consist of ?
a subject and a predicate. every predicate contains a verb. The verb tells what the subject is or does. Sometimes, the verb is more than one word in the sentence. There are three main types of verbs: action verbs, helping verbs, and linking verbs.
what does every predicate contain?
a verb
what does the verb do?
The verb tells what the subject is or does. Sometimes, the verb is more than one word in the sentence. There are three main types of verbs: action verbs, helping verbs, and linking verbs.
what are the three verbs?
The verb tells what the subject is or does. Sometimes, the verb is more than one word in the sentence. There are three main types of verbs: action verbs, helping verbs, and linking verbs.
action verbs
A sentence consists of a subject and a verb. The verb tells what the subject is or does. The first of the three types of verbs, the action verb, describes what the subject does, did, or will do. Served is an action verb in the sentence below. It tells what Connecticut did.
Connecticut served America’s first hamburger.
Sometimes, a sentence has more than one action verb. In the sentence below, ticks and chimes are two action verbs telling what the old clock does.
The old clock ticks loudly and chimes every hour.
Use descriptive and precise action verbs to make your writing more vivid or colorful.
Helping Verbs
The second of the three types of verbs is the helping verb. The main verb in a sentence may have one or more helping verbs. The main verb shows the action; the helping verbs do not show action, but they help to form the verb tense.
You might have wondered about the origin of teddy bears.
In the sentence above, “wondered” is the main verb, and “might” and “have” are helping verbs. “Might have wondered” is the entire verb phrase.
The following are common helping verbs:
is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been,
has, have, had, may, might, must,
can, could, do, does, did,
shall, will, should, would
Linking verb
The third of the three types of verbs is the linking verb. A linking verb “links” the subject of a sentence to the rest of the predicate. It does not show action, and it is not “helping” an action verb. Its purpose is to connect a name or description to the subject.
Woody was a folksinger.
In the sentence above, was links “Woody” with “folksinger.” The word folksinger names Woody’s occupation.
Woody was successful.
In the sentence above, was links “Woody” with “successful.” The word successful describes Woody.
Common Linking Verbs
Common linking verbs include all of the “to be” verbs:
is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been
The following are also common linking verbs:
look, feel, taste, smell, sound,
seem, appear, grow, become,
remain, stay
Identifying linking verbs
We identify types of verbs by recognizing how they are used in a sentence. Some verbs can be used as either linking or action verbs. To tell whether a verb is a linking verb, we replace it with a form of the verb “to be”—is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, as in the example below.
Yin feels optimistic.
We replace feels with is:
Yin is optimistic.
Because the sentence still makes sense, we know that feels is a linking verb in this sentence. Now, let us examine the word feels in the sentence below.
Yin feels the warmth of the sun.
We replace feels with is:
Yin is the warmth of the sun.
The sentence no longer makes sense, so we know that feels is not a linking verb in this sentence.
what are verb tenses
All types of verbs tell us not only what action is occurring but also when it is occurring. The form of a verb, or the verb tense, changes in order to show when the action takes place. There are three simple tenses and three perfect tenses.
Simple tenses
present past and future tense
Simple present tense
The present tense refers to action that is happening now. We add an s when the subject is singular, except when the pronoun is I or you. PLURAL SUBJECTS AND PRONOUNS I AND YOU • Chickens cluck. • Insects buzz. • I dry the dishes. SINGULAR SUBJECTS • The chicken clucks. • An insect buzzes. • He dries the dishes. •
