Verbs and Adverbs Flashcards
What are the categories of verbs?
Action Verbs (eat, disagreed, go)
Linking verbs (Otto is a miniature bulldog / He seems nice)
Helping verbs (is, was, has, does, will, should, can) (they are planning to attend) - ing words will always require a helping verb. PS: an adverb may be placed between the helping verb and the helped verb.
What is a gerund?
It is the use of an -ing word as a noun:
- Subject of a sentence (Overeating cause weight gain)
- Object of verbs or prepositions (I love dancing; this is a seminar about writing)
Good rule: an -ing word without a helper verb isn’t a real verb
A gerund can always be replaced by a noun
Is the infinitive a true verb?
No, because it cannot serve as the main verb in a sentence.
Every one of our students was accepted to the college of his or her choice.
Correct or incorrect?
Correct
The adverb every one is always singular, so it is correct to agree the verb was with the singular subejct
Rock climbing and hang gliding over the ocean is dangerous but exciting.
Correct or incorrect?
Incorrect
Rock climbing and hang gliding should be considered together as a plural subject and, therefore, the verb must be in its plural form
When to use has/have verbs?
Use them to create the present perfect and express actions that started in the past and is either still true or still happening.
When to use had verbs?
To describe situations in which one past event occurred before a different past event. It is used to express “the past of the past”.
Ask these questions of two events in the past: (a) what happened first? (b) what happened second?
By 2011, she had traveled to India twice.
Correct or Incorrect?
Correct
The time marker 2011 is in the past, so the past perfect tense is appropriate for the situation.
The doctor told me that I had a heart attack.
Correct or Incorrect?
Incorrect.
Had should be had had. The speaker had had a heart attack before the doctor told him or her about it. You can test had had by substituting another verb; here, had had means had suffered.
True or false: adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, or nouns
False. An adverb is a word that is used primarily to modify verbs, but that can also be used to describe adjectives and other adverbs. What they do not do is describing nouns (that’s the job of adjectives)
Is it true that a lot of adverbs end in -ly?
Yes. See the cases of shyly, favorably, really, economically, truly, agilely, wholly, dully, usually, simply
“Please do it timely”
Is this sentence correct?
No. The correct would be “Please do it in a timely manner”, being timely an adjective and not an adverb.
Please do it quickly and Please do it cheerful are also incorrect
“The company needs to move quick if it is to launch its new product before the holiday shopping season”
Quick should be quickly. It is incorrect to modify a verb with and adjective, rather than an adverb
Is there adjectives that end in -ly?
Yes, some adjectives (timely, friendly, lovely, lively, ugly, silly, holy) are not adverbs but end in -ly. If friendly is used to modify a verb, it is necessary to say “in a friendly manner” or “in a friendly way”
