VERBS - MAKE WRITING STRONGER

Lyla Nabulsi

VERB FORMS-SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION

§ Regular verbs -l to + verb = the infinitive = present tense forml Past tense = present tense form + d, ed, or tl Past participle = to have + past form

§ Irregular verbs - l to + verb = the infinitive = present tense forml Past tense = vowel change, new word, otherl Past participle = another vowel change, new

word, other

Regular Verbs§ Present form = (to) like§ Past form = (add d, ed, or t) liked

(not likeed or liket)§ Past Participle = (have) liked (the

same as the past)§ Present Participle = liking§ 3rd person singular - likes

Irregular Verb - Vowel Change

§ Present form - (to) sing§ Past form - sang(vowel from i to a)§ Past participle - (have) sung (i to u)§ Present participle - singing§ 3rd person singular - sings

Irregular Verb- new wordsTO BE

§ Present - to be§ I am, you are, (s)he is, we are, your

are, they are§ Past Tense - I was, you were, (s)he

was, we were, they were§ Part Participle - (have) been§ Present Participle - being

OTHER FORMS§ No change - I hit today I hit yesterday I have hit before. Other verbs that don’t change include hurt, let,

put,quit, shut.§ Past participle changes to en Break, broke, broken

Speak, spoke, spoken

§ Special problemsl lay (to place) laid laidl lie(to recline) lay lain

SIMPLE VERB TENSES

§ TENSE MEANS “TIME”§ Present tense - Now- She cooks well.§ Past tense - Completed - She cooked

yesterday§ Future tense - yet to happen - She will cook

tomorrow.

What does person mean?

§ First Person - person speaking (I, we)§ Second Person - person spoken to (you)§ Third person - person spoken about (she,

he, it, they)§ Singular - one person§ Plural - more than one person§ Third person singular - usually ends in s

Conjugating a verb

Taking a verb through all the tenses

Start with the principle parts of the verb

§ Present - (to) cook§ Past - cooked§ Past Participle – (have) cooked§ Present Participle - cooking

Regular Verb conjugation

Simple tenses

Infinitive - To Cook Present forms – cook, cooks

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I cook We cook

§ 2nd You cook You cook

§ 3rd (S)he, it cooks They cook

Past Tense of regular verb (add d, ed, t)Past tense form - cooked

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I cooked We cooked

§ 2nd You cooked You cooked

§ 3rd (S)he, it cooked They cooked

Future tense adds shall or willFuture tense – shall/will cook

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I shall cook We shall cook

§ 2nd You will cook You will cook

§ 3rd (S)he, it will cookThey will cook

PERFECT TENSES: action in the past continuing in the present

§ Present Perfect - have + past participle§ Past Perfect - had + past participle§ Future Perfect - will (shall) + have + past

participle§ I have cooked; he has cooked§ I had cooked§ I shall have cooked

Present Perfect – Have/has plus past participle

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I have cooked We have cooked

§ 2nd You have cooked You have cooked

§ 3rd (S)he,it has cooked They have cooked

Past Perfect – had plus the past participle

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I had cooked We had cooked

§ 2nd You had cooked You had cooked

§ 3rd (S)he,it had cooked They had cooked

Future Perfect shall/will+have+past particple

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I shall have cooked We shall have cooked

§ 2nd You will have cooked You will have cooked

§ 3rd (S)he,it will have cooked They will have cooked

Progressive TenseVerb of being plus present participle

Present Progressive Present form of be plus present participle (ing form of the verb)

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I am cooking We are cooking

§ 2nd You are cooking You are cooking

§ 3rd (S)he,it is cooking They are cooking

Past Progressive – past form of be plus present participle

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I was cooking We were cooking

§ 2nd You were cooking You were cooking

§ 3rd (S)he,it was cooking They were cooking

Future Progressiveshall/will + be + present participle

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I shall be cooking We shall be cooking

§ 2nd You will be cooking You will be cooking

§ 3rd (S)he,it will be cooking They will be cooking

Emphatic Tense

Do, does, did plus present form of verb

Present emphatic Do or does plus present form

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I do cook We do cook

§ 2nd You do cook You do cook

§ 3rd (S)he,it does cook They do cook

Past EmphaticDid plus the present form of the verb

§ SINGULAR PLURAL§ 1st I did cook We did cook

§ 2nd You did cook You did cook

§ 3rd (S)he,it did cook They did cook

Why is tense important?§ Maintain one tense in a paper, if

possible§ Maintain one tense in a paragraph-a

must§ TENSE SHIFT constitutes a serious

problem§ The tense of the verb in the main

clause determines the verb of the paragraph.

Subject-Verb-Agreement

§ Only third person singular has an s on it, but third person singular must have an s.

§ I sees it. NO§ He see it. NO§ The object of a prepositions does not

determine the person of the verb§ The boys in the band are talented.§ The girl on the stairs is beautiful.

VOICE - Active and Passive§ This is not tense. Tense exists within voice.§ ACTIVE VOICE - Has to do with the logic

of the sentence. The SUBJECT does the ACTION. Tom ate the pie. TOM is the ACTOR. The action is ATE. The thing being eaten is PIE -the direct object

§ Must be an ACTION verb.§ Must be a TRANSITIVE verb - has an

object.

PASSIVE VOICE -BOO HISS

§ What is it?§ Be + Past Participle § Examples: was thrown, was being thrown,

was dented, is gone, were elevate§ Sentences in passive voice:

l The ball was thrown by Tom.l He was being thrown out of the park.l The car was dented by the vandal.

Change passive to active voice

§ The bacon was cooked by Mary Lou. (p)§ Mary Lou cooked the bacon.(a)§ The job was done well. (No prep. phrase)

(p)§ To solve this problem ask, “Who did the

job?Ӥ The plumber did the job well.(a)

Editing Compositions for Verb Errors

§ After writing the paragraphs edit byl Checking the verbs in each main clause for

consistency (all present, all past)l Avoid future tense by checking for the use of shall

and willl In what person are you writing? Third person

singular is the best to use. Check your verbs for correct 3rd person singular form for subject-verb agreement if in present tense.

l NO passive voice.

Consistency in tense demands consistency in person§ Write in third person singular or plural§ Never use second person - you - § Avoid I and one. § Avoid there + be structures§ Use concrete nouns§ Use action verbs§ After this, that, these or those , use a

noun

PASSIVE VOICE - BEWARE§ Avoid passive voice when at all possible§ Why? Not logical, makes the receiver of the action the

subject, buries the actor in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence, adds words

§ The pie was eaten by Tom.§ Verb was (be) eaten (PP)§ Subject -Pie - thing acted upon§ Object of Preposition - Tom - actor§ Added words - was, by.§ Logical order of words results in ACTIVE voice, no verb

of being, and fewer words. § Tom ate the pie.

Worksheet

§ My mother cleaned the living room§ ASK – WHAT IS THE ACTION?§ cleaned simple predicate§ cleaned the living room complete predicate§ Ask – WHO IS DOING THIS ACTION?§ Mother simple subject§ My mother complete subject

Diagram

§ Subject predicate

§ Mother cleaned room

The

the

living

www.superteacerworksheets.com§ Jordan slept on the sofa.§ A tiny mosquito landed on my arm.§ The gray spider spun a beautiful web.§ The window in my bedroom blew open.§ My friends and I played lacrosse in the field behind the

school.§ Sara picked up a stick from the ground.§ The brown cow gazed in the meadow.§ Mark sneezed loudly.§ We played darts in the garage.§ Marcia baked a chocolate cake in the oven.§ The candles on the birthday cake burned brightly.§ Isabella opened up her umbrella.

Complete subjects, complete predicates, simple subject, simple predicate

§ The horse trotted.§ Three mice ran across the floor.§ Greg’s dog chews his bone.§ Santa came on Christmas Eve.§ The dusty book fell off the table.§ Sheila brought a new car.§ A taxi driver stopped at the corner.§ The laundry basket was full.§ I read that book last week.§ Karen’s sister came over.