Verbs• Verb: A word that shows action, being, or links a subject to a subject complement

• The verb tells what the noun does (if it’s an action verb) or what the noun is (if it’s a linking verb)

Verbs Action Verbs

• If the verb is an action verb, then it might show action on a direct object: – Ms. Lee taught the class. a.V. D.O.

• Or, an action verb might show simple action not on a direct object: – Ms. Lee taught.

a.V.

Verbs Linking Verbs 1

• Linking verbs do not express action. Instead, they connect the subject of the verb to additional information about the subject ; they help show the appearance or condition of something: – He is a poet. (he = poet) l.v – During the afternoon, my cats are content

to nap on the couch. l.v (cats = content)

Verbs Linking Verbs 2

• The following verbs are true linking verbs: – any form of the verb be (am, is, are,

was, were, has been, are being, might have been, etc.)

– become– seem

• These true linking verbs are always linking verbs

VerbsLinking Verbs 3

• How do you tell when they are action verbs and when they are linking verbs? If you can substitute am, is, or are for the verb and the sentence still sounds logical, you have a linking verb on your hands. If, after the substitution, the sentence makes no sense, you are dealing with an action verb instead.

Verbs Linking Verbs 4

• Examples:– Sylvia tasted the spicy squid eyeball stew.

Sylvia is the stew? I don't think so! Tasted, therefore, is an action verb in this sentence.

– The squid eyeball stew tasted good.

The stew is good? You bet. Tasted, therefore, is a linking verb.

The Verb is About the Noun

• Every sentence has a subject, and the verb (the predicate of the sentence) is about it.

• The subject will always be a noun or subject pronoun, and the simple predicate is the verb.

• The verb is saying that the noun did something or that the noun is something.

Four Principal Parts of the Verb

• All verb forms are made out of four primary forms that each verb possesses. The four primary forms are called the verb’s principal parts. These four parts are: -the infinitive-the present participle-the past-the past participle

Regular Verbs

• Most verbs make the four principle parts in the same regular way, and therefore, we refer to these ordinary verbs as regular verbs.

infinitive present participle past past participle

to work working worked worked

to spill spilling spilled spilled

Irregular Verbs• Many verbs do not follow this regular

pattern. Instead they have principal parts that are unique and must be memorized. Some irregular verbs are:

infinitive present participle past past participle

to ring ringing rang rung

to break breaking broke broken

to write writing wrote written

Helping Verbs• In simple tense the verb stands alone, as a single

word, to make the simple predicate. • In a compound tense, the main verb is

supplemented by a helping verb to construct the tense. The future and perfect tenses are examples of compound tenses that use helping verbs. All the verbs combine to form a verb phrase.

– e.g., I will have composed. The main verb is composed and the helping

verbs are will have.

Action Verbs can be…

Transitive or Intransitive(Active Voice) or (Passive Voice)

~ Linking verbs are neither! ~

Transitive or Intransitive?

• Transitive verb: (v.t.) A transitive verb is an action verb that acts on a direct object: – The harpoon hit the whale

• Intransitive verb: (v.i.) An intransitive verb is an action verb that does not act on a direct object: – Harpoons flew.

Why We Call Them “Transitive”• Transitive verbs are action verbs that

are called transitive because of the transit of action or energy that takes place when the subject acts on the object.

– If: I kick the bucket. The energy transfers from me to the bucket I am kicking.

– If: I kick. The verb kick is an intransitive verb because there is no transfer of energy.

Active Voice Verb

& Passive Voice Verb

An active voice verb is an action verb that shows the subject

acting.

A passive voice verb is an action verb that shows the subject being acted

upon.

For example: Johnson discussed the problem.

For example:

The problem was discussed.

Passive voice makes the sentence seem weak, since the subject of the sentence is not doing anything.

When do we use active or passive voice?

• Use passive voice in scientific writing: Writers of scientific papers often prefer passive voice and past tense in order to describe the results of experiments.

• In writing papers on literary matters and on historical figures, you should avoid passive voice.

Time makes verbs tense.

• Time is so central in our life experience that we identify it in every sentence we make. We do this by putting each verb in a time tense.

• We use six different tenses to indicate time in sentences.

Six Verb Tenses

1. Present2. Past3. Future4. Present Perfect5. Past Perfect6. Future Perfect

Conjugating These Six Verb Tenses

(example of first person singular)

Present I walk

Past I walked

Future I will walk

Present Perfect I have walked

Past Perfect I had walked

Future Perfect I will have walked

Why we call them perfect tenses:• The three perfect tenses are called

perfect because they come from the Latin perficere, meaning to finish.

• The perfect tenses are finished, either finished in the past (I had returned), finished in the present (I have returned), or finished in the future (I will have returned)

• Notice the three perfect tenses use the linking verb to have as a helping verb.

• The present perfect tense refers to an action or state that either occurred at an indefinite time in the past (e.g., we have talked before) or began in the past and continued to the present time (e.g., he has grown impatient over the last hour). This tense is formed by have/has + the past participle.

grammarly.com

Parallel Verb Tense

• The proofreader’s mark for parallel construction is //. Ms. Lee uses “v.t.” to indicate verb tense is incorrect

• Parallelism in tense means sticking to the tense you are using, unless there is reason to change.

Notice how odd the unparallel tenses sound in the passage below:

NOT //

When Charles Dickens went to America, he gives many speeches, and feels that his trip was successful. After he returned to England, he begins to lose the buoyant spirit he finds in America, and he will descend into melancholy.

Notice the parallel tenses in the second passage:

//

When Charles Dickens went to America, he gave many speeches, and felt that his trip was successful. After he returned to England, he began to lose the buoyant spirit he found in America, and he descended into melancholy.

Verbs (a summary):