VERBS! Time to Start Underlining!

The verb is the most important part of the sentence. It is a word that expresses mental or physical action… – Like “think” or “run” … Or it expresses a state-of-being – Like “am” or “became” RULE – If a word is a verb, it has an “-ing” form. – Like run=running or took = taking

How to Mark a Verb After bracketing your prepositional phrases to get them out of the way, you’ll double- underline your verbs. Example: The man in the blue car was slowly driving toward me.

Action or linking? Look at your list of linking verbs. Some verbs can be action in one sentence and linking in another. (Those have a by them on the SAM sheet.) If your verb has a by it, you need to use the SUBSTITUTION TEST to see if that verb is action or linking.

SUBSTITUTION TEST for verbs Example: I felt sick yesterday. Substitute “felt” with “was.” I was sick yesterday. LINKING VERB! Example: I felt cold air from the vent. Substitute “felt” with “was.” I was the cold air from the vent. (huh?) ACTION VERB! If you can replace the verb with a form of the verb “to be” ( is, am, are, was, were, be, been, or being ), the verb in the sentence is a LINKING verb. If you cannot replace it, the verb in the sentence is an ACTION verb.

Verb Phrases A verb phrase consists of a main verb and any helping verbs that go with it (see your foldable). The maximum number of words in a verb phrase is four. Example: will have been singing = verb phrase “will,” “have,” and “been” are helping verbs. The main verb, “singing” is an action verb. #1 #2 #3 #4

Silly Adverbs…. Be aware that adverbs frequently interrupt verb phrases (look at your SAM sheet for those interrupters). Example: have certainly been given “Certainly” is not a verb; it is an adverb. It “interrupts”, or comes between, the helping verbs and the main verb in the verb phrase. Adverb interrupter

Compound Verbs Sometimes the verb is compound. Compound verbs are joined by conjunctions. (See your SAM sheet.) Example: She ate candy and drank a coke. conjunction

What About Questions? In an interrogative sentence (a question) the normal word is inverted or changed around. To make it easier, mentally change the word order around into a statement. Example: Will he be going with us? Think: He will be going with us. Verb phrase

Now to Practice… We will do two together. 1.The sales clerk felt the soft material of the dress. 2.The velvet fabric on the table felt soft. was