Verbs, Verbs, and Adverbs Usage, Irregulars, S-V Agreement, and adverbs

Verbs--Usage Verb: a word that expresses an action or helps to make a statement Infinitive form—verb before it is conjugated To ring To come Verb Tenses Present (NOW) Ring come Past (YESTERDAY) Rang came Past participle (had/have) Rung Present participle (is) Ringing Coming

Action Verbs—Transitive and Intransitive Transitive Verbs: expresses an action directed toward a person place or thing The Puritans left England. Intransitive Verbs: expresses an action without passing the action from doer to receiver They left for religious reasons

IRREGULAR VERBS Lie/Lay Sit/Set Lie: to recline, to rest Lie, lay, have lain, is lying Lay: to put or to place Lay, laid, have laid, is laying Sit/Set Sit: to rest, to be in an upright position Sit, sat, have sat, is sitting Set: to put, to place Set, set, have set, is setting

IRREGULAR VERBS 3. Rise/Raise OTHER WEIRD VERBS Rise: to go up Rise, rose, have risen, is rising Raise: to force up Raise, raised, have raised, is raising OTHER WEIRD VERBS May—asks permission Can—refers to ability Shall—used with 1st person only (I or We) Will—used with 2nd or 3rd person (You, he, they)

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT RULES Singular subjects get singular verbs; plural subjects get plural verbs Examples The cat is hungry. The dogs are barking. Singular Subjects followed by “together with,” “along with,” and “as well as” take singular verbs Example The coach, along with his players and managers, was given a loud cheer.

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT RULES 3. Singular Pronouns get Singular Verbs Singular pronouns Somebody •everyone •each •either Any •neither •anybody •everybody Example Each of the men was eating a hotdog. 4. Use a plural verb with 2 or more singular subjects joined by AND The boy and the girl were jumping rope. Exception Unless the two items are thought of as a single unit PB and Jelly Bread and Butter

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT RULES 5. If two singular subjects are linked by OR or NOR, the verb is SINGULAR. Example: Neither the teacher nor the pupil was able to attend the contest. If one of the subjects is PLURAL, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it in the sentence. Example Neither the teacher nor the pupils were able to attend the contest.

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT RULES 6. If the noun “number” is preceded by “A” and followed by “of,” it takes a plural verb. Example A number of cars were stolen. If the noun “number” is preceded by “The” and followed by “of,” it takes a singular verb. The number of thefts was staggering.

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT RULES 7. Words like: team, committee, jury, group, family, and police (collective nouns) are SINGULAR. Example: The basketball team is popular. 8. Words ending in “-ics” are usually singular. News, dollars, miles, and cents are all singular. Example Statistics is required for all math majors. Ten dollars is too much for that shirt.

Linking Verbs A linking verb connects the subject to a word that identifies or describes it. Most common linking verbs are forms of BE Am, is, are, was, were, has/have been, had been Other linking verbs Feel Look Seem Become Smell Taste Grow The boy is a genius. The verb is connects the noun genius with the subject boy. That song sounded familiar. This air smells fresh.

Other Verb Tenses Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect a tense of a word that indicates that an action has ended but not at a definite time Ex: He has brought his paper. Uses helping verb has/have Past Perfect a tense used to refer to the earlier of two different times in the past Ex: She had broken her leg once before. Uses helping verb had Future Perfect  form that expresses action completed by a specified time in the future. EX: I will have completed a rough draft of the chapter by Friday.  Uses helping verb will have/shall have

ADVERBS An ADVERB modifies or describes a verb (action), an adjective, or another adverb Adverbs answer the following questions: Where? How often? or how long? When? To What extent? How? or how much?

Examples The sprinter ran swiftly. The adverb swiftly modifies the verb ran and tells how the sprinter ran. I read the funny pages early on Sunday morning. The adverb early modifies the verb read and tells when I read. Jolene was comforting a very small child. The adverb very modifies the adjective small and tells to what extent.

Examples 4. The fire blazed too wildly for anyone to enter. The adverb too modifies the adverb wildly and tells to what extent. The adverb wildly modifies the verb blazed and tells how. Dad will sometimes quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s speech. The adverb sometimes modifies the verb will quote and tells how often. 6. Put the apples there, and we will eat them later. The adverb there modifies the verb put and tells where. The adverb later modifies the verb will eat and tells when.

WORDS OFTEN USED AS ADVERBS WHERE? Away Here Inside There Up WHEN? Later Now Soon Then Tomorrow

WORDS OFTEN USED AS ADVERBS HOW? Clearly Easily Quietly Slowly HOW OFTEN OR HOW LONG? Always Usually Continuously Never Forever Briefly