Verb Unit Helping Verbs, Verb Phrases, Regular Verbs, Irregular Verbs, Sit/Set, Rise/Raise, Lie/Lay (Direct Object Review), Linking Verbs, Predicate Nominatives, Predicate Adjectives, Action or Linking

Helping Verbs As we learned, some verbs are made up of more than one word. A verb can be made up of a main verb and a helping verb. The main verb shows action, and the helping verb works with the main verbs. You know your helping verbs, as we memorized the list of 23 verbs on page 40 of Easy Grammar. Do, Does, Did, Has, Have, Had, May, Might, Must, Should, Could, Would, Shall, Will, Can, Is, Am, Are, Was, Were, Be, Being, Been

Verb Phrases A verb phrase consists of a helping verb and a main verb. The helping verb always precedes (come before) the main verb. Helping Verb(s) + Main Verb = Verb Phrase We have gotten a lot of rainfall lately. Sometimes in a interrogative (question) sentence, the verb can be split. Did Mario push the button?

Regular Verbs & Irregular Verbs Regular Verbs are those verbs that add “ed” to both the past and past participle forms. Irregular Verbs break all the rules! They have special forms for singular and plural subjects. Simply stated they do not add “ed” to the past tense. You need to become familiar with our irregular word list on pages47-48. Usually past tense and past participle form are not the same. Past participle shows past time plus a helping verb. Example Regular: A deli clerk sliced some meat. (Past tense, tense= time) Example Mother had ordered some rolls. (past participle)

Confusing Verbs: Sit/Set Lie/Lay Rise/Raise To sit means to rest. Example- They are sitting in the front row. To set means to place or put. Example- She had set her boots by the bed. To lie means to rest. Example- Anna is lying in the sun. ( she is resting in the sun) To lay means to place. Example- A doorman laid a package on the floor. (includes a Direct Object, package). To rise means to go up (without help). Example- Smoke was rising from the campfire. To raise means to lift or go up (with help). Example- The player raised the volleyball over his head. Set Lay and Raise along with lays, laid, laying will have direct objects. Remember, direct objects receives the action of the verb, and will come after the verb. Sit/Set, Lie/Lay and Rise are irregular verbs. Raise is a regular verb since you can add “ed”.

Irregular Verbs to be is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been. Present Tense: Singular: The bread is in the oven. I am hungry. Plural: Those children are in first grade. Past Tense: Singular: The fork was under the chair. Several ducks were on the pond.

Linking Verbs Linking verbs do not show action! They link the subject with a noun, pronoun, or adjective (describing word). Noun: My neighbor is a cartoonist. Pronoun: The champion was I. Adjective: The referee remained cheerful. You must memorize the list of linking verbs on page 63! There are 20! (12 infinitives, plus 8 parts of to be). 4 senses 7 alphabetical To be To feel to appear to seem is, am, are, was, were To taste to become to sound be, being, been. To look to grow to stay To smell to remain

Three easy aspects of linking verbs. Tip: To check if a verb (other than to be)is acting as a linking verb in a sentence, write a form of to be above it. If the sentence makes sense and the meaning is not changed, the verb serves as a linking verb. Example: The pie tastes good. You could also replace tastes with is, and it will still make sense. Three easy aspects of linking verbs. Linking verbs never show action. Linking verbs always link the subject with something. Linking verbs appear as a separate list.

Linking Verbs: predicate nominatives A Predicate Nominative (P.N.) is a noun (naming word) or a pronoun (I, he, she, we) that is the same as the subject of the sentence. Example: My dad is the principal. (Principal is the P.N.) Mrs. Smith became their Girl Scout leader. (Leader is the P.N.) Tip: P.N.’s are easy to check. Simply invert (arrange opposite order)the sentence starting with the word after the verb. Using the above example of the principal, we can say… The principal is my dad. If the form to be does appear as the linking verb in the sentence, you will need to replace the existing linking verb with an appropriate form of to be. Example: Susan remained the nurse at that hospital. (nurse is the P.N.) Check: The nurse at that hospital was Susan. Compound Nominative: More than one P.N. in a sentence. Their favorite foods are pizza and steak. (Pizza and steak are the P.N.’s)

Linking Verbs: Predicate Adjectives A predicate adjective (P.A.) is a describing word that occurs after the verb and goes back to describe the subject of the sentence. In order for a word to be a P.A. , you must have the following: The sentence must contain a linking verb. The adjective occurring after the verb must go back to describe the subject of the sentence. Example: The car is black. (Black is the P.A.) (black car) The bread tastes stale. (Stale is the P.A.) (stale bread) Check: 1- Is there a linking verb 2- Is there a describing word (adjective) after the verb? 3- Does that describing word (adjective) go back to describe the subject? Compound Predicate Adjectives: (More than one P.A.) in a sentence. The Italian flag is red, white, and green. (red, white and green are the P.A.’s )

Action or Linking verbs Here you need to think about the verb! Because you are required to memorize linking verbs (page 63) you will immediately recognize that jump is not on the linking verb list. Jump is an action verb. Some verbs can serve both action and linking verbs. Example: The customer tasted the dessert. (action verb) The dessert tasted sweet. (linking verb) Tip: To check if a verb is action or linking. Insert the form of to be (is, am, are, was or were)for the verb. If the sentence meaning is not changed, the verb is usually linking. Example: The customer tasted the dessert. Replace tasted with was…. The customer was the dessert. (if I were a dessert it would be chocolate! Here in this example, tasted is not a linking verb!

The End (For Now)…