A field guide to North American grammar Verbs A field guide to North American grammar

Terms to Know Conjugation Transitive Intransitive Mood Infinitive Voice Tense Simple present Simple past Future Perfect Pluperfect Future perfect

Verbs Denote: Action (he talked, she walks) Mental or physical state of being (I am, you will be) Progression of an event (They decompose)

Verb forms may contain: full verb OR full verb + auxiliary [helper] verbs

Intransitive v. Transitive Verbs Require a subject Do not contain a direct object Examples: They walk. She snores. Transitive Require a subject Require a direct object (who/what receives the action) Examples: I study Biology He chases his tail NB: Many verbs can function transitively or intransitively depending on their context in a sentence.

Mood Indicative Imperative Subjunctive Refers to or indicates They study every night. Imperative Expresses a command or order Example: Study for your test! Subjunctive Express something contrary to fact Example: If I were smart, I would study.

Infinitives and Conjugations Conjugate: to manipulate a verb Creates different forms Example: I am, I was, I shall be Infinitive form: to + verb Example: to be rather than to seem The infinitive is the base form in most study aids (e.g., dictionaries)

Voice Active The subject of the sentence performs an act Example: The cat eats the broccoli. Subject: cat DO: broccoli Passive Object acts on the subject Example: The broccoli was eaten by the cat. AVOID USING PASSIVE VOICE!

Tense Temporal marker (indicates time) Six common tenses in English: Present Simple past Future Perfect Pluperfect Future perfect “Perfect” = types of past tense

Tense Timeline way, way back way back back then now later Pluperfect Perfect Simple Past Present Future

Tense Conjugation: Regular Verbs Present: I walk, he walks Simple past: I walked Future: I shall walk, she will walk Perfect: I have walked, it has walked Pluperfect: I had walked Future perfect: I will have walked

Tense Conjugation: Irregular Verbs (“to be”) Present: I am, he is Simple past: I was, they were Future: I shall be, she will be Perfect: I have been, it has been Pluperfect: I had been Future perfect: I shall have been, they will have been

Tense Conjugation: Irregular Verbs (“to smite”) Present: I smite, he smites Simple past: I smote Future: I shall smite, she will smite Perfect: I have smitten Pluperfect: I had smitten Future perfect: I shall have smitten, they will have smitten

Notae Bene Whenever possible, use active voice and present tense. Select a tense and use it consistently throughout an essay. Avoid using the subjunctive mood, “-ing” forms, and conditionals. Verbs must be parallel when in a series. The imperative mood takes as its subject an implied second person pronoun (“you”). I shall use the imperative mood: avoid passive voice in your writing!