Let’s Talk about VERBS… Bridget Green Grammar MFWI 2007

We enjoy singing. She admitted her mistake. Bring your homework. He found it. Take a look… They laughed. She coughed. The bus has arrived. I’m working.

We enjoy singing. She admitted her mistake. Bring your homework. He found it. Subject, Verb, and Object? They laughed. She coughed. The bus has arrived. I’m working.

We enjoy singing. She admitted her mistake. Bring your homework. He found it. What’s the difference? They laughed. She coughed. The bus has arrived. I’m working.

We enjoy singing. She admitted her mistake. Bring your homework. He found it. Transitive Verbs They laughed. She coughed. The bus has arrived. I’m working. Intransitive Verbs

They laughed.She coughed. The bus has arrived.I’m working. Intransitive Verbs Intransitive verbs are verbs that are not followed by an object.

Intransitive Verbs However, they can be followed by other things, like prepositions or adverbs. They laughed at the joke. The bus has arrived late.

Transitive Verbs Transitive verbs are verbs that are followed by an object. We enjoy singing.She admitted her mistake. Bring your homework.He found it.

Transitive Verbs The object is usually a noun phrase. She admitted her mistake. But it can be a noun clause. She admitted that she was wrong. Or a gerund… She admitted making a mistake.

Transitive Verbs Sometimes there are two objects! Bring me your homework.

Transitive Verbs But it is wrong to have NO OBJECT. We enjoy. She admitted. Bring. He found. X X X X

Which is it? I love that song! The train is leaving. Who cut your hair? We were sitting by the fire. I want to go to New Zealand. Will you give me a hand? My son is waiting for his test results. I have to make my son an appointment. It doesn’t matter.

Which is it? I love that song! The train is leaving. Who cut your hair? We were sitting by the fire. I want to go to New Zealand. Will you give me a hand? My son is waiting for his results. I have to make my son an appointment. It doesn’t matter.  Transitive  Transitive  Transitive  Transitive

Which is it? I love that song! The train is leaving. Who cut your hair? We were sitting by the fire. I want to go to New Zealand. Will you give me a hand? My son is waiting for his test results. I have to make my son an appointment. It doesn’t matter. Intransitive  Intransitive  Intransitive  Intransitive  Intransitive

Transitive Verbs Intransitive Verbs How do you know? Look in a dictionary!

But… Some verbs can be EITHER Intransitive OR Transitive.

Which is the verb? Decide if they are I or T. She drinks every day after work. He drinks a lot of water when he’s sick. My teacher drove the van downtown. She drove to Seattle in about five hours. Write a paragraph about your family. I’ll write to you when you go back to Japan. When the bell rings, you can begin. You can begin the test when the bell rings. Which is it?

She drinks every day after work. I He drinks a lot of water when he’s sick.T My teacher drove the van downtown.T She drove to Seattle in about five hours.I Write a paragraph about your family.T I’ll write to you when you go back to Japan.I When the bell rings, you can begin.I You can begin the test when the bell rings.T/I II II

Intransitive OR Transitive How do you know? Look in a dictionary!

Transitive Verbs Transitive verbs can be made passive. The cat chased the mouse. The mousewas chasedby the cat. by = ‘the agent’ = who

Transitive Verbs Passives… People make cars in Japan. Cars are made in Japan by people. ‘be’ + pp pp = ‘past participle’

Transitive Verbs Passives… 1. In the passive, the ________ becomes the subject. 2. The verb is formed by the verb ______ + _______. 3. The verb is always [T] / [I]. (Which one? ) Can you remember?

Transitive Verbs Passives… 1. In the passive, the OBJECT becomes the subject. 2. The verb is formed by the verb BE + PAST PARTICIPLE. 3. The verb is always [T] / [I]. (Which one? ) Answers… Transitive!

Transitive Verbs Passives… WHY? *We use the passive when we don’t know or we don’t really care who does the action. Cars are made in Japan by people.

Transitive Verbs Passives… Cars are made in Japan by people. Usually we don’t use by someone in the passive because we don’t know or we don’t care who does the action. *If we want to focus more attention on the object, then we use the passive. If we know who, then we add by someone.

Transitive Verbs Passives: Practice ActivePassive Workers built the hotel. People have sung that song. Justin Timberlake will sing that song.

Choose the passive when… 1. We don’t know who. 2. We don’t care who. 3. We don’t want to say who. 4. We want to focus on the thing and not the subject.

Here are some passive sentences. What are the active sentences? Why are they better as passive sentences? PassiveActiveWhy passive is better The highway will be completed next month. English is taught in junior high school. Mistakes were made. Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare. People will complete the highway next month. We don’t know who… Who is obvious… They don’t want to say who… We are more interested in the play than the writer. Teachers teach English in junior high school. George Bush made mistakes. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet.

Homework One grammar cards The homework handout Check the answers to your homework from last week (Thursday after 4pm).