S.T.E.P. (Structured Tutoring for English Placement) Verbs: It's What We Do! S.T.E.P. (Structured Tutoring for English Placement)

Review! Language is a powerful tool! Words aren’t just symbols, but gateways to concepts and emotions. There are EIGHT parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections). Each part of speech has a different function within a sentence. All sentences must have a subject and a verb. Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word, and connotation is the emotion or feeling we associate with that word. Remember strange vs. odd? Homophones sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Example: To, too, and two.

Types of Verbs Action verbs describe an action. They tell us what the subject is/has done. Example: The dog chewed the bone. These are actions that we can typically see like running, throwing, etc. Linking verbs connect the subject to other words that say something about the subject. Example: That music sounds odd. Common linking verbs include am, are, has been, is, was, were, feel, sound, look, appear, seem, and taste. Helping verbs help express the past, present, and future. Example: The teachers are meeting at noon.

Take a look at the handout to see more verb tenses! All verbs can exist in three forms: past, present, and future tense. These tenses designate when the action took place. Verbs tenses are based on their infinitive stem. Changing the verbs tense by adding an ending or additional work is called conjugating the verb. Example: preferred, prefers, and will prefer. Not all verbs can be conjugated by adding a simple ending. These verbs are called irregular verbs. Example: “To Be” Past: I was. Present: I am. Future: I will be. Example: Example: eats (present), ate (past), will eat (future). Take a look at the handout to see more verb tenses!

Verbs Can Be Tricky Too! Infinitives consist of the word “to” plus a verb. They never act as a verb, but always serve another function. Example: Suzy preferred to suffer alone. To suffer is an infinitive describing what was “preferred.” Verbals are words that look like verbs, but do not act like verbs. There are two types of verbals: gerunds and participles. Gerunds are words that end in –ing and act as nouns. Studying is hard. Studying acts as a noun and is the subject of the sentence. “Is” is the verb. Participles look like verbs but act as adjectives. Jack is a marrying man. Marrying is a present participle that DESCRIBES Jack. “Is” is the verb.

Subject Verb Agreement Subjects and verbs must always agree in number. Meaning that a singular subject must take a singular verb, and a plural subject must take a plural verb. Example: Incorrect: Each of the passengers wish to get off here. Correct: Each of the passengers wishes to get off here. Subject-Verb disagreements are often caused by the words do, don’t, was, and was not. I do. You do. He/She/It does We do. You (all) do. They do. Example #2: Incorrect: He don’t realize what time it is. Correct: He doesn’t realize what time it is. Take a look at the subject-verb disagreements handout as we discuss this further!

The three types of verbs are action, linking, and helping. It can look like a verb, but still not act/be a verb. Verbs show time through their tense which can be classified as past, present, or future. Subjects must agree with verb they take.