Verbs

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Verbs

• How verbs function in a sentence

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What is a verb?

• Expresses action or being
• Action jump, think, run, skip
• Being is, become, am, are
• Function as a main verb of a sentence or a
  helping verb
• Helping verb combine with various forms of main
  verbs to create tenses
• Main verb the verb in the sentence which can
  change form if the tense of the sentence changes

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Main Verbs

• To determine if a word in the sentence is the
  main verb, find the base of the word and see if
  youd be able to change it
• Base form Usually I (swim).
• Past tense Yesterday I (swam)
• Past participle I have (swum) many times before.
• Present participle I am (swimming) right now.
• -s form Usually he (swims).
• Many nouns appear to have action (revolution,
  rebellion, etc.) but are unable to change their
  base form into different tenses indicating that
  they are not a verb

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Helping Verbs

• There are 23 helping verbs in English
• Forms of have, do, and be may also function as
  main verbs
• Different forms of have, do, and be
• Have, has, had
• Do, does, did
• Be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been
• Nine modals which cannot function as main verbs
  are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should,
  will, would, and the phrase ought to

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Subject-Verb Agreement

• Verbs are presented in number (singular and
  plural) and person (first, second, or third)
• Subjects must agree with their verbs in number
  and in person
• SINGULAR and PLURAL subjects
• Use the base form of the verb (such as have,
  love, or do) to match the subject
• When a subject is third person singular, use the
  s form of the verb (such as has, loves, or does)
• SINGULAR verbs
• add an s to the base (drives, runs, rides)
• PLURAL verbs
• do not add an s to the base (drive, run, ride)

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Examples of Subject-Verb Agreement

• The tomato plants need to be watered.
• Tomato plants are a plural subject and therefore
  need is a plural verb
• A reliable bicycle costs a lot of money.
• Reliable bicycle is a singular subject and
  therefore costs is a singular verb.
• Katie and Matt make a fantastic team.
• Katie and Matt is a compound subject and create a
  plural subject, so make is a plural verb.