English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

English EssentialsEnglish Essentials

John LanganJohn LanganBeth JohnsonBeth Johnson

Chapters Twenty-Three through Twenty-Six

More on Subjects and VerbsMore on Subjects and Verbs

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2

Additional Information about Verbs

Here are the three areas we’ll discuss in this section:

• Compound Subjects and Verbs

• Tense, Voice and Verbals

• Subject-Verb Agreement

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3

• A sentence may have more than one verb.

– The shark swamswam and attackedattacked.

• A sentence may have more than one subject.

– DolphinsDolphins and whaleswhales have some protection from sharks.

Compound Subjects and VerbsCompound Subjects and Verbs

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

4

Verb Tense. . .

. . . tells you the time of the action.

Let’s start with the simple

• present,• past, and• future.

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

5

Verb Tense

But, we can also be a little more specific about time using these other tenses:

•Perfect Tense (Add a form of the verb “have”)

•Progressive Tense (Add a form of the verb “be”)

•Perfect Progressive Tense (Add both the verbs “have” and “be.”)

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

6

Verb Voice

Verb voice refers to the active or passive form Verb voice refers to the active or passive form of a verb.of a verb.

• ACTIVE VOICE: Action of the verb is done by the subject. – EX: The dog ate all my dinner! (The dog performed the action.)

• PASSIVE VOICE: Action of the verb is done to the subject.– EX: The dog was put on its leash by Aunt Rose. (The action was

done to the dog, by Aunt Rose.)

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

7

Verbals

Verbals are words formed from verbs.

There are three kinds:• Infinitives• Participles• Gerunds

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

8

Verbals

An is formed by adding the word “to” to the base form of the verb.

So, what is the infinitive of the verb “steal”? Example:

Jesse James loved to steal money from bankers.

“to” + “steal” =

“to steal”

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

9

Verbals

A is a verb form used as an adjective.

The present participle ends in -ing.

The past participle ends in -ed or is irregular.

Example:

Looking over her tax returns, the weeping accountant tugged her bleached hair.

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

10

Verbals

A is the -ing

form of a verb used as a noun.

Example:

Bowling is not a sport, because you can smoke while you’re doing it.

Let’s make a gerund out of the verb “bowl.”

“Bowl” + “ing” = “Bowling”

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

11

• When compound subjects are joined by words such as or, nor or either… or, the verb agrees with the closer subject– Either the twins or Joey isis knocking on our

door.– I can’t decide if my pants or my hat looks looks

better.

Subject-Verb Agreement with CompoundsSubject-Verb Agreement with Compounds

Extending the Skills: Verbs (23-25)

English Essentials ©2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

12

• Indefinite pronounsIndefinite pronouns (each, everyone, somebody, etc.) refer to indefinite persons or things and usually require a singular verb. • Each of the volunteers tutors for at least three Each of the volunteers tutors for at least three

hours every week.hours every week.

• AllAll and some some require either a singular or plural verb, depending on the words that follow them. • Some of the people Some of the people are are still waiting.still waiting.

• Some of the cake Some of the cake is is on the table. on the table.

Subject-Verb AgreementSubject-Verb Agreement