Verb Tense and
Verb Use
VERB
A verb is a word that expresses action, a state of being or that asserts something. It is the heart of a sentence.
Verbs may consist of one word or a group of words called a verb phrase
Verbs can be a transitive or intransitive
Verbs have 5 Properties: › Number› Person› Tense› Voice› Mood
Transitive and Intransitive Verb Transitive Verbs are verbs that requires
a receiver of its action.› We are pies and cakes at her
afternoon party.› The mechanic repainted the car.› She saw a shadow moving
among the leaves. Intransitive verbs are verbs that does
not need a receiver of its action. › They play around the yard all
afternoon.› Hilda Cruz is coming to Manila
for a seminar.› The flowers have wilted in the
heat of the sun.
Linking verbs Linking verbs are intransitive
verbs that make no complete statement but link the subjects with their complement.
The most common is the verb “to be”.
Other linking verbs are those that are related to the senses such as taste, smell, feel, seem, appear, become, sound and look. › We will become great athletes
someday.› The cake tastes burnt.› He appeared calm and
collected. › You look terribly upset.
Verb phrases & Auxiliary Verbs
Verbs may consist of one word or a group of words called a verb phrase
Verb phrases are formed by a main verb with an auxiliary (helping) verb.
Common auxiliary verbs are: Have • may • can • will • should • would • could • must • ought to› We should try to be
punctual with our appointments.
› We will exhibit our paintings in June.
› We ought to notify the police about the robbery.
Subject and Verb Agreement Verbs should agree with their subjects in person
and in number. A plural subject requires a plural verb. A singular subject requires a singular verb.
› The dress fits her perfectly.› Imported goods cost money.
Except for the verb “to be” which is inflected for every person to its singular form, all verbs in the third person present tense, singular form, add “s” or “es” to its base form.
› The train runs by electricity.› The president affixes his signature on
every letter from his office. Words placed between the subject and verb,
such as parenthetical expressions or modifiers, do not affect the number of the subject.
› Ann, as well as her brothers, is attending the symposium.
› The house, which is surrounded by tall trees, has a Gothic tower.
Subject and Verb Agreement Subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb.
› Hammer and saw are tools of a carpenter.
› The rich and the poor take the same route to the grave.
However, if the multiple subjects is considered as unit or refers to the same person or thing, it is considered singular.› Black and white is the color of my pet
dog. › My English teacher and Department
Chairman is absent today. When “each or every” precedes a subject, the
verb is singular.› Each person has his own talents.› Every boy and girl in this school is free
to express his opinions. The pronouns “none” and “any” may take the
either singular or plural verbs, depending upon the sense of the sentence.
› Any of these dates is convenient.› Any of these suggestions are
acceptable.
Subject and Verb Agreement Subjects joined by or, either…or,
neither…nor, generally take a singular verb.
› Either your mother or your guardian signs these papers.
› Neither a doctor nor a nurse was available.
However if one subject is plural and the other is singular, the verb agrees with the one closer to it.
› Either the dog or the cats have eaten the food.
› Neither you nor your brothers are participating in the game.
“Here” and “there” are not nouns but are introductory adverbs or expletives. Therefore, they cannot serve as subjects in a sentence.
› Here comes the judge.› There goes my lord and master.
Subject and Verb Agreement Collective nouns may be either singular
or plural. If they are considered acting as a unit, they take a singular verb; if acting as separate individuals in a group, they take a plural verb. The family wishes to extend its
condolence to the widow. The committee have various
activities planned for August. Some nouns have plural forms but are
singular in meaning and, therefore, singular verbs.
› Aesthetics • civics • measles • semantics • mumps • news • ethics • economics
A title of a single work of art takes a singular verb. The Canterbury Tales was written
by Chaucer. Sunday Times is a magazine
published by the Manila Bulletin.
Subject and Verb Agreement
Addition or multiplication calculation may use either a singular or a plural verb.
› Four times five is twenty. (are)› Two plus two is four. (are)
But in subtraction and division, the verb is singular. › Ten minus six is four.› Fifteen divided by five is three.
Fractions, take a singular verb if the object of the “of phrase” is singular, and a plural verb if the object is plural.› About one fourth of the land area
remains underwater.› One half of the students have
submitted their reports
TENSES
Tenses indicates the time of the action or the time of the static condition expressed by the verb.
There are three divisions of time: Present, Past, and Future.
These time divisions are expressed in English by two sets of tenses, namely, the Simple Tenses and the Perfect Tenses.
The English language also recognizes the use of the Progressive Tense to indicate action in progress.
Present Form
Past Form
PastParticiple
Form
carry carried carried
order ordered ordered
smoke smoked smoked
swim swam swum
Principal Parts of Verbs
The present form of the verb is used for the present tense and the future tense, with the addition of "shall" or "will" for the future tense. The past form of the verb is use for the past tense. The past participle form is use for the perfect tenses with the auxiliary verb "have".
test tested chant chanted empty emptied
confuse confused enchant enchante
d
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS
Verbs are regular when they form the past and past participle with the addition of "d" or "ed" to the present form. If the verb ends in "y“, change "y" to "i" and add "ed“.
Irregular verbs do not follow a common pattern of inflection in forming the past and the past participle. A familiarity with these verbs is the only way to get to know them.write wrote written
ring rang rung
lie lay lain
bear bore born
weave wove woven
Past tense The past tense indicates action that is
finished or that is past and done › The rain flooded our streets.
It can also be indicated in the expression "used to" which shows action true in the past but no longer true in the present.› They used to have a musical band
called the Hell Cats. It may also expressed through the past
progressive tense. It is formed by the past form of the auxiliary verb "to be" plus the "ing" form of the verb. It shows action going on in the past before another past action › He was cutting the grass when the
coconut fell on his head. It may also be expressed through the past
emphatic with use of "did". › I did pay my bill.
Future tense indicates action that will take place some time
after the present. It is formed by using the present form of the
verb with the auxiliary verb "will" or "shall".› I shall be home soon.› The debate will last for two hours.
The English language relies upon other expressions to indicate futurity.
The present tense can be used, modified by an adverbial phrase.› The school year opens in June this year.› I fly to Cebu on Friday.
The infinitive can also be used to indicate the future tense.› We are to see the movie this weekend.› There is to be a fun run sponsored by
the Makati Athletic Club.
Present tense Present tense indicates present action, a general
fact or a permanent condition. › The sun sets in the west.
The present tense may also be used in narration to represent a series of events. This called the historical present.› The boy calls for the maid but she is nowhere
around. He looks for his mother in her bedroom. She is not there, either. He runs to the sala, to the dining room and finally to the kitchen. He shouts for help but there is no one in the house. Meanwhile, the monster peeps through the glass sliding door and licks his mouth in anticipation of a good meal.
The present tense may also be expressed through the Present Progressive Tense. The present progressive tense is formed by the present form of the auxiliary verb "to be" plus the "ing" form of the verb.› He is strumming the guitar.
The present tense may also be expressed through the Present Emphatic with the use of "do" for the emphasis or assertion.
I do wish you luck.
Perfect Tenses
Perfect Tenses indicate action that is already completed or perfected.
Usually, there are two actions involved in the perfect tenses and usually, also, one has already begun.
The three kinds of Perfect tenses are:
› Present Perfect Tense› Past Perfect Tense› Future Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Tense The present perfect tense indicates an
action or condition began in the past and just completed or still going on.
It is formed by using the auxiliary verb "have" or "has" with the past participle form.› We have satisfied our college faculty
with their salary adjustment. (Satisfied in the past until the present)
› The rain has stopped. (Rain which has begun sometime in the past has just ended)
› We have eaten our lunch. (Eating started few hours in the past and just finished)
Past Perfect Tense The past perfect tense indicates an
action or condition began in the past and completed also at some point in the past.
It is formed by using the auxiliary verb "had" with the past participle.
› He had worked on his thesis for eleven months. (Started working on his thesis in the past and finished it in the past).
› We had discussed the lesson when the brown-out occurred. (Discussion done in the past before the brown-out happened which is also in the past).
› The signal light had turned red when the car hit the electric post. (The signal light had already turned red in the past before the car hit the post, also in the past.)
Future Perfect Tense The future perfect tense indicates an
action or condition began in the past which will be completed at some future time.
It is formed by using the future of the auxiliary verb "have" (shall have or will have) with the past participle form.
› I shall have spent all my Christmas bonus by New Year's Day. (Spending began in the past and will be over in the future, i.e., by New Year.)
› We shall have graduated from St. Scholastica's College this school year. (Studying in order to graduate started a few years ago in the past and will be completed at the close of this school year.)
› My book will have sold fifty copies next month. (Selling begun in the past and fifty copies of the book will have been sold next month.)
VERBALS
The term Verbal is used to designate a grammatical form which is derived from a verb but functions as a noun, an adjective or an adverb.
Many confuse it for a verb because its form like a verb and it has some characteristics of a verb. However through careful analysis, one will find that verbals cannot make an independent predication or assertion as verbs can.
Verbals come in the forms of:› Gerunds › Participles› Infinitives
GERUND
is a verbal noun. It has the same form as the
present participle, i.e.,the infinitive stem plus "ing", but unlike the present participle it functions as a noun.
› Swimming is good exercise.› He resented my giving him an
advice.› The idea of dancing without
music is absurd.
Present Participle
Past Participle
Perfect Participle
Seeing Seen Having seenDoing Done Having doneFacing Faced Having faced
Participles Participles are verbals used as
adjectives. They have forms that are similar to
verbs. Participles come in three forms:
› Present Participle› Past Participle› Perfect Participle
Participle The Present Participle is form by adding "ing"
to the infinitive stem.› Running furiously through the field, the
man slipped and fell.› The boy felt disgraced, seeing his father in
a drunken stupor. The Past Participle is the third principal part of
any verb.› The Sherbet, listed on the menu, is an
original recipe.› Choreographed by Santiago, the Tales of
Pan, was a visual delight. The Perfect Participle is formed by using the
present participle of the auxiliary verb "to have" followed by the past participle.› Having chased the robber to a dead-end,
police-man drew his gun and fired.› His parents were happy, having seen the
last of their brood graduate.
Infinitive is a verbal that is used as a noun, an
adjective or an adverb. As Noun
› To see the world is my dream. › I have nothing to do with that
suggestion.› Her job, to feed the animals in the
farm, is fun. As Adjectives
› The power to rule is an important prerogative of a leader.
› He gave the command to fire at the crowd.
› His idea to flush out the hijacker was rejected.
As Adverb› We hid to escape from mother's
thrashing.› Hoping to establish a democratic form
of government, he ran for president.› Are you ready to listen to the teacher?
Infinitive
It is commonly preceded by the word "to" and followed by the present form of the verb.
However, "to" as a sign of the infinitive is omitted after such verbs as can, hear, help, may, must, see and watch.› I must do my work. ("to" omitted
after "must")› Can you help me with the dishes?
("to" omitted after "can")› Watch me create a work of art.
("to" omitted after "watch") The sentences that are formed by using
infinitives with the omitted "to" are normally in the imperative mood.
Infinitive
Split infinitives are to be avoided because they affect the clarity and accuracy of the sentence.
Awkward:› To dangerously live is many a
young man's fancy.› We would like to seriously talk
things over.› He promised to immediately give
the Christmas bonus. Better:
› To live dangerously is many young man's fancy.
› We would like to talk things over seriously.
› He promised to give immediately the Christmas Bonus.
VOICE
The property of a verb to indicate whether the subject is the doer or the receiver of the action is called voice.
The two distinctive type of voice is called the Active and the Passive voice.
If the subject performs the action, the verb is in the active voice.
If the subject is being acted upon, the verb is in the passive voice.
Active Voice and Passive Voice
Active Voice expresses dynamic, direct and vital action.
The storm rumbled through the village, uprooted and trees and crushed the nipa huts.
The pope blessed the children. Lolo smoke rolled cigars and
chews beetle nut. Passive Voice is formed by using the
auxiliary verb “to be” with the past participle of the verb. It is unemphatic, indirect and wordy. However, when performer is less important than the performance, the passive voice is preferred.
An investigation was conducted on the leakage of examination questions.
Dinner is served. Let the truth be heard.
MOOD
Mood is the property of verbs which show the attitude of the speaker toward what he says.
The English language has commonly three moods: the indicative, the imperative and the subjunctive.
Indicative Mood shows that the speaker regards the statement as fact and formulates it as a question or a statement.› We regard her as a second mother.› Metro Manila has become terribly
polluted. Imperative Mood has the same form as
the present infinitive but with the “to” omitted. Also omitted is the controlling subject pronoun which is “you”. And Imperative sentence states a request or a command.› Be early tomorrow. (You
“understood”, be early tomorrow.)› Please sign the paper. (You
“understood, please sign the paper.)
Mood Subjunctive Mood is used to express a condition contrary to fact, a supposition mood is used to express a condition contrary to fact, a supposition, an improbability or in “that” clauses expressing a recommendation, a parliamentary motion, a wish or a regret.› If he sing well, we shall invite him
to perform in our Christmas Party.› If it please you, we will have your
car simonized. Like the future perfect tense, the
subjunctive mood is also slowly disappearing from the Modern English.
It is now substituted by the indicative verb forms:› If he sings well, we shall invite
him to perform in our Christmas Party.
› If it pleases you, we will have your car simonized.
Mood There are also instances where the
subjunctive mood can be better expressed with the use of would, could, should, might, ought, need and other auxiliary verbs.› If I should decide to go, I shall let
you know› If you would consent to be my
girl, I shall marry you.› Even if you might hang me, I
would tell the truth. The English language, however, still
retains a number of subjunctive forms in sayings, a certain exclamations and wishes like:› Peace be to you.› God forbid.› So be it.› Come what may.
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