VERBS!

WHAT IS A VERB AND WHY IS IT CONFUSING??

VERBS

A verb is a word that shows action or a state of being.

Action: run, swim, jump, taste, fall, dream

State of being: be, appear, seem, feel

VERB TENSES

Verb tenses let us know when the action happens.

Present tense: I pass tests sometimes, but not often enough.

Past tense: I passed the test yesterday

Future tense: I know I will pass the test tomorrow.

MORE VERB TENSES AND SOME CONFUSION

Verbs have six tenses to choose from:

Present tense: I eat pizza often.

Past tense: I ate pizza last night.

Future tense: I will eat pizza tomorrow.

Present perfect tense: I have eaten pizza many times.

Past perfect tense: I had eaten pizza just before school.

Future perfect tense: I will have eaten pizza 10 times by the end of the week.

MORE VERB TENSES…AND MORE CONFUSION

There are six progressive verb forms. Progressive means that the action is continues for a while.

Present progressive: I am eating pizza.

Past progressive: I was eating pizza when you called.

Future progressive: I will be eating pizza tonight.

Present perfect progressive: I have been eating pizza all day.

Past perfect progressive: I had been eating pizza for three hours when I finally felt full.

Future perfect progressive: I will have been eating pizza for five hours nonstop when bedtime rolls around.

WHEN TO USE PRESENT TENSEPresent action: I want to eat pizza right now.

Action that happens over and over: I eat pizza almost ever day.

Scientific facts and other things that are always true: Eating 25 pizzas a day is not good for you.

Headlines: “Local Teacher Nearly Explodes from Pizza Overdose”

Sometimes the present tense is used in place of the future tense: Tomorrow I leave for a hospital that cures pizza addiction.

In papers/reports: In the final scenes of Pizza Panic, the heroine of the story is cured of her pizza addiction and lives happily ever after.

BE CONSISTENT WITH VERB TENSES

WEAK: I got home late and Mom fusses at me for not calling to let her know where I will be.

I got home=past tense

Mom fusses=present tense

where I will be=future tense

BETTER: I got home late and Mom fussed at me for not calling to let her know where I had been.

I got home=past tense

Mom fussed=past tense

where I had been=past perfect tense

INFINITIVES AND SPLIT INFINITIVES

An infinitive is a verb with the word to in front of it. Splitting an infinitive means putting one or more words between to and the verb.

Infinitive Non-split infinitive Split infinitive

to run to run quickly to quickly run

to swim to swim eagerly to eagerly swim

to jump to jump determinedly to determinedly jump

SPLIT INFINITIVES

WEAK: It is usually better to not split infinitives.

BETTER: It is usually better not to split infinitives.

Split infinitives when you want to emphasize the word or words in between.

RIGHT: I want you to study the material for the test.

MORE EMPHASIS: I want you to thoroughly study the material for the test.

SPLIT INFINITIVES

When you split an infinitive, be careful not to put too many words between to and the verb.

CONFUSING: I want you to thoroughly and deliberately, without cutting any corners or making any excuses, study for the test.

BETTER: I want you to thoroughly and deliberately study for the test without cutting any corners or making any excuses.

ACTIVE OR PASSIVE VOICE

Most writers dislike passive voice. They say it is too blah.

PASSIVE VOICE: The ball was hit.

(By whom? The passive voice hides the doer of the action. To figure out if you are using passive voice, add “by zombies” to the end of your sentence. If it makes sense, you have passive voice.)

ACTIVE VOICE: Hector hit the ball.

PASSIVE VOICE: Property taxes will be raised. (By whom? By Zombies??!!)

ACTIVE VOICE: Congress will raise property taxes.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE: My nose was punched by you! (At least we know who did it, but eeeww. No one talks this way.)

ACTIVE VOICE: You punched me in the nose!

Passive voice is less dynamic because it ignores or downplays the doer of the action. Imagine you are a sportswriter. Which voice do you think your readers would find more interesting?

ACTIVE/PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE: The ball was hit and a run was scored. The score was kept and eventually the game was won. Strong emotions were felt by the fans and much applause was heard.

ACTIVE VOICE: In the bottom of the 9th inning, Slugger Batson slammed the ball across the fence, and every player on the previously loaded bases slid home. Our team won 10-8! The crowd went wild!

SOMETIMES PASSIVE VOICE IS THE BETTER CHOICE…(SO MUCH CONFUSION.)

Passive voice is often better in these cases:

The doer of the action is not important or is unknown:

EX: School is canceled today! (Who cares who canceled it?)

EX: The cafeteria food was contaminated. (Nobody knows who contaminated it.)

MORE TIMES WHEN PASSIVE VOICE IS BETTER

You want to be polite, avoid sounding bossy, or soften a strong statement.

PASSIVE VOICE: You application was rejected.

ACTIVE VOICE: We rejected your application.

PASSIVE VOICE: The test must be finished in one hour.

ACTIVE VOICE: You must finish this test in one hour.

AND EVEN MORE TIMES WHEN PASSIVE VOICE IS THE BETTER CHOICE

You want to emphasize the thing you’re talking about, not the person doing the action:

PASSIVE VOICE: This big blue ribbon will be given to the winner. (Emphasizing the thing.)

ACTIVE VOICE: The winner will receive this big blue ribbon. (Emphasizing the person)

A FINAL TIME WHEN PASSIVE VOICE IS THE BETTER CHOICE

You are writing in an impersonal, scientific manner.

PASSIVE VOICE: The mice were separated into two groups.

ACTIVE VOICE: My lab partner and I separated the mice into two groups.

GERUNDS!

If you put –ing on the end of a verb, you an turn that verb into a noun—and that noun is called a gerund.

I run [verb]. Running is fun [gerund].

I eat [verb]. Eating ice cream is even more fun than running [gerund].

LINKING VERBS

Linking verbs join—or link—the subject of a sentence with a word or words that identify or describe it.

EX: Africa is the second largest of the seven continents.

Suddenly, the room became quiet. His face turned red.

Some verbs can be both linking and action verbs—but not at the same time. If the word or words following the verb identify or describe the subject, the verb is a linking verb.

LINKING VERB: Ed feels sick. All food tastes strange to him.

ACTION VERB: Ed feels the top of the melon. He will taste it later.

VERB PHRASE

A verb phrase contains a main verb (v) plus one or more helping (or auxiliary) verbs (hv).

The plumber should have been here by now. helping verb (hv) verb

Hasn’t anyone called her yet?(hv) (v)

Not (n’t in a contraction) is never part of the verb phrase.