S.D.A. School English A: Grammar Review

Definition of a verb and examples:

A verb is often defined as a word which shows action or state of being. The verb is the heart of a sentence - every sentence must have a verb. Recognizing the verb is often the most important step in understanding the meaning of a sentence.

Example:

Action	State of being
The dog bit the man.	She is a smart girl.
The street artist draws portraits of passersby.	Nylon is a human-made fibre.

Unlike most of the other parts of speech, verbs change their form. Sometimes endings are added (learn - learned) and sometimes the word itself becomes different (teach-taught). The different forms of verbs show different meanings related to such things as

ü tense (past, present, future),

ü person (first person, second person, third person),

ü number (singular, plural)

ü auxiliaries(any verbs used with other verbs)

The common auxiliary verbs are:

To be	To have	To do	Modals
be is was am are were	have has had	do does did	shall – should can – could may – might will – would

Verb tense – Regular and Irregular forms

Basic facts:

ü The word TENSE is just another word for TIME; thus, the PRESENT TIME, PAST TIME AND FUTURE TIME.

ü There are 3 principal parts of a verb: PRESENT, PAST and PARTICIPLE (Present or Past).

ü According to the way in which the principal parts are formed, verbs may be either REGULAR or IRREGULAR.

REGULAR VERBS form their past and past participle by adding d or ed to the present form.

PRESENT TENSE	PRESENT PARTICIPLE+ aux “to be”	PAST TENSE	PAST PARTICIPLE + aux “to have”
walk jump carry	walking jumping carrying	walked jumped carried	walked jumped carried

IRREGULAR VERBS do not form their past and past participle by adding d or ed to the present form.

PRESENT TENSE	PRESENT PARTICIPLE+ aux “to be”	PAST TENSE	PAST PARTICIPLE + aux “to have”
choose sing go	choosing singing going	chose sang went	chosen sung gone

Click link below:

Irregular Verbs List from A - Z

Uses of Present tense and examples

When do I use the present tense?
There are two types of present tense – simple and present participle

a) Use the present simple form of a verb when

· The action takes place now. e.g. I want you to help me now.

· The action is something that happens regularly. e.g. I walk the dog everyday./I go shopping on Fridays.

· You are describing things that are generally true. e.g. Train travel is expensive./The world is round.

NOTE! When it is 'he', 'she' or 'it' doing the action, remember to add 's', 'es' or change the 'y'to 'ies'.
e.g.

Simple present tense verbs have a special form for the third person singular. Singular means "one" and plural means "more than one." Person is used here to show who or what does the action and can have the following forms:

    1st person or the self (I, we)
    2nd person or the person spoken to (you)
    3rd person or a person not present (he, she, it, they)

Number	Person	Present	Other subjects
Singular	1st (I)	watch a lot of films
	2nd (you)	watch a lot of films
	3rd (he, she, it)	watches a lot of films	The cat, James, pride, money…
Plural	1st (we)	watch a lot of films	Portia and I, my sister and I…
	2nd (you)	watch a lot of films
	3rd (they)	watch a lot of films	The Watsons, Linda and John, cats

b) Use the present continuous form of a verb when:

The action isn't a single action; it is an action that carries on. It is good for describing what people are doing at a particular moment.
e.g. I am kicking the ball. He is walking the dog.

The present continuous is made by having am, is or are + the verb + 'ing'.

I	Am	working hard
you we they	Are	working hard
he she it	Is	working hard

NOTE! Sometimes you can use the present continuous to talk about the future.
e.g. I am going on holiday on Friday.

Uses of Past tense and examples

a) Use the simple past form of a verb when you are talking about an action that took place at a specific point in the past and that is now finished.
e.g. I kicked the ball and scored a goal. I walked the dog yesterday. I went to Florida last year.

b) There are specific situations where certain forms of the verb have to be used.

After the modal auxiliary, the infinitive has to be used regardless of whether the subject is plural or singular.

Example: I/We/She/He/They/You could eat at the canteen

walk to the playground.

visit the zoo.

modal auxiliary	bare infinitive (without to)
shall, should will, would may, might can, could must, ought do, does, did	Eat run go see finish not have

The following verbs are often troublesome.

Base form	Present participle	Past	Past participle
Lie (to recline) The dog is lying in the doorway. Lay (to put) Sarah laid the ingredients on the table	(is) lying (is) laying	Lay laid	(have) lain (have) laid
Rise (to go up) My parents rise at about 6:30 most mornings. Raise (move smthg up) I’m glad you raised the issue!	(is) rising (is) raising	Rose raised	(have) risen (have) raised

Frequency words such as seldom, often, always, never, rarely do not affect the verb. For agreement the verb is dependent on the subject.

He/She	always often seldom rarely never	goes there.
We/They	always often seldom rarely never	go there.

N.B. Be consistent with your verb tenses; do not change needlessly from one tense to another. If you begin in the past tense, end in the past tense, et cetera.

E.g. Sheila drove to the store and buys lunch. ×

Sheila drove to the store and bought lunch. √