A guide for the usage of verbs

1. The vital part of a sentence

2.  By the end of this class students should be
able to:
 Identify verbs within a sentence.
 Understand the key components of sentence
building.
 Know the different types of verbs, e.g. action
or linking.
 Build an awareness of verb tenses and usage.

3.  Verbs tell us what people are doing or being.
They can change according to the time being
spoken about, past, present or future.
 When you are writing, make sure every
sentence has a verb in it.
 E.g. Sam finished his homework in the library.
 In this sentence ‘finished’ is the verb (it says
what Sam did with his homework in the past).

4.  The most simple sentence type includes a
noun and a verb. This sentence can be as
short as two words. For example:
 I ran
 She jumped
 We laughed
 They learned
 He’s walking

5.  All sentences need a verb.
 Here are some examples:
 Santosh reads the Hindu Times on the train
every morning.
 The bicycle belongs to me.

6. Exercise: identify the verb
Listen to the song and fill in the blank spaces
Let it be – The Beatles

7.  Jack always runs to school.
 He went to the shops.
 I to the Deshpande Foundation at 7.30am.
 We spoke with the farmers.
 The education good today.
 Tomorrow we will go to Vidyanagar.
 This morning at 8.00pm I went for dinner.

8.  The verb is perhaps the most important
part of the sentence.
 A verb asserts something about the subject
of the sentence and expresses actions,
events, or states of being.
 In order for a sentence to be complete,
there must be a verb.
 EXAMPLES:
◦ Dracula bites his victims on the neck.
◦ In early October, Giselle will plant twenty tulip
bulbs.
◦ My first teacher was Miss Crawford.
◦ Karl Creelman bicycled around the world in 1899.

9.  Action verbs are those that express the
performance of an action. Action verbs refer
to something that the subject of the verb can
do.
 EXAMPLES:
◦ In the library and at church, Michelle giggles
inappropriately.
◦ Because of the spicy food, David reached for his
water.
◦ The alarm clock buzzed like an angry bumble bee.

10.  In pairs, look at your role play description,
decide how to act out your role.

11. Forms of to
be
Present Past Perfect Continuous
I am was Have/have
been
am/am
being
He/she/it Is was Has/has
been
Is/is being
You/we/they Are were Have been Are/are
being

12.  Observe Tell Approach Gain
 Watch Say Agree Focus
 Speak Go Acquire Illustrate
 Talk Have Communicate Utilise
 Write Can Facilitate Respond
 Read Use Implement Provide
 See Sell Generate Prepare
 Conclude Look Anticipate Propose
 Learn Study Obtain Investigate

13.  I am a teacher. (Statement)
 Am I a teacher? (Question)

14. Forms of to
be
Present Past Perfect Continuous
I am Was Have/have
been
am/am
being
He/she/it is was Has/has
been
Is/is being
You/we/they are were Have/have
been
Are/are
being

15. Am/Are Is
Question - ? “Am I disturbing you?” “Is this your coat?”
Positive answer (yes) “Yes you are.” “Yes it is.”
Negative answer (no) “No you’re not.” “No it isn’t.”
Was/were was
Question - ? “Was I disturbing you?” “Was that your old
house?”
Positive answer (yes) “Yes you were.” “Yes it was.”
Negative answer (no) “No you weren’t.” “No it wasn’t.”

16.  Two verbs are sometimes put together,
especially with verbs like can, must and
should.
 I can see the sea from my house.
 You really must see the new Bond film.
 We can also use more than one word to form
a tense:
 We have been driving for hours.

17.  Linking verbs do not show action.
 She is angry.
The word is (a form of the verb to be) links the subject she to the subject
complement angry.
 Linking verb followed by predicate nouns:
My friend is a teacher.
Mike became the president of the company.
 Linking verb followed by predicate adjectives:
I feel nervous.
That pie tastes delicious.
 List of common linking verbs
appear, become, feel, get, go, grow, look, prove, remain, seem, smell,
sound, taste, turn and any form of the verb be.
 Only become and seem are always linking verbs. Other verbs from the
list above sometimes can function as action verbs.

18.  Linking verbs do not express action. Instead,
they connect the subject of the verb to
additional information about the subject. The
most common linking verbs are to be, to have,
and to do.
 EXAMPLES:
◦ Mary is very tall.
◦ It looks like he is going crazy.
◦ My bedroom was very cold last night.
◦ I am very tired today.

19.  What is a helping (auxiliary) verb?
Helping verbs help main verbs express tenses.
 Here is the list of helping verbs
am, are, is,
was, were, be,
being, been
do, does, did
shall, will
may, must, might
have, has, had
can, could, would, should

20.  Not every sentence has or needs a helping
verb.
 Any time you see a verb ending in “ing”, a
helping verb usually accompanies it.
 Sometimes other words separate the helping
verb and main verb in the sentence. The word
“not” is an example. Sarah couldn’t run as
fast as Beth. Here the word “not” separates
the helping verb “could” from the main verb
“run.”

21.  The primary helping verbs are be, do, and
have. They’re called primary because they can
help main verbs or they can actually be the
main verb.
 Here is a list of “be” verb forms:
 am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be.

22.  Katy is watching television. (this shows a
continuous tense.)
 The other children are playing outside. (this
example shows the passive tense.)

23.  The helping verb have is used to make
perfect tenses. The perfect tense shows
action that is already completed.
 I have finished washing the dishes. (Dish
washing is complete!)

24.  Do. The verb “do” can perform a variety of
functions:
 To make negatives: I do not care for biryani.
 To ask questions: Do you like biryani?
 To show emphasis: I do want you to eat your
biryani.
 To stand for a main verb: Shankar likes
biryani more than Devappa does.

25.  A. The house is two bedrooms. B. Their house
has two bedrooms. C. Their house have two
bedrooms. D. Their house is two bedrooms.
E. Their house 2 bedrooms have.

26.  Future Tenses
 Simple Future: They
will walk
 Future Progressive:
I will be walking
 Future Perfect: They
will have walked
 Future Perfect
Progressive: They
will have been
walking
Present Tenses
Simple Present: They
walk
Present Progressive:
They are walking
Present Perfect:
They have walked
Present Perfect
Progressive: They
have been walking
Past Tenses
Simple Past: They
walked
Past Progressive:
They were
walking
Past Perfect:
They had walked
Past Perfect
Progressive: They
had been walking