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 TENSE
Present 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 108! 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.