Exercises on Verbs
Exercise #1
Study each of the following sentences. Double underline the verbal element and underline
the indirect object and direct object. Also specify the type of object by writing IO and
above each of them.
IO
DO
1. The minister granted journalists an interview.
IO
DO
2. I gave each of the boys an apple.
IO
DO
3. Jim paid the man in the booth a quarter.
IO
DO
4. The agent has sold the couple a house.
IO
DO
5. They will buy their father and mother a present.
IO
DO
6. My mother taught me this song.
IO
DO
7. The company may have offered John’s wife a high salary.
IO
DO
8. Can you tell me who wrote this book?
IO
DO
9. He asked her if she would drive him home.
IO
DO
10. She informed her mother-in-law, Elizabeth, that she had not changed her plan.
Exercise #2
Study each of the following sentences. Double underline the verbal element; then,
underline the direct object and the objective complement. Also specify the type of object
by writing DO and OC above each of them.
DO
OC
1. We elected Jimmy President.
1
IO
DO
2. They made him a member of the club.
DO
OC
3. He painted his house yellow.
DO
OC
4. We have found him dishonest.
DO
OC
5. They considered his conduct a scandal and a disgrace.
DO
OC
6. She may cut her hair short.
DO
OC
7. We found it a trying and difficult task for beginners.
DO
OC
8. They might have considered the job finished.
DO
OC
9. They will appoint you as chairman of the committee.
DO
OC
10. They will appoint you to be chairman of the committee.
Exercise #3
In the blank provided on the left, indicate the function of the underlined structure of
coordination by using the following abbreviations.
DO - direct object
IO
- indirect object
M - modifier
OC - objective complement
S
- subject
SC - subjective complement
P
- predicate
DO
1. Jane usually comes to visit her uncle and aunt in summer.
OC
2. Either his mistakes or his bad luck keeps him poor.
SC
3. That book is neither interesting nor accurate.
OC
4. The object is to make our research readable and comprehensible
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DO
5. In my spare time, I enjoy reading novels or watching television.
OC
6. The English found oranges grown in Florida juicy and sweet.
S
7. The committee concluded that the management, not the work-force, should
be responsible for the damage.
IO
8. The company paid Helen and her husband a large sum of money.
Exercise #4
In the following sets of sentences, comment on the changes of transitive and
intransitive use and corresponding changes in meaning.
1 They’re growing. They’re growing bigger. They’re growing bigger cabbages.
They are becoming larger is size. (Complete intransitive verb)
They are growing in size too. (Incomplete intransitive/linking verb)
2 I’m writing. I’m writing a letter. I’m writing him a letter.
Complete intransitive – Mono transitive – Di-transitive
3 Save me. Save me some. Save me, somebody!
Mono intransitive in the imperative mood.
Di-transitive in the imperative mood = keep some food for me
Mono transitive in the vocative mood
4 They called me. They called me a doctor. They called me a good doctor.
Mono transitive – Complex transitive - Di-transitive 5 She teaches. She teaches me. She teaches me the violin.
Incomplete intransitive – Mono transitive – Di-transitive
Exercise #5
Explain the cause of ambiguity in each of the following sentences.
1. We bought her pearl necklaces last month.
'Her' can be a possessive adjective and thus bought is a mono transitive verb = the
thing that we bought was her pearl earrings. Or 'her' can be an object form of the
pronoun and thus 'bought' is a di-transitive verb = we bought pearl earrings for her.
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2. Mother has baked potatoes for dinner.
"has' can be an auxiliary verb and baked is the main verb = Mother has cooked
potatoes for dinner. Or 'has' can be a main verb meaning 'eats' and baked is a
participial adjective describing the noun 'potatoes'.
3. They are discouraging students.
'are' can be an auxiliary verb and 'discouraging' is the main verb = Some other
people are demotivating these students. 'are' can be a main verb and 'disncouraging'
can be a participial adjective describing the students. Thus the students themselves are
discouraging or demotivating.
Exercise #6
Identify the underlined part in the sentence below by circling a or b:
Located on the River Thames, London is a tourist attraction visited by many tourists.
A
B
C
a.
Finite
A
b.
Non-Finite
a.
Finite
B
b.
Non-Finite
a.
Finite
C
b.
Non-Finite
Exercise #7
Explain the difference between each pair of sentences
1. a. She found it easily.
b. She found it easy.
a. 'found' is a mono transitive verb = She was looking for some thing and
she found it in an easy way.
b. 'found' is a complex transitive verb and easy is an object complement =
She was trying to do r answer something and it was easy.
2. a. We called him.
b. We called him champion.
a. 'called' is a mono transitive verb and the sentence means we
phoned him.
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b. 'called' is a complex transitive verb and the sentence means we named
him champion.
Exercise #8
Rewrite the following sentences correcting all the sentences:
1. He is being Palestinian.
He is Palestinian_______________
2. I haven’t a lot to do.
I don't have much to do._____________
3. The trash was took by the dustman.
The trash was taken by the dustman_____________________
4. He has send me much information about my research topic.
__He has sent me much information about my research topic._____
Exercise #9
Identify the underlined part in the sentence below by circling the appropriate letter(s):
The committee held a meeting to discuss punctuality.
A
B
C
D
A
B
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
collective noun
uncountable noun
countable noun
common
abstract noun
main verb
finite verb
nonfinite verb
transitive verb
intransitive verb
D
D
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
finite verb
nonfinite verb
adverb phrase
transitive verb
intransitive verb
collective noun
countable noun
uncountable noun
common
abstract noun
Exercise #10
Identify the underlined part in the sentence below by circling the appropriate letter(s):
The waitress served the customers delicious food.
A
B
C
D
A
a.
b.
c.
in the subjective case
in the accusative case
in the dative case
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B
C
D
d.
in the vocative case
a.
b.
c.
a.
b.
c.
d.
a.
b.
c.
d.
mono—transitive verb
di-transitive verb
complex transitive verb
in the subjective case
in the accusative case
in the dative case
in the vocative case
in the subjective case
in the accusative case
in the dative case
in the vocative case
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Exercise #10
Identify the underlined part in the sentence below by circling the appropriate letter(s):
Laughter is the best cure.
A
B
C
A
B
C
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
a collective noun
an uncountable noun
a count noun
a proper noun
an abstract noun
main verb
complete intransitive
incomplete intransitive
modal auxiliary
linking verb
a collective noun
an uncountable noun
a count noun
a proper noun
an abstract noun
a concrete noun
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