TCTC Writing Center
Prepared by Jennifer Higgins-Spiers
July, 2007

Verbs are action words of the sentence. They show what the nouns and/or pronouns are doing. The English language has THREE types of verbs: action, linking and helping.
Additionally, verbs have 4 major tenses: present
(happening NOW) , past (happened before now), past
participle (past tense verbs with the helping verbs have/has/had), and future (WILL happen). We will focus more on the present, past and past participle tenses.

Action verbs show PHYSICAL action. The verb can actually be ‘done’ by the subject.
Tyler gave his mother his snotty tissue.
Tyler physically GAVE his mother this tissue. He physically used his hand to move the tissue toward his mother.
Megan ran fifteen miles before she collapsed.
Megan physically RAN. She physically moved her legs and moved her body forward.

Linking verbs do just what they say they do….link.
They are state of being verbs that can NOT be done physically. State of being verbs simply state what the subject IS, smells like, feels like, tastes like, looks like, and so on. They link the subject to the object via description. Adjectives and
Adverbs ALWAYS follow the linking verb.

• This cat looks like my grandfather.
• The teachers became angry with the student’s inability to use commas.
• That dog is always happy.
• Paula Abdul must feel stupid about tripping over her dog and breaking her nose.
• My doctor seems impatient; I hate him.
Notice how the subject cannot physically verbs. The verbs show the state of the do these subjects…they state what the subjects ARE vs. what they DO.

Action Vs Linking:
Some verbs can be BOTH action or linking, depending on the context.
ACTION
• He smelled pizza
• I looked at my mother.
• She felt around for her glasses.
• We tasted escargot for the first time.
LINKING
• The pizza smells good.
• My mother looks tired.
• The glasses felt tight on her face.
• Escargot tastes like mushrooms.
Notice the difference between the verbs used in each column? The subject can physically do the verb in the first column, but in the second column, the same verb is used to link the subject to its description

Helping verbs do just that. They HELP verbs!
Helping verbs include have, has, had, am, is, was, were, be, being, and been. They are used to
ENHANCE an action verb. For example:
I have gone fishing all summer.
They are being ridiculous.
She has been feeling dizzy lately.
Bubba is watching his favorite soap opera today.

If you have taken a foreign language, you may be familiar with the word
‘infinitive’. An infinitive is a base verb—all verbs come from infinitives.
Infinitive formula (who says English and math don’t work together?) to + verb = infinitive to be to have to see to die to sneeze to roll over to wink to use
…..and so on…..

In the most languages, in addition to ‘action, linking, helping’ verbs, there are also
REGULAR verbs and IRREGULAR verbs.
They are called regular/irregular based on verb conjugations.

When you change a root verb based on a subject, you are conjugating. For example, let’s look at the verb ‘to talk’.
I talk , talked , have/had talked
You talk , talked , have/had talked
He/she/it talks , talked, has/had talked
We talk , talked , have/had talked
They talk, talked, have/had talked
Do you see how the verb
‘to talk’ was used in many different ways? That is what conjugation is. You do this with EVERY verb, whether you know it or not!

If you can put –ed at the end of a verb to make it in the past tense, then the verb is regular.
If you cannot put –ed at the end of a verb to make it in the past tense, then the verb is irregular.
• jump, jumped, have/has/had jumped
• act, acted, have/has/had acted
• walk, walked, have/has/had walked
• Study, studied, have/has/had studied
•
• sing, sang, have/has/had sung
• ring, rang, have/has/had rung
• bring, brought have/has/had brought fall, fell, have/has/had fallen
Remember: have/has/had are used with the PAST PARTICIPAL

Conjunctions are ‘linking’ words. They join two or more ideas together. In our wonderful world of English grammar, there are TWO types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating.

FANBOYS:
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
• Coordinating conjunctions act like your typical coordinator. They divvy up equal ideas.
• If a coordinating conjunction is used, you know it will be to join two independent sentences or to join subjects, verbs or direct objects together.
• Key word: EQUAL ideas.
Shirley said she didn’t like to eat meat , yet she eats chicken nuggets at Burger King!
Shirley said she didn’t like to eat meat is an independent clause.
She eats chicken nuggets at Burger King is also an independent clause.
 The word ‘yet’ joins to EQUAL independent clauses.

as as if
• To subordinate means to make inferior.
Subordinating conjunctions do JUST THAT. after although
• These conjunctions JOIN ideas, but instead of joining two equal ideas like coordinating conjunctions do, they join ideas by making one idea inferior to the other.
as soon as because
• In other words, the conjunction joins two ideas– one idea is stronger than the other.
before if since unless until when(ever) whereas while
After we finish dinner , we will watch a movie .
If you take away the word after in the first clause, you will see that we finish dinner is an independent clause.
The word ‘after’ MAKES it dependent.
Therefore, ‘after’ makes the clause inferior/subordinate.

Coordinating vs. Subordinating
Sentences with Coordinating
Conjunctions
The stray dog growled, so the children knew to stay away from it.
We need to make sure we have enough money and plenty of food to eat.
Angelina Jolie is a great actress, but she is also a humanitarian.
You need to make sure you study comma rules, or you will be in big trouble!
Sentences with Subordinating
Conjunctions
Because the stray dog growled , the children knew to stay away.
Since we are going on a long trip , we need to make sure we have enough money and plenty of food.
Although Angelina Jolie is a great actress , she does humanitarian work as well.
You need to make sure you study comma rules because bad comma usage can get you in trouble!

You will GENERALLY use commas with conjunctions; however, this is not always the case. Make sure you study your comma rules before you go conjunction crazy in your writing!
If you are struggling with commas, check out our PowerPoint presentation on commas, and/or go to www.chompchomp.com

• Students make prepositions harder than they really are.
While there are a LOT of prepositions, keep in mind that there is NO NEED to MEMORIZE what prepositions are– get a feel for what they DO in a sentence.
• Generally, prepositions show relation to time or place within the sentence. There are few prepositions that aide in describing how the subject is as well as conditions placed on the subject.

REMEMBER:
DO NOT MEMORIZE THIS LIST!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Place prepositions against among around at behind beneath below between beyond by down from in
• in front of
Time prepositions Other prepositions
• into
• inside
• off
• on
• onto
• over
• out (of)
• outside
• to
• through(out)
• under
• up
• upon
• after
• before
• during
• until
• since
•
•
•
•
• as despite like without of

Prepositions are ALWAYS in phrases. Sometimes they act as adjectives, but most times, they act as adverbs. Here are some examples:
We will go visit Bubba after the pie eating contest.
This phrase shows WHEN we will visit Bubba; therefore, it shows relation to TIME.
The barf bag is in the compartment in front of you.
Both of these phrases show WHERE the barf bag is; therefore, it shows relation to
PLACE .
She won’t go without her dog .
The phrase describes her condition on whether or not she will go. With her dog, she will; without her dog, she won’t.
Like his grandfather , Charlie enlisted in the Marines.
This phrase describes how Charlie enlisted in the marines.

• Interjections are probably the most FUN part of speech to use. These words show emotion (disappointment, stress, anger, happiness, pleasure, excitement, rage, frustration, and so on…)
• Interjections are either followed by a comma or an exclamation mark(!).
You use whatever punctuation you want, depending on how much you want to stress the emotion. Obviously, if you want to place a LOT of emphasis on the emotion, you use an exclamation mark. Otherwise, just use a comma.

• Ouch! That really stings!
• Man! I can’t believe you’d do that to me!
• Ok, what do you want me to do now?
• So, what’s the big deal?
• Hallelujah! The semester is over!
• Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead!
• $@*$*! Is that true?
---you can use your imagination for other examples.
*Note* Interjections are not generally used in formal papers. This is just to show you what interjections are.

It is very unlikely that you will have to pull apart a sentence and indicate every single part of speech; HOWEVER, you must be familiar with these terms in order to be successful with more important aspects of grammar, such as the usage of commas and semi colons and distinguishing between independent and dependent clauses.

Now that you are done reading this, you are ready to go to the next lesson– phrases and clauses.
That lesson will go over the formation and function of these complicated grammatical entities. Now that you have a grammar foundation, perhaps it won’t be as complicated!
Feel free to refer back to this presentation anytime you are struggling!