What is a verb?
Verbs are words that describe:
– an action
Bill hopped, skipped, and ran down the street.
– a state
Her name is Sally. She has three brothers and a
sister.
–
an occurrence/happening
Snow glistened on the tree tops.
The blackout occurred after midnight.
Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs
Auxiliary (helping) verbs are words that help
the main verb. They have no meaning on
their own. Helping verbs are needed to make
the sentence grammatically correct.
Examples:
Peter is going to town.
Jane would have gone, but she didn’t have
a ride.
Auxiliary (Helping) Verb Song
(Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)
Helping Verbs! Helping Verbs! There are 23....
Am, is are! Was and were! Being, been, and be!
Have, has, had! Do, does, did!
Shall, should, will, and would!
There are 5 more helping verbs: may, might,
must, can, and could!
Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs
may
might
must
be
being
been
am
are
is
was
were
do
does
did
(main)
(main)
should
could
would
have
had
has
(main)
will
can
shall
Practice
Verb Phrases include the MV and any AuxV
Auxiliary Verb
Main Verb
1. Chris has gone to the movie.
has
gone
2. That worker had eaten in a café.
had
eaten
Practice: Identify MV + AuxV
That car was
____ sent
_____ to the shop again.
2. A credit card disappeared
_______________ from his wallet.
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The tomato plant ___
has _______
grown extremely large.
Marty had
___ come
_______ to the party early.
We _____
could ______
have _______
swum for another hour.
I will
sit here awhile and rest
____ my feet.
___ ___
You should
________ lay
___ the book on the table.
Practice: Identify MV + AuxV
1. A surfer _____
laid his board on the sand.
2. My grandfather _____
sits by a stream during
3.
4.
5.
6.
fishing season.
Jenny is
lying in the sun without a hat.
__ ______
That lady _____
will always ____
sit in the sun
without her hat and sweat.
________
Before you _____
buy a car, you _________
should look
______
under the hood and kick
_____ the tires.
Rob ____________
invented a robot that ____
will vacuum
___________
the rug.
Linking Verbs
Linking verbs are words that connect the
subject to additional information about the
subject.
Linking verbs connect the subject to a
predicate noun (PN) or predicate adjective
(PA).
Examples
George Washington became the first
president.
Paul is nine years old.
Linking Verbs
The most common linking verb is the verb to be.
Other common linking verbs are forms of
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
to become
to seem
to appear
to look
to feel
to sound
to taste
to smell
Practice: Identify AV or LV
Try to identify PA, PN, and DO…and T or I
1.
The sky is cloudy. cloudy sky
PA
2.
His ring is gold. gold ring
PA
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
L
_____
The fudge became
__________ sticky.
L
_____
The floor behind the stove grew
______ dirty.
A
_____
I walked
_________ to the store.
L
_____
The soup _______
tastes spicy to me.
A
_____
I ____
will taste
______ those brownies after work.
Practice
Try to identify PA, PN, and DO…and T or I
L
1. ____
Our cat seems sick.
is
L
2. ____
His idea sounded terrific.
was
1. ____
Choir members _______
remain discordant.
L
L
2. ____
Joe _____
feels tired after a long day.
A
3. ____
Because of the snow, the children
will
___ remain
_______ in the house.
L
4. ____
We _____
must stay
____ upbeat in spite of the
loss.
Practice
Try to identify PA, PN, and DO…and T or I
A
1. ____
A guide ______
lives in those mountains.
A
2. ____
Margo could
_______ stay
_____ with her sister.
L
3. ____
Todd’s dogs _____
are poodles.
A
4. ____
The dogs bark
______ throughout the night.
L
5. ____
This document _________
seems important.
A
6. ____
Mrs. Jones ________
starts class at 8 AM.
L
7. ____
Students _____
are becoming
_____________ restless.
Practice
Try to identify PA, PN, and DO…and T or I
L
1. ____
Cream will
____ turn
_____ sour in a week.
A
2. ____
Martha _____
felt the rain on her face.
L
3. ____
You _______
must stay
clean today.
_____
L
4. ____
After eating the candy, I felt
____ sick.
A
5. ____
In the end, only two men _____________
remained.
A
6. ____
A comet appeared
_____________ in the sky.
A
7. ____
Robin ___________
smelled the garden flowers.
8. ____
My father quickly _______
grew impatient.
L
The more you know…
1. I want to start running.
want = main verb (action verb)
to start = verbal (infinitive) = noun (DO)
Want what? “to start”
to start running = infinitive phrase
running = verbal (gerund) = noun (DO)
Start what? “running”
… but in this sentence, the “action verb” is “want”
because “to start” is a verbal, not a verb.
1. Feeling sad, Janice began to cry.
began = main verb (action verb)
Began what? “to cry”
to cry = verbal (infinitive) = noun (DO)
feeling = verbal (present participle)
feeling sad = present participial phrase
Who is feeling sad? Janice
feeling sad modifies Janice (adjective)
… in this sentence, the “action verb” is “began”
because “to cry” and “feeling” are verbals.