TABE Level D English: Verbs

Verb Words to Know:

Verbs and Time:
Verbs also show time, or what we call tense. Look at these sentences:

Example 1. Present: Marie plans the family picnic each year.
Past: Marie planned the family picnic last year.
Future: Marie will plan the family picnic next year.
Past with helping word, has, have, or had: Marie has planned the family picnic each year. (Note: This is an action that started in the past but continues into the present.)
Progressive: Marie is planning the company picnic each year. (Note: This form shows action in progress.)

These tenses—present, past, future, and past with helping word—have progressive forms. Just add the correct time of be plus –ing to the verb to form the progressive tense:
Present Progressive: Marie is planning the family picnic each year.
Past Progressive: Marie was planning the family picnic each year.
Future Progressive: Marie will be planning the family picnic each year.
Past with helping word has, have, or had: Marie had/has been planning the family picnic each year.

Example 2. Present: Mike walks to the library.
Past: Mike walked to the library.
Future: Mike will walk to the library.
Past with helping word, has, have, or had: Mike has walked to the library.
Progressive: Mike is/was/will be walking to the library.

Example 3. Present: Jack listens to the radio.
Past: Jack listened to the radio.
Future: Jack will listen to the radio
Past with helping word has, have, or had: Jack has listened to the radio.
Progressive: Jack is/was/will/has been listening to the radio.

So far, this is probably very easy for you; you change verb forms—drive, drove, will drive—without even thinking about it.

We say that these verbs change tense, or time, in an organized, regular way. Now, place a pronoun (a word that stands in for a person or thing) in front of the verb. For example, I plan or they plan.

Then continue from there. See the chart below.


You have probably used all of these verb forms for some time. You never think about the changes because they come naturally to you.

If you look at them very carefully, however, you will see a pattern.


What changes occur in these action words in the past tense and with helping words?

Look again at the chart above.
- The answer, of course, is that you add an ed to form the past tense.
- You add a forward-looking word, such as will, to the present tense. That gives you the future tense.
- You add a helping word to the past tense to express the past time that continues into the present. (They have walked to work for three years. They’re still doing it.) They are walking to work.
- You add an –ing ending to the verb, plus a form of be. That gives you the progressive tense or action in progress.

Practice 
Fill each space with one of these action words. The sentences will give you clues to the time of the verb. Change the verb endings when necessary.

1. Yesterday I _____________ over that wire.

2. According to the chart, you will _____________ the dishwasher every night this week.

3. As I _____________ the room, I can see my favorite chair.

4. My newspaper has _____________ on time every Sunday.

5. Your map _____________ me to the campsite.

6. Sophia was _____________ to understand the difference.

You recall that you worked with verbs that changed tense in a regular pattern— adding –ed to the past, and so forth. Now you need to learn about irregular action words/verbs. These are verbs whose spellings change a great deal in order to show tense. They are called, irregular verbs—for a reason.

Many errors in writing and speaking occur because of these irregular verb changes.

Study the list that follows to see if you use the correct forms. As you study the list, what one characteristic do you see that remains the same with every verb?

Hint: Look at the future tense.





More Verb Words to Know:


Another Kind of Verb: Being, Not Performing
Up to now,  we have discussed only one kind of verb: an action word such as write, return, plan, arrive, make, look, and so forth. The subjects or performers, as we have called them, did something, an action. Example:
The sheep provided valuable wool.
The action word/verb in this sentence is very clear:provided. Who did it? The subject, or sheep, did it.

Now you will learn about another type of verb. This kind of verb does not tell what the subject was doing. This verb tells what the subject was being. Some people call these being verbs while others refer to them as nonaction or linking verbs. You’ll see why.

Example: The other candidate was angry.
You can see that there is no action in the sentence, but there is a description of how the candidate felt—how he or she was. The verb, was, links candidate to the describing word, angry. Because of the linking verb, you can turn the sentence around and you can still make sense of the meaning. (Angry was the candidate.)

Linking Verbs


Words Have Names and Jobs: More about Pronouns and Linking Verbs
All of the words in a sentence have both a name and a job. Look at the sentences below. Above each word is its grammatical name and its job in the sentence.

Suppose you used another word for Marge. What would be a good substitute?

Of course, the word that could stand in for Marge is the pronoun, she.

In fact, the job of a pronoun is to stand in for another word. You will need to know more about using pronouns correctly.

The chart below shows that linking verbs also show time, or tense.
The chart also combines tense with number. Again, using pronouns (I, you, he, we, etc.) as subjects you can see that the number of the subject (pronoun) changes the spelling of the linking verb.

Linking Verbs

You may have heard and spoken English for a long time. Most of what you have read above comes naturally to you. Imagine what it must be like to learn this as a second language—so many changes to memorize!

But don’t become too comfortable. Common errors occur when people use linking verbs. How many times have you heard this double error?
Me and Jim was on our way to work.

The first error, of course, is a common pronoun error. You will learn more about this pronoun error later. For now, just remember to state the other person’s name first and choose I for yourself, that is, Jim and I. Now, decide whether the subject—Jim and I—is a singular or plural subject. Yes, it is plural (there are two people in the subject) and it requires a plural linking verb. Look back at the chart. If you substituted a pronoun for Jim and I, which one would it be? Of course, we would be the correct pronoun.

The subject we must agree in number (plural) with the plural linking verb.
We were on our way to work.
We is a plural subject and were is the plural linking verb.

Special Forms of Pronouns + Linking Verbs
We often take shortcuts when we write or speak. We can take a shortcut using pronouns and linking words. A linking word can be combined with the pronoun to construct a new word, a contraction. In each case, one letter is left out of the combination. An apostrophe (’) is used instead of the letter.



NOTE:
Without the apostrophe, its is used to show possession.

Example: The cat took the kitten to its new home.
The information above might not be a great challenge for you. However, the same problem—agreement in number—does remain a challenge. Sometimes we use a contraction when we should not.

Examples:
There’s many problems with your plan. = There is many problems with your plan.
What is wrong with this sentence? Problems is the subject and it is plural. A plural subject agrees with a plural linking verb. Change is to are. The words should be
There are many problems with your plan.
Here’s the magazines you asked for. = Here is the magazines you asked for.

What is wrong with this sentence? Magazines is the subject and it is plural. Once again, you need to use a plural linking verb. Change is to are.

The construction should be:
Here are the magazines you asked for.


Now Add Not
What happens when the contraction is negative? Add not to the following:
is + not isn’t
are + not aren’t
will + not won’t
were + not weren’t
was + not wasn’t

Avoid Double Negatives
You need only one negative in a sentence.
Incorrect: You aren’t never going to finish that job. (are not plus never)
Correct: You aren’t ever going to finish that job.
Incorrect: I haven’t got no time. (have not plus no)
Correct: I haven’t got any time.
Remember that aren’t = are not. Haven’t = have not. Never and no add a second, unneeded, negative to the incorrect sentences.

Never, Never Acceptable
Never use the contraction, ain’t. Think about what it takes the place of and use the correct form instead.

Even though you will find ain’t in some dictionaries, it is not correct usage, ever.

Practice: Find the errors in the following sentences. One sentence is correct as written.

1. My ideas isn’t the worst I’ve ever heard!

2. Wasn’t you and Miguel supposed to start at 8 a.m.?

3. I ain’t ever going to make that mistake again!

4. I can’t sign up at the community college until September.

5. There’s plenty of grapes on the vine.

Answers: 1. isn’t (Use a plural linking verb, aren’t, to agree with ideas.)

2. wasn’t (Use a plural linking verb, weren’t, to agree with the plural subject, you and Miguel.

3. ain’t (Ain’t is never acceptable. In this sentence, use am not.)

4. Correct as written

5. There’s (There’s, meaning there is, is singular. The subject, plenty is plural. Use there are plenty…)