Monday Verb Number and Person

Transcription

1 Monday Verb Number and Person Definition: Number refers to how many things a verb refers to, and Person tells who or what does the action. Making the form of the verb match with the proper number/person is called subject-verb agreement. NOTE: This only applies to verbs in the present tense. I sit in silence listening to the birds. (First-Person, Singular Subject) You all have your books, correct? (Second-Person, Plural Subject) Josh writes beautifully. (Third-Person, Singular Subject) You Try: For each of the sentences below, correct the subject-verb agreement error. Eric want to store the bags in the attic. Only one of the teams from both regions were selected for the game. All parts of the game was returned to the store.

2 Tuesday Active/Passive Voice Definition: The voice of a verb defines if the subject of the sentence performs the action, or receives the action. ACTIVE voice indicates the subject is performing the action. PASSIVE voice indicates the subject receives the verb s action. Mary wrote the book. (ACTIVE voice: wrote) The book was written by Mary. (PASSIVE voice: was written) Passive Voice is easily recognized if you see the preposition by introducing the doer of the action. If it isn t in the sentence, you can use the by zombies test. If you think a verb is passive, put by zombies right after it. If it makes sense, the verb is passive. You Try: Indicate whether each of the verbs below are in the ACTIVE or PASSIVE voice. The yellow bulldozers were blocked by Arthur Dent lying in front of them. Last January, we adopted a puppy. Last January, the puppy was adopted.

3 Wednesday Verbals: Infinitives Definition: Verbals are other forms of verbs. The first we will look at is called Infinitives. Definition 2: Infinitives are the base word with to in front of it. (to sing, to dance, to write). They function as nouns or adjectives. To love is important. (Noun, subject of the verb is ) Jen wants to sing. (Noun, object of the verb wants ) Lori has stories to tell. (Adjective, modifies stories ) You Try: Identify the infinitives in the sentences below, and whether they are functioning as nouns or adjectives. Corinne brought some snacks to eat during the baseball game. To be, or not to be, that is the question Now is the perfect time to panic.

4 Thursday - Participles Definition: A participle is formed by taking the base form of the verb and adding a suffix. They can be PAST PARTICIPLES or PRESENT PARTICIPLES, but they both function as adjectives modifying nouns or pronouns. PAST PARTICIPLES end in: -ed, -en, -d, -t, or n. PRESENT PARTICIPLES end in ing. The singing canary flew out the broken window. (Singing is modifying canary, expressing an action the bird is doing while doing the main action of the sentence; broken modifies window, describing an action that happened to it in the past. Exhausted, she went to bed to take a nap. (Exhausted is a PAST PARTICIPLE modifying she.) The frozen man sat by the fire to warm up. You Try: Identify the participle, the word it is modifying, and whether it is a PAST or PRESENT participle. How long had we been out in the freezing wind? The molded door hung on squeaking hinges, and opened into a frightening darkness.

5 Friday - Gerunds Definition: Gerunds are present participles that function as nouns. This means that they can be used any way a noun can, as subject of a sentence, direct object of a verb, or object of a preposition. Driving without a seatbelt can be dangerous. (Driving is the gerund, making up the subject driving without a seatbelt ) I always like reading a good book at the beach. (Reading; reading a good book is the direct object of like ) Max wrote as essay about the benefits of eating well. (Eating; eating well is object of preposition of ) You Try: Identify the gerunds in the sentences below, and if they are Subject, D.O., or object of prep. Painting can be a very relaxing activity. George got a reward for finding the lost dog.