Download Verb complexities

Infinitive Form
The infinitive form of a verb is simply the “To ----” form of the verb.
Indicative Mood
This is, by far, the most common of the three moods of verbs – it deals with stating
elements of reality or actuality.
She doubts her brother … They are in the van … Everybody loves Raymond
Imperative Mood
The imperative mood is when verbs are used as commands. For instance:
Do your homework, stop complaining and run to class.
Subjunctive Mood (Only the Most Common Usage)
If she were coming, she would be here by now. I insist that the chairman resign!
Their main demand was that the lawsuit be dropped. God save the Queen! These
sentences all contain verbs in the subjunctive mood, which is used chiefly to express
the speaker’s attitude about the likelihood or factuality of a given situation.
The present subjunctive occurs in that clauses used to state commands or to
express intentions or necessity:
We insist that he do the job properly.
The committee proposes that she be appointed treasurer immediately
It is essential that we be informed of your plan.
The past subjunctive is sometimes called the were subjunctive, since were is the only
subjunctive form that is distinct from the indicative past tense. It appears chiefly in
if clauses and in a few other constructions expressing hypothetical conditions
If he were sorry, he’d have apologized by now
I wish she weren’t going away
She’s already acting as if she were going to be promoted
Suppose she were to resign, what would you do then?
Gerunds
When the “-ing” form of a verb is used as a noun, this is known as a gerund. For
example:
Skiing is her favorite sport
They enjoy walking
He spent his weekend sleeping
Gerunds can be modified like nouns (That book makes for difficult reading). But they
can also act like verbs in that they can take an object (Convincing him was never
easy) and be modified by an adverb (Walking daily can improve your health).
Practice & review
Without using the front of this sheet (read it over and try this as a self-quiz), answer
the following verb questions (NB – This counts as a homework, not as a quiz)
Give three phrases or sentences that use gerunds
1)
2)
3)
Identify the verb mood being used in the italicized parts of these sentences:
I wish that this book were more interesting
Robert, you need to do your homework.
Eat your pudding before you leave for your date.
Older Questions on verbs:
Explain what a transitive verb is, and give an example
The progressive tenses of a verb are all assisted by what helping verb(s)
Give four verbs that have irregular past participles (ones that are NOT the same as
the simple past tense).
The present participle of a verb ends in ____________________
Which verb tense is being used in: “Stanley has been moving boxes all afternoon.”