Download Verb Agreement Study Guide

NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
Verbs
Action Verbs
o Tells an action someone did, is doing, or will do
o Examples:
 Sue went to the store.
 I have a headache.
 Bob will fly somewhere over break.
o Transitive and intransitive
 Transitive – doing to something/someone (direct object in
active voice)
 Intransitive – does not transfer action to an object (NO
DIRECT OBJECT)
 Ask “whom/what” after the verb
 Sue sang a song.
 Sang what? song, so transitive
 Bob went to the store.
 Went what? no answer, so intransitive
 Linking Verbs
o Links adjectives, adverbs, or nouns with the subject.
o Think of them as an equal sign
o Linking verbs:
am is are was were be being been appear become continue
feel grow look remain seem smell sound taste
o Examples:
 She should have been a nurse.
(She = nurse)
 My brother was lazy.
(brother = lazy)
 The store will look empty after Christmas.
(store =
empty)
 Action or Linking?
o If you can substitute “am”, “is”, or “are”, then it’s linking
o The breeze felt cool.
 The breeze is cool? (linking)
o The boy felt the sand.
 The boy is the sand? (action)
 Verb Phrases
o Made up of main verb and helping verb
o Helping verbs
all forms of be plus shall, will, may, can, has, have, had, do,
does, did, should, would, might, could, must
Change the meaning of the verb
 I talk on the phone. 
I could have been talking
on the phone.
 He returned the book.

He was returning
the book when a dog attacked him.
o Verb phrases can be interrupted by other words.
 The baby will cry all night.
 The baby will probably not cry all night.
 Will the baby cry all night?
 Parts of the Verb
o Present:
walk, run

NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________


 I walk to the store.
 You run from the dog.
o Present participle: walking, running
 I am walking to the store.
 You are running from the dog.
o Past: walked, ran
 I walked to the store.
 You ran from the dog.
o Past participle:
walked, run
 I have walked to the store.
 You had run from the dog.
Forming tenses
o Regular verbs
 Present participle is formed by adding –ing to the present
form
 Past and past participle are formed by adding –ed or –d to
the present form
 Pay attention to spelling!
 plot 
plotting

plotted
o Irregular verbs
 Past or past participle are not formed by adding –ed
Present
Present part.
Past
Past part.
bring
bringing
brought
have brought
sell
selling
sold
have sold
hit
hitting
hit
have hit
sing
singing
sang
have sung
eat
eating
ate
have eaten
go
going
went
have gone
 When in doubt, check the dictionary!
Conjugating Verbs
o Conjugation – list of the singular and plural forms of a verb in a
certain tense
Conjugation of the forms of the verb walk
Singular
Plural
Present
First Person
I walk
we walk
Second Person
you walk
you walk
Third Person
he, she, it walks
they walk
Past
First Person
I walked
we walked
Second Person
you walked
you walked
Third Person
he, she, it walked
they walked
Future
First Person
I will walk
we will walk
Second Person
you will walk
you will walk
Third Person
he, she, it will walk
they will walk
Present Perfect
First Person
I have walked
we have walked
Second Person
you have walked
you have walked
Third Person
he, she, it has walked
they have walked
NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
First Person
Second Person
Third Person


Past Perfect
I had walked
we had walked
you had walked
you had walked
he, she, it had walked
they had walked
Future Perfect
I will have walked
we will have walked
you will have walked
you will have walked
he, she, it will have
they will have walked
walked
Present Progressive
I am walking
we are walking
you are walking
you are walking
he, she, it is walking
they are walking
Past Progressive
I was walking
we were walking
you were walking
you were walking
he, she, it was walking they were walking
Future Progressive
I will be walking
we will be walking
you will be walking
you will be walking
he, she, it will be
they will be walking
walking
Conjugating the verb be
o Present:
I am
we are
you are
you are
he, she, it is
they are
o Past:
I was
we were
you were
you were
he, she, it was
they were
Voice
o Active – the subject does something
o Passive – something is done to the subject
o Examples:
 Bob threw the ball.

active
 The ball was thrown by Bob.

passive
 My sister drives to school.

active
 My sister was driven to school. 
passive
o When to use each voice
 Use active whenever possible – try to be direct
 Use passive to emphasize the receiver, rather than who’s
doing it
 Maria was given an award by the school official.
(Maria is more important to us than the school
official).
 The damaged car was towed away. (We don’t care
who towed it).
NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
SUMMARY OF ENGLISH VERB TENSES
There are three basic tenses: present, past, and future. Each has a perfect form,
indicating completed action; and each has a progressive form, indicating
ongoing action Here is a list of examples of these tenses and their definitions.
Simple Forms
Present
take/s
Past
took
Future
will take
Progressive
Forms
am/is are
taking
as/were
taking
will be taking
Perfect Forms
have/has
taken
had taken
will have
taken
Simple Forms

Present Tense
Present tense expresses an unchanging, repeated, or reoccurring
action or situation that only exists now. It can also represent a
widespread truth.
Example
The trees are tall.
Every year, new students enroll at
UNL.
Pb is the chemical symbol for lead.

Meaning
Unchanging action
Reoccurring action
Widespread truth
Past Tense
Past tense expresses an action or situation that was started and
finished in the past. Most past tense verbs in –ed. The irregular verbs
have special past tense forms which must be memorized.
Example
The student revised her essay.
She wrote a new draft.

Form
Regular –ed past
Irregular form
Future Tense
Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the
future.
The student will set an appointment at
the WAC.
The student is going to revise his
essay.
The student writes tomorrow.
This tense is formed by using will with
the simple form of the verb.
The future tense can also be expressed
by using am, is, or are, with going to.
We can also use the present tense form
with an adverb or adverbial phrase to
NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
show future time.

Progressive Forms
Present Progressive
Tense:
A past action which was
happening when another
action occurred.
This tense is formed by
using am, is, or are with
the verb form ending in –
ing.
The student is writing a
new draft of her essay.
This tense is formed by
using was or were with
the verb form ending in –
ing.
The student was
explaining that she had
difficulty with transitions.
This tense is formed by
using will be with the
verb form ending in –ing.
The student will be
working on her essay in
the WAC.
This tense is formed by
using has or have with
the past participle of the
verb. Most past
participles end in –ed.
Irregular verbs have
special past participles
that must be memorized.
*The student has
rewritten her draft since
her visit to the WAC.
This tense is formed
using had with the past
participle of the verb.
By the time the student
had revised her opening,
she already had plans for
the conclusion.
This tense is formed
using will have with the
past participle of the
verb.
By the time the student
writes a new essay, she
will have learned many
new rhetorical skills.
Past Progressive Tense:
A past action which was
happening when another
action occurred.
Future Progressive
Tense:
An ongoing or
continuous action that
will take place in the
future.

Perfect Forms
Present Perfect Tense:
*An action that happened
at an indefinite time in
the past.
*An action that began in
the past and continues in
the present.
*Writers have visited the
WAC all semester long.
Past Perfect Tense:
An action which took
place in the past before
another past action.
Future Perfect Tense:
An action that will occur
in the future before some
other action.
NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
Verb Tenses
Tense
Present
Use
Happening now
How to form it
Ordinary verb
Past
Over and done with
Add –ed
Future
Hasn’t happened
yet
Happening
sometime before
now
Happening before a
specific time in the
past
will + verb
Future Perfect
Happening before a
specific time in the
future
will have +
verb
Present
Progressive
Continuous action,
happening now
Past
Progressive
Happened over time
Future
Progressive
Will happen for
awhile
am/is/are +
verb ending in
–ing
was/were +
verb ending in
–ing
will be + verb
ending in
–ing
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
have/has +
verb
had + verb
Example
I go to the store when I need food.
She walks home after school.
I went to the store yesterday.
She walked home everyday last year.
I will go to the store next week.
She will walk home tomorrow.
I have gone to the store whenever I’ve
needed sugar.
She has walked home many times.
I had gone to the store before it started
raining.
She had walked home everyday until she
was mauled by a dog.
By the time I’m 40, I will have gone to the
store over 13,000 times.
She will have walked home after school
before you even get picked up.
I am going to the store now.
She is walking home as we speak.
I was going to the store everyday last year.
She was walking home last night.
I will be going to the store for many years.
She will be walking home forever because
she has no car.
Verb Agreement Study Guide
The number of a word is whether it refers to one person or thing (singular), or if it
refers to more than one person or thing (plural).
A verb must agree in number with its subject. A singular subject belongs with a
singular verb. A plural subject belongs with a plural verb.
Singular
Plural
He guesses.
They guess.
She arrives.
They arrive.
Food spoils.
Eggs spoil.
The balloon rises.
The balloons rise.
Most singular verbs end in –s.
Hint: To make sure they agree, find the subject. If you have trouble finding the
subject, first find the verb. Then ask who? or what? before the verb.
NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
Example: These posts in the ground support the fence.
Verb: support
What supports? posts
The subject is posts.
The subject of the verb is never in a prepositional phrase.
Water from the streams runs into the river.
One of the factories has a job opening.
The people on our block were helpful.
Compound subjects
A compound subject is two or more subjects used with the same verb.
A compound subject joined by and is plural, so it requires a plural verb.
Flannel shirts and wool socks keep me warm.
The store manager and the cashiers are preparing for the sale.
When the parts of a compound subject are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees
with the subject closest to the verb.
Neither Liz nor her brothers take the bus.
Either sandwiches or a salad is a good lunch.
Subject / Verb Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns
To make a verb agree with an indefinite pronoun used as its subject, you must
know if the pronoun is singular or plural. The following chart tells the indefinite
pronoun and whether it is singular or plural.
Indefinite Pronouns
Singular
another
anybody
anyone
anything
each
either
everybody
Examples:
everyone
nothing
everything one
much
other
neither
somebody
nobody
someone
no one
something
Plural
both
few
many
others
several
Most of us know something about carnivals.
No one picked up his or her books.
Both won their games.
Singular or
Plural
All
Any
More
Most
None
Some
NAME________________________________HMRM___#___DATE______________
If the indefinite pronoun is in the third column, then it depends on the words
following it.
Examples:
All of this paper is for decoration.
All of the reporters have deadlines.
Doesn’t and Don’t
The verb doesn’t is always singular. Doesn’t is used with the subjects she, he,
and it. Don’t is used with all other personal pronouns (I, you, we, and
they).
Examples:
It doesn’t seem right.
We don’t argue.
She doesn’t care.
I don’t drive.
He doesn’t live here.
They don’t understand.
Expressing Time
Verbs tell when an action or state of being occurs. They indicate the past,
present, or future by changing forms, or tenses. They usually make these
changes in two ways:
1. change in spelling:
sit  sat
cry  cried
walk  walked
will compete
has taken
2. Use of helping verbs
had shown
Tenses
The present tense shows what is happening right now.
I swim.
David is swimming.
We swim.
They are swimming.
The past tense shows what has already happened.
I swam.
David was swimming.
We swam.
They were swimming.
The future tense shows what will happen.
I will swim.
will swim.
David will swim.
We will swim.
They