Download Verb Usage Notes - Garnet Valley School District

CHAPTER 24- CORRECT VERB USAGE
The Principal Parts of Verbs

Every verb has four basic forms called the ___________________________________.
1) _________________ 2) ___________________
3) ___________________
4) __________________
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
receive
join
bring
sing
hurt
(is) receiving
(is) joining
(is) bringing
(is) singing
(is) hurting
received
joined
brought
sang
hurt
(have) received
(have) joined
(have) brought
(have) sung
(have) hurt

All verbs form the present participle by adding __________________.

All verbs do not form the ________________ and ___________________________ in the same way.
A.

Regular Verb:
A verb that forms its past and past participle by adding __________ or ___________ to its
base form
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
use
revise
watch
(is) using
(is) revising
(is) watching
used
revised
watched
(have) used
(have) revised
(have) watched
A few regular verbs have alternative past and past participle forms ending in _______________.
B.
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
burn
dream
leap
(is) burning
(is) dreaming
(is) leaping
burned/burnt
dreamed/dreamt
leaped/leapt
(have) burned/burnt
(have) dreamed/dreamt
(have) leaped/leapt
Irregular Verb:
A verb that forms the past and past participle in some other way than by adding ________
or _____________ to the base form.

The best way to learn the principal parts of irregular verbs is to _____________________ them.

An irregular verb usually forms its past and past participle by: 1) changing _____________ or _______________,
2) changing ______________ and __________________, 3) making _______________________.
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
swim
bend
teach
burst
(is) swimming
(is) bending
(is) teaching
(is) bursting
swam
bent
taught
burst
(have) swum
(have) bent
(have) taught
(have) burst
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Six Troublesome Verbs
A.
Lie and Lay
1)
2)
Lie
Lay

Means ‘to __________’ or ‘to _____________, to _______________ or to _____________
in a certain state or position.

Lie never takes an ____________________.

Means ‘to _________ (something) in a place’ and usually takes an ____________________.
The picture is lying near the computer.
B.
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
lie (rest)
lay (put)
(is) lying
(is) laying
lay
laid
(have) lain
(have) laid
Sit and Set
1)
2)
Sit
Set

Means ‘to _______________________________________________________________.’

Sit seldom takes an ____________________.

Means ‘to _______________________________________________________________.’

Set usually takes an ____________________.
We sat in the office for an hour.
C.
The secretary is laying a copy on the desk.
Kerri set the candles on the table.
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
sit (rest)
set (put)
(is) sitting
(is) setting
sat
set
(have) sat
(have) set
Rise and Raise
1)
Rise

Means ‘to ____________’ or ‘to ______________’ and never takes an _______________.
2)
Raise

Means ‘to _______________________________________’ or ‘to __________________.’

Raise usually takes an ____________________.
She rose from the table and walked home.
Stephanie raised the window for some air.
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
rise (go up)
raise (lift up)
(is) rising
(is) raising
rose
raised
(have) risen
(have) raised
2
Tense

The ___________________ of a verb indicates the time of the action or the state of being expressed by the verb.

Every verb has six tenses: _____________________________________________________________________
1.
2.
Used mainly to express an __________________ that is occurring _____________.
Present Tense:
1) Amanda runs and shoots the ball.

present
2) The fans are cheering wildly.

present progressive
Past Tense:
Used to express an _______________ that occurred in the ___________ but did not continue
into the _____________________..
3.
1) During the last lap, the runner injured his knee.

past
2) He was trying to break the record for that event.

past progressive
Used to express an action that will ______________. The future tense is formed with
Future Tense:
__________ or __________ and the ____________________________.
4.
1) The president will return to Washington today.

future
2) The president will be holding a press conference.

future progressive
Present Perfect:
Used mainly to express an action that occurred at some ____________________ time in
the past. The present tense always includes the helping verbs ___________ or _______.
5.
1) Meg has entered the information.

present perfect
2) Rachel has been using the computer.

present perfect progressive
Past Perfect:
Used to express an action that was completed ______________________________________
______________________. The past perfect tense always includes the helping verb _______.
6.
1) Zack had walked two miles before he realized his mistake.

past perfect
2) He discovered that he had been misreading the directions.

past perfect progressive
Future Perfect:
Used to express an action that ________________________________________________.
The future perfect tense always includes the helping verbs ____________ or ___________.
1) By the time you’re thirty, you will have saved a lot of money.

future perfect
2) By then, you will have been working here for a year.

future perfect progressive
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Special Problems in the Use of Tense
Tense Sequence

Use _________________ forms carefully to show the correct relationship between _____________ in a sentence.
1.
2.
When describing events that occur at the ______________________, use verbs in the same ______________.

The coach blows the whistle, and the swimmers dive into the pool.

The coach blew the whistle, and the swimmers dived into the pool.
When describing events that occur at ________________________, use verbs in different ______________
to show the ______________________________.
3.

She now works for MBNA, but she worked for Citibank earlier this year.

Since the new band director took over, our band has won numerous awards.
Avoid the use of ____________________ in “_______ clauses” that express the earlier of two past actions.
Use the ___________________________ tense.

Boo-Hoo!!!

If she would have handed in her application, she would have gotten the job.

Yes!!!

If she had handed in her application, she would have gotten the job.
Active and Passive Voice


Active Voice:
Passive Voice:
The _________________ of the verb performs the _________________.
William Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’.

‘Macbeth’ is the direct object
The optometrist adjusted the eyeglasses.

eyeglasses is the direct object
The __________________ receives the __________________. A verb in the passive voice
always includes a form of be and the ___________________________ of a transitive verb.
The play ‘Macbeth’ was written by Wm
Shakespeare.
The eyeglasses were adjusted by the optometrist.

no object

no object
The passive voice is less direct, less forceful and less concise than the active voice.
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