Download Chapter 1 Subjects and Verbs

Chapter 1
Subjects and Verbs
In this chapter, you will learn to identify nouns and
pronouns and subjects and verbs. You will also learn
about different types of verbs, including helping verbs,
linking verbs, and action verbs. Finally, you will learn
about the relationship between subjects and verbs.
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A sentence is a group of related words that contains both a subject and a verb and expresses a complete
thought. Before you can find the subject of a sentence, you need to be able to identify nouns and
pronouns because the subjects of sentences will usually be nouns or pronouns (or, occasionally, other
words or groups of words that function as nouns).
A noun names a person, place, thing or idea. Nouns that name concrete things we can see, hear, smell,
taste or touch are easiest to identify.
Noun
Noun
Noun
Noun
Noun
The student put the new textbooks, notebooks, and pens in her backpack.
Noun
Noun
Noun
Noun
I like my pizza with pepperoni, olives and mushrooms.
In the sentences above, the concrete nouns student, textbooks, notebooks, pens, backpack, pizza,
pepperoni, olives and mushrooms are tangible; they are objects we can touch.
Abstract nouns name emotions, qualities, conditions and other abstractions. Fear, courage, happiness and
satisfaction are all examples of abstract nouns. We can have and feel them, but we can’t touch them.
Noun
Noun
Noun Noun
Noun
Noun
Americans enjoy many privileges including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Noun
Noun
Noun
Noun
Irene’s sadness over losing her mom grew into misery, but she had to have courage.
Notice that sadness, happiness, and despair are abstract nouns that express emotion while courage and
liberty are nouns that express conditions. Below are a few examples of nouns, arranged by category.
Persons
Emily
student
woman
politician
Places
Mendocino
beach
Sacramento
capital
Things
book
sun
module
buildings
Ideas
honesty
thought
intelligence
democracy
Add nouns of your own to each column:
Persons
Places
Things
Ideas
__________
___________
_________
__________
__________
___________
_________
__________
__________
___________
__________
__________
__________
___________
__________
__________
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Practice 1: Use some of the nouns you listed above to write three sentences below. Remember to begin
each sentence with a capital letter and use correct punctuation.
1 ________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
To help you identify nouns remember these three points:
1. Nouns can be classified as proper and common nouns. Proper nouns name specific persons, places,
things and ideas. The first letter in each of these nouns is capitalized (Susan, Sacramento, Sentra,
Scientology). Common nouns name more general categories. The first letter of a common noun is not
capitalized (son, sidewalk, spaghetti, sincerity) unless the noun is at the beginning of a sentence.
2. If you are unsure whether or not a word is a noun, ask yourself if it could come right after a, an, or the
and make sense. If it can, it’s a noun.
A banana and an apple were left on the plate.
3. Words that end in -ment, -ism, -ness, -ence, -ance, and -tion are usually nouns: enchantment,
socialism, togetherness, excellence, performance, information.
Practice 2: Underline and place an N above all the nouns. Remember to look for noun markers—a,
an, the. You may also refer to the 3 noun guidelines above to help you identify all the nouns.
1. Joe could not find the keys to the new car.
2. Joe searched all the rooms of the large house without success.
3. Finally, Joe gave up and took the crowded bus to school.
4. Taco Bell serves excellent lunches and dinners prepared by trained chefs.
5. The waiter served the delicious dessert after we finished our wonderful meal.
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Pronouns
A pronoun takes the place of a noun. A pronoun allows you to refer to a noun without having to repeat
the noun. Example:
Heather wrote Heather’s paper for Heather’s English class, but Heather forgot to put Heather’s name on
Heather’s paper.
This sentence is repetitious and confusing. Instead of repeating Heather so many times, we use pronouns
to replace the nouns.
Notice how much better the correction with pronouns sounds:
Heather wrote her paper for her English class, but she forgot to put her name on it.
Following is a list of the most common pronouns. Read over this list until you are familiar with
these words.
Pronouns that refer to specific people and things:
I
we
you
he
she
they
me
us
your
him her
them
my
our
yours
his
her
their
mine ours
theirs
it
its
Pronouns that refer to general people and things:
some
everyone
anyone
someone
all
everything
anything
something
many
everybody
anybody
somebody
each
one
none
no one
nothing
nobody
Pronouns that end in self or selves:
myself
ourselves
yourself
yourselves
himself
themselves
herself
itself
Other Pronouns:
who, whom, whose
which
that
this
those these
Pronouns that ask questions:
who, whom, whose
which
what
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Practice 3: Underline and place an N above all the nouns and a Pro above all the pronouns in the
following sentences. You may refer to the list of pronouns. Be careful – possessives are not nouns.
Example: Tom’s or sister’s.
1. Jeffery helped the student understand the lessons on pronouns.
2. Jeffery looks at websites on the computer after he tutors his students.
3. During the summer, Chris works at his father’s business.
4. Jodi bought her lunch from the Roost, and everyone wanted to eat it.
5. Mark Twain is Susan’s favorite author, and she has every book he wrote.
Practice 4: Write three sentences that include nouns and pronouns; place an N above the nouns and
Pro above the pronouns. Remember to punctuate your sentences correctly.
1. ______________________________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________________
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Verbs
There are 3 ways to recognize and identify verbs.
1.
A verb is a word that expresses action or links one idea to another.
An action verb expresses the physical or mental action in a sentence.
Examples:
The student ran from the parking lot to his class. (ran = physical action)
Steve sits in bed and reads his book. (sits, reads = physical action)
The student knew the answers to the test questions. (knew = mental action)
Practice 5: Underline the physical or mental action verbs in the following sentences.
1. Jeffery believed he could win the race.
2. The class attended the last performance of the play.
3. Jason ate the entire pizza by himself.
4. Tami thought she should have received an A in English.
5. I invited all of my relatives and friends to my graduation party.
Linking verbs connect or link words in a sentence. We use linking verbs to say something about a noun.
N LV tells about Irene
Irene is (an excellent tutor.)
N
LV tells about Nellie
Nellie was (happy.)
You might think of a linking verb as an equal sign =.
Irene = an excellent tutor
Nellie = happy
Some of the existence and linking verbs are forms of the verb be:
am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been.
A special note on prepositions: Students often mistake prepositions for verbs. Words such as in,
over, above, beyond, behind, etc. are NOT verbs. They are prepositions. One simple way to
differentiate between linking verbs and prepositions is to ask yourself, “can a bunny go there?” If
it can, then it’s a preposition. This is not a comprehensive explanation of prepositions, so if you’re
struggling, ask for help.
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Practice 6: Underline the linking verbs in the following sentences. Then circle the prepositions.
Remember—prepositions are NOT verbs, but they are often mistaken for verbs.
1. The sky was cloudy on the day of the picnic.
2. Sacramento's weather is usually cold and foggy in January.
3. The instructors were tired.
4. Babies are often tired in the evening.
5. Dogs were my favorite animals when I was a child.
Practice 7: Write six sentences of your own. In the first two, use a linking verb. In the next four use an
action (physical or mental) verb. Underline the verbs in your sentences.
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________________________________
6. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. Verbs are words that tell when something occurred or will occur.
Verbs also show the time the action or the linking takes place. The time a verb relates is called its tense.
The most common tenses are present, past and future. Verb tenses are another way of helping us identify
verbs in a sentence. You will recognize the verb because it is the word that indicated the time in the
sentence.
Present Tense
I talk
you talk
he, she, it talks
we talk
you talk
they talk
Past Tense____________________
I talked we talked
you talked
you talked
he, she, it talked
they talked
Future Tense___________________
I will talk
we will talk
you will talk
you will talk
he, she, it will talk
they will talk
Note that the verb talk can be written as talked to show past tense and as will talk to show future tense.
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3. You can find verbs if you know that verbs sometimes have other verbs that help them.
A third way to identify verbs is to know that the verb of a sentence is sometimes more than one word. The
main verb of the sentence may be preceded by one or more helping verbs to show time, condition, or
mood. Helping verbs do just that – they help the main verb to fit in the sentence and express your idea
accurately. For example, look at the following sentence that uses the action verb “sitting”:
Jodi sitting on the couch.
In this sentence, the verb sitting doesn’t fit. It needs help to make sense. So, we must add a helping verb:
Jodi was sitting on the couch.
By adding the helping verb was, we have created a verb phrase—that is, the complete verb is more
than one word: was sitting. So, helping verbs are considered part of the verb. Also note that helping
verbs ALWAYS come BEFORE the main verb.
Examples: (MV = Main Verb, HV= Helping Verb)
MV
The students type their writing assignment on the computers.
HV MV
The students have typed their writing assignment on the computers.
HV HV
MV
The students have been typing their writing assignment on the computers.
HV
HV HV MV
The students should have been typing their writing assignments on the computers.
Learning to recognize helping verbs can help you identify verbs in sentences.
These words are often helping verbs:
can
may
could
will
must
would
shall
might
should
These words are sometimes helping verbs and sometimes main verbs:
Forms of have
Forms of do
Forms of be
have
do
am
was
has
does
is
were
had
did
are
be
being
been
Practice 8:Write three sentences using helping verbs. Underline the complete verb (helping verb +
main verb) in your sentence.
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2.
___________________________________________________________________________
3.
___________________________________________________________________________
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Identifying Subjects and Verbs
Use this tip throughout this chapter to help you identify subjects and verbs.
Find the verb 1st; then ask “who or what ____________”
(did verb)
To identify the subject of a sentence, you need to first find the complete verb. After identifying the verb, it is
easy to find the subject by asking yourself “Who or what performed the action?”
Example:
S
HV
V
The student with the blue backpack was walking to the parking lot.
The complete verb in this sentence is: was walking. When you ask yourself “Who or what was walking?”
the answer is “the student;” therefore, student is the subject of the sentence.
Practice 9
In the following sentences, each verb is underlined. Notice that in some sentences, the verb is more than
one word.
Find the underlined verb, then ask “who or what ____________” The answer to that question is the subject
of the sentence. Circle the subject.
(did verb)
1. The students worked in the library all evening.
2. The road through the desert shimmers in the hot sun.
3. Her mittens warm her hands.
4. Democracy in modern governments takes many forms.
5. Revising essays is a necessary step in effective writing.
Compound Subjects and Verbs
Sentences may contain more than one subject or more than one verb that work together to
express an idea. When this happens, the subject or verb is considered compound or multiple.
Examples:
S
V
1. Jessica fed the neighbor’s cat. (Single subject and single verb)
S
S
V
2. Jessica and Chris fed the neighbor’s cat. (Compound subject with a single verb)
S
S
V
V
3. Jessica and Chris fed the neighbor’s cat and cleaned its litter box. (Compound subject with a
compound verb)
As you can see from these examples, sentences can have different combinations of subjects and verbs. In
the second example, we have two subjects, Jessica and Chris, that go with one verb, fed. In the third
example, we have two subjects, Jessica and Chris, that go with two verbs, fed and cleaned.
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Practice 10: Identify the subjects and verbs in the following sentences by placing an S over the
subject(s) and a V over the verb(s). Hint: First find the verb(s) and ask who? or what? to determine the
subject(s).
1. The wind and rain shook the house and rattled the windows.
2. The doorbell and the telephone rang at the same time.
3. Nate and Tina washed and dried the dishes after dinner.
4. Yesterday, I went to Target and bought all of my school supplies.
5. Cooking and gardening are two of my favorite pastimes.
Practice 11
In the following sentences, underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Then in the blanks
to the left of each sentence, identify the subject as either simple or compound and the verb as
either simple or compound.
Example:
compound
Subject
simple
The boys and girls played for hours at the daycare.
Verb
__________ __________
1. Birds fly through the skies.
__________ __________
2. Smart students study and do their homework.
__________ __________ 3. Lies can ruin a relationship.
__________ __________ 4. Hard work can pay off.
__________ __________ 5. Lollipops and jellybeans filled the candy store window.
__________ __________ 6. Tina and Jeffery walked and talked about the concert.
__________ __________ 7. My best friend encourages me and shares my joys and sorrows.
__________ __________ 8. My first English essay explained my reasons for going to college.
__________ __________ 9. I have a headache.
__________ __________ 10. Dogs and cats are great pets.
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Practice 12: Write 3 sentences that have either a multiple subject, a multiple verb, or both.
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
Practice 13: Identifying Subjects and Verbs
Write the subjects and verbs in the spaces to the left of each sentence.
Some sentences may have compound subjects and/or compound verbs. [Hint:
Find the verb first and then ask, “Who or what is doing the action?” or “Who
or what is identified or described?”] Remember that sometimes the subject can
be more than one word. Be sure to identify the complete subject.
Subject
Verb
_____________
_____________ 1. I failed my first essay.
_____________
_____________ 2. Ten other students failed and dropped the class.
_____________
_____________ 3. I kept the class and tried harder next time.
_____________
_____________ 4. The second essay was harder than the first.
_____________
_____________ 5. I went to see the teacher and get some help.
_____________
_____________ 6. Going to the Reading and Writing Center was also helpful.
_____________
_____________ 7. All of my hard work paid off.
_____________
_____________ 8. I earned a good grade on my second essay.
_____________
_____________ 9. None of the hard work I had done was wasted.
_____________
_____________ 10. The Reading and Writing Center and my professor were helpful.
Practice 14: In the following sentences, identify the complete verb by placing a V above the verb(s). Then ask
yourself “Who or what (verb)?” and place an S above the noun or pronoun that is the subject of the sentence.
Remember that a complete verb can be more than one word (helping verbs count as part of the verb).
1. The cat quickly climbed over the fence to escape the dog.
2. The girl in the blue skirt lives down the street from Joey.
3. The factory did not produce an acceptable car.
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4. The long line at the bank moved very slowly.
5. I bought two expensive textbooks for my class at the bookstore.
Practice 15: In the following sentences place a V above the verbs (including helping verbs) and an S
above the subjects.
1. My sister’s clothes are always scattered all over her room.
2. Your grammar will improve.
3. Susan is not going to the movies with us.
4. A final exam is usually given at the end of the semester.
5. Jeffery has almost completed his college degree.
Practice 16: Write 3 sentences; be sure each sentence has a subject and a verb. Identify the subject and
verb(s) by placing an S over the subject and a V over each verb.
1. _________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
Practice 17: Underline the subjects once and the complete verbs twice in the following sentences.
1. The student apologized profusely to the instructor for his lateness.
2. Taco Bell serves tacos all night.
3. Have you registered for next semester’s classes yet?
4. The final exams are usually scheduled during the last two weeks of the semester.
5. Yesterday, Jennifer and I took our last test and went out to dinner to celebrate.
6. My computer and printer have made my assignments easier to complete.
7. During the test, my pencil and pen dropped and rolled under the desk.
8. From the back of the house came a loud explosion.
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