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Verbs
A verb describes an action (perform, send, buy) or acts as a link between a subject and
words that define or describe that subject (is, were, become, appear).
An auxiliary verb is one that helps another verb and is used for showing tense, voice,
and so on. A verb with its helpers is called a verb phrase. Verbs used as auxiliaries
include do, did, be, have, may, can, must, will, shall, might, could, would, and should.
Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs
A transitive verb requires a receiver for its action: They launched the company. It
transfers action from the subject to a direct object. An intransitive verb does not have a
receiver for its action: The board voted. Many verbs can be intransitive in one situation
and transitive in another: He moved; He moved the desk.
Some intransitive verbs are complete in themselves and need no help from other words
(prices dropped; we won). Other intransitive verbs must be “completed” by a noun or an
adjective called a complement.
Linking Verbs
Complements occur with linking verbs, which are all forms of the verb to be (is, are,
was, will be, etc.) plus such words as seem, become, appear, prove, look, remain, feel,
taste, smell, sound, turn resemble, and grow. A complement can mean the same thing as
the subject (Harris is the supervisor), or it can describe or limit the subject (Harris is
smart), in which case it serves as an adjective.
Verb Tenses
• The standard verb tenses are present, past, and past participle.
• Present tense depends on the subject’s person (first, second, third) and number
(singular or plural):
first person: I call, we call
second person: you call
third person singular: he/she/it calls
third person plural: they call
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• With regular verbs, the past tense ends in ed (she called), while the past participle is
the past tense preceded by has or have (she has called). The future tense is formed by
combining will with the present tense (she will call).
• Some verbs are irregular, with many forming the past tense by a change in the vowel
(come/came,run/ran, give/gave). Other common irregular verbs are be, begin, know, rise,
go, write, choose, see, and do. For example: begin/began/begun; know, knew, known; go,
went, gone; write, wrote, written; see/saw/seen.
• The perfect tenses are created by adding forms of have to the past participle. The
present perfect indicates action that has recently been completed: He has written a letter
to my lawyer. The past perfect tense indicates action that was completed at a certain time
in the past: He had written to the lawyer once before, The future perfect tense specifies
action that will have been completed by a certain time or time period in the future: He
will have written another letter by the time we get back.
Voice and mood
A verb is in the active voice if the actor is the subject: The company fired Angela, A verb
is in the passive voice if the actor is the object: Angela was fired by the company. Note
that stating the same information in the passive voice requires more words than the active
voice.
Verbs can also express one of three moods: indicative, imperative, or subjunctive. Most
verbs and sentences you encounter are in the indicative mood.
Use the indicative mood to make a statement or ask a question:
• I put the discs back in the drawer.
Use the imperative mood to give a command or make a request:
• Please put the discs back in the drawer.
With the imperative mood, the subject is an understood you.
Use the subjunctive mood to expresse doubt or a wish or a condition contrary to fact (If
I were you, I’d put the discs back in the drawer) or to express a suggestion or request (I
asked that Roger be [not is] present at the meeting). The subjunctive mood is rarely used
in the English language.
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Verbals
Verbals are verbs that are modified to function as other parts of speech. They include
infinitives, gerunds, and participles.
• Infinitives are formed by placing a to in front of the verb (to go, to purchase, to work).
They function as nouns. Although many of us were taught that it is “incorrect” to split an
infinitive—that is, to place an adverb between the to and the verb—that rule is not a hard
and fast one. In some cases, the adverb is best placed in the middle of the infinitive to
avoid awkward constructions or ambiguous meaning: Production of steel is expected to
moderately exceed domestic use.
• Gerunds are verbals formed by adding ing to a verb (going, having, working). Like
infinitives, they function as nouns. Gerunds and gerund phrases take a singular verb:
Borrowing from banks is preferable to getting venture capital.
• Participles are verb forms used as adjectives. The present participle ends in ing and
generally describes action going on at the same time as other action: Checking the
schedule, the contractor was pleased with progress on the project. The past participle is
usually the same form as the past tense and generally indicates completed action: When
completed, the project will occupy six city blocks. The perfect participle is formed by
adding having to the past participle: Having completed the project, the contractor
submitted his last invoice.
Agreement
Verbs should agree with nouns and pronouns in number. A singular noun or pronoun
takes a singular verb, and a plural noun or pronoun takes a plural verb.
Compound subjects joined by and take a plural verb:
• Lee and Terry are in charge of the project.
If compound subjects are joined by neither/nor or either/or, the verb should agree with
the subject it is closest to:
• Either the two of us or Tom is taking care of the arrangements.
• Either Tom or the two of us are taking care of the arrangements.
Agreement between subject and verb should be unaffected by any intervening words,
phrases, or clauses:
• The accounting firm, originally formed by four partners, is now a worldwide
giant.
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Some sentences are structured so that the verb comes before the subject. Sometimes you
will need to mentally recast the sentence to determine whether the verb should be
singular or plural:
• Sitting at the head of the table were [not was] the firm’s president and CEO.
Companies and organizations should be treated as singular, even if the company name is
plural:
• Starbucks opens [not open] six new stores a week in the United States.
• Muchin, Orlovsky, & Zavis is [not are] one of the top entertainment law firms.
If a quantity (dollars, hours, fractions, etc.) refers to a total amount, it takes a singular
verb:
• Nine dollars is a lot to pay for a movie.
• Three days is more than enough time to complete the project.
If a quantity refers to individual, countable units it takes a plural verb:
• My three dollars are all wrinkled.
• Our four days at the convention were filled with activities.
To decide whether to use a singular or plural verb with subjects such as number and
variety, follow this simple rule: If the subject is preceded by a, use a plural verb: A
number of products are being displayed at the trade show; use a singular verb if the
subject is preceded by the: The variety of products on display is mind-boggling.
Verb Usage
Many people have trouble deciding whether to use lie or lay in certain situations because
of the similarity of the two verbs. Lie is an intransitive verb—it has no object: I lie down
[present], I lay down [past], I have lain down [past participle]. Lay is a transitive verb—it
requires an object: I lay the pencil down [present], I laid the pencil down [past], I have
laid the pencil down [past participle]. Notice that lay happens to also be the past tense of
lie, which adds to the confusion. Similarly, sit is intransitive (I sit down) while set is
transitive (I set the pencil down); rise is intransitive (The cost of living rises), while raise
is transitive (Inflation raises the cost of living).
Use the active voice as much as possible in your business writing. Avoid the passive
voice except when you don’t know who performed the action (Hamilton was indicted) or
don’t want to place blame (The product was mistreated).
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Avoid shifts in mood, such as from imperative to indicative.
Use the subjunctive after as if and as though; He acted as if he were in a dream. Use the
subjunctive with conditional statements beginning with if only if the statement is contrary
to fact: If that were the case, we wouldn’t be here today.
Gerunds are more direct when not preceded by the and followed by of: In revising the
report, be sure to proofread the graphics is preferable to In the revising of the report, be
sure to proofread the graphics.
Avoid the common error of writing could of instead of could’ve or could have.
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