Download Grammar Blog 1 The Basics (which I hope you know already). 1. A

Grammar Blog 1
The Basics (which I hope you know already).
1. A sentence must have a verb in it.
2. Verbs describe actions (sink, swim, run, elaborate), except for the group including to be, to
appear, to seem.
3. A verb has a subject, a noun or pronoun (the person or thing doing the action). e.g. The ship
sank; the sailors swam.
4. A sentence must have a verb and its subject to be a sentence. One word sentences (Help! Run!)
have a subject understood, the person who is being addressed. You, help! You, run!)
5. Everything else in the sentence must be linked one way or another to the verb and its subject.
6. An active verb has a subject, the person or thing doing the action of the verb.
7. A passive verb has a subject, but the action of the verb is done to it.
e.g. The man loves (active) but The man is loved (passive)
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8. As you might expect, the action of an active verb can be done to someone or something.
e.g. The man loves football. “To love” is a transitive verb meaning that its action can be
carried over from the subject to someone or something else,
called the direct object. So football is what the man loves, or
the direct object of the verb “loves.”
9. Some verbs, like “to tremble” are intransitive. Their action cannot be carried over (the trans
part of the word); you cannot tremble someone or something.
10. The passive form of verbs is always intransitive. You cannot write The man is loved football.
11. Some verbs can have two objects. e.g. The man gave his son a football.
We know that what the man gave was the football, and he gave the football to his son. “Son”
here is the indirect object. You can tell an indirect object by putting “to” in front of it: The man
gave to his son a football, not the man gave his son to a football. Notice that the indirect object
must come before the direct object. The man gave a football his son is not the same as The man
gave his son a football.
Enough. If you have any questions, email me.