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Verb Forms
Basic Structure of the Main Clause
Subject/ Verb
 Maria sang.
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Subject / Verb/ Object
She sang a song.
Subject/ Verb/ Complement
Her voice was lovely.
Her voice = a lovely thing.
Variations
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Dummy subject/linking verb/real subject.
There was a pretty bird sitting in the tree.
There were pretty birds sitting in the tree.
There was a flock of pretty birds in the tree.
It is raining.
The bird is a cardinal. It sits there every morning
and sings.
This is a bird. These are trees.
Part of Sentences
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Nouns
Verbs
Pronouns
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Verb Forms: Present Tense
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Present tense—called “the plain form” or the
“dictionary” form in your text
Used for present action, habitual or repeated
action, a “fact”; used sometimes for dramatic
effect in a story.
Maria sings in church every Sunday.
Maria’s voice is lovely.
The congregation is hushed and attentive as
Maria sings.
Present Tense (continued)
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For third person singular and plural (he, she, it,
and they), remember that OFTEN-if there is no “s” on the subject, there should be
an “s” or “es” on the verb.
The girl sings beautifully.
The girls sing beautifully.
The gardener waters the flowers every week.
The workers water the flowers every week.
Tenses: Present Progressive
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Present progressive, the --ing form
Used when something is happening right now or
when other events are occurring at the same
time.
I am sitting at my computer right now. The sun
is shining, and the sky is blue.
Maria is singing right now, and the congregation
is listening intently.
Past Tense
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Often it has a “d” or “ed” on the end. It is also
used as the past participle with helping verbs.
He watered the flowers yesterday.
They watered the flowers when he was out of
town.
Maria used to sing in church every Sunday.
She was supposed to sing last Sunday, but she
got sick. (N.B., “to sing” is not a verb, but a
verbal, and it does not have tense.)
Past Participles
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Used with a helping verb to form past perfect,
present perfect, and so on.
He has been watering the flowers on Sundays all
summer. (Present perfect—Started in the past
and is still going on)
He had been watering the flowers on Sundays
for many years, but he changed the schedule last
week. (Past perfect—past, finished and done)
Various Tenses
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Some tenses are primarily used when the
sentence has a time marker or when there is a
contrast with another point in time.
I was walking in my neighborhood when I saw a
dog running loose.
I have been walking in this neighborhood for
years, but until this morning, I had never seen a
dog on the street unaccompanied by its owner.
I will be looking for that dog this afternoon.