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Guide to VERBS Verbs are doing words. Verbs show what people, animals or objects do, feel or are. They come in 3 forms: do (an action) I went to the cinema for my birthday feel (an occurrence) He felt sick! are (a state) I am happy When using verbs, you can talk about yourself or someone else. So, verbs have ‘person’, e.g. I run; you run; it (he or she) runs One or more things can be ‘doing’ something. So, verbs have ‘number’, e.g. I run; We run Things can happen in the past, present and may or may not happen in the future. So, verbs have ‘tense’, e.g. I ran; I run; I will run: I might run Verbs can give a sentence a different meaning depending on how they are written. So, verbs have ‘mood’, e.g. She shouldn’t touch that vase; Don’t touch that vase Verbs can be used informally (anecdotal / friendly) or formally (proper / polite). So verbs have ‘voice’, e.g. Joe washed the car; The car was washed by Joe. Guide to VERBS Fact 1 - Verbs have ‘person’ and ‘number’ The verb talks about me, you, someone else, or one or more things. Verbs that end in a consonant such as walk, play and jump behave in the same way. In the present tense, they only change in the third person singular, where they add s. Singular Plural First Person I walk We walk Second Person You walk You (pl) walk Third Person He, she or it walks They walk Some verbs behave differently, When a verb ends in s, ss, sh, ch, or x, the third person singular is different - it adds es. Singular Plural First Person I watch We watch Second Person You watch You (pl) watch Third Person He, she or it watches They watch Rule - Verbs must agree with their subject: “If the noun in front of the verb is singular, then the verb must be singular too” Joe watches the football every weekend. “If the noun or pronoun is plural, then the verb must be plural too” The cows watch the fox as it crosses the field. Rule – Nouns agree with verbs in number A singular noun takes a singular verb. Plural nouns take plural verbs The exception is collective nouns A collective noun e.g. pair, pride, pack or flock takes a singular verb The flock of sheep grazes in the field Guide to VERBS Fact 2 - Verbs have tenses The action of the verb can take place in the past, present or may or may not happen in the future. Present tense The present tense talks about what is happening now. This comes in two forms. Simple Present I watch the football. You would use this when you are talking about something you do regularly or usually: I watch the football every weekend. Present Continuous: I am watching the football. You use this when you are doing the action for an extended time period, or while you are doing something else: I am watching the football while I am doing my homework. Guide to VERBS Past tense The past tense talks about things that happened some time ago. Sometimes these things have finished happening, and sometimes they haven’t. There are four past tenses, and each one means something slightly different: Spelling Tip: Most verbs form the past tense by adding -ed onto the ‘verb stem’, but many of the verbs we use often are irregular, and you have to learn the past tense. Simple Past I watched the football last night You did the action. Past Continuous I was watching the football last night. You were doing the action for some time, and you might have been doing something else at the same time: I was watching the football last night while I did my homework. Past Perfect I had watched the football last night. You have finished the action, which happens before something else does: I had watched the football last night before my Dad came in. Past Perfect Continuous I had been watching the football last night until my dad turned the TV. The action you were doing was going on when something else happened. Guide to VERBS Future Tense The future tense talks about something that will happen or is going to happen, as well as something that might or might not happen. Present tense used to describe future action Sometimes when we talk about something that is really in the future, we use the present tense. I am going to the shops after school. The plane leaves next Thursday This is because we know that the thing that is happening in the future has already been arranged. Future Tense I will go to the shops after school I am going to go swimming after school. This is what we use when we talk about something that we definitely want or intend to happen. Both of these things will definitely happen. In the first ‘will’ form, you are determined that the event will happen. In the second form, you are just explaining what is going to happen – the event is planned or intended. Modal Verbs Sometimes we do not know whether something we intend will take place. The action of the verb may or may not happen. To express this, we use what are called ‘modal verbs’ because they describe events that are possible, or probably or likely. I would go to the shops after school if I could. I might be playing football next Monday. May I have a bar of chocolate? Should I do my homework now, or leave it till later? Guide to VERBS Fact 3 - Verbs have moods Verbs can give a sentence a different meaning depending on how they are written. All of the examples of verbs so far have been in the indicative mood. This is the one we use to make statements. Most verbs we use are in the indicative mood. The Indicative Mood This is for making statements or asking questions. We played football before dinner. Are you going swimming tomorrow? I will be going on holiday in the summer There are three other moods: The Imperative Mood This is the ‘bossy mood’. We use it to give orders or commands: Do not touch that vase! Kick the ball hard! Watch what you are doing! The Infinitive Mood This is the unchanging part of the verb. It usually has ‘to’ in front of it, and we use it often with verbs that express something we want, need, like, or have to do: I want to go to the shops. I love to play football. I have to do my homework. The Subjunctive Mood This mood expresses things that might happen. Often when we talk about things that might happen we use the modal verbs to help us, but there is one instance when we use the subjunctive mood and that is with hypothetical statements using if: If I were to go to London, I would like to stay at a good hotel If I were not afraid of heights, I might enjoy using the climbing wall NOTE: It is not correct to say ‘If I was to go’ or ‘If I was to do’. Guide to VERBS Fact 4 - Verbs have voice (Required for the Level 6 test only) Verbs can be used informally (anecdotal/friendly) or formally (proper/polite). Verbs can be in the active or the passive voice. The active voice is used for most informal conversation. The passive voice is often used when you are writing formally, or writing reports. Active voice In the active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action of the verb: Joe washes the car. Joe is the person doing the action – he is washing. Joe is the subject of the sentence, who is doing the verb. The car is the object of the sentence – it is having washing done to it. Ann kicks the ball. Ann is the person doing the action – she is kicking. Ann is the subject of the sentence, who is doing the verb. The ball is the object of the sentence – it is having kicking done to it. These active voice sentences are constructed like this: subject: active verb: object Passive voice In the passive voice, the thing that has the verb done to it is the subject of the sentence. The subject receives the action of the verb: The car is being washed by Joe. The car is having washing done to it by Joe. The car is the subject of the sentence, and is receiving the action of the verb. Joe is the agent, who is making what the car has done to it, happen. The ball is being kicked by Siân. The ball is having kicking done to it by Siân. The ball is the subject of the sentence, and is receiving the action of the verb. Siân is the agent, who is making what the ball has done to it, happen. These passive voice sentences are constructed like this: subject: passive verb: agent Passive voice and tenses The passive voice is used in the past tense as well: The gazelle was killed by the lion; The children have been left at home alone; A new cancer drug has been discovered by scientists Use of the passive voice makes the written language sound more formal. It also changes the focus of the sentence from who is doing the verb to the thing that receives the verb: this is why it is often used to write about science where the thing that is being investigated or discovered is more important than the people who investigated or discovered it.