Verbs part A

Verbs 

Verbs describe what we’re doing, feeling, or thinking, or the state or condition of a thing, person, or animal. Verbs form or lead into the predicate (Subjects and Predicates), the part of a sentence that tells us what the subject is doing.  

Person

Person tells us about the relationship between the subject of the verb—the individual who is doing the verb—and the person who is being spoken to. The person of a verb is signaled by pronoun choice and verb endings.

First person means the speaker is also the subject. It’s often used in novels, especially for narration.

The pronouns I, me, mine, my, we, our, ours, and us are common in the first person.

I plan to break in my new boots before the hiking trip.
We are ready for our close-ups, Mr. DeMille.

Second person means the speaker is talking directly to someone who is probably present. Sometimes, this is a narrator speaking to the reader, but it’s far more common in instructions, how-to guides, recipes, and advice. The pronouns you and yours are common in the second person.

You should wear your hat.
Why won’t you listen to me?
When you get to the end of the chapter, write the answers to the questions in your notebook.

Third person means the subject is not present and the speaker is not speaking directly to them. It’s often used for relating stories about someone else. The pronouns he, her, hers, him, his, it, its, she, them, and they are common in the third person.

She says she plans to donate her old car to charity.
They won’t know what the problem is until their computer technician takes a look.
The rains in Spain fall mainly on the plain.

Number

Number tells us how many people make up the subject of the verb. We have either a singular subject (just one) or a plural subject (two or more).Mass nouns, which act as a singular subject even though they refer to lots of things, take the singularconjugation.

A flock of geese soars into the sky.

The crowd wonders when the theater will open.

Aspect

Aspect tells you how long a verb’s action happened. Simple actions are completed at an unknown time. Progressive actions continue. Perfect actions were known to be completed in the past. Perfect progressive actions were known to be continuous in the past.  

Tense

Tense tells us when the verb of the sentence is taking place, from the point of view of the subject of the sentence. To illustrate, let’s use examples from the verbs eat, call, and read.

PAST TENSE

Simple past tense is for actions that happened at a specific time.

I ate.

I called.

I read.

Past progressive is for actions that happened continuously but were interrupted.

I was eating.

I was calling.

I was reading.

Past perfect is for actions that happened but were finished before a specific time. This was
traditionally called the pluperfect.

I had eaten.

I had called.

I had read.

Past perfect progressive is for actions that happened continuously but then stopped happening continuously at a specific time.

I had been eating.

I had been calling.

I had been reading.

PRESENT TENSE

Simple present tense happens now and is repeated. It’s about habits or regular events.

I eat.

I call.

I read.

Present progressive actions are continuously happening now.

I am eating.

I am calling.

I am reading.

Present perfect actions started and finished in the past at an unspecified time but are relevant to the present.

I have eaten.

I have called.

I have read.

Present perfect progressive is for actions that were continuously happening in the past and are still happening now.

I have been eating.

I have been calling.

I have been reading.

FUTURE TENSE

There are two forms that talk about the future. Will forms tend to be about a promise, intention, or voluntary action. Going to forms tend to be about plans or a certain future.Simple future says that a specific event will happen at a specific time.

I will eat. I am going to eat.

I will call. I am going to call.

I will read. I am going to read.

Future progressive says what will be happening continuously.

I will be eating. I am going to be eating.

I will be calling. I am going to be calling.

I will be reading. I am going to be reading.

Future perfect says that at a certain future time, a specific event will have happened.

I will have eaten. I am going to have eaten.

I will have called. I am going to have called.

I will have read. I am going to have read.

Future perfect progressive says that at a certain future time, a continuous event will have been happening.

I will have been eating. I will have been going to eat.

I will have been calling. I will have been going to call.

I will have been reading. I will have been going to read.

 Mood

Don’t be misled into thinking mood is about emotions. Instead, it refers to whether or not something is a fact.Indicative mood tells us things that are true. It is by far the most common.Subjunctive mood suggests possibility, wishes, or hypotheticals, especially in contradiction to what is true. The subjunctive has been on a long, slow decline in English. Where the subjunctive has traditionally been used, it is now often replaced by what appears to be the simple present or simple past. I say appears, because what we may be seeing is not the vanishing of the subjunctive, but instead a simplification of its forms. In other words, it still functions as the subjunctive, but it takes the same form as other tenses. For example, both of these sentences suggest a hypothetical situation, even though their verb forms are different.

If you were to come with me, we could have lunch.

If you came with me, we could have lunch.

Imperative mood makes a verb into a command. It uses the second person, even when, for example,the subject is speaking to herself or himself.

Go get me a pair of pliers.

“Get up and ride that horse again,” I told myself. “Do it now.”

 Voice

The voice of a verb has nothing do with the sounds made by the mouth. Instead, it has to do with who or what is performing or doing the verb.

Active voice is used when the subject performs the verb and appears in front of the verb.

She saved my life.

Our team won the game.

Passive voice uses a different word order to put the direct object before the verb, and the subject after the verb.

My life was saved by her.

The game was won by us.

The words passive and active here are different from their non-linguistic meanings. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that active is for bold, clear-thinking achievers, and passive is for wimpy, vague do nothings. It isn’t true.Both active and passive voices are essential to everyday writing and speaking. Broadside suggestions that you should avoid the passive voice are misguided and should be ignored.

What you should try to avoid is using passive voice to deflect responsibility, unless that’s what you’re aiming for. “Mistakes were made by us,” sounds much less like an admission of guilt than, “We made mistakes.” The first one is passive; the latter is active. The first one deflects the blame a little bit (and, if it’s in apology, may signal to others that you’re not sincere), whereas the second one plainly claims the blame (and may signal sincerity).

Passive voice is rightly used when you can’t or don’t need to explicitly identify the subject. Perhaps the subject—the main actor—is unknown, or doesn’t matter, or is understood from the context

.An umbrella was left behind after the concert.

The man was indicted on two counts of armed robbery.

The only other valid complaint about passive voice is that it makes readers and listeners work a little bit harder to understand what is being said. We can understand it, but the active voice may be a better way to write it. When you’re revising your writing, try to write sentences in different ways to see which works best.

Some people have mistakenly been taught that forms of the verbs to be or to have usually indicate the passive voice. This is sometimes the case but is not a valid indicator of what is truly passive voice.