VERBS

A VERB expresses action, existence (state of being), or an occurrence.

 Verbs are done by people or things. That means that verbs happen in time and they change form to reflect that. A verb can
be done in the past, present or future.
TYPES OF VERBS
1) Action Verb- expresses action. The action may be physical or mental.
The band marches onto the field
The audience expects a great performance.
Danny plays the trumpet like a professional.
He travels around the country with other musicians.
2) Linking Verb- links the subject of a sentence to a word in the predicate. They express existence or condition.

TO BE: The most common linking verb

The instruments are safe in the bus.
The people were amazed by the show.

Verbs expressing Condition: to feel, to seem, to appear, to become, to look, to smell, to taste, to sound, to remain, to grow
The students seemed bored during the long trip.
I remained unsure of the material.
The soup felt warm.
3) Verb Phrase: an action or state of being can be more than one word. The group of more than one verb together is called a verb phrase.
We should save a seat for Jeff.
He would have been suprised.
I was going to walk to the store.

* * * * * * * * *
VERB TENSE
(the time when the primary action (verb) takes place)

CONJUGATING: Changing the spelling of the verb to fit the verb tense.
o Note: The same verb may have a different conjugation depending on who/what is doing the verb. In other words, the
conjugations of the verb may differ depending on the subject of the sentence.

INFINITIVE VERBS - Every verb has a basic form called the infinitive form of the verb. That means it isn’t happening at a particular
time; it is the possibility of action.
 Infinitive versions of verbs always look like this : TO ______________
 Here are some infinitive versions of verbs

to smile to think to ask

to assume to sleep to organize

DIFFERENT CONJUGATIONS/ VERB TENSES FOR THE INFINITIVE “TO DANCE”

Verb Form Conjugation when Conjugation when Conjugation when Conjugation when Conjugation when
subject is “I” subject is “You” subject is “We” subject is “He, subject is “They”
She, or It”

Present Tense I dance… You dance… We dance… He dances… They dance…

Past Tense I danced… You danced…. We danced… He danced… They danced…

Future Tense I will dance… You will dance… We will dance… He will dance… They will dance…

* Pay special attention to the present tense when the subject is “he, she, or it”
PRACTICE
Instructions: Read the following sentences. Figure out when (the tense) the action is taking place. Write that tense in the blank. Then circle
the subject and conjugate the verb based on the subject and tense.

1) Yesterday, we ________________ (To Watch) Sunday Night Football.

Tense: _________________

2) Even though Bobby is in 7th grade, he has already received a scholarship to Harvard and __________________ (to study) at their
business school in six years.
Tense: ________________

3) I _____________ (to walk) to school on a daily basis.

Tense: ________________

4) As Harry Potter enters Hogwarts, he ______________ (to hear) the swirling of wands ricochet off the walls.
Tense: ________________

Irregular Verbs: most verbs look pretty much like their infinitive version no matter how they are conjugated (like “to dance” for example).
Some verbs however look nothing like the infinitive version. They are still the SAME VERB, they are just irregular because they don’t
follow a logical pattern

The most important and common verb in English is TO BE. It shows existence, and it is really irregular.

Conjugation of “TO BE”

Present tense conjugation Past tense conjugation Future tense conjugation

I am I was I will be
you are you were You will be
she/he/it is she/he/it was she/he/it will be
they are they were they will be

Other present tense conjugations: Other past tense conjugations: Other future tense conjugations:

**am/are/is being **was/were being **will have been

**has/have been

* Other irregular verbs include to drink (I drink/I drank/I will drink) and to do (She does/She did/She will do). There are many and you
should intuitively know most since most of you are native English speakers.

Practice
Instructions: conjugate the correct for of the infinitive verbs that are in the parentheses.

1. The Hubble Space Telescope has_______________ (to make) astronomers hungry for more information about the universe.

2. NASA has _____________________________ (to want) to send even better telescopes into space.

3. Last week, NASA ____________________________ (to choose) four new telescope projects to work on.

4. Hubble’s replacements saw through the clouds of gas that ____________ (to get) in the way before.

5. Hubble________________________________ (to bring) us images of the meteor shower of 1994.