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Verbs
Go to The Guide to Grammar and Writing section on Verbs.
Verbs name actions (both physical and mental) and conditions. Verbs that name actions describe how things happen:
The horse jumps over the fence.
I think about you every day.
Verbs that name conditions describe how things are or appear to be:
Phyllis is a police officer.
Owen seems intelligent.
Because many verbs describe actions, the verb is the liveliest of all the parts of the speech. Choosing your verbs carefully will help make your writing vivid and energetic.
Here are some rules that you may find helpful:
Understanding person and number
Forming the principal parts of verbs
Avoiding mistakes with lie and lay
Avoiding mistakes with sit and set
Understanding sequence of tenses
Maintaining agreement between subjects and verbs
Avoiding errors when words come between subjects and verbs
Avoiding errors in sentences with more than one subject
Avoiding errors when verbs follow subjects
Avoiding errors with subject complements
Avoiding errors with indefinite pronouns
Avoiding errors with collective subjects
Avoiding errors with nouns singular in meaning but plural in form
Identifying the active voice and the passive voice
Avoiding overuse of the passive voice
Identifying the indicative mood
Identifying the imperative mood
Identifying the subjunctive mood
Tenses and moods of a regular verb
The Present Tense: Active Voice
The Present Tense: Passive Voice
The Future Tense: Active Voice
The Future Tense: Passive Voice
The Present Perfect Tense: Active Voice
The Present Perfect Tense: Passive Voice
The Past Perfect Tense: Active Voice
The Past Perfect Tense: Passive Voice
The Future Perfect Tense: Active Voice
The Future Perfect Tense: Passive Voice
The Present Progressive Tense: Active Voice
The Present Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
The Past Progressive Tense: Active Voice
The Past Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
The Future Progressive Tense: Active Voice
The Future Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
The Present Perfect Progressive Tense: Active Voice
The Present Perfect Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
The Past Perfect Progressive Tense: Active Voice
The Past Perfect Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
The Future Perfect Progressive Tense: Active Voice
The Future Perfect Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
The Present Subjunctive: Active Voice
The Present Subjunctive: Passive Voice
The Past Subjunctive: Active Voice
The Past Subjunctive: Passive Voice
Verbs are listed in dictionaries under basic forms, such as walk. Changes in the basic forms indicate whether an action or a condition described by a verb occurs in present, past or future time. Most verbs indicate that an action occurred in the past by adding –ed: walk (present), walked (past). However, many verbs indicate past time by making other changes: is (present), was (past).
The term tense refers to whether a verb is describing an action or a condition in past, present or future time. For example, the verbs walk and is are in the present tense, which means they describe actions or conditions that are taking place now. Walked and was are in the past tense, which means they describe actions or conditions that took place before now.
Many verbs are straightforward. Given the basic forms of these verbs, called regular verbs, all the other forms are predictable. For example, the basic form walk can be combined with the personal pronouns I, you (singular and plural), we, and they to make statements in the present tense (“I walk,” ”You walk”). With singular nouns and with the pronouns he, she and it, an –s is added to the basic form (“The ghost walks,” “She walks,” “It walks”). To make statements in the past tense, -ed is added to a regular verb with any subject (“We walked home from the library yesterday”).
Irregular verbs, such as sing and think, do not follow the standard patterns that regular verbs follow. Irregular verb forms such as sang, sung, and thought must be memorized.
Understanding person and number
Basic verb forms such as jump and be do no more than name actions or conditions. Often, however, the basic forms of the verbs are changed to indicate who or what is performing the actions or is being described:
He jumps.
The trucks were new.
The changes that are made to show who or what is performing an action are matters of person and number.
Person is the term for the distinction between the speaker, the person or people spoken to, and the person or people spoken about. People often speak or write about themselves: “I eat cottage cheese for lunch every day.” Verbs used with first person pronouns (I and we) are in the first person. At other times, people speak or write directly to each other: “You eat a lot of cottage cheese too, don’t you?” Verbs used with second person pronouns (you, both singular and plural) are in the second person. People also frequently speak or write about someone else entirely: “Clara eats more cottage cheese than the two of us put together.” Verbs used with nouns and with third person pronouns (he, she, it and they) are in the third person.
A verb’s subject may name one person or thing (Clara, the corporation) or more than one (friends, skateboards). The difference between one and more than one is called number. Verbs used with one person or thing are singular in number; those used with more than one are plural. Here is the verb walk in the present tense for all three persons, both singular and plural:
singular
plural
first person: I walk we walk
second person: you (singular) walk you (plural) walk
third person: he, she or it walks they walk
Forming the principal parts of verbs
The principal parts of a verb are the basic form, the past tense form, and the past participle. The past participle is the form that follows the verb have in phrases such as have walked. For most verbs, the past participle is identical with the past tense (the basic form plus the ending –ed). To test your knowledge of the principal parts of a verb, try filling in the blanks in the following sentences:
I want to _____________ . (basic form)
Yesterday I ___________ . (past tense)
I have ______________ . (past participle
For walk, the correct answers are as follows:
I want to walk.(basic form)
Yesterday I walked. (past tense)
I have walked (past participle)
Knowing the basic form of a regular verb, such as walk makes it easy to create the past tense (by adding –ed). Most verbs follow the pattern of walk. However, English also has well over a hundred common irregular verbs. For irregular verbs, such as come and sing, knowing the principal parts is essential.
The following chart should help you remember these irregular verbs. By using the chart for a verb such as arise you can determine the past tense (“Several unforeseen consequences arose from the change in the software”) and the past participle (“New problems with the software have arisen this week”).
basic form
past tense
past participle
arise arose arisen
awake awoke awaked or awoken
be was, were been
bear bore borne or born
beat beat beat or beaten
become became become
begin began begun
bend bent bent
bid (command) bade or bid bidden or bid
bind bound bound
bite bit bit or bitten
bleed bled bled
blow blew blown
break broke broken
breed bred bred
bring brought brought
broadcast broadcast broadcast
build built built
burn burned or burnt burned or burnt
burst burst burst
buy bought bought
cast cast cast
catch caught caught
choose chose chosen
cling clung clung
come came come
cost cost cost
creep crept crept
cut cut cut
deal dealt dealt
dig dug dug
dive dived or dove dived
do did done
draw drew drawn
dream dreamed or dreamt dreamed or dreamt
drink drank drank or drunk
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
feed fed fed
feel felt felt
fight fought fought
find found found
flee fled fled
fling flung flung
fly flew flown
forbid forbade or forbad forbidden or forbid
forget forgot forgotten or forgot
forgive forgave forgiven
freeze froze frozen
get got gotten or got
give gave given
go went gone
grind ground ground
grow grew grown
hang (suspend) hung hung
(Note that hang, meaning “execute,” is regular.)
have had had
hear heard heard
hide hid hid or hidden
hit hit hit
hold held held
hurt hurt hurt
keep kept kept
kneel kneeled or knelt kneeled or knelt
know knew known
lay (put) laid laid
lead led led
leave left left
lend lent lent
let let let
lie (recline) lay lain
(Note that lie, meaning “tell an untruth,” is regular)
light lighted or lit lighted or lit
lose lost lost
make made made
mean meant meant
meet met met
mow mowed mowed or mown
pay paid paid
prove proved proved or proven
quit quit quit
read read read
rid rid rid
ride rode ridden
ring rang rung
rise rose risen
run ran run
say said said
see saw seen
seek sought sought
sell sold sold
send sent sent
set set set
shake shook shaken
shed shed shed
shine (glow) shone shone
(Note that shine, meaning “polish,” is regular.)
shoot shot shot
show showed showed or shown
shrink shrank or shrunk shrunk or shrunken
shut shut shut
sing sang or sung sung
sink sank or sunk sunk
sit sat sat
slay slew slain
sleep slept slept
slide slid slid
sling slung slung
slink slunk slunk
speak spoke spoken
spend spent spent
spin spun spun
spit spit or spat spit or spat
split split split
spread spread spread
spring sprang or sprung sprung
stand stood stood
steal stole stolen
stick stuck stuck
sting stung stung
stink stank or stunk stunk
strike struck struck
string strung strung
swear swore sworn
sweep swept swept
swim swam swum
swing swung swung
take took taken
tear tore torn
tell told told
think thought thought
throw threw thrown
thrust thrust thrust
understand understood understood
wake woke woken
wear wore worn
weave wove or weaved woven or weaved
weep wept wept
win won won
wind wound wound
wring wrung wrung
write wrote written
Verbs can be classified according to the ways they function with subjects, objects, and other verbs. A good dictionary, in addition to providing information about how to spell verbs and about what they mean, also tells whether they are transitive, intransitive, linking or auxiliary verbs. Your dictionary may use abbreviations for this information, such as v.t. to identify a transitive verb.
Transitive verbs require direct objects to complete their meanings. They describe actions rather than conditions. If you create a question by adding “Whom?” or “What?” to an action verb and find the answer in the same sentence, the verb s transitive. Take the following sentence, for example:
verb
Laura bought a thirty-two gallon trash can.
The answer to the question “Bought what?” is a “thirty-two gallon trash can.” Bought is therefore a transitive verb.
Intransitive verbs are verbs that describe actions but are not followed by direct objects or complements. The answer to a question created by adding “Whom?” or “What?” to an intransitive verb cannot be found in the same sentence. However, intransitive verbs are often followed by prepositional phrases, as in the following sentence:
verb
Nat and Lynne walk to the office every day, regardless of the weather.
The answer to the question “Walk what?” cannot be found in this sentence. (They may walk two miles to the office every day, but the sentence itself does not provide this information.) The prepositional phrase to the office answers the question “Walk where?” which shows it is functioning as an adverb. Remember, direct objects can never be found in prepositional phrases.
Some verbs are always transitive, and some are always intransitive. Many verbs, however, can be either transitive or intransitive, depending on how they are used:
My grandfather began a new life at Ellis Island.
For my grandfather, a new life began at Ellis Island.
The two sentences mean almost the same thing. In the first one, however, the verb began is transitive (“Began what?” – “a new life”). In the second began is intransitive. “A new life” is the subject of the verb in this sentence, not the direct object. Similarly, in “Nat and Lynne walk to the office every day,” walk is an intransitive verb. However, in “Nat and Lynne walk the dog every day, “walk is a transitive verb.
Some common irregular verbs can cause special problems. Lie is often confused with lay and sit and set. Recognizing which of these verbs are transitive and which are intransitive will help you tell them apart.
Avoiding mistakes with lie and lay
The verb lie meaning “tell an untruth” is regular (“Today I lie,” “Yesterday I lied,” “I have always lied”). When lie has this meaning it is transitive.
The verb lie meaning “recline” is intransitive:
Let me lie down for a few minutes, and I’ll be fine.
The verb lay meaning “put down” is transitive:
As soon as I come in the door, I lay my keys on the hall table.
Some confusion may result because the past tense of lie meaning “recline” is lay:
After I lay down. I discovered I wasn’t sleepy.
The past tense of lay (meaning “put down”) is laid:
I laid my keys on the table yesterday evening as usual, but I can’t find them now.
The best way to distinguish between the two is to remember that lie meaning “recline” is intransitive and lay meaning “put” is transitive. The complete principal parts of these verbs are as follows:
basic form
past tense
past participle
lie (tell an untruth) lied lied
lie (recline) lay lain
lay (put) laid laid
Avoiding mistakes with sit and set
The intransitive verb sit means “put oneself into a sitting position.” It also means “be located”:
Sit down, ladies and gentleman.
The new clock sits on the mantelpiece.
The transitive verb set means “place”:
Set your hats and coats on the empty chairs.
The best way to distinguish between sit and set is to remember that sit is intransitive and set is transitive. The principal parts of sit and set are as follows:
basic form
past tense
past participle
sit sat sat
set set set
Linking verbs are followed not by objects but by subject complements – words, phrases or clauses that rename or describe subjects. Linking verbs describe conditions, not actions. The verb be in its various forms (am is, are, was, and were) is the most common linking verb. Consider the following sentence:
linking verb
The control panel on our toaster oven is hard to read.
“Hard to read” describes the control panel, and the verb is links the first part of the sentence with the second.
Some other common linking verbs are appear, become, and seem. Verbs such as feel and look can be linking verbs or not, depending on how they are used. For example, in the sentence “Jack felt ashamed,” felt is a linking verb. However, in the sentence “Jack felt the heat of the fire,” felt is a transitive verb.
Some verbs, called auxiliary or helping verbs, do not appear alone in sentences but always accompany one or more other verbs. Some examples of auxiliary verbs are have, be, do, can, might, and would. (Some of these verbs do sometimes appear alone in sentences but when they appear alone they are not considered to be auxiliary verbs Be, for example, is also a common linking verb.)
Two or more verbs can be combined to create verb phrases. Verb phrases are closely related groups of verbs that function in sentences the same way single verbs would. The following sentences contain verb phrases:
The horse was jumping over the fence.
Phyllis will become a police officer.
Owen had seemed intelligent.
Auxiliary verbs combine with basic forms of verbs, present participles and past participles (the third principal parts of verbs) to make verb phrases. Present participles are basic forms of verbs plus the ending –ing, such as walking, locating, and remembering. Past participles of regular verbs, such as walked, located, and remembered end in –ed.
Often one or more modifiers, such as adverbs, appear between an auxiliary verb and the rest of a verb phrase. These modifiers are not considered part of the verb phrase. For example, in the sentence “Claudio has always liked music,” always is an adverb and “has liked” is the complete verb phrase.
A finite verb is any verb that can function as the main verb of a sentence. Verb forms such as present participles (walking, for example) or past participles (such as written) are not finite verbs.
Finite verbs always come first in verb phrases, followed by one or more nonfinite verbs. Only one finite verb can occur in a verb phrase. In “I have been walking,” for example, only have is a finite verb. Been is a past participle, and walking is a present participle.
Forms of the verb have combine with the past participle to create verb phrases. Sometimes the verb will is also used.
I have walked.
You had walked.
He will have walked.
The verb be is very irregular. This means you need to memorize all its forms:
present tense
singular
plural
first person: I am we are
second person: you are you are
third person: he, she, it, is they are
past tense
first person: I was we were
second person: you were you were
third person: he, she, it was they were
The auxiliary verb be combines with present participles to create verb phrases. Sometimes the verbs have and will are also included:
I am walking.
You were walking.
She will be walking.
We have been walking.
You had been walking.
They will have been walking.
In these sentences, be is used as an auxiliary verb. In a sentence such as “I am tired,” however, be functions as a linking verb.
The auxiliary verb do has several uses:
To help make other verbs negative:
I don’t go there anymore.
In negative statements, the verb do comes first, followed by the adverb not (often contracted to n’t), followed by the basic form of the main verb.
To create questions:
Does your mother know?
In this kind of question, a form of the verb do appears first, followed by the subject and then by the basic form of the main verb.
To substitute for other verbs:
Does your mother know? She does.
Here the verb does appears instead of the verb knows. (“She knows” would also be correct.)
To make other verbs emphatic:
She does know.
“She does know” means “She knows, even if you think she doesn’t” or “She knows, even though it may surprise you.” Here does is included for emphasis.
Other auxiliary verbs are called modal auxiliaries. Some common modal auxiliaries are can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would. They are used with the basic forms of the verbs to express writers’ attitudes toward what they are writing. They express a wide range of meanings. For example, can indicates ability, must indicates necessity, and will indicates future time (that is, it indicates either the intention that something will happen or the expectation that it will).
Each modal auxiliary has only one form. In other words, modal auxiliaries have no present participles or past participles. Unlike most verbs, modal auxiliaries do not have third person singular forms created by adding –s. They are always followed in verb phrases by basic forms of verbs:
I can go. I may stay. I must decide.
You can go. You may stay. You must decide.
She can go. She may stay. She must decide.
We can go. We may stay. We must decide.
They can go. They may stay. They must decide.
Once you have mastered the principal parts of a verb (the basic form, the past tense, and the past participle), creating the tenses is relatively simple. Verbs change their forms or combine with other verbs to express tense. Verb tenses indicate when actions take place, either in general or in relation to other actions. They also describe whether an action takes place only once or over a period of time. There are six tenses: the present, the past, the future, the present perfect, the past perfect, and the future perfect. In addition, each of these tenses also occurs in the progressive.
The basic form of the verb is used for the entire present tense of regular verbs except for the third person singular, which ends in –s. Because the same form occurs in most of the present tense, pronouns are often needed to clarify a present tense verb’s person and number:
singular
plural
first person: I walk we walk
second person: you walk you walk
third person: he, she, it walks they walk
Verbs in the present tense describe actions that take place at the same time as they are being described:
I see a herd of deer in the meadow.
In addition, the present tense has the following uses:
To indicate a time in the future:
I leave for Chicago tomorrow.
To describe habitual actions:
Sarah visits her mother on Saturdays.
To tell general truths:
Everyone wants to be happy.
To write about books, movies, and other narratives:
In the play Peter Pan, Peter is a boy who never grows up.
To tell stories more vividly:
I ask the police officer if he is going to give me a ticket and he answers, “Do birds fly?” (This use of the present tense is considered informal.)
Verbs in the past tense describe actions or conditions that took place at a time before they are described:
Albert Einstein needed twelve hours of sleep a night.
A regular verb indicates the past tense by adding –ed to the basic form for all persons and both numbers. Because the same form is used throughout the past tense, pronouns are often needed to clarify a past tense verb’s person and number:
singular
plural
first person: I walked we walked
second person: you walked you walked
third person: he, she, it walked they walked
If the basic form of a verb ends in e, only –d is added in the past tense (as in stared). If the basic form ends in y preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to i and –ed is added (as in studied). In words of one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled before –ed (as in patted). In longer words, the final consonant is doubled before –ed when the stress falls on the last syllable. For example, in occurred the r is doubled because the last syllable is stressed. In listened the first syllable, not the last, is stressed, so the n is not doubled.
To find the past tense of an irregular verb, you can refer to the chart of common irregular verbs elsewhere on this disk. You can also use a dictionary to find the spelling of the past tense of an irregular verb.
Verbs in the future tense describe actions that will take place after they are described:
Toru will make a chocolate-peanut butter ice cream pie for Nolan’s birthday party.
The future tense is created by adding will to the basic form of the main verb:
singular
plural
first person; I will walk we will walk
second person: you will walk you will walk
third person: he, she, it will walk they will walk
The future tense, like the present tense, can be used to express general truths:
Wealth alone will not bring happiness.
There are three perfect tenses: the present perfect, the past perfect, and the future perfect. The perfect tenses are used to describe how an event in the present, past or future continues to be relevant as a later time. The following sentences is in the past tense:
past: Marion arrived home.
This sentence describes an event in the past but says nothing about the present. Mario may still be home, or perhaps he has gone out again; the sentence reports nothing beyond his arrival at some time in the past. Here is a similar sentence in the present perfect:
present prefect: Mario has arrived home.
This sentence both reports Mario’s arrival and also suggests that he is still at home.
The present perfect is also used to describe events that started in the past and continue into the present:
present perfect: Leon has shopped at that store since she was a child.
This sentence suggests that Leon still shops at the same store.
The perfect tenses combine the past participles of verbs with one or more auxiliary verbs. For the present perfect the auxiliary verb have is combined with the past participle of the main verb:
present perfect: I have walked downtown every day for a year.
Notice that for the third person singular, has, not have, is used in the present perfect:
singular
plural
first person: I have walked we have walked
second person: you have walked you have walked
third person: he, she, it has walked they have walked
The past perfect describes an event in the past and shows that it was still relevant at a later time. Consider the following sentence:
past perfect: Mario had already arrived home when his mother walked in.
This sentence relates an earlier past event, Mario’s arrival home, to a second past event, his mother’s walking in.
In the past perfect tense had is used with the past participle of the main verb:
singular
plural
first person: I had walked we had walked
second person: you had walked you had walked
third person: he, she, it had walked they had walked
The future perfect describes an event in the future and shows its relevance to another event in the future:
future perfect: Mario will have arrived home by the time his mother walks in.
The future perfect describes actions that will take place before some specified or predictable time:
future perfect: I will have returned home by eleven o’clock.
The future perfect combines the auxiliary verbs will and have with the past participle of the main verb:
singular
plural
first person: I will have walked we will have walked
second person: you will have walked you will have walked
third person: he, she, it will have walked they will have walked
All six tenses also have progressive forms. Progressive forms combine the auxiliary verbs be, have, and will with the present participle (which ends in –ing). The progressive emphasizes that the event being described is in progress. In other words, it is continuing or will continue (depending on the tense). Consider the following sentence:
past progressive
While I was walking home, I met my friend Al.
The past progressive “was walking” describes an action continuing over a period of time in the past. While it was going on, a second action, described by “I met,” took place. The walking began before the meeting with Al and continued after it was over.
The progressive also indicates habitual actions, as in the following sentence:
present
progressive
I am walking a lot more now.
The use of the progressive in this sentence indicates that the walking has become a habit.
Compare the simple tenses with their progressive forms in the chart below:
simple
tense
progressive
present: I walk I am walking
past: I walked I was walking
future: I will walk I will be walking
present perfect: I have walked I have been walking
past perfect: I had walked I had been walking
future perfect; I will have walked I will have been walking
The progressive is illustrated more fully later on this disk.
Understanding sequence of tenses
The term sequence of tenses refers to time relationships between verbs. When the actions described by the verbs in a sentence take place at approximately the same time, the verbs should be in the same tense:
present present
Weak batteries are the main reason cars do not start in cold weather.
Often the verbs in sentences should be in different tenses. However, you should be careful not to shift tenses unless you have a reason for doing so:
present past
NOT: When Alice Walker is a little girl, she was shot in the eye with a BB gun.
An improved version of this sentence is “When Alice Walker was a little girl, she was shot in the eye with a BB gun.” In this sentence the condition and action described by the verb clearly belong in the same tense.
When two or more verbs occur in the same sentence, their tenses should be consistent with the times of the actions they describe. Consider the following sentence:
NOT: As soon as I finish this, I left.
The first action (“I finish”) will take place before the second action (“I left”). Therefore, if the first action will take place in the near future, the second one must take place further on in the future, not in the past. The logical sequence is to describe the first event in the present tense to indicate future time, and the second event in the future tense:
present
future
As soon as I finish this, I will leave.
Another way to make the sentence consistent is to put both verbs into the past tense:
As soon as I finished this, I left.
When describing a sequence of actions, consider the order in which the actions take place and choose tenses which convey a sense of this order to your readers. Note that shifting from one tense to another is fine as long as the time relationships between the events you describe are clear:
Freezer burn is the dehydration of frozen food that have been wrapped improperly or stored too long.
The first verb, is, expresses a general truth; it is therefore in the present tense. The verbs have been wrapped and stored are in the present perfect tense because they describe events that occur before freezer burn develops.
Interrogative sentences ask questions. They can be created in several ways:
With auxiliary verbs:
Do you want to go to the movies?
Can you water ski?
In this kind of question the auxiliary verb comes first, followed by a subject, followed by a main verb.
With verbs followed by subjects:
Is this your book?
The declarative sentence “This is your book” is in the usual order: subject-verb. Reversing the order of the subject and verb (and changing the end mark to a question mark) makes the sentence a question.
With question words:
Who called?
What is a kob?
When did that package arrive?
Where is my paycheck?
Why shouldn’t I go?
How do you play bingo?
Note that a sentence beginning with a question word may include an auxiliary verb as well, as in “When did that package arrive?” or “Where has my paycheck been?”
With a question mark:
You’re twenty-one years old?
Ending a declarative sentence with a question mark is enough to turn it into a question. Usually, the question mark signals that the speaker does not believe the information provided by the declarative sentence or is guessing.
Maintaining agreement between subjects and verbs
Subjects and verbs must correspond in person and number. Words corresponding in this way are in agreement. In order to agree, singular subjects require singular verbs, and plural subjects require plural verbs.
These two sentences illustrate this rule:
subject verb
The girl plays in the back yard after school.
subject verb
The girls play in the back yard after school.
Notice that each subject-verb pair has one –s ending. In the present tense, when both nouns and verbs are regular, the verbs end in –s in the singular and the nouns end in –s in the plural.
Some situations pose problems, however. Sometimes the structure of a sentence obscures the connection between its subject and verb. At other times, it is difficult to be sure whether subjects are singular or plural.
Avoiding errors when words come between subjects and verbs
When verbs immediately follow subjects in sentences, few problems arise. Often, however, modifiers come between subjects and verbs. Take the following sentence, for example:
subject
verb object
The baby-sitter for the DeVries children braids Patti’s hair each time she comes.
The basic structure of this sentence is “The baby-sitter braids Patti’s hair” (S-V-O). With most of the modifiers removed from the sentence, it is easy to see that The baby-sitter is a singular subject and that the verb braids must be third person singular. The DeVries children mentioned in the prepositional phrase do not perform the action of the verb braids and therefore do not influence whether the verb is singular or plural.
When words come between subjects and verbs, it is useful to remember that subjects never occur in prepositional phrases. Crossing out prepositional phrases should help you analyze sentences for their basic structures:
subject verb
object
The baby-sitter for
the DeVries children braids
Patti’s hair each time she comes.
Dependent clauses can also come between subjects and verbs, and they do not affect subject-verb agreement either.
Avoiding errors in sentences with more than one subject
Verbs with compound subjects are usually plural:
subject
verb
Tom and Edward are best friends.
The only exception occurs when the compound subject refers to a single idea:
subject
verb
Ham and eggs is Jenny’s favorite breakfast.
When compound subjects are joined by or, either . . . or or neither . . . nor, the verb agrees with the part of the subject that is closer to it in the sentence:
subject
subject verb
Either Tom’s sisters or Edward knows where Tom is now.
The verb knows is singular because Edward, the part of the compound subject closer to the verb, is singular. If a sentence of this kind seems awkward to you, you can always rewrite it to put the other subject first. Reverse the order and the situation changes:
Either Edward or Tom’s sisters know where Tom is now.
Avoiding errors when verbs follow subjects
In some sentences the usual word order is reversed. In sentences beginning with Here, There or Where followed by forms of the verb be, the subject follows the verb:
verb
subject
There were too many people in the pool today.
Sometimes a writer reverses the subject and the verb to achieve a surprising or dramatic effect:
verb subject
We were all ready to leave for the theater when in came Shirley, wearing a yellow bikini.
Reversing the order of the subject and the verb does not alter the need for agreement between them. The person or thing performing the action of the verb is still the subject.
Avoiding errors with subject complements
Linking verbs agree with their subjects, just as other verbs do. However, since both subjects and subject complements name or describe the same people or things, a writer is sometimes tempted to make verbs agree with complements rather than with subjects. Consider the following sentence:
subject verb subject complement
The best part of a trip to Egypt is the pyramids.
The subject of the verb is in this sentence is part (singular), not pyramids (plural), so this sentence is correct.
Avoiding errors with indefinite pronouns
Most indefinite pronouns are always singular. Anybody, each, everybody, and somebody are among the indefinite pronouns that take singular verbs:
verb
pronoun
Is anybody here?
pronoun
verb
Each was the best of its kind.
Other indefinite pronouns, such as both, few, many, and several are always plural:
pronoun verb
pronoun
verb
Many of my friends have good jobs, but few are willing to lend me money.
Still other indefinite pronouns, such as all, any, most, and some, are sometimes singular and sometimes plural. When these pronouns refer to mass nouns, they are singular. When they refer to count nouns, they are plural:
pronoun
verb
Most of Jan’s enthusiasm was gone.
In this sentence, the pronoun Most refers to the mass noun enthusiasm. The verb is therefore singular.
pronoun verb
Most of my clothes were destroyed in the fire.
In this sentence, however, the pronoun Most refers to the count noun clothes. The verb is therefore plural.
Avoiding errors with collective subjects
Although collective nouns refer to groups, they usually take singular verbs:
subject verb
Our team is the best in the conference.
On rare occasions, writers may want to emphasize that a group is made up of individuals. To do so, they may choose a plural verb:
subject verb
After graduation, the team are going their separate ways.
Many writers would change this sentence to “After graduation, the members of the team are going their separate ways, “but treating team as a plural subject is also acceptable.
The collective noun number is singular when it occurs in the phrase the number but plural when it occurs in the phrase a number:
subject
verb
The number of people who want to buy widgets is very small.
subject
verb
A number of people are in the store trying to buy widgets.
Titles of poems, stories, books, and movies take singular verbs even when they appear to be plural:
subject
verb
Breathing Lessons is a novel by Anne Tyler.
Titles of organizations take singular verbs even though they may end in –s:
subject
verb
Apex Associates is going out of business.
A quantity regarded as a whole takes a singular verb:
subject
verb
Ninety-five dollars is too much to pay for a radio.
Avoiding errors with nouns singular in meaning but plural in form
Some nouns, such as economics, look plural because they end in –s but are singular in meaning. They take singular verbs:
subject verb
Economics was my favorite subject in college.
Single objects that appear to have two parts take plural verbs:
subject verb
My eyeglasses are missing.
subject verb
Joey’s pants were too long, so he had them altered.
In most sentences, the subjects perform actions. In passive sentences, however, the subjects are acted upon. Whether a subject is acting or acted upon is a matter of voice.
Identifying the active voice and the passive voice
The following sentence is in the active voice:
The Americans defeated the British at Yorktown in 1781.
This sentence describes an action the Americans performed. A sentence in which the performer of the action is the subject of the verb is in the active voice.
A sentence in which the target of the action is the subject of the verb is the passive voice. The following sentence is in the passive voice:
The British were defeated by the Americans at Yorktown in 1781.
This sentence describes the same event as the first one does, but it focuses on the British, who were defeated, rather than on the Americans, who defeated them. To reflect this change of focus, the direct object in the first sentence (the British) becomes the subject of the second sentence. The subject of the first sentence (The Americans) has been moved to a prepositional phrase in the second sentence.
To change a sentence from the active voice into the passive voice, turn the direct object of the active sentence into the subject of the passive one. (Only sentences with direct objects – that is, sentences with transitive verbs – can be changed into passive sentences.) To make the verb in an active sentence passive, choose a third person form of the verb be in the same tense as the verb in the active sentence. If the new subject is singular, make the verb singular. If it is plural, make the verb plural. Then add the past participle of the main verb in the active sentence. For example, the active sentence “Rahman found a twenty dollar bill” can be transformed into the passive sentence “A twenty dollar bill was found by Rahman.” The direct object of the active sentence (“twenty dollar bill”) becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
The performer of an action often appears in the passive sentence in a phrase beginning with the preposition by. However, some passive sentences focus only on the person or thing being acted upon, and the subject is not considered important enough to mention. Look at the following example:
Astronauts are considered poor insurance risks.
Obviously, astronauts are considered poor risks by someone – by people in insurance companies called actuaries whose task it is to calculate the risks involved in various kinds of jobs. But the focus is presently on the astronauts, not the actuaries. In fact, for the writer’s purpose, the people who perform the action are unimportant.
The passive voice is also used when the performer of an action is unknown:
Footprints were left in the wet concrete.
Sometimes writers want to avoid mentioning someone who has performed a negative or controversial action. Consider the following two sentences:
passive voice: The money was stolen.
active voice: The cashier stole the money.
The first sentence simply reports the theft, while the second sentence places the blame. The first sentence might be used by someone who does not want to mention the cashier’s guilt.
The following diagram shows the relationship between the parts of active and passive sentences:
subject --------- verb ----------- direct object
acts in active voice object
The girl ate a candy bar.
subject is ---------------- verb (by + actor)
object of action in passive voice
The candy bar ----------was eaten (by the girl).
Avoiding overuse of the passive voice
The passive voice is very useful to writers who want to focus attention on the target of an action rather than on the performer. However, some writers use the passive voice too much.
Writing is more effective and interesting when most sentences are in the active voice. Active sentences are shorter and more vivid. Whenever you use the passive voice, ask yourself why you are doing so. If you can think of an answer such as “to focus attention on the target of the action,” let the passive voice stand. Otherwise, change passive sentences into active ones.
Do you overuse the passive voice? Analyze your own writing to find out. Choose a sample of your writing, preferably something formal such as an assignment you wrote for a high school course. Underline each verb and label it as either active voice or passive voice. Then for each verb in the passive voice, consider whether you had a good reason for using the passive.
Unless you had a good reason for using the passive, your sentences would probably be more effective in the active voice, so you should transform any remaining passive sentences into active ones. Suppose you find a sentence in the passive voice such as this one:
Four tons of plastic are discharged into the ocean by American warships each day.
This sentence would be more vivid and memorable in the active voice:
American warships discharge four tons of plastic into the ocean each day.
Note that the active sentence is shorter and easier to understand than the passive sentence.
Mood is the use of verbs to indicate a person’s attitude toward what he or she is saying or writing. There are three moods: the indicative, the imperative, and the subjunctive.
Identifying the indicative mood
In the indicative mood, verbs state facts or ask questions about them. Therefore, by using the indicative mood, writers suggest that their statements are (probably) true. People who ask questions in the indicative mood expect factual answers:
What is a nightmare?
A nightmare is a dream in which someone feels helpless, powerless or threatened by violence.
The vast majority of sentences are in the indicative mood.
Identifying the imperative mood
The imperative mood is used for requests and commands. Imperatives exist only for the second person (you). The basic form of the verb is used for both singular and plural:
Johnny, please stay out of there.
Children, keep off the grass!
Negative imperatives combine the auxiliary verb do and the adverb not (often contracted to n’t):
Johnny, don’t trample the flowers.
Children, don’t fight.
Identifying the subjunctive mood
By using verbs in the subjunctive mood, writers suggest that their statements are not true although they may wish that they were. Verbs in the subjunctive mood express desires, requests or suggestions. They also indicate imaginary or hypothetical conditions (sometimes called conditions contrary to fact):
subjunctive
If I were rich, I would live in Hawaii.
Similar ideas can be expressed with the auxiliary verbs could, might, ought, should, and would:
I would like to be rich so I could live in Hawaii.
The auxiliary verbs would and could are known as conditional forms. They tell what would be true in imagined situations. In some sentences both the conditional and the subjunctive are used:
conditional subjunctive
I would live in Hawaii if I had a job there.
subjunctive
conditional
If just wishing something made it come true, I would be in Hawaii now.
If the condition that is described is likely to happen rather than merely hypothetical, the indicative mood is used:
indicative indicative
I will live in Hawaii when I retire.
Certain expressions, such as as if and as though, introduce verbs in the subjunctive mood:
The Brownes spend money as if they were millionaires, but they’re just as poor as we are.
Sheila talks about Brendan as though they were already married, and they aren’t even engaged yet.
Verbs that express commands or requests in the indicative
mood are often followed by verbs in the subjunctive. Among them are ask,
demand, insist, recommend, request, and require:
indicative subjunctive
The gas station attendant asked that Ronald pull up a little closer to the pump.
indicative
subjunctive
The man insists that he be excused from jury duty.
indicative
subjunctive
The doctor recommended that Paula go on a strict diet.
In the present subjunctive, verbs appear in their basic forms:
I suggest that every applicant fill (not fills) out the form carefully.
In the past subjunctive, the verbs are identical with those in the past indicative. The past subjunctive is used for imaginary or hypothetical situations:
Annie wishes she knew (not knows) how to dance.
The verb be has two subjunctive forms: be (the present subjunctive) and were (the past subjunctive). Be is used for suggestions and requirements:
Alec’s boss insists that he be (not is) on time for work every day from now on.
Were is used for desires and for imaginary or hypothetical situations:
If I were (not was) Alec, I’d do what Gilda wants.
Tenses and moods of a regular verb
The Present Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I love we love
second person: you love you love
third person: he, she, it loves they love
The Present Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I am loved we are loved
second person: you are loved you are loved
third person: he, she, it is loved they are loved
singular
plural
first person I loved we loved
second person: you loved you loved
third person: he, she, it loved they loved
singular
plural
first person I was loved we were loved
second person: you were loved you were loved
third person: he, she, it was loved they were loved
The Future Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I will love we will love
second person: you will love you will love
third person: he, she, it will love they will love
The Future Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I will be loved we will be loved
second person: you will be loved you will be loved
third person: he, she, it will be loved they will be loved
The Present Perfect Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I have loved we have loved
second person: you have loved you have loved
third person: he, she, it has loved they have loved
The Present Perfect Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I have been loved we have been loved
second person: you have been loved you have been loved
third person: he, she, it has been loved they have been loved
The Past Perfect Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I had loved we had loved
second person: you had loved you had loved
third person: he, she, it had loved they had loved
The Past Perfect Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I had been loved we had been loved
second person: you had been loved you had been loved
third person: he, she, it had been loved they had been loved
The Future Perfect Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I will have loved we will have loved
second person: you will have loved you will have loved
third person: he, she, it will have loved they will have loved
The Future Perfect Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I will have been loved we will have been loved
second person: you will have been loved you will have been loved
third person: he, she, it will have been loved they will have been loved
The Present Progressive Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I am loving we are loving
second person: you are loving you are loving
third person: he, she, it is loving they are loving
The Present Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I am being loved we are being loved
second person: you are being loved you are being loved
third person: he, she, it is being loved they are being loved
The Past Progressive Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I was loving we were loving
second person: you were loving you were loving
third person: he, she, it was loving they were loving
The Past Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I was being loved we were being loved
second person: you were being loved you were being loved
third person: he, she, it was being loved they were being loved
The Future Progressive Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I will be loving we will be loving
second person: you will be loving you will be loving
third person: he, she, it will be loving they will be loving
The Future Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I will be being loved we will be being loved
second person: you will be being loved you will be being loved
third person: he, she, it will be being loved they will be being loved
The Present Perfect Progressive Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I have been loving we have been loving
second person: you have been loving you have been loving
third person: he, she, it has been loving they have been loving
The Present Perfect Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I have been being loved we have been being loved
second person: you have been being loved you have been being loved
third person: he, she, it has been loved they have been being loved
The Past Perfect Progressive Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I had been loving we had been loving
second person: you had been loving you had been loving
third person: he, she, it had been loving they had been loving
The Past Perfect Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I had been being loved we had been being loved
second person: you had been being loved you had been being loved
third person: he, she, it had been loved they had been being loved
The Future Perfect Progressive Tense: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person I will have been loving we will have been loving
second person: you will have been loving you will have been loving
third person: he, she, it will have been loving they will have been loving
The Future Perfect Progressive Tense: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person I will have been being loved we will have been being loved
second person:
you will have been being loved
you will have
been being loved
third person:
he, she, it will have been being loved
they will have been being loved
The Present Subjunctive: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person (he, she, insists) I love (he, she insists) we love
second person: (he, she insists) you love (he, she insists) you love
third person: (he, she insists) he, she, it love (he, she insists) they love
The Present Subjunctive: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person (he, she, insists) I be loved (he, she insists) we be loved
second person: (he, she insists) you be loved (he, she insists) you be loved
third person: (he, she insists) he, she, it be loved (he, she insists) they be loved
The Past Subjunctive: Active Voice
singular
plural
first person (if) I loved (if) we loved
second person: (if) you loved (if) you loved
third person: (if) he, she, it loved (if) they loved
The Past Subjunctive: Passive Voice
singular
plural
first person (if) I were loved (if) we were loved
second person: (if) you were loved (if) you were loved
third person: (if) he, she, it were loved (if) they were loved
singular plural
second person: love love
Verbs name actions and conditions.
Regular verbs follow predictable patterns, but irregular verbs do not.
Verbs may be in the first person, the second person or the third person.
Verbs may be singular or plural.
The principal parts of a verb are the basic form, the past tense form, and the past participle.
Transitive verbs describe actions and require direct objects to complete their meanings.
Intransitive verbs describe actions but are not followed by direct objects or complements.
Linking verbs are followed not by objects but by subject complements.
Auxiliary (or helping) verbs, such as have, be, and do, always appear with other verbs.
Verb phrases are closely related groups of verbs that function in sentences the same way single verbs do.
Present participles are basic forms of verbs plus the ending –ing.
Finite verbs can function as main verbs in sentences, but nonfinite verbs, such as present participles, cannot.
A modal auxiliary verb such as can, could and may, has only one form.
The present tense describes actions or conditions that are taking place while they are being described.
The past tense describes actions or conditions that took place before they are described.
The future tense describes actions or conditions that will take place after they are described.
The perfect tenses indicate how an event or condition in the present, past or future continues to be relevant at a later time.
The progressive emphasizes that an event or condition being described is in progress.
The sequence of verb tenses within a sentence must be consistent with the times when the actions or conditions described by the verbs take place.
Interrogative sentences ask questions.
When subjects and verbs correspond in person and number, they are said to be in agreement.
Words that come between subjects and verbs do not affect the number or person of the verbs.
Verbs with compound subjects are usually plural, but when subjects are joined by or the verb agrees with the subject closer to it.
Reversing the order of a subject and verb does not alter the need for agreement between them.
Verbs agree with their subjects, not with their subject complements.
Most indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.
Collective nouns are usually singular.
Nouns can be singular in meaning but plural in form.
A sentence in which the performer of an action is the subject of the verb is in the active voice, but a sentence in which the target of the action is the subject of the verb is in the passive voice.
Factual sentences are in the indicative mood.
Requests and commands are in the imperative mood.
Verbs in the subjunctive mood express desires, conditions contrary to fact, and some requests.
Verbs in the present subjunctive appear in their basic forms, and verbs in the past subjunctive are identical with those in the past indicative.