MS. GARCIA6TH GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS

Verbs

Verb Rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHyLqPspWR0

The Verb

A verbs is a word that expresses action or a state of being.

Every complete sentence has a verb. It says something about the subject.

Verbs are classified in two ways: Action or Linking Verbs Main or Helping Verbs

Main Verbs and Helping Verbs

In many sentences, a single word is all that is needed to express the action or state of being. Examples:

The dog barked. Brett throws the ball a long way.

Main Verbs and Helping Verbs

In other sentences, the verb consists of a main verb and one or more helping verbs.

A helping verb (also called an auxiliary verb) helps the main verb to express action or a state of being. Examples:

Can speak Will learn Should have been fed

Together, the main verb and the helping verb form the verb phrase.

Practice

Identify the verb phrase (helping verb and main verb) in each of the following sentences: We are going to Arizona this summer. It’s spectacular beauty has captured their

imagination. Visitors can purchase the items as souvenirs. Hikes must be arranged with park rangers.

Action Verbs

Tells an action someone did, is doing, or will do.

It expresses physical or mental activity. Examples:

Please cook dinner. Fran understands the science homework.

Linking Verbs

A linking verb connects or links the subject to a word or word group that identifies or describes the subject.

Think of linking verbs as an equal sign. Examples:

The firefighters had appeared victorious. [firefighters=victorious]

Sandra Cisneros is a writer. [Sandra Cisneros=writer]

Practice

Identify the linking verbs in the following sentences: The almond is high in protein. Peanut Butter was the invention of a St. Louis doctor.

Verbs

All verbs have four basic forms, or principal parts. They are the present, the present participle, the past, and the past participle.

Verbs are classified as either regular or irregular, depending on the way they form their past and past participle.

Principal Parts

Present Present Participle

Past Past Participle

Cook Cooking Cooked (have) cooked

Steal Stealing Stole (have) stolen

Make Making Made (have) made

Regular vs. Irregular Verbs

Regular Verb A regular verb is

one whose past and past participle are formed by adding –ed or –d to the present form.

Irregular Verb An irregular verb

is one whose past and past participle are not formed by adding –ed or –d to the present form.

Regular vs. Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs During the Great Depression, many banks (fail) failed. In 1955. Rosa Park (refuse) to give up her seat on the

bus refused.

Irregular Verbs During the games, players (drink) a lot of water

drank. Ed and Gene have (be) in a workshop all day been.

Practice

This is the first time I have wrote a letter to the editor. Our community has saw too many people who have drowned. A friend of mine swum way out. When she got caught in a riptide, a lifeguard swimmed out and bringed her back to shore. No one has teached us students swimming safety. Not all parents have

teached their youngsters to swim. Young people have took too many chances. I think the people who rave

ran the schools are making a mistake. Too many swimming disasters have already striked this

community.

Vivid Verbs

As writers we often get stuck in particular patterns of writing, and one of these patterns is using the same verbs over and over again.

One way to solve this problem is by replacing your general verbs with vivid verbs.

Vivid Verbs

Vivid verbs are useful for a variety of reasons. First of all, they make your writing more interesting

and enjoyable for the reader. Secondly, vivid verbs have more specific meanings

than the general verbs they replace. However, you must be careful when replacing a general verb with a vivid verb to ensure that the vivid verb does not significantly alter the meaning of the sentence.

Vivid Verbs

Example: As the students walked through the park, the breeze

blew the leaves on the trees. As the students ambled through the park, the breeze

lifted the leaves on the trees.