SEQUENCE OF TEACHING GRAMMAR AND WRITING

1. What is a verb? Raise your hand if you were told that verbs are words that show action.

May I suggest that you consider an alternative test to determine when words are verbs. After all, not all verbs show action.

Hey, what about

The most common verb in the English language is the BE verb. It doesnt show action, does it? Well does it!

TO BE OR NOT TO BE
(CONJUGATIONS OF THE BE VERB)
PERSON
1ST, SINGULAR 2ND, SINGULAR 3RD, SINGULAR 1ST, PLURAL 2ND, PLURAL 3RD, PLURAL I YOU HE, SHE, IT WE YOU THEY

PAST
AM ARE IS ARE ARE ARE

PRESENT
WAS WERE WAS WERE WERE WERE

A new concept

Words that indicate a time period are verbs. For example: Walk is a verb because it indicates the present tense. Walked is a verb because it indicates past tense. Will walk is a verb because it indicates future tense.

STEP NUMBER ONE

What is a verb? A verb is any word that can be conjugated. We will concern ourselves with seven tenses.

THE SEVEN TENSES

1) PRESENT 2) PAST 3) FUTURE 4) PRESENT PERFECT 5) PAST PERFECT 6) FUTURE PERFECT 7) CONTINUOUS FORM

THE PRESENT

SINGULAR

PLURAL

I walk. You walk. He, She or It walks.

We walk. You walk. They walk.

ITS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

THE PRESENT TENSE

This tense expresses action that is going on now.

THE PAST

SINGULAR I walked. You walked. He, She or It walked. PLURAL We walked. You walked. They walked.

Remember that if you want to live.

Did you notice that an ed ending is a verb signifier.

THE PAST TENSE

This tense expresses action that took place in the past.

THE FUTURE

SINGULAR I shall/will walk. You will walk. He, She or It will walk. PLURAL We shall/will walk. You will walk. They will walk.

Will is called a helping or an auxiliary verb. Where theres a will theres a way to the future tense.

THE FUTURE TENSE

This tense expresses action that will take place in the future. It is formed by adding shall or will to the present.

THE PRESENT PERFECT

SINGULAR I have walked. You have walked. He, She or It has walked

PLURAL We have walked. You have walked. They have walked.

Note: The conjugation of the verb WALK remains the same. It is the helping verb HAVE which helps form the perfect tense.

THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

This tense expresses action that was completed at some indefinite time in the past or action that started in the past and is still going on. It is formed by adding has or have to the past participle.

THE PAST PERFECT

SINGULAR I had walked. You had walked. He, She or It had walked.

PLURAL We had walked. You had walked. They had walked.

Starting to see the pattern? The change only occurs to the helping verb.

THE PAST PERFECT

This tense expresses action that took place before some other past action. It is formed by adding had to the past participle.

THE FUTURE PERFECT

I/(We) shall/will have walked. You/(You) will have walked. He, She or It/(They) will have walked. In the future tense, the helping verb from the simple future tense WILL (SHALL can also be used in 1st person) is added to the perfect helping verb of HAVE.

THE FUTURE PERFECT

This tense expresses action that will be completed by some given time in the future. It is formed by adding shall have or will have to the past participle.

THE CONTINUOUS FORM

THE CONTINUOUS FORM THE CONTINUOUS FORM THE CONTINUOUS FORM THE CONTINUOUS FORM THE CONTINUOUS FORM Sorry, about that. I am walking you through this unusual tense.

THE CONTINUOUS FORM CONTINUED

The sentence: I AM WALKING YOU THROUGH THIS. Is an example, of the continuous tense. When a word ends with ing. It is usually an example of the continuous tense. Note: The helping verb AM preceding walking. The continuous form must have the helping BE verb in some form of conjugation for the continuous form to take place.

THE CONTINUOUS FORM CONTINUED

SINGULAR I am walking You are walking He, She or It is walking

PLURAL We are walking You are walking They are walking

THE CONTINUOUS FORM

This tense expresses action that is continuing to happen. However verbs ending in ingwithout the presence of a helping verb do not count as verbs.

RULES AND EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES

A verb preceded by the word to, becomes what is known as an infinitive. This means that the word does not count as a verb because infinitives do not indicate a particular time period. EX: I want to be alone. The be of to be in the sentence is not the verb of the sentence; the verb in this sentence is want; it is conjugated in the present tense.

EXCEPTIONS CONTINUED

Some times a word can be a verb and other times it will become some other part of speech. EX: Table is a verb when it indicates a time period: The committee tabled the motion. When it doesnt indicate a time period, The table stood on three legs. It is something else. Thus, we must always identify verbs in the context of the sentence.

EXCEPTIONS CONTINUED

We have seen that sometimes we use two or more words to form verbs. EX: In the present perfect tense, we use two words to form the verb: has spoken. The first word is called the helping verb; the second verb is called the main verb; both verbs are called the complete verb.

EXCEPTIONS CONTINUED

was broken is finished will have completed had left

Which verb above is the helping verb?

The helping verb =

The main verb =

Which verb above is the main verb? The underlined part will be the complete verb

EXCEPTIONS CONTINUED
DID

YOU
GET

ALL
THAT!

EXCEPTIONS CONTINUED

A reminder about the Continuous Form. Verbs ending in ing without the presence of a helping verb do not count as verbs.

EX: going, talking, joking are not verbs because they are not preceded by a helping verb. However, am going, is talking, were joking are verbs because they are preceded by helping verbs.

THE CONJUGATION OF BE
Tense
Singular 1st
I

Singular 2nd
You are

Singular 3rd
He, She or It Is

Plural 1st
We are

Plural 2nd
You are

Plural 3rd.
They are

PRESENT

am

PAST

was

were

was

were

were

were

FUTURE

will/shall be have been

will/shall be have been

will/shall be

will/shall be

will/shall be

will/shall be

PRESENT PERFECT PAST PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT

has been

have been

have been

have been

had been

had been

had been

had been

had been

had been

will/shall have been

will/shall have been

will/shall have been

will/shall have been

will/shall have been

will/shall have been

MORE WEIRDNESS

A verb is still a verb if it can be placed into any time period: it does not have to be placed into all the time periods.
AND NOW A FEW EXAMPLES: MUST is a verb even though it can only be placed into the past tense. WOULD is a verb even though it can also be only placed in the past tense. WILL is a verb even though it can only be placed in the future tense. and these verbs can never be placed in any other time periods.

MORE WEIRDNESS and beyond

CAN REPRESENTS THE PRESENT TENSE. COULD REPRESENTS THE PAST TENSE. and they can never be placed
in another time period

Get it. Got it. Good!!! Major exam to follow!!!!