1. Subjects and Verbs

2. What are subjects and verbs?
What is a subject?
Usually a noun or pronoun –
the who or what of the sentence.
What is a verb?
The action of the sentence or
the link in the sentence.

3. Recognizing Subjects Subjects Often answers the who or what question
Jamie stole the car – who?
The dirty car wouldn’t come clean – what?

4. Action vs. Linking Verbs
Action Verbs
Show an action – what did so and so do?
Linking Verbs
not actions (test replace verb with is or was – if it makes sense, it’s probably a linking verb.

5. Recognizing Verbs VERBS May show action [jump, hop, skip]
May link [is, was will be, appeared]
May be compound [has been, will have, is going]
Might be infinite [to go, to listen]
**However a gerund is not an active verb
[ing verb without helping verb isn’t main verb]

6. Prepositional Phrases #1 of 3
•Often show place
– What can a marble do to a mountain?
•Why know them?
–They often confuse what verb to choose,
so eliminate to check the verb.

7. Prepositional Phrases #2 of 3
Eliminate the prepositional phrases and find the verb in the example.
Next to the bus stop, a group of new college students is talking.
P. S. It’s okay to end a sentence with a preposition.

8. Prepositional Phrases #3 of 3
Eliminate: “next to the bus stop,” and
“of new college students.”
Subject: “a group”
Verb: “is talking”

9. Regular and Irregular Verbs #1 of 2
How to know present tense
add the word every day
How to know past tense
add word yesterday
How to know future tense
Add word tomorrow

10. Regular and Irregular Verbs #2 of 2
Which sentence is in the present, past,
and future?
EX: Mary drives like a maniac on the freeway.
Bill didn’t like the apple cart.
Arthur is going to fly to Hawaii.

11. Puzzling Pairs Lend: allow someone to borrow [verb]
Loan: is something borrowed [noun]
Lay: to put in place
Lie: to recline
Sit: to take a seat
Set: to put or place