Why is verb important in a sentence

Since tense places the reader or listener in a specific place in time, disrupting that flow with a faulty tense can prevent the audience from understanding your meaning. The cat sits down on the porch and licked his paw. The cat sits down on the porch and licks his paw. In this example, the sentence began in present tense with the word sits. In order to be consistent and continue the present tense, the word licks should be used; licked is past tense, which creates confusion.

If the writer had intended to be in the past tense, then they should have used the word sat. The same sentence in the past tense would be:. The cat sat down on the porch and licked his paw. The first tense used in your writing usually sets the tone for the rest of that section or work. For example, if you begin in past tense, maintain past tense throughout your writing.

In that case, it may help to proof your work for -ed endings or any irregular endings within each sentence. If you want to tell a story or give an example about something that occurs in another tense i. After you are done with your example, move back into whatever tense is being used in the main body of the text.

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Get Started. Certain features require a modern browser to function. Please use a different browser, like Firefox , Chrome , or Safari. How useful was this post? Clark, H. The prediction of recall patterns in simple active sentences. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior , , 5 , 99— The language-as-fixed-effect-fallacy: A critique of language statistics in psychological research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior , , 12 , — The role of semantics in remembering comparative sentences.

Journal of Experimental Psychology , , 82 , — Fillenbaum, S. On the use of memorial techniques to assess syntactic structures. Psychological Bulletin , , 73 , — Fillmore, C. The case for case. Harms Eds.

Google Scholar. Gladney, T. The influence of syntactic errors on sentence recognition. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior , , 6 , — Glucksberg, S. Linguistic structures and mental operations. Cognitive Psychology , , 5 , — Healy, A.

The verb as the main determinant of sentence meaning. Psychonomic Science , , 20 , The relative contribution of nouns and verbs to sentence acceptability and comprehensibility.

Psychonomic Science , , 24 , 94— Horowitz, L. Reintegrative memory. Bring a snack to eat if you get hungry. Alternatively, you can turn the verb into a gerund by adding -ing , identical to the present participle.

A gerund is strictly used as a noun, and occasionally you can use them to create gerund phrases , which act as a single unit to modify the gerund. Running is too difficult. Studying the cosmos is not the same as understanding the cosmos. Often, they are interchangeable—both infinitives and gerunds can act as subjects and direct objects. Living with a dog changes your outlook on life.

To live with a dog changes your outlook on life. However, only gerunds can be the object of a preposition. Moreover, some transitive verbs only use infinitives as a direct object —for example, want. I want to break free. I want breaking free. Although there are others, some common verbs use infinitives.

They include the following: choose, decide, hope, plan, prepare, promise, wish. Use gerunds for situations that are specific, real, or have already happened. In the mornings, I really like to exercise. This morning, I really liked exercising. They need to represent the tense you want, as well as match the subject subject-verb agreement, explained below.

This is called verb conjugation , or changing the verb to fit the sentence. In English, there are four main tenses, each divided into three time periods, totalling twelve tenses. Some other tenses exist, but these are the most common ones. Below, we explain how to conjugate each of the main tenses in the present, past, and future.

Keep in mind that irregular verbs may use different forms. No matter what tense you use, your verb has to match the number of the subject. In other words, singular subjects conjugate verbs differently than plural subjects.

They represent individual, one-time actions. Kim feels lousy today. I study every night before bed. The simple past tense describes a single action that already took place, or a habitual action that no longer occurs. It uses the simple past form explained above. When I was young, I played in the backyard every day.

They lost again, and no one was surprised. The simple future tense describes events that have not happened yet, as in planning or preparing. It uses the root form, but adds the word will in front. You will study verbs until you understand them. Once again, history will repeat itself. The continuous tense—also known as the progressive tense —is used for mostly ongoing events that are temporary. Remember that stative verbs cannot be used in the continuous tense.

Actions about feelings or states of being that happened in the past use the simple past tense. The present continuous tense is used often, and has many different uses:. Form the present continuous by adding the conjugated simple present form of be before the present participle of your main verb the -ing form. Tony is sleeping at the moment. Everyone is talking about it! The past continuous tense shows ongoing events that happened in the past, specifically ones that have a definitive beginning and end.

It can also be used to show a past event that was interrupted by another past event. Note that the past continuous is only used for events that are completed. Form the past continuous by adding the conjugated simple past form of be before the present participle. Yes, the present participle. They were eating dinner when the phone rang.

It was raining all day, but we still had fun indoors. The future continuous tense describes ongoing events that will happen in the future, specifically if they have a definitive beginning and end.

They are used in cases where the linking verb on its own is not sufficient to form a complete thought or sentence. In the examples below, the helping verb is bold and italicized, while the linking verb is bold only. Stative verbs are more difficult to identify as verbs. They describe a position or state of being; they have no duration, no beginning and no end.

They're more intangible than action verbs. While they don't perform any action, notice that they're typically followed by a direct object, which is italicized in the examples below. Now that you know what a verb is, it's time to show how many you know! Use the printable worksheet below to list at least one verb that starts with each letter of the alphabet.

Try to use every type of verb at least once. Ready for a little fun now that you understand what a verb is? Why not enjoy a few games? Here are some action verb games to test your knowledge, as well as some helping verb games to help you or your students keep their verb game on point. Then, when it's time to go beyond the basics, move on to discover the verb tenses. From there, learn how to identify verb mood in grammar.

All rights reserved. Home Grammar What Is a Verb? Definition and Types What Is a Verb? Definition and Types. Verb Definition and Examples Simply put, a verb can be defined as a word that expresses an action or a state of being. Verb Examples: Describing Action Some verbs describe what action is being performed by the subject of the sentence.

She ironed her dress. The action is ironing He drove to the mountains. The action is driving. She feels tired.