The Parts of Speech: Verbs, I •Action, Linking, and Helping Verbs

• Identifying Action Verbs

• Linking Verbs and Subject Complements

• Help with Helping Verbs

• Verb Pitfalls

There are three kinds of verbs:

Action Verbs, Linking Verbs and Helping Verbs

Action Verbs show a physical or mental action:

run fishrise

spin think study dream plan

Linking Verbs link subjects to words that complete the subject or they express a state-of-being. The most common linking verbs are the “to be” verbs:

I am you are he is they are I was you were he was they were

Helping Verbs help the main verb by changing tense or changing the meaning some other way. A complete list of helping verbs will be given later.

Chart of Verbs

Main Verbs Helping Verbs

Action Linking or State-of-Being

PhysicalMental

Action Verbs:These action verbs show either a physical or mental action:

Woodrow fed the cat.Thomas wrote a paper for his English class.

George thought of a way to stop the British soldiers.

John has a beautiful garden.Last night, Abe dreamed he was a lawyer in Illinois.

Cal did the best job.

Andrew determined that twelve hamburgers would be enough.

Can you identify the three mental action verbs?

If you identified thought, dreamed, and determined, you are right!

Linking Verbs and Subject Complements

Some linking verbs simply declare existence:I am.

Usually linking verbs “link” the subject to the subject complement.

Jack is a sailor.

The linking verb, “is” links the subject, “Jack” to the subject complement, “sailor.”

“But just what the is a subject complement?” you ask. Great question. A subject complement “completes” the subject. The subject complement

identifies or describes the subject.

The subject complement is part of the predicate, meaning it is part of the verb team of the sentence. (The other team of the sentence is the subject team.)

There are three types of subject complements: nouns, adjectives, and pronouns.

A noun subject complement is called a predicate noun. (Remember, it is part of the predicate.)

Lucy is my friend.

subject linking verb

subject complement

An adjective subject complement is called a predicate adjective (It’s part of the predicate.)

Lucy is kind.

subjectlinking verb

subject complement

We know that “kind” is an adjective because it describes Lucy.

Linking Verbs and Subject Complements, II

Let’s review: we have looked at predicate nouns, which identify the subject, and we have looked at predicate adjectives, which describe the subject. Now let’s look at…

Predicate Pronouns, which are part of the predicate and also identify the subject.

The winner is she.

subjectlinking verb

subject complement

You think that sounds funny, don’t you? It sounds funny because in casual conversation, most Americans use the incorrect case (or form) of the pronoun. Most Americans would wrongly say, “The winner is her.” Such a construction would win you no prizes at the grammar fair.

But why?

Well, you wouldn’t say, “Her is the winner,” would you?

I certainly hope not. You would sound like an oaf.

There is a rule you can memorize that will help you with this: “When a subject complement is a predicate pronoun, the pronoun must be in the subjective case (or form).”

Wait a minute. Pronouns have cases? What do they put in them?

“Case” is just a fancy way of saying “form.” Because pronouns can do all the things a noun can do, (They can be the subject or the subject complement, or they can be the direct object or the object of the preposition, or they can show possession.) they need the different cases for the different jobs.

The subjective case pronouns are “I, We, You, He, She, It, and They.

Let’s look at some more sentences with predicate pronouns.

Remember, when a pronoun is a subjective complement, it must be in the subjective case or form (which is the same case used if the pronoun is a subject).

She is the winner.

subject

linking verb

subject complement

The winner is she.

subjectlinking verb

subject complement

They are the passengers. The passengers are they.

subject

linking verb

subject complementsubject linking

verb

subject complement

I am it.

subject linking verb subject complement

It is I.

subject linking verb

subject complement

HELPING VERBS

While the Main Verb can stand on its own, sometimes a Helping Verb is needed to help determine time or tense (when the action is occurring, has occurred, or will occur) or to express emphasis or a particular meaning.So how do the helping verbs and main verbs

work together? 1. The main verb is always the last verb in the series.2. There can be up to three helping verbs.

Steve must have been studying for the test for weeks.

helping verbs main verb

Look at how the helping verbs help the main verbs in the following sentences.

Ann will go to work tomorrow.The helping verb, will, helps the main verb, go, create future tense. That is, she will go in the future.

Mark did return Jamal’s phone call.

The helping verb, did, makes the main verb, return, more emphatic.

Sue might join the book club. The helping verb, might, changes the meaning of the main verb, join, by making it uncertain.

Before we get to California, Tammy will have gone to Hawaii.

The helping verbs, will have, help the main verb, gone, change tense. Without them we wouldn’t know that one thing (Tammy going to Hawaii) would happen before another thing can happen (we get to California).

Sharlietta has been attending Griffin Technical College for a year.

The helping verbs, has been, help the main verb, attending, by telling us that Sharlietta’s attendance began in the past and is still on going.

TIP: Together the helping verb(s) and main verb make up the verb phrase. When you are asked to identify a sentence’s verb phrase, don’t forget to identify the helping verbs if there are any.

More on Helping Verbs

We can divide helping verbs into two categories: those that can stand alone as main verbs and those that can be only

helping verbs.

Memorize them.Helping or Main Verbs

Have, Has, or Had Do, Does, or Did

And the “to be” verbs:

Am Was Be

Is Were Being

Are Been

Helping Verbs Only

May, Might, Must

Should Would Could Can

Will Shall

Warning:

Pitfalls to Avoid with Verbs

Pitfall One:

Sometimes the adverbs not and never will come between the helping verb and the main verb. Adverbs, including not and never are not part of the verb phrase. Watch out for other adverbs separating the helping and main verb.

Pitfall Two:

Sometimes, especially in a question, the subject will come between the helping verb and the main verb. You can more easily find the helping verb by changing the question to a sentence.

In this example, the adverbs are in bold black: Miguel does not like watching movies. He will always prefer to be outside.

Pitfall Three:

The “ing” form of any verb (walking, thinking, swinging, saying) is not doing the job of a verb unless there is a “to be” helping verb working with it.

Ex. Will Mary join us for lunch? Mary will join us for lunch.

Ex. Gustav is walking into the room. Without the helping verb, is, walking could not be the verb.

So there you have the basics about verbs. If you memorize the linking and helping verbs

and look for action words (both physical and mental) you should have no trouble

identifying the verb or verbs in sentences. When you have mastered that, go on to the

next level verb lesson.