Chapter 2
Verbs
2.1 Present and Past Tenses: Regular Verbs
Every sentence must have a verb to describe the action of the subject. Since the subject and the verb are the two most important parts of a sentence, learning to recognize verbs is essential to your progress in becoming a better writer. Let’s review three characteristics of verbs that help to identify them.
1. The verb tells what the subject does, did, or will do (action), is, was, or will be (linking).
Example: Reggie caught the fly ball.
What did Reggie do?
He caught. Therefore, caught is the verb.
2. The verb changes its form to show time (tense).
Example: Reggie catches the fly ball. (The time is the present.)
Reggie caught the fly ball. (The time is the past.)
Reggie will catch the ...
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