Main and Helping Verbs

Main Verbs and Helping Verbs

A verb may be more than one word. The main verb is the most important verb. The helping verb comes before it.

Some Common Helping Verbs

am                       was                           has

is                        were                          have

are                       will                                had

The main verbs below are in bold print. Helping verbs are in italics.
Alfredo is training for the Olympics.
 
He has run five miles each day.
 
His coach will help him next week.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/verbs/ex4.htm

http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/helping_verbs/quiz520.html

Action and Linking Verbs

Action verbs

. An action verb is a verb that tells what action someone of something is

performing. Sometimes the action is something you can see; sometimes the verbs express

mental actions (for example: forget, believe, think).

-

Hank painted the tool shed.

-

The parakeet swings back and forth in its cage.

-

Jefferson thought about the problem.

Linking verbs

. A linking verb is a verb that connects its subject with a word at or near the end

of the sentence.

-

Victoria was Queen from 1837 to 1901.

-

The feverish child is miserable.

The most common linking verb is

be*. Other verbs that can act as linking verbs include

appear, become**, come, feel, grow, keep, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste,

turn***http://www.phschool.com/atschool/writing_grammar_08/grade8/exercise_bank/chapter15/wag8_act_15-2b.cfm.

ttp://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/quizzes/grammar/DeltaExer/actionlinking.htm

http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/grammar/extraexercises/GFW7_BLMs_1229_13.pdf

Singular and Plural Possessive nouns

A possessive noun tells us who (or what) owns or has something. Possessives answer the question "Whose?" Study the following rule and examples and then try the practice exercises.

Rule 1: to make a singular word possessive, just add 's

Tom => Tom's fault Kathy => Kathy's job the doctor => the doctor's coat the Jones => the Jones's house

Possessive nouns (plural)

Plural nouns follow slightly different rules for making them possessive. Study the following rules and then complete the practice exercises.

Rule 1: add ' to a regular plural noun which ends in s

dogs => dogs' leashes teachers => teachers' desks

Rule 2: if the plural noun does not end in s, add 's

geese => geese's pond children => children's rollerblades http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/possessive_nouns/quiz327.html http://www.theteachersguide.com/pages/printouts/grammar/possessivenouns2.pdf http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/Grammar/Plural%20Possessive.pdf http://www.spellingcity.com/word-match-vocabulary-game.html?listId=5706868 http://www.spellingcity.com/word-match-vocabulary-game.html?listId=5706798 http://www.myenglishlessons.net/quizzes/possessives.htm http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/par_numberless_quiz.pl/plurals_quiz.htm

Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns

Most nouns in English have both singular and plural forms, and the
plural is usually formed by adding "-s" to the singular. Most nouns in
English have both singular and plural forms, and the plural is usually
formed by adding “-s” to the singular. This page explains the basic
ways of forming regular plurals in English. For information about
forming irregular plurals see IrrEgular Plurals of Nouns.

How to form the plural
Noun ending Forming the plural Example

s, x, ch or sh	Add -es	boss bosses tax taxes bush bushes
consonant + y	Change y to i then add -es	baby babies candy candies curry curries
most others	Add -s	cat cats face faces day days

Try this:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/plural1.htm

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/plural2.htm

 

 

Although most nouns have plurals formed according to regular rules (see Regular Plurals of Nouns), some nouns have unusual, or irregular plurals. This page will introduce the most common ones, so that you can learn them.

Types of irregular plural


There are many types of irregular plural, but these are the most common:

<>Noun type Forming the plural Example

Ends with -fe	Change f to v then Add -s	knife knives life lives wife wives
Ends with -f	Change f to v then Add -es	half halves wolf wolves loaf loaves
Ends with -o	Add -es	potato potatoes tomato tomatoes volcano volcanoes
ends with -us	Change -us to -i	cactus cacti nucleus nuclei focus foci
ends with -is	Change -is to -es	analysis analyses crisis crises thesis theses
ends with -on	Change -on to -a	phenomenon phenomena criterion criteria
ALL KINDS	Change the vowel or Change the word or Add a different ending	man men foot feet child children person people tooth teeth mouse mice
Unchanging	Singular and plural are the same	sheep deer fish (sometimes)

Try This:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/irrplu1.htm

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/irrplu2.htm

 

_________________

Compound Sentences

Do you want to make your writing more interesting?

You can do this by combining 2 or more shorter sentences into one longer, more interesting sentence.
A conjunction is a word you can use to combine the sentences.	Examples of conjunctions are: and, or, but, so

Suppose you wrote these sentences in your story... Melanie forgot her lunch. She called her mother.

You could combine these sentences with a conjunction. Melanie forgot her lunch, so she called her mother.

Another example might look like this... Pam bought 3 pencils. She lost 2 of them.

You could combine these sentences with a conjunction. Pam bought 3 pencils, but she lost 2 of them.

Maybe you wrote... Bobby has a football. He threw it across the yard.

You could combine these sentences with a conjunction. Bobby has a football, and he threw it across the yard.

Remember to always put a comma before the conjunction in every compound sentence.

,

You can even combine 3 short sentences to make your writing sound smoother.

For example:

For lunch I ate a sandwich. I ate potato chips. I ate a cookie.
Or You could write...	For lunch I ate a sandwich, potato chips, and a cookie.

Doesn't that sound better?

   Click on the flower to practice.

https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/4_WritingSkills/writing_tuts/sentences_LL/activity2.html

Common and Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are words that name a specific person, place, thing or idea. Proper nouns are capitalized so the reader can tell them apart from common nouns.

Common nouns do not name a specific person, place, thing or idea. Common nouns are not capitalized unless they are at the beginning of a sentence or part of a title.

http://www.mcwdn.org/grammar/nouncompropquiz/nouncompropquiz.html


http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/common_nouns/quiz342.html


http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/noun/quiz295.html

Independent and Dependent Clauses

Independent Clause
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence.

Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz.

Dependent Clause
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.

 

When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz . . . (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.)

Dependent Marker Word
A dependent marker word is a word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause.

 

When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, it was very noisy.

Some common dependent markers are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

Try these two exercises,

http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/clauses_ex1.htm