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English Brushup, 3e Book Cover
English Brushup, 3/e
John Langan
Janet Goldstein

Extending the Skills: Verbs

Key Terms


compound subject  two subjects separated by a joining word such as and. Compound subjects generally take a plural verb.
gerund  a verbal; the -ing form of the verb used as a noun. Ex.: I love dancing.
indefinite pronoun  a word that refers to people and things that are not named or are not specific. Many indefinite pronouns (e.g., one, nobody, nothing, each, etc.) take a singular verb; others, such as both or few, take plural verbs.
infinitive  a verbal; to plus the base form of the verb. Ex.: I love to dance.
irregular verb  a verb that has an irregular form in the past tense and past participle. Ex.: choose, chose, chosen
participle  a verbal; the -ing or -ed form of the verb used as an adjective. Ex.: I love dancing bears.
subject  who or what a sentence speaks about; usually a noun or pronoun that acts, is acted upon, or is described. Ex: The boy cries.
tense  time (in grammar)
verb  what the sentence says about the subject; a word that show what a subject does or that helps describe the subject by linking it to an adjective. Ex.: The boy cries.
verb tense  the times shown by verbs (present, past, future, etc.)
TenseExample
PresentI work
PastI worked
FutureI will work
Present PerfectI have worked.
Past perfectI had worked.
Future perfectI will have worked.
Present progressiveI am working.
Past progressiveI was working.
Future progressiveI will be working.
Present perfect progressiveI have been working.
Past perfect progressiveI had been working.
Future perfect progressiveI will have been working.

verbals  words formed from verbs that often express action: these include infinitives, gerunds, and participles