Chapter Outline

Study the chapter outline below. Use the page numbers below each topic to refer to the corresponding section in Contemporary's GED Language Arts, Writing. When you are finished, go to the Flashcards or choose a different activity or chapter from the menu on the left.

Simple Tenses

(See pages 51 and 52)

The time showed by a verb is called its tense.

The simple present tense shows an action or state of being that is happening now or happens regularly.
The simple past tense shows an action that occurred at a specified time in the past.
The simple future tense shows an action that has not yet taken place but will in the future.

Continuing Tenses

(See page 54)

The continuing tenses are used to show action in progress or action that is ongoing—in the past, present, or future.

The present continuing tense shows an action that is happening now.
The past continuing tense shows a past action that continued for some time.
The future continuing tense shows an ongoing action in the future.

Perfect Tenses

(See pages 55 and 56)

The perfect tenses are used to show action completed before or continuing to a specific time.

The present perfect tense shows an action that started in the past and continues into the present or has just been completed.
The past perfect tense shows an action that took place before a specified time in the past.
The future perfect tense shows an action that will be completed by a specified time in the future.

Irregular Verbs

(See page 57–59)

Most verbs in the English language follow a regular pattern for forming different tenses, but many important verbs are irregular.

Base Verb	Present Tense	Past Tense	Perfect Tense
be	am, is, are	was, were	(have, has, had) been
do	do, does	did	(have, has, had) done
have	has, have	had	(have, has, had) had
go	go, goes	went	(have, has, had) gone
see	see, sees	saw	(have, has, had) seen
bring	bring, brings	brought	(have, has, had) brought

Several verb pairs are tricky because they sound so much alike but have slightly different meanings.

lay and lie
set and sit
raise and rise

Using Consistent Tenses

(See pages 60 and 61)

Verb tense should always tell the reader when an event happened. Inconsistent verb tense confuses the reader.

Basic Subject-Verb Agreement

(See pages 62 and 63)

Subject-verb agreement means choosing the present-tense verb that matches the subject in number (whether it is singular or plural).

The present-tense verbs of singular subjects (except I and you) end in –s or –es.
The present-tense verbs of plural subjects (and I and you) do not end in –s or –es.

Compound Subjects

(See pages 64 and 65)

The connecting words and and or form compound subjects and let you know whether the subject is singular or plural.

When a compound subject is formed using and, the subject is plural.
When a compound subject is formed using or or nor, the verb should agree with the subject closer to it.

Inverted Word Order

(See pages 66 and 67)

The subject of an inverted sentence has to be determined in order to make it agree with the verb in number.
It can also be hard to identify the subject in a command or in a sentence that begins with an introductory phrase.

Prepositional Phrases and Other Interrupters

(See pages 68–70)

A prepositional phrase is a word group that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. It never contains the subject of the sentence. Use a three-step process to make sure the subject and verb agree in a sentence with an interrupter:

Cross out the interrupter.
Identify the simple subject.
Choose the verb that agrees with the subject.

Indefinite Pronouns

(See pages 71–73)

An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not name a specific person or thing.

The following indefinite pronouns are always singular: anyone, anything, anybody, each, either, neither, no one, nothing, nobody, everyone, everything, everybody, one, someone, something, somebody.
The following indefinite pronouns are always plural: both, few, many, several.
The following indefinite pronouns can be either singular or plural depending on their antecedent: all, any, some, most, none.

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