BIZ1054 : PROGRESSIVE ENGLISH

VERBS AND ADVERBS

WHAT ARE VERBS?

A verb is the key to a sentence. Without a verb, a sentence has no meaning or direction. A verb shows either action (run, hit, jump) or state (am, seen appear)

The three major types of verbs are :

Auxiliaries Regular and irregular verbs

Transitive and intransitive verbs

AUXILIARIES
An auxiliary is a helping verb. It shows either tense or voice (active or passive) There are 2 types of auxiliaries, the primary and the modal.

The primary auxiliaries are :

(i) verbs to do do, does, did (ii) verbs to have has, have , had

(iii) verbs to be is, am, are, was, were, be,

been, being

PRIMARY AUXILIARIES

EXAMPLES
(I) She/They/Tom has/have eaten. (II) It was done. (III) It has been done.

MODAL AUXILIARIES
The modal auxiliaries are : Can, could, may might, must, ought, will, would, Shall, should, need E.G. She should report the matter to the health department. He may need extra help with his coursework.

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

Verbs are either regular or irregular. Regular verbs have normal inflections (changes in word endings) Irregular verbs do not. The past and past participle forms of regular verbs end in d, -ed or ied. Look at the examples of regular verbs.

REGULAR VERBS
PRESENT sieve push carry PAST sieved pushed carried PAST PARTICIPLE sieved pushed carries

IRREGULAR VERBS
PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

cut spread arise

No Change cut spread

cut spread arisen

beat bleed become see

Change arose beat bled ? ?

beaten bled ? ?

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

A transitive verb takes a direct object. A preposition is not used after it.

She owns a boutique. He helps his friend.

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERB

Some verbs such as meet, play, sing, sleep and write can be both transitive and intransitive. Transitive :
I met a strange man at the supermarket yesterday.

Intransitive:
We meet for dinner at Susans place this evening. The puppy played with its favourite bone.

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

An intransitive verb does not take a direct object. A preposition comes after it, followed by the object.
My friend works in (preposition) a bank (object). Steven lives near (preposition) the stadium (object).

VERB AND AGREEMENT

All verbs in present tense and verbs was, were in the past tense are affected by number. This means a verb must match its subject. A singular subject takes a singular verb (verb+s) while a plural subject takes a plural verb (no s)
She spends a lot on clothes.

They spend a lot on clothes.

WHAT IS AN ADVERB?
An adverb modifies or adds to the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Decisively Carefully Easily Gently

TYPES OF ADVERBS
Adverbs of manner Adverbs of frequency Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of place
Adverbs of time

ADVERBS OF MANNER
These adverbs are placed before or after the verb or after the object of the sentence. We use adverbs of manner when we wish to give more information in response to the question how.
How did the event go? The event went well
How did she feel on hearing the news? Se wept bitterly when she heard the news.

ADVERBS OF PLACE
We use adverbs of place when we wish to answer the question where?
Where is he residing now? He is residing somewhere near Tokyo. Where was the body found? The police found the body there.

ADVERBS OF TIME
We use adverbs of time when we wish to answer the question when?
When will your brother arrive from Norway? My brother will arrive tonight. When did the composer write the song? The composer wrote the song yesterday.

ADVERBS OF DEGREE
We use adverbs of degree when we wish to answer the question to what extent
To what extent was he aggravated by the news? He was greatly aggravated. To what extent was the city destroyed? The city was destroyed completely.

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
We use adverbs of frequency when we wish to answer the question how often. Some common adverbs of frequency are always, usually, often, frequently, seldom, occasionally, rarely, never, hardly ever.
How often does your aunt travel? My aunt hardly ever travels.

How often do you watch television? I watch television occasionally.

ADVERBS: THE TROUBLESOME PAIRS

There are some adverbs which look alike are often confused with one another.

Hard, Late, Most, Rather,

hardly lately mostly fairly

ADVERBS: THE TROUBLESOME PAIRS

Hard Hardly Tom works very hard to pass the examination and be the top student. However his brother, Dick hardly works and is bound to fail again. Late Lately I have not heard from Doreen lately. The last time I met her was on a cruise ship. That was a memorable event because she arrived late and the ship was about to sail.

Most

Mostly

The exhibitors at the seminar were mostly property agents. Most of them were from Australia and New Zealand.

Rather

Fairly

This video is rather boring but that video was fairly interesting.