CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA

City of San Fernando, Pampanga

ADVANCED ENGLISH GRAMMAR

MIDTERMS MODULE No.1

Verbs
Action Verbs, Linking Verbs, and Auxiliary Verbs
Regular and Irregular Verbs
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Verbals (Participles, Gerunds, and Infinitives)

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, students are able to:
- Differentiate action verbs, linking verbs, and auxiliary verbs
- Recognize regular and irregular verbs
- Determine transitive from intransitive verbs
- Identify the different verbals
- Write sentences with participles, gerunds, and infinitives

DISCUSSION

Action Verbs, Linking Verbs, and Auxiliary Verbs

There are three main categories or forms of verbs which includes the action verbs, linking verbs,
and helping (auxiliary) verbs.

A. Action Verbs
In every sentence you have two main parts. First, there’s a subject. This is usually a noun or
pronoun. Second, you have an action or state of being word. This word describes information about
the subject. When the word describing the subject is an action verb, the reader or listener understands
what action the subject takes. It’s important to learn about action verbs because these words convey a
variety of different actions that are both mental and physical.

Examples of an action verb include walk, skip, and jog; these words all state or motion, each
one forms a different image in mind. On the other hand, we also have mental action verbs which
include like, think, discover, and plan amongst others.

Considering that there are two ways to describe action verbs, a good action verb
definition describes what a subject does involving physical and mental action verbs. These words can
even explain the impact the action has on the subject itself.

MIDTERMS MODULE 1: ADVANCED ENGLISH GRAMMAR A.Y. 2020- PREPARED BY:RALPH JAYSON D. CALBANG
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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Example of Sentences with Action Verbs

1. The dog barks when a stranger is seen.

2. After this pandemic, we plan to travel in Bicol.
3. One of my closest friends swims fast.
4. She likes the bouquet of sunflowers and roses.

The highlighted words in sentences 1 and 3 are under action verbs that denote motion while
those in sentences 2 and 4 are under mental action words.

ACTIVITY #1
Write down 10 sentences with action verbs. Five of which are with verbs that denote
action and another five for mental action words.

B. Linking Verbs
A linking verb connects a subject to the words that describe what the subject is. Linking words,
unlike action verbs, do not describe actions.

Example of Sentences with Action Verbs

1. Pete is my favorite dog.
2. That car was incredibly fast.
3. The house smells like the ocean breeze.
4. Nancy feels a bit sick today.

C. Auxiliary Verbs (Modal Forms)

Modals include the words: can, could, might, may, should, shall, will, would, must, and ought to.
You can use a modal helping verb to discuss possibility and obligation.

Example of Sentences with Action Verbs

1. May I use your bathroom please?
2. You must make this basket to win the game.
3. Could Steve give me a hand with the groceries?

Helping words can also be used in the past perfect, present perfect and future perfect tenses.
Look at these examples of a helping word at work:

1. He will finish doing his chores before playing outside.

2. Lily has delivered the packages to the post office.
3. My uncle has a lot of board games to pass the time with.  

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

As you can see the perfect tenses are italicized whereas the helping verbs are bolded. In this case,
the tenses takes the form of to be and to have as the helping verb in the sentence indicating points in time
when the verb was or will be completed. The bolded word is identified as the main verb.

One more thing, adverbs that appear in between action words do not count as helping words. For
example words like not, always, never, often and sometimes are just some of the few.

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs
Regular verbs in English create the past simple and past participle by adding -ed to the base
form.

For example:
Base Form Simple Past Past Participle
arrive arrived arrived
call called called
wait waited waited

If the verb ends in a consonant and -y, we change the -y to -i and added -ed.

For example:
Base Form Simple Past Past Participle
marry married married
study studied studied
accompany accompanied accompanied

If a verb ends in -e we simply add –d.

Base Form Simple Past Past Participle
hate hated hated
like liked liked
smile smiled smiled

Here are some examples of regular verbs:

1. The delegates arrived late due to certain problems.

2. Yesterday Francine studied all day.

3. We really liked the film we watched last night.

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Irregular Verbs
There are about 200 irregular verbs in English. We can divide these into four types:

1. Verbs which have the same base form, past simple and past participle
2. Verbs which have the same past simple and past participle
3. Verbs which have the same base form and past participle
4. Verbs which have a different base form, past simple and past participle

Examples:

1. My parents have let me stay out late tonight.

2. They put on their jackets because it was very cold.

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Examples:

1. They had lunch at a Thai restaurant last Monday.

2. Have you heard the news about the current cases of COVID-19 in the country?

3. Lovely has sent an email to all the suppliers.

Examples:

1. He came back home at 4AM on Saturday.

2. Dianne has become the Managing Director.

3. The dog ran into the garden after Justine opened the door.

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Examples:

1. The kids ate a lot of cakes at the party.

2. They drove to the airport and left their car there.

3. Has she taken her tickets yet?

4. I’ve written a letter of application for the manager’s job.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Take a look at the following examples below, which of the following express a complete
thought? and which seems lack something?

A. He bought.
B. She sneezed.

Example A seems to lack an object, it leaves a question as to what did the man buy. In contrast,
example B expresses an action that is complete in itself and it doesn’t need an object to receive the action.
The verb bought in example A is a transitive verb and the verb sneezed in example B is an
intransitive verb.

Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb is a verb that requires an object to receive the action. Transitive verbs require
an object to complete their meaning.
Let’s look at the following examples:

Example: She likes. (incomplete - incorrect)

You probably think … She likes WHAT? (What does she like?) Like is a transitive verb so we
need an object after the verb.

She likes chocolate.

Now we know what she likes so this sentence is complete and correct.

Example: I cut. (incomplete- incorrect)

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

You cannot just say I cut because the sentence is incomplete. The person who is listening
would probably ask “Cut what?” Cut is a transitive verb because you need to cut something (an object,
a thing).
Now, could you add an object to complete the sentence? Write your answer on this space
provided.

________________________

A transitive verb can take more than one object- a direct object and/or indirect object.
Example: Donnalyn gave her sister a laptop.

In this sentence, there is an indirect object, "her sister," and a direct object, "a laptop."
The direct object a laptop answers the question “what did Donnalyn give?” while the indirect
object her sister answers the question “to whom/for whom?”

Example: Matthew baked Sarah some chocolate chip cookies.

Now, which serves as the direct object and indirect object in this sentence? Write your answer
on the space provided.
Direct Object: ________________ Indirect Object: ________________

Intransitive Verbs
An intransitive verb does not take an object. However, there may be other information after the
verb, such as one or more prepositional phrases or an adverb.
Let’s look at the following examples:
Examples: The patient’s health deteriorated.

Paul voted.

The above examples made use of intransitive verbs deteriorated and voted. Both did no longer
need an object, but both examples when added with an adverb or prepositional phrase, can still
express the same thought.

Take a look at the following sentences now:

The patient’s health deteriorated quickly 

Paul voted in the local election.

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Example A was given an additional adverb quickly but the meaning did not alter, while Example
B was expounded with a prepositional phrase in the local election, again without altering the original
sentence’s meaning.

ACTIVITY #2

Given the following sentences, identify the verb and determine if it is transitive or intransitive.

Example: The summer heat melted my ice cream. (melted- Transitive Verb)

1. We arrived around midday. 6. The rain fell heavily.

2. She speaks Arabic. 7. Please take off your shoes before entering the house

3. Your baby cries a lot. 8. We sat on the bench.

4. I broke my coffee mug. 9. He stood in the corner.

5. His grandfather died last year. 10. He runs a small grocery store 

Verbals

A verbal is a verb form that does not function as a verb. Verbals function as nouns, adjectives,
or adverbs. There are three types of verbals:

Participles (past participles and present participles).

Gerunds
Infinitives

Participles
A participle is a verb form that functions as an adjective. There are two types of participles:
the present participle (ending "ing") and the past participle (usually ending "-ed,"" -d,"" -t,"" -en," or "-n").

Verb Present Participle Past Participle

bake the baking bread the baked bread
print the printing document the printed document
lower the lowering prices the lowered prices

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Here are other examples:

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. (Past Participle)

They have reached the placed and saw the decaying bodies of animals. (Present Participle)

One of her favorites include ripen mangoes. (Past Participle)

Back in the province, you can see the flowing water in the river. (Present Participle)

ACTIVITY #3

Provide a participle for the following word, note on what participle is needed. Then use them in a
sentence.

Example: criminals (past participle) - The judge tagged them as hardened criminals.

1. troops (past participle)

2. body (present participle)

3. waterfalls (present participle)

4. heroes (past participle)

5. lava (past participle)

Gerunds
Even though gerunds look like present participles since they also end "-ing", a gerund is a noun,
not an adjective. Gerunds can functions as a subject, a direct object, or subject complement.

Here are some examples:

A. Loitering during curfew hours is punishable. (Gerund as subject)

The gerund loitering is the main topic/subject in the sentence.

B. I enjoyed kayaking last summer vacation. (Gerund as direct object)

The gerund kayaking is the direct object because it answers what was enjoyed.

C. One thing I like doing in my spare time is photographing the flowers in my garden.

(Gerund as subject complement)
The gerund photographing is the subject complement because it describes the subject one
thing that is done during spare time.

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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Infinitives
An infinitive is a verb form often preceded by "to" that can function as a subject, direct object,
subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence.

An infinitive as a subject- the main topic in the sentence.

To win was everything.
To travel the world is my dream.

An infinitive as a direct object- the recipient of the action

Andrew agreed to give me a ride.
She promised to attend the party.

An infinitive as a subject complement- gives further information about the subject

His dream is to play basketball in the NBA.
My goal is to visit Italy before my 40s.

An infinitive as an adjective- describes the subject

It is an appropriate moment to propose.
This is the best time to practice.

An infinitive as an adverb- describes or modifies the verb, adjective, or another adverb.

The man paid to watch.
We must carefully observe to understand.

ACTIVITY #4

Write down 5 gerunds and 5 infinitives. Use them in a sentence and identify their function.

MIDTERMS MODULE 1: ADVANCED ENGLISH GRAMMAR A.Y. 2020- PREPARED BY:RALPH JAYSON D. CALBANG
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 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO PAMPANGA
City of San Fernando, Pampanga

References:

Milne, M. (2018). How to Learn Regular and Irregular English Verbs. Retrieved from
https://www.wallstreetenglish.com/blog/regular-and-irregular-english-verbs/#:~:text=The%20majority%20of
%20verbs%2C%20called,these%20are%20called%20'Irregular%20verbs.

Moving Descriptors: Linking Verbs, Action Verbs, and Helping Verbs (n.d). Retrieved from
https://www.citationmachine.net/grammar-and-plagiarism/verb/linking-action-helping/

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs (2020). Walden University. Retrieved from

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verb. (2020) Woodward English. Retrieved from

https://www.grammar.cl/english/transitive-intransitive-verbs.html

Verbals. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/verbals.html

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