VERB

By the end of the lesson, you will have been able to:
1. differentiate the kinds of verbs; and
2. use verbs correctly in communication tasks.
Read and reflect:
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
1 I like to think (and
2 The sooner the better!)
3 Of a cybernetic meadow
4 Where mammals and computers
5 Live together in mutually
6 Programming harmony
7 Like pure water
8 Touching the sky.
9 I like to think
10 (right now, please)
11 Of a cybernetic forest
12 Filled with pines and electronics
13 Where deer stroll peacefully
14 Past computers
15 As if they were flowers
16 With spinning blossoms.
17 I like to think
18 (it has to be!)
19 Of a cybernetic ecology
20 Where we are free of our labors
21 And joined back to nature
22 Returned to our mammal
23 Brothers and sisters.
24 And all watched over
25 By machines of loving grace.
Answer the following questions:
1. Through context clue, guess the meaning of cybernetic.
2. What does the poet mean by “machines of loving grace” in line 25?
3. Who is the persona in the poem?
4. React to this statement:
Whatever danger from the computer lies not within the machine itself
but within man himself- its inventor and master.
Share your response with the others.
 The underlined words and expressions in the poem are verbs. A verb
is a word or combination of words that either expresses an action or
says something about the existence or condition of a noun or pronoun.
In a sentence, verbs have a subject (the doer of the action). Verbs can
also have an object (the receiver of the action). Verbs agree in number
and person with the subjects, for example: I am, he is, they are.
Verbs express tense; that is, the time at which the action occurs.
They also express voice and mood. The voice can be active (where the
subject does the action) or passive (where the action is done by an
unspecified or implied subject). Mood can be indicative, imperative or
subjunctive.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Direct Objects
Some verbs do not require any objects to express their meaning. The
action they express is complete by itself. These are called intransitive
verbs.
Subject Verb
The sun shines.
He slept.
The dog will bark.
 However, some verbs require an object (the receiver of the action) to
complete their meaning. These are called transitive verbs. Transitive verbs
cannot make sense unless they are followed by a direct object. A direct
object tells who or what received the action of the verb.
Subject Verb Direct Object
Joerg mailed a letter. (What did Joerg mail? A letter.)
July bought a bicycle. (What did Julia buy? A bicycle.)
We saw our friends. (Whom did we see? Our friends.)
Indirect Objects
If a verb has a direct object, it can also have an indirect object. An
indirect object tells to whom or for whom the action of the verb was done.
Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object
Jorge mailed Clarice a letter. (To whom did he send it? to
Clarice.
Julia bought her sister a bicycle. (For whom did she buy it?
for her sister.
Indirect objects are usually living beings like people or animals, but
direct objects can be either people or things. If a verb has only one object,
it will be a direct object.
Linking Verbs
A linking verb joins a subject to a subject complement (also called a
predicate noun or predicate adjective) a word or phrase that describes or
explains the subject. The most common linking verb is to be.
Basketball is my favorite sport.
My grandfather was an expert pilot.
Other common linking verbs are seem, look, feel, sound, taste, and smell.
This shirt feels comfortable.
That cake smells delicious.
Verb Tenses
Tense indicates the time at which an action takes pace. We usually
speak of tense as representing past, present or future but in English
speech of these tenses also has perfect and progressive forms.
Present: She eats an apple everyday.
Present Progressive: She is eating her lunch right now.
Past: She ate dinner already.
Past Perfect: They had eaten something that made them
sick.
Simple Present Tense
Simple present tense indicates an action occurring in the present.
The cat sees the bird.
She knows the answer.
Simple present tense also indicates habitual, customary, repeated or permanent
action or conditions.
My karate class meets on Thursdays.
Dave smokes too many cigarettes.
I drink a cup of coffee before I go to work.
Horned toads live in the desert.
English simple present tense verbs change forms to agree in number an
person with the subject of the verb. For most verbs, simply add an –s to
the end of the verb for third person singular.
Singular Plural
First Person I eat. We eat.
Second Person You eat You eat.
Third Person He/She/It eats They eat.

However, if the base form of the verb ends in –s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, or o, add
es. If the base form ends in consonant +y, change the y to i before adding –
es.
 Singular Plural
First Person I catch. We catch.
Second Person You catch. You catch.
Third Person He/She/It catches. They catch.

Singular Plural
First Person I hurry. We hurry.
Second Person You hurry. You hurry.
Third Person He/She/It hurries. They hurry.
The verb do becomes the one that agrees with the subject. The auxiliary
do is also required to make a simple present tense sentence into a
question, in which case do comes at the beginning of the sentence, in
front of the subject.
The cat sees the bird.
Question: Does the cat see the bird?
Negative: The cat does not see the bird.

My karate class meets on Thursday.

Question: Does my karate class meets on Thursdays?
Negative: My karate class does not meet on Thursdays.
Only the simple present tense verb to be does not use do auxiliary.
The sky is blue.
Is the sky blue?
The sky is not blue.

Simple Past Tense

Simple past tense indicates an action that took place in the past.
Alfred Hitchcock directed many great films.
The cat chased the bird.
I ate breakfast this morning.
We saw a Broadway play when we visited New York.
To form the simple past of most English verbs, simply add –ed to the base form.
If the base form ends in consonant +y, change the y to i before adding –ed.
talk- talked
need- needed
carry- carried
If the base form ends in vowel + consonant, double the consonant if the last
syllable is stressed or the word has only one syllable.
permit- permitted
transmit- transmitted
step- stepped
plan- planned
However, many common English verbs are irregular in past tense. These
verbs change form completely in simple past.
see- saw
eat- ate
take- took
do- did
To form the negative of a simple past tense verb use:
Did (the simple past tense form of do) + not + base form of another
verb.
To form a question in simple past tense, move the auxiliary did to the
beginning of the sentence, in front of the subject.
The cat chased the bird.
Did the cat chase the bird?
The cat did not chase the bird.
Only the irregular verb to be does not use the did auxiliary.
They were tired of waiting.
Were they tired of waiting?
They were not tired of waiting..
Simple Future Tense
Simple future tense indicates an action that has not taken place.
We will go to Germany next summer.
They will meet you at the coffee shop.
The contractor will finish the project by Friday.
The pattern for having the simple future tense is as follows:
Will + base form of the verb.
To form the negative of a simple future verb, place not between the auxiliary
will and the base verb. To form a question, move will to the beginning of the
sentence, in front of the subject.
They will meet you at the coffee shop.
Will they meet you at the coffee shop?
They will not meet you at the coffee shop.
Present Progressive Tense indicates an action currently in progress or actively taking
place.
He is talking to his students right now.
We are negotiating with a new supplier.
The pattern for forming present progressive tense is as follows:
Present tense form of be + present participle
To form the negative, place not between the auxiliary be and the present participle.
To form a question, move the auxiliary to the beginning of the sentence before the
subject.
She is talking to her friends.
She is not talking to her friends.
Is she talking to her friends?
Past Progressive Tense
Past progressive tense indicates an event that was in progress at a
particular point in the past.
She was cooking dinner when I called.
While you were wasting time, I was doing all the work.
We were watching television at eight o’clock.
The pattern for forming the past progressive tense is as follows:
Simple past tense for of to be + present participle
Future Progressive Tense indicates an event that will be in progress at a specific
point in the future.
My family will be taking a vacation the first week in June.
We will be staying at a resort in Florida.
My uncle will be running the family business while we are gone.
The pattern for forming the future progressive tense is as follows:
Will be + present participle
To form the negative, place not between will and be. To form a question, move
will to the beginning of the sentence before the subject.
Juan will be directing work on the project.
Will Juan be directing work on the project?
Juan will not be directing wok on the project.
Perfect Tenses
The present perfect tense of a verb names an action that happened at an
indefinite time in the past. It also names an action that started in the past
and is still happening.
Meng has collected books about sharks for years.
The past perfect tense of a verb names an action that has happened
before another past action or event.
Meg had feared sharks before she studied them.
The future perfect tense of a verb names an action that will be completed
before another action or event in the future.
Meg will have completed her report by Friday.