Verbs and Tense
Verbs and Tenses: Easy Study Material with Emojis 😃⏳
What is a Verb? 🤔
- A verb is an action word that tells what the subject is doing.
- Example: Maria sings. 🎤
- Every complete sentence needs a verb to make sense.
- Example: Sing! (You is implied.) 🎶
Key Parts of a Sentence 🧩
- Subject: The doer of the verb. 👤
- Verb: The action or state. 🏃♂️
- Object: The receiver of the action. 🎯
Subject-Verb Agreement Rules 📏
1. Singular Subject = Singular Verb / Plural Subject = Plural Verb
- The dog is playing. 🐕
- The dogs are playing. 🐕🐕🐕
2. ‘And’ Joins Two Subjects = Plural Verb
- My friend and his mother are in town. 👩👦
3. ‘And’ Refers to Same Person/Thing = Singular Verb
- The captain and coach has been sacked. (One person) 🧑✈️
4. Indefinite Pronouns (everyone, someone, nobody, etc.) = Always Singular
- Everyone is selfish. 🧑
5. Percentages/Parts: Plural Meaning = Plural Verb
- 40 out of 100 children are malnourished. 👧👦
6. ‘Either/Or’ or ‘Neither/Nor’: Verb Agrees with Nearest Subject
- Neither you nor your dogs know how to behave. 🐶
- Either you or I am at fault. 👤
7. ‘Either’/‘Neither’ as Pronouns = Singular Verb
- Either of the books is fine. 📚
8. Connectives (along with, as well as, together with): Verb Matches First Subject
- Mr. Ram, accompanied by his wife, was banished. 👨🦱👩
9. ‘A number of’ = Plural Verb / ‘The number of’ = Singular Verb
- A number of students are going. 👨🎓
- The number of questions is 25. 2️⃣5️⃣
10. Units of Measurement/Time = Singular Verb
- Five gallons of oil was required. 🛢️
11. ‘Few, Many, Several, Both, All, Some’ + Countable Noun = Plural Verb
- Some men are needed. 👨🔧
12. ‘Few, Many, Several, Both, All, Some’ + Uncountable Noun = Singular Verb
- Some data was stolen. 💻
Practice Questions with Answers & Emojis 📝
- Critics allege that the government is trying to leverage last year’s disaster and use the funds they collected for reconstruction…
- Tip: Use ‘for’ with nouns like ‘reconstruction’. 🏗️
- Some of these dams are witnessing record low levels…
- Use present continuous for ongoing actions. 💧
- …what the surveillance cameras may have recorded in or near Epstein’s cell.
- Use past participle ‘recorded’ with ‘have’. 📹
- …says his countries will not be able to hold up its side of an immigration agreement…
- Use the idiom ‘hold up’ for ‘withstand’. 🤝
- It looks like the Supreme Court will score a goal for women…
- Use ‘will’ for present/future, not ‘had’. ⚽
- The cat looked desperate to get inside…
- Use ‘to’ + base verb (to get). 🐈
- Social justice deals with various aspects…
- Use present tense if the sentence is about a current fact. ⚖️
- …most of the scientific advances believed to have been made in Europe…
- Use past tense ‘believed’ for past context. 🧑🔬
- The state’s new policy on tourism is supposed to give investors a big advantage.
- Correct verb form: ‘is supposed to’. 🏨
- She let the student who caused the accident off the hook.
- Correct relative pronoun and verb tense. 🚗
Quick Tips for Verbs & Tenses 💡
- Always check if the subject and verb agree in number!
- Watch for common connectors and pronouns that affect verb choice.
- Use present continuous (‘is/are + -ing’) for ongoing actions.
- Use the correct tense for the context (present, past, future).
- For measurement, time, and collective nouns, check if the group acts as one or many.
Practice these rules and examples with emojis for easy recall and exam success! 😃📖
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