Understanding Infinitives, Principal Parts, and Verb Tenses, Study notes of Grammar and Composition

Download Understanding Infinitives, Principal Parts, and Verb Tenses and more Study notes Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! Warm up: What are the three types of verbs? Infinitives Do not confuse an infinitive with a prepositional phrase that begins with “to.” Infinitives: Prepositional phrases: •to go •to forget •to graduate (Remember: An infinitive is “to” + verb) •to them •to the mall •to the nearest exit (Remember: A preposition has a noun or pronoun as its object.) Principal Parts of Verbs There are four principal parts of a verb: • infinitive (the base form) •present participle •past •past participle Infinitive/base Present Participle Past Past Participle (to) live (is) living lived (have) lived (to) run (is) running ran (have) run Verb Tenses The tense of a verb indicates the time of the action. The following are three verb tenses: 1. Past tense 2. Present tense 3. Future tense PAST existing or happening in the past PRESENT existing or happening now FUTURE existing or happening in the future Verb Tenses – past tense •Past tense – an action or state of being that occurred in the past. •Examples: I stayed at the library until it closed. I was staying at the library until it closed. I did stay at the library until it closed. Shift in Verb Tenses •Be careful not to shift verb tense in a sentence. Stick to the verb tense you start with. • Incorrect: Allen talked about going to the movies, but then he goes to the mall. •Better: Allen talked about going to the movies, but then he went to the mall. Shift in Verb Tenses •Be careful not to shift verb tense in a sentence. Stick to the verb tense you start with. • Incorrect: The young boy constantly asks to go outside, but then he always wanted to come back in. •Better: The young boy constantly asks to go outside, but then he always wants to come back in. Shift in Verb Tenses • Be careful not to shift verb tense in a paragraph. Stick to the verb tense you start with. • Circle all the verbs. • Which are incorrect tense? • Incorrect: • Last summer, my family went on a weekend trip to Lake Erie. We packed our bags in the evening and left early the next morning. When I asked my dad which direction we were going, he told me to look at the map. I find my hometown of Pittsburgh and make a line with my finger to the lake. We were driving north. It takes us a little over two hours to get there. • Better: • Last summer, my family went on a weekend trip to Lake Erie. We packed our bags in the evening and left early the next morning. When I asked my dad which direction we were going, he told me to look at the map. I found my hometown of Pittsburgh and made a line with my finger to the lake. We were driving north. It took us a little over two hours to get there.