STEP ONE Verbs: A Definition That Works MAKING THE SENTENCE ACCESSIBLE A common definition of a verb is a word that shows action or a state of being. However, this definition does not provide most students with a reliable way to find the verb of a sentence. First, students often don t understand what state of being means, and second, action does not always indicate a verb: Example: Running is good exercise. Students will often pick out running or exercise as action words, but neither of those serves as the verb in this sentence. Joseph Blumenthal devised a method for identifying verbs in a sentence that takes advantage of a unique quality of verbs they are the only words in the English language that change when the tense of the sentence changes. Thus, he devised the following approach: TO FIND THE VERB OF A SENTENCE: 1. Change the tense of the sentence. 2. Any word which changes is a verb. (Appearing and disappearing count as changes.) Examples: Running is good exercise. Running was good exercise. Running will be good exercise. Ryan walks his dog and then goes for a run. Ryan walked his dog and then went for a run. Ryan will walk his dog and then go for a run. Note that students must change the tense of the entire sentence; changing the tense of isolated words will not work. Example: Helen went for a run around the block. (By itself, the word run, can be changed to ran and will run, but those changes will not fit in the context of the entire sentence. Therefore, run is not the verb. Some students may need a review of tense (tense = time), the three simple tenses (present, past and future), irregular verbs, and/or contractions.
STEP TWO Subjects To find the subject (simple predicate) of a sentence: 1. Find the verb. 2. Ask the question, Who or what? (Say the verb.) Underline the subject once. Example: At the side of the road Susan spotted a yellow crane. 1. Find the verb by changing the tense. 2. Ask, Who or what spotted? The answer to that question is the subject. PRACTICE EXERCISE: FINDING SUBJECTS AND VERBS Use the method above to find the verb and the subject of each sentence below. Underline each verb twice. Underline each subject once. Example: Adam stumbled over the skateboard on the stairs. 1. The girls rode their bikes to the lake. 2. Alice never smiles at me. 3. My father asked me to go to a Raptor s game with him. 4. Jolene took the shot and made the goal. 5. Tom always phones on Saturday morning. 6. I will see Jeff in class. 7. His well-developed biceps may have helped his performance at the track meet. 8. Before a major test Helen usually studies by writing out her notes. 9. Sam and Fred sent me a ticket to fly to Vancouver. 10. I will see Jessica in class.
STEP THREE Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases The following worksheet can benefit students who have problems with subject-verb agreement: AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND VERB: PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES The subject and verb of a sentence must agree in number. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural: The cars need gas to run. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular: The car needs gas to run. This concept becomes more complicated when a prepositional phrase comes between the subject and verb. The doors (of the car) need/needs paint. Which verb is correct? To answer this question, we need to understand prepositional phrases. A prepositional phrase is a group of words that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun called the object of the preposition. Below is a list of words that can be prepositions: about above actions after against along among around at before behind below beneath beside besides between beyond by concerning down during except for from in into like near of off on over past through throughout to toward under underneath until up upon with within without A preposition never appears alone; a preposition is the first word of a phrase that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun that is called the object of the preposition. A prepositional phrase can be short or long: (in school) (in the school) (in the old school)
(in the old brick school) (in the old brick elementary school) (in the old brick senior elementary school) (in the old red and grey brick elementary school Note that the prepositional phrase always starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (called the object of the preposition). RULE: The verb of a sentence agrees with the subject, not the object of the preposition. OR: The subject of a sentence is never in a prepositional phrase. (When you are looking for the subject of a sentence, cross the prepositional phrase out of your mind because the subject will not be in the prepositional phrase.) The doors (of the car) need/needs paint. Now we can see that the verb of the sentence is need because the subject is doors and not car. PRACTICE EXERCISE: FINDING VERBS, PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES AND SUBJECTS In the sentences below a. underline each verb twice; b. put round brackets ( ) around each prepositional phrase and temporarily cross it out of your mind because the subject will never be inside the prepositional phrase; c. underline the subject once. Example: A clump (of ferns) borders the path. 1. Only one of the professional engineers is eligible for the job. 2. Each of the engineers works twelve hours a day. 3. The front window in all the houses requires adjustment. 4. The marble steps in the hall lead to the ballroom. 5. Both sides of the garden need weeding. (See Teresa Glazier s text for a plethora of examples!)
STEP FOUR The Independent Clause (aka main idea or complete thought ) Definitions: Clause: A group of words that contains a subject and a verb (and all the words that modify the subject and verb) There are two kinds of clauses. We ll start with the independent clause: Independent clause a. has a verb b. has a subject c. makes sense by itself (can stand alone as a sentence) Example: After the race Alice gobbled her hamburger. We underline a verb twice and a subject once. How should we denote the third characteristic of an independent clause-- makes sense by itself? Teaching a grade 7-8 class, I tried putting a giant S under the clause to stand for sense. The class quickly turned the S into a long snake, and added a head and sometimes a hat or a crown (or a pipe). We decided the snake was a representative graphic because a snake s hiss reminded us that an independent clause makes sense by itself. The crown symbolized supreme independence! Rule: Every sentence must contain at least one independent clause, i.e., one snake. A special warning about ing words!! Rule: An ing word by itself cannot serve as the verb of a sentence. Example: the student sleeping in the back row Although sleeping might be changed to sat or will sit, sleeping by itself cannot be the verb of a sentence.
PRACTICE EXERCISE: IDENTIFYING INDEPENDENT CLAUSES In the word groups below a. Underline each verb twice; b. Put round brackets around each (prepositional phrase); c. Underline each subject once; d. Put a snake under each independent clause. 1. the exhausted driver dozed in the van of his truck 2. when the play finally started 3. a Canadian flag billowing at the stern of the ship 4. Frank laughed 5. because he scored five goals in the last period 6. the empty house with smoke streaming from the windows 7. since she decided to go to school in British Columbia 8. singing softly, Anna left the stage. Now add a capital letter and a period to the independent clauses you have identified. STEP FIVE The Subordinate Clause: A Discovery Method 1. Using the practice exercise on recognizing independent clauses, have the student find word groups which contain a subject and a verb, but which do not qualify as independent clauses. Ask the student what prevents these word groups from being independent clauses. The words when, because, and since are the focus. 2. Have the student decide what to call these words to indicate their effect; names like sense destroyers are usually suggested. Generate list of sense destroyers, aiming for alphabetical order.
When the student runs out of ideas, use a test sentence such as Joe broke his leg and ask for words which would destroy the sense of this sentence. SENSE DESTROYERS after although as as if as though as soon as because before even as even if even though how if since so that than that* though unless until what/whatever when/whenever where/wherever whereas whereby wherever which*/whichever* while who*/whoever* whom*/whomever* whose* why 3. Next, break the news to the student that these words are actually called subordinate conjunctions. (At a later time, you may want to point out to advanced students that the starred words are actually called relative pronouns, but they serve as sense destroyers. ) Students are now ready for a definition of a subordinate clause: a. has a verb b. has a subject c. does NOT make sense by itself because it begins with a subordinate conjunction.
Visually represent a subordinate clause as follows: [ ] Subordinate subject verb conjunction This visual identification is hereafter referred to as clausal analysis. Return to the practice sheet, and ask the student add the lines and snakes to the subordinate clauses. PRACTICE EXERCISE: RECOGNIZING INDEPENDENT AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES Do a visual clausal analysis of each sentence below. In other words, a. Underline each verb twice; b. Put round brackets ( ) around each prepositional phrase; c. Underline each subject once; d. Circle each subordinate conjunction; e. Put square brackets [ ] around each subordinate clause; f. Put a snake under each independent clause. 1. I will go if Jill picks me up. 2. Although Frances entered the contest every year, she has never won a prize. 3. We heard the taxi s horn from our apartment on the twelfth floor. 4. She will answer after the buzzer rings. 5. The watch that I got for Christmas is broken already. 6. The tallest member of the family cleans the top of the refrigerator. 7. The baseball that Andrew threw over the backstop was never seen again. 8. The writer of the story which the judges find most entertaining will win $1000