Tag: English Learning

Verbs tell you what the subject of a sentence or clause is doing (or being). Verbs are conjugated according to person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, or voice.

Verbs are at the heart of sentences and clauses; they are indispensable to the formation of a complete thought. A verb can express a thought by itself (with the subject implied) and be understood.Run!Believe!

Action vs. Nonaction Verbs

Action verbs simply indicate an action or occurrence.Gloria walked across the room.The shark swam menacingly close to the shore.

Even when used figuratively rather than literally, some verbs can still be considered action verbs.The singer broke with tradition by shaking hands with his fans.

In this example, the singer didn’t really break anything, but the verb is still an action verb.

Conversely, nonaction verbs can indicate a state of being, sense, emotion, desire, possession, or opinion. The most common nonaction verb is to be.I am a good person.The baby felt cold without her blanket.My mother loves me.I have four tickets to the show.

Verb Tenses

Verbs change in form, or tense, to indicate whether the actions or states are occurring in the present (or are happening continuously), occurred in the past, or will occur in the future.I take the bus.I am taking the bus.I took the bus.I will take the bus.

These examples indicate the simple present, present continuous, simple past, and simple future tenses respectively. Further possible tenses include present perfect (I have taken the bus), present perfect continuous (I have been taking the bus), past continuous (I was taking the bus), past perfect (I had taken the bus), past perfect continuous (I had been taking the bus), future continuous (I will be taking the bus), future perfect (I will have taken the bus), and future perfect continuous (I will have been taking the bus). All the latter uses would require additional grammatical elements to form complete thoughts. To ensure good writing, it is important for verbs to be used consistently and in a logical sequence so that the time period being written about is properly understood. Verbs can also have up to five different forms: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.

Verb Moods

Among a verb’s many properties is mood. A verb’s mood, sometimes referred to as a mode, can be either indicative, imperative, or subjunctive. The most common of these is the indicative mood. Indicative mood is used for statements of fact or opinion and to pose questions.Every rose has its thorn.A cat has nine lives.Is the moon made of cheese?

The imperative mood is used to express commands. Subjects are often implied rather than expressed in sentences with imperative verbs. In the following examples, the subject you is implied:Put that down!Please exit the building in single file.

The subjunctive mood is used to express a verb with an action or state that is doubtful, imagined, conditional, desired, or hypothetical.I wish you were here.

It is implied by this sentence that you are not actually here, but I wish that were not so. Were is in the subjunctive mood. Conditional verbs (which often appear with if/when statements) also receive a subjunctive treatment.If I were a younger man, I would run three miles a day.

Were and would run indicate the subjunctive mood.

Of course, it is also important to follow the grammatical rules for conjugating verbs, including all those pesky English irregular verbs.

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We can use some, any or ‘no article’ before plural or uncountable nouns. They all mean something similar to a/an before a singular noun. For example:

• Can I have a banana? [One banana, but any one is okay.]
• Can I have some bananas? [More than one banana, but any small group is okay.]

The difference between some and ‘no article’:

Often, there isn’t a big difference in meaning between ‘no article’ and some. However, we use some when we are talking about a limited number or amount (but we don’t know or we don’t want to say the exact quantity).

Some means ‘a certain number of’ or ‘a certain amount of’. We don’t use some if we are talking about something in general or thinking about it as a category. When we use some, we don’t say the exact quantity, but we could probably find it out if we needed to. For example:

• Can you buy some milk? [We don’t know exactly how much, but I’m talking about a certain amount of milk – I don’t want all the milk in the world.]

On the other hand, we use ‘no article’ when we aren’t thinking about the quantity. It’s used to talk about the noun as a category, rather than a certain amount of it:

• We need Ø milk to make pancakes. [I’m thinking about milk as a category. I’m not thinking about a certain amount of milk.]

More examples:

• We need to buy Ø coffee [I’m talking about coffee as a category, not thinking about the amount].
• Would you like some coffee? [I mean a certain amount of coffee, probably a cup.]
• I ate some bread [I mean a certain amount of bread].
• I ate Ø bread [not pasta or rice].

Remember that often it doesn’t make a big difference:

• Do you want Ø tea? [I’m not thinking about the amount.]
• Do you want some tea? [I’m thinking about the amount, but the meaning is really the same as the first sentence.]

Try an exercise about this here.

The difference between some and any:

Generally, we use any in the same way as some: when we are thinking about a certain amount or number of something. Remember, usually both some and any can only be used with plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns, but not usually with singular countable nouns.

We usually use some with affirmative (positive) sentences and any with negatives and questions:

• She bought some tomatoes [positive sentence].
• She didn’t buy any tomatoes [negative sentence].
• Did she buy any tomatoes ?

However, there are some exceptions to this.

1: Any can be used in a positive sentence to mean ‘it’s not important which one’. When we use any in this way, it’s most often used with singular countable nouns:

• You can take any bus.
• Pass me any glass.
• Come over any Sunday.

2: Any can also be used in positive sentences that have a negative feeling, for example if they include never, hardly, without:

• She never eats any fruit.
• We hardly watch any television.
• Julia left the house without any money.

3: Some can be used in questions when we expect that the answer will be ‘yes’. This is very common in offers and requests:

• Would you like some coffee?
• Do you want some sandwiches?
• Could you give me some help?
• Could you pass me some sugar?

Compare the following two sentences:

• Do you have any letters for me? [This is a real question. I don’t know if you have any letters or not.]
• Do you have some letters for me? [I think you do, so I’m expecting that you will say ‘yes’.]

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Use of ‘A Little’, ‘Little’, ‘A Few’ and ‘Few’

We use ‘a/an’ with several quantifiers:

• a little
• a few
• a lot (of)

We also use ‘no article’ with several:

• little
• few
• lots (of)

In many situations, we can choose to use ‘a little’ or ‘little’ (when using an uncountable noun) or ‘a few’ or ‘few’ (when using a plural countable noun). They have slightly different meanings. (‘A lot’ and ‘lots’ aren’t like this. ‘A lot’ means the same as ‘lots’).

When we say ‘a little’ or ‘a few’, we mean a small amount, but it’s enough:

• John: Let’s go out tonight.
• Lucy: Okay. I have a little money, enough for the cinema at least.

On the other hand, ‘little’ or ‘few’ usually give us a different impression. These also mean a small amount, but this time the amount is almost nothing. If the noun is something that we want (like money or friends) then using ‘little’ or ‘few’ means that we don’t have enough:

• John: Let’s go out tonight.
• Lucy: Sorry, I have little money. I really can’t afford to go out.

Of course, if we use ‘few’ or ‘little’ with a noun that we don’t want, then it can have a positive meaning. It’s good to have nearly no problems, for example:

• There have been few problems with the new system, thankfully!
• Luckily, there is little crime in my town.
• I’m so pleased that I have few arguments with my family.
• It’s great that there’s been very little bad weather this month.

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