A Quick Review on Verb-Usage for Busy People

You want to comment on your friend’s latest post but you feel that it is such an effort to spontaneously say your piece, so you just let it pass.  Why?  You know exactly what to say but you have trouble expressing it.  You’ll have to spend time to  think   and rethink about the accuracy of your grammar and it’ll really take another few minutes of your most precious time.  Or you’re getting more frustrated today, as the memo you were tasked to distribute was again returned and edited by your boss for grammar mistakes.  Here’s a quick review of what to look out for when you’re trying to write. 

             Learning correct grammar takes time – you have to learn structure, subject-verb agreements, article usage, antecedent agreements and all that.    But since you are not there to write for a teacher or for a strict grammarian at that, let’s keep it simple.  Your intended audience aren’t there to critique your work, but to understand what you’re trying to say.  However, they would notice glaring errors like simple verb usage.   She have  been  to the party,  or  she has been to the party?  Do friends help each other,  or is it does friends help each other?  Did I forgot to greet you on your birthday? or did I forget to greet you on your birthday?  Some of us   analyze which one sounds better by saying  it out loud – what goes on in our mind is that, “I’ve known English all this time, how could I not know how to write it?”  But if you treat it like that, it would really be confusing once you start writing, and you’ll definitely slip a lot.

So let’s go back to the rules of verb usage.   Again, it’s not about how it sounds like, it’s about rules.  Knowing the rules builds confidence.  There are a lot of rules for verb usage (the last time I checked was that the Subject –Verb Agreement has 43 rules),  but I’ll only discuss the obvious ones. 

Rule No. 1 -  If your subject is singular , your verb should be singular  (the 
            action verb has S in singular verbs.  Be reminded that the number principle 
            of verbs is directly opposite with that of nouns – singular  verbs have S, 
            plural verbs have no S).   


              Mother cooks delicious home-cooked meals.  
              My boss conducts meetings in the morning.  
              Ericka has what it takes to be a successful dancer.  
              Does Ericka have what it takes to be a good dancer?   


               [Tip to make it simpler:  Either the subject or the verb has an S..it cannot be both. And it never 
                     happens that both do not have an S either --there has to be at least one that has it.]  
               

Rule No. 2 – If your subject is plural, your verb should be plural  (the action 
            verb has no S).  


               Mothers cook delicious home-cooked meals.  
               My bosses conduct meetings in the morning.   
               Ericka and Linda have what it takes to be a good dancer. 
               Do Ericka and Linda have what it takes to be a good dancer?   


               [Again, remember the tip to make it simpler—I’ll say it again.  Either the subject or the verb has 
                     an  S..it cannot be both.  And it never happens that both do not have an S  either..there 
                     has to be at least one that has it.  Put an imaginary S on your plural subjects to make this 
                     work. ]
                    

Rule No. 3 -  As exception to Rule No. 1,  the pronouns I and You always 
             take the plural form of the verb (again, the action verb has no S).  


                I cook breakfast everyday.  
                You conduct the meeting in the morning.

And finally, Rule No. 4 -  When you use the verbs do, does and did,  your 
             action verb always goes back to its simple form.    


                Does Mother cook delicious home-cooked meals?  
                Do my bosses conduct meetings in the morning?  
                Did Ericka dance well in the last competition?

            So there.  I know you’re busy, but believe me when I say that you are better off practicing this than not.  The people around you might not always take time to point it out,  but they notice. Remember the rules and carry these out as often as you can, no matter how tedious it may seem at first.  You can still slip once in a while, but it shouldn’t be that glaring this time. Practice, practice and practice and soon you will automatically know which verb to use without batting an eyelash.    

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(1) comment on this post;  
(2) email us at thelanguagehub@live.com;  
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(4) text us at 0919-318-3274

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