Verbs

This is Unit Four of College Composition. Unit Three fixed the boundaries between sentences. This unit works inside the sentence, on its most active word: the verb. Carry one idea through this lecture. Verb errors are found by checking each verb against two things: its true subject, and the passage's real timeline. A worked example at the end finds four different verb errors in one short draft. By the end you will be able to choose correct verb forms. To make verbs agree with their subjects, however the sentence is arranged. To choose and hold a tense. And to use mood and voice deliberately.

Two entries on verb forms: the three principal parts, and the irregular verbs that break the pattern.

Three forms of every verb.

CMP 0076 Verb Forms

A verb expresses an action, an occurrence or a state of being, and it changes form to show who acts and when. Most verbs have a base form, a past form and a past participle, the form used after have: walk, walked, have walked. Errors often come from using the past form where the participle belongs, as in "has wrote."

Verbs that break the pattern.

CMP 0077 Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs form the past and the participle by adding d or e d; irregular verbs change in other ways. Bake, baked, baked is regular; write, wrote, written and go, went, gone are irregular, and English has about two hundred such verbs. When unsure of an irregular form, check a dictionary rather than your ear.

Ten entries on agreement: the basic rule, and the arrangements that make it hard to apply.

Matching subject and verb in number.

CMP 0078 Subject-Verb Agreement

A verb must agree with its subject in number: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. "The bus leaves in five minutes" pairs a singular subject with a singular verb; "The buses leave" pairs plural with plural. In the present tense, the singular verb usually ends in s, the opposite of nouns.

Subjects joined by and.

CMP 0079 Agreement With Compound Subjects

Two or more subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb. "Yoga and meditation are effective for relieving stress." But when the parts form a single idea, the verb is singular: "Macaroni and cheese is my favorite meal." Ask whether the joined words name two things or one unit before choosing the verb.

Subjects joined by or and nor.

CMP 0080 Or and Nor

When subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. "Either your aunts or your mother remembers the address"; "Neither the image nor the words convey the message." Placing the plural subject last usually sounds more natural and keeps the verb plural.

Words in between.

CMP 0081 Words Between Subject and Verb

The verb agrees with its subject even when other words come between them. "The cost of the flights is high": the subject is cost, not flights. "A box of invitations with stamps was on the desk." The noun nearest the verb is often inside a phrase; find the true subject first.

When the verb comes first.

CMP 0082 Verb Before Subject

The verb agrees with its subject even when the verb comes first, as in questions and sentences beginning with there or here. "There were three people ahead of us"; "Under the table are a newspaper and a magazine." There is never the subject; look past it to find what the verb must agree with.

Each, both, some and none.

CMP 0083 Indefinite Pronouns as Subjects

Most indefinite pronouns, such as each, everyone and nobody, take a singular verb. Both, few, many and several take a plural verb; all, any, most, none and some depend on the word they refer to: "Most of the class has voted," but "Most of the students have voted." Each and every one are singular even when followed by a plural phrase.

Groups acting as one.

CMP 0084 Collective Nouns

Collective nouns such as team, family, class, jury and audience usually take a singular verb, because the group acts as one unit. "The band rehearses every day." When members act individually, use a plural verb or add members: "The jury members do not agree." Once you choose singular or plural for a group, keep it consistent through the passage.

Nouns that look plural.

CMP 0085 Plural-Looking Singular Nouns

Some nouns end in s but are usually singular in meaning, such as news, physics, measles, politics and statistics. "The news was bad"; "Statistics fulfills a math requirement." When the word refers to a specific situation, it can be plural: "The economics of the plan are hard to grasp." Decide by meaning, not by the final letter.

Titles and words as words.

CMP 0086 Titles and Words as Words

A title, or a word discussed as a word, takes a singular verb even if it looks plural. "The Grapes of Wrath is set during the Depression"; "Children is the plural of child." The title names one work, so treat it as one thing, whatever its last word.

A fixed sequence of checks.

CMP 0087 Checking Agreement in a Long Sentence

Agreement errors hide in long sentences, and a fixed sequence of checks finds them. Find each verb and its true subject, setting aside phrases and clauses between them. If the subject is joined by and, decide whether it names two things or one unit; if by or or nor, match the nearer part. If it is an indefinite pronoun, decide whether it is singular, plural or variable. If it is a collective noun, ask whether the group acts as one. If the verb comes first, look past there or here. In "One of the reasons for the delays is cost," the subject is one.

Five entries on tense: choosing one, shifting it for real changes in time, and the conventions of academic and literary writing.

When the action happens.

CMP 0088 Verb Tense

Tense expresses when a verb's action happens: past, present or future. Tense comes naturally in speech but is harder to control in writing, where a writer can slip from past to present within a paragraph. Choose the governing tense for a piece before drafting, then hold it.

A shift that is correct.

CMP 0089 Shifting Tense for a Real Change in Time

A writer may shift tense for an actual change in time, but the governing tense stays constant. "She now works in Denver, but she grew up in Ohio" shifts correctly, because the two actions happen at different times. A shift is an error only when the time has not changed.

One tense, held.

CMP 0090 Tense Consistency

Whatever tense you choose, use it consistently throughout a piece of writing. "I clutched my son, kiss his forehead, and will gather my things" jumps among three tenses; "I clutched my son, kissed his forehead, and gathered my things" holds one. Narratives can be told in past or present tense; the error is mixing them, not choosing either.

Tense in signal phrases.

CMP 0091 Tense in Academic Writing

Disciplines prefer different tenses in signal phrases, the verbs that introduce a source. English and the humanities generally use the present or present perfect, "the historian argues"; the sciences and social sciences generally use the past or present perfect, "the study found." Follow your discipline's convention, and stay consistent within the paper.

Writing about a literary work.

CMP 0092 The Literary Present

When writing about a literary work, use the present tense for both the author's choices and the events in the work. "The poet uses short lines, and the speakers celebrate their lives," even though the poem was written decades ago. Switching to the past tense partway through a literary analysis is a common inconsistency.

Five entries on mood and voice, then repairing tense shifts and a worked example. The opening idea is paid off at the last.

The writer's attitude in the verb.

CMP 0093 Verb Mood

Verbs have three moods, which signal the writer's attitude or intention: indicative, imperative and subjunctive. The indicative states facts, opinions or questions; the imperative gives commands, with you often implied, as in "Submit your request by Friday." The subjunctive is the mood most often misused, and it has its own entry.

Wishes and conditions.

CMP 0094 The Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood expresses wishes, requirements, suggestions, or conditions that are hypothetical or unlikely. "I wish you were here"; "The rules require that every member be present"; "The board would work better if all members were active." In a contrary-to-fact condition, standard written English uses were, not was: "if I were in charge."

Who performs the action.

CMP 0095 Active and Passive Voice

In the active voice, the subject performs the action; in the passive voice, the subject receives it. "The team conducted the survey" is active; "The survey was conducted by the team" is passive, and the doer can disappear: "The survey was conducted." Passive voice is not a grammatical error, but it often hides who acted; unit eleven covers when to use it.

Bringing stray verbs back.

CMP 0096 Repairing Tense Shifts

Repairing a tense shift means finding the governing tense and bringing stray verbs back to it, while keeping shifts that mark real changes in time. Decide the governing tense, usually that of most main verbs. List every verb and mark each one that differs. For each, ask whether the action really happened at a different time; a memory, or a general truth stated in the present, can justify a shift. Change only the verbs that shift without reason. "The study found that sleep improves memory" correctly mixes past and present.

Four errors in a short draft.

CMP 0097 A Draft With Verb Errors

A worked example, constructed for this course, pays off the opening idea. A draft about a science club's river cleanup opens in the present for a yearly habit, then narrates last year in the past. "Each of the volunteers were given" should be was, because each is singular. "The group of students work" should be worked: group is singular, and last year calls for the past. "If the city was willing" states an unreal condition, so it takes were. "The news have been" should be has, because news is singular in meaning. The tempting overcorrection is to put the whole draft in one tense, but the opening present is right, because the cleanup happens every spring.

Look at what you can now do. You can choose the right form of regular and irregular verbs. You can make a verb agree with its true subject, whether that subject is compound, separated from the verb, placed after it, an indefinite pronoun, or a collective noun. You can choose a governing tense, shift it only for a real change in time, and follow the conventions of your discipline and of literary analysis. And you can use mood and voice deliberately, and repair the verbs in a draft. Unit Five turns to pronouns: agreement, reference and case.