Scribd
Upload
3K views2 pages

Properties of Verbs

The document discusses the five properties of verbs: number, person, tense, voice, and mood. It focuses on explaining number, person, and tense. Number refers to whether a verb is singular or plural based on its subject. Person refers to the pronoun used with the verb - 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Tense refers to time and includes the present, past, and future tenses.

Uploaded by

Rona Nogales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
3K views2 pages

Properties of Verbs

The document discusses the five properties of verbs: number, person, tense, voice, and mood. It focuses on explaining number, person, and tense. Number refers to whether a verb is singular or plural based on its subject. Person refers to the pronoun used with the verb - 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Tense refers to time and includes the present, past, and future tenses.

Uploaded by

Rona Nogales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

PROPERTIES OF VERBS – Verbs have five properties: number, person, tense, voice,

and mood. In seventh grade, we will study all of these except mood.

1. Number – Verbs have “number,” which means that they are singular (one) or
plural (more than one). The number of a verb depends on the number of its
subject. A singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a
plural verb. Unlike nouns, which usually end in “s” when they are plural, verbs
can end in “s” when they are singular. (See chart below.)

2. Person – Verbs also have number, depending upon the number of the pronoun
used with them. (See chart below.)

Singular Plural

First Person I walk We walk

Second Person You walk You walk

He
Third person She walks They walk
It

3. Tense – The word “tense” refers to time. The tense of the verb tells the time that
the action is happening. There are six tenses. There are three simple tenses
(present, past, and future), and there are three “perfect” tenses (present perfect,
past perfect, and future perfect). The perfect tenses use various forms of the verb
“to have” to more “perfectly” tell exactly when something occurs.

A. Present Tense – A verb is in the present tense when it expresses action


which is happening in the present (now) or which happens routinely (all
the time). The present tense is made by using the present principal part
(the base or infinitive form) or the present principal part plus an “s”
(third person singular only).

Singular Plural

First Person I walk We walk

Second Person You walk You walk

He
Third person She walks They walk
It
B. Past tense – A verb is in the past tense when it shows an action which was
completed at a particular time in the past. The past tense is formed using
the past principal part.

Singular Plural

First Person I walked We walked

Second Person You walked You walked

He
Third Person She walked They walked
It

C. Future tense – A verb is in the future tense when it expresses action that
will take place in the future. To make the future tense, use the word “will”
or “shall” (“shall” is used in very formal English for the first person only)
plus the present principal part.

Singular Plural

First person I shall walk We shall walk

Second Person You will walk You will walk

He
Third Person She will walk They will walk
It

Exercise A: Provide the correct tense of each verb listed below.

1. Jason _____________________ (future tense of “to sing”) at tonight’s concert.

2. Brian and Rosita _____________________ (present tense of “to ride”) their bikes
to school every day.

3. I _____________________ (past tense of “to leave”) the party early.

4. Maria ____________________ (present tense of “to like”) most sports.

5. We ____________________ (past tense of “to listen) to the big game on the


radio.

You might also like