VERB  PHRASES :

A verb phrase consists of a main verb and one or more helping verbs.  Some common helping verbs are forms of be, have, & do.  Here are some additional helping verbs.

Will go        can go         would go     could go      must go

Shall go       may go        should go    might go     

The words that make up a verb phrase are sometimes separated by other words that are not verbs.

Should not have gone               will probably arrive

Might never have happened                 could barely understand

IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES, IDENTIFY THE HELPING VERBS AND MAIN VERBS:

1.     Bruce might have gone to the movie.

2.     Can you play the guitar?

3.     You should have closed the door.

4.     Jamie could never finish the watermelon.

5.     The student might have talked to the principal.

                          THE TENSES OF THE VERB

Different forms of a verb are used to show the time of an action or a state of being.  These forms are called the tenses of the verb.

Tense changes are made in three ways:

1. By a change in the ending:   talk,      talked

2. By a change in the spelling:  ring, rang, rung

3. By a change in the helping verbs:  has talked, will talk

Here are five important tenses:

Past tense:             she calls                          we speak

Future tense:         she will call                      we shall speak

Past tense:             she called                        we spoke

Present perfect tense: she has called              we have spoken

Past perfect tense:     she had called              we had spoken

IDENTIFY TENSES IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:

1.     He jogs early every morning.

2.     Answer the question.

3.     Have you found your cell phone yet?

4.     We hiked in the mountains of alps.

5.     Debra will light the candles tonight.