1. Verbs
Verbs, “to be” verbs, Active Voice, Passive Voice

2. Verb
A word that expresses action…
Ex: Steven petted Rosie.
…condition, or state of
being.
Ex: Rosie is happy!
Rosie appears happy.

3. What would we do without
verbs?
Nothing.
Subjects of sentences wouldn’t do
anything.

4. Vivid Verbs

5. Why use vivid verbs?
Creates a clearer image in your reader’s mind.
Stan went into class. What image does this give
you?
Stan slithered into class.
Stan sauntered into
class.
Stan bolted into class.

6. Helping (“to be”) Verbs
Can, could
C
H Have, has, had Chad B.
Am, are
Swim
A
D Do, does, did
B Be, being, been
S Should, shall
Olympic swimmer Chad from South
Africa.
W Will, would, was, were
I Is The book calls these
May, might, must “auxiliary verbs”
M

7. Helping Verbs
“auxiliary verbs”
Helping verbs are always paired with another verb to
create verb phrases.
We should save a seat for Jeff.
I have been running for a long time.
Dave will be going away soon.

8. Linking Verbs
A linking verb works by itself.
Rosie is happy.
I am tired.
The instruments are safe in the bus.
The students seemed bored during the trip.

9. From Yahoo Answers….

10. So…
Learn them, so you can avoid
them.


11. But…
Helping verbs aren’t completely useless.
They help a reader understand when an action takes
place
Example:
I am writing the essay. (present)
I will write the essay. (future)
I have written the essay. (past)
But with sentences like the last one…

12. Strong Past Tense
Sentences
I wrote the essay. VS. I have written the
essay.
Both are past tense, but eliminating the
“have” makes the sentence a stronger, less
wordy sentence.

13. Practice Activity
Page 16

14. Active Voice vs. Passive
Voice

15. Active Voice
The subject of the sentence performs the action of the
verb.
Layla peeped through the hole in the
door.

16. Passive Voice
The subject of the sentence receives the action of
the verb.
The hole in the wall was
peeped through by Layla.

17. How do I change my
sentence into the active
1)
voice?
Determine the verb
2) Identify the performer of the verb
3) Make the performer of the verb the subject of the
sentence peeped Layla
The hole was peeped through by Layla.
Performer of the peeping?
Layla
Revised to the active voice:
Layla peeped through the hole in the door.

18. Active or Passive Voice?
My boss made the decision yesterday.
Active!

19. Active or Passive Voice?
I ate a piece of cake
Active!

20. Active or Passive Voice?
The national anthem is being sung by Jason
this time.
Passive.
What is the verb? Sung
Who is performing the verb? Jason
Fixed:
Jason is singing the national anthem this time.

21. Active or Passive Voice?
The computer crashed.
Active!

22. Active or Passive Voice?
The librarian read the book to the students.
Active!

23. Active or Passive Voice?
His hair was cut by a professional.
Passive
What is the verb? cut
Who is performing the verb? professional
Fixed:
The professional cut his hair.

24. Last words.
Passive Voice = lengthy, wordy sentences = reader gets bored
Active Voice = stronger, more precise sentences = reader more likely to
read

25. Today
1) Adverb Notes 3) Interjection Notes
(pgs. 20-21) (pgs. 20-21)
Define Define
Adverb Interjection
Intensifier Strong interjection
Examples of each Mild interjection
Questions adverbs Examples of each
answer
4) Interjection Practice
2) Adverb Practice Pg. 29 “Practice and
Pg. 21 “Practice and Apply” #1-5 all
Apply” #1-10 evens