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GRAMMARBill ate a hamburger.Cynthia kicked each tire.11C Linking verbs express little action; mainlythey express state of being, and link thesubject to a complement (called a predicatenoun or predicate adjective) following theverbBy far, the most used linking verb is the verb to be, in allof its forms. Some other linking verbs are looks, appears,seems, grows, becomes, and feels. Here are some S-V-PN\PA sentences, called PATTERN m sentences:The cats became hungry.Bruno looks exhausted.Paula feels sick.John is a doctor.Bill was an expert marksman.In these ways, verbs control every aspect of the sentence.See Sentence Structure, section 20, for more discussionof sentence formation.11D Principal parts of verbsAll verbs have four principal parts: the present (NOW),the past (YESTERDAY), the present participle (the-ING form of the verb), and the past participle (the formof the verb with HAVE). To find the principal parts of averb, just remember the clues NOW, YESTERDAY,-ING, and HAVE.PRESENT:(you) work (NOW)PAST:(you) worked [YESTERDAY)PRESENT PARTICIPLE:[you are) workINGPAST PARTICIPLE:(you HAVE) workedPRESENT:(he) buys (NOW)PAST:(he) bought (YESTERDAY)PRESENT PARTICIPLE:(he is) buyiNGPAST PARTICIPLE:(he HAS) boughtParticiples are used both:1. as part of the main verb of the sentenceand2. as other parts of speech, like nouns and adjectives.When the main verb is separated from its helping verbs(like has, have, be, does) by intervening parts of a sentence,sometimes, through omission, an error in verb formationresults. The verb formation did not swum, forexample, is obviously wrong when seen out of context,but notice how difficult it is to spot in a sentence.INCORRECT:Florence Chadwick had swum trie English Channeltwice before in treacherously cold weather, butlast winter she did not.CORRECT:Florence Chadwick had swum the English Channeltwice before in treacherously cold weather, butlast winter she did not swim.INCORRECT:The rebel groups never have and never willsurrender to any government forces.CORRECT:The rebel groups never have surrendered andnever will surrender to any government forces.3. Another error involving principal parts of verbsresults from a confusion of the simple past and thepast participle. As in the preceding examples, sucherrors are more likely to occur in sentences wheresubject and verb are separated by modifiers. Note thefollowing examples:PastExamples Present Past ParticipleWe saw (not seen) the dogjust last week.The Dodgers finally did(not done) it.My Family had gone (notwent) there for severalsummers.The music began (not begun)as the ship slid into theseo.Jose Canseco had broken(not broke) his favoritebat.The guests had eafen (notate) before the weddingparty arrived.The Liberty Bell had rung(not rang) every Fourthof July for a century.seedogobeginbreakeatringsawseen4. Verbs like sit, set, rise, raise, lie and lay cause troublebecause of similarity of form.PastExamplesPresent Past ParticipleMy cats usually tie(not lay) in the sun.The president lay (notlaid) down for hisafternoon rest.didwentbeganbrokeaterangdonegonebegunbrokeneatenrunglie (to recline) lay lain18