Auxiliary required: The baby is crying. Auxiliary not required: The crying baby needs to eat. (Crying is acting as an adjective, not a verb.) Auxiliary not required: The baby crying the loudest needs to eat. (Crying is part of a reduced relative clause.) Regular Verbs A regular verb follows standard rules. The past tense of a regular verb ends in -ed, as does the past participle form. All verbs end in -ing in the present participle. The following table shows examples of regular verbs. Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense Past Participle Present Participle walk walked walked walking study studied studied studying type typed typed typing Irregular Verbs Irregular verbs are, obviously, less predictable than regular verbs. Various rules apply to irregular verbs depending on the ending of the base verb. Studying lists of irregular verbs is not as helpful as paying attention to their use as you read English and listen to English conversations. The following table offers some ex- amples of irregular verbs. Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense Past Participle Present Participle begin began begun beginning find found found finding eat ate eaten eating ride rode ridden riding Simple Present Tense The simple present tense is not used very frequently to indicate present time in standard written English. Generally, the present progressive tense is used to indi- cate that something is happening in the present time. Verbs in simple present tense usually indicate that an action is habitual or repetitive. Birds fly. This means that birds fly in general, or regularly. It does not indicate that birds are flying now. 110 Part III: Detailed Review of Items Tested For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Harry swims every day. This means that Harry regularly swims, not that he is swimming now. However, some verbs are used in simple present tense to indicate that something is happening in the present time. These verbs as known as stative verbs. Common stative verbs include know, believe, hear, see, smell, wish, under- stand, hate, love, want, appear, own, have, sound, need, taste, and like. I believe you. This means that I believe you now. In this case, the present progressive tense (“I am believing you”) would sound strange. This seems like an interesting movie. This means that the movie seems interesting right now. Again, the present pro- gressive tense (“This is seeming like an interesting movie”) doesn’t work with this verb. Present Progressive Tense The present progressive form of a verb always consists of a present form of the verb be and a verb+ing. The present progressive is generally used to indicate an action occurring in the present time. A typical sentence construction using the present progressive is as follows: Subject + {am/is/are} + verb+ing Lisa is reading a magazine. Maria is writing a paper. By adding a word or phrase that indicates the future, the same verb structure can be used to describe a future action. Lisa is cooking tonight. Maria is writing her paper tomorrow. In the above examples, tonight and tomorrow signal that the action will take place in the future. 111 Structure For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Simple Past Tense The simple past tense (formed by adding –ed with regular verbs) indicates that a completed action happened in the past at a specific time. The fireman pulled the hose across the street. Gina bought a new coat. Past Progressive Tense The past progressive indicates that an action was occurring for some time in the past until it was interrupted by another action. A typical sentence structure using the past progressive tense is as follows: Subject + {was/were} + verb+ing + remainder of sentence. The professor was grading papers until the student arrived for a conference. The boys were studying before the game. Present Perfect Tense The present perfect is used to indicate that an action happened at an indefinite time in the past or began in the past and still is occurring in the present. The normal sentence construction using the present perfect tense is as follows: Subject + {has/have} + verb in past participle form + remainder of sentence. The students have completed the project. When the students completed the project is not indicated. Compare this sentence to “The students completed the project last night.” Susan has written a letter of complaint to the car company. Kristin has lived in Atlanta for three years. Present Perfect Progressive Tense The present perfect progressive construction is used to show that an action began in the past and is still occurring in the present. The typical sentence construction using the present perfect progressive tense is as follows: Subject + {has/have} + been + verb+ing + remainder of sentence. 112 Part III: Detailed Review of Items Tested For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org She has been waiting all day for a call from the doctor. The students have been working on the project. Past Perfect Tense The past perfect is usually used with before, after, or when. Generally, it cannot appear as a single clause because the tense is used when one action happened before or after another. Both actions have to be stated in the same sentence or in adjacent sentences. A typical sentence construction indicating past perfect tense is as follows: Subject + had + verb in past participle + {before/when} + subject + verb in simple past form + remainder of sentence. The students had completed the project before they went to the movies. Another past perfect tense sentence structure is: Subject + verb in past tense + after + subject + had + verb in past participle + remainder of sentence. The students went to the movies after they had completed the project. Past Perfect Progressive Tense The past perfect progressive tense is similar to the past perfect tense except that the action is progressive (or ongoing). A typical sentence construction indicating past perfect progressive tense is as follows: Subject + had been + verb+ing + {before/when} + subject + verb in simple past form + remainder of sentence. The students had been working on the project before they went to the movies. Another option is to use a gerund in place of the second subject and verb. The chef had been studying for five years before opening a restaurant. Modals The modal auxiliaries are generally used to indicate something that is potential or uncertain. A modal is an auxiliary, so it is never used with another auxiliary verb. An auxiliary is simply a helping word, which is used along with a main verb. Other auxiliaries include forms of be, have, or do. A modal is an unusual type of word in that it indicates a condition or an unknown situation. 113 Structure For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org I am going to the movies. I am not going to the movies. Both of the above sentences are certain. They describe actions that we know will or will not happen. I may go to the movies. I may not go to the movies. The use of the modal may makes both of these sentences uncertain. The modals are listed in the following table. Present Tense Past Tense will would can could may might shall should must A modal is always directly followed by the simple form of the verb. After a modal, there can never be a verb+ing, a verb ending in s, a past tense or past part- iciple form of a verb, or an infinitive form of a verb (to + verb). The typical sentence structure for a sentence that uses a modal is as follows: Subject + modal + verb in simple form + remainder of sentence. The woman must go to the doctor today. To indicate the past time when using a modal, the word have in the simple form appears after the modal, followed by a verb in the past participle. The sentence structure for the past time with a modal is as follows: Subject + modal + have + verb in past participle + remainder of sentence. Julie could have hurt herself in the accident if she had not been wearing her seat belt. Subject/Verb Agreement The subject and verb in a sentence must agree in person and number, as the fol- lowing examples show. 114 Part III: Detailed Review of Items Tested For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org The bridge opens every hour. singular singular The bridges open every hour. plural plural Noun Endings The endings on a noun in English indicate whether they are singular or plural. The verb or other parts of a sentence offer clues as to whether a noun should be singu- lar or plural. The scientists are studying a new compound. In this example, Scientists must be plural because the verb are is plural. A typical TOEFL test question might look like this: Q. Ten to twenty year after transferring files to new media, the files should be checked for compatibility. The answer is A. The word year should be plural because it is modified by the words Ten to twenty. Distracting Words and Phrases On the TOEFL test, it is often difficult to determine which word is the subject when the subject and verb are separated by a word or phrase. Because of that, it can be hard to determine whether a subject and verb agree in form. Prepositional phrases and other parenthetical information have no effect on the form that the verb should take. Whenever anything appears between the subject and the verb, try to block out the additional information and locate the verb. One common distraction is a prepositional phrase between the subject and verb. The students, with 20 classes left in the semester, intend to attend all the plural subject plural verb remaining classes. T he study of language is known as the science of linguistics. singular subject singular verb The scales on the fish’s body help to protect it. plural subject plural verb Poor visibility from fog and forest fires causes accidents. singular subject singular verb 115 Structure A B C D For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Another common distraction is a relative clause or reduced relative clause be- tween a subject and verb. T he students, who have 20 classes left in the semester, intend to attend all the plural subject plural verb remaining classes. Dia betes, which may be caused by one of several different conditions, singular subject affects many people each year. singular verb A participial phrase between the subject and verb can distract you as well. T he students, believing that Professor Jones will not take roll, intend to skip plural subject plural verb class. Finally, remember that phrases that begin with together with, along with, as well as, and in addition to have no impact on the subject and verb. Pr ofessor Byrd, along with several colleagues, travels to a national singular subject singular verb conference each year. For practice, underline the correct form of the verb in parentheses in the following sentences. 1. The effects of cigarette smoking (is/are) known to be quite harmful. 2. The use of bank debit cards to obtain cash (have/has) become very popular recently. 3. Commercials shown during the Super Bowl (cost/costs) a considerable amount of money. 4. The degree of intoxication after ingesting alcohol (vary/varies) from person to person. 5. The photograph of the race’s final moments (has/have) been awarded first place. The answers are as follows: 1, are; 2, has; 3, cost; 4, varies; 5, has. 116 Part III: Detailed Review of Items Tested For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org A Number of or The Number of Although these two phrases look and sound very similar, they have a different im- pact on verbs that follow them in a sentence. A number of has a meaning similar to many. It is a plural concept and requires a plural verb. The number of is a way to describe an amount. It is a singular concept and requires a singular verb. A n umber of boys have arrived for the meeting. plural subject plural verb The number of boys coming to the meeting is nine. singular subject singular verb The following sample questions offer an idea of how subject/verb agreement is examined on the TOEFL test. Q. Upon reaching the destination, a number of personnel is expected to change their reservations and proceed to Hawaii. The answer is B, is. A number of must be followed by a plural verb, are. The first part of the sentence is not part of the subject. Q. The students, when confronted with evidence of cheating on the final exam, was extremely defensive. The answer is D, was. If you eliminate the language between the commas, it is easy to see that the subject of the sentence is The students so the verb should be plural (were). Q. John Edwards, the first of many black students to attend this law school, have been elected a circuit judge. The answer is D, have. The clause between the commas is a reduced relative clause. It has the same meaning as who was the first of many . . . . The subject of the sentence is John Edwards, and the verb should be has. Q. The small town, which was protected by a cliff to the north, a river to the south, and a large forest to the east, were the best choice for the fort. The answer is D, were. A relative clause appears between commas. (Notice that the relative clause could have been reduced by omitting the words which was and beginning the clause with protected.) The subject of the sentence is The small town, and the verb must be singular (was). 117 Structure A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Q. The truck driver, on the open road in the middle of the night, were trying to find a station on the radio to help her stay awake. The answer is B, were. The prepositional phrase between commas should be ig- nored. The subject is The truck driver, and the verb should be singular, was. Sentences with Two or More Verbs The TOEFL test contains questions that require you to recognize misused verb endings in sentences that contain more than one verb. Combining Verb Tenses When a sentence has more than one verb or verb phrase, the tense of the different verbs must make sense together. Sometimes that means they will be the same tense (indicating that things are happening at the same time). Sometimes the tenses need to vary within the sentence. If the actions in the sentence are happen- ing at different times, the verbs will indicate which happens first and which hap- pens second. Present time verb structures include the following: ■ Verb in present tense with stative verbs ■ Verb in present progressive ■ Will, can, or may + verb in simple form ■ Verb in present perfect The present progressive tense and simple present tense can be used together to de- scribe two simultaneous actions (actions occurring at the same time). Edward thinks that Sheila is feeling better. If the simple present tense is used in the main clause and the present perfect tense in the dependent clause, that means the action in the dependent clause took place at an indefinite time before the action in the main clause. He tells us that he has been to the mountains before. We know that you have been here before. Past time verb structures include the following: ■ Verb in simple past tense ■ Verb in past progressive ■ Would, could, or might + verb in simple form ■ Verb in past perfect (usually used with a past tense verb in the other clause) 118 Part III: Detailed Review of Items Tested A B C D For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Some sentences contain verbs in both the present and the past tense. If the past tense appears in a dependent clause, that indicates an action took place before the action described in the main clause. They think he was here yesterday. The simple past tense can be used for both verbs in a sentence, as in the following example. I gave the book to Sarah when she visited yesterday. In other sentences, the simple past tense and the past progressive tense can be used together. Ralph went to the Daytona International Speedway while he was staying in town. Edward said that he was feeling better. The past perfect tense in the dependent clause shows that the action occurred be- fore the action of the main clause. We hoped that he had arrived before us. They thought that he had been there already. The modals will, can, and may are present tense modals and thus are frequently used with present time verbs when occurring at the same time as the main verb, whereas the modals would, could and might are frequently used with past time verbs. He says that he will purchase a new house. He said that he would look for a job the following week. Mary said that she could stay for a while. Following are typical TOEFL test questions that require you to identify incorrect use of verb tense. Q. The University of Kentucky has held this prestigious title until 1989, when it was granted to the University of Georgia. The answer is A, has held. Because the sentence gives a specific ending time of the action (until 1989), the action is in the past only and does not continue into the present. Also, the verb was in the other clause indicates that the sentence is in the past. Therefore, the simple past tense (held) must be used. Q. As soon as George had entered the room, he realizes that he had made a mistake. 119 Structure A B C D A B CD For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org . of a regular verb ends in -ed, as does the past participle form. All verbs end in -ing in the present participle. The following table shows examples of. examples of regular verbs. Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense Past Participle Present Participle walk walked walked walking study studied studied studying