Identifying Sentence Parts
Verbs
Please read this lesson carefully before attempting the exercise.

LESSON: The parts of a sentence are the SUBJECT and the PREDICATE. To "predicate" something is to say it, so in a sentence we say something about a subject. The key element of the predicate is the verb. Every sentence has a verb. Therefore, we begin with the verb in our study of the structure of a sentence.

DEFINITION: A verb is a word that changes form to indicate grammatical time (tense): eat, ate, has eaten, will eat, and so forth. As many as five verbs may function together:

The President MUST HAVE BEEN BEING BRIEFED about the earthquake at the very moment the tidal wave hit the port.


INSTRUCTIONS: Click in the answer box, type in the verb of the sentence, and click on the "Check" button.

EXAMPLE: The count and his guest went upstairs for a late night snack.
Answer: went

Although both "late" and "night" refer to time, the changes in form that they can undergo (latER, latEST, nightS) have to do with either degree or number. A verb changes to indicate past, present, or future: went, go, will go.