The Verb

Look at these two pictures, read the two words and see the actions.

Action words are called Verbs.

Push                   Pushing
Pull                     Pulling

The English verb has five forms to show the time of the action. They are:
1. Present
2. Past
3. Past participle
4. Present participle
5. Infinitive

In this course we name them as:

V1	V2	V3	V4	V5
Push	Pushed	Pushed	Pushing	(To) push
Pull	Pulled	Pulled	Pulling	(To) pull
Bathe	Bathed	Bathed	Bathing	(To) bathe
Open	Opened	Opened	Opening	(To) open
Draw	Drew	Drawn	Drawing	(To) draw
Break	Broke	Broken	Breaking	(To) break
Fall	Fell	Fallen	Falling	(To) fall

The first four verbs given in the above table are called REGULAR VERBS. You can remember them easily because V2 and V3 forms have ‘ED’ or ‘D’ and V4 has ‘ING’ at the end and V5 has ‘TO’ at the beginning. IRREGULAR VERBS have different forms for V2 and V3. Most common verbs we use every day are IRREGULAR VERBS. You have to learn about 200 such verbs by heart.

Now, you have some idea about these five forms of the English verb. These five forms help us to express THE TIME FACTOR in the language. We can see only three stages of an action with our eyes and all the other stages, that is, past experiences and future imaginations can be seen only with our mind’s eye.
Let’s examine what we see with our eyes and how we express what we see.
STAGE 1
Ready to begin an action. You can guess the action about to take place.

STAGE 2
Action continuing. You see what is happening.

STAGE 3
Action completed. You see only the result of the action but not the action.
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Look at these pictures carefully and read the sentences given.

I am going to open the bottle.

 

I am opening the bottle.

I have opened the bottle.

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I am going to draw a picture.

I am drawing a picture.

I have drawn a picture.

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Now look at the three pictures given below and try to think what grand ma says about her great fall.

(1)

(2)

(3)

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To express these three steps the following three major sentence patterns are used.

Pattern 1:   S + is/am/are + going to + V₅
e.g., He is going to bathe.

Pattern 2:   S + is/am/are + V₄
e.g., He is bathing.

Pattern 3:   S + has/have + V₃
e.g., He has bathed.

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Practice:

Naming the parts of a doll.

First name the parts of this doll

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Making the parts of a doll.

Step 1. Get some clay. Take a small piece to make the head. Keep it on the tip of your index finger and say:
I’m going to make the head.

Step 2. Place the piece of clay on your palm and roll it with the other palm and say:
I’m making the head.

Step 3. Place the ball you have made on the table and say:
I have made the head.

Follow the above steps and make the other parts of your doll.
Practice these sentences while making the parts of your doll :

I’m going to make the body.
I’m making the body.
I’ve made the body.

I’m going to make an arm.
I’m making an arm.
I’ve made an arm.

I’m going to make the other arm.
I’m making the other arm.
I’ve made the other arm.

I’m going to make a leg.
I’m making a leg.
I’ve made a leg.

I’m going to make the other leg.
I’m making the other leg.
I’ve made the other leg.

I’ve made all parts of the doll.

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Fixing the parts of your doll.

Take the head to your right hand and take the body to your left hand and say:
I’m going to fix the head to the body.

 

While fixing say:
I’m fixing the head to the body.

 

After fixing say:
I’ve fixed the head to the body.

Practice fixing the other parts like this:

I’m going to fix an arm to the body.
I’m fixing an arm to the body.
I’ve fixed an arm to the body.

I’m going to fix the other arm to the body.
I’m fixing the other arm to the body.
I’ve fixed the other arm to the body.

I’m going to fix a leg to the body.
I’m fixing a leg to the body.
I’ve fixed a leg to the body.

I’m going to fix the other leg to the body.
I’m fixing the other leg to the body.
I’ve fixed the other leg to the body.

I’ve fixed all parts together and I’ve made a doll.

*** Practice making a doll at least 10 times.

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Notes:

Take any action you know and make sentences using the above three patterns. Watch people at work and see how you can use the patterns you have already learnt.