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PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASES
P L E A S E TA K E N O T E S I N Y O U R C O M P O S I T I O N
BOOKS.
HELPING VERBS AND VERB PHRASE
• Sometimes an action or condition occurs just once—pow!—and it's over. Read these two short sentences and tell me whether they
are action verbs or linking verbs:
Offering her license and registration, Selena sobbed in the driver's seat.
Action verb
• Other times, the activity or condition continues over a Selena is always disobeying the speed limit.
long stretch of time, happens predictably, or occurs in
Helping (auxiliary) verb: is
relationship to other events. In these instances, a single-
word verb like sobbed or was cannot accurately describe Main verb: disobeying
what happened, so writers use multipart verb phrases to
communicate what they mean. As many as four words
can comprise a verb phrase. Selena should have been driving with more care, for then
she would not have gotten her third ticket this year.
1st verb phrase:
• A main or base verb indicates the type of action or
condition, and auxiliary—or helping—verbs convey the Helping (auxiliary) verbs: should have been
other nuances that writers want to express.
Main verb: driving
To avoid another speeding ticket, Selena will never again take her eyes off the road to fiddle with the radio.
Despite the stern warning from Officer Carson, Selena has not lightened her foot on the accelerator.
to + verb = infinitive
(i.e. to dance, to sing, to yell, to leave, to be)
“…..to boldly go where no man has gone before.” - Star Trek, Gene Rodenberry
(the adverb “boldly” splits the infinitive “to go”- we call these split infinitives and the are a no-no in English
grammar)
TYPES OF SENTENCES
There are four (4) kinds of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory.
4. An exclamatory sentence shows strong feeling. Declarative, imperative, or interrogative sentences can be
made into exclamatory sentences by punctuating them with an exclamation point.
Examples: The assignment is due tomorrow! Stop! Do you know the man!
IN AN IMPERATIVE SENTENCE, THE
SUBJECT IS (YOU)
• An imperative sentence gives a command
• (You) is termed YOU UNDERSTOOD – it is written at the beginning of the sentence, underlined, and placed
in parenthesis.
What is the subject in each of the sentence examples below:
Directions: Do the Prepositions worksheet for pages 29, 33, 37, and 39. Read the directions
carefully for each worksheet.
Special instructions for page 29: When underlining the verb phrases (i.e. the helping [auxiliary]
verbs and main verb) remember to not underline any adverbs. They are not part of the verb
phrase. Look out for contractions too, like can’t. It is a contraction for can (verb) not (adverb), so
underline the part that is part of the verb phrase.