Search results for “verb”

A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong form for comparison. Incorrect:  She is the poorest of the two women. Correct: She is poor. (positive form) She is the poorer of the two women. (comparative form/two items) She is the poorest of them all. (superlative form/more than two) Many one- …

Those who study English grammar will eventually review the adverbial ending -ly. GrammarBook last wrote about Adjectives and Adverbs: When to use -ly in October 2007; the post has remained on our website since then to offer guidance on using the suffix. More than eleven years later, however, we—and you too, perhaps—still often encounter misuse of the ending. For …

A big drawback to a column like this is being perceived as having insufferable attitude: “So, Mr. Expert, I guess you think you’re so superior.” It’s not like that. Word nerds do custodial work. A lot of brilliant people can’t write. Ernest Hemingway was a terrible speller. Word nerds don’t think they’re “better”—do janitors think …

Writers know that an adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. They likewise understand it can enhance an infinitive, a gerund, a participle, a phrase, a clause, a preposition, or the rest of the sentence in which it appears. The question that remains is whether the agile adverb can modify a noun or …

Few will ever forget the words spoken by Winston Churchill in June 1940 under the thickening shadow of Nazi aggression: "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and strength in …

Sentence subjects are typically obvious in English grammar. Many are nouns, and they take corresponding plural or singular verbs. How then do we identify and explain the parts of speech in the following sentences? 1. Buying houses and flipping them has been netting him a small fortune. 2. To be alone is to find true …

Verbs are the drivers of language. All other parts of speech rely on them for momentum. Without effective verb usage, they lose the extra thrust that they’re made to provide and become mere golf-cart motor components. Mastering verbs includes understanding the difference between transitive and intransitive action words. A transitive verb is one that requires a direct …

As noted in a recent GrammarBook e-newsletter article, verbs form both the engine and the steering wheel driving our language. They determine the direction and speed of a sentence. Sometimes, we’ll spot other words riding with them in the passenger seat. They’re not verbs, but they still attach themselves with seat belts secured. We accept and …

Our review of English verbs has included discussion of when to add s to a verb. You might also wonder when to add es to the end of a verb. As we point out in that other discussion, only verbs paired with a third-person singular noun or pronoun (he, she, boat, courage) as a subject add …

Imagine the English language as a car that can keep its body and performance pristine if driven and maintained correctly. Think of nouns as the wheels that keep it rolling; adjectives as the chassis riding the wheels; adverbs as the paint job (some say the less flashy the better); and all other parts of speech …