Unit 1

How Am I Influenced by Images?

Verbs

Verbs are the action heroes of language. They tell what something or someone does. They also show a state of being (linking verb).

A. Action verbs indicate what nouns and pronouns do. Action words (verbs) are shown in green in the following sentences.

The superhero tossed the rock.
The bicycle leapt from the jump.
Devon constructed a Lego tower.
The tornado twisted through the city.

B. Linking verbs join nouns or pronouns to other words such as adjectives in a sentence.

Some examples include the following:

am, are, is

I am fine, but they are in shock. That is certain.
was, were, become

Terry was angry because her parents were unreasonable. After yelling, she became silent.

appears, seems, looks

She appears healthy.
He seems friendly.
Three assignments look unfinished.

Verbs have different tenses: past, present, future. Example:

I went to the store, I go to the store, I am going to the store.

When you are writing about the same time period, you don't want to shift tenses in your writing. If you are writing in the present, stick to the present tense. If you are writing in the past, stick to the past tense.

For example,

The gravel crunched beneath the wheels of the bus as it crept into the station. Shadowy figures peered through the bus window into the darkness where I was waiting.

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