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As was just said, in order to express a complete thought, a sentence must have something called a predicate.

However, before you can fully understand predicates, you need to know about verbs.

A verb is a word that expresses action, or a state of being.

Verbs are the fourth of eight basic parts of speech. As you can see by the above definition, there are two kinds of verbs: action verbs, and state-of-being verbs.









To identify an action verb, you look at each word in the sentence and ask yourself, "Could I show someone how to do this?" If not, the word probably isn't an action verb. Lets look at the sentence below to get a better picture of how this works.

EXAMPLE: Anthony laughed.

Could I show someone how to "Anthony?" No, I could not. Therefore, Anthony is NOT the action verb. Well then, could I show someone how to "laugh?"  Yes, I could. So, in the above sentence, the word laugh is the action verb. Do you see how that works?

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Now, the best way to identify the state-of-being verbs is to simply memorize them. They are: am, are, is, was, were, be, being, and been. Lets take a look at another sentence to see how this strategy works in action.

EXAMPLE: Roberto Valencia was my father's best friend.

Because of my having memorized the state-of-being verbs, I'm able to immediately recognize that the word was is the verb in the above sentence. Pretty cool, huh?

Now let's spend a little time practicing identifying verbs in sentences. Then we will go back and finish looking at predicates.
IDENTIFYING VERBS I

A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being. To find an action verb, you look at each word in the sentence and ask yourself, “Could I show someone how to do this?”


Directions: Carefully read each sentence below. Print the numeral 4 above each action verb. (The first one has been done for you.)





                   4
  1.  Fido stands very still.





  2.  The crab snapped its claws.





  3.  That animal stood on its hind legs.





  4.  A Blue Jay sat on the tree branch.





  5.  The mother bear lifted her right paw.
Name _____________________________________  Date ____/____/____  Score _____
Part 2ATHE PARTS UP SPEECH
THE VERB
2a.
  • An action verb tells you what someone or something (the subject) in the sentence does or has.

  • A state-of-being verb tells you what someone or something (the subject) in the sentence is.
IDENTIFYING VERBS II

A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being. To find a state-of-being verb, memorize all eight of them. Then look for each one as you read the sentences.


Directions: Carefully read each sentence below. Print the numeral 4 above each state-of-being verb.





                
  1.  Mr. Slob is lazy.





  2.  Our printer was broken.





  3.  I am a jogger.





  4.  These two are the best snow boarders.





  5.  Those two old guys were inventors.
Name _____________________________________  Date ____/____/____  Score _____
IDENTIFYING VERBS III


Directions: Write the definition for verb on the lines provided.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________


Directions: Carefully read each sentence below. Print the numeral 4 above each verb.

                
  1.  We all walk to school.


  2.  Sophia ran home.


  3.  The girls played soccer.


  4.  Those dogs are quiet.


  5.  Father rests every afternoon.


  6.  Ms. Gainer is my aunt.


  7.  We saw the fire.


  8.  The students broke the glass accidentally.


  9.  An apple dropped from the tree.


10.  Mushrooms are plant life.
Name _____________________________________  Date ____/____/____  Score _____
The predicate is the part of a sentence that lets you know what is going on. It either tells you what the subject in the sentence is, what the subject does, or what it has.

The simple predicate is a single verb, like walk, or a single verb-
phrase, like have walked.

The simple predicate, combined with any words that describe it or
add to it, is called the complete predicate . In other words, the
complete predicate is all of the words that tell you what the subject
is, does, or has.


To get a better understanding, let's go back to our last example:

EXAMPLE: Robert Valencia was my father's best friend.

In the above example, if I wanted to give all of the words that told what Robert Valencia was, I'd have to say, "was my father's best friend."

Do you see that?  The word "was" is just a simple predicate. It is a single verb, all by itself, without any other words attached to it.  But, if I want to include all of the details, I have to say the whole phrase: "was my father's best friend," which is the complete predicate.


Part 1BSENTENCES
THE PREDICATE (continued)
1b.