Questions tagged [verb-forms]
The verb-forms tag has no usage guidance.
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Bit as a p.p. form of bite (v)
The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists bit as an alternative past participle form of the verb bite, with bitten.
bite (1 of 2) (verb) (ˈbīt); bit (ˈbit); bitten (ˈbi-tᵊn) also bit; biting
As far as I ...
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How to explain this sentence structure
He later admitted having seen the dish on the menu...
Would I break down the form of this as follows:
admitted (verb, past participle of admit) + having (verb to have + -ing) + seen (verb past ...
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2
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Should the pronoun "you" always take a plural verb? [duplicate]
I'm writing a song, and I'd like to know if the pronoun "you" should always take a plural form.
I wrote these two lines:
It's You who never lies
It's You who purifies
I think it sounds wrong ...
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"Brown" and other causative color verbs [duplicate]
There are several verbs in English meaning "to cause to become [a given color]". Most of these, it seems, end in the suffix "-en". There are other adjectives as well that use "...
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Identifying Errors Quiz: "The thin Francisan, understanding the Dominican smile, decided to intervene and stop the argument"
In the sentence,
"The thin (Franciscan,) (understanding) the Dominican smile, (decided) to intervene and stop the argument." (No error),
we were asked to identify the error.
Those that are ...
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What is the past form of the modal verb "must"?
There are 9 modal verbs, and you can pair every two of them together to represent present and past forms, except must:
can ----› could
shall --› should
will ---› would
may ----› might
must ---› ??...
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infinitive or present continuous?
Which is correct?
To get there - and stay there - you will need to be creative as well as efficient, and constantly proving yourself.
or
To get there - and stay there - you will need to be creative ...
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Is "safes" an acceptable alternative to "makes safe" [closed]
Though I know it's uncommon usage (and intentionally so). Is the follow sentence legitimate?
She safes the dangerous area so it cannot be stumbled upon.
Obviously, modern usage would be "she ...
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meaning and form, grammatical, verb forms [closed]
Different meaning and form............
..........
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The maximum number of active participants HAS exceeded or IS exceeded? [duplicate]
For the following text:
The input shows an invalid red error box if the maximum number of active participants ___ exceeded.
What should go in the ___ ?
Some options that I can think of are:
Is
Has
...
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Is there a verb base-form with two semantics having different conjugations?
Is there a verb base-form with two semantics having different conjugations?
For example, given base-form "rise":
"rise" "rises" "rose" "rising" "risen";
"rise" "rises" "rosed" "rising" "rised";
...
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Which verb form should I use in the sentence "What we really do is supply/supplying our customers with top-notch services"?
To me, 'supplying' sounds more natural. Yet, a friend of mine from the UK says it should go without -ing. Please advise, which verb form is more preferable.
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Why is “bales” the 3rd person singular of “bail”?
Today I come across a video where I heard "But each time God bails Abraham out ...", however, looking at the subtitle, it is "bales Abraham...".
I thought the subtitle maker made a typo, but upon ...
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Is it correct to use the verbs "want and understand" with present and past progressive?
It is very common to avoid using verbs such as 'want' and 'understand' with an -ing form. But l came across the following constructions:
I'm 'understanding' French a lot better now.
How many eggs ...
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Can you use the correct form of the verb? Having (do) my work, I (go) to see him. [closed]
My basic confusion is that I can't understand which form of verb should I use to complete the sentence? I always confused in that.
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Syncretism of plain primary and plain secondary in Huddleston’s verb paradigm
Rodney Huddleston argued that grammars should only allow for “inflectional distinction” between two forms of a verb when “there is at least one lexeme with a stable contrast in ...
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Can all base forms of verbs express wish?
My text book says that base form of verbs can make sentences whose meanings are wish, for example, in "God save the queen." or "Grammar be hanged."
If the sentence's subject is third person and ...
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Socialize or socializing?
Again in my exam paper I had to fill this missing sentence:
Many critics also belive that television shoukd be used ...(38) constructive purpose as well as for entertainment.
Which word is correct ...
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I hope you can help me in this matter // is it correct? [closed]
I am writing a letter to the company with attached CV.
This company can manage accreditation process and provide world leading task management and support for a specific type of job.
In the end of my ...
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Is "ageing" the only exception?
have, having
love, loving
make, making
take, taking
give, giving
hate, hating
strive, striving
Etc. When a verb in its lemmatic form ends with "-e" then its present participle omits that letter.
...
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"You don't want to..." vs. "You wouldn't want to..."
If I want to tell someone that they shouldn't do something (e.g. buy a computer), should I say:
You don't want to buy that computer.
or
You wouldn't want to buy that computer.
I suspect that ...
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What do you call people who live 6 months in city(urban area ), then travel to the village(rural area) and live 6 months. And they do this constantly
I have found the words 'commuter' and 'Itinerant' but they don't really describe what I mean. I made up the word 'biland','bilanded' means people who have two land to live on. What do you say? Is it ...
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Is it correct to say "unbinded"? [closed]
Let's say I have two objects that I want to bind together (just in abstract manner - matching abstract object).
Now, let's say I have an object that is not bound to any other object. Can I say that ...
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"I wouldn't have <past particle verb> if you wouldn't have <past participle verb>" not commonly heard from natives, why? Wrong or uncommon?
In my native language we often use complex sentences expressions like this: "I wouldn't have gone there if you wouldn't have told me to go there".
Now when I say that in English it feel a bit verbose ...
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Verb form of "drive" after "see" in a sentence [duplicate]
I saw him .... off.
A.drive
B.to drive
C.driving
D.driven
I chose C but the key is A. I don't know why. Can you help me explain the reason?
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Form of verb after a preposition
I've heard a grammar rule which is, if there is any verb followed by a preposition except the 'to' preposition, the verb must have a 'ing'.
As example, I've this sentence:
I am going for playing.
...
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What's the difference between the infinitive, bare infinitive and base form?
When I say "Adam will travel tomorrow." what form is the verb 'travel' in compared to "Adam didn't travel." and "Alex made Adam travel."?
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Why is it called zero conditional?
What's the meaning of the zero conditional or the first or the second .. Does it mean the form of the verb and what does that exactly mean does it mean infinitive although the present simple is used! ...
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Preposition and tense-Homework
In today's exam, I had few grammar questions. I am doubtful in two questions. Please check my answers and correct the mistakes, if any.
1.Fill with suitable prepositions.
There lived _ _ _ _ _ a ...
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How does one parse 'woe betide'?
How would one parse the sentence
Woe betide anyone wearing the wrong colour! ?
Betide is clearly the main verb, meaning happen; as in they waited wondering what might betide.
But clearly betide is ...
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Is there a passive form of “to masturbate”?
First of all, I hope this question does not get banned due to inappropriate content. It that is the case, I’d be glad to know how I can reformulate the question in order to stay within the rules.
Now,...
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What are these types of sentences called, and am I missing any?
All the "pluperfect" and "preterit" (sp?) stuff makes my head swim. I have tried to make a list of all the different basic sentence types using a common theme. Could somebody identify the term for ...
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How do I describe higher language verb types? [duplicate]
For example, present tense is "God blesses you" but there is another form which is "God bless you" in which "bless" is a different verb tense. What is that higher verb tense that we use in more ...
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Can't get right meaning of the sentence [closed]
I have an exercise as follows.
I must .......... .
my car have repaired
my car be repaired
have my car repaired
repaired
Can't get correct meaning of the sentence. Can somebody help me?
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Why is the Elizabethan English incorrect in this quote?
I saw a Geico commercial with Elizabethan verb forms that bothered me because they were being misused:
Trick Number 1. Lookest over there!
Servant looks
Haha! Madest thou look!
So endest the ...
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Usages of word Would
I have some problem to understand the true usage of “would”. I have already reviewed many forums and websites, but I have not managed to come to any conclusion upon which it can cover all cases I am ...
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What term describes this sentence structure with preposition and possible gerund? [closed]
What is the correct grammatical description for this sentence?
I need help taking out an old hard drive.
I am most interested in whether the verb "take" is a gerund here, and how to describe the ...
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"Fall", "fell", "felled"
How is the causative form of fall used in English?
In the present tense, often enough,
A tree falls in the woods, but a logger falls trees as well.
but in the past tense,
A tree fell in the ...
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Is this combination of forms correct? [closed]
I ran into this particular sentence today:
They shouldn't work more than they are now.
Though, I'd expect this sentence to be expressed as:
They shouldn't work more than they work now.
or:
...
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"Proceed to doing something" or "Proceed to do something"
This may be a very easy question to many of you and may not deserve to be here. But it has been bothering me for a long time..
Should I add ing behind the verb after proceed to just like how it ...
user19341
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Need clarify the use of word "locates" in the sentence
My English teacher asked a quiz question:
The dancing club ___ north of this district
a. lays
b. lies
c. locates
d. lain
The answer was given as c. locates. I feel something is ...
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Beneficiaries of an action ending with the "-ee" suffix
To refer to the beneficiary or patient of an action, sometimes one can form a word using the verb and the -ee suffix, e.g.
assign → assignee
employ → employee
refuge → refugee
On the other hand, ...
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Difference between ''He wishes it didn't...'' and ''He wishes it wouldn't...''
I was teaching first and second conditionals to an intermediate English class the other day, and then we started with 'wish' statements.
We talked about famous people and their wishes. For example: '...
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What form of verb is "thank" in "thank you"?
Is the word thank in Thank you! a verb? If not, what part of speech is it then? If it is a verb, is it in the imperative mood? I'm asking because I've seen someone write
Do thank you!
which sounds ...
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Why has "sware" become "swore", "bare" "bore", etc?
As far as I know, there are four verbs (swear, bear, tear, and wear) whose simple past forms used to be (archaically) sware, bare, tare, and ware; but are now exclusively swore, bore, tore, and wore. ...
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Usage of verb "hang"
I'm reading a grammar book. The book has a section to determine the right subject and verb. In an example they use
From the ceiling hung the chandelier.
Well, the verb is hung, and the subject is ...
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Status of verb in "winner-take-all"
In the expression a "winner-take-all society", I'm interested in the status of the verb: is it an infinitive or an imperative? As a related question, would it look odd to an anglophone if I wrote "a-...
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When should I use the verb "work" over "working"?
What is the difference between:
I am working today
and
I work today
What is the right form?
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When do you use "Did + 1st form" instead of "2nd form" [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“did shoot” vs “shot”
I often notice such sentences as:
"EEG did show tumors"(from this week House M.D.)
Why not "EEG showed tumors"? Is that form used ...
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Is "How and why child is become criminal" proper English?
My friend is writing a paper for his Criminal Justice class and has asked me to take a look the the rough draft and point out any grammatical errors that I can spot.
The first thing that jumped at ...
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