I believe the explanation in the video is incorrect. In your sentence, it is Sandor who is thinking, and it is his action of thinking that causes him to feel dread. Therefore, Sandor was “thinking,” then Sandor felt dread. The more he thought about the election, the more his dread grew, thus becoming a “growing dread.” In this case, “thinking” is used as a present participle verb, connected to what Sandor was doing before he “felt” the dread.
Sandor is a subject noun. “Felt” is a predicate verb. “Sense” is a noun with the article “a,” The preposition “of” precedes the object “dread.” “Growing” is an adjective for “dread.” “About” is a preposition, & “election” is an object identified by the article “the.” “Contested” is an adjective for “election.” Example of “a thinking man” uses “thinking” as an adjective for man. “I’ll do the thinking” makes it a gerund, but that is not how it is used here. It is a present participle verb.
Would thinking be considered a verb in this sentence?:
"As Sandor was thinking about the contested election, he felt a sense of growing dread."
In this scenario, I would imagine that Sandor becomes linked to the verb by the auxiliary verb? Would 'thinking' only be considered a verb whilst following this construction?
@insert6528 "Thinking", like all present participles, can be a verb only when it appears along with a form of the auxiliary verb "to be". In the sentence you propose, the first verb is two words long, "was thinking". So you are absolutely correct.
@PurdyBear1 Words can come between subjects and verbs ("I quickly left the building") and verbs can come before subjects ("Time flies, as do arrows").
Great vid--About the kind of 'fill in the blank' verb searching--eg. Steve ___ the ball. A lot of verbs can go in there, but definitely not all verbs. My question is, could someone arrange enough sentences like these to account for all verbs? As in, ALL verbs would work in at least one of the sentences--only focusing on if the sentence makes sense grammatically--eg. Steve 'grew' the ball. This doesnt really make sense but grammatically its fine. Thanks
@pawndominance1 This may not be what you're thinking of, but if the assignment is "Fill in the blank so that the result is a complete sentence," a test sentence that would fit every verb and only every verb would be this: It _____. It kicks, it grows, it is, it has, etc. Even modals would work (sort of), in that in speech we often leave out the main verb without feeling we've produced a sentence fragment: It should.
@mrthoth yeah that was exactly what I was looking for--is the same true for say adjectives and/or nouns as well? Is there kind of like a one size fits all sentence for them as well. Thanks
Thinking is a present participle - a conjugation of the verb "to think" - and is therefore a type of verb. Contested and growing are both participle adjectives, but "thinking" is a verb.
@isaacmb1 Thanks for your comment. "Thinking" in the example sentence is a participle adjective, just like "contested" and "growing." In the sentence "The man thinking about the election got lost," "thinking" is an adjective. Moving the participial phrase around (as in "Thinking about the election, the man got lost") does not turn the participle ("thinking") into a verb.
Surely, Sandor is still the subject of "thinking" and the only reason it's conjugated differently is because of it's position in the sentence. Sandor is still doing the thinking, isn't he? If so, would he not still be the subject? On the same note, isn't the dread growing? If I'm wrong, what are those words in this context? Are they adjectives?
@metalmanky306 Sorry, I just saw your vid on adjectives and had my question answered for me. So, if the words had been arranged differently in the sentence and conjugated differently (I'm not entirely sure if I'm using that word correctly. Am I?), they would be verbs, but as they are in this context, they are adjectives. Is that correct?
@metalmanky306 That is correct. In "I am thinking of you," the part of speech of "thinking" is verb. In "The thinking man scratches his head," the part of speech of "thinking" is adjective. Notice that in both sentences, you can answer the question "Who is thinking?" But being able to answer a question like "Is someone doing the thinking?" does not tell you that "thinking" is a verb; it depends on how it appears in the sentence.
@moksshhh The complete subject is "fifty percent of the pie". That is what has done the disappearing. One could quibble about whether the simple subject is "percent" or "fifty percent", but "percent" is the key word. The simple subject is what the verb agrees with. In "One of the pies is missing", "is" agrees only with "one", not with "pies." It's not "one of the pies are missing." That's because "one" is the simple subject, while the complete subject is "one of the pies."
@moksshhh It's not [but its just "Fifty Percent"] - it's [but it's just "Fifty Percent"], i.e. it's has an apostrophe. When you want to shorten 'It is' or 'It has', then use [It's].
When [Its] is used without an apostrophe it can only be used in examples such as [The factory is closing, its workers are being made redundant.]
@Elfavzla In commands in English, the subject is "understood", which is to say that it's assumed to be there. In one word commands (like "Go!" or "Stop!"), the understood subject is always "you". So even commands are said to have a subject.
To be a verb or not to be - now that there is truly a noble question to ponder. I have asked Sr. Thoth if he could enlighten me about the case of the grammatical infinitive 'to be.' I mean, I have heard that the infinitive is never a verb. So, for example, with this Simple Future Formed sentence, "I am going to eat," is the verb only two-worded (am going)? And, therefore, would 'to eat´be a direct object of the verb 'going to'? What would 'tacos' be in, "I am going to eat tacos?" Anything?
@fumala420 Infinitives never have verb as their part of speech. They are either adjectives (He's the man to beat), adverbs (I work to make money), or nouns (I like to ski).
@TomSFox You are right that there is something funny about referring to the verb to be, although "to be" is never a verb. Strictly speaking, one should say "forms of the verb whose infinitive is 'to be,'" but that would be fussy. "To be" can have the part of speech noun ("To be is a joy"), adjective ("He's the man to be"), or adverb ("One dresses up to be attractive"), but "to be" never has the part of speech verb.
"A verb is something with a subject" is a far better definition of a verb. Thank you! Referring to verbs as action words is wholly inadequate as a definition. This should serve to clear up a lot of confusion.
contested is a verbal, as participle functions as adj. describing election; growing is also a verbal, as participle functions as adj. describing dread; and thinking is a verbal, as a gerund functions as a noun
please also emphasize the verbals and their uses in your sentence... thinking is gerund, growing is a participle ( functions as an adj. describing dread... and of course, FELT is the only verb in your sentence.
so... if they are not the verb... what are they called? modifiers? adjectives?? [thingking, contested, sense, growing] Cute blonde here asking a blondee question. :-))
@mrthoth Thank you for the videos. As I study for the gmat, they have become a great aid.
I am currently reading "The Last of the mohicans" since I was told that reading the classics helps strengthen one's grammer. While reading, one sentence caught my eye because it seems, to me, to be grammatically incorrect. Cooper wrote, "The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the scout had hardly done speaking, before the former raised a cry of success from the margin of the forest."
@jonnybik12 The sentence you're wondering about is like this one: "When you walked in, I had already done talking." Perhaps the construction "had done ____ing" is getting to be a bit old fashioned, but it is correct.
mostly writers are using their own style in writing and that is their stream of consciousness... when it comes to the study, even William Shakespeare committed mistakes when it comes to grammatical rules... I just learned when I took up my 6-Unit -M.A. in Literature and studied Stylistics course, that we cannot correct grammar in poetry and same course--- an aspect in Linguistics.
@TheSiIentOne "Thinking" and "growing" are present participles functioning as adjectives. "Sense" is a noun. In different sentences, each of these words can function as verbs. "I am thinking of you." "The plants are growing rapidly." "I sense danger." Thanks for watching!
As a college student preparing for tofel- ibt, I'd really need a person to read my blog. It would be very good if someone could leave comment or even grade it.The grading process is from A+ to F. I'd be very glade for for your support.
mrthoth!..can u pls explain what is the difference of perfect to participle..past perfect tese to past participle..and when i have to use the verb been?..its really hard to understand the verb!...:(
"Sandor thinking" proves that "thinking" is not a verb in this sentence. However "Sandor contested" is possible. So you need to explain that "contested" is functioning as a particple adjective which decribes the election & so therefore is not a verb in this sentence. Nevertheless, an informative effort.
Not a bad way to think about it. Just be careful that you still recognize that in imperative sentence structure does not contain a subject, only a verb and an object with an implied subject of "you"... examples: Slow down when driving through rain. Use your high beams to see better.
OMG.. I never knew this... Thank you for helping me out.. im kinda struggling with my english grammar... :D anyway, im from the Philippines... this tutorial is a lot of help.
In "I had better go," "go" in actually not a verb, but an infinitive with the "to" dropped off, just as it is in "He made me go." (The "to" reappears in "He forced me to go"). "I had better go" is like the more formal sounding "I had rather hear your voice than any other," in which "hear," too, is an infinitive with the "to" left out. As to WHY the "to" is left out of "you'd better go" or "he made me go," but not left out of "he forced me to go," there's really no answer.
A bit more on this. "I had better go" is not a simple statement of fact. ("I get headaches" is a simple statement of fact.) "I'd better go" is a conditional statement meaning, "It would be better for me to go than to stay." That's why it's not weird to say, "I'd better go," and then to stay put. However, it would be weird to say, "I am now in the act of leaving," and not to move. That's because "I'd better go" isn't actually a statement of fact, whereas "I am now leaving" is.
Many thanks for your reply, if I understand you correctly then in the sentence "I had better get a move on" the only verb is "had". "Get" is a part of the infinitive "to get" and so the sentence "I better get a move on" is incorrect because it does not contain a finite verb.
I am very grateful to you for your time and patience.
Are we talking here about verbs in general or about predicates? I'm not sure if these are the same concepts.Like in the sentence 'He wants me to go'. Here there are two verbs but one predicate, am I right? The lesson is a lit bit confusing to me.
This lesson is about verbs, not about predicates. "He wants me to go" contains one verb: "wants." A verb is something with a subject (as in "he wants"). "To go" is an infinitive; it cannot have a subject and so is not a verb. (One cannot say, "He to want.") Infinitives (like "to go"), participles (like "going" and "gone"), and gerunds (like "going") are called verbals. Gerunds and infinitives can never have verb as their part of speech, and participles can be verbs or adjectives.
Every sentence has at least one verb, and the part of speech of that verb is always verb. So in the case of verbs, there is no difference between part of speech and part of sentence. "Subject" is part of a sentence, but "subject" is not a part of speech. A verb is part of a sentence, and "verb" is always its part of speech. So when you have identified something as a verb, you have identified both what part of the sentence it is and its part of speech.
In the sentence in question, "contested" and "thinking" are both participles functioning as adjectives (as is "functioning" in this sentence). My video on participles might clear this up.
It's interesting. I've watched all of your lessons and this is the only one which I struggle with. It may come from the fact that I've studied Japanese for many years an in cases such as this 'thinking' would have been identified as a verb.
I still face huge challenges when trying to identify grammatical elements in English sentences. If only they'd taught us this stuff in school! Then again, I never would have listened.
Thank you very much for giving the globe an opportunity to strengthen ones grammar skills. Very kind of you to shear your knowledge with the globe.I envy you
´sandor was thinking´ makes the word ´thinking´ to a verb, thats correct. But ´Thinking that...´ is, as I would suppose, a gerund. But I am not quite sure. A gerund is what makes a ´verb´ into a subject like `I stopped smoking´ (´the´ smoking). In german it becomes very obvious because we capitalize the letter. But it could also be that ´thinking´ in this kind of sentence is a reduction like - while he was thinking. It still confuses me a little, might be that second is true.
Does this sentence not have a verb? or could you point it out? And is my sentence english? and if so??? is it understood? if so is it understood correctly?
The function of many words - like "contested" - depends on its usage. In this video, "contested" is being used as an adjective - it describes "election" (technically, it's a past participle here).
In your sentence, "I contested this", the word "contested" has a subject ("I"), and in this sentence is functioning as a verb.
It's a pity his enthusiasm isn't matched by accuracy. You can of course have verbs without subjects (apart from imperatives, which he casually mentions as an exception after his misleading definition of a verb), there is a whole class of verbs without subjects called 'non-finite verbs'. 'Thinking' (which he apparently wasn't doing much of) in his example falls into this category.
Thanks for your comment! If you check out my vids on gerunds, infinitives, and participles, you'll see how traditional grammar handles what have more recently been dubbed "non-finite verbs." Thanks again!
If more English teachers taught grammar in a way that he did than there would be less illiterates in this world. I want to be a grammarian too. What an inspiration.
Fewer applies to 'count nouns' whereas less applies to 'mass nouns'. A 'mass noun' would be something like milk - you can have less milk but not fewer milk because you can't count milk.
A count noun would be something like bottles - you can have fewer bottles of milk but not less bottles of milk.
If you need further information, please google 'fewer vs less' or something similar.
"I am thinking" - 'thinking' is a verb here being used progressively
"I like thinking" - 'thinking' is a noun here used as the object of the verb 'like'
"Thinking people agree..." - you maythink it's an adjective here because it describes a noun but it's not. It fails two tests of an adjective: 1) you can't intensify it ("Very thinking" doesn't work) and you can't make a comparative or superlative ("more thinking" and "the most thinking" don't work).
So what is it? In this case we can only call it a participle, which is what it always is no matter how you're using it.
Also note that another thing that makes its use in that sentence different to an adjective is that it carries part of the sense of a verb - "thinking people" implies "people who are thinking or who think". Just like "I can smell burning/burnt toast" implies an action happening/has happened, but the participles are used to describe the nouns rather than to narrate action.
On the other hand some participles , such as "interesting/ed" and "boring/ed" DO qualify as adjectives because you can do everything with them that you can with an adjective.
"Thinking" in that sentence is a participle functioning as an adjective, modifying "Sandor". In traditional grammar, every word can be assigned to one of the eight parts of speech, and participles are either verbs ("I am thinking of you") or adjectives ("The man thinking about music is my brother," or "Thinking about music, Gabor grew happy," or "Thinking people agree with me.") See my video on participles for more information.
I agree that "thinking" is not the main verb of the sentence, I disagree that it is not a verb.
"Thinking about the contested election" is a participial phrase. You Consider: "Sandor felt a sense of growing dread thinking about the contested election."
Or: "Sandor, thinking about the contested election, felt a sense of growing dread."
My Harbrace College Handbook defines a participle as a verb form that may function as part of a verb phrase.
Oh, yeah-huh! What is the verb in the sentence "Sandor is thinking."?
I'm thinking you didn't think this through too well.
"Sandor, who was thinking about the election, felt a sense of growing dread." is equivalent to Yossarian's example. A participle is a verb form.
It's almost as if Yossarian is asserting that a verb can exist only within a sentence. Yet if you grab your dictionary, you'll see lots of words are called verbs without any context at all.
Gee, I was looking for some refresher courses on the internet and found this. Easy enough a 5yo could understand it. Thanks for the video. This will definitely help refresh my memory.
Love it!
LuvHonesti 1 week ago
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Jumbidi.rajesh@gmail.com
7416101527 1 month ago
A Swimming swimmer swimming, who loves swimming, needs to swim off.
Adverb, noun, verb, Gerundive phrase (not to sure what this part would be called) , prepositional phrase with an infinitive
icwh4tud1dth3r3 1 month ago
What a mess of confusion.
tski007 2 months ago
a verb is a noun
1979audiman 3 months ago
what is sandor doing? SANDOR THINKING! LOL. Learning and Laughing <3 Ty for videos! :)
xn6 3 months ago
2:57 OMG :))
And now, ladies and gentlemen, pleeease welcooooome Mr. Sandor Thinking!!!
saschabudko 4 months ago
I believe the explanation in the video is incorrect. In your sentence, it is Sandor who is thinking, and it is his action of thinking that causes him to feel dread. Therefore, Sandor was “thinking,” then Sandor felt dread. The more he thought about the election, the more his dread grew, thus becoming a “growing dread.” In this case, “thinking” is used as a present participle verb, connected to what Sandor was doing before he “felt” the dread.
spacebarsecurity 4 months ago
Sandor is a subject noun. “Felt” is a predicate verb. “Sense” is a noun with the article “a,” The preposition “of” precedes the object “dread.” “Growing” is an adjective for “dread.” “About” is a preposition, & “election” is an object identified by the article “the.” “Contested” is an adjective for “election.” Example of “a thinking man” uses “thinking” as an adjective for man. “I’ll do the thinking” makes it a gerund, but that is not how it is used here. It is a present participle verb.
spacebarsecurity 4 months ago
Would thinking be considered a verb in this sentence?:
"As Sandor was thinking about the contested election, he felt a sense of growing dread."
In this scenario, I would imagine that Sandor becomes linked to the verb by the auxiliary verb? Would 'thinking' only be considered a verb whilst following this construction?
insert6528 4 months ago
@insert6528 "Thinking", like all present participles, can be a verb only when it appears along with a form of the auxiliary verb "to be". In the sentence you propose, the first verb is two words long, "was thinking". So you are absolutely correct.
mrthoth 2 months ago
Thanks so much for these videos. Im hoping to improve my grammar and this has helped a great deal.
Question: Does the verb always follow the subject (directly after it) or can there be words in between? Thanks
PurdyBear1 5 months ago
@PurdyBear1 Words can come between subjects and verbs ("I quickly left the building") and verbs can come before subjects ("Time flies, as do arrows").
mrthoth 5 months ago
Great vid--About the kind of 'fill in the blank' verb searching--eg. Steve ___ the ball. A lot of verbs can go in there, but definitely not all verbs. My question is, could someone arrange enough sentences like these to account for all verbs? As in, ALL verbs would work in at least one of the sentences--only focusing on if the sentence makes sense grammatically--eg. Steve 'grew' the ball. This doesnt really make sense but grammatically its fine. Thanks
pawndominance1 5 months ago
@pawndominance1 This may not be what you're thinking of, but if the assignment is "Fill in the blank so that the result is a complete sentence," a test sentence that would fit every verb and only every verb would be this: It _____. It kicks, it grows, it is, it has, etc. Even modals would work (sort of), in that in speech we often leave out the main verb without feeling we've produced a sentence fragment: It should.
mrthoth 5 months ago
@mrthoth yeah that was exactly what I was looking for--is the same true for say adjectives and/or nouns as well? Is there kind of like a one size fits all sentence for them as well. Thanks
pawndominance1 5 months ago
Thinking is a present participle - a conjugation of the verb "to think" - and is therefore a type of verb. Contested and growing are both participle adjectives, but "thinking" is a verb.
isaacmb1 6 months ago in playlist English Grammar Lessons
@isaacmb1 Thanks for your comment. "Thinking" in the example sentence is a participle adjective, just like "contested" and "growing." In the sentence "The man thinking about the election got lost," "thinking" is an adjective. Moving the participial phrase around (as in "Thinking about the election, the man got lost") does not turn the participle ("thinking") into a verb.
mrthoth 2 months ago
Surely, Sandor is still the subject of "thinking" and the only reason it's conjugated differently is because of it's position in the sentence. Sandor is still doing the thinking, isn't he? If so, would he not still be the subject? On the same note, isn't the dread growing? If I'm wrong, what are those words in this context? Are they adjectives?
metalmanky306 6 months ago in playlist Other
@metalmanky306 Sorry, I just saw your vid on adjectives and had my question answered for me. So, if the words had been arranged differently in the sentence and conjugated differently (I'm not entirely sure if I'm using that word correctly. Am I?), they would be verbs, but as they are in this context, they are adjectives. Is that correct?
metalmanky306 6 months ago
@metalmanky306 That is correct. In "I am thinking of you," the part of speech of "thinking" is verb. In "The thinking man scratches his head," the part of speech of "thinking" is adjective. Notice that in both sentences, you can answer the question "Who is thinking?" But being able to answer a question like "Is someone doing the thinking?" does not tell you that "thinking" is a verb; it depends on how it appears in the sentence.
mrthoth 6 months ago
@mrthoth Understood. Thank you :)
metalmanky306 6 months ago
Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.
What is the subject in this case?
i thought it will be "Fifty percent of the pie" or "pie"
but its just "Fifty percent"
but why?
moksshhh 6 months ago
@moksshhh "of the pie" is a genitive attribute that modifies "fifty percent." I would argue that it is also part of the subject, though.
TomSFox 6 months ago
@moksshhh The complete subject is "fifty percent of the pie". That is what has done the disappearing. One could quibble about whether the simple subject is "percent" or "fifty percent", but "percent" is the key word. The simple subject is what the verb agrees with. In "One of the pies is missing", "is" agrees only with "one", not with "pies." It's not "one of the pies are missing." That's because "one" is the simple subject, while the complete subject is "one of the pies."
mrthoth 6 months ago
@mrthoth Hi, thanks a lot for your reply.
i was reading the book called "Blue Book of grammar and punctuation " and it says that "Fifty percent" is the subject
i agree with you that subject should be "fifty percent of the pie"
moksshhh 6 months ago
@moksshhh It's not [but its just "Fifty Percent"] - it's [but it's just "Fifty Percent"], i.e. it's has an apostrophe. When you want to shorten 'It is' or 'It has', then use [It's].
When [Its] is used without an apostrophe it can only be used in examples such as [The factory is closing, its workers are being made redundant.]
plcrewe 6 months ago in playlist English Grammar Lessons
@plcrewe That was just short hand !!! :D
moksshhh 6 months ago
what about the imperative? like ... "shut up!" , there is no a subject but it is definetely a verb, an action
Elfavzla 7 months ago
@Elfavzla In commands in English, the subject is "understood", which is to say that it's assumed to be there. In one word commands (like "Go!" or "Stop!"), the understood subject is always "you". So even commands are said to have a subject.
mrthoth 7 months ago
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moksshhh 6 months ago
LMAO This dude is mad.
MeatyCockandBallz 7 months ago
This is going to sound crazy, but what makes a subject a subject? Is a noun a subject?
2lateforyou 8 months ago
pie is good
piecake01 8 months ago
To be a verb or not to be - now that there is truly a noble question to ponder. I have asked Sr. Thoth if he could enlighten me about the case of the grammatical infinitive 'to be.' I mean, I have heard that the infinitive is never a verb. So, for example, with this Simple Future Formed sentence, "I am going to eat," is the verb only two-worded (am going)? And, therefore, would 'to eat´be a direct object of the verb 'going to'? What would 'tacos' be in, "I am going to eat tacos?" Anything?
doniboyd 9 months ago
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doniboyd 9 months ago
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doniboyd 9 months ago
You say that the verb is "is thinking," but isn't the verb just "is," and "thinking" is an adjective?
TomSFox 9 months ago
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moksshhh 6 months ago
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Hamiltoncameron 10 months ago
what about "to feel"? that's definitely a verb, right? it's an infinitive, but still a verb and there's no subject
fumala420 11 months ago
@fumala420 Infinitives never have verb as their part of speech. They are either adjectives (He's the man to beat), adverbs (I work to make money), or nouns (I like to ski).
mrthoth 11 months ago 2
@mrthoth oh okay thanks
fumala420 11 months ago
@mrthoth Okay, but then why does one speak of "the verb 'to be'," etc?
TomSFox 9 months ago
@TomSFox You are right that there is something funny about referring to the verb to be, although "to be" is never a verb. Strictly speaking, one should say "forms of the verb whose infinitive is 'to be,'" but that would be fussy. "To be" can have the part of speech noun ("To be is a joy"), adjective ("He's the man to be"), or adverb ("One dresses up to be attractive"), but "to be" never has the part of speech verb.
mrthoth 9 months ago
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Shortest complete sentence I can think of is two letters long.
Go! It is a command, the subject is whomever or whatever it is being spoken to.
Your videos are great, keep it up!
nyteskyy 11 months ago
great video, very informative. I love 2:58, hilarious.
hitechenglish 11 months ago 6
A guy so mad about something so simple. I bet some really dumb people out there worship him. Lol.
phahq 1 year ago
Thank you for the videos
usmbscorpion 1 year ago
"SANDOR THINKING!???"/"DREAD GROWING!???"...."That's Not English!".....heh, heh.
I like your style of teaching.....you're the man mrthoth.
Poseidon0077 1 year ago
"A verb is something with a subject" is a far better definition of a verb. Thank you! Referring to verbs as action words is wholly inadequate as a definition. This should serve to clear up a lot of confusion.
Flawhound 1 year ago
I want him t be my teacher my teachers sucked : (
Hula666hoop 1 year ago
Why is (is) a verb within 'Sandor is thinking', why isn't thinking the verb on its own?
Jaqshit 1 year ago
contested is a verbal, as participle functions as adj. describing election; growing is also a verbal, as participle functions as adj. describing dread; and thinking is a verbal, as a gerund functions as a noun
simondany 1 year ago
please also emphasize the verbals and their uses in your sentence... thinking is gerund, growing is a participle ( functions as an adj. describing dread... and of course, FELT is the only verb in your sentence.
simondany 1 year ago
Your videos are very informative. You did seem to be a little mad at yourself for tolerating incorrect usage of english grammar, even as an example.
Yossarian informing! Thats not english!
morganthem 1 year ago
could we also say that verb is an action or state of a subject? o_O
Geoteck54 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thank you very helpful.
girlmogli 1 year ago
Thank you very helpful
girlmogli 1 year ago
so... if they are not the verb... what are they called? modifiers? adjectives?? [thingking, contested, sense, growing] Cute blonde here asking a blondee question. :-))
iammilko 1 year ago
YAY AWESOME. learning this on socrates. XD
tectquix 1 year ago
its very fine example.thanks
mneetdo 1 year ago
like it man1!!
changetheoscar 1 year ago
so would 'thought' be a verb if it was "sandor thought about the election" ?
analduct 1 year ago
@analduct Exactly!
mrthoth 1 year ago
@mrthoth Thank you for the videos. As I study for the gmat, they have become a great aid.
I am currently reading "The Last of the mohicans" since I was told that reading the classics helps strengthen one's grammer. While reading, one sentence caught my eye because it seems, to me, to be grammatically incorrect. Cooper wrote, "The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the scout had hardly done speaking, before the former raised a cry of success from the margin of the forest."
jonnybik12 1 year ago
@jonnybik12 The Cooper sentence looks good to me. If you'd like more of a reaction let me know what you think is wrong with it.
mrthoth 1 year ago
@mrthoth
I just don't understand why the present participle, speaking, is used.
jonnybik12 1 year ago
@jonnybik12 The sentence you're wondering about is like this one: "When you walked in, I had already done talking." Perhaps the construction "had done ____ing" is getting to be a bit old fashioned, but it is correct.
mrthoth 1 year ago
@jonnybik12
mostly writers are using their own style in writing and that is their stream of consciousness... when it comes to the study, even William Shakespeare committed mistakes when it comes to grammatical rules... I just learned when I took up my 6-Unit -M.A. in Literature and studied Stylistics course, that we cannot correct grammar in poetry and same course--- an aspect in Linguistics.
simondany 1 year ago
@analduct duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ! slow people dese days !
kadams37 1 year ago
I have a question, if thinking, sense, and growing aren't verbs, then what are they considered in a sentence?
TheSiIentOne 1 year ago
@TheSiIentOne "Thinking" and "growing" are present participles functioning as adjectives. "Sense" is a noun. In different sentences, each of these words can function as verbs. "I am thinking of you." "The plants are growing rapidly." "I sense danger." Thanks for watching!
mrthoth 1 year ago
@mrthoth Thank you very much! You helped me on my English test!
TheSiIentOne 1 year ago
Do you know the difference between "by" and "until" in a straight forward way? Thanks
yuriamancio 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
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Jason75542 1 year ago
mrthoth!..can u pls explain what is the difference of perfect to participle..past perfect tese to past participle..and when i have to use the verb been?..its really hard to understand the verb!...:(
princessrobin25 1 year ago
Oh my gosh! You and I were separated at birth. Your style and body language-it must be what I look and sound when I teach! lol
recalljessica 1 year ago
Thank you so much. I am enrolled in an online college course, and I am so lost. Your videos is giving me clarity to the lessons.
CoachPatricia 1 year ago
thanks for helping me understand what a verb is
asgher786 1 year ago
"Sandor thinking" proves that "thinking" is not a verb in this sentence. However "Sandor contested" is possible. So you need to explain that "contested" is functioning as a particple adjective which decribes the election & so therefore is not a verb in this sentence. Nevertheless, an informative effort.
nowaytono 1 year ago
Not a bad way to think about it. Just be careful that you still recognize that in imperative sentence structure does not contain a subject, only a verb and an object with an implied subject of "you"... examples: Slow down when driving through rain. Use your high beams to see better.
lastrange123 1 year ago
Excellent lesson on this basic yet commonly confused area!
gipsygirl7000 1 year ago
OMG.. I never knew this... Thank you for helping me out.. im kinda struggling with my english grammar... :D anyway, im from the Philippines... this tutorial is a lot of help.
marshmallow1507 1 year ago
"it's not english!"..lol
SuperbD2009 1 year ago
English, you mean.
mathproof 1 year ago
nice you posting this
this is useful
AnimeFanPan 1 year ago
I thought the shortest sentence is "STOP!" because it implies "you," as in "you stop"
HigherPlanes 2 years ago
Thank you!
rtodaro01 2 years ago
I LIKE IT.....................
shelhongsha 2 years ago
Thanks. :)
TheLarssan 2 years ago
Thanks a lot
Elizabethza 2 years ago
Hi
I really appreciate the time and effort you have put into this video course, I have watched them all many times.
Could you explain to me please why it is incorrect to say "I better get a move on " I know it should be "I had better get a move on "
Many thanks
trutta567 2 years ago
In "I had better go," "go" in actually not a verb, but an infinitive with the "to" dropped off, just as it is in "He made me go." (The "to" reappears in "He forced me to go"). "I had better go" is like the more formal sounding "I had rather hear your voice than any other," in which "hear," too, is an infinitive with the "to" left out. As to WHY the "to" is left out of "you'd better go" or "he made me go," but not left out of "he forced me to go," there's really no answer.
mrthoth 2 years ago
A bit more on this. "I had better go" is not a simple statement of fact. ("I get headaches" is a simple statement of fact.) "I'd better go" is a conditional statement meaning, "It would be better for me to go than to stay." That's why it's not weird to say, "I'd better go," and then to stay put. However, it would be weird to say, "I am now in the act of leaving," and not to move. That's because "I'd better go" isn't actually a statement of fact, whereas "I am now leaving" is.
mrthoth 2 years ago
Many thanks for your reply, if I understand you correctly then in the sentence "I had better get a move on" the only verb is "had". "Get" is a part of the infinitive "to get" and so the sentence "I better get a move on" is incorrect because it does not contain a finite verb.
I am very grateful to you for your time and patience.
Happy Christmas to you and yours.
trutta567 2 years ago
You've expressed the point in precisely the right way, it seems to me. Thanks for tuning in, and Merry Christmas to you!
mrthoth 2 years ago
would it be sense to?
Xxclusivexx999 2 years ago
i have learned alot about the grammar from your videos. i wish to see more of new videos on english grammar. Thanks for the great lessions.
itcTIBT 2 years ago
Are we talking here about verbs in general or about predicates? I'm not sure if these are the same concepts.Like in the sentence 'He wants me to go'. Here there are two verbs but one predicate, am I right? The lesson is a lit bit confusing to me.
vikapavl 2 years ago
This lesson is about verbs, not about predicates. "He wants me to go" contains one verb: "wants." A verb is something with a subject (as in "he wants"). "To go" is an infinitive; it cannot have a subject and so is not a verb. (One cannot say, "He to want.") Infinitives (like "to go"), participles (like "going" and "gone"), and gerunds (like "going") are called verbals. Gerunds and infinitives can never have verb as their part of speech, and participles can be verbs or adjectives.
mrthoth 2 years ago
Are we talking about parts of speech or parts of sentences?
vikapavl 2 years ago
Every sentence has at least one verb, and the part of speech of that verb is always verb. So in the case of verbs, there is no difference between part of speech and part of sentence. "Subject" is part of a sentence, but "subject" is not a part of speech. A verb is part of a sentence, and "verb" is always its part of speech. So when you have identified something as a verb, you have identified both what part of the sentence it is and its part of speech.
mrthoth 2 years ago
if you've just started learning english how the hell do you understand what this guy is saying
0dinwray 2 years ago
wat is a verb?
wtfreviewer 2 years ago
thank you so much you real are a great teacher you tough me something that confused me for a long time
daganadan 2 years ago
So, if thinking isn't a word in this context then what is it? Is 'contested' an adjective?
SwitchRich 2 years ago
In the sentence in question, "contested" and "thinking" are both participles functioning as adjectives (as is "functioning" in this sentence). My video on participles might clear this up.
mrthoth 2 years ago
It's interesting. I've watched all of your lessons and this is the only one which I struggle with. It may come from the fact that I've studied Japanese for many years an in cases such as this 'thinking' would have been identified as a verb.
I still face huge challenges when trying to identify grammatical elements in English sentences. If only they'd taught us this stuff in school! Then again, I never would have listened.
SwitchRich 2 years ago
hey Clev. St. writing class students!!
Jerod18 2 years ago
Thank you very much for giving the globe an opportunity to strengthen ones grammar skills. Very kind of you to shear your knowledge with the globe.I envy you
amila2006 2 years ago 8
Very nice videos. Thank you.
I've been looking to improve my grammar; if only my teachers at School were like you I'm sure I would have learnt a lot more.
kydjg 2 years ago
Thank you for this videos. I have little doubt
What about this:
"Sandor was thinking about the contested election and he felt a sense of growing dread"
There is an auxiliar verb here: "was" . It is because of "was" that "thinking" does not a subject?
Correct me please..
dosclarineros 2 years ago
´sandor was thinking´ makes the word ´thinking´ to a verb, thats correct. But ´Thinking that...´ is, as I would suppose, a gerund. But I am not quite sure. A gerund is what makes a ´verb´ into a subject like `I stopped smoking´ (´the´ smoking). In german it becomes very obvious because we capitalize the letter. But it could also be that ´thinking´ in this kind of sentence is a reduction like - while he was thinking. It still confuses me a little, might be that second is true.
taitorell 2 years ago
watch lesson 10 ,... its a participal phrase .. damn it ! :D
taitorell 2 years ago
really awesome
studytime09 2 years ago
Awesome explanations!
yastunt 2 years ago
hahahah
DHammerr 2 years ago
Thank you. You are a Super Teacher! Would be great if you could have a site with exercises, questions and answers, and examples for writing analysis.
Bgt2008 2 years ago
Who got the PH.D in english?...
drbun 2 years ago
Sandor also did the thinking too. Thinking is a verb.
Just because you twisted the sentence and didn't keep "is" doesn't mean it's not English.
AnastasieBoulay 2 years ago
Dude, you rock! My students are sick of the sound of my voice. Tomorrow they will listen to yours. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
P.S. I had to sift through dozens of Youtube "grammar" videos to find one with correct information, like yours. :-) --A fellow college instructor
necrofinger 2 years ago
Verbs are things which have subjects?
Shut up! Stand up! Go away!
liuzhou 2 years ago
You uderstood! You understood! You understood!
ericalexander19 2 years ago
Commands?
dosclarineros 2 years ago
I CO CIOTO? Myślisz że będę mówił po angielsku?
Ho0ligano 2 years ago
I contested this.
Does this sentence not have a verb? or could you point it out? And is my sentence english? and if so??? is it understood? if so is it understood correctly?
are you subjectively mean?
dospook 2 years ago
"Does this sentence not have a verb?"
verb: have
Frecklefacedangel78 2 years ago
In "I contested this", the verb is "contested".
The function of many words - like "contested" - depends on its usage. In this video, "contested" is being used as an adjective - it describes "election" (technically, it's a past participle here).
In your sentence, "I contested this", the word "contested" has a subject ("I"), and in this sentence is functioning as a verb.
dudabrad 2 years ago
You seem kind of angry at certain points.
lokisfenris 2 years ago
hilarious. Sandor thinking!
Hoopmov 2 years ago
tanks for your lesson about (ing) and past tense. :>)
okisluzhi 2 years ago
This Guy Is Friggin' great!
lparker4512 2 years ago
It's a pity his enthusiasm isn't matched by accuracy. You can of course have verbs without subjects (apart from imperatives, which he casually mentions as an exception after his misleading definition of a verb), there is a whole class of verbs without subjects called 'non-finite verbs'. 'Thinking' (which he apparently wasn't doing much of) in his example falls into this category.
paulb511 2 years ago
Thanks for your comment! If you check out my vids on gerunds, infinitives, and participles, you'll see how traditional grammar handles what have more recently been dubbed "non-finite verbs." Thanks again!
mrthoth 2 years ago
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paulb511 2 years ago
If more English teachers taught grammar in a way that he did than there would be less illiterates in this world. I want to be a grammarian too. What an inspiration.
EnforcedWarwick 2 years ago
That should be 'fewer illiterates.' You can't have 'less people'.
moohodgins 2 years ago
Why not?
lokisfenris 2 years ago
Comment removed
moohodgins 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Fewer applies to 'count nouns' whereas less applies to 'mass nouns'. A 'mass noun' would be something like milk - you can have less milk but not fewer milk because you can't count milk.
A count noun would be something like bottles - you can have fewer bottles of milk but not less bottles of milk.
If you need further information, please google 'fewer vs less' or something similar.
I hope this helps.
moohodgins 2 years ago
Thank you very much , very good lesson.
teddythefrency 2 years ago 2
dude, you need to calm down
bbbbbb222222 2 years ago 9
@bbbbbb222222 - LOL!
bvlgary09 1 year ago
And a verb, can never follow after a Preposition.
Great video!
ajbgatorgirl 2 years ago
Stop yelling at me, dad! Ha ha! This guy's passionate!
Okay, so, "contested" and "growing" are adjectives and "sense" is a noun, right? So, what does that make "thinking"?
AntiHippie 2 years ago
It depends entirely on the context.
"I am thinking" - 'thinking' is a verb here being used progressively
"I like thinking" - 'thinking' is a noun here used as the object of the verb 'like'
"Thinking people agree..." - you maythink it's an adjective here because it describes a noun but it's not. It fails two tests of an adjective: 1) you can't intensify it ("Very thinking" doesn't work) and you can't make a comparative or superlative ("more thinking" and "the most thinking" don't work).
EnglishmaninPoland 2 years ago
EnglishmaninPoland, that's called an absolute adjective. Another example of an absolute adjective is "dead". You can't intensify or compare
"dead," without being improper. You're either dead or you're not.
AntiHippie 2 years ago
So what is it? In this case we can only call it a participle, which is what it always is no matter how you're using it.
Also note that another thing that makes its use in that sentence different to an adjective is that it carries part of the sense of a verb - "thinking people" implies "people who are thinking or who think". Just like "I can smell burning/burnt toast" implies an action happening/has happened, but the participles are used to describe the nouns rather than to narrate action.
EnglishmaninPoland 2 years ago
On the other hand some participles , such as "interesting/ed" and "boring/ed" DO qualify as adjectives because you can do everything with them that you can with an adjective.
EnglishmaninPoland 2 years ago
"Thinking" in that sentence is a participle functioning as an adjective, modifying "Sandor". In traditional grammar, every word can be assigned to one of the eight parts of speech, and participles are either verbs ("I am thinking of you") or adjectives ("The man thinking about music is my brother," or "Thinking about music, Gabor grew happy," or "Thinking people agree with me.") See my video on participles for more information.
mrthoth 2 years ago
Thanks.
AntiHippie 2 years ago
Actually the shortest sentence is 1 word in the imperative when the subject is implied. however, yes, there still is a subject.
ex: "STOP!"
toddghall 2 years ago
Grammar is sexy.
FoShizzle951 2 years ago 2
Grammar Nazi's R us, SEND HELP
dicklacock 2 years ago
Comment removed
amokvrs 2 years ago
i like this teaching
Maisylattanavong 2 years ago
omg, ur amazing! I wish my English teachers were like you. All they taught us was the plot of Romeo and Juliet
sunnyxlove1990 3 years ago
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emerset 3 years ago
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narbuttryan 3 years ago
"Thinking about this is useful."
So where's the subject now?
narbuttryan 3 years ago
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narbuttryan 3 years ago
Me liking.
MENCADO 3 years ago 2
LOL
gold95 3 years ago
Superb presentation, exactly what I was looking for.
alzico 3 years ago
Same gramatical rule as in spanish.
LaEspriella 3 years ago
Beautiful video keep up the good work!
hayow 3 years ago
a VERB is also a state of being like felt.
robertlewisvazquez 3 years ago
I have to disagree with part of this.
I agree that "thinking" is not the main verb of the sentence, I disagree that it is not a verb.
"Thinking about the contested election" is a participial phrase. You Consider: "Sandor felt a sense of growing dread thinking about the contested election."
Or: "Sandor, thinking about the contested election, felt a sense of growing dread."
My Harbrace College Handbook defines a participle as a verb form that may function as part of a verb phrase.
AdamLaceky 3 years ago
... Thinking is not even a verb. So it can never be the verb of the sentence.
RedNara 3 years ago
Oh, yeah-huh! What is the verb in the sentence "Sandor is thinking."?
I'm thinking you didn't think this through too well.
"Sandor, who was thinking about the election, felt a sense of growing dread." is equivalent to Yossarian's example. A participle is a verb form.
It's almost as if Yossarian is asserting that a verb can exist only within a sentence. Yet if you grab your dictionary, you'll see lots of words are called verbs without any context at all.
AdamLaceky 3 years ago
Excellent!
delsur2009 3 years ago
I love youtube <3. It has entertainment, politics, and you can brush up on some things that you've forgotten since highschool
Hateshiganai 3 years ago
isnt it suppose to be wepts not wept
because its comes before he...
ryanhercules 3 years ago
Just to make it clear: The verb is "to weep" and "wept" is the past tense. The present would have been "he weeps".
blacklabrador1976 3 years ago
Gee, I was looking for some refresher courses on the internet and found this. Easy enough a 5yo could understand it. Thanks for the video. This will definitely help refresh my memory.
Zulnic 3 years ago
No. Jesus Wept!!!!
ddsharper 3 years ago
=D this is a really good idea! =] i never thought that you could get taught over the internet! =P keep the awesome lessons coming!
Lozridge 3 years ago
Thank you for your explanation. Very easy to understand.