 Problems with English verbs Students have a lot of problems with English verbs. This video will deal with five of the most serious ones. Number one, subject-verb agreement. Number two, problems with tense. Number three, passive-non-passive expression. Number four, modal usage. Number five, word choice. Note, you can check out our website for more information on each one of these. Number one, subject-verb agreement. The biggest problem with subject-verb agreement is the third person singular S in the present tense. This is a very specific problem, but it is so common in the language that we will deal with it first. Third person singular S, things to remember. A, it occurs only with third person singular subjects. B, it involves only three forms. C, it occurs only in the present tenses. We will look at each item separately. Third person singular S occurs only with third person singular subjects. For example, pronouns. He, she, it. Nouns. Mr. Jones. The dog. A student. Other subjects. Water. Water is non-count. Everyone. Swimming. With all other subjects, you can just use the base form with the action verbs in the present tense. Third person singular S. Let's look at some examples. She enjoys basketball. The pronoun is the subject. The teacher lives in Florida. The subject is a common noun. Brandon loves candy. The subject is a proper noun. Third person singular S. Here's where it gets a little tricky. When we use non-count nouns, abstract or indefinite subjects, and gerunds. For example, water fills the empty spaces. Misery loves company. Everybody likes Mr. Charisma. Swimming brings health benefits. Third person singular S involves only three forms, and they all end in S. Main verbs. Eats. Sleeps. Plays. Be verb. Is. Have. Has. Chad eats lunch at noon. Tracy is an astronaut. Ms. Rudd has a new car. Which brings us to the next point. Some verbs can be used as auxiliaries, and they accompany other verbs. I have seen that movie already. We are leaving now. In such cases, only the first verb takes on the S form. The others don't change. For example, she has seen that movie already. Larry is leaving now. Third person singular S occurs only in the present tenses. See the example below. Jake walks every day. Simple present tense. Jake is walking now. Present continuous. Jake has walked a mile already. Present perfect. Notice that the first verb after the subject has an S. Other verbs are not affected. Special notes on third person singular S. The verb was can be considered the S form of the verb be in the past tense. However, the verb was is also used with I, first person singular, in these situations. Modal verbs are also auxiliaries, but they do not carry the final S, regardless of the subject. Jill can do it. Not Jill cans do it. Subject verb agreement. Remember to use the S forms of verbs in the present tenses when the subject is third person singular. Tony is a great chef. He has baked a pie. Everyone wants to try it. For other subjects or situations, the S form is not required. They like to cook. Third person plural. She ate a lot of cake. Past tense. Two. Problems with tense. When it is clear that the context or situation was wholly in the past, use past tense verbs. Past tense verbs are the same regardless of subject. Yesterday I arrived from New York. My wife came to meet me at the airport. It was a busy day for us. Problems with past tense. The biggest problem students have with past tense is forgetting to use it in past situations. Yesterday I work all afternoon. Incorrect. Yesterday I worked all afternoon. Correct. More problems with past tense. Another mistake students make with the past tense is using more than one verb. Only one verb is needed. Nothing else. My dog was died last week. Incorrect. My dog died last week. Correct. What was happened yesterday? Incorrect. What happened yesterday? Correct. Shifting tenses. When the context changes, you may need to change tense to fit the new situation. Last night I drank too much. Now I feel awful. In this example it is clear to see the shift in context from past to present. Sometimes the shifts are less obvious. Shifting tenses. Notice the following paragraph. Less summer we went to Beijing. We visited the Forbidden City, climbed the Great Wall and went to the famous street markets. The food was wonderful and the people were very friendly. I think it was a great trip. Next time we will invite you to join us. Notice the tense shifts in the last two sentences. I think present comment from now about a past event it was a great trip. Next time, future context we will invite you. Number three, passive and non-passive constructions. There are two problems here with opposite results. A, inserting B verbs and B, omitting B verbs. Let's look at each situation separately. A, adding B verbs unnecessarily. Passive voice usually requires a B verb as you can see in the following examples. The dog bit the boy. Active. The boy was bitten by the dog. Passive. The problem is when there is no passive situation but students add a B verb anyway. It was happened last night. Incorrect. B, omitting B verbs. The opposite problem is when students leave out the B verb where it is required. I concerned about my mother. Incorrect. I am concerned about my mother. Correct. Many of these situations use adjectives that look like verbs. They are often collocations involving B and prepositions. Check out our website for a list of these expressions. Four, incorrect modal usage. There are many problems when it comes to using modals. Words like can, could, may, might, should, would. Two of the most common problems are A, inserting two and B, not using the base form. We will deal with each of these separately. A, inserting two. A common mistake students make is inserting the word to after the modal. Examples. He should to finish his homework. Incorrect. He should finish his homework. Correct. She must to get to work on time. Incorrect. She must get to work on time. Correct. Other modal expressions. Some modal expressions contain the word to already. The word is part of the expression itself. For example, I have to go now. I am going to leave now. Be careful. Others, modal expressions, do not. I had better go now. Not, I had better to go now. B, not using the base form with modals. Modals are always followed by the base form modals. Modals are always followed by the base form of the verb. No exceptions. For example, Bud could eat a whole pizza. Incorrect. Bud could eat a whole pizza. Correct. He might going to New Jersey. Incorrect. He might go to New Jersey. Correct. He might be going to New Jersey. Also correct. Number five. Wrong verb choice. In English, some verbs are used in only certain contexts and their counterparts are used in other situations. See the examples below. I met Julie in 2017. I have known her for three years. Not, I have met Julie for three years. Most of these types of verbs involve present, perfect and past tense. When did? Past tense. How long? Present, perfect. When did you arrive? How long have you been here? Not, how long have you arrived? I got here at nine o'clock. I have been here since then. I bought the car five years ago. I have owned the car for five years. Not, I have bought the car for five years. Hope that was helpful. There are many more things we could say about using verbs correctly in English. Please click on the links in the description below for more detailed information on each of these. eslgold.com grammar explanations examples exercises Thanks for watching. Remember to subscribe to get the latest updates and please check our websites for more practice. Have a question about English? Just send us a message at the link below and we will do our best to answer it. 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