Practice Makes Perfect

They smell nice. (They arenice.) This makes sense. Linking Verb

We smell coffee. (We arecoffee.) This makes no sense. Transitive Verb

Look at the verb in each sentence. Decide what kind of verb it is. Then write transitive, intransitive, or linkingin

the space provided.

1. Kirsten asks a good question.


2. We went to Mexico.


3. Do you understand German?


4. It grows very dark.


5. Emily appears healthy again.


6. Mother bought a new car.


7. The cat jumps from the sofa to the chair.


8. Do they want tickets for the movie?


9. The milk is too hot.


10. Grandfather grows corn and potatoes in his garden.

The Present Tense

In some languages, present tense conjugations are very complicated. Each pronoun requires a

different ending on the verb. English is much simpler. Only the third-person singular (he, she,

it) requires an ending. That ending is an -s(or -es). And with some verbs there is no ending

change at all. Look at these examples of the present tense:

to go to see to want can must

I go see want can must

you go see want can must

he, she, it goes sees wants can must

we go see want can must

they go see want can must

When the verb ends in the vowel -o, add -esfor the third-person singular pronouns:

do does

Canand mustare special auxiliary verbs. They never have an ending change in the present tense.

There are other auxiliaries that do the same thing. They will be taken up later.

exercise 5-1

Verbs 19

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