Page 190 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Unit 10: Basic Sentence Patterns

Non-action verbs tell a state-of-being of the subject. There are two kinds of non-action verbs: Notes
being and linking.
1 Being – am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being

2 Linking – seem, feel, smell, taste, sound, appear, become, look, remain, grow, continue,
keep, turn, prove, stay,
Being verbs, when used as “single” verbs or “main” verbs, are always non-action verbs. However,
some of the linking verbs can be action or non-action verbs.
Test: If the subject can do what is indicated by the verb, then the verb is classified as an action
verb.

Example: I smell cinnamon rolls. “I” is the subject and “smell” is the verb. Since the
subject, I, can smell, then “smell” is the action verb.

Example: The roses smell sweet. Since “roses” is the subject and “roses” cannot smell,
then “smell” is a non-action verb.

10.3 Steps in Identifying Basic Sentence Patterns

Most sentences can be classified according to four basic sentence patterns, although there are
other patterns.

Notes Every word in a sentence has a job to perform, but it can do only one job at a time.
For example, once a word is established as a subject, serving as the subject is the only job
that word can do in that sentence.
1 Subject – Action Verb

Example: Thomas works for American Airlines.
2 Subject – Action Verb – Direct Object

Example: Shelia sold her house.
3. Subject – Non-action Verb – Complement

A. Being A. Predicate Adjective
B. Linking B. Predicate Nominative (noun or pronoun)

Example: The dress is pretty.

Example: Through all my trials, Jolinda remains my friend.
Step 1: Place parentheses around all prepositional phrases.
Step 2: Identify the verb.

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