Writting toefl detail 6 pptx

STRUCTURE 67

Practice

Circle the correct modifier in each sentence. Find the answers

on page 83.

18. The judge looked skeptical/skeptically at the attorney.

19. Pasta does not taste as good/well if it is overcooked.

20. Pleasant Lake is the best/better trout lake around.

ACTION WORDS

Verbs form the heart of a sentence—they express the action or

state of being of the subject. The tense of the verb tells readers

when the action happens, happened, or will happen. Verbs have

five basic forms:

1. The infinitive is the base form of the verb plus the

word to. →to swim, to hope, to be

2. The present tense expresses action that happens now

or happens routinely. →The baby smiles a lot.

3. The present participle describes what is happening

now. A helping verb (am, is, are) precedes the -ing form

of the verb. →The baby is smiling again.

4. The past tense shows an action that happened in the

past. →School officials warned the students last fall.

5. The past participle expresses an action that happened

in the past. It uses a helping verb such as has, have, or

had. →The reporter has followed the story since it broke.

REGULAR VERBS

Regular verbs follow a standard set of rules for forming the

present participle, past tense, and past participle forms. The