Main Verbs

Objective: Make sentences using Noun/He/she/It + verb with -s I have taken an unusual approach to teaching grammar by starting with the helping verbs. I hope that you have understood many sentence patterns based on this approach. Another reason I chose this route is that the agreement required with main verbs is a little more demanding. Another problem learners of English as a foreign or second language run into is the lack of words to use. When we were dealing with the helping verbs we did not need a huge store of words. We used a few verbs but maintained our patterns. With the main verbs the idea then is to improve your vocabulary. I have two friends who are in class four and I rely on their experiences a lot to determine the level of difficulty for a beginner. One reason why ones mother tongue is called a first language is that you not only use it but it is also used in your environment. For this reason you not only acquire its structures effortlessly but you also acquire a huge vocabulary. So I got my two friends to give me a list of all the verbs that they know in their first language. I then gave them the English equivalent of those words. In just two days we had over sixty words to use that my learners understood. It is very frustrating both to the teacher and learner if the words being used are not in the learners’ vocabulary. Below are the words that we got: 1) stand 2) sleep 3) sit 4) read 5) play 6) eat 7) bath 8) run 9) drink 10) skip 11) jump 12) sip 13) take 14) think 15) wash 16) hang 17) air 18) see 19) write 20) watch 21) piss 22) kick 23) cook 24) fetch 25) chew 26) suck 27) boil 28) ride 29) work 30) milk 31) swing 32) brush 33) paint 34) laugh 35) mill 36) dance 37) colour 38) draw 39) polish 40) sell 41) weld 42) cry 43) slash 44) winnow 45) slap 46) smile 47) call 48) phone 49) weed 50) plant 51) shave 52) build 53) knock 54) hammer 55) cheer 56) praise 57) shell 58) beg 59) herd 60) push 61) open 62) close 63) visit 64) fish Let us now use the words we have to write sentences using the pattern of the day 1) Eugene stands. 2) He stands. 3) Grace stands. 4) She stands. 5) The cow stands. 6) It stands. Now repeat this pattern with all the verbs on the list I have given you. You can extend the list of verbs and if you do not mind share the new verbs with me. Have a good time using this English sentence pattern.