B is for BEING VERBS!

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B is for BEING VERBS!

In our books, we group being/helping/linking verbs together since they often serve the same purpose, and they all have the same modifiers (i.e. adjectives modifying noun before BHL verb as opposed to adverbs modifying the verb), etc. 

To help you remember the Be, a Helper, Link verbs, there is a little rhyme that you can sing to the tune of ABC’s (or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”):

(ABCDEFG)
Be, a Helper, Link verbs,

( HIJKLMNOP)
Is, Are, Am, Was, & Were.

(QRSTUV)
Be, & Being, Been, Become,

(WXYZ)
Has, & Had, & Have are ones.

(Now I said my ABC's)
Can, Could, Shall, Should—they are fun.

(Next time won't you sing with me?)
Will, Would, Do, Did, Does, & Done.

(ABCDEFG)
May, Might, Must—they are some as well,

(HIJKLMNOP)
Appear, Look, Seem, Remain, Taste, Feel, & Smell.





B is for BHL VERBS!

There are a number of reasons to memorize being, helping, and linking verbs:

(1) When one stands alone as a linking verb or is used before a base verb as a helping verb, it is the verb that you match with the subject: He IS happy...is must match with He; they ARE going (are must match with they.

(2) They tell WHEN something happened (present, past, etc.).

(3) When one stands alone, it may have an adjective following it--which is going back to the noun or pronoun before it, describing that noun or pronoun. (You do not use an adverb with a single BHL verb.)

(4) When one stands alone, it should have the subjective form of a pronoun following it (if it has a pronoun following it), not the objective: This is SHE (not this is HER).

(5) When a base verb follows has, had, or have (and oftentimes was and were), it should be in its past participle tense:

a. has written
b. had gone
c. have done
d. had lain
e. has risen
f. have come