Common mistakes - ‘Have’ NOT ‘of’ verb form When people speak they often say ‘of’ instead of the contraction of ‘have’ which is ‘ve’ because they sound so similar. Unfortunately, some students continue this grammatical mistake into their writing. This is your alarm call. It seems such a small thing to worry about but you want your marker to be focusing on your content not on your grammar. The following should read: I should have or should’ve put the bin out before I left home NOT I should of put the bin out before I left home So you know, there is no form of the verb that uses ‘of’. 2. Using appropriate word tenses for academic work English verb forms are not easy to master with even native speakers often making mistakes. The table below provides an overview of English verb tenses to show how the verb forms most often used for academic writing purposes (highlighted by italics) fit in. The third person has been used for the examples below as this is the pronoun you are most likely to use in your written work. SIMPLE CONTINUOUS PERFECT PERFECT CONTINUOUS PAST It walked It was walking It had walked It had been (one subject) walking PAST They walked They were They had They had been (plural subjects) walking walked walking PRESENT It walks It is walking It has walked It has been (one subject) walking PRESENT They walk They are They have They have been (plural subjects) walking walked walking FUTURE It shall/will walk It shall/will be It shall/will have It shall/will have (one subject) walking walked been walking FUTURE They shall/will They shall/will They shall/will They shall/will (plural subjects) walk be walking have walked have been walking Adapted extensively from Seely (2004: 133) To make this simpler, the verb forms you will use most frequently are below:
Common mistakes - ‘Have’ NOT ‘of’ verb form When people speak they often say ‘of’ instead of the contraction of ‘have’ which is ‘ve’ because they sound so similar. Unfortunately, some students continue this grammatical mistake into their writing. This is your alarm call. It seems such a small thing to worry about but you want your marker to be focusing on your content not on your grammar. The following should read: I should have or should’ve put the bin out before I left home NOT I should of put the bin out before I left home So you know, there is no form of the verb that uses ‘of’. 2. Using appropriate word tenses for academic work English verb forms are not easy to master with even native speakers often making mistakes. The table below provides an overview of English verb tenses to show how the verb forms most often used for academic writing purposes (highlighted by italics) fit in. The third person has been used for the examples below as this is the pronoun you are most likely to use in your written work. SIMPLE CONTINUOUS PERFECT PERFECT CONTINUOUS PAST (one subject) It walked It was walking It had walked It had been walking PAST (plural subjects) They walked They were walking They had walked They had been walking PRESENT (one subject) It walks It is walking It has walked It has been walking PRESENT (plural subjects) They walk They are walking They have walked They have been walking FUTURE (one subject) It shall/will walk It shall/will be walking It shall/will have walked It shall/will have been walking FUTURE (plural subjects) They shall/will walk They shall/will be walking They shall/will have walked They shall/will have been walking Adapted extensively from Seely (2004: 133) To make this simpler, the verb forms you will use most frequently are below:
Grammar---Verbs-Booklet--Student.docx