Position of verb in sentence

1. Concepts

- Verb are action words (drive, run, play, ...) or status (seem, feel, ...) of the subject.

• The verb and subject are two components that must be present in a simple sentence (also called a clause).

• Each simple sentence (clause) has only only one verb tense. And all the remaining verbs in the simple sentence must divided by form.

2. Verb tenses and verb forms

- We need to distinguish between Verb Tense and Verb Form:

Verb Tenses tells us the time that the action or event happened, and also Verb Forms are just different forms of the same verb, otherwise it is not expressives hows us nothing about time.

For example, the verb to write has the following forms:

Form	Example verb "to write"
Prototype	write
Add e/es	writes
Past	wrote
To + infinitive	to write
V - ing	writing
V - ed/ V3	written

However, only the first three forms are considered divide tense, because when standing alone it itself represents one of the 12 verb tenses:

Form	Verb example "to write"	Verb tense
Prototype	write	Present simple (for I/you/we/they)
Add s/es	writes	Simple present (for he/she/it)
Past	wrote	Simple past

The remaining forms cannot express tense, so they are only considered verb forms, not tense verbs:

Form	Verb example "to write"	Verb tense
To + infinitive	to write	??? unclear
V-ing	writing	I only know it's going on, I don't know if it's present, past or future → need to see the auxiliary verb to know
V-ed / V3	written	I only know it's complete, I don't know if it's present, past or future → need to see the auxiliary verb to know

3. The Golden Rule in Sentences

Summary: In a simple sentence or clause, attached to a subject, there must be and can only be one tense verb, and the remaining verbs must be conjugated in form. The tense verb will come after the subject and from there we know the time of the action. Verbs conjugated in tense must agree with the subject. Verbs conjugated in form will be conjugated based on a certain formula.

In a simple sentence or clause, attached to a subject then must have and can only have one tense verbs.

• The house is new. → is is a simple present tense verb
• We have decided to get married. → have decided is a verb in the present perfect tense
• Have you seen Nam recently? → have seen is a present perfect tense verb
• No, I last saw him a year ago. → saw is a simple past tense verb

We have decided to get married.

- A sentence can have many clauses and each clause has 1 subject. However, as mentioned above, there is only one subject for each subject tense verbs, and those verb The rest must stay form Fit.

• I like cake, and John likes ice cream.
  → 2 clauses, 2 subjects, 2 verb tenses.

• John and I like music.
  → 1 subject phrase, 1 tense verb
• In the morning, Jimmy gets up at 6 and goes to school at 7.
  → 1 subject, 2 verbs conjugated in tense, but actually this sentence is a compound sentence withtogether Jimmy gets up at 6 and Jimmy goes to school at 7. Jimmy Should repeat Jimmy are merged into one.
• At last the guests began to arrive
  → 1 subject, 1 verb in tense, 1 verb in form (structure: begin to do something)

• I look forward to hearing from you soon.
  → 1 subject, 1 verb conjugated in tense, 1 verb conjugated in V-ing form (because it comes after the preposition to)
• My sister saw him standing there, crying like a baby.
  → 1 subject, 1 verb in tense, 2 verbs in form (structure: see somebody doing something)

John and I like music.

From the above examples, we can see:

• Tense verbs will stand behind subject and from there we know the time that action occurs (present, past, future).

• Verb conjugation in form will follow a certain formula. (want to do something, see somebody doing something).

And this is also the way to identify whether a verb in a sentence is in tense or in form.

Note:

• For tense verbs:, that verb must be conjugated in accordance with the subject in the sentence.

For example, a singular subject must use is or add an ending -s or -es. 

• For verbs conjugated in form:then that form must match the formula specified by another word in the sentence. For example, after a preposition, use the V-ing form; After adjectives, use to infinitive form  ...

4. Application of the Golden Rule

-  Golden Rule will help you:

• Write grammatically correct sentences: do not divide tenses between two verbs in the same simple sentence.
• Recognize grammatically incorrect sentences
• Can do exercises to fill in the blanks with verbs: know how to fill in the appropriate tense or form.