English Grammar For Dummies

linking verbs always need something after the verb to complete the idea.

Helping verbs, as well as main verbs, have tenses. Some of the most common pairs are can/could and may/might.

With the logic that we have come to know and love in English grammar, the events are always happening, even though Harry Potter is a fictional character and the events never happened.

In the first sentence, tells and declares are in present tense, even though the sentence concerns events that occurred decades ago. Here the historical present makes the history more dramatic.

Don’t change tenses in the middle of a story. And don’t bother celebrities either.

The picnic has been cancelled due to? because of? the arrival of killer sparrows from their Southern nesting grounds.

Matt vowed to really study if he ever got the chance to take the flight instructor exam again.
This example is common, but incorrect.

To find the verb, read the sentence and ask two questions:
What’s happening?
What is? (or, What word is a “giant equal sign”?)

You can’t do much wrong when you complete linking verb sentences with descriptions or with nouns.

You have three possible completions for a linking verb: a descriptive word, a noun, or a pronoun (a word that subs for a noun).