The GED Language Arts,Writing Exam - Usage

U
SAGE
refers to the rules that govern the form of the words we use and how we string those words
together in sentences. Correct grammar and usage are essential for clear and effective communication.
In this section, you will review the following areas of basic grammar and usage:
1. Verb conjugation and usage
2. Consistent verb tense
3. Subject–verb agreement
4. Gerunds and infinitives
5. Pronoun cases
6. Pronoun agreement
7. Comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs
8. Prepositional idioms
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CHAPTER
7
Usage
ON THE GED, questions about usage will cover topics such as
subject–verb agreement, correct verb tense and conjugation, and
proper pronoun use. This chapter will review these grammar rules and
more so that you will be prepared for the exam.

Verbs
Verbs are the “heart” of a sentence. They express the
action or state of being of the subject, telling us what the
subject is doing, thinking, or feeling.
She yelled out the window. (action)
I am happy to be here. (state of being)
We feel very lucky to be alive. (state of being)
I should ask Winston what he thinks. (action)
Verbs have five basic forms:

1. Infinitive: This is base form of the verb plus the
word to.
to go to be to dream to admire
To indicate tenses of regular verbs (when the
action of the verb did occur, is occurring, or will
occur), we use the base form of the verb and add
the appropriate tense endings.
2. Present tense: This verb form expresses what is
happening now.
I am sorry you are not coming with us.
Jessica does yoga every morning.
The present tense of regular verbs is formed as
follows:
SINGULAR PLURAL
first person base form base form
(I/we) (believe)(believe)
second person base form base form
(you) (believe)(believe)
third person base form + base form
(he/she/it/they) –s/–es (believes)(believe)
3. Present participle: This verb form describes
what is happening now. It ends in –ing and is
accompanied by a helping verb such as is.
Jessica is doing
a difficult yoga pose.
The leaves ar
e falling from the trees.
Note: Words that end in –ing don’t always
function as verbs. Sometimes, they act as nouns
and are called gerunds. They can also function as

adjectives (called participial phrases).
Present participle
(verb): He is lo
ading the boxes into the car.
Gerund
(noun): This parking area is for lo
ading only.
Participial phrase
(adjective): The lo
ading
dock is littered with
paper.
(You will learn more about gerunds later in
this section.)
4. Past tense: This verb form expresses what hap-
pened in the past.
It sno
wed yesterday in the mountains.
I f
elt better after I stretched and did some
deep breathing.
5. Past participle: This verb form describes an
action that happened in the past. It is used with a
helping verb, such as has, have, or had.
It has
not snowed all winter.
I ha
ve waited as long as I can.
Regular Verbs
Most English verbs are “regular”—they follow a standard

set of rules for forming the present participle, past tense,
and past participle.
■
The present participle is formed by adding –ing.
■
The past tense and past participle are formed by
adding –ed.
■
If the verb ends with the letter e, just add d.
■
If the verb ends with the letter y, for the past
tense, change the y to an i and add –ed.
Some examples appear on the next page.
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A handful of English verbs have the same present,
past, and past participle form. Here is a partial list of
those verbs and several examples:
SAME PRESENT, PAST, AND
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM
bet hit set
bid hurt shut
burst put spread
cost quit upset
cut read
Present: I read the newspaper every
morning.
P

ast: I read the newspaper yesterday
morning.
P
ast participle: I have read the newspaper every
morning since 1992.
Irregular Verbs
About 150 English verbs are irregular: They don’t follow
the standard rules for changing tense. We can divide
these irregular verbs into three categories:
1. irregular verbs with the same past and past par-
ticiple forms
2. irregular verbs with three distinct forms
3. irregular verbs with the same present and past
participle forms
The following table lists examples of irregular verbs.
PAST
PRESENT PAST PARTICIPLE
Same past and past participle forms:
bite bit bit
dig dug dug
hear heard heard
leave left left
Three distinct forms:
begin began begun
ring rang rung
sing sang sung
spring sprang sprung
Same present and past participle forms:
come came come
overcome overcame overcome

run ran run
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PRESENT PRESENT PARTICIPLE PAST PAST PARTICIPLE
ask asking asked asked
dream dreaming dreamed dreamed
protect protecting protected protected
spell spelling spelled spelled
whistle whistling whistled whistled
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In English, as in many other languages, the essential verb to be is highly irregular:
SUBJECT PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE
I am was have been
you are were have been
he, she, it is was has been
we are were have been
they are were have been
Helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs) are essential to
clear communication. They help indicate exactly when
an action took place or will take place. They also suggest
very specific meanings, such as the subject’s ability or
intention to do something. The following table lists the
helping verbs, their forms, and their meanings.
PRESENT
& FUTURE PAST MEANING EXAMPLES

will, shall would intention She will meet us at the hotel.
They said they would call first.
can could ability I can be there in ten minutes.
Rose could find only one glove.
may, might, can, could could, might permission May I tag along?
Could we get together after the meeting?
should should + have + recommendation We should leave before the snow starts.
past participle They should have known better.
must, have (to) had (to) necessity I must go to the dentist.
I had to have two teeth pulled.
should should + have + expectation They should be on the next train.
past participle They should have been on that train.
may, might might + have + possibility They may be lost.
past participle They might have gotten lost.
Helping Verbs
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is one of the verb forms we often
forget to use in conversation, and therefore, we often
neglect to use it correctly in our writing. Like helping
verbs, the subjunctive is used to express a specific mean-
ing, indicating something that is wished for or that is
contrary to fact. It is formed by using were instead of was,
as in the following examples:
If she w
ere a little more experienced, she would
get the promotion. (She is not a little more
experienced.)
If I w
e
re rich, I would travel the world. (Unfortu-

nately, I am not rich.)
Troublesome Verbs
Three verb pairs are particularly troublesome, even for
native English speakers:
lie/lay
sit/set
rise/raise
The key to knowing which verb to use is remember-
ing which verb takes an object. In each pair, one verb is
transitive—an object “receives” the action—while the
other is intransitive—the subject itself “receives” or per-
forms the action. For example, lie is an action that the
subject of the sentence “performs” on itself: I will lie
down. The transitive verb lay, on the other hand, is an
action that the subject of the sentence performs upon an
object: I la
y the baby down in the crib. In the following
examples, the subjects are in bold, and the objects are
underlined.
lie: to rest or recline (intransitive—subject
only)
lay: to put or place (transitive—needs an
object)
I will lie down for a while.
Will you please lay the p
aper
s down on the
table?
sit: to rest (intransitive—subject only)
set: to put or place (transitive—needs an

object)
Why don’t we sit down and talk this over?
He will set the r
ecord straight.
rise: to go up (intransitive—subject only)
raise: to move something up (transitive—needs
an object)
The sun will rise at 5:48
A
.
M
. tomorrow.
He raised the r
ent to $750 per month.
The basic forms of these verbs can also be a bit tricky.
The following table shows how each verb is conjugated.
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PRESENT PARTICIPLE PAST PARTICIPLE
PRESENT (WITH AM, IS, ARE) PAST (WITH HAVE, HAS, HAD)
lie, lies lying lay lain
lay, lays laying laid laid
sit, sits sitting sat sat
set, sets setting set set
rise, rises rising rose risen
raise, raises raising raised raised