Comprehensive Study Notes on Sentence Structure and Verb Usage and Verb Forms

Nouns are essentially any person, place, thing, or idea.
Person: This category includes general titles and roles, such as a teacher or a student, as well as specific proper nouns like George Washington.
Place: This refers to any geographic location or physical environment. Examples include large-scale entities like New York, the United States, and China, or simpler locations such as schools, hospitals, or parks.
Thing: This category covers any object or entity that is not a human or a specific location.
- It encompasses living things, such as dogs, cats, or monkeys.
- It encompasses physical, non-living objects, such as pencils, cars, and phones.
Idea: These are conceptual nouns that are not tangible. Even though they cannot be felt or touched, they are things that can be discussed and described. Examples include:
- Freedom
- Democracy
- Happiness

Action Verbs: These represent physical or mental activities. Common examples include running, walking, swimming, jumping, working, and studying.
State of Being Verbs: These describe a condition or a status rather than a physical movement. These are often less obvious to identify as verbs but are essential to sentence structure.
- The word "am" in the phrase "I am cold" is a verb describing a state of being.
- The word "is" can serve as the main verb in a sentence, such as in "I am a person" or "I am in New York."

A complete sentence requires exactly two primary components:
- A subject (the person, place, thing, or idea performing the action).
- A main verb specifically.
The Main Verb Restriction: Not all verb forms can function as the main verb of a sentence. Specifically, verbs ending in "-ing" and verbs preceded by "to" (infinitives) cannot stand alone as the main verb of a complete sentence.
- Correct: "John runs" is a complete sentence because it has a subject and a main verb.
- Incorrect: "John running" or "John to run" are fragments because "running" and "to run" are formal verb forms that cannot serve as the main verb.
Crucial Rule: If an answer choice requires a main verb to complete a sentence, do not select an "-ing" or "to" verb. These are only appropriate if the sentence already contains a main verb.

Functional Difference:
- Statements: These provide information to the reader.
- Questions: These ask for information.
Identifying Context Clues: To determine if a sentence should end in a question mark or a period, evaluate whether the sentence is giving information or seeking it.
- Example: "Different forms of exercise do affect memory and health" is a statement masquerading as a question if it has a question mark. It provides information rather than asking for it.
- Example: In a study where researchers "asked a related question," the following sentence must be formatted as an actual question to be grammatically correct.
Introductory Phrases: Certain phrases determine the structure of the clause that follows.
- If an introductory phrase reads "Gunner Gunning was determined to find out," the following content must be a question (the thing he is finding out).
- Phrases like "Many philosophers have explored" or "It has become necessary to determine" are followed by statements because they explain what was explored or determined.

When faced with a grammar problem regarding verb selection, follow these two preparatory steps before choosing an answer:

Identify the Subject: Determine who or what is performing the action. The subject may not always be immediately adjacent to the verb.
Determine Verb Category: Decide if the sentence requires a main verb or a non-main verb (such as an infinitive or participle).

Case Study: Misophonia
- Sentence: "People with this disorder [blank] a strong desire to leave the situation…"
- The subject is "people" (plural), not "disorder."
- The sentence needs a main verb; therefore, options like "to feel" or "feeling" are incorrect.
Case Study: Napan Gauri
- Sentence: "Napan Gauri began [blank] with the intention of showing her works…"
- The main verb is already present: "began."
- Since a main verb already exists, the blank should be filled by a non-main verb form, such as the infinitive "to paint."

Matching Same-Subject Verbs: If a single subject is performing multiple actions within the same sentence, those verbs should match in form and tense.
The Parallelism Rule: If multiple verb options seem to fit the subject and are all main verbs, look for other verbs already present in the sentence. Match the new verb to the established pattern.
- Example from Canine Behavior Study: If a sentence says "dogs [blank] more social behaviors and persisted longer," the correct verb is "displayed" to match the past tense of "persisted."
- Example from Tribal Leadership: If a sentence says "Avant builds cultural awareness… and [blank] daycare," the correct verb is "provides" to match the present tense "builds."

Identifying the main verb can be difficult when it is a "state of being" verb like "is."
Difficult Example: "One obstacle to [blank] this field is…"
- In this sentence, the main verb is "is."
- Because the main verb is already accounted for, the blank cannot be a main verb (e.g., "improved" is incorrect).
- The correct phrasing is "obstacle to improving," as the word "obstacle" often pairs with "to" followed by an "-ing" verb to describe the activity being hindered.

Total Sentence Requirements: Every sentence needs a subject and a verb.
Information Flow: Questions ask; statements give.
Illegal Main Verbs: "-ing" and "to [blank]" are never main verbs.
Conflict Resolution: When multiple verbs are viable, look for another verb in the sentence to ensure consistency and matching conjugation.

Kansas Earthquake ( $1867$ ): Near the town of Manhattan. Meteorologists wondered whether future earthquakes could cause damage (Statement).
Oregon Trail Legacy: Ezra Meeker retraced his steps and built monuments (Main verb required; "retraced" matches "built").
Antarctica Valleys: Nearby mountains surround the valleys and prevent ice from flowing (Main verb "prevent" matches "surround").
University of Helsinki Study: Research on virtual vs. face-to-face interaction requires a question format: "Would their brains react the same way?"