🔑 THE VERB: Practice Exercises Answer Guide

Use this guide to verify your answers for the expanded Verb chapter exercises.

Exercise 1: Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs

• 1. was sleeping → Intransitive (I) (Action doesn't transfer to an object)
• 2. sneered → Intransitive (I) ("at the traveller" is a prepositional phrase, not a direct object)
• 3. ate up → Transitive (T) ("mangoes" is the direct object)
• 4. rubbed → Intransitive (I) ("against my dress" is a prepositional phrase)
• 5. speak → Intransitive (I) ("slowly" is an adverb describing the action)

Exercise 2: Contextual Form Conjugation

• Gaps in order of appearance:
• Blank 1: reach → reached (Past tense narrative)
• Blank 2: get → got (Forms "had already got over")
• Blank 3: take → taking (Forms continuous past "were taking leave")
• Blank 4: feel → felt (Simple past action)
• Blank 5: embarrass → embarrassed (Used adjectivally as a state)
• Blank 6: keep → kept (Simple past continuity)
• Blank 7: curse → cursing (Forms continuous past "was cursing")
• Blank 8: put → put (Simple past form remains "put")
• Blank 9: think → thinking (Forms continuous past "was swiftly thinking")

Exercise 3: Short Answers & Question Tags

• 1. She is as beautiful as a fairy, isn't she?
  → Short Answer: Yes, she is. / No, she isn't.
• 2. Sheena always speaks the truth, doesn't she?
  → Short Answer: Yes, she does. / No, she doesn't.
• 3. Our company cares for its employees, doesn't it?
  → Short Answer: Yes, it does. / No, it doesn't.
• 4. We never asked him any personal question, did we? (Positive tag because "never" makes the statement negative)
  → Short Answer: Yes, we did. / No, we didn't.
• 5. They have never fulfilled their promises, have they?
  → Short Answer: Yes, they have. / No, they haven't.

Exercise 4: Advanced Verb Forms Identification

• 1. The pipeline suddenly burst under immense... (V2 form remains identical)
• 2. The blacksmith used molten gold to cast... (Special adjectival V3 form)
• 3. ...the document was cleanly stolen from the office. (V3 past participle passive voice)
• 4. He had swam (or swum) across the lake... (V3 form required after "had")
• 5. The rules strictly forbade any candidate... (V2 past simple form)
• 6. The old wooden ship had sunken (or sunk) to the bottom... (V3 form / adjectival participle)
• 7. She accidentally spilt (or spilled) coffee all over... (V2 past simple form)
• 8. The fierce cold wind blew throughout the entire night. (V2 past simple form)
• 9. He has drawn a beautiful portrait... (V3 past participle form)
• 10. ...penalized for having driven a vehicle without... (V3 form following perfect gerund "having")
• 11. The dynamic spell froze the monster into... (V2 past simple form)
• 12. She had worn her old winter coat until... (V3 past participle form)