Verbs of being should

1.be used most of the time.
2.be used all of the time.
3.not be used if an action verb can be put in its place.
4.none of the above

Question

Verbs of being should


1.be used most of the time.
2.be used all of the time.
3.not be used if an action verb can be put in its place.
4.none of the above

texaschic101 · Answer

I am going with none of the above

anonymous · Answer

I'd say 3. not be used if an action verb can be put in its place.
Verbs of being, in other words, are "to be" verbs which includes
is, are , am ,was, were, have, might, must, could , would, may, shall, can, etc.

There are some sentences, that absolutely needs being verbs.  For example:
She _____ happy.
in this case, you'd use is, was, or feels, which are being verbs.

However, there are some sentences that you do not need to use being verbs.  For example:
He rode the bike.
She ate the candy.

These sentences are called "active sentences".  With subject infront and predicate that modifies the subject.  These sentences are considered most correctly used in writing and grammar.

If you want to write these with being verbs, you'd have you use a PASSIVE sentence.  For example:

The bike was ridden by him.
The candy is was eaten by her.

These passive sentences are NOT recommended to use in writing.

In conclusion, replace being verbs with actions whenever possible, if the sentences still has the same meaning and is gramatically correct. :)

Hope this helps.

anonymous · Answer

The candy was eaten by her. ** I'd take out that "is"

larseighner · Answer

Verbs of being should go hang themselves.

@study100 Your examples do no involve verbs of being.  Your examples involve the passive voice.  The passive voice should be avoided, too.  But the examples all have non-being verbs.  In fact, a verb has to be transitive to be in the passive voice, and no being verbs are transitive.  The forms of the verb to be which occur in the passive voice are helping verbs, not the verb (predicate) of the sentences.

What you are right about is that the forms of verb to be in the passive voice should alert the writer (or editor) that something is wrong or could be wrong. But the way to improve the expressions are somewhat different in the case of the passive voice.