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      If you get an answer to the first question, you have an action verb. If you get an answer to the second question, you have a linking verb.

      For example, in the sentence

      you ask “What’s happening?” and your answer is flew and swooped. Flew and swooped are action verbs.

      If you ask, “What is?” you get no answer, because there’s no linking verb in the sentence.

      Try another:

      What’s happening? Nothing. You have no action verb. What is? Will be. Will be is a linking verb.

      

Pop the question and find the verbs in the following sentences. For extra credit, identify the verbs as action or linking.

      A. Michelle scratched the cat almost as hard as the cat had scratched her.

      B. After months of up-and-down motion, Lester is taking the elevator sideways, just for a change of pace.

      C. The twisted frown on Larry’s face seems strange because of the joyful background music.

      Answers: A. scratched is an action verb, had scratched is an action verb. B. is taking is an action verb. C. seems is a linking verb.

      

You may hear English teachers say, “the verb to sweep” or some such expression. In fact, in this chapter I refer to “all forms of the verb to be.” But to be is not actually a verb. It's an infinitive. An infinitive is to + a verb. (Some grammarians see the to as an add-on and count only the verb as an infinitive.) Don’t worry about the terminology. The most important thing to know about infinitives is this: When you pop the question to find the verb, don’t choose an infinitive as your answer. If you do, you’ll miss the real verb or verbs in the sentence. Other than that, forget about infinitives!

Chapter 3

      Who’s Doing What? How to Find the Subject

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      In Chapter 2, I describe the sentence as a flatbed truck carrying your meaning to the reader or listener. Verbs are the wheels of the truck, and subjects are the drivers. Why do you need a subject? Can you imagine a truck speeding down the road without a driver? Yes, I know that some tech companies are working to develop “self-driving cars.” But even those vehicles, if they ever come on the market, will have a driver – the computer! The point is, someone or something has to be in charge. In a sentence, it’s the subject.

      Who’s Driving the Truck? Why the Subject Is Important

      All sentences contain verbs – words that express action or state of being. (For more information on verbs, see Chapter 2.) But you can’t have an action in a vacuum. You can’t have a naked, solitary state of being either. Someone or something must also be present in the sentence – the who or what you’re talking about in relation to the action or state of being expressed by the verb. The “someone” or “something” doing the action or being talked about is the subject.

      

A “someone” must be a person and a “something” must be a thing, place, or idea. So guess what? The subject is usually a noun because a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. I say usually because sometimes the subject is a pronoun – a word that substitutes for a noun or another pronoun – he, they, it, and so forth. (For more on pronouns, see Chapter 8.)

      Another way to think about the subject is to say that the subject is the “who” or “what” part of the subject–verb pair. The subject–verb pair is the main idea of the sentence, stripped to essentials. A few sentences:

      In this sentence, Jasper gasped is the main idea; it’s also the subject–verb pair.

      You should spot two subject–verb pairs in this sentence: Justin will judge and girlfriend competes.

      Now try a sentence without action. This one describes a state of being, so it uses a linking verb:

      The subject–verb pair is Jill has been. Did you notice that Jill has been sounds incomplete? Has been is a linking verb, and linking verbs always need something after the verb to complete the idea. I give you more links in the verb chain in Chapter 2; now back to the subject at hand. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist that pun.) The subject–verb pair in action-verb sentences may usually stand alone, but the subject–verb pair in linking verb sentences may not.

      Subjects and verbs pair off, but sometimes you get two (or more) for the price of one. You can have two subjects (or more) and one verb. The multiple subjects are called compound subjects. Here’s an example:

      Here you notice one action (went) and two people (Dorothy, Justin) doing the action. So the verb went has two subjects.

      Now take a look at some additional examples:

      Another variation is one subject paired with two (or more) verbs. For example:

      You’ve got two actions (screamed, cried) and one person doing both (Alex). Alex is the subject of both screamed and cried.

      Some additional samples of double verbs, which in grammatical terms are called compound verbs:

      Pop the Question: Locating the Subject–Verb Pairs

      Allow me to let you in on a little trick for pinpointing the subject–verb

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