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Exercise Three
“BE” SWATTING
Is, are, was, were, am, and the rest of the verb to be’s linking verb buddies (become, seem, prove, stay, do, shall be, might be, remain, act, look, smell, taste, waxed, etc.) number among the most valuable players in English. Our top-dog literary quotation, To be, or not to be: that is the question, has three of them out of only ten words. So valuable and so popular are these verbal copulas, that you should give the little overworked stars a break whenever you can and throw in a scrub from the non-linking verb bench. The result will often be an improved sentence. (Better: You may see an improved sentence.)
Try swatting the “be’s” and “are’s” out of these sentences. (But remember that are's swatting can be risky!)
1) In the pool, there was a dog treading water while it was smiling smugly at the tourists.
2) There is a piece of machinery known as a pawl that locks in the gear’s teeth and keeps it from slipping backwards.
3) Failure is always an invitation for smirks from the fans.
“BE” SWATTING
Is, are, was, were, am, and the rest of the verb to be’s linking verb buddies (become, seem, prove, stay, do, shall be, might be, remain, act, look, smell, taste, waxed, etc.) number among the most valuable players in English. Our top-dog literary quotation, To be, or not to be: that is the question, has three of them out of only ten words. So valuable and so popular are these verbal copulas, that you should give the little overworked stars a break whenever you can and throw in a scrub from the non-linking verb bench. The result will often be an improved sentence. (Better: You may see an improved sentence.)
Try swatting the “be’s” and “are’s” out of these sentences. (But remember that are's swatting can be risky!)
1) In the pool, there was a dog treading water while it was smiling smugly at the tourists.
2) There is a piece of machinery known as a pawl that locks in the gear’s teeth and keeps it from slipping backwards.
3) Failure is always an invitation for smirks from the fans.