Learn These Words First (12E)


12-16. verb, verbs.

[X is a verb.] = X is a kind of word that tells you what happens or what someone does or that something is true.

[The words "read" and "write" are verbs.]


12-17. strong.

[X is a strong person.] = X is someone who can lift heavy things and move things that are difficult to control.

[The strong man carried a big stone.]

[X is something strong.] = X is something that cannot easily be damaged or changed.

[I made a strong container using pieces of metal.]


12-18. why.

[You know why X happened.] = You know what caused X to happen.

[I want someone to tell me why all these trees died.]


12-19. how.

[I want to know how to cause X.] = I want to know all the things I need to do to cause X.

[I want to know how X happened.] = I want to know more about what X was like when it happened.

[I want to know how many animals are here.] = I want to know the number of animals that are here.

[I want to know how much water is inside this container.] = I want to know the amount of water inside this container.


Many verbs can change to show when something happens.

Some verbs change like this:

If something happens now, you say: "I see it. It is here. I do it. I hear it. I say it. I have it. I think it. I know it. I feel it."

If it happened before now, you say: "I saw it. It was here. I did it. I heard it. I said it. I had it. I thought it. I knew it. I felt it."

Often the first part of the verb does not change, but you add "-ed" after the verb to show it happened before now, like this:

If something happens now, you say: "I count the sheep. I lift the container. I play a game."

If it happened before now, you say: "I counted the sheep. I lifted the container. __________."