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Grammar

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Conjugating Verbs Table of Contents Introduction  Definition     Conjugating   Conjugating Verbs PDF File worksheets (includes conjugation, first person, second person, and third person flashcards and more) Conjugation Charts PDF file worksheets (how to conjugate verbs easily)

Why Grammar?  Christian Worldview  Many of us that attended government school either never understood the importance of grammar or did not care.  Some only performed the grammar exercises since it was required and/or we did not want to get "in trouble."  This is so sad because grammar is not just about the mechanics of language, but has a Christian worldview behind it.  Grammar, as in all things in creation, points us to our Lord.  

Conjugation Definition:  The orderly arrangement of verbs with respect to voices, modes, tenses, and persons.

First Person:  the speaker
Second Person:  the hearer
Third Person:  the person/thing spoken of

Let's conjugate the verb find.  Before we get started, I want you to notice that I did not type out a sentence for each of the pronouns.

            She finds
               He finds
               It finds

Instead, they became combined ...  She/He/It finds.  Later, in the chart below, you will notice that it becomes even more shortened to ... S/He/It found.

When you first begin to conjugate verbs, it is best to say all these sentences individually so you become comfortable with them.

You will also notice that some of the tenses use the helping verbs or state of being verbs will or shall.  These two verbs may be used interchangably.

Now it is YOUR turn to conjugate.  Try conjugating the verb play.  

Conjugating becomes easier with practice.  Take one or two verbs and conjugate them aloud each day.  This may take a grand total of 1 to 2 minutes.

Here are some verbs to get started:  hunt, love, snore, burp, wink, smile, tell, write, like, ran, climb, protect, talk, give, believe, fly, giggle, help, look, read, add, subtract, multiply, divide, expect, hop, sleep, and learn.

On a daily basis, you may wish to ask your child to give you two verbs they would like to conjugate.

Familiarizing yourself and your children with the helping verbs or state of being verbs will prove to be invaluable, especially when you see other children and adults struggling to understand verbs.  Should your children ever opt to learn a foreign language, they will learn to conjugate in that language.  The skill is very important and relatively easy to master.  

I opted to have my children conjugate verbs daily before I formally taught them the helping verbs or state of being verbs.  When we finally formally approached learning helping verbs or state of being verbs my children discovered they already had a very good understanding of these verbs and were not frightened.  Moreover, my children fairly flew through helping verbs or state of being verbs when they were formally presented.  As far as my children were concerned helping verbs or state of being verbs were already "old friends."  This positive attitude on behalf of my children was accomplished by conjugating two (2) verbs per day!  

(NOTE:  Conjugating verbs can help distract the mind while taking long, tedious car trips !)

Again, try your own verbs.  Conjugate 1-2 verbs daily. Just fill in the blank in the above chart !

After mastery has been obtained conjugating verbs, you may want to reduce practice time to conjugating verbs 2-3 times per week.

Recommendations:

1) Place the “to be” verb conjugation that extends to two pages back to back and laminate them. Laminating the Conjugation Charts makes them much easier to us and will help them stand up to the usage your family puts them through!

2) Place the “love” conjugation and the fill-in-the-blank conjugation with the verb of your choice pages back to back and laminate them so they may be used over time.

3) Practice conjugating verbs 2-3 times per week. This need not take long ... only two or three minutes per session. However, you will find that this minimal exposure to conjugating verbs will stand your scholars in good stead.

4) Initially, coming up with verbs is fairly simple. However, over time you may become frustrated with thinking of new verbs. That is when refering to “Verbs” under Simple Grammar Games is extremely helpful.

5) Develop a sing-song voice while conjugating verbs. Think of how attentive children are when reciting well-beloved poems and rhymes in a sing-song voice.  It makes conjugating verbs much more fun.

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