Calling verbs into action!

Every Wednesday afternoon at precisely 1:00 p.m. the community sirens blare through our neighborhoods, calling our attention to the oft-chance that a tornado or other calamity should befall our towns.  It got me to thinking, what are our personal alarms? Sirens? What gets our attention? 

In grammar, there are many sirens sounding, trying to get our focus to hone in on rules and misusage of our words.

I’ve noticed one commonality in my editing tasks; the ever “present” (play on words) problem with verb tense.  Past?  Present? Future? – There are the other tenses, all important and screaming for our attention: 1) Perfect tenses – perfect present, past perfect and future perfect – 2) Progressive tenses – present progressive, past progressive (which to me seems like an oxymoron – how can the past be progressive?), and last, but not least, future progressive. 

There is also passive voice and active voice.  An example of passive voice is: “My son was scratched by the family cat.” – Example of active voice, “The family cat scratched my son.” – Very different!

I will blog more about verb tenses in the “future.”  Below is a verb exercise just for fun!

What is wrong with the following sentence? 

I “seen” a truck heading for the bicycle rider.   

Seen is the verb.

Take a closer look at the tense. 

Present perfect: have seen, has seen

Past perfect: had seen

Past Passive: I was seen, you were seen, he/she/it was seen – it all ties together.

My alarms are still under inspection for improper verb usage.  Education in one’s craft, at any age, to me, is extremely important.  I will continue to study grammar to become excellent at my editing vocation. 

What are your grammar alarms?  What are your pet peeves with the English language?

Comments welcome.

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Following the Path!

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Starting a new career path at sixty-seven years young is a bit “white-hair” raising, to say the least! In some circles, my “mature” age makes people say things like, “She’s washed up!” or “she’s over the hill!” – wait a minute… that is not true!  God planned all along for me to journey this route – giving me the love of words and a passion to help others.

There’s still a great deal of “yes I can!” as opposed to “no I can’t!” – with so many baby boomers headed down the retirement trail, more and more people are turning to a “second life” career.  Reinvention is a buzz word used in silver and white-haired circles frequently.

My grandmother was one of my important role models when I was growing up.  She had to support herself and two daughters as a single parent when it wasn’t considered a “normal” lifestyle.  The family apricot ranch was parceled out and she handled her portion and provided for her family as best she could.  My great-grandparents lived on the same property and were instrumental in assisting her in her day-to-day life and the raising of the children.  Divorced at a young age from my Irish Catholic grandfather, she filed charges of “abandonment” and went about trying to improve her family’s situation.  My grandfather, a World War I veteran must have been disillusioned about serving in the United States military and trying to persuade his young protestant wife that their children should be brought up Roman Catholic.  He, evidently, hastened himself back to Ireland and was never heard from again. 

Single parents back then were accepted if they were in the “widow” class.  Being a “divorcee” was frowned upon, even in the case of abandonment.  She made it through many financial and social challenges.  At the ripe age of sixty plus years, she found herself employed in a print shop and made herself valuable as their assistant and “chief bean counter.”

My mother, widowed at fifty years old, followed in her mother’s oxfords!  She had a background in journalism but at fifty, didn’t know exactly if she could launch a writing career, so she got licensed in child care.  She did very well! 

So now, it’s my turn!  A widow, retired, with a passion for words that has taken me through these many decades.  How would I use this gift?  Who could I help?  Someone out there needs my talents and I hope to build up a clientele of valuable, wonderful, creative and passionate authors.