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Grammar Rules for Underlining

Similar to italicizing, underlining is used to emphasize certain words or phrases. Nothing makes a document seem more unorganized and unprofessional as grammatical errors. Most people learn the rules of grammar in school, but in the age of technology and word processing it's easy to forget certain rules and simply rely on a spell-checker to polish your work. Rules for underlining can sometimes be used incorrectly, but applying these rules can insert the right emphasis in your written words and make your sentences more precise and coherent.
A common reason to use underlining is to emphasize certain words in the sentence. It is acceptable to underline a piece of writing that you feel is important in defining the sentence. An example would be: "Do not leave your dirty boots on the carpet." The word "not" could be underlined here because it is the emphasis of the sentence. Another example of underlining for emphasis occurs when a specific word in a sentence is meant to accuse someone. The word "you" in this sentence could be underlined for emphasis: "You are the murderer!"
Though italics are more often used for titles, it is still acceptable to underline titles. Examples of titles that could be underlined include magazines, books, operas, plays and epic poems. Titles or artistic pieces can also be underlined. Titles of movies and television shows are underlined, but not individual television episodes. Fine art, such as titles of paintings and sculptures, can also be underlined.
The rules for underlining names can be confusing. Names of ships can be underlined, but not the designations such as "USS" or "HMS." Names for other modes of transportation such as trains, airplanes and space shuttles should always be underlined. Neither vehicle names nor names of individual people should be underlined. An exception to this rule involves land vehicles. While brand names should not be underlined, it is acceptable to underline vehicles that are known by a specific name. Examples of this would be Greased Lightning from the movie "Grease" or Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine.
Some words are underlined to show their difference between them and the common English words around them in the sentence. Words such as bon voyage or gesundheit can be underlined. It is acceptable to underline et cetera when it is spelled out, but never underline the abbreviation etc. Onomatopoetic words, or words that represent sounds, can also be underlined. Examples of these words include grr, bzzz, boom, or kerplunk. Although many people choose to italicize these words, it is also acceptable to underline them as well.
Another example of underlining occurs in words that are referred to as words. This happens in sentences such as: "Anyone can spell the word word." In that sentence, the second use of "word" could be underlined. Numbers and letters could also be underlined if they are referred to in a sentence, such as: "Count all the 5s and the Cs in the survey results." In that sentence, you could underline "5s" and "Cs." Another reference word you can underline is a word that is used in a definition. For example, in the sentence "Apathy is defined as the absence or suppression of emotion or excitement," the word "apathy" could be underlined to show that it is the word being defined.

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How to Know If a Verb Is an Action or Being Verb?

There are few ways to tell the difference between action and being verbs. In American English, there are two main forms of verbs: state-of-being verbs and action verbs. Action verbs, as the name would imply, are verbs that show action. State-of-being verbs, also called linking verbs, are a little more complex. Being verbs do not show action; they link the subject of a sentence with a noun or adjective. What makes the differentiation difficult for some, though, is that some being verbs can also be action verbs.

1 Ask yourself if the verb implies action. If you can picture a person or thing doing something, chances are, it is an action verb. Jump, play, write, throw and work are examples of action verbs.
2 Determine whether the verb is a form of "be." Forms of "be" are: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being. If it falls into this list, it is, and always will be, a linking verb.
3 Establish the function of the verb. Some linking verbs can also be action verbs; the function of the verb will determine its type. For example, in the sentence "Jan's casserole tasted good" tasted is a linking verb. But, if the sentence was, "Jan tasted the casserole" it would be an action verb. In the second example, something is happening; Jan took a bite of a casserole. In the first sentence, however, there is no action. Tasted is being used to link the subject to the adjective and in this case, casserole to good.
4 Memorize the other linking verbs. Remembering common state-of-being verbs can be helpful in determining the difference between linking and action verbs. Aside from forms of "be," the following words can also be used linking verbs: appear, become, feel, grow, look, seem, remain, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn.
If you have questionable verb on your hands, try to replace it with a being verb to see if the sentence still makes sense. For example, if the sentence is "The carpet feels soft" and you aren't sure if "feels" is action or linking, try saying "The carpet is soft." In this case, "feels" is a being verb. However, if the sentence was "John, feel this carpet!" you could not replace it with "is."
Remember that an action does not always mean a movement. For example, thought or considered are also action verbs; they are mental actions.

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How to Teach Kids Action Verbs

Parenting For Mom Education HomeEducationEnglish Language EducationVerbsHow to Teach Kids Action Verbs

"Jump" is an action verb. A verb is a part of speech that expresses an action or a state of being of the subject of a sentence. The simplest types of verbs to learn are action verbs because they clearly indicate something that is done. The idea of learning about action verbs usually isn't appealing to many kids. However, you can make the process much more interesting by catering to various learning styles, such as visual, auditory and tactile learning.

1 Ask the kids to name some things that they enjoy doing. As they do so, write the action verbs from their responses on the board. Examples might include verbs such as "play," "dance," "sing," "color" and "paint."

2 Tell the class that these words are called "action verbs" because that these words illustrate various types of actions or things that you can do.

3 Instruct your students to write down five action verbs on a sheet of paper. Invite the students to come to the front of the class one at a time and act out one word from their list to see if their classmates can guess the action verb.

4 Give your students a work sheet in which they must circle action verbs out of choices of other types of verbs and words. For instance, one example might read, "run," "be" "dog." The students would have to pick out "run" as the action verb.

5 Read a story to the kids and instruct them to give some sort of signal whenever they hear an action verb. For instance, you might tell them to clap their hands twice when they hear an action verb.

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What Is a Vivid Verb?

  If you want to spruce up your writing by making your sentences more dramatic and vibrant, try using some vivid verbs instead of regular verbs. Vivid verbs are very descriptive verbs that help readers visualize what they are reading by offering a clearer mental picture of the action.
A verb is a word that denotes action and can be written in past, present or future tense. Sentences are made up of a subject and a predicate. The subject is a noun and the predicate typically contains an action of some kind.
Vivid verbs serve one main purpose, which is to make your writing more interesting to those reading it. They also add details to the image a reader makes in his mind while reading something. When writers replace ordinary verbs with vivid verbs, their work becomes more stimulating and readers may actually remember more of what they read because of this.
Look at a sentence to understand how vivid verbs enhance sentences. For example, in the sentence "She walked home," walked is the verb and it shows action in past tense. Walked is somewhat of an ordinary verb making this sentence somewhat boring. By replacing it with a vivid verb like "strolled" changes the sentence to "She strolled home." Notice that the sentence changes, but the meaning is relatively the same. By changing this one word, the sentence seems more interesting and paints a clearer picture in the reader's mind.
There are numerous words that are considered vivid verbs. These words can be interchanged for ordinary verbs, but when doing this, make sure that you are choosing a word that has basically the same meaning. Substituting vivid verbs for ordinary verbs should not alter the meaning of the sentence. For example, change the ordinary verb "work" to "labor" or "toil" to make the meaning clearer. Another example is the word like. Substitute vivid verbs like "admire", "adore" or "cherish" to spruce up your writing.

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Definition of Transitive Verbs

Transitivity is a grammatical concept that may seem confusing at first glance. Once you understand the basic test for a transitive verb, the concept is really quite simple. Understanding grammatical ideas like verb transitivity can help you read and write more effectively in your everyday life.
The term "transitivity" in grammar refers to how many objects a verb must take in a given context to be meaningful. Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive, depending on context. For example, "The chef cracked" is not a meaningful sentence, because the verb does not have an object. However, both "The plate cracked," and "The chef cracked the plate" are meaningful, grammatically correct sentences.
A verb is called intransitive if it can stand alone without a direct object. Some examples of common intransitive verbs are "fall," "laugh," "sleep" and "happen." These verbs are always intransitive, because they cannot appear with a direct object. Some verbs change transitivity depending on context. As in the above example, "The plate cracked" uses an intransitive form of the verb "cracked," since it does not require an object to be meaningful.
A transitive verb requires a direct object to be grammatically correct. Some common transitive verbs are "want," "fear," "use" and "hit." These verbs nearly always require an object when they are used in a sentence.
The easiest way to check the transitivity of a verb in a particular sentence is to ask, "Verb what?" For example, upon reading "The chef cracked the plate," you could ask "Cracked what?" The answer would be "the plate." If you can answer the question, "Verb what?" then the verb is transitive. Consider, "The plate cracked." Cracked what? There is no answer, so "cracked" in this context is intransitive.
Be careful: for a verb to be called transitive, it must have a direct object. An indirect object, such as the object of a prepositional phrase, does not make a verb transitive. For example, "Sally comes to the library." The library may seem to be the object of the verb at first glance. However, there is no answer to the question "Comes what?" so the verb cannot be transitive.
It is possible for verbs to take both direct and indirect objects; these verbs are called ditransitive. For example, the verb "give." "Sally gives Jim the book." "Book" is the direct object, and answers the question "Gives what?" Jim is the indirect object, since it is the object of the implied preposition "to." If a verb has a direct object, then it is transitive regardless of whether or not an indirect object is present.

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What Is an Intransitive Verb?

  If you have ever opened an English dictionary, you probably have seen an entry for a verb marked transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb requires a direct object, while an intransitive verb does not. "Give" is a transitive verb: "He gave her the keys to the house." Here, the keys serve as the object. Examples of intransitive verbs include "talk" and "sleep" in the following sentence: "He talked for awhile and then slept all night."
To understand the concept of an intransitive verb, you must appreciate what an intransitive verb is not -- that is, a transitive verb. A transitive verb is an action verb, which means that it is a verb expressing what something or someone can do. A transitive verb must have a direct object, or something to receive the action of the verb. For example:
The Champ pummeled Foreman again.
In the preceding sentence, the verb "pummeled" is an action verb. Someone receives the action, being "pummeled," in this sentence: Foreman. Here Foreman is a direct object.
You can easily distinguish an intransitive verb from other kinds of verbs. You can tell that a verb is not an intransitive verb if it is not an action verb. Intransitive verbs, like transitive verbs, are always action verbs -- that is, they express something that you do rather than a state of being. This means that various conjugations of "to be," such as "is," "are," "was" and "am" are never intransitive verbs. Unlike transitive verbs, however, intransitive verbs never have direct objects.
The following sentences provide examples of intransitive verbs:
Huge deposits of gold lie under these hills.
To "lie" is an action that someone or something -- in this case, gold -- can do. Thus "lie" here is an action verb. Nothing receives the action in this sentence, which is another way of saying it lacks a direct object. Therefore, "lie" is an intransitive verb.
Grandma Ruth died on a Friday afternoon.
Here "died" is another action verb lacking a direct object and thus another intransitive verb.
Some action verbs, such as "sit," are always intransitive verbs. Other action verbs, however, such as "eat," may be transitive or intransitive, depending upon how you use them. Consider the following two sentences, both of which use the verb "eats."
She always eats before she leaves for work in the morning.
Sheryl says that when she eats greasy food her stomach gets upset.
In the first sentence, "eat" does not have a direct object. The subject simply "eats"; you do not know what she eats. In the second sentence, however, Sheryl "eats" does possess a direct object: "greasy food." In sentence one "eats" is an intransitive verb, while in the sentence two it is transitive.

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