Verb Forms
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The English Verb Forms and Their Correct Tense Usage
Each verb in the English language has six basic forms; and these forms are used to create the entire tense system of English, they include: base formOpens in new window, presentOpens in new window, pastOpens in new window, infinitiveOpens in new window, present participleOpens in new window, and past participleOpens in new window.
These are the basic parts of verbs from which all the different forms indicating personOpens in new window, numberOpens in new window, voiceOpens in new window, moodOpens in new window and tenseOpens in new window are formed.
Using the regular verb visit and the irregular verb fly as case study, the six basic verb forms are illustrated in the chart below:
| Base Form | Present Tense | Past Tense | Infinitive | Present Participle | Past Participle | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Verb | visit | visit | visits | visited | to visit | visiting | visited |
| Irregular Verb | fly | fly | flies | flew | to fly | flying | flown |
Base Form
The base form is the basic of verb forms. It is the dictionary directory form of verb, i.e., if you looked up sang, the dictionary would refer you to the base form sing.
The base form is generally the source for the present —although with a few exceptions— infinitive, and present participle of the verb, whether it is regular or irregular.
The base form can be used as a verb particularly in the following ways:
It can be used with certain helping verbs, particularly the modal auxiliary verbs, can/could, may/might, will/would, shall/should, and must.
Observe the base form of the verb be in the following sentences:
- He may be here any moment from now.
- You should be more concerned.
- It will be a crazy day.
The base form is frequently used in imperative sentences, as:
- Be cheerful!
- Ring me at home.
- Keep to time.
Present Form
The present form of all verbs, including that of irregular verbs is directly derived from the base form of verbs. This is true of all verbs, with the sole exception of the verb be.
The difference between the present form and base form is that the third-person singular present form adds –s or –es to the base form of the verb; all other present forms take identical pattern with the base form.
The base form of be is different from all of its present tense forms. Examine the chat below:
Number 1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person Singular I am you are he/she/it is Plural we are you are they are The third-person singular present endings are fairly predictable both in pronunciation and in spelling.
If the base form ends in a sibilant sound (s, z, x, sh, ch, tch, or j [as in judge]), the ending is pronounced as a separate syllable and rhymes with buzz.
The ending is spelled -es, unless the base form already ends in -e, in which case only -s is added:
Base Form 3rd Person Singular Present lose loses freeze freezes beseech beseeches catch catches Note that if the base form ends in a silent consonant sound other than a sibilant, the ending is pronounced /s/ and is spelled -es.
The voiceless consonants are usually spelled with a p, t, ck, k, f, or gh (when pronounced /f/):
Base Form 3rd Person Singular Present keep keeps beat beats seek seeks take takes In cases where the base form ends in a pronounced consonantOpens in new window other than a sibilantOpens in new window or in a pronounced vowelOpens in new window (as opposed to a silent final -e), the ending is pronounced /z/ and is spelled -s :
Base Form 3rd Person Singular Present forbid forbids bend bends dig digs feel feels swim swims mean means prove proves pay pays flee flees fly flies throw throws strew strews Note that if the base form ends in -y without a preceding vowel, the -y alters to -ie before the -s ending (as in fly above). A few verbs have peculiar third-person singular present forms:
be is have has Two verbs, particularly “do,” and “say”, have irregular pronunciations in the third-person singular present form:
do does (rhymes with buzz) say says (rhymes with fez) Past Form
The past form indicates actions that happened before now. The past forms are of two types: regular and irregular.
Patterns for Regular Verbs Are Predictable
Regular verbs form the past tense by adding -ed to the base form or -d if the base form already ends in -e :
Base Form Regular Past Form start started arrive arrived The past form ending of regular verbs is known to have three different, but fairly predictable, pronunciations.
If the base form ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound, the -ed is pronounced as a separate syllable rhyming with bud.
Base Form Past Form Pronounced As A Separate Syllable. vote voted decide decided If however, the base form ends in a silent consonant sound other than /t/, the -ed is pronounced /t/.
The final consonants with voiceless sound are commonly spelled with a p, ck, k, s, sh, ch, tch, x,f, or gh (if it’s pronounced /f/) :
Base Form Past Form Pronounced As /t/ tap tapped attack attacked miss missed match matched cough coughed However, when the base form ends in a single consonant preceded by a stressed short vowel, the consonant is typically doubled to form the past: permit ~ permitted, stop ~ stopped.
If on the other hand, the base form ends in a pronounced vowel or in a voiced consonant sound other than /d/, the -ed is pronounced /d/.
The voiced consonants are typically spelled with a b, g, z, j, m, n, l, or r :
Base Form Past Form Pronounced As /d/ tie tied enjoy enjoyed kill killed care cared Note that if the base form ends in -y without a preceding vowel, the -y changes to -ie before the -d ending (cry ~ cried ). Likewise note the spellings of the past forms of lay and pay: laid and paid, respectively. Patterns for Irregular Verbs Are Unpredictable
When it comes to irregular verbs, the past forms reflect older patterns for forming the past tense. These patterns have merged to such an extent that it is not practical to learn the past forms of irregular verbs on the basis of their historical patterns.
Irregular verbs vary considerably in patterns but similarities exist, however, in how some irregular verbs form the past tense:
Vowel Change Vowel Change (+ -d) Vowel Change
(+ -t)No Change Base Form Past Base Form Past Base Form Past Base Form Past ring rang tell told kneel knelt bet bet sing sang sell sold feel felt put put sweep swept rid rid sleep slept keep kept The following is a brief summary of past forms for some of the most common irregular verbs in English:
Base Form Past Form be was/were have had do did say said (rhymes with fed ) make made go went take took come came see saw find found get got give gave know knew Infinitive
An InfinitiveOpens in new window is the root of a verb form, its characteristic sign being the infinitive marker to + base form (root) of verb.
There are no exceptions — even the verb be is regular, in that it is to be.
Base Form Infinitive be to be fly to fly walk to walk Observe the following Examples showing various Uses:
The infinitive is often used without to after certain auxiliary verbs:
- You must try
- They may return
The infinitive is also used with to after certain adjectives:
- It is hard to understand him.
- She’s quick to argue.
The infinitive can also be used after nouns:
- This is a chance to succeed.
- The time to move is now.
Present Participle
All verbs have present participle forms. The present participle is formed through the addition of an –ing ending to the base form of verb:
Base Form Present
Participlebe being buy buying tie tieing excel exceling Note that in the present participle forms, if a verb ends in a single consonant preceded by a stressed short vowel, the consonant is usually doubled:
Base Form Present
Participlebet betting dig digging forbid forbidding However, when a verb ends in voiceless –e, the –e is usually omitted before the –ing ending:
come → coming, have → having, write → writing.
Observe the following Uses:
The present participle can be used in many ways. It is more often used in the progressive tenses after a form of the verb be:
- The workers are having lunch in the cafeteria.
- They were going to the cinema.
- I am being delayed.
Although less common, the present participle can be used as a complement of certain verbs:
- He likes watching the talk show every night.
(“watching” as complement of the verb “likes”) - I hate driving the car alone.
(“driving” as complement of the verb “hate”) - They prefer staying together.
(“staying” as complement of the verb “prefer”)
- He likes watching the talk show every night.
Present participles are also used in clauses to indicate the continuous forms of verbs:
- going solo, riding bare bareback
The present participle can also assume the role of nouns known as gerundsOpens in new window:
- Don’t make fun of my dancing.
- Swimming can be fun.
- John’s occupation is schooling.
Learn more on GerundsOpens in new window
Problems with Present Participle
There may be complications sometimes when using a present participle with a pronoun. Most people especially non-native speakers of English are uncertain as to which type of pronoun to use before a particular participle.
The rule is this: If the participle has its own subject (meaning that the participle is actually a gerund, acting more like a noun than a verb), then the possessive pronoun is appropriate. Consider this sentence:
- How about my bringing something to eat?
If the participle is acting more like a verb than a noun, then the possessive form Opens in new window should not be used:
- Do you mind me singing?
Past Participle
Past participles are of two types: regular and irregular. Regular past participles can be formed precisely the same way as the regular past by adding –ed to the base form or –d if the base form already ends in –e.
Like irregular past forms, irregular past participle forms are quite unpredictable. However, there is a universality, which seems to emanate in ancient periods of English, that most irregular past participles ended in –en.
Today, about one third of irregular past participles still retain this –en ending. Thus, by instinct, we know that an irregular verb form with –en (or –n ) ending is a past participle.
Base Form Past Participle speak spoken choose chosen eat eaten fly flown see seen In distinguishing the two forms, remember that the past form tends to occur by itself, but the past participle almost always occurs after a form of be or have. Note also that:
Some irregular verbs have identical present tense and past participle forms:
Past Tense Past Participle cut cut hit hit let let split split In other instances the past participle differs completely from the past tense:
Past Tense Past Participle did done flew flown went gone There are also two alternatives for both the past tense and the past participle:
Past Tense Past Participle burned burnt burned burnt dreamed dreamt dreamed dreamt leaped leapt leaped leapt showed shown showed shown spilled spilt spilled spilt spoiled spoilt spoiled spoilt Important! In U.S. English the –ed form is commonly used than elsewhere in the English-speaking world.
The past participle can be used in a number of ways:
The past participle is used after the helping verbs to be or to have to stand as a main verb:
- I was fascinated and repelled by the Michael Jackson documentary.
- We have operated the printing machine for a month.
- Jilian and DeShawn had stopped by the time we arrived.
Past participlesOpens in new window are often used in passive sentences after the helping verb be:
- Skirmishes are being fought at the border.
- Her play was seen by thousands of people.
Apart from forming the perfect tensesOpens in new window and passive forms of verbs, they are commonly encountered serving as adjectives:
- A fallen star.
- A broken chair.
- A startled look.
The chart below lists the principal parts of a few selected verbs
All the verbs listed are irregular verbs, excluding, the infinitive, to look. Most regular verbsOpens in new window use the past participleOpens in new window to form the simple past tenseOpens in new window.
Being the case that most irregular verbs have a separate form for the simple past tense, that form has been placed within parentheses on the list.
In some cases, verbs are said to have a perfect participle. However, the perfect participle form is not included in the list.
Infinitive Form Base Form Present Participle Past Participle To Be be (was, were) being been To Begin begin (began) beginning begun To Blow blow (blew) blowing blown To Break break (broke) breaking broken To Choose choose (chose) choosing chosen To Do do (did) doing done To Drink drink (drank) drinking drunk To Drive drive (drove) driving driven To Give give (gave) giving given To Go go (went) going gone To Know Know (knew) knowing known To Lie lie (lay) lying lain To Look look looking looked To Wear wear (wore) wearing worn
