There are four forms of a verb: the base form, the past, the past participle, and the present participle. Samples of each appear in the lists below. All of the various tenses are generated with these four forms.
The past tense and past participle of all regular verbs are formed by adding -ed or -d to the base form (talked, lived). Irregular verbs are not as predictable; see the list of some common ones below. The present participle consists of the base form plus -ing (talking, living).
- BASE FORM
- On Thursdays, we visit a museum.
- PAST TENSE
- Last week, we visited the Museum of Modern Art.
- PAST PARTICIPLE
- I have also visited the Metropolitan Museum, but I've not yet been to the Cloisters.
- PRESENT PARTICIPLE
- We will be visiting the Cooper-Hewitt Museum tomorrow to see the cutlery exhibit.
Some common irregular verbs
BASE FORMPAST TENSE,PAST PARTICIPLE,PRESENT PARTICIPLE |
bewas/were,been,being |
choosechose,chosen,choosing |
dodid,done,doing |
eatate,eaten,eating |
fallfell,fallen,falling |
givegave,given,giving |
gowent,gone,going |
hang (suspend)hung,hung,hanging |
havehad,had,having |
knowknew,known,knowing |
laylaid,laid,laying |
lie (recline)lay,lain,lying |
makemade,made,making |
proveproved,proven,proving |
riserose,risen,rising |
setset,set,setting |
sitsat,sat,sitting |
teachtaught,taught,teaching |
writewrote,written,writing |
Some writers get confused about when to use the past tense and when to use a past participle. One simple rule is to use the past tense if there is no helping verb and to use a past participle if there is a helping verb.
For vacation last spring, my family gone went to Turkey.
After two weeks in Istanbul, we had ate eaten a lot of Turkish delight.
Helping verbs
Do, have, be, and MODALS such as can and may all function as helping verbs that work with main verbs to express certain verb TENSES and MOODS. Do, have, and be change form to indicate tenses; modals do not. The appropriate forms of main verbs and helping verbs are discussed in this section.
- FORMS OF DO
- do, does, did
- FORMS OF HAVE
- have, has, had
- FORMS OF BE
- be, am, is, are, was, were, been
- MODALS
- can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, ought to
Do, does, or did requires the base form of the main verb.
That professor did take class participation into account when calculating grades.
Sometimes even the smartest students do not like to answer questions out loud in class.
Have, has, or had requires the past participle of the main verb.
I have written to my senator to express my views on global warming.
When all of the visitors had gone, the security guards locked the building for the night.
Forms of be are used with a present participle to express a continuing action or with a past participle to express the PASSIVE VOICE.
CONTINUING ACTION
The university is considering a change in its policy on cell phone use.
I was studying my notes from last week as I walked to class.
PASSIVE VOICE
Six classes per semester is considered a heavy course load
Ancient Greek was studied by many university students in the early twentieth century, but it is not a popular major today.
Modals are used with the base form of the main verb.
After each class, small groups of students will meet for focused discussion.
Each student should participate in every group session.
Gerunds and infinitives
A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun: hopping, skipping, jumping.
Although many people like driving, some prefer walking.
An infinitive is to plus the base form of a verb: to hop, to skip, to jump.
Although many people like to drive, some prefer to walk.
In general, use infinitives to express intentions or desires, and use gerunds to express plain facts.
I planned to learn Spanish, Japanese, and Arabic.
I also wanted to know Russian.
Unfortunately, I ended up studying only Spanish and Arabicand speaking only Spanish.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the painters finished to put putting up the wallpaper.
With several verbsforget, remember, stop, and a few othersthe choice of an infinitive or gerund changes the meaning.
I stopped to eat lunch. In other words, I took a break from what I was doing so that I could eat lunch.
I stopped eating lunch. In other words, I no longer ate lunch.
Always use a gerund after a PREPOSITION.
The water is too cold for to swim swimming.
FAQs
What are the 4 verb forms? ›
There are four forms of a verb: the base form, the past, the past participle, and the present participle.
How do you find the correct form of a verb in a sentence? ›...
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- He usually. (do) his homework in his room.
- The doctor told him to stop. ...
- Could you. ...
- I have decided. ...
- Let me. ...
- He wants Mary. ...
- She. ...
- They.
V4- It is the fourth form of verb which is a part of present participle. V5- It is the fifth form of verb which is used in simple present tense.
What are the B form verbs? ›Be verbs are am, are, is, was, were, been and being. We only only use be as to be. "Be" verbs indicate a state of being.
What is a verb in basic 4? ›Verbs are words that express action or state of being. There are three types of verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, and helping verbs. Action verbs are words that express action (give, eat, walk, etc.) or possession (have, own, etc.). Action verbs can be either transitive or intransitive.
What is a verb Class 4 example? ›A word used to describe an action that forms part of a sentence is called a verb. Similar to nouns, verbs also form an essential part of the sentence. Verbs can be sentences by themselves with the subject in most cases. For example: Walk!, Draw!, etc.
Can you give me a list of verbs? ›20 daily use forms of verb in english with pdf Swear Swore Sworn Color Colored Colored Write Wrote Written Reave Raft Raft Go Went Gone Freeze Froze Frozen Spit Spat Spat Obtrude Obtruded Obtruded Fight Fought Fought Hang Hung Hung Preserve Preserved Preserved Awake Awoke Awoken Revolve Revolved Revolved Cast Cast Cast ...
What is a verb form example? ›English verbs come in several forms. For example, the verb sing can be: sing, sang, sung, singing or sings. This is a total of 5 forms.
What is the V4 of go? ›Base Form | Past Form | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
go | went | gone |
What are the 5 types of verbs? ›
There are five basic types of construction of English verbs (as indicated above): intransitive verbs, linking verbs, mono-transitive (having one object), di-transitive (having two objects) and complex-transitive (having an object and a complement). An English verb may belong to one or more of the five types.
What is V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 form? ›Base Form (V1) | mean |
---|---|
Past Form (V2) | meant |
Past Participle Form (V3) | meant |
s / es/ ies (V4) | means |
'ing' form (V5) | meaning |
Verb | Definition |
---|---|
boost | to raise, push higher or promote |
born | past participle of “to bear;” to be brought forth |
borrow | to take something with the intention of giving it back |
bother | to annoy, worry or cause discomfort |
- 1) Change the main verb from an –ing to a regular. ...
- 2) Change the “be” verb to a stronger verb. ...
- 3) Eliminate the “be” verb by writing one or more showing sentence(s) ...
- 4) Change the adjective to the verb. ...
- 5) Combine sentences to eliminate the “be” verb. ...
- 6) Change another word to the verb.
An action verb tells you what a noun does. She ate an apple. We smile. Some action verbs tell you about actions that are hard to see.
What are the 10 examples of verb? ›- Run.
- Dance.
- Slide.
- Jump.
- Think.
- Do.
- Go.
- Stand.
A verb is a word that describes what the subject of a sentence is doing. Verbs can indicate (physical or mental) actions, occurrences, and states of being. Examples: Verbs in a sentence Jeffrey builds a house. Anita is thinking about horses.
How do you teach verbs to Grade 4? ›- Explain the type of words. Help your child understand the word first. ...
- Help them identify verbs in sentences. ...
- Keep a list of verbs your kid speaks & understands. ...
- Use verbs associated with things that your child likes to do. ...
- Practice.
- be.
- have.
- do.
- say.
- go.
- can.
- get.
- would.
Helping verbs, helping verbs, there are 23! Am, is, are, was and were, being, been, and be, Have, has, had, do, does, did, will, would, shall and should. There are five more helping verbs: may, might, must, can, could!
What are the 25 verb forms? ›
Present Simple | Past Simple | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
walk | walked | walked |
want | wanted | wanted |
watch | watched | watched |
work | worked | worked |
S.No. | Base Form | Past Participle Form |
---|---|---|
1 | abash | abashed |
2 | abate | abated |
3 | abide | abode |
4 | absorb | absorbed |
V1 Base Form | V2 Past Simple | V3 Past Participle |
---|---|---|
drive | drove | driven |
dwell | dwelt | dwelt |
eat | ate | eaten |
fall | fell | fallen |
English verb tenses are formed by combining one of the principal forms of a main verb with one or more auxiliary verbs. There are four principal forms: basic or root, present participle, past and past participle.
What are the 3 main verb forms? ›There are three main verb tenses in English: present, past and future.
What are the 6 forms of verbs? ›- Simple present.
- Present perfect.
- Simple past.
- Past perfect.
- Future.
- Future perfect.
The past continuous of any verb is composed of two parts : the past tense of the verb "to be" (was/were), and the base of the main verb +ing.
What is the V4 and V5 of speak? ›spoken. s / es/ es (V4) speaks. 'ing' form (V5) speaking.
What is V4 in Lost? ›...
What is the V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 of lose?
Base Form (V1) | lose |
---|---|
s / es/ ies (V4) | loses |
'ing' form (V5) | losing |
In English, each of these tenses can take four main aspects: simple, perfect, continuous (also known as progressive), and perfect continuous. The perfect aspect is formed using the verb to have, while the continuous aspect is formed using the verb to be.
What are the 16 verbs? ›
There are sixteen verbs used in Basic English. They are: be, do, have, come, go, see, seem, give, take, keep, make, put, send, say, let, get.
What is a verb 5th grade? ›A verb tells about an action or a state of being. There are three types of verbs: action, linking, and helping. Action Verbs. An action verb expresses action. It tells what a person or a thing does.
What is the V4 form of make? ›Base Form | Past Form | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
make | made | made |
Conclusion. Let's learn with English TV the structure of the verb “Have V1 V2 V3 V4 V5“: Base Form, Past Simple, Present Continuous and Present Continuous and Present Continuous and Present Continuous forms.
What is the V5 of buy? ›What is the present participle V5 of buy? + The present participle of buy is “buying“.
What is the irregular verb for B? ›Base Form | Simple Past | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
A | ||
arise | arose | arisen |
awake | awakened / awoke | awakened / awoken |
B |
Bananas are a cheap, healthy, and nutrient-dense fruit that can easily become a part of every individual's diet. It is one of the best fruits rich in vitamin B12. Bananas also contain fibre and potassium. It helps manage blood pressure, reduce stress, and relieve constipation and ulcer problems.
Can you get too much vitamin B12? ›While the recommended daily amount of vitamin B-12 for adults is 2.4 micrograms, higher doses have been found to be safe. Your body absorbs only as much as it needs, and any excess passes through your urine. High doses of vitamin B-12, such as those used to treat a deficiency, might cause: Headache.
How can I increase my vitamin D and B12? ›- Beef, liver, and chicken.
- Fish and shellfish such as trout, salmon, tuna fish, and clams.
- Fortified breakfast cereal.
- Low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.
- Eggs.
Action verbs convey doing—for example, “She walked to the door,” or, “The dog chased the ball.” On your resume, action verbs show readers you accomplished something at your past jobs, you weren't just “responsible for” it. Instead you “streamlined” or “coordinated” or “executed” it.
What are changing verbs? ›
Stem-changing verbs usually take the same endings as regular verbs but have a spelling change in their stem . The spelling change always affects a vowel, but only applies to the following parts of the verb: I. you (singular)
What are the 4 verb attributes? ›Verbs show action (walk, run, write) or a state of being (be, feel, smell, and seem). Verbs have several characteristics: form, tense, person, number, voice, and mood. Some verbs can stand alone in sentence; other verbs are helping verbs.
What is verb 1st 2nd and 3rd form? ›There are 3 forms of verb
Present. Past. Past Participle.
Theoretically, it is possible to have an infinite numbers of verbs in a single sentence. In actual usage, even simple sentences frequently contain more than one "main verb" in what is called a compound predicate.
What are the 5 basic verb forms? ›There are up to five forms for each verb: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.
What are 8 verb types? ›- Phrasal Verbs.
- Regular Verbs.
- Verb Forms.
- Finite Verbs.
- Helping Verbs.
- Irregular Verbs.
- Linking Verbs.
- Main Verbs.
A verb is a word that conveys ACTION, OCCURRENCE, or STATE OF BEING. Verbs are needed to form complete sentences or questions. In a sentence, a verb works as the main component of the predicate, the part of a sentence that indicates what the subject (person or thing) is or does.
What are the 4 types of irregular verbs? ›- Irregular verbs with the same base form, past tense and past participle.
- Irregular verbs with the same base form and past participle.
- Irregular verbs with the same past tense and past participle.
- Irregular verbs with a different base form, past tense and past participle.