Scribd
Upload
74 views3 pages

How To Conjugate Verbs in English (2013)

The document provides instructions for conjugating verbs in English. It explains that there are two types of auxiliary verbs - primary and modal. Primary auxiliaries like is, am, are, was, were, has, have and had can act as the main verb, while modal auxiliaries like can, may, must cannot. Most verb tenses use auxiliary verbs except simple present and past. The steps outlined are to identify the main verb, determine the tense, and select the correct auxiliary verb based on subject and tense. Examples are given for conjugating verbs in simple present, present continuous, simple past, and present perfect tenses.

Uploaded by

JSXSystem1
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
74 views3 pages

How To Conjugate Verbs in English (2013)

The document provides instructions for conjugating verbs in English. It explains that there are two types of auxiliary verbs - primary and modal. Primary auxiliaries like is, am, are, was, were, has, have and had can act as the main verb, while modal auxiliaries like can, may, must cannot. Most verb tenses use auxiliary verbs except simple present and past. The steps outlined are to identify the main verb, determine the tense, and select the correct auxiliary verb based on subject and tense. Examples are given for conjugating verbs in simple present, present continuous, simple past, and present perfect tenses.

Uploaded by

JSXSystem1
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

How to conjugate verbs in English

By Frost 2013

It is easy to conjugate verbs in English. You just need to know how to conjugate auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called helping verbs. There are two kinds of auxiliary verbs: primary auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries. Primary auxiliaries can serve as the main verb in a sentence. Examples are: is, am, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, does and did. Modal auxiliaries cannot act as main verbs. They are used with other verbs to express ideas such as necessity, obligation, possibility, certainty, willingness etc. Except for the simple present and simple past tenses, all other tenses in English use auxiliary verbs. By learning these simple steps, you can easily conjugate verbs in English. Step 1 Identify the main verb in the sentence. This is the first thing you need to do. Verbs are action words. They say what somebody or something does / did / will do. Examples are: work, play, act, stop, run, walk, wait etc. Step 2 Decide on the time of the action. Did the action take place in the past? Then the verb has to be in the past. If the sentence is about something that happens at the moment of speaking, then it has to be in the present tense. If it is about something that has to take place in the future, then the verb has to be in the future tense. If the sentence is about something that happens regularly, use the simple present tense. The simple present tense does not use an auxiliary verb in the affirmative form. Examples are:

I like coffee. She adores her kids. My parents work in education.

Note the marker s when the subject is a singular noun or third person pronoun. If the sentence is about something that is happening at the time of speaking, use the present continuous tense.

I am working. She is writing. They are playing.

If the sentence is about something that happened at a specific point of time in the past, use the simple past tense.

I slept for twelve hours. She went to school. Susie visited us last week.

Use the present perfect tense to talk about recent actions and events whose effect is still felt in the present. Perfect tenses are also used when we mention the duration of the action.

They have lived here for ten years. I have worked with kids before.

In English, we indicate the time of the action by conjugating verbs. Step 3 Find out the appropriate auxiliary verbs. Once you have figured out WHEN the action happens, you can start conjugating. You just need to know the different auxiliary verbs used to form different tenses. The auxiliaries used in the simple present tense are: do and does. Did is used in the simple past tense. Has, have and had are used to form perfect tense forms. Continuous forms are formed with is, am, are, was and were.

Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Use Use

do with I, we, they and you. does with he, she and it. is with he, she and it. are with you, they and we. am with I. have with I, we, you and they. has with he, she or it. was with I, he, she and it. were with you, they and we.

Once you have figured out which auxiliary verbs are to be used, you need to find appropriate verb forms that go with them. Note that with do, does and did, we use the first form of the verb.

I did not say anything. (NOT I did not said anything.) He does not work here. (NOT He does not working here.) (NOT He does not worked here.)

With has, have and had we use the past participle form of the verb.

They have arrived. It has happened in the past. She had returned home before it started raining.

With is, am, are, was and were, we use the ing form of the verb.

She is working. They are playing. I was sleeping. They were waiting.

You might also like