Figure 1 The Writing Center and Academic Resource Center logo

VERBS –THE BASICS

There are two main types of verbs used in the English language: Regular
Verbs and Irregular Verbs. These verbs are not a different tense, but they are
very important nonetheless. There are three basic forms of verb tenses: simple,
perfect, and progressive. These three forms also work together. In this handout
we will explain all of the verb tense combinations, as well as the Regular and
Irregular verbs, and give examples.

Regular Verbs:

 Regular Verbs are verbs that add –d or –ed to their present form to
change the tense from present to past.

For example:

The dog jumped toward the

squirrel.

We all noticed the stain on his

shirt.

My grandmother knitted me a
scarf.

(Notice that -ed is added to the verb to show that the action was performed in the
past. See also Verbs that end in –ed handout for more information.)

Irregular Verbs:

Irregular Verbs are not tense specific. What makes these verb types irregular is
that the past tense is unpredictable. These verbs do not use –d or –ed to signify
past tense.

1
For Example:

I ate my vegetables.

We swam across the lake.

My mother read me a story.

Verb Tenses
Simple Tense:

These are verbs that can take the place of past, present, and future.
These verb tenses are the easy ones to remember. Simple Tenses have
three uses, Simple Past, Simple Present, and Simple Future.

For Example:
Simple Past Tense Verbs

We played football in the backyard.

The boy tripped on the step.

Simple Present Tense Verbs

We play football in the backyard.

The boy trips on the step.

Simple Future Tense Verbs

We will play football in the

backyard.

The boy will trip on the step.

Perfect Tenses:

The next three tenses are Perfect Tenses. Perfect Tenses are formed using the
helping verbs has, have, will, and shall. These verb tenses also use the past
participle of the verb. These three verb tenses are Past Perfect Tense, Present
Perfect Tense, and Future Perfect Tense.
For Example:

2
 Past Perfect Tense

We had played football.

The boy had tripped on the step.

Present Perfect Tense

We have played football.

The boy has tripped on the step.

Future Perfect Tense

By tomorrow, we will have played football.

By noon, the boy will have tripped on the step.

Progressive/Continuous Forms:

We have talked about the two categories of verb tenses, simple and
perfect. Both the simple and perfect tenses may be modified and made into
progressive or continuous.

 The reason for using progressive form is to show an action that is in

progress or continuing.

For Example:

Present Progressive

We are playing. (Present Progressive)

We were playing. (Past Progressive)

We will be playing. (Future Progressive)

We have been playing. (Present Perfect

Progressive)

We had been playing. (Past Perfect Progressive)

We will have been playing. (Future Perfect

Progressive)

3
 Present Continuous

He is sleeping.

I am visiting grandpa in the afternoon.

You are always coming late for the meetings!

Figure 2 Cartoon figures with hourglasses

4
 Irregular verb chart

SIMPLE SIMPLE PAST SIMPLE SIMPLE PAST

FORM PAST PARTICIPLE FORM PAST PARTICIPLE

Be was, were been lie lay lain

Become became become light lit (lighted) lit (lighted)
Begin began begun lose lost lost
Bend bent bent make made made
Bite bit bitten mean meant meant
Blow blew blown meet met met
break broke broken pay paid paid
bring brought brought put put put
broadcast broadcast broadcast quit quit quit
build built built read read read
buy bought bought ride rode ridden
catch caught caught ring rang rung
choose chose chosen rise rose risen
come came come run ran run
cost cost cost say said said
cut cut cut see say seen
dig dug dug sell sold sold
do did done send sent sent
draw drew drawn set set set
drink drank drunk shake shook shaken
drive drove driven shot shot shot
eat ate eaten shut shut shut
fall fell fallen sing sang sung
feed fed fed sit sat sat
feel felt felt sleep slept slept
fight fought fought slide slid slid
find found found speak spoke spoken
fit fit fit spend spent spent
fly flew flown spread spread spread
forget forgot forgotten stand stood stood
forgive forgave forgiven steal stole stolen
freeze froze frozen stick stuck stuck
get got gotten (got) strike struck struck
give gave given swear swore sworn
go went gone sweep swept swept
grow grew grown swim swam swum
hang hung hung Take care, teach took taken
have had had tear taught taught
hear heard heard tell tore torn
hide hid hidden think told told
hit hit hit throw thought thought
hold held held understand threw thrown
hurt hurt hurt upset understood understood
keep kept kept wake upset upset
know knew known wear woke waked (woken)
lay laid laid win wore worn
lead led led withdraw won won
leave left left write withdrew withdrawn
lend lent lent wrote written
let let let

5
 VERB TENSE CHART
Simple Present Tense
Singular Regular / irreg. / be Plural Regular / irreg. / be
I talk, give, am we talk, give, are
you talk, give, are you talk, give, are
he/she/it talks, gives, is they talk, give, are

Simple Past Tense

Singular Regular / irreg. / be Plural Regular / irreg. / be

I talked, gave, was we talked, gave, were

you talked, gave, were you talked, gave, were
he/she/it talked, gave, was they talked, gave, were

Simple Future
Singular Regular / irreg. / be Plural Regular / irreg. / be

I, you, he/she/it will talk, will give, will we, you, they will talk, will give, will
be be
Present Perfect Regular / Irregular / be
I, you, we, they have talked, have given, have been
he/she/it has talked, has given, has been

Past Perfect Regular / Irregular / be

I, you, he/she/it, we, they had talked, had given, had been

Future Perfect Regular / Irregular / be

I, you, he/she/it, we, they will have talked, will have given, will have been

Present Progressive Regular / Irregular / be

I am talking, am giving, am being
he/she/it is talking, is giving, is being
you, we, they are talking, are giving, are being

Past Progressive Regular / Irregular/ be

I, he/she/it was talking, was giving, was being
you, we, they were talking, were giving, were being

Future Progressive Regular / Irregular/ be

I, you, he/she/it, we, they will be talking, will be giving, will be being

Exercises and Practice

Draw a circle around the action verb in each sentence. On the line, tell whether
the verb is past tense, present tense, or future tense.

6
 1. Daniel will choose a baseball bat._______________________________

2. He steps up to the plate. __________________________________

3. The pitcher tossed the ball.__________________________________

4. Daniel will swing hard.__________________________________

5. The ball struck the bat.___________________________________

Fill in the spaces with the correct form of the verb in present progressive, past
progressive, and future progressive tenses.

1. I (play) _______ _______ the piano now.

2. You (play) _______ _______ the guitar now.

3. We (play) _______ _______ violins now.

4. It (play) ________ _______ the drums now.

5. When I was young, Grandma (usually, bake) _______ _______ _______

bread on Monday morning.
6. Seagulls (frequently, steal) _______ _______ _______ from the
fishermen's nets as they pulled them in.
7. As he sat by the sunny window, the novelist (quickly, write) _______
_______ _______ the first chapter of his new book.
8. The class (listen) _______ _____ ________ closely during the review for
the test.

9. The sergeant (train) _______ _____ ________ the new recruits for the
next month.

10. The scientists (launch) _______ _____ ________ a satellite in November.

7
More Practice:

Fill in the blanks with appropriate verb tenses.

I can't believe I (get) that apartment. I (submit) my application last

week, but I didn't think I had a chance of actually getting it. When I (show) up to

take a look around, there were at least twenty other people who (arrive) before

me. Most of them (fill, already) out their applications and were already leaving.

The landlord said I could still apply, so I did.

I (try) to fill out the form, but I couldn't answer half of the questions. They (want)

me to include references, but I didn't want to list my previous landlord because I

(have) some problems with him in the past and I knew he wouldn't recommend

me. I (end) up listing my father as a reference.

It was total luck that he (decide) to give me the apartment. It turns out that the

landlord and my father (go) to high school together. He decided that I could have

the apartment before he (look) at my credit report. I really lucked out!

This handout was based on the following texts:

Berry, Chris, Allen Brizee, and Elizabeth Angeli. "Verb Tenses." Purdue OWL. Purdue University,
14 Sept. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/>.

"Verb Tenses." Grammar Revolution. Elizabeth O'Brien, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/verb-tenses.html>.

All of the above texts are available in The Writing Center.

Please visit our website at www.lavc.edu/writingcenter/index.html for additional resources and

services.