Verbs: the three basic forms

Main verbs have three basic forms: the base form, the past form and the -ed form
(sometimes called the ‘-ed participle’):
base form: used as the infinitive form, with to or without to (Do you want to
come with us? I can’t leave now.) and for the present simple (I always read before
I go to sleep every night.) except third person singular, which uses the -s form
(She works at the university.)
past form: used for the past simple (He opened the door and went out.)
-ed form: used after auxiliary have and be (I’ve always wanted a piano and
I was given one last week.).

How dictionaries show the forms

The base form is normally the form used as a heading in a dictionary. Here is a
typical dictionary entry for a verb. The base form is sing, the past form is sang and
the -ed form is sung:

sing /sɪŋ/

verb (sang, sung) MAKE MUSIC 1. [I or T] to make musical sounds with the voice, usually
a tune with words:

The children sang two songs by Schubert at the school concert.

[source: Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary]

Examples of the three basic forms

When you look up a verb in the dictionary, you will often find the three forms listed
together, especially for irregular verbs. Here are some examples (regular verbs are
printed in blue; irregular verbs are printed in black).

base -ed for

past simple
form m

open opened opened

base -ed for
past simple
form m

love loved loved

watch watched watched

swim swam swum

go went gone

make made made

put put put

Pronunciation and meaning

Warning:
Some verbs have a similar pronunciation but a different meaning:
We love to just lie on the beach.
Not: We love to just lay on the beach.
Lie/lay/lain is used without an object. Lay/laid/laid must have an object: e.g. I’ll lay
the table then we can eat.
Other verbs like this are: affect/effect, bare/bear, fine/find, note/notice, raise/rise.
Warning:
Sometimes a verb is confused with another word which sounds similar but is from a
different word class:
I don’t want to lose contact with my school friends.
Not: I don’t want to loose contact with my school friends.
(Lose is a verb. Loose is an adjective, e.g. These shoes are too loose; I need a
smaller size.)
Other pairs like this are: advise (verb)/advice (noun), practise (verb)/practice (noun).
Regular verbs
Most verbs in English are regular. Regular verbs add -ing to the base form to make
the -ing form, and -ed to the base form to make the past simple and the -ed form.

base -ed for

-ing form past simple
form m

look looking looked looked

listen listening listened listened

play playing played played

work working worked worked

Base forms which end in -e

If the base form already ends in -e (e.g. move, face, like), then -d is added to make
the past form and the -ed form. The final -e is not used in the -ing form.

base -ed for

-ing form past simple
form m

move moving moved moved

face facing faced faced

Base forms which end in a consonant plus -y

If the base form ends in a consonant plus -y (e.g. carry, hurry, study, try, worry),
then -y changes to -ied to make the past form and the -ed form. The -y ending does
not change in the -ing form.
base -ed for
-ing form past simple
form m

study studying studied studied

hurry hurrying hurried hurried

Base forms which end in vowel + single consonant

If the base form ends in a vowel followed by a single consonant and if the last
syllable is stressed (e.g. begin, drop, occur, refer, run, shop, stop, transfer), then the
consonant is doubled. If the last syllable is not stressed (e.g. benefit, happen, open,
order, profit), then the consonant is not doubled. (Stressed syllables are underlined in
the table.)

base past
-ing form -ed form
form simple

committin committe
commit committed
g d

develop developing developed developed

prefer preferring preferred preferred

visit visiting visited visited

Vowel + l

The consonant is doubled if the base form ends in a vowel + l, whether the last
syllable is stressed or not.
base
-ing form past simple -ed form
form

travel travelling travelled travelled

controllin controlle
control controlled
g d

See also:
 Spelling

Person, number and tense

Regular verbs all use the same endings to indicate person (first, second or third),
number (singular or plural) and tense (present simple or past simple).

Person (first/second/third)
Person relates to the type of subject. I and we indicate the first person, you (singular
and plural) indicates the second person and he, she, it, they and noun subjects
indicate the third person. Regular verbs have the same form for all persons, but third
person singular present simple ends in -s:
I love Japanese food.
My sister lives with two other students.
They worked for a French company based in London.
She arrived at the office around nine o’clock most days.

Number (singular/plural)
Number indicates whether the subject is singular or plural. Regular verbs have the
same form for singular and plural, but third person singular present simple ends in -s:
We love historical dramas on TV.
They lived in a huge house in the country somewhere.
He works terribly hard.
He always arrived late.

Tense (present/past)
Tense indicates whether the verb is present or past. The past simple of regular verbs
ends in -ed for all persons and numbers:
They loved everything about Australia.
She lived in Spain for a couple of years.
I worked on Saturday so I stayed at home on Monday.
The police arrived within minutes.
Warning:
We always need an e in the -ed form (past simple and -ed form) of regular verbs:
I don’t know what happened at the last meeting.
Not: I don’t know what happend at the last meeting.
Other verbs which are often misspelt in this way are: bother, complain, consider, join,
recover, remain.

The -es ending

If the verb ends in -ch, -s, -ss, -sh, -x or -z, then -es is added to make the third
person singular present simple.

watc watche She watches the news every night at ten o’clock.
h s

pass passes Luckily, the bus passes by my house.

wish wishes She wishes that she had gone to university.

My friend, who’s a mechanic, fixes our car for

fix fixes us.

See also:
 Present simple (I work)
 Past simple (I worked)
 Subject–verb agreement

Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs follow the same rules as regular verbs for the present simple but have
different forms for the past simple and the -ed form.
Some irregular verbs have the same form for the base, the past simple and the -
ed form, e.g. hit, hit, hit; let, let, let; put, put, put.
Some irregular verbs share a form for the past simple and -ed form which is different
from the base form, e.g. bring, brought, brought; feel, felt, felt; have, had, had.
Some irregular verbs have a base form which ends in -d and a past simple and -
ed form which end in -t, e.g. bend, bent, bent; build, built, built; send, sent, sent;
spend, spent, spent.
Some irregular verbs have a different form for the base form, the past simple and
the -ed form, e.g. drink, drank, drunk; go, went, gone; take, took, taken.
See also:
 Irregular verbs

Be
The verb be has different forms for different persons in the present simple and past
simple.

base
present simple past simple -ed form
form

I am
I, she, he, it was
she, he, it is
be you, we, wer been
you, we, ar they e
they e

See also:
 Be