Tenses of Verbs

Present TensePast Tense

Future Tense

A verb in the present tense shows action that happens now.

• Storm clouds linger above the mountains.

• A river of rain sweeps the sky.

Present Tense

• Present tense may express action which is going on at the present time or which occurs always, repeatedly, or habitually.

• Examples: He sees the train. He eats cereal for breakfast every day.

A verb in the past tense shows action that has already happened. The past tense of a verb usually ends in ed.

• Yesterday a gentle fog settled down in the village.

• It touched us all with its powdery mist.

Past Tense

• Examples: • He wrote the letter yesterday.

• She lived to be 90 years old.

A verb in the future tense shows action that will happen. It is usually formed with helping verb will or shall.

• Tomorrow the radiant sun will blaze above.

• How we shall welcome its warmth and light.

Future Tense

• Examples: • He will send the letter tomorrow. • I shall wait here until you return.

• * Traditionally, shall is used for 1st person and will for 2nd and 3rd persons.

Regular Verbs

• Regular verbs form their past tense by adding –ed or –d to their present tense form.

• More than 95% of all English verbs are regular.

• Regular verbs cause few problems in speaking and writing.

Regular Verbs

• Present tense and past tense verbs can also have participles.

• Participles are helping verbs.

Regular verbs and their Principal Parts

Principal Principal Parts:Parts:

Verb:Verb:

Present Present TenseTense

Present Present Participle Participle (is, are) (is, are)

Past Past TenseTense

Past Past Participle Participle (has, (has, have0have0

To callTo call call, call, callscalls

( is) ( is) callingcalling

calledcalled (have) (have) calledcalled

To dustTo dust dust, dust, dustsdusts

(am) (am) dustingdusting

dusteddusted (have) (have) dusteddusted

That’s the basics! But…there’s more to it than that.

• There are also [present, past, and future PERFECT tenses

• There are also present, past, and future PROGRESSIVE tenses.

Verb Forms

Irregular Verbs

• Irregular verbs can form their past tense and past participle forms in various way.

• These forms cause problems.• The most irregular verb of all is the verb

to be.• Another irregular verb that is important

for its use with other verbs is the verb to have.

Four Principal/Main Parts

Principal Principal Parts:Parts:

Verb:Verb:

Present Present TenseTense

Present Present ParticipleParticiple

Past Past TenseTense

Past Past ParticipleParticiple

To BeTo Be be, am, be, am, are, isare, is

beingbeing was, was, werewere

(have) (have) beenbeen

To HaveTo Have have, have, hashas

havinghaving hadhad (have) (have) hadhad

Conjugation

• A conjugation of a verb is the correct arrangement of its form through its tenses, persons, and numbers.

• Person means the speaker, the person spoken to, and the person or thing spoken of.

• Number means singular or plural.

Conjugation of the verb: to be

TenseTense SingularSingular PluralPlural

PresentPresent I amI am

You areYou are

He, she, it He, she, it isis

We areWe are

You areYou are

They areThey are

PastPast I wasI was

You wereYou were

He wasHe was

We wereWe were

You wereYou were

They wereThey were

FutureFuture I shall beI shall be

You will beYou will be

He will beHe will be

We shall beWe shall be

You will beYou will be

They will beThey will be

Other Common Irregular Verbs and their Principal Parts

Principal Principal PartPart

VerbVerb

Present Present TenseTense

Present Present ParticipleParticiple

Past TensePast Tense Past Past ParticipleParticiple

To seeTo see see, see, seessees

seeingseeing sawsaw (have) (have) seenseen

To doTo do do, doesdo, does doingdoing diddid (have) (have) donedone

To flyTo fly fly, fliesfly, flies flyingflying flewflew (have) (have) flownflown

To runTo run run, runsrun, runs runningrunning ranran (have) (have) runrun