Grammer

Glossary of English Grammar Terms Active Voice In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice. Adjective A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. Adverb A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb. Article The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the. Auxiliary Verb A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs. Clause A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived). Conjunction A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if). Infinitive The basic form of a verb as in to work or work. Interjection An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!). Modal Verb An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb". Noun A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car. An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness. A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar). An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music, money).

Object In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb. Participle The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3). Part Of Speech One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Passive Voice In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was killed). See also Active Voice. Phrase A group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red dress). Predicate Each sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is what is said about the subject. Preposition A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give information about things like time, place and direction. Pronoun A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun. Sentence A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). Subject Every sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said. Tense The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens.

The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future. Verb A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state.

English Parts of Speech There are thousands of words in any language. But not all words have the same job. For example, some words express "action". Other words express a "thing". Other Some grammar books categorize English into words "join" one word to another word. 9 or 10 parts of speech. At English Club, we These are the "building blocks" of the use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of language. Think of them like the parts of speech (see Table for more details). a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of word has its own job. We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called "parts of speech". It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences. In this lesson, we have an overview of the eight parts of speech, followed by a quiz to check your understanding: • • •

Parts of Speech Table Parts of Speech Examples Words with More than One Job

Parts of Speech Table This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech. part of speech

function or "job"

example words

example sentences

Verb

action or state

(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must

EnglishClub.com is a web site. I like EnglishClub.com.

Noun

thing or person

pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John

This is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in London.

Adjective

describes a noun

a/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interesting

My dog is big. I like big dogs.

Adverb

describes a verb, adjective or adverb

quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really

My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.

Pronoun

replaces a noun

I, you, he, she, some

Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.

Preposition

links a noun to another word

to, at, after, on, but

We went to school on Monday.

Conjunction

joins clauses or sentences or words

and, but, when

I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.

Interjection

short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence

oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.

* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are: •

Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech: o Lexical Verbs (work, like, run) o Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)

•

Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives

Parts of Speech Examples »

Parts of Speech Examples Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech: verb

noun

verb

noun

verb verb

Stop!

John

works.

John

is

working.

pronoun

verb

noun

noun

verb

adjective

noun

She

loves

animals.

Animals

like

kind

people.

noun

verb

noun

adverb

noun

verb

adjective

noun

Tara

speaks

English

well.

Tara

speaks

good

English.

pronoun

verb

preposition

adjective noun

She

ran

to

the

adverb

station quickly.

pron.

verb adj.

noun

conjunction

pron.

verb

pron.

She

likes

snakes

but

I

hate

them.

big

Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech: interjection

pron.

conj.

adj.

noun

verb prep.

noun

adverb

Well,

she

and

young

John

walk to

school

slowly.

Words with More than One Job »

Words with More than One Job Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives. To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?" In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word but has six jobs to do: •

verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!

word

part of speech

example

work

noun

My work is easy.

verb

I work in London.

conjunction

John came but Mary didn't come.

preposition

Everyone came but Mary.

adjective

Are you well?

adverb

She speaks well.

interjection

Well! That's expensive!

but

well

afternoon noun

We ate in the afternoon.

noun acting as adjective We had afternoon tea.

What are Verbs? The verb is king in English. The shortest sentence contains a verb. You can make a one-word sentence with a verb, for example: "Stop!" You cannot make a one-word sentence with any other type of word. Verbs are sometimes described as "action words". This is partly true. Many verbs give the idea of action, of "doing" something. For example, words like run, fight, do and work all convey action. But some verbs do not give the idea of action; they give the idea of existence, of state, of "being". For example, verbs like be, exist, seem and belong all convey state. A verb always has a subject. (In the sentence "John speaks English", John is the subject and speaks is the verb.) In simple terms, therefore, we can say that verbs are words that tell us what a subject does or is; they describe: • •

action (Ram plays football.) state (Anthony seems kind.)

There is something very special about verbs in English. Most other words (adjectives, adverbs, prepositions etc) do not change in form (although nouns can have singular and plural forms). But almost all verbs change in form. For example, the verb to work has five forms: •

to work, work, works, worked, working

Of course, this is still very few forms compared to some languages which may have thirty or more forms for a single verb. In this lesson we look at the ways in which we classify verbs, followed by a quiz to test your understanding: • • •

Verb Classification Helping Verbs Main Verbs

Verb Classification We divide verbs into two broad classifications:

1. Helping Verbs Imagine that a stranger walks into your room and says: • • •

I can. People must. The Earth will.

Do you understand anything? Has this person communicated anything to you? Probably not! That's because these verbs are helping verbs and have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb. (The sentences in the above examples are therefore incomplete. They need at least a main verb to complete them.) There are only about 15 helping verbs.

2. Main Verbs Now imagine that the same stranger walks into your room and says: • • •

I teach. People eat. The Earth rotates.

Do you understand something? Has this person communicated something to you? Probably yes! Not a lot, but something. That's because these verbs are main verbs and have meaning on their own. They tell us something. Of course, there are thousands of main verbs. In the following table we see example sentences with helping verbs and main verbs. Notice that all of these sentences have a main verb. Only some of them have a helping verb. helping verb

main verb

John

likes

coffee.

You

lied

to me.

They

are

happy.

The children

are

playing.

We

must

go

now.

I

do

want

any.

not

Helping verbs and main verbs can be further sub-divided, as we shall see on the following pages. Helping Verbs »

Helping Verbs Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary grammatical structure of a sentence, but verbs". they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb (which has the real meaning). There are only about 15 helping verbs in English, and we divide them into two basic groups:

Primary helping verbs (3 verbs) These are the verbs be, do, and have. Note that we can use these three verbs as helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helping verbs. We use them in the following cases: •

be o o

•

•

to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.) to make the passive (Small fish are eaten by big fish.)

have o

to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)

o o o o

to make negatives (I do not like you.) to ask questions (Do you want some coffee?) to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.) to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He speaks faster than she does.)

do

Modal helping verbs (10 verbs) We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main verb in some way. A modal helping verb expresses necessity or possibility, and changes the main verb in that sense. These are the modal verbs: • • •

can, could may, might will, would,

• • •

shall, should must ought to

Here are examples using modal verbs: • • • • •

I can't speak Chinese. John may arrive late. Would you like a cup of coffee? You should see a doctor. I really must go now.

Main Verbs » Semi-modal verbs (3 verbs) The following verbs are often called "semimodals" because they are partly like modal helping verbs and partly like main verbs: • •

need dare

•

used to

Main Verbs Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".

Main verbs have meaning on their own (unlike helping verbs). There are thousands of main verbs, and we can classify them in several ways:

Transitive and intransitive verbs A transitive verb takes a direct object: Somebody killed the President. An intransitive verb does not have a direct object: He died. Many verbs, like speak, can be transitive or intransitive. Look at these examples: transitive: • • •

I saw an elephant. We are watching TV. He speaks English.

intransitive: • • •

He has arrived. John goes to school. She speaks fast.

Linking verbs A linking verb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the subject to what is said about the subject. Usually, a linking verb shows equality (=) or a change to a different state or place (>). Linking verbs are always intransitive (but not all intransitive verbs are linking verbs). • • • • •

Mary is a teacher. (mary = teacher) Tara is beautiful. (tara = beautiful) That sounds interesting. (that = interesting) The sky became dark. (the sky > dark) The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)

Dynamic and stative verbs Some verbs describe action. They are called "dynamic", and can be used with continuous tenses. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a situation). They are called "stative", and cannot normally be used with continuous tenses (though some of them can be used with continuous tenses with a change in meaning). dynamic verbs (examples): •

hit, explode, fight, run, go

stative verbs (examples): • • • • • •

be like, love, prefer, wish impress, please, surprise hear, see, sound belong to, consist of, contain, include, need appear, resemble, seem

Regular and irregular verbs This is more a question of vocabulary than of grammar. The only real difference between regular and irregular verbs is that they have different endings for their past tense and past participle forms. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle ending is always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them by heart. regular verbs: base, past tense, past participle • •

look, looked, looked work, worked, worked

irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle • • •

buy, bought, bought cut, cut, cut do, did, done

Here are lists of regular verbs and irregular verbs.

One way to think of regular and irregular verbs is like this: all verbs are irregular and the so-called regular verbs are simply one very large group of irregular verbs. Often the above divisions can be mixed. For example, one verb could be irregular, transitive and dynamic; another verb could be regular, transitive and stative.

Verb Forms English verbs come in several forms. For example, the verb to sing can be: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing or sings. This is a total of 6 forms. Not many, considering that some languages (French, for example) have more than 30 forms for an individual verb. English tenses may be quite complicated, but the forms that we use to make the tenses are actually very simple! With the exception of the verb to be, English main verbs have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. To be has 9 forms. Do not confuse verb forms with tenses. We use the different verb forms to make the tenses, but they are not the same thing. In this lesson we look at the forms of main verbs and helping (auxiliary) verbs, followed by a quiz to check your understanding: • •

Forms of Main Verbs Forms of Helping Verbs

Forms of Main Verbs Main verbs (except the verb "be") have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. "Be" has 9 forms. V1

regular

irregular

Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".

V2

V3

past simple

past participle

present participle

present simple, 3rd person singular

worked

worked

working

works

sung made cut

singing making cutting

sings makes cuts

infinitive

base

(to) work

work

(to) sing (to) make (to) cut

sing sang make made cut cut

(to) do* do (to) have* have

did had

done had

doing having

does has

infinitive

base

past simple

past participle

present participle

present simple

(to) be*

be

was, were

been

being

am, are, is

In the above examples: • • • •

to cut has 4 forms: to cut, cut, cutting, cuts to work has 5 forms: to work, work, worked, working, works to sing has 6 forms: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings to be has 9 forms: to be, be, was, were, been, being, am, is, are

The infinitive can be with or without to. For example, to sing and sing are both infinitives. We often call the infinitive without to the "bare infinitive". At school, students usually learn by heart the base, past simple and past participle (sometimes called V1, V2, V3, meaning Verb 1, Verb 2, Verb 3) for the irregular verbs. They may spend many hours chanting: sing, sang, sung; go, went, gone; have, had, had; etc. They do not learn these for the regular verbs because the past simple and past participle are always the same: they are formed by adding "-ed" to the base. They do not learn the present participle and 3rd person singular present simple by heart—for another very simple reason: they never change. The present participle is always made by adding "-ing" to the base, and the 3rd person singular present simple is always made by adding "s" to the base (though there are some variations in spelling). * Note that "do", "have" and "be" also function as helping or auxiliary verbs, with exactly the same forms (except that as helping verbs they are never in infinitive form).

Example Sentences These example sentences use main verbs in different forms.

Infinitive • • • • •

I want to work He has to sing. This exercise is easy to do. Let him have one. To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Base - Imperative • • • •

Work well! Make this. Have a nice day. Be quiet!

Base - Present simple (except 3rd person singular) • • •

I work in London. You sing well. They have a lot of money.

Base - After modal auxiliary verbs • • • •

I can work tomorrow. You must sing louder. They might do it. You could be right.

Past simple • • • •

I worked yesterday. She cut his hair last week. They had a good time. They were surprised, but I was not.

Past participle • • • •

I have worked here for five years. He needs a folder made of plastic. It is done like this. I have never been so happy.

Present participle • • • •

I am working. Singing well is not easy. Having finished, he went home. You are being silly!

3rd person singular, present simple • • • •

He works in London. She sings well. She has a lot of money. It is Vietnamese.

Forms of Helping Verbs »

Forms of Helping Verbs All helping verbs are used with a main verb (either expressed or understood*). There are 2 groups of helping verbs: • •

Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs".

Primary helping verbs, used mainly to change the tense or voice of the main verb, and in making questions and negatives. Modal helping verbs, used to change the "mood" of the main verb.

Study the table below. It shows the prinicipal forms and uses of helping verbs, and explains the differences between primary and modal helping verbs. * Sometimes we make a sentence that has a helping verb and seems to have no main verb. In fact, the main verb is "understood". Look at the following examples: • •

Question: Can you speak English? (The main verb speak is "expressed".) Answer: Yes, I can. (The main verb speak is not expressed. It is "understood" from the context. We understand: Yes, I can speak English.

But if somebody walked into the room and said "Hello. I can", we would understand nothing! Helping Verbs Primary do

Modal (to make simple tenses, and questions and negatives)

can

could

be

(to make continuous tenses, and the passive voice)

may

might

have

(to make perfect tenses)

will

would

shall

should

must ought (to) "Do", "be" and "have" as helping verbs have exactly the same forms as when they are main verbs (except that as helping verbs they are never used in infinitive forms). Primary helping verbs are followed by the main verb in a particular form: • •

do + V1 (base verb) be + -ing (present participle)

•

have + V3 (past participle)

Modal helping verbs are invariable. They always have the same form.

"Ought" is followed by the main verb in infinitive form. Other modal helping verbs are followed by the main verb in its base form (V1). •

ought + to... (infinitive)

•

other modals + V1 (base verb)

"Do", "be" and "have" can also function as main Modal helping verbs cannot function as verbs. main verbs

What is Tense? tense (noun): a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time).

Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time—past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods. So, we talk about time in English with tenses. But, and this is a very big but: • •

we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense) one tense does not always talk about one time (see Tense & Time for more about this)

Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.

Mood indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact, which can be positive (affirmative) or negative • •

I like coffee. I do not like coffee.

interrogative mood expresses a question

•

Why do you like coffee?

imperative mood expresses a command •

Sit down!

subjunctive mood expresses what is imagined or wished or possible •

The President ordered that he attend the meeting.

Voice Voice shows the relationship of the subject to the action. In the active voice, the subject does the action (cats eat mice). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (mice are eaten by cats). Among other things, we can use voice to help us change the focus of attention.

Aspect Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration. Present simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress with other tenses that: •

the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant), for example: I have emailed the report to Jane. (so now she has the report) (This is called perfective aspect, using perfect tenses.)

•

the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is, uncompleted), for example: We are eating. (This is called progressive aspect, using progressive [continuous] tenses.)

Tense & Time »

Tense & Time It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time. For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time: •

I hope it rains tomorrow. "rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)

Or a past tense does not always refer to past time: •

If I had some money now, I could buy it. "had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)

The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different times. TIME TENSE past

present

future

I want a coffee.

I leave tomorrow.

Present Simple She

likes

coffee.

I am taking my exam next month.

I am having dinner. Present Continuous They Present Perfect Simple Present Perfect Continuous

are

I have seen ET.

living

in

London.

I have finished.

I have been playing tennis. We have been working for four hours.

Past Simple

I finished one hour ago.

Past Continuous

I was working at 2am this morning.

Past Perfect Simple

I had not eaten for 24 hours.

Past Perfect Continuous

Future Simple Future Continuous

Future Perfect Simple

We had been working for 3 hours.

If she loved you now, she would marry you.

If you came tomorrow, you would see her.

If I had been working now, I would have missed you.

If I had been working tomorrow, I could not have agreed.

Hold on. I'll do it now.

I'll see you tomorrow. I will be working at 9pm tonight. I will have finished by 9pm tonight.

We will have been married for ten years next month.

Future Perfect Continuous

They may be tired when you arrive because they will have been working. In 30 minutes, we will have been working for four hours.

Basic Tenses »

Basic Tenses For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses. 24 Tenses

past

present

future*

simple tenses

past

present

future

complex tenses formed with auxiliary verbs

past perfect

present perfect

future perfect

past continuous

present continuous

future continuous

past perfect continuous

present perfect continuous

future perfect continuous

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

past

present

future

past perfect

present perfect

future perfect

past continuous

present continuous

future continuous

past perfect continuous

present perfect continuous

future perfect continuous

Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the same. The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.) The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the active voice. structure auxiliary

past

present

future*

I worked

I work

I will work

main verb

normal simple intensive

do

base

I did work

I do work

perfect

have

past participle

I had worked

I have worked

I will have worked

continuous

be

present participle -ing

I was working

I am working

I will be working

continuous perfect

have been

present participle -ing

I had been working

I have been working

I will have been working

* Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for convenience and comparison. Regular Verbs »

Basic Tenses: Regular Verb Regular verbs list This page shows the basic tenses with the regular verb work. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?). The basic structure is: positive: negative: question:

+ subject + auxiliary verb + main verb - subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb ? auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:

base verb past

past participle

present participle -ing

work

worked

working

worked

SIMPLE do + base verb (except future: will + base verb)

SIMPLE PERFECT have + past participle

CONTINUOUS be + ing

CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + ing

Irregular Verbs »

past

present

future

+

I did work I worked

I do work I work

I will work

-

I did not work

I do not work

I will not work

?

Did I work?

Do I work?

Will I work?

+

I had worked

I have worked

I will have worked

-

I had not worked

I have not worked

I will not have worked

?

Had I worked?

Have I worked?

Will I have worked?

+

I was working

I am working

I will be working

-

I was not working

I am not working

I will not be working

?

Was I working?

Am I working?

Will I be working?

+

I had been working

I have been working

I will have been working

-

I had not been working

I have not been working

I will not have been working

?

Had I been working?

Have I been working?

Will I have been working?

Regular Verbs List There are thousands of regular verbs in English. This is a list of 600 of the more common regular verbs. Note that there are some spelling variations in American English (for example, "practise" becomes "practice" in American English). • • • • • • •

accept add admire admit advise afford agree

• • • • • • •

allow amuse analyse announce annoy answer apologise

• • • • • • •

applaud appreciate approve argue arrange arrest arrive

•

alert back bake balance

•

appear beg behave belong

•

ask boil bolt bomb

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • • • •

attach attack attempt attend attract

•

avoid

• • •

brake branch breathe

• • • • • •

ban bang bare bat bathe battle

• • • • • •

bleach bless blind blink blot blush

• • • • • •

book bore borrow bounce bow box

• • • • • •

bruise brush bubble bump burn bury

•

beam calculate call camp care carry carve cause challenge change charge chase cheat check cheer

•

boast choke chop claim clap clean clear clip close coach coil collect colour comb command

•

brake compare compete complain complete concentrate concern confess confuse connect consider consist contain continue copy

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

buzz cough count cover crack crash crawl cross crush cry cure curl curve

•

cycle

chew dam damage dance dare decay deceive decide decorate delay

•

communicate deliver depend describe desert deserve destroy detect develop disagree

•

• • • • • •

dress drip drop drown drum dry

•

dust

delight earn educate embarrass employ empty

•

disappear end enjoy enter entertain escape

•

• •

explain explode

•

extend

encourage face fade fail

•

examine fetch file fill

•

• • •

force form found

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

• • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

• • •

correct disapprove disarm discover dislike divide double doubt drag drain dream excite excuse exercise exist expand expect flash float flood

• • • •

fancy fasten fax fear

• • • •

film fire fit fix

• • • •

flow flower fold follow

•

fence gather gaze glow

•

flap grab grate grease

•

fool grin grip groan

glue hammer hand handle hang happen

•

greet harm hate haunt head heal

•

harass identify ignore imagine impress improve

•

heap increase influence inform inject injure

•

include jail

•

instruct jog

•

jam kick

•

join kiss

•

kill label land last laugh

•

kneel learn level license lick

•

• • • • • • •

lie matter measure meddle melt memorise mend

•

• • • • • •

launch man manage march mark marry match

• • • • • •

live milk mine miss mix moan moor

•

mate

•

mess up

•

mourn

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • •

• • • • •

• • • • •

•

•

• • • •

• • •

• • • • •

• • • • •

•

•

• • • •

guarantee heat help hook hop hope hover intend interest interfere interrupt introduce invent joke judge knit knock lighten like list listen

• •

frame frighten

•

fry

• •

guard guess

•

guide

• • •

hug hum hunt

•

hurry

• •

invite irritate

•

itch

•

juggle

• •

jump knot

• • • •

load lock long look

• • • • •

love move muddle mug multiply

•

murder

•

nail

•

need

•

nod

•

notice

•

name obey object

•

nest obtain occur

•

note offer open

•

number overflow owe

observe pack paddle paint park part pass paste pat pause peck pedal peel peep

•

offend permit phone pick pinch pine place plan plant play please plug point poke

•

•

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

order pop possess post pour practise pray preach precede prefer prepare present preserve press

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

own prevent prick print produce program promise protect provide pull pump punch puncture punish

perform question race radiate rain raise reach realise receive recognise record reduce

•

polish queue refuse regret reign reject rejoice relax release rely remain remember

•

pretend

•

push

• • • • • • • • • •

remove repair repeat replace reply report reproduce request rescue retire

• • • • • • • • • •

rhyme rinse risk rob rock roll rot rub ruin rule

reflect sack sail satisfy save saw scare scatter scold scorch scrape

•

remind shiver shock shop shrug sigh sign signal sin sip ski

•

return soothe sound spare spark sparkle spell spill spoil spot spray

•

rush stop store strap strengthen stretch strip stroke stuff subtract succeed

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• •

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • •

• •

• • • • • • • • • •

• •

• • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

scratch scream screw scribble scrub seal search separate serve settle shade share shave

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

skip slap slip slow smash smell smile smoke snatch sneeze sniff snore snow

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

sprout squash squeak squeal squeeze stain stamp stare start stay steer step stir

•

shelter talk tame tap taste tease telephone tempt terrify test

•

soak thaw tick tickle tie time tip tire touch tour

•

stitch trace trade train transport trap travel treat tremble trick

thank undress

•

tow unite

• •

trip unpack

unfasten vanish wail wait walk wander want warm warn

•

•

untidy

• • • • • • •

unlock visit waste watch water wave weigh welcome whine

• • • • • • •

whirl whisper whistle wink wipe wish wobble

wash x-ray yawn zip

•

whip

•

wonder

•

yell •

zoom

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • •

•

•

• • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • •

suck suffer suggest suit supply support suppose surprise surround suspect suspend

•

switch

• • • • • • • •

trot trouble trust try tug tumble turn twist

•

type

•

use

• • • • •

work worry wrap wreck wrestle

•

wriggle

Basic Tenses: Irregular Verb Irregular verbs list This page shows the basic tenses with the irregular verb sing. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?). The basic structure is: positive: negative: question:

+ subject + auxiliary verb + main verb - subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb ? auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses: base verb past

past participle present participle -ing

sing

sung

sang

singing

past

present

future

SIMPLE do + base verb (except future: will + base verb)

SIMPLE PERFECT have + past participle

CONTINUOUS be + -ing

CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + -ing

+

I did sing I sang

I do sing I sing

I will sing

-

I did not sing

I do not sing

I will not sing

?

Did I sing?

Do I sing?

Will I sing?

+

I had sung

I have sung

I will have sung

-

I had not sung

I have not sung

I will not have sung

?

Had I sung?

Have I sung?

Will I have sung?

+

I was singing

I am singing

I will be singing

-

I was not singing

I am not singing

I will not be singing

?

Was I singing?

Am I singing?

Will I be singing?

+

I had been singing

I have been singing

I will have been singing

-

I had not been singing

I have not been singing

I will not have been singing

?

Had I been singing?

Have I been singing?

Will I have been singing?

The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs is exactly the same (except to be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past and past participle are always the same (worked, worked), while with irregular verbs the past and past participle are not always the same (sang, sung). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that. Be »

Irregular Verbs List This is a list of some irregular verbs in English. Of course, there are many others, but these are the more common irregular verbs. Base Form

Past Simple

Past Participle

awake

awoke

awoken

be

was, were

been

beat

beat

beaten

become

became

become

begin

began

begun

bend

bent

bent

bet

bet

bet

bid

bid

bid

bite

bit

bitten

blow

blew

blown

break

broke

broken

bring

brought

brought

broadcast

broadcast

broadcast

build

built

built

burn

burned/burnt

burned/burnt

buy

bought

bought

catch

caught

caught

choose

chose

chosen

come

came

come

cost

cost

cost

cut

cut

cut

dig

dug

dug

do

did

done

draw

drew

drawn

dream

dreamed/dreamt

dreamed/dreamt

drive

drove

driven

drink

drank

drunk

eat

ate

eaten

fall

fell

fallen

feel

felt

felt

fight

fought

fought

find

found

found

fly

flew

flown

forget

forgot

forgotten

forgive

forgave

forgiven

freeze

froze

frozen

get

got

gotten

give

gave

given

go

went

gone

grow

grew

grown

hang

hung

hung

have

had

had

hear

heard

heard

hide

hid

hidden

hit

hit

hit

hold

held

held

hurt

hurt

hurt

keep

kept

kept

know

knew

known

lay

laid

laid

lead

led

led

learn

learned/learnt

learned/learnt

leave

left

left

lend

lent

lent

let

let

let

lie

lay

lain

lose

lost

lost

make

made

made

mean

meant

meant

meet

met

met

pay

paid

paid

put

put

put

read

read

read

ride

rode

ridden

ring

rang

rung

rise

rose

risen

run

ran

run

say

said

said

see

saw

seen

sell

sold

sold

send

sent

sent

show

showed

showed/shown

shut

shut

shut

sing

sang

sung

sit

sat

sat

sleep

slept

slept

speak

spoke

spoken

spend

spent

spent

stand

stood

stood

swim

swam

swum

take

took

taken

teach

taught

taught

tear

tore

torn

tell

told

told

think

thought

thought

throw

threw

thrown

understand

understood

understood

wake

woke

woken

wear

wore

worn

win

won

won

write

wrote

written

Basic Tenses: Be This page shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?). The basic structure is: positive: negative: question:

+ subject + auxiliary verb + main verb - subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb ? auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

But for simple past and simple present tenses, the structure is not the same. In fact, it's even easier. There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure:

positive: negative: question:

+ subject + main verb - subject + main verb + not ? main verb + subject

These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses: base past simple

past participle present participle

present simple

be

been

am, are, is

was, were

SIMPLE present simple or past simple (except future: will + be)

SIMPLE PERFECT have + been

CONTINUOUS be + being

CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + being

being

past

present

future

+

I was

I am

I will be

-

I was not

I am not

I will not be

?

Was I?

Am I?

Will I be?

+

I had been

I have been

I will have been

-

I had not been

I have not been

I will not have been

?

Had I been?

Have I been?

Will I have been?

+

I was being

I am being

I will be being

-

I was not being

I am not being

I will not be being

?

Was I being?

Am I being?

Will I be being?

+

I had been being

I have been being

I will have been being

-

I had not been being

I have not been being

I will not have been being

?

Had I been being?

Have I been being?

Will I have been being?

In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12 basic tenses.

SIMPLE

singular

plural

past

present

future

I

was

am

will be

you

were

are

will be

he/she/it

was

is

will be

we

were

are

will be

you

were

are

will be

they

were

are

will be

past

present

future

I

had been

have been

will have been

you

had been

have been

will have been

he/she/it

had been

has been

will have been

we

had been

have been

will have been

you

had been

have been

will have been

they

had been

have been

will have been

past

present

future

I

was being

am being

will be being

you

were being

are being

will be being

he/she/it

was being

is being

will be being

we

were being

are being

will be being

you

were being

are being

will be being

they

were being

are being

will be being

past

present

future

PERFECT

singular

plural

CONTINUOUS

singular

plural

CONTINUOUS PERFECT

singular

plural

I

had been being

have been being

will have been being

you

had been being

have been being

will have been being

he/she/it

had been being

has been being

will have been being

we

had been being

have been being

will have been being

you

had been being

have been being

will have been being

they

had been being

have been being

will have been being