Verbs: the three basic forms
Main verbs have three basic forms: the base form, the past form and the-edform (sometimes called the ‘-edparticiple’):
base form: used as the infinitive form, withtoor withoutto(Do you wantto comewith us? I can’tleavenow.) and for the present simple (I alwaysreadbefore Igoto sleep every night.) except third person singular, which uses the -sform (Sheworksat the university.)
past form: used for the past simple (Heopenedthe door andwentout.)
-edform: used after auxiliaryhaveandbe(I’vealwayswanteda piano and Iwasgivenone 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 issing, the past form issangand the-edform issung:
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 form | past simple | -edform |
open | opened | opened |
love | loved | loved |
watch | watched | watched |
swim | swam | swum |
go | went | gone |
make | made | made |
put | put | put |
Pronunciation and meaning
Some verbs have a similar pronunciation but a different meaning:
We love to justlieon the beach.
Not:We love to just lay on the beach.
Lie/lay/lainis used without an object.Lay/laid/laidmust have an object: e.g.I’lllay the tablethen we can eat.
Other verbs like this are:affect/effect, bare/bear, fine/find, note/notice,raise/rise.
Sometimes a verb is confused with another word which sounds similar but is from a different word class:
I don’t want tolosecontact with my school friends.
Not:I don’t want to loose contact with my school friends.
(Loseis a verb.Looseis an adjective, e.g.These shoes are tooloose;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-ingto the base form to make the -ingform, and-edto the base form to make the past simple and the-edform.
base form | -ingform | past simple | -edform |
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-dis added to make the past form and the-edform. The final -eis not used in the-ingform.
base form | -ingform | past simple | -edform |
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-ychanges to-iedto make the past form and the-edform. The -yending does not change in the-ingform.
base form | -ingform | past simple | -edform |
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 form | -ingform | past simple | -edform |
commit | committing | committed | committed |
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 form | -ingform | past simple | -edform |
travel | travelling | travelled | travelled |
control | controlling | controlled | controlled |
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.Iandweindicate the first person,you(singular and plural) indicates the second person andhe, she, it, theyand noun subjects indicate the third person. Regular verbs have the same form for all persons, but third person singular present simple ends in-s:
IloveJapanese food.
My sisterliveswith two other students.
Theyworkedfor a French company based in London.
Shearrivedat 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:
Welovehistorical dramas on TV.
Theylivedin a huge house in the country somewhere.
Heworksterribly hard.
He alwaysarrivedlate.
Tense (present/past)
Tense indicates whether the verb is present or past. The past simple of regular verbs ends in-edfor all persons and numbers:
Theylovedeverything about Australia.
Shelivedin Spain for a couple of years.
Iworkedon Saturday so I stayed at home on Monday.
The policearrivedwithin minutes.
We always need anein the-edform (past simple and-edform) of regular verbs:
I don’t know whathappenedat 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 -esending
If the verb ends in-ch, -s, -ss, -sh, -xor-z, then-esis added to make the third person singular present simple.
watch | watches |
|
pass | passes |
|
wish | wishes |
|
fix | fixes |
|
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-edform.
Some irregular verbs have the same form for the base, the past simple and the-edform, e.g.hit, hit, hit; let, let, let; put, put, put.
Some irregular verbs share a form for the past simple and-edform 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-dand a past simple and-edform 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-edform, e.g.drink, drank, drunk; go, went, gone; take, took, taken.
See also:
Irregular verbs
Be
The verbbehas different forms for different persons in the present simple and past simple.
base form | present simple | past simple | -edform | ||
be | I she, he, it you, we, they | am is are | I, she, he, it you, we, they | was were | been |
See also:
Be