Verbs and Verb Tenses

Verb Forms

Each verb has three primary forms. The base form is used for simple present tense, and the past form is used for simple past tense. The participle form is used for more complicated time situations. Participle form verbs are accompanied by a helping verb.

Base Form	Past Form	Participle Form
end	ended	ended
jump	jumped	jumped
explain	explained	explained
eat	ate	eaten
take	took	taken
go	went	gone
come	came	come

Some verbs are regular. To make the past or participle form of a regular verb, we just add -ed. However, many verbs that we commonly use are irregular. We need to memorize the forms for these verbs.

In the chart above, end, jump, and explain are regular verbs. Eat, take, go, and come  are irregular.

Using Verbs

A simple sentence has a subject and a verb. The subject tells us who or what, and the verb tells us the action or state.

Example	Subject	Verb	Explanation/Time
They ate breakfast together yesterday.	They	ate	happened yesterday
I walk to school.	I	walk	happens regularly
We went to California last year.	we	went	happened yesterday
She seems really tired.	She	seems	how she seems right now
The teacher is sad.	teacher	is	her state right now

You can see from the examples in this chart that past tense verbs are used for a time in the past, and present tense verbs are used for something that happens regularly or for a state or condition right now.

Often a sentence has more than one verb. If it has a connector word or more than one subject, it can have more than one verb.

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Be Careful!

When you have more than one verb in a sentence, make sure both verb tenses are correct.

• The two cousins live, work, and vacation together. (3 verbs)

• The girls planned by phone, and then they met at the movies. (2 verbs)

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TEAS Test English: Helping Verbs and Progressive and Perfect Tenses

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Helping Verbs

A helping verb is a supporting verb that accompanies a main verb.

Questions, negative sentences, and certain time situations require helping verbs.

forms of helping verb “to be”	forms of helping verb “to have”	forms of helping verb “to do”	some modals (used like helping verbs)
am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been	have, has, had, having	do, does, did, doing	will, would, can, could, must, might, should

Here are examples of helping verbs in questions and negatives.

• Where is  he going?
• Did  they win?
• I don’t want that.
• The boys can‘t go.

Progressive and Perfect Tenses

Helping verbs accompany main verbs in certain time situations, such as when an action is or was ongoing, or when two actions overlap in time. To form these tenses, we use a helping verb with the base form plus -ing or with the participle form of the main verb.

The progressive tense is used for an action that is or was ongoing. It takes base form of the main verb plus -ing.

Example sentence	Tense	Explanation/Time
I am taking French this semester.	Present progressive	happening now, over a continuous period of time
I was working when you stopped by.	Past progressive	happened over a continuous period of time in the past

The perfect tense is used to cover two time periods. It takes the participle form of the main verb.

Example sentence	Tense	Explanation/Time
I have lived here for three years.	Present perfect	started in the past and continues to present
I had finished half of my homework when my computer stopped working.	Past perfect	started and finished in the past, overlapping in time with another action

Sometimes we use both the progressive and perfect tenses together.

Example sentence	Tense	Explanation/Time
I have been walking for hours!	Present perfect progressive	started in the past, took place for a period of time, and continues to present
She had been asking for a raise for months before she finally received one.	Past perfect progressive	started in the past, took place for a period of time, and ended

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Let’s Review!

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• A verb describes an action or state of being.
• Each verb has three primary forms: base form, past form, and participle form.
• Verbs have different tenses, which are used to show time.
• Helping verbs are used in questions, negative sentences, and to form progressive and perfect tenses.