In a sentence or context, verbs in the English language are utilized to express the activity that the subject has performed. In English, there are five primary verb tenses. Let’s explore each of them in more detail.
What is a Verb Form?
A verb form is a means to shape or change a verb to fit the context that relates to an action that is performed at a particular moment. The five verb tenses used in English include root verb, present participle, simple past, and past participle in the third person singular.
Root Verb with Examples
The verb’s original form, without any inflection or modification, is known as the root verb. The other verb forms are built upon the root form of the verb as its foundation. Remember that not all verbs behave in this way. Only for normal verbs does the root form of the verb change when it is conjugated to represent different forms of the verb. Unusual verbs are conjugated in various ways that differ from one another.
Root verbs most often indicate the simple present tense. Let’s look at the phrases in which the root verb is utilized in the instances below.
Examples of Root Verbs:
I love watching movies with my friends. (Root verb – love)
I finish my homework before 6 p.m. every day. (Root verb – finish)
You play really well. (Root verb – play)
You are beautiful. (Root verb – be)
The verbs “love,” “finish,” “play,” and “are” are employed in their original forms in the examples above and are hence referred to as root verbs.
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Present Tense in the Third Person Singular With Examples
The simple present tense of the verb is expressed using the third person singular form of the verb. When it comes to ordinary verbs, the third person singular form is denoted by adding an’s’ or a ‘es’ to the end of the original verb.
Examples of Third Person Singular Present Form:
- Tom likes having cereal for breakfast.
Root verb – like, Third person singular form – likes
- Sheela teaches English to sixth-grade students.
Root verb – teach, Third person singular form – teaches
- My father reads the newspaper every day.
Root verb – read, Third person singular form – reads
- The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Root verb – rise, set; Third person singular form – rises, sets
Examples of the Present Participle Form of the Verb
An “ing” is added to the base form/root verb to create the present participle form of the verb. In some circumstances, the final consonant of a monosyllabic word that ends in a vowel and a consonant is doubled before the final ‘ing’ is added. In most instances, the ‘ing’ is added instead of the ‘e’ for verbs that end in a ‘e. A few verbs, though, transform to the present participle form of the verb while keeping the ‘e’ in the base form.
The continuous/progressive tenses of the verb utilise this form to show that the action is still in process. Verbs can also be changed into nouns that describe an action using this technique.
Examples of Present Participle Form:
- Words that have double consonants
- Run – Running
- Swim – Swimming
- Forget – Forgetting
- Sit – Sitting
- Cut – Cutting
- Examples of regular verbs converted to the present participle form
- Cry – crying
- Try – Trying
- Read – Reading
- Write – Writing (‘e’ is removed)
- Age – Ageing (‘e’ is retained)
Verb’s Simple Past Tense With Examples
An activity that occurred in the past is indicated by the verb’s simple past form. Usually, the basic verb is modified by adding an “ed” or “d” (for nouns ending in “e”). There are several irregular verbs that deviate from the pattern, though. Let’s examine a couple of instances of the verb’s simple past form.
Examples of Simple Past Form:
- Regular verbs in the simple past form
- Cheat – Cheated
- Dodge – Dodged
- Jump – Jumped
- Skip – Skipped
- Iron – Ironed
- Verbs that take the same form as the root verb in the simple past form of the verb
- Read – Read
- Cut – Cut
- Put – Put
- Let – Let
- Hit – Hit
- Hurt – Hurt
- Irregular verb forms
- Run – Ran
- Sit – Sat
- Sing – Sang
- Throw – Threw
- Fly – Flew
- Bring – Brought
- Buy – Bought
- Think – Though
- Ring – Rang
- Find – Found
- Lose – Lost
- Meet – Met
Examples of the Past Participle Form of the Verb
The perfect tense of a verb is denoted by its past participle form. In contrast to irregular verbs, which may change in spelling when employed as a past participle, regular verbs retain both their simple past form and past participle. To help us understand better, let’s look at a few examples.
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Examples of Past Participle Form:
- Verbs that take the same spelling in the simple past and past participle forms of the verb
| Root Verb | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| Read | Read | Read |
| Sit | Sat | Sat |
| Think | Thought | Thought |
| Throw | Threw | Threw |
| Cut | Cut | Cut |
| Buy | Bought | Bought |
| Stand | Stood | Stood |
| Pull | Pulled | Pulled |
| Draw | Drew | Drew |
| Tumble | Tumbled | Tumbled |
- Verbs that take a different spelling when used in the simple past form and the past participle form
| Root Verb | Simple Past | Past Participle |
| Drink | Drank | Drunk |
| Sing | Sang | Sung |
| Ring | Rang | Rung |
| Choose | Chose | Chosen |
| Write | Wrote | Written |
Test Your Knowledge of the Five Forms of Verbs
Why not check your understanding of the five different verb forms? Fill in the blanks with the suitable form of the verb in the following sentences.
1. I _____ (go) to school everyday.
2. Teena ______ (love) ice cream.
3. Did you ________ (find) the pink dress I _____ (ask) for?
4. I will _______ (come) to the party tomorrow.
5. My mom ________ (clean) the house yesterday evening.
6. My name ______ (to be) Sheena D’Souza.
7. That bottle _______ (belong) to me.
8. My son, Sid can _________ (count) up to fifty.
9. Freddy will be _______ (go) to work tomorrow.
10. Joshua ______ (play) football.
Check your answers here.
1. I go to school everyday.
2. Teena loves ice cream.
3. Did you find the pink dress I asked for?
4. I will come to the party tomorrow.
5. My mom cleaned the house yesterday evening.
6. My name is Sheena D’Souza.
7. That bottle belongs to me.
8. My son, Sid can count up to fifty.
9. Freddy will be going to work tomorrow.
10. Joshua plays football.
Frequently Asked Questions on Verb Forms in English
What is the verb form?
There are up to five forms for each verb: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.
What are the five verb forms in English?
Verbs can be said to have five forms in English: the base form, the present tense form (which may include the agreement ending -s), the past tense form, the present participle, and the past participle.
What is the simple past form of the verb?
Simple past tense verbs—also called past simple or preterite—show action that occurred and was completed at a particular time in the past. The simple past tense of regular verbs is marked by the ending -d or -ed. Irregular verbs have a variety of endings.
