Forms of Verbs

There are five forms of verbs. Apart from this, there are regular and irregular forms of verbs. Let’s study them.

verbs

Base Form

The base form is the plain, infinitive or dictionary form.

Used when the verb’s action happens in the present and the subject is:

  • a plural noun, or
  • the first person pronoun (I, we), or
  • second person pronoun (you), or
  • third person plural pronoun (they).

$V_{S/ES}$ Form

The -s form of a verb is made from the base form of that verb.

Used when the verb’s action is in the present and the subject is third-person singular.

Third-person singular is:

  • a singular noun (examples: table, Geetanjali), or
  • a singular indefinite pronoun (examples: someone, everybody), or
  • personal pronoun (he, she, it).
So, Regular verbs in simple present tense have the same form for all persons and all numbers (singular or plural), except third person singular, which ends in -s.

Making $V_{S/ES}$ Form

Type 1

If the verb ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o or -z, then -es is added to make the third person singular present simple.

Base form$V_{S/ES}$ Form
catchcatches
passpasses
wishwishes
fixfixes
gogoes

Type 2

consonant + y → we change y to i and add -es

try - tries

Type 3

In all other cases we just add -s

eat - eats

The past simple of regular verbs ends in -ed for all persons and numbers.

Past and Past Participle forms

Based on how past and past participle forms of a verb are formed, they have been divided into two types – Regular and Irregular verbs.

Let’s see some examples of regular and irregular verbs

Regular Verbs

Type 1

Most of the Regular verbs form their past tense and past participle by adding ed to the verb’s base form.

Base FormPast TensePast Participle
walkwalkedwalked
jumpjumpedjumped
paintpaintedpainted

Type 2

If the base form already ends in -e, then to make the past form and the past participle form we just add -d.

Base FormPast TensePast Participle
agreeagreedagreed
likelikedliked
diedieddied
The final -e is not used in the -ing form.

Type 3

If the base form ends in a consonant plus -y, then to make the past form and the past participle form we just change -y to -ied.

Base FormPast TensePast Participle
carrycarriedcarried
studystudiedstudied
fryfriedfried
The -y ending does not change in the -ing form.

Iregular Verbs

There is no definite rule as such when it comes to forming past tense and past participle forms of irregular verbs.

Base FormPast TensePast Participle
sitsatsat
ringrangrung
comecamecome
cutcutcut

We distinguish three types of irregular verbs:

  • Verbs in which all three forms are the same (e.g. cut - cut - cut)
  • Verbs in which two of the three forms are the same (e.g. sit - sat - sat)
  • Verbs in which all three forms are different (e.g. ring - rang - rung)

Type 1: All three forms are the same

Base FormPast TensePast Participle
betbetbet
costcostcost
hithithit
hurthurthurt

Type 2: Two of the forms are the same

There are 3 possibilities here:

  • Base Form and Past Tense Form are the same
  • Base Form and Past Participle Form are the same
  • Past Tense Form and Past Participle Form are the same
Base FormPast TensePast Participle
beatbeatbeaten
bendbentbent
comecamecome
bringbroughtbrought

Type 3: All three forms are different

Base FormPast TensePast Participle
bewas/werebeen
beginbeganbegun
breakbrokebroken
drivedrovedriven

The only verb with more than 5 forms is ‘be’.

That’s because it has different forms for different persons in case of Simple Present and Simple Past tenses.

  • The verb ‘be’ has 3 present tense forms: am, is, are (all other verbs have one form).
    I am, She/He/It is, You/We/They are

  • The verb ‘be’ has 2 past tense forms: was, were (all other verbs have one form).
    I/She/He/It was, You/We/They were

  • The verb ‘be’ has 1 past participle form: been (other verbs have one or two past participle forms).

  • The verb ‘be’ has 1 present participle form: being.

  • The verb ‘be’ does not have any $V_{s/es}$ form.

Alternative past participle form

There are certain verbs with two distinct past participle ($V_3$) forms. In such cases, one form is usually used as an adjective form.

Here’s a list of the verbs that have an alternative past participle form (generally ending in ‘en’), which can only be used adjectivally, e.g. Spoken English, Revised edition, Written document.

Base FormUsual Past ParticipleAdjectival Past Participle
drinkdrunkdrunken
learnlearntlearned
proveprovedproven
shearshearedshorn

Compare the following:

Workers have loaded the trucks with bamboos.
Trees were laden with fruits.

He has proved it.
It’s a proven fact.

Present tense ($V_1$ /base form and $V_{e/es}$ form) and Past tense ($V_2$) form can function as main verb in a sentence.

I drink milk every night. (drink - $V_1$)
She works at the factory. (works - $V_{e/es}$)
He opened the door of the car. (opened - $V_2$)

Present form of the verb or first form, expresses the simple and future present tense (for future tense we use modal verb + $V_1$, e.g. will play). Similarly, the past form of the verb, or the second form, expresses the simple past tense (also called the past indefinite tense).

Past participle ($V_3$) and Present participle ($V_4$/$V_{ing}$) form cannot function as the main verb alone. They are non-finite verbs and so they need helping verbs ‘have’ and ‘be’ (i.e. finite verbs) to function as the main verb in a sentence. $V_3$ and $V_4$ will always be the non-finite part of any verb phrase.

I have given one week’s notice. (have – helping verb; given - $V_3$)
They were playing a piano. (were – helping verb; playing – $V_4$)

While making passive voice too, past participles need ‘be’, i.e. be + past participle.

However, Past participles can function as an adjective too. And when acting as an adjective, they do not need a helping verb.

Also, as we saw earlier, some Past participles ($V_3$) have a dedicated form for working as an adjective. That is, they have two forms:

  • one form is used while they are part of a verb phrase, and
  • another form is used when they function as an adjective in a sentence.

We will learn more about using these various forms of verbs to make different tenses in the tenses module.

Extra Books and Tools


If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.
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