In English there are several different kinds of verbs. All verbs except modal auxiliary ("helping") verbs have at least three distinct forms:- the simple (or uninflected or base) form: dance, play, type, hurry, concentrate, communicate, pull, lives, cut, put, bring, run, sing, drink, speak, write
- the 3rd person singular present tense (or -s) form: dances, plays, types, hurries, concentrates, communicates, pulls, lives, cuts, puts, brings, runs, sings, drinks, speaks,writes
- the present (or -ing) participle and gerund form: dancing, playing, typing, hurrying, concentrating, communicating, pulling, living, cutting, putting, running, bringing, singing, drinking, speaking, writing
A few irregular verbs have only these three forms -- verbs like cut and put. The past tense and the past participle forms of these verbs are the same as the simple forms.Most verbs are regular. Regular verbs and some irregular verbs (like bring) have four forms, the three above, a fourth form which serves as both the past tense and the past participle form: - the past tense and past participle form: danced, played, typed, hurried, concentrated, communicated, pulled, lived, brought
A small number of irregular verbs have four forms, the top three and a past tense form which is distinct from the past participle form. The simple form of this kind of irregular verb is used where a past participle form would be used.Some irregular verbs have five distinct forms: the three forms that all verbs have and a separate past tense and past participle form.- the past tense form: sang, drank, spoke, wrote
- the past participle form: sung, drunk, spoken, written
| Simple Form | -s Form | Past Tense Form | -ing Form | Past Participle Form | | Regular | help | helps | helped | helping | helped | | carry | carries | carried | carrying | carried | | clutch | clutches | clutched | clutching | clutched | | Irregular | cut | cuts | cut | cutting | cut | | bring | brings | brought | bringing | brought | | run | runs | ran | running | run | | fall | falls | fell | falling | fallen | | drink | drinks | drank | drinking | drunk |
The verb be
The verb be has more forms than any other verb. It has a simple form, an -ing participle form, a past participle form, a first person singular present tense form, a third person present tense (-s) form, a plural present tense form, a singular past tense form, and a plural past tense form: - the simple form: be
- the -ing participle form: being
- the past participle: been
- the first person singular present tense form: am
- the third person present tense (-s) form: is
- the plural present tense form: are
- the singular past tense form: was
- the plural past tense form: were
The modal auxiliaries
Each modal auxiliary has only one form : can, could, shall, should,
will, would, may, might, and must.
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