Verbs
Verbs are words that allow us to 'do' things. Actions be they physical, mental or unconscious. Any process is a 'verb'.
Verbs come in 'Tenses' or 'Moods' which distinguish when the action is taking place.
All languages have ways of marking tense be it with extra words, different word endings or otherwise.
Verbs also change depend on who is speaking. Unlike some languages, English verbs are almost always accompanied by a subject pronoun before the verb to let us know who is doing the action.
On this page
Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative.
Simple Tenses, Continuous Tenses, Perfect Tenses, Imperfect Tenses and the conditional.
When to use each tense
Each tense with examples.
On this page
Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative.
Simple Tenses, Continuous Tenses, Perfect Tenses, Imperfect Tenses and the conditional.
When to use each tense
Each tense with examples.
Conjugation types
Conjugation is the form of taking the base form (see further down on this page) and changing the ending to match the person and tense.
Affirmative - a simple statement. I play
Negative - a denial or negation. I don't play
Closed Interrogative - A yes or no question: Do you play?
Open Interrogative - An open question: Where do you play?
Interrogatives can be formed using 'Do' for if an action is carried out:
Does she ride her bike everyday?
Or, using 'Be' if it is about a characterstic or quality.
Is it 2:30 yet?
Conjugation types
Conjugation is the form of taking the base form (see further down on this page) and changing the ending to match the person and tense.
Affirmative - a simple statement. I play
Negative - a denial or negation. I don't play
Closed Interrogative - A yes or no question: Do you play?
Open Interrogative - An open question: Where do you play?
Interrogatives can be formed using 'Do' for if an action is carried out:
Does she ride her bike everyday?
Or, using 'Be' if it is about a characterstic or quality.
Is it 2:30 yet?
Contractions
A contraction is when an apostrophe is used to skip writing and pronouncing some letters.
I am can sometimes be I'm
Do not is often written as don't.
More on contractions can be found under 'others' on the grammar page
Conjugation types
Conjugation is the form of taking the base form (see further down on this page) and changing the ending to match the person and tense.
Affirmative - a simple statement. I play
Negative - a denial or negation. I don't play
Closed Interrogative - A yes or no question: Do you play?
Open Interrogative - An open question: Where do you play?
Interrogatives can be formed using 'Do' for if an action is carried out:
Does she ride her bike everyday?
Or, using 'Be' if it is about a characterstic or quality.
Is it 2:30 yet?
Simple present
The simple present is formed by the base form +s or +es on the third person plural form
Simple Past
The simple past in regular verbs is the base form +ed.
Simple Future
The simple future is formed by using the modal auxiliary 'will' with the base form.
Auxiliaries
To do, to be and to have aside from being stand alone verbs can also be auxiliary verbs which means they have a grammatical function.
To do means to carry out or complete an action.
Grammatically it is used in negative and interrogative conjugations.
To be means to exist or to possess a certain quality or trait be it permanent or temporary.
Grammatically to be allows us to form the continuous tenses, or to ask certain questions.
To have means to own or possess.
It can also be used to make the perfect tenses.
Continuous Tenses
The continuous tense is made by conjugating the verb to be in either the simple present, past or future tense and adding the gerund.
Perfect Tenses
The perfect tense is made by conjugating the verb to have in either the simple present, past or future tense and adding the past participle.
The Imperfect Tense
The imperfect tense is formed with the verb 'to use' and the infinitive.
Because it is used only in referring to the past, however, it is only seen in the affirmative past (with ed) or in the negative and interrogative using 'did'
Conditionals
Conditional tenses are used when there is an 'if' statement, where a situation can have multiple outcomes.
The most common conditional is to use the modal auxiliary 'would' and the base form, otherwise know as the second conditional. There are more than one type and they are listed here.
The second conditional is the one you are most likely to see:
I would go to the zoo if I had a car
If I had a car, I would go to the zoo.
the past tense always follows the 'if'
Other verb info
Here is a guide with examples and descriptions for the terms used with verbs, and their usage.
Some of the may terms vary but the functions remain the same.
The best way to learn irregular verbs is to make a table like this that includes at least the base form, the simple past and the past participle of each verb.
Some tenses are used in more than one way or to express different tenses.
The Future can be expressed using the simple future with 'will' or by using the continuous.
Will is mainly used for making a decision, and going to is used to express the decision after.
Ryan: I will go to the party tonight!
Lisa: Hey Ryan, do you have any plans tonight?
Ryan: Yeah, I'm going to that party!
Lisa: Oh okay, I'll go too, then.
Ryan decides to go to the party, later Lisa asks him what he is doing and he tells her using the present continuous. Lisa then decides she will go to the party also.
More info:
https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/will-and-going-to
Finally, here is a basic list of the tense names and what they look like in English.
