7.7: Overview of Verb Forms

Learning Objectives

1. Use the correct regular verb forms in basic sentences.
2. Use the correct irregular verb forms in basic sentences.
3. Use the correct gerund or infinitive form in sentences.

Regular Verb Forms

Verbs in English can change forms in five basic ways:

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): Regular Verbs

BASE	PAST	PAST PARTICIPLE	3rd PERSON SINGULAR	PROGRESSIVE
TALK	TALKED	TALKED	TALKS	TALKING
JUMP	JUMPED	JUMPED	JUMPS	JUMPING

Verbs also can indicate actions or states of being in the past, present, or future using tenses. Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from the present to past tense. For example, to form a past-tense or past-participle verb form, add -ed or -d to the end of a verb. You can avoid mistakes by understanding this basic pattern.

Verb tense identifies the time of action described in a sentence. Verbs take different forms to indicate different tenses. Verb tenses indicate

• an action or state of being in the present,
• an action or state of being in the past,
• an action or state of being in the future.

Helping verbs, such as be and have, also work to create verb tenses, such as the future tense.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Irregular Verb Forms

The past tense of irregular verbs is not formed using the patterns that regular verbs follow. Study the chart below which lists the most common irregular verbs.

The best way to learn irregular verbs is to memorize them. With the help of a classmate, create flashcards of irregular verbs and test yourselves until you master them.

Table \(\PageIndex{2}\): Irregular Verbs

Simple Present	Past	Simple Present	Past
be	was, were	lose	lost
become	became	make	made
begin	began	mean	meant
blow	blew	meet	met
break	broke	pay	paid
bring	brought	put	put
build	built	quit	quit
burst	burst	read	read
buy	bought	ride	rode
catch	caught	ring	rang
choose	chose	rise	rose
come	came	run	ran
cut	cut	say	said
dive	dove (dived)	see	saw
do	did	seek	sought
draw	drew	sell	sold
drink	drank	send	sent
drive	drove	set	set
eat	ate	shake	shook
fall	fell	shine	shone (shined)
feed	fed	shrink	shrank (shrunk)
feel	felt	sing	sang
fight	fought	sit	sat
find	found	sleep	slept
fly	flew	speak	spoke
forget	forgot	spend	spent
forgive	forgave	spring	sprang
freeze	froze	stand	stood
get	got	steal	stole
give	gave	strike	struck
go	went	swim	swam
grow	grew	swing	swung
have	had	take	took
hear	heard	teach	taught
hide	hid	tear	tore
hold	held	tell	told
hurt	hurt	think	thought
keep	kept	throw	threw
know	knew	understand	understood
lay	laid	wake	woke
lead	led	wear	wore
leave	left	win	won
let	let	wind	wound

Here we see the irregular verb in the past tense.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\):

Complete the following sentences by selecting the correct form of the irregular verb in simple present, simple past, or simple future tense. Copy the corrected sentence onto your own sheet of paper.

1. Marina finally (forgived, forgave, will forgive) her sister for snooping around her room.
2. The house (shook, shaked, shakes) as the airplane rumbled overhead.
3. I (buyed, bought, buy) several items of clothing at the thrift store on Wednesday.
4. She (put, putted, puts) the lotion in her shopping basket and proceeded to the checkout line.
5. The prized goose (layed, laid, lay) several golden eggs last night.
6. Mr. Batista (teached, taught, taughted) the class how to use correct punctuation.
7. I (drink, drank, will drink) several glasses of sparkling cider instead of champagne on New Year’s Eve next year.
8. Although Hector (growed, grew, grows) three inches in one year, we still called him “Little Hector.”
9. Yesterday our tour guide (lead, led, will lead) us through the maze of people in Times Square.
10. The rock band (burst, bursted, bursts) onto the music scene with their catchy songs.

Gerunds

A gerund is a form of a verb that is used as a noun. All gerunds end in -ing. Since gerunds function as nouns, they occupy places in a sentence that a noun would, such as the subject, direct object, and object of a preposition.

You can use a gerund in the following ways:

1. Traveling is Cynthia’s favorite pastime.
2. I enjoy jogging.
3. The librarian scolded me for laughing.

Often verbs are followed by gerunds. Study for examples.

Table \(\PageIndex{3}\): Gerunds and Verbs

Gerund Verb	Followed by a Gerund
moving	Delilah considered moving to Paris.
cleaning	I hate cleaning the bathroom.
winning	Longa imagines winning an Oscar one day.
worrying	Mom says she has stopped worrying.
taking	She admitted taking the pumpkin

Infinitives

An infinitive is a form of a verb that comes after the word to and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

to + verb = infinitive

Examples of infinitives include the following: to move, to sleep, to look, to throw, to read, and to sneeze.

Often verbs are followed by infinitives.

Table \(\PageIndex{4}\): Infinitives and Verbs

Infinitive	Verb Followed by Infinitive
to help	Preeti offered to help her move.
to arrive	Sonia expects to arrive early.
to win	Sunita wants to win the writing contest.
to close	He forgot to close the curtains.
to eat	She likes to eat late.

You may wonder which verbs can be followed by gerunds and which verbs can be followed by infinitives. With the following verbs, you can use either a gerund or an infinitive.

Table \(\PageIndex{5}\): Infinitives and Gerund Verbs

Base Form of Verb	Sentences with Verbs Followed by Gerunds and Infinitives
begin	1. Juanita began crying.
	2. Juanita began to cry.
hate	1. Marie hated talking on the phone.
	2. Marie hated to talk on the phone.
forget	1. Wendell forgot paying the bills.
	2. Wendell forgot to pay the bills.
like	1. I liked leaving messages.
	2. I liked to leave messages.
continue	1. He continued listening to the news.
	2. He continued to listen to the news.
start	1. I will start recycling immediately.
	2. I will start to recycle immediately.
try	1. Mikhail will try climbing the tree.
	2. Mikhail will try to climb the tree.
prefer	1. I prefer baking.
	2. I prefer to bake.
love	1. Joshua loves diving.
	2. Joshua loves to dive.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\):

On your own sheet of paper, complete the following sentences by choosing the correct infinitive or gerund.

1. I meant ________ (to kiss, kissing) my kids before they left for school.
2. The children hoped (to go, going) to a restaurant for dinner.
3. Do you intend ________ (to eat, eating) the entire pie?
4. Crystal postponed ________ (to get dressed, getting dressed) for the party.
5. When we finish ________ (to play, playing) this game, we will go home.

Key Takeaways

• Regular verbs follow regular patterns when shifting from present to past tense.
• Irregular verbs do not follow regular, predictable patterns when shifting from present to past tense.
• Forms of Irregular Verbs must be practiced and memorized.

Writing Application

Tell a family story. You likely have several family stories to choose from, but pick the one that you find most interesting to write about. Use as many details as you can in the telling. As you write and proofread, make sure your all your verbs are correct and the tenses are consistent.