Verbs and Verb Tenses
A verb is a word that describes a physical or mental action or a state of being. This lesson will cover the role of verbs in sentences, verb forms and tenses, and helping verbs.
Part I
Part II
The Role of Verbs in Sentences
A verb describes an action or a state of being. A complete sentence must have at least one verb.
Verbs have different tenses, which show time.
Verb Forms
Each verb has three primary forms. The base form is used for simple present tense, and the past form is used for simple past tense. The participle form is used for more complicated time situations. Participle form verbs are accompanied by a helping verb.
| Base Form | Past Form | Participle Form |
|---|---|---|
| end | ended | ended |
| jump | jumped | jumped |
| explain | explained | explained |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| take | took | taken |
| go | went | gone |
| come | came | come |
Some verbs are regular. To make the past or participle form of a regular verb, we just add -ed. However, many verbs that we commonly use are irregular. We need to memorize the forms for these verbs.
In the chart above, end, jump, and explain are regular verbs. Eat, take, go, and come are irregular.
Using Verbs
A simple sentence has a subject and a verb. The subject tells us who or what, and the verb tells us the action or state.
| Example | Subject | Verb | Explanation/Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| They ate breakfast together yesterday. | They | ate | happened yesterday |
| I walk to school. | I | walk | happens regularly |
| We went to California last year. | we | went | happened yesterday |
| She seems really tired. | She | seems | how she seems right now |
| The teacher is sad. | teacher | is | her state right now |
You can see from the examples in this chart that past tense verbs are used for a time in the past, and present tense verbs are used for something that happens regularly or for a state or condition right now.
Often a sentence has more than one verb. If it has a connector word or more than one subject, it can have more than one verb.
Be Careful!
When you have more than one verb in a sentence, make sure both verb tenses are correct.
- The two cousins live, work, and vacation together. (3 verbs)
- The girls planned by phone, and then they met at the movies. (2 verbs)
Helping Verbs and Progressive and Perfect Tenses
Helping Verbs
A helping verb is a supporting verb that accompanies a main verb.
Questions, negative sentences, and certain time situations require helping verbs.
| forms of helping verb “to be” | forms of helping verb “to have” | forms of helping verb “to do” | some modals (used like helping verbs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been | have, has, had, having | do, does, did, doing | will, would, can, could, must, might, should |
Here are examples of helping verbs in questions and negatives.
- Where is he going?
- Did they win?
- I don’t want that.
- The boys can‘t go.
Progressive and Perfect Tenses
Helping verbs accompany main verbs in certain time situations, such as when an action is or was ongoing, or when two actions overlap in time. To form these tenses, we use a helping verb with the base form plus -ing or with the participle form of the main verb.
The progressive tense is used for an action that is or was ongoing. It takes base form of the main verb plus -ing.
| Example sentence | Tense | Explanation/Time |
|---|---|---|
| I am taking French this semester. | Present progressive | happening now, over a continuous period of time |
| I was working when you stopped by. | Past progressive | happened over a continuous period of time in the past |
The perfect tense is used to cover two time periods. It takes the participle form of the main verb.
| Example sentence | Tense | Explanation/Time |
|---|---|---|
| I have lived here for three years. | Present perfect | started in the past and continues to present |
| I had finished half of my homework when my computer stopped working. | Past perfect | started and finished in the past, overlapping in time with another action |
Sometimes we use both the progressive and perfect tenses together.
| Example sentence | Tense | Explanation/Time |
|---|---|---|
| I have been walking for hours! | Present perfect progressive | started in the past, took place for a period of time, and continues to present |
| She had been asking for a raise for months before she finally received one. | Past perfect progressive | started in the past, took place for a period of time, and ended |
Let’s Review!
- A verb describes an action or state of being.
- Each verb has three primary forms: base form, past form, and participle form.
- Verbs have different tenses, which are used to show time.
- Helping verbs are used in questions, negative sentences, and to form progressive and perfect tenses.
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