Forms of Main Verbs | Forms of Helping Verbs | Quiz

Forms of Main Verbs

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Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".

Main verbs (except the verb "be") have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. "Be" has 9 forms.

  V1V2V3  
 infinitivebasepast simplepast participlepresent participlepresent simple, 3rd person singular
regular(to) workworkworkedworkedworkingworks
irregular(to) sing
(to) make
(to) cut
sing
make
cut
sang
made
cut
sung
made
cut
singing
making
cutting
sings
makes
cuts
(to) do*
(to) have*
do
have
did
had
done
had
doing
having
does
has
infinitivebasepast simplepast participlepresent participlepresent simple
(to) be*bewas, werebeenbeingam, are, is

In the above examples:

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The infinitive can be with or without to. For example, to sing and sing are both infinitives. We often call the infinitive without to the "bare infinitive".

At school, students usually learn by heart the base, past simple and past participle (sometimes called V1, V2, V3, meaning Verb 1, Verb 2, Verb 3) for the irregular verbs. They may spend many hours chanting: sing, sang, sung; go, went, gone; have, had, had; etc. They do not learn these for the regular verbs because the past simple and past participle are always the same: they are formed by adding "-ed" to the base. They do not learn the present participle and 3rd person singular present simple by heart - for another very simple reason: they never change. The present participle is always made by adding "-ing" to the base, and the 3rd person singular present simple is always made by adding "s" to the base (though there are some variations in spelling).

* Note that "do", "have" and "be" also function as helping or auxiliary verbs, with exactly the same forms (except that as helping verbs they are never in infinitive form).

Example Sentences

These example sentences use main verbs in different forms.

Infinitive

Base - Imperative

Base - Present simple
(except 3rd person singular)

Base - After modal auxiliary verbs

Past simple

Past participle

Present participle

3rd person singular, present simple

Forms of Helping Verbs »