Verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
s constitute one of the main
parts of speech
In grammar, a part of speech or part-of-speech (abbreviated as POS or PoS, also known as word class or grammatical category) is a category of words (or, more generally, of lexical items) that have similar grammatical properties. Words that are ass ...
(word classes) in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
. Like other types of words in the language, English verbs are not heavily
inflected
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defi ...
. Most combinations of
tense,
aspect
Aspect or Aspects may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art
* Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company
* Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England
* ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
,
mood and
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
are expressed
periphrastically, using constructions with
auxiliary verb
An auxiliary verb ( abbreviated ) is a verb that adds functional or grammatical meaning to the clause in which it occurs, so as to express tense, aspect, modality, voice, emphasis, etc. Auxiliary verbs usually accompany an infinitive verb or a ...
s.
Generally, the only inflected forms of an English verb are a third person singular
present tense
The present tense (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to locate a situation or event in the present time. The present tense is used for actions which are happening now. In order to explain and understand present ...
form ending in ''-s'', a
past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs ''sang'', ''went'' and ''washed''. Most languages have a past tense, with some ha ...
(also called
preterite), a
past participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
(which may be the same as the past tense), and a form ending in ''
-ing
''-ing'' is a suffix used to make one of the inflected forms of English verbs. This verb form is used as a present participle, as a gerund, and sometimes as an independent noun or adjective. The suffix is also found in certain words like ''morn ...
'' that serves as a
present participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
and
gerund
In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, one that functions as a noun. In English, it has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiab ...
. Most verbs inflect in a simple
regular fashion, although there are about 200
irregular verbs; the irregularity in nearly all cases concerns the past tense and past participle forms. The
copula verb ''be'' has a larger number of different inflected forms, and is highly irregular.
For details of the uses of particular verb tenses and other forms, see the article
Uses of English verb forms
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
. For certain other specific topics, see the articles listed in the adjacent box.
Inflected forms
Principal parts
A
regular English verb has only one
principal part
In mathematics, the principal part has several independent meanings, but usually refers to the negative-power portion of the Laurent series of a function.
Laurent series definition
The principal part at z=a of a function
: f(z) = \sum_^\infty a_ ...
, from which all the forms of the verb can be derived. This is the base form or
dictionary form
In morphology and lexicography, a lemma (plural ''lemmas'' or ''lemmata'') is the canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of word forms. In English, for example, ''break'', ''breaks'', ''broke'', ''broken'' and ''breaking'' ...
. For example, from the base form ''exist'', all the inflected forms of the verb (''exist'', ''exists'', ''existed'', ''existing'') can be predictably derived. The base form is also called the bare
infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
; that is, the infinitive
without the ''to''.
Most
irregular verbs have three principal parts, since the
simple past
The simple past, past simple or past indefinite, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English ...
and
past participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
are unpredictable. For example, the verb ''write'' has the principal parts ''write'' (base form), ''wrote'' (past), and ''written'' (past participle); the remaining inflected forms (''writes'', ''writing'') are derived regularly from the base form. Note that some irregular verbs have identical past tense and past participle forms (as the regular verbs do), as with ''send–sent–sent''.
The infinitive, simple past and past participle are sometimes referred to as First (V1), Second (V2) and Third (V3) form of a verb, respectively. This naming convention has all but disappeared from American and British usage, but still can be found in textbooks and teaching materials used in other countries.
Some speakers have only two forms, collapsing the distinction between V2 and V3, though this is considered non-standard. For most verbs the forms are V1 and V2 (''have they went yet?'', with 'gone' never being used, or ''a corporate-ran company'' rather than ''corporate-run''), but for a few verbs they are V1 and V3 (''I seen it, he done it'', with 'saw' and 'did' not being used).
The verbs ''do'', ''say'' and ''have'' additionally have irregular third person singular present tense forms (see
below). The
copular verb ''be'' is highly irregular, with the forms ''be'', ''am'', ''is'', ''are'', ''was'', ''were'', ''been'' and ''being''. On the other hand,
modal verb
A modal verb is a type of verb that contextually indicates a modality such as a ''likelihood'', ''ability'', ''permission'', ''request'', ''capacity'', ''suggestion'', ''order'', ''obligation'', or ''advice''. Modal verbs generally accompany the b ...
s (such as ''can'' and ''must'') are
defective verb
In linguistics, a defective verb is a verb that either lacks a conjugated form or entails incomplete conjugation, and thus cannot be conjugated for certain grammatical tenses, aspects, persons, genders, or moods that the majority of verbs or ...
s, being used only in a limited number of forms. For details on the forms of verbs of these types, see below.
Base form
The base form or ''plain form'' of an English verb is not marked by any inflectional ending.
Certain derivational
suffixes are frequently used to form verbs, such as ''-en'' (''sharpen''), ''-ate'' (''formulate''), ''-fy'' (''electrify''), and ''-ise/ize'' (''realise/realize''), but verbs with those suffixes are nonetheless considered to be base-form verbs. Also, many base-form verbs contain
prefixes, such ''un-'' (''unmask''), ''out-'' (''outlast''), ''over-'' (''overtake''), and ''under-'' (''undervalue'').
Some verbs are formed from nouns and
adjectives
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the mai ...
by
conversion
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
, as with the verbs ''snare'', ''nose'', ''dry'', and ''calm''.
The base form is used in the following ways:
*It serves as the bare
infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
, and is used in the ''to''-infinitive (e.g. ''to write''); for uses see below.
*It serves as the
simple present
The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition ...
tense, except in the third person singular: ''I/you/we/they write regularly'' (and except for the copula).
*It is used as an
imperative: ''Write these words.''
*It is used as a
subjunctive: ''I suggested that he write a novel.''
For the verb ''be'', which uses different forms for the simple present, and modal verbs, which are not used in the infinitive, imperative or subjunctive, see below.
Third person singular present
Almost all verbs have a third person singular present indicative form with the
suffix ''-
''. In terms of
spelling
Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one ...
, it is formed in most cases by adding ''-s'' to the verb's base form: ''run'' → ''runs''. However if the base form ends in one of the
sibilant sounds (, , , , , ) and its spelling does not end in a
silent ''e'', then ''-es'' is added: ''buzz'' → ''buzzes''; ''catch'' → ''catches''. Verbs ending in a consonant plus ''o'' also typically add ''-es'': ''veto'' → ''vetoes''. Verbs ending in a consonant plus ''y'' add ''-es'' after changing the ''y'' to an ''i'': ''cry'' → ''cries''.
In terms of
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...
, the ending is pronounced as after
sibilants (as in ''lurches''), as after
voiceless consonant
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
s other than sibilants (as in ''makes''), and as otherwise (as in ''adds''). These are the same rules that apply to the pronunciation of the regular noun
plural suffix ''-
'' and the
possessive ''-'s''. The spelling rules given above are also very similar to those for the plural of nouns.
The third person singular present of ''have'' is irregular: ''has'' (with the
weak form when used as an auxiliary, also
contractable to ''-'s''). The verbs ''do'' and ''say'' also have irregular forms, ''does'' and ''says'' , which however look like regular forms in writing.
For the verb ''be'', modal verbs and other auxiliaries, see below.
The form described in this section is used with third person singular subjects as the
simple present
The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition ...
tense (in the
indicative mood
A realis mood (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood which is used principally to indicate that something is a statement of fact; in other words, to express what the speaker considers to be a known state of affairs, as in declarative sentences. Most ...
): ''He writes novels all the time.'' (This tense has other uses besides referring to present time; for example, in ''I'll be glad if he writes'', it refers to future time.)
Past tense
The past tense, or
preterite, may be formed regularly or irregularly.
With regular verbs, the past tense is formed (in terms of spelling) by adding ''-ed'' to the base form (''play'' → ''played''). Normal rules for adding suffixes beginning with a vowel apply: If the base form ends in ''e'' then only ''d'' is added (''like'' → ''liked''); if the base form ends in a consonant followed by ''y'' then the ''y'' is changed to ''i'' before adding the ending (''try'' → ''tried''; an exception is the verb ''
sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
'' (a ball), which can form ''skied'' or ''skyed''). Three words ending in ''-ay'' (''lay'', ''pay'' and ''say'') change ''y'' to ''i'' and add ''-d'' (''laid'', ''paid'', ''said'').
Various rules apply for
doubling final consonants. If the base form ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant (except ''h'', silent ''t'', ''w'', ''x'' or ''y''), then unless the final syllable is completely
unstressed
In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. That emphasis is typically caused by such properties as i ...
the consonant is doubled before adding the ''-ed'' (''ship'' → ''shipped'', but ''fathom'' → ''fathomed''). In general this is considered something to keep the vowel before the final consonant short (i.e. if the word were spelled ''shiped'' it would have a long i.) However, there are 2 words, ''control'' and ''patrol'', which follow this rule even though the vowel before the final consonant is long. For most base forms ending in ''c'', the doubled form used is ''ck'', used regardless of stress (''panic'' → ''panicked''; exceptions include ''zinc'' → ''zincked'' or ''zinced'', ''arc'' → usually ''arced'', ''spec'' → ''specced'' or ''spec'ed'', ''sync'' → sometimes ''synched''). In
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
, the doubling of ''l'' occurs regardless of stress (''travel'' → ''travelled''; but ''paralleled'' is an exception), and when two separately pronounced vowels precede the ''l'' (''dial'' → ''dialled'', ''fuel'' → ''fuelled''). If the final syllable has some partial stress, especially for compound words, the consonant is usually doubled: ''backflip'' → ''backflipped'', ''hobnob'' → ''hobnobbed'', ''kidnap'' → ''kidnapped'' etc. In some cases both alternatives are acceptable, e.g. ''dialog'' → ''dialogued'' or ''dialogged''†, ''hiccup'' → ''hiccupped'' or ''hiccuped'', ''program'' → ''programed''† or ''programmed''. Note however ''catalog'' → ''cataloged''†, ''pyramid'' → ''pyramided'', ''format'' → ''formatted'' (but ''combat'' → ''combat(t)ed''). Other variations not entirely consistent with these rules include ''bus'' → ''bused''† or ''bussed'', ''bias'' → ''biased'' or ''biassed''† and ''focus'' → ''focused'' or ''focussed''. (The forms marked † are not used in British English, and the doubled consonant is not used for many words of non-Anglo-Saxon origin.)
The pronunciation of the past tense ending follows similar rules to those for the third person present tense ending described above: if the base form ends in or then a new syllable or is added (as in ''drifted'', ''exceeded''); if the base form ends in an
unvoiced consonant
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies ...
sound other than then the ending is pronounced (as in ''capped'', ''passed''); otherwise the ending is pronounced (as in ''buzzed'', ''tangoed''). Consequently, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the latter two pronunciations were routinely spelled ''-'d'', but ''-ed'' was later restored.
For the past tense of irregular verbs, see
English irregular verbs
The English language has many irregular verbs, approaching 200 in normal use—and significantly more if prefixed forms are counted. In most cases, the irregularity concerns the past tense (also called '' preterite'') or the past participle.
T ...
. Some of these can be classed as
Germanic strong verbs, such as ''sing'' (past ''sang''), while others are weak verbs with irregularly pronounced or irregularly spelt past forms, such as ''say'' (past tense ''said'' ).
The verb ''be'' has two past tense forms: ''was'' (first and third person singular) and ''were'' (plural and second person).
The past tense (preterite) form is used in what is called the
simple past
The simple past, past simple or past indefinite, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English ...
, in sentences such as ''We lit the fire'' and ''He liked to dance''. One of the uses of this tense is to refer not to a past situation, but to a hypothetical (present or future) situation in a
dependent clause: ''If I knew that, I wouldn't have to ask.'' This is sometimes called the "past subjunctive", particularly in the case of ''were'', which can replace ''was'' in such sentences; see
English subjunctive
While the English language lacks distinct inflections for Grammatical mood, mood, an English subjunctive is recognized in most History of English grammars, grammars. Definition and scope of the concept vary widely across the literature, but it is ...
.
Past participle
The
past participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
of regular verbs is identical to the preterite (past tense) form, described in the previous section.
For irregular verbs, see
English irregular verbs
The English language has many irregular verbs, approaching 200 in normal use—and significantly more if prefixed forms are counted. In most cases, the irregularity concerns the past tense (also called '' preterite'') or the past participle.
T ...
. Some of these have different past tense and past participle forms (like ''sing–sang–sung''); others have the same form for both (like ''make–made–made''). In some cases the past tense is regular but the past participle is not, as with ''show–showed–shown''.
For uses of the past participle, see below.
Present participle
The
present participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
form, which is also used for the
gerund
In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, one that functions as a noun. In English, it has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiab ...
, is formed by adding the suffix ''
-ing
''-ing'' is a suffix used to make one of the inflected forms of English verbs. This verb form is used as a present participle, as a gerund, and sometimes as an independent noun or adjective. The suffix is also found in certain words like ''morn ...
'' to the base form: ''go'' → ''going''. A final
silent ''e'' is dropped (''believe'' → ''believing''); final ''ie'' changes to ''y'' (''lie'' → ''lying''), and consonant doubling applies as for the past tense (see
above): ''run'' → ''running'', ''panic'' → ''panicking''.
Some exceptions include forms such as ''singeing'', ''dyeing'', ''ageing'', ''rueing'', ''cacheing'' and ''whingeing'', where the ''e'' may be retained to avoid confusion with otherwise identical words (e.g. ''singing''), to clarify pronunciation (for example to show that a word has a soft ''
g'' or ''ch''), or for aesthetic reasons.
In standard English the ending is pronounced , although in many regional dialects the final consonant sound is pronounced , sometimes represented in
eye dialect by spellings such as ''huntin (see
''g''-dropping).
For uses of the present participle and gerund, see below.
Copular, auxiliary and defective verbs
The
copular verb
In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' i ...
''be'' has multiple irregular forms in the present tense: ''am'' for first person singular (which together with the subject pronoun is often
contracted to ''I'm''), ''is'' for third person singular (often contracted to '' 's''), and ''are'' for plural and second person (often contracted to '' 're'' chiefly after the pronouns ''you'', ''we'', ''they''). It also has two past tense forms: ''was'' for first and third person singular, and ''were'' for plural and second person (also used as a past subjunctive with all persons; see
English subjunctive
While the English language lacks distinct inflections for Grammatical mood, mood, an English subjunctive is recognized in most History of English grammars, grammars. Definition and scope of the concept vary widely across the literature, but it is ...
). The past participle is ''been'', and the present participle and gerund is the regular ''being''. The base form ''be'' is used regularly as an infinitive, imperative and (present) subjunctive. For archaic forms, see the next section.
English has a number of
modal verbs
A modal verb is a type of verb that contextually indicates a modality such as a ''likelihood'', ''ability'', ''permission'', ''request'', ''capacity'', ''suggestion'', ''order'', ''obligation'', or ''advice''. Modal verbs generally accompany the b ...
which generally do not inflect (most of them are surviving
preterite-present verb
The Germanic language family is one of the language groups that resulted from the breakup of Proto-Indo-European (PIE). It in turn divided into North, West and East Germanic groups, and ultimately produced a large group of mediaeval and modern ...
s), and so have only a single form, used as a
finite verb
Traditionally, a finite verb (from la, fīnītus, past participle of to put an end to, bound, limit) is the form "to which number and person appertain", in other words, those inflected for number and person. Verbs were originally said to be ''fin ...
with subjects of all persons and numbers. These verbs are ''can'' and ''could'', ''may'' and ''might'', ''shall'' and ''should'', ''will'' and ''would'', as well as ''must'', ''ought (to)'', ''need'' and ''dare'' (when used with a bare infinitive), and in some analyses ''used (to)'' and ''had better''. (The modals ''could'', ''might'', ''should'' and ''would'' are historically the past tense forms of ''can'', ''may'', ''shall'' and ''will'' respectively, though they are not always used as such.) These verbs do not have infinitive, imperative or participle forms, although in some cases there exists a synonymous phrase that can be used to produce such forms, such as ''be able to'' in the case of ''can'' and ''could''. The negation of ''can'' is spelled as a single word, ''cannot''. There are contracted forms '' 'll'' and '' 'd'' for ''will'' and ''would'' (in some cases possibly from ''shall'' and ''should'').
Other verbs used as
auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, ...
include ''have'', chiefly in perfect constructions (the forms ''has'', ''have'' and ''had'' can contract to '' 's'', '' 've'' and '' 'd''), and ''do'' (''does'', ''did'') in emphatic, inverted and negated constructions (see
''do''-support).
For more detail of the above, including contractions of negated forms (''isn't'', ''won't'', etc.), see
English auxiliaries and contractions.
Another example of a
defective verb
In linguistics, a defective verb is a verb that either lacks a conjugated form or entails incomplete conjugation, and thus cannot be conjugated for certain grammatical tenses, aspects, persons, genders, or moods that the majority of verbs or ...
is ''beware'', which is used only in those forms in which ''be'' remains unchanged, namely the infinitive, subjunctive and imperative.
Archaic forms
Formerly, particularly in the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
period, the English language had a far greater degree of verb inflection than it does now (some other
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
retain a greater variety of inflected forms than English does). Some of the forms used in
Early Modern English
Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...
have now fallen out of use, but are still encountered in old writers and texts (e.g.
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, the
King James Bible) and in
archaisms.
One such form was the third person singular form with the suffix ''-eth'' , pronounced as a full syllable. This was used in some dialects rather than the modern ''-s'', e.g. ''he maketh'' ("he makes"), ''he runneth'' ("he runs"), ''he goeth'' ("he goes"). In some verbs, a shortened form ''-th'' appears: ''he hath'' ("he has"), ''he doth'' ("he does"; pronounced as if written ''duth''), ''he saith'' or ''he sayeth'' ("he says"). The forms ''hath'' and ''doth'' are found in some proverbs ("
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
''The Mourning Bride'' is a tragedy written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1697 at Betterton's Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. The play centers on Zara, a queen held captive by Manuel, King of Granada, and a web of love and ...
", "
The lady doth protest too much").
Another set of forms are associated with the archaic second person singular pronoun ''
thou
The word ''thou'' is a second-person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in most contexts by the word '' you'', although it remains in use in parts of Northern England and in Scots (). ''Thou'' is the ...
'', which often have the ending ''-est'', pronounced as a full syllable, e.g. ''thou makest'' ("you make"), ''thou leadest'' ("you lead"). In some verbs, a shortened form ''-st'' appears: ''thou hast'' ("you have"), ''thou dost'' ("you do"; rhymes with ''must''). In the case of the verb ''be'', such forms included ''art'' (present tense), ''wast'' (past), ''wert'' (past subjunctive) and ''beest'' (present subjunctive; pronounced as two syllables). In all other verbs, the past tense is formed by the base past tense form of the word (e.g. ''had'', ''did'', ''listened'') plus''-'st'', not pronounced as a full syllable, e.g. ''thou had'st'' ("you had"), ''thou did'st'' ("you did"), ''thou listened'st'' ("you listened"). Modal verbs except ''must'' also have ''-t'' or ''-st'' added to their form, e.g. ''thou canst'' ("you can"), ''thou wilt'' ("you will"), ''thou wouldst'' ("you would"), ''thou mightst'' ("you might"), except ''may'', which is ''thou mayest'' ("you may").
For example, several such forms (as well as other archaic forms such as ''yea'' for "yes", ''thy'' for "your", and ''mine enemies'' for "my enemies") appear in
Psalm 23
Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a boo ...
from the
King James Bible:
: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
: Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
For more information see
Old English verbs,
English subjunctive
While the English language lacks distinct inflections for Grammatical mood, mood, an English subjunctive is recognized in most History of English grammars, grammars. Definition and scope of the concept vary widely across the literature, but it is ...
, and
Indo-European copula
A feature common to all Indo-European languages is the presence of a verb corresponding to the English verb ''to be''.
General features
This verb has two basic meanings:
*In a less marked context it is a simple copula (''I’m tired''; ''That ...
(for the history of the verb ''be'').
Syntactic constructions
Expressing tenses, aspects and moods
Apart from the simple past tense described above, English verbs do not have synthetic (
inflected
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defi ...
) forms for particular
tenses,
aspect
Aspect or Aspects may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art
* Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company
* Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England
* ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
s or
moods. However, there are a number of
periphrastic
In linguistics, periphrasis () is the use of one or more function words to express meaning that otherwise may be expressed by attaching an affix or clitic to a word. The resulting phrase includes two or more collocated words instead of one in ...
(multi-word) constructions with verb forms that serve to express tense-like or aspect-like meanings; these constructions are commonly described as representing certain verb tenses or aspects (in
English language teaching
Teaching English as a second language (TESL) or Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English. The terms TESL, TEFL, and TESOL distinguish betwee ...
they are often simply called tenses). For the usage of these forms, see below. More detail can be found in the article
Uses of English verb forms
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
.
Simple and progressive
The
progressive (or continuous) aspect is expressed with a form of ''be'' together with the present participle of the verb. Thus
present progressive
The present continuous, also called the present progressive or present imperfect, is a verb form used in modern English that combines the present tense with the continuous aspect. It is formed by the present tense form of be and the present part ...
(present continuous) constructions take forms like ''am writing'', ''is writing'', ''are writing'', while the
past progressive
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
(past continuous, also called ''
imperfect
The imperfect ( abbreviated ) is a verb form that combines past tense (reference to a past time) and imperfective aspect (reference to a continuing or repeated event or state). It can have meanings similar to the English "was walking" or "used to ...
'') forms are ''was writing'', ''were writing''. There is a progressive infinitive ''(to) be writing'' and a progressive
subjunctive ''be writing''. Other progressive forms, made with compound forms of ''be'', are described below.
The basic present and past tenses of the verb are called
simple present
The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition ...
(present simple) and
simple past
The simple past, past simple or past indefinite, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English ...
(past simple), to distinguish them from progressive or other compound forms. Thus the simple present of the above verb is ''write'' or ''writes'', and the simple past (also called
preterite) is ''wrote''.
Perfect
The
perfect aspect
The perfect tense or aspect ( abbreviated or ) is a verb form that indicates that an action or circumstance occurred earlier than the time under consideration, often focusing attention on the resulting state rather than on the occurrence itself. ...
is expressed with a form of the auxiliary ''have'' together with the past participle of the verb. Thus the
present perfect
The present perfect is a grammatical combination of the present tense and perfect aspect that is used to express a past event that has present consequences. The term is used particularly in the context of English grammar to refer to forms like " ...
is ''have written'' or ''has written'', and the
past perfect
The pluperfect (shortening of plusquamperfect), usually called past perfect in English, is a type of verb form, generally treated as a grammatical tense in certain languages, relating to an action that occurred prior to an aforementioned time i ...
(pluperfect) is ''had written''. The perfect can combine with the progressive aspect (see above) to produce the
present perfect progressive
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
(continuous) ''have/has been writing'' and the
past perfect progressive
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
(continuous) ''had been writing''. There is a perfect infinitive ''(to) have written'' and a perfect progressive infinitive ''(to) have been writing'', and corresponding present participle/gerund forms ''having written'' and ''having been writing''. A perfect
subjunctive (''have written'') is also sometimes used. Future and conditional perfect forms are given below.
Future and conditional
What is often called the
future tense of English is formed using the auxiliary ''will''. The simple future is ''will write'', the future progressive (continuous) is ''will be writing'', the
future perfect
The future perfect is a verb form or construction used to describe an event that is expected or planned to happen before a time of reference in the future, such as ''will have finished'' in the English sentence "I will have finished by tomorrow." ...
is ''will have written'', and the future perfect progressive (continuous) is ''will have been writing''. Traditionally (though now usually in formal English only) ''shall'' is used rather than ''will'' in the first person singular and plural; see
''shall'' and ''will''.
The
conditional, or "
future-in-the-past
The future in the past is a grammatical tense where the time reference is in the future with respect to a vantage point that is itself in the past. In English, future in the past is not always considered separate tense, but rather as either a subca ...
", forms are made analogously to these future forms, using ''would'' (and ''should'') in place of ''will'' (and ''shall'').
Expressing passive voice
The
passive voice
A passive voice construction is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the ''theme'' or ''patient'' of the main verb – that is, the person or thing t ...
in English is normally expressed with a form of the copula verb ''be'' (or sometimes ''get'') together with the past participle of the main verb. In this context ''be'' is not a stative verb, so it may occur in progressive forms. Examples:
*''The house was built last year.''
*''The house is being built at the moment.''
*''The house will be built by our firm.'' (a prepositional phrase with ''by'' expresses the performer of the action)
*''I was given a blueprint.'' (here the subject of the passive corresponds to the indirect object of the active)
*''He was said to know the house's dimensions.'' (special construction related to
indirect speech
In linguistics, indirect speech (also reported speech or indirect discourse) is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it. For example, the English sentence ''Jill said she was coming' ...
)
For details, see
English passive voice
The passive voice in English is a grammatical voice whose syntax is marked by a subject followed by a stative verb complemented by a past participle. For example:
:The enemy was defeated.
:Caesar was stabbed.
In each instance of a passive voic ...
.
Imperatives
Imperatives are expressed with the base form of the verb, normally with no subject: ''Take this outside! Be good!'' It is possible to add the second person pronoun ''you'' for emphasis: ''You be good!''
More details can be found in the article
Imperative mood
The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.
The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. To form the imperative mood, ...
.
Questions, negation, inversion and emphasis
Questions are formed by
subject–auxiliary inversion (unless the interrogative word is part of the subject). If there is otherwise no auxiliary, the verb ''do'' (''does'', ''did'') is used as an auxiliary, enabling the inversion. This also applies to negation: the negating word ''not'' must follow an auxiliary, so ''do'' is used if there is no other auxiliary.
Inversion is also required in certain other types of sentences, mainly after negative adverbial phrases; here too ''do'' is used if there is no other auxiliary.
The construction with ''do'' as auxiliary is also used to enable emphasis to be added to a sentence.
For details of the above constructions, see
''do''-support.
Use of verb forms
This section describes how the verb forms introduced in the preceding sections are used. More detail can be found in the article
Uses of English verb forms
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
and in the articles on the individual tenses and aspects.
Finite forms
In referring to an action taking place regularly (and not limited to the future or to the past), the
simple present
The simple present, present simple or present indefinite is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is commonly referred to as a tense, although it also encodes certain information about aspect in addition ...
is used: ''He brushes his teeth every morning''. For an action taking place at the present time, the
present progressive
The present continuous, also called the present progressive or present imperfect, is a verb form used in modern English that combines the present tense with the continuous aspect. It is formed by the present tense form of be and the present part ...
construction is used: ''He is brushing his teeth now''. With some verbs expressing a present
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, particularly the copula ''be'' and verbs expressing a mental state, the present simple is generally used: ''They are here''; ''I know that''. However other state verbs use the present progressive or present simple depending on whether the state is considered temporary or permanent: ''The pen is lying on the table''; ''Paris lies on the Seine''.
For past actions or states, the
simple past
The simple past, past simple or past indefinite, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English ...
is generally used: ''He went out an hour ago''; ''Columbus knew the shape of the world''. However, for completed actions for which no past time frame is implied or expressed, the
present perfect
The present perfect is a grammatical combination of the present tense and perfect aspect that is used to express a past event that has present consequences. The term is used particularly in the context of English grammar to refer to forms like " ...
is normally used: ''I have made the dinner'' (i.e. the dinner is now ready). For an action in the course of taking place, or a temporary state existing, at the past time being referred to (compare uses of the present progressive above), the
past progressive
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
is used: ''We were sitting on the beach when...'' For an action that was completed before the past time being referred to, the
past perfect
The pluperfect (shortening of plusquamperfect), usually called past perfect in English, is a type of verb form, generally treated as a grammatical tense in certain languages, relating to an action that occurred prior to an aforementioned time i ...
is used: ''We had sat down on the blanket when...''
For actions or events expected to take place in the future, the construction with ''will'' can be used: ''The president will arrive tomorrow.'' Future events are also often expressed using the ''
be going to'' construction: ''She is going to arrive tomorrow.'' Planned events can also be referred to using the present progressive (''She is arriving tomorrow'') or, if precisely scheduled, the simple present (''She arrives tomorrow''). The future progressive and future perfect can be used analogously to the past equivalents: ''We will be sitting on the beach this afternoon''; ''We will have left the house by 4 o'clock''. However, in subordinate clauses expressing a condition or a time reference, present forms are used rather than the forms with ''will'': ''If/When you get'' (not ''will get'') ''there...''
When expressing actions or events lasting up to a specified time, the appropriate perfect construction is used (with the progressive if expressing a temporary state that would generally be expressed with a progressive form): ''We have been having some problems lately''; ''I have lived here for six years''; ''We had been working since the previous evening''; ''We will have been working for twelve hours by the time you arrive''.
The use of tense and aspectual forms in condition and conditional clauses follows special patterns; see
conditional mood The conditional mood ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood used in conditional sentences to express a proposition whose validity is dependent on some condition, possibly counterfactual.
It may refer to a distinct verb form that expresses the condit ...
. For use of tenses in
indirect speech
In linguistics, indirect speech (also reported speech or indirect discourse) is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it. For example, the English sentence ''Jill said she was coming' ...
, see
sequence of tenses The sequence of tenses (known in Latin as ''consecutio temporum'', and also known as agreement of tenses, succession of tenses and tense harmony) is a set of grammatical rules of a particular language, governing the agreement between the tenses o ...
. For the use of subjunctive forms, see
English subjunctive
While the English language lacks distinct inflections for Grammatical mood, mood, an English subjunctive is recognized in most History of English grammars, grammars. Definition and scope of the concept vary widely across the literature, but it is ...
.
Non-finite forms
The bare
infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
, identical to the base form of the verb, is used as a complement of most modal verbs and certain other verbs (''I can write''; ''They made him write''; ''I saw you write''), including in negated and inverted sentences formed using
''do''-support (''He doesn't write''; ''Did you write?'').
Preceded by ''to'', it forms the ''to''-infinitive, which has a variety of uses, including as a
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
(''To write is to learn'') and as the complement of many verbs (''I want to write''), as well as with certain adjectives and nouns (''easy to ride''; ''his decision to leave''), and in expressions of purpose (''You did it to spite me).
The past participle has the following uses:
*It is used with the auxiliary ''have'' in
perfect constructions: ''They have written''; ''We had written before we heard the news''. (With verbs of motion, an archaic form with ''be'' may be found in older texts: ''he is come''.)
*It is used as a
passive participle, with ''be'' or ''get'', to form the
passive voice
A passive voice construction is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the ''theme'' or ''patient'' of the main verb – that is, the person or thing t ...
: ''This book was written last year''; ''Trees sometimes get gnawed down by beavers.''
*It is used to form passive
participial phrase
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
s, which can be used adjectivally or adverbially (''a letter written on his computer''; ''Beaten to a pulp, he was carried away'') and as complements of certain verbs (''I got my car mended''; ''They had me placed on a list'').
*It may be used as a simple
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...
: as a passive participle in the case of
transitive verb
A transitive verb is a verb that accepts one or more objects, for example, 'cleaned' in ''Donald cleaned the window''. This contrasts with intransitive verbs, which do not have objects, for example, 'panicked' in ''Donald panicked''.
Transiti ...
s (''the written word'', i.e. "the word that is written"), and as a perfect active participle in the case of some intransitive ones (''a fallen tree'', i.e. "a tree that has fallen").
The present participle has the following uses:
*It is used with forms of ''be'', in progressive (
continuous
Continuity or continuous may refer to:
Mathematics
* Continuity (mathematics), the opposing concept to discreteness; common examples include
** Continuous probability distribution or random variable in probability and statistics
** Continuous ...
) constructions: ''He is writing another book''; ''I intend to be sitting on the beach''.
*It can form
participial phrase
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
s, which can be used adjectivally or adverbially: ''The man sitting over there is drunk''; ''Being a lawyer, I can understand this''; ''I saw her sitting by the tree''.
*It can serve as a simple adjective: ''It is a thrilling book.''
The same form used as a gerund has the following uses:
*It forms verbal phrases that are then used as nouns: ''Lying in bed is my favorite hobby.''
*It forms similar phrases used as a complement of certain verbs: ''He tried writing novels''.
The logical subject of a phrase formed with a gerund can be expressed by a
possessive, as in ''I do not like'' ''your/Jim's'' ''drinking wine'', although a non-possessive noun or pronoun is often used instead, especially in informal English: ''I do not like'' ''you/Jim'' ''drinking wine''. The latter usage, though common, is sometimes considered ungrammatical or stylistically poor; it is given names like ''fused participle''
[H.W. Fowler, '']A Dictionary of Modern English Usage
''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' (1926), by Henry Watson Fowler (1858–1933), is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing. Covering topics such as plurals and literary technique, distinctions among like word ...
'', 1926 and ''geriple''
[''Penguin guide to plain English'', Harry Blamires (Penguin Books Ltd., 2000) pp.144-146] since it is seen to confuse a participle with a gerund. For more information see
fused participle.
Gerund forms are often used as plain
verbal noun
A verbal noun or gerundial noun is a verb form that functions as a noun. An example of a verbal noun in English is 'sacking' as in the sentence "The sacking of the city was an epochal event" (''sacking'' is a noun formed from the verb ''sack'').
...
s, which function grammatically like common nouns (in particular, by being qualified by adjectives rather than adverbs): ''He did some excellent writing'' (compare the gerund: ''He is known for writing excellently''). Such verbal nouns can function, for instance, as
noun adjunct
In grammar, a noun adjunct, attributive noun, qualifying noun, noun (pre)modifier, or apposite noun is an optional noun that modifies another noun; functioning similarly to an adjective, it is, more specifically, a noun functioning as a pre-modif ...
s, as in ''a writing desk''.
Objects and complements
Verbs are used in certain patterns which require the presence of specific
arguments in the form of
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
s and other
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...
s of particular types. (A given verb may be usable in one or more of these patterns.)
A verb with a direct object is called a
transitive verb
A transitive verb is a verb that accepts one or more objects, for example, 'cleaned' in ''Donald cleaned the window''. This contrasts with intransitive verbs, which do not have objects, for example, 'panicked' in ''Donald panicked''.
Transiti ...
. Some transitive verbs have an indirect object in addition to the direct object. Verbs used without objects are called
intransitive
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb whose context does not entail a direct object. That lack of transitivity distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additionally, intransitive verbs ar ...
. Both transitive and intransitive verbs may also have additional complements that are not considered objects.
A single (direct) object generally follows the verb: ''I love you''. If there is an indirect object, it precedes the direct object (''I gave him the book''), although an indirect object can also be expressed with a
prepositional phrase
An adpositional phrase, in linguistics, is a syntactic category that includes ''prepositional phrases'', ''postpositional phrases'', and ''circumpositional phrases''. Adpositional phrases contain an adposition (preposition, postposition, or ci ...
following the direct object (and this method is usual when the direct object is a personal pronoun): ''I gave the book to John''; ''I bought them for you.
Other complements may include prepositional phrases,
non-finite clauses and
content clause In grammar, a content clause is a dependent clause that provides content implied or commented upon by an independent clause. The term was coined by Danish linguist Otto Jespersen. They are also known as noun clauses.
English
In English, there ar ...
s, depending on the applicable verb pattern. These complements normally follow any objects. For example:
*''I insist on coming.'' (this use of the verb ''insist'' involves a prepositional phrase with ''on'')
*''I expect to arrive tomorrow.'' (this use of ''expect'' involves a to-infinitive phrase)
*''I asked him whether he was coming.'' (this use of ''ask'' involves a direct object ''(him)'' and an interrogative content clause)
More examples can be found at
Verb patterns with the gerund.
English has a number of
ergative verb
In general linguistics, a labile verb (or ergative verb) is a verb that undergoes causative alternation; it can be used both transitively and intransitively, with the requirement that the direct object of its transitive use corresponds to the ...
s: verbs which can be used either intransitively or transitively, where in the intransitive use it is the subject that is receiving the action, and in the transitive use the direct object is receiving the action while the subject is causing it. An example is ''sink'': ''The ship sank'' (intransitive use); ''The explosion sank the ship'' (transitive use). Other common examples include ''open, sink, wake, melt, boil, collapse, explode, freeze, start, sell''.
For more details on how verbs are built up into clauses, see
English clause syntax.
Phrasal verbs
Many English verbs are used in particular combinations with adverbial modifiers such as ''on'', ''away'', ''out'', etc. Often these combinations take on independent meanings. They are referred to as
phrasal verb
In the traditional grammar of Modern English, a phrasal verb typically constitutes a single semantic unit composed of a verb followed by a particle (examples: ''turn down'', ''run into'' or ''sit up''), sometimes combined with a preposition (e ...
s. (This term may also include verbs used with a complement introduced by a particular preposition that gives it a special meaning, as in ''take to (someone)''.)
The adverbial particle in a phrasal verb generally appears close after the verb, though it may follow the object, particularly when the object is a pronoun: ''Hand over the money'' or ''Hand the money over'', but ''Hand it over''.
See also
*
Conditional sentence
Conditional sentences are natural language sentences that express that one thing is contingent on something else, e.g. "If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled." They are so called because the impact of the main clause of the sentence is ''con ...
*
English grammar
English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts.
This article describes a generalized, present-day Standard English ...
*
English irregular verbs
The English language has many irregular verbs, approaching 200 in normal use—and significantly more if prefixed forms are counted. In most cases, the irregularity concerns the past tense (also called '' preterite'') or the past participle.
T ...
*
English modal verbs
The English modal verbs are a subset of the English auxiliary verbs used mostly to express modality (properties such as possibility, obligation, etc.). They can be distinguished from other verbs by their defectiveness (they do not have participle ...
*
English passive voice
The passive voice in English is a grammatical voice whose syntax is marked by a subject followed by a stative verb complemented by a past participle. For example:
:The enemy was defeated.
:Caesar was stabbed.
In each instance of a passive voic ...
*
Wiktionary appendix: Irregular English verbs
*
Northern subject rule
The Northern Subject Rule is a grammatical pattern that occurs in Northern English and Scots dialects. Present-tense verbs may take the verbal ‑''s'' suffix, except when they are directly adjacent to one of the personal pronouns ''I'', ''you'' ...
*
Conversion (word formation)
In linguistics, conversion, also called zero derivation or null derivation, is a kind of word formation involving the creation of a word (of a new word class) from an existing word (of a different word class) without any change in form, which is ...
*
Uses of English verb forms
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
* Finite verb forms such as ''go'', ''goes'' and ''went''
* Nonfinite forms such as ''(to) go'', ''going'' and ''gone''
* Combinations of s ...
Notes
References
*Gilman, E. Ward (editor in chief) ''Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'' (Merriam-Webster, 1989)
*
Greenbaum, Sidney. ''The Oxford English Grammar''. (Oxford, 1996)
*
McArthur, Tom, ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (Oxford, 1992)
*
* English Verb Forms With Search Bar all verb V1 V2 V3 listed here
Verb Forms
Sequence of Tensesat the Online Writing Lab at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
Modals and auxiliary verbs in EnglishThe English Verb Tense System: A dynamic presentation using the Cuisenaire Rods
*writer williom
Verb Forms
{{DEFAULTSORT:English Verbs
English verbs