English verbs

Verbsconstitute one of the mainparts of speech(word classes) in theEnglish language.Like other types of words in the language,English verbsare not heavilyinflected.Most combinations oftense,aspect,moodandvoiceare expressedperiphrastically,using constructions withauxiliary verbs.

Generally, the only inflected forms of an English verb are a third person singularpresent tenseform ending in-s,apast tense(also calledpreterite), apast participle(which may be the same as the past tense), and a form ending in-ingthat serves as apresent participleandgerund.Most verbs inflect in a simpleregularfashion, although there are about 200irregular verbs;the irregularity in nearly all cases concerns the past tense and past participle forms. Thecopulaverbbehas 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 articleUses of English verb forms.

Inflected forms

Conjugation ofhave

Person	Singular	Plural
First	I have	We have
Second	You have	You have
Third	It has	They have

Principal parts

AregularEnglish verb has only oneprincipal part,from which all the forms of the verb can be derived. This is the base form ordictionary form.For example, from the base formexist,all the inflected forms of the verb (exist,exists,existed,existing) can be predictably derived. The base form is also called the bareinfinitive;that is, the infinitivewithout theto.

Mostirregular verbshave three principal parts, since thesimple pastandpast participleare unpredictable. For example, the verbwritehas the principal partswrite(base form),wrote(past), andwritten(past participle); the remaining inflected forms (writes,writing) are derived regularly from the base form. Some irregular verbs have identical past tense and past participle forms (as the regular verbs do), as withsend–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, ora corporate-ran companyrather thancorporate-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 verbsdo,sayandhaveadditionally have irregular third person singular present tense forms (seebelow). Thecopularverbbeis highly irregular, with the formsbe,am,is,are,was,were,beenandbeing.On the other hand,modal verbs(such ascanandmust) aredefective verbs,being used only in a limited number of forms. For details on the forms of verbs of these types, see§ Copular, auxiliary and defective verbsbelow.

Base form

The base form orplain formof an English verb is not marked by any inflectional ending.

Certain derivationalsuffixesare 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 containprefixes,suchun-(unmask),out-(outlast),over-(overtake), andunder-(undervalue).Some verbs are formed from nouns andadjectivesbyconversion,as with the verbssnare,nose,dry,andcalm.

The base form is used in the following ways:

• It serves as the bareinfinitive,and is used in theto-infinitive (e.g.to write); for uses see§ Non-finite formsbelow.
• It serves as thesimple presenttense, except in the third person singular:I/you/we/theywriteregularly(and except for thehighly irregularto be).
• It is used as animperative:Writethese words.
• It is used as asubjunctive:I suggested that hewritea novel.

For the verbbe,which uses different forms for the simple present, and modal verbs, which are not used in the infinitive, imperative or subjunctive, see§ Copular, auxiliary and defective verbsbelow.

Third person singular present

Almost all verbs have a third person singular present indicative form with thesuffix-[e]s.In terms ofspelling,it is formed in most cases by adding-sto the verb's base form:run→runs.However if the base form ends in one of thesibilantsounds (/s/,/z/,/ʃ/,/ʒ/,/tʃ/,/dʒ/) and its spelling does not end in asilente,then-esis added:buzz→buzzes;catch→catches.Verbs ending in a consonant plusoalso typically add-es:veto→vetoes.Verbs ending in a consonant plusyadd-esafter changing theyto ani:cry→cries.

In terms ofpronunciation,the ending is pronounced as/ɪz/aftersibilants(as inlurches), as/s/aftervoiceless consonantsother than sibilants (as inmakes), and as/z/otherwise (as inadds). These are the same rules that apply to the pronunciation of the regular nounplural suffix-[e]sand thepossessive-'s.The spelling rules given above are also very similar to those for the plural of nouns.

The third person singular present ofhaveis irregular:has/hæz/(with theweak form/həz/when used as an auxiliary, alsocontractableto-'s). The verbsdoandsayalso have irregular forms,does/dʌz/andsays/sɛz/,which however look like regular forms in writing.

For the verbbe,modal verbs and other auxiliaries, see§ Copular, auxiliary and defective verbsbelow.

The form described in this section is used with third person singular subjects as thesimple presenttense (in theindicative mood):Hewritesnovels all the time.(This tense has other uses besides referring to present time; for example, inI'll be glad if he writes,it refers to future time.)

Past tense

Main article:Simple past

The past tense, orpreterite,may be formed regularly or irregularly.

With regular verbs, the past tense is formed (in terms of spelling) by adding-edto the base form (play→played). Normal rules for adding suffixes beginning with a vowel apply: If the base form ends inethen onlydis added (like→liked); if the base form ends in a consonant followed byythen theyis changed toibefore adding the ending (try→tried;an exception is the verbsky(a ball), which can formskiedorskyed). Three words ending in-ay(lay,payandsay) changeytoiand add-d(laid,paid,said).

Various rules apply fordoubling final consonants.If the base form ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant (excepth,silentt,w,xory), then unless the final syllable is completelyunstressedthe consonant is doubled before adding the-ed(ship→shipped,butfathom→fathomed). In general this is considered something to keep the vowel before the final consonant short (i.e. if the word were spelledshipedit would have a long i.) However, there are 2 words,controlandpatrol,which follow this rule even though the vowel before the final consonant is long. For most base forms ending inc,the doubled form used isck,used regardless of stress (panic→panicked;exceptions includezinc→zinckedorzinced,arc→ usuallyarced,spec→speccedorspec'ed,sync→ sometimessynched). InBritish English,the doubling ofloccurs regardless of stress (travel→travelled;butparalleledis an exception), and when two separately pronounced vowels precede thel(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→kidnappedetc. In some cases both alternatives are acceptable, e.g.dialog† →dialoguedordialogged†,hiccup→hiccuppedorhiccuped,program→programed† orprogrammed.Howevercatalog† →cataloged†,pyramid→pyramided,format→formatted(butcombat→combat(t)ed). Other variations not entirely consistent with these rules includebus→bused† orbussed,bias→biasedorbiassed† andfocus→focusedorfocussed.(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/t/or/d/then a new syllable/ɪd/or/əd/is added (as indrifted,exceeded); if the base form ends in anunvoiced consonantsound other than/t/then the ending is pronounced/t/(as incapped,passed); otherwise the ending is pronounced/d/(as inbuzzed,tangoed). Consequently, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the latter two pronunciations were routinely spelled-'d,but-edwas later restored.

For the past tense of irregular verbs, seeEnglish irregular verbs.Many of these can be classed asGermanic strong verbs,such assing(pastsang), while others are weak verbs with irregularly pronounced or irregularly spelt past forms, such assay(past tensesaid/sɛd/).

The verbbehas two past tense forms:was(first and third person singular) andwere(plural and second person).

The past tense (preterite) form is used in what is called thesimple past,in sentences such asWelitthe fireandHelikedto 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 adependent clause:If Iknewthat, I wouldn't have to ask.This is sometimes called the "past subjunctive", particularly in the case ofwere,which can replacewasin such sentences; seeEnglish subjunctive.

Past participle

Thepast participleof regular verbs is identical to the preterite (past tense) form, described in the previous section.

For irregular verbs, seeEnglish irregular verbs.Some of these have different past tense and past participle forms (likesing–sang–sung); others have the same form for both (likemake–made–made). In some cases the past tense is regular but the past participle is not, as withshow–showed–shown.

For uses of the past participle, see§ Non-finite formsbelow.

Present participle

Thepresent participleform, which is also used for thegerund,is formed by adding the suffix-ingto the base form:go→going.A finalsilenteis dropped (believe→believing); finaliechanges toy(lie→lying), and consonant doubling applies as for the past tense (seeabove):run→running,panic→panicking.

Exceptions include forms such assingeing,dyeing,ageing,rueing,cacheingandwhingeing,where theemay be retained to avoid confusion with otherwise identical words (e.g.singing), to clarify pronunciation (for example to show that a word has a softgorch), or for aesthetic reasons.

In standard English the ending is pronounced/ɪŋ/,although in many regional dialects the final consonant sound is pronounced/n/,sometimes represented ineye dialectby spellings such ashuntin'(seeg-dropping).

For uses of the present participle and gerund, see§ Non-finite formsbelow.

Copular, auxiliary and defective verbs

Thecopular verbbehas multiple irregular forms in the present tense:amfor first person singular (which together with the subject pronoun is oftencontractedtoI'm),isfor third person singular (often contracted to's), andarefor plural and second person (often contracted to'rechiefly after the pronounsyou,we,they). It also has two past tense forms:wasfor first and third person singular, andwerefor plural and second person (also used as a past subjunctive with all persons; seeEnglish subjunctive). It has the following negative forms: third person singular presentisn't,other presentaren't(including first person for the questionaren't I), first and third person singular pastwasn't,and other pastweren't.The past participle isbeen,and the present participle and gerund is the regularbeing.The base formbeis used regularly as an infinitive, imperative and (present) subjunctive. For archaic forms, see the next section.

English has a number ofmodal auxiliary verbswhich are defective. These verbs mostly have only positive and negative present and past tense formscan/can't/cannotandcould/couldn't,mayandmight/mightn't,shall/shan'tandshould/shouldn't,will/won'tandwould/wouldn't,as well asmust/musn't.Oughtis also defective and has only a positive and negative form. In some dialects,need,anddarealso have negative forms.

Other verbs used asauxiliariesincludehave,chiefly in perfect constructions (the formshas/həz/,haveandhadcan contract to's,'veand'd);do(does,did) in emphatic, inverted and negated constructions (seedo-support).

For more detail of the above, including contractions of negated forms (isn't,won't,etc.), seeEnglish auxiliaries and contractions.

Another example of adefective verbisbeware,which is used only in those forms in whichberemains unchanged, namely the infinitive, subjunctive and imperative.

Archaic forms

Archaic conjugation ofhave

Person	Singular	Plural
First	I have	We have
Second	Thou hast	Ye have
Third	It hath	They have

Formerly, particularly in theOld Englishperiod, the English language had a far greater degree of verb inflection than it does now (some otherGermanic languagesretain a greater variety of inflected forms than English does). Some of the forms used inEarly Modern Englishhave now fallen out of use, but are still encountered in old writers and texts (e.g.Shakespeare,theKing James Bible) and inarchaisms.

One such form was the third person singular form with the suffix-eth[əθ],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-thappears:he hath( "he has" ),he doth( "he does"; pronounced as if writtenduth),he saithorhe sayeth( "he says" ). The formshathanddothare found in some proverbs ( "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned","The lady doth protest too much").

Another set of forms are associated with the archaic second person singular pronounthou,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-stappears:thou hast( "you have" ),thou dost( "you do"; rhymes withmust). In the case of the verbbe,such forms includedart(present tense),wast(past),wert(past subjunctive) andbeest(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 exceptmustalso have-tor-stadded to their form, e.g.thou canst( "you can" ),thou wilt( "you will" ),thou wouldst( "you would" ),thou mightst( "you might" ), exceptmay,which isthou mayest( "you may" ).

For example, several such forms (as well as other archaic forms such asyeafor "yes",thyfor "your", andmine enemiesfor "my enemies" ) appear inPsalm 23from theKing 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 thevalley of the shadow of death,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 seeOld English verbs,English subjunctive,andIndo-European copula(for the history of the verbbe).

Syntactic constructions

Expressing tenses, aspects and moods

Besides the synthetic (inflected) forms described above, there are a number ofperiphrastic(multi-word) constructions with verb forms that serve to express tensed, aspectual or modal meanings; these constructions are commonly described as representing certain verb tenses or aspects (inEnglish language teachingthey are often simply called tenses). For the usage of these forms, see§ Use of verb formsbelow. More detail can be found in the articleUses of English verb forms.

Progressive

Theprogressive(or continuous) aspect is expressed with a form ofbetogether with the present participle of the verb. Thuspresent progressive(present continuous) constructions take forms likeam writing,is writing,are writing,while thepast progressive(past continuous, also calledimperfect) forms arewas writing,were writing.There is a progressive infinitive(to) be writingand a progressivesubjunctivebe writing.Other progressive forms, made with compound forms ofbe,are described below.

Perfect

Theperfect aspectis expressed with a form of the auxiliaryhavetogether with the past participle of the verb. Thus thepresent perfectishave writtenorhas written,and thepast perfect(pluperfect) ishad written.The perfect can combine with the progressive aspect (see above) to produce thepresent perfect progressive(continuous)have/has been writingand thepast perfect progressive(continuous)had been writing.There is a perfect infinitive(to) have writtenand a perfect progressive infinitive(to) have been writing,and corresponding present participle/gerund formshaving writtenandhaving been writing.A perfectsubjunctive(have written) is also sometimes used. Future and conditional perfect forms are given below.

Future and conditional

What is often called thefuture tenseof English is formed using the auxiliarywill.The simple future iswill write,the future progressive (continuous) iswill be writing,thefuture perfectiswill have written,and the future perfect progressive (continuous) iswill have been writing.Traditionally (though now usually in formal English only)shallis used rather thanwillin the first person singular and plural; seeshallandwill.

Theconditional,or "future-in-the-past",forms are made analogously to these future forms, usingwould(andshould) in place ofwill(andshall).

Imperative

In the second person, theimperative moodis normally expressed with the base form of the verb but without a subject:Take this outside! Be good!It is possible to add the second person pronounyoufor emphasis:You be good!The first person plural is normally expressed with the contractionlet's(let us) and the base form.

More details can be found in the articleimperative mood.

Expressing passive voice

Thepassive voicein English is normally expressed with a form of the copula verbbe(or sometimesget) together with the past participle of the main verb. In this contextbeis not a stative verb, so it may occur in progressive forms. Examples:

• The housewas builtlast year.
• The houseis being builtat the moment.
• The housewill be builtby our firm.(a prepositional phrase withbyexpresses the performer of the action)
• Iwas givena blueprint.(here the subject of the passive corresponds to the indirect object of the active)
• Hewas saidto know the house's dimensions.(special construction related toindirect speech)

For details, seeEnglish passive voice.

Questions, negation, inversion and emphasis

Questions are formed bysubject–auxiliary inversion(unless the interrogative word is part of the subject). If there is otherwise no auxiliary, the verbdo(does,did) is used as an auxiliary, enabling the inversion. This also applies to negation: the negating wordnotmust follow an auxiliary, sodois used if there is no other auxiliary.

Inversion is also required in certain other types of sentences, mainly after negative adverbial phrases; here toodois used if there is no other auxiliary.

The construction withdoas auxiliary is also used to enable emphasis to be added to a sentence.

For details of the above constructions, seedo-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 articleUses of English verb formsand 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), thesimple presentis used:He brushes his teeth every morning.For an action taking place at the present time, thepresent progressiveconstruction is used:He is brushing his teeth now.With some verbs expressing a presentstate,particularly the copulabeand 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, thesimple pastis 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, thepresent perfectis 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), thepast progressiveis used:We were sitting on the beach when...For an action that was completed before the past time being referred to, thepast perfectis used:We had sat down on the blanket when...

For actions or events expected to take place in the future, the construction withwillcan be used:The president will arrive tomorrow.Future events are also often expressed using thebe going toconstruction: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 withwill:If/When you get(notwill 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; seeconditional mood.For use of tenses inindirect speech,seesequence of tenses.For the use of subjunctive forms, seeEnglish subjunctive.

Non-finite forms

For details, seeUses of English verb forms § Uses of non-finite verbs.

The bareinfinitive,identical to the base form of the verb, is used as a complement of most modal verbs and certain other verbs (I canwrite;They made himwrite;I saw youwrite), including in negated and inverted sentences formed usingdo-support(He doesn'twrite;Did youwrite?).

Preceded byto,it forms theto-infinitive, which has a variety of uses, including as anoun phrase(To writeisto learn) and as the complement of many verbs (I wantto write), as well as with certain adjectives and nouns (easyto ride;his decisionto leave), and in expressions of purpose (You did itto spite me).

The past participle has the following uses:

• It is used with the auxiliaryhaveinperfectconstructions:Theyhave written;Wehad writtenbefore we heard the news.(With verbs of motion, an archaic form withbemay be found in older texts:heis come.)
• It is used as apassive participle,withbeorget,to form thepassive voice:This bookwas writtenlast year;Trees sometimesget gnaweddown by beavers.
• It is used to form passiveparticipial phrases,which can be used adjectivally or adverbially (a letterwritten on his computer;Beaten to a pulp,he was carried away) and as complements of certain verbs (I got my carmended;They had meplaced on a list).
• It may be used as a simpleadjective:as a passive participle in the case oftransitive verbs(thewrittenword,i.e. "the word that is written" ), and as a perfect active participle in the case of some intransitive ones (afallentree,i.e. "a tree that has fallen" ).

The present participle has the following uses:

• It is used with forms ofbe,in progressive (continuous) constructions:Heis writinganother book;I intendto be sittingon the beach.
• It can formparticipial phrases,which can be used adjectivally or adverbially:The mansitting over thereis drunk;Being a lawyer,I can understand this;I saw hersitting by the tree.
• It can serve as a simple adjective:It is athrillingbook.

The same form used as a gerund has the following uses:

• It forms verbal phrases that are then used as nouns:Lying in bedis my favorite hobby.
• It forms similar phrases used as a complement of certain verbs:He triedwritingnovels.

The logical subject of a phrase formed with a gerund can be expressed by apossessive,as inI do not likeyour/Jim'sdrinking wine,although a non-possessive noun or pronoun is often used instead, especially in informal English:I do not likeyou/Jimdrinking wine.The latter usage, though common, is sometimes considered ungrammatical or stylistically poor; it is given names likefused participleandgeriplesince it is seen to confuse a participle with a gerund. For more information seefused participle.

Gerund forms are often used as plainverbal nouns,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, asnoun adjuncts,as ina writing desk.

Objects and complements

Verbs are used in certain patterns which require the presence of specificargumentsin the form ofobjectsand othercomplementsof particular types. (A given verb may be usable in one or more of these patterns.)

A verb with a direct object is called atransitive verb.Some transitive verbs have an indirect object in addition to the direct object. Verbs used without objects are calledintransitive.Both transitive and intransitive verbs may also have additional complements that are not considered objects.

A single (direct) object generally follows the verb:I loveyou.If there is an indirect object, it precedes the direct object (I gavehimthe book), although an indirect object can also be expressed with aprepositional phrasefollowing the direct object (and this method is usual when the direct object is a personal pronoun):I gave the bookto John;I bought themfor you.

Other complements may include prepositional phrases,non-finite clausesandcontent clauses,depending on the applicable verb pattern. These complements normally follow any objects. For example:

• I insiston coming.(this use of the verbinsistinvolves a prepositional phrase withon)
• I expectto arrive tomorrow.(this use ofexpectinvolves a to-infinitive phrase)
• I asked himwhether he was coming.(this use ofaskinvolves a direct object(him)and an interrogative content clause)

More examples can be found atVerb patterns with the gerund.

English has a number ofergative verbs: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 issink:The shipsank(intransitive use);The explosionsankthe ship(transitive use). Other common examples includeopen, sink, wake, melt, boil, collapse, explode, freeze, start, sell.

For more details on how verbs are built up into clauses, seeEnglish clause syntax.

Phrasal verbs

Main article:Phrasal verb

Many English verbs are used in particular combinations with adverbial modifiers such ason,away,out,etc. Often these combinations take on independent meanings. They are referred to asphrasal verbs.(This term may also include verbs used with a complement introduced by a particular preposition that gives it a special meaning, as intake 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 moneyorHand the money over,butHand it over.

See also

• Conditional sentence
• English grammar
• English irregular verbs
• English modal verbs
• English passive voice
• Wiktionary appendix: Irregular English verbs
• Northern subject rule
• Conversion (word formation)
• Uses of English verb forms

References

General references

• Gilman, E. Ward (editor in chief)Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage(Merriam-Webster, 1989)ISBN0-87779-132-5
• Greenbaum, Sidney.The Oxford English Grammar.(Oxford, 1996)ISBN0-19-861250-8
• McArthur, Tom,The Oxford Companion to the English Language(Oxford, 1992)ISBN0-19-863136-7
• Carter, Ronald;McCarthy, Michael (2006).Cambridge grammar of English: a comprehensive guide; spoken and written English grammar and usage; [Cambridge international corpus].Cambridge University Press.ISBN9783125343313.
• English Verb Forms With Search Bar all verb V1 V2 V3 listed here -Verb Forms

• Sequence of Tensesat the Online Writing Lab atPurdue University
• Modals and auxiliary verbs in English
• The English Verb Tense System: A dynamic presentation using the Cuisenaire RodsArchived2016-03-16 at theWayback Machine
• English verbs -Verb Forms