English Verb Tenses and Irregular Verb Forms

English Verb Tenses and Forms

Present Simple

The present simple tense is formed by adding “-s” to the third-person singular form. Negative forms use “don’t” or “does not.” Common time expressions include yesterday, last night, and a week ago.

Present Continuous

The present continuous tense uses the verb “to be” + -ing. Negative forms add “not.” Common time expressions include now, right now, and at the moment.

Past Simple

The past simple tense is generally formed by adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb. Questions use “did,” and negative forms use “did not.”

Used To

“Used to” is followed by another verb in its base form to describe past habits or states. Questions use “did.”

Future Tense

The future tense uses “will + base form” to indicate future actions or intentions. “Going to” can also be used to express future plans.

Modal Verbs

  • Can: Ability
  • Could: Past ability, polite permission
  • Must: Obligation, duty
  • Mustn’t: Prohibition
  • Should: Advice
  • Have to: Necessity
  • May: Possibility

Irregular Verb Forms

Here is a list of irregular verbs and their forms:

  • Be, was/were, been
  • Beat, beat, beaten
  • Become, became, become
  • Begin, began, begun
  • Bend, bent, bent
  • Bet, bet, bet
  • Bite, bit, bitten
  • Bleed, bled, bled
  • Blow, blew, blown
  • Break, broke, broken
  • Bring, brought, brought
  • Build, built, built
  • Burn, burned/burnt, burned/burnt
  • Buy, bought, bought
  • Catch, caught, caught
  • Choose, chose, chosen
  • Come, came, come
  • Cost, cost, cost
  • Cut, cut, cut
  • Dig, dug, dug
  • Do, did, done
  • Draw, drew, drawn
  • Dream, dreamed/dreamt, dreamed/dreamt
  • Drink, drank, drunk
  • Drive, drove, driven
  • Eat, ate, eaten
  • Fall, fell, fallen
  • Feed, fed, fed
  • Feel, felt, felt
  • Fight, fought, fought
  • Find, found, found
  • Fly, flew, flown
  • Forget, forgot, forgotten
  • Forgive, forgave, forgiven
  • Freeze, froze, frozen
  • Get,…
  • Give,…
  • Go,…
  • Grow,…
  • Hang,…
  • Have,…
  • Hear,…
  • Hide,…
  • Hit,…
  • Hold,…
  • Hurt,…
  • Keep,…
  • Know,…
  • Lay,…
  • Lead,…
  • Learn,…
  • Leave,…
  • Lend,…
  • Let,…
  • Lie,…
  • Light,…
  • Make,…
  • Mean,…
  • Meet,…
  • Pay,…
  • Put,…
  • Read,…
  • Ride,…
  • Ring,…
  • Rise,…
  • Run,…
  • Say,…
  • See,…
  • Sell,…
  • Send,…
  • Set,…
  • Shake,…
  • Shine,…
  • Shoot,…
  • Show,…
  • Shut,…
  • Sing,…
  • Sink,…
  • Sit,…
  • Sleep,…
  • Smell,…
  • Speak,…
  • Spell,…
  • Spend,…
  • Stand,…
  • Steal,…
  • Stick,…
  • Sweep,…
  • Swim,…
  • Take,…
  • Teach,…
  • Tear,…
  • Tell,…
  • Think,…
  • Throw,…
  • Understand,…
  • Wake up,…
  • Wear,…
  • Win,…
  • Write,…