Table of Contents
Verbs in the Now
Verbs in the present tense are mostly regular, since the “name” of the verb is its present tense form. (The exception is the verb “to be,” which, in the present tense, uses different words.)
The simple present tense makes a statement of now. It can be a generalization or a description. Sometimes the present refers to a repeated event.
This is the most common form in conversation or in present tense narratives.
For emphasis, the helping verb “do/does” may be added after the subject. The third person singular (“he/she/it”) uses “does,” while the verb itself loses the third person singular ending.
Questions often insert “do/does” before the subject.
want
- I want
- You want
- He/she/it wants
- We want
- You want
- They want
Examples:
- My children want a new television set for Christmas.
- We all love to watch the Saturday morning children’s programming.
- Their grandmother bakes cookies every Friday morning.
- The cookies disappear before Sunday evening.
- I do try to keep some for the rest of the week, but where do they go?
Negative words include “not,” “never,” and the contraction attached to “do/does” (“don’t/doesn’t).
Examples:
- The cookies do not last long if I do not hide some of them.
- The cookies don’t last long if I don’t hide some of them.
- So far, the children do not look under my bed, but my dog does.
- So far, the children don’t look under my bed, but my dog does.
- If Grandmother does not make cookies Christmas Eve, after the children go to bed, Santa will not have any.
- If Grandmother doesn’t make cookies Christmas Eve, after the children go to bed, Santa won’t have any.
English identifies a verb by its present tense form (sometimes adding “to,” making the infinitive).
Example
- “do” (present) >> “to do” (infinitive)
- “eat” (present) >> “to eat” (infinitive)
- “come” (present) >> “to come” (infinitive)
The second person singular (“you”) and the second person plural (“you”) are always the same. (An exception to the rule about exceptions!)
English does not distinguish between one “you” and more than one “you.” (Some dialects add “all” for the plural: singular = “you,” plural = “you all” [sometimes contracted to “y’all”])
In English, verbs do not change their form according to the subject, except the third person singular (“he,” “she,” “it”). For most verbs, the third person singular (“he/she/it”) adds “s” to the end of the verb.
Forms of regular verbs:
want
- I want
- You want
- He/she/it wants
- We want
- You want
- They want
The most irregular verb in the present tense is “to be.”
Singular
- I am
- You are
- He/she/it is
Plural
- We are
- You are
- They are
- “Have” creates its own oddball for “he,” “she,” or “it” >> “has.”
- Modal verbs, which indicate degrees of certainty, possibility, or obligation, have the same form for all subjects.
Modal verbs:
- can
- may
- might
- shall
- will
- must
- could
- should
- would
Verbs ending in a consonant plus “-o” add “-es”
- Do >> does
- Go >> goes
- Veto >> vetoes
- Echo >> echoes
- Zero >> zeroes
- Lasso >> lassoes
Verbs ending in a consonant plus “-y” generally change the “-y” to “-i” and add “-es”
- Carry >> carries
- Accompany >> accompanies
- Radio >> radios
- Occupy >> occupies
- Supply >> supplies
- Solo >> soloes
Verbs ending in “-sh,” “-ch,” “-x,” “-z,” or “-ss” add “es.” (A single final “-z” doubles before the “-es”)
- Hush >> hushes
- Watch >> watches
- Fax >> faxes
- Quiz >> quizzes
- Buzz >> buzzes
- Miss >> misses
The present progressive begins with the form of “be” (“am/is/are”) followed by the present participle (the “-ing” form) of the verb.
For most verbs, the participle is simply the verb plus “‑ing.” (Even “be” follows this rule: “being.”)
Verbs ending in “-y” or the letters “-sh,” “-ch,” -“x,” “-z,” or “-ss” add “-ing” in the regular fashion.
Examples of regular verbs:
- I lift >> I am lifting
- You stay >> you are staying
- He/she/it plays >> he/she/is is playing
- We carry >> we are carrying
- You hush >> you are hushing
- They miss >> they are missing
Examples:
- I write >> I am writing
- You smile >> you are smiling
- He/she/it takes >> he/she/it is taking
- We write >> we are coming
- You relate >> you are relating
- They writhe >> they are leaving
Negative words include “not,” “never,” and the contraction attached to “do/does” (“don’t/doesn’t).
If using the negative contraction, there are two choices:
- attach the contraction for “be” to the form of subject (noun or pronoun)
- I’m lifting
- She’s staying
- We’re carrying
- attach the contraction “n’t” to the form of “be” (not common for “I”*)
- You aren’t writing
- He isn’t playing
- They aren’t hushing
*Technically, “I amn’t” is acceptable, but it is rare and both looks and sounds strange to people in the United States.
The past participle is usually formed by adding “-ed” to the verb. (Unfortunately, English has many irregular verbs in this form, including “be” >> “been.”)
The rules about dropping the final silent “-e” and the “-y” changing to “-i” from the third person singular simple present apply to forming the past participle by adding “-ed” instead of “-es.”
Examples:
- I lifted >> I have lifted
- You stayed >> you have stayed
- He/she/it created >> he/she/it created
- We smiled >> We have smiled
- You replied >> You have replied
- They carried >> They have carried
The present perfect is used to refer to a time in the past up to the present, but the time is not specified or named. The event may have happened once, or it may have been recurring.
Examples of unspecified or unnamed time in the past:
- My sister has practiced random words in the dictionary to compete in the spelling bee.
- She has discovered words I never even knew existed.
- My vocabulary has doubled or tripled.
The present perfect also may indicate something that has changed over time or an accomplishment.
Examples of changing over time or accomplishment:
- My aunt always says, “My goodness! How you have changed!”
- She thinks I have added five inches to my height since she last saw me.
- I think she has not paid attention.
The present perfect may signal a repeated event that may not be complete.
Examples of a repeated event:
- Every time I have seen her, I have stood on my tiptoes.
- Mother has always scolded me when we go home.
- My aunt is so tall that she has played professional basketball.
Negative words include “not,” “never,” and the contraction attached to “do/does” (“don’t/doesn’t).
The negative “not” or “never” is inserted between the form of “have” and the past participle. The contraction “-n’t” is attached to the form of “have.”
Examples of action not yet occurred:
- Despite all her studying, my sister has not yet won the spelling bee.
- I have not yet grown enough to be taller than my aunt.
- I have never wanted to be that tall.
It uses the verb “to have” in the present tense (“have/has”), the past participle form of the verb “to be” (“been”), and the present participle (“‑ing”) form of the primary verb.
The action of the present perfect progressive began sometime in the past and continues into the present. It is not yet completed.
Examples:
- Santa Claus has been delivering presents to children since … well, longer than I know.
- The elves have been building toys for him to deliver every year.
- I have been hanging up my stocking by the fire place since I was two years old.
Examples:
- NASA has not been tracking Santa as long as he has been flying.
- They have never been warning children when he would arrive.
- My sister and I have not been waiting when he came.
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