Appendix:English verbs

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For detailed information about English verbs, see English verbs on WikipediaWikipedia . This appendix entry provides a simple summary.

Regular verbs in English have four forms:

  • The base form, for example, listen.
  • The third-person singular (he/she/it) present form, for example, listens.
  • The present participle (gerund), for example, listening.
  • The past form, for example, listened.

Wiktionary entries display these forms in the headword line, for example:

listen (third-person singular simple present listens, present participle listening, simple past and past participle listened)

Many irregular verbs distinguish the past tense (simple past or preterite) from the past participle. See Appendix:English irregular verbs for more information about irregular verbs.

Conjugation of regular verbs in English

English regular verbs follow one of the five rules listed in this table:

Rule Special inflection Example verb Modern forms Archaic forms
The base form ends with silent e The -e is omitted when the suffix begins with a vowel love loves, loving, loved lovest, loveth
The base form ends with -y not preceded by a vowel The -y becomes -ie- when the suffix begins with a consonant or -e- cry cries, crying, cried criest, crieth
The base form ends with a sibilant without silent e An -e- is inserted if the suffix begins with a sibilant latch latches, latching, latched latchest, latcheth
The base form ends with a single vowel followed by a single consonant The consonant is often doubled when the suffix begins with a vowel
(depending on a complex set of rules) 		strut struts, strutting, strutted struttest, strutteth
fathom fathoms, fathoming, fathomed fathomest, fathometh
travel British: travels, travelling, travelled travellest, travelleth
American: travels, traveling, traveled travelest, traveleth
The base form is not covered by these criteria none listen listens, listening, listened listenest, listeneth

Example: walk

  • Infinitive: to walk
  • Present:
    Singular
    First person: I walk
    Second person: you walk (archaic thou walkest or thou walkst)
    Third person: he/she/it/one walks (archaic walketh)
    Plural
    First person: we walk
    Second person: you walk
    Third person: they walk
  • Present participle: walking (colloquial walkin' or walkin)
  • Simple past: I, you, etc. walked (archaic or poetic walk'd)
  • Future: I, you, etc. will walk (formal, dated, emphatic I, you, etc. shall walk)
    Note: In the first person, the form using "shall" at one time was considered the ordinary form, and the form using "will" was considered emphatic, but this distinction is now lost.
  • Conditional: I, you, etc. would walk (formal, dated, emphatic I, you, etc. should walk)
    Note: In the first person, the form using "should" at one time was considered the ordinary form, and the form using "would" was considered emphatic, but this distinction is now lost.
  • Past participle: walked
  • Present subjunctive: I, you, etc. walk (especially in U.S. English), I, you, etc. should walk (especially in British English)
  • Imperfective subjunctive: I, you, etc. walked
  • Present perfect: I, you, etc. have walked
  • Past perfect: I, you, etc. had walked
  • Future perfect: I, you, etc. will have walked, (formal, dated, emphatic I, you, etc. shall have walked)
  • Conditional perfect: I, you, etc. would have walked, (formal, dated, emphatic I, you, etc. should have walked)
  • Imperative:
    First-person plural: let's walk
    Second-person: walk
    Other: let + noun or pronoun + walk

Tense and aspect

Perfect tenses

English forms the perfect tenses with a verb phrase made up of the auxiliary verb have plus the past participle of the main verb (e.g., love).

Verb Present perfect Past perfect Future perfect
love has/have loved had loved will/shall have loved
go has/have gone had gone will/shall have gone

In addition to the regular perfect tenses, English can create other variations with various other auxiliary verbs. The verb phrase in the main clause of the first example could be called a conditional perfect tense:

  • "He would have ridden his bicycle if it had not rained."
  • "She was about to have gone home." (Or "She was going to have gone home.")
  • "They had been going for a swim every Thursday."

Overview of tenses for the verb walk:

infinitive walk
present participle walking
past participle walked
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I walk we walk I am walking we are walking I have walked we have walked I have been walking we have been walking
you walk you walk you are walking you are walking you have walked you have walked you have been walking you have been walking
he walks they walk he is walking they are walking he has walked they have walked he has been walking they have been walking
past I walked we walked I was walking we were walking I had walked we had walked I had been walking we had been walking
you walked you walked you were walking you were walking you had walked you had walked you had been walking you had been walking
he walked they walked he was walking they were walking he had walked they had walked he had been walking they had been walking
future I will walk we will walk I will be walking we will be walking I will have walked we will have walked I will have been walking we will have been walking
you will walk you will walk you will be walking you will be walking you will have walked you will have walked you will have been walking you will have been walking
he will walk they will walk he will be walking they will be walking he will have walked they will have walked he will have been walking they will have been walking
conditional I would walk we would walk I would be walking we would be walking I would have walked we would have walked I would have been walking we would have been walking
you would walk you would walk you would be walking you would be walking you would have walked you would have walked you would have been walking you would have been walking
he would walk they would walk he would be walking they would be walking he would have walked they would have walked he would have been walking they would have been walking

Irregular verbs

For irregular verbs, see Appendix:English irregular verbs.

Auxiliaries and modal verbs

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

The auxiliary verb have plus a following past participle indicates the perfect aspect.

I have walked a lot today.

The auxiliary verb be plus a following present participle indicates the continuous aspect

I am walking right now

Modal verbs (such as can, must, would, etc.) occur only once per verb in most varieties of English. Each has a different meaning and they go before have and be, in that order.

He must have been walking for ages.
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