Verb Forms and Verb Tenses 1

English verbs have five basic forms: the base form, the - S form, the - ing form, the past form,
and the past participle form:
1. The base (or simple) form: For all verbs except BE, the base form is the verb with "no
special ending" (no - s, - ing, - ed, etc.).
2. The - S (or third-person singular, present tense) form: For BE, this form is is and for have,
it's has. For other verbs, the - S form is the verb + - s or- es.
Note: For some verbs ending in y, y --> - i + es.
3. The - ing (or present participle) form: For many verbs, this form is the verb + - ing.
For some verbs, the last consonant must be doubled in order to form the -ing form correctly.
For verbs which end in a consonant + -e, the -e is dropped.
4. The past form: For many verbs (regular verbs), this form is the verb + - d or - ed; for some
verbs ending in y, y --> i + ed.
For many other verbs (irregular verbs), the past form may resemble the base form with
"internal changes" (for example, do / did; took / take; see / saw) or be the same as the base
form (for example, cut / cut; cost / cost; put / put). In a few cases, the past form may look quite
different from the base form (for example, go / went and buy / bought).
5. The past participle form: For regular verbs, this form is the same as the
past form. For irregular verbs, this form often has "internal changes" (for example, do / did /
done; go / went / gone; see / saw / seen), but the past participle may be the same as the base
form and / or the past form (for example, cost / cost / cost; set / set / set; pay / paid / paid;
sell / sold / sold).
Verb Forms and Verb Tenses 2
The Base Form: The base form is the verb "with no special endings"--no - s, - ing, past-tense
ending, and so on. Here are the most common uses of the base form:
1. If the verb tense is simple present and if the verb is not BE, the base form is used with I,
you, we, and they.
Examples:
I / you / we / they have a problem.
I / you / we / they speak English.
I / you / we / they like sports.
2. If the verb tense is simple present or past and if the verb is not BE, the base form is used
after auxiliary verbs in questions and negatives.
Examples:
Do I / you / we / they have a problem?
Does he / she / it have a problem?
No, I / you / we / they don't have a problem.
No, he / she / it doesn't have a problem.
Did I / you / he / she / it / we / they do what you wanted?
No, I / you / he / she / it / we / they didn't do what you wanted.
Do I / you / we / they need anything?
Does he / she / it need anything?
No, I / you / we / they don't need anything.
No, he / she / it doesn't need anything.
Did I / you / he / she / it / we / they need anything?
No, I / you / he / she / it / we / they didn't need anything.

3. The base form is also used in commands.

Examples:
Leave! / Don't leave!
Do the laundry tomorrow. / Don't do it tonight.
Be quiet! / Don't be so noisy!
Please stay longer. / Please don't leave now.
Please help me. / Please don't ignore me.
Please be on time. / Please don't be late.
4. The base form is also used directly after modal auxiliaries (can , could, may, might, must,
will, would, shall, should, and their negative forms).
Examples:
I / You / He / She / It / We / They can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must help
you.
I / You / He / She / It / We / They can't, couldn't, may not, might not, won't, wouldn't, shan't,
shouldn't, mustn't help you.
5. In addition, the base form is used directly after to (the infinitive structure).
Examples:
They want to see the Grand Canyon.
I prefer to leave early today.
He needs to go to a meeting.
6. Another use for the base form is with make and have, an object, and another verb. Use a
base form for the second verb when make and have show how the subject caused another
thing to happen.
Examples:
The made us stay late today.
Please make your dog be quiet!
I'll have someone help you right away.
Has he had someone wash his car?
7. Another use for the base form is in "that" clauses after certain verbs that show requests or
commands.
Examples:
He asked that we be careful.
The manager requested that Bob work late.
The supervisor demanded that Jane finish the report before she left for the day.
The ruler commanded that his subjects
pay higher taxes.
8. Another similar use for the base form is in "that" clauses after adjectives that show urgency.
Examples:
It's important that we be careful.
It's necessary that Bob work late in order to finish the project on time, because it needs to be
faxed by 9:00 PM.
It's mandatory that the subjects pay higher taxes because the ruler can ask for whatever he
wants.
Special Notes:
1. Notice that the base form and the "I / you / we / they" form for most verbs are the same, but
that they are different for BE:

Come to class on time.

I / You / We / They always come to class on time.
Be on time.
I / You / We / They are always on time for class.
2. Notice that the negative form of a command with BE uses don't:
Be on time.
Don't be late.
Please be quiet!
Please don't be so noisy!
3. Most of the modal auxiliaries have past forms with have and a past participle (may have
left, could have helped, would have known, should have done, etc.). In these combinations,
have is a base form.
4. When to is part of a phrasal verb, an - ing form follows to, not a base form:
I look forward to taking a vacation.
Who put him up to doing that?
We got to talking and forgot about the time.
(There are very few phrasal verbs that end in to, however.)
Verb Forms and Verb Tenses 3
The - S form is used in several verb tenses when the subject of a verb is he, she, or it and the
verb is not be. For most verbs, the - S form adds -s or- es; for some verbs ending in - y, the y
changes to i before - es is added. The verbs be and have are different. For be, the - S form is
is and for have, the - S form is has.
Common uses of the - S form:
1. Use the - S form in simple present tense sentences when the verb is not be and when the
subject of verb is (or means) he, she, or it:
He comes from Mauritania.
She looks like her mother.
It seems cooler today.
That man needs some help.
Bob's mother has red hair.
My car needs gas.
2. Also use the - S form in simple present tense when an auxiliary verb is needed for
questions or negatives and the subject is he, she, or it:
He doesn't come from Senegal.
She doesn't look like her father.
It doesn't seem very hot today.
That man doesn't need any help.
Bob doesn't have red hair.
My car doesn't need gas.
Does he come from Senegal or Mauritania?
Does she look like her father or her mother?
Does it seem cooler today?
Does that man need some help?
Does Bob have red hair?
Does your car need gas?

3. Use the S form in present perfect tense (affirmative and negative statements and
questions) when the subject of the verb is (or means) he, she, or it:
Has he eaten?
Yes, he has already eaten.
No, he hasn't eaten yet.
Has she lived here for a long time?
No, she hasn't lived here very long.
Yes, she's lived here for about 15 years.
Has the weather been nice lately?
No, it hasn't been very pleasant. It's been too hot.
Yes, it's been quite comfortable.
Important: Do not forget to add - S in the situations described above! Native speakers always
notice when an - s is missing!
Special Notes:
1. Don't confuse verb + - S with is + verb. These are completely different:
wrong: *That man is need some help.
right: That man needs some help.
wrong: *Bob's mother is have red hair.
right: Bob's mother has red hair.
wrong: *My car is need gas.
right: My car needs gas.
2. When the auxiliary does is used, the verb after it is the base form, not the - S form:
wrong: *Does that man needs some help? *That man doesn't needs any help.
right: Does that man need some help? That man doesn't need any help.
wrong: *Does Bob's mother has black hair? *Bob's mother doesn't has black hair.
right: Does Bob's mother have black hair? Bob's mother doesn't have black hair.
wrong: *Does your car needs gas? *My car doesn't needs gas.
right: Does your car need gas? My car doesn't need gas.
3. The contractions means both is and has. To know which is intended, look at the words
after 's:
He's here. ('s = is)
He's been here. ('s = has)
Se's sad. ('s = is)
She's feeling sad. ('s = is)
She's seemed sad today. ('s = has)
It's rainy. ('s = is)
It's been raining. ('s = has)
It's raining. ('s = is)
It's rained a lot this week. ('s = has)
Verb Forms and Verb Tenses 4
The - S form is very commonly used for main verbs and auxiliary verbs in the simple present
tense when the subject is or means he, she, or it. The - S form is also very commonly used as
a full (has) or contracted ('s) auxiliary verb in the present perfect tense when the subject is or
means he, she, or it. For be, the - S form is is. For have, it is has. For other verbs, there are
three different spellings: - s, - es, and - ies:
1. Add - s to the base form. This is the most common spelling for the -S form and
is the spelling used for most verbs.

Notice, especially, that - s is added when the base form ends in one or more consonants + e:
aches, bakes, breathes, cares, caches, dives, edges, fiddles, files, glares, hates, hopes,
jokes, lives, makes, notes, pastes, races, spares, surprises, tastes, types, writes
Notice that - s is also added when the base form ends in one or more consonants (but without
e):
adds, bets, beats, calls, claps, cheats, cleans, digs, drops, eats, fills, finds, fits, gets, grabs,
hops, kills, knits, links, lists, means, needs, opens, puts, quits, robs, rings, rips, sends, stops,
tells, trusts, voids, wants, works, zips
In addition, notice this spelling is used with the small number of verbs ending in two vowels
(including - ie):
agrees, argues, boos, coos, flees, glues, moos, sees, shoos, shoes, tees, woos, dies, lies,
ties, vies
2. Add - es to the base form. This happens in two situations:
a. when the base form ends in the vowel o: does, goes, soloes
b. when the base form ends in ss, sh, (t)ch, zz, and x:
assesses, blesses, caresses, fusses, kisses, misses, passes, tosses; blushes, dashes,
flashes, gnashes, hushes, lashes, mashes, pushes, rushes, splashes, stashes, washes,
wishes;
catches, ditches, etches, flinches, hitches, itches, marches, mooches, patches, reaches,
searches, scratches, teaches, touches, watches;
buzzes, fizzes; boxes, coaxes, faxes, fixes, relaxes, vexes, waxes.
3. Change y to i and add - es. This happens when a verb ends in a consonant + y:
apply / applies; bury / buries; carry / carries; copy / copies; cry / cries; dry / dries; fly / flies;
fry / fries; hurry / hurries; marry / marries; pity / pities; ply / plies; pry / pries; tidy / tidies; try /
tries; worry / worries.
Verbs that end in a vowel + y do not change the y to i and then add - es, however:
buy / buys; employs / employs; enjoy / enjoys; flay / flays; lay / lays; pay / pays; play / plays;
say / says; slay / slays; spray / sprays; stay / stays; sway / sways;
Important:
Compare flay / flays, play / plays, and pray / prays with fly / flies, ply / plies, and pry / pries to
see how these spelling rules work for verbs ending in s.