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By Swati Singh
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Updated on 10 Nov 2025, 15:13 IST
A verb form is a change made to a verb to show time, person, number, or other grammar uses. In English, verbs can have up to five main forms: the base form (infinitive), the third-person singular present form, the simple past form, the present participle, and the past participle. These forms help us make correct sentences and show when an action happens.
Action Verbs
Linking Verbs
Transitive Verbs
Intransitive Verbs
Regular Verbs
Irregular Verbs
1. Base Form (Infinitive): This is the main form of the verb — the one you find in a dictionary.
Examples: go, eat, write, play
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I like to read.
They go to school every day.
2. Third-Person Singular Present Form: Used with he, she, it in the present tense. Usually adds -s or -es.
Examples: goes, eats, writes, plays
She writes neatly.
He goes to work early.
3. Simple Past Form: Shows an action that happened in the past.
Examples: went, ate, wrote, played
They played cricket yesterday.
She ate an apple.
4. Present Participle (-ing Form): Used for continuous tenses or as adjectives.
Examples: going, eating, writing, playing
He is reading a book.
The crying baby needs milk.
5. Past Participle: Used with have, has, had for perfect tenses, or as adjectives.
Examples: gone, eaten, written, played
They have finished their homework.
The broken glass is on the floor.
| V1 (Base Form) | V2 (Past Simple) | V3 (Past Participle) |
| go | went | gone |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| write | wrote | written |
| play | played | played |
| make | made | made |
| see | saw | seen |
| run | ran | run |
| come | came | come |
| buy | bought | bought |
| take | took | taken |
| begin | began | begun |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| build | built | built |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| cut | cut | cut |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| drive | drove | driven |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feel | felt | felt |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| get | got | gotten/got |
| give | gave | given |
| grow | grew | grown |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hold | held | held |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| stand | stood | stood |
| swim | swam | swum |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| write | wrote | written |
| arise | arose | arisen |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| burn | burnt/burned | burnt/burned |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| creep | crept | crept |
| deal | dealt | dealt |
| dig | dug | dug |
| dream | dreamt/dreamed | dreamt/dreamed |
| feed | fed | fed |
| fight | fought | fought |
| fit | fit/fitted | fit/fitted |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| hang | hung | hung |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| learn | learnt/learned | learnt/learned |
| light | lit/lighted | lit/lighted |
| mistake | mistook | mistaken |
| prove | proved | proven/proved |
| quit | quit | quit |
| rise | rose | risen |
| seek | sought | sought |
| set | set | set |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| shine | shone | shone |
| shoot | shot | shot |
| show | showed | shown |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| shut | shut | shut |
| slide | slid | slid |
| smell | smelt/smelled | smelt/smelled |
| spell | spelt/spelled | spelt/spelled |
| spoil | spoilt/spoiled | spoilt/spoiled |
| spring | sprang | sprung |
| steal | stole | stolen |
| stick | stuck | stuck |
| sting | stung | stung |
| strike | struck | struck/stricken |
| sweep | swept | swept |
| tear | tore | torn |
| understand | understood | understood |
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Verb forms are the different versions of a verb that show time (tense), person, or number. For example, go, went, and gone are forms of the same verb.
There are five main verb forms:
Base form (V1) – go
Past simple (V2) – went
Past participle (V3) – gone
Present participle (V4 / -ing form) – going
V2 (Simple Past) shows a completed action in the past.
Example: She ate breakfast.
V3 (Past Participle) is used with have, has, or had to form perfect tenses.
Example: She has eaten breakfast.
Regular verbs form their past tense and past participle by adding -ed.
Example: work → worked → worked
Irregular verbs change completely or in other ways.
Example: go → went → gone
It ends in -ing and is used for continuous (progressive) tenses or as an adjective.
Examples:
He is running fast.
It is used with have/has/had to show completed actions (perfect tenses).
Example: They have finished their homework.
They help show when an action happens and who does it, which keeps sentences grammatically correct and clear.
The base form is the simplest form of the verb — the one found in the dictionary.
Example: run, eat, write, play
Group them by patterns (like sing–sang–sung or drink–drank–drunk). Practice regularly using flashcards or lists.
Modal verbs (can, may, must, should, will, etc.) don’t change form — they stay the same for all subjects.
Example: She can sing. / They can sing.