Verb Form List – V1, V2, and V3

Verbs in English are used to represent the subject’s action within a sentence or context. There are five major verb forms in English. Let us examine each of them in detail.

What is a Verb form?

Verbs play a crucial role in sentences. They assist us in understanding when an action occurred by demonstrating actions like jumping or running. However, did you know that verbs have different forms? The various ways a verb can appear in a sentence are what we mean when we discuss verb forms. In this article, we will examine the five primary forms of verbs.

Root Verb with Examples

The root verb is the verb in its original form, with no inflexions or changes. The verb’s root form serves as the foundation for the creation of the other forms. Remember that this is not true for all Verb. Only regular verbs have their root form changed when conjugated to represent other forms of the verb. Irregular Verbs are conjugated in unique ways, and not all remain the same.

Examples of Root Verbs:

• I really like watching movies with my friends. (Root verb – like)
• I complete my homework before 6 p.m. every day. (Root verb – complete)
• You’re really good at playing. (Root verb – play)
• You look really pretty. (Root verb – look)

Third Person Singular Present Form with Examples

When we talk about someone doing something regularly in the present, we use the third person singular form of a verb. For most verbs, you just add an ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the end.

For example:

• Tom likes to eat cereal for breakfast.

(Here, ‘likes’ shows that Tom enjoys eating cereal regularly.)

• Sheela teaches English to sixth graders.

(Here, ‘teaches’ tells us that Sheela teaches English regularly to her students.)

• My dad reads the newspaper every day.

(Here, ‘reads’ indicates that my dad reads the newspaper as part of his daily routine.)

• The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

(Here, ‘rises’ and ‘sets’ show the regular movements of the sun.)

So, when you’re talking about someone or something doing something regularly, look for that ‘s’ or ‘es’ at the end of the verb to indicate the third person singular present form.

Present Participle Form of the Verb with Examples

The verb’s present participle form is formed by adding a ‘ing’ to the base form or root verb. In some cases, when a monosyllabic word ends with a vowel followed by a consonant, the final consonant is doubled before the ‘ing’. In most cases, the ‘ing’ is added to verbs that end with a ‘e’ instead of the ‘e’. However, there are a few verbs that keep the ‘e’ in the base form when converted to the present participle form.

For Example:

• Words with double consonants

• • Run – Running
  • Swim – Swimming
  • Forget – Forgetting
  • Sit – Sitting
  • Cut – Cutting
• Examples of regular verbs transformed into the present participle form
  • Cry – crying
  • Try – Trying
  • Read – Reading
  • Write – Writing (‘e’ is removed)
  • Age – Ageing (‘e’ is retained)

Simple Past Form of the Verb with Examples

The verb’s simple past tense is employed to indicate past tense actions. Typically, it is created by appending a “ed” or “d” (for words ending in “e”) to the root verb. There are some irregular verbs, though, that defy convention. Let’s examine a few instances of the verb in its simple past tense.

Regular Verbs:

• Cheat – I cheated in the game.
• Dodge – He dodged the ball.
• Jump – She jumped over the puddle.
• Skip – They skipped school yesterday.
• Iron – Mom ironed my shirt.

Verbs That Stay the Same:

Some verbs don’t change in the past. They look the same as the present:

• Read – I read a book last night.
• Cut – He cut the paper.
• Put – She put the keys on the table.
• Let – They let us in without tickets.
• Hit – The ball hit the window.
• Hurt – My knee hurt after the fall.

Irregular Verbs:

• These verbs are a bit different in the past. They don’t follow the normal rules:
• Run – I ran five miles yesterday.
• Sit – She sat on the bench.
• Sing – We sang our favourite song.
• Throw – He threw the ball far.
• Fly – The bird flew away.
• Bring – She brought snacks to the party.
• Buy – He bought a new bike.
• Think – I thought about it all night.
• Ring – The phone rang loudly.
• Find – We found a treasure.
• Lose – I lost my keys.
• Meet – They met at the café.

So, whether it’s a regular verb or an irregular one, the simple past form helps us talk about what happened before now.

Past Participle Form of the Verb with Examples

The perfect tense of the verb is denoted by its past participle form. Regular verbs maintain their same form in both the simple past and past participle forms, while irregular verbs change in spelling when they become past participle. To gain a better understanding, let us examine a few examples.

Examples of Past Participle Form: