Verb Forms

Present tense (Base Form): Try

Past tense (—ed added to base form): Tried

Past participle: Uses the helping verb Has, Have, or Had with the past tense of the verb to form other tenses.

· I have tried to be nice.

· He has tried all of the flavors.

· The lady had tried everything she could.

Regular Verb: The past tense is the base form of the verb with an —ed added; the past participle is the same as the past tense w/ helping verb:

· Present: Jump

· Past: Jumped

· Past Participle: Has jumped; have jumped

Irregular Verb: Follows no definite pattern:

· Present: Sing

· Past: Sang

· Past Participle: Has sung

(Eat; ate; had eaten/Run; ran; have run/)

If you are using a helping verb (could, do), the helping verb indicates tense & the main verb stays in base form:

· I can run.

· She didn’t run.

· He may run.

· He wouldn’t run.

*Not the case for past participles formed with has, have or had, which are used to form tenses.

Verbals: These are not the main verbs in the sentence!

Infinitives: to + a verb

· The car needs to go to the shop.

· To prepare, the girl studied for weeks.

Gerunds: Verbs ending in –ing that act like nouns

· Fishing is a relaxing pastime.

· I hate sharing my chocolate.

Participles: Verblike words that end in –ing or –ed; often function as adjectives or adverbs in a sentence

Present Participle: Base form of the verb ending in —ing

· Looking out the window, she thought about her life.

· Hiding behind the trash bin, Grissom drew his gun.

Past Participle: Base form of the verb ending in —ed

· Tired of the noise, she told the kids to go outside.

· Shoved to the back of the fridge, the milk went sour.