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Things to know
Throughout my years of teaching English so many of my students have told me that they find English verb tenses to be the most challenging aspect of this language to overcome. Each and every time, I tell them that this is the easiest aspect to overcome.

The key or the secret is to understand which verb tense you wish to express in your own language and then learn the English verb tense equivalent. The tense of a sentence or an idea that you are trying to express doesn’t change. If it is a past action in your language, then it is a past action in English. If it is a future action in your language, then it is a future action in English. The present tense stays present tense and the progressive tenses remain progressive and so on. If the sentence is affirmative in your language, then it is affirmative in English. If it’s negative in your language, then without a doubt, it’s negative in English. You have to know what you want to express and which tense you need to use before you attempt to say it. The tense doesn’t change.

Once you clearly see this, you will notice that all verbs and tenses in English (and other languages) follow a pattern and are repetitive. With a little time and practice, you will quickly and easily be able to compare and relate the verb tenses in your language to English verb tenses.

These courses are designed to help you overcome your struggles and gain confidence using English verb tenses and basic grammar.

Before you get started however, there are a few simple things you need to know about verbs. You also need to understand the meaning of the tenses and when to use them.

The present tense is used to express habits, routines or facts.

He rides his bike to school every morning.
I like ice cream.

The past tense is used to express a completed action in the past.

I borrowed the money from my friend.
She sent the letter this morning.

The present progressive tense is used to express an action that is presently occurring or as a future tense if the planned action is a definite fact.

We are watching a movie.
They are leaving tomorrow night.

The past progressive tense is used to express an action that happened in the past over a period of time.

He was sleeping on the bus.
You were snoring while you were sleeping.

The future tense with will is used to express an action that will happen in the future.

I will call you tomorrow.
They will regret their decision.

The future tense with be going to is also used to express an action that will happen in the future.

It is going to rain tonight.
We are going to visit you next summer.

You can use either will or be going to to express the future tense in English. Sentences with will and be going to have basically the same meaning.

The present perfect tense is used to express a past action that has no specific time.

She has broken the law many times.
They have lived overseas.

It is also used to express an action that began in the past and is continuing in the present.

She has worked at the bank for seven years.
They have been roommates since August.

The past perfect tense is used to express two past actions. For example, one past action occurred on a Thursday afternoon and the previous past action occurred on the same Thursday but in the morning.

I had finished my book (in the morning), so I went for a walk (in the afternoon).
She had torn her blue dress (4 weeks ago), so I sewed it for her (3 weeks ago).

The future perfect tense is used to express an action that is expected to happen in the future before another action takes place.

The snow will have melted by May.
The lakes will have frozen by December.

The following verbs are not normally used in the progressive form.

to cost to hear to fear to belong
to believe to mean to owe to like
to contain to agree to suppose to love
to own to know to want to prefer
to hate to need to see to seem

This means that we don't say: We say:
I am owning this house. I own this house.
He was wanting to see you. He wanted to see you.

There are regular and irregular verbs. All verbs that take ed to form the past tense are regular. All verbs that don’t take ed to form the past tense are irregular. Even though regular and irregular verbs may be different or the same when using the simple past and past participle forms, their forms must be used respectively in all tenses.

All regular verbs have the same form for the simple past and the past participle (they end with ed).

REGULAR VERBS TABLE

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

jump
jumped
jumped
talk
talked
talked
listen
listened
listened
call
called
called
remove
removed
removed
learn
learned
learned

The past participle form of the verb is used for all the perfect tenses (except the perfect progressive tenses) whether they are regular or irregular. An important part of being able to correctly express English verb tenses is that you must know all the irregular verbs in the three forms (simple, simple past and past participle) and know which verb form is used with each tense. Study a few per day until you know them all by heart. They are listed for you on the pages below.

It is very important to understand and recognize that sometimes a verb ending in ed is being used in the simple past form and sometimes the verb ending in ed is being used in the past participle form. Study the following examples.

Simple Past Tense: I talked to John yesterday. (simple past form)
Present Perfect Tense: I have talked to John many times. (past participle form)

When you know and understand these basic and simple rules, it becomes easy, clear and manageable to express English verb tenses.

Once you get started you will notice how quickly you become proficient and you will see how easy it really is to master English verb tenses and basic English grammar.

Study and learn the simple, simple past, and past participle forms of the following irregular verbs.

IRREGULAR VERBS TABLE

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

awake

awoke

awoken

be

was/were

been

beat

beat

beaten

become

became

become

begin

began

begun

bend

bent

bent

bet

bet

bet

bite

bit

bitten

bleed

bled

bled

blow

blew

blown

break

broke

broken

bring

brought

brought

broadcast

broadcast

broadcast

build

built

built

burn

burned/burnt

burned/burnt

burst

burst

burst

buy

bought

bought

cast

cast

cast

 

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

forbid

forbade

forbidden

forget

forgot

forgotten

forgive

forgave

forgiven

freeze

froze

frozen

get

got

got/gotten

give

gave

given

go

went

gone

grind

ground

ground

grow

grew

grown

hang

hung

hung

have

had

had

hear

heard

heard

hide

hid

hidden

hit

hit

hit

hold

held

held

hurt

hurt

hurt

keep

kept

kept

kneel

knelt

knelt

knit

knitted/knit

knitted/knit

know

knew

known

lay (to place, put down)

laid

laid

lead

led

led

 

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

set

set

set

sew

sewed

sewed/sewn

shake

shook

shaken

shave

shaved

shaved/shaven

shear

sheared

sheared/shorn

shed

shed

shed

shine

shined/shone

shined/shone

shoot

shot

shot

show

showed

shown

shrink

shrank

shrunk

shut

shut

shut

sing

sang

sung

sink

sank

sunk

sit

sat

sat

sleep

slept

slept

slide

slid

slid

speak

spoke

spoken

spend

spent

spent

spill

spilled/spilt

spilled/spilt

spin

spun

spun

spit

spit/spat

spit/spat

split

split

split

spread

spread

spread

spring

sprang

sprung

 

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

catch

caught

caught

choose

chose

chosen

come

came

come

cost

cost

cost

creep

crept

crept

cut

cut

cut

deal

dealt

dealt

dig

dug

dug

dive

dived/dove

dived/dove

do

did

done

draw

drew

drawn

dream

dreamed/dreamt

dreamed/dreamt

drink

drank

drunk

drive

drove

driven

eat

ate

eaten

fall

fell

fallen

feed

fed

fed

feel

felt

felt

fight

fought

fought

find

found

found

fit

fit

fit

flee

fled

fled

fly

flew

flown

 

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

leave

left

left

lend

lent

lent

let

let

let

lie (to lie down)

lay

lain

light

lit

lit

lose

lost

lost

make

made

made

mean

meant

meant

meet

met

met

mistake

mistook

mistaken

pay

paid

paid

prove

proved

proved/proven

put

put

put

quit

quit

quit

read

read

read

ride

rode

ridden

ring

rang

rung

rise

rose

risen

run

ran

run

say

said

said

see

saw

seen

seek

sought

sought

sell

sold

sold

send

sent

sent

 

SIMPLE FORM

SIMPLE PAST

PAST PARTICIPLE

stand

stood

stood

steal

stole

stolen

stick

stuck

stuck

sting

stung

stung

strike

struck

struck

swear

swore

sworn

sweep

swept

swept

swell

swelled

swelled/swollen

swim

swam

swum

swing

swung

swung

take

took

taken

teach

taught

taught

tear

tore

torn

tell

told

told

think

thought

thought

throw

threw

thrown

understand

understood

understood

upset

upset

upset

wake

woke

woken

wear

wore

worn

weep

wept

wept

win

won

won

write

wrote

written

 

 

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