For grammarians in the ancient world, the verb was the key word in the sentence, and this view is shared by many modern grammarians too. Whether verbs are actually more important than, say nouns or adjectives might be debated, but there is no doubt that anyone who wishes to speak any language well must have a firm grasp of the verb grammar of that language.
Verbs and Tenses aims to help learners of English through the difficulties they may encounter when trying to master English verbs.
The basic forms of the English verb tenses are:
| Positive | Negative | Question | |
| Present Simple | Subject + verb (+ s )
|
Subject + do / does + not + verb
|
(Question word +) do / does + subject + verb?
|
| Present Simple with ‘be’ | Subject + am / is / are
|
Subject + am / is / are + not
|
(Question word +) am / is / are + subject…?
|
| Present Continuous | Subject + am / is / are + verb-ing
|
Subject + am / is / are + not + verbing
|
(Question word +) am / is / are + subject + verb-ing?
|
| Present Perfect | Subject + have / has + past participle
|
Subject + have / has + not + past participle
|
(Question word +) have / has + subject + past participle?
|
| Present Perfect Continuous | Subject + have / has + been + verbing
|
Subject + have / has + not + been + verb-ing
|
(Question word +) have / has + subject + been + verb-ing?
|
| Past Simple | Subject + past simple (verb +ed)
|
Subject + did + not + verb
|
(Question word +) did + subject + verb?
|
| Past Simple with ‘be’ | Subject + was / were
|
Subject + was / were + not
|
(Question word +) was / were + subject…?
|
| Past Continuous | Subject + was / were + verb-ing
|
Subject + was / were + not + verbing
|
(Question word +) was / were + subject + verb-ing?
|
| Past Perfect | Subject + had + past participle
|
Subject + had + not + past participle
|
(Question word +) had + subject + past participle
|
| Past Perfect Continuous | Subject + had + been + verb-ing
|
Subject + had + not + been + verbing
|
(Question word +) had + subject + been + verb-ing?
|
| Future Simple | Subject + will + verb
|
Subject + will + not + verb
|
(Question word +) will + subject + verb?
|
| Future Continuous | Subject + will + be + verb-ing
|
Subject + will + not + be + verb-ing
|
(Question word +) will + subject + be + verb-ing?
|
| Future Perfect | Subject + will + have + past participle
|
Subject + will + not + have + past participle
|
(Question word +) will + subject + have + past participle?
|
| Future Perfect Continuous | Subject + will + have + been + verb-ing
|
Subject + will + not + have + been + verb-ing
|
(Question word +) will + subject + have + been + verb-ing?
|
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