CHAPTER 3

Using Verbs Correctly

You should read this chapter if you need to review or learn about

➜Verb tense
➜Regular and irregular verbs
➜Active and passive voice
➜Using verbs correctly

Get Started

In English, tense is used to show when something happens. Here, you will discover how verbs are formed and how they are used to show time. Note:

This chapter is especially important for speakers of English as a second language.

Overview of Verb Functions

Recall from Chapter 1 that verbs are words that name an action or describe a state of being. There are four basic types of verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, helping verbs, and verb phrases. Verbs also convey information through changes in their form. Here are the five different things we find out from a verb:

  • Tense (when the action takes place: past, present, or future)
  • Person (who or what experiences the action)
  • Number (how many subjects act or receive the action)
  • Mood (the attitude expressed toward the action)
  • Voice (whether the subject acts or is acted upon: the active or passive voice)

The Six Verb Tenses

The tense of a verb shows its time. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”). The basic form shows action, occurrence, or state of being that is taking place right here and now. The basic form also is the base for the future form (i.e., I will sleep; they will sleep).
The following chart shows the six forms for the verb to walk:

Tense Basic Form Progressive Form
Present walk am walking
Past walked was walking
Future will walk will be walking
Present perfect have walked have been walking
Past perfect had walked had been walking
Future perfect will have walked will have been walking

The tense of English verbs is formed from helping verbs and principal parts. Each English verb has four main parts, as shown in the chart on the next page.


Principal Verb Parts
Present Present Participle Past Past Participle
look looking looked looked
dance dancing danced danced

  1. The present tense

    The present is used to form the present tense (“I look”) and the future (“I will look”).

    English uses the helping verb will to show the future tense.

  2. The present participle

    The present participle forms all six of the progressive forms (“I am looking,” “I was looking,” and so on).

  3. The past tense

    The past forms only one tense, the past. As with the present tense, the principal part stands alone.

  4. The past participle

    The past participle forms the last three tenses: the present perfect (“I have looked”), the past perfect (“I had looked”), and the future perfect (“I will have looked”). To form the past participle, start with a helping verb such as is, are, was, has been. Then add the principal part of the verb

Quick Tip

When you conjugate a verb, you list the singular and plural forms of the verb in a specific tense.

Regular and Irregular Verbs

English verbs are divided into two classes: regular and irregular. These classifications come from the way the verb forms its past tense and past participles.

  • Regular verbs: The past tense and past participle forms are created by adding -d, -ed, or -t to the present form, but the vowel doesn’t change; for example, walk, walked, walked.
  • Irregular verbs: No pattern is followed when the past and past participle are formed. Instead, there are many different forms. For example, with some irregular verbs the vowel changes and an -n or -e is added, as in begin, began, begun. With other verbs, the vowel changes and a -d or -t is added, as in lose, lost, lost.

Of all the verbs in English, lie and lay are likely the most often confused. Lay is a regular verb; lie is an irregular verb

  • Lie means “to repose.” Lie conjugates as lie, lay, lain.
  • Lay means “to put.” Lay conjugates as lay, laid, laid.

Because lay is both the present tense of to lay and the past tense of to lie, many speakers and writers use lay when they mean lie.

  • Lie is an intransitive verb. That means that it never takes a direct object.
    When people are exhausted, they should lie down for a rest.
  • Lay is a transitive verb. That means that lay always takes a direct object.
    Lay the papers down.

The following chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that have the same present participle, past, and past participle forms.

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle
bid bidding bid have bid
burst bursting burst have burst
cost costing cost have cost
hit hitting hit have hit
hurt hurting hurt have hurt
kneel knelt knelt have knelt
let letting let have let
put putting put have put
set setting set have set

The next chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that have the same past and past participle forms.

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle
beat beat beaten have beaten
become became become have become
bend bent bent have bent
bind binding bound have bound
bite bit bitten have bitte
bring bringing brought have brought
build building built have built
buy buying bought have bought
catch caught caught have caught
creep crept crept have crept
dig dug dug have dug
dive dived or dove dived have dived
find finding found have found
fight fighting fought have fought
forget forgot forgotten have forgotten
forgive forgave forgiven have forgiven
get getting got have gotten,
have got
grow grew grown have grown
hang hung hung have hung
hang (execute) hanged hanged have hanged
hide hid hidden have hidden
hold holding held have held
keep keeping kept have kept
lay laying laid have laid
lead leading led have led
lose losing lost have lost
pay paying paid have paid
prove proved proved, proven have proved,
have proven
ring rang rung have rung
say saying said have said
send sending sent have sent
show showing showed have showed,
have shown
sit sitting sat have sat
sleep sleeping slept have slept
spend spending spent have spent
spin spinning spun have spun
stand standing stood have stood
stick sticking stuck have stuck
teach teaching taught have taught

Quick Tip

The most irregular verb in English is to be. Its principal parts are be, being, was, were, been, am, are, is.

The following chart lists some of the most common irregular verbs that change in unpredictable ways:

Present Tense Present Participle Past Past Participle
arise arising arose have arisen
begin beginning began have begun
blow blowing blew have blown
break breaking broke have broken
choose choosing chose have chosen
come coming came have come
dive dived, dove dived have dived
do doing did have done
draw drawing drew have drawn
drink drinking drank have drunk
eat eating ate have eaten
fall falling fell have fallen
fly flying flew have flown
freeze freezing froze have frozen
give giving gave have given
go going went have gone
know knowing knew have known
lie (horizontal) lying lay have lain
ride riding rode have ridden
rise rising rose have risen
run running ran have run
see seeing saw have seen
shake shaking shook have shaken
shrink shrinking shrank have shrunk
sing singing sang have sung
sink sinking sank have sunk
speak speaking spoke have spoken
spring springing sprang have sprung
steal stealing stole have stolen
strive striving strove have striven
swear swearing swore have sworn
swim swimming swam have swum
take taking took have taken
tear tearing tore have torn
throw throwing threw have thrown
wake waking woke, waked have woken, waked
wear wearing wore have worn
write writing wrote have written

How to Use Tenses

The six tenses express time within three main categories: past, present, and future.

You want to use the tenses correctly so that you can show how one event is related to another. The following chart shows how the tenses are related.


Verb Tense and Time
Past Present Future
Simple past
Present perfect
Past perfect		 Simple present Simple future
Future perfect
Past progressive
Present perfect progressive
Past perfect progressive		 Present Future progressive
Future perfect progressive
  • Use the two present forms (simple present, present progressive) to show events that take place now.
  • Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present.
  • Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, future perfect progressive) to show events that take place in the future.
  1. Use past tenses accurately. The six past tenses all indicate the past in a different way. The following chart provides examples of how to use these tenses.
Tense Use Example
Simple past Completed action (indefinite time) We washed the car.
Completed condition (indefinite time) We were happy the party was over.
Completed action (definite time) We washed the car yesterday.
Completed condition (definite time) I was delighted yesterday to receive the news.
Present perfect Completed action (indefinite time) We have bought the gifts.
Completed condition (indefinite time) I have been very relieved.
Action continuing into the present. Sarah has called for two hours
Condition continuing into the present. She has been in New York for a week.
Past perfect Action completed before another Greg had called all his friends before the party started.
Condition completed Greg had been a butcher before he became a guru.
Past progressive Continuous completed action I was attending a spa that month.
Present perfect progressive Action continuing into present Ralph has been exercising all week.
Past perfect progressive Continuing action interrupted Katie had been repairing the by another fence that was damaged in the storm
  1. Use future tenses accurately. The chart on the next page explains the future tenses.
Tense Use Example
Simple future Future action The bus will arrive.
Future condition I will be shocked when it does.
Future perfect Future action completed before By the time you read this, the another bus will have arrived.
Future condition completed before The storm will have been another raging for an hour before the phone goes out.
Future progressive Continuing future action Janice will be exercising all summer.
Future perfect progressive Continuing future action completed When we go on vacation next before another week, I will have been exercising for a month
  1. Don’t switch tenses in midstream. Never shift tenses in the middle of a sentence or a paragraph because it confuses readers. This guideline is especially important if your sentence contains more than one verb.
    Incorrect: I thought I had broken the CD player when I dropped it on the floor, but it suddenly begins to play!

    Correct: I thought I had broken the CD player when I dropped it on the floor, but it suddenly began to play!

Active and Passive Voice

In addition to showing time through tense, action verbs also show whether the subject performs the action or receives the action. This is called a verb’s voice. English verbs have two voices: active and passive. (Linking verbs do not show voice.)

  1. A verb is active when the subject performs the action.
    We took the package home. (“We” are doing the action.)
    I served a delicious meal. (“I” am doing the serving.)

    Notice that in the active voice, the sentence starts with the subject. The first sentence starts with We. The second sentence starts with I.

  2. A verb is passive when its action is performed upon the subject
    A package was taken home. (The speaker is not indicated.)
    A delicious meal was served by me.

    Notice that in the passive voice, the sentence does not start with the subject. The first sentence starts with the object, “a package.” The second sentence starts with the object, “a delicious meal.”

In general, use the active voice whenever possible because it is more direct and forceful.

Using the active voice makes your writing crisp and powerful. The active verb is one word rather than two. Further, there is no need for a prepositional phrase beginning with “by” if you use the active voice

Using the passive voice is preferable over the active voice under two conditions:

  • You don’t want to assign blame.
    A mistake occurred with the filing system.

    Not surprisingly, the passive voice is very often found in business writing and speech. This helps the writer or speaker avoid “finger pointing.”

  • You don’t know who did the action.
    A prank phone call was made at 2:00 A.M.
✔ A verb’s tense shows when the action takes place. Use the right order of tenses to show the correct order of events.
✔ English verbs are divided into two classes: regular and irregular. These classifications come from the way the verb forms its past tense and past participles.
✔ Voice shows whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). In general, use the active voice instead of the passive voice.
English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”).
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
The progressive form shows action, occurrence, or state of being that is taking place right here and now.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
The tense of English verbs is formed from helping verbs and principal parts.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
There are eight different past tenses. Each one indicates a subtle shift in time.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
The past tense and past participle forms of irregular verbs are created by adding -d, -ed, or -t to the present form but the vowel doesn’t change.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
Lie means “to be in a reclining position.” Lie conjugates to lie, lay, lain.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
Lay means “to put down.” Lay conjugates to lay, laid, laid.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
Use the two past verb forms to show events that take place now.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, future perfect progressive) to show events that take place in the future.
  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE