Verbs: Past and Present Participle Forms

ask(s), asked, asking -Laura asks for a raise every year. -Laura asked for a raise a month ago. -She is asking her boss for a raise right now.

ask

be (am, is, are), was/were, being -Matt is a good student. -Matt was a good student in elementary school. -Matt is being a good student this semester.

be

become(s), became, becoming -Joe becomes angry when people insult him. -Joe became angry when Sue insulted him. -Joe is becoming angry as Sue and Ray insult him.

become

begin(s), began, beginning -Lucy usually begins to do her homework in the afternoon. -Lucy began to do her homework at 3:00 pm. -Lucy is beginning to do her homework right now.

begin

believe(s), believed, believing -I generally believe what people tell me. -I believed the lie John told me last week. -I am believing in what you are telling me. (Usually, we just say "I believe what you are telling me.")

believe

break(s) broke, breaking -Athletes sometimes break bones. -An athlete broke her leg yesterday. -Somewhere in the world, an athlete is breaking his bone right now.

break

bring(s), brought, bringing -I bring my homework to school every day. -On Monday, I brought my homework to school with me. -I am bringing my homework to school later this morning.

bring

buy(s), bought, buying -Mario buys flowers for his wife at Jewel regularly. -Mario bought flowers at Jewel last month. -Mario is buying flowers for his wife right now.

buy

call(s), called, calling -Mario calls his mom every week. -Mario called his mom yesterday. -Mario is calling his mom right now.

call

choose(s), chose, chosing -We choose our next class at the end of every semester. -We chose a class that meets on Mondays and Wednesdays next semester. -We are choosing our next class this week.

choose

come(s), came, coming -My family comes to visit me twice a year. -My family came to visit me last month. -My family is coming to visit me again in a few months.

come

cut(s), cut, cutting -Susan cuts her son's sandwich every day. -Susan cut her son's sandwich into little pieces a few minutes ago. -Susan is cutting her son's sandwich right now.

cut

do(es), did, doing -He does his laundry every week. -He did his laundry yesterday. -He's doing his laundry right now.

do

draw(s), drew, drawing -A phlebotomist draws blood at a lab. -A phlebotomist drew my blood at the lab last week. -A phlebotomist is drawing my friend's blood later today.

draw

drink(s), drank, drinking -The ladies drink lemonade at lunch regularly. -The ladies drank lemonade at lunch today. -The ladies are drinking lemonade right now.

drink

drive(s), drove, driving -Luis drives his car to work almost every day. -Luis drove his car to work 3 times last week. -Luis is driving to the mall today.

drive

eat(s), ate, eating -Bob eats salads for lunch sometimes. -Bob ate a salad last week. -Bob is eating a salad right now.

eat

fall(s), fell, falling -The little girl falls off her bike occasionally. -The little girl fell off her bike this morning. -The little girl is falling off her bike. Can you help her?

fall

feel(s), felt, feeling -He feels sick once in a while. -He felt sick last week. -He isn't feeling sick at the moment.

feel

find(s), found, finding -We find stray dogs in our neighborhood sometimes. -We found a stray dog on our street last month. -We are finding stray dogs a lot these days.

find

fly (flies), flew, flying -Tim and Sue fly on United Airlines often. -Tim and Sue flew on United Airlines for their vacation. -Tim and Sue are flying to Hawaii right now.

fly

forget(s), forgot, forgetting -I forget to do my homework sometimes. -I forgot to do my homework last week. -I feel like I am forgetting something. Maybe it's my homework.

forget

get(s), got, getting -We rarely replace our TV. -We replaced our TV 5 years ago. -We are replacing our TV next year.

get

give(s), gave, giving -The teacher gives us a lot of work to do every week. -The teacher gave us a lot of work to do last week. -The teacher is giving us a lot of work next week too. Help!

give

go(es), went, going -We go to school regularly. -We went to school when we were young. -We are going to school a lot these days.

go

grow(s), grew, growing -Samuel grows tomatoes every summer. -Samuel grew tomatoes last summer. -Samuel is growing tomatoes right now in his greenhouse.

grow

have/has, had, having -The have salad for lunch frequently. -They had a salad for lunch yesterday. -They are having a salad for lunch right now.

have

hear(s), heard, hearing -I hear ambulance sirens frequently. -I heard an ambulance siren, so I pulled over. -I am hearing an ambulance siren now, but I can't see the ambulance.

hear

help(s), helped, helping -Alice helps her neighbors a lot. -Alice helped her neighbors shovel their sidewalk this morning. -Alice is helping her neighbors by buying them groceries.

help

hold(s), held, holding -I hold my baby daughter and sing to her every day. -I held my baby daughter and sang to her last night. -I am holding my baby daughter and singing to her right now.

hold

kept, keeping -Mark kept his money in the bank until he bought his car. -Mark has kept money at ABC bank for 15 years.

keep

knew, knowing -We knew a vaccine would come, but we didn't know when. -We have known about covid-19 for a year now.

know

learned, learning -The students learned some irregular verbs before level 5. -The students have learned more irregular verbs since the start of class.

learn

left, leaving -I left my keys in the car this morning. -I have left my keys in the car 3 times this year.

leave

let, letting -Cynthia let her children go to the theater by themselves. -Cynthia has let her children go the the theater by themselves since they turned 13.

let

liked, liking -Samuel liked the birthday presents he received at his party. -Samuel has always liked opening presents.

like

lived, living -The Garcia family lived in Texas before coming to Illinois. -The Garcia family has lived in Illinois since 2012.

live

looked, looking -We looked for a dog to adopt for several months before we made our decision. -We have looked for a cat for 3 weeks and still haven't found one.

look

lost, losing -Melissa lost her pearl necklace yesterday. -Melissa has lost several pieces of jewelry recently.

lose

loved, loving -Lori loved the picture her son drew for her. -Lori has loved all of the artwork her son has made her.

love

made, making -I made a cake for your birthday. -I have made cakes for all of your birthdays.

make

met, meeting -Gary and Lucy met at a restaurant in November. -Since November, Gary and Lucy have met five times.

meet

moved, moving -The Lewis family moved from Elgin to Streamwood. -The Lewis family has moved three times since 2002.

move

needed, needing -I needed my car yesterday. -I have needed to buy a new car for 6 months.

need

paid, paying -Mrs. Jones paid for her groceries with cash. -Mrs. Jones has always paid for her groceries with cash.

pay

played, playing -We played chess last Saturday. -We have played chess every Saturday for 2 years.

play

proved, proving -In 2006, some scientists proved that Pluto isn't really a planet. -Scientists have proven many other things since then.

prove

put, putting -Leo put his clothes in his closet. -Leo has put clothes in his closet regularly.

put

read, reading -The class read 3 books last week. -The class has read approximately 20 books since the semester began.

read

rode, riding -Jack rode his bike to the library. -Jack hasn't ridden his bike since fall.

ride

ran, running -Marcy ran 3 miles yesterday. -So far this month, she has run 21 miles.

run

said, saying -The teacher said a lot of things in class last week. -The teacher has said a lot of things this semester.

say

saw, seeing -We saw a deer standing in the forest. -We have seen a deer there before.

see

seemed, seeming -Lucy seemed happy when we spoke on the phone. -In the past, Lucy hasn't always seemed happy.

seem

sold, selling -The children sold lemonade to their neighbors last week. -Today, the children have sold 3 gallons of lemonade so far.

sell

sent, sending -Monica sent her daughter to the store to buy bread. -Monica has sent her daughter to the store 2 times this week.

send

showed, showing -They showed us photos from their vacation. -They have shown us family photos recently.

show

sang, singing -Tom and Mark sang a beautiful song at the party. -Tom and Mark have sung at several parties this year.

sing

sat, sitting -Santa Claus sat on his big chair at the mall during the holiday season. -Santa Claus has sat on that chair every Christmas season.

sit

slept, sleeping -I slept very well last night. -I have slept well every night so far this week.

sleep

spoke, speaking -Lucas spoke with a career counselor on Monday. -Lucas has spoken with a career counselor various times in the past.

speak

stood, standing -Yesterday, my neighbor stood on his porch for a long time. -All this month, my neighbor has stood on his porch for half an hour each day.

stand

started, starting -Mark started eating his lunch before the rest of us. -Has Mark started eating his lunch before the rest of us again?

start

stayed, staying -I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. -Have you ever stayed up until 2:00 a.m.?

stay

stole, stealing -Frank stole some candy from the convenience store. -Do you think he has stolen anything before?

steal

swam, swimming -Last week we swam at the Wing Park pool. -My children have swum at the Wing Park pool every summer of their lives.

swim

took, taking -Melody took her dog for a walk last evening. -Melody has taken her dog for a walk every evening this week.

take

talked, talking -We talked for 5 minutes yesterday. -We have talked about our families frequently.

talk

told, telling -Justin told me a secret last week. -Justin has told me many secrets since I met him.

tell

thought, thinking -They thought we'd be angry when they told us the news. -They have thought we would be angry before, but we never were.

think

tried, trying -Amy tried to change the oil in her car. -Amy has tried changing her oil, and she has always been successful.

try

turned, turning -Ted turned around when someone called his name at the store. -Ted has turned around before but hasn't always discovered who has called him.

turn

understood, understanding -I understood my teacher when she explained the grammar rules. -I've understood my teacher most of the time this semester, but sometimes I've had to ask for clarification.

understand

used, using -Sally used a screwdriver to fix the table. -Sally has used a screwdriver to fix other things in her house.

use

walked, walking -We walked 3 miles yesterday. -We've walked 20 miles so far this month.

walk

wanted, wanting -My boss wanted me to finish the project last week. -My boss has wanted me to finish the project since January.

want

wore, wearing -In the 70s, people wore their hair long. -Have you ever worn your hair long?

wear

worked, working -The employees worked lots of overtime last month. -The employees have worked lots of overtime this year.

work

wrote, writing -Luis recently wrote his mother a very nice letter. -Luis hasn't written many letters to his mom.

write