Level: beginner
Verbs in English have four basic parts:
| Base form | -ing form | Past tense | Past participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| work | working | worked | worked |
| play | playing | played | played |
| listen | listening | listened | listened |
Most verbs are regular: they have a past tense and past participle with –ed (worked, played, listened). But many of the most frequent verbs are irregular.
Level: beginner
Basic parts
Verbs in English have four basic parts:
| Base form | -ing form | Past tense | Past participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| work | working | worked | worked |
| play | playing | played | played |
| listen | listening | listened | listened |
Most verbs are regular: they have a past tense and past participle with –ed (worked, played, listened). But many of the most frequent verbs are irregular.
Verb phrases
Verb phrases in English have the following forms:
- a main verb:
| main verb | ||
|---|---|---|
| We | are | here. |
| I | like | it. |
| Everybody | saw | the accident. |
| We | laughed. |
The verb can be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense (saw, laughed).
| auxiliary be | -ing form | |
|---|---|---|
| Everybody | is | watching. |
| We | were | laughing. |
A verb phrase with be and –ing expresses continuous aspect. A verb with am/is/are expresses present continuous and a verb with was/were expresses past continuous.
- the auxiliary verb have and a main verb in the past participle form:
| auxiliary have | past participle | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| They | have | enjoyed | themselves. |
| Everybody | has | worked | hard. |
| He | had | finished | work. |
A verb phrase with have and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect and a verb with had expresses past perfect.
- a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main verb:
| modal verb | main verb | |
|---|---|---|
| They | will | come. |
| He | might | come. |
- The verb phrase 1
- The verb phrase 2
Level: intermediate
- the auxiliary verbs have and been and a main verb in the –ing form:
| auxiliary have been | -ing form | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Everybody | has been | working | hard. |
| He | had been | singing. |
A verb phrase with have been and the -ing form expresses both perfect aspect and continuous aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect continuous and a verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.
- a modal verb and the auxiliaries be, have and have been:
| modal | auxiliary | verb | |
|---|---|---|---|
| They | will | be | listening. |
| He | might | have | arrived. |
| She | must | have been | listening. |
- the auxiliary verb be and a main verb in the past participle form:
| auxiliary be | past participle | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| English | is | spoken | all over the world. |
| The windows | have been | cleaned. | |
| Lunch | was being | served. | |
| The work | will be | finished | soon. |
| They | might have been | invited | to the party. |
A verb phrase with be and the past participle expresses passive voice.
- The verb phrase 3
- The verb phrase 4
Level: advanced
We can use the auxiliaries do and did with the infinitive for emphasis:
It was a wonderful party. I did enjoy it.
I do agree with you. I think you are absolutely right.
We can also use do for polite invitations:
Do come and see us some time.
There will be lots of people there. Do bring your friends.
Comments
Hi team,
I am confused about one thing.
Can I use the verb 'be' after a verb
whose a pattern is like 'a verb+to do something'.
For example,
'be expected to do something'
Can I say
'The weather is expected to be cold'?
Does - to do something- include the verb -to be-?
Thanks.Best wishes
Hi Nevı,
Yes! You can use be in these patterns.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hm, OK teacher.
I understand
-to do something=to +any verb??
Best wishes
Hi Nevı,
Yes. When showing verb patterns, to do represents a generic verb and it can be replaced by any verb, as long as the sentence as a whole makes sense. Similarly, doing represents a generic verb in the -ing form.
I hope that helps :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi there!
I have some questions about the verb phrase.
1.In this example: 'Christina and I aren't doing our activities as we should' the verb phrase is 'are doing', isn't it?
2. Look at the following examples:
-This flat hasn't been properly cleaned for months.
- Honey has been used as a medicine for thousands of years.
I Identified the verb phrases in both examples (has been cleaned; has been used)
- Why are "cleaned" and "used" the main verbs?, how do you call them because I thought they were adjectives as "broken glass"? I don't know if I'm mistaken. Please correct me!
3. When can we find a single verb functioning as a verb phrase?
Her dogs barks.
Like this?
Thank you in advance. :-)
Hello isaipacas,
1. Yes, it's 'aren't doing'.
2. Yes, those are the verb phrases. In this case, the last word of each is the past participle in a passive verb form.
3. Yes, that is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello,
I would like to ask the following
As far as lesson is concerned.
1)If I am a teacher then,
I do plates /yoga?
I teach pilates?
I can't talk to you right now, I have a lesson /I have pilates lesson
2. Student
I have pilates /I do pilates?
I take yoga lessons?
Thank you in advance
Hello,
I would like to ask the following :
1.Is it correct to say:Now, I am enjoying the snow or I enjoy the snow?
2. Do you like watching movies?
3.Will she go to the supermarket?
Thank you in advance
Hello Nagie123,
Which form is best depends on what the purpose and context of a sentence or question is. For example, in 1, the second form is best in most situations, but there are some where 'am enjoying' could be correct.
In many situations, 2 would be fine, and 3 could also be correct in some contexts.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi team,
I want to ask question about using dictionary, which is more general.When I search a word(especially adj or noun) to understand their patterns, I am sometimes confused.
1)Do this patterns,which are adj.and noun, show me the only way or the most commons? Can you say how should I use the patterns?
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