Verbs

 

Verbs

Verbs are action words. Remember that English verbs sometimes change their spelling depending on the subject and tense of the sentence.

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs follow a standard pattern to form their past tense and past participle by adding “-ed” to the base form (infinitive). For example,  play  would be  played  in the past tense and past participle.

English Regular Verbs	Past Tense/Past Participle Form	Meaning	Example Sentence
accept	accepted	to agree to take something offered	He accepted the gift from his friend.
act	acted	to perform a particular action	The children acted out a funny play at school.
answer	answered	to reply or respond to a question	She answered the phone when it rang.
arrive	arrived	to reach a destination or place you want to come to	The train arrived at the station on time.
ask	asked	to pose a question	He asked his teacher for help with the homework.
bake	baked	to cook in an oven	She baked delicious cookies for her family.
believe	believed	to have confidence in something as true	They believed the story the teacher told them.
call	called	to use one's voice to get someone's attention	He called his friend to come and play outside.
clean	cleaned	to make something tidy and free of dirt	She cleaned her room before her parents came home.
climb	climbed	to go up something using hands and feet	The kids climbed the tree to get a better view.
close	closed	to shut something	Please close the door before you leave.
cook	cooked	to prepare food by heating it	Mom cooked dinner every evening.
dance	danced	to move to music	They danced at the party and had a great time.
enjoy	enjoyed	to take pleasure in something	They enjoyed their day at the beach.
explain	explained	to make something clear	The teacher explained the lesson to the students.
finish	finished	to complete or reach the end of something	He finished his homework before dinner.
fix	fixed	to repair something	Dad fixed the broken toy.
follow	followed	to go after or come after something	The dog followed its owner around the house.
help	helped	to assist or give support	She helped her friend with the heavy bags.
hope	hoped	to wish for something to happen	I hope we have a sunny day for the picnic.
jump	jumped	to leap off the ground	The rabbit jumped over the fence.
kiss	kissed	to touch with lips as a sign of affection	They kissed each other goodbye.
learn	learned	to acquire knowledge or skill	The students learned new things in school every day.
like	liked	to find something enjoyable or pleasing	She liked to read books in her free time.
listen	listened	to pay attention to sounds	The children listened to their favorite songs.
live	lived	to stay in a place, usually a home	They live in a big house on the corner.
look	looked	to direct one's gaze	Look at the beautiful sunset!
love	loved	to have a strong affection for someone or something	They love spending time together.
move	moved	to change position or location	The furniture moved to a new house.
need	needed	to require something essential	We need food and water to survive.
open	opened	to make something accessible or visible	Please open the door for me.
paint	painted	to apply color to a surface	She painted a picture of her family.
play	played	to engage in an activity for enjoyment	The children played games in the park.
remember	remembered	to recall information from memory	He remembered his friend's birthday.
repair	repaired	to fix something that is broken	They repaired the car engine.
save	saved	to keep something for later use	He saved his money to buy a new toy.
shout	shouted	to speak loudly	They shouted with joy when they won the game.
show	showed	to display or exhibit something	She showed her artwork to the class.
smile	smiled	to express happiness with the mouth	The baby smiled at her mother.
start	started	to begin or commence an action	They started the race as soon as the whistle blew.
stay	stayed	to remain in one place	They stayed at the hotel during their vacation.
study	studied	to learn and examine information	He studied for the test all night.
talk	talked	to communicate using speech	They talked about their plans for the weekend.
travel	traveled	to go on a journey	They traveled to a new country for their vacation.
try	tried	to attempt to do something	She tried to solve the puzzle.
turn	turned	to change direction or position	He turned left at the intersection.
use	used	to employ or utilize something	She used a computer for her school projects.
visit	visited	to go and see someone or something	They visited their grandparents over the weekend.
wait	waited	to stay in a place until something happens	They waited for the bus to arrive.
walk	walked	to move on foot	The family walked in the park on a sunny day.
watch	watched	to look at something attentively	They watched a movie at the cinema.
work	worked	to perform tasks for a specific purpose	He works at a restaurant as a waiter.
yawn	yawned	to open the mouth wide involuntarily, usually when tired	She yawned after a long day at school.
zip	zipped	to fasten or close with a zipper	She zipped her jacket before going outside.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the standard pattern to form their past tense and past participle. For example, go  becomes  went  in the past tense and  gone  in the past participle.

English Irregular Verbs	Past Tense Form	Past Participle Form	Meaning	Example Sentence
begin	began	begun	to start or commence something	The movie began at 8 PM.
break	broke	broken	to separate into pieces	He broke his phone.
bring	brought	brought	to carry something or someone with you	Sarah brought her dog to the park.
build	built	built	to construct or make	They built a new house in the neighborhood.
buy	bought	bought	to acquire something by paying money for it	She bought a new dress for the party.
catch	caught	caught	to capture or seize something	He caught the ball.
choose	chose	chosen	to select or pick something	They chose the blue car.
come	came	come	to move toward the speaker or the speaker's location	They came to visit us last weekend.
do	did	done	to perform an action	She did her homework.
drink	drank	drunk	to consume liquid	He drank a glass of water.
drive	drove	driven	to operate a vehicle	She drove the car carefully.
eat	ate	eaten	to consume food	They ate pizza for dinner.
fall	fell	fallen	to drop or descend to the ground	The leaves fell from the tree.
feel	felt	felt	to sense or experience an emotion	He felt happy when he received the gift.
find	found	found	to discover or locate something	She found her lost keys.
fly	flew	flown	to travel through the air	The bird flew high in the sky.
forget	forgot	forgotten	to fail to remember	I forgot my umbrella at home.
get	got	got	to acquire or receive	They got a new puppy.
give	gave	given	to transfer ownership or present something to someone	She gave him a present.
go	went	gone	to move away from the speaker or the speaker's location	They went to the beach.
grow	grew	grown	to increase in size or develop	The plants grew quickly.
have	had	had	to possess or hold something	She had a great time at the party.
hear	heard	heard	to perceive sound	He heard the music playing.
hide	hid	hidden	to conceal or keep something out of sight	They hid the treasure.
hit	hit	hit	to strike or collide with something	The baseball hit the window.
hold	held	held	to grasp or cling to something	She held her sister's hand.
keep	kept	kept	to retain or have something in possession	They kept the book.
know	knew	known	to be aware of or familiar with something	I knew the answer to the question.
learn	learned	learned	to gain knowledge or skill	He learned a new skill.
leave	left	left	to go away from a place	They left the party early.
lose	lost	lost	to misplace or be unable to find	She lost her keys.
make	made	made	to create or produce	They made a delicious cake.
meet	met	met	to encounter or come across someone or something	We met a friend at the mall.
pay	paid	paid	to give money in exchange for goods or services	She paid for her meal.
put	put	put	to place or position something	He put the keys on the table.
read	read	read	to look at and comprehend written or printed material	She read the book in one sitting.
ride	rode	ridden	to travel on a vehicle or animal	They rode their bikes to the park.
run	ran	run	to move quickly on foot	He ran to catch the bus.
say	said	said	to utter words or express something	She said hello to everyone.
see	saw	seen	to perceive with the eyes	I saw a movie last night.
sell	sold	sold	to transfer ownership in exchange for money	He sold his old phone.
send	sent	sent	to cause to go or be taken to another place	She sent a letter to her friend.
sing	sang	sung	to produce musical sounds with the voice	They sang a song together.
sit	sat	sat	to rest on one's buttocks	She sat on the chair.
sleep	slept	slept	to rest in a state of unconsciousness	I slept well last night.
speak	spoke	spoken	to communicate verbally	He spoke to the audience.
swim	swam	swum	to move through water using the arms and legs	They swam in the pool.
take	took	taken	to hold or grip something	She took the book from the shelf.
teach	taught	taught	to give knowledge or instruction	He taught the class.
tell	told	told	to communicate information	She told me a story.
think	thought	thought	to have a belief or opinion	I thought about the question.
throw	threw	thrown	to propel something through the air	She threw the ball.
understand	understood	understood	to comprehend or grasp the meaning	He understood the instructions.
wake	woke	woken	to emerge from sleep or become awake	She woke up early.
wear	wore	worn	to have clothing on the body	He wore a suit to the event.
write	wrote	written	to create words or text on paper or a screen	They wrote a letter.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs, or helping verbs, are used with the main verb to provide additional information about the action or state expressed in the sentence. Auxiliary verbs do not mean anything on their own but serve to change the meaning of the main verb.

English Auxiliary Verbs	What It's Used For	Example Sentence
be	Communicates the existence or state of something	Everyone wants to be free.
have	Shows ownership or indicate something you need to do	I have a meeting today. (indicates ownership) I have to go grocery shopping because there is no food in the house. (indicates something you need to do)
do	Talks about completing an action	I will do my work.
will	Forms the future tense	He will arrive tomorrow.
shall	Makes suggestions or offers in the future	Shall we go for a walk?
can	Expresses ability or permission	She can swim well.
could	Expresses past ability or possibility	I could speak two languages when I was younger.
should	Gives advice or make recommendations	You should study for the exam.
would	Expresses a polite request or talk about hypothetical situations	Would you like some tea?
must	Expresses obligation or necessity	They must finish their homework.
ought to	Gives advice or make suggestions	You ought to apologize for your mistake.