The following resources will help you form English verbs by combining tense (past, present, future) and aspect (simple, continuous, perfect).
Forming verbs in different aspects
| Auxiliary verbs and main verb forms for different aspects | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Simple | do / ∅ | Root (root) | Present form (root + -s) | Simple past (usually: root + -ed) |
Continuous | be | Present participle (root + -ing) | ||
Perfect | have | Past participle (root + -ed / irregular) | ||
How to conjugate auxiliary verbs
| Subject | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
I / you / we / they | did | does | –* |
he / she / it | do |
| Subject | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
I | was | am | will be |
he / she / it | is | ||
you / we / they | were | are |
| Subject | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
I / you / we / they | had | have | will have |
he / she / it | has |
How does aspect impact meaning?
| Verb aspect | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple | a finished action | a habit, custom, truth, or thought | a set plan or truth in the future |
We went to school yesterday. | We go to school every day. | The sun will rise tomorrow at 7:00. | |
Continuous | a past ongoing action happening when something else occurred | something happening during the moment of speech | a future action that continues for some time |
We were walking to school when it started to rain. | He is studying a new language now. | She will be teaching in Paris next semester. | |
Perfect | past events that happened before and were important for a past moment | past events that are important for understanding the present moment | events that will be important for a later future moment |
I had read the book many times before I saw the movie. | I have read that book already. | I will have read that book twice by the time I see the movie. |
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