Verb Forms in English – easy + PDF
Verb forms in English are essential for constructing sentences correctly and conveying the right meaning.
The five verb forms in English are the root verb (V1), third person singular present form (V1+s/es), present participle (V1+ing), simple past (V2), and past participle (V3). The root verb, or base form, is used in present tense and infinitives (e.g., ‘play’). The third person singular present form adds ‘s’ or ‘es’ (e.g., ‘plays’). The present participle ends in ‘ing’ and is used in continuous tenses (e.g., ‘playing’). The simple past indicates completed actions (e.g., ‘played’). The past participle is used in perfect tenses (e.g., ‘played’).
What Are Verb Forms?
A verb form is a way a verb is shaped or modified to suit the context, indicating when an action occurs. The five main verb forms in English are:
- Root Verb
- Third Person Singular Present Form
- Present Participle
- Simple Past
- Past Participle
Root Verb (v1)
The root verb is the verb in its original form, without any inflection or change. It serves as the base to create other verb forms. For regular verbs, this form is modified to represent different tenses, while irregular verbs follow unique patterns.
Examples of Root Verbs:
- I love watching movies with my friends.
- I finish my homework before 6 p.m. every day.
- You play really well.
- You are beautiful.
In these examples, “love,” “finish,” “play,” and “are” are root verbs.
Third Person Singular Present Form
The third person singular present form is used in the simple present tense. For regular verbs, this form is created by adding “s” or “es” to the root verb.
Examples of Third Person Singular Present Form:
- Tom likes having cereal for breakfast.
- Root verb: like
- Mary teaches English to sixth-grade students.
- Root verb: teach
- My father reads the newspaper every day.
- Root verb: read
- The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
- Root verbs: rise, set
Present Participle
The present participle is formed by adding “ing” to the root verb. If the verb ends with a vowel followed by a consonant, the last consonant is doubled before adding “ing.” If the verb ends with “e,” the “e” is usually dropped.
Examples of Present Participle:
- Running (run)
- Swimming (swim)
- Forgetting (forget)
- Sitting (sit)
- Cutting (cut)
- Crying (cry)
- Trying (try)
- Reading (read)
- Writing (write – “e” is removed)
- Ageing (age – “e” is retained)
Simple Past
The simple past form indicates an action that took place in the past. Regular verbs usually add “ed” or “d” (for verbs ending in “e”) to the root verb. Irregular verbs have unique forms.
Examples of Simple Past:
- Cheated (cheat)
- Dodged (dodge)
- Jumped (jump)
- Skipped (skip)
- Ironed (iron)
Irregular Simple Past Forms:
- Read (read)
- Cut (cut)
- Put (put)
- Let (let)
- Hit (hit)
- Hurt (hurt)
- Ran (run)
- Sat (sit)
- Sang (sing)
- Threw (throw)
- Flew (fly)
- Brought (bring)
- Bought (buy)
- Thought (think)
- Rang (ring)
- Found (find)
- Lost (lose)
- Met (meet)
Past Participle

The past participle form is used in perfect tenses. For regular verbs, the simple past and past participle forms are the same. Irregular verbs have different past participle forms.
Examples of Past Participle:
V1 Base Form | V2 Past Simple | V3 Past Participle |
Stare | Stared | Stared |
Avoid | Avoided | Avoided |
Exchange | Exchanged | Exchanged |
Greet | Greeted | Greeted |
Incise | Incised | Incised |
Recur | Recurred | Recurred |
Summon | Summoned | Summoned |
Warn | Warned | Warned |
Adjust | Adjusted | Adjusted |
Cease | Ceased | Ceased |
Decrease | Decreased | Decreased |
Moult | Moulted | Moulted |
Oppress | Oppressed | Oppressed |
Smell | Smelt | Smelt |
Sting | Stung | Stung |
Cure | Cured | Cured |
Diminish | Diminished | Diminished |
Grade | Graded | Graded |
Implore | Implored | Implored |
Pour | Poured | Poured |
Spill | Spilt | Spilt |
Swot | Swotted | Swotted |
Cope | Coped | Cope |
Drink | Drank | Drunk |
Dry | Dried | Dried |
Make | Made | Made |
Rebuild | Rebuilt | Rebuilt |
Scab | Scabbed | Scabbed |
Smile | Smiled | Smiled |
Convict | Convicted | Convicted |
Educate | Educated | Educated |
Hurl | Hurled | Hurled |
Phone | Phoned | Phoned |
Satiate | Satiated | Satiated |
Slit | Slit | Slit |
Collapse | Collapsed | Collapsed |
Confess | Confessed | Confessed |
Crowd | Crowded | Crowded |
Punish | Punished | Punished |
Reuse | Reused | Reused |
Squeeze | Squeezed | Squeezed |
Type | Typed | Typed |
Apply | Applied | Applied |
Contract | Contracted | Contracted |
Found | Founded | Founded |
Relate | Related | Related |
Sate | Sated | Sated |
Irregular Past Participle Forms:
- Drunk (drink, drank)
- Sung (sing, sang)
- Rung (ring, rang)
- Chosen (choose, chose)
- Written (write, wrote)
Check Also:
All forms of the verb TO BE and Its Usage
Most Common English Verbs & Synonyms List (PDF)
25+ Common Proverbs and Their Meanings in English
1000 English Verbs Forms v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 PDF
Down below you can download ‘Most Common English Verbs in All Tenses‘ PDF that you can read anywhere.
Verbs Forms v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 – download
Irregular English Verb Forms PDF – download