Different Verb Forms

An English verb can exist in several different forms:

Infinitive (first or base form of the verb)

This is the base form of the verb. The infinitive sometimes has the marker to. However, it is wrong to assume that that ‘to’ is part of the infinitive. Examples of infinitives are: (to) break, (to) work, (to) write, (to) sing, (to) play, (to) eat, (to) speak, (to) bring etc. The simple present tense forms are made with the infinitive without to.

Birds fly.
Children play.
Flowers bloom.

Notes

The infinitive takes the marker -s when the subject is a singular noun or a third person singular pronoun (he, she, it).

The sun shines. (NOT The sun shine.)
The wind blows. (NOT The wind blow.)
The dog barks. (NOT The dog bark.)
He writes. (NOT He write.)
It rains. (NOT It rain.)

Simple past (second form of the verb)

This is the second form of the verb. We use this form to make the simple past tense. Examples are: broke, worked, wrote, sang, played, ate, spoke, brought etc.

Most English verbs form their simple past tense form by adding -ed to the infinitive. Verbs of this kind are called regular verbs.

Play -> played
Work -> worked
Hope -> hoped
Act -> acted

He worked hard.
I hoped for the best.
She wrote a letter.
It rained in the morning.
We started at 6 am.

However, there are several exceptions to this rule. Verbs that form their past tense form in other ways are called irregular verbs. You can find a list of irregular verbs here.

Past participle

This is the third form of the verb. In the case of many verbs, the past participle form is the same as the simple past tense form. The past participle form usually ends in -en or -ed. There are several exceptions to this rule.

She has acted in a film.
I have written a novel.
Seema has broken another glass.
I have finished the job.
It has rained for hours.

Gerunds / present participles

Verb forms ending in -ing are called gerunds or present participles. Examples are: running, singing, crying, working, playing, eating, writing etc.

Gerunds and present participles look alike, but they are not the same. A gerund is used like a noun. A present participle is used to form continuous verb forms.

In English, the different tense forms are made by making changes to the verb form. Each tense has a particular verb form. And hence a good knowledge of the different forms of common verbs is essential to form the different tenses.