Regular and irregular English verbs.

2014 Contents. Auxiliaries: be, do, have. Forming tenses. The tense system. Time and Aspect. Introduction to English Verbs. Subject Pronouns Auxiliaries: To Be /To Have/To Do- Present Simple with negative and question (interrogative) forms (see below for have got) Present Simple - Regular Verbs in English with negative and question (interrogative) forms. Short forms to be-present simple. Negatives with to be + not Have got Present Progressive - also known as Present Continuous to be + ing. Putting it in the past. Past Simple. Did/did not for questions and negatives. Talking about the past using compound verbs. (auxiliary verb + main verb)To be for past passive and past continuous. To have for present perfect and past perfect. Future with present progressive‘ Going to’ future, ‘will’ future, present Simple with future intention. (timetable future). What if? and Future Perfect (will have + p.p.) 0 conditional 1st conditional 2nd conditional 3rd conditional. Phrasal and other multi-word verbs. How to use a verb table and practice with irregular verbs. p.s. dear students...

[Verb Pack]

Verb Pack Contents General Overview: Auxiliaries: be, do, have Forming tenses The tense system Time and Aspect Introduction to English Verbs Subject Pronouns Auxiliaries: To Be /To Have/To Do- Present Simple with negative and question (interrogative) forms (see below for have got) Present Simple - Regular Verbs in English with negative and question (interrogative) forms Short forms to be-present simple Negatives with to be + not Have got Present Progressive - also known as Present Continuous to be + ing Putting it in the past. Past Simple Did/did not for questions and negatives Talking about the past using compound verbs. (auxiliary verb + main verb) To be for past passive and past continuous To have for present perfect and past perfect Future Future with present progressive ‘Going to’ future ‘will’ future present Simple with future intention. (timetable future)

What if? and Future Perfect (will have + p.p.) 0 conditional 1st conditional 2nd conditional 3rd conditional

Phrasal and other multi-word verbs How to use a verb table and practice with irregular verbs Auxiliaries: To do is used for questions and negatives in simple tenses To be is used for forming continuous and passive verbs To have is used for forming perfect tenses Forming tenses Complete the following tense charts. Use the verb work for the active and make for the passive. Active Simple Continuous (to be + ing) Present He We Past She I Future They You Present Perfect We She Past Perfect I You Future Perfect They He Passive Simple Continuous Present It is made They Past It It Future They Present Perfect They Past Perfect It Future Perfect They NB. Not all passive tenses are included, as they are not normally used, we avoid them by using the active: Our house has been being decorated for months.× (no) They’ve been decorating our house.√ (yes)

The tense system Time and Aspect. English tenses have two elements of meaning: Time and Aspect. Time refers to when the speaker sees the event. Aspect refers to how the speaker sees the event. Time Aspect Present Simple Past Continuous Future Perfect Simple is for an event which is permanent, complete, habitual or a fact. Yesterday was sunny. He is a Dr. She goes swimming every day. My daughter will be four next month. Continuous is for an event which is temporary, incomplete or in progress. We’re working for the American Embassy at the moment. He’s writing a book about Shakespeare. Don’t call me at 8.00. I’ll be having dinner. Perfect is for an describing an event that relates to two different times. The event is completed at an indefinite time before another time. He’s read that book. (sometime before NOW). Peter had already left. (sometime before THEN). I’ll have finished my lesson by eight o’clock. (sometime before EIGHT O’CLOCK). English has an active and a passive voice.

Introduction to English Verbs. Read the following and add in Italian translations for yourself if necessary. Subject Pronouns: I We You He/She/It They To Be- Present Simple I am We are You are He/ She / It is They are Negative I am not We are not You are not He/She/It is not They are not Question form. (Interrogative) Am I ? Are we ? Are you ? Is he/she/it ? Are they ? NB. This verb is irregular. For questions it inverts subject and verb and does not use another auxiliary. To be is also used as an auxiliary to form: progressive (to be + ing) and passive (to be + -ed/p.p) tenses. To Have- Present Simple. I have We have You have He/She/It has They have Negative I do not have We do not have You do not have He/She/It does not have They do not have Question form.(Interrogative) Do I have? Do we have? Do you have? Does he/she/it have? Do they have? To have is also used as an auxiliary to form: perfect (to have + -ed/p.p) tenses. For all simple (one word) verbs we need “DO” to make questions and negative forms. (see example above with questions and negatives for to have)

To do: I do We do You do He/She/It does They do To do is also used as an auxiliary to make questions and negatives with simple tenses (see example above with questions and negatives for “to have”) Regular Verbs in English Present Simple To work: I work We work You work He/She/It works They work Negative add do/does not: I do not work He does not work etc. Short forms:To be-Present Simple I'm We're You're He/She/It's They're Negative I 'm not(but Not I amn't) We're not or we aren't You're not or you aren't He/She/It's not or it isn't They're not or they aren't The short forms, are less formal than the long forms, we use them when we speak, when we write formally we use the long forms. You're not gives more emphasis to the negative not, you aren't is a more neutral negative, this principle is the same for other short forms. Do not becomes don't and doesn't. Have cannot be used as a short form when it is used for possession. Have can be shortened when it becomes an auxiliary (in past tenses and for have got): Have got This is used for less formal English, especially in speech. I've got We've got You've got He/She/It's got They've got Negative I haven't got We haven't got You haven't got He/She/It hasn't got They haven't got

Present Progressive - also known as Present Continuous To be + ing I am working We are studying You are designing He/She/It is drawing They are reading I'm working You're designing etc.

See also use of present progressive to express future.

Putting it in the past. The basic past simple tense adds –ed to regular verbs to form the past simple. Past Simple To work I worked We worked You worked He/She/It worked They worked For regular verbs this is the same for each person so it is important to always use the subject pronoun with verbs. Using the auxiliary ‘did’ for questions and negatives: To do is used for questions and negatives in simple tenses so in the past simple we use the past of to do =>did Negative I did not work We did not work You did not work He/She/It did not work They did not work Short form did not => didn’t Irregular verbs in the past simple use the second entry in the verb table. e.g: eat ate eaten I ate dinner at home yesterday. Questions and negatives. NB for negatives and question forms the auxiliary is the part of the verb that changes: Where did you eat dinner last night? What did you eat for dinner last night? You didn’t eat dinner last night, why not? Why didn’t you eat dinner with me last night?

Talking about the past using compound tenses - i.e. main verb + one or more auxiliaries

(auxiliary verb + main verb)

To form other tenses in the past or which talk about the past you need to know how use the auxiliaries: To be To be is used for forming continuous and passive verbs The past simple of the verb to be is irregular: To Be- Past Simple I was We were You were He/She/It was They were Negative I was not We were not You were not He/She/It was not They were not Question form. (Interrogative) Was I ? Were we ? Were you ? Was he/she/it ? Were they ? Past Passive = was/were + p.p. To form a sentence using the past passive voice add the correct part of the verb to be using it in the past + past participle ( -ed or third entry in the verb table): It is made of plastic=>It was made of plastic. Past Progressive/Continuous = was/were +ing To form a sentence using the past progressive add the correct part of the verb to be using it in the past: to work- past progressive = to be + work + ing I was working We were working You were working He/She/It was working They were working Negative I was not working We were not working You were not working He/She/It was not working They were not working Question form. (Interrogative) Was I working? Were we working ? Were you working ? Was he/she/it working ? Were they working ?

To have To have is used for forming perfect tenses which describe events relating to two different times. The event described is completed at an indefinite time before another time. He’s read that book. (sometime before NOW). Peter had already left. (sometime before THEN). To have is used as an auxiliary to form the present perfect : to have + verb-ed/p.p to work present perfect I have worked We have worked You have worked He/She/It has worked They have worked Have is the auxiliary here so do is not needed to form a negative and ‘not’ is added before the past participle. Negative I have not worked We have not worked You have not worked He/She/It has not worked They have not worked For questions with an auxiliary the word order is auxiliary subject verb: Question form.(Interrogative) Have I worked? Have we worked? Have you worked? Has he/she/it worked? Have they worked? Questions with negatives: Haven’t I worked? (notice we usually contract these long forms.) See also: Present perfect progressive. I have been painting. (= I still have paint on me) For activities that began in the past whose results are still evident and may or may not still be in progress: It’s been raining.(= the ground is still wet.) Past Perfect To have is used in the past form ‘had’ to form the past perfect : had + verb-ed/p.p To work past perfect I had worked We had worked You had worked He/She/It had worked They had worked Negative I had not worked He/She/It had not worked etc. Question forms and negatives Had I worked? Hadn’t I worked? (notice we usually contract these long forms.) etc.

Future The future can be expressed in several ways in English. The form used depends on the idea that is being expressed. Future with present progressive (see above) also known as Diary future to be + ing: -for something already fixed I’m meeting my bank manager tomorrow. (I have an appointment.) They are leaving early tomorrow morning. She's coming here next week. ‘Going to’ future going to +verb: -for intentions or prediction based on seeing the evidence -for something already decided but not yet fixed I’m going to meet him in New York. (This is my intention, I want to do it, I don’t have the tickets yet.) I'm going to visit my parents tomorrow evening. It's going to rain. Look at the clouds. ( I look at the dark sky and predict what will happen.) ‘will’ future will +verb: -for ideas decided at the moment of speaking. -for making predictions about what we expect to happen, it is often used with verbs of opinion. (think, hope etc.) I don’t know what to cook...I know, I’ll cook pasta with pesto. (I look in the fridge, see the pesto and decide) I think it will rain. Computers will take the place of teachers in fifty years' time. (I expect this to happen.) Don't phone us at 8.00. We'll be having dinner. (I know this because we always eat at 8.00) Present Simple with future intention. (timetable future) Just like in Italian we can use the present to talk about the future, this is often used for timetables and events which are fixed on a calendar. The university term starts on 1st September. The bus leaves at 9.00 a.m. We also use the present simple with the following expressions of time: when, until, as soon as, as long as, before, after, whenever, the next time; (see zero and first conditional.) NB for making plans remember that we tend to prefer the present progressive (see above) so that we usually say ‘what are you doing this weekend?’ (√) NOT ‘what do you do this weekend’ (X)

What if? When we make guesses or hypotheses about things that may or may not happen we use the conditional: There are 4 main types, but the first is known as 0 conditional. 0 conditional (result) for cause and effect If + present + present If I eat too much chocolate I get fat. 1st conditional (for predictions) If +present + will/won’t If it rains we’ll get wet. No, we won’t I have an umbrella with me. 2nd conditional (if only/ what if...) If +past simple + would If I won the lottery I would buy a Ferrari. If I were you I’d ask for advice. 3rd conditional (if only/ what if...in the past) If Christopher Columbus hadn’t discovered America, the history of the world would have been very different. If television had not been invented what would we have done in the evenings? Future Perfect When we make predictions about our daily expectations to happen we use the future perfect. Will have + p.p. By the time you get home I will have eaten my dinner.

Phrasal and other multi-word verbs Before you start. Check you understand the difference between Phrasal and Prepositional Verbs. There are three ways to add a preposition to a verb. 1.Prepositional verb: VERB + PREPOSITION + NOUN PHRASE Listen to the radio. Here the preposition LINKS the verb to the noun. 2. Phrasal verb: VERB + ADVERB You need to carry on studying hard if you want to improve your English. (carry on = continue.) The adverb changes the meaning of the verb. 3.Phrasal Prepositional Verbs: VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION + NOUN PHRASE I did not put up with the noise.(put up with = tolerate) The adverb changes the meaning of the verb and the preposition LINKS the noun phrase to the verb (+ adverb) Phrasal Verbs. A phrasal verb uses a verb + adverb (e.g. to give up). This is an idiomatic expression meaning to stop. ALL PHRASAL VERBS FORM IDIOMS. It is a “PHRASAL VERB” ONLY IF THE ADVERB CHANGES THE MEANING OF THE VERB - (otherwise see prepositional verbs below.) There are two types of phrasal verbs: Group A (with no object) Group B (with an object) Usually phrasal verbs use common verbs and adverbs in English. Check you know the meaning of these verbs: ask, be, break, come, fall, find, get , give, go, keep, let , look, make, put, run, set, take, turn etc. Check you know the meaning of these adverbs : (they are usually adverbs of place.) about*, across, along, around*, away, back, by*, down, forward, in*, off, on*, out, over, through*, under*, up*, * These words can also be used as prepositions so be careful not to confuse the meaning. Group A (phrasal verbs with no object)

These are the easiest to use as they are intransitive verbs so there is no confusion for word order. Go on! We are all listening. (= continue) Look out! The beam is falling. (= be careful) He turned up at the last minute. (= arrive) His car had broken down. (= stop working) My children are growing up very fast. (= become adult) (NB.When we read these words notice that the adverbs are stressed when we say them, prepositions are not stressed as they link but do not change the meaning.) Group B (phrasal verbs with an object) Can you fill in these forms please. (= complete) I gave up smoking last week. (= stop) She gives away everyone’s secrets. (= reveal) John fixed up a meeting with his boss. (= arrange) a) If the object is a noun phrase you can move the adverb after the object. She brought the children [up] [up] If the object is a personal pronoun it must come before the adverb. She brought them up. So phrasal verbs can be separated into two parts. Compare the two patterns: VERB + ADVERB+ OBJECT Please put on the light. (not it) VERB +OBJECT+ADVERB Please put the light/it on. Study the word order here: Did you look up those words in the dictionary? Yes, I looked them up here. Did they put off the football match? Yes, they put it off because of the rain. Has the new design company taken over the job? Yes, they’ve taken it over and are finishing off the designs.

b) Group B phrasal verbs can sometimes look like prepositional verbs. Use a pronoun as an object to help you to see the difference: She looked up the word. (she looked it up) He looked at the picture. (not he looked it at) Some expressions can have two meanings: The girl ran down the hill. John ran down his ex-wife. (= criticise) Don’t bring up that piano, it’s too heavy to carry up the stairs. I’d rather you did not bring up my exams. (= mention) Prepositional Verbs Prepositional verbs add a preposition to a verb to express as single idea. They cannot be separated. Here are some common ones: add to believe in insist on pay for agree with belong to listen to pray for aim for call for/on live on refer to allow for care for long for rely on apply for consent to look after run for approve of deal with look at stand for ask for decide on look for take after attend to hope for object to wish for I’m looking for my keys. (= search) She takes after her grandmother. (= resemble) I’ve asked for help. (= request) Verb and preposition often go together at the end of a sentence: What are you listening to? Do you know who the book belongs to?

How to use a verb table. Regular verbs follow the rules. Irregular verbs are verbs which do not follow the rules. What can you find on the verb table? Infinitive or base verb. The first entry gives you the verb in the infinitive this is the verb with ‘to’ in front of it: to be modern books often use just the base verb which is the infinitive without ‘to’ in front of it. So instead of to be you just have be Infinitive is what you always use as your main verb and it will give the meaning to your sentences. The auxiliary is a verb which helps you to modify the exact meaning of the verb. Past Simple (second entry) Many of the most commonly used verbs are irregular in the past simple so that you cannot simply add –ed to the main verb to form the simple past. to be is unusual as it has two irregular forms was/were usually each verb has just one irregular form: have =>had give=>gave Past participle (third entry) The past participle is used with both perfect tenses to have + p.p. and to form the passive with to be + p.p. It is made of glass. (passive) I have eaten lunch. (present perfect) NB with regular verbs the past participle and the past simple use the same word, adding –ed to the base verb. The game was well played. I have played the violin since I was six. Irregular verbs do not do this but usually have two different words: Who broke the window? (past simple = one word) It was broken by the small boy. (past participle uses a compound verb => auxiliary + main verb = two or more words) Look for patterns when you learn irregular verbs and remember to learn the meaning too! blow blew blown grow grew grown fly flew flown put put put hit hit hit read read read

Verb table. Here is a completed verb table, study this, adding the translation if you need to and then take an empty chart to test yourself: infinitive past simple past participle translation arise arose arisen be was/were been beat beat beaten become became become begin began begun bend bent bent bet bet bet bite bit bitten blow blew blown break broke broken bring brought brought broadcast broadcast broadcast burst burst burst buy bought bought catch caught caught choose chose chosen come came come cost cost cost creep crept crept cut cut cut deal dealt dealt dig dug dug do did done draw drew drawn drive drove driven eat ate eaten fall fell fallen feed fed fed fight fought fought find found found flee fled fled fly flew flown forbid forbade forbidden forgive forgave forgiven freeze froze frozen get got got give gave given go went given grow grew grown hang hung hung have had had hear heard heard hide hid hidden hit hit hit hold held held hurt hurt hurt

infinitive past simple past participle translation keep kept kept know knew known lay laid laid lead led led leave left left lend lent lent let let let lie lay lain light lit lit lose lost lost make made made mean meant meant meet met met pay paid paid put put put read read read ride rode ridden ring rang rung rise rose risen run ran ran say said said see saw seen sell sold sold send sent sent set set set sew sewed sewn shake shook shaken shine shone shone shoot shot shot show showed shown shrink shrank shrunk shut shut shut sing sang sung sink sank sunk sit sat sat sleep slept slept slide slid slid speak spoke spoken spend spent spent spit spat spat split split split spread spread spread spring sprang sprung stand stood stood steal stole stolen stick stuck stuck sting stung stung stink stank stunk strike struck struck swear swore sworn

infinitive past simple past participle translation swim swam swum swing swung swung take took taken teach taught taught tear tore torn tell told told think thought thought throw threw thrown understand understood understood wake woke woken wear wore worn weep wept wept win won won write wrote written Studying irregular verbs: Use the empty verb chart below to list verbs in different groups and test yourself: Try grouping the verbs into similar groups. e.g. Group 1 All parts are the same: infinitive past simple past participle hit hit hit Find more verbs in this group: Group 2 The past simple and past participle are the same: infinitive past simple past participle bend bent bent (some of these may have a different spelling for the past participle although the sound is the same e.g. learn learnt or learned) Group 3 All three forms of the verb are different. infinitive past simple past participle begin began begun Look at the table of irregular verbs, find which group each type of verb belongs to, group 1, 2 or 3. Learn your verbs in groups.

infinitive past simple past participle translation

p.s. Dear Students, Still worried? Look at verb videos online written for Italians google “verbi inglesi” in videos for example: http://www.LaGrammaticaInglese.com I prefer English sites as the pronunciation is better, but if the Italian ones help you to feel better about your English then:

Do what you need to do. Make your English better today. Do it now. Do it every day. English is for Life! This text is for beginner – intermediate level. If you are more advanced you should know all this already. So find out what you need to know and get back to me if you have any special requests. If you are a translation student looking for something extra to do ask me for the word document and translate this text for me.