The Principal Parts of

Verbs, Irregular Verbs,

and Verb Tenses

Verbs and Sentence Structure

The Principal Parts of Verbs

Verbs take different forms in order to indicate time. These forms of verbs are tenses.

“She talks about her plans” expresses action in the present.

“She talked about her plans” expresses action that occurred in the past.

To use the tenses correctly, you must know how to form the principal parts of verbs.

The Principal Parts of Verbs

The Principal Parts of the Verb Talk

Present: talk

Present Participle: (am, is, are, was,

were) talking

Past: talked

Past Participle: (have, has, had) talked

The Principal Parts of Verbs

The Principal Parts of Regular Verbs Present: most basic form of the verb save

Present Participle: helping verb am, is, are, was, or were + verb with –ing ending am saving

Past: verb with –ed ending saved

Past Participle: helping verb have, has, or had + verb with –ed ending have saved

The Principal Parts of Verbs

The Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the same pattern as regular verbs when forming the past and past participle.

You will need to memorize these exceptions.

When in doubt in your writing, look up the correct way to form the past and part participle of any verb.

Using Irregular Verbs

To Run

Present: run

Present Participle: am

running

Past: ran (not

runned)

Past Participle: have

run (not have runned)

To Write

Present: write

Present Participle: am

writing

Past: wrote

Past Participle: have

written

Two Troublesome Irregular Verbs

To Lay

Present: lay

Present Participle: am laying

Past: laid

Past Participle: have laid

Use to mean “to put something down” or “to place (something)”

Almost always followed by a direct object

The sailors laid their uniforms on the bed.

To Lie

Present: lie

Present Participle: am lying

Past: lay

Past Participle: have lain

Use to mean “to rest in a reclining position” or “to be situated”

Never followed by a direct object

The sailors lay down on the narrow bunk.

Two Troublesome Irregular Verbs

To Sit

Present: sit

Present Participle: am sitting

Past: sat

Past Participle: have sat

Use to mean “to be seated” or “to rest”

Usually not followed by a direct object.

We sat on the floor.

To Set

Present: set

Present Participle: am setting

Past: set

Past Participle: have set

Use to mean “to put something in a certain place or position

Usually followed by a direct object.

He set the glasses gingerly in the sink.

Verb Tenses

In verbs, the tense shows the time of action or state of being.

Use the principal parts of verbs to form the six basic tenses.

The Basic Verb Tenses

Present I eat pizza often.

I always order from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action that happens over and over.

Principal part: present

Uses no helping verbs.

Verb Tenses

The Basic Verb Tenses Past

I ate pizza last night.

I ordered from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action that happened in the past.

Principal part: past

Uses no helping verbs

Future

I will eat pizza tonight.

I will order from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action that will happen in the future.

Principal part: present

Uses helping verb will

Verb Tenses

The Perfect Verb Tenses: indicate that an action has been completed. Present Perfect

I have eaten pizza many times.

He has ordered from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action completed often.

Principal part: past participle

Uses helping verbs have or has

Past Perfect

I had eaten pizza before you called.

He had ordered from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action completed in the past.

Principal part: past participle

Uses helping verb had

Verb Tenses

The Perfect Verb Tenses: indicate

that an action has been completed. Future Perfect

I will have eaten pizza many times by the end of

the year.

Indicates action that will be completed in the

future.

Principal part: past participle

Uses helping verbs will and have

Verb Tenses

The Progressive Forms: indicate an action that is in progress. Present Progressive

I am eating pizza.

He is ordering from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action in process of being completed.

Principal part: present participle

Uses helping verbs am, is, are

Past Progressive

I was eating pizza when you called.

You were ordering from Pizza Hut.

Indicates action that was in the process of being completed in the past.

Principal part: present participle

Uses helping verb was or were

Verb Tenses

Future Progressive

I will be eating pizza for dinner tonight.

Indicates action that will be in process in the

future.

Principal part: present participle

Uses helping verbs will and be

Verb Tenses

The Progressive Perfect Forms: indicate completion of an ongoing action. Present Perfect Progressive

I have been eating pizza since I was little.

Indicates action often in the process of being completed.

Principal part: present participle

Uses helping verbs have and been

Past Perfect Progressive

I had been eating pizza, but I stopped

Indicates action was in process, but now is completed.

Principal part: present participle

Uses helping verb had and been

Verb Tenses

Future Perfect Progressive

On my net birthday, I will have been eating

pizza for eleven years.

Indicates action that has been completed before

but will be in progress in the future.

Principal part: present participle

Uses helping verbs will, have, and been

Verb Tenses

Now, why did we just learn all of this?

Because in your writing, you need to keep your

tenses consistent.

Choose the best tense for the situation (past,

present, or future) and be consistent throughout

the entire piece.