Chapter 24 and 25: Standard and Irregular English Verbs
I)
Introduction:
a. Many people have grown up in communities where nonstandard verb
forms are used in everyday life.
b. Community dialects have richness and power but are a drawback in
college and the world at large, where standard English verb forms must be
used.
II)
Regular Verbs Standard Form
Present Tense
I smile
Past Tense
I smiled
you smile
you smiled
he, she, it smiles
he, she, it smiled
we smile
we smiled
you smile
you smiled
they smile
they smiled
III)
Present Tense Ending
a. The verb ending –s or –es is needed with a regular verb in the present
tense when the subject is he, she, it, or any one person or thing.
i. One person: Their son storms out of the house.
ii. One person: Their frightened daughter crouches behind the bed.
iii. One thing: At night the house shakes.
IV)
Past Tense Ending
a. The verb ending –d or –ed is needed with a regular verb in the past tense.
i. Example: The student puzzled over these verb forms.
V)
Two-word Verb Forms:
a. Many verbs consist of more than one word. Here, Langan provides some
of the many forms of the verb smile:
smile
smiled
should smile
smiles
were smiling
will be smiling
does smile
have smiled
can smile
is smiling
had smiled
could be smiling
are smiling
had been smiling
must have smiled
b. Future Tense: will + (verb)
c.
d.
e.
f.
VI)
Continuous Verb Form: (be) + (verb) + -ing.
Perfect Verb Form: (have) + (verb)
Perfect Continuous Verb Form: (have) + been + (verb) + -ing
Modal Verb: a type of auxiliary verb used to indicated likelihood, ability,
permission, and obligation. Examples include can/could, may/might, must,
will/would, and shall/should.
Be / Have / Do Forms
a. Be
Present Tense
I am
Past Tense
I was
you are
you were
he, she, it is
he, she, it was
we are
we were
you are
you were
they are
they were
Present Tense
I have
Past Tense
I had
you have
you had
he, she, it has
he, she, it had
we have
we had
you have
you had
they have
they had
Present Tense
I do
Past Tense
I did
you do
you did
he, she, it does
he, she, it did
we do
we did
b. Have
c. Do
VII)
you do
you did
they do
they did
Participles
a. In addition to the present and past tense of the verbs, every verb has two
types of participles: the present participle and the past participle.
b. A participle is a verb form that modifies a noun, playing the role of an
adjective or sometimes an adverb.
i. Past Participle Example: Timmy’s swollen eyes looked awful.
1. Swollen (the past participle of to swell) describes Timmy’s
eyes.
ii. Present Participle Example: The batting cages are full.
1. Batting (the present participle of to bat) describes the types
of cages and serves as an adjective.
iii. Present Participle Example 2: I am studying.
1. Here, studying (the present participle of to study) modifies
the be verb am, changing the tense to present progressive
tense.
VIII) Irregular Verbs:
a. Irregular verbs have irregular forms in the past tense and the past
participle.
i. For example: The past tense of bend isn’t bended but rather bent.
It’s past participle is also bent.
b. For an extensive list of irregular verbs, check out page 413 in Langan.