USING VERBS
Language Network – Chapter 6
THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A VERB
 Each verb has four principal parts: the present, the present participle, the
past, and the past participle.
 The following are based on the verb “to look”:
 Present – look
 Present Participle – (is) looking
 Past – looked
 Past Participle – (has) looked
 Some verbs are irregular, such as “to break”:
 Present – break
 Present Participle – (is) breaking
 Past – broke
 Past Participle – (has) broken
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS
Regular Verbs
 Regular verbs will use the present
form to create the other
principal parts of the verb.
 Present Participle
 (is) look + ing
 Past
 Look + ed
 Past Participle
 (has) look + ed
Irregular Verbs
 Irregular verbs have different
forms for the past and/or past
participle.
 See pages 131-132 in Language
Network for a list of common
irregular verbs and their forms.
FORMING VERB TENSES
 Verb tense shows the time of an action or a condition. They are formed
from the verb’s principal parts.
 There are three verb tenses:
 Simple Tenses
 Perfect Tenses
 Progressive Tenses
SIMPLE TENSES
 The present tense shows that an action or condition
 Occurs regularly or is generally true:

Good stories transport us across time and space.
 Is occurring in the present:

I have the new book by Stephen King.
 Occurs regularly:

Every night, I read several chapters of this chilling tale.
 The past tense shows that an action or condition occurred in the past:
 King published Carrie, his first novel, in 1974.
 The future tense shows that an action or condition will occur in the
future:
 I will lend you King’s new book next week.
PERFECT TENSES
 The present perfect tense shows that an action or condition
 Was completed at one or more indefinite times in the past:

King has published several books under the pen name of Richard Bachman.
 Began in the past and continues in the present:

King has written more than 30 novels in the last 30 years.
 The present perfect tense is formed by using have/has + past participle.
 The past perfect tense shows that an action or a condition in the past
preceded another past action or condition:
 King had written two novels that were rejected by publishers before he published Carrie.
 The past perfect tense is formed by using had + past participle.
 The future perfect tense shows that an action or a condition in the
future will precede another future action or condition:
 By next summer, I will have read half of King’s books.
 The future perfect tense is formed by using will (shall) have + past participle.
PROGRESSIVE FORM
 The progressive form of a verb expresses an event in progress.
 Each tense has a progressive form, made by using the corresponding tense of the
verb to be with the present participle.
 Present Progressive Tense:

I am reading this horror story.

Use am/are/is + present participle.
 Past Progressive Tense:

A group of friends were camping in the Maine woods.

Use was/were + present participle.
 Future Progressive Tense:

You will be learning until the end of the school day.

Use will (shall) be + present participle.
 Progressive forms can also be used with perfect tenses, such as:
 You shall have been sitting for 50 minutes by the time the bell rings. (future perfect
progressive).
USING VERB TENSES
 When writing, you will use different verb tenses to describe single
events and ongoing actions that are related.
 Verb tenses allow you to show how a series of events are related in
time.
 The following verb tenses can be used:
 Simple Tense
 Progressive Form
 Perfect Tense
 Perfect Progressive Form
PRESENT TENSES
 Simple Present
 I talk.
 Shows an action or a condition that is continuously true.
 Present Progressive
 I am talking.
 Shows action that is now in progress.
 Present Perfect
 I have talked.
 Shows an action or a condition that began in the past and continues into the present.
 Present Perfect Progressive
 I have been talking.
 Shows an action that began in the past and is still in progress.
PAST TENSES
 Simple Past
 I talked.
 Shows actions that were completed in the past.
 Past Progressive
 I was talking.
 Shows actions that continued over time in the past.
 Past Perfect
 I had talked.
 Shows an action in the past that came before other actions in the past.
 Past Perfect Progressive
 I had been talking.
 Shows an action that was in progress in the past when another action happened.
FUTURE TENSES
 Simple Future
 I will talk.
 Shows a condition that will occur in the future.
 Future Progressive
 I will be talking.
 Shows an action that will be in progress in the future.
 Future Perfect
 I will have talked.
 Shows an action in the future that will occur before another action.
 Future Perfect Progressive
 I will have been talking.
 Shows an action in progress in the future when another action will happen.
SHIFTS IN TENSE
 In some situations, you may need to shift tenses within a sentence.
 You can shift from a progressive form to a simple form to describe an
ongoing action interrupted by a single event.
 I was talking when my brother interrupted me.
 When you describe an event as a point of reference for another event,
shift from a perfect tense to a simple tense.
 I had been talking for a few moments before I realized that no one was listening.
 Avoid shifting from present to past, past to present, etc.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
Active Voice
 When a verb’s subject performs
the action expressed by the
verb.
 I threw the football to my
friend.
Passive Voice
 When a verb’s subject receives
the action expressed by the
verb.
 The football was thrown to my
friend by me.
 Passive voice will use a form of
“to be” and the preposition
“by.”
THE MOOD OF A VERB
 Indicative Mood makes statements and asks questions.
 I like to watch movies.
 Where are my glasses?
 Imperative Mood makes a request or gives a command. The subject
(you) is omitted.
 Run a lap around the track.
 Subjunctive Mood expresses a wish or states a condition that is contrary
to fact.
 You will use the word were instead of was.
 I wish I were smarter.
 Subjunctive Mood can also give a command.
 Use the base form of a verb.
 The school requires that all students be in first period by 8 A.M.