Verbs Encyclopedia

English Verbs — Complete Expertise

A single-page teaching resource with explanations, examples, searchable tables, and self-check practice.

Contents

1. Verb Basics 2. The Five Forms 3. Auxiliaries & Modals 4. Verb Types 5. Tense & Aspect 6. Voice (Active/Passive) 7. Mood (Statements/Commands/Subjunctive) 8. Irregular Verbs (Searchable) 9. Phrasal Verbs (Searchable) 10. Mini Conjugator 11. Practice & Quizzes

1) Verb Basics

Verbs are words that tell us what happens (action) or what something is/feels (state). A clause needs a verb to be complete.

Action: run, write, build, think, study

State: be, seem, know, belong, love

Event: happen, occur, change, grow

Most verb phrases include auxiliary verbs (helping verbs) + a main verb: She is studying, They have finished, It was built.

2) The Five Main Forms

Form	Pattern	Example	Common Uses
Base	—	go, make, study	dictionary form; after modals: can go
–s form	+s / +es	goes, makes, studies	3rd person singular present: She goes
Past	+ed or irregular	worked, went	past simple: They went
Past Participle	+ed or irregular	worked, gone	perfect/passive: have gone, was built
–ing	+ing	going, making	continuous forms; gerunds: Going is fun

Only be, have, and do change forms widely and act as both main and auxiliary verbs.

3) Auxiliaries & Modals

Primary auxiliaries

• be + –ing → is studying (continuous) / + past participle → is built (passive)
• have + past participle → has finished (perfect)
• do for questions/negatives/emphasis → Do you know? / I do not know / I do like it.

Modal verbs

can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought to, need (modal)

• Ability: can/could — She can swim.
• Possibility: may/might — It may rain.
• Permission: may/can — May I come in?
• Advice: should/ought to — You should rest.
• Obligation: must/have to — You must wear a helmet.
• Future: will/shall — We will call.
• Conditional: would — I would help.

4) Verb Types (How they behave in a sentence)

Transitivity

• Intransitive: no object — She slept.
• Transitive: needs object — She wrote a letter.
• Ditranstive: two objects — She gave him a pen.

Linking (copular) verbs

be, seem, become, appear, feel, look, sound, taste, smell — link subject to complement: She is happy.

Stative vs Dynamic

• Stative (usually not in –ing): know, believe, love, belong, own
• Dynamic (can take –ing): run, work, study, build
• Some verbs can be both with different meanings: I think (believe) vs I am thinking (considering).

5) Tense & Aspect (with timelines)

English has two grammatical tenses (past, present) and expresses time with aspect (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous) and future reference forms. Use the mini timelines and examples below.

Present

• Simple: She writes daily. (habits, facts)
• Continuous: She is writing now. (in progress)
• Perfect: She has written. (past to now result)
• Perfect Continuous: She has been writing for an hour. (how long to now)

Past

• Simple: She wrote yesterday. (finished past)
• Continuous: She was writing when I called. (past in progress)
• Perfect: She had written before class. (past before past)
• Perfect Continuous: She had been writing for an hour before lunch.

Future Reference

• Will + base: decisions/predictions — I'll help.
• Be going to + base: plans/evidence — It's going to rain.
• Present Continuous for arrangements — I'm meeting Sam at 5.
• Simple Present for schedules — The train leaves at 6.

Form builder (patterns)

• simple: base / past / s-form
• continuous: be + –ing
• perfect: have + past participle
• perfect continuous: have been + –ing

Common mistakes & tips

• ✱ Don't use since/for with present simple → Use present perfect: I have lived here for five years.
• ✱ Stative verbs rarely use –ing: I know the answer (not am knowing).
• ✓ Past habits: used to + base / would + base (for repeated actions).

6) Voice

Active

Subject does the action: The chef cooked the meal.

Passive

Subject receives the action: The meal was cooked (by the chef).

How to form the passive

be + past participle (match the tense/aspect):

• Present simple → is/are built
• Past simple → was/were built
• Present perfect → has/have been built
• Future (will) → will be built

7) Mood

• Indicative (statements/questions): She writes. / Does she write?
• Imperative (commands/requests): Write now.
• Subjunctive (wishes, demands, hypotheticals): I suggest that she write. / If I were you…

8) Irregular Verbs (Search & filter)

Hide verbs where past = past participle

#	Base	Past	Past Participle	–ing	Notes

Tip: Learn by families (bring–brought–brought, buy–bought–bought), not alphabetically only.

9) Phrasal Verbs (common & useful)

#	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example

Many phrasal verbs are separable: you can put the object in the middle — look it up. If the object is a pronoun, separation is required.

10) Mini Conjugator (common patterns)

Verb (base):

Person: I you he she it we they

This tool handles regular spelling rules (add -s/-es, -ed, -ing) and some frequent irregulars (be, have, do, go, come, make, say, get). For a full list, use the Irregular Verbs table above.

11) Practice & Quizzes

Quiz A — Choose the correct form

1. She workworks at a bank. (present simple)
2. They studyare studyare studying now. (present continuous)
3. I finishedhave finished my homework. (present perfect)
4. We waitedwere waitwere waiting when it started to rain. (past continuous)
5. The bridge builtwas built in 1990. (passive)

Quiz B — Rewrite

Change to the tense/aspect in brackets.

1. She writes every day. (present continuous) → She is writing now.
2. They finished the work. (present perfect) → They have finished the work.
3. He was painting the wall. (passive, past simple) → The wall was painted.

Extra practice prompts

• Create 5 sentences in the present perfect with for/since.
• Write a short story (100 words) using at least one form of each aspect.
• Choose 5 irregular verbs and make sentences in active and passive.

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