EditFast Grammar Resource: Verbs: Using Verbs Correctly

Share |

Resources for Writers, Authors, Editors, Copy Editors, and Proofreaders

Huge Database
Writers' and Editors' Resources
Magazines, Publishers, Literary Agents, Writing Competitions.

Copy one of the following and paste it anywhere on any page of your site.

Verbs

Using Verbs Correctly

Rule 1:
Use the correct verb form

Verbs have four basic forms:

1. Present (also called the infinitive)
2. Past
3. Past participle (the have, has, or had form)
4. Progressive or ongoing (-ing form)

We can put each verb on a chart to show its present, past, past participle, and progressive forms.

Infinitive or Present	Past	Past Participle	Present Participle or Progressive
run	ran	run	running
think	thought	thought	thinking
go	went	gone	going
do	did	done	doing
lay	laid	laid	laying
lie	lay	lain	lying
sit	sat	sat	sitting
set	set	set	setting
watch	watched	watched	watching

We form present and past verbs by simply choosing the present or past forms. We form perfect tenses by choosing the past participle form and using it with have, has, or had (have run, has run, had run). Progressive verbs are formed by choosing the present participle form and using it with a being verb (was running, is running, will be running). We form perfect progressive verbs by combining have, has, or had with a being verb and the progressive form of the verb (had been running, has been running, will have been running).