Verbs & Tenses: Types of Verbs, the Three Forms and the 12 Tenses — Patwari English Notes
This page gives the types of verb, the V1-V2-V3 forms, confusing irregular verbs, the structure of all 12 tenses, and the rules for using them.
- Class 5-10 grammar level
- 9 min read
Types of Verb
A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state of being, or a condition. (1) A main verb carries the core meaning of the sentence — write, eat, grow. (2) An auxiliary verb works with the main verb to build tense, voice or mood: the primary auxiliaries are be (is, am, are, was, were), do (do, does, did), have (has, have, had); and the modal auxiliaries are can, may, must, etc. Be, do and have can also be main verbs: He has a car (has = main verb).
(3) A transitive verb needs an object — She wrote a letter; an intransitive verb doesn't — The baby slept. (4) Regular verbs form their V2/V3 with -ed (play–played–played); irregular verbs have different forms (go–went–gone). (5) A finite verb changes according to the subject and tense (He goes / They go / He went); non-finite forms — the infinitive (to go), the gerund (going as a noun), and the participle (going, gone) — don't show tense and cannot be the main verb of a sentence on their own. This is exactly why 'His arms grown heavy.' is incorrect: grown (V3) needs has/have/had; the correct sentence is His arms grew heavy.
(6) Stative verbs (know, believe, love, like, want, own, understand) express a mental state or possession and usually don't take the continuous tense — I know him (not I am knowing him).
Confusing Verb Forms
| V1 | V2 | V3 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| sit | sat | sat | sit is intransitive |
| set | set | set | All three forms are the same |
| lie (to recline) | lay | lain | He lay on the bed. |
| lie (to tell a lie) | lied | lied | regular |
| lay (to place) | laid | laid | Hens lay eggs. |
| rise (to go up) | rose | risen | The sun rose. (intransitive) |
| raise (to lift) | raised | raised | Raise your hand. (transitive) |
| grow | grew | grown | His arms grew heavy. |
| fly / flow | flew / flowed | flown / flowed | birds flew; rivers flowed |
| find / found (to establish) | found / founded | found / founded | He founded a school. |
| hang (to suspend / to execute) | hung / hanged | hung / hanged | regular when it means 'to execute' |
The 12 Tenses: Structure and Examples
| Tense | Structure (affirmative) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple / Indefinite | S + V1 (he/she/it/singular takes V1+s/es) | The human body never gets used to noise. |
| Present Continuous | S + is/am/are + V-ing | She is reading a book. |
| Present Perfect | S + has/have + V3 | They have finished the work. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | S + has/have + been + V-ing (+ since/for) | It has been raining since morning. |
| Past Simple / Indefinite | S + V2 | He loved his work. / I had to leave early. |
| Past Continuous | S + was/were + V-ing | We were playing when it rained. |
| Past Perfect | S + had + V3 | The train had left before we reached. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | S + had been + V-ing | He had been working for hours. |
| Future Simple / Indefinite | S + will/shall + V1 | I shall go tomorrow. |
| Future Continuous | S + will/shall be + V-ing | She will be travelling at this time tomorrow. |
| Future Perfect | S + will/shall have + V3 | They will have reached by noon. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | S + will/shall have been + V-ing | By June, he will have been teaching for ten years. |
Questions/negatives in the Present Simple are formed with do/does + V1, and in the Past Simple with did + V1 — He does not play / Did he play?
Essential Rules for Using Tenses
Present Simple: universal truths (The sun rises in the east), habits/routine actions (He goes for a walk daily), general statements (One feels tempted to look into a mirror), and scheduled future events (The train leaves at 6 pm). Words like never, always, usually, often are usually clues to this tense. Present Continuous: an action happening right now (now, at present, look!).
Present Perfect: an action completed recently whose effect continues into the present (I have lost my pen). Definite past-time markers like yesterday, last year, ago don't go with it — I saw him yesterday is correct, I have seen him yesterday is wrong. 'Since' goes with a point in time (since 2020, since Monday), and 'for' goes with a duration (for two hours).
Past Perfect: had + V3 is used for whichever of two past events happened first — The patient had died before the doctor came. Don't mistake 'had to' for the past perfect: 'had to + V1' means 'was obliged to' and is the past simple form of 'have to' (obligation) — I had to make my presence felt. How to tell them apart: V3 after 'had' means past perfect; 'to + V1' after 'had' means past simple (obligation); and if 'had' is itself the main verb (He had a dog), that too is past simple.
In time and conditional clauses (when, if, before, after, as soon as, unless), the Present Simple is used for a future meaning, not 'will' — If it rains, we will stay at home (not If it will rain).
Memory Trick / Exam Tip
To identify the tense, first look at the auxiliary verb: no auxiliary + V1/V1+s = Present Simple; no auxiliary + V2 = Past Simple; has/have + V3 = Present Perfect; had + V3 = Past Perfect. But 'had to + V1' and 'has to + V1' express obligation — don't count these as a perfect tense.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tenses are there?+
English has three main time frames — Present, Past, Future — and four forms within each (Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous), making a total of 12 tenses taught.
What tense is 'I had to go' in?+
It is Past Simple. 'had to + V1' means 'was obliged to go', which is the past form of 'have to' (obligation); in the Past Perfect, V3 follows 'had'.
What is the difference between Present Indefinite and Present Simple?+
There is no difference — these are two names for the same tense. Likewise, Past Indefinite = Past Simple.
What are the three forms of Sit and Set?+
sit–sat–sat (to be seated) and set–set–set (to place). So the base form of 'sat' is 'sit'.