How to Learn English Verbs for Beginners
Learning English verbs involves understanding the verb tenses and their spellings. Verbs are action words in a sentence and the verb tenses tell when that action happens. When verbs are conjugated, that means they are written in the tenses of the present participle, present, past, future, infinitive and past participle.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
How to Learn English Verbs for Beginners
-
1
Start by learning the verb tenses. The verb "walk" is conjugated in each of the verb tenses below:
Past tense: walked
Past participle: had walked, have walked
Present tense: walk
Present participle: walking
Future tense: will walk
Www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/tenses.html has detailed information about the verb tenses. -
2
Learn the verb conjugation rules at www.abacus-es.com/sat/verbs.html and the guidelines about special cases. The site also has a matrix of a regular verb and some irregular verbs conjugated in each verb tense.
Some of the rules of conjugation included on the site are:
If a verb ends with "ch," "sh," "x" or "o," add "es" to the present third person tense, such as "box" to "he boxes," "search" to "he searches," "wish" to "he wishes" and "go" to "he goes."
If a verb ends with "e," then drop the "e" and add "ed," such as "taste" to "tasted," "waste" to "wasted," "stake" to "staked," and "skate" to "skated."
If a verb end in "ie," then drop the "ie" and add "yng," such as "lie" to "lying." -
-
3
Memorize irregular verbs. Irregular verbs don't follow the basic guidelines. Some of the irregular verbs are:
arise: arises, arose, arisen
dive: dives, dove, dived
eat: eats, ate, eaten
ride: rides, rode, ridden
shake: shakes, shook, shaken
sing: sings, sang, sung
wear: wears, wore, worn
Go to www.grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/irregulars.htm to view more examples of common irregular verbs and their conjugations. -
4
Test yourself at www.grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/cgi-shl/par2_quiz.pl/irregular_quiz.htm?cgi_quiz_form=1 and review the verb grammar rules. The tests allows you to enter the correct verb form. The site grades your tests and lets you view your mistakes.
-
5
Study the difference between action, linking, and helping verbs.
Action verbs express an action that a person, animal or other thing can do. For example: "flies," "swept," "cried" and "painting" are all action verbs.
Linking verbs connect the subject to the verb, such as "is," "am" and "are." For example: "you are smiling," "she is walking," "I am running," and "they are hiking" all use linking verbs.
Helping verbs put the action into a particular frame of time or imply permission, such as "should," "would," "could," "has," "been," "must" and "had." For example: "she has been stealing," "you should go," "we could eat" and "they would like" all use helping verbs.
Go to www.uhv.edu/ac/efl/verbsbasictypes.asp to read more about the rules of action, linking and helping verbs. Use exercises offered on the website to check your understanding. You can also print a handout that summarizes the verbs. -
6
Take advantage of the verb conjugator at www.morphadorner.northwestern.edu/morphadorner/conjugator/example/. Type in your verb and the website gives you a list of its conjugates. For example, if you type in the verb "spike," the verb conjugator produces:
Present: I spike, You spike, He spikes, We spike, You spike, They spike
Past: I spiked, You spiked, He spiked, We spiked, You spiked, They spiked
Present Participle: spiking
Past Participle: spiked
-
1
Tips & Warnings
The irregular verbs have spellings that don't follow the traditional rules. Memorizing these verbs will give you the knowledge to apply them in your writing and speaking.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit http://mrg.bz/GVYbFr
