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Concept
Uses of English verb forms
Summary
This article describes the uses of various verb forms in modern standard English language. This includes:
Finite verb forms such as go, goes and went
Nonfinite forms such as (to) go, going and gone
Combinations of such forms with auxiliary verbs, such as was going and would have gone
The uses considered include expression of tense (time reference), aspect, mood, modality and voice, in various configurations.
For details of how inflected forms of verbs are produced in English, see English verbs. For the grammatical structure of clauses, including word order, see English clause syntax. For certain other particular topics, see the articles listed in the adjacent box. For non-standard dialect forms and antique forms, see individual dialect articles and the article, thou.
A typical English verb may have five different inflected forms:
The base form or plain form (go, write, climb), which has several uses—as an infinitive, imperative, present subjunctive, and present indicative except in the third-person singular
The -s form (goes, writes, climbs), used as the present indicative in the third-person singular
the past tense or preterite (went, wrote, climbed)
The past participle (gone, written, climbed) – identical to the past tense in the case of regular verbs and some irregular ones (here the first two verbs are irregular and the third regular), it may also used as a (de)verbal adjective
The -ing form (going, writing, climbing), used as a present participle, gerund, and (de)verbal noun
The verb be has a larger number of different forms (am, is, are, was, were, etc.), while the modal verbs have a more limited number of forms. Some forms of be and of certain other auxiliary verbs also have contracted forms (s, 're, 've, etc.).
For full details of how these inflected forms of verbs are produced, see English verbs.
In English, verbs frequently appear in combinations containing one or more auxiliary verbs and a nonfinite form (infinitive or participle) of a main (lexical) verb. For example:
The dog was barking very loudly.
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