The verb Phrase

 As mentioned in item before, the verb phrase consists of the main verb and any auxiliaries.

TENSES AND ASPECTS:

Simple present – He walks to school everyday

Simple past – he walked to school yesterday.

Present progressive (continuous) – He is walking to school now.

Past progressive (continuous) – He was walking to school when he saw Jane.

Present perfect – He has walked to school several times.

Past perfect – He had walked to school before he hurt his foot.

Given here is a list of some of common irregular verbs in English. It is very important that you know whether a verb is regular or irregular. You will notice that regular verbs are the same in the past tense and past participle; however, irregular verbs are very often different in these forms

Simple present tense	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle	Present Participle
Beat	Beat	Beaten	Beating
Begin	Began	Begun	Beginning
Bind	Bound	Bound	Binding
Bite	Bit	Bit	Biting
Blow	Blew	Blown	Blowing
Break	Broke	Broken	Breaking
Bring	Brought	Brought	Bringing
Build	Built	Built	Building
Buy	Bought	Bought	Buying
Catch	Caught	Caught	Catching
Choose	Chose	Chose	Choosing
Do	Did	Done	Doing
Drink	Drank	Drunk	Drinking
Drive	Drove	Driven	Driving
Eat	Ate	Eaten	Eating
Fall	Fell	Fallen	Falling
Feel	Felt	Felt	Feeling
Find	Found	Found	Finding
Fly	Flew	Flown	Flying
Forget	Forgot	Forgotten	Forgetting
Get	Got	Gotten	Getting
Give	Gave	Given	Giving
Hear	Heard	Heard	Hearing
Hide	Hid	Hidden	Hiding
Keep	Kept	Kept	Keeping
Know	Knew	Known	Knowing
Lead	Led	Led	Leading
Leave	Left	Left	Leaving
Lose	Lost	Lost	Losing
Make	Made	Made	Making
Pay	Paid	Paid	Paying
Ride	Rode	Ridden	Riding
Run	Ran	Run	Running
Say	Said	Said	Saying
See	Saw	Seen	Seeing
Sell	Sold	Sold	Selling
Send	Sent	Sent	Sending
Sing	Sang	Sung	Singing
Sink	Sank	Sunk	Sinking
Sit	Sat	Sat	Sitting
Speak	Spoke	Spoken	Speaking
Spend	Spent	Spent	Spending
Stand	Stood	Stood	Standing
Steal	Stole	Stolen	Stealing
Strive	Strove (strived)	Striven (strived)	Striving
Swim	Swam	Swum	Swimming
Take	Took	Taken	Taking
Teach	Taught	Taught	Teaching
Tear	Tore	Torn	Tearing
Tell	Told	Told	Telling
Think	Thought	Thought	Thinking
Throw	Threw	Thrown	Throwing
Understand	understood	Understood	Understanding
Wear	Wore	Worn	Wearing

You should also know that there is no change in the following verbs to indicate the different tenses.

Simple Present Tense	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle	Present Participle
Bet	Bet	Bet	Betting
Bid	Bid	Bid	Bidding
Cost	Cost	Cost	Costing
Cut	Cut	Cut	Cutting
Fit	Fit	Fit	Fitting
Hit	Hit	Hit	Hitting
Put	Put	Put	Putting
Quit	Quit	Quit	Quitting
Read	Read	Read	Reading
Shut	Shut	Shut	Shutting
Spread	Spread	Spread	Spreading

Note: Read is pronounced differently in the past tense and participle, but is spelled the same

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

This tense is usually not used to indicate present time. However, it is used to indicate present time (now) with the following stative verb:

Know	Hear	Smell
Understand	Love	Want
Have	Appear	Taste
Believe	See	Wish
Hate	Like	Sound
Need	seem	Own

Note: the verbs listed above are almost never used in the present or past progressive (continuous), although it is possible in some cases.

Simple present is used to indicate a regular or habitual action

Example:

John walks to school every day.

Examples of simple present tense:

They understand the problem now.             (stative verb)

Henry always swims in the evening.            (Habitual action)

We want to leave now.                                (stative verb)

The Coffee tastes delicious.                         (stative verb)

Mark usually walks to school.                      (Habitual action)

Your cough sounds bad.                              (stative verb)

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS)

Use the following rule to form the present progressive.

		Am
Subject	+	Is	+	[verb + ing]
		Are

The present progressive is used to indicate present time (now) with all but the stative verbs listed previously.

John is eating dinner now.

It is also used to indicate future time.

We are leaving for the theater at seven o’clock

Examples of present progressive:

The committee members are examining the material now                  (present time)

George is leaving for France tomorrow                                              (future time)

Henry is walking to school tomorrow                                                 (future time)

The president is trying to contact his advisors now                            (present time)

The secretary is typing the letter now                                                 (present time)

We are flying to Venezuela next month                                             (future time)

EXERCISE 1

Choose either the simple present or present progressive in the following sentences.

1. Something……………(smell) very good.
2. We………………..(eat) dinner at seven o’clock tonight.
3. He……………….(practice) the piano every day.
4. They……………..(drive) to school tomorrow.
5. I………………..(believe) you.
6. Maria……………(have) a cold
7. Jorge…………..(swim) right now.
8. John…………….(hate) smoke.
9. Jill always………….(get) up at 6.00 A.M
10. Jerry……………….(mow) the lawn now.

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The simple past is used for a completed action that happened at one specific time in the past. The italicized words are important because they show that simple past is not the same as past progressive or present perfect.

John Went to Spain Last year.

Bob bought a new bicycle yesterday.

Maria did her homework last night.

Mark washed the dishes after dinner.

We drove to the grocery store this afternoon.

George cooked dinner for his family Saturday night.

PAST PROGRESSIVE (continuous)

Use the following rule to form the past progressive

Subject	+	Am	+	[verb + ing]
		Is

The past progressive is used to indicate:

(1)   An action which was occurring in the past and was interrupted by another action. In this case, the general rule is:

When + subject 1 + simple past tense + subject 2 + past progressive

OR

Subject 1 + past progressive + when + subject 2 + past progressive

Examples:

When Mark came home, Martha was watching television

                                                or

Martha was watching television when Mark came home.

(2)   Two actions occurring at the same time in the past. In this case, the following rules usually apply.

Subject 1 + past progressive + while + subject 2 + past progressive

OR

While + subject 1 + Past progressive + subject 2 + past progressive

Example:

Martha was watching television while John was reading a book.

OR

While John was reading a book, Martha was watching television.

Note: the following construction is also possible, but it is not as common as the preceding two.

While + subject + past progressive + subject 2 + simple past

Example:

While Martha was watching television, John read a book

(3)   An action which was occurring at some specific time in the past.

Examples:

Martha was watching television at seven o’clock last night

What were you doing at one o’clock this afternoon?

Examples of past progressive:

John was walking to class when he lost his pen.

The student was reading while the professor was speaking.

George was watching television when his brother called.

Henry was eating a snack at midnight last night.

When Mary came home, her husband was cooking dinner.

Mark was driving on Main Street when his car broke down.

EXERCISE 2

Use either the simple past tense or the past progressive in the following sentences as appropriate.

1. Gene…………….(eat) dinner when his friend called.
2. While Maria was cleaning the apartment, her husband……………..(sleep).
3. At three o’clock this morning, Eleanor………………(study).
4. When Mark arrived, the Johnsons……………(have) dinner, but they stopped in order to talk to him.
5. John…………….(go) to France last year.
6. When the teacher……….……..(enter) the room, the students were talking
7. While Joan was writing the report, Henry………………(look) for more information
8. We……………(see) this movie last night.
9. At one time, Mr. Roberts………………(own) this building.
10. Jose…………….(write) a letter to his family when his pencil……………..(break).

PRESENT PERFECT

Use the following rule to form the present perfect.

Subject	+	Has	+	[verb in past participle]
		Have

The present perfect is used to indicate:

1.      An action that happened at an indefinite time in the past.

Example:

John Has traveled around the world (we don’t know when)

2.      An action that happened more than once in the past

Example:

George has seen this movie three times.

3.      An action that began in the past and is still occurring in the present

Example:

John has lived in the same house for twenty years. (he still lives there)

OR

John has lived in the same house since 1962. (he still lives there)

For/since

Use for + duration of time (for five hours, for thirty years, for ten minutes). Use since + beginning time (since 1972, since five o’clock, since January).

Yet/already

This adverbs yet and already are used to indicate that something has happened (or hasn’t happened) at an unspecified time in the past. These adverbs are often used with the present perfect.

Already – affirmative sentences

Yet – negative sentences and question

Note: already usually appears between the auxiliary and the main verb; however, it can appear at the beginning or end of the sentence. Yet appears at the end of the sentence.

Subject	+	Has	+	Already +	[verb in past participle]
		Have

Subject	+	Has	+	not + [verb in past participle]	+ yet
		Have

Examples of yet and already:

We have already written our reports.

We haven’t written our reports yet.

Gabriel has already read the entire book.

The president hasn’t decided what to do yet.

Sam has already recorded the result of the experiment.

Maria hasn’t called her parents yet.

Note: Another option with the use of yet is sometimes possible. In this case, the verb is positive and the adverb yet does not appear at the end of the sentence.

Subject	+	Has	+	yet +	[verb in infinitive]
		Have

Examples:

John has yet to learn the material = John hasn’t learned the material yet

We have yet to decide what to do with the money = we haven’t decided what to do with the money yet.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

For category (3), the present perfect rules only, it is also possible to use the present perfect continuous. Use the following rule to form this aspect.

Subject	+	Has	+	been	[verb + Ing]
		Have

John has been living in the same house for twenty years = John has lived in the same hours for twenty years.

Examples of present perfect:

Jorge has already walked to school                                  (indefinite time)

He has been to California three times.                              (more than once)

John has worked in Washington for three years               (not yet completed)

John has working in Washington for three years              (not yet completed)

Marry has seen this movie before                                     (indefinite time)

They have been at home all day                                        (not yet complete)

We haven’t gone to the store yet                                      (indefinite time)

EXERCISE 3

Use either the present perfect or the simple past in the following sentences.

1. John…………..(write) his report last night
2. Bob……………...(see) this movie before
3. Jorge………………(read) the newspaper already
4. Mr. Johnson…………….(work) in the same place for thirty-five years
5. We……....(begin; negative) to study for the test yet.
6. George………….(go) to the store at ten o’clock this morning
7. Joan……………..(travel) around the world
8. Betty…………….(write) a letter last night
9. Guillermo…………..(call) his employer yesterday
10. We…………….(see; negative) this movie yet

PAST PERFECT

Use this following rule to form the past perfect.

Subject

+

had

+

[verb in past participle]

The past perfect is used to indicate:

(1)   An action that happened before another action in the past; there usually are two action in the sentence.

Example

John had gone to the store before he went home

               1^st action                                               2^nd action

Jack told us yesterday that he had visited England in 1970

       2^nd action                                       1^st action

The past perfect is usually used with the adverbs before, after, or when. Study this formula

Subject + past perfect + before + subject + simple past tense

Example:

John had gone to the store before he went home

Subject + simple past tense + after + subject + past perfect

Examples:

John went home after he had gone to the store

Before + subject + simple past tense + subject + past perfect

Example:

Before John went home, he had gone to the store

After + subject + past perfect + subject + simple past tense

Example:

After John had gone to the store, he went home

Note: the adverb when can be used in place of before or after in any of these four formulas without change in meaning. We still know which action happened first because of the use of past perfect.

(2)   A state which continued for a time in the past, but stopped before now. This is similar to rule number (3) for present perfect, but in this case, there is no connection with the present.

Example:

Abdu had lived in New York for ten years before he moved to California.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS)

For category (2) of past perfect only, we can also use the past perfect progressive (continuous). Study the following rule:

Subject + had + been + [verb + ing]

Example:

Abdu had been living in New York for ten years before he moved to California.

Other examples of past perfect

The professor had reviewed the material before he gave the quiz.

After Henry had visited Puerto Rico, He went to St. Thomas.

Before Ali went to sleep, he had called his family.

George had worked at the university for forty-five years before he retired.

Or

George had been working at the university for forty-five years before he retired

After the committee members had considered the consequences, they voted on the proposal

The doctor had examined the patient thoroughly before he prescribed the medication.

EXERCISE 4

1.      The policeman read the suspect his rights after he…………….(arrest) him

2.      after John……………(wash) his clothes, he began to study

3.      George……………(wait) for one hour before the bus came.

4.      Maria…………….(enter) the university after she had graduated from the community college

5.      Jeanette…………..(wash) the pipettes after she had completed the experiment.

6.      Jane sent a letter to her university after she……………(receive) her scholarship check.

7.      After the stewardesses had served lunch to the passengers, they…………..(sit) down.

8.      The car……………(flip) ten times before it landed on its roof

9.      We corrected our papers after we……………(take) the quiz.

10.  John……………(live) in Miami for one year when his parents came to visit.

Based on: M. A. Pyle and M. E. Munoz (1985). Cliffs TOEFL Preparation Guide. Singapore: John Willey and Sons