ESLG
5 0
VERB
F ORMS
I N
E NGLISH
Step
O ne:
W hen
y ou
l earn
n ew
v erbs,
l earn
A LL
t he
f orms
t hey
c an
h ave.
Here’s
t he
s hort
v ersion
o f
t he
f orms
t o
k now
f or
t he
v erb
“ go”:
G O
–
G OES
–
G OING
–
W ENT
–
G ONE
Most
b ooks
g ive
y ou
t hree
f orms:
G O
|
W ENT
|
G ONE,
a nd
t hat’s
f ine,
b ut
y ou’ll
u se
a ll
f ive
r egularly.
Here’s
t he
l ong
v ersion
w ith
a n
e xample
v erb:
G O
go
ß
B ASE
F ORM
( in
t he
d ictionary)
[FUTURE
/
M ODALS]
[PRESENT
P ROGRESSIVE]
will
g o,
w on’t
g o
am
g oing,
a m
n ot
g oing
am/are/is
g oing
t o
g o
are
g oing,
a ren’t
g oing
am
n ot/aren’t/isn’t
g oing
t o
g o
is
g oing,
i sn’t
g oing
should/must/can
g o,
e tc.
isn’t
a ble
t o
g o,
i s
s upposed
t o
g o,
e tc.
[PAST
P ROGRESSIVE]
was
g oing,
w asn’t
g oing
[PRESENT
S IMPLE]
were
g oing,
w eren’t
g oing
go,
g oes,
do
{ I/you/we/they}
g o,
d oes
{ he/she/it}
g o
[PRESENT
P ERFECT]
don’t
g o,
d oesn’t
g o
have
g one,
h as
g one
haven’t
g one,
h asn’t
g one
[PAST
S IMPLE]
went
[PAST
P ERFECT]
did
g o,
d idn’t
g o
had
g one,
h adn’t
g one
have
b een
g oing,
h as
b een
g oing,
ß
[ PRESENT
P ERFECT
+
P ROGRESSIVE]
haven’t
b een
g oing,
h asn’t
b een
g oing
had
b een
g oing,
h adn’t
b een
g oing
ß [PAST
P ERFECT
+
P ROGRESSIVE]
will
b e
g oing,
w on’t
b e
g oing
ß
[ FUTURE
P ROGRESSIVE]
will
h ave
g one,
w on’t
h ave
g one
ß
[ FUTURE
P ERFECT]
will
h ave
b een
g oing,
w on’t
h ave
b een
g oing
ß
[ FUTURE
P ERFECT
+
P ROGRESSIVE]
Step
T wo:
M emorize
a nd
u se
t he
f ive
V erb
F orm
R ules
Although
t hat
s eems
l ike
a
l ot
t o
r emember,
t here
a re
a
f ew
1 00%
r ules
t hat
w ill
h elp
y ou
g et
t he
f orms
correct
e very
t ime.
T hen
y ou
c an
f ocus
o n
t he
b ig
j ob
-‐
c hoosing
t he
v erb
t ense
y ou
w ant.
Rule
1 :
M ODAL
+
B ASE
F ORM
( for
a ll
m odals)
Rule
2 :
D O
+
B ASE
F ORM
( for
a ll
q uestions
a nd
n egatives
i n
s imple
p resent/past)
Rule
3 :
B E
+
V -‐ing
( for
a ll
p rogressive
f orms)
Rule
4 :
H AVE
+
3
F ORM
( for
a ll
p erfect
f orms)
RD
Rule
5 :
B E
+
3
F ORM
( for
a ll
p assive
f orms
o nly)
RD
(For
e very
f orm
l isted,
t here
i s
a
p assive
f orm
t oo
–
m ore
a bout
t hat
l ater
t his
s emester
a nd
n ext
s emester.)