Verb Conjugation: The Six Forms of a Verb

A verb is not one word but a family of six forms. Write, writes, wrote, written, writing and to write are all the same verb, and each form has its own job. Once you know which form does which job, most verb mistakes disappear.

Students are often taught three forms of a verb (base, past, past participle), or four if the -ing form is included. That leaves two big gaps. Learners see to write or to play in a sentence and call it the main verb, and they are unsure when to add s or es. This guide fills both gaps with six forms, shows which of them can be a main verb, and gives the spelling and usage rules for each.

It builds on Parts of Speech and Tenses & Verb Forms. A full A to Z table of over 1,000 verbs with all six forms is in the companion article, The Complete Verb Forms List. Spelling follows British English.

1.The Big Idea: What Is Conjugation?

A verb shows an action (write), a state (seem) or an occurrence (happen). Conjugation means changing the form of a verb to show tense (time), person (I, you, he), number (one or many) and function (what job the word does in the sentence).

Golden rule

Not every verb form can be the main verb. Only some forms do the main job. The others are helpers, descriptions or names for the action.

2.The Six Forms at a Glance

The six forms of one verb: write

Only the top row can be the main verb on its own.

Diagram 1. Forms 4 and 5 need a helper (has written, is writing). Form 6 is never the main verb.

Every verb has these six forms. Regular verbs follow one pattern, irregular verbs do not.

Infinitive	Base form	S / ES form	Past simple (V2)	Past participle (V3)	Present participle (V4)
to write	write	writes	wrote	written	writing
to play	play	plays	played	played	playing
to study	study	studies	studied	studied	studying
to stop	stop	stops	stopped	stopped	stopping
to go	go	goes	went	gone	going
to be	be	is (am, are)	was / were	been	being
to have	have	has	had	had	having

Memory line: Base, S, Past, Participle, ING, To. Many schools call the base, past, past participle and -ing forms V1, V2, V3 and V4. The S/ES form and the infinitive are built from V1.

3.Finite and Non-Finite: Which Form Can Be the Main Verb?

This is the key to the confusion. A finite verb changes with the subject and the tense, so it can stand alone as the main verb. A non-finite verb does not show tense or agree with a subject on its own, so it can never be the main verb by itself.

Form	Finite or non-finite?	Main verb on its own?
Base (write)	Finite in the present: I write	Yes
S / ES (writes)	Finite	Yes
Past (wrote)	Finite	Yes
Past participle (written)	Non-finite	No. It needs a helper: has written
Present participle (writing)	Non-finite	No. It needs a helper: is writing
Infinitive (to write)	Non-finite	Never

Remember

When you see to write or to play in a sentence, it is NOT the main verb. It is an infinitive. The main verb is somewhere else in the sentence.

Three steps to find the main verb

Example: I want to write a letter.

Diagram 2. The main verb is the finite verb: it changes with time and subject.

Worked examples

Example 1

I want to write a letter. Cross out to write. Change to yesterday: I wanted to write a letter. The finite main verb is want.

Example 2

She likes to play cricket. Main verb: likes. Infinitive: to play.

Example 3

To err is human. Here the infinitive is the subject. The main verb is is.

Example 4

The boys playing outside are my cousins. Playing has no helper, so it is a participle describing boys. The main verb is are.

4.Form 1: The Base Form (V1)

The base form is the dictionary form with no ending: write, play, go, study. It is used in these places:

Present simple with I, you, we, they and plural nouns: I write. They play. The students study.
After modal verbs: can write, must go, should study, will play.
After do, does and did: Do you play? She does not write. He did not go.
Commands (imperatives): Write your name. Play fairly.
Inside the infinitive: to write, to play.
After let, make and help, and with see or hear plus an object: Let him go. She made me laugh. I saw him cross the road.

After does, did and modal verbs, the verb stays in the base form. Do not add -s or -ed a second time.

Wrong	Right
She does not likes tea.	She does not like tea.
He did not went.	He did not go.
They can plays chess.	They can play chess.

5.Form 2: The S / ES Form

This form is used only in the present simple with a third-person singular subject: he, she, it, a singular noun or a name. He writes. The teacher plays. Ali goes. My sister studies.

Rule	Example
Most verbs: add -s	write → writes, play → plays, read → reads
Verbs ending in s, ss, sh, ch, x, z: add -es	pass → passes, wash → washes, watch → watches, fix → fixes, buzz → buzzes
Verbs ending in o: add -es	go → goes, do → does, echo → echoes
Consonant + y: change y to ies	study → studies, try → tries, carry → carries
Vowel + y: just add -s	play → plays, enjoy → enjoys, say → says
have is irregular	have → has
be is irregular	I am, he / she / it is, you / we / they are

How the ending sounds

Sound	After	Examples
/s/	p, t, k, f sounds	stops, writes, works, laughs
/z/	voiced sounds and vowels	plays, begins, reads, goes
/ɪz/	s, z, sh, ch, x, j sounds	washes, watches, fixes, judges

Clearing the S / ES confusion

Students mix up the plural -s of nouns and the -s of verbs. Use the "only one S" check in simple present sentences. If the subject is singular, the verb takes the s. If the subject is plural, the noun takes the s and the verb does not.

Subject	Sentence
He / she / it	She writes poems.
The girl (singular)	The girl writes poems.
The girls (plural)	The girls write poems.
I / you / we / they	They write poems.

Watch out for exceptions. Some nouns end in s but are singular: news, mathematics, physics, economics. The news is good. Mathematics is my favourite subject. Some plural nouns do not end in s: people, children, men, women. The children play. The people are waiting. Also remember that the S/ES form belongs to the present simple only. In the past tense there is no -s: She wrote. The boy played.

6.Form 3: The Past Simple (V2, Second Form)

The past simple shows a finished action in the past: I wrote a letter yesterday. They played well. It has one form for all subjects, except was / were.

Rule for regular verbs	Example
Most verbs: add -ed	play → played, work → worked
Verbs ending in e: add -d	like → liked, live → lived
Consonant + y: change y to ied	study → studied, try → tried
Vowel + y: add -ed	play → played, enjoy → enjoyed
Short verbs ending in one vowel + one consonant: double the consonant	stop → stopped, plan → planned, admit → admitted, prefer → preferred
Last syllable not stressed: do not double	visit → visited, open → opened, offer → offered
Verbs ending in l (British spelling): double the l	travel → travelled, cancel → cancelled

How -ed sounds

Sound	After	Examples
/t/	p, k, f, s, sh, ch sounds	worked, stopped, washed, laughed
/d/	voiced sounds and vowels	played, opened, called, stayed
/ɪd/	t and d	wanted, needed, visited, decided

Questions and negatives. Use did plus the base form. The past marking moves to did: She wrote a letter. Did she write a letter? She did not write a letter.

7.Form 4: The Past Participle (V3, Third Form)

The past participle is the form used after have, has, had and be. It is never the main verb on its own. For regular verbs it looks exactly like the past simple (played / played). For irregular verbs it may differ: write → wrote → written, go → went → gone, see → saw → seen.

Use	Example
Perfect tenses (have / has / had + V3)	I have written. She has gone. They had finished.
Passive voice (be + V3)	The letter was written by Sara. English is spoken here.
As an adjective	a broken window, a finished project, a closed door
After a modal + have	should have written, could have gone, must have forgotten

Wrong	Right	Reason
She has went home.	She has gone home.	After has, use V3, not V2.
I have wrote it.	I have written it.	V3 of write is written.
He was ate by the lion.	He was eaten by the lion.	The passive needs V3.
They seen the film.	They saw / have seen the film.	Seen always needs a helper.

8.Irregular Verbs: Learn Them in Groups

There are about 200 common irregular verbs, but they fall into patterns. Learn them group by group, and use the Complete Verb Forms List to check any verb.

Group A: all three main forms are the same

Infinitive	Base form	S / ES form	Past simple (V2)	Past participle (V3)	Present participle (V4)
to cut	cut	cuts	cut	cut	cutting
to put	put	puts	put	put	putting
to let	let	lets	let	let	letting
to hit	hit	hits	hit	hit	hitting
to read	read	reads	read	read	reading
to set	set	sets	set	set	setting
to shut	shut	shuts	shut	shut	shutting
to cost	cost	costs	cost	cost	costing
to hurt	hurt	hurts	hurt	hurt	hurting
to spread	spread	spreads	spread	spread	spreading
to quit	quit	quits	quit	quit	quitting
to burst	burst	bursts	burst	burst	bursting

Read is spelled the same in all three forms but pronounced /riːd/ in the base form and /red/ in the past and past participle.

Group B: past and past participle are the same

Infinitive	Base form	S / ES form	Past simple (V2)	Past participle (V3)	Present participle (V4)
to bring	bring	brings	brought	brought	bringing
to buy	buy	buys	bought	bought	buying
to catch	catch	catches	caught	caught	catching
to teach	teach	teaches	taught	taught	teaching
to think	think	thinks	thought	thought	thinking
to make	make	makes	made	made	making
to say	say	says	said	said	saying
to pay	pay	pays	paid	paid	paying
to sit	sit	sits	sat	sat	sitting
to find	find	finds	found	found	finding
to leave	leave	leaves	left	left	leaving
to meet	meet	meets	met	met	meeting
to send	send	sends	sent	sent	sending
to sleep	sleep	sleeps	slept	slept	sleeping
to stand	stand	stands	stood	stood	standing
to win	win	wins	won	won	winning
to have	have	has	had	had	having
to build	build	builds	built	built	building
to feel	feel	feels	felt	felt	feeling
to keep	keep	keeps	kept	kept	keeping
to hold	hold	holds	held	held	holding
to tell	tell	tells	told	told	telling
to sell	sell	sells	sold	sold	selling

Group C: all three forms are different

Infinitive	Base form	S / ES form	Past simple (V2)	Past participle (V3)	Present participle (V4)
to be	be	is (am, are)	was / were	been	being
to begin	begin	begins	began	begun	beginning
to break	break	breaks	broke	broken	breaking
to choose	choose	chooses	chose	chosen	choosing
to do	do	does	did	done	doing
to draw	draw	draws	drew	drawn	drawing
to drink	drink	drinks	drank	drunk	drinking
to drive	drive	drives	drove	driven	driving
to eat	eat	eats	ate	eaten	eating
to fall	fall	falls	fell	fallen	falling
to fly	fly	flies	flew	flown	flying
to give	give	gives	gave	given	giving
to go	go	goes	went	gone	going
to grow	grow	grows	grew	grown	growing
to know	know	knows	knew	known	knowing
to see	see	sees	saw	seen	seeing
to sing	sing	sings	sang	sung	singing
to speak	speak	speaks	spoke	spoken	speaking
to swim	swim	swims	swam	swum	swimming
to take	take	takes	took	taken	taking
to throw	throw	throws	threw	thrown	throwing
to wear	wear	wears	wore	worn	wearing
to write	write	writes	wrote	written	writing

Group D: base form and past participle are the same

Infinitive	Base form	S / ES form	Past simple (V2)	Past participle (V3)	Present participle (V4)
to come	come	comes	came	come	coming
to become	become	becomes	became	become	becoming
to run	run	runs	ran	run	running

9.Form 5: The Present Participle (V4, the -ing Form)

The present participle is the base form plus -ing: writing, playing, going, studying.

Rule	Example
Most verbs: add -ing	play → playing, study → studying, go → going
Ending in silent e: drop the e	write → writing, make → making, come → coming
Ending in ee, ye, oe: keep the e	see → seeing, be → being, dye → dyeing
Ending in ie: change to ying	lie → lying, die → dying, tie → tying
Short verbs ending in one vowel + one consonant: double the consonant	run → running, stop → stopping, begin → beginning
Last syllable not stressed: do not double	visit → visiting, open → opening
Ending in w, x, y: do not double	snow → snowing, fix → fixing, play → playing
Ending in c (some verbs): add k	picnic → picnicking, panic → panicking

Use	Example
Continuous tenses (be + V4)	She is writing. They were playing. I will be studying.
As an adjective	a running tap, a smiling child, an interesting book
An action happening at the same time	Walking home, he met a friend.
After see, hear, watch, find + object	I saw him crossing the road.

Remember

-ing alone is never the main verb. The boy playing outside is not a sentence. The boy is playing outside is.

Present participle or gerund?

A gerund also ends in -ing, but it works as a noun. Test: if you can replace the -ing word with it or something, it is a gerund.

Present participle (verb or adjective)	Gerund (noun)
She is writing a letter.	Writing is her passion.
The girl sitting there is my cousin.	He enjoys swimming.

10.Form 6: The Infinitive (to + V1)

The infinitive is the verb in its "name" form: to write, to play, to go. The word to is called the infinitive marker. The infinitive does not change for subject or tense, so it is never a main verb.

Sentence	Main verb	Infinitive
I want to write a story.	want	to write
She hopes to play in the final.	hopes	to play
He decided to go home.	decided	to go
To learn is a pleasure.	is	To learn (the subject)

Two kinds of infinitive

To-infinitive: to write, to play.
Bare infinitive (no to), used after modals and some verbs: I can write. He made me laugh. Let her go.

Jobs of the infinitive

Job	Example
Subject	To swim in the sea is fun.
Object	I want to learn French.
Purpose (answers why?)	He went to the market to buy vegetables.
Describing a noun	She has a lot of work to do.
After adjectives	The water is safe to drink.
After too and enough	He is old enough to drive.

More infinitive forms (advanced)

Form	Pattern	Example
Simple	to write	I hope to write a novel.
Continuous	to be writing	She seems to be writing.
Perfect	to have written	He is said to have written ten books.
Perfect continuous	to have been writing	She appears to have been writing all night.
Passive	to be written	The letter needs to be written today.
Perfect passive	to have been written	The book is believed to have been written in 1850.

Which verbs take which form?

Pattern	Typical verbs	Example
Verb + to-infinitive	want, decide, hope, plan, promise, refuse, learn, manage, agree, afford	She decided to leave.
Verb + -ing	enjoy, finish, avoid, mind, suggest, keep, practise, admit, consider, deny	He enjoys reading.
Verb + bare infinitive	can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would	You must go.
Verb + object + bare infinitive	see, hear, watch, notice, make, let	I saw him leave.
Meaning changes	stop, remember, forget, try, regret	I stopped to smoke (I paused in order to smoke) and I stopped smoking (I quit).

Is "to" always an infinitive marker?

No. Sometimes to is a preposition, and then a noun or an -ing form follows. I want to write. (infinitive) but I look forward to writing to you. (preposition) and She is used to getting up early. Test: if you can put a noun there (I look forward to the trip), to is a preposition.

11.Conjugation Across the Tenses

Here is how the forms of write appear in the twelve tenses.

Tense	Pattern	He / she	They
Present simple	V1 / V1+s	He writes	They write
Present continuous	am / is / are + V4	He is writing	They are writing
Present perfect	have / has + V3	He has written	They have written
Present perfect continuous	have / has been + V4	He has been writing	They have been writing
Past simple	V2	He wrote	They wrote
Past continuous	was / were + V4	He was writing	They were writing
Past perfect	had + V3	He had written	They had written
Past perfect continuous	had been + V4	He had been writing	They had been writing
Future simple	will + V1	He will write	They will write
Future continuous	will be + V4	He will be writing	They will be writing
Future perfect	will have + V3	He will have written	They will have written
Future perfect continuous	will have been + V4	He will have been writing	They will have been writing

The passive voice (be + V3)

Tense	Example
Present simple	The letter is written.
Present continuous	The letter is being written.
Present perfect	The letter has been written.
Past simple	The letter was written.
Past continuous	The letter was being written.
Past perfect	The letter had been written.
Future simple	The letter will be written.
With a modal	The letter must be written.

Be, have and do in full

Subject	be (present)	be (past)	have (present)	have (past)	do (present)	do (past)
I	am	was	have	had	do	did
you	are	were	have	had	do	did
he / she / it	is	was	has	had	does	did
we	are	were	have	had	do	did
they	are	were	have	had	do	did

Infinitive	Base form	S / ES form	Past simple (V2)	Past participle (V3)	Present participle (V4)
to be	be	is (am, are)	was / were	been	being
to have	have	has	had	had	having
to do	do	does	did	done	doing

12.Auxiliary and Main Verbs

Type	Verbs	Job
Main (lexical) verb	write, play, study, run	Carries the meaning
Primary auxiliary	be, have, do	Helps build tenses, questions and negatives
Modal auxiliary	can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, ought to	Shows ability, permission, possibility or obligation

Be, have and do can also be main verbs. She has a car. (main verb: possession) but She has finished. (auxiliary). A verb phrase can have one main verb and up to three helpers: She will have been writing since morning. The main verb is writing; will, have, been are helpers.

13.Advanced Extras

The subjunctive mood

The subjunctive uses the base form for all persons (no -s), and were for all persons in unreal situations. I suggest that he write the report. (not writes) It is essential that she be present. (not is) If I were you, I would apologise. (formal usage; was is common in speech)

Modal perfect forms

Pattern	Meaning	Example
must have + V3	strong deduction about the past	He must have forgotten.
should have + V3	criticism or regret	You should have written.
could have + V3	past possibility	She could have won.
might have + V3	uncertain past possibility	They might have left.
needn't have + V3	the action was unnecessary	I needn't have gone.

Participle clauses

Walking home, he saw an accident. (present participle clause; both parts must have the same subject)
Written in 1950, the novel is still popular. (past participle clause)
Having finished the exam, she went out. (perfect participle, showing the earlier action)

Dangling participle (error): Walking home, the rain started. The rain was not walking. Correct: Walking home, I felt the rain start.

Non-finite clauses

A non-finite verb heads a clause that has no tense or subject of its own: To succeed, you must work hard. (infinitive clause) Having no money, he walked. (participle clause) Swimming is good exercise. (gerund clause as subject).

Phrasal verbs conjugate normally

The verb part changes and the particle stays the same: look up, looks up, looked up, looked up, looking up, to look up.

14.Key Terms

Conjugation: changing the form of a verb for tense, person and number.

Base form: the verb in its plain dictionary form.

Infinitive: to + the base form; the verb's "name".

Finite verb: a verb that shows tense and agrees with its subject.

Non-finite verb: an infinitive, participle or gerund; it has no tense or agreement of its own.

Participle: a verb form used with helpers or as an adjective (-ing or -ed / -en).

Gerund: an -ing form working as a noun.

Auxiliary verb: a helping verb such as be, have or do.

Modal verb: an auxiliary showing ability, possibility, permission or obligation.

Regular verb: a verb that forms its past and past participle by adding -ed.

Irregular verb: a verb that does not follow the -ed rule.

Third-person singular: he, she, it or a singular noun.

Voice: active (the subject does the action) or passive (the subject receives it).

Mood: the attitude of the verb: indicative, imperative or subjunctive.

Subject-verb agreement: the verb matches its subject in number and person.

15.Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Rule
He go to school daily.	He goes to school daily.	A third-person singular subject needs -s / -es.
She don't like tea.	She doesn't like tea.	does + base form
He doesn't likes tea.	He doesn't like tea.	No -s after does.
Did you went there?	Did you go there?	did + base form
I have went.	I have gone.	have + V3
I am go to school.	I go / am going to school.	be + -ing, never be + base form
You must to go.	You must go.	Bare infinitive after modals.
He can speaks English.	He can speak English.	modal + base form
She enjoys to read.	She enjoys reading.	enjoy + -ing
I want going home.	I want to go home.	want + to-infinitive
The boy play football.	The boy plays football.	Singular subject: the verb takes -s.
The boys plays football.	The boys play football.	Plural subject: no -s on the verb.
He is knowing the answer.	He knows the answer.	State verbs are not normally used in continuous tenses.
I look forward to meet you.	I look forward to meeting you.	to is a preposition here.
The news are bad.	The news is bad.	News is singular.

State verbs such as know, believe, like, love, want, need, own, seem and understand are not normally used in continuous tenses.

16.Quick Revision Chart

Question	Answer
Which forms can be the main verb alone?	Base, S/ES and past
Which forms need a helper?	Past participle (V3) and -ing (V4)
Which form is never the main verb?	The infinitive (to + base)
What follows do, does, did?	The base form
What follows a modal?	The base form
What follows have, has, had?	The past participle (V3)
What follows am, is, are, was, were?	The -ing form (continuous) or V3 (passive)
When is the S/ES form used?	Present simple, with he / she / it or a singular noun
What follows enjoy, finish, avoid?	The -ing form
What follows want, decide, hope?	The to-infinitive

17.Why This Matters

Verb errors are among the most visible mistakes in writing, and most of them come from using the right verb in the wrong form. Once you know that only the base, S/ES and past forms can be the main verb, that the past participle and -ing form need helpers, and that the infinitive is never the main verb, sentence analysis becomes much easier. Continue with Tenses & Verb Forms, then use The Complete Verb Forms List whenever you need to check a form.

Key points to remember

A verb has six forms: infinitive, base, S/ES, past, past participle and -ing.
Only the base, S/ES and past forms can be the main verb on their own.
To + verb is an infinitive. It is never the main verb.
After do, does, did and modal verbs, always use the base form.
After have, has and had, use the past participle (V3).
The S/ES form is used only in the present simple with he, she, it or a singular noun.
Use the "only one S" check: singular subject, verb takes -s; plural subject, noun takes -s.
Check irregular verbs in the Complete Verb Forms List.

For teachers and parents

Activity: write ten sentences on the board, each containing an infinitive. Ask students to cross out the infinitive and underline the finite main verb. Then ask them to turn each verb into all six forms.

Please note: this guide uses British spelling (travelled, practise). American English spells some forms differently, so students should follow the spelling system their school uses.