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Forming the basic tenses The form of a verb that indicates its relation to time. A regular verb is one that forms its past and past participle tenses by adding -ed or -d to its present-tense form. In the following sentence, the regular verb dance is used correctly: The past tense shows an action or state of being starting and finishing in the past. The following sentence uses the past tense correctly: A past participle is a verb form made with the ending -ed for regular verbs or by internal spelling changes for irregular verbs. The following words are examples of past participles: At the county fair last Saturday, people danced all night long.
correctly is mainly a matter of knowing the simple past tense I loved ice cream before I tried frozen yogurt.
forms and past participle paid, danced, slept, screamed
forms.
The simple past and past participle forms of most verbs in English are formed by adding -ed to the end of the base form, as in the following examples:
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Base Form |
Simple Past |
Past Participle |
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like |
liked |
liked |
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help |
helped |
helped |
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raise |
raised |
raised |
The present and past tenses for all regular verbs follow this pattern:
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Present Tense |
Past Tense |
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I help |
I helped |
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you help |
you helped |
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he, she, or it helps |
he, she, or it helped |
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we help |
we helped |
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you help |
you helped |
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they help |
they helped |
If you follow that pattern, you will be able to use any regular verb correctly.
The most common errors in using the basic tenses of verbs are using the wrong form and forgetting to add the ending.
Compare the following sentences:
CORRECT:
Catherine learned Japanese when she was ten.INCORRECT:
Catherine learns Japanese when she was ten.INCORRECT:
Catherine learn Japanese when she was ten.
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Click the sentence in which verb tenses are used correctly. |
| No. In this sentence, improves is not correct. |
| Yes. In this sentence, improved is in the correct tense. |
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