Level: beginner
Verbs in English have four basic parts:
Most verbs are regular: they have a past tense and past participle with –ed (worked, played, listened). But many of the most frequent verbs are irregular.
| Base form | -ing form | Past tense | Past participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| work | working | worked | worked |
| play | playing | played | played |
| listen | listening | listened | listened |
Basic parts
Verbs in English have four basic parts:
| Base form | -ing form | Past tense | Past participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| work | working | worked | worked |
| play | playing | played | played |
| listen | listening | listened | listened |
Most verbs are regular: they have a past tense and past participle with –ed (worked, played, listened). But many of the most frequent verbs are irregular.
Verb phrases
Verb phrases in English have the following forms:
- a main verb:
| Subject | Main verb | Object or adverbial |
|---|---|---|
| We | are | here. |
| I | like | it. |
| Everybody | saw | the accident. |
| We | laughed. |
The verb can be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense (saw, laughed).
| Subject | Auxiliary be | -ing form |
|---|---|---|
| Everybody | is | watching. |
| We | were | laughing. |
A verb phrase with be and –ing expresses continuous aspect. A verb with am/is/are expresses present continuous and a verb with was/were expresses past continuous.
- the auxiliary verb have and a main verb in the past participle form:
| Subject | Auxiliary have | Past participle | Object or adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| They | have | enjoyed | themselves. |
| Everybody | has | worked | hard. |
| He | had | finished | work. |
A verb phrase with have and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect and a verb with had expresses past perfect.
- a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main verb:
| Subject | Modal verb | Main verb |
|---|---|---|
| They | will | come. |
| He | might | come. |
- The verb phrase 1
- The verb phrase 2
Level: intermediate
- the auxiliary verbs have and been and a main verb in the –ing form:
| Subject | Auxiliary have been | -ing form | Adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everybody | has been | working | hard. |
| He | had been | singing. |
A verb phrase with have been and the -ing form expresses both perfect aspect and continuous aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect continuous and a verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.
- a modal verb and the auxiliaries be, have and have been:
| Subject | Modal | Auxiliary | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| They | will | be | listening. |
| He | might | have | arrived. |
| She | must | have been | listening. |
- the auxiliary verb be and a main verb in the past participle form:
| Subject | Auxiliary be | Past participle | Object or adverbial |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | is | spoken | all over the world. |
| The windows | have been | cleaned. | |
| Lunch | was being | served. | |
| The work | will be | finished | soon. |
| They | might have been | invited | to the party. |
A verb phrase with be and the past participle expresses passive voice.
- The verb phrase 3
- The verb phrase 4
Level: advanced
We can use the auxiliaries do and did with the infinitive for emphasis:
It was a wonderful party. I did enjoy it.
I do agree with you. I think you are absolutely right.
We can also use do for polite invitations:
Do come and see us some time.
There will be lots of people there. Do bring your friends.
Thank you for the help dear Kirk.
Hello dear team,
Watching TV not only makes people sedentary, but it influences them to adopting bad eating habits, like eating junk food very often as well.
Is (to adopting) a true structue?
Thank you
Hello Hosseinpour,
No, that's not correct I'm afraid. When we use 'influence' as a transitive verb, it's followed by an object (in this case, 'them') + 'to' infinitive. So the correct form here is: '... influences them to adopt bad eating habits ....'
You might want to have a look at the dictionary entry for 'influence' -- be sure to scroll down to the entry for the verb ('to affect or change how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks'): https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/influence
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Kirk,
Thank you for the help.
Respected team,
Sustainability is the capacity to endure, (even if) in ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time.
I can't understand when I try to connect the sentences together. Is(even if) the right conjunction to connect the sentences?
Thank you
Hello Hosseinpour,
It really depends on what you want to say. 'even if' is correct if you mean to suggest that the first definition of sustainability is different from (and probably superior to) its definition in ecology.
You could also use other conjunctions here such as 'but', 'though' and 'and'. Again, it really depends on the idea that the speaker has.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you sir
Dear team, thank you for the time,
(Until) all the factors influencing the learning of a foreign language are fully understood, it will be difficult to design optimal educational programs for language learning.
Does the first sentence have a negative meaning? I mean the verb is (fully understood), but is it like ( are not fully understood). If it is so, is it because of (until) or the second sentence(it will be difficult to design optimal educational programs for language learning)?
Thank you
Hello Hosseinpour,
'Until' has the sense of 'before' and can be used to (1) state a time or condition before which something does not happen, or (2) state a time or condition up to which something happens:
1) You're not going home until you finish the project. [a similar meaning to 'before']
2) We'll work on this until it is done. [a similar meaning to 'up to the time when']
Your example is similar to (1).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you sir for the help
Hello dear team,
(In case) death from overdoses from painkillers occur, there are usually other prescription medications for mental health disorders and neurologic conditions involved.
I quite can not understand why (when) can not be used instead of (in case).
Isn't the meaning the same?
Thank you
Hello Hosseinpour,
I find this sentence rather odd. First of all, since 'death' is singular, the verb should be 'occurs'. It also seems to suggest that painkillers are used and then if people overdose and die, other medications are used. Although grammatically it may work, in theory, this strikes me as unethical and not how the medical profession operates. For both of these reasons, I don't really trust whatever text this sentence comes from.
In terms of the grammar, 'when' also works.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Kirk Thank you for the help.
Sir,
If someone is holding my hand and I want them to let go of it,
Can I say "leave my hand"
Or should I say "let go of my hand" ?
Do they both mean the same thing ?
Do they both work here ?
Hello SonuKumar,
We say 'let go of my hand' and not 'leave'. If you want to be very formal you can say 'release my hand'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi SonuKumar,
Actually the meaning is a bit unclear for me. Do you mean that you've been standing there for two hours (e.g., you arrived there at 2 p.m. and it's now 4 p.m. and you are still standing there now)? If so, it should be:
Or, do you mean that two hours have passed after you finished standing there (e.g., you were standing there until 4 p.m., and two hours have passed and it's now 6 p.m.)? If so, it should be:
In this last example, we need to use past simple instead of present perfect because the action does not continue until the present. (You finished standing there two hours ago.)
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi lima9795,
Yes, sentences 1 and 2 are both correct and they mean the same thing. But that's because the verbs to be pissed and to be pissed off both exist and mean the same thing. However, most phrasal verbs aren't like that, for example:
So, the answer is no - we can't omit prepositions from phrasal verbs.
To be precise, off in sentence 1 is an adverb, not a preposition. Phrasal verbs contain a verb and an adverb (e.g. to let somebody down; to find something out), or a verb with both an adverb and preposition (e.g. to run out of something; to put up with something). A verb with a preposition only (e.g. to look after somebody; to deal with something) is usually called a prepositional verb. You can have a look at this page from the Cambridge Dictionary for more information about these.
Yes, sentence 3 is correct too :)
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SonuKumar,
Only the first sentence is correct. The verb is 'wrap up' and it is a separable multi-word verb, so the object pronoun 'it' (part of the object phrase 'it all') must come before the particicle.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nagie23,
Number 1 is correct :)
Number 2 is almost correct. It should be: How is everything going? Yes, both of these questions are polite.
There is another similar question: What's going on? In informal social situations, you can say this to mean 'how are you?' (i.e., a general question). But in more formal situations, it must refer to something more specific, e.g., you hear some shouting so you ask: What's going on? (referring to the noise you heard).
I hope that helps!
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SonuKumar,
The first sentence isn't grammatically correct. If it's meant to be present simple, it should be 'hangs' and if it's meant to be past simple it should be 'hung'.
There could indeed be a slight difference in meaning, but I'm afraid it's difficult to explain without knowing the context and/or the speaker's intentions when saying this.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SonuKumar,
Similar to the other sentences you asked about, it's difficult to explain without knowing the context and/or speaker's intentions when saying these sentences. In general, though, past continuous forms often describe a 'background' action, i.e. something less directly relevant to whatever events are unfolding. Or sometimes we use them to give the listener the sense that they are present there in that moment in the past.
We also typically use the verbs 'stand' and 'wear' in continuous forms to describe a situation. When they are used in the past simple, they can also be used to describe a situation but can also reflect a choice on the part of the person to stand or wear something in particular. Again, it's really difficult to explain without a context.
I'd also recommend this BBC page on the narrative tenses.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nagie23,
In most cases I would recommend 'It's lovely to see you again' instead of 'It was lovely ...', especially if you say this right when you first see them or sometime during your first meeting with them.
If you meet them and then speak with some time later, then 'It was lovely ...' would be the better form.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Tim,
Your analysis looks correct to me, which means that the examples you include do indeed feature a comma splice. Although strictly speaking this is incorrect, this usage has become extremely common, as I expect you've noticed.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nevi,
I'd say it's a reduced relative clause -- a reduction of 'that are stuck'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nevi,
Sentences like this are often ambiguous. You could read it as an adjective or as a verb form which is part of a passive construction. It's really only a question of terminology; in terms of meaning it does not change the sentence at all.
If you see it as a passive, then many things could be the cause: the tide, the current, the captain's mistakes, misfortune etc. The context may make this clear or may leave it unsaid.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nevı,
Yes! You can use be in these patterns.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nevı,
Yes. When showing verb patterns, to do represents a generic verb and it can be replaced by any verb, as long as the sentence as a whole makes sense. Similarly, doing represents a generic verb in the -ing form.
I hope that helps :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello isaipacas,
1. Yes, it's 'aren't doing'.
2. Yes, those are the verb phrases. In this case, the last word of each is the past participle in a passive verb form.
3. Yes, that is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nagie123,
Which form is best depends on what the purpose and context of a sentence or question is. For example, in 1, the second form is best in most situations, but there are some where 'am enjoying' could be correct.
In many situations, 2 would be fine, and 3 could also be correct in some contexts.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Aysn,
It's great that you're using dictionaries for learning :)
There are various dictionaries and they have differences in, for example, how they select words and patterns to include, which order they list them in, and what information about the word they include.
Dictionaries for learners usually present only the main meanings and uses of words. If you want to see fuller information, try an 'English only' dictionary that is not specifically for learners. For example, compare the word work in the Cambridge Learners' Dictionary and the full Cambridge Dictionary. The information is quite different!
About how to use the various word patterns, I definitely recommend using a dictionary that shows multiple examples of how the word is used. The examples will show you the contexts and structures that you can use this word in. But, it's impossible to give a complete list (and people use words in new ways all the time, which dictionaries cannot catch up with), so also try to notice the word when you're reading or listening in English, and pay attention to the patterns you see/hear. Over time, you will build up this knowledge.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Aysn,
I'm not sure any dictionary will show all possible uses of a word. Instead, they focus on the most common ones.
I checked one other dictionary, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, which I find particularly useful for collocations; in the numerous examples on the page, there is one instance of 'damage from'.
It might be a good idea to check one or two dictionaries. I know that's a lot of work, but every time you learn something new, make a note of it somewhere so that you can revise what you've learned later on. Slowly but surely, you will really improve!
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team