Verb Forms in English Grammar: V1, V2, V3, V4 and V5 Explained with Examples

In English grammar, verbs change their forms to denote time, action, and sentence structure. These changes are called verb forms. Learning verb forms helps you to speak and write English more accurately. In this guide, you will learn what verb forms are, the five types of verb forms, and their uses.

Table of Contents 

• What Is a Verb Form?
• Base Form with Examples
• Simple Past Form of the Verb with Examples
• Past Participle Form of the Verb with Examples
• Present Participle Form of the Verb with Examples
• Third Person Singular Present Form with Examples
• How to Use the Five Verb Forms in Sentences
• Common Mistakes Students Make with Verb Forms
• Test Your Knowledge of the Five Forms of Verbs

What Is a Verb Form?

A verb form is a different form a verb takes to match the tense, subject, and structure of a sentence. Verbs change their forms to show the following:

• When an action happens (past, present, or future)

• Whether the action is continuing or completed

• Who is performing the action

Examples:

• The verb forms of ‘write’ are ‘write’, ‘wrote’, ‘written’, ‘writing’, and ‘writes’.

• The verb forms of ‘eat’ are ‘eat’, ‘ate’, ‘eaten’, ‘eating’, and ‘eats’.

In English grammar, every verb has five main forms, commonly called V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5. These forms help us create different tenses and sentence structures correctly.

 

Base Form with Examples

The base form (V1) is the verb in its simplest, most natural state. It is also called the root form. In the base form, there is no tense or change; just the pure verb. It's the starting point for all other verb forms.

When do you use V1?

• Simple Present Tense

• Infinitive form (to + verb)

• After modal verbs

• Imperative sentences

Example of base form: 

• I run every morning before school.

• They play football on weekends.

• She wants to learn French.

• You must submit your assignment by Friday.

• Open your textbooks.
  
  

Simple Past Form of the Verb with Examples

The simple past form, also known as 'V2', is used to describe actions that already happened and are completely finished. For regular verbs, the simple past form is formed by adding '-ed' to the base form. But irregular verbs change the base form completely.

Examples of simple past forms: 

Regular verb: 

• play - played

• walk - walked

• refer - referred

• talk - talked

• clean - cleaned

• watch - watched

• open - opened

• dance - danced

• jump - jumped

• study - studied

Irregular verbs:

• go - went

• eat - ate

• see - saw

• come - came

• take - took

• write - wrote

• give - gave

• begin - began

• drink - drank

• sing - sang

Verbs that do not change form: 

• cut - cut

• put - put

• hit - hit

• hurt - hurt

• let - let

• shut - shut

• set - set

• burst - burst

• cost - cost

• spread - spread

When do you use V2?

• Simple Past Tense for completed actions

• With time expressions like yesterday, last week, in 2020, ago

Examples in Sentences:

• She visited her grandparents last summer.

• He wrote three poems for the competition.

• They referred the case to a senior doctor.
  
  

Past Participle Form of the Verb with Examples

The past participle, also known as 'V3', is used with helping verbs like ‘has’, ‘have’, and ‘had’, and in passive voice structures with verbs like ‘is’ and ‘was’. For regular verbs, ‘V2’ and ‘V3’ are identical; both are formed by adding '-ed'. But for irregular verbs, they can be completely different. 

When do you use V3?

• Perfect tenses

• Passive voice 

• With modal perfect verbs 

Examples in Sentences

• I have finished my homework.

• She has referred her friend to a great tutor.

• The book was written by a famous author.

• He should have studied harder for the exam.

 

Present Participle Form of the Verb with Examples

The present participle, also known as V4, is the ‘-ing’ form of a verb. It's one of the easiest forms to recognise because it always ends in –ing. 

Spelling rules for adding –ing:

• For most verbs, simply add –ing to the base verb.
  Examples:
  play - playing
  eat - eating
  read - reading
  jump - jumping
  clean - cleaning

• If a verb ends with a silent –e, remove the e before adding –ing.
  Examples:
  write - writing
  dance - dancing
  make - making
  drive - driving
  smile - smiling

• If a short verb follows the consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern, double the final consonant before adding –ing.

  Examples:
  run - running
  sit - sitting
  swim - swimming
  get - getting
  stop - stopping

When do you use V4?

• Continuous/Progressive tenses

• As a gerund 

• After prepositions

Examples in Sentences

• She is referring to the textbook right now.

• Reading every day improves your vocabulary.

• He left without saying goodbye.
  
  

Third Person Singular Present Form with Examples

The third-person singular form is also known as 'V5'. It is used when the subject is he, she, or it in the present tense. It is usually formed by adding -s or -es to the base form.

Spelling rules:

• For most verbs, simply add –s to form the third person singular present tense.

  Examples:
  play - plays
  refer - refers
  read - reads
  walk - walks
  eat - eats

• If a verb ends in –ch, –sh, –x, –o, or –ss, add –es.

  Examples:
  teach - teaches
  wash - washes
  fix - fixes
  go - goes
  pass - passes

• If a verb ends with a consonant + y, change y to i and add –es.

  Examples:
  try - tries
  study - studies
  carry - carries
  fly - flies
  hurry - hurries

• If a verb ends with a vowel + y, simply add –s.

  Examples:
  play - plays
  enjoy - enjoys
  buy - buys
  stay - stays
  obey - obeys

Examples in Sentences

• He refers to the dictionary when he's unsure of a word.

• She teaches biology at a secondary school.

• It goes without saying that honesty matters.
  
  

How to Use the Five Verb Forms in Sentences

• The base form of a verb is used in the simple present tense to talk about habits, routines, and facts.
  Examples:

• • I play football daily.

  • Birds fly in the sky.

  • We study English every day.

• The simple past form is used for actions that happened and finished in the past.
  Examples:

• • She visited her grandmother yesterday.

  • They watched a movie last night.

  • He wrote a letter yesterday.

• The past participle form is used with helping verbs such as 'has', 'have', and 'had' to form perfect tenses.
  Examples:

• • They have completed the task.

  • She has written a story.

  • I had finished my homework before dinner.

• The present participle form is used to show actions that are continuing or happening right now.
  Examples:

• • He is sleeping now.

  • They are playing cricket.

  • She was reading a book.

• The third person singular present form is used in the simple present tense with singular subjects like he, she, it, or a singular noun.
  Examples:

• • My sister sings beautifully.

  • He plays football every evening.

  • The dog barks loudly.
    
    

Common Mistakes Students Make with Verb Forms

• Using the Wrong Verb with Singular Subjects
  Incorrect: She go to school every day.
  Correct: She goes to school every day.

• Using the Wrong Past Participle Form
  Incorrect: I have ate my lunch.
  Correct: I have eaten my lunch.

• Using the Wrong Helping Verb
  Incorrect: They was playing football.
  Correct: They were playing football.

• Using V2 After ‘Did’
  Incorrect: Did you went there yesterday?
  Correct: Did you go there yesterday?

• Incorrect Use of ‘Do’ and ‘Does’
  Incorrect: He don’t like coffee.
  Correct: He doesn’t like coffee.

Test Your Knowledge of the Five Forms of Verbs

Fill in the blanks with the correct verb form.

1. She _____ to school every day. (go/goes)

2. They _____ cricket yesterday. (play/played)

3. I have _____ my homework. (done/did)

4. He is _____ a song. (singing/sang)

5. My brother _____ TV at night. (watches/watch)

Answers:

1. goes

2. played

3. done

4. singing

5. watches