Forms of the Verb | English Language for UPSC CSE PDF Download

There are up to five forms for each verb: root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.

Root form of the verb

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The root form of the verb is the same as the infinitive form with “to” removed. See the examples below:

• to see – see
• to be – be
• to wear – wear
• to go – go

The root form of a verb is used to create other forms of the verb when conjugated. This is always true with regular verbs, but may not apply with irregular verbs, depending on the tense. The examples below illustrate this concept.
Example: I am going to school.
(Root: go)
Example: What did you do yesterday?
(Root: do)
Example: The girl showed her mother the picture she drew in school.
(Root: show)
Example: He had eaten three hamburgers.
(Root: eat)

Third person singular form of a verb

• he sees
• she watches
• they play
• it shrinks
• one does

Present participle form of a verb

The present participle verb form is created by adding –ing to the root word. It’s used in the past, present, and future progressive verb tenses. Look at the examples below:
Example: We’re coming to the party tonight.
(come – coming)
Example: They have been drawing for hours.
(draw – drawing)
Example: We will be washing the car before vacation.
(wash – washing)

Past and past participle forms of the verb

The past participle can be difficult to determine for some irregular verbs. It’s best to look these up in a dictionary if you’re at all unsure of the past participle. Here are a few examples of irregular verbs:

Example: I had forgiven him for his unkind words.
Example: Simon had lit candles all around the room.