Verbs

What is a verb?

A verb is defined as a word that names an action or describes a state of beingIt tells what the subject does, has or is.


Verbs can be classified based on their forms as shown in the diagram below:

Examples:
Source

Infinitive / Base Form
Present Tense Form
Past Tense Form
Present Participle Form
Past Participle Form
eat
I eat
I ate
I am eating
I have eaten
kick
You kick
You kicked
You are kicking
You have kicked
buy
We buy
We bought
We are buying
We have bought
cut
They cut
They cut
They are cutting
They have cut
lie
He lies
He lied
He is lying
He has lied
be
She is
She was
She is being
She has been


Subject-Verb Agreement

General Rule
The verb must concord or agree with the subject noun in respect of grammatical number.
(Singular verb for singular noun and plural verb for plural noun.)


Source

Pancakes with syrup sound yummy.
Pancakes, while a filling breakfast, are messy!

Rule: The general rule for subject-verb agreement applies even when the verb is separated or divorced from its subject by a string of words.

Explanation: The verbs 'sound' and 'are' are not governed by the nouns next to them, but by the distantly located subject 'pancakes' (plural).


Everyone likes pancakes.

Rule: A singular verb is used with a singular indefinite pronoun.

Explanation: 'Everyone' is the singular indefinite pronoun.


Each of us gets three pancakes.

Rule: With 'each of ...' and a plural noun, a singular verb is preferred, a plural verb is informal.


Either juice or coffee goes with pancakes.
Neither you nor I like coffee.
Cereal or eggs are tasty.

Rule: When a mix of singular and plural nouns / pronouns are joined by 'or', the verb follows the preceding noun / pronoun.

Explanation: The verbs 'goes', 'like' and 'eggs' are governed by the nouns / pronoun closet to it.

Tenses

Definition of Tense

Tense is a set of verb forms that indicates a particular time or period of time in the past, present or future.

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Overview of the Four Forms of the Present, Past and Future Tenses
Basic Tenses
Present
Past
Future
Forms

Simple Form
Auxiliary Verb
am / is / are
was / were
will / shall be
Action Verb
cook / cooks
cooked
will / shall cook
Continuous Form
am / is / are cooking
was / were cooking
will be cooking
Perfect Form
have / has cooked
had cooked
will have cooked
Perfect Continuous Form
have / has been cooking
had been cooking
will have been cooking