Verb Forms & Perfect Tenses

In this article, we will be looking into verb forms and perfect tenses. Let’s first look at verb forms. There are 5 types of verb forms: root, 3rd person singular, present participle, past, and past participle. You can take and modify them to create the tenses you want.

Now, let’s check how many types of verb tenses are available. So, there are 3 types of verb tenses: past, present, and future. Each of the verb tenses has 4 types: simple, perfect, continuous, and perfect continuous.

Let's understand the root verb form and perfect tenses in detail below.

Root Verb Form

The root is the base verb. You can always compare the root verb with the infinitive form. What is the Infinitive form? The infinitive form is when you say "to something". For example: to go, to see, to read etc. Root form is similar to infinitive form, but without "to". For example: "go", "see", "read" etc.
 

Practice Questions

Question 1:

Identify the root verb in the following passage:

Belroy saw the ship just as it emerged from the dense clouds. He squinted his eyes as he followed its path. “I must go now...” he thought to himself.

1. Saw
2. Followed
3. Go
4. Thought

Answer:

(3) go

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (3) - "go". "Saw", "followed", and "thought" is the past tense of root verbs "see", "follow", and "think".

Regular/ Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs look like the root verb when you "change" (conjugate). For example, read, follow etc. So, in regular verbs, the base verb doesn't change to something else; we just add stuff to it.

Irregular verbs change into a different word altogether and do not look like the root verb. For example, “eat” -> “ate”, “drink” -> “drank”, “go” -> “went” etc.

Practice Questions

Question 1: 

Identify the irregular verb in the following paragraph:

Rabban looked all over the mall. He pouted his lips. Surely it was not supposed to be that difficult to spot Nefud!

1. Looked
2. Pouted
3. Was
4. Spot

Answer:

(3) was

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (3) - "was". "Looked" and "Pouted" are regular verbs, and "spot" is the root verb. So, by eliminating all of the other options, we have the correct option (3) - "was".

Past & Present Perfect Tenses

Let’s understand past perfect tense with the help of an example below.

Present Perfect Tense

Let’s understand the present perfect tense with the help of an example below.

Past Perfect vs Present Perfect Tense

Let’s check and compare past perfect & present perfect tenses with the help of an example below.

Practice Questions

Question 1: 

I __________ this movie over twenty times, and I'm going to watch it again!

1. Seen
2. Had seen
3. Have seen
4. Had seeing

Answer:

(3) have seen

Explanation: 

The correct answer to this question is (3) - "have seen" as the event (watching movies) has ended but continues to the present (when he/ she will be going to watch it again).

Question 2: 

He had washed his hair before he __________ in for a haircut.

1. had gone
2. Went
3. Had went
4. Go

Answer:

(2) went

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (2) - “went”. Both the events (washing hair and haircut) happened in the past. He washed his hair FIRST: Past Perfect. Then he went for the haircut: Simple Past.

Question 3: 

“Mother, we __________ our dinner. May we go out to play?”

1. Eat
2. Have ate
3. Have eaten
4. Had eaten

Answer:

(3) have eaten

Explanation:

The correct answer to this question is option (3) - "have eaten". As the event (dinner) has just ended, and it continues in the present as he/ she is asking to go out to play, so we will use present perfect tense here. So, the correct answer to this question is "have eaten". 

Test Your Concepts

Answer the following questions based on the concepts we’ve covered in this article. If you get stuck, revisit the relevant section to revise the concepts.

Question 1: 

Identify the irregular verb in the following paragraph:

As the new Duke, Paul knew he had a tough mission in the years ahead. “I accept my duty!” he shouted at his reflection in the mirror, betraying the nervousness in his heart. 

1. Knew
2. Accept
3. Shouted
4. Betraying

Question 2: 

How many Perfect tenses are there in total?

1. 6
2. 7
3. 8
4. 9

Question 3: 

We were shocked to discover that someone __________ slime all over our driveway.

1. has splashed
2. Splashed
3. Has had splashed
4. Had splashed

Question 4: 

My mother __________ the peanuts to make dessert for tonight.

1. has grounded
2. Had ground
3. Have ground
4. Have grinding

Question 5: 

She __________ a fever since Friday. We’ll take her to the doctor now.

1. Had
2. Have
3. Has
4. Has had