Every verb has four basic forms, or principal parts. In order to form all the tenses of each verb, we need to learn these four principal parts of verbs: the present tense, the present participle, the past tense, and the past participle.
The first of the four principal parts of verbs is the singular verb in its present tense form, which is used to express present time, something that is true at all times, and future time:
|
talk |
earn |
wish |
The second principal part of verbs, the present participle, is used to form the progressive tenses (continuing action). The present participle is formed by adding ing to the singular verb. It is preceded by a form of the to be helping verb:
|
(is) talking |
(am) earning |
(are) wishing |
The third principal part of verbs, used to express past time, is the past tense, which we form by adding ed to regular verbs. (Irregular verbs have different endings.)
|
talked |
earned |
wished |
The fourth principal part of verbs, used to form the perfect tenses, is the past participle. It is preceded by a form of the have helping verb. For regular verbs, the past and the past participle are the same.
|
PAST talked |
PAST PARTICIPLE (have) talked |
Complete the chart showing four principal parts of verbs by writing the second, third, and fourth "principal parts" (present participle, past tense, and past participle) of each verb.
|
VERB
|
PRESENT PARTICIPLE (is) helping ________ |
PAST helped ________ |
PAST PARTICIPLE (has) helped ________ |
|
(is) cooking |
cooked |
(has) cooked |