Obs.: Helping verbs occur in both Romance and Germanic languages, but their variety is greater in Germanic group, and English makes especially extensive use of them.

Obs.: In English a finite verb can be modified (“inflected”) to show past tense or to indicate a third-person, singular actor. There are no other inflections. (But see participle.) See inflection.

Obs.: English, like other Germanic languages, makes substantial use of auxiliaries. Not infrequently they are irregular, i.e., their inflections are distinctive. Romance languages instead use distinctive forms of finite verbs in many cases.

Obs.: Each English auxiliary verb also has a separate life as an ordinary, finite verb. See compound verb forms.

Obs.: In many ways, conjugation is to verbs what declension is to nouns.

Obs.: Dictionaries virtually always list the principal parts of a verb. In some languages verbs fall into standard categories (“conjugations”) and a dictionary need merely indicate the category number rather than enumerating the principal parts.

Obs.: It is common in Indo-European languages for verbs to be “irregular,” i.e., not to exhibit the usual relationship between the principal parts or not to follow the usual rules for converting principal parts into usable verb forms. Learners of Asian languages like Chinese and Japanese are delighted to learn that irregular verbs are extremely rare in those languages.

Obs.: Since the English past and participle forms are identical for “weak” verbs, occasional speakers use the past form in place of the participial form in “strong” verbs, saying, for example, “we could have went” rather than “we could have gone.” This is considered both unusual and substandard, but may be increasingly common in some dialects.

Obs.: There is no logical reason why there should be only two participles. (Click here for vaguely geeky linguistic footnote.)

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Gerunds

A gerund is a verb form used as a noun to name the action.

In most European languages the infinitive serves this function. In English the formal gerund (like the present participle) ends in -ing, although the infinitive (with “to”) is also common.

• “To love (infinitive as subject) is to suffer (infinitive as predicate noun).”
• “Loving is suffering (genunds).”
• “The school disapproved of marrying before graduation.”
• “Acting is harder work than it seems.”
• “She loves to do yoga (infinitive as direct object), but she loves eating (gerund as direct object) even more, so yoga is getting harder for her.”

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Infinitive

The infinitive is the basic form of a verb, with no indication of tense. (A few languages have tense-marked infinitives. Don’t worry about it.)

In English the infinitive (1) provides the stem to which -ing is attached to create the present participle and the gerund, (2) is used for the simple present tense (except in the third-person singular, when S is added), and (3) following the word “to” functions as a noun naming the action or as a complement to another word.

When most people speak of the infinitive, they mean the basic form of the verb, preceded by “to.” See also gerund.

• “To err is human.” (Infinitive is the subject.)
• “She loves to ski.” (Infinitive is the direct object.)

Because it is verbal, the infinitive with “to” can have its own object .

• “I want to visit New York.”
• “You promised to sing a song for us.”
• “I don’t know how to fill out this form.”
• “It’s not nice to beat other people’s children.”
• “To marry the princess was more than the shepherd could hope for.”

Often in English the infinitive with “to” serves as a modifier or complement for a preceding noun, pronoun, adverb, or verb:

• “You’re the third person to ask about that this morning.” (Complements a noun.)
• “Ellen wants him to be happy.” (Complements a pronoun.)
• “He was studying to get into medical school. (Complements a verb.)
• “Julie is hoping to cash in when her rich uncle dies.” (Complements a verb.)
• “He is way too fat to be healthy.” (Complements the adverb “too.”)
• “Little Mikey is not tall enough to ride the roller-coaster.” (Complements the adverb “enough.”)

The infinitive with “to” can also serve as a modifier attached to a direct object of the main verb. That direct object then serves as the “subject” of the infinitive, which can have its own direct object (the “object of the infinitive”). Some teachers will encapsulate this in the dictum, “The subject of an infinitive is always in the objective case.”

• “I never wanted him (direct object) to marry her (infinitive object).”
• “Warden Frank told the jailer (direct object) to lock the women (infinitive object) in an empty cell.”

Finally, the infinitive with “to” is occasionally used with a form of “be” to show the expectation of a future action:

• “They are to leave for Saskatoon tomorrow.”
• “You were to clean the sink before you left last night.”
• “I am to see the doctor again in two weeks.”

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Aspect

Aspect is a distinction, characteristic of Slavic languages, between a verb used to name an action performed and completed (perfective aspect) and a closely related verb indicating the action without indicating completion (imperfective). English does not have separate perfective and imperfective variants of verbs.

Tense

Tense is the property of a verb in showing time (past, present, or future). It contrasts with aspect (perfective or imperfective) because the focus is time relative to the present, not completion. English has two “simple” tenses (present and past) and several “compound” tenses, created using auxiliary verbs.

Simple tenses

There are two simple tenses in English: present and past. In the third person singular (he, she, it), the present tense takes a final S.

In English the simple present tense presents a general truth, and compound tenses are used for other implications. In other European languages the simple present is much more broadly used.

• “Most elephants like peanuts; this one prefers caviar canapés.”
• “Many voters are ill-informed.”

• “Martha ran into the house and slammed the door.”
• “The tree blew over last week.”
• “He visited her every day.”
• “The imperial system continued dynasty after dynasty.”

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Compound Verb Forms (Including Compound Tenses)

Compound verb forms are all those requiring auxiliary verbs. Here is a list suggesting how very few different forms accomplish a wide range of meanings.

1. Future (“will/shall”) tense. In English the future tense is formed with the auxiliary verb WILL (or SHALL) plus the infinitive (without “to”)
   • “Dorothy will come tomorrow.”
   • “I shan’t be responsible for what happens to the bonbons.”
2. Perfect (“have”) tenses. So-called “perfect” tenses describe an action took place before the action of another verb OR in the very recent past. (For grammarians, “perfect” means “completed.”) In English it is formed with the auxiliary verb HAVE plus the past participle.
   • Present perfect: “Dorothy has eaten all the bonbons and we still haven’t paid for them.”
   • Past perfect (pluperfect): “Dorothy had eaten all the bonbons before we arrived.”
   • Future perfect: “Dorothy will have eaten all the bonbons by the time we arrive.”
3. Customary (“would”) verbs. English stresses what was repetitive or customary in the past by using the word would (technically a past tense of “will”). The customary form is a kind of compound past tense. Caution: It is not the same as the conditional mood, which is also formed with would.
   • “Every evening we would walk along the river.”
   • “He would make an awful racket practicing his bagpipe in the tiled men’s room.”
4. Progressive (“be”) verbs. Progressive tenses in English indicate action in progress. These three compound tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb BE plus the present participle (the one ending in -ING).
   • Present progressive: “Dorothy is eating bonbons.”
   • Past progressive: “Dorothy was eating bonbons.”
   • Future progressive: “Dorothy will be eating bonbons.”
5. Intensive (“do”) verbs. Intensive verbs are formed with the auxiliary verb DO plus the infinitive. It is used primarily to stress the truth of a statement despite its possible unexpectedness. “Do” does not have a normal future form.
   • Present intensive: “Dorothy does eat bonbons.” (People have been assuming she doesn’t.)
   • Past intensive: “Dorothy did eat bonbons.” (People assumed she didn’t.)
6. Negative verbs. A negative verb denies the action or state indicated by the verb, and in most European languages this is done with an unmodifiable word such as English “not.” (Japanese is a frequently-studied language in which negation is accomplished with a suffix.)
   
   The combination of negative element and verb is usually considered to be a “negative verb.”
   
   (Negation can also happen using words like “never” or “nobody,” but one does not speak of a “negative verb” in those cases.)
   
   
   Obs.: In modern English only the verbs used in forming compound verb forms (“be,” “do,” “have,” &c.) can be negated. The intensive (“do”) compound verbs become the default negation form for most verbs. (In older English you could say, “eats not.” Modern English requires “doesn’t eat.”)
   • Present negative: “Dorothy doesn’t eat bonbons because they aren’t good for her.”
   • Present negative: “Dorothy hasn’t any excuse for eating the bonbons.”
   • Past negative: “Dorothy didn’t eat [the] bonbons because they weren’t good for her.”
   • Future negative: “Dorothy won’t eat bonbons, so they the won’t disappear mysteriously this time.”
7. Concatenations. The English auxiliary verbs used to form compound tenses (“be,” “do,” “have,” &c.) can themselves be used in compound tenses, so long as it doesn’t become silly. For example:
   • “Dorothy has been having stomach trouble.” (Present perfect progressive of “have.”)
   • “She had been being very naughty.” (Past perfect progressive of “be.”)
   • “He won’t have been doing that for very long.” (Future perfect progressive of “do.”)

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Voice

Voice is the way in which a transitive verb shows whether it relates to the actor (“active” voice) or the object of the action (“passive” voice). (All intransitive verbs are inherently in the active voice.)

Active Voice. An verb in the active voice describes an action or state undertaken by the subject (= actor). For some verbs English uses the dummy subject “it.”

• “It was raining.”
• “Dorothy (subject) eats (action) bonbons.”
• “Dorothy does not sleep (action) soundly.”
• “It (subject) is a shame to see them all disappear.”

Passive Voice. A verb in the passive voice describes an action performed on the subject.

• “The bonbons (subject) will be eaten (receipt of action) by Dorothy.”

Reflexive. A reflexive verb is a transitive verb in which the subject performs the action upon itself. In English this is shown by the use of a pronoun ending in -self/-selves. In many European languages the reflexive object pronoun binds with the verb, which is why one speaks of “reflexive verbs.”

• “The bonbons didn’t eat themselves.”
• “The professor adroitly pulled himself back just in time.”
• “The dog relieved itself on the lectern and then left the classroom.”

Middle Voice. An normally transitive verb can sometimes be used intransitively because focus is on the object rather than the actor. In English one simply flips the object into the subject position.

• “He sells pornographic novels.” (active voice)
• “The pornographic novels are sold by sexy clerks in skimpy shorts.” (passive)
• “The pornographic novels sell well that way.” (middle voice)

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Mood

Mood refers to the factuality of a verb. Common moods are indicative, interrogative, imperative, subjunctive, and conditional. In most European languages they differ from each other in form as well as function.

The Indicative mood states a fact: “I was going to St. Ives.”

The Interrogative mood asks a question. In European languages the interrogative form is normally identical with the indicative, with a change of intonation, or word order or use of an interrogative word (such as “who” or “when”) or occasionally an interrogative particle or equivalent (such as “doesn’t he?”).

• “Will you be leaving tomorrow?”
• “What would you like to eat?”
• “Why does everyone cringe whenever I come into the room?”

The Imperative Mood expresses a command from the speaker to the listener.

• “Give me the beef Bourguignon.”
• “Put the cat out before you go to bed.”
• “Let him worry.”
• “Sit down.”
• “Don’t sit on the cat.”
• “Get off the lawn.”
• “Get ready, get set, go!”

(Special note to students of Esperanto.)

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Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood in Romance languages is used in subordinate clauses expressing still unrealized desires or contrary-to-fact ideas. In English there is little distinction between the subjunctive, the indicative, and often even the conditional, and it is a common mistake to use the two terms subjunctive and conditional interchangeably.

Obs.: In Romance languages, and Spanish in particular, the subjunctive, with a full range of distinctive forms, plays a much greater role because it is compulsory in many cases where English uses the indicative.

Notice the luxury of Spanish verb forms:

• English:
  “I hope he comes.”(indicative)
  “Here he comes.”(indicative)
  “I hoped he would come.” (conditional)
• Spanish:
  “Espero que venga.”(subjunctive)
  “Ahí viene.”(indicative)
  “Esperaba que viniera.” (conditional)

In English the much more limited subjunctive usually expresses a command or strong wish from someone other than the speaker and/or to someone other than the listener. The form is simply the infinitive without “to”; the future is formed with “will/shall/may,” or the past with “would/should/might.”

• “So be it!”
• “I order that the defendant be here on March 16.”
• “She ordered that the defendant be here on March 16.”

Often either an indicative or a subjunctive verb seems to fit in the sentence, but the meanings are quite different:

• Indicative: “It is important that this lawsuit continues to be vigorously litigated.” ([The lawsuit is being litigated and that is an important fact.)
• Subjunctive: “It is important that this lawsuit continue to be vigorously litigated.” (It is important for the litigation to continue, but it is not certain that it will.)

• “At this time, the candidates will rise.”
• “The board shall convene on the first Monday of every month.”
• “The charter said that the board should convene on the first Monday of every month.”

English uses the subjunctive with a few verbs to expresses things that don’t happen, using the present or past form for its subjunctive. (With the verb “be,” the past subjunctive becomes “were” rather than the indicative “was.”)

• “I wish he would go to St. Ives (but he doesn’t).”
• “I wish I were going to St. Ives (but I’m not).”
• “He wishes he were going to St. Ives (but he’s not).”
• “She wished he had gone to St. Ives (but he hadn’t).”

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Conditional Mood: If Statements

The conditional mood expresses the condition under which something else may be true: If A, then B. English usually uses the subordinating conjunction “if” (sometimes “when”) to introduce a clause stating a condition under which the action of the main clause is or is not activated, and optionally “then” to mark the contingency or prediction. The form of the verb changes to show the time and whether the condition is true or false:

• Present untrue: “If I were going [I’m not] to St. Ives, I would buy (contingency) you some yellow ribbons.”
• Past untrue: “If I had gone [I didn’t] to St. Ives I would have bought (contingency) you some yellow ribbons.”
• Future uncertain: “If I go [I may or may not] to St. Ives, I will buy (prediction) you some yellow ribbons.”

Here are lots more examples of this subtle verb form.

• Present untrue: “If I knew (I don’t) whether he was the prince, I would know (I don’t) whether to introduce my daughter to him.”
• Present untrue: “If I knew (I don’t) that he was the prince, I would introduce (but I won’t) my daughter to him.”
• Present uncertain: “If he is the prince (which I don’t know), I will (in that case) introduce my daughter to him.”
• Past true: “I knew (in fact) that he was the prince (he was), so I introduced (I did) my daughter to him.”
• Past untrue: “If I had known [I didn’t] that he was the prince (he was), I would have introduced (I didn’t) my daughter to him.”
• Past untrue: “If I had known [I didn’t] that he was not the prince (he wasn’t), I would not have introduced (but I did) my daughter to him.”
• Past untrue: “If he had been the prince (he wasn’t), I would have introduced (I didn’t) my daughter to him.”
• Past uncertain: “If he was the prince (which I don’t know), I did not recognize him.”
• Past uncertain: “If he was the prince (which I don’t know), I should have introduced my daughter to him.”

The conditional mood can also express a polite wish, which is formally simply the same as above but with an hypothetical “if” part suppressed:

• “[If it is available,] I would like the beef Bourguignon.”
• “[If I asked for it,] would you please pass the salt?”

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