How to Conjugate Verbs in English

Conjugation of Regular Verbs

• 1

  To conjugate a verb, make a list of the six voices, which includes three singular voices and three plural voices. First person refers to the person or people speaking (I and we). Second person refers to the person or people being spoken to (you). Last, third person refers to the person or people being spoken about (he, she, it or they).

• 2

  Present tense conjugation of a regular verb (Ex. to walk)

  Singular

  I walk

  you walk

  he, she, it walks

  Plural

  we walk

  you walk

  they walk

  *The third person singular verb always ends in "s."

• 3

  Past tense conjugation of a regular verb (Ex. to walk)

  Singular

  I walked

  you walked

  he, she, it walked

  Plural

  we walked

  you walked

  they walked

  *The past tense of regular verbs ends in "ed."

• 4

  Present perfect tense conjugation of a regular verb (Ex. to walk)

  Singular

  I have walked

  you have walked

  he, she, it has walked

  Plural

  we have walked

  you have walked

  they have walked

  * For regular verbs, the past tense and the past participle of the verb are the same.

Conjugation of Irregular Verbs

• 5

  Irregular verbs are conjugated the same way as regular verbs in the present tense. For the past tense and the perfect tenses, irregular verbs must be memorized -- because they do not follow the rules that regular verbs do.

• 6

  Present tense conjugation of an irregular verb (Ex. to write)

  Singular

  I write

  you write

  he, she, writes

  Plural

  we write

  you write

  they write

  *Third person singular verb always ends in "s," whether it's a regular or irregular verb.

• 7

  Past tense conjugation of an irregular verb (Ex. to write)

  Singular

  I wrote

  you wrote

  he, she wrote

  Plural

  we wrote

  you wrote

  they wrote

  *Irregular verbs do not form the past tense by adding "ed" to the verb as regular verbs do.

• 8

  Present perfect tense of an irregular verb (Ex. to write)

  Singular

  I have written

  you have written

  he, she has written

  Plural

  we have written

  you have written

  they have written

  For irregular verbs, the past tense and the past participle of the verb may be the same or different.

Conjugation of the Irregular Verb "To Be"

• 9

  The verb "to be" is a unique verb because it has more forms than any other verb in the English language.

• 10

  Present tense conjugation of the verb "to be"

  Singular

  I am

  you are

  he, she, it is

  Plural

  we are

  you are

  they are

  *The verb "to be" is the only English verb that has three forms of the present tense.

• 11

  Past tense conjugation of the verb "to be"

  Singular

  I was

  you were

  he, she, it was

  Plural

  we were

  you were

  they were

• 12

  Present perfect tense conjugation of the verb "to be"

  Singular

  I have been

  you have been

  he, she, it has been

  Plural

  we have been

  you have been

  they have been

Conjugation of the Irregular Verb "To Do"

• 13

  Present tense conjugation of the verb "to do"

  Singular

  I do

  you do

  he, she, it does

  Plural

  we do

  you do

  they do

• 14

  Past tense conjugation of the verb "to do"

  Singular

  I did

  you did

  he, she, it did

  Plural

  we did

  you did

  they did

• 15

  Present perfect conjugation of the verb "to do"

  Singular

  I have done

  you have done

  he, she, it has done

  Plural

  we have done

  you have done

  they have done

Conjugation of the Irregular Verb "To Have"

• 16

  Present tense conjugation of the verb "to have"

  Singular

  I have

  you have

  he, she, it has

  Plural

  we have

  you have

  they have

• 17

  Past tense conjugation of the verb "to have"

  Singular

  I had

  you had

  he, she, it had

  Plural

  we had

  you had

  they had

• 18

  Present perfect tense conjugation of the verb "to have"

  Singular

  I have had

  you have had

  he, she, it has had

  Plural

  we have had

  you have had

  they have had