Verbs

This lesson will concentrate on the principal parts of the verb
and then we will focus on using the simple present and the present
continuous forms.

Most grammar teachers talk about three principal parts of the
verb:

              

I like to think of four principal parts of a verb:

 

Spelling is a consideration when we talk about all these verb parts.
Look at the chart above and think about this rule:

Double the final
consonant when you add -ed or -ing
to a verb that ends with one vowel followed by
one consonant.

Don't double the final consonant when you add -ing to need
or ask, but double it when adding -ing to trap or
run.

When a verb ends
with an e, you must drop the e before adding -ing
and you should only add a d for the regular past tense or past participle.

Drop the final e in give and scrape before adding
the -ing and only add a -d when you make scrape a
past tense verb.

 

Remember: ask, need, and scrape are regular
verbs and run, give, and go are irregular verbs.

           
Regular verbs always have -ed as a past tense ending.

           
Irregular verbs have various (irregular)
past tense endings.

 

Be careful not to overuse the present participle.

Use the present participle only with the progressive tenses and participial
adjectives. Note the difference between the present tense and the
present progressive tense.

 

 

Note: Certain verbs cannot be used in the present progressive
tense. These are verbs that indicate conditions or states.
These verbs don't express action, so they cannot be in the present progressive.
They are called stative verbs. They include:

Stative Verbs

Some of these verbs have a non-stative meaning also.

             
Stative: I feel sad about your brother's problems.

                           
The soup tastes too salty.

             
Non-stative: The doctor is feeling my arm to see if it is broken.

                                   
David is tasting the soup. He doesn't want it to taste too salty.