English in Use/Verbs

English in Use
General	Contents • Introduction
Parts of speech	Articles • Nouns • Verbs • Gerunds and participles • Pronouns • Adjectives • Adverbs • Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjections
Other topics	Orthography • Punctuation • Syntax • Figures of Syntax • Glossary
External	Resources

Verbs are often called action words that show what the subject (a noun or pronoun) is doing. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted on: as, I am, I rule, I am ruled, I love, you love, he loves. Verbs are so called, from the Latin verbum, a word; because the verb is that word which most essentially contains what is said in any clause or sentence. Although described as "action words", they can describe abstract concepts. They are a requirement of any sentence. Verbs have modifications of four kinds: moods, tenses, persons and numbers.

Morphological forms

An English verb has four morphological forms (forms of word formation) ever needful to be ascertained in the first place: the present, the past, the present participle, and the past participle. The third person singular is the fifth morphological form.

The present is that form of the verb, which is the root of all the rest; the verb itself; or that simple term which we should look for in a dictionary: as, be, act, rule, love, defend, terminate.

The past is that simple form of the verb, which denotes time past; and which is always connected with some noun or pronoun, denoting the subject of the assertion: as, I was, I acted, I ruled, I loved, I defended.

The present participle is that form of the verb, which ends commonly in ing, and implies a continuance of the being, action, or passion: as, being, acting, ruling, loving, defending, terminating.

The past participle is that form of the verb, which ends commonly in d or ed, and implies what has taken place: as, been, acted, ruled, loved.

Regularity

English, like many Germanic languages, contains both strong (or irregular, which is not quite the same as strong) and weak (regular) verbs. Irregular verbs are one of the most difficult aspects of learning English. Each irregular verb must be memorized, because they are not often easy to identify otherwise.

Verbs are divided, with respect to their regularity, into four classes: regular and irregular, redundant and defective.

A regular verb is a verb that forms the past and the past participle by assuming d or ed: as, love, loved, loving, loved.

An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the past and the past participle by assuming d or ed: as, see, saw, seeing, seen.

A redundant verb is a verb that forms the past or the past participle in two or more ways, and so as to be both regular and irregular: as, thrive, thrived or throve, thriving, thrived or thriven.

A defective verb is a verb that forms no participles, and is used in but few of the moods and tenses: as, beware, ought, quoth.

Persons and numbers

The person and number of a verb are those modifications in which it agrees with its subject. There are three persons and two numbers: thus,

Singular first person. I love.
Singular third person. He loves.
Plural first person. We love.
Plural second person. You love.
Plural third person. They love.

Where the verb is varied, the third person singular in the present tense, is regularly formed by adding s or es: as, I see, he sees; I give, he gives; I go, he goes; I fly, he flies; I vex, he vexes; I lose, he loses.

Where the verb is not varied to denote its person and number, these properties are inferred from its subject: as, if I love, if he love; if we love, if you love, if they love.

Tenses

Tenses are those modifications of the verb, which distinguish time. There are three tenses -

The Present,
The Past, and
The Future.

Each of the above category lists subcategories. One could even say there are twelve tenses because each of those comes in simple and in progressive forms, which have different meaning.

The past tense is sometimes called imperfect, but the names perfect and imperfect do not fit their meaning. These names were derived from Latin where they were correct.

The Present

Simple Present Tense is that which expresses what now exists, is normal or correlated to senses. It is used with adverbs like always, generally.

"There is a house in New Orleans."
"I read a book every week."
"I hear a noise."

Present Continuous Tense is that which expresses what is temporary:

"I am reading a letter."
"The car is running at high speed."
"Someone is always working."

Present perfect tense is that which expresses what has taken place, within some period of time not yet fully past, or is still valid. It is used with adverbs like ever, never, today, this week.

"I have read several of Shaw's novels."
"I have seen him today; something must have detained him."
"Have you ever tried fugu fish?"

Present perfect continuous tense is that which which started in the past and has not yet finished.

"Since I have been standing here, five planes took off."

The Past

Simple Past tense is that which expresses what took place in time fully past. It is used with adverbs like yesterday, last week.

"Last week, I read several of Shaw's novels."

Past continuous tense is that which expresses what was taking place when (suddenly) something else occurred.

"I saw him yesterday, and hailed him as he was passing."
"I was giving a presentation when the microphone broke."

Past perfect tense is that which expresses what had taken place, at some past time mentioned, before something other happened.

"I had seen him, when I met you."
"As soon as my car had been repaired, I could continue my trip."

Past perfect continuous tense is that which expresses what had started before and was still going on, when something else occurred.

"I had been listening to the radio when she dropped in."

The Future

Simple Future Tense is that which expresses what will take place hereafter.

"I shall see him again, and I will inform him."

Future continuous tense is that which expresses what will be currently taking place at a certain time in future.

"I will be swimming in the sea by the time you'll awake."

Future Perfect Tense is that which expresses what will have taken place at some future time mentioned.

"I shall have seen him by tomorrow noon."

Future Perfect continuous Tense is that which expresses what will have started at some time and will still be ongoing, at some future time mentioned.

"I will have been swimming in the sea for four hours by the time you'll awake tomorrow."

Signification

An active verb is a verb in an active sentence, in which the subject performs the verb: as,

"I hit the dog."

An active verb can be transitive or intransitive, but not passive or neuter.

Verbs are divided again, with respect to their signification, into four classes: transitive, intransitive, passive, and neuter.

A transitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has some person or thing for its object: as,

"Cain slew Abel."
"Cassius loved Brutus."

An intransitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has no person or thing for its object: as,

"John walks."
"Jesus wept."

A passive verb is a verb in a passive sentence (passive voice) that represents its subject, or what the nominative expresses, as being acted on: as,

"I am compelled."
"Caesar was slain."

In a passive sentence, the action is performed on the subject.

"I hit the dog,"
"The dog was hit by me."

These sentences have the same denotative meaning, but their connotative meaning is quite different; active verbs are much more powerful and personal.

A neuter verb or impersonal passive verb is a verb that expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of being: as,

"There was light."
"The babe sleeps."

Voice

Voice of speech can be active or passive. Principally in passive voice the same tenses can be used as in active voice. There are two forms of passive voice (the second form is preferred):

"He gave me the book." =>
"The book was given to me,"
"I was given the book."

There are however some things to note.

"They build a house."
"The house is built."

Here active and passive do not really have the same meaning. If for example you describe a picture where people build a house, the first sentence is perfectly correct. The second sentence however will be interpreted as the static perfect of the sentence

"The house has been built—it is built now."

This is, the house is now ready and not under construction. So the correct passive form is

"The house is being built."

Passive voice can be built quite formally by adhering to some rules. You will however not find normally all tenses as in active voice. Formal rules will lead you to monstrosities like the following, you will certainly never hear (already the active sentence is quite monstrous):

"The speech will have been being held for four hours when finally you'll arrive."
"The president will have been holding a speech for four hours when finally you'll arrive."

Moods

Moods are different forms of the verb, each of which expresses the being, action, or passion, in some particular manner.

There are five moods; the infinitive, the indicative, the potential, the subjunctive, and the imperative.

The infinitive mood is that form of the verb, which expresses the being, action, or passion, in an unlimited manner, and without person or number: as,

"To die,—to sleep;—to sleep!—perchance, to dream!"—from Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing: as,

"I write,"
"You know."

or asks a question: as,

"Do you know?"
"Know you not?"

The potential mood is that form of the verb which expresses the power, liberty, possibility, or necessity, of the being, action, or passion: as,

"I can walk."
"He may ride."
"We must go."

The subjunctive mood is that form of the verb, which represents the being, action, or passion, as conditional, doubtful, and contingent: as,

"If you go, see that you offend not."
"See you do it not."—Rev., xix, 10.
"God save the queen."
"It is a requirement that ... be done."
"It's high time you were in bed."
"If I were you,..."

The imperative mood is that form of the verb which is used in commanding, exhorting, entreating, or permitting: as,

"Depart you."
"Be comforted."
"Forgive me."
"Go in peace."

Conjugation

The conjugation of a verb is a regular arrangement of its moods, tenses, persons, numbers, and participles.

An auxiliary, or a sign of a verb, is a short verb prefixed to one of the morphological forms of another verb, to express some particular mode and time of the being, action, or passion. The auxiliaries are do, be, have, shall, will, may, can, and must, with their variations. Do, be, and have express the indicative mood.

Most often, the auxiliaries are used in the following way:

When talking about actions that take place in the future, add the word will before the verb.
To describe an action that is temporary, add the appropriate form of the verb be before the verb and add ing to the end of the verb root.
To describe an action that has taken place, put the verb in the past tense and add the appropriate form of the verb have before the verb.
You can combine the previous two auxiliaries by putting the appropriate form of have before been, and putting both of them before the verb.

Do

Present tense, sign of the present. I do, he does, we do, you do, they do.
Past tense, sign of the past. I did, he did, we did, you did, they did.

Be

Present tense, sign of the present. I am, he is, we are, you are, they are.
Past tense, sign of the past. I was, he was, we were, you were, they were.

Have

Present tense, sign of the perfect. I have, he has, we have, you have, they have.
Past tense, sign of the past perfect. I had, he had, we had, you had, they had.

Shall and will

Often confused with each other in modern English. These auxiliaries have distinct meanings, and, as signs of the future, they are interchanged thus:

Present tense, sign of the indicative first-future.

Simply to express a future action or event: I shall, he will, we shall, you will, they will.
To express a promise, command, or threat: I will, he will, we will, you will, they will.

Past tense, sign of aorist, or indefinite.

Used with reference to duty or expediency: I should, he should, we should, you should, they should.
Used with reference to volition or desire: I would, he would, we would, you would, they would.

See also: Shall and will by Wikipedia

May

Present tense, sign of the potential present. I may, he may, we may, you may, they may.
Past tense, sign of the potential past. I might, he might, we might, you might, they might.

Can

Present tense, sign of the potential present. I can, he can, we can, you can, they can.
Past tense, sign of the potential past. I could, he could, we could, you could, they could.

Must

Present tense, sign of the potential present. I must, he must, we must, you must, they must.

If must is ever used in the sense of the past tense, the form is the same as that of the present: this word is entirely invariable.

Is being

English grammar has changed,

"The house is being built."

no longer means the same as

"The house is built."

The first sentence refers to an ongoing action, the second to a completed one.

"If the expression, 'Is being built,' be a correct form of the present indicative passive, then it must be equally correct to say in the perfect, 'Has been being built;' in the past perfect, 'Had been being built;' in the present infinitive, 'To be being built;' in the perfect infinitive, 'To have been being built;' and in the present participle, 'Being being built;' which all will admit to be expressions as incorrect as they are inelegant, but precisely analogous to that which now begins to prevail."—Bullions's Principles of English Gram., p. 58.

Forms of conjugation

Verb may be conjugated in four ways:

Affirmatively: as, I write, I do write, or, I am writing; and so on.
Negatively: as, I write not, I do not write, or, I am not writing.
Interrogatively: as, write I? do I write? or, am I writing?
Interrogatively and negatively: as, write I not? do I not write? or, am I not writing?

The verbs would be conjugated affirmatively, unless said otherwise.

Love, conjugated in simple form

The verb love is a regular active verb.

Simple form, active or neuter

The simplest form of an English conjugation, is that which makes the present and past tenses without auxiliaries; but, even in these, auxiliaries are required for the potential mood, and are often preferred for the indicative.

Morphological forms

Present	Past	Present Participle	Past Participle
Love	Loved	Loving	Loved

Participles

Present	Past	Past Perfect
Loving	Loved	Having loved.

Infinite mood

The infinitive mood is that form of the verb, which expresses the being, action, or passion, in an unlimited manner, and without person or number. It is used only in the present and perfect tenses.

Present tense

This tense is the root, or radical verb; and is usually preceded by the preposition to, which shows its relation to some other word: thus,

To love.

Perfect tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliary have to the past participle; and, like the infinitive present, is usually preceded by the preposition to: thus,

To have loved.

Indicative mood

The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. It is used in all the tenses.

Present tense

The present indicative, in its simple form, is essentially the same as the present infinitive, or radical verb; except that the verb be has am in the indicative.

The simple form of the present tense is varied thus:

I love, he loves, we love, you love, they love.

This tense may also be formed by prefixing the auxiliary do to the verb: thus,

I do love, he does love, we do love, you do love, they do love.

Past tense

This tense, in its simple form is the past; which, in all regular verbs, adds d or ed to the present, but in others is formed variously.

The simple form of the past tense is varied thus:

I loved, he loved, we loved, you loved, they loved,

This tense may also be formed by prefixing the auxiliary did to the present: thus,

I did love, he did love, we did love, you did love, they did love.

Perfect tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliary have to the past participle: thus,

I have loved, he has loved, we have loved, you have loved, they have loved.

Past perfect tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliary had to the past participle: thus,

I had loved, he had loved, we had loved, you had loved, they had loved.

First-future tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliary shall or will to the present: thus,

Simply to express a future action or event: I shall love, he will love, we shall love, you will love, they will love.
To express a promise, volition, command, or threat: I will love, he shall love, we will love, you shall love, they shall love.

Second-future tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries shall have or will have to the past participle: thus,

I shall have loved, he will have loved, we shall have loved, you will have loved, they will have loved.

Potential mood

The potential mood is that form of the verb, which expresses the power, liberty, possibility, or necessity of the being, action, or passion. It is used in the first four tenses; but the potential past is properly an aorist: its time is very indeterminate: as,

"He would be devoid of sensibility were he not greatly satisfied."—Lord Kames, El. of Crit., Vol. i, p. 11.

Present tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliary may, can, or must, to the radical verb: thus,

I may love, he may love, we may love, you may love, they may love.

Past tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliary might, could, would, or should, to the radical verb: thus,

I might love, he might love, we might love, you might love, they might love.

Perfect tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries, may have, can have, or must have, to the past participle: thus,

I may have loved, he may have loved, we may have loved, you may have loved, they may have loved.

Past perfect tense

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries, might have, could have, would have, or should have, to the past participle: thus,

I might have loved, he might have loved, we might have loved, you might have loved, they might have loved.

Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is that form of the verb, which represents the being, action, or passion, as conditional, doubtful, or contingent. This mood is generally preceded by a conjunction: as, if, that, though, lest, unless, except. But sometimes, especially in poetry, it is formed by a mere placing of the verb before the nominative: as,

"Were I," for, "If I were;"
"Had he," for, "If he had;"
"Fall we" for, "If we fall;"
"Knew they," for, "If they knew."

It does not vary its termination at all, in the different persons. It is used in the present, and sometimes in the past tense; rarely, and perhaps never properly, in any other. As this mood can be used only in a dependent clause, the time implied in its tenses is always relative, and generally indefinite: as,

"It shall be in eternal restless change, self-fed, and self-consumed: if this fail, the pillared firmament is rottenness."—Milton, Comus, l. 596.

Present tense

This tense is generally used to express some condition on which a future action or event is affirmed. It is therefore erroneously considered by some grammarians, as an elliptical form of the future.

If I love, if he love, if we love, if you love, if they love.

In this tense, the auxiliary do is sometimes employed: as,

"If you do prosper my way."—Genesis, xxiv, 42.
"If he do not utter it."—Leviticus, v, 1.
"If he do but intimate his desire."—Murray's Key, p. 207.
"If he do promise, he will certainly perform."—Ib., p. 208.
"An event which, if it ever do occur, must occur in some future period."—Hiley's Gram., 3d Ed., Lond., p. 89.
"If he do but promise, you are safe."—Ib., 89.
"Until old experience do attain to something like prophetic strain."—Milton: Il Penseroso.

Past tense

If I loved, if he loved, if we loved, if you loved, if they loved.

This tense, like the past of the potential mood, with which it is frequently connected, is properly an aorist, or indefinite tense; for it may refer to time past, present, or future: as,

"If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, what further need was there that an other priest should rise?"—Heb., vii, 11.
"They must be viewed exactly in the same light, as if the intention to purchase now existed."—Murray's Parsing Exercises, p. 24.
"If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."—Matt., xxiv, 24.
"If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?"—1 Corinthians, xii, 17.
"If the thankful refrained, it would be pain and grief to them."—Atterbury.

Imperative mood

The imperative mood is that form of the verb, which is used in commanding, exhorting, entreating, or permitting. It is commonly used only in the second person of the present tense.

Love [you,] or do you love.

See, conjugated in simple form

The verb see is an irregular active verb.

Morphological forms

Present	Past	Present Participle	Past Participle
See.	Saw.	Seeing.	Seen.

Participles

Present  Past   Past Perfect
Seeing.  Seen.  Having seen.

Infinitive mood

Present tense. To see.
Perfect tense. To have seen.

Indicative mood

Present tense. I see, he sees, we see, you see, they see.
Past tense. I saw, he saw, we saw, you saw, they saw.
Perfect tense. I have seen, he has seen, we have seen, you have seen, they have seen.
Past perfect tense. I had seen, he had seen, we had seen, you had seen, they had seen.
First-future tense. I shall see, he will see, we shall see, you will see, they will see.
Second-future tense. I shall have seen, he will have seen, we shall have seen, you will have seen, they will have seen.

Potential mood

Present tense. I may see, he may see, we may see, you may see, they may see.
Past tense. I might see, he might see, we might see, you might see, they might see.
Perfect tense. I may have seen, he may have seen, we may have seen, you may have seen, they may have seen.
Past perfect tense. I might have seen, he might have seen, we might have seen, you might have seen, they might have seen.

Subjunctive mood

Present tense. If I see, if he see, if we see, if you see, if they see.
Past tense. If I saw, if he saw, if we saw, if you saw, if they saw.

Imperative mood

Present tense. See [you,] or do you see.

Be, conjugated in simple form

The verb be is an irregular neuter verb.

Morphological forms

Present  Past  Present Participle  Past Participle.
Be.      Was.  Being.              Been.

Participles

Present  Past   Past Perfect
Being.   Been.  Having been.

Infinitive mood

Present tense. To be.
Perfect tense. To have been.

Indicative mood

Present tense. I am, he is, we are, you are, they are.
Past tense. I was, he was, we were, you were, they were.
Perfect tense. I have been, he has been, we have been, you have been, they have been.
Past perfect tense. I had been, he had been, we had been, you had been, they had been.
First-future tense. I shall be, he will be, we shall be, you will be, they will be.
Second-future tense. We shall have been, he will have been, we shall have been, you will have been, they will have been.

Potential mood

Present tense. I may be, he may be, we may be, you may be, they may be.
Past tense. I might be, he might be, we might be, you might be, they might be.
Perfect tense. I may have been, he may have been, we may have been, you may have been, they may have been.
Past perfect tense. I might have been, he might have been, we might have been, you might have been, they might have been.

Subjunctive mood

Present tense. If I be, if he be, if we be, if you be, if they be.
Past tense. If I were, if he were, if we were, if you were, if they were.

Imperative mood

Present tense. Be [you,] or do you be.

Read, conjugated in progressive form

The verb read is an irregular active verb.

Compound or progressive form

Active and neuter verbs may also be conjugated, by adding the present participle to the auxiliary verb be, through all its changes: as,

"I am writing a letter."
"He is sitting idle."
"They are going."

This form of the verb denotes a continuance of the action or state of being, and is, on many occasions, preferable to the simple form of the verb.

Morphological forms of the simple verb

Present  Past   Present Participle  Past Participle
Read.    Read.  Reading.            Read.

Participles

Present         Past      Past Perfect
Being reading.  ————————  Having been reading.

Infinitive mood

Present tense. To be reading.
Perfect tense. To have been reading.

Indicative mood

Present tense. I am reading, he is reading, we are reading, you are reading, they are reading.
Past tense. I was reading, he was reading, we were reading, you were reading, they were reading.
Perfect tense. I have been reading, he has been reading, we have been reading, you have been reading, they have been reading.
Past perfect tense. I had been reading, he had been reading, we had been reading, you had been reading, they had been reading.
First-future tense. I shall be reading, he will be reading, we shall be reading, you will be reading, they will be reading.
Second-future tense. I shall have been reading, he will have been reading, we shall have been reading, you will have been reading, they will have been reading.

Potential mood

Present tense. I may be reading, he may be reading, we may be reading, you may be reading, they may be reading.
Past tense. I might be reading, he might be reading, we might be reading, you might be reading, they might be reading.
Perfect tense. I may have been reading, he may have been reading, we may have been reading, you may have been reading, they may have been reading.
Past perfect tense. I might have been reading, he might have been reading, we might have been reading, you might have been reading, they might have been reading.

Subjunctive mood

Present tense. If I be reading, if she be reading, if we be reading, if you be reading, if they be reading.
Past tense. If I were reading, if he were reading, if we were reading, if you were reading, if they were reading.

Imperative mood

Be you reading, or do you be reading.

Be loved, conjugated in simple form

The verb be loved is a regular passive verb.

Form of passive verbs

Passive verbs, in English, are always of a progressive form; being made from transitive verbs, by adding the past participle to the auxiliary verb be, through all its changes: thus from the active transitive verb love, is formed the passive verb be loved.

Morphological forms of the active verb

Present	Past	Present	Participle	Past Participle
Love	Loved	Loving	Loved	Loving

Infinitive mood

Present tense. To be loved.
Perfect tense. To have been loved.

Indicative mood

Present tense. I am loved, he is loved, we are loved, you are loved, they are loved.
Past tense. I was loved, he was loved, we were loved, you were loved, they were loved.
Perfect tense. I have been loved, he has been loved, we have been loved, you have been loved, they have been loved.
Past perfect tense. I had been loved, he had been loved, we had been loved, you had been loved, they had been loved.
First-future tense. I shall be loved, he will be loved, we shall be loved, you will be loved, they will be loved.
Second-future tense. I shall have been loved, he will have been loved, we shall have been loved, you will have been loved, they will have been loved.

Potential mood

Present tense. I may be loved, he may be loved, we may be loved, you may be loved, they may be loved.
Past tense. I might be loved, he might be loved, we might be loved, you might be loved, they might be loved.
Perfect tense. I may have been loved, he may have been loved, we may have been loved, you may have been loved, they may have been loved.
Past perfect tense. I might have been loved, he might have been loved, we might have been loved, you might have been loved, they might have been loved.

Subjunctive mood

Present tense. If I be loved, if he be loved, if we be loved, if you be loved, if they be loved.
Past tense. If I were loved, if he were loved, if we were loved, if you were loved, if they were loved.

Imperative mood

Present tense. Be you loved, or do you be loved.

Love, conjugated negatively

Form of negation

A verb is conjugated negatively, by placing the adverb not and participles take the negative first: as, not to love, not to have loved; not loving, not loved, not having loved.

First person singular

Indicative. I love not, or I don't love; I loved not, or I didn't love; I haven't loved; I hadn't loved; I shalln't, or won't, love; I shalln't, or won't, have loved.
Potential. I may, can, or mustn't love; I might, could, would, or shouldn't love; I may, can, or mustn't have loved; I might, could, would, or shouldn't have loved,
Subjunctive. If I love not, if I loved not, if they loved.

Third person singular

Indicative. He loves not, or he doesn't love; he loved not, or he didn't love; he hasn't loved; he hadn't loved; he shalln't, or won't, love; he shalln't, or won't, have loved.
Potential. He may, can, or mustn't love; he might, could, would, or shouldn't love; he may, can, or mustn't have loved; he might, could, would, or shouldn't have loved.
Subjunctive. If he love not, if he loved not.

Love, conjugated interrogatively

Form of question

A verb is conjugated interrogatively, in the indicative and potential moods, by placing the nominative after it, or after the first auxiliary: as,

First person singular

Indicative. Love I? or do I love? loved I? or did I love? have I loved? had I loved? shall I love? shall I have loved?
Potential. May, can, or must I love? might, could, would, or should I love? may, can, or must I have loved? might, could, would, or should I have loved?

Third person singular

Indicative. Loves he? or does he love? loved he? or did he love? has he loved? had he loved? shall or will he love? will he have loved?
Potential. May, can, or must he love? might, could, would, or should he love? may, can, or must he have loved? might, could, would, or should he have loved?

Love, conjugated interrogatively and negatively

Form of question with negation

A verb is conjugated interrogatively and negatively, in the indicative and potential moods, by placing the nominative and the adverb not after the verb, or after the first auxiliary: as,

First person plural

Indicative. Love we not? or do we not love? loved we not? or did we not love? have we not loved? had we not loved? shall we not love? shall we not have loved?
Potential. May, can, or must we not love? might, could, would, or should we not love? may, can, or must we not have loved? might, could, would, or should we not have loved?

Third person plural

Indicative. Are they not loved? were they not loved? have they not been loved? had they not been loved? shall or will they not be loved? will they not have been loved?
Potential. May, can, or must they not be loved? might, could, would, or should they not be loved? may, can, or must they not have been loved? might, could, would, or should they not have been loved?

Irregular verbs

An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the past and the past participle by assuming d or ed: as, see, saw, seeing, seen. Of this class of verbs there are about one hundred and ten, beside their several derivatives and compounds.

Methods of learning irregular verbs:

To remember verbs:

Learn them by heart.
Write a reference lists of verbs.
Say the verbs aloud (not silently).
Set yourself targets, e.g. learn one verb a day.
Learn these verbs in groups.
Test yourself.

To learn how to use them:

Write your own example sentences.
Collect some examples of use for each verb, e.g. from books, magazines or newspapers.
Use an English grammar.

List of the top irregular verbs:

Present	Past	Present Participle	Past Participle
Awake	awoke	awaking	awoken
Arise	arose	arising	arisen
Be	was,were	being	been
Bear	bore	bearing	borne
Begin	began	beginning	begun
Bend	bent	bending	bent
Blow	blew	blowing	blown
Break	broke	breaking	broken
Bring	brought	bringing	brought
Build	built	building	built
Buy	bought	buying	bought
Catch	caught	catching	caught
Choose	chose	choosing	chosen
Come	came	coming	come
Cost	cost	costing	cost
Cut	cut	cutting	cut
Do	did	doing	done
Draw	drew	drawing	drawn
Drink	drank	drinking	drunk
Drive	drove	driving	driven
Eat	ate	eating	eaten
Fall	fell	falling	fallen
Feel	felt	feeling	felt
Fight	fought	fighting	fought
Find	found	finding	found
Fly	flew	flying	flown
Forget	forgot	forgetting	forgotten
Forgive	forgave	forgiving	forgiven
Get	got	getting	gotten
Give	gave	giving	given
Go	went	going	gone
Grow	grew	growing	grown
Have	had	having	had
Hear	heard	hearing	heard
Hide	hid	hiding	hidden or hid
Hit	hit	hitting	hit
Hold	held	holding	held
Keep	kept	keeping	kept
Know	knew	knowing	known
Lay	laid	laying	laid
Lead	led	leading	led
Leave	left	leaving	left
Lend	lent	lending	lent
Let	let	letting	let
Lie	lay	lying	lain
Lose	lost	losing	lost
Make	made	making	made
Mean	meant	meaning	meant
Meet	met	meeting	met
Pay	paid	paying	paid
Put	put	putting	put
Read	r~ead	reading	r~ead
Rend	rent	rending	rent
Ride	rode	riding	ridden
Ring	rung or rang	ringing	rung
Rise	rose	rising	risen
Run	ran	running	run
Say	said	saying	said
See	saw	seeing	seen
Seek	sought	seeking	sought
Sell	sold	selling	sold
Send	sent	sending	sent
Set	set	setting	set
Shake	shook	shaking	shook
Shine	shone	shining	shone
Shoot	shot	shooting	shot
Show	showed	showing	shown
Sing	sang	singing	sung
Sit	sat	sitting	sat
Sleep	slept	sleeping	slept
Speak	spoke	speaking	spoken
Spend	spent	spending	spent
Stand	stood	standing	stood
Steal	stole	stealing	stolen
Strike	struck	striking	struck
Swim	swam	swimming	swum
Take	took	taking	taken
Teach	taught	teaching	taught
Tell	told	telling	told
Think	thought	thinking	thought
Throw	threw	throwing	thrown
Wake	woke	waking	woken
Wear	wore	wearing	worn
Win	won	winning	won
Write	wrote	writing	written

English irregular verbs

Redundant verbs

A redundant verb is a verb that forms the past or the past participle in two or more ways, and so as to be both regular and irregular: as, thrive, thrived or throve, thriving, thrived or thriven. Of this class of verbs, there are about ninety-five, beside sundry derivatives and compounds.

List of the redundant verbs:

Present	Past	Present Participle	Past Participle
Abide	abode or abided	abiding	abode or abided
Awake	awaked or awoke	awaking	awaked or awoke
Belay	belayed or belaid	belaying	belayed or belaid
Bend	bent or bended	bending	bent or bended
Bereave	bereft or bereaved	bereaving	bereft or bereaved
Beseech	besought or beseeched	beseeching	besought or beseeched
Bet	betted or bet	betting	betted or bet
Betide	betided or betid	betiding	betided or betid
Bide	bode or bided	biding	bode or bided
Blend	blended or blent	blending	blended or blent
Bless	blessed or blest	blessing	blessed or blest
burn	burnt or burned	burning	burnt or burned
Clothe	clothed or clad	clothing	clothed or clad
Crow	crew or crowed	crowing	crew or crowed
Curse	curst or cursed	cursing	curst or cursed
Dare	dared or durst	daring	dared or durst
Dive	dove or dived	diving	diven or dived
dream	dreamt or dreamed	dreaming	dreamt or dreamed
Dress	drest or dressed	dressing	drest or dressed
Geld	gelt or gelded	gelding	gelt or gelded
Gild	gilt or gilded	gilding	gilt or gilded
Gird	girt or girded	girding	girt or girded
Grave	graved	graving	graven or graved
Hang	hung or hanged	hanging	hung or hanged
Heat	het or heated	heating	het or heated
Heave	hove or heaved	heaving	hoven or heaved
Hew	hewed	hewing	hewn or hewed
Knit	knit or knitted	knitting	knit or knitted
lean	leant or leaned	leaning	leant or leaned
Leap	leapt or leaped	leaping	leapt or leaped
learn	learnt or learned	learning	learnt or learned
light	lit or lighted	lighting	lit or lightied
melt	melted	melting	molten or melted
Mulct	mulct or mulcted	mulcting	mulct or mulcted
Pass	past or passed	passing	past or passed
Pen	pent or penned	penning	pent or penned
Plead	pled or pleaded	pleading	pled or pleaded
Prove	proved	proving	proven or proved
quit	quit or quitted	quitting	quit or quitted
Rap	rapt or rapped	rapping	rapt or rapped
Reave	reft or reaved	reaving	reft or reaved
Roast	roasted or roast	roasting	roasted or roast
rot	rotted	rotting	rotten or rotted
seethe	seethed	seething	sodden
Shape	shaped	shaping	shapen or shaped
Shave	shaved	shaving	shaven or shaved
Shear	shore or sheared	shearing	shorn or sheared
shred	shred or shredded	shredding	shred or shredded
Smell	smelt or smelled	smelling	smelt or smelled
Sow	sowed	sowing	sown or sowed
Speed	sped or speeded	speeding	sped or speeded
spell	spelt or spelled	spelling	spelt or spelled
spill	spilt or spilled	spilling	spilt or spilled
Spoil	spoilt or spoiled	spoiling	spoilt or spoiled
Stave	stove or staved	staving	stove or staved
strew	strewed	strewing	strewn or strewed
Strow	strowed	strowing,	strown or strowed
Sweat	sweat or sweated	sweating	sweat or sweated
Swell	swelled	swelling	swollen or swelled
Thrive	throve or thrived	thriving	thriven or thrived
Wake	woke or waked	waking	woke or waked
Wax	waxed	waxing	waxen or waxed
Wed	wed or wedded	wedding	wed or wedded
Wet	wet or wetted	wetting	wet or wetted
Whet	whet or whetted	whetting	whet or whetted
Wont	wont or wonted	wonting	wont or wonted
Work	worked or wrought	working	worked or wrought

Defective verbs

A defective verb is a verb that forms no participles, and is used in but few of the moods and tenses: as, beware, ought, quoth.

List of the defective verbs:

Present	Past
Beware	—————
Can	could
May	might
Methinks	methought
Must	must
Ought	ought
Shall	should
Will	would
Quoth	quoth
Wis	wist
Wit	wot

A short syntax

The finite verb must agree with its subject, as "The birds fly", except the following cases: the conjunction and, as "Rhetoric and logic are allied," one person or thing, as "Flesh and blood has not revealed it," empathy, as "Consanguinity, and not affinity, is the ground," each, every, or no, as "No one is the same," and the conjunction or, as "Fear or jealousy affects him."

References

A part of the text in this article, was taken from the public domain English grammar "The Grammar of English Grammars" by Goold Brown, 1851.