Mastering English Verb Tenses, Modals, and Verb Patterns

English Verb Tenses

Past Tenses

Past Simple

• Structure: Subject + Verb (Past Simple / 2nd form). For negatives and interrogatives: did + infinitive.
• Use: For past actions that occurred at a specific time. Often accompanied by time expressions like yesterday, last night, etc.
• Use: For narrating past events.

Past Continuous

• Structure: Subject + was/were + Verb-ing.
• Use: To describe an activity that was in progress at a specific moment in the past.

Present Perfect Tenses

Present Perfect Simple

• Structure: Subject + have/has + Past Participle (V-ed / 3rd form).
• Use: To talk about life experiences.
• Use: Often used with adverbs like yet, always, never, ever, just, already, for, since.

Present Perfect Continuous

• Structure: Subject + have/has + been + Verb-ing.
• Use: For past actions that continue into the present or have recently stopped but have present results, often emphasizing duration.

Past Perfect Tenses

Past Perfect Simple

• Structure: Subject + had + Past Participle (V-ed / 3rd form).
• Use: For actions that happened before another action in the past.
• Use: Often used with just, until, till, before, as soon as, after, or in structures like 'It was the second time...'.

Past Perfect Continuous

• Structure: Subject + had + been + Verb-ing.
• Use: For a past action that was in progress before another past action occurred, often emphasizing duration.

Future Forms

Will

• Structure: Subject + will + Verb (infinitive).
• Use: For opinions, predictions, and spontaneous decisions.

Be going to

• Structure: Subject + am/is/are + going to + Verb (infinitive).
• Use: For plans, intentions, or predictions based on present evidence.

Future Continuous

• Structure: Subject + will + be + Verb-ing.
• Use: To describe an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future ('will be doing').

Future Perfect

• Structure: Subject + will + have + Past Participle (V-ed / 3rd form).
• Use: To describe an action that will be completed by a specific time in the future ('will have finished').

Modal Verbs

Standard Modals

• Obligation: must, have/has to.
• Prohibition: mustn’t.
• Permission: can, may.
• Doubt/Possibility: may, might.
• Advice: should, ought to.
• Lack of Obligation: don’t/doesn’t have to, need not (or needn't).
• Ability: can (present), could (past).
• Deduction (Certainty): must (positive certainty), can’t (negative certainty).

Perfect Modals (Modals + have + Past Participle)

• Must have + Past Participle: Strong deduction about a past event (certainty it happened).
• Should have / Ought to have + Past Participle: Criticism or regret about a past action (it was advisable but didn't happen).
• Can’t have + Past Participle: Belief that something was impossible in the past.
• Might have / May have + Past Participle: Possibility in the past.
• Could have + Past Participle: Past possibility or an alternative suggestion for a past action (it was possible but didn't happen).

Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds (Verb-ing)

Used:

• When the verb functions as the subject of the sentence (e.g., Swimming is fun.).
• After prepositions (e.g., interested in learning, good at drawing).
• After specific verbs such as: admit, avoid, can’t stand, consider, continue, deny, dislike, enjoy, feel like, finish, give up, imagine, involve, keep (on), mind, miss, practise, resist, stop, suggest, and expressions like it’s worth.

Infinitives with 'to' (to + Verb)

Used:

• After many adjectives and some adverbs (e.g., easy to understand, happy to help, too slowly to win).
• With structures like: It is/was + adjective + of + noun/pronoun + to infinitive (e.g., It was kind of you to come).
• With structures like: Adjective + for + object + to infinitive (e.g., It's important for them to know).
• After specific verbs such as: afford, agree, appear, decide, expect, fail, forget, help, hope, learn, manage, offer, plan, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, seem, want, wish, would like, would love, would prefer.
• With the structure: Verb + object + to infinitive (e.g., They asked me to wait).

Infinitives without 'to' (Bare Infinitive)

Used:

• After most modal verbs (e.g., can go, must study, may leave).
• After let and make + object (in active voice) (e.g., Let me see, She made him laugh).
• After verbs of perception + object (e.g., hear, see, watch, feel) (e.g., I saw her cross the street). Note: Gerund is also possible here with a slightly different meaning (emphasis on the ongoing action).

Verbs Followed by Gerund or Infinitive

• With little or no change in meaning, verbs like attempt, begin, continue, dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, start can be followed by either to-infinitive or gerund.
• After rather than, use either the bare infinitive or the gerund (-ing) (e.g., I'd prefer to read rather than watch TV / rather than watching TV).
• Note: Some verbs like stop, remember, forget, try, regret can be followed by either, but with a significant change in meaning.