Verbs tell if something has already happened, if it will happen later, or if it is happening now. For things happening now, we use the present tense of a verb; for something that has already happened, we use the past tense; and for something that will happen later, we use the future tense. Some examples of verbs in each tense are in the chart below:


Present                                            Past                                           Future


look                                               looked                                       will look

move                                             moved                                        will move

talk                                                talked                                         will talk

The charts above show the simple tenses of the verbs. There are also progressive or continuous forms which show that the action takes place over a period of time, and perfect forms which show completion of the action. These forms will be discussed more in other lessons, but a few examples are given in the chart below:


Present Continuous                                                                                       Present Perfect

is looking                                                                                                       has looked

is speaking                                                                                                    has spoken

is talking                                                                                                        has talked


Singular means "one" and plural means "more than one." Person is used here to show who or what does the action and can have the following forms:


1st person or the self (I, we)

2nd person or the person spoken to (you)

3rd person or a person not present (he, she, it, they)

The third person singular forms are represented by the pronouns he, she, it. The chart below shows how the third person singular verb form changes:


 Singular Plural


1st Person (I)                          see        hear      come
1st Person (we)                      see        hear      come


2nd Person (you)                    see       hear       come


2nd Person (you)                    see       hear       come

3rd Person (he, she, it)           sees     hears      comes

3rd Person (they)                   see       hear      come