Base Form Verbs
The base form is one of five verb forms in English. A base form is the simplest form of a verb, without subject pronouns like ‘I’ or ‘we’ attached. You’ll hear it referred to as a verb’s infinitive or root form. Read on to find out more.
What is the base form verb (or the root form)?
A base form is the simplest form of a verb, without subject pronouns like ‘I’ or ‘we’ attached. You’ll hear it referred to as the infinitive or root form of a verb – it’s what we change when we want to make it agree with different tenses and subject pronouns. When you search for a verb in a dictionary or thesaurus, this is the form you’ll find.
Though they’re functionally identical (except for the 3rd person singular), the base form is different from the present form of a verb in that it doesn’t appear with a subject pronoun. So, for example, this is the difference between ‘I write’ and ‘write.’
What is the base form verb in English literacy? (Examples included)
A verb’s base form can be considered the most basic verb form. The base form verb is listed in the dictionary and can also be referred to as the root word. It is the version or form of the verb without any additional letters or phrases referred to as prefixes and suffixes (such as -s,-ing, and ed).
The base form verb is one of five verb forms in the English language. Other verb forms include root, third-person singular, present participle, past, and past participle.
The Base Form Appears in the Present Tense
The base form of a verb appears in versions of the present tense except the third-person singular. For example, I play, walk, and talk in the first-person singular form.
Examples of base for verbs: What are the different verb forms with examples?
The base form of the verb: As we have learned, the base form verb is the form listed in most dictionaries featuring the verb without using prefixes or suffixes. For example, ‘see,’ ‘be,’ ‘wear,’ and walk.’
Third-Person Singular Form: the third-person singular verb form is used by adding the suffix -S or -ES to the end of the base form of a verb in the present tense when it enables a singular subject in the third person, for example, ‘walks.’
Past Tense Verb Form: Past tense verbs refer to actions or events in the past. They can be regular verbs that end with a “d” or an “ed” or can be irregular and change their spelling to show the past tense, for example, ‘walked.’
Present Tense Verb form: The current tense verb form indicates that an action is present, now, relative to the speaker or writer, for example, ‘walking.’
What is a base word in English?
In English, like in other languages, a base word is a word that serves as the base form of a verb. The base form of a verb is what’s changed to make other verb forms. When learning any language, it’s important to memorize these verbs and how they’re changed depending on the person or group of people acting. In English, the base form of a verb is used to make four other forms, which are used to make up the different tenses. These are outlined in the next section.
Examples of base form verbs and how they change
- The base form verb – love/ drink/ walk
- Third-Person Singular Present Tense Form – loves/ drinks/ walks
- Past Form – loved/ drank/ walked
- Present Participle Form – loving/ drinking/ walking
- The Past Participle Form – loved/ drunk/ walked
What are the five different verb forms in the English language?
There are five different verb forms in the English language. Using the base form to write, here’s a summary of what they are:
- Base form – write
- 3rd person singular – writes
- Past tense form – wrote
- Present participle/gerund – writing
- Past participle – written
Unlike most verbs, the verb to write is considered to be an irregular verb. That means it doesn’t follow the standard rules regarding making the above five forms. For example, the past tense form of a verb is usually caused by adding the suffix -ed, which isn’t the case here. Also, in regular verbs, the past participle is usually the same as the past tense form, with -ed added to make the conjugation.
What are the different tenses of verbs?
You could be forgiven that there are only three basic tenses of verbs: the past, present, and future. But there’s a lot more than that. One of the things people find difficult when learning another language is learning about different verb tenses, what they are and when to use them. For example, English speakers use tenses like the present continuous almost every day, but how many people know that it’s just -ing words like I’m writing?
Here’s a list of the most common verb tenses, with information about when to use them, as well as some examples:
Simple present
It is the most common verb form in the English language. It’s used to express habits and general truths, among other things. You can make the present tense by combining a subject pronoun with the corresponding verb conjugation. For example, ‘he’ and the verb ‘write’ make the simple present tense ‘he writes. Easy.
Simple past
As the name suggests, the simple past tense is used to describe completed actions that happened in the past. To make the simple past tense, combine the desired subject pronoun with the past tense of a verb. For most words, this means adding -ed to the end, but this isn’t always the case. The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterite tense.
Simple future
The last of the simple tenses, the simple future tense, is used to talk about things that haven’t happened yet. You can make the simple future tense by combining a subject pronoun, the modal verb ‘will,’ and the base form of a verb. For example, ‘I will write the first-person, simple future tense of ‘write.’
Present perfect
The present perfect tense is used to talk about actions that have or haven’t happened in the past. It’s made by combining a subject pronoun, the auxiliary verb ‘have,’ and the past participle of a verb. So, for example, ‘I have written’ is the first-person, present perfect tense of ‘write.’
Present continuous
English speakers use the present continuous tense to talk about actions that are currently ongoing. To form the present continuous, combine the simple present form of the verb ‘to be’ with the -ing form of the verb (this form is known as the gerund). For example, by combining ‘I am’ with the gerund of ‘to write,’ we get ‘I am writing.’
