Basic Tenses with Irregular Verbs

The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs is exactly the same (except the verb be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past simple and past participle are always the same (worked, worked), while with irregular verbs the past simple and past participle are NOT always the same (sang, sung). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that.

This page shows the basic tenses with the irregular verb sing, including the following structures:

affirmative or positive (+)
negative (-)
interrogative or question (?)

The basic structures are:

+	positive	subject + auxiliary + main verb
-	negative	subject + auxiliary + not + main verb
?	question	auxiliary + subject + main verb

Here are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:

base V1	past simple V2	past participle V3	present participle -ing
sing	sang	sung	singing

And here is the result:

12 tenses (sing)		past	present	future
SIMPLE do + base except future: will + base	+	I did sing I sang	I do sing I sing	I will sing
	-	I did not sing	I do not sing	I will not sing
	?	Did I sing?	Do I sing?	Will I sing?
CONTINUOUS be + ing	+	I was singing	I am singing	I will be singing
	-	I was not singing	I am not singing	I will not be singing
	?	Was I singing?	Am I singing?	Will I be singing?
PERFECT have + past participle	+	I had sung	I have sung	I will have sung
	-	I had not sung	I have not sung	I will not have sung
	?	Had I sung?	Have I sung?	Will I have sung?
CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + ing	+	I had been singing	I have been singing	I will have been singing
	-	I had not been singing	I have not been singing	I will not have been singing
	?	Had I been singing?	Have I been singing?	Will I have been singing?

Basic Tenses with Irregular Verbs

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