Basic Tenses with Regular Verbs

This page shows the basic tenses with the regular verb work, 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
work worked worked working

And here is the result:

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

Mini Quiz

1. For all 12 tenses, the interrogative structure is used to create

positive sentences
negative sentences
questions
a) positive sentences b) negative sentences c) questions

2. Which of these forms of a regular verb ends in -ed?

base
past participle
present participle
a) base b) past participle c) present participle

3. "I'll have been studying all night." Which form of the regular verb "to study" is used?

base
past participle
present participle
a) base b) past participle c) present participle

Your score is:

Correct answers: