Regular verbs: how to use and exercises

You regularverbs in the past are formed by the suffix -ed, both in the simple pasthow much in the verb tenses constituted by the past participle.

On the other hand, the verbs in the simple present only inflect in the third person singular (he, she, it).

Add the suffix -s to present tense verbs.

For both cases, there are some spelling rules. We will explore all these aspects in the following topics.

Let’s go!

Regular English verbs are formed by the suffix -ed in the past tense.

How to use the regularverbs?

In this topic, we will study the spelling rules of regular verbs in the present and past tense. We'll start with the simple gift.

• simplepresent

In the simple present tense, most verbs are actually regular. The only irregular verbs are the verb I'mwelland the verb have. You regularverbs they are formed by the suffix -s, except for a few cases:

• I work - she works.
  I work - she works.
  
• I play - he plays.
  I play - he play.

Regarding spelling, there are the following cases for the third person singular (he, she, it):

When the verb ends in -o, -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -es is added:

• Go – goes (go)
• Wash - washes
• Fix - cool (fix)

When the verb ends with the -y consonant. Remove -y and add -ies:

• Study - studies
• Try - tries (try)

Now, see some examples of the present tense regular verbs in sentences:

• my mother studies French every day.
  My mother study French every day.
  
• Brian enjoys reading books.
  Brian he likes of reading books.
  
• It barks all the time.
  He bark all the time.
  
• she dances very well.
  Is it over there dance very well.

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• Past tenses

For past tense: simplepast, presentperfect, pastperfect, futureperfect, and all the others that are formed by the past participle, the regular verbs consist of the suffix -ed, except for some cases in which we must pay attention to the spelling rules:

• simplepast

The regular main verb is formed by the suffix -ed. For other verb tenses that make use of the past participle, the rules are the same:

• Walk – walked
• Watch – watched
• Help - helped

In some cases, there are some spelling rules:

If the verb ends in a consonant -y. Remove -y and add -ied:

• Study - studied (to study)
• Try - tried

If the verb ends in -e, just add -d:

• Live – lived
• Like - liked

In verbs that have the final stressed syllable (one to two syllables) and are ending in a consonant + vowel + consonant (CVC), the last consonant is doubled and -ed is added:

• Drop – dropped
• Stop – stopped
• Prefer – preferred

Now, see some examples of regularverbs in the past in sentences:

• my mother Studied French every day.
  My mother studied French every day.
  
• Brian enjoyed reading books.
  Brian liked of reading books.
  
• It barked all the time.
  He bark all the time.
  
• she danced very well.
  Is it over there danced very well.
  
• they have lived here since 2010.
  They live here since 2010.
  
• she had moved away when she found a job.
  Is it over there had moved when she found a job.

Read too: Phrasal verbs: how to use these very common expressions in english

Conjugation of regularverbs

See the following table for the conjugation of the verb work (work), in the simplepresent, to understand the regular verb in the third person singular; later in the simplepast, where the main verb is regular formed by the suffix -ed. The other perfect tenses are formed by an auxiliary verb (have, had, willhave) + the past participle, which is also formed by the suffix -ed.

simple present	simple past	present perfect	Past perfect	future perfect
I work	I worked	I have worked	I had worked	I will have worked
you work	you worked	you have worked	you had worked	you will have worked
he works	He worked	he has worked	he had worked	he will have worked
she works	she worked	she has worked	she had worked	she will have worked
It works	It worked	It has worked	it had worked	it will have worked
we work	we worked	we have worked	we had worked	we will have worked
you work	you worked	you have worked	you had worked	you will have worked
they work	they worked	they have worked	they had worked	they will have worked

Observation: In relation to the regular past tense, in general, there is no rule to identify and separate regular verbs from irregular. So, a good way to learn them is to create a list of the verbs you use the most, with examples and translation.

See too: Modalverbs: know the different functions of these verbs

solved exercises

question 1

Check the correct alternative to complete the following sentence “Jessica ______ (study) in the afternoon, but her brothers _____ (study) in the afternoon.”

1. studies - studies
2. studies - study
3. study - studies
4. study - study

Resolution

Alternative b, because studies is the conjugation for the third person singular and study is used in the third person plural in the simple present tense.

question 2

Which alternative contains irregular past tense:

1. Work - play - walk
2. Help – watch – talk
3. Pay - try - stop
4. End - enjoy - paint

Resolution

Letter c, because the verb pay is irregular (pay - paid - paid)

By Mrs. Patricia Veronica Moreira
English teacher 

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

MOREIRA, Patricia Veronica. "Regular verbs"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/ingles/regular-and-irregular-verbs.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.