Regular Verbs

Most verbs in English are regular verbs that follow standard rules about what endings to use to express time.

PRESENT-TENSE ENDINGS: -S AND NO ENDING

The present tense is used for actions that are happening at the same time that they are being written about (the present) and for things that happen all the time. Present-tense, regular verbs either end in -s or have no ending added. Use the -s ending when the subject is he, she, it, or the name of one person or thing. Use no ending for all other subjects.

Regular Verbs in the Present Tense

SINGULAR PLURAL
First person I jump. We jump.
Second person You jump. You jump.
Third person She (he, it) jumps. They jump.
The child jumps. The children jump.

REGULAR PAST-TENSE ENDING: -ED OR -D

The past tense is used for actions that have already happened. A -d or an -ed ending is needed on all regular verbs in the past tense.

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE
First person I live. I walk. I lived. I walked.
Second person You live. You walk. You lived. You walked.
Third person He lives. He walks. He lived. He walked.

The past-tense form of regular verbs can also serve as the past participle and be paired with a helping verb such as have or do. (To learn about when past participles are used, see “Past Participles.”)

PAST TENSE PAST PARTICIPLE
My kids watched cartoons. They have watched cartoons before.
George visited his cousins. He has visited them every year.